Chapter 8

Two days have passed, but Philip hardly noticed as he scribbled furiously in a notepad. He sat in the basement of his forgotten childhood home. Darker circles hung under his eyes while a sea of paper surrounded him. The majority of the left side of his face was covered in the green substance.

On his left, stacks of paper lay on top of one another, holding correct calculations for the portal he had agreed to make for Luz and her disgusting friends. But far off from him lay a pile of crumpled papers he deemed incorrect after hours of reviewing every equation.

He picked up one of the closest papers by him with the details he had written and, after scanning through it, his face twisted in anger. With a frustrated growl, he ripped the page he was at the present working on and crumpled it up before throwing it with the discarded group.

He leaned against the wall behind him, closing his eyes with an annoyed sigh as his head ached from lack of sleep and stress.

Creating the new portal was going to be difficult, especially as he couldn't remember every exact detail, and finding alternate ways in making it - since they wouldn't be able to find all the necessary materials in the human world - was going to be a challenge.

Yes, he had invented the portal, but that was many years ago… And yes… he had within the year fixed it up after Luz had destroyed it, so the logic behind creating it was fresh in his head but fixing something was a far easier task than creating something from scratch. At least, for him it was…

Creating such a portal was dangerous, especially if he didn't do it with complete precision.

What made him worry to a degree as well was the fact the portal required titan blood, and coming across that in the Boiling Isles was almost impossible, so finding it in the human world now may be unattainable as well…

What if… they couldn't find the titan blood…?

What if… everything he was doing right now was pointless?

Philip mentally told himself not to waste his time doubting things. He had to build a portal to get them back to the Boiling Isles so he could complete his life mission. And his body deforming was a constant reminder that he was risking losing control again.

Knowing he may lose control like a mindless beast only added to the heavy pressure he was dealing with.

After a few minutes, he found himself almost lose consciousness, which made him force his eyes open and himself to sit up, determined to stay awake.

Philip couldn't let himself sleep now, not when he believed he was close to getting the logic behind creating the portal down.

With the weight of exhaustion, he looked at the stairwell across from him as he tried to run numbers in his head before he saw the room shift to how it used to be before the witches covered it with walls of green and purple and saw a man walking downstairs with an enraged face, dragging a small, wailing child along.

Dread filled his chest before he glanced away from the stairwell and turned back down to the notepad on his lap. His mutated hand clutched the pen and proceeded to write down anything to keep his mind from seeing things he didn't want to see…

He wasn't entirely sure who the man was, but something was telling him he had to do with why he had a terrible feeling about the basement…

"He doesn't eat?" Gus asked Hunter while both were making themselves their favorite human sandwich for breakfast, peanut butter and jelly ones.

"Nope," Hunter responded, passing Gus the knife after he finished spreading the peanut butter on one of his slices of bread. Gus, in return, handed Hunter the knife for the strawberry jelly. "He doesn't eat anything. Well… except… palisman…" the boy mumbled with annoyance.

"Right…" Gus let out a shudder at imagining Belos devouring a palisman.

Two days ago, they tricked Belos into believing they had made an everlasting oath with him. He had told them he needed things to write with so he could figure out how they would make the portal to the Boiling Isles.

They gave him notepads and pens to work with for now.

Two days, he had said he would take to have everything written for them, so they could start collecting items they need to build the portal.

"Do you think we'll be able to create a portal with, well, human stuff?" the young boy asked Hunter, who was twisting the lids to seal the jars.

"He's a terrible man, but… he's a genius," Hunter said, even though he hated to admit it.

"But the human world has changed a lot," Gus pointed out; he had found out the time frame Belos had left the human world based on the memories Belos had. "He's been gone for… centuries. I wonder if the new technology that humans have made can be taken into consideration by what Belos can use to create the portal."

"That's a good point," Hunter said before taking a bite of his sandwich.

"And don't forget, niños," Camila came into the kitchen before pacing between the room and the living room, stuffing things she needed into her bag. "No talking to Belos till I'm back home," she pointed at everyone to emphasize she was serious, making the boys nod right away.

"Si, mamá…" Luz sighed as she and Vee walked down the stairs and out of the entrance door with their own backpacks. Both looked up as they heard a honk from a grey car.

"Oh, sorry Luz, I forgot to tell you," Vee said with an apologetic look. "Masha said they will give us a ride."

"Well, that's sweet of them," Camila said before walking to her own car. She gave Luz a stern look. "I'm serious Luz. Do not talk to him before I get back."

Luz looked down at the ground, hands tightening around her bag's straps.

