"Ow…my head…"
Luz eyes slowly opened as she looked around, her head and body ached, but she was alive. She heard a chirping sound, and when she looked down to the cause of it, she saw the cardinal Palisman pecking away at the ropes that had bound her.
"Little Rascal…?" After a few more pecks, the ropes came lose and fell off her. "Thank you. Did you save me? Also, where are we?"
The cardinal Palisman pointed towards her left, and that's when Luz noticed the Golden Guard's staff. Luz crawled over and grabbed it, but when she did, a groan caught her attention. A couple of few feet away, she saw the Golden Guard lying on a bed of amber colored orbs that grew from the ground and on the trees. Luz flinched when she heard another voice.
"Kikimora, we found the Palismen. They seem rattled, but unharmed."
Luz quietly crawled over to where she heard the voice and peeked over one of the amber orbs. A few feet away, Luz spotted some Coven Scouts patrolling the area, along with Kikimora, yet another person that she disliked.
"Very good, Captain. Return to the city and prepare them for travel."
The Scout Captain then asked, "Is it true, ma'am? Is the Golden Guard really…?"
Kikimora turned to the Scout Captain and held up the Golden Guard's helmet for her to see. "Sadly…This is all that remains. Such a horrible accident. Probably caused by the incompetent pilot."
The Scout Captain gasped, she could not believe that the Golden Guard had died, it was a sad day for the Emperor's Coven. "I'll… alert the castle. Scouts! To Latissa!"
Luz watched as the Scout Captain and the rest of the Scouts left the area, with Kikimora remaining behind. Once Kikimora was alone, the little she-demon pulled out a whistle and blew on it. Not a moment after doing so, the same finger dragon that had attacked the airship appeared from the forest and stood before her.
Kikimora, without any indication that she feared the creature, petted the dragon. "Excellent work, my pet."
Kikimora! That thing belongs to her! But wait, Kikimora and the Golden Guard work in the same Coven. Why would she want to attack him?
After petting the finger dragon, Kikimora held up the Golden Guard's helmet and said to the creature, "Now, find the rest of him and have yourself a nice little snack. I'll call for you soon."
As she said this, the finger dragon released its sharp tongue, wrapping it around the helmet, and then tossed the helmet into the air before snapping its jaws around it and munching on it. With her orders given, Kikimora followed after the rest of the Scouts, leaving the finger dragon to roam about and find the Golden Guard to finish the job it had started.
Luz glanced back towards the Golden Guard, the very person who threatened to throw King into the Boiling Sea, who tried to force her into murdering the Selkidomus, this same person was now being hunted by Kikimora's pet dragon, and the only one who could possibly help him, was herself.
Ugh, sometimes I'm too nice for my own good. And, well, I'm a Kamen Rider, and Kamen Riders help people…even if they don't always deserve it.
Little Rascal chirped at Luz, as if pleading with her to save him.
"Don't worry. I won't leave him," Luz assured.
After placing the cardinal Palisman on her right shoulder, Luz headed over to where the Golden Guard was lying unconscious. A large branch was obscuring his face for a moment, but once she walked around it, she finally laid eyes on his visage. He was a boy, about her age or maybe a year older. He had sandy blonde hair, a scar on his right cheek, and part of his left ear was missing. The young man had terrible bags under his eyes, as if he had not had a good night's sleep in days, and he had a gap in the front of this upper teeth.
"This is the Golden Guard?" Luz crawled over to his right side and looked down on him. "He looks like he could be a student at Hexside."
Luz moved closer to the young man's face, one could say, within kissing distance.
*SMACK!*
But then she raised her left hand slapped the Golden Guard across the face as she hissed, "Wake up!"
"AAH!" he yelped as he pressed his right hand against his face. "What the – You!"
"Shh!" Luz quickly slapped her hand on his mouth to keep him from making any more noise. "Listen. You are a bad person, and I do not like you. But Kikimora is trying to kill you and unfortunately, I'm too nice to let that happen!" Suddenly, Luz felt something wet on her hand and she quickly pulled away. "Ugh, are you licking my hand?!" In retaliation, she smeared that same spit covered hand onto his face. "I'm trying to help you! You jerk!"
The Golden Guard pushed back against luz as he asked with suspicion, "Why should I believe you?!"
"Because I'm a Kamen Rider! A good guy! Plus, I didn't have to wake you up! I could've just–!"
There was a rustling in the woods, a big rustling. Luz and the Golden Guard stopped their fighting for a moment as the dread of impending danger began to rise within them.
"Your clothes, take them off!" Luz ordered.
The Golden Guard blushed in embarrassment as he said, "Excuse me!"
"Leave something behind with your scent so that thing doesn't follow us!"
The sounds were getting closer.
"Hurry!"
Begrudgingly, the Golden Guard took off his cloak, and his gold-colored tunic, leaving him with only a gold vest and a burgundy-colored t-shirt. Once discarded, Luz led the Golden Guard to a far-off spot from where they were. Once they had taken cover, the finger dragon appeared. It spotted the discarded clothing of the Golden Guard and wasted little time in attacking the articles of clothing, eating them without remorse. Luz glanced at the Golden Guard, giving him a look that said, "See?!".
After giving him that look, the two teenagers ran further into the woods, and far away from the finger dragon. The Golden Guard took the lead as they ran, Luz did not have much choice in this matter as she was in unfamiliar territory. Well, technically speaking, the whole of the Boiling Isles was unfamiliar territory, but with La Lechuza still slumbering, she had no way to use her Connect ring to portal back to Bonesborough, so until then she had to rely on this guy.
Unfortunately, the Golden Guard was not completely surprised by this show of backstabbing. He knew of Kikimora's jealousy towards him, and his position to the Emperor. He just did not think she would make a move this soon, but alas, that was his miscalculation, and now he was stuck out here with this human.
It took about an hour or so, but the two of them finally reached a nearby town. If Luz remembered correctly, it was Latissa.
"Whew, man, Kikimora must hate you! She sent a flying finger dragon thingy to off you, I thought you Emperor's Coven guys were all on the same side?" Luz received no answer from the boy. "But then again, when you're a part of an evil organization, backstabbing must be pretty common."
The Golden Guard sneered at her from over his shoulder, but then turned his attention forward.
As they walked, Luz took in the sights of the new town she was in. The atmosphere in Latissa was a far cry different from that of Bonesborough, it felt rougher, and the structures seemed to have made use of the amber orbs from the forest as they provided a low enough amount of light to illuminate the streets. The citizens seemed a bit rougher as well, the town looked like a place where only the toughest people could live. Case in point, an old woman was clearing out some spiders that were the size of a koala bear, but as she did a bigger one lowered itself from overhead. The old goblin woman saw the creature and swiftly punched it, sending it flying away where it landed hard against the edge of a sign where it died, its green blood oozing down the sign.
Right below where the spider died was a "Demon Wingz" eating contest. Four of the six people in attendance were from Glandus, as evidenced by their uniforms. One of them was a slightly muscular youth, with the colors of the Beast Keeping track, the second was a large, two-headed demon kid with the colors of the Plant track. The third was a witch boy with a red devil hood who had the colors of the Illusionist track, and lastly, there was one with orange hair tied in pigtails, had red skin, and big sharp teeth. Along with them was a minotaur creature, and small demon with one eye and chicken legs. The Illusionist track Glandus student stood atop the table and bellowed out flames from his mouth as the rest of them cheered on.
All around Luz she could see different little contests like that, but not just that, she was seeing many different witches and demons that she had not seen before in Bonesborough. Despite the circumstances of her arriving into this town, she was finding the whole experience exciting.
