Angel: Why did they cut the theme song short, what is wrong with these people!
In the Emperor's castle, Hunter was in his room, sitting on his bed. He had his cloak in front of him, and he was sewing something to it as his palisman flew over. He chirped and Hunter smiled at him. "Yeah, it does look good as new," He held it up after he was finished. He had sewn a symbol on it, but the work didn't look that good as some stitches were loose, and there was some tape over one side which peeled off. Hunter smiled at it. "...And I have no idea what I'm doing," He admitted after seeing this. "Maybe I should've asked Luci, but would she even know how to fix it?"
A knock was heard from his door, the palisman flying away to hide. Hunter opened it to see two Coven Guards staring down at him. He flinched, but then one of them gave him a letter, which he turned away to open. He saw that it was a letter from Belos. "My duties are keeping me busy. I entrust you to lead the Coven Heads today. Consider this...a test. Hmm," He smiled at this.
He then walked towards the throne room, the door opening to reveal the Coven Heads stepping out. "Good. You're all here. We can get started—hey!" They ignored him, either bumping into him or walking past him. "Where are you—I said wait! Come back here!"
Raine stopped and glanced at him, but Terra led him away. He frowned at this, storming into the throne room to see only Darius, Eberwolf, and some Abomatons. "Darius, Eberwolf! Why is everyone leaving? We're scheduled to have a recruitment meeting."
Darius sighed slowly, both Heads turning to him while the former was holding a scroll. "Good morning to you too, little prince. We decided to reschedule the meeting, so...go play arts and crafts, or whatever it is you do," He waved the boy off and then noticed something. "Oh," He then snatched the cloak from Hunter, knowing that he had 'lost' the previous one. "Looks like you've already started." Hunter frowned as the cloak was brought to Darius. He chuckled at the patchwork from it. "This is impressively bad. Wait..." He took a closer look at the symbol. "Is this the old Golden Guard sigil?"
"Of course it is!" Hunter narrowed his eyes in defense. "And this is no way to treat the Emperor's-"
"Nephew?" Darius raised a brow, not seeming to care. Hunter narrowed his eyes in a glare, pursuing his lips. "I knew your predecessor. He was my mentor. One of the strongest witches I've ever known. But you, hmm..." He rubbed his chin.
"But Belos says I don't need magic to serve the Coven," The boy looked towards the ground.
"And I say, you don't deserve to wear that patch," Darius remarked as he and Eberwolf walked past him. Hunter glanced at them, feeling like he wasn't good enough, mainly because he couldn't do magic on his own. And by that criteria, it was no wonder the Coven Heads didn't listen...
"Wait. What should I do?" Hunter glanced at them. "How do I...earn it?" He looked away, wanting to be respected, wanting to not be looked down upon.
"Oh, sweet mother of Titans, I don't know. Find new recruits for the Emperor's Coven?" Darius asked sarcastically. "The best and the brightest witches in all the land. Then maybe you can get this back," He held up the cloak.
"I'll do it," The boy gave a look of determination.
"Of course you will," Darius walked out of the throne room. "You're very good at doing exactly what you're told," And with that, the door closed on him. Hunter rubbed his chin in thought. If he was going to find new recruits, the best way to do that was with people his own age, since most adults probably wouldn't listen...and he knew someone that could help him. The only problem?
He'd have to do a lot of convincing to get her on his side...
Willow was doing push-ups in the forest, Clover laying down next to her. Her hair was in two pigtails and had a green streak in it, plus she had golden framed glasses. "After years of thinking I wasn't good enough, I finally found something I can be good at." She grasped vines in her hands, sweating. "Something I wanna be good at," She wiggled the vines around. "Switching to the plant track is just the beginning." She then started jumping between the swinging vines. "I'm on my way to becoming the witch I wanna be." Clover was actually swinging the rope to help Willow out. "I can do this!" She smiled at herself in the mirror. She then looked a little doubtful as she thought about it. "Right?"
She looked at a clipping from her mirror, seeing a flyer about a team from Flyer Derby winning. Her parents were also in the picture in the center, as they also played Flyer Derby when they were her age. "Eye of the liger, girl. Knock 'em dead," She winked at her reflection.
She stepped into school seeing a banner for the club fair. She smiled and then heard a crash, turning to the end of the hallway. Luz and Gus ran in, smoke appearing behind them. Lucila came in from the opposite side, Luz tossing an ice glyph. The two screamed as they ran and Lucila flinched as she saw why. One of the lockers had come out of a row, chasing after the two. Lucila ran after it, throwing a fire glyph, but it didn't affect it. Gus and Luz hid behind Willow, who smiled and spun a finger. She trapped the locker by summoning several vines and it fell face first to the ground.
"Nice, Willow," Lucila winked at her.
"Thanks, Willow," Luz hugged her from behind.
"And that's why we try not to keep our lunches in the lockers," Gus remarked, sitting on top of it.
"Luz," Lucila facepalmed with a knowing tone.
"What? You made my favorite, I didn't want people stealing it," Her sister pouted at her, hugging the older girl. "You searched really hard to find all those ingredients."
Lucila just smiled and patted her back. "Sooo," Luz turned around to Willow. "Ready for the club fair, Willow?" She touched up Willow's hair a bit. "Mayhaps you'll join me and Amity in the...Azura Book Club?" She waved a hand, showing all five books from the series. She then got a paper cut. "Owie."
"Give," Lucila held out her hand and Luz placed her hand into Lucila's. Lucila pulled out a harmonica and played a tune to heal the paper cut. "Thank you to my healing teacher for enchanting it so that I don't need to play a flute all the time," She waved it.
"Thanks...but I'm interested in something with a little more...drama, flair, and face paint!" She grinned widely.
"I'm so excited to hear the next words out of your mouth," Luz whispered excitedly, clenching her fists.
"Flyer Derby!" Willow held up her Penstragram account, which seemed to have gotten an update, and showed an advertisement for the sport.
"Only Stabitha Jenkins and Old Gory are left," The announcer said as two people were using their staffs to fly towards each other. "Who will win?" The one in green took the flag of their opponent, hanging it onto a tree. "And it's Stabitha Jenkins with the winning flag!"
"Ever since our grudgby match, I've been playing it at home," Willow revealed to them. "Today," Willow spun her staff into her hand, putting it behind her back. "'I'm starting Hexside's first Flyer Derby team!"
Luz and Gus cheered, throwing up confetti behind her. Lucila chuckled at this. "Well, good luck, Willow."
"Are you joining anything today?" Gus asked her curiously and she rubbed her neck.
"I don't know, I've already got Owl Rocks with you, that's kinda already taking enough time as it is."
"Azura book club~!" The girl gave a knowing smile to Luz, who was trying to goad her into getting back into Azura books. "You know you wanna~!"
"Nice try, hermana, but I've outgrown those books. I gave them to you for a reason," She closed her eyes, patting her sister on the head. "You are officially the only Noceda who reads them. I have closed the door on those."
"Whoa...so like...you passed them down to me to keep up the legacy," Luz's eyes shined and the older girl laughed.
"Will you join Flyer Derby?" Willow asked hopefully.
"I'll think about it," Lucila smiled softly.
"Now that you mention it, since you don't have Penstagram, Owl Rocks blew up over there," Willow spoke up, holding up the scroll to show a picture of the band performing. "It's all anyone's talking about ever since the parade."
"I'm sure some of it had to deal with my skills," Gus grinned and Lucila shook her head in amusement.
"As long as no one finds out that I'm lead singer, people can talk about it all they want. The last thing I want is attention and for it to go to my head," She waved it off.
"Don't you want people to recognize how good you guys were?" Luz raised a brow.
"Yeah, but I don't want fame or people to try and become a friend when I have you guys and your support. That's enough for me," She told the three and they smiled, all of them giving her a hug.
Everyone was outside for the club fair, checking out all the stands. Clover set up the banner for the Flyer Derby stand, Willow using her magic to grow flowers around it. Once Clover landed on her shoulder, she nuzzled her palisman.
