BREAKING THE FANTASY
Written by Gwendolyn Frost.
Somewhere in Gravesfield, something strange happened that got the whole community scratching their heads in confusion a few weeks ago.
There's a building that has been abandoned for decades in Wittebane street. It used to be a market place before it was purchased by the Greene Family who shut it down. Ever since, the building has been known to be the epicenter of some shady businesses involving the Greene Family themselves. Several times, people in the vicinity would call the police – but nothing came of it. So, Gravesfield has long learned that there are places you shouldn't speak about. This… was one of those places.
That was until very recently when this building was in everybody's mouth once more. From one day to the other… a clinic opened in here. It simply poofed into existence. The very day it opened, no one dared to walk in, even when the sign said that it's free.
When the police was called to the scene, this time, they did investigated. But when they busted into the clinic they found it had all its proper paperwork ready for them. The Doctor that runs the place even goes that far to make his own prescription medicine, which he has a license for as well. When they tried getting him arrested anyway, they were called by a government agency and were told… no, ordered to set that doctor free.
Who is this doctor and how are they so well-connected? That's what the local media wondered. They found out that the man was mostly unknown in the medical world. The very few things they could find were several cases in China in the past few years when he just appeared out of nowhere in the same fashion the clinic did. The rest they could find was heavily classified.
When the media asked the Greenes about the whole ordeal, they were just as puzzled as the rest of Gravesfield. All they knew is that the government bought the building from them and left it untouched for a whole year until the clinic opened its doors.
For a few days, the Gravesfield community kept its distance from the clinic until a Utuber of all people decided to go when guessing the controversy would do great for her channel and to get rid of a cold that got her in bed for days unable to stream.
The Utuber in question was seen by the mysterious Doctor Faust that the news reported on for the past days. She got in with a rather confident look on her face only to come out holding a orange bottle full of medicine with a frightened look on her face.
What she saw in there that got her that upset was uploaded to her channel and she left that bottle of pills untouched for a few more days until the cold became worse and her throat felt horrible.
Soon enough, her followers started to press her into taking the medicine when she made several streams with her voice all busted up talking about this situation. She put it into a poll, so that it would further increase her views – while at the same time stall, she didn't really wanted to do it… but in the end, she decided it was the best for her channel. And so she did…
The very next morning, most of her symptoms were gone. Her voice have mostly healed by the time she streamed on her condition. Going viral was short of the amount of attention she and her channel got. Which caused more people to start visiting the clinic soon after. It wouldn't be long til' everyone in Gravesfield was talking in broad daylight about the Miracle Doctor of Wittebane Street.
What this doctor prescribed, no drug in the market could do. Which further upset the medical community not just in town, but in the entire state and its neighbors. They wanted him gone, and they tried to put pressure on the mayor which went nowhere… because of that government agency making those calls once more.
It wasn't just the drugs what made these people mad, the doctor was also a skillful surgeon – taking care of cases that they deemed terminal or impossible in the past.
The only ones that were not suffering from the presence of the Free-For-All clinic were places such like the Animal Hospital where Camila works. Doctor Faust was no veterinarian. Therefore, most of the private practices clinics in town closed its doors during these past weeks.
This is the place where Luz and her friends found themselves that night after fighting the Shapeless in Herlock Woods. With a vague idea of the site's reputation, they were surprised by what they found there. You would expect that hospitals and or clinics would be places that got people's moods down, making them feel sadness, stress, sickened of course, this wasn't a place where you would hear laughter, joy, hope…
Yet there it was.
Even at such a late hour in the night, the very few people walking or sitting on the reception area were keeping the mood lively. Their smiles were contagious. Spreading through like a plague. Especially the one featured on their nurse's face, a tall blonde hair woman wearing a rather unusual dress that resembled a traditional nurse's outfit, complete with a hat with a large heart on it, instead of scrubs like other hospital nurses commonly look.
"Good evening! I'm Fanny and I'll be your nurse! Doctor Faust is taking care of another extraordinary case right now. So, if you kindly enough to follow me to his office, then he'll see you once he is done." The woman said as she started leading the way through a large corridor.
"Thank you, I appreciate you're willing to help us at such a late hour." Miss Grimm said as she walked closely to the nurse who she engaged in conversation with soon after.
Following behind were Luz, Camila and the rest of their group of witches, Masha and Flor. Vee had to pushed by Hunter on a wheelchair, having a bunch of sheets covering her entire body in order to hide the fact she's a Basilisk – granted that she ran out of magic, this was their plan to sneak her in without alarming anyone in the hospital.
The more they moved forward, the more they ran into people who's smiles and genuine happiness made the group feel a bit nervous.
Soon enough, they've reached Doctor Faust's office in the very back of the building. But before Luz would walk inside that room, her attention was caught by a door sitting in front of that office where there was a sign that reads:
Blackout Security Services. Authorized Personnel Only.
Luz saw in the corner of her eye Masha walking past her which brought her to crack a joke. "Hey, that sign looks suspiciously out of place, don't you think? Government conspiracy, perhaps?"
