Eda sighed, pacing the dungeon cell she was currently occupying, looking for an escape for what felt like the thousandth time, only to find none, no loose bricks, no bobby pins, and no guards around her to trick into letting her out. Hell, even the other people in the cells around her didn't want to help her out.
When she had been reawoken, her head had been reattached to her body and she was in a completely Anti-magic area. As in, the walls of the cell were specifically made to contain Wild Witchs such as herself. She was also chained to the floor. She had no idea where King or Owlbert was, she thought of them constantly, of course.
"Ugh! How could I have not seen this set up from a mile away!" Eda groaned, beating herself up for not seeing such an obvious trap that was laid out and she jumped into it headfirst! Eda sighed and sat down on the wooden bed and rested her head in her hands, and simply waited. Hoping that the curse would take her before that... That horrible Petrification Machine would.
Or worse...
She'd be forced to join the Emperor's Coven...
Maybe this was Lilith's plan the entire time? Use the kid to lure Eda in close and capture her...?
"Poor kid... She must've been so scared to be in that situation..." She remembered seeing Luz in tears.
Eda decided that she should most likely rest, it was going to be a while before Lilith came to get her...
It was now the next day.
Luz had spent most of the night last night, feeling guilty, guilty enough to bring tears to her eyes.
"I barely knew the witch!" She tried to reason with herself, "So, WHY, do I feel so bad for getting her caught?!" She asked herself, looking herself in the large, round mirror in her room. Her reflection seemed to stare back at her... and then it did.
"It's cause you got her thrown into jail for being weird and herself, and for using magic the way she wanted to," Her reflection said back to her, "and she'll probably be executed in a few hours once dear old Dad passes his most obvious judgment. We know how much he hates Wild Witches, after all." It added, laughing at Luz. The copy of her had yellow-tinted eyes and pointed ears, other than that, it was a perfect copy of her. "She probably thinks you set her up, too, just a horrible person today, aren't you?" It added, beginning to laugh loudly.
"Shut... Up..." Luz said, clenching her fist tightly.
"Oh? Is the almighty Princess getting angry?" The reflection asked, mocking her, "Are you gonna send me away to be turned to stone like you did the Owl Lady?" The Reflections laugh echoed in her head.
She wasn't having it, anymore.
Luz now had tears flowing down her cheeks. "I SAID SHUT! UP!" Luz screamed at the mirror, there was a sudden pulse of magic that emitted from her chest, coating the mirror in a golden aura before the creepy-looking Luz fizzled out of existence.
Luz panted as she looked at her now normal reflection, she began wiping the tears from her eyes.
...
She started to head towards her door. "I have to help, she's in there because of me, I have to get her out, she-" The door suddenly opened up and Belos was standing there. He surprised her.
"Gah! Dad!" She screamed, jumping back and tripping over a footstool.
"Luz, hun?" He asked, looking down at his daughter, levitating her back to her feet. "I sensed a rather powerful surge of magic come from here so I altered course to here, are you alright?" He asked her.
"H- Hi Dad!" She said, standing straight and trying to act like she wasn't about to break a criminal out of the dungeon. "Magic? No magic here, I still can't even cast a light spell, yet..." She said softly, crossing her arms and holding herself.
Belos inspected his daughter, he could see the faint tear streaks on her cheeks and the red, tired eyes she had, like she spent most of the night crying and just got finished crying a few moments ago.
"Daughter, what is wrong?" He asked, walking deeper into the room. "What is troubling you to tears? Did something else happen during the fiasco with the Owl Lady?" He asked, kneeling in front of her. "I promise if she so much as touched a hair on your head, I'll have eating her own stoo-"
"DAD!" She stopped her, not wanting to hear what was probably going to be the worst thing she's ever heard described to her. "She didn't hurt me or anything... I- actually want to ask you something." She said, poking her fingers together nervously.
"Oh... Then what would you ask of me?" He asked.
"Can... No, you would say no..." She shook her head.
"Why would I say no, if I don't even know what you are going to ask?"
"Cause you're the Emperor..." Luz looked down at her feet.
