Summary: Coven parades, how fun.
King sippeed on his drink. "Why the long face Luz?" He turned to the depressed and tired looking girl.
"I have so many problems piled on I can't even navigate through them." She groaned. "Trying to get my mom to see the Boiling Isles in a non dangerous light failed the moment the Detention Room was restored, I've been washing Sugar's scales so much I can't feel my fingers anymore to make up to Lucci for the temple incident, and so many Coven Heads and Coven Scouts have tried to kill us all that I can't even enjoy the parade like I did the Covention."
"Not like there's much to enjoy." Lucci rolled his eyes. "The conven's day parade is just an excuse for coven heads to brag about themselves while the average simple minded idiots praise the Emperor for 'all his goodness' and crap like that."
Luz raised an eyebrow. "Remind me again why we're near a parade where half the people here want you dead on a personal level? We could at least know the Covention didn't have any heads other than Lilith."
"Don't know, mom's been acting weird lately." Lucci answered. "And not 'the curse is coming back, I must hide from the kids' weird. More like 'I'm too embarrassed to let anyone see me' weird."
"I figured it wasn't the curse after what happened last ni-" Luz coughed a bit, before a feather logged itself from her throat. "... So soft but so smothering."
"You have to give this to the owl beast. They know how to cuddle." King never felt so warm and afraid in one moment before then.
"The prices we pay for power." Mom grumbled as she came back with a file. "So, how about we snag a couple of treats, leave without paying, and watch the show from a far away distance?"
"Mom, are you alright?" Lucci asked. "I know you asking for help is something you don't like doing, but you've spent the last hour waiting by the bounty drop off just for that one folder."
"Meh, just a bit of research. I'm trying to nip problems in the bud before they get too serious. You know how violent Coven Parades can get."
"Yeah." Lucci nodded. "You blow up one woman and suddenly everybody thinks you're the enemy."
"I feel your pain bud, believe me." Luz patted the boy. "Wait, didn't you first meet Amity at this parade?"
"Yep. She was the only girl in the park I could make friends with." The boy admitted. "Wiggly arms and lifting trees just scared them for some reason."
"Why didn't you try the shield?" King asked.
"Was wonky back then, I think I caused some kid brain damage, but for the life of me I can't remember their face." The boy shrugged.
"Weeveenge…" That tiny nosed woman said from some dark corner.
"Anyways." The boy completely ignored that as he bit into some mummy jerky. "Ever since then; at least one good thing happens at every coven's day parade, which is why I don't mind being here in spite of the attempts on my life."
"So, any positives?" Luz asked. "Fireworks in the sky, snacks I can eat with a human stomach, flash mobs that don't set people ablaze?"
"Eh, only that it's the best time for pickpocketing." King answered as he began to eye the folder Eda was carrying. "Everyone gets so distracted that…" In a quick flash, he snatched the file out of Eda's hands and opened it. "They never see it coming!"
"Hey, give that back!" The woman shouted, trying to snatch it from him.
"Not until I see what … oh, nothing important." He shrugged, tossing it back.
"Really?" Luz asked.
"Yeah, I already read about that stuff in her diary."
"YOU READ MY DIARY!?"
"At first it was just to help have something to calm my nerves whenever the Owl Beast wanted to sleep, but it's surprisingly entertaining." King snickered. "I mean, usually I find the mushy stuff repulsive, Eda's brand of drama paints a fresh coat of pain over it."
"Okay, now you're being ridiculous." Lucci rolled his eyes. "Mom's mushy with all of us on a daily basis."
"Not that kind of mushy." King laughed. "Eda paid someone to spy on her ex."
Lucci immediately spit out his snack "SHE DID WHAT!?"
"KING!" The woman shouted.
"Oooh, relationship drama, tell me more!" Luz demanded.
"LUZ!"
"You want drama, her ex is the head of the Bard Coven!"
"WHAT!??" Lucci shouted again, looking absolutely flabbergasted.
"And that's not all, then-"
"YES!" Mom shouted. "They led a rebel group against Belos and I helped but then it all went to heck and we got captured by Darrius and Ebberwolf, and something terrible probably happened to them because they're still a coven head! Is that what you want to tell them!?" She accused.
"WHAT!!??" Lucci shouted.
"....I didn't get to that part….." King winced.
Thump
The two of them looked at Lucci and Luz, both of whom hit the ground. "... You broke Luz and Lucci, good job." Mom deadpanned.
"We get to see adult romance!" Luz shouted, jumping up.
"Am …" Lucci looked absolutely bewildered. "Am I getting a dad?"
"... Technically it'd be Bapa." Eda started.
"Oh my Titan, I'm getting another parent." Lucci looked away. "They're not biological, so there's a chance it'll be alright..but am I ready for two parents?"
"You didn't think you were ready for two siblings, but you still put up with Luz." King pointed out.
"Could we stop talking about this like it's ironclad!?"
"Do you want it to be ironclad?" Luz smirked.
" That's not the point!" Eda screamed.
"Wait, which Coven was it again?" Lucci interrupted.
"Bard." Eda responded without thinking about it too much.
Lucci's eyes sparkled. "We share the same love of Bard magic, AND they lead their own rebel group against Belos!?" He grabbed the woman by the face. "Mom, do NOT throw away this opportunity. There's not many people that can check off that many boxes."
"Gaaahhh!" The woman screamed in outrage. "King, I thought you were against lovey dovey stuff!?"
"I am, but your love life is more funny than mushy." King snorted. "It's a far cry from the love sick puppies that are these two's relationships."
"I would argue with you if I wasn't completely head over heels for Amity." Luz nodded. "So how are we going to do this?"
"We're not. I can't get close to them without getting attacked on sight." Eda sighed. "The Coven's day Parade has four to five Coven Heads guarding it after me and Lucci set one to many fires. If it takes all of us to go against one, that many is waaay out of our league."
"I might actually have a way around that." Lucci brought up, taking out a map from his own hair. "Most of the time I see the Parade from the roofs, so I've gotten a birds eye view of the parade route they go every year. If we time it just right, there's a brief five to ten minute window we can use to get you to talk to your Bard ex."
"Nope, can't do that either." Eda pulled out the folder and placed some images. "Ever since the Bats they keep a Coven Head within five feet of them at all times. They'll be on the same float."
"..Then we'll have to make our OWN parade float and get up close!" Luz brought up. "We'll cause a distraction, and bring in everyone we can just in case! And when the time is right, BOOM, we kidnap your ex!"
"Is this really the best plan?" Eda asked.
"It works when you kidnap kids." King reasoned. "Adults shouldn't be that much of a stretch."
"... Between that comment and the diary, you are going to pay later mister." Worth it.
========================================================================
Amity sighed fondly. "Setting a fire to a parade … takes one back."
