(Happy Pride Month! This is the last upload for Pride Month! Sunday we'll resume our regular schedule of uploading chapters!)
{Several Weeks Later}
~Darius POV~
Faust retired. Bump is the principal now. Eda already got detention. Pretty sure it's a record. The moment it was announced we had a new principal, Eda got detention. It was instant. Anyway, with Faust gone, a lot of his nonsense rules are gone. One of those rules being the touching one. Alador's happy about that. He's pretty much always hanging on my arm. As I've said before, his love language is physical touch.
"You're so clingy." Eda told Alador.
"I am not clingy." Alador retorted.
Raine, Lilith, and Porter started looking around to avoid eye contact. Eber called Alador clingy.
"Eber, You're also clingy." Raine noted.
Eber said at least he admits.
Alador looked at me.
"Do you think I'm clingy?" He asked.
"Well, yeah." I answered awkwardly. "You are clingy."
He frowned.
"I like it though." I assured him.
He smiled and held my arm.
{A Few Days Later}
Eber watched as Alador and I played Hexes Hold'em. We added our own rule recently; our rule is that when it's the other person's turn you can say something dirty to throw them off their game. Everyone calls Alador innocent but he really isn't.
"Ha! I win again!" Alador shouted.
"Yeah, yeah." I rolled my eyes.
"Don't be a sore loser." He said.
"I'm not, you're just a cocky winner." I stated.
"Not my fault you're bad at talking dirty." He shrugged.
"Shut up!" I snapped.
"Make me!" He replied.
I tackled him. I held his chin with one hand and pinned his arm with the other. He put his free hand on my wrist. His face was bright red and he looked flustered.
"Hey! Get off me!" He stuttered.
"You may be better at dirty talk but you're still easily flustered." I said, backing off.
Eber and I laughed. Someone knocked on Alador's bedroom door.
"One of your friends is here." Mr. Blight called.
He learned to knock after he walked in on Alador and I making out here that one time. Alador and I laugh about it now.
I picked up the cards and Raine came into the room.
"So I told your dad your having a sleepover at my house tonight." Raine said. "I'll tell you what's up on the way to meet up with the others."
"Okay?" Alador said. "Do I have a choice?"
"Nope." Raine said. "Come on."
Raine left and we followed them.
"Bye, Dad." Alador called as we left.
We started walking down the street. Eber climbed up on my shoulder then on top of my head.
"So, since The Emperor's coven tryouts are in two days, Eda and I stole at least a million snails worth of adult apple blood so we can all get blackout drunk tonight. We've already booked a hotel room so we aren't caught by our parents." Raine explained.
"Can you even get drunk, Eber?" I asked the demon that was sitting on my head.
He said we'll have to find out.
"Eda's getting Perry and Lilith right now." Raine said.
"I'm curious how we'll all act when drunk." Alador said. "Everyone is different. Some people flirt, some are hostile, others spill their guts both literally and figuratively."
"You'll be drunk too so you can't study us." I told him, putting my arm over his shoulder.
"It's still fun to wonder." He shrugged.
{An Hour And A Half Later}
"Now that everyone is here-" Raine said as their voice cracked.
Eda started laughing.
"That wasn't funny!" Raine snapped.
"It was a little funny." Alador laughed.
"Hmph. As I was saying, we're all getting blackout drunk tonight. No one has a choice, we already stole the alcohol." Raine stated.
"This is gonna be fun." I said.
"I'm scared." Lilith noted.
"Now we should get to the hotel to check in." Eda said. "They won't hold the room forever."
{The Next Morning}
What the fuck did I do last night? My head is pounding. It's really bright in here...
"Ugh...I feel terrible..." Alador muttered next to me.
He sat up and held his head. I could hear someone in the bathroom throw up while another person snapped at them to hurry up before they throw up.
"It feels like if I move, I'll die." I said.
"You guys really can't handle alcohol." Someone, I think Porter, said.
"You act like you weren't as drunk as the rest of us." Lilith groaned. "Edalyn, hurry up!"
"Shhh...you're so loud...I have a headache..." Raine told Lilith.
"By the legal definition, I was drunk, but I never got disoriented. Eber got a little disoriented but it lasted 5 minutes." Porter explained. "You guys were completely gone though. It was entertaining."
"How in hell did you not get drunk?!" I snapped.
"No idea." He replied.
