If you were to hear the name Blight Industries, the first thing that would pop into your mind would be one of two things. One would be the name of a family that has been in power for years and is widely known throughout the Boiling Isles as one of the richest and most influential. The other would be a company that invented some of the most innovative inventions the Abomination Coven had seen. That's why so many people were coming to the main factory, as green smoke was seen coming out of the chimneys. Tonight was one of the company's private sales, and various hooded figures were seen entering the building. All of them were from various parts of the Isles, all wanting to keep their identities a secret.
Edric and Emira were at the door, and the twin brother put a paper that said "HEX ME" on one of the hooded figures' backs. The twins giggled.
The visitors gathered inside the factory, which had a large stage inside it. The crowd of hooded figures gathered in front of it, as Skara's mother, Kimberly, stood on the stage. Dressed in a business suit and skirt, with her hair in a neat bun, Kimberly stood straight while holding a clipboard.
"Okay, benefactors, please be patient; the show will begin soon," she said to the crowd. Turning around, she went backstage and approached two hooded figures. "Everything is ready, Ma'am."
The green-haired woman chuckled a bit before she said, "Good, it's show time."
She and her partner walked out onstage, and a light shone on them.
"Welcome, valued investors, to our annual Blight Industries private sale!" Odalia Blight, the factory's CEO, announced as she pulled off her cloak and revealed herself to the crowd.
Behind her, her partner tried to take off his hood. But the cloak ended up getting caught, causing him to trip and faceplant. Picking himself back up, he pulled off the cloak and revealed himself to be Adador Blight, Odalia's husband and chief engineer of Blight Industries. He was a pale-skinned witch with a disheveled look, unkempt hair with sideburns, hairy arms, and stubble. Like his younger daughter, Amity, he had golden eyes and brown hair. Furthermore, he had an Abomination Coven sigil branded on his right arm. Most likely, due to him working a lot, he is always seen slumping.
With everyone here, Odalia started the show.
"If you're interested in reliable home security, we're here to help," she said with a sly smirk. "And, if you've got an enemy or two... Well, who are we to judge?"
The investors laughed before Odalia pointed at Alador.
"This is my husband, Alador Blight, the greatest abomination creator of the era," she said, to which her husband named. "My name is Odalia, and as an oracle, I predict you'll love what we've got in store for you tonight. We are proud to present... the first glimpse of our crowning achievement…The Abomaton Soldier!"
Both Odalia and Alador stepped aside, as Amity rose from the floor. Next to her was a strange abomination-like creature in armor.
Humiliation wasn't even close to what Amity felt as she presented the Abomaton Soldier with a dry expression, even as the investors clapped for the new invention. This wasn't even the first time she'd been put in this situation. Her mother used this tactic to get her daughter to fall back in line anytime she acted out, especially when her father had a new invention that needed to be presented to the public. Her job was to be the test dummy.
Luckily, the first part wasn't too bad, as the Abomaton poured tea for Amity.
"It will pour your tea!" Odalia said to the crowd.
The next, however, was the Abomaton doing her hair. It looked awful.
"Help you keep up with the latest trends," said her mother. "And best of all, it will defend you against any unwanted visitors!"
This was the part Amity was dreading. Taking a deep breath, Amity took her position a few meters away from the Abomaton and put up her fists. The Abomaton did the same.
Smirking, Odalia touched her necklace, which began to glow. This caused the jewel in Amity's necklace to glow as well, and she received a telepathic message from it.
"Mama to Mittens, remember our deal: Make this look good, and we'll forgive your recent lackluster performance in school."
Amity sighed and said, "Yes, Mom."
That was why she was in this predicament. Her school performance has been becoming lackluster, to say the least. She missed classes and had been getting into trouble. Her mother was especially pissed about her daughter not being Grom Queen, something Odalia always wanted one of her kids to be. Thus, she's now the test dummy.
The Abomaton tried to pound Amity but missed when the Blight girl jumped back. "Wow, it's so fast and strong. Order now," Amity said in a monotonic voice. She jumped back from it when the Abomaton tried to grab her.
