(Weeks Ago, During the Blood Count Incident)
Amity returned home from school, the island was still on alert when it came to Phantom attacks, and now more recently there were rumors of witches and demons getting attacked at night. But Amity wasn't too concerned, at least not at the time anyway. She walked upstairs and deposited her backpack onto her bed, unpacking her various textbooks on Abomination magic, offensive and defensive spells, and even some texts on the other Coven tracks. She had no intention of becoming a Wild Witch, but if she intended to become a member of the Emperor's Coven, then she'd need to show that she had skill in at least using some of the other different track magics.
Amity had thought about petitioning Gus and Willow to teach her Plant and Illusion magic respectively for two reasons. One: there was only so much one could learn from a textbook without having a teacher to show you how, and two: out of everyone in Hexside, they were the most likely two who would keep it secret from everyone, including her parents. Now, she could ask Edric and Emira to teach her Illusion magic, but she was not in the mood to deal with them, and the last thing she wanted was for them to lord it over her head later down the line. She would not give them that satisfaction.
Suddenly an explosion went off inside the house, slightly shaking the entire mansion. Despite this, Amity didn't panic, she just sighed and started walking back downstairs. After entering the foyer, she headed towards the basement door which led into her father's workshop down below. After descending the stairs and reaching the bottom, she called out, "Dad, are you alright?! I heard an explosion. If you're doing something dangerous, mom wanted me to tell you that she hasn't updated the Life Insurance policy yet, so you need to keep any injuries to a minor level until then."
Amity searched the workshop but could find no sign of her father or the contraption that caused the explosion. That's when Amity spotted something odd, there were traces of smoke coming from behind a bookshelf. The young witch walked over to the suspect bookshelf and began investigating it. She worked her hands along the shelf and found that there was a crease behind it. Amity took a few steps back and drew a spell circle, her magical aura wrapped around the bookshelf, and with a tug Amity managed to pull the bookshelf and, part of the wall, back. The moment she did, Amity was hit with a wave of black smoke that made her cough. She drew another spell circle and cast a wind spell, using it to suck up all the smoke, condense it, and then disperse it into a small puff.
The young witchling dusted herself off, having now gotten a bit of soot on her face and clothes. But right now, what drew her attention more was the fact that there was a secret panel, and some stairs that led further underground. Amity and her siblings had come into this basement more times than she could count, and they never even knew about this secret passage. Amity drew a spell circle and created a ball of light, using it to light her way, she descended the second flight of stairs. It took about a couple of minutes, but eventually Amity made it down below. There were light torches that ran alongside the wall, but it seemed the explosion cracked their glass containers and allowed the light spells inside to fizzle out. Amity created a few more orbs of light and sent them off ahead of her, illuminating the darkness up ahead.
Once she made it to the bottom of the stairs, Amity gasped. There was an entire subbasement workshop, filled with gadgets and other things that Amity had never seen her father make before. For as long as she could remember, Blight Industries only did one thing, make Abomination based weaponry and home security products. But these things looked a little out there, and not entirely weapon based. Some were half finished, as if her father was working on it and then lost complete interest in favor of something else. There were blueprints for other things, but again, some of them were half finished in favor for something else.
Dad always did seem to take interest in things that mom thought weren't worth his time, trying to keep him focused. Maybe this is his little tinkering space or something?
"Dad are you here?! It's me, Amity!" she called out.
There was a pile of junk that seemed to have been blown from where it originally was and was now on the floor. Amity approached the junk pile but then yelped when something burst out from it, a figure covered in black soot.
"Hmm, guess that won't work."
"Dad?!" Amity exclaimed.
The figure removed its soot covered goggles and looked down from the pile. After wiping off its face, it was revealed that the being was Alador Blight, Amity's father. The genius Blight did look perplexed when he saw his youngest daughter. "Amity? How did you find this place?"
"I followed the smoke, it was seeping out of a crack behind the bookshelf," said Amity.
Alador hummed as he cupped his chin. "Seems the explosion jostled some things around; I'll have to fix that later before your mother arrives." Alador drew his own spell circle and moved the junk pile away from himself to give him some room to move around.
Seeing that her father was unharmed, at least from what she could tell, Amity began wandering around, but stayed close to her father. "Dad, what is this place? I didn't know you had another workshop."
"Hmm? Oh, yes. I keep it secret from your mother. She helps me keep my focus when it comes to the task of making products for our business. But once in a while I like to come down here and tinker on something that catches my interest," Alador explained.
"I figured that might be the case…" Amity walked around some more, looking over the half-finished products of her father's past tinkering. Honestly, she was kind of glad that he had this space, it was similar to her own private space in the library, so it seemed that she got that part from her father. "So, what interest were you working on that caused that explosion?"
Alador stopped his cleanup and glanced over his shoulder at his daughter. "Do you want to see?"
Amity turned to look at her father, there was something in his eyes. He didn't often change his facial expression, so sometimes it was hard to tell if he was angry, sad, or happy. But his children, and especially his wife, knew that if you wanted to know what he was thinking, just look into his eyes. His topaz-colored eyes that matched his daughter's, she could see that there was a mirth in those eyes, an eagerness to show someone what he was working on. She had never seen that look before, and to be honest, it made her curious.
"If you don't mind, dad, I'd like to," said Amity.
"Very well, follow me. And this goes without saying but keep everything you see in here secret from your mother," said Alador.
"Of course."
Alador led his daughter further back into the workshop, and as he did, he asked, "Amity, what do you think about Kamen Rider Witch?"
That was an odd question. "Um…I mean, she's helpful. She's defeated two Phantoms and saved my life, and the lives of some of my friends. So, I don't think she's a bad person. But something tells me you're asking for something more technical, right?"
Alador nodded. "What do you think about her magic?"
Amity thought back to the few times she had witnessed Witch use her magic. "It was unique, really unique. And I don't just mean in the way she casts her spells; it was also in the way it felt. It felt stronger than normal magic."
"And what do you think about the Phantoms?"
Amity scowled when she heard mention of the monsters. "I hate them. They tried to make Willow into one of them, and before that, they tried to kill me, Ed and Em. But again, I know you're not asking about how I feel about them. I know that they're even more unique, our magic doesn't seem to affect them much if at all. They're not demons that fall under any of the three 'Bs' and they wield magical power far different and stronger than ours."
Alador nodded at his daughter's observations. "Very good, Amity. Even amidst the chaos of those situations, you still managed to calmly analyze them. But what if I told you that the magical power of Witch, and that of the Phantoms, weren't mutually exclusive."
That made Amity stop in her tracks. "I'm sorry, what are you talking about, dad?! I've seen Witch and the Phantoms' magic up close, closer than I'd like, and they're definitely different from each other!"
Alador, instead of getting annoyed or angry, the patriarch of the Blight nodded. "I understand your skepticism, I too was surprised by what I found. On the surface, they are different, but at their core, they are the same. The best way I can describe it is if I was looking at two divergent paths of magic. But I believe that Witch's magic is the same as the Phantoms, but has taken a different path in its formation, which allows her to effectively battle them and even counter their ill effects on others."
Amity thought about her father's words for a moment, and the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Witch was stronger than even the Coven Scouts and Lilith Clawthorne, the head of the Emperor's Coven, or seemed to be anyway, and they had access to all the various forms of magic, they were allowed to mix magic. And yet, they were no match for the Phantoms, but Witch was.
"So, are you saying that Witch may be a Phantom then? One that took a different path of magical evolution?" Amity asked.
"A very good guess, and one that may still have some merit. My findings tell me that there is more to it than that. Look at this."
Alador stopped and pointed with his hand to the area where the explosion seemed to have taken place. There was a cylinder in the middle of the room, and inside it was a belt. Something akin to Witch's belt, but also different. It looked like a plain metal box with two different insertion points on either side of it. In an adjacent cylinder there were rings, just as plain as the belt, but there were five in total.
"What is that?" Amity asked.
"Something of a secret project, very secret. Something, like a mentioned before, I would not want your mother or your siblings to know about," said Alador.
Amity reached out towards the device, the metal box inside reacted, releasing sparks of energy that made Amity jump back in surprise. Alador, on the other hand, had a curious look about him.
