At Hexside... Gus sitting in the hallways of said school with his head buried in his arms.

Luz walks up to him, "Hey, Gus. You okay?"

The boy picks his head up with a frown, "I—I messed up bad, Luz. Willow just needed help with this pixie problem, right? So I thought, oh, that I'll lure them away with an illusion. But then..."

The human slumps her shoulders, "That angered the pixies and they attacked Willow. I heard. Don't you worry, Esper is with her right now. She brought her to Viney and Skara managed to get the pixies to fall sleep with a lullaby spell."

Gus squeezes his fists, "I know, I know but... I moved up two grades. What's the point of being good at this if I can't do anything good with it?"

Luz shrugs her shoulders, "It was an honest mistake, Gus! Besides, Willow's tough as nails." She playfully punches his shoulder, "I'm sure you'll both be feeling better tomorrow!"

Now in his bedroom, the next day, Gus laying on the floor of his bedroom, presumably tomorrow. He groans... His crystal ball caws and beeps before showing a prerecorded message of King on the screen.

King frowns on the crystal ball, "I'm not reading this."

Gus's voice is heard on the recording but he is not shown, "Come on, King. Please?"

The young demon frowns, "Ugh, fine..." He clears his throat, "Is that a six-footed pig or a floating appendage? Why, no!" Gus then runs into view o the recording while wearing a cape, "It's Gus the Illusion Master! Please leave a message."

The video turns to Willow, her arm in a cast and several bandages on her face, "Hey, Gus. Thanks for sending me all those 'Get well soon' illusions but, uh..."

Three tiny illusions of Gus jump onto her shoulders and head. They all speak at the same time, "Willow! How are you feeling? Do you have a fever?" "Willow, you want me to sing for you? Mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mi..." "Willow, is this helping?"

The plant witch frowns at her friend, "Can you please take them back?"

Gus groans and the crystal ball shuts off. He rolls onto his stomach and traces a spell circle, summoning his illusions in front of him. They all being to speak again, "Where's Willow?" "Why are we here?" "Did we do bad?"

The boy then blows the illusions away, literally turning them into dust. But then Someone knocks on a door, so he gets up...

Now opening his front door, he finds Luz standing there...

The human raises her fists, "Gustopher!" She points her fingers at him, "Gusteban!" She then leans on the doorframe, "Augustabeth! Any of those working for you?"

Gus shakes his head, "You need my library card to visit Amity, don't you?"

Luz laughs self-consciously at him, "I haven't been doing a good job of hiding that, huh?"

The illusionist shakes his head at her with a frown.

The huma shrugs her shoulders, "Well, I was also hoping to do a little bit of... Research! Come on!" She then begins to drag Gus away.

Gus screams while being yanked away from his house by his human friend...

...

Meanwhile... At the Clawthorne household...

Esper wakes up in her mentor's childhood room, springing out of the bed. She stretches her arms in the air, "Okay! In the Clawthorne's house and now, I'm ready to learn!" She finishes getting ready by straightening her She grabs her spear from the floor before running out of the bedroom.

The young girl runs downstairs, only to spot Lilith sitting at the kitchen table with her mother in front of her.

Gwendolyn has a whiteboard behind her, with a marker tied to said board.

Esper scratches her cheek, "Uh, hey? What's going on over here?"

Lilith smiles at her, "Oh! Esperanza, Mother was just about to go over the Clawthorne family history with me! Would you like to join us?" She is dressed in a dark teal shirt, a dark blue dress with a brown vest. She is now wearing glasses though her hair still remains dyed a dark blue.

The girl rubs the back of her neck, "Are you sure? I wouldn't want to like... Interrupt your time with your mom."

The woman shakes her head, "Nonsense, you wouldn't be interrupting! In fact, I insist! I'd love for you to join us!"

The redhead shrugs her shoulders before sitting next to her, "Well... Okay then!"

Lilith places a notepad on the table before they both looked at the old woman. The redhead looks at the whiteboard closely, especially when Gwendolyn opens the cap of her marker.

The mother scribbles her children's' names on the board, "So! Like you already know, both my daughters are powerful witches. Er... When they had their magic,"

Once the dark haired woman next to her frowned upon hearing her mother mention her lack of magic... The redhead makes a motion to tell her not to continue that part.

Gwendolyn nods her head, "BUT that is no matter! Now Edalyn was always a hard worker but our family is filled with so many witches who have accomplished their own great feats!" She starts to write more names below her daughters', "Besides me, there is Emberlynn the Flare Destroyer! Adalyn the Meister of Light! Raelynn the Forgotten Oracle! Ashlyn the Beast Master!"

