"Students of Hexside! Got a palisman? Got a need for thrills, chills and theatrics? Well, this could be you..."
A large group of students gather outside the school gates as Willow Park touts and promotes her club outside the open doors. A boy from the Potion Tracks blasts out of the school on his staff and pulls off some impressive aerial stunts. The crowd cheers as Willow and her friend hand out flyers promoting their Flyer Derby Team.
"I want to join your club"
"Skara?" Willow asks in surprise, "Erm... That's a little unexpected, but... Welcome."
"Thanks", Skara chuckles.
"After school there will be a first friendly match. Would be cool if you were there"
"I'll be there"
"Oh, and if you find more people who are interested send them to me"
"I will. See you later Willow"
Even as Skara moves away from the still impressed group, she pulls out her scroll and opens Penstagram.
'Hmm... flyer_derby_pros? Nah, too many posers. ? Cute, but... not what I'm looking for. flying_analyst? More than seven thousand posts? Uff... Might need to save that for later. ? Uh, that looks good. Luckily, I have enough time until the game star-'
Skara is snapped out of her thoughts as she appears to have walked into something big. When she saw what it was, she took a step back to be on the safe side.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. I was so lost in my thoughts- Wait, Viney?"
"Oh, hey Skara. And don't worry, I don't think Puddles even noticed you..." And sure enough, the Griffin she ran into doesn't seem to notice her at all and undisturbedly brushes her tail. "A little while ago a boy like that stepped on her tail and was knocked out of the air by Willow's vines. Nothing can upset her that easily today."
"But I'm relieved. I can't use Griffin wounds before the game later", Skara joked.
"Hmm? I didn't even know there was a Grudgby game today. When exactly does it start? I'd have to get my first aid kit first..."
"No, no, no Grudgby today. You won't be needed as a medic today either"
"Don't tell me you're giving up on Grudgby?"
"No, don't worry. I want to try something new this semester. Tell me, have you heard of Flyer Derby before?"
"That's the club Willow started, isn't it?"
"I just signed up. Have you found something you want to do yet?"
"To be honest, I can't really make up my mind yet. I was considering enrolling in the swimming club, but after seeing that Emira had already enrolled there, I wasn't so sure", Viney admits.
"Emira... Blight, right?", Skara asks.
"Mmm"
"And... you don't like her?"
"What? No...", Viney looks offended at Skara, which quickly turns to embarrassment, "The thing is, every time I'm near her, my brain turns into a pulpy mass. If I were with her at the swim club and would see her there... wearing her bathing suit..."
Skara snaps a few times right in front of Viney's face.
"Oops, sorry. I've drifted off in my mind"
"And you started drooling... Anyway, what were you going to say?"
"Oh yeah. I'd probably forget how to swim and go down like a rock." Skara and Viney can't help but giggle at the idea. Viney though, a little more embarrassed.
"Listen", Skara begins, "Willow still needs people for her team. Join us instead"
"Hmm... That's not a bad idea. You know what, I'm signing up. Where's Willow?"
"Come on, I'll take you to her"
"Thank you. Come on Puddles."
Viney and Skara walk towards the school entrance with Puddles, who is looking with interest at all the stalls they pass. Viney has to lead her over every time so she doesn't get completely distracted.
However, not only is Puddles distracted by the other stands, but Skara also looks to the side from time to time to marvel at the decorations. The swimming club stand, where Skara met Viney, was disappointingly undecorated. Only a sign that reads 'Swimming' could be seen. The next booth was the Art Club. Various paintings and original statues were exhibited there. The Art Club was followed by the Drama Club, with photographs from previous competitions won. The next stand was all about 'Hexes Holdem'. Not only was there gambling at the booth, there was a one by two meter tall screen that was fully covered with various unique cards. The last stall was the Baking Club, arguably the best smelling stall on the entire site. There were several open recipe books on display, along with some free muffins, which Viney, Skara and Puddles had unceremoniously helped themselves to.
"Willow!" Skara exclaimed when she saw the plan track girl handing out the last few flyers, "I've found someone else who wants to join."
