In the castle's portal room, there was a bonfire filled with coals with nine empty circular holes around its edge. A blue fire ignited the coals before quickly extinguishing and sizzling, bringing light into the large chamber. It was only when there was enough light that the door at the top of the stairs leading down into the room was opened. Four spear-wielding scouts lined the entrance, standing impassively as the guests of honor arrived.
The nine coven heads, for nine covens. Leaders of the oppressive system Belos forced on the people. They all wore white cloaks with circular badges bearing the symbol of their respective covens. Each other was of a different height, a different gender, and a different race, witch or demon.
Walking between the standing guards, they gathered around the central bonfire, which now burns low. Its glow was only bright enough for them to see their Emperor sitting on a low seat. The Golden Guard and Kikimora stood on either side of Belos, and two Abomatons flanked the three.
Behind them: the portal door.
Belos had put it back together, but it was ugly now. It was no longer the elegant door that connected the realm of men and God's creation with this realm of witches and heathens. With tubes running out of it, the broken door was held in place by a towering circular frame. It wasn't complete. There was still work to be done before it was completely reconstructed.
But it was all in God's good time, wasn't it Belos? You still had time. Yet it was running out.
Soon, the Rotting must commence.
"The Day of Unity approaches," Kikimora announced to the room, "where we'll celebrate the purification of magic under the coven system, just as The Titan intended. As heads of the nine covens, we celebrate your efforts to complete this plan. For this, you have earned a glimpse of the reward that awaits."
Belos raised his left hand from the arm of his seat and gestured forth. "Step forward," he said with command.
The head witches removed their badges and placed them in the holes around the bonfire. The badges glowed with bright colors, and light swirled into the center of the fire.
Suddenly, the flames erupted, and the heads gazed in awe at the fire, their eyes turning a glowing white. Receiving a vision through the flames of what was to come.
The Titan's skull looked up, just as it always had, as the night sky turned and became brighter. The corpse of their god's eye glowed from within before a fiery blaze erupted from it, cleansing all and purifying what was unclean. And then, they saw what was promised to them: unity between the realms. The Titan's head relocated to what appeared to be a metropolis of the Human Realm, under a red sky with an eclipse slowly rising above.
Paradise will be brought to them. Humans, witches, and demons will live in harmony as one united people in one world. It will be beautiful and glorious.
It was all bullshit.
The vision faded to the head witches, their eyes still glowing. They watched and listened to Belos as he made his promise.
"The larger your covens grow, the more power we have to unite our realms, where the worthy shall inherit a utopia free of wild magic," he said, smiling under his mask. Everything was coming together.
Suddenly, Emperor Belos grunted in pain and clutched his chest. No, not now. He thought he had more time.
Seeing his emperor in pain, the Golden Guard helped Belos up from his throne. Kikimora attempted to follow.
"No. Stay here," said the guard, stopping her. "I can handle this alone."
Together, they left the room, not seeing Kikimora glaring at the Golden Guard out of jealousy.
When they were alone in the unoccupied throne room, Emperor Belos walked away from the Golden Guard, trying to get as far away as possible before it lost control. The beating of the Titan's heart was all that was heard before Belos started grunting in pain.
The door was closed, and he couldn't hold it in anymore. Falling on his knees, his mask fell off.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHH!" Whatever the emperor was, whatever allowed him to survive Booker cutting him in half, he transformed into that same vile amalgamation of sludge. Whatever Belos was, he was enraged. He punched his fist against the wall repeatedly, leaving behind his residue. All while his Golden Guard looked away.
On his last punch, he finally got back control and turned his hand back to normal. Exhaling, he pulled his hand away, smearing his goo on the wall, and put his mask back on.
Already ready, the Golden Guard handed him a Palisman staff. Snatching it away, Belos quickly murdered the innocent being. Absorbing the green essence through his eyes, which briefly turn green before changing back to blue.
Emperor Belos sighed in relief, but it wasn't enough. The palisman turned to dust in his hands.
"I need more," he told the guard, reaching out his hand.
"That was the last from our reserves, uncle," said the Golden Guard. "The palistrom wood has been overharvested."
Frustrated, Emperor Belos turned away and walked to his throne.
"Uncle, let me help!" The Golden Guard. "We can make more palismen! Actually, I read about this technique: harnessing wild magic to—"
Belos turned his head to look back at him.
"Uh...sorry."
The boy meant well. Emperor Belos knew that, just like Caleb. And just like how Caleb was used, he will use him. Placing a hand on Golden Guard's shoulder, he said, "Please, be careful. Our family is gone because of wild magic. I can't let the same happen to you."
He tightened his grip, making sludge smear onto his cape. Perhaps this one can be saved.
"Find me more palismen. I can depend on you, right, my Hunter?
Hunter nodded his head. "I will, uncle."
Neither of them knew that they were being eavesdropped.
