Amity and Willow returned to the Owl House after the battle, as was said, they could not be seen at the school, not yet anyway. They were still waiting on Odalia Blight to reverse the decision, but she did promise by day's end today that it would be and the three of them could come back to the school.
Luz had portaled them back, but before she could step foot into the house, she froze. The Latina had a distant stare on her face, as if she was there, and yet not there.
"Luz?" Willow called out.
The Latina activated her ring again.
[Connect, Please.]
Luz reached inside and pulled out a wooden stake and two clear magic stones. Without a word spoken, she walked over to an area that was clear of any clutter and stabbed the dirt with the stake, she then dragged it along, but her movements weren't random, they were controlled, she was drawing something.
"Miss Eda! Miss Lilith! I need your help!" Willow cried out.
The front door was thrown open as Eda and Lilith came out, both armed with potions and Glyph papers alike. However, they calmed down when they saw what Luz was doing.
"It's okay, kid, this is normal…ish," said Eda.
"What's going on?!" Gus asked as he and King exited the house. "What is Luz doing."
"She's making a magic circle, and it seems she's using the Glyph Combo – copyright me – and incorporating into the circle itself. Interesting," said Lilith as she watched. "This may help in offsetting the drain on her mana."
"So…what do we do?" Willow asked.
"For now, we just leave her be, and let her finish. She'll snap out of it when she's done," said Eda.
"Eeeh, still creepy to watch," said King.
The six of them, including Hooty, sat down and watched as Luz used the wooden stake to draw her circle. It was a big one, the Clawthorne sisters remembered the last time they saw a circle this big, it meant that whatever pair of rings Luz was about to forge were going to be powerful ones. It took about ten minutes before Luz was done, etching in the last sigil mark as she stood outside of the circle. Once it was done, she shook her head as she came out of the trance. "Whoa…another big one…Which means this is another Super Form upgrade!"
Gus' jaw dropped. "No way, you mean I'm going to be able to see her obtain a new Super Form?! This is how she does it?!"
"Indeed, she does," said Lilith.
Eda had gone into the house and returned with a plate of sugar cookies. The Owl Lady walked up to Luz and presented them to her. "Hear ya go, Luz. Eat up before you begin, you know how much this will drain you."
"Thanks Eda." Luz began eating the plate of cookies, as she did, she looked back at her handy work and noticed that the Glyphs that she drew in the circle were of the Plant Glyph, and there were four of them. "Looks like this one will be my Plant Style Super Form."
Willow walked over to the circle; she placed her hand right hand against the side of the circle. Despite the circle not being active, she could feel that it was already channeling the nature magic of the area. Something about this called out to Willow, which may be the reason why she felt the need to ask, "Luz, can I help you with this one?"
"What?" Luz gasped in surprise.
"I don't know how to explain it, but…I think I need to help you make these new rings," said Willow.
"Whoa, hold on, you sure about that? This isn't like those Coven rings that she's made. This one's more connected to her own unique magic," Eda warned.
Lilith nodded in agreement. "I did assist her, but only with the augmentation of the sigil markings, other than that, I never really stood in the center with her."
Willow looked up at her best friend asked, "Please?"
Luz stared into the green eyes of her best friend for a long moment. She could feel it, too. There was something about this one that she felt required Willow's presence. Maybe that was why she went into the trance just now because Willow was here, and her magic felt she needed the additional strength to defeat Scylla and Charybdis. "Okay, let's do it!"
Willow nodded confidently and walked into the circle. Luz took a few more bites of the cookies and then joined Willow. The Latina had Willow open her hands and placed one magic stone into each of them. Willow remembered what Luz told them about how she forged the Abomination, Potion, Illusion, Bard, and now Beast Keeping and Healing. The rings seemed to be all based on the nine Covens, but only one of them was used for one of Luz's transformations. Perhaps there was a reason Plant was part of the only four Glyphs. Whatever the reason was, Willow wanted to do her part and help Luz. She may not be able to battle Phantoms like her, but at least this way she could contribute in some small part, like Gus has.
The glasses wearing witch closed her hands around the stones, and Luz placed her hands around both of Willow's. The circle came to life, glowing a bright green as particles of emerald light floated around them. The lines of the circle continued to glow, but at the same time, lush green grass grew, along with flowers that bloomed around and inside of the circle. King, Eda, and Lilith took a step back, but Gus was just staring in awe as he broke out a pencil and paper and began writing down everything he was seeing.
Willow could feel her magic and Luz's mixing together within her hands, a warmth that spoke of life. Luz could feel the warmth too, and the power, it spoke of a strength that was as mighty as the mountains, and as sturdy as the vast forests. Green and yellow light coalesced around their joined hands, and that's when it happened. An emerald energy construct of La Lechuza rose from the circle and enveloped the two witches. The owl construct then transformed into a mighty tree for about five seconds before its form broke down and funneled itself into the two stones in a bright flash of green light.
When it was over, the circle faded away, leaving only the flowers and grass that grew when it was there. Luz and Willow opened their eyes slowly and turned their gazes towards their hands. Willow watched as Luz removed her hands, allowing Willow to open hers. The Plant track witch gasped when she saw two new rings, one resembled the Owl Style rings, but this one was an emerald green. The other had the image of an owl with its talons striking the earth below.
"How do you feel, Luz?" Willow asked.
"Okay! I hardly feel drained at all! The Glyph Combo–!"
"Copyright Lilith."
"–and your magic helped to create my new Style and Finisher rings!" Luz gushed happily. She then threw her arms around Willow and hugged her friend tight. "Thank you, Willow!"
Willow smiled happily and replied, "You're welcome. What are friends for, right?"
The aftermath of the Phantom attacks had the Emperor's Coven come in and do their investigation, for what it was worth. Both Edric and Emira were checked out at the Healing Coven Hospital, and aside from Edric being jittery, and slightly psychologically traumatized, he was okay. Amity had stayed home to guard over her siblings, it was clear to her that these Phantoms were after her older brother and sister, which meant they were Gates. This was not lost on her father as the young witch paid him a visit in his lab that night.
"I'm sure you heard about what happened, didn't you?" Amity asked.
"I did. My drones detected two Phantom energy signatures, one in the forest outside of the school, and one inside of the school," said Alador as he worked on an Abomaton.
"They were after Em and Ed, which means they're like me. They have Phantoms inside of them."
Alador stopped his work and looked over his shoulder. "Are you sure?"
"I am. The Phantoms want to bring despair to people so that it will allow the Phantom inside to break free and emerge into our world. Bast was trying to do the same thing, but in a roundabout way." Amity clenched her fists as she said, "Dad, please make two more MagiDrivers! Ed and Em have Phantoms like me! If that's true, I can teach them how to seal them!"
Alador sighed heavily as she went back to tinker with the Abomaton. "Unfortunately, I only had enough time and material to make one of them. And with the current order for Abomatons, all of our resources are being funneled into making more of them. And if these Phantoms are after your brother and sister already, then that means that their Inner Phantoms are close to emerging. Time is our enemy here, Amity, and it is one I have yet to win against."
"But…"
"For now, you are their best chance of surviving this ordeal. Defeat the Phantoms and they will be safe," said Alador.
