Eda, Raine, Amity, Boscha, Hunter, and Masha landed on the street outside the council building. Thankfully since nothing big was happening in Bonesborough, there were hardly any people out, especially around the council area. When everyone was off the staffs and were ready to go, Eda turned around to face all of them, a serious yet exhilarated look on her face. All of them were pretty amped up so it made sense.
"Okay kids," She sighed with a slight smile, "I already notified the council to come for this emergency meeting right once we got back from the human realm so there shouldn't be much waiting before we can get to work. I mean Raine and I are, I think, the only members who don't live in town so we're honestly probably the last ones here."
"Are we going in too?" Amity asked.
"No, you aren't." Eda said sadly, "Sorry kids, but this is grown-up talk time."
"We're adults too!" Boscha pointed out.
"You kids know what I mean. Raine, me, and the rest of the council will talk. I'll do my best to try to convince them to just let us do our thing and get Luz back. You all just need to keep in mind that we can't promise anything. No matter what the results are, you all have to accept them. Can you do that?"
Amity, Boscha, Hunter, and Masha all nodded, though Amity and Hunter's were slightly more begrudging.
"That's the spirit! Mostly." Eda said, noticing how some of them still weren't pleased with her request, "Raine and I will be out in a bit. Just…talk amongst yourselves for a bit."
Eda let them hang out in front of the building as she swiftly walked up the steps, trailing behind Raine as they had already started heading in. When the two of them were at the doors, Hunter pulled out his scroll.
RULERZREACHF4N: I'm outside the council. Please…we need to talk.
WillowPark05: …
The three dots just blinked on Hunter's screen before finally disappearing. Hunter sighed and put his scroll away. He knew she'd come eventually, but he wanted to break the news to her as soon as possible. Until then, he would just hang out with his friends while they all silently wondered what the council would decide.
While that was happening, Eda went through the halls of the council building. She went through a few sets of doors before eventually reaching the smaller of the council rooms, one designed for private proposals or proposals from councilors themselves. Raine had just sat down as she walked through the doors. Everyone else was already there and looked ready. Eda took a deep breath then walked over to the front of the table, readying herself for the inevitable storm that would come.
"So Eda," Darius began, sounding sarcastic as ever, "Is all of this about our little spat over the phone the other day? I think it could have been handled over coffee and a healthy duel."
"Get your head out of your ass, Darius. Go any further and you'll turn inside out." Eda snarked, matching his energy.
"Oh! Is it about the magic exhibition?" Lynn asked excitedly.
"Unfortunately, no. And you know me, I wouldn't be planning stuff for something that isn't for another 22 days. I'd wait for one of you guys to do that when there's just one week left."
"Alright, before anyone else asks about specifics, I'll just ask." Ascelpius said, already sounding over it, "Eda, what is the purpose of this emergency meeting."
"It's about Luz Noceda."
"Oh, did something happen to her statue?" Talia asked.
"No. King recently reached the other side of the world in his circumnavigative expedition. He found the island that was formerly controlled by the Titan Trappers. Those people are still there, but they no longer follow that lifestyle. It is on that island that King found Luz. Alive."
Everyone but Raine were shocked and their faces were reacting in a wide variety of ways, ranging from just surprised to confused to frustrated to a sympathetic sadness. Eda didn't want to waste any time and went right back to talking after only giving them a few seconds to process.
"Look, I've broken this news to people three times now. Once with Luz's old friends, once with her mother, and now with you. And before you start going on about procedure, I'll just say that that isn't important right now. All you need to know is that she basically runs a cult now and her mental health is in the pits. We can have all the time in the world to discuss this, but I first just want to give you my proposal, okay?"
Nobody said anything to try and stop her, granted they didn't say anything at all, so Eda continued.
"I want to go and get Luz. Not by myself, but me and some of Luz's closest friends. Maybe one or two of you could tag along, but only people she knew coming would probably be best. From what I know from King, who has returned and is currently recovering from overtaxing his magic, she isn't in a great state of mind, so bringing strangers would be a bad idea. My plan is to get her, bring her back, and get her a shit ton of therapy."
"And why exactly should we do this?" Lexi asked, "If she's survived the past decade on her own, even if she isn't doing great, maybe we just let her keep doing her own thing."
