Episode 01)
Something New, Something Old
A/N: I've been excited to share this with you all for ages now. It's been a work-in-progress for months in the background, and I've teased it a few times in the author's notes of my other stuff. So, without any further delay…
Ladies, gentlemen, enbies and all. Allow me to present to you…
Nestled in the forest near the town of Gravesfield, at the end of a short but winding path amid the trees, stood a small house with a curious front door.
It was a rather pleasant little building. Brightly-painted and well-cared for, with a small patch of garden in front, and of course that beautifully-patterned front door, adorned with a star that almost seemed to shine all on its own…
It hadn't always been like this, however. Once upon a time, this little house had been barely more than a shack, teetering on the edge of collapse as the ravages of nature, weather and time took their toll upon it. The roof had had a gaping hole through the tiles, and the floor inside had not been much different. Its windows had all been broken at one point or another, and all that bright colour had been non-existent, the only paint upon the walls flaking and peeling, revealing damp and mildew underneath.
Yet even back then, this house had been no ordinary house.
Back then, the door had been unassuming and plain… unless it was truly 'open'. Then, it would bear a wide eye that stared at whomever stood before it. And beyond its threshold…
An entire world.
Eda Clawthorne had never managed to figure out the true origin of the portal she had stumbled across on that fateful day, but she had by trial and error managed to get it to work for her in a manner that suited her best. After going through a few locations, she had settled on having the door open out from that little house in Gravesfield. Run-down and ramshackle it may have been, but it was also mostly forgotten by the locals and largely ignored, so it was a perfect place for her to use as a means of getting to and from the Human Realm on her many searches for 'merchandise' to sell back home.
It helped that the portal seemed to prefer being linked to that little house for some reason.
Of course, the house wasn't quite as 'unnoticeable' as Eda had assumed, as was made clear when one day, a human girl stumbled through the open portal door and into a world that was most definitely not her own.
Luz Noceda. The human who dreamed of being a witch.
From the moment she had crossed the threshold, Luz's life had changed forever. And, from the moment she met them, the lives of so many others on the Demon Realm changed as well.
She had learned magic, and learned so much more than that. She had made friends, true friends who loved her for who she truly was. She had found a mentor, gained a brother and a sister, fallen in love…
She had been hurt, and betrayed, and drowned herself in her own guilt and shame and self-loathing…
But at the end of it all, Luz Noceda had finally, truly… found herself. Found where she belonged, found her truest wish and had it answered, found new family and wonderful friends and even… found love.
And she was not alone. So many others, whose lives she had touched and changed for the better, found themselves with new outlooks on life and on themselves.
Gus Porter found the confidence to be himself.
Willow Park found the strength she had always had inside.
Amity Blight found her compassion and care, unearthed from where she had been forced to bury it when she was so young.
Vee found a home where she could feel safe and loved.
Hunter found people who would help him, even at his lowest point.
Lilith found redemption, and the forgiveness of her sister she had never believed she deserved.
King found a new sense of identity, and found the answers he had so dearly wished for, as hard as they had been to learn.
Eda found a new sense of purpose, of direction in her aimless life, as she realised she had so much more to offer that just a life of tricks and cheats.
Many in the Demon Realm knew of Luz and her friends in the wake of their actions in defeating Emperor Belos. The 'Heroes of the Titan' became renowned far and wide, and stories were told of their deeds… often with a good deal of embellishment, as any good story deserved.
And when the time came for her to return home, it was not goodbye. With the help of the Collector, who themselves had been changed by knowing Luz Noceda, a new portal was made, replacing the one that had been lost in the calamity of the Day of Unity. Now, both worlds were joined forever. Human and Demon, and a shared doorway between them both.
Camilla had purchased that little house soon after, and she and her daughters had set about restoring it together. In time, it ceased to be a ruin, and became something even more than just a mere threshold. It became a symbol of the link between both realms.
Time passed, and the Heroes of the Titan, or the 'Hexsquad' as they much preferred to be called, carried on with their lives. They continued to learn and grow together, continued to explore and discover, continued to pursue their own dreams and ambitions…
And in due course, a new generation arrived.
PRESENT DAY, 25 years A.B (After Belos)
"Violet, are you and your brother ready? We don't wanna be late."
"We're almost done! Just a few more minutes!" Violet called back to her Mom. Then, she turned back towards her brother and signed briefly to him.
[Now?]
Birch held up one hand, paused for a moment… then gave a single, sharp nod.
Together, Violet and Birch grabbed the tufts of leaves growing from the as-yet unnamed plant growing at their feet, and pulled in unison. The roots and soil gave way, and the pair lifted up…
A lumpy, misshapen tuber.
"Uh…" Violet hummed, a tad confused. "Success?"
Birch took one look at the result, shook his head, and tossed it into the wheelbarrow by his side. He then took his notebook from his pocket, flipped it open, and scribbled down some notes, the tip of his tongue poking out the side of his mouth as he focussed on writing quickly.
Violet smiled fondly at the sight as she stood up straight, then cracked her back and stretched her arms above her head. They had been crouched low for a good few minutes as Birch had inspected his latest attempt at crossing Humal Realm plants with Demon Realm ones, making sure it would be safe to uproot for a closer look.
With a nod to himself, Birch snapped his notebook shut and stuffed it back into his pocket, returning his pencil to its usual perch on his ear as he too rose to his feet and stretched his arms.
[Mandrake failed as well,] he signed to her. [Starting to run out of things we can cross Earth potatoes with, here.]
[Maybe Mom can give you some more ideas?] Violet suggested.
Birch pouted at her, and Violet had to resist the urge to giggle at the sight.
[I'm gonna figure this out for myself,] he replied indignantly. [It won't be the same if I have to get the answer from someone else.]
Violet sighed at her little brother in a mixture of fondness and exasperation. [How many times do I have to tell you that asking for help isn't something to feel bad about?]
Birch rolled his eyes at her. [It's not like that. How would you feel if I told you to just try flying to the summit of The Hand?]
Violet conceded with a shrug, then reached over to playfully ruffle her brother's hair, loosening it from its ponytail somewhat before he could bat her hand away.
"Violet!" her father called as he appeared at the doorway to the garden. "Come on, you two need to get cleaned up and dressed properly! We need to go!"
"Sorry Dad, we're coming now!" Violet replied with a wave, setting off down the path leading back to the house with Birch following alongside.
Violet wasn't sure why Dad was so worried about being late, when she knew for a fact that they were probably already awake earlier than everyone else was anyway. Well, aside from Aunt Luz, perhaps. She was likely already up and about back at her home, likely annoying Azure all the while with the racket she was probably making getting breakfast ready or something.
Violet was pulled out of her musings on how Azure's morning was probably going when she saw, out of the corner of her eye, Birch stumble on something that caused him to trip and fall.
Acting quickly, Violet drew a circle and cast the spell without delay. A hand formed from the soil in front of her brother and caught him before he could hurt himself, setting him back on his feet before crumbling and returning to the dirt.
At once, she was right beside her brother, checking him over for any signs of injury, eyes scanning his arms and head, checking for scrapes, searching his eyes for any sign of tiredness or fatigue-
[I'm fine,] Birch signed directly in her face, his pout now more of a scowl. [Stop fussing.]
[I'm just making sure,] she replied, but she moved out of his way regardless, allowing him to all but stomp past her as he entered the house.
"I just worry about you," she said to herself.