"Whoa! I haven't been outside Bonesborough that much, Latissa is so cool!" As Luz was gawking at the scenery, the Golden Guard turned a corner and left her behind. Luz grumbled as she rushed to catch up with him. "Wait! Where are you going? Hey man, I just saved your life, the least you could do is tell me your name."
The Golden Guard sneered again and quickened his pace. Luz kept up, but stopped when she noticed where it was he was taking them. Out in front of her was a large building that was crawling with Coven Scouts, at the front of the building was sign that read, "Police Precinct 206". He had brought her to the Latissa Emperor's Coven headquarters.
The Golden Guard walked up to a couple of the Scouts and said, "Scouts! Direct me to your communications room. I need to contact the castle immediately!"
The young man rolled some of this glove, showing off the Emperor's Coven sigil he was branded with. The two Scouts looked at it, and then looked at him.
"Cute. I didn't know kids your age were still into temporary tattoos," said the first Scout.
"Yeah, show us your badge number," the second Scout demanded.
The Golden Guard furrowed his brow at their tone but given that he did not show his face that often, he could not completely blame them for their ignorance. "I am your superior, and I can prove it!" The young man turned to Luz, held out his left hand, and said, "Staff."
Luz blinked; did he just really ask her to give him his weapon? The Latina hid the staff behind her back and shook her head. "Nuh-uh."
The Golden Guard should not have been so surprised, and yet he was.
"Isn't it a little late for you kids to be outside?" the second Scout asked in annoyance.
"Yeah, go home before we call your parents," said the first Scout.
Both Scouts walked off, ignoring Luz and the Golden Guard.
This did not sit well with the Golden Guard as he turned around and glared at Luz. Prompting the young girl to run for it as the witch boy gave chase. Although Luz was confident that she could take him in hand-to-hand combat, without her magic, though, she was vulnerable to his spells. So, until she could come up with a better option, she decided to run. Luz ran around several demons and witches, trying to lose the Golden Guard, but the witch boy was proving that he was not just a skilled witch, he was also very athletic as well. Luz ducked into an alleyway, throwing down several trashcans to aid in slowing down her pursuer. But once again, the Golden Guard showed off his physical prowess by leaping over the obstacles, and not losing speed or momentum as he did.
Luz ran until she made it to a raised ledge. She climbed to the top and jumped over it, landing on some stairs down below, and rolled to stop. Her already aching body was crying out in pain from the rough landing, but Luz managed to push through it and kept running as she yelled to the two demons and witch, "Sorry!" The Golden Guard made the same leap but landed without injuring himself and kept going. Luz ran around another corner and to a dead end, but thinking quickly, she got down on one knee and began drawing a glyph. The Golden Guard made it around the same corner and sprinted right towards her, thankfully, Luz was done drawing.
"Ice Glyph!" Luz called out as she slammed her hand against the Ice Glyph.
A pillar of ice rose from beneath her and vaulted her onto the roof of the building in front of her. Once she landed, Luz looked behind her to see if the Golden Guard was still in pursuit, but it seemed he was not. Luz walked back to the edge of the roof and looked down at the Golden Guard, who was leering up at her.
"Come on, Golden Guard. Don't you know any, like, levitation spells?" Luz goaded.
However, the Golden Guard only looked away, as if ashamed.
"Wait…" Luz pointed to the staff in her left hand and asked, "Are you powerless without this?"
The Golden Guard, seemingly, walked away, but only to gain some distance as he sprinted once again. In an amazing feat of parkour acrobatics, the Golden Guard leaped and bound from one part of the surrounding buildings to the next, gradually getting higher and higher until he managed to grab ahold of the ledge of the roof. He nearly fell in doing so but managed to pull himself up the rest of the way as he rolled onto his back. But as soon as he did, crimson beams of light shot straight at him, forcing the Golden Guard to shoot back to his feet as he dodged the incoming magic bolts.
Luz held the Golden Guard's staff, pointing it directly at him as it glowed with its crimson light. "Back up, or…or else!"
"Or else what, human?" The Golden Guard dared as he walked towards her. "You gonna blast me? Ha, nah, you're too nice for that. Fly away? Uh-uh, you know you can't do that either. 'Cause then you'll be leaving behind your precious Palismen. You don't tend to think things through, do you human?"
Luz started to faulter. He was, unfortunately, right. She did not think things through, not all the way. She did not think about what would happen if she got stuck in the Demon Realm, she did not think about what she wanted to be other than a witch. And now, she was here in Latissa, without La Lechuza's mana, unable to transform, and with no Amity to give her a hand.
"Gotcha!"
Luz looked up, seeing the Golden Guard lunge for her. In another instance of acting without thinking, Luz willed the staff to charge up as she slammed it down on the rooftop. The resulting mass of built-up energy was released in the form of a powerful explosion that sent both herself and the Golden Guard flying off the roof and against the wall of another building. Both teens fell down and crashed into a stand, falling unconscious once again.
"I've never seen a human before…"
Luz could hear voices, but she did not recognize them.
"Me neither, but it looks like the poor thing took quite the beating…"
Are they talking about me…?
Luz slowly opened her eyes, keeping them slightly shut as to not alert whoever it was that she was awake. She could see some nurses from the Healing Coven standing to her left. One was a demon and the other a witch, she kept her vision lowered so as to not meet their eyes, but she could not see their faces due to this.
"You think she'll be alright? Not most witches can tough out Latissa, can't imagine a human could," said the first nurse.
"The doctor said she just has some bruising, and a slight concussion from the blast, nothing to worry about now that we've slapped some healing glyphs on her," said the second nurse.
"What about the boy she was with? You think he's, her boyfriend?"
Ugh! Not in this lifetime, Luz thought.
"Don't start with your little shipping nonsense. But, seriously, I'm more worried about the boy than her. Poor thing looks stressed out, like he hasn't slept in days."
Luz pretended to be asleep for a little while longer as the nurses chatted. Once she heard the door close, she opened her eyes fully and found herself in a hospital room. "Oh boy, Amity's not going to be happy to hear I was sent back to the hospital."
The Latina felt her head, and around her forehead she found the healing glyph they had put on her. She opened the collar of her shirt and found that there was one right below her collar bone, and when she pulled up her pant legs, she found another on her left leg. Thankfully, the glyphs were doing their job, all the aches and pains she felt earlier were gone, or they were just being nullified by the glyphs. Either way, this allowed her to move a lot better. Luz saw that the staff was placed against the wall, and on the nightstand on her left was Little Rascal.
"Hey, you, thanks for sticking by me this long," said Luz.
The cardinal Palisman chirped.
Luz swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. She went over to the staff, picked it up, and proceeded to leave the hospital. She carefully opened the door, checking both ends of the hallway to make sure that no one was watching. Once she confirmed this, Luz stealthily started to head towards the exit, but Little Rascal flew off her shoulder and got out in front of her, chirping away at her.
"What is it?" she asked.
The cardinal Palisman chirped some more and leaned its head in the opposite direction.
Luz sighed. "You want me to go and find him, don't you?"
The Palisman nodded.
"He's in the hospital, he should be fine," said Luz.
Little Rascal furrowed his brow a bit and chirped back at her.
"You really want me to help him out?" she asked.
The Palisman nodded again.
"Okay, okay, but if he tries anything, again, I'm knocking him out."
Luz turned around and moved in the opposite direction. Little Rascal led the way, taking a more active role as her advanced scout, checking around the corners and alerting her to the presence of the hospital staff. After moving through the different corridors, Luz and the cardinal Palisman arrived at a different ward for the less severely injured. However, before she could head down the hall that led to that ward, she stopped before a pair of double doors that had a sign above it reading, "Special Ward."
