A/N: Hello, and welcome back! Yes, I managed to get this chapter done a lot quicker than I thought, meaning you guys get the conclusion to Episode 14 a bit quicker than usual. This chapter was a little tricky for me to do, because I had so many ideas on how I was going to approach this scenario with Tibbles. But in the end, I like what I came out with, especially because it allowed me to shine some light on Vance. I'm surprised no one's said anything about him yet since his debut in Chapter 31, especially during the last two chapters because of his more active role. Though I have a feeling the revelations in this chapter will change that...~ Hopefully. Maybe. XD But as previously mentioned, this chapter ends Episode 14, meaning Chapter 45 will be the beginning of an episode a lot of you have been anticipating: Understanding Willow. I won't give much away on what's going to happen in that one yet, but all I will say is that it will play out similarly to the chapters for Episode 13, along with the fact the ending of this chapter foreshadows what's to come...
In the meantime, thank you so much for those of you who have been favouriting, following, reviewing and reading this fanfiction. Your continued support is greatly appreciated. I'll explain my creative decisions and address other things in the author's notes below, so stick around for that. Until then, I hope you enjoy the conclusion to Episode 14.
Gry26: Wow. I think you're the first one who's noticed this issue and vocalised it. XD But you don't have to worry. I can't say much, but Chapter 37 dropped quite a few hints in Ulritch's dialogue to Xander which hints at why Lizzie's parents are in their current situation, something which will likely be revealed either at the end of Season 1 or beginning of Season 2. However I can say that Ulritch has nothing over Lizzie even with her parents staying under his roof, and the reason why will be explored in Episode 16.
To the Guest who recently reviewed on Chapter 2 (apologies, completely missed your question): I think I have answered a similar question before, but to answer yours, Xander would be excluded from the first intro (naturally) while Lizzie... well, I'm not sure. She'd probably slot in somewhere in the middle with Willow, Gus and Amity maybe, and then join the others during the chase scene and the title revelation. For Season 2, she'd probably appear in the beginning back to back with Luz, juggling her potion vials. As for Xander... well, I can't say. That'd be spoilers. Sorry. XD
Chapter 44: One Step Ahead
On the outside, the red-bodied and yellow-roofed circular tent that held the 'House of Mirrors' had appeared small to our trio of teenagers. But upon the two witchlets and lone human venturing past the purple curtains of the entrance to look for their missing and little demon and companion, they were left wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the maze-like and high-ceiling interior, with its wall decorated with varying shaped triangular mirrors to lead the way.
"King!" Luz shouted the little demon's name, briefly glancing from side to side to await a response. When she never got one, the Latina frowned and dared to walk forward, with Gus and Willow mirroring her expression as they followed her in. "Do you really think he came in here?" she asked her two friends while peeking back at them from over her shoulder. "It's possible he might have gone to look for Liz or Eda."
"I definitely saw King heading for the House of Mirrors," Willow affirmed. Hers and Gus' gazes turned towards the mirrors to their left as they started to pass them, with Luz's eyes widening at the reflections she was seeing of herself on her left. "But if he's not here, at least we can rule it out."
Unlike the 'Hall of Mirrors' that Luz recalled seeing in the Human Realm, she quickly came to realise by what she was witnessing now that the Demon Realm's version altered her reflections much more than simply distorting them. One mirror she passed in front of depicted her as a humanoid dog in her usual clothes with brown fur; another showed her as an ordinary human skeleton; one had her with a carved pumpkin head with stalks for arms and leaves for hair, while others showed her as a blue-skinned octopus with an oval shaped head, blue hair and four red eyes, an anime-drawn girl with pink hair and sparkly eyes, and a shadowy creature with pointed-teeth, claw-like fingers and twinkly star patterns decorating her body. Those were only five of the examples she saw, yet it didn't stop her from becoming distracted to the point where she couldn't turn her head away even as her body kept walking onward.
"You're right, Willow," Luz eventually answered, only to slump her shoulders and sigh when she finally took her eyes off the mirrors and focused them on her feet. "But I can't help worrying about the little guy." She rubbed a hand against the back of her neck, her voice growing quieter. "We got a little caught up in the carnival today. What if he wandered off because he thought we'd forgotten we were helping him?"
Gus and Willow shared furrowed browed glances as the three started to round the mirror maze towards the right, prompting the former to move closer and give Luz's closest shoulder a gentle pat.
"I'm sure he's fine, Luz," he reassured, a small smile appearing as the addressed human dared to glance back at the shorter witch. "He probably just got bored waiting around for us and wanted to try to win the tickets for himself."
Luz copied Gus' smile and started to slow down when she saw her friends do the same, with the two witches having spied the long, rectangular mirror at the end of the corridor they'd entered. "You're right, Gus. That little goofball does get bored very easily—"
Snap!
The trio of teenagers froze at the sound of a rope snapping underneath Luz's foot seconds after she'd put it down. Before any of them had a chance to process what was happening, sloshing liquid sounded above their heads. Cold, purple glowing liquid doused the heads and upper bodies of Luz, Gus and Willow, causing the three to cry out in shock and hunch forward, their eyes squeezing shut. However, after several seconds, the three opened their eyes at feeling the damp on their clothes and skin suddenly evaporate, prompting them to blink widely at seeing and feeling that they were no longer covered in whatever had just landed on them.
