Chapter 15
Philip slept soundly on the rest of the time just as his right arm had fully healed and the bruises on his face had faded. Camila couldn't help but feel envious of how quickly his body mended itself, and at the same time, feel a bit worried about that as well. Strangely though, like a few of the kids in the house, she wasn't concerned that Philip posed any harm to them for now.
To keep the kids occupied, Camila ordered a round of pizza on Saturday evening and set up a movie on the television in the basement. However, Luz sat slumped on the end of the couch, her cheek resting against her hand and a look of frustration etched across her face.
Camila eyed her daughter and took a mental note to talk to her privately alone later, especially later once the group had a serious conversation about their current situations; Philip possibly fully healed and the threat that they now had outside of their walls.
The group had decided to keep Philip in the house for now and she assumed Luz wasn't so happy about the decision.
She rose from her seat to refill the water pitcher and made her way upstairs. Passing through the living room, Camila was surprised to find Philip sitting upright, his half-lidded eyes staring blankly ahead to where the other television used to be.
The man still looked tired, even though he had been getting longer hours of sleep. She wondered he wanted to shave off the the beard and moustache that was growing on his face since it made him look more exhausted.
She felt slightly nervous seeing him awake, but still approached him.
"How are you feeling?" she asked as she stood a good distance from him on an angle.
Philip's body tensed up from either her question or presence. Camila wasn't entirely sure, but she took notice of how he was not looking at her.
"Is your head still buzzing?" she asked, wearily at his strange behavior.
"No," he responded curtly, his tone devoid of any warmth.
"I see your bruises are gone now too," she commented, which made him turn his face away from her, his brows furrowing in frustration.
Camila sighed. It seemed to her she would never have a simple interaction with the man.
She moved so she could stand across from him, on the other side of the coffee table, which made Philip straightened up, but still avoided meeting her gaze.
"Philip," she began, her voice gentle, but firm. "I know you're not the best at being honest with anyone, but… could you try to be with me, just for now?" she asked as she studied Philip's eyes slightly narrow to a random spot in the room. "Should I be concerned about you hurting us?"
There was still no response from Philip, and Camila felt a knot form in her stomach, but she still pressed on, determined to protect the children.
"Look, I know you're angry about what happened in the basement," she said. "And we're all sorry for it. But you can't hold it against us so much since… well…" she didn't want to really finish the sentence as she had a feeling it would make the man defensive, especially as she noticed how his jaw clenched. So, instead, she tried to talk to him in a different approach. "I know you don't trust me, but you can talk to me if you want to, about what happened," she said, since the details about Gus about what happened in the forest could traumatize many people, and she doubted Philip came out of it mentally fine. "It must have been scary to have been attacked suddenly like that."
"I wasn't afraid," Philip sneered with annoyance, clearly not liking the implication that he could be mentally vulnerable.
Camila tried not to roll her eyes. Of course, God forbid she believed he could feel anything else other than anger.
"Alright, but I don't think you appreciated being put in that position, were you?" she asked, and this time he didn't respond. "Philip," Camila said, calmly. "Could you look at me?"
Philip seemed hesitant, but slowly turned his face towards her, but his eyes still looked to the side. Camila slowly realized he kind of looked uncomfortable. Then she saw a shade of pink crossed his cheeks and he quickly turned away in frustration.
"I could have taken care of myself," Philip muttered, his tone sharp. "I didn't need your help."
Camila blinked at his words. And then it hit her - he was embarrassed. She mentally slapped herself for not realizing sooner why he was avoiding eye contact with her. The memory of the previous night flooded her mind, and she felt a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips.
It made sense; she thought to herself. He was so extreme when it came to pleasing God and following the 'righteous' path in a way - even though the way he was going about it was wrong and messed up - that it was possible an unmarried man letting any woman see so much skin was not appropriate in his eyes. He possibly never even had a woman tenderly touch him that way too since Philip was only focused on his 'mission'.
She didn't think he had anything to be embarrassed about, especially since she saw nothing below his waist.
"No, you couldn't have," she spoke up softly, hoping to ease his discomfort. Others would have for sure teased him for acting like such a prude, but Camila was not so cruel. "You shouldn't feel embarrassed about needing help like that, Philip. Nurses in hospitals help their patients with that kind of thing all the time. And I'm a doctor, too - well, an animal doctor, but still a doctor. So, just see what I did as a doctor helping a patient."
Her explanation made his shoulders ease up a bit, but he continued to avoid looking at her. Which made Camila sigh, wondering now if he was going to be avoiding her like the plague.
"Okay, well, I also wanted to talk to you about something else," she said, bracing herself for some negative reactions from him. "Now that you seem to be looking better, I wanted to talk to you about Hunter." Philip frowned, but Camila continued. "I did say you could only come back to the house if you apologized to him. Wait, let me finish," she said when Philip opened his mouth to probably argue with her. "And since you're never really going to actually give him an honest apology, we decided as a group you should work on a puzzle with Hunter."
Philip finally looked at her as if she had grown a second head.
"A puzzle?" he repeated incredulously.
Camila nodded. "Yes, a jigsaw puzzle. It's a fun activity. It's pretty simple, really. You have a bunch of pieces, and you have to figure out how to connect them and once you do, you end up having an art piece of some sort. And who knows, maybe you'll even enjoy it too."