Amity sighed, she knew he was right, but for some reason she felt as if that did not take care of the underlying issue. The young Blight child bid her father goodnight and headed up the stairs. Once she reached the ground level, she heard a knock at her front door. One of their Abomination servants walked over and opened the door, and that's when she heard a familiar voice.
"Hi there, is Amity available to talk by any chance?"
"Luz?" Amity rushed to the front door and saw that it was Luz standing there. "Fergus, thank you, I have it from here." The Abomination groaned in confirmation and headed off to do another task. "Luz, what are you doing here?"
"I…I thought we could talk? Not about the other thing, but about what's happening right now."
Amity nodded and moved to the side to let Luz come inside the house. "Would you like something to drink? Apple Blood Lite? Tea?"
"I'm good. I just portaled myself here," Luz whispered.
The corner of Amity's mouth rose to a smile. "Okay, let's head to my room, out here isn't really the best place for a conversation."
Luz nodded and followed Amity upstairs, along the way they met Odalia, who was on her way downstairs when she saw the two girls in the hallway.
"Oh, Luz Noceda."
"Good evening, Mrs. Blight," Luz greeted.
"Humph, it hardly is after two of my children were attacked by those Phantom monsters. By the way, why have you come to our house? If it is about the expulsion, I have reversed it as of noon today. I already contacted the Porter and Park families about it; however, I had no idea how to contact you or that Clawthorne woman," said Odalia.
"That's great! Thank you, Mrs. Blight! But, uh, that's not why I'm here. I just needed to talk to Amity about some things I might've missed at school," Luz lied.
"Ah, I see." Odalia eyed the human girl and then her daughter. "Amity, it's nice that you're offering your 'friend' some assistance, but do not let it hinder your own studies."
"I won't, mom."
"Good."
Odalia walked away and headed down the stairs, leaving the two girls standing there.
"As you can see, she's like she is even in here," said Amity.
Luz felt bad for Amity right now, she really did have to deal with a lot at home. She might only deal with Odalia in small doses, but Amity had to deal with her mother twenty-four-seven. Eventually, the two girls reached Amity's room. Luz looked around, taking in the scenery. There were posters of the Emperor's Coven, the old posters of Lilith when she was still the head of that Coven. Some motivational posters, a bookshelf filled with textbooks on magic and other arcane arts, and even some fantasy books, primarily ones that were of the "Azura" variety.
"Wow, you're room is way bigger than mine," Luz commented.
"The perks of being a rich girl," Amity chuckled.
Amity watched as Luz walked over to the window and opened it, looking out into the woods, which also offered a good view of Bones Borough. But as she continued to watch Luz, it dawned on the witch that Luz was in her room. Her crush, Luz Noceda, was in her room. She was in said room, with Luz, alone, without anyone else. Amity's pupils shrank to pinpricks. OH, TITAN WHY DID I TELL HER COME INTO MY ROOM?! Amity quickly looked about her dwelling. Was there anything embarrassing lying on the floor? Undergarments? Clothes? Drawings she made of her and Luz as Hecate and Azura fighting together? Her fanfiction works? She normally forbade the Abomination butlers from entering her room, as she had taken on the responsibility of cleaning and tidying it herself and did not want to run the risk of the butlers finding something and placing it out in the open for her siblings or parents to see.
So far, her roaming eyes could find no articles of clothing that were strewn out, nothing noticeably embarrassing was out in the open, and her fanfictions were tucked away in the top shelf behind some assorted books. There was no way to see them unless you were quite tall, and the only way to get the books down from the top shelf was via a levitation spell, and even then, you still would not be able to see them. Okay, I'm safe, but still…LUZ! IS IN! MY ROOM!
On the flipside, Amity was not the only one freaking out. Luz had used the excuse of looking out the window to keep the popular witch girl from seeing just how freaked out she was. I'm in Amity's room! Alone! With no supervision! We're alone in her room! Okay, okay, calm down, Noceda! Just calm down! We're not doing anything wrong, nor do we plan to! We're just here to discuss what's going on with the Phantoms and how best to fight against them! I have ZERO ulterior motives in coming to see her!
"Oh, this is just too good," said La Lechuza.
"I know right, how much you want to bet my Little Miss Perfect makes the first blunder of the night?" Bast asked.
"HA! La Niña will be the one, she's already flustered as all get-out."
Luz took a deep breath and focused on the serious matter that was ahead of them, which was helping in decreasing the redness in her face. The Latina turned around and sat on the seat affixed to the window. "So, uh, is the room sound proofed at all? We don't want anyone outside hearing us."
"There's no worries about that, the walls are well insulated, so sound won't carry through them. And as for the door…" Amity turned around and drew a spell circle. A layer of purple colored magical energy coated the door for a second before disappearing. "There, that'll keep the door from being opened and ensure no one can hear us."
"Good, good…ahem." Luz sat up straight and put on a serious face. "I think we both know what the Phantoms are after, or rather, who."
"Yeah…Ed and Em. I can't believe they're Gates, too. And they were right under my nose," said Amity in a chastising manor.
"Hey, hey, don't be like that! Willow was a Gate and so was Eda, two of the four people I hang around the most were Gates I didn't notice until they fell into despair. That's just how it is sometimes."
Amity pulled the chair to her desk and sat in it as she interlaced her fingers. "I get it…so, what do we do about it? Scylla and Charybdis aren't going to give up on them. They were close this time, next time…well…I'd rather avoid a next time."
"Well, for now, I think it's best if we keep an eye on them. It's a good thing your mom told me that I can go back tomorrow. I see Ed and Em in a couple of my classes, and Gus is in the Illusion track, so he'll be seeing them a lot. For now, we wait for the Phantoms to make their move, and when they do, we attack," said Luz as she slammed her right fist into her left palm.
Amity thought about that plan for a minute and offered a suggestion. "That would solve the problem of the Phantoms trying to attack them, but not the problem of the ones inside of them. If we just destroy those two, two more will just show up and take their place. And in the meantime, they could be after other people who have Phantoms inside them while we're busy protecting my brother and sister. Is it possible that we can dive into their Underworlds and destroy the Phantoms before they have chance to emerge?"
Luz hummed in thought, it did sound like a viable strategy. Destroying the Inner Phantom before it could emerge would ensure the Gate's safety. "I'm not sure, but there is someone we can talk to who might know more." Luz cleared her throat and offered her hand to Amity. "I…I, uh, need your hand Amity."
Amity gulped, her heart hammering in her chest. It was not as if this was the first time she had held hands with Luz, they danced like that once, and another time was on the Grudgby field, and…that was about it. The green haired witch scooted her chair closer and carefully reached out her hand. Neither girl looked directly at their actions as their hands finally touched and grasp the other. Electric shocks ran their arms, causing both girls' faces to go red.
"O-O-Okay, so, uh, this is going to feel a little weird at first, but trust me and don't let go," said Luz.
She's not going to do something…SOMETHING is she?! No, no, this is Luz! She's not like that! Amity thought.
As hard as it was, Luz managed to concentrate. The world around her ground to a halt as the colors faded away and became gray. Amity felt a strange sensation running through her mind, and suddenly, she too saw the halting of time and the graying out of the colors in her room. Just then, a flickering flame burst into existence before them, and in a matter of seconds, that flame revealed the form of Kamen Rider Wizard.