"What the…?" Luz muttered with a furrowed brow, holding her arms out in front of her and twisting them about with repeated blinks. "Did you guys—?" As Luz had turned to face her two friends, she felt her body start to sway back and forth a little, her vision blurring ever so slightly. "Whoa…" She mumbled and placed a hand to her forehead, spreading her legs out to widen her stance. "Why do I feel light-headed all of a sudden…?"
Hazel eyes trailed to her surroundings when she caught movement from within her peripheral vision, only for them to widen at the sight of the mirrors gradually stretching upwards, with the ceiling looking like it was rising to the sky.
"What's happening?!" Gus shouted from nearby, but Luz couldn't bring herself to answer.
Her pulse pounded in her ears, her breathing grew heavy, and before she knew it, Luz lost her footing and stumbled backwards onto her bottom, hitting the wooden floor with a small thud. But still the ceiling and mirrors moved until they could no more, a quick shake of her head soon dispelling her light-headedness and blurry vision within a blink.
With her surroundings falling still and her pulse dying down, Luz slowly turned her wide-eyed gaze to where Gus and Willow were still standing, with Gus shaking his head and repeatedly blinking while Willow removed her glasses and then slipped them back on again with a small squint. At first the three teens said nothing, their eyes darting round in a frenzy. Eventually, though, Luz managed to find her voice.
"… Guys," she croaked out, her head tilting towards the large reflective surfaces looming over them much more menacingly than before. "Did everything just get bigger?"
A familiar and posh sounding chuckle sounded from behind Luz, causing Gus and Willow to look up with slacked jaws as a large shadow wearing a top hat stretched over the area they were in.
"On the contrary, human," the voice of Tibbles said lowly, causing Luz to twist her body round to said pig standing over her in his ringmaster getup, with a smirk on his face and his hands clasped before his chest. "it's more accurate to say you have gotten smaller~…"
With King still clinging to her satchel strap for dear life, Lizzie raced and dodged through the carnival crowds alongside Vance to return to the entrance, where she recalled Tibbles' tent was. Ideally, Lizzie had wanted to go find Eda first in case they needed backup; however, knowing that time was of the essence and that she had no idea where Eda had gone after they'd parted ways, she conceded that Vance was her best shot as her replacement on such short notice, especially because the last thing he'd said was still picking at her brain like a pair of tweezers. That remained so even when she dared to give him a sideways glance, seeing his brow furrowed and his lips pressed into a thin line.
'Why do I get the feeling he's come prepared for this?'
"Lizzie!" King's shriek right next to her ear brought Lizzie back to reality with a wince. She glanced the little demon's way just as he pointed ahead of them. "Scoundrel pig at 12o'clock!"
The blonde witch followed King's claw towards they were approaching the 'Tent of Tiny Terrors' near the entrance archway, her eyes widening the moment they locked with the back of Tibbles' jacket and top hat as he shoved the tent covering aside with a hand and stepped into the darkness of the interior.
"Dang it," she hissed and pressed a fist close to her mouth. "Don't tell me we're already too late!"
"Only one way to find out," Vance replied lowly, prompting Lizzie to scowl and pick up the speed in her running to close the gap between her and the tent.
'If that pig has laid a single finger on Luz or her friends, he is going to pay!'
Charging ahead of Vance and reaching the tent first, Lizzie came to an abrupt stop and lashed her arms on either side of her to whip the covers of the tent out of the way as she stepped inside, with King shouting the name of the pig who had recently become the bane of his existence before the two even properly got their bearings.
"Tibbles!"
Tibbles was stood with his back to Lizzie and King in the middle of a circus ring, surrounded by large red curtains to his left and wooden-stepped stands that parted down the middle to his right. Lizzie could just about see him amidst the dim lighting flooding in from outside, his figure highlighted by rectangular light. Other than Tibbles, however, it seemed like they were alone, based on the empty seats she could make out amongst the darkness.
"Ah, hello, my friends!" Tibbles greeted cheerily without turning around to face them, prompting Lizzie to step inside and Vance to slow to a walk beside her once he'd caught up. "Enjoying the carnival?"
"You liar!" King yelled as Lizzie and Vance stopped a small distance away from the ringmaster, moving to stand on Lizzie's shoulder with his hands balled into fists. Meanwhile, the blonde witch continued to scowl and purse her lips, with the red-headed witch slipping his hands into his trouser pockets and watching on with a scowl of his own. "You pretended to be a psychic to trick me into making my friends disappear! How dare you!"
Tibbles sighed heavily and shook his head, quickly dropping the friendly charade with little effort.
"Yes, indeed," he said sarcastically. "And I would have gotten away with it too…" He peeked over his shoulder and smiled slyly at Lizzie and Vance. "…if it wasn't for you two meddling witches~. I never realised you were already acquainted. How convenient."
"Where are Luz, Gus and Willow?" Lizzie hissed and took a step forward, already reaching a hand towards her satchel. "What have you done with them?!"
Tibbles' smile widened into a smirk then, his right hand cupping his chin and giving it a rub. "The human and her little witch friends? Why, they're right here!"
Tibbles twirled on his heels to face the trio and held out his left hand clenched into a tight fist, revealing a wide-eyed Luz, Gus and Willow bunched together and restrained in his grip, looking to be the size of a small insect, maybe even slightly smaller. Lizzie and King gasped loudly with wide blinks the moment their gazes locked with the trio squirming around in Tibbles' hand, while Vance narrowed his eyes at the sight.
