A/N: Good afternoon, chums I hope you've all been enjoying the last duo of chapters being lighter and sillier… Because this one is riiiight back into the depth of crushing sadness :P

Amity let out a startled "Eep!" As Eda's long and bony finger tapped her shoulder. She'd gotten so focused watching the Palismen, she didn't even notice a solid few minutes had passed. In that brief amount of time, Eda had changed into her regular red-dress, though flourishing it with a single earring in their right ear. "You all ready?" She asked.

"Yup, one sec." Amity replied, as she gave a little 'Pspspsps'. Ghost came running like a bat out of hell, hopping into her owner's arms and transforming back into a staff. The other two Palismen followed suit, flying over to their owners and transforming.

"Wait for me!" King squealed, as he scurried across the room. With that, they were off. While it added a good amount of extra time to the trip, grabbing Eda and King gave Amity invaluable peace of mind. Plus, they were just darn entertaining to be around.

They walked in a vertical line across the Titan's Right Arm. Passing through another section of the Forearm Forest, Amity grit her teeth as the edge of Bonesborough came into view. This was Phillip's first time out amongst the general public, and Amity knew she had to be extremely careful lest the narrative she spun be shattered in two seconds by a former coven member getting ballsy.

"Is it just me, or are people staring?" Phillip asked, as their pace quickened. He even swore he heard someone take a picture, but that could've been aaaanything.

Que a little Imp demon, named Kikimora, scrolling through Penstagram in her work's break room before her shift. She was just scrolling through her locations tag, and

Her former emperor. Wearing the exact same outfit as he did on the Day of Unity.

"BWEH-" She squeaked, as she spit out a mouthful of coffee - all over a coworker. "M-my liege! Is that really you?" She yelped, out loud, as she held her phone at arms length in shock.

"You owe me for dry cleaning, at LEAST." Said her supervisor, Steve, who she spat coffee at.

"Oh- uh, s- sorry…" Kiki laughed.

"Pfft, I'm sure it's because they're in awe of the Wild Witch of Bonesborough." Eda said with a smile and a dramatic hair flip. Phillip was unconvinced, but did his best to keep his head low.

Soon, they were out of Bonesborough and back in the forearm forest for a short time. It took them extra long, since they had to go around a wall of extruding bone. The clearing was small, and it led to the abandoned town of Elbin.

It was quite a sight to behold. The buildings were beautiful, the view of the Boiling Sea was unmatched, and it was ornately decorated. In fact, the town looked like it was in the midst of a festival…

When it was abandoned.

They had to cross through the town since the Emperor's Coven outpost tower was stationed on the other end, and as he did, Phillip got a cold chill in his spine. Several buildings were burnt out husks, but others still looked mint. One window he looked through as he walked, he saw the image of a dinner table, plates of half-eaten food overgrown with mold.

"What…Happened to this place?" Phillip eventually asked, if just to break the awkward silence.

Before Eda could say anything callous, Amity was the one to break the bad news. "This place used to be a thriving town… But, then Obron came in. When he tried to unite the entirety of the isles under one umbrella, he…didn't take dissension well. He sent a troupe of coven soldiers to kill the inhabitants."

The entire group grimmaced, but to Phillip - it felt like a punch in the gut. It looked like it had so much…Life! So full of energy, and that was just from what was left over. And they were in the middle of a festival? What a cowardly attack.

"He then said that 'Wild Witches' were responsible for the attack." Eda chimed in.

Phillip grit his teeth, as a tear rolled down his cheek. "That coward…That…Rat…Bastard." He managed to growl.

"We're here." King squeaked, if just to break the tension. They came upon a large, cylindrical tower - marked with the sigil of the Emperor's Coven.

In an awkward silence, they ascended the circular stairs until they finally reached the tower's tip. It wasn't too high up, of course, but looking out the window still gave a breathtaking view of the town.

Phillip could so easily imagine the scene. A town of people happily celebrating, when a troupe of soldiers glad in white suddenly ambushed and took no prisoners.

Just the image sent a pang of nausea through his stomach. Well, until…

"Here they are! We'll take a couple, just in case-Phillip!" Amity squeaked, as she saw Phillip collapse to his knees.

"My…Head…" He grunted, both his hands holding the sides of his head.

His head began to pound. He collapsed to his knees, both hands on his forehead. The exact thing that happened…when he first saw Hunter.

"Are you ready, Phillip?" Caleb asked, brandishing a lit torch. "Always, Caleb." Phillip replied, vision obscured by a Wooden mask, brandishing his pitchfork. Before, they began to lead a crowd of villagers through the town.

The year was 1614. The duo of brothers had stowed away from England, and where they ended up was a burgeoning colony called Gravesfield. So named as such, as inhabitants kept mysteriously disappearing. It had rich and fertile soil, though, so people kept trying to settle there.

They'd managed to blend in and not look out of place, essentially having been adopted by the other settlers. Though they weren't supposed to listen, Caleb kept hearing whispers about people disappearing and beings from another world being the cause. Some people even got so scared they took a return ship to england.

But Phillip and Caleb were undeterred.

Memories of what happened to their parents burnt in the back of their throat, but… somehow, they'd entirely gotten it wrong.

Caleb had successfully convinced the young, impressional Phillip that what the Witch Hunter General did back in England was a noble act. That she was really a witch, that he was in the right.

…How was Phillip to know he was spinning a web, just to keep his little brother hopeful.

They even played games, pretending to be a Witch and a Hunter. Caleb considered this all in good fun, but… But, the more time had passed, the more they both began to believe that lie. That monster had begun to warp their sense of reality.

When he heard that strange creatures were encroaching on his home, he only managed to convince himself even further.

Caleb declared himself the village's Witch Hunter General.

He got to work almost immediately, scouting for any signs of witches. He believed he'd tracked it down to one of the village's families, and managed to whip up the bulk of the town into an uproar as he prepared for a violent confrontation.

They kicked the door in, to find the building abandoned. To which, Caleb laughed, and turned to the mob and said "The guilty have ran!", fist raised to the heavens.

As a parting shot, he tossed the torch through the doorway. The fire slowly engulfed the floor, then the room, then the entire household.

The villagers cheered.