A nudge at her leg drew Violet's attention downwards, and she smiled at the sight of the purple collie dog nuzzling up to her.
"Hey Bluebell," she said as she scooped up her Palisman into her arms. "Did Waffles wake you up again?"
As if summoned by her words, the aforementioned blue jay Palisman appeared in the doorway and flew over to her, landing atop her head and nestling in her slate-blue hair with a chirp.
"I take it Dad sent you to get me to hurry up?"
Waffles chirped again.
"OK, I'll get ready. Tell Dad I won't be long."
With a final chirp of acknowledgement, Waffles flew back into the house and off in search of their master, while Violet made her way up towards her room to get ready for the day ahead.
Azure groaned as she staggered down the stairs, rubbing one eye blearily and pushing her hair out of her face as she entered the kitchen and was greeted by the sight, sound and smell of her Mama's cooking.
"It's too early for this."
Mama just laughed. "Good morning to you too, dear!" she announced cheerfully as she loudly slammed the pot down on the cooker and began boiling who knew what.
"Uncle King said to be over at ten," Azure groused as she fell into a chair at the table. "Why am I awake three hours early?"
"Because your Uncle changed his mind and told us we could be there earlier!" Mama replied, pouring out three mugs of stuff from the pot and setting them on a tray by her side. "So that's what we're gonna do! Now, do you know what you're gonna be wearing?"
Azure shrugged. "Jeans and a shirt?" she replied. "I dunno."
"Oh, come on darling," Mom said as she entered the kitchen, her long purple hair already styled and tied back. "Don't you wanna look nice? Your friends will be there, after all."
"That includes Sunny," Mama added. "Are you sure you wanna just slum it?"
Azure felt her cheeks warm up slightly, and pouted at her parents' insinuation. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
Mom chuckled. "Sure you don't," she said lightly, before wrapping Mama in a hug from behind and planting a kiss on her cheek. "What're you making us today, batata?"
"I'll come up with a name for it later," Mama replied as she plated up the results of her latest culinary experiment. "I hope you like it!"
"I'm sure it'll be wonderful," Mom said softly, releasing Mama from her hold and coming to sit at the table just as Ghost leapt up to sit in front of her.
The plate and mug placed in front of Azure gave off a pair of unusual smells that combined in an unusual way. Nevertheless, she picked up her fork and took a bite from the food, and as usual was relieved to find that Mama's experiment tasted much better than it looked.
How does she do it?
A fluttering of wings caught Azure's attention, and she looked up in time to see Midnight arriving in the kitchen and taking up her perch by the window, the one-legged crow soaking up the morning sun as she reverted to her inanimate form.
"See?" Azure gestured to her Palisman. "Even Midnight thinks it's too early. And where's Stringbean? I bet she's still asleep as well."
A tiny weight landed atop Azure's head then, and she didn't need to look at Mama's smirk and raised eyebrow to know that the traitorous snake shifter had just proven her wrong.
"You're lucky you're so adorable," she grumbled as she continued to eat her mystery breakfast.
"Actually, Azure," Mama said, turning serious. "I should probably give you a heads-up that Sunny might not be… doing so well, today, based on what I heard from Masha."
Azure sat up straighter in her seat, gripping her fork tighter as she registered what Mama just said.
"What happened?"
Sunny stared at the figure in the mirror in front of her, and it felt like she was looking at a bad dream from the past.
But it wasn't the past. It was her. Her own reflection, even if it no longer felt like it was.
Her reflection was supposed to have long hair. Shoulder-length, bright red and wavy at the ends, maybe tied back in a ponytail if she was feeling particularly bold, with her familiar yellow hairclip in her bangs, the one she wore almost every day since she had bought it…
Sunny stared at the figure in the mirror. Staring back at her was a short-haired boy whose red bangs hung limp above amber eyes, eyes that were so empty and dull.
She looked down at the clip in the palm of her hand.
She had tried to wear it, hoping that seeing her reflection with that familiar touch would make it all better, but all she had seen was a boy. A boy wearing a hairclip.
A boy in a yellow-and-grey dress, wearing her yellow hairclip, and it just didn't look like her. Not anymore.
She had almost tossed it across the room, but the tiny rush of energy had vanished as soon as it had risen, and she just felt sort of numb and listless at this point. All her emotion seemed to have been pulled out of her since two days ago. All the panic and the crying and the grief had left her empty at the end, not even able to muster the strength to eat unless Masha or Vee insisted on it.
"Sunny?"
She looked up at the door to her room. Vee was standing there, looking at her with worry in her eyes, even as she smiled a small smile and reached out one hand to her.
"Do you want me to try and style it a bit for you?"
Why bother? It won't make any difference.
"OK," she said instead. Because even as numb and listless as she was, she didn't want them to worry about her even more than they already did.
Bonesborough had grown over the last two decades. Calling it a town no longer seemed appropriate. At this point, it really ought to have been considered a proper city.
Although, perhaps that would also be inaccurate. It wasn't like there were skyscrapers, tower blocks or over-stuffed roads full of commuters. As big as the area had grown, as many people had made it their home, it still held onto its personal charm. The market, both day and night, remained close-knit and rustic, the stalls as low-key as always. The playground for young witches and demons was still a small little thing, one slide and a few swings (repaired, of course, after they had been partially eaten). And still the biggest building remained the library… the additional tower certainly helping the place retain that title.
Tucked away on the outskirts, closer to the woods than many of the other houses, was a stone and brick structure that, supposedly, was intended to resemble a castle in miniature. In reality, it more resembled a windmill without the windmill part attached.
It did have a flag, though. And King Clawthorne would tell you that that was the true mark of an imposing castle.
The fact that said flag bore a pattern that was neither imposing nor particularly well-drawn was another matter.
Out front, amid the rather overgrown bushes that he had been a tad neglectful of recently, King set about busying himself with getting everything ready for his impending guests.
The long table he had conjured up from the ground was loaded with various snack foods and drinks. He had made sure to prepare something to suit everyone's tastes, and of course he had secured a decent supply of Apple Blood for Eda. He even set aside a nice bowl of assorted bugs for Hooty, and this time he remembered to put a lid on said bowl so they wouldn't all scuttle off before he arrived.
Around the table, and strung in the trees and bushes, and hung from the windows of his home, were a myriad of decorations. He had gone for a 'bit-of-everything' approach to the décor for the occasion. Banners, a few balloons, several streamers, some tiny pinwheels, a few baubles, lights, candles, some painted skulls, a few of the less venomous vines he had been growing out back…
By the front door… drawbridge… thing that led inside, the basket was placed carefully atop a raised stone platform, secured with some ribbons and covered in the blanket he had had since he was small. Every now and then, King would stop what he was doing and check on it, lifting the blanket to make sure everything was alright, before going back to work.
He'd been that particular habit for days now, and he knew he would be in that habit for a good while longer yet.
As he finished tying off the last of the vines around the legs of the table, King once again found himself giddy with excitement imagining the reactions of everyone when he told them the news.
Just then, he heard a sound that was unmistakable. The sound of great, feathery wings flapping… accompanied by the sound of a high-pitched voice loudly announcing their arrival.
"Hoot-hoot! Hooty and Lulu, coming in for the landing!"
