We find ourselves in front of an old house where the Leviathan Axe was lodged in the ground when suddenly a powerful gust of wind blew the battle axe out of the ground through a glowing door.
Through the door we find ourselves in the Boiling Isles as the Leviathan Axe flew into Ardyn's hand and the Owl House Title logo appeared.
Iki wo sutte haitara kurushii koto
Kizu ga hitotsu fueru tabi ikiteiru koto
Looking around Ardyn sees the Owl House with Hooty and King watching Eda teaching Luz magic.
Tsukaifurusareta sonna kanshou mo itsuka kitto
Yoru ni tokete kieru
We then find ourselves at Hexide as Willow and Gus wave at them while Amity merely looks away with a small blush on her face.
"No enough" yugandatte
"No escape" machigattatte
"No fear" koroge mawatte
Susumeba iin deshou
As Eda struggles to fight off the curse she briefly fights off the feathers before we see Romani chained up against the wall before a large shadow grows.
Looking up they saw Emperor Belos glaring down at them with staff at the ready and all his coven ready to attack. Standing behind him is a shadowed figure with a demented grin on his face.
Sore wa marude shinwa no you na
Iro, katachi no jubunairu
Spinning her staff Eda creates a powerful blast blowing the guards away before Lilith leaps in and the two sisters clash making magic explode all around them. From the smoke Ardyn, Luz, Amity, Willow and Gus ran towards the top.
Summoning an ice glyph Luz makes a bridge of ice allowing Amity's abomination to charge forward ramming them away as Willow made a road of vines for Ardyn to run ahead.
Ibitsu na mama hibiwareteiru
Kono sekai de hitotsu kagayaku
Kirei na tsuki
Running to the top, Ardyn and Emperor Belos clashes axe and staff before the shadowed figure fires a powerful blast knocking Ardyn back.
Holding out his hand a gilded sword forms in Ardyn's hand before he thrusts his weapon clashing with Belos and the shadowed figured creating a bright light.
FATE/BOILING ISLES
Book 1
Chapter 11: The Fated First Day
Ardyn and Luz have done it. They've passed the entrance exam and have officially become students of Hexside. And they did it without destroying the auditorium. Now it was time for them to begin their first day. Taking them to their first day of school was Eda on her staff with Romani on his staff while Musashi and King remained home. Ardyn sat behind her and Luz behind him. Both kids were wearing a Hexside uniform, though the normal uniform parts are in a lighter gray than most, and their sleeves and leggings are white.
While Ardyn was excited to start the school year, he looked back to see his crush was acting nervously. "Hey Luz? Are you ok?" He asked.
"Mmm, we got to go back. This was a mistake!" Luz exclaimed, "I'm going to mess things up again, and everyone will see, and—
"Luz, come on. Don't be like that," said Ardyn with a comforting smile. "Nothing like that is going to happen."
"You say that now, and the next moment, we're causing something to explode. Just like the super confetti science experiment!"
"You. You caused something to explode. I had nothing to do with that." Ardyn said, turning his head to face forward.
"You were my lab partner!"
"Yeah and you the one who triggered it while I stepped out to use the bathroom!"
"Ardyn's right, you got to calm down," said Romani, looking back at the kids. "What are you nervous about? You've been to school before."
"That's why I'm nervous," exclaimed Luz. "At my human school, I didn't make a good first impression. This is a chance to be seen as something other than a screw-up."
"Hey, don't worry about what those dorks think. If you want my advice, walk into class and punch the toughest kid you see. To establish dominance." Eda explained to help calm the young girl.
"Aw, we won't be doing that. But thanks," said Luz, placing a hand on Ardyn's shoulder.
"Speak for yourself, Luz." said Ardyn with a smirk, pumping his fist.
They landed at the front of Hexside, and the two students dismounted the staff and stood on the stone pathway. They took off their backpacks from the back and put them on.
"Last chance to back out, and earn a new Bad Girl Coven patch," said Eda, as she held up a new patch for her made-up Coven. This one was the Quitter Badge. "Quitting: It's like trying, but easier."
"Nah, I'll just earn it when I quit showering like Ardyn," said Luz, pointing her thumb at Ardyn. Ardyn frowned and smelt his armpit before Luz grabbed his hand and started running off. "Bye!"
"Hold up!" Eda called out to the kids. Ardyn and Luz stopped and looked at her as she smiled at them. "Just try not to be too much of a goody-Luz-shoes, Luz. And Ardyn, make me proud and cause a bit of chaos. You got this."
"Thanks, Eda. In fact…" Luz reached into her pockets and pulled sock puppets of herself, Ardyn, and Eda out of her pockets. "I have written a heartfelt sonnet to commemorate this occasion. Here, Ardyn. You be Eda."
But Eda and Romani was already flying off into the sky. "Whoops! A gust of wind just got me. See you after school! Byeeeee!"
"Have a good time, you two!" Romani said as he and Eda took off.
Ardyn and Luz watched the two fly away before the boy held up Puppet Eda. "You're going to do great, kid." He made her say and, then made the puppet kiss her on the cheek.
Luz blushed at that. "Thanks, Puppet Eda."
Together, the two best friends walked toward their new school. As they approached it, they passed under a banner reading "WELCOME TO THE NEW SEMESTER". Lining each side of the path were the banners of the nine covens. All around them, various students are arriving at Hexside with them. Some went inside while others stopped to greet each other. As he walked with Luz, Ardyn looked around with a smile on his face.
"Wow," he said, before noticing Amity walking towards him and Luz with her abomination carrying some of her books. "Hey, Amity!"
Amity smiled at them with a blush. "Hey, Ardyn! Hey, Luz!" she said, as her abomination mirrored her movements. "Congrats on getting in. And not being in the baby class."
"Thanks, Amity! Up top!" Luz said, holding up her hand for a high-five. Amity happily did so, slapping her hand. Amity's abomination slaps Luz's face, leaving abomination mud behind.
Ardyn laughed and held out his fist to Amity. "That was pretty good!" He said. However, the girl stepped back and looked at his fist with wide eyes. "Oh, that's right. This is called a fist bump in my world. All you have to do is hit my fist with yours."
Amity looked confused at this. Looking at her own fist, she did as he said and softly punched his fist with hers. She didn't want to hurt him. "Huh, that felt good," said the green-haired witch.
Ardyn smiled at her…. before getting punched in the face by Amity's abomination. "Ow!"
Luz and Amity giggled at that as he tried wiping off the mud. Amity and her abomination walk off as Luz said, "Wow, our first day at Hexside. A chance to discover my true magical potential. And maybe meet a hot yet vulnerable upperclassman."
"You know I'm right here?" Ardyn said with a grumble which cause Luz to scratch the back of her head in embarrassment.
"Dream on!" To the surprise of the kids, King popped out of Ardyn's backpack.
"King?!" Ardyn exclaimed.
"Boop!" King poked his cheek, then jumped out and landed on the ground.
"Why are you in my bag?" Ardyn asked.
"You're a free ride to the best buffet in town! Nyah!" King hopped onto and climbed into a trash can. He popped out with a half-eaten doughnut. "The trash cans here are filled with half-eaten gold!"
"Okay, but if anyone asks, you don't know us," Luz said before she and Ardyn walked away.
"Have a wonderful school day, person-I-don't-know!" King waved off to them. He was about to go back to whatever he was doing when he saw an Abomination track student standing in front of him.
"I really needed to hear that," said the student.
At the main staircase leading into the school, Willow and Gus waited for their friends to show up. When they did, they smiled and greeted them.
"Luz! Ardyn!" They exclaimed together.
"What's up, Hexsiders!" Ardyn said with a grin.
"Hello, classmate!" Willow said with a wink. "Congratulations on passing the entrance exam!"
At this, Gus drew a magic circle and summoned letters that read out "BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME!" Ardyn and Luz raised an eyebrow while Willow glared at him. "Sorry, I was, uh, covering all my bases," Gus said sheepishly.
"So, do you know who those witches are?" Willow asked, gesturing to the nine banners Ardyn and Luz passed. Each banner had what appeared to be a person in them. "Those are the heads of the main nine covens. Each one excelled at a magic school like Glandus, St. Epiderm, and, of course, Hexside. Are you prepared to enter these hallowed halls?"
"That's what we're about to find out," Ardyn said with a smirk.
"See you on the other side, friends," said Luz as she and Ardyn ran up the stairs to head to the principal's office.
"See you later!" Gus said, summoning another message. This time, the letters spelled out 'GOODBYE FOREVER!' Willow glared again with a WTF expression at the illusionist. "You know what? I'm uh, I will just get rid of these."
"Yeah you should."