The investors clapped and cheered, while Alador yawned. Odalia, on the other hand, looked very pleased. Looking behind her back, she saw the number of units being ordered rising.
The Abomaton grabbed Amity as the young witch pretended to be in danger. "Oh no, it's undefeatable. How will I ever escape," she asked like the world's borest damsel in distress.
However, a piece of paper fell from her right sleeve. Amity felt and saw it fall out and was surprised. It's the paper of her, Booker, Luz, Willow, and Gus from Grom Night. One of her most prized possessions.
And the Abomaton was about to step on the picture.
Amity gasped. "Oh no, you don't!"
She quickly drew a spell circle, easily ripping the arm holding her apart. Landing on the ground, she then used both hands to draw a larger circle that made the Abomaton fall apart.
The crowd gasped and murmured at Amity, destroying the very product they had wasted their time seeing.
"That's awful," yelled one investor. Amity didn't care. All she cared about was her photo.
Odalia, however, did care as she rushed out onto the stage and quickly went into damage control. "Oh, of course, w-well that was b-but a beta test," she said with a nervous smile. "We can't wait to see you all next week when we reveal the uh... the finished product in all its glory!"
However, no one cared. The night was ruined, and it was all because of her good-for-nothing daughter. Odalia turned towards Amity and angrily glared at her.
"Amity! I can't believe you did that! You just lost us a lot of money!" Odalia screamed at her daughter. "What's the hell is with you lately?!"
However, Amity didn't pay any attention to her. She only stared longingly at the picture. Odalia saw this, and she understood what was going on. It was because her daughter had made friends—friends that had been taking her focus away from her work and studies. And by the looks of it, she was friends with the Seventh Son of the Seventh Son—Malcolm Bridge's brat.
Ever since that hybrid and his human friend arrived in the world, Amity had changed. And if there's one thing that Odalia hated, it was change. More especially, she hated changes that affected her. Amity was changing because of that boy, who was affecting her once-obedient daughter. She's seen in her other daughter as well, leading her to suspect that Emira's disobedience was because of that bat-witch on her live-stream.
Amity ruined her presentation. She'd stepped out of line, and it was time to stop it. They had one more chance to make this sale, and Odalia wasn't going to let her daughter's crush ruin it for her.
"I see. It looks like our precious mittens have been getting... distracted," she said, her face covered in anger. She was determined to make an example of the boy.
{Play music: Into the Badlands theme}
The intro opens with Booker rising from a dark void and clapping his hands. His magic markings light up, and the eye of the portal opens behind him, with a fire burning inside. One by one, his friends appear in front of him. First is Luz, who plays with her cards and does her light spells. Next, Eda steps out of a portal and spins her staff, only for King to come out from behind her. This is followed by Willow summoning massive vines as her eyes glow, Gus holding an open book and conjuring illusion clones of himself, and Amity twirling into the frame and smirking as she brings down a wall of abomination goo.
A Boiling Isle mural is seen again, only this time, the nine symbols of the Covens are added on top, the Owl House is on the bottom left, and the Emperor's Castle is on the bottom right. Lilith, Hunter, and Kikimora appear in the frames, taking the place of Willow, Gus, and Amity. They then show the reverse side of their frames with Lilith sobbing, Hunter taking off his mask, revealing his face partially, and Kikimora enraged.
The scene is burnt away again, but this time, it is by Emperor Belos. Behind him was his castle as lightning strikes.
Now, as the sun set, Booker and Luz were on Eda's staff, with Luz riding up front like she was driving and Booker standing behind like he was surfing on a surfboard. They zoom down the Boiling Isles, past many friends and foes alike, until Eda and King join in on the ride... then they hang on for dear life as a massive, monstrous worm-like monster, mouth wide open, lunges at them. Everyone, minus Booker, screamed in horror. The latter looked brave and defiant towards the beast, and he pointed his sword towards it.
Then, the scene changes back to the Owl House, where it's nighttime and stars twinkle in the sky. Only this time, the night sky is colored in a more vibrant purple, and the family of four can now see the Milky Way on the roof. Luz opens her hands to reveal a ball of light as Booker's hands glow, and a glyph-like symbol appears on the back of his hands.