"What was that about?"
"Hmm, might still be a bit sensitive, best to keep a distance away from it for now. By the way, are you the only one in the house?"
"Yeah, mom's not here, and Ed and Em aren't either," said Amity.
"Very good. I'll clean up down here, hang the sign on the door and I'll be up some time later," said Alador.
"Okay, dad, just try not to kill yourself, please," said Amity as she walked out of the subbasement workshop.
Alador looked at the retreating form of his daughter, and then back at the device he was working on. Could she be the test subject I need?
(A couple of days after the Pan Incident)
Amity was reading through one of her spell books when she heard a knock at her door. The young witch walked over and opened it, revealing her father. "Oh, dad, is there something I can help you with?"
"As a matter of fact, yes, there is. Come with me, I want to make the most of this opportunity while your mother and your siblings aren't here," said Alador.
Amity felt a little uneasy about the way he said that but complied with his request and followed her father downstairs. He continued to lead the way, heading straight for the basement workshop. Amity groaned a little inside, believing that he wanted to test out one of his latest Abomination based weapons or inventions. However, once they got inside, Alador brought them to the bookshelf that Amity found was the secret passage to the subbasement workshop. Alador drew a spell circle, and the bookshelf and wall swung out and revealed the stairs.
Her father waved for Amity to continue with him, and so she did. It had been weeks since Amity had seen the subbasement workshop, she had kept her silence since then, not breathing a word about it to Edric or Emira, or her mother. Her mother did push their father hard in his work, so she did not see the harm in letting him have his private sanctuary, it was annoying when Edric and Emira found hers in the library.
After descending to the subbasement, Amity noticed some things had changed. The place where Alador showed her the device he was working on was now moved over to a secure chamber, and where it was once stood was another cylindrical chamber, tall enough and wide enough to allow for a full-grown adult witch to enter and exit with little problem.
"What's going on, dad?" Amity asked.
"I want to show you something."
Off to the right was a large crystal ball that was hooked up to some machines that, by human standards, would be like a server tower. Alador walked over to that machine and typed on the control panel that was hooked up to the tower. The crystal ball glowed and started to display a fight between Witch and the first Phantom she faced, Wendigo.
"Wait a minute, how did you get this? The news wasn't even there yet when the fight happened," said Amity.
"Oh, well, I recorded it myself."
Amity gave her father a deadpan stare. "You're telling me you were there when the attack happened?"
"I was out wandering, chasing a bug demon that had caught my interest."
Of course.
"That's when I stumbled upon the battle taking place in the market. I lost interest in the bug and became fascinated with the creatures that we'd later call 'Phantoms'. They were unlike any demon or creature ever recorded in Boiling Isles lore or texts. I grew even more fascinated when Eda Clawthorne engaged in battle with the lead creature and much to her and my surprise, couldn't harm it."
Amity pinched the bridge of her nose as she listened to her father's retelling of those events from his perspective. "So, let me see if I understand this right. You were there, when I and my brother and sister, were getting attacked by the Phantoms, and yet, you didn't do anything to try and help us?!"
"No, I had an Abomination ready to intervene should the situation get dire," Alador replied.
"And at what point was the situation not dire enough? I was literally exhausted and, on the ground, while Ed and Em were keeping me from pushing myself, and my friends were defending us!" Amity shot back.
Alador thought for a moment and said, "Actually, you have a point. I really should've intervened sooner."
Amity facepalmed herself, sometimes she wondered if her father even cared about their safety. She knew her mother did, if only because she saw Amity and the twins as a means to gain higher standing in the witch community by making them "highly skilled witches", but that was it. But sometimes it felt like her father only saw them as another experiment to be studied. Amity hated to think that way, because it meant that perhaps someday her mother and father might just try and have another child or more children, and use the knowledge they gained from raising Amity, Edric, and Emira to make sure that they raised them the "correct" way. Her mother was still relatively young, she could bear more children if she wanted to.
"But thankfully my intervention was unnecessary as that's when Witch arrived. When I came back and analyzed the footage, that's when I found the fascinating magical energy signature that came from both the Phantom and Witch. It wasn't until recently that I started to develop my theory about the Phantoms," said Alador.
"What theory was that?" Amity dared to ask.
Alador typed on the control panel again and shifting the images to the day that Wil-O'-The-Wisp attacked Hexside and showed Willow on the ground and in pain.
"Oh, for the love of Titan, you were at Hexside too?!" Amity accused.
"No, I actually sent out an Abomination reconnaissance drone. I set it up to find any traces of the magical energy that Witch or the Phantoms put out. Unfortunately, it's hard to find them as their disguises make it hard to pinpoint exactly where they are, even when tracking down Witch, I get small blips, but nothing like the readings I see when she's in battle. Anyway, I want you to look at this."
Alador shifted the screen again, bringing up some numbers and information. The next thing that appeared were two wavelengths, one smooth and steady, the other jagged, but also moving in a steady manner. Those two were labeled "Witch" and "Phantom 2", there was a third wavelength, it was weaker, but it looked like "Phantom 2's" wavelength.
"That third wavelength is coming from the witch on the ground, it's weak, but it is clearly similar to that of Phantom 2. But after Witch creates a magic circle and disappears into it, she emerges and the signal is gone," said Alador.
"I think I know the reason for that. The Phantom said that Willow would become a Phantom, I think it said something about driving her into despair. Then Witch used a ring to open that, portal, I guess, to destroy the Phantom inside of Willow, after that, she was alright again," Amity explained.
Alador's eyes widened as he asked, "Are you sure? Are you certain that is what they said?!"
Amity nodded in confirmation.
A tiny smile tugged at the corners of Alador's mouth. "I see, then my theory was correct. Witch, through some unknown means, has managed to harness the power of a Phantom. One that is inside of her and has yet to emerge or has been sealed inside of her and is acting like a magic battery. This would account for why the two magical energy signatures can be both different and the same."
Amity didn't know how to process this information, that was how Witch was so much more powerful than the Coven Scouts, and powerful enough to fight against the Phantoms, because she herself had a Phantom inside of her and was using its power to fight against the Phantoms. Unfortunately, this kind of made Amity a bit skeptical about Witch's allegiance when it came to who side she was really on.
"Now that I have at least some confirmation on my theory, what I have to show you next will be a bit easier to understand," said Alador as he brought up more images and information.
The next readings on the crystal ball showed the night that Emira was attacked, and when Witch fought against the Phantom known as Dracula. It was here that the signatures differed again, instead of being jagged, they were closer to Witch's wavelength, but had a kind of spike like appearance to it.
"This Phantom is different, but still a Phantom. Information was later revealed that the Phantom was once a criminal named Reven Darwick, the Blood Count," said Alador. "Despite being a Phantom, he was doing what he had done in the past. Leading me to believe that there is a third state regarding Phantom powers. There are those who have been taken over, those who have sealed them inside, and those who have, possibly, merged with them. Creating a unique hybrid that is neither a Phantom nor a Witch or Demon, they are both and neither at the same time. But that is not to say that everyone has the potential to become a Phantom, since it seems that these creatures are only after specific individuals and not the populace at large."
Amity marveled at the amount of research her father had done, she had learned a lot more about the Phantoms in just the few minutes that she had spoken with her father than was released by the Emperor's Coven or the Emperor himself. She wondered if they knew even half of what her father had figured out. "Dad, this is amazing, with this information we could figure out who the Phantoms might be targeting and stop them before anything bad happens to them!"
"That is true, but I was thinking of something else, Amity. You see that device over there, the one I told you not to touch when you first came down here."
Amity looked back to the containment unit for the belt and said, "Yeah, I remember."
"That device is meant to turn whoever wears it into a Kamen Rider, just like Witch. And I want you to use it, Amity," said Alador.
Amity looked back at her father, he has said some crazy things before, but this time she believed he had finally lost it. "You want me, to become a Kamen Rider?! T-There's no way that can happen, I mean, if what you've said about being able to fight a Phantom is true, then I'd have to have one inside me, but I don't–"
"You do," he said bluntly.
"Pardon me?"
"You do, have a Phantom inside you, Amity," Alador clarified.
