The rest of the day we spent it going over what to expect from the curse and what things to avoid in order to be able to manage it. There was so much information I needed to learn that I even started taking notes. It felt like we were girls again back at hexside and Edalyn was helping me prepare for an important test. It was nice being able to interact with my sister like this again. I had always hoped that we would be able to be close again but I always had my doubts about whether I would be able to reconnect with her. Even now I could not help but think that if it wasn't for Hunter I would have never gotten the courage to face my sister.
While Edalyn and I were talking Hooty looked after Hunter. Surprisingly he was really good at looking after him and Hunter seemed to enjoy his company. The two were currently deep in conversation with Hunter babbling while Hooty replied as if he could understand what the baby was saying. Who knows maybe he could. By the time we were done going over the curse, it was already dusk. Hunter was fast asleep on Hooty who had coiled himself to make a bed for the infant.
He was sleeping so soundly that I did not dare to wake him. I was going to take a quick trip back home to pick up some supplies and clothes for the both of us so we could spend the night and maybe a couple of days. It would be best to leave now while he was sleeping but I always found it difficult to go anywhere without him. I had already gotten so accustomed to having him with me and it was hard to trust anyone to take good care of him. Edalyn had to push me out the door to get me to leave.
Though I did not make it too far from the house. I remember thinking about the baby and what if Edalyn and Hooty were not able to take care of him. What if Edalyn was still mad at me and she would take it out on Hunter? What if the baby woke up and started playing with one of the many weapons Edalyn just had laying around? What if Hooty got hungry and he ate the baby? That was the last thought that I can remember before I was overcome by an overwhelming sensation of pain then everything went dark.
When I woke up it was morning already. I felt disoriented and lightheaded and I had a terrible aftertaste in my mouth. When I tried sitting up straight I felt an overwhelming sensation of vertigo take over. I tried running a hand through my hair but was surprised to find a branch tangled up in it. My mind felt foggy. I tried my best to recall what had happened which is when I remembered my sister, the curse but more importantly Hunter.
I go up and tried my best to find my way back to my sister's house. It felt like I had been wandering the woods for hours before I finally made it to the clearing where Edalyn's house was. The relief I felt when I saw the house was soon overtaken by horror. There were trees littered all over and there was damage to the house. Had it not been for the claw marks I would have assumed there had been a bad storm.
"Edalyn!" I shouted rushing towards the front door of the house. Before I could get too close Hooty shot out of the ground and stopped me. The way he was towering over me made me feel terrified. After all, he was the guardian of the owl house. Did he see me as a threat now? How would I be able to get Hunter back?
Before I could finish accessing the situation the creature moved toward me at a speed I could not dodge. I braced for the impact but no hit came. When I opened my eyes its face was only a few inches from mine. Unexpectedly the creature then spoke, "Shhhhh the baby is sleeping."
"What?" I asked, perplexed. I then saw the creature retreat back into the door and then open it so that I could walk inside.
I moved cautiously towards the door but once I reached the threshold I ran inside. I stopped short of the sofa as I saw my sister sleeping on it with the baby in her arms. Both were sleeping soundly. I was a bit surprised that Hunter looked so at peace sleeping in the arms of someone he just met but it was good that he was getting along with Eda. Speaking of which she looked like she had been out running in the woods. Her boots and dress were covered in mud and leaves. And sticks were sticking out of her hair.
I very gently took Hunter from her and placed him in his stroller being careful not to wake him. I then tried waking my sister to see if she could provide me with some information as to what happened. I shook her awake and she immediately jumped into a defensive position. She then appeared startled that the baby was no longer in her arms before realizing that he was in his stroller and that I was the opponent she was facing.
"Oh Lily it's you," she said uninterestedly then laid back on the couch. "So how was your first night out as a beast?"
"What?" I asked perplexed.
"You don't remember?" asked her sister with a sly smile. "You barely made it out the door before you transformed. I gotta say you lasted a lot longer than I thought you would. Also, your beast is a lot bigger than mine."
I let the information sink in before replying ". . . the damage to your home?"
"Yup that was you," she said with a grin. "You know it was actually kind of scary I had to tell Hooty to put the house on lockdown."
