Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Three days had passed since Amity's visit. In that time, Luz had learned to never leave her new pet on its own. Hooty and a few of the palismans kept trying to eat Mousy, despite being told repeatedly that he was not for eating.
Luz had been forced to take drastic measures to keep her new pet safe. That included adding a tiny padlock to keep the lid on the little guy's home and set up a glyph defense. If anyone, but her tried to get to her pet, they would be in for a nasty shock.
"I hope you'll be okay on your own for the next two days, Mousy. I've got a special assignment today. Hopefully, I'll get to see my friends today."
A week before that disastrous field trip, Eda had made arraignments between Principle Bump and Bat Queen. Palisman trees were very rare these days. One of the main projects of the Plant Coven was to help regrow these trees.
Until they were bountiful again, Eda's arrangement allowed old palismans to be adopted by new owners. Since it would take two to three days for the entire upperclassmen to adopt one, a guard was needed to protect them while in Emperor Belos's kingdom.
"I can't believe, I'm going to be going back to Hexside today. Do you think they could convince Principal Bump to let me have some of their old equipment to continue my studies?" Luz asked Eda, who was standing in the doorway.
"Bump isn't that generous. Anything from the school is marked with the Hexside stamp. Certain objects, like textbooks and writing material, are for everyone's use. Items such as crystal balls or potion ingredients, need to have permission to take them off-campus. Without it, the items will return to the school in an hour."
Luz wondered if the return mark had something to do with Eda's behavior at Hexside. "Are you going to be okay while I'm gone?"
"Don't worry your pretty face. I'll be looking after the triplets today. I'm planning on teaching them something important today. Bat Queen is going to be shocked when I give my demonstration tomorrow."
As long as it's nothing illegal and harms anyone in the forest, I'm sure Bat Queen won't mind, Luz thought to herself.
Ten minutes later, the last of the palismans were loaded into the nest. It was much bigger on the inside than it looked outside. "Everyone's accounted for Bat Queen. We're ready to go."
"Excellent. Settle down and I'll get us to Hexside swiftly. The little ones are eager to meet their new owners."
Luz closed the door tight and settled down between Lil Rascal and Ghost. The nest was lifted into the air and they took off.
"Don't worry little guys. I'm sure you're all going to find good homes. The students at Hexside are nice. You'll find your perfect match in no time."
They landed a few minutes later in the stadium. Luz peeked through the hole in the nest and spotted her friends. Each of them was talking eagerly debating what kind of palisman would choose them.
After Principal Bump finished explaining what was going on, Luz opened the door and let the palismans out. A few hung back with her but the majority spread out in the little yard prepared for them.
The teenager watched in excitement as the first few matches were made. Willow, Gus, along with Viney and Amity, were already hugging their new palismans. Even Boscha was being kind to her new palisman.
Jerbo stepped up for his turn. "I want to grow rare plants so they don't go extinct."
Luz smiled knowing what palisman was perfect for him. She nudged Norbert, a mole-shaped palisman out the nest. Seeing how happy both of them made her feel warm inside.
Barcus barked his desires. Luz still had trouble understanding him at times but she could make out that he wanted to make new potions to help improve the quality of life on the Boiling Isles.
It was a bold and ambitious plan. It wasn't a surprise that Seymour, the three-headed monkey, chose the dog witch.
Skara dreamed of becoming a traveling musician/poet. Eileen wanted to open her own restaurant. Bo wanted to be an emergency healer. Palismens shaped like a parrot, a jackalope, and finally, a snake, made their way over to the girls.
Amelia wanted to develop plants that performed tricks. Cat wanted to become an optometrist. Selene wanted to use her magic to improve the connection between spirits and the living.
Amelia's palisman was a small dog. Cat was surprised that she got a frog-shaped palisman. Strangely, Selene's palisman was a phoenix.
The class seemed very joyful. They were quickly making friends with their palismans. Luz made sure no one was looking as she came out of the nest. She was keeping her head down as she made her way over to her friends.
