Owls and Souls, Witches and Resonance

by Jarl of the North

We all know the story. The Witches held a nigh unbreakable sway over the world, abusing their magical powers with reckless abandon until the Grim Reaper led a war upon them with humanity, breaking their hold and defeating their evil... but, perhaps, the tale is not so clear cut as the history books say. This is the story of a Death Scythe's daughters, and the people they love.

24. Preparation and Improvisation

I do not own Soul Eater or Owl House.

If I did, Willow and Gus would have gotten a lot more screentime to shine had been a very long time since Eda had laid eyes on Hexside's school grounds.

---

She'd lost count, in fact, since the thousandth year; she couldn't remember quite which century her graduation had occurred anymore, just that it was somewhere within ten or twenty years of the turn, at least by the dates of Witches. By the dates of humans, she couldn't even begin to guess, with the way they had centered their entire system of historiography around the birth of some man who'd been nailed to a pair of crossed boards at the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea.

All she knew for certain was that it had been a very, very long time.

And yet, despite that time, Hexside School of Magic and Demonics remained remarkably unchanged from how she remembered it. The building was almost exactly the same, the white stone still startlingly bright in its polish, the tile of the domed and sloping roofs still bearing its nearly turquoise hue. The school herald remained emblazoned on the front of the main tower, an ouroboros curving in a figure eight across the pages of an open tome, which itself lay within a cauldron. Even the high stone fence remained starkly familiar, even though she was certain more than a few repairs would have had to have been made to it over the years.

Even for a Magical structure, it was quite a feat of architecture, engineering, and maintenance.

Despite her grievances, she had to admit - old Bumpykins certainly knew what he was doing.

Which was exactly why she didn't step onto the grounds herself.

She hovered in the air briefly before touching down in the trees just beyond the borders; even with just a cursory look, she could see the barrier that had been erected over the school, its multicoloured surface shimmering in the daylight and refracting like a prism under her gaze, its very border touching down just short of the treeline.

A joint effort between the Principal and the other staff at Hexside, this barrier was specifically made for two reasons. The first was to keep the long list of criminals out - everyone from petty thieves to Witch Order terrorists, a list that the Owl Lady knew she herself was certainly a part of. One touch was all that would be needed to trigger any number of effects - from spontaneous combustion, to electrocution, to delirious nightmares and visions, it was designed to completely incapacitate any undesirable that so much as touched the barrier's surface.

It wasn't something she was incapable of handling by any means - if she absolutely had to, she could tear through it relatively easily - but that wasn't her main concern.

The second reason for its existence was what gave her pause, after all; no Witch could step onto Hexside's grounds without the entirety of the faculty being made aware of their presence. Any unidentified Witch would bring at least two teachers to their location immediately - Eda's presence would likely send the entire school into a total lockdown, and even if she liked her chances against the Witches here, she had no desire to cause a major incident.

It was a spell that had been in place, and continually refined, for as long as she personally could remember. One that she was all too familiar with.

The gold-eyed woman grimaced. She'd spent the entire trip debating how to circumvent the barrier; despite the strength and skill of all those maintaining it, it was hardly a perfect spell, especially with so many students to keep track of as it was. Any Witch with a halfway clever use of Soul Protect could easily disguise their Soul and simply stroll onto the grounds, the faculty already too wrapped up in keeping track of hundreds of far younger, weaker Witches to notice the sudden appearance of an additional presence…

Though by the same token, that would not disguise Eda herself - and while the strength of a Soul Protect could vary depending on the amount of Magical might she wanted to keep, she would need to drop the spell immediately to muster her full strength in the event she was discovered.

And conflict was the last thing she needed right now.

She just needed to get in, get Luz, and get out.

There was a gentle hoot; she glanced at her staff as Owlbert unscrewed himself from his perch on her staff, eyes wide as his Soul gently reached out to her's, his own shared concern accompanied by a gentle reassurance - and a wordless query.

"... you want to go in there yourself?" she asked.

An affirmative bob of his tiny body.

Eda frowned; on some level, it certainly made sense. Palismen were used for just about everything, at least on the Boiling Isles, and were far more difficult to keep track of than the individual Witch; no one would so much as blink at a Palisman appearing on school grounds, likely assuming it would be a parents' Palisman seeking out a particular student, and it was very likely that the enchantments made to keep her out would not affect the small wooden owl. Though that still left one particular concern...

Nonetheless, it seemed to be her best option.

And Luz was likely running out of time.

"... go," she agreed, thrusting her staff up into the air.

With a flap of his wings, Owlbert soared up into the air, piercing the barrier and flying out over the grounds.

She backed off further into the woods, letting Owlbert's Soul connect with her own, projecting his view into her mind.

Now, all she could do was guide, and wait.

---

It turned out that Hexside was a lot bigger than Luz had initially thought.

The school had no less than four separate floors, at least from what she managed to glimpse from the main atrium; every noise around her screamed for her attention all at once, and the bright colours of virtually everything she got to look at for more than a fraction of a second demanded that she wander over and touch, be it the vicious-looking mimic-lockers, the classrooms with their various nicknacks and objects, the books or uniforms of the students, or even the students themselves, the appearance of each more varied and strange than the last.

Not that the Latina had more than a moment to take everything in, much less the opportunity to fulfil her desire to touch and play with everything she looked at or follow every noise she heard; Amity's fingers had still clenched around her wrist and in her hair, and the young Witch was still not-at-all gently steering her after the slowly shuffling Principal. Faculty and students alike parted in a rainbow sea rather than a strictly red one as he made his way through the halls, but that by no means made the walk easy. Several times, she'd felt Amity's shoes dig into her heels, or she'd trip over her own feet when pulled into another turn - each of which was swiftly followed by a sideways or upward yank, or a forward shove, the mint-haired teen clearly trying to keep Luz at a perfect distance and pace as they moved.

It hadn't taken them long to reach the heavy double doors, which opened to a large, but oddly cozy room. The bookshelves and glass cabinet were topped by a number of objects; a marble bust of a bearded man Luz couldn't recognize; a dagger on a stand that she could only assume was Magical; several framed photos, all with some form of movement occurring behind the glass, though she wasn't close enough to make out the details, and what seemed to be a framed certificate written in a language Luz recognized, but couldn't name or read; and a crystal ball, so dark a purple it was nearly pitch black. A grandfather clock carved from wood and bone and decorated with fangs sat off to the left, bronze pendulum lazily swaying, two sets of hands overlaid overtop one another; each displayed an entirely separate time, and the sounds of ticking were constant, overlaid atop one another, throwing the Latina entirely off from the normal rhythm of passing seconds.

To the right of the room sat a strange mix of cabinet and standing desk, several books larger than her torso on the surface of the chest level wood, a statuette of a dragon perched on the very top, high out of reach, the patterned edging of the cabinet's wood seeming inlaid with brass or gold. In the very corner, a plant grew out of a pot, seeming to be a severely overgrown venus flytrap that was more animal than plant; it visibly rose and fell with each breath, and the mouth of each of the three massive heads seemed ringed with actual bone teeth meant to tear flesh and crush bone rather than merely prongs to assist in trapping its prey. Along the back wall, held above shelves, clock and cabinetry, hung nine separate banners, each of a different colour, each bearing a different symbol; all hung to bear more presence and prominence than perhaps anything else in the room, though what exactly they honoured, Luz couldn't for the life of her begin to guess.

And in the center of the room sat the desk, simple, yet ornate. One one side sat another crystal ball, this one clear, sitting atop a small gold stand, easily able to fit in the hand; on the other, sat a pen and ink, the pen made to resemble a quill. On the front was emblazoned a symbol, with more words written around it that Luz couldn't read; before she could get a good look, Amity had dragged her off to the side of the room, while Willow and Gus sulked off to the opposite wall.

Bump merely raised a hand as he shuffled around the desk, sitting down in the ornate chair; with a flash of blue light, the tanned teen found herself visible again.

"... okay," she tested, not particularly wanting to have her arm twisted any further, "Now what?"

All at once, she was released; Luz stumbled forwards, startled, spinning in place and torn between inspected her now swollen arm, rubbing the back of her aching head, and trying to meet Amity's gaze-

And then she was shoved backwards.

She landed hard in the chair with a jolt, head smacking against the wooden headboard; she heard the dull, almost pained groan emanate behind her before something massive, sticky and heavy wrapped its gooey form around her, a thick coating pinning her arms against the armrests and body keeping her firmly stuck against the chair. She could immediately tell this wasn't like the muck that had been in Willow's cauldron; this was a much thicker mire, one that she struggled to move in at all, unable to shift even an inch in the sucking violet mud. She looked up at the Abomination's mottled, twisted face before letting her eyes fall to Amity, who lowered her hand, arms crossed.

