I do not own Soul Eater or the Owl House.
If I did, Ragnarok would not be a comic relief character.
"She's onto us."
Luz didn't respond initially as Willow redoubled her pace, the sludge around her sluicing with every step, jostling the entire cauldron with each and every tile the wheelbarrow rolled over.
"She's onto us," Willow repeated, out of breath, "Oh, Titan, she's onto us."
"... Willow?" the Latina risked a murmur, raising a hand to lift the lid of the cauldron slightly.
"Sssh!" the Witch hissed, making Luz drop the lid with a startle, "Don't draw attention! Just stay in there!"
She sank back into the mire, swallowing what little spit was left in her mouth and trying to avoid letting any of the violet muck past her lips. She could hear the fear in Willow's voice, now that her anger had faded, her mutterings not yet ceasing; though she was hardly being any louder than the din of the surrounding crowd, her tone was distinct, rife with worry and only barely keeping a stutter out of her words.
"She's onto us and I stood up to her," the bespectacled girl whimpered, "Why did I do that, why did I do that, why did I do that? She's gonna be watching us now!"
Luz shifted, pushing herself up so she was sitting in the cauldron rather than curled up in a ball, lips pursed as she stared up at the lid. Through the whole class, it had not once occurred to the tanned teen to be afraid; her disguise had been perfect, and she eagerly performed her role as Willow's Abomination, having to physically keep herself from jumping for joy at the Professor's announcement of the Witch's perfect score, and since then she worked to take down notes throughout the class, both for her new friend's benefit and for her own - she could just snap a picture of the pages once they were all done for her own reference.
However, it hadn't taken long for the elation of having managed to fool not only the teacher, but the whole class, to wear off once Amity had approached them.
Despite her desire to speak, to stand up for Willow as the taller Witch had seared her with accusations, she maintained her silence, not wishing to get her new friend in trouble.
Thankfully, Willow had managed to stand up for herself - though it wasn't long afterwards that the green-eyed girl had begun to break down, her former confidence, fuelled by anger, swiftly replaced with fear.
She heard a door open, and then close, the drone of the innumerable voices beyond her iron shell fading to a distant murmur; she heard the young Witch take a shaky breath before lifting the lid, letting dim light stream into the cauldron.
The Latina poked her head; the dark haired teen was now slumped against the wall, a hand pressed to her forehead as she breathed deep, slowly opening her hand and closing it one finger at a time, counting to five with every inward and outward breath.
"... Willow?" Luz asked.
Those green eyes didn't rise to meet her, instead staring off into nothing from behind the sheen of her glasses, lips drawn into a thin line.
Slowly, the tanned teen approached, taking one slow step, and then another, "... Willow, are you okay?"
"... not really," the dark haired Witch lifted her glasses, rubbing at her eyes before sighing, slowly sliding down the wall to sit on the floor, "... I have no idea what we're gonna do, Luz."
"... well, we've come this far," Luz smiled, "We only have a couple more hours to go, right?"
"That's exactly what I'm worried about," Willow murmured, "I don't think we can keep this up for the whole afternoon."
"What makes you say that? We've done pretty well so far," the tanned girl gestured back to the cauldron, "Can't you just keep me coated in that goo like you did before?"
The Witch shook her head, "Not with Amity scrutinising everything we do."
"Aw, come on," the human finally sat down beside her friend, smile breaking into a grin, "Even your professor bought it, Willow, and he should know the difference between an Abomination and a human better than anyone. By the time Amity notices anything, school will be done, and we'll be on our way home - she won't be able to look at your Abomination at all!"
"You don't get it, Luz," the pale girl snapped, "Professor Hermonculus might have been fooled, but he didn't see my Abomination this morning. Amity did. She knows something is wrong, and she's class rep - it's her job to keep track of struggling students, and catch any cheating. She has every reason to watch us, and eventually, we're gonna slip up and she'll notice. She lives and breathes Abominations. And that's not touching on what's going to happen when she takes whatever she finds to Hermonculus."
At this, Luz felt her smile waver, her joy withering in her stomach; she watched as the leaf-green eyes of the young Witch closed, the back of her head making a dull thump as it hit the wall, "... I didn't think this through at all. I saw a chance to salvage my grade and show Amity up, and… I just jumped for it," she drew her legs up to her chest, pressing her forehead into her knees, "I didn't think about what would happen…"
"... well, we're not caught yet."
Finally, Willow raised her head to look at her; the Latina put as much determined cheer into her voice as she could manage, her smile broad, brows furrowed in the way that they only could with a competitive spirit as she clenched her fist, "If there's one thing that I've learned playing chess with my sister online, it's that the game isn't over until someone gets checkmate. We've still got a while before lunch is over; that means we still have time to make some moves before Amity can corner us."
"... what about stalemates?" the Magical teen cocked an eyebrow.
Luz stared for a brief moment before feeling her face flush, embarrassment flooding her being as she broke her gaze, "I mean… those are draws, technically, right?... better than losing…"
"... how often do you actually win chess against your sister?" she could hear the wry, but curious amusement in the Witch's voice.
"... uh… two?..."
"Out of…?"
"... thirty seven in the past two years," the tanned teen finally grumbled.
Her cheeks burned as Willow erupted into a fit of giggles, clutching her stomach and glasses; the laughter was light, soft, somewhere between incredulous and delighted at Luz's admission. Slowly, the young Witch pulled her glasses away, rubbing at her eyes with her free hand, teeth bared in a grin, "Well, I know who I'm not taking chess tips from anytime soon."
"I forced a draw in the last one, and I only lost two of the three before that!" the human protested, "I'm getting better!"
"Well, at the very least, you don't give up," the glasses went back on; there was a new spark in those green eyes as Willow held out her hand. A green light flared, and then immediately faded; in its place, a small scroll had flashed into existence, the dark green parchment wrapped around a pair of dark wooden spools, floating silently in the air between them.
"... what's that?" Luz asked, her embarrassment forgotten at the sight of the object, already fascinated with it.
"It's a personal scroll," Willow unfurled the parchment, revealing a whitish-yellow surface beneath the green covering; it stayed blank only briefly before ink and watercolour paints suddenly flooded its surface with colour, a calligraphy painting of words and landscapes forming all at once, a vast vale with a forest cloaked in snow. She ran her finger across the surface, the ink shifting with the movement like she'd dipped her finger through a three dimensional painting, trailing colour behind her with each movement that quickly faded into the rest of the picture, "It's primarily used for long distance communication, but there's a lot you can do with it."
