Chapter 6: Suspicion
Trigger Warning: Thoughts of suicide, mentions of past self-harm.
Lucio was surrounded by a gang of magic thugs, armed with his aluminum bat and a few sticky-note glyphs he'd drawn up just a few minutes earlier. The leader of the gang - Arden Blight, as he had introduced himself - claimed that he wanted to bring Lucio to Empress Bela for some sort of reward. Lucio sneered at the thought; apparently even witches weren't above selling out others for their own gain. But it was painfully obvious to the human that even with his new understanding of glyphs, he'd never win in a fight with four experienced magic-users. Especially those who could summon monsters made of slime or conjure storm clouds with a pluck of a tune.
Thankfully, he remembered that he was still wearing the Cloak of Protection Edgar had given him. Coupled with the fact that he had just taken some medicine to keep his heart stable for a few more hours, all he had to do was evade their magic attacks and get inside the Earth Haven. Once inside, he could open a portal back to the Owl Haven for reinforcements. With that in mind, he made his first move.
He slapped a fire glyph on his bat and swung it at one of the abominations Arden had summoned. As he'd hoped, the creature's head burst into flames, startling the others and giving Lucio the opening he needed. He rushed into the Earth Haven, closed the door behind him, and knocked a shelf over to barricade it.
"Don't let him get away, you idiots!" Arden shouted from outside. "Get in there and stop him before he contacts the Owl Mage!"
Not wanting to waste another second, Lucio hurried towards the sundial in the center of the room. Unfortunately, once his gaze fell upon the keyhole in the center of the dial, Lucio realized he lacked the proper equipment to activate the Haven. Suddenly, he heard a window being shattered from somewhere inside the Haven; they were inside. Remembering his first time coming to the Boiling Isles, Lucio grabbed his bat and ran to find a mystic artifact that would help him.
"Come on… come on…!" Lucio muttered to himself as he inspected the glass cases, finding nothing but books, goblets, and jewelry. "Where's the freakin' Master Sword or Staff of Merlin or other shit like that?!"
A fireball narrowly missed Lucio's head and shattered the glass case right in front of him. Deciding to fight fire with fire, Lucio grabbed a fire glyph from his pocket, tapped it, and hit the fireball with his bat towards the attacker. Bosch's bottom two eyes were temporarily blinded from the ash, but his third eye allowed him to lock onto the human and chuck another fireball at him. It hit Lucio in the knee, but he forced himself to shake off the pain and run upstairs to find another weapon. He slapped three plant glyphs on the wall next to him, creating a vine barrier that blocked Bosch's path and coiled around his limbs to hold him in place.
By the time Lucio reached the top of the stairs, he found Skar waiting at the top for him. The Bard had just finished playing a song on his harp before approaching his prey. Instinctively, Lucio smashed open another glass case and grabbed its contents. He felt rather embarrassed once he realized what he was holding - a brass music box adorned with gold plating and three multi-colored gems - but his enemy seemed afraid.
"Whoa! Whoa, hold on, man! Take it easy with that!" Skar held up his hands, defensively, begging the human not to use it. Lucio smirked to himself as he kept pointing the item at the Bard witch, waving it around to show it off. Unfortunately, doing so seemed to ease Skar's concerns; as evident by the way the Bard adopted his own smug grin and crossed his arms. "You don't know what that is, do you?"
Lucio nervously looked down at the item in his hands. "Uuuuuuh…" Acting on impulse, he chucked the music box as hard as he could, hitting Skar directly on the forehead and knocking him to the floor. Lucio adjusted the strap on his backpack and leaned down to pick up his bat, noticing that Skar was still breathing as he did so. "I know it's heavy." He remarked.
With two enemies down and only two to go, Lucio decided it would be best to make a break for the exit and run back to the Owl Haven. He cautiously tip-toed back downstairs, hiding behind other glass cases as he went. The three abominations dutifully patrolled the building while under the command of their green-haired master, but were, thankfully, too stupid to actually find him on their own. He was almost able to escape when a stone wall erupted from the ground, blocking the doorway.
