Chapter Text
3rd POV.
We see Gus leaning against a locker with his head between his knees with a few scratches and scrapes.
“Hey, Gus, what’s wrong?” Luz asks as she sits next to Gus.
“I—I messed up bad, 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…” Gus explained.
“That pissed off the faires and attacked Willow. I heard what happened from Jerbo,” Luz said.
“I moved up two grades. What's the point of being good at this if I can't do anything good with it?” Gus said as he did a small demonstration of Illusion magic.
“It was an honest mistake, Gus. Besides, we know Willow’s tougher than most witches in school combined; I’m sure both of you will be fine by tomorrow,” Luz said, ruffling Gus’s hair in comfort.
The next day, we see Gus in his room on the floor, looking up at his ceiling and groaning loudly with a look of frustration.
“Ugghhh!!! I can’t believe I just made it worse,” Gus groaned as the view switches to the side of his head, and we see a newspaper saying that ‘Hexside is closed due to a pixie infestation’ on his bed.
“Maybe I should send Willow some Illusion clones to see if she’s alright or needs any help,” Gus said as he sent some of his Illusions to Willow.
Half an hour later, Gus’s crystal ball started ringing with Willow’s face on it; Gus was reapplying some bandages in another room.
After it rang for the fifth time, it went to crystal mail. “I’m not reading this!” King said, holding a piece of paper.
“Come on, King. Please?” Gus asked off-screen.
“Ugh, fine. Is that a six-footed pig or a floating appendage? Why, no!” Gus slid up next to King with a cape being unfurled, “It's Gus the Illusion Master. Please leave a message,” It ended to reveal Willow with scratches and bandages over parts of her face.
“Hey, Gus. Thanks for sending me all those ‘get well soon’ Illusions, but…” Willow was interrupted by several miniature Gus Illusions asking if she’s ok or needs help.
“Can you please take them back?” Willow pleaded as they continue to pester and climb all over her head.
Gus saw the message and called his Illusions back, who were worried about Willow before Gus disillusion them.
Gus lays back down on the ground and thinks about how he just made it worse. A minute later he hears a knock at the front door of his house.
Gus got up to see who is at the door. “Gustopher! Gusteban! Augustabeth! Any of those working for you?” Luz asked as she leaned against the doorframe.
“You need my library card to visit Amity, don’t you?” Gus asked in a deadpan tone.
Luz laughs awkwardly, “I haven’t been doing a good job at hiding it, huh?” Luz said.
Gus shook his head before following Luz to the library, “I also need to do some research for a portal door since Eda’s mother told me about a diary from a human a long time ago,” Luz said as she and Gus walk down the street.
“There might be some old newspaper clippings or maybe something else that mentions them in the library,” Luz said.
“Yeah, okay. Looking through old newspapers is about all I'm good for anyway,” Gus said, depression evident in his voice.
“Spill it, Gustonimo. Are you okay?” Luz asked in worry as she and Gus stopped in the middle of a bridge above another busy street.
“I—I've just been thinking. What if it's time for me to explore different kinds of magic?” Gus asked.
“What brought this up? I’m all for trying new things, but what’s wrong with Illusions?” Luz asked.
Before Gus could respond, there was a loud roar and smashing of buildings.
An orange slitherbeast was in the middle of the street below them, going on a rampage and is heading toward a child with red skin and his mouth taking up most of his head.
Luz saw this and immediately jumped down to the child, but before she could land, two students she didn’t recognize save him.
Luz landed with a dust cloud kicked up from her entrance. One of the students she didn’t recognize stood before summoning a large Abomination to hold back the orange Slitherbeast.
While the Slitherbeast was distracted, the one still on the ground summon roots strong enough to pull the Slitherbeast away from them.
Before Luz could move further, another student she didn’t know came from behind the Orange Slitherbeast as she traps its hands and lower body with construction magic.
“Good work, guys!!” said the female construction student.
“Wooh!” “Alright!” said the other two students.
Warden Wrath barged through the crowd toward his son. “Son!! Are you alright?!?!?!” Wrath yelled out in worry.
“Yes, Daddy. Thank you, mysterious strangers!” Braxus said as he waved the trio goodbye.
Everybody cheered for the trio as the animal control, previously demon hunters, came in to take the Orange Slitherbeast away, but someone stop them before they could do anything else.
“I would rather you didn’t take my wife away, please,” said a voice Luz knew as she walks closer with Gus as he finally made it to the same street Luz is on.
We see Jordan in a dark purple flannel button-up shirt, ripped light green jeans, and light purple Converse shoes.
“Your wife?” Questioned one of the animal control officers.
“Yes, she was cursed because of a very short-tempered, fragile ego, and stupid demon didn’t like that she wouldn’t go out with her,” Jordan said bitterly.
“Hm, how much are you willing to pay for her?” said the boss of the ex-demon hunters, now Animal Control.
“...” The Animal Control boss didn’t hear anything said from Jordan; in fact, he didn’t hear anything, not the cheering crowd, the talk between the trio of students, or even from the Orange Slitherbeast beside him.
He tried to look behind him but found he couldn’t move, speak, or even breathe.
That’s when Jordan decided to speak, “Are you trying to sell me my own wife?” Jordan said in a voice so cold and devoid of any emotion.
He shivered as he heard her words and swore that the Boiling Sea just froze over. “Because if you think that I’ll let you get away with that, then you’re just begging for your soul to be rip to shreds and fed to the griffins of the right hand,” Jordan continued.
He couldn’t believe what was happening to him; he was so full of fear and terror that he couldn’t believe that he was even still standing.
“Either release my wife, or you’ll know why the Emporers Coven can’t arrest me,” Jordan said.
They released them, and Jordan led them away from everyone, “Let’s go home; Eli is helping me make lunch today,” Jordan said as they walked her wife home.
“Maybe you can ask Jordan to help you up your illusion game,” Luz said, pointing to where Jordan and her wife were walking.