But Masha did not laughed, or chuckled, or even cracked a smile. They didn't even looked back at Luz or turn around to look at the sign. Luz gulped as she noticed the expression on Masha's face, it was as if they've not left Herlock Woods just yet. The expression of fear and despair was as fresh as it was an hour ago when they were still fighting the Shapeless.
Camila stopped next to Luz in front of the office as she rested her hand on her shoulder. "Give them some time, you've all gone through a lot tonight." She said with a tender smile which soon vanished once she noticed there were tears on Luz's eyes.
"Mom… I'm so sorry… I didn't mean to leave the house like that… I… I…"
"Hey, it's ok. Don't worry about it. There will be time for us to talk. I'm not upset, I'm just happy that you're all fine. That's all I care about right now." Camila said hugging Luz who didn't hesitate to hug back tightly.
"Oh, sorry." Camila gasped when she saw the blonde nurse standing in the door frame, waiting for them to give her some room to walk out and get the doctor.
"Oh, it's ok! I'll be back with Doctor Faust soon. Please, wait for us here!" The blonde said with a wide smile on her face before slipping past them to walk out and start heading towards the room in which the doctor was.
The room in question was not an office, but a patient's room. Fanny didn't go in, she simply stood next to the door frame as she listened into the conversation taking place inside. There were two women's voices and the voice of Doctor Faust himself.
"So, as you can see in this next picture… I've removed your lung cancer completely… it shouldn't come back… but I've prescribed you some medication… that will further help you with your breathing… it should go back to normal… in a week… tops. Please do come back for a check up… just in case…" The voice of Doctor Faust was raspy, sickly even. It sounded like the voice of a man with extreme exhaustion, that's probably dealing with his own set of illnesses.
There was a loud cry coming from the two women in the room before one of them raised her voice which cracked with pure joy and excitement.
"This is unbelievable! T-thank you so much! You have no idea how many doctors we've gone to…" There was a short pause as the woman's emotions became too much before she was able to keep it together. "They've all said it was impossible… to go home… enjoy the time that we had left but you… you not only gave us hope… you fulfilled your promise… thank you!"
What followed was the voice of the patient in question, her voice came in a whisper. Her tone was joyful despite the coughing. "Th-thank you…"
"You're welcome…" Doctor Faust said with the usual pauses followed by heavy breathing as if he needed to inhale as much air as he could to speak. "Please… do not hold it against my medical peers… they were not lying… this was a complicated case… I just did the best I could… with the skills I have… nothing less…"
The healthy woman in the room spoke once more. "I'll write you a check right now! Your clinic certainly needs the funds!"
"Oh, no… please… do not… I have no need for money… all I ask you to is to go out… live… be happy… make this a better place for you… and everyone else…" Doctor Faust said as he kindly refused the check that was probably being handed to him.
"Would you… at least accept this?" The whispering patient said as she was handing something to the doctor to which he replied in surprise.
"A flower…? Thank you…" Faust said which got the patient to whisper back with noticeable sobbing in her voice.
"No, thank you!"
There was silence for the following minutes, the sobbing giving away what was happening. The two women embraced each other and took their time before they bid their farewell to the doctor who remained in the room as they moved out of the room. With the healthy woman pushing the other in a wheelchair, the both of them greeting Fanny with a smile as she waved at them.
"Take care! Please don't come soon!" The blonde nurse cracked a joke, making them laugh softly.
When the nurse looked back, the door was closing and she had to bent her neck and back comicly to look up at the large doctor whose shadow covered her entire body. "Fanny…?" It's all the sick man could say as he turned around to face her.
"Doctor… it's the librarian…" Fanny whispered with a soft giggle. "She brought us a few more extraordinary cases tonight."
"Oh, so… there's more of them… interesting…" Doctor Faust said with a soft chuckle.
The nurse nodded with a smile. "Mhm, they came in a group. There's 3 ordinary cases and 5 extraordinary ones. So, I did a quick check up on them and this is my report! From best to worst cases we have 1 ordinary and 2 extraordinary cases with minor bruises, 1 ordinary patient with a dislocated shoulder, 1 extraordinary case with bruises on her neck, 2 extraordinary ones with open wounds; 1 of them on her face and the other was slashed across the back. Finally, the most critical case is a ordinary patient with second degree burns on her hands…"
"Ok, take me to them…"
"Of course! Follow me!" The nurse exclaimed as she lead the doctor to his office where Luz and her friends were sitting in silence.
By now, Vee had changed to her human form – thanks to Camila finding some Hexes Hold 'Em cards for her to consume and replenish her magic. The rest of the group had all grim-looking faces while they either looked around the room or were drifting off into sleep from exhaustion.
But once Fanny came back and opened the door, all eyes were on her. "Terribly sorry for taking this long, but here he is! May I introduce you to Doctor Faust! Yay!" She exclaimed as she clapped her hands together while making some room for the doctor to get in.
