Chapter Text
The sheer amount of terror that filled the CATTs as they looked to the south and saw the Divider, the Huntsman, and an entire army of Angels and Titan Trappers just a short distance off the coast of Digale Island was palpable. The civilian members of the CATTs began huddling together, whimpering in terror as they tried to shield the children, while the combatants raised their weapons, staves, and spell circles in self-defence, though every single person present was utterly terrified. More than a handful began to cry out of fear, and whispers of “We’re doomed!” and “We can’t stand up to them!” began to ripple through the CATTs like a literal wave of doubt.
Hearing this, Luz spread her wings as far as they’d go and flew up a little so she could see the whole crowd.
“Everyone! I know how terrifying this is! I won’t lie to you and act like I’m not scared too! We’re cornered by two incredibly powerful beings and their armies… but that doesn’t mean we should give up! For the sake of one another and the people of the Isles and both the Demon and Divine Realm as a whole, we need to stand up and fight! Even if we lose, even if victory seems impossible… we will fight! Let us show them what we think of the Divider’s false paradise!” she declared, raising her Stringbean staff into the air.
Her family, the Hexsquad, and the CATTs elites all cheered and readied for battle, and seeing them rallying like that was enough to get the CATTs combatants to scream out a battle cry too, still terrified but not willing to just lay down and get stomped by the Divider’s forces.
Speaking of those forces, the Divider snapped his fingers and ordered the Wings of Rani Airships to begin encircling the island from the sky, while the Titan Trappers (who the Divider clearly didn’t like, given the way he sneered at them) were ordered to encircle the island by sea, ensuring that there was no way out by sea or sky. He and the Huntsman then flew alone to the edge of Digale Town, where they found the Titan Magic barrier blocking their path forward.
“Luz! I think it is time we negotiated your surrender! Come and let us speak, so we might spare our people unnecessary battles.” the Divider yelled, his voice magnified with magic.
Luz scowled and landed back on the ground, then said; “Amity, Gus, Skara, and Willow; the four of you should come with me while we talk to the Divider and try to stall him. With your Titan Blessings, you should be able to resist him and maybe even do some damage if things go south! Only Amity should use her fusion though; we’ll need her army of Homunculi to even the odds when the fighting starts.”
“Got it!” the four blessed members of the Hexsquad said together.
Luz smiled, then turned to Gus; “I’ll be weakened if you use your fusion too, but if you see a good opportunity to catch either the Divider or the Huntsman in your tactile illusions, then take the shot.”
“I will. It’ll be tough, but I might just be able to do it!” Gus agreed.
Samael and King then stepped up; “What about us?” King asked; “We can help! We can’t be divided easily, and we can damage them!”
“I-I’ll help fight them if you want me too!” Samael said shakily, being very brave.
Luz shook her head; “Not this time. I need you two to help protect the children alongside Hooty.”
She looked to Hooty, who gave a determined nod and a proud hoot. Luz smiled, then turned to the others; “The rest of you, prepare for battle and try to find a way off the island!”
That was easier said than done; the only way off the island they could think of was to take Darius’ and Alador’s bathysphere through the Primordial Wellsprings, but sadly both wellsprings on Digale Island were dried out AND currently inaccessible thanks to the collapse in the cave system beneath the island. Still, they all nodded and began running off to try and find a way to escape or at the very least shore up their defences; the barrier around town would keep out the Divider and Huntsman for a while, but not forever! Strangely, while everyone was running off to help out, Matt made his way to one of Alador’s workshops (since the man had so many projects that it necessitated multiples). Luz had no idea what he was up to, but decided to trust her friend as she went to go and speak to the Divider.
Walking down the path to the south side of town, where the Divider and Huntsman waited, Luz and her glyph-bonded friends all stood together as they prepared for a negotiation. Gus had already cast an illusion over himself and Amity, making the latter look like she was in her normal form while doing the same for himself (though he had yet to use his fusion, so the illusion didn’t change him at all). Stopping just a couple of paces from the barrier, Luz glared at the Divider in anger.
“Divider. I don’t suppose I can just politely ask you to leave?” Luz asked.
The Divider chuckled; “I’m afraid not, my dear. Likewise, I suppose I can’t convince you to just surrender and join me? You would become my personal Ophanim; outranking even Raguel and Eda’s old positions.”
“Yeah, I’m gonna have to decline.” Luz frowned, before giving the man a sympathetic look; “Listen, I know you went through a lot… after losing your Mama and the Ancient Demons and Angels’ constant determination to kill each other, I can understand why you lost faith in people and chose this path. But you’re trying to punish the whole world for the actions of the worst people in it. That’s the exact same kind of thing Belos was doing! He saw these people as evil, used the crimes of a few bad apples to justify his tyranny, and then conspired to kill them all!”
The Divider growled; “I am nothing like Belos! Do you really think what I’m doing is anything close to genocide!?”
“That depends.” Willow crossed her arms; “For some people, division is better than death. But for others, they’d rather die as themselves, not as whatever you turn them into.”
“I don’t change who they are fundamentally as a person, I only remove their negative aspects!” the Divider defended himself; “If removing those aspects changes them completely, then they were probably bad people who needed to be changed!”
“But you’re also removing things like grief and regret!” Skara protested; “Do you know what it’s like to be at the bedside of a dying loved one and not being able to feel anything? Dad and Raine were watching Uncle Scooter slowly slip away and couldn’t even mourn him!”
Scooter, who was currently back at the Teleportation Circle, being guarded by his niece and carried around in a walking chair (a kind of wheelchair with four legs to run with instead of wheels), was doing a lot better now than he had been when the CATTs had first rescued him. He was still very old and basically on his last legs, but at least he was now surrounded by people with real emotions!
“Not only that, but you tried some messed up match-making stuff with my Dad and Mom!” Skara yelled accusingly.
“That was an attempt to help you! I saw your mother’s regrets when I divided her, as well as some love that she had for your father and that he had for her! I thought that if I could get them back together, it would be what’s best for you and would make you happy, especially if she apologised and made amends for what she’d done in the past!” the Divider argued, his right eye beginning to twitch a little as he started to grow more agitated. Beside him, the Huntsman scoffed quietly but didn’t dare saying a word against him.
Skara was not so cowed though; “Are you kidding me!? The love they had for each other was based around gratitude for helping me be born! And how can you expect me to accept an apology from my Mom when she literally couldn’t feel her regrets any more.”
The Divider flinched and began to pace back and forth a little; “Alright, so maybe that wasn’t my best idea! Even I am entitled to make a few mistakes!” he said defensively, “Besides, it’s only been 4 months since I awoke from a 100,000 year coma! My mind is still a little… fuzzy.”
Luz narrowed her eyes, knowing that was Rasiel’s doing, though the Divider clearly didn’t want that knowledge known. It seemed that he didn’t actually know Luz had made contact with his wayward conscience, only that she’d ended up clinging to some level of his dream world after he thought he’d banished her.
Gus spoke up next; “Skara’s got a point though. An apology from someone who doesn’t feel any regret for what they did is just wrong. I mean think about it; that’s like forcing someone to give an apology when they don’t mean it! It’s just a big performance, and honestly pretty insulting.” he remembered what Viney had gone through with Kaimal’s forced apology back in Kyrie’s office at St. Epiderm.
“Surely knowing they regretted it before their division is good enough, yes?” the Divider said with an unsure smile.
“No, Divider.” Amity scowled; “Besides, its actually way worse! Dividing a person from things like regret makes it impossible for them to become better people on their own! Skara and I didn’t stop being jerks just because we found a better way to live! We stopped because we felt bad for what we’d done! We felt remorse! That’s proof that negative emotions can help us become better!”
“And grief, sadness, and anger… they can all lead to catharsis!” Skara added. “I can’t tell you how many times I played some sad song or another and had a good cry, and felt so much better afterwards!”
“And the negative emotions also make the positive ones feel all the better!” Willow said; “Happiness means a lot more when you have sadness to compare it to!”
The Divider scowled and stopped in his pacing; “Nothing I say is going to make you understand at the moment.”
“We understand, Divider. But that doesn’t mean we agree.” Luz replied.
A moment of silence passed as the Divider looked Luz in the eye. Finally, he sighed and said; “I really didn’t want it to go this way. I’ll convince you later; the carrot and stick approach may finally open your eyes. But for now, I will be taking back this island!”
He summoned his Palisman sword and raised it high in the air, which was apparently the go-to signal for the Wings of Rani to begin their assault, alongside packs of Titan Trappers. They all went running for the barrier around Digale Town, while the Divider slashed his blade against it. The area he hit cracked but didn’t immediately break, though it was clear it wouldn’t hold up to much more damage. Once the barrier broke, the enemy would be upon the CATTs in an instant, outnumbering them almost three to one, so Amity quickly slapped on a Power Glyph (there was no time for half-measures here) and conjured an army of Homunculi soldiers that turned the odds back in the CATTs favour, meaning they now outnumbered the invaders at two to one. The Divider was shocked by this sudden surge in power and the creation of Amity’s army, causing him to pause and hesitate mid-swing.
Seeing this hesitation, Luz used her own magic to turn the portion of the barrier in front of her into a crystalline material, which she then fired a powerful blast of light magic through using her light glyph. The crystalline material acted like a magnifying lens for her power, turning the fist-sized beam into a massive one large enough to consume both the Divider and Huntsman’s bodies. The Divider, sensing the danger, threw up a barrier of his own, while the Huntsman just scoffed and stood to tank the blast, thinking that even with a Titan Blessing, a “puny little birdy” couldn’t possibly phase him…
He changed his mind very quickly when the beam hit him and sent him screaming all the way back to the coast of the island, where he hit the water hard and made a large explosion. He pulled himself out of the water a moment later, his chest and face mildly burned. He was regenerating slowly, and his clothes were repaired with a snap of his fingers, but the look of pain and anger in the Huntsman’s face made it clear he wouldn’t underestimate Luz again.
No longer hesitating, the Divider unleashed three quick slashes against the barrier and caused the crystalline portion of it to be torn open. He then used his wind glyph to deliver a wind-enhanced kick that Willow blocked with a Botanical Bamboo Barrier, though the wind was strong enough to overcome the barrier and uproot it, causing the five Hexsquad members to go flying back. While they were momentarily picking themselves up off the floor, the Divider grabbed the insides of the barrier’s broken section and then yanked on them hard, infusing it with his own Titan Magic until he eventually pulled the whole thing down, shattering the entire town barrier.
In an instant, the sounds of battle filled the island as the Wings of Rani and Titan Trappers descended on the CATTs. The Wings of Rani notably focused on trying to take out the elites they could find, as well as securing the Civilians, while the Titan Trappers were attacking the homunculi and gunning for King.
Seeing this, the Divider roared out; “The Titan is NOT to be harmed! Pacify him, but do not wound him! Any pain you cause him, I will inflict back on all of you 1000 fold!”
That immediately took some of the wind out of the Titan Trappers’ sails, which was not helped by King flying around above their heads with Samael and Emiliel, who were in turn carrying Asher and Simi. The carried children were tossing rocks inscribed with glyphs and glyph combos at the enemy, while Samael was turning dozens of Trappers into puppets to make them his unwilling allies, and Emiliel was using bestial magic with her pet Carbuncle Snowball to create powerful illusions to trick the trappers further. The Trappers screamed at Samael, calling him a trickster and usurper, and a traitor to the true Huntsman, who had strangely not rejoined the battle, instead flying around the ocean and shooting beams of magic into the water.
Luz had no idea what he was planning, but if it kept him out of the fight for a bit, that was fine by her! The Divider then flew at her, aiming to slash her with his sword, which now glowed with iridescent magic. Luz blocked it with a light and crystal construct sword, then yelled “Aqua Ring!” as she shot a ring of water at Rasiel’s face, where it looped around his head and covered his eyes, then began to whirl and bubble to obscure his vision and leave him disoriented. Skara then whistled, performing Sonic Alchemy to turn the water into a simple numbing ointment, which left the Divider’s eyelids drooping as if he hadn’t slept in eons.
“Nice try!” The Divider declared, before snapping his fingers to undo the effects of the ointment and blast the stuff away from his face, “But not good enough!”
He then stomped his left foot and used the earth glyph on it to cause a minor tremor that knocked Skara and Willow off their feet, while Amity and Gus flew up to avoid it, and Luz countered with her own earth glyph quake to cancel it out. Amity then shot light beams at the Divider, who effortlessly parried them with his sword, and Willow tried to bind his legs with iron vines, though he easily cut them away. Gus then flew at him, shooting ice balls at him, but as the Divider began to parry them, he realised some of them were illusions, whilst others were invisible and so hit him head on. They dazed him for a moment, while Gus sent an illusory clone to flank the Divider with an ice spike. The Divider saw the attempted attack and spun around to hit what he thought was the real Gus, only for his sword to pass harmlessly through him. This allowed Gus to stab him in the back of the leg with a spike of ice, as well as stick a very small needle made from one of his fused form scales into his shoulder, as he and Amity had swapped since Amity’s army was already made.
“Ugh! Tricky child! I don’t like being on this side of your illusions!” the Divider cursed, yanking the spike of ice out of his leg. The wound smoked a bit but didn’t heal immediately, since Gus’s ice magic now carried Titan Power. The Divider sighed and then built up magic inside his body, before unleashing it with a roar to send the whole Hexsquad flying back so he could heal himself with a healing spell
Thanks to Gus’s tactile illusions though, the Divider saw the world around him burst into cyan smoke when Gus was knocked flying, making it look like the entire island had been covered in an illusion that mirrored it. The Divider smirked and flew south, thinking he was flying north, and began “fighting” with an illusory Luz and Amity, while believing Gus and the others he’d just blasted were unconscious.
Gus, dropping the illusion on himself and Amity so his fused form could be seen, then rushed over to Luz; “That’ll keep him busy for a while. Should we attack and fight him, or retreat and keep up the evacuation!?”
“Definitely retreat. We don’t have the power to permanently beat him now, and if we show too many of our tricks, he’ll be able to learn to counter them and it’ll make the final battle tougher! Just keep him away from us for now.” Luz answered.
Gus nodded, but also added; “We don’t have long; controlling Zara’s perception was like stirring a glass of water, but controlling the Divider’s is like stirring the sea itself! I have to go with the flow to even get anywhere and he could break free at any moment!”
“Then let’s hurry!” Willow said; “I’ll go check on Hunter and Lyra! Gus, come with me! Skara, you go find Boscha!”
The two teens nodded, but also looked to Luz for approval before acting. Luz gave a thumbs up and said to Amity; “I’m gonna check on Vee and my Mothers! You should check on your dad and Darius, and see if they’ve had any bright ideas for getting us off Digale Island!”
Amity agreed and the group sped off to find their friends and family members, as well as to help fight off the Wings of Rani and Titan Trappers. The addition of the four Titan Blessed and Luz allowed the CATTs to push back the invaders massively, especially since the Huntsman and Divider were preoccupied. Luz rushed to find Vee and Camila, who were sustaining elemental barriers around the civilians as the Anti-Magic Trio were helping defend them.
“Mami!” Luz cried, moving through the shadows to end up inside their barrier; “I don’t suppose you learned to make a Portal Gate at some point and never mentioned it?”
Camila shook her head; “Sorry Mija, but I can only barely make a Teleportation Circle!”
Luz cursed; “Dang it! I wonder if I super charge my lightning glyph, will I be able to flash back to the Ash Moth Desert and fix the circle there?”
“Probably not. I don’t think Hunter could get there in time either, and his flashes are faster than yours.” Vee said. The poor Basilisk was shivering in terror; she was currently in her humanoid form since a couple of the Titan Trappers had made some threatening remarks about taking her pelt if they got the chance! Those Trappers had been beaten unconscious by a very angry Camila, but the words had still shaken Vee!
“Then we’ll just have to hope one of the others- LOOK OUT!” Luz suddenly screamed, seeing a flash of green as something shot towards them like a meteorite, aiming right for the centre of the Teleportation Circle where the children had all been herded to for their protection. Luz blasted it with powerful light beam, hoping to destroy whatever it was, but only managed to knock it away and make it crash into the back of the CATTs HQ. There was a lot of smoke from the impact, but once it faded the true form of the meteorite was revealed; the Huntsman. He must have finished whatever he was doing around the sea!
“Tch, the little Titan Blessed Pigeon actually has a bit of skill.” the Huntsman said mockingly as he healed the scuffs and mild burns he’d suffered from Luz’s blow. “But let me give you some advice, brat; you’re out of your league. Surrender before I have to hurt you; the Divider won’t care so long as its nothing permanent.”
Luz growled; “You psychopath! That attack could have killed people! You were aiming at some innocent kids!”
“Oh quit your whining; I wouldn’t have killed them. Hurt them sure, but not killed them.” the Huntsman said dismissively before summoning a long halberd with a crescent moon shaped blade on one end and a full moon shaped mace on the other. “Now I’m being serious; I don’t hold back on the collateral damage. My first job is done, and with the Divider off in lala land for a while, I can get to work on the second one without a problem! Namely hunting down all of the little kitty cats on my list, including the last Titan!”
He spun his weapon around and drew a spell circle with it since his conventional Sephiroth powers were restricted. The circle transformed into a ring of crescent moons, which then went flying at the civilians, aiming for their extremities as the Huntsman cackled and declared; “Let the Hunt begin!”
Gasping in horror, Luz and her family were quick to act, putting up barriers or using anti-magic to destroy the projectiles. Vee even opened her mouth and devoured the magic from many of them, making them sputter out before they could hit anyone.
“Monster!” Eda snarled, beginning to look more and more feral with every passing moment as she struggled to keep the Owl Beast from attacking recklessly.
The Huntsman didn’t even acknowledge her, instead focusing entirely on Vee, all the while smirking in a very disturbing way.
“My my… I’ve hunted all manner of Basilisks and Angels before, but I’ve never seen your particular breed! You’d make a fine addition to the Archives! A shame the Divider won’t let me kill you.” The Huntsman sighed even as he smirked and balanced his weapon across his shoulders; “But I suppose if you get yourself killed some other way, I can probably take your corpse. I wonder if one of my Trappers will get “overzealous” and gut you? They have been very eager to please since learning I was your enemy, and nothing like my snivelling little mistake of a brother, who’d impersonated me!”
He pointed the halberd at Vee, who shivered back in terror; “I can already see it… the spot in my trophy room where I’ll mount your head!”
That was a step miles too far for Luz and Camila, who both blitzed their way towards the Huntsman at top speed. Camila didn’t stand a chance of course, but she could distract him and wasn’t above using a Titan Trapper as a meat shield to protect herself and keep the Huntsman focused on her for a second. The foul Archivist didn’t hesitate for an instant to use the full moon side of his weapon to smash the hapless Trapper aside, shattering his mask and many of his teeth and ribs, but before he could follow up the attack by hitting Camila, Luz grabbed the staff with vines from her plant glyph, then used Construction Magic to harden her fist and forehead and then smashing both into his face, one after the other. His insane durability meant the two blows only hurt as much as regular blows to a regular person, but that did mean they still hurt and he stumbled backward, landing to try and settle himself. The moment he landed however, Luz managed to yank his weapon out of his hand and sweep the blunt end at his legs, knocking them out from under him and sending him slamming to the floor on his back.
The Huntsman had a look of mild surprise and a bit of intrigue on his face as he looked up at Luz, who now held the sharp end of his weapon to his throat. She could clearly barely lift it and was using Construction and Healing Magic to augment her muscles, which made the Archivist smirk.
“Really? Is that the best you’ve got? We both know this can’t kill me and you wouldn’t have the guts to do it if it did, so stop wasting my time, brat.” the Huntsman said mockingly, before snapping his fingers and making the weapon disappear from Luz’s hands and reappear in his own. Luz gasped in shock and the Huntsman used her moment of surprise to sweep her off her feet with the shaft part of the weapon. He then straddled her and pressed the shaft against her throat to choke her out, hoping to defeat her with minimal damage so as not to invoke the Divider’s wrath more than necessary.
With both Luz and the Huntsman able to increase their physical strength with magic, the two began a fairly even struggle, with Luz trying to push back the spear and reverse their positions. She successfully twisted and thrashed enough to flip them both over, so the Huntsman once again had his back to the ground and Luz was now straddling him, trying to force the shaft of the weapon against his throat instead. He couldn’t snap his fingers since both hands were required to keep the weapon from strangling him, so he instead kicked his legs up and hit Luz in the back of the head. The blow made her see stars for a moment and the Huntsman was able to force her back, once again switching their positions so she was on the ground and he was above her. For a moment, it looked like Luz might actually lose, but Camila used a glyph combo to shoot a light beam at the Huntsman’s back, causing him to yelp in pain at the unexpected blow. Luz was then able to push the staff away from her throat long enough to conjure a fire glyph within her mouth and unleash a dragon-like fire breath attack right into the Huntsman’s face. He screamed, more in surprise than pain, and Luz once again reversed their positions, only this time Raine and Lilith used their Hybrid forms (which weren’t freaking out like Eda’s was) to fly forward and hold his legs so he couldn’t kick Luz again, and Camila pushed all her weight down on the full moon end of the weapon and Eda (still borderline feral) put her weight on the crescent moon end, using the talons on her feet since they were sturdy enough to not instantly be cut.
This left the Huntsman effectively immobilised; his magic was roughly on the same level as Luz’s thanks to the Divider’s restrictive barrier over the planet, so he couldn’t increase his strength beyond hers, and the added weight of two adult women on his staff was more than he could counter. However despite the staff being tight against his throat, the Huntsman wasn’t choking and passing out, and Luz couldn’t figure out why. Did he just not need air, or had he perhaps hardened his airways enough that Luz and the gang couldn’t constrict it? Luz didn’t know, but she did know that they were in a stalemate, as if she, her mothers, or her Tia and Titi moved, the Huntsman would wriggle free somehow, but if they didn’t then it meant five of the CATTs most valuable members (Camila was a terrific healer even if she wasn’t much of a fighter) were essentially out of the fight too!
Vee, still frightened but wanting to help, slowly approached and said; “I’ll eat as much of his magic as I can! It’s gotta be limited inside the barrier!”
“Got it. We’ll hold him still, so chow down Hermana!” Luz grinned.
The Huntsman sneered and thrashed as much as he could to no avail, as Vee (still in her humanoid form) began to inhale and suck thick streams of blue magic out of the Huntsman’s body. The magic didn’t stay blue for long though, as it had barely begun to pour down Vee’s throat before it slowly turned green. At first, no one paid this any mind, but then Vee suddenly began to choke and gag. She stopped eating and her family looked at her with concern as the Huntsman began to smirk. Then, to the horror of her family, Vee’s form shimmered and she turned back into her true Quetzalcoatl Basilisk form and began to choke, then cough violently before vomiting.