“She does seem to hold an air of power,” Gus said, seeming to brighten a bit.
“Let’s talk to her before we miss her,” Luz said.
Jordan POV.
“We really need you to stop overworking yourself; it’s not healthy that you keep ignoring your medicine like this,” I said.
My wife just growled before drinking the purple-ish elixir, “Now, since you overworked again, no dessert for you for a month,” I said as my wife slowly turns back into herself.
She is wearing a brown stetson hat on her golden blonde hair, red flannel with white lines, torn blue jeans, and brown combat boots. Her orange coat is covered in dirt and dust, especially around her freckled face, making her emerald green eyes stand out as if they were shining.
“Whoo-whee, now ain’t that a mess. How long was Ah out?” She asked as she readjust her stetson. She looks at me and realizes she is in trouble, “Oh, h-hey there, sugarcube, hehe, how’s your day?” She asked, trying to dissuade me from earlier.
“No, dessert for a week, and you are sleeping on the couch for that time,” I said, grabbing her ear on her head.
“Ow, ow, ow!!!! Please, sugar apple, please be reasonable,” AJ begged.
“AJ, how many times have I told you not to work at both plant and construction coven? We don’t need any more attention from the Bigotted Coven led by that idiot Emporer,” I said, getting annoyed that they are now recruiting children into their dirty business.
“Now, darlin’, you know I can’t help but do some farm work and lend a hand wherever I can,” AJ said.
“I know, but that doesn’t mean you have to help with every little thing they ask or whatever you see,” I said.
“Hey!! Wait up!!” Yelled a familiar voice from behind us.
I let go of her ear in surprise before turning around to see that it was Luz with one of her schoolmates.
“Oh, it’s just one of my clients, I think they go to school with Eileen,” I said.
“I’ll let you handle this, darlin’,” AJ said as she tries to sneak away from me.
“Ah-ah-ah, nice try, but you are staying by my side until we get home. Hello, Luz and Luz’s friend. Is everything alright?” I asked, wondering why they were looking for me.
“Yeah, we just wanted to ask you if you can show my buddy Gus here if you can show him a few tricks or a way to up his illusion magic,” Luz said.
“Also, who’s this? What happened to that slobbering monster you took away from the animal control officers?” Gus asked.
“...Ah’m slightly offended by that, but I won’t refute it,” AJ said.
“Wha?” Gus asked.
“This is my wife, AJ, and she was the cursed Slitherbeast I took away from those idiots,” I said, snickering a bit.
“...” Luz’s friend stayed silent for a few seconds before looking nervous and scared as he realized he insulted my wife in front of her.
“Now, back to your question, I have some errands to run, but he can follow along, and I’ll see if there’s anything I could help with,” I said, still snickering at Luz friends face.
“Thank you, Jordan!!! Want me to join in on this adventure, Gus?” Luz asked her friend, who I now know is Gus.
“It’s fine; I can handle an adventure by myself,” Gus said before handing Luz a card for some reason.
“Ok, if anything goes wrong, use these,” Luz said, handing Gus slips of paper with weird shapes drawn on them before she fist-bumped Gus.
We see Luz run away with the card in hand, “What did you give her, if I may ask?” I asked.
“Oh, Luz and I were on our way to the library for some research on a human from the Deadwardian Era… and maybe to see her crush there as well,” Gus said the last part in a tired tone.
“Hehe, well, if you’re ready, we can get started on those errands,” I said as I tug on my wife’s ear to follow.
After hearing my wife yelp in pain and begging me for mercy on her ear, we headed toward the market when I heard a group of kids talking about finding the illusionist graveyard I helped build and hid when too many creatures were trying to use the galderstones to kill each other.
“Hm? I see a few witchlets are trying to gain power through lazy and disrespectful means; what could I expect from Glandus?” I said as I let go of my wife’s ear and told her she could go home and tell Eli that I’d be home a bit late.
“Are you sure, sugarcube?” AJ asked.
“I’m sure, and as for you, Gus, if you’re willing, we can add this to improving your Illusions,” I said as I send off my wife and turned to Gus.
“Yeah, if this can make me more useful, I’ll do it,” Gus said.
‘I wonder if there’s an underlying trauma there…Should I comment on that?’ I question myself.
Luz POV.
‘I have no idea what I’m going to say to Amity when I see her!!!!’ I thought in a panic as I climbed the steps to the library.
“You got this, you can do this; don’t think about how pretty she looks when she smiles, or how she smells so good, or-” I was interrupted by a stray flying book to my face.
“Wah!” I screamed in surprise before two familiar faces popped up in front of me as I swat the book off my face, “Hey there, cutie,” “What are you here for?” Em and Ed asked.
“Oh, hey, I’m here to look for some info on a human that was here in the Deadwardian Era and maybe get some help from Amity,” I whispered the last part to myself.
“Oh? You want some help from our baby Mittens?” Ed asked in a teasing tone.
I stammered out a response, but Em continue the teasing, “Will you and Mittens cuddle up next to each other while reading some history?” Em asked.
I blushed redder as they go on, “Ed! Em! What are you doing?!?” Amity asked.
“Nothing, just talking to this cutie,” “And it seems they have something to ask you,” Em and Ed said.
They pushed me toward Amity with my face still blushing like crazy.
As soon as Amity saw me, she also start to blush, “Oh! L-Luz! Hey, w-w-what are you doing here?” Amity asked, her face flush for some reason.
“O-oh, I need some help researching for another human from the Deadwardian Era. Eda’s mom said that her great-grandmother knew of another human that traveled here,” I said.
“Oh, I can ask Malphas, or we can search on the library’s crystal ball,” Amity said.
“Cool, cool, cool, yeah, we can totally do that,” I said, nervous about spending time alone with Amity.
3rd POV.
We see Jordan and Gus follow the three Glandus students and Mat to where the Galdurstones are being hidden.