The group all stared into the door frame as heavy footsteps walked behind that wall until they reached the door, all they saw were thin slender legs but then… a huge hand emerged from the frame and held onto the doorknob as a huge body got inside the room.
"Oh, doctor. It's good to see you again." Miss Grimm said with a wide smile and her eyes fully open, granted that everyone in the room knew of her secret.
Everyone found themselves comicly bending their necks and backs in order to look at the huge 10 feet tall man that just walked into the room with them. The doctor wore a paperbag over his head, like the one you're given with your groceries, concealing his identity. While huge, he was slender and his arms and legs hardly had any muscles on them. There was a large stethoscope on his neck sitting on his huge blue scrubs which were probably made for someone who's morbidly obese. But these surgeon scrubs were hanging over his thin body, exposing some scars on what little you could see of his chest. Those scrubs also had a red stain sitting across with a white logo printed over it with the word 'good', there is a line underneath the O letters which simulated a smiley face. His hands were huge and covered with white gloves, his fingers were ridiculously long like branches on a tree. Finally, on his large feet he wore sneakers, which probably meant that he ran a lot through the hospital.
The doctor could barely fit in the room, having to hunch over as he leaned to put the flower he held on his hand on a vessel nearby. He then stared at his frightened-looking patients with the only eye seeing through a hole on his paperbag that glared from the light reflecting on his glasses underneath while Fanny exclaimed: "Ta-da!"
"Greetings… pleased to meet you… I'm Doctor Faust… at your service…" The huge man said as he vowed to his patients.
This is the Miracle Doctor of Wittebane Street…
THE LOOKING GLASS
Chapter 27: A Suspicious Cook.
Early…
It's been a few hours since the library has closed, but Miss Grimm was still in the building. There was no other worker in the building and the glass doors were far away from her desk, hence she felt comfortable having her eyes wide open and her headphones placed on her neck exposing her ears. She was watching something on her PC while she ate some french onion soup with garlic bread to go with it.
The library was mostly silent, with the exception of the loud quacking coming from the PC, which meant that Miss Grimm was watching a series about a certain duck detective online.
"But Ducktective… what do you mean by the murderer is in this room with us?! Everyone here has a strong alibi… it's impossible!" The voice of a human echoed through the wide open space before the quacking was back.
'Unlikely, it may be so… but impossible, I dare say not!' The translation on the screen said as the duck spoke back to his police partner.
"Oh snap." Miss Grimm said before taking a bite from her bread with her eyes glued to the screen.
Before long, the librarian's evening was interrupted by the loud sounds of banging on the glass doors which brought her to check the security feed on her monitor – which showed none other than Camila Noceda standing on the other side of the entrance.
"Aww, man! I don't even have the time to go wash my mouth!" Miss Grimm whispered as she looked down on her potent meal which has probably given her terrible breath. "Ugh… fine, as long as I don't have to open the doors." She said as she closed her eyes and put her headphones back on. "I'm coming! I'm coming!"
"Is someone there?!" Camila shouted as she stopped her banging when she heard the voice of the shorter woman approaching the glass doors. "Oh, thank goodness!" She exclaimed with her eyes watering a bit. "Are you the one in charge?"
"That's correct, Miss. But we're closed right now." Miss Grimm said as she pointed at the sign. "If you have a book to return it can wait til' morning…"
"No, no! I'm not here for that! I was sent by someone who told me you'd help me. She said… hm… what did she say, what did she say…" Camila gave her forehead a few taps with her knuckles while trying to remember something…
"Someone sent you?" Miss Grimm asked in confusion while scratching the side of her face until Camila exclaimed when she remembered the pass code.
"Endelfia! She said if I told you this word, you'll know exactly what type of emergency I have!"
Just as soon as the librarian heard the word, her eyes opened to reveal her peculiar dark eyes with the glowing pink irises that brought the human to step back and gasp in surprise.
"You're a witch!"
"What else did she say?" The long dark-haired librarian asked as Camila struggled to remember anything before she came to the library.
"Something about a flesh curse… please, you got to help me, my Luz and her friends… they're witches too. Please, you must help me get them to safety! She said that they wandered into the woods and that there is a flesh monster stalking them!"
"Flesh curse? Did she meant to say Eresere?" The librarian whispered to herself behind the glass doors before she looked back at the desperate-looking human on the other side. "Ok, I'll help you."
"You will?! Th-thank you so much!" Camila exclaimed while a tear slipped down her left cheek. "I will keep your secret, don't worry!"
"No, thank you." Miss Grimm said with a wide smile. "I've not heard of her in a while…" She said, meaning the person that sent Camila to get for her help. "If she says I will help you. I'll do. She must know what she's doing if she has kept an eye on Luz and her friends."
"Wait, do you know Luz?" Camila asked while raising her eyebrow.
The librarian chuckled softly as she nodded at her. "I do, and I had my suspicions on her girlfriend being a witch but I kept it to myself."
"Well, I'm glad there's more of you in our world. I wouldn't know what to do if I'd run into this flesh monster you two people spoke of…" Camila said before the librarian's expression changed to a serious one.
