{15 Minutes Later}
~Alador POV~
"Where have you been hiding?" Porter asked Edalyn.
"The human realm." Edalyn stated.
"Seriously where were you?" I laughed.
"The human realm. I found this door." She explained, taking a key from her pocket.
She pressed the eye of the key. A door unfolded and opened. On the other end was a completely different forest. The trees and grass with green. The sky and stars looked different.
"Holy shit. You weren't joking." Darius said.
Edalyn shook her head.
"The rain doesn't boil. The painbows don't hurt you. The gorenados aren't gorey." She explained. "It's just rain, rainbows, and tormados! The tornados are still dangerous though."
{A Couple Weeks Later}
~Darius POV~
Alador's working on some kind of potion. He asked to work on it in my room since his dad got a girlfriend that makes him uncomfortable. Alador's cauldron blew up. This is the 12th time today. He coughed and took off his goggles. Our palismen watched from my dresser.
"Damnit! I suck at potions!" He shouted.
"Why are you trying to make a potion?" I asked.
"Archer asked me to see if I could make an elixir for Edalyn. I agreed but I'm really bad at potions." He answered.
"You'll get it." I said. "You're brilliant."
"I don't know what to change to get the potion right." He admitted.
He stared blankly into the cauldron.
"How about you take a break." I suggested. "You've been working all day. Focus on something else then you'll come up with something."
He crawled on the bed.
"What do I focus on? All I can think of is the elixir!" He said.
"How about your inventions. You haven't talked about any in a while." I suggested as I reached over a wiped soot off his face. "You're cute face is so filthy..."
"I gave up on them..." He admitted.
"You love inventing. You've always said you'll be a big time inventor in the future." I reminded him.
"Nothing works!" He exclaimed.
"Not true." I said. "Some of them do work."
"What are you talking about?" He asked.
"That netlauncher works perfectly and Eber loves it. Sorry I forgot what it's called." I answered.
I listed off a few other inventions he's made within the past few years that worked.
"Dad's girlfriend says I need to do better things with my time." He said. "She said a lot of other things as well."
"She's not important!" I snapped. "Your inventions are cool and useful. One day you will make it as a big time inventor!"
"Hey!" He laughed as I pulled him onto my lap, squeezed, and kissed him.
"Don't give up on your dreams, okay?" I asked. "Promise me?"
"Promise." Alador agreed, snuggling up to me.
"Good. Surdoué, I'm going to keep you to that." I told him.
"This is why I lo-" He started then stopped and corrected himself. "-like you."
"Well, I like you too." I said.
"I'd be upset if you didn't since we've been together for a couple months now." He said.
I put my hand under his chin then tilted it up and kissed him. When he pulled away, I brushed back his hair with one hand and ran my thumb along his jaw with the other.
"Darius." He laughed. "Stop it. That tickles."
He gasped.
"I know what's wrong with the elixir!" He exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "I've been using the wrong ingredient! I need wolfsbane not larkspur!"
He kissed me.
"I'll be back soon." He said, fixing his goggles on his head then dashing out the room.
I laughed. He came back, grabbed Ben, then left again. Ace whined.
"Alador will bring Ben back soon. Don't worry." I rolled my eyes.
I looked at my hands all covered in soot.
"I'm going to go wash my hands." I said.
Ace snickered.
{10 Minutes Later}
"This should do it..." Alador muttered, pouting ground up, crushed, and smeared wolfsbane into his cauldron.
The potion let off a small explosion with a puff of smoke then turned a golden color.
"It worked! It didn't blow up!" He shouted.
"Bottle it up." I said, handing him a vial.
He scooped the liquid into the vial and corked it then stood up. I noticed something.
"Stand there for a second." I said, holding his shoulder.
I used my hand and measured where he came up to on me.
"Did you hit a growth spurt?" I asked.
He shrugged.
"It's possible." He answered. "Why?"
"Because you're only a few inches shorter than me now." I told him.
"You can't call me short anymore!" He grinned.
"Nope, you're still short." I said, wrapping my arms around his waist and lifting him up. "As long as I can still do this, I will consider you small."
"Put me down before I drop the elixir!" Alador laughed.
"Fine." I sighed, putting him down.
"Edalyn asked us to meet her somewhere tomorrow because she wants to go to The Knee again. I'll give her the elixir then." He told me.
Ben squeaked. We looked over. Ace had fallen asleep and Ben was trapped by their tail and paws.
"Aw, Benjamin. Are you stuck?" Alador asked.
Ben nodded.
"Do you need help getting out?" Alador asked.
Ben squeaked.
"I'm not a meanie!" Alador retorted.
I laughed and got Ben out from his prison of love. He squeaked at me then stuck his tongue out at Alador. I laughed and Alador crossed his arms.
{The Next Day}
I was awoken by someone knocking on my bedroom door.
"Kid! It's noon! You should get up!" Michael called through the door.
I didn't respond.
"If you're not replying I'll take it as an invite to come in!" He called.