"Oh, I see you've brought someone else in the mindscape."
Luz opened her eyes and said, "Hi, Mr. Souma."
Amity's left hand rose as she pointed at the Kamen Rider in front of her. "H-H-How…! W-W-When…!"
"Remember when I said I had another mentor? Well, here he is. Amity Blight, say hello to Kamen Rider Wizard, real name: Haruto Souma. My Rider mentor. When Mr. Souma gave me the knowledge of how to fight, he also left behind this little fragment of himself, it's…this is hard to explain, because it's not him, but it has his knowledge, talks and acts like him, but it's not him."
"A simulacrum. A kind of implanted copy of this Haruto Souma, it can't take any real action or do anything other than answer questions. Am I right?" Amity asked.
Wizard nodded. "You are correct, Blight-chan. I am not the real Haruto Souma, but I do possess his memories and knowledge, so that I may act as a guide for Noceda-chan in her journey as a Rider."
Wow, Amity figured it out that quickly…she's amazing, thought Luz. The Latina shook her head and collected her thoughts. "Mr. Souma, we wanted to know, is it possible to destroy an Inner Phantom before it has a chance to emerge from a Gate?"
"Possible? Yes. Recommended? No."
"Why not?" Amity asked. "If we encounter a Gate, we could just dive into their Underworld and eliminate their Inner Phantom before it has a chance to emerge and make the rest of the Phantoms stop targeting them."
Wizard crossed his arms and said, "Let me be clear. It is possible to do so, but in order to so, you would have to damage their Underworld. While despair is the triggering force, despair is an emotion that all beings, and Noceda-chan, can experience naturally. The Sabbath ritual induces this feeling and magnifies it until it becomes so overwhelming that a person gives into it. But there are those rare exceptions. In any case, the Gate's Underworld reflects their soul, if you wanted to destroy the Inner Phantom before it had chance to emerge, you would first need to damage the Underworld, and create a breach for it come out."
"Something tells me that that's not a good thing," said Luz.
"It isn't. Using unnatural means to free a Phantom could result in damaging the soul of the person you're trying to save. When a Phantom is defeated by you, your power and the mana released by that Phantom are used to reconstruct the Underworld, to fix the damage that the Phantom itself created. However, if you did the damage, your power would not recognize it as something the Phantom did and leave it the way it is. And that could have detrimental effects on the person. They could become broken, mentally, and emotionally. Their personality could drastically alter for the worse. The risks of destroying an Inner Phantom before it has the chance to emerge into an Underworld are far higher than if it just happened."
Amity thought about that for a moment, if she did do as she thought, there was a high chance she could hurt Edric and Emira far worse than the Phantoms could. And there would be no way to repair the damage. "So…we just have to wait for the Phantoms to show up and destroy them. But then more will show up and try to do what the others couldn't."
"It is a vicious cycle. But most are strong enough to keep the despair at bay, and not allow themselves to fall so deep that the Phantom can come out. I can tell that you, Blight-chan, are like Noceda-chan. You too have a Phantom inside of you and are using its power. Am I correct?" Wizard asked.
"Yes sir, I do."
Wizard nodded. "Then I am glad. I know the original me was worried for Noceda-chan, being a young Rider fighting alone against an unknown enemy. But I'm sure the real me would be happy to see that at least another has come to stand by her side. Your aura reminds of another Rider that fought by my side."
Luz's eyes widened as she asked, "You had a partner?! Who is he?! What's his name?!"
Wizard waved his left hand and conjured a window that showed images of the Rider he spoke of. "His name is Kosuke Nitoh. The Ancient Wizard, Kamen Rider Beast."
Amity looked upon the warrior, clad in gold and black armor, same as her. It seems that destiny had brought this about, perhaps Luz did have a point in combining their powers.
"He also had this obsession with putting mayonnaise on everything he ate. And I do mean EVERYTHING."
The window switched to images of Nitoh putting said mayonnaise on every meal he ate, ramen, donuts, you name it, he put mayo on it. Luz made a little face of disgust; she was a weird girl and even she found that weird. Amity had no idea what the condiment mayonnaise was, but she figured it was not something good if Luz's reactions was of any indication.
"In any case, I know you will make the right decision. And bring about a happy resolution."
Wizard disappeared in a wisp of flames, and the world returned to its colored state. Luz let go of Amity's hand and waited to see what the young witch had to say.
Amity crossed her arms as she thought hard about what Wizard had said to her. Her ideas to destroy the Inner Phantoms prematurely was not a viable option, it would do more harm than good. And the machine that their father used to create the same effect as this "Sabbath ritual", was destroyed after the last session. And as Alador had pointed out, recreating the device and making two new MagiDrivers would take time, and time was not on their side when it came to these Phantoms seeking to harm her siblings.
"Looks like we'll go with your plan. We'll keep an eye on Edric and Emira, and make sure they don't fall into despair, or that the Phantoms get near them," said Amity.
"Good, but before that we'll need to figure out why they fell into despair in the first place. There has to be a trigger that caused it." Luz cupped her chin and said, "I think for Emira, it was the fear of losing Viney. But I don't know what triggered Ed. It sounded like he was afraid of being alone?"
Amity rubbed the back of her head as she tried to figure out the best way to explain this. "I had a talk with Edric afterwards. He said he's felt lonely for awhile now. Even though we're all under the same roof, we're not really together most of the time, so I can understand how he feels to a degree."
Luz cocked her head to the side in confusion. "But wait, Edric and Emira are together most of the time, I don't get how he's lonely?"
"He won't say it out loud, but I can tell he misses the days when him and Emira were together a lot. But Em's been trying to strike out on her own, trying to develop into her own person," Amity explained.
Luz's expression saddened as she remembered something Edric had said way back when. "Wow…I guess he wasn't kidding when he said his greatest fear is being alone forever."
Amity clenched her fists and gritted teeth when she remembered the state her brother was in. "Charybdis has space altering abilities. She changed the hallway into a dark void and expanded its dimensions so it was bigger and wider than it normally should be. She trapped him in that darkness and made my older brother cry. That is unforgivable."
"And Scylla has some strange ability to conjure fog and has six serpent heads that can shoot dark energy, and who knows what else. She tried to hurt Viney, but it was only to make Emira fall into despair. Oh wow…I just thought about something!" Luz admitted.
"What?"
"Back when Dracula attacked them, and Viney ended up in the hospital, did Emira show any signs of being a Gate?" Luz asked.
Amity thought back to that moment, she did recall that Emira was a little hysterical about Viney's condition when she was in hospital. "She was very worried about her, she snapped at me at one point, but she apologized for it after. Oh Titan, how close was she to becoming a Phantom back then?"
"Hey, it's okay, it's a good thing that it didn't happen then. But now, with the both of us, we can defeat them, and keep Emira and Edric safe," said Luz.
Safe…Amity glanced at Luz, all she wanted to do was keep Luz safe from the Phantoms. But in the end, it was Luz who was doing all the protecting for them. The clock in her room went off, showing that it was at least ten at night now. "You should head back to the Owl House before it gets too much later, we do have school tomorrow, you know."
Luz chuckled. "Yes, we do."