The redhead raises an eyebrow, "Huh... Lot of names ending with 'lyn' going on n this family." She turns to the woman next to her, "...Wait, but what about your name? Was Lilliyn taken?"

Lilith begins to shrug, "Well..."

Gwendolyn interrupts the both of them, "Lilliyn the Alchemist, a master of Potions!"

Esper blinks, "Oh, it was. Never mind then."

The old woman stops writing, "And finally... We end on Evelyn! The first Clawthorne!" She taps the name on the whiteboard, definitely getting the pair's attention. She begins to ramble but...

A ringing overtakes her voice in the girl's ears... Esper's hearing and breathing has stopped... Her eyes turn blank while her vision blacks out... Her voice hushes into a whisper and sounds softer than it usually does, "Evelyn, Caleb..."

Lilith looks at the girl, "What was that, Esperanza?"

The young witch suddenly straightens her entire body up, "Huh? Oh uh, nothing!" She then scratches the back of her neck, her senses coming back, "Uh... I think." She looks at the white board again, this time seeing Gwendolyn writing a 'C' next to Evelyn's name.

The girl quickly speaks again, "Uh... What was Evelyn's husband's name? Er, unless she had a wife."

The mother shakes her head, "Oh... His name was lost to time a very long time ago. He died before their daughter was even born..."

Esper frowns at her, "Oh... Wow, that's sad. Like really sad."

Lilith frowns at the student, "Hmmm, are you sure you didn't say anything, Esperanza?" She rubs her chin in thought, "I could have sworn you say a boy's name..."

Gwendolyn suddenly perks up, "Oh! A boy? Does our little guest have a crush on someone?"

Esper's mind immediately thinks of Gus but she quickly shakes her head, "What! O... Of course not!" She tries to ignore the blush fading onto her face.

The old woman smiles wider, "Oh! There IS a boy!" She stays in front of her, "Why not share, dearie? I am dying to know who could have touched that fierce heart of yours!"

The redhead folds her arms, "I came here to learn! Not talk about Gus! I mean, boys! Or girls or whoever!"

Gwendolyn shakes her head, "Up up up, you said a name!" She points to the sky, "Oh sure! I've spoken to girls like you about these things before!" She smiles confidently, "You should have seen Edalyn when it came to her Raine! Raine this! Raine that! Of course, she mainly talked about them in her room... Not with me... I wonder why."

Lilith rolls her eyes upon hearing Eda's alleged lover's name.

Esper shakes her head, "Uh... Maybe go easy on the Raine talk, Gwen."

The dark haired woman speaks up after snapping her fingers, "Wait a minute, Gus? You mean Augustus, the illusion boy who tried to use the Oracle Sphere?"

The redhead begins to blush while the old woman gasps, "No! Not you too! Ah come on! Shush it!"

Her entire face was red until the voice in her head speaks again. Her face stops while she strains to hear her, "Huh? What do you mean by that? Hey, you have to answer me!"

Lilith and Gwendolyn share a look with each other. The older woman speaks up, "Erm... Are you okay, Esper?"

Esper rubs the side of her head, "So uh... The lady that lives in my head says she knows you!"

Lilith stares blankly at her, "My apologies but... The WHAT in your head?" She squints her eyes into the child's, trying to see a glimpse of the woman but to no avail.

The redhead snaps her fingers, "You know! That lady!" She then blinks, "...Oh wait, you weren't there when that happened! So when Gus, my friend, tried to use a spell to look through my memories to help me find out where I came from, a lady shoved us both out of my mind. My teachers and the nurse at school says that she's used a spell to put herself in there. But she doesn't talk all that much."

Both older witches share a look before staring back at the young witchling...

...

Now... Luz and Gus are walking through the streets of Bonesborough together...

Luz smiles at her friend, "So, Eda's mom told me I'm not the first human to have lived in Bonesborough. If that's true, there might be some info on how they got here in the library!"

The illusionist shrugs his shoulders depressingly, "Yeah, okay. Looking through old newspapers is about all I'm good for anyway..."

The two of them stop walking. The human frowns at him, "Spill it, Gustonimo. Are you okay?"

Gus shakes his head, "I—I've just been thinking. What if it's time for me to explore different kinds of magic?" He shrugs his shoulders, "I mean, Esper's off with Eda's mom because she wants to learn all types of magic, right? And she's ALREADY a magical Swiss army knife!"

The girl puts her hands on her hips, "I'm all for trying new things, but what's wrong with illusions?"

The boy keeps the frown on his face, "Illusions are just so...you know..."