Philip stared at her with no emotion before his nose scrunched up.
"What… makes you think… I'm going to work on a puzzle with that thing…?" he spat out the last word, his disgust clear.
Camila glared at him. "Philip… don't start with me," she warned. "Remember, this is my house, and I want you to respect the boy. So, yes, I'm adding a second rule. I want you to respect the boy as you would with a human child," she hoped badly that he actually respected human children, even though he clearly disliked Luz. "It's just a puzzle Philip..."
Philip looked away; his jaw clenched in anger.
"No."
Camila took a deep breath, trying to suppress her frustration, knowing changing Philip's mind about Hunter was not an easy process. And she couldn't help but feel the anger she had before with him when he was cruel to Hunter the other day.
"You're unbelievable, you know that?" Camila remarked, her voice tight with irritation. "I'm not asking you to move the moon for us, Philip."
Again, no response.
Fine, if he was going to be that way, then she would do the same thing later.
"Also, you should not leave the house for a few days," she said. "Since we're not sure what or who we're dealing with. We don't want whoever was behind the attack to know where we are living. So, no looking for Titan's blood for now."
Philip let out an annoyed sigh, but strangely, prohibited from looking for Titan's blood didn't anger him as much. He didn't have the energy still to go digging up more holes. He craved to sleep more.
Camila eyed him before she continued. "Yeah, I know, not the news you were hoping to hear, but we need to be cautious. We aren't sure how dangerous these people can be."
"Next time, I won't be caught off guard," Philip said coldly.
"Philip…" Camila attempted to adopt a grave demeanor so he could take her seriously. "If the public finds out about you and the kids, there is no telling what will happen to you guys. Humans are dangerous, especially when they're afraid of the uncertain," she said. "But I think you probably know that, since you, alone, almost managed to annihilate an entire race…"
Philip gave her an annoyed side glance.
"And I'm not sure if you realized it by now, but to others, you're not human anymore," she said calmly. "They won't care what you have done for them or for 'God'. So, you should probably be afraid of how humans may react when they find out about you…"
Philip glared at her for a moment before looking away again.
"Pues, that's all I have to say to you," Camila sighed. "And if you change your mind about working on that puzzle with Hunter, let me know, but if you don't, then I'll leave you be." She walked away simply to fill the water pitcher in the kitchen.
Philip leaned back on the couch, glaring up at the ceiling while he heard the water running before it stopped. He then heard Camila walk past the living room before leaving him alone.
She said he was unbelievable, yet here she had tried to make him sit down in the same room as Hunter and work on some sort of puzzle as if they were a family.
Philip also couldn't help but dislike the nerve of her to say he wasn't human anymore.
'But you're not,' the dark voice hissed, which made Philip shut his eyes, hands curling into fists on his sides.
"What do you mean, they're coming over?" Philip heard Luz ask someone in the hallway after he heard countless footsteps coming up from the basement.
"They want to talk to me about something," Vee said as she went over to the front door. "I told them we could talk on the phone, but they said nope, they really wanted to do it in person and something about how it can't wait," she was tugging on her jacket and shoes.
"Pero, mija, you can't leave the house right now," Camila said. "Everyone's supposed to stay in for at least the next few days."
"But we can't have them come over," Vee said as her eyes flicked to the blanket that was locking the view to the living room.
"Masha is human," Gus reassured Vee. "Philip won't harm them."
"But they're not like what Philip is used to," Luz pointed out with a frown.
"Just take them upstairs to your room," Camila suggested as she assumed Philip wouldn't leave the living room.
"I guess…" Vee said just as she heard a knock on the door.
Vee's stomach fluttered with excitement and nerves as she exhaled the breath she didn't realize she was holding. She had no clue what Masha wanted to talk to her about, but it must be crucial if they couldn't wait until Monday.
"Could you guys… hum…" Vee asked, gesturing to them as they were crowding the hallway.
"Oh, right, sorry," Willow chuckled before everyone dispersed to the basement. Though Camila and Luz leaned against the door to the hallway, to kind of spy on Vee because of curiosity.
Vee opened the door to find Masha giving her the usual casual smile they usually wore.
"Hey Vee," they said. "I know this is last minute, but this cannot wait for even a second more. It's been nagging in my mind for so long."
"Oh, yeah?" Vee let out as her cheeks blushed, wondering what could have been bothering Masha that would lead them to talk to her. She stepped aside to let them come in.
"Should I take my shoes off?" Masha asked.
"Yeah, please."
With a swift motion, Masha freed herself from her boots before their eyes fixated on the looming blanket that served as a gateway to another room. As they peered at the makeshift entrance, they noticed how haphazardly the black tape had been used to secure it in place, with each strip at a different angle. Masha felt an irresistible urge to grab a chair and straighten the tape, so it looked aligned. They also wondered why Vee and her family had a blanket up to block the living room.
"Let's go upstairs," Vee said.
"Oh, is your mom home?" Masha asked.
"Yeah, she's in the basement with Luz and our, hum, cousins," Vee quickly went with.
"I should probably say hello, so I don't seem rude," Masha said.
"Oh, hum, sure," Vee rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah, let me go get her then." She was about to walk down to the door to the basement before her body froze as Philip emerged from the other side of the blanket.
