Chapter 5
Eda insisted that Hunter and King wake up bright and early so that they could claim the best spot in the marketplace for their Human Collectibles stand. This would have been the first time Hunter would work with Eda at the marketplace, be it selling wares to suckers, or helping King pickpocket valuables from suckers (hey, just because he has a home now doesn't mean he isn't still a master thief); however, the key word here is "would". Hunter would have done just that if there were any suckers here to begin with. Sadly, there was no one here when they arrived and almost three hours after setting up, still, not a soul in sight.
"So, Eda…" Begins Hunter, "I know I'm new to the whole 'business' thing, but isn't there supposed to be, y'know people? Where is everyone?"
Eda is just as perplexed. If they were the only ones selling today, then surely, there must be something horrible happening today.
"Hunter!" Calls a familiar voice. "Something amazing is happening today!"
Running to their stand come two Witchlings, both younger than Hunter. Hunter officially introduces them to Eda as 'Willow' and 'Augustus.' Oh, yes! That's right, these were the "academy twerps" whom Hunter befriended when he broke into school and caused a ruckus. Why are they here now? Apparently to explain why everyone is missing. The annual Covention is here. And there's gonna be a "mystery guest" this year. Whoop-de-doo. That was Eda's casual dose of sassy sarcasm in case you couldn't tell.
"Woooowwwhat's-a-coven?" Asks Hunter, leaving Willow and Augustus dumbfounded.
"You've never heard of covens?" Asks Augustus.
"Oh, I've heard of them, I just never knew what they were."
"I'll tell you what they are, kid; the worst kind of scam. And I know scams like the back of my hand. Sure, it's like a fun club for Witches, but you're also giving up your magical independence to be part of a crooked system." Eda beats the table and wakes up King, who, as it turns out, has been asleep for the past three hours. Willow groans and Augustus stares, probably feeling insulted. "Eh, but, you know, no judgement. In any case, I haven't been to one since we were girls."
"'We'?" Hunter alerts Eda to her accidental slip-up. "Who's 'we'?"
"Never mind that!" Eda quickly shoves a hand into his face to silence him. "Point is; coventions are a waste of time."
"But they're really fun!" Augustus insists.
"And we were hoping Hunter could come with us." Says Willow.
"Um, yeah!" Exclaims Hunter, almost jumping over the table in excitement. "This'll be better than the last time I hung out with other kids."
"You mean the time those Glandus kids threw you off a cliff?" Asks King.
"Nah, they just did that because I stole some old trophies from their school. I meant the time some St. Epiderm kids pretended to be my friends and then pelted me with balloons full of honey and pillow feathers."
"That's awful." Say Willow.
"Eh, it wasn't so bad… until that giant beast showed up. It either really liked birds, or really liked honey."
"You were almost eaten by a beast?" Asks Augustus.
"No, I escaped by ducking into a bramble patch." Hunter rolls up his sleeve to reveal a cluster of very big and very deep scars on his left shoulder. "They were really big brambles."
The children gasp, Eda cringes and King retches behind the table. Hunter just gives him a tired expression as he pulls his sleeve back down.
"Hey! Anything you spew on comes out of your salary!" She warns.
"You don't pay me!" Says King.
"Well then, it comes out of your share of dessert tonight!"
The two young Witchlings look at each other awkwardly before Augustus finally asks:
"So, that's a yes?"
"Yes/No!" Hunter and Eda say at the same time.
"Oh, please!" Begs Willow with a smile. "There'll awesome presentations! Yummy food!"
"Sold!" Shouts King. "You had me at 'Yummy food'!"
"Oh, c'mon, King. You were blowing chunks just now!" Eda reminds him.
"Just make sure Hunter keeps his clothes on and everything stays down."
"And you gotta admit, you've got a better chance at a payday their than here." Says Hunter, trying to appeal to her greed.
"Still a big, fat 'N' 'O'." Time Skip! "My gosh, why am I here?" She tiredly asks herself as she stands outside the wide spaced building with her roommate, her apprentice, and his friends. "How did you convince me to come here?"
"We didn't. I just said that me and King were going and that we'd see you at home after the Covention." Says Hunter with a smug grin mixed with a bit of pride.
"Then you just followed us here acting like you didn't—" Augustus is cut off by his own cowl flinging over his head.
"Yeah, well, if something goes wrong, I don't want to have to bail you two out of jail like last time."
"Didn't I bail you two out of jail last time?" Hunter corrects with even more smugness.
"Whatever! C'mon! The longer we stay out here, the less bountiful feasts await to be acquired by my underlings!" King demands before pointing a claw at the other children. "By the way, you guys are my underlings. And your King demands nourishment!"
"And why would we do that?"
"It's customary for followers to bestow their offerings upon their king."
Now, Hunter would normally take the opportunity to poke fun at the delusional Demon while correcting his fantasy, but after everything that had transpired not too long ago, decides that maybe he's deserved some kind of reward.
"Hey, a little help?!" Eda calls.
The children direct their attention to their chaperone only to pause awkwardly at the sight before them. Eda is attempting to stuff her mountainous mane into the hood of a maroon cowl, but due to its vast size and volume, finds herself unable to pull the hood the whole way up. Hunter and King begrudgingly assister her, King jumping onto her head and Hunter pushing any stray locks of grey hair back under the cloth.
"What are you hiding in here?!" Hunter struggles to ask, but gets his answer when he finally manages to tuck Eda's hair into the hood and a bunch of miscellaneous items come pouring out of it. "Wow. Okay, new question; how much are you hiding in there?"
"How much time do you have?" Asks Eda rhetorically
"You hide stuff in your hair?!" Willow asks.
"Well, how else do you expect me to hide my stolen goods? In an easy-to-lose burlap sack?"
Eda's rhetorical question comes out thickly as she darts her eyes in Hunter's direction, reminding him of when they first met, at which, the younger thief adverts his gaze. Okay, she has a very good point there.
"That's all stolen?!" Asks Willow in shock.
"It all fits in your hair?!" Asks Augustus with an excited smile. "Incredible!"
"Why else, do you think we're wanted?" Asks the blonde thief, pointing to a poster on a nearby column. "You know, besides the whole being 'covenless' thing."
"That's why I have to work so hard to keep a low profile."
"Wait, Hunter, how old are you?" Asks a worried Willow.