“Bria!!! Can’t we take a break? We’ve been walking for hours without a break!!” Whined Gavin.
“Ask that again, and I’ll make you into my new construction material!” Bria threatened.
“I see some things haven’t changed since I left,” Mat said.
“Oh, Matty, I see you have something to say?” Bria asks threateningly.
“Nope, I got nothing to say!” Mat said quickly.
“Are you sure? Because it seems like your time away from the top school has made you think that you can talk smack about your superior,” Bria said.
“You’re not my superior anymore; you’re just some bitch who’s peeked her first year in high school,” Mat said, remembering someone who is stronger than most witches in Hexside.
Silence. Silence is all that anyone could hear, “It seems someone needs to go through training again!” Bria said, her eyes slightly glowing as she manipulate the ground beneath Mat to rise up and entomb around his body, leaving his head free.
Mat looked down in annoyance, which slowly turn into a mild panic as the ground slowly rises to his neck.
“I think I’ve seen enough,” Jordan said before stomping her foot on the ground and freed Mat from the stone that was squeezing him.
“What!?” Bria exclaimed in surprise as she and her lackeys prepare to fight Jordan.
Jordan walked out of their hiding place with Gus closely behind, “I heard that a certain group of brats were going to desecrate a graveyard for a few shiny stones. Can you tell me where they are?” Jordan asked rhetorically.
“Uh, yeah, we were going to stop-” Bria was interrupted by a flick to the forehead and flung back until she hit a tree 10 feet away.
“Stop yourselves before you disrespect the dead and suffer the rather of me or my friend here?” Jordan asked.
Bria groans out in pain before slowly getting up on unsteady feet. “Do you think you can pick a fight with Glandus High's top students from three of their tracks and get away with it?” Gavin asked before making a spell circle but was interrupted by Jordan as she appeared in front of him and made him bounce on the ground like a basketball then was knocked out.
Jordan then looked at Angmar but saw that he passed out after he saw what she did to two of his friends.
“I guess that’s it,” Jordan said, walking back to Gus, “I didn’t get to do anything, though?” Gus said.
“Hmm, maybe we should use them as training dummies for your Illusion magic,” Jordan said as she levitated them toward her and Gus before putting them down on top of each other.
“W-what!?!?!” Gus asks in surprise.
“You have the Illusion of sight down easily; let’s try the Illusion of sound,” Jordan said.
Gus was confused at what Jordan was talking about. Jordan could see it on his face, “Illusions are about tricking and warping people's perceptions; sight is a level one technique for everyone,” Jordan said.
Gus stared at Jordan in surprise and wonder at what she said, “You mean there’s more to learn in Illusions?” Gus said in barely concealed excitement.
“Of course, there’s always more to magic before that idiot Belos took over,” Jordan said.
“Wha?” Gus asked in confusion.
“Before Belos took over, magic was mixed and expanding. I was there at the beginning of the war against that oppressor; we obviously lost,” Jordan said.
“There was a war for the Isles? We were told that there was a small resistance of wild witches, and Belos squashed them with little effort,” Gus said.
“He wishes; it took nearly 15 years to take us down; we lost a lot of good people during that time,” Jordan said.
Gus looked at Jordan for a bit before practicing his Illusion magic, “So, you’re trying to prove that Illusion magic isn’t useless?” Mat asked.
“Oh, Mattholomule, hey; yeah, I want to up my magic for all the future adventures me and my friends will go on so I don’t hold them back,” Gus said, still building up some magic for sound Illusions.
“Hm, cool, I can probably help with tricking these griffon shits,” Mat said, trying to sound nonchalant about it.
Gus looked to Jordan for what to do, “Hm? You’re a part of the construction coven, right?” Jordan asked.
Mat nodded, “Good. Can you make the ground heat up?” Jordan asked.
Library 3rd POV.
Luz and Amity looked on the library’s crystal ball and found that there is a journal from Philip Wittebane in the forbidden section of the library.
They have been looking for Malphas for over an hour before seeing a sign on his office door that says, ‘Gone to reorganize the forbidden archive.’
“Oh, well, that’s somewhat convenient,” Luz said, trying to be optimistic.
“Let’s go see if he’s still there; it’s just a few floors under the building,” Amity said, already walking toward the stairs.
“Ok… wait, this place has an underground library section?” Luz asked in surprise.
They made their way down to the forbidden archive where Malphas is, “Malphas!! Malphas!? Are you down here?” Amity yelled out.
“Hmmm? Oh, Amity, what are you doing here?” Malphas asked.
Malphas is a giant anthropomorphic bird with dirty light blue feathers, glowing yellow eyes, and reading glasses on their beak's tip. He is wearing a black cloak with a purple-beige shawl.
He is floating on top of an adult-sized book with mist and clouds coming out of it with the words ‘Staff’ written on the book's spine.
“We wanted to know if we can go into the forbidden archive to look for a journal that’s from the Deadwardian Era?” Amity asked.
“The Forbidden Archive!!! Amity, you know that, like, even I can’t, like, go in there whenever I want,” Malphas said.
“Then who can go in there whenever they like?” Luz asked suspiciously.
“Like, Emperor Belos, of course,” Malphas said.
‘What is Belos trying to hide that not even the Head Librarian isn’t allowed to freely visit it?’ Luz thought as she slowly moved Malphas's shadow above him.
“Please! I’m sure if you’re there with us, it’ll be alright, especially if none of us say anything,” Amity pleaded.
Amity made a motion with her face toward Luz, who is too distracted to notice them looking at her. Malphas noticed this and sighed at that Amity was trying to impress her crush by going into the forbidden archives.
Fiiiine~, but, like, if I get in trouble for this, I’m calling your parents,” Malphas said as he led them to the forbidden archives.
Amity smiled before doing mini handclaps and tiny jumps in happiness. “Oh, thank you; you won’t regret this,” Amity said as she grabs Luz and follows Malphas.