Masha looked up at the towering older man with long messy white hair, transfixed by his piercing blue eyes, when they met Masha's gaze. What truly captivated them was the strange green substance that laid on his left cheek across his nose, as if it was a wound, and the tiny green horns protruded from his head.
Masha stood, staring, but their friend Vee sprang into action, interposing herself between Masha and Philip.
"Mom!" she shouted urgently, and just at that second Camila ran out of the door with a worried look before her eyes widened to see Philip standing there, eyes locked on Masha.
"Philip, what are you doing?" Camila demanded as Philip narrowed his eyes at her this time.
"I will not stand by and watch this disgusting demon taint a human," he said coldly.
Vee frantically waved her arms as if trying to shield Masha from what they had just witnessed and heard.
"My great uncle, he is so funny," she said with a nervous laugh.
"Oh, dios mio, ayudame," Camila sighed to the heavens before she quickly went to Philip and shoved him back into the room - she was actually surprised she was able to push him back.
"Unhand me!" Vee and Masha heard the man say sternly to Camila on the other side.
"Philip, I don't want to hear a single word from your mouth at this moment," Camila fired back and in that moment, Vee took the opportunity to grab Masha's hand and quickly lead her up the stairs and into her room. She didn't realize Masha had looked at their clasped hands with a warm smile along the way.
After not taking a no from his friends, Gus quickly grabbed the laptop and ran upstairs when he was hearing the commotion upstairs. He stepped into the living room to see Philip glaring at Camila a distance from one another. Little did the boy know it was Philip maintaining the distance from Camila and not the other way around.
"Philip, they're good friends," Camila said to him, her tone laced with irritation. "Just leave them alone."
"I'm not going to let her get brainwashed like the rest of you," Philip coldly stated.
"Not her, they," Gus pointed out, making Philip drift his glance towards him. "Masha's pronouns are they/them," the boy explained.
Philip's eyebrows knotted together, not understanding what the boy was talking about.
Camila grabbed the boy's shoulder and shook her head quickly.
"Yeah, no, I don't think you really want to go there with him," she said. They were already having trouble making Philip understand witches and demons from the Boiling Isles were not all evil and that Hunter wasn't just a mindless machine. Bringing up gender identity to him right now would just frustrate him further. Or short circuit his brain for a moment, though they weren't that lucky.
Gus was confused how Philip didn't understand what they meant about the they/them pronouns, since it was a widely accepted identity on the Boiling Isles. The man's confusion for sure proved to the boy Philip didn't really interact with anyone on the island unless it was about the mission. It was as if Philip had lived under a rock for the past 400 years…
Deciding to let the matter go, the boy opened the laptop before showing Philip the lit-up screen to him.
"Behold! This is a laptop," the boy declared with a grin. "A human invention that allows you to do all sorts of amazing things, including browsing the internet."
Philip's interest was immediately piqued as he gazed at the glowing screen, marveling at the text and images of what looked like an animal appearing before him. The scene made Camila relax and mentally thanked Gus for the distraction they needed.
Masha sat on the desk chair, looking at Vee curiously as the girl was sitting on one mattress, her hands tapping on her knees nervously.
"Your great uncle has really nice hair," Masha pointed out with amusement. "I should ask him how he keeps it that long."
"I don't think that's a great idea," Vee let out. "He's a very cranky man. Doesn't enjoy talking to others much."
Masha chuckled. "Old people are that way, I guess. Though sometimes I think they're just tired and confused."
"Yeah… but he's… not like…" Masha honestly didn't know how to explain things to Masha, so she decided to move away from it.
"Like other humans?" Masha asked, making Vee's mind go blank for a second before looking up with confusion. "Your great uncle, he's not like other humans," they said again calmly, their calm smile still pronounced on their face.
Vee opened her mouth, doing her best to gather her thoughts fast to respond before she just laughed nervously and said, "Yeah, he's super weird."
"Vee," Masha said as she rolled herself towards the girl to get closer to her before they gave them a knowing look. "I know you're not like other humans either." Vee stared at them, completely confused, which made Masha continue. "You aren't really good at making sure the coast is clear when you're shifting into others at school. I totally saw you transform when you pulled that prank on that one girl after she had said something mean about Luz a month ago. You should really work on keeping your powers hidden," they said with amusement.
Vee was completely stunned by Masha's observations, frozen in disbelief.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Vee said quietly. Masha continued to have their smile. Vee quickly got up and walked to the corner of the room, her back to Masha. This time, Masha's expression fell and was now looking at Vee with concern, feeling they probably shouldn't have brought what had been in their mind for a while.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Vee," Masha said as they got up from the desk chair, taking a few steps towards Vee before they stopped, unsure if they should get closer. "Maybe… I shouldn't have brought anything up. I just couldn't help myself." Vee continued to stand there, not looking at them. "I've just, honestly, been so confused for months, especially when I saw you use your powers."
Vee slightly turned to her with confusion.
