The Half-Titan

The Rebus

~Chapter Twenty-Seven - The Rebus ~

Luz started going back to school about two months ago. Right I have become surprisingly close with Vee in those few months, given we must stay home all day. Guz finally finished the concealment stone not too long ago. It was strange not seeing my wings in the mirror, obviously I knew they were still there. 

Now here we are, sitting in the abandoned house we came from trying our best to learn some human language from the demonic owl that wasn't hooty. 

"Perfecto! You're our top student!" The screen read when Vee said the phrase perfectly. Vee and I grew pretty close throughout the summer, considering we were both demons from the Isles. 

"He's still doing that, huh?" Gus asked grabbing my attention. FlapJack was wandering around the room, pecking at the floor. What was he looking for? He had been doing it since we got here. "He won't tell me what he's looking for." Hunter said.

Suddenly the door opened and in came Camila. "Hi! Ooh! I like what you've done with the place. No more exposed nails, or possum nests. But this still confuses me." She said as she admired the room before pushing the door all the way open to reveal a poorly drawn hooty. "Yeah. He still confuses us too." Willow said. 

"Hola, Camila. We're learning Spanish from this scary owl app." Gus said as he held up the tablet. "Oh, okay." Camila responded. "Well, I'm going to pick up Luz from school. Pop quiz. ¿Cómo se dice eso en español?" Camila asked. Hunter jumped up from his seat. "Oh! Uh. Voy a. . . Luz. . . escuela?" Hunter said. I smiled a little. He was trying and it was cute. Wait what?

"Voy a recoger a Luz de la escuela." Vee said perfectly. I gave her a sticker to which she took happily. "Muy bueno! Keep it up!" Camila said before leaving. Vee smiled in delight. 

We continued with the Spanish lessons. Hunter sat back down beside me, he seemed a little upset. After repeating a few words from the tablet Amity spoke up. 

"Maybe we should take a break." She said. "A siesta." Willow pointed. "Siesta!" Gus said as he raised his hands in the air. "We've been here for months and we've made no progress on the portal door. We can't expect Camila to take care of us forever." Amity said. She gave a fair point. 

"In the meantime, we could pull more weight around the kitchen. My mustard ravioli did bring tears to her eyes." Gus gloated with a smirk on his face. "Those weren't the kind of tears you're thinking of." Vee mumbled. 

"I can help fix damaged clothes!" Hunter exclaimed, holding up an over-patched sweater. "I could spruce up the garden!" Willow said. The plants she held growled at Amity. "I can help clean the house! Get rid of that one rat still in the basement. Oh! And the spiders in the sink." I said before shivering. That was disgusting. 

Amity turned towards the door. We all watched as the wind blew it open. "Maybe we need to look elsewhere. There's an entire Human Realm to search." Amity exclaimed. Willow snapped a picture of her. "But Luz has school most of the week." Willow said. "So? Let's explore the town ourselves. After all, Luz went into the Boiling Isles on her own." Amity said. 

"If Eda came here before, maybe there were others. Maybe they left behind something we can use!" Gus said. "Yes! That's the spirit. Together, there is no challenge that can hold us back- Oof. . . Ow." Amity's foot got stuck in a hole resulting in her face-planting. "It's a sign. We're doomed!" Gus yelled. 

"Come on, FlapJack. This isn't funny anymore." Amity said, lifting her leg out of the hole. She gasped when she looked down. "What is it?" I asked. Amity reached into the hole. "There's something in here." She said before she took out a small container. We all gasped.