"About that… we should get going."
"That's basically what happened…" Camila finished explaining Luz and the rest back at the clinic, with the exception of Flor who was being treated by Doctor Faust at the other side of the room.
"Shoot, that reminds me…" Miss Grimm whispered before she looked back at the nurse. "Fanny, do you have any mints on you?"
"Nope!" Fanny exclaimed as she tilted her head. "But I do have some cherry-flavored gum."
"That'll have to do. Thank you." The librarian said as the nurse leaned over to offer some of her gum to her.
"I have questions!" Luz exclaimed as she raised her hand. "How come you can't remember what happened early at home?"
"I don't know…" Camila said as she was visibly struggling to remember, her eyes narrowed and shut completely as vague memories began to surface in her mind. "I remember there was a owl…"
"Owl?!" Both Luz and Amity exclaimed in surprise.
The memory of that owl in her backyard kept Camila rather nervous. Sometimes… she saw an owl in her mind, only for that owl to take the form of something she couldn't make sense of. "Honestly… I'm not sure what I saw. But I remember the voice of a woman, she told me to head to the library. That there would be someone there that could help me."
"That is strange. The one other owl we know of is Owlbert, but he can't speak or ever did it make it back with us to the Human Realm." Amity said.
"What about Eda?" Willow suggested.
"Wait, are you suggesting that Eda somehow learned magic to send a projection from the Boiling Isles to the Human Realm?" Gus asked with a soft chuckle.
"Well, she's always going about being the most powerful witch in the Boiling Isles." Willow said with a shrug as Luz shook her head.
"I doubt it. Because of her curse, she can't do magic." Luz said with a frown. "But… whoever this owl was, it must be someone you know of." She said as she raised her eyes at the librarian who was chewing gum while listening to their theories. "What is Endelfia and why hearing that word made you help us?"
"Heh." The librarian chuckled as she materialized her scythe. "That's the name of this scythe."
"Oh?" Luz tilted her head. "What does it mean? The word…"
"It means Death's Quill. It was forged for me by that very same person that… made your mind a little foggy." Miss Grimm said as she rested her hand on Camila's shoulder. "I'm sorry for that Miss Noceda."
"Oh, it's fine. I bet she means well if she kindly kept an eye on Luz and her friends. And please, call me Camila." The woman said before the librarian nodded back at her.
"Ok, well… Camila, since we're using first name basis – I believe I should come clean with you. My real name is not Velvet Grimm, it's Grimmora."
"Grimmora?! So… are you like a witch from the Boiling Isles?" Luz asked with curiosity as the librarian tilted her head and shook her head with a soft chuckle.
"Nope, but I've read about it through the books that witches from old times have left for us in the library I work at. In fact, I know of some other witches that every so often come to my library to further contribute knowledge left from them. Just like in the museum of witch history, what little we know from the Boiling Isles comes from donations."
When hearing from the Museum of Witch History, Masha moved her head just enough for Vee to take notice. "Masha…?" The young Basilisk in human form asked as she looked at her friend with worried eyes but they simply looked away, their eyes still full of fear and despair.
"There's more witches in Gravesfield?!" Luz exclaimed as her eyes lit like stars, with hope… feeling that finding a way back wasn't as impossible as she thought.
"Like I said early, I know of some of them. But that's about it, a lot of them have left and spread across this country. Unfortunately, I can't reveal who these people are. If you're planning to ask me." Grimmora said with a nervous look on her face.
Luz narrowed her eyes as she looked at the large doctor still tending to Flor's wounds on the other side of the room before she asked. "Is… that guy a witch?"
Just as soon as Luz finished that sentence, as if by the blink of an eye the doctor teleported towards them and startled them with his voice. "No… I'm not a witch…" He said with his raspy voice and short pauses before extending his long arm and pointed his ridiculously long finger at Hunter who sweat dropped when hearing him say… "You…"
"M-me?"
"Yes… you're next… now come…" Doctor Faust said as he lead the nervous-looking Hunter nearby where the nurse Fanny was waiting for them.
"Please take off your shirt." Fanny asked with a smile which made Hunter to freak out.
"Huh?! What?! W-why?!"
The blonde nurse tilted her head in confusion. "Because we need to clean your wound?"
"I really don't see why this is neccesary!" Hunter exclaimed before Camila came forward to explain to him.
"Hunter, honey. This is how human medicine works, it's unsanitary to leave your clothes on if there's an open wound like the one on your back. They need to clean it up, give you some stitches… maybe, before they patch it up so it won't get infected."
"Uh… that sounds a bit barbaric… couldn't they use magic instead?" Hunter asked with a nervous look on his face which was rather pale after hearing they were going to stitch his wound as if he was some sort of broken ragdoll.
Doctor Faust and Fanny looked at each other while they thought about it. "Well… I guess we could." Fanny said as she was reminding the doctor. "They are witches after all and might have been exposed to healing spells before."
"Ok…" Faust said as he looked down at Hunter. "I'll need to connect… to your heart… in order to cast a healing spell… on you… do you consent?"
