Chapter Text
A Lesson on Blight History (II)
—
October 17, 1767,
The time has come, Father… Will be sending me tomorrow to meet my promised betrothed. A woman, who according to him, had luscious brown locks and a body ready for birthing. I hated it, how he talked about women as if they were nothing but objects to be owned. I have no wish to wed to a woman I know none about, I refuse to be wed to a woman at all… but my family would have my head had they known about my blasphemous thoughts. I tried for so long but as I reached my 22nd winter, I can never admit it. I cannot imagine myself loving a woman. They only see me a charlatan, those noble daughters, yet I’ve only thought of bedding their brothers, butlers. I will oblige by my father’s wishes only to avoid the inevitable wrath. Will continue writing this development. With these words, I depart for Lotingham, Wales. Where my fate shall be sealed.
Carian Drystan Berwyn
—
Amity’s eyes were wide as she finished reading the entry, they all were more than shocked to say at the least.
“Carian…” Edric murmurs in wonder, “that’s most likely where I got my name, Edric Carian Benedict, this has to be our grandfather,”
“Your grandpa’s hella fruity,” Boscha re-reads again in interest, “Fucked up that he can’t love who he loves though,”
“See, not quite what you expect right?” Luz smiles and continues, “Let me tell, reading that first entry made the not-sleeping-until-I-open-that-piece-of-shit way worth it,”
“Okay, wait, we’re welsh…?” Emira looks at the book flabbergasted, “around two-fifty years ago…? That’s where we’re from?”
“Keep reading,” Luz interrupts and the rest of them unquestioningly obliged.
—
November 3, 1767
With over seventeen days of travel, we have reached the manor on the hill overlooking the ocean. The Blight Estate was as the rumors foretold, beautiful beyond compare yet, oh so empty. Everything around seemed to be placed with purpose, not a single item out of place. It was so stiff, I didn’t like it. Every single second I stay here, I find myself wallowing. This was nothing but a prison and if I felt like this, how would the esteemed heiress feel, living on this roof her entire life?
Does she, too, resent the stiffness and unwelcoming aura that emanated at every nook, despise the watchful eyes, ordering her moves at every cranny?
‘Tis a horrible feeling indeed.
Carian Dryst
I have some additional information to add. I’ve met the woman I’m to be wed to. She wore a tight dress and a heavy powdered wig. I half-expected her to pass out on the way down with how tight it was. Her name, Lady Avalon Quinn Violetta Blight and despite her being from a family higher than my own, she acted like a commoner. A refreshing sight indeed. We’ve chatted, a miniscule amount, but I can say this for certain, had she not been a chosen bride, I could see myself becoming friends with her.
A spunk in those amber eyes, a fire that wouldn’t be put out. I hope to learn more about her and if she wishes not to be wed, we may be able to come up with an idea that would benefit us both in this… agreement.
I shall write as soon as I can but for now, I’ll find more clues. Something told me Lady Avalon and I might be cut from the same cloth.
Carian Drystan Berwyn
—
“Wait… Wait, Wait, Wait,” Amity doubles back and stares at the entry over and over again, “... Are you telling me… both our grandparents were gay?”
“Honestly, why are you surprised, Mittens, you’re like… cut from the same cloth,” Edric chuckles, “Oh my bad, we’re cut from the same cloth,”
“There is a study that homosexuality can be passed on through genetics,” Skara ponders, “but dang, this is some juicy stuff, dish it sis,”
“Truth be told, I haven’t finished the whole thing, but it gets better a couple of entries ahead,” Luz smiles mischievously and grabs the journal. Flipping ahead, she stopped near the middle of the journal and began reading out loud.
—
January 16, 1768
‘Tis a cold day today, snow is overhead, I’ve been here in the Blight Manor for the past three months. Much has changed in my life but at the same time, it hasn’t. I frequently spend my days in the local pub, drinking ale, mead, beer or whisky. Listening to bardic music, lively people dancing, eavesdropping for the latest gossip.
Things I couldn’t do in that prison of a manor.
The Golden Carp had a welcoming atmosphere and I would wish to ask Lady Avalon to join me one day, so that she may relax and enjoy the company of wimmin’folk. I was right about her after all. Though no matter how much I pushed her to pursue at least some form of companionship, she had always said that her heart was spoken for by someone who may or may not only exist in her dreams.