Luz returns Malphas’s shadow to normal and let Amity drag her while trailing behind Malphas.
Malphas looked around before getting close to the entrance of the forbidden archive, “What am I doing? Why did I let a child convince me to let her and her crush inside the forbidden archive?” Malphas quietly complained.
Malphas unlocked the doors to the forbidden archives and quickly look inside to see if there are anyone from the Emperor’s Coven.
He signaled them to come in. “Ok, what is it you’re looking for again? And make it quick before one of the Emperor's creatures finds us,” Malphas said, fear evident in his voice.
“His creatures?” Luz asked.
“Not every wild witch that is captured is turned to a lawn ornament or imprisoned,” Malphas said ominously.
Luz stared at her surroundings to see if she could see what he was talking about, only to see nothing but old books and large amounts of molds and mosses.
“They usually wander around deeper in the archives; let’s find whatever you’re trying to find and get out of here before they alert whoever is in charge of them today,” Malphas said urgently.
Luz and Amity nodded, “We’re looking for the Deadwardian era section with a journal that was written by the only other human that traveled to the Boiling Isles,” Amity said.
Malphas gulped at the mention of that since that was Belos’s most checked-on book. Belos checked on several books from time to time, some from before the Isles war, some about it, and one in particular that he checks on with obsessive compulsion is that specific journal about that human; he didn’t know why, and he didn’t want to know why.
“WHAT!!!” Malphas yelled out quietly in surprise as he turned to the two behind him.
Luz and Amity flinched back at the sudden turn, “W-w-what is it? Is something wrong with us going there?” Amity asked.
“I know the book you are looking for, and that is the one book that no one should even know about! How did you even know about it?!?!” Malphus asked in a panic.
“Uhhh, the crystal ball in the library said that there was a donation from an anonymous source,” Luz said, getting in front of Amity.
“Our crystal balls have been out of order since the last week! Wait, how did you even know about a human that traveled here?” Malphas asked, afraid of the answer of who.
“Eda’s Mom, Gwendolyn,” Luz said.
Malphas felt something break in him when he heard Gwendolyn’s name. ‘Gwendolyn… of course, she has to be the reason for this massive headache and me being potentially petrified,’ Malphas thought as he tried to wipe the stress away from his face.
“Tour over, I was willing to go along with this because Amity vouches for you, but I draw the line when it comes to that witch,” Malphas said as he spun a spell to levitate them out the door.
“Wait! I need to find that journal!” Luz screamed, not caring if she was heard by whatever is guarding the books.
“Malphas, please!! Just let us look for it!” Amity pleaded.
“No!! Anytime I’m involved with a Clawthorne, there is some trouble that will befall,” Malphas said, not even struggling against the two teens.
Luz saw this and decided to go to plan B: Knock out the head librarian and look for the journal themselves.
Luz summoned a few shadows and punched Malphas away from her and Amity, disrupting the spell around them.
“Sorry!! Come on,” Luz said as she pulled Amity away from Malphas.
“Luz!!! Why did you do that?!?!” Amity screamed.
“I don’t know, I’m so sorry; I panicked and just wah~!!!!!” Luz screamed as she fell down an unexpected ledge with Amity behind her.
“Owwww~” Luz and Amity groaned out before seeing the position they were in.
They scrambled out of each other's personal spaces with huge blushes on their faces. Amity shook her head before getting serious, “Luz, you do realize that I could get fired because of what you did,” Amity asked while hugging her knees to her head.
“I… I know, I just didn’t want to miss the only opportunity I have to get the journal from the only human to have traveled to and from the Demon Realm,” Luz said, hugging herself while looking away from Amity.
“This place is one of the few places where I can be free from my mom, the twins, and Boscha and her gang. I don’t know where else to be myself,” Amity said.
“...You can always hang out with me-I mean us… yeah, us. You can hang out with Willow, Gus, Eda, King, and maybe me?” Luz said.
Amity didn’t say anything for a minute as she looked ahead of her, “... Why do you want to go back to the Human Realm anyway? I thought there was nothing back there,” Amity asked, wondering why Luz is trying so hard to get back to her old home.
Luz didn’t answer as she looks up at the ceiling; that’s when she noticed a sign above her that read, ‘Deadwardin Era books and donations,’ Luz stood up and saw a journal on a pedestal in the middle of the sunken reading area.
“Amity,” Luz said quietly as she motions Amity toward the journal.
Amity looked to where Luz was motioning to and saw that they were where they needed to be.
Luz picked up the book to open it when she felt something moving inside it. She quickly opened it to see a little mouse with its skull exposed.
Luz saw that the mouse tore the pages into shreds and used the journal as a burrow, “NO!!!” Luz's yell silenced the entire forbidden section of the library.
Luz realized her mistake a second too late as she hears her voice echo throughout the wing. Her eyes widened in fear as she slowly turn to Amity and saw her face scared and her pupils shrinking to pinpoints.
“Amity, stay right there,” Luz said, holding her hand to signal Amity to stay where she is.
They heard a loud screech above them, with a few drops of liquid hitting the ground between them. Amity started to feel her legs shake and slide her back against the wall to the ground.
Luz slowly looked up and saw a horrific sight: a creature on all fours, with its front leg making a sharp arching shape and its wrists with bone blades. Its skin was a deathly grey, and its back was covered in multiple dark green puss-like bubbles.
Its mouth resembles a mutated spider while its eyes are human-sized flies eyes, but its face holds some semblance of a witch's or demon's face. It is the size of a Slitherbeast with its head the size of a human’s.
It looks at Luz with hunger, its glowing green eyes glowing as saliva flows out of its mouth like a waterfall.
“Amity, I need you to take this and escape while I distract whatever the fuck that is,” Luz said as she tried to summon shadows around but found it more difficult than usual.
“ ~Screech~!!!!!” It yelled before shooting off at Luz, who barely dodged in time and was knocked into a wall after the creature slammed into the floor, causing it to collapse into itself and making a crater.