"Well, if that's the case, welcome aboard, Viney"
Skara sits down on the stairs while Viney is signing in to the team list and takes out her scroll again. Most of the crowd in front of the school entrance has dispersed. All that's left are Viney, a boy who introduced himself as Gus, Skara himself, and Willow, who summons the boy who shot out of the school building not too long ago and is still doing aerial acrobatics. Apparently, his name is Caleb. At the sight of Caleb, Puddles seems to freak out, with Viney trying as hard as she can to hold her back.
"Allow me to introduce you to... The best and the brightest of Hexside", Willow proudly introduces them to Caleb. Slightly intimidated, Caleb looks over at Viney and Puddles, who is still trying to hold her still, "Look Puddles, it's the friend you made before", Viney says, at which the Griffin screeches and she has to try even harder to hold her back, "No, no, no! Do not claw Mommy's face!"
Skara, now sitting upside down on the stairs, slides to the ground head first and Gus sits on his staff and somehow manages to fly backwards.
"Just a few months ago, I'd be considered the weakling on any team. And now I'm leading one...", Willow says proudly, "Okay, girl, don't let the power get to your head just yet. Hmm?"
Willow notes that Caleb has walked away from the group and appears to be walking behind the school building.
"Um guys, I'm just going to get Caleb back. Can you guys go to the field?", Willow doesn't wait for an answer before running after Caleb. But she wouldn't have gotten one anyway. Viney tries to stop Puddles, who has calmed down a bit now, from licking Gus' head and Skara is still just looking at her scroll.
"I- think we should - start walking towards- the field", Gus suggests, while still being licked by Puddles.
Not long after, the team minus Willow and Caleb find themselves on the field. Puddles, meanwhile, has grown tired and Viney helps put her to bed on the sidelines with Gus' help.
Suddenly the ground starts to tremble slightly and Caleb shoots out of the middle of the field, breathing heavily, together with his palisman. Skara decides to go to him.
"Sorry I was distracted earlier. Been playing Grudgby for so long, I needed to catch up on the latest Flyer Derby strats..." Skara says as she helps him off the floor and pulls out her scroll and shows him a few examples.
"Those look... complicated", Caleb comments.
"They are..."
"So, finally... Got Puddles down for her nap", Viney says, mildly injured, just before she creates a large glowing circle over her head that sinks all the way down from top to bottom, healing any wounds. "Now I'm only scarred emotionally"
Suddenly Gus appears behind Caleb, who races past behind him while standing on his staff. He flies over the stands and over the scoreboard, which Willow decorated in advance with vines, and lands directly in front of Caleb.
"I thought you couldn't fly", Caleb comments.
"So, I can't fly like everyone else. But my way is more fun."
"Oh... That's cool, I guess", Caleb whispers to himself.
"What was that?" Gus asks teasingly.
"I said it was cool", Caleb repeats, just louder.
Suddenly, the ground shakes again and Willow darts out next to Caleb, making him wince.
"Gus is a natural speed-demon, Skara is s strategic wizard and Viney is the best healer in school." Willow says while pulling out her own staff, "At one point or another we've all been misjudged... So? Still think we're pathetic?"
Caleb shakes his head in shame.
"Good. Now let's get our game faces on." Willow says, rubbing green face paint in green streaks across her face. How she doesn't paint her own glasses in the process is a mystery.
Caleb drew a green lightning bolt over his left eye, Skara a green star on the same side, Viney has her face paint all over the top of his face, and Gus also drew a lightning bolt, only it's across his face. Even the team outfits, although not completely uniform, are mostly kept green, with occasional color accents. Skara, for example, wears green shorts and a top with a green star on it, with some long-sleeved red underneath. Willow wears yellow knee pads, as well as a yellow glove with a brown one on the other hand. Gus wears blue shorts, Viney wears cyan elbow pads, and Caleb wears a sleeveless green shirt, regular yellow shirt, and tan pants.
While the team is strategizing for the match and the opposing team has also arrived, Caleb said he needed to call someone. And then it was about time and the two teams faced each other.
Leading the opposing team was Professor Hermonculus, along with a few of his students from the Abomination track and his daughter. Shortly thereafter, everyone is sitting on their staffs. Viney on her manticore palisman, Willow on her bee palisman, Gus on his chameleon palisman, Skara on her cricket palisman, and Caleb on his cardinal palisman.
