BREAKING THE FANTASY
Written by Gwendolyn Frost.
"So… what was that thing?" Vee asked Hunter in the middle of their journey back to the portal connecting the Human Realm with the In-Between.
"By that… you mean that huge mass of flesh that was chasing me, right?" Hunter sighed as their feet splashed on the water with every step they took forward. "That… was the Shapeless… the real Shapeless…"
The splashing of their feet continued as a short minute of silence reigned between those two. They were paying attention to their surroundings, unable to hear the lurking of that mass anymore.
"So, that's how it really looks like…" Vee whispered.
"I have no idea how it's doing it… but I was talking to it through one of those cubes. Which means it was in the Human Realm posing as that Kikimura look-alike waitress. Then that mass revealed itself as I was talking to her… how can it exist in two places at once?" Hunter said while pondering on a possible answer to that question.
"A space bender, perhaps?" Vee suggested innocently.
"I'm not sure I would could that space bending… the only one other space bender I know of is The Collector."
"That's the one you guys said took over the Isles, right?"
"Yeah…" Hunter gulped, his eyes showcased bewilderment as he recalled a memory that he shared with Vee. "That… that cosmic entity moved a moon by just pointing at the sky. I don't know if there's something in the Human Realm that's capable of such a thing."
"I think… there might be." Vee said as she looked at Hunter with a serious look on her face.
"What?" Hunter asked in disbelief.
"Remember we were heading towards the Lookout Tower in the woods? We not just encountered the Shapeless posing as a park ranger… there was something else with us." Vee was unable to shake the memory of that window into the cosmos with all the purple lights that were screaming as if they were living people while her worst fears materialized themselves in her head… "When the Shapeless broke this strange-looking lantern… light seized to exist, as if a black hole was consuming it, leaving us in a pitch-black darkness. I fear… that thing… more than the cage they kept me in for so many years. I have no idea if my instincts are speaking right now but… whatever turned off the lights in our plane, they scare me."
Hunter gulped once more as he clenched his fists tightly. "There's something really strange happening in the Human Realm. This Shapeless creature is just one piece of the puzzle. It shouldn't exist in the Human Realm… if there were many like it then humans wouldn't survive in this landscape. It probably came from somewhere else… but where? It can't be from the Isles either. If that were the case, they should be documents of it… and I read the entire personal library of Bellos, all the confiscated books related to Wild Magic. None of them ever mentioned something similar to this creature."
"I wouldn't know…" Vee said softly while they remained silent for the next couple of minutes before they both stopped when they started to hear… drops.
"Shh…" Hunter gently gestured to Vee to stay quiet as he moved as slowly as he could, making sure that Vee was safely behind him.
They walked… more like dragged their feet in the pools of water so that they would avoid making as less noise as possible.
Vee had no idea what was happening, but Hunter knew that the sound of water drops meant danger. He peeled his eyes as he stared up at the ceiling looking for that mass of flesh… but it was so dark that everything blended in.
"What's happening…?" Vee whispered after a few minutes, but she got shushed by the older blonde once more. The dripping became increasingly louder with each passing minute, until…
SPLASH!
Without warning, something landed on the large pool of water behind them which sent waves that caused the two to stumble forward.
"Dammit!" Hunter exclaimed, getting back up to his feet as soon as he was able to, in a split second he identified one of those flesh tentacles about to strike them both to which he reacted by grabbing Vee and pulling them both out of the way. Those tentacles swung back once more until they were able to make Hunter slip down on the water pools. "Gah! Vee, run!"
Vee coughed some water as she looked back at Hunter. "W-what?! No! I promised Luz that I would bring you back!"
That huge mass of flesh kept its attention on Hunter – who expertly dodged every attack while making sure to force it out of range for Vee to have room to escape. "Just GO! You deserve to enjoy your freedom!"
"Fu fu fu fu… H w nob le of you!" The mass spoke in its otherworldly voice, teasing the blonde as a huge portion of it shaped like a long arm with a even bigger hand raised up and swung down to entrap Hunter. The impact forced Hunter down with his lower body submerged on a pool while his upper body was on solid dry ground.
"Hunter, no!" Vee exclaimed before she noticed one of those neon-glowing cubes on the corner of her eye before she sprinted towards it to try and absorb its magic.
The shapeless mass of flesh -now having Hunter pinned down- was starting to compress into a smaller size, taking the shape of a humanoid-like skinless form, made out of flesh, muscle, veins and bones. Where was all the excess of flesh going was anybody's guess. Perhaps this creature was truly capable of bending space.