Today was going to be the day; Booker thought to himself as he glanced between Luz and Amity. They were both sitting on his right and left. Luz, his best friend for 7 years. A cute, kind-hearted, outgoing, eccentric, energetic, and exceedingly geeky girl who was as pretty as a bright day. Amity, the girl who became so much more than a mean girl and won his heart. A beautiful and intelligent young woman who was skilled with magic and shattered all of Booker's expectations. Her beauty and grace rivaled a brightly lit night.
They were the sun and moon of his earth. Yes, it didn't make sense if he was supposed to be orbiting around Luz, but he couldn't think of a better way to describe them. They were perfect. He loved Luz and Amity. And today, he wanted to stop waiting around and tell them how he truly felt.
"Booker," said Luz, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Class is over."
"What," Booker asked, looking around. She was right. Only he, Luz, and Amity were in the room. They were completely alone. Even the teacher had exited the classroom, going to who knows where. "Oh."
"Come on, let's go," Amity said. Both she and Luz turned to leave.
"Wait," Booker said. The two girls stopped and looked at Booker, confused. "I…I wanted to talk to you two."
Luz and Amity glanced at one another. "Sure," said the green-haired witch. "What's going on?"
"Well…I…"
"Guys!" yelled Felix, running into the room with a panicked look on his face. "Get out here. There's been an accident, and Gus is miserable now."
The girls ran out of the room, leaving Booker standing there for a moment before he sighed and ran after them. So close.
When they found the young boy, he was sitting in Hexside's hallways. His head was buried in his arms. Wallowing in his shame. It was because he had the worst day of his life.
"Come on, Gus, it's not all that bad," said Jason, sitting next to his classmate with an arm around him. Viney sat on the other side of Gus. Selene was also with them.
"Yo, Gus!" Booker said when he, the girls, and Felix arrived.
"Hey, Gus. You okay," asked Luz, looking worried.
Looking up, Gus started to explain what happened. "I—I messed up badly, Luz. Willow just needed help with this pixie problem, right? So I thought, oh, that I'll lure them away with an illusion. But then…then…"
"That angered the pixies, and they attacked Willow," Felix said, with Selene next to him. Looking down sadly at the situation Gus was in. "It wasn't pretty."
Gus groaned in despair and stood up to pace. "The hell is wrong with me?! I moved up two grades. What's the point of being good at this if I can't do anything good with it?"
"Gus, stop," Amity said, halting the boy when she got in front of him and placed her hand on his shoulder. "It was an honest mistake. Besides, Willow's tough as nails."
Viney hesitantly said, "Well, I was able to heal her broken arm, but it'll—"
"You did what?!" Amity looked at Gus in protective fury on behalf of her best friend.
"Amity," Booker said.
Amity sighed and calmed down. It was nice to see her and Willow back as friends and to see her protect the plant witch.
Then Luz speaks to Gus. "I'm sure you'll both be feeling better tomorrow," she said.
Booker nodded, believing what his crushes believed, too. One would assume that this would be the young boy's adventure for the week. At least that would have been if he hadn't already had plans with Luz and Amity. With Amity, they were going to go to the library and try to find out more about the portal. They all know that it was his father's before it fell into the hands of Eda. But there was still so much they needed to know about it if they wanted to recreate the artifact. They only had a few answers.
What was it? It was a portal between Earth and the demon realm. Where did it come from? From what Eda told them, it was Malcolm's master, Mahri, who found it buried in the ground. Who made it? How did it work? Can they create the same door?
"Ah, there you are, Booker." The boy was pulled out of his thoughts when Principle Bump approached him and the others. "I'm glad I found you. I have a very special assignment for you. One that's very important for the school."
"Sure," Booker said. "What's going on?"
"Follow me outside, and I'll show you," Bump said.
"Can we come too," asked Luz.
"Sorry, but not today," said the principal. "But tomorrow, you all will see what exciting event the school has planned."
Booker looked at the others. They shrugged. Whatever it was, it had to be important if Bump wanted to keep it a secret. And it had to be important to have the Seventh Son be on it.
Booker followed behind the principal as they left the main school building and walked onto the Hexside grudgby field. It felt weird being back on the field again. This was where he lost it on Luz and yelled at her with some really hurtful things. To this day, it's still the biggest regret of his life. However, it was also the site of one of these biggest triumphs in the form of beating Boscha at her own game.
"So, what's going on, Bump," Booker asked, noticing that there was a small fenced-off area. "I thought you needed me to do something very important."
"Indeed it is," Bump said, looking to the sky.
Booker felt the air kicking up before he looked. To his shock, he saw the Bat Queen descending from the sky. In her talons was what looked like a large nest. Landing in the center of the fence, she looked down at the Seventh Son and smiled at him.
"Yi yi," said the Bat Queen in greetings.
"Bat Queen," Booker said with a smile. "It's good to see you again."
"And a pleasure to see you, too, son of Eda," she said.
Turning to Booker, Bump started to explain everything with a smile.
