Don't Look Back

by Polychroma_Izu

Summary:

[HIATUS]

King Andrias is furious, he was so close to finishing the goal his ancestors longed to complete, but WIT never showed up, putting a wrench in all his plans.

Emperor Belos is irritated, rebellion bubbles beneath his iron fist and he will not have it. Meanwhile the ones behind it all threaten the plan he has been itching to enact for centuries.

Marcy struggles to deal with day to day life after the move that ruined her, but it gets easier when she hears that bubbly laugh, excited voice or sees those beautiful hazelnut eyes, but their life is about to be flipped upside down when one thing leads to another and they find themselves in a realm full of unimaginable possibilities.

Luz finally has a friend, and she couldn't be any cooler, except said friend has a huge load of emotional baggage, and by the titan Luz will be there to help.

All while in the background, none of them know that all these events have been leading to one cataclysmic doomsday that threatens the balance of the 3 worlds.

Chapter 1: Moving Away

Notes:

HELP I DONT KNOW HOW TO DO NOTES

so like, welcome??

you know me im probably never gonna finish a fanfic, but i think this one might be the one

and i probably said that for every other one i made but shush let me dream ok

"I'm truly sorry Marcy, but you must understand, your father got a job in Connecticut, its simply too long of a distance for us to stay here and for him to leave, this hurts me as much as it hurts you..." Marcy's mother consoled the crying teen.

 

"B-but, my friends! I-I've known them my entire life, I c-can't just leave them behind..." Marcy sobbed, her mother sighed.

 

"I'm sorry Marcy, but there's nothing we can do."

 

 

 

Three girls sit in a park, the same park they've been hanging out at since they met as children. This day however isn't a happy day, despite being one of their birthdays.

 

This was the day they would be split apart.

 

"H-Happy birthday Anne..." Marcy let out, trying not to stutter too much as she gave Anne a huge bag of presents, Anne didn't know Marcy was moving, none of them did, so without hesitation Anne wrapped Marcy in a tight hug as thanks, and that was the last straw as Marcy broke down.

 

"Whats wrong, Marcy?!" Anne exclaimed in worry, Sasha watched with concern, coming to Anne's side.

 

"My p-parents, they- they're gonna tear us apart!" She sobbed out, Anne and Sasha were confused but concerned.

 

"What do you mean, Marbles?" One of those cute nicknames the squad had come up with for Marcy was all it took to make her even sadder.

 

"M-My dad got a job i-in Connecticut, they're gonna make me move- They're making me l-leave you guys!"

 

That set the girls off as they suddenly had very mixed reactions.

 

"What?! They can't do that, that's not fair!" Sasha shouted in anger as she kicked a rock into a tree, making a squirrel fall out. Meanwhile, Anne just sat there, staring off into distant space as she tried to process what she just heard. Her best friend was getting torn away from her.

 

All the memories they had, time they spent together.

 

Her adorable dorky laughter and incessant yet fond ramblings of her weekly new obsession.

 

Her clumsy personality and Anne always having to make sure she wasn't going to run into anything, she was going to lose that.

 

"nne-, Anne?!" She blinked, Sasha held a worried look on her face as Marcy dug her head into the blonde's side.

 

"Wh- Oh, sorry, I um, must have spaced out..." She muttered as she looked away, Sasha was about to yell at Anne for losing focus during a very important problem when she realized why she lost focus.

 

She and Anne took anger or sadness two very different ways, while Sasha took things more aggressively, Anne tended to stay quiet and keep to herself, she didn't lose focus because she wasn't paying attention, she lost focus because that's her way of showing how devastated she was at the news.

 

"Well..." Sasha started as she wrapped the two in a tearful hug, "Let's make this the best last day together, ever!"

 

---

 

Later that night...

 

Anne numbly stumbled home, it had started to rain a little bit after the trio had disbanded for the final time. (Well, the trio would now become a duo, and their only way of talking to Marcy would be over discord or phone, better than nothing) She turned to rest her head a bit on a glass wall of what she assumed to be some old antique store when a gold-engraved music box caught her attention, it seemed to draw her towards it. voices calling her in an unknown dialect.

 

She entered the shop, a chime announcing her arrival, which fell on deaf ears to the seemingly dead asleep cashier. Making her way to the back of the shop where the music box was kept, the pull only got stronger as she got closer, she was able to make out more finer details.

 

The box had a green tint to it, as did the gold, murky even, on it was the image of what looked like a large frog holding its hands out to the most interesting part of the box, the 3 gemstones on them, near colourless. The smallest tinge of colour remained in them though, it made her feel empty almost. The gems were coloured Blue, Green and Scarlet. Looking around in the empty shop, she picked up the box and quickly pocketed it. Hastily leaving the store she messaged Sasha to meet her at the park.

 

 

The rain had died down by the time Sasha arrived, sauntering into the park with a confused expression.

 

"What's this all about, Anne?" She asked the Thai girl, walking over to sit next to Anne, "You said you had something to show me?"

 

Anne pulled out the box, its gold shining under the little spots of moon peeking from beyond the thundering clouds above, Sasha gasped as she looked at it.

 

"Wow, this must have cost a lot. Is this some kind of last second gift for..." She trailed off on the touchy subject, but Anne shook her head slowly.

 

"I didn't buy it." She looked at the surprise in the blonde's eyes before turning her gaze back to the box in front of her. Her hands nursed the sides softly, it felt smooth yet weathered, her fingers running across the grooves in the wood and small imperfections in the gold lining. "When I saw the box, I felt a weird pull, almost like it was saying my name, begging me to open it, but yet at the same time I couldn't understand it, it was like voices in my head speaking gibberish but yet I could understand it?" 

 

Sasha looked confused, and then took the box from Anne's hands and looked at it. Turning back to Anne, she smiled.

 

"Well let's open it and see what's inside!"

 

That night, neither Anne or Sasha came home.

 

---

 

Marcy couldn't sleep, her new room looked vastly similar to her old one, and yet it felt so foreign. She had tried messaging the girls once she landed the day after Anne's birthday but none of them had responded yet, her mind clouded with anxiety and nerves, as well as the tugging sense of worry all added to her already existing insomnia. She tossed and turned in her sheets, before turning to her phone to check the time.

 

4:32 AM

 

Great... She rose from her bed, tossing her sheets to the side as she sat at her desk, booting up her PC she thought about things to do, she clearly wasn't falling asleep again tonight.

 

Finally, she decided to look up some fanfictions of her favourite book series, The Good Witch Azura. Scrolling for a bit, she found a good one with a decent amount of completion, clicking on it she started reading.

 

Well into the next day, Marcy sat, eyes glued to the screen as she completed chapter 23 of the story, it was exhilarating, making her forget all about her previous worries. She decided to leave a few comments about how well the story was plotted, and also about how she couldn't wait about what comes next, to which the author, someone fittingly dubbed "Luzura" responded rather quickly and excitedly. They had a few back and forth messages, but a notification sounded off on her phone next to her. Checking it revealed that it was a message from her Mom, asking her to come downstairs. Typing a farewell message to her new friend, then yawning and stretching, the satisfying pops of bones clacking back into place let her know she was ready to attempt walking on a half empty battery, she made her way downstairs.

 

"Ah, there you are dear." Her Mom greeted her, before checking her watch, "It's 1pm, are you ok? I know you aren't normally a morning bird but you don't usually come down this late..." Marcy waved her off without concern, hoping she wouldn't notice the dark circles that spelt her morning activities.

 

"Don't worry Mom, I just got distracted reading some fanfic when I woke up," She smiled as it seemed to satisfy her Mom, before looking around. "Is Dad already at his new job?" Marcy's Mom nodded, gathering some breakfast for the girl.

 

"Up and early like usual sweetie, you know how he is, always excited to make sure we stay afloat, even now with my job being easier now that I live much closer to headquarters, we could easily keep up without him having to tire himself every day." Her Mom looked to the side slightly as she passed a bowl of cereal and some orange juice to Marcy, who happily took it and shot out a quick thanks. "I think there's some deep-seeded trauma about not feeling like he's doing enough for this family, those inconsiderate parents of his, always so demanding..." 

 

Marcy frowned slightly as she ate her breakfast. Mid mouthful she turned to her Mom with the burning question.

 

"Have Anne or Sasha's parents talked to you at all since we moved away?"

 

Her Mom's eyes widened, before she quickly checked her phone, shaking her head as she sat the phone back down on the counter she took a pensive look at her daughter.

 

"Unfortunately not, why, is there something wrong with the girls?" Marcy shrugged, it was a little too early to say there's something wrong, they could just be busy, or trying to cope.

 

"Nah, just curious y'dig?" Shooting finger guns at her Mom as she washed her dishes quickly, before turning to run back upstairs. A hand on her shoulder quickly stopped her, she turned to see her Mom smiling at her.

 

"Don't forget, you start your new school on Monday, ok? And I know so far school has been an absolute breeze for you, my intelligent little girl, but please remember, try to make some new friends ok? Anne and Sasha may be there in spirit but you can't have no friends to support you in person." Her smile turned a little sad, but she kept it up just to make sure her daughter felt confident.

 

Marcy simply pumped her fist and gave a wide smile.

 

"You can count on me, Mom!"

 

---

 

 

And there Marcy stood, in front of her new school. Staring it down she felt mildly intimidated, she had never had to deal with the issue of not having friends in an unfamiliar environment, Anne and Sasha had been there for her before, speaking of which, it had been 5 days since they responded last, she was seriously starting to get worried, but she hoped it wasn't anything too serious. For now, she had a new school to tackle.

 

Which unfortunately, was a lot harder than it seemed.

 

It was lunch break, and not only had she made a fool of herself on multiple occasions, she had also been insulted for her usual antics. It wasn't her fault she was neurodivergent, she just happened to find something so much more interesting than other things much easier than anyone else would. She numbly ate away at her food when a girl caught her eye.

 

The girl was decently tall, looking like she was in the same grade as her, she had darker skin and short, fluffy dark brown hair, with large amber eyes. she was clad in a half white, half purple crop-top hoodie with denim jeans and black tights, she had white sneakers and a cat backpack. but what caught her eye the most was the Good Witch Azura book poking out from one of the pockets of her bag. Almost instantly she lit up, and went to get up to introduce herself, but she held herself back.

 

"If she's like everyone else in this school, odds are if I introduce myself with as much enthusiasm as I have been to everyone else, she'll laugh at me."

 

Sitting there a little conflicted, she hadn't even noticed that the girl in question had walked up to her table with a friendly smile.

 

"Heya, my name is Luz Noceda, you're the new student right?" She asked with almost child-like joy, Marcy snapped out of her self-deprecating spiral, thankful for the interruption, before she shyly smiled and waved.

 

"Yeah, my name's Marcy, Marcy Wu," She looked up at Luz, who smiled in return, gesturing to the seat in front of her.

 

"This seat taken?" She asked with a smirk on her face, Marcy stared at her for a few seconds before shaking out of her stupor and shaking her head dumbly.

 

"Not at all!" She squeaked out, Luz giggled and sat down with her food, but as she was trying to put her bag down she accidentally dropped it, the Good Witch Azura book dropping out onto the floor.

 

"Rats, I didn't close my bag properly!" Luz exclaimed, quickly picking up the book and trying to hide it, Marcy almost immediately noticed. "She's acting like I'm in the position to judge her, maybe she isn't one of the school popular kids?"

She took this moment to seize her opportunity.

 

"You read Good Witch Azura?" She asked kindly, though the look that made its way across Luz's features made her realize something was wrong. The Hispanic girl looked away in shame.

 

"Welp, there goes that, another day, another wasted opportunity at a friend..." She then turned to meet Marcy's confused eyes. "Well, I'll get out of your hair then, have a nice day." She went to get up before Marcy jumped up to grab her wrist to pull her back down.

 

"Where do you think you're going?" Marcy smiled smugly as she reached into her bag, pulling her very own copy of the book out, "Don't think I'm gonna let a fellow Azura enjoyer out of my grasp, do you know how rare it is to find someone who appreciates proper modern literature these days?"

 

Luz gasped so hard she actually started coughing.

 

"Hey! You ok?" Marcy exclaimed, trying to sit the girl down and help her, when Luz stopped coughing and smiled so wide Marcy swore about a million light-deprived universes got their fill in that very moment.

 

"I can't believe it! Someone who actually likes Azura!" She exclaimed in excitement, "And you only decide to tell me this now?" She puffed her cheeks out, which Marcy admitted looked very adorable, she giggled.

 

"Well, duh! Everyone else in this school seems to hate the franchise, I wasn't gonna embarrass myself again, not the 238th time today, no thank you" Marcy grinned sadly, Luz meanwhile spat her milk out.

 

"238th?! God if there were no rules i swear I would unleash the gildersnakes on this stupid school if they're so blind to see a new friend staring them right in the face!" Luz angrily shouted, fallen on deaf ears to the rest of the cafeteria. Marcy looked surprised at the sentiment, but then snickered.

 

"Really? The gildersnakes cant hurt humans, silly, only witches can be sensed by a gildersnake." She lightly jabbed at Luz who snickered at her own mistake, before the two dissolved into their own ramblings. Maybe life wouldn't be so bad here after all.

 

Notes:

so yeah that happened

wholesome friendship is only just starting

Chapter 2: Change of Pace

Notes:

wow, thats like, the most positive reception ive gotten for a fanfic in the short amount of time its been posted, thank you so much guys! I'll look forward to keeping you fulfilled with this promising story, starting with the friendship of Luz and Marcy. Meanwhile Sash and Anne are not doing so great :D

"C'mon Luz, we don't wanna be late!" Marcy pulled her friend by the sleeve as they rushed to their classroom. It had been a week since their meeting and the girls had only grown closer as they realised how much they were alike. Marcy's overly enthusiastic approach to her interests left Luz in awe of how excitable the girl got over things that she liked, meanwhile Marcy was incredibly surprised to find that Luz actually payed attention to her. The nagging feeling of there being something wrong kept tugging in the back of her mind had been only growing as had her worry for her two old friends, since neither of them have responded yet, but she decided to forgo her worry in place of making sure her new friend felt happy.

 

"Coming!" Luz yelped out as she was tugged along, struggling to hold onto her books. They rushed into the class mere seconds before the bell rang, leaving the two girls to breathe a sigh of relief. As they sat down next to each other, giggling, they got out their books.

 

Life was pretty great at the moment.

 

---

 

"Hey Luz, do you wanna come over to my house for a sleepover tonight?" Marcy asked the Hispanic girl as they ate away at their lunch, the girl in question dropped her sandwich in excitement.

 

"Really?!" Marcy nodded, smiling. "I'd love to! I've gotta ask my Mom but I'm sure she'll be thrilled to hear someone finally asked me for a sleepover!" Marcy frowned at that.

 

"Have you never been to a sleepover before?" The Taiwanese-American girl asked in concern, Luz shook her head.

 

"You only ever get invited to sleepovers if you have friends to invite you," She said with a shrug, "But oh well, what matters now is I have you, the best friend in the world!"

 

Marcy blushed at that as she bashfully rubbed her neck.

 

"I'm not that great," She humbly admitted, "My 2 friends, back in L.A., I always used to try and force my fantasies and interests on to them, it led to them kind of ignoring what I wanted," When she looked up she saw the pouting, adorable face of her friend mere inches away from hers.

 

"Weh!" She fell back, "Sorry, I just really love backstories, but um, it's not really right of them to ignore your wants, if you want a healthy friendship, everyone should get equal treatment," She rambled, before quickly embracing Marcy in a hug. Marcy smiled softly and hugged back, tears pricking at her eyes.

 

Luz stilled when she heard sobbing from her friend, not letting go of the hug she moved her head slightly so that it touched Marcy's.

 

"Are you ok? I'm sorry if I said something wrong I-" She was cut off by the hug tightening.

 

"No, no, god no, Luz, you're too nice for your own good I swear, I just... miss them, is all" She sniffled, wiping some of the tears away with her spare arm, "They haven't responded to any of my messages since I moved, it's kind of worrying..."

 

Luz broke the hug, resting her hands on Marcy's shoulders with a determined look on her face.

 

"Don't you worry. If they're gonna toss aside someone as cool, awesome, unique, kind and caring as you, then they don't deserve you. I'm gonna make sure I do everything in my power to make you feel like you're important, because in the one small week we've known each other, I've actually enjoyed going to school, if only to see you, talk to you, listen to you ramble about your interests and talk about Good Witch Azura. I will be the best friend ever, you can count on it Marc!"

 

Marcy teared up again, quickly enveloping her friend in a bone-crushing hug as the two sat, oblivious to the cafeteria around them as the bell had already long gone, but it fell on deaf ears as the two friends consoled one another. And if they were late to class that day, well, no one pointed out the tear marks on the girls' cheeks.

 

---

 

"Woah!" Anne shouted as she fell to the side a giant claw coming down on the spot she was just in, mud splattering everywhere. That could have been me. She slid under another swipe, kicking up mud into the mantis' eyes. The beast let an unruly, ear-grating screech  out as it tried to shake the mud out, bringing a claw to wipe it out, she then kicked the leg in, causing it to trip over, the claw stabbing through its face. Anne stood up, panting and analysing the scene before her, when the beast didn't move she cheered. Dinner was served.

 

The slight crimson hue of the red moon had befallen within the cracks of the roof to the girls small camp, a tiny clearing in a thicket of trees, large leaves had been placed on the mud to make the floor dryer, and she had hauled large logs to build up walls, the trees acting like a roof, thick enough that no water could get in if it were to rain. a fire crackled, illuminating the area as she held one of the large legs of the mantis over the fire with a makeshift holder fashioned out of some wet wood and stones. Once she had deducted that the leg was sufficiently cooked she leant back on some bundles of grass she had turned into a bed, absentmindedly biting the leg. The first few days had been bad but she had gotten used to eating bugs and weird fruits that she wasn't sure were poisonous or not. She flipped open a schoolbook and began to write down in it.

 

'Day 8: Uneventful. Found a new species, tastes quite good actually, too bad it's incredibly exhausting to take down. Still no sign of Sasha, or any intelligent life.'

 

'Deductions: Definitely in another world, or on another planet, wildlife seems to be much... more here than back on earth. Bugs and the like are bigger, more aggressive. Moon is red, though I'm sure that means nothing.'

 

"God I sound like Marcy right now." She looked up towards the slithers of crimson that eluded her roof, tears welling in her eyes.

 

"I hope you two are safe, wherever you are."

 

Anne cried herself to sleep that night, just like every other night.

 

---

 

Tower Grime stood tall on the border between frog and newt-kind. Its presence was both a warning and a reassurance, heavily guarded. In the events of an emergency on either side, members of Tower Grime, along with Tower Beatrix and the Tower Agrion, would assemble their forces to dissolve the situation, but they are also cruel, and will not hesitate to assert aggressive dominance to either side. But tonight Tower Grime would not be able to give assistance, they were dealing with an... issue. 

 

"She's kicking me!"

 

"Ow, stop elbowing me!"

 

"Is that a knife?!"

 

Captain Grime groaned in annoyance as he facepalmed. His forces were by far the most embarrassing warriors in all of Amphibia, they couldn't even keep a single simple... thing  under control.

 

"Soldiers, focus! You are Amphibia's arms, act like it!" He commanded, "And please, for the love of god Darrek, please tell me you aren't wearing your chestplate as pants..."

 

'Darrek' looked away as he grimaced.

 

"I'll do better next time, Grime Sir!"

 

Grime grumbled.

 

"You better."

 

The thing that Grime's forces were struggling to take down was one Sasha Waybright, who was biting and kicking, growling and shouting.

 

"Get your gross, slimy toad bits off of me!" She shouted, kicking a Toads face in to accentuate her sentence. It wasn't long before she was fully surrounded, a Toad hit her in the ankle with a club and she yelped in pain, tumbling to the ground. She snarled as crude handcuffs were painfully ensnared to her wrists. She shouted profanities as she was dragged away.

 

"Finally, you incompetent fools. You are all dismissed."

 

He then turned to follow the toads who took Sasha away.

 

 

Reaching the cell, the girl inside looked subdued, and if Grime had squinted, he could see the tiniest amount of fear in her features. He marched up to her cell and bashed on the bars, causing the girl to jump, seeing him though caused her to scoff and roll her eyes.

 

"Oh, it's you." She snarked out curtly, Grime looked down at her and growled.

 

"Oh, Sasha, that was your name, wasn't it?" Sasha nodded meekly, anger and stubbornness still splayed across her features. Grime grinned wide, his rows of sharp teeth on display for the blonde to see. "I'm Captain Grime, but you will come to know me as the guy haunting your nightmares tonight onwards."

Notes:

Bit of a shorter chapter, i hope next chapter will be longer but i really wanted to get this one out and its 1am, expect the next chapter sometime within the coming days.

"The Sleepover to Start All Sleepovers"

until then folks

Chapter 3: The Sleepover to Start All Sleepovers Part 1: Fluff Overload

Summary:

Part 1 of TSTSAS!

We meet the parents!

Marcy and Luz shenanigans ensue!

Notes:

heyyyyy its me 1am boi again, :D

 

anyways enjoy pure unadulterated fluff
actually its adulterated
because the adults are there

 

deal with it

 

“Of course, sweetie, you know I’m home late tonight, Friday late night shifts and all. I will be by to pick you up sometime tomorrow, ok?” Luz’s mom said over the phone, Luz squealed in excitement, Marcy giggling beside her. Luz said her goodbyes and hung up, turning to see a giddy Marcy.

 

“Oh my gosh, tonight is gonna be the best sleepover ever!” She exclaimed in pure joy as Luz smirked. “Well, I’ve never had a sleepover before, so you gotta make sure it’s a good first impression!” The Hispanic girl said jokingly. “Truth or dare, spooky stories, video games, snacks, Azura, movies!” She ran around in excitement. Marcy just smiled softly, this was her new life, she could get used to it.

 

 

The girls had agreed that Luz would get picked up by Marcy and her mom after she got home so she could gather some clothes and stuff, and then she would get picked up in the afternoon the next day. Once Luz got home, she rapidly started preparing, packing clothes, snacks, and her computer, as well as some books, especially her Good Witch Azura books. She then took a shower, ate some food, and packed her sleeping bag, and sat excitedly at the door, waiting for Marcy to knock. Not five minutes later a rapid knocking was heard, and Luz immediately opened the door, seeing a smiling Marcy, Luz’s voice failed her in that moment as she saw the girl.

Her slick black hair was messily tied back into a small high ponytail, she wore a white shirt with green flowers on it, a necklace with what Luz assumed was a smooth piece of malachite attached to it. She also had a black jumper with green highlights strung loosely around her waist. She had grey ripped jeans and white sneakers with green laces.

 

Wow, she’s really pretty... Wait what? Luz, not now! She’s your first friend, don’t say stuff like that!

 

“You ok there?” Marcy asked after a bit, rubbing her neck and looking away. “You’re staring, did I do something wrong?”

 

 

Luz scrambled to apologize. “Sorry! No, you didn’t do anything wrong, you just look... Really good!” She exclaimed, blushing, and looking away, Marcy blinked for a second, before dissolving into a blushing mess.

 

 

“Y-You think so?” Marcy hesitated for a second before continuing, “My- Anne and Sasha never thought my outfit choices were good,”

 

Luz frowned. “Anne and Sasha don’t sound like very good friends to me...” Marcy quickly shook her head, before smiling. “They were great!” But she saw where her friend was coming from, “They always hung out with me, I’ll tell you more about them when we get to my house.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That reminded the girls that Marcy’s Mom was waiting for them, giggling, they took off for the car.

 

 

“You girls sure took your time,” Marcy’s Mom smirked as they got in the car, Marcy laughed nervously.

 

 

“We got, um, distracted,” Elbowing Luz, she nodded rapidly. Her mom laughed it off as she started up the car.

 

 

 

“It’s nice to meet you Luz, any friend of my daughter is a friend of mine,” She extended a hand to Luz, who happily took it in her stride, shaking her hand

energetically.

“Thank you! It’s nice to meet you too Mrs. Wu!” She smiled; Mrs. Wu shook her head.

“Come on, no need for formalities, you can call me Beryl,” She offered kindly, Luz gasped in excitement.

“First name privileges!?” She turned to shake Marcy, “You hear that marc?” Marcy giggled and nodded; Beryl laughed from the front of the car.

“You sure weren’t wrong about how excitable she gets, dear.”

 

 

 

The rest of the drive was full of laughter, introductions and adorable banter, according to Beryl at least. At last, they arrived at the Wu Household.

 

“Woah! Your house is huge!” Luz exclaimed as she got her bags out of the car and ran up to the door, bouncing nervously. Marcy joined her after a moment, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder, Beryl only smiled in delight as she saw her daughter bonding with a new friend. As they entered the house, Luz noticed a man watching T.V., it seemed that he didn’t notice their arrival. Marcy giggled quietly and signaled Luz to be quiet, before sneaking up behind him and wrapping him in a hug.

 

“Hey Dad!” She giggled as she nuzzled into him, the man, her dad, barked out a sharp laugh as he brought his hands up to hug her.

 

“Hey squirt! How was school?” Marcy grinned.

 

“It was great! I totally didn’t play any games during class” She smirked with a wink, her dad grinned as he feigned an angry face.

 

“You better not have, young lady, or else I’ll have no choice but to bring out... The Marcy Eater!” He imitated chomping motions with his hand, Marcy snorted and pushed his hands off of her.

 

“Dad! Not in front of my friend!” She whined, embarrassed. The man tilted his head a little then adjusted his glasses to see Luz full on laughing near the entrance, smiling he stood up and walked over to her.

 

“You must be Luz! Our little Mar-Mar has told us so much about you, heck I don’t think I'd need to see you in person to be able to draw a Picasso level portrait of you!” He put his hand out to shake, Luz grinned and shook it.

 

 

 

 

 

“It’s nice to meet you Mr. Wu!” Then she turned to a blushing Marcy, “Wow, am I that interesting Marc?” She grinned, Marcy only reddened in colour. Her dad laughed haughtily and shook his head.

 

 

“No room for formality in the Wu Household, call me Dace, yeah?” He grinned, Luz nodded, running up to Marcy.

 

 

“Your parents are so cool!” She exclaimed, not trying to hide her voice from the parents who only looked at each other and smiled. Marcy grinned happily.

 

 

“I’m glad they live up to the Noceda Expectation,” She chided playfully, Luz laughed and lightly punched her shoulder. A hand landed on Luz’s shoulder, surprisingly soft for its large frame as she turned to a grinning Dace.

 

 

“We better be cool, after all, we gotta stand up against this little nugget of awesomeness right here!” He exclaimed, Picking up Marcy and hugging her tight.

 

 

“Dad!” She exclaimed, once again embarrassed. Luz could only smirk as Marcy pouted at the girl. Once they had gotten settled, Marcy showed Luz a tour of the house. It was a large, 2 story house with a large amount of green hues within, Luz had joked about the family’s favourite colour being green, to which Marcy actually admitted that it is, which left the two girls laughing as they attempted to finish the tour. They got to Marcy’s room, and when she opened the door, Luz was amazed.’ Her bed had green sheets, with little white stars on it, her desk was full of pieces of paper, messy scribble and drawings all over them, with an Azura figurine and her laptop skewed off to the side. Her wall was full of posters of many different RPG games, a bookshelf with row after row of non-fiction books and the like layered on it, and another smaller bookshelf with a single row of books, all Azura books, titled one through five. The roof had multiple more posters of different games and movies, the one that seemed the most important looked to be some fantasy movie called “War of the Warlocks”

 

"Your room is so cool!" Luz gushed as she explored it, and if by exploring one would think actually exploring the room is what she's doing, shes not, she's just adoring the miniature Azura bookshelf.

 

"D'aww, its not that cool," Marcy blushed, before grinning. "So what do we do first? I was thinking maybe we can do some reading! Or maybe we could watch a movie!" Luz jumped at the idea of reading, before suddenly realising.

 

"Oh my god! You should see my fanfics!" Luz exclaimed, Marcy lit up.

 

"Oh. My. God! No. Way!" Marcy bounced in excitement as Luz got her computer out and hooked it up to the internet, opening her Ao3 account, she pulled up her best work, a large, almost complete Azura fanfic that she had been working on for most of last year. The second Marcy read the title she put a hand up, opened her computer and swapped to her most recent read, almost stunned, Luz read the title.

 

It was the same story.

 

 

...

 

...

 

...

 

 

"YOU'RE LUZURA?!" Marcy shouted in surprise.

 

"YOU'RE MARCATE?" Luz shouted in surprise.

 

They both stared at each other before Marcy fell back on her bed, pillow in hand ready to scream into. Luz just stands there, before facepalming.

 

"C'mon Luz! Marcate? Really? You couldn't notice her name was a combo of Marcy and Hecate?!"

 

"C'mon Marcy! Luzura? Really? You couldn't notice her name was a combination of Luz and Azura?!"

 

They looked at each other for a solid beat, before Marcy snorted and started laughing, Luz soon followed. Laughing for a solid 5 minutes, they looked at each other, grinning.

 

"This is gonna be the best first sleepover ever."

Notes:

i originally didnt plan to have this split into parts but the whole theme of the sleepover is gonna span over multiple chapters, so i thought it would be better to split it up so i could upload it in moderation, anyways i hope you guys enjoyed your fluff!

Next time: The Sleepover to Start All Sleepovers Part 2: Shenanigans Ensues!

Chapter 4: The Sleepover to Start All Sleepovers Part 2: Shenanigans Ensues

Summary:

Whats better than shenanigans?

Adorable shenanigans

Aka, Luz and Marcy be adorable together and enjoy their first sleepover

That is until the angst arrives...

Notes:

holy shit guys???????//?//?/ why have almost 700 of yall read my story it only has like 5k words

well no matter, ill make you all proud :D

now enjoy fluff with a touch of angst :)

"And then Hecate, glaring at Azura, charged up her final attack, red wisps of energy swirled around her staff as she shouted..." Marcy narrated, Luz jumped into action at her cue to voice.

 

"You stand before me in all your pathetic glory, yet you have no worth, cower before me, witch of good!" She announced in a dark voice, Marcy giggled as she began her part.

 

"But you're wrong, Hecate, I have worth, I stand before you for you can be better than this!' She charged her staff with blue energy as she prepared to shield the attack" She spoke in a heroic voice.

 

"Cut it out with the semantics, you... you witch!" Luz shouted, her hand clenching.

 

"I will not cut it out, for I am Azura, the-" She was cut off.

 

"Girls! Dinner is ready, wash up and come down!" Beryl's voice shouted from below, Luz and Marcy both snickered as they rushed over each other to wash their hands.

 

And if by that one would think Luz knows where she's going, she very much does not.

 

---

 

As the girls scrambled down the stairs, a mouth-watering smell assaulted Luz's nostrils.

 

"Woah, that smells heavenly!"  She drooled as she entered the dining room along with Marcy, "¡Apuesto a que sabe celestial también!" 

 

Marcy turned to her, confused.

 

"What was that?" Then it hit her, "Oh my god, you're Dominican aren't you? How did I not notice before?" She exclaimed, Luz smirked.

 

"It's because I never spoke Spanish around you, ya ding-dong" Marcy shoved her playfully and Luz landed a noogie on her, careful not to mess up her pretty hair.

 

 

God dangit Luz, stop having these dumb thoughts, her hair is just hair, nothing about it is pretty!

 

 

"ANYWAYS!" Luz exclaimed with a light blush on her face, "Lets get eating!"

 

They finally sat down, Dace and Beryl turned to each other with a knowing look and a smirk.

 

"You girls having fun so far?" Beryl said with a hint of tease to her voice, oblivious to the obvious meaning of the question, the girls both nod.

 

"It turns out the fanfic that I've been reading recently was actually one that Luz made! Isn't that amazing! Oh, and we also both love Good Witch Azura! Oh, wait, I already told you guys that," Marcy looked away bashfully, Dace barks out a laugh as he slaps his knee.

 

"Isn't that coincidental! And you've told us that 13 times this week!" The man laughs out, with no bite. Beryl simply smiles.

 

"I'm so happy to see you got a friend who shares your interests as quick as you did," Marcy smiles at her, Luz grins.

 

"You know, before Marcy, I never actually had any friends," Dace and Beryl frowned at that, Dace grew angry at that.

 

"What?! How could anyone with any fraction of a braincell pass up the opportunity to be friends with someone as fun and exciting as you?" He shouted out, clearly outraged, Beryl simply frowned in annoyance.

 

"I'm with Dace on this one, we've not known you for long but the way Marcy talks about you, she simply adores you," She chuckled at Marcy's indignant cries of embarrassment, "You are very clearly a sweet, enjoyable girl, so how come nobody ever wanted to be your friend? Children sure can be cruel these days..."

 

Luz was taken aback by how much the Wu parents protested against the idea of her never having friends before, before finding her voice finally, and when she did, it had lost all its usual spark.

 

"People find it hard to be friends with people like me, we're too much, too energetic, and yeah, I... I acknowledge that I'm like that, but its hard y'know?" She looked away, "They always say I come on so hard but that's just... Who I am. I was born with ADHD, and I don't wanna make it sound like I'm using it as an excuse, but... It gets in the way, like my own little curse huh?"

 

She looked up to see the 3 Wu's looking at her, Marcy with a few tears in her eyes, before they immediately wrapped her into a big hug, squeaking in confusion she heard Marcy speak.

 

"I don't care what people say, you're my friend, that's not changing, not now, not ever." She said with such absolute determination that Luz started to tear up.

 

"T-Thank you..."

 

---

 

"Well, that was unexpected, didn't mean to get all emotional on you and the fam," Luz rubbed the back of her neck bashfully as Marcy waved it off.

 

"Aw, don't worry about it, I'm sure they're thrilled that you trust us enough to open up about that stuff, and I bet dollars to donuts they're trying to figure out the address of every person that ever hurt your feelings, they can be very scary when they want to be."

 

Luz laughed, wiping a tear from her eye that she hadn't noticed was there.

 

"So, what now?" Marcy grins.

 

"Have you ever heard of Vagabondia Chronicles?"

 

About 3 hours, a lot of explanation, and a whole lot of fun later, Luz lay back on her sleeping bag, an Azura book clutched in her hands and her phone's torch lighting the words on the page up. She happily hummed while Marcy was typing down ideas, Luz sometimes saying something out loud for Marcy to write down, they were brainstorming ideas for Azura fanfic when they decided to do a joined-authorship. They had gotten decently far into how the plot should go, Luz boldly pointing out that since they were doing an Azura x Hecate fanfic that their usernames could mean something else.

 

It had taken her a whole 5 seconds before she fully realised what she said before sputtering out apologies, both their faces deep red.

 

"Jeez Luz, when did you get so flirty?" Marcy asked jokingly while sputtering and flushing deep red, Luz couldn't find her voice to respond so she just shrugged.

 

After about 5 minutes they had finally calmed the fire on full display in their blushes and continued working, while occasionally stealing glances at the other.

 

Luz decided to point out some of the posters in her room, Marcy giving info on each one, but when she got to War of the Warlocks, Marcy turned to her, glee evident in her features as she excitedly pulled a disc from seemingly thin air.

 

"We have a movie to watch!"

 

And that's how the two girls ended up laying next to each other, luz hanging upside down as the movie played out, she turned to see the black-haired girl watch the movie intently, stars in her eyes, softly copying the dialogue word for word under her breath. Luz smiled softly.

 

"So how many times have you watched this movie?" She grinned smugly, Marcy shook her head.

 

"Not that much," Luz full on grinned. Butting elbows with the girl she winked.

 

"Enough times to know the plot and dialogue word for word?" She said with a smirk in her tone, Marcy blushed and laughed, pushing Luz away from her playfully.

 

"Ok, ok, you got me! It's uh," She blushed more and looked away, "A good movie."

 

Luz simply smiled.

 

"A good enough movie for you to know it like the back of your palm, huh, I never understood that saying, I don't remember the back of my palm," She rambled, sidetracking. Marcy smiled as she listened to her friend ramble about sayings she never understood, agreeing with some and pointing out the logic in others.

 

The movie eventually ended and they decided to call it a night, laying in their respective sleeping situations, they made small talk about Azura and comments about the War of the Warlocks. (Luz said it almost makes her top 10, doesn't beat Angry Birds 2 though).

 

But when Marcy went to check her phone one final time before going to sleep, she got a notification that felt like a bucket of ice was poured on her, dread seeping into her very core at the words that her own eyes read.

 

"Two girls from L.A. declared missing, if anyone knows the whereabouts of one Anne Boonchuy and Sasha Waybright, please report to officials ASAP."

 

 

Notes:

about time marcy finally found out they were missing, how will luz comfort her? how will she react? i probably should have said those the other way around but its 1am again and i dont have the mental capacity, find out next time in TSTSAS part 3!

Next up: The Sleepover to Start All Sleepovers Part 3: Sorrow, Agony and Comfort in the Rising Sun

Chapter 5: The Sleepover to Start All Sleepovers part 3: Sorrow, Agony and Comfort in the Rising Sun

Summary:

Marcy turns to her only friend for comfort, and the two find comfort in each other.

Notes:

Woah- the amount of positive reception im getting from you guys is insane, thank you all so much! i might even release 2 chapters today if you all are lucky :D

Marcy couldn't sleep that night, she lay awake, her eyes drifting off to the peaceful sleeping form of her friend. She couldn't tell her, she didn't want to burden her with the weight of something that wasn't hers to deal with. She let her eyes drift back to the ceiling. Anne and Sasha were both declared missing, they hadn't responded to her since the day she moved away, which was... 9 days ago?! They've been missing for 9 days...

 

She turned to her side once again to look at Luz, she looked so peaceful, unaware of the world around her as she quietly dozed. Marcy smiled slightly, she was glad for Luz being in her life.

 

But her friends were still missing. Nothing was going to change that inevitability. They might even be dead. that thought scared her deeply, the thought that her first friends and friends of 9 years could be dead right now. Or maybe even hanging on to whatever cusp of life they have left, with no one to help them.

 

Feeling something wet on her hands she reached up to rub her eyes. Huh, I'm crying. Should have seen that coming.

 

Wearily, she reached over to her phone, careful not to make too much noise, she angled it down so the burning brightness of the phone in the darkness wouldn't shoot right into Luz's face, the last thing she wanted to do was to wake her friend from what was hopefully good dreams.

 

4:32 AM

 

Huh, wonder what it is with me and waking up at 4:32 AM?

 

Shaking her head, she looked outside, the sun would start rising soon. She considered sitting out on the balcony and watching the sunrise, but she decided against it, too much noise would wake Luz up. Sighing quietly she put her phone down and immersed herself back into the dull glowing light of the night. Her head swarmed with thoughts, voices in her ears. It hurt, she was probably just having a stress-induced headache. She looked outside again, specks of deep purple began to swarm the sky, and against her better judgement, she decided watching the sunrise was something she desperately needed.

 

Attempting to get up as quietly as possible, she mindfully stepped around the sleeping form of Luz, grateful that they kept the door open slightly to let the cool air in, she pushed it open a little more and stepped outside.

 

Her first thought was wow, it's cold. She looked at the chair and table on her balcony, and then to the ladder beside her balcony that lead to the roof, she looked back into the room as the sun slowly rose, deep reds and purple making their way across Luz's sleeping features. Marcy smiled, and climbed the ladder.

 

---

 

Luz woke up, her whole body refreshed and vitalized. Sitting up and yawning, she blinked the tiredness out of her eyes and checked her watch.

 

5:53 AM

 

"Oh, wow," She quietly muttered, mindful of the sleeping girl she shared the room with, "I'm never up this early," Turning to see if Marcy was awake, she saw the bed empty, getting up slowly and patting the bed she found it was cold. Her attention was then drawn to the ajar door leading to the balcony. Donning her bunny slippers, she quietly stepped outside and saw that the chair and table lay untouched, but her attention was drawn to the ladder that lead to the roof, taking her chances she began to scale the ladder.

 

The metal was cold, as was the morning air, it shone of gold and rose hues thanks to the rising sun, but when she got up all her worries only got worse.

 

There Marcy sat, hair an unruly mess, knees to her chest, tear streaks on her cheeks. Her hands clutched the hems of her pajamas tightly, her knuckles white. Whatever she was doing, or thinking, it must have been bad, because despite the obvious noise the Hispanic girl had made getting onto the roof, Marcy had not noticed her at all.

 

She walked up to the girl, wincing at how damp her sleeves were, before looking down at her kindly.

 

"Can I sit here?" She asked softly, seeming to snap Marcy out of whatever it was she was dealing with, looking up to see Luz looking down at her with a sad smile, she blinked the tears out of her eyes and sniffled quietly.

 

"W-Why are you awake?" Was what her mouth said, despite her brain very aggressively attempting to say Yes please. 

 

"I dunno, honestly, I'm never up this early," She turned her attention to the rising sun, gold specks painting the rose clouds on the horizon, "Its beautiful," She said breathlessly. Marcy only nodded, her eyes trained on the sunrise. Luz turned to her with a small smile on her face, "You never answered if I could sit," Marcy blinked, and looked up at her, which only made Luz's heart crack a little more. She looked so devastated, her eyes lost their usual beautiful emerald shine, replaced only with a dull, dark green, she looked tired, bags under her eyes, and her soft happy demeanor had been flipped upside down, she looked broken.

 

"Oh- Um, y-yeah, I don't mind." She turned her attention back to the rising sun, Luz sat next to her, a sizeable gap between them.

 

"So, what's got you down in the dumps?" She asked softly, Marcy's breath hitched as she looked around nervously, patting her pocket to see if her phone was in it, she got it out and flipped to the message she had gotten last night. Handing it to Luz wordlessly she turned away.

 

She read it, and then read it again, blinking, before a crushing realization set in.

 

"Those..." She started, before Marcy cut her off.

 

"Were my friends," She finished, before turning back to her, "They weren't ignoring me, they're gone." Her voice broke, Luz stared at her, she sounded empty. a thought occurred to her suddenly, smiling softly, she scooted a little closer to Marcy, when the girl didn't protest, she moved closer so their shoulders touched. Marcy looked up at her, a hint of shock buried beneath the hopelessness that her eyes carried, their eyes met and Luz smiled.

 

"You told me you'd tell me more about them," Marcy blinked softly, "Your friends, I mean, what are they like?"

 

Marcy noticed the use of 'What are', and not 'What were' when Luz asked the question, and in that moment she couldn't be more grateful for her friend. Steadying her breathe, she gripped the hem of her shirt tighter, and she began to speak.

 

"Anne was-" That was as far as she got before she choked up and couldn't breathe, Luz noticed the panic that set in her friends eyes and put a hand on her shoulder.

 

"Hey, it's ok, take your time, look at the sun if you need to, it's really breathtaking," She stopped for a second before holding her hand out, "If you want, you could, um, I don't know, hold my hand?" She then quickly flushed, "To help calm you down, o-of course!"

 

Marcy looked at the hand that was offered to her, and the reaction Luz had to her own idea, and snickered. Wiping the tears away, she breathed slowly, and took the hand, clasping it tightly. They stared into each others eyes for a second, before looking away, blushing. They both settled on watching the sun rise. The golden hues had only increased, the rose tinted clouds dot the pink sky as they watch it for a while. 

 

After about 5 minutes, Marcy started to speak.

 

"Anne was fun loving, she would always be doing something interesting, but she wanted to also make her parents proud. She also easily agreed with us and didn't really have any input to give herself, she was great honestly, they both were, but if I'm picking favourites, I would prefer Anne," Marcy sniffled and wiped her eyes, "She was Thai, well, her family was of Thai origin, she was born in L.A. but her parents accents were really thick, but she didn't have an accent, it was kind of surprising considering she lived around people with accents her entire life, I'm kind of grateful she didn't, because as cool as her parents are, they are hard to understand sometimes," She turned to Luz, who smiled softly, tightening the grip on her hand, she continued. "Sasha was the strong, jock type, she was the self appointed leader of our group, she had the kind of personality that you don't challenge, because she always wins, it's kind of admirable if it weren't kind of scary. But she stood up for us when people tried to bully us, she made it known to the school that we rule it, and if anyone challenged us, they challenged her." She took a moment to breathe, "She loved having fun, but she also liked to skip school a lot, naturally though since according to our principal, I'm so smart i could probably solve world hunger, and Sasha is so dominant that she could boss her way through life, it didn't really bother the school."

 

"What about Anne?" Luz asked, Marcy hadn't noticed that Anne didn't actually have any sort of special thing about her, blinking, she turned to the sun.

 

"The principal was always worried about Anne, while I'm very smart and Sasha is, well, Sasha, Anne didn't have anything really defining that could help her in the long run. I guess it kind of bothered her that we were both so 'amazing' and she was just, her, but like, she always discounted how kind she was, she was the kind of person who would help you up after you've fallen, she would offer you food if you had none, heck, I'm sure if one of us went homeless then she would manage to convince her parents to let us live with her,"

 

They sat in silence for a little while, admiring the sun, and then Luz spoke up.

 

"They sound like very good friends, I guess I wasn't really right about them being not great friends yesterday, sorry about that," She rubbed the back of her head, looking away embarrassed, Marcy gripped her hand a little tighter.

 

"It's ok, you couldn't have known, I only said the bad things about them that you didn't get to understand who they really were,"  She admitted, and then turned to Luz, "Can I hug you? You've helped me so much this morning, I feel better, and I don't think I would have if you didn't talk to me about it,"

 

Luz only widened her eyes and nodded happily, attempting to let go of her hand to open her arms, but when Marcy's grip tightened and she shook her head, Luz only smiled, embracing her friend as they watched the sun rise, the gold painting their faces as they slowly drifted off, smiles wide, tear marks fully faded,
  

Notes:

woah, there we go, that was the second longest chapter in the story, and the final chapter of TSTSAS arc! Hope you all enjoyed

 

Next Up: Knowledge is Key When You're in Another World

Chapter 6: Knowledge is Key When You're in Another World

Summary:

Insight on how Anne is faring, after almost a month, she finally finds intelligent life.

 

Too bad that the beast she was looking for was a whole lot tougher than she thought, and also terrorizing the town.

Notes:

As promised, heres a second chapter in one day! hope you enjoy a view on annes side as she explores this rough new world with a bit more of a darker tone than one would expect...

Day 23. She had been in this dumb, dangerous and muddy world for twenty-three days. Anne sighed in exasperation, trying to wrap her head around this stupid box that somehow transported her and Sasha to another world. How did she know it was another world? Well mantis's are never that big, and the flowers and growth here is massive. Like Marcy would, she's started to keep a diary and a logbook of every new discovery she had made.

 

She had noted that for about 5 miles in any direction from her camp lead to pure muddy swamp, there were 3 lakes, 2 of which were undrinkable due to how murky they were, the 3rd, she dubbed Lake Sasha (Because she cant handle coping very well), was pretty clean and tasted only a little weird! There were also about 6 bushes growing what she dubbed Giga Grapes, they tasted like regular grapes, except 1 grape was the size of her hand, they seemed safe to eat and also tasted surprisingly good, but her favorite meal so far was of course, the mantis leg. When well cooked it smells like beef and tastes like spicy chicken with crunch. The problem is that giant mantis's are difficult to find, and even more difficult to kill. Since she had arrived she had fashioned a spear out of a twig, and combined with her racquet, she was able to defend herself, but she had also been working on refining a long chunk of stone she found into a sword of sorts, tonight she should be able to finish it, she just needs to gather some vines to hold it all together. Usually that wouldn't work but the blood of a giant mantis is much stickier than anything she had ever felt before, so applying it to the sword makes it hold together really well, she's just adding vines for the reassurance.

 

Anne wiped the sweat from her brow as she gathered the last of the ingredients she needed for her other project, her own set of protective armor. Her school clothes were comfortable but she'd need protection. She had settled for a set fashioned out of the carapace of a large horned beetle she had killed the other day, it made for some mediocre food, but she had kept the shell seeing that when she had attacked it head on, the spear she was using didn't even leave so much as a scratch on it, she had to get it to tip over so she could stab its exposed body to kill it, through testing she had found out that the shell was insanely durable on the outside, but could easily be cut from the inside, it made it a whole lot easier to shape the shell into comfortable pieces of armor. She only now needed one final thing, more mantis blood.

 

That would be easy enough if she hadn't hunted the nearest mantis habitat out of house and home, so in order to find new mantis blood, she'd have to venture out further. Looking at the sky, the worlds blood-red moon started to rise, groaning in annoyance, she planned to set out to hunt the next day. Hauling all her materials, she headed back to her camp.

 

When inside, she sat down on her makeshift bed of hay and held her near-complete sword, grabbing a mantis claw, she began to work on sharpening it.

 

About 3 hours later, she had finally finished the blade, it was as long as her arm, sharper than anything and decently light for a chunk of pure stone, attached to it were the bones of a mantis, surprisingly durable for being the bones of a bug, given it's a bug 5x the size of an average person. She wrapped the vines around the handle and the base of the blade, and attached her grip she made out of wood to the hilt of the blade, looking over her work, she nodded, and turned to the mantis claw she had been using to carve the blade.

 

 

"Wow, these things must be really sharp, I wonder if..." She grabbed the bone from a limb of a mantis, used the leftover residue from the blood to attach the claw to the bone, wrapping a bit of vine around it and tightening it, she admired it, a scythe, carved from the body of a mantis. Turning to the exit of her camp, she considered going out to test it, but she decided against it. She didn't need to get unnecessarily hurt because of the dangers of the night.

 

 

 

The next morning she arose rather early, itching to get out and locate a new mantis nest. She ventured out to one of her landmarks, a large red tree with a single chunk missing from its side, she decided to call this landmark 'Murdertree', when she saw it, she knew to head opposite of the chunk in a straight line, this was the furthest she's ever reached, so with determination, a mission and armed with a scythe and a sword, she set foot into the muddy wetlands of Amphibia.

 

 

 

---

 

 

"Everyone! Get down!" A blue frog with one eye closed indefinitely shouted as he ran into the town, his accordion waving behind him as he scurried past multiple frogs who bore confused expressions, before an enormous red mantis burst through the town gate, sharp claws easily carving through the thick wood that secured the town of Wartwood. Frogs screamed and ran as the mantis tore their entrance apart. 3 frogs in particular grimaced as they ran.

 

A short distance away, Anne cut through thick leaves using the scythe, she grinned as it easily tore through the thick foliage. She was about to cut through more when a scream caught her attention.

 

"Mantis!" it echoed from the east, the direct opposite of her camp. She immediately began carving her way through the thick foliage, and lo and behold, a village built of many wooden houses and the like sat atop a swamp. She gasped. Intelligent Life?!

 

Then the more pressing matter of the Giant Mantis attacking caught her attention. Wait, Giant Mantis!

 

Running up to the town with her sword in one hand and her scythe in the other, she jumped the rubble of what she assumed was the entrance, throwing her scythe into the mantis' back leg. It let out an unholy screech, and that's when it struck her that the colour and size of the mantis were much different from the normal Giant Mantis' she'd been fighting.

 

This was a Giga Mantis.

 

Backing up slowly as the mantis looked down at its injured leg, flicking it away, Anne cried in anger as her scythe easily bent and shattered upon impact with a large stone, growling, she stood up to the Giga Mantis, who stared her down, its purple eyes analysing her meticulously.

 

The frogs of Wartwood watched as this mysterious creature seemingly stared down the Giga Mantis, unafraid. 

 

Suddenly, Anne dashed forward with her sword, shouting, she slid underneath a sloppy swing from the Giga Mantis and cut clean through one of its 3 left legs. The Giga Mantis screeched in agony as its leg was cut clean off, scuttling to lean its weight on its uninjured legs, it spat what looked like a hardened blob of some weird thick liquid, thinking fast, Anne whipped her racquet out of her bag and delivered a swift flick, sending the orb careening right back at its face, the blob splattered, covering its face in a vicious liquid. Anne used this moment to throw her sword into its chest, but a claw blocked it, sending the sword flying, shattering upon contact.

 

"No! That sword took 3 days to make!" She glared at the mantis, "Oh you're gonna pay buddy." 

 

She rushed up to the mantis, bludgeoning the side into the joint of the Giga Mantis' supporting left leg. Rolling out of the way as the Mantis fell, she went to slam its head in with the racquet but she didn't see the claw swiping at her before it was too late.

 

She was thrown to the side, a massive gash across her chest, bleeding heavily. The Mantis got up, standing over Anne as it got ready to bring down both claws to finish the job, but just when the claws were posed above its head, a tongue wrapped around them, pulling them together, Anne blinked wearily, numbness spreading in her chest as she managed to get up, throwing her racquet into the joint of its supporting left leg again. Before it fell, Anne grabbed the shattered remains of her sword and drove it through the chest of the falling beast, blood spurting out the other side.

 

The beast fell limp, and if Anne had any energy to cheer on her victory, no one would know, because alongside the Mantis, Anne also fell limp.

Notes:

Hehe, little cliffhanger for you guys to suffer with until tomorrow, long weekend so expect quite a few chapters, i actually plan to get up to chapter 10, maybe even more, before the end of the weekend. :D

Next Up: Learning to Cope (It's a Lot Harder With Clara Around)

Chapter 7: Learning to Cope (It's a Lot Harder With Clara Around)

Summary:

Marcy learns how to deal with the 'loss' of her two friends, Luz does everything she can and more to console her.

School is a bitch, and so are most of its inhabitants.

And one specific girl with a stick shoved 10ft up her ass says a few words that could break anyone's heart.

Notes:

So this chapter went a little differently than anticipated, so im changing the title slightly , anyways enjoy, and i just wanna say we hit over 1.3k hits, thank you all so much!

 

Warning for homophobia and homophobic slurs

It had been over a month since the sleepover, and ever since, Marcy and Luz had become inseparable, so much so that it even started annoying teachers that the only place the girls would sit is next to each other. They constantly chattered away during the lunch breaks, sitting so close that there was mere atoms difference between them. When they walked to classes together their shoulders constantly bumped into one another, stealing quick glances at each other as they rambled on about the most random things. To any outsider, it would look like their friendship is something more, but in reality it's nothing like that.

 

Luz had very quickly discovered that Marcy enjoyed physical affection, like, a lot of physical affection, be it random hugs, shoulder bumps or anything of the like, the Hispanic girl noticed that it helped calm her nerves, and just like that, it became a very common thing to be overtly physically affectionate. It didn't bother Luz at all, and if she was being honest, it was nice, because she was very touch starved too.

 

They were walking to science class, when Marcy reached for Luz's hand, looking away shyly. Luz blinked in surprise, before happily taking the girls hand in her own, and Marcy almost slowed down, her face tinted red as she smiled. Luz admired her for a moment.

 

Wow, red is a nice colour on her... Wait, what?! Luz, she is just your friend.

 

Meanwhile Marcy was blushing lightly as she held Luz's hand in her own, her mind fixated on how soft it felt. She knew this wasn't how normal friends acted, but normal friends were never this touch starved, and she felt better with physical affection, besides, Luz seemed fine with it, happy even. Then again there was the chance that Luz thought that she was hinting at something more.

 

Gah! Don't think those things, she's just your friend.

 

"Oh, wow, get a load of this!" That annoying voice caught both of the girls off guard, as they were forcefully dragged from their thoughts back down to earth by a trio of other students.

 

The one to the left was a girl with black hair, she had a black tank-top on with a skull symbol in the middle, and a few dangly bracelets on her wrists, she had heavy makeup and eyeshadow on. Taylor.

 

The one to the right was a ginger girl with a large amount of freckles and a very bored expression, she had a green jacket on and about 3 rings on her right ring finger. Brianna.

 

The one in the middle had blond hair with a single long line of pale pink going straight through the parted middle, she wore the schools cheerleading outfit and had a smug, shit-eating grin plastered on her face. Clara.

 

Luz took a defensive step in front of Marcy, snarling lowly.

 

"What do you want, Clara?" She grumbled, "We have to get to class, we don't have time for whatever stuff you're trying to pull this time."

 

Clara scoffed, rolling her eyes as she feigned hurt.

 

"Oh how you wound me, Noceda. I just wanted to check in on how you and your girlfriend were doing," 

 

Marcy and Luz sputtered and blushed deeply, but their hands didn't let go.

 

"We aren't- I'm not her-" Luz stuttered as she dragged a hand down her face, "We're not dating, Clara."

 

For some reason that neither of them could pin down, those words hurt to both say and hear. Clara frowned, her two goons cackling at the girls flustered response.

 

"Well you could have fooled me, with all the touching and hugging and, er, that" She wove a finger at the girls interlocked hands, "If I could guess, I wouldn't be surprised if you weren't doing it every other ni-" She was cut off by a book slamming into her square in the face. It had happened so fast no one could react. Marcy stood in front of Luz, growling, heavy book in one hand, Luz's hand in the other.

