Chapter 3: Trial by Prejudice

One moonlit night, Lawrence was sitting on the sofa by the window. He was tapping his foot on the wood floor as he was consistently reading over a book. It appeared to be of vital importance, because his face looked as though he had been reading it for over an hour. And it turned out he wasn't the only one.

"Daddy…?"

He heard tiny footsteps going down the stairs. The old witch looked up and saw his little Ruby, wearing a small crimson robe and holding a small stuffed doll close to her. It had long green hair with a brown skin complexion, and even a cute witch's hat. It was an Azura plushie doll. She looked very frightened, her countenance a clear indication of terror. All the same, Lawrence put on a soft smile to reassure her as he spoke up.

"Ah. I thought I heard the pitter-patter of little feet."

Judy only continued to walk down to the bottom as she meekly replied.

"I had another nightmare… The bad man was going to get me…"

Play Final Fantasy XV Music: "Song of the Stars"

Lawrence's grin wrinkled by an inch. It wasn't easy to hear that she had a nightmare. But he wasn't going to tell her to go back to bed. She needed to be attended to. Something Lilith apparently never seemed to consider… But he wasn't going to blame her, not when she had her duties as Head of the Emperor's Coven. He sighed fretfully and placed his hand upon an empty spot on the sofa.

"Come, sit."

Judy toddled off to her father before she put her stubby little hands on the sofa, lifted herself up into it, and turned herself around to face her father. She noticed a book was in his hand, and her curiosity was grabbed.

"What's that book you're reading, daddy?"

Lawrence looked at his young daughter, taking notice of her fascination. Normally, he wouldn't have shown it to anyone else, but he didn't want her to be frightened anymore.

"Just an old story. About the Shadow Coven."

Judy was understandably confused. She'd never heard of any coven like that in Hexside.

"What's the Shadow Coven?"

Lawrence held his arm around Judy and pulled her close as he hushed her gently and spoke just as softly.

"Before I tell you, keep it a whisper. Alright?"

Judy nodded to him with her little finger over her grinning face. She couldn't help but smile with how silly her father seemed to be. Nevertheless, it was of great importance.

"Okay."

"Good. Now, you've heard about the Emperor's Coven and their coven system, I'm sure. However, what the official history doesn't tell you is that long ago, during the Savage Ages, there was only one. And that one coven was all they needed."

Lawrence held the book open, showing an odd symbol in both pages. The symbol it held was a black shadowy figure against a white circle background that was twisted, looking like it was swirling around like a swirl used to hypnotize people. And in the middle of the twisted figure was a single bright red eye. She had a feeling what her dad was talking about.

"Is it the Shadow Coven?"

Lawrence rubbed her head as he continued with a beaming smile. Then, he turned to the next page,

"Yes, my little Ruby. Nowadays, there's only rumors. But back then, they were more than rumors. They were our protectors."

To prove it, Lawrence turned the page to show the people from that coven giving people the help they needed, whether it was medicine, construction, you name it. Judy took a fancy to them almost immediately. It was almost like a fairytale for the Boiling Isles itself.

"Wow…"

"They healed the sick, mended the broken, and many more of the like."

Lawrence's face turned a bit somber as he turned to his eager daughter. She noticed this look before he began to tell the darker side of it.

"But alas, not everyone was willing to lend a helping hand. As it turned out, there was one witch who strived for more power, to rule over all. The Wicked Witch."

The book showed an outline of this ferocious monster. He was donning armor with black wrappings around his arms and legs. The wrappings on his wrists stopped just outside his fingers, showing the pale skin and long, dagger-like nails. He also carried with him a long, black sword with a red eye in the center of it. And the helmet had two pronged horns with purple markings and glowing red eyes within them with white hair flowing from underneath it. Judy gasped in shock at this monster as her father turned the page to show Belos conversing with the witches who protected the town, holding his staff in hand.

"He did not believe that Witches' magic should be restricted by any means at all, using force and dark powers beyond anyone's comprehension to get his way. As such, he declared war when Belos the Sage arrived in a town and tried to share what the Titan had spoken to him. He proved too great a threat to everyone, so Belos asked this coven for help in defeating the Wicked Witch."

Lawrence turned to the next page, showing Belos triumphing over his adversary, engaging in a magic duel with his staff firing red magic at him as he fired black magic with his open hand with the other witches joining in to help him. The next page afterwards showed the Wicked Witch bound in chains and hauled away amidst the ruins of the town laid to waste by the battle.

"And with their assistance, they succeeded. This Wicked Witch is now locked away in the Conformatorium, never to be heard from again. As for the witches who put him there, they realized where their purpose lay: in the shadows."

Judy looked at her father, filled with disbelief about it.

"But why? Didn't they help save everybody?"

"Yes, Judy. They have. But after the Wicked Witch's attack, they realized that their own magic is far too dangerous, and they unanimously decided that it is better left in the hands of those who are willing to use such magic responsibly. So, they let Belos and his Emperor's Coven establish order and peace from the Savage Ages. And as for them, whatever should happen, they will watch over those people of the Boiling Isles, watching from the shadows to aid the Isles when their moment of need returns."

Judy's eyes lit up in wonder when her father finished before he gently stroked her hair.

"So, remember, my little ruby. The next time you are in the dark, don't be afraid. There just may be someone watching over you, waiting to protect you."

Judy beamed brightly at her father before she replied with a strong nod.

"Okay, daddy. I'll be brave."

End Final Fantasy XV Music: "Song of the Stars"


In the present, Ben and Judy were on their way home. It had been some time since the unexpected letter from someone who shot at them. And it was meant for Ben, of all people. Luz, Willow, and Gus went to the Owl House to drop the human girl off, but the whole way back, he was trying to figure out if it was because he was human, or he did something no human was capable of in the first place. It had to be both. He kept reading the letter over and over. At this point, he was memorizing it more than figuring it out.

"I don't know, Judy… are you sure that screech knows about it?"

"He's the one who kept using the pass phrase. I wouldn't be surprised if he did know of it. Besides, he's an expert on riddles. He taught me a few himself."

That information piqued Ben's curiosity, raising his eyebrow. He knew plenty of riddles himself, some of which he couldn't figure out. But he had a feeling her riddles would be different than his.

"Really? Well, answer me this, then. What do you put in a barrel to make it lighter?"

Judy scoffed at Ben's attempt at a challenge.

"Pfft. Easy. A hole."

Ben became a bit flabbergasted. So much so that he ended up speaking to himself.

"Damn it… I should've known…"

Judy overheard his words and giggled from his reaction.

"Sounds like you just wanted to know the answer."

Ben made a quick rebound.

"And thanks to you, I have that answer."

"I don't know everything Ben."

"Well, you sure as hell know more than me."

Judy further showed amusement with Ben as she laughed with joy. Although, she was a bit worried for him.

"Still… I can't believe you'd stand up for Luz like that. And now, you don't get to learn magic. Are you… Are you sure you're okay with that?"

Ben held his face down, recalling that grim detail. The truth was, he was the one who decided not to enroll in Hexside without Luz in it. And the fact that Bump tried to invite him to hexside despite him being a human must have had something to do with Lawrence. Speaking of, he began to remember the words he asked the boy to tell Bump.

"Before anything else, talk to Principal Bump. He's not an easy person, so when you see him, tell him Lawrence said 'in tenebris, frater.' He'll know what it means."

Apparently, he knew a lot about it. More so than he let on. He would have seen through that disguise right away. He must have. It was said most witches can't tell the difference, but he's certain he could never pull one over the Principal. He did look rather suspicious before he said the phrase. How much did they know, he wondered. The boy planned to get to the bottom of it, and soon. The fact that he still doesn't know what he is was chipping away at him.

"Actually, Judy… what I'm more worried about is what the hell I'm supposed to be. I never knew about this place until a few days ago, and suddenly, I'm capable of doing that… that weird magic. And somehow, I can talk to animals. Or is it that they can talk to me?"

Judy made a rather confused glance toward him. She was there when Ember nearly killed the poor Hippogriff, but it didn't make any more sense to her than it did for him.

"I've never known a witch who can do that."

"And that's exactly the point! There's practically nobody else here who can even begin to help me! Whether I'm in here or back home, I'm…! I'm just the same as I've always been… an outcast."

Judy had a hard time believing that. In the few days since she'd known him, Ben proved he was far different than what the other humans were like. He even refused to go to Hexside just so Luz didn't have to be alone. She placed her hand on his shoulder to reassure him.

"You know… you don't seem like an outcast to me."

Ben felt grateful for her assurance, but he knew it would take more than that to fully help him through it. It was a good morale boost, though.

"Thanks, Judy… I just wish I knew what I was…"

Judy looked up ahead on the wood clearing, seeing that they were relatively closer to Clawthorne Manor.

"Well, maybe we can start with figuring out this riddle. Dad might know."

Ben looked back at the paper he held in his hand, vexed once again by the very words that his eyes read over and over again. There had to be something he was missing. But what…? Perhaps it might be the best thing after all.

"Yeah. maybe…"

When they reached Cawworth, they saw the Hippogriff sitting out in its stable where it always was. It was recovering a little better than how it looked the first day they brought it here. Ben came to it and gently stroked its feathery body to check on the creature.

"Hey, boy. You doing okay?"

The Hippogriff grumbled pleasantly before it replied.

"Yes."

Ben was further stupefied by the fact it can talk to him. Yet nobody else seemed to comprehend it, which further baffled him.

"Great…"

Ben ran over to the Raven House beside Judy as the House Demon did the usual pass phrase.

"Greetings, young witchling. To enter this home, answer me thus: when does the crow fly? THE CROW FLIES!"

That time, Ben was ready for his screech, blocking his ears to keep the bird from irritating him. However, Cawworth took notice of something in his hands. It then creeped closer to the boy, nearly making him bug his eyes out.

"But! To enter this Coven, you must answer this: 'I can be as big as you are, but I am lighter than a feather. I always follow you until it gets dark. What am I?'"

Ben and Judy were a bit baffled. This wasn't the riddle they came to expect.

"Huh."

"That's… different from what I usually hear."

Ben had a thought come to his mind. If anyone knew what the riddle was about, Judy would.

"Do you know that one?"

Judy turned to Benjamin and gave him the answer.

"No. I told you, I don't know everything."

Ben put his hand on his chin, putting on his own thinking face. There had to be a reason Cawworth decided to act this way out of nowhere.

"Hmm… does it have anything to do with–?"

The moment Ben opened the paper, though, he saw that it had become blank!

"What the hell?"

"What's wrong?"

The girl went close to Ben and saw only one word fade back in: "Shadow".

"Shadow? What is going on?"

That's when Judy realized what the answer was. Could this stranger have given them the answer? It couldn't be that simple, could it? And what exactly was the Coven Cawworth talked about? Either way, perhaps that word could be the key to it all. All they had to do was speak it.

"Cawworth, is the answer Shadow?"

In response Cawworth went close to Ben and Judy, opening its beak wide before suddenly chomping down on them and swallowing them whole! Then, the Raven House pulled itself back on the door knocker and smacked his lips.

"You've passed the first trial. But from here on out, many others will begin…"

A few seconds later, after a dramatic moment of silence, Cawworth burped.

"Oh, pardon me."


Meanwhile, Ben and Judy were sliding down a tube that blotted out any view of the light. The children were of course a bit terrified from the beginning. But the longer they went down the slide, the more Judy seemed to enjoy it. She even started to hold her hands across her chest, like she was going to dive into a pool.

"Hey… this isn't so bad."

Ben, however, wasn't having any. Faced with the unknown, he might as well be hurtling toward his death. In a place called the Boiling Isles, it was a likely scenario.

"Get me out of here!"

Fortunately, for them, mostly for Ben, they reached the end of the tunnel, landing on their feet. The two of them stood together with Judy drawing a breath of adrenaline with a smile on her face while Ben was close to hyperventilating. Judy noticed the panic on Ben's face and was a little concerned about it.

"Are you okay, Ben?"

Ben kept drawing out his breath before he raised and lowered his hand. He was meaning to give her a signal to let her know he was alright. But Judy couldn't interpret it.

"Is that a human sign language?"

Ben calmed himself down, though not an easy task after going down a tube of death, barely able to stop his hyperventilating before he answered.

"Yeah… I'm fine. I'm just glad I didn't die…"

The duo looked around the place they landed in, more than confused about where they landed.

"Where are we, anyway?"

Judy had her theory about it. This place was as much a surprise to her as it was to him. The whole room was dark with a glowing dark blue fire in the center of the room. And above it was a black and white flag. The symbol it held was a black shadowy figure against a white circle background that was twisted, looking like it was swirling around like a swirl used to hypnotize people. And in the middle of the twisted figure was a single bright red eye. Judy began to piece it all together, recalling Cawworth's words to them the instant he saw the paper she held in his hands.

"All things considered, I think I know what Coven Cawworth told us about."

"What Coven?"

As if to answer, a familiar voice spoke out to them, making the two of them turn around to see the figure.

"Benjamin. Judith."

He wasn't dressed quite like how he was this morning. Granted, he looked more or less the same, but there was something… imposing about him. He was dressed in a darker black tunic than the usual Hexside outfits, a plain Pearl brooch on his chest area, black slick boots, and fingerless black gloves with the faint symbol of the coven on it. It looked just like the flag that hung about in such an unknown place. Lawrence looked towards the two of them and made a smile reminiscent of that of a showman's.

"Welcome to the Shadow Coven."

Ben couldn't believe what he was hearing. Of all the covens, he only saw nine of them. And not one of them ever came close to the alleged Shadow Coven's own sigil. Not even Bump spoke of it before, so he was thrown in quite a loop, as if he hadn't been through that already. He was still learning about the Demon Realm itself to begin with. Even Judy was thrown in for a loop about it.