"I won't mamá… I promise," she did her best not to groan at repeating herself.

"Good," Camila's shoulders relaxed. Though, internally, she was freaking out about leaving the kids in the house alone. Well, she didn't trust Luz. She knew her very well… Especially since her daughter was desperate to do the right thing for everyone. But, unfortunately, she couldn't continue to skip work. "I'll see you niños later," she gave Luz a comforting smile, then went into her car.

Luz watched without saying a word as her mother pulled out of the driveway before driving off down the road. Then, almost dragging her feet to Masha's car, she eventually got inside at the back of the car while Vee got into the passenger's seat with a hint of a blush across her cheeks.

Vee smiled at Masha. "Thanks, Masha," she said.

"Don't worry about it," Masha said with their usual relaxed smile. "Why wouldn't I give my friend, who I made friends with during summer thinking to be Luz and who ended up being the mysterious long-lost twin sister that just popped out of the earth, a ride to school?" they asked with amusement, making Vee let out a nervous laugh as she tried melting into the seat.

Luz tuned the two out as she looked through the window as the car drove away from her house.

Amity watched her girlfriend leave with Vee through Luz's room window. She turned to Willow, who was doing some push-ups.

Even if they were stuck on earth, Willow would not let herself go easy. She told Amity that she sometimes felt guilty if she skipped a day of working out. Amity could relate what she meant by that, as she also sometimes felt guilty when she wasn't reading a new book every week herself.

"I wish we could go to school with them," Amity sighed, laying down on one mattress on the ground. "But I guess we can continue watching that anime Luz wants us to finish."

"Just 211 episodes left," Willow remarked with amusement as she stood up.

Amity raised a fist while her eyes narrowed with determination.

"I will watch them all no matter what…" she said before she let her arm drop. Both girls glanced at the door as they heard someone knock on it. "Come in," Amity called out.

Hunter and Gus walked in; the four usually hung together in a room when Luz and Vee left for school, unless the boys were too busy watching some sort of space nerdy show in the basement.

"How much do you want to bet he will somehow find a loophole to our 'oath'." Amity began as she sat up. The boys sat crossed legged on the carpeted floor.

"Well, if he tries anything, then we will just beat him down," Willow said, punching a fist to her other open palm.

"He's still stronger than us," Hunted said with a frown. "But I guess as long as he thinks the everlasting oath was real, he will play along with us."

"I think he also wants to go back to the Boiling Isles though," Gus said, making everyone look at him in confusion.

"If you think about it, he agreed to work with us a bit too… fast," Gus said. "I expected him to, I don't know, say no since we're witches, cause, you know, he hates witches… I know he probably is doing it mostly for Luz's palisman egg, but we're gaining more from him with this oath."

"Yeah, I guess I also expected him to slash Luz's face when she proposed the deal at first," Amity admitted. "Well, if Belos is slowly losing control of his cursed form, then I guess he's going to want to return to the Boiling Isles for a cure, for sure."

"What if… he loses control before we finish the portal?" Gus hesitantly asked.

Everyone was silent at Gus' concern; the boy brought up a completely valid point.

Vee draining Belos' tainted magic was one way to keep Belos stable, but it was pretty risky for Vee. They didn't want to find out how what so much drained tainted magic could do to the girl.

Also, Belos devouring one of their palisman was also out of the question.

So… yeah, Belos losing control of his mind would ruin their chances of getting back home forever… and was something they should probably worry about.

"Well, let's hope he figures out how to make the portal and we finish making it before he loses control," Willow said.

"So… should we like… check on him, then?" Gus asked.

Hunter frowned.

"Camila said not to till she was back," the older boy said.

"I know she said that, but what if he lost control and ran off?" Gus asked. "We should probably make sure he's not losing it."

"He's fine." Hunter said stubbornly. "And if he's busy figuring out how to make the portal here, he's going to not want us bothering him. He doesn't enjoy being interrupted when he's inventing something or figuring something out." His gaze glazed over as he looked away from his friends as he recalled certain things.

In the past, he had found Belos tinkering with devices, or drawing out sketches for future inventions in his laboratory countless times. Most of those times, Belos would ask the boy to leave, since he was too 'busy' to be distracted by anyone.

He wasn't lying to Gus when he told him Belos was a genius. And to be honest, Hunter wanted to be like his 'uncle'. To have the ability to invent things. To create technology that could interact with magic so well.

There were very rare moments when Belos let him join, but just to hand him certain tools while he worked silently on a machine.

But with either scenario, Belos just always acted like what mattered was his machines in that room. Hunter didn't exist there to Belos, even if he was… physically there.

