A/N: … I'm Hunting Palismans, huh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh.
You do not want to know the odd series of ideas that brought forth the Elmur Fudd title of this chapter.
To anyone wondering, "What, no 'Through the Looking Glass Ruins' in this AU?" Don't worry. The timeline of events are changed a bit, since I don't want every episode to be in the exact order. I totally planned it this way. It's not like I forgot the episode order and accidentally swapped their places in my mind until it was too late to change things to the proper order because of plot related stuff I added to this already completed chapter, or anything.
It's an AU, it doesn't need to be all in order! Yeah, I'll just hide behind that excuse for the dozenth time…
My thanks to everyone contributing to the TVtropes page. I check it out after every chapter and you guys keep adding to it, which makes me feel very happy. I love that website.
Also, I'm… basically done with 2A at this point. I need to finished the last chapter, and do my edits, but after this chapter goes live, expect updates to come at a faster pace than they have been. I'll go back to my usual twice a week schedule instead of once a week.
Hunter bleakly exited his Emperor's chambers, glad to have his expression hidden behind his mask. That was the last of their Palisman stock they had from confiscated stores. Not a single wooden pigeon or slug remained, and that spelled trouble for the leader of their country, who due to the stress of ruling, combined with the rebellion, and the trying to work on making another portal door, had gone through their stock faster than he normally did.
The coven heads gathered for today's meeting were quickly dismissed. They weren't needed here any longer, having duties to prepare for the upcoming day of Unity. Whenever that day even was to happen. They were facing a considerable setback without a portal door.
His fist clenched as he thought of that human girl. Amity Blight. He hadn't had the chance to meet her, to repay her for what she'd done, despite his best efforts to entice her into a trap. No, those other two human buffoons had irritated him instead.
As the coven leaders left one by one, he thought and schemed. He needed to find a way to ensure his Emperor would remain healthy for the foreseeable future, and he needed to do it fast. He had an inkling of an idea, of a plan, but all he had were rumors to go on, and even then it was risky.
"Kikimora," He uttered, much to the surprise of the short demon.
The older woman narrowed her eyes, craning her neck up at him. Not an easy task when she hardly met his waist. "What is it, Golden Guard?"
"The Palisman stores are empty. We'll need to run a mission for emergency restock." He stated plainly, gloved hand gripping his staff tightly.
Kikimora eyed him suspiciously, "And I suppose you just expect me to sit here while you claim all the credit? Is that it?"
She bared her teeth at him, her small tusks hardly visible under her collar. Their rivalry was well known, a constant battle for their Emperor's trust and affection. However, the mission Hunter had in mind was bigger than either of them.
"No," he broke the silence that lingered after her question, "I expect you to be ready to go by nightfall. Rally your men and meet me at the front gate in an hour and we'll discuss the mission in more detail."
He stalked past her, taking a slight bit of joy to see the shock in her eyes from his statement, even if the idea of working together with her made his skin crawl something fierce.
Amity floated in between the waking realm, and the land of dreams. Her blankets were warm and toasty, the pillow beneath her head like a cloud. Her pajamas clung lightly to her skin from the perspiration that came with sleeping through the humid weather that accompanied the early autumn of the Boiling Isles.
Her mind flitted through dreams, on the edge of reality as the sunlight peek through the window and landed on her spot on the floor beside Luz's bed. It was there that a weight pressed itself to her chest, sitting just above her heart.
"Mmm, Luz," She murmured sleepily, a smile gracing her lips, unsure if this was real life, or simply fantasy, "You're such a cuddle bug…"
Any bliss she may have felt shattered along with her dreams as a sharp pain slashed across her cheek. Her eyes flew open as she held in a cry, sitting up and knocking whatever had been on her to the floor. Her hand slapped over her wound, and while it was shallow she still felt the tell-tale dampness of blood oozing from the cut.
"What the he- hey!"
"Meow!"
Before her, looking unconcerned with the damage she'd just caused, was a small white cat, licking her paw, likely the one she'd just cut Amity with. Amity took one look at her, and did what any other sensible person would do in her situation.
She freaked out, "Cat!"
Blankets and pillows were scattered as she tried to put some distance between herself and the likely rabid beast. She scrambled to her feet, climbing up into Luz's bed and cowered behind her girlfriend's weary form, the witch wiping sleep from her eyes at Amity's outburst.
Below them on the floor, the cat just looked up at the two blankly, unconcerned with Amity's freak out.
"Uhh, what time is it?" Luz groaned, blinking, then realizing Amity was in her bed with her. Any chance to be flustered was thrown out at the look of raw panic on Amity's face, "What is it?"
Amity pointed past her and down onto the ground, the cat unmoving. Luz lit up like a Christmas tree(or perhaps the demon realm equivalent), immediately psyched to see the animal in her room. "Ooh! Gato bonito!"
While Amity cowered on the bed, Luz lowered herself to the floor, calling out to the kitty, hand outstretched, "pssppssppsspp!"
"Luz, you need to get rid of that thing, now!" Amity begged, even as the cat eagerly climbed into Luz's arms, purring up a storm and rubbing her head against Luz's chin.
Luz's brow furrowed in confusion, "But why? Look at this little baby, she's harmless!"
Amity stared at the little demon, glaring daggers, "I'll have you know, I'm highly allergic to cats! They make my eyes all red and puffy, and I sneeze, and my throat gets all swollen, for days at the slightest whiff of their fur!"
Luz continued to pet the cat, staring at Amity as if she'd grown a second head, "You're not doing any of those things now."
The human girl opened her mouth to argue, only to realize Luz had a point. Amity felt fine. Not even a hint of sniffles even after it had been on top of her. Still, she knew better than to trust cats, no matter how cute they were. This one was just deceptive, that was all.
Seeing as Luz didn't seem to have any intention of putting the cat down, but at least respected Amity wanting to keep her distance, they were at an impasse. Luz just smiled brightly, holding the cat tight to her chest, "Come on, let's go see if we can find some breakfast! I'm sure the kitty here wants some grub, too!"
The strangeness of the morning didn't stop at that though, because as soon as Luz opened the bedroom door, a honk greeted her, and a goose with a bell in its beak waddled in through into the room, looking up at both girls with glossy eyes. "Uh… weird," Luz uttered, sending a glance at her girlfriend. Amity just shrugged. Together they slide past the goose, who upon seeing Amity's blankets strewn across the floor decided to build a nest with it, pulling it around itself.
The hallway wasn't much better, hosting a variety of animals that wandered about as if they owned the place. Many of them were unlike anything Amity had ever seen. A crab-like creature with eyes on its claws walked sideways on its spindly legs, then toppled down the stairs it couldn't see coming. Down the stairs the living room had a herd of creatures, ranging from plants with faces, to a thing that looked like a dog, all gathered together on the couch.
Even the kitchen had been taken over, a tiny chimera and a large bumble bee flying around and getting into everything.
"When did we open a pet sanctuary?" Luz wondered aloud, looking around at them all in awe.
"I don't know, but my money is on Edric being behind this," a disgruntled voice echoed from the kitchen table. Emira sat there, still in her nightgown with her hair a mess of bed head, a half eaten bowl of sugary cereal in front of her that was being eaten out of by some kind of chameleon.
"Totally not me this time," Ed's voice answered from outside, ringing in through the opened kitchen window, "Not that I'm complaining!"
Taking a peek outside, Luz and Amity paled as they saw the entire yard was crawling with animals, Edric racing around and trying to give each and every one of them his undivided attention. The two girls gazed at one another, Luz opening her mouth first, "Let's go find my Mom!"
The witch sat the cat down on the table, it joining the chameleon in drinking the milk from Emira's bowl, much to the girls irritation, and together Luz and Amity bounded back up the stairs, hammering on Eda's door and then opening it without waiting for the go ahead to enter.
"Mom!" "Eda!"
"Shhh," Eda replied, her back turned to them both. She was out on her balcony, sitting in a ray of sunshine, a claw extended. In her palm sat Owlbert, hooting up a storm, the cursed witch giving the occasional nod or grunt in reply.
Amity flinched as something rubbed against her leg, and looking down she suppressed a grimace as the cat once more was at her side, rubbing its body up against her leg. It took all her effort to hold back the tingling in her spine over the action, her entire being wanting to kick the cat away before it could send her into a sneezing fit that lasted a week.
Eda and Owlbert appeared to have finished conversing, prompting Luz to step forward and ask, "What's going on, Mom?"
Eda turned to face them, her expression grim, "Owlbert here has explained as best as he can, but it would seem these are refugees from the Bat Queen's forest."
It took Amity a moment to remember who that even was. Eda had watched her kids once, months ago, and had been rewarded richly for it. "What do you mean? How are a bunch of small animals refugees?"
"These aren't just animals, kid. These are Palismans, like Owlbert." Eda explained, taking a step forward and lifting the cat up in her claws carefully. She lifted one of its paws, showing a slot that was infixed into it, "they're made of palistrum wood, a rare and powerful substance that's heavily regulated these days due to it almost going extinct a few decades ago. These guys all used to belong to someone, as a staff."
