We find ourselves in front of an old house where the Leviathan Axe was lodged in the ground when suddenly a powerful gust of wind blew the battle axe out of the ground through a glowing door.
Through the door we find ourselves in the Boiling Isles as the Leviathan Axe flew into Ardyn's hand and the Owl House Title logo appeared.
Iki wo sutte haitara kurushii koto
Kizu ga hitotsu fueru tabi ikiteiru koto
Looking around Ardyn sees the Owl House with Hooty and King watching Eda teaching Luz magic.
Tsukaifurusareta sonna kanshou mo itsuka kitto
Yoru ni tokete kieru
We then find ourselves at Hexide as Willow and Gus wave at them while Amity merely looks away with a small blush on her face.
"No enough" yugandatte
"No escape" machigattatte
"No fear" koroge mawatte
Susumeba iin deshou
As Eda struggles to fight off the curse she briefly fights off the feathers before we see Romani chained up against the wall before a large shadow grows.
Looking up they saw Emperor Belos glaring down at them with staff at the ready and all his coven ready to attack. Standing behind him is a shadowed figure with a demented grin on his face.
Sore wa marude shinwa no you na
Iro, katachi no jubunairu
Spinning her staff Eda creates a powerful blast blowing the guards away before Lilith leaps in and the two sisters clash making magic explode all around them. From the smoke Ardyn, Luz, Amity, Willow and Gus ran towards the top.
Summoning an ice glyph Luz makes a bridge of ice allowing Amity's abomination to charge forward ramming them away as Willow made a road of vines for Ardyn to run ahead.
Ibitsu na mama hibiwareteiru
Kono sekai de hitotsu kagayaku
Kirei na tsuki
Running to the top, Ardyn and Emperor Belos clashes axe and staff before the shadowed figure fires a powerful blast knocking Ardyn back.
Holding out his hand a gilded sword forms in Ardyn's hand before he thrusts his weapon clashing with Belos and the shadowed figured creating a bright light.
FATE/BOILING ISLES
Book 1
Chapter 3: I was a Fated Teenage Abomination! (Long Title)
Another day, another opportunity to explore the Boiling Isle. The sun shined brightly over the horizon as Eda had Luz and Ardyn walking with her down the beach. The two apprentices were excited, believing that they were going to be learning some magic. Especially when Eda said that they were going to find something special. It's been about a week since the incident with Adegast, and the two friends were eager to learn real magic, even though they looked like they didn't get enough sleep.
Because last night while the two where sleeping, both had dreams. Dreams that were not normal.
Dreams…where they meet their Servants
[Flashback]
(Ardyn's Dreamscape)
Ardyn woke up in a place that he was not familiar with. Where he's standing is a flying medieval fortress that looked like it was in it's prime, that can be used both as a base of operations, and to attack enemies. This is a fortress the likes Ardyn never seen before, reminiscent of the Hanging Gardens supposedly built by an empress.
As he begins to look around him, he notices 8 spheres in front of the fountain with the one in front of him was radiating with multi-colored energy. Being curious, Ardyn reached out to touch the sphere and as he got closer, the sphere begins to spin causing the young man to step back. As the orb begins pick up speed, the multi-colored energy begins to expand and surround it as the orb begins to grow and shape. Slowly the orb begins to take a human shape. And then something begins to happen. Ardyn can see the human shape slowly begins to form skin and clothes as it forms a complete human begins before her very eyes. Standing before Ardyn is a young man with black and white hair and blue eyes. His attire consists mainly of a black and white tunic with blue accents, black pants, thigh-high armored boots, and a short white cape with a black edge. Aside from his boots, his left arm has a gauntlet, and he wears a set of faulds at his waist. A sword scabbard hangs at his left side, and red marks coat his right gloved arm. Ardyn during this is surprised that he can see this before his very eyes in this magical world.
"Wow..." Said Ardyn with a look of surprise on his face as the being slowly opens his eyes. And then the young man smiles at Ardyn.
"Greetings Master... It is truly an honor to meet the one that be the one to wield my power of a Heroic Spirit: The Saber." Said the man as Ardyn looked at him in confusion.
"Who... are you?" asked Ardyn as the young man looked at him with confusion before he had a look of understanding as he begins to laugh a bit as if he heard a good joke.
"Oops! My bad, I always forget that sometimes an introduction is needed! Well, the true name Charlemagne, the class is Saber! There are more major names, but that's a different word. Legend... No, I'll show you the hero as rumored!" The man now known as Charlemagne said with a big grin on his face as Ardyn brain was in total overload. Hearing that name come from the being before his had made it lag for a moment and it is slowly begins to return to normal speed. When his brain finally catches up, Ardyn was in complete shock.
"Wait, wait, wait. Charlemagne? As in 'Charles the Great' Charlemagne?! Holy Roman Emperor, King of The Franks, and leader of the Twelve Paladins of Charlemagne. The founder of Western Europe. THAT Charlemagne?!" Ardyn said with with a look of surprise on his face.
And how could he not? Charlemagne or Charles the Great, a member of the Carolingian Dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy Roman Emperor from 800. Charlemagne succeeded in uniting the majority of western and central Europe and was the first recognized emperor to rule from western Europe since the fall of the Western Roman Empire around three centuries earlier. The expanded Frankish state that Charlemagne founded was the Carolingian Empire. He was canonized by Antipope Paschal III— an act later treated as invalid—and he is now regarded by some as beatified (which is a step on the path to sainthood) in the Catholic Church.
Charlemagne was the eldest son of Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon. He was born before their canonical marriage. He became king of the Franks in 768 following his father's death and was initially as co-ruler with his brother Carloman I until the latter's death in 771. As sole ruler, he continued his father's policy towards protection of the papacy and became its sole defender, removing the Lombards from power in northern Italy and leading an incursion into Muslim Spain. He also campaigned against the Saxons to his east, Christianizing them (upon penalty of death) and leading to events such as the Massacre of Verden. He reached the height of his power in 800 when he was crowned Emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day at Old St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
Charlemagne has been called the "Father of Europe" (Pater Europae), as he united most of Western Europe for the first time since the classical era of the Roman Empire and united parts of Europe that had never been under Frankish or Roman rule. His rule spurred the Carolingian Renaissance, a period of energetic cultural and intellectual activity within the Western Church. The Eastern Orthodox Church viewed Charlemagne less favorably due to his support of the filioque and the Pope's having preferred him as emperor over the Byzantine Empire's first female monarch, Irene of Athens. These and other disputes led to the eventual later split of Rome and Constantinople in the Great Schism of 1054.
Charlemagne died in 814. He was laid to rest in the Aachen Cathedral, in his imperial capital city of Aachen. He married at least four times and had three legitimate sons who lived to adulthood. Only the youngest of them, Louis the Pious, survived to succeed him. Charlemagne and his predecessors are the direct ancestors of many of Europe's royal houses, including the Capetian dynasty, the Ottonian dynasty, the House of Luxembourg and the House of Ivrea.
"Haha! That's right! It's nice to know that my Master know about me." Charlemagne said as he patted the boys back, causing Ardyn to stumble a bit. "So how about we get to know about each other better. How about you start."
Ardyn smiled as he begins to tell his whole life story involving his home life and after causing several problems at his school because of his and Luz's book report, which involves live snakes, Luz's mother Camila and his uncle David decides to send both him and Luz to a Reality Check Summer Camp to straighten out their wild imaginative personality. While waiting disappointedly for the bus to go to the camp, they chase a little owl who picks up Luz's favorite book that she threw to the trash before, and ends up in an old rundown house, where they find a portal and is teleported to the magical world of the Boiling Isles in the Demon Realm. While it wasn't much, Charlamagne was committing on how all new journeys are still interesting and he will be looking forward to the rest of it when Ardyn and Luz complete this journey.
As the Hybrid finished his story, Charlamagne started his story. It was the same as Ardyn remembered in History Class, but he learned something very interesting about Charlamagne. A carefree young man who somewhat bluntly says that he views himself as not very suitable to be King of The Franks or Holy Roman Emperor. He bases his aesthetic standard and behavior on whether something is "cool" or "awesome" or not, even if that will be a handicap for Ardyn, or even to himself. Despite this personality flaw, A friend of his by the name Astolfo describes Charlemagne as a conscientiously benevolent king that would weep and laugh with his people and help those who are in need.
Charlemagne prefers for people calls him Charlie, Chuck, or Charles and often insists his comrades to call him by the shortened version of his real name, as he considers "Charlemagne" to be "kind of a heavy name for me to carry around these days". This may be an attempt to differentiate himself from his historical name: Karl der Große.
After that Ardyn felt like was being pulled from this place as Charlamagne explained that he was waking up in the real world, so he didn't freak out, which Ardyn was grateful for as he wakes up in the real world.
(Luz's Dreamscape)
Like Ardyn, Luz was standing in a place that she wasn't familiar with. The place that she was standing in is a huge golden theater with tons of platforms for the crowd to be in. In the middle of the theater is a central platform with four red carpets near it in a large red plus formation. It was also a grand villa for those of higher authority.
As the young girl could look around the area more, she notices 8 spheres with a small burning red orb appears before Luz. Being as curious girl as she is, she slightly pokes it with her finger. And then the red orb begins to spin slowly as it picks up speed. And red flower pedals begin to surround it as the orb begins to grow and shape. Slowly the orb begins to take a human shape. And then something begins to happen. Luz can see the human shape slowly begins to form skin and clothes as it forms a complete human begins before her very eyes.