Curious, Luz pushed through the doors, and that's when she saw them. Rows of witches and demons were lying on cots, each one of them were unmoving, with dull, glassy eyes. There were so many of them that Luz wondered if she accidentally stumbled into a quarantine area. She raised her shirt collar a bit to cover her mouth and nose, but realistically, this was more on reflex, but then again, there were no signs that said this was a quarantine area. Little Rascal followed her, perching on her shoulder, and apparently not minding the detour for now.
Luz eventually found herself before two cots, one had a witch woman with crimson hair, freckles, and dull green eyes. In the adjacent cot, was a demon anthropomorphic wolf woman. Luz looked down at the charts that were hung at the ends of their beds and read them over. Although much of it was Boiling Isles medical jargon, there were some parts that described who they were and how they came about to being in this ward.
"Patient: Alida Arsin.
Age: 26.
Sex: Female.
Species: Demon.
Classification: Biped.
Occupation: Coven Scout.
Specialty: Beast Keeping.
Incident: Patient was part of a two-person investigation team. Both the patient and spouse, Bretta Arsin, encountered an unknown creature at the abandoned factory at Craven Road. Patient fought against said creature by entering her bestial state, injuries to the patient are consistent with this. However, when the altercation was over, the creature quote, "Reached into her, and ate something from inside of her." We could see no visible injuries to corroborate this, and spell scans of the patient's internal organs show no signs of trauma. Yet, patient remains in a comatose-like state."
Luz's eyes widened as she came to the realization, she looked back at the rows of people who were lying on the cots and gasped. All of these people…that monster…it did this to them. Luz looked to the cot on the right and picked up the chart.
"Name: Bretta Arsin.
Age: 24.
Sex: Female.
Species: Witch.
Occupation: Coven Scout.
Specialty: Illusions.
Incident: Patient was initially the only known survivor of these attacks up until a couple of days ago. Patient Bretta Arsin left the hospital one day with another Coven Scout. It was unknown, at the time, where she was going, but information later put the patient out in the forest and armed with several weapons. The Scouts on the scene explained that the patient went after the unknown creature in an act of revenge for her spouse, Alida Arsin's, current state. Signs of a fierce battle were seen, along with parts of the forest burned down, which indicate more than one combatant. However, the patient succumbed to the same fate as her spouse. Strangely enough, the patient seems to have carved words into her left arm–!"
Luz dropped the chart as she rushed over to Bretta. She gingerly moved the blankets back and revealed the angry red words that she had carved into her flesh. They were only three words, but those four words were enough to put things in perspective for Luz, "It S A Phantom."
"It can't be…the thing that killed Bria…the thing that ate Lilith's Inner Phantom, and did this to everyone…it's a Phantom," said Luz in shock.
She did not understand. Why was a Phantom devouring other Phantoms? Was this Belos' doing? Or was this a Rogue Phantom that was out of control? If so, then this creature was a bigger threat than she had realized. Witches, demons, and Phantoms, all were its prey. But why? And to what end? Why was it targeting both Freed Phantoms and Inner Phantoms? Why did it not attack her and Amity back at the Looking Glass Graveyard after it had killed Bria? They were paralyzed with fear, and easy targets. Not only that, why did it not just simply kill her and La Lechuza when they were in Lilith's Underworld? This thing was generating more questions with every second, and Luz needed to figure out what it was.
I'm so glad that I underwent that ritual right now, Luz thought.
Little Rascal began to tug at her cloak, snapping Luz out of her inner thoughts.
"Sorry, little guy…I…This is a lot to take in. Let's go find that jerk," said Luz, but before she left the room, she covered Bretta's arm back up and placed her hands on both hers and Alida's cots. "I promise you two, all of you, I will defeat this monster. And I'll bring you back. Somehow."
With her promise made, Luz headed out of the Special Ward and towards the ward the cardinal Palisman wanted her to go to. Once in that ward, Little Rascal flew off her shoulder and pointed her to the door that presumably had the Golden Guard. Luz slowly opened the door, and found the witch boy lying in the bed, still unconscious. After closing the door behind her, she walked up to his bed, and leaned close to his face.
"Rise and shine!"
*SMACK!*
"YEOWCH!" the Golden Guard yelped as he rubbed the left side of his face. "Do you have to do that every time?!"
"Depends, are you still going to be a jerk?" Luz asked.
The Golden Guard growled at her.
"And there's your answer."
The Golden Guard looked around and asked, "Where in the hell are we?"
"We're in Latissa's Healing Coven Hospital," Luz answered.
"Oh, right, you blew us up and sent us flying off the roof. Nice one!"
Luz deadpanned.
"Why the heck did you come back for me? You know I'm just going to beat you and take my staff back," said the Golden Guard.
Luz smirked at him. "Well, now that I know you can't use magic without this bad boy, I'm not so worried anymore. You know I'm Witch, and you know I can fight. So, if you want, we can have a good 'ol fashioned fist fight to see who gets the staff. But considering how close I was to beating you the last time we fought, I don't think you want to take that risk."
The Golden Guard was going to retort but remembered the Emperor's words. "…It would behoove us to overestimate her abilities…" Begrudgingly, again, he relented to Luz. "Fine, lead the way."
Confident, at least for now, that the Golden Guard seemed to be agreeable, Luz led the Golden Guard out of hospital. The two teens walked for a minute before a shadow passed over them. When they looked up, they saw the same finger dragon from earlier. Both Luz and the Golden Guard looked at each other and came to the same decision to chase after it. The finger dragon flew over a building, and not wanting to waste time going around it, Luz drew another Ice Glyph on the ground that vaulted her and the Golden Guard onto the roof of the building. They ran to the other side and looked down, watching as the finger dragon landed on the ground before the Police Precinct. Where Kikimora and some Coven Scouts were, along with the Palismen nest.
"Huh. So Kikimora was after my catch," said the Golden Guard as he cupped his chin.
Luz tapped the witch boy with his staff as she smirked at him. "Seems like neither of us want her to win right now. So, let's work together to take back those Palismen."
The Golden Guard gave her skeptical look. "Then what? You think I'll just let you walk away with them?"
"Maybe you won't have a choice." Luz began to twirl the Golden Guard's staff around. "I'm sure you've figured it out by now, but I'm more formidable than you think – WAH!"
Luz lost her grip on the staff for a moment, which almost fell off the roof, making her and the Golden Guard panic. The human girl managed to grab the staff before it fell, but the Golden Guard glared at her for almost losing it.
"I'm starting to doubt that, highly," he commented. "But, fine, a truce until then."
Luz offered her hand to shake. "Truce."
As the Golden Guard reached out to shake Luz's hand, she quickly pulled it back and slicked her hair.
"Too slow! Ha-Ha!"
The Golden Guard just stood there as he growled. I can't believe I just fell for that…!
"Let's get this over with."
Preparations for Kikimora's departure were almost complete, but while this was going on, the Golden Guard had snuck down to the Precinct. He threw a sack over his shoulder and swiftly evaded the other Scouts as he headed back up the roof to where Luz was. Meanwhile, Luz was busy drawing a Glyph Combo.
The Golden Guard looked at the drawing curiously and said, "Huh, I've never seen magic like this. What will it do?"
Luz put the finishing touches on the combo and explained it to the witch boy. "Well, we don't want to spook Kikimora's steed, because it might drop the nest and hurt the Palismen! So, using these Fire and Ice Glyphs, I can command them to produce a thick mist!"
The Golden Guard reached into the sack and took out a pot of flowers. "And the sleeping nettles?"
"They're essential!" Luz took the sleeping nettles and placed them in the open spot on the wall where she drew the Glyph Combo. "Combined with the magic mist, it'll create–!"
"A sleep-inducing smoke, forcing Kikimora to land," he finished.
Luz looked at him with surprise.