The cat evidently didn't like being held by Eda, thrashing around to get out of her grip until the witch placed her back down on the floor, where it began to nuzzle Amity's leg again. Amity glanced down at it again, realizing that since it wasn't an actual cat, that would explain her lack of reaction to it. Its fur couldn't irritate her if it was made of magic wood.
"Alright, so, these guys are all magical pets made of wood. What does that have to do with the Bat Queen?" Amity asked slowly, still not happy to have a cat, even one made of wood, all over her.
"The Bat Queen is an incredibly powerful entity. You should at least know that by now. She's been rumored to use that power to harbor damaged, wronged, unwanted or just plain orphaned Palisman." Eda explained, "No one really knows why, but she keeps them safe, takes care of them."
"So, what's going on that has turned these guys all into refugees?" Luz asked, not masking her worry over what had driven these adorable creatures from their homes.
Eda frowned, "that's what we're going to go find out. I've had to make Hooty cough up three of these guys already, so they aren't safe here, and while this is just a pit stop, things might get worse for them the next place they find to rest."
Eda looked away from the kids and back to the cat, "hey, you, Furball, think you can lead us to the Bat Queen?"
Amity thought it was kind of ridiculous they had to ask a cat to be their guide, but this was the demon realm. She looked up at them with her big blue eyes, Her tail flickering as she opened her mouth and gave a meow of affirmation.
Or, at least, they all assumed it meant yes.
The Bat Queen's forest wasn't far from the Owl House. All of these Palisman had to walk through the night to reach them, after all, and their legs were a lot shorter than Amity's. Still, the walk was just long enough for her feet to start to become sore.
"Do you think we can trust Ed and Em to keep Hooty from eating any more of these little guys?" Luz asked as they trudged along, stepping into the forest proper and under the shade of its trees.
"Em, not so much, but I'm pretty sure Ed would die before letting any of them get hurt. He really loves cute animals. Besides, they have King there to boss them around." Amity assured her. Edric's joy that morning hadn't been exaggerated in any way, her brother was likely in his own version of paradise. Their parents never did let him keep any pets as a boy, and he seemed to be taking this as an opportunity to make up for that.
The cat in front of them looked behind at those words, as if filing them away for later. With another meow she bounded forward, leaving the girls and Eda to speed up, trying to keep the cat within their sights.
Eda glanced up at the branches above them, lines of worry creasing her face, "I don't like this. It's way too quiet here. Whatever has happened is driving away more than just the Palismans, the normal animals are all scattered as well."
They continued to travel deeper into the forest, the branches and overgrowth beginning to blot out the morning sun above them. Despite it being day, visibility was as poor as night in the deepest parts of the forest, perfect for someone like the Bat Queen and her children.
Suddenly, their guide stopped in her tracks, fur on end as her back arched, a hiss escaping her feline throat. Tensed, Eda lowered herself to the ground in a pouncing position, while Luz gripped Owlbert in her hands, her pointed ears twitching for any sounds.
Amity herself was armed with a glyph in either hand, one ice, the other a plant. Fire didn't seem the wisest when the trees were growing so thick, which sorely limited her already small list of options. The cat Palisman continued to hiss, yet the group saw and heard no one. Until a twig snapped just to their left.
Luz swung her staff, shooting a crackling wave of energy out of Owlbert's eyes, while Amity slapped the plant glyph against a tree, animating the branches above and making them swoop down to entangle their target. A flash of white was all they needed to see before she placed the second glyph, pulling up a wall of ice between her and the Emperor's coven goons, who seemed to be sprouting up like mushrooms from behind the trees, silver masks and empty eyes threatening them.
Eda snarled, turning her head to their right and finding another small group of soldiers heading their way. Her feathers flared upward, making her appear even larger, a few of them falling back at the fearsome sight alone and she charged, trusting her kids to watch her flank.
Taking care of the goons wasn't a particularly difficult task, even with their numbers. Despite supposedly being chosen as the best of the best, the Emperor's coven was mostly filled with the offspring and other relatives of higher ups, far below usual standards. Amity was almost thankful for the sheer level of corruption that had sunk its teeth into the Empire, if only because it made the troops enforcing it's might incompetent and unable to stop literal school child.
These guards seemed to sense they were on the losing side, being blasted left and right by spells from Amity and Luz on one side, and tossed aside like rag dolls on Eda's, and they began to retreat, but not before one of them dove forward, after the cat of all things. She mewled and hissed, making her distaste known and scratching at her captor, but her claws couldn't make it through the guard's uniform despite her best efforts.
Amity, while not liking cats, was certainly not going to stand around and watch the poor thing get manhandled, especially since they needed her as a guide to the Bat Queen. While her hands were busy with her glyphs and the other guards, she thankfully thought far ahead enough to strap her Abomination flask to her hip for this trip, wanting to prepare for any type of situation. Taking a moment to uncork it, she summoned forth one with her words, "Abomination, fetch that cat!"
As the guard struggled to keep the absolutely frantic cat still as it struggled, he was completely blindsided by the golem of goo that stumbled up slowly beside him, until he face planted right into the towering Abomination's chest. He looked up at the Abomination, mask covered in purple sludge, while the Abomination looked down on him. They continued to stare at each other for a moment, as it sunk into the guard's head just how screwed he was. That was soon proved when the Abomination slunk a fist back, then slammed it into the guard's face, sending him and the cat flying into the air, the cat gracefully landing on her feet while the guard fell face first to the ground, crumpled in a heap with his rump in the air.
The cat seemed just as displeased to be picked up by the Abomination, though she at least didn't try to claw its eyes out. When the fighting ceased, the cat found itself placed at Amity's feet, goo caught in all the fibers of her fur, which no amount of shaking got rid of.
Amity snorted at the pure indignation on the feline's face, "Just, wait a second, would you?" She laughed, opening up her flask again and absorbing the Abomination, plus any of the goop still remaining on the cat, leaving her fur pristine and white as snow once more. The cat still licked a paw, rubbing it against her face to groom herself, as if Amity hadn't done a good enough job or had missed a spot, earning another amused huff from Amity.
Luz looked at her girlfriend with glimmering eyes, earning a flat, "What?"
"You're getting along so well now, it's just so cute!" Luz insisted, smiling brightly.
Amity puffed up her cheeks in mild annoyance, "Nope, nu-uh, no way. We're not keeping this cat, Luz, stop getting attached."
Eda rolled her eyes, "I second that statement, in case either of you forgot, you live under my roof. I've already adopted enough strays, I'm not adding another."
The cursed witch gestured for the cat to continue leading the way into the forest, and she did so with a strut in her step. Amity suppressed a groan, not understanding how Luz could fall for such a pompous, self important creature as a cat.
It was at least another twenty minutes of weaving through trees in almost pure darkness before they arrived in a clearing. Though calling it a clearing was probably a bit too generous. The trees were spaced out more, but the canopy above them was still thick enough to keep out any sunlight, the group having to rely once more on the ever trusty light glyph to be able to see into the depths of the forest.
Ghost scampered to the center of the clearing, sitting down and clearly waiting for something, while Eda, Luz and Amity nervously shifted, waiting to see when this Bat Queen would show up.
And show up she did, her large form sweeping in from the shadows before slamming heavily into the dirt below them, her weight making the ground shake. Amity and Luz nearly toppled into one another, while Eda did her best to steady herself on all fours.
"Who are you being? Why have you come here?" The Bat Queen demanded in her thick accent, Amity gulping at the ferocity in her voice, resisting the urge to back away. She could see why the being before her was called the Bat Queen, if her mere presence made Amity want to bow her head and beg for mercy.
Eda held up a clawed hand, trying to signal they meant no harm. "Whoa, whoa! We came here with a guide! It's me, Eda Clawthorne? The Owl Lady? I babysat for you once?"
The Bat Queen narrowed her eyes, but did take in that the cat Palisman was with them. She lowered herself a little lower to the ground, speaking directly to the cat, "Little Ghost, you have returned? So soon? Things are still not safe, but you may wait with the others if you wish to remain."
It was at the mention of others that made Luz realize they weren't alone. Nudging Amity, she gestured with her head to the darkness that surrounded them, and all the eyes that glistened in the light of their orbs. Dozens of small figures were watching them, likely what remained of the Bat Queen's palisman friends she protected.
Turning her attention back to Eda, the Bat Queen spoke once more, "You be looking very much different than I remember, Owl Lady."
Eda nodded, resisting the urge to roll her eyes at the obvious, "Yes, well, that's what happens when your body has been overtaken by a curse. Sorry I can't be my usual beautiful self."
"Don't be, I prefer you this way," the Queen stated plainly, "Much more suited to your name. Strong, too. Almost as big as I. Now, why are you here? This is my domain, and I have not called for you."
Eda continued to speak on all of their behalf, and for once Luz and Amity had no objections. "Well, all your little buddies ended up trying to crash at my place. I just came to figure out what was going on before even more of them showed up. I'm not running a bed and breakfast, you know?"
