Deep within the Emperor's Castle, the Emperor stood before a door. Upon close look, the door in question was the portal door, its fragments having been recollected and pieced together. The frame was replaced with metal, and there was a large metallic ring with a set of wing-like protrusions on its sides connected to the frame, possibly as a way to expand the size of the portal.
Tubes connected to the door, and Belos inserted another one to connect to the keyhole beneath the doorknob. Nearby sat a book a set of blueprints for a key reminiscient of the portal key, a book talking about something called a 'Grimwalker', and most notably, Belos' mask.
The Emperor of the Isles raised his hand with a gesture to a nearby and improved Abomaton. Shortly after Amity annihilated the one from the demonstration, the Abomatons were upgraded. However, Odalia would never get the chance to sell them publicly, as the Golden Guard had swept in under orders, declaring that the Abomatons were to be privately made for the Emperor himself.
Seeing the gesture, the Abomaton proceeded to turn a wheel on another gadget, causing a glowing green substance to flow through the tubes laid across the floor, eventually reaching the door and energizing it. The door glows brightly in response as Belos pulls out a constructed key, attempting to put the key in the keyhole on the doorknob. However, the key is instantly vaporized upon his attempt to turn it. In response to the failed attempt, the energy stops flowing and the light radiating from the door dies.
Nearby, Hunter can be seen peeking from the entrance to the room, watching the entire test go down until the cardinal palisman appears. After he had returned to the castle to report his failure (and gleefully taunt Kikimora), the cardinal had come to his window, choosing Hunter as his partner. It was a very risky thing for him, especially given what Belos does to palismen. Hunter had been doing his best since then to keep the little guy a secret.
The cardinal flew by and landed on Hunter's left shoulder, letting out a chirp to try and talk to him. Unfortunately, this was not a bright move on the bird's part, given that Hunter couldn't understand him yet and that Belos is right freaking there what are you doing?!
"Shoo!" Hunter quietly tries to shoo away the cardinal, only for it to fly behind him and land on his other shoulder.
"Would you like to see how it works, Hunter?" Belos stated, turning back over his shoulder to look toward Hunter's hiding spot.
Hunter gasps as the cardinal reverts to his inanimate form, letting the boy quickly hide him within his cloak before stepping out of the shadows.
"I didn't mean to hide, Emperor Belos." Hunter apologized.
Upon closer inspection, Belos was notably shorter, possibly using some kind of trick to elevate himself as his cloak dragged a foot along the ground. He was an eldering man with a pale complexion, light-blue eyes, wrinkled lips, and long, rugged, ash-blond hair reaching past his shoulders. His ears were pointed with a notch on his left ear, however, they were notably a lot smaller than most, not reaching as far away from his face. Most prominently, were a series of four basil-green slash scars running diagonally from his right cheek up to his hairline on the left, and all centralizing down his neck. The most predominant scar was the second going down, notably larger than the other three, seeming to be the heaviest point of damage and possibly two in one judging from the spacing of the other three.
Emperor Belos turned back toward the portal. "We found every piece of the door. But without the power of the real key, it refuses to open."
"Flint told me that the rain doesn't boil on Earth," Hunter said.
Belos' face wrinkled in a sneer, causing Hunter to jolt in surprise before it returned to normal. "Apologies if I scared you nephew. That boy simply…reminds me of someone I met a long time ago." Belos apologized. "But he is correct. You know, I've been there before. Did I ever tell you that?" Belos asked.
Hunter shook his head.
Emperor Belos smiled kindly. "The trees there are green. Nights are quiet. And the creatures? Oh, they are much less violent and more skittish than most creatures on the Isles." Belos gave a soft chuckle before continuing. "It's much more…peaceful. I look forward to seeing it again. Were you spying on me just to hear these boring stories?" Belos asked, with a light tease as he stepped down from the platform the portal stood on.
"The operation at the Knee…why did you switch me out with Kikimora?" Hunter asked.
Belos wrapped his arm around Hunter as they began to walk back to the entrance. "Everyone has a use, Hunter. Kikimora has her intricate little plans. The scouts carry out orders. And you, well, the Titan has big plans for you, and it would such a hassle to find a replacement. So, right now, you can be useful by staying safe in the castle."
Hunter stands just outside the room and looks back at Belos. "If this is punishment for failing my last mission, I swear I can do better," Hunter pled.
Belos simply smiled softly. "Goodnight, Hunter," Belos said before closing the door.
Hunter, however, is left unsatisfied, as he turns and runs off.
"I think you're overreacting a tad bit." Flint started, walking down one of the Owl House's halls to Amity's right with Philip's journal in his left hand, both the item and his right hand glowing scarlet. Flint's horns were now roughly four centimeters in length with the base being an inch in diameter.
Amity walked to his left with a clipboard in hand. "I think you're underreacting." Amity countered, not looking away from her checklist.
"Look, I get that you're worried, I would be lying if I said I wasn't, but getting all antsy about and stressing out isn't gonna help." Flint defended.
Amity glanced at him briefly in thought before turning to the pane to her left, Hooty's outline visible on the other side. "Hooty, what's your status?"
Hooty bashes his face through the window, startling Amity as he took a step away to avoid the glass. "The perimeter's secured. Nothing's getting past me!" Hooty declared proudly.
"Good," Amity affirmed with a nod as she began to walk off. "You know what to do Sifu Hotman." Amity addressed Flint.
The glow surrounding the journal dimmed as Flint aimed his right hand at Hooty. Hooty backed out of the window as Flint traced a spell, causing the broken pieces of the window to be surrounded by a scarlet glow, before rewinding back into place. In a moment, the window was fixed as though it had never been broken in the first place. With his task complete, Flint returned his attention to the journal again, the glow returning.
Flint and Amity made it down the stairs and to the kitchen, as Willow placed some bags down on the table with Clover following behind her.
"Willow, did you gather the supplies?" Amity asked the plant witch.
Willow salutes. "All is accounted for," Willow responded as Clover landed on her shoulder.
Amity smiles. "Great," Amity said approvingly, giving a thumbs up.
Ghost walks up with a dead spider in her mouth and places it on the ground in front of Amity. "This foul arachnid shall not harm your lover." Ghost declared.
Gray flew beside her and gave her the equivalent of a raised brow. "And they keep saying I'm prideful?"
"You are arrogant. There's a difference." Ghost scoffed.
Gray rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say…old timer," Gray said with a cocky smirk.
Ghost glared at him and attempted to claw at him, but Gray was already in the air and flew to Flint's shoulder, putting out his flames.
Ghost's eyes narrowed. "Don't test me, brat."
Amity snorted at the two's antics, though only understanding Ghost's half of the conversation as she reached down to scratch her chin. To some, they'd think Gray and Ghost were at odds with each other, but Flint and her father had told her enough about each respective palisman to know this was just how they showed they cared. Gray's tones were all in a joking manner, 'Gee, wonder where he could ever have gotten that from?' Ghost liked to pretend she didn't care but secretly happily like she was to see Rat Alador 'What did Flint call it? A Sun-dare-a?'. It certainly gave the two an…interesting dynamic when they interacted.
Gus and King enter the room. King is holding a speaker in his hands and a disc held with one of his horns. Gus had his palisman Emmiline sitting on his shoulder while holding a bunch of CDs in his arms.
"Did someone ask for some soothing human music and noises?" Gus asked.
"Eda found a bunch of this stuff in the basement. I'm mostly curious about this 'lo-fi beats to study and relax to.'" King said.
Amity frowned. "Wait, Eda's supposed to be setting up the defenses with Hooty," Amity said.
"First off, this is Eda we're talking about. Second, Hooty is bizarrely competent as a security system. I'm pretty sure a lot of those scouts are now terrified of the term 'Tea party.'" Flint stated before looking thoughtfully. "Maybe I should see if I can reanimate Jean-Luc and Louis to give him company," Flint pondered before continuing his focus on the journal.
Amity and Flint headed into the living room to find Eda with an intense look on her face before she let out a scream to the heavens.
"…What the hell was that?" Amity asked in confusion with a raised brow.
"Honestly, I'm not all that sure. Owlfred suggested I try doing this to transform from these human workouts I watched." Eda said with a smile, pointing to a VHS for a Dragon Ball Z movie.
