Chapter 4:

Black and Fantasia

The beginning of July had slipped by unnoticed, life spinning like a millstone against grain, the month was incomprehensible to the inhabitants and residents of the Boiling Isles, those willing and unwilling. The heat topped out in the isles no matter which month, but July made the air feel weighted, the weight of Atlas and Oya on their shoulders. Blistering, burning temperature had been an unwritten thing in the Isles, no one spoke of it, and yet if there was even a slight change, everyone would most certainly notice and mention it. Today was one of those days. Etheridge felt the weight and heat in full swing, now. His mind felt heavy, blood boiling like the seas, and his posture almost like that of a humpback, his head downturned so the sun's rays barely touched the gaunt skin on his forehead.

His name was simply Etheridge. No middle or surname. Etheridge had acned almond brown skin that alternated in hue in various places on his upper body, wrists and arms a sickly pale beige, chest and neck a russet brown, and face stiff and rigid and covered in scars. His coily black hair was typically stuck in clumps, with dead skin filling in the spaces between, however, today, Etheridge's hair was relatively clean after his sister had helped him clean up a little a few days before. Waking up contented to stay inside the house again, as he always did this time of the year despite being enrolled in Hexside as a first year, he joined the kids on the trip anyway. Though previous schools had accepted this as they did with the other seemingly 'rich' kids, notwithstanding he and his family being staunchly middle class, he simultaneously emitted the air of high class, through his vocabulary and knowledge of ancient texts that had long been banned and destroyed because of Belos, and low class, from appearance to his seemingly inexplicable ability to find some way to rile in others a feverish fury. Florence, though, haled him here. As she typically did with events like this. Tired of him staying inside every summer, she forced him to go along with the other students on the trip and chaperoned him so when he hid out somewhere in the town, she could drag his ass back kicking and screaming. This time, though he was mostly accepting this time, where typically he would distract her and disappear again, was now entirely silent. Florence shrugged, glad to not miss this event herself.

"So, what's this trip we're going on again?" Etheridge asked his sister. "Some Witch job fair, you said?"

"Covention, Etheridge," Florence responded with a smile. "It's where people are set up in a coven and brought into society as a proper witch."

"Sounds real fundamentalist," he rejoindered. "Like I'm gonna be accepted into some magic cult…"

"It isn't a cult. It's a coven, a set path for your future."

"Yeah, no. I don't understand why you'd want your path narrowed like that." He scratched the back of his head. "Why can't I just do what I want to do, again?"

"This is how it is, Etheridge and you can't do anything to change it, not when you're staring on the outside like you are right now."

Etheridge grumbled, "I'm not joining a damn cult."

"We have to find you something! You can't just stay in the house for the rest of your life." She urged.

"I could have if you didn't decide to take me out here." He hissed, slightly indignant at her insistence that he get into covens. "I get it, I don't have magic. But that doesn't mean I have to act like I do."

It was true. Etheridge had no affinity for magic. There was no bile sac residing next to his heart and to add to this distress, there were two round ears on his head. His parents were shocked to see this when he got adopted by them, of course, they hadn't been notified about his major deformities or the scars and marks on his body.

They loved him despite this, and he cherished them just as well, at least as much as any teenager can with growing independent thought and rebellious actions. Fortunately, Hexside took in scholars of all trades, so he enrolled in Historiography and Humanities. Topics that interested him but, to his father and sister, secured no base in wealth. Nonetheless, there were trades that he could pursue despite the deformity and his interest in liberal studies. He was aware of this.

"I just want you to fit in, Etheridge, you understand that! The bullies at Hexside can be awful!" she clapped a hand on his shoulder. He was aware of this, too. "I won't force you into anything and neither will our parents, but you have to do something outside of reading books and writing poetry. That won't get you really far."

"It's good poetry," Etheridge retorted.

She huffed. "Then how come no one else sees it, but you?"

"Cause you won't get it, only adults would understand!"

"Adults like you?" she said in jest.

He paused, but continued his rant, "It's about discrimination, not that shit you see every day, someone tries to get a job, they don't get it cause their thousand eyes are weird. Institutional stuff, like that massacre a decade ago."

"I know…" she said flatly, "the one where those outsider witches were killed. You mention it all the time."

He left out his Anti-Magic background. That he was involved in the massacre.

"Yeah, they were people like me. No magic. Quiet living. Yet those goons who control the conformatorium killed them anyway, right?" he explained, "That's the stuff I write about. People killing people because of this fundamentalist stuff you buy into."

"And that's your speech on why I should take you back?"

"No, it's just to make sure you know I hate you for this."

"Well, we're here, so you're not getting out of this, Etheridge." They stopped at a large building, with a sign in front of it reading "COVENTION TODAY" in massive letters and "alchemists anonymous tomorrow" under it.

"You're going in my next poem, I hope you know." He crossed his arms and recited as they walked in, "You're going in my next poem, I hope you know." He crossed his arms and recited as they walked in, "My eyes grew dim, and I could no more gaze; a wave of longing through my body swept, and, hungry for the old, familiar ways, I turned aside and bowed my head and wept."

"That was nice."

"Yeah, wait till I mention the overbearing sister."

The two walked inside, observing the various covens and tracks, Florence attempting to get Etheridge to join one and each time, he objected. If it wasn't one reason it was another and soon enough, Florence had found herself sitting on a nearby bench to calm down. "You know you can't just say all of them don't fit your taste, right? You know you like some of these, like the artist's coven, the bard's coven, the reading coven…"

"Where's the cow coven?"