All Hunter could do was watch with his eyes that were able to make its shape a lot more sense in its compressed size. Sitting on top of its head were bones, not a skull, but rather a open rib-cage – which rib-like spikes hanging to the sides of its head simulated bangs of hair. Its eyes positioned where eyes should be had a pitch-black hue with emerald-green irises, sitting above them were a couple of extra eyes that almost simulated eyebrows of sorts. Its body compressed into a size that was around 5'5 feet in height, made someone like Hunter seem taller by a few inches. The exposed skinless-muscles gave the illusion of fitness, however the size of its limbs and torso said otherwise, granted they looked like they were on a modest - more slender type of body. There were 5 fingers and 5 toes in its two hands and feet respectively, having also their own set of razor-sharp nails and toe-nails. There was a long exposed spine on its back that had bone-like spikes distributed downwards leading into a tail, a long tail that was attached to the long and massive limb that had Hunter pinned down. Last - but not least - this morbid piece of art had eyes scattered over its body, these were different from the ones on its face… they were not pitch-black, nor did they showcased emerald-green irises either. They were different eye-colors each. They seem rather independent, moving in different directions that made it seem unclear they were under the Shapeless' control.
"W ll… I'll hav to g ve it to u… how much tr uble you'v cau ed me. Now… the chas ng ends here! DIE!" It said while the large hand enclosed Hunter into a tight grip, slowly the hand squeezed the blonde as he screamed in pain before the Shapeless' eyes widened when it noticed something massive standing directly behind Hunter.
"Oh no, you won't!" Vee -in her Grand Basilisk form- yelled at the Shapeless as she swatted it like a bug with her large hand, successfully freeing Hunter from its limb.
The blonde landed on the pool of water before he was grabbed by the larger Basilisk. As Vee fled from the scene with Hunter on her back, the blonde was still in shock – feeling those strong shining scales on Vee's back in awe before he asked. "W-was this a thing you were able to do this whole time?" He had to ask her.
Due to her size, Vee was able to cover more ground faster than she would be able to in her normal size or even her human form as well. "This is the second time I've done this… it just so happens that those cubes are full of magic. Otherwise I wouldn't had enough to transform."
"I see. Well… I must admit this is… amazing. You are truly amazing." Hunter said with a smile on his face towards Vee who smiled back at him with that same sweet expression she has on her smaller-sized forms.
"Thanks!"
Hunter kept smiling, but the rumbling sound coming from behind them caught his attention, when he looked back – he saw the Shapeless now in a form twice as big as Vee's. But this time it was not a mass of flesh like before, this looked crab-like with huge pincers that it stomped on the ground, breaking boulders and the ground itself with each massive step. Of course, this was not a creature covered in a shell, those pincers were made out of solid human bones.
"Huuuuu uuu uunter!" It screamed while the blonde nervously asked Vee.
"Uh, Vee, can you go faster?"
Vee didn't looked back, she focused on moving forward as she was able to see the portal not far away. "I see it, I see it! The exit, I mean! Hold on tightly!"
Hunter did as he was told and held onto Vee's long neck as the Basilisk charged up to the mirror connecting both Realms before launching herself into it which caused her to be squeezed by the smaller-sized entrance and in consequence she was expelled at full force out on the other side to the Human Realm.
"Gah!" Both Hunter and Vee exclaimed as they broke through the shack, completely shattering half of it before being thrown outside while Vee's larger sized form was demolishing every tree in her way until they finally stopped.
They needed a full minute before the two of them were able to get back to their feet, by now, Vee was back on her small Basilisk form as Hunter helped her up. "You're ok?" He asked.
"Yeah…" She replied before gasping. "Oh no! I hope that Luz and Masha were not in the shack!" She said as she hurried with Hunter following closely behind.
THE LOOKING GLASS
Chapter 26: The Grim Reaper.
Herlock Woods had a good portion of it covered in dust and destruction. First of all was the Lookout Tower that was still lying down, pointing at the shack that was now half-destroyed and covered in a mist of dense dust.
Flapjack who has been keeping an eye on everyone from the skies was able to see most of the group taking cover behind a line of trees. Meanwhile, he saw the Shapeless not far away from them using Koume who was dragging none other than Luz as she tried fighting back while using her baseball bat to hit her repeatedly. Noticing Hunter not far away, the palisman moved swiftly to reunite with him in order to help Luz.
"Would you stop that?" Koume asked Luz while glaring back at her. But the human did not stop swinging her bat towards her, leaving serious bruises on the waitress' arm who did not loosened her grip on Luz's arm in the slightest.
"When you let me go, I will stop!"
"Fu-Fine! Do as you please! I don't mind the pain." Koume laughed softly as she looked back at Luz with a wicked smile, with tears flowing down her cheeks not shed by the Shapeless but by the inner person they're controlling that has been enduring the pain that Luz has caused her. "But she does not. The waitress, I mean. You might not hear it, but she's seriously complaining about it as we speak."
Luz's eyes widened before she yelled in frustration. "You vile monster! Let her free! All she did was being in the wrong place at the wrong time!" She was no longer striking Koume with her bat, but at least she tried to resist being dragged by the Shapeless inhuman strength.