She was a confusing lass.
She fought with the sword much better than I ever could, lithe yet strong, she could easily beat my arse down. Yet she says, she was nothing compared to the mysterious lady who owns her heart. She could best armies with just her sword and… other special talents, or so she said.
I never understood but I do enjoy her friendship and what kind of friend would I be to deny her claims despite not having proof of the contrary. Anywho, I shan’t keep writing more of this. Today was a good evening. Hopefully, we’ll finish the plan before the wedding takes place. This way, we’d have a prosperous relationship.
Carian Drystan Berwyn
—
March 3, 1968
The cold is now slowly coming to pass, the sun greets the frozen leaves giving way to the new life of spring. A new life…
A new person.
I shall be direct. I have met someone.
Someone special, I believe.
He’s but a simple fisherman, frequently found in the nearby docks where he works and lives, or so I’ve heard. He and I… we shared a night of passion in a drunken stupor. A night of Euphoria and… would it be wrong of me to want another night of tryst? I yearn for his touch, to feel him beneath me or have him take me. To hear his angelic moans, makes a man weak to the knees.
—
“Woah! TMI dude!” Skara covers her face and Willow’s hands are placed tightly against Gus’ ears. “Oh c’mon it’s just getting good, Kara!” Boscha’s wicked grin urged Luz to continue. The witch snickers and obliges.
—
Perhaps it's my post-coital brain talking but I felt the difference between and all the others I’ve bedded in the past. I have not seen such a man nor want someone this badly.
Hilariously… or… not… it has hit a snag in my plans.
First and foremost, I have absolutely no idea how to find him. I know not his name nor his address. But I shan’t forget his dark skin, unruly dark curled locks, that stubble that scratches my lips as we kiss. I shall find him. ‘Lest I be a disappointment to the Berwyn name! Or wait… if I’d bedded and committed a blasphemous act, wouldn't I already be a disappointment to the family name…?
Well… I guess I have nothing left to lose then. I shall find you, my mystery man, I will make you mine.
Carian Drystan Berwyn
—
“... I… I’m just… speechless,” Willow says, taking in a deep breath, “I don’t even know what—”
The dulled sound of the school bell ringing brings them back to the present making them all jump at the sound, there was a loud thud from Luz closing the journal abruptly, she smirks, “I think that’s enough for R-rated stuff, huh? Let’s resume later,”
“But it was just getting good!” Edric whines and his twin stands up to hit his head.
“I thought you had a quiz, dumbass?”
“Ah shit— Fuck! Luz! Where’s the nearest door to the Chem lab!?” he sprints for the door Luz points which was near the third level of the spire, “Fuckin’ heck! Just when it’s getting—” and they couldn’t hear him as he got farther and farther away.
“I can’t believe we just read about your grandfather having sex, Blight,” Boscha eases, wiping the tears that formed on the sides of her eyes from laughing too much, “Oh what passionate night of tryst!” then bursts out in laughter once more.
“I personally think it was super romantic,” Skara says with a wistful sigh, “Imagine, a love at first sight, that’s gotta be super sweet,”
“It’s not fair! I couldn’t hear anything! Willow kept covering my ears,” Gus frowns and crosses his arms, Willow just chuckles and gives him a pat on the head, “Listen G-man, that was most definitely not for kids—”
“I’m not a kid!”
“And would’ve definitely defiled your sweet, naive, innocence, so try again in a few years, alright?” Gus just continues to pout in defiance.
Luz looks behind and finds Amity still hunched over, reading the rest of the entries, eyes quickly jumping from page to page with unrivaled focus, she walks over to her plops right next to the girl, the youngest Blight didn’t even flinch.
“Look, at this point, it was torn off,” she shows Luz, nearing the back, the journal was almost entirely gone, “the entries from August to the rest just pulled out,” Curious indeed. She thought the magical lock was enough but apparently, the one who most likely hid the journal, also tore off a sizable chunk of it. “I was just about to read the part where our great-grandmother was introducing her lady love,” Amity frowns, Luz scoots away and rolls to where her sleeping bag was and slips inside it.