"Journey with us to a world of magic unlike any other!" Luz boomed from the Good Witch Azura stand. "Well, uh, a bit like this world except toned down for ages 6 to 11." She frowned as no one had come up to their booth. "Why isn't anyone interested?"
"The art doesn't do it any favors," Boscha suddenly spoke up, holding one and showing Luz. The cover had Azura holding a cat, riding a broom with a rainbow behind her.
"Not judging a book by its cover is a baby rule even babies know," Luz retorted back to her. "Plus, you don't read Azura for the art. There's so magic in the words!" She gushed and Boscha opened up the book.
"Twice have I tarried at Tanabrak, yet e'er have I kept my troth to thee, Azura," She acted out, since the words...didn't really make sense.
"Okay," Luz took the book from her. "The prose can be...ornate, but it's also the crackling emotions! The convoluted magic system. The smell of the pages," She flipped the pages, putting her face in them. She then sniffed them, Boscha looking annoyed.
"Luz!" Amity rushed over to her, panting as her face was red. "I heard that..." She was out of breath from the running.
"Spill it, hermosa!" Luz jumped over the booth.
"The author of Azura is having a signing this afternoon at the Book Nook!" Amity revealed happily, and Luz just looked confused.
"Huh?"
"You are much less excited than I imagined," The purple-haired witch pointed out.
"Uh, excuse me, I'm still here!" Boscha spoke up in annoyance, a bit bothered that she was being ignored, though rightfully so.
"I'm just confused. The author is human," Luz explained to her girlfriend.
"No, she's not," Amity chuckled, shaking her head. "She's from the Demon Realm. How do you think I got my books?" She held up her copy of the first book.
"How do you think I got mine? Look," She showed Amity the back of her book.
"Hey!" Boscha shouted as from both books, it was the same picture, but Luz's book had round ears picture from the woman, and Amity's had pointed ones.
"See? Human," Luz pointed to the ear.
"Can the author of Azura..."
"Travel between realms?!" Luz asked excitedly.
"Get off me!" Boscha pushed them apart, crossing her arms. They put their books down and smiled, holding hands as they ran off to go meet the author. "You guys aren't cute! I still have more friends than you!"
"Oh man, it's so sad nowadays," Lucila walked past her, and she looked confused.
"You wanna tell me what you're talking about?"
"The fact that you think you can actually make them feel miserable when neither of them care what you believe," She remarked, holding up her head with a satisfied smile. "I knew I taught my sister well on how to deal with spoiled people like you."
Boscha gasped and then snarled at her, clenching her fists. She stormed off and Hunter peeked behind a skullpting booth. He was wearing a Hexside uniform, with the Potions tracks color.
"Look at all these potential recruits..." He said with a sneaky smile, his palisman chirping and landing on his shoulder. "Well, sure, I've never actually spoken to witches my ages besides Luci...well, she's not a witch in the normal sense in this case. Teens are probably into the same things as me! Like authority and rules. Now I just gotta find Luci so she can help!" He came out of hiding, bumping right into the girl he was looking for.
"Ow!" They both exclaimed and Lucila gasped as she knew the voice, looking up. She did a double take upon seeing him. She hadn't seen or spoken to him ever since...he kissed her cheek. But right now, that wasn't her ONLY issue here, so she was taking a step back from that to focus on the fact that he was at her school.
"Wait, WHA-" He covered her mouth with his hand and she flinched, putting a finger to his lip.
"Hey, Luci," Hunter winked at her with an awkward chuckle. "Just the person I was looking for."
She glanced around and then grabbed his hand. She pulled Hunter towards the entrance of the school, slamming the door shut. Thankfully, everyone else was outside for the event, meaning no classes. She chuckled as she turned around and then she clenched her teeth. "Why are you at my school, you have more important things to tackle other than showing up here!" She said in a heated whisper and he sweated nervously. "The Golden Guard?!" She asked in exasperation and he held up a hand.
"I haven't forgotten. But I need to find recruits for the Emperor."
She stared at him with an open mouth and he got a little scared. "Uhh, what's with that—"
"Seriously?!" She screamed in disbelief and then paced, ranting in Spanish. He blinked in confusion; he had no idea what she was saying, but it probably wasn't good considering her tone.
"Luci?" He asked, but she wasn't listening. "Luci. Luci!" He grabbed her shoulders to get her to stop. "You're talking in a language I barely understand."
"Right. But that's probably for the best," She sighed knowingly, pinching her nose with a hand on her hip. He let go of her as she rubbed a temple. "You can't possibly think that I'd help you with this or that I even could. Especially since, oh I don't know, you don't know Hexside like I do! And my sister could see you!"
"Is Luci actually worried about me?" He smirked, hands on his hips.
"For once, I will actually admit that since Luz recently teamed up with my friends to give me a protection squad. You need to get out of here," She warned him, crossing her arms and glancing at him.
"But if I don't find anyone, no one will be able to respect me!" He said quickly, gesturing to himself. "Like you and Luz, you two don't even need to try! You could just talk to her and she actually listens," He gestured to the girl.
Lucila rubbed the back of her neck. She'd think that with his position, he'd be at least threatening to anyone; especially after what he did for her with the Warden while rescuing Eda from petrification. But she guessed she was wrong. "Ahh, I don't think she listens to me that much—"
"It's different with the other Coven Heads…I want what you have, to be respected…" He sagged his shoulders. "To prove that I can be something when people tell you that you can't..."
She sighed slowly at his answer. "Hunter, my relationship with my sister isn't comparable to what you mean. I'm not sure if I should even get involved…" She said slowly; she had seen what Belos could do to Hunter mentally before. She didn't know if she wanted to see that side of him again...but the Hunter in front of him, she hadn't seen him so desperate for authority...
"I know, but you're the only one I know here," He pointed out and she raised a brow.
"What about Edric? My sister?"
"I meant the only one I know who wouldn't attack me first before talking. And besides, aren't you happy to see me at your school?" He crossed his arms with a small smirk. She just laughed it off, trying not to let it show that deep down, she was a bit happy to see him here.
"Oh, you'd love me to answer that, wouldn't you?" She replied sarcastically.
"That wasn't a no," He stared at her in her school uniform, finding it interesting that she had two colors. Then again, she did tell him that it was a thing, but he didn't think she'd look so...pretty.
"Whatever…" She noticed him staring and then looked in confusion. "What?"
"N-Nothing!" He denied, darting his eyes around.
"Okay, I'm gonna go before...anyone gets any ideas. Leave at least 30 seconds after me, rumors will complicate things," She turned towards the door and he panicked as she touched the doorknob.
"Luci, wait!" He held out a hand and she paused, not looking at him. She placed her other hand on the door, looking down a bit. "I…I know I haven't given you much reason to trust me lately, but this mission is really, really important to me. Just as much as you are. Please…I need your help here. Even if it's one person, it might be a big help."
She sighed slowly as she closed her eyes, taking in his words. "…If I find anyone, you'll keep my name out of this?"
"Yes! Absolutely," He nodded vigorously; the last thing he wanted was for this to be tracked down to her.
"…Fine. I'll help you. But I really don't wanna go through everything that's happened between us lately a second time. And so I'm asking you in return to not make me regret this." He saw her clench a fist in front of the door. He couldn't see her face, but he could tell that she looked forlorn.
"I swear, I'll keep a low profile. And after all this…maybe we could repair that trust?" Hunter asked hopefully and she glanced over her shoulder, sighing a bit. Hunter's palisman gave a small chirp into his ear.
"…Yeah. Maybe," She recoiled back a bit as Hunter was putting on a smile that looked like in a flirty way, but on him, it looked a little awkward. "W-Why are you looking at me like that?"
