A/N: Hello, everybody! It's been a long time and coming. But now, after almost two months, the announcement can be made. Haunting of Judith Clawthorne Part 2 is finally here! :) I hope you all enjoy the work I've put into this one chapter. The hard part was figuring out which scene was needed and which one wasn't, especially for the lore in mind. After a long chapter like this, I might work on a small lemon oneshot with Kaisa from Hilda (also in my current story) to unwind after tackling something this big (as if we don't have enough of lemon oneshots already, am I right? No disrespect, by the way.) Anyway, this also takes some cues from Devil May Cry for the background and for the upcoming fight. And if you're still wondering who voices Blackburn, imagine Sukuna's voice actor from Jujutsu Kaisen, Ray Chase. Hope you enjoy it. ;)
Omen and Val were in the training chamber. Omen was the one doing some training as Val was just leaning back on the wall and watching. Back then, he and Val were a little older than Ben's age. He was working on the training dummy, taking note of the spinning arms that came his way. He had no magic of his own to use, but that didn't mean he couldn't compensate in other ways, or so he believed. What else was he to do but wait? Waiting was always the most irritating part for him.
Omen got the pillars of death down pat some time ago. But he kept trying to break the record over and over again. The same went for the pit of fire. Like always, he dodged the fire before it could even set itself off, as if by instinct. It may have been exciting to her the first time, but now, Val was just bored out of her mind.
"Omen, you've already passed your training like a hundred times already. Why don't you take a break?"
Omen threw a hard punch at one of the pillars, shattering it to pieces from the force of his palm. He looked at the palm, seeing a few splinters on his palm, grunting in frustration.
"Nonsense…! I'm just getting started!"
Omen was about to lunge at another pillar of death, but was promptly halted by Val's hand pulling on his arm.
"I'm serious, Omen. Maybe it's time to consider stopping."
Omen wrestled his arm away from Val and glared at her.
"No, Valera. This is exactly the time not to stop, because I am not getting any better!"
"This isn't training, Omen, it's mania!"
Omen grunted in anger and tried to walk away as Val continued.
"Some things just can't be fixed."
"You don't understand, Val. Life without my magic–!"
"Is still life. This isn't the end. There are other things that can give your life meaning."
Omen glanced back at Val with pure venom.
"What, like you?"
Val's look changed from a pitying look to that of pure resentment.
"Okay, this is the part where you apologize."
"No, this is the part where you LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!"
Omen's bitter voice echoed throughout the hall, with no movement made on either side. Val frowned at him and sighed.
"Fine. I can't keep watching you do this to yourself, anyway."
Val left the training room in a huff, leaving the bitter Omen by himself to work out his aggression on the training dolls, lashing out at them as he yelled out, tearing them to shreds as he yelled out.
In the present day, Omen was leaning against the hallway's wall, thinking back to that moment. He tapped his fingers on his arms, a look of regret evident on his face. He glanced over at the far corner, bearing witness to Val walking over to him. Considering the morning's events, Val had a guess about what he was stoic about.
"Still thinking about Aiken's Omen?"
Omen glanced towards her with an indifferent look.
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't use my name as a joke."
Val went close to him and leaned beside him on the wall.
"The pun wasn't intended that time."
Val's eyes widened and he looked to her direction for a moment before he uttered in an awkward tone.
"Oh. Sorry."
Omen was silent for a short moment before he came to admit it.
"No. Actually, I was… thinking about how callous I've been. Especially to you."
Val's eyes perked up. She definitely wasn't expecting to hear that.
"I'm surprised you even remembered…"
Omen leaned further back, looking up at the ceiling as he continued.
"That circumstance was never your fault to begin with, but I took it out on you for having magic anyway. I took it out on everyone. Frankly, I'm surprised Lawrence hadn't said anything sooner… Maybe he meant for me to realize it on my own and come to the same conclusion I've just recently developed."
Val crossed her arms, honestly intrigued by how introspective Omen had been.
"And that is what, exactly?"
"That there's other ways that my life can find meaning. And to tell you the truth… I think I may have found one."
Val gasped softly, her face showing a more burning curiosity than usual.
"What is it? That one way?"
Omen didn't answer. But if he were about to, he would surely have been cut off, because suddenly, the portal opened up in front of the duo. And who should come out of the other side but Lawrence Clawthorne. They immediately showed surprise once they saw a fearful look on him. Whenever he had those, it was always a bad sign, just like when he was mad. Even Omen was shaken to the core.
"Lawrence…?! What the hell happened?"
He wasted no time giving them the bad news.
"Blackburn. He's taken possession of my daughter's body as his vessel. And he's destroyed the last elixir we've had in the house."
Val and Omen were struck with disbelief. To hear that Blackburn was free was a very bad thing to hear.
"What?! That's not–! He can't be!"
"What happened back there?"
"It's clear he's been getting stronger from the beginning. I'd venture to say he's finally reached it."
Val and Omen were at a loss for words.
"Well… w-what are we supposed to do?"
"If we let him escape, he'll destroy everything and everyone."
Lawrence's face had a hardened look as he spoke to the two of them.
"No."
They turned their gaze to their leader, and they saw his fearful look having left him in place of a dead-serious one.
"Blackburn will not escape. And with Benjamin's latent abilities, there's only one way to pull it off. If you'll help me."
Omen and Val looked at each other for a moment. They knew the stakes of what would happen if Blackburn managed to break free. If Blackburn doesn't turn it into the next Savage Ages, then Belos would surely hold the Shadow Coven responsible for the resulting damage. Omen nodded to Val with a determined look before she read into his expression. She got the gist and returned the nod before Omen spoke to his master.
"Alright. What's the plan, Larry?"
Play The Mandalorian Music: "Hey Mando! (1:43)"
The Owl House: Shadows Upon Blood
Chapter 5: Haunting of Judith Clawthorne Part 2 - Everdark
End The Mandalorian Music: "Hey Mando!"
"Here I am in the void. Again."
Darkness. An empty blackness that can drive one mad, or can ensure a peaceful slumber. That's where Judy was dragged down to. Blackburn sent her there several times before. But this time? She had a feeling she'd never wake up. Worse, she feared she'd never wake up in time; but the question is, should she wake up? The girl pondered this to herself as she floated in the abyss, her eyes never lifting.
Her friends must know her secret by now, that she was Blackburn's vessel. There's no way they'd ever be near her again after what they saw her do to Amity, what they saw him do. Who would want a monster as a friend? And to top it all off, her own mother never showed up to see her much. The only times she ever saw her was when she was in the Emperor's Coven. What if she were to see her now? There's no way she'd let a vessel of Blackburn exist on the Boiling Isles, especially not if Emperor Belos could help it.
"Should I…? Should I even bother anymore? Even if I break free, they'll know what I am. My friends, my mom… they'll all hate me. Why… why was I even born at all…?!"
A tear rolled down her cheek and fell. The last thing Judy expected to hear was a loud drip. Judy's eyes shot open when the sound came. The first thing she saw was a clearing in the woods. Looking at the horizon, it appeared to be nighttime.
"What in the…? How did I end up here? And what's going on?"
Judy couldn't begin to figure any of them out when she heard footsteps approaching from behind. Her ears wiggled, and she turned around to see a woman she didn't recognize. She had long, brown hair and blue eyes. For her outfit, she was wearing a long blue and dark purple dress. The center of her dress had marks on it as if there was an impact on it. And more notably, she had a big bump in her belly. Even so, she had an upbeat smile that reminded her so much of Luz.
"Phew! Made it."
Judy stood up on her feet right away and tried to talk to her.
"Uh, hi. Nice to meet you."
The woman only glanced up at the moon and sighed with a smile.
"It's beautiful, isn't it, Judy?"
Judy blinked her eyes and looked at the full moon. It was surprising that a stranger would learn her name.
"I mean… I guess. But can you tell me where I—"
Before she could answer, the woman turned around and grinned at who came over to her. Judy couldn't help but gasp in awe. She was far younger, but she recognized that smile anywhere.
"Aunt Eda…?"
The woman held her hands over her belly as she glanced at the Owl Lady.
"Thanks for coming, Eda. I know this must be a lot for you."
Eda scoffed with a smirk.
"Come on, Selena. I get to meet my niece. Why would I miss that?"
The woman named Selena only responded with a gentle hug, puzzling her.
"What? W-What's this?"
Selena chuckled warmly.
"It's a hug, silly! Don't you know what that is? I thought Raine showed it to you."
Eda's face blushed for a moment. It seemed like she'd make an excuse, like always, but her face turned sour, and she hung her head.
"We, uh… we're not really… seeing each other anymore."
Selena's face frowned from hearing this. She only made the hug tighter, much to Eda's surprise and bafflement as she spoke softly.
"I'm so sorry."
Eda tried to deflect it, but she couldn't hold back her tears. It was only for a few seconds as she reciprocated the hug. Judy felt sorry for Eda. The girl knew they had a falling out, but she had no idea how much it affected the Owl Lady.
"Aunt Eda…"
After their fleeting tender moment, Eda and Selena finished their hug, and the latter looked around as Eda wiped her tears.
"Wait. Wasn't there someone with us?"
Eda had a guess about who she was talking about.
"Oh, Sam? Yeah, he kinda has a lot on his plate. You know, being a demon hunter, and all that impressive shit."
Selena narrowed one of her eyebrows.
"You know who I'm talking about, Eda."
Eda trembled from the force of her scowl. The Owl Lady rethought her answer and shouted to someone from behind.
"Oh, right. I have a sister. Hey, Lily! Are you doing okay back there?"
Judy looked farther past the woman and saw a familiar face. She looked as though she'd been blasted by a dragon, her skin covered in ash, and her glasses all smogged up.
"Sure, now you ask, Edalyn."
The woman who was affectionately called "Lily" took her glasses off and rubbed the ash off her skin, showing the tan-like skin colors and her emerald eyes. She was still wearing the garb from the present day, but her hairstyle was remarkably different. The roots of her normal red hair was growing out with her black dyed hair tied into a ponytail.
"I swear, the only thing keeping me from screaming at you is the fact that my daughter is in my wife's abdomen…"
Judy gasped in shock as she stared at her face.
"MOM?!"
Meanwhile, Lilith was on a mission, her face steeled with determination. She had to block out all unnecessary distractions, sacrificed so much to be in the Emperor's Coven, let alone become the head. Her sole drive in this coven is to fulfill her end of the promise so that Belos would keep his own. And she was never going to stop until then…
Kikimora had tasked her and a handful of guards, including Steve, to find the Owl Lady. One of Lilith's scouts had told her about her whereabouts. Naturally, she'd like to be one step ahead of Edalyn. That said, with the many recent slip ups she had so far, she found the scout's report… less than ideal.
"And you're sure my sister will arrive here?"
"Yes, Lilith. The Night Market is a smorgasbord of forbidden magic. I heard that's how she makes her magic so strong."
Lilith growled, clearly frustrated with that way of thinking.
"On what source did you hear that? Surely, if it were that easy, we'd have her captured by now. But there's no way that even Edalyn would risk capture showing up at the Night Market for—"
Soon to be corrected, Lilith widened her eyes when she saw a familiar witch pass her by from afar. Her red hood couldn't be any more obvious, especially since it was puffier the last time she saw it. And as if more evidence couldn't be provided, Lilith saw a glint of Eda's face, looking more serious than usual, almost as though she's desperate. Lilith had a flabbergasted look for a moment before a somewhat sinister smile crept on her face.
"Well. It appears I stand corrected."
Lilith turned around to look at Steve, clenching tightly to her Palisman staff.
"Steve, report this to the Platinum Princess. Edalyn is as good as mine…"
Back at the manor, Amity was lying on the bed, badly wounded from "Judy's" brutal attack on her. Fidge was tending to her as he pressed a damp cloth on her cheeks where Blackburn razed her. Lawrence was sitting on the chest beneath the bed, holding his hands together as Luz, Willow, Ben, and Gus were staring at the mortally wounded Amity with worried and terrified looks on their faces. Luz looked at Amity with an anxious expression as she held her hands.
"I don't understand. I got that she was mad at her, but how could Judy do something like this?"
Willow held her hands together as she looked at the mortally wounded Blight. She may not be able to forgive her, but even this was not what she wanted to happen to her.
"I had no idea Judy hated her that much. All this time… why couldn't she tell me?"
Gus was especially shaken by the whole event that happened.
"I came seeking to aid my friend, only to find darkness and despair…"
Ben had a dismal look on his face as he looked at Amity. His eyes stared at the scars on her face, her blood dried up from the lacerations she bore.
"Judy… was that what you meant when you said you attacked her…?"
Ben's hand trembled with disbelief. All he could think about was how desperate Judy looked as she called to him.
"Please, Ben! Don't let Blackburn kill my friends!"
Her voice echoed in his head all the time since then. All this time, Judy had to fight for control over her body since birth. And tonight could be the night she loses it, for all he knew.
"Why did she have to be born that way? Judy never did anything to deserve this…"
Luz saw the anxious and sad look on Ben's face. She couldn't help but recognize it. She had that same look once. The last thing she wanted was to see it worn by anyone else. Luz gave him a reassuring hug and tried to cheer him up.
"We'll save her, Ben. We've got to. We just need a little help. That's gotta be why Lawrence left to go get–"
Just then, at that moment, a portal opened up on the wall. And who should step out of it but Lawrence, Val, and Omen? The trio looked at the children as they turned to see them. Luz especially looked relieved when she saw them, though she was surprised to see a new face here.
"Omen! That's a good idea, Mr. Clawthorne! Maybe he can help! And who are you?"
Val bent down to Luz's level and rubbed her head.
"My name's Val. Nice to meet you, uh…"
Luz cut to the chase quickly.
"Luz."
"Luz. Great name."
Luz took notice of her fangs right away and gasped with glee.
"Are you a vampire…?"
Val blinked her eyes for a moment, utterly gobsmacked by her cheerful attitude.
"Uh… yeah?"
Within a moment, Luz went all around her, throwing a bunch of questions at her she always wanted to ask.
"Can you transform into a bat? Is it small, or is it a giant? Is it true that you have to drink blood?"
Before Luz could ask one more question, Ben cut her off, placing his hands on her shoulder. He didn't think now of all times was wise to ask, especially when Blackburn had taken control of Judy.
"Luz! You can fangirl it up later. We have a serious situation here."
Omen was the first to acknowledge it and got down to business right away.
"Don't worry. We heard everything from Lawrence. We'll take it from here."
Omen glared right at Ben and stared daggers at him.
"And you! What concussion did you suffer that made you think it was a damned good idea to involve children into this?!"
Ben stepped up closer to Omen, clearly pissed that he went straight to scolding him. Old habits die hard, he supposed. But at this moment, it was no excuse.
"I just wanted Judy to spend her Moonlight Conjuring with her friends so we could help her! Why is that so wrong?!"
"Because you deliberately put them in the belly of the beast!"
Val stepped in quickly. She saw where arguments with him lead to, and that scenario wouldn't help anybody in the slightest.
"Both of you stop it! No amount of bickering is going to help Judy or get this Moonlight Conjuring done."
Lawrence nodded in agreement, but he was well aware of the tension between many of the people in this room, mainly Willow and Amity.
"Valera is correct. Besides, I've allowed them to stay because of one thing: they all want to help their friend. And to do that, they need to know what Judith has been through."
Luz looked from Ben to Lawrence, already afraid of what it meant.
"What has she been through?"
Lawrence walked to the middle of the room and stood in front of them with a morbid look on his face. He turned out the window and looked at the moon, which was almost at the peak of the sky, ready to unleash its light. Feeling pressed for time, Lawrence shifted his face back to the children and spoke to them.
"We don't have much time, so I'll keep this short and simple. 15 years ago, Judith was only brought into the world as a child. We don't know how, what, or why, but there was a madman who wanted to murder that child. Blackburn."
Gus and Willow gasped in shock from the very mention of his name. While Luz was completely puzzled about him, Ben was especially curious over how they seemed to know about him.
"Who dat?"
"Wait, you guys know about Blackburn?"
Willow showed a frightened look on her face to Luz and Ben.
"Know him?! He was one of the worst wild witches in the Savage Ages!"
Gus added to Willow's statement with what he heard.
"I heard that he corrupted his victims with dark magic and used them like slaves! Or zombies! Or zombie slaves!"
Lawrence sighed as he cut to the chase.
"Pawns would be more blunt, Gustopher. But it is accurate, nonetheless. In any case, he was determined to utterly destroy her. Judith's mother gave it her all to keep her alive and safe, but in the end, she gave up her life to protect her."
Ben heard that and was utterly gobsmacked.
"Gave up her life? Wait, I thought Lilith was her mother."
"She is. But she wasn't the only one. She had another. The one who gave birth to her. And tragically, she perished at Blackburn's hand to protect her."
Luz gasped softly, as well as in shock. She had never known that story about Judy before.
"Oh, mama mia…"
As for Gus, his mind was blown.
"That is so messed up…"
Willow was just as heartbroken to hear it.
"I had no idea Judy's been through so much…"
Lawrence saw the genuine worry over her face. He took in a deep breath and exhaled before he continued sadly.
"It came at a great personal cost for all of us that night. Ever since, we've been wanting answers for why Blackburn attacked our family."
Ben glanced up at Lawrence, becoming sympathetic with him. He of all people knew what that felt like.
"I know the feeling. Whether or not I want to…"
Ben recalled that day all too well. That night, he went to their usual spot to get away from it all. He was hoping to find her there after everything that happened.
"Uh, hello? Melissa? Are you here? I need to talk to you."
But sadly, there wasn't any sign of Melissa anywhere. Something about the whole thing didn't sit well with him at all. She'd never missed out on this place. And she never left it early, either; she'd always wait for him.
"Melissa? Hello?!"
Ben searched all around the tree to look for her. Fortunately, he found something there: a small piece of paper that was taped to it. But unfortunately, it didn't hold any good news for him. He took it off of the tree and read it. With each second that went by, his face grew more and more frightened.
"Dear Ben,
I'm sorry that you couldn't find me here. But I'm tired of living in a world where people look at me as a freak. I'm glad you were the one to see otherwise. To know the real me. And I know you promised me that we'd leave together. So I'll be waiting for you to keep it. If you're ready, meet me at the cemetery. I really hope this works. If it does, this might be the last letter I'll have to write to you. I'm just tired of waiting for things that can't make life any better. What would be the point of all that?"
Signed, Melissa."
And then, all of a sudden, Ben dropped the note and ran off down the hill, running faster than he had ever run before. He was aware Melissa hated the way things are, but this much? There's no way she'd resort to that, he thought. And he didn't want to believe it, but that seemed to be the likely scenario.
"No…! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no…!"
Ben was running like hell down the woods for the past two minutes until he saw the gate. He skidded himself to a stop, almost slipping and falling to the floor, but he used the momentum to turn himself around and run right to the gate. When he got there, however, there was already a stream of yellow police tape blocking the way between him and the gate, along with a police officer. The words on it said "do not cross".
"Such a real shame. She was a really good kid, too."
Ben felt his heart sink. He refused to accept that Melissa would just throw her life away like that.
"Melissa…! MELISSA!"
Ben ran right to the gate, but the officer barred him from getting in.
"Hey! Hold your horses, kid! It said 'do not cross'!"
Ben squirmed in his grasp, kicking and screaming as he tried to keep him out.
"LET ME GO!"