"Back to much simpler times. Where blowing people up was a fun pastime that no one argued with." Lucci agreed. "Now, our current vote is Operation Owl Mate. Any other suggestions?"
"I'm more fond of Operation Lovebird." Luz raised her hand.
"Beak rubbing is a pretty fun one." King put in their two cents.
"End me." Eda groaned.
"So … why are we here?" Gus asked. They were pretty much called in last minute for a 'job'.
"We're here … to get Eda and her Ex back together!" Lucci showed off a white board.
"Wait, Eda cares about someone, romantically?" Willow asked in an utter bafflement Amity completely shared. "So Lucci DOES have a dad?"
"Oh, I forgot I didn't explain this to everyone other than Boscha and Skara, and Amity by the fact she was there." Lucci cleared his throat. "I'm half human too along with being a crystal devi, so yeah…I'm adopted."
"Yeah that checks." Amity nodded at the shocked faces of Willow and Gus. "Though if that's the case, then I'm confused on how that druid creature from the second veggie incident is related to you."
"Wait, I thought-" Gus tried to say something as he came out of that shocked state, but Willow's hand got in the way as she got back up.
"So, back to Eda's love life, how are we fixing this trainwreck in the making?" Willow asked.
"We're going to kidnap a Coven head from four other Coven heads." Luz grinned.
"... Why would Eda be attracted to a Coven Head?" Amity questioned.
"Oh, it's actually a really cute story." Lucci pulled out a file from his hair. "Turns out they're childhood sweethearts that did everything together, particularly events relating to chaos and anarchy." He showed off pictures of a young Eda and another person, both in hexide uniforms. "Favorite part personally is their own abomination incident."
"This is the most embarrassed I've ever been in my life." The Owl Lady slumped.
"So, our plan is to distract, mistify, snatch, and bail." Luz laid out. "Distract using a parade float, mystify with the mist glyph, snatch the love of Eda's life with a ball of chains, and get the heck out of dodge."
"Why are you guys so insistent that Raine's my soulmate or something?"
"Because they're the only Ex you've never told us about, and you only bring up your other ex's to trash on them." King responded.
"And because they sound like me if I ever became an adult, and I really want to meet and hang with someone like that." Lucci grinned.
"And I want to make as many people as happy as possible to leave a lasting mark on the world." Luz smiled.
"But you already do that, mi camote." Amity blushed, trying out a new flirting tactic.
"Did you just call me your sweet potato in spanish?" Luz asked.
"Gus gave me a romance book." She pulled out the guide.
"... How to cook in spanish." Luz read off.
"Can I pick em, or can I pick em?" Said boy grinned confidently. Suddenly Amity felt like she may have made a mistake here.
"Still sweet of you to pick up the language." Luz smiled, kissing her on the cheek. "You're the real sweet potato here, mi amosa." And now Amity had all the motivation to die happy on this mission without any regrets.
"Hey, I agreed to one sappy love story today, not two!" King shouted indignantly
"We needed the muscle King. It was either her or Boscha." Lucci retorted. "And after the temple adventure, I'm giving her a break from that side of my life, or else half the conversations would be death threats up to this point."
"At least you're self aware of the problems Boscha brings to the group." Willow muttered under her breath.
"Okay, can we get back to the plan, I'm barely on board with this to begin with." Eda tapped her foot.
"Of course, take it away, Owl Lady." Luz bowed her head.
"Now problem one, Coven Heads." Eda tapped the board. "Clawthornes are a magnet for their hate, and the only exception is Mason of the Construction Coven."
"Why?" Gus asked.
"We keep him in business by destroying everything." Lucci shrugged. "But don't worry, I have an inside gal for the job."
"Inside gal…wait, don't tell me you actually got Kikimora?" Eda groaned.
"We agree on the important things." Lucci defended. "We both hate the Golden Quack with a fiery passion."
"She tried to kill us on multiple occasions."
"So has Amity, and Willow … and Boscha …" The boy trailed off. "Luz on accident … Hooty on multiple occasions when he mistook me for a bug … Aunt Lilly when she was in the Emperor's Coven … Centi when she got hungry …Grandma when she got too cure happy…,point is that near death experiences are great at bonding people together."
"We really need to reevaluate your social group." Eda muttered. "The point is, our distraction is gonna take the brunt of their unrelenting and almost unnatural wrath … so we have Hooty controlling the parade float."
"I'm under a sheet! My world is darkness and entropy!" The bird worm wiggled underneath the cloak.
"Once we get everything in place, we'll set up a dozen of mostly illegal fireworks that should keep most of them distracted." Luz kept going.
"I paid almost five hundred snails on them, your brother rules Amity!" King shouted.
"You poor naive sap." She'll have to double check those fireworks to see if they were actually real.
"That's when Kikimora will lead the majority of the Emperor's coven away, and with Gus's illusions and my mist glyphs, we'll blind everyone else long enough for Eda to snag Raine and take them under the cover of night!" Luz exclaimed.
"At which point we're on backup because every plan we have inevitably goes wrong somehow." Willow pointed out.
"Percisily!" Lucci nodded. "You and Amity will be on the roofs looking out and taking out any trouble from the highground. With those many bases covered, I'm certain of about ninety percent of this plan."
"What about the other ten?" Amity questioned.
"Well Luz is untouchable for some reason and I'm pretty sure I can survive at least one Coven Head trying to maim my face off." Lucci answered. "And the only Coven heads that are personally going to show up are the Bard, Illusionist, Construction, and Oracle, two of which we have no beef with and one being neutral to us at worst."
"Thus, complete success!" Luz cheered cutely.
"This seems too optimistic for you guys, given how the last misadventure turned out." Gus brought up.
"This is the first time my mom found genuine romance, I wanna be optimistic and see how it goes." Lucci shrugged.
"And like I said, I wanna make people happy." Luz smirked. "So let's do this, GLLAW!"
"...What the heck was that?" Willow raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, I figured since Law was a thing, I'd add to the acronym, you know…"
"Oh shoot, we might need a new name." Lucci muttered. "G slash A, L, L, A, W …Lalaw?"
"Eh, it doesn't really work. Law is meant to be semi-ironic with the name." Amity corrected.
"Wait, what about me?" King asked.
"Oh, this is more of a hexide friend thing than a family thing, plus that just complicates the acronym more." Lucci told the little guy. "Wait, would I have to include Boscha and Skara into that?"
"Maybe Skara, but Boscha would have to be our friend." Willow stated. "And right now she's only your Girlfriend and Skara's friend at best."
"Fair point." Luz nodded. "Let's hash out the details later, we got a parade to crash!"
========================================================================
Willow sat on the rooftops, watching the crowd below. She pulled out one of the 'walkie talkies' Luz showed her how to use. "You guys ever think we'd get to the point in our lives where fire was intentional?"
"My mom's a born pyromaniac, so I just assumed it was a natural part of life." Lucci answered.