King stood back up in time to watch as Lilith touched down and shifted from her Harpy form into her normal form with a flourish. She then removed the little wooden hut-backpack from her shoulders and set it down by the table, at which point-
"KING!" Hooty hollered as he rocketed over and coiled around King in a flash. "How's my favourite Titan in the whole wide world been!? Your favourite demon pal is real pleased to see you!"
"Hooty, get off!" King replied, attempting to untangle himself from the bird-tube's embrace and failing quite spectacularly. "You're gonna get your feathers in my fur again!"
"Aw, I missed you too, little guy!" Hooty said anyway, entirely ignoring King's indignation. "I have so much to tell you! Lulu and I have been up to some crazy stuff! There was a time pool, and I got to be a sea monster, we met some guy named Francis, and a bunch of people though we were vampires and tried to-!"
"Hootsifer, give King some space. We've only just got here. There'll be plenty of time to share our… adventures with him later."
"And I'm not little!" King added as Hooty finally decided to release him. "Stop calling me that!"
"Oh, King! You'll always be Hooty's special little guy, no matter how big you OHMIGOSHARETHOSEFORME!?
Before King even had time to blink, Hooty had descended upon the snack table and swallowed the entire bowl of bugs… including the bowl… and the lid… and a small chunk of the table itself.
It took me two hours to find all of those, and he eats them in two seconds…
At least he had had the foresight to use an old bowl he wouldn't miss. No way he was using that again if Hooty decided to 'return' it later.
"I do apologise, King. He has been rather excited about today, you understand."
King sighed and shook his head. "Yeah, yeah. I missed him, too." He turned towards Lilith once more. "And you, Lilith. Good to see you again… Auntie."
Lilith chortled at that, and she came in for a hug. As tall as he was now, the top of her head didn't even reach his chin, and she couldn't reach her arms all the way around him anymore, but it was a good hug regardless.
"You look well, King. Have you been busy?"
King let go of Lilith and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah… you could say that."
Lilith looked well, too. Her hair was more grey, only a few smatterings of its old orange colour remaining, and she had gained a few more lines under her eyes, but she was smiling, and her twin-colour eyes shone with happiness at their reunion.
"Incoming!" came another yell, also familiar, and King looked back up at the sky with a wide smile of his own beneath his beard.
Eda, ever one for making an entrance, performed a loop before diving towards the ground, shifting back into her normal form just as her feet touched dirt, and placing a windswept and rather dizzy-looking Raine down beside her.
"Eda?" Raine muttered, their eyes spinning still. "Warn me next time, OK? I almost lost my grip."
Eda laughed uproariously, slapping her partner on the back before striding over to give King a hug of her own.
"How've ya been, King?" she asked jovially. "Haven't seen ya in almost a week. What's been happening?"
"And what is the occasion for all of this?" Raine asked as they finally regained their bearings and smoothed their greying green hair back down. "Your invitation was rather vague."
"I'll explain when everyone gets here. But it's good news! I promise!"
Eda was the same as ever. She had again taken to cutting her hair shorter, and had pulled out her old brown suit for the occasion. Owlbert was tucked away in her pocket, poking his head out to blink at King, earning him a playful head scratch that had him cooing happily.
"So, when can we expect the others to get here?"
"Soon, I hope," Lilith interjected as she moved to greet her sister. "I don't think Hooty will be able to stay settled if he has to wait any longer."
"Hey Eda!" said house demon exclaimed the very next second. "I went to Lake Knees!"
"It's pronounced 'Loch Ness' Hootsifer," Lilith chimed in. "And I thought we agreed to keep that part to ourselves."
"Oh, I know that place," Eda said. "Isn't that were some kinda sea monster hangs out? What's it like?"
"Well, about that," Lilith added with a wry chuckle. "Turns out we were-"
"King! We're here!"
Everyone's attention was again drawn upwards as Gus hollered down at them, coming in to land with Matt, and whatever odd tale about a sea monster Lilith had to share was quickly forgotten.
Azure loved flying with Midnight. Even as early as it was, and as grouchy as it made her, nothing could take away from the feeling of soaring through the sky with her beloved Palisman, feeling the wind ruffle her hair as they broke above the lowest clouds, before diving back down and skimming the tops of the tallest trees.
Somewhere below her, or above her, or most likely ahead of her since she had been taking so many vertical detours, her parents were probably wondering where she was.
She could not bring herself to care.
"Loop-de-loop, girl?" Azure asked Midnight, and the thrum of affirmation she felt from her partner made her grin as she angled upwards and began to twist in the air, reaching the peak of her climb before turning head-over-heels and descending in a rapid dive that had the ground rushing up to meet her.
They pulled up together just before they hit the floor, and Azure allowed the toe of her shoe to scuff against the dirt, kicking up a small trail in her wake.
Up ahead, she could spot the unmistakable flagpole atop Uncle King's castle-house.
"Alright, let's go say hi!"
Speeding off, Azure and Midnight came in towards the edge of the treeline, and a moment later they emerged out in the open. With a shout, Azure leapt from Midnight, who returned to her animate form as Azure landed in a classic three-point pose. Her Palisman took up her perch upon her partner's shoulder, Midnight's singular leg grasping at the fabric of the grey and black top Azure had opted to wear alongside her jeans.
Someone applauded, and Azure stood up to see her Uncle waving at her, Great-Aunt Lilith and Grandma Eda by his side, Gra-Raine being the one offering the applause from the table. Hooty was in the process of devouring something or other…
"Did I beat them here?" Azure asked aloud as she failed to spot her parents.
"No you did not," came the reply from her left.
Sure enough, standing off by the edge of the treeline, their own Palismen already off running and flying over to greet Owlbert and Socks, Mama and Mom were indeed already here.
"Nice landing," Mama added. "Superhero pose. A classic!"
"Just don't hurt your knees," Mom said half-jokingly.
Azure rolled her eyes at them both, but she was smiling, and a moment later she was sprinting over to everyone else.
"Uncle King!" she cried as she leapt up into his arms. She laughed as he spun her around and set her down, patting her unoccupied shoulder firmly enough to cause her knees to buckle a little.
"Someone's full of energy today!" he said with a chortle. "Miss your Uncle that much, did you?"
"Hey, don't forget about us!" Grandma Eda interjected, reaching over to ruffle Azure's hair, mussing it up even more than the wind had already done. "I see you're starting to take after your old lady with those flying skills."
Azure frowned at that as she ducked away from Grandma Eda's hand, reaching up to try and get her hair back in some semblance of order.
"Your mother does make a good point, though," Great-Aunt Lilith said. "You really should be more careful. We don't want to see you get hurt."
Azure rolled her eyes yet again, something she was doing quite a bit today it seemed.
"Well, I think she performed wonderfully," Gra-Raine added as they came over from the table. "It's wonderful to see you, Azure."
Gra-Raine gave her a hug, and gave Midnight a pat on the head.
"That goes for you as well, Little Bird," they said with a smile. "You two make a good pair."
Midnight preened at the praise, fluffing out her feathers and lifting her head high.
Violet could see the castle in the distance, and she could also see that they were actually not the first to arrive as she had expected.
Huh. Guess Dad wasn't being overly-punctual after all.
She glanced over to her right. Mom and Birch were upon Clover, and Dad was on Waffles. They were flying in fairly close formation, side-by-side with Mom slightly ahead of them, forming a V-shape.
"Down we go!" Mom hollered over the sound of the wind, and the three Palismen descended towards the gathering.