He grinned and slammed his hands together, causing light magic to burst from his hands. That's when the title appeared.
The Seventh Son
Chapter Nineteen:
Blight's Bargain
Another beautiful morning started for the Owl House. Hooty smashed his face into a steel bucket three times. In front of the house, Luz and Booker stood in front of a covered chalkboard while activating some of their spells.
"Light in the darkness," Luz said with her infectious smile as she activated a light spell.
"A glittering bridge of ice," Booker said, smirking as he made a ball appear in his hand.
"The mightiest tree in the forest," said Luz as she activated two vine spells. "You can make all these and more with glyph magic!"
"Welcome to day three of Booker and Luz's magic boot camp!" Booker and Luz announced as they clapped their hands high over their heads. Two fire glyphs ignited on the ground. King, who was sleeping near one, screamed and ran away when it went off.
In front of the two best friends were their students, the Clawthrone sisters, sitting at school desks. Lilith cheered and clapped her hands while Eda carved something into the desk she was using.
"Booker, if you may," Luz asked her fellow teacher.
Booker nodded. "With pleasure," he said, pulling off the cover and revealing the chalkboard. On it were drawings of all of the glyphs that they'd discovered on their journey.
"Okay, we have covered every glyph Booker and I have learned up until now. So today, we'll learn something new," Luz explained to the two adults.
Lilith asked, "Are we about to encounter a never-before-seen glyph?"
"Unfortunately, no," Booker said, pointing at the glyphs on the board. "These are the seven primordial forms of magic. Meaning that there are no more glyphs in the world."
Lilith and Eda glanced at each other before Luz turned the board around. "In any case, today we're learning how to alter glyphs to do specific things," she said, sharing the drawings on the back.
Inspired by Booker, Luz thought of a new way to use her glyphs that she'd been wanting to try out: glyph combination. By combining two or more spells, Luz hoped to make a completely new spell. The Seventh Son had been wanting to do this with his powers, and testing it out with the glyphs would be a great way to do it.
Lilith raised her hand. "Teachers, did I do it right," she asked, enthusiastically holding up a diagram of ice glyphs.
"Yeah! That's really good!" Luz said, which had Lilith pumping her fist.
"Let's see how you're doing, Mom," Booker said as he walked up to the Owl Lady.
He looked down and saw that Eda had carved the fire and ice glyphs overlapping together on the table.
"You do realize that we have paper, right?"
"I know," Eda said, still concentrating on her craving.
"And you're not even going bother using it?"
"Nope," Eda said, finishing her craving.
Booker took a nervous step back and said, "Wait, Mom, don't!"
"Double glyph combo, go!" Eda yelled as she slapped on the glyphs. At first, neither of them activated until the fire and ice glyphs started flashing, and streams of magic lifted off the table's surface. Then, it let off a small explosion.
"Dammit!" Eda slammed her fists on the table. "I was hoping for more of an ice blast situation."
Booker sighed and shook his head, knowing that his adoptive mom had been growing increasingly impatient recently about trying to regain her powers. "Mom, I know you're impatient to regain your powers, but try to master the basics before you start experimenting," Booker said with a supportive smile.
Eda crossed her arms. "Ugh, I can't believe my own son's as boring as Lily," she said, with Lilith glaring at her.
That's when Hooty appeared. "Toot toot! The Hexside train is a-coming! Chugga-chugga!" he said as he wrapped his body around Booker and Luz.
"Uh, okay, uh, King's in charge while I'm gone. Bye!" Luz said as the house demon carried away her and her crush.
When he heard he was going to be in charge of the classroom, King cheered. "Hahah, power!"
Together, Booker and Luz walked up to the twin doors of Hexside School of Magic and Demonics, both of them very nervous about what they'd see on the other side. Today was the first day of their return to school. It had been so long since they'd stepped foot in the school and had seen their friends.
"Okay, first day back after the petrification ceremony. Just be chill," Luz said.
Booker looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Are you telling that to me or yourself?"
"Both."