The being before her is a female human being. She is a blond-haired young girl of short but curvy stature with pale skin, yellow-ish blond hair with intake and bright lime green eyes, which her eyes closed now. She dresses in a revealing red and white dress with long poofy sleeves, a transparent front, leotard, and knee high golden armored boots. As an also addition of her outfit, she dressed in a military-styled red dress with a translucent portion in the front of the lower skirt.
Luz during this is amazed and fascinated that she can see this before her very eyes in this magical world. "Wow..." Said Luz with a big smile on her lips.
The being slowly opens her bright lime green eyes. And then the female being smiles at Luz. "Greetings Master... no... Praetor... It is truly an honor to meet the one that be the one to wield my power of a Heroic Spirit." Said the female being.
"Who... are you?" asked Luz.
"Umu! A truly indeed the correct question to ask. Allow me to fully introduce myself to you Praetor. My True name is Nero Claudius. The Fifth Emperor of Roman. And known at the Emperor of Roses." Said Nero as she does an introduction bow to her Praetor.
Luz brain was in total freefall. Hearing that name come from the being before her had made it shut down and it is slowly rebooting. When her brain finally reboots, Luz gasps. "Nero Claudius!? THE Nero Claudius!? But but... in history, Nero Claudius is a guy... but... you are a girl? How is that possible!? Is it magic or something!?" asked Luz. How could she not be freaking out as she once did a book report about him-erm, her.
During her youth, Nero was revered as a very competent judge who brought in several important lawsuits with her fairness and efficiency, though Claudius had forbidden her from doing so due to her young age. Nero eventually succeeded her stepfather after Agrippina murdered Claudius in the year 54 AD, she was enthroned emperor at the age of seventeen, which would have been extremely difficult with her origins.
After claiming the throne, Nero gave out money to all citizens in celebration. She then abolished all indirect taxes. Predictably, the public adored Nero's generosity. Nero attempted to reform a depraved government and the corrupt senate, but her reforms were stalled and met with hostility. Conflicts with the senate erupted when Nero tried to unify the Roman Empire with some troublesome provinces. In contrast, Nero boasted tremendous popularity from the citizens, thanks to her generous policies; her care for diplomacy caused Britannia's relations in Rome to improve during later years, essentially making her the person who built the opportunity for the legend of King Arthur to be born. She was also highly praised by Persia, which lead to Rome being considered "the country of Nero" by Persia after her death.
Nero had to bicker between a corrupt Senate and her predatory mother who made policies in self-interest. Agrippina only saw Nero as a tool to become the mother of the emperor. Conflicts with her mother became more pronounced at this time. As a result, Nero hired an assassin to end her mother's life before she could deal with a troublesome senate. But the assassination failed, and the only thing she could do was cut her mother down publicly, proclaiming that her own mother tried to poison her. The year was 59 A.D., that was the year that Nero's reputation as a tyrant was cemented. Nero states that since that day, she has been afflicted with headaches. Nero suffered from chronic hysteria, a result from constantly using a silver cup. Nero had been poisoned as a child, so as not to defy her mother she was given the antidote in tandem. When her mother died, she also took the antidote with her to the grave, so Nero lapsed into a fevered delirium.
Nero's life then took a radical shift after her ascension. Nero's wife, Octavia, committed suicide. Her younger stepbrother was murdered to secure her influence and then drove her sole mentor, the philosopher Seneca, to suicide. Seneca's death affected Nero deeply, she considered him a father figure. According to Nero, she told him that she would forgive him repeatedly, but Seneca was skeptical of Nero's word, and he ended his life in Nero's house. It pained Nero that Seneca disbelieved her words. Through her selfish actions, Nero was a monster to her relatives, but she boasted popularity with the masses.
She established the "Nero Festival" in 59 or 60 A.D., which was an athletic conference that took after the Greek Olympics and happened once every five years. She opened three fields for music, gymnastics, and horse riding and openly participated in the events herself. During July 19, 64 A.D.., there was a large conflagration that occurred to the extent of reducing Rome to ashes. The victims were contained to a bare minimum thanks to Nero's swift and adequate response as an administrator, and she earned immense popularity with the citizens by thoroughly carrying out her subsequent pledges. These measures are highly praised as "effective measures that exhausted the bounds of human intellect" even by the many historians who criticize her. She later established the Domus Aurea theater designed by herself. She was eventually driven out of her position during a revolt in 69 A.D., led by Vindex in Gallia. At first, Nero ignored the situation, perhaps she still trusted Vindex, the inciter of the rebellion. More likely she was suffering from despair, and she wished for the situation to go away. Two years later, Vindex would incite another rebellion and by then the senate had enough with Nero. The senate was so displeased with Nero's mishandling of the revolt that they called her a traitor, and she was forced to escape from Rome. Nero was convinced that her popular policies and her popularity with the people would protect her from being forced to abdicate the throne. However, the public was silent, and they did nothing to protect her. The Roman people had abandoned her, after she had devoted so much for them. She acknowledges that she had made an error in judgement in relying on the people. Still, Nero did not resent them, instead she was saddened by their lack of uproar, "it was my greatest error to love them in a way that they could not understand."
She eventually decided to kill herself, though such an end was considered unsportsmanlike by her. She stopped herself many times, having cried about "how can such a magnificent artist disappear from this world?", but as those who betrayed her closed in, she quoted a line from Homer's Iliad, "Hark, now strikes on my ear the trampling of swift-footed coursers!", before finally stabbing her own throat with a knife. After Nero's suicide, a soldier delicately wrapped a cloak around Nero's body, "Too late. This is fidelity," Those were her last words.
Nero smiles while gently patting the girl's shoulder to get her attention. "Breath. You need to take a nice deep breath Praetor." Said Nero as she demonstrated it to her on how to breath to calm down as she breaths in, count to four with her fingers, breath out and count to four again, repeat till calmed. Luz follows her instructions and can slowly calm down.
"Thanks." Said Luz.
"Now as for you question, I have always been a female in my life. History has a habit of rewriting history to make certain historical figures in life appear male and not female." Said Nero with a sad look before smiling again. "But fear not, I have been chosen by you, my Praetor! So, when you need to use my power or summon me to aid you in battle, you can always turn to me. Plus, if you ever need advice from me, I am always happy to give you any advice or help I can do for you, my Praetor." Said Nero as she holds Luz hands while saying this motivation speech to Luz. "So, my Praetor. Can you tell me about yourself so that I can know you better?"
Luz nodded as she begins to tell her tale about how after causing several problems at her school because of her and her friend Ardyn's book report, which involves live snakes, her mother Camila and Ardyn's uncle David decides to send her and Ardyn to a Reality Check Summer Camp to straighten out their wild imaginative personality. While waiting disappointedly for the bus to go to the camp, she chases a little owl who picks up her favorite book that she threw to the trash before, and ends up in an old rundown house, where she and Ardyn finds a portal and is teleported to the magical world of the Boiling Isles in the Demon Realm. While it was short, Nero commented that it was the First Act and there are more Acts to come.
When Luz finished, The Emperor of Roses begins her story. The story was about the same as much as Luz could remember from history class, but she took notices of a few this about her. Nero has a haughtiness that seems to more than compensate for her short stature, overlapping much with the personality of someone she knew named Gilgamesh. She refrains from asking how privileged Luz feels by summoning her and grants her the honor of being her Master. She feels that, as her Master, they can be allowed to act as her equal without having to use honorifics. Often when given the choice to answer to her, only a single affirmative choice is offered rather than allowing for a negative response. She believes that anything she does must be perfect down to the smallest detail, such as several flawless victories to make her feel on top of the world after displaying perfection in her swordplay. Luz could understand that as when she edits her video clips she always wanted to be as perfect as she can get.
After that, Luz felt a pull as looked around to see the world slowly disappearing, but Nero informed her that she was waking up in the real world, which the young girl was grateful as she didn't need another live threatening experience today as she begins to wake up in the real world.
[End of Flashback]
Yep, so after what happened last night the two were looking forward for today's lesson.
But 10 minutes into their adventure and their excitement were replaced with mixed expressions. Mostly disgust. "Eda, when you told us that you were going to take us somewhere special...this isn't what I was expecting," Ardyn said, pointing at what they came for.
Lying on the beach in front of them was the carcass of a dead giant worm with the characteristics of a leech. Its body was cylindrical and tapered towards the tail. Its mouth was a jawless orifice lined with large, pointed teeth and ringed by five stubby feeding tentacles that were used to grasp food and protect the mouth when not feeding. Large eyes were spread across its back and head, and large black spines ran along the back between the eyes located on the head and those on the back. Coloration was dark green across the dorsal surface and light green on its ventral side, divided into segments like annelid worms.
"What? What are you talking about?" Eda looked at him like he was crazy before turning back to the creature. "When have you ever seen something as breathtaking as this?"
"Literally anytime when I'm not looking at a dead rotting body," Ardyn said, pinching his nose.
"I don't like this," Luz commented. Creeped out and a bit disgusted.
"Yes, it doesn't get much more inspiring than the trash slug," Eda said as she walked over to the large slug, kneeling, and placing a hand on it. "It makes a home, a life from what others have thrown by the wayside." She gave the beast a pat before reaching into its mouth and pulling out a rubber chicken. Tossing it aside before turning back to her apprentices.