"I am not a pyromaniac." There was a telling silence as no one came to her defense. "Seriously, that's how you all see me?"
" Anarchist, pyromanic, psycho, criminal, yeah, pretty much each definition of those words has your picture next to them in the dictionary." Gus explained. " I'm not kidding either, they literally put your face there next to each definition, Luz's for human, and Lucci's for Devil."
"Wait a second, give me that." There was a ruffling of pages. "Oh come on, we have the Rainbow Devil and an army of Crystal Devils out there, but somehow I'm the prime target."
" You ARE the most wanted criminal on the Boiling isles, so you can't say they aren't somewhat accurate." Amity spoke out.
" To think this'll probably be the closest I'll come to writing another book again after the book fair." Luz sighed. "Whatever happened to that publisher guy anyways?"
"After we let the other writers beat him up, we kind of just left him there." King answered. " Last I checked he does movie reviews now. Gave Planet of the humans two out of five screaming heads."
"... I should feel more insulted, but strangely, that makes sense." Ah, this was the banter she woke up in the morning for.
"I still don't get how these walkie talkies work if I'm being honest here." Willow spoke, watching as the parade floats passed by. "Witches used to use telepathic snails to communicate their voices across distances, but using plastic and electricity…that's just so weird."
"Oh, like in Fairy Piece."
" Fair-what now?" Most of them asked.
"I got to introduce you guys to manga if I ever get the chance." Luz deadpanned. "So what's the float we're looking for?"
"Kikimora said it was a cascade of strings and pipes." Lucci explained. " Apparently someone high up was being super petty, so they're presenting the Bard head on a pedestal with a single spotlight for a one witch performance for everyone to stare at because they know mom's ex has stage fright."
"Their name is Raine."
"Wait, like Rainestorm? Because I heard some stories …"
"This is why I never talked about them!" Eda exclaimed. "Everyone just goes crazy whenever they bring them up."
"From what Lilith told me, they were basically your best friend when you went to Hexide. " Luz brought up. "What happened?"
"... I got cursed, rest is history." The owl lady groaned. " They wanted to help, I couldn't let them, I couldn't let the Owl beast hurt anyone else like it did dad."
"But Hooty said that you dated for like thirty years."
"Yeah, with nobody important."
"Why would you date someone other than not liking them?" Lucci asked.
" To numb the pain or to share the misery I was feeling with someone else. Closest I got to actual attachment was this human I met in Vegas on an apple blood bender."
"I'm gonna wrap up this likely to be disturbing story and say I found the float." Willow spoke up. "And on scene is Raine, Kikimora, and …" A part of her froze. "Code green!" She screamed into the walkie talkie. "Terra is here!"
"Code blue!" Amity pipped up. "Cuttie is here!"
" Code orange, Vitimir is here!" Gus shouted.
"WHAT!?"
"Lucci, stay quiet, or they'll hear you!" King exclaimed.
"Okay, so three people that want Lucci super dead are here … alright then." Amity stated. "We can always swing around with some less notable people, right guys?"
KABOOOM
The fireworks began going off.
"Hooty is running rogue, chaos is our friend, Hoot Hoot!"
" Guys, we have no choice BUT to run with the plan if we want to make it out of here in one piece!" Lucci screamed. " I'll give Kikimora the signal to get the scouts out, Gus, Luz, illusions and mist, pronto!"
Multiple versions of Belos began prancing around the area. "I'm a moron, a numbskull, a doo doo head." They sang in choir. " Bow to Boo-lus, the dumbest witch in the Boiling Isles!"
"Damn Goops, you've really been upping your game lately."
"Apparently not enough for you to remember my first name."
"Goops isn't your first name?"
"WHAT PARENT WOULD NAME THEIR KID GOOPS?!"
"Someone who hates their kid."
" No, they'd name them Amity and disguise that hate under the thin veil of 'familial love'." Amity groaned.
"Okay, Luz has Kikimora, Eda has Raine …" Willow narrated into the walkies. "Congrats Luz, Snapdragon chose to chase you down."
"Any tips?"
"Run/ RUN." Willow exclaimed as Lucci said the same thing. "Don't give her a second to even look at you. Don't bother playing dead, she'll cut off your head either way. You have a better chance of surviving the boiling sea than facing her."
"Still better than my chances with Cuttie!"
"Look on the bright side." Amity spoke. "Vitimir chose to chase Eda instead."
" Oh I feel so grateful for that!" Eda shouted. "OW! Hey, Rainstorm, stoping kicking me, I'm doing this for your own good!"
"MPPHHHHHMMMPPP!"
"Nobody thanks me these days."
"So Amity." Willow groaned. "Which crazy problem are you tackling?"
"I'm gonna keep my girlfriend safe. Call it self invested but …"
"Yeah yeah." Willow rolled her eyes. "And that leaves me with crazy scientist and vindication incarnate." Either help Eda get away from Vitimir and deal with the adult relationship drama, or save one of her older friends from getting torn to shreds repeatedly by the most sadistic women on the isles…..
Vitimir was safer, but there was less drama with Cuttie. " Hang on Lucci, I'll be there in a second."
"Thank you Willow! You're the best!" Alright … time to make up for ten years of abandonment.
========================================================================
Hooty continued hopping forward. "I shall gobble you up! Feed your emperor!"
"Hooty, you can drop the act, we're already getting chased!" King shouted as he and Lucci rode on his back as they waltz through the streets.
Hooty tilted his head in confusion. "What act?" This was the fourth phase of Hooty's plan. Get the isles to fear his name as the one and only god.
"Alright, we lost Hooty. Let's bail while we can." King stated clearly.
"We can't just leave him. He's practically unstoppable, but even that can barely edge out a win against a coven head." Lucci argued.
"And Hooty was a noble sacrifice that will live on in our hearts."
"You used past tense .." Hooty gasped. "I'm a ghost!" He tried to possess a guy, but just lamely sent him through a building.
"Why is it so hard for you guys to be nice to him?" Lucci rolled his eyes. "He's the only reason why we aren't homeless."
"It's an instinct you lack, Lucci. Everyone has at least one problem in their brain, Hooty just happens to be yours." King patted the boy. "But your little bro has your back against all the odds."
A scapal went flying, nicking King and drawing a tiny bit of blood. "King! Don't worry, I'll lick that better in..!
Shink
A knife went into Lucci's arm, getting stuck halfway through! "Aaaaaaagggh!" He screamed in agony as his eyes lit up in feat. "Shit, shit, shit, shit! She's here, she's here!"
"That I am… Clawthorn e." A woman completely dressed in white, wearing a mask that covered the top half of her face. "You know, I'm not one for parades, even as a little girl I always found them tedious and tiresome….but there's always one thing that manages to bring me back every year." The woman growled. "The thought of slicing off your head…. slowly."