"Oooo… there is a problem with that… I'm a witch that can't do magic… hehe…" Hunter said while sweat dropping before Willow's voice exclaimed behind them.
"I can do it!" Willow had her hand all raised up as she explained. "I think I still have enough magic left for one spell."
"Wait, Willow – maybe I should do it." Amity said as she rested her hand on her friend's shoulder. "I still have a good amount of magic left, enough for several spells.
"Amity, do you remember the conversation we had back home?" Willow asked as she crossed her arms while the pink-haired shook her head nervously.
"S-sorry! I didn't meant to say it like I'm still trying to protect you! As a matter of fact… it's because I don't feel as useful as you have been…" Amity said while rubbing the back of her neck, making her green-haired friend look down to her with a smile.
"You're useful, Amity, now that your Oracle Magic has been manifesting, now more than ever we need of you than ever before."
"Heh… I guess." The pink-haired witch said in defeat before smiling when Willow leaned forward to hug her.
"You were right, you brought us back to Luz and the rest, who knows… you might need your magic in the upcoming days." Willow whispered the next part in Amity's ear. "You have to talk to that spirit in the TV, after all…"
"Yeah… I do." She whispered back before they parted ways, with Willow patting her shoulder with a long smile while walking away from the group.
"So, I'll do it!" Willow exclaimed at the doctor who nodded back at her.
"Thanks, Willow." Hunter said with a smile as she winked back at him, making his cheeks flesh a bit.
"Don't mention it."
"Ok, great! Now would you please remove your shirt?" Fanny -the nurse- said while Hunter backed away from her once more.
"Hey! Whoa, whoa, whoa! Why do I still have to take my shirt if you guys are performing a healing spell on me?!" The blonde exclaimed as the nurse explained while Doctor Faust face-palmed himself.
"Because we still need to clean your wound! Magic can close your wound but not get rid of any bacteria that may have landed on your open wound!"
"Hunter… just take your damn shirt off. Why are you being so difficult?" Willow asked with her eyebrow raised all the way up.
"Because you're here!" He exclaimed before face-slapping himself. "I mean, because you GUYS are here, plural! I don't feel comfortable being half naked around you all!"
"Trust me, Hunter. I have no interest in seeing you shirtless." Amity said while rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, and I don't care because I only see you as a brother." Luz said with Vee raised her hand afterwards.
"Same here!" The Basilisk said before Gus raised his voice next.
"Well, I'm a guy and I don't mind."
"Yeah, and I can't see, remember?" Willow said before the librarian tilted her head at her while asking.
"Wait, you can't see?"
"Are you blind…?!" Doctor Faust came rushing to Willow and held her head with his large hand while flashing a flashlight on her eyes. "Fanny, I thought you gave them a quick check-up…?"
"I did! I must of have missed that! I'm so sorry, doctor! I failed you!" Fanny exclaimed while her eyes watered in disappointment for herself.
"I'm not blind…!" Willow blurted out while feeling uncomfortable having her head held by the doctor so tightly. "My glasses were smashed while in the forest… so all I see is blurry shapes of you guys… now… doctor… would you please let go off my face?"
"My apologies…"
"Well, if you need glasses, you can have mine. I have a couple of spare ones back home." Grimmora said while handing the green-haired witch her oval-shaped glasses.
"Uh… thanks, but I'm not sure if…" Willow said as she placed those glasses on her face before they suddenly grew in size, becoming larger and rounder than before. Her sight also went from blurry to perfectly fine in just one second which brought her to gasp in surprise. "Whoa! Are these magic?"
"Technically, they're Para-Tech." Grimmora said with a soft chuckle.
"Para-Tech?" Luz asked while tilting her head in confusion, never heard of that term before.
"It's technology infused with magic." The dark-haired librarian explained. "They're durable, adapt to your needs and even blind people can see with them because they send images to your brain."
"Oh, so that's how you can see with your eyes closed!" Luz shouted with her eyes lit with stars.
"Precisely." The librarian chuckled softly.
"Thank you, are you sure I can have them?" Willow asked nervously as the librarian nodded back at her.
"They're all yours."
Nodding, Willow turned around and glared at Hunter. "Dude, just get that shirt off already!"
"Ok, fine…" Hunter said as he took the clothe off to reveal his rather… muscular-toned body, complete with a set of abs which made Willow flush herself.
"Whoa… you're… kinda ripped, huh?" The green-haired witch said with her pink burning cheeks.
"Don't say it like that!" Hunter's whole face became a red mess that made Willow laugh out loud, blowing some air on her face with her hand.
"Ok, ok! I'm sorry… it's nice. You look nice." Willow said, keeping her calm while her cheeks still flushed a little bit which made the blonde guy question himself if that was flirting or not. "So, doctor, what do I do?" She asked Doctor Faust as he sit down on a chair while he explained to her.
"I will perform a spell with this hand… to connect to your heart… and with this other hand I will… perform a healing spell… on your friend… do you consent?"
"Oh, yes, of course!"