On the opposing team, alongside Professor Hermonculus and his daughter, whose palisman are both abominations, are Eric, the student with the large spiked head and the sloth palisman, Miranda, the student with the shoulder-length blue hair and the horns on the side of her head with the flying goat palisman and Jerbo, a hitherto good friend of Viney's whom she called 'traitor' with the unidog palisman.
The teams line up.
"All we gotta do is fly high and snack some flags", Willow explains, causing everyone around her to nod.
"Let's see what you can do... Captain", Professor Hermonculus comments mockingly.
The referee, who is an abomination made by the professor, whistles, and the match begins. Professor Hermonculus is the first to attack and shoots a beam of abomination-goo at Willow, but Viney blocks it. She rushes towards him in a targeted manner and now the others also fly off and dodge the opposing team.
Seeing an opportunity, Caleb uses his short-range teleportation to take himself to the professor's daughter and claim the first flag. He rushes to Gus, hands him the flag and hurls him towards the team's own pole. Willow's team is now 1-0, and the professor's daughter is down and out of the game for the remainder of the match.
"Gus! That was amazing", Caleb calls across the field.
Gus and Skara are floating in front of their pole. Miranda, Eric and the professor in the middle, Viney, Caleb and Willow at the opposing pole above Jerbo.
Miranda shoots a cluster of abomination goo between Skara and Gus. Gus manages to dodge, but Skara is thrown to the ground and is out for the match as well. It is now tied at 1-1.
Viney now prepares to attack and charges at Jerbo at high speed, ready to tear the flag from his staff. Jerbo now flies towards Viney, also fast but with his eyes closed, following the same plan.
They collide head-on, causing both of their staffs to fall to the ground and they are out too. 2-2
Willow and Gus fly towards the opponent's pole, both dodging abomination shots from Miranda and Eric.
"She's right there. Can't you see?" the professor calls out as Caleb appears behind him and takes the flag from him. He's out now too.
Willow flops on her staff and creates two thick vines out of the ground next to her, which she shoots at Miranda and Eric at high speed. Believing that she will hit them, Miranda shields her face with her hands, ignoring that the vines are actually just ripping the flags off their staffs.
Suddenly, abomination-goo shoots off the ground, hitting Willow's staff and she falls to the ground. Fortunately, not without giving Caleb the flags first and creating a catching plant underneath.
"Oops... my hand slipped…", the professor says, whereupon everyone looks at him reproachfully.
"Tell me, does the air feel a bit charged right now?" Skara asks, but gets no answer as everyone is watching intently, how Caleb gets his hands on the flags from the air and is thrown towards his own pole by Gus and attaches the remaining three opponent's flags to his own pole. 5-2
Caleb lands carefully on the ground as Viney and Skara come up from behind and douse him with a bucket of appleblood. The whole team rejoices in their victory and they don't notice how Professor Hermonculus approaches the team.
"May I please have your team's name?" he asks, clipboard in hand.
"Shoot, I haven't thought about a name…", Willow says thoughtfully.
"The Emerald Entrails!", Caleb suggests, which scares Willow a little, "You know, because we're green and there's more in us than you think..."
After a short break, the whole team cheers "Entrails! Entrails!" and the professor leaves the field without a word. Willow, on the other hand, pulls out her scroll
"Entrails team photo. We're number one"
Everyone takes turns looking at the picture they just took before Willow forwards it to everyone and makes her scroll disappear again.
"I can't believe I almost bailed on you guys...", Caleb says remorsefully, "Today was amazing... Thanks for giving me another shot"
"Always nice to make another friend. I had room for one", Viney said, shooting a disdainful look at Jerbo.
"Umm guys... seriously, don't you feel like the air is kind of electric?" Skara's voice sounds worried and the upbeat mood in Team quickly turns to confusion.
"I don't feel anything", Caleb notes.
"No, she's right. I can feel that too", Willow says. She kneels down and touches the ground, which seconds later begins to tremble again. Stronger than last time.
"Captain?", Caleb asks
"That's not me!"
Suddenly, sparks appear in the air around the team and they all back away slowly and carefully, trying not to lose their balance.
Suddenly a bright light forms in the center of the pitch that seems to be getting brighter and more blinding with every second. They all cover their eyes.
After about ten seconds of blinding light and shaking ground, everything seems to calm down and one by one they open their eyes again. Gus is the first to see that something has changed and gasps.