Amity chuckled a bit and said, "That's not possible, the Phantoms have never attacked me, they've always gone after other people."
Alador brought up Amity on the crystal ball and showed some readings that displayed the same wavelength signal that Willow and Skara had, but it looked fuzzy, like it was hovering between existence and nonexistence. "Your wavelength is weak, but it is there, Amity. You have been harboring a Phantom inside you for a while now, how long I can't determine, but the fact is it is there. And as such, it makes you the perfect candidate to test my invention."
Amity's ears were ringing now, her father just told her that there was a monster inside her. A monster that could break out at any time and kill her family, her friends, Luz, she's been around all of them all this time, like a ticking time bomb just waiting to go off. Amity began to hyperventilate; the room began to spin as she backed away from her father and the control panel.
"Amity?"
"It's not…not true…I'm, I'm not a Ph-Phantom – I can't be I…I…!"
"Amity, please calm down, you're having a panic attack," said Alador.
"HOW CAN I NOT PANIC ABOUT THIS?!" Amity yelled. "My own father just told me I have a monster lurking inside me! I could've…oh Titan help me; I could've hurt someone! I need…I need to be locked up! I need to find Witch! She can take it out of me or destroy it!"
"Amity calm down." Alador dropped to one knee before his daughter and grabbed her by the shoulders, giving them a firm squeeze to bring her back to the moment. "You are not a danger. Think. These creatures need a victim to fall into despair before they become a Phantom, and you haven't fallen to despair. So long as that is the case, you are not a danger to anyone. But if you truly want to prevent that from happening, then use my device to seal the Phantom inside you."
Amity still couldn't think straight, she brushed off her father's arms and began running out of the subbasement, all the way until she got into her room and slammed the door behind her. Her chest rose and fell quickly as she panted, she pressed her back against the door and slid down it until her rear hit the floor. Amity undid her hair and ran her hands through it before pressing them against her face. Amity sighed heavily as she hugged her legs to her chest and remained like that for a good minute or two.
In that time, she finally understood something about herself. She looked up and turned her gaze onto her bed. "I know what you are now."
The world went gray as a shimmer of green went off at the edge of Amity's bed, and in matter of seconds, Inner Amity appeared there, sitting on the bed, looking nonchalant. "Took you long enough, Little Miss Perfect."
"I thought you were just a manifestation of my doubts and fears about my feelings, but you're more than that. You're my Inner Phantom, aren't you?" Amity asked.
Inner Amity got up from the bed and bowed to Amity in a very showman-like way. When she rose, Inner Amity opened her eyes and revealed cat-like slits for her pupils. "Yeah, I am. And at the same time, I'm kind of not."
"How do you mean?"
"The day that Luz Noceda entered your life, that created a schism in your mind Amity. A divergence from the person you were raised to be, and the person you wanted to be. Luz opened your heart and mind to possibilities that you never considered, possibilities that were different from what you originally wanted. And that divergence, that schism, created a sort of 'rift' in your Underworld. I merged with that part of you that was the 'old you' and took on your appearance. I've slowly been trying to push you into despair this entire time, but I'm limited, and my idiot brethren can't see when one of their own is right under their nose wanting to break free!"
The Inner Phantom walked about the room, she walked towards the wall and then began walking up it as she continued her explanation.
"Getting you to confess to Luz, my teasing and chiding, all of it was aimed at the goal of bringing you despair. Because I knew that if Luz dumped you, if Luz rejected you, it would be a blow you could not recover from!"
"What's your name? If you're not me, then you must have a name like the other Phantoms," said Amity.
Inner Amity smirked as she jumped off the ceiling and landed on the floor with perfect grace, and in a pouncing position. "My name is Bastet, or just Bast for short. I must admit, it is rather liberating to finally reveal myself to you. Although, I never suspected your dear old dad to figure out that much about my kind. He's a lot smarter than he looks."
"Sometimes I think too smart," said Amity as she stood up. "So, what happens now. I know who and what you are, and now that I know, I won't let myself fall for any of your taunts!"
Bast stood up and stretched. "I mean, that's cool, I really don't need to do much."
"What?"
"I just need to wait for the day that Luz Noceda is inevitably killed by a Phantom, or by something on this island. She's a human, she's fragile, as strong as she looks, she's not a demon, and she's not a witch like you and the others on this island. Between the Phantoms and the dangers on this island, it won't be long before that happens."
Amity let that sink in for a second, Bast was right. It wouldn't take long before something like that happened. Back when Eda said that she was going to send Luz back to the Human Realm, she begged the older witch to let Luz stay, promising that she would protect her. But looking back on it, there was no way she could. Protecting her against the dangers of the Boiling Isles was one thing, but when it came to the Phantoms, she was practically useless to her. And now that Amity knows she has one inside her, it was only a matter of time before Bast figured out a way to come out or before one of her fellow Phantoms sought out try and free Bast. Either way, she was more of a liability to Luz than an assist.
Amity clenched her fists as glared at Bast. "I've made my decision."
Odalia had raised all kinds of hell to Alador about taking Amity out of school for the next few days, but her husband managed to convince her, and Principal Bump that she was assisting him with a project, a top-secret project. Thankfully, he was able to swing it so that this time away would count as credit for a "work study", and that any homework would be made up by Amity as it was brought home by her siblings.
With those conditions met, the experiment could begin. Odalia was at Blight Industries and Emira and Edric were at school. Amity was a little disappointed that she wasn't going to be able to go on the field trip to the Emperor's palace, but there were more important things to take care of. Down below, Amity stood in her father's subbasement, she was wearing her old workout clothes from when she practiced for the Banshees grudgby team. Which consisted of a pair of gray workout shorts and a Boiling Isles equivalent of a sports bra.
Amity took deep calming breathes, in and out, in and out, trying to steady her nerves. Meanwhile, Alador was busy making the final preparations. The containment unit for the device was opened, when Amity laid eyes on it, she asked, "Have you decided on what to call it?"
"Hmm? Call what?" Alador asked.
"The belt, does it have a name?"
Alador hummed. "I never really thought about it. I suppose you can name it, since you're the one who will be wearing it."
"I'll think about it. Is everything ready?" Amity asked.
"It is." Alador stepped back from the control panel and walked over to the containment device. He took out the belt and brought it over to Amity. She raised her arms and allowed her father to secure it to her waist. Afterwards, he took out two rings and slipped them over the middle fingers of both her right and left hands. "Remember, the goal of this experiment is for you to control your Phantom, to bring it under your heel and channel its power with this device. But to do so, I'll need to recreate the conditions that allow a Phantom to emerge, I'll have to open a rift in your 'Underworld' as you call it."
"I understand."
"It won't be big, just enough for you to try and get a handle on it. I'll be monitoring your condition on the crystal ball. If I see that your wavelength is veering too far into the danger zone, I'll put an end to the experiment, and we'll try again later. I won't lie to you, Amity, this might become very painful," Alador warned.
Amity looked at the chamber and then back to the belt around her waist. "If it means I can control this Phantom, then I'll do it."
"Good girl, now, head into the chamber."
The chamber in this case was a glass-like cylinder with an electrode pointing down from the top of it. Amity walked up to the chamber and waited for the glass door to open. Once it slid open, Amity entered, a small feeling of dread entered her heart when she heard the door close behind her. Amity turned around and faced where her father was. There she watched as he put his goggles on and went to work, powering up his machines, and activating the power for the chamber.
Amity could hear the charging energy as she looked up at the electrode at the top, the sphere at the end of the spike-like protrusion hummed with rising power, and that's when her father began his count down.
"Beginning experiment in ten…nine…eight…seven…six…"
Amity steeled herself and clenched her fists, widening her stance as if preparing to do battle with some unseen foe.
"Five…four…three…two…one…ignition!"
The electrode released arcs of violet colored lightning down on Amity. The young witch girl immediately cried out in pain as she felt the energy surge through her body. Not only that, but cracks started to form on her, one after the other, spider webbing outwards across her body with each passing second. She had no idea it would be this painful, was this pain that Skara felt? That Willow felt? No wonder they were screaming so loud, it felt as if her body and soul were being torn apart from the inside out.
