Hey there! It's me again, with yet another late chapter! (Why are simple moments so hard to write?!) Okay, this time not much to say, no more stalling, let's a go!
Chapter 21: The joys of day, the worries of night
"An abomination that is summoned can be as tough or flexible as the witch requires it to be. But it will also greatly depend on the level of their skills and of course the amount of concentration they possess." The abomination professor said, putting a bit of extra emphasis on his last words, as he looked around the classroom for anyone that may not be paying attention even for the slightest second. Like- "Luz Noceda?"
"Huh? Yes sir?" Hearing her name, Luz lifted her head from her notebook and stood up, after closing it of course.
"Is there anywhere else you would rather be? Is my lecture wasting your precious time, maybe?" He asked, his tone challenging.
"No, of course not. I was just keeping notes." She answered quickly, hoping he wouldn't come by her desk to see. She was keeping notes, but they were more private than the lesson...
"Well, all right. Then I suppose you wouldn't have a problem naming four ingredients that enhance an abomination's durability."
"Pff. That's easy. Dragon scales, umbral orbs, mortwood aaand black beatle shells." She finished with a cocky grin. Which got even wider, noticing the surprise and the embarassment on his face. He was asking for it.
"O-Oh. You... are correct. E-excellent! See everyone? That is the level of dedication you must show in your studies." She sat back down, as the professor tried to dismiss the embarassment and carry on with his lecture.
And looking at the corner of the class next to her for a moment, she noticed a special someone giving her a silent laugh and a proud thumbs up. Before hiding back again.
"Well, someone's getting a good grade." Amity said with a smile, as Luz entered the shortcut room after the class was over.
"Guess you're just that good a study partner, miss Top Student. Better watch out, I'm coming for your star." Luz teased, earning a sly smirk and nudge from her.
"Ha ha! Very funny." But the smirk was quickly replaced by a look of confusion, as Luz sat down and started bringing out her lunchbag.
"Hey, aren't you going to the cafeteria?"
"What? You thought we'd let you eat alone?"
"We?" Amity's confusion increased. Just as-
"Hey, girls! Long time no see!" Gus came flying from a door in the floor, followed by Willow waving at them.
"And there we all are!" Luz said excitedly as she rushed over and wrapped them both in a hug, quickly pulling Amity in too.
Making her smile so widely, especially as she locked eyes with Willow for a moment. And saw that she was smiling too... That it didn't feel awkward or weird. At least not in an amount that mattered. The important thing now, was that she was seeing her friends again.
Friends... "Yeah. I really missed you, guys."
"We missed you too." Willow said, still smiling, as they pulled away.
"Why didn't you tell us you'd come? I would've prepared welcome-back illusions." Gus piped up, finishing with a pout.
"We thought it'd be better if it was a surprise." Luz answered, pulling him a bit farther so she could whisper. "But I might need some illusions for another occasion."
"What's that?" Though it wasn't as unnoticeable as she thought it'd be. "What are you guys-?"
"Uh, nothing! At least nothing as important as hearing about everything we missed here!" Luz cut Amity off, hoping the others would go with it.
"Oh, yeah! We have a lot of catching up to do!" Willow said quickly and sat down to bring out her lunch, the others soon doing the same.
And as they did, the human girl glanced gratefuly at her friend, receiving a wink and a look that said 'Details later.'.
When would that later be...? It'd depend. Preferably in the next period, at the greenhouse. Couldn't risk anyone listening in to this type of conversation. For multiple reasons...
"So? Tell us. What big important events happened here?" Amity asked, taking a bite from her sandwich.
"Well..."
Willow ducked down, behind a fallen locker, the vine barely missing her head.
But from what she could hear, not everyone was so lucky. She got out again, and much to her horror, students were running away (some of them unsuccessfully) from a bunch of Ventus Flytraps. All seemingly being but smaller parts of a giant one, which had captured in its vines even more students.
Her own creation... How did it get so horrible?
Just earlier today she was tending to it, it seemed just fine!
Though it had been acting kinda off the whole week... Especially after she talked about-!
Vine! Vine!
She barely managed to dodge roll away from it, quickly summoning her staff to fly up to the Flytrap.
Which was quick to notice her and try to hit her again, only for her to dodge its hits, flying between the vines.
Until she flied her way up to face it, her eyes narrowed in determination, filled with a green glow. And after making two spell circles, she lifted her hands, tightening the vines into knots and pulling them up, throwing the giant plant off-balance and uprooting it.
"No way!" Luz exclaimed in shock.