"Honestly, I'm happy to be back," Booker said, which felt like a weird thing to say for him. "After 2 weeks of odd jobs and training in the mountains, I'm glad to go back to being a normal kid again. Nothing bad happening, where we can hang out with our friends and just be happy together."
Hearing how Booker wanted to be happy with her filled Luz with joy as she grabbed his hand. "Well, let's go," she said, blushing with her best friend.
Together, they placed their free hand on the doors and pushed them open. Walking into the school, they saw their fellow students of all shapes and sizes walking around the halls. The two of them walked down the hallway until they came across the two people they were looking forward to seeing.
"Guys!" Booker called out, getting their attention. Willow and Gus turned around and saw their best friends, before running towards each other, screaming happily.
"Oh my gosh!" Luz cheered as all four of them hugged each other.
"Booker! Luz! You're okay!" said a noticeably deeper voice as they stopped hugging each other.
Upon gazing at them, Booker was shocked to learn that the voice had come from none other than Gus, who had undergone a dramatic transformation. The black witch had become taller than before, almost the same height as Luz and Willow. Additionally, Gus' facial features had become sharper and more angular, and his eyes now had visible pupils.
"Whoa, what the hell!?" Booker yelled, completely shocked. Before, Gus was shorter than he was, but now he was so close to being his height and in a very short period of time. "Gus, what happened to you?!"
Gus shrugged. "Witch puberty," he said. "Every witch shoots up when it hits."
Booker instantly knew that he must hit witch puberty as soon as he could, if that was even possible. Given his hybrid body.
Luz said, "I can't thank you guys enough for helping Eda and us at the conformatorium."
"That's cool. I just hope it helps Eda learn my name," Gus said, looking down in embarrassment. "She keeps calling me Goops."
The lizard-headed student walked by and waved at the black boy. "Hey, Goops!"
Realizing that his fate was set, Gus became dejected. "It's already spreading," he said as Willow patted him on the back.
"Hey, Booker, Luz," said a voice from behind.
Turning around, Booker and Luz smiled when they saw it was their other crush, Amity. The green-haired girl was walking towards the two best friends with her necklace out and a small pie in hand.
"Amity!" Luz cheerfully greeted her.
"In celebration of your return, I've brought you a homemade fairy pie," Amity said, holding up the small pie.
"Oh, wow! Thanks, Ams," Booker said with a big smile as he looked at the pie. "That sounds so—"
Booker stopped when he saw the fairy pie, which lived up to its name. The top crust was that of a normal pie, but it was filled with fairies who were all still alive. Their legs, arms, and wings stuck out of the top as they screamed in agony.
With a disgusted expression, Booker said, "...Good…"
The worst part was that it actually looked appetizing to Booker, with his stomach growling.
"The ingredients are... very fresh," Amity said, looking away, blushing.
"I can see that. Thank you." Not wanting to hurt his second crush's feelings, Booker took the pie. "You know, after everything that's happened, I'm just happy to return to some sense of normalcy."
Suddenly, sounds started coming through the school PA system as Principal Bump yelled at someone on the other end.
"You can't just barge in here!"
"Yes, we can. We are the Parent Creature Association!" Yelled back a woman of high class. A woman whose voice Amity knew all too well as she looked up at the nearest monstrous intercom speaker.
"Mom?!" Amity exclaimed.
"Booker Bridges, Luz Noceda, Warrick Riley, Willow Park, and Augustus Porter, report to Principal Bump's office now! And you too, Amity."
It was at that moment that Warrick walked over to the group of friends while holding Emira's hand. Edric was with them as well.
"Why does your mom want to see us," Warrick asked.
"I…" Amity paused. "I don't know."
"Trust me," Emira said with a frown. "It's nothing good when mom wants something."
A moment later, the five were in Principal Bump's office. Odalia and Alador flanked Principal Bump while the kids were sitting in front of them.
"Uh, good morning, students. I take it you're curious as to why you're here," Bump said, addressing the kids with a stressed expression.
"I'll be the one to explain it," Obalia said, cutting off the principal. "We are Amity's parent, Obalia and Alador, and we are representing the Parents Creature Association. It's come to our attention that several incidents have happened at this school that have blatantly put the student body in danger!"
