I didn't know what to expect to find in the woods, but when the human mentioned my son, I knew something was wrong. I shared Luz's worry, despite Odalia insisting everything was fine. Both of them seemed …disturbed somehow, as if they had just witnessed an atrocity.
Neither of them gave me any details, though Luz tried her hardest to. But whatever horrible thing happened involved Edric, and for once my wife was refusing to do anything about it. It sounded as if he was hurt, yet she left him in the woods and drug Luz to the manor instead.
I must admit, I felt sort of bad leaving her alone with the powerful businesswitch. The human had a reason to be scared. Odalia was frightening more times than not, even to her own family. Titan knows what sort of passive aggressive threats she was receiving, what kind of "deal" Odalia would force her to agree to. It wasn't necessary. I'm positive that, after what happened to Amity, Luz would stay far away from the Blight family. But Odalia preferred to err on the side of caution.
That's all that was. Odalia just wanted to make her stay away from us. Yet the fear in Luz's eyes wouldn't leave me.
This was the last thing I needed. It had only been a month since my youngest daughter's death, but it didn't even feel like a whole day had passed. The fact that she wasn't awake the last time I saw her burrowed deep into me and refused to let go. The longing to talk to her hadn't numbed one bit. I could still smell her blood, feel her ice-cold hands that I had failed to warm…
No. I had to focus, for the sake of my other two children.
A flash of gray in the brush brought my wandering to a halt. A little way ahead of me, a pale, aging witch snaked her way through the trees and bushes. I hadn't seen her in ages. The last time we talked had to have been right after we graduated from Hexide.
She was a wanted con-woman with a large bounty, yet she wasn't exactly what I would call dangerous. Had she picked a coven she wouldn't really need to run and hide so much. She'd just be another witch who's broken the law that the emperor's coven completely ignored, much like my wife.
I suppose she wasn't the only guilty one. The only person in the family that hadn't danced around the law at least once was Mittens.
"Mother Titan" I silently growled. "Does everything have to remind me of Amity?".
"Alador?" she questioned once she spotted me. My former classmate didn't sound too thrilled to see me.
"Edalyn," I nodded, treading through the bracken between us. "You haven't happened to've seen my son, Edric, have you?".
The sound of his name made Edalyn wince. Fear shone in her fiery eyes, along with a hint of protectiveness.
"Edalyn" I repeated a bit harsher. "Do you know where Edric is?".
"That depends on whose side you're on," she huffed, flashing her golden fang.
"For titan's sake, I'm not going to turn you in!" I scoffed back, my patience snapping. "Now where is my son?!".
"This isn't about the emperor's coven! This is about the safety of your daughter!".
My daughter? Great Titan, Emira was in trouble too?! The surge of urgency flowing through my veins pushed me forwards, straight into Edalyn's face.
"If there's something wrong with Emira, then I should know about it!".
"Unless you're going to run back to your wife and snitch, which would make you a threat to her!".
I couldn't believe what I was hearing! Odalia was a threat to our child? Did she…she hurt Edric somehow, didn't she?! Is that why she didn't want Luz talking about him?!
"What did Odalia do?".
"Like I said, that depends on what's more important to you, your loyalty to your wife, or your daughter's life".
My daughter's life? But what about my other remaining child? She had clearly seen him, based on her reaction to me asking about him, but Edalyn was only talking about Emira. Edric was the one that was supposedly hurt, wasn't he? Why wasn't she concerned with his life?
Unless…No! No! No!
"Take me to Edric!" I howled. "Show me where he is!".
Edalyn's suspicion faltered, my terror giving her the answer to her question. She could tell I connected the dots, and my reaction relayed my loyalty.
"Okay" she sighed while reaching into her mane of gray hair. She pulled out a small piece of cloth and tied it around my eyes.
"What's this for?".
"You're supposed to be smart," she rasped. "You figure it out".
Blindly, I stumbled through the woodland, my only guide being the hold Edalyn had on my shoulder. But me not being able to see didn't stop me from hurrying. Each second I was away from my children felt like they would never end. Who knew how hurt Emira was, and Edric…
Finally, the ground beneath my feet went from a pile of twigs to dry dirt. Sunlight peeked through my blindfold now that it had no trees to hide behind. Edalyn slowly stopped me and reached for the back of my head. As she pulled the piece of cloth away from my face, my eyes fell directly on the middle of the clearing.
"Dad?" Emira yelped. The panic in her voice was enough to make my poor heart shatter.
