If the cut were any deeper, my sister's brains would've been leaking out. It was bad. Great Titan, it was bad! How could it not be with that loud cracking sound it made when her head first hit the balcony?

Crack! I heard the sound every time I looked over at my sibling. I had since drug her limp body into the room behind us and onto the dust covered king sized bed. It took me a while to find something clean enough to use, but I also wrapped up the wound and stopped the bleeding.

Crack! She looked so… frail, way too frail! Even at her lowest of lows, when she would get sick or needed a shoulder to cry on, Emira always held this air of certainty. But, while she laid there unconscious, she was just a helpless lump of skin and bones.

Crack! It was hard to focus on finding her pulse through her wrist. Even if she did live… let's just say that sound was going to haunt me for life no matter what happened.

Crack! I got it! I could still feel her heartbeat! It was slow but it was there! Titandammint, I was so relieved I could've passed out too!

Crack! But… What now? What was I supposed to do? I couldn't just lie there with her until she woke up, but I couldn't leave her alone either! What if she woke up while I was gone?

Crack! Damnit! Titan, help me!

"Get a hold of yourself, Edric!" I snapped at myself in an attempt to shove the awful sound out of my mind, "You need to stop being such a wuss. Emira needs help and you have to be the one to find it for her. Her and Amity would do the same for you".

Amity… Right. Both of my sisters were in life threatening danger. But, while I knew that Emira was still alive, Amity could've already been gone.

"They'll both be fine! Just get your shit together!" I growled.

I shook my head while my fingers grasped onto my now rugged hair. Despite how sure I sounded, I didn't believe a single thing I had just said. Emira was always the assured one, after all, while I was more of the cower and cry in the corner kinda guy.

Had this been the other way around, me lying in the bed knocked unconscious, she would've already found help or hell just tended to me herself. She always seemed to know what to do, while I… great Titan, Emira was so screwed!

No. I could handle this. Emira wasn't there to be the level headed big sibling, couldn't give me the kick in the ass I needed. So, I had to step up, kick my own ass for once. That was the only thing urging me out of the room. Not courage or responsibility but the fact that I would always have my sister's backs.

Didn't take me long to notice that the decaying top floor of a partially abandoned hotel was not a good place to be looking for other people. Finding a rat there seemed impossible, let alone another witch. There were plenty of spiders but they were nothing but shriveled up husks.

What did I really expect? Who would want to stay in a place where the air was so awful you could practically see the mustiness?

"There he is! The dead witch walking!". Huh. Guess that was who.

I knew the owner of the voice more than I had liked to, though that wasn't saying much considering that it belonged to the most spoiled brat in my younger sister's year. Boscha: one of Amity's "suitable companions", grudby team captain, and a level five hellhound at best. Yeah, even after she "went soft" by having real feelings, Amity was still twice as cold as her former friend could even dream of being.

I actually hesitated to head towards the younger witch for a moment. Emira desperately needed help but… was Boscha really the right person to ask… or even talk to.

"And what do you want?".

Oh, thank Titan. Someone tolerable was there too. Augustus, a.k.a Gus: avid human enthusiast, gifted illusionist, and one of the only witches nerdier than my baby sister. He was a nice kid. He was fun to have around in Advanced Illusions and he surprisingly kept up despite being much younger than everyone else in class.

The witchling could at least help me carry Emira somewhere more sanitary if not know where to find some of the healing track students. He probably knew where Amity was too. Maybe she was even with him!

As I headed towards the voices, they naturally got easier to hear. I couldn't see both Gus or Boscha, but they sounded like they were near the left end of the hallway in a smaller hallway to the right of it.

"Relax, Agustus. I just wanted to talk. You and I have so much in common" I heard Boscha purr.

A mocking snicker escaped me. Oh, yes. Gus and Boscha did have a lot in common. The two of them were both witches, both hexide students, both knew Amity, and… Nope, that was about it.

"What?! What would we have in common?".

Poor Gus sounded so confused, like his mind was physically refusing to grasp the idea. I was with him. I had heard my sister's ex-friend say a lot of stupid things over the years but that measly attempt to trap Gus into a conversation was lame even for Boscha.

"Well, I mean, for one thing, Gus, we both want Blight dead".

I froze in my tracks. All the motivation pushing me towards the two voices was quickly drained out of me. The calm tone of Boscha's voice plus Gus's howl in response made my heart stop.

Gus wanting Amity dead was news to me. What the hell had happened in the last twenty-four hours? Last time I'd checked, Gus and Amity were getting along just fine.

In fact, earlier that week, my sister had helped him present an important assignment for Advanced Illusions, which Emira and I had already asked for help on and got a, "But then I would have to deal with you two more than I already have to" in response.

