In St Trepems healing house, a bleeding and terrified Luz was being wheeled in on a gurney by Emira and Viney with Luz's entire friends and terrified family following. Azura, Amity, Manny, Hunter, Willow, Eda, Raine, King, Gus, Lilith, Hooty, Evelyn and Mildred were all terrified of what was gonna happen to her. Well, except for Mildred who looked like she didn't care. Her Palisman was by her side giving her some comfort.
"Is she gonna be okay?!" Eda asked with worry.
"Is she dying?!" Manny asked with worry. "Is my Mami dying?!"
"Where is the monster that tried to murder my niece?!" Lilith exclaimed angrily.
"Give her some space!" Viney commanded.
A demon showed up to the healers. "Where have you been?!" Emira yelled angrily. "She needs numbing serum ASAP!"
They managed to arrive to a healing room and wheeled Luz in. "Mami!" Manny tried to follow them in but his mother held him back.
"Manny! Manny! Manny!"
"Everyone stay back!" Emira commanded. "We can't have everyone coming in! It's going to make us lose our concentration."
"Aunt Emira, is Mami gonna be okay?!" Azura asked with fear.
"We're gonna do our best, Manny!" Emira replied. "But for now, everyone just wait in the waiting area!"
The family and friends had been waiting in the waiting area for the last 5 to 9 hours for any kind of update on Luz's condition and all had varied reactions.
Amity was stroking her son's head as he laid on her lap, terrified for his mother. He was completely frozen and in shock while his mother stroked his head.
"It's gonna be okay, Mijo. It's gonna be okay." Amity assured her son.
Eda was pacing around the room drinking her elixirs while her spouse was trying to keep her calm. "Eda, Emira and Viney are some of the best healers on the Isles. She's gonna make it."
"But what if she doesn't, Rainestorm?!" Eda exclaimed. "I can't lose her again! She's died once before, I can't have her die again!"
Raine had aged just like their wife. They had grown a ton of wrinkles since they were in their 70's and their white hair was very prominent.
"She won't die." Mildred said without a care in the world. "She's gonna live."
Alistair turned to his Dad with a worried look on his face. "Daddy, is Luz going to die?" The question made the youngest Noceda in the room grip to his Mom's leg very hard.
"Don't worry, little man." Gus assured his son. "Luz won't die."
"Will you die, Daddy?" Alistair asked.
Meanwhile, King, now the size of a ten foot human, was busy scratching his back, catching the attention of his Mom and Zizi.
"Something wrong, King?" Raine asked their son.
"My back's been really itchy recently." King groaned. "I don't know if it's a rash or if I'm just really hairy."
Then from the elevator, came Alador, Edric, Camila and Masha. Camila had tears falling from her eyes, fearing that she'd lose her again.
"Where's my baby?!" Camila exclaimed with worry. "Where is she?!" She was about to enter one of the rooms but Hunter quickly teleported in front of her and got a hold of her shoulder.
"Camila! Camila!"
"Hunter, Mijo, get out of the way!" Camila commanded.
"No! No! Emira and Viney are going to do their best!" Hunter said firmly. "They are doing their best!"
Amity knew her mother-in-law needed some comfort so Alador offered to let his grandson rest on his lap while she did that.
Alador, whom was in his seventies currently, hair had gotten very messy over the years and changed his Abomination lab coat into a white jumpsuit with a black radioactive symbol on his shoulder.
Amity approached Camila and began to share a hug with her so the old woman would have a shoulder to release her worried cries.
"I'm so scared, Amity." Camila admitted.
"I know. I know." Amity said.
"Who contacted Camila?" Willow asked. "We weren't supposed to contact her."
"I did." Edric, now with a moustache and greying hair admitted.
"Edric!" Amity chided her older brother.
Edric gave a sad exhale. "She needed to know. I'm sorry."
Masha sat down next to Willow and Evelyn who noticed something about them. "Where's Vee?" Willow asked.
Masha sighed. "She….She's still feeling crazy. I don't know what's wrong with her. She's been like this for a month."
Evelyn noticed the scratches on their arms and looked at them. "And those scratches aren't from a cat?"
Masha looked at the scratch on their arm. "Oh no. That was from a dog."
"Oh." Evelyn said.
"But these…" they turned around and lifted their shirt to reveal three scratches on their back. "….Are from Vee."
"Oooooh." Willow cringed.
Masha shrugged their shoulders as they pulled their shirt down. "Not to worry. I actually liked it."
Willow covered her daughter's ears. "Don't get into the details!"
Azura sat on one of the chairs next to her grandpa with a guilty look on her face. She should have been there helping her mother instead of getting that job in the museum.
Amity noticed the guilt on her daughter's face and approaches her. She gives her a gentle smile. "Hey."
Azura looked to her mother. "Hey. How was Manny on his little session?"
"He handled it well." Amity replied as she took a seat. "He and Doctor Waybright just spoke for who knows how long. Plus, she gave me this book." She pulled out a book with the title 'On the spectrum. You and Your Neurodivergent child by Sasha Waybright.'
"You think this might help?" Azura asked.
"I hope so." Amity replied. "You look guilty."
"I shouldn't have gone for that night guard job." Azura said. "I should have been something like…A plumber."
Amity began to cuddle her daughter. "Don't be so hard on yourself. Your Mami could protect herself. She's not a weak old lady. She just messed up."
"I know." Azura said. "Why are you not scared?"
Amity pulled a worried look but then quickly pulled a smile. "Well, your Mami is too stubborn to die."
"How do you know?"
"I know because I married her and had her with you." She kissed her daughter's head but noted how she still looked guilty. "What happened at the museum exactly?"
"Talo stole the tablet." Azura said. "And I didn't do anything about it because everything just turned chaotic."
Amity sighed and gritted her teeth. "Talo! Uh!"
"Stealing from me yet again?!" Lilith exclaimed. "Flora must be desperate for exhibits but this is what she resorts to?! Unbelievable!"
"But it was nice of Talo to leave us his hand. Hoot!" Hooty remarked.
"Azura, none of this was your fault." Amity assured her. "Bad things just happen. You can't exactly control fate. Even if you were home things would probably be the same. Only you'd get hurt. And I wouldn't like that."
"I just wish that I did something." Azura said. "I mean, to stop Adrian and this Spook person. Whoever they are."
Eda approached her surrogate granddaughter. "And we will. You just gotta let us adults handle this. We know a lot about Belos and how his followers think. You're still young and you need to live your life. Ya know, have a fun episodic adventure while we deal with the more serialised stuff."
"But how about if…Ya know, they attack me?" Azura asked.
"You have two options: Defend yourself or run away and let us adults handle it." Eda replied. "Okay kiddo?"
Azura sighed. "Okay Grandma, Eda."
"Good girl." Eda said.
Raine then approached their wife and the others. "A word."
Eda, Amity and Lilith stood up to talk to Raine about whatever the problem was. "Is this about our daughter starting an unlicensed tattoo parlour?"
"No, it's not that." Raine replied.
Once her family was out of her sight, Azura hung her head down in shame, still feeling her Mami being hospitalised was her fault. She sighed and moved towards the window to look out of it to contemplate her life.
She contemplated her mistake of taking the job instead of being at home while her Mom went to see Dr Waybright to understand Manny's diagnosis. While looking out the window she noticed a familiar someone trying to gain everyone's attention.
"People of the Boiling Isles! I Adrian Graye, former head of Illusions and member of the Province of Belos have come with great word from The Bane!" Adrian cried from outside.
"Hey! Get out of the street, loser!" A witch threw a van at Adrian's head, causing a cut to show up.
"Hey!"
"No one is listening!" Someone threw a rock to his stomach.
"Ow! Wild Witches have scourged this land for far too long!"
Then, a sign appeared above him reading 'I stink' causing a lot of passer-by's to laugh at his misfortune. It didn't take long for him to notice. "Okay! Who's casting that spell?!"
Up in the healing house, Mildred was standing by the window casting the illusion. She laughed at the sight. "Oh boy. I wish he could stay there forever."
"You know what?!" Adrian exclaimed. "I don't have time for this!" He began to stomp away, causing a lot of disappointment for Mildred.
