Hateful Alliances

Back in the Boiling Isles, familiar faces were plotting to do something crazy.

Amity Blight had been having breakfast at home when Barry made his announcement and somehow, someway, she knew Luz and Olivier were tied into this and in danger. Odalia and Alador were already at work and with Aldric and Emira had been working at Clawthorne's Za, sneaking out was no big deal.

And she already knew where she was going.

It would take some elbow grease and a lot of Abomination slime, but Amity recalled an abandoned boat she, Willow and Olivier had found during better times. She'd get it up and running in an hour, before the Scouts truly enacted martial law, row to the Sunken Isles and find Luz and Olivier!

Oh, and Anne and Maddie too, of course.

So, you could probably imagine her surprise when , upon reaching the boat, she found someone else trying to play a spell to get the boat upright and repaired.

"Skara?"

The Bard girl eeped and lost her concerntratioin on her harp, which she tried to hide

"A-A-Amity! W-what're you doing here?"

Amity rose an eyebrow, but then realized.

"…Same as you: Trying to get that thing seaworthy and then heading to save Luz and Olivier."

What happened next both surprised yet did not really shock Amity; Skara frowned at what she'd heard and mumbled something. Unfortunately, she hadn't mumbled nearly as quietly as she'd hoped, so Amity heard everything:

"…Or course, he's still second in your mind." She sighed, also noting that Amity didn't include Anne and Maddie among the ones she wanted to save.

"What's that supposed to mean?" The Blight Heiress asked.

"You know." Skara said. "He adored you. Worshipped you!"

Even if this was the third time she'd heard words like this (once from Anne and another time from…THAT WITCH), they still hurt the youngest Blight.

"He was so kind, brave, smart and sweet…And you just threw him to the side because he struggled to do spells, instead of appreciating the miracle he was; a human using magic and sometimes on a level that made Coven Heads jelly!"

"Oh and did you do anything?" Amity retorted.

"At least I actually felt sorry!" Skara snapped.

"You think I didn'T?!" Amity asked. "You think I don't relive that night over and over…"

"Only because you now KNOW he's strong enough to come after you if Anne doesn't!" Skara retorted. "You never ONCE thought about him when he went missing; I at least snuck some food to Miss Clawthorne and kept an eye out for clues!"

"Oh like what?" Amity snapped.

"I didn't know, but at least I…" Skara started.

"Oh, will you both just SHUT UP?!"

The two turned to see Willow Park, enraged, causing the two girls to cease their bickering. The plant coven girl was in NO mood for any of this, but if she was going to do what she'd come to do, she needed to say what she said next:

"You're BOTH are responsible for what happened that night! Admittedly, Amity a little more…But Skara, you never even apologized for not stopping Boscha. That alone would've gotten you some merit."

Skara's eyes widened with hope

"I SAID SOME!" Willow snapped, making it clear Skara should NOT be proud of that.

The poor Bard girl's eyes dimmed and Willow felt bad; Skara had been through a lot lately; with what happened after Grom and all….

"At the same time? it is good to have someone who cares." Willow added, offering Skara a hanky before she turned to her former best friend, not a hint of kindness in her voice. "As for you, Blight? While I am happy to see you finally remember the lengths Olivier would've gone for you and that you clearly do care for Luz, let me make this clear."

She walked right up into Amity's face to make sure the heiress got this through her selectively thick skull.

"I. Don't. Trust. You. We are not friends anymore. I doubt we will ever be. But you do care for Luz and you are the best Abomination user in our generation. So, until ALL our friends are back home, safe and sound…and all this craziness has passed? I will put my feelings aside."

Willow then smiled sweetly and let out a breathe.

"Now, could both of you please help me get this thing into the water."

Amity was frozen for a second as she fully processed a vengeful Willow. Still, she managed to compose herself to help the other two girls foist the boat onto itself and watch Willow use her Plants to do some light repair work, Skara playing a shanty to prepare a sail…..

"Mittens!"

The three girls, but Amity especially, groaned; seeing Emira and Edric racing towards them alongside the Plantars and Miss Lilith.

"The heck are you doing?! We gotta get back home." Emira pointed oit.

"Luz and Olivier need help." Amity retorted.

"And Anne." Willow reminded her, Skara nodding in agreement.

"You're moving towards redemption!" Polly beamed to Amity, who smiled warmly as the pollywog.

"I think I can like you now and not feel bad about it." Hop-Pop said.

Sprig just glared, like he'd done when he first met Marcy. Sure, Amity WAS acting better, but he needed more proof.

"Mittens, you have no idea how to sail!" Edric pointed. "And even if you did and managed to get past the blockade, do you have a map of the Sunken Isles? Any idea where to start?"

"I'll admit, I agree: It's preposterous to sail towards and travel into the sunken isles alone." Lilith said.

"See? Now we have some sense." Edric smiled, even as Amity, Willow and Skara mhung their heads in sadness.

"That's why I'm coming with you." The former head-witch beamed as she pulled out a map of the Sunken Isles Eda had gotten from Gwen

"MISS CLAWTHRONE!" The twins said in complete shock, while Amity, Willow and Skara all beamed.

"And so are we!" The Plantars butt in.

"FROG FAMILY!" The twins said, then realizing:

"Huh. THIS is what responsibility feels like." Emira mused.

"…I don't like it." Edric said bluntly

"Yeah, me neither." His sister retorted.

"Edalyn is my sister and gave me a second chance. Olivier is my nephew and one of the few things I almost DID NOT screw up. I don't care if he doesn't forgive me, and I wouldn't blame him if he doesn't; he is family."

Sprig shot Lilith a smile: He now knew he could trust her.