"You're not normal." Raine told Porter.
"Nope." Porter agreed.
"It's way too fucking bright in here..." Alador muttered before laying back down and covering his head with the blanket. "Hi, Eber."
I lifted the blanket. Eber was curled up underneath. He laughed at me and said I looked terrible.
"Shut up or next time there's a thunderstorm you're being put in a closet, mutt." I told him.
He whimpered that it's just my hangover talking.
"We'll see." I said, dropping the blanket on him.
"Edalyn! I'm gonna hurl!" Lilith shouted.
"So loud..." Raine whined.
{A Couple Hours Later}
Alador, Lilith, Eda, Raine, and I are all still irritable but our hangovers are less hindering.
"You said you weren't actually drunk last night, did you not drink a lot?" Eda asked Porter.
"Oh, no, I drank more than all of you combined on account of you guys are all lightweights." Porter answered.
"Hey!" Eda protested.
"You were gone after a single glass. Even Alador had 4 before he was completely drunk." Porter said.
"Should I be insulted by that?" Alador asked.
"Yes." Lilith answered.
"What was everyone like?" Alador asked. "What kind of drinks were we?"
"Eda was crazy. After 1 glass she was out of control. Darius got very flirty after 3. After 4 you started saying everything that came to mind and Raine passed out. After 5 Lilith started spilling her trauma. After about 8 Eber got tipsy." Porter noted.
"Who did I flirt with?" I asked, nervously.
"Mostly Alador but a little bit with me and Raine. I felt very complimented." He shrugged.
"I kind of remember that." Lilith said. "You called Perry 'cute'."
"Kill me." I mumbled.
Alador glared at Porter.
"So Lily and Alador were spilling secrets to you. What were they?" Eda asked.
"All I feel safe saying is Lilith needs therapy and Alador needs therapy and holy water." Porter said.
Alador stopped glaring at him and look confused.
"We knew they both needed therapy but why do you say Alador needs holy water?" I asked.
"We have to stop calling him innocent." Porter stated.
He looked kind of traumatized.
"What the fuck did you say?" Lilith asked Alador.
"I don't know!" Alador answered.
Eber started explaining. Raine looked kind of horrified and I just smirked.
"Yeah. Alador isn't as innocent as he seems. Holy shit." Raine said. "That could make Eda blush."
"That's not that bad. He's said worse when we play Hexes Hold'em." I told them.
Eber nodded in agreement.
"What?!" Raine and Porter shouted.
"I wanna know!" Eda said.
"No, you don't." Porter told her.
Alador looked down, awkward and embarrassed.
{The Next Day}
There's only one spot in the emperor's coven. Eda and Lilith have to duel for it tomorrow.
"Edalyn's going to win." Alador stated.
"You sound sure of that." Porter said. "You couldn't possibly know that."
"No, no. He's right." Raine told Porter. "Based on skill level, Lilith doesn't really stand a chance. She may be older but Eda works hard and is way better at duels and fighting. Unless Lilith has the best strategy up her sleeve, she'll lose."
"You guys don't give Lilith enough credit." Porter said.
"Porter, we get that you have a lot of faith in Lilith but the fact is, she's no match for Eda." I told him. "Dueling wise at least. It's like if we had you duel Alador or Raine, it wouldn't really be fair. If it were about smarts or grades or organization, Lilith would have the advantage but it's not."
Eber said Eda's at such an advantage that if Lilith wins it's a minor miracle.
"Pessimists." He sighed.
"It's just reality." Alador sighed.
"We're terrible people for this conversation, aren't we?" Raine asked.
Eber said definitely. Then she shrugged.
{The Next Day}
The seats were assigned with the tickets. Porter, Raine, Eber, and I were seated on one side of the bleachers while Alador was stuck with Odalia on another part.
"This is terrifying." Raine said. "Though I know Eda will win, I can't help but be nervous."
Eber jumped on their lap and reassuringly rubbed her head on them.
"She'll do great." I stated.
"So will Lilith." Porter noted.
None of us said anything.
"She's also our friend, show a little faith!" He snapped.
"We've been over this. It's a duel." I reminded him.
"You're a terrible person." He told me.
"Shh." Raine snapped.
The duel was announced.
"Wait!" Eda said.
"What's she doing?" Raine asked.
I shrugged and shook my head.