 

"Listen Clara, I don't know what your whole deal is, but you do not say that crap, gosh, how old are you, 5? I can't believe the captain cheerleader has the mental capacity of a toddler." Luz gasped quietly, Marcy was standing up for her, for them.

Clara groaned as she held her nose in pain, tears pricking the edge of her eyes as she backed up.

 

"What the fuck is wrong with you?! Take a joke, geez, you crazy weirdo-" She was cut off by the book stopping mere inches from her face, Marcy groaned in annoyance.

"Leave us alone, or I'll make your nose bend so far left people will think its 9 o'clock." She threatened tiredly, Clara backed up even more before flipping them off.

 

"C'mon girls, don't wanna be near the nerd and her fag of a girlfriend."

 

That set off a bomb neither of the girls knew were there. Almost in an instant, Luz stood in front of Clara and hit her in the face, making her stumble back, she tripped over and fell on her back, she looked up to see Marcy almost grin, an even thicker book in her hand. The silent threat was clear as she stumbled to get back up, and ran.

 

"This isn't the end of this, you hear!? You'll be in so much trouble!"

 

Luz and Marcy looked at each other, and then their hands, which were still closed tight around each others. They then looked back up at each other, and Luz frowned in concern when she saw tears prick at the corners of Marcy's eyes.

 

"Hey, hey, shhh, its ok, don't listen to those jerks." She sent a death glare in the direction the girls went. "They just wanted the attention, and I guess we gave them a little more attention than they bargained for." Marcy sniffled and chuckled wetly.

 

"We're so screwed though," she added, wiping away Marcy's tears for her softly, Marcy smiled sadly as she gripped Luz's hand a little tighter.

 

"Whatever messed up punishment this school has for us, we'll handle it together."

 

---

 

"Mija, you hit her?!" Camila, Luz's mom, exclaimed in surprise, shock and a little bit of hurt, but Luz stood her ground and angrily pointed at Marcy, who was still waiting for her parents to arrive.

 

"They were making fun of us Mami! They called us weirdo's, they even called us-" She stumbled on her words, not wanting to taste the vile poison that came with saying that word.

 

"Fags, they called us fags, Miss Noceda," Marcy supplied, Luz sent her a thankful smile and she just grimaced as she tried to wipe her tongue on her sleeve, vile indeed she thought.

 

Camila stood back, face aghast as she processed what she just heard, before turning to the principal.

 

"Principal Hal, did you know about this?" She asked quietly, the man in question nodded.

 

"Yes, but that's hardly true, Clara would never say such hurtful things, she's our cheerleading captain for gods sake, we wouldn't let anyone be that important if they had such a vulgar mouth." Marcy was at a loss for words. Luz however, was not having it.

 

"Hardly true? Excuse my french but what the hell about this whole situation makes it so hard for you to believe Clara is an over-conceited, narcissistic, stuck up rat?!"

 

Everyone in the room gasped at the attitude Luz took on, Camila went to scold her but Marcy spoke up.

 

"She stopped us in the halls, her and her two friends, um, Taylor and Brianna? She usually did this to make us late to class but she took it a step further and accused us of being girlfriends because we were holding hands." She took a second to breathe before continuing, "Luz told them it wasn't true, but Clara ignored it and accused us of-" She choked up, Camila's face turned sombre as she went to lay a comforting hand on Marcy's shoulder when she shook her head and shakily nodded to Luz. Blinking owlishly for a moment, Luz then realized what the black-haired girl meant and scooched closer to her, offering a hand, which the other took gratefully. Steeling her nerves, she continued. "She accused us of 'd-doing it' every other night"

 

Camila looked pale as a ghost, but red was starting to make its way onto her features in anger. How dare they think my little girl and her best friend would do something so... Inappropriate? Meanwhile Principal Hal simply shook his head in denial.

 

"I refuse to believe the schools resident trouble-makers over our cheerleading captain, I have half the mind to double your punishment for such shameless lying!" 

 

Luz stood up, staring the principal down.

 

"Check your dumb camera's then, if you're so confident your oh-so perfect cheerleading captain wouldn't say that, and we're so clearly in the wrong, then it couldn't hurt to back your claim could it?" She angrily challenged, "Because I bet dollars to donuts you're only siding with Clara because her record is 'spotless'" She spat that word out with such venom that the Principal groaned in anger, before pulling up the security cameras, flipping between them at the time of the incident, he found the girls walking hand in hand when Clara and her friends showed up, blocking the hallway.

 

"What do you want, Clara?"

"Oh how you wound me Noceda, I just wanted to check in on how you and your girlfriend were doing,"

 

"We aren't- She's not- We aren't dating,"

 

"Well you could have fooled me, with all the touching and hugging and, er, that, If I could guess, I wouldn't be surprised if you weren't doing it every other ni-"

 

Camila gasped in anger as those words were said, not even bothering to get angry over how Marcy hit her with the book, meanwhile Principal Hal looked more nervous by the second, he instantly paused it, turning to them with a nervous expression.

 

"Well then, since that seems to be the end of the cli-"

 

"Mierda!"

 

Everyone looked up at Camila in shock, before Hal readjusted his glasses.

 

"Huh?" Camila angrily pointed at the clip.

 

"Keep playing it, it's not done."

 

Hal reigned in his nervousness and sighed in defeat, before continuing the clip.

 

"What the fuck is wrong with you?! Take a joke, geez, you crazy weirdo-"

 

"Leave us alone, or I'll make your nose bend so far left people will think its 9 o'clock."

 

"C'mon girls, don't wanna be near the nerd and her fag of a girlfriend."

 

Camila slammed her fist into the desk in anger, before quickly cooling herself down.

 

"Call this Clara person down, now. I'd like to have a few words with her." Hal shook his head anxiously, but blanched as Camila pulled a flip-flop out of her purse and rose it high, the threat clear, "Now!"

 

Luz only smirked at Hal, "Cool Mom!"

 

Marcy snickered at her friend's silly antics.

 

Hal sighed in annoyance as he turned on the intercom.

 

"Clara Haycee to the Principals Office, I repeat, Clara Haycee to the Principals office"

 

A few short moments later, Clara entered with all her confidence, however it vanished rather quickly as she read the room. Camila walked up to her.

"You must be Clara, I'm Camila, Luz's Mom, it's very nice to meet you," She said, voice too sweet, too innocent to be considered natural, Clara gulped, and nodded slowly.

 

"Nice to meet you, Camila?" It was more of a question, begging the answer to what was about to happen than a statement.

 

"Now, I would like a few of my questions answered, some of them are more like, how was your day? While others are more like, why did you call my daughter and her friend fags," She grinned, smile wide and ominous. Clara coughed nervously and chuckled, eyes darting around for any form of escape. She looked to Hal, who donned a resigned expression and simply shook his head. 

 

"W-What are you talking about? I didn't-"

 

"C'mon girls, don't wanna be around the nerd and her fag of a girlfriend,"

 

Clara blanched, the clip played again to rub it in as Camila turned to her, eyes bearing a flaming fury.

 

"Want to try again?"

 

Clara looked around nervously, before glaring angrily.

 

"I'm the schools cheerleading captain, I can get away with whatever I want! Besides, she had it coming for her, Luz and her disgusting girlfriend don't fit in here! They don't deserve to be treated like nothing but crap!"

 

When she was done her outburst, she backed up at the soul-piercing stare of fury that Camila possessed.

 

"Wrong answer."

 

What happened next was a series of shouting and arguing, Clara's parents were called in, and Marcy's parents finally arrived, immediately taking their place as a buffer between their children and Clara. "It'll be ok kids, we've got you," The words of reassurance felt like butter on toast as the girls calmed down, releasing breaths they didn't even know they were holding.

The shouting match of the century went down, Clara's parents not believing the clip, thinking it to be edited, while Camila shouted every curse word under the sun at them in her native language, drilling them about how rude their daughter is. After a while of argument, it eventually calmed down and punishments were administered.

 

Clara was to be kicked from the cheerleading squad, and barred from any form of participation for the foreseeable future, to which Clara and her parents heavily protested against, but ultimately lost. She also had her schedule swapped around so that she was in none of the classes that Luz or Marcy were in, as well as being heavily monitored as to prevent anymore situations like this from happening ever again . Unfortunately despite being heavily argued, Luz and Marcy also earned punishments for their physical reaction. They were administered a week's suspension, though when Hal administered it, he whispered to Camila to make sure the girls had fun on their break.

 

Turning back to the entrance of the school one last time for the next week, Luz flipped it off, and hand in hand, the two girls walked off to Luz's house. After all, they had a week to themselves.

Notes:

Well then, that happened

anyways time for me to sleep again because you guessed it, its 1am

the owl house season 2 finale comes out tomorow and im NOT READY

Next Up: Luz's Birthday

Chapter 8: Luz's Birthday

Summary:

It's Luz's birthday and Marcy want's to make sure that she has a good time, but Luz is panicking because cute girl is being nice and she doesn't know how to respond.

Notes:

so like, ysee how the tag "Cope-Fic" is there? WELL AFTER THAT SEASON FINALE THAT TAG IS EVEN MORE RELEVANT, I DO NOT WANNA WAIT FOR SEASON 3, I CANT BELIEVE THEY ENDED IT LIKE THAT

well time to drown my sorrows in luz x marcy fluff, and so should you

Also warnings for a panic attack, dont read past the //

Time flew past the girls, school had been a little more forgiving, the incident with Clara had made itself known throughout due to gossip. People nowadays tended to ignore the girls rather than make fun of them, it was both a step up and a step down. Luz and Marcy sat in the cafeteria, eating away happily, shoulders touching as per usual when a notification buzzed on Luz's phone. Placing her burger down slowly and picking it up she read the notification.

 

"Huh, forgot about that," She quipped before going back to eating her food. Marcy turned to her, a confused look on her face as she finished her food slowly, licking a finger before wiping it off.

 

"Forgot about what?" She asked, Luz laughed nervously and looked away. Rubbing the back of her head.

 

"It's nothing, nothing important," Marcy frowned, before putting a comforting hand on Luz's, the girl looked at her, eyes widened.

 

"Hey, you don't have to tell me if you don't wanna, ok?" Marcy encouraged kindly, rubbing her hand on Luz's, Luz blushed slightly at the contact before sighing.

 

"It's just, y'know, still not used to having a friend to hang out with, so birthdays have always been a bit of a touchy subject," She looked away again, Marcy gasped before gripping her hand gently.

 

"It's your birthday!?" Luz nodded and turned back to her empty tray, slowly drinking her apple juice, resting her chin on her hands before sighing.

 

"Ever since my 7th birthday, where I was tricked into thinking people in this stupid school actually, y'know, liked me, I never really liked them anyways," The bell rang, and without hesitation, Luz got up, grabbing her tray, "C'mon, we don't wanna be late."

 

The rest of the day, Luz barely talked, and for the first time, people were shocked to see that they weren't touching shoulders when they walked, Luz walked slightly ahead of Marcy. The rest of the day, Marcy was worried, Luz was acting strange, sad, it wasn't usual for her usually bubbly friend to act so glum and sad, and even if she knew the reason, she still wanted to help. She wanted to have a birthday with Luz she would never forget, the problem is Luz made it clear that she didn't enjoy birthdays, so how could she help while staying in the boundaries her friend clearly set? She couldn't throw a surprise party, it wouldn't be that interesting with just her parents, Camila and her. Visit her house? Still not interesting enough. Take her out to dinner? No. Sound's way too much like a date. She blushed at the thought. So what could she do?

 

She had become so lost in thought she hadn't seen Luz standing by her desk.

 

"Hey, Miss Daydreamer, classes ended like 5 minutes ago," She jerked a casual thumb to the rest of the classroom, Marcy snapped out of her thoughts, blinking as she blushed, embarrassed.

 

"Sorry, sorry, I was just... in thought," She looked away, Luz sighed and smiled softly.

 

"I know you're trying to think of something to do for my birthday, but I'm honestly just happy with you coming over for the night, no parties, no special gestures or extravagance, just two besties spending the night, and don't even think about bringing a present, you being my friend is more than I could ever ask for, Marc," Marcy blushed shyly, before smiling.

 

"So basically, girls night?"

 

Luz smirked and playfully punched her shoulder, walking shoulder by shoulder with the girl once again.

 

"Girls night."

 

 

---

 

 

The girls sat side by side in the living room of the Noceda household, hand in hand under a blanket as they watched some random movie, in all honesty they weren't paying attention, they were enjoying each others presence as they chattered away about stuff, like plot for their fanfictions or theories about their favourite T.V. shows and games. They were currently talking about the question of who this mysterious Knightess character was from one of their favourite games, Rune Delta, when Camila came into the room quietly, tapping on Marcy's shoulder and motioning to the kitchen, Marcy promised to finish their conversation later and bounded off to the kitchen, Camila only winked at Luz who smiled in return and leant back into the couch, absorbing its softness and warmth.

 

The past few months have been one big emotional rollercoaster for Luz, ever since she met Marcy things had gotten even more confusing than they already were, but she was so grateful for the girls kind smile, or constant rambling, clumsiness and addiction to random things, it made her more charming and interesting than anyone else she met, but she was also confused. She kept feeling weird things and thinking weird thoughts about her that normal friends don't feel or think, like oh wow, she's cute, or red is a good colour on her. She was panicking because she had never felt like this before, granted she never had friends, but she knew this is not what friends were like. She prided herself on being a very observant person, always watching, after all, having no friends got very boring, she tended to admire and study other people's friendships, and she knew none of them were on the level of comfort of physical affection that their friendship was on. She could argue they were both very touch starved, but that didn't excuse the random thoughts, or heart palpitations whenever they held hands. She was so conflicted on what to feel, and so lost in thought that she hadn't even noticed that the two had walked back into the room, Marcy holding a cake and a card, she placed the cake on Luz's lap and she looked at the cake. On it was a very crude icing drawing of Azura and Hecate holding hands with a little love heart in the middle. Blushing, Luz then picked up the card and read inside.

 

"For my favourite person, hope this isn't too big a special gesture :D - Marc"

 

Luz gulped as the feelings finally accumulated into one consensus, thinking back on the fanfictions she's read before, she knew that these feelings were something else entirely for sure.

 

Luz had a crush on Marcy.

 

---

 

The moon had risen far above the horizon over the Noceda household, random movies were playing in the background as Luz and Marcy sat, reading Azura, doing voices as they usually did, Marcy glanced at the time, it was getting pretty late, and she noticed a lot of Luz's movements and acting were getting slow. She giggled quietly as Luz imitated the roar of a gildersnake, shouting "No! My only weakness! Dying!"

 

Marcy had done a lot of thinking over the past few months since she met Luz, the girl was amazing in every right, she was funny, kind, uplifting, she listened to her rambles and payed attention to her interests, she was also very physically affectionate, which excited Marcy because she loved being physically affectionate, words often failed her so the best way to show her care for someone else was through gestures rather than compliments. But the way this friendship felt was quite different from her last one, Anne and Sasha were amazing too but Luz felt... more. It was difficult to understand at first but over the time she's been spending with Luz the point had become increasingly clear now that she and Luz bonded better and more than she, Anne and Sasha ever did. It hurt thinking about them, and discounting their friendship, searches had come and gone, no results had come of them but they hadn't given up yet. There was still hope after all. She turned back to see Luz's eyes drooping as she struggled to continue, clearly wanting to stay up to make Marcy happy. That was the other thing, Luz actively went out of her way to make Marcy feel appreciated, happy, wanted. The bond she shared with Luz was way stronger than the bon she had shared with Anne and Sasha, despite their relatively different durations in comparison. She felt happy with Luz around, but there were also the other feelings, the weird flushing, the thoughts in her head telling her Wow she's cute. That wasn't normal friend behaviour, she had been conflicted about it for the longest time, still not entirely sure what was going on with her. She gasped and blushes deeply when a weight forced itself on her side, she turned her head to see Luz peacefully sleeping, having slumped against Marcy's shoulder. In an instant, all her feelings reigned themselves into one single consensus. Blushing as she gulped, she knew what she was feeling.

 

She had a crush on Luz.

//

 

 

Marcy panicked in that moment because I've never had a crush on anyone! Before now she didn't even think she was capable of feeling that way. But the bigger problem arose. Would Luz like me back? Does Luz even like girls? The thoughts swarmed her head until she panicked and her breath hitched, shaking. Voices shouted in her ears, telling her she wasn't good enough, that she'd only ever be there for Luz's gain and not for her own. She hyperventilated as her vision wavered and her limbs became putty. Suddenly, a warm hand placed itself on hers, breaking her back into reality slightly, enough to see Luz with a panicked expression, saying something but her ears only heard static as the thoughts filled her head with the feeling of cotton. Luz decided in that moment to hug her, tightly wrapped around her, saying something, slowly she started to make out what she was saying.

 

"C-lm do--, --ve g-t y--," She repeated the same mantra over and over again, each time becoming clearer to Marcy what she was whispering, "Calm down, I've got you."

 

Marcy gasped as her breathing started to calm down, her hands fumbled for a bit before shakily grabbing Luz's hand, who only tightened her warm grip in response. Luz then held up a hand.

 

"Here, with me Marc, breathe in 4, breathe out 4."

 

Marcy inhaled and exhaled slowly and forcefully, by the 4th exhale she felt calmer, she shaking mostly leaving her body. Luz looked her over for a bit before cupping her cheeks worriedly.

 

"What happened? Are you  ok?"

 

Marcy blinked back on what caused the panic attack, and blanched when she remembered what it was, deciding not to tell her, she just said it was a nightmare.

 

 

For the rest of the night, the girls slept in a tight embrace, neither brave nor foolish enough to let the other go.

Notes:

i am struggling to stay awake goodnight yall its actuallt 3am i have no self preservation

Up next: A Consciousness In-Between Realms

Chapter 9: A Consciousness In-Between Realms

Summary:

Anne finally wakes up, but it's not where she thought she would be, and she sees people she never thought she'd see again.

Notes:

Welp, its finally time for a bit of plot :D

When Anne woke up, it was not in the same environment she had been used to for the past month or so. The terrain was weird and abstract, in all forms of different and otherworldly greens and blacks. She sat up and winced at the pain in her chest, reaching her hand up to touch it she noticed her shirt was torn  from her chest up to her right shoulder, touching it tenderly, she saw the large bandages that had covered the wound. Frowning she pushed through, she stood up and noticed she was standing in an iridescent black liquid, within seemed locked several hues of teal. Trudging through the liquid she looked around, seeing multiple floating cubes that seemed to ripple with every movement she took.

 

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

 

When no voices but her own echoes called back to her, she tried to grab one of the cubes, but it flew just out of her reach.

 

"Where am I...?" 

 

She turned back to where she woke up, it looked the same as the rest, the weirdly abstract and sharp hills around her made it feel like one long valley, a ravine almost. The sky was black and green, sharing the same otherworldly colour scheme as the rest of the place, littered with the same rippling cubes. 

 

"Hello? Anyone? Sasha?" She called out, and suddenly a cube emerged from in front of her, grabbing it she looked into the ripples and suddenly a picture began to flare to life.

 

---

 

The door to the room flew open harshly, the same toad that usually walked in every day with her meals placed them down in front of the cell. Sasha spat at them and took the wooden bowl, gagging at the sight of the murky green paste and the occasional skittering caterpillar, very much still alive, she stomached it down. She had lost count of the days, but it feels like she's been in here for at least a year. She turned back to her diary, writing down the same old mantra of how stale and cold the cell was, and how annoying Captain Grime was. She was about to throw the empty bowl back at the door when she heard a voice she thought she'd never hear again.

 

"Sasha?"

 

Looking around for the source of her voice, Sasha quickly noticed Anne's reflection in the silver sheen of the torch in her cell. Tear pricked the edge of her eyes as she ran up to the torch.

 

"Anne! Oh my god is that you? Why are you in the reflection of my torch, what happened to you?" She quickly asked, Anne put a hand up to slow her down.

 

"Woah, woah, slow down, 1: Yeah, its me, Sash, 2: I have literally no idea, and 3: Giga Mantis I think, I don't exactly remember." She looked around, concern washing over her. "Why are you in a cell? Is this where you've been for the past month?"

 

Sasha let out a sigh of relief at that, so it's only been a month, but if Anne wasn't in a cell, that begged the question, where has she been?

 

"I appeared right within the walls of Tower Grime, the toads tossed me in here because I was an 'intruder', I've tried telling them I didn't even know where I was, but they must be a bunch of military freaks, nothing logical ever goes in their heads or comes out their dumb slimy mouths. Speaking of which, where have you been? I thought you were in another cell at Tower Beatrix or Tower Agrion, but yet you look like you've been roughed up by nature itself,"

 

Anne looked at her confused, before realizing that that must be other outposts for toads if these toads were military.

 

"I appeared in a swamp, completely in the wild, I spent an entire month or so living by myself, I built a camp, and hunted for food. I mostly used a wooden spear but I eventually decided to carve a sword out of a good chunk of stone I found, I also fashioned a scythe out of the claw of a Giant Mantis, you would not believe how sticky their blood is, it's like, better than superglue," Sasha blanched as the reality finally hit her, Anne, sweet naive Anne, had been living out in the harsh wild for a month by herself. She hadn't seen much of the wild, being locked away in this rotting cell for the entirety of their time here, wherever 'here' was, but considering Anne had mentioned Giant Mantis' and Giga Mantis', she did not want to imagine how much more dangerous it could be out there.

Anne noticed Sasha was being quiet, and spoke up.

 

"So, I have literally no idea how I'm talking to you right now," Sasha perked up at that, curiosity in her eyes.

"Oh, yeah, where exactly are you?" Anne looked around and shrugged.

"I'm in this weird... I don't even know how to begin explaining it, all I remember was defending this town from the Giga Mantis and I got hit, and everything after that was a blur, suddenly I'm awake in this weird place that looks kinda creepy and abstract, and it has all these weird cubes floating around, and there's this weird black, yet colourful liquid below me, and I'm talking to you through one of those cubes, it appeared when I called your name..." A lightbulb seemed to go off in Anne's head, "Wait, where did you say I am right now to you?"

 

Sasha blinked, "The reflection of my cells torch,"

 

"I must be talking to you through reflections, which means..."

 

She set the cube down, mindful not to let it float away, and called two names.

 

"Bee and Oum Boonchuy!"

 

A cube rose from the liquid beneath, pushing its way upwards into Anne's hands, peering into it she saw her parent's sitting together on the lounge in her house. Suddenly, her mom, Oum, blinked and jumped up to her. Huh, must be the T.V.'s reflection.

 

"Anne! Is that you?" She grabbed the edges of the T.V. screen as Bee, Anne's Dad, awoke in shock at the name of his daughter being exclaimed.

 

Anne smiled, tears in her eyes as she waved slowly.

 

"Hey Mom, Hey Dad, it's so good to see you again." Bee dropped his bowl of food and rushed to the T.V. frantically.

 

"What happened to you? Where have you been? We've been worried sick!" Oum started shooting questions, meanwhile Bee was struggling to say words, finally out of all the sentences he tried to say, one came out.

 

"Why do you have leaves and twigs in your hair?"

 

Anne reached her hand up to her large poofy hair and pulled out a twig.

 

"Huh, didn't notice that."

 

Oum seemed a little more interested in the whole story of where Anne had been. Also why she was on T.V.

 

"So young lady, where have you been this past month?" She asked, sternness in her voice as she levelled a glare at her daughter. Anne nervously laughed and rubbed the back of her head, smiling sadly.

 

"It's a long story..."

 

---

 

"So basically, you're trapped in another world full of... talking frogs? Sorry, this is a lot to take in." Oum admitted, wiping her hand down her face as she tried to grasp what her daughter told her. Bee sat in contemplation, no words coming out of his mouth. Anne rubbed her hands together.

 

"Yeah, I know, its hard for me too, I've been living in the wild for a month, but I'm still alive if that counts," She looked down to the bandages on her chest, "Almost alive," Oum sighed in worry as she analysed her daughter, she had 3 long scratch marks on her cheek, a long scar running around her left arm, and the massive bandage and torn shirt. She looked like hell and her tired voice only proved it.

 

"So how are you talking to us now? Bee asked finally, Anne shook her head and shrugged.

 

"After the Giga Mantis scored a hit on me," She nodded down to the bandages, "My memory kinda blurred, and I woke up here, this weird... otherworldly place with these cubes that float around and show me reflections of other peoples lives I guess, I was able to talk to Sasha, she's fine by the way, she was locked up and in a cell but she's being fed and she doesn't have to deal with the wild," The part about being in a cell didn't reassure her parents at all, but they let their daughter continue, "I'm 99% sure if I say someone's name, I see them from the reflection of the closest thing near them."

 

After some more conversations, Anne thought of one more thing.

 

"Look, guys, I'm gonna see if I can find a way out of here, if I end up back here, I'll make sure to contact you guys again ok?" Her parents bid her goodbye, feeling just a little better that their daughter was fine (for the most part), but then feeling a lot worse about the dangers their daughter faced.

 

Anne pushed the cube back into the inky liquid below and sighed a breath of relief. Before calling out one last name.

 

 

"Marcy Wu!"

 

---

 

Marcy sat idly at home, watching some cartoon about two siblings in a town full of supernatural events. Her parent's were both at work and Luz was out with her Mom, Luz had offered for her to come along but Marcy kindly refused, saying Luz needed to spend some more time with her Mom. Suddenly the T.V. flickered on and off, Marcy sat up, confused.

 

"Huh, power outage? But it's not storming outside," She turned to see the T.V. again, except on it was the face of her missing friend Anne.

 

"Heya, Marbles," She wiped a tear from her face, "It's me."

 

Marcy's heart stopped, she had to be imagining things. In front of her, displayed on her dysfunctional T.V. was Anne, her hair full of misplaced leaves and twigs, tied into a loose high ponytail by a few vines, a few scratch marks on her cheek. Her school uniform was torn from her chest up to her right shoulder, and in place was a large bandage, she had a long scar down her arm and her skirt was torn at the bottoms. She was missing a shoe and she looked tired and dirty.

 

"Anne?! Oh my gosh, where are you? Where have you been?! Do you have any idea how worried you made me? Where's Sasha? Why are there leaves in your hair? What happened to your chest?!" She frantically panicked, Anne shushed her.

 

"Ok, 1: Yes, 2: It's a long story, 3: It's also a long story, 4: Probably a lot, 5: Long story part 2, electric boogaloo, 6: I'm still surprised I never noticed that, 7: Also a long story,"

 

Marcy took a breath, and steeled her nerves, sitting down.

 

"Ok, I have time, tell me everything."

 

---

 

Once Marcy had been caught up on everything, she racked her memories for any of the music box that Anne described to her, before a shocking revelation came to her.

 

"Wait one minute, I'll be back!"

 

Anne heard some rumbling, and a crash from the side, and Marcy slid back into her view with a giant thick book in her hands. It was titled "Dr P's Secrets to the Universe (And Beyond)" Slamming it down on the floor, she opened it, scrolling past multiple pages that Anne took note of. Some of which included "Evil Triangle: Do not release under any cost!", "Human Turned Witch? Do not trust!" But the one that stood out the most to her was the page titled "King of frogkind, Evil conqueror- Box gone- Do not return-" Was all she could make out as Marcy flipped through the pages. She stopped on one. "Calamity Box: Music of other worlds!"

 

Marcy held the book up so that Anne could see it, and Anne gasped.

 

There it was, the very same box that brought them to this world.

 

"This the box you were talking about?" Marcy asked, when Anne nodded, Marcy got to reading.

 

"This box was discovered thousands of years ago, with its power unknown, it was locked away. The three jewels on its cover seem to signify something deeper. Looking into the box itself, it seemed to hold the same kind of magnetic and magical energy that my portal to the In-Between held. I distinguished that the box indeed held some form of power to transport between realms, whether it be to the In-Between like my portal, or somewhere entirely different. Though I wanted to test it, I knew better against it. But to anyone who ends up with this box in your hands, DO NOT activate it."

 

"The In-Between?" Anne asked, curious, Marcy understood the question and checked the page of contents, finding the page for the In-Between, she flipped to it.

 

"The In-Between is what I call a 'Fragmented Dimension', a realm in which nothing is real yet fake. It's one never-ending plain of abstract landscapes and Vision Cubes, if you call someones name, a cube designated to them will arise from the Ink of Vision, and when you peer into it, you see their life through the reflection of something nearby. Only the person who was called upon can see or hear the reflection. Through various testing I've discovered there is no normal escape to the In-Between, but if you call a Vision Cube designated to yourself, the realm will collapse and will warp you out. While the collapse is temporary, it takes around a whole day for the In-Between to reconstruct itself."

 

Anne gasped.

 

"Hey that sounds like where I am!"

 

Marcy put a finger to her chin, curious.

 

"How did you end up there? Dr. P's notes said he built a portal to the In-Between, but I doubt you did that." Anne looked down for a second, before shrugging.

 

"After the Giga Mantis attacked me, I can't remember much, I woke up, and I was here. I already contacted Sasha, and my parents. And now I'm talking to you."

 

So then they sat, talking for hours, the topic of Luz had come up at one point and Anne had genuinely laughed when Marcy admitted her crush on the girl, and then she started to ramble about her. It seemed to Anne that Luz meant a big deal to the black-haired girl, so she was happy, she said she'd have to meet her one day, give her the bestie approval, to which Marcy indignantly blushed and covered her face in shame.

 

Unfortunately all good things come to an end, with a promise to talk to each other again if she found out how to get back into the In-Between, Anne set aside Marcy's cube and called upon her name.

 

"Anne Boonchuy."

 

And suddenly, the realm warped and shifted, cracking beneath her as the cavernous walls split and shattered, smiling, she lay back into the Ink of Creation and closed her eyes.

Notes:

Well then, that was something

So Anne is linked to the In-Between, wonder how that's gonna come in later

Till then, Izu signing out!

Next up: Act 1 Finale: Venture Into The Unknown!

Chapter 10: Venture Into the Unknown - Part 1 Finale

Summary:

The girls have a camping trip together out in the woods near Luz's house.

Notes:

And here we are

Now i know alot of you are asking why im uploading so fast, its because im kind of impatient, i could have a chapter written out in a few hours and i dont wanna wait for the support i get from you guys, also because i have a very large motivation and im in a big writing mood atm, and i dont wanna lose that and let this story fall under

anyways im not gonna do a hiatus so literally expect the next chapter like, tomorrow lmao

 

also as of this coming out, almost 2000 of you have collectively read my chapters, i cant thank you all enough for the support you're all incredible!

"Water?"

"Check!"

"Snacks?"

"Check!"

"Azura?

"Check!"

 

The girls were getting ready for their weekend camping trip they had been preparing for around a week now. It'd been Luz who suggested it, a nice camping trip to the woods near Luz's house. Of course, jumping at any chance to spend time with her crush friend, she accepted. It was the day they planned to leave, Friday afternoon, and they planned to return on Sunday evening. Kissing her Mom goodbye, Luz and Marcy set out, backpacks on their back as they ventured into the woods.

 

Luz ducked underneath some branches, holding them up for Marcy to pass through, who smiled gratefully in return. They treaded carefully through the illustrious greens and teals that painted the growing flora. Trees stretched as tall as mountains, rich browns making up their textured and layered bark. Marcy excitedly stopped by every new species of flower or plant she saw, excitedly doodling it down and jotting down notes about it. Luz thought it was very cute how intelligent and intrigued by the smallest things Marcy was, and yet she was so humble. She refused to acknowledge that she was smarter than most people, it made it very fun to be around her because no matter how dumb Luz was, she always felt like she had some modicum of intelligence when around Marcy. Mostly because the girl also asked for her input, which Luz was happy to supply. They came across a small creek, looking both ways they decided the best way to cross would be to jump. Hand in hand, they took the leap. Luz successfully landed on the other side, but a tug and a pull on her hand suggested Marcy hadn't quit made it.

 

Marcy balanced on the edge of a slippery rock, the only thing keeping her from taking a swim was Luz's tight grip. Gasping, Luz pulled her in, the two tumbling to the ground, laying in a heap on top of one another.

 

Once they realised the position they were in, the two blushed profusely, scrambling to get up and spout apologies when they noticed the area they had stumbled into.

 

It almost looked like it shouldn't exist, a clearing surrounded by thick, slightly glowing trees, mushrooms, all sorts of colours of the rainbow, seemed to make their home in small groves between the trees, the grass took on a more teal colour, Luz bent down to feel it, it felt like silk that would be used for a kings royal bed. The middle of the clearing sat a ring of glass-looking stones. Walking over to them, Marcy picked one up. It felt heavy, not just physically but almost overbearing to hold, dropping it immediately, it harmlessly bounced off of the soft soil. Turning back to Luz, she grinned.

 

"Perfect spot to camp out!"

 

---

As night set in, the girls only realised how more magical this place looked, the fireflies gave the dark air a beautiful yellow sheen, combined with the more illuminous trees and the weirdly blue and gold speckled thick liquid that oozed from certain lakes (which none of the girls dubbed safe to drink), this place felt more and more like a fantasy realm than anything else. They sat peacefully by the fire, telling tales of real and made up stories, reading Azura to each other and eating. The cool air combed over their camp as the moon rose, a soft red gazing down upon them, Luz looked up and saw the moon blistering red.

 

"Hey, the moon isn't usually supposed to be red, right?" She asked Marcy, who looked at her in confusion before the rays of red rested upon their camp, looking up she gasped as the moon shone crimson hues down upon the earths surface.

 

"Huh, that's odd, the red moon isn't for another 17 days..." She frowned in concern, whatever this meant couldn't be good.

 

Luz shrugged it off and continued to converse with her crush friend, but the silent worry nagged in the back of their heads all night.

 

Marcy was restless, she tossed and turned in her sleep as she tried to grasp onto any sentience of a good nights rest, but silently she groaned in annoyance after an hour without any sign of falling asleep. Silently, she got out of bed and went to sit outside.

 

The fireflies remained in the same spot they were earlier, speckling the red sky with their blinkered yellow lights, the mystical glow of the clearing soothing her slightly, she walked around for a bit, her restlessness making her want to study the weird plants and growth in this weird environment. She was in the middle of studying the glow moss when a weird noise caught her attention.

 

Walking over to the pool of weird blue liquid, she saw a key floating in it, thinking quickly, she grabbed a stick and fished the key out by the string. It was unlike any key she had ever seen before, a weird metal with a brownish sheen to it, couldn't be bronze or copper because they were a lot heavier than the key. The most outstanding part however was the large yellow eyeball planted directly in the center of the handle. She rubbed whatever substance was on it off when she accidentally pressed on the eye, the key flew out of her hands and right into the pool in the center of the clearing, it splashed in, and light shone from the pool, tentacles of the liquid erupted from the pool, grasping and dragging anything in.

 

"Oh no."

 

---

 

Luz was not dreaming about Marcy, lies and slander, but her not-Marcy dream was rudely interrupted by-

 

"Oh, hey Marc, what's wrong?"

 

In her tiredness she didn't register the panicked look on her face. She wearily sat up, rubbing the tiredness out of her eyes.

 

"C'mon Luz, we gotta run!"

 

The franticness in her voice seemed to snap Luz out of her tiredness, looking around she got a glimpse of outside. Giant blue liquidy tentacles ravaged the clearing, dragging anything in that they could. 

 

"What's happening?!"

 

Marcy shook her head.

 

"There's no time to explain, hurry!"

 

The girls bolted from their camp, trying to run away from the clearing, but the trees had formed a dense wall of glowing bark. The glow wavered in the presence of the tentacles as they reached for any sign of movement, the obvious sign of movement being the 2 girls.

 

A tentacle wrapped around Marcy's ankle as she screamed, Luz grabbed onto her wrist tightly and pulled.

 

"I'm no letting you go, it's gonna be ok!"

 

But it wasn't, her grip was loosening, the pull was too much for Luz to compete with, grabbing her wrists. she kept pulling harder, but it was of no use, the tentacles eventually tore Marcy from her grip.

 

"Luz!" Was the last thing Luz heard from her as she was swallowed into the glowing inky liquid. Luz looked around at the clearing, their camp was ruined, the  only belonging Luz had was her phone, pulling it out, she gulped and messaged her Mom.

 

She then stared down the glowing inky pool, the tentacles only got more aggressive.

 

Luz growled as she got a running head start, she jumped over tentacles and slid under one, but an obscured one she didn't see got her on the side, shouting in pain, she took one final look at the clearing, before jumping in after her friend.

 

 

---

 

Meanwhile, in the bowels of a massive castle...

 

"My lord, I'm afraid the prophecy is neither enacting or failing us..."

 

"What do I mean? The prophecy states that all at once, within 3 set  locations, the warriors will arrive. We just received news of two of the warriors whereabouts, Wartwood and Tower Grime."

 

"The problem is, my lord... The warrior of wit never showed up."

 

---

 

Luz groaned as she slowly woke up, the memories of her past waking moments flooding back in like a tsunami, she didn't even register the woman in front of her as she panicked and tried to move. When she realised that it wasn't getting her anywhere, a comforting hand landed on her shoulder and she looked up into golden eyes.

 

"Hey, hey, calm down kiddo, I think we both want some answers right now."

 

End of Part 1

Notes:

So there we go, thats act 1 finished, moving onto act 2 in the next chapter we get to see where exactly the girls ended up.

 

Next Up: Blight and Seek

Chapter 11: Blight and Seek Part 1: In-Between and Lost Inside

Summary:

When her encounter with a mysterious magical lady goes wrong, Luz ends up in The In-Between.

She finds Marcy in a place that, unbeknownst to her, was more dangerous than any location in this weird world they've found themselves in.

When Marcy wakes up, she realises the dire situation she's found herself in, in which she must play the game of hide and seek where the stakes are a little more than lost dignity, and the seekers are powerful and all knowing. How will she get out alive?

And will it have anything to do with the girl who seems like a seeker at first glance but is only but a hider herself in this cruel game?

Notes:

Here we are with the part 2 premiere, things are starting to kick into gear finally :D

And finally, the player 3 you all have been waiting for...

"Hey, calm down kiddo, I think we both want some answers."

 

Luz stood up immediately, shock overriding the sharp sting of pain in her side, completely ignoring the odd decor of the room as she stared down the woman in front of her, hazelnut eyes met gold.

 

"Where is she?" She asked, unnervingly calm. The woman in front of her responded to her glare with a confused expression.

 

"She? Kid, I don't know wh-" Luz stomped her foot as her glare wavered, a few tears pricking the edge of her eyes.

 

"Where is she!?" She screamed angrily, "Tell me now or I swear I'll-"

 

Suddenly a wave of numbness casted over here, pins and needles prickling beneath her skin as she stumbled, eyes drooping.

 

"T-Tell me w-where," She stuttered as she clumped to the ground, "Tell me w-where Marcy is..." 

 

---

 

Luz woke up, blinking the tiredness out of her eyes, when she noticed where she was. This was NOT where she just was.

 

The place looked abstract, multiple teals and greens painted swirling yet sharp cavernous walls, lining a valley of inky black yet colourful liquid that seemed to only be ankle-height. Multiple black and teal cubes floated absently in the air, rippling continuously. Taking a step forward, her memories flooded back to her, the camping trip, tentacles of blue and gold liquid, Marcy... Marcy!

 

"Marcy! Where are you?!" She screamed out, but a weird rippling in the negative liquid below her caught her attention. From the rippling emerged one of the cubes, grasping at it, an image flared to life before her.

 

---

 

Marcy stirred as her eyes fluttered open, sitting up and groaning, she winced as her ankle stung in pain. Looking at it she saw the sock torn and an angry red mark on it, almost like a burn. Frowning, she tried to get up, stumbling a little on the pain her ankle supplied as she grasped the wall for support, that would be her biggest mistake.

 

It seemed as if the walls were lined with some form of touch-sensitive light, the walls light up, lines of interconnecting circles and weird patterns quickly covered the walls, the eerie red letting her know something was wrong.

 

"Attention Blight Manor, there is an intruder. Do your duties as Blights and seize them."

 

Dread seeped into her bones as the patterns on the walls and the red lights connected in her brain, obviously, wherever she was, it was Blight Manor, and that meant...

 

She was the intruder.

 

Scrambling in a panic, she shirked away from the light that seeped into the room from the cracked open door, hiding behind some cloths and various other objects, it was obviously a storage room.

 

Voices could be heard outside, Marcy was able to single out 4 different voices, but 5 different pairs of footsteps.

 

"Ed, Em, take the right and left wing, Alador, you take the basement, I'll take the higher floors." A sharp female voice commanded, "Mittens, you're in charge of the storage rooms. We will find them, and make them wish they were never born."

 

Marcy silently gulped at the implications behind that, and hid tighter, trying to make her body as small as possible amongst the various other objects in the room. She heard 4 pairs of footsteps run off. One remained, and started opening doors and rummaging.

 

So far, I have Ed, Em, Alador and... Mittens? I'm sure that's not her real name, but it's all I have to go off right now. Brilliant, the one searching the area I'm in is the one of the two whose names I don't know. 

 

Her thoughts were cut short by the door to the storage room opening. She couldn't get a good look at whoever entered, but she could tell she was young, her age almost, and her hair was a sharp teal green. She had displaced quite a bit of the room, and was coming across her cover. Panicking, she tried to quietly slither through to a part of the room that had already been searched, but a gasp of pain gave away her location as a book fell on her burnt ankle. The girl stiffened and went to the location of the sound, moving boxes out of the way to uncover Marcy, looking scared and hurt, her hands protectively covering her ankle. She got a better look at the girl, she had teal hair done up in a small ponytail, the sides of her hair let down, she had immaculately golden eyes and very pale skin, her features drawn in a permanent frown, as well as her most defining feature, her pointy ears.

 

The girl rose her hand instinctively, drawing a circle in the air, forming a ring of pure purple energy, but she faltered when she saw Marcy. She couldn't be any older than she was, and she looked lost, hurt and afraid.

 

Dispelling the circle, she knelt down, casting another smaller circle, this time light blue. A bigger ring surrounded the two, before a transparent blue dome encased them. Wearily, she extended a hand to the girl, who looked at her in surprise.

 

"You don't look like you know how you got here," She said in a matter-of-fact tone, Marcy looked to the side, ashamed. It was then that the girl noticed the hand that was protectively covering her ankle, kindly, she moved towards her. Instinctively, Marcy backed away, before realising the girl didn't look like she meant any harm. "Let me see your ankle, I know a bit of healing magic."

 

Wait, magic?

 

The girl seemed to notice the hesitation and confusion in her expression, before taking on a slightly more softer approach.

 

"Just because I'm a Blight doesn't mean I only know oracle and abomination magic," She explained before reaching for her ankle, Marcy still hesitated, before turning to the girl.

 

"What do you mean magic? Is this some kind of, uh, joke?" She asked, confused. The teal-haired girl stared a her in complete confusion before the sight of Marcy's round ears caught her attention.

 

"How- How on earth did a human get here?" She asked no-one in particular, before turning back to Marcy, who only looked even more confused. "Uh, well, if you don't know where you are, I don't think you're exactly... Home, anymore, this is the Boiling Isles, welcome to the Demon Realm."

 

---

 

The image flashed to life, flickering as the cube displayed a dark room, barely able to make out what looked to be Marcy amongst various stored objects.

 

Wait, Marcy!

 

But before she could say anything, voices could be heard from outside.

 

"Ed, Em, take the right and left wing, Alador, you take the basement, I'll take the higher floors." A sharp female voice commanded, "Mittens, you're in charge of the storage rooms. We will find them, and make them wish they were never born."

 

Luz panicked, because wherever Marcy had ended up was not as friendly as where she ended up. She felt a twinge of guilt at the way she acted to whoever it was that she woke up with, but she tucked the feeling in the back of her mind as she watched with nervous anticipation.

 

Her heart stopped when the door to her room was opened by a young teen, probably their age. Luz almost immediately noticed her pointy ears and unnatural eye colour. While the eyes could be excused as an... interesting contact colour, the ears were unexplainable, almost reminding her of the pointy eared witches from Azura.

 

Suddenly, Marcy gasped in pain and the girl spotted her, and was about to attack. Much to Luz's surprise and amazement, she drew a circle of purple energy in the air, but it dissipated and her expression softened. Luz watched in avid anticipation as a circle of blue energy was circled around them. Luckily, whatever Luz was viewing them out of was within the dome of energy that was manifested as the girl began to talk. She offered to use healing magic to heal her ankle (Whoever did that to her friend would severely pay), but Marcy was just as confused as Luz was. The girl then said something about oracle and abomination magic, and when Marcy asked if she was joking, the girls eyes seemed to dart straight to her ears.

 

"How- How on earth did a human get here?" She asked no-one in particular, before turning back to Marcy, who only looked even more confused. "Uh, well, if you don't know where you are, I don't think you're exactly... Home, anymore, this is the Boiling Isles, welcome to the Demon Realm."

 

---

 

"Boiling Isles?" She echoed, before turning to the girl in front of her, "Wait, it might be the nerves of the whole situation, or the fact that I'm very confused, but I don't think I got your name?"

 

The girl blinked for a second, before shaking her head, putting on her more serious expression, she introduced herself.

 

"I'm Amity Blight."

 

"Amity, that's a pretty cool name, my name is Marcy Wu, put 'er there!" Marcy exclaimed as she held out a friendly hand, Amity analysed her expression for a second before wearily shaking it. Suddenly, footsteps approached, panicking, Amity dispelled the circle and cast another smaller circle, causing Marcy to become invisible. It took a lot of effort to maintain the invisibility spell as Amity turned to Marcy, signalling her to be quiet as the footsteps approached. Amity pretended to continue looking when the person approached the door. She looked like slightly older version of amity with darker green hair, and a mole under her left eye.

 

"Found the intruder yet, Mittens?" She asked, Amity blushed at the nickname before trying not to sound strained.

 

"No." The newcomer frowned.

 

"Well that's no fun, I wanna make sure Mom and Dad don't find them, I have some sympathy you know?"

 

Amity seemed to consider something, her expression becoming unreadable. Finally, she looked up at the girl and nodded.

 

"Mom and Dad are no where near done searching the basement and the upper floors?"

 

The girl shook her head.

 

"Dad always forgets his way around the basement, and Mom will probably want to inspect every spec of dust in every room, so they'll be a while."

 

Amity looked back to where Marcy sat, frowning before her face became resolute, turning back to the girl, she gestured to the door behind her.

 

"Close the door, cast a concealing spell."

 

The girl smirked, closing the door and casting a ring of blue energy, a dome much like the last dome encasing the 2. Amity breathed a sigh of relief as the invisibility spell wore off, revealing a nervously smiling Marcy who waved. The girl gasped.

 

"Amity! How dare you keep the intruder away from me, especially when they're this cute!"

 

Marcy's brain went through 3 emotions at once, fear at being outed, confusion, and finally embarrassment as she covered her face with her arms. Amity rolled her eyes and jabbed the girl in her ribs, who yelped out in response.

 

"Emira, please, give her a break, she's been through enough already." She looked down at Marcy, before turning to whisper to Emira, "She's a human, she ended up in here somehow, and she doesn't know either,"

 

Emira seemed to mull over her next words before shrugging, looking down at Marcy's injured ankle.

 

"Owch, you good, girl?" She asked, inspecting the burn, "How did you manage that?"

 

Marcy shrugged, after all, she didn't actually remember how it happened.

 

"Took a bad fall?"

 

Emira laughed while Amity turned to the black-haired girl, bewildered expression in place.

 

"How did you manage to burn your ankle by falling?!" 

Marcy shrugged again, before wincing in pain at the burn. "Hey, you said you had, uh, healing magic or whatever it was right? I don't wanna sound like I'm rushing you but the burn kinda, burns, y'know?"

 

Emira laughed harder while Amity dragged a hand down her face, casting a deep blue ring at her ankle, Marcy felt like she had been stabbed a million times through her ankle, but only for a split second. She watched in wonder (and agony) as the angry red burn around her ankle shrunk in on itself before it became nothing more than pure, clean skin.

 

"Woah, it's gone! Do you know how useful that is? What else can you do with healing magic? Can you cure diseases? repair broken bones? Can you revive dead people?!"

 

Amity and Emira blanked at the sudden rambles from the girl. After a second, Amity rose her finger to answer, but then lowered it, contemplating her answer, before looking confused as she shrugged.

 

"I... Don't know?"

 

Marcy deflated in disappointment from that, before she touched where the burn was, and felt nothing. Testing, she stood up, and it felt perfectly fine. Suddenly though, a sing-song voice echoed from the hallway.

 

"Oh, Mittens, dear, a little birdie told me you found our little perpetrator."

 

Everyone's heart stopped.

 

"Shit. Mom knows." Emira let out, Amity glared at her for the language but looked just as shaky. Marcy looked at them, confused.

 

"Can't you just, make me invisible again?" Amity shook her head.

 

"Mom's an oracle, she can read minds, predict things, see through lies. You'd have to be a master at illusions to cast one that fools her."

 

Marcy sighed and grew tenser.

 

Emira shot a pointed look at Amity, who blinked in confusion.

 

"I'll distract her, you run."

 

Without giving the chance to argue, she left the room, attempting to distract their Mom. Amity sighed in annoyance, before grabbing Marcy's wrist.

 

"C'mon, lets get out of here!"

Notes:

Hope yall enjoyed part 1 of 3 in Blight and Seek, things are about to get real...

 

Next Up; Blight and Seek Part 2: The Game Begins

Chapter 12: Blight and Seek Part 2: The Game Begins

Summary:

Marcy and Amity run for their life, trying to find an exit in the maze that is Blight Manor.

Luz isn't alone.

Notes:

Here we are!

Blight and Seek part 2!

How will Amity and Marcy escape? What does Luz have to do with The In-Between?

Find out now in this exciting installment!

Ok god I'm too excited, this chapter is an absolute blast, hope you all enjoy :D

Marcy and Amity ran down the ornate hallway, Amity having casted a small invisibility spell again. Emira had said it wouldn't work but Amity knew that it would work as long as her Mom wasn't paying attention. Dashing through the halls, they came across a staircase. Marcy turned to her friend(?), who seemed to think for a second. 

 

"We're on the second floor, if you want to escape, we need to be on the first floor. The problem is that the main entrance, as well as all other entrances to the house are guarded by my Dad's Abomatons." When she noticed Marcy's confused expression, she elaborated. "Combination of abomination magic and robotics, my Dad is a genius inventor and master of abomination magic, so he combined the two to make a home defense system."

 

"So, where do we go then, if all entrances are blocked?" Marcy asked, hopeful that Amity had a solution, the girl sat in contemplation for a moment before hitting her fist into her open palm.

 

"The basement!" Marcy looked confused, Amity stumbled for a second before continuing, "The cellar door that leads to the outside is only unlockable from the inside, not outside, it's the only one my parent's didn't feel an Abomaton was a necessity. The problem is, however, the basement is a labyrinth of labs and testing sites, it's the most guarded location of the house, but it's the only way out we have that isn't completely blocked."

 

Marcy nodded, looking at her expectantly.

 

"Let's do this. How do we get to the basement?"

 

Amity looked at her, confused, before she laughed. It was bubbly and sort of cute.

 

"Well, duh, we take the stairs."

 

Marcy facepalmed, clearly still a little bit out of it.

 

Quickly, the descended the stairs, almost tripping once they heard a sickening voice in their heads.

 

"Mittens, I really do not appreciate that you're helping the intruder escape, this is not becoming nature of a Blight. But, it will be fun to see how you try to help them escape... If you succeed, I might even be proud of you."

 

Marcy blanched, she knew. Amity seemed to grab Marcy's hand and pull her down the stairs.

 

"C'mon, we gotta hurry! It takes time for her to reinforce and command the Abomatons to move to defend the exit, if we get there fast we might be able to simply outspeed her!"

Marcy nodded and they scurried down the stairs, as they reached the first floor, Amity pulled her to the left, showing a bulky metal trapdoor covering an entrance. Focusing and waving a purple spell circle in the air, purple sludge formed itself into a hand, Amity's own hand moved with it, imitating gripping and ripping. The hand of sludge grasped the handle on the metal trapdoor and ripped it off its hinges with a loud metallic whine. Amity panted as she dispelled the sludge, it collapsed to the ground, no longer animated. Marcy gasped in amazement.

"Was that abomination magic?" Amity nodded tiredly, shaking her head and slapping her face to wake her up again.

 

"Took a lot out of me, but lets keep going." Marcy nodded, and they descended into the basement.

 

---

 

Luz watched on in anticipation as Marcy and Amity entered the basement. It was dimly lit, it was there that for some reason, the image didn't follow them. They ran off into the darkness, and she was left to worry.

 

The cube shattered in her hands, the noise loud and disruptive, sending a wave of rippling energy through the weird ink at her feet. Suddenly, a voice called out.

 

"What was that? Who's there!"

 

Luz turned her head, amazed to see that... No one was there. But the voice kept calling.

 

"Where are you? Show yourself!" The voice sounded young, younger than her. And it finally clicked in her head that the voice wasn't coming from behind her, it was coming from above her. She looked up, seeing a giant blue orb with 4 arced golden lines surrounding it. It had a dot in the middle and a weird net pattern of light blue on it. Inside, a solid, abstract shadow-like silhouette was within, it was moving around trying to find the source of the noise. Luz stood nervously, before greeting it.

 

"Uh, hello?" Almost instantly, the shadow darted in its ball-like prison, its eyes looking down on Luz.

 

"Finally, a person! A real person! Not Philip!" It exclaimed, "Do you wanna play a game? It's kind of hard in my prison but we can make it work!"

 

"Woah, slow down a little. I would love to play a game, uh," She trailed off, before the shadow realized she needed a name.

 

"My name is... I don't actually know my real name, all I know is that I'm The Collector!" Luz rose an eyebrow, "How did you get here? I haven't seen anyone here in centuries! ...Well, except for that one incident a few months back when someone collapsed the realm, but I never saw them so it doesn't count!"

 

Luz was surprised by the easy enthusiasm that came from the shadow, Collector, and the fact that they've been trapped here for centuries.

 

"What is this place? Why have you been trapped here for centuries, wait, how old even are you?"

 

The Collector donned a bored expression as they swirled around in their prison, picking at their shadowy fingers.

 

"Ugh, you're so boring," They drawled out, before looking down at Luz, "I got trapped here by a big bully, he was scared of me, but I didn't mean to hurt him! And I don't remember how old I am, now, can we play a game?"

 

Luz chuckled nervously and shrugged, mulling over her next words meticulously.

 

"I would love to, Collector, you seem really fun to play with, but my friend is in danger, I need to help them!"

 

Collectors eyes widened minutely, before inspecting her closer. After a moment, they shook the chains of the ball and moved it closer to Luz.

 

"Okay! I'll help you, but you gotta promise next time you can play, k?" Luz nodded, and The Collector swirled around happily, before realising something. "I need your help, actually... You're a human, right? I can't help you out of here unless I'm able to move freely, I can't be freed from this realm, but if you break the seal on this Titan Capsule, I can freely move around in here!"

 

Luz thought about it for a moment, remembering the trouble that Marcy and Amity were in, before her face turned determined and she nodded.

 

"What do I need to do? Do I need to like, make a blood sacrifice or something?"

 

The Collector smiled mischievously, stars of the same abstract shadow they were made out of appeared around their head as they held out a pinkie.

 

"No, silly! All that's required is that you don't have a bile sac, now!" They wagged their pinkie up and down as the grin grew wider. "Just follow my lead..."

 

---

 

Marcy yelped and ducked under the goopy arm of a giant purple and gold robot, its hollow eyes held a piercing toxic-green eye that tracked her movements perfectly. She fell back as Amity stood forwards and casted a circle, the abomination goop from the robot bubbled and furled, before it burst back into a wall, leaving a sizeable dent. Marcy gave Amity a thumbs up as they continued through the labyrinth of mazes that was the basement of Blight Manor. 

 

Turning a hallway, they crossed paths with 3 more Abomatons. Marcy turned nervously to Amity, who frowned in annoyance. Marcy noticed a spiked club laying still against one of the walls. Picking it up, she turned to Amity, who wore a small smile and nodded, drawing two more rings around both her hands. Rushing to the Abomatons, Amity blanched as she noticed something different, these weren't normal Abomatons, they were Abomaton 2.0s.

 

"Marcy, this is gonna sound really dumb, but we should probably avoid fighting these ones!" Marcy turned to her, confused, before a charging sound caught there attention and Amity barely had the ability to warp the blob of high-density abomination goo that was shot at Marcy's head, intercepting it around her as it splat harmlessly against the walls behind them. A sickening crack let them know just how much damage these things were capable of.

