The Two sides

|The Owl Lady|

"I see no point in lying to you. Lillith was often left out before Eda got the curse. It wasn't new information that Eda was talented, which is why someone cursed Eda. She was too much of a risk. Lillith and Eda were meant to fight each other for the final spot in the coven." My gaze shifted from Hunter to the ground. 

"Which caused Eda to lose... Wait. You're telling me that Eda WANTED to join the coven?!" Hunter looked like he would jump out of his seat on the rock beside me. 

I started laughing, throwing back my head. I looked at Hunter and wiped my eyes. "Oh god, no!" I smiled softly, looking to the sky. "Eda just loved Lillth that much. Lillith wanted Eda to join with her, and without a second thought, Eda agreed. Once the day came to sign up, a single spot remained free—a spot the two needed to fight for."

Hunter's gaze was fixated on me while I looked at the sky.

"Eda was prepared to forfeit since she was only joining for Lillith. Eda knew how desperately Lilith wanted to join the coven. So when the day came for them to fight, Lillith readied herself for a fight she would do anything to win, while Eda forfeited. However, she was already cursed by that point. That day, Eda earned the title "The Owl Lady." My eyes met with Hunter's.

"I see... Do you... Do you have any clue who the person was? They might come after you, Lillith, or the other members of your family!" Hunter's face was painted with a worried expression.

"I know who it was... She admitted to my face that it was her. Forced me into an unbreakable vow not to tell Eda." The tone of my voice changed dramatically.

Hunter's expression softened. "Can I ask who it was? Or are you unable to say?" 

I stared at the ground for a few moments. My eyes traveled back up to stare Hunter in the eyes. "It was Lillith. She knew she stood no chance of winning against Eda without any leverage. She was told the curse could be lifted so that she would use it for the day. That way, she could win. But she soon found out that only one witch had ever been able to lift a curse. A witch you know a little too well." 

Hunter knew exactly who I was talking about "Uncle Belos." 

I looked back at the sky. Hunter looked at me for a while before finally breaking the silence. "Enough of the sad stories; let's finally start our hangout day!" He stood up, putting out his hand, and had a sincere smile on his face.

I looked at his hand, following up his arm to look at his face. "You look like a dork." I couldn't help but smile, so I took his hand and stood up.

"So where are we heading first?" I clasped my hands behind my back while walking next to Hunter. His eyes were focused forward as we entered the town. "We can go to the market. They have some cool things there most of the time." 

A smile grew on my face, knowing that Eda had a stall in the market. Would she be there today? I hadn't seen Eda in a bit. We walked through the market, stopping at a stall that sold hats. I put a funny-looking hat on Hunter's head. I was unable to keep a straight face while looking at him.

Hunter took off the hat and put it back on. "It isn't that funny!" I looked at him, still somewhat laughing. "Seeing you in a hat like that? It is that funny!" I saw Hunter looking at something just over my head.

I turned to see bright flashing lights from the next row of stalls from the one we were on. "What do you think that's about?" I could tell that Hunter was just as curious as I was by the tone of his voice. I looked back at him, smiled, and grabbed his hand. "Let's go find out." 

I held tightly onto Hunter's hand. Squeezing past people to see what all the lights were—an excited smile on our faces. When I saw what the lights went to, my smile dropped, and I let go of Hunter.

A sign with Eda's name and a proud Luz standing in front of it. 'Luz!" Luz looked over at the sound of someone calling out her name. "F/n! Do you like it!" Luz motioned to the sign.

"Luz, what are you thinking? Putting Eda's name in light when the boiling Isle knows she's wanted! Especially when there's coven scouts everywhere!" I knew I was being too hard on her, but I didn't want to risk Eda getting caught. I know she's avoided the scouts every time, but what if they managed to sneak up on her this time?

Hunter came up behind me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "What F/n means is that your heart was in the right place, but you must be more careful. F/n isn't mad; she worries about Eda and doesn't want her getting caught." Hunter kept his tone soft so as not to upset Luz.

"It's the Owl Lady!" Hunter and I quickly turned in the direction of the man who yelled. Hunter promptly grabbed the bag without uniforms and tossed it to me. "Quick, go change," Hunter whispered. Neither of us looking see if we were visible to the scouts coming closer.

As the scouts walked toward the booth, we threw on our uniform cloaks and masks. We walked out together and looked at the scouts. "Eda The Owl- Golden Guard... and Huntress." One of the two guards spoke in shock.

"We'll handle this," I said blankly, turning towards Eda and Luz. "You heard her?" Hunter waved his staff in front of them. The guards were quick to leave.

Hunter watched the scouts leave. Once they were gone, Hunter and I sighed. I lifted my mask. "That's why we have to be careful, Luz." Eda put her hand on Luz's shoulder. Can we just go home?" Luz kept her eyes on the ground. I could tell that she was upset.

Eda looked over at me, and I nodded. Eda walks over to hug me, and I whisper, "I'll come over later and check on her." Eda nodded and called for Owlbert. Eda and Luz got onto the staff and took off into the sky.

"I hope Luz doesn't think I'm mad at her. It's just that... If we weren't here, Eda would have been taken in. I don't know what Belos would have done to her." I kept my eyes on the sky until Eda and Luz were out of sight. I pulled my mask back down and looked at Hunter.

"She'll be alright; Eda and King will take care of her." Hunter put his hand on my shoulder. His mask was still up, so I could see the smile on his lips and the sincerity in his eyes.

(A/N ~ I finally got around to rewriting this chapter. Thank you to everyone who's read this story and been patient with the irregular updating schedule that this story follows. I've been burned out recently and couldn't bring myself to do much of anything, let alone write this. I hope that I'll be able to get onto a decent writing schedule soon. <3 Word count: 1250)