"Don't we all?" It replied while still using Koume's voice as she moved forward holding Luz's arm tightly. "Eventually, we all endure a bad day that changes our lives fu-forever. Besides, wouldn't you agree that her skin looks good on me? If only she was a lot braver, then she would have made a great role. But alas, not everyone is a winner. Like you… once I wear your skin. You'll do a great role fu-for the ages." It grinned back at the now horrified Luz that was still trying to use her weight to stop it from dragging her.
"If you think you'll fool my friends… you're gravelly mistaken! What's the point of taking me when we already know your twisted plan!?"
"I don't need to fu-fool your friends! I can make my own somewhere else, y'know?" Koume said while rolling her eyes with a soft laugh. "You draw people to you like a candle in the darkness. Making them exude so much emotions. People like you are hard to come by."
"So, you do want to be human…" Luz whispered under her breath, but it was able to hear her, nonetheless. "I'm not perfect! I've made mistakes!" Luz sobbed as she finally let out what has been holding her back this whole time. "I draw people towards me, you say? I've made a huge mistake that will make everyone turn their back on me, eventually! It's because of me my friends are stuck in this Realm!"
The Shapeless stopped for just a brief moment before it yelled furiously while using its strength to pull from Luz's arm and send her flying towards what's left of the shack. She landed against the wall next to the mirror as she groaned in pain, her eyes seeing her bat a few steps from her. But before she could make the move to grab it, it was taken by the Shapeless itself. It raised Koume's arm and was about to swing that bat, making Luz shut her eyes and cover her face thinking it was going to beat her with it but instead… she heard the shattering of the mirror on the wall.
"Get over it…" It spoke to Luz still using Koume's voice, glaring down at her with fury as the human looked up at her in bewilderment and fear. "Move on past your mistake… or else I will kill one of your friends."
"What did you just say?!" Luz screamed, whilst fear was still present in her eyes, she glared at it. "If you dare touch one of my friends you will regret it!"
"Is that so?" The fury was now gone, the Shapeless shown wickedness once more as it laughed using Koume's voice still. "Guess we're playing that game after all."
"This isn't a game!" Luz screamed as Hunter came rushing into the shack with Flapjack as a staff to cast a powerful spell at the Shapeless.
"Great timing!" It said with a wicked smile after recovering.
"Luz!" Vee shouted as she moved past Hunter to get to Luz. "Hurry up!" She said as she took her hand and lead the way out.
"No, wait!" Luz exclaimed as she resisted Vee's hand from pulling her away from the fight. "Hunter, don't fight it! Run!"
"Luz…!" Vee yelled as she tried her best to pull her away from the scene but she fell flat on her back when the human proved to be stronger than her.
"Hey, you stay away from him!" Luz raised her voice, picking her baseball bat up from the floor before swinging it at the Shapeless while Hunter had it defending itself from his spells but she was blocked as well when it further increased the mass of the waitress' body to make a shield out of flesh.
"Luz, what do you think you're doing?! Escape! It wants you!" Hunter yelled at Luz in frustration as the both of them pressed the Shapeless further and further against the wall with their combined attacks where the mirror once was in the shack
"No, you escape!" Luz yelled back at Hunter as she swung that bat to hit that thick layer of flesh that Koume has attached to her arm. "It wants to harm one of you! I won't let it happen!" She said as tears watered her eyes when the thought of losing her friends became too real.
However, less than a half a minute later, both of their combined attacks began to slow down due to their exhaustion – which the Shapeless took notice when it removed the shield off Koume's arm.
"My turn!" The monster chuckled with a wicked grin as it split open Koume's chest which allowed a bunch of tentacles to emerge from her innards that entrapped the both of them. "Now… where were we? Oh right…" Koume giggled as the voice of the Shapeless began to replace her own. "That little game that we're going to play, the rules of the game are simple. You have to choose who you like least. Is it Hunter… or?" It said as it looked back at Vee who was frozen by fear a few steps from them.
"No, leave my friends alone!" Luz screamed as she tried to fight back but those tentacles made out of flesh kept tightening its grip on her.
In a split second, a fireball emerged from the dense cloud of dust that hit Koume on the right side of her face. Immediately setting her face on fire as she screamed in pain and those tentacles let go off Hunter and Luz.
Once they were free, someone came rushing from the dense cloud of dust running past a confused-looking Vee. That someone was Amity, who held her staff up high ready to cast another fire spell. "Luz! There's no time! We've got to run, now!"
Hunter helped Amity get the human back up to her feet as Luz's eyes were fixed on Koume who was now rolling on the ground with high-pitched screams full of agony. In her voice, there was no presence of the Shapeless. It really sounded like the young girl was in control and suffering the consequences of what her girlfriend just did.