 

"I see what you mean," Marcy shakily admitted, before ducking under another blast. Amity formed a barrier spell but they easily shot through it.

 

"Shoot! I knew I should have practiced barrier magic more!" She then grabbed Marcy's arm and formed an abomination out of the goo left behind from the onslaught, the abomination formed fully and took multiple shots before collapsing. By the time the abomination had collapsed and the Abomatons could see past it, the girls were gone.  

 

---

 

Luz hooked her pinkie on the orb, right where Collector held theirs, and suddenly, she felt a cold pressure on it. Pulling, she saw the shadowy form of the collector phase out of the orb. The chains holding the orb in place flaired to light, ancient glyphs and insignias burning blue emblazoned on them. The pull tightened as Luz stumbled forward a bit, before digging her feet into the liquid and pulling harder. The Collectors abstract body seemed to rip from the orb, the insignias on the chains wavered, flickering on and off, before turning red. The orb seemed to rattle and shake under the pressure, the golden arcs glowing bright. Luz kept pulling hard, putting all her effort into it. Suddenly, the insignias faded, the chains snapping and the orb cracking from each point in which a chain held onto it. The golden arcs faded and fell off, clashing to the ground unceremoniously. The liquid splashed into Luz's face but she kept pulling, and in an instant the orb cracked one last time, before shattering into pieces finally. The Collector rose from the crumbled remains of their prison. Grinning and cackling madly.

 

"Haha! I'm free, finally!" They then looked around, and frowned, "Almost, at least." 

 

Turning to Luz, they grinned.

 

"Now, lets help your friends out."

 

---

 

Marcy and Amity were lost, the ducked into a lab to avoid being spotted by about 10 Abomaton 2.0's. Checking to see if they retreated, they took the empty hallway as a yes, darting out to it, going opposite the way that the robots had gone. Amity grabbed Marcy's arm and pulled her into a side hallway.

 

"C'mon, we're close, I recognize this area!" Marcy nodded and followed her. They stopped dead in their tracks however, their hearts stopping.

 

In front of them was the final hallway, the exit to the basement lingering at the end. Before them however stood about 20 Abomaton 2.0's, and 2 people.

 

A man and a woman sat confidently, the man looked tired, his brown hair in a mess and his clothes unkempt, abomination goo marking the navy blue lab coat, his eyes were covered by gold-lined goggles, the lenses appearing purple, much like the colour scheme of the Abomatons. The woman had bright teal hair, slightly lighter than Amity's but worn in the same style, she had a sharp face, purple lipstick and a stare that seemed to constrict them. Her flowery clothes made her even more intimidating as she stared them down.

 

"Oh no, Mom and Dad found us..." Amity groaned.

 

"It was really brave of you, Mittens, to think you could help an intruder escape," Mrs. Blight grinned sadistically, "But you forgot to account for one thing, you're not strong enough."

 

Suddenly, Amity and Marcy felt wet, tough grips around them as they were held steady by Abomatons.

 

"Now, lets get a look at the little intruder who thought it would be wise to sneak into Blight Manor..."

 

"Mom! She didn't sneak in!" Amity tried to plead, but her Mom only scoffed.

 

"Well how did she get here then? Through some magical portal?"

 

Marcy would have laughed at the irony of the situation had it not been so serious, but instead she steeled her nerves.

 

"Y-Yeah!" 

 

Her Mom stopped for a second, her eyes catching Marcy's ears, before she scowled.

 

"A human?! Disgusting, Abomaton, rid this realm of this pest!" She barked, Amity screamed out in terror as the Abomaton readied a laser, charging it to Marcy's head. All she could do was brace for impact. 

 

1 beat.

 

2 beats.

 

She opened her eyes wearily to see the laser encased in a crystal of ice. Eyes wide, she turned to the sight before her. A crack in the space in front of them opened up, and out walked Luz, a dark snarl on her face, little slips of paper with a weird symbol on them in her hand. As she stepped through the crack, it sealed up with a shockwave that sent everyone back but her. Amity's Mom screeched in indignance as she was tossed back into an Abomaton. Growling, she got up.

 

"Who are you?!" She yelled out. Luz's expression only darkened in response.

 

"The person you'd last want to see when you threaten to kill my best friend."

Notes:

woooooo, thats one of the longest chapters of the book by far, what do you all think? let me know and look forward to the last installation of Blight or Seek later today :D

 

Next Up: Blight or Seek Part 3: Escape

Chapter 13: Blight and Seek Part 3: Escape / Reunion

Summary:

Luz is here to save the day, wielding some form of magic, but how?

Marcy and Luz have a heartfelt reunion.

Luz, Amity and Marcy escape.

Notes:

Here we are, for the final installation of Blight and Seek, hope you all enjoy :D

"The person you'd last want to see when you threaten to kill my best friend."

 

Luz stood before them, her eyes no longer vibrant hazelnut, darkened by the glow that remained from the crack in space. She walked up to the downed form of Amity's Mom.

 

"You'd better hope I didn't just walk in on what I think I just did now," She growled, her hand grasping the thin sheets of paper, "Or else I'll make your exterior as cold as your interior is."

 

Amity's Mom growled as she got up, putting a hand to her purple jewel on her necklace. A purple aura sprouted from it, taking the form of a phantom with ethereal wrappings on it. It loomed above her as it growled.

 

"I am Odalia Blight, I will not let such a lower life form like you threaten me!" She grinned evilly, "I'm sure the Emperor will be pleased with your carcass."

 

Amity had enough, she turned to the Abomaton holding her hostage, and drew a spell circle with her nose, it took a lot more effort, but she succeeded. The Abomaton bubbled and blew back, dropping her. Before any other Abomaton could re-seize her. she spun a spell circle with her foot, and every Abomaton around her blew back. Marcy dropped to the floor, landing on her feet. Standing beside Amity, they began to take down the Abomatons.

 

Luz stood over Odalia, her presence much more intimidating than the oracle's. Still, Odalia didn't back up or cower, she took on a more serious expression as the phantom rushed towards Luz. Luz ducked under the first swing of its ghostly claws, before tossing out 3 pieces of paper. Odalia scoffed, her expression almost pitiful.

 

"Oh, no! I've been attacked by a few pieces of paper! Whatever shall I do?" She feigned fear as she cackled, the phantom continuing to attack Luz, who only grinned, Odalia fell for her trap.

 

Wordless, Luz dived under the phantasm, a piece of paper in both hands, charging for the woman. 

 

Before the fight...

 

"So, these... Glyphs, they can produce magic?" Luz asked, holding up the piece of paper, symbol engraved into it, Collector freely jumping and swirling around on the walls, enjoying the freedom.

 

"Yup! You have the ice glyph, but that's all I'm gonna give you! You seem smart, if you plan to stay on the Boiling Isles, I'm sure you'll find out the rest in no time! Besides, that big bully who trapped me in here seems to favour the morally ambiguous... Whatever that means, oh well!" The Collector then swirled a finger, a crack shattered the space in front of Luz. On the other side, her heart stopped as she saw the laser charging, aimed directly at Marcy.

 

She turned to Collector, shouting a thanks before stepping through the portal, tapping the ice glyph in her hand, sending a blast of ice at the laser, encasing it just in time.

 

---

 

By now, Luz had set up a large amount of ice glyphs on the floor, her plan was falling into place. Tapping one in her hands she shot a barrage of icicles at the phantom, who ducked under them. Using the distraction, she threw a second glyph, causing an ice cage to trap the phantom in. Odalia screamed in outrage as her phantom was rendered useless. She then turned to the downed Abomatons.

 

"Get up you useless trash, eliminate that dumb girl and her human bra-" She was cut off by an ice-covered fist smashing her straight in the face, stumbling back, her hand rushed to the huge bruise forming on her smashed cheek. Looking at Luz, her eyes were struck with actual fear.

 

Luz stood there, her eyes glowing sickeningly yellow as she held two glyphs in each hand, the room had somehow darkened as she illuminated it with a slight yellow glow, expression furious.

 

"Don't you ever call my Marcy a brat!" She shot out, punctuating the statement with a kick to the gut, Odalia stumbled back a bit again, before a bright blue glow caught her eyes below her.

 

She was standing on the glyphs.

 

Luz grinned, her eyes flashing yellow again.

 

"Looks like you weren't able to predict that one, huh?"

 

Odalia didn't even have time to say a single word before the ice shot up, slamming her through the roof of the basement. Clearly knocked out, Luz grinned, they had won.

 

It then occured to her that Alador was still there, but he was kind of just, watching. He looked at Luz, who growled. He then nervously shook his head and backed up.

 

"Good, looks like at least one of you wears the pants in this relationship." 

 

She then turned to the girls, who watched her in shock.

 

Amity was the first one to find her voice.

 

"You're a human, like Marcy, but- how did you use magic?"

 

Luz shrugged, she didn't want to tell anyone about The Collector, so she kinda just didn't answer. Amity frowned at her response, clearly dissatisfied with the lack of answer. She grinned nervously at the witch, who rolled her eyes.

 

"So I don't think we've ever met, I'm-"

 

"Amity, I know," Amity frowned in confusion, raising a finger. "It's a long story."

 

Amity looked around again, nothing could hold them back, but it was probably worth getting out, just in-case Odalia wakes up, no one wanted to be anywhere near her when that happens.

 

"Well, you can explain as soon as we get out of here and get far away." Luz nodded, before turning to Marcy, who sat there, still awestruck, a light dusting of pink on her cheeks. Luz knelt down to her to hold out a hand, but when she didn't take it, Luz grew concerned. She moved closer to snap her fingers, which seemed to snap Marcy out of it.

 

"You... Were so cool! We were trapped- I thought I was gonna get blasted into little pieces but then BAM! You showed up like some bad-ass hero from an anime, walking out of a crack in space-time! and you beat up Odalia like it was nothing! When did you get so bad-ass Luz?!" She grabbed Luz's hand and Luz immediately pulled her into a tight hug. "Woah, I missed you too-" Marcy stopped at the sniffles.

 

"I-I thought that I lost you, I was so scared, and then when I saw you about to get lasered, I almost didn't stop it in time, I'm sorry, Marc!" Luz sobbed as she clenched her grip tighter on her friend. Marcy smiled sadly as she pulled Luz in closer.

 

"Hey, it's ok, Luz, I was worried too, the entire time me and Amity were running, I couldn't stop thinking where's Luz? Is Luz ok? Is she hurt? I was scared the whole time, and honestly," She turned to Amity, a sorry expression on her face, "I wasn't exactly all there, sorry, Amity"

 

Amity watched the two, they must know each other, it was really sweet that they finally reunited. It then occurred to her that she had been regarded, shaking her head she turned to Marcy and donned a small smile.

 

"It's ok, you and your best friend are in a world that you don't know, I might be some rich kid but I'm not a spoilt jerk," She then thought to herself, "If you had constantly bothered me about trying to be my friend in the most annoying way, and also messed everything up while you're at it, I might have not considered being your friend." She blinked to herself, "Huh, don't know where that came from."

 

They all sat in silence for a while more, Luz and Marcy enjoying each others physical company, while Amity awkwardly sat to the side. Marcy noticed her and motioned.

 

"You could join us y'know, hugs extend to friends too," She offered. Amity looked at her, wide eyed, before blushing and turning away.

 

"No thank you, I... I don't do hugs, not well, at least." Marcy frowned at that, definitely some issues there.

 

Time passed before Amity remembered what they were supposed to be doing.

 

"Right, we're supposed to be escaping, Mom might be awake any moment now, lets go!"

 

 

They ran from Blight Manor, and the two girls stopped, in awe of the sight before them. A crimson sun rose above towering ribs, forests of blood-red and towns of misshapen houses and towers littered the view. beyond all that, a giant skull lay rest at the peak of it all, its giant horns towering above the land, the right horn broken off. The sea seemed to bubble and spew with every wave, very visible steam rose from its faded blue surface, as the golden sky was painted with the glow of the sun.

 

"Welcome to the Boiling Isles, you two,"

 

The two stared in wonder, before smiling and continuing their trek. They ended up in a town after a whiles walk, the town bustled with markets and people of all shapes and sizes... and colours, the diverse range of faces a huge shock to the two girls. They kept walking as Amity slowed down, letting the two enjoy the view of the town, obviously, painted by their expressions, a much different town then what they're used to in the human realm.

 

"What's this place called?" Luz turned to Amity, who smiled.

 

"It's called Bonesburough, its one of the 9 main towns of The Titan." Luz and Marcy looked at her in confusion, "The Boiling Isles came to be on the body of a decaying god, a Titan. They roamed the endless boiling seas before something eventually killed all of them. The last remaining Titan took a stand against the being that killed them all, encasing it in a mirror, and trapping it in another dimension, before dying himself. We are on the body of the last Titan,"

 

Marcy and Luz stared at her in Awe.

 

"Woah, that is such an anime backstory," Marcy exclaimed, Luz giggling and hugging the girl, still not over the euphoria of having her back and her not being in danger of death, Amity stared at the two with a deadpan stare.

 

"What's an anime?"

 

Marcy's expression darkened as she put a hand on the girls shoulder (Much to the confusion of the other girl).

 

"We have much to discuss."

 

...

 

Amity blinked, confused, before Marcy burst out laughing, before turning to Luz.

 

"Luz, was it? You uh, never told me how you knew my name." Luz blinked at being mentioned, before snapping her finger.

 

"I did say I would tell you, didn't I? Well, it all started when I first woke up in the Boiling Isles, I was in this weird house with odd decorations, I didn't take in too much of the room though, because I woke up in the living room, where the owner of the house was there, I started screaming and thrashing, demanding to know where Marcy was."

 

Marcy blushed at the feeling of safety she got when she found out Luz had teleported into someones home, and threatened them to find her, it was really sweet.

 

"Anyways, I think the most notable thing about her room was the massive wanted poster she framed on her wall, something like... a trillion 'snails', whatever they are."

 

Amity facepalmed, dragging the hand down her face with an exaggerated sigh.

 

"Of course. Marcy wakes up in the house of the most prestigious family and you wake up in the house of the most wanted criminal."

 

Luz's expression shifted to confusion.

 

"The most wanted criminal? She didn't seem like she wanted to hurt me, she just wanted to help, it was me who was being dumb and aggressive,"

 

Amity shook her head and gestured for her to continue.

 

"Anyways, so then I suddenly fell very sleepy, and when I woke up, I was in this weird place with floating cubes and this weird abstract feeling to it."

 

Marcy's eyes widened.

 

"The In-Between..."

 

Luz turned to her friend, confused.

 

"Excuse-a-what now?"

 

Marcy stilled, a hand flying up to cover her mouth.

 

"Did I say that out loud?" Everyone nodded, and she sighed. "Well, I guess now's a good enough time as any to tell you Luz, Anne and Sasha are still alive."

 

"Wait, how do you know?" She asked, confused. Marcy retold them the events of the night Anne had contacted her using The In-Between. Luz connected the dots. So that's what Collector meant when they were talking about the weird collapse that happened a few months ago, that must have been Anne.

 

Amity, meanwhile, was incredibly lost.

 

"So, let me get this straight, your two other friends are stuck in a realm that isn't human or demon?" Marcy nodded.

 

"They're stuck in this weird frog realm, she didn't tell me much about it, but she's fine."

 

Leaving it at that, they kept walking. Luz reached to her pocket to grab her phone and try to contact her Mom, but her face grew pale when it was empty.

 

"Shit! I must have left all my stuff at that criminals house!" Amity rolled her eyes, clearly unamused.

 

"No way you're getting it back now, The Owl Lady is not one known for being against petty theft."

 

"You mean me?" A new voice chimed in, the trio turned to see the same lady Luz had described sitting in a market, a giant sign stating "HUMAN TREASURES" above it, the lady shot them a toothy grin, showing off her golden fang, "Now I might be a criminal, but I'm sure as hell not an asshole."

Notes:

Another long chapter to satisfy all your needs, and the finalizing part of the 3 part Blight and Seek special!

Next up: Nefarious or Hilarious?

Guess what guys? In celebration of almost 3000 hits, 150 kudos and 25k words, we have a discord server! It's brand new so its still got some kinks me and my friend have to work out, but we have an official place for you guys to hang out, talk to each other and me, theorize for toh, or Don't Look Back, or share fanart, plug your own stories and much more!

Join here at: https://discord.gg/VNZuczqxBu

Anyone is welcome!

Chapter 14: Nefarious or Hilarious?

Summary:

The gang meets Eda, who somehow happens to be nice yet wanted.

And chaos ensues.

Notes:

Here we go again! We meet Eda properly this time, and get an epic fight scene to go with it!

"You mean me? Now I might be a criminal, but I'm sure as hell not an asshole." 

  

  

The girls stepped back instinctively, before the lady cackled. 

  

"Hah, you should see the look on your faces! I'm Eda, The Owl Lady, strongest witch on the Boiling Isles, feared by all!"  

  

"Not to mention busted!" A voice behind them said. A man in a white cloak, a cone shaped mask on with a hood, concealing everything but his eyes. Underneath the white cloak was a grey button-up uniform and black slacks. The coat was held at the neck by a golden triangular pin, depicting a winged sword. Eda groaned. 

  

"C'mon guys, can we not do this? At least not in front of the children? I have a reputation y'know?" The guard only growled and drew a spell circle, before Eda cut him off, "Alright, Alright, I'll come, just let me grab my stuff." 

  

She bundled up her stand with a wave of a finger, before pulling out a staff with a wooden owl on top, spinning it quickly, she fired a bolt of golden energy. The guard shouted and multiple guards with less convoluted get-ups appeared out of thin-air, fading into existence. They held their spear-like staves up, pointed at the group of people. Luz frowned. 

  

"Hey, take it up with her, we're witnesses here!" 

  

The leader scoffed, drawing a spell circle, bright gold. 

  

"You lot are under arrest for fraternizing with the Owl Lady!" 

  

Amity gasped, before turning to see Luz, pulling a few more slips of paper out of her pocket. She calmly walked up to the leader, his spell circle wavering slightly in confusion. She held up the piece of paper. 

  

"Uh... Nice drawing?" He let out, confused. Luz simply grinned mischievously, tapping it. The lines on the page lit up as a giant ice pillar fired out, hitting the leader square in the face, sending him flying back. Eda cackled in delight as Amity and Marcy watched, a twinge of horror on Amity's face and a grin on Marcy's face. That was her crush. 

  

"Get them!" One of the guards shouted as their spears illuminated the area. Luz thought fast, jumping back and tapping a piece of paper to form a wall of ice, while Eda spun her staff around and formed several glowing rings below the guards. Blasting with energy, they flew back. 

  

Amity sighed, she was in so much trouble when she got home, but she wasn't about to attack coven scouts, her chances of getting into the Emperors Coven would be severely damage if she did. But if she didn't fight back, she could get hurt, her friends could get hurt, and they had done way too much to let that happen now. Begrudgingly, she rose an abomination to distract the coven scouts, purposefully avoiding conflict by playing defensively.

 

Marcy rose her fists, ready to fight, when Luz handed her a stack of papers, turning to her, she winked. Marcy flushed and hid her face behind the cards. She saw Luz using these, and she knew that they produced ice magic, but did they bend to her thoughts or were they random? She had seen how Luz had effectively used them, and they seemed to do what they needed to do in the moment, so she assumed they would bend to her thoughts. Deciding to test it, she tapped one and threw it at a cluster of 4 guards. Thinking of a cage of ice, the parchment did just that. A crude cage of ice erected itself around the guards, though they easily broke out of it by conjoining a single large spell circle to shoot a burst of fire. Marcy ducked under the flames, licking dangerously close to her, and rolled. 

  

Until she tripped on her shoe mid roll, falling down unceremoniously. 

  

"Owch," She was quick to move however when a blast of energy struck the ground near her. Darting up again, she held two papers and clapped them together, causing a large, glistening spike of ice to shoot from her open palms, the ice branched off into multiple smaller and finer spikes of ice which pinned numerous amounts of guards to the wall, their hands held up. Gasping in amazement, she grinned and continued to launch multiple ice-based attacks.

 

More guards kept appearing out of nowhere, seemingly phasing into reality. Luz snarled as she threw a few papers to the ground, stepping on them. A barricade of sharp ice spikes shot out of the ground, temporarily stunning nearby guards as the ice poked at their plague-masks. Some were more ballsy than the others though, and one grabbed an ice spike, snapping it off its base and charged at Luz with it. 

  

Luz reached into her pockets to grab a paper, but her heart stopped when she felt nothing. She was out of glyphs. 

 

Bracing herself for the inevitable pain that having a large spike of ice impaling you would give, Luz held her hands in front of her face defensively. But a gurgling noise and a shout caused her to open her eyes. A barrier of purple and black goo had stopped the spike of ice. It had gone half-way through before coming to a stop, allowing Luz to grab it and pull it through. The barrier amalgamated into a single stream that was pulled back to Amity, a stern expression painted across her face as she turned to shield Marcy from an attack she didn't see coming. Luz would have to thank the witch later for playing defensive. Without any more magic to defend herself, she wielded the spike like a spear, threatening other guards that got close.

 

Eda was having the time of her life, blasting guard after guard as she ducked underneath a beam, turning and pointing her staff to the guard responsible for it. She swung her stuff into another guard, sending both the guard she hit and the guard she was telekinetically manipulating into a wall. She jumped over a burst of rocks from below her and teleported behind a guard, slamming her staff into his cranium, sending him crumbling to the floor in a head. She grinned as another guard ran at her. Going invisible, she grabbed the hood of his cloak and threw it over him, covering his vision. She then hit her staff into the ground, a green glow encasing the bottom half of it. Vines erupted from the ground and in one fluid movement he was dangling from his ankle mid-air, supported by thorny vines.  

  

After about another minute of non-stop fighting, the leader had gotten up, roaring in anger as he spun two circles around his arms and ran for the one responsible for attacking her. Luz backed up at the sight of the enraged leader darting towards her, rock encased fists at the ready. She then gripped the icicle and dove under a swing, spinning the icicle around, she pierced his arm. Wincing as he screamed out in pain, he quickly turned around and stomped the floor. Luz was unable to avoid the large chunk of stone that shot out of the ground directly into her. 

  

She was flung into the air like a puppet, screaming in agony as she tumbled to the floor, but she was quickly caught by Marcy, who wore a horrified expression. She gently set Luz down and turned to the leader, who was gripping his arm in pain as blood steadily leaked out of it, staining white with red. She calmly stepped towards him, 4 papers in each hand. He seemed to have noticed her advance, quickly getting up and spinning a circle with his good arm. She

ducked underneath the shards of earth tossed at her as she continued to walk towards him, eerily calm. 

  

Once she reached him, he swung a stone-covered fist at him, only for it to be met with an ice-covered fist, opening the fist, Marcy revealed 5 papers on each finger, flicking once, she shot a beam of incredibly cold ice at him, freezing his good arm. Her plan worked! She kept flicking until she had flicked all 5 times. The leader was pinned by giant spikes of ice encasing his limbs. Frowning, she pulled out 1 more paper, grabbing it and curling it up, a giant thin line of ice curled out of it, forming a hammer. She stood above him, snarling. 

  

"Don't ever hurt my Luz ever again!" She brought the hammer down on him, knocking him out cold. 

  

The area had been quickly been cleared out by other market-dwellers, the only form of life being the downed bodies of numerous guards, some groaning in pain, others fully unconscious. The group looked to each-other, surprised by their skill, before Eda cackled. 

  

"That was impressive, kiddo's! Y'know back in my prime I was never as skilled in combat like you two are," Regarding Luz, who had sit up, wincing in pain, and Marcy, before turning to Amity, "You too, Blight, don't think I wouldn't notice how hesitant you were to attack them, but how easily you distracted them and defended these two." 

  

Amity blushed and looked away, kicking the ground. "Someone had to defend them,"

 

Marcy and Luz smiled, the latter's smile being forced due to their injuries. Eda frowned and knelt down next to Luz, inspecting her injuries. Marcy held her hand tight, not trusting the lady quite enough yet. Eda nodded and with a wave of her staff, Luz was floating in the air, a yellow glow encasing her, Marcy hadn't let go yet, so her hand was lifted up. Eda poked her tongue out, feigning disgust.

 

"Ew, gross, romance." She cackled in delight at the two red faces the girls donned, before waving her staff once again, and then turning around, "Well, let's get you lot back to the house, that way I can get this rebel here some healing potions to help with her wounds,"

 

It was then that Marcy and Amity realised Eda meant no harm. They helped defend her and she helped defend them, and she's about to help heal Luz. Nodding, they followed her.

 

The walk wasn't very far, they soon reached the outskirts of Bonesburough, where the group then went through an illusion of thick foliage and came across a cliff overlooking the boiling sea.

 

As they walked across the cliff, Luz and Amity looked in amazement, wondering how the sea was always boiling. Marcy speculated that the ocean went so deep that it was within the core, which kept the ocean boiling, Luz argued that it was magic.

 

They eventually gave up, turning to Amity to ask. Though she seemed to ignore them in favor of continuing their walk. It wasn't until Luz waved a hand in front of Amity's face did she blink and turn to look at her.

 

"Sorry- What?" Marcy looked concerned, and put a hand on her shoulder tentatively.

 

"What's wrong? You don't seem like the kind of person to get lost in thought like that,"

 

Amity shook her head and sighed.

 

"My Mom is probably gonna flip after today, it's not gonna be good for me..."

 

Luz growled from her position in the air.

 

"She's a bitch, I don't like her one bit." Marcy giggled, loving the overprotectiveness that her best friend was showing her.

 

"I've never heard you swear this much before," She smirked, winking at Luz, "You should keep doing it, makes me feel safe,"

 

Luz blushed deeply, Eda groaned.

 

"Quit the mushy stuff in the back, teenage romance is the worst."

 

The girls giggled, before Amity sighed again Marcy was quick to grab her hand gently.

 

"Hey, look at me, your Mom doesn't deserve to look down on you, not after she was beat by a human, if anything she probably feels embarrassed, and wont bring it up,"

 

Amity smiled softly, before realising the girl was holding her hand and blushed, looking away.

 

"Thanks, Marcy,"

 

The group kept walking until they chanced upon a large white and red house, it was intricate, little grooves in the bricks that lined the walls, a giant church-like window that depicted an eye in the middle of the second floor. A tall brick tower sat behind it, towering over the rest of the house. The door had an owl face on it, which was extending to them at a rapid pace.

 

Luz blinked once, then twice, then screamed.

 

The tube reached them, and then started talking in the most shrill, ear-grating voice ever.

 

"Heya Eda! Who're your new friends? Do they wanna hear what happened to me today? So I was eating bugs when I saw this really cool b-" Eda shushed him.

 

"Can it, Hooty, got wounds to attend to, let us in." She requested in a no-nonsense tone. 'Hooty' pouted and retracted, the door opening. Eda walked up to the door and turned around, taking on a grandiose stance, she smirked.

 

"Welcome to The Owl House!"

 

Amity mumbled something under her breath, while Marcy stared in awe. Luz simply laughed.

 

"No wonder its called The Owl House, with... whatever that thing is inhabiting it,"

 

Eda smirked as they entered. "That's Hooty, he's the house demon, keeps everything in check, and keeps intruders out. His annoying personality makes his job easier."

 

After they settled down again, Eda handed Luz her stuff, who squealed in delight, before checking her phone and frowning, no service.

 

"Rats, no service, should have expected that honestly."

 

Eda laughed and pulled out a weird glowing suitcase with a large golden eye on it. A brown key with the same eye appeared in her hands in a flash of magical light, and Marcy gasped.

 

"That key! I know it from somewhere!" Eda turned to her, confused.

 

"How? I have the only one in existence!" Marcy shook her head, and then retold the events of how they ended up here.

 

Eda put a finger to her chin, in thought.

 

"There's a key in the human realm, and you got sucked into a pool of blue and gold liquid with a bunch of tentacles when the same key fell into the pool?"

 

Marcy nodded, and Luz shrugged.

 

"I dunno, I was half asleep," She admitted sheepishly. Eda smirked at her before going back to thinking, before eventually shrugging.

 

"Beats me, anyways kid, down this," She handed Luz a potion filled with golden liquid, before walking to the staircase, "It's probably safe for humans, but better sorry than safe!"

 

Luz frowned in indignance, "That's not how the saying goes!"

 

Eda laughed, "I know!"

 

Amity looked lost, "Uh, Owl Lady?"

 

Eda stopped her ascent and turned, eyebrow raised.

 

"Eda. And, whats up?"

 

Amity pointed to the floating suitcase.

 

"What's that?"

 

Eda facepalmed, "In all the excitement, I forgot to tell you, this is a portal to the human realm, you girls take it home." She then turned to continue walking up the stairs, but a call halted her again.

 

"Wait!" It was Luz who called her, "Can we stay? We're not expected back home by Sunday, and it's only Saturday, so could we stay? Pretty please?" Marcy joined in on the begging, both of them giving puppy dog eyes. Amity smirked at the two, but also silently hoped they got to stay a little while, they were nice, and it seemed she could keep her carefully constructed walls lowered around them. Not down, but lowered.

 

Eda seemed to think for a moment before shrugging.

 

"Ah, why the heck not?"

Notes:

And thats the end of that, for those wondering why the title was changed from Wonders of Calamity to Nefarious or Hilarious, its because i planned to go into detail about a plot point that will be saved for next chapter, but i noticed that this chapter was getting long enough as it is, i didnt want to cram too much into one chapter, anyways, have a good night yall

This time, for real... Next Up: Wonders of Calamity

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Chapter 15: Wonders of Calamity

Summary:

The gang explore the bowels of the Owl House and find a very interesting relic.

Notes:

im writing these notes after finishing bc im so tired aaaaaaaaaaaaa enjoy

Eda had given them instructions to 'get used to the layout', nodding eagerly, Luz and Marcy ventured off, leaving Amity to her thoughts.

 

She wanted to go with them obviously, but it also hurt that her two new friends were going to be leaving come Sunday. She then thought back to the fact that she should be at the Library right now, reading to the kids. Shoot, reading to the kids!

 

She quickly spun a circle and a scroll appeared. Tapping on a contact called Malphus, she quickly sent him a text.

 

Witchchik314: Hey, Malphus, a lot of stuff happened today, I wouldn't be surprised if it's all over the news, someone broke into the Manor. I won't be able to come in today, sorry.

 

B00k0v3rl0rd: It's totally cool, Amity. I'll see you here next Saturday for a double reading session if that's k with you?

 

Witchchick314: Absolutely, thank you so much for understanding.

 

B00k0v3rl0rd: It's cool, take care k?

 

Witchchick314: I will!

 

Amity let out a sigh of relief, sitting back in the strangely comfortable couch. There was something about this house that gave Amity the feeling of warmth that a proper house and home should, the Blight Manor always felt so cold and unwelcoming, the nerves she got when entering it every night, hoping her parents were too absorbed in whatever they were dealing with to bother her. Never a "How are you?", just a "How did you do today?" with the implication of "You better have done well, or else." This house didn't feel like that, it had a golden atmosphere, warm and comforting.

 

Suddenly, she was broken from her thoughts by a small bipedal creature walking into the living room, obviously tired from the way it walked and the way its eyes drooped.

 

It had dark grey fur, slightly lighter around its belly, it had 2 claws on each limb and a red collar with a clean golden medal on it. The most notable part of the creature was its head, it wore a skull that fit snugly around his head shape. It also had 2 large horns, one roughly snapped off. Its eyes had yellow sclera with purple irises. It yawned before grumbling.

 

"What's with all these weirdos that are running around the house..." He then looked up at Amity before rolling his eyes. "Another one? Seriously? Please at least tell me you're quiet. The King of Demons demands an uninterrupted nap!"

 

Amity stared at him, confused, before shrugging.

 

"Yes, I'm quiet." She curtly stated, going back to her thoughts. The creature jumped up onto the couch with a few 'Weh's and curled up next to her. Not long after, Luz and Marcy darted back into the room.

 

"Hey, Amity, wanna come with us? We're gonna go explore the basement!" Luz exclaimed, saying basement in a deeper voice, as to elaborate the spookiness. Amity shook her head.

 

"I'm actually gonna go, I... um, have things to do?"

 

Marcy frowned, she wasn't very convincing. Luz meanwhile grinned, teasing in her expression.

 

"Aw, what's wrong, Amity, too scary for you?"

 

Amity blinked for a second, she should feel offended at that but for some reason she felt playful, like she needed to retort, and without thinking she found a smug look on her face and a little harmless snark in her voice.

 

"You wish, Luz"

 

And that's how the three ended up exploring the basement of The Owl House, the dust had been collecting for years, it was obvious that whatever was down here, Eda hadn't touched in forever. As they explored the spookiness of it all slowly subsided, they eventually dubbed that there was nothing in there that could harm them. Poking spider webs out of the way, Marcy admired the structural integrity of the place, while unkempt, it had a certain aesthetic to it. The gloomy darkness, dimly lit by wall-hung torches, spider webs strewn throughout, dust falling from the roof slowly yet consistently. It made it feel old, spooky, like a haunted mansion, while not actually being spooky.

 

And then suddenly there was a voice behind them.

 

"Marcy!"

 

The group jumped back at the foreign voice, before realising it was coming from the reflection of a torch. Within the reflection stood Anne, wearing a set of black armor, the one she told Marcy about.

 

"Anne!" Marcy exclaimed giggling and running up to the reflection. Luz and Amity looked at each other and shrugged, before walking up behind Marcy.

 

"Where are you? This place looks weird, are you in like, a museum or something? Did I come at a bad time?" Marcy giggled a little more before turning to her two friends, Luz got the message and walked up to the reflection.

 

"Hey! You must be this mysterious Anne I've heard so much, funky reflection," She said in a very suave voice, before completely breaking down in laughter. Anne laughed as she waved her hands.

 

"And you must be this Luz that Marcy has a-" She was promptly cut off by Marcy using a paper to freeze the torch. Luz and Amity stared at her in confusion, before another reflection of Anne appeared, snickering as Marcy scowled, blushing deep.

 

"Ok, ok, so, where are you guys? And, woah, does that girl have pointy ears?" Amity instinctively reached up to touch her ears, twitching at the comment.

 

Marcy grinned. "We have so much to tell you!"

 

---

 

"So... You guys are in another world as well?! But this one's full of magic, witches and demons?" Anne confirmed, all 3 nodded.

 

"Well, I'm not from the human realm, I'm a witch," Amity confirmed, and Anne's eyes widened, her hand pointing to her own ears.

 

"Does that explain the ears?" All 3 nodded. Anne was about to say something else when something caught her eyes. "Wait... is that... another Calamity Box?!"

 

Marcy's head whipped around, and surely enough, a Calamity box sat on one of the many dusty shelves that the Owl House's basement had to offer. While Luz and Amity were confused, Marcy grabbed the box, and surely enough, it was a Calamity box. However, it had one major difference. There was only one gem. This gem was situated in the middle and was completely grey.

 

She held it, and Anne gasped.

 

"There's more than 1 Calamity box."

 

Marcy analysed it more, she noticed the frog on it had witch ears and sharp fangs.

 

"This isn't the same box that you have. It's different, it has different markings and only 1 gem."

 

"Wait, that means it's easier to charge, maybe you can get us out of here way faster!" Anne exclaimed, grinning and pumping her fists. "Me and the Plantars could experience earth without having to worry about not having a way back!"

 

"Wait, charge?" Luz asked, still a little out of the loop, but when she turned to Marcy she seemed confused as well.

 

"Yeah, according to a big book Hop Pop has, each stone needs to be charged at a temple by the key trait-holder, the problem is there's only two of us, the third trait-holder was supposed to be you, Mar-Mar" Anne explained, Luz looked at the gemstone and then back at the reflection of Anne, confused.

 

"How do we find out who they key trait-holder is, or where the temple is?" She inquired, Anne thought for a moment before shrugging. 

 

"Hold the box up and the stone will shoot a beam of light towards the temple. And uh, for the key trait-holder? I honestly dunno, look for any kind of resemblance to power or the like when someone is displaying a trait very obviously, like um, protectiveness?"

 

Marcy and Amity looked at each other, remembering the fight at Blight Manor, the yellow glow Luz had, her eyes.

 

Luz was the key trait-holder.

 

"Luz!" They both exclaimed at once. Luz looked at them, confused.

 

"Me!" She exclaimed, before blinking, "Wait what's me?"

 

The two grinned, Marcy laughed at the coincidence.

 

"You're the key trait-holder! Back at Blight Manor, when you arrived and beat Odalia, you were talking her down because she was about to kill Marcy, your eyes and body glowed yellow for a little bit, you're the-"

 

"The Warrior of Protection!" Anne exclaimed, "This is brilliant! Now hold the box up, see where it points!"

 

Together, the held the box high in the air. It glowed yellow for a second, the gem pulsating, before it all faded.

 

"Oh no, the book said something about it not showing the way if no one knows of the temples existence, which means it either doesn't exist, no one knows where it is, or worse, someone's trying to hide it...

 

---

Meanwhile...

 

Collector giggled as they watched the 3 girls try and figure out how to find the sealed temple. 

 

It might not be right to make their journey difficult, but...

 

He had to make sure his Warriors were ready for the dangers they would face soon.

Notes:

have a great day everyonneee

Next Up: Venture into the Known

 

We have a discord server! It's brand new so its still got some kinks me and my friend have to work out, but we have an official place for you guys to hang out, talk to each other and me, theorize for TOH, or Don't Look Back, or share fanart, plug your own stories and much more!

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Chapter 16: Venture Into the Known

Summary:

It's time for Luz and Marcy to return home and return back to classes, unaware however of the building tension within Blight Manor, and the fate of one young witchling who's future has been set in stone...

Notes:

oh no, you know if there's fluff theres gotta be angst :)

As much as they hated to admit it, Luz and Marcy couldn't just stay in the Boiling Isles forever. They had to return home, back to their good families but admittedly subpar school life. Amity, against her better judgement, had decided to stay the night in the Owl House, not too excited to see her parents quite yet. Luz almost managed to convince Amity to come with them, but Marcy pointed out the flaw in the idea, stating there would be no good explanation for her ears, or worse, how we found you in the middle of the woods. Pouting at that, Amity had left the Owl House after bidding them goodbye, Marcy promised they would see each other again.

 

Eda frowned as she opened the portal, she had been alone her entire life, besides King, of course. She was convinced her life would be lived out in solitary, I mean who would want to hang out with the Owl Lady after all? So when these 2 girls appeared she couldn't help but feel some tug of sadness at seeing them off. Their playful young energy was infectious, and she found herself feeling a lot less dreadful during their time here. But as they said, they have family to get back to, and what kind of a person would hold them back from that? She may be a criminal, but she's not evil.

 

As the portal door unfolded from its suitcase-style hold, the golden eye staring into their souls, Marcy opened it. they turned around one last time to wave goodbye to Eda and King. The two stood there, waving with a smile. Luz and Marcy grinned back, before walking through the door.

 

A flash of light covered their senses and suddenly they were in a dusty, worn cabin. Luz looked around, analyzing it before smiling.

 

"Oh, we're in that old abandoned cabin, we're pretty close to him home!" 

 

It was then that both of their phones started buzzing madly. Gulping, they took them out and paled at the amount of missed texts and calls from their parents. Looking at each other guiltily, they started to devise a plan on how they could tell their parents without actually telling them.

 

---

 

Camila, Dace and Beryl all paced Camila's kitchen in anticipation and worry, it was arriving the time the girls said they would return, but since Friday night, they had all been worried sick that something had happened to them. Camila checked her phone again, seeing if any of the girls had messaged her, but the only thing that stared back was the one horrifying message Luz had sent her on Friday.

 

Luzura: Lo Siento, Mami, I will see you soon.

 

She hadn't been able to sleep all night that night, or the following night, she quickly messaged Dace and Beryl, who were equally as worried for the two. Camila genuinely enjoyed Marcy, she was a fun, loving kid who wanted to make Luz feel happy, since that one sleepover a few months back, the girls had been inseperable, they had always been within each others personal bubble, always touching or being super close. Something had happened that night but none of the parents knew. They didn't want to ask, lest it be something that gave them bad memories, but they kept a close eye on them regardless. Luz had always been lonely, no one ever wanted to hang out with her or talk to her, it had just been her and Luz ever since... Ever since Jose died. 

 

Camila wiped a stray tear from her eyes, it had been a long time since Jose had died, but Luz had been their little light, it was actually where they got the name from, when she was born, Jose took one look at her, held her hand and called her Luz, and the rest was history. She missed him dearly, but he did what he had to, to keep her and Luz safe. Racism had always been a large issue in Connecticut, so when he saw the guns, he told them to run and... He didn't come back.

 

It had been a heart-breaking day, they lost everything, but of course to the outside world, just another Hispanic man died, and the world proceeded as normal. Then a horrible thought occurred to her, Luz was Hispanic, Marcy was Taiwanese-American, and they were both out, and they haven't responded in ages. She shook her head, they wouldn't be so dastardly to go after children. She hoped not, at least.

 

A knock on the door brought her back to the real world, Dace and Berly went to go get it, but Camila shook her head, opting to open the door. Walking up to it, she sighed and opened it.

 

Luz and Marcy stood on the other side, smiling nervously.

 

"Hey Mom, uh, we kinda lost everything,"

 

Camila didn't care, she quickly embraced the two in a tight hug, sobbing. Dace and Beryl were quick to run to the older woman's aid when they saw the two, and quickly broke down too.

 

The happy family had been reunited.

 

---

 

The girls had told the story that they accidentally knocked their packs into a river when they were on the way home, and their phones had been out of charge since Friday night. It seemed to convince Dace and Beryl but Camila wasn't as quick to convince. After a while of promises that they were fine however, Camila caved in and accepted that it was the truth.

 

Marcy and her parents stayed over that night, enjoying a large dinner courtesy of Marcy and Beryl, who happened to be excellent chefs. Luz was especially happy that her friend could cook so well, pulling her in to a tight hug after taking one bite of the heavenly food. The night was filled with joyous laughter, bad movies and happiness. 

Little did they know it wouldn't last long.

 

The following day, the girls had left for school, bags on their back, kissing their parents goodbye. They were walking hand in hand when they were abruptly pulled aside into a bush. The girls scrambled to defend themselves when they saw Eda, donning a green polka-dot bonnet, clearly to hide her ears. They were confused as to her sudden arrival when the fear on her face quickly told them something was very wrong.

 

"Listen kids, I know this isn't the best idea, but we need to go. Now." Luz stood up, dusting her pants off and looking at Eda in worry.

 

"What's wrong, Eda? What's happened?" Marcy grabbed Luz's hand tight.

 

"They got Amity."

 

---

 

Amity tentatively stepped towards the towering doors of Blight Manor, gulping wearily, she opened it quietly. Sneaking in as subtly as she could, she got to the stairs leading to her room before a message resounded in her head, the purple jewel on her necklace glowing.

 

"Amity. Blight. Come to the office, now." Her Mother didn't even try to hide the absolute fury laced within her voice. Amity paled as she changed her course from her room to the office.

 

The office of Blight Manor was a large, intimidating room. The doorway had a golden, detailed arc, abomination faces engraved within it. The walls and the roof were a sleek purple as were the rest of the house, but the walls also held  abomination patterns. The desk was huge, a looming dark polished oak with a shiny finish, stacks of paper ladled on top. Her mother sat in a tall, cushioned swivel chair off to the right of the desk meanwhile her father took stand at the head of the office.

 

Her nerves only got worse when she saw the furious look on her Mothers face.

 

"You are in so much trouble young lady! First you help an intruder escape, and it turns out that intruder is a human of al things?! And not to mention you run off with two humans and hang out with the most wanted criminal on the Boiling Isles!" 


Shit. Mother knew about the Owl Lady, which means...

 

"And oh, might I add, you have completely blown whatever hope you have of joining any coven whatsoever, seeing as..." She spun a circle and a piece of parchment rolled into her hands, unrolling it. Amity paled as the scroll was slowly unveiled.

 

 

'WANTED'

'AMITY BLIGHT'

'REWARD : 1,000,000 SNAILS'

 

 

Odalia held a sneer on her face. Her pose intimidating, while Alador sat unimpressed and bored. She then hmph'd and turned her back.

 

"You are no longer a Blight, you are to see yourself out. You're lucky we're grateful enough to let you run free this once, but we won't be so... forgiving, next time." She tutted, proceeding to walk out of the room, seemingly not a care in the world that she just tossed her only daughter out of her home, and threatened to hand her into authorities if she were to be seen by them again.

 

Amity didn't register this at all, though. Her brain went through multiple different emotions at once, fear, her dreams had been shattered because she tried to defend herself from something she couldn't control, all because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sadness, her parents, the ones who gave her life, gave her food, fed her, cared for her, wanted the best for her, had easily tossed her aside like she was a bit of dust on their shoulders. Hopelessness, she was out of house and home, she had no where to go, she was wanted, her face plastered over posters probably all over town, she had nothing. Finally, the chalice in her head carefully constructed to be durable, unbreakable, and stable had taken the last drop, and shattered.

 

"Is that it? After my entire life, me spending every ounce of my time to be your 'Little Miss Perfect' you just toss me aside?! Do you even know what happened?! I didn't attack anyone, I just defended myself! I didn't even want to fight but I wasn't given a choice! Not like you would know though, you're too absorbed in your own stupid world because the only thing that gets through to you is your. fucking. MONEY!"

 

The room was tossed ajar as multiple objects were thrown away from the teal-haired girl in her magical outburst. Odalia looked furious and Alador looked disappointed, for the first time, he spoke.

 

"You are a disgrace to our-"

 

"What would you know? You're not even there in the head half the time, you're so distracted by your stupid Abomatons that you forget to be a part of this stupid dysfunctional family!"

 

A sickening crack sounded out from the room, Amity's hand flew up to her cheek, feeling numb as blood coated it. Odalia backed up slightly, the phantom claw around her hand retracting back into her arm as she, too, was shocked at what just happened. But the shock was quick to fade into anger. 

 

"You deserved that. You deserve every single thing you've got coming to you, you little brat. Alador?" She turned to her husband and nodded. Alador grimly nodded in return and with a wave of his finger, a thick abomination cage was formed around Amity, "I gave you an out, Amity, but you didn't take it,"

 

Amity thrashed against the cage but when nothing happened she tried to use her magic to dispel the cage but when nothing happened fear sept into her heart.

 

"Don't be scared, Amity, you did this to yourself, and this cage is made with a special abomination goo that cancels your magic. Only the best for the most aggressive and difficult captives." 

 

Amity kept thrashing against the cage but it didn't budge. Her cheek was now starting to burn like fire, blood streaming down it, as the pain kept increasing she found it harder and harder to hold onto what consciousness was left in her. In her final fading moments she saw a person in a white cloak with a golden mask walk in, she couldn't understand the words spoken between him and Odalia but the message was clear.

 

She was being taken to the Emperor.

Notes:

here we are, building to the part 2 finale, and for those of you who think this is going a little too fast, keep in mind there have been multiple timeskips, things have happened in amphibia that have not been covered, and are planned to be covered in later chapters. I have plans for this to go well beyond the 4 parts i have planned out, but time will tell just how far itll go, also amity is more friendly here than in the owl house because i said so B)

Up Next: Anne-ventures

We have a discord server! It's brand new so its still got some kinks me and my friend have to work out, but we have an official place for you guys to hang out, talk to each other and me, theorize for TOH, or Don't Look Back, or share fanart, plug your own stories and much more!

Join here at: https://discord.gg/VNZuczqxBu

Anyone is welcome!

Chapter 17: Anne-ventures

Summary:

A look into the past few months with Anne, how she's been faring, and how exactly she learnt about the Calamity Warriors, and how they came to be.

Notes:

You all want some Anne and Plantars diary entries? You all wanna see how much Anne has matured?

 

 

well here you go :D

Day 34: I woke up. I had been in a coma for like, 6 days. No wonder, I was STARVING when I woke up. Apparently I managed to kill the mantis with the help of a little frog kid named Sprig. He must have been the tongue that wrapped around the arms. I was really thankful because I was like, 99% sure I was gonna die. I'm gonna thank him when I see him next. I'm in a hospital room I think? It's hard to tell considering it's all frog styled. I'm gonna go back to sleep, I'm still in pain, my entire right shoulder feels like its on fire.

 

Day 35: I feel better, I was given some clothes to replace the shredded shirt, and three frogs came to visit me. One was old, like a grandpa, with 2 tufts of grey hair coming out the side of his head. He was orange and wore some brownish clothes. Then there was a vibrant pink one with a murky green jacket on. he had a hat of the same colour and goggles on his head, and simple black pants. Finally there was... literally a talking ball with a large yellow bow on her head, man this world is weird. It turns out this is Hoppadiah, Sprig and Polly Plantar. They offered to take me in once I was done recovering, which was incredibly nice of them.

 

Day 42: Sprig is a really cool dude, he's actually really fun to hang around with, Polly is kind of creepy, if I had to guess, I'd assume she could become a tyrant, but she's just a child so it's really harmless. Hoppediah is strict but I can tell he cares about his grandkids. Their house is really cool, but the food is... Well I shouldn't be surprised, I've been living in the wild for a month, it's so nice to have an actual house to live in, even if I live in the basement.

 

Day 58: My phone is finally out of charge, there goes my last hope at having any physical memories of home. Somehow, it had ran out of charge without being in use. Must have been turned on and left on by accident, but I guess that's that. Hop Pop said he has some way of charging it again, but he forgot how. Me and Polly spent some time together and I guess I was forcing her into doing more girly stuff that she didn't like. I think it drove a wedge between us, but I'll fix it.

 

Day 60: Hop Pop finally remembered how to charge my phone, and now it has 10,000,000,000% somehow. The electric Catterpedes must have a weird reaction to human tech. I also found out that Hop Pop wasted the last of the charge on my phone to watch a show he said he hated, I was admittedly upset but I can understand why he wouldn't want to admit to liking it. 

 

Day 83: Me and Sprig are practically inseparable now, we do everything together as a team, and I'm noticing he's crushing on Ivy Sundew, the local 'Ettiquite means everything to her' Mom's daughter, who ironically is anything like that. She's a 'get out there and explore the world' kinda girl, and I can see why Sprig is falling for her so hard.

 

Day 90: Hop Pop finds a dusty old tome with information about the Calamity Box in it. It says something about it being dangerous, having belonged to a King of Amphibia thousands of years ago, but it vanished without a trace. It has a prophecy that goes with it. "3 Warriors of magical traits shall give up their power to charge the box, but beware the dangers of the night, the three warriors must fight alongside each other to contain what does not sleep and what cannot die." It's some spooky stuff.

 

Day 100: In order to celebrate my 100th day here, me and Sprig decided to hang out for the whole day, and then a sudden flash freeze hit and everyone but me got frozen. I thawed out sprig but he was pretty out of it. We messed around with the frozen bodies of the townsmen but I guess they got pretty mad, oops?

 

Day 129: Mayor Toadstool gave me a metal sword and a Giga Mantis scythe as thanks for defending their town, as well as a suit of armor made out of the same shell she planned to make hers out of. It was really cool, the sword felt so nice but I particularly like the scythe, it has super sharp edges.

 

Day 134: Some more knowledge about the Calamity Box was revealed, that the three warriors possessed a kind of trait at their core. Blue for heart, scarlet for strength and green for wit. I know Sasha would be strength, and I would be heart, but would Marcy have been wit? There was also a 4th one but it was scratched out beyond recognition

 

Day 150: Me and Sasha finally reunited! She brought along her toad friend, Grime. Some of the townsfolk seemed to be nervous around him, but after we hung out for a while he just seemed like an 'old softie'. I guess she convinced him to let her out of her cage somehow.

 

Day 151: I can't believe it. After all this time, Sasha betrayed me. She tried to kill Hop Pop for some mayor campaign he ran a while before I found them, and it inspired some rebellion. I thought we were friends but I guess the 80% of our life we had each other in was worth the sacrifice, I hope you're happy, Sasha.

 

Day 154: I finally found a way to consistently travel to The In-Between, by falling asleep with the Calamity box in my hands, it guarantees I wake up in this realm. I contacted Marcy and it turns out there's another music box in a different realm! It has one gem and I believe its the stone of protection. If they can charge it and make their way here, I can use the portal door they came through to get home!

 

Day 157: Today was uneventful.

 

Day 163: Ivy and Sprig finally started dating, good for them!

 

Current day: I don't know what but... I feel like something bad is going to happen somewhere, I don't like this feeling. I hope Luz and Marcy are ok...

Notes:

Unfortunately due to this specific style of chapter, its shorter than most, but tomorrow's chapter will be massive, so look forward to that!

Up Next: Two Worlds Apart Part 1: The Rescue Begins

Chapter 18: Two Worlds Apart Part 1: The Rescue Begins

Summary:

Amity wakes up in the graces of her Lord. He bargains her life for something he desires.

 

Luz, Marcy and Eda are planning to rescue Amity when news of a horrifying event for sundown reaches them.

Notes:

Enter main villain #1, i wonder who it will be?

Amity groaned as she arose, feeling a buzzing sensation all over her body. Blinking the tiredness out of her eyes, she tried to get out of her bed. But her body wouldn't move. She blinked again, her eyes nervously darted around at the grandeur architecture of the room she was in. It was dark, giant golden pillars lined the walls as banners of the emperors coven. A dull beating sound echoed throughout the room, looking up, she saw a giant black and green heart, pulsating with untold magical energy. She tried to move her body but it didn't do so much as budge. Her cheek flared up in pain suddenly as she yelped in pain, and all the memories of the past... night? Recent events, flooded back to her. Her parents, her own Mom hit her, cast her out, and hit her with her Oracle magic. Whimpering from the pain, she hardly noticed that she wasn't alone until a booming voice knocked her forcefully from of her head.

 

"Amity Blight, how... Disappointing." It sounded throughout the room like a gong crashing from the force of a million supernova's, crushing her thoughts into mulch as she tried to hold her head in pain, "To be the daughter of one of the most loyal families on the Isles, to be one to betray my trust... It must take a... Commendable effort. Nonetheless, I always thought if any of the Blights were to defect, it would be those... Meddlesome twins, Edric and Emira was it? Ah, but, I'm getting ahead of myself here... Allow me to introduce myself."

 

From the shadows of the dimly lit room a towering figure emerged. His mechanical, sleek staff clacked imposingly against the tiled floors as gold-highlighted white robes filled her vision. Standing before her was her lord. His golden mask tilted slightly as his ungodly blue eyes pierced through her soul.

 

"I am Emperor Belos, it is such a shame to meet you in these final hours."

 

---

 

Luz and Marcy sat in the Owl House as Eda gave them the breakdown of the situation, both forgoing their day of schoolwork to save their friend.

 

"Our plan is simple, this supply load will cause the bridge of the castle to extend, we need to use some way to mask our way in, do we have any like... Illusion spells? Are those a thing?" Marcy turned to Eda, who nodded, spinning a circle to make Marcy invisible, and snapped her fingers. Marcy reappeared and slapped her fist into her hand.

 

"I remember Amity using that on me in the Manor! Ok, so we have that sorted. We need to get into the castle from there, Eda, do we have any way to get a floor plan of the castle?" 

 

Eda shoved her hand into her bushy hair, rummaging around before yanking a sheet of paper out, it looked like a large, multilayered floor plan. Looking it over for a bit, Marcy was able to identify the holding chambers. Making a mental mind map from the entrance to the chambers, she rolled the paper up and stuffed it into her pocket.

 

They had planned for all 3 of them to rush in once they sneak into the castle, brute forcing their way through. They wanted to reach the holding chambers, rescue Amity and get out before news reached the Emperor. They were about to head out, geared up, when Eda's crystal ball lit up with a notification that chilled them all to their very core.

 

---

 

Amity could finally move, and the first thing she did was clutch her head in pain. The voice, or rather, voices, many that made up her lords voice were tearing her thoughts and senses asunder, each syllable but a hadopelagic weight on her shaking frame as he paced the room, marching slowly to her, metallic staff accentuating each step he took.

 

"Now, I wouldn't want to leave a girl confused. In light of recent events it has come to my attention a piece of the puzzle I need has been... revealed. Your little rebellion is not the cause of us being here now, face to face. No, you are... Let's put it like this, a bargaining chip of sorts. I need something of the Owl Lady, and previously I thought it impossible to trick her, but now the game has revealed two new players... The two humans are friends with you, are they not?"

 

Amity panicked, a shred of fear underneath the killing pressure that every word drilled into her skull, for the first time however, she willed herself to speak.

 

"T-T-They're not h-h-here anymore..." She shakily let out, the pain in her eyes burning as she clawed at her head, mindful of the large gash in her cheek from her M- from Odalia.

