Calamitous Intervention

Blinding Flights

A couple of weeks before Eda and King met Anne, the two were passing the time at the witch's Human Collectibles stand, with the Owl Lady sitting front and center behind the counter and King napping on the table, well within her eyesight.

The stand had been pretty empty for the most part, but Eda didn't mind too much—Sunday afternoons had always been pretty slow, and she had a very busy Saturday, so she was pretty content for the time being. The witch passed the time playing on a 3DS that she snagged from one of Owlbert's trips.

As Eda casually played on her handheld, not focusing on her surroundings, she heard a young female clear her throat. She looked up, slightly annoyed to see a teen girl with a bold hairstyle and a piercing in her ear waiting in front of the counter.

"Oh, hello there," Eda greeted Viney, putting her game away. "So, what relics from the Human Realm would you like to snag? Maybe this little carpenter figurine?" She showed the intrigued teen a small figure of a red plumber holding a fireball on a gold round base.

"Or how about this weird hobo poster for your room?" she continued as she displayed a large, slightly folded poster of a middle-aged man with strands of gray hair standing in a recording studio. "This guy's got quite the hairstyle. I'll tell—"

Viney cracked up, interrupting the witch and making her smile disappear. "I'm just looking for some gaming equipment," Viney told her. "I heard you might have a big multi-sided die from the Human Realm?"

Eda waved it off. "Pssh, easy. I have like thirty of those. Could never really understand what the appeal is, though."

Viney grinned, rubbing her hands together excitedly. "I knew I was onto something good. I always like to scour fairs and small stands because the owners don't know the real value of some of these items, so they're dirt cheap," she told Eda.

As she took some snails out of her bag, she continued, "Main con is you might not always find what you're looking for, though, but when you do, you can get yourself a pretty awesome deal, and even get to meet some interesting folks. On the other hand, if I were to visit a game shop or large store, I could usually find what I'm looking for, but since the owners know what they have, they charge you much more."

Viney blinked, realizing she was rambling to Eda. "Whoops, looks like my mind drifted a bit. How much is it?"

"Five snails," Eda replied. The young witch, satisfied with that price, set the snails on the desk and grabbed the multi-sided die. As she walked off, Eda watched her meet up with a lanky-faced boy and some sort of doglike creature. Viney excitedly told them something inaudible to the Owl Lady.

Eda couldn't help but smile a bit at this. She might not have known what they were gonna use it for, but she hoped that they would enjoy doing whatever they were going to do with that die.

Chapter Eighteen - Blinding Flights

Back in the present day, in the living room of the Owl House, Anne sat on the floor next to King, as he was deviously showing off a cursed pencil that Eda owned, careful not to get the witch's attention.

"This brush is one of Eda's darkest secrets," he whispered to her, who was intrigued. "Anything you draw with it comes to life. Go on, try it!"

Anne hesitated, a bit skeptical about it since the last time drawings came to life, it was back at the library, and that didn't end very well. Well, as long as she didn't draw Otabin, everything should be fine. She took the pencil, inspecting it to see if there was anything unusual about it, but it seemed like an ordinary pencil.

"Well, I should've learned my lesson at the library, but I can't pass this up," Anne said, grabbing a piece of paper and drawing a familiar figure on it. It, of course, was a tiny King. After detailing it to the best of her ability, she watched closely, waiting to see what would happen.