"Let's go!" Hunter exclaimed in frustration as he tried to get Luz to move her feet but she was posing some resistance still. "Stop it, Luz! There's nothing we can do! Move!"
Luz looked at Hunter with a frown on her face before she picked her baseball bat up from the floor and began to follow his lead into the dust.
"Vee, get moving!" Amity said as they caught up to her.
The Basilisk nodded and slid through the ground, having no more magic to transform into her human form. They all ran towards a light on the other side of the cloud of dust, a light spell that Amity casted so that they would find their way back to the rest of their group.
"Amity…" Luz whispered as tears soaked her cheeks. "Please don't do that again…"
"Huh, what?" The pink-haired witch asked in confusion as Luz explained.
"That fireball… it hurt Koume."
"Y-you… you're not serious, are you? I had to protect you!" Amity yelled in frustration, in the same way Hunter did earlier.
"I know…" Luz said between sobs. "But… I don't want anyone to get hurt… I didn't know anyone was going to get hurt…"
Both Hunter and Amity looked at each other, they were still upset at Luz for being so reckless but they understood her pain. They knew how sensitive and good-willed she was. It's not that they didn't cared, they knew perfectly well when the screaming started that they understood that it was not the Shapeless doing it. But they truly couldn't do anything for her. All they could do is keep their friend safe.
They didn't say a single word until they reached the rest of their group on the other side. Willow, Gus, Masha and Flor were all safe and sound surrounded by light spells. When Luz reached them, she noticed the reason they were able to see those spells was because the light was reflecting on those three mirrors which further increased the light's reach.
"You're all here, right?" Hunter did a quick head count before he got interrupted by Willow who brought him into a hug… a tight one…
"I'm so glad to hear your voice! I can't see you but I know it's you!" The green-haired witch said as Hunter blushed and groaned in pain from the tight hug.
"I'm glad… to see you too…" Hunter said before Willow let him go with a wide smile on her face. "We need to get moving…" The blonde said before noticing a new face in their group, the long-pink haired woman with flowers on her head. "W-who are you again…?"
The woman tilted her head in confusion as she pointed at herself. "Me?"
"Y'know what? Never mind, there's no time for introductions. We need to get out of here, now!" Hunter exclaimed, but as soon as he finished that sentence, someone took a shot at them.
That someone… was Dumphrey, the woodsman they encountered at the now collapsed Fire Lookout Tower earlier. The man still wore the park ranger uniform from before minus the hat. With shotgun in hand, he fired a warning shot at them that hit the tree next to Hunter.
"You're not going anywhere." Dumphrey said as his voice slowly distorted into the Shapeless' own voice. "You take one step… and you're dead! Do ya hear me?!" He said with a furious glare.
Everyone froze, glaring back at the man with the exception of Flor, Masha and Vee who all looked very distressed by their current situation.
"You…" Dumphrey said as he pointed his shotgun directly at Amity who gulped nervously while locking eyes with the furious-looking man. "You have to answer for what you…"
"Did to my skin!" Koume screamed as she came rushing through the dense dust to grab Amity by the neck and tightened her grip with extreme force to choke her.
"Amity!" Luz exclaimed as she tried to help her girlfriend but was shoved by the larger girl.
"Skin is the one thing I cannot replace, I will kill you!" Koume yelled on Amity's face before Willow's spell entrapped her in roots emerging from the ground.
Willow heard a click behind her, which meant that Dumphrey was firing his weapon. But with the combined efforts of Gus and Hunter, he missed – only shooting through her left braid as Gus pulled her out of the way and Hunter kicked the man's gun causing him to miss.
"Guys, everyone! Start running!" Gus yelled as he took that charm off his right ear which used to belong to the Illusion Coven Leader to enhance a spell he set on the field which distorted everyone's perception of reality by changing the forest into a large mirror room, like the one you'll see at a fair – except this one was capable of making the reflections to run out of the mirrors into another one. As those illusions kept Koume and Dumphrey distracted, the group of friends took this opportunity to flee following Gus who's charm was able to lead them through the forest without falling prey to the illusions' deceptions.
"Wait, stop!" Amity shouted, causing everyone to look back at her without stopping. "We should fly the rest of the way!"
"Great idea!" Hunter exclaimed as he stopped to set his staff down to mount it before Willow got uncomfortably close to his face.
"Hey, would you mind if I fly with you? I cannot see." She said, making the blonde blink in confusion when he took notice that her large round glasses were missing.
"Y-yeah, of course! No problem!" Hunter exclaimed with a huge blush on his face that fortunately Willow was not able to see.
"Thanks! Hey, Gus. Why don't you give Vee and Masha a ride this time?" Willow asked as she jumped onto Hunter's staff and wrapped her arms around him, further making him blush even more if that was possible.