"What, like a phone?" the purple coated girl pulled out her iphone, clicking it on; Willow blinked, staring at the tiny purple box as Luz flicked back and forth through the apps in a demonstration.
"... there's no Magic in it," the Witch stated, though it sounded halfway like a question.
"Nope. Just plastic, glass, metal and a battery - and you can contact almost anyone in the world with it, as long as they have one too," the tanned teen chirped, "And a whole bunch of other stuff, like take pictures, play games, do math… it even has a built in flashlight."
She clicked the light on for emphasis; the dark haired girl fixated on it, brows raised slightly before they furrowed with focus. She reached out, pulling the phone in for a closer look, "... all that… without Magic…"
"... something wrong, Willow?"
"... it's just…" she shook her head, turning her attention back to the scroll, "Nevermind, it's not important right now. Right now, I gotta call a friend."
"A friend?"
"Someone who'll be more than happy to sneak you out of here."
"Whoa, whoa, wait," Luz threw up her hands, "What?"
"I can just say I'm too tired to keep my Abomination going for the afternoon - it won't exactly be a lie, keeping that goo on you actually gets pretty hard after a while," Willow rubbed her chin,"In the meantime, you'll get snuck out before class starts-"
"Willow, I am not leaving."
The Witch stopped, turning to meet Luz's gaze.
The Latina crossed her arms, jaw set, "This whole thing was my idea, remember? If you get in trouble, it's because I got involved and convinced you to cheat. I don't want you to get in trouble because of me - and I definitely don't want you to take the fall while I get off scot free."
"... Luz, I appreciate the sentiment - I really do," the chalk-skinned girl began slowly, but with clearly wearing patience, "But the longer you stay here, the more danger you're in."
"Yeah, I've been getting that a lot the last few days," Luz didn't so much as budge, though she did direct her gaze upwards, her frown deepening with thought, "I still don't really get why, though."
"Because you're not-" Willow halted, bit her lip, as if reconsidering what she was about to say.
"I'm not… what?" a chocolate eyebrow rose.
"... you're not a student here," Willow finally settled, adjusting her glasses again, "Technically, non-students and non-faculty really aren't supposed to be here outside of special circumstances. Even aside from the whole cheating thing, if they found out I snuck in someone who's not supposed to be on campus, it could get me expelled, and you handed over to the Imperial Guard."
"The Imperial Guard aren't that tough," Luz snorted… then she scratched her chin, frowning again, "... that being said, I really don't want to get you in any actual trouble… would you really get expelled for this? That's a little excessive, don't you think?"
"You'd be surprised," the bespectacled Witch turned her attention back to her scroll, "I don't know how it works with human schools, but here? Uninvited W-guests tend to be bad news. I'd rather not get you shipped off to the Conformatorium if I can help it."
"... I still don't like it," the goo-clad child insisted, crossing her arms again, "I'd much rather stay and help you get through the day."
"... you've already helped plenty, Luz," Willow smiled, cycling through a variety of pictures and words that the human could only assume were apps, "After all, you pointed out what I've been missing from the Abomination formula this whole time. Maybe now I can actually make one properly."
"It's still wild to me that you guys speak and write the same languages we do," finally, Luz found her smile again, "I'd have thought Witch languages would have seen very different development from human ones over eight hundred years of separation."
"Well, humans and Witches did share a history for quite a while before the Grim Reaper showed up, and the Titan's Empire still deals with the Witch Order every now and again - who themselves still access the human realm," the Witch noted, a curious tone slipping into her voice, "There's still some amount of regional variance, but… maybe that was enough to prevent too much drift from occurring over the years?"
"Maybe," she bobbed her head as Willow finally tapped on a name - Gus Porter - bringing forth a picture; the boy was skinny, skinny and young with a broad grin that immediately lit a spark of joy and kinship in the human's stomach. His dark hair bordered on black and was cut short, basically a crew cut along the sides and back, with only just enough hair up top to grow into subtle curls, evoking the image of a carefully cultivated beadhead, unlike Luz's own wild mess that she more often than not didn't bother to look after these days. His eyes were a dark grey, the colour of steel, and his skin was actually a shade or two darker than her own. His slim limbs were kept within sleeves of light blue, his slender fingers excitedly pointing to the cover of-
"... Gold Chains for Old Men?" the Latina raised an eyebrow.
"Gus is a bit of a… human-ist, if you will," the parchment's surface swirled, the other girl still not glancing up from the cascade of colours, "He's fascinated by humans and human culture. Even tried to get a club set up for it - he was firmly shot down though."
"Why's that?"
"Let's just say fascination with humans is generally frowned upon and leave it at that."
Before Luz could question further, the scroll's colours settled, the boy from the picture staring back out of the parchment. The enthusiasm in the portrait had been replaced with curiosity, an eyebrow quirked as he spoke, his voice light, bearing a higher register than the human had expected, "Willow?"
"Hey Gus," Willow waved, smile renewed.
"How come you're not at the cafeteria? I saved you a seat!"
"You always save me a seat."
"And that is part of why I'm such a great friend!" he grinned, "But seriously, what's up? Amity corner you for tutoring?"
"She tried," the pale child noted dryly, "But no. I actually need you to come down to the Footward Wing. The…" she glanced to the door, "Third Potions classroom?"
At this, Luz glanced up, finally taking in the room; on each desk, a number of burners were present, along with various beakers, mortars, and other objects she couldn't immediately identify. There were even cauldrons near the back of the room, along with larger stone bowls bigger across than any fire pit she'd ever seen, the blackened surface of each suggesting that large fires had been burning in the base of each.
"Third Potions?" both eyebrows climbed his forehead, the darker Witch blinking, "What're you doing in there?"
"I'll explain when you get here. Please hurry - I don't think anyone's gonna walk in here, but I'd rather be safe than sorry."
"... alright. I'll be there in a minute, Willow - just lemme grab my stuff."
With that, the scroll's surface dissolved, returning to a swirl of colours shifting between landscapes and people.
"Sooo, what's his deal?" Luz queried, curiosity once again piqued.
"Gus is in the Illusion Track," Willow started, rolling her scroll back up; with another flash of light, it vanished.
"Illusions?" Luz did her best to keep her squeal to a reasonable noise level, even as she reached out to grasp at the air where the scroll once hung.
"Yep. And as Witches go, he's actually pretty good at it. If there's anyone who can sneak you out of here, it's him."
"So is he gonna turn me invisible, or make me look more like a Witch?"
"The former is probably easier, especially with how small your Soul is - he'd have to fake a Soul Wavelength for you rather than just disguise it. Plus we're trying to not draw attention. So…"
"Aw. I was kind of hoping it would be something that would let me stay here a bit longer," the Latina sighed, her wistful tone still betraying an undercurrent of enthusiasm, "Still, being invisible is cool too!"