Violet scanned the small crowd to see who was already present. She spotted King, of course, as well as Eda and Raine, Lilith, Hooty, Gus and Matt, Azure's parents…
Ah. There she is.
Azure waved up at her, and Violet waved back as she came in to land, touching down gently and dismounting, Bluebell shifting back and bounding over to Azure with a happy bark.
"Hey there, Bluebell," Azure cooed as she gave the collie some much-appreciated head pats. "I'm happy to see you, too."
"What about me?" Violet asked, crossing her arms and giving her friend a raised eyebrow.
"OK, you too," Azure said with a wave of her hand. "But mostly Bluebell."
Violet smirked at the younger girl's quips. "Of course."
Azure got back up, and her own smirk was replaced with a genuine smile. "How's things?"
"Good," Violet said with a shrug. "Surprised you got here before us, though."
Azure groaned theatrically. "Tell me about it! Mama got me up super early, and Mom kept trying to get me to 'dress nice' for the day. As if I don't always look great!"
Violet again quirked an eyebrow at that as she looked up and down at what Azure was wearing. Black boots, dark jeans, a grey and black t-shirt with long sleeves, her crescent-moon pendant around her neck, her dyed-black hair a mess, with the blue streak in her bangs sticking up a bit…
"I'd say she has a point, but that'd make me a hypocrite."
Indeed, Violet really didn't have a right to critique her friend's fashion sense or lack thereof, given that she herself was in her hiking gear right now. Rugged boots, brown pants, hooded cloak (albeit with the hood down), and her normal glasses switched out for her secure goggle-like ones.
She even had her bag with her.
"Lemme guess, gonna make another climb after this?" Azure asked.
Violet nodded. "You know me well. Not a serious one, though. I just wanna try see if I can get back to that outcropping from before. It could be a useful place to set up a base camp for a proper attempt, so I need to give it a look."
"Cool," Azure said. "Y'know, I gotta come with you again sometime."
Violet folded her arms again and levelled Azure with a look.
"Azure, last time you joined me on a climb, I had to carry you back down."
"Only because you said I couldn't bring Midnight with me," Azure responded with a huff.
"Flying defeats the point," Violet said firmly. "Mountain-climbing is supposed to be about the climb, not the end goal."
"So you wouldn't mind if someone else beat you to the summit of The Hand, if the journey is what matters?"
Now it was Violet's turn to roll her eyes at Azure. "Yes, actually. But that's also a moot point, since no-one else is even trying to do it. They all fly some of the way, or use some other way to cheat."
"That's because only you are crazy enough to try to climb into space manually."
"Not space," Violet corrected. "The Hand only reaches up forty-two kilometres. Space is more than double that distance away."
Azure just shook her head. "Only you could say something like 'it's only forty-two kilometres' like it's no big deal."
Violet gave her friend a playful shove against her shoulder, and the two of them laughed as they began to make their way over to the rest of the gathering.
"Violet? There's something else we need to talk about real quick."
Violet frowned at the sudden serious turn her friend's words took. "About what?"
Azure looked quite troubled as she kept on walking. "Have you heard what happened over the weekend? With Sunny?"
Violet had a bad feeling as she listened to Azure. "No, I haven't."
Hunter watched as Birch engaged in a very animated discussion with Raine about something he couldn't make out. Try as he might, Hunter had consistently struggled to keep up with the rest of his family when it came to learning Sign. They all had to go slow for him when they communicated so he could follow along with what they were saying.
"He's telling them about the Human Realm plants he's learning about," Willow helpfully supplied for him.
"Figures," Hunter murmured with a smile. Their son sure did take after Willow in that regard. Plant Magic came to Birch as if it were instinct to him, and the things he could do already at only ten years old were beyond impressive.
"Congratulations on your win, by the way!" Lilith said to Willow. "Hootsifer and I caught the highlights yesterday. I suppose that just leaves one more match for the trophy."
Willow grinned at that. "Yep! The Entrails are gonna be the first ever team to win the Realm Title five times in a row!"
Hunter listened to his wife as she regaled Lilith with her plans for how her team were going to beat the Crown Harpies in the final, feeling his cheeks warm up.
Even after all these years, Willow still amazed him.
"Hey Hunter," King called over. "Do you know if Darius is coming? He never replied."
"I think he said he and Eberwolf were gonna get a ride from Alador."
"Really?" Amity said with some surprise. "Dad's really gonna let Alador join him for anything?"
"They get on well enough these days," Hunter insisted. "Kinda…"
"What about your Mom, Luz?" Willow asked next. "How's she getting here?"
"She said Vee and Masha were gonna pick her up, and Vee said Amity's dad offered to give them all a ride."
Hunter blinked. "Wait. Alador's giving a ride to Darius, and Eberwolf, and your Mom, and Vee and Masha and Sunny as well?"
Luz shrugged. "I guess he is."
Hunter blinked again. "How?"
"Blight, I am going to flay you alive for this!"
"Oh, quit complaining," Mr Blight replied dismissively. "We're doing just fine."
"The landing gear fell off three miles back! How do you intend to bring us down without crashing!?"
"With skill and finesse," Mr Blight said with a smirk. "Just sit down and enjoy the ride."
"I can't sit down. The chair I was using collapsed under its own weight!"
Mr Blight shrugged. "Alright, there are still a few minor things to iron out of the final product, but this beauty is gonna revolutionise transportation across the Isles. The Blight Air Bus Mark IV will be the next phase in air travel!"
"I mean it, Alador," Mr Deamonne growled. "Mark my words, by today's end, your hide will be flying from my window!"
Camilla decided not to intervene in this particular argument, opting instead to focus on keeping herself from being sick as the vehicle they were presently flying in shook and rattled. Her hair was going to have a lot more grey in it before this flight was over.
"This is great," Masha said cheerfully. "Mr Blight sir, two thumbs up from this passenger."
"Thank-you, Mx Grey," Mr Blight replied with a wave towards the back of the… Camilla hesitated to call it a plane. "Glad to see that someone recognises progress."
"Grey, I beg you, do not encourage him," Mr Deamonne snapped.
Masha relaxed in their seat. "Come on, it's not that bad."
A loud bang echoed from somewhere, and the vehicle jolted even more violently than before.
"Dang it, there goes the rear stabiliser."
"Alador!"
Camilla closed her eyes and held on for dear life, and wished desperately that she could go back in time and refuse this offer and just walk to the party instead.
"OK, not to alarm anyone, but I'm gonna need you all to put on your parachutes. Just in case."
You'd think I would have learnt my lesson by now when it comes to trying out Mr Blight's creations…
Wait for the rest to get here. Don't spoil the surprise yet, just wait a little longer.
King kept glancing back at the basket every few seconds in-between asking and answering questions about this and that, and it was taking every drop of his willpower to keep from checking on it, lest he give away the reveal too early.
"Hey, is that… smoke?" Gus said questioningly, pointing to a plume rising up from somewhere nearby.
Amity had her head in her hands. "Don't tell me…"
Rustling and footsteps approached from the trees, and soon enough, a band of very dishevelled-looking individuals stepped out and into the open, led by none other than…
"Look, what do you want me to say, Darius? I mean, it's not like you were any help back there."
"Shut up, Alador. Just. Shut. Up."