"Hey, let me finish Lexi. Let the big kids talk."
"I am not a-"
"Lex, I'm over twice your age. But with how much we tend to bicker, especially recently, we might as well be a bunch of children."
"Eda, your point?" Raine sighed, having hoped it would have been at least a little longer before Eda started to act so Eda about the situation
"Yes, right." Eda paused for a moment and cleared her throat, "Sorry for my hostility, I am physically and emotionally exhausted right now after these past 24 hours. Anyways, as I said I met with Luz's mother and she wanted me to tell you all something when I gave my proposal."
Eda paused again and looked around. She was mentally praying to the Titan that this would all go well, that maybe by bringing Luz's mom into this she might be able to get a few more people sympathetic. Sure she wasn't exactly helping her case by being so rude to everyone, but maybe by appealing to their emotions she could undo any damage and get them to listen so she could have her…student back. Eda took another deep breath and put on a serious expression for once.
"She wants us all to keep in mind that, no matter what we do, Luz's actions will change the fact that she has a mother who loves her. And to remember that no matter what we do to her, we'll have to live with the knowledge that our decision will not only affect Luz, but everyone who still loves her."
"She said all that?" Darius asked genuinely, both thinking if all that was true and, if it was, how much Eda must be caring about this whole situation to have remembered all of that.
"Well I changed it slightly." Eda admitted, "She was referring to all of you guys when she told it to me, but I know that as a member of this council I'm just as much of a part of this as all of you and can not separate myself from this. I can't just act like I'm not just as responsible for the decision as all of you are. We are a council, after all. Our decisions are made together, and that includes me. So it'd be dishonest to myself to act like all of this is on you."
Basically everyone was taken aback. Few of them had ever seen Eda be so genuine before. Unfortunately, Eda quickly saw that her genuineness and telling them what Luz's mother wanted didn't do much to sway them. Sure a few of them looked more sympathetic, but most of them were unchanged, the only variations in the expressions having been right as Eda was opening up before going back to neutral soon after.
"I still say that we shouldn't retrieve her." Lexi shrugged, "If one or two of the people in your little found-family orphanage want to check in with her, reunite, or whatever I think that's fine. But actually bringing her back? It just sounds like an unnecessary risk."
"I think even that is too much." Finn said, "Live and let live. If Luz has been existing on her own just fine, then why mess with what she has? I mean, is she in any sort of danger from other people? Is she a danger to other people?"
"Well, no." Eda admitted, "She did attack King but when she realized who he was she was just interested in not letting him leave. But she could be a danger to herself! She still has that corruptive curse from Belos. Are we just going to wait until she becomes someone like Belos? Are we going to just sit around until she shows up for a revenge quest for us abandoning her?"
"Eda, we both know Luz." Raine said, "She wouldn't go full puritanical, genocidal, dictator. Anger issues, sure, maybe. But it seems like it might be a bad idea to poke that owlbear and risk her attacking us because we reached out."
"And she's your ex-student after all. Do you really think someone you mentored would do that? If so, what does that say about you?" Asclepius asked.
"I think if you are really scared she's going to attack we should go on the defensive." Talia said, "Prepare for the worst, hope for the best. Those Titan Trappers never faced their just punishment for their actions during the Collector's reign so it wouldn't be out of line for us to take advantage of the fact that we know where they are and arrest them. They aided the Collector's attacks and are responsible for deaths of both witches and demons. As for Luz, well…"
"Well what?" Eda said, almost growling.
"Look Eda, she has killed at least one person permanently. And she has two confirmed kills overall. I believe that someone has to have their very soul break to be capable of murder. And considering the fact that we don't even know how many people have died at her hands over the past decade, her body count could be higher. Not to mention her criminal record could easily become massive if we learned more about the little operation she's running that you mentioned."
"Hey, we don't know for sure she's killed anyone besides Salty. Sure she killed Hunter but he got better and killed her right back, so they're even!" Eda said defensively.
"She runs a damn cult and this is the first time in 10 years anyone has heard of it!" Lexi exclaimed, "And we've gotten much more connected to other islands in these past years thanks to your kiddo so it's not like it'd be impossible for those rumors to spread. You don't do that without killing or converting anyone who finds that island and learns about what's going on, and frankly her having a 100% admission rate seems a tad unrealistic."
