"And you're certain about that?" The voice of Dieter asked through the private scroll. "Multiple tracks?"
"Yeah, Principal Bump decided to open up all the courses to any student." Boscha answered as she walked down a pathway to Bonesburrough. "Sounds pretty lame to me. If you have to try a bunch of different things, you're probably not good at any of them." She rolled her eyes at the thought that anyone else would waste their time trying multiple tracks like the human. At the end of the day they could still only pick one coven only to be in.
"Well that certainly qualifies as interesting news. We'll be sure to make the appropriate response. You've done well for us so far, Boscha. You're help is most appreciated." Dieter complimented.
Boscha wasn't sure what she'd done exactly. She'd just done what their deal had called for. She'd spied out the lone human in the school and reported her every activity which wasn't all that interesting and whatever else was going on in the school. Whatever the Emperor's Coven would do with this seemingly useless information about multi-tracks didn't concern her in the slightest. As long as her reporting work hurt the human, it was barely work at all.
"Sure, just make sure you have my ingredients like we agreed." She said, having very loosely listened to the man on the opposite end of the line.
"Oh don't worry. We've gotten everything ready for you and we'll be sending it over very soon. You can actually expect it sometime later today, in fact." Dieter responded as a small smile stretched across Boscha's face as her plans were all coming together. "Though I have to say, compliance potions and romance reapers are nothing to play around with."
The girl's expression quickly changed to nervousness as she heard this. "I-I didn't …" She stammered out.
"Oh it was easy to figure out once we cross-referenced the ingredients with known potions." The coven member said casually. "But a deal is a deal and I'm not going to report this. You just do your thing and we'll do ours. Happy brewing." He signed off as the call ended and Boscha clutched her chest at the close call that had just transpired. Any other instance would have seen her in serious trouble and the thought of possibly being thrown into the conformatorium like some wild witch criminal was not something she wanted to think about.
Aside from her spying, things had been going well all things considered for her in the weeks since she'd begun this assignment. The new Banshees had scraped together their first winning, the dominant performance overshadowing the losing streak, even if the flyer derby team had eclipsed that win with one of their own. She'd found out that Celine had kept and hidden a good chunk of the money they'd won on their outing for safekeeping and the two were having a day out with the rest of the team at a little fair taking place in town today.
In addition, it gave her an excuse to get out of the house and away from her mother. The two had a rather unpleasant exchange on the subject of where she was headed first: The release of two of her old crew from the aforementioned conformatorium. She looked to her scroll at a penstagram image of the two, the beanie wearing oracle student Morvo and the green skinned, four-eyed potion student Seth, being thrown out of the facility by Wrath. The next image showed the two with an arm on the other's shoulder with the note, "The boys are back in town.". It was posted under their shared account, DuoOfDestruction, that they had set up after leaving Boscha's group to post videos of them performing crazy stunts. It was one such stunt involving a prank with a sleeping coven head that got them put their for a month to set them straight. From the image, it didn't seem to have worked.
This was the point of contention between mother and daughter as Hana objected to Boscha spending more time with the two that she saw as a bad influence. This led Boscha to commenting once again how her mother had no social life and nothing outside herself and her small apothecary business before she stormed out of the house. To think it all started with Hana simply asking for her help for one day made it all the worse, though the teen quickly cast the thought from her mind as she was surprised by Morvo and Seth as they jumped to either side of her, the later holding up his scroll for a video feed.
"Look who came to greet us on our release. Our old friend, Boscha." Seth smiled wide as he pulled an annoyed Boscha in closer.
"Hello, losers." She said as she attempted to pry herself away only to be hemmed in on the other side by the blonde haired Morvo.
"Ain't she a riot?" he said as she shoved off the two who continued their recording.
"And don't forget to stay tuned. We've got a big announcement coming soon. This is DuoOfDestruction signing off." The two turned to Boscha with smiles. "How's it been Boscha? What's changed on the outside since we've been locked up?"
"Seriously?" she asked. "It's been a month, not twenty years. But to answer your question, the gang abandoned me, I've set up a new Banshees team, and I may or may not have committed several felonies."