Belos sighed and reached up, taking off his mask before making it float onto her bed. "Alright Luz, how about this. When this mask is off your Dad, Alexander is here. Not Emperor Belos. Just your Dad, who just happens to also be the Emperor. Now, talk to me, I want to make you happy, my Little light." He said, placing a comforting hand on her head, "Trust me."
Luz held his large hand and bit her lip before looking into Alexander's eyes.
"I... I think you shouldn't petrify Eda!" Luz blurted out quickly.
Alexander's eyes widened at the thought. "B- but, did she not kidnap you and force you into helping her?"
"No, I went with her willingly! She never did anything bad, I went along with her to get the paper crown back from Warden Wrath for King! That little demon! She taught me to be loyal to my friends, and she's overall an actual good person who just wants to practice all kinds of magic! She shouldn't be petrified for being Wild and weird!" Luz said as she wiped stray tears from forming. "I just... I guess I just feel really guilty that I got her caught while she was only trying to help a friend... She probably thinks I set her up, too."
Alexander looked down at his daughter before sighing and standing up, his mask floated back to his hand.
"You've given me a lot to think of, dear daughter of mine." He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "I'll take your words into my judgment, get some rest, and-" He paused seeing the mirror in her room.
"What is this doing here?" Alexander asked as he put his mask back on and walked over to the mirror, looking at his reflection for a moment.
"Why? It's just a mirror, isn't it?" Luz asked, standing next to him.
"No, it is not." He said as he covered the mirror with a cloth he materialized from the air. "It's a relic from the savage ages, it torments its victims by reflecting the person's bad thoughts... The ones that seem to bring people to insanity." He said as the round mirror then suddenly floated into the air next to him. "You didn't look into it did you?" He asked her.
"N-Nope... Not at all, didn't even notice it..." Luz answered, crossing her arms behind her back and avoiding his eyes.
"I'm taking this back to my study. Get some rest, I'll be calling a meeting for The Owl Lady in an Hour."
With that, Alexander lifted his mask back onto his face and he was once again, Emperor Belos. He walked out of Luz's room, taking the mirror with him.
She stared at the spot where the mirror was for only a second. "I'm probably fine..." She said before laying down in bed and closing her eyes. "I hope Dad considers letting her go..."
-Y- A few hours later -Y-
Lilith walked forward, leading her sister to the throne room. She didn't have much to say to her, Eda was probably angry as all hell, taking a glance at Eda, she saw that the Wild Witch was looking down at the ground.
"Sister-"
"I don't want to hear it, Lily."
"Edalyn, please you must understand, Lord Belos can heal your curse! All you have to do is join the Coven!" Lilith stopped walking, Eda's chains clinking to a stop.
"Lilith, did you let all that propaganda you write get to your head? Belos doesn't want to help me, he wants to control me! And can I just say, using his own daughter to get to me was pretty low-handed, even for you. The poor girl was in tears..." Eda said before walking past Lilith, "Let's get this over with, I'd rather be stone than finish this conversation..."
Lilith bit her lip and sighed, deciding to stay silent, and walked forward, leading them to the throne room.
Belos was sitting on his throne once again, Luz at his right and Camila at his left. Camila being here for she was the Empress, Luz being here cause she wanted to see if she could defend Eda and make up for her mistakes.
"Presenting-" Kikimora announced as Lilith walked in with Eda in tow. "The Owl-Lady of the Boiling Isles! Wanted for refusing to join a coven, practicing wild magic, and avoiding arrest, treason, theft, and being in possession of several ounces of Giggle Leaf." He shouted as Lilith brought her in through the large double doors.
"I told you that stuff wasn't mine!" Eda shouted as Lilith pushed her forward in front of the Emperor.
Eda looked around the room, wondering if she could break out of here, then realized that she wouldn't be able to do much against the Emperor and her sister in the same room... Without her staff no less. 'I'll have to be patient for now.'
Lilith cast a spell circle that brought Edalyn to her knees.
Belos then stood up and descended the steps from his throne in front of the kneeling witch.
"Edalyn Clawthorne... You are a special case, certainly a powerful witch indeed, you have caused much trouble for my Coven in the past, always eluding capture and even rigging a guard's uniform to explode with a stink bomb inside of the throne room..." He said the last one with a bit of annoyance...