Naturally this would have had her family panicking anyway, but seeing that she had mostly vomited blood had all of them screaming in horror. Camila rushed to Vee’s side as the girl fell to the ground and began to shiver violently, blood dribbling down her snout as she retched and whimpered.
“Vee! Oh Titan, what did he do to you!?” Camila cried, cradling her youngest daughter and casting spells to check her over and try to find the problem.
The Huntsman grinned maliciously, and since there was now less weight pushing his weapon into his throat, he was able to push back just enough to speak; “I’ve hunted Basilisks before! I know just how to deal with them! Just like the Avian Beast trapped inside your feathery friend, I am able to convert my own magic into something corrosive and dangerous, though in my case it is Toxic Magic!”
Luz growled; so the Huntsman had turned his own magic into poison!? That was a problem, but thankfully Luz had something to deal with that. Using the plant glyph to conjure a Newtangerine, she tossed it to her Mami and told her to feed it to Vee, along with some painkilling and stomach soothing potions that Luz kept in the pouch of her Combat Potioneer’s belt. Camila immediately administered them and Vee felt a little better before vomiting up all the magic she had consumed, which also meant purging the poison. It was horribly unpleasant, but at least Vee was able to stop shuddering and leaking blood from her snout, giving Camila a chance to cast some healing spells to repair the internal damage the poison had caused.
The Huntsman scoffed and began to thrash hard, but Luz and Eda still held his weapon firmly, while Lilith and Raine held his legs. Growling softly, he then looked at Eda and smirked viciously; “So, how do you like using the power of my little beast curse? I normally stuff monsters like that into scrolls so I can use them to make weak prey more worthy, but I’ve never seen one blend so thoroughly with its host! How did you manage that, I wonder? And how would your little pet like to take part in another of my hunts? I’m sure it’ll be a blast!”
His mocking tone irritated Eda, but the words said about the Owl Beast had the poor creature practically frothing at the mouth, her fight or flight response going crazy and making Eda want to both fly away at top speed and tear the Huntsman’s throat out. Eda tried to soothe the Owl Beast, but her own irritation made this a lost cause, leading to the Owl Beast finally snapping and causing Eda to turn fully into the form of the Owl Beast.
The Owl Beast snarled in rage and tried to tear at the Huntsman’s face with her beak, but her desperation to attack meant she lifted her weight off of the Huntsman’s spear AND knocked Luz off-balance with her wildly flapping wings, allowing the Huntsman to quickly sit up, knocking the off-balance Luz onto his legs, which meant she hit Lilith and Raine and made them both flinch and loosen their grip, allowing the Huntsman to effortlessly take back control of his weapon and spin it around, cutting the Owl Beast’s side with the crescent and at the same time she struck and knocked over Luz, Lilith, and Raine with the full moon end. Now free, he then flew up into the sky with a mocking grin.
“Outsmarting you beasts really is too easy sometimes! A little taunting and you go feral! Though it’s a shame you healed the Basilisk; if she’d killed herself from eating my Toxic Magic, the Divider could hardly blame me! Now I think it’s time we-”
The Huntsman was cut off by a strange buzzing sound, which sounded almost like it was coming from an insect. He looked around in confusion, as did Luz and her family (sans the barely conscious Vee), but it took him a while to catch sight of the source of the sound, as every time he turned to face it, the thing had slipped just out of his line of sight again. With a growl, the Huntsman began speeding up, eventually just spinning himself 360 degrees and finding that the object was gone! Even the sound had cut out.
“What in the void is that infernal-” the Huntsman began, only to be cut off once again by a prickling feeling going up his spine. With instincts honed by the Hunt, the Huntsman suddenly looked up and gaped in shock as what looked like a colossal mechanical Dragonfly was dive-bombing him, it’s wings (which had gone still) being the source of the buzzing sound.
“Eat Titan Bone, you creep!” came the synthesised voice of Matt from the Dragonfly’s speakers, before the Dragonfly’s mouth opened and revealed a strange Gatling Gun-like weapon, which began to glow with carved glyph combos as it started to rapidly spin and fire a barrage of Titan Bone slivers directly at the Huntsman. The Archivist had prepared a barrier the instant he’d heard the word Titan Bone, so he’d been spared most of the attack, but since he’d underestimated the speed of the magic weapon, he’d still been hit by a dozen bone slithers, making his scream in pain as they shredded one of his legs.
“ARGH! DAMN IT!” he screamed, his pant leg in ruins as his left leg (which was a pale blue) spilled dark golden blood like a leaking pipe.
Luz and her family looked on in amazement at the mechanical Dragonfly, which moved to fly between the Huntsman and them in order to keep them safe. The Dragonfly’s head was made in a similar style to the bathysphere that Alador had made to traverse the Wellsprings, only smaller and with the brass fittings shaped to resemble a real dragonfly’s face, the material between the fittings being dark brown instead of purple, and the “eyes” of the Dragonfly being large pieces of curved and orange-tinted glass. The mouth contained the Titan Bone Gatling Gun, but Luz could also see another cannon-like weapon inside it too, ready to take the Gatling Gun’s place if it moved aside. The body resembled two slender airships that had been stripped of their balloons and placed together like two halves of an egg, then roughly shaped with construction magic to more closely resemble a dragonfly’s body, while six large brass insectile legs were grafted to the sides as landing gears. The wings of the dragonfly were purely mechanical and had a solar panel-like design with hexagonal segments instead of square or rectangular ones, making it fit the insect aesthetic even more. Last, the Dragonfly’s tail was a series of interlocking cylindrical cannisters, each of which appeared to be made from an Abomaton, though with brown slime instead of purple. It was essentially a new kind of airship, but with the speed it moved at and the weaponry it possessed, it was more like a fighter jet!
Luz vaguely recognised the design and a few components, while her Mami was basically squealing like a school girl at the sight of it. Luz figured that meant it was from Cosmic Frontier, though she didn’t get a chance to ask Matt before he began yelling at the Huntsman again.
“This is what you get for hurting Vee, and King’s people!” Matt yelled from inside the thing, his voice echoing out through a speaker; “Firing the Twilight Missiles!”
The Gatling Gun slid to the left and allowed a new weapon to appear; a revolver-like barrel loaded with six missiles. The missiles where then fired, and the moment they hit the Huntsman’s barrier, they exploded with a MASSIVE blast of light and darkness magic. The missiles themselves looked like footballs with fins on one end, resembling stereotypical bombs, but on the inside they had a light glyph and a darkness glyph, which were already active and kept separate by a thin barrier enchantment, which would break when the nose of the missile was compressed upon impact, allowing the light and darkness magic to mix and produce a truly monstrous explosion. Since a full six missiles had hit the Huntsman’s shield, the explosion that resulted was huge, enough that it actually cracked the shield and sent it, and the Huntsman, flying into the distance with a scream of shock.
“Amazing! That was amazing!” Camila gushed; “It’s replica of an X-4 Gamma Model D-Fighter! The iconic cosmic dog-fighting ships of the Human Race in Cosmic Frontier!”
“When the heck did Matt and the others find time to make that!?” Raine exclaimed, incredibly shocked.
The Titan Trappers, seeing what the Dragonfly Fighter had just done to their “God”, were furiously throwing weapons and spells at it, but it was protected by a shimmering barrier made from a glyph combo, and Matt laughed confidently as the attacks failed to so much as scratch his shields.
“Ha! You murderous jerks don’t stand a chance against us without your master! You’re all just lucky I’ve got pacifying weapons as well as lethal ones!” he declared, causing the missile pod to move back to the right to reveal the Bone Gun again, which then also went to the right to reveal a more traditional looking cannon created in the same fashion as the Abomaton Arm Cannons. Thanks to the mud/brown abomination construction of it, it was able to extend and move around almost like the cannon was the Dragonfly Fighter’s “Tongue” which allowed Matt to aim it without moving the whole fighter. The cannon then began firing globules of mud at the Titan Trappers, binding them in the thick material and then hardening it so they were trapped.
With the Trappers (ironically) trapped and the Wings of Rani having no clue how to deal with this fast moving, heavily shielded contraption, Matt was able to switch to the next “weapon” by moving the Clay Cannon over to the right and revealing the leftmost weapon in his little conveyor belt of artillery; something that resembled a modified harpoon gun with a spear of Titan Bone loaded into it. Matt flew over the dead centre of the Teleportation Circle and said over the speakers; “Everyone, clear a space of about 3 square feet around the centre of the circle! I’m dropping some defences for you!”
The adult civilians immediately moved out a little so the children in the centre were able to leave Matt the space he needed. The harpoon gun then pointed straight down and fired its Titan Bone Stake into the centre of the Teleportation Circle. The stake was covered in intricate Glyph Combos, and had a tiny abomination sitting on the top which activated the combos upon landing, creating a large barrier that expanded until it was encasing all the civilians. The abomination then removed its hand from the combo and the expansion stopped, after which the barrier became solid and virtually impenetrable.
“One Shield Stake deployed!” Matt declared happily, before flying back over Luz and her family; “Hey Luz! I’ll open the side doors so get yourself, Camila, and Vee on board! Sorry to say that it’s a bad idea to get Lilith, Raine, or the Owl Beast on board though; Anti-Magic will wreck this thing!”
The underside of the Dragonfly Fighter’s body, directly between the six legs/landing gears, suddenly opened up to reveal a hatch leading inside, where Luz and Camila could easily fly in with Vee. They hesitated though due to not wanting to leave the rest of their extended family behind, so Lilith (who’d been tending the whimpering and growling Owl Beast’s side after she’d been cut by the Huntsman) just said to Luz; “You go on ahead. Raine and I will heal Eda and get the Owl Beast calmed down. You need to get Vee to a safe place for more healing!”
“Thank you, Tia Lily! Once Mom is better and the Owl Beast calms down a little, come catch up with us! If we can keep the Huntsman and Divider busy for long enough, we might be able to find a way out of here!” Luz said as her Mami gently picked up Vee and flew into the Dragonfly Fighter. “Titi Raine, you take care of them! They’ll need an awesome bard to keep the Trappers and Angels off of them!”
Raine smirked; “I’ll be sure to do my best. Now get out of here Sparks! And if you go to the hospital to have Hettie check out Vee, then look in on Scooter and Kyrie for me! They retreated back there as soon as the fighting started and the Wings of Rani are actually helping us keep the Titan Trappers away from it!”
That was a mild surprise, but it seemed the Wings of Rani knew how ruthless the Trappers were and clearly didn’t like them, only working with them because of the Divider’s wishes. Luz also noticed there were a lot more Trappers than the ones she’d seen on Titan Trapper Island, and some with distinct tribal war paint and clothing styles that made them visually different from the ones she’d met before… she figured there must be more surviving tribes of the old Titan Trapper Clan scattered around the globe!
Putting that out of her mind, Luz flew up into the torso of the Dragonfly Fighter, which she discovered was split into two halves; the bottom half being a loading area and a place for passengers to sit if needed, and the top half being where the engine was stored. The engine appeared to be a giant heavily warded Abomaton Core that was absorbing magic from six smaller cores around it, though three of these small cores looked fairly normal and three looked pink, being made with Homunculus Magic instead. From what Luz could see, it was some kind of magic equivalent to a nuclear reactor; it took Light Magic from the Homunculus Cores and Darkness Magic from the Abomaton Cores and mixed it together in the heavily warded central core, then harnessed the resulting massive power in a similar way to how nuclear energy plants harvested the energy from nuclear reactions. It was complicated and looked kind of dangerous, but the shielding on the engine looked like it had been designed specifically to prevent even Luz from brute-forcing it, so it was likely as safe as possible.
Tearing her eyes away from it, Luz moved towards the back of the torso/cargo bay and looked through the window of the little door there so she could see the inside of the tail; it seemed to be primarily storage space and the ammo reserves for the weapons, with pipes and glyph combos connecting everything inside. Luz then moved towards the front of the torso where the door to the head was, and opened it up to enter what was clearly the co*ckpit of the Dragonfly Fighter.
The co*ckpit really did look just like the inside of Alador’s old bathysphere, though sized down appropriately. It had only two long bench seats; one on either side of the door, and then the majority of the space was taken up by what appeared to be a wheelless Harley Davidson Motorcycle, replacing the simple bicycle control of the original iteration. The motorcycle, ridden by Matt, was tricked out with long handlebars with massive panels of controls, which reminded Luz of the Duel Runners from that Card Games on Motorcycles anime she’d shown to Matt once. It looked hideously complicated but Matt, to his immense credit, was controlling it like a pro and rapidly flipping switches, turning dials, pulling levers, and occasionally using a little hammer to smack various parts of the controls for some “percussive maintenance”.
“Oh wow, Matt!” Luz gasped, looking around at everything. She then took a proper look at Matt himself and found herself blinking in surprise; “Oh wow, Matt!”
Matt had swapped out the yellowing tunic and grey hoodie that had once been his casual wear (which he’d added a spiked pauldron, a bandana, a ragged cape, and a tool belt too since coming back from the Human Realm), and now wore a sleeveless black top (that had once been a t-shirt until the sleeves were ripped off), a pair of baggy dark grew work trousers, large black boots, and a large Dairy Spider Leather apron and bandolier of tools. He was still shorter than everyone in the Hexsquad, except for Gus and Lyra, but his muscles were some of the biggest when he actually flexed them! As Luz watched him working hard, she saw his lean arm muscles flexing and how strong his jaw looked, and for the first time since meeting him, she couldn’t help but think that he actually looked as handsome as his older brother! He was far from Luz’s type, but she couldn’t deny the boy looked amazing!
Matt, assuming both “Oh wow!”s were about his ship, grinned as he kept his eyes on the sky and gestured for Luz to come over. She did so (after checking Vee was recovering well, which she was), and he said; “Glad you like her! She’s only a prototype that I kinda threw together with some help from Steve, Alador, Darius, and Mason, but she came out way better than I ever expected! Especially since she was still in pieces an hour ago!”
Luz gaped; “You put this thing together in under an hour!?”
“With help.” Matt quickly added, tempering his ego with some humility (he still keenly remembered where his ego had led him before he became friends with the Hexsquad). “The head was formed from a smaller bathysphere concept Alador was working on for travelling between the Wellsprings, since he thought they’d be a good way to infiltrate the Union Pillars. The Twilight Engine and Missiles were something I came up with, using the Twin Reverse Polarity Engine and Missile concept from Cosmic Frontier. We were already working on a new kind of submersible with it fitted, which is what became the main body of the prototype. As for the legs and wings; they were a new design for high speed airships, while the tail was made from Mason’s modular storage design, with each part being made to contain different auxiliary components.”
“B-But those are still a bunch of different systems and parts!? How’d you jam them all together and make them work!?” Luz asked.
Matt grinned as he replied; “I’ve been working on a new kind of magic! Integration Magic!”
“Integration Magic?” Vee asked weakly, laying on her Mama’s lap.
“That’s right! It’s something inspired from everyone in the Hexsquad!” Matt said proudly; “I’ve been trying to find my own kind of Construction Magic, to go along with everyone else’s advanced skills, but when it comes Construction Magic, my best skill is Hardening and Softening Magic. So I decided to use those to my advantage! I was inspired first by Palisman Fusion and Willow’s Grafting Magic; I thought if I softened two things enough that parts could be blended together before hardening them again, I could create a new kind of welding or material fusion. Then I figured out how basic Transmutation Magic works; I suck at it, but I can at least kinda use it to help blend the materials I fuse together so they don’t become unstable. Amity’s light-based abominations also gave me an idea to adapt Skara’s Bardic Magic to use Earth Magic instead of Wind, letting me “hear” a mechanism’s internals via touch, like that Seismic Sense trick!”
Luz, Camila, and Vee all gaped at Matt, completely blown away by what he was describing, and all as he expertly flew the Dragonfly Fighter around Digale Island, using abomination slime blasts to trap large numbers of Titan Trappers (who did, unfortunately, break free pretty fast thanks to their allies or the Wings of Rani). He wanted to go straight to the hospital, but air traffic around Digale Island’s small hospital was full of Angels and their Airships, so he was taking out Titan Trappers to force the Wings of Rani to run and help them, clearing the skies a bit.
“But of course, I can’t just blindly go jamming stuff together! Mechanisms and machinery are finicky, and unlike Willow’s grafted creations, it’s a lot harder to remake stuff I break beyond repair! So the first part of Integration Magic is the Schematic or Blueprint phase! I basically mix Illusion Magic and a tiny bit of Angelic Divination Magic to create 3D blueprints and images which I can experiment on. It shows me if my ideas would work or not by using the Divination Magic to predict failures and mistakes before I make ‘em!” Matt said, reaching into his tool pouch and revealing a small golden gemstone that had a pinkish-purple sheen to it. “Lyra made me this, since I can’t use Divination Magic on my own, not being an Angel and all. And when it comes to efficient designs, the Animal Kingdom itself makes for a pretty good blueprint to follow, so I use some of the stuff I learned from Hunter too!”
Luz’s head was spinning as she held her hand up; “Whoa there Matt! Just… just gimme a second to process all this! Because, I mean… dang!” she struggled to find the words! She was still reeling from her dream world excursion with the Divider, the evacuation-turned-battle, and Vee’s poisoning by the Huntsman (who was struggling to heal the damage to his leg, since it was caused by Titan Bone Shrapnel), so she wasn’t exactly at her peak.
“So let me get this straight; you created Integration Magic to let you seamlessly connect machines, mechanisms, and systems together… and you used pretty much the whole Hexsquad as inspiration!? Gus and Lyra’s powers created the simulation system you made for yourself, then Amity and Skara’s powers inspired a way to examine mechanisms on the inside as you edit them, all while you use a combination of your own Construction Magic and Boscha’s Transmutation Magic to actually blend materials and systems together, with the magic as a whole inspired by Willow’s Grafted Plants and your first creation inspired by Hunter and his Beast-Keeping!?” Luz summarised, it sounding even crazier when shortened liked that.
“Well the real inspiration for my first full creation was Cosmic Frontier, but I didn’t know the full details of how the X-4 Gamma Model D-Fighter actually worked, so I used the Dragonfly base as an inspiration for the internals and Hunter’s Beast-Keeping helped with that.” Matt said casually.
Luz paused for a moment, then just gushed; “Matt, you are freaking amazing! This magic is so cool! You’ve basically like our own magic Tony Stark!”
Matt blushed and grinned; “Ehehe Thanks Luz! The Magic as a whole was inspired by you too, and a little from King and Samael. Obviously King is who taught me the Glyph Combos I inscribed, but teaching Samael alongside the others, as well as showing you our magic over the last year made me realise that unlike the rest of us who grew up with the Covens, your guys have no preconceptions about mixing Magic. I tried to think like you and come up with cool ways I can make combos! Of course I’m not as talented as you so I can’t cast all these magic types as well as other people; I’m not even better than my Bro at Construction Magic! But I’ll take what I CAN do and make the most of it, you know?”
“You really have grown up so much, Matt!” Luz beamed, patting him on the back; “You may not be able to use the majority of our magic, but you’re still incredible! Like a Jack of all Trades! You’ve come a long way from the victim of Glandus, or the wannabe bully of the HAS. I’m so, SO proud of you! Forget what I said before; Tony Stark ain’t got nothing on you!”
Matt chuckled and said; “Well if I don’t figure out the knack for Palisman Fusion any time soon, I could always try and make myself a giant Axolotl Mech! Or maybe an Iron Axolotl Suit! That’d make Pebbles happy!”
Luz giggled, but the mention of Pebbles made her look around for him, only to not see the little guy anywhere! He never left Matt’s side during situations like this! Matt saw her confusion and realised what was on her mind, then pulled up the top panel of his control bike’s gas tank. Peering inside, Luz realised the gas tank had been converted into a soft and plush little hiding spot for Pebbles to relax in, along with a whole bunch of controls and displays of his own. Pebbles squeaked happily and waved his tail at Matt and Luz, but didn’t stop looking at the displays.
“Are those controls real?” Luz asked.
“Yep! Pebbles is my Co-Pilot! Because I threw this thing together in a hurry, I couldn’t streamline the systems as much as I should, so this thing is actually kind of a complicated mess of mechanisms. Too much for me to handle on my own, so I take care of the major piloting and weapons systems while Pebbles keeps an eye on the internals, the shields, and navigation! He talks in my head to give me the info I need! Palisman Co-Pilots are gonna be big once I figure out how to commercialise this thing!” Matt said proudly, scratching Pebbles’ head and making him squeak adorably.
“Man, if you start selling these things, I’ll definitely be one of your first customers! Though I might have to fight Gus, Hunter, Boscha, and my Mami first, since I bet they’ll all want one too!” Luz giggled.
“You know it, Mija!” Camila said unashamedly. “You Papi and Dad would have both screamed like little girls at the sight of a real D-Fighter! Or at least a Matt Version!”
Matt blushed again; “I’ll be sure to reserve one for all of you guys! I’m gonna turn these things into the cars of the Demon Realm! But I’m not ripping off Cosmic Frontier by calling ‘em D-Fighters… these will be the MTH-Series: Dragonfly!”
Stringbean turned herself into a giant Dragonfly (which looked a little like the Pokemon Yanma) and began buzzing around the co*ckpit, making Luz jokingly ask if she could pre-order her own MTH Dragonfly to be customised like Stringbean. Matt laughed and promised to do his best when the time finally came, while Camila asked if she needed to have a Palisman Co-Pilot of her own to be able to use it, making Matt suddenly frown and begin spitballing ideas for how to market this sort of invention to people without Palismen of their own. He had just thought up a kind of Homunculus inscribed with King’s unique glyph and its linking power when everyone’s thoughts were snapped back to Vee, who coughed a little.
It was only a mild cough, but considering how bad her condition had been a short time ago, everyone freaked out.
“Oh man, I wanted to take a few more passes over the town and clear the air a little more, but if Vee can’t hold out then I can probably risk a landing on the hospital roof! Hettie already insisted on a rooftop evacuation landing pad, so Mason built one for her.” Matt said hastily, changing course.
Camila lifted Vee to she was sitting up a little in hopes of it helping her breathing, while Luz was kneeling at her side in an instant, already casting more healing magic; “Cariño, hold on! We’ll get you some help soon! We’re so sorry we got distracted!” Camila cried.
Vee shook her head; “Mama, Luz; I’m okay! That Newtangerine emptied out the Huntsman’s Toxic Magic, and thanks to Luz’s potions and the healing spells you’ve both been casting, I’m honestly fine! The air is just a little stifling in here.”
It was noticeably warm and humid, and had been getting gradually warmer over a few seconds, especially as the Abomaton Cannon kept firing. Matt looked at the temperature gauge on his controls and frowned.
“Dang it. I had to rip out the CO2 scrubbers and oxygen system of the bathysphere to fit the weapons system, so there is no ventilation in here, and no heat sink to keep the weapons from overheating the Dragonfly and cooking us! I’ll need to revise the design before I move on from the Alpha Release. Luz, I’ll bring us in right now, but use some ice magic to cool us down a little!” Matt ordered, wiping sweat from his forehead.