In the Principal's office, Bump was sitting at his chair and watching the crystal ball as the news broadcasted on it. "A terrible development at Glandus High School. Students and teachers were found unconscious and without magic. The cause remains unknown."
Now, many people will be concerned about the teachers and students at the school, while others would be worried about meeting the same fate. But not Bump.
"Ha! Take that, Glandus! Looks like this year's grudgby match is going to be a victory for us by default," said the principal before standing and starting to dance. "Default! Default! Deeee...fault." His body froze up when he saw Ardyn and Luz standing in the doorway. The two students stared at their principal in silence for a moment as Ardyn then grabbed the door handle and slowly closed the door with him and Luz standing outside for about ten seconds. Ardyn opened the door and found Bump sitting in his chair.
"You two saw nothing." He said, pointing at them with a threatening look.
"Already ahead of you, Principal Bump." said Ardyn as he and Luz entered the room. Together, the human and half-witch approached the deck.
"Hiya, Princy-B! Can I call you that?" Luz asked with finger guns pointed at him.
"Absolutely not." Bump said firmly. "Now, today, we'll be visited by the Emperor's Coven for a routine inspection. If we want to impress them, you'll need to join a coven track before they arrive."
Luz looked at Ardyn, and the two nodded. "Actually, Principal Bump, we've made our own schedule," said Ardyn as Luz brought out a scroll. She unrolled it, and it turned out to be a long scroll that landed on Bump's desk.
The principal raised an eyebrow as Luz took over. "First, my schedule! In the morning, I'll do Vet Care for Mythical Beasts, then Healing and Dealing, and then after lunch—"
Looking at the list, Principal Bump laughed. "Studying multiple tracks at once? No one does that."
"Well, it looks like we'll be the first," said Ardyn, placing his fists on his hips with a proud smile.
Bump then became very serious. "No, you won't." He said, before holding up a rule book with the Emperor's Coven logo on it. "According to the rules, a good witch needs to hocus-focus. You can only pick one of the nine tracks." He pointed to the track banners above him. "And you do not want to embarrass me in front of the inspector."
"But all the tracks are so cool!" Luz complained.
"Come on, Bump. You know what I am. I can't just focus on just one source of magic!" Ardyn said. Being a hybrid with a lot of magical of energy, he was certain that the principal would allow him to study multiple tracks.
"You can and you will. But with the inspector here, I've got something special for you today, Ardyn," Bump said.
Ardyn was confused by this before Luz cut in and asked. "Is there some sort of enchanted article of clothing that could sort this out for me?"
"Well, there used to be, but…" Principal Bump looked over to the side, and the two students followed his line of sight. On a shelf was a brown classic witch's hat inside a display case that was locked up in heavy chains.
The Choosy Hat turned around and showed its scarecrow-like face on the pointed part. "Let me out…I must feed!" It declared and jumped on the glass with the brim growing teeth and a long tongue coming out from inside the hat and licking the surface. "GET IN MY BELLY!"
The display case had a curtain drop down on it, covering the monstrous hat inside. Principal Bump shuddered as he remembered all the young kids who were nearly beheaded by the hat. He looked at the kids. Ardyn and Luz backed as far away from the hat as possible while holding each other in fear.
Seeing this and seeing that their cheeks were pressed against each other, Ardyn and Luz quickly separated with blushes. "I-I don't know if I can choose just one," said the young girl. She didn't know that she would have to make a choice like this and was very hesitant to do so.
Principal Bump walked up to her. "Then I'll choose one for you." He said, before turning and pointing to the track banners. "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe!"
His finger landed on the yellow potion banner.
"Ah, yes! The Potions track. You humans are filled with liquids, right?" He said, and drew a magic circle, causing another one to appear on the grow around Luz's feet. As he cast the spell, the glowing ring rose and changed the tunic and cowl of Luz's uniform to the standard gray color and the sleeves and leggings to yellow.
"Oh, I guess I have always liked pouring things into other things," she said while looking over her treads.
"I expect you to be on your best behavior," said the principal as he walked over and glanced at a corkboard with pictures of the results of Ardyn and Luz's previous visits to Hexside on it. "Based on the costly repairs from recent incidents, we could really use a donation from the Emperor's Coven. Now, off to class."
He drew a circle and made Luz float up and go towards the door. "Wait a minute! What about Ardyn?" She asked.
"Don't worry, I've got something in mind for him," Bump said.
"Oooooo—" Luz was cut off when the door slammed in her face. Leaving Ardyn all alone with the principal.
"So, what kind of track do you have for me?" Ardyn asked.
The only answer he got was when Bump used the same spell he used on Luz. However, instead of being given the colors of the covens, his sleeves and leggings turned into a dark gray.
"You'll be in the detention track."
Ardyn gasped and backed away from the principal. "SAY WHAT!? Oh hell no! You're not putting me back in that room with that monster!" He yelled, reaching to grab the Leviathan Axe.
"Actual detention still needs... repairs," said the principal.
"But…" Ardyn took his hand away from the axe and looked at the principal with a pleading look on his face. "But why? I didn't even do anything wrong, yet. I just started my first day of school!"
"Because of this." Bump said as he held out a piece of paper to Ardyn, and the young man looked at it.
WANTED ALIVE
Human-Witch Hybrid of the Bronwyn Family
ARDYN 'BRONWYN' PIERCE
1,500,000,000,000
Ardyn stared at the wanted poster of himself with wide eyes for a moment. "Huh, my bounty's bigger than Eda's." He commented. "HA! Take that, Auntie Eda!"
"As I've said before, an inspector from the Emperor's Coven is on their way here," Bump said to the Seventh Son as he paced around his office. Explain his seemingly unfair decision. "Meaning that if she finds you, then she has the authority to take you into custody, and if that happens, you'll be taken to the Emperor, and he'll send the army to shut down the school."
Ardyn looked away with a frown. He didn't like it, but he saw where Bump was coming from.
"I promised Eda and Romani that you would be safe here, and I'm going to keep that promise," Bump said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "So just for today, please for today, just do this."
Ardyn was silent for a moment before sighing. "Alright. But only for today," he said, sheathing the Leviathan Axe. "So, all I have to do is hang out in one room and wait all alone?"
"Yes, but you wouldn't be alone."
Bump brought Ardyn to a room with bars on the door. He opened the door and shoved Ardyn into it. It was a dark room with the only forms of light coming from the outside. It was like a prison than a classroom, with bars on the windows and dull gay walls.
The Detention Teacher looks up from his scroll, as the four students that were in the class look over at the door.
One was a young woman with brown hair with four wefted bangs and a messy bun held together by a dark orange hair tie. She had green eyes with one lash on the top and one lash on the bottom. She wears a similar cowl to other students. However, hers is patterned ripped and held together by a large thumbtack. She wears a fishhook earring on one ear and wears a gray outfit, and initially wore lighter gray sleeves and leggings while in the detention track. Her skirt is ripped on the side and tied together.
The second one is a pale, white-skinned boy with short brown hair wefted over the right side of his forehead. He has thick black eyebrows, a pointed nose, and brown eyes. He has a cape like those of the other students at Hexside, except that his cowl is ripped. He wears a gray outfit that had lighter gray sleeves and leggings to represent the detention track.
The third was a bit of an oddity. This student had the body of a dog with a human-like face. He was covered with chestnut fur with light tan fur on his stomach and neck area. He had dark orange tufts of hair on his head and two ears pointing upward with a small gold hoop earring on his right ear. He had blue eyes and black eyebrows. He wears square glasses with white tape in the center and a typical Hexside uniform with a gray robe and a darker gray belt and cowl. His sleeves were gray to represent the detention track.
The door closed as Principal Bump left Ardyn in the room. Pretending to be upset with him, Ardyn slammed his fist on the door, before sighing. Backing away from the door, he looked back at the people in the room. They all just stared at him with sour looks.
Ardyn scowled at them in return and walked towards the first available seat. This was nothing new to him. He's been in detention before. So long as he keeps his head down, he'll be fine.
Pulling out the first chair at the end of the second table, he sat down. Only to look to his left and widen his eyes in shock when he saw Ryker sitting next to him.
"Whoa, Ryker? You're here too?" Ardyn asked, getting surprised looks from the Goldmark Hybrid in disguise.
"Hey! You all better be quiet, unless you want to scrub the classroom again," said the teacher as he looked up from his scroll. This rubbed Ardyn the wrong way, as he was threatening to punish all of them unjustly.
"Lay off them," Ardyn said, taking a stand for his friend and the other three, who turned to him. "I'm the one that started talking, so don't punish any of them for something I did.
"Oh, hurray. A hero." He said sarcastically before drawing a spell circle and making a mop and bucket appear in Ardyn's hands. "Get to work, you low life!"
