Chapter Text
Philip and Hunter are far enough away not to hear what happens after their premeditated disappearance...
Kikimora is listening to the report, the others who haven't left are also approaching to get information; Eda and her children are still on the roof.
King and Hooty end up getting interested in the news and try to pay close attention to what is going to be said; although it is easy for them to know what will be said due to the silence present in the environment.
Meanwhile, Luz keeps her eye on the sky where the golden guard has flown away with a mysterious person of unrecognizable identity.
Luz wonders to herself who the mysterious entity is and how no one else has paid attention to both figures emerging from the crowd with the help of a Palisman.
"Has the prince disappeared too?", Kikimora asks, getting nods from the Scouts.
The inhabitants of the Boiling Isles are gathered, trying to get information from the lost heir, all have expressions of concern.
Even Eda and the group seem to show concern at the loss of the young heir.
"There is the possibility that the young prince is with the emperor…", Raine adds such information, calming the panic in the absence of the beloved prince.
Kikimora turns to look at Raine, the scouts nod, confirming that it may be possible; the emperor was someone unpredictable, but one of the few things that everyone can know, is how much he is overprotective of the child.
It's more possible that the emperor himself took the prince, than that the prince himself got lost, or was kidnapped by someone else.
The prince was highly appreciated by the people; and they would have already heard the emperor's condemning cries towards the idiot with the audacity to hurt the child.
Luz felt some pity; even if Kikimora betrayed them moments ago, Kikimora's expression is devastating.
"So, that confirms that there's no one in the castle at the moment…", Kikimora looks quite shocked, her eyes are spilling with disbelief, as if she can't quite believe it.
A collective scream coming from her proximity, as well as from the distance itself, ends up scaring Luz, due to how sudden she is.
"Vacations!", exclaim the collective voices of all those who work for the emperor, as well as the leaders of the covens, the guards; practically everyone present shouts at once.
They all look excited and sound happy.
Luz looks surprised, but Eda, Amity, King and Hooty don't look surprised at all.
Eda just has a satisfied smile and proceeds to get drinks from her hair, handing them out to the group to toast together; Luz ends up with a juice in her hands, looking strangely at the chaos around her.
There are several explosions of confetti throughout the venue, and then several fireworks light up the sky.
She doesn't understand what is happening.
"This will be considered an annual celebration day…" Raine mentions, blowing on their drink before consuming some.
The faint whistle is lost on a set of even louder sounds.
"And depending on how long the emperor is away, next year's celebration will be the same length..." Kikimora can agree with Raine.
Terra walks over, folding her arms against her chest, "I certainly didn't expect the old man to have the nerve…" Terra murmurs, tossing her hair, a small but sharp smile.
No one had anticipated Emperor Belos escaping like this; even if someone had discovered his intention, it's not like someone would have been able to stop him.
"I can go see my family!" Kikimora mentions, realizing the opportunity presented to her.
Kikimora proceeds to blow her whistle and the beast in her charge lands nearby, she climbs on top of it, and they both fly away from the celebratory chaos in the plaza.
Raine watches the flying creature leave, no one is really paying attention, as they didn't notice the large being appearing in the square; everyone has their own issues.
"Well, I'm going to get away from it all, um…" Raine murmurs, gesturing to the festive setting, too celebratory for their liking, and leaves.
Terra doesn't take long to follow them, everyone has plans made unexpectedly, everyone would take advantage of the ruler's absence to enjoy the rest.
"Eda, what does that imply?" Luz asks, pointing to the crowd.
"Emperor Belos taking a break, it's a collective break, granted to everyone in the Boiling Isles…", Hooty answers the question, settling inside the portable house.
"???", Luz continues to look at herself even more confused.
"The man hasn't taken a break in fifty years, Luz!" King yells excitedly, throwing himself into Luz's arms. "Time to celebrate!" King held his juice up, laughing at such an incredible event.
Luz holds King and turns to look at Amity for answers.
"Being such a strange thing, it's technically a celebration itself…" Amity tries to explain how little she knows about it, but even she doesn't understand why that is.
Eda, being someone who has lived longer, being present at crucial moments, knows important information and shares it with the rest of the group.
"A bunch of old men decided that on the day the emperor rested, everyone else would have a rest…", the reason was too simple, it seemed untrue.