"Aww man!" Mildred groaned. "Why did he have to leave?!"
"I have to go." Azura whispered to Mildred.
"Did not need to know that." Mildred said before Azura began running off. As she ran, she ran past Raine, Eda, Lilith and Amity whom were looking at some footage.
The footage showed Talo walking down an ally with the tablet in his remaining hand while he hid his missing hand in his sleeve to stop the bleeding.
"This was taken from a watchful eye." Raine replied. "It was patrolling this very street at the time of what was going on in the museum."
"Do you know where he went?" Eda asked.
"Our best people are trying to find out." Raine replied. "But…" They continued to play the footage but it fizzled out. "…It just went out right there. Like it was trying to hide where he was going."
Lilith pondered. "Is it Flora's?"
"When we went to interview her, she wasn't there." Raine explained. "Whoever she is, she has a lot of questions to answer."
"And how will we get answers out of her?" Eda asked. "Torture spell or Hooty talking? Please can we try Hooty talking?"
Raine sighed at their wife. "Torture spells: No. But Hooty talking: Maybe?"
"I wouldn't protest to using the torture spell on the Spook." Amity grumbled. "They deserve it."
Lilith placed her hand on Amity's shoulder. "Luz is gonna be fine. Trust me. All you need to do is be strong for your kids. Give them the hope that their Mami is going to make a swift recovery."
Amity sighed. "Okay, I'll try. I hope my kids are okay."
Alador approached his daughter and the others with a worried look on his face. "Amity, the kids are missing." The mention of this, caused everyone in the waiting room to become concerned.
"What?!" Amity exclaimed. "Where did Azura go?!"
"She said she needed to go." Mildred responded. "She'll be back from her bathroom break and…" She looked outside and saw Azura exiting the building. "….Oh, that's what she meant by go?"
"I'm going after her!" Amity declared.
"Don't worry." Mildred assured her. "I'm sending one of my top witches to bring her here." She pulled out her scroll and began to text someone she dubbed 'Love interest?'
Amity turned to her Dad. "And Dad, how did you lose Manny?! He was with you!"
"Sorry, but Darius sent me a pic." He summoned his scroll and was about to show Amity, who quickly covered her eyes.
"No! No! I don't need to see it!"
"What?!" Alador exclaimed. "It's just my new invention!" He showed Amity what looked like a car. But not just any car, a DeLorean.
"What's the car for?" Amity asked.
"Unimportant." Alador replied as he put his scroll away. "Not important."
Meanwhile, Azura had exited the healing house to follow Adrian whom had just set off. Azura luckily had a handful of glyphs just so she could keep an eye on him.
She suddenly felt her scroll go off and quickly panicked. This caused Adrian to stop walking and to turn to Azura's direction. But thankfully, she jumped into a nearby bush before he could see her.
"Hello?!" Adrian called out to anyone. But when he saw that no one was there, he just shrugged his shoulders and walked away.
Once he was in a far distant, Azura poked her head out, put her scroll on silent mode and then putting it in her pocket.
Once things were quiet-ish, she followed Adrian down the street out of the healing house's street address and down Bonesborough.
He walked towards Morton's potions stand and knocked on it's wooden flap while Azura hid behind a streetlight to keep a watchful eye.
From what she could see Adrian had got what appeared to be a red potion that he paid a large number of snails for before walking away.
Azura walked up to Morton's potion stand and began to ask Morton questions. "What did you sell him, Morton?"
"Sorry Azura, I can't tell you." Morton, now with noticeable grey hairs replied. "Customer confidentiality."
Azura began to give him puppy eyes. "Aww! Come on! Can't you make this exception? As I am the granddaughter of your best customer." Morton however, just gave her a deadpanned look before slamming the flap shut, causing Azura some disappointment. "Oh man."
She managed to follow Adrian to a herb and vegetable stand where he was buying some herb and vegetables for himself.
Luckily, Azura had an invisibility glyph so she placed it to her chest and took a deep breath, causing her to become invisible to everyone.
She snuck up to Adrian to see what he was talking about with the witch running the herb and vegetable stand. The witch themselves appeared to have tanned skin, black eyeliner and a pair of circular glasses.
"So, do you intend to make a very tasty soup with that pulse?"
"I intend to let someone make it." He replied rudely before walking away.
The witch running the stand stared at the former Coven Head with a narrow glare but then got startled when Azura inhaled and reappeared, causing the witch to panic.
"Sorry." Azura said.
Then, she followed Adrian to a bar known as the Prancing Phoney for witches 21 and over. "Dang it! I have to sneak in. But how?"
"Free black cloaks!" A blue worm like demon yelled from his black cloak stand. "Free black cloaks! Need to look ominous or just don't want to be seen at night?! Take a black cloak!" Azura grinned at how lucky that was.
Later, she walked in the bar filled with many witches getting into fights, drinking or playing bar games. She passed witch and a porcupine like demon playing a form of darts.
The witch threw the dart with ease, managing to hit close to a bullseye. Then, the porcupine demon shot some quills from their back and managed to hit a perfect bullseye.
"Hey! You cheat!" The witch tackled the porcupine to the ground and got into a brawl.
Azura cringed at the sight. "No wonder my moms don't come here." She looked forward to see Adrian sitting by the bar sitting with Boscha.
"Well, Mrs Blockerhon, you have yourself a real." Adrian and Boscha shook hands before the former illusions head left his bar stool to depart from the bar.
She wanted to stay behind to see what happened between Adrian and Boscha but she thought that she'd come later so she went to continue to follow the former head of illusions. While another cloaked figure began to follow her.
Adrian drank a bottle of apple blood as he stumbled into an ally. "Okay. Okay. You got everything. You might as well just…" He bumped into a streetlight and laughed. "…Oh Titan!" He then collapsed on his face, knocking him unconscious.
Azura groaned in disappointment at what happened. "Dang it! How am I supposed to get info out of him?"
"You won't." Suddenly, Azura was grabbed by her chest and shoved against the wall. She struggled at the grasp of her hooded assailant.
She tried to summon some vines but then the hooded figure summoned some Abominations that latched around the vines.
She tried head butting them, but then they summoned a vine from the wall that latched itself around Azura's head. "Azura!"
The figure removed their hood to reveal none other than Rentley, surprising Azura. "Rentley?" Azura reacted. "What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to ask you the same question." Rentley retorted as he let go of her. "Why are you spying on my Mom?"
"I wasn't spying on your mom." Azura argued before she realised something. "Wait, were you spying on your Mom?"
"I was." Rentley replied. "She's up to something."
"Getting a drink." Azura remarked sarcastically.
"You saw her shaking with Adrian." He said.
"Sorry, I couldn't help being sarcastic." Azura said.
"Anyway, I hate to say it, but I think she is a part of the cult of Belos." Rentley said. "She didn't seem phased about the fact your Mami almost got killed. You could argue it was the resentment she had towards her for dating Amity, but regardless I think she would have been scared that she could have been hurt. But she wasn't, at all. Almost like she didn't care. I went out to investigate her. Yes, the son is watching the mother for sneaking out as opposed to the other way around."
Azura was surprised but then gave Rentley a sympathetic stare. "I'd have theorised that she was probably trying to act tough so you wouldn't be scared, but after seeing what she did with Adrian, I say otherwise."
"I just don't get it, why would she do it?" Rentley asked. "Why, side with group of people that had her torn away from her friends?!"
Azura shrugged her shoulders. "Codependency issues." Rentley narrowed his eyes at his friend before she shrugged her shoulders. "Sorry."
"We just have to find my Mom and interrogate her." Rentley said. "Or could you? Since…."
"Don't worry, I got it." Azura assured him.
Boscha was in the night market buying some exotic bread and was complaining to the guy behind the stand. "You call this exotic?! I could buy this on this loser's stand!"
"Sorry Blockerhon."
"That's Mrs Blockerhon!" Boscha reminded him. "I didn't marry my wife for nothing!"
Azura, meanwhile was trying to sneak up on her with a vine ready to capture her for interrogation. "Okay. I got this."
She was about to trap her but then Boscha turned around and threw a fireball at her, causing her to panic and began to run away.