"Now," she started, audibly struggling to hide her anger beneath a more dispassionate tone, "We wait."

Luz wrinkled her nose, feeling her brow crease with indignance, but said nothing; the throbbing of her arm was already a very real reminder of the situation she was in. Instead, she turned her gaze to Bump, who had his hand on the crystal ball, eyes closed; he breathed deep, the ball taking on a brilliant blue glow.

For a long moment, nothing else happened; the whole room seemed to be waiting with baited breath for something to happen…

And then a figure appeared in the crystal ball, as the Principal pulled his hand away.

From her current angle, Luz couldn't see their face; only the heavy white hood that had been pulled over their head, completely obscuring the entirety of their head and shoulders from view.

"State your name and business with the Emperor's Coven," they spoke, low and gruff.

"Principal Hieronymus Bump," he intoned, "I need to speak with the Head Witch of your office regarding a possible realm breach."

The figure didn't make so much as a word of protest or counter; instead, they nodded, "Transferring your commune now."

With that, the figure disappeared, the blue glow remaining in the orb.

"... if only our call transfers worked that quickly," Luz muttered - then felt the purple climb further up her torso and onto her neck and chin, the muck stopping just below her lips, threatening to engulf her mouth. She whimpered, trying to wrench her head up and away from the sticky mud, even as the Amity shot her yet another glare.

"Quiet," the mint haired teen hissed, the threat more than evident in her tone.

It didn't take long for another figure to appear in the crystal; again, Luz couldn't get a true inkling of what they looked like. The only things she could see were the silky sheen of their long black hair, the white fabric of their cloak heavy across their shoulders. An imperious voice rang out, commanding, powerful, and distinctly feminine despite its low register.

"Principal Hieronymus Bump," they began, a hint of a smile present in their tone, "Now this is a pleasant surprise."

The old Witch jumped in his seat, visibly startled, eyes wide and blinking at the sight of the person in the glowing orb; he spluttered, then forced himself to take breath, clearing his throat.

"L-Lady Clawthorne," his own voice had taken on a more uptight, formal cadence.

"Clawthorne?..." Luz murmured, looking to the others; for the first time, Amity seemed to have lost all interest in her, instead openly staring at the crystal ball, eyes wide and mouth slightly open in obvious awe. Even Willow and Gus seemed to have forgotten their former gloom, seeming at once shocked and awestruck by the woman in the crystal, as though seeing a living legend for the very first time - whoever this woman was, she had to be important.

"Please, Hieronymus," the woman chuckled, "I may be Head of the Emperor's Coven now, but that does not change that you were once my teacher. You may address me as you always have."

"... forgive me, Lilith," relief seemed to flood the man, though he did not fully relax, "I… I was not expecting you of all people to answer. I had thought you were stationed in the Cavitol, not Bonesborough's imperial office."

"There has been a recent change in organization; I am in Bonesborough by my own request until further notice," the dark haired Witch - Lilith - explained casually, "I do trust this will make your calls to this office more pleasant, as few as they are."

"I see."

"But I can very clearly see you're not just making a house call - you're the last person I would accuse of making prank calls to the imperial office," Lilith's tone grew somewhat more stern, "I trust there is a reason for your call?"

Bump folded his hands on the table, his own expression growing more serious, "There is. And I hope you will forgive me for addressing you more formally, Lady Clawthorne, but this is not a situation for familiarity. A human has been found on Hexside's school grounds."

Silence; the woman did not immediately move. She kept her gaze firmly on the Principal, the silence only broken by the maddening ticking of the clock, each one slipping away faster than Luz could count them.

"... and here I was hoping to give you a pleasant surprise of my own with my return visit," Lilith sighed, "It seems I will have to come earlier than I anticipated, and that I won't be staying the day as I'd hoped."

Even as Amity struggled to reign in her quickening breaths, and Willow and Gus' eyes shot from each other to Luz in panic, Bump kept his expression even, "When will you be arriving?"

"Within the hour. I would come immediately, but I need to prepare a separate, isolated holding space for the human first. How old is it?"

"Thirteen, maybe fourteen years," The Principal said, "Female."

"Thank you. I will see you soon, Hieronymus. Have… well, as good a day as you can."

"You as well, Lady Clawthorne."

With that, the orb dimmed and then lost its glow entirely.

"... now then," Bump raised his eyes, fixing them on the room's three students, "I believe we have some events to clear up."

"Principal Bump," Amity protested, "I thought I had made it quite clear-"

He raised a hand, "Miss Blight. I have already heard your version of events. While I have no reason to doubt you, there are still two sides to this story that I am yet to hear. I cannot make any proper judgements until I have heard all versions of today's events."

With that, the Blight fell silent, chewing at her lip.

"... three."

The Latina blinked; her eyes shot to Willow.

"... Miss Park?" the elderly Witch queried.

"... there's three more sides to this story, Principal Bump. Not two," she adjusted her glasses; she seemed to have regained some of her former confidence, uncertain, but determined to at least try to push forwards, "Mine. Gus'," she raised a hand, pointing at where Luz sat, bound to her chair, "And Luz's."

For the first time, the Principal deigned to look at her; she swallowed under his gaze, unsure as to whether she should meet his gaze with a look of defiance, or a friendly smile.

"... the human?" Amity asked, flat, frustrated, "Seriously, Willow?"

"Yes, Amity," Willow snapped, "The human."

Bump let out a long, slow breath, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Miss Park, I hardly think that the human's-"

"Her name is Luz," the bespectacled girl interrupted, "And since this discussion is about her, and why she's here, I think that if you really want to get to the bottom of this and mete out a proper course of action to go forward with, then you need to listen to what she has to say."

Despite herself, the Latina couldn't help but smile; with just a few quick words, Willow had somehow managed to brighten up the entire room. The whole situation suddenly seemed so much less bleak, even as the Principal pursed his lips, eyes narrowed in thought.

"... Willow, it's a human," Amity insisted, incredulous, "You can't honestly think that genuinely has something worthwhile to say? What is this, some sort of ploy to buy time? You think that if you just stall long enough, you can somehow sneak it out of here?"

Willow didn't answer, very pointedly not acknowledging Amity's gaze.

"... Augustus!" Amity whirled, growing more indignant by the second, "You're the wannabe human expert! Would you talk some sense into her?"

"... I don't know," Gus began slowly; he brought a hand to his chin, "I mean, humans have repeatedly demonstrated that they're capable of some pretty ingenious things, given time, and Luz clearly isn't stupid; she had a whole classroom fooled, right? Even Hermonculus, who's a real stickler for Abomination quality," he turned, pointing at the Blight, "Heck, even you thought she was an Abomination for a while, right?"

The prodigious Abomination Witch sputtered, utterly shocked by the words pouring out of the young Illusionist's mouth.

He gave a nervous smile, letting his hand fall, contritely spinning his fingers, "I just… I dunno… maybe it's worth hearing her out?"

Slowly, Amity's face warped from incredulity to indignant rage. She stalked forwards, "Okay, let's get one thing straight right now," she grabbed Gus by the collar of his hood, yanking him up and off his feet. He let out a yelp, nothing short of terrified as the Blight snarled, her face mere inches from his, "I was not outsmarted by a human!"

"Put him down!"

"Miss Blight!"

Luz's voice echoed alongside Bump's; slowly, the Abomination prodigy turned to face the Principal, who had risen to his feet. A calm, but intense anger had taken over his posture and expression, eyes narrowed and jaw set.

"... I appreciate your efforts today, and that the events of the last few hours have been stressful for you as class representative," he lectured, tone deliberately clipped, restrained, "But your frustrations and position do not give you the right to manhandle your fellow students. Your position demands not only greater skill, but greater self control. His comments and today's overall events do not reflect on your character, but your actions right this moment most certainly do. Now put. Him. Down."

The mint haired girl's breaths remained slow, harsh… but slowly began to recede into an equally furious tranquillity. Without another word, she set him down, turning away and walking back to stand beside Luz.

"... what's so bad about getting tricked by a human?" the Latina asked, half to herself, half to Amity, eyes wide as she tried to understand something she had no explanation for.

All she got in response was another cold glare, Amity's teeth grinding and her hands clenching into fists.

"You," she managed, "need to shut up. Right now."

"... now then. Back to the matter at hand," Bump breathed, turning his attention to Willow once more, "I would like you to start from the beginning, Miss Park. Where exactly did you find the human?"

"... the forest, on the way out to Hexside from Bonesborough," she answered reluctantly, "The one with all the everautumns?"