"Booker, tomorrow is going to be a momentous day for Hexside. You're all about to receive your witches' staffs and, more importantly, meet your palisman," he told the young hero, making Booker's eyes widen in shock and awe. Had he been Luz, he wasn't sure if he would be able to contain his excitement. "This is a crucial step in a witch's magical development. Palismen are lifelong partners. They can be both your good friends and a powerful tool. In my case…"
Bump snapped his fingers. Suddenly, upon his command, his hat came to life, and he lifted his head off his head, revealing Bump's body-length black hair and the scar on his right eye, his left one closed.
Booker looked at the hat in awe as it turned into the principal's imp palisman with a long, spade-tipped tail, clawed hands, and two horns on either side of his head, with a wide cat-like mouth showing two fangs and a dull blue tongue. His skin and staff are maroon in color, with paler spots circling his eyes. Said eyes, which usually cover Bump's, are dull sea green, with pale yellow sclera.
Turning into his staff form as his master grabbed him, the imp rested in a hunched position, with his hands over the top of his staff, his feet hanging off of it, and his tail wrapped around it. His eyes squinted and became pale yellow.
"...Frewin here, helps me see."
"Oh, my Titan!" The Seventh Son gasped in awestruck. "You have hair?"
Bump narrowed his eyes at him.
"Sorry."
"Anyways…Now, traditionally, young witches carve their staffs from the branch of an old palistrom tree," Bump said, looking at Bat Queen. "But sadly, palistrom trees are becoming rarer. And those that remain are guarded covetously."
Booker looked at the nest. "So, wait, are there a bunch of tree stumps inside," he asked, confused by why she would bring wood to the school by a nest.
Bat Queen giggled a bit before she said, "Actually, it was Eda who came up with the idea that for this year, we'll bring you…Palisman Adoption Day!"
The moment the queen exclaimed with glee in her voice, the door to the nest opened, and several palismen emerged from it. All of them were different animals, and all of them were the cutest things Booker had ever seen.
"Oh my Titan, they're so cute," he said, gushing over them. "You really agreed to this?"
"This was my pleasure," she said with a smile. "What a wonderful idea. It would seem that our Eda has developed a habit of housing orphans."
Booker smiled fondly. "Yeah, she does," he said before his eyes widened. "Whoa there!" One of the palismen tried to escape the shelter, but Booker quickly picked them up. "Almost lost…you…"
The moment he looked at him, a strange feeling washed over him. He had the appearance of a red cardinal, with a scar where his left eye would be shaped like a crescent with a spike. Other than that, there was nothing noteworthy about him. He had red feathers with dark red wingtips, a dark red beak, dark brown feet, and a black face. All typical traits of a cardinal.
"Do I…know you?"
The bird twittered.
"Huh, I guess not," Booker said, placing him back in the shelter. But the bird just stared at him.
"These little ones have not had homes in many years. Some of them have lost their masters or have been rescued from abuse. They want to feel a connection," Bat Queen said to Booker. "Kneel and state your deepest wish, and your like-minded partner will find you."
Booker looked at the palismen in shock. That's all it took? Just say what you want the most, and the right one will pick you.
Stepping forth, he dropped down on one knee and looked at the magical animals.
"You all are going to make a bunch of witches really happy," he said with a kind smile. "So, I think you all should pick them and pick them wisely. Because I'm not gonna have one."
Confused, the palismen looked at one another.
"Hey, don't worry. I'd rather everyone get a palisman than me. I mean, it's not like I need one," he said, reaching back and pulling Dragon's Bite just enough to show the runes edged into its beautiful, well-preserved blade. "I've got a sword that's my staff…like a staff sword."
The palismen agreed with the Seventh Son as he stood back up. He looked to Bump and Bat Queen, and both of them looked at him with surprised looks in their eyes. "Such a sacrifice for your fellow students," commented the queen.
"They deserve them more," Booker said, nodding back at the school. "Besides, Eda told me how Dragon's Bite could do everything staff can except fly and be companions. I've got the flying thing down, but there's also a little pain in the ass back home named King I call my life-long companion."
"Perhaps one will find your self-sacrifice enduring and bond with you," Bat Queen said. "Palismen bonds through emotion. And I can sense there's much conflict inside you. A wildfire."
"You don't even know the half of it," Booker muttered. "So…what does this all have to do with me? Why show me this before everyone else?"
Principal Bump cleared his throat. "Well, it's because the school needs someone to protect the nest overnight," the man told Mal's son, looking at him gravely. "If what you said about Belos eating the life essence of palismen is true, then we can't allow them to fall into his hands."
Booker looked down in disgust. What he did to that poor palisman was still so disturbing to remember.
"We need someone to protect them," said Bump. "Which is why I'm placing you in charge of protecting them until tomorrow. Can you do that?"
That's where the conflict of interests came into play. Tonight, Booker was supposed to help Luz and Amity find more information about the portal. It was important to Luz to find out who made it and how she could recreate it.
But just like how it was important to Luz, protecting these palismen was just as important. Maybe more so, considering they could look up the information at any time. If the Emperor's Coven gets their hands on these little critters, they're going to feed them to the mad king. He couldn't let that happen.
"You can count on me," Booker said with determination.