“Ok, I don’t know how I’m getting out of this one, but I’m sure I’ll find a way out. I always do,” Luz said to herself as she slowly got up to see that she was facing one of the creatures with different colored puss-like bubbles and eyes.
“Oh, hey,” Luz said with a nervous smile and large amounts of sweat throughout her body. I don’t suppose we can talk this out, could we?” Luz asked, thinking that whatever this thing was, it couldn’t think beyond instinct.
It screeched loudly with a lot of saliva spitting from its mouth onto Luz’s face. Luz didn’t know how to react for a few seconds, then tried to kick it upward but was caught mid-swing before her foot could make contact.
“...Shit,” Was all Luz said before she was flung into the air above the entrance of the sunken reading area.
“LUZ!!!!” Amity yelled, which caught the attention of the two creatures that were fighting Luz.
“SCREECH!!” They both screamed before crawling like a possessed creature outta hell towards her.
“AMITY!!” Luz yelled, scared for what is about to happen to Amity.
Luz felt gravity return to her as she headed toward the edge of the sunken reading area.
‘CRAP!!! What am I going to do?!?! Come on, come on!’ Luz thought as she got closer and closer to the edge.
Almost by instinct, she dipped into her own shadow, traveled quickly to Amity’s side, and sliced both of the eyes of the creature that was closest to Amity with her shadow.
“Luz! How did you get over here?” Amity asked in a panic.
“Talk later!! Run now!!” Luz yelled as she carried Amity princess-style away from the creatures chasing them.
“LUZ!! AMITY!!” Malphas screamed with more creatures fanning out from him.
‘Why does this keep happening every time I come to a library!?!?’ Luz thought as she ran between aisles and rows of books.
“First, it was the wailing star, then it was those spider eggs recipes, and now it’s for a dumb book that was probably written by a Puritan!!” Luz yelled as she look behind her to see a few of the creatures are closing in and jumping from shelf to shelf while a few others were crawling on the ceiling toward them.
Luz looks forward again and searches for a way to escape as she can hear the creatures getting closer.
“What in Titan's name are those things even!?!?!” Amity asked as she saw behind Luz, seeing the creatures clearly for the first time.
“I think they’re what Malphas were talking about,” Luz said, turning a corner quickly, barely avoiding hitting a shelf.
“I know, but what are they even supposed to be?!” Amity asked as she looked up at the ceiling to see three more of the creatures nearly above them.
Luz felt something grab her leg before throwing Amity away as she is pulled into the air and slams her into the ground, surrounded by the creatures.
They didn’t move to attack and only circled Luz. Luz heard claws scrapping the floor and felt the air shifted with fog rolling in.
“Hybrid, you are no longer welcome here, and I am done entertaining these teenage hormones,” Malphas said in a dramatic tone, his eyes glowing a bright desert yellow.
“...What?” Luz asked in confusion at that last statement.
“Remnants, take her to your nest and ensure she is thoroughly eaten,” Malphas said before turning away from Luz.
“This is the last time I come here for a book,” Luz said.
“Good luck finding another library that lets vampires in, but I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that soon,” Malphas said as he’s leaving.
Luz struggled against the Remnants as they pierced her arms to keep her from escaping.
“AHHHHHH!!!!!” Luz screamed out in pain and felt something toward the Remnants, almost as if she is sensing a tortured soul.
‘I wonder,’ Luz thought as she concentrated on the shadows around her and the Remnants and ignore the pain coming from her arms.
The shadows under the two Remnants dragging Luz shot out and cut off the arms that were piercing her arm and then was absorb into her body.
“I guess I can absorb through the skin now, and my healing is getting a bit faster,” Luz said as she notices her arms healed in less than a blink of an eye.
Luz looks around her and sees the two Remnants she dismembered slowly back away from her as they lose blood from their left and right arm stumps.
The other Remnants circle around Luz, their saliva dripping to the floor.
“I wonder what your souls taste like,” Luz said as she summoned shadows and jumped toward the nearest Remnant to start killing them.
Malphas POV
‘I need to get to my crystal ball as quickly as I can so the Emporers Coven can get the hybrid out of my Library and leave my employees out of her nonsense,’ I thought as I open the heavy doors as fast as I can.
“Malphas!!!” said a voice I know since she first started reading to children.
“Amity? Have you finally come to your senses and-” I didn’t get to finish as I was enveloped by Abomination goop and dragged toward Amity.
“Call off those things now!!!” Amity demanded as her eyes softly glowed a mix of gold and light purple.
“I can only direct them to their next meal; I can’t do anything else,” I said, not very threatened by what is happening.
“There has to be something I can do? I can’t let Luz die!” Amity pleaded.
‘Why is she so obsessed with this hybrid? As far as I know, she is her first crush! So why is she so protective of… wait, I wonder if it’s heredity?’ I remembered when Amity’s parents were still attending Hexside and how Odalia was sticking close to Alador and another student.
‘Last thing I heard from those three were some gossip about how she was dating both but had a falling out and ended up with Alador,’ I thought.
‘And what I heard from that youngster Bump, Odalia was also very protective and aggressive with those two,’ I thought as I slowly spun a spell to disperse the Abomination trapping me.
“Even if there isn’t a way, I’m still going to stop you from calling the Emporers Coven,” Amity said as I felt myself moving up toward the ceiling.
“Gah! What are you doing, Amity?” I asked, my circle being interrupted, and my vision started to blur.
“Protecting my Luz,” Amity said, eyes glowing more purple than gold.
As Amity walks back into the forbidden Archives, I try to move my hands only to find them bound together.
“Titan, damn it! What in Titan's name are in those Blight's genes that make them this crazy for their first crushes!?!?!” Malphas asked no one.
Jordan POV.
“I think that was a good training session for you two,” I said as I walk ahead of Gus and Mat.
“That (Heavy panting) was worse than swimming (panting) in the boiling sea,” Mat said.