The Bat Queen seemed to ponder over Eda's words, then accepted her answer. "Late last night, many of the Emperor's guards appeared at the forest edge. They came for the palismans under my protection. They have stolen many, keeping them in cages. I ordered many to leave, the ones who stayed want to fight."
The answer was curt and to the point, with Eda rolling her eyes at the obvious response, "Yeah, we figured they were after them already. We were ambushed shortly after entering the forest ourselves, and they were more focused on getting their hands on your little pussy-cat there than fighting us. What I'd like to know, is why?"
The Bat Queen looked down on the three of them, as if judging their trustworthiness. Beside her, the cat, who she had called Ghost, meowed, and despite it meaning nothing to the witches or the human, the Bat Queen listened intently, before heaving a sigh large enough to make the trees shake. "This is just rumor, but…"
The three inhaled as one as the Bat Queen bit her lip, then explained, "They say the Emperor, he requires the palismans. Not to arm troops, or give to citizens, but to consume."
The two girls made faces of disgust, while Eda scowled. The Queen continued, "I am no stranger to consuming the life essence of creatures. Am Bat, as are precious babies. I feast on blood of many things. Yet not kill, not if can be helped. Life too precious. Belos is different. He consumes with no regard to life. Palistrum wood has grown rare under his reign, staffs not passed down in families as they once were. He eats them, and people must make more. Then he eats those as well."
Luz paled at the very idea of someone eating a palisman, much less so many they were quickly becoming endangered. At the end of her staff, Owlbert gave a unsettled hoot, and she was quick to lower him into hugging distance, brushing fingers over his feathers to provide comfort to her friend.
Another snap of a branch alerted them, their small party twisting around to attack whatever coven guard had been foolish enough to set foot in this place. A thousand tiny eyes glared at the newcomers, the branches the palismans rested on rustling dangerously. These were the ones who had elected to stay behind to fight, after all, and they wouldn't go down quietly.
"Those aren't just uninstantiated rumors, they're all very much true," A voice spoke from the trees, hidden in shadow, "We have our sources that confirm it to be so."
"Come, show yourselves," The Bat Queen ordered, spreading her wings, "Let me see the faces of those who would enter my woods before they are to perish."
The figure remained silent, but stepped out from behind the tree with their hands raised. They were garbed in a black and red uniform, a masked affixed to their face, hiding their identity, but their figure gave away they were a woman. Dark skinned, with brown hair, face covered in a mask, she was flanked by two more figures in the same outfits. The first was another woman, smaller by a hair and clearly the younger of the two, while the second was a man, who's beard awkwardly poked out from behind his own mask.
"We mean no harm, Bat Queen, we are the-"
Said royalty narrowed her eyes, "Yes, yes, I know who you are. I admit, I liked you all better when you resembled my namesake better. Now you be more fitting for Ghost."
The woman grimaced, which wasn't hidden behind the open mouth of her cat mask. Where as the older Bat masks had been eerily realistic and creepy, these were more cartoonish in their design, making the group look a lot less threatening than the BATTs they had started out as.
These were the CATTs, the Covens Against The Throne, if Amity guessed correctly. They were a subdivision of the BATTs, and now made up the main bulk of the rebellion that was sweeping through the Empire, following the orders of the mysterious leader of the BATTs that had made their public appearance on the day of Eda's petrification.
The woman in charge of this squad grimaced, "well, we're-"
She seemed to see who exactly was in the clearing with herself and the Bat Queen and coughed, before resuming again with a suspiciously deeper voice, "We're currently in the middle of rebranding, and it's left us all in this awkward middle stage."
"It's like witch puberty, but for our public image," the younger woman of the group spoke up, barely hiding her smirk, while the man beside her just frowned and elbowed her to keep quiet.
"What matters-" The leader interrupted, speaking over her subordinates, "is that we're here to help, in any way we can."
The Bat Queen didn't seem impressed, but was not ungrateful for the offer either. "Three witches are not much in the face of dozens of Empirical Guards. But is more than I had minute ago. I accept your offer of assistance."
Her eyes narrowed dangerously, and her aura was deadly serious as she spoke her next words, "But if you harm one hair on my palisman friends, I will feed you to my babies, and you superiors will know the wraith of true Bat."
The message seemed to be received, the woman gulping nervously at the threat. With a side glance at each other, Luz and Amity as one lowered their staff and glyphs respectively, allowing the CATTs to enter the clearing fully. The three newcomers approached slowly, hands visible for all to see, until they were standing beside Eda in front of the Bat Queen.
"So," Eda asked, fighting to keep her expression plain, "What do I call you three?"
The leader tensed, a bead of sweat forming under her mask, "You can call me… Milly."
It took all Eda had to not snort in amusement. The younger girl behind Milly grinned excitedly, "and you can call me Puddles!"
The nervous bearded man clasped his hands together in thought, "Just call me Beard."
At the looks the others gave him, he faltered, "What? It's no worse than any of you chose!"
"Enough," The Bat Queen silenced them. "We do not have time for silly games. Not while Emperor's guards are in my forest. We make plan of attack now, yes?"
"Yeah, sure," Eda shrugged, "Just… give me a sec."
Turning back to the kids, Eda called out, "Luz, Boots, why don't you guys go out a ways and keep an eye out for anyone trying to ambush us?"
Luz pouted, holding Owlbert to her chest, "but I wanted to help plan stuff!"
Eda smirked, "Just go on, this will give you two a chance to test out that new glyph combo stuff Amity was putting together."
The two girls glanced at each other, then back to their mentor and gave a nod, "alright. Give us a call when you're ready to share the plans, okay?" Amity said, before taking Luz by the hand and leading her away, their backs disappearing into the web of trees. After a moment of deliberation, the cat palisman, Ghost, trotted after them, returning to Amity's side, much to the girls bemusement.
"That was not necessary," The Bat Queen insisted, "Have many palisman on watch duty, they alert us of danger from high up in trees."
"And yet, both us and these guys managed to make it here without you knowing first," Eda pointed out, the Bat Queen conceding to her point. "Besides, I really just wanted them out of earshot for this."
Eda turned her back on the Queen, narrowing her eyes at 'Milly.' "Really? You think going with your least favorite pet name was going to keep me from finding out it was you? I knew the second you were in eyesight, Camila."
The witch winced, then grabbed the edge of her mask to pry it off her face. Camila Noceda had the decency to look sheepish under Eda's gaze, "Do you think Luz knows?"
Eda rolled her eyes, "The kid wouldn't know if you asked her how her day was, and if she was keeping away from the dairy as long as you were wearing the mask. And speaking of kids…"
Next to get a glare was Puddles, who tensed, but forced a playful grin to mask her dropping confidence, "You're that griffon girl that's in Luz's friend group at school. Didn't think the rebellion was taking literal children into their ranks."
Viney took off her own mask, peeved to have been found out, but not masking the fury in her eyes, "I'm not a child! And if you think I'm just going to sit back while any animal needs my help, I'll, I'll-!"
"Call for your mommy?" Eda suggested.
"Like you have any right to speak about children, Eda," Beard interrupted sharply, "While I agree that Viney shouldn't be out in the field, that isn't my call, but you brought your daughter and your ward out here? Volunteered them to help fight?"
Eda had to bite her tongue, because as much as she hated to say it, he did have a point. Still, she looked him up and down, squinting as she tried to figure out just who exactly was speaking to her. "Wait a minute… Gilbert? Gilbert Park?"
The man seemed surprised she recognized him, and like the others he took off his mask. His cheeks were red and flustered to have been found out as he brushed his fingers through her beard.
"Wow," Eda breathed, "I mean, wow! Don't take this the wrong way, Gil, but I never expected to see you being rebellious. Your husband, maybe, but-"
"I did it to keep Willow out of this," He snapped. "She was in the middle of it all at your petrification ceremony, and I knew the seeds had been planted. So, I joined to make sure she couldn't. I get to help make this country a better place, and keep my daughter safe at the same time."
Eda could understand him snapping about her kids being here now, if the only reason he'd put on the mask was to keep his daughter safe. Still, she didn't like her parenting being questioned, but she could drop it for now. Instead, she turned her attention back to Camila, "So, what about you? You were never the particularly rebellious type. And why the secrets?"
Camila rubbed her arm nervously, biting her lip, "well, We're not really supposed to advertise that we're part of the rebellion, of course…"
"Cut the crap, Cam," Eda stated plainly. When the woman stayed silent, appearing flustered, something clicked in the owl lady, who began to cackle. "Oh, I see, you didn't tell me because you were afraid I'd approve. And then it would feel wrong because if I'm on board, it must be a bad idea!"
"I joined to make the world better for Luz!" Camila insisted through clenched teeth.
This just made Eda laugh even more, "oh, I never called into question your motivation for joining, just why you didn't say anything! And that isn't a denial!"
The Bat Queen, tired of these games, flapped her wings and sent a gust of wind that nearly swept the entire party off their feet. "Enough chit chat! Planning! Strategy to overcome forces threatening my forest just be put in place, yes?"