"When and how?"

"... it was after I'd run into Amity this morning, and we… discussed… my Abomination," she recalled, "It's actually a… little more accurate to say that Luz found me, just before school started. I initially assumed she was a Witch…"

Luz did her best to listen as Willow recalled the events of that morning, starting from the two stumbling across each other, albeit without mentioning the green-eyed girl's tantrum with Plant Magic; their conversation, Willow's assumption that the Latina had been using something called Soul Protect, and her eventual conclusion otherwise. But as Bump's questions continued, she found herself increasingly distracted by a shadow moving across the floor; something that was moving back and forth beyond the windows behind her.

She squirmed, twisted, trying to crane her neck back over her shoulder so she could see beyond the glass - but all she got for her trouble was a faceful of Abomination goo, firmly sticking her face to the back of the chair.

"Agh-!" she pulled, trying to pull her face free, "Stupid… sticky… let go…!"

"Oh, for Titan's sake," Amity whispered, rubbing at her brow before snapping her fingers; immediately, the Abomination receded from Luz's face, allowing her to move her head freely, "There. Now will you please stop squirming so much? You're so disruptive."

"... sorry," Luz murmured, "But there's something moving around outside the window."

"I'm sure," the prodigy muttered, continuing to listen as Bump turned his attention to Gus.

"And you, Mister Porter," the Principal inquired, "Miss Park claims that you didn't know about the human when she first contacted you? You only found out about it upon your arrival?"

"... yeah," Gus agreed, "I didn't know there was a human involved until I actually got there. I thought she was a Witch with Soul Protect on, just like Willow did."

"And you arrived not long before Miss Blight led me to you?"

"Five minutes ahead, tops," he confirmed, "I didn't have time to do much."

"But you did attempt to assist Miss Park in hiding the human's presence."

"... I did," Gus confirmed, "I just… I got caught up in the discovery, sir. I'm sorry."

"... had you simply confessed from the beginning, I may have been able to justify letting you off as a mere witness, Mister Porter," the Principal sighed, "As it is, however, I have no choice but to treat you as Miss Park's accomplice in this matter."

"... I understand, sir," the young Illusionist's head bowed, ears drooping slightly.

With that, Bump's eyes moved to her, finally granting Luz his appraising stare - though his gaze bore none of the disappointment or warmth that he used to address his students. The way he looked at her was cold, detached - as though he was looking at an object rather than a person.

"... what is your name, human?" he finally deigned to ask.

"... Luz," she said, not daring to break eye contact, "Luz Noceda."

"I want you to give your version of events, Luz Noceda. In order, quickly, concisely, and with no unnecessary anecdotes or commentary."

"... sure. I can do that," she agreed, clearing her throat "It all started when I was on my way back from the beach; my teacher had-"

"Your teacher?" Bump interrupted, raising an eyebrow.

"Y-Yeah, my teacher," Luz nodded.

Amity scoffed, but offered no comment; the Principal, on the other hand, seemed to be staring at her with a profoundly greater interest than before, eyes slightly narrowed as he silently gestured with his hand, indicating for her to continue.

"... I was on my way back from helping inspect a trash slug when I found Willow and Amity," she recounted, "I watched them for a bit, and when Amity left, I started talking with Willow, and convinced her to let me help her with her Abomination? I took notes and carried stuff until lunch, and then I hid back in the cauldron until we reached that classroom, and… well, then you and Amity found us."

"And who exactly is this teacher of yours?"

At this, Luz bit her lip, jaw tightening; she didn't like how fixated he seemed on the subject. He hadn't acknowledged anything else she'd said so far, his eyes so intense she couldn't help but wonder if he was trying to read her mind.

Besides, she doubted the fact that she was apprenticing to a wanted criminal would earn her any favours.

"Luz Noceda?" he prompted, again using her full name, "Who is your teacher?"

"I…" she swallowed, "I'm learning how to use Magic… from…"

She trailed off; the shadow play on the floor had changed again, catching her eye and forcing her speech to stall to a halt as quickly as she had begun. The swift, indistinct shape had returned, but this time did not disappear from view; instead, it seemed to hover as it swelled, rapidly growing from an indecipherable dot to a far larger blot, almost an ink stain upon the tile floor.

"... human?" the Principal prompted, doing his best to maintain a patient tone.

"... sorry," she managed, but she still couldn't raise her gaze as the shadow grew, "... what is-?"

Before she could finish her question, the glass of the window behind her shattered.

Luz felt her eyes squeeze shut on reflex as the shards fell to the floor in a cascade of clear crystal; she felt several stick in her hair, heard them land in a cacophony of clicks and cracks around her as they scattered across the carpet and tile. She forced her eyes open…

And found herself staring at an all too familiar creature.

Eda's small brown owl.

It wheeled about the room with a loud screech, talons outstretched as it swooped towards her, a faint glow surrounding each wickedly curved spike; the tanned teen thought the bird would be stuck fast for sure, but when it struck the Abomination keeping her bound, the purple construct immediately began to lose its shape, its eyes losing their green glow a fraction of a second before its face collapsed on itself. All at once, the whole body lost its definition and strength, if not its stickiness, letting Luz rise from the chair with a terrified energy she had never felt before.

Without a second glance, the owl spun, and swooped towards the Principal, who had already risen from his chair, eyes fierce and hands raised. Magical power crackled between his fingers as he conjured a snare before him, forming a wall of glowing threads - but the small bird proved too nimble, easily slipping through the last gap of the snare before it could fully form. It dived, digging its talons into the top of the Principal's head.

There was an unholy shriek as the red was abruptly pulled up, as though something were crying out in pain; like a hood, the crimson skin was pulled up and away from Bump's face, exposing a single eye of brown, the other shut by a painful-looking scar, the green eyes of his former mask revealed to be another creature in its entirety, clinging onto the elderly Witch for dear life. He raised his hand with a snarl, trying to fling the owl away-

And then Willow entered Luz's view, eyes wide and panicked.

"Willow?!"

"We have to go, now!" the Park girl grabbed the tanned teen's hand, pulling her up and out of the chair.

Amity, however, was already in motion, raising her hands to reanimate the Abomination, teeth bared and eyes sharp, gleaming with newfound frustration.

"Oh, no you don't-!"

Those were the only words the prodigy managed to get out before, entirely on panicked impulse, Luz hurled a heavy piece of sludge perfectly into her face.

Amity stumbled back with a strangled shout, startled and blind; her Magic faltered as she clawed at her face, trying to clear her vision of the purple muck. Before Luz could make any move to help pull the muck away from the prodigy's face, Willow was already pulling her along, sprinting out the door and into the hall, the owl's wingbeats swiftly overtaking them as it flew overhead.

---

The sky was finally beginning to show the darker hues of evening's onset.

The lapping of the water at the edges of the canal and the distant sound of the crowds were the only things that broke the silence; lights began to fill the formerly dark windows of the buildings on every street and canal, white and orange glows cast across cobble and concrete and into the evening air; even now, in the distance, the distant lights cast by open shutters shone and shimmered in artificial constellations, as though it were some attempt to match the grandeur of the stars above - or perhaps, an attempt to entice them, to come down to join the innumerable lights and the crowds far below.

One could be fooled into thinking such a scheme might have worked, in a city like Venice - all the lights meant that no stars could be seen in the sky above, blotted out by the blinking bulbs, the shine of a whole nation in and of itself.

A predatory, grand illusion - one that failed to do anything but rob the sky of all its lights but the cackling moon, blinding the populace below to what was tangible and real.

The same trap, the same cage, that humans always seemed so eager to weave around themselves.

Medusa hovered amidst the gathering cloud cover from atop her broom, peering down amidst the hundreds of thousands of lights that winked to life across the city. Even through the skybound fog, she could clearly see the millions of human Souls all going about their business, completely oblivious to the reality around them; the very picture of complacency, not a single one of them capable of seeing the Souls around them, not a single one even slightly interested in growing in any way that truly mattered.

And yet, within each and every one of them laid the potential to be something more.

Each and every Soul was a spark, capable of growing into a much greater flame - a flame that could burn away the structures that held the world in stasis, and dispel the illusion that humans had trapped themselves in, and that the Reaper was all too content to maintain.

How those flames started was irrelevant.

As long as they raged beyond the control of anyone, and anything…

And really, it was so much easier to feed those sparks to a flame that was already burning.

Her eyes fixed upon Crona's and Dainslief's Souls, the paired glows like deep amethysts amidst the plethora of pale quartz that surrounded them; it wouldn't be long, now, until they made it to the Chiesa. The experiment would soon begin in earnest - and with any luck at all, that would only be the beginning of something more.