"Liz!" They heard Luz call out to the blonde witch when she saw her, her desperate voice only just about loud enough in volume to reach their ears.
"Lizzie, help!" Willow shouted at the same volume while continuing her squirming, with Gus adding on as he wriggled around violently between her and Luz.
"He's going to make us part of his act! I don't wanna join the circus!"
Gus' words caused Lizzie's pupils to shrink when they seemed to click together with Vance's from a moment ago, like she'd just found the missing puzzle piece needed to fix a jigsaw.
"No way…" she said breathlessly, diving her hand into her satchel and pulling out the spray bottle King had given her. The blonde clasped the neck and the body between her hands as she locked eyes with a smug Tibbles, holding it up for the pig to see and speaking in a low voice. "You made a shrinking potion and tried to trick King into shrinking Luz and her friends?"
"He what?!" King yelled and smacked his paws to his cheeks, causing Tibbles to straighten up with a chuckle.
"Good deduction, Miss Redwood." He gave her a brief look up and down. "I can see why the Owl Lady places so much trust in you."
"You fiend!" King shrieked and waved his paws about above his head. "You used me for a second time! I almost hurt Luz and her friends because of you!"
Lizzie tightened her grip on the bottle in her hands. "Why are you doing this?" she questioned, giving the terrified teens in Tibbles' hold a brief glance to see they'd stopped moving and were silently listening to the discussion for a moment. "You swore revenge against me, Eda and King, so why are you targeting Luz, Gus and Willow?"
Tibbles' smile fell and was replaced with a frown to match Lizzie's own, his eyes squinting behind his glasses as she jabbed a finger towards his other hand. "Because when these three destroyed my stand, they destroyed centuries of Grimm Hammer history!"
"But what they did was an accident!" Lizzie protested and held out a hand towards the trio restrained in Tibbles' grip. "Are you really going to be so petty against three teens because they unintentionally destroyed your livelihood?!"
"Yes, because someone has to pay!" Tibbles turned around and started walking forward towards something placed in the middle of the ring that Lizzie couldn't see due to it being in the dark. "But don't worry. I haven't forgotten about the rest of you." He stopped beside the darkened setup and faced the trio with a wide grin, exposing his fanged teeth with the flick of his pointy tail. "I'll have the three of you and the Owl Lady carted off to the Conformatorium after the show~."
Lizzie's and King's brows furrowed at the last thing Tibbles, with the former noticing Vance's stance and expression remaining unchanged despite the odds.
"What show?" King asked.
"This one!" Tibbles declared as he lifted his empty hand and clicked his fingers, causing two spotlights to suddenly flash on from above and shine down on the middle of the ring.
A lone barrel with a glass and lidless rectangle tank on top of it was revealed in the light, the latter of which was filled with straw, a water bottle feeder stuck to the side, and a tiny version of a red tent that resembled Tibbles'.
"I wasn't lying when I said you gave me inspiration with your antics that night, Miss Redwood," Tibbles stated with a smirk, fishing his empty hand into his jacket and rummaging round until he pulled out a golden bell attached to a small wooden handle. "Seeing you command those palismen inspired a plan of revenge I could easily weaponise against your little group and Mister Sycamore here." Vance pursed his lips as he watched Tibbles hold up the bell and start to ring three times. "Behold!"
Several seconds after the ringing stopped, a low and vicious growl sounded from inside the tent within the confines of the tank, causing Vance's, Lizzie's and King's eyes to dart towards it. Three tiny creatures crouched low to the ground stalked their way out of the darkness of the tent and into the light, causing Lizzie's and King's shoulders to rise and stiffen when they recognised them. One resembled a manticore—a beast with the body of a yellow-gold furred lion, the tail of a scorpion, and the head of a man with brown mane-like hair framing its face, its shake-like teeth bared and its wings spread out on either side of its body. The second one resembled a griffon—a creature with the bottom half of a lion's body and the head and top half of a pigeon's body, its top half and wings coloured with grey feather and bird legs and feet while its bottom half was covered in yellow-gold fur and had lion's legs and feet. And the final creature resembled a unicorn—a white horse with a pink mane and tail with a horn on its forehead.
"Those are endangered creatures!" Lizzie exclaimed, turning to Tibbles with a slight gape. "How did you manage to get these?!"
Tibbles returned the bell to the inside pocket of his jacket and tapped his snout with a finger. "That's not for you to know." Tibbles eyed Vance with a small smirk. "But I'm sure Mister Sycamore has an idea~!"
As the three creatures stopped in the middle of the tank and glanced up with squints towards where Luz, Gus and Willow were on the other side of the glass gaping at them, Lizzie glanced towards to see his reaction, only to find it hadn't changed all that much aside from the slight lowering of his head, his eyes unreadable behind his glasses.
"Did you already know about this?" Lizzie questioned Vance, her mind putting the pieces together from his lack of a reaction and what he'd said to her previously.
Lizzie's brows raised when Vance nodded once, his gaze remaining fixed on the creatures gathered together inside the tank.
"I investigated Tibblet's tent while he was talking to your little group earlier," he answered quietly, a hint of venom entering his tone with the twitching of his lips. "My ancestors are connected to the forests of the isles and protect its wildlife, which is why he thinks capturing endangered species would be useful as a trap to lure me here."