"On it!" Gus said in return as he helped Vee hop onto his staff before the Basilisk offered her hand to her friend Masha who hesitated for a bit before they jumped right behind her. "Masha?" Vee whispered, taking notice of her friend's expression… they were terrified, with their hands shaking uncontrollably as they held on tightly.
Finally, Amity was riding with Luz and Flor. Once they were all ready, they flew as fast as they could through the forest – not daring to look back.
That was… until something popped up in their way. A mirror, where the Shapeless -in its compressed form- came out of. For a moment everyone froze until Amity shouted to everyone. "Upwards!"
Everyone riding a staff moved above the trees to fly over the Shapeless to avoid confronting it. However… it split its chest open, but instead of tentacles coming out like it had done before, something different happened.
From its open rib-cage, they began to vaccum everything. Its chest had a dense fog where a tiny fragment of a blackhole was pulling everything around into it, including the witches, humans and their staffs.
"Hold on!" Hunter exclaimed as they all tried to resist the vaccum effect of the Shapeless' black hole. Trees, soil, even pieces of the Fire Lookout Tower were being pulled into the Shapeless as the group tried to resist it as much as they could until… it stopped.
By the time it did, gravity did the rest of the job, pulling them downwards onto the ground with extreme force but thanks to Willow's quick thinking, her spell was able to pull a bunch of plants from the ground to absorb the impact.
Once it closed its chest, the Shapeless groaned in pain and started to vomit blood in the middle of a large perfect circle that its black hole created by consuming everything around its perimeter. Holding onto its knees, visibly exhausted from what it just did, it glared back at the group of friends that was still recovering from the large fall down.
"You…" It spoke as it fragmented its arm into a long set of tentacles to entrap Gus with and pulled him up to it.
"Gus!" Luz exclaimed as the young Illusionist groaned in pain when those tentacles tightened their grip.
"You re not p lling one of th se tric s on me ever again!" It screamed to Gus' face before he forced a grin on his face to reply with a smug looking expression.
"I don't need tricks when I have… human magic!" Gus yelled as he pulled out his old-timey human camera to snap a shot on the Shapeless.
The flash only briefly blinded the Shapeless, but it did it made it loosen its grip on Gus before it growled at him madly.
"Why did I thought that would work…" Gus said nervously before Amity used her levitation spell to pull Gus back to them.
"You re all start ng to annoy me… ugh!" The Shapeless exclaimed as roots from the ground entrapped it in the same way it did to Gus.
"Hey, guys!" Willow yelled to her friends as her eyes glowed green trying her best to focus her magic to keep the Shapeless entrapped in her spell. "You better do something quick! I have no more magic left!"
Hunter was the first to rise into action by leaping over to cast a bunch of spells on the entrapped Shapeless. Those red orbs of energy were making the flesh monster growl in pain before Amity joined him by casting fireballs on it like she did before. Finally, Luz came rushing in to smack a few hits on it with her baseball bat.
Meanwhile, all Vee, Masha and Flor could do was watch those desperate attacks unfold. Masha was the one who was the most visibly upset. The look on their face indicated they were half there with their eyes staring into the flesh monster wide open. Their shaking never ceased, in fact… it got worse.
"Masha?" Vee whispered, her Basilisk eyes looking at them with nothing but worry.
Flor heard the two, moving her head to the side to watch the Basilisk desperately trying her best to help her friend snap out of their trance.
"Masha, Masha…!" She kept trying to reach for Masha to react to her voice while giving them gentle shakes to their shoulder to no avail.
"They're in shock." Flor said, making Vee look up at the pink-haired woman with the floral crown. "Things like this do not coexist with humans from Midgard. Their mind is still processing what they're witnessing for the first time. Give them some time…" She said kindly as she gently gave the poor green Basilisk's cheek a small stroke.
"Ok…" Vee said with a sniff as the both of them looked back at the fight going on.
"It all will be over soon." Flor said before whispering under her breath as their expression changed to a worried one just like Vee's. "I hope…"
It didn't last long until the Shapeless started to expand its mass to break free out of its prison, tearing every root that Willow casted before smacking the soil to cause the Earth to shake and force Willow out of her spell. Once her eyes were back to normal, they saw a blurry mass of flesh hurrying up to strike her with a sharp bone-blade. The slash however did not landed on Willow, but on Hunter who swiftly moved to take the hit on his back.
"Arrgh!" Hunter screamed in pain as the bone cut a slash on his back before Willow caught him on her arms.
"Hunter! Are you ok?!" She said, unable to see what just happened.
"Ngh… yeah! Don't worry! This is just… this is just scratch!" Hunter said trying to wipe Willow's worried look off her face before he saw the Shapeless about to strike them again with its blade. "Watch out!" He exclaimed as he pushed the green-haired witch out of the way before Amity pulled them both using a levitation spell on them.
"Hunter…" Luz whispered as she hurried up to her injured friend who's back was bleeding.