With the way the two beamed at each other when Gus received his score, it was near impossible to believe that Gus would want Amity's head just a few days later.

"That's not true!" Gus growled. "I literally made her promise to take better care of herself just yesterday night!".

"So, you want the human dead. Is that what you're saying?" Boscha asked as more voices tried to get Gus's attention. The loudest of the voices calling out so happened to be the human in question while the others I didn't recognize.

"Of course not! What on the Isle gave you that idea?". Gus mainly sounded annoyed but it was clear that Boscha had found some sort of weak spot of his.

"No. Just…No way. Are you seriously telling me that you want Willow to kill you instead of Amity?" Boscha laughed before being joined by what sounded like the rest of her clique.

"Poor things just accepted it. And you've been so nice to Willow, too" one babied, prompting even more laughter.

"After everything she's done and you're just gonna let Amity take your friend like that, take your life?" another witch asked. "You can't think that's fair".

Luz's voice could barely be heard over all of the mocking. I couldn't make out what she was saying but I could tell she was almost as terrified as Gus was. When Gus responded, Luz let out a desperate cry and the other voices that tried to get his attention earlier began to shout louder too.

I started rushing towards the voice again. I already didn't like where this conversation had headed. If it was allowed to go any further things were gonna get pretty ugly.

The barrage of loud sounds made my mind go numb. For a few moments, I felt nothing but the adrenaline pushing me to run as fast as I could. I didn't exactly know why Boscha thought Willow would hurt anyone, let alone two of her best friends, but it sounded like I needed to intervene asap.

"Do I really matter that little to you guys?!" Gus wailed just as I turned a corner and found the source of all the commotion.

It turned out Boscha's voice wasn't coming from Boscha, or at least not the real one. Huddled in one big group of makeshift teenage pettiness were these strange living piles of dirt. Each of them had formed what looked to me as perfect copies of my younger sister's old friend group, down to their stupid prissy grins.

In front of them were another smaller group of witches that included a shivering Gus, a paralyzed Luz, an overwrought older witch that looked just like Luz, and a very fretful snake thing… Wait. Was that a Basilisk?...Huh. Weird.

I had never seen one before since Emira and I were able to escape the school undetected during the greater basilisk attack. But the way Amity would freeze and curl into herself whenever she saw anything snake-like made me think they'd be scarier. This was the beast that had brought my baby sister to the brink of death in mere minutes?

Though maybe I wasn't intimidated by the demon because there was a far more terrifying creature looming over it. A ten foot rabbit that was also made from dust and had hauntingly sick looking eyes sat beside the other creatures. The fur on the back of his neck stood straight up as he gnashed his bucked teeth.

Gus took a large deep breath, trying, but failing, to get himself to relax. Meanwhile I locked eyes with the oldest witch. She subtly nodded towards the rabbit then pretended to grab the back of her neck. She twitched her arm in a harsh tugging movement a few times before pointing to the beast again. The decisive look in her eyes screamed encouragement and trust.

I flicked my ear instinctually then gave her an excited nod and a confident smirk. Just like I had told the owl lady, I was masterful at being stealthy. It took me no effort at all to slip behind the group of smaller dust demons. And, when I did make it onto the rabbits back, his fur didn't even flinch under my grasp.

Climbing up the rabbit was the easy part. The hard part was fighting the urge to pay attention to what was happening below. I was always a sucker for gossip and this was gossip about my sister from someone who supposedly wanted her dead for Titan's sake! You can't blame me for being at least a little curious.

"I've been trying my hardest to be the best friend a witch could be, I always have, but I'm never good enough for you two! Do you know how many years Willow drove herself to near madness trying to prove herself to Amity? She was so obsessed she refused to see all the witches who already thought she was enough!

I have always thought Willow was one of the strongest and most hardworking witches I have ever met but that never mattered to her! Because, I'm not Amity and, despite all the things that stuck up hellhound did to hurt her, the only thing that mattered to Willow was some stupid friendship that ended nearly a decade ago!

I've always been nothing but a back-up to her! She couldn't have Amity, so she was friends with me instead! And, now that she has her back, she's gonna toss me to the side— No! Worse! She's going to kill me!".

"Gus".

"And you, Luz! Ever since you fell head over heels for Amity, she's the only witch you care about! Hell, for a while you only talked to me so you could get my library card to go visit her!

She almost took away your ability to practice magic! She almost killed you, Luz! Yet, you'd rather Willow choose me to die! If anyone deserves to die, it's Amity!".

Gus's voice rang through the hallway when he screamed the last sentence. His words were paralyzing, heart wrenching. Amity saw Gus as one of the only real friends she'd ever had. She was grateful that, even though she had treated his closest friend like griffin shit, he rallied behind her. He accepted her as a friend, a good friend. To hear Gus talk about her like that would've torn a huge chunk out of her heart.