The Latina got up from her seat, but as she began to walk forward her foot got caught on the rung of the rug on the floor and caused her to fall forward.
"LUZ!" Amity cried out.
Amity reached out with her hand to help Luz before she could hit the floor. Luz reached out as well and grabbed Amity's hand, but the green haired witch did not get her footing right and ended up falling on the floor alongside Luz. Both girls ended up hitting their heads against each other, and both released little exclamations of pain.
"Luz, are you alright…?"
"Yeah…we just hit our…heads…"
Luz trailed off when she noticed that Amity was now looming over her, with Amity's left hand just a few inches from the right side of her head. Amity took a moment to realize how they ended up, with her atop Luz, in a slightly compromising way. The two teens held their breath, faces turning red from ear to ear as their hearts jackhammered in their chests. Time seemed to be on pause at that moment, it felt as if something would happen right here if either one of them moved or did something. What exactly would happen was unknown, but they were sure something would happen. Finally, they both snapped out of the moment and hurried off each other, both sitting on their knees with their backs to each other.
"Uh, haha, wow, uh, thanks for helping me," said Luz nervously.
"N-Not really much help…we both fell," Amity replied.
"I-I know, but it's the thought that counts."
Despite everything they talked about, the one topic they had yet to broach was how they felt about each other, and how they were going to move forward now they both knew about others' feelings. There was just so much going on that it seemed impossible to think about right now.
"We should talk about some other things…when this is over, I mean," said Luz.
"Y-Yeah…we should," Amity remarked.
Luz shot to her feet and said, "Okay, well, it's late, so I should head back home!"
[Connect, Please.]
A magic portal opened before Luz, and wasting little time, she headed right for it. "Okay, see you tomorrow, Am! Remember, we need to guard Ed and Em! Goodnight!"
"G-Goodnight!"
Luz disappeared into the portal as it vanished from sight. Amity released a breath she did not know she was holding and collapsed onto the floor.
"Smooth, Little Miss Perfect, really smooth."
Shut. Up. Bast.
The group had called each other early that morning to go over the plan of how they were going to keep an eye on the Emira and Edric Blight, as well as Viney, since she was the key to Emira's despair. Amity walked with her siblings that morning to school, escorted by a couple of Abominations of her conjuring, if the need arose, she could quickly morph them into stronger versions to fend off the Phantoms. Luz arrived at school via her portal, appearing in the middle of the woods. She headed to the front of the school and waited there for the rest of her friends. It was only a short time after Gus and Willow arrived at the school that the three Blight siblings did as well. Edric and Emira broke off from Amity and went about their business of being admired by their fellow classmates. Amity walked until she had joined up with Luz's group, and then they went over their plan.
"Okay, so here's the plan. Gus has a few classes with Edric and Emira, so he can keep an eye on them during those times. I have some Illusion classes as well, so I'll be able to pick up the slack towards the afternoon," said Luz.
"Emira disappears around lunchtime, along with Viney. I assume they go to a secret place to have lunch by themselves, but as to where that may be I don't know. However, Edric does have lunch in the cafeteria, and is mostly surrounded by other students wanting to be close to him because he's…" Amity rolled her eyes. "Popular."
"So, for an hour we won't know the locations of either Viney or Emira, that could be bad for us. We don't know the identities of the Phantoms when they're not in their monster forms, so right now, the Phantoms could be anyone," said Gus.
"The good news is, the Phantoms don't know that we know, so that gives us an advantage. We'll be keeping an eye out for anyone suspicious. And from the sounds of it, there will at least be two or one of us around them at any given time," said Willow.
"Well, more than that, actually." Luz corrected. "C'mon on out guys."
Just then, two construct spiders crawled out of Luz's hair, they were small, smaller than a pebble. The two spiders rested on her open right palm and looked at her gathered friends.
"Whoa, what are those?!" Gus asked.
"I had Viney help me forge two new rings, one for Healing, and one for Beast Keeping. Beast Keeping allows me to summon animal constructs, but one of the big benefits is that I'm connected to them. I can't see through their eyes, but I can sense what they do. So, if there's danger nearby them, the spiders will get the warning out to me immediately and will serve as stealthy guard for Ed and Em," said Luz.
Amity stared in awe of Luz's constructs and said, "Luz that's brilliant! This way, we have them under surveillance at all times."
"Unfortunately, I don't know how long they'll last. I haven't had time to test this ring out. The wolves and bees I summoned in the fight with Scylla lasted a good while, but I don't know if they'll last a few minutes, an hour, or all day," Luz warned.
"Guess we'll find out today, if they do go poof, you'll have a chance to make another pair. But how are you going to get them on them in first place?" Willow asked.
"Like this." Luz confidently walked towards the twin siblings and, while their backs were turned, gave them enthusiastic pats on the back. "Heya, Ed! Em!" At the moment of contact, the spider constructs leaped off Luz's hands and crawled up their backs and settled into Edric and Emira's hair. "You guys are lookin' good today!" Luz made finger guns and clicked her tongue.
The twins were a little confused by the action, but respected Luz for being so bold.
"Thanks, Luz," said Edric with a wink.
"Nice to have you back, cutie," Emira added, also with a wink.
Luz felt her face heating up as she nervously chuckled and went back to her friends. Amity felt her own face heat up, but for a different reason.
"I see you have a thing for this family, don't you?" La Lechuza teased.
Don't start with me, Lala!
"Seems Luz has a thing for your family, huh?" Bast teased as well.
Don't start with me, Bast!
Now that extra pair of eyes were planted on both the twins, the group started their day. Gus, Willow, and Luz were happy to be back at school. Back on Earth, there were few kids who would feel the same way, but this was Hexside, they seriously didn't want to miss a day here. For most of the day things were quiet, Luz and Gus were able to keep an eye on the twins for much of the day, but as expected, they lost track of Emira right around lunchtime. Thankfully, with the aide of the construct spider, Luz was able to get an approximation of where they were. It confused her for a bit as it felt as if Emira was in the walls of the school, but then she remembered The Secret Room of Shortcuts.
Knowing that Emira and Viney were there allowed her to lower her guard, it was in its own magical subspace inside of the school. And no one aside from the detention group, Principal Bump, Luz, Gus, and Willow knew of the room. So, it was about as safe as it was going to get. And if need be, Luz remembered how to get into it. Edric was easier to follow, and just like Amity had stated, he was surrounded by their classmates. Girls were fawning over him, while some of the boys tried to either get on his good side or were trying to woo him themselves.
It was now two in the afternoon, and so far, nothing had happened. Luz and Gus were in the same class as the twins, she was amazed how good their Illusion magic was, Gus was very impressive, but she got the feeling that the witch boy may have been holding back in some instances.
Well, we've almost made it through the whole school day without an attack.
"Today, maybe. But tomorrow is another day."
I know it's going to be exhausting to keep up this surveillance, but it's better than not being there when something does happen.
Suddenly, alarm bells started to go off, a thick smoke started to creep out from under the door, causing everyone to panic. The teacher quickly instructed his class to calm down and began herding them out of the classroom.
"A fire drill?" Luz questioned.
"That or someone in the Potions class just royally messed up one of their potions," said Gus.
