Legends Ride Again:
S1: E9: The Pressure Of Change

Luz groaned as she slowly opened her eyes, allowing them to adjust to the darkness that surrounded her. She tried to sit up and winced when a jolt of pain went down her right arm. She looked at it and saw a cloth wrapped around her bicep.

"Don't try to move too much," she heard a voice say.

Luz looked to her right and was surprised to see Boscha. The three-eyed potionist was sitting in front of a potion that gave off a light similar to a crackling fire. There was a second potion next to the athlete, a faint hissing noise escaping it.

"B-Boscha," Luz choked out, her throat dry. "What happened?"

Boscha glared at the human. "Like you don't know, human," she scowled.

Luz stared at the witch for a second and then gasped as the event of the day came flooding back to her. She looked around in a panic, which grew when she saw the large rubble around her. She also saw the wrecked LightChaser with Boscha's Palisman resting on it.

Luz looked up at the ceiling above them.

"Oh, Kami!" she exclaimed, jumping to her feet, "We got enterrada viva. We need to-OHHH!"

The half-Japanese girl fell to her knees and held her head as it swam violently. She heard something but couldn't tell what it was. She suddenly smelled something, and her head began clearing.

"I told you not to move," she heard Boscha say coldly. "My potions could only do so much, and I'm no healer."

Luz's head cleared enough that her vision focused, and she saw a potion vial under her face. She recognized it as a pain-relief potion and took another breath. Luz could feel the last bit of her lightheadedness clear and looked at Boscha.

"Now that you're better," Boscha said snarkily, "Do you think there's anything you can do to help us get out of here?"

Luz glared at the young potionist and then looked around her surroundings. Now that her head was clear, she could see where they were; they were in some kind of underground cave, that much she was sure of. The human witch frowned as she continued to look around and saw no exit.

Luz looked at the collapsed ceiling, and her frown deepened. She looked back at Boscha and slowly shook her head.

"Sorry, Boscha," the human witch said apologetically, "But I don't think any of my forms will help here. And I don't know if I can even transform like this."

"Great," Boscha grumbled, "Just great. I have to wait to be rescued while stuck with the human."

Boscha continued grumbling as she returned to her luminous and extra air potions. Luz watched as her classmate took a seat near the potions, hugged her legs, and looked absent-mindedly at her luminous potion.

Luz lay down on the ground and stared at the ceiling, thinking about how they ended up in this pickle.

(48 hours earlier)

Lady Blightthorne watched as Captain Braddock stormed into the common room and went to the shelves where they kept their bile collection. He took a half-fulled vial and snapped the top off. He downed the vial and threw it to the ground, the glass shattering on impact.

"I take it from your mood your search still hadn't bore fruit," Lady Blightthorne coldly snarked as she stepped into the room.

Braddock snapped his head in the direction of his superior and frowned. He noticed how the woman was carrying herself, and he knew that meant one thing.

"And I take it you have failed in your latest endeavor to defeat the human witch," Braddock retorted.

Lady Blightthorne glared at the captain and pushed past him. She took another half-full vial, uncorked it, and elegantly sipped its contents. She finished off the vial, recorked it, and placed it back on the shelf.

The lady knight frowned as she looked at the collection of biles and sighed.

"It's as you say, William," she replied coldly, "But that witch would eventually run out of tricks, and that's when I will crush her under my heel. However, we also need to address a more pressing matter."

Braddock cocked an eyebrow, knowing the lady knight only used his name when she wanted to talk about a serious matter. He sighed and looked at the shelf.

"Despite what you may think about me, Amilga," Braddock stated calmly, "I know the Harvest is fast approaching. Also, I would like to inform you that my search wasn't fruitless."

Lady Blighttorne gave her fellow knight her full attention. Braddock saw this and took a moment to collect his thoughts.

"During my search of how the Greater Blooburn escaped, I learned that our stock of Lesser Blooburn had depleted more than we realized," the captain explained. "I believe we only have about 12 Blooburn we can control."