"Induction wave activating…now!" Alador announced.
Suddenly, a pulse of blue energy hit the chamber, and the moment it did, Amity stopped screaming. Her eyes were now glowing a bright blue color, as the second phase of the experiment was underway.
~(AMITY'S UNDERWORLD)~
Amity awoke in a world that was familiar, and yet not. Instead of an elaborate world, it was a memory. She watched as her and Luz danced in the moonlight, battling against Grom the Fear Bringer. That was the happiest night of her life, despite not being able to tell Luz how she felt, she was able to still dance with her in such a beautiful – and admittedly badass – way that it made her heart soar. Unfortunately, the beauty and happiness of this memory did not last as cracks started to form around her.
A jagged scar opened a few feet in front of her, and inside of it, she could see something moving about. Amity didn't need to wonder to know who and what it was. "BAST, SHOW YOURSELF!"
Bast obliged the young witch girl as she tore through the rift and revealed at least half of her body. The Inner Phantom, Bast, was a huge cat creature, it had the headdress of an Egyptian pharaoh, her front legs and golden greaves to match her golden claws. The giant cat's eyes were violet in color, her body sheened as if it were made of black marble, with golden lines that created artsy patterns on the feline's body. This creature was the epitome of beauty, grace, and fierceness all rolled into one.
"What do you think, Little Miss Perfect, now that you've gotten a look at my true form?" Bast asked.
"Well, I won't deny it, you're a lot more pleasant to look at than some of your fellow Phantoms," Amity admitted.
Bast gave a lilting chuckle and said, "I know right? At least you can rest assured that when I take over your body, I'll be a refined creature, and make sure that your body matches my level of beauty as well."
Amity scoffed at the idea. "Already talking like you've won."
"Dear girl, I've been winning, you've just haven't realized it yet. I mean, come on, creating a rift in your own Underworld just so you can attempt to bind me? HA! I've seen some crazy things, but this one takes the cake."
Amity drew a spell circle, but instead of the normal violet hue that appeared when she did it, it was blue in color. Once she drew the circle, Amity thrust her hand forward, creating blue glowing construct chains that snaked towards Bast. The giant cat raised her brow as she watched the chains latch onto her, wrapping around her neck, forelegs, and part of her torso.
"Huh, well, that's interesting. I just realized you shouldn't even be in here, let alone cast any spells," said Bast
"Guess you weren't paying attention when dad explained how this works," said Amity.
"Honestly, I zoned out about ten seconds in."
"The chamber I'm inside of recreates the same reaction that occurs when someone has been brought to despair, activating the process of bringing you out into this space. At the same time, it releases an energy pulse that allows my subconscious to dive into this space and effectively combat you!" Amity explained.
Bast looked at the chains that were on her, examining them closely. "Huh, that father of yours is scary with his inventions. It's quite worrying."
Amity smirked.
"Too bad he didn't try with someone who had a stronger will." Bast's eyes glowed as a wave of violet and gold energy burst forth from her body. The power the Inner Phantom generated tore the chains off her body and threw Amity onto her back. Amity gasped when she saw the giant cat pull more of itself out of the tear, bearing her fangs at the witch girl as she narrowed her gaze. "I've waited a long time for this, Amity Blight! And now I'll have my free–!"
~(OVERWORLD)~
Alador noticed that the wavelength that represented his daughter was changing fast, shifting from its fuzzy state to a more jagged state as the seconds rolled by. Seeing this change, Alador immediately shut down the device, ceasing the energy flow to the chamber. The moment he did, the electrical discharge ended, and the cracks on Amity's body immediately disappeared. The chamber door opened as Alador entered, finding his daughter on her hands and knees, panting, and drenched in sweat from the ordeal.
"W-What happened…?" Amity asked.
"Your wavelength was shifting too close to the danger zone, what happened?" Alador asked.
"I saw her…my Inner Phantom…I saw Bast. She's big, and powerful," said Amity.
"A powerful Phantom for a powerful young witch. Perhaps the ability of the host affects whether or not the Phantom inside will be powerful?" Alador theorized.
Amity struck the bottom of the chamber with her fist and said, "Let's do it again."
"No."
"No?!" Amity exclaimed. "Why not?!"
"We agreed that I am in charge of this experiment. You are the only viable test subject, Amity, and as such, we must proceed carefully. You're already fatigued from the first session. We will try again in thirty minutes to an hour, depending on your condition by that time."
Amity, begrudgingly, agreed with her father and rested.
After that attempt the Blights tried seven more times, unfortunately, each time was just as unsuccessful as the last. Amity tried to subdue Bast, but the Inner Phantom proved to be the stronger each time. When that didn't work, during the next three attempts, Amity battled Bast instead, believing that if she weakened the Inner Phantom, then it might prove easier to subdue. However, this too proved to be just as futile as the previous capturing attempts.
Amity would battle hard against Bast, holding nothing back as she pelted the beast with multiple mana blasts and even formed construct blades to cut the feline. Bast only chuckled at her host's attempts to try and injure her, at one point she pretended to be gravely injured after Amity hit her with a particularly powerful spell, making the young witch believe she had gotten the upper hand. Only to blow a raspberry at her and laugh at Amity for believing such an obvious lie. Of course, each of these attempts were not without their danger, every time Amity went in her wavelength always came dangerously close to that of a Phantom, and each time she came out Amity showed signs of further fatigue.
After the twelfth attempt, Amity stumbled out of the chamber and collapsed onto the floor. Alador rushed to his daughter but stopped when Amity propped herself up and held out her hand as if telling her father to stop where he was. "I…I'm okay…"
"Clearly you are not, Amity."
"Let's go again…I think I'm getting closer to sealing her."
"The data would show otherwise."
Amity slammed her fist against the floor as she growled, "Why can't I do it?! Why can't I subdue her?!"
Alador got closer and helped Amity up, she was too tired to try and push him off but mumbled a "thank you" just the same. "We'll adjust our strategy, Amity. I'll look over the data today and see if there is something I'm missing. For now, wash up, get a meal, and head to bed early. Tomorrow you'll do your homework while I go over the data, and it'll give your body more time to recuperate."
"Okay, I understand," said Amity.
Amity was about to start walking, but she suddenly stumbled and fell forward. Alador drew a spell circle and summoned an Abomination. "Help my daughter get to her room."
The Abomination groaned his compliance with his creator's order and scooped up Amity into its arms.
"This is embarrassing…"
"It's better than having you sustain an unnecessary injury on your way up. Abomination, stay with my daughter and help her as she needs." Alador ordered.
The Abomination nodded his confirmation and took Amity up the stairs of the subbasement, all the way to the first floor. As they walked, the front door opened and revealed Edric and Emira. They were laughing at something but stopped when they saw Amity.
"Whoa, Mittens, what happened to you?" Edric asked.
"Nothing, dad's project is just a bit magically labor intensive…I kind of overdid it a bit," Amity lied.
Emira got closer to her little sister and noticed how she was drenched in sweat and looked beat. "Hey, I know mom and dad can be butts when it comes to asking you to help test their inventions, but if it's getting to be too much you need to speak up."
"Em's right, I know there are a few things that it's hard to push back on, but this might be one of them, Amity," said Edric.
Her siblings' concern for her wellbeing was touching, but they wouldn't understand what she was putting herself through, nor why she had to do it. "I'm fine, really. I'm heading up to shower, then I'll grab some dinner, and head to bed."
Edric and Emira glanced at each other and then a determined look appeared on their faces.
"Alright, then why don't we use the big bath then, just the two of us, Mittens!" Emira suggested.
"Wait, what?"
"And while the two of you are doing that, I'll order us some take out," said Edric.
Emira stood at the first step of the stairs and said, "Abomination, follow me!"
"Augh…" it responded.
"Wait, what's going on?!"
The Abomination brought Amity to the large, swimming pool sized bathtub. Emira turned around and said, "Abomination set her down, and cower."
"Augh…"
The Abomination did as she said before turning into goo, with the goo itself disintegrating in a matter of seconds. Amity looked to her big sister as she removed her hood from the Hexside uniform and then her belt. The youngest Blight's cheeks turned red as she exclaimed, "What are you doing?!"
