"Mother, we have to hurry!", Lilith calls out in an internal panic to Gwendolyn, who has already been speeding northwards along the shore of the Seething Lake for fifteen minutes, after having noticed the smoke and fumes rising into the air for the first time.
"The smoke doesn't necessarily have to do with Edalyn and Luz...", Gwen replies with similar concern.
"I heard her voice when I was talking to her earlier. There is something terribly wrong happening there.", Lilith replies in a serious voice, turning around again after having turned her attention to Gwendolyn earlier.
The two of them have already been flying for thirty minutes after Eda abruptly ended their call. Back then, it didn't take long for her to decide that she absolutely had to hurry to help her sister. Lilith had merely grabbed her palisman Socke, and as soon as she told Gwendolyn that the call was from Eda, they both left the family home and took off immediately.
Although they are both just less than two minutes away from their destination, Lilith's hope that her mother is right after all and that she is merely overreacting, dwindles rapidly. The closer they get to the smoke, however, the more panic and worry for her sister grows in her mind.
'Oh no... nonononono...', Lilith's fear is fulfilled as the Owl House comes into view, completely engulfed in flames.
There are flames coming out of all the windows, part of the upper floor has already collapsed, and there are no signs of activity in the area visible from afar.
Lilith and Gwen really push once more, and shortly thereafter land in front of the kitchen at the backside of the Owl House. Lilith practically falls off her staff and runs towards the kitchen window, which is already badly singed by the flames inside.
"EDALYN! ... EDALYN!", Lilith yells with severe panic in her voice while trying to make out anything inside through the glass, "We have to do something-"
She only catches a glimpse of the interior before she is grabbed from behind and pulled aside.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?", Gwendolyn yells at her for probably the first time in her life. And just as Lilith realizes what's going on, the kitchen window shatters into hundreds of splinters. Gwen crouches protectively over Lilith as the enormously hot heat wave sweeps over the two of them.
Shortly after, Gwendolyn stands up again and gives Lilith a hand to help her up as well.
"This... how did you know the window would burst?", Lilith asks, amazed but also frightened.
"Have you forgotten that I used to be a firefighter?", Lilith's eyes tear up as if her mother had just told her that she just happened to come across real Deadwardian Balusters and sold them, thinking they were just garbage. "Stay back and hold on somewhere, I'll take care of the fire."
Gwendolyn rolls up the sleeves of her homespun vest, revealing her massive upper arms. She cracks her knuckles and takes one deep breath before grabbing her staff, pushing herself off the ground. Lilith watches in amazement as her mother draws a magic circle so large around the house, surrounding the whole building.
And then the air began to move. Going up.
Lilith quickly realized what was happening and took cover behind a rock a couple meters away, but peeked her head out to continue watching.
With her eyes wide open, she watches as the flames themselves move upward alongside the smoke emanating from the house out the windows, forming a kind of fire tunnel that stretches up high into the air, soaking up the smoke and fumes into it.
The fire tunnel climbs higher and higher with Gwendolyn circling around it, controlling and directing the flames like a skilled conductor. This mesmerizing sight stirs a long-forgotten memory in Lilith...
She was about six years old, watching over Eda while her parents cooked dinner. Already being a source of uncontrollable chaos, the then four-year-old Edalyn was about to climb up the kitchen tablecloth, on which there were a few burning candles. Self-explanatory, the tablecloth did not hold her and she fell to the floor along with the burning candles. The carpet immediately caught fire. Lilith could barely save her sister and call for help.
Only seconds later her mother rushed out of the kitchen and directed the fortunately only small fire out one of the open windows through a fire tunnel. Little Lilith had looked up to her mother with shining eyes, to the powerful hero who had saved her and her sister's lives. Later the same day, Lilith had asked her all sorts of questions about her job as a firefighter. She was her great role model, which also strongly influenced her later decision to join the Emperor's Coven. She wanted to help the more unfortunate, those who need her help.
A feeling of remorse comes over Lilith as she remembers when exactly her mother stopped helping everyone, and only one person instead: her sister. She gave up her whole career right after Lilith cursed Edalyn all those years ago.
Now with a heavy heart, she watches her mother stoke the fire tunnel thinner and thinner, and the fires inside the Owl House dwindle and extinguish, only leaving light smoke.
Gwendolyn's magic circle dissolves, with the diminished fire tunnel following only seconds later. She sinks to the ground while Lilith emerges from behind her hiding place.
"Mother-", she approaches her, "That was-"
"I know. I'm really out of practice."
"No- That was... amazing.", Lilith speaks with nothing but admiration in her voice, "Sometimes I forget how truly powerful you are."
Gwendolyn smiles and gently places her hands around Lilith's cheeks.
"Well, it does run in the family.", she says before they both turn towards the house, "But now we need to find your sister."
Lilith swallows hard before both of them approach towards the open kitchen door. Before they can enter the house, however, Gwendolyn holds them both back.
"Wait! Cover your airways! The fire may be out, but the air isn't completely clean yet.", Lilith nods at her, whereupon both Clawthornes cover their mouths and noses with a piece of thick cloth, and finally enter the kitchen.
Gwendolyn leads the way, Lilith following close behind. She steps over the threshold practically through a wall of heat. The flames are gone, but the temperature inside is still so high and the air so dry that within seconds, the first beads of sweat begin to form on her forehead, and also rapidly all over her.
The two of them find that the kitchen completely covered with soot, of which nothing was spared by the flames. On the kitchen table Lilith recognizes a burst crystal ball. Possibly the same one from which Eda had called her earlier. All that is left of the chairs that used to stand around the table is ash and burned wood. On the stove, she recognizes one of Eda's cauldrons, with which she always mixed potions.