Behind the pair of bickering Abomination-users, Camilla was gripping onto Vee's arm quite tightly as she was led along, looking as if she had seen her life flash before her eyes. Behind them, a widely-grinning Masha was walking without a care, and beside them, her hood up and her head down, was Sunny, rounding out the party of-
"I thought Eber was coming with you all?" Raine said in confusion. "Where is he?"
"Oh, he jumped out mid-flight," Alador replied nonchalantly. "He'll probably be here soon. I think."
Raine paled. "He… he what?"
"He had the right idea," Darius cut in with a scowl aimed at his best-frenemy. "I should have taken his lead."
"Hola, Mama!" Luz called out loudly, waving at Camilla. "Are you OK?"
Camilla seemed to shake herself back to reality, and let go of Vee's arm, her haunted expression fading and being replaced with a smiling one as she made her way over to the rest of the gathering.
Taking that as their own cue, the rest of the newly-arrived band began to exchange greetings of their own with everyone else. Hunter and Darius were quick to embrace one another, Azure gave her grandma a wave and a hello, Masha and Raine high-fived one another, Alador was quick to come over to Amity's side, Vee and Luz were excitedly chatting, as if they hadn't only seen each other less than two weeks ago…
King picked up snippets of conversations as he too moved to greet everyone.
"We didn't crash. I was able to make a perfect emergency landing…"
"I see you've gained a few greys, young man…"
"How's school been, nieta? I hope you…"
"I could really use some help, Raine…"
"Where's Stringbean? I wanna give her…"
King saw everyone quite often. He may have lived alone, but a solitary creature he was most certainly not. It was actually a rare day he didn't have some guest over, or was himself a guest elsewhere. But this was the first time in a while that all of them had been able to get together at once like this. With how busy everyone was these days, organising something like this was getting increasingly more difficult.
That just made the times they could manage it all the more special.
Violet extricated herself from the crowd, and made her way over to where Sunny was standing off to the side.
"Hey. Good to see you."
Sunny looked up, and Violet did her best not to wince as she caught a glimpse of the look in her friend's eyes.
"Hello Violet," Sunny replied, and Violet could tell she was putting on a show of sounding put-together. The fake-levity in her tone did not at all match the way she looked.
What do I say?
"I… heard about what happened. Over the weekend."
Sunny's head dropped low again. "Who?"
"Azure," she replied. "Masha told her Mom, and then Azure told me."
Sunny lifted her head again. Her eyes, dull a moment ago, now held a look of genuine worry. "She's gonna ask me about it…"
"No she won't," Violet replied quickly. "You know she won't. She wouldn't do that to you. Neither of us would. You don't have to tell us anything, OK?"
Sunny nodded, but she still look unconvinced. "Vee tried to make it look better before we left. I… I didn't look to see what she did. I just grabbed my hoodie."
Violet reached out and took Sunny's hand in her own, giving it a light squeeze before letting go. "You feeling up to saying hi to everyone else?"
Sunny shrugged. "Maybe. In a little bit, I guess?"
"Sunny!"
Violet turned around, and quickly sidestepped to avoid Azure as she skidded to a stop.
"How are you? Are you OK?"
"Not really," came Sunny's deadpan reply. It would have been humorous, had it not been abundantly true.
Azure cringed. "Right. Yeah, stupid question. Sorry."
Sunny sighed. "Can we talk about something else? Please? Anything, really. How's Hexside?"
"Oh, it's good," Azure replied. "Glyph Studies is going great, and hey, I passed my Potions exam! Don't need to retake it again."
"And I've finished the last of my Healing Track classes," added Violet. "Now I can just focus on getting ready for the Construction Finals, and then that'll be it."
"Speaking of classes and studies," a new voice interjected, causing all three of them to turn around again. "Have you been keeping up with your own practice, Ms Grey?"
Mx Whispers had wandered over to the trio, and was smirking at Sunny with their hands on their hips.
"Uh, a little bit?" Sunny replied hesitantly. "I was a bit… busy these last few days…"
"Well then," Mx Whispers said simply. "We will have to make up for lost time, won't we? I trust you have your ocarina with you, young lady?"
Violet saw Sunny nod, and withdraw from her pocket the instrument in question. She could see the tiny Glyphs stencilled across the surface, forming patterns around the finger-holes, the silvery-white of the thin lines standing out against the muted amber colour of the ocarina itself.
"Then follow me, pupil! We have time for a short lesson at least before Eber gets here, so let's make it count."
"Yes, teacher," Sunny replied at once, her voice sounding a tad energised again as she was led away.
Not fake-energised like before, though. She sounded a bit more like herself.
Violet watched the two bards depart with a smile, and she saw Azure doing likewise from the corner of her vision.
A bit of normalcy is what she needs. Thank-you, Mx Whispers.
"So when can we expect the next 'Ruler's Reach' novel, you two?" Darius asked. "It's been almost three years since book nine, and you were always saying it would be a decalogy."
Luz laughed. "Not you, too! I already have Hunter pestering me for a draft every other week!"
"Hey, no I don't!" Hunter huffed. "I only asked you twice, and neither time was recent!"
"Well," King cut in, drawing out the word. "Let's just say that Luz and I have some pretty wild ideas for how to wrap everything up."
"If Howling Harper doesn't make it to the end, I'm coming for you," Gus chimed in. "He deserves a break after everything you two put him through!"
Luz was about to teasingly hint that Gus should brace himself for how Harper's redemption arc was going to be resolved, but the sound of large wingbeats drew her attention upwards.
Descending towards the rest of the party was a gryphon, and saddled upon its back was none other than their final partygoer Eberwolf, looking quite a bit annoyed as he came in to land.
"Eber!" Darius said cheerily. "Glad you could join us! I trust your… alternative means of transportation were more comfortable?"
Eberwolf dismounted the gryphon, which promptly took to the skies once again and flew away. Immediately after, the diminutive Beastkeeper marched over to Alador and delivered him a swift kick to the shins.
"Ow! What was that for!?"
"Give him another from the rest of us, Eber!"
"Ow! OK, fine! I'm sorry! Happy now?"
Eberwolf replied with a satisfied growl, then leapt on over to Darius' side and began talking with his longtime partner.
"OK, everyone's here!" King exclaimed. "Now it's time!"
Luz gave her brother a sideways smile. "Time for what? What is this big news you wanted to tell us all?"
"Yeah, come on King! Spill it!" Eda hollered. "I mean, any excuse for a party and all, but what's the big surprise? Tell us!"
"Yeah, hoot hoot! Tell us aaaaaall about it!"
King giggled, and then raised his hands and clapped twice to get everyone's attention.
"Well folks, I think we've waited long enough! I've wanted to tell you all about this for days, now. You all have no idea how happy I am about this! To be able to share this with you all here today, friends and family all together, it's such a-"
"Get on with it, hoot hoot!" Hooty cut in. "The anticipation is killing me!"
"Alright, alright!" King said as he walked away from Luz's side and over to the head of the table. He reached down to his side, and lifted up a basket that Luz hadn't noticed until now. It was a nice basket, woven from some sort of fancy stuff she couldn't identify, and it looked a bit like a…
Like a…
Oh. Oh my goodness!
"King, is that…?"
King grabbed the blanket covering the contents, the blanket Luz now recognised as the one he had kept from when he was so small, and pulled it back.
Everyone gasped, and Luz's eyes widened as she saw it.
Nestled in the basket, upon a pillow and surrounded by some of King's old cuddly toys… was an egg.
"I'm gonna be a dad!"