The two witches at least had the decency to look sheepish, having forgotten the entire reason both of them were there. "Right, planning, we can do that."
As the Cat masks were placed back over their faces, Viney was glad it hid her eyes, she was rolling them so hard at her superior.
Luz tried her best to not make it obvious she was staring, hiding her grin behind her free hand as she watched Amity and Ghost interact. As much as Amity pretended to still dislike the palisman, she was clearly growing fond of her enough that she let her walk by her side without further complaint. The fact the two wore almost identical resting expressions was the icing on the cake for the witch girl.
Still, they came out here to do a job, and it looked like they were working beside the BATTs/CATTs now, which was an incredibly exciting prospect for both of the girls. They were helping to assist the largest rebellion to spread across the Isles since Belos's reign had first been established. It made Luz want to bounce on her heels, to finally have her calls to adventure answered.
Beside her, Amity stood still and held out a hand to stop Luz in her tracks, putting an end to Luz's internal squees of joy. Together the two stood still, waiting for a sign of movement. "Someone is watching us," Amity warned, and Luz responded by tightening her grip on Owlbert's shaft, prepared to strike. They still weren't far from the Bat Queen's lair, so if the coven had managed to breach this deep, they risked losing the forest entirely.
The sound of tweeting met their ears, and their eyes were cast upwards. A single red cardinal, missing an eye, was looking down on them from a tree branch, singing a little tune in their direction, making both girls breathe a sigh of relief. That's who had been watching them.
The cardinal spread his wings and swooped down, settling in Luz's messy hair. It looked at them both, and continued to chirp. Owlbert opened his eyes on the head of his staff, and listened intently, before hooting to Luz, who did her best to translate. "I think Owlbert is saying that this little Rascal is one of the lookouts for this area."
"You think?" Amity asked, looking a bit confused.
Luz shrugged, but did her best to clarify, "Owlbert is still my Mom's. She carved him, and cared for him, and while he's kinda become mine since she can't really use him as a quadruped, we're still not bonded. I speak a little bird, but I'm just not fluent like someone who's really bonded with their Palisman has. Still, I'm mostly sure that's what Owlbert was trying to get across, right little guy?"
Owlbert gave a hoot, and a nod of his head. He continued to softly hoot at his fellow avian, who tweeted back, a conversation neither the witch nor human could make out. Luz did her best to keep up with Owlbert's side of the conversation, but only caught every other word at best.
"Slow down, slow down," She insisted, muttering something in Spanish under her breath. "Okay, I think what our new friend is trying to say is he spotted some scouts heading back to camp a little while ago? And he can point us in the right direction?"
"Their camp? Amity breathed, "That's a good thing, right? If we know where they've made their base, we can make a plan of attack to drive them out, right?"
Luz seemed to come to this realization as well, "You're right! That's something we can totally do!"
Amity smirked, feeling cocky now that everything seemed to be going their way. "And I think we have just the thing to help us out."
She held up a piece of paper, her newest glyph emblazoned on it. Directly inspired by King's symbol, the paper had a set of circles, one smaller and inside a larger one. At the center of the inner circle was a solid ball of ink, while the outer circle had two filled in circles in its orbit. The glyph granted the user invisibility, for as long as they could hold their breath, a kink Amity was still trying to work out.
Luz glanced up at the red bird perched on her head, "You heard her, you rascal, lead the way!
The enemy camp was closer than either girl was comfortable with. Less than fifteen minutes away from the Bat Queen's grove, with the only reason it hadn't been directly attacked being how much of a dark and twisted maze the forest was for someone who didn't have a guide to lead the way.
The Emperor's coven seemingly hadn't been able to find their own clearing in the forest, and so decided to make their own. Trees had been haphazardly chopped down in a circular area, then turned into logs to be burned, or transfigured with plant magic into makeshift cages. A variety of tents filled the area, all temporary shelters that spoke of long term goals. A war room was one thing, but a mess hall and a line of tents for resting in were another, which only proved to Amity that these troops had no intention of leaving any time soon. Not until every last palisman had been found and taken.
Her air was running out, so she quickly darted behind a nearby tree, familiar footsteps following her and stepping beside her as she gasped for air as quietly as possible. Luz appeared beside her, the spell ending as the fresh air hit her lungs.
Amity leaned against the tree, poking just enough of her face over the side to keep an eye on the camp, and carefully whispered, "This isn't looking good, Luz."
The witch nodded, a worried frown distorting her usual grin, "They already have so many palismans. It's awful seeing them all caged up like that…"
Amity had to agree. Her eyes were glued to the wooden cages the magical animals were contained in, some still fighting to escape, others having given up hope of rescue, hopeless and despondent. "Don't worry, Luz. We'll save them."
Luz tightened her jaw, and shook her head, "We can't. I hate to say it, but we can't be reckless about this. If we free these guys, we won't be guaranteed a chance to free any others. We need to take this place down entirely."
Amity nodded, proud of Luz for seeing the bigger picture, "Exactly. Which is why we need to get to their war room. We take a look at their plans, and report back to Eda, and take them down in a crushing victory. That will drive them out, and free these guys all at once."
Both girls looked at each other, lifting a pair of identical glyphs at once. They inhaled deeply, lungs full of fresh air, then activated their papers, vanishing once more from sight.
Kikimora only had eyes for the fire in the center of camp, throwing a fresh log onto the flames, kicking up cinders as it landed heavily. While she'd been surprised for the Golden Guard to come to her, to set aside their differences for the good of the Empire, she'd found working with him no less annoying than any other dealings she was forced to undergo with him, and wished deeply for the chance to set him alight in a similar fashion to the logs.
Still, she had business to attend to, if they were to take the Bat Queen down before nightfall. Stepping away from the heat of the campfire, she made her way to the War Room, eager to put the final plan into action.
Her footfalls were light as she approached the tent, grabbing it by its flap and stepping inside. She stopped in her tracks as she noticed the swinging of the lantern above the planning table, and the shifting of papers and plans despite the lack of breeze, and her eyes narrowed suspiciously.
She slowly made her way towards the table, a little step stool beside it that allowed her to stand at a normal height while using it, and cast a spell circle. She walked around the area, eyes flickering from place to place, looking for something, anything out of place, for any signs of intruders, when-
"What are you doing?"
She jumped, nearly firing off a blast at the origin of the voice. She let out a growl when she realized who it was, and considered firing anyway when she saw the Golden Guard himself, laying casually on top of the planning table, head proper up by one arm, his staff in the other, likely having teleported to that exact location not a moment before.
Instead she lowered her finger, dispelling her attack for the moment. "I thought I saw something suspicious. Instead I heard something annoying."
The Golden Guard cocked his head, "Oh yeah, and what is that?"
"Your voice." Kikimora stated plainly, folding her hands behind her back, the picture of poise and dignity.
The tent flap opened once more, and in stepped on of the Emperor's Coven Captains, who gave them both a salute. The Golden Guard briskly hopped off the table to return the gesture, and with everyone gathered they could finalize their plan of attack.
"Have you put any more thought into what I've suggested?" The Golden Guard asked, leaning against the table, looking down at a hand drawn map of the forest. The last and most important piece had only just been added, the location of the Bat Queen's lair, and more importantly, her stock of precious Palismans she guarded with her life. Their scouts had performed admirably, having gone undetected and managed to bring this information in only minutes beforehand.
Kikimora seemed to consider her words carefully, "Now that we have the current location of the Bat Queen, it does seem prudent to strike fast and hard before she has time to realize what we know. I have considered your proposal of attacking from both sides in a flanking formation, and find this… acceptable."
The Golden Guard almost seemed to be in disbelief, elbowing the Coven Guard Captain beside him, "Did you hear that? She almost gave me a compliment right there."
"Yes, sir, I heard," The Captain replied cooly, not making her thoughts known any further than that.
Kikimora clenched her eyes closed tightly, trying to keep her temper under control. In a short while, it wouldn't matter anymore. "Yes, very good. If we are to strike, we need to do it now. Prepare yourself, and travel around to the backside of her grove. I'll use a callbird to contact you when we're ready to strike from the front."
The Golden Guard gave a mock salute, having nothing snarky to say when it was his plan being approved, and vanished in a flash of red light. This left Kikimora and the Guard Captain alone, and the two stood in silence together until Kikimora was sure the brat wasn't coming back.
"Captain Wollf, as soon as his back is turned, I want you and your men to arrange an accident that he won't be coming back from, just as we planned. Is that understood?" Kiki asked, voice maddeningly serious. She had no intention of sharing any credit for this mission, not when bringing a lifetime's worth of Palisman to her emperor would have her in his favor forever.
Her loyal guard gave a bow of her head, "of course, Ma'am. We'll dispose of him, and make sure it looks like the Bat Queen took him out. Are we continuing the flanking strategy once he's been eliminated?"
Kikimora paused, then gave a single nod of her head, "Yes, as irritating as he may be, his plan is solid. She's one single demon, she can't protect herself from two fronts. We'll eliminate her, right after you take care of that pest once and for all."