Hunter flinched and turned to his palisman. "You said this would work!" He turned his back to her and she stared, glancing up at Melody, who just rolled her eyes. "I-I'm not creeping her o—" Hunter gave it some thought and then backtracked. "Maybe I am a little. What should I say to her?"
His palisman chirped again and he glanced back at Lucila briefly. "You think that'll work?"
He got another chirp and then he stepped up to Lucila, cupping her chin. She darted her eyes around as she felt her heart beating really fast.
"Were you born in 1789? Because you're a real classical beauty," He winked and she cleared her throat, blushing as she grasped the doorknob behind her. She was flattered, but it was now that she remembered about the kiss, and it was making her flustered.
"Okay, I'll meet you outside! Bye!" She then whipped around and opened the door, closing it to go back outside. He blinked and then smiled a little for the reaction.
"Not exactly what I was expecting, but I should've known given how cute her initial reactions are." His palisman chirped and he let out a sigh. "I-I know, but I can't just drop everything from my uncle to make her happy...She's...she's everything and I'm nothing. Even if she was in my place, it'd be easier. Or if we were both humans, it wouldn't be this hard!" He frowned at Lil Rascal. "But...she's not just another witch in the Boiling Isles. She's different...so I just can't get there with her," He pinched his nose. "And it would help if I didn't have to hurt her every single time we talk..."
His palisman chirped encouragingly and Hunter smiled at him briefly. "I wish there was a way to get her to fully trust me, but also help my uncle..."
He opened the door as Lucila was adjusting her hair and they walked off together. Hunter saw someone and towered over the little gremlin student. "Classmate! Ignore the fact that we've never met. What if I told you all your dreams could come true? And you just have to leave your home, friends and family forever!"
"Uhh..." The student didn't seem too convinced and Lucila placed a hand over her forehead.
"You ever hear of subtlety?" She whispered to him and he turned to her in confusion.
"No, why?"
"Try this again," She pushed him away from the booth. "But this time, you've gotta be less...off-putting," She advised as they came across some students with Hexes Hold'em cards. One of them blasted the other to dust and the trio cheered.
"You think these are cool?" Hunter asked them, leaning back a bit. "Not as cool as the Emperor's Coven. I hear you get to sleep in till 6 am."
Barcus coughed up a banish card to hit him in the face, Lucila shaking her head silently.
They walked down the pathway together, Hunter glancing at the girl. "So, several people are a no-go, but there's lots of people here. I'll find someone. A couple of questions, though, is it always like this with teenagers? Why aren't they cooperating?"
She glanced up at him and then blushed as the kiss came back into her mind, saying nothing as she turned back straight. He looked down at her in confusion, blinking. "Alright, I guess that was a rhetorical question. Moving on..." He stared at her as they continued walking. "Are you still bothered by the-"
"No!" She answered immediately in defense and he flinched. "I mean...no, I'm not bothered by it."
"Good," He then froze as he realized she might take that the wrong way. "I-I didn't mean it that way, I meant good that it didn't bother you. I-I mean..." He rubbed his neck, glancing away as he found it hard to talk to her about this. Mainly because it came as a surprise to her, but he just wanted to know what it was like... "We're working things out, and...and I shouldn't have done something like that without your permission, but I still wanted to...to-"
"W-Well," She interrupted, scratching her cheek with her eyes closed. "Yes, you should've asked, but...I didn't mind it."
"Alright," He smiled a little, relieved that they could talk about it without any misunderstandings. "I'm sorry."
"It's fine. Just...give me a warning next time."
He nodded in agreement, but he couldn't help but wonder about something. "By you didn't mind it, did you mean...that I could've done it at any point and you wouldn't have minded? Or because...you actually wanted it to happen too?"
She cringed nervously upon hearing him ask that and sped up her walking. "We've got things to do, remember? I said I'd help you!" She laughed awkwardly and he just stared after her.
"Classic Luci..." Hunter remarked and his palisman chirped in agreement.
Jerbo was walking by holding flyers when Hunter stopped him. "You! How would you like to rise to the top, by joining the Emperor's Coven?" He summoned his staff.
"Eh," Jerbo waved him off, waving to Lucila. "Not interested. Hey Luci!"
Lucila was about to say something when Hunter cut her off.
"You aren't?!" He whipped around to Jerbo in disbelief.
"I mean, do I wanna study different kinds of magic? Heck yes! But why is joining the Emperor's Coven my only option? When I get older, I'm gonna give this system a long overdue update."
Lucila smiled at his ambition and Hunter backed away. "What are you talking about?" The boy sounded horrified and then he stepped on something. And that something was Puddles' tail, the griffin freaking out at this. Lucila yelped in alarm as she looked back.
"It's okay, Puddles," Viney tried to assure the griffin. "No, he didn't mean it. No, no, no, no, no, Puddles, no!" He screeched as he loomed over the two, Lucila gasping sharply and Hunter a little afraid.
"Let out your flying freak!" Willow shouted from her stand, she and Gus handing out flyers. "Once the Flyer Derby club is approved, we'll travel all across the Isles in rocking outfits and working as a team!"
"Good luck with that," A voice spoke and she looked to the side to see the Abominations teacher standing nearby.
"Professor Homunculus?" Willow asked in confusion; she hadn't personally interacted with him ever since she dropped his class.
"I oversee club approvals this year," He snapped his fingers, his abomination summoning a clipboard. "And I just don't think Flyer Derby is worth investing in."
Willow immediately got defensive, narrowing her eyes a bit. "Just because it's not as well known as grudgby doesn't mean-"
"You misunderstand me," He interrupted Willow. "I'm shutting it down unless you step down as Captain. I just don't think quitters make good leaders."
She frowned and clamped her mouth shut. "You're just mad that she dropped your class," Gus defended her, and it was true, whenever someone dropped Abomination class, he took it personally. "Give her a chance."
"Okay. Put together a team for a friendly game of Flyer Derby after school," He held up a picture of his younger self, revealing that he used to play the sport, holding up the winning trophy. "If you can lead your team to victory, maybe I'll approve your club," He then left, the two staring after him. Willow sighed deeply at this.
"You can do this, Willow," Gus encouraged his friend. "Don't let him beat you down."
"But Amity and Luz are busy, and I don't know where to find enough decent players this fast," She confessed to him.
"Calm down!" They looked up after hearing Hunter's voice from the sky. "Flea magnet!"
He and Lucila had taken to the sky with their staffs, Puddles flying after them. "He's sorry, you don't need to chase us anymore!" Lucila glanced over her shoulder. They glanced back at Puddles getting closer, and he managed to grab Hunter's boot off his foot. He then managed to nip at Lucila's sleeve, ripping it off.
Lucila yelped as she joined Hunter's side, and he looked at his socks, as well as Lucila's sleeve. "Hey!" He protested and Lucila noticed his sock, snickering a little at how corny it looked. He blushed in embarrassment, shaking it off as Puddles was heading for them. Both of them dove forward on their staffs, going right past the griffin on both sides. Puddles glanced down at them as they flew back towards the ground, Hunter laughing as he had managed to get his boot back. Lucila then held up her sleeve, or at least, what was taken off from it. They flew right past Willow, who looked up in awe.
The griffin was about to attack again when Willow's vines stopped it. "Hey, you! Luci!" She pointed up to them. Hunter was about to fly away when the plant witch used her vines to capture him and pull him onto the ground.
"Willow!" Lucila protested as she flew down to them, jumping off her staff and landing next to Hunter. "Was that really necessary?"
Willow didn't answer her and stared down Hunter, her glasses a bit foggy. Lucila blinked in alarm, recoiling back a bit by...actually how intimidating Willow looked right now. But then she held up the flyer again. "Wanna join my Flyer Derby team?" She smiled widely as if nothing happened.
Lucila ripped off the vines from Hunter and he dusted himself off. Gus looked a little suspicious of the two, especially since he had never seen Lucila with Hunter. He looked familiar a little bit, but he couldn't put a finger on it...