"Dad?! You're a part of this coven?!"

Lawrence looked at Judy and gave her a soft smile.

"Didn't think your old man was so cavalier before, did you?"

Ben was just as flummoxed about it all.

"Wait. The Shadow Coven?"

Judy turned to Ben to explain it to him. He may have learned about the Coven system, The Emperor's Coven, and the 9 mine covens. But this one was the one thing he had no idea about.

"My dad used to tell me stories about it when I was a kid. It's the one coven that wasn't part of the coven system; a secret task force."

"But Principal Bump's pamphlet didn't talk about anything like this."

Lawrence offered up his explanation as the children looked at him.

"Because it is secret. What part of that didn't you understand?"

Ben's face blanched, realizing he'd asked a silly question.

"Oh. Yeah…"

"Come."

Lawrence led Ben and Judy down the dark hallway, though the children were still confused, especially Judy. She'd never imagined that her father would be a part of the Shadow Coven, but to her, it looks like an underground version of Bonesborough. Ben also happened to be impressed, but he felt it reminded him more of Kamar-Taj, the locale from his favorite movie, Doctor Strange. Either way, they took a look around the hallway which lit up with blue torches. On one end, he saw someone taking what he would suggest to be important documents. They appeared to be scrolls, many of which seemed to be made a long time ago. For how long, Ben couldn't figure, but in the back of his head, he'd think it would've been over a century at least. Judy seemed to be rather interested in it. In fact, she almost seemed excited.

"You guys have all these scrolls?"

"Yes, Judy. But those are rather dangerous scrolls. And we all know what's best to do with those."

Ben made a guess about the scrolls in question.

"Burn them?"

Suddenly, Lawrence laughed out loud, catching the two off-guard. A few seconds later, his laughter died down and sighs took its place.

"Ah, that's a good one, Benjamin. Good one. But no. We store them in the forbidden stacks, where nobody else will access them. As such, we have a connection to the librarian here, as well. We'll get to that later."

In another room, Ben and Judy saw someone practicing spells. That witch in particular was exceptionally tall and muscular with a massive chest, shoulders, and arms. He also had blonde hair (which had receded in his middle-age), fair skin, and blue eyes. He was also dressed in the same tunic Lawrence wore.

The witch drew a tan colored spell circle before plunging his arm through it, causing it to glow in the same color. With that, he began to pull his arm back with a steady grunt before throwing it right at a stack of bricks, punching a clean hole right through it. After which, the witch blew at his arm, making his enhancement disappear as he looked at the work he pulled off. Ben couldn't help but whistle at the strength he'd shown.

"Hot damn, that's a good punch."

Lawrence saw Ben's interest and pointed it out, almost as if he was the tour guide. Perhaps he was…

"That was construction magic in the making."

Ben and Judy looked up at Lawrence, taken aback by this knowledge as they questioned him simultaneously.

"Construction Magic?"

Ben was still very much thrown for a loop on that matter entirely, especially since it was the opposite of construction.

"But wasn't that more like Destruction Magic?"

"Of course. But you see, once their bile sac is fully nurtured, any witch can utilize their magic's full potential."

Then, they passed over the next room where a minty-green skinned witch was mixing together various potions in a lab. One of them was colored red while the other was a bright blue.

Aside from the same tunic he saw the brawnier member wear, he also had square glasses over his red eyes, and most noticeably, a bald head. The overall appearance reminded him of a creature in one of the Lord of the Rings books named Gollum. The only differences were that he had clothes and that he had better speech. Yet, the same paranoia was there.

"Careful now, Farkas. The slightest drop of the mixture is potent enough to— WHO'S THERE?!"

Farkas quickly turned around behind him, expecting someone behind him. While it wasn't necessarily right behind him, Ben was caught off-guard by his sudden outburst. Lawrence took notice of that, but he didn't see it as any concern.

"That is Farkas. I wouldn't worry about him. He's naturally paranoid, but his mind represents infinite possibilities as far as his potions go."

Judy kept her gaze on Farkas, wondering if he's had any interaction.

"Does that guy get outside much?"

Farkas was about to drop one potion into the other before he turned around and shouted again.

"YOUR LEGS! STOP MOVING YOUR LEGS!"

Lawrence gave out the most likely answer to him in response.

"No. Not once. We've tried, but he hates the sunlight. Treats it like it's the boiling rain."

Lawrence, Ben (who looked back to Farkas a few seconds in worry for his clearly unstable mind), and Judy continued on down to the hallway. While they did, Ben began to ask his question.

"So, what exactly is the Shadow Coven? I mean, I know it's a task force, but… how?"

Lawrence turned his head to him as he kept walking down the hallway.

"You might not understand this, but simply put, the Shadow Coven has been around since before the Deadwardian era. Back then, the nine Coven systems didn't exist, and even then, we were a task force created to keep the peace in the Boiling Isles from the shadows, no matter who presided over them."

Ben was curious about the situation, bringing it up to her father.

"But if that's true, then why keep all this secret?"

Lawrence quickly turned around to answer him.

"That is classified. You'll understand in time."

The human boy grumbled, a bit peeved that he wouldn't tell him. However, he wondered what the others thought of humans in general. He couldn't imagine it's anything good. He already had a run-in with the Emperor's Coven, one of whom seemed to show the most hatred to him and Luz. Everyone else only showed him and Luz as annoyances, but after Hexside's disaster, he wouldn't believe they'd welcome them back anytime soon.

"And how do they feel about… you know?"

Lawrence already knew he was going to ask that.

"Many of us are naturally weary of humans, especially after today's disaster at Hexside…"

Ben laughed a bit nervously, knowing it would be a long and heavy conversation.

"Regardless, we do not harbor hatred. And this far, you've proven that you're not like your ancestors already. So you have nothing to worry about."

At that point, they stopped at a black door with a brass plaque having Lawrence's name engraved on it, along with the raven symbol just beneath it. Lawrence got out a key from his cloak's pocket and put it into the lock before turning it. After the click that followed, he turned the doorknob and opened it up. The room turned out to be somewhat of an office space, a big spacious room with wallpaper that was brown in spots all over in a way one would find in a hotel hallway. There was also a blood red carpet floor, a big red wood wooden desk on the right side of the room with a big black bookshelf behind it full of old spell books, golden trophies, and what Ben would assume to be Earth knickknacks.

Ben and Judy looked over to the black leather chair with a wood frame that was behind the desk as Lawrence walked over to it. It had a simple wooden frame with a red leather chair in front of the desk, a few family photos hanging on the wall opposite the desk, a dark blue wooden closet with golden handles full of an extra set of fancy suits, medieval weaponry and extra potion glass bottles full of extra potions inside the desk drawers.

There were also 2 abstract sculptures on white pedestals standing in two corners beside the desk, a tacky brass lamp with a colorful lampshade next to the desk on the right side, a big glass window with turquoise blinds over it near the door leading to his office, and on the desk was a green mat, a wooden bird shaped toy that drops its head into a single glass of water and a few stray papers on it, a wooden coat rack behind the door leading into the office, and a ceiling fan hanging on top. Ben was becoming more and more confused by the setting the longer he looked at it. At very least, it was the last thing he expected out of the Demon Realm that didn't care for humans.

"Huh. It's actually pretty nice."

Lawrence sat upon the desk as he spoke to the young man.

"I've been told that the human realm has this kind of setting when one wants to apply for a job."

Once he heard the context, Ben began to realize what he was doing.

"Wait. You mean we're having an interview? And where did you get that information?"

Judy had a theory about it as she spoke up.

"Did Gus tell you about the human room meetings?"

Lawrence got out a piece of paper, as well as glasses from the drawer as he responded.

"First off, yes, you are. Though, it's more of a meeting. And Edalyn told me about it, though for one of her chaotic nature, it came much to her... personal dismay."

Judy couldn't help but giggle at the scene for a brief moment.

"One time, she cursed the Titan for letting me go to Hexside instead of staying with her to learn magic."

Ben couldn't find anything funny about it considering Eda was an outlaw. If anything, she might have dodged a bullet. Considering how her teaching helped them in Hexside's escape, he saw it as an overreaction at worst.

"Your aunt is pretty weird."

"You should see what she does in bed."

Ben gave a massive blush on his face, having a feeling he shouldn't hear that.

"Yeah, how about you don't tell me that?"

"I just meant that she sheds feathers everywhere."

"...Oh. Wait, she sheds feathers?"

Lawrence cleared his throat, getting both of their attention before he continued.

"Anyway, the Shadow Coven has great need for you despite your being human, Benjamin."

Ben was befuddled to hear that the Shadow Coven needed him in place of Judy, which he was told at Hexside.

"Wait, the Shadow Coven, which I've never heard about until today, needs me? I thought it was Judy. She's the one who figured out the riddle."

Lawrence looked to his daughter, surprised that she of all people managed to figure it out. Not that he should expect anything less from her, of course. Thinking back, it actually made sense. But that wasn't the point.

"Yes, she has. But the truth is, Benjamin, you're here in regards to your… mishap at Hexside today."

Ben gulped his throat, immediately assuming the worst to come out of his situation. One day in the Demon Realm, and he's already on the bad side of things. The nervous human tried to explain it all to him.

"About that, Mr. Clawthorne… There's something I need to explain–"

Lawrence raised his finger up, stopping Ben from going on.

"You don't have to go on. Principal Bump already told me everything. Especially the part where you gave up Hexside for the sake of your friend, Luz."

Ben and Judy became astoundingly shaken to hear that, the human especially.

"Wait, you… what? You know about Luz?"

Lawrence nodded to the boy as he answered him bluntly.

"From the Principal, yes."

The boy stammered, trying to make sense out of the whole thing.

"T-Then why aren't you mad at me?"

"What did you think I asked you to tell him the words for?"

Ben's eyes began to widen in realization. He remembered the moment Bump was so suspicious of him until he went and said those words to him.

"Wait… you're telling me he was in on it the whole time?!"

Lawrence held his fingers together as he explained.

"It was more or less a test, Benjamin. And you passed."

Ben sighed in relief, knowing that he somehow passed his test. As for Judy, she was still puzzled.

"But what does that have to do with the Shadow Coven, Dad?"

"Bump also told me about the magic he'd used in the skirmish. It was unlike any traditional magic the Boiling Isles has ever used."

Ben found that part hard to believe, having dealt with a gigantic abomination that could easily have crushed Luz and Willow.

"Are you sure? You guys don't have a coven that could do blue bursts of magic?"

"No. We don't. And I also don't recall any of us 'talking' to animals."

Ben became further flummoxed.

"Wait, were you listening to us surreptitiously?"

"The point is, your kind of magic can't be taught or learned about at Hexside. In fact, you would've been likely to burn it all down in your attempt to understand it."

Ben winced at the thought of it. At the moment though, he couldn't get a "working" spell circle, so he felt it was a bit of an exaggeration. Then again, he did snap at Luz back at the Owl House. He didn't want to risk anything worse than that to happen.

"Fair point."

Judy spoke up beside Ben, wondering what her role could be.

"Is that why I'm here, too, Dad?"

Lawrence nodded to him before he elaborated on why.

"Yes. You've done a good job of protecting him so far, Judy. But even my little Ruby needs help with that."

Judy blushed a bit, embarrassed that her father would bring that part up. Nevertheless, Lawrence continued to drive the point home.

"Luckily, that's where we come in.

Lawrence drew a black spell circle before Ben and Judy's clothes suddenly changed with a poof. When they looked at each other, they noticed they were dressed up just like the others.

"What…?"

"Wait. Dad, does this mean–?"

"Yes, Judith. Benjamin. As of this moment, you're one of us."

As the human was left dumbfounded by this news, Judy's eyes beamed up in excitement, thrilled to be in the Coven she grew up to care so much about. Ben, however, was already getting cold feet.

"Uh… no offense, but what if I were to refuse?"

Lawrence saw the hesitation on his face.

"I won't force it on you if you want to leave. Although, you'll have to wait until the Boiling Rains are through."

Ben blinked his eyes, puzzled by the term itself.

"What is that?"

Knowing full well that he had a limited knowledge of the Boiling Isles, Lawrence placed his hands together as he tried to explain.

"I trust you're familiar with rain in your world?"

"Well, yeah."

"Imagine that, but instead of water, it's boiling acid raining all over you."

Getting the image stuck in his head immediately, Ben became nervous. So much he made his decision right away.

"Initiation it is, then…"


Later on, a meeting was held with every member gathering in front of the blue lantern at the center of the room where Ben and Judy first appeared. Aside from the brawnier witch and Farkas, there were also many more who held a hood over their heads to conceal their identity. The only one who wasn't was Lawrence. He was the one who called the meeting to order.

"I'm sure most of you are all wondering why I've called you here. Simply put, it is because earlier this evening, we have found two new candidates to include in our ranks today. For they have solved the riddle that was given to them following the Emperor's Coven's unannounced visit to Hexside."

This earned intrigued gasps from most of the members present as well as whispers. After a brief time of gasps, Lawrence spoke again, urging them to silence themselves.

"Now, naturally, as is our custom, when I speak your name, you will unveil your hood and reveal yourself for these new candidates."

Lawrence looked left and right at the group for a time before he spoke up.

"Neil Omen."

The witch named Neil Omen walked up beside Lawrence before taking off his hood and revealing his face. It had silver hair, glaring green eyes, and a scar that ran down from the top right side of his head to the lower left of his chin. Ben looked particularly anxious to see such a man. If anything, it felt more like a cult. Then, Lawrence called out the next member.

"Sara Craft."

The woman stepped up beside Nigel on the opposite side. When she pulled her hood down, Sara was revealed to have raven hair at chin length with a fair skin tone and brown eyes. Lawrence turned his attention next to another figure.

"Iántok Espio."