"They weren't in here.", Gwendolyn says after a moment, indicating that the two should continue into the next room.
Between the kitchen and the living room, there is only the staircase that leads to the upper floor. However, when they arrive in front of the stairs, an insurmountable obstacle, which they have previously noticed, blocks their way: The upper floor has collapsed. Gwendolyn is about to move on when Lilith notices something at the foot of the stairs.
"Mother, wait!", she says, crouching down in front of the steps. Gwendolyn turns to her with a questioning look. Her gaze is fixed firmly on a wide hole in the floor. "Look. That wasn't there the last time I was here."
"Up there, too.", Gwendolyn adds, directing Lilith's gaze upwards to the ceiling. There are holes there, too, though not one singular wide one, but several smaller round ones. "It looks like something broke through the floor and into the ceiling. A barrier, perhaps?"
Lilith can't think of a suitable answer to that, unfortunately, so she merely exhales out of her nose. And while Gwendolyn walks on towards the living room, her own gaze remains fixed on the collapsed debris at the top of the stairs, hoping that nothing has happened to Eda and her kids.
She is ready to follow her mother when she spots something strange at the top: Among all the burned, soot-covered debris, Lilith thinks she saw a small, yellow mushroom tendril.
'Impossible. Something like that can't survive such heat.', she's shaking her head before following her mother into the living room.
There, she finds her mother looking at the burned furniture. To Lilith, on the other hand, something completely different pops up into her gaze.
"HOOTSIFER!", she exclaims. Gwendolyn looks quickly at her, then at the front door. Confusion shows on her face.
"He doesn't seem to be here...", Gwendolyn observes the round hole in the door.
"Exactly.", Lilith confirms happily, "He's separated himself from the house. He could have stomped out the fire himself, but he detached himself instead. The fire was started on purpose!"
Her mother's facial expression immediately changes from mere confusion to shock.
"Why would Edalyn burn down her own home?"
"Maybe she didn't do it herself. But... I'm extremely certain that this fire was no accident, and that they all escaped safely.", Lilith speaks confidently, "We just need to find them now. ... And get out of this house. It's really too hot in here."
Gwendolyn nods excessively in response, before the two of them hurry to the front door as quickly as possible. Lilith momentarily contorts her face at the sight of Hooty's charred insides within the door, before closing her eyes and throwing her shoulder forcefully at the door, opening it outwards.
Just outside, Lilith drops to the floor onto her knees, exhausted and covered in sweat.
"Oh, you cold, fresh air...", she takes a heavy breath before turning to her mother, "And you used to do something like that regularly?"
Her mother, however, is not looking at her right now, but at a bathtub that sits a little way away from the house. It appears to be anchored to the ground with heavy-looking chains.
"You should take a look at this...", Gwendolyn suggests to her.
With knees cracking, Lilith straightens up, tearing her mask from her face and walks over to the bathtub. It seems to be filled to the top with ice, forming a solid block.
Her eyes widen as she sees what, or rather who, is frozen inside. She gasps slightly.
"That's one of Luz's friends.", she observes.
"And he's not well.", Gwendolyn adds, pointing to his head where the ice has turned a slight shade of red, "He needs a healer."
"If that were appropriate, Edalyn would have taken care of it. There will be a reason they left him like that.", Lilith argues, "All frozen and chained up, I mean."
"We're supposed to just leave him here?", Gwendolyn asks in a sarcastic undertone.
"Yes! We need to find Edalyn. We cannot help anyone until we know what happened.", Lilith replies.
"Alright.", Gwendolyn hesitantly agrees, "Where should we start?"
Lilith summons her staff, holding it ready to fly off. "I have some ideas on where we could start looking..."
Somewhere else, not that far away…
"COME ON! WE HAVE TO FLY FASTER!", King yells at Amity from behind, as he's trying to push against the headwind.
The two of them fly at Amity's staff at high speed through the forest that separates the Owl House from Bonesborough. Willow follows them close behind.
Granted, the term 'high speed', is rather relative due to all the trees that make up this gloomy, dense forest. The whole time they have been flying, they've constantly had to dodge and slow down, which gives a significant mobility advantage to Luz, who is on all fours.
"FASTER!", King yells again.
"IF YOU THINK YOU'RE SO MUCH BETTER AT FLYING, THEN GO FLY YOURSELF!", Amity yells back, by now quite annoyed with the little demon hanging on her shoulders.
"Guys, stop fighting. We're losing her.", Willow calls out to them.
"I told you we should fly above the trees!", King speaks up again.
"No you didn't!", Amity argues as she's dodging a tree.
"I did just now.", he argues at which Amity groans loudly, annoyed. "WATCH OUT!", King yells at her in panic as he notices the two of them flying towards a broad tree at far too high speed.
Amity grips her staff tightly with both hands and practically drags it aside in an attempt to avoid a crash. But in vain.
The end of her staff collides with the tree, causing her to lose her balance, and her and King falling uncontrollably to the root- and bush-covered forest floor. Amity manages to roll away and eventually lands on her knees, while King lands on a thicker root, horns first, and gets stuck in it.
"Weh!", he exclaims as Amity hisses in mild burning pain a couple meters ahead of him.
"Amity! King!", Willow shouts out in concern, having witnessed the accident, now landing immediately behind them, "Oh Titan, are you guys hurt?"
Willow first turns to King, and carefully pulls him out of the root, setting him down on it.
"Just my pride.", King replies.
Willow then quickly rushes to Amity who looks rather defeated than injured.
