Chapter Twenty

It was times like this that Willow understood the benefits of a full mask. With hers on, no one could see how she was gaping like a fool.

The port city of Haunch was one of the biggest on the Isles, behind Bonesborough and one or two others, and its coven houses reflected that success. But unlike the Bonesborough house of the Plant Coven, this building was made of glass with metal swirls decorating it for support. It was like a massive greenhouse!

"Enjoying the sights, Dear?" Feronia asked with an amused lilt in her voice.

"Uh-huh," was all Willow could say in response. The seaside sunlight poured into the coven house in sunbeams that criss-crossed and decorated the vaulted ceilings while the overall light fed the plants. Coven staff walked around them, most giving nods of deference to their head witch and her apprentice.

"Well, I'm glad you're enjoying it," Feronia said. "Because we need to find the local magister and-"

"Silver Belle! Silver Belle!"

Both witches paused in their step and turned to find someone approaching them at a fast walk, one that seemed on the verge of spilling into a run. Willow stiffened at the sight of a familiar face. A Felid demon with goldenrod fur and a tuft of blond hair.

Angmar.

"May I help you, boy?" Feronia asked, stepping forward and partly in front of Willow.

"Oh! Head Witch Romai," Angmar said, sweat beading his fur. "I'm sorry, I uh-" He bowed at the waist. "I just need to speak to the Silver Belle." He looked at Willow. "Please?"

Willow felt a chill run down her spine, Mattholomule's long-past and unintentional warning about Angmar's crush on her — or on the Silver Belle, anyway — ringing like an alarm in her mind. But she had no real idea what he wanted, and so decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"How can I help you, Angmar?" she asked. Oh no, that was a mistake.

"You know my name?" he asked breathlessly, his eyes glittering. "Of course you do! You are so wonderful, how could you not? It's a sign!" He placed his hands on his heart. "Silver Belle, I've loved you since the day I saw your poster. I've worked so hard to meet you, to ask you one question." He knelt on one knee. "Will you … go out with me?"

Willow's stomach flip-flopped even as she relaxed just a little. The way he'd taken a knee, she was afraid he'd ask to marry her! This was … slightly more manageable. She winced at the thought of hurting someone, even someone who had hurt her friends.

"I'm sorry. I can't."

Angmar's wide, toothy smile crumbled into shock. "What …?"

"I can't," Willow repeated. "My duties keep me very busy. And even if they didn't, I-" She fiddled with her gloved hands before straightening her back. "I'm already involved with someone else."

"You- You what?" Angmar asked. "But you were- You're supposed to-!" The confusion and hurt gave way to denial and anger. "It's him, isn't it?" he snarled. "The Golden Guard! I saw you two outside Hoia Park, I just didn't want to think you fell for the glitter and gold!"

"That's quite enough, boy," Feronia said coldly. "She's been kind enough to let you down gently. I suggest you take it and walk away with what's left of your dignity."

Angmar looked around at the coven bureaucrats surrounding them and seemed to run his chances before his mouth tightened. "Yes, Head Witch Romai," he muttered, and turned on his heel to walk away.

"What a piece of fertilizer," Feronia commented. "And not the good kind."

"Yeah," Willow said absently, a sinking feeling in her belly telling her that this wasn't over.

Hunter was standing at attention during a scout captain meeting when he felt his scroll buzz. He glanced around to make sure the captains were engrossed in their conversation, head still as his eyes wandered behind his mask, to find most of them apparently zoned out as the current captain gave his report.

He slowly removed the scroll from his pocket and kept his arm and hand hidden by his cape as he checked it. It was a message from Willow.

Hello_willow: Angmar appeared at the coven house in Haunch. Asked me out and was mad I had a boyfriend. Blech. #Stalker

Hunter carefully returned his scroll and resolved to respond when this meeting was over. As in the second he could get away from prying eyes. Then maybe he'd have a visit to Haunch himself.

Late that evening, Willow sat and lay back on her hotel bed with a sigh of relief.

As with the botanical vault, Lady Feronia had handed Willow all of the paperwork to fill out as they inspected the coven house. On one hand, she was now familiar with many of the forms and that had made it easier to fill out the ones she didn't know yet with Feronia's guidance. On the other, her writing hand had felt like it was about to fall off, and was still sore even now.

"Maybe I should learn to write with a plant," Willow wondered aloud.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at her door. "Room service!" a voice called.

Willow blinked and sat up. What? She moved to the door, her bare feet silent on the soft carpet, and looked through the peekhole to find someone holding a domed platter. "I didn't order anything," she called back.

"Compliments of the hotel," the person said back. "Please take it. If you don't, they'll take it out of my pay."

