The Coven's Man: Forever Golden (The Owl House Spin-Off Fanfiction)

Chapter Ten - Shining Star (Finale Part I)

All the while explosions and scuffling continued, Lilith and Kikimora were still dangling near the edge of the ship. They both held tight to their vantage points. While Lilith's fingers clasped the sharp metal edge, slipping by the second, Kikimora grabbed onto her, a poor decision that caused Lilith to gradually lose her grip.

With all of her remaining strength, Lilith pulled Kikimora up. Since she needed her other hand to be free, Lilith told Kikimora to climb up and hold her left arm which was busy keeping them from freefalling into the water that could surely burn them alive.

"Up, up! Come on!" Lilith grumped, lifting Kikimora with only one hand. Surprisingly, she could do such a thing, something that even she was surprised about.

Kikimora obeyed, reaching for Lilith's other arm. It took them a while, but Kikimora eventually managed to ascend, both her hands holding Lilith's arm. Lilith half expected Kikimora to keep climbing up and just leave her hanging, but she seemed like she wasn't able to do that anyway. Now with her right hand free, Lilith opened her fist.

The rescue boats departed further and further from the ship. The evacuees were so occupied with saving their own lives, they didn't notice the folly that followed after the inferno. Salty was one of the passengers who rode the rescue boat driven by Steve. Lilith's palisman was still in his claw and no one noticed. He leaned backwards, fatigued.

He was aware of the raven palisman suddenly slipping upwards from his strong grip, but there were other things worth paying attention to, and that was getting to safety. After all, the palisman wasn't his. Maybe it did make him curious a little bit. Sensing Lilith's call and her need for assistance, the white raven turned sentient and flew back towards the ship at a high speed.

Meanwhile, Kikimora attempted to pull herself up, as Lilith expected. Kikimora almost put her head up over the edge but stopped halfway through, only her red and yellow eyes going over the edge's level to see what's going down. To her surprise, Belos wasn't anywhere present. Instead, there was an abomination golem shaped like him.

"You know how it feels... having to endure your worst memories again?"

However, that wasn't the thing that caught her attention the most. On the ship's deck stood Adrian, calm and laid-back like his usual posture, a spell circle active in both his hands. He stood tall before a wildly motioning Hunter, his eyes glowing the iconic blue of an illusion spell. It was obvious that he was seeing things, given how giddy he behaved while having his eyes wide.

"It felt a little bit..." Adrian rolled his eyes, before smirking. "Like this."

Kikimora looked around the deck, noticing several other people, who weren't the rest of the ship's crew, who witnessed Adrian putting Hunter under an illusion spell that was making him spiral out of control. All of those people were expressionless, unlike Adrian who had a smile on his face as he carried on tormenting Hunter. The same feeling of satisfaction hit Kikimora, urging a smile to form on her face as well.

Reaching Lilith and Kikimora, the raven transformed back into his staff form for his master to manage herself. Lilith grabbed the staff and placed it underneath her.

"We have to move," Lilith said next to Kikimora's ear. Instead of complying immediately, Kikimora pointed at the middle of the ship deck.

Opposing Kikimora who wasn't at all fazed by the bizarre occurrence, distracted by taking the pleasure of seeing Hunter being overpowered, Lilith found it perplexing. She was confused, baffled, and angered all at the same time. She didn't know what was going on. She had the impulse to shout at Graye for whatever he's doing to Hunter, but she sealed her lips and opened her pointy ears long enough to realize what was happening.