"No, but why would I attack you?" I asked, feeling mortified. I had tried attacking my sister and my child. What if this happened while I was home alone with the baby?
"Calm down, I think you were just trying to protect Hunter," noted her sister.
"What do you mean?"
"When you transformed you let out a terrible yell that turned into a screech then you flew off. All the noise you made set off the baby and as soon as you heard him crying you started attacking the house. Took me long enough to figure it out." she snickered. "I had to put a sleeping spell on the baby to get him to stop crying. Once he did you flew away. I tried following you but eventually, I decided it would be best to get back to the house and look after the kid. It's not wise to trust Hooty too much on his own. I was afraid he would get bored and try to eat the baby."
"I would never!" came Hootys voice from the outside sounding insulted.
My sister had been so kind in letting me back into her life and opening her home up to me and my child and this is how I repay her? By turning into a beast and attacking her and her home.
"Hey why are you crying?" asked her sister who had now stopped laughing.
"I'm so sorry it appears that no matter what I try to do I am always causing you trouble," I whimpered as I tried to whip away the tears.
"Come on don't be so hard on yourself it was your first time and it's better it happened here than in the city," she said trying to sound reassuring. "Besides it was fun to see perfect Lily lose control. Plus I got to see you eat some pretty nasty stuff while you were transformed."
"Please don't tell me what you saw me eat. I don't want to know," I said taking a seat by my sister's feet feeling drained.
"Are you ok?" she asked, sounding more serious.
"No, you're right, what if this happened in the city? What would have happened to Hunter?" I asked trying my best to not imagine what the beast would have done to the baby.
"Hey come on don't think that way," she said, sitting up straight and putting a hand on my shoulder for reassurance. "I already told you how you can manage it. As long as you take your elixir a day you'll be fine. And whenever you feel like your stress levels will be too high you can always drop off the kid with someone to look after him."
"I suppose you are right," I replied as I tried making plans in my head of potential safety measures I could take.
"Of course I'm right," replied my sister rather smugly.
"I could always ask Odalia to watch over Hunter. . ." I said thinking out loud.
"Wait, what?!" questioned Edalyn, sounding surprised. "You would leave the kid with that prissy princess?"
"Hush, not so loud you'll wake up the baby. And to answer your question of course I would she has looked after him before," I replied matter of factly. "I have found myself having to rely on her kindness more than I care to share."
"Hang on, did you just use the word "kindness" to describe Odalia? We are talking about Odalia Blight, right?" asked my sister, sounding stunned.
"Yes of course I am referring to Odalia Blight. You can make all the jokes you want but as I said she has helped me a lot throughout this process. She has become the one person I know I can rely on at any time when it comes to Hunter."
"Yeah, I bet. She must be expecting nothing in return for these acts of "kindness" and I'm sure she would still offer her help even if you weren't the head of the emperor's coven," replied Edalyn sarcastically.
"Say what you want but I have benefited a lot from having her as a friend and in all this time she has never asked for anything in return. Not only did I receive most of the baby items I have for Hunter thanks to her but even Alador has gone to my home to babyproof it and to add security. Free of charge if I might add."
"Oh, poor sweet naive Lily. If the Blights are helping you it's because they have something to gain from it even if you can't see it now. Their type of help always comes with a price"
"I am not as naive as you might think dear sister but after adopting Hunter I had no one else to turn to. I tried reaching out to mother but as I mentioned before I had no luck getting a hold of her. Not to mention it took me months just to find you. So I'm sorry you don't approve of my friends but regardless of what you think of them, they have offered the support I needed." I replied, trying not to sound as hurt as I felt.
I could not blame her for being upset. I always knew that they didn't get along though it was always different with me. Besides, a lot has changed since we were children. I am closer to the Blights today than I had ever been when we were kids. Just look at the relationship we had up until now. When we were girls Edalyn and I were inseparable but after the curse, everything changed.
"Hey I get it you did what you had to do but at least now you know that you don't just have to rely on them," noted her sister after a long silence.
"You would be willing to look after Hunter?" I asked surprised. Picturing myself with a child was surprising enough but having my sister look after anyone other than herself was even more so.