Luz clasped her hands together, and squeed.
"KING! Oh, this is amazing! I'm so happy for you!"
"Well, that is… I mean…" Eda seemed entirely lost for words, but her face was split by the biggest grin Luz had ever seen on her, which said plenty all on its own.
Lilith was beside herself, sputtering and babbling, hands flapping about as she bounced on the spot.
And everyone else was a mess of emotions, with congratulations and well-wishes aplenty sent King's way. Raine had even started to cry.
Luz felt happy tears well up in her own eyes as she rushed over to her brother's side and gave him a hug.
"How long?" she asked.
"Four days ago," he replied. "As soon as I could, I had to call you all over. I wanted to tell you in person."
"Oh, King," Luz said wetly, no longer able to hold back the flood. "This is wonderful! And I know you're gonna be a great Dad. I just know it."
"Thanks, sis," King said, sounding pretty choked up himself. "Guess you'd better get ready to be 'Auntie Luz' soon, huh?"
"And I get to be Uncle Hooty!" Hooty was around them both in a flash, joining the hug. "I'm gonna take them to the ball game, and I'll tell them aaaaall the stories about the wacky adventures I got up to with his Dad! It's gonna be a Hoot, Hoot!"
Azure felt Violet give her a slap on the back. "Congratulations! You're gonna have a cousin!"
Azure nodded, still a bit dazed by the news. "Yeah… Uncle King's having a kid."
"Uh… h-how, exactly?" Sunny asked. "I though you said there were no other Titans?"
"Well, Mom said once that King's dad had him all by himself, so I guess that's just how it works for Titans," Azure offered. "I think?"
"It's amazing," Violet gushed. "Oh, this is wonderful news! I can't wait to say hi when they hatch!"
Azure recalled the photos of Uncle King from when he was a kid, and how absolutely adorable he had been in them…
She felt her cheeks ache from how wide she was smiling. "Me neither. They're gonna be so cute!"
"What do you think King will name them?" Violet asked. "I guess 'Prince' would follow the pattern, but maybe he wants to go with something else?"
Azure pondered that. What would be a good name for a Titan?
"Would it be inappropriate to suggest 'Eren'?"
"Yes," Sunny replied at once, sounding unamused. "Don't suggest that."
Violet chuckled. "How about-?"
BOOM!
A sound like thunder tore through the air, and Azure felt the shockwave hit her, wind whipping up from nowhere and stinging her eyes.
A shadow fell over the area, and Azure looked up to see clouds had appeared suddenly, blocking out the sky as they swirled about in a vortex.
"Everyone inside!" Uncle King bellowed. "Out of the boiling rain! Luz, can you-?"
"Already on it!" Mama replied, Stringbean in hand as she began pulling Glyph papers from her pocket. "Just say when!"
"That came out of nowhere," Sunny said, sounding a tad nervous as she looked about. "Don't you have weather reports in the Demon Realm?"
"Yeah, but you learn quickly to not trust them," Violet replied as the trio began making their way towards the castle. "When someone predicts the weather and gets it right, it changes so they're wrong."
Azure remained fixated on the clouds. They looked… different. Not quite the right colour, somehow. Almost as if they were-
A blue light began to grow in the centre of the vortex, and Azure's eyes widened in realisation.
Illusions!
"Everyone, wait! It's not-!"
BOOM!
Blue light flashed, and shot down from the clouds in a pillar, crashing into the ground in front of Uncle King's castle just before anyone could reach the entrance, forcing everyone back.
The shockwave this time was much stronger, and Azure was knocked off her feet and sent flying backwards with a yell of surprise, landing hard on her back and having the wind driven out of her.
"Azure!" someone cried. She couldn't make out who, the howling wind made discerning the identity of the voice difficult.
As quickly as it had arrived, the light and wind vanished, and the air fell still. The clouds parted, the light of the sun returned, and Azure found that she could move again, pushing herself upright and gasping as she drew in a greedy lungful of air.
"Well well well," a voice said cheerfully. "Looks like we got it right this time! And only… five of us didn't make it, by my count! Good job, Kevin!"
"Uh, boss? Kevin didn't make it. I think he dropped out into the Boiling Sea halfway here."
"Ah. Well, at least he got the rest of us here!"
Azure shook of her daze from her rough landing and focussed her attention towards the castle. Arranged in front of the door, in tight formation, were a collection of… odd individuals. Clad in an assortment of mismatched fur and robes, grasping an assortment of what appeared to be poorly-made weapons, and a few of them were wearing-
Azure felt herself go cold as she realised that several of their number were wearing upon their heads skulls that closely resembled her Uncle's.
"What the…?"
"Bill!?" Uncle King exclaimed incredulously. "What!? I thought you were dead, you crazy kook!"
The apparent leader of these men, Bill, laughed. "Oh, King! I missed you too, you little abomination against reality! But to clarify, nope! I am, as you can see, a hundred percent alive and kicking!"
"So you're Bill," Grandma Eda growled. "Oh, I've heard all about you."
Bill rounded on Grandma Eda. "Ah, the famous Owl Lady! And her sister as well, I see!" he gestured to Great-Aunt Lilith. "How wonderfully fortuitous for us! The whole rotten lot of you, all in one place!"
"And just who are you?" Gra-Raine snapped back, manifesting their violin in hand and stepping in front of Grandma Eda. "Identify yourselves!"
The man called Bill stepped forwards and bowed. "But of course! Where are my manners? Allow me to introduce us all."
Standing up straight and clearing his throat, the short man wearing the skull spread his arms wide. "Children of the Isles! We are the Titan Trappers! And we have come to free you from the tyranny of the Last Titan and his fellows!"
Silence.
Titan… Trappers?
Azure had a vague memory of a story she had been told years back by Hooty, about one of the adventures he had been on with Mama and Uncle King to another land far away in across the world. A land home to crazy cultists who tried to…
Azure rose to her feet and held her arm out at her side. Following her silent request, Midnight left her perch upon her shoulder and shifted into her staff form, landing in Azure's outstretched hand.
Her hand shook as she took a deep breath, keeping her eyes fixed on these men who had crashed her Uncle's party.
"Boss, look! On the table!"
No!
Azure followed Bill's gaze as he turned to stare at the egg… her cousin.
"Oh," Bill said shortly. "Oh I see. Well, that changes things."
The jolly tone of voice from before was gone, and Azure felt herself shiver at how drastically this man had shifted from faux-friendly and cheerful to cold and focussed.
Uncle King growled. No, calling that a mere growl wasn't enough. This was much more than just a growl.
"Go back to your hole, Bill. Now."
Azure had never heard her Uncle sound so angry.
"Trappers!" Bill yelled. "To work!"
The gathered invaders, the Trappers, fanned out, weapons at the ready, hands moving to draw circles in the air…
Before Azure could react, a purple bubble appeared around her, sealing her inside and rolling backwards to the treeline.
It was her Mom's magic, cast to keep her out of the way she supposed.
But it didn't stop her from seeing what was going on right before her eyes.
It was chaos. Magic flew around from all sides, weapons clashed, and she could hear the yells of her family as they battled with all their might.
Azure watched it all, frozen in shock.
She knew how powerful everyone here was. She had seen Grandma Eda and Great-Aunt Lilith use their Harpy forms to fight against Beasts. She had watched Gra-Raine change the weather with a song. She had seen her Mama and her Mom demonstrate spells that blew anything she could do out of the water.