"Cow?"

"Yeah, 'cause you're feeding me a lot of bull-" Etheridge stopped suddenly, his head facing a nearby group with a copper, brown-skinned teen in it. "Hey, that's the new guy!"

"Kurt?"

"No, the one with the clipped hair."

She stood up and squinted her eyes, "That's a girl."

"How can you tell?"

"I met Kurt, the guy standing next to her and he said he had a sister with that description," Florence explained. "Short hair, kinda tall for her age, exuberant personality. Uh—" at that moment she started freaking out over something, "There you go. Her name is Luz, if you wanna go say hi or talk to her, maybe…"

"Maybe what?"

"Take a shot?"

"Take a shot? Hell no," he responded looking Florence in the eye. "She's your friend's brother. I wouldn't do that to him or you. Besides, she's not my type."

"Oh? And what would little Etheridge's type be?"

"Six inches and big as titan." He answered with a chuckle. Florence slapped him on the shoulder, "No, the person I imagine is a lot less… er, excitable, than her."

"Well, maybe we could just go on and talk with them, they know me, so it won't be a fuss. I could introduce you to Kurt and maybe you could make friends with her."

He paused again, shifting slightly in his spot before moving again. "Sure, whatever, I'll play nice if you want to meet your boyfriend. Just don't tell him I'm related to you."

She blushed slightly, "First, he's not my boyfriend, and second…" she punched him in the shoulder. "You're my brother. I'll tell the whole world that if I need to."

Kurt felt a chill run up his spine, and just as it relaxed, Florence and an unknown person appeared a few feet beside them. "Hey, Kurt." Florence greeted him. "It's nice to see you here."

He responded with silence.

"Oh, I forgot, you don't uh…" she spun her finger and a wave of magic washed over her. Luz watched in awe beside him. "Yeah, there it is, hey." He walked up closer, inquiring about why she was here. "I'm here for the convention, same as you and your friends. Speaking of which…"

Kurt turned and noticed the confused looks on Luz, King, Eda, and the others, he had forgotten they hadn't been there. It was a feeling foreign to him, being on the inside of a situation rather than outside. Aiming his attention at them and conveying their names. She nodded in understanding and shook their hands in order, Eda, Luz, then King. Willow and Gus introduced themselves and she met them with the same courtesy as the previous. There was a brief pause before she corrected herself.

"I'm Florence, by the way." She mollified, "This is my brother, Etheridge."

Etheridge glanced at each of them and raised a single hand to greet them. "I'd say it's nice to meet you all, but honestly, I don't care enough about my sister's friends to say so." There was a beat before he chuckled, the crack going over all their heads, "I'm kidding, you guys. Don't you know how to take a joke?"

Eda immediately took Florence aside, the latter asking vague questions about her thinking she was required to get to know her some. Etheridge went to mess with King trying to figure out if he was a dog or a living skull being. Luz pulled Kurt to the side during the niceties and whispered to him, "Who are these people?"

"They're my friends," he divulged, "Florence is my friend."

"These are the friends you made that day you went missing." She rasped.

Kurt could tell she was still annoyed by it, the glowering had disappeared somewhat from a few days ago, but the scowls still seemed to grace her face every time he was forced to mention it. She hadn't forgotten any of the things that had happened since they got there, in fact. Adegast, Eda, and Wrath, all times he had lost it. Something was very wrong with him, but she couldn't tell what in specific. She felt like he was pulling away from her somewhat. And if he knew anything about her, she likely blamed herself for all of it. He backtracked, "They took care of me, Luz. Her and the others are all… nice."

She hummed dolefully.

While Luz and Kurt talked, Eda took the initiative in introducing herself to Florence and Etheridge, however, she was going under an alias. Before she left, she – ugh – combed her hair and had Luz dutch braid it, then she wore a chaperon to cover her head, a long underskirt, a mahogany red skirt, a sable black shirt, and a red vest. There was something she needed to do here. Rumor was her sister was here, though, and in a typical situation that would be a dealbreaker in going someplace, but today it was necessary she talk with her.

She shook Florence's hand, "Hi, I'm Gertrude Dharma." A weird name that Kurt suggested on paper.

"Nice to meet you." They let go, and exchanged pleasant conversation until she went to converse with the other Hexside students. 'Gertrude' got the feeling that she was a goody two shoes, not only from the way she acted, but how she talked like a noble would. She certainly came from money, at least more money than the usual resident of Bonesborough. She wondered how the other one fit into her little narrative. After she had enough she went outside catching her breath, it was not easy trying to hide from so many prying eyes. She found company quicker than expected.

"Hi, what's with the pre-renaissance Dutch mother get-up?" It was that kid.

"And what's with the attitude?"

"Well, I'm sure you wouldn't feel pleased if someone grabbed you by your babushka and dragged you to a place you feel very little affection for." He explained, "Coventions aren't my thing."

"Hm. I know how you feel, kid. These places can get real stuffy, real quick," 'Gertrude' opined, this kid certainly piqued her interest, though. "But you should stick around your sister. She seems to know her way around here."

"Yeah. She goes every year since she's trying her best to get into the Emperor's coven, the snootiest of all of them. All of them are assholes, I tell you." He uttered, "I don't know why anyone would align themselves with that group of people. They're more like shameless sycophants..."

"Even though I respect the animosity…" She looked down at him, entirely fired up by the Emperor's coven, "You're entirely too young to make that kind of generalization, kid. People are people. Not everyone in the group is an ass— a bad person."