"And so what if she has? So what if her soul has been broken as Talia so eloquently put it? What are we supposed to do? Not give her the mental and emotional support she needs? Stick her in a cell until she offs herself, the curse does her in, or she just plain dies of old age? Or do we pump her full of potions instead of getting that kid some therapy."
"Eda," Cassandra sighed, finally joining the conversation, "She is a possible threat we know much too little about. Frighteningly little. With how far away she is and the fact that I don't know her, it's not like I can easily figure out what she's going to do with my magic. We can not take any chances with someone like her!"
Eberwolf turned to Darius and began to tell him things. Darius nodded along and everyone waited for Eber to finish, keeping quiet so Darius wouldn't mistranslate anything.
"Eberwolf says that while they don't agree with Eda's plan, what Cass and Talia are suggesting are extreme. They believe some form of non-hostile action should be taken, although they don't have a suggestion they think would mitigate all risks thanks to the fact that we have far too little information to work off of."
"Well it's good to see someone is being sensible." Eda scoffed.
"Hey, don't act like none of us are supporting you! I think the idea of reaching out to Luz is exactly what she needs. Maybe we shouldn't bring her back right away, but with Mr. Porter's portals and his other tech we can easily find some arrangement." Lynn said.
"You're just saying that because the kid saved you." Finn casually accused, "Sure Eda has lots of bias, but you have a little too."
"To play devil's advocate for a sec, Luz did save all of us by capturing the Collector and indirectly causing Belos' death. By your logic, we all should be biased towards her." Darius pointed out.
"Have you just been trying to be more aggravating than usual? Are you trying to get as many people as possible mad at you?" Lexi asked.
"I know that Finn is the only reason you're on this council at such a young age, but that shouldn't mean you always have to agree with him. I mean seriously, my adopted son is older than you and all of Eda's miscellaneous young adults are your age or younger."
"Is this your way of asking for forgiveness for how awful you've been about the whole basilisk situation, Dar-bear?" Eda asked sarcastically.
"Oh would you rather me not try to defend you? I'm sorry, I had no idea I couldn't support some things while being against others."
"And why are you so against just letting Luz live her life? You spent, what, 40 years living wild and free?" Finn pointed out, "Why are you so insistent on bringing her back here?"
"Because I promised Camila that she would be able to see her daughter again alive."
"Then maybe you should stop making promises you can't guarantee. Frankly, a bit unprofessional coming from the 'big kid', as you have proclaimed yourself as."
The arguing went on for a while, everyone on the council bickering with each other while barely staying on topic. Even Eberwolf was able to get in some snarks of their own through Darius' translation. Raine and Lynn tried to stay out of it as much as possible, but they inevitably got dragged in. After a while, Raine did get tired of all the running in circles and whistled sharply, getting everyone to finally stop arguing.
"Okay, how about we all take a few minutes to cool off?" they suggested, "We calm down, get back to a reasonable and fair mindset, then vote on Eda's proposal and maybe come up with a more concrete plan, okay?"
Everyone agreed begrudgingly. Everyone except Eda, that is.
"Eda? Can you do that?"
"Fine. I can cool down. But all of you better think good and hard about what would be best for other people, not just you, before you make up your mind about what to do about Luz."
"Don't worry Eda," Raine said with a small smile, "I think we all will do the right thing and consider everyone in our decision."
Back outside, Hunter pulled out his scroll of the umpteenth time to see if Willow had responded yet, only to be once again met with being left on read. He sighed and slipped it back in his pocket. He quickly noticed his constant checking was picked up on by Amity, Boscha, and Mahsa as they were all staring at him.
"Really? Again?" Boscha asked, hamming up fake dissapointedness, "Come on Hunter, you're better than this."
"What, I can't be upset that my wife isn't returning my texts?" Hunter asked, crossing his arms.
"Just sounds like a you problem to me."
"Who are you to give advice? You don't have a wife."
"Not yet at least." Amity joked, elbowing Boscha.
"Hey now, we have not been together long enough for that kind of talk, Blight."