Ben shoved the officer to the floor and tore right through the tape. But the moment he passed through the gate, he would come to regret it. There was a trail of blood starting just near the archway. And to make matters worse, it seemed to end right in the water. Ben's face distorted into agony as he stared at the water. Ben began to shed tears from his face as he sobbed his heart out. It didn't take long before he broke down and screamed his cries out on the floor as the officer recovered from the push and walked over to him, having a sad look on his face.
In the present, Ben clenched his hands together into fists. He glanced at Lawrence and spoke with a fierce look.
"I've already lost someone close to me a long time ago. And the last thing I want is for it to happen ever again. So I need you to be honest with us. Was keeping Blackburn trapped inside Judy really the only way to save her? Was it?"
Everyone heard the tone of fury in his words, but Omen saw no point in turning away from the truth. He can't deny how upset he is about all of this. He saw the same look in Judy's eyes when she scolded him.
"Well, it was. But apparently, today, someone's magic set Blackburn off-balance. Twice, I might add."
Omen glanced over at Ben. And it didn't take long for everyone else to follow suit. Luz's eyes widened when she remembered how Ben pulled up a moonlight orb to Blackburn's face to save Amity.
"Oh, yeah! Remember when you bashed Judy's face with your light spell?"
Ben gasped once he recalled that moment. He could also remember how Judy momentarily got control back before she could only speak the last words she'd ever spoken tonight.
"Please, Ben! Don't let Blackburn kill my friends!"
"Yeah… after I hit her, Judy was able to get control for a while. You think my magic powers are related to the Moonlight Conjuring somehow?"
Lawrence took the theory into consideration. But he needed a sure thing in this dark time.
"Possibly. But it didn't seem to be strong enough to have a lasting effect. And even in the past few years, the ritual itself was difficult to maintain with only Lilith, myself, and Edalyn. And we've had a lifelong bond to last a lifetime."
Willow glanced out of the door and heard violent knocking and thrashing around from the cellar door. She couldn't bear the thought of what it must be like to be trapped in your own body. The weight of it must have been too great to bear alone… Luz turned around to Ben, having a realization an idea dawned on her. She knew how much Judy meant to Ben, and she'll be damned if she let him suffer like this. She owed it to him.
"Wait. What if we tried doing the Moonlight Conjuring with–?"
Before Luz could finish, Omen cut her off.
"I already know what you're going to say, and no. You're staying in here to look after Amity until this whole terror is over."
Luz immediately showed outrage from Omen's refusal.
"What?! We came here to help Judy! I mean, no offense to Amity, but–"
Omen put his hand to his head. He was getting tired of the whole argument altogether.
"For the love of–! You've already put yourselves at risk just by letting him see you! Besides, we don't even know what kind of effect that magic could have on the conjuring itself! If he gets free, he will tear you and your friends to shreds!"
Luz felt his argument to be counterproductive.
"If we have Ben with us, then it won't go wrong. If his magic could free her, maybe it can boost the Moonlight Conjuring!"
Omen turned to Luz, shifting his focus onto her.
"You can't be sure! This isn't some fantasy world where everything works out! For all we know, it could be another disaster just waiting to happen!"
Luz held her head down, dismayed at his words. Ben was about to come to her aid, but Willow stepped up and stood beside her.
"Listen, mister! I know you're worried about our safety, but with all due respect, Judy is our friend, and I say we are not leaving until we know she's okay! And that's final!"
Gus came up beside Willow, showing just as much determination as Willow.
"If you're gonna eat me, just do it now! Do it now!"
Omen was utterly flabbergasted at their adamant decision, and strangely more so over Gus' proclamation. He turned to Lawrence, hoping he'd talk some sense into them.
"Lawrence, you're not seriously condoning this, right?"
Lawrence glanced back at the children, especially towards Ben. It was clear that none of them were going to change their minds anytime soon. He knew that no matter what, they wouldn't stop.
"I'm afraid we may have to."
Val had a worried look on her own face as well. She may not be on Omen's side, but in this case, she made an exception for their sake.
"Larry, they're still kids. It's gonna be crazy dangerous."
Lawrence made a counterpoint as he replied.
"I was hoping we'd avoid it, Val, but I know that look from anywhere. They've already proven they're not going to stop until Judith is safe. Perhaps it might be wise to let them help where we can keep an eye on them."
Omen stuttered in disbelief, but he grunted in dejection. He should've known that they wouldn't be talked out of it in the first place. For that matter, he turned to Ben.
"Fine. I suppose it would be best."
Ben gave him a grateful smile. The boy thought he'd have to argue with him again, and it wouldn't be of any help to anyone here.
"Thanks, Omen."
However, Omen gave Ben a serious and stern look, the one he was always famous for.
"Don't thank me yet, Ben. You want to make a decision? Make one. But be prepared to deal with the consequences."
Omen walked out of the door and went down the stairs as he replied.
"Let's just get this Moonlight Conjuring over with."
Ben nodded to him with a steeled glare. But before he went anywhere, he turned to Willow.
"Thank you, Willow. Really. I appreciate that."
Willow gave him a gentle smile as she went up to him.
"Of course. That's what friends do."
Willow then glanced over to the unconscious Amity, scowling slightly in her direction.
"I'll admit, I never thought Amity would ever come here, but… I know how badly you want to help Judy."
Ben raised one of his eyebrows to clarify something.
"Actually, Amity came on her own."
Willow blushed and shook her head in a momentary fit.
"Whatever. Anyway, if it was making her come along, I know this is something I shouldn't back out of, no matter how scared I am of this."
Willow began to walk past him, puzzling the young man. He'd heard about what Amity had been through back during his first time at Hexside. Scab seemed especially pleased with calling out Amity the way he has. But he digressed. Besides, he knew of someone else who was just like her. And he didn't want their relationship to be anything like the one between him and his sister.
"Willow, I… I can see why you hate Amity. And I'm not sure exactly how bad she messed you up. But she really is trying to make this up to you. I'm not asking you to forgive her, but… would you at least be willing to hear her out? When she's ready?"
Willow maintained her frown.
"I don't think I know what you're talking about."
Ben grasped Willow by the hand as he spoke in a stern tone.
"I'm serious, Willow."
Willow wrestled her arm away from Ben before she spoke solemnly.
"So am I. I appreciate you trying to help, Ben, but I'd rather forget that Amity existed. Out of sight, out of mind. That's always been my motto."
Willow went down the stairs as Ben looked on with a worried look. How bad were things between her and Amity back then? He turned back to the room and sighed softly to Luz and Gus.
"Come on, guys. We've got a Conjuring to do."
Luz and Gus followed Ben out of the room alongside Val and Lawrence. But as the last two left, Val had an anxious look.
"Larry… you don't think Blackburn would take advantage of… whatever that was, do you?"
Lawrence turned to Amity, having a look of worry for Amity.
"Back then, he never made any move against us except through Judith. But now, with Benjamin's powers in the mix… I can't imagine he'd go through the routine like usual… We'll have to be ready for anything he throws at us. We may have to keep an eye on young Blight for any changes to be safe."
"But what about the Conjuring?"
Lawrence turned back to the others from the stairs and spoke softly.
"Why do you think we're keeping an eye on them?"
As Lawrence said those words, neither he nor Val noticed that Amity's wrist began to turn pale and had black veins emerge as her fingers twitched.
Meanwhile, Eda was looking left and right all over the Night Market for anything that could help her niece. The only thing she could remember that could be of any use right now was what Morton told her that very morning.
"There's a guy with a stand. Goes by Grimhammer. If anyone has what you need, it's him."
Eda passed through several witches, most of which ignored her while others only gave her a passing glance. She sighed glumly just thinking about what the poor girl must be going through right now. And as if things weren't bad enough, Eda started growing feathers on her arm where Blackburn bit her hand.
"The curse…! I need that elixir, quick."
But it was getting much worse than that. King was the first to notice right away, peeking through the cape that hid him.
"Uh, Eda…?"
When Eda looked down to her hand, it started to twitch, acting as though it was convulsing in agony. Eda gasped in horror when she saw her skin beginning to decay and boil, and the mark itself was turning black, along with her veins.
"Okay, that's not normal!"
To make matters worse, it began to move on its own, creepily moving right towards King, the nails getting visibly longer. The length of them might as well be enough to cut a person open like a knife!
"Eda! Get it away!"
Eda snagged her arm and held it at bay as she looked left and right for anything to cover it up, seeing only an empty bottle of Appleblood on the ground. With no time to waste, Eda scooped it up and tore her ailing hand off of her before she stuck it inside with a bottle stopper.
And no sooner had she done it that her hand began to rebel, lunging at its former owner with such fury that it almost made her drop the bottle. The hand could do no more than scrape against the glass with no success as Eda sighed.
"Oh, thank Titan you said something, King. Now we just gotta let Righty stay here until this whole thing is over."
Eda's hand turned itself around and flipped her off with its middle finger, making the Owl Lady gasp dramatically.
"Hey! You don't flip me off! I taught you that!"
Just then, she took notice of a stranger in front of her as he spoke out.
"I've heard of being at war with yourself. But I gotta say, this is ridiculous."
The stranger stepped out of the shadows to reveal…
"Sammy! How have you been?"
The Owl Lady walked close to him and did a finger gun as she continued to hold her defected hand prisoner. Sam gave her an incredulous look with an eye roll.
"Please don't call me that."
King peeked his head out, clearly confused as to who she's talking to.
"Uh, you know this guy, Eda?"
But as he talked about him, Lilith watched from amidst the crowd, grinning like a cheshire cat.
"There you are, Edalyn. Time to end this chase..."
As Lilith began to follow them, making doubly sure that they wouldn't notice her, Sam looked at where King was hanging from Eda's baby carrier and showed genuine surprise. Of course, he was quick to poke fun at her.
"Oh, look at that. You and Rainestorm finally got a kid. A bit ugly, though."
As King became frustrated, Eda blushed bashfully.
"How dare you! That's the King of Demons you're talking to!"
Sam shrugged his shoulders with a smug smile.
"Sure. Whatever you need to tell yourself."
King grumbled at his wordplay just as Eda decided to cut to the chase.
"Okay, first: not really my kid. And second, what the Tartarus are you doing here?"
Sam turned to Eda with a slight shrug of his shoulders before he answered.
"Eh, I got a call from an old friend. Just doing some demon-hunting business."
While they walked, Sam took notice of the hand in Eda's bottle. The second he saw it, Sam had a paralyzed look as he stared at the arm in the jar. It brought up a lot of painful memories for him.
Sam was holding his arm with a large section of it cut off as the sound of a buzzsaw revved. Only his shadow showed what went down, and he was screaming his head off.
"MY HAND! GIVE ME BACK MY HAND!"
Sam immediately turned away in panic.
"What the Tartarus is that, Eda?! For Titan's sake…!"
Seeing the panic on his face, Eda was quick to hide the bottle in her already vastly disproportionate hair.
"Uh, Righty was in a… rebellious phase. So…"
As Eda tried to explain, Sam raised his hand up, not willing to deal with the specifics.
"You know, I don't think I wanna know anymore. I gotta get to Grimhammer's."
Eda's eyes perked up when she heard that name.
"Wait. You're going to Grimhammer's?"
Sam turned around, seeing that she was suddenly interested in going to a place like that. He was a bit curious as to why. He turned back as he replied, goading her into it.
"Uh, yeah. He's where I got the stuff I need for… certain jobs. I have a love-hate relationship with him. Love the stuff he has, hate the guy giving them away."
Eda caught on to him being "vague" about it. She raised her eyebrow before she replied.
"Uh-huh. Well, you won't mind if I come along, do you?"
Sam crossed his arms as he replied back with a skunk eye.
"I don't know. Should I?"
Eda tried to look away from the piercing gaze, but King was unfortunate enough to look at it. He did have an odd reaction, though.
"Ah! What kind of demon sorcery is this?! Wait. Why don't I have that terrifying gaze?!"
Eda grumbled in defeat before she came out to him, having a dismal look. Of course, at the time, she wasn't aware that Lilith was peeking out of the corner, ready to ambush the Owl Lady.
"Alright, look. As you've noticed, I'm not exactly at my best right now. It's the curse."
Sam dropped his skunk eye and grew sympathetic. And Lilith gasped softly to herself, having heard it out loud.
"Oy. That bad?"
"You don't know the half of it. Look at this face. And my arm. The curse is getting worse, and I can't keep up with it. I'm not sure how much time I have left."
Sam took a deep breath to try to figure out what call he should make in this case as Lilith had a look of guilt come over her face. After a short moment of self-deliberation, Sam sighed and gave her his answer.
"Okay. If it's that bad, I guess you can come with me."
Sam patted Eda on the back as he gave her a soft grin.
"Look at us. The Owl Lady, and the Devil Slayer working together. ⅔ of the Trio Diablos. Just like old times, huh?"
Eda chuckled softly as she looked back on those fond memories.
"Yeah. Like old times… Except Selena isn't here."
Sam took notice of that look and softened his expression some, too. It was actually the most dismal he'd ever looked. He patted her in the back again before he spoke up.
"Yeah. Loved her like a sister… You'd know about that, right?"
Lilith's face became further saddened as a tear came down her face. Sam and Eda had a soft moment of reverence before Sam broke the silence, his voice professional-like, but it had an air of subtle sadness laced in it.
"Well… let's get going then, okay?"
Sam and Eda went deeper into the Night Market, and Lilith looked at them from behind. All the while, King looked at her.
"I have a lot of questions right now. Like, who the heck is Selena? And who are the Trio Diablos?"
Eda glanced down at King and spoke sadly as well as bluntly, clearly not willing to talk about it. Despite how she looked, she's not the one suffering the most.
"Let's not worry about that right now, King. We've got work to do."
Lilith saw the whole thing from afar and clutched onto her Palisman tighter. She tried her hardest not to wail in tears, only looking up at the moon above as she spoke on the verge of tears.
"Oh, Selena… If only you were still here…"
Meanwhile, Judy was staring out at the full moon in what appeared to be the past. She was sitting on the log, trying to have some idea of what was going on with her. Before now, she never had a trip like this whenever Blackburn possessed her.
"Okay, so let's go back from the beginning. I felt Blackburn taking me over, I somehow came back to warn Ben and the others, and now, I'm apparently watching a movie about Aunt Eda, my mom, and this… Selena person. She even knew my name…"
Judy looked up to the three witches just as they finished setting up the space in the cabin next to her. She looked through the window from a distance where she saw Lilith smile with a blush on her cheeks when Selena glanced at her on the bed. She had never seen her mother so happy. It was almost like she was never in the Emperor's Coven at all. Almost.
"Does that mean… I'm Selena's daughter, too? And why wasn't dad there?"
Judy wanted to know that more than anyone, but she couldn't find any answer here at present. She stood up from the ground and walked towards the window to get a better look. When she got closer, she saw Lilith gently rubbing her hand over Selena's head as Eda watched. She seemed especially protective of her.
"Are you feeling anything, Selena? Perhaps a hunger strike, or a headache? Wait, are you having any flashes, hot or cold?!"
Eda gave her a smirk.
"Geez. Crazy, much?"
Selena chuckled sweetly at Lilith's behavior as she tried to reassure her.
"I'm fine, Lily. Don't worry. Judy's gonna be fine. I'll be fine."
"Perhaps for now, but I'd rather prevent anything before they happen to you or our child."
Selena held her hand on top of Lilith's, gently guiding it to her belly.
"I know you do, Lily. But we talked about this. She's gonna experience all these beautiful things about the Isles. Good or bad, we'll always be there for her. And we both know there's only one road to go from here."
Lily's smile faded as she turned her head away and pulled her hand out of her gentle grasp.
"I… I don't know if I can go down that road. Emperor Belos expects me to be at my best in the Emperor's Coven. He'll see my spending time with you two as a distraction."
Eda raised her eyebrow in confusion. She didn't feel like her words provided any reasonable argument.
"Wait, doesn't he have a kid, too?"
Lilith held her arms on her elbows.
"That's different! The Princess' family is of the royal lineage."
"Oh, so he can spend time with his family, but we can't? Does that make any sense to you?"
Lilith didn't even begin to open her mouth and hung her head down with a sigh, defeated by Eda's counterpoint. Selena saw the tired, anxious look on her face and tried to uplift her with a gentle smile.
"Hey, it's okay. I get it. You just don't want to mess up again. I can relate, too, but if you're too worried about what can go wrong, odds are, they will. So don't worry. I promise you, everything will be okay."
Lilith chuckled sadly as a tear started to emerge from her eyelid.
"You can't promise that, Selena…"
"Well, I am. So don't worry. Okay?"
Lilith's tears streamed down her face more before she hugged her tightly. She couldn't hold back her sobs on her shoulder. Selena reached her hand around her back and stroked it like she would a cat. Judy saw the whole thing outside and felt touched by it all.
"Mom… is that why you hardly see me anymore? Were you that scared to mess up?"
Just then, Judy heard a fierce growl from outside. She turned her head around to see a dark, familiar shadow walking over. But even with a figure so black, she recognized the dagger from anywhere.
"There you are… Little Ruby."
Judy's eyes widened in horror as she spoke his name.
"Blackburn…!"
Back at the Night Market, Eda, Sam, and King were approaching a stand and peeking through its curtain. At the same time, they had no idea that Lilith was keeping a close eye on them. Eda was the one to speak up to the figure behind it.
"Hello? Uh, I seek the one they call Grimm Hammer."
He peeked up from the stand, the glare in his glasses ever present.
"I'm the one they call Grimm Hammer."
A moment later, the curtains rose. There was a sign above it that said "Mud & Sundry". And the host of said stand was a pig demon that jumped onto the counter. He was a yellowish pig-like character with a curly, red-barbed tail, huge ears, a small nose, and two protruding tusks. He also wore glasses with an orchid vest and lilac bow added on to a white dress shirt. To showcase his wares, he held up a dagger by the handle with his tail and gestured to a necklace hanging next to him.
"Welcome, welcome, welcome. I've got weaponry from the Hinterlands, curses from the Winterlands, and jelly beans."
Grim Hammer tossed the jellybeans like confetti into the air. King reached for them and caught one like a kid in a candy store as Eda and Sam stared at him blankly.
"Jellybeans!"
Eda looked at him in disbelief, but Sam shrugged.
"Eh, his wares speak for themselves, Eda. Like I said, what are you gonna do?"
"He's quite right! They're lethally delicious."
King opened his mouth, attempting to eat it, but Sam smacked it out of his hand.
"Eh. Unless you wanna know what a third-degree burn feels like on the inside, don't."
King frowned from his prize being smacked away as Eda spoke to Grim Hammer.
"You are Grimm Hammer?"
"Tibblet-Tibblie Grimm Hammer the Third. Please, call me Tibbles."
King snickered at Tibbles' apparent liking to the name. Given how silly it sounded.
"He wants to be called that."
Sam sighed as though he were exhausted as Eda got down to business.
"Yeah, it's a thing with him…"
"Okay, Tibbles. I need some of this elixir."
Eda handed Tibbles an empty bottle to give him an idea.
Luckily for Eda, he recognized the brew right away.
"Oh. This is one wicked brew."
Tibbles used his tail to pick up a bottle from behind him, much to the Owl Lady's joy.
"Lucky for you, I just stocked up."
"Huzzam!"
Lilith raised her eyebrow curiously in the meantime.
"That elixir… Is that where Eda's been getting this 'solution' this whole time? That's contraband…!"
Sam went up next, making sure that his demands were met as well.
"As for me, I need some aether. That's where the real bang is, am I right?"