"Ah…hey….Cuttie….your looking…good.." Lucci nervously sweated, pulling out Sugar in her shield formation.
"It's HETTIE. Hettie Cutburn, Clawthorne." She corrected as she threw another knife at the boy, which went straight through his head.
"Riiiight." He nodded. "That's my bad, how about I just leave you to have your fun?" Lucci moved down. "Hooty get us the fuck out of here yesterday!"
"Don't worry Lucci, those little knives have nothing on me!" He shouted.
"Then how about we operate?" The woman pulled out a bonesaw. "Be warned though … this surgery will not follow the healer's oath."
"Come on, that parade incident was over ten years ago!" Lucci argued as he sent small spiky bubbles at the woman.
"My body still feels the burns from having my flesh melted off." The woman growed, slicing through each bubble as her saw glowed all blue and pretty like
"Then clearly you're not as good of a healer as Lucci is." Hooty was so proud of his friend, better than a Coven Head.
"You dare insult my CRAFT?" The woman charged ahead at a speed Hooty didn't expect, and hit him right on the neck.
"Hah, you call that an attack! I get worse from pixie bi-bi-bi-bi…" Hoot suddenly felt the majority of his body go limp, feeling like over half of it he couldn't lift up in the slightest. "..bites…" He fell on the ground. "Uh….fellas…I can't feel my neck…."
"I study all my patients. Every witch, demon, beast, I know the insides of them like the back of my head." The woman smirked savagely. "Including the pressure points of more…obscure specimens such as this….creature."
"Now can we abandon Hooty and run for our lives?" King questioned.
"King, do you really expect me to be that heartless?!" Lucci yelled.
"Oh, so you care about him?" The woman grinned, stabbing Hooty's neck. "Then I'll poision him and use the thing as a hostage. Skin him alive bit by bit until you beg for me to have mercy, where then I'll grab you by the neck, fracturing you brain's connection to your spine and paralyzing you, and that's only the beginning.
"… You are very detailed for a psychopath." King noted.
"I'm a professional. I have to be as detailed as possible to get my job done." Hettei swung at the boy with her saw, slicing an entire building to cubes as Lucci ducked. "And fantasizing about your demise is the only solace I have in my life for all the HELL you've put me through!"
"Hell? Now you're just delusional!" Lucci screamed as he used hammer mode on his staff to block another swing at the saw. "I blew you up once!"
"Yes, you blew me up, but that is just where it started, little devil child." The woman growled, grabbing Lucci by the leg and slamming him into the ground repeatedly. "Day in and day out, twenty four seven, three hundred sixty five, every exploit, every scheme, con, misadventure, somehow, someway, you leave casualties, forcing me to work OVERTIME on top of my already full schedule! DO YOU KNOW WHAT I HAD TO DO ON MY LAST FOURTEEN DAYS OFF IN THE LAST FOURTEEN YEARS!? WORK! WORK BECAUSE OF YOUR FAMILY'S IDIOCY!"
"Hey, we blow up buildings too, but Mason never complains about that!" Lucci shouted, flying into the air and shooting razor disks at the woman.
Shink
Which diced her into pieces, that began reforming. "That's because he chose a profession that didn't do much before YOU ALL SHOWED UP!!" The woman reformed. "My work has become a slog, a personal HELL for me that I have no choice but to return to every single day of my life! Your family turned what I love into hell!"
"If you hate it that much, just quit and find something else to do with your life!" King shouted. "Don't blame him for your mid-life crisis!"
"… " The woman turned the scapals to King. "Maybe I should start with a warmup, make sure I'm not too rusty peeling the skin off the bones of children ." And proceeded to through them at the little guy's head.
"KING!" Lucci tried to reach out.
"AAAH! I'M TOO BEAUTIFUL TO DIE YOUNG!" King shouted as he braced for impact.
Shick
Which fortunately never came as vines lifted up from the ground and grabbed them before they hit the little demon. "Cutting it a bit too close, aren't you?" Willow swopped in from her own Palisman, grabbing King before Heattie could attempt to do it again.
"Yeah, I live on the edge. Hooty's paralyzed and possibly poisoned, get him out of here so I have an excuse to run. I'll buy you time." Lucci stated, twirling Sugar around as she became a razor disk blaster. "Come on Cuttie, have at yee!"
"Every minute you continue to breathe is another hour I will deny you death when you're licking my boots for mercy!" The woman shouted, ignoring the damage and tackling the boy through a wall.
"Sorry I couldn't help more." Hooty apologized to everyone as his head began to sigh.
"Don't worry about it big…weird…bird guy…" Willow patted his neck. "I'll get you guys to safety and come back to pull Lucci out. He'll be lucky to survive with a limb still attached to his body."
"Can't you guys form that plant druid fusion and take her out?" King asked.
"Maybe, but with this many Coven heads in the area, even that might be too much for Orchid. They barely were able to match Snapdragon by themselves."
"I'm sure Lucci will be fine before today is over." Hooty reassured them. The boy was always stronger than people gave him credit for.
========================================================================
Raine was slightly livid at the moment. "MMMMHHHH!!" On account of being kidnapped by their ex they were trying to do all that they could to protect, half the reason being that they didn't want anything bad to happen to Eda, and the half being she was the mother of their FREAKIN child! "MMMMMMPPPH!"
"Just pipe down for a minute, Rainstorm, you're gonna blow our hiding spot if you keep freaking out like this." Eda chastised her as if she WASN'T committing a serious felony at the moment.
"MMMHHH!" Why couldn't she have just been plotting to talk in secret, when they weren't being watched? Darrius used notes to communicate, why couldn't she invest in a crow?! … Or at least steal one? Raine was on thin ice already, having to constantly pretend Terra's tea was having an effect on them, not to mention the hours of 'acting lessons' they had to endure from Darius.
She ran into an alleyway, ripping off the gag. "Now for starters, you're welcome. Second, I will accept your apologies for the kicking."
"APOLOGIES!?!?" Raine shouted. "You kidnapped me!" The kicking should have been a clear indicator of their refusal.
"Yeah, to save you from the Emperor's Coven, remember? Bard's against the throne? The rebellion you started? Having nothing to lose?" Eda smoked. "Come on Rainstorm, your memory can't be that messed up."
Time to see if those lessons paid off. "Listen Eda, I don't know what the curse did to your head, but you need to get your facts straight. I am one of the people who stops rebellions, not starts them." Raine stated plainly. "So drop this nonsense."
Come on, come one, buy it, buy it, for the love of titan, buy the lie! "Huh? Raine, it was just a couple of weeks ago. I know the Coven's heads must've been harsh on you, but that's no need.."
"What are YOU talking about?" Raine didn't give her a chance to finish. "I've been sick for the past few weeks, I haven't left the Emperor's castle at all. I haven't seen you in years, Eda." They lied through their teeth.