Iántok walked up to the stand beside Sara before taking off his hood. What was revealed underneath turned out to be a tall, middle-aged muscular man with a black skin tone, a Square chin jawline, small golden colored eyes, thick arms and legs, long thick fingers, black long dreadlocks hairstyle, a trim black goatee, a long flat nose, thick bushy eyebrows, a long brown leather belt with a silver belt buckle, and long silver gauntlets.

"Just call me 'Ian'."

Then came the fourth member.

"Toris Induro."

Toris went up next to Ian before removing his hood. Ben recognized him right away. He was the one he saw punching a hole through a wall of bricks earlier. Toris seemed especially eager as he gave Ian a high-five. But of course, there was one other high-ranking member to introduce.

"And finally, Valera Bloodragon."

The woman removed her hood to show her face. She had a chalk white skin tone, a long thin curved body build, short faded violet hair, thick eyebrows, red colored eyes, long pointed elf like ears, two white fangs pointing out of her mouth, a long pointed nose, long skinny arms and legs, and full hips with a D cup bust.

"You know you can call me Val, right, Larry?"

Ian smiled near her.

"Nice one, Val."

Lawrence saw the interaction and sneered, particularly in Val's direction. Under the hood, Ben was surprised that a smoking hot vampire would actually be a part of the Shadow Coven. He even started to blush.

"Wow… she looks so hot…"

Moving on, Lawrence continued with the meeting.

"These members are in charge of these two new recruits for the Shadow Coven, and they are to be treated with every courtesy. I now call upon the new members to remove their hoods. Judith Clawthorne."

Judy stepped up and removed her hood, astounding many of the Shadow Coven. Neil smiled at the young girl, knowing for certain that she would be of help to them. The other members took a fancy to her, too, especially Val. Although, Toris was a bit disappointed as he mumbled a bit.

"They couldn't find anyone with good muscles…?"

Then, came the last recruit.

"And finally, Benjamin Kingston!"

The members murmured amongst themselves in confusion. It was apparent that they've never heard anyone named that. So it came as a surprise to them, including those chosen. After a moment, Ben walked up to stand between Neil and Sara, forming a line of five before anxiously removing his hood, showing his face to the Shadow Coven. They all gasped in surprise as Toris showed shock right away.

"What? A human recruit? Is he serious with this?"

Val showed a look of worry for Benjamin as Sara began to think to herself as she eyed the human while Ian furrowed his eyebrows. Ben began to have second thoughts just as Lawrence spoke up.

"Now, I understand your confusion and unrest. But rest assured, he has as much a right to be here as you do."

Ian spoke up next to interject.

"Oh, I'm sure he does. Since he first came here, you've been keeping tabs on him. And the moment you were certain that he wasn't a threat, you decided to recruit him, which, by the way, is my job. Does that sound about right, Clawthorne?"

Lawrence caught onto his frustrated tone. Ian never did like it when his job was done for him.

"Close, but not quite. This decision wasn't made on a whim like you believe. It was made due to recent events coming to light. This human, in particular, for reasons unknown, has the one thing we all have in common: a bile sac!"

The whole Shadow Coven fell dead silent with aghast looks on their faces. As for Ben, he was more than puzzled: he still never got to figure out how he came to have one in the first place. Toris spoke of his own surprise next, still reeling in disbelief that he of all people seemed to have one.

"But Larry, with all due respect, no other human ever got one. So how could this one have it?"

Ben wanted to know as much as he did.

"Uh, yeah. I'd like to know that, too."

Lawrence was about to get to that.

"It's only a theory. But it is possible that one of our own, though I can't say who for sure, has actually decided to mate with a human."

The crowd murmured their surprise, stuck in their disbelief. It even struck Ben, most of all. His eyes widened at the thought of the idea. Looking back, it seemed to make sense why he had the magic he did. But how could that be possible? He never noticed any pointy ears on her before. Could that even be possible…? It can't be. He couldn't imagine anyone willing to marry that abusive upstart of a father… Of course, Neil wasn't really one to welcome him so quickly.

"So you're implying that this boy, this human, could possibly learn any magic?"

Lawrence turned around to Neil and gave him a glare.

"Of course he can. He's only recently awakened his bile sac in times of dire situations, not to mention that he was willing to go toe-to-toe with the Emperor's Coven to protect those dear to him. If he could do that, I'm sure he can handle this, too."

While Ben wasn't sure how to feel about Lawrence sticking his neck out for him the way he was, Sara spoke up her objection to this.

"But he doesn't even know how to use a bile sac."

"Which is precisely why I'm assigning you five to their care. To train him, to help him control his magic."

All the same, Neil still continued to doubt him.

"But he can't possibly be the answer to…!"

Neil paused for a moment when Lawrence glared at him. He got the sense that he shouldn't overstep.

"Ahem, our dilemma. Letting him stay in the Demon Realm is one thing, but trusting a boy like him with any magic is another! He's just nothing more than an accident!"

The members started to murmur in agreement with Neil. Ben didn't take a liking to him at all. The way he sounded, he didn't like the very idea he existed at all… Judy saw the look in his eye and tried to cheer him up, only for Lawrence to stab the blunt end of his staff to the ground, drawing silence from his members before he spoke with a cold tone.

"If you had truly learned anything, Neil, you'd know by now. There are no accidents. Or did you perhaps forget that?"

The two of them stared at each other in silence, Neil more furiously before Lawrence concluded the meeting.

"As I said, these recruits are to be treated with every courtesy. No exceptions. They are to report to the training hall and practice their magic. This meeting is adjourned."

As most of the Coven members left, the ones remaining were the seven of them. Ben's face began to frown as he thought back at the picture of his mother he always looked at. He could only think of one thing in his head: was he an accident? Did his mother abandon him because he wasn't like her?

Judy was stuck in the middle, faced with an enormous bombshell just like he was. While it did explain how he got his magic, it still couldn't describe how Ben must be feeling at this moment. She wanted to help Ben through this, but the problem was she didn't know how. How could she ever relate to him at this moment?

Sara noticed their worries herself. While other witches had a problem with humans, she personally didn't think much of them. And yet, she had to wonder why he would look so glum if he agreed to this. Perhaps his lineage may have something to do with this, she thought. Her faroff look began to show suspicion as she kept her eyes on the human.


Later on, Ben was walking solemnly with Judy beside him in the hallway. It was like a dungeon lit up with dark blue torches. He's been like this ever since Neil spoke against him being among them. It was one thing to say that he was a human, and it's more or less the case, but to say that of all things? How could anyone be so brash? No. The better question for him is ,'what made him think this coven would be any different?' Judy could tell that something was eating away at him. She may not know how to help, but the least she could do was try. What kind of friend would she be if she didn't?

"Great… whether I'm in here or out there… Why am I not surprised? 'We don't harbor hatred', my ass..."

Judy went up to the bitter human and held her hand on his, making him stop his rant to turn over to her. She had a rather adamant look on her face.

"Ben, you know I'm here for you, right? You can talk to me if you need to."

Ben appreciated the effort on her part; at least someone cared about him. But even then, he couldn't find someone else, anyone really, that can ever fit in his shoes. There's Luz, but she's back at the Owl House, and he's who-knows-where.

"Thanks, but I'm fine. The sooner I get this over with, the better."

Ben moved up a little farther ahead from Judy, who still showed concern for her friend. When he reached the door, however, he stopped himself. It was a plain white door with a window on it. He'd thought the door would be bigger and more imposing. But that wasn't what stopped him, confusing as it was.

He started to reconsider showing up at all. If nobody wanted him here, then why bother? However, after a small moment, he rethought his decision. It's not like he could go to Hexside. He didn't want to go behind her back, not after what he'd said to her.

Whatever Ben was supposed to be, whoever his mother truly was, he knew there's one thing he wasn't: a hypocrite. Ben took a deep breath and prepared for the worst as he pushed the doors open. Inside, Ben's eyes nearly dropped at the disreputable sight which met him and Judy's eyes.

It was a big dark brown wooden room that looked worn out. It was chock full of scorch marks, slash marks, and holes on the walls, floor, and ceiling, not to mention the splinters of wood and the pieces of shrapnel were littered all over the floor. In short, it looked like a war zone happened there. Ben and Judy didn't know what to do to train in a used-up area.

"Whoa… this is the training hall?"

"It's a lot less impressive than I expected."

But as they stepped closer, their feet stepped on a large wooden circle, causing symbols to glow a faint yellow color. And in no time at all, the training room suddenly began to reverse everything. The holes in the room were popping out, undoing themselves like they never happened. And the marks that scattered everywhere were being wiped clean almost instantaneously! And the splinters were suddenly flying in the air before reforming themselves into pillars with wooden arms with spikes on them, along with the shrapnel suddenly combining into a cannonball before reversing itself back into an iron cannon.

Ben and Judy immediately jumped back to avoid being struck by it. From there, they watched as the cleanup happened in a flash. But as it progressed, just when it was near complete, they noticed a shining yellow gem stuck on the top of the ceiling. The two of them looked at the gem, almost entranced by it as the cleanup was finished. The duo spoke breathlessly with the Clawthorne going first.

"Wow…"

"That was the most awesome thing I've ever seen in my life…!"

Suddenly, a familiarly bitter tone spoke up behind them.

"Have you finished sightseeing?"

Ben and Judy squeaked before turning around to see Neil Omen. This time, he brought a long staff with him, the animal at the tip being a hawk. It appeared to have a very sharp beak and golden eyes. His arms were crossed, as if ready to scold them. To break the ice, Judy tried to explain.

"Oh! S-Sorry, Mr. Omen. We just… didn't expect to see the efficient clean-up up close is all."

Judy added a nervous laugh at the end, but this wasn't something Omen cared about. He walked closer to the two, fixing his gaze squarely on Ben.

"I'd figured you wouldn't. Especially not you."

Ben felt the tension practically oozing out of him. The atmosphere was practically as thick as to cut it with a knife just from his presence. After a moment of awkward silence, Omen spoke to him.

"So, you think you're one of us now, do you?"

Omen had an almost eerie smile on his face. Ben tried hard not to set him off. Apparently, he'd put him in a bad enough mood as it is.

"I… guess?"

"Wrong!"

Omen's shout echoed in the hall, making Ben back up in fear as Judy looked on.

"You think it's that easy now that you're in the big leagues? Think again, human. This isn't your realm anymore. To even begin to be called one of us, one must master the highest level of magic. And that is clearly impossible if that one is someone like you."

Ben could tell who the subject was about. Who else would be the human in this place? Still, who's to say he can't master his magic, especially when he was clearly capable of it.

"And why not?"

"Why no–?! Just look at yourself!"

Omen poked at Ben in his chest, making him exclaim as the boy was forced to stagger back.

"You lived in your human realm for so long, you don't even know the first thing about magic, for starters."

Omen didn't stop there. He went up close to Ben and pinched his fingers on Ben's ear, pulling on it.

"AH!"

"You're not even trying to hide your circly round ears!"

Ben failed to see what that had to do with him being a member of the Shadow Coven.

"Okay, what the hell does that have to do with–?"

Suddenly, Omen released his ear, making him fall to the ground with Omen towering over him.

"Then there's your lack of balance. Not to mention your utter disregard for personal hygiene."

Ben immediately did a double-take on the matter, standing up quickly to counter him.

"Hey! I've been trapped in this hellscape for two days! What's your excuse?!"

Omen only turned his head away and held his hand over to him.

"Don't stand that close! I can smell your breath!"

Having had enough of his cracks towards him, Ben tried to stand up for himself.

"Hey, Lawrence said that we had to be treated with–"

Before Ben could finish, Omen's Palisman's eyes glowed a fierce red as it cawed at him fiercely. Moments after, Ben started to lift up off the ground where his "mentor" put his hand on his collar and lifted him up.

"The fact that you're not dead right now is a courtesy in itself."

Omen pushed him to the ground, Judy going over to him to check on him before he snapped at her.

"Ben!"

"Stay back! His training has just begun."

Ben struggled to stand up, coughing as he recovered from the hard landing as Omen walked up to him.

"Oh, now we're training? Couldn't tell if you just tried to kill me."

Omen sneered at the human, making him retract his remark.

"Listen very carefully, human. Lawrence may have picked you. But when I'm through with you, you're going to wish I did! Are we clear?"

Ben got up, still holding onto his chest as he tried to respond, beginning to hate training with him now.

"Crystal…"

Omen smirked at his look of defiance.

"Good. I can't wait to get started."

Omen stomped his foot on the wooden circle, making the symbols glow as the training hall suddenly shifted, the walls moving away brick by brick to reveal an outrageous amount of targets. Ben assumed it was for spell practicing. He actually became relieved once he saw that.

"Oh, that's it? That's pretty easy."

Omen only snickered before he corrected him.

"Actually, those aren't for you."

Omen pressed his foot upon another panel on the wood, pulling the targets back into the wall before showing out more pillars with wooden spikes. And to add to it was a pit with metal tubes acting as the floor. But as if that wasn't bad enough, it spewed fire! Ben's eyes widened in terror, realizing that Omen had just prepped an obstacle course of death.

"You'll be training with these instead. Now, then. Let's begin."

Ben stammered in shock.

"W-W-Wait. Now?!

"Yes. Now. Unless you think Lawrence was wrong, and you're not cut out to be here."

Ben gulped in worry before Judy stepped up to his defense.

"Uh, Mr. Omen, sir? Not to, uh question your methods here, but what does all that have to do with magic?"

Omen turned around to the young Clawthorne. She did have a knack for figuring out the obvious.

"The whole point of this exercise is to see how powerful his magic is, Ms. Clawthorne. That is, unless he wants to quit."

Ben had cold feet. He couldn't do anything of the sort like that back home! But he wasn't going to cave in. If there's one thing he's not, it's a quitter.

"Yeah, uh… I don't know if I could do all of that."

