Chapter Twelve

A few days later, and yet another convocation was summoned.

"May I present my apprentice and successor," head witch Carrol said, "the Cyan Vision."

Her face hidden behind a silver mask modeled on theater masks, even molded to have pursed lips curled into a faint smirk, the Cyan Vision strutted forward in a feminine one-piece of snow white that covered her from ebony, knee-high boots to the top of her neck and down to her white-gloved hands, and was itself covered by a black blazer with the mirror of the Illusionist Coven stitched into the right breast with sky-blue thread. Her hair appeared to be cut into a pixie style, where it wasn't covered by a silk tophat.

Overall, the ensemble brought a stage performer to mind — very suitable for an illusionist.

The newest apprentice bowed at the waist and even tipped her hat to the Emperor. "My liege," she greeted in a low voice, "it is an honor to serve."

"That remains to be seen," Belos replied stoically. "I find that a physical confrontation would be pointless for an illusionist." He drummed his fingers on the armrest of his throne for a moment. "Therefore, I would more directly test this child's skills." He stood and moved to the edge of his podium. "Perhaps a demonstration. Show us what you can do."

The Vision was silent for a moment before she stretched her arms out to her sides and, with a graceful pirouette, traced a greater spell circle. Magic raced along the floor and walls to culminate in the ceiling, producing the appearance of a black void that slowly resolved into a city of the Boiling Isles.

The Titan's skull appeared in the background, the clear blue skies fading in. Buildings appeared one by one, soon filled in by orderly, maintained streets. Trees appeared in neat boxes along the streets and sidewalks, birds twittering in the branches. And then in came the peoples of the Isles, witch and demon walking along peacefully and unhurried — not a trace of malevolence in sight. The sound of faint breeze and faint chatter came next, and even the smell of the cobblestones and food from street vendors.

"A vision from this Vision, Emperor Belos," she explained. "A world without wild magic."

Everyone in the throne room-turned-dream gaped in clear awe at the display, except for Ludwig who was smiling with pride. Or the Emperor or apprentices, their faces covered by their masks.

"A lovely dream, child," Belos said, his tone … relaxed. "And one that will become reality under the Titan's will." He flicked a hand and the Vision let the illusion fade away … before gasping and falling to her hands and knees. The Amethyst Artisan took a step forward before checking herself and regaining her composure, but Carrol helped her to her feet and escorted her to their place in the procession.

"Shall anyone else reveal their new acquisitions?" Belos asked, to be met with silence. "Very well. Then I shall cut this short, as there are matters that are most urgent that I must look over." Belos turned and departed for a back door, gesturing for the coven heads to disperse and the Golden Guard not to follow him.

As the coven heads filed out, the Golden Guard moved to join the back of the line until something seemed to flick against his mind like a feeling that he was missing something. He glanced around and up until he noticed something on the Titan's bile sac. He tilted his head and settled on his mechanized staff to float up and closer to find a Lily of the Heart attached to the massive organ.

Hunter knew the history and meanings of the lily … and especially how rare they were. Willow's smiling face flashed across his mind's eye, an image of her in her home surrounded by her beloved plants. On impulse, he tugged the clinging flower from the bile sac and returned to the ground, tucking it unobtrusively into his cloak.

It was about time he gave his love a flower.

Kikimora was not having a good day.

Even with the state-of-the-art equipment she'd had requisitioned, the mining for Titan's Blood was going far too slowly for her liking. The network of tunnels from ancient mines were complex and difficult to map, not to mention unstable. They'd had numerous cave-ins in the first week alone, which required even more time to clear away and reinforce before they could make any headway.

She'd ordered a small group of scouts to go ahead and map the tunnels, but they had come back either traumatized from further cave-ins and miraculous escapes, or offered only indecipherable gibberish that had her screeching and throwing their maps back at them. Which had necessitated further repair of the old tunnels to make any progress at all.

And all the while, doubts had begun creeping into the back of her mind. What if Belos became impatient and replaced her with someone else, leaving her to return to the castle in disgrace? What if there was no Titan's Blood anymore? What if the Golden Guard swooped in to sabotage her efforts or snatch the blood for himself to give to Belos?!

That last one kept her up at night, leaving her sleep deprived for the last week on top of everything else. And this night proved to be no better. Kikimora hissed as sleep continued to elude her, fear and dread piling upon her shoulders until she felt physically ill. She turned over in her bunk, grateful for a tent of her own, and let her thoughts wander to try and relax.

For good or for ill, her thoughts wandered to her childhood.

Kikimora had been raised by her grandmother in a small cabin in the wilderness of the Right Wrist. Her parents had been killed when she was a baby by plague, one of the last after Emperor Belos came to power. Her grandmother had been a seamstress and spent hours repairing and creating clothes for the people of their small town. And as she rocked in her rocking chair and sewed or knitted, she would tell little Kiki stories about the Savage Ages.