She pointed at Booker, Warrick, Luz, Willow, and Gus.
"Incidents caused by these students!"
"What?!" They all gasped in shock.
Willow said, "That's insane!"
"You don't have proof!" Booker said, glaring at the woman.
"I'd watch you tongue if I were you, Mr Bridges. We have more than enough evidence," Odalia said as she counted each incident on her fingers. "The abomination situation, the destruction of detention, the rampage of Grom, the Holmes incident…"
"Wait a minute, that wasn't our fault!" Warrick exclaimed, while Willow and Gus looked worried. Luz looked confused. Booker continued to glare at the parents, and Amity angrily looked to the side, arms crossed. Holmes was responsible for that incident!"
"And he wouldn't have done it if it weren't for you," Odalia said, glaring at the boy her eldest daughter was affectionate towards. "These are but a few of the incidents that have endangered Hexside students, including our daughter. And that's not even to mention the dangerous fugitive who lost control of his magic is allowed to walk around the halls freely, especially when he attacked the Emperor and his Coven."
Amity shot her a deadly glare.
"So, the PCA has decided to…" Odalia stopped when she noticed Alador trying to touch the moving tail of Bump's mask. She cleared her throat.
"Oh, right," Alador said. "Um, these five are bad influences and must be executed.
"WHAT?!" Booker, Amity, Luz, Warrick, Willow, and Gus gasped. How could the sluggish man suggest a cruel fate?
"Ahem, I mean expelled," Alador said, rubbing the back of his head.
"What?!" The five getting expelled looked at Amity's mother in shock. Appalled that she would even do that.
Not even Amity could believe it. The young witch stared at her mother furiously. That's when her necklace started to glow. Smirking at her, Odalia spoke through Amity's necklace. "Take this as a lesson, Mittens. A Blight always upholds their end of the deal."
Amity gasped, then backed down with a dejected look.
"Bump, you can't really believe this bullshit!" Booker stood up and slammed his hands on the table. "You know us, man. You know those incidents have good explanations for them."
"I…I know, Booker, and I'm sorry, but this is out of my control," Bump said sadly as he looked at his students. "The PCA had threatened to go to the Emperor's Coven with their complaints, and if they do, it's over. The Coven will see track mixing, know that I'm harboring you, and then arrest me and replace me with the old principal, Faust. And believe me, he'll make life at this school a living hell on earth."
"And we can make it all happen with just a simple call," Odalia said with a smirk. "Just give me a reason. So, what's it going to be?"
"I…" Booker quieted down as he really thought about it. Bump wasn't a bad principal. He was a great one—the best he'd ever had. If he were removed from office and replaced with Faust, someone who didn't sound all that pleasant, Booker would be responsible for it because he and his friends didn't want to go. And worst of all, this woman was willing to make it all happen. He was powerless to stop her.
He looked at his friends. They, too, understood the stakes. This wasn't a time for them to be selfish. It was them or the school's wellbeing.
"We understand," Booker said, much to the complete shock of Amity, who looked at her two crushes with wide eyes.
"Then, sadly, Booker, Warrick, Luz, Willow, and Augustus, effective immediately, you are no longer students at Hexside," Bump said with finality.
Amity wanted to say something. She had to say something. But one look from Odalia's stare crushed any hopes of resistance. Amity looked down with a defeated expression as Odalia snapped her fingers. Summoning three Hexside Guards, who came bragging into the office. Together, they started dragging them to the door. One dragged away Willow and Gus, one had Warrick and Luz, and the last had Booker.
"Hey, I can walk, you know!" Booker yelled at the guard, but it fell on deaf ears.
He looked back at Amity. For a moment, the two locked eyes.
The young Blight girl stared at him with sadness and regret. That was put to an end when Odalia placed her hand on Amity's shoulder. The woman looked at the son of Malcolm with a smug look on her face, watching as the door closed behind the Seventh Son.
"Good. Now, you'll be taking double the classes to make up for lost time," Odalia said as her husband went back to poking at Bump's devil hat tail. "Actually, I'm appalled that you're not in class right now. What are you thinking?"