Amity looked at her weirdly as she picked up the box. "This looks ancient."
Eda took the box from her hand. "What? No. It's only-" Eda looks at it in surprise. "30 years old?" Eda said in disbelief before giving a far-off look. "I remember seeing this in theaters."
Flint took the box and looked at it. "Oh hey, Lord Slug," Flint noted as he flipped the case over. "No way! The original English dub with Disturbed?!" Flint exclaimed in a mix of awe and disbelief.
"Um...is that good?" Eda asked.
"This thing is vintage! They don't distribute versions of it like this anymore, even beyond it being on VHS! They replaced a lot of those songs in newer versions!" Flint explained.
"Wait, why would you change the songs to something not as cool later?" King asked in confusion from behind them.
Amity turned to Flint. "Licensing?"
Flint nodded. "Licensing."
Amity hummed. "Anyway, can we maybe get back on track to the crisis on our hands right now?!" Amity switched her tone to panicking.
Eda waved her off. "Chill, Bossy Boots. Everything's fine."
Amity stared at her flatly before practically dragging her up the stairs with everyone else in hot pursuit. Amity pushes the door to Flint and Luz's room open and gestures inside while looking at Eda. "Does this seem fine to you?" Amity asked in frustration.
Luz could be seen lying on the floor in her pajamas. She was draped in a blanket, had a towel on her forehead, and…for some reason had socks over her hands. Around her were a bunch of used tissues as well as a small abomination holding a box of them beside her. Disney was also sitting on one of the nearby tables.
"Whoa. It's like I have snakes for arms." Luz said deliriously, waving her hands in the air.
Flint blinked at the sight before looking back at Eda and pointing at Luz. "Is this how I was acting when Lilith and Goldie drugged me?"
Eda shrugged. "Pretty much."
Amity stared at him with a forced smile. "They did what now?" Amity asked expectingly.
"She just has the Common Mold. It's harmless." Eda waved off the abomination witch's worries while changing the subject.
"Yeah, for witches. Luz is human. We have no idea how it'll affect her!" Amity pointed out.
Luz suddenly sits up, pulling out the portal key. "If I ate the portal key, would I return to the Human Realm?" Luz thought out loud before attempting to test it for herself. Before she can, the abomination swipes the key from Luz's hand and walks over to Amity.
Amity pulls out a spray bottle and sprays the key before putting it around her neck. "I am not giving this back until you're better, okay?" Amity stated.
Luz lets out a whine as she visibly pouts from being denied her experiment.
"Okay Starlight, lay back down so you can get better," Flint said, raising his open hand and causing the blankets around her to pull her back down. A small fire-replica of Gray was made as it flew over her, causing her to chuckle and swipe at it like a cat.
The group heads back into the hallway and Amity closes the door.
"Probably gonna need to wash most of the stuff in that room after she gets over it." Eda noted before turning back to Flint. "So, how's your attempt to restore the journal coming along?" Eda asked.
Flint closed one eye as his spell intensified. "Almost…AH HA!" Flint said triumphantly, as a page of the journal slowly fabricated into existence in the journal.
Flint pumped his open hand in excitement. "Yes! Finally! I managed to restore one without needing Disney!" Flint declared giddily, causing everyone to applaud.
"That's great!" Willow said happily.
Gus began trying to peek at the page. "Come on! What does it say? What's it say?!" Gus asked.
Flint was about to read it, only for everyone to hear Luz scream from the other room. The combination of Flint, Amity, and Eda slamming the door open nearly sent the door flying off its hinges.
"Luz!" The three shouted in worry.
"M-Mouse! Uh. Philip diary entry!" Luz said frantically, pointing at Disney as it was beginning to play another entry, as she had a notepad and pencil at the ready.
"After five years, I have finally found it. A power source so potent it can pierce through realms. Titan's Blood. There are old tales of lakes reflecting green trees and blue skies. The Titan's vein runs through the land. And many believe that these wild portals are created when a little of its blood leaks into the water. That is how I came here. So that is the first place I shall look. I will journey back to Eclipse Lake." The projection stated before shutting off, with Disney letting out a squeak.
Luz finishes sketching a picture of Eclipse Lake before letting out a gasp. "I have to go to Eclipse Lake!" Luz said, getting up and running towards them, only to get caught in the air with Flint's telekinesis.
"Absolutely not. You aren't going anywhere until you aren't sick." Eda stated with her hands on her hips.
Amity nodded. "Yeah. You're in no condition to go anywhere, says your nurse." Amity said.
Luz became more unfocused and let out a chuckle. "If you're my nurse, you can check me up any time.~" Luz said seductively, her delirium returning momentarily.
That remark caused everyone but Eda and King to adopt bright blushes at the implication, with Amity and Flint turning full tomato. Amity fanned herself as Flint's hair burst into flames while his tail went stiff. Eda just blinked in surprise, having not expected that.
King tilted his head in confusion before turning to Eda. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Eda coughed awkwardly. "That's…something you aren't allowed to know until you're older," Eda said cryptically.
Flint, after having barely recovered (his hair still aflame though), looked at Luz firmly. "Eda, King, and I can take care of getting that Titan's Blood. You are staying here, so you can recover." Flint started.
"And I'll go too." Amity volunteered before turning to Willow and Gus. "You two can handle things around here, right?" Amity asked.
Willow nodded. "Yeah, we'll hold down the fort."
"You guys just go get that blood. "Gus added.
Luz smiled. "You guys are the best," Luz said.
Flint then proceeded to use his telekinesis to put Luz back in bed, tying her up with the blanket and some ropes as an extra precaution.
Luz glances down for a moment and smiles cheekily. "Oh, I didn't know you were into-"
A cloud of dust interrupted her as it shot into her face, causing her to cough a bit before her eyes grew heavy, immediately conking out.
The fire burning on Flint's head had grown, his hand out to indicate he had been the one to cast the sleep spell. "Okay, that's enough out of you," Flint said. There was no way he was gonna let her finish that sentence after the previous suggestive remark.
Flint turned to Gus and Willow. "We'll see you later." Flint waved as he, Amity, Eda, and King went to leave.
"Wait! What about that new entry?" Gus asked.
Flint blinked before turning back to the page…only for his expression to become visibly strained, his eye twitching, and the fire on his head sputtering wildly.
"It's the same entry Disney just showed us, isn't it?" Willow asked with a sigh, already having a feeling of the answer.
"…Hext us if anything changes," Flint said with forced neutrality as he stomped away.
A thought suddenly crossed Amity's mind. "Wait, what was Luz about to say?!" Amity asked as she disappeared down the hall after him.
Hunter peeked out from behind a tree on The Knee, disguised as a coven scout (minus the gloves. As if he would go anywhere without his Grafters) as Kikimora stood on the shoulder of an abomaton, ordering some coven scouts and other abomatons to continue mining. The annoying little gremlin had been getting quite paranoid recently about him swooping him. Hunter supposed that she must have realized that he had been involved with the palismen, though it probably wouldn't have taken much for her to become like this in the first place.
Hunter hides behind the tree again and pulls up his mask for a moment, noticing-
Hunter let out a small yelp as he realized the cardinal palisman was sitting nearby.
"Why do you keep following me?!" Hunter questions in disbelief. For whatever reason he just couldn't shake the little guy…unless he went to the bathroom that is. But hey, that's just common courtesy.
The cardinal lets out a chirp in response, only for Hunter to look at him flatly.
"I don't speak palisman." Hunter said in a stuck-up tone. "Here's the plan. I slip in with this disguise. I find the Titan blood before Kiki. I give it to Belos." Hunter began, with the cardinal listening intently and nodding with each point. "Boom! I'm useful again." Hunter exclaims in a totally-not-losing it tone, raising his voice.
Hunter hears the sound of something firing and both he and the cardinal duck, just in time for a blast of abomination sludge from Kikimora's steed to destroy the tree.
"Ma'am, is everything alright?" The nearby captain asked in concern, walking up to her.
"I just thought I heard an annoying voice," Kikimora said lowly, glaring at the destroyed tree suspiciously.
Hunter didn't bother sticking around, quickly running off with the cardinal perched on his head. "Another way in. We'll find another way in."
