The Woods

The storm was fierce and dangerous, with hot raindrops pelting the ground and scorching the trees. Shirou ran through the woods, the hot rain pelting his skin as he made his way to the Owl House. His thoughts lingered on the Owl Beast, trying to find some sort of answer. Phantasmal Species was the common term used to refer to all non-human creatures that are found in legends and fantasy. Eda claimed that all of Earth's legends came from this Realm, but Shirou had doubts. Thousands of years of human culture and belief could not be easily contained here.

From what he could recall, owls had mixed meanings in world mythology. They were one of the few animals to have many different and contradictory beliefs about them. Early Indian folklore and Greek myths and beliefs considered Owls to represent wisdom and helpfulness, and have powers of prophecy. Unfortunately, the isles didn't seem to match much of their cultures. It seemed more like medieval Europe. Perhaps it was a coincidence that by the Middle Ages in Europe, the Owl had become associated with witches and darker powers. An Owl's appearance at night linked the lost with the unknown. Death was imminent, or some evil was at hand.

Earlier

The Owl House

Luz and Fou waiting in the kitchen, the former wearing an apron.

King runs into the room and jumps onto the table. "I got it!"

Luz took the potion and opened it.

Upon smelling it, Fou jumped up and placed a paw on the bottle with a shake of his head. "Fou. Fou. Fou!" Contrary to what Luz may believe, the liquid didn't smell of anything that would grant magical energy.

"Hey, who's the most knowledgeable about magic in this house... besides Eda? Me!"

Luz waved off Fou's concerns. "It'll be fine." She refocused her attention on the potion. "Wow. I can't believe I'm about to learn magic. Real magic. This is historic."

A paw placed his face, Fou deadpanned at the two. If Luz got sick, Shirou would be upset with him because he let it happen under his watch. Four was just about to smack it out of her hands as it neared her mouth, but a clap of thunder startled her, and she fumbled the potion until it smashed on the floor. Seeing this, Fou considered it a win on his part. "Fou!"

Ignoring the white creature's cheer, Luz despaired at the broken bottle. "Golden elixir. Gone! This is awful."

King shrugged. "Who even needs a light spell when we have a ton of lamps?" As if on cue, the lamps dim and die out. King could feel the glares of Luz and Fou in the back of his head. King groaned tiredly. "Hooty controls the house lights. He probably just fell asleep."

They soon heard a crash coming from the front door. "Hoot! Hoot! Hoot, oh, hoot!"

Luz took off her apron and ran to her friend. "Hooty!" When the trio reached the living room, they find the room wrecked and that a shadowy beast had knocked Hooty off his hinges. Objects were strewn across the floor with deep claw marks on the walls.

The creature growled at the two before fleeing into the night outside the shield.

Luz and King ran up to their friend. "Hooty! Are you in there?" She tapped his beak a few times and checked his eye. "He's out cold. Whatever that did this escaped into the rain. What could survive that?"

With Shirou

As Shirou got closer to the house, he could hear a beastly howl in the distance. Unfortunately, his intuition was correct. Eda had succumbed to her curse. He opened both hands, one traced a thin silver sword with a red crossguard and hilt. The other held a stone warhammer with a glowing rune. He had to stop the beast, willing to draw blood, but he didn't want to kill Eda.

His reinforced eyes could spot the house's clearing in the distance. 'Almost there!' When he jumped over another log, it wasn't thunder that roared through the air. Twisting his body with the weight of his blades, he narrowly dodged a massive claw that came down from the tree line. The hero skid across the wet grass to a stop in a defensive position. While the Forrest was dark, flashes of lightning gave brief glimpses of his attacker.

Shirou stood at the edge of the clearing, his weapons held at the ready. Across from him stood a massive beast with wings, its muscles rippling as it let out a deafening roar.

He could see Eda's familiar face in this Owl Beast state. Contrary to what he initially believed, he could see the owl's characteristics, such as the dark gray wings and hind talons, but the rest of the body seemed to be of an unknown quadruped. She had black eyes and gray fur. On the bright side, it didn't look like she ate anybody yet. Then again, they could have been swallowed whole. Better not to dwell on those thoughts.

The swordsman didn't flinch. Instead, he took a deep breath and charged toward Eda. Eda met him head-on, its wings spreading wide as it took to the air. Shirou knew that this would not be an easy fight. If the Demon World was anything like the Reverse Side of the World, who knew how old this Phantasmal Beast was? With age comes power.

Shirou swung his hammer, but she was too quick, dodging out of the way and swooping down to strike with its powerful claws. He barely managed to block the attack with his sword, the force of the blow sending him stumbling backward.

But he wasn't done yet. He quickly regained his footing and charged toward the beast again, this time aiming for its wings. She let out a fierce roar and flew towards the swordsman, its wings flapping wildly. The Owl Beast responded with a swift claw strike, but Shirou dodged and struck back with surgical precision.

The Owl Beast let out a screech of pain as the warhammer made contact, but quickly regained its composure and lunged at the Shirou with its fangs. Shirou blocked the attack with his sword, but the impact force sent him flying backward. The Owl Beast took advantage of Shirou's vulnerability and swooped down with its powerful wings, but Shirou could roll out of the way just in time. The two continued to fight, trading blows and dodging attacks. The Owl Beast landed with a thud, and Shirou quickly regained his footing. This was the opening he needed.