"Oh think you can sneak up on me?!" Boscha yelled. "Don't you know who I am?! I am Boscha Blockerhon! The best Grudgeby player in the whole Boiling Isles!"
"I personally thought that human was the most creative." The witch behind the counter said, causing Boscha to narrow her eyes at him before summoning her Grudgeby ball and tossing it towards him.
Meanwhile, Azura rendezvoused with Rentley beside a tree and began panting. "Wow, your Mom is scary." She remarked.
"You're telling me." Rentley retorted.
"I think we need help getting her." Azura said.
"Who would want to help us in the middle of the night?" Rentley asked.
Suddenly, a light shined right near them causing them to be blinded. "Do you need help?" The light dimmed to reveal none other than Hecate. "Hey guys." The appearance of Hecate caused Azura to blush and Rentley to stare at her in surprise.
"Hecate, what are you doing here?" Rentley asked.
"Mildred gave me a text telling me that you were about to do something stupid." Hecate replied.
"How did she know?" Rentley asked.
"I was talking to Azura." Hecate said.
"Oh." Azura said before realising how insulted she felt. "Hey!"
Meanwhile at the Healing House, the search for Manny had begun and everyone was on their toes. Amity and King tried the first place she thought the youngest Noceda could be.
She tried to find him in the room where her wife was recovering, thinking he could be there. "Manny! Manny! Are you in here?!"
King looked at Luz, recovering in her bed with a relieved look. Happy that his sister was alive but still a tad concerned for his nephew as well. "Okay, I don't see him by Luz's side. Manny?"
"Manny!" Amity yelled.
"Yes." They looked to the right and saw a centaur with a broken hind leg. He was laying on his front while his hind leg was stuck in a leg strap hanging from the ceiling.
"Sorry, I'm looking for my son." Amity said. "Have you seen him?"
"No. But I could be him if you like."
Amity stared at the centaur with an uncomfortable look before she awkwardly walked out of the room, leaving him disappointed. "Awww!" He then noticed King and smiled. "Can I be your son?"
King gave a cringed look on his face. "I think you hit yourself on your head too hard, buddy." He walked out of the room, leaving the centaur disappointed.
Meanwhile, Mildred and Evelyn were trying to find Manny in one of the many corridors. "Manny!" Evelyn yelled out. "Manny!"
Mildred then got a notification on her scroll and summoned it to check it out. "Ah. Hecate has found Azura and she appears to be teaming up with Rentley to interrogate his Mom."
"Is he okay?" Evelyn asked.
"He's intending to get his mom to talk." Mildred remarked. "It's pretty hardcore."
They then heard the sound sobbing coming from the janitor's closet, causing the two teens to stop. "Is that Manny?" Evelyn asked.
"Either that or it's a witch suffering a breakup." Mildred theorised.
They opened the janitor's closet and saw a young nurse crying in the corner while staring at their scroll. "Why did she break up with me?! Why did she?! Where did I…"
"I don't care." Mildred interjected before slamming the door shut.
Meanwhile, Alador and Edric were looking in the toilets for any sign of him. Alador was in one of the stalls looking down one of the toilets while his son was behind him.
"Uh, Dad, I don't think Manny flushed himself down the toilet." Edric said.
Alador summoned an Abomination hand and put it in the toilet to find any sign of his grandson. "You did when you were his age."
"No I didn't!" Edric protested. "That was probably Emira."
"No, it was you, son." Alador said. "You don't remember it because it embarrassed you so much that we had to remove it. Well, Odalia anyway."
Edric seemed shocked by this information. "What was I thinking?!"
Elsewhere, Masha and Camila were outside looking for any sign of him. "Mijo!" Camila yelled out. "Mijo!"
"Manny!" Masha yelled out. "Your Mami's awake!"
"Masha! Don't lie to him!" Camila commanded. "He'll come in and become disappointed to see his mother not recovering!"
"I mean, it could have worked." Masha argued. "Manny, it's your Auncle Masha and Abuela! We want to talk!"
Meanwhile, Eda and Lilith were in their harpy forms while Raine was flying their Palisman, around the city at night looking for any sign of the youngest Noceda.
"Any sign of him Hootcifer?" Lilith asked.
"Well….I don't see him since it's pretty dark." Hooty said. "But I see Azura planning something with her friends."
In some ally, Azura was busy explaining the plan to Hecate and Rentley. "Okay, so once we get her, we…."
"Hi Azura!" Hooty yelled from the sky. "Have fun with whatever scheme you're cooking up!"
Azura was about to continue until she heard the sound of her Grandy. "And come back as soon as possible!"
Azura was about to continue until she was interrupted by her grandma, Eda. "We won't tell your Moms!
Azura was already getting frustrated with their interjections. She stayed silent, waiting for them to interrupt her but there was nothing. But just as she was about to continue, her Aunt Lilith interrupted her. "By the way, you're fired! I know you're my niece but I wasn't going to go easy on you!"
Back at the Healing House, Hunter, Willow and Gus were in the security room with Viney and Emira to trace the security footage to find Manny. They were staring at a projection of some feed from some watchful eyes.
"He couldn't have gone far." Gus said. "Start off from the point where we first got into the waiting room."
"You sure he didn't come into Luz's room?" Hunter asked the wives.
"We're sure, Hunter." Emira assured her step brother. "We would have heard and seen him."
Emira began to play the footage of everyone in the waiting room doing various activities while waiting. Amity constantly stroking her traumatised son, Mildred on her scroll, Azura sitting in guilt and Raine tuning their violin.
At random points, Mildred noted that her scroll was running out of power so she dug through Willow's pocket and stole her scroll charger which looked more like a book stand.
This caused Willow to narrow her eyes at Gus who just shrugged his shoulders in defence. "Don't look at me, I didn't teach her to be like this. She should have just asked."
Then, they saw footage of Masha in one of the corridors trying to get a snack from the vending machine. When they tried to lift the hatch to retrieve a candy bar, they ended up getting their arm stuck in its jaws and began to fight for it.
Instead of being shocked, Viney became unphased. "Huh, I knew that vending machine wasn't there before."
They continued fast forwarding the footage to Viney and Emira making out in the middle of a hallway, causing the wives to blush while everyone just gave them a judgemental stare.
"What?!" Emira exclaimed. "Saving patients is intense."
"We have to let it out somehow." Viney argued. "Just don't look."
They then got to the footage of Alador stroking Manny on his lap. But when he got that notification from his scroll, they see Manny getting out of Alador's lap and running away down the corridor to his right.
"Bingo!" Emira exclaimed. "Let's see where that footage ends up." She fast forwarded the footage to see Manny running down a corridor but specifically, one that doesn't seem to have any watchful eyes. "Dang it! That's the corridor that leads to the morgue!"
"Oh great! Of all the places he could have ended up, it had to be the one place Luz would have ended up if you didn't save her!" Gus remarked.
"Good thing we're the best." Emira and Viney fist bumped each other.
Meanwhile, Boscha was walking home with a bunch of bags in her hand while a scroll in her other. "Harriet, I just felt like getting some things from the Night Market….Look dear, I know you're worried. I'll be home in 15 minutes, is Rentley in his bed?…Good. Okay….Yeah….I know….Feel the same way about you to." She hung up on her scroll where she saw someone in the distance in front of her.
It was Adrian Gray, whom looked disheveled like he had drank way too much apple blood. "Banish into the night, the shimmering of light. For the ones that thrive in its radiance, cower and hide in their ambience."
Boscha groaned at the sight of the former Illusions Coven Head as he stumbled towards her. "What do you want Adrian? We had a deal!"
"O…Okay….Okay! I kind of lied!" He laughed. "Turns out, I am….Retracting that deal. Whatever we made."
In that moment, Boscha looked scared at what Adrian said. "What did you say?"
"The deal is off." He replied. "The deal is off!"
Boscha looked scared and confused. "But…But….But…But…."
"Look, I can't finalise the deal….The Bane needs to do it."
Boscha grabbed him by his collar and began to shake him. "DON'T YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I HAD TO PLEAD IN ORDER TO STOP THIS?! DON'T YOU?!"
Suddenly, Adrian turned into Azura, revealing it to be an illusion. Azura looked startled by the amount of shaking Boscha did to her.