"Don't worry. He won't tell your mom" Edalyn reassured with a hint of warning in her voice. "He knows how dangerous that would be for everybody".
I didn't hear her threat. All I could really notice was the horrible state the two twins were in. Emira didn't look injured but the redness and shimmering in her eyes painted a mournful picture. Then there was Edric.
He was lying completely still in the dust and sand. Flowers were delicately weaved around him, all of them lavender. His pale skin looked marbled as if the blood in his veins stopped in its tracks. And his eyes…Looking into his dull eyes was one of the most painful things I'd ever done.
The air around him was frozen. An icy chill hung onto me as if it were begging me for help. The breeze that brushed past me when I kneeled down towards him let out a cry that sounded almost mournful.
"Edric" I choked. My voice shook like an injured cerberus.
I gently put my hand to the side of his face. The coarse blustery skin below it rubbed up against mine, bringing my attention to the burn marks on his neck. They all ran up his shredded veins, signifying that whatever caused those burns came from inside of them. If I were to guess, I'd say he'd been poisoned with wattsicide.
"He saved me" Emira whispered, her grief not allowing her to talk any louder. "That poison was meant for me, but he took it instead".
"And you said Odalia did this?" I asked Edalyn after swallowing my own.
"She wants a new amulet," Emira answered instead. "Because we gave this one to Luz".
"That amulet?". I pointed to the large purple stone around my daughter's neck. "She killed Edric over an amulet?".
"That's no ordinary amulet" Edalyn jumped in. "You should let her out".
"Are you sure? Eda, if he tells mom–".
"It's alright, Emira". I tried to keep my voice as comforting as I could, but the whirlwind of despair made it crack. Could you blame me? My son was gone, my daughter was horrified, and my wife was allegedly responsible for it all. "You know I wouldn't do anything to hurt you".
"That's what mom said and look what's happened".
"You can trust him, kid". Edalyn's reassurance genuinely shocked me, what with her being so suspicious of me a few minutes ago. "He's not as sadistic as your mom, he just doesn't always have a pair when it comes to her".
"If you need help, then I'll help you" I hushed while shoving the insult aside. "But I need to know what's going on first".
Without another word, Emira grabbed the large pendant around her neck. Under her touch the luminous stone began to mystically glow. She took a very long deep breath, before uttering something I never expected to hear.
"Amity, rise".
"Rise?". "Amity?". What did the late witch have to do with all this? And why was her sister talking to her like she was an abomination?
A large flash of purple made me shield my teary eyes. The sound of a raging fire suddenly appeared, yet the heat that a fire would usually bring never did. Then, as quickly as it all arrived, the blaze in front of me vanished, only leaving one single thing behind.
Standing above the air, draped in thick deep shadows, was my youngest. Her golden eyes were literally as bright as stars, and she had a large gash on her abdomen, but other than that she looked well. It was a far cry from when I last saw her. It was almost jarring, but in a pleasant way.
"Mittens!" I gasped. "Sweetheart is that really you?".
Instead of responding, she fearfully gawked over at Emira. Her older sister met her gaze bravely, then nodded as a way to say it was alright. Amity was able to understand her silent message, and eventually turned back to me.
"Yes, dad. It's really me".
I was about to collapse; my joy was so overwhelming! I had so many things I wanted to say now that I had this second chance, yet I was rendered completely speechless! Just her presence alone brought me a joy I couldn't even begin to describe!
But that joy was painfully bittersweet. She was here, bound to a fancy piece of jewelry instead of resting in the spirit realm. She was basically a prisoner.
Odalia did this, didn't she? She didn't want to let go of our daughter, so she chained her to some gaudy antique!
"Mittens" I was finally able to murmur. "I'm so sorry. If only I'd known".
"I didn't expect you to know," she sighed. "Honestly, I'm surprised that you even noticed I was gone".
"What?". My heart broke for the millionth time. "Why wouldn't I?".
"You barely noticed I was there when I was alive".
I couldn't breathe anymore, the sudden regret all getting stuck in my throat. I glanced over at my other daughter, craving her reaction. When she noticed my gaze, Emira quickly looked away. Despite her wanting to hide how she was feeling, that just gave it all away.
My children felt I had tossed them to the side in order to focus on my work. And the worst part about it was that they were right. I couldn't remember the last time I had actually done anything with them. Hell, my schedule was so jam packed that the only time I'd ever see them was at dinner or whenever they'd come up to me and ask me for something.
But that didn't mean I didn't care about them! I was just busy! The deadlines that Odalia would give me demanded all of my time, only letting me eat and sleep when my body finally demanded it. How was I supposed to do anything else?