"16, why?"
"Witches are supposed to be sworn into a coven when they turn 16!"
"Ah, don't worry about him." Eda reassures, tussling Hunter's hair, to which he bats her away. "Hunter's got nothing to worry about, remember?"
"Oh! Because he's magicless!" Augustus happily exclaims, making Willow sigh in relief.
"A fact that I don't need to be reminded of, thank you!" Hunter, annoyed, rolls his eyes as he leads the way through the doors. "C'mon, let's go."
They group enter the expansive hall and in an instant, Hunter's half-lidded eyes shoot wide-open as he takes in the sights before him. The entire building is decorated with banners, flags and full of stands promoting different covens. Above, the same nine, different colored banners he had seen before stand out among the rest of the décor, occasionally obscured by the occasional broom rider. Augustus and Willow go on to explain to Hunter how covens work to the best of their own knowledge. As they walk down one of the many rows of coven stands, Willow proceeds to list some of them. She also takes a chance-slight at Eda's expense, which almost earns her the same treatment as Augustus from earlier.
Along the way, Hunter comes across a display from the "Construction Coven" and even sees the same small bodied, red-headed Demon woman with the oversized nose. One of the coven's workers then plants a sticker depicting a brown glove with a diagonal break going through it onto the bridge of her nose that Willow refers to as a "power glyph." Hunter can't help but compare them to his recently discovered "light glyphs." As for the power granting talesman, the small woman then uses its magic to perform "the opposite of construction;" even going as far as to dub herself "Destroyer of Worlds" as she proceeds to toss construction witches around like ragdolls and tear apart walls as though they were made of paper.
"Wow!" He says in astonishment. "There's something you don't see every day."
"You can say that again." Echoes his own voice beside him.
"What-the—?!" Hunter leaps backwards into a battle-ready stance as he faces himself, only transparent and blue, smiling smugly at him and walking away.
Augustus interjects, telling his older friend to "calm down" and explains that the blue Hunter walking away from him is just an illusion. Hunter relaxes as the blue Hunter walks over to a stall decorated with blue curtains and a banner depicting a mirror in front of a mirror's silhouette reversed and fading away into the rose-colored background. The blue Hunter stops between two Witches who look to be the same age as him, if not a little older, wearing the same colors as Augustus, posing and for some reason, wiggling their fingers. The faux Hunter grins back at the original and crosses his arms, offering a parting salute before fading away like dust in the wind, similar to the mirror in the tapestry. Augustus then confirms that this stall is in fact hosted by the Illusionist Coven.
"Oh! Yeah! Now I remember!" Hunter says, slapping his forehead in recalling realization. "Construction and Illusionist!"
"Pretty cool, right?" Augustus asks excitedly as the other two pose beside him.
"No. I mean I remember how the illusionist kids used to always terrorize me with illusions of giant beasts and monsters trying to eat me, and construction students would give me the worst wedgies with giant spires of rock."
After hearing Hunter's passive-aggressive personal history lesson, all without wiping away the grin on his face, mind-you, the two illusionists share an awkward grimace before vanishing into twin puffs of light/sky-blue smoke, leaving Augustus behind with his own awkward look.
"Oh. Well, I guess you don't have to join the Illusionist Coven." Despite the… "sharing" moment, Augustus attempts to maintain a positive attitude for the sake of his friend. "There're lots of other covens you can try."
"Yeah, you're right, Augustus. Odds are, there has to be at least one coven that hasn't done something awful to me." Says Hunter, hands in his pockets with an insincere smile, which just makes his friends give him more odd looks.
"Don't waste your time, Hunter." Says Eda. "Trust me."
"Ms. Eda, I think I can understand what Hunter has against them, but I don't see why you seem to hate them so much." Willow says, confused.
"It's just 'Eda', kid." Eda corrects, annoyed. "And my problem is with that."
The children follow her thumb to another Illusionist standing with his hand resting in the hand of one of the two other Witches, his sleeve rolled up and the other Witch's hand hovering over his wrist. The slightly older boy then presses his palm into the younger's wrist and when he pulls it away, it reveals the same blue mirror emblem as on the flag. The mirrors quickly glow blue, sending lines shooting across the young man's flesh, up his arm and all the way to his cheeks.
Hunter watches as the Witch grits his teeth during the ordeal until the lines fade into his skin. Eda then explains that by joining a coven, all other magic that doesn't pertain to said coven is sealed away, restricting your magical potential to the coven's choice of magic and only that type of magic. She then demonstrates her ability to perform multiple magic types with ease, stating that that is why she is "the Most Powerful Witch on the Boiling Isles."
While the two younger kids chase after Eda, Hunter hangs back to watch King receive a pen from the Fortune Tellers Coven. He almost laughs when King accepts the pen, believing it to be some kind of royal offering being bestowed upon him. As soon as King finally takes notice of Hunter's presence, he climbs onto him and scurries to his back, latching onto his shoulders tightly.
"Come, Hunter, my steed!" King shouts in his usual regal façade. "More of my subjects await to bestow their rightful ruler with offerings and gifts! Away!"
"King, you know I would love nothing more than to indulge in your delusions, but I don—"
Suddenly, Hunter holds his tongue and widens his eyes. His jaw drops to the floor in disbelief. No! No, it can't be! He's not asleep… right?! He quickly pinches his face. It hurt. This is real! But this… It can't be real! They were just figments of his imagination… Almost every night when he'd fall asleep… For 10 years. Hunter looks away and shakes his head before looking back, but they're still there! How?! Why?! And… if they're here… does that mean that… it's also here?!
"Hunter?!" He's suddenly brought back by a firm jab to his shoulders by King as he calls for him. "You okay? You spaced out back there."
He glances back… They're still there… He looks away.
"Um… Yeah. Hey! Let's get you those offerings!" He happily declares, gripping his tiny legs so he doesn't fall off.
"Yes!" King cheers.
"Hey, where're Hunter and King?" Hearing Augustus' voice, Hunter quickly rounds a corner to explore elsewhere. Anywhere, so long as it's far away from them. Far away from… the Birdmen.
Unbelievable, Hunter and King were the ones who wanted to come to this stupid Covention, but not even an hour in and they separate from the group.
"Knowing those two, Hunter's either getting King out of trouble, or they both got themselves into trouble."