But seeing them all like this?
There was a difference between knowing and understanding.
Azure knew how powerful her family and their friends were. But she had never really understood just what that meant.
Until now.
Mom was moving between opponents, her Abomination goo flowing freely and driving back her enemies, freeing up Mama to attack with Glyph combos that alternately froze people in place or tangled them up in twisting masses of vine and earth.
Grandma Eda and Gra-Raine were working together to drive off a pair of Trappers from the castle. Gra-Raine's violin sent waves of energy slicing through the air, while Grandma Eda's claws reduced her opponent's weapon to scrap.
And everyone else was fighting too. Violet's parents were dashing about with their Palismen, disorienting people with their movements, Great-Aunt Lilith had teamed up with Hooty to beat down one of the larger Trappers…
A shout of alarm, one that was very familiar, tore Azure's eyes away from the battle. Across from her, she saw her Abuela back peddling away from an attacker, chancla in hand, using herself as a barrier to shield Masha from harm.
"Back! Stay back!"
The Trapper raised his gnarled axe high-
A vine erupted from the ground and ensnared the axe head, stopping it from descending just in time.
Violet's Mom was on the Trapper a moment later, her kick landing in a very vulnerable spot and dropping the man like a sack of potatoes.
He groaned in pain.
"Are you two alright?"
"Yes," Abuela replied. "Thank-you, Willow, you- Look out!"
Another Trapper was already charging at them, spell circle drawn and fire forming ready to blast them all…
The fire fizzled out, and the spell circle vanished as ribbons of magical energy peeled away from the Trapper's body, sucked up by Vee as she inhaled his power away.
"Where's Sunny?" Vee asked in a panic, and Azure felt her own panic rise as she realised she had no idea where her friends were!
Dammit, I can't do anything while this stupid bubble is here! Mom, let me help!
Suddenly, the bubble warped, and… pop!
It vanished.
Azure blinked. "Huh?"
An explosion came from somewhere to her left, and Azure turned to see Mom manifesting a wall of Abomination goo to defend herself and Mama from the blast.
She had to direct her attention away. Is she… are they running out of magic!?
"Help!"
Azure spun around. She knew that voice.
"Sunny!"
Across the way, backed up against a tree, Sunny was staring up at a man with a mace.
Azure had been frozen with shock before, rooted in one place by what was going on.
Not anymore.
Power flowed from Midnight into her body, channelled down into her legs. She leaned forwards, and released the energy.
In a literal flash step, she was at Sunny's side, and in the next moment she had slapped a Glyph paper against the man's arm, activating it.
It was a fairly new combo she had figured out. One that created a powerful gust of wind.
The man was blown away, sent tumbling head over heels and slamming into another tree some distance away. The skull he was wearing, the sight of which made Azure sick to her stomach at what it might mean, fell from his head, and she could see that he was out cold.
"Come on!" Azure did not pause. She grabbed Sunny's hand and ran, pulling her along with her, head on a swivel as she kept her eyes peeled for any sign of-
There!
Violet was with her brother. Both hands were a blur as she drew circle after circle, erecting walls of earth around the pair of them to keep the Trappers away.
"Violet! Birch!"
Violet heard her shout, and left a path open for the two of them to run into her shelter before she erected the final wall, cutting them off from the battle.
"Are you both OK?" Violet asked at once. "Are you hurt?"
"I'm OK," Azure replied, gasping from her mad dash. "Sunny?"
"I'm… I'm not hurt," Sunny stammered back.
Outside their little shelter, the sounds of the battle raged on.
Birch signed something too fast for her to fully understand, but she caught the word [egg] somewhere in there, so she could guess what he was asking.
"I don't know," she said and signed back. "But I think-"
A shadow flew overhead, and Azure broke off and looked up.
Her blood ran cold as she saw that the Trapper, riding his Palisman, had clutched in his grasp a small grey-blue bundle.
"NO!" she screamed. In an instant, she was upon Midnight and taking to the skies, the shouts of her friends ignored as she stared straight ahead at the man who had taken her cousin.
"Give them back!" she roared. Hand outstretched, she drew a circle, and cast a single spell.
Her bile sac was small, owing to being half-human, so she didn't have as much magic to work with as most other witches. But she had enough for this.
Out from the circle she drew, Azure sent a large shard of ice, razor-tipped and glinting under the sun. It hurtled towards her target…
He dived to avoid it, and the icicle passed over his head.
Said icicle then vanished, the illusion no longer needed now that it had served its purpose.
He was on her level now, in reach of a vine from a Plant Glyph.
The vine shot out from the paper in her hand and coiled around the egg.
"Gotcha!"
Azure dived as she yanked the vine backwards, pulling her cousin free from his grip. Moving quickly, she manoeuvred herself mid-air, and caught them before they could fall.
"OK, let's get out of-!"
A blast of fire skimmed her side, and Azure yelped at the sudden heat. She swerved, but the speed of her descent was too great, and she clipped the top of the trees.
"Waaaah!"
She was spinning out of control, hurtling down towards the ground.
Try as she might, she could not stop herself from crashing.
"Azure!" Luz cried as she saw her daughter collide with the ground and tumble over and over, coming to a rest by the entrance to King's castle.
She didn't get up.
Someone tried to get in her way, but she blew through them without even acknowledging them as she sped over to her daughter's side, falling to her knees and hoping, praying that she wasn't…
Azure groaned. "Ow…"
Luz sagged with relief as she pulled her daughter up to her knees and hugged her.
"Oh, Azure! Thank goodness!"
"Mama… I got them back. They're safe…"
Pulling back a little, Luz looked down and saw, clutched in Azure's hands, a grey-blue egg.
Luz smiled and ruffled her daughter's hair. "Good girl. That's-"
Something grabbed her shoulder, and Luz was yanked away from Azure and tossed aside.
Moving quickly, Luz rolled to her knees and leapt to her feet, ready to rush back to Azure's side and keep her safe…
She stopped. Froze, as she registered what was in front of her.
The Trapper had one hand on her daughter's shoulder, and his other had drawn a circle by her temple.
"Stay back!" the Trapper yelled, panic clear in his voice and a wild look in his eyes. "One move, and I'll do it!"
Luz's blood surged with a fire like nothing she had ever felt in her life, and she bared her teeth at this man… this vile, monstrous person who would dare threaten her child…
"OK, time out! Time out!"
The sound of Bill's yell cut across the chaos of the surroundings, and the various noises of magic and weapons and shouting faded and fell off.
Luz did not turn away from Azure. Her daughter was pale, and shaking, clutching King's egg close to her chest, her Palisman still in her staff form and pinned by the Trapper's foot.
"It's gonna be OK, Azure," she said in what she hoped was a reassuring tone of voice. "Everything's gonna be OK."
"Indeed it is!" Bill said as he strode into her line of sight, standing beside his comrade with a smirk she could see even under the skull he wore. "I think we can all agree that this hasn't been our best showing. On both sides! So how about we agree to a draw for now, and leave it at that?"
Luz lifted Stringbean and took aim at Bill.
"Let my daughter go."
"Of course! Of course we will!" Bill replied that fake-chipper voice of his grating on her ears. "That sound fair!"
Movement on either side of her told Luz that everyone else was moving to back her up, and she also saw several other Trappers gather beside their boss.