Willow allowed herself a snicker, green eyes sparkling, "You really are easily amazed, huh?"
"Of course I am! Humans don't get to see real Magic that much," Luz crossed her arms, still grinning, "Most humans haven't even met a Witch. Can you blame me for being amazed?"
"No, I guess not," the Witch conceded, holding out her hands again; this time, a paper bag manifested, falling into her palms. She opened up the bag, holding out-
"... is that a sandwich?" Luz murmured, eyes wide.
"Yep. Papa packed my lunch for me today, since I was in such a rush," Willow held it out, "You wanna have some?"
"Please!?" the tanned girl pressed her hands together, unable to reign in her pleading tone, "I haven't eaten all day and I really need to get the taste of trash slug out of my mouth!"
"Trash slug?" the young Witch raised an eyebrow, but held out the sandwich regardless.
Immediately, Luz snatched it, biting into it with equal parts violence and vigour; a blazing sweetness flooded her mouth, the bread warm to the touch and what the human could only assume was some sort of jam all but searing her tongue. Even as it made her cough and gasp for breath, she took bite after bite, the sensation nothing short of heavenly with the image of the rot she had endured earlier burning away to nothing under its influence.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down!" Willow dug through her bag again, pulling out a glass flask, "You don't wanna eat too much fire-bee honey all at once, you'll burn yourself! Here, drink."
The human obeyed, pulling the sandwich away just long enough to take a few swallows of water; the heat was washed away as quickly as it had come, the liquid mercy soothing her mouth and throat. After a moment, she managed a weak chuckle, handing back what remained of the sandwich, "Sorry about that… didn't mean to eat your lunch…"
"Hey, you've been a huge help, Luz," Willow shrugged, then took a bite of the sandwich herself, "Giving you some of my lunch is the least I can do."
"That was really good though," Luz wiped her mouth, "What'd you say was in there? Fire-bee honey?"
"Fire-bee honey and blood orange marmalade."
"Oh, Witches have blood oranges too?"
At this, the Witch blinked, "Wait, humans have blood oranges?"
"Yeah! They're pinkish-red on the inside!" the brown-haired girl nodded.
"Huh," Willow took another bite of her sandwich, taking a hissing breath through pursed lips - not that Luz could blame her, the heat of that honey was overwhelming, "I didn't think the human realm had natural blood veins for the trees to grow in."
"... wait, what?"
It hadn't been difficult to find where Sonson J. had committed his last killing.
Although the copycat killer of Canada's west coast had been forebodingly good at hiding - at least, according to Maka - the nature of his killings were always thoroughly messy; everything from pinning people to doors with arrows to leaving dead bodies in cots with a spear driven through them, through the mattress, and into the floor, clearly in deliberate display.
Here in Venice, it was no different. Though the body had long since been taken away from the scene by local authorities, Soul could tell just from looking at the chalk outline on the secluded pier that the killing had been particularly grisly. Whether they were metal, wood or plastic, oars didn't exactly make for efficient weapons - and this one at some point had its edge broken off from the sheer force of the swing, the missing chunk of aluminium embedded in the brick of a nearby wall.
He was starting to appreciate why his Meister had turned down all-you-can-eat pasta.
"Yeesh," he suppressed a wince as he examined the twisted edge of the metal, jagged and gleaming in the early evening's golden light, "Someone was having a bad day when they did this…"
"Multiple someones were having bad days."
He glanced out of the corner of his eye; Maka was kneeling over the chalk outline, tracing its edge briefly with a finger, eyes narrowed before scribbling away in her notebook. After a moment, she stopped, idly chewing on the lid of her pen as she stared at the pages, "At the very least though, the pattern seems consistent with his killings back in Emerald Lake…"
"Established territory?" the Scythe ventured, sauntering over to stand beside the pigtailed tween, "Singling out any poor bastard that wanders in?"
"Seems so, though it's hard to determine what the exact range of this territory is," she pushed herself to her feet, dusting off her knees before looking further down the dock; the bloodstains trailed all the way to the water's edge, where they abruptly halted, a clear sign of how the killer had escaped, "It doesn't help that Sonson seems to have actually learned how to swim."
"Of all the ways for him to deviate from his inspiration," Soul chuckled, "That's just annoying."
"The good news is we may not need to do much to hunt Sonson down," the Meister tucked her notebook into her black overcoat, stretching, "If we just stay in this general area, he may very well just come for us outright."
"Think there's any chance he'll return to this particular spot?"
"Even if he doesn't, I doubt he'll go too far off," Maka crossed her arms, "Local authorities can't do anything to him and he knows it. That, and he wants to put everything he does to people on display, draw attention to himself; I don't even know if the possibility of being hunted down by the DWMA even occurred to him."
"Well, something brought him here," Soul crouched, studying the bloodstains in the slowly dwindling summer sunlight, "Guys like him don't just leave their stomping grounds. Something made him leave - whether it was him getting spooked by the DWMA, or something else entirely."
"His behaviour still isn't rational by any means. If he came here with the intention of hiding, he blew his cover the instant he started killing again."
"Even so, he was smart enough to run when the pressure was on. I'm not sure we're gonna get a second chance at this if we screw it up."
Maka didn't answer, her fingers tapping the dark fabric of her coat as she stared out into the water.
"... something on your mind, Maka?" Soul queried.
"... nothing relevant," she decided, turning around and making her way back up the dock, starting along the edge of the canal, "Come on."
He raised an eyebrow, but moved to follow regardless, "Where are we going?"
"To see if there's anything else we can find, something the police might have missed," she stated, "He won't have gone far. If we can find him before he comes out to play, the better."
"Never one to just do things the easy way, huh?" the Weapon smirked, "Don't wanna just lure him into a trap? It would be easier, more surefire; like you said, we just hang out, he might just come for us, mistaking us for easy prey."
She bit her lip, eyes narrow and nostrils briefly flaring.
"... Maka?" Soul prompted, "Is something wrong?"
"... sorry," she finally muttered, rubbing her temple, "I just… don't get it."
"What, why he's here?" Soul blinked.
"No," the grey-haired girl shook her head, "I mean… why eat normal human Souls? Why just kill someone out of the blue?... what drives a person to do something like that?"
She seemed to be struggling not to turn around, to keep her eyes from drifting back over her shoulder to stare at the bloodstained wood, at the white chalk that marked where the woman had been found the night before; Soul could feel the urge to glance back himself, a certain solemness taking him over.