The human puts a hand on his shoulder, "Hey... Is this also because you miss Esper? You know, she always likes seeing your illusions!"

Gus rubs the back of his neck, "Well, I guess that's all they're good for, right? Entertainment? Yeah, kinda... It's just... I know she wants to explore the Isles and learn new things but I miss her..."

The human slowly smiles at him, "...Because you have a crush on her, right?"

The illusionist gasps with a blush on his face, "Huh?! H... How do you know that?"

Luz lets out a giggle and playfully pushes her friend, "Pfft! Because it's written all over your face!"

Gus feels his face heat up, "What? No it's not!" He pushes her hands back, "Hey come on!"

The human still giggles, "No, no! I approve! So... When are you planning on telling her?"

The illusionist stutters, "Wha... I, uh. I don't...

The girl suddenly stops her playful pushing, "...It's probably best she comes to you anyway."

Gus raises an eyebrow at her, his voice becoming calmer, "Why's that?"

Luz rubs the back of her neck nervously, "Wellllll... Last year during school, a boy asked Esper out and it did NOT end well. I know it was a swoopy haired blonde kid with freckles." She shrugs her shoulders, "I knew Esper kinda liked him and she was very excited... But apparently, he only asked Esper out so he could make fun of her witch ears in front of his friends... Yeah, she said she made his nose bleed for it but... She was crying when she came back." She then perks up with a frown, "Oh, her wall had to be replaced too."

The illusionist slowly nods at her, "Ooooh..."

The human quickly recovers and shakes her head, "Not that she would do that to you! You're very sweet to her! But... You might want to give Esper time to come to you. I think she does like you the same way you like her but after what happened... She might not be too keen on you asking her first."

Gus gives her a more confident nod, "Hmm... Okay. Thanks for telling me, Luz."

Right on the street below, Animal Control tries and fails to subdue a Slitherbeast. The monster growls and looks forward...

A small Hexside student with a red mouth for a face chases a butterfly in front of it's view. He may be a toddler but he has an incredibly deep voice, "Yay! Huh?"

The Slitherbeast charges towards the boy only for two boys wearing uniforms from Glandus to jump in front of him. The dark-skinned witch conjures up a slick of abomination goo that causes the Slitherbeast to slip, then the orange, fuzzy, demon boy creates a net of vines that launches it back.

After it lands, a girl leaps over it and uses construction magic to trap the Slitherbeast in stone, "Good work guys!"

Her teammate cheer for her, "Yeah!" "Alright!"

Gus gasps in amazement at the group.

Warden Wrath suddenly pushes through the crowd before picking up the child, "Braxas! Son, are you okay?"

The child with a mouth for a face nods, "Yes, Daddy!" He turns to the group of kids, "Thank you, mysterious heroes!"

The girl in the brown uniform smiles at the parent and child, "Stay safe out there!"

Gus walks up to the group, "Wow! Just wow! Plants... Abomination... Construction! You guys took down that Slitherbeast like it was nothing!"

The pale girl waves her hand, "Nah, it wasn't that easy."

The tall boy in the purple uniform chuckles, "Yeah, looked like you had a real hard time out there.

The illusionist. "You're Glandus students, right? I go to Hexside. Name's Gus!"

The girl with freckles nods at him, "Nice to meet ya!" She gestures to the orange demon boy, "This is Angmar." She then points at the boy in purple with her thumb, "Gavin."

Both boys wave at the illusionist, "Hey!"

The Glandus girl begins to speak again, "And I'm—"

Suddenly, Mattholomule's voice rings through the air, "Bria!" He runs over to the group and starts panting, "I would've helped, but like, there was this other baby in danger. You probably couldn't see."

Gus raises an eyebrow at him, "Mattholomule?"

The construction student frowns at him, "Augustus? Back off, twerp! This operation is Glandus kids only!" This makes the other boy narrow his yes at him.

Bria raises his hand in his face, "Hey, Matty, it's all cool. Did you get the map?"

Mattholomule holds the rolled piece of paper up in the air, "Yes! And I only had to endure 35 noogies from my older brother!"

The purple haired girl grabs the map out of his hands, "Nice work!"

The illusionist shrugs his shoulders and begins to walk away, "Well, uh, I can see you guys are busy, so-"

Bria stops in her tracks, "Wait! Have you ever heard of the Galdorstones?"

Gavin smiles at the boy, "They're powerful relics. Many witches and demons have sought them!" Angmar then interrupts him, "But they've all returned empty-handed, haunted by its guardian. Until us!"