"Yes way." Willow countered crossing her arms with a proud expression.
"You really stopped a crazy plant rampage and we missed it?!"
"Eh, no big deal. You probably won't miss the next one."
"If you're lucky. You should've seen the look on Boscha's face when Willow pulled her out of a flytrap! Oh wait!" Gus said and created an illusion of Boscha's face, covered in plant-slobber.
All three of her eyes were widened, looking into space, her train of thought almost visible behind them, registering what just happened. Her lips were pulled backwards in a disgusted grimace, ready to let out a shrill whine any second-
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"
And then it popped out of existence, as the kids all burst into laughter.
"You really pulled her out?" Luz asked in between laughs. "I thought you'd leave her there."
"I would."
"Gus." Willow nudged him playfully, before responding to Luz. "Though I'll admit. I may've thought about it for a moment..."
"She's just lucky you're so nice." Gus added, nudging her back.
"And at least she won't be able to call you a half-a-witch again after that." Amity said, a bittersweet smile on her face.
She felt almost ashamed for saying... that again, considering how many times she heard others, or even herself, call her it. Especially since they still hadn't really talked about it. Since that whole... memory-erasing incident, they have been hanging out a couple times, always with Luz and Gus too of course and while it did feel nice being accepted in their group, she still found herself feeling a pang of guilt whenever a conversation was headed in that direction, or whenever she was alone with Willow.
One of those days they'd have to talk. If anything, she owed it to Willow. She deserved an honest apology and a proper closure.
"Aaanyway, how about you guys?" Gus asked quickly, before the silence could feel too long (or awkward). "You've gone radio-silent the last couple days. Anything interesting going on with your cohabitation?"
"Yeah. We want to hear about it too."
A voice was heard, before either of them could answer. A familiar, friendly voice-
"Hey, Mittens!" And then another one!
"Ed! Em!" Amity called out happily and ran over to hug her siblings.
"Sorry we took so long. My partner held us up." Edric said as they pulled away.
While Emira gave a deadpan look and then a smug smile. "He means he couldn't find the entry point Luz gave us and he almost got eaten by a locker."
"EM!" He whined, his face turning a little red from embarassment, as the others tried to keep themselves from laughing.
"Eh, there's nothing to be ashamed of." Luz piped up, as the siblings made their way to her and the others. "I almost got eaten by my locker too. Multiple times."
"Thank you, Luz."
"In any case," Emira turned to Amity, summoning a small duffel bag. "we brought you some clothes from the house. And some of your textbooks, since you're back to school."
"Thanks." The purple-haired witch smiled gratefully at her sister as she got the bag. However, her smile was quickly dropped. "Speaking of... How are things back there? Are you guys doing okay?"
"Well... Dad's basically missing from the house. More than usual, I mean. He spends all day in his lab, doesn't even come out for food most of the time. And Mom... you know how she is when she gets angry. But the worst thing we get is a headache from her screaming. If we plug our ears and have some tea, we're fine." Neither her expression nor her tone were really different from earlier, but Amity could've sworn that there was a strain in her voice, some underlying unease she knew far too well to hide. "But enough about that. How are you doing, sis?"
Luz and Amity exchanged a nervous look at this question.
They hadn't really thought about this... Could they tell them about how they had the Golden Guard staying with them for almost a week now?
Hunter made it clear that he didn't want anyone to know about this, but Willow and Gus could be trusted. And so could Ed and Em. So-
"Good! But, these last few days... have been a little crazy." Amity took the lead. But as she finished, she glanced over to Luz, as if she wanted to leave it up to her.
"Crazy how?" Willow asked.
"Crazy as in..." Luz started, still unsure. "Boiling rains and... visitors."
"Visitors, as in scouts again?"
"Yes and no. We also had Odalia pay us a visit. She was a lot to deal with..."
"When isn't she?" Amity added with a fed up look, before she carried on.
"And, before all of them... there was someone else."
"Did... Lilith come by?" Gus ventured, he and everyone else looking a bit perplexed.
"No, but uh... we have someone staying over at her old room. And weeeee... can't really say. They don't really want others to know about it."
"Oooo! Is it a celebrity?!" Edric asked excitedly, getting in Luz's face.
"Not exactly..." The purple-haired witch said, as she and her sister pulled him back. "Let's just say, they're a friend who got out of a bad situation and needs a place to crash."
"For now. We can ask them if they're okay with us telling you, guys. And if they are, maybe we could all hang out together." Luz said quickly and the others seemed to agree with her (even though Amity looked a bit unsure for a second).