"This is Gus Porter and I'm Willow Park," Willow introduced the two of them. She grabbed his hand and shook it vigorously. "Future Captain of Hexside's first Flyer Derby team."
"Nice-to-uh-meet-you!" Hunter struggled to say while shaking and she finally let go. He snatched his hand back.
"Your flying was amazing, and yours too, Luci!" Willow told them. "You're a new student, right? Is that why you're with him, Luci."
"Ah, um...yes! I'm showing him around school," She smiled weakly; she really didn't want to lie to her friends, but at the same time, he was doing all this undercover. Not to mention that it seemed like Hunter would get along with them fine, they were her friends too after all. And maybe she was hoping for just a little bit that he'd see the good parts of being someone other than the Golden Guard, that he could learn things here like Luz and herself that didn't have to deal with magic.
"Yeah, weird we've never seen you around. Why do I feel like I know you?" Gus narrowed his eyes a little. "And what's your name?"
"Uhh...do I know him?" Hunter whispered to Lucila, who gave an awkward smile.
"He was one of the people you attacked when you thought that he kidnapped me, he just had a mask on," She explained quiet enough so that her friends didn't hear. "But you need a name."
His palisman landed on his shoulder and chirped. Hunter raised a brow for a brief second at the suggestion. "Caleb? Caleb! Jasper...Bloodwilliams."
"What?" Lucila murmured in confusion to herself that he had to go with a full name.
"I just transferred from..." He looked around, trying to find another name, and saw Puddles licking himself. "Uh...the toes? But, I'm not here to play Fly Dubi or whatever that is. I have my own mission," He walked off and Lucila sighed in relief to herself as she followed. He'd probably risk his identity joining the team.
"Okay...at least take a pamphlet?" Willow held one out, Gus staring after Hunter. He still couldn't shake the feeling that he knew this guy. Hunter snatched it and walked off.
"Sorry, guys," Lucila shrugged at them. "He's still getting used to this environment..."
"It's okay," Willow waved to her and then Hunter looked at the flyer, which advertised it as a sport for the best and the brightest.
"Wait!" He turned around to them, the older girl glancing over her shoulder. "Do you really think your club will attract the best and the brightest?"
"Absolutely!" Willow smiled, clenching a fist. "Flyer Derby's not for the fake witch," He walked back up to her.
"Then, maybe I will give it a try," He smiled a little, crossing his arms. Lucila turned to him open-mouthed at him changing his mind like that.
"Really?" Willow asked excitedly.
"But, okay, how do we evaluate others?" He wondered curiously. "A witches duel? A maze full of traps? Oh, leave everyone at the top of a mountain and see who makes it back to the bottom alive!" Willow, Gus, and Lucila all winced at that one, finding it...a little bit much. He just laughed it off though, hands on his hips. "Classic."
"Okay, never suggest that to anyone again," Lucila pointed up at him in a bit of fear.
"Umm, we might not have time for all that...but you guys can help by attracting people with your sick sky skills! Luci, please?" Willow begged the girl, clenching her hands together. "If I don't beat Professor Hermonculus and his team, he'll shut my club down because I dropped his class!"
"What?!" Lucila exclaimed in anger and then clenched her fists. "Oh, count me IN! I so wanna shove it in his face that he's making a big mistake and he thinks he can get away with this!" She blinked as she realized what she said and that they were staring at her. "Oh, and also because you seem really passionate about this, Willow."
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Willow squeezed her into a big hug and the girl smiled, watching her friend run off.
"Hm," Hunter felt his face in confusion. "I don't feel sick."
"It's an expression," Lucila laughed at him.
"Hey," Gus spoke up, getting their attention. "I don't know what kind of mission you're on or what...this is all about," He gestured to the both of them. "But it's been a tough year for Willow. And she's really looking forward to making this team a thing. Don't mess this up for her." He then stormed off and Lucila sighed.
"Sorry about him, he's really protective over his friends," She gestured to him. "But he's known Willow the longest out of the rest of us, so it makes sense..."
"I can't believe we've never uncovered this mystery before!" Luz exclaimed to Amity as they were walking in town. "I always thought Mildred Featherwhyle sounded too delightful to be a real name," She shrugged a little.
"Do you think she has her own portal?" Amity theorized to her girlfriend, gasping sharply. "Do you think she's related to that human guy, Phillip?"
"What if...the author is Eda?!" Luz exclaimed in slight shock. "She's been keeping it secret this whole time because she's embarrassed by all the spelling errors!"
"Okay," Amity rubbed her chin. "These theories are a little unrealistic. It's obviously your mother as a teenager sent forward in time to train you in the ways of witchcraft!"
"Whatever it is, we're gonna find out soon!" The two then stopped as they saw the ad for the signing from the Book Nook...only to find that it had been canceled. Luz whined as she dropped to her knees in despair.
"Students of Hexside!" Willow announced from the front entrance. "Got a palisman? Got a need for thrills, chills, and theatrics?" Clover came out of her staff to land on Willow's shoulder. "Well, this could be you!"
Hunter and Lucila flew out from inside the school, the crowd gasping. Hunter did some flips and then his staff flew out from underneath him. He spun downwards and landed on the staff to continue flying. Lucila spun into the air and then stood on the staff as it descended down while still spinning. She flipped back into position, flying next to Hunter.
"Man, this Caleb guy is great, and so is Luci," Willow smiled while Gus handed out pamphlets. "With them, I think we can really get our derby team approved!" She handed out some pamphlets as well.
The duo in the sky came to a stop, looking down at the crowd. "This girl will be a perfect candidate for the Emperor's Coven! If there are more witches like her, we're set!"
"No way!" Lucila shook her head at him and he looked at her, confused.
"What? Why?"
"These are my friends! They helped me and Luz out several times, don't get them involved with the Emperor's Coven," She gestured down to Gus and Willow, and before he could argue, Willow cut him off.
"Hey guys! Come on down!" They flew down to Willow to see what was up, and she looked happy. "Allow me to introduce you to...the best and the brightest of Hexside!" She gestured to Viney, Skara, and Gus.
"Look, Puddles," Viney gave a nervous look at the duo, trying to hold the griffin back. "It's the friend you made before." He lunged forward and Hunter stood in front of Lucila, holding out an arm as they stepped back a bit. "No, no, don't pull on Mommy's face!"
Skara was hanging on the staircase upside down while looking at her Penstagram. "Hmm..." She then hit her head against the bottom.
"Let's try this one more time!" Gus got on his staff, but ended up flying backwards and then forward at full speed before crashing into the staircase. Lucila winced at him.
"Just a few months ago, I'd be considered the weak link on any team," Willow smiled, scratching Clover. "But now I'm leading one! Woo, okay girl, don't let the power get to your head just yet." She glanced back and then was confused to see Hunter leaving. "Caleb!"
"Huh?" Lucila ran after them as Puddles was licking Gus' head.
"Where are you going?" Willow stopped Hunter by grabbing his shoulder. "The field is this way."
"You said you'd find the best witches for this team!" He snapped at her. "But them? They're pathetic."
"Hey! Some of those people I'm friends with, so what do you think that makes me?" Lucila said defensively to him.
"You just met them," Willow argued back to the boy. "Give 'em a chance."
"Where I come from, even chances have to be earned. Especially if you're considered half a witch like me." Lucila gasped a little, Willow baffled by his phrase. That was what other people used to call her, and that was what she used to believe... "Sorry, Captain. Good luck with your match," He waved her off and left. She smirked and spun a spell circle, summoning vines to stop his legs. He got pulled through the grass and emerged onto the field. He glanced around in confusion, getting defensive.
Skara walked up to him. "Sorry I was distracted earlier. Been playing grudgby for so long, I needed to catch up on the latest Flyer Derby strats," She held up her scroll after pulling him up and he looked at her plays that she thought up.
"Those look...complicated."
"They are," She smiled proudly.