 

Belos simply stopped moving for a moment, his back towards the girl, before turning around, she looked up, but regretted so. As soon as her golden eyes met judgemental, piercing blue eyes her pain multiplied tenfold.

 

"Is that so? Well... I guess it comes down to this. I wasn't going to do this unless it was a last resort, but the odds haven't been in my favour thus far..." He turned his head so that Amity could full see him, and with a raise of his index finger, a withering red glow formed a crystal ball before him. Tapping it with his golden-clawed gloves, he exchanged whispers with whoever was on the receiving end. He then turned, his mask glowing dangerously in the dim light of the room. His finger waved and a large, blue-tinted projection appeared. Miming the actions and imagery of where he stood, another finger rose and Amity felt her body constrict, glowing red vines wrapped around it as she was dragged to him. Turning to meet his soul-stealing gaze into the projection he spoke, "Children of the Isles! It is good to see my kind thriving and living free under my kind rule. It has come to me with utmost upset today however that tonight at sundown, there will be a public petrification. The petrification of our newest traitor, Amity Blight."

 

---

 

"This is not good at all!" Eda panicked as they flew on her staff, Owlbert, she called him. Marcy and Luz were on the back, concerned but confused.

 

"What does petrification mean, Eda?" Luz asked nervously, gripping the staff tightly, Marcy grew even more at the silence from the lady.

 

"Petrification is a fate worse than death, it saps the life of the victim until they're nothing but a stone statue." Eda finally spoke, her face growing grim. "There's no cure."

The girls paled at the thought of their friend nothing but a stone statue. Frowning, the kept flying.

 

---

 

A large gathering had amassed in the courtyard of the castle. Chatter of concerns, of worry of a child being petrified, and an overall uneasiness had nestled snug over the crowd. Their chatter immediately ceased as a small, red demon rose above them, standing on top of the enormous glistening podium. In place of her hair was a large 4-fingered claw, which formed a small bun in the shape of a fist, 3 claws reaching over her left eye, concealing it. She held a hand up to silence any more talk.

 

"Please bow in accordance, for the arrival for our esteemed Emperor!" Bowing herself, she stood aside as an amorphous blob of red and black writhed its way into existence, quickly stretching and reforming into the shape of Emperor Belos. He stood forward, his cold blue eyes gazed on from behind his mask as he waved with one hand.

 

"Greetings, children of the Isles! It is befitting of you all to be here on this sombre day!" His unholy voice called out, a dissonant symphony of trapped souls crying for help beneath the slim guise of feigned sorrow. "Today, we will hold the public execution of the traitor Amity Blight! Kikimora, if you would please."

 

The demoness nodded as she pulled a large lever that had erected itself from within the confines of the podium floor. Beside Belos, a small hatch opened, revealing Amity Blight, who rose limply, her body ensnared in vicious blistering red vines, she numbly sat, unable to move her body much more than her head. Peering down, she saw multiple faces. Her 'friends' from school (Really, her parents just payed their parents to make them get along), some of her teachers, Luz, Marcy, Eda, her classm- wait, Luz, Marcy and Eda?

 

She blinked and looked again, and surely enough, the three stood there, Eda with her staff at the ready, while Luz and Marcy held several stacks of glyphs. She tried to yell out for them, to warn them, but her voice wasn't there. She turned to Belos, who turned to her with what could only be discerned as a smile beneath his golden mask.

 

"Now, now, Blight, wouldn't want you to spoil this whole ordeal now, would we? You're going to sit tight while the petrification does its job, meanwhile, I have a few children who I need to... Deal with." She shook as her body wracked with panic, fear overtaking her overwhelmed senses as Belos tilted his mask down, as if he were maniacally grinning, "Goodbye, Amity Blight."

Notes:

Wew, thats part one done, look out for part two tomorrow!

Next Up: Two Worlds Apart Part 2: La Danse Macabre

Chapter 19: Two Worlds Apart Part 2: La Danse Macabre

Summary:

As Luz, Marcy and Eda infiltrate the castle, an unexpected threat pulls Eda from the two. Left together, they must fend for themselves. It gets infinitely harder when their map fails them, castle walls shift, closing off old entrances and opening new ones, and the one behind it all makes his grand debut, bargaining the life of Amity Blight for something the two hold dear.

Notes:

Here we go, the big one, get ready!

Emperor Belos amalgamated into an amorphous sludge, his figure cloaked in a red hue as he warped into existence within his dark throne room. With two thumps of his sleek, mechanical staff, the torches in the room turned a crimson red and faded, causing the room to reflect an ominous tone. Beneath his mask, he smiled, 600 years of waiting for this day, and finally, the last piece of his plan is just within his grasp. Setting his staff aside, he rose a finger, snapping it. He felt a link with the walls of his castle burst to life. Closing his eyes, he let himself become one with the castle. 

 

Opening his eyes, he was met with a view of one of the halls of the castle, watching the guards stand their post. He blinked his eyes and he was met with a different view, the view of the crowds beyond the castle walls, all nervous and concerned. Frowning, he changed views, finally coming across the view he'd been waiting all those years to see.

 

Luz, Marcy and Eda had broken in.

 

They were roaming the halls, using ice glyphs to take out any guards that stood before them. Eda had her staff with her, blasting stronger guards while Luz and Marcy picked off the small fry. His eyes widened slightly when Marcy pulled out a piece of parchment, revealing that they had access to the floor plan of the castle. His eyes caught the large red circle around the holding chambers. 

 

"Ah, the holding chambers... do they believe the youngest blight is being held there? Hm, well, I'll humor their silly games, then."

 

He mentally willed the walls of the castle to shift, closing off the entrances to the holding chamber, before a thought occured.

 

"They must have seen her on the podium... if they want to save her, why aren't they going after her? Interesting."

 

He shifted the castle walls around them, opening paths that weren't there before, after the castle had been completely reworked, he decided the Owl Lady needed to be taken out of the picture.

 

" L I L I T H .  C O M E  T O  M E ."

 

Not 3 minutes later, a lady walked into his throne room. She had a refined appearance, sharp expression and flowing, but tamed, navy blue hair. She entered and kneeled before him. He snapped his fingers, severing his view from the castle walls and turned to her, acknowledging her with a nod as he took a heavy seat in his throne, staff resting beside him. He mulled over his next words, before speaking slowly.

 

"The Owl Lady and two humans are within castle walls. I need you to... for lack of a better term, distract  the Owl Lady, separate her from the humans."

 

Lilith looked up in confusion, testing whether or not she should question the word of her lord, before coming to a conclusion.

 

"But, my lord, wouldn't you want me to ensure the capture of Edalyn?" Belos held a hand up, signaling a silence.

 

"No need, Lilith, though I admire your tenacity and emphasis on our... secondary goal, separating her from those two humans is... imperative, to our mission. They hold an object that is at the heart of necessity for our plans to move forward." He looked to the side for a bit, before turning his ever-piercing gaze back to her, "I assure you know of the consequences should you fail this... simple task I have given you, yes?"

 

Lilith nodded hastily, and Belos smiled under his mask, leaning to his side, resting his masked face on his fist. Smoothly grasping his staff from beside him, he pointed it at the door.

 

"Go then." He was brief but Lilith knew those words held power. She nodded to him, raising from her knee and summoning her staff next to her. Sleek white with a golden ring around the tip, on the ring sat an elegant, glistening white raven with glowing blue eyes. She quickly left the room, leaving Belos to contemplate his next moves.

 

"The time will come, humans. I will return."

 

---

 

"Hiyah!" Luz shouted, slapping an ice glyph on an unsuspecting guards back, the guard was quickly encased in a crystal of ice, leaving him vulnerable and defenseless. Luz grinned as she looked over to see Marcy causing waves of ice spikes to trap guards on the roof, pinning them from their capes. She turned to Luz and shot a wink, Luz blushed deeply and went to say something, but footsteps behind her took her mind off of the pretty girl she called her friend and back on to the fight at hand. Eda grinned as she shot multiple magical bursts at the stronger guards, knocking them back. One dodged all of them and ran up to her, spear-staff in hand, Eda only grinned wider as she ducked under a jab and threw a punch with a fist made of vines, before waving her staff, causing more thick and thorny vines to burst from the ground, shooting him and 3 other lesser guards careening into the roof. Luz gaped at the strength that Eda held, before noticing something odd within the thick twisting vines, a pattern not too different from the pattern that made up the ice glyphs. 

 

"Marc, I have an idea, hold them off of me!" She yelled to her friend, who nodded, causing waves of ice chunks to fly at the guards who took the chance to advance on the Hispanic girl.

 

Luz sat down, pulling out her blue pen, with a little glowing fake gem on top, and a piece of spare parchment from the pile of backups she bought, and traced the pattern.

 

It was a ring of vines, with a slightly smaller ring within, the vines then had a circle with a spike in the middle, a long line, a triangle on top, followed with two longer lines coming out of each side, and branching outwards. The triangle on the top had a line in it, separating the top and the bottom. Grinning at her work, she tapped it, and it glowed a vibrant viridian. Multiple vines sprouted from the piece of paper, encasing a guard Marcy hadn't notice sneaking up on the girl. Smiling wide, she exclaimed.

 

"Look guys, I learned a new glyph!"

 

Marcy and Eda shot a thumbs up, the former continuing to guard her friend as she quickly produced as many as she could. After she produced about 20, she handed half to Marcy.

 

They proceeded through the hallways, the girls sparing as many plant glyphs as they could for any larger threat that could challenge them, when the turned into a hallway that was supposed to be there.

 

It wasn't.

 

Marcy looked at the map again, and back at the wall, then to the floor, trying to recall the path they had taken.

 

"Uh, guys? The map is wrong." Eda turned to her with a bit of shock in her eyes.

 

"Wrong? No, no, Belos can't just... Change the layout of the castle," She then pressed a hand to the wall and noticed how it looked completely new, unblemished, unscratched, not even a spec of dust, "Oh, shit, maybe he can."

 

Marcy paled at the concept of the map being wrong, and whoever this Belos guy was changing the layout of the castle. That would be a problem. Suddenly, a wall of ice was cast at the direction they came from, the turned to see Luz with multiple glyphs down, powering the wall.

 

"C'mon, who cares? We just keep going until we find it, we don't have time to panic!" She exclaimed in exasperation, running to catch up with them. They nodded and proceeded into the new hallway. This hallway was bigger than most, the flames of the torches brighter, louder. In the middle stood row after row of guards, and in the heart of it all, a much larger guard stood. He wore no cloak, and his hood was black, instead he wore a bleak white lab coat, the emperors emblem pinned to his chest. He had bare arms, muscular, grey and bulging. His mask was different too, much more like human plague masks, a thinner beak, with crosshaired glowing eyes. It was also a much darker color.

 

"Rats, Warden Wrath. This guy is very tough," Eda stated, gripping her staff. Warden Wrath tilted his head, before the masses of guards descended onto them.

 

Luz threw multiple ice glyphs out, followed by a plant glyph. The ice glyphs formed multiple sharp ice spikes, and the plant glyph formed a large root that trapped the ice spikes within, making it sharp and spiked. Luz then threw her hands to the side, and the glyph swept across. It didn't take out as many as she was hoping to, but it took about 20 out of commission. The guards hesitated from the display of mixed magic, before a shout from Warden Wrath knocked the nerves out of them. They took stance and fired a wall of magical bursts.

 

Marcy dived in to the rescue, landing about 5 ice glyphs down and forming a thick wall that took the brunt of the attack, but it only held for so long before Eda noticed the cracks within the wall. She quickly spun her staff, firing a huge bolt into the wall that broke open, revealing another hallway.

 

"Hah, I was right! He didn't rearrange the castle, he just formed walls where some shouldn't be and removed walls where some should have! C'mon kids, in here!"

 

The trio ran through the empty hallway, clearly not expected to be used, seeing as it was completely empty. They then came across a long hallway with a single person within. Eda backed up slightly at the sight of them.

 

 

"Lilith." She growled out, Lilith nodded, her stark expression unwavering as she stepped forward.

 

"It is good to see you too, sister."

 

The two stared each other down, a gust of wind somehow blowing through the hall, before suddenly Luz broke.

 

"You have a sister? And it's her?!" She questioned insanely, her hands gesturing wildly between the two, while Marcy looked just as lost, if not as animated as Luz was about the whole ordeal, "You two look nothing alike, and couldn't be any more different, Jesus!"

 

"Ah, you two must be the Humans, well, believe it or not, I am her sister, but now is not the time for such menial conversations. I'm here to finally induct Edalyn into a coven, the Emperors Coven." Eda growled, a gold light encasing her.

 

"Its. Eda. You kids go ahead, stay safe, and take this," She pulled a key out of her hair, the portal key, and tossed it to Luz, who caught it with ease, "Use it to escape a bad situation, I'll catch up once I'm done with this bag of rats, k?" The two nodded, running off. Eda turned to her sister, staff in hand, "Well, Sis, lets tango."

 

Lilith grinned, unbeknownst to her sister, she had already achieved her goal.

 

"Yes, Lets."

 

---

 

They were lost, this hallway looked unlike any of the others, it was darker, the torches were less loud and bright, and they were a glaring crimson hue. Luz tentatively stepped forwards, Marcy in tow when suddenly their exit was concealed by large, fleshy claws that made loud squelching noises when they moved. Instinctively, the two held hands as they moved forward. The end of the hallway was hidden by large shadows, biting away at the afterglow left by the torches. One more step and they heard a voice.

 

"Ah, finally... you two have made it to my throne room."

 

From the shadows emerged Emperor Belos, his staff casing a harsh red glow against his cloaked attire, his eyes dark and soulless behind his mask. The two girls' breath hitched as he revealed himself. Belos tilted his mask, with what could only be assumed as a dark grin beneath it, before stepping forward again.

 

"W-Who are you?" Marcy made out, grabbing a glyph, "Don't come any closer!"

 

Belos laughed, an ear-grating, head-splitting chuckle which burned the girls' senses.

 

"Quite interesting that you wouldn't know me, but, I wouldn't blame you, not being from this realm is quite a grand reason." He turned to admire his staff, it clicked and whirred, a large arced wing coming out of the side as the orb rose. "But that is beside the point. You wish to save your friend, Amity Blight, don't you?"

 

Luz growled, stepping forward with her hands full of glyphs, but Belos held up a gold-clad hand.

 

"Now now, I would much prefer if we avoid a... violent outcome, but knowing humans that might be... inevitable at this point. But I would like to bargain your friends life for a possession of yours." Luz stood back, confused. Marcy decided to take point this time.

 

"What do you want from us?" She asked wearily. Belos chuckled again, like nails on a chalkboard.

 

"Straight to the point, I like that. Give me the portal to the human realm, and your friends life will be spared." 

 

 

---

 

 

Amity opened her eyes again, and felt the brisk cool air whip across her face. Blinking the tiredness out of her eyes, she remembered the petrification. Well, she hadn't been petrified yet, but a rumbling sound made itself known from across her. A giant 3 headed stone statue arose from the podium, its eyes glowing toxic green. The petrification was about to begin.

 

The eyes glowed brighter, and Amity held her arms up to brace for the last moments of her life when suddenly-

 

" H A L T  T H E  P E T R I F I C A T I O N .  S O M E  I M P L I C A T I O N S  H A V E  A R O S E ,  I  N E E D  A  M O M E N T  T O  P O N D E R  O N  T H E  L I F E  O F  O U R  T R A I T O R. "

 

Kikimora quickly pulled the lever again, the statue powering down as Amity slowly lowered her arms. It was then that her pointed ears twitched in response to a sound, or rather, sounds below her. To some, it might have been unheard of, but to Amity, who's trained herself to hear even the smallest of sounds within the confines of her- of the Blight Manor, it came as a quiet, yet noticeable cacophony of thuds, shouts, blasts of magic and... Twinkling?

 

It occurred to her as she looked over the worried, silent crowd that Eda Luz and Marcy were no longer amongst them. It also occurred to her that the Emperors last words before vanishing were 'I have a few children who I need to... Deal with.', the dots in her head connected rather quick.

 

They were fighting Emperor Belos.

 

2 Humans and a skilled witch were fighting a witch of unrivaled power...

 

2 Kids.

 

She couldn't do anything but hope that Luz, Marcy and Eda were smart enough to get out in one piece.

 

---

 

 

"N-No! That's our only way home!" Luz argued, readying glyphs. Belos sighed, a gold hand coming to rest on his mask, irate.

 

"Be that as it may, I fail to see any other alternative to protect your friend." His hand gripped his staff tight, its orb glowing menacingly, "So I'll allow you to reconsider. Your home, or the life of your friend? Tick Tock, humans. Your friend doesn't have much time left."

 

Luz looked at the floor, tears in her eyes, before growling and leaping at him, landing a little ways in front of him, slapping a glyph down. Ice spikes erupted from the tiled floor beneath them, growing in size until the last one reached mere millimeters from him. Sighing again, he decided to humor them.

 

"Alright." His form melted into nothingness, yet his voice echoed in their heads like hammers.

 

" I ' L L  P L A Y . "

 

Luz had to duck as the wall erupted in fire, Marcy quickly formed a shield of ice to block a laser blast that came from nothingness. The two girls moved together, their backs to each other as they proceeded to block or dodge any attack that came with them. Luz was tossed to the side by a fleshy arm that erected from the floor, separating the two. Luz ducked underneath an ice spike that almost decapitated her while Marcy blocked it with her shield. It embedded itself in her shield, and she rammed a fleshy arm that reached to grab her, making it melt into a pile of goop as it was hit. Luz fired an ice bolt into the darkness, hoping to hit something, but it bounced harmlessly off the wall. Suddenly, Marcy was tossed like a ragdoll by a piece of tile that misplaced itself, throwing her into a wall.

 

"Marcy!" Luz yelled out, her emotions running high. She ran to the downed girl, checking to see if she was ok. It was then that his voice echoed throughout the room again.

 

" H A D  E N O U G H ?  O R  D O  I  N E E D  T O  B A R G A I N  W I T H  T H E  L I V E S  O F  T W O ? "

 

Luz fell back, her hand still on Marcy protectively as she stared into nothingness, frowning with anger, before sighing. She pulled out the portal key, pressing on the eyeball in the middle. Marcy blinked slowly, raising with a groan as she rubbed fatigue away from her face painfully. Luz had stood up, and summoned the portal. Holding it close to her chest, she silently apologized to her Mom, and to Dace and Beryl.

 

"L-Luz, what are you doing!?" Marcy exclaimed, trying to get up to stop her, but a sharp pain in her side caused her to fall back down, "Don't give up! We can still-"

 

"No we can't! I'm not gonna sit around, watching this big stink toss you like a ragdoll! I have to keep you safe, I don't want you to get hurt, and you already have! So I'm sorry, but this is the only thing I can do to keep Amity safe, to keep you safe!" Her voice was broken, tears in her eyes as her throat burned from the admission.

 

Marcy stilled, her thoughts running haywire, before tears were in her eyes too.

 

"O-Ok, it's ok, we can make another, can't we?" Luz nodded, without any real way of knowing if they can or not.

 

Emperor Belos phased into reality from beyond the shadows, his eyes glowing blue. With a wave of his staff, the two were restrained to the floor with those same fleshy hands. He looked down at them, and at the portal that was within Luz's grasp.

 

"Making the right choice, I see, maybe you've finally had enough."

 

What Belos didn't see were the two glyphs beneath Luz and Marcy's hands, at the same time, they grinned. 

 

"Not even-"

"Close!"

 

They took their hands off the glyphs one after another, at first a thin spike emerged, breaking a chip off of his mask. Groaning in annoyance, he failed to notice the second, larger pillar aimed for the right of his face, right where the first one hit. It sent him back, half the mask shattering upon impact. As he landed, he immediately rose, facing the opposite way.

 

"Heh, clever girls. While I admire your tenacity, it wont serve you well in the long run. Do that again and things wont end well." He paced before them, turning his face around to reveal long, ragged blond-grey hair, cracked lips and a dull blue eye, a long strip of marred green skin stretched across his face. "Now, have you made a choice? I'd hate to keep your friend waiting much longer, who knows what Kikimora will do when she gets impatient..."

 

Luz held the portal, giving it to Marcy, who held it close to her chest.

 

"I'm so sorry, Mom, Dad... We'll find a way back to you, I promise."

 

Belos watched on, ignorant of the pain in their eyes. He tapped his foot patiently against the destroyed tiles of the room. Finally, Marcy and Luz held the portal and handed it to him.

 

He grinned with satisfaction, before clacking his staff against the floor, a platform emerged. The girls stood on it as it rose, held up by multiple fleshy appendages. He looked up at them.

 

"Go on, then... your friend is waiting."

 

Luz turned around suddenly, grinning.

 

"We may have lost, but-"

 

"So have you!"

 

Marcy activate an ice glyph, shooting directly onto the portal in its suitcase form, it tapped one of the many plant glyphs on it. Suddenly, the portal emerged in thorny vines, tearing it apart. Dropping it in shock, he glared up at the two. They have managed to destroy the portal, but he was far from done.

Notes:

woah, that was a thing, hope you all enjoyed!

Next up: Two Worlds Apart Part 3: Aftermath

Chapter 20: Two Worlds Apart Part 3: Aftermath

Notes:

a little bit of a shorter chapter to end the part 2 finale off on :D

" F R E E  T H E  T R A I T O R .  I  H A V E  W H A T  I  N E E D . "

 

 

Kikimora blinked, before waving a finger, dispelling the binds on Amity. She looked around, confused, before seeing a hatch open in the floor of the podium, and two faces she couldn't be happier to see.

 

Luz and Marcy.

 

They were beaten up, bruised but still standing. Kikimora turned to them, ready to attack but was quickly stopped with an icicle encasing her from neck to toe. 

 

"Let me go you vile humans!" She squirmed and demanded, but her pleas fell on deaf ears as the two girls ran up to Amity.

 

"Oh my god, we're so sorry! We got you stuck in this mess, we should have just... gone back home," Marcy sniffled and turned her head at the reminder of their home. Luz hugged Marcy tightly, rubbing reassuring circles into the girls back.

 

"Hey, its ok, we'll figure out another way home, I know we will." She declared with determination, Marcy smiled sadly, wiping the tears from her eyes, before they both noticed the massive angry red gash across Amity's cheek.

 

"Wh- Who did that!?" Luz exclaimed, pointing to her cheek. Amity paled slightly at the memory of her- of Odalia, before steeling her nerves and gripping the hem of her shirt.

 

"M- Odalia... She wasn't very happy that I decided to stand up for myself,"

 

Luz was immediately restrained by Marcy, the former letting out strings of swears in a language Amity had never heard of before. Marcy just laughed at Luz's antics.

 

"Hey, killing Odalia isn't gonna solve the injury she gave Amity, let's get that sorted out first!" She exclaimed, before looking around, "Hey, I wonder if Eda is done with that Lilith lady,"

 

As if her name being said summoned her from the beyond, Eda burst through the floor in a shower of golden sparks, grinning as she hauled her sisters unconscious body.

 

"Glad to see you kiddos, what happened while I was handing Lily's butt in a witches duel?" She looked at the three, who's faces only spelt disaster, frowning, she set Liliths body down and knelt down to them, "Kiddos? What happened?"

 

Luz was the first to break down in tears, quickly followed by Marcy as they spouted incoherent apologies to the lady, who looked at Amity, confused. Amity shrugged, wincing when the gesture aggravated her wound. Eda frowned at her in concern, a facial expression which could only mean 'I'm going to look at that when this is over, and possibly kill a bitch.'

 

"Calm down, girls, one at a time, one at a time!" She shushed the sobbing two, who blinked the tears out of their eyes and sniffled, before they recounted the story.

 

"We kept running until we found a different hallway and-"

 

"This big guy came out of the shadows-"

 

"His voice hurt to listen to and-"

 

"He demanded the portal for Amity's life-"

 

"We tried to fight him off and we got a bit of damage on him, even destroying his mask, but-"

 

"He got Marcy good, and I had to give up the portal, but-"

 

"As he sent us up here, we destroyed the portal with plant glyphs!"

 

Eda blinked, comprehending the truckload of information that was spurted by the two of them, before her brain wrapped around it.

 

"You guys fought Emperor Belos and lived?!"

 

Marcy's eyes went wide.

 

"That was Emperor Belos?!"

 

Luz shrugged.

 

"I guess that explains why he was so darn strong, but I guess we're just stronger, right Marc?" She nudged her friend, who shot her a deadpan glare.

 

"We literally gave him the thing he needed because he threatened to kill me and Amity." Luz nervously chuckled before muttering a quick 'I was trying to make light of the situation', to which Marcy giggled and punched her shoulder playfully, "Of course you would, that's just you," Eda, however, was severely confused and concerned.

"How did you get out with only a few bruises and- oh, shoot, the portal is broken isn't it?" She deducted with concern ladled in her voice. The two guiltily nodded before Eda looked to the side, before muttering something under her breath, "Ah, fuck it, you kids can live with me and king while we try and make a new one," She turned to look at Amity, who had kept her distance from the group, "You too, kid, you think I'm gonna let you go back to bitch and bitchette when they almost tore a new hole into your face? Think again then, because I ain't letting those good-for-nothing abusive rags near you again!"

 

Amity stilled in shock, before tearing up, her heart swelling with warmth.

 

"Y-You mean it?" She asked, voice wavering, still not able to believe what she just heard, Eda grinned and nodded.

 

"Absolutely, which also means you get to hang out with the two lovers over here" Whispering that last part with a wink, Eda then turned to the other girls, discussing other things about their fight with Belos, Eda still highly confused on why Belos didn't just kill them straight away, he had that kind of power, she had seen it before.

 

Amity looked out over the crowds, who had mostly dispersed at this point, grateful that the Emperor had spared her. She could discern the concern and worry amongst the citizens however, she assumed as much considering Belos literally threatened the life of a child who had acted in self defense, they don't know why, and it shows with how worried they are. She then wondered why she got in so much trouble for self defense, when it finally clicked. She was the most important piece in the Emperors plan. She befriended the humans who had the portal, and he knew that. He had put such a high bounty on her head so he could threaten her life, drawing Luz and Marcy to him, and he bargained her life for the portal. She was the reason that Luz and Marcy were now separated from their home, their families, their life. It all sank in and she fell to her knees, shaking. She could make out voices but they were muffled and jumbled as she started sobbing uncontrollably, she was useless.

 

She was useless.

 

She kept sobbing until she felt arms wrap around her, and slowly, her eyes succumbed to the grips of sleep.

 

---

 

It had grown late at night, the group had returned to the Owl House long ago, and had put Amity onto the couch. Luz and Marcy had opted to hang out in the living room, keeping a close eye on the sleeping girl. Eda was busy brewing a healing potion in the kitchen, claiming she 'has a knack for potions' before ducking into the kitchen, followed by a series of crashes, splashes and other noises. Luz looked to Marcy, who seemed tired as she yawned cutely. She smiled, glad that if it was anyone she was stuck in another world with, it was her. She had come to accept that she liked Marcy far more than what is considered friendly, if it weren't for the copious amounts of fanfics and friendships she had analyzed, she wouldn't have known. Everything about the girl felt... enchanting, like she was some kind of spell that captivated Luz whenever she thought about it. Ironic considering the world they've ended up in. She held the two glyphs they had learned and admired them, Eda had claimed that no one had used glyphs before, not that she knew of at least. It was their own special magic, she smiled, gripping the glyphs tighter, before noticing that Marcy had fallen asleep besides her. Smiling softly, she looked up at the sleeping form of Amity, gripping the glyphs a little tighter, before leaning into Marcy, slowly falling asleep. Maybe life here won't be so bad afterall.

 

In her hands, the glyphs had activated, turning into a small ice-heart with 3 large pink flowers wrapped around it.

Notes:

So there you have it, part 2 of Dont Look Back has officially concluded! Stuck in the Boiling Isles now, I wonder what shenanigans will ensue? Find out next time!

Up Next: He Knows.

Chapter 21: He Knows.

Summary:

When Anne is hanging out with her found family, she starts to notice some things askew in Wartwood. Her worries become fears when something important is stolen from her.

Notes:

shorter chapter today, more amphibia content!

"ROYAL NEWTOPIAN GUARD, ASSEMBLE!"  A thick voice commanded from above a courtyard, within minutes, row after row of hooded newts lined up before their leader. He looked down at them with a grim expression, before snapping his fingers, "I want the Elite Four, the rest of you, return to your duties." A hushed whisper broke out amongst the army, wondering what he would need the Elite Four for. Meanwhile, 4 newts landed by his feet. He looked down at them as they bowed to him, a single coloured stripe adorning each of their golden cloaks, red, blue, green and yellow.

 

"Perfect, I have a mission for you three." He began, pulling out a map of Amphibia. On it was a large red circle, he pointed to it. "There is an object of great importance, imperative to the future of our civilization as a whole, I trust it will be of no issue that the object is retrieved, yes?" When his four best soldiers nodded, he grinned. "Cool! You go do that, I'll give you guys a bit more info before you head out, Andrias, out!"

 

---

 

This wasn't the first day that Anne had noticed weird happenings around Wartwood. Loud bush rustling had been easy enough to pass off as wildlife, but the hushed whispers, smoke plumes and abandoned camps weren't so easy. She had been investigating ever since Mayor Toadstool had brought his concerns to her. As the Wartwood protector, she had to make sure they weren't about to get raided. When her searches came up without any proof of there being pillagers, but evidence enough to keep an eye out, she returned back to the Plantar household.

 

Opening the door and hanging her armor up on the rack that Hop Pop had built for her by the door, she yawned. The noise was enough to drag polly into the room, she brightened up at the sight of the human.

 

"Hey Anne! How was patrols? Did you find anything? Did you kill anything?" She ominously inquired, Anne chuckled, used to the rather morbid personality, before shaking her head, irritated.

 

"Nothing today, but there's another new camp that was abandoned, how do you make and abandon a camp in 1 day!?" She exasperatedly asked no one in particular, the shout alerted Sprig, who had just woken up from a nap. He hopped down the stairs excitedly and tackled Anne into a hug.

 

"Anne! How was-" Anne held up a hand, yawning, "That tiring, huh?"

 

Anne groaned in tiredness and exasperation, "They just keep popping up! I swear there's something fishy going on here."

 

"Nope, that's just Hop Pop, he's making fish for dinner," Sprig helpfully supplied, Anne smiled at the joke, grateful for a breakaway from her stressful duties. The past 2 months had been an eye-opening experience for her, back on Earth, she never used to try and do things her way, she always just went with whatever way made other people happy, but now she was learning how to stand up for herself. She had armor, a sword and a scythe for crying out loud! She knew she was intimidating to people who didn't know how she truly was, and she honestly liked it that way, it gave her a sense of realism and the feeling of being strong, which was something she desperately needed.

 

---

 

 

A noise, quiet enough that no one else in the house could hear it over their snores, but loud enough to Anne's trained ears, sounded from near the house. She wearily got up, blinking tiredness out of her eyes as she reached for her sword. She slowly moved through the house, but her heart stopped as her eyes landed on her bag. Her bag that was currently rest askew on the floor, contents spilled, and one key object missing.

 

Someone had stolen the Calamity Box.

 

She grabbed her scythe from the rack near the door and hastily opened it, hoping to catch the tail of whoever stole the most important object to ensure her return home and give them a piece of her mind. As she exited, she noticed weirdly thin shaped footsteps creating a train, frowning with determination, she followed it.

 

She had long left Wartwood, she had been travelling for who knows how long now but the golden sun was starting to paint the crimson sky gold as she kept travelling. A thin plume of smoke caught her attention, followed by chatter.

 

"I thought he was gonna give us an actual difficult task!" A voice exclaimed.

 

"Yeah, I know right? We're the Elite Four, he wanted us to travel halfway across the continent to get him something, couldn't he have just sent normal troops?" Another voice questioned.

 

"It was so easy, I thought we were gonna have to fight the Warrior!" A third voice chuckled nervously.

 

"It was like taking candy from a baby! Or, well, taking Calamity Box from a sleeping warrior."

 

They had taken the box. Anne's vision filled with red as she hacked through the bushes between her and the camp. The four were on their feet at the sight of the bush being brutally mauled by a red claw scythe. Anne emerged through the torn foliage, deep azure sword in one hand, scythe in the other. The four took a battle stance, ready for a fight.

 

"You. Give me back my Calamity Box before I turn you into sushi!" She exclaimed, gripping the hilt of her sword tighter, one of them frowned.

 

"What's sushi?" The other 3 looked at him, annoyed. "Oh, right! No, this box is now under official ownership of Newtopia Royalty!"

 

Anne stabbed her sword into the ground, furious.

 

"That's not how it works, you can't just come in to my house, and steal my personal belongings, then say it belongs to royalty!" Without waiting for another snarky response from them, she lunged, bringing the sword down on the red-striped one. They easily dodged, jumping off a nearby tree and kicking Anne in the face. The other three took a formation and tripped Anne over, one stealing her sword, the other stealing her scythe. She was held down by three of them while the one seemingly in charge of the group looked down on her.

 

"Look, I don't care what you have to say, your alien words don't affect hierarchy, the rich get rich, the poor get poor, now, you're going to be a good little girl and sit tight, if you die, we don't really care," He turned around, motioning to the other two, who embraced her wrists and ankles with thick vines that she couldn't tear. They turned around and scurried off.

 

Anne couldn't do anything except scream in anger and slowly push free. Her eyes lit up in the faintest of blues before the vines snapped under pressure. She lunged at the one holding her weapons. She kicked him in the back, stealing her sword from him, before whirling around, nicking one in the cheek, and stabbing down on the one below her. He screamed in agony as the sword was driven through his head, before becoming muffled underneath consuming blood. Anne kicked the dead body off of her sword, turning to the other three, who looked mortified at the body of their fallen friend.

 

"You... YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT YOU MONSTER!" One of them screamed, tears in his eyes, before unsheathing hidden knives and throwing one at Anne, who barely ducked, it cut clean through the side of her face, she fell back, warm wetness coating the cheek that was hit. She grabbed her sword and threw it at the one advancing on her, only for it to be blocked by the others. He grabbed a knife.

 

"I'm going to enjoy driving this knife through your vile heart!" He screamed before bringing the knife down on her. As it collided with her, the knifes blade shattered. He stood back, blinking with confusion behind his bloodshot, tear-strung eyes, "W-wha?"

 

Anne rolled her eyes, "Mega Beetle armor, your flimsy knife wont get through it any time soon!" She exclaimed before jumping at him. He was only narrowly avoiding each lunge or swipe, before he got a hit in, kicking her ankle in. She groaned in pain as she collapsed.

 

"He will be hearing of this ...human!" They exclaimed, grabbing the dead remains of their friend and sobbed, carrying them home.

 

Anne struggled to move but the more she tried, the harder it hurt. After about 5 minutes she succumbed to defeat as tears stung the corners of her eyes. She had lost the Calamity Box.

 

It was barely 3 minutes later when rustling came from the bushes, and Polly, Sprig and Hop Pop come out. They offered words of comfort, but it all was drowned out as she realized the weight of the situation.

 

She was trapped.

Notes:

told you it was short, look out for chapter 22!

Up Next: Bumps School of Magic For Nerds and Dorks

Chapter 22: Bump's School of Magic for Nerds and Dorks Part 1: The Breakdown

Summary:

Amity wakes up. Marcy consoles her. School is mentioned

Notes:

This one's only gonna be a two part chapter, because i wanted to get an update out tonight and the chapter would be too long, enjoy!

Amity woke up, a dull pain ebbing away in her cheek, reaching her hand up to it gingerly, she felt that the gash was nothing more than a thin scar that stretched from the left of her chin up to the corner of her lip, frowning in confusion, she wearily rose up, ignoring the sudden sting of pain in the back of her head. She rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times to adjust them to the light of the room, and confusion bubbled in her chest when she realized its not her room. She quickly looked around, her brain trying to grasp at any semblance of understanding of the situation at hand, but her memories all came crashing back into her like a brick when she saw Luz and Marcy leaning against each other, deep in sleep. Her eyes widened in panic as her brain started to work, and her vision blurred, only filled with fragments of her memories.

 

Odalia.

 

"Amity. Blight. Come to the office, now."

"You are no longer a Blight,"

"You deserve every single thing you've got coming to you, you little brat."

"Don't be scared, Amity, you did this to yourself,"

 

The petrification. The pain in her cheek suddenly flared at the reminders, and then her mind fell into the darkest pit, him.

 

"Amity Blight, how... Disappointing."

 

"You are... Let's put it like this, a bargaining chip of sorts."

 

"The two humans are friends with you, are they not?"

 

"The petrification of our newest traitor, Amity Blight."

 

"Now, I wouldn't want to leave a girl confused. In light of recent events it has come to my attention a piece of the puzzle I need has been... revealed."

 

"To be one to betray my trust... It must take a... commendable effort."

 

"Allow me to introduce myself."

 

She gripped her head tight, her eyes stinging and her cheek throbbing, her head violently shook along with the rest of her body as her vision blurred more, tears streaming freely from her eyes.

 

"I am Emperor Belos, it is such a shame to meet you in these final hours."

 

 

---

 

 

Marcy woke to the sound of squirming and panicked sobbing, it took a second for her brain to register the sounds from the couch but as soon as she did, she untangled herself from the sleeping mess that was her friend (not blushing at how they were sleeping together, now is not the time for that!) and moving to the couch to see Amity sitting, knees curled up to her chest, hands gripping her temples tightly, her face as pale as a sheet and knuckles white from the exertion. She wracked her mind, trying to remember how to calm people down from panic attacks, but she didn't know. Panicking (huh, ironic), she jumped up to Amity, but hesitated when trying to put a hand on her shoulder. She didn't know Amity's view on physical contact, she knew Luz liked it, and she knew she liked it, but she didn't know if Amity was ok with it. She weighed the pros and cons of the situation, and decided it would be best to try and do some kind of breathing method to help calm her down. She tried to whisper-yell Amity's name, not wanting to wake Luz up. It seemed to work when Amity was pulled from the panic attack slightly, enough to acknowledge Marcy's existence. When she was sure she got Amity's attention, she held up 4 fingers.

 

"Shh, do as I do, breathe in for 4, breathe out for 4, ok?" She whispered, Amity shakily nodded.

 

For the next few minutes, the two sat there, breathing in and out, Marcy noticed Amity was shaking less and less as the minutes went by, and her body had slowly began to open up, her posture less tense and confined. After a few more minutes, Amity seemed to have almost fully recovered. She smiled shakily at Marcy and looked down.

 

"Sorry. About, y'know, that." She let out, her voice dry. Marcy reached her hand to Amity's shoulder, but hovered it near, as if waiting for some form of approval from the girl, when Amity looked at her and didn't shake her head, she was quickly pulled into a hug, not too tight yet not too loose. Amity blushed, it felt warm, and the parts of her skin that the Taiwanese American girl had touched felt tingly, like electricity buzzed beneath her skin. When the hug didn't let out, Amity decided to embrace it.

 

The two girls slowly fell asleep, the lull of the night pulling them under once again.

 

---

 

Luz was definitely not a morning person when it wasn't demanded, so when she woke up at 8 AM to a dead-looking Eda, and Marcy, who was playing some chess-inspired game with Amity, she yawned, and fell back to sleep. Marcy giggled and Amity smiled, before turning to Marcy.

 

"D4 to D5" She said, and the piece, carved like a dragon with 2 heads, moved slowly on its own, it stood next to a piece which looked like a witch, and expelled a fiery blaze, eviscerating the piece. Marcy frowned in annoyance, before grinning.

 

"D3 to D4" The smirk on her face was evident, the piece Marcy moved looked like a thing with two tall antlers on it, it moved to the 2-headed dragon, and a blast of red magic sent the dragon into the wall. It then continued to move as Marcy commanded it, before it reached Amity's version of it. Marcy grinned as she levelled Amity with a smug smirk.

 

"Checkmate!"

 

Amity looked in shame as she groaned. This was the 5th time Marcy had beat her, and she thought she was the best witchhorn player in the Boiling Isles. It wasn't until her muscle memory kicked in and she noticed the time that she panicked.

 

"School! I've gotta get to schoo-" She was quickly cut off by Eda wrapping a golden energy-coated tassel around her.

 

"Woah, now, Boots, who said you're going to school? Your bitches of parents unenrolled you anyways, so..." She trailed off as Amity paled, they what!?

 

"I need to go to school!" She desperately clawed at the tassel as she ripped it off, trying to get her uniform, before Eda herself stopped her.

 

"Hey, calm down, you gotta go with me to get you re-enrolled, I'm sure bumpy-poo will understand," At the mention of that, Amity calmed down slightly, but Marcy and Luz perked up.

 

"School?" They both exclaimed at the same time, "Like, magic school?"

 

Eda groaned, before nodding, beaten. The two girls squeal as they looked at each other and started rambling about magic. Amity looked up at Eda and mouthed a quick 'Thank you' before going off to sleep hopefully.

 

Eda smiled sadly, these kids had already been through hell and back, and for some reason, she felt that that weekend was only the beginning of something much bigger.

 

---

 

Emperor Belos entered the deepest chamber of his castle, grinning in satisfaction as workers and coven scouts meticulously placed frames into position, screwing bolt and nut, and steadying it all. With a wave of his hand, the workers quickly dispersed. He grinned as he walked up to the portal frame he had crafted, and held the Eye from the portal. Inserting it into the slot, the portal slowly thrummed with energy. Grinning, he was about to do something different when someone walked into the room.

 

"Uncle, the portal, is it nearly finished?" His tired, yet loyal voice inquired. Belos smiled, a true one behind the wall of lies he had crafted. He rose from his position, walking over to the person. He put a gold clad hand on the white cloak of his most loyal subject. 

 

"I have a mission for you."

Notes:

another short one, dont worry, a really long chapter will appear soon to make up for it.

Next Up: Bump's School of Magic for Nerds and Dorks Part 2: School Troubles

Chapter 23: Bump's School of Magic for Nerds and Dorks Part 2: School Troubles

Summary:

Eda enrolls Luz, Marcy and Amity into hexside.

A new student arrives, Luz and Marcy try to abduct him into the friend group, but Amity isn't so sure.

Boscha is an asshole, but Willow is self asserted and confident, and she isn't afraid of her.

Notes:

Got a bit of a longer chapter here, we meet Willow!

"Oh boy, I can't wait! Magic school, little witch students, magic!" Luz excitedly jumped around, Marcy grinned at her friend, excited herself as well. Amity sat a little further behind them as they walked the path from the Owl House to Hexside. The teal-haired witch nervously rubbed her shoulder as they travelled, her eyes darting around with anxiety. Eda noticed and sighed, slowing down a little to match the pace of the girl, leaning down as they walked, she gave her a kind expression.

 

"Hey, you know, I was nervous on my first day in Hexside too," She admitted. Amity looked at her, surprise evident on her face.

 

"You went to Hexside?" She asked, a hint of shock poorly hidden in her meek voice. Eda laughed and grinned, nodding her head.

 

"Yup! I was the best Hexoleo there ever was! Bumpypoo loved me, couldn't get enough of me!" Amity wasn't buying it, she levelled a deadpan glare at her.

 

"He hated you didn't he," She snarked without realizing it, but when she did, her hands shot to her mouth, her face scrunched up in fear. "I-I'm sorry- I didn't-" Eda stopped her with a soft hand to the shoulder.

 

"Hey, it's alright, kiddo. I like it when I get some sass back, I'm not like Odaliass and Alawhore, I'm a cool Mom," She grinned, then snorted, "Hah, Odaliass and Alawhore, I'm a genius."

 

Amity wasn't convinced, and she guessed that Eda could tell, because her expression softened and she smiled warmly.

 

"Don't worry, I'm not tricking ya, you can be yourself around me, heck, I know your parents forced you into the abomination track without asking what you wanted, so I'll even let you pick your own track," Amity looked shocked, and went to open her mouth, but was cut off by Eda holding up a hand, "I know because I knew those two from my school days, they were a real bundle, the whole bag, you get the burger, you get the fries. I know what they're like, they only care about money, and abominations is the most profitable coven track, so I put two and two together," 

 

Amity was surprised by the sentiment, and the fact that Eda knew her... birth-givers, but her mind was set on one specific thing.

 

"What are burgers and fries?"

 

---

 

As they entered Hexside, Luz took in the view, the grand halls taller than anything she had ever seen before, each detailed with intricate patterns and colours, multiple flags hanging from the giant stone pillars. The floor was lined with blue tiles, gold specs coating them, giving them a rich feeling. Marcy was enthralled by the architecture and structural integrity of the school, going off on little tangents that Luz happily listened to, not fully knowing what it all meant, but happy to hear her voice. Amity swallowed a thick lump of saliva, her voice constricting tightly as soon as she saw some lingering students. Classes had begun but not every student made it their business to be on time, so some turned to see Amity enter with the Isles' most wanted criminal and two humans. Instinctively, she took a defensive position in front of the group, before realizing she didn't know where they were going. Blushing in shame, she let Eda take the lead again, who only snorted. Amity moved back to the two girls who were chatting, ignorant of the countless stares they had received. After rounding a few more hallways, Luz had begun to notice the multitude of eyes drilling into the back of her head, she whispered to Marcy.

 

"Do you think people here don't like humans like people back on earth don't like people with darker skin tones?" Marcy frowned for a second, her eyes darting around. She picked up on the appearance of multiple inhumane-appearing demons that were attending, and drew a conclusion. "I don't think so, maybe they're just not used to seeing us?"

 

Shrugging, they both continued to walk with the group. Amity had chimed in on a few of the conversations quietly when she was asked something, but it was usually short, curt answers. One worded or as little words as were needed for an answer. Luz frowned, she could tell her friend was nervous, from what small glimpses of how horrible Amity's home life was, she'd assume the pressure to succeed in school was very high. They finally came across a large teal wooden door, aged and chipped, that said "Principals Office" on it.

 

Eda grinned and looked back at them.

 

"Watch Mama Eda work her natural charm!" And none of them believed that she had any natural charm over whoever the principal was. Eda then proceeded to kick down the door, causing Luz to burst out in laugher, Marcy to try not to do the same, and Amity paling at the door.

 

Inside, a man sitting at a desk groaned at the entrance.

 

"Edalyn." He grumbled out, and Luz got a better look at him. He was tall, dressed in black robes with blue banners on them. he had a demon covering half of his face from the eyes up. Eda grinned and gave him finger guns.

 

"Bumpypoo, how's my favourite principal?" She grinned, Principal Bump sighed, running a hand up his face.

 

"What do you want, Eda?" Eda turned to the kids behind her, gesturing to them.

 

"I want to enroll my kids into Hexside, and uh, re-enroll minty over here," Bump's eyes widened.

 

"You have children? I didn't think you had it in you, didn't you and rai-" He was quickly cut off by Eda, who wore a blush.

 

"Yes I have kids, they're not mine, they're human who have no way to get home, now can we please not talk about my romance life?" Luz was already by her side, grinning malevolently.

 

"I will get every single drop of relationship drama juice out of your body by sundown." She stated intimidatingly. Bump laughed, before looking before them.

 

"Humans, you say? Eda, you do know in order to get into Hexside, you need to at least know some form of magic, humans... can't exactly do that," Eda grinned again, turning to Marcy and Luz, who nodded with a smug expression. Grabbing an ice glyph and a plant glyph, Luz and Marcy took turns talking.

 

"Wanna-" An ice glyph was placed, shooting a large icicle out of the floor.

 

"Bet?" A plant glyph was activated, sprouting thorns and flowers all over the icicle.

 

Bump's eyes widened as he admired the display of power. Nodding, he pulled out a clipboard.

 

"What did you say your names were again?"

 

"Marcy Wu!"

 

"Luz Noceda!"

After writing down the names, he turned to see Amity, her expression distant, her hand gripping her left arm tightly. He put on a small smile.

 

"Welcome back, Amity."

 

---

 

After situating themselves and obtaining the timetables, the girls had begrudgingly both decided to do potions track. (Luz had wanted to all kinds of magic, and Marcy wanted to do potions, plants and abominations, but the stupid rules stated there can only be one per track). Amity had decided to stick with abominations for now.

 

As the three sat in lunch, enjoying their meals (Luz and Marcy had some kind of toast with squirming, very  much still alive meat on it), a person burst into the cafeteria. They had yellow sleeves on their uniform depicting potions as their picked track, as well as black gloves. He had ash-blond hair, shaved below the top with a long, jagged forelock, dark bags under his deep, magenta eyes, and a long scar running up his right cheek, and a chip missing out of his left ear. He had a very noticeable tooth gap, as well. All chatter in the cafeteria halted as he entered, and an army of eyes bore into his skull. Nervously sweating, his eyes scanned the room, looking for an empty, or, near empty enough seat. His eyes landed on the three, who seemingly ignored his entrance and sighed, walking over with his tray of food. Marcy and Luz turned their heads to see him standing above their table, raising a gloved fist to his mouth to clear his throat.

 

"Uh, can I, y'know," He looked around nervously, looking around for any other empty tables, hoping that his eyes deceived him at first glance, frowning when there wasn't, he continued, "Sit here? There's, um, no other tables."

 

Luz and Marcy smiled brightly, and welcomed him to sit. He glanced around, uncomfortableness evident in his eyes, clearly uneasy with the amount of people in such a confined space. Luz turned to him, toast in hand.

 

"So, what's your name?" She asked brightly, the boy seemed to squint from the exuberance of the girl, then he nervously chuckled.

 

"It's, uh... Caleb! Uhh, Toastworm? The second!" He exclaimed a little too loud, Marcy snorted at the name, not hiding it well at all, while Luz smiled again, clearly oblivious to the nervousness in his voice. Amity squinted her eyes in suspicion. That name seemed... fake, made up. It wasn't that it sounded that, but more so that he stuttered, and looked at his toastworm before saying his last name was Toastworm.

 

"It's nice to meet you, Caleb! I'm Luz Noceda!" She grinned, Marcy gave a small smile and a wave.

 

"I'm Marcy Wu," She told him, Caleb looked at Amity, expectantly. She looked at him in confusion, before realizing he wanted her name. She rolled her eyes.

 

"Amity." She curtly stated, Caleb squinted his eyes.

 

"Amity..." He gestured to continue, and Amity scoffed, looking away from him.

 

"I don't have a last name," Her eyes looked down, "Not anymore, at least" Caleb looked at Luz, who only turned to Amity, putting a hand on hers.

 

"How... vague," He stated, before proceeding to eat. Luz and Marcy started conversing with him, excited about their new friend, while Caleb tried to eat his food. Amity sat in contemplation, wanting to join the conversation, but the nerves of multiple eyes on her made her feel like she was stuck in a box. She also wasn't sure of Caleb, something was up with him, he seemed... reserved, like he was trying to hide something. She'd keep an eye on him.

 

It wasn't long until Caleb started to get more invested in the conversations, the topic of glyphs were brought up when Caleb asked if they were human, and how they did magic if they didn't have a bile sac. 

 

"What's a bile sac?" Luz asked, confused, "I've heard of them before but no ones ever actually explained it before."

 

Amity went to open her mouth, but was cut of by Caleb.

 

"Its something attached to a witches heart, it holds magical bile that fuels our ability to use magic, if you don't have one, you can't be a witch," He watched Luz's expression shift from wonder, to confusion, then to doubt, "Because, uh, witches can't live without them," Luz's face then shifted to one of determination, a smile set on it.

 

"Well, we don't have bile sacs, and yet," She held up an ice glyph, tapping it, a small icicle erupted from the page. Caleb looked on in wonder, his eyes sparkling.

 

"Is that... wild magic?" He asked after a second of admiration. Marcy shrugged.

 

"Never heard of it like that, but, I guess so?" Marcy pulled out a plant glyph, creating a flower with a green glow.

 

They kept discussing well into the break, but when the bell screamed (yeah, Marcy and Luz were confused by that as well), they had to go to class. Luz and Marcy noticed Caleb was following them, and when they asked, he claimed he was in the same class as they were. Leaving it at that, they continued onwards to class.

 

Potions was a... very interesting track. Most of the time was spent identifying different ingredients, and knowing which ones have bad reactions with others. Luz knew now from experience that mixing titan's teeth with spider-demons venom is not a great idea. However, they also got to make a very simple brew, a potion that caused a reaction when thrown that explodes. Marcy almost dropped hers, numerous times, in fact. However, when the teacher had to step outside, Luz pulled Marcy down to duck underneath a potion that was lobbed directly at them, angrily, Luz glared in the direction of the thrower to see a pink-haired triclops girl glaring at them.

 

"What the heck gives?!" Luz angrily exclaimed, holding Marcy tight, "You almost took my friends head off with that potion!" The triclops grinned sadistically, her third eye rolling while the first two set a glare on them.

 

"Oh, my bad!" She said, putting a hand to her mouth as she feigned an apologetic facial expression, grin hidden poorly behind her hand, "I'll make sure next time I actually hit her!"

 

Marcy scowled, standing up, trying to appear taller than the girl, but it failed as she sauntered forward intimidatingly, her arms crossed, another potion in her hand.

 

"What's the big deal? We did nothing to you!" The girl scoffed, rolling all of her eyes, checking her fingernails.

 

"Yeah, you did. You're both humans, you're giving this school a bad look, and if this school has a bad look, I have a bad look, can't have that happening now can we?" The classroom nodded robotically, almost scared for what would happen to them if they went against whoever this girls ideology is. Luz held a hand up, eyebrow raised.

 

"Who are you? You act like some big shot we're supposed to know, but I have literally no idea who you are," That seemed to be the wrong answer, as a second potion was thrown at her. She quickly used a plant glyph to ensnare the potion in vines, catching it safely. "Wait- How did you do that! What trickery are you getting at, human!?"

 

Marcy stood in front of Luz defensively.

 

"She has a name y'know, its Luz, but honestly, I like it better when you call her human, it keeps her precious name out of your disgusting mouth you ugly troglodyte!"

 

The girl's eyes widened, before her face turned several hues of purple.

 

"What did you say to me!?" She yelled, enraged, the entire class 'oooh'd' at the retort. "I'm the schools star grudgby player! Respect me, or I'll have your head on a pike!"

 

Luz and Marcy looked confused, before Luz snapped a finger.

 

"Like rugby? I never really liked it, but if you're the star captain, then like, you must really like it. Are you a jock or something?"

 

The girl gaped for a second, mouth opening and closing as if trying to find the right words to say (or shout, in this scenario), before settling with a growl.

 

"You have no idea what kind of trouble you're getting yourself into, so let me just make myself clear. You have no place in this school, or this realm. If you're gonna be here, I'm gonna make your life a living hell until you decide to go back to your shitty little human realm!"

 

It was then that Luz snapped, she walked up to the girl, got right in her face and snarled.

 

"You think you can boss me around? I don't want to play by your crappy rules, and I sure as heck don't wanna feed whatever god complex you got going on in there, and we couldn't leave even if we wanted to, the portal is broken." The girl sneered, and brought up a hand to punch, but it was held back by another girl. She was darker skinned, had blue eyes and shiny silver hair, she frowned as she held back the struggling girl.

 

"Boscha, that's enough, leave them alone," She tried to calm her friend down, but she was shoved off. Boscha snarled as she snapped her fingers and a violet flame appeared in her hand.

 

"I'm gonna teach these rats who's boss around here, don't try to stop me Skara!" She went to bring the flame up but her hand was held back by something else. She was about to turn around and tell Skara off again but when she saw her clearly in her line of view, she looked downn at her wrists. Thick, curling vines dug into her skin and wrapped around her them. The girls looked up to see a short, yet stocky dark-teal haired girl with large glasses resting on her nose. Her sleeves were green, indicating that she was in the plant track, (not that the vines she used was anything to go off of). Boscha paled when she saw her, and the fire dissipated immediately. The girl smirked at the sight of Boscha, who almost looked scared.

 

"Woah, Boscha, correct me if I'm wrong but, are you actually scared of me right now?" She grinned, Boscha growled.

 

"As if I'd ever be scared of you, half-a-witch!" She spat, trying to regain control over the situation, "What are you doing here anyways?! Go back to your abominations!"

 

The girl rolled her eyes, moving forward and forcing the vines to rotate, turning Boscha to see her. Holding her arm out in front of her to show off the green sleeves, she pointed at it.

 

"Is your ego so fat you can't see past it? I've been in the plant track for over a month, if you haven't noticed, which I'm sure you have, but you just don't want to admit that 'Half-a-Witch Willow' is better than you, I'm the top student." She stated calmly. Boscha's eyes widened, and Willow's did too, "Wait, are you telling me you actually didn't know? Wow, I knew you weren't the cream of the cop but this? This is a new low, even for you."