The cardinal chirps again as he lands on a nearby branch, with Hunter slowing down when he notices people walking along a path down a minor ledge. They were Eda, King, Flint, and Amity. Eda and Amity were bundled in winter gear, Flint (his head no longer on fire) was navigating to Amity's right with Philip's journal in his hand, and all of their palismen were in staff form as they were used like walking sticks.
Hunter gasped. "The Owl Lady and her dog. And, is that the youngest Blight?" Hunter wondered before looking at Flint and blinking. "Wait, what happened to him?! And how is he wearing shorts up here?!" Hunter wondered in disbelief before paling.
"Oh no. If he knows I'm here, he's gonna be so mad!" Hunter panicked, realizing this was the first time he'd seen Flint since Luz found out he was the Golden Guard.
"I still can't believe you aren't cold!" Hunter heard Eda exclaim.
"I'm just not." Flint countered. "What about King?"
"I don't know if you noticed, but I'm covered in fur. Unless you're furrier than you look." King deadpanned, gesturing to himself.
"Given he has a tail, it's possible he might get more by the time those wings he should get eventually come in." Eda pondered.
Amity stopped suddenly as the image of Flint covered in fur and with a pair of wings flashed in her mind, heating her up as the thought caused her to blush.
"You just started imagining me as a werewolf or something with wings, didn't you?" Flint asked cheekily, as the whole group stopped.
"N-no!" Amity lied.
King groaned. "Ugh. If you two flirt anymore I'm gonna barf." King said before turning to Eda. "Say, did you name the Owl Beast?" King asked.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, that. Beastie was apparently sick of just being called 'The Owl Beast' and wanted to be given a name." Eda explained.
Amity raised a brow as she looked back at her. "And you seriously named it 'Owlfred'?"
Her response came in the form of Eda and Owlbert, the latter having gone animate, giving her two of the flattest looks she'd ever seen from them, as Eda gestured with her free hand to Owlbert.
"…You know what? That's on me. That was a stupid question." Amity admitted.
"Say, what's with all these Emperor's Coven stooges?" King asked, changing the subject to why they were even here.
"Titan blood is the most powerful source of magic on the Isles. I'm not surprised Belos wants it too." Eda remarked.
Flint huffed as he closed the journal and put it away. "Well, too bad for him. When we find that blood, I'm gonna take as much of it as I can out of spite."
The three blinked. "And to keep him from invading Earth…right?" Amity asked.
"Hm? Oh. Yeah. That too." Flint waved them off nonchalantly, causing the three to glance at each other.
"Are you sure you're okay kid?" Eda asked.
"That asshole killed me. If I have a chance to do something to piss him off, believe me, I'm taking it." Flint growled, his eyes glowing darkly.
Amity laced her fingers in his. Her presence seemed to ground him, as the glow faded when he blinked and he began to calm down, his tail wagging a bit.
Flint brought his open hand to his forehead. "Ugh. All these changes must be messing with me. The horns definitely aren't helping, that's for sure."
"Let's just focus on getting that Titan's Blood so we can make a new door," Amity suggested as the group resumed walking with a nod of agreement.
Hunter watched all this from above, scratching his chin in thought. "All right, new plan. They can lead us to-" Hunter's thoughts are interrupted by the cardinal grabbing his hood and pulling him. "What? Hey! Hey!" Hunter yelped as he fell forward, landing in the snow just before the group.
The four look on in surprise, but all of them are on their guard, everyone pointing their staffs at Hunter threateningly as King prepares to shout.
"A coven scout!" Amity gasps, as both she and Flint summon fireballs in their hands.
Hunter raises his hands. "Uh, yes. I am but a humble scout, and I surrender." Hunter said nervously.
"Well, that was easy," King said.
Eda's brow narrowed. "Not so fast, King. Don't you recognize that annoying voice?"
Hunter lowers his hands and slumps. "Why does everyone say that?" Hunter said downtroddenly.
The four just glare at him for a moment. Hunter raised his arms placatingly again. "Okay, let's all just calm-EAT LIGHT SUCKAS!" Hunter suddenly yelled, as unusually strong light glyphs appeared on his palms, letting off twin flashes of light that forced all of them to cover their eyes before he ran away.
"Damn it! Don't let him get away!" Eda cried out, wiping her eyes still.
Amity forced her eyes open, her vision had spots but it had recovered enough. She traced a spell that summoned a jar on her waist. Continuing to trace the circle repeatedly, abomination goo flowed out and bound Hunter's arms to his sides, causing him to tumble onto the ground a bit, his mask falling off before stopping with his face planted in the snow.
Hunter lets out a muffled sigh as he hears footsteps crunching in the snow, feeling his gloves be forcefully removed from his hands.
Eda walks up and moves to flip him over. "This is none other than-" Eda flips him over and blinks in confusion. "Wait, aren't you that other kid from the carnival? The one Tibbles shrunk with my kids, Willow, and Goops before trying to feed to his Tiny Terrors?" Eda asked in surprise.
Amity's eye noticeably twitched as she looked at Eda. "He did what now?" Amity asked expectingly.
Hunter looked at them grumpily before turning to look at Flint, who had a look of betrayal on his face.
"Hunter…you were the Golden Guard all this time?" Flint asked with a hurt tone.
Hunter looked away in shame. "…Yeah," Hunter answered softly.
"Wait, this is the Golden Guard?" Amity asked in disbelief, getting a nod before looking back at Hunter again. "…You're much scrawnier than I thought," Amity noted.
King laughs at that as Hunter growls.
"Oh yeah? Well, why are you so surprised Flint? Didn't Luz tell you?" Hunter asked.
Flint was silent as everyone turned to look at him.
"She never told you." Hunter breathed out, realizing what had happened.
Flint's expression hardened. "Luz and I will be having a talk when we get back," Flint stated before walking ahead, the snow around his feet melting where he stepped, leaving the four to watch in silence as he walked away.
"…Can I get a pair of gloves, please? It's really cold." Hunter asked.
Inside the mine, Eda suddenly bursts through a wall with a flip and lands with a grunt.
"Did we do it? Did I go into harpy mode and do an epic entrance?" Eda said excitedly.
King walks in after. "No. You just screamed 'hoot' and ran headfirst into a wall of ice." King stated bluntly. "It was pretty funny actually. Are you sure Owlfred isn't just screwing with you?" King asked.
"That seems quite possible," Flint noted, stepping through the hole with the journal in hand again as he went into the front and led the way.
Shortly after, Amity pushes the captive Hunter (now wearing bright pink gloves that spell 'BADMAN' when put together) through the hole with her staff, Hunter's Glyph Grafters hanging on her hip.
"You can put down your staff. I won't run." Hunter said.
Amity glared. "Too bad. You lied to Flint, so why the hell would I believe you?" Amity asked rhetorically, eliciting a wince from Hunter.
The group came across some mining equipment along the path. "Huh, this stuff is old," Eda noted.
Hunter puffed up his chest. "Ancient witches used to mine the veins for Titan blood-"
"They're not paying attention," Amity said bluntly, interrupting him and causing him to look on with a flat expression.
King crawls up and onto drill-like device. "Ooh! I wonder what this does!" King said curiously as he went to activate it.
Hunter's eyes widen in panic. "Wait. Don't!" Hunter shouts in alarm.
Unfortunately, Hunter's warning comes too late, as the device activates, firing a beam of energy that strikes one of the nearby walls and begins ricocheting across the room. Everyone watches it bounce around the room before it heads toward Amity. Amity pulls out her abomination sludge and neutralizes the beam, finally putting an end to the chaos.
"This isn't a normal cave! These walls are made from the veins of the Titan. Any magic you shoot will bounce right back at you!" Hunter explained angrily.
Eda rolled her eyes. "You must be the life of the party, aren't ya? Yo Flint, you got the path?" Eda asked.
Flint doesn't respond and Eda turns to look at him, seeing that he seems to have stopped just before the nearby tunnel. Eda walks up to him and looks at his face, seeing that his eyes are unfocused as if he is in a trance. Eda frowned, waving her hand in front of his face rapidly to no result. Eda then snaps her fingers in front of his face, causing him to refocus.