"Amity, are you alright?", she asks, crouching down beside her. Willow's gaze immediately snaps to Amity's knees, her pants ripped open and blood trickling down. On her arms, too, are a few gash wounds. Amity isn't responding to Willow's question. "Amity?", she asks again, grabbing her by the shoulder. As Amity continues not to respond, the concern in Willow's mind rises rapidly. To her instant relief, it disappears as Amity exhales deeply yet shakily.
"We- We lost her...", she speaks in a low voice and with watery eyes, before slowly turning her head to face Willow. "Why did you stop? You could have continued to follow her..."
"And leave you two behind?! Forget it!", Willow answers confidently.
"Eda could have-"
"Eda's taking care of Gus.", Willow cuts her off. King runs up to the two girls.
"Speaking of Eda... I think I can hear her.", he says.
Amity and Willow turn around and sure enough, they spot something approaching quickly. It's Eda, who comes to an abrupt stop in front of them, having some branches and fallen leaves kicked up behind her. She dismounts from her staff, and is already anything but happy.
"What happened? Where is Luz?", she questions, noticeably upset. Amity's accusatory look immediately meets King's, who cowers fearfully as if she might ignite fire with her eyes. The sight of him reminds her of one of the kids she always reads to at the library on weekends, when she just reached a particularly creepy part. She takes a quick breath, drooping her head as she's trying to regain her composure.
"We crashed. I missed a tree right in front of me and couldn't dodge it in time."
"What about Gus? Where is he?", Willow chimes in, not giving Eda the chance to react to Amity's explanation.
"The kid is safe.", is all Eda replies.
"Eda froze him.", Hooty's voice suddenly rings out, causing a confused expression on Amity and Willow's faces. This quickly fades, however, as the aforementioned brown-furred house demon emerges from behind Eda's back.
"SHE WHAT?", Willow yells at him before quickly turning to Eda, "Sorry, YOU WHAT?"
"I had to restrain him somehow, both as protection for him and for us. With him being frozen, the infection won't spread any further.", Eda counters, "-I hope..."
"You hope?", Amity adds doubtfully.
"Listen, I had to make a decision, and I'm not going to justify that trying to avert a full-blown disaster is a higher priority for me than taking care of a single kid who's infected, OK?"
Willow and Amity exchange conflicted looks, since they both know that Eda is right. Even though it hurts to leave one of them behind just like that.
"So, with that settled, let's get back to my first question: Where. Is. Luz?", Eda asks, deliberately emphasizing each word. At that, King quietly speaks up.
"You know... technically, that was your second question...", he says.
All eyes are all on him now, and none of them are saying anything. He doesn't like it.
He is all the more relieved when he notices a vibrating sound emanating from Willow. Eda seems to hear it too.
"Bad time for someone to call you.", Eda remarks, though she summons her scroll anyway. Once she checks to see who's calling her, she tilts her head in confusion before her gaze falls on Amity.
"It's your sister...", she explains.
"What?", Amity wonders quietly as Willow answers the call.
"Hello...?", Willow speaks in an uncertain voice as both Emira and Edric Blight appear on her scroll. They seem to be outside walking, both with slightly gloomy expressions on their faces. Emira speaks up first.
"Has Eda found you yet?", is the very first thing she says. No greeting, no explanation on why she calls Willow instead of like Amity. No, Emira cuts straight to the point. Puzzled looks spread through the group and Willow turns her scroll slightly so that Eda can be seen on it.
"Yes... She is here. How do you kn-", Willow can't finish her question as Emira cuts her off.
"Alright, you guys need to leave right now! Luz is on her way towards Hexside. If you leave immediately, you can intercept her before she kills someone.", she urges them on. Everyone listening has a WTF-expression on their faces, too stunned to say anything. "Oh, and one more thing, someone will meet you there who can help. We're on our way there too. See ya"
Emira disconnects the call, leaving the four of them utterly dumbfounded.
"What just happened?", King breaks the silence.
One by one, eyes fall on Amity in search an explanation. Unfortunately, she is just as clueless.
"They were acting just as strange earlier when I got back from school earlier.", she recounts, "I don't know why, or what, or how, but I think those two know something."
"Think she was telling the truth?"
Amity contemplates the question for a moment.
"I don't feel like she's trying to prank us. I think she's genuine about wanting to help us.", she replies eventually, "And I mean, we lost track of Luz anyway. I say let's give it a shot. If we can't find her, we're screwed anyway."
"Good, we should go then. Now!", Eda commands before positioning her staff back into its hovering position. Amity and Willow do the same. King, however, does not jump back onto Amity's staff.
"Eda, I'm flying with you. Somebody here isn't flying as safely as she claimed she was.", he says, side-eyeing Amity who, in response, gives him such a furious look that it shoots ice-cold shivers down his spine.
"Jump on.", Eda says. But even before she can finish that sentence, he has already crawled into the wild mane that is forming her hair.
And with everyone now ready, they push off from the ground and, with Eda in the lead, push through the dark canopy and quickly head off on their way to Hexside.
All the leaves right below their feet blur into a single red plane as the school steadily comes closer into view. The sense of urgency is palpable among them, but it could just as easily be the cold wind whipping against their faces.
Amity tries to take a deep breath and push down the worries flooding her mind: The anxiety from her sister's call, the worry not only about Luz but about everyone else who is in grave danger, the guilt about losing Luz after her crash, and the painful uncertainty about whether they will actually be able to save her girlfriend or whether it will be necessary to put her-
No!
Amity's breathing starts to become shaky, which extends noticeably all the way to her hands. She tries to empty her mind and focus entirely on the objective directly in front of her. She tightens her grip on her staff.