Grunting the words 'Asshat' towards the teacher, Ardyn left to clean the corner of the classroom. As they watched him walk off, Ryker and the young woman looked at one another and smiled.
Meanwhile, in the hallway, Principal Bump sighed to himself. "Well, that's taken care of. Time to impress the inspector!" He said happily. However, that excitement was cut short when he heard a student screaming in pain and agony. Bump gasped when he saw what it was. "The Choosy Hat! It broke free!"
Some time passed as Ardyn cleaned the detention room. The Detention Teacher was asleep, and the hybrid polished the bars on the windows. He looked at the teacher with a frown. He wasn't even bothering to teach anyone in the room, so why was it even called a track?
Ardyn sighed and continued polishing when an explosion from outside got his attention. Looking out, Ardyn saw two students standing in a clearing as the wind blew past them. One was Willow, and the other was Emira.
Both girls bowed their heads, and the battle began. Emira used her Illusion magic to create multiple clones while Willow drew a spell circle and slammed it into the ground, summoning a carnivorous flower from the ground. It opened its hideous mouth and hissed at its opponent.
Ardyn as the two students fought with a look of wonder in his eyes. "Wow!"
"Yeah, ain't Emira amazing," said a voice next to him. Ardyn looked from the corner of his eye and saw Ryker looking out the window next to the one Ardyn was cleaning. Staring at his girlfriend dreamingly.
"Ryker?"
"Hey!" Ryker waved at his friend. "How're you doing, Ardyn?"
"I-I'm doing good, but what are you doing? You could get in trouble!" Ardyn exclaimed, gesturing to the teacher. "Wait…Huh?"
To his surprise, the teacher was still asleep in his chair. He was just leaning back and resting his head against the chalkboard. Not even waking up to the boys talking.
"Don't sweat it, buddy," Ryker said, looping an arm around Ardyn's neck. He then pulled out a plastic straw and fired a spitball at the teacher's head. Pelting him on his tall forehead. But it didn't wake him up. "Nothing wakes the guy up until his nap's over."
"Okay…" Ardyn said, looking at the other students that were in the classroom. However, they were gone too. "Wait, did the others leave?"
"Yeah, but they're still around," said Ryker.
Ardyn stood up and shook his head. "Hold on, what are you talking about?" He asked.
Ryker just smiled and started walking towards the chalkboard. "Come on," he said, signaling for Ardyn to follow him.
Standing in front of the board, Ryker grabbed a piece of chalk and started to use it. Ardyn walked as he first drew a square, before drawing a keyhole in the middle. Felix smirked and tapped the keyhole and twisted the chalk as if it were a key. And to Ardyn's surprise, it made a sound as if it did unlock something. The square glowed before swinging open, revealing a passageway in the wall. The passageway lit up with what looked like Christmas lights that led to a door at the end of the hallway. On it was a keep out sign.
Ryker was the first to climb in. "Sure, you're not too big, Ardyn?"
"Oh, haha," Ardyn said, rolling his eyes before looking at the teacher then looking into the passway, Ardyn held onto the top, before swinging his legs through and letting go. Landing on his feet before looking back to see the door close behind him.
"So, what is this place?" Ardyn asked.
He turned around to see the girl from before appearing in front of him and getting his face. "This is the last room you'll ever see alive," she said, finally speaking as she glared in his face and jabbed him in the chest.
SLAM!
This, however, did little to intimidate Ardyn, as he suddenly and violently slammed the girl against the wall and placed the Leviathan Axe against her neck. "Want to try that threat again?!" He said, glaring into her frightened eyes.
"Wait, wait! Ardyn, she wasn't being serious! She was just messing with you!" Jason exclaimed in a panic, waving his arms around, shocked by Ardyn's sudden aggression.
"Yeah, yeah! It's just a joke! I swear, I wasn't going to hurt you!" She shouted, frightened by Ardyn.
Ardyn glanced between his friend and the girl before stepping back. Sighing as he sheathed the Leviathan Axe to calm down. The girl rubbed her neck where she felt the sharp edge against her skin as the Goldmark hybrid walked up to her.
"Viney, are you okay?" Ryker asked her with great concern.
"Yeah, I'm okay, Ryker. You didn't need to worry so much about me," said Viney as she smirked and winked at him. This made Ryker blush a bit in embarrassment and chuckles.
The moment was cut short when Ardyn cleared his throat. Ryker and Viney looked back as Ardyn rubbed the back of his head. "Hey, ah, sorry about, I just…I didn't know if you were serious or not. I don't take threats lightly these days."
"No, it's cool. It was uncool of me to intimidate you." said Viney as she waved it off.
"Ardyn, this is Viney from the Healing Track," said Jason as he introduced the girl. In his head, Ardyn remembered that his cousin had a crush on Viney. "Viney, this is my friend I told you about. Ardyn Pierce."
"Oh, I remember you!" Viney pointed at Ardyn with a smile. "You're that kid that's been causing a lot of noise around Bonesborough. Nice work on what you did in the Detention Room, by the way."
"Yeah, that's…not exactly something I'm proud of," said Ardyn, rubbing his head in embarrassment.
"Alright, let's go," Ryker said as he started walking to the door at the other end when Viney ran in front of him.
"Wait a minute, Ryker. How do we know that he can be trusted?" She asked, crossing her arms.
"I don't even know what I'm doing here," said Ardyn, shrugging.
"Come on, Viney. He stood up for us back there. Not many people would do that, remember? I think he deserves to see this more than anyone else," said Ryker with a frown. "He's one of us now."
Viney thought about it for a moment before looking at Ryker. The young man nodded with an excited look on his face. In the end, Viney sighed and nodded. "Alright, let's go."
She led the boys to the door at the end of the hall and opened it, ignoring the keep out sign. As Ardyn followed them inside, his jaw dropped in astonishment at the place he was in.
The room was like the inside of a tower with trapdoors, front doors, and windows covering the walls all around. The doors and windows of varying shapes, sizes, and colors covered every inch of the walls. The walls were built of gray cement bricks and had a spiral ramp riding alongside the doors.
"Whoa," Ardyn said, completely blown away as he twirled around and looked around himself. Amazed to see so many doors in one place.
"Hey, Jerbo! Barcus! You can stop hiding now!" Viney said, looking at a random door.
The door opened, and the two boys popped their heads out. While Barcus panted as a dog would, Jerbo looked at Ardyn with suspicion. "How do we know he's cool, man? How do we know he won't rat us out?" He asked.
"Hey, I ain't no rat, boyo!" Ardyn yelled, pointing at him.
"It's cool, Jerbo. He's a good friend," said Ryker, waving up at him.
Unsure, Jerbo turned to Barcus. "What do you think?"
Barcus barked in response to his question.
"Barcus says your aura is strong and fierce like a tsunami, yet soft and gentle like a baby's laughter," said Jerbo. "Welcome!"
Ryker crossed his arms and pouted. "Yeah, well, I could have told you that, and it would have been so much cooler," he said, pointing his thumb at himself.
"Thanks for having me, but what is this place?" Ardyn asked, looking around his surroundings.
"We call it the Secret Room of Shortcuts," Viney said, raising her hands up as she gestured to it all. "Or just the Backroom, for short."
"So long as it doesn't smell like moist carpet and has giant mutated mold creatures in here, I'm fine," Ardyn said, smiling as he looked around. He knew they wouldn't get the joke, but it made him chuckle.
Ryker took him by his shoulder and pointed up at the doors surrounding them. "You see these doors? They're all connected to different parts of the school. On the outside, they can't be seen. So any place where people didn't think to have a door would likely be where a door would be. They wouldn't even know it was there until it was opened from here."
"Go ahead and try it out," said Viney, gesturing to a door.
Figuring he's got nothing to lose, Ardyn walked over and opened it. He peaked in on the other side and saw it open on a roll of lockers in a hallway of Hexside. There, he saw Amity pacing around. Not noticing him as she talked to herself.
"So, the three of you are going to the same school now, that doesn't change anything. And the crazy thing is that they want to be friends!" Amity exclaimed, before sighing to herself. "Who am I kidding? They both like each other. What chance do I have?"
Ardyn was wondering what the pretty witch was talking about, but figured it wasn't his business to spy on her. He silently shut the door to the Backroom and turned back to the others with a smile.
"This place is amazing!" Ardyn exclaimed. "Oh, the pranks that you can pull from here."
"That's what I mainly use it for," Ryker said with a prideful smirk before he was punched in the shoulder by Viney.
"It's just for that. We use this room for something much more important," Viney said, pointing up to Barcus on the ramp. "Which you should be doing, Ryker."
