My unexpected life in the Owl House

I went to head for the lift and meet with Malphas but as I took a step I heard a door slam open stopping me from the loud noise, 'Who the heck is slamming doors in a library!' I thought annoyed, turning out of curiosity to see who it was only to freeze when I saw the orange-haired woman I remembered was called Eda.

"Oh no..." I felt myself slump as I saw her, and I sighed when she spotted me. Kid, I thought you'd be here!" Eda smiled brightly and walked over with what I could only call money-filled eyes.

"And how did you know that I'd be here in particular?" I asked as I saw the confused faces of my fellow volunteers and the supervising librarian before my eye caught a feather floating in a tiny metal bowl that she quickly hid.

"Why would your-" Eda glanced over to the witch and witchlings close by and pat me on the head in the next second.

"-mother not know where you are?" My freezing started to feel like a habit as I once again was left speechless by the sheer ridiculousness of her words but before I could do anything to deny it, Greg had walked over.

"Ah, so you're the mother of Azure?" He raised a hand for a formal greeting but in the fashion I had recently come to learn was Eda's style, she swung out her arm and gripped his hand like it was an arm wrestling match rather than a handshake.

"Nice to meet ya!" Eda ruffled my hair as I tried to slap her hand away, "hey, stop that!" I tried to protest but Eda only chuckled and turned back to Greg who was looking slightly uncomfortable with Eda's unprofessional attitude.

"Ahem, yes it is a pleasant surprise to see you here," Greg reciprocated before looking down at my annoyed face as he gave me a confused look that I didn't understand.

"Mrs.Whispers..." Eda's hand paused for a moment before forcefully relaxing again as Greg turned to look at her, "Y-yes?" Eda's voice seemed a bit shakier than before which Greg seemed to notice if his eyes narrowing were any indication.

'Did he realize how suspicious that reaction was?' I looked up to Eda with apprehensive eyes, deciding whether to cover for her or not since she had helped me in the past but before I could, Greg spoke.

"...Why did you not fly your child over here today in place of his father?" I knew it was the worst for her but... 'Wait, what?' My brow raised as I stared at Greg who looked mildly annoyed at the woman he had just accused of inattention.

"O-oh, Well you see I was b-busy and I-" Greg put up his hand as Eda shut up, "I don't want to hear it, do better-" Greg turned to me, "-for your son and make sure to bring him to the library from now on," Eda's hand lightened on my head before, irritatingly enough, she ruffled my hair again.

"Hey!" Once again I tried to remove her hand from my head but she didn't budge. 

"Now we better get going!" Eda stated before I felt the hand on my head move to my back that pushed me to the entrance insistently while I tried to speak but again before I could talk another person interrupted my soon-to-be voiced complaints. 

"See you next week Azure!" Willow waved at me while I was moved towards the large doors of the library, seeing this I shrugged as I gave up on complaining and waved to my new friend.

"Yeah, see you guys next week!" The last I saw before the entrance closed was a reluctant nod from Amity, a smile from Willow, and Josh's new unsettling stoic expression.

"Ooh, you've got friends?" Eda smirked at me as I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, I do?" I said in a questioning tone that was practically asking why that mattered which surprisingly made Eda pause for a moment before shrugging.

"Well, good job," Eda gave me a thumbs up, "I bet your actual parents are proud of you for that," I frowned deeper at her words as I focused back on her previous successful attempt at identity fraud.

"Why did you say that you were my mom in there?" Eda shrugged again at the question before she pulled out a palisman with a wooden owl at the top.

"Well it got us out of the library faster aaand now I can have you help at my scam stand," My brows furrowed at the words, "Wait scam stand?" I watched as she stiffened and turned to me, "Did I say scam stand, I meant my shop!" Eda chuckled awkwardly and I gave her a wary look while imagining what kind of place this could be.

"No way am I helping a scammer with anything," I stated as Eda rolled her eyes, "look kid, I know it seems bad but I'm only selling little things to help make extra money," Eda reached into her hair, and pulled out a glass bottle filled with a purple liquid.

"You see I usually sell potions during the week but today is special since my Palisman here brought some special items from a... far away place," The pause felt disconcerting for me but before I could deny her again her stare turned serious knocking me off balance.