"You're not coming to the library," asked Luz when Booker got home and told her what was going on. He didn't tell her about the palismen, knowing that it had to be kept a closely guarded secret.
"I have to, Luz," he said, packing a sleeping bag as King walked in with a bag of toiletries supplies. "The only question is…where am I gonna use the bathroom?"
"Just go on the ground," King said.
"EW!"
"What?! It's what nature would have wanted," King said with his hands on his hips.
"But…But we were supposed to go to the library with Amity," Luz said. "She's over there waiting for us right now."
"I know Luz, and I'm sorry. But this is important for the school and all of you," Booker said, grabbing a new shirt that Eda picked out for him. "Trust me, you'll find out about it tomorrow, and when you do, you're going to love it."
"Well, can't you at least tell me what it is," asked Luz.
"Luz…"
"Please?"
"I can't!"
"Don't bother the boy," Eda said, walking in with her arms crossed. She looked against the doorway, smirking at her adopted son and the girl she took on as her apprentice. "He's right, you know. This is important, and if you were to know what it was, then you wouldn't want to go to the library too."
"Hey, I would. I love Amity," Luz said before blushing and quickly correcting herself. "I-I-I mean, I love hanging out with her! That's what I meant. Just like I love Booker—no! No! I mean, I love hanging out with him! I love hanging out with both of them. Hehehe."
"Smooth," King said, looking at her with an annoyed look. He just wanted her, Booker, and Amity to just get it over with and start dating each other. Then he'll be king of the uncles.
Sighing in defeat, Luz sagged a little. "Alright, I'll go."
Eda chuckled, walked over to her young apprentice, and patted her on the head. "Don't worry, you just go and be with Amity while Booker goes and does his important thing," she said, looking at her adopted son and winking at him.
Booker nodded, thanking her silently for her help. He then grabbed his backpack and prepared to change into his new shirt.
Suddenly, a chirping was heard from inside it.
Booker and the others looked down at it, confused. "Did your bag just tweet?" asked King, pointing.
"No…I don't…" Booker opened his bag and gasped when the same red cardinal palisman hopped out. Chirping as it looked around the room. "It's you!" Booker exclaimed the moment he saw him, recognizing the bird. "How'd you slip into my backpack?"
"AH! Someone cuter than me!" screamed King, pointing at the bird who hopped around. "Kill it!"
"Aw. Little rascal!" Luz gushed over the little guy. "Can we keep him?"
"No!" King yelled, getting him a peck on his foot. "Ow!"
Booker picked up the little guy and cupped his hands around him. "Alright, everyone out of the room," he said, pointing to the door. "I need to change."
Luckily for him, everyone did leave. With just him and the cardinal, the blonde placed him on the counter. "Okay, you, stay here," he said, pointing at the palisman.
Whether it agreed or not, Booker couldn't tell. But it tweeted, and Booker liked to think it understood. At least it would allow him to get himself ready. Changing out of his uniform, he put on his normal pants and slipped on his new shirt. For a while, he'd been forced to wear the white shirt that he wore under his lizard hoodie. But with it gone, he had to find something new. This is why Eda gave him a new long-sleeved shirt that was divided into two colors. White for the bottom half and blue for the top half and his sleeves. Divided by V shapes on his chest and back. One going down and the other going up.
The sleeves would allow him to hide the markings on his arms. But for his hands, he slipped on a pair of black fingerless gloves.
After his quick change, he threw on the cloak of House Bridges. Smiling, he felt its warmth, knowing his father would be proud to see him in it.
"Come on, little dude," Booker said, picking up the palisman. "I'll take you back to your nest."
When she got to the Bonesborough Library, Luz found out that Amity was still working. Meaning that, for now, she was on her own. It was bad enough that she couldn't have Booker with her, hoping to get the chance to talk to him and Amity about—ironically—her feelings for them.
That's right, just like Booker, Luz was finally ready to accept and confess her feelings. However, the universe seemed to have other ideas for them, which was why she was alone at a desk with a crystal ball, getting sassed.
"Why would I know anything of another human in our realm, you twit?"
The urge to throw the crystal ball was strong, but Luz held herself back. Instead, she typed "human" into the crystal ball's search bar. The screen showed an article about Eda using paddle balls that were mistaken for weapons.
"'Mystery vendor floods the market with dangerous human goods,'" Luz read, rolling her eyes. "Oh, Eda."
"And you call her a master."
"Hey! Shut it!"
Luz scrolled through the article. That was until she found something that caught her interest.
"'Human-hybrid resident donates personal diary to the library,'" Luz said, gasping. "Yes! This must be it! Where is the diary?"
"I don't know."
"Huh?"
"If you want to know where a book is in a library, why don't you shut up and look for it?"
The girl gave the crystal ball an annoyed look before writing down the name of the human who donated the diary: Philip Wittenbane.
With the name, Luz ran to the Kid's Corner. Peeking in, the Dominican girl watched and became captivated when she saw Amity. She had her hair down, sported more of her natural brown hair than usual, and she looked so beautiful.