"Until BLAM!" Eda hits her fist into her palm. "It gets blasted by a wave one day and croaks from all the salt. And then we get to sell the stuff it ate."
She then pulled out a pickaxe and held it out to Luz. "Please don't make me," Luz begged with a croaky voice, terrified of the job.
Eda shrugged her shoulders and turned to Ardyn. "Not happening," he said, pushing the pickaxe away. "As much as I would love to look for treasure, I'm not going to dig through the remains of a slug if I can avoid it."
"Aw, come on, guys," King said, walking to the side and throwing down a towel with a duck on it. "It's not every day you get to go to the dump and pick apart a garbage carcass."
"What the actual hell? No one looks forward to that!" Ardyn exclaimed.
"Ah, nuts to you both," said Eda before she began doing the dirty work. Swinging her pickaxe into the flesh of the monster.
Ardyn looked at Luz, and she nodded her head to him. It was time to talk with Eda about her teaching method and how she was teaching the two. Which was not teaching them anything at all. "So, Eda. Luz and I were talking, and we were wondering when you were going to, you know, start our training," he said to the witch.
"What are you talking about? We've already begun your training," Eda stated, swinging the pickaxe into the trash slug again. The crashing sound it made had Luz cringing.
"Yeah, but if we tried some new lessons for our apprenticeship?" She suggested while her teacher managed to cut out some of the stuff inside the slug and started digging through it. "Like...read ancient scrolls or mix together potions, or‐"
"Ugh. That sounds like a bunch of magic school stuff," Eda commented, throwing a phone she pulled out onto a pill of other things.
Ardyn's eyes widened just as much as Luz's when they both caught onto those keywords at the end of Eda's sentence. "Wait; what?" He asked bewildered. "There are magic schools here?"
"Like, winding towers, cute uniforms, dark plots that threaten your life kind of magic school?" Luz asked excitedly, obviously thinking of Hogwarts.
"And why is this the first time we're hearing about this?" Ardyn asked. "We could have been learning magic there!"
"Why would you want to learn magic in school? It's the worst!" Eda told the two kids. "They force you to learn magic the 'proper' way. But magic isn't proper. It's wild and unpredictable. And that's why it's so beautiful. I didn't finish school and look at me! Who wouldn't envy where I am right now?" She said this, all while standing in front of a smelly pile of garbage and guts from the monster—flies buzzing all around her.
Luz looked at her teacher with a bit of a down look, while Ardyn looked at Eda with a deadpan expression. "Let me get this straight: You didn't like how school was teaching you about magic, so you dropped out. Now, you live life on the run and dig through the remains of a dead monster, just to find things to sell to make ends meet. What a wonderful life!" He said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Well...sure, it sounds bad when you say it like that..." Eda said. She looked around for anything that would prove she was a good teacher. "Uh... Hey, here's a lesson." Eda dropped the pickaxe and walked over to Ardyn and Luz. Grabbing both of their hands. "All great witches are resourceful, like this."
Eda then kneeled and plugged both kids' hands into a hole filled with green slime. Ardyn cringed as Eda had them feel around to grab at anything that they could get. After Eda let go of their arms, they pulled out their hands.
Luz looked inside of her hand was less than impressed. "Oh, hey. Greasy slimeball."
"Use your slime ball wisely, young witch," Eda said, trying to sound wise while holding Luz's hands together.
Ardyn looked down at his hand and opened it. His frown deepened when he saw it was a rock. "I got a rock," he told the others, feeling like a certain character from The Peanuts.
Eda just shrugged and started walking back to the slug. "Back at it! We'll hit the stink nodes first," she said, grabbing her pickaxe.
When Eda turned her back to them, Ardyn was just about to throw the rock at the back of her head when Luz quickly grabbed his hand. "Actually, if it's okay, I think we'll head home and look at pictures of animals that are still alive," she said, pulling Ardyn back until he gave up and followed her. Before leaving, she went over to King, who was wearing a pair of plastic shade and started rubbing his belly. "Love you, King. You little beach peach."
Ardyn walked ahead of her and entered the forest. Luz quickly caught up, and the two walked together to the Owl House. As the two friends walked together back to the house, Ardyn glared down at the ground. Temped to just throw the rock away as far as he could.
"You know, it's times like this that I wonder why we even put up with Eda," Ardyn said, glaring down at his rock, bitterly pocketing it in his pants pocket.
"Ardyn, please calm down," Luz said before Ardyn stopped and threw up his hands.
"How!? We've been here nearly a week, Luz, and neither of us has even learned a single thing about magic!" He exclaimed, pacing around in frustration. "Hell, we've been trying to find out how to use that magic from my mother's box, but so far we haven't been able to use a single ounce of it. I mean, if magic's all about digging through some slimy monster's inside to grab a rock, then what's the point of even learning anything from her?"
"You can do it! You can!" A random girl's voice said from nearly by.
"Mysterious voice of encouragement?" Luz asked before going off into the forest.
"Wait, Luz! Ugh," Ardyn groaned in frustration before running after her. "Can't we just stay at the house for one day? Why do we always have to get ourselves into trouble?"
After catching up with her, Ardyn pushed some bushes aside, and the two friends laid eyes on the source of the voice. A Thick-cute girl who was around their age and has light skin, pointy ears, and short dark blue hair. She wears a pair of glasses and uniform. The uniform consisted of a gray tunic with a dark gray belt, cowl, and boots. Her sleeves and leggings were a greyish-pink color. Right next to her was a book, a backpack, and a stone vase on a wooden wheelbarrow.
Luz gasped. "No! Witch girl."
As for Ardyn, he watched the girl, who looked like she was having some trouble. He was about to go over and ask if she needed help when the girl stood up from the rock she was sitting on. "You can do it. Even if you get a bad grade, it's not a reflection of you as a witch. And my parents are right. There are better opportunities on this track. Now, get to school!" She stopped when she stepped on a flower. Lifting her foot to see what she stepped on, she gasped in horror and kneeled to it. "Oh, no! Oh, little friend! I'm sorry!"
Calming herself, the girl drew a magic circle of green light above the plant. The circle rained down droplets of energy onto the flower, and it revived it back to health.
As the Human-Witch Hybrid and his crush watched the girl, they heard something else coming in their direction. Another wheelbarrow, glowing in green energy, came rolling up in front of the young witch with its owner sitting on top of the cauldron. Ardyn looked up, and for some reason, he gained a small blush.
The person was another witch. A girl with pale skin, D-Cup Breasts, a thick ass, two-toned, chin-length aquamarine hair that was brown at the roots and had a ponytail pulling the front hair out of her face, and eyes that were golden colored. Like most witches, she had pointy ears. Like the first girl, she a uniform in the same colors. The rest of her attire includes wearing triangle-shaped black earrings, dark grey, heeled boots, with a light grey top, and black nail polish. On her cowl, she had a star pin.
The green-haired girl looked down at the other girl and smirked. "Willow!" She said, closing her book and jumped down from the cauldron. "Wow. You're so unnoticeable I almost rolled into you." She chuckled lightly as the flower died again.
"Hi, Amity," the first girl, now known as Willow, said with a bitter tone. Standing up and giving Amity a bland expression.
"Uh, shouldn't you get to class early to prep your…" A rattling noise came from the cauldron on Willow's wheelbarrow. It suddenly tipped over and oozed all over the ground a purple sludge with a single eyeball in it. Washing up next to Willow's foot and blinking.
"That's disgusting," Ardyn said in a low tone.
"Oh, Willow. You don't have anything to show, do you?" Amity asked, gesturing to the mud puddle. Willow blushed in embarrassment and raised up her hood to cover it. Amity sighed and walked up to her. "This is why people call you 'Half‐a‐Witch Willow.'"
"Witch drama!" Luz whispered before Ardyn shushed her as they watched. The Human-Witch Hybrid glared at Amity with anger. Sure, she was attractive, but she was a total jerk! Teasing and demeaning Willow without any consideration for her feelings.
There was something inside of Amity's cauldron that was moving around. Making it rattle. "Oh, looks like someone wants to say something to you," said Amity, moving to her cauldron and off the top. She smirked smugly and crossed her arms, before snapping her finger. "Abomination, rise."
Rising out of the cauldron was a crudely shaped humanoid golem made of a purple ooze-like substance. It had three eyes and a mouth, which it gasped and groaned from. Ardyn senses flared darkly as he grabbed the Leviathan Axe and nearly charged at this… mockery of life. It was ugly in every sense of the word. But Luz was able to stay his hand, which he was grateful as he didn't want to appear threatening to the girls as the abomination leaned down and groaned, drawing a star on Will's forehead.
"You're a... star," said the Abomination.
"Aw. It's like mine," Amity bragged, tapping to the star badge that was on her cloak. On it were the words 'Top Student' on it. "But much smaller, and meaningless. As top student, it's my duty to tell you to keep at it. Even you could get a passing grade someday."
As he watched, Ardyn's empathy for Willow grew. Knowing exactly what she was going through. He was never the best student, mainly because he struggled to keep up with the other kids in his grade. And it made him even more furious with Amity. Having dealt with bullies from all genders, he saw Amity as a queen bee bully. It almost made him disgusted that he found her attractive.
"Abomination, cower," Amity commanded her project, and the sludge monster melted back into the cauldron. Amity placed the lid back on top. "See you in class, superstar."
As she left, both Ardyn and Luz were glaring at her. "Jerk…" he said bitterly while Luz stuck her tongue, feeling the same way.