"How does it feel to have your own staff?" Viney asked Barcus. She was scratching her palisman, Cory, behind the ear.
"I'm pleased to be considered a proper witch now. Being a dog demon/witch is not easy. With any luck, I'll get a bit more respect from now on."
"You deserve respect with or without a staff Barcus," Luz chimed. The group turned around to face her, they all smiled in delight. They started to speak her name but she quickly shook her head
"Shush, Emperor Belos has eyes everywhere. We can't trust anyone else to keep my presence a secret."
"What are you doing here then Luz?" Willow asked quietly.
"I'm here to guard the palismans while they're at the school. I thought we could catch up a little before you go home for the day. I could even tell you more about your palismans if you want."
So they spent the rest of the morning doing just that. At lunchtime, the group headed back inside for afternoon classes. Another group of upperclassman would come out after lunch for their palismen staffs.
Luz ducked back inside the nest to keep the palisman company during lunch. "That was an exciting morning. I'm glad your friends were able to find a match. I bet the rest of you will find new homes soon."
The afternoon class had a few familiar faces. She saw Boris the pig-faced kid. There was also that jerk Matthomule. She spotted that guy who had asked Skara to the dance. There was the girl with horns from the abomination track as well.
She didn't know or recognize the rest of the class. She hadn't seen Amity's siblings yet. They would probably be with tomorrow's group. The shortage of palisman trees had been going on for the last few years.
The school day ended and Bat Queen left to get home to her kids. Before she left, she placed a force field around the nest.
Luz nestled inside the nest next to the remaining palismans. "Don't worry little guys. The shield will protect us. In the off chance, someone gets past it, I'll protect you as your second line of defense. No one is going to hurt you on my watch."
A little after midnight, everyone was violently awakened by something striking the shield. The entire nest quivered with the palismans making calls of distress.
"Shush! I'm trying to see what's going on." Peering out of the holes in the nest she saw someone that she had hoped to never see again.
Kikimora, accompanied by four Abmomatons. Two of them were currently trying to break the force field. The other two were trying to keep control of a dragon that appeared as a mismatch of hands.
"Hurry up! Emperor Belos needs these palismans right away," Kikimora shouted at her minions. She tapped her foot impatiently.
The creatures started hammering once more at the shield. The shield was holding for now. Luz instinctively knew it wouldn't last forever.
I can't handle Kikimora and her minions by myself. I need help! But who can legally help me without getting into trouble with the law?
An idea formed in her mind. "Lil Rascal, you need to escape and get Hunter! He can help us. Go now!"
The palisman slipped outside and opened a small section of the shield to escape. This weakened the shield causing cracks to form. A few more hits and it would shatter entirely.
Knowing help was on the way, Luz had to face her demons. "I need all of you to look out for each other. If I can't stop Kikimora, you need to escape before she takes you to Emperor Belos."
"Trust me, you don't want to meet him." Pulling the cowl over her head, she got ready to act.
She stepped out of the nest just as the shield shattered. Before the Abmomatons could attack, Luz unleashed several light glyphs to blind the enemy. Kikimora bellowed for her minions to attack.
Luz waited for the Abmomatons to come after her. The one on her right turned his hand into a scythe before aiming to separate her head from her body.
Luz did a backflip and was able to get out of the way. The creature on her left was firing goo bombs at her. She twisted out of the way and started zigzagging around, confusing the creatures.
I need to get rid of them before they get me. I'm lucky that light glyph didn't count as using magic against the Emperor's Coven. I have to defeat them without magic if I want to avoid getting closer to being Belos's servant again.
She tried to recall what Amity had taught her about abominations. Amity had told her that if the goo got super heated, the creature turned to ash.
The Abmomatons were coming towards her again. This time, they were working together to attack. They merged their arms to form a giant drill. The tip was driven into the ground, causing the whole field to shake.
Luz fell on her side and her left arm went numb. She had pinched the nerve in it. Seeing the drill coming straight at her, the teenager did the only thing she could.