The girl puts her hands on her hips, "We heard some coven scouts talking about them, but it'll be rough going. You said you are a Hexside student, right? We could use the extra strength!"

Gus slumps his shoulders, "That sounds awesome, but I can't. I promised a friend I'd help her with something today."

But then, suddenly... Luz appears in between everyone, surprising them.

"Whoa!"

The human pants, out of breath, "Gus, you ran away so fast... But I didn't wanna interrupt so... I think you should go!"

Mattholomule folds his arms, "Well, he can't. Gus is just an illusionist! He'll only hold us back!"

Luz folds her arms and frowns back at him, "Hah! Shows what you know! Gus here is a regular super witch."

Gus begins to sweat, "Luz!" He drags her to the side and whispers, "I see what you're doing and it's really sweet, but I don't actually know any spells besides illusions."

The brunette raises her eyebrows, "Aw dang, I was hoping Esper would have taught you some sort of other spell... But!" She whispers back to him, "It's no problem!" She hands him some spell glyphs, "Come on, man. You know I'm all about proving jerks wrong."

The illusionists turns back to t he group with a smile, "Okay! I'm in. Where do we find these Galdorstones?"

Bria smiles widely at him, "We're journeying to the Looking Glass Ruins in the Forearm Forest!" The reveal makes Gus take a step back, with slight fear entering his eyes...

Mattholomule puts his hands on his hips, "What's wrong, Augustus? Scared?"

Bria nods her head and holds up the map, "We all are. Who knows what awaits us out there? But we all got each other's back, right?"

Gus stammers but raises his hands, "Yeah, um... Yeah. Yeah, okay, let's go!"

All the teens cheer together, "Woo!"

Mattholomule cheers sarcastically and rolls his eyes, "Woo."

...

Back to the Clawthorne household... Or rather, the front yard... All three women stand on the red grass together in a huddle. Gwendolyn ponders, "So this mysterious woman lives in your head, blocking some parts of your memories? Well... Considering she would have to be a high level witch in order to do that, there may be a solution!"

The girl tilts her head, "And that is?"

The old woman continues, "We could try tiring you out! It may exhaust her considering she lives in your brain." "It means you are connected acter all."

Esper scratches her chin, "Hmm... I can see how that could work." She blinks before perking up, "You know, I could always perfect that forcefield spell!"

Lilith raises an eyebrow at her, "Oh, I thought you already did that."

The redhead frowns before shrugging her shoulders, "I have a grasp on it but I can really only cover my hand..." She uses a spell circle to show her tiny shield.

The woman nods at her, "Well then, I think we know what we'll be working on today! Why don;t you stand over there, young Esperanza?"

Once Esper is standing in place, Lilith gives her instructions, "Think of who you wish to protect, Esperanza. Yourself, someone you cherish, one you love... Everyone has someone or something they wish to protect."

The girl thinks to herself... An image of Luz flashes in her mind before a picture of Gus takes over. She hums before straining her hand to cast the spell, "How about this!"

However, only a small shield appears over her hand... She blushes in embarrassment before thinking again, her mind now flooding with various images of Gus. From him with a microphone to him chuckling to him touching her hand when they were expelled...

The witchling stomps her foot, "Ugh! All I can think about is Gus! I know I... But..." She turns to her older friend, "How do you talk to guys, Lilith?"

The woman blinks at her, "...I'm afraid you are asking the wrong person, Esperanza."

Esper scratches her cheek, "Huh? Why? I thought people would have been attracted to the goth look."

Lilith rubs her eyebrows, "No, that's not what I meant. I've received the occasional gift from some with feelings for me but I have never felt the same way towards them. Not an inch of attraction, nor..." She looks away before looking back at the girl, "Otherwise."

It took a second but eventually, it clicked in Esper's head, "OOOOOOOOH! You're an arrowed ace in the hole!"

The Raven Lady slowly blinks at her, "...Yes, Esperanza. That is exactly what I am."

The redhead nods back at her, "Neat!"

Gwendolyn gasps and speaks up, "Is that why I don't have any grandchildren from you?" She turns to the girl, "...No offense, Esper."

Esper blinks back at her, confused, "...None taken?"

And with that... The trio continue to train together... Attempting get the woman in the young witch's head to actually have a conversation with her...

...

Meanwhile, Gus is currently in the forest with the Glandus kids... He tilts his had upon asking about the Gladerstones, seeing that he is risking his life to find them...

Mattholomule steps over to explain, "If you're holding one, every spell you cast gets a big power boost!"

Angmar jumps up and down, "I can grow an entire forest, and make my own butterfly sanctuary!"