It was then, however, that two other Souls caught her eye; she let their glow draw her gaze, eyes narrowed as she examined the distant pair…

And she had to fight to keep her jaw tightening from frustration.

One, stitched.

The other, bladed.

Both, gleaming with unusual power… but the bladed Soul in particular shone with a power she had only rarely encountered, the unmistakable shine of trapped, unharnessed Magic playing within the depths of its owner.

"... a Death Scythe," she remarked, "That is unfortunate…"

There was only one rational explanation as to why a Death Scythe and a Meister would be here, and now.

She didn't know how, but a connection must have been made between her experiments. Some commonality that drew the incidents together.

Whether it was a matter of the DWMA's resourcefulness, or her own carelessness, was entirely irrelevant. The fact remained, her experiment now had witnesses - witnesses that would undoubtedly interlope and distort the results.

But it was too late to stop now. Crona was already on the move, and she had spent too long preparing for this experiment to call it off now.

She would simply have to make do.

She turned her gaze back to Crona as they wandered the streets, step by step getting closer to San Geremia.

All she could do now was observe, and prepare to intervene herself…

---

"So what's the plan!?"

Willow's mind swam as she struggled to register Luz's shout over her own heartbeat, awash in her own panic as adrenaline pounded through her veins. She didn't dare to look back to see what was happening, her eyes glued firmly forwards, only drifting upwards occasionally to stare at the small owl Palisman that was now flying overhead.

There was no one else in the halls at this point; lunch must have ended, and all the other students would have filed themselves nearly away to their classes. With any luck at all, they would be too distracted by whatever nightmares were unfolding in their classrooms to look out into the hall and notice them as they sped past.

"Don't have one! Just winging it at this point!" the Witch managed between breaths, "All I know is that we can't let them give you to Lady Clawthorne!"

"You mean that Lilith lady!?

"No time, just run!"

A third voice rang out over the pounding of their shoes on the tiles, "What do you want me to do!?"

Willow nearly tripped over her own feet, stumbling before shooting a look back over her shoulder, "Gus!?"

The dark skinned boy wasn't far behind, managing a brave smile as he struggled to keep pace, "Hey, I'm already in trouble! May as well go all the way, right!?"

"... copies!" the bespectacled girl shouted, "Make copies of us and have them scatter!"

"Way ahead of you!"

A blue glow encompassed his hands as he pressed them together, murmuring under his breath; all at once, another two copies of the trio appeared, running alongside them briefly before turning and sprinting into other halls as they passed. He breathed, "That's the best I can manage while we're running!"

"That's a big help regardless!" Luz flashed him a grin, her own breaths much, much deeper than either of the Witchlings', "Now we just gotta follow the owl! Eda should be nearby!"

There it was again.

That name.

Willow knew it all slotted together somehow. That Palisman should have been the final piece of the puzzle, a puzzle that was unnerving her perhaps more than anything else about this situation. The young Witch knew, on some level, that it should have clicked, that something should have become clear the moment she heard that sentence, perhaps even the moment she had seen the owl.

But whether it was her focus on the task at hand or the panic flowing through her mind, she couldn't find the answer.

All she could do was keep running.

At least, until the crimson started to spread through the halls.

Each line of brilliant red light shot out across the walls, floor and ceiling from point to point, circle to circle, like the lines connecting the stars made manifest; magical circles far too complex for Willow to read or interpret took shape across the stone and tile, all interconnected and gleaming with an almost malevolent shine.

"... lockdown!" she shouted, skidding to a halt and reaching out; she caught Luz by the arm just in time to halt her before a wall of crimson light formed from nowhere, inches from the human's face.

She nearly collapsed, hands on her knees, struggling for breath between hacking coughs; without access to her Soul Wavelength, the human could only run for so long. The owl hovered overhead, letting out loud hooting noises as it tried to claw through the crimson wall, only managing to make faint scuffs before the light regenerated. Eventually, it fluttered down, landing atop the human's head and going still, eyes closed - likely to communicate with its Witch.

"... we're sealed in," Gus sighed; when Willow looked back, he had a hand on the barrier behind them; every archway, every door, had the same transparent crimson light forming a solid wall, smooth as glass but harder than steel. He slumped back against it, rubbing his forehead, "My illusions might buy us some time, but… I don't think we're getting out of this..."

"... well… maybe there's… still something..." Luz managed, almost falling backwards to the floor. She stared up at them from where she sat, "Is there… any way… to turn it off?..."

"Not from here," the green-eyed Witchling crossed her arms, biting her nail, "Even if there were, you need to be a teacher to be able to access the system. You'd need something capable of nullifying Magic in order to shut it down from here, and even then…" she shook her head, "... I'm sorry, Luz."

The tanned girl stared for a moment longer before shoving her hands in her pockets, frowning in thought. Then she blinked, pulling her hand out.

Willow paid her no mind, simply slumping back against the wall. She knew it would have been impossible from the moment they started running… but it felt like they had been so close. Like the Palisman should have been the exact break she needed to get Luz out of this place. Even now, it was hooting loudly, having hopped down onto Luz's arm and pecking at whatever it was she now held in her hand - not that the Witchling could bring herself to look.

So close, yet so far.

It turned out the same way everything else did.

She couldn't even break the rules right. She couldn't even protect someone even more of a weakling than she herself was.

"... I'm only ever going to be Half-A-Witch… aren't I?..." she asked, sliding down to sit on the floor, eyes half lidded as she stared into the empty air.

"... what about this?" the human's tanned hand shoved something into Willow's face.

Unable to even muster the energy to be startled, Willow reached up, accepting the small, weightless object from Luz, adjusting her glasses so she could see…

And froze.

In her hand sat a rose's deadhead.

But not the deadhead of just any old rose.

"You're good at Plant Magic," Luz insisted, "Maybe you can do something with that?"

"... Luz," Willow slowly raised her gaze to meet the human's, "Where did you get this?"

"Trash slug," Luz stated casually, clearly not understanding Willow's apprehension as she tilted her head, "Why?"

"What?" Gus perked up, scooting over across the floor on his knees to join the huddle, "Whatchagot?"

"... this is a cluster of fertilized seeds from a Maleficent's Briarwood," the Witchling spoke, her words slow, quiet.

At that, the dark-skinned boy's eyes bulged in their sockets, staring down at the deadhead, "Mal's Briarwood?... isn't that… super illegal? Like, three centuries in the Conformatorium, illegal?"

"Wait, what?" Luz blinked, startled, "Three centuries? For a plant?"

"This isn't just any plant, Luz," Willow cupped the deadhead with both hands, covering it as much as possible, "This plant is extremely dangerous. It's parasitic; not only can it nullify spells, but it actively feeds on Magic. People have died trying to handle it, and there's stories of one shrub of this stuff going unchecked and taking over whole forests and wiping out entire towns; that's why the only ones cultivated are kept in specialized arboretums run by the Plant Coven."

"... wait," the human stared down at the seeds, "Are you telling me the forest of brambles keeping people away from Maleficent's castle in the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale is a thing? A thing that exists?"

"Are you kidding, there's a dedicated section on Maleficent in the history books!" Gus insisted, "Are you telling me that humans think she didn't exist!? And what do you mean by "fairy tale!?""

"I-I mean, there's the movies-"

"Movies-!?"

Willow forced herself to tune out the nonsensical babbling of her companions, still staring at the seeds in her hands. As soon as Luz had shown them to her, she should have burned them; she didn't know where they had come from, but they were dangerous - vivid images had burned themselves into her mind of entire towns and ecosystems devastated by veritable forests of black brambles, draining the life out of everything they touched, and smothering everything they couldn't drain with their sheer weight and volume, their twisting branches and roots strangling everything caught within, slowly tearing whatever was left to shreds as their innumerable thorns grew… all to feed those terrible flowers…

And yet, she found none of the usual fear she felt considering these cautionary tales.

Instead, there was a strange query. Almost a fascination.

She looked back up to the crimson barrier; if her query was right… if she could…

"... no time for doubt," she murmured, pushing herself to her feet, "If we're doing this, we gotta do it now."

"... Willow?" Luz asked.

"... I've decided," the Witchling girl declared, "I'm gonna try."

"Willow-!" Gus sputtered, reaching out to grab her hand "That's way more serious than just school rules!"

"So's keeping a human from the Emperor's Coven," she smiled, "I've already broken every rule and at least five laws today. What's one more?"