"What would that make Boscha to you?" Masha pondered, "The wife of your step-sister. Is that still a sister in law? Or would it be your step-sister in law?"
The four of them laughed and Hunter was finally no longer thinking of Willow. That time of not thinking of her quickly passed as, while the laughter was dying down, it was suddenly cut off with Willow landing and getting off her staff. Everyone's attention was no longer on teasing Hunter and instead on silently wondering what all Willow had been up to the past three days and somewhat fearing what she would do when Hunter broke the news of Luz being alive.
She looked a lot better than they all expected. It was clear on a close look she hadn't gotten enough sleep and was likely running on spite and coffee, but she would look perfectly normal at a glance. She was wearing a casual outfit, her hair was tame, and her glasses were only a little dirty. That normal look was almost more worrying than if she had shown up looking dead tired like they had all expected. Masha even wondered if she, somehow, already figured out the news and had gotten all her probable frustration out already.
Willow walked straight for Hunter and, before he could say a word, she pulled him into a tight, loving hug.
"I'm sorry I took so long to get here, I had to shower and change. And I'm sorry I've been gone the past few days. That was wrong and I should have explained myself to you and just talked instead of disappearing." She said.
Hunter was a little caught off guard but very much so appreciated and hugged her back, also giving her a soft forehead kiss as a sign he accepted her apology. Willow smiled and stepped back, looking at all of them.
"So, uh, what's up? Hunter made it seem like something massive happened and, given where we're standing, I don't doubt that. Can you fill me in?"
Amity, Boscha, and Masha looked at Hunter. They all knew he would be the one to break the news to Willow and fill her in, but the three of them wanted to really drive the point home to Hunter that this was going to be his job.
"Arlight, there's no easy way to say this." Hunter said sheepishly, "So, I'm just going to come out and say it. Luz is alive. King found her and it turns out she took over the Titan Trappers. She's mentally and emotionally unstable and pretty angry. Right now Eda is trying to get the council to agree to let us go on a trip to bring her back, but we don't know how that'll go. Luz still has the curse and is working with the Collector. That's the gist of what we've got to work on right now."
Willow just stared in silence. If it wasn't her audibly staggering breaths and rapid blinking, it would be assumed that she was reacting well to the information. She closed her eyes, took a few deep breaths, ran her hand through her hair, then just chuckled slightly as she stared at the sky.
"I was right. Wow." She said, seemingly blinking back tears, "I can't believe it. Well, I can, but I never thought I'd be able to."
She sighed with what looked like a soft smile, though it faded quickly when she looked at Hunter again and saw his saddened expression. She reached over and held his hands in her own as she looked into his eyes.
"Hun, are you okay?" She asked genuinely.
"What?"
"Are. You. Okay?"
"I would have thought you would be doing a victory lap right now. You said it yourself, you were right about Luz. So aren't you going to rub it in my face? This is the thing you've been so fixated on for so long. And…and I deserve it." Hunter said, "I was not in the right at all with how I reacted to your fears and should have listened to you instead of thinking you were just having paranoid hallucinations."
"Yes, but you don't need me gloating right now. I've been overly obsessive and deserve your frustration with me but you aren't acting anything like that. I've been acting immaturely about this whole situation these past few days. But instead of getting mad at me, you've just wanted to talk. This is me talking. So, are you okay?"
"I…I'm still not sure." Hunter admitted as he and Willow walked over to the steps and sat down, "This has all happened so fast."
"Well, how do you feel? Just spill your guts. Reliable old Willow is here for you. Your reliable old Willow is here for you."
"Don't you have tons of feelings too?"
"Oh, yes, absolutely. I have a boiling rainstorm of confliction, and also rage, inside me right now that I will definitely share all of when we're in the privacy of our home, but first, you tell me how you're doing. I've ditched you for a few days, you deserve to get the first shot at talking about your feelings."
"Okay. Thank you. I guess I also feel very conflicted. I mean, sure Luz did kill me and sided with my abusive creator-uncle-brother, but there was so much time before that. She also saved me from him. She's also indirectly the reason that I met you. Without her screwing up the palismen mission, I would have never wanted approval by going to eclipse lake, which I also failed that led to Belos wanting me to redeem myself by leading a coven head meeting which didn't happen, which led to me going to Hexside to prove myself to the coven heads, which led to me meeting you! But again, when we got back from the human realm she lied to me repeatedly and made me think I was crazy when I saw her get angry for the first time after she got Belos' curse. She was like a sister to me, and you know firsthand how I took the news of Luz's supposed death. So to find out she's alive is…"
"Complicated?" Willow said, finishing his sentence.