He opened the door and light poured in from the hallway. I heard a groan that obviously didn't come from me or Micheal. I slowly opened my eyes. Alador was snuggled up to me. I forgot I suggest Alador stayed the night since it had gotten really late after we bottled all that elixir. He made a lot for some reason.
"This isn't what it looks like." I told Micheal as I sat up.
"Whatever you two did last night, I don't wanna know." Micheal replied.
"We didn't do anything like that last night." I stated.
"I don't judge. I don't judge." He said then left and closed the door.
Alador yawned and stretched. He sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
"Good morning..." He groaned.
"Good morning." I responded.
"You're all blurry." He noted.
"Because you're not wearing your glasses." I rolled my eyes.
He stuck his tongue out then grabbed his glasses from his school bag. He put them on.
"Don't say it." He said.
"Cutie." I said.
He sighed.
"You'll never stop that, will you?" He asked.
"Would you rather I called you 'Aladorable' again?" I asked.
There was a week I called him that. He absolutely hated it.
"No. Please don't." He answered.
I sighed and shrugged.
"What time is it?" He asked.
"According to Micheal, it's noon." I answered.
"Noon?!" He repeated.
"Yes, that's what I said." I replied.
Eber snickered from the foot of the bed.
"Come on, we need to get up." I said.
I got up and went over to my dresser.
"I'm gonna go take a shower." I said, grabbing out a set of clothes from my dresser. "Are you going to stay here and make sure Eber doesn't drink those elixirs or are you going to go home and shower? Both are equally as important."
"I'll watch Eber." He said. "We don't know what effects the elixir could have on him."
I went back over to the bed and kissed him.
"Alright." I replied. "I'll be back in like 40 minutes."
"They let you take 40 minute showers?!" He asked.
"What? No. 10 minute shower." I answered.
"Why the extra 30 minutes?" He asked.
"To get ready. Obviously. It takes a lot to look as good as I do." I answered then left the room.
"He's a lot sometimes." I could hear Alador tell Eber.
Eber laughed and agreed with him.
{A Couple Hours Later}
"So, before we head to The Knee, I wanna show you all something." Eda said. "It's up the hill! Follow me!"
"Your dad's tower is up the hill." I noted.
"This is new." She said. "Just come on!"
She ran up the hill. Alador, Raine, Porter, Eber and I looked at each other, shrugged, then followed her.
"Hoot hoot." Something said.
On top of the hill sat a house. The house demon stuck its head out then extended. It's a tube. It's an owl tube...I think. I don't actually know what the fuck that thing is.
"I named him 'Hooty'! You can't call me that anymore!" Eda exclaimed.
"I don't care what its name is, it's creepy." Porter stated, hiding behind me.
"I'll come up with a worse nickname for you." I told Eda. "Maybe I should just call you The Owl Lady."
"I like it but you're not even trying anymore with these nicknames." Eda replied.
The jem on her chest started changing colors.
"Is that supposed to do that?" I asked.
I got the answer before she even spoke when feathers started popping up on her arms and her eyes turned black. Alador fumbled with his bag. He took out the elixir, uncorked it, and shoved it in Eda's mouth. The feathers disappeared and her eyes and jem went back to normal.
"Holy shit, the elixir actually worked. I didn't think it would." I said.
"Honestly, neither did I." Alador admitted.
"Not reassuring. What was that?" Raine asked, panicked.
"Whatever it is, it's disgusting." Eda wrinkled her nose.
"It's an elixir Archer asked me to make, it's supposed to keep the curse at bay." Alador answered.
"It tastes like death." Eda told him.
"It's the first batch that didn't explode. It's a work in progress." Alador rolled his eyes.
"He's not kidding. Batch Number 13." I said. "The other 12 almost made my uncle's neighbors call the cops."
"Nice." Eda laughed.
"Hi." The house demon said, stretching next to Alador.
Alador hid behind me.
"That thing is terrifying." He said.
"Why do you two hide behind me?" I asked.
"You're my boyfriend so that's my reason. I don't know why Porter hides behind you." Alador answered.
"I hid behind Eda once and she kicked my ass." Porter admitted. "Raine just scares me in general."
{A Few Hours Later}
Porter, Alador, Eda, Raine, Eber, and I are just spending the day messing around at The Knee.
I carried Alador on my back. Eda did the same with Raine. Eber jumped along and rolled in the snow.
"He loves the snow." Alador laughed.
"With all that fur, of course he would." Raine noted.
"Or not." I said as Eber started whimpering that he was cold.
Porter picked him up. He hissed and jumped on my shoulder.
"Eber!" Alador laughed as Eber started shaking snow on us.
Eda, Raine, and I laughed. Eber purred and we all went silent.
"That's still freaky." Eda stated.
A roar or something came from a few yards away. Eda ran in that direction.
"Let's go check it out!" She shouted to us.
"No! Let's not!" Raine protested, trying to wriggle out of Eda's grasp.
"It's probably just a slitherbeast!" Eda said.
"Sorry, Alador." I told Alador.