Tibbles chuckled gleefully at his request.
"I've got plenty of bang, as long as you've got the buck!"
Tibbles held up another bottle. It was reminiscent of Eda's elixir, but its color was bright blue. Eda couldn't have found a better stand, she thought. Two birds with one stone, as they say.
"Perfect! I'll give you ten snails."
However, she learned the hard way that her ideal price could not measure up.
"Add two more zeros and it's a deal."
Eda's face blanched in shock right away.
"A thousand snails?!"
Sam got out his pouch and tried to even the odds.
"Don't worry, Eda. It's on me."
However, Tibbles' price cut him to the quick.
"Each."
Sam was caught just as off-guard as Eda was.
"What?! 1,000 each?!"
Tibbles nodded his head as he replied.
"Sorry, Sammy."
"Don't call me that…"
"You either get the Elixir or the Aether. Dealer's choice~"
Eda didn't quite like the fact that they had to choose.
"What kind of game are you playing?"
"Capitalism. Where everyone wins, except you."
Tibbles went into his stand as Eda tried to protest.
"Hey!"
She grunted in anger as she turned to Sam.
"You've got the money, right? Can you use it to get the Elixir?"
Sam stammered for a moment. He wasn't against her need to use it, but as far as he knew, his business was a lot more important. In comparison with the Owl Beast, Blackburn was far worse.
"You kidding? I need that Aether more!"
"Yeah, to blow stuff up! I mean, I really like the way you do it, no complaints. But you do it pretty fantastic on your own! Do you even need that?!"
Sam went right up to her face with a steel glare.
"With the kind of job I've got, Eda, yes. If I don't get this Aether, the whole Boiling Isles is done for!"
Eda was quick to snap back at him, not willing to back down.
"And if I don't get that elixir, my family is done for!"
Lilith watched them argue from afar. Of course, they would do something as petty as that. They were just like children. She grumbled to herself as Sam called out Eda on that matter.
"Oh, don't even try it! You're the one who wanted nothing to do with them in the first place! That's why your sister had to hunt you down herself!"
Eda widened her eyes when he brought up Lilith that way. After a second of surprise, Eda snapped back.
"She only hunted me down so that she could drag me into something where I can be controlled! I'm better than that!"
Sam was getting agitated really quickly. He didn't want to have to say any of it to her, but in his mind, she needed to understand the stakes.
"ARE YOU?! You've ignored your family for 30 years! You never gave a damn about any of the consequences you put everyone around you through! And to top it all off, you played the coward card and let Selena down when she needed you the most!"
That last part broke Eda right away. Lilith covered her mouth when Sam brought her up that way.
"What…?"
After a moment, Eda's eyes began to shed tears. It took a second for Sam to realize that he went too far.
"Aw, shit… Eda, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that last–"
Eda only turned away from him sadly, holding King close to her. He was utterly flabbergasted to see the Owl Lady so broken like this.
"Fine. Just take your Aether and go. I'll find another way to get an elixir."
King tried to talk her out of it.
"But didn't you need that elixir, Eda? For Judy?"
That last part didn't go unnoticed by Sam. He wasn't aware that Eda was in on trying to help Judy. That made him feel worse about what he'd said to her face.
"He's right, King. I'm the last person who should get it…"
Lilith couldn't bear to see her sister so upset, even if she was obnoxious. Her eyes softened as she glanced upon the scene. Yet another reminder of the pain she had to go through because of that curse. She had to make it right somehow. At the end of the day, she was still her family.
As for Sam, he felt massively guilty for exploding on her the way he did. He looked at the pouch of snails he carried and turned back to the stand. He could see that Tibbles was watching the whole thing, admittedly gobsmacked over the drama that resulted, not that it deterred him from his business. He sighed to Tibbles and tried to appeal to him.
"Come on, Tibbles. Are you sure we can't work out a deal for both the Elixir and the Aether?"
Tibbles only shook his head as he replied.
"Sorry, Sammy. My price still stands."
Just then, Lilith's voice spoke up from behind.
"I'm sure he'll make an exception with the Head of the Emperor's Coven."
Sam and Eda gasped as they turned. They knew that voice from anywhere. But out of the two of them, Eda's eyes glared at her.
"Lilith!"
Tibbles squeaked in fear once he laid eyes on her.
"The Emperor's Coven! Here already?!"
Sam glared at Tibbles with a look.
"Really? You called her here?"
Tibbles got defensive really quick, feigning his innocence.
"What? I would never!"
Sam continued to scowl at him until he came clean.
"I was planning to…"
As Sam sighed distastefully, Eda held up Owlbert, ready to fight her.
"If you think I'm gonna let you catch me, think again, sister!"
Lilith only rolled her eyes, maintaining her usual indifferent composure as he glanced at the stand.
"Come now, Edalyn. I'm not here for you. But for him."
Eda and Sam looked at her quite puzzled. This wasn't like Lilith at all. Truth was, it was an instant red flag if the Emperor's Coven was involved in the Night Market. Whenever they're here, it's bad for any kind of business, especially Tibbles'. And he knew just the person to blame for it.
"T-This was a setup wasn't it, Sammy?! You hustled me!"
Sam glanced at Tibbles with a smirk. He was being pretty unfair to make them choose like that. And besides, he was just being hypocritical with his attempt to call the Emperor's Coven.
"Don't look at me. You're the one who tried to call her."
Lilith formed a spell circle and picked up both the Elixir and the Aether from Tibbles' stand, making him gasp in horror.
"H-Hey! You're supposed to pay for that!"
Lilith scowled at the pig demon and sneered.
"Pay for what? Contraband items that were never meant to be used? And don't even get me started on how you're endorsing them. Why, if Emperor Belos found out about this, you'd be petrified where you stand."
Tibbles gasped in horror as Lilith talked him down. She grasped the demon by his collar and held him up as she spoke darkly to him.
"Better yet, I should save him the trouble and petrify you myself."
Eda and Sam, meanwhile, were awestruck at how ruthless Lilith was.
"Okay, wow."
"Yeah, that's a little cold, Lilith."
Tibbles squirmed in her grasp, only for her to drop the pig demon to the floor. He looked at her with confusion. But when he looked at her face, he still saw Lilith's wrath on her face.
"But seeing as I'm generous today, I think there's only one proper punishment for the likes of you."
Lilith twirled her staff, forming a blue spell circle with her Palisman. And in no time at all, a burst of blue flame emerged and blasted straight towards the stand, forcing Tibbles, Sam, and Eda to jump out of the way. The blast hit the stand, and it began to burn away, much to the despair of Tibbles.
"No, no, no! My scam stand!"
Lilith scowled at the little demon as she spoke coldly to him one last time.
"Remember this well, Grim Hammer. If you break the law again, Emperor Belos will have no mercy to spare for you."
Tibbles stood in shock as Lilith turned her focus on Eda and Sam.
"And as for you two, you are coming with me."
Lilith formed another spell circle, binding the two of them in blue chains on their arms. But, in Eda's case, she had her one arm chained to her neck.
"Ha! You really think that's gonna keep me caged?"
Eda tried to form a spell circle, but it short-circuited and faded away.
"Oh, right. My curse. Well, you're not taking me alive, sister!"
Eda was about to run, but Lilith grabbed her and leaned to her ear to whisper.
"Edalyn, I'm trying to help you…!"
Eda tried to fight back, but without her magic, she can't do much. That said, she wasn't out of options.
"Who said I needed your help?!"
Lilith leaned closer to her ear and tried again.
"Listen, Edalyn. If you want to get out of this, just follow my lead."
"Wha? Why would I do that?"
Lilith furrowed her eyes as she spoke bluntly.
"Because I refuse to play 'get help!' again."
Eda paused for a moment to look at her before Lilith gave her a wink. Eda's eyes widened in realization.
"Ohhhhh… Took you long enough to get to the point."
Lilith dragged Eda away as Sam watched, utterly confounded by his own capture.
"Hey! I'm not on the most wanted list. What am I being charged with, huh?!"
Lilith turned back to Sam with a fierce glare.
"For conspiring with the Owl Lady. You have the right to remain silent."
Lilith leaned close to Sam and whispered in his ear.
"I know what's going on. Just play along…"
Sam was at a loss for words. But he noticed Eda motioning her head to her right. Sam read into it and nodded.
"Oh… Uh, yeah. I guess you got me there, Lilith. Well, if you can't do the time, don't do the crime."
Lilith dragged Eda and Sam away from the burning stand as Tibbles glared at them, especially to the two people who made it happen in the first place.
"Curse you, witches! I'll have my revenge. Tibblet-Tibblie Grim Hammer the Third will have his revenge!"
Sam only rolled his eyes as he spoke under his breath.
"I'll take my chances…"
With that, Lilith got Eda and Sam onto her Palisman and took flight into the sky. It was a bit difficult with the extra weight, but she managed it somehow. As they took off into the night sky, Lilith was making a mad dash as Eda held her one arm around Sam, and he held his own around Lilith's waist.
"Listen, you two. I have questions and I need them answered."
Eda had her own suspicions, glaring at her sister.
"Oh, really? You sure you don't wanna save them for Emperor Belos? Because there's someone else who needs you more than he does."
Lilith scowled at Eda with a livid expression.
"I'm not going to argue with you, Edalyn. Just tell me. What is happening to my daughter?!"
Back at Clawthorne Manor, Blackburn was panting his breath, exhausted from lashing out in the cellar. It was hard to see in the dark, save for his glowing red eyes, but there were scratch marks here and there. He looked at his claws, seeing the woods he scraped off under them. He growled bitterly as he picked off the chips one at a time. As he did, the devil kept thinking back on how it all started.
"Damn it all…! If only that wench didn't interfere, that power would've been mine sooner! I could've been spared this humiliation…! Especially from him…!"
Blackburn couldn't take his mind off of Ben if he wanted to. His magic made it practically impossible to forget about him, especially when it's burned him twice now.
"How is that human using any magic, let alone this kind?! It's almost as if—!"
Blackburn paused for a moment, stuck on the feeling of that magic. The way it wrested control from him, the way it burned his skin. Whether he liked it or not, it happened to him before.
"As if…"
Blackburn's eyes widened in realization as a hollow gasp came out of his mouth.
"No…! Her power couldn't have come back. It's impossible. So what the hell is it?"
Blackburn saw no point in lashing out again. He's saving that for his prey. And he'd rather not get wood stuck in his fingers again. Besides, he left his mark on someone else already.
"Tch! No point wasting my time. The Conjuring's almost starting. The fools think they could interrogate me…"
Blackburn glanced up above the cellar door and sneered with a devilish grin.
"But they should've thrown you down the cellar, too… Blight."
Up above the cellar door, Luz, Willow, and Gus were sitting down in a triangle around Ben, who sat in the middle as Lawrence drew around them with his chalk. Meanwhile, Omen was looking at the group, vexed out of his mind while Val set Amity on the couch beside the window to lay down. There wasn't any movement from her so far, but leaving her to her own devices would not be wise with Blackburn involved. Of course, Lawrence accounted for the reverse scenario, which was where the chalk came in.
"I can't believe we're actually leaving this in the hands of children. Ben is one thing, and that's understandable by itself, but this?"
Lawrence sharply turned to him as he reiterated his earlier point.
"For the spell to work, it requires a minimum of three witches with a valuable connection. You know that."
Omen nodded, though slightly begrudgingly.
"I do. Doesn't mean I like the idea at all…"
Lawrence finished drawing the circles around Luz, Willow, and Gus and began to draw one around Ben as Luz sniffed something.
"Hey, why does my nose feel so tingly?"
Lawrence paused his drawing to answer her.
"It's pepper-infused chalk. It will capture the magic from the moonlight and serve as your only protection against Blackburn."
Luz was about to sneeze, but she blocked it by pinching her nose with her fingers, stopping it altogether. She gave herself a moment to let it pass before she let it go and sighed.
"Sorry. Pepper makes me sneeze. I didn't want to break the circle of pepper."
Luz added a nervous laugh with a blush before Lawrence continued. As he did, Ben became curious.
"So, maybe I'm new to this whole Moonlight Conjuring thing, but how exactly is this gonna help Judy? Weren't we gonna wait for Eda?"
Lawrence finished up the circle and began to draw the lines to connect them.
"The elixir I sent her to get tonight was only a backup plan. Tonight, your recent effect on Blackburn had us consider an alternative we thought was impossible. Which is why we're going with a new plan."
Willow looked up at him curiously.
"A new plan?"
"Yes. If we're going to free Judith of his control, we must confront Blackburn himself… in Judith's mind."
The crowd gasped in surprise, especially Luz. Luz had a wishful thinking of a theory about it.
"Be still, my fantasy-loving heart! I've always wanted to do this! Thank you, Boiling Isles~"
Omen grumbled at Luz's positive upbeat attitude, glancing in Ben's direction.
"Don't look at me. She's always like this."
Val tapped Luz on the head with her hand as she tried to be delicate.
"Sorry. This is more of a one-person thing. You can fit two people, but how would we use the Moonlight Conjuring, then?"
Realizing the logic, Luz frowned at this.
"Hmm…"
Of course, that didn't last long, especially once she considered how useful she'd be in that situation as opposed to Ben, which was a lesser value than she'd like to admit.
"Eh, probably for the best if Blackburn is involved. Speaking of which, we just vaporize him, right? Like his magic did a couple of times, but more permanent? Right?"
Lawrence sighed, showing a depressed look on his face.
"If only… but no. It's more complicated than that. Traditionally, Moonlight Magic is used to endow a lifeless object with life itself and control it to their whim. And that was always done with children. But for whatever reason, it was always Blackburn's weakness. And with Benjamin's latent abilities in play, we now have the means to destroy him and the lock once and for all."
Ben looked at his hands with perplexity.
"Moonlight magic? Is that what my magic is…?"
Lawrence noticed him staring at his hands and knelt down to him.
"It is for a certainty, it seems. But your magic isn't what concerns me. Blackburn is dangerous enough, but the horrors of the mind are another matter entirely. With that devil in the mix, I wouldn't expect any mercy from that bastard anytime soon, or ever."
Ben looked as though his mind was blown. It was hard enough to know that he wielded magic, but that kind? It seemed to be a bit of a stretch for him. And it would've been the case if he hadn't already bashed Blackburn with it twice.
And to hear that Blackburn would be more likely to kill him inside her head made it even more unnerving for him. At this rate, it's kill or be killed. On the other hand, that was more than fine with him. He'd take Judith over Blackburn any day. Still, he didn't want to go in blindly.
"I got that. But if it works, what should I do from there?"
Lawrence took note of his determination and went on.
"Once you enter her mind, you must locate the Inner Judith. She will help you find the lock that binds her soul with Blackburn and shatter it. After that, you must destroy Blackburn with your magic. It's the only way this nightmare will end."
Lawrence stopped himself for a moment to rethink his words. But they all knew what they signed up for from the beginning. They wouldn't be here otherwise. All the same, Lawrence felt he had to make himself clear as he spoke again.
"I beg of you. You must not fail. Understood?"
Ben nodded to him in agreement as they spoke.
"Yeah."
Val and Omen nodded along with them, but they didn't say a word. They understood it well enough. Lawrence handed Ben a small bell from his coat pocket.
"Good. Once you've finished, ring this bell, and I'll cast you out. Make sure you don't lose it."
Ben nodded to Lawrence just before the duo took notice of the moonlight shining from the window beside them. And likewise, the circle beneath Willow, Luz, Gus, and Ben started to glow brightly as well. Lawrence knew what that meant.
"It's almost starting… everybody, lock your hands together, quickly!"
Meanwhile, outside, Eda, Sam, and Lilith were still flying over the clearing as they made their way to Lawrence's house. Lilith was incredibly distraught by the news.
"She's what?! She's possessed by Blackburn?!"
Eda could tell Lilith was absolutely pissed. She was always like that, but whenever her daughter was involved, it's on a whole other level.
"Yep. And she nearly tore your protégé's face off. Barely made it out alive. Would've been worse off if Ben didn't bash Blackburn's face in with his magic."
Lilith's eyes widened in a blend of terror and outrage.
"And you just stood by and watched him tear my protegé to shreds?!"
Eda cut her off sharply, only for Lilith to get up in her face, though not literally. If she were to shift focus, she'd lose flight control.
"Hey, Ben stopped him from doing any more damage, sister!"
"After putting her in danger in the first place!"
"He never asked her to come along, alright?! She made that choice all by herself!"
Lilith's eyes widened in surprise.
"Wait. She just… followed him to Lawrence's house?"
Sam raised his eyebrow, puzzled by why she'd make the decision.
"But why would she make a stupid decision like that?"
Lilith growled from Sam's words, only for Eda to explain.
"Because she wanted to help Judy. The way she helped her."
Sam's eyes looked down, recalling the news about what happened at the Covention. He was aware of how the girl stuck her neck out for Amity despite what had happened. The news certainly didn't leave anything out. Lilith, meanwhile, was overcome with guilt. She couldn't forget how awful she'd been to her, using her just to level the playing field.
"Amity… were you trying to do right by my daughter the whole time…?"
Eda had a sympathetic look for a moment before she finished her tale.
"Oh, and he also managed to waste that elixir I brought for her."
Lilith and Sam's eyes widened before she continued.
"And, he managed to turn righty against me. So, he sent me to get some more, and—"
Sam heard this and became as worried as Lilith was.
"Wait a Titan-damn minute. Is that what happened to your arm?"
Eda began to get the sense that something very bad was about to happen, answering nervously.
"Uh, yeah? Why?"
A second later, she got the picture.
"Oh, Titan…"
Lilith didn't want to imagine what could be happening at this very moment. She turned her attention to the horizon and shouted as she sped up her Palisman to pick up speed.
"Hurry and take us to my daughter, NOW!"
Speaking of Judy, she was stuck in a confrontation with the devil himself. All she could see were two soulless red eyes and gnarled claws from the black mist surrounding them, save for a few feet from the clearing. There were nearby trees that were raked across several pieces of bark as if a wild beast had attacked them. Flashing his sharp teeth, the demon taunted Judy.
"Why would you even bother anymore? You know you will never belong."
With fear getting the better of her, Judy tried to form a spell circle. She just wanted to fire a blast, any blast, to make him go away.
"Stay away from me!"
When the terrified girl attempted it, her spell circle only faded away, as if nothing happened. Judy whimpered in fear as the demon laughed.
"Your magic is useless here. I told you it's my turn. And it will always be mine… forevermore."
Blackburn traced a spell circle of his own, a ghastly black with crimson red as lightning sparked around the rings. All Judy could do was whimper before the snickering demon fired a bolt of black lightning right at her!
In the manor, Lawrence raised his staff and got ready to strike. The moonlight was nigh in position with his pepper circle as he shouted to the others with urgency.
"Now! Say the incantation!"
Willow and Gus began to chant, their whole bodies glowing bright blue as Ben took notice of the change. He was utterly mystified by the colors they were giving off. And it was probably for the best that he'd remained speechless in that moment; it would've been awkward for him, too. Luz couldn't follow along with what they were saying.
"Moonlight, we call, we sing! Moonlight, take this chance! Moonlight, come tie this string! Moonlight, start the dance!"
"And I don't know the words!"
The circle began to resonate with their moonlight magic, turning it bright blue. The moonlight traveled down to the center with Ben in the middle of it. Just as this was happening, Amity's scratches on her face turned black, and the markings spread all over her face before her eyes shot open. They were completely red with silver irises inside them. And she bore a twisted, wicked smile on her face!