"Whoo, okay," He looked towards Viney, who had managed to calm down Puddles. She turned around, having some scratches on her face and arms. "Finally got Puddles down for her nap," She spun a large spell circle to heal herself. "Now I'm only scarred emotionally."
He blinked in surprise at her change and then Gus flew right past him. He spun around in the air, using his feet to guide himself and landed in front of Hunter. "I thought you couldn't fly," Hunter said in confusion.
"So I can't fly like everyone else, but my way is more fun," He looked to his palisman, who chirped in agreement.
"Oh, that's, uh...cool I guess."
"What was that?" Gus put a hand to his ear knowingly.
"I said it was cool!"
Willow and Lucila emerged from the ground behind him. "Gus is a natural speed demon. Skara is a strategic wizard. Viney's one of the best healers in school, next to Luci, who's gonna be our motivator." She joined her team as she and Lucila took out their staffs. "And at one point or another, we've all been misjudged. So, still think we're pathetic?"
He glanced away, a little humiliated by her, and then silently shook his head no. "Good. Let's get our face paint on," She smirked, putting three stripes over her face.
Luz sighed as she and Amity sat outside the Book Nook. "What do we do now, Amity?"
"I don't know, I've never found another store that sold those," She said a bit sadly.
"We were so close!" Luz hid her face in her knees. A crash was heard and the purple-haired witched looked up to see a tiny figure tripping, wearing a red cloak and having red hair.
"I think that's her! That's the author!" Amity shook her girlfriend a bit.
"Mildred-" Luz lifted up her head, bumping it against the wall. "Featherwhyle?!"
The figure flinched upon hearing the name and then ran off. "Follow her!" Luz grabbed Amity and then they ran off to chase her.
Hunter and Lucila were in their Flyer Derby uniforms, Hunter having a green stripe going down the left side of his face. Lucila had the same stripe, but on the right side of her face, and with a flower included. She also had her hair tied into a high ponytail with a green headband over her head instead of her regular one. She had on black shorts with a green tank top and black fingerless gloves, wearing some green kneepads and some green stockings with black boots. "Call Darius," Hunter said to his crow phone. She was keeping watch to make sure no one heard him.
Darius was relaxing in his room when the crow barged through his window and he sat up in alarm, panting heavily. "Darius, it's me!"
"Wha-how did you get this number?" Darius demanded to the crow.
"Doesn't matter," Hunter winked at Lucila thankfully for tracking down the number. "I found some incredible recruits in Hexside. I'm earning my place, just like you told me!"
"Of course you are," Darius groaned, looking away. He only said that so that he could enjoy his time off, he didn't actually mean for this to happen... "I just wanted you to leave me alone."
"What was that?" Hunter asked in confusion.
"Caleb! Luci! Waiting on you, buddies!" Willow waved a hand as the game was about to start.
"I gotta go. But you'll meet them soon." The crow flew off from Darius' window and Gus looked at Willow.
"Luci and Caleb seem...really close for just meeting each other today, don't you think?" He raised a brow, as they actually looked like they had known for a while now, and not just for a day. She stared at the duo as they started talking.
"Just try to ease Skara and Viney into this, don't ask Willow and Gus. I don't think they'd wanna join anyway after the whole Eda petrification thing," She told him quietly and Hunter's palisman chirped at him.
"Come on! They're perfect. If I wasn't keeping you a secret from my uncle, I'd ask you too, esplendida."
She recoiled back in alarm from what he said to her. "I wouldn't want to, but...do you know what you just said?" She rubbed the back of her neck, blushing.
"No?" He questioned in puzzlement and she smiled as he didn't know he just called her gorgeous in Spanish. Hunter's palisman just chirped knowingly as he suggested Hunter say that to her to help him out.
"It is a little weird that they get along so well. But I gotta admit, they look really cute together," Willow commented with a small smile.
Professor Hermonculus cleared his throat and Hunter grabbed Lucila's hand to pull her onto the field with their teammates. Jerbo revealed himself to be a team member of Hermoculus' team. "Thanks for asking me to join, guys. I think we're gonna have a-" He gasped, cringing as he saw that he was playing against both Lucila and Viney.
"Jerbo?!" Viney exclaimed in disbelief and then ran her thumb against her neck. "Traitor."
"Fun afternoon..." He finished nervously; he was gonna have to do a lot to earn her forgiveness...
"Backstabber," Lucila grunted at him and Hunter leaned down towards her.
"Who's he?"
"A friend of mine, he's also friends with Viney and Luz...or used to be," She narrowed her eyes at him and Hunter sighed in relief at that. He almost thought that he'd have to deal with someone else vying for Lucila's affections again...
All six members got into position, sitting on their staffs and staring down their opponents. "All we gotta do is fly high and snag some flags," Willow instructed them, and they all nodded in unison.
"Let's see what you can do, Captain," Hermonculus mocked her, the abomination blowing the whistle. Immediately he fired some abomination magic at Willow, Viney flying in front of her to block it off. She flew forward and past the team, the other members following suit. Hunter, flying above Lucila, teleported using his staff. He appeared next to a team member to snatch their flag, smirking.
Lucila flew over to the sixth team member and he reached out his hand to grab her flag. She flew above his head and then jumped off, hanging onto the staff with her hands. She flipped and dropped a plant glyph that was hidden in her shoe, which landed on the player's staff. It touched the flag, making a vine to bring the flag to her and she smiled. Hunter flew around and gave Gus the flag, smiling as he watched the boy and Lucila place the flags on their post.
"Gus, Luci, that was amazing!" Hunter cheered happily. They were surprised for a few seconds before Gus chuckled and Lucila gave a small blush.
One of the team players shot abomination goo at Gus, who flew upwards to avoid it, but it still knocked Skara to the wall, the referee blowing its whistle. The other team had one of their flags, Viney narrowing her eyes. She dove forward towards Jerbo, who had his eyes shut as he flew towards her. Both of them crashed into each other, their staffs flying. Willow and Gus flew past Hunter, who looked a bit nervous. Willow swerved to the right to avoid abomination goo, then going to the left.
"She's right there! Can't you see?!" Hermonculus shouted as he really wanted Willow to lose. Hunter then took Lucila's hand and together they teleported to be behind him.
"Boo!"
"Woo, is that how it feels when you teleport? Feels weird," She commented before they teleported again to take his flag. Willow dodged another attack, standing on her staff to summon two vines. She swung them at a player, who gasped sharply and braced herself. Willow just took her flag and then was about to head for the post when suddenly she got knocked into the air, to the shock of Lucila and Hunter.
"Oops," Hermonculus feigned innocence as he was the one responsible and Lucila glared, clenching a fist. "My hand slipped," The players that were out, including Jerbo, glared at him as they also didn't approve of the cheating.
Hunter swooped in and grabbed the flags as she fell, Lucila reaching out and grabbing her hand to fly her down safely to the bottom. She looked up at Hunter, who got pushed him towards their post. "Go, go, go!" He was knocked off his staff by one player, Hunter planting the flags and thus winning the game. Once his feet touched the ground, he got punch dumped on him by Viney. Lucila thought he'd be mad, but instead he cheered with the others, and she joined in on it for their win.
Hermonculus was bitterly taken to the winning team. "May I please have your team name?"
"Shoot, we never thought of a name," Willow realized as she turned to Gus.
"The...Emerald Entrails!" Hunter said on the spot, and they all stared at him. "Y-You know, cause we're green, and there's...more to us than you think?" Lucila smiled at him for the name, as entrails did mean the innermost of something. He looked a little embarrassed but then they seemed to like it.
"Entrails! Entrails! Entrails!" They all cheered as they surrounded him and he smiled happily. "Entrails!"
"Entrails team photo!" Willow pulled out her scroll. "We're number one!" She posed in front of Hunter and Lucila, who were surrounded by the others and the two palismen. She took the photo and Hunter actually gave a soft smile in the picture as he had his arm around Lucila's waist, the girl also smiling while holding his shoulders. Their faces also looked very close as their cheeks were touching.