"Yeah, tell me that again when you get burned by these fucks." He retorted.

She sighed, realizing the ceremony was going to get started. She planned to stay outside, but she heard whispers and felt people closing in on her. 'Gertrude' walked inside, pulling Etheridge by his shirt.

"What?" he questioned.

"Nothing. Let's go meet with the others. Follow my lead." She began walking, "C'mon, small fry."

"Okay, just because you're like seven foot doesn't mean you get to talk to me like I'm short. I'm fourteen for god's sake, how tall am I supposed to be?"

Somehow, though she only talked to him for a few moments, Eda found herself liking Etheridge just a little bit.

Luz separated from Kurt and Florence in favor of seeing the presentation with her peers and mentor. The lights dimmed as Principal Bump, an old man with a long robe and horns atop his head, rose from the floor with spirals of green. The spotlight shone on him as the crowd applauded and cheered. He summoned a sound transducer with bat wings atop the grill. "Hello, Bonesborough!" He called out, jumping right in. "Students ask me all the time, 'Principal Bump, what's the height of magical achievement?'"

A boy shouted from the distance, "Is it this?" he increased the size of his head and crushed the student next to him.

"Wow, bobbleheads. How original," Luz heard a clear, young voice from her left. A boy a few inches shorter than her shoved his way in behind Eda. It was that boy that Florence introduced.

"Huh. I failed you as a principal." He pulled the transducer closer to him with some feedback. "It's being selected to join the best of the best. And there are none better than the jewel of the coven system and the enforcers of His will, the Emperor's Coven."

And there began the spectacle. A bard from the bard's coven began conducting an orchestra in the background as the coven guards took the stage.

"Feast your eyes on this elite force, each member handpicked to help usher in a new age of controlled magic." Each Coven guard traced a glowing white circle above their head. One produced a jet of flame, the second water, and the third lightning! The three elements come together in a firework that turns into confetti. Luz made a grab at each little piece of confetti, smiling at the crazy and unusual things magic could do. "Members of the Emperor's coven have access to all—yes, all forms of magic."

The crowd oohed and aahed at the continued spectacle. Magic swirling above their heads in a tornado of all types of magic. The music began to swell and grow until it exploded into fireworks and colorful explosions.

"But... only the best can ascend these ranks. Some day that could be one of you!" Bump continued, a girl squealing in the crowd. "And now, I'm pleased to introduce the esteemed leader of this coven and this year's mystery guest. You know her, you love her!" The coven guard disappeared as he spoke, making way for a woman, taking off her mask and cape to reveal her identity. She was pale with navy blue hair and a regal expression on her face, one of grace and urbane sophistication. "Lilith!"

It seemed that as soon as she walked out, the entire world stopped for her. Even looking at Eda, Luz saw she was in awe of this woman standing before them. "There you are," she intoned. Beside her, Etheridge smiled widely.

"Do you know her?" Luz asked her.

"You could say that," Eda replied.

"Mysterious past!" squealed Luz, " You really are my mentor!"

Eda chuckled at her childish enthusiasm, "Shaddup…"

"Thank you, all." Lilith sent her cape and mask back into Principal Bump, "It wasn't easy for me to rise to the top. I also started from humble beginnings. Now I have the highest honor of enforcing the Emperor's will. So be more! The Emperor's Coven awaits you!"

"That was an exceptional sequence, Principal Bump," Amity said. "I can hardly believe you got the actual Lilith to show up for our little Covention!"

"For you kids, I'd pull her out of any job she was in and drag her here." He replied with a grin, wiping his head with a towel. "Especially when she works so close to Bonesborough."

"Thank you, Principal."

"You're welcome, now, go 'hang out' the other students, be young, you won't have all day." He chuckled walking off.

Silently moving away from the crowd, Amity took a breath. That opening sequence was certainly the best part about coming to the covention: something she had been forced to do to remain a candidate for the Emperor's coven. However, though she had great enjoyment for the Bump's showmanship and the insane spells, she had very little attachment to the other people she had to spend the rest of the day with—

"Ugh, what took you so long?" A three-eyed redhead girl remarked as Amity came walking back to the center of the floor. "I thought we were gonna have to leave you with that old mossback senior. What did you have to talk to him about anyway?"

Boscha and her goons. Boscha was a posh-haired, fair-skinned, teen like her. Though beneath that spurious face was someone cruel, no, borderline sadistic, who would leech off of others like louse stuck to a dog. She would not readily admit it, but wherever Amity went, she went. She was always only a step or two behind her. And her goons, Skara and Amelia were always joined at the hip with her. This did not make for good relations with her other friends, the honest and straightforward types, the goody-two-shoes that she knew she used to be. It was the clique that her mother had set for her, so even though it made her unhappy, it was either dealing with this or with her mother's hands, an easy choice, but one she did not like making.

"Not important. If I remember, you wanted to visit the Potion coven?" she said, changing the subject.

"Well, since you took so long, I changed my mind." She harrumphed, crossing her arms, "The girls wanted to go visit some other covens. You can come along if you want. I don't care."

"Whatever. Let's go." Amity followed them as Boscha as she walked through various other coven stands. Constantly reminding herself that this was so she didn't have to go to Hexside with a bruise on her cheek every day. At some point, Amity prepared to slip away, unfortunately running into one of Willow's friends (Her name was Lews or something if she recalled), and they found themselves in an argument not of her own volition, but simply because of Boscha's instigative and incendiary presence.

They bumped into each other at first: no harm, no foul.