"'Oh, see you in class, superstar!'" Will mimicked Amity mockingly, before furiously wiping off the goop from her forehead. Getting angrier and angrier as she ranted while the winds started to pick up the leaves around her. "I hate it when she does that. I hate making abominations. I hate getting bad grades. Ugh! I can't stand this anymore."
Having shot her eyes tightly, she snapped them open when she shouted in rage. Now they were glowing green, much to the shock of Luz and Ardyn. The ground started to shake before the flower she was tending to erupt into a mass of large thorn vines that sprouted from the ground. They swung wildly around Willow, before one of them went straight for the two humans.
Ardyn drew Leviathan Axe and cut the one that went for Luz. But he himself got caught. Ardyn yelled in pain as the vines wrapped around his leg, the thorns piercing through his pants before he was pulled towards Willow.
"Ardyn!" Luz screamed.
Both of their screams got the attention of Willow, who turned to glare at them. Her eyes still holding fury in them and glowing with power. As he was pulled ever closer, Ardyn quickly cuts the vine around his leg. He was in awe and frightened a bit by the power Willow was displaying. But got over it and got up into a fighting stance with Leviathan Axe. He didn't want to hurt her, but he would defend himself if he had to.
"Back off, plant girl! Or I will put you in the ground.!" He yelled at Willow. Flinching when he felt the thorns still him his legs like barbwire.
Fighting was about to start when Willow suddenly stopped. Her anger was replaced with concern after seeing the vine still around Ardyn's leg. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no! I'm so sorry!" she said after the glowing faded from her eyes. The vines around her stopped moving.
She was about to rush over to him when Ardyn pointed the blade of the axe at her chest. A warning for her to now come any closer.
"Ardyn, it's okay," Luz said, walking out of the bushes and placing a hand on his arms. "She's not going to hurt you. She just wants to help." Willow nodded.
Ardyn glanced between Luz and Willow before sighing. "I'm sorry," he muttered, stabbing Leviathan Axe into the ground.
Bending down, Willow used her magic to unwrap the vine from his leg. The half-witch flinched when the thorns were removed but was thankful to have the vines off his leg. "Are you okay?" Luz asked worriedly.
Ardyn looked at his leg and saw bits of blood coming out of the marks the vines made. "It's okay. The thorns only went through a few layers of skin," he said, rubbing his right leg a bit. But then he noticed Willow getting close to his and Luz's faces. A bit too close. "Uh...hi?"
"Your ears. They're shorter, and so... circle-Ly," she said, gazing at Luz and Ardyn's ears. In a panic, Luz covered them up and pulled Ardyn's lizard hood up to hide his. "Hey!"
But it was too late, as Willow gasped in realization. "You're humans!" she exclaimed, pulling off Ardyn's hood. "This is astounding!" Willow grew more excited as she circled around the human and half-human. "Real humans on the Boiling Isles! How'd you get here? What are you doing here?"
"How did you know we were humans?" Ardyn asked, while also relieved to know that Willow didn't hate them for being humans. Before the witch girl could answer, a sudden bell toll could be heard pealing in the distance.
Willow's smile was gone when she heard it, and she looked down at the ground. "Uh, I'm sorry. I can't stay. I have to go disappoint my teacher. It was nice to meet you both," Willow said, waving goodbye to the friends.
Walking over to the tipped-over wheelbarrow, Willow picked up her books when Luz stopped her. "Wait! I'm Luz, and this is my BBF, Ardyn!" She said, giving Ardyn a tight hug that made him blush before letting go. "And you're Willow, right? What you did with that flower and those plants, it was... wow."
"Thanks, but... I'm not even supposed to be doing plant magic," Willow said, depressingly looking down at the failed abomination.
"Why?" Ardyn asked, sheathing Leviathan Axe on his back. "You were awesome with that plant magic."
"Well, my parents put me on the abomination track at school," she replied. Just as Ardyn was about to ask her why, Luz rushed up to her and grabbed her shoulders. Squealing with excitement.
"Like, magic school?" She asked, to which Willow nodded her head. Ardyn grabbed Luz by her cat hood and pulled her back from the witch.
"Take it easy, Luz. You're going to scare the pool thing," he said to his friend.
"I'm sorry, but that's so cool! I'm so jealous," Luz said after Ardyn let her go. "I have a teacher, but her lessons are a bit untraditional."
"Not to mention unethical and the fact that she hasn't even bothered to teach us anything about magic," Ardyn said, crossing his arms and kicking a rock. "Compared to her, I'm sure your school could actually teach us something. I'd like to just see it for just one day."
"I wish I could get a passing grade for once," Willow said with a depressed tone. "Then people would stop calling me 'Half‐a‐Witch Willow.'" She kicked some of her abomination goop.
"Hey, wait. I know how we can both get what we want," Luz said suddenly, picking up some of the goop.
"Luz, what are you doing?" Ardyn asked with a wary tone but had an idea of what she was going to do. And he was proven right when the girl splashed the sludge on her body.
"Make me your abomination. I'll get you a good grade, and you can get us into magic school. It's fiendishly clever."
"What?" Willow asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, Luz, there's no way that will work," Ardyn said, walking over to stand next to Willow. He then crossed his arms.
"Oh, come on, Ardyn. We saw that girl's thing. It's just chunks of stuff that talks weird. I'm chunks of stuff, and I talk weird!" Luz said with much enthusiasm.
"That's true," Willow said before giggling with a blush. "Okay! It's a deal-"
"Hold it! Hold it! Hold it!" Ardyn quickly stepped in, glaring at Luz. "You're not going to that school!"
"What!? But why? Luz asked in surprise.
"As much as I would love to sneak into the school to actually learn what Eda is practically incapable of teaching us, there are too many things that can go wrong!" Ardyn said, understandably protective of Luz.
"But nothing bad will happen! I promise!"
"Do I need to remind you about what happened last time with Adagast and the Draugrs?! You went off on a quest that was a trap, and you were the bait!"
"I know, but...Please, Ardyn. Just for today? I wouldn't get caught this time. Please?" Luz begged, clasping her hands together.
"Not! Happening!" Ardyn exclaimed, getting into her face. Close enough that their noses were touching.
"Pleeeaaasseee?" Luz tried again, this time using her secret weapon against Ardyn: The Puppy Eyes. Putting all the adorableness, she had into those pitiful eyes.
Ardyn tried to continue glaring into her eyes. Trying not to be tempted and give in to her cuteness. But he couldn't resist. Her puppy eyes were twice as strong as anyone else with its adorableness. He groaned in annoyance while grabbing his face.
He then threw his arms down and yelled. "Ugh damn it, Luz! Fine!" Luz and Willow both had happy faces as they squealed. That was before Ardyn pointed at them. "But I'm coming with you!"
This caused Willow to freak out. "But you can't! You're not a student or a witch!" Willow exclaimed worriedly.
"Uh, excuse me. I'm a half-witch," he told her, placing his fingers on the round tips of his ears. He was more than certain that witches were a species, and that's why male witches were still called witches. "All I have to do is find a disguise to make me look like a student."
The three of them through for a moment before Willow's eyes widened and she smiled. "Actually, I think I know a guy. But you'll still need to do something about your ears."
The lizard eyes on his hood jiggled a little as Ardyn walked alongside Willow, who was hauling the pot that had Luz inside of it. The human girl was peeking out of the lid. To hide his ears, the Human-Witch Hybrid had pulled up his lizard hood. Covering them and making himself look like a monster. After a couple of minutes of walking, they had made it to the school. Ardyn and Luz stared at it in amazement. The school was a large building made from stone and looked like a castle with a bell tower in the middle. It was like looking at a different version of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry. And students were walking into the front door.
"Welcome to Hexside School of Magic and Demonics," Willow said.
"We're really going to do this," Ardyn said while Luz was squealing and giggling with excitement. "Luz, stand down." Ardyn placed the lid onto the cauldron and covered up Luz. As they entered the building, Ardyn felt a feeling of unease about this place. Like something was very wrong with it. But he shook his head and followed Willow inside.
Inside the school were hundreds of hallways that someone could get lost, but Ardyn remained behind Willow as they made their way to the second floor. Looking around, Ardyn was nervous about people looking at him and seeing that he was without a uniform, carrying a big axe on his back. But it didn't seem like that at all. From what he saw, there were other weird-looking students that his hoodie looked normal.
He stopped when Willow halted in front of her locker, that was alive. It had a single eye and a mouth with sharp teeth. The little witch tickled the locker, and its mouth opened. It's tongue rolling out to present her textbooks.
Watching her as she grabbed one of the books, Ardyn was bumped into by someone behind him. He turned around to see another wizard. This wizard was a young boy when Luz and Ardyn, with brown skin and dark brown hair with lighter shades. Like all the witches and demons on the Boiling Isles, he had pointy ears. Like the other students, he was wearing a grey tunic with a dark grey belt, cowl, and boots. But unlike Willow or Amity, the color of his sleeves and leggings are light blue.
"Willow, you would not believe humans…" the boy said, keeping his attention on the magazine he had to see he wasn't talking to Willow.
"Humans? Psh. I haven't seen any. What?" Willow rambled nervously as she looked towards the cauldron and Ardyn. He gave her a frown with his eyes saying 'really' to her.