The entrance to Hexside comes into view. The group leans their staffs down and they race straight for the entrance, landing directly on top of the stairs.
The huge, massive doors are wide open, it's fairly quiet and everything seems deserted, devoid of students and teachers alike. Eda turns back to the school's exterior.
"We must have arrived before her.", she notes. "Is it always this quiet?"
"The last period isn't over yet for some students.", Willow explains.
"So there are still students here?", Eda continues to ask, at which Willow and Amity nod. Eda then puts Hooty's backpack down, and pulls King out of her hair. "Okay, here's the plan: Hooty, you are going to watch out for Luz in the forest. But don't get too close to her under any circumstances, got it?"
"Got it!", Hooty replies, winding his way down the stone steps and digging into the ground.
"Blight, you find Principal Bump and convince him to seal off the school completely!", Eda orders.
"B-but I can help here!", she argues. Eda, however, is having none of it.
"No discussion, GO!"
Amity glances briefly at Willow, who nods in agreement before sprinting off into the school towards Bump's office with her staff firmly in hand. Eda, Willow and King turn back to the forest, all of them standing there in anticipation. The air around them is so thick one could cut it with a spoon.
"... Was it really a good idea to send Amity in? Wouldn't it have been better if you'd gone looking for Bump?", Willow asks Eda at one point.
"And leave you kids on your own? I thought we had settled that already!", the older witch replies firmly. At that, King speaks up.
"Admittedly, there's not too much you can do to protect anyone here...", he says, catching an angry look from her.
"Enough already!", Eda says, clearly avoiding the subject, "We need to be ready to detain Luz as soon as she shows up."
Amity is running through the thankfully empty corridors of Hexside. On the way to Bump's office, she can see in several classrooms that classes are still in progress.
'Luz cannot come in here!', she thinks to herself, her heart beating hard in her chest, 'We have to stop her- I have to stop her... from hurting anyone.'
Her mind is racing as she navigates the familiar halls and corridors of Hexside. She hurries her steps until she finally arrives at Principal Bump's office where she knocks hastily.
Knock-knock-knock-knock-knock
"Come-", Amity throws open the door and enters the office before Bump can finish the sentence. "Amity, what happened to you?", he questions in a worried voice as he notices her partially torn and bloodied clothes. However, she completely ignores his question.
"You need to lock down the school immediately!"
"No! You should see the school healer immediately!", Bump speaks with determined sternness whilst Amity is shaking her head.
"We don't have time for that! If you don't seal Hexside off right now, everyone still here will be a lot worse off than me!", Amity almost shouts right in his face. His expression shifts slightly.
"What do you mean?", he asks. Amity exhales tensely through her nose.
"It's Luz. She's somehow been infected with a mutated version of the Mold that makes her attack everyone and everything."
Bump looks horrified. "Did she-", he doesn't finish his question, but points to the injuries on her legs.
"Yes, she did attack me, but she didn't look as bad then as she does now. She nearly killed Gus too, and now she's on her way here. Eda and Willow are standing guard at the entrance."
Bump falls into a thoughtful pose, though noticing the tension and urgency around the youngest Blight.
"Let's say I lock down the school, then what?", he asks.
"We've got to detain Luz somehow. She cannot be allowed near other people under any circumstances until we find a way to heal her.", she replies.
"And if not?", Bump replies coldly, at which Amity tilts her head in confusion, "What if it's not possible?"
Amity's expression hardens, vehemently refusing to even acknowledge the possibility. Luz simply must make it. She just has to...
"We will find a way!", Amity declares with as much conviction as she can muster. Fortunately for her, it seems to be sufficient for Bump.
He nods to her before rising from his imposing chair, walking around his desk, and standing directly in front of the wall right next to the office door.
"Please take a few steps back.", he orders Amity before drawing a large magic circle on the wall and presses firmly against it with both hands, causing glowing lines to lead out from it in all directions along the wall and in all possible combinations. In fact, it reminds Amity a little of Luz's glyph combos.
A few moments later, it is all over again, and Bump turns back to Amity.
"I've sealed all the entrances and exits. No one will be able to get in. I really hope this situation can be resolved in time without panic breaking out."
"Great. Then I can go-"
"Then you can go to the school healer now!", Bump interrupts her.
"But-"
"No buts. No one is getting in or out at the moment, and that includes you. Now go.", he orders her. Anger begins to rise within her, but she knows very well how to keep up a straight face
"Yes, Principal Bump.", she speaks through gritted teeth and proceeds to leave his office.
The school healer's office is just a few doors down the hallway. On her way to Bump's office, she actually ran past it.
Amity picks up her legs and starts running, right past the healer's office, heading straight back to the main entrance of the school having never intended to comply with Bump's order.
Not long afterwards, as she re-enters the large main corridor and runs towards the front entrance, she notices the transparent purple barrier that Bump cast. She comes to a halt just in front of it. Eda, Willow, King, and Hooty stand outside the barrier, all looking in a different direction with inquisitive glances.
"Guys, what's going on?", Amity asks worriedly. Eda's head snaps back.
"Oh good, you're back.", she says, "No sign of Luz so far... Maybe your sister did screw us over after all."
"I don't think so.", Amity replies firmly, "I mean, Luz was moving about as fast as we were... The only other possibility I can see is... ... oh no..."
"What?", Eda inquires as Amity's breath catches. She looks Eda straight in the eye.
"... She's already here."
"WHAT?", Eda, Willow, and King shout in unison.
As if on cue, a loud, blood-curdling scream rings out through the halls and corridors of Hexside. Amity's heart races as she turns around. The others feel the same as they look past the young Blight.