"We better go find them!" Suggests Willow.
"But we'll miss the mystery guest!" Whines Augustus, but is then reminded which is more important by twin glares from Willow and Eda. "I mean, let's go find our friends!"
"I'll find 'em." Says Eda. "They couldn't have gone far."
She would have gone off on her own had it not been for someone she previously tricked talking to a guard. Before she can act on her first thought (hide in the stadium bleachers), Augustus steps forward, summoning an illusion of Eda, flying away on her staff and taunting the guard. The angered masked man gives chase, followed by some of the cloaked men in bird masks around the trio, and Eda gives Augustus an appreciative hair tussle, complimenting his clever distraction. With that, they take off in search of the two boys.
Time passes and King and Hunter had spent most of the day visiting almost every coven stand giving out "offerings" as King calls them. Well, anything had to be better than seeing those Birdmen up close. Hunter still can't believe that they're real. No! Don't need to worry about that. Just have to enjoy the Covention, take what's free, steal what's valuable, and watch King to make sure he doesn't do something that they'll both regret. King and Hunter are now walking away from two hosts from the Bakers Coven's stand, King gorging on a brightly decorated cupcake while his teenaged retainer is practically decorated in tote bags full of more "offerings."
"Hey! I think those guys are giving out scarves!" Shouts King before taking off!
Hunter calls out to him and attempts to give chase, only to bump into whom he believes to be a random bystander. Normally, he'd use the momentary confusion to swipe the person's wallet or something, but with his arms full of junk, Hunter couldn't even correct his poster to keep himself from falling, losing an armful of tote bags in the process.
"Hey! Watch where you're—!" The voice yelling at him instantly changes into a cold acknowledgement, and to make matters worse, it's a voice Hunter recognizes from his short time in Hexide. "Oh, it's you." Hunter looks up and locks glares with someone whom he futilely hoped he would never have the displeasure of meeting with again. "That freak who broke into my school."
Hunter puffs at her and grins snidely.
"You're calling me a 'freak' with a face and hair like that?"
"Why you—!" Whatever she was about to say must have died in her throat. "What are you even doing here? The annual Covention is for serious Witches! Not for delinquents who treat magic like a joke!"
Hunter grinds his teeth and finally decides to pick himself up and dust himself off.
"You're the only joke I see here, Blight!"
The two young Witches continue to stare daggers at each other until their focus is suddenly broken by a small Demon tugging on Hunter's leg.
"Hey, Hunter!" Says King. "What happened to my steed? You can't just abandon your king while he's receiving offerings!" Hunter rolls his eyes but is then reminded of something. "Hey! Where are my offerings?!"
Hunter looks down at his now-free arm and then turns forward. There, just a step away from Amity's foot rests the tote bag from the Bakers Coven, as well as the bag from the Confectioners Coven (Hunter couldn't understand how they were at all different). He would have picked it up (shoving Amity away should she stand to close), but he is denied the chance when the mint-haired girl takes a step to her left, grinning maliciously as she squishes the bag and every cupcake inside. King gasps in shock and Hunter feels his fury rise.
"Oops. That was an accident." She replies with smile of fake innocence. She then takes another "misstep," crushing the second bag, grinding her heel to reduce every cookie inside to dust. "So was that." She lied.
"What is wrong with you?!"
"You, since that apparently isn't obvious."
"If you have a problem with me, then leave my friends out of it!"
Hunter takes a daring step forward.
"If they were smart, they'd know better than to be friends with a delinquent like you."
Amity takes a step.
"You'd better back off!"
Hunter takes a step.
"What are you going to do about it?"
Amity takes a step.
"Maybe I'll have half-a-mind to teach you a lesson!" He punctuates his threat by punching his palm.
"Aha-are you challenging me?" She asks with an amused grin.
"And what if I am?"
Amity takes a final step, grinning up at the taller boy with confidence as he glares down at her, filled with determination.
Insert Undertale Joke Here
"I accept."
"So how are we doing this?"
"A Witch's Duel, obviously."
At that moment, Hunter's glower disappears. A Witch's Duel? As in, a magic duel? He only just discovered his light glyph the other day. Sure, he experimented with it a bit in that short time, but still, that's useless in a fight. Amity steps back, but keeps her confident eyes locked onto Hunter.
"Let's set the terms for this duel, shall we?" After two seconds of silence, Amity continues. "1: When I win, you have to stop being friends with Half-a-Witch Willow!" Suddenly, some of Hunter's previously lost fury returns. "And 2: You have to serve me as my abomination servant, and obey my every command for the rest of the school year. Understand?" Hunter mulls over the terms for a few more seconds. "What's the matter? Finally realize that you're just not good enough?"
Hunter looks down at King as he searches the bags for any scrap of salvageable remnants, but finding none. Hunter's determination has now fully returned, and he glares at the bully with a face that reads "I'm not backing down."
"Fine, but when I win," Hunter grins a mischievous, knowing grin, "you have to bow before King on your hands and knees and I quote 'Beg for his Majesty's forgiveness for your foolish stupidity and idiotic disrespect.' Accent included"
Now it's Amity's turn to glower.
"Yeah!" Cheers King. "And you owe me new offerings!"
"Yes, and you have to replace every 'offering' you just crushed." Hunter smiles at her maliciously. "Deal?"
Amity grits her teeth but then breaths, calming herself. She then traces a magenta magic circle into the space between them and places her hand through.
"May the everlasting oath bind this agreement forevermore, and may it never be broken."
Hunter slowly raises his hand, but then halts.
"How do I know I can trust you?"
Amity stares at him as though he had just said the most absurd thing ever.
"Are you kidding me?! It's an everlasting oath!"
"Okay, but how do I know you won't spin the terms of the duel on me and steal the win?"
"Are you ser—?!" Amity takes another breath. "You have my honest word, that by the end of this duel, the win will be earned honestly, fair and square!" The circle glows brighter for a single second. "Are you happy now?"
Although, hesitant, Hunter silently accepts the terms, reaching through the circle and gripping Amity's hand. With that, the terms are agreed upon, the oath is sealed, their hands withdraw and the circle fades.
"So where are we doing this?"
Amity points past him.
"In the theater, obviously. One hour from now."