The kids started to file out, with the teacher leading the way. Gus and Luz made sure to keep an eye on the twins, but once they got into the hallway, the smoke was thicker, making it hard to see in front of them. Luz put her hands over her mouth and nose but realized that something was off. The smoke should be chocking her, but it wasn't. In fact, she was starting to doubt that this was smoke at all.
"Gus, I don't think this is smoke."
"It could still be something from the Potions class, that alarm could be for a fire or because something bad was just released, try not to breathe it in!"
Luz and the class were suddenly hit with a powerful wave of the smoke, obscuring their vision. Then another strange occurrence happened, for a moment the area went pitch black, and the area felt as if it had warped and gotten bigger. But that lasted all of ten seconds before the cloud of vapor eased up, and the darkness lifted. Luz glanced about, noticing that Emira and Edric were not there at all. "Oh no!" Luz concentrated, and immediately she sensed that her construct spiders were much further away. The Latina grabbed ahold of Gus and whispered into his pointy ear, "Phantoms! They just got Ed and Em!"
"What?! But we were standing right here! How could they have – that blackout just now!" Gus exclaimed.
"I'm going after them, cover me."
Gus nodded and drew a spell circle in the air, Luz dipped down until she was crawling on the floor just as Gus conjured a double of Luz. The real Luz crawled along the floor until she was away from the main group, she kept going until she found herself in the girl's restroom. After kicking open the stall doors and making sure no one was inside, Luz summoned her Driver.
[Driver On, Please.]
[Shabadoobi touch to henshin! Shabadoobi touch to henshin!]
"Henshin!"
[Light, Please.]
[HI~KA~RI!]
Witch burst out of the bathroom and looked around, she then sighed and commented, "Transforming in a bathroom, as a Rider, I think I'm sullying the henshin tradition here somewhat."
"Cry about it later. I sense our foes, they're not too far away."
"Same here, I can feel it."
Witch ran in the direction she sensed that Edric and Emira were. After passing through several hallways, she came to the spot where she sensed them, and when she did, she was met with a void. It was just as Amity had described to her, a pitch-black nothingness. She knew inside of the darkness were the people she needed to save, but inside that that darkness, Scylla and Charybdis would have the advantage. Either way, I'm not going to stand by and let them be turned into Phantoms!
[Sight, Please.]
Now armed with the power of Sight, Witch ran into the darkness and began her search for the Blight twins.
"EMIRA!" Edric's voice echoed in the void. "AMITY?! ANYONE?!" No matter how much he yelled, there was no one there, just nothing but darkness and himself. "No, please, I don't want to be alone! Emira, Amity, someone! No, get it together, just get it together! This is just a trick, I'm still in the school! I'm still in the school! I just need to find my way out!
"Oh, poor little Edric Blight…So afraid, so alone…"
The voice of Charybdis echoed in the darkness, making the boy flinch in fear. It was the same voice as yesterday, the voice that haunted him throughout that entire ordeal.
"No matter where you run. You'll always be alone."
Dark water rushed towards Edric, picking him up and swirling him around in a giant vortex. The teen witch boy panicked as she tried to swim against it, but the current was too strong as he was pulled under. Edric was then dropped, unceremoniously, onto the ground, coughing and panting from the ordeal.
"You're just a burden to others, not even your own twin sister wants anything to do with you…"
"NO! You're lying! We're family! She's, my sister! My twin sister! She won't abandon me!" Edric retorted.
"Is that so? You're trapped in here. But knowing that you are, whose name is she calling out for?"
Edric could hear a voice separate from Charybdis; the teen witch boy's heart filled with hope when he recognized it as belong to Emira. He began moving towards that voice, happy, knowing that his sister was in there looking for him as well.
"VINEY WHERE ARE YOU?!" Emira called out.
Edric stopped in his tracks. "W-What…?"
"VINEY, HANG ON! I'LL FIND YOU!" Emira came into view and there she found Edric. "What – Ed?!"
"You…You thought I was Viney?" Edric asked.
"I can barely see anything in this place. Where's Viney, have you seen her?!" Emira questioned.
"I…no…I haven't."
"Titan help me, I can't let her get hurt again. Not after what happened last time! I won't let her get hurt like that again!" The teen witch girl swore.
Edric was feeling a little hurt. "Hey…I was in here, too. We both got snatched up, but you didn't even try to call out to me?"
"I'm sorry, it all happened so fast, I just thought the Phantom grabbed only me! Look, we need to find a way out of here."
"O-Okay, yeah, sure. We'll find a way out," Edric reached out and took his sister's hand into his own. "Together, like always."
Emira's eyes widened as she snatched her hand away. "Stop being so clingy, Ed!"
"C-C'mon, sis, it's better if we're holding each other's hand in this place, we'll get separated, otherwise," Edric reasoned.
Before she could say anything back, Viney appeared in the distance. The witch girl was running towards them, and Emira was so overjoyed to see no harm had come to her. However, that joy vanished when she saw six pairs of eyes appear around her.
"VINEY, LOOK OUT!"
All six serpents descended on Viney, snapping their jaws onto her arms, legs, shoulders, and sides. Digging their fangs into her skin as they forced her onto the ground. Emira's eyes widened in shock, along with Edric's. The last thing both of them saw was Viney reaching out towards them and being dragged away until her body, and the glowing eyes of the serpents vanished.
"Viney…Viney…! VINEY!" Emira yelled as she readied to run after her.
"NO!" Edric grabbed ahold of his sister's wrist. "Don't go!"
"Let me go Ed! LET ME GO!"
"It wants us to go after it, we can't help her!"
"The heck with you!" Emira slapped her brother in the face, forcing him to let go, and sending him falling onto his rear. "Ever since we turned fourteen, you have never been able to handle being on your own! Well, I want to be alone, Ed! Alone without you! I wasn't lying when I said my greatest fear is being stuck with you forever! I genuinely dread it that you'll always be there, always trying to butt in and never allow me to become my own person! Just leave! ME! ALONE! Because of you…Viney…Viney's…"
Emira fell to her knees as she cried hard into her hands. Edric felt his heart break, he had believed that no matter what, they would always be brother and sister, two souls sharing a bond that no one can break, and she just did. Their hearts grew heavier as cracks started to appear on their bodies, and in just a moment…
*Crack*
Emira and Edric screamed in pain as the cracks multiplied rapidly and released ethereal violet light. The twins fell to the ground and writhed in pain as the Phantomization process had begun. Scylla and Charybdis appeared from a veil of fog and stood over their victims, smiling at their handywork.
"Nice job with that illusion, sis," said Charybdis.
"This witch magic has its perks, especially the Illusion kind. Heh-heh-heh, stupid girl couldn't tell that it was a fake. She was so worried about her precious girlfriend, and if she hadn't, she might've been able to stop her brother from falling into despair, but she only aided in it," Scylla mocked.
"Still, I'm a little annoyed that we won't be able to kill Witch or that rookie Rider."
"HER NAME IS HEKA!"
Suddenly, both Phantoms got shot in the back by several light infused silver bullets, causing sparks to erupt from their bodies. The duo Phantoms turned around and smirked when they saw Kamen Rider Witch standing there, all alone.