Outside, Lilith, Eda, and Sam were descending rapidly to the ground until the Emperor's Coven Head pulled up on her Palisman staff, forcing it to slow down before they could make impact. The first to run to the door was Lilith. She knew her daughter was on the other side, and she also knew what Eda's blackened arm meant.
"I have to stop this!"
Sam and Eda followed after her in a mad sprint.
"Hey, don't you leave me out of this! I was hired here!"
Eda raised her eyebrow confusedly.
"Wait, Larry hired you?"
"This is hardly the time to explain any of it, Eda!"
Inside the manor, Lawrence raised his staff and was about to slam it down when Amity leapt at him with a distorted roar! She reached her arm out, her nails lengthened to talons. With one slash, blood splattered all over the wall behind him, much to the terror of Luz, Willow, Gus, and Ben.
It was right at that moment when Lilith, Eda, and Sam burst into the room, only to see a horrific sight in front of them. Even Lawrence stood flabbergasted at what had occurred. But it didn't happen the way they thought.
Omen had jumped in the way, her claws digging into his arm like needles. The possessed Blight giggled at the sight of his pained look when suddenly, Omen snatched her arm. The joy wore off right away on the turned girl, and Omen grasped the other arm, pushing her to the ground and pinning her to the ground before he looked up to the stunted Val.
"Valera! Go for her legs!"
Val shook off the stupor, though some terror still remained on her face. She formed a spell circle with her finger. It was white with a red outline. The resulting spell bound her legs in chains as the possessed Amity writhed and growled. Lilith, Eda, and Sam all stood in shock, Lilith most of all, as Amity acted more deranged than ever. It was enough to break her heart even worse.
"Amity…!"
Omen glanced up at the trio, hearing her broken tone. Lawrence took notice of them as well, and he felt more relieved than ever.
"Finally! Samuel, bring those bottles over here, right away!"
Sam did just that, but he made sure his thoughts were made known.
"Sheesh, not even a little concerned, are you?!"
Lawrence took the bottles and set them within the circle straight away as he glanced at him.
"Trust me, I am."
In the mindscape, Judy was knocked to her feet, badly damaged as black lightning arced around her body. The demon smirked and raised his dagger into the air with the full moon behind it in her view.
"Your mommy waits for you in Hell."
Judy closed her eyes and prepared for the worst, waiting to be snuffed out, once and for all.
With that, Lawrence slammed his staff to the ground, causing a blue shockwave to ripple throughout the whole house, followed by a blinding blue light that made Amity shriek and wail as Omen, Val, Eda, Lilith, and Sam shielded their eyes. The bright light also swallowed Luz, Willow, Gus, and Ben.
The light overtook the whole house to the point where it shone through the windows until they dimmed. Lawrence was panting his breath, holding fast to his staff as everyone else was still holding their arms and shielding their eyes. It was only for a few seconds until they opened their eyes and took notice of what had happened.
Omen saw Amity knocked unconscious as he and Val held her at bay. As she panted, her voice was distorted. She was still possessed, but she was weakened.
"Thank Titan we caught on fast enough…"
At that moment, Luz's voice got everybody's attention.
"Uh, guys? Where's Ben?"
Everybody in the room looked at the center of the circle, only seeing one brightly glowing blue bottle of elixir, and another a glowing red for the Aether. But within the center, Ben wasn't there at all. Lawrence had a relieved smile as he tried to reassure them.
"Don't be alarmed. That means my spell worked. He's where he needs to be."
In the mindscape, Judy still had her eyes closed, waiting for the end. But she didn't feel the cold steel against her skin. She slowly lifted her emerald eyes to see an unexpected face. She gasped softly as his silhouette forced the demon to jump back, retreating from the bright light emanating from his palm.
"DAMN YOU, HUMAN SPAWN!"
Those were the last words the demon echoed as the light summed away. The figure turned his head to Judy with a reassuring smile.
"You alright, sis?"
Judy's eyes widened in disbelief, but she began to shed tears of joy from seeing him.
"Ben…? How are you…?"
In the manor, Lilith pieced together what went down.
"You sent a human in Blackburn's head?!"
Lawrence glanced at her as he explained himself.
"More accurately, Judith's head. But yes."
Lilith went up to Lawrence, obviously fuming at the idea.
"But that mind spell was forbidden! Do you have any idea the damage he could cause to her?!"
Lawrence went up to her face and snapped back.
"It can't be any worse than what Blackburn has done. And maybe, I wouldn't have needed to resort to that if you bothered to pick up the raven and answer the titan-damned call!"
While Lilith and Lawrence argued, Eda and Sam had flabbergasted looks on their faces, mainly more so for the Owl Lady. Having had enough of the fighting, Luz piped up.
"Hey, guys? Uh, quick question, but what just happened to Amity?!"
Lilith and Lawrence looked at Amity, who still appeared possessed, but thankfully unconscious. He turned to her with a solemn expression.
"What I've feared would be the case. Blackburn's scratches left marks on her. Let them linger long enough, and they'll corrupt your mind and twist your soul just like his. Luckily, we've gotten the elixir and aether just in time."
Eda had a look of realization when she saw the glowing bottles in the circle.
"Oh… those were for the Blight girl. I see. Covering all the bases. Classic Larry."
Lawrence picked up the elixir and handed one to Eda.
"Not quite. I only need a paltry amount of it in conjunction, but I'm aware of your condition. It's best if you take only a drop of this."
Eda scowled at him at first, but as she took a small sip, her feathers came off of her arm from under her cloak before she replied.
"You're lucky I'm not in Owl Beast mode, Larry…"
Sam glanced down at the Blight girl with a look of pity. He never did like the Blight family that much, but even he felt bad for her to be caught in the middle of this.
"Oh, geez. Looking at the poor kid like this, I'm starting to feel bad for her."
Suddenly, Amity's red eyes flared open with a malicious scream, and her teeth sharpened into fangs. Almost everybody in the room was startled and screamed right back. Omen, Val, and Lawrence only widened their eyes in shock as Sam replied bluntly.
"And now, I don't."
Amity leapt at Sam, only to get punched in the face and sent crashing down right into the circle where Ben was. Left disoriented, Amity-Blackburn barely had any time to react when Lawrence shouted.
"Quick! Give Amity the aether!"
Sam wasted no time taking the bottle and prying Amity's mouth open. She put up a fight, using her claws to scratch his metal arm, but it came to no avail.
"Nice try."
Sam tightened his metal arm, making Amity shriek in agony. He used the short window to stuff the bottle into her mouth. The taste of it was burning in her throat, making her flail her arms around. However, it took a few seconds for her to realize that she'd been going about it all wrong. Suddenly, she elbowed Sam in the gut, making him wheeze as he fell back. Fearful of what she aimed to do, Lawrence shouted to the Hexside Squad.
"Link your hands together now!"
Luz, Willow, and Gus placed their hands together and created a bright blue shield, trapping Amity as she lashed out, scratching it to no effect as Sam recovered from a hard blow to his gut. He even flipped off the possessed Amity with his metal arm.
"That's what you get…"
Lilith was not so approving of the force used on her.
"Are you honestly that proud?! That's my protege you just punched!"
"And she also broke three of my ribs. What's your point?"
Lilith grunted in frustration as the feral Amity got exhausted. The Hexside Squad looked at her sadly. Luz seemed especially concerned for her.
"So, how do we cure her, Lawrence?"
Lawrence glanced at Amity, setting the bottles on the ground.
"That's what these bottles are for. But first, we need to see if she's still in there. Hopefully, Benjamin will take care of Judith…"
In the mindscape, Ben and Judy were staring at each other, the young Clawthorne more puzzled of the two.
"Is… is that really you, Ben?"
Ben gave her a gentle smile as he replied.
"Who else could it be, sis?"
Judy gasped softly as a big smile went on her face. But as happy as she was to see him, in the end, her worry and fear won out. Ben could tell her reaction must be out of the two.
"What are you even doing here?! How are you even here?!"
In trying to explain the situation out of her head, Ben walked closer to Judy.
"Lawrence sent me. He told me to look for the Inner Judy, whatever that means…"
The instant those words came out of his mouth, Ben looked at the Judy in front of him.
"Wait. Are you the Inner Judy?"
Judy's worried look got worse as she answered.
"Of course, I am, but that's not the point!"
Speaking of, Ben got straight to it.
"The point is, I know what I signed up for being here. And I'll be damned if I let Blackburn control Judy for good. But I can't stop him without your help."
Inner Judy shyly turned her head away.
"But… I can't."
Ben blinked his eyes. He had a feeling she'd be reluctant.
"Huh? What's wrong?"
Inner Judy reached her hand out and tried to make a spell circle, but to no avail.
"My magic is useless. With Blackburn in charge, only his magic can be used here. So I can't help."
Ben sighed in annoyance, recalling what he'd told Lawrence before.
"Of course. He didn't want anyone to be better than him…"
Ben tried to think of a new plan. He sat down on a nearby rock and put his fingers on his chin.
"But Lawrence told me to destroy the lock. Do you at least know where that is?"
Inner Judy held her hands together with hesitation evident all over her face.
"Well, yes, but destroying it is easier said than done, even if I did have my magic back. At this point, it's impossible."
Ben only smirked at the challenge.
"Maybe for normal magic."
Ben held his hand out, summoning a bright blue light orb, making the Inner Judy gasp in surprise.
"But my magic's anything but normal."
The Inner Judy was somewhat relieved, but she didn't forget about the trials she had to endure.
"That lock is one thing, but what's inside it is another thing entirely. I would know…"
The Inner Judy looked as though she was about to break down, but Ben went close to her and put his hands on her shoulders to help try to get her head straight.
"Take it easy on yourself. This time, you're not gonna be alone. And I swear, it'll stay that way until we break that damned lock once and for all. So… Can you help me so I can help you?"
Inner Judy paused for a moment as she let those words sink in. After a brief pause, Inner Judy spoke her mind.
"You said those words before…"
"Yeah. And I'll say them as many times as I need to."
Touched by his profound determination, Inner Judy smiled and nodded to him with gratefulness in her voice.
"Okay. I'll show you the lock."
"Good. Because I'd rather not fall into a dark abyss out of nowhere."
Inner Judy laughed from Ben's words, puzzling the young man.
"I wasn't joking…"
"Oh."
Of course, the duo didn't realize that they were being watched. Two glowing red eyes were sneering at them, as if anticipating their movements.
"You will never get rid of me, human. Never…"
Meanwhile, in the manor, Amity was becoming more and more of a shadow to her former self. Her skin was turning pale, and her eyes were becoming black with her hair bleached white. Lilith stood by with her heart breaking by the second just watching this.
"What did that monster do to you, Amity?"
Sam only stared at it like he was looking at a lab rat, having an indifferent look. Then again, he wasn't any fan of this part, either.
"Sheesh. It's looking pretty nasty."
Omen scowled at Sam as he tended to his arm.
"How about you tell it to someone who got his arm impaled?"
"Same. But you weren't punched in the gut."
Val was tending to the wound with a cloth soaked in Sam's aether. Omen grunted from the pain as she rubbed it gently.
"We're really glad you came along, Sam. But maybe don't make any cracks about this?"
"Just trying to lighten the mood, sister."
Eda held onto the bottle she trapped her right arm in, seeing the black mark spread all over it. It was docile like Amity was for the time being. But all she could think about was what could've happened to her if she didn't pull it off in time. And King was at a loss for words about the whole thing himself.
"Wow. So this is what a cursed possession looks like, huh…? This is painful to watch."
Eda glanced at King with a blank stare.
"You know you can look away, right?"
"Sorry. I'm too distracted by the sheer gruesomeness."
Eda sighed with a face palm.
"Well, I'd be more worried about Judy. Then again, with magic like his, at least she has a chance. I just don't know how that girl can take it."
King looked up at her confused.
"What do you mean?"
"Judy's fought Blackburn for 15 years up till now. I can't imagine what five minutes of him must be like for Amity."
Eda turned her head to glance at Lawrence. She noticed that he brought along a mirror with him.
"Hey, Larry. Do you really think now's the time for hairstyling?"
Lawrence bluntly looked at the Owl Lady with a scowl.
"It's not for me."
It wasn't any pretty a sight for Luz, Willow, or Gus either. The whole time, Amity was just standing in front of them hunched over, completely unable to recognize any of them. It was almost like she'd become a total stranger, never mind a monstrous one. Lawrence spared them a saddened gaze for a moment before he approached Amity's pale shell and held up a mirror in front of her, pressing it against the barrier.
"Ms. Blight. It's not just Judy we're trying to save here. If you're still there, give us a sign."
In the mirror, the reflection was a far cry from the darker permutation she'd become. She had a scared and desperate look on her face as she breathed hot air onto it. Then, she traced all over it with her right finger, albeit a bit messy. Her left one was held back, as if to keep it from lashing out. Willow and Luz peeked through her sides to see what she was writing with the chubby girl reading it aloud.
"'Writing in… versere write-handy is… diificlut'. Yep. That's Amity, alright."
Luz looked at her with a puzzled look.
"Really? How do you know?"
"She always had trouble writing things with her right hand."
Lawrence sighed in relief as he pulled the mirror away.
"Good. That means it's not too late. Now, we just need someone who has history with her to hold onto. And like it or not, Willow, it has to be you."
Willow held her head down shamefully, as if she'd been the one to cause this.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Clawthorne. You shouldn't ask me to help with anything…"
Lawrence knelt down to the poor girl. He acknowledged how deeply inflicted she was by Amity, but he also knew that she of all people knew the stakes. He tried to put it to her as delicately as possible.
"I'm not asking, Willow. It is up to you. Judith is depending on you. And I know for a fact that the last thing you want is to let her down. Or am I mistaken about that?"
Willow shook her head.
"No! Of course not. It's just—! I don't know…"
Lawrence sighed softly and gently patted her on the head.
"You may take your time if you wish. But please note that we have lives on the line. That's all I ask."
Lawrence turned to Omen and Val.
"I can trust you will watch over them, right?"
Val replied with a nod.
"We'll keep an eye on them like hawks."
"Good. Lilith, I need to speak with you. Alone."
Lilith held her head down as Eda jabbed at her shoulder.
"Ooh, you're in trouble~"
Lawrence glared at Eda, making the Owl Lady retract her mocking tone. If there's one thing she learned, it's never to piss off the Head of the Shadow Coven.
"Okay, okay. Sorry."
Lilith went up to Lawrence, and the two went upstairs as Luz became curious.
"Where are you guys going?"
"Lilith and I are going to have a private talk. Make sure that circle never breaks. Understood?"
Luz couldn't figure out what that look on his face meant. But she can tell he was upset about the whole thing too. She added a nervous laugh, afraid of receiving his glare.
"You got it, sir."
"Thank you, Luz."
With that, Lawrence and Lilith went into the room upstairs and closed the door.
In the room, Lawrence was pacing back and forth as Lilith was sitting on the bed.
"Unbelievable… just—! Unbelievable…!"
Lilith could tell he was pissed. But more importantly, she knew what he was pissed about.
"Lawrence, I can explain—!"
Lawrence turned to her and snapped.
"I already know, Lilith! You were clearly tasked with capturing the Owl Lady. But before tonight, you've never ignored my calls, especially about your daughter!"
Lilith tried to get a word in edgewise.
"Lawrence, I can explain!"
"Please do! Please explain why you've suddenly decided the Owl Lady is more important than your own daughter!"
Lilith was thrown off-guard by Lawrence's accusation.
"It's not like that!"
"Then what is it about?! Because I'm having a hard time believing anything else from you anymore!"
Lilith's face frowned, clearly upset about what Lawrence believed her to do.
"Okay, fine! I've thought Judith was a waste of my talents, so I've decided to focus my efforts on capturing the Owl Lady so I can have the fame and glory she had! Is that what you wanted to hear?!"
Lawrence snapped at her even worse. He knew that Lilith was not being as serious about this as she thought.
"I WANT TO HEAR THE TRUTH! WHY DID YOU ABANDON HER?!"
"BECAUSE I DON'T DESERVE HER!"
Lawrence's face softened gradually as her words sunk in. After a moment, Lilith spoke sadly.
"I know about her and Edalyn. She visits her so often, she might as well be her mother. And where was I? Serving the Boiling Isles in the Emperor's Coven. What good is that if I can't even be with my daughter? I couldn't even stop this from happening…"
Lawrence wasn't moved in the slightest.
"But that doesn't explain why—!"
"Because he promised me. He promised me that if I captured the Owl Lady and convinced her to join his coven, he'd heal her curse. And Judith could finally have a strong mentor. A strong mother that she deserved."
Lawrence's face softened, beginning to regret accusing her of favoring the Owl Lady's capture over the well-being of her daughter.
"Lilith… I had no idea you felt that way."
"Well, I do. I'm obviously not good enough of a mother for Judith. If I was, Selena would still be here, and Blackburn would never have managed to possess my— our child! I'm a failure…!"
Lilith started to break down into tears, unable to let it go. Lawrence wrapped his arm around her and brought her close.
"Hush, my Raven. There's still time. We can still save her."
Lilith wiped her tears away and sniffled. But what if we can't? What if she's gone forever…?"
Lawrence held Lilith tightly with his arm, pressing her close to him. But as he did, he didn't realize that he was making her blush at his touch.
"She won't be. Not if Benjamin can help it."
Meanwhile, Ben and Inner Judy were walking down the forest. The young Hybrid felt uneasy throughout the trip. And it didn't help that he had no clue where they were going.
"So, how do we get to the lock?"
The Inner Judy looked left and right for any sign of the devil to make sure she wasn't followed before she answered.
"It should be in the hall of memories. I haven't been to this memory before, but it should be around…"
As fortune favored it, the Inner Judy saw a gateway up ahead on a large tree.
"There."
The Inner Judy stepped cautiously closer to it alongside Ben. The gateway appeared to be a portrait of a cabin under the full moon with a dark shadow in the distance. Ben raised his eyebrow, unable to believe that it was a legitimate gateway.
"It just looks like a picture."
The Inner Judy gave him a gentle nudge.
"Makes sense. You've never been around long enough to know this memory yet. But we're not sticking around."
The Inner Judy pushed her hand through the portrait, but instead of tearing the picture apart, a bright light shone from her contact, and her hand phased through it! Ben stared in awe as the Inner Judy put the rest of herself into it, save for her head and arm.
"Well? Are you coming?"
Ben's bafflement wore off a second later and he reached out to her.
"Uh, yeah! Yeah."
The moment Inner Judy's hand grasped Ben's she pulled him into the frame, both of them disappearing in the light. But when they came out of the other side, Ben gasped at the dark and macabre setting that he beheld. There was a red "sun" on the horizon, the trees were barren, their branches were riddled with thorns, and most of the frames looked as though they were burned, scratched up, torn apart, or even blotted out with blood.
"Holy…! That's what your mind looks like?"
The Inner Judy gazed solemnly at the memories that were corroded.
"I wish I could say it wasn't always like this, but it wouldn't be the truth. Since Blackburn's curse, his and Judy's souls were constantly unbalanced. Their conflicting emotions affected the mindscape, and not for the better."
Ben was almost afraid to ask. If the mindscape looked this bad, he'd hate to think about what the lock might be like. Still, he had to find it.
"So, where is the lock?"
