Tales as Told by Ollie Part 1

Five years ago

Of all the days for it to be Scooter's day off, it HAD to be during the Convention.

And of course, as the Coven's 'ace' or 'poster child', Raine Whispers was automatically pushed towards manning their stand. All day. In a hot, sweaty convention hall crowded with people staring and judging…,.And probably tomorrow as well, as Scooter now had a second grandchild, if Social Media was any indication…Cute boy….odd booger problem though.

Normally Raine would be all for any additions to the Bard Coven; they were they smallest Coven after all and it was always thrilling to see the coven grow and another person realize Bard magic was just as badass; they blamed Scooter's fatherly demeanour for that, and the fact he never went beyond what was already known before his time,

But none of these witches were a good fit for the coven! None of them knew a high from a flat note, no volume control and do not get them started on improper instrument usage; a guitar and violin were NOT THE SAME THING!

"…Titan, I need some Apple Blood." Raine sighed, checking the clock; 5 more hours to go, minus their half hour break for a snack or meal. Maybe they should take that now oh wait, here came somebody:

A little boy, around 8, they wagered, with a hood over his head, looking over at a bell cittan, gently tuning it before they began to…

(AN: Play Raine's Rhapspody)

Wait, Raine knew that song….

It was THEIR song! Well, technically it was Eda's song dedicated to them, but you get the idea.

And this boy was playing it as if he'd heard it his whole life; effortlessly plucking the right notes and being so serene, and not seeming to realizing his magic had now spread to the other instruments and they were now all playing the same song.

Raine's eyes widened; yes the composition and mushing of so many was…messy..but to play so many instruments at once, not knowingly? And such a bright and warm magic…

Just like Eda.

The boy's hood fell, revealing messy long red hair and a warm, confidant smilke everyone knew belonged to the Owl Lady. And that got Raine thinking: Unless Eda broke her vow to never use the 'Bend' spell….

"IT WAS ONE TIME, AND I WAS CURIOUS! AND LILY MADE THE SPELL, NOT ME!" Eda snapped, interrupting the story, then realizing everyone was staring at her and blushing. "Sorry, sweetie. Continue. Please."

Anne chuckled at the idea of Lilith doing something Eda didn't, but then returned her attention to the story.

The boy continued to play, lost in the music and not seeing the crowd gathering. Many took videos and some heading to join the Bard Coven…

When suddenly, the magic disappeared and the boy fell to the ground, sweating and panting. The crowd, no longer interested, disappated, leaving Raine to grab a cup of juice and hand it to the boy, smiling as they did so.

"Kiddo, I don't know who you are, but you are amazing!"

And Raine meant that 100%!

The boy took the drink and downed it, gaggingt at the awful stuff. Raine whistled and played a few notes on their vilolin to levitate more juice into his cup. Raine moved to whistle and change the flavor, but the boy did it himself.

"Ah, much better. Thank y-…..R-Raine Whispers?"

Raine began to feel worry. How did this kid know…wait.. His eyes; one gold and one purple? Red hair? Smile like Eda?

A memory played back to the Bard; one of their last dates with Eda: They'd ditched a concert-opera about Belo's rise to have a picnic with her and her two boys; King and…

"I'm sorry to bother you more, but….Could I get your autograph?" Olivier asked, pulling out a musical sheet; one of Raine's oldest composition, that they'd given to Eda shortly after she was cursed.

With a happy smile on their face, Raine took the sheet and sighed it.

"You thinking of joining the Bard Coven?" Raine asked.

"Torn between them, Beast Keeping and Healing." Olivier revealed. "They say music can soothe a savage beast or curse."

"That it can." Raine smirked, recalling one such mission where they'd played a song to lull a giant to sleep before it was sold off to the Pleasure Islands. "And I gotta say, that little display there? I think you'd do great, Ollie."

The boy tensed at the mention of his name.

"Oh no, no, no. I'm not going to hurt you!" Raine hurriedly assured him. "I…Um…Well, you were only three or four….D-does your…mom….talk about me?"

Olivier smiled weakly.

"The only person she talks about more than you is Lilith."

"Someone say my name?" A normally cold voice asked with some warmth in their voice. Raine smiled, happy to see this face after so long…

"Auntie Lily!" Olivier beamed, hugging the newcomer, who, to the shock of any who knew her, hugged him right back. "Wait, I thought you had to work today."

"I finished early." Lilith half-lied; Kikimora had, in a classic case of butting kissing, dismissed her so that she could handle Lilith assignment and take credit for it. Normally, the older Clawthorne woman would've been angered her hard work was being 'taken' by that imp, but she needed a break and was willing to take it.