"And it worked, didn't it?" Tibbles teased. "I can tell by how calm you've been that you'd already worked out I'd shrunk them." He briefly glanced towards the spray bottle in Lizzie's grasp. "But you're probably angry now knowing your efforts to restore them to regular size were all for naught, thanks to Miss Redwood and Bone-Boy." Vance showed no reaction to this, prompting Tibbles to shrug his shoulders and stretch Luz, Gus and Willow over the top of the open tank. "Oh, well! At least you'll get to enjoy watching these pesky teenagers fighting for their lives before you join your criminal relatives behind bars!"
The creatures in the tank collectively growled, snorted, or squawked the moment Luz, Gus and Willow were held above them, with the trio gaping down at the angry animals with wide eyes and trembling bodies.
"Not so fast!" Lizzie shouted and raised the spray bottle still in her hold with her face scrunching up, pointing the nozzle towards Tibbles and placing her finger over the trigger. "You drop them into that tank, pig, and I'll use your own concoction against you!"
"And you think that's a threat?" Tibbles countered with a wide smile, pointing a finger at one of his cheeks. "Did you forget my cheeks act as the antidote? I can easily undo the effects on myself."
"And what about the rest impacted by the solution?" Lizzie questioned with the tilt of her chin, staring Tibbles down with a squint when his grin faded. "I don't know if the effects are universal, but I suspect undoing the spell on yourself will also undo it on anyone or anything who was sprayed recently!"
"Aha!" King crossed his arms with a triumphant cry. "So, if Lizzie sprays you and you bring yourself back to normal, you bring Luz and her friends back to normal too!"
"I already considered that," Tibbles replied bluntly, causing Lizzie and King to blink simultaneously as he indicated towards Luz, Willow and Gus resuming their earlier squirming with tiny grunts. "Why do you think I'm dangling these three over a tank full of dangerous beasts, hm?" Lizzie's mouth fell upon when Tibbles' words clicked, prompting the pig to laugh loudly and smirk at the blonde witch. "That's right~! The moment you shrink me, you've sealed their fate! After all, it'd be morally wrong to attack endangered animals, wouldn't it?"
King's shoulders slumped with widened eyes, while Lizzie's hands started to tremble, her palms growing clammy as she lowered her gaze to the bottle in her grasp.
'He's right. I can't use this against Tibbles, because he can restore himself to normal. And while it would be a good trick to force him to restore the others to normal as well, the moment he shrinks, he'll lose his grip on Luz and company. I doubt I'd be fast enough to use a spell or move to protect them.' Sweat trickled down the sides of her face as she sideways glanced Vance, who returned the stare with an indifferent expression. 'And I don't know what magic Vance specialises in, but I'm sure if he could help, he likely would have done or said something by now…'
When Lizzie didn't say anything in response, Tibbles released a low chuckle and rested his chin on the back of his empty hand, a smug smile slipping onto his face as he eyed her shaking hands.
"Out of ideas?" he questioned in a teasing tone. "What a shame." Lizzie dared to look up to see Tibbles' smile stretch into a wide grin, exposing his teeth. "You might have gotten the drop on me before, Miss Redwood, but this time… it is I who is one step ahead of you."
Lizzie gritted her teeth and growled lowly at the comments and the hearty laugh that followed, prompting her trembling to worsen when she dared to lock eyes with the terrified ones of Luz and her friends still attempting to wriggle out of Tibbles' grip. However, a firm hand on her right shoulder caused her shaking to cease, her head turning to see Vance leaning in close to her ear, the side of his hand covering his mouth a bit.
"Don't worry about the animals," he whispered, causing the blonde witch's brows to raise with a blink. "You just focus on dealing with Tibblet."
"Really?" she whispered back, prompting Vance to nod. Lizzie's eyes darted between the tank and Vance at this, her brow furrowing. "Are you sure?"
Vance let a small smile appear. "Positive. After all…" He gave Lizzie a wink. "Tibblet isn't the only one with tricks up his sleeves~."
Lizzie's brow furrowed further at this response, her eyes flitting back to the spray bottle in her hands.
'But how do I deal with Tibbles? Even if I can trust Vance's words, shrinking him or using my own potions on him could still endanger Luz and her friends in the meantime. Not to mention what else this crafty pig might have up his sleeves!' She dared to glance towards a smug-looking Tibbles, causing her knuckles to flush white as she tightened her grip on the spray bottle. 'Ugh! If only there was a way to knock him out without needing his involvement—'
Lizzie released a loud gasp and smacked a hand over her mouth at recalling Eda's words to her earlier that morning, a sight that caused King to lean away from Lizzie with a blink and Vance to finally remove his hand and step away.
'Seriously, Lizzie, knock me out with that sleep spell! I don't care if you haven't made much progress with it! I'll take anything that'll let me sleep through this!'
"That's it!" she cried, directing a triumphant smirk towards Tibbles as she brought her middle and index fingers to her lips.
"What's 'it'?" King questioned, yet Lizzie didn't answer him.
Lizzie glanced at Vance and jerked her head towards the tank. "Leave Tibbles with me. Just get ready to do what you have to. I'm counting on you."
Tibbles narrowed his eyes when Vance nodded stiffly, causing him to take a step back and shout by the time Lizzie sucked in a deep breath. "Wait, what are you up to—?!"