Eda snorted at that one. "Ha! That one was funny! Should've seen the look on your faces! Do you even have a face under that mask of yours? I'm still convinced that you're actually a Lich under that mask," she said with a laugh.
Belos ignored her. "Usually, I would simply turn you to stone and call it a day... but my daughter recalls to me a different course of events than what was told to me, by Lilith."
Lilith's eyes widened at his words. "L- Lord Belos! What do you mean?"
"Don't interrupt me, Lilith," He said, giving her a cold look with glowing blue eyes. She receded from his glare.
"Nevertheless, my daughter instructs me that you did not mean her any harm and that she actually went along with you on her own free will." He snapped his fingers and she once again rose to her feet and her shackles disappeared. "So the charges of treason are forgiven, but that does not excuse you of being a wild witch."
He turned and walked back to his throne.
"Although, once again, my daughter spoke of your character and how you simply wish to live a free life. Lilith also informs of your curse, how it slowly takes your mind with each passing day. While thinking of your condition, I thought there would only be one reasonable course of action..."
He lifted his staff and tapped it against the ground. A small wave of magic echoed and King and her staff appeared in front of her.
"You will be let go, on the one condition that you can best Lilith in a Witch's Duel, if you win the duel, you can be let go for another day. If you lose, you will be forced to join my Coven, where your curse will be healed and you will serve the Titan's Will. Is that understood?" He asked.
Eda looked at her staff laying on the ground, when King had appeared, he ran and hid in her hair almost instantly.
"I have a few conditions of my own and questions... before I accept..." She asked as she grabbed her staff.
"Go ahead..." He said, silently surprised that Eda even had the nerve to ask.
"Well, first," She began, she pointed at Luz, "Did you set me up, Kid?"
Luz was surprised to be called out from her side of the throne. She stepped forward, shaking her head. "N- No! Of course not! I didn't even know Lilith was on my tail at the Conformatorium!" She defended herself.
"So, it was just a coincidence... Alright, that leads to my second question... How did you end up in my mitts, kid?" Eda asked, crossing her arms.
"O- Oh, uhm.." Luz laughed and scratched her neck nervously, "I- It's cause I was bored of Lilith's lesson and wandered into the marketplace..."
"HA!" Eda laughed. "Lily you're teaching was so boring it caused a national emergency!" She said, beginning to full-on cackle. "You never were a good tutor..." She said, wiping tears away.
"Oh, like you could do better than me! You were always second best, anyway!" Lilith shot back, her cheeks flushed in embarrassment.
"Oh, I know I can do better than you!" She placed her hand on her hips. She then turned around to face Belos. "Which leads me to my two conditions, heal my curse if I win and I also want the right to teach the kid how to use magic!" She announced.
"What?" Luz asked.
"What?" Lilith asked.
"What?" King asked.
"What?" Belos asked, the most confused out of everyone in the throne room. "You've known her for less than two hours."
"And in those two hours, I sensed how much magical potential she has inside of her." She said crossing her arms. "I want to be the one who helps her cultivate that, also to stick it to my sister, again, on how bad of a teacher she actually is."
"You are NOT better than me." Lilith defended herself.
"Am too!" Eda crossed her arms and leaned against her staff.
"Are not!"
It quickly devolved to preschool bickering, shouting at each other how they were better than the other, even hair pulling.
Belos sighed, sitting on his throne, rubbing his temple. "I don't have to listen to this, I could just petrify them both..." Camila placed her hand on his shoulder and squeezed it. He sighed before standing and tapping his staff against the floor. The two sisters suddenly were coated in his red Aura, unique to the Emperor's Magic, before they floated off the ground, going quiet.
"Your sibling bickering is annoying, Clawthornes..." He looked at her and then back at his daughter, she was smiling and nodding, giving him the thumbs up. "Your terms are accepted... If you win the witch's duel, your terms will be met. If you lose, you will be forced to join my Coven. Understood?" He said, dropping them back to the ground.