"Well, this is our lucky day, the great hero, Witch! We'll be able to take you down and gain two new Phantoms, it's a big win for us today," said Scylla.
"All you'll be getting is a big 'L' when this is over!"
"You think you can beat us?" Charybdis asked.
"I beat Incubus and Succubus on my own," Witch remarked.
Scylla scoffed. "Those two are nothing compared to us. I'd be disappointed if you didn't."
Witch knew that Scylla had a point, these two were stronger than the previous duo of Phantoms, but time was not on her side. Edric and Emira had already fallen into despair and were in the process of having their Underworlds destroyed. She had to act fast, or both would be lost. That's when Witch decided to take a risk, and gamble on Amity. Witch removed her Driver On ring and replaced it with the Connect ring.
"Amity…please be ready."
[Connect, Please.]
Witch's magic circle appeared to her left, and for a couple of seconds nothing happened. But after five seconds passed, a golden glow came shining from the portal, and out of it jumped Heka, wielding her Scarab Saber in her left hand.
"Heka!"
"You called, Witch?" Heka asked in a playful tone. The golden Rider turned her head towards their enemies and was shocked to see both of her siblings on the floor and in pain. "Oh no…!"
"Listen, we can still save them, but we're going to have take these two down together!"
"Alright, but what do you say we switch dance partners?"
Witch nodded, "Alright then. We need to go all out for this one. Time for something new!"
Witch removed her Light Style ring and switched it out with her brand-new Owl Style ring.
[Shabadoobi touch to henshin! Shabadoobi touch to henshin!]
[PLANT OWL.]
[SODATSU! SODATSU! SODATSU!]
An emerald-colored magic circle appeared under Witch's feet, and from it rose a construct of La Lechuza, this construct looked as if it was made of various forms of vegetation, and then the construct flared its wings and wrapped them around Witch. The area glowed a bright green for a moment, and then the energy dispersed into a cascaded of falling leaves, revealing for the first time, Kamen Rider Witch: Plant Owl Style. The overall design was not too different from the previous Super Forms. The eyes retained the same shape as the original Plant Style, but the wings on the helmet were green in color. The floating pauldrons were octagonal in shape and sported a six-sided crystal embedded into them. The rune markings on the cloak were green in color to match the chest plate, visor, and bracelets. And at the center of her chest was the Plant Glyph. Witch could feel the great strength of the plant life of the Boiling Isles running through her, making her strong.
Heka looked upon the new transformation in awe and said, "Wow…okay, that's new! How long have you had that?!"
"I just got it yesterday, consider this a field test. Now it's showtime!"
You're just full of surprises, Luz. Heka smirked and said, "Let the show begin!"
Utilizing the speed granted to her by the Scarab Saber, Heka dashed straight for Scylla, hopped into the air, and then roundhouse kicked her in the face, sending Scylla flying off to the right. Charybdis used her space manipulation to push Edric and Emira further away, to keep the heroes from reaching them. Which was fine with Witch, she did not want them to get caught up in the battle. Witch began walking towards Charybdis, but at that moment, Charybdis called forth her dark tide and had it crash against Witch. But Witch was unaffected as she just kept walking towards the large Phantom.
"What?! That's not possible!"
"As sturdy and strong as the mightiest tree in the forest, I will not bend!" Witch declared.
Charybdis kept attacking with the dark tide, but Witch refused to get swept up by the water. The navy-blue Phantom switched things up and created a vortex around Witch. She snickered as she knew that this spinning effect would disrupt her ability to tell which way was up or down, and while she was caught in that vortex, Charybdis would be able to attack her.
[Bard, Please.]
Suddenly, an electric guitar released a long riff, creating a bombarding force that struck against the spacial warping vortex and made it collapse. Witch landed on her feet, guitar in hand. She then tossed the weapon in the air before grabbing it and hurling it at the Phantom. Charybdis was completely taken by surprise as the electric guitar came flying at her and struck her in the head. The dark space became unstable when she did that, and it was then that she understood.
"HEKA! DESTROY SCYLLA FIRST, IF CHARYBDIS FALLs FIRST THEN WE'LL LOSE OUR FIGHTING SPACE!" Witch yelled.
"GOT IT!" Heka replied.
Heka was dashing around the battlefield as Scylla kept firing dark energy spheres, making it hard for the serpent Phantom to aim for her. But that was not the worst of it, Heka's swift cutting blade would slash off the heads of her serpent tentacles again and again. They were regenerating, but each lost head left her open for Heka's flurry of attacks. Scylla had had enough of this and released a wave of her fog throughout the area, filling up the entire space as much as she could.
"YOU IDIOT STOP! I CAN'T SEE!" Charybdis chided.
"Gotcha."
Witch put on her second new ring and activated it.
[ VERY NICE, GAEA! FABULOUS! ]
La Lechuza appeared behind Witch, she then bared her talons and clamped them over both arms of the hero. The great owl dispersed into particles that reformed around both arms and created Plant Owl's signature weapon, the Owl Talons. The gauntlet weapons were silver in color, with four black claws, and two yellow frills that protruded from the sides. At the same time, Heka inserted her Scarab Saber ring into the right slot of the MagiDriver and turned it like a key.
} SCARAB SWORD: FLASHING STRIKE! {
"The finale!"
"This is your curtain call!"
Heka jumped into the air and drew a circle with the Scarab Saber. The circle widened and became a disc of light that floated before her. When she was in position, Heka began thrusting the saber in rapid succession. On the other side of the disk, the strikes were being converted into flashing beams of cutting light that bombarded Scylla. The serpent wielding Phantom was regenerating, but with each successful hit, it was burning away more and more of her mana. There was nowhere to dodge, every light strike pinned her in place for the next one, and the next.
At the same time, Witch raised her right Owl Talon and slammed it into the ground. Cracking the darkness as green fissures formed around her. Even though the entire inside space was Charybdis' domain, that did not mean she could manipulate the ground too much because she too needed a surface to stand on, and the big problem with Charybdis' power, it could not affect was underneath the surface. The ground beneath Charybdis began to shake and rattle, and in the next second, a tall tree sprang up and grew around the Phantom. The vines and bark grew so rapidly that Charybdis had little to no time to try and break free, but it did not matter either way. The bark was stronger than steel, and the vines were leeching off the mana from the Phantom, and the more it released the more the vines absorbed.
In perfect unison, Heka gave one final thrust of her Scarab Saber through the sun disk and released thousands upon thousands of piercing lights that washed over Scylla, burning her to ashes. At the same time, Witch charged both of her Owl Talons and slashed the ground in front of her. Two emerald surges of energy converged on the tree and slashed it down the middle as all that energy was released, creating a pillar of emerald light that destroyed Charybdis on the spot. The moment the Phantom hand been destroyed, the entire room shifted back to what it once was, reveling that the four of them were in fact in the rotunda.
Heka, who was a couple of feet away, lowered her sword and gave Witch a thumbs up. However, their job was not done yet. The twins were still in pain and did not have much time before they changed into Phantoms.
"I'll take Emira, you take Edric!" Heka instructed.
"Got it!"
Witch changed back into Light Style, she was feeling drained since it was new form, but she had to keep going or else Edric would turn into a Phantom. She quickly put the Engage ring on Edric's right hand and placed it against the Hand Author, at the same time, Heka slipped the Engage ring on Emira's left hand and activated it.