"Come on. Give it back," Amity said with a smile, talking to one of the baby class kids who was holding her hairband captive.
"No!" The little girl said, pulling her hands away from Amity.
The young Blight sighed but didn't lose her patience. "If you give me back my hairband, I'll read you whatever book you want tomorrow," she said, making the girl turn to her.
"Really?" the baby class kid asked with glee. Amity nodded and was handed the hairband back. "Finally, I can learn how to summon the dark lord!"
The little girl ran off as Amity giggled. Standing up, she tied her hair up. Getting it back to normal.
Luz looked at her in complete adoration, a great blush brightening her face. Not only was she so cool, but Amity was undeniably beautiful. Hair up or down, it didn't matter because, in her eyes, Amity was perfect, just like Booker. There wasn't a single thing that she didn't love about her, and it made her feelings for her grow.
"Hey, Luz."
"Oh!" Luz jolted before turning around. So infatuated with her girl-crush, she was unaware of the Blight twins behind her. Edric was giving Emira a piggyback ride for some reason. "Hey, Ed. Hey, Em. You…uh, need Amity?"
"Nah, it looks like you do, though," Emira said, hopping off Edric's back. "Warrick and I have a date tonight, and I'm looking for books on birds."
"Birds?" Luz looked at her curiously.
"Yeah! He's thinking about making a new form of flying that's not through using staffs or airships."
"Seems like a waste of time," Edric said, rolling his eyes.
Emira, offended, looked at him with her arms crossed. "Oh? Like the poem that you texted for Roswell and then accidentally sent to Mom," she asked before laughing a bit. Edric lost his smugness and looked at his twin nervously.
"Please don't tell people that," he pleaded.
"Take back what you said about Warrick," Emira said, holding up a fist. Luz laughed a little bit before Amity walked up behind her.
"Are they bothering you again," she asked with her hand on her hip and her employee ID around her neck.
Luz, steadily blushing, looked at her girl-crush with a jolt. "Oh! No, I just came here to see you so we can start," she said.
"Really? Where's Booker," asked Amity, expecting to find the boy she loved with the girl she loved. She wanted to talk to them about something.
"Oh, uh, Booker's got something really important to do for the school. So, it's just going to be the two of us. Me and you, uh, here you are," she said, chuckling nervously. "Like we promised."
This also made Amity blush, and neither of them could look at the other. Seeing this and realizing that they definitely needed to be alone, Edric and Emira gasped. They then turned to each other and smiled.
"Edric, your face! It's exploding with horrific pustules!" Emira said, overacting as she grabbed her brother's face.
Edric cooperated and said, "Oh, no…" Then, he became genuinely worried. "Wait, is it really?"
"We have to fix it before Roswell sees you," Emira said, pushing Edric away from the two crushing girls. "Or else he'll never open up to you."
"What? He wouldn't?"
"Come on, Ed," Emira said, annoyed, as she dragged him away.
With the twins gone, Luz looked at Amity. "Alright, I've gone ahead and did some research. I think I found something," she informed her girl crush, handing her the open notebook. Amity took it and looked it over. Seeing a drawing of an old-looking book with Philip Wittenbane and 1600s written with question marks next to it.
"Hundreds of years ago, there was a human-hybrid named Philip Wittebane living in Bonesborough. And he donated his diary to this library."
"And this might tell you how to travel between realms, right," Amity asked.
"Yes! My mom probably thinks I'm missing right now," Luz said, looking down sadly. "I have to get back to her as soon as possible."
Knowing how much this meant to her friend, Amity was determined to help. "Well, something this old would be kept in... the Forbidden Stacks."
Landing on the grudgby field of the school, Booker stopped in front of the palisman shelter and touched the force shield covering it. It was glowing yellow and divided into three or four-sided shapes.
"Bump must have put this up until I get here," Booker said, reaching to pull out Dragon's Bite.
But the palisman tweeted for him to stop. He flopped down from his hand and landed on the ground. Stepping back, Booker watched as the bird pressed his head against the force field, making it ripple before it disappeared.
"Oh, didn't know you could do that. Neat!" Booker said, smiling.
Booker opened the door to let the bird inside. Then he walked inside as well. The nest was humble and cozy. Nothing all that fancy. Most of the palismen slept on the ground, which was covered in a layer of branches and leaves.
Taking Dragon's Bite inside its scabbard off, Booker crawled through the opening, waking all the other palismen inside.
"It's just me," he said, closing the door. Booker then crawled over to sit in the middle of the pack. "Alright, you guys, I guess this is it. I've got some snacks. I got you to talk to. And…well, that's pretty much it. Other than going to sleep."
He sat with the Palisman.
"So…you all got something cool to share?"
According to Amity, the Forbidden Stacks was a restricted section of the library that contained old books. Luz definitely felt like she was in a restricted area because, after a short walk, the two girls stood before a pair of towering doors reading "The Forbidden Stacks." It had three stone creatures perched on top with giant eyes for heads and bat wings. The sign had teeth, with four lit torches on the sides of the door.