Gavin pumps his fist, "I can create the biggest Abomination ever!" He then begins to speak bitterly, "I bet Dad will pay attention to that..."

The illusionist's eyes sparkle in amazement, "Whoa."

The Construction boy rolls his eyes at him, "Sorry. Doesn't do squat for illusions. Can't enhance what's not actually there!"

Gus lightly shoves him, "Pfft. I know that." Mattholomule then shoves him back, causing a small slap fight between the two.

Bria stops in her tracks, "Hold up, guys. We've come to our first challenge!"

Their path is revealed to be blocked by thick brambles.

Mattholomule chuckles, "Show us what you got, Augustus! What did the human call you? 'A super witch'?"

The Glandus girl gasps, "That's a great idea! Go on, Gus. I know you can do it!"

The illusionist pulls a glyph out from under his collar and groans, "Which one is this?" He quickly draws a light blue spell circle in the air, "Fireball!"

Luckily, it is a fire glyph and a massive fireball erupts from the paper hidden in his fist. It ends up clearing their path.

Everyone in the group cheers, "Woo-hoo!"

Bria pats the boy on the shoulder with a smile, "Woohoo, Gus! I knew it was a good idea to bring you!"

Gus smiles with a wave of his hand, "Man, all that training with Esper really paid off!"

Mattholomule whispers at the illusionist, "I don't know what's going on, but I've got my eyes on you..."

The illusionist smiles nervously, "Uh, swear, man! Esper taught me how to use a fireball spell last week!"

The Construction boy narrows his eyes at him, suspicious, "Hmmm... Well, according to the map, we should be getting close..."

And with that... The group continues further into the forest... Heading into many obstacles along the way...

...

Back at the Clawthorne household, Esper frowns upon pushing her hands forward. She frowns, "Man! I wonder why I haven't been able to use the full forcefield spell yet...

Lilith ponders for a moment before speaking, "Well... I think I solved the problem in regards to that."

The freckled girl tilts her head, "You have?"

The older woman shakes her head, "Yes... It is because in all those other instances, you had to be swift with your spell. Not enough time to use all the information at your disposal... Now, you have the time for this spell."

She takes a deep breath, "Please... Clear you mind and you will succeed, young Esperanza."

Esper nods back at her before taking a deep breath... She lets her thoughts about Gus go before a picture of both Luz and Gus standing together appears in her mind, "Hiyah!"

The spell circles move to go around her wrists before summoning a blue dome around her.

The girl pumps her fist, "Okay! I did it! Thanks, Lilith!"

The older woman gives her a smile, "Congratulations, young Esperanza! ...Did any of this get her to speak?"

The girl shakes her head, "Nope, not once... So it seems like we're back at square one..." She pouts from inside her new forcefield, "Aw man!"

...

Back in the forest with Gus... After an encounter with a snake and learning that the strong pick on the weak at Glandus, the group has finally found the Galderstones. They peer at the statues, which are holding light blue, glowing stones... The fog thickens around them...

Bria gasps upon seeing the statues, and smiles at Gus, "We did it! We found the statues! Finally, I can turn my school around for the better!"

Gus smiles back at her and thinks to himself, 'You know... Bria's pretty nice! She kinda reminds me of Esper in a way, freckles... Fierce... And she wants to the world to be a better place! I think they'd get along pretty well!' He walks off to gaze at one of the stones, 'What could possibly go wrong now?' His eyes narrow upon seeing a name on the statue, '...Wait a minute...'

The pale girl smiles with her hands on her hips"Okay, Angmar, you're on lookout duty." After not getting a response, she yells, "Angmar!"

The demon turns his attention back at her, the pink butterfly resting on his fingers, "Huh?"

The girl glares at him, "I said you're on lookout duty. And if I catch you playing with anymore bugs, I'll make you eat them! Okay?"

Angmar backs away from her while the butterfly flies off into the air...

Bria's voice then turns sweet with a smile, "I believe in you!"

Mattholomule gazes at the stone in front of him, "I can't believe we found it!"

The girl gasps before using magic to get a Galdorstone and cracks a statue in the process, "Oh. Whoops. Well, we did it everyone. The power of the Galdorstones is ours!" She squeals, "I can't believe it. The legends were true! Woo-hoo!"

But right when the group goes around stealing the Galdorstones...

...Gus moves aside the plants covering the bases of the statues, "Huh? 'The Phantom Bringer.' 'Aleth the Vision Creator?' 'Khari the Mirage Maker.' But these titles are for—" He then gasps, "Oh no. Stop! These aren't ruins. This is an illusionist graveyard!"