"Hey, I'm ok… really!" He insisted as both Luz and Willow shared a worried look before their focus went back on the Shapeless who just spotted Vee, Masha and Flor unprotected a few steps ahead.
"Get out of the way!" Everyone yelled at the trio as Flor brought her hands together.
"You're not hurting them…" The pink-haired woman said as she rubbed those hands until she created a spark of light that she blew onto the Shapeless monster setting it on fire with a blue flame.
The monster screamed in pain as its whole compressed mass was burning with the blue flame.
"You can do magic?!" Luz shouted at Flor with pure bewilderment.
"This isn't the time to be surprised, let's go!" Amity exclaimed as she grabbed Luz's hand and led the way while Hunter stayed back to hurry up the rest.
"Move, move!" The blonde shouted to the trio that was left behind.
Loud screaming and the smell of burnt flesh filled their ears and nostrils respectively as they made their way forward. Despite Hunter's injury, not only was he able to catch up to everyone – but he also surpass them, positioning himself at the front leading the way.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" Luz whispered under her breath, to which Hunter responded.
"Luz, stop it. Focus on surviving."
The younger human looked up at the blonde, her eyes watering so much that it was inevitable that she might break down in tears anytime soon. She was expecting her peers to be upset at her for everything they had to live through that day. But when she faced both Hunter and Amity all she could see in those eyes looking back at her was genuine concern for her safety. The pink-haired witch went that far so that Luz would get the message that she brought the human's hand close to her face to kiss it for a short but tender moment that made Luz blush deeply, but she smiled back at her as tears began to flow down her cheeks against her will.
However, Hunter stopped abruptly which made everyone to follow his example when their eyes noticed a figure emerging from the trees… it was Dumphrey, pointing his shotgun back at the group of friends.
This time, the woodsman was not firing warning shots. He was aiming to hit them. But Gus reacted just in time to use what little magic he had left to cast a magic shield around them that stopped those bullets from ever reaching them.
"Behind me!" The Illusionist yelled at his friends as they moved to take cover while the woodsman walked forward as he fired his weapon.
Bang! Bang! Click! Then reload. Bang! Bang! Click! Then reload. Bang! Bang! Click! Then reload once more and so on and so on. This pattern brought Hunter to come up with a plan as he moved up to Gus to ask him.
"When I tell you to lower the shield, do it!"
"What?! Are you insane?!" Gus exclaimed as Hunter replied immediately with a confident look on his face.
"Trust me!" The moment that Hunter heard the second bang, he yelled: "Now!"
Gus lowered the shield spell in order to give Hunter the room to fire his own spell at Dumphrey who was caught off-guard reloading his shotgun – sending him flying all the way into a mirror where he came through.
Their victory was brief, as just as soon that Dumphrey was tossed into the mirror – he was replaced by the waitress, who came with a large mass of flesh shaped like a hand coming from her back. Gus used his magic shield once more just in time, however… Koume -the waitress- slammed that large fleshy-looking hand downwards to squash them like bugs which force was able to shatter Gus' shield.
The impact made everyone being squeezed out of the hand's way, gratefully. But then, the waitress moved swiftly towards them while they were still recovering. With Amity being the closest, she screamed as her whole left arm was peeled off any skin and flesh to leave nothing but a blade made out of bone hiding underneath that she was aiming to slash the pink-haired witch with.
Amity did not react in time, her eyes widened as she tried reaching for her staff but it landed a bit farther away from her to which she shut her eyes and clenched her teeth for the inevitable attack until…
SMACK!
Out of nowhere, Luz swung her baseball bat to hit Koume on the head – making her spin in the air before landing on her back unconscious on the floor.
"I'm so sorry… I didn't meant to do that." She apologized to the waitress who she knew was able to feel all the pain she has endured during the whole day. But of course, she did not answered back. She was out cold.
"If it makes you feel any better…" Amity whispered as she hugged Luz from behind and rested her head on her shoulder. "Thank you…"
"I wouldn't let her hurt you." Luz whispered back as nuzzled her cheek with her own. "What you did back there… burning her face. I didn't say thank you… I'm sorry."
"It's ok. She's… well, it's not her fault. I understand that. She's being used… you promised her you would break her free. I really hope you do." Amity said with a smile as the rest of their group went back up to their feet.
"This is still not the time, you two. Move!" Hunter exclaimed as he ran past them before they followed his lead once more with the rest running closely behind them.
But then… flesh roots emerged from the ground and blocked their way into the forest as the Shapeless caught up to them… no longer burning with Flor's blue flame. The flesh monster, still in its compressed form was panting heavily as large portions of its burnt flesh was being replaced with fresh one from within its mass. Indicating that what they saw earlier when it opened a black hole could mean there is a pocket dimension where it stores all of its mass.