“...” Gus didn’t even say anything as I levitated him in the air closely behind me.
“Don’t be a baby, Mat; you don’t hear Gus complaining,” I joked.
“THAT’S BECAUSE HE’S PASSED OUT!!!!” Mat yelled.
Flashback Jordan POV.
“Where are we?!?!” “Where’s Bria?!?!” The two Glandus students said, trying to run, but Mat moved the ground below them like a treadmill in whatever direction they run into.
Gus’s forehead was covered in sweat as he concentrated on the sound and random images popping out of nowhere.
“Nice work, kids,” I said as I held the leader of the three Glandus students.
She tried to scream but was muffled by a magical construct binding her arms and legs.
“Now, now, no need for cursing,” I said.
“Keep that up,” I motioned Gus and Mat to keep up the pace as I noticed their magic was getting a bit sloppy.
End of flashback.
“And he’ll be better for it, definitely better than that hack that is the head of the illusion coven,” I said, muttering the last part.
I dragged the Glandus Trio, with some vines I summoned when Gus passed out, back to the city, with each of them struggling in vain to escape.
“Let us go, you sympathizer!!!” the purple-haired one yelled.
“What?” I asked, confused about what they meant by ‘sympathizer.’
“Yeah, we know who you are, Vampire sympathizer!!” the loud, annoying, purple-haired child yelled.
“...Learned stupidity, it scares me sometimes,” I said, deciding to ignore them and that if I see them or their families again, I’ll make sure that they will find out why the Emporer is too afraid to put out a wanted poster for me.
“What was that?!?! I’m not stupid!!!! I was taught vampires, and anyone who helps or sympathizes with them should burn in the boiling sea and ask the titan for forgiveness!!!!!” I continued to ignore her, but Mat looked at her in shock, nervousness, and something else I have only seen in my time as a soldier during the rebellion.
Terrified regret: Regret for what they had done, who they had done it to, and why.
“You were like that too… weren’t you?” I asked Mat.
“...” His silence was enough of an answer that I didn’t need to turn around.
After a minute gone by, Mat started to talk, “N-not as intense as that, but after getting beaten and having internal bleeding for a month with daily visits to the healing coven and since I wasn’t allowed to move from my bed except to a wheelchair when going to the healing coven, I started to think of the reasons of how I got into this mess,” Mat said, looking at the trees we were walking by.
“Hm, I’m guessing your family is more or less neutral toward vampires, and it’s Glandus that’s enforcing their views onto their students,” I said, knowing a lot of places that do that.
Mat nodded as he rubbed his left arm as a sign that I was right.
Before anything else could be said, I heard rustling from the tree before looking ahead and seeing a few hooded creatures with purple cloaks matching their hoods blocking our path.
I turned around and saw five more behind us, blocking any retreat, “Hmm, could’ve sworn we were closer to BoneBorough than the Titans cavity,” I said, knowing who these psychos are.
“We are the Titans Puritans, and we must ask you to release these righteous children into our custody, along with the wayward ones, so they can be re-educated on what is right,” said one of the three figures blocking our path back home.
“...I’m going with a no to either of those requests,” I said, motioning for Mat to stay close while levitating Gus to him.
“Keep Gus safe while I deal with these psycho pieces of shit,” I said as I got into a ready stance.
“Wait, I can still fight-”
“I can’t fight and protect you two at the same; I need you to defend yourself and Gus from these hypocrites,” I said while tossing up the Glandus trio into the air and putting a spell on them to keep them in the air for about ten minutes.
“Alright, PONY UP !!!!!” I yelled as I fired a beam at the three that appeared first before appearing behind them as they barely dodged the beams.
Before they realized I was gone from my spot, I kicked each of them at the back of their heads and knocked them out.
I looked back toward the five other Titan Puritans and smirked a bit as I readied a few more spells.
Library 3rd POV.
It was not looking too good for Luz. She was surrounded, bleeding somewhat heavily, and seemingly to be missing her right arm.
She looked toward the three Remnants she had taken down and then back to the remaining four Remnants and saw they barely have any cuts and lots of bruises.
‘My regeneration is a bit slow since I’m losing more blood than drinking it; I need to get to one of the Remnants I killed and absorb them to fix myself up,’ Luz thought as she held her right arm tightly to slow down the bleeding.
“LUZ!!!!” Amity yelled out as she search for Luz.
Luz hears this and looks in the direction of Amity. “Amity?” Luz asked in surprise, thinking she told Amity to leave her behind.
The Remnants also turn toward the noise, and two of them slowly start to go in Amity’s direction.
“Where the fuck do you think you're going!?!?!” Luz yelled before her eyes changed to blood red. She seems to command her shadows to sink the two Remnants into the ground before they could go after Amity.
“Stay t he fuck away from her!!!!!” Luz's form grew a few inches, and her voice lowered slightly, sounding older than she was.
All the Remnants turned toward her in surprise, their instincts telling them she is a more alarming threat than previously.
The two that stayed tried to attack but found themselves in their shadows.
Luz walked toward the two dead Remnants. She felt their amalgamation of souls still in their bodies, so she absorbed them while consuming them to heal herself.
With Amity, she is running from where she last saw Luz and following the trail of multiple blood splatters.
‘Please, please, PLEASE still be alive, Luz, I can’t lose the first real friend I’ve had since Willow!’ Amity thought as she heard blood spilling ahead of her.
“You know,” A slightly muffled voice Amity doesn’t recognize says above her.
“I really am surprise that she is having this much trouble with these things,” Amity looked up and saw a person chewing on a leg that was from a Remnant.
“Then again, she isn’t used to using brutal force to win along with actually killing, but once you get used to the blood spraying in your face, it gets entertaining,” they said as they finish the leg.
“W-who are you? Are you with the Emperor's Coven?” Amity said, slightly scared but determined to fight if they were with the Emperor's Coven.