"Oh crap!" Ryker exclaimed before running up the ramp. Ardyn followed him. Together, they joined Barcus, who was sitting in front of an open door. On the other side was the Oracle class. He sat down with Ryker and Barcus as the Oracle teacher taught her lesson to the class with a piece of purple paper on her dress.
"Remember, seeing the end of a life is the beginning of reading a fortune. We must work backwards from it to see the truth," she said, folding the paper into a fortune teller. Nodding his head, Barcus also folded one. Ardyn smiled at how happy he looked before jumping down to join Viney and Jerbo as they sat on the floor.
"We aren't allowed to study any kind of magic, so we study every kind of magic in secret," the girl said.
"I don't get it. You all are willing to learn, even when you're locked in detention. You sound like awesome students," Ardyn said, sitting with them with his legs crossed. "Why did Bump put you all in here?"
"Well, it's because we all wanted to do so many different kinds of magic that we tried mixing two different tracks," Viney said.
"I was part of the Plant Track, but I tried mixing plant magic with abominations. Let's just say that Bump was far from thrilled when it destroyed the classroom," Jerbo said, scratching the back of his head. He then pointed up at Barcus. "Barcus was a student of the Potion Track, but when he tried to make a potion with an Oracle crystal ball. It…did not go so well for the teacher that had to see what their future was."
Viney raised her hand and said, "Healing Track over here, but I wanted to do some beast keeping with my pet griffin Puddles. I know it was slightly unconventional. But Puddles was a great assistant, damn it!
"And Ryker? Why did he end up here?" Ardyn asked, before said person dropped down behind him.
"Well, let's just say he didn't study for a big test. So, he tried mixing construction magic with potion Magic and ended up creating a giant hole in the roof," said Jerbo as he laughed about it.
"Hey, can we please not talk about that?!" Ryker yelled from up on the ramp.
"You're right, Ryker," Viney said, smirking. "Especially when the explosion made you soar though the air before landing on Emira, kissing her in the process!" This caused the others to laugh while Ryker turned red from embarrassment and anger. He then groaned and curled up in a ball in the corner.
"Man, I'm never going to hear the end of it." he murmured to himself
"Heh, I never thought that you would not only make a scene but also got to kiss Emira as well." said Ardyn, finding it amusing that his friend, who tried acting cool, has such moments as this. "Y'know, I wonder how Luz is doing. Anyone knows where I can look in on the Potion Track?"
"Class should be letting out, so that one over there," Ryker said, pointing to a small door.
Ardyn rushed over it and slowly opened it. Peeking through, he saw that he was at floor level. He looked to his right and saw Luz standing at the door of the Potion Track classroom. Ardyn smiled as he looked at the girl he was in love with.
Looking at something in front of her, Luz said, "A crystal ball. Maybe it can show me if I'm on the right track," she said, before quickly holding up her hand to resist the temptation. "No, don't be tempted! It's your first day. Don't ruin it for yourself and, most importantly, for Ardyn. You can't let him down. Make a good impression."
Ardyn was surprised to hear that. She was thinking about him, when she was the one that always wanted to be a witch.
He watched as she turned and walked down the hall. Curious as to what she was talking about, Ardyn opened the door a little more before he saw an open closet with crystal balls lining the shelves.
Seeing this, Ardyn nodded and was about to close the door when Luz suddenly ran back and popped up in the closet.
Smiling, she grabbed one of the balls. As it turned out, she couldn't help herself. Potion class wasn't going as she thought it would, and when she saw other students doing amazing magic, Luz wanted to learn it too. But Bump forced her into a track she didn't even want, while Ardyn was likely learning different kinds of magic. It's not that she wasn't ungrateful for the opportunity she was being given, but now she was uncertain if this was really what she wanted to learn.
"Whoa, I can actually feel the magic in this thing," Luz said, impressed. She then cleared her throat and spoke as clearly as she could. "Oh, magical crystal ball, I humbly ask you to tell me my future."
As she said that, the ball started to glow, and the light from it blinked in and out as it spoke to her in a posh English voice. However, the way it communicated with the young woman was…of sarcasm and pride.
["You little twit. Do you really have to talk to me like that?"]
"I…I don't know. Yes?" Luz asked, not sure how to react to being insulted by a ball.
["What a loser. Of course, you don't."]
"Hey, come on, you're supposed to tell me my future if I'm on the right track," Luz said.
["Well, question first. In your future, you will be in trouble very soon."]
"Wow! Wait, what'd you say?" Luz asked when she immediately processed what it said.
"Ahem!" Luz gasped when she turned around to see Bump glaring at her with a disappointed look. "What do you think you're doing?" He said in a dangerous tone.
"I…was just putting this away." Luz nervously laughed as she placed the ball back in the closet.
"Really? Because it seems to me like you disobey one of the most important rules of this school. Mixing magic," Bump said, walking up to her.
"But I wasn't mixing magic! I uh... fog brew!" Luz yelled and tossed the potion she made in class on the ground. It smashed on the floor and made a bit of fog but didn't work as she had hoped. "Yeah. I figured that wouldn't work."
"Well, if you like causing trouble, then we'll place you in a track where you can't cause trouble," Bump said harshly and formed a magic circle. Turning Luz's sleeves and leggings dark gray, just like what he did to Ardyn. "It's the Detention Tracks for you, young lady!"
"What?!" Luz gasped in shock before she was levitated off the ground and pulled behind. "No, please! Anything but detention!"
As he saw her being pulled away, Ardyn quickly closed the door and turned to the others. "Quick, Bump's coming back!"
"Please don't throw me in that room with the monster pit, Principal Bump! Have mercy!" Luz begged the man with her hands together.
"Oh, don't be such a baby," Bump said. "Actual detention is still undergoing repairs from the damage you and your boyfriend caused."
"Ardyn's not my boyfriend!" Luz shouted, but quickly covered her mouth when she realized how loud she said it.
"Sure, you're not." Bump rolled his eyes. He didn't care to get into a student's love life, even though, in his mind and to his amusement, he already knew they liked each other. "I'm keeping all the troublemakers far away from the eyes of the inspector, so you're going to be spending your day with Ardyn with the others. But unlike him, who's only in for one day, you'll have to pick a new track next year."
"But I'll be back in the human world by then!" Luz exclaimed.
Bump gave her a cold hard look. "Then maybe you'll do better when you go back home."
Luz was now scared, and she tried to find a way out of the situation she was in. Luckily for her, King climbed out of a trash can she was passing by.
"Nyah."
"King! Vouch for my character!" Luz called out to him.
"Uh, right! I don't know you!" The little demon said, doing exactly what she told him to do that morning. Luz glared at him as Bump continued dragging her along through the air.
When they reached the detention classroom, Bump opened the door and pushed Luz inside. Making her fall to the floor.
"Luz!" exclaimed Ardyn as he rushed over to her.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got an inspector to impress," Bump said before slamming the door behind him.
Ardyn helped Luz up as she started tearing up. "Luz, what the hell were you thinking? Why did you try using that crystal ball?" He asked.
Luz sniffled and rubbed her eyes. "I…I don't know. I just—wait, you know about the crystal ball?" She asked, quickly forgetting that she'd just ruined her chances of learning magic. "And why are you in detention? Did you get into another fight again?!"
"Ow!" Ardyn yelped as she pinched his cheeks. "Cut it out! Bump put me in here for my protection. It's a long story, but first," he said, pulling her hands off his cheeks. "You want to learn a shortcut to learning magic?"
The other students smiled and waved at Luz. The human girl looked confused.
Bump sighed in relief as he reached the front of the school. Finally, all the troublemakers and the hybrid were out of sight, and now he could focus on getting his school repaired. And he didn't have to wait long for the inspector to arrive.
She arrived when a swirl of blue energy appeared in front of the stairs, scaring off a few nearby students in the process. It dissipates, revealing the inspector as a pale skin woman with indigo hair held up in a swirled bun. She wore small, tinted glasses, and had a red lower lip and green eyes. She wore a gray dress with a yellow badge, one epaulet, and black gloves.
She walked up the front steps as Bump greeted her. "Welcome to Hexside, inspector."
"Greetings, Principal Bump," said the inspector with a bow. "If everything's in order, the Emperor's Coven will be happy to cover your repairs."
"Excellent. Please come this way. We've prepared a show with some of our finest students."
Honored to have been picked to give the inspector a presentation on behalf of her class, Amity made sure she gave the best performance she could. As the abomination stomped on stage, it growled and held Amity up like a figure skater. Together, they posed, showing just how in sync she was with her creation.
The abomination placed Amity down as she said, "And that concludes the presentation from the Abomination track." Amity and her abomination bowed to the inspector.
Principal Bump politely applauded as he sat with the inspector. Behind them were other students from the Abomination track.