Coven Guard Captain Wollf gave a salute, taking that as her cue to leave. Kikimora waited a moment for her favorite captain to leave, eyes turning once more over the entire area of the tent before she stepped out herself, satisfied that whatever she thought she'd seen was simply her paranoia.
Not a moment after the small demon closed the flap behind her, two loud gasps sounded, Amity and Luz appearing from thin air and blue in the face. "I- I thought… we were totally goners!" Luz panted, skin pale from what she had overheard.
Amity choked, coughing at the worst time as her lungs cried for air, "We almost suffocated!"
She was really going to have to focus on working that breathing kink out of these glyphs. She couldn't take another mission like this. When she finally caught her breath, she turned to Luz, grasping her hand tightly, "We need to warn Eda!"
Her girlfriend nodded her head quickly, "They won't stand a chance if their backs are turned away from the real threat. We really lucked out that we overheard that."
They prepared another set of glyphs to hide themselves from prying eyes once more, but Luz lingered, "Amity… They're going to kill him."
The human girl hesitated as well, frowning. As horrible as it all sounded, there was a small part of her that whispered, asking her if that was so bad. After all, he nearly killed King a month ago. Threatened her siblings, and Eda. He worked as the lead enforcer for a corrupt Emperor, and even his own allies seemed to be chomping at the bit to get rid of him.
She closed her eyes, hoping Luz couldn't see those dark thoughts that flickered behind them. "I know Luz-"
"We need to warn him, too." Luz spoke determinedly, no hesitation, not even for a moment, even to save one of her enemies. Amity couldn't help but smile at her stubborn words, even with her own dark thoughts of leaving the Guard to his fate, Luz remained a guiding light.
"You're right, Luz. We can't leave him to die like that." Amity spoke softly.
Luz grinned, happy to hear it, only for it to fall away at Amity's next words, "Which is why you need to go give the others the warning about the attack. I'll go save the Golden Geek."
"Wait, but-" Luz protested, but Amity silenced her with a finger pressed to her lips.
"Luz, only one of us can go. I know you want us to go together, but someone has to warn Eda and the others."
"Then why can't you do that, and I'll go-"
"It's just something I need to do," Amity said firmly. She couldn't call herself an awesome girlfriend if she'd have been willing to leave the man to die, and yet she considered it. A part of her had wanted to leave him to his fate. So she'd go and save him, and prove she was worthy of this girl who brightened every aspect of her life. She'd cast that light into the darkest corners of her mind.
Luz bit her lip, clearly unhappy with this turn of events, but her resolve wavered when the thought occurred to her that every second they wasted was another second her mother couldn't prepare, and another moment closer to the Golden Guard's demise. "Fine, but I'm going to try and make it to you after I warn the others."
"No arguments here," Amity assured, then the two activated their glyphs and vanished once more.
Hunter squinted behind the slits of his mask, the dark of the forest blinding enough as it was. Still, he couldn't remove the mask, he had orders not to directly from the Emperor. It was to stay fixed on his face any time he was on duty. It was an honor to wear it, it showed his Emperor's trust and faith in him, that he would get any job done, and he would.
Still, it was irritating to keep almost tripping over tree roots he couldn't see. He'd have liked to have just teleported to the rendezvous point and avoid all the extra effort, but today was one of the rare times he would be leading troops into battle, and as their leader he had to guide them.
They traveled in a pack together, going in a large circle around the Bat Queen's hidden grove, giving it wide berth so as to not alert the Queen of their plans. She'd ruled over this forest for longer than Hunter had been alive, but today that reign would come to a swift end. There was only room on the Boiling Isles for one ruler, and it would be Belos.
The trees were beginning to thin ever so slightly because of their distance to the center of the forest. The occasional ray of sunlight managed to peek through the branches overhead, much to Hunter's wonder. It was hard to tell time here, in the dark. It had felt like he'd been trapped in this forest with Kikimora for days, and yet it was still the early afternoon. If things went right, they'd be done here before tomorrow, with the exception of hunting down the many palismans that littered this place.
Hunter held up a hand, signaling the half dozen coven guards following him to stop, "This is good. We're in position. Captain Wollf, alert Kikimora of our status, everyone else, prepare to launch the attack on her orders."
The Guard Captain nodded, a smirk under her own mask at the way he'd worded his order. Reaching into her surcoat, she pulled out a callbird, a standard crow model and held it to the mouth of her mask, "This is Guard Captain Wollf, Ma'am. We are in position, and awaiting your orders."
Hunter turned his back to the captain, looking around the trees, just in case they had been spotted. It also gave him an excuse to drown out Kikimora's voice when she responded. All seemed to be clear, until a flash of red filled his vision, and he stumbled back, only to realize it was a palisman, a single red cardinal with a scratched out eye.
"Hello there, little guy." He spoke calmly, holding out his palm, hoping to lure it close enough in to be in his grasp, "Why don't you come with me for a little bit?"
The palisman tweeted loudly, and frantically, Hunter not understanding a word it was trying to convey, and not really caring what it had to say. It'd be the emperor's next meal, anyway.
"You may proceed with your mission, Guard Captain. Make it swift, but painful." He faintly heard Kikimora's voice, and he resisted the urge to roll his eyes. And she called his voice annoying.
The bird was in his grasp now, though, and he lifted his staff to magic up a cage to contain it, the gem glowing red. But it wasn't the only glow that filled the darkness of their hollow. Craning his head to look behind him, he found a spell circle pointed point blank at his head, with none other than the Guard Captain being the one to cast it. Around him, many other circles were being spun, all pointed in his direction. He didn't have time to act, and hardly had time to speak. His last words better be good ones, and he begged his brain to say something cool.
"Oh, farts."
Captain Wollf's spell activated, blasting Hunter's mask clean off his face and into the air. It hit the ground in two pieces, split cleanly down the middle, but it did its job and protected his life. He raised his staff, prepared to teleport behind his foe, only for the next circle to activate, a small fireball grazing his hand, scorching his knuckles and forcing his staff out of his grip.
The next blow hit his back, catching his cape on fire. Forced to tear it off, he at least flung it at one of the witches who hadn't managed to send a spell his way, breaking their circle. He wasn't so lucky with the next, a fist forming in the dirt under him that slammed into his chest, between his ribs. The air was knocked out of him, and he collapsed to his knees, gasping for air.
Hunter didn't have a chance to recover, by the time he looked back up he was already surrounded, six spell circles tracked on him and ready to blast. The only sound he could hear in this cold, dead forest was the pounding of his heart, and the mad tweeting of the bird, who had ascended up into the branches ahead at the first sign of trouble. Six expressionless masked faces stared down at him, silver masks that were supposed to be loyal to him, to his emperor, and yet he was going to die with that being the last thing he'd see.
These weren't the masks he'd expected to die under. He'd always expected it to be gold.
He grit his teeth and clenched his eyes, too cowardly to look death in the face as he awaited his fate, only to hear a third sound meet his ears.
"Ahhhh!" A cry sounded, and his staff descended on top of Wollf's head with a crack. An out of breath girl appeared before his eyes, turning the staff on the coven guard beside him and blasting him with a way of light, while a cat palisman attacked the face of the next one until he too was blasted. Three guards down, three to go.
Hunter's staff was tossed back to him, and in his surprise he almost let it hit the ground instead of catching it. The girl, fiery eyed and with bared teeth, took out a paper and sent it at the next guard, who had re-trained his spell circle off of Hunter, and instead at the girl, only to find himself frozen solid in a block of ice before he could do anything with it.
Hunter himself was back on his feet, sweeping the legs of the last two guards in one fluid motion, knocking them on their asses. With a glow of the red crystal, the dirt underneath them formed into a mass of flesh and bone, wrapping around the soldiers like arms, before forming back into solid ground, keeping them contained and unable to attack.
With the last of the traitorous guards down, Hunter let out a breath. But there was no time to rest, as he quickly swung around and aimed his staff at his rescuer, who just as quickly had a glyph in her hands pointed at him, and her other hand on a vial on her hip. He recognized both.
"Glyphs... Wild magic. As well as the Abomination Flask from the Hall of must be the infamous Amity Blight." Hunter snarled, keeping his staff tracked at her head.
"Whiny voice, short stature, and a dumb outfit, you must be the Golden Guard." Amity snarked right back, "you're welcome, by the way."
Hunter sidestepped, trying to circle around the girl, but she had other plans, moving in tandem with him. Neither fired, both tense. "Why did you bother saving me?"
Amity paused, but didn't falter, "It was the right thing to do."
Hunter wasn't buying it, "Right. So you just want to save all your enemies, or am I special?"
"Neither. You're not special, you're a dork." Amity smirked. "Look, can we quit the circling already? All it's doing is making us dizzy."
Hunter stopped in his tracks, conceding the point, "We're at a standstill. What exactly do you propose we do? Because I can't just let you go, and you can't let me go on with what I'm doing here, if you even know what we're doing here in the first place."
"I know a lot more than you might think. I had to, to save your worthless life," Amity stated plainly. "But you're right, I can't let you continue hurting the palismans in this forest, or the Bat Queen. However, that doesn't get to be decided by me."