Lady Blightthorne frowned as she did the math in her head. If what the captain said was true, they should have enough to gather supplies for the Harvest. Her frown turned into a scowl when she realized two problems before them.

First, the witches of this time were weaker than the witches of the Knights' time. They would need to gather twice as many witches for this Harvest. That shouldn't be a problem, even with their limited numbers, but there is the obvious problem.

"...Human Witch Kuuga," Lady Blightthorne growled through clenched teeth, then looked at the Captain. "William, tell me, do you plan to continue your search or actually do something about the human witch?"

The knight captain stared at the female knight for a second, then made a spell circle. He pushed the circle to the ground, and something bubbled up from the magic circle. Lady Blightthorne cocked an eyebrow as she stared at the abomination matter coming up from the circle.

"...Forming muck?" the female knight inquired.

Braddock didn't answer his fellow knight; instead, he summoned his sword. He walked up to the pool and dropped it into the muck. The abomination matter bubbled violently, causing the sword to disappear.

After a few seconds, Braddock created another spell circle and sent it into the abomination matter. The matter calmed, and a second later, the knight captain took his sword out.

The knight captain examined his sword for a moment, then took a wild arc swing. He held the sword in front of him and nodded before calling it away. He looked at his fellow knight, expression unreadable, and took his leave.

Lady Blightthorne was about to take her to leave as well when she spotted the abomination matter in the still-activated spell circle. She groaned and was about to cancel the spell. She stopped and stared at the muck, a plan forming in her head.

(SC)

"Hey, Boscha?" Luz asked, trying to make small talk to keep her mind off things, "How much longer is your Extra Air Potion going to last?"

The human witch frowned when she didn't get a reply. She hoisted herself up by the elbows, wheezing slightly. She looked to where Boscha was before and found her still there, staring at her Lumious Potion.

Luz got a little concerned when she noticed the far-off look in the three-eyed witch's eyes and slowly pushed herself to her feet. She winced when she felt a slight pain shoot through the right side of her stomach.

The human witch ignored the pain as best she could and walked over to Boscha. She looked at the potion and saw that half a bottle was still left. Luz then turned her attention to Boscha and was about to wave a hand in front of the witch.

"I'm not out of it, human," Boscha snapped.

Luz jumped back when Boscha snapped her head up and glared at her, only to scream when a massive jolt of pain went through her. She fell to her knees and held her side as the pain she was feeling was so bad her vision was blurring.

Luz clenched her teeth and tried to fight through pain as her head began to swim. She was barely aware of someone helping her onto her back, and soon, she felt a soothing feeling going through her injured side.

The pain in her side subsided after a few seconds, and her vision cleared as her head stopped swimming. Luz saw that Boscha was hovering over her, a potion in her hand.

"...Looks like the fall hurt you more than I thought," Boscha stated coldly. "Try not to move around too much. Like I said, I'm no healer, so it best not to pull a 'you' and move around a lot."

Luz didn't like Boscha's tone, but she slowly nodded, not trusting her body at the moment. She saw that Boscha looked relieved and watched as she returned to her spot.

"And if you want to know," Boscha said coldly, "I didn't talk to you just now because I was doing the math in my head, and I figure we at least have another three hours before my potions run out…longer if you don't waste it with your constant talking."

Luz wanted to glare at the potionist but decided against it. Her body was still in too much pain that she didn't dare move, so she returned her eyes to the ceiling.

(24 hours earlier)

In her dragon form, Luz breathed out slowly, bringing her staff close to her face. She envisioned her surroundings as nothing but still blackness. She took one final breath and then grew quiet.

She heard a noise from her right and spun counterclockwise on her right heel, a basketball-sized abomination mass sailing past her. Luz swung her staff down, knocking a ball of vines to the ground. She ducked when the abomination ball came back at her for another try.

The human witch straightened up and swung her staff around as balls of vines and abomination began to assault her. Luz planted her feet firmly on the ground and grunted as the assault increased.

Luz cried out when an abomination ball the size of a golf ball got through her defenses and hit her in the shoulder. She jerked back, creating an opening that allowed more balls to hit her. Luz dropped to the ground and rolled to her right.