The Inner Judy pointed to her left side, and he looked in the finger's direction, only to find a massive black tree that was bigger than the others. And through a hole in the center, there was a black heart with red veins pumping into it. Ben didn't like to admit it, but he was usually squeamish with exposed hearts. It took all the restraint he had to keep himself from throwing up.
"THAT'S the lock?! It's so disgusting…!"
The Inner Judy held her hands together, trembling in fear at the sheer size of it.
"That's the root of his madness. Every Moonlight Conjuring, it's been chopped down to keep it from spreading. But every time it gets harder. At this point… I don't know if it can even be cut down anymore…"
Speaking of cuts, Ben remembered one thing that might: the Sword of Xanatos. Except he didn't accept it. He left it behind with Aiken. Once he realized that, he groaned bitterly.
"Ah, come on…!"
The Inner Judy saw his distress and became puzzled.
"What is it?"
"If I knew I was going to have to cut down a giant tree to get to that lock, I would've brought that sword Omen told me about."
Her eyes widened, becoming curious about the sword that he let slip.
"Wait. What sword?"
Suddenly, as if in response, the tree began to sprout two red eyes, both of which glared at Ben. The red light that came from their gaze shone on him like a searchlight.
"YOU WILL NOT CUT DOWN THIS TREE."
Ben and Inner Judy were almost blown away by the booming voice that came out of it. But something far worse was coming out of it. At the very root of the tree, black bile molded itself as if it was creating something. Then, it split apart, revealing a red chasm where a black figure walked out of it before his fierce red slit eyes opened wide, and his razor sharp teeth flashed the sun's light on them.
"And you won't destroy me."
Ben stared daggers at the monster while the Inner Judy hid behind him.
"Don't be so sure. Last I checked, you didn't have any sunscreen."
Unfortunately, Blackburn noticed her hiding and scowled.
"You led him here…"
Blackburn sounded as though he was angry initially. But a second later, he formed a haunting smile.
"Good. Thank you for saving me the trouble of hunting him down."
Blackburn formed a spell circle in his right hand, a pitch black and red color as electricity sparked from his hand. Ben knew what that meant: he's in for the fight of his life.
"Looks like we're having another witch's duel…"
But as anxious as he was to fight the root of all evil, Ben knew he can't back away from this. Blackburn has to get out of his sister, one way or the other. He formed his own spell circle, forming a bright blue orb of light in the palm of his hand.
"Fine by me!"
Back in the manor, Luz, Amity, and Gus were maintaining the Moonlight spell as Omen and Val kept their eyes on them. Luz saw the upset look on Willow and tried to cheer her up.
"Willow, are you okay?"
The young Park girl spoke sadly as Luz and Gus looked at her.
"It's just… I know I hate her, but it's really hard to see her like this."
Luz remembered what Lawrence said a few hours earlier.
"The last time you three were together, you called them too weak to be your friends. Do you have any idea what my daughter went through because of you?"
Luz felt as though she needed to say something to her. She remembered Amity's own confession, if it can be believed. The truth was, she was trying to figure out who Amity was herself.
"Was it really true? That you were friends with her?"
Willow nodded solemnly before she explained.
"We played together as kids, but when she got her magical powers and me and Ember didn't, she stopped hanging out with us. Judy hated Amity for the way she treated us, I knew that, and I'm glad she stood up for us. But, deep down, I just wanted to prove to her that I was a powerful witch, too."
Little did the group realize that Amity's husk was listening to every word. Whether the monster itself was intrigued or the real Amity held captive by it was, either way, it began to get sad.
This reminded Luz of their argument from before Judy went berserk on her. She seemed ready to fight her.
"If that's how you really felt, then why lash out at her?"
Willow clenched her hands and glared at Luz.
Willow's face hardened as she glared at the creature formerly known as Amity.
"Because she left me alone, Luz. I thought I could always count on her, but the second she got those stupid powers, she told me she didn't want to be my friend anymore! And then, I've been picked on for years with nobody else ever caring about what happens to me! How could you possibly know what that feels like?!"
Willow was beginning to tear up as she spoke bitterly to Luz. She stared at Ms. Park and sighed softly.
"I do know what that feels like, Willow. More than you think."
Willow's glare faded, and Gus showed interest right away as Luz elaborated.
"Whaaaat?"
"There was a girl just like her back home. Her name was Sue. I tried really hard to be friends with her, but she told me she didn't want anything to do with a childish weirdo like me. I'm not gonna lie; it really broke me."
Eda overheard Luz's story, and frankly, she'd be lying if she said she wasn't in her position before.
"At one point, I was really mad at her, and I wanted to blast her to pieces, not that I really could. But Mama helped me remember what I promised my dad. That I'd never start a fight with anyone, and that I'd try to be kind to them."
Willow blinked her eyes, genuinely curious about it.
"And how well did that go?"
Luz briefly paused to give her a straight answer.
"Well… she still didn't want to be my friend, but… I think she felt sorry for how she came off about it. She told me that I deserved better than her. Those words and that look on her face were all I thought of her ever since."
Willow appeared as though her mind was blown by the revelation.
"Call me crazy, but I think Amity's had that look about you, too."
Willow had a hard time believing Amity really meant anything genuine to her.
"Oh, and you know what she's like?"
Luz was a bit intimidated by her tone shift, but she knew where it came from.
"No, but I have some idea. Back at the Covention, Amity told us why she cut things off between you guys. She said that when you and Ember didn't get your powers, it made her worried. She felt like she might not be enough for you guys. She just wanted you to 'spread your wings'."
Willow was confused by her take on it. Besides, she hadn't forgotten what Amity told her back then.
"She never said that to me."
Luz still persisted as she spoke up.
"Me neither. I added that last part. But maybe she felt like she couldn't say it. Even if she wanted to. I mean, I can't figure out why. I couldn't even figure out why Sue rejected me. But if anyone could figure Amity out, it's you."
Willow felt torn. She can't forgive Amity for abandoning her like this, but at the same time, she can't ignore the fact that she was in pain. Especially when she heard her last few words back when Lawrence cradled her.
"It's all my fault… it's all my fault…"
She'd said those words over and over again after being attacked. Could Ben and Luz be right about her? Was Amity really trying to help?
"Amity… what do you really want from me…?"
At that point, Sam, Eda, and King took notice of Lawrence and Lilith as they went down the stairs. The Owl Lady saw the dismal looks on their faces and assumed it was a personal matter.
"Hey, Larry. Did things go okay up there?"
Lawrence looked at Eda and nodded softly.
"We've worked it out, yes. How's Amity coming along?"
King pointed to the semi-monstrous star student as he replied.
"She's a little… moodier than usual. But I'll take that over angry and scratchy any day."
Willow was especially curious about how to go about this.
"So, what's the next step, Mr. Clawthorne?"
Lawrence answered by popping open the bottles of rather and elixir.
"In that state, she won't consume the elixir or the aether. Luckily, there is an alternative especially for this ritual."
Lawrence poured both of them into the circle, the liquid flowing along the pepper and seeping into them. The circle was glowing bright purple as a result. Luz, Willow, and Gus gazed at the scene in awe before Lawrence slammed the bottom of his staff in place. The purple hue began to overtake her, making her hold herself as she grunted in pain.
"Now, we chant. Everybody, join in. And no matter what you hear, don't stop until the exorcism is complete."
Lawrence shut his eyes, and began to chant.
"The power of Titan compels you. The power of Titan compels you."
Omen and Val joined in as well, making Amity grunt as if something was nagging at her.
"The power of Titan compels you. The power of Titan compels you."
Once they internalized the chant, Luz, Willow, and Gus all chanted along with him. In turn, Amity was seething and snarling. She was even beginning to froth at the mouth. And their chant was getting louder. Amity clutched her claws on her head, unable to take the incantation.
"The power of Titan compels you. The power of Titan compels you."
Eda, Sam, King, and Lilith joined in next, driving Amity to the brink of madness as they went on.
"The power of Titan compels you! The power of Titan compels you!"
Amity wailed at the top of her lungs, her eyes becoming a red and black hue that shone outward. The light overtook the whole house and blinded them. When the light went away, Amity was back to normal and unconscious. But there was something else in the circle, too. It was an unearthly being that flew all about in the circle with the unconscious Amity lying on the floor. Luz seemed rather mystified by it.
"Whoa… what is that?"
Lawrence answered morbidly as he gazed upon it.
"That, Luz, is Malice. In its purest form. Blackburn infects his victims with it, twisting them into reflections of him. We're very lucky we stopped it early. The rest is up to Benjamin now."
Willow looked around the circle, seeing a glowing dark red light from below. She can't help but be worried over what was happening down there.
"Judy…"
Back in her mindscape, Blackburn snickered at the duo.
"Did you really think I wouldn't see you there?"
Ben had to admit, he was frightened of him. But he didn't come all this way just to run.
"Honestly, I was hoping you would."
Ben forged his light spell in his hand, but Blackburn laughed notoriously.
"Why waste your effort on someone who doesn't deserve to be saved?"
Ben scowled at the monster, clearly not buying into any of his twisted lies.
"She deserves EVERY right to be saved! YOU'RE the monster here!"
Blackburn looked unimpressed at his accusatory finger, like he'd been through that scenario before.
"Oh, really? You see, I would argue that your friend's sins are more severe than mine…"
The Inner Judy shrank in defeat, her arms wrapped around themselves. Ben saw the timid look on her face and he scowled back at the monster.
"I have a hard time believing that."
"How about we fix that, then?"
Blackburn flashed a wicked smile. Seconds later, the whole mindscape shook like there was an earthquake. Suddenly, a blackened and eroded picture frame shot up. Inside it was a frame of a rather nasty picture: Amity laying on the floor with her eyes shut, and Judy standing over her with red eyes flashing down on her. The Inner Judy and Ben stared at the picture with shock as Blackburn snickered demonically.
"Let's take a trip down memory lane, shall we?"
Blackburn's whole body manifested a pitch black aura of magic which sprouted two demonic hands that clutched the two of them and dragged them into the frame like a portal.
On the other side, they ended up in a hallway at Hexside. But while the Inner Judy stepped gracefully on the floor to recover, Ben smashed his back against a nearby locker. The young man groaned in the pain that resulted. Once they recovered, Ben and Judy looked all around the surroundings and realized where they were. But it wasn't quite the same as they're used to before; the horizon outside was at sunset. Ben had a feeling about what this place was about, but he was afraid that he'd be right, afraid of what Blackburn would make them see.
"Judy… what happened here?"
As the Inner Judy looked away shyly, feeling ashamed to be near him, Blackburn appeared between them, already more than eager to break their spirits.
"Tethering myself to this child's body was one thing, but I can't take all the credit."
The demon laughed as he covered the whole hallway in his black mist. The hallway seemed to be reset as the horizon outside appeared to be midday. Judy was walking by herself bitterly, holding onto her books as Ben and the Inner Judy, who looked especially guilty, looked on. In front of the past Judy was Amity. She was very prideful to say the least, and worse, she was laughing. It looked like the last straw for her.
"Hey!"
Amity cut her laughter short and was met with the very, very angry redhead. Amity had a snobbish smirk on her face despite the confrontation, thinking it was run-of-the mill.
"Hello, Judith."
Judy pointed her finger right at Amity's chest with such force it might have been a dagger.
"Don't 'hello, Judith' me! You have no right to pretend that nothing happened between us, Blight! None! You used Willow! You used me! And worst of all, you used Ember!"
With Judith shouting at her, the nearby students and staff became drawn to the conflict as Ben became puzzled to hear Judith bring up her name into the conversation. It had been a long time since she heard of her. But Amity seemed very familiar with it as she turned back to Judith with an angry look.
"You don't know what you're talking about!"
Judith didn't care one bit about that as she stormed over to Amity, getting ready to give her a piece of her mind.
"Don't I?! You knew all she wanted was to be strong like you! You always knew! But when she didn't get her powers, what did you do? You thought she was too weak to be your friend. So you made that accident happen, didn't you?"
Amity's breathing became ragged. Judith's onset of anger was actually making Blight tremble. All the while, the other students were silent. What Judith had to say was so dark, so unbelievable, that they were too speechless, even to so much as urge them to fight. As Judith walked closer to her, her now crimson red eyes stared into her as she repeated the last two words in a much darker tone than what was expected out of her.
"Didn't you?!"
Amity tried to answer, but her lips couldn't let her. They were quivering. Judith didn't wait for her to answer. She made a shriek as she swung her hand at Amity, scratching her through her books and under her chest while pushing her to the floor, causing the nearby students to gasp and exclaim in surprise and alarm. It grew even worse when they saw blood streaked to the floor.
Immediately, they fled to avoid her wrath and tell Principal Bump. Amity looked to see her books torn to shreds while her tunic was scratched up, exposing the resulting blood that seeped out of her skin as well.
Ben and the Inner Judy looked on in horror as Blackburn went up and smiled wickedly, chuckling to himself, or rather at the macabre assault that took place. Before Amity could respond, Judith leapt at Amity and began to choke her, her head pinned to the ground as she shouted at her, her voice becoming more demonic.
"I'M GOING TO MAKE YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID, BLIGHT! DO YOU HEAR ME?!"
She raised her now sharp talons, ready to kill her right then and there. But before she could attack, Judith was suddenly struck in the back by a magic blast, causing Judith to fall to the floor unconscious beside Amity. The one who made that blast was the similarly shocked Principal Bump. But compared to the other students, Bump felt the most betrayed. As far as he knew, she'd never been like this before. Amity backed away from the berserk Judy, trying to catch her breath as she felt the scratch on her chest.
The blood was soaked all over her hands in the process. Looking at the unconscious Judy, Amity began to break down into sobs as Principal Bump tried to comfort her. Ben and the Inner Judy stared at the pool of blood and at the then feral Judy. All three of them faded to ashes from the top, leaving only the blood on the floor which the Inner Judy stared into as Blackburn spoke.
"Do you get it now? That girl you're trying to save doesn't exist anymore. She has blood on her hands, just like me. She's not someone worth saving. She's destined to be a murderer. A killer. A monster… like me."
The Inner Judy broke down into tears as she turned her head away. Ben stood motionless, the shadow hanging over his eyes, as though he looked disappointed. Blackburn took it as a personal favorite of his sights.
"Aw. Are you regretting having met her now, brother~?"
Silence hung in the air for some time. Ben replied coldly to him after a few seconds.
"What makes you think I care about any of that shit?"
Blackburn and the Inner Judy was taken aback by Ben's words.
"What?"
"Do I really even need to begin on how stupid that sounds? I already know what kind of person she is. She's the sweetest, most honest, most dedicated person I've ever met. She'd do anything for her friends, and she'd do whatever it takes to protect them. Melissa would've been very happy to meet her."
The Inner Judy was puzzled. She hadn't heard that name before. All the same, the Inner Judy felt touched by his words of kindness.
"And if you think Judy was meant for a life like yours after all that, to be your monster…"
Ben clenched his hand, as if to make a fist, only to release it and make a bright blue orb of light that burned away the dark illusion Blackburn created, but only within a small radius.
"Then you don't know the first thing about my SISTER!"
Ben turned around and slammed the orb on Blackburn's chest, causing the bright light to overcome the whole room as the demon wailed in agony. When the light dimmed, they were back at the front of the Black Tree.
Ben looked left and right for any sign of Blackburn. But there wasn't any to be seen. He knew better than to believe it would be over that quickly; there was still that matter of undoing the soul lock. He sighed to himself, hoping Blackburn got the message.
"You better not come back out…"
Meanwhile, back in the manor, there was a bright blue light in the cellar. It was glowing more prominently, which attracted the attention of the Malice Mark that was exorcised from Amity. It stopped its lashing out to stare at it. It seemed rather worried about the light. Luz, Willow, and Gus were the first to notice, but the human spoke aloud with interest.
"It stopped."
Lawrence saw its gaze and became tense.
"It's realizing what's going on…"
And it wasn't the only one. Lilith saw the blue light and spoke softly. It wasn't anything Blackburn could make. She had reason to hope that it meant he was finally losing.
"My little Ruby…"
As Omen and Val both had relieved looks on their faces, Sam laughed aloud, as if celebrating.
"Finally! Not so tough, are ya, you shriveled smartass?!"
Lawrence knew better than to say it so soon.
"Hold your tongue, Sam. This is far from over."
Lawrence couldn't have been more right. Nobody in the manor seemed to notice Eda's rogue hand making its escape from the bottle. It was using one of its fingernails to cut a hole in it like a burglar breaking into a fine art museum. Having successfully made an escape hatch, Eda's arm slipped through the hole and stumbled out to see Amity's malice mark flying around in a fury above Amity's unconscious body. As it watched, Willow spoke to Lawrence worriedly.
"How much longer do we have to hold this thing, Mr. Clawthorne?"
"Until Benjamin comes back with Judith. We mustn't give him any more trouble than he already has."
Luz had a right to be cautious.
"But what if that thing just decides to possess Amity again?"
"It won't. The ritual we've performed has ensured that it will never possess her again. If this moonlight magic were to break, that Malice Mark would possess someone else. And there's no doubt it will free Blackburn and get rid of Judy. So, keep holding your hands until we're sure Benjamin has succeeded."
The Hexside students all nodded their heads as Luz replied.
"Okay."
While everyone stuck back to their tasks, Eda's arm kept watch, waiting for its next move.
At the same time, Ben turned to the Inner Judy, and was about to check on her.
"Hey, are you okay?"
The Inner Judy was just staring at him cluelessly. Still, Ben waited for her answer. After a few seconds, she sighed solemnly.
"Did you really mean…? W-Why would you protect her like that?"
Ben was at a loss with the question.
"What do you mean why?"
The Inner Judy, overcome with doubt, began to break down as she tried to make her point.
"You saw what she did to Amity! What she could end up doing to everyone! To Willow, or Gus, or Luz! Or you! Why would you want anything to do with a monster?!"
Ben paused for a moment. He simply stared at her as he remembered how she made the effort to look for him despite what he'd done.
"I thought the same thing once. When she was looking for me."
The Inner Judy widened her eyes as the memory came to light. At the same time, one of the frames rose up from the ground beneath them. On the side, they saw one of the most recent memories: Judy comforting Ben in the cave with her father and Omen, who simply stood on the side.
"Remember? She was the one who came looking for me after her dad. After what I did to her. And what I said."
The Inner Judy's face softened as Ben spoke onward softly.
"That's how I knew who she was. She was somebody I could talk to. Someone who knows exactly what I've been through. I… I want to be that person for her. I want to protect my sister. Can you help me?"
The Inner Judy was touched by his words. She breathed softly, holding her hand over to her heart. But before she could breathe a word, a loud shriek echoed through the wasteland, cutting the moment short. The black tree opened its flaring red eyes again as it shouted.
"SHE'S NOT YOUR SISTER!"
Suddenly, black roots erupted from the ground up, snatching Ben and the Inner Judy by their limbs! The roots suspended the both of them in the air as they struggled to break free. The way they were held, it was as though they were being crucified.
"YOU'RE A FOOL TO BELIEVE OTHERWISE, HUMAN!"
Ben tried to make a light spell, but the root binds crushed his wrist, making him unable to cast one. In the process, he screamed in agony.
"NO MORE LIGHT SHOWS FROM HERE ON OUT. WITHOUT THAT, YOU'RE JUST A WEAK MAGGOT!"
The Black Tree's roots pulled down on his limbs and sent him crashing to the hard desert floor. Inner Judy noticed this and shouted for him.
"Ben!"
The Black Tree pulled her closer to it and sneered.