Hunter looks back and his heart sinks. That was where the Birdmen were. He can't go back there! Amity leaves but he doesn't hear her parting words. Now Hunter's all in, but that might mean having to face the nightmarish creatures that have tormented his dreams for as long as he can remember.
"You're doomed!" Says a voice behind him. "That's what you're thinking, right?"
Hunter turns around and sees King stuffing his face with crumbs and frosting from the ruined tote-bags. Well, now he really regrets his decision. Hunter mulls over his options. He can't backout, because that would mean accepting defeat and ending his first real friendship for good, and having to serve that snobby brat. But if he goes back to there, and that Birdman is still there, he might have to literally face his inner demons.
"Hunter!" He is brought out of his inner debate by Willow's voice and her hand grabbing at his shoulder.
He turns around to see her worried face.
"Willow? What are you doing here?"
"Looking for you and King. You should have told us if you were going to run off somewhere. We were all worried!"
"You should be worried, because if Hunter loses his Witches duel, he'll never be allowed to see you again." King loudly informs her from his spot on the floor.
"Wait-What?!" Willow's shocked eyes alternate between the two. "What are you talking about?! Hunter, what is King talking about?!"
The older boy's ruby eyes shift back and forth nervously.
"I might have challenged Amity to a Witch's Duel and if I lose, I'll have to stop being friends with you and be her servant for the rest of the school year."
Willow stares at him, flabbergasted.
"Why would you do that?!"
"Hey, I had a good reason, okay…?! She…" Hunter's gusto deflates with every following word, "stomped on King's stuff… which he is now… eating… off… the floor…"
King let's out a belch in confirmation.
"And she made his hand glow purple." The little Demon adds.
Without warning, Willow grabs Hunter by the shirt and pulls him into a hunched position.
"You made an everlasting oath?!"
"I'll admit… not my proudest moment." Hunter admits.
Willow releases him and buries her face into her hands.
"Hunter this is serious!"
"I know, but I couldn't just let her get away with what she did."
"You don't have to take every little thing so seriously, Hunter! Sometimes, you just have to let it go."
Hunter would have retaliated if his only "justifiable" reasoning wasn't currently licking crumbs off the polished floor.
"Okay, maybe I can see you point."
"We need to find Eda." Willow grabs onto Hunter hand. "Maybe she can do something to get you out of this or maybe she can talk to Amity."
Hunter swipes his hand away before she can drag him off.
"That's a bad idea. Knowing her, I doubt she'll be willing to talk this out with Amity. She might just encourage me to try and beat her, anyway."
"Well, maybe she can help you win the duel." King suggests. "She knows some pretty good cheats."
Hunter holds his chin in thought. Given his apparent disadvantage in the way of magical affinity, cheating could work. All of a sudden, Hunter's hand glows a bright sheen of purple, which does not go unnoticed by the younger Witchling and Demon pup.
"Definitely not!" Hunter declares, his previous consideration now completely discarded. "If I'm going to do this, I want to win fair and square!"
"Since when do you care about things being 'fair and square'?!" Shouts King.
Hearing this, Hunter realizes that King is right. He hasn't cared about playing fair in years. So why now? Willow then grabs Hunter's hand holds it up, showing him the purple glow.
"That must have been a part of the oath. You or Amity must have promised to fight fair!" Willow deduces.
Thinking back, Hunter does remember Amity saying the words "fair and square" just before their handshake. The overwhelming urge to punch a wall with this hand, it's glow now receding, is almost as painful at the action would have been itself, but sadly, there are no walls nearby. So, instead, the older Witchling clutches his previously glowing hand and squeezes it until the pain encourages him to calm down. After a few calming breaths, Hunter feels at ease enough to speak clearly.
"Well, I guess I have no choice then."
"But Hunter," says Willow, "if you lose, you'll have to stop being friends with me."
"Hey, I'm a thief," one of Hunter's many tote-bags falls off, spilling a slew of his pilfered treasures onto the floor. He kneels and sweeps them back into the bag, "I'll think of something." Willow tries to speak, but Hunter cuts her off, grabbing her shoulders and leaning it close enough that their foreheads almost touch. "Willow, please promise me you won't let Eda find out until after the match, okay? If she knows I'm in a Witch's Duel, she'll probably try to cheat at the earliest chance."
Willow sighs and looks down at her shoes. She grabs his shoulders and presses her forehead into his.
"I promise."
"Thank you."
"You guys are gross." Says King.
Hunter pulls away and points at his little companion.
"Says the guy licking frosting off of his feet!"
Willow, gags, sticking her tongue out in disgust and backing away at the sight of King doing exactly that.
After a bit of walking (King didn't follow because and I quote "There are still more subjects awaiting to shower their king with gifts"), Hunter finds himself several meters away from a doorway much smaller than the entrance surrounded by Birdmen earlier. According to Willow, this is the entrance to the theater floor, but there's just one problem. Willow tries to lead Hunter inside, but soon notices that he is no longer beside her. She turns around and barely sees his boot pull behind a stand. Curious, she makes her way there and sees Hunter, hunched over and breathing like he had just run a marathon.
"Hunter?!" She says in extreme worry. "What's wrong?!"
"I-I… I have to… go in there, but…" Hunter slowly looks at his friend's worried face.
"Hunter, I'm scared, too. I only just met you, but I don't want to stop being your friend."
Hunter sighs. Clearly, she doesn't understand. She deserves to, but not now. There's no time. He has to get to his duel, but he can't go through that door, not while there's still one Birdman standing guard. Even if it's just one, that's still too much baggage to handle at one time.
"Willow, can you… distract that Birdman?" Hunter points to the door through the fabric wall of the tent beside him. "Please?"
Willow follows his gloved finger, understandably confused. She knows where he's pointing, but she doesn't know what he means by Bird—… wait, does he mean the Witch standing guard beside the door?
"Wait, do you mean the Emp—?"
"Willow, please!"
Hunter looks at her with desperate eyes. He's afraid… but not of Amity. Willow can't for the life of her understand what's so scary about a guy in a white cape and a bird mask. Okay, the eye holes are kind of creepy, but still… Regardless, she pushes down her curiosity and walks out into the light when she then breaks into a run. She slows down and pants heavily as she stands before the towering Witch.
"Sir! I saw… the Owl Lady…! She was… stealing cookies from the Confectioners Coven!" Willow points directly behind her and the adult Witch takes off to the stand.