The human witch jumped to her feet in time to see an abomination barreling toward her. She jabbed her staff into the magic creation's chest and began spinning it. Luz quickly picked up momentum, and the abomination moaned as it was lifted off the ground, its form degenerating.

Once she had the abomination wrapped around her staff, Luz thrust it to the ground, kicking up enough dirt to block her from view and the abomination matter flying in all directions.

"And I think that's enough for the night!" Luz heard Hunter say.

Luz sighed and let the world appear around her as she changed back to normal. The dirt cloud settled after a few seconds, and the human could see her friends poof into view shortly after the dirt settled. Willow, Amity, and Hunter stared at Luz with prideful expressions. Gus was awestruck, evident by his mouth hanging.

"Luz, that was so cool!" Gus exclaimed, throwing his hands out. "How were you able to do that with my magic covering us?"

Luz couldn't help but smile bashfully as she walked over to her friends. The second she was within reach, Amity reached over to her and began checking her over, not allowing the human a chance to say a word.

"Actually, Gus," Hunter answered his friend, "That's just basic sensory training. Everyone joining the Empire's Coven was given that training."

The grimwalker looked at Luz with a proud smile.

"But I got to say," he added, "I never seen someone pick up quite as fast as you, Luz."

Luz continued to smile bashfully as a faint red tint crossed her cheeks. She opened her mouth to comment, but a small yawn escaped her.

"You okay, Luz?" Amity asked with slight concern.

With her eyes falling slightly, the human witch nodded at her girlfriend.

"...Yeah, Sweet Potato," Luz replied sleepily. "Stil getting used to this new training."

Amity frowned as she stared at her special somebody, her concern growing. She wasn't the only one with concerns; all of Luz's friends were also concerned for her well-being. She has been pushing herself a lot lately, and it seems like she hasn't had a real break in a while.

Willow suddenly smiled as a thought crossed her mind.

"Hey," the plant witch said to get everyone's attention. "Tomorrow's Saturday. How about we hang out, all of us?

The HexGang all exchanged looks as they thought this idea over.

"That…actually sounds great," Amity replied, smiling. "It has been a while since we hung out and done anything normal."

Hunter and Guss nodded their agreement, and the young illusionist grinned.

"I hear there's this new shop offering some items I've just been dying to see!" Gus said enthusiastically.

"And I heard Green Fingers got in some rare plant seeds," Willow added.

"And I could get some new craving tools," Hunter said, putting his two cents in.

Luz watched as her friends got excited and smiled fondly at the sight. She felt Amity wrapped an arm around her waist. The human looked at her girlfriend, and Amity smiled lovingly. Luz's smile turned loving as she heard her friends discussing the plans for their day out tomorrow.

(SC)

Luz wanted to get comfortable while she waited for the rescue party. So, she took off the jacket Eda had given her and scowled when she saw the right sleeve, which had a massive cut down it.

The human witch sighed bitterly as she gently folded the jacket, careful about the hole in the sleeve, and slowly placed it behind her head. She looked at the ceiling, lost in her thoughts.

Just how much time has passed since she woke up after her fight? With a sigh, she reached into her pants pocket and took out her phone. She unlocked the screen and frowned as she saw the time.

"… it hasn't been even an half-a-hour since the fight," Luz muttered to herself.

She stared at her phone for a few seconds, somewhat shocked by the time that had passed. Then, suddenly, Luz gasped and shot straight up. She winced when pain shot up her side and clenched her side.

Luz ignored the pain and looked at Boscha. The young witch glared at the human when she got her staring.

"Boscha!" the human witch said urgently, "Did you try to use your scroll to reach anyone?"

The three-eyed potionist looked offended by the question, and she scoffed.

"Who do you think I am, human," Boscha said rudely, "that was the first I tried while you were having your little nap."

"And?" Luz asked eagerly.

Boscha stared at the human for a few seconds, sighed, and looked at her luminous potion. Luz squinted as she noticed the change in the witch's demeanor. The human noticed how distant Boscha's eyes suddenly looked.