"AND YOU… YOU'VE PLAGUED ME LONG ENOUGH."
Suddenly, a black and red beam of light shot out from the lock and hit her. She screamed in agony as the aura overcame her.
"IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO DISAPPEAR FOR GOOD!"
Ben looked up at the horrific scene. He was unable to move himself because of Blackburn's restricting binds. But he could still speak, and worse yet, he could still watch…
"JUDY! What are you doing to her?!"
"WHAT I SHOULD HAVE DONE A LONG TIME AGO. TONIGHT, JUDITH CLAWTHORNE DIES, AND LUCIFER BLACKBURN RETURNS!"
The Inner Judith writhed in the beam, but she grunted, trying to resist the full brunt of it. The Black Tree looked curiously at the change as she tried to retort.
"I… I can't die yet…! I have to…! I won't…! Ahh…!"
"I WOULDN'T BOTHER RESISTING. YOUR FRIENDS WILL BE AS GOOD AS DEAD SOON."
In the cellar, the once radiant blue light was turning red. All the while, the Malice Mark took notice of Eda's turned arm and noticed it trying to communicate with it. The mark understood what it was trying to say and grinned devilishly. Willow saw the smirk and grew very, very uncomfortable.
"Why does that make me nervous…?"
In a second, she got her answer. The mark went under the board past Amity, slipping through the cracks. Willow instinctively tried to stop it.
"Get away from her!"
But the moment she tried, she let go of Luz and Gus' hands, reaching out for it. Lawrence saw this and shouted in fear.
"NO, DON'T!"
Suddenly, the barrier went away, and so did the Moonlight Magic. And in that instant, the Malice Mark shot up straight smack into Willow like a rocket. The collision sent her to the floor, and she was unconscious. Luz and Gus naturally went to check on her as the others followed suit.
"Willow!"
"Don't go into the light, Willow! Don't go into the light!"
At that moment, Amity stirred from her slumber and groaned heavily. Lilith was the first one to go near Amity.
"Amity! You're awake! Thank Titan, you're okay!"
Amity was surprised for the moment.
"Ms. Lilith…?"
But after remembering what she did to her the last time she saw her, Amity forced herself away from her.
"What are you doing here?!"
Just then, a different voice responded. And it was a dark and twisted perversion of an old friend's.
"That's funny. I was wondering the same thing about you, Blight."
It was Willow, her eyes glowing a fierce red color, and with a twisted smile of crooked sharp teeth. Amity felt her heart sink at the sight of her. As if seeing Judy attack her twice wasn't enough, now Willow was going to do the same.
"Willow…"
The possessed Willow set her sights on the poor youngest Blight. She had a frightened look on her face as Lilith stepped up, holding her Palisman out to guard her pupil.
"I'm sorry that you were hurt, Ms. Park. But I'm not going to let you kill my protege!"
Willow only smirked at Lilith's threat.
"As if you could hurt me anymore."
To prove this, Willow held her hand out and pushed Lilith to the wall with an invisible force, crashing her to a wall next to Eda, King, and Sam. The trio had shocked looks on their faces before King snickered.
"He-he! Lilith got boned!"
Eda slapped her hand on King's head roughly.
"Safe it for after the terror stops, King! We've got a live one."
Lawrence joined in, holding his own Palisman out.
"It's the Malice Mark. It's taken possession of Willow's body now. We have to get it out of her. Do whatever you have to do, but don't kill her!"
Omen and Val stood beside Lawrence as the former cracked his knuckles.
"Don't have to tell me twice."
Suddenly, the cellar itself began to convulse and shake before it splintered to pieces. Luz and Gus had to dodge out of the way away from the circle. And who should rise out of it but Blackburn himself. Any semblance of Judith was gone. He opened his red eyes and snickered. Then, in a chilling fashion, both Willow and Blackburn spoke sinisterly at the same time.
"Everyone here dies by dawn, Lawrence…"
Lawrence, Omen, Val, Eda, Lilith, and Sam got ready to fight as the Owl Lady spoke to her.
"Luz, take King, Amity, and Goops, and get the fuck out of here, now!"
Luz had a fearful look, worried over what could happen.
"B-But Willow…! And Judy…! I can't just leave them!"
"I'm not asking twice, kid! Just go!"
Luz was overcome with worry and struck with indecision as the Black Tree spoke.
"IT'S ALREADY STARTED. MY MARK WILL TAKE EVERY ONE OF YOU. AFTER THAT, THE REST WILL FOLLOW. SOON, THEY WILL ALL BE LIKE ME. AND THEN WHO WILL LOCK THEM UP IN THE CELLAR?!"
Inner Judy gasped with a terrified expression as the Black Tree laughed demonically.
"No! I won't let you hurt them!"
"YOU? LET ME? NO. YOU WILL DO IT FOR ME."
Suddenly, Inner Judy's body convulsed as it was overcome with the sinister aura. She gasped harshly when she felt a pressure squeezing her.
"What…?! What's happening… to me?!"
"I'M MOLDING YOU. YOU WILL BECOME MY COMPLETE VESSEL FROM NOW ON… SCARLET WITCH."
Inner Judy was confounded by what he'd said. She'd never heard that term before today.
"What…?"
"ALL THE OTHERS WILL JOIN YOU."
Inner Judy groaned in pain as the dark aura began to overtake her once more.
Amity watched in horror as she tried to talk sense into Willow.
"Willow, please don't do this! This isn't like you!"
Willow snarled at Amity.
"It is now, Blight! And it's ALL! YOUR! FAULT!"
Suddenly, black thorned vines shot you from the ground and lunged right at Amity to stab her to death. All she could do was brave for it when suddenly, Lilith intervened, twirling her Palisman around to chop them like a mowing machine.
"I told you! You won't touch her!"
Lilith retaliated with a blue spell circle that fired a blast of blue fire. It was a controlled flame, so it wouldn't burst out of the house. Still, Willow dodged it with a smirk.
"You missed, lapdog!"
Suddenly, her own shadow grabbed her by the arms and wrapped around her, making her grunt in anger. Lawrence's Palisman'a eyes were glowing bright yellow.
"That's the point. Let's see you attack now!"
Blackburn only smirked as he readied his dagger.
"Oh, you have no idea how long I've been waiting to do just THAT!"
Blackburn lurched himself right at him, flying at a fast pace that he didn't count on. But Omen did. He got in his way and grasped the hand that held the dagger. He pushed it back with all his might, struggling against the demon as he snarled. But it didn't last long. The demon retaliated with a kick to the gut. Using the opening, Blackburn was about to stab his blade right into his chest!
But before he could, Omen suddenly vanished. And in his place, Val was holding it at bay with her own Palisman staff. Blackburn snarled angrily as Eda shouted from behind.
"Get out of my niece, you motherfucker!"
Eda whacked him right in the head with Owlbert, knocking him to the floor. She twirled her staff, ready to fire a blast. But it couldn't have come at the worst time. Suddenly, Blackburn's face changed to Judy's, showing a hurt look on her face. Eda's eyes widened with hurt the more she stared at her.
"Why, Aunt Eda…?! Why are you hurting me…?!"
Eda gasped softly, unwilling to hurt Judy. She could still hear her mother's voice, begging her to keep her safe.
"She'll take care of you real good, right Eda?"
Eda's tears fell from her face before suddenly, Blackburn hit her with a backhand, sending her to the floor. He laughed at her moment of vulnerability and got ready to stab into her.
"I love how easy it is to break you, Owl Lady."
Blackburn was about to strike, but Sam stopped him with his metal hand, holding it in place as he spoke.
"Hey, Lucy! Remember me? I'm the guy you owe a new fucking arm to!"
Sam struck him in the face with an uppercut, sending him into the air before he landed on his feet. Sam clenched his hands into fists. But Blackburn stood up, as if nothing happened. And he only spat out a drop of blood or two from the mouth. He smirked devilishly at Sam.
"All that, and all I got was a bloody mouth. But I'm not done. Not even close…"
With that, Blackburn lunged out at the group with a vicious scream, ready to tear them limb from limb.
Meanwhile, Ben stared in horror as the Judy he came to know and love was being destroyed in front of his eyes.
"NO! STOP IT! PLEASE STOP IT!"
The Black Tree glanced down at the human caught in his trap and snickered.
"I DO NOT LISTEN TO WEAKLINGS. ROLL OVER AND DIE LIKE MELISSA."
Ben's eyes widened the second he heard him say her name. Memories were rushing into his head all over again like his life was flashing before his blue eyes. Many of them, good and bad, went by all at once in seconds.
And his very last one, the very worst one, her death, was all he could see before he gritted his teeth and tried to pull himself free.
At the same time, Lawrence, Omen, Val, Eda, Lilith, and Sam were knocked back to the wall as Luz, King, Gus, and Amity looked on in horror. Gus was especially shaken by the event.
"The horror…! The horror!"
Amity looked back from Willow to Blackburn. The former of the two managed to break free with Lawrence unable to hold her back.
"That's better. Time to erase my so-called 'friend' once and for all."
The possessed Willow smiled towards Amity as she summoned black thorns, ready to slay her. Luz looked past her to see Blackburn ready to do the same to the others. Eda struggled to stand up as she tried to reach Judy.
"Judy…! I-I know you're in there! You can't die this easily…! Not to him!"
"Sorry. Judy's gone forever… And you're about to join her!"
Blackburn raised his blade, and prepared to end her. Eda closed her eyes and braces herself for the inevitable pain. But before he could make any move, he stopped just mere inches from her face. His hand struggled to move. When she opened her eyes, she saw Blackburn was… freezing up. And he was just as surprised as Eda was.
"What the hell…?!"
In the mindscape, the Black Tree felt a strange presence emanating from the boy. But whatever it was, it didn't like it one bit.
"WHAT POWER IS THIS…? WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME?!"
Inner Judy looked down to Ben despite the insurmountable amount of pain and torture she was enduring. Her eyes briefly flashed black and red like Blackburn's, but her worried face remained.
"Ben…"
As for Ben's own eyes, they were beginning to glow brighter than a lantern.
"No way…! I didn't come here… to let you win…!"
As Ben continued his defiance, the Sword of Xanatos itself was glowing brightly in the dim hideout. Aiken noticed it and took a glance at it.
"Hmm? What in Titan's name…?"
Ben clutched onto the black vines that caught his arms and began to crush them. In the process, the binds were burning away at his touch, steam coming out of them.
"I came here… to save my sister…!"
The sword was getting brighter and brighter as Aiken beheld the light that overcame the whole room.
"I WON'T LET YOU TAKE HER FROM ME!"
With that last word, The sword suddenly teleported with a loud blast, knocking Aiken to the floor from the shockwave.
Coincidentally, at the manor, Blackburn's eyes were overcome with a bright surge of blue light as he screamed, knocking the possessed Willow to the floor as Luz, Gus, Amity, and King took cover, along with the rest that were knocked to the ground. When the light faded, Blackburn was forced to his knees before he fell flat on his face unconscious.
In Blackburn's mindscape, Ben was glowing just as brightly as he roared out in anger. The binds were burned away as the Black Tree shrieked in pain. And it was also affecting Inner Judy's vines, which retreated back to its master. But because of the pain that took its toll on her, she couldn't be able to stop herself from falling. Of course, it wasn't willing to give her up so easily.
The black vines shot out like bullets right towards her. But before they could even scratch her, a loud slash could be heard, stopping them right in their tracks. Seconds later, light blue marks appeared all over them. Blackburn barely had any time at all to react when they suddenly turned into crystals and exploded into blue mist!
The devil wailed in an apoplectic fit as Inner Judy was swiftly rescued from the fall. But even in his arms, she was writhing, grunting in spasms. Her eyes were closed by this point, because the pain was so intolerable. Ben figured out a way to fix it some time ago thanks to Judy telling him to shove her in the cellar. If that light was something Blackburn was weak against… then maybe it could help her. Hopefully, for good, this time.
"Hold still, Judy. Please. Take a deep breath."
Inner Judy tried her best to manage, but all she could do was make slow, quivering breaths. Ben made a spell circle and held it close to her heart. Little by little, the quiver faded, and was altogether replaced with comfort. She eased up more and more as she sighed, and her emerald eyes started to open.
Meanwhile, Aiken was still in utter shock over what had occurred. But after a moment of processing, he figured out what had happened.
"That sword… it hadn't reacted like this since that young man blew a hole in the wall days ago. That can only mean… has it begun?"
The first thing Judy noticed when she opened her eyes was a surprise. It wasn't just her brother she was seeing; there was also something flashing in her eyes. And it was still floating by his side, glowing a bright blue color.
"Ben…? How did you…?"
Ben smiled down at her as he set her back on her feet gently.
"Just take it easy, Judy. I'm going to protect you now. Okay?"
Inner Judy looked at him in surprise. She was only able to nod to him as an answer.
"Uh-huh."
Inner Judy couldn't take her eyes off of the sword as he walked closer to the Black Tree. The living tree glared down at him and snarled once he caught sight of its flash.
"THAT SWORD…! THAT DAMNED SWORD…! HOW DID YOU FIND THAT SWORD?!"
Ben stared daggers at Blackburn's Tree, clearly not in the mood.
"You know, I thought I'd be angrier, what with you doing the shittiest things to my friends just because you wanted everybody to be miserable. And don't even get me started on the fact that you used her name…"
The bright flash of Ben's eyes was all it took for the tree's eyes to flinch as a strong breeze of air followed shortly. Inner Judy noticed the change and gasped with a hint of hope.
"Or maybe it's that I'm so unbelievably enraged, I've come full circle. Either way…"
Ben held out his hand, and the sword went to him before he clutched its handle.
"It's time to end this!"
Blackburn made a deafening roar that shook the whole mindscape and forced Inner Judy to cover her ears. But it wasn't the only thing that was happening. The black tree itself was coming undone, branches falling one after another. And the soul lock was going down along with it.
One could think that the battle was over, but then, they'd be wrong. The black mass that remained began to absorb it. And the pile of black hoop reassembled itself. The demon now had black wings behind him, and he wasn't wearing anything on the top, showing his muscular form along with the daggertail that had dug itself into his left arm while his right hand carried a large dagger which appeared more as a sword in length.
"You human maggot! If I can't have the Scarlet Witch's power… NOBODY WILL!"
Blackburn lifted his hand up into the air. The instant that happened, a black portal opened up beneath Inner Judy and began to swallow her up like a black hole. Immediately Ben rushed over to her to pull her out, using the sword as a foothold to keep himself from falling over as well.
"Grab on, Judy! I got you!"
Inner Judy reached her hand for him. But even as she caught him, her grip was slipping away, and she was sinking faster than quicksand. All that was left in a few seconds' time was her hand. It couldn't hold on… and it slipped. Then she was gone…
"Judy!"
Ben was breathing hard, overcome with grief over the idea of her being gone. And as if it couldn't get any worse…
"If you want her back, maggot, you'll have to kill me first!"
As for Willow, she was writhing in pain and agony. By second nature, Luz tried to help her.
"You can do it, Willow! Fight that thing off! You're the strongest witch I know!"
Suddenly, Willow leapt at Luz, wrapping her black thorn vines around her limbs to keep her from moving.
"Did I ask you, human?! I don't need your help!"
Amity's hand trembled. She couldn't bring herself to face Willow like this. She believed that every word she said was true. It was all her fault. The least she could do was help her old friend.
"Stop this, Willow!"
The possessed and deranged Willow turned away from Luz and snarled at Amity.
"I'm the one you want! Leave Luz out of this! Please…!"
Willow growled bitterly towards her, but she released her vines all the same. Luz looked over all of them, noticing that there were a lot fewer scratches on her than she thought.
"Huh. That's a lot less than I thought there'd be."
Luz looked up to see Amity slowly walking to the corrupted Willow, looking sadly at her.
"Willow… I know what's in there. And I know what it's making you do this. You have to fight it, Willow. Please…"
Willow snarled at her and shouted.
"SHUT UP! You don't know what it's like for me to finally have something that sets me apart from being a Half-A-Witch! You don't know what it's like to be ME!"
Willow lurched her black vines and tied Amity by her arms and legs, suspending her in the air as Willow went up to her.
"Why would I ever want to go back to being a weak Half-A-Witch when I can finally prove who's stronger between the two of us?! Who's weak now, Blight?! WHO IS WEAK NOW?!"
Willow began to pull on her limbs, making Amity groan from the pressure. Amity could only cry as the muscles in her arms and legs felt as though they were about to split open.
"This isn't you, Willow… You never cared about that…"
Willow went up to her, clearly unforgiving as she shrieked.
"I SAID SHUT UP!"
Willow punched Amity in the gut, making her double over as she spat out saliva from her mouth and coughed horrendously.
"You don't know me, Blight! You never took the time to know me at all! You threw me away when I couldn't measure up to you! And worse, you let Boscha and her friends pick on me for years! And yet, you have the nerve to tell me what I'm like?! HOW DARE YOU?!"
Willow slammed Amity to the floor with the vines' pull and towered over her.
"I don't need you in my life anymore, Blight of the Boiling Isles. Out of sight… out of mind."
A set of black vines rose above grind her, turning into a massive prehensile spike, aiming it right at her heart. Amity stared at it, but she never flinched. In fact, she seemed ready to accept it. She inquired to Willow in a tired voice.
"Willow… can I say one thing at least?"
Willow stared at Amity, her red eyes glaring at her.
"Only one."
Amity choked up as she tried to look at her, overcome with sadness as she stared at her friend's monstrous state.
"I… I couldn't say it to you before back then… but you were never too weak to be my friend, Willow. I was too weak to be yours."
Willow's eyes widened in curiosity. Amity was staring right at her face as she spoke softly.
"You were always trying your best for both of us. And you had such a big heart for everyone around you. And when you did find your magic, you blossomed into something amazing. Something that I, a star student of Hexside, can never measure up to. If I was half as strong as you, none of this would've happened…! The only half-a-witch here… is me!"
Amity started to cry as she waited for the end. Willow seemed unmoving for a moment until suddenly, the spike moved in right towards her heart. Amity turned her head away and waited for the end. But it stopped an inch short. After a few seconds, Amity opened her eyes to see Willow at war with herself. She was clutching onto her head as she groaned in pain. Luz and Gus saw the struggle and went up to her.
"Willow's fighting off the Malice…! Amity got through to her!"
Gus held his hands up as he shouted.
"Praise the Titan!"
As Willow fought against the Malice Mark, Lawrence and Lilith saw the conflict up above. The Head of the Emperor's Coven couldn't believe her eyes.
"She's… she's fighting the mark!"
"Yes, but it's not giving up without a fight! Whatever happens, get ready!"
Eda smiled at her brother-in-law.
"Hey, Larry. Do you still have that vacuum cleaner?"
Willow clawed at her hair, dragging her nails down as her green eyes overcame the dark red glare.
"This is my body! And you… are going… OUT!"
With a powerful shout, Willow expelled the Malice Mark with another shockwave, making the mark exit her mouth as she screamed. Once it left her, Willow fell to the ground, only for Luz and Gus to catch her. And the black vines trapping Amity went away. Unlike Luz, she wasn't so lucky. Her wrists and legs were cut so deep, it looked as though they could've been cut off completely just from the thorns.
Luz went up to her to check on her.
"Amity, are you okay?"
Despite her condition, Amity tried to reassure her.
"I-I'm alright."
But that wasn't going to last long. The Malice Mark was floating above everyone, looking at his prey hungrily, and overcome with anger that it was driven out twice. It roared, ready to try for number three, only for Eda to shout.