"Yeah, complicated. That sums it up pretty well. How about you? Mind sharing some of that storm of confliction? Any parts of it that can be aired out now?"
"Maybe a few." Willow softly chuckled, "It's weird, really. Knowing that she really is alive. My suspicions are now confirmed after so much paranoia and anxiety, and yet I'm not overjoyed that they are. That means Luz is still out there. The person who killed you is still out there. What if she tries again? I'm glad for you that someone you held so dear is okay, but I'm also scared that she'll hurt you again. And that maybe you won't be able to come back if she does."
Hunter leaned to the side and laid his head on Willow's shoulder. Willow wrapped an arm around him and pulled him closer.
"You know that's not going to happen, right? Luz won't be able to do anything to me." Hunter assured.
"How can you be so certain?"
"Well, I've got my reliable old Willow. And, just like how I know you won't let her do anything to me, I won't let her do anything to you. Reliable people need someone to rely on too, after all. And I'd say we make a pretty decent team."
Hunter lifted his head up and he and Willow kissed. They softly smiled at each other and just stared into the other's eyes. The moment was interrupted though when Boscha started to cough. Everyone looked at her and she just gave them a fake confused look.
"What? I'm allergic to cheese. And those two might as well be a dairy farm with how cheesy they get."
Amity lightly elbowed her which just made Boscha laugh.
"Hey, I'm not saying it's a bad thing. Don't want the power couple to be going through a rough patch any longer than necessary. They're sickeningly adorable and if for some awful reason something happened to them I think this whole realm would lose its color."
"Well don't worry Boscha. Now that I know what's going on, I'm not going anywhere." Willow said with a smirk before looking at Amity and having a more serious expression, "What about you, Amity? How are you doing?"
"I-I'm okay. I've had time to process. Sure it's still crazy to think about but I'm fine." Amity said.
"Okay, well if you ever need to talk just let me know." Willow said, even though she and everyone else knew she was lying, "I'm sorry for what happened at our talk the other day. I really would love to hang out sometime, just the two of us."
"I'd like that. And I forgive you for what happened."
"I don't know what went down in that conversation but I bet it's nothing compared to the conversation that's probably happening in the council right now." Masha joked.
Right after they said that, all of them got a notification on their scrolls from their group chat.
GusTheWitch: Hey guys, so I've been working on a magic detector thing but it's nowhere to be found. I've been looking for it ever since I got home. You guys have any ideas on who might want to steal it?
TheMightyMittens: You probably just misplaced it. Try looking for it after getting some sleep. You probs need it.
TheHumanHistorian: I mean, unless your portal tracker shows any unidentified activity near your house, I don't think you could blame Luz or her lackeys.
ThatWitch: You made a magic detector? Wow.
GusTheWitch: Yeah, it works as an identifier for someone's, to put it simply, magical fingerprint.
ThatWitch: Have I ever told you that you're cool?
GusTheWitch: No, I don't think you have! :D
ThatWitch: Remind me to do that some time.
GusTheWitch: :|
Boscha looked up from her scroll and saw Amity raising an eyebrow at her.
"What, I was just teasing. And hey, there will come a day where I do call him cool."
"And when will that day come?" Willow asked, smirking at Boscha as she looked at her over her glasses.
"Eventually." Boscha shrugged with a smile.
The group started laughing and the mood was once again fully relaxed. But just like the last time they all chilled out, their laughter was cut off by the sound of doors slamming loudly. They looked towards the council building and saw Eda absolutely seething as she walked out and started storming down the steps.
"BULLSHIT!" she yelled as she got closer to them.
"Eda, what happened in there?" Amity asked, extremely nervous about what the answer would be.
"We shouldn't have an even number of members. That's so stupid. Why did we design it that way?" Eda ranted, pacing back and forth along the sidewalk.
"Eda, what's going on?" Hunter questioned.