Willow bit her lip and retrieved her mask, slipping it onto her face before she opened the door a crack. "I'm sorry, but I don't-"

Gas blasted her in the mask and invaded her nose and throat. She drew back in shock, coughs wracking at her. Then she was suddenly dizzy and felt herself falling, the sensation muted as if through thick fog. Her vision was blurred through sudden tears, but she could make out a Felid demon in a dark suit close the door before walking in to crouch before her.

Angmar.

"Now, let's see that pretty face," he said calmly, as if discussing the weather. Willow felt the chill of metal leaving her face before blackness invaded the edges of her vision and she passed out.

As her senses returned to her, Willow groaned at a faint headache pulsing behind her eyes. She fluttered them open to find her room blurry — she still had no glasses — and oddly lit, as if by … candlelight? She tried to move, but found her wrists bound behind her back and her ankles tied. Her long leather gloves were gone, as was her apron, though her green dress remained. It felt like she'd been returned to the bed.

Willow lifted her head, fear pounding in her veins, until she heard the creak of a small vine that placed her glasses onto her face. Her vision aligned to reveal Angmar sitting on a chair facing her, his cheeks perched in his hands, his elbows resting on his knees … and a neutral stare on his face.

"Willow, isn't it?" he asked.

Willow grunted and tried to trace a spell circle, but her fingers were caught between her body and the bed.

"Don't even think about it," Angmar said coolly. "You move and the Creeping Tepes will strike."

It was only then that Willow registered the ticklish sensation of barbed leaves hanging around her neck. Creeping Tepes …? Motile, predatory plants. They were unique among flora of the Isles in that they were not carnivorous so much as hematophagous … meaning they fed upon blood. They would crawl along the ground at night and latch onto a victim to feed, sliding their hollow barbs into the soft flesh of the neck, wrists or ankles to drain them before retreating and leaving the victim weakened, but generally unharmed.

Of course, that was if only one fed upon a victim. If several did, it could lead to shock or even death.

"What do you want?" Willow asked.

"Just a chance," Angmar said. "I remember you, by the way. The bespectacled girl who was friends with the human and humiliated me and my friends. It is Willow, isn't it?"

"Your friends picked the fight," Willow replied, trying to keep her voice level and hide her nerves.

"Oh, for sure," Angmar said flippantly. "Bria was the one behind it. Personally, I think we should have just let Gus be. But when I fought you …" His claws closed into fists. "It was like fighting nature itself. It was … amazing, honestly. I mean, it made me so angry before, but I still have to admit that you're strong. Way stronger than any Plant trackers at Glandus, that's for sure."

"Hence the sleeping nettle pollen to knock me out," Willow surmised. She'd worked that out as she'd woken up.

"History has shown that I can't get my point across in a straight fight."

"So what do you want?" Willow repeated. "A chance for what?"

"To show you my worth," Angmar replied. "To show you what I can offer you if we went out."

"By knocking me out and tying me to a bed?" Willow asked, heat creeping into her voice. "How is that supposed to be appealing?!"

"Quiet down," Angmar growled, tracing a small circle that had the barbs dig a little deeper into her neck. "We don't want people to interrupt our conversation."

"Actually, I would like that very much," Willow groused. "But I see your point."

"Funny," Angmar chuckled. "I like a girl with a sense of humor."

"But do you really like me?" Willow asked. "What do you even know about me besides that I'm strong?"

"I always knew in my heart that you were beautiful," Angmar said. "And I was right. And if I was right about that, then I must be right about everything else. We were made for each other. It's like the Titan made it so."

"Angmar, please," Willow said. "This isn't the way to a girl's heart. If you let me go, I won't turn you in. You can walk away and we can forget this ever happened."

"You can," Angmar muttered. "But I can't. You're perfect, Willow. And I've worked too hard just to be turned down flat." He stood and leaned over her, and Willow's heart jumped into her throat. He reached out to touch her … and brushed some strands of hair from her face before gently cupping her cheek. "All I want is a chance."

"Angmar, you-"

There was a knock at the door. "Silver Belle?" came a voice.

Angmar padded to the door and looked through the peekhole just as Willow had. "It's the Golden Guard," he rasped.

Willow gasped in relief, hissing as the motion made the vines around her neck dig a little deeper. Angmar traced another circle and vines lifted Willow by her arms to place her on her feet, though her binds stayed on and the Creeping Tepes retreated from around her neck to gather along her spine.

Angmar removed her glasses by hand and replaced them with her mask. "Get rid of him," he snapped quietly. Then he vindictively added, "Break his heart if you can."

The door knocked again. "Silver Belle?"

Angmar opened the door and hid behind it, his vines sliding Willow into the opening as wide as her torso. Hunter stood there in his uniform and his mask, his mechanical staff in-hand, as always. "Good evening … Golden Guard," she said in a formal voice.

"Uh, yes. Good … evening, Silver Belle?" He said it like a question, clearly confused. Willow couldn't repress her smile at how cute that was, even in this situation. "I heard about some commotion at the coven house today," Hunter continued. "As an apprentice to one of our head witches, I thought I should … check up on you."