"I'm not joining a coven. I don't really think it's my type of thing." Eda stated. "Have fun, Lily."
Eda started to walk off. As she did, she started convalescing. Concerned, Raine shot from their seat. Eda let out a loud shriek and transformed into a beast. Lilith stepped forward but coven scouts blocked her path. Before anyone could do anything, Eda ran off.
{Several Says Later}
No one can find Eda. We've all been looking. We're down a person since Lilith is in The Emperor's coven now.
"Still no luck?" Raine asked.
Porter, Eber, Alador, and I all shook our heads.
"Her mom said she ran off after the meeting with the healing coven." I noted. "There's no sign of where she went."
"She's your girlfriend, do you know anywhere else she might go?" Alador asked.
"No. We've all checked those places a thousand times." Raine answered.
They leaned on a tree then slowly slid to the ground.
"I'm so worried about her." They stated.
Alador sat next to them and wrapped his arm over Raine's shoulders. Eber jumped on Raine's lap. She told them Eda will be found eventually.
"If we don't find her, The Emperor's coven will and who knows what they'll do!" Raine exclaimed.
Archer seemingly appeared for nowhere and patted Raine's head.
"There's a part of the island that we heard someone saw a creature like what Eda turned into. No one has searched it yet though." He told us. "Unfortunately, my jurisdiction doesn't reach it so I can't send a patrol there."
"Just tell us where. We'll go." I told him.
"Bat Queen's forest." He stated.
"Bat Queen's forest? Like The Bat Queen? That Bat Queen's forest?" Porter asked.
"Do you know of any others?" Archer asked, rhetorically.
"We'll go." Alador said. "You said that it's possible she was seen there. There's a chance she's there. Edalyn's our friend, we have to at least look."
"Good. We'll head out in the morning. It's too dark right now and you five need to rest." Archer told us.
{A Couple Hours Later}
I stared at the ceiling. No luck getting to sleep. I haven't slept in days. Why should I be able to sleep when my friend could be in trouble? Why should I be able to sleep when I could be out there looking for her? She's in danger! For all we know she's dead! I looked over. Eber was on the floor with my French textbook over her back. He jerked around trying to get the book off. I got up and went over to him.
"Couldn't sleep either?" I asked, picking up the book and putting it on my dresser.
Eber shook his head. He explained the exact reason I couldn't sleep either.
"Come on. Let's go." I said, picking up Eber. "The others will have to catch up with us in the morning."
{An Hour Later}
As Eber and I flew over the isles towards Bat Queen forest, another staff came into view. There was a brunette riding it.
"Looks like we had the same idea." I said abruptly as I brought my staff next to him.
"Oh my Titan!" Alador exclaimed. "Darius, you scared me!"
"Neither of you could sleep either?" Porter asked, flying into view with Raine not too long after.
We shook our heads.
"Edalyn's missing. It's not something that's so easy to sleep on." Alador noted.
"How did I know that none of you would wait until daybreak." Archer said, now flying in front of us. "The forest is just below."
We flew downwards. Each of us cast a small light spell.
"The Bat Queen is going to kill us." Porter muttered.
Alador let out a yelp and light spell went out. I looked over and saw Eda's Palisman yanking Alador's hair from behind and Alador trying to grab the palisman.
"Owlbert! Hey buddy." Raine said, grabbing the palisman. "If Owlbert's here, Eda must be too."
Eber lunged at Owlbert but Raine dodged.
"Eber! This is why your staff was taken away! You can't eat palismen!" I snapped, picking up the fluffy demon and causing my light spell to fade.
He said Owlbert looks like a bird and he likes to catch and eat birds. I rolled my eyes.
"That is not an excuse, Eber." I told him. "You have to behave."
Alador and I relit our light spells.
"Let's split into 2 groups." Archer said. "Blight, Porter, Whispers, you 3 look on that side of the forest. Eberwolf, Deammone, and I will check this side."
"Alright." Raine said.
They dragged Porter behind them and Alador just followed. We headed in the opposite direction.
"If we find Eda, what do we do if she's in her cursed form?" I asked.
"We'll have to wait and see." Archer answered, way too positively.
Eber whimpered.
A shriek came from ahead. Archer and I sprinted towards the sound. The Bat Queen shouted as she attacked Eda in her cursed form. Eda saw us and ran.
"Eda!" I shouted and tried to run after her.