Everyone looked at it with a grim look on their faces, especially those who didn't have the means to fight back like Vee and Masha.
Flor was staring down at her burnt hands after using her spell earlier, she wasn't hesitating to use it again, so she brought them together and fought the pain to cast that blue fire again only to have the Shapeless snare her with its fleshy tentacles to stop her when she flinched from the pain.
"Oh, no! You re not us ng that wi ked old man's fire once m re on me!" It yelled with its otherworldly voice before Luz screamed at it.
"STOP!"
She raised her voice as much as she could desperately. "Please, just stop this madness! If you wish to take me why don't you do it already?! You had plenty of chances! Why hurt one of my friends!? It doesn't make any sense!"
"Luz… don't!" Amity yelled before she was cut off by Luz herself.
"Please, I don't want any of this. Just tell me why!"
"Bec use yo r life forc is weak! Yes, I did said u h ve pot ntial, but ur still weak!" It yelled back as it threw Flor on the floor in frustration. Luz ran up to help Flor back up to her feet as it spoke once more.
"She is the per ect xample fu-for ur situation. You both have co viction, but wh n the moment com s – you break eas ly. You told me wh ts bother ng you, what's hol ing you back, your guilt!"
Luz's eyes widened with fear as her heart pounded harder against her chest. Fearing the Shapeless is going to break it to her friends she is the reason they're stuck in the Human Realm. That she helped Philippe Wittebane get in touch with the Collector in the past that caused a chain of events that helped him rise into power as Emperor Belos and later on led to the Collector taking hostage their entire world.
"You repl ced all your motions with guilt and pain. Which m kes ur flesh unsuitable for me in ur current state! Therefore… my only ption is to caus you the right pain that's going to fu-fill ur life force with rage!" It shouted with a wicked grin… their emerald green eyes locked with Luz as she looked back at it with a horrified look on her own face.
"That's right. In diff ren circumst ces, I woul have wait d for you to fu-fix ur own issues but ur det rmined to fight me. The one thin that can make the proc ss faster is inflicting you with rage, which is the one motion that's capabl of numbing ev ry other emotion completely!"
"If you think we're just going to sit down for you to take us down, you're wrong!" Amity exclaimed as she stood next to Luz.
"That's right!" Hunter yelled as he moved next to Luz like his peer just did. "We may have taken a beating, but we still have enough strength to fight you!"
"Yeah!" Willow and Gus exclaimed as they stepped forward, leaving Vee and Masha behind who were still as shaken as before.
"How can all of this be real… I must be dreaming, right? Yeah… that must be it." Masha whispered under her breath as Vee looked at them with a worried look on her face.
"Just hold on a little longer… Masha…" Vee whispered back at them but her words landed on deaf ears, the goth kept mumbling to themselves, no longer paying attention to what was going on before them.
Flor on the other hand, was not as shaken as those two were, but she didn't belonged to this group of friends. All she wanted was to leave… she stared down at her burnt hands as petals of her flowers landed on it, causing her to hiss a little in pain. She pondered on the idea of using her fire again… just like the man who taught her the spell had done. May she become a walking burnt corpse like he did, she wondered? Visualizing herself that way made her shake, but her conviction, her fire within was burning. She could let these strangers face this all alone. She closed her fists and joined the rest.
"I'm not giving up…" Luz said, staring menacingly at the flesh monster before them now that her friends were by her side.
"Fu fu fu fu… then I gu ss you all will die!" The Shapeless exclaimed as it rushed up to them and before the group was about to strike forward they were pushed by an unknown force that caused them to fall flat on their backs.
That something, that someone to be precise cut through the Shapeless' arms clean, making it to scream in pain as it took a few steps back as it stared into a figure standing in front of it.
When everyone was able to raise their eyes to see that figure, all they could see was a short woman wearing a pink cloak holding a large scythe.
Out of nowhere, they all heard Camila's voice who came rushing up to them. "Chicos, stay back! C'mon!" She said as she helped each one of them back up to their feet as Luz stared at her in pure confusion.
"Huh? Mom?! What're you doing here?" She exclaimed in surprise.
"There is no time to explain! Run!" Camila exclaimed as she helped Luz back up to her feet but she posed some resistance when she looked back at the woman with the scythe.
"W-wait! But who is that?!" Luz asked as the woman faced her.
It was none other than Miss Grimm -the librarian- the person that has kindly given Amity the chance to find a job at the Daycare not long ago. She uncovered those ears that were hidden under her large headphones, showing they were pointy. Then finally opened those eyes that have been closed since the day she met her to reveal… pitch-black eyes with glowing pink irises.
"Wh-what?! Miss Grimm?! You're a witch?!" Luz asked in surprise as the librarian looked back at her with a long smile.
"Go with her, I'll handle this." She said before turning back to face the Shapeless who had just replaced its limbs with new ones from its stored flesh within its large compressed mass.