"When 'Luz' came to summer camp, she was acting like a completely different person and 'we' became friends, but when school started, she just walked past me as if I was nobody and here you came along and introduced yourself as her lost twin sister and acted just like the 'Luz' I met at summer camp," Masha explained. "I was trying to make sense of things and tried telling myself, well, maybe Vee took Luz's spot in the summer camp and used her name and for some reason she doesn't want to say anything, which makes sense in a way… But then a month ago I saw you run behind one of the trees during gym class and saw you transform into someone else." When Vee gave them a confused look, Masha quickly said, "I was playing hooky and was hanging on one of the tree branches," they said with amusement. "But yeah, I'm sorry if I was being so pushy and made you uncomfortable. I guess I grew worried that you were just going to disappear when you texted me earlier today that you may not come to school for a while. That's why I wanted to talk to you badly before you, I don't know, vanished."
Vee looked down. Right… she did text Masha, saying she and Luz may not go to school for a bit since Camila had brought up that maybe they should stay behind in case the men in black suits were lurking around in the school grounds.
"I got scared that I may not see you ever again," Masha admitted.
"Scared?" Vee blinked, looking up at them.
"Well yeah," Masha said, giving her a small smile. "I know we haven't known each other for so long, but honestly, you've become one of my closest friends now."
Vee felt her heart flutter at her friend's words, a blush making its way across her cheeks, but then it vanished as she looked away, rubbing her arm a bit sadly, which made Masha worried again that they messed up again somehow.
"I'm not… really what you think I am…" Vee said. "I'm not really… human…"
Masha eyed her, then remembered what the old man said earlier.
"Vee, I don't care if you're some demon or big foot," Masha said calmly. "Unless you're a fairy, then that's a different story," they joked before they quickly added, "I'm kidding, by the way. Even if you were a fairy, that's okay, too."
Vee looked up again at her friend with some hesitation and saw Masha's determination as they stared at her. She didn't know what to really say to them, but she guessed there was only one way to see if Masha was serious, that they didn't care what she was, even though it may get her painful reactions…
Vee closed her eyes, hating herself about what she's going to do, but still did it; she released the human form she had and revealed her true form to Masha.
The room fell silent, making Vee's heart ache, quickly mentally yelling to herself she had screwed up before she heard Masha let out in awe, "Wow… when your great uncle said demon, I expected something entirely different."
Vee opened her eyes with confusion and was surprised to find Masha stare at her in complete wonder.
"You're like… the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life," Masha admitted, quickly making Vee blush again before she transformed back to her human disguise.
"You don't have to lie…" Vee said as she rubbed her left arm again.
"I'm not lying," Masha said before walking over to her and grabbed both of her hands tightly. "I think you're incredible," they smiled, making Vee's whole face turn red from their hands holding one another. She looked at Masha in the eyes. "And a badass to be able to transform like that," Masha added. "So, can you transform into anyone you want?"
"I can, yeah, but I have to be careful, so I don't run out of magic," Vee explained, making Masha's eyebrows raised with curiosity.
"Magic?" they asked.
Vee smiled and got excited as she pulled Masha with her to sit on a mattress and explained to them who she was and where she was from. After a while of Vee explaining things and Masha asking a bunch of questions, Masha was mind blown about everything. They had always been interested in magic and learning about the Boiling isles made them want to visit there someday so badly now. They were so jealous that Luz went there instead of summer camp, though they were lucky for sure to have met Vee there. Masha was disheartened as well to hear the terrible things that happened in the Boiling Isles and how the witch teens ended up living in the house. Living together with their enemy…
"That's crazy that Belos guy is staying with you guys," Masha said. "But I guess there's not much you guys can do about it."
"Don't worry about him," Vee assured them. "You're human and he won't hurt humans unless, I guess, you try to kill him?"
"I'm a pacifist, so I won't try anything," Masha chuckled. "Though, I'm confused. I heard your mom call him Philip."
"Oh, yeah, that's his real name, Philip," Vee said. "He's actually a witch hunter from the human world, from the 1600's and traveled to the Boiling Isles to kill all witches and demons."
Masha stared at her for a moment before their eyes widened.
"Hold on… Philip, as in… Philip Wittebane?" they asked in shock.
Vee blinked before slowly nodding.
"The Philip Wittebane, one of the most notorious witch hunters that Gravesfield has ever had, is alive and is staying in this house?" Masha tried to clarify.
"Is he really that well known?" Vee asked.
"I'm obsessed with witch history, so yeah, I read about him a lot. Philip Wittebane is brought up in the witch trials history of Gravesfield and Pastor Jonathan Ward wrote about him a lot in his journal. You said Philip is cursed, right? I guess that explains why he has lived for so long," Masha hummed as they tapped their chin before their eyes lit up. "Can I talk to him? I have so much to ask him."
Vee's eyes widened, taken aback by her friend's request.
"You said he won't hurt humans," Masha reminded her before Vee could reply.
"Yeah, but he's really unpredictable," Vee said.
"Oh?"
"And well…" Vee tried to choose from the countless reasons that letting Masha talk to Philip was a terrible idea, but she could see from Masha's intense gaze that they really wanted to speak to the man. Her heart curled to give Masha what they wanted. "Okay, fine, you can talk to him," she said, making them surprised she agreed. "But just for a little bit, and try not to make him so angry, okay?"
"Of course," Masha said as they gave her the usual lazy smile. "I'll be on my best behavior."