"... I've been doing this for almost a year," she murmured, still keeping her gaze firmly forwards, "and I still don't have an answer. I had to push that question to the back of my mind, and I… I think I almost stopped asking myself at some point."
"... you compartmentalise," he said, "We all do. We separate our personal feelings for what's going on from what we need to do - otherwise, we wouldn't be able to do our jobs at all."
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean…" Maka trailed off, again chewing at her lip.
Soul didn't interrupt, instead waiting for her to continue.
"... that doesn't mean we should just… stop," she crossed her arms, "People's lives are at stake. Every person these guys catch is someone else we couldn't save. Someone that… didn't have to die."
"... so really, you're less concerned about the Eggs themselves, than you are about their victims?" Soul ventured, "Is that it?"
"... yeah. Yeah, it is," the green eyed girl nodded, "It's so easy to get wrapped up in the hunt, in learning about these killers, using their murders as case files to help in tracking them, actually finding them and reaping their Souls, that… you never really forget that there are victims in all this, but… it's easier to just push them to the back of your mind in order to focus on the hunt, and… God, Soul, we got almost a hundred of these guys in less than a year, and they all had a body count. That… that's hard to think about."
He could feel the weight in his Meister's voice, the quiet horror and solemn anger in every word; he could see the tension of her fingers beneath her gloves as she grasped at her own arms, as though they were lifelines she wished to pull, in some helpless desire to save those who had already slipped beneath the black waves of death, pulled to their graves by a monster that didn't possess the strength to live as a person. Her lips twisted in a grimace as she tried to bury her distress, instead letting her revolted outrage slip through the cracks of her normally cool, collected mask.
Despite his own facade, Soul knew the feeling all too well; after all, someone had died here. Someone had been walking home, or perhaps was just out for some evening air when all of a sudden, they had been attacked. Bludgeoned, and then stabbed with a broken metal oar, slowly bleeding out across the planks of the small boardwalk, and into the water below.
But even when they expired, that hadn't been the end of it.
Their Soul had been taken. Devoured. A sacrifice to sate some horrible, howling craving, one that was, if not outright evil, then at the very least completely and utterly amoral, regardless of whether the act was born of malice or madness.
The Scythe couldn't imagine what would drive a person to such action.
But ultimately, that didn't matter.
At least, not here, not now.
"... but at the same time," the girl continued, "thinking about it doesn't solve the problem. It doesn't bring me any closer to ending it, to finding the monster that did it. It makes me impatient - I don't want to play it safe. I want to find him and get it over with… I get frustrated, and… reckless, and…" she clutched at her head, "... and that's how you get hurt. Get killed. Because you weren't focused."
"Which is why we compartmentalise," Soul repeated, "It's a necessary step. We have to put how we feel aside so we can do things properly."
"I know. I know," another heavy sigh, Maka's hands falling to her sides, "... but like I said… how long do you compartmentalise like that for, before you put it out of your mind completely?... I… I don't…"
She snorted, low and harsh, rubbing her brow again, "... I'm sorry. I'm scattered, and I'm probably not making much sense… and like I said, I don't think it's relevant to what our next steps are."
"... You think so?"
"You don't?" those green eyes pierced through him, lips crooked.
Soul finally let his eyes drift back to the dock, "I wouldn't call it irrelevant at all."
"... but it doesn't help what we're trying to do here," she mumbled, tone quiet, "It doesn't help catch the killer so we can end it."
"Maybe not," the Scythe conceded, "But I think it's a good thing you're thinking about this. It means you know why this is so important."
A pause held in the air between them; slowly, the Meister's hand fell from her face. Her eyes lost their intensity, her face softening as she too looked back at the outline of white, which stood out starkly against the dark wood. Her shoulders seemed to slump, the agitation leaving her body a little more with each passing second.
"... you think so?..." she asked, voice still small.
"I do," he smiled, "That's part of being a Meister, Maka. Or have you forgotten what Sid taught us at the start of last year?"
At this, Maka blinked, startled out of her melancholy; she stared at him for a long moment, eyes wide before a snicker escaped her, "You're awful, Soul. Who cracks jokes at a crime scene?"
"Hey, anything to get you out of your funk," his smile split into a full grin, "You know better than anyone else how you get when you're stuck in your own head."
She took out her notebook and gently swung it; Soul had all the time he needed to dodge just enough, the book's corner cuffing him upside the temple. Mock anger furrowed the Meister's brow, though her new smile did not waver, "Jerk."
"Hardass," he turned, starting down the side of the canal once more, "Come on. Let's get out of here, find somewhere we can actually sit down and figure out how we're gonna catch this guy."
"Gladly."
Maka fell into step alongside him, already flipping through her book and scribbling madly into the pages, mind afire with renewed purpose and passion.
The Weapon closed his eyes, not bothering to hide his smile as they made their way away from the crime scene, the sun dipping ever lower beneath the horizon…
"... so, wait, blood orange is just a metaphor in the human realm?" Willow gawked.
"Yeah," the human bobbed her head, "It's just a descriptor for the colour of the orange and its juice, it doesn't have actual blood in it."
"That is so weird," the green-eyed girl murmured, "I mean, Witches aren't exactly strangers to metaphor, but with Magic, a lot of what's figurative can very easily be made literal."
"I'm still stuck on the whole 'Witches have trees that feed on blood' thing."
"I thought humans had those pink cherry blossoms that fed on blood spilled in battlefields?"
"Sakura blossoms, yeah. Though I thought that was just Japanese folklore," she scratched her chin, thoughtful, "But then again, if you put food colouring in a flower's water, its petals will change colour when it absorbs the water, so maybe that's not as far-fetched as I thought," Luz crossed her arms, smiling, "Guess there's a kernel of truth in every story, huh?"
"Guess so," the Witch conceded, "It's still weird that you call them blood oranges when the real deal exists though."
"You have got to let me try one of those-"
The door opened, cutting Luz off before she could press the discussion forwards; in strode the boy from Willow's scroll, young, thin and vibrant. Even sitting down, the human could immediately tell he was shorter than her new friend; Willow had to have at least three or four inches on the boy, his face seeming distinctly young now that she was finally getting a good look at him. His uniform seemed almost oversized on him, his sleeves loose and slipping down over his wrists and onto his hands, his leggings bunching up around his ankles, though at the very least his cloak and skirt seemed properly fitted.
"Heya, Willow!" he waved, grinning, "What's up?"
"Hey Gus," Willow raised a hand, "It's, uh… it's been a day."