She would tell stories of witches and demons that practiced old magics that they wove together in chaotic tapestries that led to death and despair. Of selfish witches and demons that butchered and slaughtered each other for power with no law to restrain them. Of wild rites and curses wrought by greed and arrogance. Stories that frightened little Kiki to her core and urged her to never use wild magic.

But one person eased her fear with proclamations of order and peace: Emperor Belos. As a girl, she would listen to his cultured voice as he eased the concerns of the people of the Boiling Isles, condemning the wild magic that her grandmother's stories had reviled and urging all peoples to join the coven system to bring order and prosperity to the Isles. He also spoke of the Titan's voice that urged them to do so as well.

In addition to his voice on the crystal ball, Emperor Belos's will was shown and enforced by his coven, the scouts and guards who arrested wild witches and brought people into the safety and security of the coven system. The elite force that was permitted by the Titan to use all magics. The hands of the Emperor.

And so Kikimora resolved to join the Emperor's Coven, to rise through their ranks until she worked alongside the great and mighty Emperor. She pushed herself while attending St. Epiderm School, but it seemed that combat and hard-living were not her forte. But she refused to give up and managed to secure a place in the administrative staff of the castle.

For the next ten years, through everything from bribery and brown nosing to manipulation and betrayal, Kikimora worked her way up the administrative ladder to reach the side of Emperor Belos as his assistant. Any rivals were mercilessly taunted and belittled into submission or maneuvered into loss of face that left them in the cold under her clawed foot.

For a few years, Kikimora served her Emperor as his assistant with utter devotion. No one was a threat to her now, not even Lilith Clawthorne. Kikimora had predicted Lilith's incompetence from the very start. Oh sure, Lilith was powerful and clever, but her devotion to that chaotic sister of hers clearly outweighed her loyalty to Belos. And lo and behold, in time she would choose her criminal kin over the savior of the Isles, the voice of the Titan.

It was only after that brat came to the castle that Kikimora felt a true concern for her position.

She remembered it clear as day when a collection of coven scouts had escorted the boy into the castle like an honor guard. A small, skinny eight-year-old witchling with big, wide maroon eyes that seemed to drink in everything around him. Clad in an oversized hooded jacket and rags, his ash-blond hair an eye-rat's nest, only one of his feet shoed, dark circles under his eyes … He hardly looked like a threat. But something screamed at Kikimora from that first glance that this child was trouble.

Belos had ordered the child to be taken care of, a fact in itself not so bizarre. Belos was a righteous figure and had every right to bring an urchin off the streets. His claims that the Titan had spoken to him to specifically find this child had reinforced such a right.

But then more and more privileges were heaped upon that snot-nosed child. He received magical training from the best instructors that the coven system had to offer, sometimes including Belos himself. He received a staff of artificial magic made by the Emperor's own hands. And he was given the position of a special agent, outside the chain of command and outranking any but Lilith or Belos … even Kikimora.

That undeserving little whelp …!

And even now, after the massive failure of the botched palismen mission that would have landed anyone else with expulsion from the coven — and all that it implied — the Golden Guard was free to do as he pleased. He'd even found a brief dalliance with that little minx from Hexside, even if it had been forced to break off when his mission was over. She smiled a little at the thought of the pain that must have caused him.

And now Kikimora, ever faithful and devoted, was here. Here, at the Knee, searching for Titan's Blood for Belos's new portal. She curled her fists until her knuckles popped, her spirits rising once again. The odds may be stacked against her, but what else was new? She'd clawed her way up the mountain to stand at Emperor Belos's side, and she wouldn't let anything or anyone — much less the impudent snake that was the Golden Guard — take it away from her!

And so she eased herself from her patriotic fervor and into a fitful sleep. She needed her rest to complete her mission. To find the Titan Blood that would usher in the Day of Unity. To make Belos proud.

As Luz and her friends gathered at the Owl House for the first time in weeks, all of their palismen — Owlbert, Clover, Shimmer, and Ghost — took their time to catch up and compare situations. They were perched on the roof of the Owl House, their eyes all glowing as they watched their partners' discourse.

'How do Lil Rascal and Hunter fare?' Owlbert asked Clover, reasoning that she would know the most about their absent friends' situation.

'Not so well,' Clover admitted. 'During the Guard and Belle's last mission, they were ordered to find palismen for Belos to feed upon.' She gave a brief take on the events with the Bat Queen. 'But before all of that, Hunter had … a breakdown. As if the guilt and dread and shame had become too much to bear and he began to …' Clover shuddered with a faint buzz, her wings fluttering, 'to dig his own grave with his bare hands.'

The other palismen traded wary glances at that.