"...I don't know if we're just too far down or if something about the stones," Boscha said after a minute, "But I don't have any sort of signal."

Luz growled in frustration and slammed her body back onto the floor, causing her to groan when pain shot up her side. She gingerly rubbed her arching side and stared up at the ceiling again.

(45 minutes earlier)

Willow, Gus, and Hunter were at the Bonesborough's market's edge, waiting for their friends to get there. The illusionist was the most eager, looking out over the horizon for signs of his friends.

"I wonder what keeping Luz and Amity?" Gus wondered.

Willow couldn't help but giggle slightly as a thought popped into her head.

"Knowing Luz," Hunter replied, voicing Willow's thoughts, "she probably slept in."

"And Amity got up early, only got caught up in one of her projects," Willow added giddily and shook her head good-naturally. "Honestly, that girl is so close to turning into her dad it's almost funny."

Gus looked between his friends, slightly weirded out at how synced they were. He was about to say something when the familiar roar of an engine caught everyone's attention. The three looked towards the horizon and saw a familiar machine rapidly approaching.

Willow was about to wave when she noticed something that caused a slight frown to cross her lips. Above Luz's LightChaser were two witches on staffs. As the three got closer, the plant witches realized the witches were Amity and Luz.

"Wait," she heard Hunter say, "If Luz and Amity are using their staffs, who's on the bike?"

They would get their answer as the three reached Willow, Gus, and Hunter. The rider idled their machine and flipped up the kickstand before they removed their helmet. The two witches and one grimwalker gasp when they get a good look at the rider.

"VEE!?" the three nearly shouted in surprise and joy.

"Hey guys," the young basilisk replied bashfully.

Willow, Gus, and Hunter approached their friend as Amity and Luz landed. The human witch had a cheeky grin as her friends looked at her for clarification.

"I was telling my family about this outing, and Vee said she wanted to come," Luz explained, sucking his hands into her jacket pockets.

Everyone noticed that Luz wore the jacket Eda gave her a few years ago. They decided not to mention this and instead focused on Vee.

"Well, Vee," Willow said happily, "It's nice to see you here finally."

Vee couldn't help but blush as she rubbed her arm. "It wasn't easy," she admitted, "But I figure I can't avoid this place forever."

Vee's friends gave her supportive smiles as the group headed into the marketplace. Almost immediately after, Vee saw one witch, one of the former demon hunters, and froze. The patch-wearing ex-hunter glanced at Vee, and the basilisk started sweating.

The hunter's eye narrowed as he seemed to study for a second, then walked off. Vee started breathing when the ex-hunter was out of sight.

"...Maybe," Vee said, looking around, "Coming here was a bad idea."

Luz looked at her adopted sister, smiled, and walked up to her. She wrapped the basilisk in a one-arm hug and pulled her close.

"Don't like that, Vee," the human witch said optimistically. "This place isn't bad, especially now that Belos's gone."

Vee still didn't look convinced, and Luz saw this. The human witch frowned as she scanned the market. Luz's face lit up when she saw a shop.

"Hey!" Luz said, looking at Vee. "There's a shop I know you'll just love. Let's hit it up!"

Vee looked at her adoptive sister, uncertain. Before she could voice her thoughts, Luz repositioned her arm so it linked with Vee's arm, and the human dragged the basilisk to the shop in question.

The shop Luz took Vee to was just a simple illusionist trinket shop. It wasn't anything to write home about, but for a reason, Vee was fixated on the items. She gingerly picked up an orb the size of a baseball. The orb glowed, and a picture of an elegant dress appeared.

"OWW!" Vee marveled at the image.

Luz looked at her adopted sister, smiling. She was glad she could show Vee that the realm she was created/born in wasn't the same place she fled years ago.

"And here I thought one human here was bad," a familiar voice snarked, "But two? I think we need to call in pest control."

Luz groaned, knowing who that voice belonged to, and looked at Vee. She noticed the basilisk didn't react to the remark or probably didn't care about it, not being human. Luz took some comfort in that and turned and glared at Boscha.

