The group stared at the box with unending curiosity as Amity opened it to reveal a scroll hidden inside.

"Hmm, looks like a map." Said Gus stating at the the scroll.

"Or a secret code." Added Willow.

Flapjack chirped, getting Hunter's attention who stared at him curiously.

"Flapjack, is this what you've been looking for? What does it lead to?"

Tate used magic to enhance his sight and looked closely at the scroll with Gwen in his arms. He could see an H next to an ear.

"H and ear. Hear? or Here?" Whispered Tate deciphering the code before his palisman pecked him. "Ow! What was that for?!"

"That eye, it kinda looks like the old portal door." Said Amity not hearing what Tate said about the code.

Gus and Willow gasped at Amity's words and began chanting "portal door!" excitedly.

"Let's tell Luz." Said Vee cheerfully.

"What if it's just another dead end?" Countered Amity. "She already feels responsible for our other failed attempts."

"Then, let's not tell her until we can figure it out. Using our buff brains!" Willow cut in.

"Buff brains!!!" "Buff- ow!"

Seeing his palisman relentlessly trying to get his attention, Tate decided to look into it as his sister tried to attack his palisman.

"Yeah!" Exclaimed Hunter awkwardly with a laugh blushing as he glanced at Willow.

"Actually, guys, it turns out I have another sword class to teach. You can go on without me tomorrow." Said Tate with a weak smile.

"What?!" Exclaimed Gus scaring Tate. "But you have the most experience!"

"Vee's coming with you. She has a lot more experience than I do." Replied Tate calmly. "Also, YOU need some experience yourselves. Besides, you guys have done incredible things before. Are you really gonna give up just because I'm not there? Of course not! You're gonna go get those buff brains working and find us a way back to the boiling isles!"

"Yeah!" Cheered the whole group in union.

"Was that an inspiration speech like the ones you used to give in the emperor's coven?" Asked Hunter with a smile.

Tate didn't reply and instead lightly elbowed his friend while flashing a bright smile, causing Hunter to laugh.

And before long, Tate was left alone in the shack with his sister and palisman.

xxXxx

"Alright, Phoenix, what are you trying to say?" Asked Tate in a serious tone.

Gwen growled at the palisman, angry at the being that bit her brother. The palisman payed her no mind and tried to communicate with Tate once more.

"I can't understand anything." Said Tate before taking a short pause. "How about this, I'll ask a question; nod if yes, shake your head if no and shrug if you don't know. Nod if you understand."

The palisman nodded and Tate nodded as well.

"First question. Is the one alive a bad guy?" He asked calmly.

The phoenix palisman nodded quickly and after a pause, Tate asked the most obvious question.

"...is it Belos?" The palisman nodded once more. "Can you sense him alive or something?"

The palisman nodded. "Was he too weak to sense before now?" The palisman shrugged. "...can you find him?"

The palisman shook their head.

Tate frowned. "Then we should get looking...but tomorrow. If Belos is alive, we're gonna have to be in tip top shape."

And so, the three rested for the big day ahead of them.

xxXxx

Tomorrow.

Tate put his sister in a baby carrier Camilla bought for Gwen that hid her wings, put on some headphones to hide his ears and headed out into town with his palisman to find the monster.

"Alright, first step to finding Belos is...to find out how I'm gonna find him." Said Tate calmly to his palisman in his pocket as he walked through the street. "You can't sense his location only that he's alive, so that's out of the question. Maybe we can ask the people around, but some people could be in denial or thought he was an animal."

Tate sighed as he gripped his prosthetic arm in frustration.

"Alright, I'll just ask people about an odd looking deer." Said Tate shaking his head.

And so he did. He went around town asking if anyone has seen a weird deer around. There wasn't much about it, but there have been more car accidents with deers recently was something he was told by a police officer.

And that led him to the woods of Gravesfield.

"Worst case, I run around aimlessly for hours and find nothing." Whispered Tate tiredly. "Not the worst thing ever."