The boy in blue stared, incredulous, before finally settling back, lips pursed, eyes wide, and brows curling upwards, clearly uncertain of what he should do next. Eventually, he seemed to settle for wrapping his arms around himself, glancing nervously about the empty hallway.

A flood of guilt surged through her, spreading from her stomach and into the rest of her body, all the way out to her fingertips; he was in well over his head - they all were - in a situation he never asked to be involved in, one that had spiralled entirely out of control and was now likely impossible to salvage without anything short of a miracle.

Nonetheless, she closed her eyes, and reached out with her Soul to the dormant forces that slumbered in her open palms.

"Maleficent's Briarwood relies on Magic to grow - that's why it's so difficult for most Witches to handle, even Plant Magic experts," she began, "But we're surrounded by plenty of Magic right now - so if I use the barriers to feed the plant…"

She could feel the tiny life dwelling within the seeds; it didn't feel at all like the plants she was used to handling. Though each had some unique tone, from the cheerful, but hardy bone-grown calcti to her irritable and predatory flytraps (the merchant had insisted on calling them 'babas,' for whatever reason), they all had a familiar bearing; the bearing of something that took root, something that fed from the sun and soil and enriched the air with its presence. Not creatures, per se, but lives in their own right, their seeds very arguably a beginning to life itself.

These Briarwood seeds, however, didn't feel like a beginning.

They didn't even feel like seeds, really. Even in this form, Willow felt more like she was handling sparks than anything related to plant life, tiny, tiny flames that could very easily swell out of control if she didn't handle them with care.

But if there was anything Willow was good at - anything at all - it was working with plants.

She stepped towards the barrier, holding the seeds as gingerly as she could as she gently flared her Soul, the green glow gently coaxing them from their dormancy.

They reacted with far more energy, and far more violence, than she anticipated.

The deadhead burst, ruptured entirely by black roots and brambles writhing in the palm of her hand; they latched onto her skin, making her wince as the tiny tendrils tried to dig into her flesh, still too small to do any damage, but rapidly swelling in size.

She hissed, hauling her Magic back and yanking up her sleeve, ripping the purple fabric as she forced it under the plant; immediately, its motions slowed, and the sensation on her skin had dulled to that of a mere scrape, not quite enough to hurt, but close enough that she was wary of the thing she held now.

"... okay," she murmured, "Violent little guy, aren't you?"

Giving a nervous swallow, she held the tiny Blackbriar up to the barrier; immediately, the black roots dug into the crimson wall, the plant doubling in size in a matter of seconds - and all the while, the barrier flickered, the roots of the plant tearing a large hole in its surface as they spread.

"Through here!" Willow urged, shifting the plant's position to widen the hole as much as possible; without debate, Luz slipped through, the Palisman on her shoulder eying the plant warily. Gus, for his part, stepped forward reluctantly, doing his best to avoid any and all contact with the Briarwood.

Only when he was through did Willow follow suit, pulling away and tugging harder on her sleeve to pull it over her hand. Behind her, the barrier restored itself to its original strength, no longer being sapped by the hunger of the plant.

"... okay, so it's working," she pulled the plant away from the barrier, keeping a careful eye on it, "I think we have a way out."

"How close are we to the exit?" the human queried.

"Just gotta get through to the atrium and it should be right there," Gus stated, "But we should hurry. Bump's looking for us and I bet other teachers will be too."

Willow nodded, stepping forwards and continuing to work her way through the barriers one by one, the progress slow, but steady; but with each one they worked through, the plant in her hand continued to swell and grow. The first barrier alone had rendered it roughly the size of a small crystal ball, large enough that she could no longer comfortably carry it extended away from her body; after the third, its central mass had swelled larger than a grudgby ball, its bramble branches growing black leaves, all sharp and serrated like some demented mix of plant, jagged stone, and sharpened metal.

Thankfully, however, that brought them to the atrium.

Luz gawked at the sprawling architecture around her, visibly giddy despite the situation at hand; even as she kept close to her guides, it was clear she was absolutely fascinated by everything around her. If the circumstances weren't so dire, Willow had no doubt she'd be touching everything around her, eagerly exploring every last nook and it was, her eyes were darting all over the place, gleaming with fascination at even the simplest of things.

Nonetheless, Willow pushed forwards, making a beeline for the doorway that was now in view, "Over here. Come on."

"I don't think so."

Amity's voice sent a chill down Willow's spine; she turned, just in time to see the Blight approaching the crimson barrier from the hall they had just emerged from. She passed through it as easily as if it were sunbeam from a window; for the first time in years, she seemed truly dishevelled and unkempt. Small smears of Abomination goo still clung to her face and hair, with only a few locks now still held in place by her hair band; the rest of it framed her face in a mass of green streaked with sticky purple. Her golden eyes gleamed with a smouldering anger, even as she visibly struggled and failed to keep it out of her expression and posture.

The human just stared, incredulous, "... how did you-!?"

"Class representative," she snapped, cutting Luz's question off before she could finish, "That means I have special responsibilities - one of those being that if a student is missing when the school goes into lockdown, it's the class rep's responsibility to find the missing student and bring them back to either the classroom or the muster point while the teacher takes care of the class. That means I can cross those barriers freely."

Even as she spoke, her Soul was flaring; a series of Abominations marched out from the hall behind her or rose from the floor, spontaneously taking shape and life all their own. Each one towered over the green-haired girl, eyes glowing with purple light, each bearing the same furious glower as their mistress; there had to be at least half a dozen of them, way more than Willow had ever seen her use before.

"I'll admit, you guys gave me a bit of a runaround with those Illusions," she stopped to fire a glare at Gus, a glare that promised nothing short of agonizing retribution, "but I'm not letting any of you leave."

Willow bit her lip, saying nothing; the plant in her hand writhed, as though it could sense the tension in the air. Her sleeve was no longer keeping the plant at bay; even now, she could feel the roots trying to dig into her skin, the briars wrapping around her wrist, thorns sharp as needles.

When Amity met her gaze, she pursed her lips; when she finally spoke again, it was carefully controlled, the bite she took with the human fading from her tone, "Principal Bump is already rounding up the faculty. Before long, a full twenty master Witches are going to be here. You can still choose to not make this any worse."

An aggressive hoot echoed from the Palisman on Luz's head; it held its wings out, eyes boring into the Witchling before her, the very picture of protective fury. Luz seemed torn between fight and flight, expression morphing back and forth between anger and terror, her whole body vibrating like it couldn't whether it wanted to charge Amity or flee. And it only took one look at Gus to see the terror flashing in his eyes, and it how it rooted him to the spot. Even without seeing their Souls, their emotions were plain as day on their faces and in their postures.

Willow, however, didn't feel any of these things.

She searched. She really did, a hand reaching for her stomach as though to claw through it, to search for the anger, for the fear, for the shame, even. She had broken more school rules than she could count, and now had even committed a crime against the Emperor. She should have felt something, anything - she could only imagine how long she would spend in the Conformatorium, even as a minor, having used the plant in her grasp.

And yet… all she found when she considered all of this was a wry chuckle, rising from her insides like the first bubble in a cauldron on the verge of boiling over.

Her dads were going to be so disappointed in her.

"... Willow?" Amity asked, "What's so funny?"

"... I've broken every other rule today," she repeated, feeling her own lips twist into a smile as she summoned her Soul's Wavelength, "What's one more?"

She reared back with her hand, and hurled the blackbriar forwards; she felt the main body snap away from the branches and roots encircling her wrist, flung forwards all at once in a heap.

Freed from her grasp and fed by her Magic, the Briarwood swiftly took root; the grasping tendrils burrowed through tile and stone and raked at the air, the writhing mass rapidly growing in size. No longer was it fighting her for control; in fact, it was as though it could sense that she now aimed to feed it, eagerly pulling forwards like a predator that had just found a jackelope's burrow. Its branches lashed towards the Abominations closing around Amity, black coils cleaving cleanly through the sludge and sucking out the Magic within, dark leaves growing across its thickening branches as it greedily fed.

But she wasn't done; Willow focused all her skill, all her being on the terrible black bud that had begun to form at its center. Even as the prodigy conjured flame to beat back the assault of dark thorns, the Briarwood was rearing its horrid form, the slowly blooming rose rising higher and higher into the air like a head on the neck of a gargantuan serpent with countless coils. Before long it had filled up most of the atrium, taking up more than half the floor and its bud rising almost to the third floor, vines and thorns clinging to the balconies and banisters and the walls in a demented parody of a climbing plant, the tile and stone creaking under its weight.

She coaxed the black petals to split apart; under her careful urging, the bud matured and blossomed into something all too close to a Dragon's maw with its endless jagged edges resembling teeth and patterns akin to eyes before swooping down to close around the largest Abomination, crushing it into paste.