Omen kept his grin as he turned over to him.

"Well, if we don't try, we'll never know, will we?"

Ben scratched his head nervously as he tried to lower the difficulty.

"It's just that… seeing as I'm just a new recruit, wouldn't it be more ethical to find something more suited… to my level?"

Omen raised one of his eyebrows, clearly seeing through the ruse.

"And what's that?"

"Well… I don't really know how things work here, but… is there a Level Zero or something?"

Omen only shook his head. He couldn't have said something any more pathetic than that.

"Please. There's no such thing as Level Zero."

Ben sighed, realizing how ridiculous he sounded. When was there ever a Level Zero at all?!

"Of course not…"

Then, the young man took notice of a small dummy in the corner. It had a wicked grin painted on it with two red eyes above it. It was also painted to look like it had a black cloak. That felt more like something Ben could try.

"Then, can I at least train with that for my magic?"

Omen took notice of the dummy, and became confused.

"You want to use that to practice your magic?"

Ben was confused by his reaction.

"Well, yeah. What's wrong with it?"

"We use that for training children, and for propping the door open when it's hot."

Ben blinked his eyes, realizing the context.

"Wait, you train children, too?"

"Hexside does. How they managed to get Bump to approve them is beyond me."

Omen put his grin back on as he spoke to him.

"But if you insist… be my guest. Show us what you can do."

Ben was once again caught off-guard.

"Wait. 'Us'?"

Omen pointed behind Ben to show a window slot on the high left wall. On the other side of it was a small room overlooking the training hall. And in that room, he could see Lawrence on the other side among the other Shadow Coven members.

"Geez. No pressure, huh…?"

In the room, Toris and Ian were looking at the scene with interest.

"You really think that kid's gonna do it, Ian?"

"I'm just happy the kid's not gonna get himself killed. If he really does have a bile sac, this might be the safest bet he'll make."

On the other hand, Sara kept her eyes fixed on the young man as she held her fingers together. Even so, she voiced her doubts to Lawrence.

"One would think you'd choose someone who actually knew magic, Lawrence."

"This is not just for our sake, Sara. It's for Benjamin's too. The sooner he learns how to use his magic, the better off everyone will be. Assuming Neil doesn't go cavalier on his recruits. Again…"

Ben turned back to the dummy, not sure what he should do. To be certain, he looked back to Omen and checked with him.

"So, uh… what exactly should I do with it?"

Omen crossed his arms as he bluntly answered him.

"Hit it. With a magic spell."

Ben froze up when he said this.

"With a spell…?"

"Titan above… Yes, with a spell! That's what you wanted, wasn't it?"

Ben nodded nervously and went back to business.

"Okay. Just checking."

Ben stood in front of the dummy and tried to remember what he had to do back at Hexside. The Emperor's Coven basically put him under trial by fire. It had to be the same thing, right? He looked at Judy, hoping she'd help him. She was giving him a gentle smile as she spoke softly.

"You got this…"

Ben didn't know if he could trust that, considering how well it worked out the last time. But if he was going to learn, he had better try. Ben took a deep breath and held his finger out, tracing a small circle like before. In the room, Lawrence and the other Shadow Coven members looked on in awe, seeing that Ben had actually started making a spell circle. Toris and Ian were struck with awe.

"What in the name of Titan…?"

"Okay, that is freaky."

Sara's eyes widened in interest as she watched this boy carve out a blue circle from his fingertip.

Ben's eyes widened with hope when he saw the development, only for it to despair when it faded away.

"Oh, seriously?! Again?!"

But unlike the other members who saw the spectacle, Omen scoffed at Ben's attempt.

"Ha! You call that a spell?! A child can do a light spell, and you can't even manage that?!"

Ben had enough of his insults and snapped back at him.

"Well, if you know so much about spells, why don't you show me one?!"

Omen's gaze turned vicious as he answered coldly.

"If I just went and showed you a spell, you wouldn't be learning anything, would you?"

Ben grumbled in frustration before Omen continued to "coach" him.

"Just do one try again. This time, put more effort into it."

Ben clenched his hand into a fist for a moment before he stuck his pointer out and drew another spell circle. This one seemed to last longer than the spell circle before. Ben's eyes widened in amazement as he spoke.

"I did it… I really did–!"

Before he could celebrate, the spell circle suddenly exploded, knocking Ben right into the pillars of death. As he tried to regain his footing, the pillars suddenly began to spin, whacking him all over with their wooden arms. Judy winced and groaned at the experience while the other members of the Shadow Coven looked on, with Toris and Ian wincing at the event.

"Ooh…"

"Looks like I lost the bet, then, huh…?"

Outside the room, Omen still kept his stern disposition even as Ben tried to survive the onslaught. By the time he got out, he'd received a lot of bruises and a few cuts on his arms and legs. But that's not the worst of it. Although he managed to escape, he ended up in a new trap: the pit of fire.

Ben ended up burned and lit on fire as Judy watched in horror while Omen stood and watched, speaking to himself.

"AHH! I'm on fire!"

"This will be easier than I thought…"

Fortunately, Ben managed to survive the ordeal, crawling from the pit of fire as Judy went over to help him.

"Ben! Are you alright?"

This time, Omen did not stop her. As far as he was concerned, his training was already over. Judy lifted the poor young man up as he tried to speak to him. The poor young man could barely withstand the onslaught. He almost got barbecued! It was a miracle that he hadn't died already. The only reason he's standing was because Judy was supporting him.

"So… how did I do…?"

Omen didn't shy away from giving his honest answer.

"You managed to make a spell, but it backfired on you too easily. But you made one nonetheless. So congrats. You've officially made Level Zero."

With that, Ben weakly replied.

"Yay…"

Then, in a moment, he passed out, much to Judy's worry.

"BEN!"


Everything was all black in his eyes. But the next time he opened his eyes, a dim light was getting brighter and brighter. Once he could see clearly, Ben groaned from the pain he felt invading his body. Then, he remembered that he was supposed to be training until Omen told him he had achieved Level Zero. If he hadn't known any better, Ben would have assumed he was mocking him.

"Oh. Right…"

Ben turned to his right, noticing that someone was next to him, standing near the bed. It was Judy, who quickly noticed Ben was awake and showed instant relief.

"Ben! Thank Titan you're okay…"

Ben gave her a soft smile.

"Nice to know someone cares…"

He hadn't known anyone else who cared about him this much. It was nice for him to be loved. Then, he heard clanging far away as well as another voice that called out to him.

"Judith, can you sit back down, please?"

"Oh. Okay. Sorry…"

As Judy sat back down, he turned to the source of the strange voice. He was wearing the same outfit as the rest of the Shadow Coven. The only difference appeared to be a small headband around him. Unless he missed his guess, he must be a caretaker.

"What…? Where the hell am I…?"

The man turned back around to him and walked closer as he replied.

"Not to worry. You're in good hands. My hands!"

The witch held up both of Ben's arms, making the boy more puzzled than ever as he continued.

"I am the Coven Doctor."

The Coven Doctor also got out a pair of scissors and held it up to his hair, cutting a little snip before getting out a small magnifying glass. Then, he held up a bit of Ben's lip to show his teeth before holding a little dreamcatcher in his hand.

"I am also the Coven barber, veterinarian, dentist, and dreamfinder."

The doctor shook the stick, making it shake off red dust at Ben and forcing him to cough before the doctor walked away and turned to face him.

"And in my professional opinion... you need a wash, a blowout, and a little trim around the nether regions."

Ben instantly became nervous about that part. He had reason to suspect that he must have done things to him while he was unconscious, but he was afraid of finding out it was the case.

"Uh... I'm a little nervous about how you know that."

"That's my professional barber opinion, but putting on my doctor's hat…"

The doctor picked up his hat from his desk and put it on his head.

"I think we need to run a few tests."

Yet another thing to be worried about in the Demon Realm. He wasn't sure how a Doctor's checkup was supposed to work in the Boiling Isles, but he had a feeling that something particularly nasty would happen.

"What kind of tests…?"

"Well, how about we start with the latest in modern medical technology?"

Ben felt relieved at first. He wasn't sure what the latest was, but if it was modern, it had to be a good sign.

"Oh, thank God, there's something normal around here…"

However, he was quickly proven wrong when the doctor brought out something unnatural.

"Leeches!"

The doctor held out a leech in front of him, making Ben terrified.

"AH! WHY?!"

"To draw out the evil humors."

It was safe to say he had a bad experience with leeches. He never liked them before, and he was never going to start now.

"OH, GOD! NO! GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!"

The doctor pulled the leech away with a smile.

"Suit yourself. More for me."

The doctor dropped the leech into his shirt with a smile, making Ben's eyes widen in shock as he gulped.

"Help me…"

"That's what I'm here for."

Ben only shook his head and tried to get down to business.

"Look, I'm sure you're doing really important protocol, but if you don't mind, I have to go back and get my training done."

The doctor and Judy noticed Ben's attempt, and the young Clawthorne tried to persuade him against it.

"I wouldn't try it. You'll hurt yourself."

"Yeah. Like I'd go and–"

Ben tried to get up off of the bed, only to feel the pain even worse than before. He felt a massive pain in his chest, where he was constantly smashed by the pillars.

"AH!"

"She tried to warn you. You haven't been healed yet."

Ben started to snap back, unable to hold himself from shouting.

"Well, why didn't you heal me first, then?!"

Suddenly, he heard Sara speaking up from behind him.

"Because we knew you'd try to train again."

Ben turned around to see Sara standing near him on the opposite end of the bed. And joining her were Toris, Ian, and Val. He wasn't expecting the Coven Members to wait for him, especially since they all proved that they weren't quite comfortable with him around. Still, he had a feeling about where it was going.

"You… You're those members Lawrence picked out."

The doctor was admittedly surprised that Sara would be waiting for the human to wake up.

"Ah! Do you always have to sneak into my office? I haven't even finished the tests yet."

Sara looked to the doctor and walked briskly close to his patient.

"The safety and health of our members are always our concern. Why else would we be here?"

After a few seconds of awkward silence, the doctor replied.

"Fair point."

Ben was rather flummoxed that the four of them would be here for him.

"What are you guys doing here?"

Ian scoffed at the boy's question.

"I'm surprised you haven't figured that out already."

Val went up a few inches closer to the boy as she answered.

"We came to check up on you, dum-dum."

Ben frowned from her pet name for him.

"Please don't call me that…"

Toris and Ian chimed in next, clarifying her earlier answer.

"The point is, you… you really blew our minds back there."

"You actually managed to cast a spell circle. I mean, it blew up. But still. You should be proud."

But the instant he said that, Ben's frown returned. Proud was the exact opposite of how he felt.

"Omen doesn't think that."

He had a tone of bitterness and resentment when he said this. The others held a sad look on their faces as Toris tried to cheer him up.

"Look, I know the guy can be kinda heartless. But you know, he wasn't always like that."

Ben made a quick guess.

"It was before I came along, right?"

Toris was stumped. Any honest answer he would give would only bring down his spirits lower than before. Still, he tried to be delicate.

"Well, technically…"

Before he could continue, Val went up next.

"The point is, he was like this for a long time. So you really shouldn't take what he says to you at face value. He doesn't really know you."

As much as Val tried to help, Ben was still pissed as ever. In his eyes, all they were doing is making excuses for him. And he knew where that got him. He had a lifetime of his "family's" abuse to prove it.

"And what? You do? You didn't even know I could attempt magic before today! If you really cared about me, you would've gone out and stopped him from making me do all this in the first place! Just admit that you want nothing to do with me and get it over with!"

Ian tried to stand up for Val, only for Sara to intervene.

"Let me take it from here. The rest of you should go."

The trio went silent for a moment. They started to think that no word of what they had to say could possibly help him, anyway. The trio walked out of the Doctor's Office with Val giving him a soft look back at him before she gently closed the door.

Left alone with Ben and Judy, Sara looked back to Ben, holding out her hand as she spoke softly.

"Listen. I need you to hold still for me."

Ben stared at Sara, rather confused by this for a moment. But then, Sara closed her eyes, trying to focus as she spun her fingers, forming a light green spell circle with a black ring inside it. Lawrence saw this and became relieved when she put that ring on top of Ben's wound. It was a burning sensation for a moment, which Ben winced at. But after a few seconds, the pain itself began to fade away. He opened his eyes to see Sara's hands glowing lime green as they focused on the wounds he'd received on his body.

The young boy stared in awe, as well as Judy, as the cuts and bruises Omen forced Ben to go through went away. With the pain gone, Ben looked at his arm in wonder, surprised that all of it went away. He knew healing magic existed before, but this… This was next level!

"Wow…! Thank you!"

Sara didn't bother to smile at Ben, simply walking away as she responded.

"Don't mention it."

"No, really, I appreciate–"

"Ever."

Sara turned her gaze to Judy and maintained her expression.

"That goes for you, too. Don't breathe a word of this to anyone else, okay?"

Judy blinked her eyes, completely confused by her words.

"Uh… okay?"

The healer moved her head back to Ben as she explained herself.

"It's not that we don't care, Ben. We just don't know how to go about helping you. So, for your sake, don't try to train with him again. You'll get killed."

With her message sent, Sara walked out of the doctor's office, leaving the children more confused than before.

"What was that about…?"

Ben didn't know. But if he didn't know any better, he'd swear that she must want him home, too. But he had to be sure. He was going to find out, no matter what. His eyes narrowed themselves, more determined than ever to find out what he's really here for.


Later, Sara was walking by herself in the dark hallway. She seemed to be in a hurry. Her eyes were looking left and right, making sure that nobody came to bump into her. Although, she really should have been looking behind her. She didn't realize at that moment that Ben was following her. Judy was by his side, too, though it was more out of worry than anything else.

"Ben, are you sure it's a good idea?"