"Isn't every day learning from Hermonculus a day?" he asked, hopping onto a desk and swivelling to face her, legs kicking freely in the air, "I only have two classes with him each week. I can't imagine having him as my primary prof."
"More of a day than usual," the female Witch sighed, gesturing to Luz.
"¡Hola, amigo!" she greeted cheerfully, doing her best to unstick her fingers from each other as she gave an enthusiastic wave of her own.
For the first time, his eyes fixed on her; he blinked, looking her up and down before his face went pale, turning back to Willow. He pointed at the goo-coated child, voice hoarse with abject horror, "... Willow, you brought a Witch with Soul Protect into-!?"
"She's not using Soul Protect," the bespectacled girl interrupted, "She can't. She doesn't have any Magic of her own."
Again, he blinked, startled, then looked at Luz again; his eyes were wide, the grey of his irises shimmering in what little light filtered in through the drawn curtains. A long moment of silence passed before he went ramrod straight, the realisation striking him as he clamped both hands over his mouth, staring up at her with equal parts shock and fascination.
"... no way," he breathed, "No fudging way…"
The human bit down on a laugh, not wanting to ruin the moment for the boy before her as he slid off the desk, taking slow, hesitant steps towards her. He pulled out a handkerchief, and reached up, wiping away some of the goop that had stuck to her cheek; he was utterly transfixed, caught somewhere between shock and awe as he staggered back, as though he hadn't believed she was real, and had instead expected his hand to go straight through her, only to find that she was very much there.
"... th-this isn't a trick, is it?" he tried and failed to look to Willow, unable to tear his gaze away from Luz, "You don't have some other Illusionist conjuring this?"
The green thumbed Witch gave him a wry smile, "Gus, you're the only Illusionist I know, and we both know no one short of one of the teachers could trick you with an Illusion. She's as real as they come."
"... oh, Titan," he squeaked, again pressing both his hands to his mouth, "You're a human. An actual human."
"It's nice to meet you, Gus," Luz extended a hand, grinning, "I'm Luz."
The blue-clad boy seemed uncertain as to how to react, but slowly, he reached out, gingerly accepting Luz's hand in his own; he shook it, gently, then more animatedly, his barely contained excitement beginning to spill out as his shock began to fade into ecstatic glee.
"A human! I'm shaking hands with a human!" Gus seemed to be doing everything he could not to squeal, suddenly yanking Luz in with strength that absolutely did not fit his small frame, "Where did you come from!? How are you here!? Is it true that humans weld barbed wire to their teeth!? If so, why!?"
"Uuuh, well, I came here with Willow - I volunteered to be her Abomination for class," the brown-eyed teen managed, slowly pulling her hand out of the boy's now very impressive grip, "As for barbed wire on teeth… are you talking about braces? They're meant to fix your teeth by holding them in place as you grow up, like clamps, but they're mostly good for catching snacks - or at least that's what I've read."
"You clamp your teeth in place with wire to fix them?" the male witch gawked, "And I thought our dentists were gruesome, that sounds horrifying!"
"Okay, okay, we can talk about bizarre human things later," Willow interrupted. She looked at her friend, expression serious, "Gus? I need you to get Luz out of Hexside."
"What? Why?" Gus asked, abruptly confused.
"She's not safe here," the purple-clad Witch crossed her arms, "You know the rules about bringing in outside Witches, right? How do you think things are going to go if they find a human here?"
At this, Gus' mouth clamped shut; his eyes shifted up, staring into nowhere as he considered the possibilities. After a moment, his face went ashen, horror creeping into the entirety of his expression.
"... okay, yeah, that's bad. That-that's really bad," he managed, "But what do you want me to do? I can't just keep her invisible the whole afternoon!"
"I don't expect you to," Willow shook her head, "Do you think that you could keep her at your place until we… figure out what we're going to do?"
"What, like… after school?" the boy asked, "I mean, I'd love to - I could set up a spare closet and everything - but that doesn't solve what we're gonna do about her now."
The pale girl tapped her fingers together, suddenly contrite.
"... no," Gus said.
"Look, Gus," Willow started, "I know this is asking a lot, but-"
"Willow, I've got a test this afternoon," he protested, "I can't just play hooky! My dad would kill me!"
"Can't you fake being sick?" the bespectacled Witch asked.
"I mean, I guess I could try? But what if they just send me to the school Healers? Or worse, the student Healers?" those grey eyes clamped shut as he shuddered, "I don't wanna have to have a situation like last time, where a Healer had to re-break my arm because a student set it wrong!"
"Uuuuuh, guys?" Luz raised her hand, getting their attention and reminding them of her presence; she smiled, trying to reassure them both, "I already got a place to stay with my teacher; if you could just get me back to the woods, I could just make my way back from there. There's no need for a whole school day to be missed on my account."
Rather than seeming at all soothed, Willow and Gus shared a silent glance; a whole conversation seemed to silently pass between them, their expressions morphing from a determined pleading and a panicked refusal to a shared concern as they once again turned their gazes upon the human.
"... what?" she asked, "Did I say something wrong?"
"Well…" the Illusionist folded his hands, chewing at his lip as if debating where to start, "... it's just… you called this person a teacher?"
"... yyyeeeeaaaaah," the tanned teen ventured, furrowing her brow, "Why?"
"Luz, are you absolutely sure that this teacher of yours is trustworthy?" the Abomination Witch pressed.
"... well…" she raised a hand, levelling it back and forth, "That depends very much on what you're trusting Eda to do. But, she's kept me safe so far."
"Eda?" Gus frowned, tone dubious.
"It's just," Willow started before the blue-clad boy could inquire further, gesticulating as she tried to find the words, "Witches don't usually-… humans can't-"
"They're in here."
As the new voice made itself known, Luz felt her blood freeze in her veins; Willow and Gus had both gone completely still, cold shock and dawning horror plain in their faces and their sudden hunched postures. Slowly, they looked towards the door at the front of the room; a shadow was now being cast through the window, the innocuous flickering now distinctly ominous after the urgent cadence of that all too familiar tone.
"I do hope you're genuine about this, Miss Blight," a second voice, refined but grave, echoed, "This is a very serious accusation."
"Principal Bump, you know I wouldn't make an accusation like this unless I was absolutely sure."
"Yes, but what you're suggesting-"
"... Bump," Willow breathed as the two voices went back and forth between each other, "She went straight to Bump…"
"Bump?" the goo-coated child asked.
"... the Principal…" Gus squeaked, "We're dead. We're dead…"
She nearly choked on air as she tried to swallow, her throat finding her dry mouth entirely empty; as the voices continued their argument, their words lost to Luz's rising heartbeat, her gaze whipped about the room, looking for something, some way of escaping…
Her eyes landed on Willow's cauldron.