"Wait, I'm confused." Boscha said. "How did you replicate Adrian's voice?"
Azura chuckled. "I'd say something smart like, I have a basilisk for an aunt. But illusions are quite advanced nowadays."
Suddenly, Boscha felt like she got engulfed by something sticky and gooey, causing her world to go dark.
When the three eyed witch woke up, she felt like she was dangling off of a ledge. She looked forward to see what looked like three cloaked figures. She looked down to see that she was dangling off a building, causing her to scream in terror.
"Aahhh! Let me go!" Boscha screamed.
"We could, but your Palisman might catch you." Azura, putting on a dake deep voice said.
"So…What's the point in dangling me off a building?" Boscha asked before the second cloaked figure lifted up a cage revealing her crab Palisman with a gag over their mouth and a blindfold.
"That's the point." Rentley, putting on a fake deep voice said. "So you won't escape."
"Don't make my colleague let go of you." Azura said while pointing to Hecate, controlling an Abomination hand that held her by her leg.
"I hate to say this, but this is my weak arm." She pointed to her right arm with her left.
"Oh! Please don't drop me!" The terrified Boscha pleaded.
"Tell is what you were doing late at night!" Azura demanded.
"I…I…I…I was buying stuff at the Night Market!"
"Before that!" Rentley exclaimed in a deep voice. "What were you doing?!"
"Okay, I went to the Prancing Phoney." Boscha replied.
"Doing what?!" Rentley asked angrily. "Threaten her!" Hecate shrugged her shoulder and almost dropped Boscha, causing her to scream.
"Drinking!"
"I saw you shaking hands with Adrian and making a deal!" Rentley yelled angrily and threateningly. "Why were you shaking hands with him?! He's a danger to the Isles along with the other members of the Province of Belos!"
Boscha looked terrified before sighing. "Okay! Okay! I was…Making a deal with Adrian after what I heard about what happened to that human."
"Watch it!" Azura demanded.
"Okay! Okay!" Boscha exclaimed. "After what happened to Luz….I….I…I…I just couldn't sit around!"
"So what did you do?!" Rentley asked.
"Yeah, why won't you tell your son anything about what you're doing?!" Hecate asked angrily. "Also, why are you so mean to him?!"
"How do you know how I treat my son?!" Boscha asked angrily.
Rentley laughed nervously as he nudged Hecate on her shoulder. "Sorry! They're not…Good at this." He chuckled nervously while Boscha just narrowed her eyes at him. He exhaled and stared with regret at his mother. "Drop her."
Hecate drops Boscha, causing her to land on her legs and for them to snap on impact. "Ahhh! My legs!"
Rentley and Azura panicked. "What are you doing?!"
"What?!" Hecate asked. "Oh, I was supposed to catch her wasn't I?!"
Azura, Rentley and Hecate get to the ground and walk towards the screaming Boscha. "Aaahhh! You dropped me! I was going to tell you!" Azura began to use a healing spell.
"Sorry! Sorry!"
"You know for a bunch of scary people, you're quite terrible at keeping me from throwing a fireball at you!" Boscha yelled in anger.
"Alright, what were you doing making a deal with him?" Rentley asked.
Boscha sighed. "I was making a deal for him to leave us alone."
Rentley, Azura and Hecate looked surprised. "Wait, what?" Rentley asked.
"I wanted him to leave us alone because I'm scared…." Tears began to fall from her eyes. "….I'm scared that the province might attack my family."
"But mainly you?" Hecate asked.
"No! I'm not selfish!" Boscha argued. "I don't show it, but I love my wife and I love my son! And I'm terrified of what the Province of Belos might do to them! If they can hurt Luz, then what would they do with me, or my wife or my kid?!"
"So…You love your kid?" Asked the surprised Rentley.
"I love my son!" Boscha yelled. "I don't show it to him, but I do! And….I don't know what I'd do if he was hurt!"
Rentley had always thought his mother never cared for him, especially after a few hours ago. But he had a thought it must have been some form of tough love since Boscha never really showed her vulnerable or softer side.
"So you know nothing of what the Province wants?" Rentley asked.
"Not at all!" Boscha exclaimed. "I'm not even a part of it! Belos ruined my life! I lost my friends and my moms on the Day of Unity! Why would I want to be a part of some stupid cult that ruined my life?!"
Rentley stared at his mother for a bit getting some new light on the situation. He sighed with empathy and turned to the girls. "Okay, let's call for assistance."
"Hey! I am not done with you three!" Boscha yelled.
"You are." Azura smashed a Fire and Water glyph together to make steam so they could run away and disappear.
Once the smoke cleared, Boscha saw that her interrogators were gone. "Hey! Hey! Are you just going to leave me here in the middle of the street?! What if I get run over by a carriage?! Or a demon?!"
Meanwhile, the three kids had discarded their black robes to discuss what happened. "Well, that was a bust." Azura remarked.
"Well, least we know that your Mom loves you." Hecate remarked.
"I don't believe it." Rentley said with sadness and realisation.
"Does it put things into perspective as to why she's harsh?" Azura asked.
"I guess. But doesn't explain why she forced me into Grudgeby or force me to be with Jakob." Rentley said. "Doubt that part is out of love."
"Form of tough love, maybe." Hecate theorised. "Maybe she's doing what she thinks is best for you because she loves you."
"But by deciding every aspect of your life?!" Hecate exclaimed. "That should be a form of abuse."
"I'll let you know if she forces me to not be friends with you two." Rentley said. "Because I sure as heck ain't friends with Flozz."
"What kind of name is Flozz?" Hecate asked. "It's like floss but they replaced all the S's with a Z. It's kind of a dumb name."
"Her real name is Candace." Rentley said.
"She couldn't think of a better name?" Hecate asked.
Then, Azura made a groan. "But we have nothing! That info we got from Boscha had nothing to find them!"
"Well, do we know anyone else who could be a part of the Province?" Rentley asked.
"The Spook and that's about it." Azura groaned. "How am I supposed to bring them to justice?"
"We could try and beat people up until they admit to being a part of the Province." Hecate suggested.
"And be arrested for assault?!" Rentley exclaimed.
"Could be worth it." Hecate replied.
"What do we do then?" Rentley asked. "The only option right now is to go home and go to sleep. Unless someone here knows someone with ties to the criminal underworld."
"Why would they help?" Azura asked.
"Criminal underworld: They know a lot of things about criminals." Rentley said. "I mean, people like Lueb Velvet."
"Did you say that because you think my Aunt Ronda is part of the criminal underworld?" Azura asked. "I mean, yeah, I know she has committed a few crimes but….That doesn't mean she's part of the criminal underworld."
There was an awkward silence as the idea of Ronda Clawthorne being part of the criminal underworld came into their mind, thinking there has to be some kind of connection.
Later, through the secret corridors in Hexside that Luz went through on her first day, Ronda was busy giving a client a tattoo. But more specifically, Mr Bateman.
"So….You kids think I know something about the criminal underworld?" Ronda, now with a caption underneath her Owl Beast tattoo saying 'the Owl Beast's daughter,' asked as she took a brief sip of elixir in front of Azura, Rentley and Hecate.
"That's why you came to you." Azura said.
"You've essentially committed more crimes than any of us." Rentley remarked.
"Yes, pickpocketing, vandalism, illegal gambling, Palisman fighting, illegal trading, pug trafficking, some obscure crime from the Human Realm called llamacide and now you're running an unlicensed tattoo parlour."
"Wait, this is unlicensed?!" Mr Bateman, whom was getting a tattoo on his right arm, reacted. "Oh no! Oh no! I am not gonna go to jail if that's the case."
"To keep you from telling everyone, I'll give you your tattoo for free." Azura said.
"Sold!" Mr Bateman responded before he finally noticed the kids. "Oh, hey kids! Listen, could you at least, not tell Principal Terrace about this? I might get fired."
"No one's going to ask where you got a tattoo." Azura said, not caring about this. She then saw what the tattoo was. It was a caption that read 'Master Illusionist' and had a drawing of his face.
The kids just gave him a deadpanned look. "Well, they might start asking about that particular one." Rentley retorted.
"Look kids, I'm gonna help you out." Ronda declared.