Morvo shrugged at the last one. "Eh, who hasn't?"
"Sounds like you've had it rough. How you holding up?" Seth asked Boscha who let out a scoff and rolled her eyes.
"Please, like I needed any of those losers anyway." The three-eyed girl said confidently.
"Anyway, now that we're out, we've got a big project coming up and I guarantee you and everyone else are gonna be blown away." Seth assured.
"Yep, no one will see this coming." Morvo added as both he and Seth laughed at some inside joke. They stopped abruptly as the blonde turned back to her. "We should totally hang out again sometime."
"Okay, definitely not ominous or creepy." Boscha said as she turned away from the two. "But that sounds like a plan. Catch you weirdos later. I've got a previous engagement to attend to." She parted ways with the two before taking Maya and riding into the town proper where the fair was already in full swing.
"Boscha! Over here!" She turned her head to find Celine and her two other teammates, the aptly named Eileen and the horn headed Nyala waiting by one of the food stands. The girls walked over to her and she gave each of them a greeting as they gathered around her.
"What's up, Banshees? How's that first win feeling?" Boscha asked excitedly as she reached them.
"Loving it!" Nyala said confidently.
They all came together and formed a circle as they all touched heads. "Banshees forever!" They all shouted into the air, catching the attention of everyone walking around them. All the girls laughed afterwards as the three girls looked to their team captain.
"So, what should we hit up first?" Eileen asked.
Nyala scanned the area. "Hmm, eye don't know." She said while closing one eye and looking around. "What do you think?"
Both Eileen and Celine looked annoyed by her bad joke. They groaned and walked off. "Come on girls. It was just a joke. I'm sorry. Don't go away mad." She ran after them as Boscha had a small smile on her face and followed behind.
The group toured around the fairgrounds as they jumped aboard rides and ate all manner of foods, to their detriment, not always in that order. The girls soon gathered at an outdoor cafe and enjoyed some nice cold drinks. Eileen and Nyala chuckled when Celine mentioned that the ice tea didn't compare to an apple bloodtinis she had enjoyed, believing it to be a joke. They were both surprised when Boscha wove the tale of how she and the oracle student had robbed a casino blind and got away with it, for the most part. Some things were certainly embellished but they made for a more impressive story.
"You girls are hardcore." Eileen said as Boscha and Celine puffed out their chests with pride.
"So where to next?" Nyala asked.
"How about we head over to the marketplace and get some shopping done?" Celine suggested. "All the merchants have the best wares out for these events and I'm buying." This garnered cheers from the other two girls, though Boscha was silent.
"You girls go ahead without me. I'll catch up." Her response sounded sincere but Boscha was just not in the mood to bump into her mother and spoil what had so far been a good day out with the girls.
"Uh sure." Celine said hesitantly but departed with the others. "Suit yourself. If you change your mind you know where to find us."
She waved the group off as she picked up her drink and started walking. Boscha had to admit that it was good to get out and just enjoy the day with others. For most of her recent spare time she had spent cooped up in her lab at work on her projects. After meeting up with the two goofball brothers this morning and hanging with the girls, this felt like the days when she would just hang around with Amelia, Cat and Skara. Boscha was shaken out of her head by muffled sobbing as she passed a tent.
The girl looked to find a small child, a balloon tied to his right wrist crying. She recognized the red skin and large mouth full of teeth from walking the halls of the school. He was a baby class student but she'd also seen him at some of the after school clubs. Normally, Boscha would just walk on and go about her business. Children crying was nothing new to her and, in fact by her own disturbing admission she found it rather soothing. But this time, she paused and felt a rather strange sensation in her chest as she started to remember something from a long time ago.
"Mommy! Mommy!" The four year old Boscha called out, her cries drowned out by the masses of people passing her by in the bustling streets of Latissa. She had come her with her mother on a business trip and quickly grew board with the grownups talking about things she didn't understand and decided to go exploring. This proved to be a mistake as she quickly became lost in the sea of people and unable to locate where she had come from.