“Ha, that is hilarious; you think I would follow that Puritan Nazi willingly? No child, I am not with that hypocrisy-filled organization,” They said, snickering at the idea of being in the Emperor's Coven.
“Then, who are you?” Amity asked, not lowering her guard.
“I’m Luz’s parent, Zaza if you will, although I don’t know why she calls me that. I’m alright if she calls me mom or dad, but it’s fine,” they said, floating down toward Amity.
Amity stepped back in surprise and is even more nervous because this is Luz’s Zaza; Amity didn’t think she would meet Luz’s parents already.
“Don’t worry about me, I’m just here just in case they overwhelmed by those pathetic creatures,” They said.
“What was your name again?” Amity asked.
“Alucard, Alucard Drac-Noceda,” Alucard said.
Before Amity could continue, one of the Remnants was flung toward them but was stopped from hitting the ground in front of them by Alucard as they summoned a hellhound that ate the Remnant in one bit.
“Hmmm, looks like she’s almost done, better leave until it’s time to test her. Maybe I’ll drop by next week to tell her,” Alucard said before disappearing into the shelves.
Amity stared at where Alucard was before noticing the lack of noise coming from where Luz was supposed to be.
Amity ran to where the trail of blood ended, and at the end was Luz, with her arm barely regenerating in time for Amity to see the last bits of it fully regrowing.
“Luz!!! Are you alright?!?! Where are those things?” Amity asked.
“A-Amity, why are you still here?!?!” Luz exclaimed. She turned around, and her eyes slowly turned back into hazel-brown before cracks were heard as she returned to her normal height.
“I couldn’t just leave you here to fight those things by yourself!” Amity said, tears at the edge of her eyes.
“You already risked your job once; now, tho, now you’re most likely getting fired or worse!” Luz said, sounding exhausted.
“If it means leaving you to die, I don’t care if I’m fired,” Amity said as she brought Luz into a hug.
Luz felt shocked at what Amity had said and didn’t know how to respond, “I can’t lose another friend because I was too scared to fight for them,” Amity said, hugging tighter.
Luz hugged back, careful not to use too much strength to accidentally crush Amity.
With Malphas, he was about to finally get out of the Abomination goop when someone he doesn’t recognize walks out, wearing a white two-piece suit with a dark blue dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to their elbows.
“Who are you?!?!?!?!! HOW DID YOU GET IN THERE WITHOUT MY NOTICE!?!?!?!?!” Malphas screamed.
“Oh? Looks like a little bird got trapped in a spider's web,” They said, mocking Malphas as they saw and heard what Malphas has done since entering the forbidden Archives.
“Answer my question!” Malphas yelled.
“How about I have an oversized turkey as an early Thanksgiving dinner?” Alucard said, gathering the shadows to suck Malphas into them.
“W-w-what the?!?!” Malphas panicked as he felt himself sinking into a cold nothing.
“And I don’t think I can trust you around children trying to explore, so I’m taking over as head Librarian from now on; here’s your severance package; it includes an all-expense paid trip to a place worse than hell!” Alucard said as he absorbed his soul.
As soon as he finished, Luz and Amity walked out, looking worse for wear, with Luz leaning on Amity, “Oh! Hello, dear, I guess you got out of there faster than I thought you would. Don’t mind me just finishing up a snack I found,” Alucard said.
“Zaza? What are you doing here?” Luz asked in surprise at seeing Alucard at a library.
“Thought you needed some help, but it looks like you didn’t need it,” Alucard said.
Alucard looked toward Amity, “Oh, and you don’t have to worry about losing your job here,” Alucard said.
“I don’t? How come? I thought Malphas would’ve fired me and told my mom about what happened,” Amity asked.
“He’s been replaced by a new library head, and that person is me,” Alucard said as they walked away to where they think the librarian's head office is.
“Wait, what!?!?!” Amity yelled in surprise taking a few steps away from Luz and toward where Alucard was as he dipped down into the shadows.
“Luz,” Alucard said as they showed up behind her from her shadow.
“Isn’t it getting a bit late? Maybe you should walk your little friend to her home,” Alucard said, knowing Luz’s feelings toward Amity.
Luz blushed heavily before looking toward Amity who didn’t hear what Alucard said to Luz.
“H-hey, Amity, is it alright if I walk you home? I-It’s getting pretty late,” Luz asked nervously, scratching the back of her head.
Amity turned to Luz in surprise as she was not expecting this at all, “U-u-uhh s-s-sure, Luz,” Amity said, not knowing what to say next.
‘What do I do?! What do I do!? WHAT DO I DO!?!?!’ Amity thought in a panic as she walked ahead of Luz to the entrance of the Library.
“What do I do?!?!” Luz screamed quietly toward her Zaza so Amity doesn’t hear.
She didn’t get an answer as Alucard disappeared into the shadows while Luz was distracted.
Luz quietly seethed in frustration at what her Zaza did, “I can’t believe they ‘Batman’ me!” Luz said.
“L-Luz?” Amity questioned nervously as she stood in the clearing in the Library.
“O-oh, sorry, I’m coming,” Luz said as she caught up with Amity.
As they walk toward Amity’s house, Coff Mansion Coff , Luz nervously looks around before coming to the doorsteps.
“I guess this is where we part ways,” Amity said, face still blushing.
“Y-yeah, I guess I’ll- what the!?!” Luz exclaimed as she felt something crawl all over her back before emerging from her hoodie that had several tears and blood stains all over it.
What emerged was a little echo mouse, “You!!!!” Luz yelled as she tries to grab it, but it kept slipping from her grip.
After the fifth failed attempt, Luz fell down while the Echo mouse landed on top of her head and squeaked, “Ugh, I hate you,” Luz said despondently.
“Hang on, Luz, this is an Echo Mouse; they eat books and project the information,” Amity said as she picked up the Echo Mouse gently before rubbing the top of their head before it projected images of the Wittebane journal.