"Years … no, no Raine listen, you have to believe me." She had such a scared look. "They did something to your head, if you come with me we can-"
"No." Fighting every instinct in their body, they pulled out their violin. "Leave, or I'll make you … don't make me do this Eda."
"No, I let you go once.." Eda dropped a piece of paper on the ground and stepped on it, forming a wall of vines behind them, blocking the easiest exit out ot the ally way. "I'm not going to let you go again." This would be more touching if it wasn't screwing with their plan! They barely just got the rebellion under wraps again, Raine couldn't afford to screw up again. They needed to be completely focused, and that could only happen if Eda and her family stayed safe!
"That wasn't a suggestion, Eda, that was a warning." Raine bit their tongue, forcing themselves to go through the attack as they unleashed a sound slash. "I won't go easy on you just because we dated."
The woman ducked under it. "I wouldn't have it any other way." She pulled forth more of those papers, freezing Raine's legs and rushing forward with another in hand. "Brings back old memories, doesn't it? Back when that old weed Terra tried to put us against each other, remember?"
"Yeah, I remember. She said we had great potential. I chose to embrace that and worked my way up to head of the Bard Coven while you continued to be a wild witch." Raine broke through the ice and sent another slash.
"Wild magic was never an issue back then!" She shouted, ducking under an attack. "Mixing magics, embracing chaos, that's what made us witches!" Ed slammed another glyph, blinding Raine with light. "You were all about that! Expanding your bard magic! Experimenting witch how much you could control the world, because you are fearless and never backed down from anything!"
"Shut up, shut up!" Raine picked up her melody, playing faster as she summoned storm clouds to bring down lightning bolts.
"That's why when my son picked up Bard magic, I made sure to teach him everything you ever taught me about it!" Bite that tongue harder, don't get emotional, don't get curious, don't swell up in joy.
"Since when would you be trusted around children?!" Raine shouted in anger.
"It's become his passion! He's always playing his heart out and never gives a damn about what others say about him!" Eda exclaimed, dodging each bolt. "He's so full of life just like you used to be, and he wants to meet you! Rainstorm, doesn't that mean anything to you!?" Their son…wanted to…
"Just stop it!" Raine called out, using the broken rubble and sending it forward … as one of the rocks managed to hit her in the leg, hard .
" AAAAAAUUGGGGG!" Eda cried out as the owl lady hit the floor with a loud thud. "WHY!?
"I told you Eda, I can't go easy on you. Too much is on the line." Raine threatened, mentally banging their head against a wall for being so reckless and getting Eda hurt. "Now leave, before any scouts show up. I'm letting you go because of the memories we had, do you understand?"
They slashed away the vines, prepared to leave the alleyway. "Raine…" Eda grabbed them by the foot. "Please.."
She looked so helpless…so desperate….why did they have to go this far? Why did Eda make it so difficult to help them!? "The Day of Unity is coming up. It's not going to be pretty for anyone. Take your family, travel, far, far away from here, and don't show your face to me again." Raine shoved her off and walked away.
It was for the best … no matter how much it hurt in the end. If keeping them safe meant Eda hated Raine…if it meant never getting to know their son….they Raine would pay that price a hundred fold if they got to live to see the future.
========================================================================
Luz smiled as she whipped off some of the blood. "It only took ten minutes of non stop running for our lives, but we finally made it."
"Yeah, Terra snapdragon is no joke, she's never been replaced as the plant coven head for reason." Amity told her as she cracked her neck. "She's basically Willow if she didn't know the meaning of restraint."
"And Willow said she nearly matched her a couple weeks ago … imagine if she gets to her prime ." Luz shivered at the Orchid in single witch form.
"Still can't believe we're doing this much for Kikimora of all witches." Amity groaned at the tiny lady she carried in her arms."Why did you even agree to help us?"
The tiny witch sighed."Two reasons actually. There's a family reunion in palm stings I need to get to or risk being exiled from my family, and being kidnapped is the perfect excuse to do so without angering the emperor's coven."
"See, good things." Luz was making the Isles a better place for everyone, right?
"And what's the second?"
"Talking with the Manticore Menace. The ability to both gain information on your weaknesses and trash talk the Golden Tool is invaluable." Kiki cackled. "It's mostly been the latter, but I'm not one to look a gift snorse in the mouth."
"….Right, 'good' things." Amity restated in disbelief.
"Meh, pros outweigh the cons." Luz smirked as she put down the woman. "Alright Kiki, we'll put out the ransome note in the morning and talk out the rest from there."
"Yes, this is perfect, I don't have to lose my worth to both my job and my family!" The tiny witch cheered. "You have no idea how stressful it's been for me. After failing over and over and over again and letting down everyone you care about, you just start to question the why of it all. Why was I born? Why do I keep failing? Why should I bother anymore?"
"I can relate more than you think." Luz nodded, immediately empathizing with the woman. No wonder why Lucci bonded so well with her.
"Ooooh children! Kikimora! I have a word or two for you!"
"Shit, she's caught up with us!" Luz exclaimed, pulling out an invisibility glyph for Kikimora. "We'll make a barrier, just slap this on, hold your breath, and make it to the dock around the corner."
"Understood." The woman held her breath, vanishing.
"Do you really think we can pull up a defensive line?" Amity asked.
"Between your strength and my Emperor immunity, I'm sure we can pull something out." Luz admitted as she grabbed some glyphs.
"I feel like your overestimating my strength here…."
"You my awesome girlfriend, I'm always going to belive you can do anything, sweet potato." It was okay to flirt since king wasn't around now.
And cue the absorbable blush. "B-be that as that may…Are you ever going to figure out why the Emperor doesn't want to hurt you? I feel like that's a massive red flag that's gone unanswered for too long."
"That would require getting close to him again … and every second I was standing next to him was a second something inside me died." She shivered. Luz was scared of few things in life. Pretty sure Grom would turn into that guy next time. "Lucci got it worse, he could somehow feel the magic inside of Belos." He described it a 'screaming souls and unnatural flows' or something like that.
"Then you know just how much you two are tempting fate just by defying today of all days." Vines sprouted from the walls and grabbed them by the arms.
"We do that every day, fate just likes to screw us back personally." Luz grimaced as she slipped a fire glyph from her hand onto her own arb, burning off the vines but leaving a small burn. "Yeowch."
"So you're the human everyone in the isles is going crazy about." Terra laughed as she just instantly regrew the vines faster than the blink of an eye. "The same human that Edalyn Clawthorne took on as her own student. I have to say, part of me feels a sense of pride seeing her become a teacher of sorts,even if it's clear she's done a horrendous job at it."
"Horrendous job you say." Luz's eye twitched. "Let me show you how horrendous I can get!" She kicked at her leg, causing glyphs to fall to the ground, allowing her send off three icicle shards. One for her vines, one for Amity, and one to distract Terra by flying to her head. She followed up with an invisible lightning glyph, using it on the ground, which would act as an ironic conductor for all the plants.