"Huh? What happened?" Flint asked.
"Seriously, why do you keep spacing out like that?" Eda asked firmly.
"This power all around us…don't you feel it?" Flint asked suddenly, confusing everyone.
"What are you talking about?" Amity asked.
"Maybe it's just that we're on The Knee again, but I can feel the potent magic around us. It's flowing around us, but I feel like I'm a part of it." Flint said.
Eda scratched her chin. "You must have some kind of magic detection."
Hunter groaned. "Great. Between you Clawthornes and Flint spacing out, there's no way none of us get caught." Hunter said grumpily.
"'Us'? There is no us. Now keep walking." Amity ordered, pointing her staff at him threateningly. He shrugs before following orders, after all, it's not like he was in any position of power at the moment.
The quintet continued through the tunnels as they searched for the lake. As Flint navigates, he glances back at Hunter.
"Luz told me she encountered you trying to steal the palisman nest a while back. She told me you were apparently magicless. Guess it makes sense now why you couldn't handle my magic back when we swapped bodies." Flint said.
Eda snorted. "Wait, seriously? Wow, then I guess you're nothing without that stupid techno-staff and those gloves of yours." Eda smirked.
King frowned. "Hey wait, then why didn't he just take his staff back after getting back in his own body?" King wondered.
Hunter sweated nervously. "I just- I forgot to wear the right gloves that day. That's all!" Hunter lied.
Amity pushed him with her staff. "Don't try to lie to a scammer or a corporate owner's daughter, moron," Amity said, not believing him for a moment.
Flint looked at him analytically before realization donned on his face. "The carnival. You took the Grafter I dropped!" Flint scoffed. "And after I told you all about them too. Was it all just a lie to try and learn more about me for your stupid Emperor?" Flint growled.
Hunter winced. "No! I mean- I did take the Grafter…and hid my uniform when I saw you guys heading to the carnival…and purposefully bumped into you to try and-" Hunter stopped when he saw all of them staring at him with deadpan looks.
Hunter wilted under their gaze. "…I did actually have a fun time hanging out with you…" Hunter said quietly, looking away with a bit of shame.
Flint huffed. "Well good for you." Flint sneered before turning back around. "Culo."
"Language," Hunter said, somehow knowing it was vulgar.
"¡Español, pequeña mierda!" Flint yelled back.
"I don't know what he said, but it definitely wasn't nice," King stated.
[I am going purely off of Google Translate for that. I do not know Spanish, but it's supposed to be 'Ass' and 'Spanish, little shit!']
The group crosses an open area, peeking over a stone wall to see that Kikimora and her scouts have stopped.
"Why are we stopping? Is it the Golden Guard?" Kikimora said paranoically.
The captain turned back to her, her obscured face looking at her like she was crazy (spoiler alert: she is). "No, ma'am. This is a dangerous area. We need to move carefully."
Kikimora though wasn't having it. "Careful takes too long. My butt is on the line, and so help me, Titan, if you ruin this, I will throw you off the tallest peak of the Knee with a smile!" Kikimora declared impatiently.
The five look on with mixed expressions.
"Oh, that poor girl is going through something," Eda said with pity.
"Unfortunately, Mokikira decided to have a mental breakdown right in front of the path to Eclipse Lake," Flint grumbled.
"Um…her name is Kikimora." Hunter corrected.
Flint tilted his head. "That's what I said," Flint said confusedly.
"Well, if we want to get past her, we'll need distra-"
"We'll need a distraction then!" Eda said loudly, interrupting Hunter. "You kids wait for my signal," Eda said.
"Wait, I'm the one that's wanted more. Shouldn't I be the one to cause the distraction?" Flint asked.
"Oh no!" Eda said, waving her finger in front of his face. "Not this time! What if you space out while you're trying to do it?" Eda asked firmly.
"I'm not gonna space out in the middle of a fight!" Flint countered.
"Um, don't you think you probably just jinxed it by saying that?" King asked.
Flint was quiet for a moment before snapping his fingers. "Damn it. You're right." Flint was forced to admit. "Seriously, when did you start making good points?"
Eda smiled triumphantly. "Since a certain fire-powered brat showed up. If you wanna make yourself useful though, maybe see if you can restore more of the journal. Even though Disney showed the same one not long after, you still managed to do it without him." Eda suggested.
Flint scratched his chin in thought. "The last entry stopped at the map, but never said anything about the results of his journey, so there could be something we don't know…you sly swindler," Flint said with a half-hearted glare.
Eda only smirked. "Alright, see you in a bit, byeeeee!" Eda said before scurrying off with King.
"They're gonna get caught, aren't they?" Hunter asked bluntly.
Amity gave a 'so-so' gesture. "Eh, fifty-fifty."
Hunter just shrugged. "Well, when they're caught, we can take the Titan's Blood for ourselves."
"Bold of you to assume you're getting any, you filthy liar." Flint snarled as he pulled out the journal and continued his attempts to restore it.
"Why not? It's not like either of them has anything at stake, unlike us," Hunter said.
Amity glared at him. "You have no idea what you're talking-" Her Penstagram scroll suddenly goes off. "I was gonna say you have no-" The scroll goes off again
Hunter looks at her with a raised brow as Amity quickly turns away to see Luz had sent her a message.
THEGREATLUZURA: U R RAD.
THEGREATLUZURA: I MISS YOU.
Amity smiles at the message before responding.
WITCHCHICK128: No. You're the rad one. And I miss you too.
Hunter is about to say something, but he is moved away from Amity.
"You aren't gonna mess with my Sugar Queen's head, Aurum Asshole," Flint growled.
Hunter internally cursed. His plan to try and fool Amity was foiled. Hunter looked over at Flint and finally seemed to notice the journal. "What's with that book? That thing looks ancient."
Flint rolled his eyes. "If you must know, it's the diary of Philip Wittibane, another human. Back on Earth, he and his brother disappeared a couple of centuries ago, and somehow Philip ended up in the Demon Realm. Presumably, his brother Caleb did too," Flint answered.
Hunter blinked. "Huh. I didn't know another human got to the Demon Realm." Hunter said in surprise before squinting to look at the book. "Weird. His handwriting is oddly similar to my uncle's." Hunter noted.
"Strange. Well, an echo mouse ate the pages, so Flint's been trying to restore the pages as a backup." Amity explained before a thought crossed her mind.
"Wait, what did you mean about you having something at stake?" Amity asked.
"I'm not even supposed to be here, but I have to, to show what I bring to the table. I can't fail again. Belos doesn't tolerate failure. I'm honestly surprised Lilith lasted as long as she did after failing him so many times," Hunter admitted after a moment of hesitance.
Amity and Flint blinked in surprise. The two glanced at each other for a moment before looking at him warily. "Are…you okay?" Amity asked.
"I will be once I prove my worth," Hunter said bluntly.
The group hears a chirping sound and Amity puts her guard up, only for a familiar cardinal to fly over and land on Hunter's head, much to the boy's chagrin.
"What the-?! Would you stop following me?!" Hunter exclaimed in annoyance. "And get off! I'm not your perch!"
Ghost came to life from her staff and looked over in surprise. "Flapjack? What are you doing here?" Ghost asked.
"I found my witch. This is him." The cardinal responded.
Gray came to life and looked at his fellow bird palisman with a raised brow. "Really? You chose this guy as your partner? Don't you know what his boss does to palisman?" Gray asked.
Flapjack turned to Gray excitedly. "Ooh! You're new! And cool! Er, hot!" Flapjack chirped excitedly at seeing his flames.
Flint rolled his eyes. "He is new. His name is Gray, but seriously Flapjack, why the hell would you choose himof all people?" Flint asked.
Amity, Ghost, and Flapjack all looked at Flint in shock. "Wait, how did you know his name?" Amity asked.
Flint just stared at them. "Um…that's what Ghost called him," Flint responded.
Hunter glanced up. "Your name is Flapjack?" Hunter asked incredulously.
"Whoa whoa whoa! Time out! Are you telling me you can understand Ghost and Flapjack?" Amity asked for clarification.
Flint was silent for a moment. "Yes…that's not normal, is it?" Flint said.