'What about their trip to the hot springs?' Ghost asked in her exotic accent. 'You mentioned it before, that it would be relaxing.'

'It helped,' Clover conceded. 'Not just the hot water, but them being together — with no burdens or expectations — helped to ease his mind.' Clover trilled with pride at her partner's bond with Hunter before sobering. 'But I fear it was only temporary relief. Hunter's relationship with the Emperor is like a sickness, a poison. And one that he feels he cannot be rid of. He will never be able to flourish under that monster's watchful eye.'

'Is there no way to convince him to leave for good?' Owlbert asked.

'Willow has offered a place in the Owl House if he wishes to take it up,' Clover replied. 'But the boy is loyal to a fault, even to his vile uncle.' She paused before continuing, 'And yet the seeds have been planted, I think. Now they need to be nurtured.'

'And what of Lil Rascal?' Shimmer asked.

'He tries to put on a cheerful face, but he's almost sick with worry.'

All of the palismen chewed on these revelations for several moments before Shimmer spoke again. 'Is there anything else going on?'

'Luz continues to learn from Philip Wittebane's journal,' Owlbert hooted. 'But without Titan's Blood, she's at an impasse.' He blinked and hooted again with delight. 'Though, Eda did break a bunch of bards out of the Conformatorium. I don't know much about them, as I was training with Luz for the Gland Prix when Eda was involved, but she and Lilith broke them out. And they plan to do the same for Raine Whispers when the time is right.'

'I hope they succeed,' Shimmer squeaked. 'It would be wonderful to have such another powerful witch in our fold.'

'Amity is tense under the apprenticeship of Darius,' Ghost reported. 'It's nothing she can't handle, even with the so-called threat of this Gavin boy, and she is learning quite a bit.' She purred with humor. 'It's funny, sometimes, thinking that the overblown dandy is preparing an agent against his Emperor and the coven system he so treasures.'

'It's the same with Willow and Lady Feronia,' Clover added. 'But I often feel that Feronia is incontent with Belos and his rule. Some of the things she says and the ways she acts … it makes me think that perhaps Whispers wasn't the only rebel among the coven heads.'

'Gus has been looking into other forms of magic,' Shimmer squeaked.

'I thought he had gotten over that lapse in confidence?' Clover trilled.

'It's no such thing anymore,' Shimmer chirped, her eyes lidded from beneath with joy. 'He is expanding his repertoire. I think that Eda finally got to him with how being great at one thing doesn't mean it should be your only trick.'

The palismen were quiet again until the human and witches began to prepare to leave.

'We will need all we can get when this pot overflows,' Owlbert hummed.

Luz waved to her friends as they flew away, blowing a kiss to Amity that Gus teasingly mimed swiping and planting on his cheek with a laugh. Luz chuckled and blew a kiss to Willow and then a two-handed one back to Amity, who swooped low and "caught" it before clasping it to her chest with a blush.

Luz felt her heart swell as they finally flew away toward Bonesborough … and then felt it wilt at the thought of her mom. She wanted so desperately to see her, to hear her voice. She wondered what her Mami would think of her new friends, of the emotional family she'd found in Eda and King. She hoped beyond hope that when she got home, her mom would welcome them into her heart as well.

A soft hoot and a light weight on her shoulder brought Luz out of her funk and she turned her head to find Owlbert perched on her shoulder. He cocked his head and hooted again, curiously this time. Or maybe concernedly.

"I'm okay, Owlbert," she assured, scoping the palisman off her shoulder and nestling him in her palms. "Just homesick."

Owlbert trilled and nuzzled her wrist in a way she knew in her bones was meant to be supportive. Owlbert may not be her palisman, but they'd developed about as strong a bond as a human and palisman could otherwise. Luz thought back to the chunk of palistrom wood sitting in her room, and a flare of more homesickness and indecision lashed through her belly to make her audibly groan. Owlbert hooted again, eyes wide.

"I'm okay, buddy," she said again. "Nothing I can't run off. You wanna come?"

Owlbert flapped up to look at Hooty and then settled on her shoulder again, nodding his head.

"Great!" Luz shouted. "Here we go!"

With that, Luz bolted for the woods and down a faint trail she had made over the last several weeks. Ever since the petrification ceremony and her choice to destroy the portal, Luz had decided to take a run whenever her feelings of guilt became too much. First it helped burn off her excess energy, and then the burning in her lungs and limbs would distract her from excess emotions.

A side effect had been an uptick in Luz's fitness. The first day she'd arrived on the Boiling Isles, she'd complained about her "weak nerd arms" that had kept her from freeing the prisoners of the Conformatorium. Since then, the crazy adventures she'd gotten into with her friends had brought about enough incidental strength to lift Amity without a sweat. And her new hobby of running had gotten her in even better shape.