The woman smirked as she let the attack hit her.,.and did nothing. "I'm the head of the plant coven for a reason, dearie. I don't just command plants, I grow them to survive in the harshest of conditions."
"How about the cold!?" Amity sent a wave of abomination goo covered in Ice glyphs, seeing the freezing funk all over Terra
The next thing they knew, the old woman was popping out of the ground behind them, looking completely intact. "That was the first thing I ever trained my plants to adapt for. After that it was heat, then poison, then lack of nutrients, lack of sunlight, too much sunlight, inside of the Boiling Sea … after that I just started learning fun ways to eviscerate people." The woman cackled sadistically. "After all, one must occupy their mind or risk going mad."
"I think it might be too late on that front." Luz muttered under her breath.
"Oh, children today are so rude. And to think I chased you down this far to ask where Kikimora had gone." Terra pouted insincerely. "And to think she was so close to that promotion too."
"Wasn't she being constantly scolded for failure?" Amity questioned as she sent forth some abomination fists with spikes. "Why promote her?"
"Oh, that's just tough love dearie, someone as capable and loved as her clearly deserves a more… well deserved position." The way the older women kept wording it was the most insincere line up of words that Luz had ever heard.
"You really don't like her, do you?" Luz deadpanned as she pulled out a couple of abomination glyphs to give Amity more ammo.
"Why, I have no idea what you're talking about." Terra smirked as the giant plant monster she was riding on began chomping away every bit of goo they were throwing at her. "She's a loyal and trusted member of the Emperor's coven. Such a shame she isn't here now."
"Hah, big shame! She's not…" Luz felt a large shadow loom over her. "..not…" Don't tell her Kiki was… "...What about all that junk about trying to get to your family!?"
"SCREW MY FAMILY, I have a promotion!" The tiny woman cacked as she rode on her dragon, using its tail to try and squash her and Amity. "Palm stings can burn for all I care, not when I can finally secure my position with the Emperor!"
'Screw family' … something snapped inside of Luz. "Gaaaaahhh!!" She pulled out glyph after glyph. Fire, lightning, stone spear, everything . "I would kill to see my mom again, and you'd burn that for some dick on throne?!" Why did she trust her, why did she trust people, why did she try to keep butting her head into situations like this!?
"Oooh, such a fierce temper, now I believe you're Edalyn's student." Terra grinned as she wrapped her vines around both every attack Luz had and Kiki's dragon. "As much as I hate to stop a good slaughtering in the making, there's still a small matter of business I need to complete."
"My promotion?" Kiki asked with gross doe eyes.
"Unfortunately." The plant lady grumbled. "The promotion is real, as inconceivable as it is."
"What do I get?" The bitch asked.
"You get … to live." What?"
There was a tense silence. "Wha … what?"
"Oh yes, we wanted to see if you were loyal. If you weren't, we had permission to kill off you and your family." The woman chuckled. "Sadly, you passed … oh, but if that human is here, then Lucifer should be as well. I can get my kicks against him. Maybe his little sprout friend with the glasses if I'm extra lucky."
"Does the whole isles just have that massive of a hate boner for Lucci?" Luz asked.
"Manticore menace, giant bounty, duh." Amity reminded her. "Also Terra Snapdragon just has a thing for murdering kids in general. If you weren't on Belos's spare list and I wasn't a Blight, we wouldn't be having this conversation."
"Such a shame too. I would've liked to see how ruthless you could be when you're back into a corner." The woman shrugged, wrapping Kikimora in her vines and walking off. "Goodbye human….or…Belos wished for me to extend a grapevine of sorts to you." Terra cackled. "He says he's looking forward to meeting you."
The two of them watched her leave. "… That was cryptic and weird." Amity stated, and Luz wholeheartedly agreed. They already met, how could they meet again?
Luz then came to a horrifying realization. "She … Kikimora would have died if she was a decent person."
Amity looked at her in worry. "Luz…"
"There's no winning against this…..I keep failing at being good, and if I had actually done a good job today, Kiki and her family would've died…"
"You don't know that, Luz. Stop thinking about what ifs and stop placing all the blame on your shoulders." Amity grabbed her hands. "If anything, this is more Lucci's fault for thinking Kikimora could turn around after bonding over hating someone."
"But that's my job." Luz could feel tears forming. "I'm supposed to believe in the best … why can't they just … be good like you?" Why did Lucci have to be right in the beginning about trust?
"Luz, I'm not good, you know that." Amity hugged her. "Or at least, I'm barely getting on the right track of being good again. I have you to thank for that, and I'll never regret you being in my life."
"You spent ten years being miserable to keep your friends safe and you say you're not good?" Luz smiled as she hugged back. "Stop doubting yourself, Amity."
"Only if you stop doubting yourself, Mi Camote."
"Alright … My Sweet Potato." She wouldn't, but having the most wonderful girl in the world by her side would soften the blow a little.
KAABBOOOOOOM!
"..So we should probably go save Lucci from being killed now." Luz brought up after their tender moment was interrupted by the explosions coming from the city.
"Yeah, that's fair."
========================================================================
Hettie let her eyes grow back as she located the annoyance, throwing another scappal at the bastard. "You know, your regenerative properties just make the prospect of hurting you all the more pleasant."
"And you just completely guaranteed that when I cut off your head, I don't have to worry about any regret whether or not it kills you." The boy kept blocking those inane shield spells that only so few and far inbetween have managed to break through.
"Oh so many have tried, child, and only Belos himself has managed to scar me." She retorted as she went forth with the bonesaw. "Sooner or later, you'll tire yourself out trying." Even if Hettie couldn't kill him here, she could at least hurt him until other Coven Heads showed themselves.
"Yeah, the golden bitch tried that once, didn't exactly work out for him." The boy turned his palisman into a sledgehammer, and swung it at her chest, cracking a few ribs. "Snapdragon tried, but it didn't work either. Vitimir, you've all failed."
"Yes, yes they have…but you weren't alone. None of your previous 'victories' have been solely of your own accord." Hettie brought up as she aimed for his head, only managing to knick him by the face.
"Which is why I have no plans to stay." The boy admitted, pulling out a strange device as he formed a bubble around himself. "Willow, is Hooty out of the danger zone?"
"Pretty much, though the big guy isn't making it easy for me!"
"OOH, YOUR HEAD LOOKS LIKE A BUG! LET ME TAKE A BITE!"
"In that case, a few choice words." The bastard child sent forth a swarm of bubbles. "Sayonara, peace, better luck next time." He waved, flying off on that damned palisman.
"Oh, but you looked like you were both having so much fun." Before a branch grew forward, wrapping around the boy and slamming him into the ground. "Can't you let me join for a few moments?"