Lizzie silenced Tibbles with a loud high-pitched whistle, prompting his eyes to widen alongside King's at the small green spell circle that sprouted up in front of her. Vance took this as his cue to move over to where the tank was, raising his right index finger and holding it above the trio of animals just as Lizzie's spell circle propelled towards Tibbles. Lizzie and King turned to Vance at seeing the orange glow that suddenly alighted his fingertip as he drew a small spell circle underneath the creatures, prompting them to glance his way with wide blinks seconds before it was completed.
'Oh!' Lizzie gaped at the sight of the animals' eyes briefly flashing orange after Vance pulled his finger away, also catching the moment her own spell circle grew to Tibbles' size and passed straight through him from the corner of her eyes. She recognised the colour of the spell circle and the magic being used. 'He's a Beast Keeper!'
"Ooooh dear…" Tibbles' mutter caused Lizzie and King to return their attention to him, the pair watching his eyes droop and his body gently sway towards the right, his grip loosening on the three teens enough for them to slip out of his fist. "Why do I suddenly feel so sleepy…?"
Tibbles trailed off the moment his body fell to the side, his eyes closing when he collided with the ground. His top hat tumbled off his head and landed close by just as his body slumped, which was soon followed by loud snoring.
"You put him to sleep?" King questioned with a raise brow, turning to Lizzie with the tilt of his head. "But doesn't Tibbles control the shrinking potion?"
"No," Lizzie answered with a sly smile, tapping a finger against one of her cheeks with a wink. "But his cheeks do~!"
King blinked a couple of times to try to process Lizzie's words. But after several seconds, the snails piece finally dropped, causing his pupils to shrink and his jaw to slack.
"Oh…"
Meanwhile, Vance held out his palm to catch Luz, Gus and Willow as they fell towards the tank with startled cries, the trio landing on their fronts safely in Vance's hold. The red-headed witch also placed his other palm flat inside the tank beside the three creatures still inside, whose stances had since relaxed because of Vance's spell.
"Come along now," Vance instructed the three animals and tilted his head towards his hand, prompting the manticore to be the first to climb onto his palm, followed by the griffon and then the unicorn with a quiet neigh.
As Vance lifted the three sets of tiny beings out of the tank and bent down to place them on the floor, Lizzie strolled over to Tibbles and crouched before his heaving chest and gaping mouth, her smile remaining intact and widening at the sight she was met with.
"Good show, old boy," she said in a sarcastic and overexaggerated posh accent, all while taking a gentle grip on Tibbles' wrists and lifting his palms close to his cheeks. "But sadly, it looks like I have once again gotten one step ahead of you."
Lizzie then proceeded to use Tibbles' palms to gently pat both of his cheeks twice (recalling those were the original instructions King had given her), with her and King looking over to where Luz and company were to see if it had worked.
Shortly after this, a purple glowing outline flashed up around the bodies of Luz, Gus, Willow and the animals, prompting Vance to back up a couple of steps and the group's eyes to widen as they glanced down at themselves with wide blinks (and their arms held out in front of them in the cases of Luz, Gus and Willow). Several seconds later, the trio of teens were gasping alongside Lizzie and King when the purple outline began to grow and expand along with their bodies, slowly bringing them back to their regular size.
King leapt off Lizzie's shoulder while the blonde witch stood up straight again, the pair continuing to watch in silence until the six shrunken beings were returned to normal, the purple outline around them disappearing with a loud 'pop!'. The manticore, griffon and unicorn all made low growls, squawks and neighs as they raised their feet (or hooves, in the unicorn's case) to get a closer look at them, as if they were attempting to doublecheck that they'd been returned to normal. Meanwhile, Luz, Willow and Gus gave themselves a quick glance from head to toe and patted at the front of their clothes to make sure they were fine, with the trio simultaneously sighing in relief and slumping their shoulders once they were sure they were.
"Luz, Gus, Willow!" King shouted their names while dashing over to them with his arms held out, initially targeting Luz upon approach when he went to wrap his arms tightly around her legs. "You're okay!"
Luz smiled and bent down to give the little demon a gentle pat on the head, with Lizzie mirroring her smile at watching King bury his face into Luz's leggings. "All thanks to you, Lizzie and our unknown saviour, little buddy."
King frowned upon pulling his head away from Luz and looking up at the human, his jaw quivering a little.
"I'm sorry for running off without telling you," he said solemnly, his eyes drooping as he lowered his head and rubbed a paw at the back of it. "I know I can do crazy things when I'm upset, but it was no excuse."
Luz's smile widened. "Apology accepted." She scooped King up into her arms and righted herself, her eyes briefly locking at the floor. "I'm also sorry. This was supposed to be our day and I kept leaving you out of it." The Latina teen tilted her head to the side and raised her shoulders a bit. "Do you forgive me?"
King wagged his tail and threw his arms around Luz's neck without hesitation, prompting Luz to squeeze her eyes shut and tighten her grip on the little demon. "You don't even need to ask!" he answered jovially.
Lizzie's smile widened at the embrace with a small chuckle, only to approach the four of them with Tibbles' concoction still in hand. She did give the manticore, the griffon and the unicorn a brief glance on the way to make sure they were calm, looking away upon seeing Vance holding the sides of the unicorn's head while running his hands over its snout, with the trio showing no reaction to his movements.
'He's probably just checking to see if they're okay. But speaking of that…'
"Are you three all right?" Lizzie enquired and finished her thought out loud upon stopping before the three teenagers, her gaze momentarily jumping between them out of reassurance. "Any injuries I need to be worried about?"