The Witchling took one final look at Amity; teeth grit, the class representative was conjuring all the fire she could, setting her own Abominations ablaze to counteract the black thorns that whipped at them and ate away at her Magic - and to her credit, it seemed to be working. Purple sparks and burns ate away at the black bark of the rapidly growing Black Dragon's Rose, giving it pause. She was paying no heed to Willow anymore, to any of them, instead focused entirely on the monster in front of her, intent on stopping it, on burning it to nothing.

For the life of her Willow, didn't know if Amity could win. A Maleficent's Briarwood was not something to be taken lightly, by any means - far older Witches had fallen to them before, after all, experts in Plant Magic reduced to naught but nutrition for its roots.

But fed and guided by Magic or not, this one was still young, still yet to truly take root - and the Blight was capable, and kept constantly catching everyone off guard with what she could achieve.

And even if she couldn't do it, undoubtedly, the teachers would be able to destroy it.

But that was fine. That was ideal, even.

That meant no one would get hurt.

That meant the Briarwood would only buy them time.

With that thought a comfort in her mind, Willow turned to urge her friends to make for the doors-

And found Luz staring, wide eyed and awed, at the battle unfolding before her. Jaw slack, hands loose, she seemed torn between applauding and rushing in, truly astounded by the spectacle lit by the golden glow of the sun through the skylight above. Moreover, she seemed completely oblivious to the danger, concerned wonder brimming in her face and very posture, conveying all the overjoyed screaming that she couldn't seem to voice.

"Come on!" Gus snatched the human's hand, pulling her along, "Let's go!"

Luz stumbled, not wanting to look away, but obeyed; the three fell back to the front doors, pushing the heavy stone on its massive hinges until they finally swung open. As light streamed through the doorway, they burst out into the afternoon sun, all gasping for breath as the heavy stone gateway swung shut behind them, silencing the sounds of battle.

Willow slumped to the ground, shoulders heaving; her head was swimming all over again, sweat pouring down her face and sticking her clothes to her limbs. Everything ached, her head worst of all, throbbing away as the adrenaline and endorphins slowly began to fade from her body. They were out, and the forest wasn't far - but after that, then what?... they couldn't just go back inside. What were they supposed to do next?...

One look at Gus, and she could tell that he wasn't feeling any better than she was, having flopped down onto the ground entirely and staring up at the sky blankly as if it were a test question he hadn't had the chance to learn, much less properly study for.

She'd have to make it up to him… someday, at any rate. She wouldn't be in any position to help anyone, for a while…

Finally, she looked to Luz.

The human had fixed her with an uncomfortably intense gaze; despite the fact that Luz couldn't seem to see Souls, those brown eyes seemed to bore down right into Willow's very being, a pair of chocolate drills that would not stop going until every single secret was laid bare.

"... Luz?..." the Park girl asked, hesitant.

At first, the tanned teen said nothing, only continuing to stare. Eventually, however, she pointed back through the doors, all but shrieking a disbelieving demand, tinged with exuberant rage, "'Half-a-Witch Willow!?'"

She couldn't help but wince at the nickname, "Look, Luz, that's not-!"

"No!" the human snapped, raising her arms in an X, "No no no no, no! There is no way you are 'Half-a-Witch Willow' after what you just did!"

The bespectacled girl blinked, startled all over again by the lanky teen's behaviour, by her vehemence; Luz was grinning again, grinning with a familiar, manic glee gleaming in her eyes, "You are not half a Witch! You-!" she let out a strangled growl, running her hands through her hair with a joyous fury before pointing once again, "After all that!? You're Witch-and-a-Half Willow!"

… once again, the human had her entirely taken aback. She stared at Luz, unable to find the words as the words cycled through her mind, all of her unease and doubt wiped away to reveal an entirely blank page - one that was swiftly being filled with the human's messy scrawl. The words repeating themselves over and over again, the outrage and vindication mixing to create pure catharsis - all of it flooding her mind with an author's audible ink that quickly drowned out everything else. Even her own breathing seemed lost amidst it all, disappearing beneath the waves of word and sound that crashed and echoed together within the confines of her skull.

Witch-and-a-Half…

She was so stunned, so distracted, that she only barely noticed the Palisman's sudden, loud hoot, head twisting round to face the edge of the grounds. It spread its wings, and flapped, taking off towards the distant fence that marked the edge of Hexside's property.

"... we're almost there!" Luz got to her feet, reaching down; Willow felt herself pulled upright. She threw her arms out to regain her balance, as well as her bearings as the tanned girl tugged the young Illusionist off the ground as well. She grinned, gesturing for them to follow as she ran down the cobblestone, "Come on!"

The young Park started forwards, eyes tracing the marble terraces as they descended towards the forest on the other side of the wall; her eyes shot past the human, towards the gate, to the figure that she was only now catching proper sight of-

And Willow came to a sudden halt, her heart all but stopping dead in her chest.

The woman was tall - very tall, her brow halfway up the border wall even without the feathery mane of hair that sprang up and back from her head, patterned grey glimmering almost silver in the mid-noon sun. Her golden eyes shone with intent, narrow and focused, the same shade as the single fang sticking out of her thick red lips, and the jewel set in the center of her collarbone, a tattered red dress faintly flitting in what scant breeze there was.

And as if she didn't already cut an imposing figure, her Soul Wavelength crackled in the air, humming with all the furious anxiousness of lightning about to strike; each pulse was controlled, but powerful, and now that Willow had finally found it, it was threatening to knock her off her feet every time it washed over her, thrumming with enough force that she could feel the vibrations in her bones. Her gold-hued Soul itself was nothing short of massive, seeming to take up the whole of her vision despite still being well over fifty feet away - restrained, and yet… so overwhelmingly strong…

The familiar owl Palisman on the tip of her wooden staff completed the picture, and all at once, the young Park knew where she had seen it, where she had heard that name - across hundreds, maybe even thousands of wanted posters, scattered even in the residential areas of Bonesborough. The central figure of countless cautionary tales and ghost stories from across the entirety of the Boiling Isles, and even beyond; the single most wanted Witch in the entirety of the Empire.

The Arcane Trickster, who stole a Dragon's egg and gold and laughed as cities burned in her wake.

The Wild Witch of the Witherwood, a criminal and icon for all those who shunned the Nine Covens.

The Last Apprentice of Baba Yaga.

The Wayward Clawthorne.

The greatest living traitor to the Empire and everything it stood for.

Liar. Cheat. Thief.

Murderer.

She could hear Gus' breaths beside her, hear his hesitant backward steps; she couldn't look away from the figure, but she didn't need to see him to know that he was trembling every bit as much as she was. He struggled to speak, swallowing spit before managing a whimper, "... you're seeing this… right, Willow?..."

"... yeah," she nodded, "Yeah I am."

Luz, on the other hand, ran on, oblivious to the monstrous thing she was approaching, "Eda!"

The woman gave no answer, eyes flicking back and forth between the human, the Witchlings, and the building; her grip on her staff tightened, and another stab of fear shot through Willow's stomachs as their eyes met…

"Eda!" Luz called again "Eda, we have to-!"

Finally, the girl realized her friends were no longer behind her; she slowed, coming to a halt, turning to face them. She looked each of them in the eyes, the confusion in her expression only growing as she saw the fear that had paralyzed them in place, "... guys?... what's wrong?"

"... Luz," Willow managed, finally managing to meet the human's gaze, "You didn't say anything about the Owl Lady."

Luz blinked, her confusion only seeming to grow. She opened her mouth to speak-

But pain lanced through Willow's wrist before anything more could be said.

The Witchling fell to her knees with a yelp, grasping at her arm; Gus' and Luz's panicked calls were drowned out by the sensation as she looked down, staring at what was becoming of her hand and wrist. The branches that had remained around her wrist were writhing once more, still alive even after being severed from the main plant; thorns and roots were burrowing into her skin, seeking out Magic, seeking out life. She could see the black jagged lines spreading under her skin, and nightmares came to her mind unbidden - bodies left withered husks, crumbling to dust under the weight of the plant as it grew, horrid and parasitic…

The price paid by all who dabbled with Maleficent's Briarwood without the proper care or skill.

Gus and Luz were already in motion, gripping onto the black brambles with both hands, heedless of the razor sharp thorns, and pulling with every ounce of strength they had. She could hear them speaking, but their words were indistinct behind the rapidly worsening pain; Willow had to screw her eyes shut, every muscle in her body clenching to keep herself from screaming. She fell backwards, curling in on herself as the noise and the pain blended together…

"Both of you, back away."