"That was some real Hexside magic, huh?" Bump asked the inspector.
"Yes, this is... good!" She said, before a more sinister grin appeared on her face. "But let's see if your student can put up more of a fight!"
She stood up and walked to the stage before Principal Bump could have a moment to process what she said as she threw her clipboard away.
"Yes, yes—wait, what?" Bump asked when he realized what she said. Amity, not sure what was going on, just stood there as the inspector approached her with this evil look in her eyes. Something wasn't right. And that thought was only amplified when the inspector slammed her hands down on the stage. Cracking and breaking the floorboards as if her arms were much stronger or weighed more than her appearance let on.
The young witch watched in horror as the inspector's face deformed, revealing a hideous-looking creature that retained the hairstyle, except her skin turned pale yellow, and her green eyes became frog-like and droopy. She grew webbed ears, and her head elongated to form a mouth that could open abnormally wide with razor-sharp teeth to swallow its prey. And the way she was looking at Amity while licking its face, the green-haired witch knew she was next on the menu.
Dumbfounded while the other students ran out of the auditorium, Principal Bump fearfully asked, "Is, uh, this part of the inspection?"
The monster roared at Amity, prompting her to spur into action. "Abomination, fight!" The abomination ran forward and grabbed the inspector. Lying on top of her, but it wasn't enough.
The inspector fully transformed. Her body turned into a massive serpentine-like creature as her clothes tore and widened, her hands turned into claws, and sharp scales formed on her arms. No longer needing to hide her true form, she flung the abomination into the air, before opening her mouth and swallowing the abomination.
Amity gasped in shock when she saw it happen and backed away slowly in fear as the inspector slithered toward her. "The magic at Glandus High was tasty. But I hope yours will be more filling," she said. "But first, there are rumors going around that there's a hybrid witch in this town. A young boy with golden hair and azure eyes."
Hearing this, Amity gasped. "Ardyn?"
The monster lowered her head to Amity. "So, you know him? Tell me where he is, and I'll only eat half of your magic," she said.
"I…I wouldn't do it!" She said, trying to be brave.
Luckily, Bump quickly rushed in and got in front of his student. Putting himself between Amity and the inspector. "Amity, stay back. She's an impostor!"
About to attack, Principal Bump drew out a spell circle. However, the inspector was faster. She opened her mouth as wide as she could and inhaled, swallowing the spell circle. But it wasn't just the circle. Bump's skin turned gray, and he collapsed on the ground as his magic was drained from his body and eaten by the monster. He collapsed to the ground. The inspector as she slithered closer to Amity. The witch shook in fear as she couldn't find a way to escape. But then she saw the exit door off to the side of the stage.
"Now then," said the monster, making Amity gasp and turn back to her with sweat rolling down her face. "Tell me, my little morsel. Where is Ardyn 'Bronwyn' Pierce?"
Suddenly the doors of the auditorium, and King, who was wearing a tie, walked in. "Excuse me! Could you keep it down? Mr. King's trying to mold young minds here!" He yelled.
As it turned out, he was mistaken for a substitute teacher by the kids. Realizing that he could rule over the classroom and indoctrinate them to do his will, King went for it. Everything was going great!
That is until he walked into the auditorium to see a giant monster looking back at him.
"I can see that I'm interrupting, so I'm just going to…" King said before he quickly screamed and ran away.
"Amity…" The girl gasped and looked down to see Bump weakly looking up at her. "Run…warn…Ardyn…" He then fell unconscious.
Realizing what she had to do, and seeing her chance, Amity Quickly ran as fast as she could towards the exit. Seeing her running off, the monster let out a roar and chased after her at high speeds. Thankfully, Amity reached the door before the serpent could get to her. She swung open the door and ran through it. The door slammed shut before the inspector could go through, causing her to slam face-first into it.
Luz was having the time of her life, and it was all thanks to Ardyn and even Bump to an extent. She could only imagine how many spells she could learn in this room. And she was going to be here all school semester? It was a dream come true!
Ardyn watched as Luz skipped around and opened one door after another, peeking in on everyone and everything behind it. Not caring if it was teaching magic or not. "So, what's the story about this place? How did Bump never find out about it?" Ardyn asked Jerbo.
"We found it after being thrown in the detention track. The witch who made it is known as…" He trailed off as he gestured to a defaced portrait that was covered in paint and graffiti. Around it on the wall were signatures of other students, including the ones in the room right now. "Lord Calamity. We don't know who they were, but they started this troublemaker wall, and we added our names in their honor."
"They were all just like us. Wanting to be in more than one coven track! But Bump just says we need to focus on just one," Viney said.
Luz stopped running around and walked over to join her best friend. "Sounds like Bump's priorities are out of whack," she said.
"Yeah. If he really wants the best for the students, then he would let them choose their own paths to take," Ardyn said with a frown. "He shouldn't make them miserable to keep up appearances."
Viney smiled at the two. "I'm glad you're one of us. You've made a great first impression," she said to the human and half-witch. The girl then pulled out a marker and held it out to them. "Would you like to add your name to the troublemaker wall?"
Ardyn and Luz glanced at one another and smiled. "I might only be in here for one day, but I guess it couldn't hurt," said Ardyn. In his mind, he thought that maybe he'll cause trouble by getting back into detention.
He was about to take the marker when….
"AAAAH!" Ryker screamed, jumping through the doorway as it slammed shut behind him. However, he fell from near the top of the room. Ardyn quickly gathered energy into his arms and legs via Power Glyph as he catches his friend before setting him down on the ground.
"Ryker!" Viney screamed, rushing over to him, and grabbing his hand with great concern. He was still alive, but he was clearly shaken. "Ryker, are you okay?"
"There's something in the school!" He yelled, startling Viney as the others gathered around. "When I returned from using the bathroom, something big attacked several students!"
"What? What was it?!" Ardyn asked, wondering just what it was that frightened his friend so much.
"I…I don't know. It was some kind of creature," Jason said, grabbing his hair.
"Do you have a description on the creature?" Viney asked as Ryker got his breath back.
"I know it looked like a serpent like creature been able to suck the magic out of people!" Ryker said as the others looked confused for a moment before Jerbo looked up in surprise.
"Wait… did you say suck magic?" Jerbo asked the boy. "I've heard about this happening at Glandus. How all the students and teachers had all the magic in them get drained."
"That means…" Luz tracked off as they heard screaming and roaring sounds all around them. They were all coming from the doors of the Backroom. If it wasn't clear then, it's clear now.
"Whatever attacked Glandus is now in Hexside," Ardyn said.
Amity ran as fast as she could. But where? She didn't know what Track Ardyn was placed in. She saw Luz in the colors of the Potion Track, but when she went to the classroom, they were all drained of magic. She couldn't find Luz anywhere, nor Ardyn.
But why was the monster after him? What was it that he had that she wanted? It didn't make sense. But then again, she didn't even know what a Seventh Son was. It never once occurred to her to ask Ardyn. All she could do was run as fast as she could to find her friend.
As she did so, Amity nearly crashed into the Oracle teacher. "No running in the halls!" She yelled at the young witch.
"Run for your life!" Amity shouted back at her as she ran.
Amity turned the corner and was running down the hallway when Gus and Willow walked out from the corner at the end.
"Augustus! Willow!" She screamed, waving the two of them down.
Willow and Gus looked up and saw Amity running towards them. "Amity?" The plant girl asked as her former friend came to a stop, panting and breathing heavily from running. Normally, Willow would have been annoyed to see Amity or to even speak with her, but from the look on her face, something bad must've happened. "What are you doing?"
Amity gathered in her breaths before looking up at Willow. "A monster is attacking the school! It's taken out the principal and is sucking the magic out of everyone it finds. Have you and Gus…" Amity stopped as she looked down at the young black witch. "Is it okay if I call you Gus?"
"By all means," Gus said with a smile.
"Have you seen Ardyn?!" Amity asked, grabbing Gus by his shoulders, and shaking him.
"Stop doing that to him!" Willow said, pulling the Blight girl away from her friend as his eyes swirled around. "What's this about Ardyn? Why do you need to find him?"
"Because that monster is looking for him," Amity said in a pleading voice. "Willow, please, you have to help me friend my friend—"
"Your friend? When did you start to consider people 'beneath you' your friends?" Willow asked, getting a little upset.
"Willow—"
"Guys! Look out!" Gus yelled, pointing down the hallway Amity came from.
Amity turned back and gasped when she saw the Oracle teacher running away from the inspector, which was taking over most of the hallway. "Found you!"
"Kids, run!" The teacher yelled, stopping, and casting a beam of light. However, the inspector slurped the beam of light up like it was spaghetti. And with it, sucked the magic from the teacher.