Gus was sitting on the couch next to Philip, whose hair was tied up in a low ponytail with one of the hairs scrunchies that Camila got for him. Gus had a cushion underneath the laptop so it would be slightly elevated enough for Philip to watch the countless videos the boy had played. The room wasn't dark anymore with the lights turned on.
At first, Philip was maintaining a gap between the boy and himself on the couch while the boy was showing how the keyboard was used and how to navigate on the laptop. Without realizing it, Philip was just an inch away from the boy as they watched short videos on how cars are currently made and how they work.
"It would be cool if Camila would let us borrow her car so we could look at the engine," the boy said.
Philip wanted to agree with him but said nothing. They were then watching a brief clip about the Wright Brothers and the first successful airplane.
"That's cool how they figured out how to fly without magic or hot air," the boy said when the video finished, before looking up at Philip. "Do you think you can make something like that?"
Philip almost let out a snort, but held it back as he calmly responded, "Shouldn't be too hard," he said, since he could see the logic behind how the first airplane functioned. Replicating it would not be as hard as him creating artificial staffs that could use magic.
Both heard footsteps echoing from the stairs before Vee and her 'friend' appeared in the room.
Gus stared at them with complete confusion while Philip straightened himself in his sitting position before sliding on the end of the couch away from Gus. Philip glared at Vee, which Masha noticed while they were studying the man's face.
"Yep, you're Philip Wittebane alright," Masha said with amusement. Even though the man was old, they could still see some similarities he had from the sculpture that depicted him and his brother.
Philip glanced at them with eyebrows furrowed, realizing they may know who he was.
"So, you ended up in a magical world," Masha said calmly. "That's pretty crazy." Masha had to admit, it felt so strange to be in the room of someone from the past. Well, from a man they had read many times before. A man who had taken innocent lives and still wants to, which was pretty messed up. But they couldn't help but feel so curious to talk to a man from the past and see what makes them tick.
"Vee, what's going on here?" Camila asked when she stepped out into the living room, shocked to find Masha there.
"Sorry, mama. Masha pretty much figured out my secret," Vee responded sheepishly. "And I might have told them everything too..."
Camila sighed. She shouldn't be surprised that Vee spilled the beans since Vee had an obvious crush on Masha.
"They also really wanted to talk to Philip," Vee added. "They apparently learned a lot about him from some history texts and wanted to meet him."
"History texts?" Gus asked with curiosity.
"Yeah, the museum of Gravesfield has a bunch of written documentation about its history, especially the dark ages," Masha explained.
"The dark ages?" the boy raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, the infamous Gravesfield witch trials," Masha revealed before glancing back at Philip. "Philip Wittebane, one of the most dangerous witch hunters."
Philip narrowed his eyes at them when they used the word dangerous to describe him.
"You were talked a lot in the documents," Masha told him. "Right next to The Minister, Samuel Hale, and the most notorious witch hunter, Alexander Baxter, though, I guess since you almost destroyed everyone from the Boiling Isles, you pretty much beat Alexander by now, which I have to be honest, that's pretty bad..."
Hearing the Minister's name after so many years made Philip feel nauseous, which he wasn't sure why it would. Probably due to him not completing the mission given to him…
"Samuel Hale…" Gus repeated the name under his breath as he finally had a name for the terrible man in Philip's memories.
"And you also came up in Pastor Jonathan Ward's journal," Masha said to Philip.
Jonathan Ward…
Philip felt his teeth clench at the name as he slightly averted his gaze from Masha as in the moment, he felt himself grow cold.
"I'm sorry, I'm being rude," Masha said, pondering whether to extend their hand for a handshake. They assumed the others in the room wouldn't like them doing that, so they held back. "My name is Masha Wright, and I'm one of Samuel Hale's descendants."
The revelation made Philip's head snapped back in their direction.
"Which, it's not something I'm proud of admitting," Masha added, with a hint of shame in their voice. They had thought it was crazy when they find out about their blood line after doing some blood test done while they were making a family tree some years ago. Ever since then, they had become so obsessed with witches, which was ironic since her ancestor had despised them so much.
"No way," Gus let out, not expecting that.
"Why wouldn't you be proud of being one of Samuel Hale's descendants?" Philip finally spoke in his calm voice since he was talking to Masha. He had to respect The Minister's descendants after all. "He was a great leader, respected by all, one of God's chosen saviors. He did everything he could to save his people."
Gus looked at Philip with confusion. Based on the memories he had seen; the Minister was far from being a great leader. It looked to Gus the Minister was more manipulative than Philip himself.
On the other hand, Masha wasn't surprised to hear Philip's glowing appraisal of their ancestor. Masha, after doing their own research about Samuel, learned a lot about the type of man Samuel was. They knew very well, based on some entries from Jonathan's journal, that Philip was groomed from an early age to become the Minister's next top witch executer. Well, the Minister for sure did a good job pushing the mass hysteria to get out of control in Gravesfield, thus why so many innocent people ended up dead.
"God's chosen saviors…" Camila spoke up, recalling how Philip had explained to her the other day about the Minister being chosen by God. She wanted to learn more about who this man was, and it seemed like Masha may be the key to get more information about him.