Luz obeyed and made a cooling mist to relax everyone, especially focusing it on the area above the weapons bay. A few seconds later and Matt was hovering over the Digale Town Hospital (which Mason and his Construction Crew had massively expanded until it was one of the tallest buildings in the town, so as to please Hettie), and opening the cargo bay doors. “We have reached our destination! Thanks for flying Air Mantholomule! We accept tips in the form of healthy friends and defeated Sephiroth!”
The three Noceda ladies laughed and headed out, with Vee having to be carried by her Mami since she couldn’t fly with the Newtangerine still impairing her magic. “Thanks Matt! You’re pretty awesome!” Vee said as she left.
“Very awesome! You and I are going to have some talks about making these things for re-enactments and maybe even real space travel!” Camila grinned excitedly.
“And since your tipping standards are so reasonable…” Luz grinned, “…I’ll be sure to make sure we all get out of this alive and undivided!” she then became serious and put a hand on his shoulder; “Seriously though Matt; I’m proud of you. Steve and your folks will be too. You’ve really started to become a man.”
Matt was touched and held out his fist to her; “I’ve had good role models. But listen Luz; this attack is huge and the chances of everyone getting out of this without any divided casualties is pretty much nil. Just remember that no matter how bad things go, we’ll be with you and it isn’t your fault. You got that?”
Luz smiled and nodded, then bumped her fist against his; “Got it. Thanks Matt; now go kick butt!”
With those words said and an exchange of nods and respect, the two parted ways. Luz flew down onto the hospital roof and immediately began making her own version of the Twilight Missiles by encasing Darkness Magic into tiny homunculi and then launching them with light beams. Once the light broke through the slime whilst propelling them, it’d mix with the darkness and create large explosions; the perfect thing for giving Matt some cover fire as he flew away, and to keep the Angels from trying to seize the hospital. They may be willing to help keep the Trappers away, but that didn’t stop them trying to more gently capture the hospital themselves.
Once the sky was clear enough, several of Mason’s Construction Coven members stepped up and told Luz to head down into the hotel, as they could set up catapults and other weapons now that they had more time free from assault. Luz nodded but suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion hit her, as she looked down and saw that besides the ice glyph, her wind glyph was now active too, showing that Skara had used her fusion with Melody. The tired Seraphim looked out across Digale Town and saw why immediately; the Huntsman had healed himself but had then been kept away from Matt’s Dragonfly by King, Samael, and Emiliel, who were of course still carrying Simi and Asher. This meant the Huntsman was now frantically chasing his younger brother and the last Titan, which also endangered their friends, causing Skara to see her little brother in danger and go on the war path, switching into her fused form to help the kids defend themselves. Matt and his Dragonfly were also focusing on that now, creating a complicated aerial dogfight that frankly confused Luz, especially in her now exhausted state.
She lightly slapped her cheeks and muttered; “Mind over matter, Luz! Just mind over matter!” before hurrying inside as quickly as possible. The upper floors of the hospital were still new and a little bare bones, but Hettie and her Healers had begun getting it upgraded with the finest equipment from both the Human and Divine Realms, and anything that wasn’t washed up or salvaged from the Wings of Rani was instead remade in a Demon Realm fashion by Alador’s research team. Thankfully there were no patients on these floors, so Luz was able to rush down to the ground floor at incredible speed, where she found Mason and a gang of eight burly Dwarves (a race born as the hybrid of a Witch and an Earth Gnome) guarding the reception, alongside Salty and his crew.
“Lass, me thinks there be too many foes! We need to haul anchor and away as soon as possible!” Salty yelled.
“I’d love to, but we still have no ways off the island!” Luz frowned.
Mason nodded grimly; “Knew I should o’ made more submersibles! If we’d had enough, we all could o’ just sailed on by ‘neath the Divider’s nose!”
“We weren’t expecting our defences to fall this quick or an attack to come this soon.” Luz sighed; “It can’t be helped. Did you see my Mami and Vee come through here?”
“Aye, they be with the Lady Cutburn over yonder, in the main ward. Lots o’ refugees be hiding there. Poor terrified mites.” Salty said; “Go Lass; we’ll hold the door good and long!”
Luz nodded, then gave Mason and Salty quick Angelic Blessings; they were only small ones, but it helped give them an extra little shot in the arm. She then hurried through to the first floor’s main ward and found Hettie and her healers running about frantically, now being assisted by Camila. The room was full of civilians who’d fled the CATTs HQ (since they’d assumed it’d be the focus of the attack), as well as a few CATTs who’d been injured in the fighting. Thankfully injuries were mild and easily healed, but they were being brought in and sent out again at high speeds thanks to Lyra and Shade. The real Lyra was in the back of the ward alongside Boscha and Vee, ejecting the injured from the shadows and sending the healthy back out, while Shade (using The Fool Arcana to mimic Lyra’s form) was currently out in the town finding and evacuating the injured into the shadows while releasing healed fighters into the most ideal spots.
“Luz!” Hettie called when she saw the girl entering; “Normally I’d welcome another healer in this situation, but we can’t afford for you to be stuck in here with us! We need you outside and fighting, or finding us a way off Digale Island!”
“I know, I’m trying! But like it or not, I am low on options! Though come to think of it… I’ll talk to Lyra! Maybe we can work something out with the shadow world?” Luz said, trying to keep her anxiety under control.
“Got it. She’s back there with Boscha. Speaking of, ask if she’s got the next batch of Blood Replenishing Potions ready.” Hettie said, not looking away from the patient she was working on.
Luz hurried to the back of the ward, stopping very briefly to check on Scooter Crane, who was lucid and remaining calm in a private room just off the main ward. He was being tended to by Kyrie as per usual and his room was guarded by Severin. Luz was tempted to tell him what was happening outside with Skara, but chose not to; it would only panic him and there was nothing he could do in this situation anyway. Instead, Luz just made sure the three were okay, then rushed to the back to see Lyra, Boscha, and Vee.
Boscha was toiling away over a whole kitchen’s worth of pots and pans, as well as cauldrons; she’d emptied out the hospital kitchens to have enough vessels for all her potions, and she was dashing about like a mad woman trying to get everything in order, with her abomination creations stirring pots and preparing ingredients to help her out. Even Vee was helping; Boscha had given her a few ingredients that needed slow and delicate preparation so that Vee could help whilst sipping a herbal tea that Hettie had concocted, which was basically an accelerant for her digestive system to help deal with the effects of the Newtangerine faster.
“Boscha, Hettie wants to know about your progress on the Blood Replensihing Potions.” Luz asked after once again making sure her little sis was okay.
The three-eyed girl didn’t even look up and just said; “They’re almost ready. I want to get out there and into the action, so I timed everything so all the potions will be done at once. If we manage to burn through them all without escaping or being defeated, then we’ll have bigger things to worry about. Though if you want to put a drop of that shiny gold Seraphim Blood into each of these cauldrons, I wouldn’t say no!”
Luz didn’t like that idea, but Angel Blood did boost magic by a hefty amount, especially at higher levels like the Arch-Angels and Seraphim, so she decided to just prick her finger and drip some blood into each cauldron. Once that was done, Boscha shooed her off to Lyra so Luz could go over her evacuation plan with her and Boscha could make sure the Angel blood didn’t cause unwanted reactions.
“Lyra! I’ve got a potentially great idea to get us all out of this!” Luz said with a nervous smile.
“If you’re telling me, I guess it involves the shadow world? I’m okay with helping, but I’m running on fumes! I’ve already used a Power Glyph to keep myself going and even with every Power Glyph Mason and the others have made, I wouldn’t be able to transport everyone through the shadow world back to the Boiling Isles! It’s just too far! Even the Simmering Shoals are too far!” Lyra said, sweating a little from exertion.
“That’s not a problem. I was thinking that you and Amber, with help from me and Samael, could just send everyone into my shadow, then I can flee back to the Boiling Isles on my own! I can use flash spells and even cooling spells to help me move underwater to evade the enemy!” Luz countered.
Lyra thought about it, then nodded; “That could work, but if you got caught or ambushed before getting to the isles, then you’d be in big trouble. We wouldn’t be able to leave the shadows to help you, especially if you’re over or under the Boiling Sea.”
Boscha piped up; “I’ve got a ton of Heat Resistant Potions that can help you swim in the sea if you need ‘em.” She began putting the finishing touches on some potions, then showed Luz a bottle she pulled from her belt; “This thing is good for even the hottest parts of the sea… except the deep sea, where the volcanic vents and stuff are. It’s heat resistance not heatproof after all.”
“That’s good for a back-up plan. I’m gonna go find Amber and see if I can smack the Huntsman hard enough to keep him away from Samael for a bit while I tell them the idea, you guys get ready to-” Luz began, only to suddenly shudder as she looked down and saw the ice glyph disappear from her hand. For a second she’d feared she’d lost it, but as Luz’s fatigue faded quickly due to not maintaining multiple fusions any more, she cast some ice magic to confirm she still had the magic. Gus must have left his fused form.
“Oh no, Gus!” Lyra gasped, preparing to run off. She was stopped by Boscha, who shook her head.
“Let me and Luz go check it out! I’m done here anyway and you’re needed for the emergency evacuations! Vee, the only potions left are the ones in the ceramic dish-ware; when you’re done shredding that stuff, sprinkle a fistful into each pot and wait for ten seconds. If they turn a more vibrant shade of the same colour, then they’re good and you can let Hettie take them. The rest are done and ready to use whenever.”
Vee nodded obediently and Hettie, again without looking up, wished Luz and Boscha luck as they made a run for the outside. Camila decided to go with them too, hoping to serve as a field medic to lessen the load on the hospital. While none of the injuries they’d dealt with where too serious, they were still the kind that slowly drained their supplies with each one! Naturally Luz and Boscha weren’t going to complain or refuse her help, so they all left the hospital together, though Luz was starting to feel like she was running around like a chicken with its head cut off.
As soon as they got outside, Luz used King’s glyph to form a mental link with him; “King! Little brother, have you seen Gus!? He’s suddenly left his fused form and I want to know if he’s safe!”
“Well he IS safe… just kinda taking a nap right now.” King thought back as he sat on top of the co*ckpit of Matt’s Dragonfly; “He came to help Skara and us against that freak Huntsman. But he kinda took a blow to the head. He’s not in danger or nothing! We’ve got him safe and sound in Matt’s cool new toy! But yeah, he’s out cold for a bit.”
Luz grimaced; every time it looked like the pendulum was swinging in their direction, it would suddenly swing back again and they’d be on the back foot once again! The CATTs had never been on the receiving end of an attack before, and all their defences and strategies were proving a lot less effective in practice than they had sounded in theory! Even one of their best defences, the remoteness of Digale Island, was now playing against them! It really proved to Luz that whoever took the initiative to attack first was usually the ones to come away victorious!
Shaking off her doubts, Luz spoke via the link; “With Gus out, then the Divider is gonna be back in action, but I don’t see him anywhere. Keep your eyes open! Me, you, and the four with Fusions are gonna be his number one targets! I’m gonna try to find Amber, so I need you to stick close to Samael!”
“Got is Sis! Oh yeah, is Vee okay? This green jerk has been taunting us by saying he did something really bad to her.”
“She’s fine. He cut Mom and tricked Vee into eating Toxic Magic, but they’re both okay now. Keep your cool, little brother!” she replied.
King sent back one final acknowledgement then cut the connection from his side so he could better concentrate, while Luz, Boscha, and Camila flew down to the ground and began battling the Titan Trappers who were overwhelming small numbers of CATTs. Camila would then heal them while Luz gently asked if they knew where Amber was. She was met with negative responses from the first three groups, but before the fourth group could answer her question, something very unexpected happened.
Four gigantic crystal pillars suddenly grew out of the ocean in the four cardinal directions around Digale Island. Their growth caused a rumbling that knocked everyone on the ground off-balance, and caused a lull in the fighting, especially as beams of magic then shot from each of the four pillars, connecting each one to the other three. The centre point between the four crystals, which landed directly above Digale Town, then formed a large crystal orb that floated ominously in the sky. It was about the size of a ping pong ball when compared to the arm of Cassiopeia, though this naturally made it almost large enough to completely crush Digale Town if it fell. Luz feared that was what the intention was (the Huntsman was one sick guy after all, and the crystals appeared to be the result of what he was doing out at sea towards the beginning of the attack), so she went to destroy it before it could fall. However as she flew close, a portal suddenly tore itself open in front of her and the Divider burst out, grabbing her by the neck.
“Uh uh uh! No interfering now, my Luz.” the Divider said with a grin; “Gus’s little illusion trick truly was very smart, but I’m afraid there is no escape for you. Don’t worry though; if going to the Boiling Isles is what you want, you’re about to be granted your wish!”
Luz looked confused for a moment, then her eyes widened in shock as the Divider began to sing a short melody. His voice really was wonderful, and it echoed unnaturally across the entire island, resonating with the crystal orb AND the pillars. They began to glow and Luz gasped, suddenly realising that this was some kind of giant modified Teleportation Circle. The crystal pillars began to shine even brighter and the circle that the Huntsman had drawn under the sea around Digale Island began to light up too, creating a wall of light that forced most of the people within it to shield their eyes. Then the central crystal ball flashed with all the intensity of the sun, forcing the others to actually close their eyes. Luz, who was right beneath the crystal ball, actually had to cover her eyes with her hands, since the light was so bright that it went through her eyelids! Everyone on the island was suddenly hit by a wave of vertigo, and then the light suddenly went out, disappearing so fast that the people on both sides had to pause their battle to adjust their eyes to the sudden change. Even the Huntsman was left blinking and muttering curses, while the Divider just snapped his fingers to refresh his own eyes so he could see.
Looking around and grinning at the success of his plan, he then drew a spell circle to use normal Angel Magic on Luz’s eyes, allowing her to see properly too, whereupon she looked up and turned ghostly white at the sight that greeted her to the east… the Boiling Isles.
“Oh my Titan…! You teleported all of Digale Island straight to the sea beside the Boiling Isles!?” Luz exclaimed, almost unable to comprehend it. They were pretty far from the Isles still, but Luz could tell at a glance that if Cassiopeia’s body was complete, then she and Orion’s would be side by side, almost like a couple sharing a bed as they slept.
“I did indeed; it was necessary for Project Paradise.” the Divider said; “I meant to tell you this last night in the dream world, but never got around to it; you see my power is Division, and while I can normally undo my own spells, the Demon and Divine Realms have changed enough that undoing it now requires either an act of unification or Titan power that surpasses my own Titan power. This is why I need the linked power of Orion and Cassiopeia, who possess eight distinct glyphs between them while I only possess six, with no complete sets among them.”
Luz frowned; losing Rani’s light glyph meant he didn’t have all of her glyphs any more, so no Titan had blessed him with all four of their glyphs. Neither Orion nor Cassiopeia had mentioned it, but gaining all four glyphs from one of them had left Luz feeling a lot stronger than expected; getting all of Orion’s had bumped her up to Arch-Angel, and all four of Cassiopeia’s had sent her to Seraphim Level… Luz suspected there was some kind of synergy boost from having all four.
“So I spent a great deal of time, before my trip to deal with the Celestial’s brats, just searching for the missing pieces of Cassiopeia’s body and devising a way to move them on my own… the day I taught you the Teleportation Circle and the pride I felt in your success was what gave me the final inspiration I needed! Of course I had to go deal with those misbegotten spawn before I could implement it, but it worked out in the end; now they’re making themselves useful by helping me.” the Divider grinned, then pointed to the Isles; “See? The Scribe has already helped move Orion’s Arms into position.”
Luz gasped and squinted to try and get a better look at the Boiling Isles, but the Divider conjured a mirror for her to see the changes instead, and sure enough Orion’s body was no longer spread eagle, but had both arms slowly bent southward so they were closer to the torso. That meant the palms were now closer to the thighs and Bonesborough was now closer to the western range of the Snowy Rib Cage. Latissa in the right armpit had also found itself magically remodelled by Azazel the Scribe so it fit the now much narrower opening into the sea. Luz initially wondered how she’d done so, but Samael had described Azazel as being capable of all kinds of different magics, so Luz suspected that she’d simply manipulated the earth and sea itself beneath Orion’s arms to gently move them southward.
Only one question kept echoing in Luz’s mind though…
“Why!?” she exclaimed; “Why do this!? You changed the shape of the isles and moved Digale Island all the way here for your big plan, but why!?”
“Can you really not figure it out?” the Divider asked. “Come on Luz, you’re a smart girl. Think about it!”
Luz glowered, the Divider’s hand still around her throat. Since she could fly and his grip wasn’t crushing, she wasn’t being choked but it was still not pleasant. Thinking for a minute as she prepared an escape attempt, Luz eventually came to a conclusion.
“I guess that if Cassiopeia is all split up, it’s more of a pain for you to build pillars at all the Wellsprings AND keep them secure and manned.” Luz ground out through gritted teeth.
The Divider tilted his head, but then nodded; “You’re not wrong, but that isn’t the answer I was looking for. Honestly, the answer is more… sentimental. Cassiopeia and Orion were mates and deserve to have their final resting places be beside each other. Did you know that the Boiling Isles is rare for being a full sized adult Titan that is on his own? Titans tended to go to their mates’ resting places when they died, or their other family if their mate still lived.”
Luz sneered; “Nice of you to want to reunite their corpses while actively working with the beings who caused their deaths, and their minions who helped commit genocide against their entire race.” she said sarcastically.
The Divider’s face flashed with anger, then with deep shame as Luz felt his grip weaken a little. Taking that chance, she kicked at him by hardening her left leg, turning it to stone while propelling the kick with a fire glyph from the back of her heel. She was aiming for his crotch, but he tossed her away just in time that her foot narrowly missed their intended target… only to hit the man’s chin instead. The Divider saw stars as he was knocked head over heels, and Luz used this chance to blast him with Light and Darkness Magic, creating a twilight blast that rocketed the Divider out to sea and caused Luz to go smashing into the ground down below. Thankfully one of Amity’s homunculi soldiers broke her fall, but her joy was short-lived when a huge barrier appeared over the island, using the same barrier glyph combo that King had developed, only with the Divider’s glyphs taking their place. It seemed the Divider wasn’t keen on letting them leave now that they were closer to the Boiling Isles.
As if that wasn’t enough, two other huge pillars of light suddenly appeared in the distance between Digale Island and the Boiling Isles; one directly east between the palm of Digale and the palm of the Ash Moth Desert, and one further to the north-east, just west of the Boiling Isles’ skull. These pillars faded to reveal Titan Trapper Island (minus its destroyed fingers) appearing beside the Ash Moth Desert, and the Skull of Cassiopeia that Luz had gotten the Titan Oculus from appearing beside Orion’s own skull.
“This is insane…!” Luz exclaimed, before shaking off her surprise and going back to her prior plan to find Amber. However as she began thinking about it, Luz had a terrible realisation; would going through the shadows even work any more!? The Divider knew of that tactic and had been the one to make the barrier, and it was possible to prevent people escaping via the shadow world, such as the ritual chambers of the Elemental Temples. She decided to try it out; there was no point wasting time on a plan that wouldn’t work anyway, so Luz dove down into the shadows and tried to move to the now much closer Boiling Isles… only to find that she couldn’t go beyond the shadows of Digale.
“Damn it!” she cursed as she pulled herself out of the shadows again; “Now we need another plan, and fast! Before the other Archivists come and attack us!”
Luz turned and flew towards where her Mami and Boscha were knocking out a very tall Titan Trapper. She quickly told them the situation and Boscha cursed.
“If this keeps up, we’re screwed!” the three-eyed girl growled; “What do we do!?”
“We’re too close to the isles now! There’s no way we’d be able to lose the Divider even if the barrier wasn’t stopping us from getting there. Our best bet would be to call for help from the Seraphim Council; Camael at least might be willing to send a team to help us! Otherwise all we can do is try and make a break for the Portal Gate!” Camila frowned.
“Wait, Portal! Luz, we’ve got King and Samael! Can’t we just make a new portal? We can escape to the Human or Divine Realms for a bit and regroup!” Boscha suggested.
Luz shook her head; “It’s not that easy! Remember how tough it was to make my portal door? Even that botch job one that Matt made one day would take too long and would be too unstable!”
The reminder of Luz’s Portal Door made Boscha’s eyes widen; “W-Wait, whatever happened to your door!?”
“I’m pretty sure Samael said that Mom’s got blown up, so mine probably was too.” Luz answered, suddenly shooting a lightning bolt at a pair of Arch-Angels readying spells.
“How sure!? Did you ever test it and find out!?” the red-head asked frantically.
Luz froze; she hadn’t! She’d never thought to; they hadn’t needed her Portal Door and she’d just assumed it was destroyed anyway, since the key hadn’t been able to summon it while they were trapped in the Human Realm, so she hadn’t bothered. Luckily she did still carry the key in her hair as a memento, so she pulled it out from her ponytail. The white and gold key, similar in design to Eda’s old one (which had been made by Belos, now that Luz thought about it) sat in Luz’s hand for half a second as she hesitated, but then Luz pressed the eye on the key’s handle and waited with bated breath… for only another half a second, before a white and gold briefcase suddenly appeared in front of her and then unfolded to reveal Luz’s Portal Door.
“I-It’s here! It wasn’t destroyed!” Luz cried with joy as Boscha and Camila both cheered. “I thought for sure that the Divider would have destroyed it! This is our ticket out of this!”
The portal was still technically unfinished, not having a proper link to any set location, so it would only spit them out into the In-Between Realm, but from there they could find Orion and Cassiopeia’s souls, who could guide them to the Portal Hub that connected the Bonesborough Portal Gate with Gran Seraphia, Bonesborough, and Neo Haven, so the CATTs would have several options for an escape.
“Boscha, I could almost kiss you!” Luz grinned at her three-eyed friend; “But I’ll save us both the awkwardness and the wrath of our girlfriends and just say good job!”
“Good call.” Boscha smirked; “Now we just need to get everyone together to use it!”
Luz nodded; “Right. I’ll let King know the plan, then we’ll split up and get everyone on the island to either the HQ or the Hospital. Then I can get everyone through the portal in two short trips. I’ll then need to find a place to hide the portal before I go in myself; I’d rather it not be left behind and destroyed!”
“Got it. Boscha and I will go together; it’ll be safer for us that way.” Camila said; “Be safe Mija! We’ll meet at the hospital!”
Luz nodded; “Meet you there! Stay safe Mami! Boscha, make sure nothing happens to her!”