"You know, for a second I really thought if I forgot you were here, you wouldn't show up." The bastard grumbled as he created a bubble around himself to break out of the branches.
"Oh, silly child. There's not a single coven head that doesn't know of your infamy on today of all days." Snapdragon cackled as the roots growing beneath her sharpened. "I hope you don't mind if I give these moss covered bones a good active struggle, Hettie dear. It's just, when someone both throws me through a wall and burns down a palistrum tree to ash, I get the feeling of ripping out one or two arteries."
"Leave all lethal blows to me, and you can go as crazy as you want." The Healing head nodded.
"And normal blows against him would be lethal to anyone else, lovely." The mad woman chuckled as she fired off attack after attack.
"Oh great!" The Devil child shouted, spinning his staff as a shield formed, blocking most of the attacks but pushing him back. "Anyone else want a go at me!?" There was a poof, as Vitimir appeared behind the child. "THAT WAS SARCASM UNIVERSE!"
"This is a matter of strictly business, boy. And the business here is that all three of us want to see your insides bleed out on the floor." The potion head threw a vial of acid on the boys back as the bastard tried to flee. "Well, personally I'd rather see your insides pulse and function to see what makes you tick, but the Emperor is a very instent man."
"Well sorry for making your lives soo inconvenient by living!" The child groaned as he hacked away at more of Terra's weeds.
"Your apology is noted." Hettie smirked as she threw forth more scapals laced with poisons and curses.
"Oooh, you've given me a snack, thank you!" The child grabbed one and licked it like it was a popsicle. "Hm, cyanide is a little overpowering by itself. Might want to balance it out with poison berry or fairy dust on the next batch." Every word just made her want to kill everything more.
"Are you sure that's a wise choice?" Terra asked, sending forth wooden chains to hold the child down. "Healing takes energy that you're very limited on. Imagine how hard you're pushing your immune system while fighting simultaneously."
"Eh, poisons by themselves don't really hurt me anymore. Pretty sure I'm immune to them regardless of healing due to increased exposure.
"And what about the curse I laced the scapals with?" She questioned.
"BLEEEEGGGG." A dark sludge screamed as it crawled out of the boy's mouth, running to the rooftops and laughing maniacally.
"That happens." The boy smirked proudly as he tried to struggle out of the wooden chains. "Though i'm usually don't feel sluggish afterwards." FINALLY! Something affected this brat.
"Don't bother, I made these one's out of pure ironwood. People really think I'm dumb enough to use vines that break from a single stretch repeatedly." The woman rolled her eyes. "So, you two wouldn't mind if I cripple him before you go to work?" She pulled out some buzz flowers.
"Just make sure his blood's intact. That's the main component I'd love to work with." Vitimir asked.
"And just leave him conscious enough for him to see my face before I kill him…and cripple him..very…. very…. slowly. " Hettie commanded.
"Glad to see the current generation is doing wonderful." Snapdragon chuckled as she sent the flower closer and closer …
"Lucci!" Before a dark skinned child from what seemed out of nowhere flew straight into the boy. "Rubix, now!"
There was a flash of light, as shapes warped around the bindings, forming … an amalgamation of colorful cubes? "Hello there."
"... So … MANY … QUESTIONS!" Vitimir shouted with sparkly eyes.
"I know right!? My head's spinning with mysteries yet to be solved!" The…thing's head spun around like a tornado.
"If you combined the body mass of both bodies, are you functioning on two sets of organs, or did the fibers and tissues mix together?" The man questioned. "Not to mention the neural paths for conflicting commands, which is probably why their body is an unstable mess."
"Well I only have one pair of eyes and mouth, but strangely the fusion got three eyes when Lucci fused with Amity."
"THERE'S MORE COMBINATIONS!?"
"Oh yes, and each one is more unique than the last!" The thing poofed, popping out of the chains and ontop of the man's hat.
"I personally fought one with that plant girl. It was strangely weaker than when they separated." Terra noted. "So, how about I strike them down and-"
"Sorry about that, I really should have started with you already lost." The thing chuckled, its blocks beginning to take on a bipedal shape.
"And how would that be so?" Heatti swung at the thing's neck, which rolled off, climbed up the nearest wall, and jumped back on its shoulders like it was a damn ball.
"Illusion magic messes with the brain. So with Gus's expanded knowledge and Lucci's fusion know how after experimentation, I messed with your sense of time." The rainbow colored witch smiled as they formed a grinning face. "You've been talking with an illusion for three hours."
"That's not poss-!" Hettie tried to argue, only for the world to pause for a moment, before feeling the brief sunlight of dawn pop its head from the sky, and the brat(s)....gone. "HOW DID THAT HAPPEN!? They were JUST standing in front of us!"
"Perception of time, I'll have to ask Adrian how advanced that needs to be." Vitimir began to mumble. "Not to mention factoring in our responses beforehand … fascinating."
"So that's three interesting sprouts of the next generation I've encountered so far. I almost feel bad for wanting to snuff them out….almost." Terra laughed.
Hettie was denied revenge...when it was so… freaking….. close! The next time, she was taking no chances. That boy would die….. no matter how many bodies got in the way.
========================================================================
Eda handed out some more snacks to Lucci. "I'm gonna be tasting that curse for the next three days … gross." He complained, taking a bite out of his ice-pop.
"Look on the bright side, we proved Rubix could kick but when it mattered." Goops grinned. "Three Coven Heads completely lost in their own heads."
"It was pretty funny seeing them talk to nothing but the air, not going to lie." Boots snickered as she cuddled next to Luz, being all lovey-dovey. "So when did we piss off Terra Snapdragon?"
"Few weeks ago. Me and Lucci grew a Palistrum tree. She tried to take it, so we burned it." Willow answered nonchalantly, taking a drink of water. "Didn't even have time to scatter the ashes for a proper send off."
"You know that's physically impossible right?" Amity questioned.
"Trust me Boots, I tried to drill it into his head already. Lucci's powers just don't care." Eda snorted.
"So….I'm guessing the talk between you and Raine didn't go well." Luz looked at her with a longing gaze.
She was a bit silent. "... They messed with their brain, the Bats are completely gone." That bastard Belos didn't know when to quit. "They did say to leave the Isles before the day of unity though."
"Day of unity?" Gus questioned.
"We only got a sliver of an answer from the Golden Tool." Lucci answered. "Apparently the man plans on eliminating Wild Magic permanently, how you got about that I have no idea." Her son then looked at her. "Sorry mom. They sounded like a good person."
"Raine still is, I can feel it, otherwise they wouldn't have let me go." Eda reaffirmed. "Right now I'm more pissed off at the troll Kikimora."
"Yeah…that one's on me." Lucci groaned. "Really thought there was something there.
"Hey, you weren't the one that encouraged trust, or the one that gave an ultimatum for anyone who's a decent person in the Emperor's Coven to be executed." Luz tried to reassure him. "Today's just been a huge mess where nobody wins…again."