"Um, even I know that only the witch a palisman bonds with can understand them." Hunter pointed out.
"Maybe it's because of the blood connection I have with Gray." Flint pondered. "I should ask Tabatha about it later," Flint noted.
Amity snapped her fingers. "Say, what if we use an invisibility glyph to get past them?" Amity suggested.
"Wait, you have an invisibility glyph?" Hunter said in shock.
Amity and Flint looked at each other before turning back to him. "How long can you hold your breath?" Flint asked.
"So, what should we do for a distraction?" King asked.
Eda scratched her chin. "Depends. I don't think I could hold all of these guys off while Boots and Firebrat go on ahead, even both the glyphs and harpy mode."
'Do you doubt my strength?' Owlfred supplied in Eda's head.
'Do you think we could handle two abomatons and four witches for who knows how long?' Eda countered.
'…You make point.'
"And I hate to break it to ya, but you aren't exactly practiced with your powers either." Eda continued back to King.
"So what do we do then?" King asked.
"We sneak in."
Eda and King jumped as Flint, Amity, and Hunter suddenly next to them…unfortunately, this caused King to let out a sonic wail in response, which echoed around the cavern.
"Is that you Golden Guard?! Reveal yourself this instant!" Kikimora's voice called out.
"Ma'am, it probably isn't even him!"
"Silence Steve!" Kikimora screamed back.
"Shit. Everyone, invis combos, quick!" Eda ordered.
King jumped onto Eda's shoulder as everyone took a deep breath. Eda and Amity's Grafters lit up with the combo as it glowed on Flint's hand as he hefted Hunter over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. In an instant, they all disappeared from sight, running toward the tunnel.
Unfortunately, in their rush, they never noticed one of Hunter's gloves fall off Amity's side a few meters from the tunnel.
The coven scouts and captain return to Kikimora. "Ma'am, we couldn't find anyone." The captain reported.
Kikimora narrowed her eyes as she looked around, only to see the discarded glove and pick it up. "So he ishere," Kikimora noted before looking toward the tunnel the group had entered.
"What was that about?!" Eda chastised as the group walked speed-walked through the tunnel.
"Sorry. I realized we could use invisibility glyphs to get past them so we came to get you two." Amity apologized.
Eda pinched the bridge of her nose. "Good grief. And you two were supposed to be the smarter of the brats." Eda muttered.
Flint was working on the journal again. "Well, at least we got past them without them seeing us. They'll probably be stuck searching there first before they think to come down here." Flint remarked.
The group eventually got to a much more open area, where they were met with the sight of blue bubbles that appeared to have calcified into stalagmites and stalactites, causing Eda and Amity to gasp.
"Is this Titan's Blood?" Eda wondered.
Flint frowned. "Maybe? But we haven't reached the lake yet."
"Who cares? We did it." King cried out triumphantly as he scurried back to the ground.
"Stop!" Hunter suddenly yelled, catching their attention. "That's Fool's Blood. Don't touch it."
Flint looked on in confusion before suddenly, one of the pages in the journal began to restore, allowing Flint to quickly skim it.
'My journey to Eclipse Lake has been a success, and yet, a tragic failure. The tunnels were filled with a substance known as Fool's Blood. It signifies a decaying vein. I was lucky to get out alive, my companions were not.'
Flint's eyes widened in panic.
"Oh, so you can keep it all for yourself? Hard pass." Eda scoffs, before raising her staff to strike one of the masses on the ground.
"No! Don't!" Flint calls out.
But it's too late, as Eda only reacts to his shout after cracking open the Fool's Blood, causing the ground to split apart under King and Eda's feet, plunging them into the darkness as the two screamed.
Amity and Flint prepare to mount their staffs when Hunter runs up to them.
"Wait. Take me with you!" Hunter says in a panicked state.
"Yoo-hoo! Golden Guard!" Kikimora's voice can be heard from the tunnel they entered, causing Amity and Flint to gasp.
"At least untie me so I can escape!" Hunter said, but Amity and Flint hesitated at the idea.
"Please. I don't want to be replaced." Hunter pled, the fear in his eyes evident.
Amity pursed her lips. "Ugh. Fine." Amity relents, recalling her abomination sludge into the jar on her waist before turning away for a moment and turning back to him. "So, where will you go now?" Amity asked.
Hunter stretched his arm out. "Now..." Hunter trailed off, before sweeping her legs and knocking Amity off her feet with a yelp. In the same motion, he grabbed the remaining Grafter on her waist and put it on his right hand as he swiveled around and shot a fireball the size of a beach ball at Flint. The fire itself didn't affect Flint, but the force behind it knocked him back as Hunter was flung away from the recoil.
'Whoa. Since when are they this strong?' Hunter wondered briefly before snapping out of his stupor and heading down the nearby tunnel, hopping into a minecart. "...I get to Eclipse Lake before anyone. Byeeeeeeeee!" Hunter bid his farewell, with Flapjack flying after him.
Flint growled. "Oh come on!"
Suddenly, Amity found herself at spearpoint via Kikimora's captain, with the scouts (one of them presumably being Steve), the two abomatons, and Kikimora looming over them.
"Ooh. Would you look at this, Captain? I think we found our intruders." Kikimora said with glee.
Flint growled animalistically until the spear was pushed closer to Amity's chin.
"Ah ah ah! I wouldn't make any sudden moves if I were you, Scarlet Phoenix." Kikimora warned, causing Flint to relent. "Good boy." Kikimora mocked.
"What do you want, Shikidora?" Flint demanded.
Kikimora blinked in confusion for a moment. "My name is Kikimora." The gremlin corrected.
"That's what I said," Flint responded confusedly.
Kikimora stared at him for a moment before shaking her head. "I want to know why you're here, and who else you may be here with. But first." Kikimora snapped her fingers. "Scouts. Their palismen."
The two scouts walked up to them. Amity glanced over to Flint to see him mouthing 'Duck' to her. Gray wisped into Flint and he sprouted his wings, which spread to full wingspan as multiple glyphs lit up along it. Amity did as she was told, pulling her staff close and dropping onto her back against the ground, just in time for a barrage of fire and ice to be shot from the various glyphs adorning Flint's wings.
Amity in the meantime traces a spell that causes her abomination sludge to cover the ground around her. The sludge seeped under her, moving her back and away from the captain as she used the sludge to effortlessly be pulled up and onto her feet. Amity now stood with her guard up near the tunnel Hunter went down, while Flint's wings disappeared and the Gray staff reappeared in his hands.
Kikimora growled. "Clever trick, but it'll be the last one you make."
"Oh, put a sock in it you ornery gremlin." Amity spat.
"Damn girl, nice shit-talking." Flint complimented.
"It's easy to learn with how often you do it," Amity responded.
"You should've heard what I said about one of the Emperor's statues," Flint said.
Kikimora was losing her patience as the captain and scouts all had spells ready to be cast. "Why are you here?!"
"To pick flowers-what the hell do you think we're here for Rikiflora?" Flint said.
Kikimora shook with rage. "IT'S KIKIMORA!" The annoying as-shit gremlin yelled before directing her abomatons to attack. Flint spun his staff to create a barrier in front of the two and the Emperor's stooges.
Flint turned to Amity. "Go after him! I'll hold them off!" Flint yelled to her.
Amity donned a look of worry before steeling herself and nodding. She gave him a peck on the cheek. "Be safe," Amity said to him before mounting her staff and flying down the tunnel.
Flint smiled as he redoubled his efforts in holding the stooges off.
"Come on, Firebrat." Eda's voice echoed from the chasm as she flew up in her harpy form with King on her shoulder. "I've seen you take down worse than these chumps." Eda finished slyly as she hovered in the air beside him.
Flint huffed. "Well, I don't exactly have the most space, and there's still a bunch of Fool's Blood around us. If we hit enough of them, then the whole place will come down on our heads." Flint pointed out.
Kikimora yelled in fury. "You're dead! All of you! YOU HEAR ME?!"