"Hey, over here, you red sack of ectoplasm! I got a dirtbag with your name on it!"
Eda pointed it at the mark and began to suck it up, forcing it to retreat as it whimpered. But the suction was too powerful for it to escape. In seconds, the mark was sealed away in the dirtbag. It screamed deliriously as it tried to break out to no avail. Eda blew over the nozzle like it was a smoking gun.
"Never mess with a Clawthorne."
Amity went closer to Willow, feeling more and more worried for her as she looked at Luz.
"Willow… is she…?"
Luz put her ear on Willow's chest, trying to listen for something.
"Keep it quiet. My mama taught me this."
Luz closed her eyes to listen for something. And as luck would have it, she heard a heartbeat every second and a half. She sighed in relief as she got her confirmation.
"She's okay. Just a little out of it."
Amity sighed deeply, thankful to hear that Willow didn't perish..
"Thank goodness…"
Lawrence placed his hand on her shoulder, making her look up to him. In turn, he glanced over to Blackburn's body.
"Don't relax just yet. We've only won one part of this battle. The rest, I'm afraid… is up to Benjamin."
In the mindscape, Ben was standing in front of Blackburn, holding the Sword of Xanatos out towards him. He was taking a deep breath as he thought to himself.
Okay, so maybe I am destined to use this thing. But considering that I haven't done any swordplay since I was little, I think I'm in for some real shitload of trouble. I hope I'm doing this right. For Judy's sake…
After finishing his thought, Ben fixed his glare at Blackburn before he spoke with venom.
"As a certain knight once said… have at thee!"
Ben rushed towards Blackburn, his sword outstretched as the devil flew right towards him. The two of them flashed their weapons together as the weapons impacted with each other. Blackburn and Ben were face-to-face with each other, neither side willing to back down. Ben gritted his teeth with pure malice while Blackburn tried to take advantage of the stalemate.
The devil clenched his arm that was wrapped up in his daggertail and aimed to strike him in the face. But Ben saw that coming and was forced to move his sword right up to the blade of his whip, resulting in a brilliant spark that lit up as he pushed them both away from each other. Ben, for one, looked rather surprised.
"Whoa. How did I do that?"
Ben saw the brilliant glow on his sword. It was reacting to him like before, but it was more constant than vibrant.
"Wait. Were you helping me just now…?"
As for Blackburn, to say that he was miffed to no end would be an understatement. He bared his fangs and stretched out his wings.
"Don't think I'm done yet, brat!"
Blackburn lunged at him again, this time, aiming for his head. Ben didn't have any time to react. Blackburn was moving a lot faster than he was ready for. It looked like he was done for. But the sword parried the blow and countered it with a slice on his cheek. As if by instinct, Blackburn flew backwards to get away. Ben was in awe at how fast the reaction time was.
"Okay, now I definitely know that was you. Well, whatever it is you're doing… keep doing it!"
Ben rushed forward to the devil, who shrieked with fury. Ben and Blackburn clashed with each other several times as sparks flew left and right. After a strike was blocked, Ben used the momentum to swing away from him and slash across him. But Blackburn leapt above the slash, retracting his wings to avoid losing them.
Ben kept his focus on Blackburn as the devil lurched his arm forward, turning his daggertail into a living snake that bared its fangs. Ben screamed out in worry as he dodged away from it, the creature barely missing him by the leg. Ben slid on the dirt, brandishing his sword out as the Daggertail snake prepared to bite him again.
However, Ben reacted quick enough to slash at the daggertail's head, slicing it off. It went limp, and it hasn't moved since. But Ben knew the fight was far from over. He turned around just in time to see Blackburn roaring at him. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to stop him from grasping his face and smashing it to the ground as he roared out. Ben screamed in pain from the blow Blackburn did to him. He was held up by the neck with Blackburn towering over him.
"Let's see you dodge this, maggot!"
Blackburn was about to hit him with his fist, but before he could make contact, a sudden slash was made. The Devil's eyes went wide when a realization dawned on him. A second later, his arm came off and his arm bursted on black blood as he yelled out in pain. Ben rolled away from Blackburn and tried to stand up. But because of the mortal wound inflicted on him, it was difficult.
Damnit! That hurt like hell…! I thought I had a chance…! Wasn't it working a second ago?!
Ben fixed his glare at Blackburn, holding his sword out once he was on his feet again. The devil, meanwhile, was clutching to his severed arm, which regenerated its lost piece as he roared out in agony. After the regeneration, Ben's eyes widened, realizing how horribly outmatched he is. Blackburn glared at him with his two red eyes burning hotter than before.
"That was your first mistake, boy. And it's gonna be your LAST!"
"Oh, shit…!"
In the manor, Blackburn yelled out in his sleep, his body manifesting a dark aura as he writhed. Sam saw the trembling himself. Given how well it worked out last time, he had a feeling it wasn't about anything good.
"This can't be good…"
Lawrence grunted, gritting his teeth.
"It's not. Blackburn is fighting him off. And he's winning…!"
Eda's face saddened as she watched the battle go from bad to worse. Just then, in the distance, she saw her severed arm crawling over to Blackburn. She scowled at it and growled.
"Where do you think you're going, righty?!"
Eda stormed over to her arm, catching it by surprise as she stomped her foot on it and spoke coldly.
"I told you, you're grounded!"
Eda kicked her arm to the wall, knocking it out. She hoped it would be for a good while. Lilith went up to her, still perplexed by the event.
"Edalyn, is that—?"
"My right arm gone rogue? Yeah. It must've told the mark how to get out of the barrier. It should be out of it long enough."
Lilith looked at her sister with wide eyes, wondering what she had planned.
"Long enough for what, Edalyn?"
She didn't bother to answer. The Owl Lady looked up at her brother-in-law with a determined look.
"Larry… I need you to send me in that bastard's head."
Everyone's eyes widened from her request, especially Lilith's. She tried to stop her sister as she put her hands on her only arm.
"Edalyn, are you mad?! Entering my daughter's head is one thing, but Blackburn is another matter entirely! He'd absolutely eradicate you!"
Eda pulled it away with a scowl.
"I don't give a damn about the risks! If I don't do this, we'll lose Judy, your daughter, forever! Is that what you want?!"
Eda's eyes were full of tears at this point. Lilith couldn't argue with her in that state. Her grip loosened at first, but after much thought, she tightened it.
"No. But I'm not about to let you go alone, either, Edalyn. The way things are, you can't defeat him by yourself. Besides… Judith is my family, too."
Eda softly smiled at her sister as Lawrence went up to the two of them.
"If you're certain it's what you want, I'll manage. But Lilith has a point. With Blackburn in control, it's more dangerous than you can imagine."
Eda held onto Lilith's hand tightly with her one arm.
"It's a risk we're willing to take, Larry."
Lawrence nodded to the duo before he turned to Luz.
"Luz. I'm aware that you've endured one ordeal after another, but I must ask. Are you still willing to lend your strength?"
Luz nodded with determination as she replied.
"I am."
Lawrence turned over to Amity, knowing that she'd endured just as much.
"And you?"
Amity had a look of hesitation come over her face as she stammered.
"I… I don't know if I'm going to be enough. We never got to be friends for a long time… I-I can't help anyone, even if I wanted to… what if it's too late…?"
Amity didn't realize it, but at the time, Willow was stirring awake. And she could hear the regret in Amity's voice. Willow's face saddened as well, even as she looked at Blackburn's body. But her face steeled itself in determination. She wasn't going to let Judy die because of her grudge. She went up to Amity and held onto her hand.
"There's only one way to find out: together."
Amity's face softened with a smile before she nodded to her. Willow looked at Lawrence and spoke with a fierce smile.
"Let's bust this ghost, once and for all."
In the corroded mindscape, Ben was getting the worst beat down of his life. Blackburn was cutting into his arms and legs, leaving small gashes on them. And to make it worse, the sword wasn't reacting when he needed it to. Because of this, Blackburn kept attacking his openings, and he was dangerously close to winning.
Blackburn stomped his foot on his chest, the sword knocked out of Ben's grasp, and the devil stood victorious over him.
"How about that? Here I thought I actually had to worry about the likes of you with your moon magic. But you don't even know how to use it, do you? Without the Moonlight Conjuring to back it up, that light of your sword's was only temporary. A pity…"
Blackburn began to press his foot harder on him, making Ben scream as his ribs cracked. Blackburn smiled as he relished the boy's torture.
"Might as well give up, boy. Your sister's body is as good as mine, and there's not a damned thing you can do about it."
Just then, a familiar voice shouted to him from above.
"Wanna say that again, motherfucker?!"
Blackburn looked up just in time to see a swirl of yellow and blue light coming towards him! Blackburn didn't have a moment to react as he was struck by the spiraling pillar, knocking him off of Ben. Ben groaned, struggling to sit up when he saw a surprising sight: Eda and Lilith were working together!
"Eda?! Lilith?! What are you two doing here?!"
Eda snapped back, giving Ben a raised eyebrow.
"What does it look like, kid? We're saving our family!"
Blackburn snarled and hissed as he recovered from their attack. The impact left him in considerable disparity. He had a hole in the top right corner of his chest, and his right wing appeared to be clipped by the leather. Of course, it wasn't anything he couldn't regenerate, but that didn't mean it wasn't painful.
"You two don't get it, do you? There's nothing to save. I already dragged your Little Ruby down to Hell. And until you beat me, she's not going anywhere~"
Eda glared back at Blackburn, clearly pissed beyond belief. But she wasn't the only one. Lilith twirled her staff around and pointed it at him.
"Then we will avenge her! No matter what!"
Blackburn snickered as he stretched out his wings. Eda turned to Ben and shouted.
"You just leave tall, dark, and gruesome to us, Benny. We have a plan topside. Go find Judy, wherever she is, and bring her back."
At that moment, Ben understood where she was getting at. They were distracting him so he could rescue her while he still had the chance. Not willing to let this chance go to waste, he picked the sword back up and tried to cut into the ground. But Blackburn saw what he was doing, and he grew very weary.
"Wait a minute… what is that brat planning to do?"
Blackburn wasn't going to waste time speculating. He felt it best to nip it in the bud before it became a real problem.
"Whatever it is, I won't let you!"
Blackburn flew right at Ben, only to be blocked by Eda, who rammed herself into his side with Owlbert, sending him across the landscape. Eda tailed after him while Lilith turned to Ben.
"Ben… when you see my daughter… tell her I'm sorry that I wasn't there for her…"
With that, Lilith took off after Eda and Blackburn as Ben nodded to her shortly after she left.
"Don't worry. I will…"
Ben pushed his sword deeper into the ground and dragged it across to make a hole. But when he opened it, he saw an infinite dark void. Ben was cautious, but he couldn't let his sister be all alone. He had to save her… Focused on nothing else, he thrust himself into the chasm, and the wound closed up behind him.
In the black abyss, Ben looked around. As far as he can tell, there doesn't seem to be anything that existed.
"Great… the middle of nowhere. How am I supposed to find her…?"
Ben looked left and right in the abyss for his sister. Fortunately, he didn't have to look too far. He saw a faint glimmer of bright white light in the distance. Ben knew who it belonged to.
"Judy!"
Inner Judy opened her eyes sharply. She never thought she'd hear his voice again.
"Ben…? Is that you…?"
"Judy! I'm here to get you—!"
When Inner Judy turned around, he saw a large mark across her arm where it was cut. Ben was at a loss for words to see it.
"Whoa… your arm. What happened?"
Inner Judy looked at him solemnly.
"Apparently you. You must've cut off his arm before, because it came off so suddenly. And I was so scared… then it grew back. That's how I knew you were fighting."
Ben felt a bit awkward, even ashamed when he remembered the soul lock.
"Right…! I forgot about that soul lock. I'm so sorry…"
Inner Judy reassured him as she patted him on the head.
"It's okay. At least it wasn't permanent."
Despite her reassurance, she had a fearful look.
"But if you're here… did you lose?"
Ben shook his head as he gave her the good news.
"Not yet. Eda and Lilith are buying me time to get you out of here."
Inner Judy's eyes widened in surprise.
"Aunt Eda… and Mom?"
While this happened, Blackburn was recovering from the ram attack Eda inflicted on him. His black blood was spilling out of his mouth. The devil growled as he stared at Eda, who approached him with an equally livid face. The more he stared at it, though, the more he began to smile.
"You've come a long way from the weakling you were back then, didn't you, Owl Lady? And with only one arm, no less. I wonder: where was this Eda Clawthorne when Selene needed her?"
Eda scowled at him. She wasn't going to waste any time talking with Blackburn. Suddenly, she rushed at Blackburn and hit him right in the gut, making him spit out more of his blood to the ground before she launched him up with a kick. Eda zapped quickly into the air above him to fire a point-blank blast at his chest.
"You have NO RIGHT to say her name!"
Eda's blast sent him back down to the ground as Lilith caught up. Blackburn grumbled as he stood up. It didn't do nearly as much damage as Ben's sword did, but it still bugged him. That was when he saw Lilith flying right at him with her Palisman. He held out his hand, and he blocked her strike with a black-red barrier to keep her away.
"Is that supposed to be the power of the Emperor's Coven? If so, I'm not impressed."
Lilith growled and created a spell circle in her palm. In coincidence with that, he noticed a bright light underneath him.
"You underestimate my power, Blackburn… Just like you underestimated our FURY!"
Lilith clenched her palm, setting off the trap she made.
"Oh, shit."
The explosion detonated a large pillar of dark blue magic that rose to the horizon. Eda was in the eye of the storm at that point, flying down towards him with Owlbert. It was hard to do with one arm, but with a straight shot down, she can't miss. Yellow light was surging all over the pillar in spirals as Eda was going full speed. Her eyes glowed bright yellow as she yelled out in anger before slamming down on him and triggering yet another massive explosion.
In the chasm below, Inner Judy groaned and clutched to her chest. Ben saw the amount of pain she's in and tried to comfort her.
"Judy!"
Inner Judy raised one of her hands and spoke with heavy breaths.
"It's Blackburn. He's… he's getting weaker! But how…?"
Ben couldn't figure it out, either. All he managed to do was cut off his arm and cut his face. That couldn't have made him weak if he still managed to drive him to the ground. Unless… that's when Ben remembered what Blackburn told him.
Without the Moonlight Conjuring to back it up, that light of your sword's was only temporary. A pity…
His eyes widened when he remembered that, along with what Eda told him. He held out his sword and looked at it, seeing it glow brilliantly in the dark.
"Eda said they had a plan topside. The Moonlight Conjuring… they're starting it up again!"
In the manor, Luz, Willow, and Amity were doing the Moonlight Conjuring over Blackburn's body. Sam, King, Omen, Val, Gus, and Lawrence watched over them as the blue light began to glow more so than before. Needless to say, King was very impressed.
"Wow. I can't believe they managed to weaken a demon with this."
Omen was in just as much awe as he spoke.
"I know. That alone takes some incredible magic. But this? Something tells me this one is a whole other level…"
In the chasm, Ben glanced at the Inner Judy with hope renewed in his eyes.
"That means… we can get out of here, Judy!"
Inner Judy didn't blame him for being eager, but she had a doubtful look.
"Ben, I've tried over and over to break out of this when Blackburn first took over. That hasn't changed. I can't help you."
Ben placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Yes, you can, Judy."
"What makes you so sure?"
"Because it's your body, not his."
As Ben spoke, Blackburn was dueling against Eda and Lilith simultaneously. Eda made a large spell circle that constructed a wooden lookalike of Hooty that barreled right at him, forcing him to fly into the air to dodge it. But Lilith took advantage of it and used her spell circle to cast fire on him, sending him down to the floor next to the effigy.
"He called you the Scarlet Witch, right? So that means he wants your body for a reason."
"And what's that?"
Ben explained to the Inner Judy as Eda drew multiple spell circles on the effigy to create one wood tube after another, which chased after him like heat-seeking missiles. He swiftly dodged it before cutting it apart with his dagger. Lilith flew right at him, forcing him to engage in aerial combat with her. Lines of blue/white and black/red clashed several times as Ben answered.
"He said it from the beginning. He's making sure no one is better than him. He wants to be the strongest. Stronger than the Owl Lady."
After several clashes, Lilith fired a blast of fire at him, forcing Blackburn to block it with his wings to withstand the heat. After the fire went away, he was suddenly swallowed by one of Eda's wood tubes resembling Hooty. They thought it was over until the wood crackled under the weight and exploded. Blackburn stretched his wings outward as he roared, sending a shockwave toward Lilith that sent her crashing to the ground as Blackburn towered over her.
"This whole time, he's been feeding off of your magic to build himself back up. But you're better than that. You're better than him. You're better than me!"
Inner Judy clutched onto his hands, still fearful over what it meant.
"How can you say that for sure?! What if my power hurts the people I love?! What if I'm not worth it?!"
Ben saw the tears coming out of her face, and he wiped a tear from her face.
"Judy… both your friends and your family are fighting for you right now. They don't care what powers you have. They care because you're their friend. Are you going to let Blackburn hurt them? Or are you going to fight for them, too?"
Inner Judy was overcome for a moment. But after some thought, her face turned fierce with a scowl.
Up above, Eda and Lilith were both on the ground, exhausted from their fight with the devil.
"Well, I can't say I haven't had any fun, but you're nowhere near close to destroying me. Not that I'm planning to let you walk away."
Blackburn created a black and red spell circle before he thrust it above his head, creating a dark ball of magic with red lightning sparking all over it. Eda and Lilith looked at the attack with fear as Blackburn made his move.
"Do yourselves a favor and die."
Blackburn thrust the dark magic right toward them. The Clawthorne sisters closed their eyes and braced themselves for the end. It seemed as though all was lost. What could possibly save them now? BOOM!
At the very last second, the dark magic exploded before it could hit them. Blackburn could tell something interrupted it.
"Alright, who did that…?"
When the dust cleared away, he saw a figure he didn't expect to see. It was Judy, holding Ben with her hand while she held out her free arm. And her whole body was glowing bright red. Eda and Lilith were in awe over this revelation. Blackburn's own eyes widened, a sense of unease coming over him.
"Hold on. You?!"
Blackburn was starting to lose his marbles.
"T-That can't be! Your magic was supposed to have run empty!"
Inner Judy scowled at Blackburn as she scolded him.
"Maybe you've forgotten something. This is my body. Anything you can do, I can do it, too!"
To prove it, Judy stretched out her hand, unleashing a salvo of shadowy hands that went right after Blackburn! The devil bobbed and weaved around them. He even ended up cutting a few down to size, but his luck could only last for so long as he was suddenly grabbed from below.
Blackburn was dragged down to the floor as Eda and Lilith stared in awe and disbelief. Lilith turned to her sister and spoke in surprise.
"How is she doing that?!"
"Don't look at me; she's your kid."
Judy glared down upon Blackburn as he struggled to stand up.
"I've let you use me for 15 years, Blackburn. No more. I'm taking it all back. My body. My mind. My everything."
Blackburn scowled back at Judy, flashing his sharp teeth.
"You're a fool if you think you can get rid of me; you'd die along with me!"
Judy responded to him with a smirk on her face.
"I know. I was just buying some time… for my brother."
Blackburn's eyes widened when he realized what she was getting at. He looked behind him to see Ben holding out the Sword of Xanatos as he rushed right at the Black Tree, and the Soul Lock within it.
"NOOOOO!"