Matilda chuckled as her trap forced Lucio to stumble backwards into the grip of an abomination. While the human struggled, she snatched his backpack from him and began to rummage around its contents. Much to his horror, she pulled out the bottle of pills and popped five into her mouth.
"What the hell is this stuff?" She gagged before spitting them out onto the floor.
"Stop!" Lucio screamed. "You're wasting it!"
He suddenly broke free from the abomination's grip and rushed to tackle Matilda to the floor. Matilda didn't even have a chance to summon more stones to hurl at the human before his fist collided with her face. He broke her nose. He punched both of her eyes so hard that they swelled up and blinded her. He knocked out several of her teeth. By the time Arden finally caught up, his minion had nearly been beaten to death. He conjured a tendril of purple slime from his palm and slung it around Lucio's neck to pull him off of Matilda.
But much to Arden's shock, Lucio instinctively nodded backwards, breaking Arden's nose and forcing him to dissipate the tendril to stop the bleeding. Lucio picked up his bat and pushed it against Arden's throat to pin him against the wall. Arden gripped the bat with both hands, trying to push it away before he suffocated, but Lucio was furious and refused to relent. At last, the gang leader managed to kick one of Lucio's knees, prompting him to stumble down and lose his grip on the bat.
"Y-you son of a bitch!" Arden coughed, rubbing his throat before trying to summon another abomination. "You could've killed me!"
"I will kill you, gilipollas!" Lucio snarled as he prepared to bring his aluminum bat down onto Arden's skull.
But before he could, another fireball struck him in the back. Bosch had recovered, and he was royally pissed off. Lucio swung his bat, but another abomination appeared and caught it, allowing Bosch to punch the human in the face. Matilda had also recovered and conjured a brick wall to explode out of the ground and hit the human in the gut. Once he was down, the trio of gangsters proceeded to stomp Lucio into submission. After catching his breath, Arden ordered his minions to stand back while he knelt down to grab a handful of Lucio's hair.
"Misery, misery, misery. That's what you've chosen, you filthy human." Arden sneered as he pulled Lucio's head back and formed a knife out of abomination goo in his palm. "Had you not been so difficult, we would've handed you over to the Empress without harming you. But now that you've gone and really pissed me off… I'm gonna make you bleed."
"H-hang on, boss…" Skar stammered as he made his way down the stairs, having finally recovered. "Didn't Empress Bela claim she needed a live human?"
"Relax, Skar." Arden huffed. "The bounty says he has to be alive. It never said he had to be in one piece!"
But before any more blood could be spilled, a blinding flash of light shone from the door to the Raven Haven. The door opened a portal, and a dog-like beast demon charged into the room to tackle Arden off of Lucio. The gang leader managed to kick the beast off of himself and summon another abomination to attack, but a brunette witch with green and pink clothes arrived through the portal and used her own magic to push the enforcer back. Soon enough, another witch with a fishhook in his ear stepped through with a griffin close behind, which he used to attack Matilda.
At last, Wilson and Gail arrived to join the fray. After spotting Matilda trying to escape from the griffin, the illusionist conjured five images of the beast to surround her prey. Vinero and Gail circled around the panicking constructor before another bunch of vines wrapped around her.
Bosch angrily conjured a ball of fire in his palm and pitched it directly at Wilson. In response, the plant-master took a bottle of eucalyptus oil out from his coat pocket and drank its entire contents. He spat the liquid at the fireball, causing it to violently blow backwards at the attacker and engulfing him in the flames. Bosch screamed in agony as he began running around to douse the fire, only to be knocked out once he ran face-first into a wall.
With that out of the way, Wilson summoned a bundle of vines from the ground to restrain Arden's arms and legs, forcing the gang leader to the ground. Arden struggled with all his might, but couldn't break free. "Jebrah, keep Arden tied up. Vinero, check on Lucio." Wilson ordered
"Yes, captain." The two witches nodded before splitting up. The girl with green and pink clothing took over for Wilson in summoning vines to keep Arden's gang tied up, while the boy walked towards the beast demon to pull her off of the human.
"Easy, Barca. Easy." Vinero chided her as he tugged her away. "You can't eat a human."
The demon let out a bark in defiance.
"Okay, yeah, you probably can, but this one's one of the captain's friends."