"Run!", Eda orders her in a stern voice, "And stop her! We'll catch up!"
"But-"
"GO!", Eda yells loudly, startling Amity. Luckily, she catches herself quickly and runs off in the direction the scream came from.
Eda herself, on the other hand, also does not waste a single second.
"Follow me!", she orders King and Willow as she hurries down the steps and to the left, towards the bushes just below some windows. She starts frantically searching for something. "Where is it- Where is it- Where is it-", something clicks inside the wall, "Bingo!"
She pushes a few bushes aside, revealing a small door. And as Eda opens it, Willow speaks up.
"Uh of course, the Room of Shortcuts...", she speaks excitedly yet surprised, "I didn't know the doors lead outside as well..."
Wide-eyed, Eda turns to the young witch, opening her mouth to say something, but instead she just shakes her head.
"I'm not going to ask how you know about this... Let's go!"
"Wait-", King stops her, "What about Hooty? He's still out in the woods."
"He's safer out there. Let's go!", Eda says, scurrying both of them inside before closing the door behind her again, not knowing that someone else is on their way there.
Amity has been running through Hexside's corridors for the last few minutes, so far without finding the source of the scream. That is, until she turns a corner and spots two figures at the end of another corridor. She rushes over there.
One of them is Mattholomule. His whole body is trembling as he cowers in front of a row of lockers, his knees hugged tightly to his chest and his gaze fixed on the second figure: One of the detention guards, lying motionless on the floor, its black and blue uniform bloody and heavily ripped.
Amity kneels down in front of Matt, blocking his view of the body.
"What happened?", Amity asks gently, "You saw what happened, didn't you?"
Matt's eyes are filled with fear and terror, and it takes him a while to even register Amity's presence. He doesn't look at her, but nods slightly.
"WHAT'S GOING ON?"
It's Principal Bump. Amity straightens her head and notices that Bump has joined Eda, Willow, and King. As soon as they noticed the body, they come running. Bump, Willow, and King stop next to Amity, while Eda turns to the body.
"What happened?", Bump asks Matt. But Amity takes over immediately.
"Isn't that clear? He saw the Guard being attacked. He saw... he saw Luz."
Bump takes a deep thoughtful breath.
"So, not only were you wrong about Luz being on her way here, but we're all locked in here with her now?", he asks with a hint of an accusatory tone.
"Don't take your frustration out on the young Blight!", Eda exclaims, kneeling a few meters ahead next to the body. All eyes now turn to her. "She couldn't have known she was here already."
"So, Edalyn, what do you think I should do?", he asks in a critical voice.
"Evacuate the school, but quietly.", Eda suggests, "I suspect she's somewhere here creating a new nest. If there's a big alarm going off, then A, panic will break out and B, it will inform Luz that we're here and know about her presence."
"I'm not going to hand over the school to her!", Bump speaks with determination.
"Neither are we!", Eda replies. "Luz is my kid, and I'll be damned if she takes any more lives. I'll do whatever it takes!"
"Good.", Bump says satisfied with Eda's answer, "I'll be on my way immediately."
Bump lifts Matt up, and with the traumatized boy in his arms walks briskly back in the same direction he came from.
But as soon as he has disappeared from their sight again, King anxiously speaks up.
"You didn't mean what you said, did you?", he asks.
"Yes, I did!", Eda replies as she applies an ice glyph to the guard's body, freezing him completely just like Gus earlier, "I'll do everything in my power to stop that thing in Luz and get my kid back!"
Amity, Willow, and King exchange glances before standing up as well.
"Okay, what's the plan?"
At the same time, not too far away...
Lilith and Gwendolyn are currently on their way to Hexside, the penultimate place where they suspect Eda, Luz and the others to be. So far, they have flown over Bonesborough's marketplace in search of any panic or other conspicuous activity, made a detour over Blight Manor where they only met silence, and would have flown along the western coast once Hexside would turn out to be a bust as well.
However, as they approach Hexside, the two witches immediately realize that something is different. As they fly out of the main building around a hundred students, with Principal Bump at the main entrance trying to keep the crowds calm are fleeing from the building.
"I think we're at the right place.", Gwen assumes.
The two of them fly low over the heads of the students, landing just a few meters away from Bump, who notices them immediately.
"Edalyn. Is she here?", Lilith asks him firmly just as she got off her staff. Instead of replying, he is slightly taken aback by her sudden appearance.
"Lilith... Mrs. Clawthorne...", he says before trying to regain his posture, "Um, yes, they're here. If you want to help, they're in there somewhere."
"Very helpful...", Lilith replies in a sarcastic tone.
"I'm sorry if you don't like my priorities.", he replies similarly sarcastically. At that, Gwen grabs her daughter by the shoulders.
"That's enough. Lilith, lead the way."
Lilith nods to her mother, brings her staff back into flying position and with Gwendolyn right behind her, flies off into the building.
"So, where do you think we can find them?", Lilith asks shortly after as they're flying through the fortunately high main hallways.
"If Luz has really turned into a beast, she's in flight mode and has chosen Hexside as her shelter.", Gwendolyn explains.
"Yeah, but where exactly?", Lilith asks as the two of them turn around a sharp corner.
"She hasn't attacked the students here yet to defend her territory. She'll be somewhere where there's little to no activity."
Knowing the layout of the school back from her own time there, a light goes on for Lilith at that very second.
"I have three ideas where she could be, including Edalyn and the others: The library, the auditorium, or the greenhouse."
"... Didn't we just fly past the library?", Gwendolyn wonders.
"Yes, that's right. And the auditorium is the closest from here. Take the next turn to the left and down the stairs!"