"You're dead! All of you! YOU HEAR ME Ā̶̙̗͚͂Ŗ̵͎̰̯͉̂C̵̡̯̟̼̻̎͐͒H̴͓̐̓͆̕Ȋ̧̢̘͝V̶̘͋̒̇̚̚Ǐ̶̫̮S̶͎̣̉̈̇͊̕Ţ̴̹̇͋͆̌̊S̵̥̾͒!̴̡̛̯̟̄̈́̆?̶̱͂̅̔̅̕!̶̡͖̘̠̅"̥͈̖͇̓
Flint lost focus of his spell for a moment, causing his shield to fall. That brief moment was enough for Kikimora to capitalize on, as one of the abomatons shot a blast at him, which knocked him back and into the wall. Kikimora then snapped her fingers as one of them transformed into a minecart on the tracks and hopped in.
Flint groaned as he went to get up, but the wall behind him rumbled as another chasm formed under him, breaking the area apart even more. Flint fell in, but quickly merged with Gray again and flew up with a powerful flap of his wings. He reached the top and looked over toward the mineshaft only to see that it had collapsed.
"The tunnel collapsed! Do you two think you can handle these guys?" Flint asked.
King let out a sonic "Weh!" and knocked one of the scouts off their feet. At the same time, the captain raised her hand, preparing a spell to fire at Flint only for Eda to hit her with a right diving kick, knocking her away. "Go save Aladork's brat. We'll handle Tweedle-Dee, Dumb, and Dumbest." Eda replied, before turning back to dodge a bolt of magic just in time.
"Can I be 'Tweedle-Steve' instead?" One of the scouts asked, only to yelp as King climbed up him and started clawing at his face. "Ah! Get it off! Get it off! Get it off!" He screamed as he ran around like a chicken with its head cut off.
Flint looked on hesitantly before turning back to the collapsed tunnel. He frowned before turning to the nearby wall and spun, drilling through as he weaving through as a wisp of flame may take too long, and destroying the blockage may just make the place cave-in more.
Hunter hopped out of the minecart with a roll before running past a wooden sign marking the entrance to Eclipse Lake. He ran into the tunnel before lifting his right his right hand up behind him, charged with a plant glyph. He slammed his hand against the ground, causing roots to sprout as they sealed the entrance, only allowing enough time for Flapjack to follow through.
Hunter gained an annoyed look as he saw his red-feathered stalker slip through, but disregarded it. It didn't matter, only the Titan Blood that awaited him mattered.
Hunter grinned as he saw the tunnel open up, crossing the threshold to behold Eclipse Lake…only for his grin to fall as he paled at the sight. Before him was what was left of the lake. An empty divot in the ground.
Without a drop of Titan's Blood in sight.
"No…" Hunter let out quietly, not bothering to shoo away Flapjack as he perched in his hair.
"There you are!" Amity's voice called out from the tunnel, but Hunter didn't bother to react. "When I get my hands on you, I'm gonna-!"
Amity's words died in her throat as she slowed down, hopping off her staff and looking on in shock at the sight of what was Eclipse Lake.
The two teens stood a few feet apart, too stunned to bother trying to attack each other.
"It's…gone," Amity said quietly.
Hunter wordlessly dropped into the empty lake, walking to the center of it and dropping to his knees with a defeated expression, with Flapjack landing on the ground off to the side. "There has to be something, anything left!" Hunter said in a desperate tone, as he began to claw at the ground, digging up the dirt. "Seeped under the surface. Like a well! There has to be something left!" Hunter cried out, digging faster.
After nearly a minute he stopped digging, and his shoulders slumped as he loomed over on his hands and knees. "It's no use…there's nothing left," Hunter said, his voice hollow. Moments later, he returned to digging.
Amity looked on in a mix of confusion and trepidation. "Um…why are you still digging?"
Hunter's pace didn't change as he continued digging. "Isn't it obvious? I'm digging my grave." Hunter said hopelessly.
Amity was now looking on in genuine concern as she dropped in and carefully began to approach. "Why?"
Hunter laughed mirthlessly. "'Why?' She says." Hunter let out a resigned sigh. "I can't go back to Belos empty-handed, I've done that too many times already." Hunter stopped digging as he clenched his hands in the dirt. "It doesn't matter who you are, who you know, or how much you've accomplished…you can always be replaced."
'Okay…wow. What the hell do I even say to that?' Amity thought, unsure of what to do in this situation.
"Why did you need Titan's Blood so badly?" Amity asked.
"Oh, it's simple really. Belos needs Titan blood to make a new portal key. Can't get to the Human Realm without it!" Hunter said in a slightly unhinged tone, his sanity seeming to be taking the backseat for the moment.
Amity donned a look of realization as her free hand drifted to the key hidden under her coat. 'There's blood in the key?' Amity wondered in surprise. After a few more moments of thought, something else caught her attention about what Hunter said. 'Wait…how does he know there's blood in the key?' Amity thought. Something about Belos knowing that seriously unnerved her.
"Hunter…do you need help?" Amity asked cautiously.
Hunter laughs hysterically. "Of course!" Hunter turned to her with a crazed smile. "You can help me dig the hole," Hunter stated, before turning back to the hole to continue.
"Wha- Not like that!" Amity responded.
"Then just go already," Hunter said before plopping face-first onto the ground. "It's not like you have any reason to be here anymore." Hunter continued. Flapjack flew over and perched on his back, looking down in concern for the boy as he didn't even try to shoo him away, having given up entirely.
Amity sighed sympathetically as she walked over. Flapjack notices her approach and flies onto her shoulder as she crouches beside him. "Look, I understand where you're coming from, I used to be stuck in a spot like you. I grew up thinking everything was an opportunity to justify existing. But you don't have to let those people dictate everything you do. Luz and Flint never saw me as a Blight, they saw me as Amity and were willing to do so much to help me. I know you can't be all bad. I'm sure Flint would be willing to help you get away if you ask," Amity said kindly, offering her hand out to Hunter.
Hunter brought his face out of the ground and rested his chin on the ground, facing forward. Amity watched as he pursed his lips, seeming to mull over her words. He turns to look at her and Amity can't help but feel like she might've actually gotten through to him…only to see his eyes shift to desperation as he looked at her, but not in the eye.
The action confuses Amity. "What are you…" Amity trailed off as she looked to where his gaze was, which happened to be the key as it barely peeked out of her coat. Amity's eyes widened as she realized his intention with a short gasp.
Hunter lunges at her in an attempt to grab the key, but she dodges easily with a quick roll.
"Damn it! Why do you have to be like season 1 Zuko?!" Amity exasperated.
Hunter gets up and he raises his right hand with a plant glyph. A vine tendril shoots out of the glyph at Amity, but she quickly throws her left hand forward with a fire glyph, shooting a jet of fire in retaliation as the two elements struggle against one another. Amity uses her staff to get back to her feet before quickly spinning it to cast a spell, causing her abomination jar to appear and spit some of the sludge forward.
Flapjack flies toward Hunter, causing Amity to subconsciously lower the power of the flames to not hurt him, as the palisman shifted into his staff form and landed in Hunter's left hand. Amity's abomination sludge is about to make contact with him, but he suddenly flash-steps out of the way.
"Whoa! Real staffs are weird!" Hunter yelped, before stumbling with another flash-step. He sees Amity sending another stream of abomination goo at him and throws a quick fireball at it using his Grafter. He flash-stepped a few more times, looking to get the hang of it as he suddenly appeared high in the air. He waves his staff, sending multiple bolts of electricity toward her.
Instead of trying to run, Amity stood her ground and raised her arms in a wave motion, causing her abomination goo to rise in front of her like a wall, causing a few of the more accurate bolts to fizzle on contact while the others bounced around the cave. Amity spun her staff, causing the goo to spiral at Hunter. Hunter dodged with a flash-step before making his staff float high in the air, suspended by hanging beneath it using his left hand. Hunter's Grafter lit up with a familiar combo glyph on both sides of his hand, as he flew into the center and spun, causing fog to waft throughout the cave.
Now obscured in fog, Amity warily put her guard up while digging her foot into the ground in a circle, and her glove lit up with another glyph as she took a deep breath. Hunter descends into the fog, searching for any sign of movement until he sees Amity's silhouette. Clenching his staff, he flash-stepped toward it with a swing prepared, only for his eyes to widen as he was met with an Amity-shaped abomination. He attempts to retreat from the abomination charging at him but is met with another. And another. And another. Soon enough, there were a total four of the Amity lookalikes coming at him from different directions, all lunging at him and merging to envelop him.