"Did you know that humans nail barbed wire to their kids' teeth?" The wizard said, turned the magazine to show Willow an ad with a girl showing off her braces and the tagline 'Em-Brace yourself!' under it. "But why? Maybe to make them magnetic."
Ardyn chuckled and leaned to Willow and whispered. "Actually, braces are for straightening teeth. So, they don't end up crooked."
"And for storing treats," Luz said from inside the cauldron. But unfortunately, the young wizard heard her voice echoing from within. He looked up at Willow and Ardyn, raising an eyebrow in confusion.
"Can he be trusted," Ardyn asked, knowing that their cover was blown.
"Yeah, and he's the guy I was talking about," Willow said before turning to the boy. This was the person that was going to help him with his disguise? Looking around to see if anyone was around before grabbing his hood. Ardyn then stepped back and waited as Willow talked to Augustus. "Okay, Augustus. Ardyn and I are going to show you something. But you have to be cool."
"I can be spool. I-I mean, coooollaaaaahhh…" Augustus' sentence ended up trailing off as Ardyn took off his hood. Revealing his slightly long, slightly round ears to the wizard. Ardyn then grabbed the lid of the cauldron and pulled it off.
"Okay. Abomination, rise," Willow commanded, giving the signal for Luz to emerge.
Standing on the flat bottom of the pot, Luz came out with her arms out. "Ta‐da! I'm an abomination."
"Luz, that's not how abominations act," Willow said to the human girl.
Augustus stared at both the human girl and the half-witch human as he dropped his magazine on the ground. Shocked beyond belief as his gazed at their ears. "No. No, it, it couldn't be." The wizard said, feeling his own ears as he compared the three of them.
"I think we broke him," Ardyn said, raising an eyebrow.
"No, he's the president of the Human Appreciation Society," Willow explained. "Most witches wouldn't be able to recognize a human right away. But Augustus is an expert."
"Where are your gills?" Augustus asked, looking Ardyn and Luz up and down. "And why are you're ears shorter than ours?"
"I'm a hybrid. Human is the other half." Ardyn said as Augustus looked at him with wide eyes.
Quick to change the subject, Luz talked to Gus. "I knew an Augustus back in the human world," she said with her arms crossed.
"Wait, are you talking about Gus?" He asked his crush, pulling his hood over his head again.
"Gus? Nickname? Human nickname? Gus?" Gus exclaimed with excitement and happy as he threw his arms out to the sides. "Call me it. Wow. Gus. This is the best day of my life."
Ardyn flinched when he heard the sudden mixture of screaming and bell ringing. Looking up and found the source to be the school's bell, which had a fanged mouth and a ringer with an eye. He had to ask how anyone could think that a bell such as that would be suitable for a school.
"I've got to get to spelling class," Gus said, picking up his magazine and pulling out a wand. "See you guys at lunch!"
"Wait, Augustus!" Willow quickly stopped the short wizard before he could walk away. She then placed a hand on Ardyn's shoulder. "We need you to create an illusion for Ardyn. Can't you make him have a uniform?"
"Actually, I've got an extra cowl you can use," Gus said, reaching into his bag and then pulling out his extra cowl. He handed it to Ardyn, who smiled with gratitude.
"Wow, this is awesome! Thanks Gus." He smiled at the short wizard. Gus smiled a giddy smile, ecstatic to have a human thank him. He then turned and ran off to his next class.
"All right. Into the darkness you go," Willow said to Luz, who playfully hissed and got back into the cauldron. After Ardyn put on the cowl and Willow placed the lid back on, they went on their way to her class.
"You know, maybe I was wrong," Ardyn said as they entered the Abomination 101 class. The other students were there with their cauldrons and were at their desks. "Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all."
"Hold it! Who are you?" demanded a very stern voice, making Ardyn and Willow freeze up after being startled. They looked, and to Willow's terror, it was her teacher.
The Abomination teacher was a stubby and short humanoid creature with pointed ears, a round beak-like mouth with two fangs on the top row of his teeth, two claws on each foot, and narrow eyes. He had green, chin-length hair with a large bald spot on the top of his head, inward-facing eyebrows, and a small green beard. He wore orange-tinted circular glasses with no temples and defined cheekbones as well. His outfit consisted of a black shirt and pants with an oversized purple coat with a red lining. He wore a light silver bow tie around his neck.
He was carried over to Ardyn by a mauve-colored abomination that had a sad and drooping face.
"Huh?" Ardyn asked nervously as the teacher looked at him suspiciously. Willow stood on the side, more nervous than him. Luz peaked out of the cauldron, worried for her friend.
"You're not one of my students," said the teacher. "And is that an axe?! What track are you in?"
Ardyn was now sweating bullets as the other students were staring at him. He didn't think of this! He thought that the teachers wouldn't care about how many students he had. And how could he forget about Leviathan Axe on his back?! Ardyn had to think of something and think of it fast. As the other students in the room watched, Amity was the only one not paying attention. But then she looked at the conversation.
"Yes...I'm part of the...uh…" Ardyn looked to Willow, and the witch shrugged her shoulder. He turned his eyes back to the teacher. "...the up-and-coming Magic Weapons track!"
The students of the class murmured to one another. Some were a little surprised while others were confused. Amity raised an eyebrow, having heard nothing about this. The teacher himself was also skeptical of this.
"The Magic Weapons tracks?" He asked.
"Yes. I think that's what it's going to be called. And the principle wanted me to...get used to the Hexside way of teaching?" Ardyn said and sucked in his lips. Staring nervously at the teacher.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Oh, I see the administration is finally opening a Magical Arms track. It's about time, I said."
'My luck is never this good! Holy Crap!' Ardyn sighed in relief.
"Well, I'll place you in the seat next to Amity," the teacher said, having his Abomination turn around and take him back to the front of the classroom. Ardyn's eyes widened when he heard that. He turned to Willow, who just shrugged. With no other option, Ardyn sighed and walked over to where Amity was sitting, which was at the front of the class.
Each table had two seats, so he sat to the left of her. Taking the Leviathan Axe off his back, he placed it on the table and sat down. He felt a pair of eyes on him and saw it was Amity.
"What? Something on my face?" He asked.
"How come I never heard of this 'Magical Arms' track before?" She asked in a rather rude tone.
"It's a new track. Meaning that no one would have known of it yet." Ardyn said with a frown.
"Whatever," Amity turned away with a huff. Ardyn's frown deepened again. He's dealt with girls like her before. Those who think they're all high and might just because they have a higher score and are smarter than everyone else.
For the next hour, he watched as the students took turns coming up to the front of the classroom to present their projects to the teacher. Sitting through the teacher basically ripping into every one of them. Grabbing them poorly and bluntly. Reminded Ardyn of some of his teachers back on earth.
Currently, he was sitting through a student presenting her abomination. However, it had a lot of feet that were wiggling their toes. "Hmm. Too many toenails in unexpected places. Fail. Pathetic!" This just made the girl sad, and her abomination shrank back into its cauldron. "The biggest abominations are all of you! If the next abomination is a failure, everyone gets extra homework for a month!"
The students in the room groaned and complained about the thought of extra homework for a mouth, and Ardyn winced at it too. And he wasn't even a real student. However, he looked to his left to see Amity was smirking a satisfied look.
The teacher cleared his throat. "And the next one to come up is…"
Amity stood up and raised her hand. "Excuse me, sir, but I am ready to present my abomination. Rise!" Her creature emerged from the cauldron, posing like a ballerina.
The teacher chuckled with amusement. "I've always saved the best for last, Amity. You'll have to wait your turn."
"Kiss-ass," Ardyn muttered, low enough that Amity didn't hear him.
"How about... Willow." The teacher pointed to the witch.
Ardyn looked back at Willow and saw her expression turned to shock. That was before she heard the other students around her groaning and complaining around her. Throwing around the word "Half‐a‐Witch" her way and how she would cause them to have more homework for the mouth. It was enough to make her pull her cowl over her head.
Luz poked the cover to peek out of it to whisper at Willow. "Don't listen to them, Willow. We can do this." Ardyn nodded and gave her a thumbs up.
This reassurance gave Willow the confidence she needed to stand up and roll her cauldron to the front of the class. "Uh... Abomination, rise."
The lid was punched up into the sir by Luz's fist, and then she came jumping out. Doing a twirl before she landed and posed with her eyes staring in different directions. "Ta‐da!"
All the students in the classroom gasped in surprise at Luz. Believing her to be an actual abomination. This shocked everyone, especially Amity.
"Abomination, bow," Willow commanded, pointing at the ground. Luz followed the command.
"Very impressive. But does it speak?" The teacher asked the witch.
"Uh, I may be your abomination, but you're my a‐mom‐ination," Luz said, improvising as she cuddled up with Willow. Ardyn looked around and saw that everyone found Luz to be adorable. The only one that wasn't sharing their sentiment was Amity, who was still shocked by what she was watching. The last time she saw Willow, her abomination was nothing more than a pile of goo. She was supposed to be a weakling. How was this possible?
The teacher laughed aesthetically over Luz's performance. "'A‐mom‐ination!' Splendid wordplay. A plus!" He made his way to Luz and painted red A+ on her forehead.
"Woo!" Ardyn cheered, throwing his arms in the air. Then the other students started clapping and cheering for Willow. Amity's shock turned to anger and suspicion.
The class period ended when the bell screamed again, before coughing. Willow rolled her wheelbarrow out of the classroom with Ardyn following behind her. He had a startled expression as he panted exasperatedly when the bell screamed out of nowhere. "I can never get used to that."