Shifting her body weight she rolled herself over to the stands. She pushed against them to get herself back to her feet. She drew a spell circle over her arm and the nerve relaxed.
Distracted by her healing spell, Luz didn't see Kikimora fire a spell at her. The teenager screamed as the pain of a thousand needles ripped through her body.
Her brain shut down and Luz blacked out. Kikimora walked over and growled when she saw who had been protecting the nest. "You!"
She wanted to bury the girl alive. Maybe even toss her into an active volcano. What was so special about this abhorrent girl that Emperor Belos wanted alive at all costs?
As much as she wanted to kill her, Kikimora sensed another coven member nearby. Emperor Belos was keeping his eyes on her to make sure she didn't fail him again.
"Tie the girl up and keep hold of her. Emperor Belos wants her back in one piece," the demoness ordered. She would make a quick stop in Latissa to pick up a cage to hold the human in.
Hunter and Lil Rascal arrived at the school just as Kikimora was taking off. The teenager growled in anger. "How dare Kikimora interfere with my mission? I'll get Luz back no matter what!"
Lil Rascal chirped loudly causing Hunter to amend his previous statement. "Also the palismens. I won't forget your friends."
Judging by the direction Kikimora was flying she wasn't going to the castle right away. She was heading to Latissa. If he hurried, he could get his staff and fly to Latissa.
He turned to head back, but the palisman wouldn't let him. He got right in the teenager's face flapping his wings. "Move! I have to get my staff to save Luz."
Lil Rascal chirped at him a few times. Hunter was shocked when the palisman turned into a staff for him.
This can't be happening. Powerless witches don't get magical staffs. Nor do they bond with a palisman. Believing the creature transformed for convenience. Getting on the staff, he flew off after Kikimora and Luz.
Eventually, Luz woke up to find herself alone in a cell and tied up. "No, no, no! This can't be happening!" she wailed.
A glance revealed a tiny window. A single beam of moonlight slipped through the bars. Luz launched herself at the window. She needed to know where she was.
Looking outside, her heart sunk. She didn't recognize anything outside the window. The air outside stank badly. The beings on the street looked rougher than those in Bonesborough.
What she couldn't see was the nest. Had the palismens already been taken to Emperor Belos? If they had, then why wasn't she brought to the palace as well?
There was a loud bang and footsteps approached her cell. She tried to scoot out into the shadows only to fall over.
A dark chuckle came from the cell door. "It's nice to see you know your place human." Kikimora seemed amused by Luz's situation.
Luz glowered at the demoness. "What have you done with the palismens?"
"That's none of your business, human. You violated the law when you came out of Bat Queen's kingdom. I have every right to arrest you."
Luz laughed dryly. "I wasn't banished and exiled as Eda and Lilith were. Emperor Belos allowed me to go with Eda. It's called a vacation."
The demoness curled her hands in ire at the teenager's mocking. She would not be belittled!
"Well, your time off just came to an end. Your cage is nearly ready to transport you. I just came to put your muzzle on." She held out a familiar muzzle with a flourish.
The demoness used her hair to create a spell circle. Instantly, Luz cried out as the pain of a thousand hot needles spread across her body. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
She had only experienced this pain once before. This was the pain that forced her awake after the operation. The one that weakened her mental defenses and let the beast take control.
Kikimora levitated the human off the ground before shoving the muzzle over her face. She had made sure the hooks were dipped in a mild acid potion before coming to the cell.
Seeing the teenager's skin starting to burn made her a little bolder.
"Poor little human. This is payback for the beating the Emperor gave me when you were attacked by version one of the Abomaton. He blamed me for one of the Bat Queen's subjects nearly destroying the castle."
Luz could only whimper as one of Kikimora's minions dragged her outside the cell and through the corridors. It purposely made sure her head hit every bump.
The coven members stationed inside were shoved aside by the other Abmomatons. A few souls opened their mouths to advise Kikimora not to injure the teenager.