As soon as they reached the small stairwell and flew down the steps, the two witches spot four figures further into the corridor.
"EDALYN?", Lilith exclaims. Neither her nor Gwendolyn immediately notice that both the temperature and the humidity rise massively the closer they get to them. She prepares to dash off towards her sister when suddenly vines burst out of the floor, wrapping both Lilith and Gwendolyn around their mouths as they lift them off their staffs and carry them towards the figures.
Lilith is delighted once she realizes that it really is Eda, Amity, Willow, and King. Her joy, however, is only met by angry looks. Her gaze wanders to Willow, on whose hand a bright green magic circle can be seen. Slowly and most importantly quietly, Lilith and Gwendolyn are set down on the ground again.
"WHAT. ARE YOU. DOING. HERE?", Eda tries to contain her anger at both her sister and mother, as she's speaking quietly through her gritted teeth.
"We are-", she interrupts herself before continuing to whisper, "Sorry. We're here to help you. Mother and I have a plan for how we might be able to bring Luz back."
"Then I really hope your loud arrival hasn't alerted her.", Eda hisses at them again before turning to Willow, her tone softening quite a bit. "Did she notice us?"
Willow places a hand flat against the concrete wall, which lights up slightly green shortly afterwards. She shakes her head, causing everyone to exhale in relief.
"What just happened?", Gwendolyn wonders.
"I can detect the fungi growing in the walls from Luz's hiding place if I get close enough."
"Fungi?", Lilith wonders. "I thought Luz had turned into a beast..."
Before anyone can respond, however, the corridor lights suddenly begin to flicker wildly for several seconds before eventually burning out completely. The six of them are now left standing in total darkness with the only light coming from the stairs behind their backs.
"Don't move!", Willow speaks up, "I have an idea."
With one hand still on the wall, Willow draws another magic circle in the air with her other one. However, nothing happens at first.
Everyone waits for something to happen.
"What did you do?", Amity asks.
"Just... wait one more second...", Willow replies.
To the naked eye, it's not really noticeable at first that anything is happening at all, which is why the six of them just stand around, waiting impatiently, in the middle of the dark corridor.
It takes a couple of moments before a very faint glow appears in the cracks between the large floor tiles, which begins to glow more strongly with each passing second, slowly filling the entire corridor with soft green light.
"How do you do that?", Lilith asks in a soft voice, lost in wonder. A small smile graces Willow's face at this compliment.
"Well, since Luz's mutated mushrooms grow everywhere, I just redirected the growth here and inserted a bioluminescent mutation into the mushrooms. Luz shouldn't have been able to notice that."
"Very good, Willow.", Amity compliments her, "But we should get going. The doors to the auditorium are right over there."
As the group quietly makes their way towards the nearby entrance, Eda drops back a little so that she is now walking directly between Lilith and her mother.
"So you want to help.", Eda repeats their earlier offer, "How?"
"It was Lilith's idea.", Gwendolyn replies, "She said I could try to get the beast out of her with my Beast Keeping magic. Or at least try to put her down."
"Excuse me?!", Eda asks, heavily taken aback.
"I meant letting her fall asleep so she's no longer a threat.", she corrects herself. Eda is immediately relieved.
"Okay... okay okay okay okay okay okay...", Eda mumbles before catching herself again, "Okay... Your idea seems to be a good one, because Plant Girl over there had pretty much the same one."
"Oh, really?"
"Yup. If she can't make it, you guys are welcome to try.", Eda replies.
"SSSHHH!" Amity hushes at the older witches, who find themselves being stared at by her, Willow, and King.
"Right, sorry."
The group is now standing right in front of the still closed auditorium doors with Amity at the front, inwardly preparing to attack her girlfriend. Or that thing that looks like her.
After a moment's pause, she looks at Willow.
"Where is she?", Amity whispers.
Willow closes her eyes, puts a hand against the wall, and again draws a green magic circle. Her face begins to grimace.
"Something's wrong." King remarks.
"Willow?", Amity asks, but Willow doesn't answer.
"Talk to us, kid.", Eda chimes in, touching her by her shoulder. Willow opens her eyes.
"I... I don't know how, but she's blocking me. I can't see her."
"So we're blind?", Lilith asks, her voice laced with concern. "If we go in there, she could attack us from all sides."
"No!", King speaks up, "We won't be blind. Willow, is this biolumines- umm, this glow inside the room as well?"
"I think so. Why?", she replies.
"Good, then please step aside. Once the door is open, head straight in. Okay?" The others nod at the little demon and stand a few steps away from him leaning against the wall opposite the door. King stands directly in front of them and begins to breathe deeply. Each breath deeper and longer as he gathers his strength.
'I'm sorry, Luz.', he thinks before letting it all out.
"WEH!", he screams with all of the power he can muster, pushing an enormous, concentrated shockwave away from him, entirely focused on the door.
With a mixture of amazement and awe, they all watch the double doors of the auditorium being violently ripped out of the wall along with parts of the surrounding wall. In the auditorium, the wave continues to spread in all directions, devastating everything in its path, from the rows of benches covered in dark mushrooms to the stage and the wall behind it, all of which quickly suffers severe damage.
They are met with a room similarly dark as the corridor outside. Large parts of the walls, but also the benches, are covered with mushrooms of all kinds. A strong green glow emanates from isolated mushroom fibers, making it possible to make out the rough outlines of objects, but not strong enough to illuminate the entire auditorium.
"GO GO GO!", King yells to Amity and Willow. On their staffs, they fly into the warm and very humid auditorium in search of Luz.