"... Willow," she started, "Make me your Abomination again."
She blinked, "What?"
"Hurry!" Luz urged, rapidly waving her hands, "If I can maintain the act, maybe we can still get out of this!"
"... I don't have any better ideas," the boy murmured, "Willow?"
The purple clad Witch seemed ashen, even with her already pale complexion; she shook, hands clammy as she clutched the edge of one of the desks, the other barely able to adjust her glasses. She gasped for breath, clearly struggling to regain her focus, her eyes trying and failing to fix on the human…
Finally, she breathed, deep, repeating the motion from earlier, the fingers of her hand extending one at a time on the inward breath; on the outward breath, they curled, one by one, until they were clenched in a gentle fist. Slowly, her shaking began to settle as she repeated the motion, and the Latina finally realised what exactly the movement was - a countdown, to assist with what was very clearly a breathing exercise.
On the third repetition, Willow finally seemed to have regained her composure, brows furrowed and lips curled downwards in determination.
"... okay…" the bespectacled girl said, "We can at least try."
The Abomination goo flowed up and out of the cauldron once more; it wrapped around Luz, the sensation akin to sinking her feet into wet clay as the purple flooded across her skin. Under different circumstances, had the Witch been more gentle, the sensation would have been pleasant - but as it stood, Willow had no choice but to rush, the sludge roughly manhandling the Latina as it spread, leaving her certain she would find bruises later when she had to change into her pyjamas. She had to firmly clamp her lids and lips shut to keep any of it from getting into her eyes or mouth this time, and even then she still felt it jam up her nose, her heart leaping into her throat as she realised she couldn't breathe, before it pulled back, just enough to let her see and breathe.
"Sorry," Willow whispered, just before the door opened.
The first figure to enter was at least familiar, the same light purple sleeves stopping just short of her hands as she strode in, mint ponytail whipping with the motion of her head and brow furrowed. Amity let out a slight huff as her golden eyes slipped from figure to figure, first landing on Willow, and only briefly glancing at Gus before finally fixing on the false Abomination, forcing Luz to again swallow under the intensity of her glare.
The other was entirely strange to the Latina; somewhat hunched under his long black robes, the man's skin was of a pale clamour, not unakin to Eda's bone white complexion, though this was a mildly healthier tan akin to parchment. While his face bore the wrinkles of loose skin brought by the onset of age, on his hands it seemed stretched thin, with barely any muscle present in his palms or his long fingers, emphasising the line and curve of every bone and tendon, his long nails giving them a distinctly talon-like visage. His long sleeves were edged with gold, along with the collar and shoulders that had been set atop his robes, a long blue stole hanging from around his neck, each end bearing the same gold triangle that had been present on the uniforms of the guards in the Conformatorium - which set Luz on her guard more than anything else about him, even more than the small, hunched figure on his back, its purple-red skin leathery, its oversized mouth having swallowed half his head like a demented ski mask that was missing its bottom half, its fangs peeking out overtop his cheeks. His green eyes gave a slow blink as he surveyed the room, his lips curling down, a single exposed tooth enhancing the expression of cautious curiosity.
"Miss Park," he acknowledged, nodding, "Mister Porter."
"P-Principal Bump!" Gus immediately leapt to life, anxiously wringing his hands like a desperate, jittery, overly cheerful salesman, "W-What a surprise!"
"What're you doing here?" Willow asked, "Is there something wrong?"
"That really depends," the elderly man said gingerly, stepping forwards, "What were you doing in here? Neither of you are in the Potions Track, and lunch only started a few minutes ago."
"W-Well…"
The girl stammered; her eyes thankfully hidden behind the glare of her glasses, but her already shaky confidence was faltering. She clasped her hands together, thumbs twiddling in her lap…
"We just wanted to be left alone," the blue-clad Witch interrupted, "You know how it can get during lunch; sometimes it's easier to just slip into a classroom away from all the noise, ya know?"
"I see," Bump said dryly, idly drumming his fingertips against each other as his eyes drifted between the two Witches, clearly picking up on every single nervous movement, every shift and shudder acting as an admission of guilt…
But the Principal wasn't who had Luz's attention anymore.
Since entering the room, Amity had not looked away from her for so much as an instant. The bully was all but unblinking, her uncanny glare gleaming gold, as though trying to channel sunlight itself in hopes of revealing the truth. She stayed only a couple steps behind the elderly Witch as he approached, a single black nail tapping against her arm, very clearly fighting the urge to wrap her fingers around something and squeeze…
"I also wanted to see Willow's Abomination," Gus chuckled nervously, maintaining the speed of his words in hopes of keeping the Principal distracted, "I-It's not very often she gets a perfect score, so, I wanted to see what impressed Prof Hermonculus so much."
"Ah, yes, the Abomination," At this, Bump's eyes landed on Luz once more, eyes narrowing slightly, "I've heard quite a bit about this from Miss Blight. Might I take a moment to examine it, Miss Park?"
"I, uh," she started, stopped, swallowed, "I-I don't know how much longer I can maintain it for… I've been trying to keep it up all morning, so… I was hoping I could put it away…?"
"It won't take but a moment," he assured, gesturing to the humanoid cloak of sludge, "If this is merely a misunderstanding, then it will be simple enough to clear. Now, if you would?"
What little colour had remained in Willow's face had drained away to nothing, leaving her on the verge of stark white. Slowly, she turned to Luz, swallowing before issuing her command, "Abomination, lie."
It was Luz's turn to feel herself go cold, even colder than before as her heart sank into the pit of her stomach; she hadn't been expecting a request to just make up lies on the spot, not when it was anyone's guess what lies would even translate from the human realm to what a Witch might immediately recognize…
Nonetheless, she endeavoured, deliberately slurring her speech as much as possible while still keeping it coherent, praying what she was saying wouldn't be written off as total nonsense, "... humans and… Witches… are… the same species!... a cat… would not… eat you… if it got… the chance!... vaccines… cause… autism?..."
The Latina trailed off, the visible panic on Willow's face causing her to slow to a complete silence; Amity's lips twisted even further, her eyes glimmering with newfound certainty and malice, and for the first time, a note of mild humour entered Bump's voice, even as it remained low and grim.
"How odd," he noted, "for an Abomination to get the command wrong. Doesn't it understand that you mean lie down, Miss Park?"
The words echoed in the tanned teen's ears, ice flooding her veins as the bespectacled Witch worked her jaw, clearly struggling to find some sort of excuse. Panic filled her green eyes once more, her breaths harsh and fast as she struggled to speak-
Only for Amity to step into Luz's field of vision, forcing her to look up.
