Chapter 06 - Revelations
Winter couldn't believe what he had heard. Had the boy really said his last name was Wittebane? No… He must have got it wrong, it must have been his age. It had to be…
"Winter... Are you okay?" Hunter asked, confused by Winter's shock.
"I am… Yes, I am, Hunter," the palisman said, trying to calm down. "I just don't think I heard your last name right… You said it was Wolfsbane, right?"
'Please say yes, please say yes' the red cardinal repeated this mantra in thought.
"No, it's Wittebane."
"Are you sure? I thought I heard Wolfsbane…" Winter insisted, still not wanting to believe what he'd heard. "But maybe it's Willbane anyway."
"It's Wittebane!" Hunter corrected, starting to get annoyed. "Not Wolfsbane or Willbane! Winter, what is this nonsense?! If it's an attempt at a joke, I'm already warning you that it's not funny."
"It's not joke!" Winter defended himself. "It's just that you can't be a Wittebane!"
"And why not?" Hunter asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Because Wittebane was my past witch's last name, who was a human!" Winter, stressed, blurted out, chirping fast and loudly, interrupting Hunter.
"What?!" Hunter asked, shocked.
"That's right..." Winter said, trying to calm down. "Wittebane is a human surname, not a witch surname! Also, the only two humans with that last name who came to the Boiling Isles in my 382 years of life were my past witch and his younger brother."
"THREE HUNDRED?!" Hunter yelled, surprised.
"Yes..." Winter replied, now he was the one confused by his friend's surprise.
"It's impossible for you to be so old!" Hunter blurted out.
"Why?"
"Because you look like a baby bird!"
"WHAT?!" Winter yelled, offended and indignant, puffed up like a balloon, his feathers completely ruffled. "I'm old enough to be your great-great-grandfather's great-great-grandfather, young man!"
"Doesn't look like it," Hunter replied with a smile.
"But I am!" Winter insisted.
"Okay, I'm going to pretend to believe you were made in the Deadwardian Era and you tell me why it would be so absurd for me to have the same last name as your past human witch. I can't see anything wrong in this…" Hunter said with a shrug. "That actually explains a lot."
"Explain what?" Winter asked with an eyebrow.
"The fact that so many witches in my family were born powerless. That I was born powerless!" Hunter concluded excitedly. "My uncle never explained the reason, he just said that in our family this happens a lot and that's it. If you say that your old witch was a human and that before he came here with his brother there was no one with the surname Wittebane in the Boiling Isles that means I am a descendant of your old witch or of his brother and that's why my magic bile sac is defective or maybe it doesn't even exist! It's because my family is made up of hybrids! It makes perfect sense!"
"Yeah... It does make sense," Winter said. "But, unfortunately, neither of them is your ancestor. I really wanted it to be, actually, between the two of us, I'm the one who most wanted it to be, but it's not. Sorry, Hunter."
"How not?" Hunter asked, confused. "You said yourself that me and your past witch share the same last name and-"
"My past wizard died childless and so did his brother..."
'At least that's what I think' Winter thought. 'After all, there's no way that boy could have hooked up with anyone after that… Would he? No. Impossible. Knowing that poor boy, it's easier for him to have killed himself after what happened.'
"Oh… I didn't know…" Hunter said awkwardly, feeling guilty for having brought up such a sensitive subject. "I'm sorry I was a complete idiot now and… I'm so sorry for your loss."
"You weren't an idiot, Hunter. Never tell that lie again! You are amazing and super smart and awesome and wonderful and the best witch in the world! What you said was no big deal, you just assumed what was most logical with the little we know." Winter spoke indignantly at his friend's self-deprecation. "Look, I don't know why you can't use magic like other wizards, or why you have a last name that should have been dead and gone ages ago, but if you want to or if it's really bothering you, we can look for the answers to these questions together."
"Really?"
"Of course!" Winter confirmed with determination. "We're friends forever, aren't we?"
"Sure!"
"So never doubt that I'll help you with whatever you need and that I'm and I will always be by your side, whatever happens!"
"Thanks, Winter," Hunter thanked emotionally, with a shy smile, but full of happiness.
"You're welcome, friend," Winter replied happily to his young witch. "Now let's just finish creating this Penstagram account before you don't have time to watch any Amphibia episodes before your bedtime."
"Bedtime?" Hunter asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes! From today onwards I won't let you stay up after eleven pm, young man."
"Hey! It is ridiculous!"
"No, what is ridiculous is you going to sleep later than eleven pm even though you're growing up!"
"But-"
"Hunter, please take better care of your health. You are important to me and I don't want you to get sick. Could you do this for me, please?"
"Okay…I'll try to get into the 'go to bed at eleven pm' habit."
"Yay!"
"I just remembered that I really have to sleep early, because I have to wake up even earlier tomorrow..."