'Cause you're just a grimwalker,' Hunter mentally told himself. 'You're just one of his inventions… a failed one at that… why would he have wanted to pay attention to you?'

Willow walked over to sit next to him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. She could tell from his expression he was remembering something probably traumatic relating to Belos. So, she tried to comfort him as best as she could while Gus observed him without saying a word, feeling bad for triggering certain memories in Hunter.

Eventually, everyone seemed to agree not to check on Belos.

The group spent time together for about an hour before they split in two. Amity and Willow watched some anime while Gus and Hunter went on to watch some episodes of their favorite human show for a few hours. Eventually it was the afternoon. Willow was watching some videos online about the national parks in America. Amity was with Hunter - who was showing off his stitching that had gotten better. He had picked up the hobby a few months ago, though he barely practiced since he would feel too depressed to do anything.

Gus had told everyone he was going to sit in the living room and read a book he had found in Camila's closet. Well, to the naked eye, Gus looked like he was sitting on the couch reading like he said he would, with his palisman napping next to him. But of course, the boy sneaked out of the back of the house, leaving an illusion in the living room of himself behind.

"It's official. Luz has been too much of an influence for me," he told himself as he ran through the forest before finding himself in front of the old worn-out house.

"Just check if he's okay and then leave… that's all you have to do," he said out loud, trying not to feel terrible about disobeying Camila. Gus couldn't help but feel slightly worried that Philip had lost control again and was long gone. Especially since he wanted to see his dad again, which required Philip to not go crazy.

He looked over his shoulder, making sure none of his friends had followed him before pushing the door open, the sound of it creaking echoing through the empty house.

The boy sighed to himself. So much for trying to sneak in. Most likely, Philip heard the door open.

He took a moment to focus before his body turned invisible in case Philip had lost control of himself and was in the house ready to jump him.

Gus shut the door behind him and made his way through the house silently, keeping his eyes wide open, checking his surroundings.

The house was cold and quiet…

He didn't check the second floor, and instead decided to check the basement first since it was the last place he saw the man. As he descended the stairs, he heard the scratching of what he presumed was a pen on paper and eventually found himself facing the older man, who was sitting on the other side of the room.

Gus relaxed to see Philip looked almost the same as the day Amity made the 'oath' with him, except for the fact his long hair was disheveled, hanging in greasy strands around a face that looked slightly pale.

Though… the left side of the face was covered in the green curse….

And the bags under his eyes looked darker, too…

Gus also noticed the crumpled paper balls near his feet. There were so many scattered around. His eyes flicked to the notepad in the old man's lap and noticed the way the man's left hand would shake a bit.

"Well… you're already here so…" Gus whispered to himself with a sigh, pushing himself to do something about the scene before him.

He dropped the invisibility illusion over himself and approached Philip.

"You haven't slept these past two days, have you?" the boy dared to ask.

Philip continued jotting down on his notepad, completely ignoring the boy.

Gus stepped closer, but still made sure he had a suitable distance in case he had to dodge for an attack.

"Hunter said you don't really eat anything, but I've seen you sleep," he said. "You know, people usually have a better chance of solving things after having a good night's rest." the boy pointed out as he could tell Philip was having a hard time with making the detailed plans for the portal based on the clutter in the room.

Philip stopped writing on the notepad. He looked up and fixed his gaze on Gus, his eyes narrowed into a piercing glare.

Gus tried not to shrink, as he remembered Hunter telling them how Philip did not like being interrupted while he was working on something.

"I've lived for centuries… you stupid witch…" Philip said coldly. The wrinkles on his face seemed to deepen as his expression turned to one of disdain. "I've invented and created things that would leave your petty brain in the dust. Do you really think you should be giving me advice…?" he sneered.

Gus stood his ground, undeterred by the old man's rude demeanor.

Though the man's words stung.

The boy took a moment to respond in a way that could show Belos he wasn't just a stupid 'witch'.

"Well… I think it's safe for me to assume you never experienced the challenge of upholding your humanity while simultaneously attempting to construct a complex structure such as a magical portal, all while your physical, super old, state is wracked by exhaustion due to lack of sleep?" Gus asked evenly.

Philip continued to glare at the boy, saying nothing as a response.

Gus stood tall, trying his best not to gloat with amusement at Philip's silence.

He bet the old man wasn't expecting such an articulate point coming from him.

There was a reason the boy had skipped grades in school.

He was far from stupid.

Maybe naïve at times…

But not stupid.