"What exactly are you trying to say?" Hunter narrowed his eyes.
Amity was silent for a moment before answering. Slowly, she lowered her glyph, "I'm saying, we may be on different sides, but we currently have a common enemy within these woods. Kikimora."
Hunter was intrigued, but didn't lower his staff in turn. Not yet, "Go on?"
Amity held out her hand, "I propose a temporary truce. Kikimora wants both of us dead, and she currently has a stockade of palismans. If she decides to cut her loses and run with what she already has, she wins against both of us. If we part ways, she still has a chance to call in more troops to kill you, and take down the Bat Queen, meaning she still wins. Together, we can take her down, and settle our own score when the dust has settled."
"The enemy of my enemy…" Hunter pondered, "Now that is an idea. We take down Kiki, then fight over the palismans she already has. I win, I get to keep my campaign here up, get to take you in, and have all the glory, and if you win, well… there is nothing stopping me from coming back later to finish the job."
The glow on Hunter's staff faded as he lowered it, then clasped Amity's hand, "You have yourself a deal, Blight."
A circle enveloped both of their hands, cast by Hunter's staff, "And an Everlasting Oath to seal the deal. Now neither of us can betray the other until Kikimora is taken out."
"Paranoid, much?" Amity asked, not liking being bound by magic she didn't understand.
"A necessary precaution. I can't exactly trust a criminal to watch my back, and not stab it, can I? Besides, it'll keep me from doing the same to you, won't it?"
Amity sighed, and gave a sharp nod, "Fine. Let's go, then."
Above them, the red cardinal chirped, flying back down to land on Hunter's head, treating it like a nest. Amity just smirked again at the look of annoyance that passed over Hunter's face. "Good job, Rascal. Couldn't have kept up with them if you hadn't followed after them."
"Ugh, you had your bird track me?" Hunter already didn't like this partnership, or where it might be going.
"Mom!"
Eda jolted as her daughter called for her, still in talks with the CATTs and Bat Queen about their objectives and how to defend against the Emperor's coven. As the mother of a teenager, she knew when she was called out in that kind of voice, it meant trouble. Beside her, Camila tensed as well.
"What is it, Kiddo? Where's Amity?" Eda quickly asked, immediately noticing that her daughter's girlfriend wasn't attached to her hip like usual.
Luz skidded to a halt, huffing and puffing, having run the whole way from the Coven encampment, "She's taking care of something, but I needed to warn you, the Emperor's coven, we found where they're hiding-"
Eda perked up, even the Bat Queen seemed pleased about this news, but that all came crashing down, "They know where we are too, and are on their way right now to attack us!"
"This is no good!" The Bat Queen frowned, "Where will they be attacking?"
"They plan to attack from the north and south at the same time. Amity went around to the southern end of the forest to head them off, so we shouldn't need to worry too much, but the main bulk of the forces are currently marching towards us as we speak."
'Milly' stepped forward, aghast, "And you just let her go there alone? What were you thinking?"
Luz normally wasn't one to shrink away from strangers when they tried to scold her, but she couldn't help it with this woman for some reason, "I didn't have any choice! Someone had to warn you guys, and if we both came along, we'd still be pincered! Don't worry though, I'm going to go and help her!"
Camila clenched her fists tightly, "Oh no you will n-"
"Go, and hurry up, Luz. We'll handle things here," Eda interrupted, earning a glare from Camila. Eda was not looking forward to the talk later about Eda undermining and overriding her parental authority, but right now it was more important that someone go and make sure Amity is safe.
Luz didn't wait any longer, already sprinting to the other end of the grove and disappearing into the trees, calling out breathlessly, "Thanks Mom, be back soon, save some Coven butt for me to kick, byyyye!"
"Eda," Camila hissed, "What do you think you're doing letting her run off alone like that?"
"Cam, I'm not sure if you noticed, but I'm a big target right about now. I'd just be a liability in any place with denser trees, so I can't go after Amity. As for you, Viney, and Gilbert, you're all here for a mission. It's be irresponsible for you to send one of them after her. That's something I'd do." Eda sighed, but did her best to smile at her ex, "Look, I trust Luz to be smart about this, she'll find Amity, and bring her back safe."
Gilbert, who'd been nervously watching the trees as soon as he'd heard they would be under attack, whispered loudly in their direction, "I don't think we'll have time to argue about this anymore. They're coming!"
Viney grimaced, but summoned a spell circle. Most of the animals had fled the forest by now, which she hadn't counted on when she volunteered for this mission, so her ability to fight was hampered beyond basic defense spells, and a slicing spell for making incisions she'd learned in her Healing track courses. Beside her, Camila wasn't much better, her own healing track knowledge limiting her attacks.
That left most of the heavy lifting to Gilbert, who had been in the plant track, like his daughter. He had the most opportunity to be a heavy hitter here in the forest, but…
The man was shaking in his boots, "H-how could Willow stand up against these guys so easily?"
The Bat Queen sighed, "Is this truly the best your leaders could send?"
Camila straightened up, taking incredible offense to that statement. "Viney, keep on Gilbert. Make sure he's got shields covering him while he works. Eda, stay near me. If you're such a big target, they'll gun for you first. I'll do the same and provide you with cover while you close the distance and take them down physically."
Eda grinned, showing off her fangs, "Sounds simple. I can dig it."
The Bat Queen spread her wings, ready to fight, "I shall provide cover from the rear, then. If any of the south flank makes it past the little ones, I will be ready for them."
And with that, the battle for the Bat Queen's grove began.
Luz tore through the forest, an ache in her side from all the running. As much as she'd like to ride Owlbert, the trees were just too dense to safely fly through, and the last thing she or Amity needed was for her to crash into a tree and get too injured to help with anything.
She was so busy running, she hadn't been watching her step, and almost tripped over something, only not landing on her face because Owlbert was there to catch her before she could faceplant. Breathing heavily, feeling like that's all she'd been able to do today, between the running and the use of her girlfriend's invisibility glyphs,
"Ugh, what even was that-" Luz looked down at her ankle, then freaked out, "Oh my Titan, it's a corpse!"
"I'm not a corpse!" The Coven guard groaned, half buried in the dirt and stone the Golden Guard had swallow him up. "Can you get me out of here, so I can arrest you as a traitor to the empire? Pretty please?"
"Uh, no, sorry." Luz backed up, realizing she'd made it to wherever it was she had been going. That guard was just one of many, the entire platoon was down on the ground, beaten and bruised. "Amity must have been here…"
When she didn't see her girlfriend in the immediate area, she poked the guard with the end of her staff, "Hey, uh, you didn't happen to see a girl around here, did you? Beautiful brown hair, gorgeous blue eyes, skin as white and pale as the first snow on the Knee?"
The guard seemed to ponder his response, "No, I don't think I saw any babe like that, but I did see this dorky kid human running around. She beat the crap out of us, then left with the Golden Guard."
"Ah! That's her!" Luz celebrated happily, glad her girlfriend completed her mission. Maybe she'd just barely missed her in the woods, and she was on her way back to the Bat Queen's grove? "Did you happen to see where they were going?"
"Uh, yeah, I heard them make plans to team up and kick Kikimora's ass, then they'd kick each other's ass to see who was better, or something? I dunno, I was only half conscious at the time." The guard supplied helpfully.
Luz's face fell, "Uh, thanks, but I need to go, like, now."
The guard understood, "Yeah, I get that. Gotta go save your girlfriend."
"Yup!" And just like that, she was back to sprinting in the direction of the enemy camp, the familiar pain returning to her ribs as she huffed and puffed, and decided that after today she was never running anywhere ever again.
Amity trudged alongside the Golden Guard through the dark woods, their paths equally illuminated by a bright glyph, and a red glowing staff. Neither had spoken since their alliance had been sealed, nor had they looked at each other, though Amity could feel the occasional glance sent her way and grimaced every time.
"What?" She grumbled, finally looking at him with dark eyes.
"Nothing!" He insisted, but after a moment of deliberation, he continued, "It's just… I've never seen magic done like that before."
"It's a glyph. I don't have a bile sack, so I have to get creative." Amity said simply, hoping the conversation could just end there.
"… May I see one?"
"No! Didn't you call this wild magic? The kind of stuff you outlaw?" Amity snapped testily, glaring at the boy, "besides, I am not going to let my enemy get a chance to look over my spells! Now, let's focus on taking out Kikimora so we can go back to trying to kill each other, okay?"
At Amity's feet, Ghost continued to walk, looking up at Hunter's shoulder, where Rascal had parked himself. They both seemed to shrug at the human and witch's behavior, and carried on.
They were closing in on the camp now, and extinguished their lights. Inching forward and staying hidden behind the trees, even at a distance they could hear Kikimora screeching. Amity poked her head out, watching the demon as she shouted into her callbird. "Wollf? Come in, Guard Captain Wollf! I command that you answer me! Did the operation go smoothly?"