The Owl Beast turned around until its eyes widened. Her entire body froze. Her muscles tensed, but she could not move, no matter how hard she tried. All she could do was dart her eyes left and right and move her mouth. Its body language screamed panic.

Hidden behind the Owl Beast, the silhouette of a sword was visible from where it had subtly stabbed into its shadow. A Black Key. The preferred weapon and sacrament of the Enforcers of the Holy Church of another world manifested its unique restraint ability. Once pinned to the shadow of an enemy, there was no longer any room for escape unless disturbed by a higher power.

Taking a breath, Shirou walked toward his captured friend. "Eda... What happened to you?..." A part of his mind screamed for a particular phantasm to come out, but the brute force solution had risks, risks that he didn't want to take. Not now, at least. He needed to know more. "I'm just trying to help you. Please." Both were already drenched in boiling rain, but that didn't stop Shirou. As he drew closer, he placed a palm on Eda's forehead, much to her struggles to escape. "Trace On." Teal lines across his arms lit up, and upon actualization, Shirou's and Eda's eyes glowed white.

Information flooded the hero's mind. He could see the magical overlay of the curse over her being. A frown grew on his face. While he couldn't understand the runic symbols, he could tell that these patterns and designs were far too complex for something made by mortal means. He could see this ichor of black magic sapping energy from her bile sac. Not only that, there was a degrading effect on the body. That explained why her hair was graying as if she was over sixty. From what Principal Bump showed them, she had to be around her forties, but she didn't have any shade of orange hair left from before.

He needed to look deeper, and when he reached the core, her soul, he was sure. It was an amalgamation of souls. Two souls in one body. One trying to overtake the other. He could feel both of them crying out. This curse was directly tied to the soul. He didn't know the limits of this world's magic, but he knew this could only have been the work of a True Sorcerer or something else. The dagger wouldn't be the cure-all as he hoped, but there should be some relief.

Sadly, Shirou could not probe further. It seemed fate had other plans. Another lightning bolt struck nearby, but its flash was close enough separate the Owl Beast's shadow from the Black Key. It was for a split second, but that was all the cornered animal needed to free itself, thanks to its naturally high magic resistance. A black essence leaked from the Owl beast and onto the Black Keys. Upon contact, their magical structure destabilized. Its power decayed and nullified.

No longer bound, the Owl Beast performed a surprise attack on the distracted hero, bashing Shirou against the mud and removing the air from his lungs. With a wind-up, he tossed the teen far away into the tree line. Not wanting to be out in the open any longer, Eda quickly escaped toward its nest.

Moments later, Shirou landed with a thud, much to his annoyance. Feeling that nothing was broken, he carefully pushed himself back up. His thoughts shifted to the half-destroyed black Key and the direction Eda few off. "No one ever said protecting your friends was gonna be easy." The teen chased after his fellow teacher, hoping his master was still safe.

The Owl House

For the past fifteen minutes or so, Luz panicked while King and Fou stood off to the side, relatively unfazed. "Oh, my god. This can't be happening. What was that thing?"

King snapped his claws. "It must have been the Snaggleback! I know it feeds during the rain. It must have been in the woods nearby and stumbled across our house. It probably saw us as a potential meal, with Hooty being its first target."

Fou sniffed the area. What residual magic was left behind was distinct. This was no ordinary predator. Something dark was tied to it, but he didn't know what.

They hear something howl from behind the house, followed by the crash of another window. It sounded less menacing than last time.

Luz wrapped herself in her arms. "This is terrifying." Her expression turned to glare toward King. "So why do you look so happy?"

King just squealed. "Because this could be a lesson. This would be a great way for you to see a wild demon up close and personal."

Luz's stomach dropped. "If I wanted to learn about wild demons, I would visit a zoo. Not encounter one in the house. If you're thinking us going toward that thing, you're crazy." Her eyes drifted to her command seals. "Wait. Of course. Why didn't I think of this before." She lifted up her arm and showed the seals to King. "I can use these to summon Shirou from almost anywhere!"

Fou got up on his hind legs and agreed with that suggestion. "Fou! Fou!"

King's eyes widened. "You can do that? How!?"

"I... Don't know." Luz's expression fell along with her arm. "Dammit, Shirou!"

Both Fou and King fell flat at her admission. "Then it's up to us. What if Eda gets eaten? She's upstairs and defenseless because you knocked her out."

Luz groaned. "I didn't knock her out, she was already tired when she got on the couch. In any case, you're right. We have to check up on Eda. We might be able to wake her to help us."

With the plan out of the way, the three prepared for battle with whatever was lying around the living room and the kitchen. Luz put on rubber gloves, makeshift chest cushion padding, and bandages under her eyes like eye black. King did the same with a pillow. Fou didn't want to wear anything, but Luz tied a pillow to his back anyways. Luz grabbed a hockey stick while King grabbed Francois. "Weh!"