"But Eda-!"

"Now."

She only had a moment to process the words before the pain was supplanted by heat. She could feel a flare around her wrist, searing her skin before it descended beneath her skin, seeming to chase after the roots that bore through her arm. It hurt, but it was an entirely different pain from that of the burrowing brambles; this was fire. Literal flame, searing her like hot metal - but it did not spread. If anything, it gently faded, still hot, still burning… but…

She opened her eyes, fumbling for her glasses; the Owl Lady stood over her, golden eyes narrowed and arms crossed. To each side, Gus and Luz stared down, eyes wide; Gus' with shock, Luz's with awe, and both with visible relief.

"Show me your wrist," she commanded.

Willow swallowed, and obeyed, taking the chance to examine her arm for herself; her sleeve had been seared away, edged with black around her elbow. A burn wrapped around the entirety of her wrist, bright crimson lines and faint bubbles in her flesh standing out angrily from her pale skin. Ashes dusted her skin and clothes as well, before being gently blown away in the breeze.

The woman remained silent for a long moment before finally giving a curt nod, "Looks like I got all of it. As long as you take care of that burn, you should be fine."

The Witchling looked down at her burn again, turning her arm over. She swallowed again, then finally asked, "... did… did you just-?"

"Burned away the Briarwood," the elder Witch interrupted, "I managed to get it all before it got any deeper than your skin - though you're still going to need a Healer to deal with that burn," the slightest hint of a smile worked its way onto the Owl Lady's lips, "You're a brave kid - not many Witches would weigh their options and choose to use Maleficent's Briarwood."

Willow ran her fingers along the crimson lightning that flared on her skin, wincing at the contact and heat; even so, she opened her mouth, a hesitant thank you about to pass her lips-

Only for an aurora of brilliant azure to cascade down upon the Witch.

The searing heat forced Willow to throw her arms up, flinching away from the incandescent inferno; the flames completely obscured the Owl Lady from view, and Luz's terrified scream echoed in the green-eyed girl's ears…

But the Witch's Soul did not falter. In fact, her Wavelength barely even shifted, taking on a cadence of casual irritation at the interruption. A golden glow emanated from within the flames, outshining their brilliance as the barrier expanded, forcing the inferno to dissipate. The Owl Lady hadn't even been scratched, not a single burn or sear present across the entirety of her form; all of her former cheer was gone, replaced with a half-lidded glare and a downturned lip, gazing past Willow towards the school.

"Miss Park and Mister Porter."

The familiar voice echoed like thunder across the courtyard; another Soul Wavelength entered Willow's vision even before she craned her neck to look to the source of the voice and flame.

Principal Bump stood on the final steps leading up to Hexside's doors; his usual red hood was missing, exposing his long black hair and brown eye, the other bearing a scar that arced down from his brow, and nearly reached his cheekbone, his glare directed directly towards the Owl Lady. In one hand, he held his staff, a small crimson demon perched atop its black length, and in the other, Magic brewed in more of that gleaming, aurora-like fire, some spell the young Park couldn't identify - but she could feel its power, emanating through his Soul Wavelength.

It was the first time she was seeing his Soul in any way other than its usual gentle calm; its power brought to bear, the teal-green glow was every bit as intense as that of the woman at the other end of Hexside's grounds, bearing a furious menace; like a dog with its hackles raised, his Soul roiled with power, a clear display of warning.

"Both of you," he ordered, "Get behind me."

For a long moment, no one moved; the Owl Lady's attention had shifted almost entirely onto Bump now, the two Witchlings in front of her forgotten. Luz stood stock still, her gaze shifting back and forth between Willow, Gus, and the Principal, her previous relief and cheer washed away by sudden dread.

It was Gus who finally made the first move; he knelt, gripping Willow's good arm and pulling her to her feet. He looked at her imploringly, eyes filled with terror, "Come on."

"Gus-" she started to protest.

"Willow, please!" he begged, "This has gone completely out of control, we didn't know we were going to run into the Owl Lady!"

She stared at Gus for a long moment before looking to Luz; the human's expression was still one of confusion, desperate hope shining in her brown eyes, hope tinged with fear.

A fear Willow herself knew all too well, reading her Soul.

Not fear for the situation itself, but a fear of abandonment.

Not even of being alone, but of being left behind.

She'd felt it, time and time again over the years; it was one of the biggest reasons she'd hated the old nickname she'd been burdened with seemingly from the start.

… and yet…

"... I'm sorry," Willow murmured, "I can't. This is going too far."

At once, Luz's expression crumbled. The hope turned to crushing disappointment, the fear giving way to sorrow. Nonetheless, the human wiped her eyes, putting on a brave smile that didn't match her Soul, "Don't be. I'm the one who should be sorry. I didn't think it would go like… this."

"... neither of us did," Willow chuckled ruefully, before turning away, letting Gus lead her back up the steps.

Bump did not relax even for an instant until the both of them were behind him; but even as the shockwaves of his Soul Wavelength eased off somewhat, his eye remained firmly fixed upon the Owl Lady, expression grim.

"Edalyn Clawthorne," he began, the name rolling off his tongue with a disdain that was entirely incongruous with the respect that he'd addressed Countess Clawthorne with.

"Hieronymus Bump," she stated in turn, "Still enjoying life as an imperialist stooge?"

"Disrespectful as always I see," the Principal growled, "And you're still finding new ways to disappoint me; kidnapping a human is low, even for you."

"I'm not kidnapped!" Luz snapped, indignant rage suddenly flooding her expression and Soul.

"Luz," the Owl Lady's tone was one of warning; the human fell silent again, anger replaced with a writhing anxiety.

"I'm assuming you're the one who brought her to the Isles," Bump continued, "With your sudden arrival, it's the only thing that makes any sense."

"Sorry if you got all excited, thinking a portal had opened," a smug smirk spread across Edalyn's lips, "The kid just wandered off and got herself all wrapped up in your little peon academy. Moreover, she's mine; within the description of the law, that puts her firmly out of the Emperor's Coven's jurisdiction. All this in mind, I'd say calling the Emperor's Coven would be a waste of everyone's time, don't you?"

"Spoken as if you weren't a wanted criminal - or that you are in any way an ideal owner," the Principal scoffed, "I'm sure that the Emperor's Coven will be more than happy to see you again."

"They'll just have to do without," the smile did not fade from the criminal's face, "After all, you don't actually want this fight. If you did, you'd have hit me with everything you had, rather than holding back to protect your students."

At this, Bump seemed to have no retort; he merely maintained his stance.

With those words, the Owl Lady turned on her heel, "Come along, Luz."

Luz's eyes locked with Willow's, staring for a moment before turning to follow the grey-haired woman-

"Luz Noceda."

It wasn't the name that stopped the tanned teen in her tracks, at least, not from what Willow could tell; it was Bump's tone. His voice had softened a touch, bearing a concern that he had never addressed her with before. When the human turned to face him again, he continued, voice grave, "If you go with her, you will not find any safe haven on the Isles. The Owl Lady does not have your best interests in mind."

She stared at him, surprised; questions were forming behind her eyes, but none of them seemed to be able to make it past her lips, her mouth working without sound. The Owl Lady had come to a halt herself, looking back over her shoulder at the girl, and at the Principal.

He did not extinguish the spell in his hand, but he did let his posture shift, the protective aggression draining from his stance; he continued, voice growing softer, "Edalyn does not guarantee your safety, Luz Noceda. You may lose your freedom for a time in the care of the Emperor's Coven, but I promise you - Lady Lilith Clawthorne will treat you kindly, ensure your safety, and if at all possible, see to it that you are returned home."

More confusion filled Luz's Soul, making its energy ever more erratic. Rather than being convinced of anything Bump had to say, each word only seemed to make her more anxiously inquisitive, questions upon questions bubbling up in her mind-

Only for the abruptly stern voice of the red-clad Witch to break her free from whatever racing bird of thought had carried her away, "Luz."

The human snapped out of her perplexed trance, shaking her head; her eyes drifted from Bump, to Gus, and finally to Willow, before turning away, breaking into a run to catch up to the Owl Lady.

"... we're going home," the criminal declared, holding out her staff; the owl's wings unfurled, and the pair silently mounted the floating Palisman.

Luz had only barely wrapped her arms around the Owl Lady's waist before they sped off into the treeline; almost immediately, Willow lost track of them both, their Souls disappearing in the thicket, though whether it was because of the forest itself, or because of the distance, she couldn't tell.