The Golden Guard realized the look she was giving him and quickly said, "Oh, um, I – I-I read a similar spell in Bones to Earth–"
"–A Study of Wild Magic! Eda once pickpocketed the guy who wrote it," said Luz.
The Golden Guard's lips curled into a smile as he added, "Actually, not many people know this, but…" The witch boy stopped as he thought better of it. "No. No, no, no, no. This stuff is restricted for a reason. You should forget about it before you're hurt."
"Yeah, can't really do that. It's part of my powers, but it's not dangerous, not with how I use it," said Luz. "But, other than Lilith, I've never spoken to someone inside the Emperor's Coven. What made you want to join?"
The Golden Guard sighed, he figured he'd be asked a question like this, and since they needed to kill some time, he decided to tell her. The witch boy sat down against the wall and explained his reasoning. "You were right before. I'm a powerless witch. A lot of my ancestors were. I never thought I'd have a future in a world like this. But then, Belos found me and gave me a staff with artificial magic. He said the Titan had big plans for me."
Luz sat on her knees as she looked away in disappointment of herself. "At least you have your future figured out."
"At least you can figure out your own," the Golden Guard retorted.
Luz looked up at the witch boy, it seemed as if they both had their own dilemmas when it came to their futures. Just then Little Rascal flew close to the Golden Guard and landed on his knee. The Emperor's righthand man flinched upon noticing the Palisman sitting on his knee and instantly swatted at him to shoo Little Rascal away.
"Hey! Stop, get away from me!"
"He's just being friendly," said Luz.
"I don't care! These things are made from Wild Magic. It's dangerous," the Golden Guard stated.
Luz furrowed her brow a little in annoyance and asked, "Does he seem dangerous to you?"
The Golden Guard looked down at the little cardinal Palisman, who happily smiled at him as he chirped gleefully. However, his gleeful chirps were silenced by the roar of Kikimora's finger dragon. Luz and the Golden Guard sprang to their feet and ran to the edge of the roof where they saw the little demon woman mounting her steed and about to take off.
"Masks on!" Luz ordered.
Both teens put on their bandanna masks and rushed to the Glyph Combo that Luz had drawn.
"Once they're surrounded by the smoke, we'll need to stay close to see where they land."
The Golden Guard nodded but was shocked when he saw Luz hand over his staff. The witch boy made to grab for it, but paused as he asked, "Are you…sure about this?"
"Just take it before I change my mind." Luz watched as he took hold of the staff but held onto it a moment longer as she said, "We're doing this to save the Palismen. We'll figure out the rest after."
The Golden Guard nodded as he took the staff back. Luz turned towards her Glyph Combo and pressed her hands against the circle. The Fire and Ice Glyphs glowed as their powers flowed together, and once combined, took the material that was the sleeping nettles and produced the sleeping mist that she wanted. The mist quickly rose into the air and swept over both Kikimora and the finger dragon. The little demon woman coughed, along with her steed, both having taken big whiffs of the sleep-inducing mist. Both the dragon and demon woman were starting to get drowsy, their vision blurring as the sleeping nettles mist was starting to take effect.
Meanwhile, Luz and the Golden Guard were flying close behind them, watching as the dragon's movements became sluggish and wobbly.
"I think it's working," said the Golden Guard.
Luz nodded and took out a piece of paper she found earlier and drawn a Light Glyph on. She crushed it in her hand and produced an orb of light. The Golden Guard flew ahead of the finger dragon, and Luz used the light to entice the creature to follow them. The dragon did as they predicted and began flying after them. The Golden Guard flew lower to the ground, but in the finger dragon's drowsy state, it lacked the ability to control its landing, causing it to crash onto the ground. The landing threw Kikimora off its back, and made the dragon release the nest full of Palismen.
Once they landed, Luz rushed towards the nest as she hurried to check on them, along with Little Rascal. She opened the door and found that the Palismen were unhurt and shaken up, but upon seeing Luz, their fears were abated.
"Hello, babies. Aw, you guys must be so cold and scared. Here," Luz took off her cloak and wrapped up the Palismen in it like a blanket, "make sure you share. Now, stay in here, okay? We'll get you home safe and–"
Luz suddenly heard the sounds of energy crackling behind her. A look of disappointment appeared on her face again, but not for herself. Luz slowly turned around and saw the Golden Guard, his staff charged with magical energy and ready to fire at her.
"So, you're really gonna do this? You're just gonna hand all these innocent little guys over to Belos? I know what he does with them. I thought you might've been a good guy. But I guess that was just wishful thinking. You're not my friend, you're just the Golden Guard."
The teen witch boy, strangely, felt a twinge of guilt in his heart. This twinge made him lower his staff, causing the energy to dissipate as he said, "My name is Hunter, human…I mean, Luz Noceda."
Before Luz could say something back, and bolt of magical energy struck Hunter in the head, sending him skidding backwards. Luz and Hunter looked in the direction the attack came from, and that's when they saw Kikimora, semiconscious, with her hand raised and a flicker of magical energy dancing on her fingertip.
"I can't tell who's there, but I know I've got you!" Kikimora stated.
Kikimora started firing off random magical energy blasts in the same direction, and every other direction, hoping that her next attack would strike her assailants. One of the magic bolts came straight for Luz, but Hunter intercepted it with his staff, deflecting it away from both of them. The Golden Guard jumped into action and dashed for Kikimora. The demon woman could make out a blurry image of her attacker, but it was enough to allow her to fixate on a target.
Kikimora fired her magic bolts, but Hunter used his signature teleportation spell, moving around the battlefield with inhuman speed. The demon woman spotted him again and fired once more, but her sluggish movements, coupled with her blurry vision and drowsy state was enough to allow Hunter to get the upper hand as he teleported behind Kikimora and struck her with his staff.
The blow sent her flying, and onto the ground before Luz, and made the whistle the summoned the finger dragon fall off her neck. Luz grabbed the whistle, thinking she could use it to command the dragon, but that's when Kikimora raised her hand again, spotting Luz's blurry shape and preparing to fire again. But before the blast could leave her finger, Hunter flew in and struck Kikimora's left hand, sending the magic bolt flying in the opposite direction. Hunter turned swiftly as he twirled his staff around, and struck Kikimora again, sending her skidding backwards on her heels a few feet before coming to a stop.
"This is treason against a Coven official!" Kikimora stated as she fired another beam.
The magic bolt managed to hit Hunter, but it only got the edge of his cowlick, sitting it on fire for a bit before he managed to put it out.
"ENOUGH OF THIS!"
Suddenly, a strong tornado blustered through the battlefield, causing the sleeping nettles mist to get sucked up and spewed into the night sky. Luz took cover behind the nest of Palismen and watched as the tornado died down and revealed a bulky old man in gray robes and sporting a thick gray beard.
"Who the heck are you?!" Hunter asked.
"I have no reason to speak to you mortal," said the old man.
"Mortal?" Hunter repeated.
Kikimora, still in her dazed state, spotted the gray mass that was the old man and shouted, "I WILL HAVE YOUR HEAD!"
The demon woman shot another magic bolt, this one sailing right for the old man. However, the old man made no effort to dodge it or block the attack, instead letting it strike against his chest. The old man glanced down at his singed robes and then glared back at Kikimora. "I see, mortal, that you have chosen death this night."
Silver wind gusted around the old man, the wind dome grew in size with each passing second until it completely dispersed and revealed the Phantom General, Typhon. "Allow me to oblige you in that request!"
Kikimora, still drowsy, was still aware enough to realize that she was screwed. And depending on your point of view, she immediately knocked out and fell over asleep.
Typhon looked upon at the demon woman with incredulity. "You attack me, and now you sleep in my presence?! Are you mocking me?!"