As the three approached the staircase, Luz used her phone's flashlight. Floorboards creaked with each step into the darkness. They got through half the hallway before they saw Eda's door creak open. All three stopped with bated breaths, waiting for something to step out, but seconds later, nothing did. They share all shared a nervous look. Who would go first?

Fou pawed at the hockey stick and pointed at the door.

Getting the message, Luz stretched out the stick and pushed the door further open. It creaks once more. No response. Believing it safe, the trio entered the master bedroom, revealing that Eda was gone and the stained glass window was shattered.

Luz and the others grew worried. "Oh, my gosh. Eda!" She ran to the nest to find clues about what had happened.

King pressed himself against the wall in fear, holding Francois for comfort. "S-She got snaggle-backed." Fou stayed next to him and did his best to give some form of reassurance.

"Eda?" Luz dug through the nest before pulling out a clawed-up pillow. "No!" She turned to her friend. "King! You're the demon expert. We need your help. How do we stop it?"

King took a breath and collected himself. "I-I'll go get my demon book."

"Okay, just be careful."

King and Fou ran out of the room and down the hall. For a moment, Fou paused and looked to the rafters. He could have sworn that there was something there. They got to King's room without any issue, collected the books, and returned to Eda's room. "Did you want the first edition or second? I got both." He felt Fou smack him on the side. "What?" King followed the Cath's gaze and discovered Luz was gone and gasped. "Luz?" He dropped the books, no longer important. "The Snaggleback got her."

The two hear a snarl and the wind behind them. Throwing caution to the wind, King chased after it with Fou following behind. "You craven beast. Give me back my boo-boo buddy." He rounded a corner and gasped. A door creaked closed with Luz's shoe in front of it. "Luz?" King slowly walked over and picked it up.

Fou pressed his nose against it before trying to sniff out Luz.

Steeling his nerves, King held the shoe like a club. He opened the door and enters the closet, noticing a shadow hiding behind clothes. "There's nowhere for you to run!" He pulled the curtains back, revealing a snaggleback. However, it was smaller, and his shell was less spikey than his books depicted. "Snaggleback? Wow, you are a lot shorter in person."

"I'm sorry! I-I'm sorry! I just needed a place to hide from the rain!" the creature stuttered.

"Then why did you break down our door and take my friends? That's not cool, man."

Snaggleback blinked. "I didn't do that! I just climbed into the window just now."

King and Fou blinked. "Wait. What?"

Suddenly, a claw broke through the ceiling and grabbed the snaggleback. "Oh, no! AAAHHH!"

King gulps as he and Fou look behind them and saw the large creature spit out the shell of the snaggleback before growling. He opened his mouth to say something, but picked up Fou and ran for his life, narrowly dodging its claws. Sadly, the creature was hot on his tail. As he ran down another hallway with Fou, an arm reached from a doorway and pulled the two in before closing. Thankfully, the beast walked down in another direction.

He looked up at his savior. "Luz?"

She breathed a sigh of relief. "King! Fou! Thank god, you're okay."

"Where did you go?

Luz frowned. "I'm sorry. I panicked. Eda was gone. Then, you left to get the book with Fou. I still can't get Shirou. I tried to find something to help. Then I tripped and lost my shoe." She spotted said shoe in King's claw. "Oh, hey, you found it. Thanks."

King was at a loss for words. He thought he had lost her. "I-" When Luz raised her foot to put her shoe back, he found a piece of paper on the bottom. "What's that?" He took it and read it aloud. "Keeps the curse at bay." The words clicked in his head, gasping. He pulled out the tag in his collar and put them together. "An elixir a day keeps the curse at bay."

Luz frowned in confusion. "Curse? Wait, what are you trying to say?" Fou also raised a brow at the tag's words.

"I was wrong the whole time. That's no Snaggleback. That creature is..."

Suddenly, a clawed hand bursts through the door. The two screamed in fear as the creature's full body was revealed in the light.

The girl's eyes widened in disbelief. "Eda?!"

Eda snarled and stalked closer, raising a claw. Luz closed her eyes and curled up, screaming. The motion caused her phone to fall out of her pocket and hit the floor, making the camera flash go off. The flash blinded Eda, making her scream. Fou quickly sprinted and launched himself in a spiral at Eda. "FOU!" An outstretched paw smacked the Owl Beast right in the exposed cheek, causing a cloud of dust to erupt. Instead of continuing an attack, he ran up to Luz, encouraging her to get up and run.

Not questioning what was happening, Luz picks up King and Fou before jumping out the windows sill balcony.

Just as Eda was recovering from the brief ordeal, neither party expected a bright red boxing glove arrow to shoot into the house, smacking the Owl Beast dead center in the chest and launching it through a wall. As expected, the Owl Beast's aggressive instincts kicked in and angrily chased after the source in the Boiling Rain.

"Thanks for the opening, Fou. What would I do without you?" Hundreds of meters away, Shirou shook his head. "And they said a boxing Glove Arrow was a bad idea. Sometimes, you just need to punch someone far away." He dismissed his bow and traced a bo-staff, ready to knock out his target.

A/N: Special thanks to Jebest4781, Charles, and Seana!

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. If you did, please follow or review/comment. See you guys in the next chapter.

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