Lews apologized in her panicked voice, clearly, she was not very used to social situations, then again, though, neither was Amity. "Oh, sorry." Then it registered in her brain who was standing before her. "Aren't you…" before she could speak, Amity's unwitting 'friend' interjected.

"Oh, wait. I know you. You're that freak from the Abomination pot!" she laughed mockingly. "And the one that got her in trouble with Principal Bump!" A deft Boscha move, instigating and feeding gasoline to a fire she started, "She never gets in trouble, and look what you did! Now we have to show up here to have a chance at getting into the emperor's coven!"

"Boscha, you don't have to—" Amity tried to intervene, though at this point she should have known better.

"Why can't you just leave her alone?" they started to walk away, but Lews caught up with Amity, failing to talk directly to her.

"To be fair, you were okay with him dissecting me," she said, "But maybe we got off on the wrong fo—"

Boscha shoved her to the ground. "Fuck off, you human!" she growled, "No one wants your human stench around!" she and the group around them started to laugh.

"Hey, listen, Boscha," she pulled her aside, "Can we just get out of here? I don't want any more trouble."

"She started it, remember?"

"Boscha."

"Fine. But if she messes with us again…" Boscha grumbled.

"Listen—Lews, right?—we're just going to get out of your hair," Amity mollified, "Okay? See you around—"

"Hey, Luz!" a little demon shouted, crawling up to her. "Look at all those offerings—" he tripped on his scarf, falling forward and dropping the cupcake at their feet, "Wah!"

Boscha chuckled mockingly, "Oh, look at the wittle demon. Want your cupcake?" she picked it up off the ground, hurled it back down and stomped on it. "A little parting gift for you to remember us by."

"Boscha!" Amity hissed.

"Why are you two being so mean?!" Luz fumed.

"Us two? I didn't even say anything!" the Blight girl insisted.

"You didn't stop her!"

"I don't—" she growled, "Just please leave us alone, that's all I'm asking. If you keep bothering us, you will get hurt." It took a second to realize how that came off.

"I'll tell you what, Amity. Let's settle this once and for all. I challenge you to a Witch's Duel!" Luz shouted, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"What-?" Amity gasped in shock, "Why would I—Why would I fight you? I didn't come here to get into a fight!"

"Well, you've got yourself one and I won't lose!"

Boscha, who had stood by and watched the argument ensue, forced her way back in, "She accepts!"

Amity glanced at the witch with no small amount of frustration, but she was here now, and Lilith was watching. The woman she had admired for some time now was looking at her with a grin. This could be her chance to prove herself to be a competent witch. Though she cared very little for reputation, she had to make a statement here. Begrudgingly, she accepted, "Set. The terms." She said through clenched teeth.

"If I win, you apologize to King, you never hurt another person again unless they hurt you first and—and, uh, you owe me a favor."

That was a lot for a single duel, but she was fine with that since she knew she would not lose to Lews. If Ed and Em's friend had proven anything, it was that humans could be meek and fragile. She wouldn't lose to this girl. "Fine. If I win, you leave us alone."

"And admit you're not a true witch and give up magic forever!" Boscha shouted.

"Ooh," the crowd intoned. Great. Even the bystanders were throwing shade.

"Not a true witch?" Luz said, "You'll see! I'll show you all, the true power of the human spirit!"

Good Titan, was she campy as all hell.

"Excuse me?"

Eda gasped when she heard her voice. Stopping in her tracks, she turned around and was met with the sight of her older sister, Lilith. She stared at Eda for a moment, deciding whether she recognized her or not. "You must be Lilith." She spoke with an indistinct accent. "I'm Gertrude Dharma."

"Oh, nice to make your acquaintance, Mister Dharma," she uttered. Eda's eye twitched.

"I'm not a man. At least, no one has told me so." 'Gertrude' rejoindered.

"Oh, that was my mistake! I just… no offense, but you just remind me of someone. Someone I worked with for a long time." She explained, Gertrude tilted her head in confusion, silently hoping to escape the topic of choice, which might compromise her hidden identity. "They had a headscarf just like yours, except it was… stolen."

"Stolen?" 'Gertrude' asked. What was she talking about?

"She was a very important friend of mine. An attendant of mine who helped me with so many things during my first years as a coven leader. She abandoned her family and gave her life to help me, she comforted me in the worst of times and celebrated with me in the best of times." She smiled, a faraway expression growing on her face as she looked at the wall with Wanted posters, including Eda's. "She was my best friend. Honestly, my only friend."

Eda went silent as an absent and depraved scowl grew on Lilith's salubrious face.

"That scarf was her husband's, she had it right up until she died. Then it was stolen."

Eda was silent.

"Little did I know, she was colluding with the enemy. She was simply getting close to me to get information from me and feed it to her Wild Witch allies. Her husband had been an insurgent wishing to take Belos from power and she had been a spy for him. He went to the gallows after we found out." Lilith spoke. Eda tried to leave, but Lilith grabbed her by the collar, pulling her away from prying eyes and into an empty hallway. "She continued her work without him and gave information on our operations, but she made two mistakes. Those two mistakes being that she didn't know that Eda Clawthorne was my sister and that she conversed with her casually in the open. In front of me." She growled. "Eda wore a disguise, however. But I know where she hides. Under your nose."

Eda smacked Lilith's hand away, knowing that she was made. Lilith stayed composed, but the scowl stayed on her face.

"Do you know what happened to her, Edalyn? Wayward witches who don't know their place?" It was Eda's turn to angrily grab her sister by the collar. "Say it."