"That's so kind of you," Willow said, putting as much emotion as she could into the words. She hissed as the binds on her wrists tightened, no doubt reacting to Angmar's pique at their banter. "But I'm a little … tied up at the moment. I really hope you understand."

Hunter leaned back as if struck. "Uh, well …"

'Hunter, you wonderful idiot. Please understand!' Willow thought as loudly as she could.

Hunter took a step back, his head bowing a little with obvious hurt. "I suppose I'll just-"

Clover chose that moment to zoom out from Willow's room and perch on Hunter's shoulder, trilling agitatedly. Lil Rascal poked his head out from Hunter's cape and twittered back, and their eyes glowed for a few long seconds. Lil Rascal tweeted again, the sounds sounding forcibly calm.

Hunter stiffened. "Yes, I understand, Silver Belle," he said, his tone almost robotic. "I think I'll just-" He leveled his staff and a blast of ruby light pummeled the door to splinters, sending Angmar hurtling back with a cry of surprise.

Willow took that opportunity to trace a small circle with her finger that sent magic rushing into the Creeping Tepes clinging to her shoulders, driving out Angmar's magic and peeling them away before withering them into dust. Next came the binds on her wrists and ankles, and then Clover was in her staff form and clutched in her hand, the staff shaking with her dear palisman's rage.

As she'd escaped her bonds, Hunter had teleported to Angmar and bodily crashed into him, sending the demon into the window that made up an entire wall, which cracked under the force. His staff flared with light and ropes appeared around him.

"You're going to regret ever coming here, Angmar," he growled, the echoes of his mask making the threat even more frightening.

But before he could any more, vines began crawling along the walls and both masked witchlings gasped to find Lady Feronia — dressed in a magenta bathrobe — standing on a huge leaf outside the window. The vines shattered the glass and wrapped Angmar from shoulder to toe over Hunter's restraints while Feronia's platform moved to let her enter the room. "Oh, I couldn't agree more, Dearie," she said with a cold smile.

She stepped off the leaf and moved to place a hand on Willow's shoulder. "Are you alright, Dear?" she asked quietly. "He didn't-?"

Willow shuddered as she realized her mentor's meaning and shook her head. "He just tied me up," she whispered.

"Well, still such horrendous manners," Feronia said more loudly. "And that simply cannot go undisciplined."

"I just wanted a chance!" Angmar pleaded, his voice strangled by the vines.

"And you got one earlier today, if I recall," Feronia replied coldly. "I would say my dear apprentice's reply was quite clear." She traced a small circle and the vines lifted Angmar into the air. "Now, what shall we do with you, hmm?" She stepped closer to him, her movements stiff, yet still carrying the grace she'd been known for in her youth.

"Shall I grind you to mulch for my garden?" Feronia asked pleasantly. "Feed you to my man-eating plants? Or shall we go with the classic and poison you?"

"Lady Feronia-" Willow said, stepping forward to intervene, but the old witch held up a hand for silence.

"No, those are all overdone," Feronia said, as if Willow hadn't spoken. "And we do need to set an example for all the other unstable boys who think they deserve more than they are granted." Feronia turned around and the fingers of her raised hand curled into hard talons.

And at her motion, thorns surged from the vines, and Angmar screeched in agony. Blood dribbled from between the vines and stained the carpet. "I'll send you to the local Emperor's Coven precinct, I think," Feronia siad, her casual tone unchanged. Then her voice hardened with malice. "With the vines."

"No!" Angmar cried out as the vines dropped him and slowly dragged him toward the window and the drop. "No!" he shouted, crying out in pain as the thorns grew. "Please! I'm sorry! I'm sorry, please! Please don't-!" Vines wrapped around his mouth to gag him and the vines swiftly jerked him down over the lip of the window.

And he was gone.

Willow only then realized that she was holding Hunter in her arms, and he was holding her back. Her body felt cold with primal fear. She looked at her mentor and found the woman's wrinkles appeared deeper than before, her shoulders stooped. Gone was the quiet menace to be replaced by … the only word Willow could think of was haggard.

"Lady Feronia?" she ventured.

"I'll talk to the hotel staff about another room, Dear," Feronia said, her voice wooden. She approached slowly, as if drawing toward a frightened animal, and placed a gentle hand on Willow's shoulder that somehow helped calm her. "I am so sorry this happened. And that you had to see that." She looked up at Hunter. "Either of you." She removed her hand and kept walking.

"We will return to Bonesborough after breakfast tomorrow. Sleep well, children."

And then she, too, was gone.