"You can understand that thing?" Lucio gawked in disbelief.
"Yeah, and 'that thing' can understand you." Vinero growled. "So I'd watch my mouth."
"Relax, Vinero." Wilson placed a hand on the healing beast-keeper's shoulder, holding him back. "He's with us."
"If you say so, captain." Vinero grunted before spotting Wilson's poor stitchwork. With a wave of his hand, Vinero conjured a healing circle around the bite marks where the Owl Beast had bit Wilson and healed the injury.
"Ah, thanks, Vinero." Wilson smiled at the gesture before turning towards the Bard witch with a large welt on his forehead. "What the hell happened to you?"
"He happened to me is what." Skar bitterly grumbled, pointing to Lucio. "Took you all long enough to get here after I sent you that message."
"Hey, you knew the risks when you signed up as my double-agent, Skar." Wilson shrugged.
"Skar?!" Arden snarled in rage at the Bard Witch. "Yousold us out?!"
"Sorry, Blight." Skar muttered as Vinero continued nursing his wounds. "You may have paid good, but the Owl Mage's rebellion has better management."
While Arden, Bosch, and Matilda fumed in anger at their traitorous comrade, Lucio gathered up his belongings and stepped towards Wilson. "I thought Edgar said you two were the only other members of the rebellion." He remarked, pointing to Wilson and Gail.
"Yeah, I guess he did say that, huh? Well, what he meant was that we're the only ones with wanted posters." Wilson explained before turning towards the others. "Emerald Entrails, line up!"
Immediately, the wild witches with varying green tattoos fell in line and saluted Wilson. "YES, CAPTAIN PARK!" They chanted in unison.
Wilson smirked as he crossed his arms and leaned against a nearby wall. "Lucio Noceda, these are the Emerald Entrails; Vinero Maki, Jebrah Galvin, Barca, and Skar Brooks. I guess you could say they're my private branch of the rebellion. They mostly focus on distracting the Empress' Coven while we do the dirty work."
"So what now, Captain?" Jebrah asked.
Wilson glanced at their captives. "Jebrah, you and Skar take Bosch and drop him somewhere far away. Vinero, you and Barca take Matilda back to Looking Glass and drop her off at the security station. Sprinkle both of them with enough Amnesia Dust to make them forget how to find Blight. After that, head to the Raven Haven and lay low and await further instructions. I want a reckoning with Blight."
"Yes, Captain Park!" The Emerald Entrails saluted before carrying out their orders.
While Lucio took another pill, he silently watched as Wilson dragged Arden over to a wall and punched him in the face.
"Not bad for 'Half-A-Witch-Wilson, huh?" He asked, sardonically, before punching Arden again. "So get this straight; from now on, Lucio is one of the Owl Mage's. You've got a problem with him, you've got a problem with us."
Despite the bruises and bleeding, Arden smiled. "Oooooh, I get it, now." He sneered.
"Get what?" Lucio cocked an eyebrow.
Wilson caught on and angrily pointed at his former friend. "You shut your damn mouth." He snarled. With a flick of his finger, he commanded the vine to fling Arden aside. "Just get the hell out of here and never come back. Or next time, I'll make you regret it."
Arden huffed and wiped the blood from his lips as he stood back up. Maintaining his smile, the gang leader haughtily turned around to walk away, but stopped one last time. "Y'know what, Wilson? He doesn't look like a 'Lucio.' He looks more like a 'Samuel.'"
Lucio watched in silence as Arden walked away. He turned towards Wilson and Gail, both of whom reacted in discomfort to what their enemy had said. Wilson had his fists clenched in anger while Gail looked as if she were about to cry. At last, he asked the obvious question. "Who's Samuel?"
"Nobody." Wilson replied, bluntly. "Don't listen to Blight. He's a selfish, petty, sadistic asshole who just uses people for his own ends. Forget today ever happened, alright? Now, come on, let's get these elixirs back to the Owl Haven."
Gail nodded in agreement and hoisted the sack of elixirs over her shoulder and followed Wilson into the woods with Lucio close behind. Normally, he wouldn't care about what Blight had to say, but after learning about the secret of the Owl Beast the hard way, Lucio felt as if his friends were keeping something from him. He picked up the pace until he was walking right next to Gail.