"Well, I'm not going to jump into the bath with my clothes on Mittens, duh," Emira replied. "Now get out of those clothes, you're kinda reeking a little, sis."
"No that's not – I mean – why?!" Amity asked, still not understanding why Emira was doing this.
Emira sighed heavily and turned to face her little sister. "Look, you may not think we always care about you, but Ed and I do care about you, a lot really. We don't think it's fair how they put so much pressure on you or expect so much from you when you're only fourteen. I know they expect things from me and Ed, but I think mom and dad have more or less given up thinking that we're going anywhere like you might. And that's fine with us. We just don't want you to burn yourself out for them."
Emira got down on one knee in front of Amity and placed a comforting hand on her left shoulder.
"Amity, have you ever really thought about what it is you want?" she asked.
"I want to join the Emperor's Coven, I know that."
Emira rolled her eyes. "I know, you've said that before. But ask yourself, Am. Do you want to be in the Emperor's Coven because it's what mom and dad want, or because it's something you want?"
Amity was about to say, "Yes that's what she wanted." But she paused, because when the words were about to leave her mouth, it didn't feel right. Amity started to wonder if that was really what she wanted. For the first time in her life, Amity felt doubt about her goal.
Emira brought her little sister into a hug and said, "You don't need to think about it right now. Let's just take a bath together like we used to when we were kids, and then we'll let you in on the latest gossip at school since you weren't there."
Amity smiled and said, "That…That actually sounds nice."
"I'm starting to get a little annoyed now."
Bast was on the ground, her front legs crossed as she laid her head down on them. For the past hour and a half (Underworld Time) Amity had been attacking Bast relentlessly, and the Inner Phantom just laid there and let Amity have at it. The first time they did all this it was fun, but now the novelty was starting to wear off.
Amity panted heavily as she stood there, her hands brimming with power as she readied to cast her next spell. "I'm not giving up, not until I've finally gotten control of you!"
Bast sighed in annoyance. "Yes, yes, you've said that. But we all know how this will end, Little Miss Perfect." The cat Phantom's eyes shined brightly as she sent out a wave of magical energy that crashed into Amity like runaway train, sending her flying into the air before she came crashing down hard onto the ground. "I am far more powerful than you. More powerful than any of your kind. You cannot subdue me."
Amity wiped some blood that was trickling from the corner of her mouth, and stood on shaky legs as she said, "Witch managed get her Phantom under control, and if she could do it, then I can, too!"
Bast chuckled. "True, but you don't know how she did it, and without knowing, you're left to fumble about until you figure it out, which won't be in this lifetime."
"And I'm guessing you do know the secret?" Amity asked.
"I do, but I won't tell you."
Amity drew a pair of spell circles and created two swords of magical light from them. "Don't flatter yourself, I never expected you to anyway!" Amity charged for the Phantom and jumped as high as she could, raising them high for an overhead strike on Bast as she released a loud battle cry –!
~(OVERWORLD)~
Amity stumbled out of the chamber again, panting and sweating just like before. Yet again, her father ended the experiment, and just like before she was no closer to controlling Bast than she was two days ago.
"That's enough for now, Amity. We'll try again tomorrow."
"Dad…I think you need a better candidate than me," said Amity.
Alador regarded his daughter and asked, "Why do you say that?"
"I haven't made any progress in the last two days since we started this experiment. If anything, I think I'm only making it easier for Bast to emerge with each attempt we make," said Amity.
Alador hummed as she looked over the preliminary data. "You may have a point, your wavelength readings show a shift closer to a jagged state, and that's after these sessions. It is best if we space these experiments out some, allow you more time to build up your defenses."
Amity nodded in agreement with her father as she got back up. "I don't know what the secret is to control her, but Witch does. Maybe, if I see her, I can ask her how she managed to control her Phantom?"
"I would urge caution. That may be a secret she has no intention of sharing. We don't know her full intentions, and so long as we don't know, we cannot be sure of how she will react to someone knowing her secret. We will figure this out, but with time and careful research. For now, you are to take the next few days off and focus on your schoolwork."
"Yes sir."
Amity left the subbasement and took a long shower, wiping the grime and failure off her the best she could. After cutting off the water, Amity put on her bathrobe and stepped out of the shower. She then stood before the mirror and wiped the fog off to look at herself. For a moment she saw herself, but it wasn't her. This Amity was smirking at her with a sense of superiority, and her eyes had a sinister glow to them.
"You'll never control me, Little Miss Perfect. I'll break free and when I do, I'll have so much fun messing with your Luz before I eventually–"
"SHUT! UP!" Amity drew a quick spell circle, charging her fist with magical energy before smashing it against the mirror and shattering it to pieces.
Amity stepped back as she huffed and panted, her heart racing and thumping in her chest. That was another thing she was noticing, Bast's voice was getting stronger, and she was appearing more frequently than she used to now. The experiment was meant to allow Amity to face Bast and gain control of the Phantom, but it was also having the negative effect of allowing the monster to gradually come closer to emerging from Amity's Underworld.
The young witch sighed as she looked upon the damage she had done. Maybe dad is right…? Waiting a few days between sessions is probably a smart idea. Amity drew another spell circle and fixed the damage she had done to the mirror.
Once the damage had been fixed, Amity walked out of the bathroom and was about to head to her room, but just then Edric burst out his and Em's room, he glanced up and down the hall until his gaze landed on Amity. Her older brother ran down the hall, stopped in front of her, and said, "Amity, you have to come and see this!" before grabbing her by the wrist and all but dragging her back to his room.
"Ed, stop, I'm dripping wet and naked under this thing! At least let me dry up first!" Amity exclaimed.
"First off, did you forget I used to take baths with Emira, not like you have anything I haven't already seen from her!"
Amity blushed. "Okay that's not the point–!"
"And second, this can't wait!" Edric interrupted.
Her brother brought her into his and sister's room, where Emira was watching the crystal ball, her expression one of worry. Edric kept dragging Amity along until they were sitting down on the bed.
"Okay, will you two please tell me what's going?!" Amity asked in an annoyed tone.
"Look," said Emira.
Amity rolled her eyes and looked down at the crystal ball, and that's when she saw what it was that made her brother rush her. On the crystal ball was a news report, the caption reading "Eda Clawthorne Petrification Ceremony". "WHAT?!" Amity exclaimed as she grabbed the crystal ball. "Is this real?! You two better not be pranking me!"
"This isn't a joke or a prank, Amity. Ms. Clawthorne…she's going to be petrified soon…" Edric stated.
Amity couldn't believe it, she knew full well that Eda was a Wild Witch, and yes, she did have a very large bounty on her head. But after talking with the woman, she didn't get the feeling that that bounty was warranted. Yes, she probably did some things in the past that Amity didn't know about, but she's been nice to Luz, and Luz trusted her, that had to count for something towards Eda's character. But the Emperor's law was absolute, and now she was about to be punished.
"Oh Titan…" Amity gasped. "What will happen to Luz?! If Eda's petrified who will look out for her?! Take care of her?! Eda's the only one who was bringing any kind of income into that house! Titan, she's probably heart broken right now! I-I need to go!"
Emira got up off the bed and rushed to stop her before Amity could storm out of the house. "Whoa, whoa, Amity, stop! I know you're worried about Luz, but we don't know what's going on!"
"Let me go, Em! I need to go and check on her!" Amity ordered.
"We don't know if she was taken, too," said Emira.
That snapped Amity out of her rage. "What do you mean."
"Think about it, there are a few scenarios here. One is that Ms. Clawthorne sent Luz away back to the Human Realm before she was caught. Another is the one you're thinking of, that she's back in that Owl House, sad and depressed about what's happening. The worst-case scenario…Luz was taken as well."
Amity's eyes widened with fear. "No…No-No that wouldn't happen! Luz is a human; she can only do magic with glyphs drawn on paper or other things! That doesn't make her a criminal, a Wild Witch!"
"But she's been living with one and has been calling herself Eda's apprentice since the day she came here. I don't know if the Emperor's Coven would overlook that, Am," said Emira.