(SC)

"...What's it like?" Boscha suddenly asked.

Luz looked at the three-eyed witch and saw her looking at her curiously. The human witch thought about the question and then groaned.

With her identity as Human Witch Kuuga public knowledge, many witches and demons had been curious about her transformation abilities. She lost count of how many times someone had approached her, curious about how she could transform in such a manner.

Luz shivered as she remembered a post she found on Pentagram about her transformation. There were many theories about how she could change, and while most were harmless, certain ones were so out there they were almost cringe-worthy.

"...Why do you want to know?" Luz asked.

Boscha's curiosity gave way to anger, and she scoffed as she looked away. "I'm just trying to pass the time," she retorted, "That's all."

Luz growled as she sat up, ignoring the pain in her side. Maybe it was everything catching up with her. Or maybe she was just tired of putting on with Boscha's attitude. Whatever the reason, she had reached her limits.

"What's your problem?" Luz shouted. "I have never done anything to you, but you go out of your way to get in my face, even before we learn Belos's endgame! Even now, all you seem to like doing is making my life hard. So, just tell me, what did I ever do to you!"

Boscha snapped her head in Luz's direction, and the human saw the anger in the witch's eyes had grown tenfold. The potionist jumped to her feet and stormed over to Luz.

"You want to know, human?" Boscha growled and angrily pointed at Luz. "You're the problem!"

Luz looked at the witch, her anger mixing with her confusion, and stared at her. Boscha saw this, and her rage got worse. Thankfully, the sports player took a few breaths to calm herself before she explained.

"Humans are supposed to be weak; humans are supposed to be fragile! Humans aren't supposed to be able to do magic! You're everything that Emperor's Belos said you weren't!"

Luz couldn't keep the disgust off her face when Boscha mentioned the former emperor. After everything was said and done, the CATTs found some of Philip's old labs, and in one was a plan to paint humans in a bad light. It turns out that Philip had, ten years before appearing as Belos, started rumors that humans were inferior to witches.

It didn't take much to figure out that Philip used that plot to give him more justification for his plans to get rid of witches with his draining spell.

Boscha must have seen the look on Luz's face as she said in her defense, "I know how I sound. But it doesn't change that everything changed the second you got here. Do you know how scary it is to have everything you know change so suddenly and keep changing?"

Luz stared at Boscha for a second, sighed, and slowly brought her knees to her chest. She looked down at the ground, a far-away look to her eyes.

Boscha was slightly caught off guard by this sudden shift. She had expected the human to say something about the witch hunter, not collapse in on herself.

"...Yeah," Luz said in a near whisper, "I know better than anyone how change can be scary."

The human looked at the witch, and Boscha was a little surprised when she saw the pain in the human's eyes.

"I learned that the man who raised me was my stepdad," Luz continued, "I didn't know that until I began having dreams and told my mami about them. I didn't even know the face of my real dad until not too long ago. But I get my power from my real dad."

Luz looked down at her waist, thinking of the belt she could summon at a moment's notice, and sighed. She hugged her legs tighter to her chest and looked at Boscha. Again, the young potionist was taken aback by the look in the human's eyes.

"So yeah," the human witch retorted, "I know how scary change can be. But I don't use that as an excuse to pick on people to make myself feel better!"

Boscha stared at Luz awkwardly for a second. She didn't know how to respond to what Luz just told her. But she heard a rumbling noise above them before she could say anything. She looked up and saw the ceiling about to give away.

Luz heard the noise and looked up. She gasped when she saw the ceiling giving away. Without much thought about the pain in her side, she jumped to her feet and hurried over to Boscha just as a large part of the ceiling came down on them.

(30 minutes ago)

"What do you want Boscha?" Willow asked sourly.

Boscha scoffed as she ignored the question and scanned the group. She frowned when she saw Vee looking out from behind Luz. The three-eyed witch grinned when she saw the fear in the second "human's" eyes and began getting closer.

"so," Boscha said condescendingly, " what's another loser human doing here?"