"Willow! Look!" he yells, causing her to gasp as well.
"Luz?"
"Wait what?", Caleb asks to himself when he sees how the others are already running towards the person who has appeared.
Luz, who seems to have appeared out of nowhere, lies motionless on the ground. Beside her, a palisman that also appears to be knocked out.
"Luz, oh titan... I'm so glad to see you again..." Willow leans over Luz and hugs her with tears in her eyes. Suddenly she realizes that something is wrong. Luz doesn't hug back.
"Luz? LUZ?" Willow's voice begins to fill with panic.
Gus, also teary-eyed, kneels next to Willow. Viney kneels down across from the two of them.
"Guys, some space please. I'll find out what's wrong"
Meanwhile, Skara stands next to Caleb, who are both watching the situation with interest.
"Hold on... Is that... the human?", Caleb asks.
"Yup", Skara answers.
"The same human as on all those wanted posters?"
"Yes, this is Luz, the human." Willow says as she and Gus stand up to give Viney some space to cast her diagnostic spells.
"That's like winning the lottery", Caleb exclaims, causing everyone to look as him is disgust. "What? There's a bounty on her head worth over seven billion snails..."
"How can you say that?" Gus asks accusingly.
"Please don't tell anyone she's back. Especially not any guards from Emperors Coven. They would-" Willow pleads with Caleb as a blast suddenly knocks her to the ground. "What was that?" she asks, turning straight to Luz and Viney. Viney himself is now several meters from Luz, KO'd to move.
All of them except Caleb now run to Viney. Caleb, on the other hand, is pretty calm.
"I think it's time I let you in on a secret..."
"Seriously? Now?" Willow calls back as Viney straightens with the help of Skara and Gus.
"Yes, now. My name isn't Caleb at all. My name is Hunter and I'm the right hand of Emperor Belos, the Golden Guard", he said and pulled out his golden mask and put it on.
"WHAT?" Gus yells.
Suddenly, several coven scouts appear from behind the stands, which the children surround without a word.
"Whoa there, scouts. I didn't give you orders to come here", Hunter says to one of the scouts.
"Darius sent us to collect the recruits... And apparently the human too. No idea how you found her"
"Oh, okay. Very good", Hunter says.
"Bound the human. She must not be able to move her hands. You others: give us your palismen", demands one of the scouts, who is probably the commander.
Nobody dares to fight back and hands over their palisman without resistance. Nobody but Skara. She swings back hard and hits one of the scouts on the head with her palisman so hard that a clearly visible dent can now be seen there.
"Restrain her too!", the scout demands, whereupon Skara starts bawling.
"Look at it from the bright side: There won't be any delay in branding you with coven sigils and taking you away from your friends and family forever. Hooray!", Hunter says, causing everyone to look at him angrily.
The scouts escort the students to Bonesborough Police Station. Viney had asked to take care of Luz, but was turned down directly by the commander. After that nobody spoke a word.
The Commander locks them all in one cell and Luz in an adjacent one. All of the palisman have been tied together by Hunter and he places them against a wall next to the cells.
"Okay, listen. I'm sorry about this whole cell-thing, but did you really had to punch Steve, Skara?", Hunter asks.
"I get it. Emotions are running high. Ice-pack for Steve", the scout says.
"I don't get it. You're joining the best coven there is. You can keep all your magic, you get free room and board, you can even play Flyer Derby on your day off. Well, this year's has already passed, but the next one is only fifty-two weeks away", Hunter says encouragingly.
"We don't care, none of us want this", Skara yells.
"You will eventually. Trust me, I'm your friend now", Hunter says.
"Friends don't stab each other in the back", Gus accuses him.
"Sure they do. The coven-heads to it all the time back in the castle. Captain, you're on my side, right?", he asks, smiling expectantly.
"I... thought I... could be good at this.", Willow says, causing his smile to disappear, "But we're here because... I made a bad call. I'm just... Half a Witch Willow."
Suddenly, abomination goo appears around the group and when it disappears, the group is no longer in their cell, but on a flying ship. Luz appears immediately beside them and Willow pulls her best friend into her arms. The man who is with them on the ship is Darius, the head of the abomination coven.