[Engage, Please.]
[Engage!]
Two magic circles appeared over the twins, and once they had, the pain they were feeling had stopped for the moment. Heka and Witch nodded to each other and jumped into their respective portals and began their battles int the Blight twins' Underworlds.
~(EMIRA'S UNDERWORLD)~
Heka dove down the tunnel of light and appeared in the school, for a second, she thought it did not work, but the shattered parts of the Underworld reminded her that she was indeed not back in the Overworld. Heka started to hear the sounds of braying and galloping hooves. The golden armored Witch watched as a giant horse creature smashed its way through the school, and then somehow fired a beam of violet light at the school, blowing up parts of it. When the dust settled, Heka finally got a look at what she was fighting.
It was a unicorn; its eyes were blazing like fire. In the middle of its forehead was a curved horn that was more blade than horn. The body of the unicorn was made up of flames, with an iron exoskeleton made to give the flames shape. The demonic unicorn neighed loudly as its heavy hooves stomped the ground and shook the foundations of the Underworld.
"Okay, that's nightmare fuel," said Heka.
[Bast, Arise!]
A giant magic circle appeared next to Unicorn, and from it Bast came barreling out of it, slamming into Unicorn. The two of them rolled on the ground for a few seconds before Bast broke off and got into a fighting stance. Unicorn managed to get back up and glared at the cat Phantom with its burning eyes.
"C'mon, then, let's see whose flames are hotter!" Bast taunted.
The two Phantoms tussled again, this time Bast coated her front claws with her golden flames, and even transformed her entire tail into a flaming whip. The two giant Phantoms battled each other, slamming into one another, or in Bast's case, slashing with her claws. The cat Phantom got a few slashes in, causing Unicorn to neigh in pain. But the demonic looking horse charged her and slammed right into Bast. The cat was thrown into the side of the building, knocking the wind out of her for a second. Unicorn's horn shined with violet light and then fired it in a concentrated beam straight for the downed Phantom.
[Call to Arms: Sphinx Shield!]
Heka jumped straight up into the air and used the Sphinx Shield to block the beam, causing it to refract and slice up parts of the imaginary school. Once the beam was finished, Heka landed on the ground, and readied herself.
"Nice save, Little Miss Perfect!" Bast praised.
"Don't mention it!"
Heka jumped up and onto the cat's back, and once she had, Bast charged in again, sidestepping Unicorn's horn strike and countering with her flaming whip tail. The tail lashed the monster across its head, she then wound the tail around its next and tossed the monster across the way and into the school itself. Heka and Bast took advantage of the Unicorn's stunned state and jumped into the air.
[ LET'S GO! KICK STRIKE! ]
Bast's mechanical body began to transform into a giant leg and foot. Heka combined her left leg with the transformed Bast and dove for a Rider Kick. A golden flames silhouette of Heka appeared around them as they descended upon the Phantom. Unicorn managed to pull itself from the debris, saw Heka coming, and fired its violet ray beam straight at them. The two attacks clashed in the air, but Heka would not be stopped. She was determined to save her big sister, and that is exactly what she intended to do. Releasing a fierce battle cry, Heka pushed forward and parted the violet ray beam down the middle until her kick made contact, destroying Unicorn in an explosion of golden flames.
Heka disengaged from Bast and allowed her to change back into her original form. Now that her work was done, she exited through a magic circle and returned to Heka's Underworld. The flames washed over Emira's Underworld, healing the damage that the Inner Phantom had caused, and fixing what was once broken. Once everything was back in place, Heka could see what was so dear to her big sister in the school. It was the memory of the day she met Viney, and, ironically, it seemed that her big sister was shy about approaching her. And it appeared that Edric was the one who broke the ice and pushed the two together. Emira smiled like a lovesick fool at Viney, but it seemed Edric did not notice the grateful smile she showed her twin brother.
Oh Ed, she does care about you, Heka thought.
With that seen, the portal opened over Heka, allowing her exit.
~(EDRICK'S UNDERWORLD)~
Witch entered the Underworld of Edric Blight. There was a lot of damage in here, but she could not see the Phantom that did it. From the looks of it, this world resembled Blight Manor. Witch could not imagine that there were any good memories in here, but she hoped that there were at least some.
"Okay, where's the Phantom?"
A strong gust of wind nearly threw Witch across the ground. She looked up into the air and finally saw the Phantom. It was a peagsus, porcelain white all over, and it looked as if was made of solid marble. The flying horse looked majestic as it flew around the Underworld, making Witch stare at it in wonder.
"Oh wow, that's gotta be the most beautiful thing I have ever–"
The Phantom hovered in the air upon noticing Witch, and when it did, its snout split into four sections and revealed red, meaty, connective tissue, along with several razor-sharp teeth that lined up the four parts and the inside of its mouth. More parts of Pegasus' marble body began to crack and revealed the same red connective tissue. When it was over, the Phantom had three claws that stuck out from each hoof, the tail was completely made of the red connective tissue, and so were the wings, with only some chunks of the marble still attached to it.
"¡Oh, mi Señor en el cielo que es – UGH! ¡Oh hombre, eso es puro combustible de pesadilla (Oh, my Lord in heaven that is – UGH! Oh man, that is pure nightmare fuel)!"
Pegasus flapped its grotesque wings and released air slash sickles that rained down on the area. Witch hurriedly got out the way, missing the attack entirely. She rolled on the ground, and while she did, she switched out her rings.
[Owl Rise, Please.]
A yellow magic circle opened in the air, and from it flew out La Lechuza, and even she made a face of disgust when she saw Pegasus.
[Ride, Please.]
The Witch Speeder appeared, and Witch hopped onto it, taking off into the air to fight alongside her Inner Phantom. The two engaged in an aerial dogfight as Witch would swoop in and fire off her light beam mana bolts, and La Lechuza would come in and slash it with her talons. Pegasus would unleash more air slashes, but in addition to that, it would make the red connective tissue lash out, acting as extensions of itself as the red bands tried to ensnare either her or La Lechuza.
"You're going to be running out of mana soon!" La Lechuza warned.
"I know, let's finish this! It's creeping me out the longer I look at it!"
Witch docked the Witch Speeder with La Lechuza, causing her wings to release hard light feathers from them.
} VERY NICE, KICK STRIKE! FABULOUS! {
Witch jumped off La Lechuza and allowed the giant mechanical owl to transform into a giant foot. The hero of hope descended with her right leg forward, combining with the transformed La Lechuza and diving in for a Rider Kick. A silhouette of Witch, made of glowing light particles, formed around them. Pegasus looked up and began firing air slashes at them, but the power of the kick batted them away as they drove their kick right into Pegasus' chest, taking it all the way down into the ground where it exploded, and unleashed a wave of yellow light particles the swept over Edric's Underworld.
Once the Phantom had been defeated, La Lechuza transformed back to her original form and left through the portal. Witch stayed and watched as the Underworld repaired itself and revealed Blight Manor. The Rider of light walked through the front door and looked around, and there she found a little Edric Blight, sitting there alone in the living room. But before he could start crying, Emira came out of nowhere and tackle hugged her brother, the two siblings laughed and began to play before exhausting themselves and collapsing on the floor together.