Luz looked over her shoulder, saw her adopted sister scared, and growled. She looked at Boscha, ready to tear into her when a familiar voice shouted into the air.

"HUMAN WITCH KUUGA!"

Everyone in the market immediately gave the knight captain of the Burning Knights room as he strolled into the area, sword held high. He looked around, scanning the area fiercely.

Luz quickly distanced herself from her friends as the knight approached. Captain Braddock saw his prey and walked in a near sprint to the girl. Once he was about five feet from her, he lowered his sword to his side.

"Human Witch Kuuga," the captain spoke in a formal manner, "I have come here today to challenge you in a Dual of Rights. If you win, I'll leave this island for the rest of my life. If I shall be the victor, you shall stand down and allow my Order to take our spoils."

Voices began to raise and mumble things as Luz looked over her shoulder. She saw her friend giving her their support, and a smile appeared on her face. She looked back at the knight captain, and her body tensed up when she saw Braddock had a spell circle ready.

Before Luz could act, the knight captain thrust his hand out, and the spell circle was thrown at her. Luz tried to jump out of the circle's path but wasn't fast enough. The spell circle wrapped around Luz's right wrist, and a golden chain appeared, connecting Luz and the knight captain.

The chin disappeared after a second, and Luz looked at her wrist in confusion.

"THAT'S AN EVERLASTING OATH!" Amity screamed in surprise. "But how did he cast it from a distance?"

Captain Braddock scoffed and looked at Amity. "Young heir," he said coldly, "My Order created the Bonding Oath, so we knew more about it than anyone else today."

The burning knight held up his sword, and blue fire erupted around him, changing him into his monster form.

Luz growled as she thrust her hands to her waist. A second later, the Arcle appeared on Luz's waist, and she reposited her hands, her left hand over the device, and her right hand aligned with her left shoulder.

Luz brought her right arm out and moved her left arm to her side, palm facing up and fingers slightly bent. "Henshin!" she screamed and thrust her right hand into her left.

She lightly pressed down, and the stone on her belt glowed red. Luz thrust her arms to her side, and her Kuugs Mighty Form materialized around.

The knight captain made the first move, rushing forward with a thrusting jab. Luz countered by taking a half-a-step to her right and clothlined the knight when he ran by her. Luz pressed her attack, pushing her foe into the ground.

The knight captain grunted but shrugged off the attack and tried to stab Luz in her right side. Luz jumped back, only to gasp when the blade of her opponent grew and chased her. She slapped the blade to the right, and it turned into abomination matter.

The human witch didn't have time to think about this; the knight captain got to her feet and charged. He tried to shoulder-check Luz, but she jumped out of the way, shifting into her Dragon Form.

Captain Braddock spun around on his right heel and thrust his sword out. The entire item turned into abomination matter, stretching and twisting into a lance before it hardened into metal.

Luz screamed when the lance stuck her right side, sparks flying as she was sent flying across the market. She came down on some poor soul's stand, groaning. She tried to work through the pain as she looked at her opponent as he charged.

Suddenly, the LightChaster came out of nowhere and hit the knight, sending him flying. The human witch looked at the empty vehicle in confusion.

"Luz!" she heard Amity call. "I installed a voice command feature on your bike! Call for one of your weapon bases!"

Luz wanted to look at her girlfriend and saw a controller in her hands. But she didn't have the time to think about anything as she saw Braddock readied himself for another charge.

"Staff!" Luz called to her bike.

She heard a few mechanical noises, and the back of her seat opened, ejecting the item. Luz jumped, catching her weapon base, and gave it a twirl to turn into her Dragon Staff.

She landed and intercepted Braddock's thrust, knocking him to the side with a downward swing. Luz then jabbed her staff into Braddock's chest, and he doubled over, grunting.

Luz pulled back her staff, ready to strike the knight in the head, when Braddock made a spell circle right in front of her. Gray dust exploded from the spell circle and formed around Luz's eyes, blinding her.

The human witch screamed as she stumbled back, clawing at the dust with her free hand. Her hand went through the dust but did nothing to clear her vision.