Amity had to calm down, even if what Emira said might be true, the ceremony only announced the petrification of Eda Clawthorne, not Luz the human. So, either it meant that they were only doing Eda today and holding Luz, or they were going to petrify Luz as soon as they were done with Eda, saving Luz as a bonus show or something. Amity clenched her fists and gritted her teeth as she pushed past Emira and ran to her room.
Emira followed her but was stopped when the door slammed in her face. She was about to open it, but then an Abomination rose from the floor and acted as a bouncer, keeping Emira from getting in. "Amity, think about what you're doing!"
"I have! I'm going to the Conformatorium, and I'm getting Luz and Ms. Eda out of there!"
Emira would say she was shocked by that response, but she half expected her little sister to say that. "Amity, you can't do that! Do you know what that means for you?! You'll be a criminal, too! You'll be going against the Emperor's Coven, you know, the very Coven you want to get into! The one you've wanted to be in since you were younger!"
"WELL MAYBE I DON'T WANT TO BE IN THAT COVEN ANYMORE!" Amity shouted back.
Now Emira was shocked. Since she was a little girl, Amity had always dreamed of joining the Emperor's Coven. She had worked hard in her magic, harder than either she or Edric had, honing her skills and abilities so that she would be recognized early to join their ranks. Their mother and father pushed Amity even harder, and as much as the twins didn't like it, they thought that Amity was going through with most of it just so she could get to her life goal.
The Abomination disappeared as the door flew open, making Emira jump back before it could hit her in the face. Amity stood in the middle of the doorway, she wore a black shirt that covered her arms, black leggings, and a pair of sturdy black running shoes, she didn't even bother tying up her hair, which gave her a wild, disheveled look. Emira could see it in her little sister's eyes, she was going to the Conformatorium, and Titan help the poor soul that stood in her way. Unfortunately, Emira was looking to be that poor soul.
"Amity, you need to calm down. I know you love Luz; I know you want to protect her but storming the Conformatorium and fighting through hordes of Coven Scouts will only get you hurt, or worse, you'll end up right there with Ms. Eda!" Emira warned.
"Then so be it, Em! I won't let them hurt her!" Amity growled, she then drew a couple of spell circles, both of which hovered over her wrists. "Don't get in my way, Em, you know I'm better than you or Ed!"
A touch of sibling rivalry rose inside of Emira upon hearing that from her little sister. "Oh Mittens, don't get ahead of yourself. If there's one thing you need to remember about Illusion Track witches, is that we often need to think two to three steps ahead of others in order to use our Illusion spells to their fullest. Just like now."
Emira snapped her fingers, and suddenly the entire room became a black void. Amity shifted her gaze back and forth as she cried out, "I know it's only an illusion, Em, we're still in the hallway! Which means all I have to do is find the wall and I'll know where I am!" Amity reached out to her right, but when she placed her hand there, she nearly stumbled. "What?!"
"Yeah, the moment you opened that door, you were already in my illusion spell, little sis. The spell affects depth perception, which means you won't be able to figure out how far or close something is, and with this dark environment, you definitely won't find the wall even if you think you know where it is," said Emira as her voice echoed from every direction.
Amity released a frustrated growl and said, "So what then?! I'll just use my Abominations to flood the area around me!" Amity was about to do just that, but the moment she started to move her arms and body, she was hit with an extreme case of vertigo, causing her to stumble and wobble back and forth. A feeling a nausea started to bubble in her stomach as she quickly put her hand over her mouth to stop whatever may want to come up.
"Yeah, I forgot to mention that I may have also cast a vertigo spell. So long as you stand still, you'll be fine, but the moment you move, you'll feel an intense wave of nausea and dizziness. Oh, and I also tied the spell to your movements, meaning if you make a circle, you'll only make the vertigo spell worse for yourself," Emira explained.
Amity growled angrily at her big sister as she yelled, "EMIRA YOU WITCH, LET ME OUT THIS!"
"I won't let you do this Amity. I care about Luz, too, but this isn't the way to help her."
"WHAT IF IT WAS VINEY?! DID YOU FORGET MIXING MAGIC ISN'T ALLOWED?! What will you do if she's the one on that pedestal?!" Amity asked.
It was strangely silent now.
"What, got nothing to say?! You're such a hypocrite! You would be doing the same thing if it was her, and you know it!" Amity accused.
Suddenly, blue-green construct ropes appeared and wrapped themselves around Amity's wrists, locking them together. The ropes snaked through her fingers and locked them together as well, preventing Amity from drawing a spell circle. More construct ropes appeared and tied up her legs, causing Amity to fall to the floor. The darkness disappeared and Emira revealed herself, showing that she was in the same spot she was when the spell was cast.
"You're right, Am, I would do anything I could to save Viney. And I know that she might not be able to stay on the two Tracks she's on when she graduates, she'll have to choose which Coven she wants to join, and I know that they won't allow it. I hate it, because she's so good at both, and she loves Healing and Beast Keeping magic, and I love her for that."
Emira walked closer to Amity, watching as her little sister kept struggling against the restraints.
"That's why, I'm going to the Conformatorium."
Amity stopped her struggling and looked up at Emira with disbelief. "What…What did you say?"
"You're the golden child, Mittens. Me and Ed are the eventual screw ups waiting to happen. It was eventually going to end up like that down the line, at least this way I do something bad but for a good reason," said Emira.
"Emira no!"
Bast appeared in the hallway, leaning against the wall as she looked down at Amity. "You know, we could save Luz. If you succumb to despair, I promise I'll honor your last wish."
Never! You're a Phantom, I know you won't keep your word!
"I'm not so evil that I won't at least do that much for you. You have alleviated my boredom, so I guess that accounts for something. Just give in Little Miss Perfect, and I'll save your precious Luz."
For the smallest of moments, Amity considered doing just that. However, as if by divine intervention, Edric burst out the room and said, "Hey, something's happening at the Conformatorium and – whoa, what did I miss?"
Emira snapped her fingers and released the bindings on Amity. "Nothing, what is it?!"
"Look!"
The crystal ball showed that Gus and even Willow were at the ceremony, but now the crowd was repeatedly chanting, "Let Eda go! Let Eda go!" Somehow the people had been convinced that petrifying Eda was not right and were crying out as one for the ceremony to stop. Hope began to bloom in the young witch's heart, perhaps this was it, the miracle that she silently wished for. However, something else happened that made Amity do a double take. It was hard to make out from the angle of the camera, but it looked as if Lilith Clawthorne and the little demon, King, were in the cage with Eda, who was apparently a large monster.
"How did I not notice that before?" Amity remarked.
"What?" Emira asked.
"Something's wrong with Ms. Eda, Luz told me about this, she has a curse or something that turns her into the 'Owl Beast'. That monster in the cage is Ms. Eda, but why is Lilith Clawthorne in there, too?"
"Don't know, they just appeared there a moment ago," said Edric.
Much to Amity's dismay, the people's chants were not enough to stop what was to come. The eerie statue that was used for the ceremony began to glow, and in a matter of seconds it fired a beam of green light that struck Eda. The Owl Lady released painful, shrilling cries as her body slowly began to morph into stone.
"No!" Amity cried out.
Just then, something happened, it was hard to make out, but everyone in attendance wobbled for a moment as if something shook the entire area. It was only a minor thing as far as Amity was concerned, because right now the process of petrification was happening, and now it was too late for her or Emira to go and stop it. But then, in a shocking twist, Luz appeared on stage.
"LUZ!" Amity all but yelled.
The three Blight siblings watched as Luz threw down a piece of paper, and from that paper sprouted thorny vines which wrapped around the statue and disabled it. Luz used another glyph paper, conjuring a fireball and forming it into a sword, holding it close to the Emperor's attendant, Kikimora. They couldn't hear what she said, but it was clear enough what she was demanding as the cage disappeared. Luz ran to Eda, and along with King and Lilith, they hopped onto the transformed Owl Lady and flew away from the Conformatorium.
"Holy Titan, she did it!" Edric exclaimed.
"Dang, Mittens, you're crush is hardcore," said Emira as she light bumped her little sister.