Hunter hears the footsteps grow louder, but he forces himself to wait, shutting his eyes tight as he draws closer, steeling his resolve to keep himself from running away. Once the footsteps fade from earshot, Hunter finally opens his eyes. He pokes his head out and sees that the Birdman is finally gone. Relieved and elated, he runs up to Willow and picks her up into big hug, thanking her before dropping her onto her feet and taking off into the theater, calling back to tell her to wish him luck.
Following the guiding signs nailed to the walls of the hallways, it doesn't take Hunter long to finally reach the arena floor. The ground is mostly sand, save for the one-and-a-half-foot stage clinging to the side without seats above it. Rather, it's a wall emblazoned by a golden triangular crest. The blade of a longsword and large avian wings overlap each side, and over the sword is a small circle with two smaller wings folded at its sides.
This isn't Hunter's first time seeing this symbol, for he had already seen it plenty of times throughout his travels, displayed upon numerous posters, banners and many wide tapestries all over the isles. Perhaps this is the insignia for the Boiling Isles? Rather than ponder this further, he looks to the bleachers above him and sees many people filing into the room to fill the seats. He isn't sure if it's for the duel or if it's because of some other reason. Amity said "theater" and Willow led him here, so they might be here for the duel. Are Witch's Duels really that big of a deal?
A few minutes later, half of the seats are filled with spectators and Amity Blight finally enters from the same doorway he did, accompanied by an older woman. Hunter wasn't expecting this. Who is she? He scans her and takes note of her teal eyes matching the gem on her chest. Her dress with a black skirt that reaches the floor and the ashen top half with sleeves that reach her wrists. Her raven hair making her near pure-white skin more apparent. Her sharpened, near pitch-black nails matching her glossed upper lip (the exact opposite of Eda's lip). Actually, now that he's really looking at her, she does bare a striking resemblance to Eda, albeit… younger and colder. Could it be that she's somehow related to her? Now he's really curious.
"Hello." The older woman greets him once she's close enough, smiling at him with an overbearing air of confidence. "You must be this 'Hunter' my protégé has been telling me about. Tell me, how is the 'Our Lady of Owls' school treating you?"
Just from her tone, the history between Eda and this woman is as obvious as a black spot on a slither beast.
"So, you know Eda?" Hunter cautiously asks, being extra careful to keep himself at a safe distance and to not take his eyes off her as she slowly circles him, clearly analyzing him herself.
"Oh, so she hasn't mentioned me. Leave it to my sister to leave out important information."
"'Sister?!'"
The woman locks eyes with Hunter and steps closer in the boy's moment of hesitation.
"Let's see how Edalyn's 'teachings' stack-up, shall we?" She then faces the stage and takes a few steps before pausing,. "Oh, you may call me Lilith, by the way."
With that, she gestures a come-hither motion to her protégé as she struts off to the stage, and Amity hurries to join her, giving Hunter one more warning glare as she passes by. Hunter looks up into the stands and soon enough, he finds Willow and Augustus, seated and waving at him. That little gesture alone is enough to calm Hunter's stricken nerves… a little. He then looks around in search of Eda, but sees no sign of her bulbous, overstuffed cowl. So, he takes a breath and turns to face the stage where Amity and Lilith stand, smiling and ready to address the audience.
"Beloved citizens," Lilith begins, "the Emperor's Coven proudly presents an impromptu demonstration of the sort of Witch we seek every year." She then places her hand on the back of Amity's neck and pushes her to stand before the audience. "Introducing Amity Blight." As the crowd cheers wildly, Amity's grin widens, clearly feeling her victory assured, or it could just be a massive ego boost from almost everyone cheering her name; perhaps both. "Versus…"
Lilith gestures a hand out to Hunter, and he notices that all eyes are one him. He loudly clears his throat.
"Hunter Wittebane!" He announces, officially introducing himself to the citizens of Bonesborough and any out-of-towners present.
All around him, the crowd breaks out into murmurs and barely audible assumptions. What the assumptions are should be obvious. The living bell hanging on the wall swings its eye into the metal, ringing from the impact and screaming from the pain of repeatedly smashing its own eyeball into a metal plate. Hunter swallows the lump in his throat and takes one last calming breath before going to meet Amity in the middle of the ring. They stare each other down once more before the real match starts.
Amity draws a fairly small circle, but Hunter only regards the action with moderate wariness. The abominations he previously faced in the school might have proved to be quite the inconveniences, but they were premade in cauldrons and under the control of an experienced Abomination Witch. The one he is about to face today will be summoned from a magic circle by a student. Hunter will admit that Amity displayed some skill that one time, but he's dealt with these disgusting freaks before, and has only gotten stronger, faster and smarter every time they beat him down. And back then, he had to survive hordes of them on a daily basis. He can absolutely handle this one fat, messy, uncoordinated…
"Abomination, Rise!"
… big headed… giant… oversized… towering… monster?
"W-h-a-a-a-t?!"
Yes, this abomination is far bigger than any abomination Hunter has ever seen before. He was ready to take on a single, normal-sized one, but this big guy just threw a wrench into his works. Although unnoticed, Amity is also greatly surprised by the size of her creation, but she's not about to question what is clearly a demonstration of her true potential (in her eyes). With her confidence practically maxed out, she eggs Hunter on, telling him to "show her what he's got." The abomination raises its leg, holding its foot above where Hunter stands, and then brings it down onto him, but the red-eyed Witchling quickly rolls out of the way and breaks into a sprint to put some distance between himself and the walking weapon.
The abomination responds, not by chasing after him, but by grabbing its own head with its giant hands and twisting it 360˚ around before ripping it off at the base of its neck. It then takes aim and flings its amorphous cranium in Hunter's direction. The head flies but only misses its mark by over a whole meter or so. Clearly, whatever Hunter lacks in strength and ranged attacks, he more than makes up for in speed and cunning. He skids to a halt and turns to face his opponent as the giant amalgam regrows its head and lumbers forward. Although faster than the average abomination given its longer legs, it is still far slower than Hunter. Noticing his apparent speed advantage, the self-taught thief starts putting together a plan in his head.