Luz was used to being the tall one in her class; she'd always been gangly for her age, with a long torso and longer limbs, but at the same time ending up thin - not quite twiggy, but certainly not broad in any sense of the word. It was something Papi claimed she got from his side of the family. Before, her confidence had been maintained, even when Amity had gotten in her face; even when the bully had reached out to grip her chin, the teen hadn't wavered, doing her best to bite her tongue and follow Willow's lead as best she could.
But now, seeing the bully up close, the Latina felt… small; now that she was being forced to pay closer attention, now that there was realistically nothing she could do, Amity was more imposing than Luz had initially assumed. The mint-haired Witch proved not only to be taller than the human by several inches, but also broader in the hips and shoulders, her long sleeves emphasising lithe, athletic muscle that made the girl's mouth go dry as the Blight's arms uncrossed, her fingers flexing like a cat's paw when it was ready to pounce, her furrowed brow and cold glare only adding to the tanned teen's sensation of abrupt, helpless fear.
Before the brown-haired girl could step away, the prodigy had reached out, her black fingernails hooking into the sludge; they broke entirely through the layers of purple coating Luz's face, making her wince as they scraped her skin with enough force that the human was left briefly wondering if she was now bleeding from the scratches that now stung her cheek. A brief flash of purple filled her eyes, making her flinch, accompanied by a sickening squelch as the entirety of the coating was peeled and ripped away from her face like a mask, the humid, but oddly cold air on her skin making her gasp for breath…
And Amity's only response was to snort, jaw set and eyes shining with equal parts vindication and outrage.
"I knew it," she hissed, "I knew it!"
Finally, panic began to pound through the tanned teen's body in time with her heartbeat, her mind going blank, every muscle in her body locked firmly in place even as the failed Abomination sloughed off her body all at once. Her breaths sounded ragged, but she failed to feel any air entering her lungs-
"Luz, run!"
Willow's scream rang in her ears, a spark to gunpowder that finally propelled Luz forwards. She forced her eyes to break from those rings of bright gold, trying to at once dash past and reach for her friend-
But she didn't make it three steps before being roughly yanked back by the hood, the grip suddenly encircling her wrist so tightly she felt her bones creak from the pressure even before her right arm was twisted and forced up the centre of her back, Luz's own fingers tracing the outline of her spine.
She cried out, trying to twist out of Amity's grasp, but the prodigy held fast, her grip far, far too strong for the human to simply slip out of - her hands had a superhuman might to them, firmly keeping the brown haired girl in place with no effort despite her squirming. Even trying to drive the back of her skull into the Witch's face proved fruitless, as Amity simply moved her free hand up from the human's hood to her head, black nails scraping her scalp as those pale fingers tightened around a fistful of hair, using it as a short, painful leash. The goo-clad girl was roughly shoved down onto one of the desks, bent over at the waist with her chest and face pressed firmly against the smooth wood.
Even still, she struggled.
"Let go!" Luz squeezed her eyes shut, still trying to twist her wrist back out of the Witch's grip, "You're crushing my arm!"
"Calm down," Amity warned, words calm, but harsh, "I don't want to hurt you, but I can tell just from holding you that you can't use your Soul Wavelength. It won't take any effort on my part to break your arm, and I will do it if you don't obey."
To emphasise her point, the mint-haired Witch squeezed; Luz tried and failed to bite down on a screech before her captor's hand relaxed, just enough for the sharp pain to dull into a throbbing ache, though Amity's grip was still far too tight - she could already feel the bruise starting to form on her arm, wincing as her heartbeat carried one pulse of pain after another from the tender flesh.
"... a human on the Boiling Isles," Bump sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "It seems you were correct, Miss Blight," he shot a glare down towards the bespectacled Witch, "Really, Miss Park, just what were you thinking?"
"Hey, whoa," Luz raised her head and pulled herself towards the Principal as best she could, starting, "This was all my idea, I'm the one who-AGH!" again, pain lanced up her arm, cutting off her words with a yelp before subsiding. She shot a glare back over her shoulder, trying to push back against the hand in her hair to look Amity in the eye, "Will you stop that-OW!"
"Stop acting up, and I won't have to," Amity said, pushing the human back down against the desk, only relaxing her grip when Luz had settled.
The elderly Witch hadn't even seemed to have heard the Latina; he kept his gaze fixed very firmly on Willow, whose eyes were now cast to the floor, half lidded. Her whole posture was slumped, defeated, lips pursed and hands limp at her sides, all of her former fight now gone.
"... don't hurt her," Willow's eyes rose to meet the Principal's as she began to plead, growing more animated with every word, "Please, don't hurt her! This is my fault. I'm the one who cheated, I'm the one who brought her here! I-I found her out in the woods, on my way to school, I- I couldn't just leave her out there to wander around all by herself!"
"... you should have brought the human to me from the start, Willow," the old man's voice had softened a touch, though it still bore the scolding of a disappointed mentor, "As it is, discussing this will have to wait; right now, dealing with the human is more important than determining responsibility or meting out any sort of punishment. I need you all to accompany me to my office - you included, Mister Porter," his sharp, viridian eyes gleamed with warning, "You're a witness that a human is in the Boiling Isles."
Gus swallowed, his grey eyes darting between each figure in the room before finally fixing on Luz, "... what's gonna happen to her?"
"The human will be handed over to the Emperor's Coven - any human without an owner is to be given to the proper authorities and transferred to the Cavitol immediately," the old man folded his hands behind his back, striding forwards, "The presence of humans in the Isles, even one child, is not to be taken lightly - the Emperor will want to know one is here, and learn how it arrived."
"'It?' 'Owner!?'" Luz shouted, appalled, "I am not an 'it!'"
Again, she went ignored, the Principal instead gesturing for his students to follow, "Come along. I can't leave any of you unattended until this matter is properly dealt with."
Luz opened her mouth to protest, only to find herself hauled back up to a standing position, Amity half guiding, half driving her forwards like an animal on a harness. Silently, listlessly, Willow and Gus fell into step behind alongside them, their eyes low even as the Principal idly conjured a flash of blue light.
The human blinked; all of a sudden, she couldn't see her free arm. Looking down, she couldn't even see her legs, as though the entirety of her had simply ceased to exist, despite the fact that she could still feel her feet on the ground; she craned her neck as far as Amity's grip would allow, only to find that the girl seemed to have her hands at her sides. She opened her mouth to speak, only to find that she couldn't make a sound.