Mattholomule drops the Galdorstone he's holding, "Ew!"

Bria giggles, "Aw, Gus, you're saying that like it's a bad thing!"

The boy is taken aback, "What? Of course it is! These stones were theirs. We shouldn't take them!"

The pale girl shrugs her shoulders, "Even if these witches were alive, what would illusionists use Galdorstones for? High-def party tricks? Come on, Gus. Don't you wanna power up those cool spells of yours?"

Gus shakes his head, "No! This isn't right. I won't let you steal these."

Bria grips her hand into a punch at her side, "I don't think you know what you're saying, Gus." She waves her other hand around, "And how are you going to stop us? With some high def party tricks?" She rolls her eyes at him, "Or can you not handle this yourself? Gonna call your little Star Touched Witch friend to get you out of trouble?"

The illusionist walks backwards, "...How did you know that?"

The pale girl shrugs her shoulders, "It didn't click in my head until you said her name earlier. She's got people who blab about her at Glandus." She mocks a student's voice, "'Oh, you know the Star Touched Witch beat that Greater Basilisk at Hexside! I wish she went to our school!' Seriously, sometimes they don't know when to shut up." She punches her open hand in front of herself, "Based on what I've seen, she doesn't look at that tough."

Matthomule speaks up towards the two, "Oh believe me, she's tough. She kicked my head once."

Bria suddenly toward to him, "Shut up, Matty!"

But then suddenly, Angmar runs to the group, "It's real! The guardian is real! And it's coming this way!"

All of the members of the group screams upon seeing the guardian. The giant blue dragon creature glares down at the teenagers before roaring into the air.

Angmar hugs the boy in the purple uniform, "I heard it has the power to control weather!" Gavin hugs him back in fear, "And summon ghosts!"

Bria shoves Gus into the open, "Well, I wonder if it can handle a little fire! Go on, Gus! Show 'em!"

The illusionist reaches for a glyph, and then pats himself down, "I'm all out of glyphs!" He then gasps and looks up at the light blue dragon. He narrows his eyes before finding himself...

Eaten by the dragon!

The group all gasp and scream before rushing behind the statues... Matt gasps before being pulled behind a statue, "Gus!"

Gus finds himself flinching before blinking, "What? ...What?" He looks around, only to see an old man...

An illusionist looks back at him, "Oh! Oh another illusionist!" He touches the boy's face, "I am the guardian of this graveyard! Now... What are you kids doing trying to steal the Galderstones?

The boy frowns and rubs the back of his neck, "...I'm sorry, Mr. Guardian. I really am. I tried to stop them before you swallowed me." He then ponders to himself, "I promise, I'll help you to get them to go away... We just need to do something big..."

...

Back at the Clawthorne house, Esper plays around with the forcefield spell. She frowns in thought while spinning her forcefield around herself. She turns to her older friend, "Okay... So even though it's light blue, it didn't effect her... Hmmm.. Maybe there is a way I can speak to her? Like, make her really hear me and she can't ignore it?"

Lilith rubs her chin, "Maybe that can work?

Gwendolyn speaks up from her sitting area, "Hmm... Well, do you know an Illusionist with the ability to peek through someone's memories? An Illusion Maser perhaps?"

Esper was about to speak when she feels another jolt in the back of her neck. She suddenly jumps up and sprints out of the front yard, "...GUS!"

The old woman lets out a giggle, "...Why did I have a feeling that it was her little crush?" She doesn't realize the panic on the girl's face...

Lilith slowly shakes her head at her mother with a frown on her face... She rubs her eyebrows in annoyance...

Esper rushes to the Blight household... Where she sees her friend kneeling on the ground with a red face and a mouse in her hands... Still looking stunned from when Amity kissed her cheek.

The redhead jumps towards her friend, "Luz! Where is Gus?!"

The human wave her arms around suddenly, trying to hide the blush on her face... The mouse in her hands desperately trying to hang on for dear life. She stammers while looking at her friend, "WOAH! Hey, Esper! Hello to you too!" She yanks herself up onto her feet using Esper's jacket, "Uh, Gus is with a group from Glandus. Last time I checked!"

Esper shakes her head, "What?! Why?!"

Luz rubs the back of her neck, the blush slowly disappearing on her face, "Okay so I needed his library card to see Amity, don't ask why! And he left for... Somewhere? He wanted to learn different types of magic and I wanted him to show that he was a 'super witch.'"

The freckled girl gasps, "What! I'm like a Magic swiss army knife! I could have taught him some spells!"

Suddenly, the pair saw an ominous dark cloud form in the air turning into a fog for the area... It is miles away from the girls' location...