Luz's eyes traveled down the length of the doors before she saw something coming out of hope at the bottom.
It was a small mammalian demon that resembled a mouse and was roughly the size of Luz's hand. It was primarily beige, with long tails that ended in a quill-like tip. However, its head was a bare skull with two large buck teeth.
The mouse runs past the girls. "Ah!"
"Don't worry. It's just an echo mouse," Amity said, placing a hand on Luz's shoulder before looking back at the doors. "Only the master librarian, Malphas, is allowed here."
Hearing that, Luz tried to put on a brave smile. "No te preocupes. Todo va a salir bien."
"What," asked Amity.
"'Don't worry. Everything will be fine.'" Luz said. "It's what my mom always said. I'm sure I can find another way."
"Hey, wait," Amity said with hesitation as she showed the girl her staff card. "I want to help, but not with this. My staff card should be able to open those doors. But once we're inside, you have to listen to everything I say. If we're caught, I could lose my job."
Hearing this, Luz looked at her with shock. She didn't want Amity to get fired. That's not something you risk with the one you love. But at that moment, Luz was too desperate. She needs this.
"You won't lose your job," Luz said, grabbing Amity's hand in both of hers. "I promise."
They both looked at their hands and blushed. Luz immediately retracted her hands as Amity turned around. Maybe Luz was right. They were going to be in there all night. All they had to do was get the diary. Not set off the alarms. Get out before anyone finds out they were there.
"Well, let's not waste any time," she said, placing the card on a magic scanner on the wall next to the door.
The doors glowed red before slowly opening, causing the ground to shake a bit as a fog rolled out.
The girls, sharing looks of determination, headed in as the doors closed behind them. Whatever Booker was doing, they hoped it was going well.
"I have no idea what I'm going, do I!?" Booker yelled, grabbed his head out of panic. "What if they say no? What if we all start dating, and it doesn't work out? What if they only like me as a friend and only love each other—OW!"
He got stung by a large bee with a golden-yellow body, pale yellow fur around the neck, and a wide brown stripe around the abdomen. The bee buzzed at him in a way that told him to get a hold of himself.
"You're right! I…I have to pull myself together," Booker said. The bee buzzed softly at him as if asking him what he wanted. "I…I've loved Luz ever since I met her, but when Amity came into my life, she showed me a whole new side of being a witch. They're both the sun and moon in my world.
"And…I know that they feel the same thing for me. I've known for a while. I've just…I've been so afraid of actually making the first move because…well, I have no idea how either one of them would react—OW!"
He was pinched in the thigh by the red crab palisman with the eyes on her claws.
"Will you all stop doing that?!"
However, the crab began clicking its claws at him, conveying that he needed to confront his fears and take action. Booker wasn't sure how, but he realized she was urging him to be brave. He recognizes that he desires both girls and that he should face the situation and stop postponing it.
"You're right. I can't keep holding this off," Booker said. "As soon as the sun comes up before classes start, I'm going to tell those two that I love them."
TWO MINUTES LATER…
"You know, I think I said…and felt a lot of bad things about Father Dean that…may not have been fair," Booker said when the conversation changed to talking about his time in the orphanage. It was the one thing he and the palismen had in common, and it made Booker connect with them more.
He talked to them about the priest, who allowed the orphanage to be a place of bullying and tried to save its image. Dean wanted the kids to be happy, even though the harsh environment gave Booker a cynical outlook on life and his violent side.
But did it really make Father Dean a bad person?
Booker had only ever seen the man as his warden, not as a parent. He was a prisoner. But prisoners are still fed, given a bed to sleep in, a roof over their heads, and a place to call home—in a twisted way.
He hated the place. He hated the other kids and the staff. But despite all his flaws, Booker couldn't say that he hated the man.
"I mean, yeah, a lot of bad things happened at the orphanage that he should have put a stop to. But…I mean, he did take me in when no one else would," Booker said, laying on the ground as one of the palisman, a blue chameleon with small golden horns and two ridges on her head, sat on his chest. Acting like his therapist.
"He had every right just to refuse to let me into the orphanage and just let me die in the wild or become something worse than what I am now. But he didn't," he said. "You think he knew what I am? That I was a witch? And that my family were witches?"
The chameleon blinked.
Booker laughed out loud. "Yeah, I couldn't even say that with a straight face! What kind of dumbass would you have to be to think Father Dean knew I was a witch! That we were all witches? And what? He knew I was a Seventh Born? I mean, holy fuck, that is the single most cliche thing I've ever heard in my life! What, he did it because it was Dad's last wish? What kind of Mickey Mouse, Third Hokage bullshit is that?"
When his laughing died down, Booker looked melancholic. Wondering if someone was dumb enough to think that was the truth.
"If that were true, I'd feel like really crap," he told the chameleon. "That means he felt obligated to take me in and care for me…instead of genuinely wanting me in his orphanage."