Meanwhile, outside the battleground, another encounter is about to take place. King has just received his most recent set of offerings from the Swag Coven and is now on his way to his next target, singing a song he wrote himself dedicated to himself receiving free gifts. His cheery mood is then interrupted by an almost boney hand grabbing him by the multiple articles of clothing he is wearing all at the same time: two t-shirts and two, different colored scarves draped around his neck. He drops the two other scarves he was holding in his hands as he is then lifted up to face-level and sees…
"Eda?"
The older woman glowers at her stout roommate.
"Where have you been? And where's Hunter?"
"He's probably fighting that mean girl who crushed my offerings earlier."
"What 'mean girl'?"
"The one Hunter challenged to a duel. I think he's in there."
King points to the wall and Eda's face goes from annoyed to surprised and then nervous as she spots the decorated twin banners depicting golden birds, and in the center hangs a wider tapestry depicting the same golden triangular emblem.
"Oh no." Is all Eda can say.
"Hey, Blight!" Hunter calls to his opponent. "I bet you're a-bum-ination couldn't catch a fat slug riding on a dead snail's shell if it were glued to the ground!"
"That's it!" Amity in a state of frustration, leaps forward, swinging her arm and slamming it down onto the dirt.
The abomination copies her movements, closing the gap in a single bound. As the fist of sludge collides with the sandy surface, Hunter bolts forward and slides across the ground. The giant fist narrowly misses him to create a giant purple puddle beneath its knuckle as he continues running between its legs. The audience is awestruck by the display. They thought that this match would be a quick and easy win for Amity, but so far this kid has survived and avoided everything the child prodigy threw at him, and he hasn't even cast a single spell yet. Willow and Augustus are practically leaping out of their seats as they watch their friend outrun the lumbering mess of a monster and outwit its master.
Amity, refusing to let him get away so easily, decides to make her own risky gambit and draws another circle. Hunter almost freezes in place before the hand of another abomination emerges from a purple hole in front of him. He barely manages to avoid being grabbed. Hunter's breaths become hard and deep as he circles around the second abomination, smaller in size than the first, but still double the average size. Amity, already sweating from over use of magic, then draws a third circle, summoning a third abomination, this one around average height. The first abomination comes around the second as the shorter of the two finally stands to full length, but the third is still rising from the circle.
Knowing he needs to act fast; Hunter beats his chest and bolts toward the still emerging abomination. The artificial servant reaches out with its hand as the others close in, but Hunter manages to jump over the abomination's hand, onto its arm before springing onto its head, all before it can pull itself up from the ground. Hunter uses his forward momentum to bounce himself off of its head and onto the shoulder of the second, abomination.
A surprised Amity then has the amalgam make a grab for the boy, but Hunter's skills and speed allow him to outpace the sludge golem, leaping from its shoulder just as the purple hand slams down and onto the arm of the first and final abomination. He climbs to the shoulder of the fully erect abomination as it then begins slapping its own arm in attempt to flatten the blonde-haired Witchling, but Hunter summons every last drop of energy he has left and makes a mad dash to the shoulder and leaps off, dropping down… onto Amity… Oh, no!
Amity turns to run, but it's too late. Hunter lands, pinning her to the ground and that is when he catches sight of something on the back of her neck. Acting fast, he holds the golden-eyed Witchling down with one arm, pressing the bulk of his body weight onto her back and with his free hand, grabs and rips off what is stuck to the back of her neck. He finally rolls off onto the ground, panting heavily as he finally rests from the battle, and Amity returns to her feet, turning around, furious.
The girl points to Hunter, but when she finally notices the gasps all around her, she turns to her creations only to see all three of them shrink down to the size of… well, King… and then two of them pop into puddles of purple goo, their yellow eyeballs floating in the moaning messes. Hunter soon stands and faces his two opponents, both far shorter than him. The pint-sized abomination looks up at the panting, scowling, now suddenly taller foe, and then down at the pools of muck around it, before backing away, hands held up in surrender.
"So this is why your abominations were so big!" Hunter loudly berates, holding up a sticker with a broken, brown fist in its center for all to see. "You were cheating with one of these Construction Coven… sticker…things!"
"Power glyphs!" Augustus shouts from his seat.
"Yeah, what he said."
The audience is aghast at this shocking revelation. Even more murmurs fill the bleachers.
"Oh my." Hunter turns back around to see Lilith walking towards them, her face no impressed and her tone calm. "How underhanded. How could anyone ever stoop so low?"
Lilith's tone is clearly mock betrayal, but why? Amity is her protégé, isn't she? Shouldn't she be trying to defend her? Does she just not care?
"Miss Lilith, please!" Amity holds her hands together before her mentor, her face stricken with terrified worry. "I swear I had no idea! I haven't the foggiest clue how that—!"
"Oh, don't worry, Amity. I know." Despite her clear confusion, Amity stands to attention before her mentor. "Clearly someone as talented as you would never have any need to resort to such trickery to succeed. Clearly, someone must have planted that on you without your knowledge. But who could possible benefit from helping you cheat?" She then turns her attention to Hunter. "Or perhaps it was all a ploy to make it look like you cheated? Well, I can only think of one other person who could possibly try such an underhanded tactic. And this boy just so happens to be her protégé."
"What?!" Hunter shouts. "That's so stupid! I didn't do it!"
"Well, of course you'd say that. My sister happens to be the biggest cheater and liar on the isles."
"But it couldn't have been me! I wasn't anywhere near Amity's neck."
"Maybe not during the duel up until the end, but what about before."
Hunter looks at Amity, remembering when he bumped into her. At first, she glares at him, but then suddenly stops. Her eyes drift away, and Hunter can tell that she's in thought.
"Amity, tell her! I never touched your neck, just bumped my shoulder into your back, that's it!"
Murmurs of doubt fill the seats around the arena.
"Well, Amity?" Lilith walks past her protégé and looks up at the audience around them all. "Has this boy ever touched your neck at any moment prior to entering the theater?"
Amity hold's her hand, hesitant to answer, but in the end, she does.
"No."
"And there you have it. She—" Lilith holds her tongue in momentary shock, a feeling shared with the blonde, but she quickly composes herself before anyone can take notice. "Now Amity," Lilith then turns around and stands behind Amity to grip her shoulders. "Clearly, you don't harbor any ill-will against someone so beneath you, but it's only fair that he is punished for this attempted humiliation." Her grip on the younger girl tightens and she lowers her head so to speak directly into her ear. "You wouldn't want to look worse in front of everyone, now would you? You don't want to appear foolish before the Emperor's Coven." There's that name again. Out of all the coven's Hunter had seen on display earlier, the name "Emperor's Coven" was never seen. Only mentioned by Lilith just before the duel. "So, tell us, miss Blight." Lilith announces to the crowd. "Do you believe it was this boy who placed the glyph on you?"