Esper looks at her childhood friend, "...Any chance that's him?"

When the two saw a light blue flash within the black clouds, the human begins to slowly nod her head, "That's probably him."

The redheaded witch sprints towards the black frog... She waves at her friend, "Thanks, Luz! I'll see you again! Just gotta make sure Gus is okay! ...And I need him for something!"

And with that, the girl was off!

...

Back at the graveyard... Gus is inside the 'dragon's stomach' with the old man... Making a plan to get the kids out of the graveyard. They nod at each other upon settling on the plan...

Angmar shakes from fear but then notices a pink butterfly-looking creature, "Huh?"

Bria begins to shovel the Galderstones in her bag in a panic, "M... Maybe we can sell the small ones to the Emperor's Coven, and keep the rest for ourselves! Angmar!" She turns upon getting no response, "...Angmar?"

The fuzzy demon runs off, chasing after the butterfly.

Bria shouts at him but doesn't move form her hiding spot, "Hey! Get back here!"

The butterfly begins giggling, "Tehehehe, wink." Tt then flies off into the fog... Unknown to the teens, the dragon guardian has disappeared...

The demon boy still follows it, "Wait! Come back! What species are you?!"

Bria shakes her head, "Ugh, whatever. Let him get eaten! I never really liked him anyway. Looks like you're my second in command, Gav—"

Gavin gasps upon looking in front of himself, "D-Dad?"

A clone of Gavin with a large handlebar mustache appears from the fog, "Gavin, I just want you to know that I'm proud of you. Now, how about we go get some ice cream, son?"

The boy runs to his fake father, "Huh! That sounds great, Pops! Wait, when did you grow a mustache?"

The 'dad' begins to walk off with his 'son', "Hey! Don't blow this chance." The two walk further into the fog together until they disappear.

Bria shakes her head upon realizing what was going on, "Wait a minute! Come out, illusionist! I'm not dumb enough to fall for these tricks!"

The world around her suddenly turns black, a shadowy figure in the shape of Gus runs across the area...

The purple haired girl forms a spell circle, "Rghhaah!" She makes a pillar from the ground, breaking the illusion, "That's right. Who's strong now!? I never needed those losers anyway." She picks up the bag of Galdorstones, "Oof! More for me!"

The graveyard's statues all suddenly turn to face her. Their eyes cry blood, which pools in their mouths. A statue around her size drags itself toward her from the ground.

Bria rolls her eyes, "Haha, cute." She draws spell circle, which does nothing, "Huh?" She tries again, only for it to fail, "Why isn't my magic working?!" She yelps while her hands seem to turn to stone and break off. The statue on the ground is getting closer and closer while she backs away.

She begins panicking, "What's going on? No, no. This is all just an illusion! Hahah, it can't actually hurt me. It can't even touch me!"

The statue crawling towards her grabs her ankle. She gasps. The statue looks up at her, revealing its face to be her own, which is trapped in a horrified expression. Blood pours from the statue's eyes.

The pale girl lets out a scream, "Aah! Cursed! This place is cursed!" She then runs off, screaming.

The illusion that was set over the entire graveyard ends, revealing that Gus, who looks exhausted, was under the moving statue illusion.

The boy lets out a breath, "Man, that took a lot of concentration."

The illusions disappear further, revealing several rock pillars Bria had conjured. Mattholomule and the Keeper come out of hiding.

The old man looks around, "Laying an illusion over the whole graveyard to make it seem like the stones weren't working, very clever... Keeping honing your powers of observation, child, and there's no limit to what you'll be able to do!"

Gus rubs the back of his neck, "There are some limits. I wish I could repair all the damage they did."

Mattholomule speaks up from where he was standing, "Um... maybe I can help?"

However... As Bria began to run out of the gate, she is suddenly kicked to the ground by a redheaded witch. Esper had finally arrived at the graveyard. But the pale witch was so scared from Gus' illusion that she just gets up and starts running again.

The redhead glares at the girl, "Yeah, you better run! Mess with Gus again and your sorry butt will get more than a kick!"

The young illusionist stops right in his tracks, "Woah, Esper? What are you doing here?" Matt backs away from the pair, giving them space.

The girl rubs the back of her neck with a blushed up face, "Well... Uh... One minute I'm practicing spell combinations with Lilith and the next, I got this feeling that you needed help. So, you know, check up on you. Though it looks like you handled things just fine without me. Plus I maaaaaaay need you for something."

The boy stands on his toes before slipping back down, "I'm not sure if I would have been able to do it without the help of Matt and Keeper of the Graveyard... You didn't have to come all the way out here though!"