"Fanny, you clean his wound… while I do this…"
"Leave it to me, doctor!" Fanny exclaimed as she moved to get her tools.
While the doctor and the nurse took care of Hunter with Willow's help, Flor had moved from the back of the room to join the rest of the group where she was stopped by the librarian who questioned her about those bandages on both of her hands. "You're ok?"
"Hi, yeah… they hurt… but things may have gone worse if I hadn't done something." The long pink-haired woman forced a smile on her face before tilting her head when Luz raised her voice.
"Flor… I'm sorry you got involved!"
"It's ok, Luz. Your friends may have not found you in time if I had not done something, I regret nothing." Flor said with a soft chuckle while bringing her burnt hands close to her chest, clearly in pain.
Luz stared at those bandages before she felt obliged to ask out of curiosity. "Why don't you ask the doctor to use a healing spell on your hands?"
"Because it's not going to work." The pink-haired woman said, holding her forced smile on her face.
Before Luz was able to ask 'why', she was given the answer by the librarian. "It won't work because the spell she used won't allow it. She knew the consequences of using it, now… she has to suffer them." Grimmora said, the way she delivered those words sounded harsh but the expression on her face showed nothing but compassion for Flor whom she smiled to when the pink-haired woman nodded in agreement.
"That's correct." Flor said as her smile faded for a brief moment before she forced it back as she explained. "The spell forces its user to feel the pain of those they hurt."
"W-why would you use such a dangerous spell?" Luz asked in confusion while her friends looked just as startled before the pink-haired woman looked away nervously.
"It's… it's how magic works in my home world."
"Huh?!"
"This is Aether." Grimmora said before she explained. "In the Realm of Tellus, every spell comes from a curse. Magic is balanced this way so that no one abuses of its power. But that doesn't deter those with dangerous convictions, isn't it?" She said as she looked up at the taller woman next to her.
"That's right…" Flor said as she sighed. "This spell was taught to me by the very man cursed with it. I never used it to this extent. But there was no way I wouldn't try and help you in some way." She said as her eyes locked with Luz and her friends.
"Wait… Aether, you used that word when you talked to the Shapeless. You said…" Luz was trying to remember what the librarian had shared with the flesh monster not long ago. "You said… both of you were cursed… because of Aether, right?"
"That's right." Grimmora chuckled. "You sound like you have a deep passion for magic, huh?"
"It's not just that I care for magic, I knew someone who was cursed. Eda the Owl Lady… is it possible that her curse… may have come from this world that you speak of?"
Both women stared at each other while they figured out an answer for Luz.
"Well, it's possible." Grimmora said as she rubbed the back of her head. "What were her symptoms?"
"Well, she became an owl beast whenever she became stressed. The curse also rendered her unable to do magic once that it had worsened enough."
"Yeah, that does sound like Aether. It feeds on emotions. Mostly… people's weaknesses and insecurities, I'd say." Grimmora chuckled softly.
"What is Aether, anyway?" Amity dared to ask.
"Well, you see…" Grimmora pondered on it before explaining. "In Tellus, the amazons believe that everyone and everything comes from the stars. That our essence is made of cosmic dust. There's matter which is us and the void, everything else.
Both co-exist with one another, which creates Aether. Energy from the void, wielded and harnessed by humans and their emotions. However, it can be… unstable. Either by intention or random chance, it can lead into a curse."
"Which one is you? Intention or chance?" Luz asked, making Grimmora laugh softly.
"Oh, it was very intentional. I was cursed due to being exposed to a large amount of that energy, the same energy our mutual friend was exposed to as well."
"With mutual friend, you mean…?"
"The person that's been keeping an eye on you while you were in the woods." Grimmora said with a smile.
"Why is that…? Why didn't she help us herself?" Luz asked out of curiosity which brought the librarian to sigh softly.
"Please, don't hold it against her. She's been through a lot. But I'm happy to hear that she may be ready to make new connections." The librarian said before she tilted her at the next question coming from an eager-looking Gus.
"So… are you going to tell us what sort of magic you did back in the forest? If your spells come from your curse, then what sort of curse is it?"
"Well… like I said before. It's complicated." Grimmora said while scratching the side of her face nervously. "But… to put it simply… I can transmit my ideas into the physical world."
"Huh?!" Everyone exclaimed in unison.
With a soft chuckle, Grimmora leaned forward and performed a magic trick. "In other words… the power of imagination!" When she parted her hands, a rainbow emerged from one hand to the other which brought everyone into a minute of pure silence.
"D-did you just made the meme in real life?" Luz asked as Grimmora grinned back at her.
"Hey, don't judge me. If you had this ability you'd be doing this too."
"You're right!" Luz couldn't help but to burst into laughter alongside some of her friends.
"You're just like me! Except everything you imagine becomes real! That's so awesome!" Gus exclaimed before he moved closer to Grimmora and asked with an excited look on his face. "Would you teach me to do magic like yours!?"