Willow smiled and nodded, clasping her hands together in front of her chest as she went to respond. "I think we're good." She gave Tibbles a quick sideways glance, her smile dropping as a result. "Can't say the same for Tibbles, though."
"Looks like you've ruined his life for a second time," Gus commented with a grin, scooting closer to Lizzie with his hands balled into fists against his chest. "Still, that was awesome, Lizzie! Was that the bard spell Luz told us you cast on King?" Lizzie's cheeks flushed a light pink when she nodded to confirm Gus' suspicions, prompting the young illusionist's eyes to widen and glisten. "That's so cool!"
"Yeah," Willow said in agreement, her smile returning as she placed a finger to her chin. "I don't think I've seen witches use bard magic like that before."
Lizzie shrugged her shoulders and rubbed a hand at the back of her neck, closing one of her eyes. "Well, I wouldn't say it's a popular method, but it makes sense since the magic type does consist of control over sound."
Loud snoring from Tibbles brought the five's attention back to the snoozing pig still lying beside the tank, prompting Luz's brows to knit together with a slight squint.
"So…" she started, allowing King to climb up onto her shoulders and then cling to the back of her head, his chin resting atop her hair. "What do we do with Tibbles?"
Lizzie pressed her lips together and rubbed at her chin at Luz's question, falling into thought for a moment.
'That's a good question, Luz. That sleep spell is going to wear off soon, so we need to do something before—'
Lizzie flinched and looked down at feeling the spray bottle get snatched from her grip, the culprit revealing themselves to be Vance when he spoke and she turned her head to see him standing to her left.
"I'll handle the rest from here," he said calmly, shooting Lizzie a smile while shaking the liquid inside the spray bottle around. "I think this pesky pig has caused you folks enough trouble."
Lizzie's gaze briefly flitted to Tibbles before she let out a loud huff and adjusted her cloak hood with both hands, a trickle of sweat dripping down her forehead. "Yeah, that's probably for the best."
She was tempted to ask Vance about his magic and why Tibbles wanted to sell out his family (though, based off what Eda had told her when Tibbles had captured her, she wouldn't have been surprised if it was a snails-related motive…), but she knew that now was probably not the best time or place to do that, given what had just happened.
'Last thing we need is Tibbles gaining the upper hand again…'
"Thank you for the help, though," she added quietly, giving the older witch a small smile while scratching at her cheek lightly. "Both for today and before. I don't know what I would have done without it."
Vance chuckled and gave Lizzie's closest shoulder a rough pat. "Anything for a fellow runaway!" he joked, taking a step back to bow at the waist when Lizzie giggled. "But it has certainly been an interesting meeting. I hope there will be another opportunity for us to talk in the future." He raised his head with a wide grin. "Under better circumstances, of course."
Lizzie snorted and nodded, her smile widening a bit. "I agree. I hope things get better for you, Vance."
"And I hope for the same for you, Elisabeth," Vance replied and straightened out, prompting Sigmund to poke his head out of his owner's hood with a hiss. "Do take care."
"You too." Lizzie locked eyes with Sigmund as she went to turn away, offering the snake palisman a tiny wave of her hand. "It's nice to see you again, Sigmund. Give Foxwick and the other palismen my regards." With Sigmund nodding and hissing again in reply, Lizzie started to make her way to the tent's exit, ushering Luz, Gus and Willow forward with the gentle wave of her other arm. "Let's get out of here, guys."
Vance kept his grin up as he watched the group of five make their way out of the tent, returning the waves Luz, Willow and Gus sent while listening to the three questioning Lizzie.
"Was that the witch you were telling us about earlier?" he heard Luz ask, with Lizzie nodding in confirmation. "He seemed really nice!"
"I like him!" King chimed in, his tail wagging behind him. "He knows how to respect a king!"
"And he's mysterious," Willow remarked. "No wonder he managed to fool Tibbles!"
"Did anyone notice his hair colour matches his palisman's?" Gus commented. "I thought that looked kinda cool!"
Vance placed his empty hand close to his mouth and muffled his chuckle, his green-eyed gaze remaining fixed on their backs until they disappeared beyond the tent's entrance. He broke eye contact with the entrance at hearing Sigmund's hissing close to his ear, glancing at the snake palisman when he started to slither and coil his way round Vance's right arm.
"Pardon?" Vance questioned with a raised brow. "You think I should have intervened sooner?" Sigmund nodded and hissed in agreement, prompting the latter to hold up the hand clutching the spray bottle out of surrender. "Hey, now! You're acting like I was going to leave Elisabeth hanging dry!" Sigmund hissed again and squinted at his owner, prompting Vance to sigh and give his palisman an open-armed shrug. "You're right: I could have used my magic on the animals when I was snooping earlier." He closed his eyes. "But I was curious. I wanted to see what she was going to do."
When the snake palisman didn't respond for several seconds, Vance dared to open an eye, seeing Sigmund's eyes narrowing to the point of slits.
"Don't look at me like that!" he protested and turned his gaze to Tibbles' solution as he made his slow walk over to where said pig was on the ground, gently sloshing the glowing liquid about inside the bottle. "I was hoping she would use a potion, but I suppose it didn't matter in the end." He paused beside Tibbles' head and raised the arm Sigmund was silently coiled around, staring into his palisman's beady little eyes with a faint frown. "The way she identified the magic in Tibblet's potion, along with the deal she made with the Bat Queen, is more than enough for me to suspect she is a descendant of the witch my ancestor wrote about."