Kikimora seethed as all she got back was radio silence, then threw the bird into the air, where it quickly recovered and landed on a branch. Fuming, the small witch growled, "This is all the Golden Guard's fault…"
"Wow, she really doesn't like you…" Amity observed dryly, raising a brow at the unmasked guard, "What did you even do to her to make her hate you this much?"
"I exist in a place where power is everything," He muttered back, keeping his voice low as he watched the glorified tantrum Kikimora was throwing, "and I have a bit of power she craves. She's just trying to take what she believes is hers."
"Yeah, that's totally not a messed up work environment. Join the emperor's coven today, where your fellow workers may try to murder you for your position. We have dental, so that makes it a-okay!" Amity chimed in sarcastically.
"… No, we really don't," The Guard commented back, running his tongue over his tooth gap self-consciously.
"Alright, I've got a plan, so unless you have something better, here's what we're going to do…" Amity began, whispering her idea into the Guard's pointed ear.
A moment later, The Golden Guard stepped out from the safety of the tree, his staff clenched tightly in his hands. He marched right into the camp, empty of troops except for Kikimora, the fire at the center of the encampment casting shadows that covered his eyes. "Kikimora!"
The demoness turned to face her opponent, a mixture of fear and anger in her eyes to see him alive. "You! What are you doing here?"
"You tried to have me killed!" He shouted her down, raising his staff and firing before she could do or say anything.
Kikimora managed to bring up a shield just in time, deflecting the spell, and preparing her own. The circle was half spun, almost ready to fire when a 'thunk!' Sounded, and she fell to the ground, unconscious.
Amity appeared in a shimmer of light behind her, one of the logs being used for firewood in her hands. She'd used a glyph to turn invisible, and clubbed Kikimora over the head with it, ending the fight before it could start. "That… was almost too easy."
The Guard shrugged, "That's the brilliance of the pincer move. If the enemy isn't expecting to be flanked, they can't defend against it."
Amity scoffed, "Don't act like you came up with this plan."
"Only if you stop acting like you didn't steal it from me in the first place."
The two glared at once another for a moment, Ghost coming up to brush Amity's leg, fur raising in the human's defense, while Rascal perched on Hunter's shoulder, blinking his one good eye at the two and chirping softly.
"Just… hand me that rope so I can tie her up, okay?" Amity demanded, pointing to a bit of rope beside one of the tents. The Golden Guard did so eagerly, awaiting the end of their partnership with building glee if it meant getting away from such a bossy human.
The rope was tossed over, Amity grabbing it from the air and turning to the unconscious demon, quickly wrapping her up with the bundle, tying the rope just like Eda taught her how to when taking a hostage. She was sure the Owl Lady would be so proud of her if she were there to see it.
As soon as the ropes were bound around Kikimora's limp form, a glowing ring appeared around Amity's wrist, then quickly shattered. Behind her, she could see a faint light coming from the Guard's direction. Their truce was over. They'd met the requirements to keep their oaths, and were now released.
Amity stilled as she realized what that meant for her, with her back turned. Beside her, Ghost started hissing violently, spitting at the Golden Guard's form as his shadow approached. A red glow appeared, and Amity's eyes widened as she realized that for all of his talk about her stabbing him in the back the moment she could, he fully intended to do the same to her. The hypocrite.
She dove aside, the spell he sent blasting her way singeing a few of her hairs as she hit the ground. She didn't have time to pause, instead forced to scramble on all fours as he sent several more energy blasts at her.
She reached for her flask, but with pinpoint accuracy he blasted that away with some kind of concussive shot. It landed in the dirt behind her, out of reach. Instead she was forced to search her pockets, unable to even look at the glyphs she was pulling out, but with a sweep of his staff the ends of the paper caught fire, rendering her glyphs useless.
She had nowhere to go, nowhere to run, no way to hide as he set upon her, his face full of grim determination, "You're coming with me to see the Emperor, criminal."
She could only gape as he prepared another spell, blasting a ray of energy at her. She closed her eyes, raising her hands to protect herself as best she could, only for it to rebound off a shield that sprung forth at the last second.
Cracking her eyes open, Amity was surprised to see Ghost standing defiantly between the witch and the human, eyes glowing with magic as she projected the shield. Realizing that Amity was no longer cowering, the cat leapt into the air, transforming into a staff and falling into Amity's waiting hands.
Amity had used Owlbert several times, each time filling her with a sense of empowerment and confidence, but this? This blew all of those times out of the water. With Ghost resting in her palms, she felt invincible.
Hunter tried again to blast her, but Amity swing her new staff, literally batting the blast back at him, forcing the Guard to poof and vanish to avoid it, teleporting to her right. He lunged at her, anger worn naked on his face with the intent to smash a fist into her face, but with another flick of her staff the flask on the ground picked itself up and returned to her side, fixing itself to her hip and flying open, a whip of goo lashing out to grab his arm and stopping the blow.
Another red flash of teleportation, and he was behind her. She swiped with her staff, but he vanished again, and the cycle repeated, until she spotted a pattern. Much like his master, he liked to appear directly behind her, so with a quick spell she formed a glove of hardened Abomination goo over her left hand, then when the next flash of light shown, she threw it behind her, her augmented fist slamming right into his gut.
He let out a cry, clutching his ribs and cursing under his breath, "I refuse to lose to a teenager!"
"Yeah, well, you're just a slightly bigger teenager!" Amity shot back, already panting.
The Golden Guard sneered, tightening his grip on his staff and looking just as mad as Kikimora had been when she laid eyes on him. "That's it, I'm done playing nice! I'm going to-"
'Bonk!' With another loud thud, the prone body of the Golden Guard collapsed to the ground in a heap, sporting a large, red goose egg of a bruise. Behind him, Luz smiled brightly at Amity, leaning against Owlbert, her makeshift club, as she flashed her girlfriend a thumbs up. "Pincer attack! Never fails!"
"I don't even want to count the number of concussions we've caused today…" Amity groaned, almost collapsing with relief. As powerful as she'd felt, she had so little practice with a staff she hadn't been confident she'd have been able to win this fight. Craning her neck up, she looked at the still form of Ghost at the end of the staff, giving her a grateful smile, "Thanks for jumping in back there, you really saved me."
Ghost's eyes popped open, and she let out a meow that Amity could have sworn was an "I know."
Both girls, ragged and dirty from their day trip to the forest, quickly tied the Golden Guard up, pressing his still body beside Kikimora's, then turned their attention to the plethora of cages filled with Palisman, all of whom had watched the fight that decided their fate.
"We need to get them out of there, and then get back to the grove." Amity's shoulders sagged, just thinking of how much work there still was left to do.
"After this is done, we're going to need a vacation." Luz groaned, clutching the stitch that still stabbed at her side from all the running she'd done. "You know, crazy stuff like this didn't happen as often before you came along."
"How often did it happen, then?" Amity asked, amusement in her voice as she tiredly leaned against her girlfriend.
"Eh, only once or twice a week. Three times though is starting to push it, Blight."
"Man, you two really missed out! You should have seen us!" Eda bragged to her daughter and Amity when they returned to the Bat Queen's grove. "Ol' Beardy over there was an absolute monster! And Puddles was no slouch either."
"Aw, thanks, Eda" Viney seemed genuinely pleased with the compliment, if a little flustered that her troublemaking hero was praising her. Beside her, Gilbert was trying not to look too proud of himself, glad his mask covered his blushing, bashful cheeks.
Camila crossed her arms, "I feel like you left someone out."
Eda nodded, expression serious, "You're right… Bat Queen, you kicked some serious ass! You ever need someone to have your back, I'll be there."
Camila buried her face in her hands, fighting back irritation as Eda looked smug to have gotten a rise out of her. "That's not to dismiss anything you kids did, because, wow. Without you, I'm pretty sure we'd be done for."
Leaning against a tree, still knocked out, were the Golden Guard and Kikimora, dragged here by Luz and Amity until they could decide what to do with them.
The Bat Queen agreed, "Yes. You cut off the head, or heads in this case, and without their orders we were able to beat the opposition back. They will think twice before they strike again."
"But they will strike again," Camila stepped forward with a warning. "They'll be back to get more palismans. Emperor Belos will never be satisfied, never sated, and he will send more troops after you."
The Bat Queen knew when she was being offered something, and was intrigued, "What is it that you suggest we do?"
"Our organization is used to dealing with displaced witches. We help move wild witches around the isles, get them new identities, find them better lives away from the emperor's prying eyes. We can offer the same for these palismans." Camila explained, her voice curt and professional, even though she was hiding behind a layer of fear about how the Bat Queen would react to parting with her beloved friends.
And, in fact, the Queen was not pleased with the suggestion, "Many of these palisman have been deeply hurt by witches and demons. I am their protector. You would suggest I send them back to the very same people they ran away from? For what purpose?"
"We could use their help. More of the Emperor's coven guards are being equipped with these mechanical staves, and your palismans could help turn the tide." Camila urged, paling when the Bat Queen's claws began to churn and gnash the dirt beneath her feet. "Some of them stayed behind today to fight. We won't take any unwilling, but if they can help us even the odds, we can use their help."