"Really?!" Azura exclaimed.
"I know someone who knows everything." Ronda explained. "He's someone you know."
"Who is it?" Hecate asked.
"You've heard of the gangster, Lueb Velvet, right?" The mention of his name made everyone freeze in fear and terror.
"Lueb Velvet?" Mr Bateman reacted.
"Who?" Hecate asked.
"He is the biggest gangster in the Boiling Isles." Azura replied.
"Lueb Velvet was born to a poor family, the kind that couldn't even afford being branded by the Coven." Rentley continued. "His Mom couldn't keep a job and his Papa was a Hexes Hold'Em addict who kept losing the family snails every week so he didn't get into a good school. This caused an apparent hatred inside him as he went on to despise his parents for their mere existence. On the Day of Unity, him and his whole family were branded by the Emperor's Coven. When their magic was being drained, Lueb felt something inside him, he was relieved and happy. But when The Collector moved the moon, he had this new insight to everything. Nobody knows what it was, but when his parents were turned to puppets some say he took the opportunity to burn them in the fireplace."
"I heard that their souls were still active even when people were in their puppet forms." Mr Bateman said. "So…If you think about it….Yeah, Lueb had issues."
"Lueb lived on the street for a while, scamming and stealing from people." Ronda continued. Eventually, he got bigger which led to bigger crimes such as trafficking Palismen, recalled Hexes Hold'Em cards and bread. Which soon led to more people wanting to work with him. Rumour has it that Odalia Blight started working with him."
Azura flinched at the mention of that name. "Of course grandma would work with someone like him."
"Wait, grandma?!" Hecate exclaimed.
"I'll explain later." Azura said. "Everybody is too afraid to take down Lueb, even the governors. So, he is still running big operations and everyone is just waiting for the moment he becomes weak enough to take down."
"Wow, he sounds pretty scary." Hecate remarked.
"Which is why you guys need to stick with me." Ronda said. "I've met him a ton of times and let's say, him and I have a good relationship."
"Eww!" Everyone gagged.
"Not that kind!" Ronda yelled angrily.
Back at the Healing House, Amity and King had managed to find Manny with his back against the wall and his arms wrapped around his legs.
While Amity was giving her son an empathetic stare, King was busy scratching his back against the wall. "King, what are you doing?"
"Uh! I have a very bad itch!" King replied. "Uh! It's irritating."
"Well, could you try and scratch it some place else?" Amity suggested. "I want to talk to my son."
"Alright. Alright." King began to walk away.
Amity exhaled as she began to approach her son. She got down on her knees and gently leaned in. "Manny. You can hear me can you?" Manny only looked up at her mother with a terrified and traumatised look on his face. "Manny, I need you to tell me what's wrong." But Manny wasn't responding. "Are you scared? Are you afraid that Mami might die?" But Manny wasn't saying anything again.
"Okay, okay." Amity said before she pulled out the book. "Alright, don't fail me now Dr Waybright." She opened the book on the page about communicating to a child with autism. "Okay! Okay! He isn't communicating." When Manny heard that he began to narrow his eyes at his mother, as if he was offended. That's when he saw what his mother was doing.
She appeared to be making exaggerated hand movements as if he was mute. "Are you okay?" Manny just stared at his Mom with a shocked and disgusted look on his face. "Is Mami sleeping too scary for you?" Amity looked befuddled as she tried to think of exaggerated way to show 'recovery.' "Are you okay?"
"What are you doing?!" Manny asked angrily. "Can't you just talk to me properly without waving your arms about like an idiot?!"
Amity looked shocked by his outburst but then turned red in the face. "Well….You weren't exactly communicating so….Look, this was the best way for me to communicate with you."
"I just…Didn't want to talk at the moment." Manny said.
"Manny, not talking about things is gonna make things worse for you." Amity said. "Now, please talk to me. Is everything okay?"
"It's my fault." Manny's confession made Amity freeze in surprise. "Manny?"
"If I wasn't so different then Mami wouldn't have been hurt!" Manny exclaimed.
"Manny, it wasn't…."
"It's my fault!" Manny grabbed his head as tears began to fall from his eyes. "It's all my fault!" He then began to bang the back of his head against the wall, like he was hurting himself.
"Manny!" Amity was terrified with what her son was doing to himself. Her own son was hurting himself in a way.
"It's my fault! It's my fault!" Manny cried.
"Manny!" Amity tried skimming through the book for answers but gave up half way through as she grabbed a hold of her son by her shoulders. "Stop it!" His mother's yell made him freeze in terror and to stare at his mother like she were some kind of monster. "Listen here Manny, stop whatever it is you're doing! It's not your fault your Mami is in recovery, so stop blaming yourself right now! If you keep getting yourself worked up like that, you can say goodbye to whatever Professor What stuff you have planned! Right?!" Manny didn't say anything and just stared at his Mom in fear. "Right?!" Manny nodded his head.
Amity then pulled Manny up by his arm and began walking back to the waiting area with the others. On the walk back, Amity noted that her son was fidgeting with his fingers, as if he was still stressed. It didn't take her long to realise that whatever she did to him, only caused more stress due to her lack of understanding. This mere sight made Amity make a small gasp as she realised what she did but before she had the chance to apologise, Manny sped towards the waiting room and hugged his Abuela.
"Oh, estoy tan contento de que estés bien, Mijo." Camila said as Manny returned the hug.
"I'm okay, Abuela." Manny said while everyone in the waiting room gave a relived sigh at his return.
Whereas everyone was happy, Amity still felt guilty about what she did to her son. While King was busy getting his back scratched by Mildred.
"You know if you didn't have this much hair, this wouldn't be a problem." Mildred said.
King cried. "What is wrong with my back?!"
Meanwhile, Ronda had led the kids to what appeared to be an old, abandoned inn known as The Moaning Lisa. The building itself looked like it was standing, but it would be the kind of old and dilapidated place a criminal would hide out.
"The Moaning Lisa?" Hecate remarked.
"Isn't that place haunted?" Rentley asked.
Then, a ghost appeared in front of the group. "You say it like it's a bad thing." The sudden appearance of the ghost caused every kid to scream while Ronda just smiled at the spectre.
"Hey, Jeffrey!" Ronda said.
"My name is Geoffrey." Geoffrey said.
"What, I'm saying your name, Jeffrey." Ronda said.
Geoffrey sighed in frustration. "What's the your business?"
"I seek Lueb Velvet to tell us about the Province of Belos." Ronda replied.
"Then say the password."
Ronda sighed. "Come on, Jeffrey."
"It's Geoffrey! Now password!"
Ronda sighed. "Um…..Fidelio? Or Lueb Velvet is the best? Or, no parents? Look man, cut me some slack, Jeffrey, I just snuck in."
Geoffrey narrowed his eyes at Ronda. "It's Geoffrey!"
"I'm saying your name!" Ronda argued. "Look, can you let me and my friends in? It's important. I have the daughter of the woman who saved the Isles."
"That doesn't mean anything to me." Geoffrey said. "Now, you did say the password, I shall let you in."
The group entered the inn in an effort to meet with Lueb. There, they are met with a goblin whom had a tattoo that said 'Klaus' on his forehead.
"What do you want?" Klaus asked.
"To speak with Lueb." Ronda said. "About, free tattoo offers."
"He is busy." Klaus said. "Get lost, little Owl Beast."
"Hey!" Hecate exclaimed. "She may be daughter of the Owl Lady, but that doesn't mean she's a beast!"
Ronda laughed. "I don't have this tattoo on my back for nothing, kid. Listen Klaus, this is important. We need to see him about the Province of Belos."
Klaus at first looked hesitant about the mention of the province but then motioned his head upwards. "Go on. He will see you."
They walked up the rickety stares to the door that read 'office' where they heard the sounds of someone screaming. "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" The voice cried while the sound of some thumping was heard and the sound of someone sniffing something.
In that moment, Hecate, Azura and Rentley looked scared about what was behind that door while Ronda was grinning.
"Noooope!" Rentley was about to turn around to head back home, but Ronda grabbed him by his collar.
"No way, kid." Ronda said. "You wanted information about the Province, you're getting it." She opened the door to the room and the group entered.
