A/N:

Okay, Look, I'm sorry- I know I've been promising to develop Phillip & Bump's relationship for…a while now. But I'm pushing it back *one* more chapter! It's coming soon, I promise!

Truthfully? One of the things I forgot in my hiatus was how many memories Phillip had unlocked. I'd assumed we were at 4/5 - nope. Barely 2/5 - so I might have to speed it up a bit if I want to hit my target of 50 chapters.

Hehe.

"Phillip!" Luz loudly called, as she finally spotted him. "There you are…" She panted as she stopped in front of him, momentarily resting her hands on her knees. She was not built for sprinting, let me tell you what.

Phillip sharply shook his head, desperately trying to bring himself back to reality. But unfortunately, it didn't help. Amity bent down to inspect how his hand was doing, and- yeeesh. It was NOT good. It was beginning to turn colors it probably wasn't supposed to…And one look at his face showed he was beginning to become delirious.

Amity pulled everyone into a team huddle. "He is in…Rough shape. We need to get him to a doctor, immediately…"

"But, what town isn't going to immediately run us out?" Luz resigned.

"Our best bet is to find a town established after Belos rose to power…Hold on.." King said, hopping up and grabbing a map from the backpack on Amity's shoulders. The nearest settlement was Gluteus, but that was out of the question.

"Wait! Do you still have that concealment stone?" Luz snapped her finger with a cocky smile.

Amity shook her head, 'no.' "Even if I did, it can't disguise a voice. They'll recognize him."

"Hey Phillip! How do you feel about us shaving your head?" King called out, mostly joking.

"But I like my hair…" He weakly muttered, as his eyes fixated on a single strand covering his face.

Completely ignoring King, Amity continued speaking. "Looks like our best bet is Tractville, then…Here's hoping, right?" As she finished, she began to twirl her finger - commanding the pot of goop at her waist. Ordering it to form into a golem-like creature called simply…An abomination.

Said abomination swiftly scooped up Phillip into their arms.

"Woah!" He squeaked. "I don't remember seeing you before…" He muttered, squinting his eyes at the being carrying him.

King couldn't help but laugh. "I think I like this Belos more."

A minute later, they were off. As normal - Currant perched on her owner's shoulder, keeping him company…in the arms of a gigantic Abomination, which was running alongside Luz and Amity flying on their staffs. Somehow able to keep pace. In fact - with a little bit of clever magic, it was even able to walk on the water! Good thing, too - if they fell in, then… well, they don't call it the Boiling Sea for nothing.

Not a moment too soon, they arrived at Tractville. It was a relatively isolated community, being surrounded in all directions by the sea. Thankfully, this town seemed much more welcoming….Well, they did shoot a few awkward looks towards the group, but it was more at the old man being bridal carried by an Abomination.

Luz stopped the first person she saw that looked at least somewhat friendly. Her voice was loud, clearly panicked. "Can you show us to the nearest hospital, please?" She pointed to Phillip. "My friend here is hurt really badly."

Helpfully, they replied "Oh, Let me show you the way!" And thankfully, the hospital wasn't too far. As the group stood at the gates, Amity commanded her Abomination to let Phillip down. But this probably wasn't a very wise choice, since it was pretty clear he was barely able to support his own weight.

Slowly, they walked him into the hospital, and checked him in. As well, Luz said in a soft voice "Juuuust to be on the safe side, Phillip, we should proooobably put your coat in the backpack-"

"No…No!" He begged, before crossing his arms - gripping his shoulders. "It's… All I have of Caleb."

Luz's face dropped into a sympathetic frown. "You really miss him, huh?"

"More than anything." He replied, slumping onto a seat.

A minute later, a pair of doctors with a stretcher arrived to take him to Emergency. The group came with him, and in a few minutes a doctor was checking him out.

Initial diagnosis was…rough. The doctor spoke in a booming voice, "Your friend here, he's in rough shape. He's lost a lot of blood. It's amazing he hasn't passed out yet." After he spoke, he let out a small sigh.

Luz grimaced. "Do you…think he's gonna make it?"

"Oh, of course, without a doubt. Unfortunately…" The doctor took a deep breath. "It's entirely possible that we may have to amputate his hand. If we don't, then he's still likely going to lose a lot of the movement in his hand."

Amity and Luz shrugged at each other. "At least he's going to be okay…" Luz sighed.

A minute later, Phillip was put under anasthesia, and rushed into the operating room. An emergency operation to get the stalagmite out of his hand, and try to patch said hand up as best they could.

Although he was put to sleep, his mind stayed awake. And he began to dream.

He found himself in an unfamiliar room. It was quite spacious - and the entire thing was coated in a gaudy gold color. In the center of the room was what looked… like a heart? It beat, too…Freaky. It was covered with some sort of protective cage. On either side were a duo of pillars and torches with roaring flames in front of them. Lastly, directly underneath the heart was what looked like a throne.

With someone sitting in it.

Said person's figure was extremely large. They easily looked 7-8 feet tall. They were wearing white robes with a brown hood, and a golden mask.

Phillip stood up, trying to inspect his surroundings, But it seemed like the world didn't exist outside his immediate field of vision. The person stood up, and began approaching him. He was panicking like crazy - his heart beating out of his chest, but he was frozen in place.

With each step the other person seemed to get taller and taller - until he looked the size of a skyscraper when he stopped in front of Phillip. All they said, was - "Say my name." Their voice boomed - shaking the ground, and ringing his ears. It sent a chill up his spine. He gulped back the fear in his throat, and said the only name he could think of.

"Emperor… Obron?"

The figure laughed. "Wrong answer."

Phillip woke up in a cold sweat, his heart pounding. He opened his eyes, the soft beep of a heart rate monitor filling his ears. Nobody he knew was in sight - not even his Palisman. He looked to be wearing some sort of… hospital gown?

All he could feel was pain, and panic, and- ugh! His head…When did his damn head start hurting this badly?!

Another memory unlocked itself.

An 11-year old Phillip, wearing a hand-carved witch hunting mask, was running through a forest late at night chasing his brother. They were in pursuit of a real witch! The one that'd been terrorizing their village. They were going to bring her to justice once and for all!

The witch, cloaked in darkness and a red cowl, quickly casted some sort of spell that turned a mysterious structure into a full on portal to another world. Probably the one she'd come from.

She ran through. Caleb didn't hesitate, in hot pursuit - and the second after he ran through, the portal disappeared in a blinding flash of light.

"Caleb?" Phillip muttered, momentarily stunned. Taking off his mask to better inspect the situation - damn if that thing didn't have fuck all visibility.

"Caleb!" He once again shouted. Panic began to set in, as he dropped to his knees and began pounding the ground. Hot tears flowing from his ducts. His brother was- gone! Taken to another world, one of witches that were going…to kill him! Probably worse!

No matter what. He swore at that moment, if it cost him his life, he would get revenge. Not just on the witch that'd taken his big brother away. On all of witchkind!

Back to the present - Phillip really, really… didn't have the time or mental energy to analyze that memory. So he just fell back asleep.