 

Luz and Marcy looked at each other, lost. Caleb was in the back of the class, seemingly not paying attention, tinkering with different ingredients. Boscha shook her head in denial.

 

"That's impossible, Amity was top student, well, she was, until her parents pulled her out after the whole petrification incident," She looked back, before turning to Willow again, "But if anyone should have it, it's me!" She caused a fireball to encase her hands, incinerating the vines, and then lunged towards Willow. Not expecting it, Willow wasn't able to act in time before Boscha was upon her. 

 

And then Boscha was thrown to the side of the classroom by a large dull icicle that shot out of the floor. 

 

Willow's eyes widened as she turned to the source of the icicle, and saw Luz and Marcy standing there, glyphs in one hand, each others hands in the other. They had a grin.

 

"Oh, no! Boscha, you were defeated by two humans! Wasn't it you that said we don't belong here? Well, you just got..." Luz turned to Marcy for her to continue.

 

"Schooled!"

 

The class laughed while Boscha got up, fuming. She was ready to attack once more but the teacher walked back in at the very moment she readied a fireball.

 

"What on earth is going on here!?" He exclaimed, furious, his reptilian tail flaring angrily behind him. Luz and Marcy went to explain but Boscha beat them to it, faking a sad voice.

 

"S-Sir! These humans a-attacked me for no r-reason!" She fake-cried, and the teacher turned on them, anger in his eyes. He was ready to berate them but Willow cleared her throat. The teachers eyes widened in response.

 

"Top student? Willow, what are you doing here? This is potions, not plants," Willow nodded, and began to explain.

 

"Well, I was just on my way from the toilets when I overheard an argument. I decided to see what was happening and I saw Boscha ready to fireball these two for absolutely no reason. I'm sure you can ask the other people in the class for the full story, but all I did was hold her back, and all these two did was defend themselves and me." She stated in a matter-of-fact tone. The teacher turned to the rest of the class.

 

"Well? I'd like to hope our top student isn't lying to me, but she said you lot should have seen it all go down." He leered them, and when none of them confirmed it, (due to Boscha's glare and silent death threats), he turned to Willow, disappointed, "Honestly, Willow, I expected more from our top stu-"

 

"It's true." Skara had stood up, staring at Boscha and frowning, "Sorry, Boscha, but they literally did nothing wrong, you usually aren't this aggressive for no reason, so someone's gotta stand up, and it's gonna be me,"

 

The teacher stared at her with an eyebrow raised, not believing the opinion of one student.

 

"Just one? I don't think that's enough proof, also, why are you here? You're in the bard track,"

 

Skara turned to the students with an encouraging smile, ignoring the teachers comment.

 

"C'mon guys, you really gonna let Boscha get away with this? We have the power to finally knock her down a notch, take it!"

 

One by one, the students of the class slowly started agreeing, and stood up for Luz, Marcy and WIllow. The three had a smile on their faces as the teacher turned disapprovingly to Boscha.

 

"And here I thought you had all this responsibility and power and you could use it for good, you're nothing but a ruffian, to the principals office with you!" He shoved her out of the classroom. As Willow and Skara were sent back to their classes with a door slammed shut, a string of curses in Boscha's annoying voice could be heard fading into the distance.

 

"Anyways, ignoring that... debacle, can anyone tell me the consistency of an explosive potion?"

 

Caleb sat in the back of the classroom, his eyes unmoving, trained on Luz and Marcy. Sighing, he continued his work, he had a job to do anyways.

 

---

 

Emperor Belos sat in his throne, his mind going over the events of recent, trying to string together a plan of action to proceed forward with when a knock on his chamber doors alerted him. Sitting up, he bellowed.

 

"You may enter."

 

The doors opened and a white-cloaked individual walked in, he had a plain golden mask on, and a golden shoulder pauldron. in the middle of his cloak on his chest he had a golden triangle, in his visible arm he held a staff with a red gem on top, and a wing arching out from the side, much like a less-developed version of Belos' staff. He walked up and knelt before him.

 

"Ah, yes. What news do you have for me, Golden Guard?"

 

The Golden Guard looked up at his lord.

 

"Your predictions were right, the humans are attending Hexside, along with the traitor."

 

Belos leaned his hand into a balled fist, his eyes a sickly blue beneath the cover of his mask.

 

"As expected. Continue to keep tabs on them. Make sure you aren't compromised, the Titan has big plans for you, Golden Guard. It would be such a hassle to find a replacement."

 

The Golden Guard nodded at the dismissal, taking his leave, before leaving however, he turned his face to the Emperor.

 

"I won't fail you, Uncle."

 

Belos looked at him unnervingly.

 

"I know you wont. You're very good at doing exactly what you're told."

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notes:

And thats the end of that, have a great day everybody, sorry for the late upload, i tried to finish the chapter last night but i got too tired, and was busy all of today

Next Up: To Conquer Ones Past

Chapter 24: To Conquer Ones Past

Summary:

Amity deals with her past as a school bully in the most sensible way possible.

 

 

By beating up the schools biggest tormentor, and her ex-friend.

Notes:

Sorry for the late update, had my new desk put in so i didnt have access to a computer (my laptop is falling apart and needs a support system to be held together) so i made a long chapter to make up for it

It was day 3 of magic school. Luz and Marcy were still excited as always, Amity was a little more reserved, but joined in on the excitement to make her new friends feel happy, Eda laughed at their enthusiasm, muttering a quick 'How could you be this excited for school?' under her breath as the three girls left. They happily walked along the shoreline cliff that painted their path to Hexside, happily chatting and conversing with the other. Luz and Marcy enthusiastically repeated the whole Boscha incident to Amity, and how Willow helped them. Amity winced at the mention of Willow, and while Luz didn't notice it, Marcy did, and decided to note it for later. 

 

"Sounds like classic Boscha to me. Wonder what Skara was doing in potions though, hm." She brought a finger up to her chin, "I didn't see Boscha yesterday, which was weird, considering I thought she would be all over me, either trying to make fun of me for being wanted or, worse yet, actually caring about what I went through."

 

Luz pouted, annoyed.

 

"Well, I don't want Boscha to bother you, she's a real piece of work, and not the good kind either! She's like... a red skittle!" Marcy doubled over, laughing at the insult, wheezing out. Amity could only stare blankly at her.

 

"What's a red skittle?"

 

---

 

After meeting up with Caleb, who seemed awfully quiet (not that he was usually loud, he just felt more reclusive), the group had headed for their first classes, when an all-too-familiar voice called on them.

 

"Well look who it is! If it isn't little miss wanted!" Boscha tauntingly jeered at them, purpose in her step as she walked up to them, she turned to Luz and Marcy, "And you two, don't think you've gotten away with this, I don't care how powerful you are, you are NOT powerful enough to make me believe that HUMANS can be worthy of being in the same school as me!" Amity rolled her eyes, stepping up to Boscha.

 

"You know, I never liked you. You've been rude, obnoxious, demanding, needy and an absolute jerk for our entire lives. Me knowing you since we've been first able to talk doesn't excuse your washed-up sock of an attitude." She coldly bit, Boscha's eyes widened for a split second before laughing, slapping her knee.

 

"You think I'm gonna let the bitch who almost got turned into a fancy statue talk me down? You lost all your social credit when you betrayed the emperor. You think for one fucking second that I'd even consider taking what you say into consideration after the stunt you pulled over the weekend that ended up with your parents disowning you and you having a big red target painted on your back, then I guess your little powwow with the emperor knocked more screws loose than there is covens!" Boscha screamed, "In fact, I'm sure that the emperor will be pleased if I bought your body in right here, right now!

 

Amity's face darkened, Luz was about to interject when she held a hand out to stop her. Stepping forward so her face was directly in Boscha's, she smirked an evil smirk she had never smirked before.

 

"Alright, then let's settle this. A Witches duel, right here, right now." She internally panicked, don't make stupid claims, don't make stupid claims- "If you win, I'll hand myself in to the emperor, if I win, you have to leave me and my friends alone, forever."

 

Luz and Marcy both scowled at the thought of the wrong outcome happening.

 

"Amity, are you insane? Even if you're better than Boscha, pitting your freedom on a stupid bully isn't worth it!" Luz exclaimed, Marcy nodding along quickly. Amity looked back at her and smiled.

 

"But you did the same thing," She simply stated. Luz backed up a little, confusion on her face.

 

"I did what now?" She rubbed her head in confusion, Amity laughed lightly and rolled her eyes.

 

"You sacrificed your freedom to save a stupid bully when you saved me during the day of the petrification," Luz shook her head at the word drop of bully, but Amity continued, "I was one of the big shots who always tried to pick on people below me, I didn't like it, but my... but Odalia and Alador told me to keep a certain level of respect amongst the schools, and you know how it was. Now that I don't have to... adhere to their expectations anymore, I don't think I need to associate with the piece of 2 month old gum that I scraped off of my shoe with the fork leftover from my lunch. Oh, sorry, I meant Boscha,"

 

Luz snorted at the comment, while they group pointedly ignored the screech of outrage that came from the pink-haired triclops. Amity turned to her, ready to begin the duel, but a scream told them that classes had started.

 

"I... had actually forgotten about classes," Amity admitted sheepishly, before turning to Luz and Marcy, who shrugged, "We'll settle this after school then, grudgby arena, be there or forfeit by force," She turned to stride off. Boscha grinned, there was no way she was getting away with this, not under her watch.

 

---

 

Throughout the day, Amity could feel stares from everywhere, all eyes were pointed on her. She assumed the news had gotten out about the witches duel she had declared, combined with the fact that she's challenging the second strongest student in the school and the fact that not even a week ago she had been considered a traitor to the empire and was almost petrified. But needless to say, it had become a little unnerving. She frowned as she ate her food, her class had been directly next to the cafeteria so she would have to wait a little for Marcy, Luz and Caleb to show up. When they finally did, Caleb and Luz were in deep conversation, a smile finally on the blond's face, while Marcy was absorbed in a notebook. Luz brightened up more as they found her table, Marcy rose her face from the book, almost tripping on the table, before waving and chuckling bashfully, sitting down with the rest of them.

 

"So, do you have a game-plan for the duel?" Caleb surprisingly inquired of Amity. She rose an eyebrow, not expecting him to ask, but she shrugged.

 

"Hit her till she faints?" She shrugged, nonchalantly chewing on her screamwich, the muffled screams creeping Luz and Marcy out. Caleb rolled his magenta eyes. What an odd eye color. Amity noted to herself, "I mean, I know Boscha, she'll have definitely spent all break making potions, probably just concussive or explosive potions."

 

Caleb thought back to potions class, Boscha definitely wasn't making boil scream, but because she was the captain of the grudgby team, no one cared. His eyes widened as he remembered the crimson smoke that rose out of her cauldron.

 

"Hey, Amity?" He nervously began, "I'm starting to think this duel isn't exactly a good idea," Amity rose an eyebrow, her expression shifted to one of disbelief.

 

"You don't think I can take her?" Amity scoffed, rolling her golden eyes and setting her screamwich down, "That's a little rich, coming from a witch who's bilesac doesn't even work,"

 

Caleb frowned, a little part of his brain told him to withhold the information from her. He put a finger to his chin, contemplating his next move, before sighing, examining his fingernails as he shrugged.

 

"I was going to say that I saw her brewing potions of bane, but I guess Miss Hotshot here doesn't need that kind of lifesaving information,"

 

Amity paled at the information. Where did she get the ingredients to make those!? Luz and Marcy shared a confused look, but Caleb noticed it.

 

"Potions of Bane are like someone dosed an explosion potion with a few handfuls too much of boiling powder," When Luz and Marcy looked no less confused than they were before, Caleb rolled his eyes, "Explosion potion equals big boom, potions of bane equals city-levelling boom." He seemed a lot more satisfied at the mortified expressions of the two girls.

 

"You aren't serious, are you?" Marcy shakily asked Caleb, who hummed non-committedly, and Marcy paled further, before Amity shook her head.

 

"Don't listen to him, he's just trying to scare you, potions of bane are just... very large, and very de-limbing," She rolled her eyes again, "I had no better way to say that." 

 

"That doesn't make it sound any better!" Luz's terrified shout made Caleb chuckle, his expression then shifted to concentration, trying to think of ways to help Amity win. After a solid 5 minutes of brainstorming, he hit his fist into his hand.

 

"Alright, I have an idea."

 

---

 

The bleachers surrounding the grudgby arena had never been so packed, the impromptu duel had caught the attention of almost every single student that attended the school. Cheers for the two girls echoed through the clearing, a distinctly higher amount of people cheering for Boscha than Amity.

 

Boscha sat in the middle of the field, tossing a crimson coloured potion up and down out of boredom. She thought back to the girls parting words. "We'll settle this after school then, grudgby arena, be there or forfeit by force," A wide grin stretched across her face, maybe she realised she couldn't take me!

 

Unfortunately for her, a small spec of purple caught her attention. Before her very eyes, Amity strode in, sliding on a puddle of abomination goop that followed her. Sliding up to Boscha, who rest her face in a permanent scowl, quickly pocketing the crimson flask away from prying golden eyes. The puddle stopped mere centimeters from her, Amity stepping off with a palpable confidence, written in her expression, her eyes and her posture.

 

"Someone looks awfully confident for their beating." Boscha growled out, her hand twitching on the potions in her pocket, Amity scoffed.

 

"I look awfully confident because I can be," She looked around, taking note of the crowd, "You got a lot of people cheering for you."

 

Boscha smirked, deciding to play with her food before eating it.

 

"Aw, jealous you don't have half the school backing you?" Amity turned her head back to the crowd, she saw Luz and Marcy grinning and cheering for her, Willow waving, and Caleb, aloof as usual, but holding a thumbs up, and nodding back to the arena. She smiled softly, before turning back to Boscha.

 

"Nah," She grinned, "The few people cheering for me actually mean it. Sorry that the only thing carrying the waves of your cheers is the underlying threat of a black eye and a busted lip,"

 

Boscha's third eye twitched slightly in anger, but she took a deep breath, trying to reign in her anger, exhaling slowly, she scowled.

 

"Whatever, now, what were those terms you agreed to, again?" She faked confusion before grinning evilly, "Oh, right! You agreed that if you lost, I get to hand you in to the emperor!" Amity glared at her, "Yeah, yeah, and if I lose, I have to leave you guys alone, whatever."

 

Amity rolled her eyes again, but drew a golden spell circle, putting her hand through it. Boscha grinned as her hand went through, her other hand behind her back.

 

The golden light encompassed their hands. Amity felt the magic flow through her. 

 

"The everlasting oath is sealed." She simply stated, stepping back to meet opposite sides of the arena with Boscha.

 

Up in the stands, Willow had noticed something wrong, as Boscha and Amity sealed the everlasting oath, Boscha had a hand behind her back, Willow managed to get a better look to see a violently purple and red flower in it. She tapped Luz's shoulder, trying to garner her attention amidst all the chaos and obnoxiously loud teenagers. It took a few taps, but Luz finally noticed, turning her head to meet Willow's worried expression, immediately, her expression sombred.

 

"What's wrong?!" She shouted over the loud cheering, Willow cupped her hands to make her voice travel further.

 

"Boscha was holding a lying lily when they sealed the everlasting oath!" Luz frowned with confusion, and Willow elaborated, "It's a flower with a powerful magical overriding capability, if you hold it while making a promise on an everlasting oath, the promise won't take its hold on you should you break the oath!"

 

Luz paled, she didn't understand the sentence fully, but the parts that she did understand made perfect sense. If Amity wins, Boscha wont have to upkeep her end of the deal, but if Amity loses, she's forced to hand herself in. She went to warn Amity but it was too late, the battle was starting.

 

Boscha and Amity circled each other, serious expression plastered on both faces. As they circled, the crowd quietened in anticipation, awaiting the first strike. Boscha decided she would take it, gripping a yellow potion out of her pouch and throwing it at the teal-haired witch. Amity was quick to capture the potion harmlessly within a thin veil of goo, the veil flashed yellow as the potion popped. Boscha snarled, throwing a few multi-coloured potion.

 

Amity had to push herself out of the way of one with goo, the potion hitting where she once stood with a pillar of flames. Another two flew at her, but she rose an abomination, the potions sinking into it. Commanding it, the abomination wandered towards Boscha, getting almost too close before the potions took effect, one snared the abomination in thick coursing vines, while the other burst into flames. Boscha finally grinned.

 

"Enough playing around!" She reached into her back pouch to pull out her secret weapon.

 

Except the weapon was no longer there.

 

"Looking for something?" Amity bit with an unnatural amount of snark, a tendril of goo wrapped around the cork of a vial filled with angry crimson liquid, "I can't believe you'd stoop so low as to try and use a potion of bane against me." 

 

Boscha stuttered and checked her bag again out of disbelief, before angrily turning to her.

 

"How the fuck did you know about that?!" She shouted, throwing a poor punch, which Amity easily dodged, holding up the potion as if it were a knife, Boscha quickly backed up, fear in her eyes.

 

"I had a guy on the inside." She simply stated, giving next to no clues as to who would spy on her. "Besides, I have it now, so whats your plan?"

Boscha was conflicted, she weighed options and eventually begrudgingly turning to Amity.

 

"I forfeit."

 

Amity grinned, wide and stretching across her face.

 

She won!

 

 

Notes:

this was my edition of the covention witches duel, hope you all enjoyed!

 

Next up: Opposite Sides of the Same Coin

Chapter 25: Opposite Sides of the Same Coin

Summary:

Marcy, Luz and Amity try to figure out how to work the Calamity Box, and Amity suggests the Bonesborough Library for information.

It just so happens that Emperor Belos heard word of the Calamity Box, and now the Golden Guard is tasked with obtaining the box by force, which is an issue because the box is in the possession of the people he considers his friends.

The girls' library trip goes very wrong when someone attempts to steal the Calamity Box by force, said person looks very important, and sounds even more familiar.

Notes:

God damn, 3rd time writing this note... here we go again.

1: Sorry for taking so long to update, I've been not well for the past week or so
2: This chapter was originally a 3 part chapter which involved the Plantars travelling to Newtopia to steal the box back, but I decided against it, holding it off until a later point
3: for those of you wondering why so little of Amphibia's side is being shown, its mostly due to the fact that plot-wise, the Owl House is more important to the story currently, Amphibia will get its time to shine in later acts, so don't worry
4: This chapter is extra EXTRA long to make up for the lack of updates

The mornings were always the hardest for Marcy. She would wake up, expecting her vision to be filled with all the colourful posters of her roof, only for them to not be there, and for the memories of her situation to come flooding back to her like a tsunami of negativity. It's not that she didn't like the Boiling Isles, don't get her wrong, she loved it here, maybe a little too much. In-fact, these past 3 weeks have been unlike anything ever before, it felt so much more real and impactful than her world ever was. It was just hard knowing that the only way back to her home had been destroyed, she didn't hate Luz for coming up with the idea, she knew it was the only way to make sure whatever plans Belos had with the portal wouldn't come to fruition. She just hated that it came down to that being the only solution. She couldn't even contact her parents, without the door, they were completely and entirely severed from the human realm.

 

She breathed out a long, heavy sigh as her eyes closely picked out shapes and patterns in the aged rustic ceiling of the room her, Luz and Amity had been sharing. They had woken up ages ago, Luz was always a morning person, too energetic to be contained by the simple means of sleep. (That was Luz's wording, not Marcy's) and Amity had claimed that she always woke up early, seeing as there was always things that needed to be done. Marcy had never been a morning person, she had always struggled to wake up, clinging to the sweet release from the stress of everyday life that sleep provided, but yet she always struggled to get herself to go to sleep. Every night she would either be drawing, reading fanfiction or laying awake for hours, staring at her ceiling as her mind raced with thoughts from the previous day. 

 

She pondered over the other two girls who's lives had been turned upside down by the events of the near-petrification, she knew they weren't happy-go-lucky like they were pretending to be. Marcy wasn't good at being social, but one thing she was good at was being socially observant, she could tell from the empty look in Amity's eyes, and how she sometimes isn't paying attention, like she's lost in thought, that she was still processing the whole situation. It was understandable honestly, whatever dreams and ambitions she had for the future had been completely shattered, she was a criminal, well, she wasn't necessarily wanted but she could never escape the fact that the emperor wanted her killed. And Luz, sweet precious Luz, who Marcy had come to terms with the fact that she had definitely fallen for the sweet Hispanic girl who spoke her mind and who's laughs filled a room with a kind of golden light that could only be felt. She couldn't deny it like she could earlier into their friendship, and she knew from the pride flags hung around Luz's room that she was bisexual, so she knew she had a chance, she just... she didn't know how to think about the whole situation. She couldn't ever believe for a million years that someone could ever like her back. She's had her crushes, sure, but people were usually disgusted or bored by her. Luz felt entirely different somehow, like the opposite side of a coin. Marcy sighed again, rolling over in her sleeping bag to grab her phone, rays of sun highlighting the dust particles in the air as she turned it on to check the time. Noticing it was pretty late, she decided she should probably go downstairs. Her decision was accompanied with a rumble from her stomach.

 

She descended the creaky stairs, her ears picking up on the boisterous cackling of Eda, the soft giggles of Amity, and the bubbly golden laughter of her Luz. Smiling softly, she walked into what could only be described as chaos.

 

Luz was hanging upside down from Owlbert, who was somehow sentient in his staff form, chirping mischievously as he spun Luz around, who was laughing while trying to hold on to him, Eda was cackling while doubled over, cheering Owlbert on, while Amity was giggling uncontrollably, her teal hair bobbing up and down as she tried to control herself.

 

And for once, Marcy smiled, because everything felt right.

 

---

 

" G O L D E N  G U A R D .  I  R E Q U E S T  Y O U R  P R E S E N C E "

 

'Caleb' groaned as he rose out of bed, Uncle's otherworldly voice echoing in his head, rolling his eyes, he got prepared, putting on his golden tunic, belt, and white cloak. He kept his mask by his side, and held his hood down, as he always did whenever Uncle requested his personal presence. He marched the corridors of the castle with purpose, scouts saluting him as he passed. He nodded his head respectfully, because that's what he had been taught to do.

 

His memories were admittedly fuzzy until only a few years ago, he doesn't remember much of his childhood. But Uncle had claimed that he had been a chaotic child. He would laugh and reminisce over memories that Caleb's memory had long since forgotten, but his past didn't matter. His present and future is what matters most, or so his Uncle states. 

 

He shook his head, rubbing his eyes. Mustn't have gotten enough sleep.

 

He couldn't doubt Uncle, not after everything that he had given him. He was the Golden Guard for titans sake, and Uncle says that the Titan himself has big plans for him. Looking to the side as he approached the 'Hall of Victories', he let his mind be taken over by the posters that adorned the walls, portrayed in a sleek, curved gold frame. Multiple dictated the many achievements of Uncle, such as the invention of the coven system, the duel at the foot, the declaration of the end of the savage ages, and most notably, a new one that had been recently hung.

 

In the portrait stood Belos, his mask half shattered, standing tall over two girls, while above, it showed another girl with the petrification machine powered up. In his hands was the eye of the portal that he had taken from them. Below the portrait, it was captioned.

 

Victory over Wild Magic

 

His eyes widened slightly, recognizing the three girls. His friends, Marcy, Luz and Amity.

 

He knew he wasn't supposed to get attached. the only reason he attended Hexside at all was to keep them in line. It was his duty as the Golden Guard. But he couldn't help it. They had been so inviting, supportive, and even if Amity had been a little... hesitant at first, so had he. He didn't want to get attached he wasn't SUPPOSED to get attached.

 

He shook his head, he couldn't be treasonous, not to the one who had promised him greatness, who had kept him alive, who had cared for him. But when he was with his friends, he felt something... indescribable. Freeing, almost.

 

He laughed nervously, what did he need freeing from? He was free as ever!

 

It was then that a cold hand landed on his shoulder. His head turned to see the unmasked face of Uncle looking down at him, a sad, old smile written in his elderly expression, his marred, green skin stretching across his face.

 

"I see you've been... distracted by my accomplishments?" He stated, though with a hint of amusement laced within his voice, lacking the crushing animosity it normally held. Caleb nodded, knowing not to show weakness.

 

"It's impressive," He slowly admitted, quickly following it with, "How much you've achieved, that is."

 

Belos nodded, his eyes admiring the piece as well, as if it were his own artwork, he then turned to Caleb.

 

"I have something to show you, come along," He left no room for complaint, not that Caleb would dare attempt to complain, afterall, he is the great and almighty Belos, and before all, Uncle.

 

Belos brought Caleb to the inner-bowels of the castle. He recognized this place, it was where construction of the new portal was being held. As Belos tapped his gauntleted hand on the door, crimson red lines sprouted from it, creating intricate patterns that reminded Caleb of the patterns in leaves, always so diverse and almost random, yet they still held some semblance of a structure. The lines faded and the door opened. Within was the portal, or what was left of the portal that Belos had been able to reconstruct. In the center was the shattered remains strewn back together, fitted into a gold and silver lined frame, the eye in the center had a single large crack running across it. There were parts of the door that seemed too damaged beyond repair, and Belos had circumvented that issue by placing large metal plates over them, with thick, translucent pumps coiling out of them. The doorway was surrounded by a large platinum-coloured ring, golden nodes adorning it in an evenly spaced pattern. The ring had two large wings coming out of both sides, the under-cut of the wings were a clean golden colour. Caleb admired the repaired portal in awe. He must have been staring for too long though, because Belos huffed a small chuckle, the corner of his mouth tilting up.

 

"It sure is a sight to behold, is it not?" He simply stated, before frowning, the scar that stretched across his face wrinkling at the change of expression, "But alas, the portal cannot open properly," 

 

Caleb looked to him with a confused stare, the door was complete wasn't it, was he missing something? The confusion must have been evidently written on his face because Belos frowned further.

 

"Power source, Golden Guard, I need a potent power source. I have tried creating my own, but it is nowhere near as powerful as it needs to be, and while the humans may have the key, I don't have any proof of it," He then turned his view back to the portal, "I have, however, heard from one of my spies that the humans have something potent enough to fuel the portal indefinitely. It is called the Calamity box. Believe me, I was surprised. I have not heard of that  in a very long time." He then turned back to Caleb, smiling once more, "I need you to steal it from them."

 

Caleb froze, if only for a moment. 

 

"Uncle..." He began, picking his next words carefully as Belos rose an eyebrow, "I understand, but, wouldn't me appearing as the Golden Guard give me away? I've been told my voice is uh, very distinguishable,"

 

Belos offered him a humoured smile, shaking his head with mirth, before kneeling down so his head was at level with Caleb. He tapped the mask that Caleb had in his hands.

 

"Your appearance will be hidden with your uniform, and for your voice..." He rose a finger, "Simply avoid using your voice. You have your staff, do you not?"

 

Caleb nodded, his hand gripping the handle of his mechanical staff as he pulled it from his cloak. It extended, revealing its appearance. It was a long, brown staff with 3 diagonal golden rings at the tip, with a sleek white tip. The tip was multi-layered, multiple indents lined the piece. An arching wing came out from the right side, its under-cut golden much like the wings that adorned the portals frame. On top sat a glistening crimson gem, not unlike Belos' staff, only his was more sunken into the staff's tip, and not fully exposed. Belos nodded, satisfied.

 

"Conjure an illusion spell to show words, or actions, that way the humans and the traitor have no way of revealing who you are." He then chuckled, rising up unsteadily, "Better yet, steal the box while no-one is looking,"

 

Caleb gulped silently, and nodded. Belos turned to his head to the portal once more.

 

"You must do this, you know the Titan has big plans for you," He then turned back to Caleb once more, his cold, gold-clad hand landed on his shoulder, as it always does. He moved closer and looked down at him, "And, I have told you how much of a hassle it would be to find a replacement, especially with how close we are to finally bringing about the Day of Unity."

 

Caleb nodded, unable to bring himself to do much more. As he was guided out, he turned back to Belos one last time.

 

"Uncle?" 

 

Belos looked at him expectantly.

 

"Yes?"

 

"What... What exactly is the Day of Unity?" When he didn't get an immediate response, his breath shortened, panicking at the thought that he messed up, but then a hefty chuckle washed away any form of panic. 

 

"While I can't tell you much, I can tell you this: The Day of Unity is an event prophesised by the Titan himself, where our civilization comes together as one to share our magic and purge Wild Magic from our realm!" He spread his arms in a grandiose fashion, "And then we shall inherit a utopia where those who... who maltreat the Titan's ways will be IRADICATED!"

As Belos screamed the last word, his left arm misplaced itself, bulging and twisting, turning from flesh to an amorphous, blackish mixture of sludge and bone that shot out, slamming into the nearest wall and shaking the room slightly. Panting raggedly, his arm slowly writhed back into place. He groaned in pain, before shooting one look at Caleb, who had become used to these outbursts. Caleb nodded, understanding the implications of the look, before hastily retreating.

 

And yet, something tucked away at the very back of his mind clawed at his senses, screaming.

 

Something doesn't feel right about the Day of Unity.

 

Scowling to himself once more, he repressed the thoughts, he couldn't be treasonous, he couldn't fail Uncle.

 

Not again.

 

---

 

It was a Saturday, which meant no school, which usually meant the better half of the day was spent with Luz and Marcy gushing over the world around them, while Amity told them little bits of information, ever the walking dictionary. However, today, when the trio had finally settled down from the morning chaos, Luz noncommittedly pointing out the fact that Eda had never been this lively and awake in the mornings, Marcy was sat on the couch, the Calamity Box in her hands. Luz and King were doing their weekly 'Comedy Hour', which consisted of 1 straight hour of incredibly unfunny puns. This week's theme was bread.

 

"No! Whatever shall I do, I'm toast!" King cried out, shoving a piece of bread on his head and falling over. Luz giggled, clutching her sides as she wiped a tear from her beautiful hazelnut eyes.

 

"Nooooo! Wheatever shall I do now?!" She let out another giggle while King cackled, eating the bread.

 

"Hey, Luz, wanna play a-grain?" Luz laughed even more, nodding.

 

"You bread my mind!"

 

Eda groaned from the kitchen, before walking into the room.

 

"Enough, I can't stand to hear another bread pun, if I do, I think I might go insane, go outside, play or something, I dunno, do what kids these days do, just quit the bread puns," She turned her eyes to Marcy, who was studying the box with a trained stare, while Amity was asleep besides her, curled up to keep warm, "Or maybe even check out what's got your girlfriends attention so much," The last part had a wink added to it, Luz blushed deeply, but didn't comment on it, because it actually did trigger her curiosity.

 

She jumped onto the couch, finally grabbing Marcy's attention, the girl fumbled, the box jumping in and out of her grasp for a second, before she finally grabbed it and giggled.

 

"What's up, Luz?" She asked, her eyes already back on the box, analysing each individual worn down, chipped piece of wood, and every small divot in the gold lining. Luz leaned on her palms as she rested next to her, legs idly swinging in the air.

 

"Eda banned comedy hour, so I'm checking out what you're doin'!" She looked closer at the box, "Which begs the question, what are you doing?"

 

Marcy kept looking at the box for a few seconds before the question clicked, and she rose her head, and chuckled bashfully.

 

"I'm trying to see if I can see any hints on how to find the place where you can charge the stone," She lifted the box to see underneath it, and frowned when she saw nothing, "And so far, this box would make for the worst video game tutorial,"

 

By now, Amity had woken up, and was listening in on the conversation.

 

"I don't know what a video game is, but if you're looking for information, I'm sure the Bonesborough library would have a book on it," She chimed in, smiling softly when Marcy's face lit up.

 

"You're right! Don't you have to go there soon to read to the kids anyways? We can come along with you when you do!" Amity nodded, and with a wave of her finger, her scrolled appeared before her, checking the time, her eyes widened.

 

"Shoot! I was supposed to leave 5 minutes ago!" She quickly scrambled to get up, and made sure her hair was presentable before grabbing Luz and Marcy, and running out the door, shouting a quick goodbye to Eda, and narrowly avoiding Hooty, who almost got them to listen to a story about how he 'interrupted a bug dance party, and had a very nice dinner'. Little did they know, beyond their vision, a pair of magenta eyes hidden behind a golden mask trailed their path.

 

As the group ran through the lively town, Luz and Marcy still couldn't help but be in awe at the structures, townsfolk and atmosphere that surrounded them, each building looked so different and unique compared to back in the human realm, where most buildings in a town looked like the same monotonous grey rectangle. Luz was particularly excited, something about free expression, neither Marcy nor Amity understood it, but they shrugged because it was Luz, and they've grown used to the fact that Luz made no sense constantly. She simply claimed it was part of her natural charm, which Marcy secretly agreed with.

 

They finally arrived at the library, and Marcy was in total awe. The entrance alone felt like the entrance to some ancient castle, quartz-white pillars with detailed engravings etched into them, golden lined walls, and large red banners draped along them. But her mind exploded when they stepped inside. 

 

"So. Many. BOOKS!" She shouted, before remembering where they were, chuckling embarrassedly and shrinking in on herself, "So many books," she whispered much quieter. As they walked through the corridors, none of them noticed the white-cloaked, golden-masked figure that followed them in.

 

Who them subsequently tripped on his own shoe, earning a "Shh!" From the librarian. 

 

He groaned, and followed the girls in, trying to keep a low profile. He saw Amity walk off to another room after giving the girls a small tour. She mentioned working here once, maybe she reads to the kids?

 

He decided to follow Luz and Marcy, really hating the situation, but swallowing down his emotions regardless, he had a duty to fulfill.

 

Luz and Marcy scoured each isle for information about the Calamity Box, grabbing piles of books. Once they were satisfied with their collections, they set to work.

 

---

 

Caleb didn't think he would be here for hours, watching the girls (joined by Amity recently), read book after book, trying to learn more about the Calamity Box. He was starting to think they were gonna stay there for the whole night, but his chance arose when Marcy took the box out of her bag to analyse. He steadied himself with a breath, he could make a mess, he's in the Emperors Coven, it couldn't hurt to go all out.

 

But they're your friends, wouldn't you rather keep them safe? The traitorous voice in his head echoed, and he violently shook his head, he couldn't afford to stop here, he couldn't afford to fail Uncle again, he couldn't keep disappointing him. The Titan had big plans for him, he had to make himself useful.

 

He had to do this.

 

He grabbed his staff, clicking it into place, with a whirr the staff arranged and opened itself up. Gripping it tightly, the gem on top glowed crimson as he took a stance. It was time.

 

 

"Any luck in that book?" Luz asked Amity, who had just slammed a rather thick book shut in annoyance. The teal-haired girl sighed, shaking her head.

 

"Nothing useful, I'm starting to think that nobody even knows this box exists in this realm," She turned her head from the box, and them immediately, the table jerked towards them. In shock, Luz kicked her chair out from under her, gripping the edge of the table as her eyes caught the source of the sudden attack. A white-cloaked guard with a golden mask had jumped towards them, hand outstretched, reaching towards the box. Luz quickly tried to yank the box away but the guard pulled out his staff, the box, cloaked in a crimson hue, shot right into his opened hands. Marcy rubbed her head from falling on the floor, raising to see the guard being chased by Luz as he made his escape with the box.

 

The box.

 

Immediately, her hand shot to her pocket, before realizing. Shoot, we didn't bring any glyphs! Her brain worked fast, and then a thought occurred to her. Grabbing as many of the books as she could off of shelves as she ran after Luz and the guard. Quickly grabbing her pen from her pocket, she began to draw plant and ice glyphs on the pages, hoping that the words and illustrations already present didn't interfere with the glyph too much. As she jumped over a table, she grinned, she had enough glyphs for the both of them. She then took a turn that the other two took and tried to catch up to Luz.

 

Luz panted hard as she gave chase, but she was unable to attack because she didn't bring any glyphs with her. She suddenly noticed a head of teal hair besides her.

 

"Amity! Use abomination magic to trap this guy or something, we can't let him get away!" Amity nodded, waving a magenta circle as a wall of sludge rose in front of the guard. He skidded to a stop, gripping his staff. Suddenly, he blinked into a glistening red wisp and phased through the wall. Amity gasped and quickly lowered the walls, jumping through. She watched the guard as he kept running, and noticed how his staff kept glowing crimson red.

 

No magic is ever red... except for the emperors. So that must mean... their staff! 

 

"Luz! We gotta take their staff out! It's artificial magic, I've heard sometimes if someone very important to the emperor lacks magical capability, they get given a staff with artificial magic! If I'm right and we take their staff out, then we can trap them!" Luz grinned, sending a warm smile at her, which, for some reason, made her stomach do a flip.

 

"Great thinking, Amity!"

 

They kept running, trying to force him to take different paths, Luz had to admit she was grateful for how massive the library was, it felt like a whole castle with how large it is. They managed to successfully get him into a corner after another minute of chasing. He turned his face to them and that's when they realised that it wasn't a normal coven guard, his mask was a clean gold, with a simple curved line for eyeholes, his cloak had a golden triangle in the center, and his staff was very similar to the Emperors. He backed up into a wall, and then turned to blast a hole through the nearest bookshelf. Luz and Amity paled as he went to jump through it, but as soon as he did, a glistening sound came from the other side, and 4 sharp ice spikes shot out, pinning him against the wall, his staff clattering to the ground. The box was still in his hands, gripped tightly by his black gloves.

 

Luz looked to the side and blushed lightly when Marcy confidently strode into the corner, an open book in her hand, a few ripped out pages clutched in her other. She walked up to the guard, who growled lowly at her, and took the box from his grip.

 

"I think this belongs to us!" She stated, turning around coolly and walking towards the girls. Luz was ecstatic, blushing lightly, while Amity grinned in awe.

 

"Woah, you get em, Marc!" Luz cheered, pumping a fist into the air and then hugging the girl tightly. Amity smiled as she watched, but something deep inside of her itched, feeling left out. She shook her head, doesn't matter.

 

It was then that a voice caught them off guard. It was heavily muffled by the mask, but it sounded familiar.

 

"Emperor Belos wants the box. I can't go back empty handed, not again..." He started, his foot dangerously close to his staff, meanwhile the girls looked at him in anger, ready to say something, but a flash of crimson caught them off guard, and suddenly, he was back on his feet, staff flaring an angry crimson in his hands, "So give me that box!"

 

A bolt of red shot towards Marcy, but it quickly sunk into a thin veil of abomination sludge. Shooting a thankful smile at Amity, she ripped a couple of pages out of the book and handed them to Luz. Luz looked at her confused, before realising what was on them. Marcy, you beautiful, adorable genius!

 

Golden Guard leapt for the box, his hands outstretched, only to have to pull back last second as a sharp ice spike shot from the ground up, Luz grinning dangerously as she held up 3 plant glyphs, and clapped.

 

Thorny vines erupted from her closed palms, reaching for his staff, but he was quick to pull away, spinning it and slicing the vines with the glowing tip. He then teleported behind Marcy in a flash of red, but Marcy was expecting it, and spun around, slapping a plant glyph on his chest. Thick roots burst from the page, threatening to ensnare him, but he was quick to teleport it off of him, making another dash for Marcy. He tripped on a strand of sludge, but gracefully caught himself in a roll, kicking Marcy's shin in. 

 

The girl cried out in pain, and Luz whipped her head over to her. Her heartrate increased slightly as she watched her best friend crumple to her knees in pain.

 

Luz could only see yellow as suddenly, she was behind Golden Guard, punching him directly in the back. He let out a sharp gasp of pain as he shot across the room, crashing into the walls with a pained thud. Groaning, he shakily rose, blinking.

 

"What the heck?!" He yelled out in his all too familiar voice, but Luz didn't care. He hurt her friend. Her friend. Hurt her. Hurt. HURT.

 

Luz ran at him with inhumane speed, another punch thrown at him, his head this time, but he was quick to dodge it, and tried to grab her arms to counter, but when they didn't budge, and she moved without any sign of hinderance, he knew he fucked up.

 

"You hurt her. I'm gonna break every single bone in your BODY!" She lunged at him, grabbing his shoulders and shoving him back into the wall. The plaster shattered at the impact, and he let out another gasp of pain. He quickly shot a red bolt at her, but the blast and the injury seemed to do nothing to slow her down. That's when Golden Guard realized the box that was still on the floor, the gem within flickered from grey to yellow constantly. The yellow glow coming off of Luz and the inhumane speed and strength, it all linked together someh-

 

His thoughts were cut short when his gut was punched again, he shot back into another wall, his vision wavering slightly, black spots blinking in and out of it as he struggled to get up. He tasted iron in his mouth and felt something warm trickling from his nose, reaching under his mask and wiping it, his fears were confirmed by the deep red blood smeared across his gloves. He reached for his staff, and decided on a last ditch effort. He teleported to the box, but Marcy had gotten up again, and stepped on a glyph, shooting thorny vines at him, wincing and shouting out, he teleported away.

 

Right into a punch from Luz.

 

He stumbled back, losing his footing again as he slipped, he backed up in genuine fear as Luz stood above him, her eyes angrily flashing yellow. She rose a foot, ready to stomp on him, when a voice called out to her.

 

"Luz! Stop!"

 

She blinked, her eyes and the glow fading from yellow into nothingness, she turned to see Marcy, her expression one of genuine fear, her eyes widened as she turned back to Golden Guard, blood dripping from beneath his mask, staining the pristine white cloak in a deep red, he looked up at her, shaking and coughing. Had she done this? But he hurt Marcy. He hurt her. He deserved it... What am I saying?! It doesn't matter what he did, he didn't deserve to be... whatever happened to him. She didn't actually remember...

 

Golden Guard knew he couldn't win this, not by conventional means, anyways. His body was aching, and he was tired, but so were they. He decided to take advantage of what's been dealt to him. Grabbing his staff, he disappeared in a flash of red, focusing on causing a bright explosion where he teleported to, to temporarily blind them. Once he reappeared in front of Marcy, she was momentarily stunned from the flashbang, he used this time to quickly grab the box, but she grabbed onto it at the same time. He tried to yank it out of her hands, but she kept a strong grip. Groaning in pain, he used the rest of his strength to pull it out of her hands, and finally, she lost her grip, a single shing sounded out when he snagged the box. Without giving them a chance to grab it back, he vanished in a sparkle of red.

 

---

 

Caleb reappeared somewhere within castle walls, stumbling and falling over. His eyes tried to adjust to the lighting of the room, and he panicked when he realised he was in Uncle's throne room.

 

A voice let him know he also wasn't alone.

 

"What happened?" Uncle said, standing over the downed form of his right-hand. Caleb tried to get up, wincing at the pain that shot throughout his body, he definitely had a broken rib or two... or five. Once he finally found his footing, he looked Uncle in the eyes. 

 

"They put up a fight. I-I'm not sure how, but one of them seemed... linked to the box, the gem was flashing yellow and they became really strong, like a power up, almost." He winced as he spoke, "I'm really injured, I think I have a few broken ribs."

 

Uncle looked at him for a moment, before waving his hand.

 

"I'l call for someone to escort you to the nurses in a moment, but more importantly, did you get the box?" His smile widened when the Calamity Box was pulled out from underneath the blood-stained cloak, but then he scowled. The gem. The gem was missing.

 

He quickly took the box from Caleb's hand, and in anger, he shouted.

 

"YOU LOST THE GEM?!"

 

Caleb winced as he fell back, the animosity of Uncle's voice caused his heart to beat rapidly, and his head to ache even more, but uncle was right. The single gem that was on the box was no longer there...

 

Groaning in pain, he used the rest of his strength to pull it out of her hands, and finally, she lost her grip, a single shing sounded out when he snagged the box. Without giving them a chance to grab it back, he vanished in a sparkle of red.

 

A single Shing

 

Shing

 

They must have taken the gem out, how could he have let this happen?! He knelt down instantly, ignoring the screams from his nerves as he did so.

 

"I'm sorry, Uncle, when I'm healed up, I could go and-"

 

"NO."

 

He flinched back, no?

 

"I CANNOT ALLOW YOU TO MESS UP AGAIN, HOW MANY TIMES IS IT GOING TO TAKE BEFORE YOU DO SOMETHING RIGHT?"

 

Uncle was right, this wasn't the first time he's failed him, but if only he was given a little more time, or more resources... No. He didn't need help, he was supposed to be the Emperors Right-Hand, and yet, he's nothing but a failure. His head bowed in shame.

 

"I don't know, Uncle..."

 

Suddenly, a sharp, thin tendril of that same murky green sludge shot right next to his face. His eyes widened and his breath shortened, Uncle had almost...

 

"YOU ARE TO RETURN TO YOUR ROOM, I DO NOT WANT TO SEE YOU FOR THE REST OF THE DAY."

 

He blinked, if he had to go to his room, then wouldn't that mean...

 

"But... Uncle, what about hea-"

 

"HEALING IS... Not important. Think of the pain as a reminder of why you shouldn't fail me, be there a next time to do so."

 

Caleb paled, no healing meant.. He shook his head, Uncle knows best, and, after-all, Uncle was right, he needs to do better, and he needs to be punished for his lackluster performance, bowing one last time, he left without another word.

 

---

 

The trio had returned home, Eda was cooking what could only be described as... actually, there was no way to describe it, but that didn't matter right now. Her mood immediately went sombre when she saw the sullen expression on the trio's faces, Marcy's fist clutched by her side. Stopping the stove, she made her way to the living room.

 

"Why the long faces? No information in the nerd-house?" When they didn't respond, her expression shifted to a more serious one, "Seriously, kiddo's, what happened? I can't help you out if I don't know why I need to help you out."

 

It was Luz who rose her head first, you could see the tear streaks on her cheek, and tears still threatening to spill from her eyes.

 

"The box, it was s-stolen by one of the Emperors Covens people, our only hope at getting home again is gone, again!" Her voice held so much anguish and distain, which was worrying, because Luz was none of those things. Eda's frown deepened further. 

"Shit... That's not good at all, I swear once I get my hands on those stupid, no good, rotten guards, I'll tear them limb from limb!"

 

It was then that Marcy finally decided to talk, her fist unravelling.

 

"Actually... I think we might still have a chance."

 

In her hands was the greyed out gem, the one that was on the Calamity box.

Notes:

Whew, finally, I hope you all enjoyed that super-chapter, it's 3x longer than normal chapters, checking in at 5916 words!

Anyways, I'll see you all soon!

Next up: A Quantum Threat

Chapter 26: The Terror of the Quantum Basilisk

Summary:

Luz and Marcy are still pent up about the weekend, and Luz wanted to cheer Marcy up, but that only got them stuck in the detention track.

Unfortunately for them, however, their day only gets worse as a reality-warping beast attacks the school with malicious intentions...

Now Luz, Marcy, Amity, and a group of magic mixers from detention have to save the school from a Basilisk that threatens the lives of everyone within, can they do it? Or will the beasts quantum powers be too much for them to handle?

Notes:

Guess what? We got a Beta Tester! Welcome Reisolate to the team everybody! If you notice a jump in the level of grammar or spelling and overall quality, thank them for their hard work!

Belos slid a heavy golden key into the large, aged wooden door that guarded the entrance to the royal laboratories. Heaving it open, he regarded Kikimora, who bowed to him dutifully.

“I am at your service, my liege.” Belos smiled, taking his mask off and setting it on a table, on top of a book that detailed multiple magic creations, opened to a page titled “Grimwalker”. He nodded and his eyes flicked over to five cages. One was held a little further back and was much larger than the others, the cage itself was phasing in and out of existence, objects around it floated without effort, and certain pieces of reality itself seemed to flicker in and out. He walked over, eyeing the creatures in each one.

“We were able to detain every single basilisk that escaped… except for…” Kikimora trailed off as she saw where Belos was looking. Within the cages were creatures that looked like a weird hybrid of witch and snake, their eyes oddly bright. His expression darkened when he saw one of the cages was empty.

His arm quickly morphed into that same amalgamation of sludge and bone as he crushed the cage, throwing it into a wall in rage. The sludge retracted quickly and he panted, wet and ragged breaths escaping his mouth, before calming himself down and turning back to Kikimora, who had shrunk in fear, but tried to present herself as if she was indifferent.

“I don't care what it takes, find them. Bring me Number 5 .” He sighed angrily, eyeing her. “I don't need to remind you what happens if you fail, do I?”

Kikimora nodded hastily, leaving the room to assemble a search team. Belos looked back at the other trapped creatures, his eyes growing dark. He pulled the Calamity Box out, groaning in annoyance at the sight of the missing gem, before a thought occurred. Grinning, he walked up to the biggest cage, keeping well enough distance from the general aura of physics-defying weirdness, staring down the creature within. 

“I have a job for you. Complete it, and you can live free.” The creature's eyes widened, hungrily licking its lips at the taste of freedom as its body shifted slightly. “Although remember, I will know if you attempt to escape.”

The creature nodded eagerly, its whole body glitching slightly as it did. Belos smiled.

“Perfect. Now, you are to do exactly as you are told. Failure to do so will ruin any chance you have of living to see another day.”

 

---

 

Monday morning had come incredibly fast, their Sunday spent moping about losing the box. While it was true that they still had the gem, Marcy had deduced that the box and gem worked in conjunction, the gem being its power source, while the box was the circuitry. Sure, it was a good thing to know that the Emperor lacked the most important part of the Calamity Box, but so did they.

It wasn't like they could mount a full-scale attack on the castle again. It had only worked so well last time because half the guards were either not there or distracted by the petrification, and the only reason that Belos even let them go to begin with is because they had something he wanted, though Luz wondered why he didn't just kill them straight away. When she realized what she said out loud she profusely apologized.

The school day had mostly been a drag. Whether the day was slow, classes were boring, or they were still hung up on the events of Saturday was anyone's guess. All they knew is that they were sitting there in their potions double, barely paying attention while the teacher spewed away about some theory regarding… Well, they didn't know, they weren't paying attention. 

When it came time for them to make the potion, they were completely lost, and asked the teacher for some help.

“Honestly you two, you usually seem a lot more focused in my class, what's wrong? Didn't get enough sleep? Or did something bad happen on the weekend?” He asked as he showed the girls how to pour the potion and mix the ingredients, the girls paying a little more attention this time.

“Something like that, I guess,” Luz muttered, and the teacher raised an eyebrow, before shrugging and mixing the potion, showing them the speed and duration to mix it.

“Well, you girls know what you're doing now?” When he got a nod in response, he hummed, satisfied, and walked off to help other students. Marcy sighed and started to make her own potion. She had blamed herself for the loss, though Amity and Luz had heavily disagreed, saying they all had a part to play, and none of them played it properly. She still wasn't convinced, as she was used to the idea of mishaps or precarious situations being caused due to her natural clumsiness, and the amount of times Luz had to pull her out of harm's way was embarrassingly large. But as the days went by she found herself in less and less of those situations. And until the day the box was stolen, she genuinely thought she was becoming a better person, less clumsy and less foolish, but that vision of her––nay, that dream of her––had been shattered when that stupid guard stole the box from them.

Caleb wasn't here today, which wasn't too odd. He hadn't missed a day, but they had only been here for a couple of weeks, so she wasn't able to tell what kind of person Caleb was when it came to off-days. But it was quite worrying, because when they had asked the teacher, he had simply said Caleb had broken several ribs in an accident on the weekend, and then refused to elaborate.

Amity had pointed out at lunch time that it was a bit strange that Caleb broke multiple ribs in an accident on the same weekend that someone with a familiar voice had stolen the box and gotten absolutely beaten up by Luz in the process. Neither of the other girls thought the events were linked, however. Luz said it was an unfortunate coincidence, while Marcy said that Caleb could never do that to them. Regardless, Amity ate away at her lunch silently, believing that there was more to Caleb than meets the eye.

After lunch, Amity said goodbye to the girls and walked off to her own class. Luz and Amity went back to their next potions class, but Marcy was suddenly pulled aside by Luz.

“I'm bored of potions, I mean, cool, we mix things, but like, don't you want to get out there and explore all the other kinds of magic there are?” Marcy raised an eyebrow.

“I actually like potions, it's so cool seeing different ingredients react to each other in a way they never did before in chemistry back home.” Luz gave her a look, and then she chuckled, “But, yeah, I would also like to see what abominations and plants are like.” 

Luz grinned mischievously. “Well then, let's do this!”

Marcy looked at her with a look of concern, worried about what could happen if they were caught mixing magic. But there was little she could do as she was pulled along with Luz to a cupboard in one of the halls. Quickly opening it, they discovered some crystal balls.

“Oracle magic!” Luz exclaimed quickly, grabbing one with exercised care and rubbing the top. Marcy hesitantly did so too, still a bit queasy about potentially getting caught. Who knew what would happen if a student or teacher caught them, or worse.

“I predict… you will be in trouble very soon.”

The mummified ghost that came out of the crystal ball Luz was holding echoed in an eerie voice. Someone cleared their throat behind them, and the two quickly whipped their heads around to see the disapproving glare of Principal Bump. Marcy gulped, and Luz dropped the crystal ball in surprise, wincing as it shattered on the floor.

“You know… when you two first suggested taking multiple tracks, I thought “These girls are gonna end up trying to mix magic, aren't they?” And here I stand, surprisingly unsurprised. You two will no longer be part of the potions track. Instead,” he waved a finger, the sleeves of their uniforms changing from a vivid yellow to a dull dark gray, “you will be in the detention track.”

 

---

 

The detention track was, just as it sounded, very boring. As they entered, the teacher glared at them, his reptilian tail raising and tapping some writing on the chalkboard.

 

“1: No talking”

 

“2: No fun”

 

“3: DO NOT DISTURB ME WHEN I'M SLEEPING”

 

The last one was written very aggressively. Luz inwardly winced at the implications behind whatever punishment would be served if they did. They took a seat next to one of the three students already in the room. She had brown hair tied up into a messy ponytail with a long fringe, green eyes and a fish-hook for an earring, the sleeves of her uniform were torn at the edges. She looked up and waved politely, before laying her head back down on the desk out of boredom.

Marcy went to say hello, but her brain told her to shut up, and her eyes widened when she remembered one of the rules was 'No talking'. Thankful for catching herself, she breathed a sigh of relief and sat there, waiting for something to happen. She would shoot looks at Luz every now and then, to see how she was doing, but her angry glare at the desk gave her only more worries. She wasn't exactly happy with Luz at the moment, but she wasn't angry, more so disappointed than anything. In one dumb mistake she had gotten them both into detention, all because she wasn't thinking. But she couldn't bring herself to be too mad at her, how could she? All Luz wanted to do was to break away from some dumb norm that the stupid emperor had made for no good reason whatsoever, and it honestly was a very Luz thing to do.

Luz was angry. Angry at Bump for his stupid rules, angry at Belos for his stupid rules, but mostly, angry at herself. She dragged her crush friend into this whole mess, all because she wasn't thinking. Of course they would get in trouble! But her dumb self just wanted to see Marcy happy, and she thought opening up room for more types of magic would do it, but she had only made things worse. She glared angrily at the desk, trying to think of ways to fix her mistake, because she had to. That would be the only proper way to earn Marcy's forgiveness.

After what felt like days of sitting around doing nothing, the teacher slowly nodded off, drooling as he snored. Suddenly, Luz and Marcy felt a tap on their shoulders. Looking up, they saw the fish-hook girl smiling down at them.

“Come with me,” she whispered, ushering them to the board. She pulled a piece of chalk out, drawing a square with a lock in the middle, and then tapped it. The lines lit up with magical energy, and suddenly, it extended into a door. Without a word, the other 2 students in the room and the girl entered, but Luz and Marcy hesitated. The girl poked her head outside again in worry, holding her hand out. “You coming?”

They looked at each other and shrugged, taking her hand. They were pulled into an enormous, towering room with doors where there shouldn't be doors. On the ceiling, the floor, walls and in hard to reach spots were multiple colorful doors at odd angles. Not a single one was lined up evenly. Luz and Marcy looked around in wonder, before turning back to the 3 students. Fish-hook girl grinned.

“Nice to meet you, fellow magic mixers! The name’s Viney, the beanpole with brown hair over there is Jerbo, and the dog with glasses is Barcus.” 

Jerbo and Barcus waved to them, and then Barcus woofed. 

“What’d he say?” Luz questioned, and Jerbo snorted.

“He said your aura is soft and sweet, like a marshmallow, and that the black-haired girl’s aura is eccentric and happy, like an eager puppy,” Luz and Marcy cooed at him, and he gave a smile, or, well, as best of a smile as he could muster, what with being a dog and all.

“So, how come you’re all in here? You guys don’t look like the kind to make trouble,” Marcy stated, and the trio rolled their eyes.

“Yeah, well, Princy-B wasn’t too fond of our little experiments in mixing magic. All I wanted to do was to be a healer and a beastkeeper! People would normally consider that stupid, but gosh dangit, Puddles is a great helper!” Viney growled. Jerbo rolled his eyes timidly.