What they saw will haunt them, they saw a blue skinned witch who looked to be in his late 40's to mid 50's and dressed in a brown leather jacket, purple shirt, greying hair, a necklace that read 'family,' black pants and black shoes, sniffing some sort of luminous green goo that looked similar to the blood of Palismen. As soon as he done sniffing the entire goo, he exhaled wildly before he began to cry.
"Mommy! Mommy!" He cried. "Oh, Mommy! Mommy!"
Each member of the group had different reactions to this. Azura looked uncomfortable, Rentley looked baffled, Hecate looked scared while Ronda was amused yet scared at the same time.
Lueb continued to cry for a few more seconds before he picked up a mannequin and began to tearfully narrow his eyes at it. "Look at me! Look at me! Look at me, when I'm talking to you! You look at me!" But the mannequin said nothing. "Not wanting to talk, huh?! You think you're tough! My Titan, you are FRUSTRATING!" He then began to wail on the mannequin like it were some sort of punching bag.
"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! MOMMY!"
"Uh…I don't think that's your mommy." Ronda said.
Then, Lueb stopped beating the mannequin and stood up to stare at the guests. The stare he was giving the group was an exhausted glare. He looked at his visitors like he was wondering which one he would beat up first, then, he walked up to Ronda.
"What do you want, Ronda?!" Lueb asked. "I got the police off your back to make sure they don't find the tattoo business."
"Well, allow me to introduce…"
"When did I say I wanted introductions?" Lueb's question made Ronda freeze.
"Well…"
"Did I say I wanted information about who these little wastes of space and privacy are?!" Lueb asked.
"I…"
"Ronda, did I say I wanted info about these three?"
"Look it's better with full context."
"Context?! I decide whether I want context!" Lueb then grabbed Ronda by her shoulder and slammed her against the wall, causing everyone to stare at the witch in fear. "Did I say I want context?! Huh?! Did I?! Answer me, Ronda!"
"Hey!" Azura then summoned a fireball, Rentley summoned a vine while Hecate summoned an Abomination fist. "Let my aunt go!"
Lueb stared at Azura with surprise. "Aunt?! You mean Ronda Clawthorne is your aunt?!"
"Yes!" Azura replied.
Instead of being angry, Lueb began laughing as she let go of Eda's daughter. "Woo! Why didn't you say so?!" He turned to Azura. "Azura Noceda, daughter of Luz Noceda! Hero of the Boiling Isles!" Azura looked embarrassed by that sentence.
"Yup, that's me!" Azura replied.
"You know I heard so much about you!" Lueb said. "I'm a gangster, I have eyes and ears everywhere in case you're wondering! Great student, not-so powerful witch, popular yet you're very picky with your friends from what I heard."
"Wait, you're popular?" Hecate reacted. "I thought you weren't judging by your friends."
"I'll explain later." Azura said.
"Yeah, that will be explained in some…I don't know, sun adventure." He laughed. "Why did I say that? What brings you here? And please tell me without context unless I need it!"
"Listen, Mr Velvet, we're looking for the Province of Belos." Azura explained. "I'm pretty sure you're aware of the attack on my Mami."
"Everyone is aware." Lueb said while Ronda drank an elixir behind him.
"And Ronda tells me you know everything about the criminal underworld." Azura said. "So, whatever price you need, I will pay you back when I can."
Lueb looked offended. "So, you think just because I'm a gangster, you expect a price out of me?!"
Hecate and Rentley hid behind Azura while she pulled on her collar nervously. "Well….It seems kind of expected with a witch of your status and power." As she spoke, Lueb leaned in aggressively with what looked like murderous intent.
After a moment of uncomfortable silence and him sniffing the green substance he had on the back of his hand. He began laughing. "How foolish! Fiction don't tell you everything about people! I don't expect a deal, I will lead to the Province. They have a meeting, tonight."
"Oh great!" Azura said.
"That's cool you know that." Hecate remarked.
He looked at Hecate with a smile. "Oh believe me, you'll be surprised about what you might find out. Because rumour has it, the Bane is gonna show up."
"So, we might finally see this clown?" Ronda cracked her knuckles. "I can't wait to teach that freak a lesson! I bet he's gonna be a weak and frail kid with low self esteem issues."
"Or, could you imagine if it was your boyfriend, Rentley?" Hecate asked.
Rentley laughed. "Oh, I'd breakup with him that's for sure! Bet Evelyn would like it." Unbeknown to him, his cheeks turned a tad red which was something Ronda took notice of.
"Oh….Yeah. Gonna tell Widebent." Ronda said to herself.
Lueb sniffed some more of the bright green substance and clapped his hands. "It's dark. Really dark. Let's goooo! I'll ride you to your location!"
"Uh…Couldn't you just walk us there?" Rentley asked.
"Walk?!" Lueb exclaimed. "In the middle of the night?!" He slapped Rentley on the back of his head. "You're insane! The carriage is the best way!"
And so, Lueb was driving a carriage being pulled by a worm with everyone in the cart in the back, fearing for their lives since he was a bit of a crazy driver.
He rode the worm through the night at top speed, causing everyone in the back to look nauseated or terrified.
"Wooo!" Lueb cried out loud. "Hahhahahahhahahahahahha! Hahahahhahahahah!" Lueb drives through an alley where he knocked over a bunch of cans. "Uh oh! No garbage day!" He laughed manically as he continued to ride.
He rode down the empty street where he almost knocked over Morton, whom was carrying some potions and elixirs to his stand. Then, he avoided what looked like an Earth car known as a DeLorean driving through the town.
"Woah! Almost committed an accident!" He laughed before he sniffed some more of that green stuff.
They then made it toward a ramp that was placed in the middle of the street. Which inspired Lueb to drive the carriage over the ramp to perform a super sweet jump. He did just that and they were suspended in mid air for a brief period of time before they eventually landed on the edge of a cliff.
Lueb jumped off, as excited as ever. "Wooooo! I feel good, baby! How about you guys?!"
Azura, Rentley, Ronda and Hecate exited the carriage with different reactions. Azura, Hecate and Rentley looked queasy while Ronda looked like she didn't care.
"You call that a ride? That wasn't even vomit inducing." As she said that, Hecate threw up.
"Quit your yammering, we're here!" Lueb said before he pointed to what looked like a factory. But not just any factory, an old, abandoned and dilapidated Abomination factory. "Right here! An old Abomination factory!"
Hecate finished throwing up and walked towards Lueb. "Oh my Titan. Is this the best meeting point? Why not a community centre?"
"How do we get in?" Azura asked.
"I assume through the sign mark 'entrance.' Ronda retorted.
"Too risky." Lueb said. "I know a better way in."
"Already got the robes." Hecate said with an enthusiastic smile.
"No need." Lueb said. "We sneak in through a secret hatch used to smuggle in Palismen."
"What do you mean?" Rentley asked.
"This factory used to be a front for Palismen smuggling over 300 years ago." Lueb explained. "The Blights were very shifty back in the day and depending on which one, they still are."
"Try Odalia Blight." Azura retorted, referring to her grandma whom she had never met and doubt she ever will after hearing what she put her Mom through.
Lueb Lee the group to a secret hatch in the back big enough for a crate that they crawled through. They crawled for a few minutes which made Rentley a bit annoyed.
"Man, how long is this vent?" Rentley asked. "Can you move a little faster, Lueb?"
Lueb sniffed some more of the bright green stuff. "No."
Ronda, whom was behind everyone, stopped for whatever reason. "Guys wait, I hear something."
"What is it Ronda?" Azura asked with worry.
"Don't worry, it's small but I think it stinks." She then farted, causing everyone in the vent to begin gagging which made them crawl for their lives.
They managed to get to the end where once they were out, they were inhaling as quietly as possible while Ronda crawled out with confidence.
"Had to get out of that vent somehow." Ronda said. "You're welcome Rentley."
The group then heard the sound of what sounded like mumbling coming from below them. "Shhh." Azura said. "I hear something."
They walked towards the edge where they saw what looked like a fence drilled onto the metal balcony. They looked down to see a various bunch of witches staring at a stage and preforming a chant. "For the Province. For the Province. For the Province."
Everyone appeared to have a fearful and intrigued expression. "What is this?" Hecate asked.