Luz stared in amazment and hope. The Echo Mouse stopped their projecting and looked at Luz.
Luz held at her hand gently, and the Echo Mouse jumped into her hand. Amity looks at how soft Luz looks handling the Echo Mouse, “...Luz… Why do you want to go back to the Human Realm?” Amity asked, desperation evident in her voice.
Luz stiffened at the question. After everything that happened today, she still hasn’t thought of a way to explain, “...I… I just need to go back there, not for long, just long enough,” Luz said, not answering Amity’s question.
“Long enough for what?” Amity asked gently, sensing that Luz was sad.
“Long enough to bury Mami,” Luz said, sounding a bit desperate.
Amity looked at Luz in surprise and felt a bit ashamed for asking, “I-I’m sorry; I didn’t know,” Amity said, quickly realizing that Luz hasn’t talked about her human mother since coming here.
“I-It’s OK, I just need to bury her right next to Abuela and Abuelo,” Luz said, slowly getting up.
Amity moved to hug her but was stopped by the door opening up, “Amity? Why are you still out here this late?” Odalia asked, thinking that Amity was in her room still made about her grounding from extracurricular activities.
“Oh, Mom, I-uh-I was-” “She was getting introduced to the new head librarian and was discussing her new hours,” Luz stepped in, her voice barely composing.
Odalia looks toward Luz in curiosity, “New head Librarian? What happened to Malphas?” Odalia asked.
“He, uh, was forced to retire after an incident in the archives,” Luz said, rubbing the back of her head.
“And why are you here, with my daughter, at this late hour?” Odalia asked.
The two younger teens realize how late it actually is by looking at the barely-seen sunset and how this looks.
“I-I-I was just walking her home since we are friends, and I didn’t want her to be alone when it’s so close to nightfall,” Luz said quickly, her face becoming redder as she talked.
Odalia, along with half the Isles, could see that the two liked each other and that she knew from personal experience that first crushes in the Blight family rarely go away.
She also knows if she tries to make Amity forget her or forbid her from seeing the hybrid Amity would most likely do something drastic and horrifying to the poor hybrid.
Odalia just went back inside and left the two outside, “I guess I should go inside; I’ll see you at school,” Amity said.
“Yeah, I’ll see you at school,” Luz said, blushing away from Amity.
“Oh, and Luz,” Amity said, making Luz turn to her.
“Yeah?” Luz asked. Amity looked like she wanted to ask something but was holding back, ‘Just ask her out, or is now a bad time since we just talked about her dead mom before my mom just came out. Maybe I should wait a bit more, but I might not have the confidence later like I do now,’ Amity thought in a panic before coming to a decision.
“H-how do you think I would look with Abomination color hair instead of green?” Amity asked weakly.
Luz started to imagine Amity with light purple hair with it down to her shoulders and started blushing, “I-I-I think it would look good on you,” Luz said, stuttering like she was freezing.
Amity blushed a little before giving a quick hug and going back inside. Unbeknownst to the two, a particular duo looked down on the two in disappointment, “I guess I owe Jerbo 5 snails,” Edric said.
“And I owe Viney 50 snails,” Emira said.
Edric looked at Emira in surprise, “You betted 50 snails that they would finally get together after a library adventure?” Edric asked in surprise, even tho he betted the same thing with Jerbo.
“Yes, but also that it would end with a kiss,” Emira said, hoping her little mittens had more confidence in herself like she does in her.
“Bold move, sister,” Edric said, making fun of Emira.
“What are you two doing in my room?” Amity asked as she opened the door to her room to see her older twin siblings.
The twins were startled and quickly turned toward Amity, “Oh, we were uh,” “Just making,” “Bets!” Edric ended before Emira hissed his name in annoyance.
Amity's face turned a bright red before she started yelling at them, “BETS ABOUT WHAT!!!!!” Edric and Emira contemplated their options and decided to go with the one that led to the least amount of possible bones breaking.
They jumped out the window and into the bushes down below.
Jordan POV.
“Ok, so if anyone asks, we didn’t fight a cult, and we just found these idiots like this,” I said as I continued to drag the 8 cult members to a coven scout outpost.
“Aren’t we just going to drop them and leave before the scouts see us?” Mat asked.
“This is just in case they happen to be out there while we dump them,” I said.
“Let me go! You will pay for this! You will all pay for this!! Hexside! Your family! Even that damn hybrid of that delusional ‘ruler’ of vampires!” The purple-haired hothead said.
“Oh, you’re still talking? I thought you would’ve realized when you’re outclassed,” I said, still levitating her and her knocked-out friends.
“HA!!! I would never be outclassed by a leech lover!!” Whatever her name said.
‘What was her name again? Did they ever say it before we knocked them out?’ I thought before looking toward Mat.
“Do you know if she’s delusional or is just a dumb loser?” I asked Mat.
“HEY!! DON’T IGNORE ME!!!!” She yelled at me as I continued to ignore her.
“To be honest? I have no idea, I never seen her lose herself,” Mat said.
“Ah, she just has multiple complexes due to not losing and being told she has to be the best, along with other things that would make a therapist rich,” I said, seeing this way too many times in children in any society.
“I DON’T NEED A THERAPIST!!!!!!!!!!!!” yelled the pasty child.
“Out of everything I said that’s the thing you chose to focus on?” I asked.
“Uggh,” Gus groaned out as he came to.
“Oh, Gus, you’re awake finally. Are you conscience enough to walk on your own?” I asked.
Gus looked around before registering what I said, then nodded. He got off of Mat only to stumble a bit before stabilizing and following us sluggishly.
‘I need to put a silencing sphere on this brat, or else it’ll make me want to bury her in the boiling sea,’ I thought as we saw the scout station.
I’m back!!!! And got back from vacation from Portland, Oregon, and it was amazing, so much better weather than Texas. Anyway, finally posting this story, and if you have any questions for this story's future or my OC and her family, I’ll answer any questions that won’t spoil the future of the story.