"There's also the matter of my broken door and the potion," The words dealt a follow-up blow that was aided by her gaze which had me considering just shutting up and going along with this. 

"They both cost snails to replace and I don't think you have that at the moment... unless that volunteer job is paying you?" And with that a final blow was dealt as I was knocked off whatever feeling of equal ground was left, Eda's lips parted at my reaction with an aura of satisfaction and a hint of smugness that felt a bit childish for her age.

"N-nope, I don't so I hope we can maybe get this Stu-pleasant experience for my young mind done as efficiently as possible," I grit my teeth as I spoke which seemed to amuse her but at the same time she looked unfocused while I smiled which felt as crooked as Raine's at the moment.

"Um, are you ok?" I asked after what was probably a few seconds feeling off-put by the suddenly silent witch. I expected her to call me out on my flowery words, but before I could think about it further she straightened up almost like she had just realized I was talking.

"Oh! Uh yeah, whatever you said," Eda grinned as she hopped on her Staff and lifted me onto the back of my own if reluctant, free will.

"Now let's get going!" We soon launched off towards another section city as I held onto the speeding Palisman that was practically launching itself towards a cliffside. We soon landed on a baron patch of ground that was the cliffside contrasted by the various colorful and muted fabrics of what looked like tents nearby.

"Wait what part of town is this?" I turned around to look back at the cliffside we had just landed on only to freeze at the view that I had previously ignored in favor of not falling.

"It's..." my face scrunched a bit at the view of grotesque structures like hairy arms sticking from the ground and the few structures I spotted with eyeballs, "...unique," but I was pulled back to reality as a hand landed on my shoulder before I turned to the impatient looking face of Eda.

"Kid, come on," She tugged on my shoulder, "Mama needs her snails," my scrunch turned into a normal frown as I rolled my eyes.

"And I thought I was the child..." I mumbled only to notice Eda's impatient face raise an eyebrow, "What was that?" My face snapped into a smile at the words and I shook my head stiffly.

"Nothing, just talking about how eager I am to work today," Eda's impatient face turned to a grin as she lifted me under her armpit like I was a bag, causing me to grimace.

"Great, now off to work!" Eda quickly made her way over to a reddish tent that when passing through had numerous pieces of junk filling the sides in two large scattered piles before we made our way to a modest-looking wooden table that had nothing on it and a large sign above saying human collectibles.

"Welcome to Eda's human collectibles!" I felt a tinge of familiarity at the name, 'Does it have to do with...?' I felt a headache come on and shut down whatever was coming as I focused back on Eda, wanting to get through this as quickly as possible.

"That's cool but what's my job?" Eda seemed to pause at that and looked around, "Uhhhh..." her eyes kept wandering before they landed on the tent. 

"Go sort the ju-human collectibles," She pointed as I took a moment to process what she had said before my annoyance rose for a moment only to subside when I remembered that I was paying back damages and the cost of a potion.

'Where's the convenient adult when you need them' I sighed, thinking of Raine and how convenient it would be having him to rely on for stuff like this only to think of his current situation, 'but I can't right now,' I walked through the tent entrance and started to get to work.

**********

A FEW MINUTES BEFORE...

"Hm, the readings say that a remnant was detected near here..." A boy in the Emporer's Coven scout standard attire spoke holding what looked to be a crystal ball as his helmet darted back and forth between the scenery of bustling streets and the orb in his hand.

"Do I have to do this?" The boy groaned as he looked irritatedly into the orb.

"Scout go track down remnants of that super deadly blood virus gunk we detected," he mimed in a deeper voice, giving it a mocking tone. 

"It's a matter of security and part of your training to become golden guard," he paced around tensely as the shingles beneath his feet clacked faster and faster.

"It'll be easy just make sure not to let it touch you!" The boy gritted his teeth and ripped off his mask to reveal locks of ash-blond hair and magenta eyes looking on with annoyance as Hunter recalled his encounter with that kid and the fight he had been useless in.

"What makes them think I'm going to be able to do this when it could be anyone, anywhere in this marketplace!" He looked back to the orb with its constant glow and groaned again only to freeze as it started to flare.

"Wait wha-" Hunter cut himself short as he realized what this meant, looking back down at the market he tried to identify what could possibly cause this, sifting through the crowd with the skills he had been taught by his trainer he spotted three new people on the street.