She (herself) wasn't sure how much of this would be possible, but she wanted to believe it could happen. Hunter was still scared, but he had also shown interest in this whole 'being a kid' thing, something that she very much doubted he got to have in the emperor's coven. And what would be better than making and hanging out with friends?
...
I wonder how he and King are doing right now...
"So, after the babies are old enough, the dirt-snake just reverts to its regular size?" The Owl Lady's pet asked, lifting his head from his notebook.
"Yeah, but not right away." Hunter explained. "It's actually more of a process. As the babies grow and there's not much of a reason to contain them anymore, the mother slowly returns to her regular size."
"Mhmm... All right, done! Ready for my demon book!" He announced proudly, showing him a diagram of what he just described, with more detailed notes written under it.
The boy eyed it in curiosity, before turning to him again. "You're really serious about this? You're writing a demon book?"
"Yep. And it's about time I added something new." He went to the bookshelf and after shoving aside a couple books from the bottom shelf, he carefully brought out a notebook filled to the brim with drawings and notes about demons.
The moment he opened it, some of them even flew off.
Hunter watched, as the little demon flipped through the pages, looking for the right category to place the notes on the dirt-snakes. But at some point, his eyes fell on the books he had shoved off.
Curses, jinxes, hexes and various other ways to avenge your exes...?
And... one that had the Owl Lady's pet on the cover?
"Hey, what's that?" He asked, pointing at the book.
"Huh?" the demon turned towards it and the moment he saw it his eyes went wide. "That's uh... a book?"
"Yeah, I can see that. Is that you on the cover? They've written a book about you?"
"It's actually... me who wrote that book... with Luz." He answered, but compared to his demon book, he didn't seem very proud of that. If anything, he seemed nervous and awkward.
Hunter blinked at him in surprise, but as much as his curiosity was sparked, he didn't know if he should press on. Asking too many questions, especially to someone that didn't really want to answer... it never really ended well. So... maybe he could ask just one question. One very risky question...
"Can I... read it?"
...
He braced himself the moment the words left his mouth, but then-
"Uh, sure. I guess." The demon replied, eyeing him in confusion. A confusion Hunter shared.
He wasn't really expecting a... big outburst from him (conciously at least...), but he was still worried of encroaching, making things awkward again. And undoing everything...
And the reaction he got wasn't doing much to ease him. The Owl Lady's pet may have said it was okay, but he didn't really seem to mean it...
"Are you... sure? I won't if it-"
"Seriously, it's fine." King cut him off, but paused for a moment, noticing how nervous Hunter got. "I mean it's... it's not exactly my proudest moment, but half the Boiling Isles has read it already and they're probably still reading it too. Can't hurt if one more joins them." He handed him the book as he finished, before jumping on the other side of the couch. "... Hey, don't tell Luz I said that, but I think you'll like this one better than Azura."
"What?" He turned to him in surprise, making King smirk.
"Come on, I saw you yesterday. I could tell it wasn't really your thing."
Hunter looked away for a moment. He didn't say anything, but the look on his face was basically admitting that was true.
"And just so you know, that's okay. Not everything is for everyone. Eda's not a fan either. The girls aren't gonna be mad at you if you tell them that."
"I never said I thought-..." Hunter stopped himself. Indeed he didn't say it, but deep down he thought about it. "... I guess I just don't really like stories with chosen ones."
"Fair enough."
"Hey guys! We're hoooome!" Luz's voice was heard from downstairs and King all but bolted to the door.
Just as he opened it though, he stopped and turned back. "Hey? You coming?"
"...On my way." Hunter said with a smile, before grabbing a now awakened Flapjack and his cruch.
...
Three in the morning.
...
The girls were fast asleep in their sleeping bags and so was King in the dog-bed (first time Eda saw him actually use it).
And in the next room, Hunter also seemed to be asleep, his palisman nestled next to his head.
Good. All good.
Eda quietly got downstairs again (basically an expert now) an brought out her crow and the number Bump gave her. She dialed it and waited, feeling a drop of sweat falling from her face with every second of silence.
Why weren't they answering?
Were they asleep?
Did they change number again?
Did-
"Yes?" They answered (!). And they sounded pretty much awake."Hello?"
"...Hi, Raine." Eda said after a second. She tried to keep her voice stern, but despite her efforts some awkwardness did slip by. And some softness too.
"Eda?!" They exclaimed and she removed the crow from her ear for a moment.
Seriously? Third time? "Nice to hear you too." She dead-panned.