If Father Dean really did know what he was, and that's why he brought him in, then Booker couldn't forgive him. Because it meant he'd picked him, this special kid, over someone else who could have used his help. It means Dean prioritized him because of what he was or because his father asked him to. Instead of helping a young boy who just saw his family be incinerated.
A fire he could have started.
Booker shook his head. No! Don't think like that. He doesn't want to think about that fire. And he doesn't want to know that the Father, for all his faults, was a liar. Booker wanted to believe that he had Father Dean all wrong.
"He kept me safe. Gave me a home. It wasn't a great home, but it was better than being on the streets. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have been able to go to school, meet Luz, and I…I'd be dead if it weren't for him," Booker said, closing his eyes and sighing. "All this time, I've been thinking about him as my warden. But maybe I should be thinking about what good he did for me?"
TWO MINUTES LATER…
The moon was already in the sky. Rubbing his face, Booker looked down at the palisman in front of him: a typical short-haired cat with white fur, periwinkle eyes, a light pink nose, and paw pads.
"I stayed here because I wanted to know who I was, right? I didn't have a home to go back to, and Dad was a witch. I wanted to be just like him, but I'm more than just some run-of-the-mill witch; I'm…I'm like the Avatar! I'm supposed to bring balance to the world, but how can I do that? I can't just go up to Belos and punch him. I barely survived the last time!"
The cat looked at him passively before licking her arm.
"You're not helping!"
TWO MINUTES LATER…
Booker was starting to get tired. He rubbed his eyes as the other palismen snuggled around him. They were all sleeping, and the Seventh Son was lying down with them. Only the cardinal was still awake.
"I am so glad that Luz is able to mix and match spells, but what about me," Booker asked sleepily. "Am I going to be able to learn how to do that…or am I going to be the Seventh Born who never learns how to do it?"
The bird chirped back.
Sighing, Booker couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. He started to close them and fell asleep.
How much time past? A minute? An hour? Booker didn't know, but when he woke up, suddenly, the entire palisman shelter shook violently.
"The Emperor's Coven," Booker said, knowing that they'd come. It was the only logical explanation.
"Everyone, stay inside," he told the palismen. He grabbed Dragon's Bite and threw the scabbard off.
Kicking the door open, Booker made a motion to step out of the nest. He was going to kick ass and take names. But he quickly realized he didn't step on the ground. With a shout of shock, he pulled himself back into the nest and looked down.
They were no longer on the ground. The nest was now miles in the air and climbing. Booker looked up to see that an airship was carrying them. A bony crane claw grabbed the top of the nest. The Emperor's Coven symbol was right on top. He was right. Belos' forces had come for the palismen to feed him.
All the palismen started whimpering and shivering in fear.
"Don't worry. I'll figure this out," Booker said, grabbing his scabbard and sheathing his blade. Strapping it onto his hip.
He then jumped out, clapped his hands together, and blasted a powerful gush of air downward, sending him flying up.
Grabbing the side of the airship, Booker pulled himself up. Poking his head out, he saw the Golden Guard steering. He was whistling the theme for Into the Badlands . (AN: The main theme of this story.)
"Great. This guy, again," Boker said, glaring at the Golden Guard. He hated the guy for threatening to drop his crush and his adopted family to boiling seas on the island where Selkidomus once lived. He was eager to get back at him.
"He's alone, good." He reaches for his sword to attack. It would be so easy just to kill him down right now.
But, come on. Booker can be so much more creative than that.
As if a light bulb went off in his head, he had an idea. With a mischievous grin, Booker climbed aboard.
The Golden Guard, unaware of the stowaway on the airship he's on, continued whistling his favorite tune. This night turned out amazing. He didn't even have to look far to find a whole nest of palismen. He'll deliver the prize to the Emperor, and his uncle will have all the magic he'll need to stay well.
Did the Golden Guard feel bad for what he was doing? No, not if these creatures dying were for the greater good. If Belos dies, the dream of the Day of Unity dies. His family dies.
The Emperor's inquisitor continued steering and whistling until someone tapped his shoulder. He turned his head to see Booker.
"Hey," Booker said.
"Hey." Hunter acknowledged him and went back to steering, then double takes, realizing who was on his ship."What the—!? You!?"
POW!
Booker punched him in the mask, then quickly clapped his hands and placed a fire spell on the Golden Guard's cloak, much to his confusion.
"Huh?"
The fire spell suddenly burst into flames, pushing on his body like an aircraft thruster. The guard screamed as he flailed around wildly, his face slamming on the wooden board and then on the blimp. Finally, he rocketed out of the airship, screaming continuously as he flew in circles uncontrollably, far out into the distance.
Booker waved his hand.
"Bye-eee, Golden Sucker!" said Booker, bidding farewell to the Golden Guard. He'll be fine.
Probably.
He then looked at the controls. "Now, how do we land this thing," Booker asked, searching for the right controls until…
"Oh, you just pull that cord above your head."
"Oh, Thanks, ma—Wait, what?!" Booker yelled, stunned to see the Golden Guard had returned and was casually lying on the dashboard.
"Hiiiiii."