The demoness quickly shut them down by declaring that anyone who told her what to do would be petrified for defiance. Not wanting to see if she was serious, everyone kept their mouths shut.
Exiting the building, the Abomaton pulled Luz upright so she could march to her new prison.
The teenager was relieved to see the nest was still intact. She could see eyes glowing through the cracks. For now, the palismens were alive.
Next to the nest was a Chinese Iron Maiden. The difference between the Asian and European torture devices was simple. The Asian one steamed you to death. The European one impaled you.
Luz was shoved inside the torture device. Heavy chains were then wrapped around the cage. Once secured to the cage, the teenager was trapped. A few minutes later, Kikimora's pet started flying towards the castle, her prizes held in its paws.
I can't let Kikimora win. If she was willing to defy Emperor Belos to harm me, I don't want to think what else she'll do. There has to be something I can do to get free.
The teenager was trying to figure something out when a strange fog suddenly appeared. A tiny amount of it filtered in through the small breathing hole.
The teenager started to cough. Her eyes watered up, blocking her vision. She was hardly aware that the hand dragon was slowly descending to the ground.
About a minute later, she heard her cage scraping across the ground. It bounced against a rock and landed face up.
Someone smashed the lock and pulled the chains off her prison.
The top was flung open. It was one of Emperor Belos's soldiers.
Before she could scream, the guard placed one hand over her mouth. He used the other to lift his mask, revealing Hunter.
"Shush, we need to get out of here quickly. I don't know how long that sleeping mist is going to keep Kikimora down."
He pulled her out of the cage, and Lil Rascal appeared. The cardinal pressed his beak against the restraints. They flashed orange before dissolving.
Luz couldn't help herself as she hugged her friend tightly. "Thank you. Thank you for coming to my rescue."
Hunter awkwardly patted her on the back. "Well, your palisman friend was very insistent." He was a tiny bit sad when she stopped embracing him. "We should get going now."
"Not without the palismens. I can't let Emperor Belos eat them. There has to be a way to get the nest back to the school without waking Kikimora up."
Hunter ran his hand down his face. "We don't have a choice! We can't risk our lives on the off chance that the demoness isn't going to wake up in a few minutes. Unless you can teleport us back to the school, we have no choice but to leave the nest behind."
He was stunned when the human grinned. She dragged him over to the nest and pushed him inside. Once she was inside, she shut the door and locked it.
"I need you to order me to take us to Hexside." Seeing his confusion, Luz explained. "I once took everyone inside the Owl House to the island King was born because he ordered me. If you ordered me, I could teleport back to the school."
"Are you sure that will work? Have you been able to teleport since then?"
Luz's eyes looked down for a few seconds before she locked them with Hunter's. "I need you to trust me."
At that moment, they both heard someone scuttling to their feet. Kikimora had woken up. Neither one of them wanted Kikimora to win.
"Luz Noceda, I order you to bring this nest and everyone in it back to Hexside Stadium now!"
This time, Luz was in control of her body. She dipped down deep, connecting with the ancient magic. It spread throughout her body and into the nest. Picturing the school's stadium, she teleported.
"No, no, no!" Kikimora screamed as her prisoner escaped.
At the stadium, there was a flash of gold light. The nest reappeared in front of the small yard. A brown light spread from the nest into the yard. At once, a mini fortress surrounded the nest and yard.
Luz and Hunter exited the nest, only slightly surprised to see the fortress surrounding them.
"It happened again. How did I create this without a spell circle? I don't have a glyph for this, and I don't know anything about construction."
Hunter was puzzled as well. None of his books had ever mentioned something like this happening before. He never met anyone who could wield wild magic with just a thought.
The only different factor was Luz being a human. What part of her physiology allowed this to happen? "Are you sure that you never had magic before coming to the Boiling Isles?"
"I'm sure of it, Hunter. There's no magic on Earth. I always wanted there to be because I dreamed of being a witch."