Amity was crying tears of joy, happy to see her crush alive and well, and now safely escaping the ceremony. "She really is something."
Amity unleashed a full wave mana beam at Bast, the cat Phantom barely registered the attack as she raised her paw up and slammed it down on the ground, creating a shockwave that threw Amity into the air. Another pulse of magic came from Bast, which slammed Amity back to the ground and pinned her there. Bast's giant claw came down and pressed on her, keeping Amity pinned down as she struggled to get free from Bast's hold. More of Bast started to come out of the rift, which only put a smile on the Inner Phantom's face.
"You wiggle around like a scared mouse, Little Miss Perfect. I've enjoyed our time together, but I'm at my limit of indulgence, it's time for me to come out and have some fun!" Bast stated.
Amity kept struggling, but she was gradually feeling her resistance fading.
"That's right, give into despair, give into me, Amity! ACK!" Suddenly, Bast was being pulled back into the rift. The giant cat monster used her other claw to pierce the ground, trying desperately to keep from going back. "NO! Damn that father of yours! I won't go back, I'm so close now!"
Amity's will to fight was reignited, managing to wriggle out of Bast's claw. She used both of her hands to draw a large spell circle, and with it she fired the biggest mana blast she could muster right at Bast's claw. The ensuing explosion made the ground buckle, relieving Bast of her only anchor point as she fell back into the rift.
~(OVERWORLD)~
"Amity!" Alador cried out as he dragged his daughter out of the chamber. "Amity, wake up!"
The young witch girl gasped as she awoke, she panicked a little when she saw that some of the cracks had not faded completely. But after a moment they were gone. Amity released a sigh of relief, but when she turned to her father, she saw that he was concerned.
"Dad?"
"I think it's time we cease the experiment."
"What?! No, Dad, we can't now!" Amity countered.
"You're wavelength was almost completely changed to that of a Phantom's. Any longer and the process would be irreversible. I'm sorry, but for now we will have to shelf this project. Until we can figure out what the unknown factor is that allows Witch to control her Phantom, I can't risk another session," said Alador with finality.
Amity got up off the floor and rubbed her right arm as she said, "I'm sorry I wasn't a better test subject."
"No, you are the best candidate, Amity." Alador admitted. "As I said, we are simply lacking one last piece of data that will allow us to finally control your Phantom. I'll go over the data of Witch's exploits and our own sessions, perhaps there is something I've overlooked that wasn't obvious to me at first."
Amity sighed, at this point, she was wondering if it really was some unknown factor or if it was just her. Deciding to take some time to herself, Amity left the house and went on a walk. Unfortunately, this time alone to herself wasn't really alone, as Bast was always at the edge of her consciousness. She would see her in little mirages here and there, walking about casually amongst the crowd, of course this was all in her mind, but how much longer until that remained true. Their latest session had brought her as close to becoming a Phantom as she had ever, if it wasn't for her father's quick thinking, Amity would've become a monster.
That wasn't the only thing concerning her, she had heard from Willow, Gus, and Skara that Luz hadn't been to Hexside since the Petrification Ceremony, almost three days have passed since then. Not only that, but Luz had not contacted any of them, especially not Willow or Gus. It was very concerning as Luz loved her friends and going to Hexside, the fact that she wasn't speaking to her friends or coming to school was not a good sign.
What if she left? What if they're hiding out because of what happened at the Conformatorium?
"That would just be your luck, huh, Little Miss Perfect. You dawdled for so long and now you lost your chance."
Amity shot a small glare to her left, seeing her Inner Phantom walking alongside her, still maintaining the appearance of Amity herself. Why do you still look like me? I know what you really are, so you can stop pretending to be me.
Bast chuckled at Amity and replied, "Why? I mean, I'll be you soon enough. No real point in revealing my true form when this will be my permanent disguise for the rest of my life. And honestly, I like what I'm working with. A graceful and powerful being like me deserves a host body of the same caliber, and once I have your body, I can make some changes. Starting with this awful hair color, your mother's insipid need to have all of you 'color coordinated' is stifling and annoying."
Well, look at that, for once I agree with you on something.
Amity needed to put her fears to rest, or at the very least alleviate them, so the youngest Blight headed towards the Owl House. She didn't know what she would find. A ransacked home? Coven Scouts posted as lookouts? Too many bad scenarios played in her head, but she had to keep focused, nothing was for certain until she arrived at the house. As Amity got closer, she heard something coming from the back of the house. Curious, Amity stuck to the forest and stayed hidden as she made her way around to see what it was. She managed to find a spot between two bushes and that's when she blushed and smiled.
Luz was there, and she looked alright. Very alright. The human girl was currently stretching, wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top. Amity gulped as she watched Luz finish up her stretches and begin her workout. Luz started to kick and strike with grace and precision, her muscles going taught as she stopped her attacks just short of completion to keep from injuring her joints. It was amazing to Amity, Luz was, wow. She had never paid attention, but Luz had gotten a leaner, bordering on athletic physique.
But her admiration only grew when Luz shifted from physical combat to magical, whipping out her glyph papers and shifting the magical spell that was cast from them, showing that her mastery of the glyphs had advanced far more than Amity had suspected or seen from her crush. It was just simply amazing watching her train, Amity felt as if she could watch her for hours, but the fantasy came to an end when she leaned forward and snapped a twig. It was at that moment that Luz reacted to the sound and fired a light beam close to her position, the attack made her jump out of the bushes and out into the open.
What happened next was a bit embarrassing, but essentially, she was finally able to talk to Luz after everything that happened with Eda. She also learned just how fragile her crush was on the inside, it made her angry to hear how humans viewed people like Luz in the Human Realm, even more so when Amity was almost counted amongst their ranks. Granted she had never made fun or ridiculed someone for their orientation, I mean, what good did it do when the entire population crossed the entire spectrum of romantic orientations? But she almost became someone like them, and that's when Amity decided. It was time to finally put an end to this once and for all.
Many hours passed after that encounter as night fell on the Boiling Isles. Amity waited until everyone was asleep before she enacted her plan. She watched the clock and saw that it was now midnight. Amity threw off her blankets, revealing that she was wearing the same outfit she wore for the experiments. She crept through the hall and down the stairs, being as stealthy as possible as she went down to the basement.
With a flick of her finger, Amity made the secret passage to the subbasement open. She descended the stairs and hit the switch for the lights. The hum of the machines filled the room as Amity walked to the chamber. With strong determination, Amity grabbed the device and fastened it to her waist, she then walked over to the other container and put on two of the rings. The young witch moved to the control panel and inputted the commands that she had watched father do several times over. Once the commands were entered, the machine was primed and counting down for the sequence to begin.
Amity hurried into the chamber and readied herself for what was about to happen next. Just then, Bast appeared outside of the chamber, looking at her curiously and with a raised eyebrow. "You realize that this is it, right? Even if your father shows up to stop it, it won't matter. This is the night I will break free and consume your Underworld, Little Miss Perfect. Do you understand what it is you're doing?"
"I do. I'm not afraid of you."
Bast approached the chamber and smirked at Amity. "You will be."
The machine's countdown ended, and the electrode went off. Once again, Amity was subjected to intense pain as the cracks on her body multiplied exponentially. A pulse of blue energy went off and soon her screaming ceased as Amity's eyes glowed blue.
~(AMITY'S UNDERWORLD)~
Her Underworld had been damaged, the memory of that beautiful dance between herself and Luz was almost gone. There was a large gash in the side of the world, but Bast was nowhere to be seen. Amity stood amongst the devastation of her treasured memory and waited. That's when a shadow was cast over her, Amity turned around and gazed upon the full form of Bast, the towering feline smiled down at her in a vicious way.
"I don't know what you were thinking when you did this. Have you just given up and found it easier to give in instead of fight? I must admit, it's a little disappointing, I expected more from you than this," said Bast.
Amity remained silent.
"Oh, now you think you're too good to speak to me. Or is it that you just don't have the words to describe this feeling of dread?" Bast mocked as she circled Amity. "I will grant you some final words Little Miss Perfect. I'll even be so gracious as to deliver a message to your Luz, and as a bonus, I'll make sure that she's the last one left alive after myself and my brethren take over this world. At least you can rest reassured that she won't come to harm right away. Although, if she's a Gate, then that deal goes out the window, of course."