"A bulky kid, an orange-haired woman, and..." Hunter gritted his teeth as he recognized who it was.

"That kid with the wolf shirt!" The blonde boy almost knew it had to be that kid with his weird magic or whatever it was!... He sighed.

"At least I can get this over with," and with that Hunter climbed down from the roof as a stoic-looking witchling walked further into the street without notice.

**********

"How long has it been?" I questioned with a disparaged voice as a sudden light pierced the dark interior of the tent before an ominous silhouette manifested itself before me, filling me with dread as I saw the slave driver step in.

"Will you stop whining!" Eda raised her hands in exasperation, "It's only been ten minutes and you've already asked that at least 100 times!" She groaned as she stared at the progress I had made sorting the odd knick-knacks in her tent with an exaggerated scowl.

"You haven't even been able to sort a small chunk of this stuff!" My weary hands shook with just as much dread as last time.

"But miss, it is simply too punishing to do this to a boy like me," Eda rolled her eyes, turning to me with an unamused frown.

"Can you drop the act already kid?" I stared at her for a few seconds more with hollow, pitiful ey- "fiiine," I slumped my shoulders as I stood up from where I was, all too eager to get away from the creepy junk on the floor.

"Thank the Titan you stopped," Eda sighed with relief before focusing back on me. "Now what do you want," I paused at the question and looked up at her impatient face.

"What?" I stood there my mind stalling for a moment as I processed what she had said.

"I said what do you want?" I gave her a questioning look that asked "Is this real(?)" as she rolled her eyes again.

"Yes, this is an actual question," I shot up to her with intense eyes and asked, "Can I have a break?" Eda frowned at me, sighing as she nodded before focusing back on me with more seriousness.

"You can but make sure to be back here before this time," She showed me a watch and pointed at the notch for 3 with it being at 2:30 now before she placed another watch in my hand as I grinned.

"-and make sure this doesn't get damaged," She gripped the watch tighter momentarily, "It's expansive," I nodded eagerly as she let it go and turned back to the exit before I launched past her into the light of day.

"Sweet freedom!" I stretched as I glanced back and forth between each side of the street which only held the same kind of stuff that only antique collectors would be interested in probably.

"Huh..." I felt my previous excitement deflate visibly. A laugh came from behind me as I turned my slumped shoulders towards Eda who looked at me with a self-satisfied grin that told me all I needed about why she was laughing.

"Were you expecting something exciting?" Eda laughed again as I felt my disappointment make room for my annoyance.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," I straightened myself and walked up to Eda, "So do you know anywhere I COULD go for my break?" Eda paused her cackling at that and gave me a genuinely thoughtful look.

"Well maybe the abomination-themed kebab stand or that playground for kiddies like you," I listened to both suggestions and while each seemed 'interesting' I decided that it might be better to just look around.

"Thanks for the suggestions but I think I might just walk for a bit," Eda shrugged at my answer and turned back to her stand, "Sure, now goes have fun doing 'kid stuff'," she said arriving behind her stand table and shooing me away.

"Ok then, see you later," I gave her a nod before turning to leave only to freeze when I saw a familiar stoic face in the crowd.

"Josh?" I looked on confused for a moment but realizing he was approaching I put on my best friendly smile as I remembered what I had been thinking a little under an hour ago.

"G-great to see you!" I greeted as muted suspicion ran through my head seeing him alone in a pl- "It's you!"

**********

"It's you!" I looked at the kid who'd sent my brother flying and annoyingly enough has been his focus with his role obsession.

"Huh, who are you?" Strangely I felt even more annoyed at that, 'How can he forget someone who he met just a few weeks ago!' I marched up to him and looked the kid in the eyes.

"It's me, the girl whose brother you knocked into a wall!" He looked at me for a moment with a surprising amount of focus before his eyes seemed to widen.

"You're blackmail girl, right?" I gave him an unamused stare as he shrank back, his smile turning awkward.

"Kathrine," I corrected with a clipped tone.

"S-so what brings you here?" I rolled my eyes at his stilted response and turned to my brother.

"My brother and I were on our way home, but then his acting thing happened when he spotted you and now here we are," I gestured to the currently stoic face of Josh as he stared at the blue-haired kid.