It didn't take long for her to become disoriented and afraid as she ran into an alleyway for refuge from the crowds. She rested her back against the wall of a building and brought her knees up into her chest and cried uncontrollably. The child had no idea how long she stayed in that cold lonely place before the sound of a familiar voice brought her face up from her tear stained leggings.
"Boscha!" An exhausted voice called as the girl spotted the recognizable pink hair of her mother looming over her. Boscha winced in fear as she knew her mother would be none too pleased with her running off on her own and embarrassing her in front of her potential business partners.
She looked back down to the ground in shame, not even able to look at the woman as she answered. "I'm sorry." The girl was surprised when a pair of hands scooped her up and Hana held her tightly to her chest.
"I thought I lost you." Hana said in an uncharacteristically calm and soothing voice. Boscha could feel something wet dripping down onto her head as her mother held her closely, planting a kiss on the child's cheek. "Don't cry, it's okay now. Mommy's here. Mommy's here." The two just stayed there for a good long while, Boscha resting in her mother's arms as Hana rocked the girl back and forth.
Boscha snapped back into the present and slowly approached the sobbing child and kneeling down to his level. "Hey kiddo. You okay?" She said as he looked up to her. "Braxas, right?"
He nodded slowly as he got a good look at her. "Boscha?" She wasn't surprised he recognized her. Just about everyone in town knew her by reputation alone. "I lost my daddy. I can't find him anywhere." Tears ran down his face, a rather large amount given his small, almost unnoticeable eyes just under his hood.
The girl placed a gentle hand to his face and wiped the tears away. "Hey, no need to fear, Boscha's here." Her voice was the perfect mix of confident and comforting as she lifted him up and onto her shoulders. "We'll find your daddy in no time. That's the Boscha guarantee."
The two patrolled the area for what seemed a long time, though Boscha helped to ease the tension by purchasing several snacks and souvenirs for her charge to keep him in good spirits. She also regaled him with several stories of her hardest grudgby matches as he listened with amazement. Boscha couldn't really describe the feeling she felt inside but it wasn't unpleasant. Maybe it would have been nice to have a little brother or sister to have look up to her and teach them everything she knew.
"Braxas." The two heard a deep voice say as Braxas looked to the source.
"Daddy!" He shouted joyfully. Boscha looked to see the large gray figure of Warden Wrath running towards them. She felt she should kick herself for not putting two and two together that the warden of the conformotorium, with his large maw, was Braxas' dad, although she recalled Principal Bump introducing him to the school with some important note. If she hadn't been texting Cat she probably would have remembered that fact. In any case she placed the boy down who ran to his father and embraced him in a tight hug. Her job done she turned and began to walk off only to feel something wrap around her leg. She turned to look down and see Braxas giving her a hug. "Thank you Boscha. You're my hero."
She gave a small smile and knelt down to return the hug. "No problem kiddo." They parted ways as Boscha watched the father and son walk off, hand in hand. The smile on her face disappeared as her eyes winced a bit and she found herself wiping away one tear after another as they started to pour out uncontrollably. Maya noticed this as she crawled out of the bag and onto her owners shoulder to comfort her. "Thanks girl. Come on. There's something I need to do."
Elsewhere in the Bonesburough fairgrounds Hana was setting up her modest apothecary cart. With all the foot traffic in the area during these events she found it was often best to close down the shop and bring out the old cart to set up where all the action was. The cart had a rickshaw style that allowed her to pull it before she found an open spot to set up. Hana opened the side panel to reveal bottles and vials of her wares, filled with concoctions of various colors that jangled from the motions as the cart sat down and she fixed the legs in place.
Hana pulled out a chair from a holder on the backside of the cart and placed it directly on the front left side so as to let everyone see what she had to offer. She smiled and greeted several people who saw her as they passed and on occasion stopped to see what she had to offer. The Hasdrubal woman had to admit that, while she loved her shop, it was good to get out and see everyone that didn't stop in.