"Right, sorry," Amity said, nothing even bothering to argue with her mother that she was the one who called her.
Her mother had taken away her friends.
Now, she stands alone.
Booker may have been calm in the office, but that was only because he was thinking about the school's wellbeing. As he started up at the sky, he leaned back on the steps of the school, now bothered with how the edges were jabbing into his back and head. His anger started to grow. This all started because of some stoner and an uptight bitch who clearly didn't like her daughter being off her lease. And now, not only was he kicked out of school, but so were his friends.
And it wasn't just him that wasn't taking the news well.
"She did WHAT?!" Emira screamed in a mixture of fury and shock. "Oh, oh, this is so like her! Any time we have something she doesn't like, Mom has to take it away!"
"Whoa, sis, calm down," Edric said.
"I AM CALM! I just…" Emira looked at Warrick, who stood in front of her with a sad expression. She shared that same face, as tears started to well up in her eyes.
Warrick was ready for her when she ran into him and started sobbing into his chest. "Em, I promise. Everything's gonna be okay."
"How?!" she cried, looking up at him while sobbing. "You're a wild witch now! Not only that, but you're a student without a school. You and the others will be hunted down by not only the Emperor but also the truancy officers."
Luz, who was just as sad as Emira, looked at her friends with a confused expression while sitting on the stone rail. "Uh, what do you mean," she asked. "Don't truancy officers arrest you for being out of school?"
"It's more like they take you to their layer to slowly digest you!" Gus yelled in complete fear. He paced around, his hands running through his hair.
Luz started blankly into space. "Of course there's a horrible twist," she said with a sigh, slumping her shoulders.
"It finally happened! Our memorable adventures caught up to us. Oh, my dad can't find out about this!" Gus yelled. Looking down at the ground, he picked up one of the leaves. "I guess I'll have to start surviving off the land."
Gus attempted to lick the leaf. However, just when he was an inch away, he stopped and threw it to the ground. Unable to bring himself to do it.
"Ah! This is impossible!" He then ran away, crying.
Sitting up, Booker saw as he ran away before looking at Willow, who was hugging a tree.
"I guess this is goodbye. I'll water you one last time... with my tears!" Willow sobbed as she soiled the ground with her tears.
Booker sighed as Luz sat down next to him. "I always figured I'd be expelled from school one day," he said to her in a melancholic voice. "Just didn't think I'd ever find a school I'd actually want to stay at."
"I'm surprised that you didn't explode," Luz said with a smile as she leaned on her BFF's shoulder. "That's honestly the most surprising part."
"Yeah," Booker said, placing his hands under his chin. "But that bitch was right. I did cause a lot of problems for the school, and me staying here would only cause more problems for everyone. I just wish I didn't drag you all down with me."
"Hey, don't you go putting all that guilt on yourself again," Luz said as she looped her arm around Booker, side-hugging him as the Blight Twins and Warrick sat down around him. "If anything, I was not responsible for most of that stuff. Besides, Bump didn't want to expel us. It was all because of Amity's mom."
"Yeah, sorry about her, guys," Edric said. "Mom can be very, very, very…"
"Horrible," Emira asked with a smirk.
"I was going to say controlling, but yeah, she's horrible."
"Booker Bridges." The four friends turned around to see Alador and Odalia coming out of school and descending down the steps.
Luz hugged her BFF protectively, while Emira, Edric, and Warrick—the three older teenagers—stayed by the Seventh Son's side.
"Your name is Booker, right," Odalia asked, acting as if she hadn't said his name on the intercom. "I have to say, you have much of your father's face. Emira, Edric, please take your friends and give mommy and daddy some privacy with Malcolm's son."
"Excuse me?!" Booker yelled as he stood up against the parents. "How dare you think that you have a right to speak to me! You can do whatever you want to me, but when you mess with my friends' lives, there will be hell! What the fuck have we ever done to you?"
"Please, this isn't personal. I actually appreciate your tenacity," Odalia said. "We're just trying to teach our daughter a valuable lesson in business."
"How does this teach anything? We're still gonna be friends with her," Luz said. "I'm calling applesauce on this business baloney!"