The Golden Guard fires an energy blast at Booker. But then Booker blocked it by unsheathing Dragon's Bite. He was pushed back a little but swung his sword to cancel out the blast completely.
"Wow, what a moron!" the Golden Guard exclaimed. "You had a sword with you and decided not to use it? Seriously, you should have gone for the head with that thing, man."
Booker gritted his teeth. "Okay, but only because you asked for it!" he yelled, charging the Golden Guard until he flash-stepped. Booker stopped.
Sensing the magic of the Golden Guard's spell, he turned left and locked weapons with the inquisitor when he reappeared. They push against each other, standing their ground.
"Dude, we've really gotta stop meeting like this," the Golden Guard said.
"I couldn't agree more," Booker growled, concentrating his magic on the runes. A blast of water erupted from the blade, slashing the Golden Guard in the face before Booker kicked him in the stomach.
With a wide swipe, Booker whipped the Golden Guard back. The two of them now stood meters apart, with the Seventh Son at the back of the airship and the Golden Guard occupying the front.
"I'm not letting you feed these palismen to Belos, Golden Guard," Booker told him.
"Frankly, you should be more concerned about yourself," the Golden Guard said, dusting himself off. "You just added rocketing me off my own ship to your list of crimes. You'll be locked in the dingiest cell in the Conformatorium, for the rest of your sad little life."
"Okay, one, I'm average height. Hit a bit of growth spurge recently. Two, I already broke in and out of there twice," he said, not afraid of the threat.
"Then I'll just zap you to dust and throw you into the sea. That better?"
Booker had to admit, it was an impressive threat.
"You talk too much," he said instead, slashing at the ground. Vines sprouted from the cut and lashed at the Golden Guard.
Flash-stepping out of the way, the Golden Guard blasted another red shot at Booker, only for the Seventh Son to block and dispel the attack. He then slashed his sword, sending his own gold arc of magical energy at the Golden Guard. Only for him to block it with a dome of red energy.
"How'd you even get back on the ship?
The Golden Guard shrugged. "Staff," he said, his dome going down. "Duh."
"Thought so," Booker said.
He charged at the Golden Guard, and the Golden Guard swung his staff at him. Both magical weapons clashed, letting off a blast of energy from where they met. It was so powerful that it knocked the both of them back. Just what Booker needed to get his enemy off his balance. Stabbing Dragon's Bite into the floorboards, Booker used his ice magic. An ice spike sprang from it.
He hit the Golden Guard's staff, sent it out of his hand, and flew off the airship.
"No!" the Golden Guard shouted, reaching for it, but couldn't stop it.
Booker tackled him to the ground. Landing on top of him, with his left arm pressing down on his chest and his legs going down on the Golden Guard's thighs. He then pressed Dragon's Bite under his chin.
"Turn this ship around," Booker demanded, glaring at the facets of the mask. "Or I'll slit your throat."
The Golden Guard growled in frustration at how easily Booker took him down. "Hybrid, it'll take more than that to thwart my mission," he said, punching Booker in the face and getting him off.
Both boys stand up, ready for another fight. Booker stood in a ready position that York taught him. The Golden Guard stood ready for unarmed combat.
Suddenly, something large flew past them. Shaking the ship and making them both stumble to the side.
"The fuck was that," Booker asked in shock. He looked at the Golden Guard. "What'd you just do?"
"I didn't do anything!" the Golden Guard replied.
Booker didn't believe him, but before he could voice it, he caught a glimpse of the creature as it landed on the airship and roared.
What he saw looked like a dragon, but it wasn't like the dragons of myths and legends. Instead of a majestic or terrifying giant lizard, it had the body of a snake, colored in a dark teal blue with a pale teal underbelly. It had eight pairs of small legs.
No, legs, they were not. Her eight pairs of legs were, in reality, fingers in the same color as her underbelly, with dark teal fingernails.
The dragon's body consisted of hands and fingers. The head was made up of two hands with four fingers, placed in a praying position for her mouth. Behind her head were four pairs of horns: a small pair behind the thumbs and three pairs that are arranged from longest to shortest beside the head. The thumbnails on the head served as her eyes, while the other three pairs of fingers formed her snout. The front half of the fingers on the snout are curled in a way that forms the creature's mouth, thus making the mouth open from side to side like the mandibles of most insects. Each finger on the snout had a small, sharp black fingernail.
Inside its mouth, however, each finger was covered in two rows of brown teeth, and in between, it had a long, barbed pink tongue. The wings resembled a giant pair of hands with seven fingers. The fingers were teal blue with dark teal fingernails, while the membrane on the wings was pale green. Its tail was long and slender, and it ended with a giant hand with six fingers and dark teal fingernails.
"Ooooooooh, man. That's so wrong," Booker said.
The dragon proceeded to rip the airship's balloon by lashing it with its barbed tongue.
"Brace yourself!" yelled the Seventh Son as Booker and the Golden Guard fell from the sky. Both of them screamed as the airship crashed into the river.
Booker was knocked out.
And then, he dreamed…of a life he once had.