Plus, the free time enabled her to check on Olivier. Lilith was about to ask why the 8 year old was alone before she saw who he had been talking to. And with that, a proper smile crossed her face.

"Hello, Raine-storm."

"Come on, only Eda calls me that….Lily." Raine smirked.

"Please, only Edalyn gets to…Wait, is she..?" Lilith started.

"Nah, Bounty hunters came by early and she sent me here." Olivier smiled as if that was normal, something both adult witches grimaced at (as did the humans listening to the story). "I tried to invite Willow and Amity, but Ami's sick and Willow's grandparents are coming over."

Lilith frowned at that; she rather liked the aforementioned girls; mostly because they were nice to her nephew.

"You just missed Ollie here performed a certain song with ALL the instruments here." Raine smirked making Lilith's eyes widen. She motioned Olivier to wait a second before racing to a Coven Scout and using an Oracle spell to save the memory of her nephew's show. She then replicated the spell so Eda could see for herself at the day's end.

"Well, Olivier, is there anything else you'd like to see?" The Emperor's Coven Head Witch asked after she handed her nephew the second memory. "I'd love to come with you or take you home otherwise."

Olivier thought about that; Hettie was doing one of her live surgeries in an hour…and he'd rather not be alone much longer now; Terra and Vitamir were staring at him funny…

His stomach then grumbled.

"…I'm kind of hungry." The boy admitted.

A secondary growl filled the air.

"Come to think of it, I did skip breakfast…" Liloith mused.

"I haven't taken my meal break." Raine added in. "And Scooter gave me way too many Snails for myself. How about we grab a bite and tell Olivier some of the hijinks we used to get into?"

"You…WANT to talk about those?" Lilith asked.

"Eda's not here and Ollie will no doubt inquire when he goes home…" Raine smiled evilly, Lilith following in suit. They then closed the Bard Coven Stand for half an hour and grabbed a nice lunch at the cafeteria

Present day

With his story ended (during which he had played the song), Olivier began to take away the breakfast dishes, despite Bee's insistence

"Its okay, Mr. B." Olivier assured his girlfriend's father. "I like doing the dishes, its calming."

"Counteroffer; I do the dishes and you keep King from messing with Domino."

The two saw King now glaring at Domino.

'10 snails say they brawl and the cat wins.' Owlbert muttered.

'We got none of those, but I'll take that bet.' Fleetwing said.

'Gimme a day and I'll scrounge some snails up.' Fangora smirked.

"Deal." Olivier sighed, moving to his brother and picking him up by the scruff of his neck. "Could you not wait until lunch? And what about future…?"

"So, you do think of it!" King smirked.

"And like that, you just lost that crown." Olivier retorted.

"I didn't know that song was about your family." Hop-Pop realized. "Now I kind of feel bad Grime beat you at the Talent show…"

"So, there WAS a talent show!" Oum noted.

"He used a harp. Everyone was crying." Anne explained. Oliver used an Oracle spell to replay the memory.

(3 hours later)

"…Dang. That IS impressive." The parents noted. It was a good thing it was Sunday and Thai Go was closed!

"So, how did Raine…?" Oum started.

"Meet Ollie? Well, funny story." Eda smiled. "I thought I'd put him and King down for a nap and sneak in a little time with them, but lil Ollie here, ever the mama's boy, snuck into the picnic basket and King followed us. And Raine's always had a soft spot for any music lover, so when Ollie started trying to play.."

"D'aaaw!" The Thai family all cooed, envisioning a toddler Oliver playing a violin…until Eda used Oracle magic to show the memory herself, which made everyone but the boy coo.,

"I was only three!" Olivier weakly whined.

"And you were so cuuuuuuute!" Anne and Eda cooed together, Oum smiling at the scene…and already envisioning cute little grandchildren.

"So, how did YOU and Raine meet?" Bee asked Eda, who then regailed the Boonchuy and frogs about how she met the love of her life.

Anne squealed as the story went on,

"Please do not do unto mom and Raine what you did for Sprig and Ivy." Olivier begged, missing the annoyed look on Sprig and Maddie's faces.

"No promises!" Anne saluted.

OWLPHJBIA

With bellies full and rest still wanting (not to mention lockdown), everyone went about their own days:

Oum and Bee would end up spending the rest of the day teaching Eda the wonders of Rock and Roll (to counterbalance all that 'classical classics', while Anne introduced Olivier to K-POP.

And in the Boiling Isles?

"Okay, now I KNOW Eda and Olivier are doing something without me!" Raine ranted.