Willow, Amity, and Gus screamed in horror as the teacher's body fell to the ground, drained of magic. Her face was petrified in terror.
"I've been enjoying this little game of ours, but I'm going to need to know where that boy is," the inspector said, licking her lips. "Tell me, and I'll spare you cute morsels!"
"We don't know!" Willow said, stepping away from Amity to fight the monster. "And we may be cute, but we're nobody's morsels!" Just like when she fought Selene, she drew a spell circle and slammed it into the floor, creating a carnivorous plant monster.
"Willow, wait!" Amity warned, worried for the girl.
"Sorry, Amity, but I'm not as weak as you think I am," Willow said, giving her a brief, but sharp glare before turning back to the inspector.
"And not when it's time for a power-up!" Gus said, as he jumped across its face. Giving the plant buff and muscular arms.
The plant launched itself at the inspector and was about to punch it. However, the creature caught the plant with its tail. With a grin, the inspector ate the plant. This drained Willow and Gus of both their magic, and they collapsed on the ground.
Willow struggled to hold her hand up to try and draw another spell circle. But it was no use. She couldn't do it in the state she was in. "I feel... so weak."
"Willow!" Amity screamed, rushing over to cradle the girl in her arms.
"Foolish child. Did you really think your friends could stop me?" The monster asked, slithering towards Amity. "Now, where is the Hybrid!"
"Right here, ya ugly freak!"
"Huh?" The monster turned to the left, before the Leviathan Axe flew into her eye and stabbed into it. "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
The monster howled in agony as Amity looked at it in astonishment. She then turned to see Luz running up to her. "Amity!" Luz yelled, kneeling to Gus and picking him up. "We've got to go!"
"Wait, where did you…" Amity trailed off as she looked behind Luz and saw Ardyn standing at what looked like a doorway that was opened from inside the locker to another room. "Ardyn!"
"Let's go, come on!" Ardyn yelled before holding out his hand to the serpentine. He recalled the axe, pulling it out of the monster's eye and making it scream in pain again. Amity quickly grabbed Willow while Luz grabbed Gus, and they both ran for the door.
Glowing in rage, the inspector looked at Ardyn with her one good eye. It was him. The Hybrid of the Bronwyn Family. She licked her tongue on her face, tasting her own blood, before rushing at him.
However, the moment both girls were inside, Ardyn slammed the door shut. The monster slammed its head against the lockers, breaking through into an empty classroom. The inspector looked around and saw Ardyn wasn't in the room. This enraged her and she roared loudly.
Amity and Luz set Willow and Gus down on the ground as Viney quickly got to work trying to figure out what was wrong with them and how to heal them.
"This is really bad, you guys," she said, looking up at Ardyn and Luz with a panicked expression. "I can't do anything to heal them. Their magic was taken away. Without it, I can't heal them!"
Ardyn sighed in disbelief and jabbed the axe into the floor in frustration. "Damnit!"
Taking the moment to catch her breath, Amity turned to Ardyn. "Ardyn, that inspector, or whatever that thing, she was after you," she said to the Seventh Son.
"What?" Ardyn asked, surprised by this. "Why? What does she want with me?"
"I don't know. All she knows is that you're the Hybrid of the Bronwyn Family." The moment she said that Ardyn's eyes widened as a sense of dread watched over him. He sat down on the floor, his face going pale as Luz knelt to comfort him. Amity sat down with her, looking Ardyn in the eyes. "Does this have something to do with you and…whatever it is that you're going through?"
Ardyn swallowed the lump in his throat and looked at her and the others. They were all looking at him. Realizing that he didn't have any other choice, he said, "She's here because me."
Barcus barked in confusion.
"Barcus said what do you mean?" said Jerbo, translating what his friend said.
"Well, let me ask you this. Have any of you heard of the Bronwyn Family." Ardyn said, standing up.
"Wait, The Bronwyn Family? One of the Oldest Families in Bonesborough." Viney asked, just as confused as Amity was, even though she'd never heard the title before.
"That's right." Luz said, looking at her best friend and crush with sympathy. "It's said that a child, son or daughter in an unbroken family line, would inherit unimaginable power."
Amity looked at Ardyn and saw him staring at the ground with a scowl on his face. "And now that monster's here, hurt people, because of me," said the young boy.
"You can't blame yourself, Ardyn," said Amity in a firm voice as she placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Wait," Ryker said, realizing something important. "If the monster's here looking for you, then did Belos send her here to find you?"
"N-No, wait, Emperor Belos wouldn't do that!" Jerbo said adamantly, however, even he wasn't so sure. "Would he?"
"Maybe…Maybe not, Jerbo." Ryker said as he scratches his chin. "Who's to say he wouldn't have sent that freak to our school?"
"But it doesn't make sense," said Viney. "If that were the case, why attack Glandus?"
"Obviously, she was looking for Ardyn."
"Guys, stop!" Ardyn said, getting the cousins to halt their argument. "What matters now is finding a way to kill that inspector and getting everyone's magic back to them."
"But how do we know how to do that if we don't even know what it is?" Luz asked.
Ryker sighed in frustration and paced around, trying to think of something as the others debated what they should do. However, Luz was right. They didn't know what it was, not even Jason, who knew just about every creature on the Isles, couldn't identify the creature. And it's not like they had all day to go into the library to look through books to see what they were dealing with.
However, that's when Ryker got an idea. "I'll be back!" He said to the others, who turned towards him.
"Wait, what?" Ardyn asked, before watching as Felix ran up the ramp to the Oracle Track door. "Ryker!"
Ryker opened the door and looked around, trying to find a crystal ball. They weren't all that powerful, but they were able to surf the internet.
However, the classroom was trashed, with his classmates all lying on the ground, drained of their magic.
The crystal balls that he was looking for were all smashed.
"Damn it!" Ryker cursed, kicking shards across the room. "What are we going to do now?"
But then, he heard a small rumbling behind him. Felix turned and saw it was coming from the teacher's desk. For a moment, there was no moment, before a girl poked her head out from behind. When Ryker saw who it was, he was happy.
"Emira!" The girl quickly retreated behind the desk. "No, wait, Emira, it's okay," Ryker said quickly as he walked over to the teacher's desk.
Moving the chair out of the way, he saw Emira under the desk while holding an unbroken glass ball. She looked at him with a relieved look in her eyes.
"Ryker!" The Blight girl said as she jumped out from the desk to hug and kiss the Goldmark teen on the lips, causing the poor boy to blush as they pull back. "I'm glad you're okay!"
"Yeah, I glad to see that you're ok," Felix said, rubbing the back of his head. Hearing that made Emira smile and blush. "Listen, I need you to come with me. My friends need the crystal ball, and it'll be safe with us."
Emira nodded as she and Ryker got the unbroken crystal ball and made their way out of the classroom.
Returning to the Secret Room of Shortcuts with Ryker, Emira handed him the crystal ball. Ryker used his magic to activate it and started talking to it. Rubbing it with one hand. "Crystal Ball, I need to know what kind of monster we're fighting and how to return the magic it stole from everyone."
["You're such a lousy rubber"]
Ryker groaned. "Yeah, thank's a lot!"
"Are crystal balls always in a mood?" Ardyn asked Amity.
"You have no idea," she said. This was just like the crystal ball her mother owned.
["Alright. Let's see it."]
Ardyn held up the Leviathan Axe to the crystal ball. Stained on the blade was the blood of the monster that attacked them.
["What a hideous creature. I detest."]
"Just tell us already, ya squawk box!" Ardyn snapped.
["Hey, don't get mad at me. What you have here is a Greater Basilisk. They're a very dangerous, very extinct creature that died out hundreds of years ago, so how one is still alive, not even I know the answer. They were said to have an insatiable hunger for magic that is never truly filled."]
"Well, at least we know what we're dealing with," Ardyn said.
"But how do we defeat something like that?" Luz asked the crystal ball.
["Hate to tell you this but not even I don't know. All records of a Basilisk of any kind is lost due to a massive increase of restricting knowledge within all libraries of the Boiling Isles, including that of Basilisks. You're on your own, kiddos."]
"Well, that's just great," Ardyn said, sarcastically as the crystal ball dims down. "It must've attacked the other schools to feed itself, and now it's come here to feed on us! We have to do something."
"Yeah!" Luz cheered, throwing her fist up.
"Count me in," Amity said with a smirk.
Ryker nodded with determinations in his eyes. "Count me in!" He said with a huge grin on his face as Emira joined in.
"I'm in."
However, some of the detention kids were hesitant. Jerbo started by saying, "But if Bump catches us mixing magic again—
"He'd kick us out of school," Viney said, looking down at the ground as Barcus whimpered.