Ben turned to her and shushed her gently, his finger over his mouth.

"What else am I supposed to do? They'll just shut me down if I ask what to do. I mean, it's not like I can ask Omen."

Judy tried to dissuade him from doing so.

"Ben, that can't be true."

Ben raised one of his eyebrows in disbelief.

"Judy, after I thanked her, Sara basically told me to give up."

Judy couldn't argue with that. It was a bit off.

"Eh. That's not untrue. But still, I thought you were going to train."

Ben couldn't argue about how important it was. He did say he needed it over and done with. He was sick and tired of not being able to use magic like the others did, let alone controlling it. But what bothered him more at the moment was what they kept from him. That, and he didn't want to put up with Omen's racism.

"I know. But… I need to know something."

Judy didn't think it was wise. She had been through that scenario before.

"You don't have to worry about what people think of you, Ben. What would it matter as long as you figure yourself out?"

Ben's face began to soften sadly. Judy took a few seconds to realize where it was headed.

"Wait… you're trying to ask them about it, aren't you?"

Ben turned to her as he replied.

"My mother left me in the human realm for 16 years, Judy. And now, I just found out I have these magic powers and that my mom might be a witch who married a human. Why wouldn't I ask about that?"

Logically, Judy couldn't argue that he needed answers. She wanted to know more about what happened to Ember in half that timeline herself. She knew exactly how that felt.

"Ben… I don't blame you for wanting to find the answer. I'm trying to figure out what Ember went through. But what if the answer isn't something you'll like?"

Ben held his hand together as he spoke with a grim tone.

"Is there really such a thing…?"

Ben started to walk down the hall more slowly as Judy followed him. Eventually, they got close enough to see Sara. But she wasn't alone. She was talking with someone else.

"Is this really the best idea to bring him into this, Lawrence? He's only a human child."

"He's not that much of a child. And even if he was, that magic of his isn't anything like ours."

"And you thought the answer was to put him in danger? You know Omen won't accept him!"

Ben gasped softly, holding his hand over his mouth to keep from being heard. Lawrence deliberately put him in this mess?! How could he do that?! Was he doing it just to get rid of him?!

"I know. That's why I plan to have a talk with him about this. He was always expecting too much from his recruits, but this? This is too much, even for him."

"So, pull the human away from him. Let him be with someone else who won't break him! He almost died in that training just from making a spell circle! How in the name of Titan is that possible?!"

"That's exactly why he needs to train! So he doesn't get killed! How many times must I explain this?!"

Sara was starting to fume over this.

"Lawrence, please! Why won't you listen to reason?!"

Of course, due to the tension, Lawrence didn't like this argument any more than she did.

"BECAUSE REASON WON'T TELL US WHO HE IS!"

Ben was utterly flabbergasted. This whole time, he thought Lawrence believed in him. But he doesn't even know if he was trustworthy, even with that so-called "test". Though, he supposed he can't really blame him. It takes a lot more than a test to earn that trust. It may be the first step, if anything. And if he was to earn his trust, especially when Lawrence could've just kicked him out and fed him to the Hippogriff, he had to fight for it.

"Benjamin has magic that none of us possess, Sara. I just can't shake the feeling that maybe he has those powers for a reason."

"But how can we be sure? What if this was all just–?"

"A mistake? An accident? I told you before, there's no such thing. All we know so far is that a witch married a human, but we don't know who, let alone the gender. There must be an explanation for this."

Having had enough of the mystery, Ben wanted to march out there and find out what they were meaning by all that they have said. But before he could even move, someone spoke up from behind.

"There you are…"

The children gulped nervously, afraid to get on his even worse side.

"Oh, Mr. Omen! I was just, uh…"

"You can go, Ms. Clawthorne. I need to have a talk with him."

Judy began to show a look of dread and worry for her friend as Ben's eyes lowered themselves. Judy became really nervous for him. Knowing him, Omen would put Ben through the ringer and then some. He might not even survive! As Judy left, Ben had a feeling about where it would lead.

"I'm dead meat, aren't I?"

However, Sara said otherwise.

"Not if we can help it."

Ben and Judy turned around to see Sara and Lawrence behind them. It was a relief that they were willing to come to the rescue. Lawrence, in particular, had had enough.

"We need to have a talk ourselves, Omen."

Omen growled bitterly from seeing him.

"Can't this wait, Lawrence? We're just about to start another session here."

"That's not the point, Omen! The boy just recovered from a near-death experience, and you're going to push him back out into it?!"

Omen was quick to retort.

"If he's the answer you think he is, then what's wrong with that?!"

Ben caught on to his tone from when he said this. Ben knew he resented him, but this… He's starting to think he was jealous, whatever this "answer to their dilemma" was. All the same, Ben snarled fiercely at the malicious mentor.

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Lawrence is giving you the golden opportunity here, the opportunity to learn from the best, but you're not taking this as seriously as you should!"

Ben stood up on his feet quickly, getting more than agitated with him as he tried to comprehend what she meant.

"So what exactly am I supposed to learn? What am I doing wrong?"

Omen only gave him a scoff as he stood up and walked himself near the door.

"The fact that you don't know is proof you're not cut out for this."

"So, you're not even going to tell me?!"

"Not if you want to prove that you're worthy! So think with your head for once!"

Ben's hands were tensing up in intense anger. He almost got killed in the last drill, and he didn't even offer an apology even once! What kind of mentor was he even supposed to be, anyway?!

"You really wanna know what I think?! I THINK YOU DON'T GIVE A FLYING FUCK ABOUT ME AT ALL!"

Omen, Sara, Judy, and Lawrence were aghast, caught off-guard by the boy's outburst. He was just One hundred and ten percent done with all the secrets, and all the rejection.

"You called me an accident, you almost got me killed in that first drill, and you expect me to go through this shitshow again?! Fat chance! None of this has to do with training my magic! You're just a big, fat, arrogant… ASSHOLE!"

Ben's final shout echoed all around the arena. For a moment, dead silence followed. Ben simply panted his breath, having released all his pent-up anger. Of course, it wasn't to Omen's liking at all.

"If that's how you feel, then don't bother showing up to the next session. You're done."

Omen started to walk away, leaving Ben peeved to no end. Judy was of the same opinion for that matter. He didn't come all this way just to be kicked out. Judy didn't want that to happen, either.

"What?!"

"But he's just learning how to use magic now. You saw the spell circle he made!"

Omen snapped his head back to Judy to correct her.

"What I saw was a disaster. One that could've gotten him killed. Am I wrong?"

Ben was quick to reverse the blame on him.

"That's only because you wouldn't show me a single damned spell in the first place! Just drop the act and admit it already! You wanted me to die, didn't you?!"

Frustrated to no end with this arrogant boy, Omen grunted viciously, using his staff to lift Ben up into the air as he glared daggers right to his face.

"It's like I told you before. Learning magic, let alone the highest level, is impossible for someone like you. Right now, that's your limit. And it's always going to be."

Ben tried to change his mind desperately, but Omen snapped at him.

"But–!"

To cut him off, Omen swiftly dropped him to the floor, making Ben grunt in pain from the fall as the witch severely reprimanded him. Judy gasped in worry as Sara and Lawrence witnessed Omen's appalling behavior.

"Get it through your thick head already! You don't belong here! You're a disgrace to all of witchkind just by being born! And if you have any respect for who we are and what we do, you will be gone by morning!"

"But–!"

"End! Of! Discussion!"

A few seconds of silence hung in the air before Ben's anger built up. He grunted before he lifted himself up and ran away, angry and bitter. Omen kept his glance on the boy as he walked out of the door. At the same time, Sara and Lawrence looked on as the boy ran off with tears in his eyes as Judy ran after him.

"Wait! Ben!"

Meanwhile, Sara held a look of contempt towards Omen.

"Congratulations, Omen. You just broke the boy's body and his spirit. I hope you're proud of yourself, picking on a child."

Omen couldn't care any less about him at all, especially not with how he's acted towards him.

"The only thing I'm proud of is that in time, the true answer to our problem will be revealed. I'm just hoping you'll see that for once, Lawrence…"

Omen walked away bitterly, passing by the appalled Lawrence. But the Clawthorne was going to have none of that. With a vicious glare, Lawrence stomped the bottom of his staff on the ground, summoning a black gate just in front of him that blocked his path. Omen was caught completely off-guard by this as Lawrence spoke with a cold tone from behind him.

"I suspected you had an ulterior motive for pushing the boy as hard as you have, but this? I could never be more disappointed in you than I am now."

Omen gritted his teeth. He wasn't going to take any of it sitting down.

"And what?! You've never been disappointed in me before?! That's all I am to you, isn't it?!"

Lawrence kept his glare fixed on Omen, maintaining his stern tone.

"You know it's so much more than that."

"What exactly makes you think that human, that literal waste of life, is any better than me?! HE WASN'T EVEN MEANT TO BE HERE! HE'S JUST AN ACCIDENT!"

Lawrence never broke his cool. He simply stared with his judging amber eyes before he spoke colder than before.

"If you haven't figured that out by now… it's no wonder you were never worthy."

Omen widened his eyes, appalled by his words.

"Excuse me?!"

"I tried to help you overcome your limits. But all I ended up doing is fuel your ego. You're nothing like the boy I met in that alley, on that day. I saw potential in this boy to be better than what society made him out to be. I saw a boy who can become better."

Lawrence's sternness began to show more fury in his tone as he spoke onward.

"But if you truly believe this boy was an accident, then perhaps I should've left that boy to rot in that alley where I found him. Perhaps I should have never wasted my time with him and let him die alone in that alley! Perhaps I should have let that WASTE OF LIFE remove himself from this world entirely! Would you rather I have done that?!"

Omen was utterly speechless that Lawrence would say any of that to him. He couldn't help but shed tears down on his face with Lawrence spouting such venom at him. He had no words at all to retort. He was broken… Lawrence stopped himself for a moment to catch his breath before he continued.

"I thought my taking you in would help mold you. You of all people should know how he felt. But instead, you became just like everyone else. That's why you're not worthy. I'm telling you this once, and only once: let it go."

Lawrence stomped his staff again, causing the gate to come undone behind Omen, who had collapsed onto his knees, taking in the full weight of Lawrence's words. His tears were leaking up a storm as he and Sara walked past the broken mentor.

Once they were far enough away, Lawrence held his fingers up to the bridge of his nose, not sure what to do to help the young man at this point. Who knows how much damage Omen could have done with his brashness?

"I wish I didn't have to say any of that, old friend… I truly don't."

Sara had to admit, she didn't see it coming from him. As much as he deserved it, it was over-the-top, even for him.

"I… I know he went overboard, but… was that really necessary?"

"Yes. He needed to know the truth. He needs to understand his place. And so does Benjamin…"


Speaking of Ben, he was still running, mentally cursing the Demon Realm. It wasn't as though he had planned to stay once he figured himself out, but in the past two days, this place had become more like home to him than Gravesfield ever was. And then Omen came along and had to ruin it for him. If he wanted to hear such things, he would have stayed back home. Judy was following after him, barely able to catch up.

"Ben! You… you don't have to leave!"

But as Judy tried to reason with him, Ben snapped back at her.

"And stay where I'm not wanted?! Not a chance!"

Ben looked left and right as he ran past the halls. He stopped at every intersection in the dark hallway, going left then right. He didn't know where he was going, but all that mattered to him was that he was away from him. Away from Lawrence, away from the Shadow Coven, away from all of it.

But that single-minded drive didn't help matters for him at all. He only ended up stumbling into a dead end. And sadly, it was not unlocked. He pushed and pulled with all his might, but nothing made the door budge.

"Come on…! Where's the damned exit?!"

Ben felt absolutely trapped. There was nobody else he could trust here, and even then, Judy's efforts to convince him to stay were… minute. Nevertheless, she still persisted in trying to talk to him.

"But you are wanted here, Ben!"

"Oh, really?! Who's gonna want an accident like me walking where he isn't supposed to be?!"

"Ben, you're not an accident–!"

His pent-up anger prohibited him from being rational. Not when all he's dealt with is rejection. He'd made his choice to leave Hexside, but only because he didn't want to abandon Luz. A lot of good that did him. If only he'd stayed. If only he'd actually said yes… No. What would that have changed?

They already know he's a human intruder thanks to the Emperor's Coven. He and Luz may have been spared, but it didn't change how everyone else would see them now. They were seen as nothing more than pests that annoy them, pests that were never meant to exist in the first place… He's had enough of ALL of it…

"STOP SAYING THAT!"

Judy backed away with a gasp, frightened by the sight of his glowing blue eyes. This was more than enough to tell her that he was beyond pissed.

"I NEVER ASKED TO BE BORN THIS WAY! YOU DID THIS TO ME! YOU GODDAMN WITCHES MADE ME A FREAK!"

Ben slammed his hand against the locked door in his rage, completely coating it in blue cracks. Ben and Judy widened their eyes as the boy spoke timidly.

"Oh, shit…!"

Suddenly, it exploded into dust with a massive shockwave, blowing the two of them back.


In the hallway, Sara and Lawrence felt the massive blow where they stood. They'd never felt such tremendous force before. For it to strike like this… Lawrence grew anxious about what it could be.

"What has happened now?!"

Sara feared the worst out of this.

"That can't be…! Who did this?!"

Lawrence feared something else had happened. And he had a feeling Omen was to blame for it.

"I fear I might know..."

In no time at all, the two members rushed across the hall and turned left, only to find a startling sight. The locked door had been busted open completely, and debris was scattered everywhere. Worst of all, Judy was caught in the middle of it, nearly crushed to death! Lawrence instinctively ran to his daughter, fearing for her life.

"Judith!"

Lawrence held out his Palisman, using it to pry the debris off of Judy as Sara knelt down and held her hands over her body, coating it in a lime green light.