"Huh? Why?" Winter asked, confused. "Tomorrow is Saturday… It's supposed to be your day off."
"That's why," Hunter replied. "I haven't really trained since the Eclipse Lake fiasco because of this damn paperwork I have to update and if this continues I could get rusty. I can't let this happen! So tomorrow I want to spend at least the whole morning training."
"So you're going to waste a wonderful morning playing with that thing…" Winter muttered under his breath, glaring at his witch's artificial magic staff.
"Hey! First, the staff my uncle made for me is not a 'thing'!" Hunter snapped. "And secondly, it wasn't my staff I wanted to use to train, it was you!"
"Me?" Winter asked, surprised.
"Yes, you are a very powerful staff," Hunter replied. "But a very strange one… Difficult to use… It's almost like…"
"The wild magic flowed through your entire body and for an instant we became one every time you cast a spell?"
"Exactly! But besides that, I started to feel really tired when I was using you, more than I already was, I was getting so tired it was like my energy was being drained all the time I used your magic to attack the youngest Blight or get rid of that gross abomination goo of hers... Yuck… Why did abominations have to be so gross? It took me a long time to get that thing out of my hair! How did you describe this part of the magic flowing and we becoming one so well?"
"Because the same thing happened to me when you used me that day at Lake Eclipse, and because it always happened to me and my past witch, but he was a natural magic conduit because he was a human, so it doesn't count," Winter explained.
"Humans are what?" Hunter asked, confused.
"Natural magic conduits. Humans don't have magic of their own, like witches and their bile sacs do, but the magic of the Isles flows through the human bodies more easily, which allows them to use the Isles magic better and more powerfully."
"So that's why the human got so good at wild magic in such a short time…" Hunter said thoughtfully. "But I'm not a human, so I shouldn't be a magic conduit, should I?"
"You shouldn't, but you are," Winter replied. "And not only that, I suspect you are an amplifier as well."
"I am WHAT?!"
"You said you felt more and more tired from the moment you started using me in that fight, didn't you?"
"Yeah...?"
"So I felt otherwise. The more spells we performed together, the stronger and more full of energy I became. It might sound weird, but it was like something in you was amplifying my powers a lot! I have never felt so powerful in my life. It felt so good it was almost addictive! But I confess that it was kind of scary too… I was very scared of you running out of energy and passing out or something worse in the middle of the fight because you were pushing so much energy into me and it was crazy! Never do that again."
"What did I do?" Hunter asked open mouthed. "No! It's impossible!"
"Why?"
"Because no witch can do that, let alone a powerless witch like me!"
"Look... Are you really sure you don't have powers? I don't want to call anyone a liar or accuse anyone of having malicious intent, far be it from me saying or implying that, but… maybe, just maybe someone was wrong about your abilities and they said that incorrect thought to you and… What are you doing?"
Hunter was making a circle in the air with his index finger several times, as if he was trying to cast a spell, but to no avail as nothing happened.
"Showing you how 'powerful' I am," Hunter replied angrily. "See? I can't do anything without a staff, no matter how hard I try. Not even a simple light spell. Do you understand now why I said it was impossible?"
"Yes, I understand why you think you don't have magic. You are not a magic caster..."
"I told you."
"Like I told you, you're a magic amplifier, not a magic caster."
"As I told you, it doesn't exist!"
"So how do you explain you being drained in that fight while I was being fortified?"
"I DON'T KNOW!" Hunter yelled in despair.
Winter was so startled by the scream that he pulled back a little, which made Hunter feel bad and said:
"Sorry…"
"Okay," Winter replied, landing on the table to face the boy.
"I didn't mean to scream, I'm just scared… very scared," Hunter admitted. "It's just that witches don't amplify spells, witches cast them. I was already used to the idea of being just a defective witch who can't cast a single spell, no matter how basic it was. This is sad? Yeah, it is, but at least it's a logical thing to happen. Now, when you tell me that beyond that I can also amplify spells, you're saying I'm not even a witch. Maybe not even a real living being, as neither the witches nor the demons nor the animals of the Isles can do that... It's almost as if you're saying I'm a walking talking Galderstone!"
"Hunter…" Winter began to talk, feeling guilty for what he'd said. "I'm sorry… Forget what I said."
"But-"
"You are a real living being, Hunter. Not only that, you are a person. Never doubt it."
"But-"
"If the idea of being a magic amplifier makes you feel less than a witch, then forget about this garbage. You are a witch, my witch, the best witch! Never doubt it."
"Okay, I won't doubt it anymore," Hunter said. "But I also can't just forget about this theory that I might be a magic amplifier, since that explains what happened to us. Also, if this is really true, from now on I have to start dedicating more to my training, because if I don't learn to control this power properly and someone else finds out about it because of my lack of knowledge... I don't even want to think about this possibility.