A yawn breaks through her mouth and she wiggles further inside, casting a cooling spell to keep the spire nice and cold for sleeping, “Wake me up later, we’ll brainstorm but first, naps,” and her consciousness just leaves her.
—
Amity was caught reading the pages over and over again, the only ones currently left in Luz’s spire was her and Gus. The rest agreed that all of them missing simultaneously would be suspicious so they’re covering each other.
“Gus, stop touching everything,” she sighs and warns their unofficial group little brother. He’d been running everywhere, memorizing where each door leads and just looking at every item around. Currently, the boy’s fixation was solely focused on the many stacks of books around the room. From what Amity gathered, the ones on the floor was a list of the ones the witch had either read, to be re-read or unread. The ones on the shelves were a different matter on the other hand. They were personal writings based on the spines and the fact that these were just notebooks, and she was stopping Gus from taking one of those personal entries.
“Gus! Luz trusted us to not touch anything! Stop being so nosy!” she warns, Luz’s white-purple dragons fly and land on top of her head whilst she reprimands their youngest, a dangerous glint on Magnus’ eyes made Gus gulp and walk away.
The dragon seemed thankful and rubbed her cheek affectionately before jumping off and snuggling close to the sleeping form of his master. It was absolutely adorable. Luz on the other hand, despite being deep in sleep, instinctively places an arm over the dragon protectively and she had to stop her heart from squeezing in the lovely sight.
“Amity! Look! This is a book of monsters!” Gus grins and sits on the staircase, flipping through the pages. Piqued, she walks and sits next to him, rightfully so, it was an entry on every monster the girl had probably encountered whilst she was here.
In messy handwriting, the top part was written with a seemingly unsteady hand with a sharpie, a scribbled ‘Monstrous Atrocities Vol.3’. They landed on a random page and on it was a detailed, intricate sketch of a horrid monster.
Resembling a being with a body suit of decomposing body, it looked like a fleshier version of a zombie but its name was written above as a Rotfiend and scribbled entries as follows,
Rotfiend (Human Realm)
Mostly appears in groups, feeding on carcasses of various life forms, preferably, humans that have reached their dead bloated state. They’re fast and vicious, take care not to get swarmed. Immune to a variety of toxins, they accumulate it in their bodies until their near death where they explode in a splatter of flesh and a cloud of noxious fumes. They’re stronger in the night as the sun hastens their decomposition. Horrible, Vile Creatures. They love the humidity too.
Strength
- Quantity
- Blood-soaked claws
- Fast, will chase you down
- Unrivaled appetite, will eat any dead, sometimes, even alive
- Burps out acid and explodes in poison gas.
Weakness
- The Sun
- Imazing Sword Skill
- Fire
Last Seen: Somewhere in Marshy, Alaska (I don’t know the place)
Wait… Alaska…? Amity guessed the biggest mystery amongst them was literally the girl from a whole other realm.
So many things happened all at once, it was only a few days ago when the twins found out, now, the rest of her friends, hell the month long of her dealing with this whole thing as Luz tried to explain the gravity of the universal truth was still weighing on her, she barely processed it until she sat down reading a hand-written book on corpse-eaters!
They barged into each other’s lives and even without anything in return, the girl saved her friends, her family without any payment. They owed her and the only thing she demanded was food.
This girl was weird.
But… she was also kind, despite the words she jokingly threw at them. Even after the month-long absence, the oracle necklace that was given to her had served her pretty well since. Sometimes when she couldn’t sleep, Luz would pick-up and they would spend some parts of the night just talking idly and no matter what time it was, the girl would always answer back. Despite knowing next to nothing, she trusted her. It was probably dangerous for Amity to think that but she couldn’t help but trust in her. A ridiculous notion but not unwelcome, even if she had a lot of secrets to hide.
“Check this out too, Amity!” and her attention was brought back to the book. It was much less formal looking than the other one, and showed more personality as to who wrote it, Luz must’ve been seriously terrified of it, it was more gushy than the entry about the rotfiends. The sketch showed a being with a deer’s skull as its head, the body looked like a tree’s trunk, like dark umber or cedar, covered in mossy bandages. Long arms, like splintered wood and large horns above. It looked like it was adorned in a variety of items around its neck. Oh no, not items. It was adorned in skulls. Mostly human, some animals too. Surrounding the main sketch were crows and wolves and… naked people with red eyes.