The three-eyed girl waved her off with a snort, before rushing off with Camila, leaving Luz to mentally contact King and tell him the plan. Boscha found it pretty easy to run through the streets of Digale Town with Camila, using her Abominations and Abomi-Potions to drive off the enemy. The CATTs were still technically “winning” the battle since their forces were in better shape, but it was clear that this was only because the Divider was distracted again and the Huntsman was still chasing around Samael… and ONLY Samael. King, the other children, and all the others in that dogfight had vanished, making Boscha suspect Samael was keeping his brother at bay while the rest fled through the portal. However the instant the two Sephiroth got back into the fight proper, the CATTs would be crushed… especially if the other three get involved too. That was likely why there was no real urgency for the Divider, and why he was taking such a lackadaisical approach to this attack.
He saw no way for them to win… Boscha couldn’t wait to prove him wrong!
At Camila’s suggestion, Boscha began yelling a lie as she ran around the town; “ALL CATTS RETREAT TO THE HOSPITAL! THE BATTLE IS HOPELESS! GET TO THE HOSPITAL WHILE LUZ NEGOTIATES! THE DIVIDER WILL NOT DIVIDE YOU! HE HAS SWORN IT!”
Now this was a very blatant lie, but Camila flew above her and yelled; “BOSCHA IS TELLING THE TRUTH!” which was of course another lie and burned Camila’s throat, but it was milder than if she’d yelled the entire lie on her own and was enough to convince the enemy too. This meant the Wings of Rani actively allowed and even helped the CATTs get to the hospital, while the Titan Trappers hesitated and ultimately relented, especially since the Huntsman was convinced too, and the Divider was not around to correct the ladies. The Huntsman did however take this chance to fly off and confirm though, abandoning his chase of Samael… that meant their time was now very limited!
Getting to the hospital doors, Boscha and Camila threw them open and stood outside, ferrying their people inside as quickly as possible. Most of the Elites of the CATTs were already gone, leaving only Matt, Lyra, Vee, Hettie, and Mason left at the Hospital. The Dragonfly was nowhere to be seen despite Matt’s presence though, so Boscha thought he’d either hidden it or crashed and destroyed it to keep the enemy from getting their paws on it. As the crowd rushing in began to dwindle in number, Boscha used her Tincture of True Sight on her third eye to let her see all magical creatures in Digale Town, even if they were hidden behind walls and such. Ignoring the winged ones as Angels, and the potent reaction of the Titan Bone helmets worn by the Trappers, Boscha could see only a few stragglers who weren’t moving and yelled to Lyra, who sent Shade after them. Boscha watched each one disappear from her vision, until only Titan Trappers and Angels remained in Digale Town.
One of the people taken by Shade through the shadows was Stringbean, who’d been stealthily taking the portal key to the hospital while Luz herself hid inside the In-Between Realm, so no Angels would realise Boscha and her Mami’s lie about her trying to negotiate with the Divider until it was too late. Stringbean popped out of the shadows thanks to Shade, then used her tail to press the eye of the key in her mouth to summon Luz’s portal door right on the ward, allowing the people there to begin evacuating. Little by little, more and more people began to pour through the portal and into the In-Between, and while it was a slow process, eventually just about everyone had gone through, leaving only Boscha and Camila still in the hospital, as they’d continued to cover the others escape.
Unfortunately, that was when their luck ran out.
Boscha and Camila both gasped as they heard the Divider’s voice outside along with the voices of the Huntsman and others Archivists.
“I told you, I don’t know what happened! That kid started screaming that your little friend was coming to negotiate with you, so they should all go to the hospital to hide!” the Huntsman yelled.
“Then why is it that we sense no people here!? The HQ fortress is abandoned too and I don’t sense Samael OR the Titan any more.” the Keeper yelled right back, unamused with her little brother.
“I’ve got no doubts we’ll soon learn the answer. They likely used the shadows to go down into the tunnel network beneath the island. The entrance was caved in for some reason; like to disguise their escape.” The Divider said dismissively, obviously not knowing about the true cause of the collapsed tunnels. He also hadn’t even considered the portal door as an option, likely overlooking it just as Luz had. But if Boscha and Camila fled through the portal now, he’d find it and immediately open it to go after them, or at least know how they escaped and follow through a portal of his own! The only way the CATTs were getting out of this was if the portal door was hidden!
The two ladies looked one another in the eye, both coming to the same conclusion. Luz had been planning on hiding the portal or making a run for it with it, but with the Divider, the Archivists, and their armies mere seconds away from finding them, she would be captured easily and that would doom the CATTs and the fight against the Divider! But whoever stayed instead would be caught.
“I’ll stay.” they both said at the same time.
“No, you need to go.” Camila then said; “You’re still young and a fighter AND skilled potioneer! The CATTs need you more than a single Angel right now.”
Boscha shook her head; “No! Are you kidding!? Luz and Vee both need you! Luz will fall apart if she loses you! But me…?” she shook her head; “I’m dead-weight at this point.”
“No you are not!” Camila scowled; “Don’t ever say that again!”
“It’s true though!” Boscha cried, looking genuinely hurt; “All the others have outpaced me! Amity has her homunculi, Gus has his tactile illusions, Willow has her grafted plants, Skara can make human songs into super Bardic Spells, Matt can make awesome machines and weapons, Hunter is basically a one man menagerie, and Lyra has her Divine Tarot! They’re all incredible and what can I do? Mix some potions into abominations that barely work… face it Camila, I’ve got nothing. The others are better Witches, and with Eda and Lilith, we don’t even need me for potions, and it’s not like I even have family with the CATTs who can be worried about me…”
Camila shook her head; “None of that is true! Your parents may not be with us, but you still have family! Us! And you know Skara will be broken hearted if you stay behind!”
“I’ve made up my mind, Camila. Anyway you slice it, losing you will be worse than losing me.” Boscha said, a firm finality in her voice. “I’m staying behind. At least I won’t be a huge threat if divided, and heck, maybe I’ll get sent to where my parents are? That’ll be something at least…”
Camila opened her mouth to argue, but then heard the hospital front doors being forced open by the Divider and his new minions, signalling that time was almost up. They’d find the main ward very quickly, so there was no more time to argue.
“Fine, Boscha. There’s no point in trying to convince you, so we’ll do this your way.” Camila said without even the barest hint of dishonesty.
Boscha smiled; “Thanks, Camila. At least this way I can be useful for once…”
At that moment, Luz poked her head out of the still open portal door and frowned; “Mami, Boscha; what’s taking so long? I need to prepare to hide the por-”
Before Luz could finish her sentence, Camila grabbed the back of Boscha’s shirt and hoisted her into the air with the kind of strength a Mama Bear could always rely on when protecting her kids; even those not technically her own. She then tossed the shocked three-eyed girl directly at Luz, causing her daughter to yelp in surprise as she tried to catch Boscha and ended up flailing back through the portal. Luz and Boscha ended up on the floor of the In-Between Realm, shocked and a little wet from the strange water that coated the ground, but when they and the others with them looked up and saw the doorway into the Demon Realm, they saw Camila smile and say; “Get to safety. Leave this to Mami!” before she slammed the door shut, trapping them all in the In-Between Realm.
“No! Mami!” Luz cried, trying to use her key to open the portal again. Sadly the key didn’t work if the portal and key weren’t in the same realm, so nothing she did got the door open.
King, who was stood with the others nearby, quickly grabbed a Portal Seed and yelled; “Show us Tia Cammie! Camila Noceda or Cassiel or whatever you think her name is!”
The seed shimmered and showed Camila now alone in the empty hospital ward with the closed Portal Door. She tried to get it to fold up but didn’t know how, and could hear the footsteps of the Sephiroth getting closer, so she instead cast an illusion on the door to make it look like a hospital privacy screen and moved it so it was propped up against a wall in a fairly empty corner of the ward. She then began knocking over the cauldrons, pots, and pans that Boscha had been brewing in earlier, leaving dregs of their potions on the floor, which she then mixed up. The CATTs watched from the In-Between Realm with confusion, then Camila shot the biggest light blast she was capable of right up into the ceiling, burning a hole all the way to the sky above.
A second later, the Divider and the Archivists marched into the room, all of them on guard and looking for the source of the blast they’d just heard. All they found was Camila, now on guard, stood amidst a mess with a hole in the roof.
“Lady Cassiel.” the Divider greeted with a pleasant smile; “It appears you’re on your own. How did that come to pass?”
“The others left, clearly. They are no longer on Digale Island.” Camila replied, still on guard; “And I’d really prefer Camila.”
“Oh? Then Camila it shall be.” The Divider continued to smile; “Now care to tell me how they got off the island? I must admit to finding it mildly vexing that every single CATT besides you was able to escape.”
Camila just pointed at the potion stained floor, then the hole in the ceiling before saying; “You’re not the only one who can pull off fancy teleportation tricks.”
The CATTs watching from the In-Between all exchanged surprised looks; so that was Camila’s plan! To frame their escape as some kind of potion based teleportation circle!
The Archivists, especially the Keeper and Azazel the Scribe began to examine the spilled potions for a clue as to what they were and where they’d sent the CATTs, while the Huntsman pointed his spear at her; “Where did they go!?”
“I don’t know. All I did was activate the potions then knock them over and used the Sonic Alchemy Trick to change them so you couldn’t figure out how they worked.” Camila replied, undaunted.
The Huntsman growled and prepared to threaten her further, but the Divider drew his sword and batted the Huntsman’s spear aside, then sent him a withering glare that had the youngest remaining Archivist cringing back in fear and anger. He then smiled again to put Camila at ease, though noticeably kept his sword in his hand.
“Why would Luz ever leave you behind? I find that very hard to believe.” the Divider said.
“I gave her no choice. Myself, Boscha, and Luz were the last ones left to enter the circle. Luz and Boscha argued over who should sacrifice themselves, and I used the distraction to toss them both in and get them out of there.” Camila said, expertly mixing truth and lies to limit how much pain she suffered. Her experience and endurance when it came to lying for the sake of protecting her loved ones was legendary, so even as the lies burned her throat, she didn’t so much as flinch. Both Luz and Boscha, watching from the In-Between Realm, observed her face and saw nary a twitch… their respect for her grew, and Luz was reminded of how much her Mami had lied to try and protect her. Of course that hadn’t been wise in hindsight, but she’d meant well.
The Divider hummed, believing Camila; “I see. I assume Boscha devised the potions?”
“Who else could?” Camila smiled, making Boscha gasp softly even as she felt awful on the inside for letting Camila take her place like this.
The Divider chuckled; “Fair point! The Wings of Luz are strong! Now, since you have no idea where they are and sacrificed yourself to let them escape and cover their tracks, I am left in a predicament… and I also must decide what to do with you.”
He raised his sword a little so the tip was very gently pressed against Camila’s sternum, thanks to his greater height.
“Just divide her and be done with it. We all know that’s how it’ll ultimately end anyway.” The Huntsman said impatiently.
Luz and the CATTs felt their hearts speed up, terrified they were about to see Camila divided. Fighting her would be easier than fighting Eda or Raine, but it would still be painful and everyone knew it would break Luz’s and Vee’s hearts.
Thankfully, the Divider seemed disinclined and conflicted, and Azazel softly suggested; “Maybe spare her and just keep her as a prisoner of war? If we show mercy and treat her well, it’ll show that little Seraphim, Luz, that we aren’t the bad guys she thinks we are. This woman is also the last Titan’s “Tia” based on what you told us before; sparing her would be a good olive branch.”
The Keeper seemed intrigued by the idea, while the Huntsman scoffed and sneered. The Watcher just blandly said; “I don’t think that child will accept peace over a single act of mercy. Though it IS better than the alternative. If our word means anything to you, Lord Divider, I also think we should spare her. Return her to Rani’s Eden or find some other secure but comfortable place for her instead.”
The Divider grinned; “Oh, I have an idea for that already. But yes, mercy will be the wise move. Besides, I have no desire to hurt the mother of my dearest little friend. In fact, I have something very special planned for you, Camila. A reunion with some old friends…”
Camila gasped; “Eber…!?”
The Mentally Broken Sephiroth just smiled a little wider, then cast a sleeping spell on Camila to knock her out. He caught her and gently handed her over to the Scribe, who held her gently and made sure she was okay, making the secretly watching Luz, King, Vee, and Samael all feel a little better about the middle child of the Celestial. They then watched a little longer as the Divider examined the spilled potions, but since Camila had been lying, they obviously yielded no secrets and so he got bored and left. The Portal Seed remained focused on Camila, so the watching CATTs only heard a little of his final orders.
“Watcher, find the rest of Cassiopeia. I have a complete map of the Demon Realm but there are uncharted waters; focus your sight there and if there are blind spots you cannot see through then we’ll likely find a part of her body there. Huntsman, take your Trappers and begin working with the Construction Coven to find and uncover the Primordial Wellsprings on the three islands we assembled today, then start construction of the new Union Pillars. Keeper, begin looking for the CATTs; they can’t have gone far. Scribe, take Camila back to Rani’s Eden for now; I have a plan for her. I will be paying a visit to the Right Hip to gather Eberwolf. With her, we’ll be able to-”
That was the last they heard before the Divider was out of range, as Azazel made no move to follow him. The CATTs watched her take Camila back to Rani’s Eden by flying at high speed, then place her within a comfortable bed within the citadel-like castle of Rani’s Throne. The girl watched her sleep for a few seconds, even gingerly reaching out and holding her hand at one point before whispering Samael’s name, then fleeing the room like a scalded cat. No one was quite sure what to make of that, but as the view now only showed Camila sleeping in an empty room, King relinquished the Portal Seed.
“What do we do now?” he asked, his head spinning.
Luz’s first instinct was to order them all to begin preparing for a rescue mission, but as she looked at the exhausted and frightened CATTs, she snapped out of that thought; it would be cruel and unfair of her. Most of the CATTs were in no fit state to fight and everyone was either physically, mentally, or emotionally compromised. Poor Vee was covering her mouth to hold in her terrified sobs whilst Amity, Treble, and Hanu comforted her, while Boscha looked to be nearly catatonic with Skara and Willow trying to snap her out of it. Matt, Gus, Hunter, and Lyra just looked a little lost, and the adults were all just as stunned and confused. Just over an hour ago, they’d all been fine and content in their homes, and now they were homeless, had lost most of their possessions and supplies, and were lucky to have gotten out of there with their lives and families! Even King and Samael were in dire straits, looking severely conflicted over Azazel and the loss of Camila.
Taking a deep breath and cuddling Stringbean to give herself strength, Luz announced; “Okay everyone, I know things are looking grim. We’ve lost Digale Island and we’re severely on the back foot, but we CAN still turn this around.”
“How can you be so confident? We only survived because the Divider didn’t want to kill us!” one civilian woman cried.
“What happens if he comes for us again!? How can we hope to defeat someone like that!? Even you didn’t stand a chance and no one here is stronger than you!” another civilian yelled, terrified.
“There IS a way to defeat the Divider! The man himself told me, or rather the real him, Rasiel did. I will explain everything soon, I swear it. But first…” Luz walked over to King and held him, then announced; “Tio Orion, Tia Cassiopeia; I know one of you is always watching over us! If you’re not already, please come and find us! We need your help to guide us to the Portal Gate Hub that I have the Keystone for!”
As soon as Luz finished speaking, Emiliel was hit by a brainwave and fluttered up to catch a Portal Seed, then said; “Orion the Titan’s Soul”. The seed shimmered and showed the girl a scene of two Titan Spirits running through the In-Between, heading in what Emiliel assumed was their direction.
“I think they’re coming, Luz!” she said.
“Good job, Sweetie.” Luz beamed at the little Cherub, “You see everyone? The Souls of the Boiling Isles and Digale Island Titans are on their way! So chins up now; we don’t want to embarrass ourselves in front of them.”
Hearing that had the CATTs going from panicked to excited as they began to hurriedly try to make themselves presentable of the arrival of the Titans. It wasn’t every day that one got to meet their gods after all, so they had to make sure they looked properly presentable! As they did this, Luz got everyone seated so Hettie and the Healers of the CATTs could go around and get any injured people back to full health, then gave each and every member of the CATTs a (relatively) full rundown of what had happened for her the night before. It helped give everyone something to focus on as they waited… something besides their fears and self-loathing; things Luz could see reflected in the face of Vee and Boscha, who were the most effected by Camila’s capture (alongside Luz herself).
Luz gave a fairly abridged version of Rasiel’s life story and she didn’t reveal the full details of the plan that their Rasiel had come up with to defeat the Divider (just in case any of them were captured, divided, and forced to divulge the truth before they had a safe haven), but it was enough to make everyone think long and hard about their old ally and new enemy, who tragically shared a soul.
“Rasiel really is just like you, huh Luz?” Amity said sadly; “He didn’t fit in with his own people, but found a family. He tried to help everyone even when it didn’t work out, and he bonded with the glyphs of the Titans and grew through the ranks… he even tried to make things better for the whole world! But war came and he lost a parent to a monster… that broke him, and then everything that happened afterwards just made it worse.”
Lyra nodded grimly; “Amity’s right. The moment Rasiel failed to get the light glyph back after his resurrection and final ascension, he was doomed to become the Divider we know now. He couldn’t feel positivity or caring any more… just like Luz, he lost those understandings.”
“But unlike me, he didn’t have anyone around to help him get them back.” Luz said sadly; “And I can’t forget that after learning what happened to my Papi and Dad, I started to wonder if the Divider was right after all… I think that if it weren’t for all of you, I’d have broken too… I probably would have become the Divider’s Ophanim after all.”
Her friends wanted to dispute that, saying that Luz would never go that far or fall that completely, but they also remembered her face at the trial and how she’d willingly, almost gleefully, offered herself up as a sacrifice to save the people she loved. As awful as it was to admit, Luz could very well have been in the Divider’s spot once. If she had been born without her stunted nature, she’d likely have become a Seraphim without needing all eight glyphs, just as Rasiel had… then faced with the truth of her fathers’ deaths, she may well have taken whatever deal Rasiel had from the mysterious Arbiter…
If Luz and Rasiel had been born in each other’s places, Luz may well have become the Divider, while Rasiel rallied the CATTs against her.
The mental image of finding a (presumably adult) Luz in that Black Tomb in Caplacier made Amity shudder with horror…
She shook her head hard and said; “We shouldn’t be thinking about that. We can always save the talk of “What-Ifs” for later; heck, with Oracle and Divination Magic maybe we’d be able to find out what would have happened if things had gone differently! But for now, let’s focus on the here and now. You aren’t with the Divider, Luz; we’re all here with you against him. We’ll follow your lead and defeat him, and save Rasiel too!”
Luz beamed at her Hermosa, but before she could say a word, she was beaten to the punch by a newly arrived figure.
“Well said, Amity Blight-Clawthorne!” said Orion, appearing from around the bend alongside Cassiopeia.
In an instant, just about every member of the CATTs, their civilian allies, and even the elites themselves all gasped in amazement at the sight of the two Titan Souls. Only Luz, King, and Samael were not overwhelmed by awe, though King WAS overwhelmed by another emotion.
“Mama! Dad!” he cried, flying into their arms like a little furry cannon ball; “Finally, I get to see you again!”
“King!” they both beamed with joy, hugging the little boy between them, treating everyone to the heart-warming display of a Titan family reunion. Everyone watched with amazement and delight, especially when the hug came to an end and Orion beckoned Samael over to join their embrace, followed swiftly by Cassiopeia doing the same with Luz. The two young Angels enjoyed their own reunions with the Titans (especially as this was Luz’s first chance to see Cassiopeia’s smaller form in person), and swapped which ones they hugged before finally being pulled into a big group hug.
Once that was done, Orion and Cassiopeia turned their eyes on the others, particularly Eda, though Lilith, Raine, and Vee also got some special notice from the Titans.
“Eda the Owl Lady! Come over here! We need to greet the woman who adopted our son!” Orion said joyfully.
“And ensured my Mate had such a snazzy shirt.” Cassiopeia added with a giggle. Stepping forward, Eda smirked broadly as she noticed Orion’s Bad Girl Coven shirt.
“What can I say? The Owl Lady has taste!” Eda boasted, before being dragged into a hug by the two Titans.
“Indeed! It is wonderful to meet you, Eda. We both owe you a massive debt for helping to raise our son, as well as our God-Daughter.” Orion said with a huge smile.
“I was so afraid for King after I died, especially knowing that Orion didn’t survive me for very long, but discovering he was safe and sound in your care was an even greater relief than finally being cut free from that crystal prison.” Cassiopeia added. “You’ve ensured King grew into a fine young Titan, and your tutelage is in part why Luz was able to bond with our glyphs so readily.
Eda, not really sure how to react to being hugged by two Titans (who even in these relatively tiny forms, still towered over her), just waved them off; “Aw, it was nothing. I don’t say this often, but you might be giving me too much credit. King and Luz both managed to become pretty amazing on their own; it doesn’t feel like I did more than keep their bellies full and show them how to make potions!”
“No way Mom! You did a ton for us! You literally raised me from when I was barely hatched! I’d be totally different without you!” King protested.
“Me too! You and Mami both had a huge part in turning me into the girl I am today. I would never have become a Seraphim without you! So keep that humble shtick for your next scam, got it Mom?” Luz smirked cheekily.
“Ha! My kids are a real riot sometimes.” Eda laughed, pretending to be wiping away a tear of laughter when she was actually wiping away a tear of pure joy. Everyone could tell what she was doing but decided not to call her on it, so the Titans instead turned their attention to Lilith and Raine.
“And then there’s you two! The children’s Aunt and Titi! We both need to thank you too; you’ve also played a part in their lives and helping them become who they are today.” Cassiopeia grinned, hugging Lilith as Orion did the same to Raine. The two then swapped Witches, before finally separating.
“I hate to repeat Eda, but I have to confess that I don’t think I did much.” Raine said.
“You made their mother happy and opened your heart to them; that’s more than enough Raine.” Orion replied.
Lilith looked a little sheepish; “Honestly, part of me wants to bow and scrape right now… I’m face to face with two Titans after all! But I’m also surprised you’re both so okay with me… I didn’t exactly used to be a good person. And I did hand Luz over to Belos… if I’d known King was a Titan back then, I probably would have done the same to him…”
The two Titans frowned, but it was more at the memory than any rage towards Lilith. “You certainly wouldn’t have received a pleasant greeting back then, but you have made great strides towards correcting your mistakes. Be proud of that.” Orion told her.
“My Mate is right; it takes a strong character to recognise your flaws and mistakes, and work to make up for them. You did bad things in the past, but you’ve worked hard as an Aunt for King and Luz, and as a Mother for young Amity.” Cassiopeia gave a little wave to the lavender haired girl, who smiled and waved back; “Focus less on what you once were and more on who you have become.”
Lilith smiled; “Thank you for the advice. I’ll continue to do my best!”
“Attagirl!” Orion grinned. He then turned his attention to Vee, who was in a very emotionally complicated place right now. On the one hand, most of her friends and family were safe and she was meeting the Titan! But on the other hand, she had almost died once today and her Mama was in the hands of the enemy, so she was more than a little out of sorts.