~We'll always be best friends forever, right?~ Edric asked.
~No, dummy, we won't be best friends,~ Emira replied.
~Oh…~
~'Cause we're twins! We're twins forever! And that's better than just being best friends!~ Young Emira added.
Edric smiled and laughed along with a young Emira. Witch now understood why he was afraid of being alone, more than anything, he was just afraid of losing his other half, his twin sister. The portal to exit the Underworld appeared over Witch, with her business done, she jumped up and returned to the Overworld.
The battle was over and done, but not for one Phantom at least. When Witch and Heka dove into the Blight twins' Underworlds, Scylla, the serpent Phantom, made her escape. She managed to break off one of her serpent heads and channeled her full consciousness into it. That serpent head grew out and became as big as a python snake that slithered away undetected, and into the forest surrounding the school.
Once a safe distance away, the snake regenerated itself back into a full-bodied Scylla. But she was weakened, her six snake head tentacles had not returned, but she knew with time they would. "Damn you, Heka, Witch! You killed my sister! I swear, when I find out who you are, I will–!" Scylla suddenly went quiet. Something was wrong. She could feel a presence, a menacing presence at that. Scylla was gripped by a great fear that paralyzed her from head to toe. She could feel this presence growing closer, and closer. Twigs and branches snapped behind her, and made her flinch, for with every snap that grew louder, that meant it was that much closer. "W-W-What is…W-W-Who's there…?! A-Answer me…!"
The sounds of hoof steps grew louder, they were heavy, and strong, whatever was behind was big. Scylla's breathing became erratic, her chest heaving up and down as she knew that whatever brought about this feeling was now standing right behind her. But what could it be, what could instill fear into a Phantom? Suddenly, bony white claws gripped the back of Scylla's head and lifted her into the air. The serpent Phantom's eyes widened even more, but still; she could not move. The creature turned her around and the last thing that Scylla saw was a pair of red glowing eyes, and a red glowing mouth that opened unnaturally wide.
When it was over, nothing was left of Scylla. The only thing that marked that this event even occurred, were some hoofprints that were about a foot wide.
The battle in the school did cause some damage to it, enough that they had to close it for a couple of days to allow repairs to be made. Edric was lying down on his bed, in his room, and sighed heavily. Just then his bedroom door opened and revealed Emira, who was now leaning against the archway, arms crossed as she looked down at the floor.
Edric propped himself up on his elbows and said, "Em? What's up?"
"I didn't mean what I said…or what I did…I'm sorry, Ed," said Emira.
"It's okay, you're right. I have been kinda clingy lately…"
"Yeah…you have." She admitted. "But you're not the only one to blame here. This whole thing made me remember that I wouldn't even be with Viney if you hadn't introduced us and pushed me into going out with her."
Edric chuckled. "You were a mess, but I still think you would've even without my help."
Emira walked across the room and sat on the edge of her brother's bed. "I've been so obsessed with creating my own identity lately. Because I was afraid of only being known as a twin sister, never just Emira Blight. Viney isn't like that, she sees me. And…something inside me, some messed up part felt as if I needed to push you away more because I had her now."
Edric laid back down and put his hands behind his head. "I get it, you don't have to apologize."
"No, I do! Because I've been a sucky sister lately, and that's no excuse. You were scared in that void, and the only thing I could think about was myself, even when I was worried about Viney!" Emira countered. "You're my brother, my family. I should've…I should've comforted you…not just cut you down like I did…" Emira sniffled a little and wiped a tear that was forming. "Can we try again? Go back to being best friends?"
"We can't be best friends, Em," said Edric as he turned to his right, looking away from Emira.
"…Oh…yeah, you're right." How stupid am I. Of course, he's mad at me, he has every right to be.
"We can't be best friends because we're twins. And that's better than being best friends."
Emira's eyes widened when she heard those words, it triggered her memories from when they were little, and she said those same words to her brother. She looked at her twin brother, who still had his back turned to her, but even so, she could feel it, he was smiling. Emira crawled into his bed and pressed her head against his back as she sniffled, and then laid one arm over him.
"You're so corny. It's so uncool," Emira lied.
"Look who's talking, those were your words, sis," Edric remarked.
"Shut up, I was eight! You jerk!"
Amity had watched this all transpire from around the corner as a relieved smile formed on her lips. In her hands she held a crystal ball, and in it was Luz Noceda who she had called earlier. She too heard what was going on and had to step away so that her emotional crying did not give Amity's position away. The green haired witch returned to her room and set the crystal ball on her bed as she sat next to it.
"Looks like Ed and Em are going to be okay now," said Amity.
{I'm glad for them, I really am,} said Luz honestly. {It's times like that I wish I had a little brother or sister, or even a big brother or sister.}
Amity chuckled. "Having one can be a pain, but…at the same time, I wouldn't trade them for anything in this or any other world." Amity sighed and added, "And, I owe you an apology, Luz. I got so wrapped up in trying to protect you, that I pushed away the thought that we can protect each other instead."
Luz nodded. {We can. What we did back there, together, that's how strong we are when we fight together. I believed that you would be ready to fight when I made that portal to you, and just like I hoped, you were already transformed and ready to fight.}
"I was already outside by the time I realized what was happening. I found one spot where the windows were blacked out and figured the Phantoms had returned. I guess I just had this feeling that you would send for me, and you did," said Amity.
Luz smiled and said, {And that's why we make a great team, partner. Together, we'll stop the Phantoms! And protect the Boiling Isles!}
Amity nodded in agreement, it was selfish of her to think that she could be the only one to protect Luz, when in fact, they could protect each other. The power of two Kamen Riders fighting against evil, the Phantoms would not be able to stand a chance.
Luz began rubbing the back of her head and nervously asked, {There's something else I wanted to talk about…}
"O-Oh, yeah, I think I have an idea on what that is…"
{I do like you, Amity. To be honest, knowing that someone likes me for me makes me so happy. But…I'm still a little…scared.}
Amity raised an eyebrow. "Scared of what?"
Luz placed her hand against her forehead. {Zoe…}
Amity furrowed her brow upon hearing that human's name, she was the one that took Luz's heart and shattered it, led her on, and made her practically be her slave. Amity swore on the Titan that if she ever managed to go to the Human Realm, she was going to have long "friendly" chat with that girl.
{I'm not saying you're like her, Titan you're not. I just…I guess you could say I'm still a little skittish about this kind of thing…Oh, Amity, I'm sorry. You finally confessed and I'm just…just making this feel like it was for nothing.}
"Hey, don't say that. I get it, Zoe traumatized you. I've waited this long, Luz Noceda. And until you're ready, I'll be here. At least you know there's someone in this world who cares about you very much," said Amity.
Luz sniffled again and wiped the tears from her eyes. {Thank you, Amity…I promise, you won't have to wait long.}
"However long it takes, I'll be here."
Luz nodded and ended the call.
Amity lied back on the bed and smiled as she stared up at the ceiling.
"Why do you seem happy? She hasn't agreed to go out with you."
Not yet. But soon, and when it happens, it'll happen on her terms. The only difference between me and that other girl, I genuinely care about Luz. And when she does ask me, I'll say yes.