Braddock used this opening to put some distance between him and his foe. He next pointed his lance forward, and the weapon turned into abomination matter. The lance was reshaped into a smaller size with a sharper tip before turning solid again.

The knight captain let out a warcry as he charged, aiming his lance right at the human witch's head.

Luz heard the cry and took a deep breath to center herself. Everything faded to black around her, and she focused on her sense of hearing. She focused in the direction she thought she heard the cry and soon heard his footsteps.

Luz spun around on her left foot, the knight running past her. She continued her spin and struck the knight's back. Braddock lost control and ran into a pottery stand, some items on the stand shattering on impact.

Luz got into a fighting stance as the knight captain pulled himself free from the stand. He faced his foe and pointed his lance forward. He launched himself forward again but without the warcry this time.

Luz parried the attack and twisted her wrist so the end of her staff struck the captain across the face. Braddock managed to brace himself when he fell to the ground and rolled away from his foe before she could attack.

The knight captain got to his feet and pointed his lance forward. He noted that his blinding dust was seconds away from fading and decided to make his final move. He turned his lance into abomination matter and changed it back into his saber. He took up a fencing stance and began circling clockwise.

Luz sensed her opponent's movements and began circling opposite the captain. The two closed in on each other as a crowd started to gather. Among them was a cloaked figure who was watching the captain specially.

The blinking dust on Luz had completely faded, and she tightened her grip as she stared at her opponent.

The two were in striking distance, and Braddock made the first move. He thrust his sword out, aiming for Luz's neck. The human witch saw this and ducked. The captain was surprised by this, half-expecting his foe to jump over his blow. She sprang up and swung her staff, catching her opponent by the hand.

Braddock cried as his sword went flying in a random direction. He tried to jump away from Luz, but the human witch jabbed the knight in the chest. Braddock doubled over, groaning. He tried to shrug off the blow but couldn't.

Luz also saw this and decided it was time to end things. She stepped back and brought her staff close to her foe's face.

"It's over," Luz told her foe calmly. "Now, say it."

Captain Braddock looked defiantly at the human witch and clicked his tongue. Luz saw that her foe wouldn't admit defeat and couldn't help but sigh.

Luz brought her staff out in front of her and began twirling it, gathering energy at both ends. Before she could finish charging, a strange noise sounded. Luz stopped and looked around, wondering what the noise was.

Suddenly, small explosions went off, some around the area, some under it. Everyone began panicking, especially when the ground started shaking. One final explosion, the largest one, went off, and the shaking got worse.

"THOSE EXPLOSIONS DISTABLIZED THE GROUND!" Hunter suddenly screamed at the gathering. "EVERYONE GET AWAY!"

The crowd broke and fled as quickly as possible. Luz looked back at Braddock and saw him gone, a spell circle fading into the ground.

"LUZ!" Amity called urgently, "WE NEED TO GO!"

Luz didn't look at her girlfriend; instead, she hurried over to the LightChaser, turning her staff back into its base form and quickly storing it. She got on the bike and began hurrying out of the area.

She was half away out of the area when she caught sight of Boscha. The Potionist was struggling to stay upright, cuddling her unconscious Palisman close to her chest. Luz didn't hesitate; she went straight to her rival.

"Get on!" Luz screamed, "And don't argue!"

Boscha didn't argue and headed over to the human. She had just jumped onto Luz's bike when the ground suddenly gave away. The human and witch screamed as they fell, and Luz twisted her body so she could hopefully shield Boscha from the worst of the fall.

"LUZ!" all of her friends screamed.

(SC)

"AMITY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Gus screamed in distress. "We were told to let the construction witches handle this!"

Amity wasn't listening to her friend; she was too busy making her abomination fist bigger. She was about to command it to punch the blocked hole where Luz and Boscha disappeared when Hunter warped in front of her.

He grabbed both of her wrists and applied enough pressure that it broke Amity's concentration, causing her abomination construct to break. Amity began to fight Hunter to free herself. But with his height and build, not to mention Amity's current state, she couldn't break free.