"Dad…!"

"It's alright, my little Ruby. I'm here. Where's Benjamin?"

Judy pointed over to the room weakly. On the other side of that broken door, there was a streak of raindrops that seemed too hot to be normal. Every drop that landed seemed to burn everything it touched with its scalding hot liquids. Lawrence knew exactly what it was.

"The Boiling Rains…"

He had a feeling that Ben would be in an extreme amount of pain by now. Or worse... He was going to be burned alive…!

"I tried to tell him not to go, but… he looked so scared. So sad…"

Lawrence didn't know what happened prior to the disastrous event, but he couldn't let Ben die out in the rains alone... He turned to Sara and gave her an order.

"Sara, stay here and tend to my daughter!"

"What about you?"

Lawrence only held out his Palisman, its eyes glowing bright red before a barrier popped up over his head.

"I'm going to do for him what I did for Omen: give him a new chance."

Lawrence ran out into the Boiling Rain with the barrier protecting him from the rain as Sara and Judy looked on in worry.


Outside, Ben ran all over the clearing, holding his cowl over his head in a feeble effort to protect himself. He didn't care if the boiling rain hurt him, so long as it didn't hurt his head. It was the worst thing he ever felt, like stepping into hot water times a thousand. But none of it mattered to him. He just wanted to run away. However, the water droplets eventually melted a few patches here and there of his cowl, dropping onto his sleeves and seeping into the skin of his hands as it melted a few layers of his clothes. Ben felt the stinging acid burning away at him as he yelled out in pain.

He knew the acid was eating away at his flesh, and that if he didn't find any cover soon, he'd be bound to melt into a bloody puddle of rotted meat and bones. Fortunately, cover wasn't too far away.

By the corner of his eye, he managed to find a nearby cave. Following his first impulse, he ran right towards it and ducked into the cave, panting out of breath as he watched the Boiling Rains fall down in front of him. He then dropped his now burnt and torn cowl on the ground beside him, his uniform left completely in tatters.

The young human simply stared at the scene in front of him. He didn't know what lightning could possibly do, but he had to stay on guard for that, lest he be struck by it himself. But as he stared out to the endless rain of acid that made everything it touched wither around him, he couldn't help but look back on the last time he ran away.

Just like now, he ran because of what his power had done. Compared to back then, though, this was objectively worse. Ben ended up hurting Judy, the one person who tried to help him. And worse, he blamed his circumstances on her like they were all the source of his pain… so, he ran. He knew no apology would ever work with them; they never liked him to begin with. And if Judy didn't hate him before, he just knew she'd start to hate him now.

He wanted to run before, too. To run away with Melissa and his brother. He didn't know how, and he didn't care; he just wanted to be away from Gravesfield. If only Melissa were still alive, he thought. No. If only they ran away sooner…

"Melissa… I'm so sorry…! We should've ran away together when we had the chance. You'd still be alive, I wouldn't be trapped here, and I… I wouldn't have known I was a…!"

Ben could not keep himself from crying. His tears went down his face like a waterfall. He curled his legs together and held himself as close to them as he could, attempting to hide the burns he'd suffered. But even that never hurt him more than just living.

Ben grew up to be ostracized by his own sister, his brother was hospitalized by Luz's snakes just when freedom was in his grasp, and his powers were beyond control. For all he knew, he'd be marked as a criminal for killing his father, assuming he really murdered him to protect Sue. And now, he's hurt the one person who cared about him more than anything. All he could hear was Omen scolding him, telling him he never belonged here…

"You don't belong here! You're a disgrace to all witch kind just by being born! And if you have any respect for who we are and what we do, you will be gone by morning!"

Maybe it was for the best. He wouldn't have to suffer anymore, and nobody else would get hurt because of him. It was a win-win… for everyone else.

"They're right about me… all of them. I'm not supposed to be here… I'm just… an accident."

Ben began to weep into his legs as the rains poured on. Just then, he heard footsteps walking closer to him. The boy looked up and saw Lawrence, giving him a saddened Clawthorne saw for himself how much pain he'd gone through, but it wasn't just because of the rain. It was just like Sara said: his spirit was in pieces.

"So… it seems Omen's finally done it. Gotten into your head."

Lawrence walked into the cave and sat down beside the young man. Now that he was in a cave, there was no need to keep his barrier. He saw the severe burn marks all over Ben's body along with the state his clothes were in. If he'd have been out a minute longer, he would've been stark naked. Most of the burns looked like they're still burning off of him, steam coming from his wounds. Lawrence took off the top of his cloak and used it as a handkerchief to wipe off the remnants of the rain from his face and the rest of his body.

"If it makes you feel any better… I'd given him a rude awakening."

Ben's face winced as he wiped away all the water and chucked them aside. Although he wasn't burning as much anymore, Ben held his head down, feeling ashamed.

"I'm sorry. About everything… I was just trying to get out of this place and be alone. Judy followed me and—"

"I know. She told me everything. And she also told you about the Boiling Rains. Not a very smart plan to just run off like that."

Ben's face turned distant, gazing out to the distance without a look of emotion whatsoever.

"So what? It's not like everyone else would care about me…"

Lawrence read into that sentence. He was at least aware that Judy was the one who always cared about him. He must be blaming himself for what he did to Judy. sighed at the young human as he tried to appeal to him.

"You should know Judith never blamed you."

"She's gonna start anytime now. Just wait. It's only a matter of time for her to hate an accident like me."

Lawrence couldn't help but grumble. Omen had gotten too deep into his head now. No wonder he ran away with such little regard for his own life! But he wasn't going to bring that hopeless bigot up. He deserved better than that.

"I understand better than most. Lashing out is usually the easiest discourse when you're upset."

Ben spun around to Lawrence, showing how peeved off he was.

"Do I look upset to you?"

Lawrence raised an eyebrow at his remark.

"You know I can sense it, so don't even try to hide it. We both know how well that worked out."

That wasn't untrue. He could basically blow something up whenever he touched it.

Ben took a deep breath, finally acknowledging how he felt.

"Okay, maybe I am upset. But so what? It's not like—"

Lawrence leaned closer to Ben, cutting him off while holding a stern, yet tender gaze. He wasn't going to hear any more of it. He needed to hear the truth.

"SO... why are you upset?"

Ben's fierce gaze faded to that of sadness, letting out a bitter sigh as he came forward.

"I've probably sucked more today than anyone in the history of magic. In the history of the Boiling Isles. In the history of SUCKING. And one of your Coven mates, or whatever the hell they are... She healed me, but when I was about to thank her, she just told me to give up, and do you know why? Because I'm a human."

Lawrence's tender gaze turned sympathetic as Ben started to vent his anger.

"I heard you talking with her, about my mom, how she's the key to it all, how you think that there's a reason why I'm here. Why did you even bring me here? Am I even really a witch? Is there really anything that brought me here besides some messed-up series of coincidences? I mean, what am I, some chosen savior?! Do you really believe that?! WHAT THE HELL AM I EVEN DOING HERE?!

Lawrence still kept his sympathetic gaze on Ben. The silence was getting to him. He was about to snap, but Lawrence's voice stopped the idea short.

"I wondered the same thing."

Ben blinked his eyes, wondering if he was beginning to reconsider bringing him along at all.

"When I learned my daughter brought you, a human, to my home, I wondered why. When I found out you had a bile sac- of all things, a BILE SAC- I wondered why. And when I learned you refused Bump's offer to go to Hexside just so Edalyn's kid didn't have to suffer alone, I wondered why. To this day, I'm still wondering why you keep fighting. But now, I'm wondering about something else. Why would you give up now, when all of what you've done led you to this moment?"

Ben ended up becoming more bitter than ever. It should be obvious by now…!

"Why else?! It's because I'm not supposed to even be alive! FACE IT! I'M JUST AN ACCIDENT!"

Suddenly, Lawrence wrapped his arms around Benjamin, stopping him from talking so hysterically. He even began to speak those four famous words softly to his ear.

"There are no accidents…"

Ben became puzzled by Lawrence's words. They were questioning, sure, but his tone added a certain… depth. It was out of respect. After a moment, Ben wrapped his arms around Lawrence and cried his tears out.

This was the first time that he had ever received a hug from anyone. He never would've expected it to come from a Witch. But it goes to show how much different they were than what history told them. Lawrence softly stroked Ben's head, letting the boy have his peace. All they had to do was wait. They have all the time they need.


Meanwhile, back inside, Sara and the recovering Judy were staring out at the Boiling Rain. But this time, they were joined by the other members assigned to them. Toris, Ian, and Val were still coming to terms with how Ben could possibly have made that happen. Although Toris and Ian were the most vocal about it to Sara.

"You're telling me a human did that?"

"A hole that big? That's not possible."

"It's true. Judith saw everything."

Val went up to her, becoming worried with the rains out and about.

"Then, why aren't you going out?"

"He asked me to tend to his daughter, and that's what I'm doing. Other than that, I suspect that it's in case he comes back."

Somehow, Toris was really doubtful about it after the disaster of a training Omen put him through. But nobody realized that Omen was overhearing everything. He had just recovered from Lawrence's beration. To what measure, nobody would guess. Another concern was how they were taking their sweet time.

"Are you kidding? If he found them, they'd be back here by now. Besides, with a jackass like Omen, I'd rather take my chances with the Boiling Rain!"

Ian couldn't agree more.

"Yeah, that guy pushed him too far for his own good. I wouldn't be surprised if he'd rather die out there!"

Omen widened his eyes to hear that. Somehow, hearing it made it all even worse for him to deal with…

It wasn't any better for Judy. Just imagining him laying on the floor, his flesh and sinew burning away to a crisp was something she didn't want to think about. Val didn't like where this conversation was headed and cut them off for Judy's sake.

"Well, somebody has to go out there! He could get killed out there!"

Sara would concur, but there was a risk with just running off.

"Agreed. But we can't just run off all at once. Someone has to go out and look for him and Lawrence while the others stay behind."

It's not as though there weren't any volunteers. Any one of them could go out if they wanted. But someone beat them to it.

"I'll go."

Sara, Judy, and the other members turned around to see Omen standing behind them. To see him of all people volunteering was a jarring surprise to say the least.

"It's my fault he went rogue in the first place. I'm not one to argue differently. So it's my responsibility to bring him back alive."

Of course, Ian had no room to forgive him for the torture he'd done.

"Right, so you can torture that kid again?! No way in hell!"

Toris stood beside him, blocking the way as he chimed in.

"Yeah! That kid's been through enough hell already without you!"

Omen snarled at the two of them, clearly fed up that they chose now of all times to support him.

"Don't you understand?! The fact that I put him through hell is exactly why I need to go out there! Besides, it's not like none of you were at fault either!"

Omen started gritting his teeth as he tried to get himself under control. The others never saw that out of him before at all. Even Judy was surprised. They knew then that he was dead serious. More so than he usually was. Omen tensed his hands and got himself under control before he continued, trying to keep his tone level.

"No… no, I'm not going to stand here and place the blame on anyone for my failures. I'm going out there, and I'm going to make this up to him. To all of you."

Omen marched past Toris and Ian, both of whom were stunned by his resolve. But that didn't stop Val from noticing what Omen was doing. He set his staff on the floor beside Sara and walked closer to the entrance. She, for one, was perplexed.

"Wait, you're just leaving your Palisman here? You can't go out into the rain without it."

Omen held his head down solemnly as he replied in a similar melancholic way.

"With all I've done… we both know I'm not worthy of it."

Judy couldn't agree more at this point. After how he treated Ben, what reason did she have to believe that he cared about him? She gritted her teeth, unwilling to forgive him for what he's done.

"This was your fault…!"

Omen turned around to see Judy glaring at him bitterly despite her wounded condition.

"You're the one who made him hurt me…!"

Tears began to roll down her face as Judy began to work herself up, screaming at the man who hated Ben for being alive…

"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO DOESN'T BELONG HERE! Mentors are supposed to help lift their students up and teach them to be better! But all you've done is tell him that he didn't belong or that he was a mistake! An accident! After everything you did, that Palisman isn't the only thing you didn't deserve! THE ONLY ACCIDENT HERE IS YOU!"

Omen kept his stoic look on his face as he looked at the young and furious Clawthorne. She had a rage just like her father's; underneath the loving and caring gaze of her emerald eyes, there was an unspeakable fury. The end result of what he had done to him was brought out to the forefront. But it didn't petrify him like before. He'd already accepted it when her father reprimanded him severely a moment after he chased Ben away.

"I know."

Judy didn't drop her fierce, yet sad glare towards Omen, but her mouth relaxed at the bottom. She hadn't expected him to agree with her.

"Your father already beat some sense into my head a while ago. That's why I'm going out there."

Judy still kept her judgmental gaze towards him.

"And when you find him, what then?! How do I know you won't just kill him yourself?!"

Omen made no other move but to reach for his jacket and pulled the bottom up. What she saw shook her to her core. The other members were just as much in shock at the sight of this, especially Toris. None of them had expected him to come forward with something like this. Omen set his shirt back down as he replied.

"We actually have more in common than we thought, whether I liked it or not. That's why I'm going out there, to bring him back."

Omen was about to head out, only for Sara to speak to him in worry.

"But if you go out there, you won't… you'll just be burned to death."

Omen turned his head slightly to Sara's way, holding a sad countenance on his face.

"Then I'll finally have paid for my mistake…"

With that, Omen dashed right out of the gate, holding no hesitation in his mind as everyone looked on in worry. Omen winced at the drops of the Boiling rain that fell onto him. He grunted from the agony of burning pain. But even so, he pressed on like a fiend possessed.

"Damn…! This Boiling Rain hurts like hell as ever! But I can't give up yet! I owe this to the boy! I owe this… to everyone!"