No matter my reasons, my children and I were badly disconnected. They clearly saw me as nothing more than just some work obsessed witch that just so happens to live with them.
"I've been nothing but proud of you since the moment you were born" I pressed. "I'm proud of all of you".
"Proud of all of us?" I heard Emira gnarl under her breath. "Right".
"I mean all of you". As I spoke, I gazed down at my son. The only thing keeping me from letting out all my anguish was the cold that haunted him. "I'll admit it. I haven't been the best father. For way too long I've treated you three as if you were just another thing to fit in my schedule. But don't think for a second that I haven't noticed the amazing witches you've grown into".
I sighed while I gently held both my daughter's hands. Even though she was still alive, Emira's was just as frozen as the spirit beside her.
"I'd like to think you got your strength from me, but something like this would've broken me back when I was your age".
Amity and Emira were silent for a moment, to let my earnest sink in. Then the latter whimpered something I could just barely hear.
"We should've told you".
"It was too risky. If he sided with mom…". Amity's argument fell into a mumble.
I couldn't blame my children for not trusting Odalia, not after this. I knew she was cruel, you had to be in business. But to deny our daughter rest in the spirit realm, TO KILL OUR OWN SON, I don't think I'd ever be able to trust the witch ever again!
From the corner of my eye, I noticed a gray cat-like creature pad past us and up to Edalyn. He fought to keep his disturbance from showing but couldn't help but gawk over at our family reunion.
"Where's Luz?" he asked, keeping his voice low.
"She went into the woods to find more flowers. I was just going to fetch her, but I got a bit distracted". Edalyn flicked her ear towards the three of us. The small, horned demon was able to put two and two together.
"Luz?" I echoed. "Odalia brought Luz to the manor. She's the one who told me to look for Edric out in the woods".
"What?!" Amity howled, her panic matching Edalyn's. "You mean she's with mom?!".
"And she's alone with her!" Edalyn shouted as a fire lit in her eyes. From the looks of it she was ready to race to Blight manor and tear my wife apart.
"Titan!" I cursed while the realization smacked me in the face. When the human had told me Odalia's plans for her, I just thought she was being melodramatic. But now, after seeing what Odalia had done to Edric, I knew Luz wasn't exaggerating. "She's going to kill her!".
"Stay here!" Edalyn ordered while shooting forwards. I stopped the older woman by pulling her back towards me.
"No," I commanded back. "I'll go after Luz. You protect the girls".
Edalyn wanted to object. Though she trusted me not to tell Amity's secret, she didn't trust me enough to leave her apprentice's life solely in my hands. But before she could argue, Emira pulled the amulet from around her neck, handed it to the witch, and rushed into the woodland.
I chased after her as fast as a witch possibly could. The feeling of fear that had overtaken me was indescribable. She was my last living child. If something were to happen to her, I'd never be able to forgive myself.
"Emira!" I cried. "This is way too dangerous! You need to go back to Edalyn!".
"I'm sorry, dad, but I promised Edric I would help him!" she shouted back.
I'd nearly forgotten. Just because Edric was dead didn't mean he wasn't in danger anymore. The whole reason he'd been murder was so his soul could be crammed inside of an amulet, just like Amity's was.
Still, I couldn't let Emira throw herself into harm's way. I raised my hand to draw a spell circle but, before I could summon an abomination to stop her, she dove into the brush and disappeared. That just made my heart race even faster.
"Please, Emira" I silently begged. "Don't do anything stupid".
She beat me to the manor, but thankfully Emira didn't go any further than the gates. She knew her determination was the only thing she had. She didn't have a plan or any weapons, and her mother's magical skill beat hers easily.
"Stay behind me" I told her once I made it to her side. "When your mother reveals where she's keeping the human, sneak to the back of the manor and climb up your sister's balcony".
"What about Edric? She's got to've put him in an amulet by now".
"We won't leave without him," I promised. "But remember that Luz is the one in immediate danger".
In response, the wind howled a warning. The bitter cold that hovered over Edric's body returned, it being just as strong as it was in front of Edalyn's place. It was as if the very mention of him kept summoning it.
I dismissed the powerful gale and marched to the front door. I vigorously slammed my fist into it as hard as I could. I was expecting a fight, there was no way Odalia wouldn't start one, so I had to draw her outside.
The very thought of seeing her made my fear for Emira merge with the rest of the loss welling inside of me. A fiery feeling of betrayal now fueled me. An anger stronger than the titan themself made my loud knocking turn into maddened yelling.