But that's not really how Gus felt. I refused to believe it. The witchling was too much of a "cinnamon roll", as Luz put it, to truly wish even the old stuck up Amity harm.

The witch may have been jealous… Ok. He was one-hundred percent jealous, and there was obviously a mountain baggage for him and the others to unpack. But, no matter how much his angry side argued otherwise, in the end, the last thing he'd want to see is Amity get hurt. I knew that from experience.

"Ha" the dust Boscha snickered after a long moment of silence. "Good luck getting Willow to care about you after saying that". The dust creatures were all thrown into a laughing fit. Taunts and jabs were mercilessly thrown at Gus in droves, every one of them prodding at him like vultures picking at a carcass.

Before I had time to push what Gus said to the back of my mind, the fur I clung on to shuddered. The giant rabbit had finally noticed he had something on his back and angrily tried to shake me off like I was a drop of water on his fur.

I reacted almost instantly. I lept forwards and snatched the beast's scruff just as he managed to toss me into the air. For a few seconds, I just hung off the rabbits side. It was completely frozen stiff, it's only movements were it teetering from side to side. Silently, I prayed to the Titan that, if the creature did fall over, he would fall on the side I wasn't on.

Finally, the rabbit went completely limp. With one more large lean to the left, the dust beast flopped onto his right side. My entire body was slammed into the wooden floor. A mountain of dirty hair clogged my mouth and nostrils.

Thanks for nothing, Titan.

I, once again, reacted without a second thought, or even a first thought really. My instincts, hardwired survival skills handed down to me from long before the savage ages, made me dig my fangs deep into the dusty wall crushing me. My jaw locked in place. I was not letting go until my opponent got off me.

The creature instantly shot up. Its sharp claws slipped against the ground while it scrambled to face the other direction and scurried into the shadows. Its smaller dusty puppets crumbled into a couple of dusty clumps. Their roaring became nothing but an echo before fading away entirely.

All the while, I was profusely rubbing my tongue. The taste of all the dust in my mouth made me almost vomit. It was the most disgusting thing I had ever tasted and I ate some really weird shit as a child.

"¡Gracias joven! You were extremely brave back there!" an unfamiliar voice cheered. Without warning the older witch from earlier turned me around before grasping my shoulders proudly. I shot the witch a cool grin back.

"Oh. It was nothing. I just hate demons that fight dirty, that's all" I purred slickly.

Her brown eyes were tired, yet they lit up so bright it was almost blinding. Honestly, they looked just like Luz's. Hell, everything about her looked like Luz, even the round human ears… Wait a minute…

"Edric?" the other human called from behind. Luz nearly crashed into me, she ran forwards so fast. "What are you doing here?".

"We came here to help Mittens. Also, is that your mom?".

The older wit… er, human smiled and nodded. She stretched out her hand in polite greeting as she calmly said, "I am. My name is Camila Noceda. It's very nice to meet you, Edric".

I opened my mouth to reply but Luz jumped in between the two of us.

"We?" she asked. "Emira was with you? Where is she?".

"Right! Emira's here too but she's hurt. I was actually looking for help when I found you". I turned to Camila. A thought had struck me like a flaming grudgby ball. "Oh! Luz said you're a healer! Can you help us?".

"How did she get hurt?" Camila asked, her voice growing to a much more serious tone.

"We were attacked by gargoyles. She has this huge cut in her head" I answered back. "I was able to get it to stop bleeding but she hasn't woken up yet".

The older human's gaze was locked on the floor. A million thoughts seemed to be racing through her head.

"She was knocked unconscious? It sounds like she's concussed" Camila murmured. She then stared up at me. Her eyes stared deep into my soul. "Take me to her, Joven".

"Don't know what "yo-ven" means but follow me" I nodded.

I practically flew down the hallway. Despite wanting them to follow me, I paid no mind to whether or not the rest could keep up. It nearly killed me to have to leave Emira alone while she was so hurt. I wanted to get back to her as soon as possible, especially since I had people who could help her with me.

Luckily, the others matched my pace. We all arrived at the door Emira was behind within seconds. Camila shoved her way to the front of the group with the conviction of a slitherbeast protecting its baby. I expected her to throw the door open but instead she delicately peeked at the inside of the room first.

"Ok" she said before she walked into the room. "From what it sounds like, Emira has a severe concussion, which means… Well, a number of things could happen. You four wait out here and I'll call you in once I feel Emira is stable".

"What do you mean by "a number of things"?" I choked nervously.