The fog begins to clear as Amity suddenly reappears with a gasp. She mounts her staff as she attempts to fly away as Hunter is contained, only for him to burst it uppercut her with a giant earth fist from beneath her, knocking her off and separating her from her staff. Thinking quickly, Amity redirects some of her abomination goo to ease her into landing on her feet. A moment later, she throws both hands forward and fires a flash from a double light glyph, only to hear the sound of Hunter flash-stepping as he appears behind her and unaffected.
Before she can react though, he wraps her in vines that pull her down to the ground and onto her back. Amity struggled in the restraints as they tightened around her wrists, the pressure distracting her from being able to use a glyph to escape.
"Thank you for your cooperation." Hunter panted as he loomed over her.
Amity began to panic. She couldn't let him have the key, it was the only chance Luz and Flint had at getting home. They were counting on her.
Something behind Hunter drew Amity's attention causing her eyes to widen as Hunter reached for the key with a half-crazed smile. "I appreciate the help."
"No!"
SHINK
Hunter was abruptly pushed to the ground beside Amity, causing the vines to slowly retract from her. With a groan, Hunter began to recover as the person's voice registered, their shadow looming over him.
Hunter looked up at him. "Can't you just leave me alo-" Hunter's anger and voice died in his throat, as his face shifted to horror. He was met with the sight of Flint, holding his staff, looming over him...
And a spike of abomination sludge pierced just above his left hip.
Hunter and Amity could only look on in shock from the ground, before looking to the source of the sludge to see Kikimora smiling evilly. She had an abomaton beside her, with its arm raised and proving to be the one currently stabbing the boy.
"I was aiming for the Golden Guard but killing you will certainly be just as satisfying when I report your death to Belos." Kikimora cackled maniacally.
The abomaton retracted its limb from the boy's abdomen, letting him fall and drop his staff, as his violet-colored blood dropped from the open wound. Hunter quickly helped ease him to the ground, tearing most of his cloak off and attempting to stop the bleeding however he could by putting pressure on the boy's injury while wrapping it.
'He took the hit meant for me! Why?!' Hunter thought, not understanding why Flint would save him.
At the same time, Amity could only look on in shock as Flint threw himself in the way of the attack, taking the blow instead. Idly, she was barely able to register the fact that Hunter was attempting to help Flint as he fell weakly to the ground, but it felt like time had slowed down as it replayed in her mind. Her despair at seeing Flint getting stabbed stirred something within her. Something wild, something violent...a feeling she recognized all too well.
Rage.
Hunter looked to his side to see Amity's pupils narrowing dangerously. The look of pure fury on her face unleashed him as her pupils glowed pink.
"Goldie..." Amity began with a strained tone. "Get him out of here...I don't know how much longer...I can control myself..." Amity said as she looked on the brink of destroying everything in sight. Too scared to say anything, Hunter meekly nodded as he carefully pulled Flint away to safety. Gray also became animate as he flew after Hunter in worry for his carver.
Kikimora smirked under her collar. "So the Golden Guard is a yellow-bellied coward? And the infamous 'Scarlet Phoenix' isn't all that he's cracked up to be." Kikimora said.
Amity rose to her feet silently, her head low.
"Now then, Ms. Blight. I would suggest you come quietly, and perhaps you may still get into the Emperor's Coven in the future." Kikimora reasoned.
Amity's only response was to chuckle darkly. "I gave up on trying to join your cult a while ago."
Kikimora scowled before shrugging. "Oh well, I can't say I didn't try reasoning. Now then, surrender or I'll be forced to kill you like your little friend there." Kikimora threatened.
Amity's body seemed to waver unnaturally as if it weren't quite solid.
"You better pray to The Titan for mercy..." Amity said with a growl.
Kikimora raised a brow. "Oh? And why's that?" Kikimora asked dismissively.
Amity rose her head to shoot a heated glare at her, her golden irises glowing as her sclera bubbled with black spots, spreading from the edges to her irises.
"Because I won't have any." Amity declared, her voice reverberating with a more monstrous echo as her sclera turned completely black.
Her jar of abomination sludge on her hip shook before shattering, wrapping around her lower half as her body seemed to meld with it, becoming a twister of the stuff. The twister rose around her, obscuring her from view until part of the sludge closer to the top began to take on a more humanoid appearance. The Ghost staff was held in the right hand, and the left hand took on a more claw-like shape. The lower half stayed in a more spiral shape, as seven eyes opened across the body. One on each shoulder, one centered on the sternum, one on the naval, one on the forehead, and two where they would normally be oriented. Amity's visage was clear from the waist up, as she stretched an extra two feet taller from her normal height. Amity had achieved what only the best of the best abomination witches could hope to achieve: she became one herself.
[For reference, look up Abomination Amity drawn by MiniJen]
Amity glared down at Kikimora, the gremlin scoffing. "Please. I don't know how you achieved the Abomutation, but you're no Darius, little Blight." Kikimora stated as she traced a spell in the air, firing a bolt of lightning at her.
Amity's body shifted, the bolt passing through an off-centered hole that formed through her chest, allowing the bolt to pass through her harmlessly. The bolt continued through the cave as it ricocheted off the walls. After seeing the bolt do nothing, Kikimora quickly fired three more, hoping her for wouldn't be able to react in time.
Instead, Amity's body did the same as it did with the first bolt, opening holes in her goopy form as the bolts sailed through. The now-four bolts continued to bounce around the cavern, one of them nearly hitting Hunter if he hadn't moved his head in time. Amity's cold glare was still set on Kikimora though, even as one of the bolts came at her from her right, which she spun her staff to disperse it with a shield without looking.
Kikimora would never admit it outright, but she was genuinely starting to fear the girl. She turned to her abomaton. "Attack! Lethal force authorized!" Kikimora had been informed how the abomatons were now enchanted so they couldn't be disrupted by an abomination user, so the youngest Blight wouldn't be able to destroy it so easily.
The abomaton followed orders as its arm shifted to resemble a cannon, a bubbling mass of explosive sludge preparing to fire. The abomaton fired its shot at Amity, intent on destroying her in one blow. The explosive shot was fired, as Amity raised her left hand to defend-
Only for her to nonchalantly flick the sludge to the side, sending the shot toward the cavern wall to her side and detonating on contact, the shadow cast over her from the light of the explosion making her eyes glow all the more menacingly.
Kikimora gulped, starting to think she might have bitten off more than she could chew.
Amity held her open palm forward, as an ice glyph glowed to life as shards of icy abomination sludge fired from her hand. Kikimora was forced to make a barrier in front of her to protect herself from the barrage of projectiles. Amity spun her staff, which caused the shattered fragments of abomination ice to halt midair in a pink glow. The fragments shifted into smaller spikes before homing in on Kikimora from most sides with some peppering the abomaton as it tried to fire at her again. The abomination fired its shot, but Amity stopped it midair with the same glow before firing it back at the abomaton, causing its metal chassis to be damaged.
Hunter watched on in a mix of awe and fear but forced himself to look away from the fight to tend to Flint. Flapjack animated as he and Gray were perched on each of his shoulders, looking down at Flint in worry as his violet blood continued to stain the once-white cloak. Hunter glanced back to the fight briefly to see Amity's arm stretch and grab Kikimora by the legs, before violently slamming her multiple times across the ground with a monstrous snarl, causing the cave to shake slightly.
Needless to say, he was very glad he wasn't currently on the receiving end of…that.
Hunter saw Eda fly from the tunnel in her harpy form with King on her shoulder, ready to fight. "Alright! Now to-" Eda stopped as she blinked at the sight of an Abomination Amity slamming the abomaton against the cavern wall before morphing her free hand like a buzzsaw and violently slashing apart the abomaton with vitriol scream. "Huh, well how 'bout that? Looks like Dariboy isn't the only Abomutator anymore," Eda said with an equally impressed and surprised tone.
King looked around before locking eyes with Hunter, his eyes widening as he noticed Flint's state. "Flint! Get away from my brother!" King snarled.