And if she encountered any monsters or beast demons, her glyphs would help her get away.

So lost in her thoughts as she ran, Luz stumbled with a yelp as she ran over something squishy. She tripped and fell into a patch of mushrooms that hadn't been there the last time she'd run this trail. Yellow dust exploded from the mushrooms in a musty cloud that had Luz coughing before she shoved herself to her knees and pulled her shirt over her mouth and nose.

Luz kept coughing as the dust slowly settled. Her throat still itched and she kept coughing as she stood up. She wasn't dizzy, so that was a good sign. She groaned and knelt to examine the mushrooms. They looked … kind of pretty, with red and purple caps interspersed with yellowish mold. She did not, however, recognize them from her Plant track classes. Deciding that safe was better than sorry, she uprooted a few smaller specimens with the mold attached and clutched them in her hands.

"Eda will probably know what this is, right?" Luz asked Owlbert, showing him the mushroom.

Owlbert examined the mushrooms and hooted rapidly, bobbing his head with his eyes wide and concerned. "Is it bad?" Luz asked. He shrugged, and Luz started double-timing it back to the Owl House.

"Hi, Luz!" Hooty shouted joyfully upon her arrival. "Lulu sent me another letter! Isn't that great?!"

"Yeah, great. Open up, Hooty!" Luz wheezed, and for once the house demon did so without questions. Owlbert took off from her shoulder and flew through the house, closely followed by Luz until she stumbled to a halt halfway up the stairs to clutch the stitch in her side and take deep, cleansing breaths. "Air first, ID second," she rasped, leaning back against the wall for support.

"Luz?" Eda called.

"Coming!" Luz replied, forcing herself to move, to climb up the stairs and make her way to Eda's room. The inside of the massive stained-glass window that decorated the front of the Owl House cast awesome flecks of multicolored light all over the walls, muted by the sunlight coming from Eda's balcony that grew her potion ingredients. Eda sat on the edge of her nest, Owlbert perched in her lap.

And Eda didn't look happy. Not mad or disappointed, but not happy.

"Hey, kid," she said. "Owlbert says you ran into some mushrooms out in the woods?"

"Yeah, they just came out of nowhere," Luz said. "They weren't there yesterday, either."

"Mushrooms can pop up faster than you could believe," Eda said. She gestured at the specimens in her hands. "Mind if I take a look?"

Luz handed over the mushrooms for Eda to examine, and the Owl Lady's eyes widened a little. "Oh, Luz. This isn't great."

"Why? Are they poisonous?"

"Not exactly," Eda said with a faint smirk. "Don't worry, you're not in any real danger." She lifted the mushrooms to eye level. "But you're not gonna have a great couple of days. These are lungbane mushrooms. They cause a quick ailment we call the common mold."

"You don't mean 'cold', do you?" Luz asked.

"I said what I meant and I meant what I said," Eda replied. "Granted, the common mold is harmless in the big picture. You'll have a fever, stuffy and runny nose, sore throat, watering eyes, maybe a little delirium-"

"It sounds exactly like a common cold," Luz groaned.

"If you say so," Eda conceded. "Don't worry, kid. It's the weekend and the common mold doesn't take more than two days to run its course and bloom."

"I hate being sick," Luz whined. "It's always so boring!" She bit her lips against a sudden pang in her heart. "Mami would always make me chicken noodle soup, though."

Eda stood up, Owlbert flapping up to perch on her shoulder, and placed her hands on Luz's shoulders. "Look, Luz. I know I'm not your mom, and I can't replace her." She smiled a bit sadly. "But I'll round up your friends tomorrow, apprenticeships be damned, and we'll all work to take care of you, 'kay?"

"Thanks, Eda," Luz said, her eyes watering … and itching. Luz grunted and rubbed the heel of her hand against her eye.

"Oh ho," Eda said ruefully. "So it begins."

Chapter o' the dozen, everyone! And HERE WE STAND AT THE BRINK OF SEASON 2B! BRING IT OOOOOOONNN!

*Emira's hair bring a pixie cut is an illusion, in case anyone was wondering.

*Hopefully we will be getting Kikimora's canon backstory in the upcoming episodes, but in the meantime I made up my own.

*To keep it fresh, the palismens' voices are: Jesse McCartney as Lil Rascal, Willa Holland as Clover, Tara Strong (Raven) as Shimmer, and Keith David as Owlbert. Ghost in my mind is voiced by Eva Gabor, who provided the Disney voices of Duchess in "The Aristocats" and Ms. Bianca in "The Rescuers" & "The Rescuers Down Under" - a white cat with blue eyes, I mean c'mon ...!

As always, I hope you liked it - and leave a review! And tomorrow, ENJOY THE SEASON 2B PREMIERE! I certainly will!