This however made her think back to the unfortunate exchange between Boscha and herself. She thought about everything that had been said and it caused her to ponder whether her daughter, despite her attitude, had a point. Hana was usually always either in the shop or back at home working on what to sell at the shop or just preparing meals. But it was a simple life and she enjoyed it, although she had to admit that it did get lonely at times. She thought to herself if this was a reason for her wanting to spend more time, any time really with her daughter. Perhaps, though another had to do with something more personal.
She was pulled from her thoughts as a customer approached and asked for something that might help with ridding a garden of annoying pests that not even a beast-keeping coven member could dislodge. Hana reached up to find something that would do the trick only for her hand to accidentally dislodge a rectangular jar that fell from one of the racks. She reached out to grab it but it slipped from her fingers and raced towards the ground, but it was stopped by a swifter pair of hands.
"Gotcha!" Hana looked up to see a girl with tanned skin wearing odd looking clothes, her dark brown hair styled in a short hair cut. The girl handed her back the potion as Hana gently placed it back in it's spot before finishing the transaction between the previous customer. After finishing up and putting the money away, Hana turned to the girl. "Thank you. If that had fallen I hate to think what would have happened."
"No problem at all, Ma'am." The girl said as she gave a playful salute. "Happy to help."
Hana tilted her head slightly as she looked the girl over and noticed her round ears. "Oh my, you must be the human girl from Hexside."
"That's me, Luz Noceda." She offered her hand and shook with the woman. "Pleasure to meet you."
"Hana Hasdrubal, and the pleasure is all mine. I've heard quite a few stories about you from my daughter." Hana said pleasantly with a warm smile.
Luz stared at her for a moment, taking in her facial features before responding with surprise. "Are you Boscha's mom?" The woman gave a small confirming nod to the question. "Oh. Phew, I didn't want to just assume because of the three eyes and all..." Luz stammered a bit as Hana laughed.
"It's quite alright. You wouldn't be the first to do that. It can be difficult for some to associate myself and my daughter due to our … contrasting personalities these days." Hana reassured as Luz calmed down.
"Boscha is certainly an … acquired taste. No offense." Luz said hesitantly.
"None taken." Hana said with a smile.
Luz looked around for a moment before speaking again. "Just between us, she can't really set someones eyes on fire, can she?"
"Oh most definitely. In fact, just last week..." She looked to the human girl who sweated nervously. "I'm just joking, dear." Luz let out a breath of relief as Hana turned back to grab something off of her cart.
"I know Boscha can be difficult at the best of times. I have to blame myself partially for that." She grabbed a circular bottle with green liquid in it and handed it to Luz. "On the house."
"Thanks." The human placed it in her satchel bag before turning her attention back to the woman. "But why would you blame yourself?"
"Oh dear, that is such a long story. I wouldn't want to hold you up." Hana said.
"Well, I've got nothing but time today and maybe I can help out with bringing a little business your way while I'm here. I'm pretty good and drawing a crowd." Luz's warm smile and exaggerated movements, in addition to her quick show with a series of activated light glyphs helped to sell herself as Hana chuckled.
"I suppose I can't argue with that." Hana pulled down another chair for her to sit as she began. "A bit cliché but it all started when I was a student at Hexside myself. Back then I wasn't much different than my daughter is now. Always competing with my rival, Odalia Blight."
Luz's eyes narrowed a bit at that name. "Oh I know her." Her voice took on a dark tone as she said this.
Hana smiled a bit. She was quickly starting to like this girl. "We were always going back and forth, trying to outdo each other at every turn. From our first day, to graduation, it never seemed to end. Even after school it went on to who could have a more successful business. For a time we were pretty evenly matched."
"Really?" Luz was surprised by that since Hana seemed to have a rather simple business in town in contrast to Blight Industries.
"Certainly. For a time my potion making rivaled anything Alador could push out with those walking goo sacks." She cringed a bit as she was never a fan of abominations. "But, then Boscha was born." She paused for a moment as she cast her gaze off in the distance.
"Or perhaps I should say that it was some time before that." She looked over to the human girl who was listening with wrapped attention. "This next part is... difficult to talk about, and I'm only telling you this because … well I'm not really sure why. Perhaps I just need someone to hear it, but not a word of what I'm about to tell you to Boscha. Understood?" Her stern words caused Luz to pantomime a zipper over her lips.