"Wait, you uh- never mind," I turned back to the kid and saw a rapidly fading surprised look on his face as he looked back to my brother, 'weird...' I shook my head and turned back to my brother as well.

"As I was saying Josh came to find you because of something that has to do with his stoic act," I pointed to his face, "So if you could get this done, I need to get back for dinner," Speaking disinterestedly, I pulled out my scroll to read some posts on Penstagram.

**********

'So this whole thing is a role?' I looked oddly between the siblings in front of me before looking at Josh as I felt something in the back of my brain trying to tell me something. I knew that this whole thing felt off but without being able to recall what, I was stuck to thinking it was me being paranoid.

'I mean I've been on edge ever since losing my... I mean waking up in the hospital,' I felt some dread as I turned my thoughts away from one of my more concerning dilemmas.

'I mean his sister said that it was just his "acting thing" so it's probably nothing,' I felt the muted suspicion grow fainter as I sighed. I looked up at Josh with a less awkward smile. 

"So what do you need?" I faced Josh as I waited for him to speak. He opened his mouth for a moment before closing it and pointing behind me.

"Are you working?" Josh spoke in a monotone that sounded just as odd as his other act. I turned and saw Eda's stall, realizing what he meant I turned back and shook my head.

"No, I'm on break," I shook my head as Josh nodded, "Why do you ask?" I hoped that the question wasn't because of something like his punch he wanted to 'return'. I waited half anxious, half curious as his eyes looked far off for a moment. 

"Do you want to hang out?" His sister, whatever she said her name was, turned to us as quick as lightning as she heard what her brother had said with a surprised expression.

"Hang out?" "What do you mean hang out!" Josh's little sister and I asked at the same time as the bigger demon boy paused for a moment before shrugging, "I mean hang out with my rival..." I didn't know what to say and neither did his sister it seemed with her scrunched face.

"J-Josh, come on," her voice sounded uneven as she spoke as she stole small annoyed glances at me, "He punched you into a wall!" This time it was me giving her a dirty look, hoping that reminder didn't come with the need to run away from a fight.

"...it's better to try and solve that later," Josh held his hand beneath his chin as he looked up to the sky in thought. His sister didn't look ok with the idea but only begrudgingly nodded and positioned herself by the stoic boy.

I stood there for a moment before I realized I was staring. "So where should we go?" I suggested the locations Eda had given me before this and while the playground seemed to excite... Kathrine? Right, Kathrine, the kebab place seemed to interest both, so off we went to grab a snack and maybe walk around nearby.

**********

The target wasn't alone, which made it more frustrating for Hunter. He gripped his ash-blonde hair as he stared at the trio who he had been trailing for a minute or two now as they made their way towards some location he hadn't been able to catch from this distance. Though he hadn't been able to hear where they were heading, satisfyingly enough his suspicion of Wolf Shirt was proven right when he peaked under his robe in the alley he had seen the glow had intensified.

'Now I just have to get close and use this to...' Hunter looked at the orb and realized it was growing dimmer. He looked up to see that the trio he had been tailing was nowhere to be seen. He panicked and shot out of the alley and down the cobbled roads of BonesBorough's marketplace. Soon he spotted the characteristic blue hair of his target relieving the weight of panic on his shoulders as he noticed Blue Hair and his group were eating something that looked like... abominations?

"What is that?" He went to scrunch his face but a woman spoke up nearby talking about the grape-flavored dessert kebab at the stand. Hunter froze at words. He thought it over for a moment as he looked back at the kebabs with a new interest at the thought of something sweet... but he had a mission! It was of great... he looked back at the stand as an irresistibly sweet scent hit his nose that smelled like the round disks made of batter.

"A flapjack..." He started to walk over to it only to be bumped out of the way as someone pointed at the treat Hunter was about to purchase.

"Hey, can I get that one?" They pointed to the flapjack kebab and the couple running the stall handed it to him as he handed them 5 snails.

"Thanks!" The demon who had stolen Hunter's treat started to walk off but before they could react, Hunter placed a hand on their shoulder.

"Citizen, that's mine," The kid turned and to Hunter's surprise it was...

**********

I turned to the familiar voice as I heard the growl of a stomach and the familiar face of Hunter standing behind me. We froze as we saw each other. "Wolf- I mean Blue shir- Blue hair!" I was knocked out of my stupor by the familiar name. 