Luz could not believe it, a Phantom had appeared, and even she could tell that this one looked a heck of a lot stronger than the others she had fought before. Could…Could that be the Cannibal Phantom?!
Just then, Luz heard a yawn from deep within herself. "Hmm, that was a nice nap."
LALA!
"Oh, good morning, Niña. What did I miss?" As she said that, La Lechuza opened her senses and eyes and saw the goings on around her, which instantly made her deadpan. "I can't leave you alone for just a couple of days without you getting into some kind of catastrophe."
Okay, one: for the first day, nothing happened. So, I can at least go a full day without anything happening! Second: I think that might be the Phantom that's eating other Phantoms!
"Wait, did you say a Phantom eating other Phantoms?! What are you talking about?!"
A lot to tell, not a lot of time to tell it! Think you can fight?
"I very much can!"
"Good!"
Luz reached into her pocket and pulled out the Driver On ring.
[Driver On, Please.]
The WizarDriver appeared around Luz's waist as she put on her Light Owl Style ring and switched up the position of the Hand Author.
[Shabadoobi touch to henshin!
Shabadoobi touch to henshin!]
"Henshin!"
[LIGHT OWL.]
[KAGA~YA~KUUUUU~!]
A construct owl made of light shined above Luz as it wrapped its wings around her body, and in a brilliant flash of yellow light, Luz Noceda had transformed into Kamen Rider Witch, Light Owl Style. The Rider of hope jumped from behind the nest and landed a few from it on the other side as she took a fighting stance.
Typhon looked down at the Rider and growled angrily. "Witch!"
"Your reign of terror ends tonight! I won't allow you to harm any more innocent people!" Witch declared.
Typhon laughed at her declaration as he retorted, "This must be my lucky night! Now I can at least rid us of one of our enemies! Yes, let's end this tonight, Witch!"
"Right!"But first things first.
Witch slipped on her Connect ring and activated it.
[Connect, Please.]
A large magic circle appeared before the finger dragon and the Palismen nest, and with a wave of her hand, that same circle passed over both and transported them to the desired location.
"Hunter, get Kikimora out of here. I know she was trying to kill you, but we can't take the risk with this Phantom!"
Hunter did not argue with the human, he knew when he was outclassed and was not about to get in the middle of their brawl. Using his magic staff, Hunter lifted Kikimora and tossed her into the distance far off into the woods.
"…Seriously?"
"Hey, you never said how you wanted me to get her out of here," said Hunter.
"I obviously didn't mean for you to yeet her into the forest!"
"Uh, 'yeet?'"
Witch had to resist the urge to facepalm herself. "Never mind, just go!"
"Alright." Hunter mounted his staff and flew past her, but as he did, he spoke, "Good luck, Witch."
Typhon watched as Hunter fled into the forest behind Witch and cracked his knuckles. "Now that the distractions are gone…!"
The Phantom General moved unnaturally fast for someone of his size, immediately appearing before Witch and using his large fist to strike her. Witch was sent flying into the distance, smashing through a few trees before managing to right herself in midair. She landed on the ground and dug her heels into the earth, slowing herself down and coming to a complete stop.
"Oh, wow, he hits like a freight train carrying three-hundred tons of lead!" Witch commented. "And he moves fast for something that big!"
Suddenly, a huge burst of silver wind came howling towards her. Witch ran to the side and dove just as the gust blasted through the trees, tearing up and pulverizing everything in its path. Witch rolled onto the ground for a few seconds before getting back up on her feet.
[Connect, Please.]
Witch reached into the magic portal and pulled out her WizarSwordGun. As soon as she pulled it out, a huge shadow appeared overhead, Witch jumped out of the way just as Typhon's two snake trunk legs lashed at the ground where she was, breaking apart the earth and causing cracks to fissure in a spiderweb pattern as he landed. Witch managed to land on a tree branch, took aim with her weapon, and fired multiple shots at the monster from a distance. Each of the super light infused silver bullets hit their mark and exploded against his broad chest. However, the bullets did little to no damage, he was not at all phased by her attack.
"This is all the great Witch can muster?! I'm not impressed!"
Typhon raised his clawed hands above his head, and in the space between them he gathered his silver winds. And with a wave of his hands, launched several wind crescents. Witch had little choice but to go on the defensive.
[Defend, Please.]
A sphere of light appeared around Witch as the crescents struck against her shield. Sparks began to fly as the blades of air tried to cut through her barrier, as if it were a buzzsaw cutting through hardened steel. Some of the other crescents slashed through some more trees, toppling them over, but somehow Witch's barrier managed to hold. However, Typhon jetted towards her, and slammed an air wrapped fist into the barrier, carrying her all the way back until he slammed her into the side of a cliff. Typhon kept punching at that same spot, creating one thunderous impact after the other until Witch's barrier shattered, letting her fall from the cliff and onto the ground.
Typhon backed away, giving them some breathing room as he took in their new location. The area seemed burnt, severely, as if there was a massive forest fire not too long ago. And not too far from where Witch landed was a cave. You're kidding me, in the end I managed to come to the exact spot I wanted to be. Well, one way or another, I'll be killing two birds with one stone.
Witch managed to pick herself up, feeling beat up in just the short amount of time the battle took place. "You think we're ready to use it?"
"That ritual didn't kill us, and I'll be damned if this Phantom will do us in! It's time to use it, Niña!"
[Connect, Please.]
Witch switched the WizarSwordGun into sword mode and stabbed the ground with it. A magic circle appeared to her left and Witch reached into it. When she pulled her hand out, Witch was now holding the Owl Timer.
[Owl-Time.]
Witch turned the dial on the center piece of the Owl Timer, turning the minute/second hand until it was pointed at the yellow color section.
[Set Up.]
"Whatever tricks your about to pull, they won't save you!" Typhon stated.
"We'll see, because now it's showtime!"Witch retorted as she pressed on the thumb of the Owl Timer.
[Start.]
The Owl Timer began to tick away as Witch grabbed for her WizarSwordGun and charged for the large Phantom. Typhon blasted her with several gale force bursts, but Witch coated her blade in her magical energy, and used her weapon to deflect the blasts away from her. The big Phantom channeled the power of the winds and increased his speed, becoming a blur to her. However, that's when the Timer's minute/second hand moved onto the blue section, prompting Witch to hit the thumb again.
[ICE OWL.]
A blue version of her magic circle appeared behind Witch, and out from that circle appeared another Kamen Rider Witch, but this was one was in Ice Owl Style. Ice Witch dashed away after Typhon and appeared next to him, startling the Phantom General as he was not expecting her to catch up to him. As soon as she did, Ice Witch flipped her WizarSwordGun into a reverse grip and slashed at Typhon from different directions and angles, making him stop as he was forced to defend. Light Witch switched her weapon to gun mode, and fired off more of super light infused bullets, but somehow, with the power of the Owl Timer, both herself, and her clone's attacks were hitting with much more power than they were before.
"ENOUGH!" Typhon yelled.
His body released a tornado of silver wind that forced Ice Witch to retreat back to where Light Witch was standing, and once he had them both together, Typhon channeled those winds into an attack and blasted it right at them. That's when the Timer entered the green zone, and Witch pressed the thumb again.
[PLANT OWL.]
A thick wall of vines appeared before the two Witches, taking the wind blast head on. Typhon's attack tried to rip them apart, but the newly imbued power of the Owl Timer made the vines unyielding. When the attack ceased, the vines returned to the earth and revealed another Kamen Rider Witch, but this time in her Plant Owl Style. Plant Witch dashed for Typhon, jumped into the air, and delivered a strong elbow strike to his gut, sending the hulking Phantom back a few feet as he coughed in pain.