"It was about three years into my business. I still wasn't married, I'd never really had the time. But when Odalia had the twins, I suppose that just caused that competitive streak to kick in again." Hana said this with a bit of shame in her voice. "It was stupid reasoning for what I did. I remembered an old flame from Hexside, Leonard. He was always a such a gentleman and quite cute as well. We were always together in our school days but after graduation we drifted apart for a while."
"Anyway, one day out of the blue, I called him up and we went out on our first date in years and the flame was still there, different but still there. I suppose we'd both changed in the time we were apart. The business was my main focus and I couldn't find it I me to give my heart fully to anything else. And Leonard was an adventurous type, always off on some new expedition. Still, it didn't take long for me to propose and he readily accepted … with a caveat." Hana was silent for a long time.
"A caveat?" Luz asked her as the woman pulled herself from her thoughts.
"A stipulation in our agreement. We'd be together without actually being together. Once we were both certain Boscha was on the way, that was it." This left Luz in a stunned silence.
"Oh we'd see each other on occasion. I'd bump into him while I was on business and he was picking up supplies. He'd ask about her and we'd talk a bit and that would be it for a while."
Luz looked to her with a mix of shock and sadness. "Does Boscha..."
Hana simply sighed "Boscha doesn't know him. She thinks that he was some no-name deadbeat that ran out on us. So I raised her myself and I molded her with the same mindset I came up in; to be the best and not to let anyone or anything stand in your way. And you see what she's able to accomplish when she puts her mind to it. I couldn't have been more proud of her then."
"So what changed?" Luz inquired.
The Hasdrubal woman looked to her with a pained look. "Honestly, I can't even explain it fully. My business was at it's peak, I was rubbing shoulders with coven heads, Boscha was achieving everything, and I couldn't dream of more. Then, one morning I woke up and I realized that I … wasn't happy. I had everything I ever wanted, my business, my home and it wasn't at all what I thought it would be. It didn't feel like any of it meant a thing and I just felt empty inside."
She paused again and let out a heavy sigh. "So I decided that it all had to go. I sold my company and invested in Blight Industries."
"That must have been a humbling experience." Luz commented.
"You have no idea." Hana responded. "Even if I had all the money I could ever need, I still loved potion making so I purchased a small shop where I could still make use of my skills. But really the only thing that mattered in my life was Boscha, but by the time I made a change in my life I'd already imprinted my old values on her."
Luz couldn't find the right words yet to respond to this information.
"I've tried to talk to her, spend some time with her and get her to understand but competition, rivalries, arrogance is all just a way of life to her now. I just don't want her to end up the same way; pursuing something for so many years, dedicating every waking hour to it only for the day to come that you realize that you've destroyed every meaningful connection in your life for something that doesn't matter. Perhaps Boscha and our relationship are just the last in a long line of things my ambition has ruined."
Luz placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. You're doing the best you can. Change isn't easy for anyone, I can relate to that. Maybe you just have to realize that Boscha is her own person, she'll make her own decisions, good and bad. You can't change the past but the important thing is that no matter what happens, you'll be there for her when she needs you."
Hana chuckled again at this young human girl who was seated by her. "You are certainly wise beyond your years, Luz. Your parents must be very proud of you."
Luz cast her gaze to the ground for a moment before turning back to Hana with a bright smile. "Thank you."
Down the road leading through the market place, Boscha slowly walked with Maya still perched on her shoulder as she talked to herself. "Mom, I just wanted to … What I mean is that I'm …" She'd spent most of the time trying to find the words necessary to talk to her mother about the problems between them. Needless to say it was not going very smoothly with Boscha becoming quite frustrated with herself. "Gah! Maya, why does this have to be so hard?" The palisman clicked several times in response. "No, of course I've never apologized to anyone in my entire life. It's a sign of weakness."
Maya rolled her eyes and responded, causing Boscha to sigh. "Because she's my mother, and...maybe she has changed, but she's the reason for who I am today and I should remember that. So yeah, I owe her an apology." Maya sounded off again with something sarcastic that her owner couldn't help but laugh along with as she rubbed the crab's shell. "Okay, smart aleck."