"Uh…" The librarian sweat dropped as she tried to kindly reject him. "To be honest, the kind of magic I do shouldn't be taught. In the wrong hands it can be… tricky and unstable as well."
"Aww… but I promise you that I can be responsible!" Gus pleaded, which made things harder for the librarian who chuckled nervously.
"But there's other things I could teach you…"
"Really?!"
"Excuse me for the interruption…" Doctor Faust came into view as Hunter joined the rest, having the doctor finished healing the wound on his back. "But we need… someone with leftover magic… to heal Miss Willow's wound."
"Oh, I can do it!" Gus exclaimed. "Thank you Miss Grimm for sharing with us your cool power!" He said as he moved forward to help with Willow's healing spell.
"It sounds kinda broken, tho!" Luz had to make the comment which made the librarian rub the back of her neck nervously.
"I wouldn't call it broken, I can't abuse of it without my mind fragmenting into pieces."
"What?!" Luz and Amity exclaimed.
"This is a curse, after all. My mind… never shuts up!" Grimmora said in frustration. "Ever. Which is probably why my curse took this shape. You've ever had this conversation with someone where you ask; hey, if you could choose your super power, what would it be? Me? I envy those who can put their heads on their pillows and fall asleep in an instant. I can't do that! My mind is constantly feeding me information. Which I can unleash with my curse, but it never stops!"
"This took a weird turn…" Amity whispered at her girlfriend who nodded in agreement.
"So… all of this information that you can unleash, does it become real in our plane of existence?" Luz asked out of curiosity, which brought the librarian to snap out of her wild rant.
"Uh… in a way, yeah. But it doesn't mean that I can make gold, money, etc. Most of my thoughts do disappear after a while. There's… a few exceptions but that's mostly how it works."
"When you say that if you abuse of this power your mind fragments, you mean that you may go insane?" Amity asked which brought the librarian to nod back at her.
"If I abuse of this power… things… don't go well, mostly for me. But that's not to say that it could go terribly wrong for others. I remember I blacked out once… but there was one time that my mind was able to rip a tear in space… that mostly caused reality to collapse." Grimmora said as everyone's eyes widened before they looked at each other nervously. "Thank goodness our mutual friend was able to fix my mistake. So… yeah, that's a thing that happened."
"That's not something that could happen again, right?" Luz giggled nervously. "Right?" She repeated with a more serious tone in her voice.
The librarian shrugged comicly. "Pff, I dunno… as long as I'm not stressed, I suppose. I just need to keep my mind occupied, like working in the library… that gives me purpose."
Hearing the word purpose seemed to make Amity think about the job offer she earned not long ago. "I… can relate." She said with a smile.
"Wait… I think I just realized something." Luz said as her girlfriend blinked in confusion at her. "So, if she's cursed and the Shapeless is cursed… then that curse most have weaknesses too, just like hers, right?"
"Oh, most definitely." The librarian said with a soft chuckle.
"What do you know of its curse? You called it a name back there." Luz asked before Grimmora nodded with a sigh.
"I guess I did, huh? Well, I guess I can tell you." She smirked. "The Shapeless' curse is Eresere. It comes from the words 'Eres' which means 'You' and 'Sere' which means 'I' in the amazon tongue. It means 'Who you are, I shall become.' It is one of the oldest curses in Tellus. So old… that even a civilization older than the amazons documented it thousands of years before the amazons became a unified tribe. They referred to it as 'The Flesh Absorption Curse.' What I'm about to tell you was roughly translated, so take this with a grain of salt, ok?"
Luz and Amity shared a look before they nodded at the librarian. "Ok."
But before Grimmora was able to open her mouth, she was interrupted by the doctor once more.
"Excuse me… but we need to move onto the next patient… which is you…" Doctor Faust said as he pointed his long stick-like finger at Amity who protested.
"Is it possible you can heal me right here? I really need to hear this." The pink-haired witch said as she looked into the only visible eye hiding underneath that paper bag the doctor wears on his head before he sighed in defeat.
"Ok then…" Faust said as he rubbed the back of his neck and brought his chair closely to Amity before he spoke to the librarian. "One moment, please…"
"No rush…" It's all Grimmora said as she stood there watching like the rest as Doctor Faust began examining Amity's neck.
"Does it hurt…?" The doctor asked the pink-haired witch as he ran a finger gently on those purple bruises on her neck.
"A little…" She replied before the doctor brought a flashlight to her face.
"Say ah…" Faust said as Amity did as she was asked while the large man took a closer look to the inside of her mouth.
"Fortunately… minor bruising to your throat… hold still… while I perform a spell on you…"
"Ok…" Amity said before Faust looked back at Gus.
"If it's ok with you, I need of your assistance once more…"
"Oh, of course!" Gus exclaimed as he moved onto sit down next to Luz while Faust performed a spell on his chest which triggered a glyph to pop out which began to extract magic from his heart in order to do a spell on Amity's neck.
"You may continue…" Doctor Faust said as Grimmora nodded with a soft chuckle.
"Thank you, doctor. Now where were we? Oh, right!" The librarian cleared her throat.