"C'mon, Luz. Give her some room." Camila said as she lead Luz who still glanced back at the short woman in confusion.
When the two of them have joined the rest of the group, Camila was tackled with tons of questions by the curious witches but she shook her head in response. "Calm down, I'm not upset. Don't worry. I'll explain everything in due time." She said as she got down to her knees and brought most of them but Masha and Flor into a tight hug. "I'm just glad to see you're all ok."
The flesh monster had somewhat recovered and it was about to launch an attack on the librarian before she stopped it with a loud yell.
"Whoa, there! I see you're eager to fight, but think before you do. You look quite exhausted, while I'm pretty fresh myself. Besides… you spread a lot of Aether on this field with that black hole you opened." She said as she used a light spell on the palm of her hand, but this one was very different from any light spell that the witches and Luz have ever casted. It's light was so strong and emanated a good amount of heat, it was as if the librarian was holding a small sun in the palm of her hand.
"You can w eld Aether?" It asked in surprise.
"Isn't it obvious?" She said as she pointed at her eyes.
The Shapeless smirked. "So, you re curs d too?" It gave a soft laughter.
"What's so funny? You're the walking mass of flesh here. I'm going to take a wild guess and say that it's probably… Eresere?! Right? That must be your curse. But the question is… are you the original one or did you used the spell instead?"
When that thought was put in it's head, the Shapeless' eyes widened as it struggled to remember this long forgotten memory from the past.
'Oh, my Muse! This is wonderful!'
It started laughing once more as it rubbed its forehead from the headache the memory caused it. "Honestly… I'm not sure anymore. I've been alive for so long that memories just blur themselves."
"Funnily enough, I can relate. To the blurring part… not to being that old part. Yuck!"
It said menacingly as it made a blade out of its right limb.
"Eeyup!" Miss Grimm said right behind the Shapeless monster as she pierced through with her scythe on its back with her blade coming right on the other side of its chest while it groaned in pain coughing blood.
Shortly after, she used all her strength to lift the flesh monster before slamming it down on the ground with extreme force.
While everyone had seen this unfold, the Miss Grimm that had been standing before the Shapeless monster had not left the scene. She was still there holding that light spell, which brought a confused-looking Amity to ask. "Illusion Magic?"
"No…" Gus replied holding the charm that belonged to the Illusion Coven Leader, able to see that this was no Illusion. "This is something else…"
The Shapeless got back up to its feet to strike with its blade made out of bone on its right arm before that Miss Grimm that had impaled it on her scythe vanished as if she was made out of ashes.
"Now, it's your turn!" She said as she tossed the light spell on the ground, which created more ashes that took the form of an enormous Grim Reaper figure that took Miss Grimm's scythe when she offered it at it to strike the Shapeless monster several times. Cutting it in several pieces until it fell on the ground.
With all that damage, it had plenty of flesh to replace. Which caused it to bring out one of those mirrors that were hidden in the woods where Koume and Dumphrey came out of once more.
Those victims of it, came out with their eyes fully blank with a dead stare, like the puppets they are to it. They picked the Shapeless up while it replaced more of its flesh and glared at Miss Grimm one last time before it was brought into the mirror. "This isn't over…"
Sighing softly, Miss Grimm watched them disappear before she heard the commotion behind her fastly approaching before she was yelled a bunch of questions by the group of people she just helped.
"Whoa, wait! Calm down, you did all the work for me." She said with a nervous laugh.
"You're a witch?!" Luz exclaimed.
"Hm… yes? I guess…" Miss Grimm said rubbing the back of her neck.
"That was not an Illusion, right?! What was it?! How did you solidified something that big?!" Gus asked with curious eyes as the librarian thought while rubbing her chin nervously.
"Hm… it's complicated to explain."
"I heard you're cursed, are you cursed?!" Amity asked.
"Uhuh… that's what my driver's license says." Miss Grimm joked.
"So, you're a witch?! Are you from our world?! Who are you, really?" Hunter exclaimed before Willow popped up with her own question behind him.
"Did you came from the Boiling Isles?! Do you have a portal?!"
"Uh… no." Miss Grimm got overwhelmed with questions before Camila raised her voice to catch everyone's attention.
"Chicos! Calm down! She will answer all of your questions… later. When we're back home, ok?" Camila asked them with a sigh.
"Well, first of all, I see some of you may need of healing." Miss Grimm pointed out. "Before heading home, it'll be best if we get you some help." She said before they were about to bombard her with more questions.
"Can you do healing magic?!" Luz asked to which she got a disappointing response.
"Nope, but I know a hospital."
"Wait, we can't go to a human hospital!" Amity said as she pointed at her ears.
"Oh, don't worry. This place is not only free, but it welcomes everybody, even witches. Shall we get going?" Miss Grimm asked them with a long smile.
End of the chapter.