"Wonderful work today, Willow," said the teacher, stopping the two kids. "Looks like we have a new top student."
He said this just as Amity was walking out of the class. Hearing this made her stop abruptly and drop her books while gasping in shock. The green-haired girl growled in anger before her teacher took her badge off her cowl. "But‐‐" Amity tried to protest, but he had already started to place it on Willow's cowl.
"Uh‐‐ Thank you, sir," Willow said.
As the teacher walked away, Willow turned to Ardyn, who grinned and gave her two thumbs up. But then Ardyn's expression turned to a scowl as he saw Amity marching over to them with a furious glare. "Don't look now, aquamarine girl on you six." he muttered to his witch friend.
"Hey," Amity said, crossing her arms as she glared at the chubby witch. "Last time I saw you, your abomination was mush. What did you do?"
Willow looked nervously at the green-haired girl. Fidgeting where she stood as she tried to find her words. But then she was surprised when Ardyn stepped in front of her and glared at Amity. "What's your problem with her? Willow did nothing to you."
"Why don't you stay out of this?" Amity snapped, glaring at the Human-Witch Hybrid.
"I will," Ardyn growled, leaning closer towards Amity. Staring into her golden eyes. "When you quit picking on my friend here," The two teenagers growled angrily at one another before Willow quickly intervened and pushed herself between them.
"I, uh, took your pep talk to heart, Amity," Willow said.
Amity wasn't buying it and glared at her with her arms crossed. "I bet you did. I've got my eyes on you, Half‐a‐Witch. Especially you," she said, pointing at Ardyn. The young man glared back at her with a growl. "That badge is mine."
She then started walking away from them. Pushing past some students before disappearing around a corner. This made Willow more worried. "Uh‐oh. I think Amity is onto us."
"No crap she is, but don't worry too much, Willow. We just need to make it to the day of the end, and we're home free," Ardyn said, trying to calm her nerves.
Willow gulped and started rolling the wheelbarrow to their next class. "I sure hope you're right, Ardyn."
It was now lunchtime. Ardyn was sitting with Willow and Gus at a table. Luz was sitting in the cauldron with her head sticking out. Ardyn was sitting next to the pot when Gus asked them. "Hey. Do humans eat PB&J's?"
"Oh, my gosh. I haven't eaten real food in so long. Please give me some," Luz asked. Gus ripped his sandwich in half and handed it to Luz. She then her half in two and handed one of them to Ardyn. As the girl sunk back into the cauldron, the Human-Witch Hybrid quickly ate his quarter of the sandwich, realizing that he hadn't had any breakfast that morning.
"I don't know, Gus," Willow said worriedly. "If Amity saw that…"
And it just so happens that she did. Suddenly, the green-haired girl jumped onto the table with a furious look. "I saw that!" She yelled before getting up in Willow's face. Causing her to flinch back. "Abominations don't eat!"
"Well, we're trying to eat. So, do you mind getting off the table, Thin-Mint?" Ardyn said, trying to get Amity away from Willow and Luz. While also having had enough of her attitude.
"Shut it you-Wait a minute: Thin-Mint? My hair is aqua, you jerk!" Amity yelled at Ardyn, getting in his face just like she did with Willow. She then turned to the cauldron and peered down into it. "I know you're in there! You can't hide from me."
Students from all over the cafeteria turned their heads to look at the former top student of Hexside. Acting way out of character than how she normally was. Believing that she had lost her mind. Amity didn't notice Ardyn standing up while she reached in, grabbed Luz out by her hoodie, and started shaking her around. "What are you? Who are you? I want an-!"
Amity was cut off when the Leviathan Axe cold steel blade was pressed up against her neck. Ardyn glared at her while only a few inches away from Amity's face. This made Amity jump back, letting go of Luz when startled to see the look of fury on Ardyn's face.
"Don't…you…EVER…yell at my face again…or else." he growled. Luz may have been playing possum, but she was anxious about Ardyn.
"Amity Blight!"
"Huh?" Amity and Ardyn turned their heads to see the Abomination Track teacher standing a few feet away from the table. Ardyn quickly sheathed his axe, but the teacher was only forced on Amity, as he gave her a disapproving look.
"I suspected a twinge of jealousy, but this...this is just sad," the teacher said with pity after walking over to the table.
With her hair slightly disheveled, Amity tried to explain herself.
"But I‐‐ No! Look at it!" She pointed at Luz, but the girl kept up the act. Groaning as she slid back into the cauldron. When the teacher didn't budge, Amity then pointed to Ardyn. "And what about him? He threatened me!"
"You were trying to ruin Willow's project! I was stopping you, turquoise!" Ardyn exclaimed.
"I'm aqua!"
"Report to Principal Bump's office, Amity! Now!" The teacher told Amity sternly, slamming his fist on his abomination. The green-haired witch stammered for a moment before running off in a huff. The teacher following behind.
There was an awkward moment of silence between the four of them. Luz slowly peeked out of the cauldron with a complex expression that was shared by Ardyn. They and Willow exchanged looks of concern, realizing just how close they were to getting caught.
A few minutes after the incident with Amity in the cafeteria, Ardyn ran out of the bathroom in a panic. Screaming for his life as he grabbed the door and slammed it shut. But before it could close properly, three tentacles reached out and tried to push the door open. Shrugging to push with all his might, Ardyn managed to shut it on the slimy appendages. Forcing them to pull back into the bathroom.
Leaning on the door with his arms, the Human-Witch Hybrid took a moment to catch his breath. "Why was that even in the bathroom?!" He exclaimed.
Ardyn started walking back to the classroom, where the others were waiting for him. Despite the hiccup that was Amity, today was relatively going smoothly. Ardyn and Luz were about to learn some magic, and Willow was getting a passing grade. He was learning amazing things that Eda probably won't have taught them at all.
It made him wonder what the Owl Lady was up to back at home. But as he thought about her, the more wondered how she'd react if she knew that he and Luz were sneaking into Hexside to learn magic. It also made him wonder if he should feel guilty about ditching Eda to come here just for the day.
Ardyn shook his head to clear his head of those thoughts. The old woman hadn't even attempted to teach them anything about magic, despite the fact she said that his magic was dangerous if not fully in control.
If learning magic meant going behind Eda's back, then so be it. Besides, it's not like she didn't do dirty tricks. She's a fugitive, after all.
"Excuse me?"
Ardyn turned around and was approached by an odd-looking older man. His skin was light beige and teal eyes with light-yellow sclera. The strangest thing about him was the red demon on his head covering the upper half of his face. Giving him the appearance of being consumed by the demon. He wore a traditional academic dress consisting of a long black gown with a gold yoke and a black cape, gold trim at the sleeves, and cape hem, plus a blue stole draped over his shoulders.
"Good afternoon, young man," the man greeted the half-witch in disguise. "Do you mind if I have a word with you?"
"Uh, sure. How kind I help you," Ardyn said, a little worried. He wasn't used to adults coming up to him unless he was in trouble or were looking to blame him for something he didn't do.
The man stopped in front of him and stared down at Ardyn.
"Well, you see, it has come to my attention that there's a new track at school. And I was also told that you're one of the new students that will be attending it," he said, with a look that Ardyn assumed was amusement.
"Uh, yeah. Pretty cool, right?" Ardyn shrugged his shoulders with a nervous smile.
"Indeed. But it's strange, really. I was never told of this new 'Magic Arms' track." The man was now starting to creep Ardyn out when he leaned down to his level.
"Well, I'm more than certain the principal will announce it soon," Ardyn said, walking back slowly. Wanting to keep the distance between him and the man.
"Oh, but my dear child…"
The man suddenly drew a magic circle, and a green aura surrounded his hand. And when it did, so too do Ardyn's entire body. Before Ardyn could do anything, his body was suddenly levitated off the ground. Ardyn growled and grunted to break free of the magical grasp on him. But he couldn't. The man then pulled his arm and index finger to his body. The spell pulled his captured prey to over to him. Ardyn looked at the man as he smiled amusingly.
"I am the principal."
Ardyn's eyes widened as his pupils shrunk. His face contorting a look of terror.
The principal used his magic to rip off the cowl Gus gave the Human-Witch Hybrid. "Is the one, Ms. Bright?"
Stepping out from behind, the principal was none other than Amity, who held a smug and knowing look on her face. "Yes, Principal Bump. This is the student I was talking to you about," she said, smirking smugly at Ardyn.
"You really are a kiss-ass, aren't you? - Wait, your name is Bump?" Ardyn said as he chuckled shortly.
His body was forced to come close to Bump as he examined Ardyn's face. He grabbed his face and moved it to the left and right as Ardyn growled and tried to pull away from his grasp. Especially with the long nails he had.
"Dude, ever heard of a fingernail clipper?" Bump ignored the comment and instead looked at his right ear.
"Interesting," said the principal. It wasn't pointy like a witch's ear. And it wasn't round like a human being. "Hmm...You do have a rather...familiar looking face." He then turned his head back and looked into Ardyn's eyes. Those eyes reminded him of one of his old students from long ago. It only took him a few seconds to figure out just who he was holding in his spell.
"Now tell me, young man. You wouldn't happen to be related to a former student at this school? One named Anna Bronwyn?"