Omen continued to press on, his skin beginning to burn away as he screamed in pain. He gritted his teeth as the rain landed on his cloak as well, beginning to burn through it clean off! Sara wanted to go out and help Omen, but Lawrence told her to help his daughter. Still, she wasn't one to do nothing.

"Omen, you fool, get back inside before you disintegrate!"

Omen grunted as he forced himself to move past the scorching burn of the rain drops.

"Good! Either I bring him back alive, or I die with him…! I won't accept anything else! And deep down, I know none of you would either!"

Sara gasped softly from seeing Omen so determined. It was clear that nothing anybody could say would change his mind. Omen didn't bother waiting for anybody to say anything. He wasn't one to waste any time. He ended up working through the pain and running through the boiling rain, pushing himself past the limit to make sure the human he called an accident would be safe. He owed this to him… to everyone…

Meanwhile, Judy wondered why he's going through this trouble just to save someone he wanted out in the first place. She knew her dad was a motivational speaker at times, but she never knew he was that good.

She could only assume her father must have convinced her some way or another that what he'd done was wrong. For him to go through with it must have been deeply personal for him. She didn't much like having to work with someone like him, but the only thing she hated more was people throwing their lives away so willingly. She had enough of that in her lifetime, and she wasn't going to go through that again.

With a sudden spring in her step, Judy stood up and went after Omen, befuddling Sara.

"Wait! Judith!"

Thinking quickly on her feet, Judy formed a clear white barrier just above her head before she expanded it just as she reached Omen. The desperate witch looked at Judy in surprise not only for the fact that she was standing, but because of how quick she was to come to his rescue.

"W-What are you doing?"

"You kept shutting me out of my own training. If you thought I was going to let it happen again, you're dead wrong. Besides, Ben's my friend. I have to protect him. Also, burning to a husk would be letting you off too easy."

Omen could see that nothing would convince her otherwise. Between the two of them, she knew him best. He had no choice but to concede and accept her barrier, as much as he wished to burn away trying.

"Alright. That's fair, I suppose. Let's go find him."

Judy only walked forward with a bitter look on her face.

"Like I need you to tell me that…"


Elsewhere, Ben and Lawrence were still watching the rains fall. After a short while, Ben broke the silence.

"So… what did you mean? When you said you were wondering why I kept fighting?"

Lawrence took a deep breath before he answered.

"What I said by that was the fact that you're a mystery to me, Benjamin. Everything about you is a mystery. But that is no reason for anyone to give up trying to solve you."

Ben gave him a soft smile. It was reassuring to say the least. But Lawrence had his own question to ask.

"Although, I'm still wondering. What exactly was your plan after running away? Where would you have gone?"

Ben stared out to the clearing as he answered honestly.

"I don't know. All I knew… was that I wanted to get away from it all."

Lawrence had a feeling that Ben had been keeping a lot to himself since day one. It was a fair assumption, given that he'd only been here for only a day. This world already proved how different it was from the one he knew. And he still had so many questions wrapped up, especially about his heritage. Lawrence had a feeling that this particular question had been around long before he set foot in this realm.

"It wasn't the first time, though, was it?"

Ben shook his head, just watching the rain destroy everything it landed on. Lawrence knew right then and there that he had something bothering him.

"I don't expect you to tell me everything straightaway. Trust does need to be earned. But… if it isn't too much of a bother, what was your family like back home?"

Ben paused for a moment to consider. He might be worried about how Judy or anyone else would feel if they knew what he'd done…

"Do you… promise not to tell anyone? Even Judy?"

Lawrence found it rather odd that he'd ask that. But it was a dead giveaway that something awful must have happened to him. What happened back in his world must have been so drastic that he'd ask that.

"I can promise that much, yes."

Ben spent the next few seconds working up the nerve to bring up such painful memories. It wasn't pleasant for him to have to remember such awful things, hence the hesitation.

"My mother dropped me off at the Kingston's house when I was just a baby. My family… wasn't exactly what you'd call a loving one. My dad– if you could call him that– he never treated me like I'm part of the family. According to him, I'm just an accident. I used to get along with my sister, Sue. But… when we got older, she decided she didn't want anything to do with me. My brother, Kyle, was the only one who was there for me. He's the only reason I was willing to keep living. But then…"

Ben held himself back to keep his tears from coming out. He had a hard time trying to contain himself, but Lawrence placed his hand on his shoulder.

"It's alright, Benjamin. Take your time."

Ben was once again stunned. How can he be so patient with him after what he could've done to his own daughter? Nearly overwhelmed by his gentle words, Ben gave himself the time to recompose himself and continued.

"One day… somebody brought snakes to the school for a book report. They ended up attacking everybody. Sue could've been bit, but Kyle… he protected her. I wanted to protect him, too, like he always did for me. But I was too late. Those snakes put him in the hospital."

Ben held his hands roughly together as his tone shifted to a sad note.

"The doctors said he'll live, but… he probably won't be the same again. All because of…!"

He was about to blame Luz. But he knew her enough to know that she wasn't the one to get others hurt on purpose. He stopped himself and revised his words.

"Because I couldn't save him… For all I know… the brother who cared about me is gone… And so was my reason to stay. To live…"

Ben started to shed his tears again before he spoke in spite of the shakiness of his voice.

"And it's not the first time I've lost anyone close to me…! I couldn't do anything, then, either! I wasn't even there!"

Ben was about to sob, only to wipe his tears away with his arm, stinging himself a bit since his jacket was partially still wet from the boiling rains. After a short moment, Ben spoke sadly again.

"Maybe I should just save everyone the trouble, and—"

"Get rid of yourself?"

Ben looked up to Lawrence with a soft gasp. He had a somber look upon him, much more so than before.

"It's not the first time I've heard those words. Omen said those words himself. He came close to doing it when I found him, too."

Ben had no words to express how shocked he was. He never thought Omen, of all people, would have said those words at all.

"He did what…?"

"Omen was normal by society's standards once. But then, his bile sac had a dangerous infection. If he was to go on living, it had to be amputated. If you'd call that living, that is. Omen was a shell of his former self without it. He couldn't do magic. Everyone ostracized him for this fact and called him a 'Half-A-Witch.'"

Ben heard that term before. He heard it said about Willow. She hated those words to no end, especially since it made her feel so powerless… he didn't think anyone ever called his "mentor" that. Although, he was still confused on how he could do it.

"But how did he do it, then? The magic?"

Lawrence looked down to Ben and showed him his staff, which was more of a scythe with the crow acting as the blade.

"Magic doesn't just come from us. They are reflected in our Palisman as well. But Omen never had one in his childhood. And I'm willing to bet that's why he was so brash with everyone. Who knows what he had to endure by the time I found him?"

Ben was unmistakably surprised. Omen was the last person he expected to relate so much to. A lot of good it did him, though. He still chose to hurt people instead of helping them. He did look rather jealous… It made him wonder what his rude awakening was.

"I had no idea…"

"Neither did he. But the truth is, you two have a lot more in common than you believe."

Ben held his arms around his legs a bit tighter than before as he tried to think of a way this could end after today. But for the life of him, he couldn't think of anything good.

"But… what's gonna happen from here on out? Omen's still not gonna accept me. I have a bile sac, and he doesn't. He's gonna hate me forever…"

Lawrence set his Palisman back against the cave. He gave the boy a small, fatherly glance as he replied.

"You're both alike in this regard. You're both too concerned about what was and what will be. I'm sure you've been a lot of things in your realm, but whatever you are, there's a saying. Yesterday... is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. But today is a gift. That is why it is called the present."

Ben hardly found anything good in the current present. After what he had done, he found it hard to believe that anyone would welcome him back after what he did.

"A lot of good that does… I'm still no closer to figuring out what I am…"

Lawrence granted him a reassuring smile. To him, it meant they were in the same boat.

"Neither are we. But perhaps this whole realm has a mystery or two for us, too, Benjamin. Who knows? Maybe we could solve that mystery together."

Ben smiled softly to him, uplifted once again by the Clawthorne. Just then, however, they heard a familiar voice in the distance.

"Ben! Dad! Where are you?!"

Ben recognized that voice from anywhere.

"Wait. Isn't that…?"

Lawrence and Ben looked past the rains to see a silhouette of someone limping in the rain. His whole body was practically steaming, too! In fact, it almost looked like a ghost.

"What in Titan's name…?"

Lawrence could barely see who was walking towards them in such a critical condition. But as he ran closer in view, his form was more visible. It was Neil Omen. And he wasn't on his own. Judy was with him, holding a barrier above the two of them.

Ben and Lawrence gasped in worry at the sight of him. The poor man looked as though a part of him was skinned alive! It was mainly his scar, but it was getting longer and longer, and his clothes looked as though they were burned to shreds, just like with Ben's own clothes, but in comparison, it was far worse. His cloak was burned away to the point where they could easily see a big gash across his chest, held together by stitches. And even worse, those stitches were coming undone, too.

Judy must have come up to help him find Ben, and from the looks of it, just in the nick of time. Unlike him, she actually seemed fine apart from a few scrapes on her arms. At almost the exact moment he saw them, Ben shouted to them.

"Hey! We're over here!"

Judy's ears wiggled before turning to her left. She saw Ben sitting beside her father in a cave. He looked worse for wear, but otherwise fine. Her emerald eyes beamed up the moment she saw him.

"Ben!"

Omen turned his head to see the duo as well. He sighed in relief knowing that they were alright. Although, with Lawrence around, he shouldn't have expected any less.

"Thank Titan, he found him."

Judy and Omen ran over to the cave where they were, and the instant they were inside, Judy let down her barrier to check up on her human friend.

"Ben! Are you okay? Your outfit is all…"

"Yeah. I'm okay, Judy. Your dad found me and looked after me."

Judy looked up at her dad with a smile and hugged him with tears in her eyes.

"Thanks, dad…"

Lawrence noticed those tears right away. This must have been personal for her since it scared her half to death. He gently wrapped his hands around his beloved as he stroked her soothingly.

"Of course, my little Ruby."

Ben couldn't help but grin a little. To be frank, he was overcome, too. But it wasn't just out of joy. It was guilt. She was hurt by what he had done and said. He's sure of it. The fact that she went through this trouble to save him made Ben feel utterly wretched. His face saddened as he stared upon her.

"Judy… I have something I need to say."

Judy could tell that he was trying to apologize.

"It's okay. You were still trying to figure out your powers."

"No. I mean, sort of. Obviously, yeah, but mostly… I'm sorry about… you know."

Judy's eyes widened once she realized what he was truly apologizing about. Seeing the fearful look on his face when he left her made her forget all about it in the heat of the moment. But the bitter memory was coming back.

"Oh. That…"

As Ben expected, she was hurt immensely from his words.

"Right. What I said to you was… extremely out of line. Every time I'm called a mistake or an accident, I always think of people telling me I don't belong anywhere. So I… I lashed out at you when you were just trying to help me. I just wish I didn't hurt you so badly. I'm so sorry…"

Ben seemed about ready to cry again, with his tears coming down his face, only for Judy to wipe them away. She gave him a gentle smile as she tried to reassure him.

"Ben. You may not believe me, but I know what it's like to feel… attacked. Almost every time I've been around Amity, all I could think about was how she hurt Willow. You were there for that a few times, but… you didn't see how bad it was. One time, I lashed out at her so badly, I almost got expelled."

Ben blinked his eyes, completely stunned to hear that.

"Wait, seriously?!"

"Yes. But then, my dad told me something to help get myself under control. Keep my wits about me, keep myself in check, keep the focus on who I am. I spent a long time trying to build that trust with everyone, even if I couldn't trust Amity with anyone's life. Those words almost failed me at Hexside today. But then… you stood up for Willow. If you hadn't done that, who knows what I would've done? So, it's okay."

Ben blinked his eyes in stupefaction.

"What? But how is—?"

"I know what you said was abhorable, and honestly, I still can't be sure how to feel… but I also know you didn't mean to say that to me. The fact that you tried to apologize despite how you think I must've felt… it proves I can trust you. We actually have more in common than you think."

Omen held his head down softly as he held a more sincere tone in his inflection.

"The same goes for me, too."

The trio all looked at Omen with puzzled glances from the younger duo.

"I owe you an apology as well. As your mentor, I should've been more understanding of your situation. And I should've approached you differently. But it was my pride… that blinded me. I felt insulted that you, a human, had a bile sac, so I lashed out at you for having the one thing I don't. All because of some petty grudge over a young man who did nothing wrong. I'm… I'm sorry."

Ben stared at Omen for a while, not sure of what to say to him. He knew he was making an effort to apologize, but he still couldn't let go of the horrible things he'd said to him. Such horrible things can't be erased that easily. That said, he kept in mind what Lawrence told him about his past.

He knew what it felt like to be the odd man out, at least when it came to his family. He had a rough time of it himself, so he can't exactly blame him for being high-maintenance. But even so, he had to let him know how he truly felt.

"You know, Lawrence already told me about what you've gone through. About your amputation. Honestly… I feel for you. But that didn't give you any right to treat me like garbage. I'm not the one who made you so miserable. You know that, don't you?"

Omen never spoke a word, but he gave him an acknowledging grunt.

"To be honest, I don't have the slightest clue what your guys' 'dilemma' is right now, or what I have to do with it, and frankly I don't care. All I want right now is to figure out what I'm supposed to be. I can do that with or without you. So don't expect me to forgive you so you can move on after what you just put me through. It's not how it works."

Omen closed his eyes. Truth be told, he expected this reaction. He had never given him any reason to forgive him.

"I understand."

But Ben wasn't done yet.

"Still… I can't just ignore the fact that you went out of your way to make sure I was okay. And besides, Lawrence got your mind straight, right? At least that's what I heard."

Omen nodded to the young man for confirmation.

"So, if there's a chance you meant what you said, any chance at all, then maybe we can try to build some common ground over this."