“I just wanted to make abominations out of plant matter, I thought they were a perfect mix. An abomination with the properties of nature!”, he passionately exclaimed, before realizing how loud he had been, and blushed slightly.

“Bark. Woof Woof! Bark ” Barcus growled out. Everyone looked to the blushing Jerbo for translation, and he blinked, before realizing what they wanted.

“O-Oh, right! Um, he said he wanted to do Potions and Oracle, and–I am not saying that last part, you know that!”

“Woof, woof! ”

“No!”

Viney looked at them and sighed fondly, before turning to meet eyes with Luz and Marcy.

“So, how did you two end up here? And, also, what’re your names? You never ended up telling me,” Viney asked the two. Luz looked down pensively, while Marcy took the lead.

“My name’s Marcy, and that’s Luz, we’re both humans.” Viney gasped quietly at that, but let her continue, “We ended up in here after–”

“After I stupidly forced Marc to mix magic,” Luz resentfully cut in, still looking at her feet. Marcy frowned and turned to her.

“You’re right, it was stupid, and I wasn’t very happy about it, but, I’m not mad at you. It would take a whole lot more than one stupid decision to make me ever angry at you.” She then smiled with a slight blush, averting her eyes. “Besides, it was a very Luz thing to do, and it was sweet that you wanted to try and get us into multiple tracks at once.”

Meanwhile, Jerbo and Barcus had stopped arguing, and had joined Viney in staring at the exchange.

“You guys seeing this?” Jerbo asked. Barcus nodded and Viney shot them a knowing smirk.

“Oh yeah, they totally got the hots for each other.”

“Bark!”

After the girls had sorted their problems out, they tightly hugged each other, and then turned to the trio.

“So… what is this place, anyways?” Luz asked, looking around at the rainbow of doors that were littered across the surfaces of the room. Marcy nodded, eager to understand the complex structure of it all. Viney grinned, signaling to Jerbo, who imitated a drumroll.

“Introducing… the Secret Room of Shortcuts!” She spread her arms out with flourish dramatically as Jerbo cheered and Barcus woofed. “Our little hideaway from the struggles of everyday life, given to us by the mysterious Lord Calamity .” She sidestepped, revealing the painting covered in layer upon layer of graffiti, at the bottom of the obscured painting was engraved: “ Lord Calamity, Lord of the detention track, and renowned creator of the Secret Room of Shortcuts ”.

“We never actually found out who she is, or was, but we do know she made these rooms for the very same purpose we use them for now: to study multiple tracks at once!”

Luz and Marcy were in awe at the concept, grinning giddily, but their celebration was cut off by a roar that sounded oddly broken and glitchy. In confusion, they opened a door, and the sight before them shocked all of them to their very core.

 

---

 

Principal Bump sighed as he sat back down. He knew Luz and Marcy were bound to let their curiosity get the best of them, but he was hoping it wouldn’t be so soon. They were shaping up to be prodigies at potions. It was truly disappointing to see them let themselves fall so far from grace. But it is what it is , he supposed. He was just about to continue with some paperwork when a knock echoed on his door.

“Come in!”, he called. His eyes widened at the sight of a panicked teacher. “What’s the matter?” 

The teacher said something incoherently. All he was able to make out was “danger”, “magic sucking”, and “monster”, and was about to say something, but long, black claws snared the teacher’s waist, and they let out a soundless scream as their magic in the form of an effervescent blue energy was drained from their body. Lifeless, it fell to the floor, and Bump got a good look at death itself, a long, winding, snake-like body, bright yellow eyes, demonic tongue the length of his entire body, and row after row of jagged, black teeth. Around its body, reality seemed to warp and shift, his doorway had bent diagonally while its body seemed to phase in and out of existence.

He screamed, but no one could hear him as the life was sucked from his body.

 

---

 

Amity was about to do a demonstration on how to properly relay abomination commands when the door burst open. She barely was able to register the screams before her eyes fell on the demonic creature that slithered in, knocking down students with its long, scaly tail, and draining the lives of her classmates. Its body released a glitching copy of itself that slithered around, but seemed permeable, doing no harm to anything in the room. Panicking, she smashed the window, jumping out and forming a platform of abomination goop to stop herself from falling. She went to escape the school, but her mind floated back to the thought of Luz and Marcy. Shaking her head, she turned back and slid the sludge down the walls until she found a classroom that had already been invaded. She tried not to think about the lifeless bodies that she had to tentatively avoid stepping on as she walked through the hole in the wall that was once the doorway. 

The hallway that connected to the classroom was in disarray, it seemed that certain parts of it had just… disappeared . It made no sense, but right now, not a lot of things were making sense. She heard movement from up ahead and she panicked, ducking into a small divot in the wall and pressing her body up against it tightly. Her head suddenly filled with static as her vision blurred, as what she assumed to be one of those glitchy afterimages of the creature that attacked them roamed the hallway. It was as if the very fabric of reality was being strained, and her mind couldn’t comprehend the creature whatsoever. She muffled her mouth with her hands to suppress any sound, and the glitchy afterimage decided there was nothing there, and left. Once she was certain it was gone, she let out a heavy breath. This weird creature was unlike anything she had ever heard of before. But it wasn’t . Its actions, sucking the life out of people, its snake-like appearance, it was a Greater Basilisk . Amity thought to herself, But how?! Those went extinct during the Savage Ages! And Basilisks couldn’t just… do whatever this one was doing, it made no sense!

Amity decided to stay low, and try to find her friends. She ran through hallway after hallway, each one more disturbed and destroyed, but her brain slowly connected the dots as she kept running. This creature was destroying reality just by being near things, that much was her guess, at least. She couldn’t explain the afterimages or the static that filled her head when she got too close to one, but the term “destroying reality” was a very loose term, so any of those could fit into it. Shaking her head, she continued to run to the potions room. When she finally got there, her heart stopped at the sight of it. It was the most destroyed she had ever seen, desks glitched halfway into walls, students pinned to the roof by shards of wood and stone, their lifelike bodies hanging limp, and entire sections of the room were missing. As she looked over the bodies, she couldn’t see Luz and Marcy’s. Breathing a sigh of relief, she went to leave the room. They must have escaped! She then stopped half way out of the exit, her eyes drifting down to the lifeless body of Boscha. She should have felt something, and yet she didn’t. She was able to stare at the unmoving, cold body of someone she used to call her friend and feel nothing. She stood there for another half a minute, before continuing to exit. As she left the room however, that familiar static entered her mind again. Before her was another one of those glitching afterimages of the Basilisk. Her head started pounding in pain as her vision flickered and she fell to the floor. She looked up again to see the afterimage phase into reality, and the pain rapidly increased. Three long claws grasped her waist, and she was lifted up close to its mouth; she would have felt the hot, foul breath if her senses weren’t already being overloaded by everything else. She clenched her eyes in pain and braced herself.

 

When she felt nothing, and the static fading, her eyes opened and she was met with a welcome sight: Luz and Marcy worriedly checking over her. Marcy gasped when she saw that Amity was awake, and began to shoot off different questions, none of which Amity understood.

“S–Slow down, I can’t understand you,” she shakily admitted, and Marcy apologized.

“Are you ok? That’s a stupid question, of course you aren’t. What was that thing?” 

“It was… a Greater Basilisk, which is impossible because they went extinct decades ago! But… something was off about it, something very wrong. It’s not supposed to… glitch and, well, destroy reality like that, it’s only supposed to be able to eat magic.”

“Eat magic?” Luz asked, concerned, and Amity nodded.

“They used to suck the magic out of witches. They were considered threats, and were forcefully eradicated, under the word of Belos. It was actually one of his first declarations as emperor,” Viney explained. Everyone raised an eyebrow at her, “What, the history of the Boiling Isles is interesting, OK?”

“So Greater Basilisks can eat magic, but it still doesn’t explain how it… did all of that!” Marcy gestured at the door where they pulled Amity through, “What even is it doing?”

“I have no idea, but it hurts me to even be near it… We have to stop it.”

Barcus barked, and Amity looked at him.

“Yeah, no, don’t know what you’re saying.”

“He said your aura feels strong and confident.”

“Uh… Thank you?”

“Bark!”

“Right… Well, we need to think of a plan, anyone got any ideas?”

 

---

 

With a plan set in motion, the squad left for their spots. Amity, Marcy and Luz were together, while Viney, Jerbo and Barcus went off on their own. Their job was luring the Basilisk to them. The hallways had become even more distorted and displaced. Objects were glitching in and out of reality, with holes in the wall and floor, all seeming rather geometric for holes . They kept going, trying to figure out where the Basilisk was now, and following paths that only grew more and more detached from reality. It had taken a while but when they turned a corner and saw large chunks of the hallway shattered and floating stagnantly in the air over what seemed to be a dark void, they knew they were close.

“We can’t let this thing keep living. We need to kill it,” Amity curtly stated, “If it’s kept alive, it could keep destroying the universe and there's nothing we could do about it,”

Luz and Marcy nodded grimly, jumping over cracks in reality, not wanting to imagine what would happen if they fell in one. As they got even closer to the center they saw larger and more frequent holes leading into the inky darkness. Sharing a look of uncertainty, the girls delved deeper in. Finally, they reached a room that was so twisted, destroyed and torn that they could barely make out what it was, but Amity managed to recognize it. 

“The cafeteria…” she muttered. In the center was a large shard of tile, smaller pieces of quartz and marble floated around it like it was being held in a centrifugal force, the world seemed to warp and bend uncontrollably around it. As they got closer, Amity winced. Her head filled with the same static that flooded her senses whenever she was near one of those afterimages. She turned to Luz and Marcy, fully expecting them to show any sign of feeling the same, but when they looked unperturbed, she shot them a confused expression.

“Can you guys not feel that?” She asked, and Luz turned to her, tilting her head slightly.

“Feel what?” 

Amity shook her head.

“Nothing, let’s keep going.”

Luz and Marcy shared a confused glance, before shrugging, and jumping over the shattered floor. Amity soon followed suit, following them to the central platform. Once they finally set foot on it, the weirdness and reality-ripping only grew worse. In the middle of it all was the Greater Basilisk, standing tall above them with a predatory grin, revealing row after row of jagged teeth. Its claws twitched in anticipation, its tail glitching and waving behind it.

“Hey, stink-for-brains!” Luz yelled. The Basilisk snarled, a glitchy grating sound escaping its ravenous maw as it lunged for her. She grinned, pulling out 3 glyphs, throwing one after another. The first glyph morphed into a seed which struck the Basilisk's neck. The seed rapidly expanded into constricting vines, slamming it down into the tile. Its body slammed against the ground, and for a second it struggled against the vines, but to no avail. Eventually, it gave up, and sat still, it took about a minute straight of it laying immobile for the girls to celebrate.

“We did it? Woah, that was way easier than I thought it was gonna be.” She turned to the vines, “I mean, it’s a reality-warping… monster…” She trailed off when she saw the Basilisk’s eyes glowing yellow, its entire body glitching and flickering. Marcy tapped Luz’s shoulder and her eyes moved over to a stagnant wall, floating in the abyss. On the wall was a shuddering afterimage of the Basilisk, with a ring of glowing energy around it. Suddenly, in a flash of yellow light, the Basilisk took the place of the afterimage, snarling and leaping towards them. Luz threw the other two glyphs, both turning into Ice shards, but they harmlessly phased through it. They fell back as the creature crashed into the ground before them. Amity drew a spell circle to form an abomination, but the Basilisk saw, and went to drain her magic. However, a large chunk of ice erupted from the ground, hitting the Basilisk and sending it up into the air. Amity grinned as she completed the spell circle, a wavering hand of purple goop rose from the ground, tightly gripping the Basilisk’s snake-like body. She slammed it down, attempting to at least knock it out, but the Basilisk phased out of reality again, and the abomination hand slammed into the ground with nothing. They looked around and went pale when they saw 5 Basilisks. Not afterimages, actual Basilisks. They each grinned at the same time, their beady and flickering yellow eyes locked on Amity. The teal-haired witch quickly brought up a wall of abomination sludge to try and block them, but she felt her magic deplete. Panicked, her head whipped around to see a sixth Basilisk, its long maw wide open, draining her powers. She quickly felt unconsciousness coming to her, but her fading vision picked up on a large ice chunk flying straight into the Basilisk’s head. The chunk pierced its brain, and in a bright yellow eruption, the Basilisk disappeared. A roar of pain was heard from the other Basilisks. Amity fell back, her legs feeling weak like spaghetti. She was about to stand back up, ready to fight, but Luz and Marcy stood in front of her, both of them raising a protective arm. She wasn’t sure if it was because she was completely out of it or not, but she swore they both looked beautiful .

“Stay back, Ams, we got this.”, Luz stated with pure and palpable confidence, a handful of glyphs tightly gripped within her hands. 

“We’ll protect you, OK?” Marcy promised with an air of pure dedication and warmth. Amity felt heat rising to her cheeks, and all she could muster was a quick nod.

The Basilisk grinned widely, and for the first time, it spoke. 

“TryING to PLAY HERo, aRE W-W-W-WE?” It’s eerie voice echoed out, glitching and filled with static, “YOur stuPID GAMes w-w-w-wONT WoRK, I’LL JUst GO bBL e YO U WHOL E !”

It leapt towards Luz, who jumped back, dropping two glyphs onto where she once stood. The Basilisk crashed into them, and the glyphs lit up with a brilliant blue, shooting spikes up all around it. It roared, the other clones of it leaping towards them as well. Luz and Marcy stood together and slid two glyphs into their hands. They high-fived each other, causing multiple vines to ensnare numerous clones, but one slid through, ready to attack. When Marcy gripped a plant glyph and formed a heavy vine, whipping it at the Basilisk to knock it down, it suddenly phased out of existence. Marcy looked around, but wasn’t aware that it phased to the area above her, and Luz noticed too late.

“Marcy! Look out!”

Her head shot up to see the Basilisk falling down on her, maw opened and aimed directly for her head. She braced for impact when a screech caught her attention, and she saw a large griffin slam into the creature, sending it careening into a displaced pillar. The Basilisk roared in anger, but a muddy abomination formed around it, trapping it. Luz, Marcy and Amity gasped in surprise as Viney, Jerbo, and Barcus hopped off of the griffin, the former scratching its chin.

“Good job, Puddles, you’re so gonna get treats once this is all over!” She then turned to the trio. “I can see the plan didn’t exactly work out,”

Luz shook her head pensively, before turning back to the clones, who were struggling to get out of the vines. Viney smirked, however. “Looks like we got them caught though!” 

Marcy shook her head, pointing to the one trapped within the ice spikes suddenly phased out of reality, reappearing before them. “Oh come on, they can teleport! Where’s the fun in that?!”

Before any of them could say another word, the main Basilisk screeched, the other clones phasing out of existence and reappearing in a row before them. Luz’s eyes caught something odd on the Basilisk’s skin as it teleported, however. Something very familiar.

“Guys, I have an idea. I need you to hold them off of me for a while!” She then thought to herself, and quickly added, “Make them teleport as much as possible!”

The squad nodded, and they began the assault. Marcy threw as many plant glyphs to tangle the clones in them, forcing them to teleport. Another flash of red and Luz drew it down. The first symbol was completely new to her. It was a triangle into a circle, with a bigger triangle with a line through it. That line had 2 small lines going through the middle at an angle. She then shaped out the circle of the glyph, making sure the bones of it all were drawn properly. Jerbo summoned a mossy arm to wrap around one of the Basilisks, while Barcus threw a potion that exploded into a sticking substance. They both teleported again, granting Luz more vision into the glyphs carved into their body. Upside down diagonal ice glyph . The first symbol (or glyph, she assumed) seemed to be connected by a long straight line going downwards into a sharp turn, making a glitchy looking line. Viney called on Puddles to trap a Basilisk by digging its talons into the creature's skin, and driving it into a floating wall. It screeched in pain but quickly teleported. The light flashed again, and Luz was able to see a right-facing ice glyph with 2 smaller glyphs on the top and bottom connected to the line in the middle. The top glyph seemed to be a variation of the first glyph, with 2 lines coming off of the circle and pointing downwards, while the bottom glyph seemed to be an entirely new glyph as well, a large circle with a round triangle leading into the same shape but smaller. Marcy and Jerbo used vines to trap two other clones together, but one got dangerously close to Luz. Luz’s eyes widened but didn’t have any chance to protect herself. Suddenly, the Basilisk stopped moving, a large sludgy appendage gripping it by the tail, spinning it around and slamming it into another floating pillar. Amity stood there, growling as abomination sludge circled her. Luz looked up at her with stars in her eyes, before shaking off the awe and continuing to draw the glyph. Viney turned back to her as Puddles held off another clone.

“Hey, I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but now isn’t the time to be drawing!” she exclaimed, but Luz disregarded that. “I’m almost done, keep holding them off!”

Viney rolled her eyes but commanded Puddles to keep attacking. As they kept teleporting out of traps, Luz was able make out two more Ice glyphs, one connected to the first diagonal ice glyph, this one pointing directly upwards, and another one connected to another glyph with the circles and round triangles, the second one was facing the opposite angle of the first on in the glyph. Poking her tongue out in exertion, she drew in the final glyph, and finished the circle. Placing it on herself, she grinned as she felt herself detach from reality and reappear behind the main Basilisk.

“Surprise, motherfucker!” She slammed an ice glyph into its neck. The Basilisk screeched as its body was frozen entirely. Suddenly, the clones all faded out of existence, parting with broken screeches, as the main one's body glitched within its icy prison. The world around them seemed to instantly rebuild itself, pieces of the cafeteria placing itself back together with large echoing thuds as pieces of the earth and building slotted back against each other. Finally, the ice emerged in a bright blue light, wisps of energy floating out of its body, returning to their previous owners, before the ice shattered. The Basilisk within looked much more tired and distressed, snarling at them once, before phasing out of reality.

After a minute without any new Basilisk appearing, the squad cheered loudly.

“You guys did absolutely great! We couldn’t have done it without you!” Marcy exclaimed, while Viney chuckled with a grin and Jerbo waved her off. Amity turned to Luz.

“What was that glyph you used?” she asked, putting a hand on Luz’s shoulder. The Hispanic girl shrugged, not entirely sure how to answer the question. 

Suddenly, the cafeteria doors shot open, and in walked Principal Bump. He eyed the school's saviors with a hint of disappointment.

“Well, I can’t say I expected this. Oh well, it seems maybe mixing magic isn’t as harmful as it’s made up to be. You kids better not make me regret this…” He then pointed to Jerbo. “What tracks do you want to be in?”

Jerbo could barely contain his excitement as he quickly told Bump abominations and plants. With a wave of a finger, Jerbo’s uniform shifted from a bleak gray to two halves. The top half was a vibrant green, much like Willows were, while his pant sleeves became a vivid violet, like Amity’s. Next he pointed to Viney, who avidly responded with beastkeeping and healing. Her sleeves turned into half orange, half blue. Next was Barcus, who barked simply, and his sleeves were changed, 1 leg became deep purple, and the other became bright yellow. Finally, he turned to Luz, Marcy and Amity.

“You three would like to change your tracks as well, I assume?” he asked. Luz nodded eagerly.

“I want to do them all!” Bump rolled his eyes and waved a finger, her uniform switching to a colorful rainbow.

“Have it your way, and you?” He regarded Marcy, who grinned.

“Plants, abominations, and potions!” Her pant sleeves were changed to yellow, while her arms were changed to half purple, half green. He finally turned to Amity.

“And you, Amity?”

Amity had been considering her track for a long time, while she was good at abominations, doesn’t mean she was all too eager to actually participate in making them. It was all her parents’ decision. But now that she wasn’t living under the jurisdiction of her parents, and she was free to do whatever, she nodded resolutely.

“I’d like to do them all as well.” 

Luz seemed ecstatic as her uniform became rainbow much like hers. Bump grinned at the sight.

“You know, there was only one other student who wanted to study all the tracks at once.” He waved a finger, and a portrait rose through a hole in the ground, the same portrait that was in the Secret Room of Shortcuts. The graffiti magically removed itself to reveal a young girl with orange bushy hair, a golden fang and eager, chaotic amber eyes.

 

“Eda?!” Luz, Amity and Marcy exclaimed all at once, though none of them were truly surprised.

 

---

 

The Basilisk phased back into the castle. Right into the view of the emperor, who looked unimpressed.

“Let me guess, you failed.” His tone left no room for argument, the Basilisk shook its head, and he sighed, raising a hand to his forehead, “I shouldn’t have expected so much of you. You’re not fully complete yet. You’re very lucky I have more use for you, or else you would have drawn your last breath the second you entered my throne room empty handed.”

The Basilisk gulped in fear as Belos stood up.

“Though, let’s be honest, death would have been a much better fate than your completion. And, might I add, failure is still failure, and I need to make sure that you don’t fail me again.” He rose a finger to the Basilisk's chin, looking it in the eyes with the most ominous and dread-filling glare the universe could fathom. “You are destined to become nothing but a perfect, mindless, unstoppable killing machine. Perfect creations do not fail. Now, let’s make sure we do that statement justice.”

Notes:

What a wild ride huh? Let me know what you think in the comments and stay tuned for next chapter!

Coming up: The Palisman Escapade

Chapter 27: The Palisman Escapade Part 1: Revelation

Summary:

While a mysterious and powerful demon called 'The Bat Queen' who takes in lost and betrayed Palismen in the woods offers for witchlets in Hexside to adopt them instead of carving their own due to lack of Palistrom wood, 'Caleb' attempts to redeem himself to Belos.

Kikimora isn't entirely happy when her mission to steal Palismen for Belos is brutally put on held by a hit and run mission. However as she finds out who attacked her, she decides to take this as her opportunity to get rid of the Golden Guard once and for all.

Luz is disappointed with the fact that her conviction wasn't enough to sway a Palisman to be hers, so in a futile attempt to connect with them, she sneaks into the stump-like shelter holding them late at night, however the Palisman-human bonding session becomes a Palisman rescue operation when they're stolen by the red demoness from the petrification.

And in one mixture of unfortunate timing and poor planning, Luz finds out the true identity of the person who stole the box.

Notes:

Ah, the fated discovery of Caleb's true identity, bet you guys have been waiting for that one ever since chapter 23.

 

...

Now that I say it, it's only been 4 chapters. Huh. Oh well!

Luz, Marcy and Amity were studying in the living room, experimenting with glyphs, especially the new glyphs Luz had learnt. She honestly had to thank the Basilisk for discovering the light glyph, fire glyph, and the ability to combine glyphs. Marcy analyzed the “Phase” glyph (as Luz had called it), and pointed out that the way the glyph worked was by combining different smaller glyphs through lines that acted like circuits. Luz claimed she understood none of it with enthusiasm only she could match. Amity leant over, pointing to the light glyph at the top.

“Like this, Luz.” She slowly moved her finger down the line, pointing then to the ice glyph with the 2 smaller fire and light glyphs. “This line circuits the energy from these 3 glyphs, and pushes it to the top glyph. The whole thing is set up from bottom to top.” 

Luz nodded in some understanding, her brain slowly turning the gears. She then pointed at the light glyph that was slightly different, with two lines coming off of either side.

“I don’t get this, though. Why is this light glyph slightly different?”

Amity looked at it for a moment, but shrugged, unsure. Meanwhile, Marcy gasped. “Wait! Draw both light glyphs on a separate piece of paper.” Luz nodded, pulling 2 slips of paper out, drawing both glyphs with surprising accuracy. She tapped the first one, which did as they all guessed, the paper turned into a floating orb of warm light. She then tapped the other one, and recoiled when the paper violently lurched and shot a bright blue laser, piercing the roof.

After a solid 10 seconds of wide eyes and silence, Luz gasped.

“Modifying the glyphs! We can modify them to make them do different things!” Marcy grinned and high-fived Luz, while Amity admired the hole in the roof.

Suddenly, Eda popped out from the kitchen. “Hey, kiddos, tomorrow is gonna be a pretty big day, so I’d get some sleep if I were you,” she stated vaguely, before slipping back into the kitchen. The girls looked at each other, shrugging. It was a school day, aren’t those always pretty big?

Despite their confusion, they found themselves asleep by 8pm, dreaming away the night. Well, some of them were.

Amity’s eyes opened wide, her surroundings cloaked in darkness. She tried to move, but she couldn’t. She groaned in anger, trying to move her arm, leg, head, anything, but no matter how hard she tried, nothing wanted to listen to her.

“ And here you thought you could escape me, dear. ”

Amity’s heart stopped. She knew that voice. A very large Odalia Blight appeared in her view, looking down on her with a harsh, disappointed expression.

“ Oh, don’t give me that look, I thought I raised you better. ”

Amity tried to use her voice but nothing came out, Odalia raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment on it, instead turned to examine her fingernails.

“ It was foolish of you to think that you’ve truly escaped me. I know where you’re hiding, and I will be coming for you. And don’t think your little friends are safe either. ”

Amity’s breath hitched, her heart racing. She tried to do something, anything , but nothing worked. Odalia gave her a smile that sent shivers dancing down her spine.

“ That’s right, dear. You rebelled against me one too many times, and now not only you, but the ones who call your… ‘friends’, will suffer for your actions. Maybe then you’ll understand not to go against me. ”

And Amity finally found her voice. She growled. Odalia’s eyes widened ever so slightly, but she quickly masked it with disappointment.

“ Or… maybe you won’t, and then I’ll have to go the extra step. You of all people should know what power my word holds. One single sentence and I can ruin their lives beyond repair. ”

That was it, the dam that held back Amity broke and her expression shifted from one of fear to one of anger .

“I’m sick of you! You never raised me, you babied me! You held my hand through my life entirely and then shoved me in the deep end as soon as you could! You’re not my mother, not anymore, and I won’t let you hurt me or my friends ever again!”

Odalia reeled back in disgust, scowling as her piercing blue eyes admonished her tantalizingly.

“ How dare you talk to me in that tone? I am your mother, even if you don’t want to admit it. I will always have some form of control over your life no matter how hard you try to run from it. ”

Amity wasn’t having it however, and she was finally able to move her body. She stood up, and for once, she appeared bigger than Odalia.

“You’re going to listen to me for once! My friends are nice, they help me, I help them. Never in my life did I get any form of happiness from being near you! The only thing that I ever felt  when I was near you was fear and suffocation. I don’t feel like that when I’m with my friends because they make me happy, they make me feel good, they make me less of a narcissistic jerk, and they make me think about the kind of person I really want to BE!”

And in an instant, the dreamscape shattered. Odalia screamed with a hopeless look on her face as her body fell into the pits of nothingness, and Amity shot up, cold sweat slick on her forehead. Her panting was ragged and harsh as she tried to grasp onto any semblance of air to breathe in. Her hands trembled, and clutched the sleeping bag tight. Blinking a few times to adjust her eyes to the light, she saw that it was morning. She summoned her scroll and the time read 20 minutes before their alarm for school was due to go. Knowing she had a little time to kill, she slowly got up, carefully avoiding the sleeping figures of her friends. Friends? Ever since they defended her against the Basilisk, Amity had begun to feel butterflies in her stomach when she thought of Luz and Marcy. The way Luz called her “Ams” during the fight had made her stomach do weird flips, and for some strange reason, she would give anything to hear that nickname again. She strode down the stairs quietly, her head still filled with wild and chaotic thoughts, when she saw Eda, dressed up in a nice maroon suit and tie, King next to her with a blue bowtie covered in pink polka-dots neatly wrapped around his neck. Eda noticed her and shot a wink and finger guns at her.

“How do I look? Dashing, I’d bet,” She gave her a toothy grin.

King jumped up, the bowtie bouncing loosely. “I’m the king of fashion! Fear me!”

Amity snickered, and then raised an eyebrow. “Not to belittle your getups, but what’s the occasion?” She then remembered Eda’s words last night. “Is this something to do with what you said last night? About today being a big day?”

Eda nodded, taking a sip of her mug. She then pulled out a poster from her pocket and unfolded it. It read ‘Palisman Adoption Day’ and had a picture of–– Was that the strongest demon on the Boiling Isles? How the heck did Eda and Bump get the Bat Queen to put Palismen up for adoption?!

“I bet you’re surprised, kid. Well, back a few months before the whole… you-know-what happened, I baby-sat for BQ once, and she offered me a favor and a whole butt-load of cash in exchange.” She took another sip, burping grossly before continuing. “When I called her in to suggest the Palisman Adoption Day, she said she would be more than pleased to help them find new homes, and told me to keep the favor for another day.”

Amity nodded along, looking around fervently to find food. Eda handed her a plate with a few paincakes on it, and Amity gratefully thanked her, eagerly devouring the food, before remembering her manners with a polite apology, which the older lady waved off with a mirth-filled grin.

“You remind me of myself back when I was a kid, y’know?” Eda stated suddenly, and Amity’s eyes widened slightly, “I had to hide myself in a shell most of the time because my parents wanted the best for me, even if they were a little overbearing. Your dirtbag birth-givers are a million times worse than my parents of course, but I couldn’t be myself around them because I was… not afraid, but just… concerned of how they would react, knowing their prized Edalyn was a trouble-maker, and not the perfect child they tried to raise. Of course, eventually they found out the real me, and it wasn’t horrible but when the c-” She cut herself off suddenly, her eyes widening and her finger twitching on her cup, “...When the incident happened, I ran away.”

Amity knew whatever this incident was wasn’t a peachy topic, so she decided not to point it out. After a moment's silence, Eda continued.

“When I ran away, I started to break out of my shell, I was less reserved and more laughable, more chaotic, less cold and more warm and kind. Of course, I never joined a coven because I knew Belos wasn’t a good guy, but I’ve never actually committed any crimes!” Amity raised an eyebrow expectantly, “In front of him, at least.”

They continued their back and forth talk about life and adjusting to living at the Owl House. Eda grinned when Amity kept talking about Luz and Marcy. Everything she said about something always led back to mentioning one or both of the two girls. When Amity was talking about the Basilisk attack, Luz and Marcy came downstairs, dressed and ready for school. Luz was wearing a jersey-hoodie that Eda had lent to her due to her lack of clothing for the cooler months. Despite its name, the Boiling Isles got cold fast . Marcy was dressed in her iconic blue-steel colored hoodie and her green skirt, with some stockings underneath to keep her legs warm. Luz had gone for a different hairstyle today, at least that was what she claimed when Amity asked about the ridiculously unkempt hair that she had.

“Don’t listen to her, that’s just bedhead and she’s too lazy to comb it,” Marcy easily stated, causing Luz to pout but nod.

After they finished eating, Luz asked Eda what the suit was for, and Eda grinned. “No surprises, now, let’s go to school. Everything ready?” The trio nodded, and they head off for school, Luz and Marcy eager to find out what secrets await them, and Amity excited to get her palisman.

 

---

 

“As my Coven Heads, I trust you know how to do your jobs, am I not mistaken?” Belos asked 9 figures. The group was situated in a meeting hall. On Belos’ right was Kikimora, and on his left was Lilith Clawthorne. The Golden Guard stood further to the side, mask donned. He rarely appeared unmasked around his subordinates. Only Uncle got the pleasure of seeing his appearance. He clutched his staff at his side tightly as Belos was administering the weekly Coven Head meeting.

“Now, here will be your tasks for the week. Arduin, your coven is to administer repairs to any damages made within the castle.” A burly, short, bald man wielding a heavy-looking hammer nodded. His hammer spun in his hands as if it weighed nothing.

“Hereatis, I need you to ensure that we are full and stocked with your most powerful and potent healing glyphs.” A large and muscular woman with pale skin in a tight blue dress with an opaque visor nodded, her large and strangely abstract horns moved in accordance. He then turned to the Golden Guard and sighed. “And give our Golden Guard medical assistance, he came back from a failed mission with quite some damage, and I’ve left it until now to teach him a lesson. Poliothys, I need you to restock our potion making supplies, and ship them out to Hexside, St. Epiderm and Glandus High.”

A gray-skinned and tall demon with a mask over his mouth and an abnormally tall tophat nodded curtly.

“Darius and Eberwolf, I need you two on lookout in Latissa, I’ve heard rumors of some problems involving precinct 206.”

A dark skinned man with abomination goop for hair, and a fashionable outfit, bearing a white cloak with purple highlights on his right shoulder nodded. A small humanoid wolf creature with long bushy orange hair and shabby tattered clothing jumped on his uncloaked shoulder with an affirmative huff.

“Ferolsekh, I need you to predict this week's general outcome for me.”

A demon not unlike Kikimora, but elderly and with a long bushy gray beard nodded.

“Adrian, you are to begin preparations to retrieve a Galderstone from The Looking-Glass Ruins. It should be located somewhere near the bowel, but nobody knows its true whereabouts.”

A fashionable up blue-haired man with a dangling hand-held mirror earring nodded, his long tail waving behind him as he did so.

“Terra, I need you to help Poliothys with his materials restocking, as well as refurbish the castle gardens.”

An old lady with a large flower blooming in her graying green hair nodded.

“Raine, your first mission as a Coven Head is to show up at the annual meet and greet, and introduce yourself as the new Head of the Bard Coven.”

A short-teal haired person with slightly darker skin nodded nervously, fidgeting with their fingers behind her back.

“And finally… Lilith, I need you to of course continue on your goal, that you have failed countless times. But I’m positive you’ll succeed. You must capture Eda the Owl Lady.”

 

---

 

Caleb sighed in relief as the last of the healing patches did its work. As much as he disliked Hereatis, he had to admit she did her job well. He felt his ribs, the pain subsided as they finally were magically strung back into place. He thanked the lady as she curtly nodded and left the room without a word. Deciding to go for a walk within the hallways, being off duty for the day, he set off, making sure his mask was in place before doing so.

As he wandered the halls, he overheard a conversation. His eyes widened when he realized he had walked to the throne room’s doors, probably out of muscle memory. He begrudgingly listened to the conversation through the shut doors.

“I need more. Bring me more Palisman––Ergh.. AGH!” Uncle groaned in pain, his curse flaring up again as his body lost its shape briefly.

“Those were the last from our reserves, sir,” Kikimora stated fearfully. After a moment of silence, Uncle spoke again.

“Go out and find more, no matter the cost. Unless, of course, you’d like to be the next thing I drain the lifeforce of?”

Caleb’s eyes widened as he ran back to his room. His heart raced with excitement as his brain worked out the solution for him! He had a way to redeem himself.

He could be worthy again.

 

---

Luz, Marcy and Amity excitedly followed Principal Bump as he led the school's most gifted students into the grudgby field. Amity was excited to get her Palisman, but she hadn’t told Luz and Marcy yet, as she wanted it to be a surprise. Luz saw Willow talking to a younger, dark skinned boy with short black hair, shaved on the sides. He had light blue sleeves, which indicated that he was in the illusion track. She had remembered him from the demonstrations he would do for the illusions class sometimes. She assumed he was in advanced illusions, because despite being in illusions she had never seen him actively in her class. Willow noticed Luz and waved her over.

“Hey, Luz!”, she greeted warmly. The dark-skinned boy looked at Luz and then gasped.

“Oh my god, you’re a human!” He ran up to her excitedly. Willow sighed. “Is it true that humans have gills?”

Marcy raised a finger to object with a concerned look on her face. “We don’t have gills…”

The boy gasped louder. “Another human? Two humans AND a special event at school? Maybe this IS the special event!”

Willow rolled her eyes. “Augustus, Luz and Marcy have been here for almost a month, how have you not noticed them? You’ve even given them lectures in their illusions class, multiple times! ”

Augustus’ eyes widened as he recognized the two. “Wait, I have! How have I not noticed this? Curse you, Augustus, your lack of attention strikes you again!”

Luz giggled at his antics. “We had an Augustus back in…” she trailed off, uncomfortable about the topic. “We called him Gus, that cool with you? Because, despite being a very nice name, Augustus is a mouthful and a half.”

Augustus nodded excitedly, “Human nickname! Oh man, this is so cool!” He then tested the name out. “Gus… Gus! I love it!”

The group eventually made it to the center of the field where Eda and King were waiting. Once they had situated themselves, Eda walked forward.

“Hey kids! Today me and Princy-B––”

“Never call me that again.”

“Have the honor of bringing to you today…” She trailed off as she looked up. The group gasped as an enormous creature flew through the trees and over the field, landing with a large stump-like cage in her talons. The creature looked like a humanoid head with small talons where the neck should be, and large wings where the ears should be. She had long, greasy black hair that reached the bottom of her talons.

“Palisman Adoption Day!” She exclaimed, her voice heavy with an accent that Luz couldn’t quite put her finger on. The stump opened up, creating a small wall around an opening where multiple Palismen came out of. They were all different shapes, sizes, colors and creatures. The students gasped in awe. The demon continued. “I am Bat Queen, I care for all Palismen that lost owners. But now I believe they can find new owners within you! One by one, state your greatest ambitions, and your like-minded partner will join you.”

Boscha scoffed from within the group. “Ew, I don’t want some crappy hand-me-down, I wanna carve my own!” Willow shoved her out of the way forcefully with a thorny vine, almost knocking her over as she ran past her. “Hey! What gives!?”

“Suit yourself, Boscha!” She knelt down in front of the Palismen with an excited smile on her face. “I want to be strong to protect my friends! And if they attempt to hurt them, or try to stand in my way, well, they’ll feel the sting of defeat!”

Bat Queen smiled. “Admirable, yet tenacious. Clover gives her full support!”

A buzzing was heard from the back of the stump and a bee with large eyes and a fuzzy coat flew out, nuzzling up against Willow, and then forming into a staff. Willow caught the staff with ease and grinned happily.

“We’re going to be the best of friends!”

Gus joined Willow, sitting next to her with a determined grin. “I know I’m already a master illusionist,” He accentuated his point by creating large writing above him that spelled out ‘Master Illusionist’, “so, my greatest ambition now is to explore new places, and new worlds! Starting with the human realm!”

A small chameleon waddled out of the stump and up to Gus, vanishing before his eyes and reappearing on his head. Gus giggled and reached up to stroke its head gently. Bat queen happily nodded.

“Truly an explorer at heart, and Marco will be there by your side for every discovery you make.”

Next up was Amity. She nervously sat in front of the Palismen and thought to herself. After a moment, she nodded resolutely.

“I want to be my own person, I don’t want to be held back by anyone's desires, and I want to be there for my friends when they need me!” She clenched her eyes tightly, but when she heard a purr and a soft feeling in her arms, she nervously opened them to see a white cat-like Palisman nuzzling her.

“Strong-willed and protective? Ghost has been looking for someone like you for a long time, Amity,” Bat Queen agreed supportively.

Amity could feel happy tears prick at the corners of her eyes as she gently but tightly hugged Ghost, who meowed happily and nuzzled her cheek.

Marcy eagerly bounded up to the stump and sat down, barely containing her excitement. “I want to learn all about the Boiling Isles! So that when the time comes I can be there to protect the ones I love.” She looked back at Luz and Amity while saying it, smiling softly.

She gasped when from the back of a cage, a dragon emerged, it was larger than the other Palismen, its black and green scales shone in the light as its tail swayed behind it, tipped with a green crackling flame. It walked up to Marcy, analyzing her for a second with its three curious eyes, before jumping at her eagerly. Marcy giggled as she caught it and pet its scales.

“Your thirst for knowledge is seconded by Athena, and she will be by your side to protect your loved ones no matter what.” Bat Queen stated with an air of confidence. Marcy grinned as she cuddled her new Palisman.

Luz smiled anxiously as she sat before the Palismen. “I want to be a witch!”

There was an awkward silence, and after a moment, Luz coughed. “They’re probably still deciding?” Bat Queen shook her head with a frown.

“Palismen react to conviction, I sense no conviction from you.” Luz scowled as she stood up.

“That’s impossible! I’m Luz Noceda, conviction is my middle name!” Boscha had gotten up by now and raised an eyebrow.

“What are you gonna do when you eventually go back to the human realm, human? Can you even do magic there?” Luz went to say something but nothing came out. Boscha was right, what was she gonna do when she went back home? She couldn’t be a witch back in Connecticut!

 

---

 

Luz paced her room, groaning in annoyance as she tried to figure out what she was going to do once they found a way to return home. Marcy and Amity had tried consoling her, but Luz was jealous of them getting their Palismen, especially Marcy, who got a freaking dragon! The two were downstairs, studying. Luz had opted to sit out, still irritated by the situation and not wanting to impede on their focus with her temper. She sighed angrily as she slid down against the wall. Her bag rustled suddenly when a red cardinal hopped out. He tweeted and looked around, hopping about. Luz’s eyes widened. A Palisman from the stump? Maybe I did get chosen after-all!

“Hey little buddy, did you come here for me?” She asked hopefully, but her hopes were crushed when the Palisman seemingly ignored her. Rolling her eyes, she sighed. “Of course you didn’t. C’mon, let's get you back to your stump.” 

Picking up the cardinal, she quickly left, saying she was ‘going out’. When Marcy and Amity offered to join her, she politely declined.

“You guys need to do your studying, I’ll be fine, promise.”

Once she got to Hexside, she walked to the grudgby field with the cardinal. As soon as she saw the stump, she frowned. It was covered by a large pink forcefield, obviously to keep the Palismen in , and intruders, like herself, out . She sighed, but then the cardinal jumped out of her hands, hopping around to the back of the forcefield. Luz followed it intently before coming to a small hole in the shield. He pecked at it a bit, and the shield collapsed.

“Well, that’s handy.” She crawled in, placing the cardinal inside with the others. A thought occurred to her suddenly: what if she convinced a Palisman while she was here? “Hey guys, I’m gonna try and convince one of you to be my buddy!”

 

---

 

Amity and Marcy had finished studying, and were now talking about school and life. Eda had joined in for a bit before ducking off to do whatever she did in the kitchen, making potions and what-not. 

“I’m worried about Luz, we both got Palismen and she didn’t…” Marcy stated, rubbing her hands together.

Amity frowned, scritching Ghost’s ears gently. “I feel like we should do something about it… but I’m not sure what to do.”

Eda popped her head in, King asleep in her arms. “You girls wanna go on a heist tonight? I have a plan to make Luz happy.”

 

---

 

They sat like that for hours, Luz going over her life-story, and while the Palismen listened with intent, curious about the weird stranger in their enclosure, none of them seemed particularly interested in joining her. She rambled on about various ambitions but to them, it all lacked any form of conviction. That and they couldn’t really put up with her over-bubbly nature. Luz was going on about some Palisman pet cafe when she felt a lurch, and the whole stump shook violently.

“Hey!” Luz poked her head out of the stump, “We’re trying to bo––woah!” She looked down to see the ground moving further and further away from them. She looked up to see a giant dark-teal dragon with many shapes that looked oddly like hands flying, its finger-like talons gripping the stump with unadulterated ease. Luz poked her head back into the stump to check on the Palismen, and they were shaken up quite a bit by the disturbance. She put on a determined face.

“Don’t worry guys, I’ll save you!” She began to climb the leg (finger?) of the dragon and onto its back. Her expression soured when she saw Kikimora on the saddle of the dragon. She pulled out a fire glyph, ready to attack when something caught her eye. An Emperor's Coven ship was flying directly towards them. Her eyes widened when she noticed that the ship wasn’t slowing down. It was about to ram right into them. She quickly slid down into the stump. “Okay guys, we’re in for a rough landing, hang tight, everything will be o–ack!” The stump lurched to the side as a crash was heard. She grabbed as many Palismen as she could and held them close, bracing themselves as they felt the ground approaching near.

 

---

 

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Eda?” Marcy asked tentatively, nervous about the concept of stealing something so important from something as simple as a gardening club. Eda waved off her concerns though.

“You didn’t have to come, but I’m sure your girlfriend would love the sentiment.” Eda smirked at the several levels of red that Marcy’s face went as she indignantly cried.

“She’s not my girlfriend!” She then looked down at her feet nervously, “We’re just… very good friends.” 

Eda rolled her eyes as she broke the lock on the door with a spell. “Yeah, keep telling yourself that and you’ll never get a girlfriend.”

It was then that Amity shot them a glare. “Can you keep it down? The whole point of stealth is to not be caught!, and being conversational and social while trying to steal something isn’t exactly the greatest example of stealth.”

Eda snorted while opening the door, leading them through with a light spell. “I can’t believe I’m being lectured on how to steal by a Blight–” she winced at the harsh expression on Amity’s face “–Ex-Blight, sorry, but still!”

“I just don’t want us to get caught,” Amity crossed her arms defensively, and Eda softened up.

“Hey, we won’t get caught, promise.” Amity’s expression softened slightly as she nodded and they continued to walk through the dark halls. Finally, they came across a room heavily locked. Eda smirked as she waved a spell and the locks quickly fell apart. As they entered the room, they saw the object they needed.

“I’ll grab it!” Marcy quickly went to snag it, Eda shooting her a knowing smirk as she blushed lightly.

“Trying to impress your soon-to-be girlfriend, huh?” Marcy shoved her off playfully, blushing. They stilled when they heard someone clear their throats behind them and an all too familiar voice called out.

“What do you think you three are doing?”

 

---

 

Luz’s eyes slowly opened, and her first thought was ‘ are the Palismen safe!? ’ After a quick headcount, she acknowledged that they were all safe and accounted for, if a little shaken up. Her arm stung and she raised it to see that there was a long rigid cut that was openly bleeding. Wincing, she ripped a bit of her shirt off and wrapped it around the cut. She’d have to get it cleaned later, but for now it was better than leaving the wound open. Poking her head out of the stump, she saw that they were in a completely different environment than she was used to. No longer was there the slightly red soil and bark with eyes in it, or the crimson grass and tree leaves. Instead there was muddy black soil, glowing yellow mushrooms, and a murky green and thick bush cover above them. She got up, making a mental note of where the Palismen were, before wandering off to find help. She got a little distance before hearing voices. Identifying the direction in which they came from, she moved closer to eavesdrop.

“Ma’am, are you alright!?”

“Yes, Captain. Merely a crash,” she snarled. That was Kikimora’s voice.

“Is–” The voice hesitated, “Is it true that the Golden Guard really died in the crash…?”

The Golden Guard? That was the one that took the box! But despite everything, he shouldn’t deserve to be dead. 

“Unfortunately, this was the only thing that remains of him.” She peeked through the bioluminescent spores, sneaking a glance at the downed hand dragon resting behind Kikimora and a Captain Scout. In her clawed hands was the golden mask of the Golden Guard, chipped at the top. The Captain solemnly nodded, before Kikimora snapped.

“Assemble your units, get out there and find those Palismen, now!” The Captain hastily nodded, leaving the clearing. Once the Captain had left, Kikimora turned to the dragon, who woke up. She held the mask up to its egregious hand-maw.

“Get his scent, find him, and eat him alive. ” The dragon let out a huff of affirmation. “Good boy.”

After she hopped onto his back, and the dragon flew off, she retreated from the clearing. Kikimora was clearly set out on killing the Golden Guard, and that last interaction showed that he was still out there, she had to help. She searched through the dully illuminated forest for about 10 minutes before coming across a body laying in a pile of glowing mushrooms. She couldn’t make out much from the distance but as she closed in her heart dropped.

In front of her, in the outfit of the Golden Guard, sans the mask, was Caleb.

 

---

 

Eda, Marcy and Amity turned around at the same time to see WIllow standing in front of them, a disapproving glare on her face.

“Oh, Willow, um… we were just… making sure the plants were in tip-top shape?” Marcy weakly offered, but Willow's disappointed face deepened.

“You were planning on stealing that, weren’t you?” She pointed to the object behind them.

Eda nervously chuckled, “What makes you say that?”

“Really?” Willow raised an eyebrow. “Because you’re literally reaching for it as we speak.”

True to her word, Eda’s hands were outstretched towards it, her eyebrows flattened. “Drats, I’ve been caught.”

Marcy and Amity deadpanned, before Marcy stood forward.

“Look, Willow, this is important to us––to Luz . She didn’t get a Palisman today, and she’s been upset about it all day. We thought if– if we stole this it would make her feel better,”

Willow shook her head disapprovingly. “I can’t let you steal this, as head of the Bonesborough Gardening Club, it’s my job to make sure stuff like this isn’t stolen.” She then paused for dramatic effect. “But I can donate it to you!”

“If you won’t let us steal it then we’ll have to steal it by for––oh wait what––” Eda cut herself off, surprised by the surprisingly simple solution. Willow nodded happily.

“I’m friends with Luz, and I also feel bad that she didn’t get a Palisman today, so I’m happy to let you guys take this.” She then glared at them. “Next time, though, I don’t want to see you guys stealing, okay?”

Eda begrudgingly nodded while Amity and Marcy thanked her graciously. Willow smiled and waved them off as they left with the object that will hopefully help Luz cheer up.

 

---

 

Luz couldn’t believe it, she must be seeing things, dreaming or hallucinating. But when she pinched her cheeks and she didn’t wake up, her horrors were realized. Had Caleb been tricking them this whole time? He had lied, lied about being their friends, about caring about them, probably even his name! He had even lied about being powerless just to sympathize with Luz and Marcy. Her fists clenched in anger, walking up to him, she knelt down and punched him in the gut angrily. He shot up, coughing and spluttering.

“What the fuck?! Ow!” He then turned to see Luz, ( what was she doing here? ) and was about to put on his Golden Guard persona when his heart stopped. His mask, where was his mask?! His brain then realized that Luz was looking at him, maskless and all. He meekly waved a hand. “Hi, Luz?” 

Luz was furious, she glared at him with the anger of a thousand suns. “Caleb?! What the heck?! Was everything a lie?!” Her expression then shifted from one of anger to one of sadness, “Did you even– Did you even care about us? Is your name even Caleb– Are you even powerless?!”

Caleb shrunk in on himself, thoughts swarming his head. Had he initially wanted to be friends with them? No, not really. Had he eventually warmed up to them? Yes, he had. But now he had considered them his best friends, not that he had ever had any before that weren’t just random Coven Scouts that he would get to talk to rarely, and by the Titan he wasn’t screwing them up.

“Look, I–” He was cut off by a loud roaring sound. Luz pinched her nose in annoyance.

“I really hate that I’m helping you now, but fortunately for you, I’m too nice of a person to let you get eaten alive by a hand dragon, so you better have a good explanation for all of this, because you’re gonna tell me while we run.” She quickly grabbed his hand and bolted down the muddy forest.

 

Kikimora looked down below while atop of Dragodextrous, scouring the forests below for any sign of the Golden Guard, when her eyes caught sight of that awful head of ash-blonde hair being led away by the- is that the human? She grinned, two for one, Belos is going to be so pleased. Whistling to Dragodextrous, he descended.

Once they pushed through the thick canopy of murky leaves however, the two were no-longer in sight. She snarled, before patting Dragodextrous to ascend again.

 

Luz and Caleb let out a breath, their bodies becoming visible again as the glyph wore off. Luz grinned, the glyph worked! Caleb looked at her in confusion.

“That’s a new glyph,” he pointed out, and Luz was about ready to delve into how it works. Remembering the situation and how angry she was at him, she instead settled on a low growl as she continued to lead the way.

After about 5 minutes of walking, they stumbled across the wreckage of an Emperor’s Coven ship. Caleb gasped as he jumped into the wreckage, digging around a bit before grabbing his staff.

“Staff! Oh thank god, Uncle would kill me if I lost this one.”

Luz raised an eyebrow, “Uncle?” 

Caleb nodded, “Belos is my uh, Uncle. He saved me from a massive disaster which lost me my entire family. Said Wild Magic was the cause.” He looked away. “It’s weird, I would usually miss somebody if they gave birth to me and died, but… I don’t remember it. Them.”

Luz frowned, something felt… off about how Caleb described the whole situation. She almost thought about it before the opportunity presented itself to disarm him. Quickly, she snagged the staff out of his hands. “Hey!” he snarled, “give that back!”

Luz shook her head, holding it behind her back. “I’m not giving this back until you explain everything .”

Caleb wasn’t having it though. He leapt at her, and she quickly jumped out of the way. Grabbing a phase glyph and readying it, she teleported behind him at the next attack, tripping him. She then began to run, panting as she jumped over fallen logs and patches of thorny vines. Caleb gave chase, but she ran just a little bit faster. She tossed behind multiple glyphs, ice and plants, to slow him down but he avoided or maneuvered around every one of them. They eventually reached a town, and a sign posted on the entranceway caught Luz’s eyes as she passed it. They were in the town of Latissa.

She bolted through the main street with the staff in hand, ducking and weaving through civilians while pushing over random objects to slow Caleb down. One look back convinced her that she’d have to up her game as the blonde jumped over a tipped barrel and ducked under stalls with trained ease. THen, she came across a staircase. Grinning, she dropped an ice glyph behind her after activating. The steps froze over after she jumped off of them, landing on the ground with a roll. Caleb saw the steps and frowned, jumping down the whole staircase and rolling 3 times. Luz pulled out her last glyph as she approached a dead end. Turning to Caleb, who had cornered her, she poked her tongue out at him, tapping the glyph and reappearing on the rooftops. She had wholly expected him to zap himself up to her but when he glared at her, she wasn’t so sure.

“I normally wouldn’t want you to be chasing me, but I’m ninety-nine percent sure that red demon and that hand dragon are still chasing you, so like, zap yourself up here or whatever.” When his glare deepened, her brain connected the dots. Holding up the staff, she pointed to it with a hint of concern and doubt in her eyes. “A– Are you… actually magicless? Do you really need this to use magic?”

Her theory was confirmed when he pouted and turned around, walking away. She frowned, not wanting him to get caught by that red demon, but her frown disappeared when she saw him running back at full speed. He jumped on top of a pile of rocks, jumping off of that onto a balcony, and leaping up to the rooftop. He grabbed the edge of the rooftop and climbed up. Luz stopped him from moving any further by holding the staff up at him, the tip crackling with dangerous red energy. He quickly held his hands up in surrender.

“Woah, woah, you don’t know what you’re doing with that thing!” He quickly exclaimed, a bead of sweat trickling down his forehead.

Luz scowled. “Well, I’ll find out if you don’t explain. ” She then jabbed the staff at him threateningly. Caleb looked around for an out, but after realizing he had no other choice, he sighed.

“Okay. It was the day after the… uh, almost-petrification? Basically, Uncle tasked me with spying on you guys by attending the same school as you and, uh, pretending to be your friends– not that, of course, I didn’t want to be your friends, just that um, at first it wasn’t really, well, real .” He took a breath, allowing himself to continue. “As I kept pretending, I eventually realized that hey, I actually enjoy spending time with them , so then I started to report less and less. Uncle seemed to notice though, and once he heard that you guys had the, uh, box, he sent me to get it, knowing that it would probably compromise, well, everything .”

Luz sat there for a second, taking it all in, before lowering the staff. She then turned to face him and her eyes were watering slightly. “So… you actually think of us as friends?”

Caleb quickly nodded. “It might be that you guys are the first friends that I’ve had outside of the castle in… well, as long as I can remember.” He then coughed, “I shouldn’t even be telling you all of this and yet, here I am. You guys have made me go soft, I guess…”

Luz smiled softly, happy that Caleb at least wanted to be friends still, before her expression darkened again. “The box, where is it?”

Caleb frowned, shaking his head, “The Emperor has it, though uh, he’s really mad that the gem didn’t come with it. He, uh, taught me a lesson though, when you broke several ribs of mine, and he didn’t let me treat it until a week later.”\nLuz’s eyes widened, and her face scrunched up in anger, “He what?! ”

Caleb quickly waved her off though, “It’s fine! It’s what I deserved for messing up such a simple task, I’ve had far worse, trust me, besides, it wasn’t really him who did it, it was…” He then trailed off as Luz winced, her eyes trailing down to her hands as she clenched them. She suddenly handed the staff over to him, his eyes widening.

“A– Are you sure?” He tentatively asked, and the nod from Luz was all he needed to take the staff, holding it close like he would a child. Luz then gasped as she saw the hand dragon landing in an area near where they were, carrying– the stump?! Caleb seemed to have seen it too, because he was frowning while looking in the direction of them. Luz grinned and playfully punched his shoulder, the same as she would usually do in school.

“Well, what do you say, friend? Let’s go save those Palismen!”

Caleb smiled softly, not caring about how this would affect his standing with Uncle for the time being, only focused on making his friend happy.

“Let’s do this.”

Notes:

This wasn't originally intended to be a 2 part chapter, but after writing about half of it and getting to almost 7k words, I was like "well shit, guess I'll have to split it"

Oh well, enjoy!

Special thanks to Reisolate for all his hard work on Beta Reading!