Orion clearly saw this and gently gestured for her to approach; “Come over here, little one. We’d like to meet the little sister of our God-Daughter! There’s no need to be afraid.”
Vee slowly padded over to him, and when Luz smiled kindly and offered to hold her hand, the little Basilisk agreed and clung to it tightly, while also wrapping her tail around Luz’s wrist. No one commented on this, and both Orion and Cassiopeia smiled at the adorable girl.
“It is nice to meet you, Vee!” Cassiopeia said; “We’ve observed you a little bit with King and Luz, and you seem like a wonderfully sweet young lady.”
“T-Thank you.” Vee whispered.
Luz squeezed her hand; “Vee’s the best little sister I could ever ask for! She’s grown up a lot recently!”
“Yeah! She’s awesome! She helped me rescue Samael AND helped me save Luz at the trial! She’s kinda timid, but she doesn’t back down when we need her!” King happily added, making Vee blush.
Samael also nodded happily; “She even stood up to my jerk former brother, the Huntsman! She’s like the best Basilisk ever! No offence Treble!”
Treble laughed and waved it off; “None taken. Vee’s a hard act to follow! It’s thanks to her that I look like this!”
Vee squirmed, both embarrassed and touched by all the praise. She personally didn’t feel she deserved it, but Orion and Cassiopeia nodded along like their praise was the most obvious thing in the world.
“So we’ve seen! Good job trying to teach that Huntsman brat a lesson! Don’t let that set back discourage you! You’re a brave young lady!” Cassiopeia told her.
“I-I wish I felt brave! All this is still really scary…” Vee confessed; “And now that Mama was kidnapped, I don’t know what to do! I want to go save her, but I’m not strong like my sister and her friends… I’m scared I’ll get in the way.”
Luz shook her head; “You won’t, I know it! We’ll save Mami together when the time comes! Today was rough, but you did save my skin earlier; things would have gone worse without you!”
Vee still didn’t look convinced, so Orion smiled and patted her head; “Being humble is good, but don’t let humility blind you to your own achievements. There’s such a thing as underselling yourself, you know! I for one second Luz; I know you’ll be able to save your mother.”
“R-Really?” Vee asked hopefully.
“Really, and as proof of my belief…” Orion’s remaining eye shimmered as he held out his hand; “I grant you this; my blessing of Light!”
There was a brief golden flash and everyone except the Titans, Samael, and Luz flinched back a little. They had spots in their eyes that faded fast, but Vee gasped as she found the light glyph burned into her mind, just as Orion had once done for Luz. “There; now you have my light glyph blessing. When you come to fully embrace and understand it, you will bond with it and receive its power. Consider that proof of my faith in you.” Orion said grandly.
Vee gasped, almost unable to comprehend it, while Luz and Amity both giggled and patted her on the back, the former happily declaring them to be “Light Glyph Buddies!”
After a moment, the little Basilisk sheepishly thanked Orion for his blessing and promised to do her best to bond with it and earn the gift he’d given her. The two Titans were charmed by the adorable Basilisk and brought her in for another hug, alongside King, Luz, and Samael. Once the hug ended, Orion turned his attention to the last person he wanted to personally speak with… if “person” was the right word to use.
Looking through the crowd to the pack of orphans, he found them being loyally guarded by the CATTs’ Head Babysitter; Hooty. The odd little bird tube was in his birdhouse and marching around the kids in a big circle, keeping an eagle eye out for threats, as his best friend Lulu had told him to make sure the kids were protected until they were all safe again. Those orders kept him so focused that he didn’t even realise where they were or what was going on… at least until Orion was right beside him.
“Hoot! King, you got big! Where does the time go, Hoot?” Hooty said, looking up at the larger Titan.
Everyone, including the Titans, laughed or gaped in bewilderment at Hooty’s comment, and the friendly bird tube just looked around curiously, until he noticed King holding hands with Eda and Cassiopeia (who were swinging him playfully as he giggled). Realising the big Titan couldn’t be King, Hooty gasped.
“Wait a second! If you’re not King, you’ve got to be…” Hooty then gasped even louder; “UNCLE ORION!”
“That’s me, Hoot-oof!” Orion struggled to stay on his feet as Hooty suddenly wrapped himself tightly around him. “Ha ha yes, hello Hooty! It is good to see you doing well! Thank you for helping to look after King!”
“It’s okay Uncle Orion! Hooty is a big boy house and does his job really well! I make sure King is also nice and healthy! I put Sleeping Nettles in his evening coco so he’ll go to bed when he’s supposed to, and I sneak veggies into all his meals! And sometimes bugs too, but they’re high in protein! Hoot!” Hooty said proudly.
King flushed a little; “Hey! I’m not some baby who won’t eat his veggies any more! And I won’t stay up all night without my sleepy coco!”
Eda laughed; “You used to be a nightmare when you were little! I told Hooty to help me out and he never stopped. And you’re still not great with vegetables.”
“Mom’s got a point, King. Mami had to hide a lot of them in your food back in the Human Realm too.” Luz grinned.
Hooty beamed, glad for the approval, and added; “Hooty also makes Luz’s coco the sleepy kind too! And I put more food in Luz’s food too!”
“More food in my food? But I eat my veggies!” Luz protested.
“You don’t eat enough.” Eda, Lilith, Amity, Willow, Hooty, Vee, AND Orion and Cassiopeia all said at once.
Luz blinked owlishly; “I don’t?”
“You didn’t in the Demon Realm. You were always so busy with everything that you only filled your plate halfway! You didn’t start eating more until your Mami started cooking for you again.” Amity said.
Luz opened her mouth to protest or argue, but honestly remembered feeling hungry fairly often but just being too busy with Hexside, the rebellion, or the Portal Door to think about eating much. It was likely only Hooty sneaking more “food into her food” that kept her from being underweight.
“Huh. Well, thanks Hooty!” she smiled.
Hooty gave a happy little wiggle, which made Orion smile and say; “Yes, you’ve done us proud Hooty. And not just us either… I have someone here who would very much like to see you again! Just give me a second…”
Orion went over to the wall of the In-Between Realm chasm they were all standing in and began climbing up, growing larger as he did so until he was more than twice the size of the Owl House. Everyone watched him curiously, until he looked down at them all with a big smile and tapped the right side of his skull, causing a sleepy looking version of Hooty to emerge.
Those in the know realised that this was Cawla and were struck by the similarities now that the two were side by side. Cawla was slightly darker in colour and the lines of her face looked rougher, but otherwise she was a dead-wringer for Hooty!
The Primordial Demon, who’d obviously been napping, looking around blearily at all the people staring up at her, then began extending down towards Luz and King, spotting them first. However before she could reach them, Luz pointed over to Hooty with a big grin, making Cawla look over and promptly freeze. Hooty was frozen too, his bottom beak slowly extending all the way to the ground in a cartoonish jaw drop. After a moment, both snapped out of their frozen states and extended over to each other, meeting each other halfway. The Owl Family looked on curiously, expecting a more explosive reaction from the two, but then the mother and son duo began wiggling and gyrating in a synchronised fashion, performing a Bug Demon-like dance (despite them not technically being Bug Demons). They got quite into it and the watchers were entranced by the oddly hypnotic movements, until finally the dance came to an end and the two owl-like tubes faced each other and nodded solemnly…
… then, with a pair of impossibly loud “HOOT!”s they crashed into each other and began wiggling around in a limbless hug, each one screaming hoot (in the exact same voice) over and over as they cried and cuddled. They were blubbering so much that Luz could have sworn that the water level of the In-Between had risen slightly.
“HOOT! MY SON! HOOT!” Cawla cried, truly sounding identical to Hooty. If it weren’t for the fact she looked slightly different, it’d be nearly impossible to tell the two apart!
“HOOT! MOMMY! HOOT!” Hooty cried right back, wrapping around her a little but mostly letting her wrap around him in a motherly embrace; “I missed you! It’s been so long! So long that I almost forgot everything!”
“It’s okay! Hooty is a good boy! He found King and a good family! I am a very happy Mommy! Or should I say, a very Hooty Mommy! Hoot!” Cawla hooted.
King, Samael, Orion, and Cassiopeia all laughed uproariously while Luz just giggled and Eda gained a haunted look as she whispered; “Dear Titan, it’s spreading!”
Not everyone could appreciate a good pun it seemed!
Hooty just hooted softly and continued to snuggle his Mommy as Orion smiled and let Cassiopeia take over talking to everyone, though there wasn’t much time left for them to talk.
“Everyone, I would love nothing more than to speak to all the wonderful friends of my family, but I’m afraid we need to get you all out of here. The In-Between Realm is not a hospitable place for those who lack a strong Celestial Side! Titans and Angels can survive here just fine, but the rest of you are going to slowly grow more and more lethargic the longer you stay here, and eventually you’ll fall asleep. Sleeping here is deadly as if you sink too far beneath the surface, you’ll have crossed over to the Afterlife and there’s no coming back from that!” she warned; “So I’ll escort you all to the Portal Gate Hub that Luz has the keystone for! It’s thankfully not far from here and the hubs are safe zones thanks to the magic that flows in through the gates!”
Seeing as Hooty and Cawla weren’t going to untangle themselves any time soon, the others agreed with Cassiopeia and began following her as she led them to the portal hub. Orion followed along at a short distance so he wouldn’t step on any of the CATTs, though he ended up carrying half the orphans the CATTs had rescued, as they had immediately taken the opportunity to climb him. Some of the adults had been scandalised and afraid of offending the Titan, but he’d just laughed and waved off their concerns and accepted it, so as Hooty sat on one shoulder and rapidly chattered away to his Mom, King, Samael, Simi, Emiliel, Asher, and the Dryder sisters all sat together on his other shoulder and made conversation with him, leaving Cassiopeia to speak to the other elites and Hexsquad members. The only one to not join the conversation was Boscha, who was staring at her feet despondently as she walked.
As Cassiopeia had said, the Portal Gate Hub really was mercifully close so it hadn’t taken more than half an hour to reach it, by which point many of the children had come close to passing out from exposure to the In-Between Realm. Upon arriving at the familiar gate hub, Luz opened the portal gate to the Divine Realm.
“The Seraphim are probably gonna scold me for this, but Neo Haven is too small for everyone, the Demon Realm is too dangerous, and going back to Gravesfield is a sure fire way to expose us all to the Humans, so Gran Seraphia is our only option.” Luz said with a sigh, bracing herself for an earful.
“They’ll keep their mouths shut if they know what’s good for them!” Eda growled; “Or else I’ll remind them of a certain trial and traitor!”
Many of the CATTs nodded firmly, and Luz suddenly worried that this might go badly for another reason altogether. Giving everyone a chance to say goodbye to the Titans and Cawla, Luz took a very short trip to Neo Haven, where she used her Portal Key to summon her Portal Door and then brought it with her into the In-Between Realm, where she noticed that it very stubbornly refused to open.
With the portal in her hands and the goodbyes said, the Titans both patted Luz on the head (Orion having returned to his normal Avatar size) and promised to stay near the Portal Gate Hub at all times, so they could be visited any time the CATTs wanted until the day the Titans finally had to pass on. Following that, Luz took everyone through to the Divine Crossroads, making sure no one strayed beyond the wing of the building they arrived in whilst sheepishly asking the on-duty Angel to call for the council.
The Seraphim Council arrived very shortly thereafter, and looked very unamused. Luz then gave them a full explanation of the situation (made more difficult by just about everyone glaring at the Council, especially Camael, for their past actions), and then waited with bated breath as the Seraphim exchanged looks.
“Realistically speaking, we should reject this and send all of you back to the Demon Realm.” Raphael said, acting as spokeswoman for the council since she was the Humility Seraphim. “The border is closed for a reason, and you brought hundreds of people through the gate anyway, Luciel. Under different circ*mstances, you could be punished for this defiance of the law…”
The CATTs all bristled angrily while Luz winced, but Raphael smiled and eased everyone’s mind; “But considering out past mistakes and your recent successes, I think we can trust in your judgement. The border remains closed, so we cannot allow any of you to leave the Divine Crossroads, but we will offer what aid we can.”
Luz gasped, almost unable to believe it; “R-Really!?”
“Of course.” Camael stepped forward with a smile; “The Divider’s return with the Celestial’s children has further changed the game. We can’t give you much military aid; the Distorted Shadows are still a huge problem here, and the Wings of Rani are not all in the Demon Realm… many are causing problems for us here in the Divine Realm too.”
Barachiel nodded grimly; “The Divider is strong and his people have been threatening the Free Cities with his strength, causing several to join him. The Crest Union is also lacking in military force in general, due to the millennia of peace leading to extensive disarmament. We’re only just moving back into military build-up, but we’re limited in what we can do for the time being.”
Darius stepped forward; “Forgive me for speaking out of turn here Lord Seraphim, but what aid CAN you offer us? At this point, anything will be helpful.”
Gabriel stepped forward; “Crest Patience has little we can give to a military operation like this. However we will offer to house prisoners of war.”
Next, Sophiel of Crest Temperance offered; “I can keep your people fed. We are blessed with quite a surplus of food, so we will provide.”
“Crest Diligence can give no soldiers, but we can give weapons. Angelic Steel is finely crafted and resistant to corrosion, so even the ancient tools we have in storage will still be useful. We can also provide counters to certain armaments that the Wings of Rani have.” Barachiel offered.
Jophiel, Raguel’s predecessor and replacement, then said; “Crest Charity deals mostly in money and the economy. We can’t just give you wealth of course, but we can offer other materials. Basically anything that is not covered by weapons or food, I will ensure you have.”
“And needless to say, I offer medical supplies and potions. I’ll also have a part of this wing of the Divine Crossroads turned into an emergency triage centre; if you need desperate healing, come here. We will also share all our research and techniques with your own healers.” Camael said, obviously going above and beyond for his great-granddaughter (he was very unhappy to learn the Divider had captured Camila). Hettie looked ready to combust with happiness at the idea of the Angels’ medical research, so Luz made a mental note to ask Lyra to be her liaison with Camael. That would limit her own interactions with the man (for whom Luz still had some serious mixed feelings) and also give Hettie more of a chance to spend time with Lyra and further get over her issues with Grimwalkers (which she had made great strides in thanks to Mason and Golsi the Therapist).
With five of the seven Seraphim offering aid, the remaining two; Uriel of Chastity and Raphael of Humility were each looked to by the CATTs and their fellow Angels alike. Uriel looked at all the orphans and said; “Crest Chastity could take temporary custody of the orphans? Or at the very least, we can provide education materials for them if you’re uncomfortable leaving them with us entirely.”
Luz smiled; “I think it would be best if we take the materials. No offence Lady Uriel, but I don’t think my fellow CATTs would feel comfortable leaving Demon Realm Children in Angel custody.”
There was a round of agreements from the others, especially Eda, which had Uriel nodding. “I understand. Considering our history, positive relationships between our realms are still new.”
With that, all attention turned to Raphael of Humility, who had nothing to offer. “Crest Humility is made up of leaders and administrators. We can offer little more than strategic advice, but I don’t believe the current leaders of the Crest Union are right to advice you, Lady Luciel. The Crest Union’s way of thinking is partly to blame for the current situation after all…”
“The current Union isn’t at fault for creating the Divider or the first generation of the Wings of Rani, but your system did cause most of the newer members to join up. But that’s something we can fix when we’re not at war.” Luz said; “In the meantime, you and the union have offered a lot of help, so we’re grateful. You don’t need to worry about giving us more.”
Raphael smiled sadly; “After what we almost did to you, we do not deserve your kindness. We allowed blind adherence to the law to turn us into monsters… we need to change. But as you said, that is something to deal with once the war is over. In the mean time, please use this wing of the Divine Crossroads as a temporary headquarters for your group. We will bring the supplies as soon as possible, and I will find something else I can offer you. It may take time though.”
“You don’t need to-” Luz tried, but Raphael gently silenced her with a raised hand.
“Yes, we do. I do. Rasiel was once a Seraphim of Crest Humility so it is my responsibility. However I am helpless against him and we of the Union are relying on a child to fight our battles… a child we hurt deeply. We need to take responsibility… we need to do better.” Raphael said.
“We all do.” Camael added; “I would be lying if I said my first instinct wasn’t to fight the Divider right now and save Cassiel, but I’d stand no chance and we can’t help anyone or make up for our mistakes with what would be a meaningless sacrifice.”
The CATTs all regarded the Seraphim (including the others, who nodded in solemn agreement) with a bit more respect. However Boscha looked a little taken aback by their words; needing to take responsibility and do better? That resonated with her. She was in the same boat after all; she needed to do better!
After the Seraphim’s words, Raphael got to work organising the supplies and aid from the others, as well as getting Crest Charity to provide furniture and a few creature comforts to turn the wing of the Divine Crossroad into something more relaxing so the CATTs could rest. It was a very welcome change and Camael had a whole squad of Crest Kindness Angels come along and check everyone’s health, with Hettie taking a very keen interest in their methods. However the CATTs couldn’t rest forever, so once the Hexsquad and Elites had fully rested, they gathered together and sat down for a meeting.
The meeting felt a little strange at first without Camila with them, but Luz powered through that awkwardness; “Okay guys, we’re on the back foot here. The Divider took us by surprise, but we can recover! Our first objectives should be saving Mami and finding a new permanent base for the CATTs. Unfortunately, I’m kind of stumped on how to do either of those things right now.”
“Building a new base on the Boiling Isles will be very tough.” Darius frowned; “With the Divider back, I expect security is going to receive a huge upgrade. Plus all our plans will now need to involve distracting him or preventing him from being contacted, since I don’t see him acting like Belos and hanging back. He attacked us himself today after all.”
“Yeah, he was also the one to personally fight the three Supreme Dragons AND all of us back when he first divided us.” Eda pointed out; “The Divider will take us out personally if we give him the chance, so we need a place he won’t immediately go after.”
“Which rules out any of Cassiopeia’s parts too.” Amity said.
Lilith sighed; “Titan Cradle Island is also a no-go. But where else can we go? Other nations aren’t going to be too happy about an armed rebellion group showing up on their shores, especially if it brings the Divider’s attention to them.”
“So we need an uninhabited place that is big enough, remote enough, and defensible.” Alador said, reaching into his coat and pulling out a large map of the Demon Realm. He unfurled it on the table they were all sitting around and pointed out the Boiling Isles and the known landmasses that had been moved; namely the now destroyed Maelstrom Strait and the Titan Trapper Island. Titan Cradle Island wasn’t on the map for obvious reasons, but with King’s help, Alador used a little abomination to roughly mark its location.
“Okay, here’s the world… where do we go?” he asked.
“It shouldn’t be somewhere too far away, right?” Severin said; “We need to be able to get back.”
Samael shook his head; “Nuh uh! If I help Luz finish her portal, we can use it to get to the Boiling Isles whenever we want!”
Luz’s eyes widened; “That could work! If we create a doorway that connects to the Portal Hub in the In-Between Realm, then we’ll have a portable path back to the Boiling Isles, the Human Realm, and even here! We could then use Neo Haven as like a staging and prep area for missions too!”
Everyone leaned forward with interest; “That would be pretty perfect!” Hunter began; “If the Portal takes us to the hub, we have an instant escape route so something like today won’t happen again. We’ll need to be careful so the Wings of Rani don’t figure out how we’re getting back into the isles, but it could seriously work!”
“So is everyone in agreement there?” Luz asked. She got a round of nods in response, then turned to Samael with a grin; “Good job! You and I will work on that once we’re both rested and ready. Now we just need to find the location of our new base.”
Mason raised his hand; “I have a suggestion. It’s defensible an’ considered bad luck, so Demons won’t normally go there. It’s also uninhabited an’ widely considered dangerous, so people avoid it like the plague… plus its considered cursed.”
“Really selling it to us, Mason!” Amber giggled.
The short man rolled his eyes and pointed to a region of the map fairly close to the Boiling Isles; a tiny island marked with a skull and crossbones. “It’s a place that my family has history with, same as the Clawthornes… a Dragon Graveyard Island.”
A few people looked confused, but those who knew Mason well or knew stories of the Clawthorne family recognised it immediately. “That’s the island that your Mom Luna, learned Belos’ secret, right?” Luz asked with a frown.
“And where Lillian Clawthorne; the Pale Dove, buried the remains of her friend who became a dragon when his Rite of Ascension failed.” Lilith pointed out. “Is that really a good idea!? A Dragon Graveyard could see us dealing with unwanted dragon visitors!”
Mason nodded; “I’ve been observin’ it for a while, in case I needed a retreat after being discovered by Belos. There ain’t been no dragon activity there since the day o’ the exhibition that Belos took my Ma on. The Dragons likely consider the place unsafe from grave robbers now.”
“Few people would be dumb, cruel, or strong enough to rob a Dragon Graveyard, but I suppose Belos qualifies.” Raine commented; “Will it be safe to make a base there?”
“I think so. Ma said it was a quiet place. Had an old dormant volcano on it too, an’ the remains o’ a city. Don’t rightly know much about it, but Ma said that a Construction Witch who went on the trip took some seismic readin’s to try and find more Galdorstones and found a buried city. He reckoned it weren’t no Demon city either… coulda been the leftovers o’ an Angel city.” Mason explained.
That caught everyone’s interest, and Luz immediately called for one of the Crest Angels to take a look at the map. Sadly the Angel had no knowledge of any abandoned Angel Cities in the Demon Realm (they were rare and not sanctioned by the Union after all), so he instead called for help from another Angel who might know. This eventually led to Raphael returning and taking a single glance at the map before nodding.
“Yes, that was the sight of an Angel City. A group of separatists from the Union wanted to settle the Demon Realm and re-establish contact with the Demons. They established a city there, though contact with it was lost just over 5000 years ago.” Raphael commented; “Things like that happened a few times over the 100,000 years following the War of Division. A combination of old resentments and our people overstepping their bounds and trying to instil order in the Demon Realm led to the destruction of pretty much all the settlements. This one was the last I know of.”
“An Ancient Angel City buried underground? With it being a Dragon Graveyard and the home of a volcano, I bet eruptions are what buried the city.” Matt theorised, before looking excitedly at Luz; “Please let me come along on the scouting mission to check it out!”
Luz grinned; “Of course! We should keep the numbers small for the first trip though; if we send everyone and it turns out to be a no-go then we’d just be wasting our time and taking risks for no good reason.”
There were murmurs of agreement, which only grew louder as Salty joined the conversation. “Me apologies for droppin’ eaves on your chatter, Lass. But ye ol’ pal Salty couldn’t help but overhear. It just so happens that me crew and I have been to that isle before. We know how to find it and we know how to slip past the Wings o’ Rani and their patrols!”
“I sense a “but” coming…” Skara frowned.
“Ye be sensin’ right, Lass. There be a “but!” But me crew and I need our own ship to do it. No other vessel will get us through the blockade around the isles now that the old route is gone. The Divider movin’ the Titan’s bleedin’ arm scuppered our old route!” Salty declared.