That part puzzled Omen. After everything he did, he still wanted to build trust with him? There's no way anyone could do that.

"You still want to build that bridge with me? After what I did to you the first moment you got here?"

Even Judy was struck by that moment. How could he be willing to try with him?

"Are you sure it's a good idea, Ben?"

Ben nodded to him before he explained himself.

"Let's be honest here, Omen. I don't like you, and you don't like me. That hasn't changed. I don't know if it ever will. But as much as I hate you, I don't want to waste my time on grudges. I made that mistake before with someone else I know, and I don't want that to happen again. Not when I have better things to do with my life. Like figuring out how to control my powers. And like it or not, I don't think I can pull that off without you. Do you understand that?"

Omen looked at him in surprise before he sighed, taking in Ben's words. The boy did have a point. Deep down, he still held some resentment for the boy himself. But he still kept Lawrence's wisdom in mind. In the end, Omen agreed to those terms.

"I understand. But it won't be easy. To be honest, even I'm not sure how they work at all. And it's clear that if you don't work it out, it could turn out to be catastrophic. So you'd better brace yourself for some hard work… Ben."

Ben nodded softly to Omen, accepting his first piece of wisdom he'd ever given him. Then, he held his hand out to him before Omen took his hand and shook it gently. As the two stared into each other's eyes sternly, Judy was perplexed.

"So… does that mean they're friends now?"

Lawrence could tell from their eyes that it was something entirely different.

"No. But they have an understanding. And for now… I think that's enough."

With that, Ben stood up, wondering what they were supposed to do now that they've worked things out.

"So… what now?"

Omen crossed his arms as an idea popped in his head.

"Hmm… it's gonna be a while before the rain stops. Maybe we can try practicing a light spell."

Ben blinked his eyes. He recalled him mentioning it before at the training hall.

"Oh, yeah. Didn't you say a child could do that?"

"If a child has a bile sac, yeah. But in your case, it's as good a place to start as any."

Ben had his doubts considering what happened last time.

"I don't know… last time I did that, it exploded. And then I got burned up."

Omen raised his eyebrow as a theory went in his head.

"Tell me. Were you trying to think of any specific spell when you made that circle?"

Ben was confused by the question, blinking his eyes. Nonetheless, he answered despite the tone of embarrassment.

"Uh… no. All I was focused on was trying to hit it."

"Then that's exactly the problem. Because you were uncertain about what spell to make to hit it with, the circle didn't know what to turn into, so it either shut itself off or imploded on itself."

Ben blushed a bit as he recalled both incidents. It just meant he was making a spell circle for no reason.

"Oh, yeah… But how would I know what it looks like? I've never seen a light spell."

Omen turned over to Judy, remembering how he hadn't been focusing on her since he first took charge.

"Judith. Can you show him your spell?"

Judy was completely surprised that Omen decided to include her in the mix. All the same, she agreed to it.

"Uh… yeah."

Judy traced a white spell circle in the air and formed a small orb of yellow luminescent light in her hand. Ben stared upon it in awe as Omen spoke.

"That's what you should aim for in a light spell. But keep it simple. The bigger the circle, the bigger the spell."

Ben gave Omen his nod. He then took a deep breath and held his finger out, his mind set on keeping it exactly the same as Judith's orb.

"Okay… give me light."

Hoping for the best, Ben traced his finger across the air, crafting a bright blue line of magic before he completed the circle. Then, a spark appeared within that circle before it was swallowed up and created a small orb of light, just like Judy's. But unlike hers, it had a bright blue hue just like his spell circle. The young man held it in his hand with awe as he spoke breathlessly.

"It's… amazing."

After a moment, Judy went over to Ben, completely ecstatic that Ben managed to make a working spell circle for the first time.

"You just did magic…! You just did magic!"

Judy immediately jumped him, wrapping her arms around him as the orb hovered in front of them.

"I knew you could do it! Way to go, Ben!"

Ben grinned eagerly with excitement as Judy giggled.

"Yeah?"

"I knew you'd make a spell! I just knew it! This is just so awesome!"

Lawrence gave the two of them a soft smile before he turned back to Omen, who looked back at him. The two of them nodded to each other with Lawrence smiling. Omen had taken his first step towards a better path. But he of all people knew it will be a long and hard road. Not that it deterred him. He wouldn't have it any other way. Besides, he had a feeling he wasn't the only one.

Ben had his own to take, too. He started on it the moment he ended up in the demon realm. He'd gotten along for the first two days this far, but his trials were far from over. If he was going to overcome them, it has to start with his powers. Omen is not certain if things would be smooth sailing from there, especially for himself. But whatever happens, he won't let the boy go down his road by himself. He deserves better than that.

"Alright. I've seen enough. The next stage of your training begins in two days."

Ben and Judy looked at him with a rather puzzled look.

"What? Really?"

"2 days?"

Omen sat down as he explained it to them.

"You're having a day off tomorrow in light of recent events. After what you've been through, I'd say you've earned it."

Ben and Judy were both surprised by Omen's decision. After a short moment, though, Ben made a small remark.

"Yeah, it is kinda the least you can do."

Omen gave him a smirk as he replied.

"I wouldn't push your luck."

Lawrence stood up as he went to Omen's side.

"I'd listen to him on that at least, if nothing else. One should never look a gift Hippogriff in the mouth."

Of course, the instant they heard that phrase, Ben realized that the Hippogriff was outside last time they came back home hours ago. And if it was unlucky enough to remain outside…

"Oh, wait! That thing's still out there! Won't it get burned alive?!"

Lawrence waved off his concern as he walked over to the young man.

"Don't worry, Benjamin. The Hippogriff's feathers naturally repel the Boiling Rain's hot and acidic temperatures."

However, it did remind him of something else.

"Its stable, on the other hand…"


A moment later, Lawrence, Ben, and Judy reappeared inside Clawthorne Manor with Omen tagging along. The group looked outside the window to find that, unfortunately, its stable had indeed melted down. But the good news was, it still remained. Ben was admittedly puzzled by this. Immune or not, he didn't think it would lay itself down there in the midst of the rain.

"Hmm. I would've thought that thing would have flown away by now."

The Hippogriff snorted before it yawned and laid itself down as Lawrence explained its behavior to him.

"Yes, I should've known. They tend to get drowsy in this kind of weather."

Judy focused on the good part of the news.

"Well, at least we know it's okay."

Of course, with that matter taken care of (assuming it needed to be in the first place), Lawrence turned towards the youth.

"In any case, you've had quite a wracking first day in the Shadow Coven. I can't promise that your next visits there will be any better, so you should take this moment to collect yourselves as long as you can."

Ben and Judy nodded to him before the latter addressed her concerns before the boy did.

"But what about those members you assigned us? Shouldn't they know we're okay?"

"And shouldn't Sara heal me again? I was burned pretty badly."

Lawrence spoke to his daughter first to let her know.

"I'll brief them on it shortly tonight. And as for you, Ben, I have something else that can remedy your burns. It will take some time though, so you'd better rest up in your room while I prepare."

"Okay."

Although Judy agreed with it, Ben's face blanched, his mind thinking back to when the doctor showed a leech to his face.

"Please don't tell me it's leeches…"

Judy started to laugh at Ben's words before he started to join in as Omen smiled at him.

"But seriously. Those things are my number one fear."

As the children walked upstairs, Omen looked at Lawrence with a puzzled look.

"Frankly, I'm surprised."

Lawrence shifted his eyes towards Omen, curious about what he was getting at.

"About what?"

"The fact that he can actually use a different magic than any of us. And when he made that light spell, it was blue, not yellow."

Lawrence sighed, feeling as though his earlier point was made.

"I told you before that he is capable of magic."

Although, Omen was sure of one thing he hadn't explained.

"Perhaps. But you still never told us about the most important thing. Who was the one who married a human in the first place?"

Lawrence dropped his smile, realizing that he hadn't gotten the chance to talk to Ben about that. Evidently, he didn't have a clue any more than the others have. That said, he did remember who Ben told him it was.

"According to Benjamin, he told me his mother dropped him off in the human realm when he was a baby. Who that could possibly be, I can't guess. Perhaps I'll ask him soon, when he's ready, and we'll get to the bottom of it then."

Of course, Omen was still skeptical about it.

"Are you sure it's the best idea to wait? If someone in our coven actually married a human—"

"It's not likely to be the case, Omen. If they have, I would've found out by now. But this… magic like his must be from someone else… in any case, we'll simply wait and focus on keeping his magic under control."

"And what exactly makes you so sure that he'd tell you?"

Lawrence looked up at the bedroom door where Ben's room was.

"Knowing Ben as much as I do… it's because he wants to know, too."


Hours later, Ben was still laying in bed, recovering from the bitter parts of the day he had endured. On his desk, there was a bowl of the remedy Lawrence told him about. It was basically a punch bowl full of cherry-flavored medicine. And even then, it wasn't very tasty at all. Sadly for Ben, that part hasn't changed one bit.

"Ugh… why did it have to taste so gross…?"

Ben looked at his arms, reminding himself of the trade off. The bruises seemed to be healing much better than he would guess. And his burns weren't… well, burning anymore.

"Well, at least I don't have to deal with leeches."

Ben shuddered at the thought of them just sucking him dry of blood like the parasitic vampires they are. Then again, Val was a vampire, and she didn't try to bite him in the neck, not even once. He began to feel bad for using that term in his head. Come to think of it, he just felt bad in general.

Ben couldn't begin to think how Sue must be feeling after how he just attacked someone who tried to hit her and then ran off like a wanted criminal. For all he knew, he might as well be. What made it even worse was his memories. He distanced himself from his sister for so long, he couldn't remember a time where the two of them were happy together at all. Even if he were to try now, he'd end up making himself unable to sleep because of his guilt.

Ben sat himself up, shown that he was still wearing his red shirt. He couldn't help but look out at the horizon. It looked very bleak with the trees having lost their leaves, but at the same time, it couldn't have looked any more beautiful. After a moment or two, Ben opened up the desk drawer to his right, seeing a picture of his mother holding him when he was just a babe. Sadly, the father couldn't be a part of it, assuming he had one that wasn't a jackass. His eyes began to shed tears as he drew out shivers of sadness.

"Why did you leave me? Why…?"

A few tears or two dropped onto the picture before they slid off. Ben had it laminated by someone at the library to keep it from getting ruined. He wanted to preserve it no matter what. Ben was about to set the picture back into the drawer when he noticed something underneath it.

Play Magpie Music: "Philip Wittebane Timeline Animation"

With curiosity having gotten the better of him, Ben dug his hand into the drawer and pulled out a small journal. It didn't have any label on it, so he can only assume it was brand new. When he opened it up, the first thing he saw was a letter. Ben took the thing from the front page and opened it up before he read over the words.

Dear Ben,

I had a feeling you might feel alone in the Boiling Isles, even when I'm around. I figured maybe I could give you something to do while we try to figure this out, so I gave you this journal. You're probably wondering how I got it in your room. Let's just say a witch never reveals her secrets. Anyway, you can practically write whatever you want in it. I hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Judy

Ben couldn't help but grin as he wiped his leftover tears away from his face before he set both the letter and the journal on the desk. Truth be told, he didn't know where to start, much less what to write about. Then, he had an idea come over him. He turned to the picture just next to the journal and made a sad smile.

Perhaps he can't talk to her right now, but it wouldn't hurt to write what he wanted to say. Who knows? Maybe she might be somewhere out there. Ben made another spell circle, forming a blue orb of light which hovered above him and the paper before he started writing into it.

"Dear mom: I have so much I wanted to ask you, and so much I have to say. Some of them are good, and most of them are bad. I don't even know if I'd get them all in this journal. But I'll try to write as much as I can. I'm 16, by the way. So, there's definitely gonna be a lot to catch up on. But for now, I think I'll keep it simple. I'm not sure if you had that one planned out, but… My name is Ben. Ben Kingston. And I want to tell you my story. All of it."

End Magpie Music: "Philip Wittebane Timeline Animation"

A/N: Well, that took longer than I thought. But at least things are on track. You're probably wondering about my different take on the Shadow Coven chapter. Well, looking back at my previous story, I realized that in hindsight, it was a little too early to have him go off on a mission when he was just initiated to begin with. So, this was kinda my way to remedy that, along with a notable change. Val (Olivia Olsen) herself is a part of the Shadow Coven from the beginning. And that's not the only change I made.

I also added in a new character for my story, Neil Omen (portrayed by Christopher Sabat). The character overall is inspired by Shifu, Vegeta, and Piccolo. Here, we see he was clearly resenting Ben for having the one thing that he doesn't anymore: a bile sac. It turned out, though, that the two of them had a lot in common than they thought. That said, Ben and Omen have an understanding. They still don't like each other, but at least they came to terms with their presence and how much they might need them

And on another matter, he spoke of a certain dilemma the Shadow Coven has. Ben has stated for the moment that he doesn't care as he's more focused on figuring himself out. But we'll have to see for ourselves about that, won't we?

You're probably wondering why I didn't include Luz's story in the mix. It's not that I didn't like any of it, I mean I REALLY liked it. But this was more focused on Ben's side of the story, and I couldn't see a way to incorporate the two of them together. Although, I plan to add a very special surprise to that in the next chapter. ;)

And on the subject of Ben's powers, aside from the classic anime (Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, and the like), I was reminded of when Steven Universe had trouble working out with his anger, too. I felt like it truly resonated with how Ben's trying to comprehend what was going on with him and his abilities and who he really was. But that won't be the only reference I'm using for Ben's powers. Oh, no. We merely scratched the surface… 😈

In conclusion, you can expect a major whopper of a chapter next time. I'm not sure when I'll post it, but I plan to soon. Until then, I hope you have a good day, a good night, and a good life. ;)