"Oh nothing," Eda said, smiling just a bit too wide to be genuine, "But not nothing as in we didn't do much or as in we couldn't come to a consensus. Nothing as in we decided to do jack shit about this situation. We are doing literally nothing about Luz."
"Did not enough people vote or something?" Willow asked.
"We voted on the plan to reach out to Luz, bring her back, and come to a peaceful resolution with her and the island she's taken over. Four people in support, four against, and two abstained." Eda explained, exasperated, "And before any of you information leeches ask who voted what, I legally cannot disclose who voted for what. I can only say that we tied so the compromise proposed and decided on was to just do nothing and hope this all blows over. The only way that decision could be retracted is by something happening that would 'warrant' an outreach, but that just means the only way we'd do anything is if she attacked and that outreach would become retaliation. So, as I said, bullshit."
Eda frustratedly sighed and sat on the ground, feeling too angry to want to keep moving. Everyone just stared at her, trying to figure out if they should say something and if they did, what they would. That wondering became unnecessary when Eda continued.
"I don't know why I even joined politics." Eda grumbled, "I guess because I wanted to stick out for the wild types like me and actually be able to help people instead of just saving my own skin without a care for anyone else. But I'm doomed. Doomed to become a brainless, spineless asshat like every single other person on that council. Every last one of them are, even the newest and youngest, so it's inevitable that I will be too someday."
"Come on, Lynn and Raine aren't." Masha tried to reason.
"Did I not say every single other person?"
Eda began to rub her temple and just stared at the ground as the others just looked between themselves awkwardly. They all knew there was no way they'd get anything else out of Eda. Amity decided to make the first move and sit down next to Eda, just sitting in silence while she let Eda take a moment to work through whatever had happened in the council mentally. After a few minutes, Eda took a deep breath, then just leaned back and looked at the sky.
"I have no idea what I'm supposed to do." Eda said softly, "I want to save my…Luz but I literally can't do anything. I'd be breaking the law and the pardons I get only go so far. I promised Camila she'd get to see Luz again. I told myself that I was accountable for making this happen. But my hands are tied. I am so sorry kids, seriously. If I could do something, I would. But I legally can't."
"What if we went?" Amity suggested, "Sure the council can't go, but what about a few strong witches with close ties to Luz?"
Eda looked at Amity, looked back at the others, groaned, then stood up and began to walk away from Amity.
"Nope, nuh uh, no, not happening." Eda said as she walked.
"Why not?" Amity asked, following her.
"It's too dangerous!" Eda exclaimed, turning around.
"If it's too dangerous for the witch considered the third best abomination magic user on the boiling isles who has mastered a technique only one other person knows, was trained by that one person who also invented the technique, and is the daughter of one of the two people better than them, then why isn't the council doing anything? If it's so dangerous, shouldn't they be taking action?"
"Titan, how many ways do I have to say this? Nada, not happening, no way, N-O. Ooo, Camila has taught me a little Spanish, so how about that? No. You heard what King said about what happened when he went. Also, he returned here after his little excursion to Luz's lovely island running on empty with his wings tied up. She's different now. Sure I'd risk my own ass for that kid, but not any of you."
"But you said we'd go if you got the approval!"
"That was when I thought I would be there with you. Ain't no way I'm letting you go alone. And all of this is ignoring the fact that you need council approval to leave the island and they might be dumb, but they aren't stupid. They'd see right through whatever request you gave them to try and get to Luz."
"Fine, we'll just go without their approval." Amity said, crossing her arms.
"Sure Boots, you do that." Eda said, replacing her exasperation with sarcasm.
"Maybe I will."
"Yeah, don't take no for an answer. Go ahead and do something illegal. Turn to a life of crime. Do whatever it takes. Do what you want because you can all for the sake of the ex-girlfriend that burnt off half your face!"
Right once Eda said that, she knew she screwed up. And based on Amity and Boscha's expressions of shock and anger respectively, it was blatantly clear how out of line that was. Eda just grumbled to herself, staring at the ground before sighing and looking back at them with a much softer expression.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. But I still don't think any of you should try anything. Just do what Luz claimed she wanted and move on. I know damn well none of you, none of us, have." Eda sighed tiredly, "And if you're so much as thinking of doing something anyway, go home and sleep on it first. We've all had a long day and none of us have clear minds right now. I for one know that I need a cold bath, a strong drink, and some time to figure out what carefully chosen words I'll use when Raine eventually comes home for what happened with the council today."