"Well having a kid around would cramp my style as a bad girl but he is family. There's also no way I am going to allow for the Blights to be the only other role models this kid has. Though I would prefer to wait till he is older at least until he can go to the restroom on his own, I don't want to change any diapers."
"Odalia never complained about having to change his diapers," I noted teasingly. I will never understand the rivalry Edalyn shared with Odalia but it was amusing to watch.
"Okay fine I'll change his diapers," she said, throwing her hands up in surrender and then staring off to the side. "I'm sure I have found more disgusting things while rummaging through the trash anyway."
"That's very generous of you," I noted, trying to suppress a laugh. "Well how about we try this one more time?"
"What do you mean?" she replied looking at me confused and a bit annoyed.
"I will take an elixir and go home to pick up some supplies for Hunter. I also need to run some errands so I will leave him here with you while I get that done. I should be back this evening. What do you say? Can you manage to look after him for the day? "
I saw my sister's face light up at the new challenge that I had presented to her. "Of course, I can! I'll show you that I can take better care of MY nephew than she ever could," stated Edalyn boastfully.
"Alright then," I said, getting up from the sofa. I went towards Hunter's stroller and kissed him on his forehead before whispering "I'll be back my little fledgling be good for your aunty." I then straightened up and was about to give Edalyn some instructions before she shoved an elixir in my mouth and started pushing me out the door.
"Okay see you later don't worry about the kid I'll take good care of him," she said with a grin.
"Are you sure you don't want me to give you some instructions?" I asked worriedly after finishing the elixir. Even though she had technically watched over him overnight she had placed him under a sleeping spell. Once Hunter woke up things would not go so smoothly.
"Yeah yeah I'm sure. Besides, what's the worst that could happen?" laughed Eda, causing me to dig in my heels so she could not push me any further.
My sister's words filled me with anxiety. I was sure that if I had not just taken the elixir I would have surely transformed in that instant. "Edalyn please be careful and don't use any more sleeping spells on him."
"I know I know now get going. I got this covered," she said, giving me one last shove out the door before it slammed shut.
"Bye Lulu I'll make sure to keep the baby safe," beamed Hooty with confidence and excitement as he did a dance of some sort. I gave him a nervous smile and waved goodbye then turned around and hurried off before I could change my mind.
This would be the first time I would be separated from the baby like this. Ever since my maternity leave had ended I would take Hunter with me to the castle where he would spend his day at the daycare. Even though I was not with him all the time I could pop in whenever I liked to check on him and if there was any issue they could easily get a hold of me. If what I was doing was too important to leave I could still send one of my guards to go in my place. Leaving him with Edalyn would truly be a test of how well I could surrender control of my child and I wasn't sure how I felt about that. I would not have easy access to him and if anything went wrong the chances of Edalyn contacting me were slim.
Still, I had to trust in my sister and give her a chance. I was the one that wanted her to be involved in Hunter's life. This might not be the last time that she would look after him and who knows maybe as he got older he would also come to see the owl house as his second home. That way at least I would know that if anything were to ever happen to me he would still have someone to watch over him. Not a day went by that I did not think about his parents and how he ended up with a stranger after they passed. He was lucky enough to have the emperor look after him but still, he was nothing more than a stranger. While the Blights have been helpful up until now it wasn't a guarantee that they would take care of Hunter if I was no longer the head of the emperor's coven. This is why having a family you can rely on is so important. Even if I could not get a hold of my parents I knew Edalyn would do whatever it took to keep Hunter safe in my absence. This is why I had to give them space to bond.
Now what I had to truly worry about was the curse. Edalyn said that she has been able to manage it with the elixirs that she purchases. I don't like the idea of having to rely on someone else to get something so important. I am quite adept at potions. I'm sure that I would be able to create my own. And if I can't recreate the elixir I could always persuade the vendor to provide me with the recipe. I will be sure to get the details about the vendor from Edalyn later. Just thinking about being able to do something that would also benefit my sister was making me giddy. It almost made me forget my anxiety about leaving Hunter with Edalyn. Almost but not quite.