Eda thought about it, trying to find out if she remembered correctly, "I think it was a bet between them…", Lilith hadn't mentioned much about it, but her sister seemed happy to tell how that crazy decision was made.
Lilith's laugh confirmed that crazy decision making happens more often than it should be right.
"Heh, they sure thought the old man wouldn't dare disappear like that!" King mentions running away from Luz and bringing Hooty into a hug.
"But what about the criminals?" Luz is doubtful that giving everyone the freedom to take the day off will do anything to keep the current chaos under control.
"You know, crime…" she mentions, but is interrupted.
"Crimes are mostly done by Eda…" King coughs falsely, pointing to the cause of stress in the ranks of the emperor's coven.
"Hey!", Eda has heard him, but he's right.
"No one would dare to try to ruin another's rest, even criminals rest, Luz…", Amity replies.
"Yes, the coven guards dedicated to vigilance and security can go happily, knowing that no one will break the code of proper behavior…" Eda mentions.
She wasn't going to ruin the day for the poor scouts.
"I'm sure a lot of them are giving away a lot of stuff!" Hooty exclaims.
"We'll go and take advantage of that kindness!" King plays along.
Eda smiles at his words, it was a good time, and it's true; the people are so happy that they are distributing food and drinks among them.
The three leave the roof, ready to put such a plan into motion; Amity shrugs, and Luz does the same, before they both follow the chaotic trio into the celebration setting just nearby.
Meanwhile, Hunter is flying in the company of his uncle, who looks quite calm, his hair is shorter now, but he looks so happy, in a real way.
As if he had never really seen the man happy until now.
Hunter's voice sounds nervous as he asks, "Are you sure he won't backfire?", The young blonde held onto the magic staff tightly, looking anxious.
"You should have some faith in our people, Hunter…", the scolding voice sounds mocking, and genuinely happy.
The young man's expression crinkles at such words, the tone in which his uncle said that, isn't really helping.
"It's precisely because I know them that I'm scared!", Hunter doesn't understand why he should be amused by such an issue, they've left chaos behind them, it's not funny.
Philip only scoffs at such thoughts.
"They know how to behave, they won't cause too many problems…", Philip tries to appease the blond-haired boy, but it doesn't really work to be a person capable of giving peace of mind.
"Many?!", Hunter mentions, quite shaken by the possible implication of such words.
Philip snorts as his gaze stays focused straight ahead, the boy's panic amused; but he has reason to be distressed, it is true that the residents of the Boiling Isles can be chaotic...
Hunter is not happy about the smile on his uncle's face, the silence is maintained, until the logical question appears in his mind.
"So, where are we going?", asks the young man with blond hair.
"To our ancestral home…", Philip replies, rummaging through his coat, trying to find something.
"Do we have one?", Hunter had no idea such a thing was possible.
"Of course!", exclaims Philip, he knows full well that it's his own fault that Hunter doesn't know his original home.
"It's time for you to meet Wittebane Manor…", Philip mentions as he holds a key up in the air, which glows and ends up revealing a clearing hidden within a stand of trees, which wasn't visible before.
'So, Wittebane is our family name…' , Hunter thinks.
Hunter remains silent, that name, at some point in the past he has heard it, but the thought fades before he can continue...
The view is beautiful, and Hunter is excited to see the place.
"They're taking a break too, don't beat yourself up about it, Hunter," Philip's gaze conveyed a lot of calm.
Hunter feels himself relax at this particular sight.
The anxious thought is appeased at the words of his uncle; he will trust the man, if he says that everything should be mostly fine, he will believe it.
Philip watches as his nephew calms down and Hunter gives him a weak smile; he gives her a smile in return.
Luckily for him, the boy doesn't realize that this smile on his part is somewhat forced and contains a certain amount of concern.
Hunter really wasn't wrong to be scared.
But Philip puts aside that concern, he has many things to tell his nephew; both begin their descent, ready to visit the old mansion.
It was incredible that after so many years, the building was still standing.
"They should be fine…", he tries to believe his own words, "What kind of trouble could they cause?", Philip murmurs, because deep down, he's still worried.
He doesn't realize that Hunter has heard those words and looks at him in horror.