"Yeah, Samuel really thought he was some sort of savior chosen by God," Masha explained before looking at Philip. "Which of course, Jonathan later admitted Samuel was an arrogant evil man and possibly lied about being one of God's saviors so he could continue to hold power over everyone."
At this, Philip's face darkened, and he stared at Masha with intensity.
Vee quickly stepped in front of Masha, glaring at him.
"Pastor Ward would never say such foul things about The Minister," Philip said coldly, believing Vee had started to warp Masha's mind now.
Masha leaned forward, peeking over Vee's shoulder. "I have a copy of Jonathan's journal," they said. "If you want it, I can bring it to you later this evening."
Philip's face contorted with anger. "I don't want to read false accusations," he sneered.
Camila shot him a warning look, not liking his defensive attitude towards Masha. "Philip…"
"It's okay, Vee's mom," Masha assured her. "I don't expect him to believe me right away. But there is one thing I've been dying to know since it always felt like a cliffhanger." They turned to Philip with a curious smile. "So, did you end up finding your brother? The stories say you went looking for him to bring him back home. So, did you find him?"
Gus' eyes widened at Masha's question. Philip stared at them, with no emotion crossing his face. Before anyone else could say anything, a cold voice interrupted.
"Yes, he found him, alright," Luz declared as she stepped into the room, revealing that she had been eavesdropping. She had left the basement ever since she heard Vee and Masha walking down the stairs. Her brown eyes glared at Philip. "Then he killed him."
The room fell deadly silent, as Masha stared at Luz in actual shock, eyes wide before glancing back at Philip who had looked away from everyone, eyes shut closed, teeth clenching hard.
"That… doesn't sound right…" Masha said carefully, trying to make sense of Luz's accusation. "He loved his brother. Jonathan wrote on how Philip would do anything to see him again and was even going to go against the Minister's wishes by bringing Caleb back home."
"Well, clearly, Jonathan didn't know Philip was a monster who hated his brother," Luz retorted, causing Philip to slowly rise to his feet, glaring at her, having enough with her presence.
"Get… out…" Philip growled, his voice shaking.
"You can't tell me what to do," Luz said annoyed, before fiery rage fueled her words. "This is my house!"
Camila gasped, stunned by her daughter's outburst. Luz would get frustrated, and sometimes a little mad, but she had never heard such anger come out of her mouth. "Luz!" Camila exclaimed. "Dios mio, Luz. What has gotten to you?"
Luz felt irritated to see her mom, once again, not taking her side in things. And from the looks of Gus and Vee, who seemed to look at her as if she lost her mind, also added to her frustration.
"Perdon, mama, pero, I have to do this," Luz said before glaring back at Philip.
She had been planning on her own about what to do with him, especially since her mom and the others decided to keep him from leaving the house for the next few days. Luz didn't want him any second longer around them. The way everyone didn't seem to be afraid of him much now, and the way some of her friends seemed to get worried about him, was just wrong and clearly, he had something to do with lowering their guard down. The man knew how to trick people before murdering them after all.
Philip was dangerous. He despised everyone in that house. It was a matter of time before he would kill them and run back to the Boiling Isles before committing mass genocide.
Her mother was too kind to mistreat anyone, even if they were terrible men like Philip. And her friends were too forgiving, too trusting, which of course Luz couldn't judge them for since she used to be like them. She had trusted people too many times before they took advantage. And even if some people did change into better people after she befriended them, it didn't mean everyone was capable of change. Some were just a lost cause, some were just plain evil like Philip. Luz believed that she alone could make the tough decisions, even if they were perceived as morally questionable.
So, she decided she had to get Philip out of the house, no matter what. And it didn't matter if there were people out there hunting him down.
She went over to stand in front of him, but still kept a good distance while Gus clutched the laptop tightly to his chest, backing away from the confrontation.
"I don't know how you did it, but I know you've been manipulating my mom and my friends into believing you're some sad, abused dog. But I know you, Belos, I know you're only using them, so you can't fool me!"
Philip's face twisted with contempt. "Of course, you would think that since you and your mom have been brainwashed by these foul monsters," he sneered, his green curse pulsing with energy as he said those words.
"Don't you dare speak about my friends that way!" Luz shouted, her voice rising with indignation.
"I can call them whoever I want to, you stupid, vile, child!" Philip snapped back.
"Alright, enough you two," Camila raised her voice with frustration, but was ignored as Luz jabbed a finger towards his direction.
"The only one vile here is you!" Luz snapped at the man. "You're the real monster here, Belos. All you do is destroy anything you touch!"
"My name, is Philip," Philip spat at her, growing sick and tired of her not using his real name. "And you don't know anything about me."
"I know enough," Luz replied, her voice low and cold. "I know you never loved your brother, and you couldn't care less about humanity. All you care about is yourself, you selfish, heartless bastard!"
Philip's eyes blazed with a furious blue light at her words. He felt all the years of frustration and rage clenching his chest. Countless unwanted memories slammed into his head, making his body tremble before he just snapped.
"Do you really think I wanted to spend four centuries among these foul creatures in a disgusting pile of a corpse of a land?" He hissed at her, making Vee pull Masha behind her, to protect her in case, while Masha was staring at Philip with wide eyes as they saw the horns growing on his head, the green substance expanding through his arms and feet as he took a step forward towards Luz, his fists shook as he tried to hold back from ripping her apart. "You really believe I wanted to dedicate all these years planning and suffering every step of the way? You think I wanted my soul to be tarnished forever?!"