"Sooooo… Arden Blight." He remarked. "What, uh, what's the deal with him? Seems like he and Wilson have history."
Gail groaned. "Yeah. Wilson and Arden used to be best friends. But after Wilson was labeled 'half-a-witch' by the Covens, Arden stopped hanging out with him for a while."
"'Half-a-witch?'" Lucio interrupted.
"It means he developed his bile-sac later than everyone else usually did." Gail explained. "While all the other witches were joining Hexside and learning how to harness magic, he got left behind. But when his bile-sac finally grew in, his family… um, anyway, after a while, Arden finally came back into his life. He claimed he wanted to join the rebellion and stop the Empress. But it turned out to just be a ruse so Wilson would lead him straight to the Owl Mage so Arden could try and collect the bounty. He took advantage of Wilson's friendship… that selfish cunt!"
"Whoa! Easy, chica." Lucio chuckled. "Didn't mean to get you all riled up."
"S-sorry. Wilson's been like a big brother to me ever since I joined the rebellion." Gail blushed. "After I lost my mom and all. He's been a big help to the Emerald Entrails, too. Found each and every one of them when they were suffering because of the Empress' Coven. Taught them all how to take care of themselves. Vinero, Jebrah, and Barca were kicked out of every school in the Isles because they refused to choose only one Coven. Skar lost his home and family to a natural disaster and was left to die in the streets before Wilson found him."
"And Samuel?" Lucio asked. "How'd you guys meet him?"
Gail's eyes widened as she nervously bit her lip. Without another word, she sprinted ahead once the Owl Haven came into view, slamming the door shut behind her.
"Tch, fuck you, too, then." Lucio muttered. He was just about to head inside, himself, when he noticed Wilson had wandered off. The plant-master had climbed up a tree growing out of the cliff behind the Haven. The human walked over to the cliff, admiring the view as he leaned against the tree's trunk.
"Wow." Lucio pursed his lips and pressed onto the tree. "This is a pretty sturdy tree."
"It's bleak wood." Wilson remarked, half-heartedly. "The only wood resistant to the Boiling Sea. My mother, Glinda, always dreamed of using one to build a ship to sail far away from this place… but she never got the chance."
Lucio turned his attention back to the cliff, amazed at how the steam from the sea warped the light from the sun into a spectacle. "You ever look down a cliff like this and… get the urge to jump?" He mused out loud.
Wilson arched an eyebrow. "That'd be stupid. If the fall doesn't kill you, the Boiling Sea will."
Lucio rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that's why you don't actually do it. But, I mean, a really bad… a really fucked up part of you still wants to."
The human now had Wilson's full attention. Jumping down from his perch to stand next to him, Wilson finally noticed the small scars on Lucio's wrists; the same kind of cuts he'd seen on Skar's wrists when he inducted him into the Emerald Entrails. Instincts taking over, the plant-master tucked his hands into his pockets and stepped closer to the human.
"No one should die for no reason, Lucio." He declared in a serious tone. "My mothers were executed - petrified - by one of Bela's Coven Heads, Terrence Snapdragon. He said that they had failed the Empire by producing a half-witch son who'd never be worth a damn to Bela. I watched as Snapdragon killed them before Clawethorne and Whispers saved me… that's why I come here… to feel close to them. Speak to them."
Lucio felt his heart ache, and not in the usual way that his medicine could make it better. "I think I know what you mean, man. My dad, he… he also died for no good reason." He sighed, sadly, tracing a finger over the faded scar on his chest. "At least he's in a better place now. Right?"
Again, Wilson arched his eyebrow. "Huh?"
"Oh, uh… it's just an expression. See, in my realm, a lot of folks believe good people go to a place called Heaven when they die." Lucio explained with a small smile. "To be with their loved ones who died before them. After my dad died, the thought of him being back with my mom got me through some tough times."
Wilson allowed a small smile of his own. "That sounds nice." He replied, only to solemnly frown once more. "My mothers taught me that our people are only granted a peaceful afterlife if our deaths have a purpose… they were robbed of an afterlife… condemned to suffer in the Under-Realm with all the other lost souls. But I like to think that by taking in the Emerald Entrails… and killing Snapdragon… I can give their deaths a purpose."