"Not now there isn't, but there could have been. A minority of historians believe that our kind came from Earth into this dimension instead of evolving here. There's a legend about a relic known as the Demon Gate, a portal that brought our ancestors here before scattering us across the Isles."
Luz was unaware of this. After they had returned to the forest, the others had decided that Luz shouldn't know about the Demon Gate. They knew she would become obsessed with fixing it to go home.
When the teenager got obsessed, she ignored all common sense. A sealed gateway wasn't worth taking the risk that she might die trying to fix it.
Realizing he was still holding onto Lil Rascal's staff, he held it out to Luz. "Here, I'm done borrowing this. I hope whoever this little guy bonds with realizes how lucky they are."
Luz rolled her eyes. "Are you kidding me? His witch already knows he's lucky. Considering he's holding him right now."
Hunter sputtered incredulity. He couldn't be the little guy's witch. He was powerless! "This isn't possible! I'm a powerless witch! My kind never gets a witch's staff!"
"Has a powerless witch ever tried before?" Luz shot back.
Hunter was surprised by this. Why would a powerless witch even make a staff if they couldn't use it?
On the other hand, there were no records of anyone adopting a palisman before. Looking at the staff, Hunter knew it was for him. Unlike his artificial staff, this one felt alive.
Lil Rascal even came off the staff so he could rub his face against Hunters. Scratching the palisman's head, he realized he could never hand over this little guy to his uncle.
The teenager whispered a thank you to his new friend. "I better get going. I shouldn't be here when Bat Queen arrives. I don't want her to think I'm distracting you from your duty."
Luz protested and insisted he stay to introduce himself. He had to meet with Bat Queen eventually.
Hunter was adamant about not meeting her. He wasn't ready to admit he had been living in her kingdom without her knowledge. He placated Luz by promising to meet Bat Queen after a few days to bond with his palisman.
"Alright, I won't say anything. We're going to talk about this at my next lesson. I should be back by tomorrow."
"Can't wait to see you. Bye!"
When Bat Queen arrived in the morning, Luz told her what had happened. She only omitted the fact of where Hunter lived.
"I'm sorry I wasn't able to stop the kidnapping. You trusted me to keep the palismens safe, and I failed at that."
Bat Queen patted Luz on the shoulder. "You did your best. The important thing is you got them back. I only wish I could punish the Emperor's coven. At last, since the attempt was within his kingdom, I have no jurisdiction."
It was vexing they couldn't do anything. Even Luz's kidnapping couldn't be considered a crime. Kikimora bringing her back to the castle was akin to someone returning lost property.
The best they could do was finish pairing up the palismens and return to the forest. When Principal Bump arrived, Bat Queen told him that she needed to complete the pairings today for personal reasons.
Principal Bump was understanding and promised to bring two to three classes each period to complete the bonding by the end of the day.
When Luz returned home that night, she plopped on the couch and sighed. Eda sensed her foster daughter needed some comforting.
She sat down next to Luz, waiting for her to speak. She didn't have to wait long.
"Eda, do you think there's a reason I haven't bonded with a palisman since I arrived here?" Luz sat up and sighed. "Watching the upperclassmen making friends with their palismens was both joyful and saddening."
She pulled her knees closer to her chest. "I've been so obsessed with trying to control my magic and get home so Belos can't hurt me that I never thought about what I would do next."
"Not everyone knows what they want when they're a teen. When I was your age, all I desired was to be free of rules and expectations. It took you coming here to realize that what I wanted was to have someone to understand and accept me."
Eda smiled at Luz before laying her hand over the teenagers. "One day, you'll figure out what you want. Then you'll be able to create your own palisman."
Eda pulled a piece of wood from her hair and laid it on the coffee table. "I was saving this to make a new staff for Owlbert. Seeing that palismens can create their own staff, I think you'll make better use of this than me."
The teenager reached out and touched it to make sure she wasn't dreaming. When she realized it was real, she hugged Eda tightly.
"Thank you, Eda. Thank you." Safe in Eda's arms, Luz finally had hope she could be free.