“Sounds simple enough. Your ship is impounded in Bonesborough, right? Unless the Divider has reconquered the place, we can get it back easily enough.” Luz smiled.
“Aye, and I be grateful to ye for ye help. But me ship is smaller than the one ye shiny friends blew up. It rivals the Loving Leopard in size! With me and me crew, and getting’ the speed we need, we can’t take many of ye! By my reckonin’, we can take maybe six of ye?” Salty said.
“Six is already big for a scouting mission. So I’m definitely coming along, and Matt already called dibs, so that’s two. Who’ll be the remaining four?” Luz asked.
Mason immediately raised a hand; “You’ll need my expertise if you want to dig up the buried city. Besides, I want to see the place where my Ma learned the truth o’ Belos!”
“Two Construction guys are better than one here. Okay, Mason is coming too! That leaves three spots! Who else wants to come along?” Luz asked.
The CATTs began to debate a little, as many wanted to go while others wanted to stay. Amity and Eda naturally volunteered, as did Vee, but Luz actually refused all three of them.
“Vee, you went through a lot today so I want you to rest a while longer. I also want you fresh for when we go after Mami. You do wanna be part of that mission, right?” Luz asked knowingly.
Vee nodded immediately; “Okay, that’s fair. I’ll rest and help you save Mama once the new base is made.”
Luz smiled and ruffled her little sister’s hair, then turned to Eda; “Mom, I want you to stay behind with King. I know he wants to take the chance to spend time with his Titan parents so you should too! Plus with Mami captured, I don’t want to risk you too. The same goes for the rest of the family.”
That pre-emptively cut out Lilith and Raine from the potential teammates too, though both understood. Luz was being brave, but the capture of her Mami clearly weighed heavily on her. Amity then stepped forward and said; “Is that why you want me to stay behind too?”
“It’s half the reason. The other half is that until we find a way around the Palisman Fusions fatiguing me, I want to limit them to emergencies.” Luz said; “I’d also rather that all the guys with fusions stay back to protect everyone.”
Amity accepted that, as did Gus, Skara, and Willow. Hunter and Lyra also chose to stay behind, since they were family too and also wanted a rest after all the missions and troubles they’d been having lately. That left Boscha as the sole Hexsquad member left who could come along besides Matt, and she unsurprisingly volunteered. Though “volunteer” may not be the right word…
“I’m coming too.” she said, leaving no room for argument.
“I’m cool with that.” Luz said, “But are you sure you wouldn’t prefer to get some more rest? The stuff with Terra was only yesterday.”
“I’m coming too. I won’t say it again, Luz.” Boscha said firmly.
Luz wisely decided not to push the issue and simply agreed. Boscha was clearly trying to work something out, and as this was only a scouting mission, Luz decided to let it go for now.
The next volunteer was Samael; “I wanna see the volcano and dragon skeletons! And the super old Angel City! Plus I wanna show off some of the cool stuff everyone has been showing me!”
“Got it. We could use another powerhouse, just in case! Welcome aboard Samael! That leaves only one spot left.” Luz said, looking to the others.
Darius and Alador didn’t want to go since they were busy going over the supplies they’d gotten from the Angels and seeing if they could get more for their Abominations and Homunculi. The twins didn’t want to split up, and neither Viney or Jerbo wanted to go without the other or their lovers. Similarly, Steve and Katya didn’t want to go without each other, and Raine wanted to keep Amber with them since she was good at dealing with all the orphans, and Hooty was currently distracted by his Mom. However Derwin volunteered to go as Raine’s stand-in.
“I’d like to come along. I spent too long in a Divided daze; I’d like a chance to help out in the field. Besides, my Magic Earworm could be very useful going forward.” he volunteered.
“I second Derwin going. No offence to Samael or the Hexsquad, but I’d feel a lot more comfortable with another adult on the scouting team.” Raine said, noting that Mason was the only other adult besides Salty’s crew.
Samael pouted a little and Boscha scoffed, but Luz and Matt both simply nodded; “Then it’s agreed!” Luz declared; “The scouting team for the Dragon Graveyard Island will be me, Matt, Boscha, Samael, Mason, and Derwin! First thing tomorrow, we’ll return to Bonesborough and steal back Salty’s ship, then set sail for the island, so rest up everybody!”
The scouting team all gave a yell of acknowledgement, making Luz smile before she sighed heavily and said; “Awesome! Now if you guys don’t mind, I’m gonna go see if Golsi has some time for a session. This Mama needs to deal with her trauma!”
With that, Luz trotted off to find Golsi for some therapy, and considering the dream she’d had last night, followed by the battle that morning, no one could blame her. If anything, most were proud of her for taking her mental health so seriously. The rest of the gang split up and either went to spend time with their families or do some last minute prep for the scouting mission the next day, with King even going with Samael and Eda into the In-Between Realm to spend more time with Orion and Cassiopeia.
During this time, Lyra (with help from Hunter, Gus, and Perry Porter) continued working to repair the Oracle Sphere, hoping to get more clues on the vision it showed of Lyra using her spirit against Angels. At the same time, Skara sat with her father and Boscha as she worked on tuning and cleaning the Winderfly Harp that Willow’s team had stolen from the Castle Relic Room a couple of days ago. With all the chaos of the Mandragoras and the attack on Digale, the harp had been largely forgotten about, but thankfully since it had been well cared for, it didn’t need a lot of work.
Boscha watched in silence as Skara worked on it, making small talk with her Dad and occasionally playing notes. Melody was pouting a little whilst sitting on the back of Carabace alongside Maya, but she’d already accepted that Skara needed an instrument to play while they were fused, as using raw magic to produce sound was tiring. But as Boscha watched, she couldn’t help but ask;
“Hey, Skara? When you fused with Melody, what was it like? I mean, what did you feel? What led up to it?”
Skara paused in her work and thought about it; “I guess I felt fired up? I was feeling a lot of stuff; a burning in my chest, a closeness with Melody, and the power of wind too. Faith, Freedom, Desire… I felt all of them really strongly and it caused the fusion to happen.”
“So you just needed to feel motivated, understand the element you bonded with, and feel close with your Palisman?” Boscha asked.
“As far as I can tell, yeah. I haven’t talked to Willow about hers yet, but Amity and Gus both said the same things.” Skara replied.
That answer made Boscha frown; she always felt plenty fired up in battle, and she and Maya were really close! They talked often, in their own way, and Maya was a great emotional support for Boscha… as for the elemental stuff, Boscha was certain she’d been blessed with the fire glyph; it was the only one that made sense to her, but then why hadn’t she bonded with it yet? Passion, Destruction, and Warmth? She knew those feelings! She understood them! So why hadn’t she bonded yet!?
Boscha gave a sigh of frustration, then muttered; “I really have become the weak link…”
Skara and Severin both turned to her with a surprised look, having picked up her quiet mutter with their sharp ears.
“Weak link? What are you talking about?” Severin asked with concern.
Boscha blushed as she realised she’d spoken aloud; “It’s nothing. Just ignore me.”
“Oh no you don’t!” Skara huffed; “What the heck do you mean by you being a weak link!? In what universe are you, Boscha Alembic, a weak link?”
“This one, I guess.” Boscha sighed, averting her eyes. “Everyone else in the Hexsquad has surpassed me. Heck, even King and Vee have talents I can’t match now! I’m basically just a semi-decent Potioneer and even then, the CATTs have got others who are better, like Eda and Lilith.”
“Boscha, that’s not true! You’re crazy skilled! You helped Willow and Hunter with Terra AND you were instrumental in saving Luz from Vitimir!” Skara pointed out. “And it’s not like I’m the best bard either! Raine and Dad are both stronger than me! I may catch up by using my Palisman Fusion, but that’s it!”
Boscha shook her head; “You’re still way more talented than me. You found a way to make human songs into Bardic Spells! Everyone in the Hexsquad has something cool and unique that they can do now! Even Matt, who was another bully like me, has changed completely and become strong! Meanwhile I’m just… Boscha. I’m barely different from the jerk I was… I haven’t made up for my past mistakes anywhere near enough, and I can’t keep up with everyone!”
She stood up and began to pace as Maya scuttled over to her and up her leg so she could rest in her partner’s arms. Boscha pet her with a sad smile and continued; “I can’t use fusion like you guys can. I know I trust Maya with my life and she trusts me, but I just don’t have what it takes! I’m sure I understand the element of Fire, but I still can’t bond with the glyph! I’m just not good enough, and yet despite that, Camila sacrificed herself to save me.”
Skara and Severin frowned, unaware of that. “What do you mean?” Severin asked.
Boscha looked away in shame; “I was supposed to be the one who was left behind to hide the Portal Door, but Camila tricked me and tossed me through when I was distracted. Now Luz and Vee are struggling without their mother, and the CATTs are worse off! She should have just let me be taken; she’d be way more useful to the CATTs than me!”
“That isn’t true!” Skara and Severin both protested.
“My Muse, if the Divider had taken you, I’d be terrified! Not only because my girlfriend is gone, but because the Divider would have a crazy talented ally now on his side! You’re strong, you’re smart, you’re cunning… Boscha, you’re the whole package!” Skara declared.
“And yet I spent my life bullying others to make myself feel big, and to keep them from surpassing me. I stopped bullying Willow and she immediately surpassed me, proving that all along I was just weak! I’m just… I’m not good enough! For the CATTs, for the Hexsquad… for you… I just feel so…” Boscha wiped her face to keep the tears from spilling, then turned and walked away.
“I need some time to think by myself. We’ll talk more later.”
Skara got to her feet to follow but Boscha turned and gave her a serious look; “Alone, Skara. I need some time alone. Please.”
Skara wanted to protest, but it was clear to both her and her Dad that Boscha was not in the right frame of mind to talk. When she refused to talk, it was impossible to get her to start and would only cause a fight, so Skara just nodded sadly and watched as Boscha walked off to where the supplies were still being brought over by the Angels, likely planning to make more potions for the scouting trip the next day. Feeling dejected, Skara went to sit back down only for her Dad to grab her and pull her into his lap.
“Don’t let it get you down, Skara. Boscha has gone through a lot of changes this year. She’s still struggling to find herself and her new place in the world. Give her a bit of time to cool off, then just be there for her.” Severin said gently; “Boscha is so used to being the top dog that she still hasn’t adjusted to so many people being stronger. She values herself on her strength, just as Luz did with her usefulness; she needs time to see that she’s still strong and that she means more than that. That and therapy…”
Skara nodded sadly; “I think she needs her parents back too. She complained about her Mom a lot, but I know she was close to them both and got a lot of advice from them.”
“Not all good advice either, knowing Callisto. But you’re right. For now, we’ll give her space and then be there for her. It’s all we can do.” Severin said with finality. His daughter looked doubtful, but ultimately relented and nestled into him as she continued to tune the Winderfly Harp, all while silently praying that Boscha would be alright tomorrow.
________________________________________________________________________________
[The Next Day]
The rest of that day (which happened to be a Sunday) went peacefully, with Luz (and later Vee) spending some time with Golsi then joining King, Eda, and Hooty in spending time with the Titan Souls and Cawla. At the same time, Boscha spent the evening whipping up potions and experimenting with Angelic Alchemy, hoping to refine it with what she knew of Demon Brewing and Human Chemistry to try and find her own unique form of magic just like the others had. Her success was limited, but she’d at least made enough potions to stock the scouting team up.
So as a new week dawned, the team of Luz, Samael, Boscha, Matt, Mason, Derwin, and Salty’s crew gathered together and left the Divine Realm, receiving fond farewells and cries of good luck from the CATTs. In fact, the children of the CATTs had even (at Emiliel’s direction) crafted bracelets out of crystals found in the Divine Realm, and engraved them with glyph markings and a simple barrier combo, so the scouting team would have an extra lifeline to help them if the worst should happen. Samael had been especially happy to take it, seeing it as a friendship bracelet, while Boscha had accepted hers with a forced smile but had nonetheless clung to it tightly and put it around her wrist, all while wondering if she deserved such a trinket.
Once the goodbyes were said and everyone on the scouting team was properly equipped, Luz led them back into the In-Between Realm, then exchanged nods with the Titan Souls before returning through the gate to the Boiling Isles, appearing not far from the Clawthorne Home.
“We’ll head to the Owl House first and scout Bonesborough from there. If the Wings of Rani have already reconquered the place, we’ll need to be stealthy.” Luz said, leading the team onward.
The others agreed and followed, with Salty and his crew keeping back since they weren’t experienced fighters on land. They arrived at the Owl House and Luz immediately scouted it for signs of the Divider, wary of him having lived there before his Archivist excursion. Upon finding no sign of anyone arriving there since her own last visit, Luz took a breath to relax, then looked towards Bonesborough.
Since Orion’s right arm had been shifted south, Luz now had to look north east instead of east to see the town. She cast an invisibility spell on Stringbean and had her fly over to check the town out from a closer distance, then as soon as Stringbean had finished, Luz summoned her back and listened to her hissing.
“Good job Beanie!” Luz smiled, kissing her Palisman on the head. She then turned to the team; “Stringbean says that the town hasn’t been reconquered yet, but it looks like they’re in some kind of stand-off with the Wings of Rani. It looks like they’ll be negotiating with the Divider at some point when he deigns to show up again, likely very soon.”
Boscha frowned; “Does that mean we can just walk in and take the ship?”
Luz shook her head; “Doesn’t look like it. The ports are held by the Wings of Rani, as are the east, or I guess now north-east paths out of the city. The Wings of Rani are cutting off escape.”
“And leaving the path to the Forearm Forest and Ash Moth Desert since there’s nothing there.” Derwin realised; “Either way, we’ll need to break in and steal back Salty’s ship.”
“Shouldn’t be a challenge for us! We can sneak in easily!” Matt said, before giving Luz a sheepish grin; “But, uh, maybe you and Samael should sit this part out. You two could stay here and finish the Portal Door, then we’ll sail by the cliffs and pick you up.”
There was some confusion from Salty’s crew, but Luz just chuckled wryly; “Because of my infamous luck with stealth missions, right?”
“Oh Titan, I forgot about that.” Boscha shuddered; “Yeah, sorry to say this but you’re staying here! If you try to sneak in, I swear that the Divider will appear out of nowhere after being summoned by your luck!”
Luz put her hands up in surrender; “Okay, no arguments here! Samael, you and I are gonna do that linking ritual to connect the Portal Door!”
Samael, who was also not the best with stealth, just smiled happily and agreed. The team then split up, with Mason leading the bulk of the team into Bonesborough by sticking to the wooded areas and using Matt’s invisibility spells, while Samael and Luz went back to the In-Between Realm via the Portal Gate to begin working on linking the Portal Door to the hub.
Sneaking into Bonesborough wasn’t exactly a hard task for the Scouting Team, especially since they were entering from an unguarded side, but sneaking down to the docks was a little tougher since the locals had set up an Abomaton Knight guard post to keep people from wandering into a part of town that the Wings of Rani held. Simple invisibility was not enough to avoid the Abomatons’ magic sensors, so they instead went to the nearby home of a family that Matt knew. At his request, the owners allowed the team down into their basem*nt where Matt and Mason worked together to dig a tunnel through to the nearby sewer pipe, which opened out beneath the docks. Boscha handed them all potions to help them resist the Boiling Sea, though Mason and Salty’s crew were all aquatic demons or at least had enough of their blood to resist the heat of the sea, so only Boscha, Matt, and Derwin actually needed them in the end.
Emerging from the sewers beneath the wooden docks of Bonesborough, they all silently slipped into the water and followed Salty as he swam to the location of his ship, which was moored right at the end of the dock. The ship, “The Salty Sea Dog” was about the same size as Valtora’s Loving Leopard, and the crew led the rest of the Scouting Team in diving underwater to a section of the ship’s keel, which had an access hatch magically concealed under it to accommodate Salty’s smuggling operation.
Salty cast a spell on the hatch to open it, then swam up inside along with the rest of his crew and the scouting team. They then passed through a bubble-like membrane that kept the water from flooding the ship and climbed out into a hidden compartment of the ship’s cargo hold. Once they were all on board, they sealed up the hatch and carefully left the compartment, finding that the rest of below deck was empty. However Boscha used her Tincture of True Sight while Matt used his Seismic Sense to detect a pair of Angels quietly walking around on the deck of the ship above. Boscha’s tincture let her see other Angels on the other ships too, making it clear the Wings of Rani were guarding them closely.
“I’ll lure them down into the hold.” Matt whispered; “Then you guys knock them out! I can make an illusion afterwards to hide us as we sail away!”
The others nodded and took hiding spots around the hold, while Matt created a stone mouse golem and cast a simple illusion to make it look like a regular Echo Mouse, then released it and had it hop up the steps to the top deck, where it began to bother the Angels. They ignored it at first, but then Matt had it bite one of their feet, angering them.
“Ouch! Pesky vermin! Hey, make a cage and help me catch this thing!” the bitten one growled.
“Got it. Creepy little thing; even the rats around here have skull faces! I’ll never see the appeal of bones to Demons and Witches.” the other Angel complained.
Matt grinned and directed his mouse golem back into the hold, with the two Angels following straight after. As soon as they were both down the stairs, Salty cast a spell to seal the hold shut, plunging them all into darkness. The Angels were unprepared for this, but the CATTs were ready; Boscha and Matt could still “see” thanks to their powers, Derwin moved based on hearing, and Mason and Salty’s crew were able to see in the dark thanks to their eyes being adapted to see in the deep ocean where little light could reach, meaning they very quickly caught and overwhelmed the Angels, knocking them out quietly and tying them up.
Once the Angels were tied up, Matt used created golems in their image and had them secretly carry the unconscious Angels (hidden by an illusion) back up to the top deck and then off the ship, leaving them hidden behind some crates and a mooring post on the dock. The golems then remained on the dock, pretending to chat so the other Angels on the docks assumed all was well, allowing Matt to use his own magic and an illusion glyph combo to create a larger illusion over the whole ship, making it seem empty and unmoving even as Salty’s crew began silently running around and getting it ready for sailing.
The process took only about five minutes once the Angels were gone, and the Salty Sea Dog was soon sailing invisibly away, leaving the Wings of Rani completely unaware of what had just happened. The ship sailed south west, following the Titan’s Arm, until they came within sight of the cliffs that the Owl House sat on.
“Well, that wasn’t too hard! It took what, 20 minutes from the moment we split up from Luz?” Matt asked.
“I’d say it was closer to 15 minutes.” Derwin grinned; “Either way, phase 1 of the mission was a success!”
Mason nodded, then chuckled wryly; “I hate to say it, but this really was a lot easier without Luz. That girl’s luck with stealth missions is infamous!”
“Yeah, it’s not even like she screws up! It’s just bad luck!” Matt agreed as Salty brought the ship as close to the bottom of the cliff as he could, being mindful of the sharp bone and rock.
“Luz’s luck really is in a league of its own.” Boscha agreed, having been silent and serious so far. “But forget that for now; Luz and Sammy are on their way.”
She could see their magic with the tincture in her third eye, as they hurried back from the forest and the Portal Gate. They arrived and looked over the edge of the cliff, but since the boat was still under an illusion, they couldn’t see them, so Boscha quickly flew up on Maya.
“Hey, our side of things went about as good as we could hope.” Boscha said as Luz and Sammy smiled at her arrival; “What about your side of things?”
Luz held up her portal key with a grin; “It was almost insultingly easy. I made a new stone archway in the Portal Hub, then I just had to have Samael walk me through how to link the portal door to the archway.”
It really had been very easy; all Luz had to do was press the key to her forehead and focus on her mental image of the archway. From there, she slowly pulled the key from her forehead while focusing on her magic and the doorway, while Samael helped align her with the cosmos. The key had pulled a thread of golden magic from Luz’s head as she moved it away from her face, and then when she placed the key into the lock of her Portal Door, the whole thing had reacted with a bright light, completing the linking process. To demonstrate it, Luz pressed the eye on the key to summon the portal and open it up, revealing the portal hub. A second press caused the door to close and then fold up, turning into a book rather than a suitcase like Eda’s portal had. It could still become a suitcase, but Luz and Samael had crafted a second camouflage form to make the portal easier to hide.
“Now we can retreat to the In-Between any time we want!” Luz said with a huge grin; “And from there, we’ve got instant access to the Portal Gate here near Bonesborough, as well as Gravesfield, Neo Haven, and Gran Seraphia! No need to worry about being trapped or getting lost in the In-Between!”
Boscha nodded; “Good. If only we’d thought about that door sooner…”
“We all forgot about it. Heck, I assumed the Divider had destroyed it! I guess that’s what I get for assuming!” Luz sighed.
Boscha grimaced, but before she could say anything, Samael gasped and pointed to the north east. “Uh, if the boat is invisible, how come there are some mean birdies flying our way?”
Luz and Boscha spun around and sure enough, a squadron of Wings of Rani Angels were flying in their direction. They didn’t seem to be gunning for them, instead searching the coast, but they were also casting spells that dispersed illusions.
“Damn it, did the illusion back at the dock wear off!?” Boscha hissed.
“Something must have gone wrong. They know something is off, but not exactly what. We should get down to the ship and sail away before they reach us.” Luz said quietly, not daring to speak louder in case it drew attention.
Unfortunately the Angels were too close, so even though the girls and Samael jumped down to the ship, the Angels reached them before Salty’s crew could get them moving again, and a wide area spell hit the stretch of cliff they were moored at and caused the illusion to fade away, revealing them to the Wings of Rani.
The leader of the Angel squad, a High Angel, exclaimed; “We found the thieves!”
“What the heck!? How did you come after us so fast!? My illusion shouldn’t have failed!” Matt scowled, already coating his fists in rock armour to fight with.
“You left our comrades tied up on the docks! One woke up and called for help!” the High Angel said, conjuring a bow of golden light; “Now surrender immediately! Theft and assault will not be tolerated!”
“Theft!? This be me own vessel, ye scurvy gull!” Salty yelled.
“A ship that was legally impounded after suspicions of you aiding the rebels came about! Now surrender immediately or-” the High Angel froze as he finally took notice of Luz, “By the stars!? It’s her! The Heroine of Paradise! Retreat and alert the Lord Divider!”
The High Angel and his squad of six other Angels all turned and prepared to flee, but Luz and the scouting team weren’t about to let them get away. However before any of them could act, Boscha got to them first.
“You’re not going anywhere!” she roared, hopping onto Maya’s staff and shooting towards the Angels as fast as she could, using streams of flame to propel herself. She ended up going so fast that she crashed into the back of the High Angel like a meteorite, nearly knocking him out of the sky and into the sea. He recovered at the last minute, but with Boscha still on his back, whereupon she clubbed him over the head with her staff to knock him out. Boscha then hopped back on her staff, and for a single heart-stopping moment, the other CATTs feared she was going to let the High Angel fall into the Boiling Sea. Thankfully she showed mercy by catching him before he fell and then tossing him at the cliff wall, where she then glued him to the Titan bone with an adhesive Abomi-Potion.