The freckled witch blushes and looks down at her feet, "I know, I just... I'm glad you're okay." She walks a bit closer to her friend, putting her hand on his shoulder.

Gus blushes at the contact, "Oh! Well..."

Esper, unsure of what to do, decided to kiss Gus's cheek, "...Hmm mwah!"

The boy holds his blushing cheek after a few seconds of shock, "Oh! Wow, have you..."

The redheaded witch plays with her hands with a blush across her face, "Had a bit of a crush on you? Uh... Yeah!"

The illusionist slowly smiles at her, "That's good! Cuz... I've... Always had this crush on you... Uh..." He takes a deep breath and scrunches up his shoulders, "Esperanza, do you want to be my girlfriend?"

Esper nods her head rapidly, "Of course I will, silly!" She holds her hand out for him to take, "Now, uh... If you could come with me, I need your help! ...New boyfriend!"

Gus grabs her hand nervously, still blushing at her... But before they could continue, they both heard a cough...

Mattholmule holds up his arms, "Uh, hello! I'm still here!"

The redhead shrugs back at him with her eyes looking to the side, "Oh, I guess you can come too, Matt." She then blinks at her new boyfriend, "Wait when did you guys become friends?"

Gus simply smiles at her before tugging her hand a little, "I'll explain on the way."

The girl giggles before they walk off together... With Mattholmule following behind them...

...

Now inside the Clawthorne household, Esper and Gus sit in front of each other on the ground. Matt sits on the couch with a juice box provided to him by Gwendolyn. Lilith looks at the two closely.

Esper forms a spell circle, summoning a forcefield around the both of them, "There we go! For you know, to focus better and stuff."

Gus lets out a chuckle before forming a light blue circle over her forehead, "Sure, sure..." He offers his hands to her confidently this time, and smiles when she takes them.

Light clue magic flows from Gus to Esper, being connected through their hands. Both close their eyes in concentration while the magic starts to flow through Esper's brain.

The memories start to form around them and they are projected throughout the living room because of the forcefield surrounding them. Which also allows the group outside to see what is happening inside Esper's mind.

The newly formed couple find themselves in a field, with blue grass and a gold sky... Gus looks around before blushing at their joined hands, "Woah... It's working." His eyes then stop at a picture of an infant Esper being held by her adopted mother, "Aw! Baby Esper!"

The girl blushes before looking around, "Guuuuuus... We're looking for... Oh wait, there she is!" She points at the woman, who is standing over what looks to be chained up memories.

The lone woman in blue gasps upon seeing them, "You two again? Please, I cannot give you any information at this time. You are not ready to learn of this yet, Esper..." She forms a spell circle, with a giant hand forming to push them out yet again...

The girl shakes her head and puts up her other hand, "Woah, hold on! You are in MY mind! You can't tell me what to do! Especially since you spoke through me today! So you HAVE to tell me something if you're going to do that!"

The blue haired woman frowns, "Esper..." She attempts to have the spell push them further.

Esper frowns, "Wait! Come on, please... Throw me a bone here! Tell me anything! Even if it's not the whole story!"

The mysterious woman stops and sighs, "...Peony. My name is Peony." She looks to the side before placing her hands on her shoulder, "Allow me to clarify that while we share the same blood, I am not your mother."

The redhead raises an eyebrow at her, "Then... Who are you? Did you know Evelyn?"

Peony stares back at her, their seaweed eyes matching, "Please... I will explain everything in due time, witchling. You aren't ready yet. Please have a bit of patience... Just know that Evelyn was very dear to me..." She pats the girl on top of her head.

And with that, the two were pushed out of Esper's mind yet again. But this time, not harshly. They return to see that the forcefield had faded with an impressed Matt sitting on the couch. Gwendolyn sips from her own juice box while Lilith writes down what she had heard in her notepad.

Esper blushes when she turns back to her boyfriend, "I... Um..." She kisses his cheek again, "...Thanks Gus."

The illusionist blushes at her, "You're welcome, Esper." He lets go of her hand before turning to step out the door, "Uh... I'll see you tomorrow!" He is followed by Matt, who playfully pushes him.

The redhead smiles before waving at him, "See you tomorrow!"

Gwendolyn smiles for a bit before speaking, "...So I see you have a boyfriend now."

Esper's face suddenly turns into a massive burst of red, "Aw come on!" She covers her face before rushing off into the house, finding herself being followed by the old woman, who continues to ask her more about her new boyfriend... All while Lilith reviews her notes, smiling at the pair's shenanigans...