In an eastern Bonesborough suburb, Gwendolyn Clawthorne landed her staff on the main square, carrying ingredients for another recipe. She turned and walked in the direction of her house. She passed by a bar packed to the brim with people. One of them turned around and saw Gwendolyn: it was Jacqueline Burnes, one of her neighbors.
"Gwen!" she called out. "There you are! Something's happened to Eda!"
"Eda?" she questioned. "Did something happen to her? Does she need help? I'm making a new recipe that I hope can cure her."
"Gwen," Jacqueline said forlornly, "I don't think it matters anymore." She pulled her arm, turned around, and said, "Move out of the way, dammit! Eda's mother is here!" They cleared out of the way to give her a look at the bar's crystal ball, about 40 inches in diameter. It was tuned to one of the networks, Islevision. On the screen was a picture of Gwendolyn's daughter Eda. The caption beneath said, "EDA CLAWTHORNE CAPTURED, TO BE PETRIFIED AT CONFORMATORIUM".
A look of horror fell onto the old woman's face.
"Fools!"
Lilith Clawthorne turned around. Kikimora was berating the Warden Wrath.
"You let the human escape!" Kikimora cried out. "And you drew her a map?!"
So that's what it is. Edalyn's human had infiltrated the Conformatorium. Luz had come here to break Edalyn out, and with what had happened with the Emperor, she felt it was for the best.
"Worry not, Kikimora," Lilith declared. "I shall capture the human."
"Well, make it quick!" Kikimora cried out. "That creature will interfere with the process! We must show all the remaining wild witches that we possess complete legitimacy and authority on these matters! This magic must be controlled for the Day of Unity!"
"Indeed, madam," Lilith replied.
"What are you standing around for, Clawthorne? Get that human!"
She nodded, then set off for the dungeon.
I hope she'll be there, she thought to herself. Thankfully, she knew every corner of the Conformatorium like the back of her hand. She only hoped she could get to Eda before the petrification process could begin.
She'd made a horrible mistake trusting the Emperor.
The door to Raine's office was slightly ajar. One of Raine's colleagues, Alexander Scorell, opened the door. He was greeted by the sight of papers on the floor and Raine crying into their desk.
"Are you alright there, Raine?" he asked. They kept at their sobbing. What has gotten into them? He pulled their back up and said, "Do you need me to get a glass of water? I'll do it. Just…just stay there." He rushed out to get a cup from the water dispenser. Once he came back, he handed the cup to Raine. They had calmed down just enough to drink it. "There," Alexander said. "Maybe you need to take your mind off these papers. Watch something on the CB. Come along now."
They sighed. "OK, then," Raine responded. "I'll go."
"Great," Alexander said. "Let's get you down to the parlor. We could watch something. Maybe Morgul? There's a new episode coming up. The guy's gonna be on a date with the bank manager. Maybe we can catch some of it."
"Oh," they said with hesitation as the two exited the office and went down the hall to the parlor.
"OK, we'll watch it on demand." The two reached the parlor, where several Bard Coven personnel were scattered, reading books and playing some light music and other activities. One of them spotted the duo.
"Alex! Raine!" parlor staffer Violet Andante called out. "Nice to see you here!"
"Vi, this dude needs a bit of relaxation for today," Alexander explained, patting Raine on the back. "They seem to be stressed out from all the paperwork. Does the Emperor like paperwork?"
Raine flinched at the mention of the Emperor.
"Was it something I said? I don't know. I know Coven Leader Crane likes sheets. Sheet music, I mean. Anyway, we're going to watch a show on the crystal ball."
"Say no more," Violet replied, then turned her attention to a demon using the crystal ball to play a game. "Hey, Natty! They have to use the crystal ball."
"Almost…" the demon said. "Boom! Chapter complete."
Alexander and Violet brought Raine to the sofa facing the crystal ball. Natty set the tuner away from games and into the broadcasters. The four of them watched as a pair of anchors on BBN-HXN were on the screen.
" – an unbelievable occasion," the anchor on the left was saying to his colleague. "It's something we haven't seen in the past thirty years, so we could just imagine how people across the Boiling Isles are reacting to this."
"Yes, the crowds in the Conformatorium are going to be very much aware of the Emperor's authority," the other anchor replied. "Having Eda Clawthorne petrified is going to be a game-changer in the campaign against the wild witches."
"Whoa," Alexander commented. "They're going to petrify Eda the Owl Lady?"