"Up ahead!", Willow calls out when she's about halfway across the room and spots signs of movement on the lower left wall. "AAAHHH!"
Less than a second later, something comes crashing down on her, knocking her off her staff and causing her to fall with a loud thud onto the debris of the wall and door directly beneath her.
"Willow!", Amity and the other witches shout out.
Immediately it becomes clear that it is Luz who has attacked Willow from the ceiling and is now pinning her to the ground on all fours.
Amity herself wastes no time and summons an Abomination that lifts Luz off Willow with ease. Luz hisses, snarls, and heaves as she tries to free herself.
Amity creates a second abomination that grabs Luz from the other side and begins to lock her hands and feet inside itself.
"ARRGGHH!", she growls as she tries with all her might to free herself from her prison. Amity struggles to keep Luz trapped in the Abomination. She lets her sink deeper into it until her arms and legs are almost completely encased in Abomination goo.
"SHE'S SECURED! YOU'RE ON IT! GO!", Amity yells towards the door trying to keep her spell active.
Eda, Lilith, and Gwendolyn run into the auditorium. Eda immediately runs to Willow, who is already trying to pull to her feet with her own strength. Luz seems to have hurt her more than a little with her attack.
As Eda turns to Willow, Lilith and Gwendolyn can't help but be more than shocked at the sight of Luz as all the color is draining from their faces.
While the two of them are familiar with fungal infestation on the head as a symptom of the Mold, this case goes absolutely beyond that. Almost Luz's entire body is covered in dark fungus with merely tiny bits of skin or fabric is recognizable. Her eyes are blacker than the night, only burning red pupils can be seen staring at them as she tries to free herself.
Gwendolyn quickly snaps back to reality and remembers what she has to do.
"Okay, here we go.", she mutters to herself before she starts drawing a larger yellow spell circle. She focuses her gaze directly on Luz's eyes.
Luz's attempts to break free diminish as she finds herself caught in Gwendolyn's gaze, who attempts to enter her mind to force the beast out of her.
"She... She's fighting back.", Gwendolyn speaks after a while in a strained voice. However, she keeps on trying.
That is, until she suddenly hears a strange voice in her head. It's Luz's, but at the same time it's not.
'You are strong, but you will not succeed in removing us! And we appreciate you keeping the connection open in both directions. You will make another great drone.'
Gwendolyn immediately cuts the connection. In shock, she stumbles and falls backwards to the ground while she catches something resembling a smirk on Luz's face.
"Mother!", Lilith exclaims, running to her side. Eda and Willow, who seems to have picked herself up again, follow. "What happened?"
"It's intelligent.", Gwendolyn explains, slightly out of breath. "I was completely wrong. It's not a beast. It's a hive mind."
"What does that mean?", Eda asks.
"It means we have to stop it now, before it spreads any further!", Gwendolyn speaks with determination before turning her head to Willow. "I'm going to need your help."
"Anything." Willow nods at her.
"Is there anything we can do?", Eda asks for both herself and Lilith.
"Burn everything down! We must weaken it.", she explains. The siblings express a look of horror.
"But what about you?", Lilith asks.
"I'll stay.", Gwendolyn answers.
"Me too.", Willow agrees.
"GUYS!", Amity suddenly shouts, " I DON'T KNOW HOW LONG I CAN KEEP GOING!"
"Go! Now!", Gwendolyn shouts.
With Willow's help, Gwendolyn straightens up. Eda, King, and Lilith hastily begin to draw fire glyphs. First they activate them on the walls, which immediately catch fire. Luz's shrieks in agonizing pain as the flames slowly spread along the walls.
Gwendolyn turns to Willow.
"Try to remove the tendrils and spores from her brain. We need to make sure she can regain control.", she orders her. Willow nods resolutely and draws her magic circle.
Gwendolyn watches the younger witch closely. She seems to be having difficulties.
"Wait.", Gwendolyn says. Willow's spell breaks off. "Take my hand. I'll help you."
Together, the two of them now begin to draw one single, large magic circle, which lights up in both yellow and green simultaneously. The concentrated gazes of both are directed straight at Luz's head, where their magic is unfolding.
"It... works...", Willow speaks strained. She can feel the tendrils and spores that have taken over Luz's brain beginning to shrink or die off.
"Keep it up!", Gwendolyn shouts, noticing how the room is getting warmer and warmer. Half the room is already on fire, and the air is filling with smoke.
While Willow tries to sever the connection to Luz's brain, the older witch tries to enter her brain once again, searching for Luz and trying to give her enough strength to join the fight.
Meanwhile, Eda, King, Lilith, and Amity have retreated to the hallway outside. Amity keeps her Abomination active inside, while Willow and Gwendolyn are still inside trying to free Luz. Fortunately, maintaining the spell is no longer as draining, as Luz is no longer trying so hard to escape. Whether this is due to the heat, the flames or the increasingly stuffy air is uncertain. The air inside the auditorium is becoming increasingly opaque, and with it it's no longer possible to see what is going on inside. Like the air, the tension is palpable.
"You've been in there too long. It's not working!", Lilith cries out in concern. "We have to get them out of there!"
"Not yet!", Amity shouts, her spell circle beginning to weaken.
Anxiously, they all watch the wall of smoke blocking the view into the auditorium, with all of them unable to do anything to help.
The four of them stare at the wall of smoke directly in front of them when Amity suddenly collapses onto all fours right next to them.
"Amity!", Lilith immediately kneels down to her. But before she can put a comforting hand onto her shoulder, Amity raises her hand.
"I'm... fine. Get them out.", she mutters, her eyes wandering to King. He nods at her in affirmation and steps forward, right in front of the wall of smoke.
