Bardic Magic - Owl House - Bard OC

20. Eclipse 3: Rain

Belos prepared to attack them and the group shielded themselves. Josefin raised their pan flute again with every intention of casting a spell. They would fight until their magic burnt out if they had to. They wouldn't stop until their companions were safe or Jo was dead.

Suddenly, the attack halted.

Josefin stared at the small being that had appeared. They looked like a small child with white hair in moon and star pjs. "Whatcha playin'?" The child asked.

Belos slowly backed up. "Collector!" The Collector glared at him. "You're free, just as promised..."

"As promised? I remember someone throwing me off a bridge. I'm not angry though. Say, you wanna play tag?" The child twirled his finger around and Belos was immediately whisked towards them. "I'm it." They tapped his nose and Belos immediately was launched above the door in a big splatter. Drips of his goo dropped to the floor.

The group was equally shocked and horrified.

The Collector laughed. "Too slow!" They looked back at the group. "You guys look slow too." The raised their finger as they started walking towards the teens. "Do you need a head start?"

Before The Collector could reach the group, however, King blocked the path. "Whoa, whoa, Collector! Buddy, pal!"

The Collector smiled suddenly. "King!"

"Remember what we talked about? You gotta help all my friends outside, or, uh, we won't get to play "Owl House"." King looked back at the group with pleading eyes.

"Uh... Owl House? Uh, gosh!" Luz chuckled nervously. "I love that game!"

"The memories last a lifetime!" Amity said.

"I play it everyday!" Willow agreed.

"I play it every hour!" Gus added.

Hunter squeaked nervously as Josefin nodded while smiling through the pain.

"I'll explain the rules later, but remember, we need lots of players!" King said.

The Collector walked forward and everyone cleared the way. The child looked outside and spotted the eclipse draining the magic out of everyone outside. After thinking for a tense moment, he decided to stop the spell. "Hmm. Okay!" He moved the moon beside the sun with a touch of their finger. "Boop."

The spell immediately stopped as the group watched. Tears came to Josefin's eyes and they gasped as the searing pain came to a sudden end. Josefin looked to where the veins had spread and noted what looked like burn scars on the small amount of skin they could see between their cast and shirt. Hunter's glowing veins had disappeared as well.

"Hmm..." the collector let out. The group immediately shot the child suspecting looks and they chuckled. "If we're gonna play Owl House," the star child began floating in the air, "we're gonna need an Owl House!" He slap their hands together and every part of the island began to disassemble to prepare for the game as the teens and King watch in shock. Luz shielded King from the impact of a falling rock. "We're gonna have a blast, everyone!"

As the platform in front of her hovered away and she stepped back, Willow looked back and immediately spotted the portal door. "I think there's a way out!" The group began to follow Willow towards the door.

Luz stopped at the last minute and looked back.

"Luz, come on!" Amity yelled.

"Everyone-" Luz stammered, "Eda, I-I can't just leave them!"

"Luz," Amity pleaded, "please!"

Eventually, Luz relented and everyone ran towards the portal. Hunter hesitated as the group jumped over the goo remaining of Belos but quickly continued.

As the teens reached the flickering portal, Luz realized that it was about to collapse. After waiting for a moment, the light returned and Hunter opened the door. At first, it showed the In Between Realm then cut to the rain in the Human Realm. "It's human rain," Gus said, "It's okay."

Josefin took a deep breath and rushed through the portal first. They were relieved to find a covered porch, although it was a bit leaky. When they turned back to the group they heard a sound and suddenly Luz, Amity, Gus, and Hunter were knocked into the older teen.

"No!" Luz ran back towards the door. "King!" She attempted to reach the portal, but the door closed on her just as she reached it. She opened it, hoping the portal would activate again, only to find the empty room of the house in front of her. She tried it two more times unsuccessfully, as the others looked on in shock. Luz turned around, just as Gus began crying.

'Time to keep a promise,' Josefin thought. The pulled Agustus to their chest and hugged the young boy. "It'll be okay." Josefin looked at Luz with set determination as the boy sobbed into their linen shirt. "Luz, we need to find a safe place for the night." Josefin pulled Hunter closer to themselves by the shoulder. "You've been here before, lived here, you're best equipped to guide us. Tell us where to go." Willow moved closer to the oldest two teens and Gus as everyone looked at Luz for guidance.

Luz held Amity's hand as she looked at her scared friends and took a deep breath.