"In public?" Violet added. At that moment, Raine broke down again, this time harder than ever.
While Eda was being chained in the dungeon, she had ended up falling back into a dream. The nothingness of the curse. With nothing except the Owl Beast. She looked around and tried to find it. Its shadow or silhouette would fly around, and she couldn't get it.
Eda?
Suddenly, she sensed it coming towards her. She turned around.
Eda!
She swung hard with a punch. There was a familiar-sounding thud, followed by a groan. She chased after the creature when she saw a light.
Eda, wait! It's me!
Luz? Eda thought.
It's me.
A flash. She came back to her senses. As the light dimmed a bit, Luz Noceda was lying on the floor, holding a light orb she conjured with the light glyph.
"Luz?!" she said with shock. "Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. What-what-what are you doing here?"
"It's OK, Eda," the human girl replied as she extinguished the light. "I'm here to save you." She knelt, took out a piece of paper with a fire glyph on it, and activated it. The chain glowed for a couple of seconds but did not break.
"Your magic isn't strong enough for this!" Eda replied. "You need to leave. Now."
"But…But I can't!" Luz said as she put another fire glyph, to no avail. "It's my fault you needed to save me." She took another fire glyph. "It's my fault you got captured."
Eda grabbed the girl and raised her. "No. Listen to me. I'm here because of my own actions. I went against Belos's law, and, for a while…" She let her go. "…I was able to get away with it. But, well, without magic, I can't do much.
"I don't regret anything," she continued melancholically. "I lived freely, and…" She turned to Luz. "…I got to meet you."
"Eda."
She placed her hand on Luz's cheek. "But if you stay here, I won't be able to protect you. You need to leave. Now!"
Eda pulled her hand away only for Luz to grab it. "But we're a family," the girl said as tears formed in her eyes. "Us weirdos have to stick together. Remember?"
She reached out inside her hair and took out the portal key. She clicked on the eye, and the portal door emerged.
"You have a family already," Eda said to Luz as the door opened. "Go back to them." As Luz gazed at it, Eda continued, "And when you're home, use your fire magic to destroy the portal door," as she draped the key over her. "I don't know why Belos wants it, but we can't take any chances."
Tears formed in Luz's eyes again as she held it. She hid it and brought Eda into a hug, which stunned her a little. "I love you, Eda."
Feeling a little guilty, she said, "I love you, too, kiddo."
The alarm sounded. A gate on the ceiling began to open and the room shook once complete.
"Luz, get away," Eda said as she pushed the human away. The shackles glowed and transformed into a cage. The platform where she was at began to rise.
"No!" Luz cried as she broke into a run and grabbed the platform to ride up alongside it. She ended up holding Eda's hand. "Not yet!"
"I'm sorry," she said before she pushed her off. Luz yelped before landing with a thud. "Goodbye, Luz."
"Eda!"
The platform reached the top of the ceiling with a big thud. Now she was alone. She sighed and prepared to meet her fate.
This is just like a dream, she thought. "Hmm…" She pinched herself and winced when she felt the pain. "Yeah, this is real. This sucks."
One of the walls opened. She saw the demon Kikimora flanked by two guards.
"Well, Ms. Edalyn Clawthorne – I still can't stand saying those two names together," Kikimora said, "you're back to talking again. It's time to make this cage presentable."
"Uh," Eda said, "why the cage?"
"You're a beast! It's already difficult enough as it is! Don't test me!"
"No, I mean, why are you dressing up the cage?"
"Oh. It's for presentation. The Emperor wants to send a message. Do not worry. It will not take long."
Lilith followed the corridor to see a bunch of guards held up by vines, one stuck on the ceiling, a few encased in ice, and one guy simply cowering in the face of a flame (even though the way behind was completely open.
The human is talented, Lilith thought. I'll give her that. She redirected the fires to melt the ice, cut the vines, and helped the guard stuck on the ceiling get out.
"The human is around here somewhere," she said. "Spread out!"
The guards rushed past her, leaving the way forward open. She turned right and saw the strange little demon thing, which she remembered Edalyn called "King". He was growling, in a rather adorable manner. He turned and spotted Lilith.
"You!" he cried out, then charged at her. She caught him just in time. He struggled as she went forward and opened the door.
"Drat," she said when she saw the dungeon with nobody but the human Luz kneeling on the ground. They did take Edalyn away.
"Let me go!" King cried out.
She looked up at the column that carried the platform to the ceiling. "I'm too late. At least I found you, human."