Despite the curse getting out of control and his voice rising, Luz stood her ground, her eyes fixed on him with unwavering determination.
"You have no idea what I've gone through to save your pathetic souls!" he snapped now. "You have no idea how tired I am trying to save humanity from forever damnation. If I was doing things for my sake, I would have abandoned the mission and come back to Earth many decades ago. I would have given up after so many times growing sick and tired of it all, but instead I picked myself up and kept on going. I kept going because this has nothing to do with me. All I've been doing is for all of you!" Philip's hands motioned to her and her mom with frustration.
"And I loved my brother!" Philip screamed on top of his lungs, tears gathering in his eyes now. "I never wanted to kill him! All I wanted was to bring him back home after he was taken from me! But he was too far gone, and I had no choice but to kill him. I had to sacrifice my brother to save humanity!"
"You know that's bullshit!" Luz snapped. "Heroes don't go killing people who haven't done anything wrong! You're evil, Belos. You try to make yourself seem like the good guy when in reality you just want to hide who you really are. That's why you killed your brother, cause he saw the real you!" Luz snapped as she recalled a small glimpse of the frames depicting some of Philip's memories when she was in his head with Hunter. She had quickly taken notice of how happy Caleb had looked while Philip was holding a knife behind his back. At that time when she saw those portraits, she didn't think much of them till Gus brought up who the man was and how Philip killed him. She put the two together and assumed what may have happened at that moment. "You never loved your brother. And he never loved you. That's why he left you, cause he didn't want anything more to do with a monster like you!"
"Luz!" Gus this time yelled at her in shock from her cruel words and at that time Philip froze as he remembered when he had spotted his brother with the witch by the river. He recalled how Caleb looked so excited as he talked to the witch, but then when Caleb heard Philip scream for the witch to get away from his brother, Caleb had turned around, fear etched in his wide blown eyes. Instead of his brother looking relieved that Philip had come to save him from the witch, he was panic-stricken. And in that moment, the hard realization slammed into Philip, hard.
Caleb had been afraid of him.
Caleb wasn't dragged into the river by the witch.
Caleb had turned away from him and ran into the river before he vanished.
His brother left him behind…
The next thing Philip knew, he found himself sitting on the couch, his head on his hands, his head buzzing as he was shakingly taking deep, slow breaths.
What… just happened…?
His last memory was of him and Luz screaming at each other, hurling insults and accusations back and forth. And then… nothing… a void of blackness swallowed him whole. He could hardly make the quiet voices in the room as the buzzing quieted down.
Slowly, he straightened himself up, eyebrows furrowed with confusion when he spotted Gus sitting in the corner with Hunter, Willow, and Amity. All three stopped talking when they noticed him staring at them, looking lost.
"Are you okay?" Gus was the first to ask, concern etched on his face as he got up.
Philip stared at him before his gaze flickered around the room. He saw the room was intact, nothing destroyed from a possible outburst from him. He realized that Camila and the others were nowhere to be seen as well.
He stayed there sitting on the couch, looking dazed, which made the three mentally debate on what to do now. Should they try to talk to him again? Or should they leave him alone?
After Luz and Philip had gotten into a screaming match, Philip had just stopped and just stood there, unresponsive, like a statue, just as Willow, Hunter, and Amity came into the room in shock as they had run upstairs when they heard the commotion. Before Luz could throw any crueler words, Camila successfully pulled her away from the room while Vee took Masha upstairs.
The three witches and Hunter stayed behind in the living room as they had seen Philip struggle to breathe. Without a second thought, Hunter rushed over to him and led him to sit down on the couch before Philip just slumped forward on his hands and stayed there for a while. The boy had asked Gus what exactly happened, and Gus eventually told them in a hush voice everything, making everyone shocked at Luz's actions, yet… they could understand her… And they felt bad as they imagined Luz was probably feeling so stressed with having Philip in the house, especially since she had no powers to protect herself nor her mother.
They told one another after things settled down a bit, to visit Luz and comfort her. Amity, especially, wanted to be there for her girlfriend. She felt terrible for not noticing the warning signs earlier that Luz was holding so much frustration in her. She should have known better, since she knew how Luz would get so anxious about doing the right thing, about protecting the people she loves.
They had stayed in the room, watching over Philip as they were making sure the curse didn't get out of control. They were worried he would decide to attack Luz out of spite, especially since the green substance had spread on his arms and his horns once again were large and imposing.
All four jolted from their thoughts when they saw Philip get up abruptly before he walked out of the living room.
"Wait, Philip!" Gus called out, fearing the worst as everyone got their palisman to turn into staffs and ran to the hallway, ready to hold Philip back if he was going upstairs, but instead he walked down the hallway before he stepped out of the house.
"What is he doing?" Amity asked the others with confusion. Hunter ran after his 'uncle'.
"You're not supposed to leave the house," Hunter quickly told the man who stopped halfway across the backyard. The sky was painted with warm hues of orange and red. "It's too dangerous out there," the boy said.
Philip didn't respond, his eyes fixed on the forest before he walked towards it, the grass rustling under his green demon-like feet.