"But we aren't done yet!"Witch announced as the Timer reached the red zone.
[FIRE OWL.]
A fourth and final Witch appeared, in Fire Owl Style. Fire Witch took aim with her WizarSwordGun and shot multiple super flame infused bullets that sailed towards Typhon and exploded against him. Unlike the bullets fired by Light Witch, these ones carried a much stronger punch as they detonated with twice the impact, causing some damage to the Phantom General's body. When the smoke cleared, Typhon was not fighting one Witch, but was now staring down four different variations of Kamen Rider Witch. In the distance, miraculously, Hunter was watching all of this unfold before him, his eyes wide with awe and shock at how Luz was able to quadruplicate herself and bring out all four of her different powerful forms at once.
"Don't think we're just illusions or simple clones," said Fire Witch.
"With the Owl Timer, I can split into the four versions of my Super Form," said Plant Witch.
"But that's not all. There's no power decrease from dividing my power, in fact, it's the opposite, I get a power boost," said Ice Witch.
"In other words, Phantom, you're not fighting one Witch, you're fighting four Kamen Rider Witches!" Light Witch proclaimed.
Uncle was right…we should be overestimating her…
[Final Time.]
Light Witch pressed on the Owl Timer's thumb for the fifth time and activated its next power.
[Owl Four-mation.]
Construct owls made of yellow, blue, green, and red light appeared around each respective Witch, and upon merging with their specific Witch, each one was armed with either the OwlHead, Owl Tail, Owl Talons, and Owl Wings. The four Witches each broke off and started to attack from different angles.
Plant Witch struck the earth with her Owl Talons, causing green fissures to erupt from the ground and snake their way to Typhon. Upon reaching him, all the fissures exploded, with a powerful blast of terra energy that sent him into the air. Typhon flapped his wings and managed to right himself as he prepared to unleash another gale force attack. However, Fire Witch flew in behind him, ignited her wings, and flapped them forward, creating a spiraling column of flames that roared towards Typhon. The Phantom General quickly turned around and shot his attack up at the incoming flames, causing both attacks to collide in the air, pushing against each other as they fought for supremacy.
At that same time, Light Witch rose into the air, hovering a bit as she took aim with the OwlHead. The eyes of the OwlHead shined bright as twin beams of yellow magical energy shot forth and headed straight for Typhon. The Phantom General glanced over his right shoulder and saw the attack coming and, reluctantly, he split his attack in two as he aimed the other one at Light Witch's attack. The light beams and wind blast collided, creating another beam struggle in the air. But due to splitting the attack, Typhon was having a hard time maintaining his stance. Typhon eventually released his attacks as he let himself go into free fall as Light Witch and Fire Witch's attacks met each in the air and exploded mightily.
When Typhon landed back on the ground, he found his snake trunk legs frozen in place. Ice Witch was gliding across the battlefield, like a figure skater. She waved her Owl Tail around and created surging waves of ice that crashed against Typhon, freezing his lower half, and gradually creeping up his body until only his head was left unfrozen. All four Witches gathered together and took up their WizarSwordGuns and shifted them into blaster mode.
[C'mon shooting, shake hands!
C'mon shooting, shake hands!]
Light Witch stood up and took aim, while Ice Witch, who was on Light Witch's right, was on her left knee and aimed. Fire Witch was on Light Witch's left, aiming her weapon, and Plant Witch, who was on Fire Witch's left, was down on her right knee with her weapon trained on Typhon.
} LIGHT! {
} ICE! {
} PLANT! {
} FIRE! {
} SHOOTING STRIKE! {
All four Witches pulled the trigger, unleashing four beams imbued with four different elemental forces. The four beams converged on a frozen Typhon and hit their mark, exploding brilliantly as the Phantom General was blasted free from his ice prison, with a shower of sparks flying from his body as he fell to the ground with a huge thud.
"Guess you're a lot tougher than normal. I should've expected that," said Light Witch.
Typhon growled furiously as he rose and glared at the Witches with glowing red eyes. "THAT'S IT! I'LL JUST TEAR THIS ENTIRE ISLAND APART, AND TAKE YOU, AND THAT ACCURSED MONSTER DOWN AT THE SAME TIME!"
The Phantom General began to rise into the air as a huge silver tornado began to form. The tornado began to spin faster and faster, and steadily began to grow in size. All four Witches understood was he was about to do; Typhon was about to demolish the entirety of the Boiling Isles with this one attack. But she was not about to allow that to happen. Witch turned the dial on the Owl Timer and pressed on the thumb.
[Set Up.]
[Start.]
The Owl Timer began to glow in the different colors of the elemental powers, and that's when Witch scanned the Owl Timer with the Hand Author.
[FINAL TIME: ALL OWL, PLEASE.]
All four Witches floated up into the air, with magic circles of the four different colors appearing behind each of them. Ice, Fire, and Plant Witch's bodies broke down and transformed into owl constructs that flew around Witch, each one merged with Witch, granting the Owl Talons, Owl Wings, Owl Tail, and finally, the OwlHead, as her magical cloak had shifted colors. The outside of the coat had transformed into a yellow color while inside took on a lavender color. Witch had now entered her strongest form yet, that of All Owl Style. She could feel the magical power surging from within her, it was overflowing, coursing through every cell in her body. She could feel it, with this power, she was now the most powerful witch in the Demon Realm, not Belos, or any Phantom could stand against her now.
Witch flew towards the tornado and used her Owl Talons to slice into the wall of wind, creating a huge gash that allowed her entry into the center of the tornado. The hero of hope flew straight up the tornado and that's where she found Typhon. The Phantom General was taken by surprise when he saw Witch had entered his domain, but Typhon was not about to be out done as he coated his fists in turbulent silver wind and punched right at her. Witch met his punch with her Owl Talons, their blows striking against each other and causing the very air to tremble with the might of their blows. Witch broke of their engagement and began to spin in place, in the opposite direction of the tornado. Flames began to below upwards, while icy winds howled down below, creating a fire and ice tornado that broke down Typhon's tornado until it was completely dispersed, and left him exposed. The OwlHead unleashed two power eye magical energy beams that hit him square in the chest, sending the Phantom General careening down to the ground below.
Witch flew higher into the air, flipped once, and formed a magic circle that was comprised of all four of her elemental forms, using it as a platform as she looked down at her foe. "I'm ending this all right here and now! Your days of harming the people of this island are over! Time for the finale!"
The hero of hope flew straight at Typhon, but as she did, construct owls of each of her elemental powers came flying out of the magic circles and flew ahead of her. Typhon was about to get up and counterattack, but was stopped when the green owl construct hit, creating a magic circle behind him of its color that acted as a restraint. The red owl hit next and did the same, followed by the blue, and lastly the yellow owl. Witch flipped around and led with her right foot as she came down for a super charged Rider Kick. Magical energy lapped off her right foot as she came down like a sparkling meteor right at the center of the Typhon's chest.
A massive explosion took place that sent a blast of magical energy roaring into the air and created a blinding light that could be seen for some miles out. When the light faded, Witch flew back and away, showing a crater had formed where she made impact. Typhon was at the center of this crater, although he was still present, his body was already breaking down into particles, death was about to claim him.
Witch floated down to him and said, "It's over you Cannibal Phantom, you won't terrorize anymore people."
Typhon laughed at Witch.
"What's so funny?!"
"Stupid hero…I am not the Cannibal Phantom…!"
Witch's eyes widened with disbelief when she heard this. "You're lying!"
"Heh. Doesn't matter…better to be destroyed by you than devoured by that abomination…Listen, Witch. I am Typhon…one of the four Phantom Generals…the name of the one you seek is Nuckelavee…That Phantom is–!"