"I don't want this, Lilith. I didn't want any of that to happen." Eda growled.

"Neither did I, yet here we are." Lilith spat. "I'm trying my best, Eda. I'm trying to see why you'd abandon the path that the Emperor had for us, but all I see is a trash collector!"

Eda let go of her collar, turning away in frustration. She exhaled, "I'm doing what I want. Not what was forced on me, like you."

"None of that matters," Lilith said, her tone turning sisterly once more. She sighed. "You know I want the best for you. I do not want the Emperor to mount your head on a pike. And if you are not laying low or keeping a low profile, it will come down to you and him. And you know who I will choose."

"What makes you say that I'm not keeping a low profile?"

"You are here, aren't you? We know what you did at the Conformatorium—what happened to Warden Wrath." She elaborated. "We know you have two apprentices and that he killed Adegast the Ghastly. Witches are going to be coming after him and you, but if you joined the Emperor's coven…"

Eda paused, "No. He can handle himself and so can I."

"And the other one," she whispered, "The human?"

Eda scoffed. "I bet she could wipe the floor with any of your prissy little blue bloods."

Lilith smiled, knowing that any slight against her pride or that of the Emperor's Coven would not stand for very long, no matter how petty or small. "Is that a challenge?"

Eda grinned, "Oh, it's a promise."

"Then Miss Amity Blight will settle this for me, against your human apprentice." She placed her hands behind her back and leaned in as Eda looked in confusion. "Oh, you do know what happened, do you not?" Lilith smirked, "Luz the Human challenged Miss Blight to a Witches' Duel."

"What?!" Eda exclaimed, at her reaction, Lilith's smile only grew. "Of course, she would do this…"

"Yes. And she bet her craft as well. If she loses, she will never learn magic again."

"Dammit, Luz." She hissed. "After this, I'll have to teach her how not to conduct herself within view of Coven witches."

Lilith watched her as she walked off, silent only for a few milliseconds before she backtracked, "Edalyn. Wait." Eda turned and faced her, a small frown on her face. Lilith spun a blue circle and all of the wanted posters around them burned, the ashes flying above her like confetti. "For one day, you won't have to hide from the law, because…" she paused, putting on her best poker face, "I want to see how good a teacher you really are."

"You can never just admit that you love me, can you?"

Lilith pursed her lips, "No. I can't." She said.

Kurt found himself rushing through the people as if they were pins and he as the bowling ball, jostling them and knocking them to their feet until he stopped, facing Luz. He gave her a look that said all he wished he could say: what the hell are you thinking?

Luz wasn't fazed, though. That girl had managed to get under her skin in a way she didn't think was possible outside of the human realm. A feeling had surged into her bones and taken permanent residence in her head. Currently, she was seeing red and she didn't know how to turn it off. "I'm doing this, Kurt." She said.

"You're going to get hurt."

"I don't care."

"You could lose the ability to learn magic!"

She went silent, seething. "I thought you said you would trust me."

"I do trust you, but…"

"But not to fight my own battles? You don't believe in me enough to fight someone my own age?"

"She's a trained witch, Luz! All you know are light glyphs, are you going to tell me that you're going to fight a girl who can create a monster with just your light glyphs?" He hissed, "What's your plan?"

"My plan?"

"I know you wouldn't come into this thing without some kind of clever idea."

"My plan is simple," she said wryly, "I'm gonna hit her. And if I can't… then…"

Kurt groaned. "Luz, if you…" He cut himself off. His mouth shut itself and his body would not let him speak. Eda walked in behind him, he stepped aside as she walked toward Luz.

"Hm. I coulda sworn I heard someone talking here…" Eda whispered to herself, "Doesn't matter. You've got this, my protégé. You've got wit, you've got brains, and you have enthusiasm. What does she have other than actual training? Nothing."

Luz frowned for a moment, but saw she was intending to cheer her up, "Thanks, Eda. I'll do my best!"

Kurt scowled at giving her false hope, if he wanted to stop this he would have to address the other party. He stormed off.

Luz silently psyched herself up, ready to somehow BS her way through this. "We only learn to climb the wall with no place to run." She said, "Gotta wing it."

Kurt frantically searched for Florence, being the only one who could translate for him what he needed to say. At the entrance of the arena, he found her preparing to sit down in the stands. He sprinted around half the arena, heaving his askew manner through arrays of the rabble and spectators, tripping about himself and lying prone at her feet. She tipped her head downward, chuckling at what appeared to be a clumsy fall. "Hey, Kurt. C'mon—" she picked him up by the hand, lifting him up, "So you came to see the duel, too?"

Kurt huffed, and he gathered his breath as she continued talking.

"I heard your sister was going to be in it, but I only heard that and nothing more. Is there any reason why she's going to—" she paused.

Kurt groaned, a visceral sound coming from him. The sound grew and grew until it exploded in a beastly bellow.

"Help me!"

No response.

Kurt seized her by the shoulders, shaking her slightly, but somehow she was entirely frozen, no breathing, no blinking, nothing at all. He waved a hand to her face. "Hey," he uttered, without restraint. He looked around and realized that everything and everyone was frozen, almost like a renaissance painting, "W-What the hell?" his words came out effortlessly, his body no longer resisting as he spoke. What was going on?

He walked around the Covention center for some time, seeing the time-petrified forms of Luz, Amity, Willow (if he recalled the name correctly), Gus, King, Eda, Lilith, Bump, and of course, Florence.