"I think it's clear what's going on." Azura replied. "It's the Province of Belos."
"Oh…..My….Titan." Rentley said. "Look, I think I recognise a few members. That's Adrian Graye. Former head of Illusions during the reign of Belos."
"Terra Snapdragon, former Coven Head of plants." Hecate said, referring to Terra. Whom in her old age, had grown a bit of a bigger gut, her hair was dry and rotten and very hunched back. "Wasn't she glamorous back in her day?"
"Not anymore." Lueb replied.
Azura then noticed someone in the crowd who looked like her mom. Though she had greyish green hair, possibly dyed a few months ago.
"Grandma." Azura said as she narrowed her eyes at her with disgust.
Rhonda's eyes went wide at one point. "Hey! I recognise that pig over there." She pointed to Tibbles, whom appeared to be selling some kind of liquorice to everyone.
"For the Province!" Tibbles exclaimed. "That's right! For the Province!" Everyone in the province looked to be gorging on the liquorice like it was some kind of addictive substance.
"Well, it's good thing we don't know anyone personally or otherwise that would be shocking." Ronda remarked before she heard Rentley gasp.
"No. No. No. Not him. Anyone but him." Rentley looked down to see none other than his boyfriend and friend down with the members. Jakob and Flozz were busy conversing with a witch with a monobrow.
"I do not like the job that they've given me." Jakob complained. "It's just too much of a mess. Cleaning up all that filth."
Rentley was in shock over what he was seeing. His own boyfriend is part of the group who worship the person who ruined his mother's life when she was 14.
"No! No! Jakob!"
Azura gave Rentley a sympathetic stare. "Rentley, I'm so sorry."
"I'm not." Ronda said. "It's honestly not surprising." Rentley narrowed his eyes at Ronda before the sound of a bell that made everyone freeze.
The members down below stood to attention as they turned to the stage where saw a bipedal demon Azura only read from history books. It was Kikimora. A suck up to Emperor Belos before he betrayed her.
"Who is that?" Hecate asked.
"Kikimora." Azura replied. "Belos' suck up on the year of his downfall. She was beaten by Rentley's mom when she tried to manipulate her."
"There were other students involved." Rentley pointed out. "She never did forget them when she told me the story."
"Oh!" Azura remarked. "Thought she would have been all 'I did it all by myself. I had no help whatsoever…"
"Don't." Rentley interjected. "After tonight, I learnt that my Mom isn't as selfish as I thought."
"Fellow members of our Province!" Kikimora said. "Tonight on this night, the Bane has news that will bring us back to our old ways. Back to the days of only joining a singular Coven, forever!"
The group leaned in with interest while Lueb just sniffed more of that substance. "Oooh, that was good."
"Now, give it up for the leader who will usher the old ways, back to the days of before! The Bane!"
Then, from below the stage, an elevator began to rise out revealing the Bane himself. He was buff looking, as tall as a basketball player and appeared to be wearing the armour that belonged to a Golden Guard.
Azura's eyes went wide. "It can't be."
"The Bane is….Hunter?" Hecate reacted.
"No." Azura replied. "I think, judging by the armour, the Bane is a Grimwalker."
"I think you're overreaching." Rentley said. "There's no way that guy is a clone of Mr Park."
"Why's that?" Ronda asked.
"Belos was the only one who knew how to clone Mr Park." Rentley explained. "He's someone who's wearing that armour for intimidation."
The Bane turned to the people in front of him whom began to chant his name. He raised his arms high, causing the cheers to get louder. "My dear, children. My children of Belos." He spoke in a deep and loud voice. "I am so pleased that more of you have joined. For tonight we have news. Two in total." Kikimora began to whisper in his ear. "Oh…It's three. Three pieces of news that will bring us closer to bringing back the old ways that Belos put before us to appease the Titan!"
The crowed cheered wildly. "I love you!" Kikimora cried.
In that moment as the crowd cheered, Hecate heard a ringing in her ear and turned to face whom was there. She thought she was seeing what looked like a black figure looking at her.
"Guys, wait here, I think I see something." Hecate said.
"What is it?" Azura asked as Hecate activated an Abomination sword.
"I see the Spook." Hecate replied. "Stay here." She began to walk where they were with Lueb following.
"I'm coming to." Lueb said as he made a spell circle. "That witch owes me a lot."
"Wait, Hecate do you need…"
"Just keep a watch out." Hecate interjected as she and Lueb walked through a door together. Lueb looked back at the group with a sinister look before slamming the door shut.
Azura was at first concerned but turned to look back at the Bane whom was still talking. "My dear followers, our first news is, we have them. We have the things that will bring us the power we need! Flora, you and your assistant show my children what you have retrieved."
Flora walked on stage holding some objects in a cloak with Talo following behind with a bandaged arm to cover his handless arm.
This sight made everyone surprised. "Of course she's part of the Province." Azura said. "And Talo as well."
Flora removed the objects from the cloak to reveal the idol that she stole from Amity on her last adventure and the tablet that Talo stole from the museum. "These items will give the Province, power…" She raised the idol over her head, causing everyone to cheer. "….And life!" Everyone in the Province gave a louder scream.
"Thank you Flora." The Bane said. "Now, we have something that I know will make you happy. We have had a few tests failure but I think we have finally got it to work." He reached into his back to reveal a branding glove, used to brand every witch into a certain Coven.
This sight made everyone, including Ronda to stare at it in fear. "That's impossible." Ronda said. "My Mom told me that they destroyed it."
"They did." Rentley said. "But they also destroyed the blueprints so no one can rebuild them."
"Apparently they rebuilt it." Azura said.
The Bane walked to Talo who appeared to be holding on to his handless arm. "How do you feel about being handless?"
"I feel weak." Talo replied. "I mean, I get there are people who work well without a hand, but…Were they ever right handed?"
"A power that can give you the power to keep a hand would be Abomination." The Bane said.
Talo realised his mistake and groaned. "Oh man, I can do Abomination powers. Do you mind if I…"
The Bane grabbed his remaining wrist, interrupting his sentence. "Do not worry, Talo. You will be using Abomination powers. Permanently." He placed the branding glove on his wrist, causing Talo to scream in pain.
Every Province member watched on either with a scared look, a smile, a deadpanned look or just one of shock. Jakob on the other hand, looked like he was about to vomit.
"I got to go, Flozz." Jakob said with disgust on his face before walking away.
Azura, Rentley and Ronda watched on in horror. They heard a lot of things about the branding glove from their respective grandparents, but seeing it in action was terrifying.
The Bane removed the glove from Talo's wrist and shook it off. "Arise, Talo. You are part of a Coven."
Talo looked at his wrist and smiled. "Oh! It feels so good to be a part of a Coven." He drew a spell circle to make a false hand. But instead of making a false hand, it caused a purple light to slowly engulf Talo whom began to scream.
Everyone looked terrified as the light fully engulfed Talo, causing him to explode into nothing. Talo, was gone which made The Bane very angry.
He turned to Kikimora whom looked terrified. "Kikimora!"
Kikimora flinched. "Look sir, I'm trying but…but…but…but…but…"
The Bane lifted Kikimora by her neck, causing everyone in attendance to stare at the giant leader in fear. "You are a failure, Kikimora. It's no wonder Belos left you for dead."
Kikimora stared at the Bane in fear and began stuttering. "B…But the blueprints were destroyed many years ago. I…I'm trying, sir!"
"Try harder, you little witch!" He tightened his grip around her neck.
"I…I'll….I'll try." Kikimora said before the Bane tossed her aside. She coughed as she tried to get her breath.
Then, from the red curtain behind the Bane, came the Spook looking at their boss to full attention. "Sir, he has arrived with our guests."
"Thank you Spook. If Mrs Noceda doesn't have our full attention, you know what to do with her." He said.
"Yes, my liege." The Spook responded. "By the way, he needs more of that stuff."
"Come on Bane!" Then, from one of the doors came one of the most surprising things from today according to Azura and her gang. It was Lueb and he appeared to be in league with the Province. "My liege."