"I must be honest with you, Edric. Seizures, vomiting, delirium, all are possible results of concussions. But I will do everything I can to help your sister. Just hold on". With that, Camila carefully stepped into the room and quietly shut the door.

It felt as if my heart was going to tear itself out of my chest. You mean to tell me that Emira could have started seizing and I was supposed to just stand here and do nothing? But what could I have done anyways? It was best to just trust Camila.

My attention moved over to the youngest of the group, who had been very quiet ever since the giant rabbit ran off. He looked… bad. There was no better way to put it. Fear pushed the witchlings' ears down as far as they would go, while shame caused the poor boy to shiver. His eyes darted around the hallway as he looked for what he should do next.

"Gus,". My call made him yelp slightly. I could hear him gulp in fear. "Come here. I want to talk to you".

When Gus didn't move, I prodded, "don't be scared. I won't bite, especially if you taste as bad as that rabbit did". It didn't make the witchling relax but it made him walk up to me.

"So, let's cut to the chase" I said while the two of us moved away from Luz and the basilisk. "I heard almost everything. And while I don't like what you said about Mittens–".

"I didn't mean it, Edric!" Gus interrupted with a howl.

"No. You meant it. It looks to me you've got some issues you need to talk to the others about. But I understand what you mean, Gus. And it's alright. I'd be lying if I said I haven't been there myself".

My confession definitely caught Gus's attention. His mouth slightly hung open while his gray eyes shone with interest. I let out a sigh and the tone in my voice softened slightly.

"Did Luz and Amity ever tell you about The Library Incident?" I hmmed. My smile faded away when the bad memory resurfaced.

"They told me they fought a monster version of Otabin but they never mentioned you were there" Gus responded.

"Well. Both Em and I were there too and, just like you, we wanted Amity to get what "she deserved". I mean she was snitching on the two of us more and more every day. It was like she followed us everywhere and just waited there until she could get us in trouble. It was so Titandamn annoying!

And when we found out how much of a hellhound she was being to Luz, the two of us had had enough. So we hung out with Luz, to see if she was cool, snuck into the library, then Emira and I led her back to Amity's secret hideout.

You know, Gus, I thank the Titan every day that Luz was there". I took a moment to sigh out my regret. All the while, Gus refused to take his attention off me. It wasn't every day you saw a member of the cool and confident Blight family show so much vulnerability.

"Our plan was to steal Amity's diary then post the pages around school. It was the perfect way to get under Amity's skin, to stick it to her.

I mean, that's what it was, Gus. Emira said we were doing it to help her. She'd get laughed at by the very people that she hurt, and it would humble her. But that was just an excuse. We were doing it cause we were angry, and we wanted Amity to pay for it.

Then Amity almost died, and I realized that I didn't want my little sister to get hurt. And what we were going to do to her would've broken her in two. So, yeah Gus, I know how you feel".

"What exactly happened? If you don't mind me asking" Gus questioned after a small moment of silence.

"Luz was the one who found the diary. She was able to keep it from the two of us until Amity showed up. Of course, Amity was beyond upset, especially since she thought Luz was in on our plan too. She ran off and Luz followed her so she could comfort her.

Em and I left as soon as we were found out. We didn't even give Amity a second thought until she came back to the manor that morning with large bruises. She told us that she and Luz were almost killed and… well… that we needed to stay away from Luz so we wouldn't hurt her like we were hurting our own sister.

We ended up having a very long conversation, listing all the ways we hurt each other. Turns out all the jokes affected Amity a lot more than we could've ever imagined. Amity even told us that she couldn't sleep at night with the two of us "stalking around". That's when Emira and I made the promise that we would do everything in our power to help Amity be happy".

I put my hand on Gus's shoulder, stared him straight in the eye, and told him sternly, "don't let your feelings get the better of you. Don't make the same mistake I did". Gus responded with a small smile. He still looked unsure, but I was able to raise his spirit slightly.

"Thanks" he murmured before a thought came to him and wiped the smile right off of his face. "But you said you never wanted Amity to die".

"And neither do you".

"But I said I did! And, in that moment, that's how I felt". Gus stared down at the floor, searching for something in the paisley carpet that could distract him from his shame.

"Look. I don't know what this whole Willow's gonna kill someone thing is about, but you are in a very scary situation right now. It sounds to me like you're more scared that Willow's gonna hurt you. You don't actually want Amity to die, you're just a bit jealous and really really want to live".

"Edric?". I ran towards the door so quickly I slammed into the wall.

"How is she? Is she ok? Is she gonna live?".

"She's awake," Camila answered softly. "And she wants to see you".

I snapped into protective brother mode. Without saying another word, I squeezed my way past the older human before letting out a panicked cry to my sister.

"Emira! Are you alright!".