"Uh, hi Hunter?" I gave an awkward wave as the blond boy growled at me, his gaze darting between me and the pancake skewer I bought.

"You- I was looking at that first!" I gave him a strange look as I glanced at the skewer as well. Feeling awkward about the situation with how many people were around I handed him the skewer, prompting a confused look from him. 

"Why did you-?" I grabbed him by the forearm and started to make my way over to Josh and his sister Kathrine.

"You wanted it, right?" I answered his question with another question as we walked.

"Yes, but you bought it?" I glanced back at him and shrugged, "I didn't want it that bad and you seemed hungry," I thought back on the growl that came from his stomach not even half a minute ago. Hunter tried to tug his way out of my grip but I held on.

"That doesn't explain why you're dragging me over to your squad," I paused at the word, "Squad?" I looked back at Hunter, "Like one of your Coven squads?" Hunter seemed confused by my question and nodded.

"That's what a group of allies are called, right?" Hunter answered my question with one of his own this time as I thought it over and vaguely recalled a word I didn't quite know the origin of.

I thought over the slang for a moment as we got closer and closer.

"Maybe? Honestly, this is just a random meetup," I gave him an awkward look as he stared at me confused and wary. I chuckled putting on my best disarming smile. "Don't worry, just enjoy that pancake skewer Hunter and-" 

"It's a flapjack, and how do you know my name Blue Hair...?" I froze again as we arrived trying to come up with some reason why I could know something he never told me.

'Damn inconsistent memory!' I growled to myself internally, keeping my smiling facade as Hunter seemed to shift. He bit down on his skewer before tensing his body in preparation for something.

"Whoa!" I raised my hands placatingly and Hunter seemed to falter as I heard footsteps approaching. Glancing back I saw the pair of siblings approaching us, so in an attempt to push off whatever this was just like I did with Josh I spoke quickly.

"Look this isn't a great place to start whatever this is, so how about we wait until we can split from everyone, sound peachy?" Hunter faltered again and finally relaxed enough to not look openly hostile.

"Hey, what are you doing!" A girl's voice yelled out as I felt the stabbing pain of a finger to the back. I jumped forward a little, letting out a little yelp as I turned, annoyed, to see the perpetually grumpy face of Katherine and the ever-stoic Josh looking on unbothered by the situation.

"What the heck?!" I frowned as I glared at Kathrine with my narrowed eyes. "I saw what was happening!" Kathrine returned my glare as if she had the right to judge my actions.

"You picked a fight with that other probably-nice kid!" I glanced between her and Hunter who I now noticed was frozen, caught off guard by the comment that might have seemed nice to him but I knew was just a way to take a jab at me.

"I'm not the one who started a fight!" I gestured to Hunter, "I even gave him a skewer!" Kathrine looked unconvinced.

"I don't believe that with how you treated my brother!" I gaped at her, slack-jawed for a second before shaking my head and rolling my eyes. "Whatever! There's no reasoning with someone so fixated on an accident!" I threw up my hands, walking back over to them on the other side of Josh who didn't seem bothered by what was happening. That was strangely comforting for some reason and made the idea of this excursion seem less awkward or irritating.

I turned to look at Hunter who was still standing in the same spot as before, tense as he looked all of us over. Despite this Kathrine approached him with a smile that I didn't see on her a second ago and made me even more annoyed.

"Hello, I'm Kathrine, nice to meet you...?" She held out her hand carefully, seeming just as friendly to him as she was rude to me. Hunter hesitated for a moment before glancing at me with an unreadable expression and taking her hand. "U-uh, Hunter, nice to meet you too," He greeted politely, giving his best smile despite the situation.

Kathrine smiled even wider, seeming much more genuine as she practically jumped at him. "So you were about to fight that idiot over there, right?" She sounded weirdly excited about something that would usually be considered bad and also... "I am not an idiot!" I growled only getting a mocking grin in response that seemed to catch Hunter even further off guard as he tried to hide a smile. Seeing this I felt ticked, but realizing that Josh's sister seemed to help the situation I relaxed a bit.