Next Up: The Palisman Escapade Part 2: Putting a Friendship on the Test

Chapter 28: The Palisman Escapade Part 2: Putting a Friendship to the Test

Summary:

When Kikimora plans to return to the Emperor with both the stolen Palismen and the news of Caleb's 'death', Luz and Caleb plan to stop her.

However, implications arise when the two can't seem to work together, and that may just end up being the plans downfall.

Notes:

Ok first off, im SO sorry that i havent uploaded in a while, a lot of real life stuff's been going on but i promise you all, THIS STORY IS NOT BEING CANCELLED, normal uploading hopefully should resume, but i am gonna try to make longer chapters with a little more than a few days worth of a gap between them, the smaller chapters daily were kinda burning me out

anyways, anyone who is still here, enjoy!

"Ok, I need you to get me a few things..." Luz started, careful to keep quiet. Caleb nodded, his staff in his hands. “We need 2 rags, preferably clean, and a pot of sleeping nettles.”

Without question, Caleb ran off to gather the materials. Luz sighed to herself, taking a deep breath and trying to shake off the anger she felt towards Caleb. He gained their trust and betrayed it, but he wasn’t exactly in control. Belos had been controlling him–– has been controlling him––and Luz had no right to feel so angry at him. But she couldn’t help but feel… some form of disdain for him and his actions. She shook her head. She’d get over it eventually. She turned to the large wall they had hidden behind. Peeking behind it, she saw Kikimora talking to some guards, her giant hand-dragon thing resting to the side. She frowned to herself, turning to the wall with a piece of chalk in her hands, and hoped this plan would work.

Caleb frowned as he gathered the materials he needed at the markets. He knew Luz was angry at him. What he did wasn’t right. He hated every moment of it ever since he befriended them, because despite being known as the cold and calculating Golden Guard, Caleb was just your typical lonely and antisocial teenager who needed friends. Of course, however, the first time he ever found friends who he could actually just be himself around without worrying about them caring about his status as the Golden Guard ( because they didn’t know, or, well, they know now, good job, his brain helpfully supplied), he had to be undercover, and knew he would eventually betray them. He hated every moment of the chase when he stole the box, and when Luz found out, she had been angrier than he had ever seen her. (Granted, he didn’t see her at the petrification.)

He sighed as he walked out of the markets with the supplies. Looking to his right, he saw Kikimora talking to some guards. That Kikimora shouldn’t be the one to help Uncle… I don’t care if he’s done  any wrong to me, he was just teaching me a lesson. He then looked at the items in his hands and his frown deepened. But if I give the Palismen to Uncle, I’ll be betraying Luz…

He then tripped over a rock, grunting in anger. Catching himself, he wiped his face clean of emotion and continued walking. He had made his mind, and he needed to move fast.

He had Palismen to steal.

 

---

 

“Ok, Luz, I got what you asked,” Caleb stated as he walked up to Luz, who had begun work on drawing two huge glyphs on a wall with a piece of chalk. She turned to him and smiled, but he could tell it was forced. Uneasily, he set the items down on the floor and instead turned his attention to the huge glyph that was being drawn into the wall. “What’s this for?”

Luz turned to him and pointed up at the two symbols. “I figured out that we can combine glyphs together using circles or lines as some form of circuitry, and I’ve been practicing with a simple mist glyph which, combined with the sleeping nettles will––“

“Create a sleep-inducing mist, that’s why you wanted me to get the masks!” Caleb finished for her, and then rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “I, um, study a lot on wild magic, even though I know I’m not supposed to.”

“You're not supposed to?” Luz inquired with a raised eyebrow. “Does... Belos not like wild magic?”

Caleb’s eyes rose. “You didn’t know? Belos petrifies any wild magic user practically on sight. It goes against the law he has set for us to prosper in the eyes of the Titan!” He exclaimed a little too excitedly. Luz rolled her eyes and poked out her tongue.

“Yeah well, I think that’s a bunch of baloney, Belos is an old coot, you can’t trust a single word he says,” she said, while grabbing the nettles and placing them in the middle of a small circle drawn into the bottom of the large circuitry circle that encased the two large glyphs. Caleb looked up at the glyph in wonder.

Luz peered over at where Kikimora was, and grinned as she saw the hand dragons wings flap in preparation for take off. She held out a hand to Caleb.

“Masks on, when I hit zero, hit the glyph!” Caleb nodded, pulling his mask up and gripping his staff. Kikimora readied the hand dragon and blew a whistle. The dragon grunted and flew up, directly above where the glyph was. Luz’s fingers went down.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

“Now!” Luz shouted. Caleb nodded and slammed the glyph with an open palm. It lit up from the top, the lines coming to life in a brilliant display of azure and gold as the colours circled the nettles and shot out a large spray of teal mist.

 

---

 

“I got the Palismen, and that pesky Golden Guard is out for good! This night can’t get any better!” Kikimora cheered to herself as she flew over the mist. Her eyes widened as the mist rose and surrounded her. “Wait, what’s going on?”

Her eyes drooped slightly and she scowled. “Sleeping mist?! Wh- Can’t, m-must... stay awake... c-can’t fail B-Belos…”

 

---

 

Luz grinned as she saw the dragon fall from the sky, landing in a clearing of the dark forest just outside of Latissa with a loud thud. Using Caleb’s staff, they quickly zapped to the landing site. Luz quickly checked on the Palismen, peeking her head into the stump. The Palismen were shaking but didn’t seem injured. 

“The Palismen are OK, let’s get out of here––” A crackle and a hiss sounded out from behind her, slowly, she turned her head to see Caleb, pointing his powered up staff at her. “Right, why did I think this would work…”

Caleb scowled. “I don’t want to hurt you, Luz, just give me the Palismen.” Luz took a defensive stance in front of the stump that held the Palismen.

“You already hurt me the day you betrayed me, Caleb,” Luz sneered, venom laced in her tone. Caleb instinctively took a step back, his face shifting from one of determination to one of guilt.

“I––” He faltered for a second, his staff lowering, before the chirp of one of the Palismen within the stump reminded him of his goal. “I can’t fail Uncle. Not again.”

He leapt at Luz, staff charged and ready to strike her. Luz slapped a glyph to her chest and teleported behind him, stumbling back.

“Please Caleb, you don’t have to do this!” She tried to reason with him as he ran towards the stump. As he reached out to grab the stump, still not even knowing what he would do with it once he did, a wall of ice shards shot up, blocking him and making him harshly retract his hand. He then turned to Luz and scowled.

“Yes, I do!” He then brought his staff up. “Stop making this difficult for me and just let me win!” He teleported to her, bringing the staff up to hit her with it. Luz ducked and rolled underneath the strike, using a glyph to shoot a vine out, ensnaring his staff by the bottom and ripping it out of his hands. 

“I’m not gonna just stand here and let you fall back down the rabbit hole that Belos is trapping you in!” Luz shouted. Grabbing the staff and trying to use it, she fired an inaccurate red bolt that hit a tree, shooting straight through it. “Woah mama, this thing has firepower!”

“I don’t need your help! I just need to win! Then I can prove that after failing my last mission, I’m not useless!" He swung a right hook into Luz’s shoulder, but she quickly spun the staff clumsily to block it, knocking the staff out of her hands. “And besides, you can’t help me anyways, what would you even do?”

Caleb ran to grab the staff, turning back to her, and charged it up. “It’s not like you have any way to help me.”

“I would be your friend,” Luz stated resolutely. 

“You––” Caleb choked on his words for a second, and his expression softened, his staff powering down as he lowered it.

“I mean it, Caleb.” Luz offered, a sparkle of kindness in her eyes, Caleb looked down at his feet, before pulling his mask off.

“My name, my real one is,” he swallowed thick spit and sighed, “is Hun––” 

“I know you're there! I can’t see you, but I just know it!”

A bolt of angry pink energy struck Caleb(?) on the forehead. He stumbled back in surprise, before turning to see Kikimora, half awake, half asleep, struggling to get up.

“Don’t try and hide, I’ll find you eventually!”

Luz and Caleb looked at each other and frowned. Caleb wordlessly leapt into action, shooting a bolt at Kikimora, who managed to get up, and shakily fired a barrage of pink energy. It narrowly missed Luz as she followed Caleb into action. She quickly blocked a bolt with a wall of ice and another by catching it in a cage of vines.

Kikimora began, “Don’t think you’re going to win because I'm at a disadvantage––” but was cut off by a heavy hit from the tip of Caleb’s staff. She was flung through some of the mist, landing on her face and groaning. “You traitors to the Emperor, he’ll have your heads!” A bolt went flying, charring the tip of Caleb’s dreadlock. He winced and quickly put it out, turning to Kikimora and firing a bolt of red energy towards her. She managed to shove herself out of the way, firing a barrage of blasts in random directions.

One struck a tree, lighting it in a sickening pink blaze. Slowly as the three fought, the forest around them started to burn. Luz grunted as she casted another wall of ice to block a blast of fire, before retaliating with her own fireball. The fireball missed and she cursed her aim, before the smell of smoke assaulted her senses. Her eyes widened as she realized the danger they were in.

“Caleb! We need to get out of here, and fast!” Caleb nodded, his mask still on. “Do you have a plan?”

Caleb fired off bolt after bolt while standing his ground against Kikimora, who was shouting incoherent threats and words about the Emperor. His eyes darted around, trying to find a plan of escape, before his eyes landed on the bone-finger whistle around the demoness’s neck.

“We have to get that whistle!” He shouted back to Luz.

She saw what he was talking about and nodded. “I’ll try to distract her, while you knock it off of her neck!”

Caleb spun his staff and formed a ring beneath Kikimora’s feet. The ring shot up and threw her away, but with a spin of a finger she caught herself, and fired off a cluster of inaccurate fire bolts which added to the raging scarlet blaze that slowly circled in on the three. One flew over Luz’s head and directly into the melting ice wall that protected the Palismen. She yelped and formed another wall of ice, but it wasn’t strong enough. “Uhh… Caleb, we need to hurry!”

“Working––” He grunted as he rolled out of the way of another bolt of fire, “––on it!”

Luz fired off a wave of ice spikes towards Kikimora, who leapt out of the way. “I don’t know who you are, but I will personally see to it myself that you are killed by my hands!” She spat as she rubbed her eyes more, trying to get the sleeping mist out of her system. She fired a larger burst of flames which flew at Luz. She quickly used a phase glyph to teleport through it, but the fireball crashed into the wall of ice, shooting clean through it.

“Caleb!” Luz shouted and Caleb nodded, charging and firing a small bolt at the burst of flames, dissipating the flames and making them shoot outwards, just barely missing the stump. They sighed in relief before jumping right back into action.

“We need a plan. I can’t get close to her, she’s too volatile,” Caleb explained, Luz looked around, before her eyes settled on the ring of fire that was slowly closing in on them.

“I’ve got it! Listen up,” she whispered into Caleb’s ears. He nodded slowly, his eyes widening in understanding.

“Hey, that might actually work!” He pointed his staff at Kikimora, “Let’s do this.”

Luz grabbed a few fire glyphs from her pockets, and activated them, lobbing fireballs at 3 specific trees that formed a triangle around Kikimora. The trees, already damaged and burning, fell almost immediately, completely trapping Kikimora in a barricade. Luz then pulled out a phase glyph, teleporting into the trap.

Kikimora scowled as she struggled to stand up, but when she did, Luz was close enough for her to be recognized.

“I should have known that you would have been behind this, and I bet that pesky human scamp is the other perpetrator!” She screeched and tried to fire a fireball, but Luz used an ice glyph quickly to freeze her hand. She struggled and tried to fire a fireball at her frozen hand but another ice glyph sealed that hand in ice as well, “You haven’t won!” She struggled and looked around. “You’re not going to get away with this!”

Luz grabbed her whistle and ripped it off of her neck. She angrily glared at the human and tried to free herself.

“Well, thanks for this! I’ll be leaving now.” She fished into her pocket and pulled out a phase glyph, activating it.

And then fire shot out of the glyph.

“Wait, that was a fire glyph? Weird…” She fished back into her pocket and her eyes widened as she didn’t have any glyphs left. “Uh, Caleb? Slight issue!”

“Yeah, well, we probably have more than one issue!” He shouted back, though it was hard to hear from the crackling and hissing of the fire. Another noise caught Luz’s attention, a distinct cracking noise. Her head whipped around to see Kikimora, free from the ice and charging a fireball at her.

“You really thought a bit of ice would stop me? You humans really are fucking idiots!” She laughed maniacally, showing off her sharp tusks underneath her high collar. “I’m going to enjoy every second I get watching your ugly carcass wither away into ashes!”

Luz gulped and dived out of the way of a huge fireball. The small closing was becoming even smaller as the fires grew in intensity, she had to get out of here, and fast . Kikimora scowled and charged another fireball.

“Stay still you pest! Dodging only delays the inevitable!” She shouted, lobbing another fireball.

Luz rolled out of the way, disturbing a thin layer of dirt on the solid ground. A thought occurred to her suddenly and she smirked. “Unfortunately for you…”

Luz began drawing a circle in the ground with her foot while dodging another fireball. She then ran around in a circle, dragging her foot to draw a line, enraging Kikimora more as she dodged more attacks and the closing became smaller. Once she did a full circle around Kikimora, she then moved to different spots, dragging her foot as she dodged to draw more things. Once she had finished, she gave Kikimora a shove, pushing her out of the circle. Grinning, she finished her statement. “...delaying the inevitable may just end up working out for me!”

She slapped the glyph, which lit up and teleported her out of the closing. She appeared besides Caleb, who jumped at the sudden appearance, but settled after seeing that it was Luz.

“Did you get the whistle?”

Luz held up the whistle, and then grimaced.

“Can’t believe I’m going to be putting my mouth on this thing, gross.” Luz poked her tongue out, “And I better do it soon, you can get home right?” Caleb nodded, holding his staff up.

“I can, staff, remember?” He pulled his mask off, “And, um, I’m sorry, about the box. If I could return it I would, but… Y’know, Uncle has it now. Uh, I can tell you one thing, Uncle wanted the gem, not the box. He said it can help power the portal. Um, you destroyed that didn’t you?” Luz’s eyes widened.

“He fixed the portal!? Why does he need the gem to power it though?” Caleb looked up at the sky, dusting off his cloak.

“He doesn’t have its natural power source: the key. He didn’t know it needed one until he repaired it, if he knew at the time he took it from you, he would have asked for it as well,”

Luz came to a realization, she has both things required for Belos to power the portal, but more importantly, he has the portal. He fixed it. She could go home, she and Marcy could finally go home!

She then grabbed the whistle and blew hard on it, spitting afterwards. “Gross…” The hand dragon flew down, beating its hands––its wings––as it landed. She hopped on the back and commanded it to grab the stump and fly back to Hexside, simply waving at Caleb before leaving his sight.

Caleb sighed. Tonight was a failure for the most part, but at least he (mostly) fixed his friendship with Luz. He clicked his staff into place and teleported back to the castle.

 

---

Belos looked up as his chamber doors were opened. Caleb walked in, maskless and battered. The Emperor stood up at the sight.

“I believe I told you to stay within castle walls, Hunter.” Hunter hung his head in shame, but then he looked up at Uncle.

“I know, and I’m sorry, but you’re suffering! I thought that if-if I went and retrieved more Palismen––”

“A job you know full well I entrusted Kikimora to do,” Belos began, before sitting back down and sighing. “You are important, Hunter, the Titan has chosen you and it would be very hard to find a replacement, very hard yes but not impossible . Remember this.”

Hunter nodded slowly, fishing into his pocket and pulling out a single glyph that he drew, a light glyph Luz had shown him. He held it up. “Maybe if we learned more about wild magic,” He activated the glyph, “Your curse––It was caused by wild magic wasn’t it? If we learned what caused it mayb––” He was cut off by a ragged shout and the sound of bones ripping as a single long and sharp tendril of blackish sludge stopped mere inches from his face, “R-Right, sorry.”

The tendril retracted into Belos’ arm and he sighed disappointedly. “You of all people should know not to mention that… sickness around me, Hunter. I am very disappointed in you. Not only have you shown me your disloyalty tonight, but also your ignorance in my requests. I… I cannot look at you right now, Hunter, go to your room.”

“B-But––” Hunter pleaded, but Belos’ hand morphed and crushed the right armrest of his throne.

“ NOW!” His voice bellowed, knocking Hunter down and shaking the castle. Slowly getting up, Hunter looked at Uncle one last time, hurt in his eyes, before leaving the room without another word.

 

---

 

Bat Queen landed back down in the gym field of Hexside to retrieve the Palismen. It was a bit odd that the shield had dissipated overnight, but she assumed one of the Palismen had done so. Once she was about to take off, a red cardinal with a scar over one of his eyes flew out of the cage, landing on top and pecking the Bat Queen’s talon. She noticed it and leaned down to hear him.

“Oh, you’ve finally found someone? It has been so long… What has this person done to finally make you decide to be theirs when no one could convince you in 350 years? Go then, make sure to visit, young one.”

The cardinal nodded, flying off. Bat Queen smiled softly.

“Finally. Fly free, Flapjack.”

 

---

 

Hunter sighed, laying down on his bed. He had to get his dreadlock restyled after Kikimora charred it. Speaking of Kikimora, she got an earful and was threatened with demotion for not succeeding, and best of all, she didn’t know it was him who did it. He looked over at his window, his expression faltering as he remembered how angry Uncle was with him. Of course he would, I just brought WILD MAGIC into his throne room, I’m lucky he didn’t petrify me then and there… Wait, what is that?

He sat up, looking at the red dot that slowly approached his window. Suddenly, a red cardinal Palismen flew in, landing on his shoulder. The cardinal tweeted and Hunter understood it .

“ Huh, that’s… new.”

 

---

 

Luz noted that nobody was awake when she finally returned to the Owl House, but she was too tired to care. She walked in, grabbed a piece of bread, shoved it in her mouth and fell face first on her sleeping bag. She noticed a blue box a little bit ahead of her sleeping back with a message written on it though. Picking it up, she read it slowly.

 

“To our favourite human, so that when you’re ready, you can carve your own (With us, of course)

From Eda, Marcy and Amity”

 

She opened the box and inside was a small log of teal blue wood with spiral-patterned bark. Her eyes widened when she remembered from one of Eda’s books what it was. Palistrom wood . Her eyes teared up quickly. She hugged the box with happy tears.

From her sleeping bag, Marcy smiled softly, one of her eyes slightly opened, she hoped Luz liked her present.

Notes:

and now we approach the dreaded chapter 30...

look out for a new character appearing in chapter 29!

Next Up: Friend or Foe?

Chapter 29: Friend or Foe

Summary:

When a mysterious fugitive appears within the Owl House's walls, the gang must figure out to save her from the Emperors Coven, however, in the process, they lose something much more valuable...

Notes:

Hey sooooo

life existed. again. dont worry the story is not being cancelled, i just had to take longer to upload another chapter, but dont worry, another exciting chapter is here, and thats not the only surprise...

This chapter is cowritten by denNes, author of A Lost Owl! in return, you should look out for a chapter later on in A Lost Owl cowritten by me! Now go read ALO, now. :) https://archiveofourown.org/works/36830089/chapters/91881067

Lilith paced up and down a large hall within the Emperor's castle. Coven Scouts came running from all directions, lining up perfectly in several rows behind each other. When the last scout arrived, Lilith positioned herself in the center of the first row, overlooking the forty armed scouts who stood immediately in front of her, waiting for orders.

“You have been deliberately kept in the dark about the purpose of this mission so far, as well as the rest of the Isles are unaware of this threat as of yet…”, Lilith's tone is extremely serious, “An extremely dangerous...experiment of the Emperor escaped some time ago. A quantum basilisk!”

Wild whispering broke out among the scouts.

“Silence!”, Lilith ordered, still maintaining her serious expression. “This creature is just as dangerous as it sounds. It had been quiet so far, but recently the creature's location was revealed to us. We are going to capture it. Alive. That is why you are here. You are the best the Emperor's Coven has to offer. You are the fastest, the strongest–”, an expecting cough interrupted Lilith, “The Steve-est. You have your orders. Let us commence forth. For the Emperor!"

All the scouts stepped forward, raising their spears and chanting “FOR THE EMPEROR!”

 

Leaves rustled and branches broke in two, as a young demon ran in panic through the forest, far from any civilization.

“Where is it?”, she heard someone shout from behind her. She kept running.

In panic, she wondered, How did they find me? My hideout was perfect.

She unexpectedly tripped over a root sticking out from the ground when she saw the coven's scouts slightly ahead of her and fell to the ground. The scouts noticed her.

Her heartbeat was at a high point. Sweat was dripping from her face. She would also have noticed that she was shaking all over if she could have paused and taken a breath for more than a few seconds. In addition, after the fall, she was bleeding.

Oh no. The scouts in front of her ran toward her with their spears drawn.

“There it is!” She heard more guards shouting behind her, all coming way too fast. She stood up and ran to the left as fast as she was able to. She had no idea where she was, nor did she have a particular destination in mind.

Her hiding place, a basement beneath an abandoned factory just outside Latissa, was overrun by Coven Scouts less than an hour ago and she was forced to flee the place where she had sought shelter for several weeks. Her goal was to board a ship from Latissa and leave the Isles forever. Her first attempt, shortly after her escape from Emperor Belos' laboratory, failed because all ports were closed immediately after her breakout. After the docks reopened, she was able to successfully sneak onto a larger private fishing boat, but was discovered as a stowaway before departure and ended up being kicked off the boat. Fortunately, her true identity remained secret, and the captain agreed not to involve the official authorities over this.

 

The young demon continued to run through the forest. At the time, she encountered Coven Scouts in all directions. After a fire attack, her leg was slightly singed. Another scout had thrown his spear at her, which hit her in the arm.

As she unexpectedly bumped into the back of a woman with long dark navy hair and wearing a long dark gray dress, she fell once again to the ground.

“Please lady, help me”, the young demon pleaded in fear of her life, clinging to her dress, “there are evil people out there who want to hurt me…”

She immediately fell silent as the woman slowly turned around.

“But not at all, Number 5…”

She crawled backwards on the ground away from her as fast as she could, until she was stopped by a wide obstacle immediately behind her. Terrified, she looked up. Behind her stood a Coven Guard, at least twice her size and extremely broad in build.

More coven scouts were approaching from all directions. There was no conventional escape route left. She was surrounded and all the scouts pointed their spears at the young demon.

The woman approached her and kneeled down in front of her in an intimidating manner.

“Your escape was quite impressive, number five. The mistake of not maintaining your cell shielding is one we will not repeat.”

“I’m not going back!”, the young demon shouted.

The woman stood back up and snapped. “You don’t have a choice!” The big scout bent down and grabbed the young demon, lifting her off the ground with ease.

In desperation, she screamed, “NOOO!” Suddenly, lightning began to discharge from her into the air. The big scout dropped her in fright. The lightning bolts were loud. Almost deafening. One of the scouts shot a fireball at her before a small explosion followed by a huge lightning bolt occurred at that spot, knocking all the scouts to the ground. As the electric charge in the air fully disappeared, the place, where the young demon had just been, was now empty.

 

Luz sat on the couch in the Owl House’s living room, with Marcy and Amity both sitting next to her and her Palistrom log laying on her lap.

Luz just got up a few minutes ago. The rest of the inhabitants of the house were already awake and all on the ground floor as they didn’t want to disturb Luz. She went into the living room with her gift and found her two best friends already waiting for her, seemingly filled with impatience.

“I can’t believe you robbed the gardening club for me.” With tears of joy and a happy smile, Luz ran her index finger along the spiral grooves of the log. It seemed so surreal.

“Not robbed,” Eda denied, suddenly entering the living room with a sleeping King in her arms, coming from the kitchen. “We just took something with no intention of giving it back.”

“Same thing,” Amity plainly noted.

“Whatever. Luz, when you’re ready to start carving, I’ll set aside some time and we will all help you with it. How does that sound?’

Luz glanced around at all the loved ones around her. Marcy grinned broadly and gave a thumbs up. Amity also smiled slightly and nodded at her in affirmation. Tears of joy began to flow down her cheeks, and she gathered everyone in a warm hug.

“You guys are the very best. Thank you so much.”

Marcy and Amity blushed slightly at the sudden physical contact. Eda, on the other hand, pretended to roll her eyes in annoyance.

“What’s always with this parallel arm thing? Ugh…” she whined, though that didn’t stop her from returning the hug after laying down King.

 

“So, Luz," Marcy started as the hug broke up again, “Do you have any idea what you want to carve yet?”

Luz looked thoughtfully at the log in her lap. After a short while, however, she merely shrugged her shoulders.

“I mean, sure, there are quite a few things I could carve, but if I did, I’d want it to be special. Something like my favorite animal or along those lines…”, Luz explained. Marcy nodded in agreement before falling into a thoughtful pose, unconsciously nibbling on a finger of hers.

She's so cute... Does she actually know how cute she can be? Luz sank into her thoughts before sudden snapping sounds brought her back to reality.

“Boiling Isles to Luz... Can you hear me, dreamy girl?” Marcy sat directly in front of Luz’ face with a raised eyebrow. Luz blinked briskly at her for a moment. “Are you okay, Luz?”, Marcy asked, to which Luz shook it off with a broad smile.

“Mhm. Just been a little preoccupied,” she replied. “A-About my Palisman, obviously,” Luz nervously added.

 

They were interrupted when suddenly a small thump caused the whole house to shake briefly, followed by a bang from the upper floor. Everyone in the room winced and shifted their gazes up in alarm.

“Wait here! I’m gonna go check that out.” Eda ordered the girls and King, who woke up to the noise.

Eda warily walked up the stairs to the top floor. King lied back down trying to go back to sleep. The three girls shared worried looks at first which slowly turned to determination.

Luz put the log aside, before all three of them got up from the couch and slowly snuck up to the stairs. She led the way, with Marcy and Amity right behind her. Luz was extra careful to be quiet on the lowest steps, as they happened to squeak and creak very easily. The girls walked slowly along the far edges of the steps. Fortunately, they were able to avoid making any noise. They creeped up the rest of the stairs and took cover against the wall that turned into an adjacent corridor.

Luz glanced at Amity and Marcy, who both nodded at her with determined looks. The three girls entered the turning corridor only to be startled to find Eda standing directly in front of them.

“Eda!” the three of them shriek in unison. Eda, standing with her arms crossed by them, sighed.

“How could I expect you to listen to me and wait downstairs?”, Eda asked herself. “Doesn’t matter now. Stay behind me.”

Eda turned around and walked with the girls past Luz’s room to a small storage room.

“I think the noise came from in here,” Eda whispered in warning. “Stay back, but get ready. Just in case.”

The three girls nodded in affirmation. Luz and Marcy divided various glyphs among themselves, while Amity created a small, pink fireball in her hand. She would have preferred a small Abomination, but unfortunately, she didn't have any Abomination fluid with her at that time.

Eda placed her hand on the doorknob. She raised her other hand to gesture a countdown.

Three.

Two.

One.

 

Eda yanked open the door and stormed into the storage room screaming, ready to rain hell down on whoever or whatever broke into her house. Only a few steps into the room, Eda stopped dead in her tracks, as she noticed scorch marks in the carpet in front of her, but without any apparent source. She then heard a soft, muffled whimper.

Eda heard Luz ask, “May we come in?”

“Shh!”

Eda's gaze skimmed over the clothes hanging down from coat hooks to her right and left. Quite a few coats, jackets, dresses, pants and skirts, some of them sticking up to the floor. She spotted a few drops of blood in the carpet and followed them to a far corner of the small room.

Carefully, she pushed aside several fur coats and gave a brief scare when she saw a young, injured and utterly terrified basilisk cowering in the corner.

“Please,” she pleaded, “…please don't hurt me.”

The basilisk was covered with pale, swamp-green scales and cream-colored spots on her head, tail and belly. Unlike most other demons in the Isles, it had no legs. She probably got around in a serpentine or worm-like fashion. On her back and head were several tufts of navy blue hair. At the end of her tail was a metal ring, probably the end of a chain.

The basilisk had cut wounds, small burns on her head and leg, and a larger one covering a not insignificant portion of her torso. Eda's mood changed abruptly, and she knelt down, albeit hesitantly, to the young basilisk, offering her a hand.

“I will not harm you,” she reassured in a very sympathetic tone. ”I promise.”

The basilisk hesitated, but after a while reached out her hand, ready to take Eda’s. As soon as she touched it, the injured basilisk threw herself forward. She cried. Never in her life had she met a person who was not out to hunt, torture, use, or experiment with her.

“Shh, it's okay.” Eda knelt on the ground, comforting the young basilisk. “You're safe here.”

She sobbed in Eda's arms.

“My name is Eda. Do you have a name?”

“I am number fi––um… Vee. My name is Vee.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Vee. Look, outside the door, my kids who are totally freaking out about what's going on in here right now. Do you mind if I––” Eda started to ask, to which Vee shook her head immediately.

"I don't mind," Vee replied shyly, but continues to cling to Eda's dress.

Eda stood up with Vee in her arms, ready to leave the room. When Luz, Marcy and Amity discovered what Eda was holding, they took a startled gasp.

"E-Eda... That's a quantum basilisk", Amity stated.

"Yeah, I know. And she's hurt and needs help", Eda noted.

"But-", Luz was about to start, but Eda interrupted her immediately.

"Yes, you told me about the incident at school and I understand your concerns.... But do you really think she's a threat?"

The girls eyed the basilisk, who was whimpering in pain.

 

"I'll get some alcohol to clean the wounds", Marcy was the first to break the silence and headed off towards the kitchen.

"I'll... make some space in the living room", Luz volunteered second and stormed off as well. Eda walked after them, but Amity stayed behind upstairs for another while, not yet convinced whether she could trust the basilisk or not. After all, the incident with the greater quantum basilisk, that terrorized Hexside, was still quite fresh in people's minds. Nevertheless, Amity followed her friends down to the living room, where Eda just put Vee down on the couch. She saw Marcy rushing out of the kitchen, with a small bottle of pure alcohol in her hand, shoving it into Eda's hand before joining Luz on the floor, who watched the basilisk with great curiosity and interest. Amity herself remained at the bottom of the stairs with a skeptical look and crossed arms.

"Okay, Vee...", Eda began after applying some of the alcohol to a clean cloth towel and holding it slightly over the cut on Vee's arm, "This is going to hurt for a second."

Vee nodded. Eda began to clean the wound as quickly as possible. Vee cried out in pain. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

"You are doing very well. Almost done", Eda assured her, and immediately after the wound was clean, Eda applied a healing spell to her arm. The four of them watched as the wound on Vee's arm slowly began to close. "There, one injury done. For the burns though, I need something else. I'll be right back"

Eda stood up and briskly left the living room. She darted past Amity, and the girls only heard the creaking of the stairs.

 

"Your name is Vee?", Luz asked the young basilisk immediately as Eda has left the room. Vee nodded. "I'm Luz. This is Marcy," Marcy waved with a smile, "and that's Amity by the door frame."

Vee looked around between the three girls. "She's scaring me a little", Vee whispered to the two girls kneeling on the floor in front of her. Luz couldn't help but smile.

"Amity is probably just being cautious... She won't hurt you," Luz promised while keeping eye contact with Amity. Amity though didn't make any signs to confirm what Luz said. She merely continued to stand by the living room door frame with her arms crossed.

Suddenly, Vee began to sniff. "You are different..."

"That is correct," Luz confirmed, "Marcy and I are human."

"Can you smell that we don't have bile-sacs in us?", Marcy asked excitedly, "That's soo cool".

For the first time in a while in her life, Vee smiled. A feeling of security came over her.

"Well, actually your ears gave you away", Vee giggled, "But yeah, I can smell magic too."

"Oh...", Marcy blushed slightly in embarrassment as Eda re-entered the room, holding a small can.

 

"Shush", Eda shooed Luz and Marcy away from Vee, "This is a lotion to help your skin regenerate. Although I'm good, I can't heal everything on my own either."

Vee nodded again, only this time she kept eye contact with Luz and Marcy, as Eda applied the lotion thickly to the edges of the burns before applying another healing spell.

"Say, Vee, who did this to you anyway?", Amity suddenly asked.

"Not now!", Eda said sternly as she continued to cast the spell that regenerates her skin.

"It's alright...", Vee objected, "You guys are helping me. You have a right to know..."

"Fine. But try not to move or stress yourself too much. Otherwise, this here won't work", Eda warned her. Vee nodded understandingly.

"I was able to escape from Belos' lab a while ago. A few hours or so ago, my hideout was found by coven scouts and quickly overrun. They hunted me down like wild beasts", Vee recounted. Luz and Marcy were holding their hands over their mouths in shock, "By the end, they had me surrounded and I had nowhere to go... So I teleported away somewhere..."

"So you didn't end up in the storage room on purpose?", Amity continued to ask, to which Vee shook her head.

"I just wanted to get away. But the farther away I try to teleport, the less control I have over where I end up.... I'm sorry if I freaked you guys out..."

"I believe you. Still, I'm not convinced yet if I can trust you", Amity said, who by now has moved a little closer to the couch, and thus Vee.

"Amity...", Luz began, "she's harmless.", to which Vee nodded in confirmation.

"Have you forgotten the last basilisk that terrorized Hexside???", Amity asked her two friends, who then looked slightly abashed to the ground. Apparently, they did forgot.

"The last... Basilisk?", Vee asked with a rather worried tone.

"Yeah, exactly.", Amity repeated reproachfully, "What guarantees us that you won't just eat Eda's and my magic and then we'll just be lifeless shells? What guarantees us that you won't, like your predecessor, destroy the fabric of reality itself?"

Vee seemed hurt by these accusations and felt a sense of guilt.

"That was probably... Number three. I guess Belos sent them to find me. Maybe even with a false prospect of freedom...", Vee surmised, "But I don't know how to prove I'm not like them. Number three has always been... unstable."

"You keep saying something about numbers.... Do- um, I mean, did you have one too?", Marcy asked sympathetically.

"I was number five. The youngest", Vee explained as Eda finished healing and was now participating in the conversation herself.

"I had actually always thought basilisks were extinct...", Eda suddenly remarked.

"That was actually the case. In fact, we are not supposed to exist, but Belos brought us back. All this just to experiment on us and make us into weapons...", Vee continued to explain.

"Weapons for what?", Marcy asked with a worried look on her face.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know".

 

The conversation is interrupted when Eda suddenly once clapped her hands loudly.

"Alright, that's enough of the sad stories. She needs to get some rest now", Eda explained, "You can continue asking Vee about her past tomorrow..."

Luz and Marcy groaned in annoyance, to which Vee chuckled softly.

"No discussion!", Eda continued. "But I'm hungry now, so I'll make something to eat. Luz, Marcy. Griffin eggs?"

"YES!", they shouted.

"Amity?", Eda continued to ask.

"I'm not hungry.", she merely replied.

"If you say so. Vee, what options do you have? I actually have to agree with mini-Blight here, that her magic and mine, are not an option"

"Um... Generally speaking, anything that has magic in it, in some way, is possible. Magical objects, perhaps? Magic actually always tastes the same," Vee explained.

"Very well. Hmm... What do you think of Hexes Holdem card sets? I should have several of those lying around the house," Eda said.

"I'll gladly take them", Vee answered with a tiny smile appearing on her face.

 

"You fools let it get away!", Lilith grimly paced in front of her scouts, who had retreated for the moment to a police station in Bonesborough to regroup. Ashamed, the scouts looked to the ground as Lilith angrily accused them of incompetence and threatened severe consequences, "I thought you were the best.... That was the best lead we ever had to number five- It was right in front of us.... And now we're back to square one"

Another scout approached her from the side and tapped her on the shoulder.

"WHAT?", she yelled at him.

"Um... We had found some remains at the place where she- um, I mean, the experiment disappeared. A few drops of blood…", the scout told Lilith, whereupon she stared at him blankly for several agonizing seconds.

She sighed before turning back to the other scouts.

"I've been yelling at you guys for what? Half an hour, and none of you even thought to tell me THAT???", Lilith yelled again before turning back briefly to the scout who had interrupted her, "Thank you Steve, by the way."

The scout nodded in affirmation.

"With this, we can track it down.... Number five, you don't slip away from me again!"

 

"... In the end, we had no choice but to freeze them. Well, sort of, at least- It... it was a complicated spell", Luz told Vee later that day, when asked what exactly happened to number three.

 

Eda had left the house a little earlier, because she suddenly had to get something from the market, which was why she left abruptly. The exact reason why she left, she couldn't or didn't want to say in her rush.

Consequently, Luz, Marcy and Amity sat together with Vee in Luz' room, pouring over each other with all kinds of questions. Luz and Marcy could hardly contain their enthusiasm. Just Amity still didn't trust her, even if Vee's friendly and open character, gradually made her mistrust waver.

 

"So, they're dead?", Vee asked with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"I don't know", Luz admitted.

"We had only seen them disappear into thin air.", Marcy added.

"So number three might still be alive...", Vee said in relief.

"Why are you so happy about that?", Amity suddenly asked very directly, "They were dangerous. They almost killed everyone at Hexside."

Amity had expected Vee to respond defensively to her accusations or try to justify anything. Instead, Vee just sat there. She looked down at the ground, hurt. And Luz and Marcy didn't like that at all.

"Amity! What the heck are you doing?", Luz asked, horrified.

"Yeah. Why are you being so hostile to Vee? I've never seen you like that", Marcy stated.

"Guys, it's fine. She has a point", Vee tried to defend Amity.

"No, it's not fine... What's your problem, Amity?", Luz asked accusingly. Amity's gaze at Vee was piercing, while Vee herself avoided looking at her throughout.

It was then that a light suddenly dawned on Marcy. "You're scared of Vee.", she realized. Amity's startled gaze abruptly shifted to Marcy, who looked at her rather pityingly.

And there it was Vee, now looking at Amity in disbelief.

"I... I would never hurt you guys. None of you", Vee tried to pledge.

"I don't know you!", Amity said louder than usual, "But I've learned that when a basilisk shows up, that problems appear along with it... And I have no reason to believe that it will be any different with you. It's just a matter of time."

Luz and Marcy didn't know what to say in return, and the atmosphere was so thick, one could cut it with a spoon.

"I... ... I belong to a dead species. There are only five basilisks in existence. One through four... They were all I ever knew in my life. Yes, they are dangerous and yes, lives are meaningless to them. But they are dear to my heart... And so are you. You guys took me in here with you, healed me, offered me something to eat... Never in my life have I ever experienced such kindness... And I would never let anything happen to you", Luz and Marcy had tears in their eyes, "That includes you, Amity. You're scared and I'm afraid I can't take that away. But I hope in time, you can learn to trust me."

Vee held out a hand to Amity.

"Trust has to be earned...", Amity hesitated, "But I will try".

Amity accepted Vee's hand, whereupon Luz and Marcy burst into cries of joy.

"YEEAAHHH!", the two humans shouted quite adorably, "NEW-FRIEND-SHIP, NEW-FRIEND-SHIP, NEW-FRIEND-SHIP!"

 

The celebration of the new friendship between the four girls unfortunately didn't last long, as they noticed Eda outside coming flying back to the Owl House at a rather high speed.

"Maybe she forgot something...", Marcy guessed.

"Or she stole something, and the owner chased her off...", Luz joked.

"I... She doesn't look like forgot or stole anything...", Amity notes as Eda came closer and closer.

"INCOMING!", Eda yelled- and then she crashed into the house through the window, right into Luz' room, to be precise.

"What the-", Luz yelped as she, Marcy, Amity and Vee were showered with glass shards, though they were luckily not harmed by them.

"Eda! What's going on?", Marcy asked as she helped Eda up.

"I don't know! I just arrived at the market and suddenly these stupid guards appeared out of nowhere and started chasing me!", Eda told them breathlessly.

"Guards? ... Like coven guards?", Vee's voice started shaking, "I... I need to hide"

"What? Why?", Luz asked in confusion, but Vee had already transformed into a black cat and bolted under Luz' mattress.

"Whoa...", Marcy said in disbelief, but Eda was already at the broken window, trying to see if the guards were following her.

"I don't see them anywhere... Maybe they lost track of me…", Eda said, but she sounded far from convinced.

"That woman must know I'm here...", Vee said from under the matress, and her voice sounded terrified, "She's going to find me and kill me... Or even worse: Take me back to Belos"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!", Luz exclaimed as she got down on her knees and looked under her mattress at the black cat, "Calm down, Vee! We're not going to let that happen, okay? We'll protect you!"

"But how? There's five of us and an army of them!", Vee asked in despair.

"Vee", Eda started sternly, "You're now part of the Bad Girl Coven! And here, we protect each other"

"Eda's right", Marcy said as she came to kneel down next to Luz, "We're in this together. We'll find a way to get rid of those guards. But first, you need to calm down, okay?"

Vee slowly nodded, and then she transformed back into her natural form.

"Okay", she said softly, and Luz and Marcy helped her up.

"Now let's go downstairs and plan this out", Eda said as she started walking towards the door, "We're not going to let those guards take you without a fight!"

 

"Eda, aren't you hurt? I mean, you crushed through a window", Luz asked as they all walked downstairs.

"I'm fine. I've had worse", Eda responded with a nonchalant shrug.

"I'm glad you're not hurt, but that was a really stupid move", Marcy scolded her, "You could have seriously hurt yourself!"

"I know, I know... But I didn't have a choice, they were right on my tail!", Eda defended herself.

"Well, next time try to find a better way to lose them", Amity said, and though her voice sounded a bit cold, Luz could see the concern in her eyes.

"Don't worry, I will", Eda promised.

 

 

"Okay, so we need to find a way to get rid of those guards", Luz said as they all sat down at the kitchen table.

"But how?", Vee asked, sounding a bit hopeless.

"Hmm...", Marcy mused, "If we knew where they were coming from, that would be a good place to start"

"Right", Luz said, "Eda, you said you were coming back from the market. Did you see where the guards came from?"

"No, I was too busy trying to lose them", Eda admitted.

"Well, that's not very helpful", Amity said.

"Don't worry, we'll find a way", Luz said with utter determination.

Suddenly, they heard a loud bang coming from the direction of the front door.

"What was that?", Marcy asked in alarm.

"Stay here. I'll check it out", Eda ordered them, before she walked out of the kitchen towards the front door. She opened it.

 

"Lilith...", Eda hissed.

"Edalyn.", Lilith replied in a cold voice.

"I see you're alone, sister. Bold move... Still trying to make me join your stupid coven?", Eda asked her.

"No. I'm here for the basilisk", Lilith told her.

"What basilisk?", Eda asked, feigning ignorance.

"Don't play games with me, Edalyn. I know it's here. You constantly hide fugitives with you... And you are still officially wanted yourself too. If you don't hand over the basilisk, I will take you all in", Lilith threatened her.

"Yeah, sure", Eda replied sarcastically.

"I'm not joking, Edalyn", Lilith said, and she sounded deadly serious.

"Well, I am though. You're not going to find anything here", Eda told her.

"We'll see about that", Lilith said before merely turning around and walking away.

Eda closed the door and leaned against it, sighing deeply.

 

"What was that about?", Marcy asked her as the four girls came out of the kitchen.

"Lilith. She's after Vee", Eda told them.

"How does the know I'm here???", Vee asked in terror.

"I don't know... But we need a plan. Fast", Eda said.

"I have an idea", Luz said, and the others looked at her expectantly, "But it's a bit... risky"

"I'm all ears", Eda said.

Luz explained her plan to the others, and though it actually was risky, they all agreed that it was their best shot.

"Are you sure you're up for this, Vee?", Luz asked the basilisk.

"I... I don't know", Vee replied, "But I have to try. I can't let Lilith take me back to Belos"

"Okay. Then let's do this", Eda said.

 

 

The plan was set in motion.

Eda, Marcy and Amity would create a massive diversion, while Luz and Vee, looking like Luz, would sneak out the back and make a run for it.

The diversion went off without a hitch.

Eda, Marcy and Amity bursted out of the front door, in front of which were already dozens of coven scouts waiting for them. Marcy threw every glyph she knew at the guards, Amity created Abominations with abomination fluid provided by Eda, and Eda herself instantly went for Lilith. Hooty was next to the house, already fighting some scouts and therefore, unintendedly creating a path for Luz and Vee towards the surrounding forest.

Lilith was momentarily distracted by the sudden appearance of her sister and the two girls, which gave Eda the opportunity to hit her with a powerful blast of magic. Lilith was sent flying backwards, but she quickly recovered and retaliated with a spell of her own.

The fight between the two sisters was fierce, and it quickly escalated.

 

Meanwhile, Luz and Vee had made it to the forest, where they were now carefully making their way through the trees, trying not to make too much noise.

"I think we lost them", Vee said after a while.

"Yeah, I think so too", Luz agreed.

"Thank you for doing this", Vee said.

"Don't thank me yet. We're not out of the woods yet, quite literally", Luz joked, though she didn't feel very funny.

They continued to make their way through the forest, carefully watching out for any scouts that might be lurking around.

Suddenly, a bright light appeared immediately in front of them. It was Lilith.

"Going somewhere?", she asked them in a cold voice.

Luz and Vee both stepped back in alarm.

Lilith casted a spell and the two girls found themselves trapped within a magical ball.

"You're not going anywhere", Lilith said as she started to levitate the ball, with Luz and Vee inside, into the air, "You're coming with me".

Lilith mounted her staff with the two captured girls, lifted off the ground and shot through the treetops above her, flying on a direct path away from the Owl House. Luz and Vee looked back with sad looks, where their friends were still fighting and had no idea of the fate of the two girls.

Lilith took Luz and Vee back to the Bonesborough police station, where she kept her prisoners in a cell, built for the sole purpose of preventing outside access to magic.

"What are you going to do with us?", Luz asked her.

"I'm going to take you back to Belos, where you belong", Lilith told them.

"You're a monster", Vee said.

"No. I am doing what is necessary to protect my coven and the Isles", Lilith replied.

"Your coven is nothing but a bunch of murderers", Vee said.

Lilith's eyes narrowed. "You will learn to respect my coven... In time", she said in a cold voice, before she turned around and left the room.

 

Luz and Vee were left alone in the cell.

"What are we going to do?", Luz asked.

"I don't know", Vee replied, still looking like Luz, but sounding very tired.

"We'll find a way", Luz said, trying to sound more confident than she actually felt, "I'm all out on glyphs... And the floor is too clear to draw anything with my hand..."

Suddenly, they heard a loud explosion coming from outside the room.

"What was that?", Vee asked in alarm.

"I don't know", Luz replied, "But I think our friends are here to rescue us!"

Sure enough, a few moments later, the door to the cell was blasted open and Eda, Marcy and Amity came rushing in.

"Luz! Vee!", Marcy exclaimed in relief as she hugged both girls.

"Are you guys okay?", Eda asked.

"We're fine", Luz replied, "But we need to get out of here fast. We have no idea when Lilith's coming back"

"Right", Eda said, "Let's go!"

 

The five of them quickly rushed out of the police station and into the forest, where they were finally safe.

"That was a close one", Marcy said.

"Yeah, too close", Luz agreed.

"Thank you for coming to rescue us", Vee said, changing back into her natural form.

"Don't thank us. We're the ones who got you into this mess in the first place", Eda said.

"It's not your fau-", Vee just wanted to start saying, as suddenly lightning bolts appeared from below the ground, shooting upwards. Vee quickly changed back to look like Luz.

Quickly, the lightning bolts met over the group in the middle, enclosing them under an electric dome.

The group heard someone slowly clapping and Lilith emerged from among the trees.

"Bravo, sister. Bravo", she said, "I thought, you would come to try to rescue them. And now, I not only have the basilisk... probably... Now I can deliver you to Belos at the same time. This is going to become a very good day"

Fear appeared on the faces of the now prisoners.

"Lily, wait!", Eda yelled, "Umm... Let's make a deal!"

"What kind of deal?", Lilith asked, sounding intrigued in spite of herself.

"You let the kids go and I'll come with you to Belos. No tricks", Eda said.

"WHAT???", all of the kids yelled. Both Eda and Lilith ignored that.

"Hmm... Interesting", Lilith mused, "But I'm afraid I can't do that. You see, I need the basilisk for Belos' experiments. As for you... You're just a bonus. You will be coming with me, one way or another. I don't really care about the others though. As soon as you and the basilisk are captured, they're free to go."

"So that's how it's going to be, huh?", Eda asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Yes. That's how it's going to be", Lilith said.

Eda sighed. "I'm sorry, kids. It looks like this is the end", she said.

"No!", Luz exclaimed, "There has to be something we can do!"

"I'm sorry, kid. I don't think there is", Eda said, sounding defeated. She knelt down to her kids, but now whispering to them. "Listen, I need you to run. As soon as this... ball-thingy goes down, you run and don't look back. Lilith won't be able to catch you if you're fast enough. Got it?"

"But what about you?", Marcy asked in a small voice.

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine", Eda lied, "I can take care of myself."

"But-", Luz started to say, but Eda just hugged her, Vee, Marcy and Amity tightly. One after the other.

"I love you, kids. Always remember that, okay?", she said.

"I love you too, Eda", Luz said, her eyes filling with tears.

"I love you, Eda", Marcy echoed.

"I love you all", Eda said as she released the hug and stood up.

"Are you finished now?", Lilith asked in an impatient tone.

Eda turned to look at her sister. "Yes. I'm ready", she said.

Lilith nodded, who then immediately casted a spell to lower the magical dome.

"Run!", Eda yelled at the kids, who needed no further urging. They immediately started running in different directions, disappearing into the forest.

Eda turned to look at Lilith. "Now it's just you and me, sister", she said.

"Yes. Now it's just you and me", Lilith replied.

 

The fight between the two sisters was fierce.

They were evenly matched, and it quickly became clear that neither one of them would be able to gain the upper hand.

Suddenly, Eda made a fatal mistake and left herself open for a counterattack. Lilith took her opportunity and hit her sister with a powerful blast of magic.

Eda was sent flying backwards, and she hit her head on a tree. She was momentarily stunned, and Lilith took the opportunity to hit her with another spell.

This time, Eda wasn't able to recover. She lay still on the ground, unconscious.

Lilith casted a spell to create a magical ball around her sister's body and then she started to levitate it, with Eda inside, into the air.

"You're coming with me, sister", she said in a cold voice, before she turned around and started to make her way back to deliver her to Emperor Belos.

 

 

The kids ran for a while until they finally reached the Owl House again. The damage on and around the house from earlier was significant, but none of them really cared. Amity was the first one back at the house. Though she was quite surprised to see Luz comfortably sitting in the living room.

"Luz?", Amity asked partially joyful, partially insecure.

"No, I'm sorry.", it was Vee, who quickly transformed back to her original form.

"But... Oh right. You can teleport…", Amity couldn't even finish her sentence, as she saw Luz holding Marcy by her shoulder, entering the owl house right behind her.

"Sorry, Marcy had a pebble in her shoe", Luz explained quickly.

"Oh, okay.", Amity said, still sounding a bit confused, but she didn't press the matter. The girls sat down around Vee. None of them dared to speak for a while.

 

"Do you think... Eda will make it?" Marcy asked in a small voice.

"Of course she will!", Luz said, trying to sound more confident than she actually felt, "She has to. After all, she's Eda, the owl lady. The most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles..."

"But what if she doesn't?", Vee asked, "What if Lilith captured her?"

Luz didn't want to think about that.

 

Suddenly, in a corner of the living room, some movement stirred. It was King.

"Weh...", he mumbled. He had been asleep all day, "Did I miss anything?"

Notes:

what a thrilling chapter... look forward to the part 3 finale coming out.... sometime in the future...

 

Next up... "##%@^^% ^#&@"

Chapter 30: Home At Last

Summary:

Luz and Co embark on a dangerous journey to save Eda, but when things go wrong quickly, they lose more than they gain.

Notes:

First of all, this chapter was no where near as long as i wanted to be, that was just my wishful thinking, it's still a healthy 5600 words which is perfect!
Second of all, my beta reader, Reisolate, is currently busy with a lot of things so this chapter is coming out half beta'd, but dont worry when he's freed up we'll be finalizing it and reposting it, i honestly just didn't wanna wait anymore

Anyways, with that said, enjoy chapter 30!

Eda’s eyes opened slowly, groaning, she took in her surroundings. Bars blocked her exit from a dingy cell with a single bed. She rolled her eyes.

“Drats, I guess I’ve been caught…” She analyzed her cell, and deduced there was absolutely nothing interesting about it. She groaned again in annoyance, before footsteps echoed in the hallway.

“Ah, Edalyn Clawthorne, it seems you’ve finally decided to join my coven.” The echoing voice of Belos resounded. Edalyn rolled her eyes.

“Oh great, the old fart is here. Look, Belos, I didn’t come here to join your stinkin' coven.” Belos put a hand to his chin in thought, before he snapped his fingers.

“Oh, that’s right, you’re here because you tried to stop Lilith from retrieving my experiment. You know, I am very annoyed with you. You’ve been a thorn in my side for too. Long” He raised a finger, a red dot of energy adorning the tip. Suddenly, Eda’s entire body was encased in that same red energy, before she was dragged straight towards him. He knelt down and glared at her, his piercing blue eyes shining through his porcelain mask. “But no, I do not want you. I’m after a different thorn. And now? Now I’m going to pull that thorn out.”

 

It had been a whole day since the incident, and no sign of Eda, or even of her whereabouts, and things were beginning to look more and more worrying. Luz paced around the room in deep thought, while Vee and Amity conversed about magic, Marcy watched her crush with concern.

“Something's not right. Eda would have won––She would have come back by now, right?” Luz said, stomping down on the floor, “It's not fair! We could have helped- We should have helped!” A brief flash of yellow flowed through the room, disturbing the array of objects above the mantelpiece slightly. Marcy quickly stood up to stop fragile artifacts from falling, and turned to Luz with sympathy in her eyes.

"Luz, Eda is a strong, powerful witch, the most powerful one on the Isles, she said it herself. I'm sure she's fi––“ She was cut off by a knocking at the door.

"That must be Eda!" Luz rushed to the door, almost tripping over the rug, and pulled it open. A single envelope sat on the porch. Luz picked it up slowly, eyes sharpening as she noticed the Emperor's Coven's seal on it. She tentatively opened it, eyes scanning the page.

"To whom it may concern..."

 

"...Human. You've been a great help..."

"...I have the Owl Lady in my grasp..."

 

"...And if you want to save her..."

 

"...Come to me..."

 

"...Alone..."

 

"...And bring the Calamity Gem..."

 

"...Tick Tock, Human... The Owl Lady doesn't have much time left."

 

Eda struggled in her binds. "She won't fall for it, bonehead!". Belos shook his head slowly, before a bright red light enveloped Eda and screams of pain were heard.

“Now now, there is no need to be so raucous, soon you’ll see, You have that little human wrapped around your finger. She will come to you, I could see it from the second I first met her, she will do whatever it takes to save her friends." He then turned to a figure who stood beside his throne with a wide, disturbing grin.

“Now we can finally begin… Isn’t that right? Hunter.”

The figure, Hunter, nodded robotically, his normally magenta eyes a cold harsh blue, shining bright through his new mask.

“̷̰͝Ỹ̸͓ě̴͚s̸̭̀,̵̣̀ ̷̩̊Ę̴͌m̷̡̐p̵̲͊é̴͎r̷̞̈́o̷̡̓r̸̫͘ ̴̙̈́B̵̜̎e̷̫͗l̸̖̍o̸̕͜s̶̹̅.̴̖́”̷̬̈

“Luz, no! We have no plan, you can’t just rush in like that!” Marcy begged but Luz was indifferent, she went through the armory, picking up weapons and testing them out before settling on a longsword. She turned to Marcy, her eyes red and puffy, clearly from crying.

“The letter said I have to go alone. I can’t risk Eda’s safety if I take you guys with me…”

"But that's crazy! You can't possibly hope to go alone, you'll get yourself killed!" Marcy exclaimed, shocking Luz slightly, Marcy's eyes widened and she looked to the side, blushing slightly, "S-Sorry, I just, I need to go with you. I don't care what it takes, I'm going with you, whether you like it or not!"

Amity stood up from the couch and walked over to them. “Me too. I haven’t known you for as long, but…” She rubbed her arm and blushed lightly, "But I know that you're my friend, and my reputation with the Emperor’s Coven is already destroyed so it can’t hurt.”

Vee also stood up(?) and moved over to them. “You guys saved me when I needed it most. So.. I-I have to help as well.”

Luz looked at her with concern in her eyes, “Are you sure? You did just run away from them, after all…” But Vee held a hand up.