The girl soon caught sight of the old apothecary cart as she worked her way through the crowd and took a deep breath. As she got into full view of the cart, she spotted her mother talking and laughing with the human. "What the heck?" She said in pure disbelief as Maya could sense her anger and quickly scurried down into the bag. Boscha furiously marched over to the cart. "What are you doing here?" She demanded to know as she caught the attention of the two.
"Boscha?!" Luz gasped with fear as she saw the triclops glaring at her. "Fancy meeting you here..." She did her best to deescalate the situation which, from her perspective seemed to be rather tense.
"Sweetie, it's alright." Hana stepped in. "Luz was just helping me run the cart for the day."
"No, that's what I was coming to do, but you bring her here?" Boscha was seething. "Are you so desperate to spend time with someone that you just decide to replace me with her?!"
Luz calmly approached her. "Boscha, it's not like that. I was just..."
"I don't want to hear anything you have to say, human. It's bad enough I have to deal with you in school." Boscha stepped forward aggressively, forcing Luz back. "You turned Amity and all my other friends against, and now you have the gall to try to steal my mother too! Why don't you just go back where you came from!" She shoved Luz with enough force to knock the girl to the ground as she fell on her back.
"Boscha Hasdrubal, that's enough!" Hana said forcefully. "You are out of line, young lady."
Boscha looked at her and then around to everyone who was taking in the sight. "Mom, stop before you embarrass yourself." The girls voice reeked of sass at the older woman.
Hana found herself shrinking back like before but shook it off and reasserted her parental power. "The only thing embarrassing me is your bad attitude. Now apologize to Luz, right now."
"I'd sooner eat fire bees than apologize to that freak!" Boscha shouted.
"That's it, you're grounded!" Hana said, taking Boscha completely by surprise. "No grudgby, no going out with your friends, nothing until you change your attitude and start treating people with respect."
Boscha was taken aback by this. It was bad enough that her mother was trying to pull this on her but in front of a fair full of people including her teammates who she now spotted out of the corner of her eye. "You can't ground me!"
"I'm your mother, of course I can. And you won't be needing this." Hana whirled her finger and levitated Boscha's personal scroll away from her and into her own hands.
"Hey!" Boscha angrily tried to reach out for it in vain. This was the final straw for Boscha as she clenched her fist tightly and grit her teeth. "I hate you!" Everyone froze around her in shock with some excusing themselves from the situation.
Hana stood there, a bit stunned herself as she closed her eyes and calmed down. "Go home, Boscha." Her daughter opened her mouth in protest before her mother's eyes opened again. They looked completely different from the soft eyes that Boscha had become accustomed to and reminded her more of the woman she remembered from her early childhood. "Go. Home." The forcefulness in her voice and the intensity of her eyes completely disarmed the girl as she slowly turned and walked away, bringing Maya out as she changed to staff form.
"Boscha briefly stopped and stood shoulder to shoulder with Luz who had gotten to her feet. "You'll get yours, human." She whispered to her before flying off.
"Luz, are you alright?" Hana asked, the intense tone of voice and her death stare vanishing as her softer voice took back over.
"Yes." She responded softly looking away in shame. "I'm sorry I caused all of this."
"No. This was honestly a long time coming." Hana reassured with a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I'll talk to her."
Boscha's trip home was silent though Maya could tell there were a multitude of unexpressed emotions from her owner as they finally touched down at her home. Boscha stomped up the steps to her front door and went to reach for her keys. She paused and looked down at a wrapped box with a note attached: To Boscha from a friend. The girl immediately knew what this was as she quietly grabbed it and carried the box inside. Maya transformed back and scuttled across the floor with a myriad of concerned sounds that went completely unheeded as Boscha was focused on the box.
"This is it." She whispered to herself as she went down into her lab with the crab following behind. Boscha began ripping the paper off and soon opened the box to find the labeled vials as she requested. She leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor as she clutched the box tightly to her chest and sat in silence as Maya worriedly nuzzled up next to her.