"Well?" Gus prodded, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Philip's glare darkened, but he still said nothing, his lips tightly pressed together.

"You know I'm right," Gus said, before deciding not to mock the man more. "But really, man, you should probably sleep a bit."

"I'm not weak like the rest of you," He hissed, making Gus confused. "I've gone through longer periods of time without sleep and was able to finish what I had to do."

One of Philip's memories that Gus had seen raced through his head. A young Philip, exhausted from lack of sleep, knelt on the hard wooden floor, his knees sunk into the grain of rice that blanketed the surface. Despite the discomfort, he had remained motionless, his eyes closed in prayer and his hands folded in front of him. The room was silent, save for the soft whisper of his lips as he recited his prayers while someone behind him was observing him, as if making sure he didn't stop.

"I'm sure you have," Gus said in a more understanding tone after the memory had stopped playing in his head. "But just cause you've endured terrible things in the past doesn't mean you should continue doing it. You can only handle so much, and honestly, man, I'm surprised you still have so much fight in you after… so much has happened to you, especially when you were younger..."

Philip furrowed his eyebrows as if he was confused, replaying the boy's words in his head to make sure he had heard correctly. Slowly, he stiffened.

His eyes narrowed at the boy.

"What do you mean… especially when I was younger…?" Philip's voice was low and dangerous. His mind pieced things together, now realizing why the memories he had long shoved away from his terrible upbringing were lingering in his head as if they've happened recently.

The boy had been in his head…

The boy had yanked the memories back to the surface.

Realizing his mistake, Gus mentally kicked himself for slipping up and let out a nervous smile as he stepped back a bit, rubbing the back of his head a bit.

"Well… I…" he stammered, and his mind raced as Belos got on his feet, his eyes flashing with a dark and dangerous blue. The notepad and pen were forgotten on the ground.

"How… dare you…?" Philip hissed through his sharp teeth. His fingertips turned into sharp like claws.

"Look, let me explain," Gus quickly said with wide eyes, getting into a defensive stance.

The boy was beginning to think coming alone was a terrible mistake.

He should have brought Willow with him, at least.

"You are the reason why I -" Philip cut himself from revealing more. Revealing why he was seeing things more than usual, why he couldn't stop the memories from haunting him.

"I didn't mean to look." Gus raised both his hands up to show he was harmless as Philip's shoulders were shaking with what he assumed was rage. "I swear, I was only trying to-"

"I don't want to hear it, you disgusting, filthy witch!" Philip cut in with a roar before one of his arms shot out at Gus from afar.

Gus quickly threw himself to the side and quickly turned himself invisible again.

Philip pulled his arm back and was about to jump in the direction where he last seen the boy, but then he stopped dead in his tracks, as he saw a shadow of a tall man looming over him. The room was as cold and dark as it used to be centuries ago.

'You are no child of mine,' the dark, familiar, voice hissed. 'You stupid, vile child!' the shadow raised a hand as if to lash at him.

Philip stepped abruptly back, slamming against the wall as he threw his hands over his head.

"It's not real," he told himself with desperation to snap the hallucination as his eyes shut in pain. His heart began to pound painfully against his chest as he tried to stay calm.

Screams of a child screeched from the walls.

'Please, daddy!' Philip heard a child plead. 'I didn't mean to!'

"It's not real," he told himself again as the screams seemed to get louder just as his body began to convulse.

No…

The green substance that already claimed much of his left side was now expanding, seeking to take over his entire left side.

This couldn't be happening…

He was losing control again!

He desperately tried fighting against the inevitable spread of the curse. The veins in his neck bulged underneath his collar, and his body shook to maintain control of his own body as he fell to his knees.

'Just give in,' the dark voice in his head hissed, his heart pounding painfully hard against his chest as he tried to stay calm.

'Go back to hell, you evil child!' the voice from the man roared as darkness was suffocating him.

'Dad, stop!' another voice of a different child screamed.

"Philip!"

The old man barely heard his name called through the screaming that filled in his head.

"Philip, you have to fight it," Gus said, kneeled next to the old man who's breathing was ragged.

The boy had rushed forward, without a care for his safety.

Philip's eyes were squeezed shut as he tried to keep the noises out of his head, to keep the curse at bay.

"Come on, man, breathe," Gus instructed. "You got to breathe."

'Stop hurting him!'

Philip groaned, his body convulsing as he tried to resist the curse's pull and at the same time tried getting air into his tight lungs.

"I can't..." he gasped out, his voice barely audible.

In Gus' mind, the memory of Hunter, having one of the panic attacks of his own back at Luz's house, replayed in his mind.