Despite all these taunts, Amity remained silent, eyes shut as she calmly breathed in and out.
Bast was getting a little annoyed that Amity wasn't responding, she was even willing to honor her deal, but it seemed as though the youngest Blight child had given up her fight and was just waiting for Bast to finish the job. The Inner Phantom sighed with disappointment. "You're taking the fun out of this, I was at least hoping for something resembling an epic struggle, something to make my emergence grand. But I guess we'll just get to it then."
The cat Phantom stopped her circling and stood before Amity, with a flash of her eyes a great quake started to spread through the Underworld. The angry violet energy started to pour out through the cracks, increasing their number as tendrils of that energy emerged from the cracked ground beneath Amity. They started to wrap around her legs, making their way slowly up her body, as if wrapping her in a cocoon.
~(OVERWORLD)~
Alador rushed down into the basement, his magical alarm system went off, releasing a sound that was attuned only to his ears so that no one would know about the subbasement. But he arrived too late as she watched the cracks on Amity's body multiply out of control, her body started to chip away, piece by piece, revealing a glowing body underneath. Alador glanced at the crystal ball, which now displayed Amity's wavelength as swiftly shifting into that of a Phantom's.
Amity, what have you done?!
The patriarch of the Blight family rushed to the control panel and tried to stop the process, but the Phantom's energy was growing, and had taken over the machine's energy. Alador drew a spell circle and created a spiked hammer out of Abomination goo and ran towards the chamber, hellbent on destroying it before it was too late. However, the chamber released the violet lightning in a wide arc that made the floor in front of Alador blow up, sending him flying backwards into a shelf, knocking it over.
Alador groaned as he picked himself up, his eyes widening as he watched the electricity form a kind of cage around the chamber, but that's not what drew his attention. Flicks of Amity's being were disappearing from her chest, and from that opening Alador watched as two clawed hands grabbed either side of the opening.
~(AMITY'S UNDERWORLD)~
The tendrils had all but encompassed her being, only her head was left untouched, but that was quickly being remedied. Bast continued to watch the process, feeling herself about to be born into the physical world, and stand on her own two feet. The Underworld was almost gone, and only a few small fragments remained. Amity opened her eyes slowly, her gaze falling on one fragment that had not disappeared yet, it was of herself and Luz when they held each other right before their dance to defeat Grom began.
She focused on that, not so much herself, but to the one she cared about.
Luz…
The fragment was shattering bit by bit, the part of it that had Amity was gone, and the part that was of Luz was shattering next.
Luz…
More and more of the image was leaving, and now only Luz's face remained.
Luz…
As she focused on Luz's face, memories began flowing into Amity's mind. Their first encounter back in Hexside. The Covention where she almost made Luz give up her love of magic. The library where their friendship truly blossomed. The incident at The Knee where Luz learned her second glyph spell and surprised her with her ability. She helped her mend the friendship between herself and Willow. She helped rise above the petty things she thought were important, Luz made her want to be someone she could be proud of. Someone to look up to. Someone that Luz could…could…
Love.
Just then, the tendrils binding Amity burst apart, shocking Bast as she jumped back a few feet. Amity's body was wrapped in violet-pink light, her mana raging around her body. She took a step forward, and from that step a wave shot through her Underworld, mending the tears.
"W-What's happening?! What's going on?!"
"I figured it out, what I needed to seal you away Bast," said Amity.
Amity took another step forward, creating a second shockwave that sealed the cracks, a third step brought back the Underworld to the image of the dance between her and Luz.
Bast, although shocked, smiled at this latest development. "Now this is what I'm talking about!" The giant cat Phantom released a pulse of her magical energy straight for Amity.
The young witch girl raised her hand and formed a barrier around herself just as the wave hit. It crashed against the shield, but the shield did not break. Amity drew a pair of spell circles with both hands and created chains made of the same-colored magical energy. Two burst forth from the ground and wrapped themselves around Bast's hindlegs. Amity drew two more, these two erupted from underneath Bast and wrapped themselves around her barrel.
Bast roared and yowled as she released wave after wave of magical energy, trying to break the chains, but no matter how strong her magical attack was, it wasn't doing anything to them. Something was off about this magic, she could feel it, she was familiar with the hope magic that could prevent a Phantom from emerging, but this was something else, different, but just as powerful. Amity continued to draw spell circles, and each one conjured more and more chains that held fast to Bast. Amity drew a larger circle and formed a huge construct cage. With a wave of both of her hands, she slammed the cage right over Bast, effectively trapping her within it.
"Impressive…"
~(OVERWORLD)~
The only way for Alador to describe what he was seeing was miracle. The hole in his daughter's chest had completely closed, the cracks and chips from her body were closing, returning her to normal. The lightning cage from the machine had disappeared as well, and Alador was ready to get his daughter out of the machine, however, he stopped when he saw the two rings on Amity's hands start to glow.
When the glow faded, the rings had morphed. The ring on her left had resembled a golden cat, while the other had the image of a gate. Amity widened her stance and raised her left hand into the air, the blue coloring of her eyes shifted to the violet-pink color of her magic, and that's when she said, "Henshin!"
Amity pressed the left ring into the left slot of the device and activated it.
[Ready, Open.]
[Roar of the heavens!]
[The Goddess Descends!]
A burst of gold and violet light erupted from the chamber, shattering the glass, and causing the instruments to go haywire from the overload of energy. The remaining rings in the containment chamber started to glow as they resonated with the power that was being released. The overload was too much and in the next moment, all the lights in the room went out.
Alador calmly created a light spell, filling the room as best he could. He heard the crunching of glass as someone stepped on it, and that's when he saw two glowing eyes in the darkness. Alador shifted the light towards the chamber, and that's when he beheld the new form of his daughter.
Amity was taller now, having obtained the body of a twenty-year-old woman. She had a helmet that resembled a cat, with long ears, and a cat-like face on it. Her armor was golden with a mantle like collar that covered part of her neck and collar bone and had a ruby at the center. Just above the stomach was an emerald gemstone and running down her front were two purple lines. Behind her flowed two strips of cloth that fluttered as she walked. Both her hands had golden colored gloves, and around her biceps were three golden rings. Her boots went up to her midthigh, with the ends of the boots colored white and segmented to resemble a cat's paw.
In her right hand she held a staff, at the top was a red disk, and inside that disc was a roulette, the squares on the roulette were colored either violet or gold. The center of the disk was white, with a golden cat face, and above that cat face was a bar where a green square showed, set at zero. A gold tail protruded from the side of the disk, perhaps a lever? The shaft of the staff was colored white, but at the bottom of the staff was a golden blade attachment that measured at least five feet in length.
The device that was meant to control Bast was now open. It had two violet-colored eyes on either side, and at the center was an hourglass design. There was a green light at the top of the hourglass, with bits of that light slowly falling to the empty space below. Never in Alador's wildest dreams did he imagine this kind of outcome. He was not entirely sure what to expect to come from this experiment. The power to control a Phantom, that was his goal, or at least, that is what he believed would happen, but this. This exceeded his expectations.
"Amity…are you alright?"
The new Kamen Rider glanced at her form, she flexed her left hand and then looked at her staff, she then spoke, but in a voice that better matched her current age, "I am, dad, I'm very much alright. I managed to cage Bast. She's sealed, and now I can use her mana."
Alador sighed. "That was reckless, Amity. That could've very easily gone the other way."
"Sorry, dad. I had a feeling, and I went with it. Also, I know what to call this device now."
Alador raised his brow. "Oh?"
"The MagiDriver, short for 'Magic Driver'."
Alador nodded. "I get that part, but why 'Driver'? What is the significance of calling it that?"
Amity shrugged. "My classmates in school who are Kamen Rider fans call their belts 'Drivers'. Since I am a Kamen Rider now, it seemed appropriate."
Alador couldn't argue too much with that, he admitted when it came to Kamen Rider related matters, he knew very little about it. "Very well, hence forth, the device will be known as the 'MagiDriver'."
"And you can call me, Kamen Rider Heka."