"... and what about Samuel?" Lucio couldn't help but ask, remembering what Blight had said earlier. "Did his death have a purpose?"
Wilson didn't answer. Instead, he turned away from the human and climbed back up the tree. "If you don't mind, I'd like to be alone now." He sighed.
"Uh, yeah." Lucio nodded, deciding not to spoil their heart-to-heart by pressing the issue further. "Yeah, sure…"
As his friend walked away, Wilson closed his eyes and spoke up once more. "Hey, Lucio?"
Lucio paused, briefly, looking back up at the tree. "Yeah?"
"... I hope your dad made it to Heaven."
Lucio bit his lip and sniffled before nodding in gratitude. As he entered the Haven, he wiped his eyes and slumped down onto the couch. Whoever this Samuel was, these witches were certainly going out of their way to keep his identity from him. Just then, Edgar came downstairs to check on him.
"Lucio! Are you alright?!" The Owl Mage asked as he checked the human for any injuries. "Oh, Gail told me you ran into Arden Blight and his goons."
"Yeah. For what it's worth, I got a few good licks in before Wilson and the others showed up." Lucio chuckled. "But, if you don't mind, Blight brought up something that I was hoping you could explain."
"Oh?"
"He said I looked like someone named Samuel. Who's Samuel?"
The duo overheard something shattering in the kitchen and rushed to investigate. Raine had apparently dropped a plate on the floor. They clenched their heart with one hand while supporting themselves against the counter with the other. Queen came scurrying into the room to check, too, only to immediately notice the food on the floor and quickly gobbled it up. Edgar caught his spouse and led them over to a chair.
"We… we don't talk about Samuel too much around here." Edgar replied.
"Why? Who is he?"
Edgar, Raine, and Queen shared a solemn glance with each other; none of them said a word.
"Who. Is. Samuel?" Lucio demanded. He was growing impatient.
"Lucio, please. Just drop it." Edgar pleaded as he helped Raine back on their feet. "Tomorrow, we'll take Lionel back to the Raven Haven and try to find a way to fix your heart. In the meantime, get some rest."
With that, Lucio clenched his fist in anger as he watched the two witches climb back upstairs. Once again, he was left in the dark. And he hated being in the dark. Suddenly, however, Queen tugged on his pant leg and held up a tattered piece of paper.
"This is Samuel." Queen sadly muttered. "You deserve to know, but… don't tell Edgar I showed you."
Lucio accepted the parchment and watched Queen scurry away to her own room. The human checked to make sure he was alone before sitting down at the kitchen table to inspect the paper. Its texture reminded him of a polaroid photo. On the back was some bizarre markings he assumed were the date it was taken, along with an inscription in Edgar's handwriting.
"Samuel, our son. Our greatest gift."
Lucio flipped the photo over and his eyes widened in shock. The photograph depicted a young witch around his current age with dark hair cut short, a thin mustache and goatee, hazel eyes, and tan skin. He was dressed in a white t-shirt with purple horizontal stripes, black jeans, and a pair of white sneakers. Aside from the pointed ears and shorter hair, Samuel looked as if he were Lucio's long-lost identical twin.
"Lucio?" Gail's voice called out.
"Uh-!" Lucio instinctively tucked the photo into his coat pocket and turned around. "Y-yeah? What's up?"
Gail held up two books. "You wanna continue our book club?"
"Oh, right. Sure. Why not." Lucio nodded and followed Gail up to her room.
Unbeknownst to either of them, Arden Blight had been watching everything from the kitchen window. He smiled to himself as his plan had been set into motion. He had successfully sewn the seeds of doubt in Lucio's mind. Soon, he would question why the Owl Mage was really helping him. And then, he would make his move and bring the human to the Empress' Coven.
To Be Continued!
Author's notes: As previously mentioned in previous chapters, Lucio Noceda bears a striking resemblance to Edgar and Raine's late son. Just as Lucio is based on Beta!Luz, Samuel Clawthorne's appearance is based on Pilot!Luz.