They hear Hunter shouting something up at him from the ground, but can't make out everything. He seems to be annoyed with Hunter for some reason. The last thing they hear Darius say is "See you at the castle, Golden Guard" before all the Palisman, locked in a cage, arrive on the ship and it takes off.
After about half an hour, Darius seems to have no more air to fly himself and sits on the floor next to the cage, pulls out his scroll and lets one of his abominations fly the ship.
"Oh Luz... wherever you went, you shouldn't have come back..." Willow said quietly in a sad voice.
"What actually happened? I just noticed that at some point she stopped showing up for class", Viney asks equally quiet.
"I don't know. She just...disappeared.", Willow answers.
"Shh", Darius says, causing everyone to grumble.
They all know they need to get off this ship and to do that they must either take control or free their Palisman. The latter seems to have greater chances of success.
Skara is the first to try. She extends her hand to the cage, but Darius slaps her away with abomination-goo.
"Nope", he comments.
Willow next tries a plant spell, causing a hand of abomination-goo to pop out of the ground and slap Willow's head.
"Nuh-uh. You're gonna need to be a little cleverer than that.", he says.
Gradually, students are running out of options. It doesn't seem possible to reach the cage unnoticed. Gus can't really achieve anything as an illusionist and Viney knows healing magic and beast keeping, but it would take Puddles too long to find her. Seizing control of the ship still seems impossible with a coven head aboard.
However, Viney sees another option. And that's lying on the floor right in front of Willow. Viney nudges Willow with her foot and immediately gets her attention. She wordlessly directs Willow's attention first to Luz and then to Darius. Even though Willow isn't 100% sure she understands Viney's plan, she nods in agreement.
"Ugh, fine. Can I at least check on my friend here? She hasn't moved since she showed up and I just want to know if she's okay", Viney pleads.
"Okay. But just a simple diagnostic spell. And I'll make sure you don't mess around."
Viney takes a deep breath before starting her spell and casting it on Luz. Unexpectedly, Hunter suddenly appears in the ship, shouting "DARIUS!", when Luz suddenly emits an extremely strong shock wave, which throws both Hunter and Darius out of the ship at high speed. The group cheers briefly, but quickly realizes that the shockwave has hit something else. The mood changes very quickly when they see the ropes connecting the balloon and the boat tear apart. Only seconds later, all sides are severed and the boat falls unchecked towards the ground. Willow looks over the edge and sees they are over a forest.
"Hold on guys, we're going down over a forest", Willow yells. Everyone in the group screams and Willow clutches Luz tightly.
Less than ten seconds later, the ship's gripper arm touches the first treetop and the ship tips forward, throwing all of its occupants out. Luckily, Willow quickly manages to creates some soft plants for them all to land on.
As they all land safely on the ground with only minor injuries, they watch as the ship hits the ground not far from them and is completely destroyed.
"Whoa... Do you think... Hunter and Darius survived?", Skara asks.
"Well Hunter has his staff and Darius is a coven head. I'd like to think about that more once we're safe", Willows says urgently, holding Luz in her arms.
"And where do you want us to go?", Gus asks.
"I saw the Owl House from up there. We could be safe there for a while", Willow suggests.
"The what-house?", Skara asks.
"This is the house where the Owl Lady used to live", Willow says.
"So you're suggesting that we break into the home of the woman who was the most wanted criminal on the Boiling Isles?", Skara asks sarcastically.
"Yes.", Willow replies flatly, "Besides, right now, I'm holding the currently most wanted person on the Boiling Isles."
"All right. Owl House it is"
At the same time, not far away, Hunter lands on a path in the woods with Darius sitting behind him.
"Soo... Hunter...", he begins, "Thank you for saving my life"
"I'm sure you would have done the same for me", he said, still a little surprised at Darius' calm demeanor.
"What were you doing up there anyway?" Darius asked.
"I um... just wanted to talk to you?!",
"You are a terrible liar, little prince. You befriended them and you wanted to save them, right?"
Hunter widens his eyes in surprise and at the same time is confused as to why Darius isn't mad at him. In the end he just looks down ashamed.
"I've gotta admit, I had you all wrong"
"Huh?" Hunter looks at him, still confused.