Just as Tate was about to step foot inside the woods, he flinched as he heard two familiar voices.

""Teach!"" The two were Vee's camp friends from Yesterday's Lie. He didn't know where the third one was, but hexus hold'em prophecy girl wasn't with them. The two were in his sword class but only on weekends.

"H-hey, what are you two doing here?" Asked Tate in a friendly tone. "Don't you have school?"

"Both the teacher and the substitute teacher fell sick, so we were sent home early." Replied one of them.

"What are YOU doing here?" Added the other.

"Oh, just taking my baby sister for a fresh air." Replied Tate with a hint of nervousness.

"Sweet, wanna hang out?" Asked one of them

Tate looked uncomfortable by the request, but before he could decline he felt something behind him.

He quickly turned around to see HIM. Belos. Tate couldn't mistake him and those dimly glowing blue eyes anywhere. Belos quickly disappeared into the woods upon realizing he'd been seen, and before Tate could chase after him the two human teens pulled him back.

"C'mon, let's go!" Exclaimed one of them.

Tate couldn't protest whatsoever before he was dragged away.

xxXxx

Later that night.

"Then they took me to the park where some people had a...fanclub of me, it was horrifying. And then there were the crushes." Said Tate with a voice filled with horror while shaking. "There were dates, love letters and everything! I had to turn down 14 people today, FOURTEEN! I'm scared."

The whole group, including Luz, burst into laughter at Tate's "misfortune", causing him to frown.

"I get you don't want to be in a relationship but why are you so scared?" Asked Amity in between laughs.

"You don't understand. When a large group of people starts liking you things can get out of hand very fast." Said Tate in horror. "NOTHING will ever be as terrifying as a group of fans willing to do anything for an autograph. Let alone a date."

Tate's words only added fuel to the fire as the group only laughed more. Tate just let it happen. He knew it was funny from one angle, but terrifying from another.

In the end, everyone went to sleep including Tate who forgot to tell everyone about Belos because of the traumatic effect of rejecting 14 people in one day.

Alas, all he did for now was sleep...until someone woke him up in the middle of the night.

xxXxx

"...ate...Ta...Tate!" Tate woke up to see Amity shaking him awake.

"Huh?" Tate let out groggily as he woke up.

"Shh. Follow me." Amity whispered as to not wake anyone as she gestured for Tate to follow.

Tate rubbed his eyes as he got out of his sleeping bag and followed Amity quietly. He didn't notice that both Luz and Hunter were gone.

They soon made it into the living room away from any ears.

"We found a map that leads to titan's blood." Said Amity cheerfully.

"Huh?" Amitu nodded, shaking away any of Tate's confusion. "Really?"

"Yeah! We went to the Gravesfield Historical society and they told us the solution to the puzzle. It says Titan's blood!" She said happily. "It's a map to titan's blood! We can make a portal back home with it!" Exclaimed Amity happily.

"That's great. But why are you telling me this now? In the middle of night?" Asked Tate raising a brow.

"We want to surprise Luz with it on this human festival thing, the Haunted Hayride." Said Amity before noticing Tate looking not so happy. "Why aren't you you happy?"

"I am. I'm just...scared that my family might not have...made it out." Said Tate dejectedly.

"C'mon, Eda would never go down this easy and Lilith was the head of the emperor's coven for a reason. And your grandparents who've had the two are bound to be just as tough."

This speech caused Tate to chuckle. He remembered the times with his family fondly.

"And now with Belos gone-"

"Belos." Said Tate anxiously as he remembered the being he couldn't catch.

Amity turned to Tate in confusion and was quickly able to pick up on Tate anxiety.

"What's going on?" Asked Amity worriedly.

"I forgot to tell you because of all the stuff at the park and-"

"Just tell me what happened!"

"...Belos...he's alive"

xxXxx

Tell me how I did. Leave a review.

Toodles.