"I can't believe I almost bailed on you guys," He confessed after looking at the photo. "Today was amazing. Thanks for giving me another shot. And thank you too, Luci, for...you know," He glanced up briefly and she smiled. He was thanking her for sticking by his side even if his approach for the Emperor's Coven recruit thing was odd.
"Always nice making a new friend," Viney commented, hands on her hips. "I had an opening for one," She gave Jerbo a dirty look and he gasped sharply, clutching his chest. Lucila winced a little; she just hoped that now that the game was over, she'd forgive Jerbo in the future. Lucila talked to him sometimes in classes, so that was gonna be awkward...
"We wouldn't have gotten here without the two of you," Willow gestured to Hunter and Lucila.
"Yeah, I shouldn't have been so suspicious," Gus agreed with her.
"Psh," Hunter waved it off and Lucila looked happy that he had friends at her school. "We can forget all about that when we play next time...as a part of the Emperor's Coven!" Lucila dropped her happy look immediately at this announcement.
"What?!" Gus exclaimed with wide eyes.
"My name isn't Caleb. It's Hunter, and I'm the Emperor's right-hand man, the Golden Guard!" Hunter explained to them, hoping to ease them into this like Lucila said, but she didn't mean it like this.
"Heh, y-you can't be serious. You're not the one Luz and Luci told us about, right?" Willow stammered nervously, backing away a little.
"Wait a minute!" Gus suddenly shouted, pointing at him. "You're the one who attacked me and Emira at the parade!"
"Wait, that was you?" Hunter blinked in confusion. "You're part of that band?"
"Uh...I mean..." He snapped out of it as he realized something else. "Why didn't you say anything?" He pointed at Lucila, who squeezed her eyes shut as she backed away. "You knew he was here...you lied to us!" The others gasped as they realized that was the reason the two looked like they knew each other, because Lucila already knew him beforehand.
"I am who they spoke of!" Hunter's palisman turned into his staff and he waved it in front of him to turn into the Golden Guard, putting on his mask. "Yeah, this would usually look cooler with the cloak, but I don't have it at the moment. Long story."
They all gasped, and suddenly Coven Scouts came out of the forest to surround them. "Luci, stay with me," Hunter offered his hand so that the Scouts knew she was with him.
"No!" She snatched her arm back as she shed a few tears. "I won't let you do this!" He recoiled back in shock at her reaction. "How could you?" Her voice broke as she stared at him, standing in front of her friends protectively. His eyes saddened and then he cleared his throat, turning to a Scout.
"H-Hello there, scouts," He greeted slowly from her reaction. "I didn't give you orders to come here."
"Darius sent us to collect your recruits," He pushed past the boy a bit.
"Ah, okay. Very good. And there won't be any delay in branding you with coven sigils and taking you away from your friends and family forever! Hooray!" He didn't look too happy saying that, he actually sounded a little depressed. Skara actually started sobbing at this.
The five were being held in a holding cage to be taken away to the Emperor's Castle. "Okay, listen, I'm sorry about this whole set up thing," Hunter placed their staffs on a wall. "But did you really have to punch Steve, Skara?" He gestured to the Scout in the corner.
"I get it, emotions are running high. Ice pack for Steve," He gave a thumbs-up as part of his mask was bent off and he was holding an ice pack.
"Well, I don't get it," He confessed to the group, standing in front of the cell. "You're joining the best coven there is! You can keep all your magic, you get free room and board, you can even play Flyer Derby on your day off! Well, this year's day off has already passed. But next year is only 52 weeks away!"
"We don't care!" Skara shouted in protest angrily. "None of us want this!"
"You will eventually," Hunter waved it off. The only reason why he had Lucila sit in the cage was because she got defensive trying to protect her friends, and the Coven Scouts took her in as well, even though Hunter would've liked it better if she wasn't caged. But on the bright side she was joining the Emperor's Coven...
So why did he feel so bad about what he did to her?
"Trust me, I'm your friend now," Hunter gestured to himself, smiling at Gus.
"Friends don't stab each other in the back!" Gus glared at him, but Hunter didn't seem to realize that this was wrong.
"Sure they do. The Coven Heads do it all the time back at the castle. Captain," He glanced at Willow in the corner. "You're on my side, right?"
However, she didn't look at him, facing the wall. "I...thought I could be good at this." He paused at her tone and words. "But we're here because I made a bad call." She then grasped the top of her head. "I'm just Half-a-Witch Willow." He opened his mouth slightly as he was similar in that regard.
"And you-" Gus was about to tell Lucila off, noticing that she had her back turned to Hunter and she wasn't moving. He clamped his mouth shut, as he could tell that she didn't mean for this to happen, and that she felt awful for letting it.
"Luci?" Hunter held out a concerned hand and she sniffled, tears streaming down her face.
"I had hoped that in just a few hours, you wouldn't have resorted to this, that you would've seen how good Hexside was. Making friends, getting to learn magic, being a real teenager. And for a moment, when we won, it looked like that. But I guess that was too much of a stretch. Instead I lied to my friends and to myself," She then glanced over her shoulder to briefly look at him, and he could see the hurt look on her face. "But I bet you're happy, you got what you wanted after all..."
He looked closer...and he gasped quietly to see that she was wearing the necklace he gave her, which slipped out of her uniform for him to see.
"The necklace I gave you…you still have it?" He wondered in surprise.
"…I never took it off," She revealed quietly and his eyes widened. "I've been wearing it since day one. Not that it matters anymore." She turned to look back at the wall.
Hunter looked heartbroken as he realized that by fulfilling this personal duty to prove himself, he hurt her in the process...he didn't want to sacrifice her happiness for his own. "Luci...I-"
Abomination goo surrounded the five in the cage, and they were taken away. They emerged onto a blimp, where Darius was waiting for them.
One of the Coven Scouts teleported all the palismen away in a cage. Hunter emerged out of the building, looking up to the sky. "Darius, I did it! I found recruits!"
"Yup," Darius sighed heavily. "And you're making me work on my day off. Take this and quit bugging me," He waved a finger to summon Hunter's cloak, throwing it into his hands.
"I can wear this proudly now," He mused, looking at his stitch work. "Right?" He smiled hopefully at Darius.
"Can you? One of these recruits looks like she just got dumped or something. It's starting to depress me," Darius shot back and Hunter winced, looking away. The man turned away. "See you at the castle...Golden Guard."
He watched the blimp fly off, giving a sad look as he thought about Luci's crying and how upset she sounded with him in the cell. "I do not envy those kids, man," Steve commented to Hunter.
"T-They just have to go through basic training before becoming Scouts. It's not too bad," He stammered a bit.
"Dude, do you even remember what we had to do? The duels, the mazes with the traps, that time we were left alone on a mountain."
"Ho ho," Hunter shook his head with a small smile. "Classic."
"And of course, Belos likes to collect everyone's palismen."
When Steve brought that up, Hunter suddenly remembered when he handed over a palisman to his uncle, and what he did with that palisman. And that was when he realized that without palisman...Willow wouldn't be Captain of the Emerald Entrails anymore. Something that she cherished, otherwise she'd been seen as half a witch again. Not to mention...his palisman would've ended up the same way if he had been with Hunter all those years ago, and he was his friend...
"Oh, Steve is beginning to regret his choices..." He walked down the steps, looking at the blimp. He had to do something, he had to save them and also apologize to Lucila for betraying her.
"I think Hunter is too..."
Luz and Amity were still chasing the mysterious figure, the human girl jumping and using a plant glyph to trip her, but it didn't work. Amity spun a spell circle, using an abomination to block her way. However, Mildred spun her own spell circle to blast through the being, jumping through the hole.
"Maybe it's Kikimora," Luz suggested after they saw this. "And her only way to express herself is through fiction!"
"Maybe it's another shape-shifting basilisk," Amity added in her own theory; after all, Vee was still living in Luz's house, and the other basilisks were nowhere to be found. "Trying to write their story through metaphor."