"Weh!", he shouts, again emitting a circular, but weaker shockwave. The shockwave pushes all the smoke aside and opens up a narrow tunnel into the auditorium.
The four of them are overjoyed when they see Gwendolyn and Willow slowly wanking towards them, holding Luz on their shoulders.
"Luz!", Eda and King shout joyfully. They immediately run into the tunnel to take the literal weight off Gwendolyn and Willow's shoulders, for which they are only too grateful.
Once out of the smoke, the two witches start coughing hard to get all the smoke out of their lungs. Lilith comes to their aid.
"How are you feeling? Are you hurt? What happened?", she asks as she's cautiously eying them for and burn marks. Gwendolyn smiles slightly.
"See for yourself.", she points to Eda and Luz.
They turn to Luz, who appears to be sleeping on Eda's lap. Almost all the mushrooms that had previously covered her body are gone, except for a few smaller, dead mushrooms that Eda easily brushes off her. There are larger holes in her clothes and her skin color is still rather pale, but the worst part seems to be over.
"Guys, we should leave. The flames are coming out of the room.", Amity suddenly reminds everyone that they're still in danger.
Eda lifts Luz up into her arms. Lilith helps Gwendolyn stand up, and Amity and Willow support each other. Slowly, the group make their way towards the main entrance.
Their walk is accompanied by nothing but the sound of the crackling flames slowly spreading behind them and their footsteps on the floor tiles. Despite this, neither of them feels any particular urgency to hurry. By now, the school's fire alarm has also gone off, but the group cannot be bothered.
On their way out, nobody is talking and it is uncomfortably quiet between them. Not far from the exit, Luz begins to wriggle and whimper in Eda's arms. Luz clings tightly to Eda, and all of them can just hear Luz begin to cry quietly.
'She remembers what happened.', Eda curses in her mind. No one has said it openly yet, but everyone had hoped in one way or another, that Luz would wake up and her first question would have been how she got to school or how long she slept. The fact that she is crying now can only mean that she has been imprisoned in her own mind all this time, having to watch and witness every single cruel and gruesome act through her own eyes.
As the group approaches the main entrance, they find not only Principal Bump and Hooty there, but also Edric and Emira, waiting for them.
The twins notice them first, and without a word, they run towards them.
"Come on, let us help you.", Emira speaks to Amity and Willow before she and Edric take the two witches under their arms and support them over the last handful of meters down to the stairs and help them down. Luz's crying has only gotten stronger and stronger over time, and no one really knows what to say to make it better.
"Edalyn.", Bump eventually speaks up. She looks from Luz up to him, who motions for her to come with him somewhere aside. She nods at him before slowly setting Luz down on the stairs right next to Amity. The youngest Blight doesn't hesitate for a second and immediately takes her girlfriend in her arms as she cries all the pain out of her body. The twins, Willow, King, and Hooty immediately join her.
Eda gets up and follows Bump a little further away, where Lilith and Gwendolyn are already waiting.
"I'm very glad to see you were successful," Bump speaks sympathetically before turning his gaze back to the young human, "Well, given the circumstances."
"She witnessed everything.", Gwendolyn tells them, "That poor, poor girl."
"What exactly happened in there anyway, and why is my school on fire?", Bump demands to know. He points to the east side of the school grounds, where a large cloud of smoke is rising into the sky.
"I'll deal with the fire in a minute.", Gwendolyn volunteers, "But first we should make sure there really isn't a single mushroom left in there."
"Please elaborate."
"Luz's body has been taken over by some kind of fungal hivemind, which initially seems to mirror symptoms of the common mold. It effectively hijacked her brain and took over her body to act as a mindless drone."
"Are there more? And can we be sure this won't happen again?", Bump inquires.
"I... I don't know where and how Luz got- infected- in the lack of better term to describe it.", Eda replies, "If we're lucky, any remaining remnants will be burned and destroyed."
"And if not?", Lilith injects. Unfortunately, that is a very valid question.
"If not... we may be facing a grim future.", Eda replies before turning her gaze back to her kids, "But for now, once we heal Goops and this guard back inside, we'll be okay."
"One step at a time, right?"
"One step at a time."
Luz huddles close to Amity, her sobs a little quieter by now. After a little healing job from Emira, Gwendolyn and Willow have made their way back to the Owl House to take care of Gus. Emira is now tending to Amity's burn wounds.
"You knew, didn't you?", Amity asks, but not with a hint of reproach or anger in her voice. Emira's healing spell interrupts, and she and Edric exchange glances for a moment. "You knew this was going to happen here, right?"
Emira sighs.
"Yes, we knew.", she replies.
"How long?", her sister continues to ask.
"Since our Prediction class. The spirits from the ghost world we communicate with usually only tell us about small events, but today was different."
"Something had changed our timeline. The spirit world was in complete chaos, as they had no idea what happened either.", Edric takes over for his sister, "The spirit hadn't shown us much, but what we had seen pointed to the end of the world. And it all started with Luz."
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?", Amity demanded to know, her voice still surprisingly quiet but her eyes welling up with tears, "You could have saved us all this!"
The twins exchange sad looks again.
"No, we couldn't.", Emira says defeated and guilt-ridden, "Luz was already infected. All we could do was to tell you where Luz went when she ran away."
At that, King speaks up.
"And if you hadn't done that, this thing that took her over would have also taken over the school, all while we were still searching for her?", he asks to which Edric nods.
"And why did you call Willow and not me?", Amity asks.
"Would you have answered?", Emira asks, at which Amity just grumbles quietly. "Thought so."
"And what happens now?"
"... I don't know. Time will tell. Time will tell..."