Principal Bump let out a slow, tired sigh, his grip on his staff loosening, the spell in his free hand fading; all at once, the power exuded by his Soul seemed to dissipate, leaving behind a husk of its former self. His Palisman unscrewed itself from his staff with what Willow could only assume was a concerned mewl, crawling up his arm and sitting on his shoulder, reaching out to pat him on the cheek.

He managed a slight smile, reaching up to stroke the small devil, "There, there, Frewin. I'm alright. It's alright."

The horned creature let out another whining sound, but the pats on its forehead seemed to placate it, however slightly. After a moment, it climbed up to Bump's head, opening its mouth wide to swallow his hair, his scalp, his brow, all the way down over his eyes and the bridge of his nose; it settled down atop the nape of his neck and shoulders, green eyes flickering slightly before finally returning to its standard movement, the Principal regaining his usual visage, if not his usual air.

"... I didn't realize that was a Palisman," Gus managed.

"Frewin remains on my head to repair my eyesight, Mister Porter," he explained, a hand unconsciously rising to his left eye, "Unfortunately, this is one condition Magic has never been able to fully heal - at least not in the Isles, not that I'm aware of."

"... what about beyond the Isles?" Willow ventured.

"Perhaps. But that would be a long, arduous, perilous journey to heal something that I have already long since come to terms with," he folded his hands behind his back, "If it were so simple as a damaged or missing eye, the Healing Coven would have restored it long ago. But this wound itself is Magical in nature - and undoing it is a task I am not currently interested in pursuing."

The Park nodded, staring down at her burns again, turning over her arm back and forth…

"... Miss Park," he straightened, attempting to regain some air of authority, "Did you know that the human was in the care of the Owl Lady?"

"... no," she shook her head, "She mentioned the name 'Eda,' and said she was her teacher, but I didn't make the connection even after I saw the Palisman. It wasn't until I saw the Owl Lady properly that I finally realized who Luz was talking about."

"I see," he closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose, "It seems this situation is truly more baffling for all of us than I had considered."

"You can say that again," Gus slumped against the stone wall, hands pressed to his eyes, "I'm exhausted after all that…"

"... I want the both of you to make your way down to the infirmary, immediately," he stated, "Get yourselves checked for injuries, and for curses. I don't believe Edalyn is in the habit of putting curses on children, but I also didn't believe her to be one to kidnap humans, either."

Willow blinked, "Wait, we're not in trouble?"

"Oh, you most certainly are," the Palisman's dark green eyes narrowed, its master's tone growing decidedly disapproving, "As remarkable of a display as that was, Miss Park - and it was quite remarkable, I don't know why your fathers put you in the Abomination Track instead of the Plant Track when that is so clearly where your interests and skills lie - you still employed the use of Maleficent's Briarwood, and the both of you," he shot a glare at Gus, who whimpered and wilted under those eyes, "aided in the escape of a human. Although the situation is delicate and more complicated than I had initially forseen, and I would rather not have either of you expelled in light of that, there is only so much I will be able to do - especially with Lady Clawthorne on her way here within the segment."

Silence reigned for a long moment; Gus looked like he wanted to slip into a hole in the ground and fall forever if it meant escaping the Principal's glower, hands raised defensively and eyes wide with frozen terror.

The bespectacled Witchling, however, felt steel in her bones, fire in her stomach; ignoring the pain, she crossed her arms, letting her eyes narrow as she met Bump's glare with one of her own, saying nothing, but refusing to back down.

He gave no indication one way or the other as to whether he approved of the gesture or not. Instead, he sighed, turning back to the doors, "But that will have to wait. In the meantime, please - go ensure that you are unharmed."

"... y-yeah, sure!" the young Illusionist nodded, grabbing the would-be Abomination Witch's hand, "Come one, Willow!"

"... what about the Briarwood?" she asked, "What happened to that?"

"... I burned it to ash," the Principal stated, "Miss Blight put up a valiant effort and kept the situation contained until I arrived. Currently, she is doing a head-count of her class to ensure everyone is accounted for."

A sigh of relief that Willow hadn't realized she'd been holding in escaped her, a hand settling over her chest, "... thank you, sir. It wasn't my intention to hurt anyone."

"Intentions and results are often two very different things, Miss Park," he warned gravely, "... now go."

"... yes sir."

With that, the two followed him through the doors, and set off through the halls, heedless of the clamour behind each of the doors.

But all the while, Willow couldn't take her eyes off her burn.

Nor could she get the new name she'd been given out of her head.

The one given to her by her newest friend.

"... 'Witch-and-a-Half Willow'…"

---

The building was huge.

Towering over Crona dozens of times over, its white marble stood starkly out against the darkening sky and the clouds that were drifting in on the distant wind. It gleamed in the light of the cackling moon, which stared down with its eternal grin, bleed seeping out from its ever-bared teeth.

They crept forwards, trying very hard not to let their eyes wander up towards the domed roof, and then up towards the moon; they kept their gaze firmly on the door, the constant, low droning emanating from within the building already sending chills down their spine; the noise was as bad as the chill breeze that nipped at them through their clothes, and they didn't know how to deal with either.

Even so, they slipped through the archway, and pushed through the door, the heavy black wood swinging inwards. Even as the volume of the droning noise increased, they let out a breath of quiet relief as warmth finally washed over them; their shivering waned as they entered the building, eyes sweeping the central room.

The ceiling arched well overhead; the night sky streamed in through what windows were present, pure shadow seeming to swallow what light there was. People filled the wooden benches on either side of the room, all murmuring over the constant groaning that emanated throughout the chamber. At the end of the room, up a small set of stairs, a man in white read aloud to the crowd, his words lost upon Crona as their eyes swept about, suddenly frozen…

'Ten…' Ragnarok counted, his voice a hiss in the child's mind, 'twenty… thirty…'

With every count he made, the sword grew more and more excited; they could feel it, their blood physically heating in their veins with the Demon Sword's eagerness.

"... young man?"

The voices had ceased; the man in white had noticed them, eyes wide with concern.

Crona didn't answer, now frozen in place.

'... sixty… seventy…'

"Young man, are you alright?" the man pressed; the whole room was now staring at them, a curious murmur rising throughout the room.

'... eighty three.'

Ragnarok's voice was filled with excited glee; he was writhing now, only barely restraining himself from just ripping free from Crona's skin in a flood of black…

"What are you waiting for, Crona?"

Lady Medusa's voice echoed now in Crona's mind, drowning out the words of the man and the crowd around them.

They clutched their arms tighter, trying and failing to bite down on a whimper.

"You know what you have to do," Lady Medusa intoned.

"... I don't know how to deal with this," the child finally managed, "There's so many… they're all staring at me…"

"You do what you came to do; you kill them. You feed," she reminded, "You feed as much as you want. Until you're satisfied. However much you need."

All at once, blinding pain shot through the back of Crona's head; it didn't so much spread as much as it echoed, bouncing back and forth inside their skull, amplifying with each passing fraction of a second until the child couldn't tell if it was entirely internal or if their scream had risen to match it. They clutched at their head, fingers digging into their scalp…

And all at once it stopped.

Not in the sense that the pain ceased; the pain was still very much present.

It was simply stopped. Frozen. A sensation trapped in a severed split second, suspended into the seconds that followed.

… and Crona began to laugh.

A high, shrill laugh that rose from their throat in a babbling brook, swiftly rising into a hysterical giggling.

Only when the giggling finally faded into nothing, did the child speak again.

"... Ragnarok is going to eat you all," they managed. The pain shot through their body as their skin split, but there was no hesitation, and much like the pain in their skull, it seemed suspended; not distant, but irrelevant.

The black blood seeped from their palm, quickly solidifying into warm black iron; it extended, becoming a rod, and then a long, dark blade as Crona's Soul flared, running the man in white through. As he choked, coughing the same crimson that stained his garments, the blade gleamed with rivulets of liquid in the light of the candles, the lightbulbs above bursting one by one as the child's Wavelength washed over the room, and everyone in it, weighing them down as the screaming began.

"Don't you know?" they snickered as the crowd rose from the benches unsteadily, stumbling over each and themselves to get to the exit, "The doors only open one way."

---

Sorry for the wait on this one, guys. The next one is also going to be substantial, so there's gonna be a wait on that too, especially since I'm in school again. Classes are taking up a good chunk of my time now.

However! Please take solace in the fact that the next chapters are heavily Soul Eater! So we'll be seeing a lot of Soul, Maka, Spirit, Stein, Crona, and a certain someone~! I hope you look forwards to that!

Thanks for giving this a read, everyone, and thank you so much for your patience and understanding with me. Let me know what you think! I hope you all enjoyed the twenty fourth chapter of Owls and Souls, Witches and Resonance!