Lilith raises her head high in confidence.
"No."
And just like that, all of her confidence is replaced by shock and anger when Amity starts talking.
"Amity!"
Lilith looks back down with a stern glare, prepared to give her protégé another threatening warning only to instantly fall silent after an audible gasp when she notices Amity's hand glowing purple. Hunter remembers his similar situation when King suggested he cheat earlier. His hand glowed purple and his mind was made up for him.
"The everlasting oath." He deduces.
"A what?!" Lilith begins to nervously sweat as her composure falters.
If the agreement worked both ways, then that would mean that Lilith was correct when she said that Amity did not willingly cheat because like him, she couldn't. Amity also gave him her word to accept the end result of the duel "honestly." This gives Hunter an idea.
"Amity, did you mean to cheat?" Hunter asks.
"No! Of course I didn't!" Amity answers, almost angrily, with a hint of desperation. Perhaps desperate to say something of her own desire.
"Do you have any idea who put this on you?" Hunter raises the glyph to show her.
As she speaks, Amity's words come out with a nervous tone, but her delivery is spoken with an air of utmost honesty.
"I remember Hunter bumping into me, but I scratched my neck not long after. There wasn't anything there. The only other time someone touched my neck was…" Her eyes widen in realization, and she turns to face her mentor. "You."
Lilith's eyes widen in turn.
"Well, yes, I might have patted you in encouragement earlier, but—"
"No. You were the only other person to touch me there!" Amity backs away from her teacher. "When you sent me in. You cheated." Amity's face reflects the absolute betrayal she undoubtingly feels in this moment. "You didn't actually think I could win, did you?"
Lilith attempts to defuse the situation with a fake smile.
"Amity, you know how ridiculous that is!"
"Oh really?" From the bleachers comes a very familiar voice that couldn't by anyone but Eda. And it is, standing behind the guard wall at the very bottom of the stairs, a knowing grin engraved into her face. "Why don't you prove it, then, Lilly?"
"Eda…?! Wait!" Hunter chuckles. "'Lilly'?!"
Lilith glares at her sister and her protégé.
"Edalyn. Finally done hiding?"
Eda maintains her smile as she leaps over the guard wall and descends to the dirt floor.
"Go on, Lilly." Eda continues as she struts forward. "If you're really so innocent, pull out your pockets and show everyone you've got nothing to hide."
By now, the air of foreboding that was originally surrounding Lilith wherever she went has almost completely dissipated, replaced by obvious guilt and unease. Lilith takes a breath, straightening her face in hopes of regaining some monochrome of tact before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small stack of power glyphs. All around the ring, people are gossiping over the fact that Lilith and Amity Blight actually cheated to win.
"Aha! Yes! Yes! Yes-yes-yes!" Eda proudly blurts out before pointing a finger at her sister. "You cheated! Perfect, prissy Lilith cheated! Hot dang! I love coventions!"
Eda is dancing around the battlefield in victorious elation over the fact that her own sister lowered herself down to her level.
"I only did that because I knew you would cheat!" Lilith retorts, but Eda simply thrusts her face closer to her sister's.
"Aha! But that's the best part! I didn't!"
"You…!" Lilith freezes before she can deliver a retort, finally registering what her sister said. "What?!"
"I didn't cheat! I didn't even know this was going on!" Now it's Eda's turn to freeze for a second to register her own words. "Wait. Hold on. I didn't even know this was going on."
Hunter soon catches sight of Willow, Augustus and King (apparently, he showed up, too) cheering and bouncing in jubilation at his genuine win. He would have been happy to join them, but then, he notices Amity. Her face, she looks, well, in despair. Amity's eyes keep bouncing from one group of gossiping Demons to the next as they constantly go on about how Amity cheated and lost. Suffice to say, Amity is mortified. So much so, that she rushes out of the room.
A part of Hunter feels that she deserves this, especially after everything she put him and his friends through, but another part of him knows that she didn't mean for this to happen. She was (ironically) a victim of circumstance. That isn't fair to her… Wait… "Fair"? Oh no… Looking down and… Yep! His feet are moving, and his hand is glowing. Oh well, guess he's doing this. Hunter runs off after Amity just as Eda starts calling to him, but he has no choice but to ignore her and leave.
The blonde Witchling rushes out of the theater in pursuit of his former opponent. He stops just outside, panting heavily as he sees that the Birdmen are still gone. Looking around, he soon spots her huddled in a shadowy corner by the bathrooms. She looks so…pathetic, and not in an enjoyable way. Hunter takes a step, but then halts, unsure how to proceed. He never thought he would ever be in such a situation, especially not with someone he had already labeled as a "bully".
Still, he can't just leave her like this, so, swallowing another lump in his throat (gosh, maybe he should see a healing Witch. He's been doing that a lot today), he continues forward. Hunter stands before the border between the light and the shadow, looking down at Amity, hiding herself away from the public.
"Um… Amity?"
Although she hears his voice, she refuses to look up.
"What are you doing here?! Just leave me alone!"
Hunter merely sighs at her reaction. He wasn't expecting it, but at the same time, he isn't surprised.
"Look, I get you're upset you lost, but that's no excuse to—"
"No!" Amity finally stands up, glaring up at him. "You don't get it! You humiliated me in front of everyone! You made me look like a fool in front of the Emperor's Coven, my future! You have no idea how hard the rest of us have to struggle to become Witches! I have been working my whole life to get to the top! But you just treat it like a joke because you don't know what it's like to struggle!"
And that, as they say, would be the final straw.
"Are you kidding me?!" All of Hunter's sensitivity is instantly thrown out the window as his hand glows a brighter purple than before. "You're the one who has no idea how good she has it!" With every screamed sentence, Hunter steps closer, forcing the smaller Witchling to step back, and his hand glows brighter. "You have a family to care for you! You have a home to shelter you! You have fresh food, a warm bed, you have so many things you don't even deserve that not everyone has! You think you know what it's like to struggle?! Well, you don't! You don't know what it's like to wake up in the middle of the woods with no home, no family, no memories, nothing but your name and the clothes off your back! So don't you ever think you can say 'You've never struggled like me' to someone forced to grow up as a homeless, magicless orphan!"