"So were you?" Kathrine focused back on Hunter as she emphasized her question by pointing at me. Hunter took a moment to try and compose himself before nodding. That had her smiling wider. "Finally, someone to teach that Blue-haired bully a lesson!" I noted the hypocrisy in that statement but didn't say anything.

Hunter looked at me curiously, seeming to have forgotten his previous tenseness. I rolled my eyes and shook my head at the unspoken question in his eyes which looked to get the message across as he turned back.

"Yeah, so if you could just leave, so I could 'teach him a lesson' that'd be appreciated citizen-" He was cut off as Kathrine gave him a frown, poking him in the chest.

"It's Kathrine, not citizen, ok?" Hunter nodded at what I thought was an odd comment, repeating his question and waiting for her response.

"Hm... I guess," Kathrine looked back at us before focusing on her brother. "Do you think we should?" Josh stood there for a moment, silent as a statue until, "I think we should stick around."

I was caught off by the decision, strangely gaining more respect for the demon I thought was just a strange guy until now. "Well... I guess that's it then," Kathrine turned back to Hunter and shrugged with a less-than-satisfied face.

"Guess you'll have to wait for another time then?" Kathrine went back to smiling as she gave him a thumbs up. "Don't worry though, I'm cheering for you!" Hunter once again stared in confusion as Kathrine turned and walked back to her brother, opening her scroll and going on Penstagram.

"Well, what's ne-" I noticed a familiar-looking head of graying orange hair pushing through a crowd as I raised my head to see Eda emerging from the crowd. "There you are!" This time I froze as I pulled out my scroll to check the time and a chill went down my spine as the injustices of the world hit me again. It was well past 3:00 and the fact that Eda came looking only reminded me of my ill fate waiting for me back at the human collectibles stall.

I turned to run but the icy jaws of fate clamped around me and I turned around to see the devil looking down at me with an annoyed look. "Kid, you were supposed to be back 30 minutes ago, why didn't you come back at the time I told you to?" I gave her a guilty look as I could only think of how carried away I got when I got some snails from Josh to buy some skewers or I guess kebabs.

"I got carried away, sorry," I gave her a guilty smile only to get a sigh and a roll of the eyes. "Well, call next time! Or uh..." she pulled out her scroll and tapped it on mine as a new number was added to it.

"Now you can't make the excuse that you didn't have my number next time!" Eda gave me a strangely smug smile only to be interrupted when Kathrine ran up to her.

"Miss!" I groaned, knowing what was coming next. "You need to punish your son!" I groaned even harder as Eda gave me a confused look.

"He punched my brother a few weeks ago into a wall and hasn't apologized yet!" Eda's confusion turned to amusement as I grit my teeth in annoyance. "Well Azure," 'No...' I thought to myself. "Looks like you need to apologize and after that, we'll decide your punishment for your behavior," Kathrine gave a triumphant grin and I groaned even louder knowing Eda was enjoying playing pretend parent and that I'd have to play along.

"Yes, 'Mom'," I turned to Josh, "Sorry for punching you... into a wall," everyone around me had various reactions. Hunter was half confused half snickering. Josh was unchanged which again, felt more respect for him for taking this in stride.

Kathrine was annoyed but only rolled her eyes while Eda was trying not to laugh.

"G-good, now let's get going," Eda took my hand and dragged me through the crowd as I saw the shrinking figures of what might be three new possible friends standing there, watching me leave.

**********

Eda was trying to bite down a laugh as she and Azure walked away. She hadn't remembered having nearly as interesting of a time before meeting the kid in the forest, and now with this whole mom act and the new responsibility to take the little guy to his kiddy school thing at the library, she knew things would be a lot more interesting than they already were.

Eda paused for a moment as she remembered what had just happened, 'Speaking of interesting things...' Eda looked down at Azure as she felt a light bulb turn on in her head.

"Hey kid," Azure looked up to Eda with a scowl that looked goofy on his face. "What?" Eda grinned at him as she thought about how inconvenient it would be to fly over to wherever he lived, pick him up, and fly him over to the library. 'So...' "...as your punishment for not following instructions you'll be staying with me until you pay back your debt for the door and potion, got it?" Azure's eyes widened at that but before he could speak they arrived back at her scam stand.

"Now back to work, we go!" Azure groaned as Eda nudged him back into the tent where she made sure that he started sorting through the junk before going back to sca- catering to customers.