Suddenly Typhon, Witch, and Hunter felt an incredible surge of fear overtake them, freezing them in place. A shadow appeared from the forest, walking right past Hunter, and paying him no attention. The shadow was that of the Cannibal Phantom, Nuckelavee.
"No way…it's here!"
"WITCH! ATTACK ME AGAIN! DESTROY ME BEFORE THAT THING EATS ME!" Typhon ordered.
Nuckelavee's mouth cracked into a smile as it raised its claws and shot them towards Typhon.
"DO IT!"
Witch did not have much left after that last attack, but whatever she did have, she poured it into the OwlHead. With the new power she obtained, and her determination to not let this monster win, she fought against the fear power of the Nuckelavee, and fired two massive beams of magical power right for Typhon. When the beams struck, an explosion occurred, obscuring the area with a thick cloud of dust. The terror field seemed to disappear, allowing Witch more freedom of movement, along with Hunter. The teen witch boy quickly mounted his staff and flew into the air away from the monster and floated up there as he waited to see if Witch managed to stop it.
When the dust finally settled, Typhon's body had been completely destroyed. Witch breathed a sigh of relief, but that sigh was short lived as the dust cleared up more, and revealed the shadowy form of the Nuckelavee, holding a severed wing of Typhon. The Cannibal Phantom opened its maw and chomped down on it, consuming the severed wing until it broke down into particles, which it too consumed. With the consumption of Typhon, a powerful Phantom General, Nuckelavee's body erupted with even greater power than before, its shadowy aura raging as its eyes blazed red.
"He just got ahold of a Phantom General's power…" La Lechuza spoke.
"He's the one responsible for hurting all those people in Latissa, and even more elsewhere! This ends, NOW!"
"NO, LUZ, WAIT! WE'RE DANGEROUSLY LOW ON MANA!"
Witch did not heed her Inner Phantom's words as she charged right in and lashed out with her right Owl Talon, scraping up whatever mana she had left and coating her talon gauntlet in it. Nuckelavee did not bother to dodge the incoming attack, instead the Cannibal Phantom raised its right hand and released burst of its shadowy darkness. The burst was strong enough that it rammed into Witch, sending her flying back to the cliff where she smashed into it and created a body sized crater.
Nuckelavee chuckled menacingly as he said, "See you soon…" before disappearing in a wisp of shadows.
Witch's All Owl Style dissipated until she returned to civilian form. Luz was exhausted, she felt really drained right now, like she got hit with the sleeping nettles mist.
"Luz, I managed to save up enough mana to use the Connect ring to get us back to the Owl House! Use it now while we still have a chance to!"
"I…I hear you, Lala," said Luz.
[Connect, Please.]
Luz thrust her right hand forward and created her magic portal. Without any more time to waste, Luz jumped through the portal, leaving the battlefield behind her.
Hunter, who was still alive after all that, just stared at the destruction that Luz was able to create, not to mention what the Phantom General was able to do. But then there was that other Phantom, the Nuckelavee it was called. It swatted Witch away like she was nothing, and it did not even bother to attack her, it just left her with a cryptic warning. As much as he wished to have gotten the Palismen for his uncle, Hunter understood that the information he just got was more important. There was something hunting Phantoms, and hurting the citizens of the Boiling Isles, and it somehow got stronger when it ate part of that Phantom.
We're in trouble…huge trouble…
Luz eventually woke up, with a bunch of snacks scattered around her room that were either half eaten or just crumbs of the ones she ate. Thanks to that her mana supply had recharged enough for it to regenerate on its own. She was not prepared for the how severe the mana drain was going to be when using that new form, but it was big.
"Ugh…okay, next time, we only use All Owl for emergencies, that was a bigger drain than using my Super Forms," said Luz.
"Agreed, that was strenuous for me as well…I guess this means that our power is more linked than before if I can feel this exhausted. Although, I must admit, I did enjoy feeling that powerful," said La Lechuza.
"Yeah…but then we got backhanded by Nuckelavee like we were nothing…"
"Do not measure our strength by that one instance. You charged in when your mana was severely low, and you were working on scraps. Had you faced the beast at full power, our victory would have been assured. Although…to find a Cannibal Phantom here in this realm…"
Luz groggily sat up and asked, "Is that normal? Are there Phantoms that eat other Phantoms?"
La Lechuza appeared before Luz, but in the form of a ghostly image. "Normal, no. Rare? Yes. They do exist, but in my realm, they are banished to the far corners of it, kept locked away from all other Phantoms due to how dangerous they are to our own kind. We Phantoms care not about mortals, but we do care if such creatures somehow find a way to enter into the physical world. These Phantoms gain more power the more Phantoms they consume, and in so doing, gain more power equivalent to the ones they consume, multiplying their own power."
"So, even if it was a low-level Phantom at the start, it could gain enough 'exp' to level up into some kind of Mega Phantom," Luz clarified.
"That is the gist of it. The Phantom Generals are not something to scoff at either, among our kind, those of the 'general' ranking are among the strongest. So, the fact that that thing just consumed a part of one, means its power is even greater. I hate to say this, but it would be in our best interest to ignore the other Phantoms and concentrate on Nuckelavee in the meantime."
Luz shook her head in confusion. "But, if we do that, then the other Phantoms will start going after Gates!"
"Trust me, Niña, if Nuckelavee is roaming about, they won't come out of hiding. For the first time, there is a predator hunting Phantoms. And like any hunter worth their salt, it will seek out the prey of its prey."
"Gates…"
"Indeed. It will seek out Gates to rip out and consume their Inner Phantoms, but it also knows that other Phantoms will try to target a Gate and induce despair. So, all it has to do is track down Gates and lie in wait. Or if none come, it can always attack the Gate. Either way, it gets what it wants."
Luz slowly nodded her head in understanding. La Lechuza was right, Nuckelavee was the most dangerous Phantom on the Boiling Isles right now. "Next time, we'll take it down! Right, Lala?!"
The owl Phantom smirked a little. "Naturally, Niña. I can't stand the Phantoms that were freed while I wasn't. But even more so, I can't stand the fact that such an abomination was allowed to be freed instead of me! My pride as a Phantom will not allow it!"
Luz rolled her eyes. "One of these days, Lala, you're going to drop that tsundere act of yours."
La Lechuza huffed and then disappeared.
Luz chuckled a bit, she could feel La Lechuza's determination to want to destroy Nuckelavee. It was the same as hers, even if it was for different reasons. But even with all of this, Luz's other dilemma would not stop gnawing at her mind. The Latina looked at the picture of her and her mother smiling happily.
"Mom…everyone got a Palismen, but me. I can't form a connection with them because I don't know what I want in my life…I've already become a witch, and a superhero. I mean…what's next?"
Just then, Luz yelped as she heard the window to her room open. Luz looked up and that's when she saw Eda, perched on her windowsill, dirty, and cradling a hunk of blue colored wood in her left arm as she grinned down at her.
"Eda?"
"I thought I'd find you here," said the Owl Lady.
King climbed up behind Eda and managed to squeeze himself in as he complained, "We could've used the door, you know!" as both King and Eda hopped into her room.
"Whoa, what did you guys get into?" Luz asked.
Eda chucked the wood at Luz, which landed in her lap. "A present."
"Uh…how thoughtful?"
Eda chuckled a little and explained, "It's Palistrom wood ya ding-dong."
"Now you can carve your own Palisman!" King stated.
Luz's eyes widened with surprise as she held the piece of wood in her hands. "Seriously?! But wait, how?! Isn't Palistrom wood supposed to be super rare and super guarded?!"
"Let's just say the Bonesborough Garden Club…"
"Was robbed! By us!" King interjected as Eda gave a thumbs up.