The figure reached a large rock, trying to jump for something. The cloak came off and the person fell to reveal herself as Tiny Nose.
"Aw, rats!" She snapped her fingers, looking at the girls as they approached.
"Tinella Nosa?!" Amity exclaimed in shock.
"She's had a name this whole time?!" Luz was equally as shocked.
She led them down a cave after they demanded answers from her. "Sorry, boss. The jig is up," She lamented and Luz gasped as she recognized the boss. Tibbles put down one of the books, looking annoyed.
"Tibbles?!"
"Edited a few more of those author photos, boss," Mattholomule walked over with a pile of books. "Some of my finest work." Then he noticed the girls, gasping sharply. "Luz?!" He glanced up at an earring from his ear, blushing in embarrassment and putting it away.
"Mattholomule," Luz glared in disgust upon seeing him.
"Oh, calm down," Tibbles just waved it off. "Human garbage is constantly leaking into our water. And about a year ago, I found this box of books washed up on the shore," He jumped down from his podium. "I've been trying to make a sale of it ever since, but no one's buying!"
"Wait," Mattholomule walked up to him. "I'm still getting paid for this, right?"
"Not now, kid," Tibbles dismissed, meaning probably not. Mattholomule walked away with a glare directed towards the pig demon. "According to the owner of the book nook, he's only ever had one customer purchase from the series."
Luz turned to Amity, who looked embarrassed as that person was her. She scratched her cheek. "I-I didn't know, I swear!"
"This is the worst scam I've ever run!" Tibbles kicked the pile of books in frustration.
"So the author is human after all," Luz looked dismayed; when she gave her sister a heart attack from when she wanted to get her book signed by the author, she never got to see her. That was because Lucila pulled her out before she had the chance. And when she thought she had it, the author was back home, who knows where...
"Oh ho ho, were you expecting some dramatic discovery?" Tibbles giggled as he mocked her and then a fist made out of abomination goo punched him into the ceiling. Amity looked annoyed after doing this, Luz resting her head on her shoulder. Amity placed an arm around her comfortingly.
Hunter flew after the blimp, squeezing his eyes shut briefly at how he broke Lucila's heart. He teleported to get closer undetected, Darius scrolling on Penstagram. He saw Raine's, Lilith's, and Alador's, which had a picture of an Abomaton. Darius groaned at this. "Mute."
The five teens stared at him and then at the cage of palismen. Skara tried reaching for it. "No," He knocked her towards the group with his goo. Willow then tried using some plants, but he blocked him off with an abomination hand, frightening all of them. "Uh-uh." He also knocked Willow on the head. He put away his scroll as he stood up. "You're gonna need to be a little more clever than that."
Hunter suddenly teleported onto the ship, wearing his cloak. "Darius!"
Lucila gasped at his sudden appearance. "Now!" Willow shouted as the five jumped off the blimp.
"NO!" Hunter shouted as he ran over to the edge, but then the five disappeared suddenly.
"An illusion!" Darius whipped around as the group were hiding above the controls.
"Land the ship!" Willow instructed as they landed, destroying the abomination pilot. Hunter smiled as he didn't need to worry about Lucila.
"Wait!"
Willow pulled the lever, crashing the blimp into the water. The five jumped off with their staffs in their hands, heading for shore. But then another larger abomination stood in front of their path, blocking them off. They glanced at the burning blimp.
"Did you really think you could get away with endangering a Coven Head?" He asked them while coming out of the flames, clenching his fists. "Do you have any idea what I'm capable of?!" He turned one of his hands into a sickle.
Willow waved a finger to make vines go towards him, but he sliced them off. She then raised a hand to make a dome around them, which he sliced off. Lucila took out an ice glyph and slammed it onto the ground to make ice spikes, which he also sliced off and they landed in the water. Willow braced herself in front of her team, but Hunter suddenly stood in front of both her and Lucila.
"Wait!"
"Out of my way, little prince," Darius growled out.
"No! I was mistaken. These five are insolent agitators, who aren't fit for the Emperor's Coven. And I'm unfit to wear the sigil of the Golden Guard," He took off his cloak to hand it over, Lucila shocked that he would even do that. He dropped the cloak and turned to the others. "You can go."
Willow glared, clenching her staff. "Please, Captain," He pleaded with her and she flinched, dropping her look. Gus also seemed to drop his glare.
"Let's move, team," She spoke up. "We need to find an alternate player. After all, it'll be 52 weeks before Caleb's next day off," She walked off with a smile and he glanced at her in surprise. Lucila followed after them silently, looking back at Hunter briefly before she walked away.
"You...befriended them, and then you disobeyed me to protect them?!" Darius boomed angrily, raising his arm, and Hunter braced himself. But then Darius just put his hand on top of Hunter's. "I'm impressed," He was actually smiling at the boy, chuckling as the boy opened his eyes. "I had you all wrong."
"Huh?" Hunter looked up in confusion.
"You are 16. It's about time you made connections outside the castle," He waved a finger to summon a scroll for Hunter to start a Penstragram account. "I was just gonna drop them off at Hexside. We have more than enough recruits in my opinion."
"Are you...gonna tell Belos about this?" Hunter asked him skeptically, thinking there was a catch or something. After all, like he said earlier, all the Coven Heads backstabbed each other on a regular basis.
"Are you going to tell him about your secret palisman or the fact that you have a relationship with the human he forbid you from seeing?"
He gasped sharply with a shocked look as the palisman chirped. He then glanced at Lucila. "We...don't have anything anymore." After all he did, he knew she wasn't going to forgive him.
"Magic or not, I think you'll make your predecessors proud," Darius smiled, handing him the cloak back. Hunter looked at the symbol, touching it gently. "But you could still use a sewing lesson. Perhaps you could find a teacher?" He looked towards Lucila, who was almost out of sight.
He gasped as he wanted to talk to her and chased after the girl. "Luci, wait!"
She looked to her friends, gesturing for them to go on without her, and they nodded. She turned around to him as he caught up to her.
"I have nothing to say to you," She said immediately, turning to leave.
"Look, I know that what I did was wrong now," He gestured to himself, looking towards the ground. "I never meant to hurt you…I just wanted…"
"I got it the first time! You wanted the respect, well congratulations, you earned it! Hope it was worth playing me for a fool again! I don't know why I keep choosing to believe in you…" She shook her head slowly.
"Luci," He placed a hand on her shoulder and she shrugged it off. "I know that I keep hurting you. And I wish I didn't do it all the time. But both you and the Emporer's Coven are important to me, I-I can't choose."
"I never asked you to. Hunter…I'm not asking you to because I don't like what it does to you. There are more things in life than being dedicated to your uncle to an obsessive degree. When you feel like you fail, it's hard for me to watch," She confessed to him, hugging herself. "I don't know if you get past that so that you know it's okay to fail."
"So then show me how!" He grasped her hand and she turned around fully. "I wanna know why I feel certain things around you. I wanna know when something's bothering you…other than me. I wanna admire you without your glasses. I wanna spend time with you, like reading about magic or playing music. I wanna be…I don't know, but I'll figure it out! And anytime something good happens, I wanna tell you."
"Hunter…" She rubbed the back of her neck.
"I don't care what anyone thinks! I love spending time with Lucila Noceda and I'm not ashamed!" He shouted to the sky, taking the girl by surprise.
"Hunter," She chuckled bashfully at his words.
"W-Well, my uncle can't know about it, but I still meant it," He scratched his cheek. "And if he knew about this, he'd never let me see you again. And-"
"If I say I'll forgive you, will you shut up?" She smiled softly and he nodded happily.
"Yes."
She looked away, smiling warmly from his earlier speech. "I forgive you…but if you are going to do stuff like that, a warning ahead of time would help."
"So will you tell me what happened with your mom?" He asked her and Lucila sighed slowly, pausing. She felt like she could trust him enough now to actually tell him with keeping it all a secret.