Once upon a time… there was a nomad that traveled across the lands of Tellus. Their identity was never confirmed because in every place they visited, they took a different name and look.
They seem to enjoy reinventing themselves every so often, fleeing those places with riches and stolen goods once he was done with their identity. As far as people knew, their looks were mostly consistent.
Which made it easier for them to identify them once they were caught. Their very last role was what condemned them, taking the role of a royal face.
This time… this nomad took things far. Having used Aether to stitch this royal's face neatly on their skin. For that… they were sentenced to death. They ripped that face off so that he would bleed to death…
But… instead. Aether had different plans. The nomad did not die. Even when they peeled the rest of their skin off before escaping.
For months, there was peace. The nomad was still at large, but there was a bounty on their head. It would be a matter of time before they were caught again.
But as weeks passed, more and more people began to disappear.
It is known, that before that civilization disappeared, they spoke of an entity who fed on flesh. Absorbing others into its mass. Deceiving them with the skins of their deceased relatives, friends and known community members.
This entity was known as a Skinwalker or the Shapeless Other. A being cursed with the ability to absorb and become others. Forged by the void, driven by desire and obsession.
"This, of course, is just a story. Folklore from a civilization long forgotten. This is why I asked you to take it with a grain of salt. It's meant to get a message across. To accept yourself and others for who they are, I believe. But all stories are based on reality. This civilization -the Nebulites- did exist, they did mysteriosly vanished and they did sentenced people to brutal deaths. Which is probably what got people to arm themselves against their oppression before they did."
"Wait…" Flor interrupted the shorter woman. "I think I've heard of something that might be connected."
"Please do share." Grimmora said with a smile as the pink-haired woman took a long and deep breath.
"I'm from Tellus, I lived there during my early years…" Flor confessed once more, holding her burnt hands close to her chest still. "There was a actor that was stalked by an entity that wore people's skins. I remember all of this because this actor was close-friends with the man that taught me this spell. He talked about him all the time. So… this entity forged itself a skin. That looked exactly like this man's deceased wife. In his desire to have her back, he played along to the shape speaking back to him inside a mirror. But before this entity made this man its prey, that very mirror it came through was used to be sealed within."
"Wait… that's it!" Luz said before Amity exclaimed, standing up abruptly which caused the healing spell to be broken shortly.
"The mirror in the Morton Ranch!"
"That's what I was thinking!" Luz exclaimed back at her girlfriend.
"Sit…" Doctor Faust said with a soft sigh when using his hand to push Amity back onto her seat.
"Oh, sorry…" The pink-haired witch said while sweat-dropping nervously.
"Wait, hold on." Camila interrupted them. "A-are you still planning to confront this thing…?" She had to ask, making the two flinch even though her voice indicated she was more worried than upset at them.
"I… I… well… I…" Luz was trying to find the words to speak to her mother, to make her understand their point of view before her girlfriend interrupted.
"Excuse me, Mrs Noceda!" Amity exclaimed as she stood up abruptly, which broke Faust's spell once more.
"I'm sorry for the troubles we've caused you, we didn't mean to bring this to you but… this thing, is targeting Luz. It wants her and it won't stop til' it has her. As Luz's girlfriend, I want to protect her."
"Amity!" Luz blurted out with her whole face burning. "You have nothing to apologize for… besides… I was the one that brought this to everyone…"
Both the doctor and the nurse shared a look at each other as they were standing in the way of these two communicating this to Camila before they moved aside to give them some room.
"It's… targeting you?" Camila asked Luz who nodded with a frown.
"That thing… took innocent lives to get close to me. Lives that are still in danger. That it's still keeping them captive. I… cannot stay still and do nothing. I know this is scary but… I have to do something. Please… let me do something for them…"
Camila bit her lower lip before she gave them a serious look.
"On one condition…"
"W-what?" The pair of girlfriends say in unison.
"What condition?" Luz asked nervously.
"Let me help…" Camila said with a tender smile. "I know this situation goes over my head, but don't keep these things from me. If you're willing to help others like this, so can I."
Luz and Amity looked at each other in confusion before they chuckled softly. "Yeah… I'm sorry for not telling you all of this." Luz said with guilt in her voice. "We have a plan… and next time… things will be different."
Camila nodded as she leaned in to kiss Luz's forehead.
But before she could do the same with Amity, the pink-haired witch was brought back down by the doctor's finger.
"Sit…"
"Oh! I'm so sorry! Yeah… you can finish the spell now."
"So, you have a plan now?" Grimmora asked Luz as the human looked back at her with a confident smile on her face.
"That's right. Would it be alright if we ask for your help as well?"
End of the chapter.
Note: This chapter didn't deserve to be this long and I'm sorry for that. I do not want to make this note longer than it needs to. So I'm just going to credit the respective authors and explain myself in the next one. Byeee!
Guest stars are Faust and Fanny who are creations of Daisuke Ishiwatari for his series 'Guilty Gear.'
Flor del Bosque and Grimmora are creations of mine and my intellectual property.