“I can do this, I’m strong.” She took a deep breath, “But I can’t go in looking like a Basilisk, I need to get a new appearance.” She thought long and hard before grinning suddenly, and shapeshifting. Her skin turned to a slightly olive-tone, her ears became pointy, her eyes vibrant with yellow irises, her hair was shoulder-length and messy, yellow like her scale color, and dark blue undertones like her ears, which blended into her hair. She wore a baggy yellow and orange striped sweater with a pumpkin in the middle with blue jeans. She held up a human magazine and pointed to a person with a similar outfit on it. “I got it from this human paper!”

Luz nodded and Marcy gave a thumbs up. “Looking great! Now… Let’s plan!”

Luz, Vee, Marcy and Amity sat at the table, strategizing. Luz pulled out a notepad of papers with little tabs in them, splitting them up evenly into 7 sections.

“Here’s what I have, an even amount of Ice, Plant, Fire, Light, Phase, Invisibility and Laser glyphs, we can all split them up amongst each other, except uh, Vee, you can teleport people with you, right?”

Vee nodded, teleporting Luz to the other side of the room.

“It’s easy, though I think I have a weight limit, you should all be under it, but if you aren’t, I can make two rounds.”

Luz nodded, handing out the glyphs to the others evenly. “Ok, you will all need to use invisibility glyphs, remember: they only work while you hold your breath, so, we need to make multiple stops for you to catch your breath as we make our way to the throne room. I’ll offer the gem, but take it back quickly as you all reveal yourself and throw him off, once I get Eda, Vee will teleport us out to safety and we book it, ok? Once we’re in action, do whatever you can to distract Belos while I rescue Eda, got it?” Everybody nodded. Luz grinned.

 

It was time to steal back the Owl Lady.

As Bonesborough came into view, another problem arose. In order to get to the castle, they’d have to go straight through the city. 

The city that was currently crawling with coven scouts. 

They approached the borders of the city carefully and planned out a safe route through the city, when they noticed a large group of citizens gathering around the town square. They closed in on a spot to see what was happening when a giant illusion of The Golden Guard appeared. His mask looked different however. Instead of the slits for his eyes that curved slightly down, there rested a single visor hole with sharpened edges and a large diamond in the middle, as well as two smaller horns that only reached a couple of inches high, one of which was made out of a murky mud-green substance. That same murky green color was on the claw-like marks that marked the bottom right corner of his mask. His cloak was slightly darker, with his right shoulder pauldron missing in exchange for a large cage-like ring of gold connecting between his Emperor’s Badge. On his right side, he had one giant golden wing that represented the wings emerging from the sword on the Emperor’s Badge. One cold blue eye could be seen through the eye-slit. The most concerning way is the way he spoke. Luz knew that illusions casted of other people’s voices sound normal, so when Luz heard the grating glitchiness and distortion, she knew something was wrong.

“̸̠̒G̶͈̽ŕ̶̤e̵͉̊e̴̦͆t̵̗́ḭ̶̇n̷̟͘g̵̱̅,̶̢̿ ̴̎ͅp̴̙̿e̵͕͛o̵̫̓p̵̯̓l̵̦̃ë̷̺́ ̷͈̚o̷̤̔f̵̪͝ ̷̭̐t̶͖̚h̴̭̒ê̵͙ ̸̌͜I̷̡̾s̴͕̔ļ̸̑e̸͙̅s̷̤̚.̸̭̏ ̷͇́B̴̧̿e̸̞͘l̴̗̓o̵̠͆š̶̟ ̴̯͛ḧ̶̦́a̴̰͘s̸͚͒ ̶̇͜ă̷̺ŝ̸̼k̵͙͂e̷͑ͅd̷̪̑ ̷͈̀m̵̨̌e̷̪͗ ̸͎͘t̵̢̄o̷̪͠ ̸̛̳i̴͠ͅn̷̛͙v̶̟̄i̵̫͗t̷̠̏e̸̖͠ ̷̟̿y̵͆ͅọ̶̉û̶̢ ̴̡͊a̸̢̚l̵̐ͅl̶̏ͅ ̸̢̅t̸̛̩o̶̥͛ ̸͎̓t̴̮̕h̸͍̒e̸̖̚ ̴̯̉c̶̺͛o̷̢̾u̵͙̅ȓ̴͎t̵̼̚y̶̖̽a̵̖̒ȑ̴̜d̴̗̐ ̷̗͆t̷͓͐o̸̮̊d̸̥͝a̸̫͝y̵̗̎ ̸͈́f̴̨͆õ̶̹r̵̯͘ ̶̙͂t̴͚́h̵̩̕ȇ̸͙ ̸͔̎p̵̱̎e̷̛̥t̴̤͝r̵̤̿ĭ̶̥f̸͔͑í̷̧c̸̢̈́a̵̐ͅt̷͇̊ȉ̶͇ö̷̩n̶͇̑ ̴͕̔ő̵̡f̵̼͗ ̷̨̈o̷̳͗n̷̛͎e̷̤̎ ̵̢͊E̵̡̒d̷̨͝a̴̭͑ļ̸̃y̶͉͂n̴̲̈́ ̸̫͝C̷̻͆l̸͒ͅå̷̫w̴̝̿ț̷̛h̶̢̾o̷̭͒ṛ̸̏n̶͈͆e̸͖̎.̴͚͆ ̶͊͜H̸̑ͅé̵̲ ̴͚͐ă̸͔s̸͍͌k̸̪̎s̴̭̔ ̶̦͝ẏ̶͔ọ̴͑u̵͇̔ ̴̟́ṭ̴̏o̵̜͑ ̵̼̀b̶̰̃ḙ̴̿ ̸̙̈́t̷̫̊ĥ̴̖e̷̘͂r̸̯̾ȅ̵̼ ̷͎̈́a̸͙̚t̴͇̽ ̴̺͘s̷͍͐u̴̯̔n̴̳̈́d̴̳́o̶͕̒w̵͂͜n̶͚͋.̵͖̑ ̵̟̀Ä̴̤́t̷͍͛t̶̢́e̸̢̎n̷͈̓d̵͎͂ā̶̳n̸̤̍c̵̼͒e̵͋͜ ̵̟͋ï̴͔s̴̛͓ ̴͕̒m̸͜͝a̷̦͝n̶̞͋d̸̛̘a̶̘̾t̴͕̐o̷̪̾r̷̫̎y̶̞̑,̴̟̆ ̵̫́f̷̰̀a̴͛ͅi̸̲͛l̸͉͒ù̶͈r̸̠͂e̵̹̊ ̴̼̃t̴̟̽o̷̥̊ ̴̥̀ȃ̸͖t̶̻̉ẗ̸͙́ẹ̷̎n̶͎̂d̸̲̓ ̸͖̆ẃ̶̬i̶̗̇t̴̬̾h̵̢̋o̷͕͠u̸̠͌t̴̮̏ ̸̯̋ģ̶̛i̴̲̍v̶͔̚e̴̤͠n̵͍̒ ̷̝̍r̸͍͋é̸̝à̵͙s̵̜͒ơ̵͓n̵̩̊ ̷͍̽w̵͌͜î̷̙l̸̰̅l̵̨̾ ̸̲̽r̶̛̘é̶̲s̵͔͊u̵͓͗l̵̺̍t̸̞̒ ̵͕̓i̸̺̎n̷̙͐ ̷̻̀d̸̳͌ḯ̵͖s̸̯̿d̶̲̏ã̸͜î̶̜n̶̞̒ ̵̟͐f̵̨̐r̵̥̿o̸͍̍m̶͖͝ ̶͖͋t̸̝̚h̶̔ͅẹ̶͠ ̴͚́T̷͙̓i̵͍̊t̵͙͌ā̸̗n̴͍̍ ̵̹̂h̸̨̎i̶͈̒m̵͈͛s̷̟̄e̶̠͒l̵̼̄f̸̖̚.̸̻̅ ̷͎̈T̶̞͝h̶̳̋a̵͎͆t̴͉͑ ̸͖̑w̸̟̋ĩ̴̤l̴̇͜l̷̹̚ ̶̠͠ḇ̷̓ȇ̷̦ ̷̪̆ă̸͙ľ̶̥l̵̤̚,̷̮̀ ̸̛͎g̸͗ͅo̵̜̒ó̶̩d̵̰͆ ̸̛̟d̴̟͐a̵̮͘y̴̻͊,̸̹̊ ̷̪̀B̴͓̃o̵͓͠i̸͇̐l̸̩̾i̷̝̋ň̵̻g̶̞̉ ̷̟̂I̸̠͋s̵̳̀l̷̦̉e̸̱͠s̴̙͂.̸̞̌”̸̟͝

Amity and Marcy looked at her with concern, but Luz’s eyes widened when a familiar red cardinal flew towards them, chirping with worry.

“Lil’ Rascal-” She was cut off by the bird chirping. “...Flapjack? That’s your name?”

Flapjack nodded, pecking at her hand and then pointing a wing to the illusion which had just flickered out with a worried expression. Luz’s eyes widened.

“That’s not really Hunter is it?” The others were confused but when Flapjack nodded and continued chirping, she turned to the group. “We have to go. Now!”

Vee nodded and concentrated, touching each of them and teleporting them to the other side of the city. Luz nodded and the group continued to run through the forest until the castle came into view. They stopped running and Luz nodded, everybody pulled out a handful of invisibility glyphs.

“Let’s raid a castle.”

 

Luz approached the bridge, where she saw two guards. They noticed her and approached her calmly. 

“State your purpose.” One of them said in a resolute tone. Luz fished into her pocket and her hand tightened around the gem. After a moment, she pulled it out and showed it.

“The Emperor requested my presence.” The guards looked at each other before nodding. One of them then turned to a guard in a window of the castle and gave a signal. With a rumble and a metallic groan, the drawbridge extended. She swallowed thickly, before clenching her fists, and walking forward.

 

She was in the dragon's den now.

 

The group watched on from the safety of a push. Vee had held hands with all of them.

“Are we ready?”

Amity and Marcy nodded. Vee closed her eyes and focused on an area unguarded. With a bright flash, they were within the castle walls. Their next challenge? Making it to the throne room unnoticed.

Each one held an invisibility glyph, and started to slowly take the path towards the throne room.


Luz slowly walked the path towards Belos’ throne room, gem clenched tightly in her pocket. Guards seemed to stop and watch her walk past, but since she seemed to ignore them, they assumed she had official business here. It didn’t stop them from eyeing her strongly though just in case anything went wrong. As she approached the gathering room, she noticed it was barren, void of any tables or anything. As dissuading as it was, she pressed forth, until she noticed the lone figure standing at the exit, standing between her and Belos.

Standing between her and Eda.

She stood firm, the white cloaked figure twitched for a second, their back facing her. They clutched one arm, covered in a visceral green goop, before the goop receded into his arm and he took a deep breath, and turned around.

“̷̠̟́̅H̸̲̝̿̆ȗ̷͙m̴̙͚̊̒a̸̬̪̒n̸̛̰.̵̬̱͆̕ ̵͕̪́Y̵̼͔̒o̶̙͕̓u̵̢̓ ̴̯͖̈̔h̸̜̀͂ḁ̶͓̄v̵͎̝́͠e̶͖̎͒ ̴̲͓̽̓t̵̯̰͑h̷̩͖̓ẽ̸̹ ̶̳̌g̷̻̣̑e̴̤̋̓m̷̨͗.̷̫̟͐ ̴̼̼̉Ỵ̴̨̊̂e̷̳̬͠s̴̗̈́?̴͔̑̇”̶͇͈͂̕

Luz backed up slightly at the sight and sound of her friend, Hunter didn’t even recognize her, something was seriously wrong. She felt the squirming of Flapjack underneath her witches cloak, a cloak woven with powerful wool meant to protect her, a gift from Eda for being such a good student. She clutched the cloak tightly before turning to Hunter.

“Hunter, what did he do to you?” She asked with concern laced in her voice. Hunter seemed to ignore the question, and instead approached her. He stopped moving mere inches away from her, looking down at her through his mask.

̴̧̩͑͊̕“̷̡̈́͂͝I̵̹͆’̴̼̇̽͘ļ̶̑l̸̡̜͔͌̎̈ ̴̼͕̅̓͐ả̵̦͂ṡ̶̡̟͍̈́ķ̶̟͓̐ ̷͍̙͕́ḁ̵͎̃͝g̷̡̣̈́̓͝a̵̻͎̖̒̇î̷͔̕͝n̷̦̂͜.̸̧̧̲̇̈̕ ̸̡͓̆D̵̡͉̠̑o̸̥̟͒̂͝.̴̘̲̘͗ ̶̹̟̽̋́͜Ý̵͙̀o̵̎͠ͅư̷̧̼͋̕.̷͉̬̐͌͗ ̵͚͂͝H̸̨̉̋͊ȃ̵̮͋v̸̩̽e̶̡͉̎.̷̹̈́ ̷̡̛͚̣̇͘Ť̸̯̞͎͗͌h̷̜͈̩̀̽̉è̸̳.̵͈̝̍̏̀ \G̶̡̟̟̠̟̻̦̲̖͖͔̜͔̹̪͉͇͍͎̻͈͓̺̪̭̖͓̙̠̫̺̘͓̭̞̗̳̥̟̭̙̹̥̜̪͊̾͝ę̶̡̡̧̛̳̲̺̯̼̹͓̱͓̘̠͚͔̪̥͙͕̖̗̭̥͚͎̪͈̤̣̰̤̺͚͓͚͍͙͖̤̬͔͙̫̋̏͒̌̀͛͂͒̃̑͆̊͊͗́̿͝͠͝ͅm̸̡̮̪̳̼̤̜̪͖̯̞͚̠̹̰̞̱̯̯͉̘̥͕̄͊̑̐̓̽́͛͂͛̓̊̍̕͘͘͜͝ͅ?̴̡̛̛̟̝̋̓͆̈̀̀̋̈́́͛͋̾̀́̈́̋́̊̋̈̌͐͊̉̓͛͘͘͘͘͝͠͝͝”̶̪̙̞͚̈́̅̎͆͗̓̊̔̋͋͛̇̓͒͆͐͐̑͂͐̑̔͛̏͑͐͐͆̍̍̄̍͋̉͒̃̕̚͝ͅ

Luz realized that if Hunter was the middle man, then their plan wasn’t going to work. Not only that, Hunter was being controlled against his will, she had to do something. But her options were running thin when Hunter decided that her lack of answer wasn’t good enough, and quickly reached out to grab her. She rolled back, grabbing an ice glyph and firing a precautionary spike of ice. It bounced harmlessly off of his cloak, but he clearly didn’t appreciate it. He groaned in anger before his arms twitched again. He curled up, his skin writhing and bubbling angrily, before green sludge coated them. He stood back up and growled, breaking and distorted, before he extended a goopy appendage with sharp claws to slash at her. She quickly activated a phase glyph to teleport back, before Flapjack broke free of her cloak and turned into a staff. The staff fell into her hands and immediately she could feel the magic curling around her very body. Hunter seemed to falter at the sight of Flapjack, the sludge twitching again. Luz stared him down.

“I know you can hear me Hunter, don’t let Belos control you!” Hunter groaned gratingly and clutched his head.

“̷̹͉̜̏͝W̴̰̦͙͐̿̐H̷̗̾̓̄Ȁ̴̳̦̗͊̐T̷̢̀ ̸̥̞̱̏͠͝D̷͍̗̦̅O̵̰͙̭͂̿̇ ̸͍͔̝̍͋̏Ÿ̵̩́͜͝Ȍ̸͈̀Ṳ̷̽̂ ̶̨̧̯̽̍K̷̳̈́N̴͇̦̻̆̈́O̷͖̜̣͑͒W̵̪̓̈́̈,̵̟͗̓ ̸̢͈́̄́H̸̯̪̆̈́Ų̴̝̹̄̓̂M̶̘͖̏̔Å̸̧̹̄N̵̙͎̰̉?̴̧͈̟̑̔!̸̣̣̆”̴̦̗̫̂̈́ He roared out, the distortion palpable, before he lunged at her with large claws. Luz gripped the staff and imagined phasing through the attack, she closed her eyes tightly and in a flash of yellow, she found herself behind Hunter, who’s attack was so strong his hands had dug into the hard concrete floor. She gulped, before holding the staff tight and drawing a spell circle with it. To her amazement, a bright green light followed the tip of the staff as she drew a circle and imagined vines ensnaring him. The vines erupted from the ground and wrapped themselves around Hunter. But he roared loudly and shredded the vines, lunging a claw and Luz, who teleported away.

“Listen, Hunter! Belos is using you! He doesn’t care about you!” That seemed to have some effect as Hunter stopped to claw at his head.

“̴̤͕̹͊S̴̡̹͙̈́̈́͝ḧ̸̳̩́͐̐ū̸̃́͜t̸̮͍̘̓͝ ̵͍̻̰̔͗͘ú̸͕̗̕p̸͉̻̽.̷̝̼̣͆ ̷̳͑̓͊S̶̗͔̓̈͜ḣ̸͖̞͆͝ū̸̲̚t̷̠̎͆͗ ̸̘̺̾̏ͅu̴̱̓͗p̵͚̑.̴̗͚̈̌̀ ̴͚̓̽͘S̴̺͐̿̈́h̴̠̋ṳ̶̾̄ẗ̷̨̞̰́̅ ̴̤̥̉͜u̶͎͔͎͒̔̾p̵̻̥̐̿.̸̪̹̬̃͂ ̶̘̞̅̆̾S̵̱̣̉͂̑ͅh̸̳̙͈̚͝u̶̳͐͌͝ṭ̵̲͕̇̍̕ ̸̭͇̃ǔ̷̢̙͎͒̽p̶̖̭̳̀͘͝.̴̛̻̪̙͝͝ ̶͙̺̔͠S̷͙͍̱̜͌̽̈̿H̴͙́̔̿̋̽U̵̟͔͍͙̼̽̇̈́̉̚T̴̰͖͇̔̐̾̍́̉ ̶̜͎͉͎̒͒͝Ù̴̡̖̓̀̕ͅP̸̹͎̖̙̼̖̈̓̒

Hunter groaned before lashing an arm out at Luz, who quickly blocked it by raising a pillar of ice. She quickly teleported back to avoid a swing and shot an orb of light to blind him.

 

"Hunter, please! It's me, Luz, your friend!" But Hunter snarled and quickly shot his arm forward, ensnaring Luz tightly, who dropped the staff. He slowly brought her towards him.

"̸͓̖̏W̶̳̎E̷͚͗ ̵̗̯͒W̷̧̖̐͐Ë̸̺́R̷̨̰͑E̸̘̺̅͠ ̸̝͗̀N̴͉̂̍Ě̴̲̍V̷̳̭̌́Ȩ̵͑Ṙ̴̯ ̴̼̈F̵̝̠͒R̵̜̬͂̈Ī̷̟̞̉E̷̦̍N̶̲̓D̶͎͒̆S̷̛͈͜!̵̫͈̀ ̸̮͐͗Y̴̢̑́Ó̶̢̡́Ù̴̳̟'̸̘͂R̸̡̩̄E̷͎̰̓ ̶̞̗͐A̵̰̍͝ ̷͙̐H̵̻͙͑͗U̴͔̩̔̕M̶̢̉ͅA̶̧̡͒̓N̸͍̆,̸̼͑ ̷̻̔́I̷̛̬'̵̮̃M̴̢̚ ̸̡̮̆̉A̷̫͆ ̴̈́̏ͅW̷̮͚̊I̵̖̓T̷̘̦̍̾C̸̢̹̈̚Ḧ̷̖́,̶̡͇̈́͝ ̴͕̩̕̚W̸̛̰͜Ě̸͙̩͗ ̷͆͜C̷̛̞̰͒A̸̛̪N̴̤̳̈̈́'̴̧̦̽T̷͓̮̐̌ ̸͕̓̈B̸͔̪̕Ě̸͇̭ ̷̲̺͌F̷̞̂R̴̡̮̈I̶̭͆͛Ḛ̵̍ͅN̶̦͚͛D̶̖͌̂Ś̵̢͈!̵̬̝͒ ̶̭͊͆T̶͈̲͝H̸̲̏̃Ẽ̸̑͜ ̴̬̈́́T̵̗̎͆I̸͍͂͜Ṭ̴̀̾A̸̧̼͆N̵̛̖ͅ ̴͈̹̐̂F̴̤̩̀O̶̼̓R̷̬̽͊B̶̲̓̊ͅÍ̵̗̕D̵̙͚̑S̷̫̔̚ ̴̲͋̅I̴̛̪̎Ţ̷̡̊̀!̴͖̈́̈́"̷̙̋

"Who cares what the Titan says, Belos probably made that all up! You’re not his pawn in some grand game of chess, you’re just you, you’re Hunter, our friend!” She yelled out. Hunter’s arm twitched as she said that and he stopped acting.

“̵̨͓̐̌B̷̺̐͌ȗ̷͚͋ț̸͋̈́-̴̟̣̿ ̵͖̄̈B̷̧̳̽͝Ṵ̴̓̊T̷̥͒͠ ̴̪̆Ï̴̺ ̶̉ͅM̷̡̄́Ů̵̫Ṣ̸͋T̶̡̈̈́ ̵̧̪͐D̶̫̤͗Ȭ̴̮ ̵̢͓̀M̶̜̟̄͝Ÿ̴̧́͊ ̶̳͐D̴͓̠̈͋Ủ̴̻̈T̷̛̹Ȳ̵̺̦!̸̤͌͘ ̴̡̐̔I̴̯̭̐̾ ̸͍̑̏Ṁ̸͉̃Ṷ̵̖̎S̵̪̀T̷͖̈́ ̴̳͇̓F̶̜̞͆͌Ǒ̷̫̳L̶̞̯͆̕L̵̯̈́O̴̻̫͌W̷̹͓̕ ̷̡͉̾T̸̬̗͗͝H̵̯͖͐̇Ė̴̞̤ ̸̟̊E̸̞̙͂̿Ṁ̴̹̏͜P̷̯̌E̴̩̍̈́R̷͓͔̃͝O̴̝̺͛R̴͎̩̓̈́S̵̼̅͘ ̵̂̍͜Ŗ̴̀U̴̡̙͗L̸̪͆Ḛ̴͈̀̚!̵̞͋ ̴̥́̓Í̶̼͖͗ ̵͈̮̄̐M̴̡̠̈́U̶̘̒S̸̟̒T̵̮͖̎̈́-̸̼̄͜ ̶͇̥͠Ȋ̸͚̼ ̶̱͛M̸̱͛U̸̠̇S̴̯̉T̸̺̰̅͘-̴̮͑ I MUST-”

Hunter screamed in pain and clutched his head. It was then that the staff that Luz had dropped dissipated and Flapjack flew up, chirping at Hunter, and landed in front of him. Hunter’s screaming got louder.

“ G̸͖͈͋̎Ȩ̶̀T̷̯̈̓ ̸͖̟̒O̸̺̰̚U̸̠̦͐̈T̵͈̉̚ ̶͕̬̀͝O̶̱̭͗͠F̵̱̯͐ ̷̟͋͝M̴̦͌̑Y̶̘̾̇ HEAD ! GĚ̸̤̥̆T̶̖̜͑̉ ̷̪̚Ö̸̗̺ U T! GET O̵̭̎̅UT! G ET OUT !” He screamed.

“There’s no escape, Hunter. I am in your walls.” Belos’ voice echoed throughout the room. Hunter screamed louder, “Now… do your job, do your duty to the Emperor, and steal. Back. that. GEM!”

Hunter clawed at his face, screaming in agony, when Flapjack landed on his shoulder and chirped something into his ear. The screaming stopped suddenly as Hunter stood still.

“What are you doing, Hunter? I said… STEAL BACK THAT GEM!”

“No.”

Luz’s eyes widened as Hunter suddenly knelt down, holding out his hand for Flapjack to hop on. Flapjack looked up at him, before chirping happily. With his other hand, he gripped his mask.

“I don’t want to be your pawn anymore. I don’t want to listen to you. And I’m not going to hurt my friends! They show me who I want to be! They listen to me! And ever since I met them, I’ve been a better person than I’ve ever been! Sure, I make mistakes, and sure, I may hurt them sometimes, but unlike you, they forgive me!” He pulled the mask off.

“Hunter, what are you doing?!”

With his one murky-green arm, he shattered it, throwing the pieces away.

“NOOOOOOOO!” Belos screamed, the castle shaking. Hunter stood his ground and turned to the direction of the throne room with anger on his face

“They make me who I want to be! Not who you want me to be!”

Once he shattered the mask, the green goop fell from his body, leaving behind scarring where it was. He leant down to Flapjack and rubbed his nose against the cardinal’s forehead. Flapjack chirped happily, and Hunter stood up. Luz slowly walked over to him, and he saw her, he smiled.

“Thank you, Luz, um, you really didn’t have to save me, yknow…” Luz smiled softly and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t mention it, you’re my friend after all, and friends look out for each other.”

Hunter smiled, “Yeah, I guess they do…” Luz put on a determined expression.

“Now, will you help me save Eda?” Hunter nodded.

“Of course, friends look out for each other, don’t they?” Luz giggled and elbowed him playfully.



“My Liege…?” Kikimora turned to Belos, who was panting raggedly and wetly, clawing the arm of his throne so hard it had been crushed under the immense pressure.

“I’m fine , Kiki. I want you to assemble the guards and move them to the front of the castle. I have a few children I have to turn into CORPSES.”

Kikimora nodded hastily and made her exit. Soon after, Belos heard footsteps approaching the room.

“Enter,” he began, an edge of fury in his voice.

The doors opened, and Luz walked in confidently. Hunter followed behind, for once, not afraid of his Uncle. Belos rose.

“Ah. Human, I see you have managed to break the small… fixes I had made to Hunter. Oh well, I assume since you’re here alone, you have what I asked for?”

Luz frowned indignantly. “Where. Is. Eda?”

Belos raised a finger calmly, “Easy, now. The Owl Lady is safe.” With a wave, a section of the ground opened up, and with it, a podium bearing Eda, chained down. As soon as she saw Luz, her eyes widened.

“Luz, no! What are you doing here?!” Luz clenched her fist, smiling bittersweetly at Eda.

“Saving you,” She then turned to Belos, fishing the gem out of her pocket. “Is this what you’re looking for?”

Belos’ body language shifted slightly, seeming slightly more ominous as his cold blue eyes bore into the yellow gem, glistening light off of the torches.

“The gem of protection, I never thought I’d see this again… Now, return to me my gem and The Owl Lady will be freed.” He held his iron-clad hand out, and Luz gulped, reaching out to place the gem in his hand…

A blast of green fire shot past them suddenly, nailing Belos in the mask.

“AUGH!” He groaned as he stumbled back, clutching the burned marks on his mask. Luz quickly pocketed the gem as she turned around, and in that moment she couldn’t be more happy. In the doorway, with a trail of multiple downed guards, stood Marcy, Vee and Amity.

“Thought we were gonna let you fight him on your own?” Vee grinned, fists pumped.

“We weren’t gonna just let you try to topple a tyrant by yourself, y’know,” Amity stated cooly, her staff in her hands.

“This big bully’s got nothing on all of us- Is that Caleb?” Marcy cut herself off at the sight of Hunter, who awkwardly waved. Athena snorted by her side, her green flame cackling brightly.

“Uh, long story, I’ll explain later, I’m so glad you guys are here!” But their reunion was cut short by Belos groaning as he removed his mask, discarding it to the side.

“More meddlesome rats… Be that as it may, you all can’t hope to possibly stand up against me. I am Emperor Belos, and you’re 2 humans, a witch, and…” His eyes widened as anger flashed across his face, “Number. Five. You dare come back here to spit it in my face? You truly are foolish. Nonetheless, what did you hope to accomplish here?”

Luz grinned as she pulled out glyphs. Marcy called Athena back to her staff, and Amity and Hunter gripped their staff.

“We’re going to beat you.”

 

The fight started almost immediately. Amity used abomination sludge to try and restrain Belos, but he quickly circumvented it and crashed it into a wall. He then melted down to dodge a green fireball from Marcy, reforming behind Luz, who spun around to hit him with a burst of fire. He was knocked back, groaning as he pulled out his staff. He readied a bolt of energy, but he was cut off by Hunter flashing into him and knocking the staff out of his hands. Belos snarled and his right arm morphed into amalgamated sludge, quickly swiping at Hunter, who flashed away, only for another green fireball to be launched at him from behind.

“You are only delaying the inevitable, you know this right?” Belos snapped and fired a bolt of energy at Marcy, who dodged it as Athena came out of her staff form to swipe at Belos, who used his sludge appendage to try and grab her. He was stopped though by Amity using her abomination goo to hold the arm back, Athena safely turned back into her staff and Luz threw icicle after icicle at him. Belos commanded fleshy arms from the ground to try and grab Luz and Marcy, but Hunter cut them off with a quick slash using a blade made out of the surrounding stone. Vee stood back, waiting for the perfect time to try and drain his magic, but when Belos noticed her, he grew enraged.

“NUMBER FIVE! IF YOU THINK FOR A SECOND YOU CAN ESCAPE ME AGAIN YOU’D WISH I’D NEVER MADE YOU!” He sent an arm for her, but Marcy blocked it, grinning back at Vee, who smiled and gave a thumbs up. Marcy then sent a large fireball at him, which split into multiple fireballs. Belos roared and slashed them away, before turning to grab Luz, who quickly phased out of the way, using an ice glyph to knock his arm out. It was then that Belos screamed

“ENOUGH!” A wave of energy knocked everyone back, and immediately, they were restrained by fleshy claws that emerged from the ground. The gem fell out of Luz’s pocket, clattering to the ground and rolling to Belos’ feet. He grinned, leaning down and grabbing it gently.

“No!” Luz shouted, struggling against her restraints, but Belos grinned.

“Such a shame, isn’t it? You could have taken the easy route, and handed the gem over, no foul no harm, but you, being you, just had to do things the hard way, and now look at you. You’ve lost. And now? Now my plan is only just beginning.” He turned to his throne, and with a snap of his finger, a compartment opened, with a gem slot in it, above the compartment, a round glass disk with a crescent moon on it emerged, he grinned as he placed the gem into the slot.

“It’s time to come out, Collector.”

Mysterious and ominous giggling echoed throughout the room as the castle rumbled, yellow energy lines sprouted from the gem, coursing around the room, connecting to the disk, which shined bright and cracked.

The rumbling continued as each crack was accentuated with a sickening laughter, only growing louder and louder. Belos turned to them and grinned wider, as the disk finally shattered, and a bright light enveloped the room, blinding everyone.

When the light finally subsided, before them stood a half shadow-half person, the parts of them that weren’t shadow looked to be a child with curly white hair hidden under a nightcap, covered in little stars. Their skin seemed to be half orange, half blue, and their sclera was yellow, adorned with scarlet eyes. Their left arm, right leg, and majority of their torso were still shadows, but the child opened his eyes and grinned.

“I’M FREE!” He then looked down, seeing his half-real body, “Kind of. Hey, Philip! You did it! You kept up your end of the deal! Buuuuttt there’s a slight issue, I’m still kind of not here, do you know how to fix that?” Belos turned to him, smiling almost too wide.

“Oh I know just how to fix that, Collector.” He turned to the group, who all were extremely confused, except for Luz, who’s eyes were wide with remembrance. 

 

"What was that? Who's there!"
"Finally, a person! A real person! Not Philip!"
"Do you wanna play a game? It's kind of hard in my prison but we can make it work!"
“All I know is that I'm The Collector!"
"I need your help, actually... You're a human, right? I can't help you out of here unless I'm able to move freely, I can't be freed from this realm, but if you break the seal on this Titan Capsule, I can freely move around in here!"

“You-” Luz began, as The Collector turned to see Luz.

“Hey! I remember you!” He grinned, “It’s a shame you’re here though… I really don’t wanna possess you, you’re super fun!”

Luz’s eyes widened, possess?!

“Now, Now, Collector, we don’t want to spoil the surprise, do we?” Belos smirked, before looking over the group. “But… Let’s pick our prize, shall we?”

The Collector grinned as he danced over to the group. He analyzed them for a moment before smiling.

“I pick… you.”

His finger was pointed at Marcy.

“Wha-” Marcy was cut off by a loud noise as the arms brought her forward, The Collector grinned as a large sun shaped symbol formed beneath Marcy. Luz could only watch in horror as light began to shine from the symbol, multicolored stars swirled around the symbol as The Collector giggled in pure glee. It was the scream of pain from Marcy that made Luz snap.

Within the throne, the gem flickered slightly, and began to glow, its energy flowing in a beam towards Luz. Luz’s body began to become enveloped in yellow energy, her hair turning from dark chocolate into a fiery yellow and flowing like liquid flames. Her body began to emanate power. Amity, Hunter and Vee looked at her in shock.

“What is happening right now?” Hunter asked, “Is this like a human thing or something?” Luz easily stood up, the fleshy arms ripping and shriveling up from the sheer aura she held. Her eyes opened and a fiery yellow aura surrounded her. Her eyes focused on The Collector, and she snapped.

“LEAVE HER ALONE!” She shot at him, fist reared to punch. The Collector quickly dodged, the ritual cutting out. Belos’ eyes widened as he snarled. He launched a green claw at her, who drew a spell circle mid air, and froze the limb in dense ice. She then turned her focus on The Collector and drew another spell circle, this time, fire spewed out, melting sections of the room.

“Hey- Chill out! You’re no fair!” The Collector groaned, While Belos broke out of the ice, and gathered Luz’s attention again.

“How do you still have the power of the stone?! Augh, nevermind, powered up or not, you’re still eons below my level skill!” He used both arms to try and capture her but she quickly blasted them away, which was all it took for Belos to snap.”OK, THAT’S IT! YOU WANT TO PLAY LIKE THIS? LET’S PLAY.”

His body collapsed in on itself, his features morphing until his whole body had turned into the amalgamated green sludge, groaning, Belos stood up, towering over Luz. His body had lost all shape and now was a limber, tall, green and black creature with flowing gray hair with two large horns like his old mask poking out of his head, which had a skull-like face with exposed teeth and black sclera with cold blue irises, his limbs were thin and oozing with black and green liquid, multiple large blue eyeballs opened on his body and he turned to look at Luz with a groan and a growl.

Luz snarled and launched at him. Belos roared and slashed at her, landing a direct shot and sending her back. She groaned and got up again, drawing 3 spell circles and firing a barrage of icicles at him, which he easily swatted away, before extending his arm to grab her. She scowled in his grasp and gathered her energy to burst out, landing down on the floor while Belos stumbled back, before attempting to swat at her again. Luz teleported back and drew 5 circles where she stood, raising 5 large vines out of the ground and commanding them to attack Belos. He roared and cut the first one clean in half, heaving in a breath and spewing heavy blue flames to incinerate the other 3, but one snared him and Luz made a clamping motion with her hand. The vine tightened and Belos screamed in agony, before exploding in a mess of black and green visceral liquid that splattered everywhere, dead.

Amity, Hunter and Vee gasped in horror, Luz’s yellow aura flickered as she slowly collapsed. The Collector watched with wide eyes.

“Woah, you just killed Philip! Oh well, I only needed him to free me, now that Protection is out of the picture…” The symbols reappeared below Marcy, who continued to scream in pain, as Collector grinned menacingly and vanished. Marcy’s skin and hair shifted colors to match that of The Collector as they rose from the ground. Amity, Hunter and Vee whimpered in fear as Marcy(?) turned to them with a wide grin.

“Man, it feels so good to be in a real body again!” They then raised a finger to her chin, “Hmmm… I guess you guys are still a threat though, should I do something about you?”

The rest of the group had now noticed that the arms had released their grip, and they immediately ran. Amity picked up Luz while Hunter grabbed Marcy’s staff and they bolted.

“Hey! Don’t run away!” The Collector yelled and tried to pull them back but they had already escaped through the door behind the throne room. They frowned. “It’ll take more than that to escape me.”

The group quickly ran through the hallway, which led to a large staircase. Amity kept note of the fact that the gem powered yellow lines followed the stairs. She then turned to Hunter.

“You know the castle, where does this take us?” Hunter looked at the staircase and turned back to her.

“The portal room, it might be powered on, let’s move!” They all moved quickly, Hunter kicked open the large door at the bottom of the stairs and they saw the door, rebuilt. It had scars and cracks, but supporting it was a large silver arc, with small wings coming off of it. Large wires filled with bioluminescent liquid filtered into pipes that connected to the arc. Lines of yellow energy led up to the door, which Hunter quickly jumped over wires to get to. He gripped the handle and made a silent wish, but before he could turn the handle, The Collector burst through the door.

“Not on my watch!” They said, waving a finger as the room around them started to fall apart and collapse on itself.

Hunter quickly pulled the door open and saw that it worked . Rain poured down on the outside in the late night, verdant green trees and lush grass in sight. Hunter swallowed thickly but Amity pushed him through.

“It’s human rain, it doesn’t hurt, move move move!” Vee quickly jumped through the portal as well. They turned to see The Collector as they scowled, but mere seconds later, the door fell apart and the portal shut.

Amity quickly placed Luz down and turned back to the door to try and open it, but the door just led back to an old dusty cabin. She opened it a few times but nothing changed. Hunter looked at her with sympathy. Vee put a hand on her back and they looked at their surroundings. Gone was the blood red forestry of their home dimension and what once was, was now green trees and grass, unknown flowers being battered down by the rain, which hit their skin without sting, only a cooling sensation as the liquid flowed down their bodies. Looking at each other, they began to try and find a way out of the forest.

Meanwhile, a small piece of black sludge found its way on the floor of the dusty cabin, and now? Now it had to rebuild.

 

Not too long, and a helpful dirt path later, they discovered a clearing with houses and what looked to be a street made of black concrete? It was late at night and they began to search for any houses that looked like Luz’s. Luck struck rather quickly when they found a house with a door knocker that stated. ‘Welcome to the Noceda’s”. Amity nodded and carried Luz up the steps to the porch and knocked.

They waited awkwardly for a little bit before the door opened slowly, on the other side, a woman that looked a lot like Luz opened the door, and gasped immediately.

“U-um, hi, we’re friends of Luz’s and um… we have bad news.”

Notes:

I'm not sorry :)

That was part 3, look out for part 4 starting up soon!

Next Up: Separated By The Stars

Quick note: We had a meme competition in our discord server, with the prize being a shoutout, so...

Vikinator999 says "Ah, I hate it when my friend bites off a part of my notebook..."

Chapter 31: Separated By the Stars

Summary:

Luz wakes up in a place both familiar yet unfamiliar.

The squad adjusts to life on the human realm

Belos lurks, taking his time to gather back his full strength, his goal not completed just yet.

The Collector decides it's time to play a game.

Notes:

WE ARE FINALLY BACK BABYYYYYYY

Now with updates hopefully once every 2 weeks or so, maybe less, but the next update can be expected on the 08/02/23, for a very special reason

Anyways, I hope you all enjoy the part 4 premiere!

Willow was tending to her garden, feeding her snapdragons carefully.

“Hey, Amber! No biting!” She scolded her, frowning. Once she was done, she turned to her window, eyeing the skull of the Titan. She sighed, looking down at the scarlet leaves adorning pink barked trees. She smiled, the nature of her world made her feel at peace with herself.

Suddenly, an ear-splitting crack was heard, her eyes darted towards the source, only to see the Emperor’s Castle… Split into two?!

A teal aura pulsated from within the crumbling palace, but the pieces of stone and marble that seemed to fall into the gaping thorn-ridden pit that served as the castle’s moat began floating upwards, encased in that same teal aura. She squinted her eyes and saw something- no, some one rising from within the castle, somehow flying. She couldn’t tell too well but the figure looked really familiar. Moments before she could comprehend this, massive waves of blue, cosmic and starry energy started to emanate from the figure, who… was laughing? She quickly bolted out of her room, and into the kitchen.

“Dad, Papa! We have to go, now!” She exclaimed, her dads were confused but followed along. She made her way to Gus’ house, getting them to come with her as well. She had a destination in mind.

The Owl House.

---

 

“Finally! I’m free!” Collector- Marcy? Exclaimed, spinning around as stars and cosmic energy swirled and flowed around them, “It’s been so long since I’ve had a real body! It’s like the world is singing!”

Screams echoed from beneath them as giant blazing stars crashed down onto the Titans corpse. They grinned before turning their eyes back down to the castle, seeing the caged Eda, who was grabbing onto the bars for her dear life. They giggled, floating down to her.

“You look fun, wanna play?”

---

Hunter quickly pulled the door open and saw that it worked. Rain poured down on the outside in the late night, verdant green trees and lush grass in sight. Hunter swallowed thickly but Amity pushed him through.

“It’s human rain, it doesn’t hurt, move move move!” Vee quickly jumped through the portal as well. They turned to see The Collector as they scowled, but mere seconds later, the door fell apart and the portal shut.

Amity quickly placed Luz down and turned back to the door to try and open it, but the door just led back to an old dusty cabin. She opened it a few times but nothing changed. Hunter looked at her with sympathy. Vee put a hand on her back and they looked at their surroundings. Gone was the blood red forestry of their home dimension and what once was, was now green trees and grass, unknown flowers being battered down by the rain, which hit their skin without sting, only a cooling sensation as the liquid flowed down their bodies. Looking at each other, they began to try and find a way out of the forest.

Meanwhile, a small piece of black sludge found its way on the floor of the dusty cabin, and now? Now it had to rebuild.

 

Not too long, and a helpful dirt path later, they discovered a clearing with houses and what looked to be a street made of black concrete? It was late at night and they began to search for any houses that looked like Luz’s. Luck struck rather quickly when they found a house with a door knocker that stated. ‘Welcome to the Noceda’s”. Amity nodded and carried Luz up the steps to the porch and knocked.

They waited awkwardly for a little bit before the door opened slowly, on the other side, a woman that looked a lot like Luz opened the door, and gasped immediately.

“U-um, hi, we’re friends of Luz’s and um… we have bad news.”

 

“W-Who are you?- Is that Luz! Oh my sweet baby! es realmente ella! What happened to her- Where has she been for these past 4 months?” Camila quickly moved towards the four, before her eyes drifted to their ears. “W-wait, what’s wrong with your ears?”

Amity sighed deeply before trying to think of a proper explanation, before Hunter took initiative.

“I’m sorry Ma’am, it’s a very long story, I’m sure once Luz wakes up, she’ll be able to explain… well, everything,” Camila nodded slowly, allowing the teenagers into her home wearily. “Would uh, you like a towel or something? You’re all soaked,”

Amity curled an eyebrow before shrugging, “If you insist, this is pretty new to us,” She gestured to her soaking clothes.

“Rain is new to you?” Camila asked with confusion while grabbing a few towels out of a cupboard in the hallway, “Do you not get out often?”

Hunter shrugged, “I guess not? It’s more-so we’re used to rain that melts your skin off.” Camila’s eyes widened at that sentence, but chose to ignore it as she handed them all towels. They took them with a few gratitudes and dried themselves. Camila took the unconscious body of her daughter tentatively and looked over her. Her hair had grown slightly, but not too much, a few scars marked her arms, with one cutting through her eyebrow. She brushed a lock of hair out Luz’s face as a sudden thought came to mind.

“Wait, where’s Marcy? Have you two seen her?” She waited for the three to show some form of recognition from the girl's name before describing her, but when her eyes met their downcast and sullen expressions, her heart stopped.

It was now that Camila was dragged from that bombshell by shifting in her arms as Luz coughed slightly and opened her eyes slowly.

“Marcy… Amity…?” She blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes, before they went wider than dinner plates, “MOM!?”

Camila quickly embraced her daughter in a hug, careful not to hug too tight. “Oh my Mija, it’s so good to see you, I thought I had lost you-”

Luz, however, was still in shock. “Wait- Is this a dream? What happened?” They broke the hug, and she turned to see Amity, Hunter and Vee, watching the display with regretful expressions. It was a moment of silence before Amity spoke up.

“Um, what do you remember, Luz?” Luz rubbed her head slowly.

“The Collector was about to possess Marcy, and then I… I only remember the color yellow after that?” Her eyes widened, “Wait, where’s Marcy?” She tried to move but her body refused to do so. It was then that Vee spoke up for the first time.

“You did your best, Luz… but, you fainted right after you, uh…”

“After you killed Belos.” Hunter finished, before clearing his throat roughly, “Uh, yeah, you kind of… crushed him. Into mush.”

Luz’s heart stopped. “I-I… I killed Belos? But- But how?” Vee shook her head.

“We’re not sure, you kinda started glowing yellow, and then you started using magic, without glyphs, and then Belos turned into this weird sludge morph creature, and you two fought, but in the end, you created a large vine, and… crushed him to death” She explained, and Luz’s eyes darted around.

“That still doesn’t explain where Marcy is, or why we’re here?” Amity moved forward and knelt down in front of her crush with a solemn expression.

“We had to run after The Collector…” She choked on her words, but Vee continued for her.

“After The Collector Possessed Marcy- We were forced to run, and we found the portal room.”

“We’re stuck here, Belos is dead, the portal is destroyed, Marcy is stuck in the Boiling Isles being possessed by… whoever The Collector truly is, and we have no way of getting home.” Hunter finished for Vee. Luz felt wetness on her face as she numbly reached up, feeling tears.

It was now that a very confused Camila interjected.

“Ok, can someone please explain what is going on? Who is Belos, who is The Collector, what is the Boiling Isles? I’m so confused…” Luz looked at her Mom, and finally found the strength to sit up.

“Ok… this might take a while to explain, um… everyone, take a seat. Mom? Let me tell you where me and Marcy have been the past 4 months…”

 

---

“So, you fell into a portal, got trapped in a realm full of witches and demons, stayed there for the weekend while you were supposed to be camping with a witch named Eda, became friends with a witch your age named Amity, then got taken back by Eda because this evil Emperor Belos was threatening to petrify her for ‘betraying him’, you saved her but in exchange, the portal was destroyed?”

“To stop Belos from using it for whatever he was going to use it for, he wanted it in exchange for Amity’s life, so we gave it to him but we destroyed it,” Luz added.

“Right… So then you began going to magic school, almost got your head blown off numerous times, fought a reality bending basilisk, went on a rescue mission with the Emperor's right hand man to save a group of… Palismans?”

“Magic pets that help us cast magic better,” Amity informed, scratching Ghost’s head gently.

“Ok, and then you had a fight with Eda’s sister, who works for the Emperor, trying to protect Vee, who is a… Basilisk? From her, and in the end, Eda got captured by the Emperor, and you went to go save her, but Hunter was there, and he was mind controlled, so you two fought and you broke him out of mind control with his Palisman’s help?”

Flapjack flew up to Hunter's shoulder and nuzzled his neck, Hunter smiled and nodded softly.

“So then you fought the Emperor, but he used a special gem to unleash The Collector?”

“We’re still not sure what or who The Collector is, all we do know is that he’s like… really powerful,” Luz stated.

“And then, Luz, you apparently started glowing yellow and casting magic without the use of your glyphs, and then Belos turned into a giant sludge monster, and then you killed him?”

Luz nodded solemnly, rubbing her arm, “I didn’t mean to- I remember now… The sight and sound of Marcy in pain- It was too much, I couldn’t sit back and do nothing!” Amity put a hand on her back, trying to comfort her.

“It’s ok Mija, if I was in your situation, I would have done the same… I think” She then adjusted her glasses, “I’m sorry this is just, a lot to take in.I mean, demons? Witches? Magic? And Marcy is stuck there, not even herself? Oh god, how am I going to break the bad news to Dace and Beryl?”

Luz curled up on herself, raising her knees to her chest, before admitting “The truth, we have to tell them- it’d be wrong to lie…” She wiped her eyes gingerly, “It’s not what Marcy would want…”

Camila frowned, but then put a hand on her daughters shoulder.

“We’ll do it together, OK Mija?” Luz sniffled and wiped her eyes, nodding. Camila sighed, eyeing the groups injuries, “But for now, you’re all safe here, let’s get some rest, tomorrow, we’ll break the news to Dace and Beryl.”

Unbeknownst to the group, lingering outside the window, a small spider with long, murky green horns jutting out of its head glared at them.

He’ll strike, one day…

---

“You two can sleep in Luz’s bunk bed, and I’ll situate Hunter in the living room with Vee.” Camila instructed, Luz nodding and Amity looking at Luz expectantly, urging her to show the girl her room. Luz got the idea and showed her the way to her room. Opening the door, Amity could see the rows of figurines and Azura books that lined the walls and desk of her room. Her bunk bed seemed pretty bland but had a colorful cover on it. She had a rug that was red with a few lighter red or pink patterns on it that Amity couldn’t discern (Luz would later say it’s something called “Abstract Art” but Amity still didn’t understand.)

“It’s not much but, welcome to my humble abode,” Luz welcomed Amity, who smiled softly at her friend trying to make things cheery.

“It may not be much but it feels homey, and certainly cozy,” She walked over to a large bag in the middle of the room and poked it, “But… I still have very little idea of what everything in this room is,”

Luz scratched the back of her neck, feeling bad for her friends being trapped in an unfamiliar realm, “It’ll take some time, but I can teach you some of the basics,” She then pointed to the bag Amity was experimentally poking, “Like for example, that is a beanbag, you sit in it, it’s kind of like… a really soft chair?”

Amity hesitated for a second, before gently laying her body in the beanbag, and her eyes widened when she found out just how soft it was. It was like it was gently cradling her body.

“This is… amazing! ” She exclaimed, leaning back into the beanbag with a giddy grin and a small giggle, Luz blushed gently at the sight, before shaking her head and smiling softly.

“Yeah, that’s pretty much everyone's reactions to sitting in one of those for the first time.” She sighed before sitting down on the bottom bunk. “What are we gonna do, Amity? Marcy- She’s trapped, and not even herself, I-, I miss her,” She admitted with a tear in the corner of her eye. Amity frowned and got up, sitting next to the Hispanic girl, tentatively laying an arm on her shoulder and pulling her close.

“I already miss her too, but your Mom said it better than I can, we’ll find a way back to her, back to the Isles, but we need rest, we can’t try on empty fumes or else we’ll never make it back, I guess we just have to hope that until we make it back, tThe Collector doesn’t do anything bad with Marcy’s body…”

Luz nodded but still couldn’t stop the tears from coming out. Amity sighed gently and comforted her friend, whispering words of reassurance and pulling the girl closer, as her body was wracked with silent yet deafening sobs.

---

“So you were the Golden Guard, huh?” Vee asked with a side-eye aimed towards Hunter, who sighed.

“I guess. Look, I- despite being Belos’ right hand man, I was… I was never told about the experiments much more than just knowing they were… Experimenting.” Hunter admitted, Flapjack tweeting quietly on his shoulder, “If I had known, I still couldn’t have done anything by myself, but now that I see the kind of man that Belos is… I can’t say I’m surprised that he would stoop as low as living experimentation for… fun?”

Vee’s eyes were a little wide, “I- wow, I was expecting you to hate me or something,”

Hunter curled an eyebrow, “Hate you? What reason would I have to hate you?” He fiddled with the single dreadlock that dangled in front of his face, “You did nothing wrong, you were bought into existence inside of a cage and experimented on for who knows how long, you literally have done nothing wrong,”

Vee blinked slowly, before shrugging. “I don’t know, I guess I’m still a little stressed from everything that’s happened recently… Um, how are you holding up?”

Hunter frowned. “I… I don’t know, in the past few hours I’ve gone against everything I’ve been taught in my entire life. I found out that the man who raised me and who I trusted with every fiber of my being was a bad person who wanted to hurt people, and now I’m in an unfamiliar realm, away from all sense of familiarity.” He chuckled mirthfully. “Yet in some… sick way, the last few hours have been more, I don’t want to say exciting… Exhilarating? Yeah, exhilarating, the last few hours have been more exhilarating than the rest of my life has been. Is that… Is that wrong to think?”

Vee shrugged, honestly not sure what to say, and Hunter took that as it was, the two falling into silence yet again. It was a little while until Vee spoke up again.

“I don’t know why Belos wanted our kind back to life, he said something about being a key in his life’s goal, yet he never said anything more than that. It’s painful to say but I’m glad I’m not in the demon realm right now, number 3 might be… Dead, and that Belos is dead as well. It’s better that way, Belos probably had a plan to do something very bad to the Isles with us.”

Hunter thought back to any time Belos may have mentioned something using Basilisks, before something came to mind. “He never said anything about Basilisks, but I do remember overhearing him talk to himself. Or maybe it was to The Collector, I only just found out about… whatever they are the same time everyone else did, but he mentioned something about a Draining Spell. You guys drain magic don’t you? Maybe he needed to know how to drain magic for that spell, but I can’t be too sure what for.”

Vee pondered for a moment as well, before coming up with a blank. “Well, whatever he was planning, he can’t do it anymore, he’s, y’know,”

Hunter nodded, sighing. “Yeah, dead. It’s kind of cathartic, knowing that he’s not looming over me anymore, but a part of me can't help but feel sad that he’s gone.”

Vee nodded. “Mhm, he was your… dad?”

“Uncle,” Hunter corrected, before shrugging, “But he was kind of a father figure to me, after all, my family died because of uncontrolled use of wild magic. Or so Belos said.”

Vee yawned quietly before wiping her eyes and sighing. “Well, I’m not sure how to… comfort you, but, we’re all here for you, I think. I don’t want to talk for Luz or Amity but I’m sure that they would wanna be here for you as well.”

Hunter laughed, a rare spark of joy as he reminisced on his and Luz’s adventures “Yeah, It’d shock me if Luz didn’t want to help me, you wouldn’t believe how assertive she was when wanting to be my friend,”

Vee smiled, “Tell me, I’m curious,”

And so they chatted into the night, Camila smiled, watching on from the hallway as the two clearly traumatized kids found common ground and friendship within each other, not even minding the hour they ended up staying up to, because they both needed some comfort, from what she could tell. After a while, she turned to make her way to bed, going to check in on Luz and Amity before so.

Opening the door to the bedroom revealed Luz fast asleep leaning against a sleeping Amity, both not even properly on the bed, Luz was half hanging off and Amity was upside down, somehow. Camila smiled until she noticed the tear streaks that ran down Luz’s face, feeling her heart crack ever so slightly, seeing her usually joyous girl in such an upsetting state. She clenched her fist, making a silent promise to herself to keep these children protected and safe for as long as needed.

After all, she was a mother, and be a mother she will, even to the children that aren’t her own, because god knows they need it right now.

 

---

The Collector grinned as they floated up to the cage that held Eda.

“Do you know any games we can play?” They pouted, “I’m bored~,”

Eda frowned, “I dunno kid, It’d be kind of difficult to play any games while I’m locked in this cage, you know, if you maybe let me go we could play my favorite game?”

The Collector’s eyes widened with glee, “Your favorite game! You better not be fibbing!”

Eda bowed to them, “I promise that I’m not lying, but we only need 2 people to play,” The Collector frowned at that.

“2 People? Ugh, you’re so boring, you know, if you tell me how to play, I’m sure I can make the game interesting!” They giggled as Eda paled at the complications of what was just said. The Collector grinned again, flying into the air, getting a clear view over the rest of the Titan’s corpse, with a coy smile across their face.

“Yes, an entire Isles worth of players would be so fun!”

Notes:

The Collector wants to play a game...

A simple yet heartfelt welcoming chapter to the human realm, things only go downhill from there. Look out for chapter 32 on the 08/02/23!

Next up: New Beginnings (And Old Memories)

Chapter 32: AUTHORS NOTE: I'm Sorry

I should have done this a long time ago.

I think it's been well overdue, that I talk about the status of DLB. Will it continue? 

And the honest answer is...

I don't know.

I don't know what to do, I don't know how to do it, I have a clear path that I want to take the story but I just... I just can't write, I sit down with motivation to write DLB, I say to myself, "Ok, it's been over 200 days, I need to do this,", I get one sentence written in 20 minutes and I give up. I genuinely don't know what's wrong with me, I just don't know what to do, and I don't want to let anyone down and its been in the forefront of my mind every day, stressing me out, making me feel anxious and like I'm disappointing everybody. After a lot of thought, I still am not entirely sure what's going to happen to DLB long term, whether I quit it, or I come back to it, that is undecided, but for now, I'm going to say this: Don't expect any updates on DLB for a long time, my life is too hectic right now on top of my lack of motivation and ideas.

I'm sorry if you've all been eagerly awaiting a new chapter of DLB, it's not coming, not for a long time, if not ever.

If you want to check out my new project, visit the next work in this series, it may not be your piece of cake but if you really adore my writing that much then go ahead.

Notes:

We have a discord server! It's brand new so its still got some kinks me and my friend have to work out, but we have an official place for you guys to hang out, talk to each other and me, theorize for TOH, or Don't Look Back, or share fanart, plug your own stories and much more!

Join here at: https://discord.gg/VNZuczqxBu

Anyone is welcome!

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of The Owlverse