Eda turned to look only to sneer at Hunter. "So help me Goldie, you are de-"
Hunter yelped before waving his hands in front of him defensively. "I didn't do it! It was Kikimora!" Hunter rapidly explained as Flapjack and Gray nodded their heads to confirm.
Eda hummed in acknowledgment. "Hm. Well, that explains Boots going nuts on the gremlin." Eda said before landing beside Hunter with King hopping off to stand to Flint's right and look on in worry.
King looked on the verge of tears. "Is he going to be okay?" King asked in a scared tone.
"I did what I could to try and stop the bleeding, but Kikimora's abomaton stabbed him and pulled itself out." Hunter quickly explained.
Eda clicked her teeth. "That makes things worse. I'm guessing the purple is abomination gunk?" Eda asked.
Hunter shook his head. "It's his blood. Don't know why it's purple though." Hunter answered.
Eda blinked before shaking her head. "That's for Future Eda to deal with. Let me see it." Eda demanded.
Hunter carefully attempted to unwrap the makeshift bandage. The hole in his hip was gruesome and almost made King want to hurl. However, all three of them were left stunned as the blood pooling from the wound began to coagulate as a scarlet flame-like glow began surrounding the wound. The fibers of his body began to stretch across the hole, closing it up as his flesh mended itself as the excess blood on his skin burnt away. After a few more moments, it was like the wound had never even happened, the only evidence of it being the holes in his shirt and jacket from where the spike at pierced him, with some of his blood staining the edges.
Flint groaned as he sat up, pressing his left hand against his forehead. "Ugh, what happened?" Flint asked.
"Flint!/Flint!" The three exclaimed in relief as Eda and King tackled him with Gray following behind. Hunter and Flapjack had only barely moved out of the way in time.
"Whoa!" Flint yelped as he was forced back to the ground. "What's going on? Did we find the lake? Where's Amity?" Flint asked quickly before his attention was drawn to Amity fighting (read: beating the shit out of) Kikimora.
Flint's only response was to pull out his phone and snap a few pictures of Amity in action as his tail wagged a bit.
The cave began to shake as rocks began to fall from the ceiling. One nearly falls on them, but Hunter quickly shoots a fireball that destroys it. "The cave is falling apart! We need to get out of here!" Hunter pointed out.
Flint turned back to Amity and cupped his hands. "Amity! Forget about her! We need to leave!" Flint shouted as he and the others all got to their feet.
About to slam Kikimora against the ground again, Flint's voice seems to snap Amity out of it as she looks at him with a mix of shock and relief before finally noticing the collapsing cave around her. Amity turns back to Kikimora and throws her across the cave before condensing her abomination body to her normal size and mounting her staff. At the same time, Flint and King mount the Gray staff while Hunter mounts his, and everyone flies single file through the entrance. Flint and King in the front, Hunter behind them, then Eda, and finally Amity bringing up the rear.
Kikimora let out a whine of pain on the ground as the rocks slammed into the ground around her.
The quintet eventually made it out of the mine at sunset, with Hunter having managed to retrieve his other Grafter along the way, the teens dismounting their staffs as King perched on Flint's shoulder. Everyone looked back at the mine as they panted out of breath.
"Well, *pant* that could've gone better," Flint remarked. King jumped from his shoulder just in time before Flint was tackled in a goopy hug by Amity.
"You're okay!" Amity said happily. Flint was about to try and hug her back, but she swiftly slapped him in the face. "Would you stop making me worry like that?!" Amity yelled angrily. Flint tried to respond only to be enveloped with another tight hug. "I was so worried about you…" Amity said quietly. She probably would've been crying if she weren't currently unable to create tears.
"Um…sorry?" Flint supplied, just patting his girlfriend's back in an attempt to reassure her.
"So Boots, this is new," Eda stated, gesturing to Amity's current state.
Amity separated from Flint, leaving him covered in goop as she inspected her hand in amazement. "Whoa. I've seen Head Witch Darius do this on the crystal ball before, but I never thought I'd be able to do it myself." Amity said in awe. Moments later, her body shifted back to normal and she became weak on her knees, leading to Flint catching her. "Whoa. That's…exhausting."
Someone clearing their throat got the four's attention as they all looked at Hunter. His cloak was stained halfway up from Flint's blood as he stood by awkwardly.
"Um…thanks," Hunter said awkwardly. "For saving me from Kikimora." Hunter quickly amended.
"Is this where you try to stop us and we kick your ass again?" Eda asked with a raised brow and a challenging tone.
"No…no," Hunter said with a sad sigh. "Belos will do that when I come back empty-handed. I might as well get it over with." Hunter said depressingly as he turned and trudged away with Flapjack on his shoulder.
Amity pursed her lips as she watched Hunter walk away, thinking back to his desperation in trying to find Titan's Blood and subsequently trying to get the key. Amity's expression hardened as she came to a decision.
"Wait."
Everyone looked at Amity in confusion as she pulled herself back to her feet, with Flint hovering near just in case. Amity looked at Hunter. "You still have one of those gloves we gave you?" Amity asked.
Hunter raised his brow before rolling his eyes as he pulled it out and threw it at her. "Is that really it? You just wanted me to return the glove?"
Amity didn't respond as she put the glove on over her left hand and pulled out the portal key from her coat. She held it in the pink-gloved hand and squeezed, feeling it break as something seeped out. She walked up to Hunter and held the hand out in front of him, before letting go of it.
Surprised, Hunter fumbled as he quickly caught the falling key. He lifts it up to see the eye cracked and Titan's Blood trying to leak out. Hunter's eyes widen in surprise before looking back at Amity, flabbergasted.
"There. Now we both have some." Amity stated as the once-pink glove was now staining blue from absorbing some of the blood.
Hunter looked down at the key for a moment before steeling himself and turning away.
"I…appreciate it…thank you." Hunter said gratefully as he walked away.
The group watched as he left before the others gathered back up with Amity. "So there was blood in the key this whole time?" King asked.
Amity nodded. "Yeah. Not sure why Belos knew that, but apparently so."
"We should head back now. Now that we have some, we can get to work on building the portal." Flint stated. Amity took off the blood-stained glove and handed it to Flint who put the glove in his hammerspace. The group all got ready to fly, King hopping onto Eda's shoulder as Flint chose to use Gray in staff mode, as they all took flight.
"You know, it actually makes a lot of sense now that I think about it," Eda said. "If Titan's Blood is how this Philip guy got here, it makes sense for the door to use some. The door's texture always reminded me of palistrom though," Eda noted.
"That won't be happening any time soon. We'll need to work out a substitute. Here's to hoping Alador can help using the tech we've got stored up." Flint stated.
Amity flew over beside him and intertwined her fingers with his. Flint turned to her and was suddenly struck with a kiss on the lips. He was surprised at first but quickly leaned into it before the two separated, with Amity resting her head on his shoulder.
"I'm glad you're okay," Amity said as she closed her eyes.
Flint smiled at her as he raised his body temperature, letting Amity relax from feeling his warmth. "I'm just happy that you are," Flint said softly, getting a smile from the girl as they headed off into the distance, leaving the mine behind.
Non-canon Omake: Still not it
"What do you want, Shikidora?" Flint demanded.
Kikimora blinked in confusion for a moment. "My name is Kikimora." The gremlin corrected.
"That's what I said," Flint responded confusedly.
Kikimora stared at him for a moment before glaring. "No, it's not."
"It is! Your name is Gikinora!" Flint yelled.
"That wasn't even what you said the first time!" Kikimora threw her hands up in exasperation. "Kiki. Mora,"
"Kookitora," Flint responded, starting to get annoyed.
"Kikimora."
"Mikikora."
"Kikimora."
"Creapidora."
"Kikimora."
"Likiwhora." Everyone else cringed in disgust at that one.
"Kikimora!"
"Mela Lee."
"That one wasn't even close!" Kikimora screamed, flailing her arms comically before recomposing herself. "Alright, let's try this a different way. Repeat after me. Ki,"
"Ki."
"Ki."
"Ki."
"Mora."
"Mora."
"Kikimora," Kikimora emphasized.
"Coca-Cola," Flint repeated.
The gremlin screamed in fury as her scouts watched with buckets of popcorn in their hands, one offering some to Amity.