Ardyn's eyes widened in horror as he sweated profusely. He was not only figured out as a Human-Witch Hybrid and that he was Anna's son. His mother really went to this school? How did the principal know him on a first-name basis? While many questions were popping up in the back of his head like the last name Bronwyn, Ardyn tried to remain calm. "Uh…"
"So, tell me, why are you here?" Principal Bump asked with a smirk. Ardyn, however, didn't answer and just scowled. "Not talking now. Well, you see, Mr. Bronwyn, Miss Bright has brought to my attention…"
"You are freaking Kiss-ass, aren't you Zephyr Green?" Ardyn said.
"Stop calling me that and it's aqua for crying out loud! Did you have crayons when you were young?" Amity yelled with her face becoming a light shade of red. Bump held up his hand to stop her before continuing.
"I was told that Miss Willow Park has a particular abomination that she brought to class. That she couldn't make one before coming to school. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you, Mr. Bronwyn?"
"My name is Ardyn Pierce. Not Mr. Bronwyn." Ardyn said with a growl.
"Then, perhaps we should go talk with Miss Park herself to resolve this matter, Mr. Pierce" said Principal Bump, and Ardyn's face turned to a look of terror again. One thing is for certain.
They're in trouble…
Meanwhile, after Willow and Gus arrived back in the Abomination classroom, Luz was finally able to come out of the cauldron. "Whoo! I'm a sweaty little abomination. But now we don't have to worry about Amity. High five!" Luz exclaimed with excitement, holding out her hand to the witch and wizard.
Both Willow and Gus looked confused.
"Slap my hand. It's a human thing."
Gus stepped towards her, turned away, and closed his eyes. Cautiously, he slapped his hand on Luz's. Once he did, Gus opened his eyes and looked at her before slapping her hand again. "Oh. Oh, my. Oh, man, what a rush!" He said, after hive-fiving Luz multiple times.
Willow chuckled at them before she said, "All we have to do is wait for Ardyn to…" She was interrupted when the door to the classroom opened.
The trio turned their heads to see it was none other than Amity. But they all gasped when seeing Ardyn levitating behind her with his disguise off. Amity stepped aside with a smug look as Ardyn was carried into the room by Bump, who was the last to enter the room. While his right hand was still controlling the levitation spell, The Leviathan Axe was tucked under his armpit.
"Good afternoon, students," he said to the witches in the room.
"Principal Bump," Willow said in surprise, making Luz go limp on instinct. "Wha-What's going on?" The chubby witch asked nervously while the principal walked past her and Gus towards Luz.
"I had just caught this intruder who seems to know you, Miss Park," Bump said, looking at Willow. She looked scared at that moment. "But I'm more interested in the abomination that you have."
He kneeled in front of Luz and grabbed her face. Turning her head from side to side, making a slight cracking noise. Ardyn looked nervously at the principal as the others watched.
"Hmm. Abomination, rise," he said, standing back up. Luz followed the command. "Abomination, lie."
Luz was quick to lie. "Uh, viral fame is a worthy pursuit. Your cat would never eat you if it got the chance. Chemtrails are real‐‐."
Principal Bump chuckled and interrupted Luz. Making Ardyn even more nervous than before. "Oh, no, abomination. How strange for it to get the command wrong. I mean...lie down." He pointed to a nearby table. Now Luz was beyond worried, along with her friends. Ardyn growled tensely as he watched his crush walk over to the table and lay down on her back. "So very lifelike. When Miss Blight told me about your abomination, I had to come by, see what she's made of."
"Oh, I have her list of ingredients right here," Willow stuttered, reaching into her pocket for the list. Principal Bump, however, stopped her.
"No. We were hoping…" Bump reached into his robe sleeve and pulled out a jagged dagger. "...for a closer look."
Terror and horror filled Ardyn's widening eyes when he heard Principal Bump say that. He was going to have Luz cut open like a pig in science class. He looked at Amity and saw her watching with a smile. Looking like she was happy to watch. The boy knew he had to do something to break free.
"Willow, I'll allow you the first cut," Bump said, handing the dagger to her.
The young witch took the dagger. Smiling to hide her shock as she walked over to Luz. Willow leaned down to Luz and asked, "Uh, you can't just cut open a human, can you?" Luz shook her head.
"Wait!" Everyone turned to Ardyn, who sighed in defeat. "Alright, look. I met Willow in the woods after little Miss. Wintergreen over there bullied her. (I'M AQUA!) I felt bad, so I decided to help her out. In exchange, she helped me seek in for a day so that I can learn magic." It was a lie. Luz was the one that wanted to come here, and it was her plan, but Ardyn didn't care if he took the fall. "Look, I'm sorry about it. Okay? I really am. Just punish me! No one else should have to take the fall for my actions. Not Willow or anyone else."
Luz looked at him with a touched expression when realizing he was taking the fall for her actions. "Oh, there will be punishment coming your way, Mr. Pierce," Principal Bump said, before turning back and placed a hand on Willow's shoulder. "But first, Willow, go ahead and make the first incision."
Again, Ardyn looked shocked, but then he noticed the Leviathan Axe still in Bump's possession. Remembering what had happened after he killed Adegast, he held out his hand to call back the axe.
Incredibly, the battle axe responded. Before Bump could react, the battle axe pushed his body sharply to the left as its handle pointed at Ardyn. At the same time, it pulled itself out of the principal's armpit. Making Bump fall over.
Ardyn's fingers curled around the handle when it returned to his hand. The levitation spell was broken, and he landed on the ground.
"Ardyn!" Ardyn turned his head to see Gus standing next to three other cauldrons from other students. "Grab Luz and Willow and run!" He yelled, before slapping the other cauldrons over. The abominations from within them spilled out before coming to life and marched towards Principal Bump, who was getting up.
Ardyn quickly ran over and grabbed Luz's hand, and with Willow, they ran out of the room.
"They're getting away!" Amity shouted, pointing at the door.
"No, the intruders won't get far," Principal Bump said. He walked to the wall next to the door and drew a large light green spell circle on it.
He slammed his hands on it, activating it. The circle erupted with magical energy as a spiderweb of red lines and symbols to spread throughout the walls of the room.
Meanwhile, Ardyn, Luz, and Willow were still running through the school before stopping at a corner to catch their breath.
Ardyn placed his axe back on as Willow looked around the corner. "Willow, Ardyn, I'm so sorry for dragging us into this mess. This is all my fault," Luz said, looking down at the ground. "I just wanted to see what a real magic school was like."
"Well, how do you like it?" Willow asked.
"It's lovely, actually," Luz said with a smile.
"Love the school, but the bathrooms can suck it," Ardyn said. The girls looked at him in confusion. "Don't ask." The three friends laughed together, relieving some of the tension from the situation they were in.
"Okay, we should get out of here before‐‐" Willow was cut off when the runes and lines that were created by Bump spread all over the school's walls. At every doorway and archway, the runes created a red barrier that blocked every exit. "...Bump seals us in."
Ardyn looked around to find another way out. Lucky for them, there was a hallway that wasn't sealed off. "Come on!"
With him taking the lead, the trio took off running through the hallways of Hexside to escape the school. Just as they were about to go down another hallway, another barrier was put up to stop them at every corner.
As another barrier blocked them, Ardyn slammed his fist on it in frustration. And then things went from bad to worse as they turned around to see Bump and Amity had caught up to them. Using the Abominations that Gus knocked over, the principal took control of them. Ordering them to capture the student and intruders.
"Stay behind me!" Ardyn said, pulling out the Leviathan Axe.
"Ardyn, wait!" Luz tried to stop him, but Ardyn was already springing into action.
With a yell, he jumped down towards the first Abomination and cut it down the middle. The magic within the axe blade made the golem frozen and crumble into a pile of ice. Another one attacked him, reaching out to grab his head. Causing Ardyn to jump back. When it tried again to grab him, he cuts off the arm and then cuts off its head. As its body fell to piles of ice, Ardyn turned and saw another running at him. He ducked under its punch, which hit the last Abominations in the head, knocking off its head. As the fourth one tried looking for its head, Ardyn stabbed the third one in the chest, destroying it. Just as the last one picked up its head, Ardyn swung Leviathan Axe and hit the head like a baseball. Sending it flying into Bump's face.
Seeing that his foes were defeated, Ardyn struck a grand pose for a moment. His right hand on his hip and the Leviathan Axe resting on his shoulder. He turned to Luz and Willow. Both staring at him with looks of amazement.
"Abominations," he joked to the girls. But then his smile fell when the Abominations started reforming. "You've got to be kidding me."
The three started running again before hiding before a pillar. "Oh, this is awful," Willow said, placing her hands on her cheeks and sliding down to the ground, panicking a bit. "I don't know what to do. Amity's right. I'm just Half‐a‐Witch Willow."
"You're Full‐Witch Willow," Luz exclaimed, placing a hand on her shoulder. "And you're great. And someone once told me great witches are resourceful." She reached into her pocket and pulled out everything she had in it. Ardyn did the same, pulling out his rock.
"That's it!" Willow said, grabbing the slime ball Eda hade Luz dig out of the slug.
"Uh, no offense, Willow, but how the hell is a greasy slime ball going to get us out of here?" Ardyn asked, seeing the Abominations getting closer.
"No, it's a seed! Thank goodness you had it on you."
Luz and Ardyn looked at one another. Smiling in realization. "Yeah. Thank goodness someone told me to hold on to it," Luz said, looking to the side. Sure, she wasn't the best teacher, and they would have liked it if Eda had started teaching them to do spells, but they both began to realize that she was still their teacher, and she read did teach them something that would save their lives.