Then she found her head dragged right back into a forward position, the grip in her hair and on her arm still as present as it was painful.
"It's an Illusion spell," Amity informed, tone quiet and clinical, "All it's done is make you invisible and unable to make any noise. It's there to keep you from causing a panic. Don't try anything, and I promise that you won't get hurt - a Blight always keeps her word."
Again, the Latina tried, and failed, to speak, instead having to settle for petulantly sticking out her tongue before Bump opened the door, and they all entered the hall.
Despite all the time they had spent in the dark, they still didn't know how to deal with it.
They huddled in the middle of the room, spindly arms hugging their legs to their chest, only sure that their eyes were open because of the sting of the musty air. No light filtered in through the blinds, as they had been covered with a sheet that brought the already stifling heat to a sear. No noise rose from the vents, or managed to filter in from outside, neither from the door nor the firmly shuttered window - even Ragnarok was strangely silent from where he splayed across the room's only bed, refusing to allow them to even touch it and forcing them to instead lay on the floor as usual.
In truth, they didn't know how to deal with any of it. The heat was suffocating, making it difficult to breathe; there was nothing to hear; and they couldn't even see their own hands in this complete and utter darkness.
They didn't know how to deal with the heat, the sweat plastering their dress to their body. They didn't know how to deal with the silence, though they didn't dare break it.
They didn't know how to deal with the dark, despite its familiarity.
They didn't even know how to deal with the fact that Ragnarok was leaving them alone. The Demon Sword lay almost completely motionless, the only movement he had caused by the beating of their shared heart, a physical constant rather than a deliberate motion.
They knew he was awake. If Ragnarok had fallen asleep, he'd have retreated into their body by now, letting them crawl to the bed in search of some vestige of physical comfort.
Instead, he silently laid on his back, staring into the empty black, just as they were.
They weren't sure how long it had been. Lady Medusa had never allowed them to have a clock; the only time they ever saw the sun was on the rare occasions she had let them outside. The seconds bled into each other, and they would swiftly lose count; minutes simultaneously dragged on and slipped past before they could realise it, becoming indiscernible from moments or hours - and there was never any way to tell when one day ended and another began. They were always home, by the time the sun ever rose or fell.
Time was something Lady Medusa kept track of, something she tracked with watches and hourglasses and calendars.
They didn't know how to deal with time.
They didn't even know if they'd gotten any sleep.
They felt exhausted, but that indicated nothing. They were always exhausted, even on the rare occasions Ragnarok didn't wake them up.
They clutched themselves tighter, in hopes that they would drift off into the soundless abyss of a dreamless slumber…
Only for the door to click, and then slowly creak open.
Light streamed in from the hall, flickering as the old wood clicked with each of the visitor's steps; only her silhouette was visible against the harsh, yellowing glare, but it was familiar enough for them to know who it was.
"Crona."
The name, the singular word from Lady Medusa was a command all on its own, one they did their best to obey as they groggily got to their feet, trying not to stagger as they stepped forwards.
She reached out, cupping their chin with a firm grip; her slit irises dilated slightly as she twisted their face one way, then the other. She was utterly neutral, entirely clinical in her inspection of Crona's face.
They knew better than to cry or to shout as her nails dug into their skin, as sharp as they were slender. They knew better than to try to shrink away or hide from that withering gaze.
All they could do was wait until she was finished.
"... there are still shadows under your eyes," she noted, "Have you gotten any sleep whatsoever?"
"I-I don't know, Lady Medusa," they answered honestly, "I can't tell when I'm asleep or when I'm awake in here…"
The Witch's expression didn't change, pressing a hand to the pink haired child's forehead; a brief green glow filled their vision before subsiding, followed by Lady Medusa clicking her teeth.
"Not even an hour's worth of sleep," she said, pulling her hands away and leaving Crona to rub ruefully at their jaw, "Perhaps I should have had you medicated after all."
"... the sleep medicine makes me sick," they murmured, "I wanna lie down and throw up and I get all clumsy and I don't know how to deal with it…"
Lady Medusa didn't answer this time; instead, she turned away, stepping back into the hall, "Come along, Crona. The sun is almost down. You'll just have to do the experiment as you are."
Wordlessly, Crona stepped forwards. Behind them, Ragnarok idly rose from the bed, his hulking form shrinking down and slipping into Crona's back without a word - but not without a jab, idly smacking the swaddled preteen in the back of the head with a quiet, malicious chuckle.
As usual, their cry went unnoticed by the Witch, who didn't slow in the slightest.
Crona had to clumsily rush down the stairs to keep up, the harsh glare of the lights and the sun from beyond the windows blinding them, making them wince until their stinging eyes had finally adjusted. Before long, they were at the building's front doors, before Lady Medusa turned to them again.
Again, she placed her hand to their forehead.
Again, they felt their eyes roll into the back of their head as the image was burned into their mind.
The buildings as they zipped past, starting from the apartments they were in and winding across roads and bridges into the city.
The stone architecture of their target.
The people within.
The information was wordless, but clear - but no less painful for it as Lady Medusa pulled her hand away, leaving Crona struggling to maintain their balance where they stood, clutching at their now aching head as they tried to make sense of it all.
"... b-but it's so far away," they whined, "It'll take me so long to walk there…"
"Then you'd best get walking," she stated, reaching for the door handle, "I will be monitoring your progress, Crona. Don't disappoint me - and feed as much as you need to."
With that, she opened the door, letting the evening air rush in; the child only had a moment to shudder before the Witch's eyes levelled on them again, cold and uncaring, "Go."
They didn't make any noise of affirmation.
They didn't even nod.
All they could do was stand silent for a moment that seemed all too long before shuffling out into the street, rubbing their hands against their arms in an attempt to maintain some illusion of warmth.
They didn't know where they were, not really. All they had was a rough idea of where to go, what corners to turn at, what paths to follow - that wasn't the same thing.
But that was one of the few things they could deal with.
And at the very least, they knew why they were here.
They would kill. They would feed. They would do whatever they wanted until the night was through, as long as they did what Lady Medusa said.
As long as they became a Kishin.
Silently, they entered the maze of lights and laughter, of paths and people.
Man, these can take a while sometimes.
I'm gonna try to get the next two chapters out soon, guys. But please keep in mind school is starting for me again soon and that's going to start eating more of my time very soon. But the next couple chapters, this one included, I think are gonna be a three parter, possibly four parts, depending on how things go with Hunter and Crona. So, thank you in advance for your patience - I'll try not to keep you all waiting for too long.
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 third chapter of Owls and Souls, Witches and Resonance!