"Uh, sorry about that." They quickly apologized, but just as quickly got back on track. "H-how did you get this number?"
"What? You thought I wouldn't be onto you?" She asked in a smug teasing voice.
"What are you talking about?" They tried to hide it, but now they sounded nervous.
"Raine, come on. I know you were the captain that came here yesterday. You used our voice-altering potion, you defended me and my student against Odalia and before you left, you passed me a note to be careful." She waited for a moment and when they didn't say anything, she spoke again. "...Tell me what's going on."
...
...
Raine still wasn't saying anything, but she thought she could hear voices from the other side. Unfortunately, they were too distant and quiet to make out whose they were or what they were saying.
Did someone walk into them?
Did they get caught?!
...!
Hold on...
...
...
"Tell... ...!
"Do I... -er about you...?"
"Do a-... ...! Just... give u-... -oy."
"... ...two ou-... ...-e handle..."
"Ugh... Fi-..."
...What was-?
"Eda? Are you still there?" Raine's voice was suddenly heard again. This time loud and clear.
"Yeah, I'm here. Did something happen?" She asked, more curious than anything.
"No it's okay, I just... had to discuss something with... Darius."
"At three in the morning?"
"Well, it is a pretty reasonable hour if you're plotting a rebellion."
"That's true- Wait, what?!" Now it was Eda who yelled at the crow, covering her mouth immediately. She went to look over the staircase, to make sure she didn't wake anyone up.
...
Nothing.
Oh, thank Titan...
"Eda? Eda, did you faint?" Raine called at her from the other side of the crow.
"I nearly did." She answered, after breathing a sigh of relief, and went back to the living room. "You serious about this? You guys plan a rebellion?"
"What? You could figure out the voice-altering potion and this is a surprise to you?" They teased her in the same sug tone she had before.
And she couldn't help but smile (and blush) at this. "Yeah yeah, laugh it up..."
And they did. She had almost forgotten how much she missed their laugh... "It's okay. And speaking of, it wasn't me yesterday, actually. It was Darius." But they quickly got serious again.
"And why did he come here? Just to pass me that note?"
"No, not just for that." They paused for a moment. Eda thought she could hear them take a breath. "Eda, we know the Golden Guard's with you."
...!
Eda stood up at that. Her eyes widened and her stomach dropped.
"...What... What are you talking about?" That was all she could manage to say, her voice barely staying steady and her mind racing.
How did they know that?
Did anyone else know?
Did Belos know?!
Were the-
"Please, don't play dumb with me and please don't worry." Raine said, their reassuring voice snapping her out of her thoughts. "No one else knows this but us. And head-witch Eberwolf, but he's with us, so it's okay."
Head-witch Eberwolf? Wasn't he head-witch of the beast-keeping coven-!
"The dirt-snake...!" She breathed, realization dawning on her face.
"Yeah, that's how we know."
"...And what's it to you?" She asked as she sat back down, her heartbeat finally slowing down.
"I want to ask you... to give him to us."
And the shock on her face returned. "What?"
"We need him for the rebellion. He was Belos' right hand for years, think of what information he could give us. We could finally learn if Belos is planning something, we could learn his weaknesses and take him out for good-"
"No."
"...What?" Now it was Raine who got shocked.
"Raine, I hear you and believe me, no one would want to get rid of the emperor any more than me, but... I can't do that. Not right now at least."
"...Eda, please reconsider. He could be our chance to defeat Belos-"
"He's a child that's been through hell! And I won't force him to go through it again." She cut them off again, this time a bit more intensely. But then she took a breath and lowered her tone again. "You weren't here to see at what state he was in when we took him in. And I'm not just talking about his physical state. He's not ready yet to deal with Belos again, in whatever way that may be."
Once again, they were silent for a while. "...I understand. But it's not just that."
Eda opened her mouth, but Raine carried on before she could utter a word.
"Please, hear me out first. Ever since the Golden Guard left, Belos has had three coven heads work on something. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but he's too impatient about it, just as impatient as he is with the searches. For all we know he could send scouts at your doorstep again and this time we probably won't be able to be with them. We can keep the boy safe."
This time Eda didn't speak, part of her actually considering this.
Hunter was determined to leave once at least his leg was healed. Having him go somewhere he'd be surely safe was better than just letting him go... wherever. Especially if his palisman was still injured. But... then again...
Aaaaand cliffhanger ending! Honestly though, it wasn't really planned but it came out much bigger than I had in mind. Not that it's a first in this story. Well, this is the part where I say goodbye for now, hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Please leave a review and stay safe. Byeeee! :)