"You…" Luz said vengefully. "You hurt Eda." The girl stood up. "You put her in chains." She held her right hand on her chest. "And now…" she turned around to reveal with tears in her eyes that she was holding some pieces of paper, "I will take you down!" She charged at Lilith then launched herself into the air and threw two pieces of paper with fire glyphs on them together, creating a fireball. Lilith used her staff to block the flames. Luz landed behind her.
"I just wanna talk," Lilith turned to the girl and said.
"Talk to the glyph, witch!" Luz yelled as she took out more papers with plant glyphs. She threw them down on the floor, and large, thick vines erupted around the witch and encased her. She quickly cut the vines with her staff, only to be tackled by Luz.
"Stop!" she cried. "What is wrong with you?" The two ended up going through the portal, where they were thrown out onto the ground. They were followed by King. When the trio came to, they were in a forest, while behind them was a dilapidated house. When the human stood up and took a few steps, she prepared to attack. Her hands began to glow. King, who was still coming to his senses, spotted her.
"Luz, watch out!" he cried. Lilith promptly conjured up three vines to restrain him. Once the girl looked back, she sent a burst of magic.
However, Luz dodged it and rolled on the ground to cast another fire glyph on a piece of paper. "Fire!" she called out.
The paper disintegrated.
"What?"
Realizing a break in Luz's defenses, Lilith tackled her. The two were struggling, with Lilith holding down her body, while Luz gripped her hair. "Please," she said, "just listen to me!"
"No way," the girl responded. "You deserve to be petrified. Not Eda."
The guilt caused Lilith to stop fighting her.
"You're right." She let go of Luz and backed away. "I deserve to be in Edalyn's place."
The human looked at her with worry and asked, "Why did you do all this?"
"When Edalyn and I were younger," she explained sadly, "we were the best of friends."
"You were?" Luz queried incredulously.
"Yes. We made sure we could take care of each other, when things were good or when things were rough. We shared each other's joy, and we shared each other's pain. The two of us felt we could depend on each other. We shared the same interests."
"What were they?"
"Being in the Emperor's Coven was my dream. I wanted to work alongside the most powerful witch on the Isles and make the world a better place. Eda wanted to be with me. But there was a problem. When we came for tryouts, the recruiter said there was only one spot available for them. We had to face each other in a duel for that spot."
She sighed. "I knew Edalyn would beat me. She was younger but worked twice as hard. She met me at my level. Emperor Belos always said, 'To be great, you have to make sacrifices.' What would he do in my situation? I found a spell that would take away her powers."
"And so you cursed her," Luz said.
"I did it while she was asleep. I thought it would just be for a day. Just long enough to get me to win."
Luz stared blankly.
"When the duel came, everyone was none the wiser. I charged, and then she said, 'No.' I stopped in the middle of the field as she turned to the recruiter overseeing the duel and declared, 'I refuse to battle my sister.'"
"She forfeited the duel?"
"She approached me and said that she didn't feel like joining any covens anymore. She wanted me to remember her when I became successful. And as Edalyn walked away…"
"The curse truly came out," Luz said. "My God."
"They were booing her, even though she was just a normal witch only seconds ago. They were throwing rocks at her. She ran off. I tried to follow her but a guard took my hand and declared me the winner. I made my sacrifice for the Emperor. And it was time to receive my reward. I've been pursuing Edalyn because if she joined the Emperor's Coven, Emperor Belos told me he would heal her curse." She turned to Luz and concluded, "But he lied to me. I know how to rescue Edalyn. But I can't do it alone."
A skeptical Luz asked, "How do I know I can trust you?" Indeed. How could anyone trust someone like her?
So Lilith drew a circle in the air and summoned Edalyn's palisman and staff. She handed them over to Luz.
"Owlbert," Luz said with concern. "You're OK." The owl palisman hooted. Placing him on her shoulder, the girl stood up and said, "All right, Lilith. I don't like your whole…deal," wiggling her index finger around, "but…we need your help to save Eda." She took out the portal key and held it out to Lilith.
"Thank you," the witch replied. She released King from the vines that restrained him. He grunted with surprise. "Now let's head back." She went forward through the portal back to the dungeon. After some paces, she looked back. The small creature with the skull went through the portal, followed by Luz. "Come quickly. The petrification ceremony will begin soon." The group set off for the basement, where there might be a service entrance to the stage. It was time to get Edalyn out.