The defeat of their leader caused the other six Angels to turn and try to save him, but Boscha brutally attacked them and began taking them apart. The first one to try and free the High Angel was hit in the back by a fireball that had them screaming, before another adhesive Abomi-Potion put out the fire and glued them to the cliff too. Then a pair of them gunned for Boscha to try and stop her from attacking them, but Boscha dodged their attack and dove down to the sea, using an Ice Magic Bomb to freeze the surface and make a platform she could stand on to use her staff. With firm footing, Boscha then began using her Grudgby skills to dodge and weave around the two attacking Angels while the other three tried to save their leader and comrade. As she dodged though, Boscha conjured a Grudgby Ball and ignited it with blue flames before launching it at one of the two Angels attacking her. It hit them in the face and knocked them out of the sky and onto the ice platform, then Boscha used her limited Water Magic to create a tendril of water from the ice platform to grab the other attacking Angel and pull them out of the sky. Boscha then used the tendril to bludgeon one Angel against the other brutally, leaving both bruised, bleeding, and out cold, before Boscha froze them to the cliff.
This left only three Angels, and two immediately attacked Boscha again while the third tried to flee and get help. Boscha wasn’t about to let that happen though, and used some abomination slime to make a handheld slingshot, which she used to shoot a small explosive potion at the fleeing Angel. The explosive badly damaged one of the Angel’s wings and sent her screaming out of the sky, where she almost hit the sea, only for her to be saved by one of their comrades. The other was distracted by their relief, so Boscha was able to easily fly up behind them and kick them hard in the side of the head, enhancing the blow with a fire booster and smashing them into the side of the cliff, where the crater they made on impact was actually enough to hold them up. The last Angel, holding up their injured ally, flew so they were over the mainland of the isles before landing and throwing their hands up.
“We surrender! Please just sto-!”
The man’s words trailed off as Boscha silently tossed a potion at his feet, releasing sleeping gas that put the man and his injured ally to sleep within seconds, reducing the entire squad of Angels to unconsciousness.
Without even pausing, Boscha gathered up the unconscious Angels and used healing potions on them to repair the damage she’d caused, then tied them all to a tree and dosed them with Amnesia Tinctures to erase their memories of the last hour, ensuring they’d have no idea who was responsible for the theft of the Salty Sea Dog.
Once that was done, Boscha returned to the ship with a satisfied smile on her face, only to be met by the stunned and unsettled expressions of the others.
“What’s with that look?” she asked, “They’re alive, no worse for wear, and won’t be able to chase us or report on us.”
“Yeah, but don’t you think that was way too harsh?” Matt asked with a frown; “I mean, you really beat them down!”
“They’re the enemy, Matt.” Boscha crossed her arms; “Besides, I healed them! What’s the issue?”
“I’m not gonna split hairs over ya being a bit brutal.” Mason said softly; “We’re at war; people get hurt. It’s sad but true. But ya went off on ya own. We could o’ helped you.”
Boscha grew defensive; “What, do you think I’m so weak that I can’t handle six Angels and a High Angel!?”
“That’s not what I said.” Mason frowned; “I’m sayin’ it would o’ been faster and safer to let us help. We ain’t doubtin’ ya skills, Boscha.”
“They be right, Lass. No crew likes a sailor who don’t follow their cap’n!” Salty added.
Boscha’s scowl grew deeper and she turned to Luz, half challengingly and half hopefully; “Well Luz? Do you think I did something wrong?”
Luz frowned; “Not exactly.”
The three-eyed girl looked almost hurt; “What do you mean by that!?”
“Boscha, I don’t think you jumping into action is bad. You were a bit too brutal, but I’ve been guilty of that too; fights are rough and feelings get out of control, so I get it. You also fixed them up and covered your tracks, which is great!” Luz smiled, trying to soften the inevitable “but”.
“But… I get the feeling there was something else going on there. That attack felt like you were working out some frustrations.” Luz finished.
Boscha averted her eyes; “Who said anything about working out frustrations? And besides, what does it matter if I was!? I got the job done! I proved my worth! Isn’t that good enough!?”
Luz put her hands up gently; “Boscha, you don’t need to prove anything, least of all that you’re good enough. But it’s clear something is going on with you! We’re just worried that your emotions are running a little hot.”
Boscha growled and stalked past Luz to lean against the railing around the top deck of the ship; “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” she said dismissively.
“I think I do. Listen, Boscha… is this about what happened with Mami? Her choosing to sacrifice herself to save you?” Luz asked gently.
The sound of Boscha’s knuckles cracking as she clenched her fists filled the air, and she refused to look at anyone or answer, instead holding onto the railing with a white-knuckled grip, her entire body tense like a coiled spring. Luz saw this and sighed, then slowly approached; “Boscha, I understand how you feel but this isn’t healthy.”
“What do you know!?” Boscha snapped; “You’re strong! You can save yourself and everyone else! You’re not helpless!”
She spun around and glared at Luz; “And don’t feed me that “I understand” stuff! Can you honestly say you’d rather I be here than Camila!? That if the situation happened again, you wouldn’t rather she be saved than me!?”
Luz frowned; “Actually, yes; if the situation happened again I would save you. At least, if I was thinking practically I would. I hate to say it, but Mami was right; she has helped a lot in this rebellion but you are the more valuable ally!”
“Don’t lie to me!” Boscha yelled.
“I’m not!” Luz yelled back, “Angel, remember!? I’m not gonna scald my throat to tell a pointless lie! Do you think I’m any happier about this situation than you are!? That I want my Mami to be in the Divider’s grasp, with him doing who knows what with her!? I can’t even check on her through the Portal Seeds any more; when we tried to this morning, we found that the seeds aren’t finding her because the Divider put some spell on her!”
Boscha paled a little, not used to seeing Luz angry with her. The young Seraphim forced herself to take a deep breath, then said; “Look Boscha, I get it. You’re going through some stuff right now; you feel inadequate, you feel like you haven’t done enough to make up for your past mistakes, and that you haven’t changed enough on the inside. Believe me, I’ve been there! And when I felt that way, nothing I personally did would make it feel better… all I could do was listen to my friends and family. That includes you, Boscha. You helped me snap out of the downward spiral I was in. So listen to me and trust me when I say that you are doing fine.”
Luz put a hand on her shoulder, trying to ignore how Boscha flinched and tensed; “You’re not the bully you used to be. You’ve grown as a person and become better as a Witch. You may feel like you’re in a slump right now, but you’re still marching forward. I know it’s frustrating when you can’t see your own progress or when it feels like you’re going backward, but you’ve got to believe in yourself! Or at least believe in us, who believe in you.”
Boscha and Luz locked eyes for a second, the golden eyes of the latter filled with acceptance while the former’s silver ones were full of many conflicted emotions. Tears began to build in Boscha’s eyes and Luz tried to offer a reassuring smile, but Boscha just shook Luz’s hand off her shoulder and stalked away, heading below deck with a huff. An awkward silence followed in her wake, as Salty and his crew made a point of pretending nothing had happened as they began sailing the Salty Sea Dog towards the Dragon Graveyard Island, leaving Luz, Matt, Mason, Derwin, and Samael to just kind of stand around on deck, unsure of what to do.
“Well… that could have gone better.” Luz sighed, sitting on the deck against the railing; “Dang it, I shouldn’t have yelled at her like that…”
“It might not have been the wisest move, but you’re only a kid yourself. Don’t be too hard on yourself.” Derwin said.
“But what do we do now? This mission is kind of important! Is Boscha gonna be okay?” Matt asked.
Mason frowned; “I hate to say it, Luz… but ya might wanna consider sendin’ Boscha back to the others. She’s crackin’ under the pressure and actin’ all erratic. Could be dangerous for us going forward.”
Samael shook his head; “I don’t know… putting her in time out doesn’t sound like a good idea. If I were her and I was already upset, then kicking me off the team would make me feel a lot worse.”
“Samael’s right. I think sending Boscha away now would just make her think we didn’t trust her. It’d do more harm than good for her psyche.” Luz frowned. Her mind flashed back to when her friends had kept their experiments with the Distorted Sky to themselves, making her feel like they didn’t trust her. Of course, it had been for her own good (at least in their minds), but it had still hurt.
“For now, let’s just give her some time and a little space to cool off. Then we can try talking to her again.” Luz decided.
Mason didn’t look totally convinced, but agreed with their leader; “You got it, Boss. Just remember that the mission’s gotta come first. If Boscha becomes a liability, we gotta send her home with your portal.”
“That won’t happen. I’m sure of it.” Luz declared confidently.
The rest of the crew and Scouting Team nodded along and let the conversation end there, moving on to other topics. Sailing to the Dragon Graveyard was gonna take a few hours, especially since the island was to the east of the Boiling Isles, meaning they’d need to sail around the south of the Isles to reach it. Going north would be a shorter route, but also more dangerous as the submerged wings of Orion made for a lot of shallows that couldn’t be easily traversed, as well as a lot of unstable currents that would sweep them away. Combining the longer route with going slow so as not to draw the attention of the Wings of Rani patrols meant the trip was going to be a fairly long one, so as Salty’s crew got into the flow of work, Luz and the Scouting Team did their best to help out. There was a limit to what they could do though, and Salty’s crew was already like a well-oiled machine so adding more people just got in the way, so the team ended up sitting out of the way and just chatting.
The conversation naturally moved to Matt’s Dragonfly, since Luz and Samael were obviously full of child-like wonder over it, while Mason was fascinated by its construction and Derwin was just happy to be having a conversation “with the guys”. He spent most of his time with ladies, and while he adored his half-sister Amber and his adopted sister Katya, neither particularly enjoyed some of the more stereotypically “boyish” things that Derwin did, so he didn’t get to discuss them often.
“So all those weapons you made were originally meant to be handheld ones? Like Human Realm Guns?” Luz asked, fascinated.
“You bet! I wanted to make them more futuristic with lasers and stuff, but I couldn’t get the light glyph array to work in time.” Matt said, grinning as he was the centre of attention. “Instead I made the Titan Bone Gatling Gun, the Capture Clay Gun, the Shield Stake Launcher, the Twilight Missiles, and the fifth weapon I didn’t get to show off; the Dragon Breath Cannon! That one would shoot fire or water generated by glyphs!”
“They’re incredible designs, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to make them handheld. Can you imagine people using them on each other as weapons of war? If you’d been shooting at anyone but an Archivist, the Bone Gatling Gun and Twilight Missiles would have been lethal!” Derwin said.
Samael looked confused; “But aren’t spells already super dangerous?”
“They are, but they take skill to use and are easier to defend against with defensive magic. A gun that shoots Titan Bone that fast and with just the pull of a trigger would be very hard to stop, especially at close range.” Derwin explained; “Even the Huntsman wasn’t fast enough.”
Luz began to think of Human Weapons and grimaced; “Derwin may have a point. If you can make light blasters that only stun or something, then that’s great, but lethal weapons are probably not something you should develop. I love the whole Tony Stark thing you’ve got going, Matt, but I don’t think you want his Merchant of Death moniker too.”
Matt nodded; “Way ahead of you. That’s why I wanted to focus on the lasers, but with time not on our side and all, I didn’t have a lot of options. I won’t be developing this stuff further; I want to make cool stuff, not weapons for killing.”
The others could all agree with that, though Mason did have a concern; “What happened to ya Dragonfly anyhow? Ya didn’t bring it through the portal for obvious reasons, but leavin’ it in the Divider’s hands would be bad too.”
“Don’t worry, I destroyed it. I overloaded the Twilight Engine and trapped the thing inside one of the Barriers I can make with the Shield Stake Gun. The whole thing blew to smithereens; no pieces big enough to identify. The designs for the guns are also all up here.” Matt tapped the side of his head; “No way are they replicating those weapons! But I can of course! I’ve already got plans for the Beta Release!”
That got everyone excited, so Matt began going over some of his plans and blueprints, showing off aspects of his Integration Magic and its hologram-like simulation spells. It was amazing, but Matt used a lot of sci-fi jargon and technical stuff that only nerds like Luz or experts like Mason could understand, so Derwin was a little lost. Samael was too, but he just loved watching the holograms and hearing about the Cosmic Frontier stuff Matt compared his designs too.
Feeling out of his depth and realising that they were now two hours into their trip, Derwin decided to go and check on Boscha. Luz wanted to, but Derwin thought a more neutral face might be better for the distressed girl at this stage, and Luz ultimately agreed, so she watched as Derwin headed down below deck.
It took him a minute to find where Boscha had hidden herself, but one of Salty’s crew had silently pointed towards the smugglers compartment in the cargo hold, so Derwin gave him a nod of thanks and headed down there, letting himself in. He found Boscha sitting in the corner of the compartment with her head buried in her arms and knees, making him sigh sadly.
“Hey Boscha. It’s Derwin. I thought I’d come check on you.” he said softly.
Boscha sniffled and wiped her face before showing it to Derwin. She’d clearly been crying, but was doing her best to hide the evidence. “Well you’ve checked on me. I’m fine.” she said in a painfully blank voice, before burying her face again; “You can go now.”
Derwin frowned, then slowly sat down beside her; “Yeah no. I can’t leave after seeing that face.”
Boscha didn’t say anything in response, so Derwin just sat beside her in silence for a minute, gently humming away to himself. It was a soothing song, though he wasn’t putting any magic into it since he didn’t want to force Boscha’s emotions to change unnaturally. Still, it had the desired effect and Boscha slowly raised her head from her knees.
“What do you want, Derwin?” she asked.
“Exactly what I said; to check on you. I’d like to help make you feel better too, if you’ll tell me the problem.” Derwin said, summoning his Palisman Dulcett and having the little ferret begin hopping around and squeaking adorably to try and cheer Boscha up. The three-eyed girl was more bewildered than amused, but then opened her arms to reveal that Maya had been hidden inside the old Grudgby jersey she wore. Maya scuttled down and began to play with Dulcett, making the two Witches smile. Boscha was glad that Maya got to enjoy herself; it wasn’t fair for the little crab’s mood to constantly be brought down by her partner.
However that did not mean she was overly eager to talk.
“Thanks for helping cheer up Maya, but you’re wasting your time. I doubt my problems will be worth your time.” Boscha muttered bitterly.
“Let me be the judge of that.” Derwin replied; “Besides, I do this for Katya and Amber all the time. Especially when they wanted to vent about boys. It was one of the only topics they wouldn’t go to Ma with.”
“My problem doesn’t involve boys.” Boscha huffed, rolling her eyes.
“I’m sure Skara will be glad to hear it! She’s grown up a lot, but I don’t think she’s in to sharing!” Derwin smirked.
The silly joke made Boscha chuckle; “Yeah, you’re right. Skara really has grown up a lot… but then again, it was always me who held her back. She’d never have been a bully if not for me.”
The girl’s face fell and Derwin frowned; “Maybe, maybe not. Ultimately, Skara made her own decisions. Would you have stopped being her friend if she didn’t bully people?”
“No! Of course not! Skara was my best friend!” Boscha exclaimed, offended by the very idea of it.
“Then Skara’s decision to go along with the bullying was her sin. She made the decision, and even if she only did it because she made a wrong assumption, she still did the wrong thing. Then she changed and began doing the right thing.” Derwin said, remembering how Raine had been so proud of her and boasted shamelessly. He then looked to Boscha with a coy grin; “I think you did the same.”
“Me?” Boscha scowled.
“Yes, you! You did bad things for stupid and bad reasons. I’m not going to sugar coat it; from what I heard, you were a nasty jerk. The way you treated Willow and what you threatened to do to Luz back at that Grudgby Game was disgusting.” Derwin said seriously, making Boscha shrink on herself a little out of shame. Derwin wasn’t doing this to hurt her of course, but rather to remind her of where she started.
“Compare that nasty and cruel girl to the young lady you are now. That Boscha wouldn’t be crying alone because she’s afraid she isn’t doing enough for her friends, or because she felt guilty someone sacrificed themselves for her. That Boscha would have scoffed and insulted everyone for not being good enough without her help. That Boscha no longer exists, and warts and all, I think everyone prefers the new Boscha.” Derwin said.
“New me? I don’t feel like a new me… I feel like the same old jerk I always was.” Boscha confessed.
“Why? You’re not bullying anyone. You’re not as coarse or rude. You apologised to Willow and helped her out of a bad spot. Would the old jerk you do any of that?” Derwin asked.
“I guess not.” Boscha said in a small voice; “But it doesn’t feel like I’ve done enough to make up for what I’ve done in the past. I’ve been trying so hard, but I feel like I’m moving too slowly.”
Derwin looked her in the eye for a moment, then said; “Perhaps your problem is that you’re trying TOO hard.”
Boscha blinked; “Trying too hard? What the heck does that mean!?”
“Exactly that. You’re trying so hard to change, to get better, to prove you’re not the old you any more, that you’re kind of brute forcing it. Putting hard work into something is great, but you’ve also got to give yourself a break. You made huge strides at first, but now your progress has slowed and you’re trying to work harder to pick the pace up again, but that’s not how it works!” Derwin told her; “Life isn’t a perfect equation where you put more effort in and get more results out. You’ll get diminishing returns sometimes.”
“Diminishing returns?” Boscha questioned; “You’re saying that putting in more effort doesn’t mean getting out more results?”
“That’s right.” Derwin smiled; “You’re a talented kid, so it’s natural for you to think; “If I work hard enough, I’ll get the results I want.” But everyone hits a wall eventually. You can keep chipping away at it little by little, using hard work or you can find another way to go. But if you’re chipping away expecting the same results as before you hit the wall, you’re just gonna crash and burn, and lose your enthusiasm! Heck, you could even lose progress!”
Boscha blinked in surprise; “Lose progress? How!? I can’t get weaker, right!?” she asked, terrified at the prospect.
“Well when it comes to training your magic, try too hard and you can injure yourself. Many Witches and Demons strained their bile sacs through over-training and hurt themselves. But on the more emotional stuff, like trying to be a better person, it’s easy to fall back into old habits. Case and point, you did get snappy at Luz earlier.” Derwin told her. Boscha looked stricken, but Derwin was quick to continue; “No, that doesn’t mean you’re becoming a bully again or that all your progress was for nothing or imagined. It’s just that it’s easy to get frustrated and give up when you don’t see results.”
That was a small relief to Boscha, who gave Derwin a desperate look; “So what should I do? I’m so confused! I don’t want to be that person any more! But I don’t want to be weak either! I want to be someone the others can rely on! Someone who can protect Skara, and who can keep competing with Willow, Luz, and Amity!”
Derwin leaned back against the wall with a wistful smile; “Let me tell you a little story. The story of how I became the apprentice of the great Raine Whispers. You might find its got some similarities to your situation.”
Boscha blinked, wondering if this would be like when Barcus revealed he’d once been a bully. Unsure, she sat back at listened quietly as Derwin began his tale.
“When I was a little kid, I was a bit like you. I was considered a prodigy; one of the best of the best! It took me a while to find my niche in magic because I tried each one and found them too easy. Sure it was only the intro level stuff, but none of it was difficult and I craved a challenge. I ended up going with Bardic Magic because it was supposed to be the hardest to learn; you needed talent with music, and dextrous hands and deep lungs to be able to perform it properly. It was something I actually had to try for, and I enjoyed that. I liked the challenge.” Derwin said, smiling wistfully as he reminisced. “Plus there’s always more music to discover.”
“That’s part of why I like potions so much. You can always learn more and discover more.” Boscha said, smiling a little.
“Exactly! Potions never personally caught my attention though, since the entry-level mechanics were too easy and the higher levels were too dangerous for a little kid. Thankfully unless you’re playing the Carnivorous Castanets, Bardic Magic is rarely dangerous for the user.” Derwin chuckled; “But unfortunately for me, while Bardic Magic started off hard, I picked up the basics pretty fast and soon excelled further and further. Through my school years, I mastered everything I was given to do in the Bard Track with minimal effort and it ended up costing me my enthusiasm.”
Derwin looked at his hands with a sad sigh; “I craved challenge, so when everything felt too easy, I lost passion for it. Passion is crucial for creativity and music, so without it I was was lost. I ghosted through the rest of my school years without any real desires and struggled with depression. The only positives in my life at the time were my family. My Birth Mom divorced my Dad when I was two since they were just not compatible after all, and my Birth Mom later passed away in an accident when I was three, so I never really knew her. Dad then met Amber’s Mom and later married her, and she became my Mom too, while Amber became my little sister. She helped me with my depression by giving me something to focus on; she was a challenge I couldn’t just conquer with ease! I sometimes think she acted up specifically to keep me engaged with the world and out of my depression!”
Boscha giggled; “That sounds nice. I always wanted a little sister too, but my parents only wanted one child.”
“It was nice. There are times I think Amber saved my life… going through life with nothing to strive for and a growing depression was rough and there were times I had dark thoughts. Thankfully they never went far enough for me to act on them, but looking back on it does scare me with how close I came a few times.” Derwin shuddered. Boscha shuddered too; no matter how low she’d felt, she’d never contemplated any kind of self-harm. She pushed herself too hard sometimes, especially at the moment, but she never wanted to hurt herself.
“Eventually Rogier was born too, and I did my best to be a good role model, but school was still depressing. Eventually I graduated and joined the Bard Coven, where I could finally take the next step… only to smash into a wall. Going from school level Bardic Magic to Coven level was a huge leap; the kind of leap most people can usually make with a little effort, but I had a huge problem. I was one of the “gifted” kids who’d barely had to try, and despite wanting a challenge, I found that once I got what I wanted, it was too much for me. I didn’t know how to keep up! Without having to really work hard for so long, I didn’t really know how to.” Derwin said, the frustration clear in his voice.
Boscha could sort of sympathise; she’d often heard of gifted students peaking early and then burning out. Things came naturally to them and so they didn’t have to strive for them like other kids, and so they never learned HOW to strive for things. The result was them falling behind in the future, when they reached the limits of their natural talent. It was like the Bile Barrier, only for the brain as a whole.
“So I’m guessing you struggled really hard with getting better?” Boscha asked.
Derwin nodded; “It was a nightmare. Suddenly there was all new terminology and skills to learn, and I’d had it so easy so far that I didn’t know how to handle it all. I tried my best, but my progress was slow and I got frustrated. I kept chipping away at the wall as hard as I could, not understanding why I wasn’t getting better. I became wildly inconsistent too; some things I was still a natural at and learned quickly, but the other stuff was too tough for me to pick up fast and my mood declined, making it worse. I found my motivation going down and my depression going up, until I’d all but lost my enthusiasm for music and magic. The other Bards in the coven were either angry at my successes or my lack of motivation, and I lost the ability to make my own music at all… I ended up relegated to grunt work, just like Katya was after she was blacklisted, and just like Amber was when she was labelled a problem child.”