"ODALIA!" I roared. If she hadn't heard me pounding on the door, she definitely heard that. "Get out here, NOW!".
From inside the manor, the sound of hurried footsteps made its way to the doorstep. I stepped back onto the grass and waited for my wife to wander outside.
"Alador?" she questioned once she spotted me. "What are you shouting about?".
How dare she act like she didn't know the source of my anger! How obtuse did she think I was?!
"YOU KILLED OUR SON!".
Odalia's sudden shock left her stunned. As pale as snow, she gaped over at Emira, who bravely glowered at her back.
"Emira told me everything! How you locked our dead daughter inside of an amulet, and how you plan to do the same to Edric!".
"I suppose you had to find out eventually" she murmured to herself before addressing my fury. "It's true, all of it. After Amity's death, I bound her soul to an amulet so that she could remain in the demon realm with us".
"Now tell him about the part where you tortured her after she refused to kill someone!" Emira yowled.
"What?!". Mother titan, I nearly dropped to the ground! That couldn't be true! Keeping Amity from moving to the spirit realm was one thing, but she TORTURED her?!
"Don't be so dramatic! It wasn't torture" Odalia argued with a snarl. Like a wild animal, she was pinned to a corner. "I was simply showing her how to run our business. The plan was that she would become an employee, then take over for us one day. But then Edric and Emira gave her to a criminal!".
Emira took a step forward, which made my heart lurch. "We asked the owl lady to protect her after you used the "writhe" command! ".
"How could you trust a criminal more than your own mother?! Do all those years I raised you mean nothing?!".
"And how did killing Edric fix any of this?!" I barked.
Odalia's shouting stopped. Though her anger didn't drop, her pause relayed other emotions. Most notably, there was doubt, which was very rare for Odalia to have let alone show. Every move she made was expertly calculated, it was for a reason. But when it came to taking the life of her own child, she struggled to give any reasoning.
"He betrayed Amity". It was clear she didn't believe that, not anymore at least. "So I made sure he'd never hurt anyone else again".
Emira came to a realization, one that shook her to her core. Her grief multiplied as she wrapped her arms around herself.
"You didn't…You…" she couldn't finish her sentence, the thought refusing to leave her throat. What came out instead was a vicious growl.
Her golden eyes flashed blue as Emira's hurt formed into raw magical power. With a powerful kick, she flung herself towards her mother. A flurry of sparks gathered in her palms, which were thrown at her foe.
They hit Odalia square in the chest, but only made her stager back a step. She swiftly went to make her own move, but was stopped by me latching onto her wrist and holding her arm down. I stood tall while hanging over her, my strength being shown without a single spell.
"I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt and say that your grief for Amity has made you delusional, because I'm having trouble believing that the witch that I married would ever do anything like this with a sane mind. Now release the human, free Edric and Amity from their amulets, and then we'll find someone to help you".
All the witch did was glare back at me. Her eyes issued a challenge. She moved closer to me and straightened her posture to look taller.
"I don't want to hurt you, Odalia. But you know I will".
The next thing I knew, wraithlike claws were digging into my face. I stumbled backwards as the phantoms my wife summoned lashed out at me from all sides. With a quick flick of my wrist, a burst of abomination goo shot from behind me, tore the apparitions apart, and careened towards Odalia.
As I expected, she jumped to the left and tried to summon another attack. The chunk of sludge erupted, flying in every direction she could have possibly moved to. It quickly hardened into sharp spikes that buried themselves into the witch's arm. She easily pulled them all out in one tug, but while she did so, I threw a barrage of fists formed by the goo that didn't hit her.
At the same time, I summoned a giant wave littered with an army of hands. Odalia was knocked back into them, and they all wrapped themselves around her. She struggled, their hold only growing stronger with all her wriggling. Then she slammed her boot into the ground.
When she lifted her foot a long, lithe phantom crawled its way out of the earth and flew straight into me. It howled directly into my ears, its sharp screech slicing my senses to shreds. My attack crumbled like an overdone pastry as my concentration on the spell shattered.
Yet, I still had my strength. I tore my arm out of the phantom's cold gaunt grasp and drew a spell circle into the dirt. The earth beneath the two of us split into a million fissures. Even more abomination mater jumped out and stuck Odalia to a dead tree behind her. With all my might I surged my magic through the sludge and through the witch's veins.
She stubbornly stood there, keeping her spell up while pain attacked her entire body. I pushed more and more. She had to crack eventually and, despite my bile sack starting to ache, I was willing to wait for however long it took.