Someone was missed, someone important. "Who is doing this? What even is this? What the fuck is going on?!" he shouted to no one. Slumped down with head in his hands, his hand moved up to scratch some bit of hair, anxious and nervous as though he had been stuck for nearly an hour. As always Kurt's mind drifted to himself, the faulty anti-magic abilities. Panic seeped into his mind, maybe he had done this? Maybe something had gone terribly wrong with him and Anti-Magic? Did what he saw when he first got here have something to do with it? That awful cyclone that pulled him in? Or was it…?

Before the answer came to him, a figure drifted across the sky, like an eclipse in the sun a shadow was cast over the arena, Kurt was blinded in the penumbra and as motionless as the people surrounding him. The creature, slithering its stubby tendrils out to its sides, sent a black flood shooting from the heavens and dropping down to the earth and jetting up like a tsunami. Alarmed by the idea of being swallowed alive by the darkness, he made a beeline toward the exit higher up in the rows of seats. Kurt slammed his foot down, but instead of feeling the pristine and solid ground, slipped on a sloshy fluid. He opened his eyes to see the tenebrous droplets raining from the sky. Without a moment to feel fright, Kurt had the wind knocked out of him by the wave of inky water that slammed into his back and swept everything away, dragging all down into depths of coal-tinted seas. The seas set in, a scream ripped its way from him before the murky solution surged its way down his airway. The water rose above his eyes, desperation surging through him, and Kurt clawed to the surface, then wheezed and hacked the briny substance out of his lungs. He surveyed the surroundings and caught sight of an ominous figure smiling amidst the stationary witches and demons. As the sun dipped through the downpour, the adumbral face of Etheridge revealed itself, contrasted by the deceptively childish, large, and pearly white grin, "Hello, Ishmael."

The torrent seemed to part above him, like he was under an umbrella, redirected to his sides and filling the pool of shadowy seawater. Etheridge was Florence's younger brother, wasn't he? She said he was snippy but relatively harmless, and yet, somehow Kurt knew he was doing all of this. He felt the power rolling off his shoulders and expounding in the shroud that covered the Covention center. It was a vile and menacing aura, the kind that screamed pain and death.

"Yeah," Etheridge drawled, giving a wry chuckle, as if reading his thoughts, "That's me. This is all me, Ishmael."

Kurt felt himself being pulled under again as the person looming over him grinned triumphantly. He gasped for air yet again, choking. He wished for Etheridge to pull him out.

"Not gonna happen. Besides, if you get crushed by this much of my power, then you aren't even worth saving," He replied, the sick grin still on his damn face. Kurt knew it. It was him, then. He was the one that froze time back when he was attempting to save Eda, the one whispering in his ear as he was being eaten. "Yeah, that was me, too. I did all of that. I also saved your ass when you passed out in front of Wrath." He smiled, "Nothing compared to what you did to me, though."

Kurt's anger rose as he fought back against the hands that pulled downward, this fucking kid, this fucking kid was trying to kill him, trying to kill Eda, trying to kill Luz!

Etheridge didn't say anything, giggling as Kurt rose above the black substance, reaching for him manically, a shriek escaping as the liquid shot up as tendrils, grabbing him and pulling him back. Kurt's head was above water as he spoke. "There is some fight in you. And here I thought you didn't want to be… But this is good. It'll keep you from dying the next time. Now, listen to me. Hey—hey!" he growled, the wicked smile never leaving his face, "Listen. That's what good boys do, isn't it? And you're a good boy aren't you? It's what your mother, Camila tells you? What your auntie told you back then, right? Be a good boy." Kurt suddenly went tense when he uttered his mother's name. What was he going to do to his mother? Then the control slipped away at the mention of Amaranta, "Nothing, Kurt. Nothing. Just listen to me and everything will be alright with them and Luz, okay?"

Kurt was frightened for an instant, slowly realizing that he was completely at the mercy of this unknown party, then slowly he nodded.

"Good." He uttered, his index and middle finger gracing a touch on his lip, and suddenly reaching down into his pockets. "As much as it pains me to do this, you're having trouble with your powers, aren't you?" He stared at Kurt awaiting an answer.

Realization began to grow on his face, Kurt finally understanding that Etheridge was using Anti-Magic.

"Yes. This," he spun in a circle, pointing heavenward, "is anti-magic. Your power. My power. Lots of us have this power, Kurt. We were a large part of this world, more important to its development than the emperor of the country likes to say. That old hag hasn't told you much about the world, here. I could tell when your sister ran off with Adegast and you killed him."

Kurt wondered how he knew that, but Etheridge didn't comment, choosing instead to pace across the steps of the arena.

"We were important then, and we are important now. Unluckily, we're running short on people. As in, most of us were genocided." Etheridge spun his hand, "Y'know, classic scapegoating… Belos decided to peg us as evil beings of the end times and then just pegged us. Fucked us sideways with no condom. Only a few left, blah blah. Now only a few of us are left. Including you, now."

Why was he telling Kurt this? What was the point?

Etheridge's smile was ever-so present on his face while sitting down into the seat behind him, stretching his arms out over the heads of each chair. "So you can understand why my boss, teacher, captain, whatever, wants you. He wants you to join us. In return, you will gain an understanding of your power, your heritage, and so much more. What do you say?"

He supposed he didn't have any choice.

"No, I suppose you don't. Now, let me explain the terms of this deal."

Kurt was fed up with this. Struggling against the restraints, hoping not to hear the rest of his incessant prattling.