Archer grabbed my arm.
"Archer, let me go! That was Eda! We need to go after her!" I protested, trying to break free from his grasp.
"Clawthorne will be fine! We have to talk to The Bat Queen! She might know something about the curse!" He shouted at me.
I elbowed him in the side as hard as I could, causing him to let go of me.
"Then talk to her, I'm going after Eda!" I snapped, running after Eda.
Eber said that the blow looked like it hurt.
"Well, he should've just let me go." I told him.
{10 Minutes Later}
I bumped into someone and we both tumbled to the ground. Raine. Alador helped me up and Porter helped Raine.
"Darius? Eber? Why aren't you with Archer?" Porter asked.
"We saw Eda. He wanted to ask The Bat Queen questions so I ran after Eda." I explained, suddenly realizing how reckless that was.
"You saw Eda?!" Raine exclaimed. "Was she alright?!"
"She was in her cursed form." I shook my head. "We don't know if she's alright."
Raine frowned.
"But come on. We saw her not too long ago so she has to be around here somewhere." I told them. "Eber, can't you track her scent?"
Eber got excited and started sniffing. He jumped from my arms and ran in a direction. We all ran after him.
"Stop right there, beast!" Someone shouted.
As we entered the clearing, we saw coven scouts surrounding Eda. They cornered her. She was shaking and cowering. the scouts pointed their weapons at her.
"Eda!" Raine shouted and ran over to her.
"Stand back, kid! That beast is dangerous! It took out 3 of our men in a matter of seconds!" The captain told Raine.
"No, she's scared!" Raine protested.
The captain raised their spear and was about to stab Raine. Not knowing what else to do, I summoned my staff and ran in. I blocked the spear. Alador and Porter summoned their staffs and ran in to block the scouts from getting close to Eda. Eber bit the leg of the captain.
"Hey! What the hell is wrong with you kids?!" The captain screeched at us, withdrawing their spear. "Are you trying to get killed?!"
"This creature isn't a beast! She's a witch who's been cursed! You can't hurt her!" Alador shouted.
"Well that 'witch' killed 3 scouts!" The Capt roared.
"Were you attacking her?! You scared her! She was just defending herself!" Porter snapped.
"We won't let you hurt her!" I stated.
"Stand down." Archer told us as he emerged from the trees.
"Now look, the Golden Guard's here." The captain said. "You've made this more complicated than it has to be."
"Archer, we can't! They'll kill her!" I told him.
"I wasn't talking to you, kids." Archer snapped. "Captain, withdraw your men."
"What?! But this beast killed-" The captain started.
"Now." Archer told them. "That witch is one of my dueling club students. I know she wouldn't attack without being provoked."
The captain signaled and the scouts backed down.
"I apologize! I was unaware these were your students!" The captain panicked.
"You should apologize." Archer told them. "Now, go back to the precinct. I have things handled here."
The captain and the scouts filed out. We put our staffs away. Once they were out of sight, Archer clutched his side where I'd elbowed him. I should probably be sorry but I'm not.
"Thank you, Archer." I said.
"Yeah, well, that captain won't provoke any of you now." Archer said.
He went over to Eda. She growled and backed into a tree.
"This is the owl beast, huh?" He muttered.
Eber barked that he had an idea. He made a spell circle on Eda's head then leaned on it. Eda let out a shriek then transformed into herself. Raine tackled.
"I missed you so much!" They exclaimed.
"Hi, Rainestorm." Eda laughed.
Eber jumped on her before the rest of us tackled Eda in an embrace. Archer laughed at us.
"You were all really worried, huh?" He said.
Everyone but Raine backed off from Eda.
"Can I get up?" Eda asked.
Raine shook their head and just kept holding onto Eda.
"They broke down like 6 times today out of worry." I told Eda.
"Don't tell her that!" Raine exclaimed.
"Yesterday was worse." I said. "They almost paced themself into the boiling sea."
"Shut up!" They told me.
Eda laughed.
"Aw. You're cute when you worry, Rainestorm!" She teased.
~Alador POV~
I watched Darius embarrass Raine in front of Eda and Eda tease Raine for it.
"Blight, do you have any knowledge in potions?" Archer asked me.
"Hm? I know a little." I answered. "Why?"
"I was hoping you could create an elixir for Eda. One to keep the curse at bay." He told me. "Would you?"