'You're okay, Hunter, just breathe,' Gus whispered to his friend as Willow had her arms wrapped around the blonde, who was shaking and gasping for air.

'I… can't…' the blond sobbed to Willow's chest.

'Yes,' Gus had said firmly in the memory as well as in person next to Philip. "Yes, you can. You've done it before."

Philip continued to struggle to stop his heart from hammering against his chest. He tried to focus on his breathing as his clawed hands grabbed on to his head hard.

"That's it, breathe" Gus encouraged. His hands hovered a bit on the old man, not sure if he should touch him or not. "Listen to my voice and just breathe with me," Gus instructed in a calming tone, his own breathing even and slow. "Inhale, hold it for a few seconds, then exhale. Do it with me."

Philip, despite his initial resistance, followed the witch's breathing pattern, trying to find comfort in the familiar and controlled rhythm, distracted enough to ignore the dark voice in his head that tried to grasp him, enough to not let the screaming suffocate him.

He gritted his teeth, summoning every ounce of willpower he had to push the curse back as well once the air was getting into his lungs without causing him too much pain.

The screaming in the basement and the pain in his body began to fade away. The convulsing coming to a halt. His clawed hands retreated to how they were before his outburst.

After a while of just focusing on his breathing, Philip found himself completely drained, but at least his heartbeat was once again steady, and the curse wasn't spreading.

Besides his ragged breathing, the room was finally silent.

"Man… that was close." Philip heard the boy say.

His eyes opened slowly. Through his long strands of messy hair, he saw the roots and the purple layers were back up on the walls. He then met Gus' small smile.

"You got me nervous there," The boy emitted a small chuckle, relieved Philip was able to keep in control.

To be honest, Gus was terrified that things would have probably ended bad for him if the cruse took over completely.

He decided he had to be more careful what he does around Philip.

And probably he should start with…

"Sorry for making you mad," the boy let out, still resting on his knees by the old man. "And I'm sorry for… well… I swear I wasn't trying to snoop into your past. I was just trying to find out how we could create the portal ourselves…" the boy admitted.

Philip just stared, with eyes that felt too tired to keep open, at the boy, completely lost at the words that were coming out of the boy's mouth.

"But yah, just wanted to say sorry," Gus continued, with sincerity in his voice.

Sorry…

The only times Philip has heard an apology from a witch were from those who feared him or from those that were trying to desperately trying to gain his approval for their own benefit.

And never has he heard an apology when he was at his weakest points…

Back when he was fresh in the Boiling Isles, he had been thrown around and mocked by countless witches for being so weak. Not once did anyone apologize for antagonizing him.

And here he was now, completely exhausted, his limbs too heavy to move, vulnerable to lose control if the curse decided to act out again and instead of the boy mocking him, he was apologizing for looking at his memories.

Philip looked away, trying to ignore the desperate need to know why the boy felt the need to be sorry. Witches weren't empathic creatures… He also tried to ignore the shame that he felt for once again looking like a pathetic mess in front of the child.

After fighting off the curse and enduring one of his terrible 'attacks', all he wanted to do now was sleep…

But…

Philip saw a brief image of the same man… lying on the ground. A leg was lying on a bad angle, a pool of blood surrounded the brown-haired head. Familiar blue dull eyes stared at him.

Right…

Philip remembered who the man was.

Remembered what happened in the basement…

"I… can't sleep here…" Philip muttered, hating to admit it. He closed his eyes, trying to block the image of the last memory he had of the man he had long forgotten about…

He tried to forget the reason Caleb hid the door to the basement from Philip when they were kids.

Gus observed Philip, feeling a bit bad at his current state. He recalled how Philip's expression had shifted from anger to terror before the curse's outburst, as if he had seen something that haunted him to the core.

The boy wondered if Philip suffered from hallucinations.

Or if the curse was also messing with the man's head.

He wanted to ask Philip what he had seen in the room to cause him so much distress, but… he decided he shouldn't push the older man right now.

Gus looked around at their surroundings. The house was from Philip's childhood. Even if the room was covered in roots and purple substance, he wondered if being inside the house was causing Philip problems.

Which, of course, wasn't going to cause anyone any good if Philip continues the way he is…

Gus was silent, deep in thought, before he thought of something.

Something that he wasn't sure who was going to hate more, Philip or his friends, but… they honestly didn't have any options right now.

Oh, how the boy was going to have to mentally prepare himself for what he had to do next in order to return home and see his father again…

Author's after notes:

just want to let anyone know you can read this also in archive of our own~