"Well, you know what? Screw the rules!" Ardyn shouted, surprising everyone with his outburst. "How could you even say that, when you're about to lose all your friends and classmates to a monster? They're out there, getting hurt, and we're the only ones who can save them. If saving everyone means we get in trouble for breaking the rules, then I say we break all the rules. We're troublemakers, right? Well, I don't know about you, but I'm ready to cause trouble today."
"...Y'know what, Let's do this!" said Viney as she, Jerbo, and Barcus walked up to Ardyn and the girls. All three of them with the same determination in their eyes.
However, their inspiring moment was cut short by a certain something.
["Please deposit twenty-five snails for the next five minutes, or your call will be interrupted."]
While the crystal ball chuckled at its own joke, no one in the room laughed with it. They were mad that it ruined their inspiring moment. So much so that Emira took it from Ryker, opened one of the doors, and chucked it. Throwing it into a classroom, where it broke through a window and flew outside. Cracking as it hit the ground. However, it was still unbroken, allowing it to say this.
["Some people can't take a joke."]
"Alright now with that taken care of, let's make a plan." Emira said as the others nodded. As soon as the group were about to begin to make a plan, time stopped for Luz and Ardyn as two spheres appeared in front of them; a red colored sphere with wind, water, lightning, and fire surrounding it and a golden sphere with golden chains around it for Ardyn. The two looked at each other for a moment before nodding, ready to do this old song and dance before grabbing their respective sphere as time begins to resume.
"Install Assassin / Lancer" The two teens said in unison. While the Detention Track students had no idea what they meant, Ryker, Emira, and Amity knew exactly what was going on as they and the others covered their eyes as two pillars of light surrounded Luz and Ardyn. When the pillars disappear, everyone that was present there were surprised to see who took their friends place while Ryker had a grin on his face.
"Guys, I just came up with a plan." The Goldmark Hybrid said, grin still on his face.
Back in the hallways of Hexside the inspector drained a student named Amelia of her magic and threw her body away. It allowed her eye to heal and stop bleeding, however, it was still useless. "Hungry! Still hungry!" The greater basilisk said, wanting to consume more magic. More specifically, she wanted one particular kind of magic. A surge of magic that she felt just a few minutes ago and she wanted it. "Where are you, Ardyn 'Bronwyn' Pierce?"
"He's not here. However…"
The basilisk turned around to see who was talking to her, only to be swatted in the face with a golden chain that smashed her into the wall. The golden chain came from a sixteen-year-old androgynous person with long, beautiful hair that shimmers with a light-green color. his feet and hands are bare, with pants of pure white, and what appeared to be a very oversized white shirt that reached down to his shins. the basilisk got back up. Hissing angrily at the creature that stood before it. There was no way that this thing is human… Not from the deadly presence that this being has.
"My Master won't be able to deal with you at the moment. However, I, Servant of the Lance; Enkidu, will be you opponent." The Servant of the Lance, Enkidu, said, holding out his arms. "But first, you're going to tell me why the Emperor sent you here, Basilisk."
The inspector laughed at that. "Are you serious? I'm not here because of the Emperor!"
Enkidu looked at her in confusion. "You're not?"
"I killed the inspector and took her identity," the basilisk said, moving towards him. "When I heard that the hybrid child of the Bronwyn Family was here, I knew I had to come and see it for myself."
"And why would you be so eager to see my Master?" Enkidu asked as the monster got closer.
"I've been hungry for so long, and I knew that I could feed off his magic for as long as I please," said the monster, grinning a hideous grin.
"Well, there's going to be one problem with that," Enkidu said with a smirk. "You've got to get through me and my Master friends first."
Suddenly, an army of Emira Clones flew out from behind Enkidu and charged at the basilisk. The monster let out a startled cry before she was tackled by the clones as they dog piled on her.
Enkidu looked back to see Ryker and Emira. The girl came up with the idea to use her illusions to make clones, while Felix used his construction magic to make the clones solid to attack the monster.
"Take that!" He yelled.
However, the victory was short-lived when the basilisk sucked up all the clones into her mouth and ate them. Draining Ryker and Emira of their magic and they collapsed together as the Basilisk got back up, roaring at Enkidu.
"Viney! Your turn!" He yelled, as he backed up to have the monster stand in the middle of intersecting hallways. Down the halls to their right and left were Viney.
"Got it!" Viney cheered for her friend. "Get her, Puddles!"
Her pet griffin suddenly flew out from another hallway and tackled the Basilisk to the ground with Puddle clawing at the face of the false inspector.
Seeing the monster pinned down, Viney drew a magic circle and called her friend. "Jerbo, now!"
"On it!" Jerbo said in the Backroom. His abomination opened a door on the floor leading to the auditorium. Jerbo then summoned several thorny vines that shot up towards one of the ceiling doors and twisted around each other. The vines latch onto the door handle.
The inspector was about to clawed at Puddles and throw her off when the griffin let her go and steps back. The inspector was confused, before the door under her body opened, and she began to fall through. However, she held onto the floor to prevent herself from falling.
Enkidu rushed towards the monster and jumped on her stomach, pushing her through and falling with her. As he fell through into the secret room, Enkidu prepared his chains as the inspector got stuck in the door on the floor of the Secret Room of Shortcuts.
He stabbed the Chains of Heaven into the basilisk's body and sent her all the way through the doorway. The false inspector screamed in agony before she crashed on the stage of the auditorium as Enkidu hopped off the monster as Amity sprang into action. The witch summoned an abomination to hold her down with Enkidu doing the same with his chains.
"It's all you, Barcus!" Enkidu said. The dog student walked over to where the Basilisk was, barked, and grabbed the inspector's palm. He dumped a potion onto the inspector's hand. He squinted at it, then his eyes started to glow purple. He yelped at what he saw.
"Where am I? What's he doing? What'd he say?" The inspector asked.
"He's reading your palm," Enkidu said, jumping on the stomach of the basilisk and grabbing his battle Axe. "...and your future looks bleak. Now Kiichi!"
Enkidu and the others get back as another being appeared from the Backrooms. The person is a white-haired female with golden eyes adorning what looks like a red female-version of a Tengu outfit with armaments are a long red spear and a Tengu fan. This is Kiichi Hougen, an onmyouji from Kurama Temple.
"It's about time. I literally cannot wait." Kiichi said as she adorns a Tengu mask, preparing to use her Noble Phantasm with her Tengu fan. "The heavenly drum resounds. A sound akin to thunder, but thunder it is not. Heavenly dogs, similar to grand falling stars. Rikutou-Sanryaku: Maou-son Daiusen!"
As she was doing her chant, she disappeared into a flurry of feathers before reappearing as four clones over the pin downed inspector with different colored aura-like energy: Green, White, Yellow, and Orange, surrounding them. The first one to attack was the one with the green aura who created a small tornado to shred the Basilisk, then the one with the white aura created heavy rains as it begins to HEAVILY pelt the down inspector, following this was the one with he yellow aura as she rains lightning on the Basilisk who felt DOUBLE the pain sent she was in, and finally the one with the orange aura raises her Tengu fan, causing a pillar of fire to erupt from below the inspector, making it scream in agony from being burned alive. However, it didn't end there.
Suddenly, all the magic it ate was released as a series of floating blue orbs burst from the stomach of the basilisk. Each of the orbs flew up into the Secret Room of Shortcuts, making Jerbo fall back and watch as the orbs opened all the doors of the room and flew out. Returning to the proper witch. When Willow and Gus got their magic back, they gasped in shock and woke up as their colors returned. The same thing happened to the other students and teachers of Hexside. When it was all finished, there were no more orbs, and everyone was able to wake up again.
Ryker and Emira jumped down through the door in the Backroom and landed with the others in the auditorium, Viney healed Puddles' scratched claw and body as the griffin warbled and nuzzled her owner before flying off to find a place to sleep.
As he watched the dead body of the basilisk turning to ash, Enkidu used his thumb to wipe the small amount of the Basilisk's blood off his face.
"Well, that takes care of that!" Kiichi said as Enkidu nodded. However, before the two could talk any further, their bodies began to glow. "Aww but we just got here!"
"I know. However, we can't change that." Enkidu said as he turned to the Detention Kids, Ryker, Emira, and Amity. "Until we meet again. Take care of our Masters."
"Later you crazy kids!" Kiichi said as she and Enkidu were surrounded by spheres of light. When the spheres dissipate, Luz and Ardyn stood in the place of their respective Servants place but looking like they went through a marathon without stop. They were about to keel over if Amity didn't catch the two in time.
"Are you two, ok?" Amity asked as she checked over Luz and Ardyn as the detention kids, Ryker and Emira walked over to join them. "It looked like you got drained from that transformation alone…"
"Sorry about that. It always ends up like that" Ardyn said, rubbing the back of his head.