"I accept the terms of the Duel." She said, cracking her knuckles, "I never lost a fight to my sister, isn't that right, Lily?" She said, facing her sister. "And don't you forget how you got into the Emperor's coven, all me, baby!" She said with a laugh.
Lilith tsked, feeling a twinge of guilt, remembering the past... How she cursed her sister to secure her entry into this coven, and how she was now going to duel her sister, for real this time, so that she would be forced to join the coven...
-Y- Elsewhere -Y-
Belos brought the two contending Witch's to a secret arena underneath the castle, it was pretty wide and spacious, perfect to fight in.
"Dear, why do you have an entire arena under the castle?" Camila asked first, they were seated in the stands, specifically the Emperor's booth.
Belos cleared his throat, not wanting to answer that question.
"In my more early days as Emperor, I held countless duels. Mainly to the death with Wild Witches who made attempts on my life, because I found it amusing..." He said, not looking at the stare his Empress was giving him, he could already feel it, burning a judgemental hole into the back of his skull.
Luz was cheering Eda on, wanting her to win. "Go, Eda!" She shouted, "No offense Lilith!" She added.
King was cheering Eda on as well, he had Owl Lady merch on, waving tiny flags with Eda's face on it. Where had he gotten it? Who knows. "Come on Eda! Win this fight so we could go home and eat! I'm starving!"
"Don't worry, King! I'll handle this quickly! I've never lost..." Eda cracked her knuckles as she looked at her staff. "Ready, Owlbert?" She asked. The Palismin gave a determined hoot as Eda got into a battle stance, seeing Lilith also take point on the other side of the arena.
Belos stood up, clearing his throat.
"Begin!" He shouted, a bell dinging from seemingly nowhere.
Eda made the first move, slamming her staff into the ground, causing the arena floor to shake and crack before platforms of all sizes began to rise from the ground, attempting to throw Lilith off her feet, the ever-impressive Owl Lady then dashed forward, her yellow magic buzzing around her as she moved across the field, causing the entire arena to rumble.
Lilith stumbled but she quickly found her footing, spinning her staff to create a bubble shield around her as Eda slammed into her.
"Come on Lily, fight me!" Eda said with a smile, pressing the shield, causing it to crack under the pressure. "I know the leader of the Emperor's Coven has got some more fight in her!" Lilith suddenly smiled and winked, snapping her fingers and making the shield extrude spikes, Eda was quick to dodge left and jump away. "Hope you realize this isn't a death battle," Eda asked as she jumped on a high platform away from her. Eda then felt something... wrong... She looked down at the gem on her chest, seeing that it was turning dark.
'Crud, I didn't drink any elixir last night!' She thought, grabbing onto her chest gem for a moment. 'Gotta end this quickly...' She said, before spinning her staff, making a circle before using her hands to extend it to huge proportions, a fireball forming from her circle. "Well, Lily, I need to end this fast, so do me a favor and just lose, yeah?" Eda said as Lilith took point, getting into a defensive stance.
"Don't forget Sister, I am more than your equal," Lilith said as she drew a spell circle of her own, a giant hand made of ice forming behind her.
Eda narrowed her eyes as she threw the giant fireball. Lilith extended her arm forward, making the ice hand rush forward and catch the fireball. The two elements clashed, pushing against each other with such force, it sent a shockwave throughout the arena.
"Oh jeez!" Luz shouted, being caught off guard by the shockwave and falling back as King laughed at her.
The two elements then hissed at the middle, the ice being melted by the fireball and the fireball disappearing into nothing. It had created a thick cloud of steam that coated the arena floor. There were flashes of colors in the fog, and elements flying past it. Most notably were the sounds of staves clacking against the other, this went on for several minutes. Until it became silent.
"W- What's happening?!" Luz asked.
"Yeah!" King added, equally annoyed. "This dumb fog is covering everything!"
"Enough of this," Belos said, seeming to share in their annoyance, waving his hand and casting a wind to blow away the obscuring steam. The wind picked up the steam, blowing it away to reveal, both sisters, on the ground. They both looked equally out of energy, breath, and magic. There were feathers scattered around the Arena? Luz couldn't help but also notice that both sisters were smiling like they were laughing about something.