Sigmund hissed and tilted his head to the side just as Vance heard Tibbles groan, prompting the red-headed witch to narrow his eyes and hold up his empty hand towards the manticore, griffon and unicorn, gesturing for them to approach; they did so after a few seconds.
"What am I going to do about Elisabeth, you ask?" Vance repeated in a low voice, only to shake his head. "Nothing for now. We will need to keep a close eye on her, that coven scout and that basilisk for their own safety. In the meantime…" He trailed off and took a few steps back once the three animals had approached and surrounded Tibbles, letting a sly smile slip at seeing the pig's eyes heavily blink open. "…we should let our animal friends have some fun before we set them free, don't you think?"
"Ugh…" Tibbles grunted and blinked repeatedly to get his bearings, briefly shaking his head from side to side for good measure. "My goodness… What happened to—?"
A nostril-flaring snort sounded above his head and blew warm breath onto his exposed scalp, prompting Tibbles' eyes to widen. He dared to tilt his head back slowly, his pupils shrinking the moment his eyes locked with the unicorn looming above his head and baring its teeth at him, along with the manticore and griffon lingering on either side of him. The situation didn't fully sink in for Tibbles until the griffon squawked and the manticore growled, the colour practically draining from his face as the pair raised and spread their wings, the trio of animals taking on wide stances.
"Oh no…" he squeaked, knowing his fate had been sealed.
Lizzie followed behind the trio of Willow, Luz (with King still clinging to the back of her head) and Gus as they walked away side by side respectively from Tibbles' tent and approached the metal archway of the entrance, deciding to stay quiet and listen in on the three's conversation.
"You know," Willow began as she gave Luz's closest arm a gentle nudge with her elbow. "Now that Tibbles is out of the picture, we've still got a few hours of the carnival left." She gave Luz a wink. "What do you say we help King win those necklaces?"
Luz muttered an 'Oh…' and looked back at Lizzie for approval, while King cocked his head at Willow with a loud 'Weh?!' and a wide blink. When the blonde witch gave a nod, Luz slowed to a stop and lifted her hands under King's arms, prompting the witches with her to do the same.
'Vance has Tibbles sorted, so it should be safe enough for them to play a few games.'
"What do you think, King?" Luz asked the little demon as she held him in front of her face, giving him a bright smile. "I know how important getting those necklaces is to you."
King furrowed his brow at this. "Actually, Luz," he started quietly as he averted his gaze to the side, his shoulders slumping. "I don't want the necklaces anymore." He looked at Luz again when she and the other three witches with them blinked widely and raised their brows at his response, prompting him to look away again and tap his claws together in front of his chest. "I only wanted those necklaces so I could show off our friendship to everybody. But almost losing you today made me realise I don't need it." King lifted his gaze to Luz's, his jaw morphing into a semblance of a wide smile. "As long as you say we're friends, that's more than enough for me."
"Aw, King!" Luz exclaimed with quivering lips, bringing the little demon in for another hug, which King was happy to return despite his arms not fully reaching round her back. "That's so sweet of you!"
Willow smiled and placed her hands together before her mouth with a quiet 'Aw!', while Gus folded his arms across his chest with a grin.
But as for Lizzie? Well, her eyes almost bulged from their sockets, a hand reaching to grip at the front of her vest seconds before she felt her joints stiffen, her shoulders raising. For a few seconds, a blurred image she used to recognise as her 'Hexside Bully' in the Potions Magic Track uniform for Hexside overlapped Luz's and King's, only disappearing when that familiar sharp pain slashed across her forehead.
"Ah!" Lizzie hissed and ducked her head down, her hands flying to her forehead when her eyes squeezed shut.
Luckily for Lizzie, however, no one else had noticed or heard her discomfort, with the pain soon subsiding after a few seconds. The blonde witch released a quiet sigh and slowly straightened up, removing one hand from her forehead while keeping the other one there to give it a rub.
'What was that?' She focused back on Luz and King as they parted from their hug, with Luz keeping King in her arms. 'That wasn't as bad as the last one I had at the Knee. But why did King trigger that? And wasn't that person I just saw—?'
"There you three are!" Eda's voice calling out from within the carnival prompted the blonde witch to shake her head and follow the others' gazes to where the older witch was making her way over to them, a purple and yellow striped dress with a red skirt folded over her arms, amongst other matching clothing (such as a purple hat with an eyeball, purple gloves, etc). Lizzie raised a brow at the outfit as the older witch stopped before the group, her own brows raising as she glanced between Gus and Willow. "Oh? You kids came to the carnival too?"
"Tibbles invited us to get his revenge," Willow explained with drooped eyes.
"And Lizzie may have ruined his life for a second time," Gus added and jabbed a thumb in said witch's direction.
Eda's own eyes drooped before she even made contact with Lizzie, with the blonde witch crossing her arms and cocking her brow a little higher while lightly tapping her fingers against her arms at seeing Eda's shoulders slump. One look at Eda was all Lizzie needed to know the older witch knew she'd gotten her assumptions wrong… again.
"Yeah, yeah, Redwood, I remember what I said! Don't rub it in!" Eda replied dismissively, loudly huffing before continuing. "Was it bad?"
"Not as bad as it could have been, luckily," Lizzie answered.
"Why didn't you come and find me?"