Ardyn looked down at his rock and put it back into his pants pocket.
Willow placed the seed on her lap before drawing a spell circle above it. Sprinkling the seed with her magic. "Please grow!" Willow commanded, throwing her hands in the air.
Suddenly, large briar vines from before launched out of the seed rapidly and grew on the ceiling. The vines spread throughout the school, taking out the abominations as they pierced their bodies. Principal Bump gasped, seeing the rush of plant magic coming towards him. They quickly rammed and ensnared him before flinging him to the ceiling.
Bump let out a grunt of pain from the impact before opening his eyes. Gasping in surprise as the entire area was covered in plants in vines. He's seen plant magic before, but nothing that was this powerful.
"Remarkable," he said in awe.
Luckily for Ardyn and the girls, this allowed the runes to power down and lift the barrier to the exit.
"There's the exit!" Luz exclaimed and made a run for it with Ardyn. Willow placed the seed down and followed them.
Just as they were home free, Amity appeared in front of them with a vine wrapped around her and glared at them with a look of rage. The trio stopped, with Ardyn getting in a fighting stance.
"Not so fast! I'm not letting you get away so easily," she said, threw the vine off.
"What the flying hell is wrong with you?!" Ardyn yelled, completely baffled by Amity. He pointed at Luz. "You were going to have Bump cut open Luz all because of a stupid badge!? That's…just sad, Shamrock."
"I'M FREAKING AQUA and I don't care! I want my badge!" She screamed.
…Oh, that's it! OH, THAT'S SO FREAKING IT! Having just about had enough of Amity's crap today, Ardyn was ready to take her down a few notches. Side glancing to his left at Willow, Ardyn spotted the star badge on her cowl and pulled it off. "You want your precious badge?" He asked Amity, holding it up for her to see.
He then crushed the badge in his hand. Crushing it into a worthless ball.
"Then you're going to have to pry it from my cold dead hands, Wicked Bitch of the West!" Ardyn yelled out his challenge. With one hand still clenching onto the badge, he pointed the Leviathan Axe at her as his eyes begin to glow. "Come and get it!"
Amity's shocked expression turned back into a look of rage. "ABOMINATION'S, SEIZE!" An abomination from behind them and another one formed in front of them as a few dozen appeared. Before another fight could begin, time begins to stop for Ardyn as he looks around to see that everything has halted. Standing in front of him is an azure sphere of energy, like the ones he saw in his dream. As it enters though his chest, a voice spoke though his mind.
[Are you, my Master?]
…It's happening again, like that time with Charlemagne!
…Yes? Who are you?
[I see that you have much on you mind. We will talk when a more appropriate time come. Now, use my power, Master]
"Install. Rider." Ardyn said as a pillar of azure energy erupts from him causing the others to cover their eyes. When the light vanished, everyone present uncovered their eyes to see Ardyn standing in front of them, wearing a suit of futuristic black armor with a helmet that has glowing blue eyes and a cape with matching colors. While looking at the man, the first thoughts about this guy is that he's a man with an unyielding will. Though he may brag and boast of his adventures, This man is a MAN who will prove his words.
"Servant: Rider. True Name, Odysseus." Ardyn or rather Odysseus said as his helmet's eye lit up as the two Abominations got closer. However, it didn't matter to him as Odysseus as he unleashes a variety of beams from his hands, ranging from short-ranged beams to a burst of smaller beams as he begins to clear out nearly half of the Abominations. When a few got too close behind him, Odysseus calls forth small satellite drones from the armor's back as he unleashes energy beams that eliminated the ones behind him and his Master's friends. He also unleash explosives burst of energy with his physical attacks to the few remaining Abominations that survived somehow.
While most of the group were in awe at what was going on, Odysseus grabbed Luz's hand, and the trio ran for the exit. But just as they were about to make it, another abomination formed in front of them.
"Enough of this!" Odysseus as he calls the satellite drones again as uses them to charge a much larger beam that Odysseus fires from his hand, blasted the gooey golem's upper half off without much effort...including making a massive hole in the school building. Suddenly he and Luz heard a scream coming from behind them. They stopped and turned to see Willow having inside the body of yet another abomination.
"Willow!" Luz yelled. They were about to help when Willow stopped them.
"No! Both of you, get out of here!" She yelled at them.
"No! We're not leaving you!" Luz said.
"I may get detention, but you'll get dissected if you stay here longer!" She said as she tries so hard to keep the abominations at bay. Willow then turned to Ardyn. "Ardyn or Odysseus, please, get her out of the school!"
Odysseus looked ready to argue when he heard more Abominations coming towards them. He didn't want to leave her, but they did have an option. They had to leave their friend. However, they didn't mean it was the end. Odysseus transforms back to Ardyn as he grabbed Luz's hand.
"We'll get help! We promise!" Ardyn told Willow, before pulling Luz along with him. Right as they ran out of the school, the doors shut close.
"Willow!" Luz looked back at the school as Ardyn and her ran down the stairs. "Ardyn, we've got to go back!"
"We will, but we need Eda's help to save her!" The Human-Witch Hybrid replied, continuing to run while still holding Luz's hand. Realizing this, he quickly let go with a blush. "Come on!"
The two best friends ran all the way back to the Owl House. And when they arrived, they saw Eda and King out in the front with the little demon in the witch's arms.
"Eda!" Luz screamed as she ran to the Owl Lady and hugged her and King. Ardyn just slowly came to a stop in front of them. Bending over with his hands on his knees and panting heavily.
"Hey, hey, hey, hey! What is this? Ugh! I never understand when you do this. Where have you two been?" Eda asked them after Luz let her go.
"We'll explain later…" Ardyn said, sitting down on his knees. "...Oh god, I'm out of shape."
"Your lesson worked! Keeping junk in my pocket saved my life!" Luz quickly explains.
"We need your help!" Ardyn said, standing back up. "I know that you didn't want us to go, but we went to Hexside, and now our new friends are in danger."
"Luz! Ardyn!" Called a familiar voice. When the two best friends turned around, they were greeted by Willow and Gus running over to them and hugging the human and half-witch.
"Seriously, what is that?" Eda questioned.
"You won't believe it, guys. Everything is perfect now!" Willow exclaimed excitedly.
"It's true. I don't believe it." Luz said with a smile.
"I don't understand. After everything that's happened, how can it all be okay now?" Ardyn asked, confused.
"Principal Bump was so impressed by my plant work he's switching me to the plant magic track! Look!" Willow stepped back and snapped her fingers and twirled around. Her sleeves and leggings were magically turned from pink to green.
"Yes!" Luz cheered happily for her new friend, and Ardyn crossed his arms and nodded with a grin.
"So, what happened to that girl, Amity?" Ardyn asked, looking at the crushed badge he still had. "Guessing she's still mad about losing her precious little badge."
"Last we saw, she was asking Bump if today could count as extra credit," Gus told him.
Ardyn chuckled and shook his head. "Figures," he said, turning and throwing the badge into the ocean. "Well, it looks like everything turned out okay. Maybe we can see you in action next time we sneak in."
Gus and Willow winced at this.
"What?"
"Yeah…, about that. You two got kind of, sort of…" Gus trailed off as he and Willow pulled out two rolled up pieces of paper. "...banned."
They showed them their "BANNED" posters. Luz's had her smiling and hand waving, while Ardyn's had him grinning with the Leviathan Axe resting on his shoulder.
"You two got banned from magic school," Eda asked. And then she sniffed and held back a tear. "I'm so proud of you two."
Ardyn gave her a deadpan look. Luz was more than a little shocked that she was banned. She's supposed the good one of the two! "But we could come here and teach you what we learned," Willow said, placing a hand on the human girl's shoulder.
"Aw. That would be nice." Luz said, before she and Ardyn looked at Eda.
Ardyn decided to take over. "But...you don't need to," he said, turning his body to face Eda as he looked a little ashamed. "Eda, we sorry for going to Hexside behind your back. We just wanted to learn something useful, and we ended getting in more trouble. But it turned out your teachings saved us."
He looked at Luz, and she nodded to him with a smile.
"You're a pretty great teacher. And Luz and I would never trade you for anything," Ardyn said sincerely with a smile.
Eda looked at the son of her friend with a shocked expression. Touched by his statement, but that quickly changed to a smug look on her face. "Yeah, that's right! Luz and Ardyn are my students!" She said, snatching the banned posters from Gus and Willow, who started laughing at how silly she was. "Back off, academy twerps!"
She then looked at the two posters and sighed fondly. "Ah, my babies' first wanted posters. Good job, kids." Eda walked over to her students and placed her hands on their shoulders. "Looks like I taught you something after all."
"Who knows, Ardyn, you might actually find a use for that rock," Luz teased her friend. Ardyn smirk and pulled out the rock. Who knows? Maybe this rock with save him one day like Luz's seed.
"Why are you still carrying around that rock?" Eda asked.
She grabbed the rock and then throwing it over her shoulder into the sea. There was an awkward moment of silence as Luz and Ardyn stared at where the rock plunged into the sea. They then turned back to Eda, with Ardyn frowning and giving her a blank look on her face.
"I don't know why I put up with you two," he grumbled.
"Because we own you," Eda said jokingly.
"Because you love us," Luz said, going over and hugging Ardyn. Making him blush as she rubbed her cheek on his affectionately.
Ardyn smiled and rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah…"