"Yeah. It always seems that every time we do that will always make us exhausted." Luz said as Amity shook her head.
"Still, that was really something else," Amity said, walking up to him with a grateful smile and a blush. "I can honestly say that you and the others—"
"Are in so much trouble!" said none other than Bump as he got up. This gained the attention of everyone in the room as he started to scold them. "Leaving your homeroom, mixing magic, and—is that a secret hideout?
Bump pointed up to the trap door, which Willow and Gus were looking down from. Seeing how angry their principal was, they duck away from the opening
"I'm going to have each and every one of you kicked out of this school," said the principal, making Viney, Jerbo, Barcus, and Ryker look down in shame. Ready to accept their punishment.
"Oh, hell no you're not!" Ardyn suddenly said, shocking everyone as he walked up to the man. "Are you seriously going to punish these guys for saving the school?!"
"That is not the issue! The issue is how they saved the school by mixing magic! Which is strictly forbidden!" Bump said, pointing at Ardyn. He then pulled out the rule book. "Now, if the Emperor's Coven can send an actual inspector this time—"
Ardyn looked at him in disbelief. "Is that really all you care about? Getting the money for the school? Was putting me in the Detention Track just so that you could impress the inspector? After everything that's happened today, have you even once asked yourself why we needed a secret hideout?"
"I don't care to know the ins and outs of rascality," Bump said, opening the book. "It goes against the rules set in place by the Emperor—"
"FUCK THE GODDAMN RULES!" Ardyn yelled, finally loosing his cool as he swings his axe, cutting the rule book down the middle.
"Hey! Do you know how expensive that was?!" Bump complained.
"Use your head. You're harboring a wanted criminal," Ardyn said, placing a hand on his chest. "How can you talk about following the rules if you're doing that? Look, I get it. You need coven money so that you can continue to keep the school running. You became a principal to help young witches like them. But is that money worth more than the well-being and happiness of your students? Would you have allowed them to die so you can have that money?"
"What?! Of course not! B-but—"
"They saved Hexside, and they did it by doing the one thing that you're punishing them for. If they can master two Tracks at once, then they have more potential than anyone else at this school. They should be allowed to study what they wish. And if it goes against the rules, then the rules need to change," said Ardyn.
Bump looked at the two sliced halves of the rule book, before looking at the Detention Track. Outsmarted and outnumbered by the Hybrid, with Luz and Amity walking up to stand beside Ardyn to give him their support, Bump sighed. The boy was right. He was wrong. He wanted to be a teacher to help students. But it seemed like he'd lost sight of that goal. All it took was someone to call him out.
"Alright, I'm smart enough to know when I've made a mistake," he said, throwing the book away. He looked at the detention track students and smiled. "Which tracks would you like to be in?"
The four of them gasped in excitement with bright smiles. This was it. They were finally going to live out their dream, thanks to Ardyn. One by one, they shouted their answers.
"Healing and Beast Keeping!"
"Plants and Abomination!"
"Construction and Potions!"
Bacrus barked, but he said Potions and Oracle.
"Then so be it," said Bump and used his magic to change the leggings and sleeves of their uniforms to reflect their new tracks.
Viney had blue sleeves for the Healing Track and orange leggings for the Beast Keeping Track. Jerbo's sleeves were green for the Plant Track, and his leggings were orchid for the Abomination Track. Ryker's selves were yellow for the Potion Track, and his leggings were brown for the Construction Track. Barcus, having no pants, had his right sleeve turned purple, and his left sleeve turned to the yellow color.
"Thank you, Principal Bump," Ryker said before an excited Emira hugged him and spun the boy around. Making him blush brightly.
"My pleasure," Bump said before pointing at them with a glare. "But if any of you cause more property damage, I'm feeding you to the Choosy Hat."
Ardyn smiled at his fellow detention track classmates. Happy to see them all finally being able to study what they want. He felt a hand on his shoulder and saw it was Luz, with Amity standing with her.
"You did a good thing for these guys, Ardyn," said Luz, admiring him more.
"Indeed," said Amity, nodding. "So, what kind of track would you like to study?"
"Oh, I think I know the answer to that," said Bump, before drawing a magic circle.
Just like before, a ring appeared at the feet of the hybrid before rising up. As it did so, it transformed the colors of his gray leggings. The right leg was turned into Abomination orchid, and the left was turned into Plant green. As the ring raised over his shoulders before disappearing, Ardyn's right sleeve was turned Healing blue, and his left was turned to Bard red. Both sleeves and leggings were divided into two shades of the same color, with the light tones going inwards toward his body and the darker colors going out near the cuffs and the bottom of the leggings.
"Whoa!" Ardyn said in awe as he looked over his new treads. It wasn't like anything that he'd seen before, and it looked great. He looked at Bump with a confused expression. "What does this mean?"
"It means from this day forth, you're the first student of Hexside to study all tracks," Bump said, looking at Ardyn with a proud smile.
Ardyn looked at Bump with wide eyes before he grinned with happiness and excitement. This was it! This was what he and Luz had been wanting, and Ardyn felt incredibly blessed to be able to have this moment.
However, he looked at Luz and saw her looking down with a depressed expression on her face. When she saw him facing her, Luz put on a smile, but it was fake. She was happy for her best friend and knew he deserved it, but it pained her that she wouldn't have the same opportunity as he did.
Ardyn turned back to Bump and said, "I…I can't accept this. This is something Luz, and I wanted together…."
"Well, good things come in pairs," said Bump, causing Luz to gasp as she was given the same transformation as her best friend. She was given the same colors as her best friend, but they were reversed. For her sleeves, she had green on the right and violet on the left, while her leggings had red on the left and blue on the right. Just like Ardyn, they were divided between normal and lighter tones, with the lighter half at the ends of her sleeves and legs.
Luz gasped when she saw this and squealed. "YES, YES, YES! I'm gonna study everything! Oh, thank you so much, Ardyn!" She exclaimed, and before she knew what she was doing, she gave him a big kiss on his cheek. As Ardyn's face turned as red as a tomato, Luz ran over to Amity and picked her up in a hug. "Amity! I'm going to be your Abomination class!"
"Y-Yes, I'm so happy," Amity said with a blush of her own.
Luz set the green-haired witch down and looked up at Willow, Gus, and Selene. "You guys! I'm going to study everything!" She exclaimed, waving at them.
"Alright! Woo!" Willow and Gus cheered for their friend as Selene clapped for the human, even though she had no idea who Luz was
Ardyn turned to Bump with a grateful smile. "Thank you."
"It's the least I could do," Bump said, grateful to the young man and his friends for saving his school and his students. He then surprised Ardyn by summoning Lord Calamity's picture from the Secret Room of Shortcuts. "You know, only one other student wanted to study every track. Unfortunately, she was never given the opportunity."
With a wipe of his hand, the graffiti on the picture disappears. And under it, all was none other than Eda Clawthorne, when she was still young. She had bright orange hair and didn't have her golden fang yet and had the yellow colors of the Potion Track. She was standing with a young Anna Bronwyn, her left arm over Eda's neck as she gave a peace sign. She was wearing the colors of the Healing Track.
"Aunt Eda… Mom?" Ardyn said before smiling. "Well, what do you know?"
After the Great Basilisk attack, the day proceeded as normally as possible, with sixnew students taking multiple tracks. They were going to need a full schedule rework, but it didn't bother them one bit. After Ardyn and Luz waved goodbye to their new friends, they walked towards Eda and Romani, who were waiting for them on their staffs.
"Hey, there's our star students," said the Owl Lady as Ardyn and Luz hopped on her staff. "So, how was your first day? Those are interesting uniforms."
"Well, we were thrown in detention and then saved the school from a basilisk," Ardyn said before smiling and shrugging. "So, you know, pretty normal day."
"Really?" Romani said as the kids smiled and nodded.
"Wait, where's King?" Luz asked, looking around for the little demon.
Suddenly the front entrance burst open as Principal Bump waved a broom at King as the demon fled, squealing. He ran to the residents of the Owl House and jumped into Luz's arms.
"And stay out, you little rat!" Bump yelled, shaking a fist before slamming the door.
"You don't understand my teaching method!" King yelled back at him. "Man, teaching is not as rewarding as Luz's books make it.
"Tell me about it. Alright, let's get you kids home. I'm honestly wanting to know about your day," Eda said as she took off with Ardyn and Luz hanging on behind her. Today was a historic day for Hexside, and with the two new students, there was surely more to come.
"Also, I have a higher bounty than you, Aunt Eda!" Ardyn said with a big smirk on his face as Eda and Romani looked at him in shock
"WHAT?! Oh, that's so not fair!"