"If I tell you...you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone. Including your uncle."
"I won't," He promised her, glancing back at Darius, who waved him off.
"Go on. And I must say, I approve of your girlfriend."
Hunter blushed as he grasped Lucila's hand, neither of them actually protesting about it this time, and they walked off down the beach. She started to explain what happened with the portal.
"Okay, so...my sister and I made our own portal, but..."
"So, are you upset?" Amity asked her girlfriend as they both walked on the opposite side of the shore.
"Nah. Azura's author may be a human, but I'm human too," She smiled, Amity glad that she took it well. "Sometimes it's nice to be reminded that you don't need to be a powerful ancient witch to make something special."
"Well, I had fun coming up with those theories," Amity confessed with a smile. "They were like our own stories."
Luz gasped sharply at this, getting an idea. "What if the Azura book club was also a writing club?"
"What would be our first writing project?" Amity asked curiously, her girlfriend humming in thought.
"How about...the mystery of..." She looked up and then gasped to see the Emerald Entrails approaching. "What they were up to all night!"
"Did he just make an account?" Viney asked while Willow was on Penstragram, Lucila having said goodbye to Hunter already.
"Wow, he is a slow typer," Willow smiled, showing Gus her scroll.
"He's worse than my dad," Gus laughed and Lucila grinned.
"Should I really teach him or should I not just to make it funnier? Still, I'm really sorry I got you involved in this, guys," She rubbed her arm.
"It's okay. You hoped he'd change his mind. If you ask me, you thought you were doing the right thing. But next time we meet a new student that you secretly know, you're gonna give us all the deets," Gus pointed up at her and she giggled.
"Deal."
"Oh, hey guys!" Willow waved to the two once seeing them.
"I am really digging those outfits!" Luz pointed at them with a smile. "So, how was the rest of school? Did we...miss anything?"
"Just...had our first team win as the Emerald Entrails," Willow flipped her hair and the others celebrated.
"Ooo, let me see, let me see!" Luz saw the group photo along with Luz...and they both gasped as they saw Hunter in the photo.
"WHAT?!"
Luz and Lucila walked home together, the latter still in her Emerald Entrails uniform. "I can't believe you played with Hunter! And now he's friends with Gus and Willow?! How?" Luz asked incredibly; all she did was ask Lucila questions, but she was just smiling over Hunter's actions and his words earlier. Once they arrived home, they were confused to see a small bag in front of the door. They looked towards Hooty, who was...busy rolling in the mud again. "Awesome," Lucila murmured to herself, taking the bag and walking inside with Luz. "Eda! We're home! Hooty's in the mud again!"
"I wonder what it is," Luz said as they both sat down, and there was a tag with Lucila's name on it. "Whoa! Suspicious package!" She stood up, readying a fire glyph.
"Let's not get too trigger happy," Lucila warned her, holding up a hand. She opened up the bag, finding a rose, and something else. She gasped sharply as she saw wood, nails, white paint, and strings.
"Wood and nails?" Luz asked in confusion.
"I love this! How sweet," Her sister smiled happily, hugging the bag, confusing her sister even more as she held the flower.
"Since when did you get happy about nails, wood, and string, Luci?"
"Yeah, but it's the thought that counts. I'm pretty sure it's from Hunter, it's a thing between us. Because I told him about our trip to the Deadwardian Era, and I told him that I would've loved to build a lute, and must've scoured all around for this stuff. And he even said that he wanted to look into one too," Lucila told her.
"Uh huh..." Luz was still confused. "Sure, that's...great, but it's still building supplies, and you're gonna spend hours building it. I don't think that's the first thing that would come to mind for me for a present."
"No, but I'm gonna build it anyway, how would you put it? 'Oh, it's a code for your love story'," She fake gushed, Luz blushing in embarrassment as Lucila clasped her hands, mimicking her sister.
"Shh, I get it!" Luz muttered, covering her face with her hands.
"And that's my flower," Lucila took it back from her sister. "I love it, he's so thoughtful."
"Hunter? Thoughtful?" The younger Noceda recoiled back in shock as Lucila stood up and hummed, twirling into the hallway. Eda arrived in the room, staring after the girl who spun past her.
"Haven't seen that ever since you asked out Amity," She jerked a thumb to the girl, turning to Luz. "What's with her?"
"Might have to do with Hunter," She shrugged it off, gasping sharply. "You don't think something dramatic happened, do you?"
"No...what, no," Eda said nervously and then the both of them paused as they thought about it. The two then looked at each other wide-eyed, scrambling after Lucila.
"Luci! Tell us your secrets!"
"What happened between you and Hunter anyway?!"
Luckily she locked the door and they backed off. She smiled down at her gifts and then her crow phone went off.
"Hi, Hunter," She smiled knowingly.
"How do you know it's me? It could've been anyone else," He teased her while sitting in his room.
"You're the only one who calls me and besides, it's not like your uncle doesn't have any other ways to get my attention if he wanted to," She remarked while taking the flower out of the bag.
"Did you see the present I left?" He asked slowly, scratching his cheek as he blushed.
"Yeah. I…love the flower. It's really pretty. But it does have thorns," She dodged the lute stuff since she still was getting over the whole betrayal thing, so she wasn't gonna tell him that she actually loved it.
"Ugh, I asked my uncle if I could have it since he has other plants," He groaned, pinching his nose. I knew I should've considered that when I had Terra heal it—"
"Hey, it's just thorns. As long as it's not alive, I'll be okay," She smiled softly, picking off the thorns.
"Umm…so I wanted to ask you something."
"Is it gonna make me rant in Spanish again? I really don't want to go through a repeat of tonight…" She sweated nervously, looking out her window to look at the night sky.
"No, nothing like that. I—"
"And I hope that it doesn't involve my friends, I'm not risking their lives for your uncle," She reminded him and he looked a little annoyed that she interrupted.
"It's not about that! I—"
"And Darius was just a little weird being nice, but—"
"Luci, do you wanna go out with me?!" He finally managed to get out and she froze. She let her knees fall onto her bed as she processed what he said, wondering if it was a dream...she sat there in awe as they sat in their rooms with silence.
Angel: Um...Owl Rocks has already performed? They performed in the parade episode, which was only 2 chapters ago? So...I hope this person doesn't mean for the first time, because that's already happened in the story. But if they mean a second time, I can't say for sure when because I don't know what happens in the episodes until I watch them.
And honestly Phillip is such a jerk that I wouldn't be surprised if he's actually the reason why his brother is MIA right now, or at least knowingly responsible for that. Especially since he's only been mentioned, we have no idea where the brother is at this point. But at the same time Hunter has the exact same hairstyle as Phillip's brother from the picture Luz saw last episode. So like…is Hunter a clone of Phillip's brother because Phillip felt bad about what happened? But that's kinda a huge stretch considering how he treated Luz and Lilith. And yet he cares for Hunter to some extent, so maybe that could be a parallel to how the relationship was like with the brother? I don't know, we're going to find out eventually, but that's my theory.
That'd be despicable, though, treating your nephew like you did with your brother if Hunter is a clone of the brother. And I almost thought that Belos took Hunter in because of the brother but like if Hunter is a Grimwalker as it's heavily implied in Eclipse Lake that wouldn't make sense lol. So yeah, I'm like 75 percent sure of my 'Hunter being a clone of the brother' theory, do you guys feel the same, let me know in the comments.
And yes, I know that Hunter's palisman has a confirmed name, but it hasn't been said in the show, so I don't use it like I probably should've been. Also, jebens 1 drew a new outfit for Lucila if I ever wanna change it. And I might, because...she looks adorable and...you should go check it out *grins happily* But this episode was...a lot of emotions to write, mainly because I had to write Lucila being betrayed by Hunter, and that broke my heart because I love writing her relationship with him. But it was still fun, sweet, and heart-wrenching all the same for this one.