"No, no. You'll hear these whether you want to or not. If you don't accept all of these, then your life, your family, your entire existence and presence in both worlds, will be forfeit to me." He flicked his wrist, "I don't think you understand the power that you—we hold. The power to unmake everything, to revert the very essence of things physical or not to what it was before it existed. Imagine not remembering your mother, father, sister. Just the pain of childhood trauma and the fire. I could do that and so many other things. The only thing stopping me from doing that is my boss, so if you don't cooperate…"

Kurt's body tightened again then sagged, there was nothing he could do. All he could do now was listen.

"Okay. There are only two I will discuss with you. These are my terms, you're agreeing to, we will discuss my boss's later. First, you will not speak of this to your sister, you won't tell her about me or the visions you had when you got here or the ones you will have in the future."

Kurt nodded.

"Second, this is very important:" Kurt felt the tendrils slither back into the dark water as Etheridge walked slowly to Kurt. The water seemed to expand outward, a whirlpool growing seemingly in mid air. Etheridge lowered to Kurt, his face only centimeters away, close enough to kiss. Kurt's gaze went up slowly looking into the dark empty eyes of the monster before him. The black water dripped from his eyes and each corner of the mouth. The phantom veneer of a scowl creeped upon his face, deadly silent before he spoke. "Stay away from Florence." The saltwater dripped from his lips and landed onto Kurt's lap. Etheridge reached his hand out, the smile returning, and the tendrils dropping Kurt's left hand, allowing him to reach for Etheridge's. As their hands gripped, Kurt was blinded by a white light.

"I can't believe you!"

A wave of pain was sent across Kurt's face, the hit enough to knock him on his ass, and kick dust into the air as he landed. He looked up to see the face he least expected. Luz, in tears and hurt, had knocked him to his feet. He was in the middle of the hallway leading to the arena, dirt thrown up over his clothes, Eda standing beside him holding him up. In a daze, he muttered, "What the fuck?"

Eda and Luz couldn't hear his mumblings as they were speaking over him, "You weren't ready for it, Luz. He is. I don't agree with how it went down, but if he can finish it for you, then he should." Eda spoke, holding him up. "You got beat. You deal with it, Luz. If this can keep you learning your craft, that's what you should do."

"Why's it gotta be him? Why's it always gotta be him?" she cried, "Wh-why can't I fight for myself, huh? It's always him! He's always standing in-between me and danger, fighting for me! I know I can do it, so why won't you let me?!" She grizzled, grabbing Eda by her collar. "I-I-I-I can do it…! Please!"

Eda didn't say anything to her, instead moving away from Luz's grip and letting Kurt walk past her. Luz watched from the sidelines with tears in her eyes, Eda holding her and keeping her from entering, but somehow she bore a rigid stance, a slight apprehension in her body. All she could do was reassure Luz – and herself – that everything would turn out alright.

A tension grew in Kurt's chest, like a knot that wouldn't untie, building up till he was panting, seething. Luz sobbed louder as he walked into the arena, packed with hundreds of people expecting to see a fight go down after the one between Luz and Amity had failed to live up to expectations. As he entered, they all cheered as there was someone to finish the duel for this human who survived by the skin of her teeth. Kurt stepped out slowly, carefully, as if he were a shinobi, keeping his feet on the ground and not lifting it an inch. "Fuck," he mumbled. "Where are you?" His eyes were searching, scanning over small faces in the crowd, looking only for one person, the smiling almond brown face of the demon who caught him. "Etheridge…" He was sitting next to Florence, whose face was pained, just as pained as Luz's. "What did you do, you motherfucker?!" he hissed to no one.

Kurt heard a voice speak not of his own. Lesson one: Guard your mind at all costs.

Lilith looked down at Kurt with disdain as she moved to start the fight between him and Amity. "A second demonstration of the last remnants of Anti-Magic Witches versus the power of the Emperor, which one triumphs? Let's find out."

Kurt crouched low to the ground lifting his bending arms up to his sides, black mist lifting from his body, while Amity summoned another monster—abomination, is what they called it. Amity had been through this before with other various witches, maybe creatures, maybe whatever lied in between, but she had never fought with him. This would be a new ballpark for her.

Kurt had been angry before, furious at times, but he was never willing to take it out on anyone who wasn't part of the reason he was angry. Somehow, it felt shameful, hurting someone who had nothing to do with anything. He thought about the fire, when he thought about that, the scar on his shoulder burned and itched like hell and it itched and burned like hell now. Standing before the same green-haired girl that his sister complained about when he asked her about Hexside, she was standing there, just as agitated as Luz had described her to be, furrowed brows, wrinkles covering her nose, and sharp teeth bared. Blood rushing to her hands as she clenched them tight enough to penetrate the outer layer of skin, the witch was livid and she was prepared to tear the skin from the subject of her terrible attitude. "You want to interfere with this duel? I'm fine with that! Prepare to take the full brunt of her hits, then!" the Blight shouted, launching a new abomination at him. "Knock him on his back!"

Kurt saw the fist came flying his way at a speed he couldn't comprehend and quickly, the adrenaline rush kicked in. Heart pounding in his ears and muscles tightening, Kurt felt the slight urge to fight. Yet he lifted his arms wide with a smirk on his face, making no attempt to move, and allowing the fist guide him into the wall. His spine hit the wall and a jolt of pain surged into his brain, yet somehow, everything seemed much more clear.

An idea had formed in his head before it painted the wall behind him in red.