Eda was first to stand up. "Oh sister of mine, it really has come full circle." She said, standing up before pointing her staff at Lilith's chin. "You lost..."
Lilith got to her feet, leaning against her staff for support.
"I, Lilith Clawthorne, concede this Witches Duel..."
Eda smiled before crouching and helping her sister to her feet and laughed. "Now, Lord Belos, you have a nurse around these parts?" He nodded. "Lead the way then, Lily." Lilith smiled and started to bring them to the castle physician.
"Wait for me!" King shouted, hopping onto the arena and catching up to Eda.
The audience was mystified at what happened.
"I mean, I'm happy she won but I'm mad that I didn't get to see any of that!" Luz said, waving her arms.
"Me too, Mija," Camila said with a laugh. "Now that we've had our fun... Let's fix that poor excuse of a haircut," Camila said, referring to Luz's hair, it was still chopped up and uneven from Warden Wrath's attack. With that, Camila dragged Luz away.
"How interesting..." Belos said, stroking his mask's chin, acting as if it was his own. He stood up, "Let us get back to work, Kikimora." He said to the red demon as they began to walk off, "Quite an interesting morning, isn't it...?" He commented.
"Indeed, sir... For many reasons..." Kikimora agreed as they walked to the Library.
-Y- Minutes before -Y-
Eda looked around, panting as that fireball took it out of her... too much magic was used in that one-shot attack. She could see feathers growing on her arms again. 'Nonono, I'm running out of time.' she thought.
"Sister..." Lilith whispered from behind her.
Eda turned and fired a beam of light at nothing in particular but did see a potion bottle roll towards her. Picking it up, she saw it was her elixir. "Where did you-"
"Don't worry about that!" She said, suddenly appearing before her and shushing her to silence, and aiming Eda's instinctual blast in another direction. "I don't want to fight you, Edalyn, and if losing this fight helps cure you then I'll gladly lose to you..." She cleared her throat. "Forfeiting to let my sister win the witches duel... How it came full circle, Edalyn."
"You're willing to dupe the Emperor, for me?" Edalyn asked, astonished that her sister would go against her idol like that.
"Of course, a thousand times if necessary..." She said softly. "Now, drink the potion and cast Fatigue on the both of us before the fog settles..."
"You really are the best sister," Edalyn said as they both smiled, laughing as she cast fatigue on themselves, making them both fall to the ground.
-Y- Now -Y-
Now, of course, the Emperor was aware of the sister's duping, having silently activated two spells to see past the fog and listen in on them. However, he did not claim The Owl Lady's victory forfeit, he had a hidden smile behind his mask. Maybe his daughter was truly changing him... For the better? That was to be decided... It was still too early.
"Maybe I should enroll Luz to Hexside, for the next semester, for a more immersive learning experience... Maybe she can make friends there and-" His thoughts were cut short.
Suddenly an ear-splitting ringing echoed in his ears before he heard a voice, so ancient and powerful, one he hadn't heard in years since meeting Camila.
"T- The Titan!" He said suddenly, buckling to his knees. Belos could hear a distorted voice speaking to him, of course, he could understand it so perfectly.
"Emperor!" Kikimora exclaimed, practically holding Belos up herself, "Are you alright!? What about the Titan!?"
"Yes... Yes... I understand, I'll fix the portal... As promised..." He ignored Kikimora as the ringing got louder. "I SWEAR!" He screamed, holding his head tighter and screaming before the ringing ceased. He panted as the voice said one final message. "Yes... I understand the consequences..." He said before standing up, continuing to walk the halls with Kikimora helping him walk. "I will not disappoint, great Titan." He said silently. "L- Let's keep going Kikimora... We have work to do..."
Kikimora's emotions were hidden by her hair (if you could call it that) and by her collar, but she displayed clear signs of worry. She's known the Emperor for decades now, he was... He was very important to her...
The best thing she could do right now is supporting him the best she could...
"Yes... My liege..." She said silently.
Elsewhere in the castle, inside of Emperor Belos's private study, a round mirror simply hung off the wall.
The mirror suddenly... Shook, ever so slightly... before resting back on the wall, an echoing laugh could be heard as it shimmered in the moonlight.