"Me neither…" Winter muttered, shaking by thinking about this possibility.
"So… Are you going to help me train tomorrow?"
"Are you still questioning? Of course!"
"Thanks."
"No thanks needed. You are my witch, it is my duty to protect you."
"Thanks again," Hunter said with a grateful smile. "Well, shall we finish creating this account now so we can watch Amphibia?"
"Yes!" Winter replied, perking up again.
With that, they two returned to completing the creation of Hunter's account on the Penstagram and watched one of their favorite cartoons together until it was time for the Emperor's Coven Head to sleep, not realizing that someone was listening to everything they were saying and doing from outside the room…
- x -
The Owl House, Boiling Islands, same night, 11:30 pm
"Come on, mouse... Come on... One more piece," Luz spoke with a desperate expression, disturbing the echo-mouse, holding what appeared to be a piece of a carrot from the Boiling Islands to get the mouse's attention. "Show me just one more piece of this diary… I need to know what we did wrong building this damn door!"
Since the last time Luz had seen her mother, the girl's desire to return home had intensified even more. The young human was worried about her mother's emotional state, as the gentle lady was crying a lot when she saw her daughter's reflection in the rain disappear without the two having a chance to finish saying a proper goodbye. It was very important that the girl return home as soon as possible and explain better to her mother what was going on. She definitely didn't want to leave her mother in that state forever.
'I have to create a portal that works soon' Luz thought in agony. 'But this SELFISH RAT doesn't want to help!'
"Come on, cute little mouse... Show me another piece of the diary... It's not possible that Philip hasn't written anything else useful in that damn diary, is it?"
The mouse continued to ignore the girl and the food she was offering.
"Please rattoncito," Luz begged. "I need you to help me to see my mother again… Please…"
The echo-mouse continued to ignore the girl's request.
"I can't take this anymore… I wonder if there is another source of information about Philip Wittebane and his portal. Just another one would do... I'm so desperate that I would accept any source that doesn't depend on this mouse's goodwill right now..."
"LUZ! YOUR GIRLFRIEND IS IN THE CRYSTAL BALL!" Eda's voice yelled from the living room. "COME FAST TO ANSWER HER CALL!"
'Amity?! Hey, don't we communicate by Tamagotchis?' Luz thought in surprise. 'I better see what's going on...'
"I'M GOING!" Luz yelled, running out of her room, going down the stairs , two stairs at a time, until she reached the living room breathlessly.
Once there, Luz saw Eda and King sitting on the sofa talking to a crystal ball that was on the coffee table. The crystal ball was showing an Amity in pajamas lying on her bed, holding a scroll.
"Hi, Amity," Luz greeted excitedly, but still breathless from the rush.
"Hi, Luz," Amity's projection into the crystal ball greeted her. "I'm sorry I didn't use the Tamagotchi, but I have to show you something."
"No problem, Amity," Luz said excitedly. "I love seeing my awesome girlfriend's beautiful face! You look even more beautiful in these kitty pajamas!"
"Th-thank you…" Amity thanked her for the compliment, blushing. "You look beautiful too…"
"Gracias Linda," Luz said with a smile. "What do you want to show me so late at night? Did something serious happen?" she asked getting serious and worried. "Did your parents do anything bad again?"
"No, nothing happened at home," Amity spoke quickly to set her girlfriend's mind at rest. "My parents didn't do anything. I'm fine, everything is fine here, don't worry."
"Gracias a Dios..." Luz let out a sigh of relief. "Since everything is fine, say there, what's the news?"
"So... Remember that human cartoon that's also been featured on broadcast crystal ball channels here in the Boiling Islands since last year?" Amity asked. "Amphibia, if I'm not mistaken, I think you said I would like it."
"Yes, I do remember! And I said it! You have to watch Amphibia! Season two is amazing! This cartoon is one of the best things that leaked from my world to here, after the Good Witch Azura books, of course. Nothing beats Azura."
Amity smiled at that and continued:
"Well, I was looking at Amphibia official page on Pestagram and I ended up deciding to follow the page to receive this cartoon news on my feed."
"Nice!" Luz spoke excitedly.
"Yeah, and out of curiosity, I kind of clicked that option that show who also followed it, because I thought that maybe Willow and Gus would do it too," Amity continued.
"And did they follow the Amphibia page too?" Luz asked, getting even more excited.
"No," Amity replied. "But look who followed it."
At that moment the purple haired witch approached her scroll to the crystal ball to show the list of people who followed the Amphibia official page and among several usernames Luz saw…
"Hunter… Witte… bane," Luz said, reading with difficulty through the crystal ball. "Ahh… Hunter Wittebane! Wait, Hunter WHAT?!"