Hunter gritted his teeth, debating whether to chase after him or stay at the house.
He turned to see his friends at the doorway, looking at him with a mixture of fear and concern.
The boy was worried for his 'uncle', but… he had to make sure his friends were safe as well…
So, the boy gripped his staff and made the tough decision to return to the house, letting Belos go. Not realizing that Luz got what she wanted.
Philip wasn't sure how long he waited after the sun had finally rested as he stayed hidden behind some trees, his piercing blue eyes fixed at Gravesfield as it grew quiet. He made sure the streets were vacant as he walked quickly between buildings and slipped behind the cars to avoid detection before he made his way on the side of the church building. He found a side door and with a forceful shove, he broke the hinges and slipped inside, shutting the door behind him. As he walked down the hallway, he passed numerous doors and rooms, finally turning onto another hallway that led him to his desired destination.
Philip stood alone in the middle of the dimly lit aisle of the church as it was empty, and the only light came from the flickering candles that illuminated the statues of saints on either side of the aisle.
As he approached the altar, his gaze was drawn to the huge cross hanging on the wall before him. It loomed large and imposing, casting a shadow over the entire sanctuary, as if judging him. The intricate carvings and ornate decorations that adorned the cross seemed to dance in the flickering candlelight, lending an eerie quality to the scene.
He stood motionless there for a moment.
Philip had decided to come to the building since he didn't know what else to do. He felt completely lost, and the only place he felt that could help him get his mind straight back to the mission was inside a church.
He also felt he was losing his mind as once again; he had blacked out for who knows how long.
Dark memories from the familiar walls made his heart race slightly. He clenched his teeth as he tried to keep his composure before he slowly knelt before the altar, his claws digging into the wooden boards, head bowed. The position was painfully yet comforting familiar.
As he opened his mouth to pray, he felt a tightness in his throat, a fear that he would burn if he tried to talk to God or ask for forgiveness for failing so much or for becoming a monster. He gritted his teeth and pushed down the fear, but as he tried to utter the words, his mind drew blank. He couldn't remember a single prayer.
Frustration welled up against him, tears threatened to spill.
He hadn't prayed since he became cursed. Did he really stray away from God's path that much? Was he too late to seek guidance?
'You are a dissapointment...' the dark voice hissed in his head.
He then heard a sharp gasp in the room.
Philip stood in a blur of motion, his claws ready to attack. But standing in the room now with him was nothing like the men who had attacked him in the forest. Instead, there was a young woman in a white sleeping gown and the same man Philip believed was the pastor, the same pastor – well priest as Philip realized based on the nun standing by him and the statues of saints in the building - who was in the building the other day when he, Amity and her friends came the other day.
The priest's and the nuns' eyes were wide as they took in the sight before him, frozen in place as they tried to make sense of what they were seeing.
Was the figure a demon?!
But how was he inside?!
Slowly though, the priest began to realize that the creature standing in the middle of the aisle was strangely familiar…
Then the memories flooded from the other day, recognizing who the man might be.
"You're… that man…" he let out in a stammer, slowly taking in the human features of the creature. The light blond mixed with grey hair was long, very unusual for any old man to have at their age. "You're the one with those kids. The one who almost got run over."
The nun looked at the priest with complete confusion.
The priest, days ago, had seen Philip just standing by the entrance as if he was terrified, which confused the priest. Then he saw Philip run out, followed by the kids, who seemed worried.
The priest had been concerned as well, had felt something was wrong, and ran out outside just in time to see one of the boys yank the old man out of the way before a car had the chance to run him over. Before the priest could go over and ask if everyone was okay, the old man was whisked away by the children. The events had left the priest with so many questions for the past days and didn't know what to think of it all. He had wondered who the old man and the kids were since he had never seen them before, and where they had come from. And for a moment he thought he won't ever see them again, but now, standing in the room was the old man, but now with claws and horns, and eyes that glinted in the dim light.
The priest's mind reeled as he tried to make sense of things. Was he dreaming? Or was he face to face with a real, live demon that walked among humans?
"I… need help," the creature let out quietly, the blue glowing eyes looking down as if looking ashamed. "I'm… I need… I need guidance." He continued to say before he dropped to his knees again and he pressed his forehead against the ground. "Please… I mean you no harm," his voice choked out before his shoulders shook a bit. "I really need help…"
The priest and the nun stood uncertainly, unsure of what to do in the face of this strange being. But as the priest watched him, just kneeling before them, looking completely vulnerable, he felt a pull in his heart to help. Without a second thought, the priest approached the man and knelt by his side. He placed a gentle hand on his back and didn't pull away when he felt the body shake underneath his touch.
With the nun's help, they encouraged the creature to uncurl from his tensed position and eased him to his feet before they led him to sit on a bench with them, ready to listen and provide guidance to the lost soul that landed in their sanctuary.
The rest of the story is in archive of our own under the name Nisroc Chico : ), incase anyone wants to read the rest. I will be posting up the rest of the story, but in a timely manner for peeps who don't have access to archive of our own.
You guys can leave a review/comment here if you guys can't in archive of our own : o, otherwise, i prefer archive of our own so i can respond to them :) and there is more engagement there with others too plus fanarts for you guys to enjoy : )
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