Her eyes widened as she saw them pull two more people into their group. Violet was furiously struggling against the grip of the two Trappers trying to keep her arms pinned behind her, while Sunny was white as a sheet and shaking like a leaf, eyes wide and watery as she was marched along.
"If you hurt them," Luz growled.
"Wouldn't dream of it!" Bill replied. "Look, let's make a deal. You want your kids back, and we want to get out of here. So how's this sound? We give you the little ones, you let us go, we all take a few days to recuperate and regroup, get out bearings back and stuff, then we try this again… next week? Does that work for you? We could do a few days earlier if you like?"
Luz was incredulous at what she was hearing, but the sight of her daughter and her friends in their clutches strongly overrode anything else.
"OK, fine. Have it your way. Now let them go!"
Bill clapped his hands together. "Sure thing! Boys, if you could-!"
Suddenly, clouds gathered overhead once again, and underneath where the Trappers were stood, the ground began to glow with lines of blue light.
"Well, dang. Kevin really did manage to-"
Luz realised what was about to happen, and she threw herself forwards, hand outstretched, forgetting to use Stringbean in her blind panic as she reached out for her daughter with a yell…
BOOM!
A flash of brilliant blue light erupted from the ground, and powerful winds sent Luz flying backwards, tumbling head over heels as the shockwave tore through her, her ears ringing from the sound like thunder.
The roaring wind fell silent, the blue glow dissipated, and the clouds parted to allow the light of the sun through once more.
Luz scrambled to her feet… and stopped dead, eyes wide as she realised she was too late.
They were gone. The Trappers… and the kids.
All gone.
Luz fell to her knees, feeling like her strings had been cut. The shock left her numb, uncomprehending of anything else as she stared straight ahead at the empty space before her.
Somewhere behind her, managing to pierce the fog of her horror, she heard King roar.
Everything was spinning, and Azure knew she was screaming, but she couldn't hear herself over the deafening noise all around her.
Her vision was a mess of blues, swirling around in patterns that made no sense. Hands kept grabbing at her, before being yanked away, causing her to tumble about from the force of it all.
Over and over and over she tumbled and twisted and spun. Her ears hurt from the noise, the awful shrieking noise that she had never heard in her life and wished to never hear again. She screwed her eyes tight to try and block out the dizzying blue lights, but they burned through her eyelids anyway and continued to assault her vision…
She felt her cousin slip from her grasp, her arms now empty, and she screamed again, reaching blindly for them, clawing at nothing as she continued to spin around and around-
WHUMP!
Azure's back landed hard on something, and for the second time that day she felt the wind be driven out of her… but the spinning and the shrieking and the lights had all stopped, and she was left silent and still.
She gasped, sucking in a greedy lungful of air, eyes snapping open as she stared up at the sky.
She saw trees… strange trees. Trees that she was pretty sure weren't the ones that grew around Uncle King's castle.
Slowly, mindful of her now very much aching body, Azure pushed herself into a sitting position and looked around.
She was in a small clearing. Trees surrounded her, their leaves a strange mix of colours. Some were brown, some were green… some pure white, some solid black… a few even seemed to glow a faint purple.
The grass beneath her felt soft, and it seemed to be likewise a blend of all different shades. It also felt strangely cool to the touch, as if it had been frozen not long ago.
Looking up, up at the branches, she spotted what looked like a squirrel she had seen back in Gravesfield one time, only it was silver, and had two tails.
All of this… was entirely new.
"Where… where am I?"
Hello all! If you're someone who's never ready anything of mine before, welcome to the show! And if you're a returning reader from elsewhere, welcome to you as well! I'm Not Scot, and this has been Episode One of 'Violet, Azure and Sunny'!
I have been so excited to start sharing this with everyone! As I said at the top, this has been on the back-burner for months now. I've been planning, drafting, drawing up profiles and backstories for the new cast, coming up with ideas for what they'll be encountering on their journey, devising several different riddles for one part later on down the line, driving myself mad trying to decide on names and figuring out mechanics for some of the magic…
It's been a blast! I loved getting into all the nitty-gritty of this. Even if it got away from me at times.
This is indeed gonna be a long-runner. I have more-or-less the whole beat-by-beat plot figured out, and plans for every chapter in my notes to guide me as a go. Speaking of which…
What will our new trio of witches find in this strange new land? What dangers lurk around the corner, waiting to strike? And will they be able to find their way home? Tune in next time for Episode Two of 'Violet, Azure and Sunny': 'Other Side of the World'!
[Imagine that the guy from Dragon Ball Z's 'next-time on…' segments is reading that part].
Well, it's getting super late where I am, and if I don't get this uploaded soon, it won't be Monday anymore. So I'd better leave it here for now, and bid you all a good night. For now though, I shall take my leave.
Until next time,
Not Scot.
P.S: Yes, even in this fic, I had to include Stringbean screentime. The Power Noodle is best Palisman!
P.P.S: More about the main trio will be revealed as we go, but for now, here's some short profiles:
Violet Park
Age: 17
Palisman: Bluebell, a purple collie dog
Tracks: Construction and Healing (Dual Track)
Likes: Climbing, helping people, playing the drums
Dislikes: Bullies, her dad's cooking
Favourite food: Anything besides what her dad makes
Gender identity: Cis girl [she/her]
Orientation: Demiromantic ace
Appearance: Tall, stocky. Blue hair like her mom, short and spiky in style. Red eyes like her dad. Needs glasses, tends to wear a set that are more like goggles to be secure on her head at all times. Dresses practically for hiking, favouring rugged boots, hooded jackets and sturdy pants. Bluebell rides in her hood. Also has a satchel she keeps supplies in for climbing.
Azure Blight-Noceda
Age: 15
Palisman: Midnight, a one-legged crow
Tracks: Illusions, Potions, Beast-Keeping and Glyph Studies (Quad Track)
Likes: Music, snakes, flying
Dislikes: Boredom, 'The Good Witch Azura', being compared to her parents
Favourite food: Gryphon eggs
Gender identity: Queer [she/her]
Orientation: Pansexual
Appearance: Shortest of the trio (though not much shorter than Sunny). Hair dyed black with a blue streak in her bangs. Wears eyeliner, dresses in dark colours, preferring greys and blacks. Has a black crescent-moon pendent she wears. Midnight rides on her shoulder
Sunny Grey
Age: 14
Palisman: None
Tracks: None
Likes: Playing her ocarina, the rain back in the human realm
Dislikes: Being alone with her thoughts
Gender identity: Trans girl [she/her]
Orientation: Bisexual
Appearance: slightly taller than Azure, but quite a bit shorter than Violet. Human. Red hair, used to be below shoulder length, is now barely long enough to cover her ears. Wears a yellow clip in her bangs (usually). Likes yellow clothes, wears t-shirts and skirts, also wears a hoodie a lot, presently keeps the hood up to hide her hair.
And just for completeness:
Birch Park
Age: 10
Palisman: None
Tracks: Plant, Oracle, Healing (Triple Track)
Likes, Gardening, reading
Dislikes: The dark
Favourite Food: the toe-matoes his mother grows
Gender identity: Cis boy [he/him]
Orientation: Gay
Appearance: Short and skinny. Dark blue hair, red eyes. Wears normal glasses, and keeps his ling hair tied back in a rough ponytail (it often has leaves in it). Dresses smart-casual when not in the garden, often going for purples and greys in his colour choices.
NOTE) Deaf, communicates in Sign