Willow and Hunter stood there in quiet shock for a few more moments before reality seemed to resume its pace. Hunter guided Willow to sit on the bed and then took the seat beside her, removing his cloak to drape over her shoulders. Willow took his hand in one of hers and squeezed, the other gripping the edge of the cloak to draw tighter around her as Clover resumed her true size and nuzzled into her neck at the shoulder.

"Are you alright?" Hunter asked quietly. Lil Rascal emerged from his cloak and quietly chirped his clear support.

"I don't know," Willow admitted. In the moment, she'd been able to push back any thoughts beyond getting out of the situation, but now that it was over … Her hands began to shake as her throat constricted. She took a shuddering breath and tried to fight back tears that still leaked out.

"Don't fight it," Hunter said. "Let them fall."

And so she did. Willow clutched at Hunter's chest and wept bitter tears of helplessness as the palismen nuzzled and comforted her, too. Images of Angmar's eyes glittering with satisfaction, the phantom touch of his hand on her face, the prick of the spines on her neck that held her in place … She squeezed tighter against him as the tears stopped, but the shudders continued.

"You're okay," Hunter crooned, rubbing her back. "You're okay."

A hotel employee arrived later to inform her of her new room two doors down, and was sent running by blasts from the Golden Guard's staff. Then he picked Willow up in a bridal carry and moved her to her new room to gently set her on her bed. As he moved away, Willow grabbed at his arm and held him in place.

"Don't go," she whispered.

"I won't," he whispered back. "I'll be right back."

Hunter retrieved her belongings from the other room and stacked them by the bed before locking the room's door and laying down himself, wrapping his arms around Willow from behind to reassure her of his presence.

"Try to get some sleep," he whispered, removing her mask and placing it upon the bedside table to be joined by his. Willow finally relaxed in Hunter's arms, memories of their nights on the airship warming her heart.

And she slept soundly.

Luz brushed the sweat from her forehead as the sun sunk below the horizon. In its last rays, she looked over the materials she had gathered and sorted from Eda's collection of supplies and junk. True, Philip's journal had said the hardest part of building a portal was finding someone who knew how, and while that was technically true there had been a slight hiccup.

Philip had lived during the Deadwardian era of the Boiling Isles, roughly analogous to the human realm's seventeenth century. As such, many of the materials that Philip described were either called by different names in the current era or he had described them in flowery early-modern English. Luz had always been a fan of William Skakespeare's works — which were written in the same dialect — but that hadn't made it easier to figure out what Philip had meant back in the day.

But after weeks of examination and sorting through Eda's Owl House-side shack for what she needed, often examining very similar potential parts for the best possible alternative, Luz had finally figured out what she needed and extracted them all from the shack. She'd also labored over schematics for the portal to make sure she had them all planned out before she started working on building it.

But after weeks of work, Luz was almost ready to build the portal. Tomorrow would mark her attempt, her chance to finally reunite with her mom and come clean about where she had been for all these months. She took the portal key in her fingers, the one Hunter had revealed was filled with Titan's Blood — the keystone to travel between their worlds.

"Don't worry, Mama," she said. "I'll see you soon."

"Luz, Eda says it's time for supper!" King called.

"Coming!" she replied as she ran back inside.

Chapter twenty, and a climax of the Angmar crush arc. (Or is it?)

*The creeping Tepes vines are named after Prince Vlad Dracula III of Wallachia - also known as Vlad Tepes: The Impaler - the theorized inspiration for Count Dracula. Their habit of sneaking up on sleeping individuals to feed is based on real vampire bats.

*The palismen getting involved was a last minute addition. I was going to have hunter suddenly understand, then I realized the palismen were there, and would make it more believable. Poor Hunter; the guy's self-esteem is not great at all.

*I wrote Feronia's handling of Angmar just after watching "Hollow Mind" and was in a pretty dark headspace from it. That, plus wanting to dip into Terra Snapdragon's antics a bit, made her rather vicious for a little bit. For the sake of this AU, Feronia has a reputation for viciousness much like Terra's, but only if you cross her or her coven. Otherwise, she's genuinely a doting grandmother to all she meets. *I still can't be,lieve I got her characterization so close, aside from her terrifying cruelty.

*Angmar's fate may have seemed abrupt, but he served his purpose. Consent is a very important thing, to me personally and hopefully to so much more. For both boy AND girls, men AND women who read this - "no" means "NO"! And he may or may not appear again ...

*It snuck up on me exactly how fast and loose I've been with TOH canon timeline - not that it's been very specific until after "Follies". This should give you a good idea of where we stand: The next day will be "Yesterday's Lie."

*The idea that Luz is a fan of Shakespeare comes from the fact that she tried out for "Romeo and Juliet" in the first episode. I think it ties well into her character.

*Recall that they still have the entire portal key because the events of "Eclipse Lake" are rather different. Will that make a difference, though ...?

As always, thank you all so much for reading and supporting this work! Please do leave a review if you wish. And good luck with your own works!