"Anne is my granddaughter." Hop-Pop said, no room for argument.

"Besides," Sprig said, unveiling what he'd been carrying; a wooden black cat with a striking familiarity. "Domino has been patient enough."

Amity cooed at the sight of the cat, who gave her a look back….

OWLPHIBIA

Back to the Sunken Isles….

After some postulating, the youngest Clawthorne was on a mission; save his apprentice.

His mother's magic was in what he could best describe as its' 'cursed state', this making it hard to track and Anne, Luz and King where at the castle he could see from the shore he and Fleetwing washed up on.

Didn't mean he liked doing this, but Maddie was closer, and he was still recovering from the attack on the boat. Plus, poor Fleetwing had his wing in a splint, so walking was the only course of action.

The youngest Clawthorne pushed branches out o0f his way and wiped sweat from his brow, when he heard and glanced at a figure close by; it was humanoid; and too thin to be a Toad demon….He raced forward hoping against hope…

"Oh. It's you."

The unmasked Golden Guard and Olivier glared at each other.

"The Olms you doing here, 'your highness'?" Olivier asked, before he spied the cardinal on the guard's shoulder

"We were attacked flying back." Hunter explained. "Flapjack managed to hide us, but he got hurt..same as your falcon."

Fleetwing and Flapjack gave each other a nod.

"…Don't suppose you;ve seen the box?" HJunter asjked

…

…

…

"…You lost it?" Olivier asked in worry.

Hunter nodded.

"…You lost the Calamity box?" Olivier asked in worry. "You mean…? The one sure fire way to get back to Amphibia. The one thing probably keeping Grunge from a rampage across the Demon relam because he knows it is here. The one thing that could've at least gotten the Frogs home and allowed us to fight Andrias…! And. You…lost it?"

"It's only got one stone charged." Hunter pointed out.

"The rest can probably be charged here." Olivier growled through his teeth.

"Well, since you know so much…" Hunter started, only to be cut off by a raised hand.

"Hunter. I just want you to know that even though broke into my home, threatened my mother thrice and my aunt twice, insulted Anne, scared Maddie, tried to arrest some of my friends, kidnapped King and forced Luz to kill a rare, endangered animal and orphan its child….And now lost the closest thing to a portal door….!"

…You know? Now that he heard all that out loud? Hunter was starting to see why nobody liked him.

"…Revenge is, surprisingly, not an ideal I was raised to believe in." The Owl boy finished. 'Unless its Boscha and or Amity.'

"Oh…" Hunter simply said, surprised but also grateful for the owlet's….…Open-mindedness? "Good to now."

"At the same time!" Olivier was quick to add, a toothy smile overtaking his face. "Everyone has a breaking point, right?"

Hunter's relief drizzled out.

"R-right…."

And with an enraged roar, Oliver slammed into Hunter and they fell to the ground, rolling downwards and upwards as they fought.

'Um…should we…?' Fleetwing started, perched from atop a tree with the other Palisman.

"Nah, not yet.' Flapjack mused. 'Give them a few minutes; they'll knock each other out.'

'….You say that as if this has happened before.'

'Oh, it hasn't. But I know them well enough.'

'….HOW do you know Olivier, anyways?' Fleetwing asked, raising a brow and catching Flapjack off guard.

'….uuuuuuuuuuuh…..'

'That shouldn't be a hard answer.'

A roar filled the air

'Oh, look! Literally anything else!' Flapjack beamed desperately…which suddenly turned to actual desperation as a giant Spider with Lion head leapt onto the tree, knocking the Palisman out. The two witches ceased their fight and raced forward, hunter pausing when the monster came…

And Olivier doing the Plantar family dance, which to the Boiling Isles inhabitants looked ridcious until they saw the creature swayed and and awestruck.

'I was about to say; 'that boy ain't right.'' Flapjack mused. 'I will not now.'

'Darn right you won't…fossil.' Fleetwing smirked, delighting in the older Palisman's shocked, offended look.

'HEY, WHO YOU CALLING 'FOSSIL', runt?!'

The conversation was cut short when the creature was hit by a small sack and turned to stone.

"Olivier!" A scratchy voice called out, alerting the two boys. They turned to see a familiar blue frog girl racing towards them, her form covered in bandgaes.

"Maddie!" Olivier beamed, racing to hug her, which she returned. "Thank Titan! Are you hurt? Hungry? Wait…how….?"

Maddie's elated smile vanished as she looked back, revealing she wasn't alone.

"My, my. How unorthodox. But then again, such is a sign of brilliance, yeeeess?"

Olivier quickly forced Maddie behind him and glared at the newcomer.

"Hello, my dear apprentice. It's been a while."

"…Grunge." Olivier managed.

TO BE CONTINUED…

So, so, so, SO sorry this has taken so long to update! My mind went blank! Major thanks to MetroXLR for helping me plot out and pace the next few chapters. Once they're done, this story will be easier to write and finish up.

For those of you who are no doubt wondering what the heck Skara went through that has Willow being nicer to her? All I will say is that in BTAB, the end of the Grom chapter and the chapter after will not be kind to her, the Blight twins or Boscha…but at the same time, that last one and Odalia will get a wee bit of humiliation and punishment. And for a clue: 'THAT WITCH' that Amity brought up and who gave her a 'Reason you Suck' Speech'? They're the cause and will first appear after the Second Spell episode.

(That's right, I'm making an OC member of Anne, Luz and Olivier's Rouges Gallery!)

Next time, we'll check in on Luz, Anne and King! To wet your appetite? 'The Emperor's New Groove's is a major inspiration for the next chapter.