By now, Amity, is against a wall, three feet away from the enraged teen, the light of his hand blaring down on her like a spotlight, almost blinding with how bright it has become, and it is at this point that Hunter realizes what he just said. After a second to regain her own composure, Amity realizes it, too.
"W-wait! Did-did you just say you were 'magicless'?"
"… Yes." Hunter adverts his eyes as he shamefully accepts it, all because of some stupid handshake. But on the "bright" side (pun intended), the light from his hand is back to normal. "I don't… have a bile sac." Hunter lowers himself to his knees, pulls out a notepad and pencil from his pocket and draws a light glyph on a blank sheet of paper. "But with some help from my mentor, I've found a way."
As Amity lowers herself to get a better look, Hunter taps the glyph, and the paper is absorbed into the spell, becoming a ball of light that he then cups, allowing it to float above his hands. Amity's eyes widen at the sight. She stares transfixed, but for only a second.
"That's nothing." She states, turning away and rolling her eyes. "A child could do a light spell." Hunter sighs at her response and extinguishes the light before turning away from her. "But I've never seen it cast like that."
As Amity looks back at Hunter, Hunter does the same, still displaying displeasure at the sight of her. Amity looks as though she's about to insult him, but her words never come. So Hunter decides to speak.
"Look, I don't blame you specifically for cheating. That was all Lilith, but you still owe my friend an apology." Suddenly, Amity looks down and sees her hand glowing purple. "Among other things."
As Hunter grins maliciously at her, the corners of Amity's mouth droop further and further down as the impending embarrassment sets in. She sighs.
"Oh, no!"
After a few minutes, King, Eda, Augustus and Willow finally find Hunter.
"Hunter! There you are!" Eda glares down at him. "How many times are you gonna run off today?"
"Sorry, you guys, but I had to take care of something important."
Hunter then looks down at King as the Demon pup speaks.
"What's so important that you had to run off and leave us behind?"
"Just making sure a certain someone holds up her end of the bargain." Hunter smugly explains.
Before anyone can question him further, an extremely annoyed voice draws their attention.
"What is the difference between the Bakers Coven and Confectioners Coven anyway?!" The angry voice asks.
Following the sound, everybody (save for Hunter, of course) gapes at the sight of Amity Blight, carrying three tote-bags hooked onto each of her arms, and hauling two more in her arms, all of them overflowing with cupcakes, cookies, and various assorted sweets and confectionaries. As soon as she takes notice of everyone present, especially King, standing beside a smug-grinning Hunter, she sighs in exhaustion, not only from having to carry so many bags full of delicious goodies, but from the embarrassment she must now endure.
"Well?" Asks Hunter, expectantly.
The girl stares daggers at the boy, and as her hand once again glows a bright purple, she carefully places the bags down around King, before lowering herself (figuratively and literally) onto her hands and knees, bowing her head low before him.
"Your Majesty," she is forced to declare, complete with accent, "I ask that you forgive me for my foolish stupidity and idiotic disrespect." The whole group's jaws fall to the floor, again, save for Hunter's. Instead, his jaw is busy holding tightly onto his knuckles as he chuckles, almost laughing. The urge is overwhelming. "I have come to offer you these offerings as a tribute to you, oh great and mighty King of Demons."
Hunter is just having the time of his life, grinning ear to ear, seeing none other than Amity Blight brought down to such a degree. Sadly, all good things must come to an end, for as the terms of the oath are finally met, the spell is broken, the glow around Amity's hand is gone, and the humiliated girl thusly pushes herself back to her feet, glaring with white-hot intensity of a thousand suns.
"Listen up!" She bellows and points at the group. "This never happened!"
And so with that being the final word, she sharply about faces and leaves. Even as she goes, Hunter continues to smile, sighing to calm his bubbling laughter.
"Remind me never to make a bet with you, kid." Eda remarks, nudging her apprentice's shoulder, but then notices King already digging into his new offerings. "Hey! You still owe me a bag for the merchandise you ruined today!"
As the group leave the building, Augustus is just going on about how this was the best convention ever. It isn't long until Eda brings up the topic of Hunter and King abandoning the group, and in that moment, Hunter's legs stop moving as his mind is suddenly brought back to the Birdmen. In all of the excitement, he had completely forgotten, but now he remembers. Those monsters from his nightmares, the same ones that have haunted him since his earliest days alone, they're actually real.
When the group notices how Hunter has stopped moving, Eda calls out to him, thinking he's just distracted or something, but when he doesn't respond to his name multiple times, that's when she realizes something is wrong. Willow runs up to him and pats his shoulder, which apparently is enough to warrant his attention, but as soon as she sees the look of horror in his eyes, she surmises that what he's going through is probably a subject he might not be comfortable speaking about. Hunter looks around at his friends and he sees nothing but concern. How long has he been standing here recalling his fears? When Eda and Willow ask him if he's okay, he gives them a quick nod.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Hunter unconvincingly says with a forced smile, suppressing the memories… again. "No need to worry."
Meanwhile, Eda's sister, Lilith is in a heated discussion with a voice speaking to her through a compact mirror on her desk. The woman in the mirror looks up at Lilith with her one red eye, the lower half of her red face hidden behind the white collar of her cloak, the right side of her face obscured by her lapis-blue hair resembling more a monstrous, four fingered claw, the tips like talons, and the bun on her head like a second claw.
"Kikimora," Lilith regards the woman, "the duel was merely… a—"
"Lilith, the Emperor cares little about your protégé's need to show off, nor her loss against some random child," says the red-skinned Demon, "but what he does not approve of is a coven-head openly cheating for her protégé, and then having said protégé lose. I'm sure you can imagine how that can paint the coven itself in the eyes of the citizens." Lilith's face is now paler than usual. "Oh, no need to worry. The Emperor's Coven can easily sweep this all under the rug… so long as you agree that the final surprise we can expect from you as the head is finally fulfilling our arrangement."
Lilith sighs in relief, but then straightens her posture, wiping away any trace of doubt from her face.
"Of course."