Odalia raised an eyebrow. "Your human language is hard to understand."
"Then let me put it in words you'll understand," Booker growled as he reached back and grabbed his sword.
"Now, now, let's not resort to violence," Odalia said, brushing off the Seventh Son's threat. She continued to talk condescendingly to Booker, while Alador looked at Warrick's gauntlets, much to the discomfort of the young man. "If you're interested in talking things through, I'm sure we can come to some sort of agreement."
The young man raised an eyebrow as she handed Booker a Blight Industry business card. Before Booker could even consider the offer, Luz grabbed the card from him.
"Nope! Not happening," she exclaimed. At the same time, Willow and Gus walked back over, both glaring at Odalia. "Come on, Booker. We can figure this out on our own."
"That's right, we'll survive or die trying," Gus said.
"No one's dying," Willow said, before a crow phone flew to the group and landed on the witch's head. Willow instantly became worried as she looked up at the bird. "Oh no…"
From the crow-phone's opened mouth, the voice of one of her dads yelled, "Willow Park, did you get expelled?!"
The group of friends looked worried before another crow-phone landed atop Gus's head. From the phone came Perry's voice. "This is Perry Porter with breaking news. In light of recent events, Augustus Porter will be grounded for no less than a year,"he said as the crow-phone grabbed Gus by his collar and started flying up, showing off just how powerful it was.
"Help, guys! Let me go! No, please, no!" Gus pleaded as Warrick ran after him.
"Just one? Willow's grounded for three at least!" Harvey said as Willow's crow pulled her up and flew away.
"No, ah! Help, Luz! Help, Luz!" the young witch pleaded as the Dominican girl ran after her.
Booker watched as the two crow phones carried Willow and Gus away while his crush and Warrick tried to stop them. Odalia chuckled. "Yes, well, when that doesn't work, you know where to find us," she said, giving Booker another card, before pushing Alador as they walked away together.
As he looked at the card, Booker's mind became conflicted about what to do. He and the others left the school out of their own free will and did it for the school, but that didn't make it all the easier for Booker. And he knew it would be hard on the others, especially if they couldn't get into another school. If they could, they'd likely be separated. If they couldn't, they'd be hunted down as wild witches, like Eda was.
"I know what you're thinking," said Amity from behind Booker and her older twin siblings. Booker turned around and saw her struggling to carry a large bundle of books.
When she accidentally dropped one of her books, Booker clapped his hands and reached out with a hard-light arm. Grabbing the book, he used another arm to take all of the books she held and set them in a pile. Booker then clapped his hands again, creating a vine that tied all the books together in a book belt.
"There," Booker said, smiling at Amity as he picked up the belt and gave it to her.
"I'm uh... I'm sorry, I was a coward in there," Amity said, looking down in shame. "But my mom—"
"Hey, I get it. You're scared of her," Booker said. "We left the school out of our free will, just so no one else had to suffer."
Amity blushed and smiled at Booker's thoughtfulness.
"But you're still thinking about taking up her offer," Edric said.
"Not for me, but for the others," Booker said. "Willow, Gus, Warrick, even Luz doesn't deserve this treatment. Your mom seemed open to talking things through, and if it means getting my friends back into the school, then it's a case I need to take."
"Booker, I want Warrick back at school, but this is different," Emira said, walking up to Booker and placing her hands on his shoulders. "My mom is a petty woman, and a complete control freak. If there's one person you don't want to cross, it's her."
"Look, I know it's risky, but come on, I've fought Belos and won," Booker said with confidence.
"You barely got away," Amity said.
"Still counts. What can your mother do that Belos can't?"
"Force you into a deal that you cannot escape from," Edric said. "How else do you think she's gotten to where she is now?"
Booker sighed. "I don't really have an option here, and you know that," he said. "I don't care about myself, but I want Luz, Willow, Gus, and Warrick to be happy. This school is the place where they're the happiest. I don't want them to lose that."
The Blights looked at one another.
"Just…promise me you wouldn't agree to any deal that will put you in harm's way," Amity said.
"I wouldn't," Booker said, turning around and walking away. He looked at the business card and the address.