"There wasn't any time. Although speaking of which…" Lizzie trailed off and pointed a finger to the dress folded in Eda's arms. "What's with the outfit? Did you steal it for a disguise?"
Eda clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes. "I wish!" She narrowed her eyes at the outfit, her next words coming out as a grumble. "The carnie's law enforcement caught me. It was either work for them or let them turn me in."
Lizzie smirked at this and focused on the left side of Eda's head when she heard her bushy hair rustle, watching Owlbert's tiny head poke itself through the grey and white strands.
"… Owlbert got distracted by the carnival games, didn't he?" she said, prompting the little owl palisman to release a low 'hoo!' as if to confirm her suspicions.
"He's lucky I can't get mad at his adorable antics," Eda added, prompting Luz to chuckle and put King down on the ground in front of her feet.
"Sounds like we've both had quite the day, huh?" she commented, making Eda snort.
"And how!" she agreed, preparing to turn away as she jerked her head towards the carnival. "I'm gonna return this uniform and head on home if you kids wanna come with."
A chorus of 'Yeah!', 'Sure!' and 'Good idea!' sounded from Willow, Gus, Luz and King as they went to follow the Owl Lady back into the carnival, with Lizzie briefly jogging to catch up and join Eda at her free side.
"I'm surprised you managed to take on Tibbles all by yourself, kid," Eda continued as she gave Lizzie a gentle nudge in the ribs with her elbow. "Looks like you're getting better in fights, huh?"
"Well…" Lizzie began as her cheeks flushed a light pink, a hand reaching for the back of her neck to give it a rub. "…I did have some help."
"Oh?" Eda raised a brow and looked to Willow and Gus on her other side. "Did Glasses and Dweebus help out again?"
"Not this time," Gus admitted with a faint smile, only to frown and look to Luz while scratching at the side of his head. "What did Tibbles and Lizzie say his name was again?"
Luz squinted and tilted her head up to the sky then, a hand cupping her chin with a hum. "Hm… Lizzie called him 'Vance', but I think Tibbles also said 'Mister Sycamore'—"
"What?!" Eda exclaimed through a loud gasp. "Did you say 'Sycamore'?"
"Yeah…" Luz answered slowly and squinted, unsure why Eda was reacting like she'd just announced she was about to join a coven.
Eda stammered as she whipped her head towards Lizzie, her golden eyes nearly bulging from their sockets. "How—? Where did you—? When did this—?"
Eda fell quiet when Lizzie started to laugh at Eda's reaction, knowing that her employer would have been shocked at this revelation. Eventually, though, she calmed down enough to respond, wrapping an arm round her middle with a contented sigh.
"I'll tell you later. It's a long story."
Eda seemed to relax at this, her mouth closing and her shoulders slumping soon after. But once King proudly announced that he had helped make Lizzie and Vance aware of the situation to begin with, the other three witches and Luz were soon turning their focus to him, allowing Lizzie to drop her smile and peek over her shoulder in the direction of Tibbles' tent.
Her temporary headache, along with the conversation she'd had with Vance prior to Tibbles, was still niggling at the back of her mind like a trash slug begging for food. But for now, Lizzie thought it was best not to say anything. After all, today had been quite the ride. Literally.
A/N: Regarding the fight with Tibbles... I'm gonna address these questions now for clarification, because I have a feeling someone is going to say it:
Why didn't Lizzie use her potions against Tibbles like she threatened to do before? As explained in the chapter, Lizzie felt it was a risky thing to do since Tibbles was holding Luz and co. the entire time, and she didn't want to risk hurting them or the endangered animals Tibbles had captive, plus the fact Tibbles was the only one who could turn Luz and her friends back. She didn't want to risk him dropping them (naturally because she was unaware of Vance's magic type at that point). Also, the last time she threatened Tibbles with her explosive potion, it was a bluff. She never intended to actually use it. She was just scaring him.
Why didn't Lizzie just shrink Tibbles? Same answers as above: she felt it was too risky. Also, it gives her an opportunity to use her sleep spell again.
Why didn't Vance help Lizzie? Vance explains exactly why to Sigmund. I'm not going to repeat it.
Why didn't Gus or Willow use their magic, or Luz use her glyphs? Tibbles trapped them in his fist. Their arms were pinned. They couldn't do anything.
I'd also like to remind you guys that everything I have my characters do and say has a reason behind it, and that 90% of this story, while told from a third person perspective, is primarily from Lizzie's point of view during most scenes. Her memory loss and opinions make her an unreliable narrator a lot of the time, which is why it might seem my characters' personalities are 'inconsistent' during scenes where the POV is switched, especially in earlier chapters. The idea was to restrict the readers' viewpoints early on and then slowly reveal the other sides of their personalities and actions when relevant. There is also established foreshadowing and hints in dialogue that explain these changes throughout the chapters, along with the canon characters acknowledging them as well. Explanations for specific characters are going to come in the following episodes I cover, but please remember that I haven't outright revealed these explanations in previous chapters for a reason. I wouldn't have a story if I did do that. So, just remember that when it comes down to everything my characters are doing, it is intentional and in character. They are faceted, so not everything should be taken at face value.
Apologies to anyone who feels what I've just said was unnecessary, but I have noticed some reviewers who have been questioning my characters' actions and decisions and thus felt like it needed to be addressed to avoid further comments going forward, despite already attempting to do clear this up through PMs.