Before the Bat Queen could issue her own response, a flying squirrel palisman descended from the trees, gliding down to land on Camila's shoulder. It gave a little squeak, speaking to the Bat Queen directly, a look of concern shadowing her majesty's face.
The squirrel was not alone. A Fox followed behind, then a small deer fawn, and a toad. Soon half the prying eyes that watched over the hollow were beside Camila, each offering their support. While their words were lost to the witches around them, their message was clear. If the emperor insisted on hunting them, then they weren't going to sit around like woodland creatures waiting to be hunted. They were going to fight, even if they had to bring it to Belos.
The Bat Queen looked over them all, all their small, frail forms, many of them cracked and damaged from their previous owners, yet still willing to fight beside and for witches. "I see. My friends, if this is what you wish…"
Her eyes turned to the others, scattered among the trees who had not stepped forward, "But what should be done with the others? The Emperor's men will still come for them…"
Eda looked on, at Viney cuddling a chimera palisman, who leaped into her arms, to Ghost, who sat beside Amity, and to the other palisman, who didn't wish to fight, but still needed to find new homes if they wanted to survive. "I think I have an idea about what we could do about that…"
As Eda explored the idea of a palisman adoption day for the students of Hexside and the other surrounding schools, Amity leaned up against Luz, stifling a yawn. "Today was exhausting… the second we get back home, I'm taking a nap, and you're snuggling with me."
"I certainly won't say no to that," Luz chortled. "Here's hoping this next week won't be as brutal."
Amity sighed happily, "All I have planned outside of school is helping Ed and Em find their dumb book at the library. Gwen mentioned something about a human who lived here once, and that any information he might have to get them home could possibly be in a journal or something. They've been pestering me about it all week, I'm not sure I can put it off much longer…"
Luz gave her a playful nudge, "Oh, come on, it's a library trip, how bad could that possibly be compared to all of this?"
Behind them, leaning against a tree, Hunter's eye twitched, the barest sense of consciousness tingling in his brain.
"He is a traitor to the Empire, and I demand justice!" Kikimora shrieked before Belos' throne, pointing an accusing finger in Hunter's direction.
Hunter snarled, lip curling back and showing teeth, "She tried to have me killed! If anything, she's the traitor. Our mission would have gone perfectly had she not interfered with her petty jealousy!"
Belos sat back in his throne, unamused with either of his minions, and entirely not in the mood to deal with their squabbles. He did, however, know the importance of mediating, if only to keep his side from fracturing from within. "Kikimora, with age comes beauty, as they say. Give me your report, and then Hunter shall give his."
Kikimora straightened up when she heard her name, silently cheering inside of her head that she got to go first. She'd enthrall him with her retelling, "I was minding my own business, giving orders to scouts to send to the front lines. Once I was alone, I tried to get in contact with the second team, led by the Golden Guard, but they were silent!"
She dramatically raised her hands to the ceiling, "Then, out of nowhere, the Golden Guard appeared, and without any warning, fired spells on me! He abandoned his post, and attempted to assassinate me where I stood, ruining the entire operation and ensuring your highness wouldn't get a single palisman."
She bowed low as she finished her tale, shooting a side glance and an evil grin at Hunter, as if to brag about how screwed he was.
"I see," The Emperor drawled, his voice betraying neither if he believed her or not. "And Hunter, what is your side of this story?"
Hunter fell to one knee, and bowed his head. "I had advised a pincer attack on the Bat Queen's flank, and was instructed to take a group of Kikimora's men around to the back, where we would await further orders. Shortly after arriving, I had the Guard Captain let Kikimora we were in position."
He took a breath, knowing this would be the point he'd have to start making things up. Kikimora hadn't seen him and Amity work together, and he'd rather not profess that. "The guards attacked me, all of them, on Kikimora's orders. They tried to take me by surprise, but I managed to outsmart them, and take them down."
"Alone?" Belos asked calmly, leaning his head against one of his propped up hands.
"Yes," Hunter lied, gritting his teeth, "Alone. Afterwards, I went after Kikimora in the camp. I managed to take her down, but with our forces thinned, our plan ruined, and me exhausted from the attempts on my life, I was unable to continue the campaign, and had to return here."
Another lie. He'd been tied up, and dropped off at the castle gates. He hadn't regained full consciousness until after whoever had left him there was gone.
"Hmm," Belos took a moment to think, then turned his head to address Kikimora, "And you, Kiki, what do you have to say about these orders to kill my Golden Guard?"
"Preposterous! I would never order them to do something so sinister!" Kikimora fibbed, trying to make herself appear as innocent as a schoolgirl. "It was those nasty, rebellious BATTs, sire! They must have stolen some uniforms and masqueraded as members of our fine coven."
Hunter wanted to call her out on that lie, mouth already opening to shout her down even if he hadn't been given permission to speak, but then Belos raised a solitary hand and he fell quiet. His Emperor raised himself from the throne, and walked between them, slowly casting his eyes from one to the other.
"You're both lying." Belos said simply, and in that moment a wave of red energy wrapped itself around the two accusers, immobilizing them. Hunter couldn't even scream as the air was being forced out of his lungs from the pressure the energy exerted in his body.
"You have both failed your mission, and will be equally punished. I'll find something suitable, something unpleasant, to remind you of your place. Your place at my side." His calm tone did nothing but inspire fear in his subordinates as he laced his fingers together, squeezing the bindings around them even tighter.
"Perhaps in the future, this will incentivize you to work together better, and not fail your mission. Because when you fail that, you are failing me. And I do not tolerate failures."
The Emperor took his seat again, and the energy dissipated, allowing them both to gasp for breath, shaking and gasping on the floor. "Y-yes, my Emperor."
"You are dismissed."
The two quickly removed themselves from his presence, not daring to look at one another as they exited the throne room. Today, they would act as if nothing happened, as if the other didn't exist, if simply to spare themselves from their Emperor's wrath, and disappointment.
Hunter made his way to his quarters, hands shaking and trembling the entire way. Slamming the door behind him, he collapsed on his bed, trying to think of some way, any way, he could make things up to his uncle for his failings today. Scouts had already reported back that the forest had been emptied of all Palisman, the creatures vanishing into thin air as soon as the troops had retreated from the forest, so that was a lost cause.
A tweet from his window alerted him he was being watched, and he rolled over to see the Red Cardinal palisman who had followed him around in the forest. "Come to rub it in?"
The bird cocked his head, then fluttered from the windowsill and over to the bed, his body forming into a staff and falling into Hunter's hands. "…what?"
Sitting up, he ran his hands over the smooth pole, and found no imperfections. It even felt right to hold, the magic inside of the palisman resonating with him in a way unlike anything he'd felt before.
He briefly considered giving this bird over to his uncle, as an apology, but a selfish part of him declined the idea. For whatever reason, this Cardinal trusted him, and he couldn't bring himself to betray that trust. Instead, his mind went to a faint, half forgotten memory from the forest, something he had overheard before he'd awoken, something about…
"The library…"
That's where he would go, to find something to bring to his Emperor.
That night, Amity laid her tired head on her pillow, limbs weak from the day's many battles. The house had fallen quiet once more, and was once more empty of the dozens of Palisman, minus Owlbert, and one other.
"Good night, Luz." Amity bid, throwing her blankets over her, snuggling into their warmth. Her girlfriend, already snoring, shifted in her sleep at the sound of Amity's voice.
A familiar weight laid against her chest, and Amity smiled, cracking one closed eye back open, "Good night to you, too, Ghost."
Laying up on Amity's chest, Ghost let out a yawn, and settled in for the night, finding comfort in her new owner. She had a feeling that the two of them were going to have very exciting lives, and as a cat, she needed her beauty sleep to face it all.
A/N: Why. Why are all of my chapters so damn long lately? Do you have any idea how much time it takes to write these? So much! 15k words, before editing! Why do I keep doing this?
What's funny, is this was another chapter I thought that I'd have trouble coming up with material for. While the situation is the same as the show, the actual events are entirely unique, so this is almost entirely a new episode. Having to come up with almost everything on my own was rough, and I had to draft it out in a lot more detail than I normally do so I could focus on each scene individually.
Of course, I couldn't help but have Amity get Ghost, and Hunter get Rascal/Flapjack. Speaking of those two teaming up together, I imagine Amity is less sympathetic to Hunter than Luz. Heck, she didn't even care to ask his name in this chapter, he's still just the Golden Guard to her. She's unwilling to talk about her glyphs, and never really considered the idea of him coming over to her side, either. Because, after all, Amity is a different character compared to Luz, and she hasn't really seen Hunter at his lowest like in Eclipse Lake.
Guard Captain Wollf is named after the person who voiced her. I'm not creative with names. Moving on.
I hope the way I wrote how the Bat Queen talks captures her accent, and didn't just end up being offensive or something. I was going to feature her and even her babies a bit more in this chapter, with the fight scene in her grove, but cut it because it was exhausting to even think about writing. Hence, we get Eda's joking and leaning on the fourth wall commentary of "You should have seen it!"