Finally, she let her spell drop and went with using her raw power instead. I wasn't even back on my feet when she hurtled a huge blast of magic right into my chest. It threw me backwards, into the air. As I hit the ground and began to roll, I howled out in alarm.
But I wasn't the only one who hollered in pain. Right after she hit me, Odalia let out a cry of her own. I heard the grass shift as it momentarily swallowed her as well as the sound of someone celebrating.
"Sup, witches" they cheered. "You miss me?".
Luz! Emira had succeeded in freeing her! I should have been happy, relieved, but that only magnified my worry!
"Watch out!". My warning was just a moment too late.
Two talon-filled hands rose from under Luz's feet. She immediately spotted them and tried to bolt away, but they scooped the young human up and pushed her right into Odalia's grip.
She pinned the child to her chest with one arm while she reached for something with her other. From a hidden pocket on her black dress-shirt, the murderous woman slipped out a small dagger. She held the blade close to Luz's throat, the tip of the weapon pointing right at the artery in her neck.
Once again, the air turned frigid. The wind made the field come to life. The grass made waves like the sea in the middle of a storm, while the leafless branches above the two creaked as they fought with gravity.
"For titan's sake, Alador!" my wife yelled over the baying breeze. "I'm just trying to bring our daughter back home!".
"Your killing is what's driving her away! Let go of the human!".
"This is where Amity belongs!" Odalia continued as if she didn't hear me. "With her FAMILY!".
"And Edric DOESN'T?!".
"MOTHER TITAN, STOP BRINGING UP EDR–".
All the clashing sounds were drowned out by a single loud snap. The withered tree made one more large jolt, as if it was shaking something off of it. An already broken branch broke away from the trunk and dove downwards.
In less than a second, Emira heaved herself forwards and yanked Luz out of Odalia's arms. She held onto the human for dear life, her fear turning to stray tears.
Odalia didn't have time to run. The falling branch crashed into her back, its jagged edges shoving their way to the front of her chest. She let out a horrified gasp as blood pooled into her mangled lungs. All the words she failed to say were nothing but wheezes.
The world suddenly went silent. The wind stilled and the chill went away. The field calmed leaving nothing but the sound of Odalia's blood-filled expulsion behind.
I had my suspicions when Odalia said that she'd make sure he'd never hurt anyone again, but this just solidified it. Edric was not in an amulet. He was in the field with us.
I rushed up to my wife, who was now on her knees, and held her. She twitched as she slowly suffocated, her body violently craving air. Her pouring blood stained my coat, but I couldn't care less.
To think, just a moment ago I was screaming at my wife for everything she'd done. And now I was loving holding her, the sight of her writhing tearing me apart from the inside. I was still angry. Believe me, my mournful rage hadn't gone anywhere. But that rage was now forced to sit next to my new anguish.
How did this happen? What happened to the oracle student who went to Hexide with me, the business partner who built an empire with me, the woman who raised three beautiful children with me? What happened to the witch I fell in love with?
It started off as just ambition, big dreams and lust for making them a reality, but that ambition changed into something horrible. She started believing that every good thing came through pain, that somebody had to hurt for things to be right in the end. And now that kind of thinking not only killed our child, but it killed her too.
I pulled her closer to my chest, giving her now frozen body some of my body heat. I planted a kiss on the top of her head, the smell of her perfume finding its way past the smell of blood.
"I'm sorry" I choked. "I'm so sorry".
Her shaking eventually slowed to occasional little twinges, then to nothing at all. Her body grew slack, all of her weight gradually shifting onto me. I lifted her head up, so I could look into her radiant blue eyes one more time. But they had already grown cloudy and lifeless, just like Edric's.
She was gone.
The sound of Emira's sniveling pulled my attention away from Odalia's body. She still had her arms wrapped around Luz and was weeping into her shoulder.
"She…Edric…she exorc…ized him, Luz. He's…". What little she said fell into a sob.
Luz shared her pain despite not sharing her bond with the late witchling. I could tell by the look on her face that she didn't know what an exorcism was, or that Edric had killed his mother to save her life. But she knew that he wasn't in an amulet like we had all thought.
I turned back to Odalia, to give her one last goodbye, before joining the two children in their mourning for Edric. I walked up to my eldest and gently put my hand on her back. She immediately released Luz and threw herself into my arms.
I hesitated for a moment, surprised that she was so welcoming of my comfort, but I then wiped away her tears and returned her embrace.