"Let go, Hunter!" she screamed desperately. "This is taking too long. We don't know how hurt Luz could be!"

"And what if you end up hurting her worse!" Hunter screamed.

Amity stopped her struggling and looked at Hunter with wide eyes. Hunter saw the fight leave his friend and let her go. Amity fell to her knees and could only stare at the sky.

Hunter looked at Willow and the plant witch got his silent message. Nodding, she walked over and kneeled next to her friend. Willow hugged Amity and began comforting her with reassuring words.

Hunter watched his friends for a few seconds and sighed. He walked over to the cave-in and looked down at it. The grimwalker frowned as he looked at the collapsed street, then looked at Mason.

"How's things?" Hunter asked the ex-coven head.

The construction witch glanced at the ex-Golden Guard and then looked back at the hole. Hunter also turned his attention back to the hole. He watched as two witches slowly levitated two pieces of road, fusing them into one chuck.

The witches brought the fused piece out of the hole, and another witch took it and carried it away.

"It shouldn't be more than a few more minutes," Mason finally answered, "...If we don't have any more interruptions."

Hunter didn't respond to that last part and focused on the work in front of him. Though it took only roughly 12 minutes to clear out the safely clear the hole, it felt like hours to Hunter. He couldn't even take comfort in the fact that there was an old cave under the street they were on.

"WE'RE CLEAR!" Mason said when they had uncovered the hole.

Immediately, Amity, Willow, and Gus were at the hole, looking down it with Hunter. Mason made a spell circle and shined a light beam spell down the opening.

"...No," Amity gasped when she spotted the LightChaser near a pile of rubble.

She could also see Boscha's Palisman crawling over the rubble.

Within a flash, Amity had summoned her staff and flew down to the cave. She jumped off Ghost and hurried to the pile. She summoned two abominations.

"Abominations!" she screamed desperately. "DIG!"

The two mud golems moaned/groaned and did as instructed. Just as the creations were about to begin, the pile shook. Luz rose out of the rubble in her Kuuga Titan Form a second later.

"LUZ!" Amity screamed happily.

She was about to run over and hug her girlfriend when Luz suddenly collapsed. Amity gasped as she watched her girlfriend fall, rushing to her as the human reverted back to normal.

"I gotcha, Noceda," Boscha said as she caught Luz and groaned at her sudden shift in weight, which almost caused her to fall. Then she looked at Amity, "Mind helping me, Blight? I'm not at my best, and your girlfriend isn't light."

"...Not phat!" Luz muttered drunkenly before she passed out.

Amity stood there with a 'dear in the headlight' expression as she stared at the sight before her. Not only did Bosch just help Luz, but she was showing kindness to her. It was too much for the abomination witch to process.

Boscha scowled when she noticed her ex-friend not moving. "Blight!" She nearly screeched.

"...Right," Amity replied.

She then hurried over to them and took Luz's right arm. She slung it over her neck and took a second to adjust for Luz's weight before she and Boscha carried her over to a flight of stairs a witch was making.

(From the Research Notes of Flora D'Splora)

This is truly a disturbing piece of information I have come across during research. If what I saw was true, then these knights were able to use a TENTH form of magic!
As I mentioned before, the knights engage in a blood-burning ritual. I first believed that it was just a ritual to boast their magic, but now I believe the ritual gives them their magic, aided by that seed they found.
I now theorize that using this ritual would do something to alter a witch drastically. But what changes they are, I don't know; the mural didn't go into detail about the results of the ritual.
I'm reaching the end…both in the history of the knights and myself. My food ran out a day and a half ago, and I could feel my strength fading. But I will press on! If I could figure out where this order began, maybe whoever finds my notes would benefit from what I learned!

(G Corner)

Well, this took on a different life. When writing this chapter, I planned to have Captain Braddock be able to change his sword into weapons that could match Luz's forms. I changed it because I was reaching the word limit I had set for this story.
Also, this has been my headcanon for a long time, but I can't help but feel that at some point, Belos began a smear campaign against humans to further justify his schemes against the witches.