Leshy (Human Realm)
If you hear the sudden flying of a flock of crows at any random time alongside the howling of several wolves when you’re inside a forest, chances are you’d find that you’ve just been chosen by a sick fuck as the object to be hunted for sport. Fiercely territorial creatures, they can control plants and creatures that inhabit their domain. Within this place, murderous cannibals with a taste for children, I thought I was done for. The Leshy controlled the cannibals, crows, and wolves. Something my little nerdy witch legs couldn’t run away from. I was lucky Magnus managed to fly me away. Never going back there. Ever.
It shall also be noted that they can shapeshift into a feline-like creature with a maw so big, it eats its prey whole. Just avoid it all together!
Strength
- Quantity
- Relentless
- With its physical prowess?
- Can rip a man to shreds.
- Can turn to a puff of black smoke to dodge attacks
- Lives only to kill
- Can control plants and creatures
- They work like a hive mind or something along those lines
- Can see the entirety of its domain
- Can shape-shift into a magic jaguar?????
Weakness
- If you’re lost, simply turn your clothing inside out and backwards, makes you somewhat invisible
- That’s if it hasn’t seen you and ripped you apart.
- Fire???
- I couldn’t burn it, I don’t know if it’ll work but the forest should be vulnerable to fire, right????
- It’s weak if you never have to face it? Right??? By the Titan that was scary
- it doesn’t like bright places
Last Seen: Randolph Forest, Maine
“Holy fuck…” she mumbles in disbelief, “Here I thought I’ve seen scary shit…”
“No kidding… I was wondering what the humans with red eyes were… cannibals?” Gus breathes out and closes book, “That’s enough browsing for a day,”
“Yeah no kidding,” they jump at the sudden voice that joins them. Luz gets up, stretches and makes a spell circle, making her beddings fold by themselves and tucking them neatly in a corner. The little dragon, still looking tired, flies up and lays on the girl’s nest of a head, “I was sleeping for what… Two hours? And you two already scoured through my stuff, I don’t know most customs here in the human realm but back in my world, that’s considered rude,”
“I’m sorry! It was me!” Gus chimes before she could even speak, “I was just so curious and you have a hand-made book of monsters you’d encountered and I couldn’t ask cause you were asleep!”
Luz just sighs and walks towards them and reads over their shoulders, “ah, reading about the Leshen or Leshy,”
“Did you really come across these things?” Gus’ eyes twinkled
“Duh, it wouldn’t be there otherwise,” the girl yawns one more time before sitting on the step above them, “I was younger than I am now, I fell there in Maine, nearly running out of juice in my bilesac, trying to find the next place with a steady amount that would keep me from dying.” her brown eyes looked as if she was looking in the past, “I landed on the trees, hit a couple of branches, badly grazed myself in numerous places, I broke my wrist and some fingers but… I was alive,”
“It took awhile, I lost consciousness when I landed on the pile of leaves but the moment I came too, I was in a makeshift cage, Magnus nowhere to be found, let me show you,” she grabs the book and closes her eyes, a palm on the page where the Leshen was and with a twirl of a finger, “I suggest you hold Gus’ hand, Amity, this is gonna be bad, you ready?”
Luz’s fingers glowed a purple-ish red hue. The moment her fingertips touched their foreheads, their vision went black.
—
Your hard breathing was starting to hurt your chest but as you aimed to clutch your shirt, you looked down to see a badly mangled right hand, fingers broken and bent in ways that shouldn’t be, you screamed and kept on screaming until the sound of rustling made your longer ears twitch.
All of a sudden, you were aware that all the sore spots in your body were probably littered with.
From the dark forest, lit only by primitive torches, naked figures emerge, holding equally primitive tools, wooden mallets and stone axes. Humans. You couldn’t stop the shiver that went down your spine. These weren’t like those humans you saw within the cities when you were on the run. Those were cattle.
This human… was a predator. With their glowing red eyes and animal-like demeanor. They spoke amongst themselves in a language you don’t know, that’s when the winds picked up, the sound birds flapping, crows cawing, wolves howling. The quiet forest was overtaken by sound.
You wince.