"Thank you, Lueb." He handed Lueb the substance which he began to sniff. The Bane then looked up at where Azura and the others were watching. "I hope I have your attention, Noceda, Clawthorne and Blockerhon." The three were staring at them in fear as the others turned their attention to them. Odalia especially looked intrigued. "Now you three know what you're up against, what will you do?"
Azura, Ronda and Rentley panted in terror and fear. But before they could make a run for it, Terra used her vine magic to tear the fence off the walls.
"Not so fast, sprouts!" She exclaimed.
She grabbed Rentley by his waist but quickly let go when Azura lit her vines on fire with her magic.
Some of the members jumped up to the trio and got into a fight. Rentley used an Abomination shield to protect himself and the others from illusion of fire coming from Adrian.
Another member then shot some rocks straight towards them that Ronda managed to stop by whistling, causing it to levitate. She then threw the rock towards another member, who quickly summoned an Abomination fist that turned into pebbles.
Azura summoned some vines to trap a few to the wall, which made a few more to follow. Rentley quickly used an Abomination fist to knock a few out before being hit by a sound wave by a member playing the flute.
The member shot another sound wave at the group causing them to fly backwards. Azura tried to fire a fireball, but then the flute player used his Bard skills to put it out.
"Dang it!" Azura said.
"Relax, I got it." Ronda stood up and pulled a violin from her hair. The rival bard player grinned as he licked his lips and motioned Ronda to take the first hit. But instead of playing a note, Ronda just tossed the instrument to his head, knocking him out. "That was easy."
The rest of the kids stood up where Spook had arrived to the top after using some Abomination springs. They summoned some Abomination swords and motioned towards the group.
"Let's play." They said.
The Spook began charging towards the group with murderous intent, but before they could get a hit, Ronda tried a super punch, but they quickly slid on the floor and went under her.
They jumped up and grabbed her by the shoulder before slamming her to the floor. Rentley summoned an Abomination fist that he tried to punch them with, but they blocked it with a shield.
"Abomination." They remarked. "My specialty."
"It's my best specialty." Rentley retorted before the Spook felt vines wrap around their ankle.
"Oh, nice one." The Spook remarked before getting tossed in the air by Azura. But as they were about to make impact to the ceiling, in a quick motion, they sliced the vine with an Abomination dagger. They landed on their feet just as Ronda got back up.
Ronda, Azura and Rentley began charging towards them. Rentley tried getting some hits with a pair of Abomination gauntlets but they ducked and elbowed him in the shoulder. Ronda tried scratching them with her sharp nails, but they grabbed her by the wrists and tear them off before kicking her head off.
Azura was about to hit them with a flaming punch, but they grabbed her by the wrist and threw her over their shoulder.
The trio groaned on the floor as the Spook watched them with intrigue. "Such fools. You're the offsprings of some powerful witches. I thought you'd be made of stronger stuff."
Rentley had managed to help Ronda put her body parts back on her. She cracked her neck as she felt satisfied with getting her head back on.
"Oooooooh, yeaaaah!" Ronda exhaled. "Okay, how are we losing to this freak?"
Azura cracked her back. "I don't know…." She narrowed her eyes at them before readying a plant and illusions spell. "…But I'm ready to take you down for what you did to my Mami."
"Not yet." The Bane suddenly teleported in front of the group with a teleportation staff in hand along with Kikimora following him from behind. "You put up a small yet adequate fight, Noceda, Blockerhon and Clawthorne. I admire that. But unfortunately, I can not let you escape." While he spoke, Azura pulled out a Fire and Water glyph from her pocket. "But, I did let that little friend of yours go in case you were wondering. Someone needed a witness." The Spook walked away to clean themselves up while Azura just continued to narrow her eyes at them.
"Listen here, jerk!" Ronda exclaimed. "If you think you're going to beat us, guess who took down the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles 26 years ago?!"
"Oh, but I know that I will." The Bane responded. "There's so much that you don't know. Stuff you're not prepared for. What will happen in the next few months is going to change the course of the Boiling Isles, forever." Kikimora walked away chuckling to herself.
"The only thing people will see you as, is a Belos wannabe." Rentley retorted.
"No, they'll see me as the perfect reincarnation." The Bane retorted while Azura dug through her pockets. "And to show them how much of a perfect reincarnation I am, I will show them what will happen in front of everyone. Starting with you as the perfect example."
But then Azura pressed two glyphs together causing a release of steam that caused everyone to be blinded.
Azura, Rentley and Ronda began to run away from the province and straight towards a weak part of the wall. "Hang on!" Rentley held on to Azura and Ronda as he made an Abomination shield that he slammed through the weak part of the wall, causing them to fall out of the factory.
But thankfully, Azura summoned a flower bed that they landed on before getting back up and running for their lives.
The Bane watched as the trio ran for their life. Terra walked up towards him with murderous intent. "Should we make chase?"
"Patience, Snapdragon." The Bane replied. "This is just the beginning."
Meanwhile, Azura, Ronda and Rentley were far from the factory. They stopped when they saw Kikimora yelling at Hecate, whom appeared to be covered in scratches and bruises. "I hate you!" Kikimora said before making a run for it.
"Hecate!" Azura ran towards the unconscious body of her friend and tapped her to wake her up. "Hecate! Are you okay?!"
Ronda checked her pulse. "She's alive." She replied before picking her up. "I'll take her to the healing house."
"I'm coming too." Azura said. "My Mami is still recovering."
"Okay." Ronda said. "But I also need to see my Mom and Zizi about what we saw. Rentley?"
Azura saw that Rentley was walking away with a serious look on his face. "I…Have to get home. I've been gone long enough. I don't want Mom to be suspicious."
"What are you going to say to her about what you found out?" Azura asked. "And Rentley?"
Rentley clenched his fists. "I know what I need to say." He began walking back home while Azura and Ronda watched on with sympathy. Well, the amount of sympathy Ronda could have.
"Hey, should I tell Evelyn that a breakup might happen?" Ronda asked. "Or should we get them Dr Tholomue to help?"
"Is this the best time to be making jokes, Aunt Ronda?" Azura asked.
"All the times are the best to be making jokes." Ronda retorted.
Back at the Healing House, Amity was sitting on a lone chair in the waiting room staring at her son, whom was talking to her Auncle about Professor What. Talking of all the amazing and thought provoking adventures the Professor and his companions go on.
Amity was still feeling guilty about what she did to her son. Yelling at him like he was nothing but a useless tool over his panic attack. She wish she could have done something better instead of relying on her instincts. She felt like in some way, she was about to become Odalia.
Then, Ronda and Azura entered the Healing Room. "Healer!" Azura yelled. "We need a healer!"
"Azura!" Amity yelled at her daughter. "Where have you…" She froze when she saw Hecate's unconscious body. "….Wait, is that your friend?!"
"Ronda, what happened?!" Raine asked their daughter.
"We'll explain!" Ronda replied. "Just get this girl some help before I cut someone from life support!"
"They can just put them back in." Mildred retorted without a care in the world. Even though one of her friends was unconscious.
"Oh, shut up, Mildred." Ronda retorted.
Later, Hecate was hooked up to some equipment in Luz's room. Azura stood by her side staring at her cut and bloodied face with guilt for not saving her in time. She was grateful that she was alive, but she still wished she could have done something. "I'm sorry, Hecate."
She pressed a hand on her unconscious hand still with guilt. But it vanished when she heard some groaning. She turned around to see that her Mami was waking up.
All the guilt and worry that was with her for a brief moment, was now gone and was replaced with happiness. "Mami!"
She ran towards Luz whom was just getting her vision back. "Azura?"
Azura wrapped her Mami in a hug which she returned. "Azura? What happened? Am I dead?"
"No." Azura wiped away a tear. "You're okay."
"Where is everyone?" Luz asked.
"They're asleep in the waiting room." Azura replied. "I'm still awake because well….Look, I'm glad you're okay."
Luz smiled at her daughter. "And I'm glad I'm okay as well." She kissed her daughter's forehead and snuggled her. Then, she noticed something in front of her. The unconscious body of Hecate which caused Luz some concern. "Azura, why is your friend in the Healing House with us?"
Azura realised this and looked to her Mami with a worried face. "Mami, a lot of stuff happened recently. So I'll start at the beginning. My job at the museum."