Eda pulled out her staff and began to leave again, but just before she did she turned back to Boscha.
"Hey Bossy, make sure your girlfriend is in control of the single brain cell your little friend group shares before she does anything."
"Yes ma'am." Boscha said with a nod, her anger at what Eda said having faded with the acknowledgement that all of them were really tired and not in their best minds.
"Yeah, never call me that again."
Eda took off, leaving Boscha, Amity, Hunter, Willow, and Masha in front of the council building.
"I'm going to take Eda's advice and head back home." Willow said, pulling out her staff, "I really need a nap after these past few days."
"I'm going too. Having some relaxing time at the house is probably a good idea." Hunter said, also pulling out his staff.
"I should leave too. I need to be home in case Vee comes back." Masha said, pulling out her portal key.
Everyone waved to each other and headed off to their own devices, leaving only Amity and Boscha.
"So, you think we should head back to the apartment?" Boscha asked, nudging Amity who was just staring off into the sky in the direction Eda had gone.
"I think I should take a walk to clear my head. Walks always go better than flights in helping me think. I'll be back at the apartment, I just need some me-time first."
Boscha looked at her suspiciously for a few seconds, then just smiled and pulled out her staff.
"Sounds reasonable to me! Try not to be gone long." She said chipperly.
"I won't, don't worry." Amity said.
Boscha flew off leaving Amity alone. As she began to walk down the street, she pulled out her scroll and called King. It only rang a few times before he picked up.
"Hey, what's up? Did the meeting go okay?"
"When Eda gets back she'll fill you in. I actually am wondering some more stuff about what you saw at Luz's island. More specific info about the place and the people, not just Luz."
"Uh, okay. So like, you want to know about the cult?"
"Yes! That'd be great."
"Okay, well there's a few people who are priests of Luz, they do all the ceremonies instead of her. They also all call Luz "The Light", kinda like that "little light" nickname Camila has for Luz. I don't know how many there are, but there was this one woman, High Priestess Stella, who seemed to be really high ranking. She's the one who threw me in the dungeon after leading me through a bunch of underground tunnels meant for secret stuff that also had traps that could be turned on whenever."
"What did she look like?"
"Gold and white robe, greenish-brown eyes, a golden sun mask covering half her face, and slightly curly dark brown shoulder length hair. Oh, and a big scar on her left shoulder."
"Thanks! Did you learn anything about the structure of the cult?" Amity asked, hoping all her questioning wasn't starting to make King suspicious.
"Uh, not much. There is an induction happening tomorrow though. Why are you asking all of this? Are you, Eda, and the others going to Luz's island?"
"Not exactly, I just wanted to know as much as possible in case a trip was approved. Besides, better to know something and not need it then not know something and need it, right?"
"I guess." King said, a little suspicious of Amity but not that much, "Anything else?"
"Yeah, I am curious about where the island exactly is."
"On the other side of the world. I don't know any more than that. You'd have to ask Gus, he knows all the portal coordinates and stuff."
"Thank you so much buddy! Are you recovering well?"
"Yes, but it'll be another day or two before I'll be running on full power again. Those portals took way more out of me than I thought."
"Well I hope your recovery continues to go well. Talk to you later!"
"Bye!"
Amity went over all the information she learned in her head then ducked into a more secluded area. She summoned her and Boscha's portal and portal key from the apartment and opened up a small compartment on the folded up portal door where various settings were. She pulled up a map on her scroll, looked at the coordinates of the Boiling Isles and tried to guesstimate what the coordinates of the other side of the world would be, trying to think of any way to not open up a portal to the middle of the Boiling Sea while also not showing up in someone's home.
As she tried to figure it out, she felt a slight gust of wind come from behind her. She felt the hair on her neck stand on end as she listened closely and nervously fidgeted with her bracelet, but heard nothing but silence. She was just about to take a sigh of relief and just brush it off as unnecessary anxiety, when she tensed up completely as she sensed someone behind her.
"You're really doing this, huh?"