"Hey, we're still alive, we're still kicking, and the Coven heads looked like idiots for three hours, I say that's a good enough win in my book." Willow smirked, before looking down at the parades. "You know, now having lived through everything within the past four months, all my coven praise and worship just feels….stupid in hindsight."
"Yeah, tell me about it." Gus nodded. "And here I thought I could one day replace Adrian Gray."
"You wouldn't be replacing much there." Eda mumbled. She hid in one of their plays once … terrible writing. "What about you King, have a fun day?"
"I got dragged around by Hooty acting crazy. I hardly call that fun." The little guy whined. "Please tell me that the paralysis is long lasting."
"I can just heal him right now…"
"Don't." King grabbed Lucci's hand. "Just…don't."
"But…"
"Don't." King repeated. "Not today….give me that at least."
"Tell me they end today with fun and beautiful fireworks we can cuddle to." Luz begged as she grabbed a hold of Boots. All their attention was turned to the center of the town, where a giant illusion was being shown off…an illusion of freaking Belos . "...Dang it, I can't stop jinxing it."
"Children of the Isles, thank you." Belos began to speak. " Due to your loyalty and support, we have continued to perfect the Coven system and purify the magic as the Titan intended. The day of Unity shall come about in two months time, when the tide is at it's lowest, and the moon obscures the sun."
"An eclipse?" Luz questioned.
"Two months?" Lucci questioned.
"Perfect the system?" Eda scanned the man.
"When that day occurs, all wild magic shall be whipped from the world, and we will enter a peaceful paradise." The crowed 'ooed' like moronic sheep. "Now, due to our many years together, and effort you've helped put in, I feel more at ease than ever." Lucci coughed, getting a 'faker' in there. "I shall trust you all … with what is really under the mask."
"Seriously, he thinks all these idiots are going to go along with his crazy utopia talk just because he shows face?" Eda snorted. "Like anyone's going to be impressed by-"
The entire isle was soon covered by shocked gasps as the Emperor removed his mask….showing a weathered old man with torn pointed ear, long light brown and gray hair, and green scar across his face that made him look like he was part rotten tree. "I may preach about the dangers of what wild magic can do … but only because I have seen it with my own eyes, experienced it with my own flesh … and lost my own family to it."
"Wow….that's….anticlimactic if I'm being honest." Luz responded after a minute of silence. "He looks more…normal than I was expecting."
"I know, right? The mask and the glowing blue eyes. I thought there'd be something more monstrous underneath it." Lucci agreed. "Like, maybe something gooey and slimy leaking out of every inch of his face."
"Aww." Willow whined. "I lost the bet."
"Told you he was a guy wounded by wild magic." Amity grinned. "Pay up everyone, I could use the money for me and Luz's next date."
"He's still the ugliest son of a gun I've ever seen, so I at least have that." Lucci handed in a bag of snails.
"I do hope that together, we can strive for a brighter future, for paradise." The man smiled. "For the day of unity."
"WHOA HOO! GO Belos!"
"Day of Unity!"
"DEATH TO WILD MAGIC!"
"Great." Eda groaned. "He's persuaded nearly everyone to his side. Looks like we're going to be on our own trying to fight this, kiddos."
"Aren't we always?" Lucci shrugged with a grin. "So lets go and be wild witches, just like the elden days."
========================================================================
Tilla Nosella readied her ultimate revenge plan against the Manticore Menace … paper air birds! "Perfect, Perfect! Soon Wevil cwild, soon you will feel my wwatih!" She cackled in the air. She never forgot about that day, ten years ago when he hit her in the face with that shield. Four months in the hospital. Sure, that's how she was inspired to get her medical license, but the point was that she was wronged, and she deserved compensation!
Ever since that incident, the most horrible thing had plagued Tilla Nosella for years on end, haunting her every waking moment … her nose was three inches to the right! Also the incurable brain damage, but mostly the nose!
She honed every skill she's had since that day to the fullest, trying to join the strongest covens available so she could get skilled enough to match the boy. That just resulted in getting kicked out of every coven for being 'too enthusiastic'. So what if Tilla destroyed everything in the construction coven in a blind rage, gave horrific nightmares to those in the oracle coven, poisoned everyone in the potion coven, and drowned everyone in the abomination coven. They were all just too weak to handle her amazing skill!
Now, they would march in and destroy the child, taking the spoils of war for their own, and soon living their life, cathartically fulfilled for the rest of her life! Tilla walked out … and was face to face with a snakey looking fellow…."... Hewwo." She waved.
"Hello." The creature waved back. "What brings you about on this fine evening?"
"Wevenge." The witch nodded.
"Ah, so we have something in common, wonderful." The creature grinned. "I also have a need for absolute revenge."
"Mawbe we can hewp each other." Tila suggested. Revenge was always best when you shared it with friends.
"Oh, you will absolutely be helping me." The creature grinned, showing off some sharp and savage looking teeth, before lunging at her, pressing her tiny body against a wall as he opened his mouth wide open.
"... Wook pal, I'm fwattered, but I'm ouwt of wour weage." Only someone with an uncontrollable rage and power could ever hope to tame Tila Nosa.
"Someone has a high opinion of themselves...I wonder why that is." He pressed his hand against her mouth as he began inhaling…and she began feeling weaker…and drowsy…and sleepy. "I guess I'll find out soon enough."
"Weoon … ewough?" Tilla's question was soon answered, as the snakey man became … her, a complete and exact copy. Grinning, the copy touched her arm, their hand glowing a dark green as Tila felt something poke her brain. "Waaaat."
"Now, wor wife is miwne." The copy paused. "How diwd I copw the speech impwdiment?"
"Bwain...Damage...." She fell to the ground. "Who…who awe you?"
"Fow the sake of intiwacy … call me point fowty two." He grinned. "Aw am won of many, soon to be more."
"Hopefully less deranged." Tilla turned, seeing another snakey man show up. "I'll take them through the caves, you have enough magic to last a week?"
"Wf I am wusy wasting, mawby hawf."
"Ugh, seriously you just had to go for the mental one." The other snakey man groaned. "She should recover in two days. You can get your refill by then. The parade allowed us to replace a quarter of the town." The copy opened their mouth. "If you're gonna talk, turn off the speech."
They sighed, something flowing out of their heads. "I understand, just stating facts. I know the mission, get them in position and let others take their spots."
"Be wary of Oracles too." The snakey man stated.
"Actually her memories said that Oracle magic is pretty useless." Her copy explained. "Hexide and the Isles get attacked pretty often with no warning."
"Really?" The snakey man raised an eyebrow
"Yeah, even Twicepta and Ivan managed to land full scale attacks …" They frowned. "Before those brats …"
"Easy there, forty two, they're all going to pay." The snakey man grinned. "Soon, everyone will pay."