Kurt's head lolled to the side, staring downward with lifeless eyes as black mist dispersed from his slumped body. The thin sheet of bleary film the covered his mind like a cataract lifted, seemingly amputated from his head.

How foolish… Etheridge's voice resonated in his head.

The mist grew into a cloud, large enough to cover the arena in its dark smog and blinding Amity and the spectators. Kurt could sense every little movement in the smog, like feelers grasping at everything wildly until it had a grasp of the area around it. He lifted himself from the dirt. He sensed Etheridge in the stands, silent and smiling.

I know you, Kurt. I know things about you that you don't know about yourself, that your family doesn't know about. If there's one thing I know for certain, it's that what you do here won't get you far. Taking hits like this.

Kurt knew that. He knew that all he did was take the hits for the ones he loved, took the heavy and senseless burden on shoulders alone, but it was all he knew how to do. He learned early in life that dogs who are hard drove eat dogs. What else was he supposed to do? How was he supposed to change?

Amity sent the abomination toward him, prepared to launch another assault. "Take him down! Now!"

She just wanted this all to be over now. This had dragged on for ages now and she just wanted to be home in her bed, resting. If that last assault, brutal as it was, didn't do the trick, she would just have to send him to the damn moon with the next hit. She had began to panic. Frantically ordering the abomination to swing wildly until he was hit. What was behind this mist?

The abomination had dispelled most of the smog when she saw that he was gone. Suddenly she felt Kurt's hand on her wrist, clenching it tightly with black aura emanating from his hold. By the time he realized he'd grabbed the wrong wrist, it was already too late. The massive abomination picked up on her distress and hurled a fist his way, landing it in Kurt's face and raining rapid jabs and kicks and stomps on him, causing the abomination's limbs to shrink and evaporate.

Kurt freely admitted to winging it on every fight before this.

Though this was a massive task for him, what with a ten-foot monster standing before him – again – he had some small inkling of how to go about this, unlike previous battles. See, he knew very little about the power he was given and he knew less about how to make it work on command, but what he did know was that magic in every state – whether it be flora, liquid, or flesh – it turned to mush against him. Though it did little to the pressure from the hit.

So when the sounds of fighting stopped, and there was cloud of dust and gaseous violet fluid, the abomination was reduced into a small, mouse-sized creature and what was left was a slightly damaged Kurt.

His left side displaying parts of his musculature and skeleton, his right side similar, right arm twisted the wrong way with a bit of bone poking out his antebrachial fascia with his elbow folded upward. Kurt's legs were bare, displaying flabby pieces of skin hanging from ripped tendons and sinews. His face, or what was left of it, glared at Amity with a cold fervor, though one eye had been jostled out of it's socket and dangled on his cheek.

There seemed to be a lull between them, a stand-off. The enormous creature she conjured was useless against him. He seemed nearly dead but somehow he still stood, even when his organs and skeleton were exposed, dangling out his body. Luz nearly threw up and Eda shielded her and King from the sight. She could keep her from seeing the reality of Kurt's plight, but Eda could not keep her from hearing the deathly cackle that erupted from the walking corpse that was Luz's brother. Amity fell onto her back, shocked by what she had reduced this human boy to. Lilith watched from the other end of the stadium, turning her head from the sight.

The harrowing guffaw seemed reverberate through the convention center, coming out as a gravelly chortle like the scream of a dying man, yet somehow, Kurt was very much alive. He lifted his foot and stomped on Amity's abomination with a sickening squelch of his bloody foot and the creature. The guffaw continued as he relished in light of the sun all over his twitching and bloodied body.

He walked up to Amity, each step squishing bits of Kurt's flesh below it. She let out a surprised gasp as he walked faster now, she responded by sending more waves of abominations at him, to which he responded by dissipating them with a single wave of his arm, crushing the last's head with a firm hand. He was only three steps away from her now, a precarious and possibly fatal position for her.

She swung at him desperately, purple muck covering her hand as she did anything to damage him. Even in his mangled state, he didn't need much to avoid her frantic scrapping. Though, he was heavily damaged so he was not surprised when they got close or when her fist landed. She was distraught to see that his face was slowly regenerating as black particles covered his wounds and they returned to their original color. Her hit had only caused a bloody nose, which he wiped away with his thumb. She went for another, fearing for her life now, but he smacked her hand away before any momentum could even build.

He grabbed her wrist with his bony hand, allowing the binding spell on her arm to dispel.

"Don't hurt my sister ever again."

That was the first time Etheridge heard Kurt speak.

That was the first time Amity heard Kurt speak.

Kurt felt all his joints pop into place, the bloody pieces of cartilage, tissue, and ligaments joining together in their original form. As it all came together, he dropped her hand which had the mark of phalanges and carpals on it. There was silence in the arena as he walked off toward the other tunnel, but instead he found Lilith dropping from the sky and landing on the ground before him.

"You must be my sister's apprentice." She said, tone even and calm. "The anti-magic skelpie."

Kurt didn't so much as breath before he was pulled away by Eda's magic staff, her voice echoing throughout the field and cirque, "Run, kid!" before he did his best attempt to beeline to the hall and out of the stadium, soon enough, out of the convention center.

Etheridge watched from the sidelines with a smile as the fireworks went off, Lilith going to bat for Amity and Eda for Kurt. He smiled, walking out of the stands and out the same way Kurt went, he hummed to himself the slow melody, baritone slowly devolving to a high tenor,

No one here can love or understand me

Oh, what hard luck stories they all hand me

Pack up all my cares and woe, here I go, winging low

Bye, bye, blackbird…

Usurper.