"You're what? Sixteen? It's about time you made connections outside the castle. Here, for you", Darius says and creates a scroll on which the Penstagram sign-up page can be seen. "I was just gonna drop them off at Hexside. We have more than enough recruits, in my opinion."
"Are you... gonna tell Belos about this?", Hunter asks nervously, causing Darius to smile.
"Are you gonna tell him about your secret palisman?", Hunter gasps, "Magic or not, I think you make you predecessors proud."
"And what about the ship? And the human? I don't understand why you're so calm"
"It doesn't matter. We have plenty of ships and the human will show up eventually. It's just a matter of time. Come on, let's go back to the castle."
"And like I said, she was in the human realm looking for a way back to us." Gus theorizes.
"But why while she's wearing pajamas?", Viney asks.
"Maybe it was an emergency and she didn't have time to change...", Gus keeps theorizing.
The group has been walking through the wall for almost half an hour now, following a path that Willow believes leads to the Owl House. To make the time a little less bored, the group had started to theories about where Luz was all that time and why she disappeared in the first place. For obvious reasons, it was quite difficult to get concrete answers because the only person who could answer the questions is still passed out in Willow's arms.
Initially, Willow had offered Viney and Skara to take care of Luz alone with Gus. Meanwhile, the others are so invested in all the theories that they won't rest until they know the answers too.
As the group comes within sight of their destination, Willow turns to Viney and Skara with serious words.
"Guys, listen. You are about to experience something that will likely haunt you for the rest of your life. This is your last chance to turn back and save yourself from the trauma to come."
Skara and Viney exchange skeptical glances.
"It's just a house. How bad can it get?"
"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you", Willow said before turning to a smirking Gus. He takes a deep breath before yelling "HOOTY!"
Something about the house seems to be responding to Gus' calls and moving towards them quickly. The closer it gets, the louder the shrill noise becomes.
"Hoooooooooooot... friends are coming to see me"
Gus chuckles as that brown worm-thing wraps itself around Gus. Skara seems to think the whole thing is pretty cute, while Viney's right eye starts twitching uncontrollably.
"Hello Hooty"
"Are those friends there too, or should I remove them?"
Gus struggles to wriggle out of Hooty's hug before he can see what Hooty means.
"Oh, right. Hooty, that's Skara and Viney. Friends of ours", Willow replies instead. Hooty eyes both girls critically. Skara waves at him with a smile while Viney is visibly uncomfortable.
Shortly thereafter, he turns to Willow and sees what, or rather who, she is carrying and he freezes completely starring at her.
"Yes, Luz is back"
Hooty looks back and forth between Luz and Willow a few times in disbelief.
"She seems a lot less energetic than before", he comments, to which Willow only lets out a single shallow laugh.
"Can we come in? We need to hide her", Gus asks.
"Want me to make you guys some snacks?" Hooty asks as he slowly retracts.
Gus leans towards Willow and they exchange a questioning look.
"I'm assuming that was a yes..." Gus says.
"Hopefully. Luz is getting a bit heavy by now", Willow responds before suddenly there's a distant thunder and the whole group turns to see where it's coming from. They see a thick wall of dark clouds approaching from the horizon. "Right, rain is forecast for tonight... Come on, let's go inside", Willow adds, signaling for Viney and Skara to follow her.
But Viney hesitates.
"I... I think I'd better go back. If it really rains later, I'll have to take Puddles to safety in her stables."
"That's fine. I'll text you via Pensta when Luz wakes up", Skara says after stopping and turning to her.
"I hope so", Viney says goodbye with a wink before she pulls out her staff and flies back towards Hexside. Skara waves after her for a few more seconds before following Gus and Willow inside.
"Hey guys", Skara begins as she enters the house and closes the door behind her, "Viney had to go back to Hexside to look after Puddles."
"I figured she wouldn't stay", Willow comments while carefully laying Luz on the sofa in the house's living room. "Phew, that was quite a workout"
Suddenly, Hooty appears from a hallway opposite the front door, apparently in a very good mood.
"The snacks are almost ready. We made muffins"
Willow, Gus and Skara's heads snap in his direction and they ask in unison "We?"
Moments later, a tinkle of metal penetrates the room and a baking sheet full of muffins falls to the floor as another person appears next to Hooty and stares stunned at the human lying unconscious on the sofa, on the verge of tears.
"Luz?"