Blackburn broke out of her shadow trap and flew right at him, but it was already too late. Ben drew his sword back and made a large overhead slash, creating a large bright blue slash of magic that penetrated the tree and the lock, causing Blackburn to stop in place, the shock of fear coming over him.
Everything was in slow motion as it happened. After a moment, the lock's two halves went apart from each other, and a strong burst of light overcame the mindscape and everyone in it. Blackburn did not seem to withstand it as the light swallowed him whole while he screamed in defeat.
When the light was gone, the dark horizon over the barren wasteland that was Judy's mind was gone. In its place, there was a bright blue sky overhead, though the desert remained. Inner Judy, Ben, Eda, and Lilith looked all around at the scenery. Eda had an optimistic take on what had happened.
"So… did we win?"
Lilith grumbled at her nonchalant words. But after what happened, even she didn't have the words for it.
"I… don't know."
As if to answer, they heard violent coughing. They looked up ahead to see Judy and Ben standing over someone. The noise came from Blackburn, who now shriveled back to his former self, void of his shirt. And he was coughing up black blood all over the barren desert ground. Eda and Lilith stepped up to join them, at which point, Blackburn noticed them. He frowned with a sigh.
"Titan-damn it. It's over isn't it? The Soul Lock is finally broken. Which means… you're not tethered to me anymore, are you…?"
Blackburn stood up on his feet, showing a tired face. He held his arms out, as if expecting a hug. Then again, he wasn't the type of person. Ben and Judy looked at him confused as he spoke like he didn't care anymore.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Kill the hell out of me and get your standing ovation."
Blackburn closed his eyes and waited for the killing blow. Of course, Eda was more than willing to step in.
"Well, if you're offering…"
Eda twirled her Palisman around, making a spell circle, only for it to slip out of her hand and clatter to the ground. Quickly, she picked it up and took aim regardless. But before she could fire, Suddenly, as if to retaliate, Ben punched him hard in the face, sending him to the ground.
"That's for hurting my sister!"
Eda frowned at that.
"Hey! I was gonna blast him!"
Blackburn grumbled in frustration before he felt his chin.
"At least SOMEONE got the message…"
Judy turned back to Blackburn, the last of her tears having gone dry. Judy held her hand out.
"Wait."
Eda and Lilith paused for a moment, taken aback by her words.
"Don't kill him."
All three of them showed looks of awe and shock.
"WHAT?!"
Eda was more so at a loss than Lilith or Ben.
"After what that creep did to you?"
Judy remained silent for a moment before she answered softly, putting on an unforgiving scowl and storming over to him.
"We're not going to kill you. That would be letting you off too easy."
Judy raised her hand, causing a pool of shadowy hands to pop up and grab him by his limbs.
"W-What…?! What are you doing?!"
"You made me a prisoner in my own body for my whole life. Now, you're going to know exactly how that feels."
Blackburn was being dragged down, as if that alone was torture for him.
"N-No! You can't do this to me! You can't lock me in here forever!"
Judy kept her scowl as she spoke coldly.
"Not forever. Just until you tell me everything I need to know. After that, then I'll kill you. And trust me; you'll beg for it when I'm done with you."
Blackburn glared at Judy and snarled.
"NO! You won't lock me up! You can't!"
Judy clenched her hand, which now glowed a dark red aura.
"I can. And I will."
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Blackburn's shriek faded away as he vanished completely into the chasm, never to be heard from above ever again. After the silence, Eda tried to talk to her.
"Judy… normally, I'm not supposed to be your parent, but you're making a big mistake doing this."
Judy sighed solemnly.
"I know…"
"He made you live 15 years of Hell."
Judy replied again, slightly louder.
"I know."
"He's the reason you never got to sleep at night."
"I know!"
"He killed your mother!"
Judy snapped the loudest at that.
"I KNOW!"
Judy's loud voice echoed all over the mindscape, the Owl Lady too surprised to shout back. The way she looked, she felt as though Judy blamed her for it. But then, Judy took a deep breath, albeit a shaky, tearful one.
"But I don't know why…"
Judy's tears fell from her face as she listed a mental list.
"He clearly wanted to use me for my power, but why would he need it? Who sent him after me in the first place? And who is the Scarlet Witch?! For all I know, he is the only one who knows any of these answers! I can't find any of them if he's dead! I need to know!"
Inner Judy began to sob as she clenched her hands.
"I have to know why this is happening to me… I never asked for any of this… it's not fair… Why did this have to happen to me…?"
She began to cry as she fell to her knees. Lilith felt especially sorrowful that her daughter was in that situation. Eda looked at her sadly as she knelt down and held her only hand out to her shoulder.
"Judy, I… I'm sorry. I had no idea you felt this way. But you're not alone in this. I— I can relate to you. A lot, actually. You're not the only one with a curse."
Judy blinked her teary eyes in intrigue.
"You were… you were cursed, too?"
Eda nodded her head solemnly.
"Yeah. And it sure as Tartarus ain't pretty."
Ben remembered the memory all too well. He could still see the feathers coming out of her.
"That explains the feathers I saw this morning."
Eda bonked him in the head promptly.
"Ow!"
"You didn't see nothin'!"
Judy laughed softly before she went on.
"But, yeah… that's the gist of it."
Lilith stepped in, kneeling down beside Eda.
"That's why I've been chasing Edalyn, Judith. To help cure her curse. But… she's too stubborn to let me help her."
Eda added in her own snicker as she replied.
"Like she's too stubborn to leave me alone."
Judy was about to ask why all of it was necessary, but Eda stopped her.
"And before you ask why, it's… complicated. Anyway, the point is, we have your back. If you think it's the best way to understand why all this is happening, then… we'll back you up."
Judy wiped her tears away as some of them were about to fall off of her chin.
"You promise?"
Eda traced her finger with a soft smile with Lilith joining in.
"Cross my sac."
"And hope to die."
Judy quickly hugged Eda and Lilith and sobbed on them as hard as she could while the sisters hugged her. Ben smiled at this tender moment between them. He dug into his pocket and got out a bell.
"Well… mission accomplished."
In the manor, Ben's ringing could be heard. Lawrence heard this and directed his staff towards them.
"They're still alive. Thank Titan…"
Lawrence held out his staff and made a spell circle that brought Ben, Eda, and Lilith back. But in the process, a brilliant blue light overcame Blackburn's body and altered shape. When the silhouette was gone, it had changed back. Lawrence went towards Ben, Eda, and Lilith to check on them.
"You managed to survive. Thank the Titan you're in one piece… Did you do it? Is he gone?"
Ben brushed the back of his head as a reply.
"Well, sorta."
To add to the answer, they heard a soft groaning in the distance. In Blackburn's place, Judy laid there. But she wasn't in her usual outfit anymore. She was wearing Blackburn's cloak. She sat up and moaned as she rubbed her head with Luz, Willow, and Gus all going up to her, hoping that it worked.
"Judy, are you… you?"
Judy smiled with tears coming down her face as she answered.
"Yes, Willow. I'm me…"
Luz and Gus spoke excitedly as Willow gasped softly and hugged her tight.
"Judy's back folks!"
"Our girl's back!"
Judy hugged them back as she sobbed with joy on their shoulders. As for Amity, she had a sad smile on her face as she looked on. In a few seconds, it turned into a disgraced frown. She was about to leave, but Judy noticed it and spoke to her.
"Amity…"
Amity stopped in her tracks and turned to her. She was worried about what she would say. But Judy's soft and compassionate look on her face told a different story.
"Can I talk to you?"
Amity was hesitant to say yes after what she went through. She held her hands tightly as she tried to think of a way to politely refuse.
"Judy, I…"
Before she could speak, Willow stepped up beside Judy and spoke to her.
"You don't have to be nervous, Amity. You can talk to us."
Amity turned her head away for a moment, utterly disgraced by their kindness. It was more than she ever gave them. Judy walked over to Amity, feeling ashamed of her own actions.
"Amity, I need to say something to you. I'm… sorry for how I attacked you. I couldn't just let go of what you did to me and Ember, and Willow. All of it was just too much. If I didn't have someone to have my back back then, I don't… I don't think I would've been able to go to Hexside anymore. But it's no excuse. That was my own fault. And I'm sorry… I hope you can forgive me."
Amity's face softened as she tried to speak, her heart already breaking.
"Judy… I'm the one who should be sorry. For putting you through all of this. Especially you. I never realized how horrible you've had it your whole life, trying to keep that thing from attacking everyone. How huge that responsibility is… I can't take back what I've done, but I—!"
Before Amity could finish, Willow hugged her, stopping her words altogether.
"I heard everything, Amity. When I was fighting the Malice Mark in here."
Willow pointed at her forehead, gesturing to what was going on.
"I can't say we're friends, but it's… a start."
Amity smiled sadly before she hugged her back, albeit with tears in her eyes. Ben grinned softly at the scene before he turned to Eda, who picked up her arm and reattached it.
"There you go. Now, I hope you learned your lesson about flipping me off."
Ben walked up to her, still puzzled about her curse.
"Looks like you're holding up."
Eda leaned close to Ben and spoke softly.
"Better. But, uh, I'd appreciate it if you kept that curse thing on the downlow. The fewer people who know about this, the better. Trust me."
Ben wasn't sure what her curse was like, and he wasn't exactly given any good reason to trust her besides the fact that she helped fend off Blackburn for him. But if it was anything like Judy's, he wouldn't blame her.
"Well… okay, then. Your secret's safe with me. I guess?"
At that moment, Ben noticed Luz going up to him. He felt rather awkward about her after what had happened tonight.
"Hey, Luz. You doing okay?"
Luz grinned brightly as she answered him.
"Well, considering how I survived the attack from a possessed Judy, helped perform an exorcism twice, and watched a fight to death over Judy's soul, I'm pretty good."
Ben's face crumbled. The guilt of putting her in danger was getting to him.
"Oh, shit… I'm really sorry for getting you mixed up in all this. I wasn't trying to put you in any danger like this. I just wanted to help my sister…"
Luz saw the sad frown and tried to turn it upside-down. She put her fingers on his mouth and poked at the corners and lifted them up.
"Boop."
Ben stared at her with confusion on his countenance as she replied.
"It's fine, Ben. We managed to save Judy. And we also got to fix things between Willow, Judy, and Amity. So it's all worth it."
Ben smiled softly back at her as he looked at the trio.
"Great. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna have a much-needed nap."
Suddenly, Ben fell to the floor in a tired daze, making everyone all look at him stunned as Luz tried to help him.
"Oh, boy…! He's way heavier than I thought…!"
Meanwhile, far away outside, there was a young, feminine stranger in a brown cloak and hood. She was also wearing dark brown leather boots, complete with a necklace around her, the symbol reminiscent of a phoenix's feather. But the main thing she held was a surprising artifact. It was similar to the sword Ben had, save for the different color schemes of white and gold, and the emblem being the Sun.
The stranger was watching the sky as the blue pillar that was shot into the sky faded brilliantly like the northern lights. She had a soft gasp as her sword glowed bright golden, almost as if it was in tune with the lights. The stranger held onto her necklace and spoke softly.
"One of these days… I will come and see you."
The stranger then walked away as the leaves went away. When a leaf passed by, the figure vanished, leaving no trace behind…
THE NEXT DAY
Ben, Lawrence, Omen, and Val were with Aiken in the chamber. He was looking over the Sword of Xanatos.
"So, you've had your first battle? With Blackburn?"
Ben nodded to him.
"Yeah. Judy trapped him in her mind to figure out who sent the guy. He didn't seem too happy about that. He even asked us to kill him."
Aiken raised his eyebrow with interest as he made a gentle scoff.
"Hmm. From the sound of it, I think she may have found his greatest weakness: imprisonment. He didn't ask to be connected with her in the first place. So it's clear that he can't accept a reality where he isn't in control."
Omen crossed his arms as he brought up the larger elephant in the room.
"And that might exactly be the problem. This far, we have no reassurance that Judy would keep him on a tight enough leash before he takes over again. And even worse, even the sword was barely able to stand a chance against him."
Aiken gave his own two cents on that subject as he cross-examined the blade.
"It is still effective. Perhaps the boy simply had not been able to accustom well to it in the heat of battle. Perhaps he needs the training to be able to master it. That is, if he is willing to accept the Sword this time around."
All eyes turned to Ben, who was in deep thought about this choice. After tonight, he had a feeling that even if he said no, it was still going to react to him. That, and if Blackburn was going to take over Judy again, he had to be ready for it when it happened again. In that scenario, there's only one thing he can do: say yes.
"Maybe I'm crazy, but… after the night I've had, I want to do this. I have to do this. I'm ready."
Omen scoffed at his answer with a smirk. He put his hand on his shoulder and patted it.
"No, you're not. But with a strong will like yours, you will be. We have a lot of work to do tomorrow… Ben."
As for Amity, she was back at her manor, slowly opening the door. But when she did, she saw someone sitting at her chair. She was a witch with a curvaceous build contrasted by the sharp features in her face. She has tufted hair similar to Amity's, but it is a two-toned mint green, lighter on the top layer and darker on the bottom layer, and she had piercing blue eyes. She also wore a violet blouse with a white waistcoat that has a triple interlocking orb pattern, navy pants, and gray heeled boots.
"Amity. What in Titan's name took you so long? Your friends were waiting."
Amity stood firm as she tried to think of an answer. She'd forgotten all about them with the whole endeavor involving Blackburn.
"Oh! Right. It was… a little more complicated than I thought, mother. But I managed to get back at him. We're even now. He won't cross me ever again."
The woman merely sighed with a shrug.
"Well, as long as you've proven your worth, I think that's what counts in the end."
Amity sighed in relief and was about to walk up the stairs until she spoke up.
"One more thing, though. You wouldn't happen to have been talking with your old friend, would you?"
Amity became very nervous as her necklace glowed a dark purple. Her own voice was speaking through it.
"You know very well what happens to her if you don't uphold the deal we made all those years ago, do you?"
Amity shrank under the tone of her mother and spoke glumly.
"No, mother. Just a few passing glances."
"Good. It's very important that you don't do anything to jeopardize your reputation. It's what's best for the family, after all."
Amity gulped nervously from her words and spoke softly.
"Understood, mother…"
Amity went back up the stairs, more tense than before. However, as she went up, her mother had a raised eyebrow, partially suspicious of her…
It was at that point when Amity entered the room. There, she found Boscha, Skara, Cat, and Amelia inside in a circle. The first of the group looked at her.
"There you are, Amity! What the Tartarus took you so long?"
Amity brushed off her sleeves as she answered.
"Yeah, things got a little… complicated. But I got my message across, so there's that. Did I miss anything?"
Amelia and Skara answered to her with a disappointed look.
"Well, you didn't miss much."
"We couldn't get it to move one inch."
Of course, Boscha looked on her own version of the bright side.
"So what if we couldn't move a doll? Now, we have time for what really matters: Penstagram!"
Boscha summoned her scroll, and her group were delighted to see it as they did the same thing. Boscha looked towards Amity, only to see her near the window, looking outside. She was genuinely curious.
"Hey, Amity, are you still… you know, freaked out?"
Amity was puzzled.
"Freaked out over what?"
"You know, about that human and his magic? It's nothing any of us have ever seen before. I mean, that's really unnatural, right?"
Skara, Amelia, and Cat all murmured in agreement.
"Yeah, kinda."
"I guess…?"
"It is a little weird."
Amity continued to stare out the window. Thanks to tonight, she got a better understanding of who Ben was as a person, even though she hadn't interacted with him as well as she thought she would that night. And she still had a lot more to learn about Benjamin Kingston.
"I… don't know…"
Back at the Emperor's Coven, Lilith was bowing down to Emperor Belos. He seemed almost disappointed. Kikimora was standing beside him, looking rather smug.
"So, am I to understand, Lilith, that you failed to capture the Owl Lady once again?"
"You know, this doesn't quite bode well for your reputation."
Lilith was rather nervous about the exchange. She had a feeling he'd punish her if she didn't come up with something to lessen the rage.
"I was able to capture her at one point. But then, we had a common enemy to detain. So, I sent Mr. Grimhammer a warning for selling contraband artifacts. Edalyn was useful to bring this to my attention. That was just the one olive branch. And nothing more."
Belos glared suspiciously at Lilith for a moment, making her uneasy. But Belos backed off with a generous disposition.
"Very well. Because you've managed to locate the source of the contraband artifacts at the Night Market, I will excuse this setback."
Kikimora looked stunned, almost disappointed, even. Lilith sighed to herself in relief.
"But you would be wise not to let her slip from your grasp again, Lilith. Not if you want me to uphold my end of the bargain."
Lilith held her head down and spoke softly.
"Understood, Emperor Belos…"
Belos leaned back in his chair and replied.
"Now, you're free to go. You, too, Kikimora."
Kikimora nodded to Belos and walked down alongside Lilith, albeit scowling at her the whole way out. Once the door closed, Belos stood up from his throne chair and walked down from the steps.
"It appears the time has come."
Suddenly, from Belos' own shadow, a strange shadowy being appeared on the wall in front of him. He had four horns on his head, two of which were protruding forward from the sides, one part of his outfit was black while the other was gray, including his shoulder pauldrons, and his eyes were pitch black circles among the white sclerae.
"Well, well. Isn't that such marvelous tidings? I take it this means it is the beginning?"
Belos turned his head up and looked up to this stranger and spoke to him, his glowing blue eyes staring at him.
"Yes, indeed... Xanatos."
A/N: WHOO! About time I wrapped this up. It took a hell of a long time to get it all done. And it's especially not as easy when trying to incorporate all the characters' arcs into it. As for Sam's, there's still a lot more I want to do with him, but I didn't want to do it all at once. Don't worry, though. You'll see him again soon.
Now, things are taking a different pace with Amity's character in my story. Amity still didn't tell Willow or Judy about why she had to cut ties with them the way she did, but she made it clear that she did regret it. Like Willow said, it's a start, and she still had some ways to go before she can earn their forgiveness. And if you're wondering why, it's so I can make enough room in the sandbox for Boscha's own development, so you can look forward to it. ;)
And as for Eda and Lilith's relationship, we get a clue about what their struggle was like. Like in canon, Eda wanted to be free, and Lilith wanted her to be with her in the Emperor's Coven. But the one they had in common was that they both cared about Judy to the degree that they would fight for her. So I figured, why not have Eda and Lilith fight together with their magic? It was very rare to see in canon, and I thought it was a good way to rectify that part.
For Blackburn, Judy still doesn't understand why he came after her the way he did, much less who the Scarlet Witch was. It's not something she can just ignore. Her attack on Amity proved what could happen if something lingered for too long.
In part 1, Ben realized he had little to no idea who Luz was as a person, and he tried to get to know her while he waited. And regardless, he knew that he can count on her because he knew that Luz was a genuinely caring person who wanted to help people. And in this part, it was clear he regretted bringing her into something so dangerous. It's bound to have an effect on him around her soon, and with her role in his brother's hospitalization via snakes, it would be a double-edged sword at this point...
And lastly, we are treated to a new and unfamiliar face that seemed to be in league with Belos named Xanatos. It's very ominous what the beginning could be about, but one thing's for sure, it may not be anything good. Anyway, can't wait to get to the library episode. It's one I've especially been looking forward to, but first, I'll write a little mini-story for Kaisa in the Boiling Isles. Odds are, it'll be a one-shot lemon, but I'll ensure it won't take up the majority of the story in case you're sensitive about that subject in particular. Until then, have an awesome day. BYYYYE! ;)