But as quickly as it came, the noise ended and another figure emerged from the shadows. The first thing you would see was the oversized deer skull popping out the dark, dark, woody, horns attached to a dusty, white skull. It had a plethora of different accessories, most coming from living creatures. The torches did very little to illuminate the figure but even in the dark you could tell it wasn’t just a person wearing an intricate costume. With its bark-like skin, it looked like a terrifyingly adorned tree.
Because it was.
Your breathing goes faster and faster as it walks towards you. It stops, standing in front of your small frame that lay imprisoned in this tiny cage.
It might’ve been your imagination but you’re sure you just saw it smirk.
It turns away and starts speaking to the rest, still with a language you didn’t know, what seems to be cheering erupts within the humans and the animals. It turns its attention back on you with the humans walking closer and closer. The bottom of the cage opens up and you fall on your ass, wincing at all the sore spots and wounds being shaken. The naked humans standing beside you did nothing but grin wolfishly, licking their lips as if they were going to be enjoying…
… a scrumptious meal.
That’s when it clicks, the monster that stood a few meters away opens its arms and raises it. The message was clear. You were food and…
They enjoyed the hunt.
Your blood goes cold and you stumble, running away. You feel tears sting your eyes, from the fear, from the pain, from this situation, from everything! It didn’t take long for your ears to pick up the sound of feet running after you. The growls of forest animals and the violent screeching of avians around threaten to deafen you.
Your blood-pumping way too fast for it to be pleasant, your magic nearly gone. Physically on the brink of death, the only thing keeping you going was adrenaline and spite.
You weren’t going to die here. As prey for cannibalistic hooligans!
But those were big words for someone who literally had nothing on their person. Your tattered clothes were beyond repair and the purple cloak was nearly decimated from over a year and a half of protecting you from grim danger.
Your staff wasn’t even here!
The only thing in your pockets were change from the stolen wallets and a knife you’d been using to threaten people into giving you stuff.
Mugging or whatever.
Oh so that’s what this was. Divine Providence?
You didn’t even belong here!
You instinctively duck as your peripherals see a club that was ready to hit you over the head, the sudden movement causes you to stumble. You roll through the muck, hitting a couple of tree roots, ribs sending sharp pains at every slam.
You stop when your body collides on a particularly large tree and your consciousness threatens to fade, you force yourself up. It was the hardest task you’d yet to do. Using the tree, you prop yourself up and lean unto it. You want to cry.
Their flock of sick psychopaths stood in front of you. You give in, fading into darkness.
The next time you awoke, you don’t know where you are. Laying on some straws of hay, you were in a barn and a cow was licking your face. You scream.
—
It was like akin to air rushing back to your lungs after you were submerged far too long underwater, Amity takes a deep breath and tries to ease her thrumming veins, she stares at Luz who looked very amused to see her in a disheveled state, “What the hell?”
“I thought I was gonna die!” Gus’ hands were shaking badly, “What was that!?”
“That, my friends, is a type of Illusion magic,” she smiles and twirls a finger, in that instant, two bottles of cold water pop out and she hands them one each, “Objects that are tied to someone’s memories alongside anyone with an expert hand could let you catch a glimpse of how and what exactly happened within a particular time frame,”
She chugs down the water and when the first bottle is gone, Luz grabs her another one.
“You done?” the girl smirks and Amity shoots her a dirty look, “No! You had us chased by murderous cannibals—”
“An Illusion—”
“You didn’t even warn us!” she throws the plastic bottle at the girl but she just dodges, “How… How did you even get away?”
“I don’t know, I passed out after that and I woke up I was way somewhere inside a barn in Texas, Magnus looking at me worriedly,” she says nonchalantly, “He did say he flew me out of there,”
“Wait!” Gus shakes his head and his brows furrowed, gears grinding in his head, “You said… with items directly tied to someone’s memories could help conjure up an illusion like that, right?”
The devious smile on the girl’s face was present but she just urges the boy to go on.
“... So… that means—”
“At least one of you is paying attention! You’re right, midget, that’s the way we’ll take,”
Amity glares and crosses her arms, “Oh I’m sorry, I was just nearly mauled by… psychopaths, so I apologize for not thinking as clearly!”
“Wanna do the honors, Gustanamo?” Luz pats the boy’s head and he nods eagerly.
“We can use the journal to conjure up a memory illusion!”