Luz was very moved by the gesture, and at a complete loss for words. "I…I don't know what to say…"
Eda reached out and gently placed her right hand on Luz's shoulder as she looked her apprentice in the eyes. "Hey, kid, no pressure. I'm not telling you to carve your Palisman right here and now. I can tell you're still trying to figure things out, and that's okay. Not everybody has their entire future thought out at your age. You're allowed to think and explore, and when you finally choose what it is you want to do in your life. I'll be there to help you carve the Palisman that will guide you on your journey. Sound good?"
Luz dropped the Palistrom wood and lunged forward to hug Eda. "Thanks, Eda."
The Owl Lady hugged her apprentice back, prompting King to come in and make it a group hug.
"We gotcha, Luz," said Eda.
"'Cause we're family," King added.
"Yeah. We are."
Hunter managed to return to the palace, but he was not looking forward to his meeting with his uncle. Not only did he lose the nest of Palismen, but he was going to have to deliver some grave news to him regarding what he saw. Regardless of his failed mission, he had to tell his uncle about the battle, and the Cannibal Phantom known as Nuckelavee. The large double doors to the throne room opened, and within sat Belos, with two Abomaton guards standing sentry at either side of him. The teen witch boy walked until he was at the center of the throne room and got down on one knee, bowing to his Emperor.
"So, you return with nothing." Belos stood up and continued, "Is this the thanks I get for taking you in, Hunter?"
"Of course not, Uncle! I want to help you! And if you told me how Wild Magic did this to you, I might be able to find a–!"
Suddenly Belos thrust out his left arm, which transformed into a tar-like state that formed a sharpened spike at the end. It stretched forward and lashed at Hunter, but only cut off some of his hair, making Hunter wince a little, but he managed to maintain his composure, nonetheless.
"My apologies. I spoke out of turn," said Hunter.
Belos retracted his arm until it returned to normal. However, afterwards, he sat back down in his throne, clutching at his chest. "Ugh…These outbursts are painful, and so is watching you fail. I know you can do better, Hunter. For now, leave." Belos' glowing eyes were fixed on his nephew, but despite telling him to leave, he did not. "I said, leave, Hunter."
"Forgive me, my Emperor, but there's another matter that you need to be informed of," said Hunter.
"Whatever it is, it can wait until later. I am in no mood at the moment."
"Uncle, if we wait for later, it may be too late for all of us!"
Belos glared down at his nephew's defiance, he could tell he was shaking. The boy was rattled for some reason, and it was not because of his failure, but he supposed that that was part of it. "What is it?"
Hunter explained what occurred during his mission, his encounter with Luz Noceda, but omitting the part where he was helped by her. He then told Belos about the battle he witnessed between Witch and the Phantom General, Typhon. And of course, the conclusion to the battle where a monster among Phantoms appeared.
"Uncle, you were right about us needing to overestimate Luz Noceda's powers. She's gotten significantly stronger, and if we aren't careful, she could stage a coup against you! But worse than that, if this Nuckelavee Phantom is allowed to keep doing as it pleases, it could end up destroying the entirety of the Boiling Isles and kill every single person on it!" Hunter warned.
Belos remained silent throughout Hunter's tale. The Emperor of the Boiling Isles then rose out of his throne and walked down the short steps. He kept walking until he was standing before Hunter, and with his right hand, he patted his nephew on the left shoulder.
"I appreciate you telling me this, more than you can imagine. I had no idea that there was an even more dangerous creature out there, or that Witch, rather, Luz Noceda's, powers had gotten that much stronger since our last encounter. I shall have to call another meeting of the Nine Covens, soon. With this information, we need a coordinated effort to deal with this monstrosity among monsters," said Belos.
"I'm glad my information could be of help, my Emperor," said Hunter as he bowed.
"Yes. Now, please leave me. I need to ponder our next course of action."
Hunter stood up, bowed once more, and then left the throne room. Now alone, Belos teleported himself down to his underground room. And once there, he exploded. His body transformed into his cursed monster form, roaring angrily as he smashed his fists into metal pipes and stone walls, using whatever sense he had left to make sure and not damage the portal door device that he had painstakingly reconstructed. Once his bought of rage had settled, Belos returned to his normal form, his mask falling off and revealing the man beneath. It was then that Belos was very aware of a presence looming behind him, a presence that made him sneer with distaste.
"Are you that desperate to thwart me, Titan, that you would create such a monster among monsters?" Belos asked.
This entity was not of my creation.
Belos turned around and saw the horned shadow of the Titan and gave him a skeptical glare. "Spare me your lies!"
It is not a lie. This…thing…was not a creation of the Sabbath. It has been here, roaming, and waiting. A Phantom that eludes even my gaze. But I must say, its appearance bodes well either way.
These parasites will know death, and your little plans will be nothing but futile machinations. I pity you, false king.
Belos' eyes glowed with anger for a moment, but then a smug grin appeared on his face. "I would not gloat so soon, Titan. This creature threatens this world on a much grander scale than even you seem to realize."
And how, pray tell, did you come to that conclusion.
"If this thing gains more power the more Phantoms it consumes, I wonder what would happen if it one day decided to devour a part of you."
The Titan's shadow went silent.
"Did not think of that, did you? There's always the chance that it's power through consumption is only limited to its own kind. But what if it's not?" Belos asked. "If that is indeed the case, your rotting corpse could provide that already powerful beast godly power. Power enough to reshape this entire realm! And I don't think either you, or me, want to see what kind of nightmare that could become."
The room trembled as the Titan glared at Belos, what light was inside the room grew dimmer and dimmer, as if the Titan was trying to reach out and strike down Belos right here and now. But after a minute of this, the room lightened up.
I must think on this.
"I would assume you do. We both have a lot to think about, don't we?"
Hunter returned to his room, more tired than he had ever been. The threat of Nuckelavee, the Phantoms, and not to mention Luz Noceda's rising power. It was a three-way split between which one was going to bring an end to the Boiling Isles. The Nuckelavee could possibly end the world, the Phantoms in general could end all of demon and witch kind and make the Demon Realm their new home. But with Luz, Kamen Rider Witch, her only goal at the moment is to defeat the Phantoms. However, she already made her disdain for his uncle well known to him. And if push came to shove, there would be a time when Witch and Emperor Belos would clash again, but this time around, Hunter knew that his uncle, as powerful as he is, would not be able to fight against four different variations of Witch, and that combined form of hers.
"Although…considering the lesser of three evils…the one that involves Witch isn't as bad. Tch, so, our choices are catastrophic, disastrous, or just bad," said Hunter. "And Uncle, I know I could help. If only I knew a little bit more…"
Just then, Hunter heard familiar a chirping coming from his open window. He turned his head towards the window and that's when he saw the cardinal Palisman standing on his windowsill. Hunter immediately sat up upon seeing him, shocked that the little thing was even here.
"A Palisman!"
Hunter swiftly grabbed the cardinal Palisman, unconsciously squeezing it tighter and tighter until Little Rascal released a chirp of discomfort.
When he heard the chirp, Hunter released it. "Oh, sorry…" The witch boy began petting Little Rascal. "You shouldn't be here. It'd be bad if Belos saw you."
Little Rascal chirped happily at him, flew up, and then transformed into a witch's staff. Hunter grasped the staff in both of his hands, confused. The Palisman chose him, after what he intended to do with the rest of his friends, it found him, and chose him as its owner.
"I…wasn't expecting this."
A/N: Gonna ask for patience regarding next week's update for Witch.
There's something I need to draw up for it, and I was wondering how soon I'd need to do it, apparently, I needed to do it sooner.
Bearing that in mind, look forward to an update on the following weekend after next.
Thank you for your understanding!