"For what- Hey!" Alador exclaimed, as I sprinted after Eda.
"She'll get herself killed and Raine won't stop her from trying to pet a slitherbeast, they'll help." I told him.
Porter ran after us.
"Now a slitherbeast!" Eda shouted. "I repeat, not a slitherbeast!"
We caught up to her. I let Alador off my back and Eda let Raine off her back
"Don't do that!" Alador snapped at me.
"What is that thing?!" Porter asked.
I looked up. The creature from the cavern stood now too far away. It flailed its head and swung its claw in every direction. It shot goo ball in our direction.
"It's that thing from the castle!" I said. "It's gotten much bigger."
"That's the thing that tried to kill you?!" Eda asked.
"I'd never forget it." I answered. "It haunts my nightmares."
"It does look like an abomination." Alador stated.
"What are you three talking about?" Raine asked.
"Right, we never told you about that." I said. "Essentially that thing tried to kill me in the cavern of the castle when I got left behind on a field trip several months ago."
"Let's run." Porter suggested.
"I wanna fight it!" Eda exclaimed, running towards it.
"Eda, don't!" I shouted, running after her.
The others tailed us. Eda made a spell circle but as she went to cast the spell, feathers sprouted from her arm.
"Uh, oh." She said.
"Alador, please tell me you have another one of those elixirs." Raine said.
Alador rummaged in his bag then handed Raine a golden elixir.
~Raine POV~
I poured the elixir into Eda's mouth as Alador and Darius created a giant abomination to block us from the creature.
"Porter, Eber, get Eda out of here. We'll distract that thing." I told Eber and Porter as I summoned a guitar and ran over to help Darius and Alador.
"I don't need to be protected!" Eda protested.
"Usually we'd agree but today you're way too reckless." Alador retorted. "Go!"
I strummed a spell to make the abomination stronger. The creature wrestled with it. Porter and Eber dragged Eda off.
"What even is this thing?" Alador asked.
"Alador, now is not the time to be curious!" Darius snapped.
"Sorry, sorry!" Alador replied.
The abomination started to cower. Alador and Darius recast the spell. The creature swung at us, it's arm extending. my guitar was thrust into my chest and I fell back into the powdery snow. Now in pieces, my guitar laid in front of me.
~Lilith POV~
I followed behind Archer as we ran through The Knee. Something escaped from the castle he won't tell me what it is but he brought a whole patrol with us.
"What the fuck is that?!" I shouted.
A green blob wannabe abomination towered over us.
"That's it." Archer told me.
"There are people!" A scout shouted.
I squinted my eyes. Sure enough, 3 people were in the snow. One knelt by the other two in a panic. Is that...blood? Wait...
"I know those witches!" I exclaimed, running towards the wannabe abomination.
Archer and the scouts followed after me. I crouched down by Darius and Alador. Raine was trying to stop the bleeding but they couldn't work with both Alador and Darius.
"Focus on Darius." I told them.
I applied pressure on Alador's wound. The wannabe abomination raised its claw as it struck downward, Archer blocked it with a claw from his arm made of abomination slime. The scouts launched a net over the wannabe abomination it fell and let out screech.
"Take it back to the castle! If it escapes, I'll have your heads!" Archer snapped at the scouts.
The scouts hauled the wannabe abomination off and Archer turned to us.
"We need to get those two to a healer immediately!" He shouted.
{Several Hours Later}
~Darius POV~
Slowly I opened my eyes and looked over. Alador looked at me from the bed a few feet from mine. I glanced around the room. Ace and Ben were laying on my pillow, cuddled together. Cute but where are we?
"Where are we?" I asked.
"The healing coven." Alador answered.
I remembered what happened at The Knee. Alador let out a small sound as he tried to sit up. He got the worst of the attack. The angle the creature had slashed at, Alador's wound is deeper than mine.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"I'm in physical pain and I'm anxious." He admitted. "The healing coven always makes me anxious."
I sat up and tried to stand. At first I stumbled, they probably gave me medicine or something. After a few tries, I got to my feet and went over to Alador. He looked confused as I sat next to him.
"You always say, cuddles make you feel better, Cutie. Just lay down. I'll try not to touch the bandage." I said.
"I'm not cute." He told me.
"Just lay down." I rolled my eyes.
He took off his glasses then he laid down and I laid down too. I wrapped my arms around him. He leaned his head on my chest and I winced.
"Sorry!" He told me, frantically.
"It's fine. Just relax, Surdoué." I assured him.
"I could try healing-" He started making a spell circle.
I waved it away and grabbed his hand.
"No, just go to sleep, okay? Save your strength." I told him. "No spells. Just rest and cuddles now."
He sighed and nodded.
"Tomorrow you'll let me heal you, right?" He asked.
"Maybe." I said.
I kissed his forehead and he slowly started falling asleep.
"Feeling better now?" I asked. "Less anxious, I mean."
"Mhm. Thank you..." He answered. "...I love you, Darius..."
I tightened my grip on him and smiled.
"I love you too, Alador." I said as he dozed off in my arms.