“And that’s when Raine came into the picture, right?” the three-eyed girl asked, clearly invested in Derwin’s story.
“You got it.” Derwin grinned; “Amber had already caught their attention and become their student, and referred me to them. Raine met with me and we talked, similar to how we are now, and they told me about their confidence issues. They said that everyone goes through some kind of trial in life, or has some barrier between them and success, but if we accept that and try to approach our barriers constructively, we can overcome them. It takes time and effort, but it works. Ironically enough, Raine told me the same thing I told you; that I was working too hard.”
Derwin closed his eyes and remembered sitting across from Raine in a cafe in Manubrium, sipping a hot choco-smilk that Raine had bought him. The Bard smiled at him and said;
“It must sound silly; “you’re working too hard” doesn’t sound like a good reason for lack of progress. But I think it’s true. You’re working so hard on your Bardic Magic, but that makes it frustrating when you’re not getting results, so you put in more effort. That’ll only lead to burning out! You need to step back, appreciate the progress you’ve made, and accept that it’s going to be slow and difficult. You’re a genius, but that also means you’ve got high standards and that left you with no idea how to properly manage your effort when genius alone isn’t enough.”
Derwin had looked at them with confusion and asked; “But I’m supposed to work less hard, and that’s going to help me make more progress? I don’t get it.”
Raine had smiled; “I know. It’s hard to get your head around. But you need to focus less on “more progress” and more on “some progress”. Here’s my sure-fire method to success; keep your goals small and strive to learn one new thing or improve something each time you sit down to practice. No matter how small or easy it is. Then once you’ve done that, stop and appreciate the progress you just made, and be sure to reward yourself! Be proud of your small progress, take a rest, and do something else that you enjoy! Learning skills is like a marathon; you started out with a sprint and got some massive distance, but now you’re out of steam and just need to trundle along, one foot in front of the other.”
Derwin still remembered the budding epiphany in his chest upon hearing Raine’s words, but he also still had his doubts; “But then won’t I fall behind?”
To which Raine replied “It’s not a race. This marathon only has one runner and one winner; you.”
Derwin smiled fondly at the memory as he recounted the conversation to Boscha, who looked suddenly introspective. The idea that her journey of self-improvement was like a marathon, and one in which she had no competition, resonated with her a little.
“Only one runner and only one winner…” she whispered softly.
“That’s right.” Derwin smiled; “It’s your life, Boscha. No one can live it better than you, so there’s no contest and no rush.”
“But I… I did so many horrible things. It doesn’t feel right to not put my all into making up for them!” Boscha argued half-heartedly. She wasn’t really arguing to try and convince Derwin or even herself, but in hopes of getting a counterargument that she could use against her own insecurities.
“It’s good to want to repent, but you need to stop and look at what you’ve done! Look at all the support you’ve given to the CATTs! To the Hexsquad! And remember the apology you gave Willow! That was a big step that really impacted her! Stop and appreciate the progress you’ve already made!” Derwin reiterated.
So Boscha did; she stopped and thought about all she’d done since that day when she’d threatened Luz over the Grudgby Game. That had been the first time she’d realised she had to be better; Skara’s words had driven her to try and change, and Luz’s encouragement had helped. She remembered how hard it had been to swallow her pride and apologise to Willow too, but couldn’t deny the freeing feeling she’d gotten from it. That, combined with Boscha being well aware of her own nature, made her come to a conclusion.
“I think… I think I’ve been letting my competitiveness get in the way again.” Boscha confessed. “That competitiveness is what drove me to be a bully, and now it’s driving me to mess up again!”
Derwin hummed; “How so?”
“I’ve been treating my changes as a contest! Like I have to be the best at redemption and self-improvement! As if being a better person is something I can “win”… but it’s making me toxic again. Whenever I get hypercompetitive, I get obsessive and any failure to live up to my own standards just gets me beating myself up over it! I want to be better and win, but this isn’t the kind of thing where that works!” Boscha exclaimed, looking like everything was falling into place within her confused heart.
Since she was little, Boscha had the attitude of a winner and the belief that if you weren’t a winner, then you were a loser. She’d begun to shed that attitude as she strived to be a better person, but she’d only shed it when it came to others; she still held herself to that standard! And with people like Amity, Matt, Hunter, and even Skara all trying to redeem past mistakes, Boscha had seen them as rivals on the redemption race, rather than compatriots with a shared burden. The same ugly feelings had reared their heads when she realised that others were learning new magic and she hadn’t yet managed to make her own, leaving her feeling like a loser.
But she was wrong; she was doing enough and she wasn’t a loser! She was running a one-woman marathon and she was the only one who’d win!
“I feel… better now.” Boscha sighed with relief as the tension left her; “I still want to be better, but I get that pushing myself like that was the wrong way to do it.”
“Atta girl!” Derwin smiled, lightly slapping her on the back; “Just acknowledging that is the first step! And remember that working hard and doing your best is a good thing, but you need to pace yourself too. You’re doing fine, Boscha; you can believe that.”
Closing her eyes, Boscha thought back to the past few months and the way she’d acted. People had Hexside had been happier to not have to deal with her caustic remarks and had still shown her respect as a Witch and Grudgby Captain. Luz, the girl she’d hurt most (aside from Willow) had accepted her into the Hexsquad and later her home in the Human Realm, where Camila had also accepted her. Willow, the one she’d really hurt the most, hadn’t forgiven her but had still seen her progress and given her a second chance, and if her biggest victim could see that she’d changed, maybe that was proof enough of her progress? Skara certainly seemed to appreciate it too; she spoke her mind more instead of just following Boscha’s lead, and was confident enough to reprimand her when she slipped, yet loving enough to be nice about it.
Then there was her actual skills as a Witch; Boscha had never stopped learning everything she could about Potions and the elements that went into it, as well as Abominations. Sure she was no Eda Clawthorne when it came to the former, or Amity Blight when it came to the latter, but now that Boscha thought about it, she HAD made steady progress. She’d gotten better at Transmutation, had developed Abomi-Potions, and had begun learning Angelic Alchemy and Human Chemistry to further improve her skills! While she’d yet to have a huge blow-out success like the rest of the Hexsquad, she’d still been working hard and getting better!
“Maybe… maybe I’m not doing so bad after all.” Boscha admitted, a small smile on her face as she felt a lightness in her chest. “I let everything that happened yesterday get to me. It’s just… I’m not used to feeling like I can’t keep up with everyone. And even if I had stupid reasons for it before, I still don’t want to let Willow beat me!”
Derwin chuckled; “Rivalries, so long as they’re healthy, can be good for you! I love Amber and Katya with all my heart, but I still compete with them! A little friendly competition doesn’t hurt anyone.”
Boscha nodded; “You’re right. Ugh, I feel kind of stupid for overreacting so much.”
“These things happen; you’re still a kid after all! And spoiler alert from an actual adult; you’re not gonna have it all figured out as an adult either. We’re all just winging it! So don’t worry so much!” Derwin clapped her on the back; “Oh, and since I know you’re still feeling bad about Camila; I think she made the right choice in choosing to save you.”
“You do?” Boscha frowned.
“Yes. You’re a kid, but you’re also talented and a big part of the Hexsquad. Camila’s a smart lady; everything she can do, she knows Luz can do just as well if not better, but there are skills you’ve got that no one else quite matches. Your combo of Potions and Abominations, your fire power, and your skill in battle are all invaluable.” Derwin complimented; “Being objective, you’re more helpful to the rebellion that Camila, and she knew that. Besides, she is a mother and would never sacrifice one of the kids who’d she’d taken under her wing.”
Boscha couldn’t help but nod along with that; there was no way Camila would abandon her even if she’d been useless! That was just the kind of lady Camila was… heck, that seemed to be the defining trait of the Noceda family!
With a deep sigh, Boscha allowed some more of the tension to bleed from her. She still didn’t feel totally right, but she did feel a heck of a lot better. “Thanks Derwin. I appreciate this.”
“No problem, Boscha. You remind me a lot of my little sisters; you’ve got Amber’s mischief and Katya’s fire! And both their violent streaks, but don’t tell them I said that!” Derwin winked.
Boscha laughed and promised, then said; “If you don’t mind, I’d like a little more time alone to mull things over.”
Derwin eyed her a little, but believed she was feeling better, so he nodded and stood up; “Sure thing. Come on up again when you’re feeling up to it! Don’t worry; the others won’t be mad or upset with you or anything.”
“I’m glad. Thanks.” Boscha replied, then gestured for Maya to come back over and cuddle with her again as Derwin picked up Dulcett and headed out the door, his little Ferret Palisman waving an adorable little paw at Maya, who snipped her pincers as a way of saying goodbye.
With Boscha now feeling better and thinking more about her place in the world and the progress she’d made, Derwin headed back up to the main deck and found the others still chatting idly about fun new inventions that Matt could make. Samael was playing with a toy Titan that Matt and Mason had whipped up and enchanted, so it would move, fly, and go “Weh!” whenever Samael gave it verbal commands. Luz was giggling as she watched and creating little Homunculi versions of King and Samael, then having them chase each other around as Stringbean (in the form of a little Thunder Wyvern) flapped around and tried to eat them. When Derwin came out to join them, Luz just looked up and asked;
“Is Boscha doing okay?”
Derwin nodded; “She’s feeling better, just needs some more time to think.”
Luz accepted that answer and dropped the subject, not wanting to ask about a private conversation. If Boscha or Derwin wanted to volunteer details, they could, but until then Luz would keep out of it.
Boscha didn’t reappear for another hour, by which point they actually came within sight of their destination.
“Land ho! Our destination be just off the Starboard Bow!” Salty yelled, pointing off to the north east. Everyone on deck followed his finger and laid eyes on the Dragon Graveyard Island. Luz had been picturing a giant island with a volcano and dragon skeletons, and that was pretty much what she’d gotten!
The Dragon Graveyard Island was about the half the size of the Ash Moth and Palm Stings Desert, as well as Titan Trapper Island, though it wasn’t made from a Titan’s body. Instead, a large (dormant) volcano had risen out of the sea and formed an island around it with its eruptions. The verdant soil pushed up from the sea floor and fertilised with ash had resulted in a dense jungle forming around the base of the volcano, though the now dormant mountain looked noticeably lumpy and strange, as if a second mountain had started growing out of its side. There were also strange raised plateaus that rose out of the jungle and were home to the graves of countless dragons. Some were buried in funeral mounts, leaving raised hills all over the island, while others were just the discarded skeletons of dragons that had been left to decay under the sun atop the plateaus, resulting in bleached white dragon bones decorating them. It reminded Luz heavily of something out of Jurassic Park, which would normally have excited her, but the sight of numerous abandoned ships from the Boiling Isles soured her mood.
Mason saw them too and frowned; “Those are older model EC ships.”
“From the expedition that your Mom went on with Belos…” Luz frowned, noticing one of the ships had an Illusion Coven flag. Mason saw where she was looking and gave a grim look.
“There’s yet another tragic tale in the saga of this infernal expedition.” Mason said; “The Illusion Coven came along too, or at least some of them did. The leader o’ the Coven at the time was a man who loved the sea and was eager to come along. Oshun Waves was his name. Ma’ said that he liked to joke that with a name like his, he was destined for the water. If Belos wanted to sail somewhere, you could bet old Oshun was out there with him, leading the fleet. Ma often said it were a shame he weren’t born a Merrow. Was also a wrestler o’ some renown, if the tales be true. Supposedly only joined up with the Illusionists because water was his favourite element.”
Deep within her, Luz felt Shelly the Turtle Palisman squirming a little, a sombre squeak emerging from him that filled her heart with sadness. Poor Oshun must have been Shelly’s old partner…
Derwin, unaware of Luz’s feelings, asked; “Did Luna tell you what happened to Old Oshun?”
“Yeah…” Mason sighed; “He stayed back to mind the boats. He captained Belos’ flagship, which ain’t here no more. When Ma came runnin’ after discoverin’ Belos’ dirty secret, she tried to get Oshun to sail away. But Belos were too quick and started killin’ the crews. He tried to petrify me Ma then and there, but Oshun shielded her with his own body on the deck of the flagship. Turned to stone then and there… Don’t know what happened to him after that. I never found his statue, so Belos either destroyed it, hid it, or abandoned it somewhere.”
Luz clenched her knuckled; “He also took Oshun’s Palisman, and the Palismen of the others he murdered…!”
Matt gulped; “Dang… Wait, what about Luna’s Palisman?”
“Oh, Ol’ Kale? She’s a Kelpie Palisman that my Ma left with my Pa when she turned herself in to save us and we fled the isles. She went dormant when Ma was petrified. I left her behind with the flotilla when I returned to the isles, but if Ma is back and alive, she could probably wake up Kale and summon her back? Not sure Ma even tried yet.” Mason shrugged.
Luz was already aware Kale wasn’t one of the Palismen within her, and she had little hope of finding Oshun’s statue here on the island. If Belos didn’t dump him, he’d be hidden in the castle. Perhaps his was one of the statues the Divider was trying to cure.
Mason then said; “Getting back to the matter of the ships; they must definitely be the remains of the ships Belos and the expedition took to get here…”
“I guess it makes sense that they’d still be here. Luna fled underwater, and Belos would probably have flown back with his stolen wings. No way he’d sail a ship by himself.” Matt added grimly.
“If he did, he’d probably spread some dumb lie.” Boscha said, suddenly appearing from below deck; “I can already imagine it; “The Titan granted me the power to sail complex ships all by myself! Praise me and my nautical mastery!” she mocked, doing a bad impression of Belos.
The others on the scouting team chuckled, their mood lightening a little. “Oh Titan, I can totally see that. Belos is like that North Korean Dictator who makes up all kinds of wild claims.” Luz giggled as Boscha came to stand beside her. She then quietly said; “Good to have you with us again, Boscha.”
“Good to be here. And listen; I’m sorry for being a snappy jerk earlier.” Boscha said softly.
“You’re forgiven; I get it. And I’m sorry for yelling back; it wasn’t the right way to handle things.” Luz replied.
Boscha rolled her eyes; “Don’t apologise for showing some backbone, Noceda. Now lets stop the sappy stuff before I gag! Give us our orders, Boss.”
She said those words with a teasing grin, making Luz smile brightly and the rest of the team grin with relief, while Derwin nodded proudly. Luz then focused her mind and got back to the task at hand.
“Salty, see if you can find a good spot to moor the ship near the abandoned ones. If they made land fall there, it’s probably a good spot.” Luz ordered, getting a nod of acknowledgement as Salty and his crew jumped to obey. She then looked at the island more closely and said; “The Scouting Team should split up. Mason and Matt, investigate the volcano for signs of seismic activity and also see if you can find a way to the old Angel city. I’d wager my right hand that its buried in that weird looking mountain next to the volcano.”
“Yes Boss!” Mason and Matt said together, each grinning as their Palismen gave little salutes.
“Derwin and Boscha, you guys should check out the ships and see if you can find anything we can salvage. Also, see if you can find the trail of the expedition team and do a survey of plants and fauna; I don’t think we’ll see more than birds here, but we still need to make sure its safe before we bring our friends here.”
Derwin and Boscha smiled and exchanged a fist bump before the latter said; “We’re on it. I guess that leaves you and Sammy?”
Luz nodded and smiled to her Little Big Brother; “Samael, you and I are going to check out the dragon skeletons and make sure there are no nasty surprises. I also want to see if I can find the monument left by Lillian Clawthorne for her friend. Plus we should be on the look out for signs of the Draco-Lich her friend became; with my luck, I don’t trust an Undead Dragon to stay dead, and we need to make sure there are no Galdorstones lying around either.”
Samael floated around beside her with a curious look; “I don’t think that meanie left any behind, but who knows! Ooh, it could be like a scavenger hunt! Do I get a prize if I find any!?”
“Uh, sure. I’ll buy you a new Human Realm video game! I know you’ll love those!” Luz offered.
Samael promptly cheered and flew off on his own, making Luz sigh and shake her head; “I guess we’re starting early! You guys catch up when the boat finally docks!”
With that, she flew off too and chased Samael the short distance to the Dragon Graveyard Island. They both landed on the beach near the abandoned ships and then walked into the jungle, heading towards a clearing full of funeral mounds. As they walked, they found the remains of a dragon nest and several smashed eggs, as well as skeletons that had been left out unburied and off the plateaus too, making Luz nervous. After hearing the story of Lillian Clawthorne from her Abuelo back before the Day of Unity, Luz had asked him a lot about her and her adventures, especially her most famous one with the Draco-Lich. Dell hadn’t known many more details since the story was apparently a sad one that Lillian didn’t like telling, so it hadn’t been passed down that well, but he DID know a lot about the island.
In the roughly 400 years since Lillian slew the Draco-Lich and buried him here, his bones had drawn other wild Dragons to the island for communal burial, and even the more unintelligent Dragons practised a kind of funeral. The two most common kinds were Earth Burial and Sky Burial. Earth Burial was when a Dragon’s corpse was encased in clay and earth, then baked with Dragon Fire or magma to create a kind of natural cairn, which was then further buried to form Funeral Mounds, ensuring the Dragon’s body was preserved for as long as possible, allowing only plants to feast on them. Sky Burial was the opposite; the Dragons would leave their dead out to rot in the sun and be food for the birds and other animals, hence why they were left on high plateaus with minimal greenery. Dell had explained that this was because Dragons tended to either be hyper aggressive and only allow their bodies to be consumed by a force stronger than them (the all-encompassing power of mother nature being the most favoured option), or more in-tune with the cycle of life and allowing their bodies to be fed on by those who’d gain the most benefit (namely other, smaller creatures).
If Dragon corpses had been left on the jungle floor like this, it could only mean they had died violently and had no one left to bury them or move them to the plateaus. The presence of destroyed nests, complete with smashed eggs, also painted a very unpleasant scene.
“Oh no… The poor little dragon babies.” Samael cried, his lip quivering. He then glared; “I bet it was that liar liar pants on fire!”
“I think you’re right, Sammy.” Luz said softly, petting his head to comfort him; “Mason and Luna mentioned that the island wasn’t uninhabited when he came here. They fought and killed many dragons who called the island home, to take the Galdorstones that formed inside them.”
“How sad…” Samael whimpered; “Do all Dragons have Galdorstone hearts?”
Luz shook her head; “No. Tio Rasiel told me that only those who serve the Titans get Galdorstone hearts, as the Titan Magic crystallises them with time. But since lesser dragon species are descended from the Supreme Dragons who started out as Titan Priests, I guess some of them inherited enough power to develop them too. That and some Supreme Dragons from other lands might have buried their dead companions here.”
“Huh… there aren’t a lot of Dragons left, are there?” Samael asked.
“No.” Luz said sadly; “Amity said that all species are fairly endangered, with some on the verge of extinction. Things like this…” she pointed to the destroyed nest; “… are probably why. Dragons are strong and dangerous, so other people teamed up to kill them. It’s just like what they did to the Basilisks and Mandragoras.”
“Or what my old siblings did to the Titans…” Samael said bitterly.
Luz put a hand on his back; “I know it’s painful, but none of that was your fault Sammy. They lied and used you.”
“I know… it’s just not fair! All my old friends disappeared because of them, and now people like Belos makes the dragons disappear. I bet that’s why there aren’t any more dragons here on the island… they didn’t want to go somewhere their babies weren’t safe.” Samael scowled, gently picking up a shattered egg. A few tiny, half-formed bones were inside it, which only made the two Angels sadder.
Samael was probably right too; Dell had told Luz that Dragon Graveyards often doubled as nesting grounds. Ancient Dragons had felt that places saturated with their blood and bone were sacred and a good place to rear their young, and the unintelligent Dragons of the modern age could likely sense the residual power of the Titans inside the bodies of dead Dragons, and made their nests there. The fact there was no signs of living Dragons likely meant that Belos’ attack had tainted the place.
Putting that aside, the two flew up to the nearest plateau and gazed upon all the skeletons left behind. There were bones from all kinds of Dragons; Drakes, Amphitheres, Wyverns, Wyrms, Coatls, and even rarer species like the Kirin. Heck, Luz even saw the bones of a few “True Dragons”, which were four legged, two winged creatures that most closely resembled the western style dragons that Luz had seen a lot of in fantasy stories. There were no signs of Galdorstones though, and when Luz and Samael focused their magic on their senses and looked for signs of other magic, all they found were some species of bird, a few kinds of flora, and the rest of the scouting team.
“I guess there’s nothing here. Let’s check all the plateaus. I’ll take the ones on the north side, you take the ones on the south.” Luz said; “Use a magic flare to call me if you find something, and I’ll do the same. If we find nothing, we can meet up on top of the volcano. Oh! And if you see any Witch-made stuff like graves, or Angel-made stuff then call me!”
Samael gave a little salute, cheering himself up now that he had an objective! They each flew off in a different direction and began to explode the plateaus, though they would find no Galdorstones. Belos had been thorough in picking the place clean of them, but that didn’t mean there was nothing to discover! Samael found ancient signs of battle, while Luz noticed that each plateau seemed to be dedicated to a specific element of Dragon, with some baring the telltale hollow bones associated with Wind Dragons, while others were denser like Earth Dragons or had fins like Water Dragons. There were even a few skeletons of Supreme Dragons, including two Ice Wyrms and an Arbor Lindwurm, though without signs of any Witch or Demon bones, meaning they either abandoned their Dragon forms here and then left and died elsewhere, or these Supreme Dragons were the children of others.
According to the scrolls that Steve had brought back from the Snapdragon Estate, and which Luz had perused to keep herself awake between the Mandragora Mission and the trip into the dream world, Supreme Dragons could breed with each other in their Dragon forms to produce more Supreme Dragons, which didn’t have Witch/Demon forms and were less intelligent. These second generation Supreme Dragons were the progenitors of all other Dragon Species too, though each successive generation furthered them from the Titans’ power and made them weaker, smaller, and less intelligent.
However since they found no Galdorstones, Luz and Samael went and met up again atop the volcano. It had been well over half a millennium since the last eruption, so the mountain was quiet, though the peak was covered in obsidian, giving the whole place a glassy black sheen. The top of the mountain had also clearly been sculpted by someone, as a pathway with stone steps led around the slope in a spiral that led to the top, where the caldera stood. The pathway was hidden amongst the jagged edges of the mountainside, and the inside of the caldera; which had largely been turned black and shiny by the volcanic glass, had a shrine built inside.
“Huh… I think I found the grave of Lillian’s friend.” Luz whispered to herself as she and Samael entered the Caldera. The entire thing was large enough to fit the Owl House and its surrounding clearing inside it quite comfortably, and a sculpture of Obsidian sat in the dead centre. The sculpture depicted an Ice Wyrm, a Fire Drake, and a Thunder Wyvern all intertwined, with a crystal slab held between them. The slab contained a small blackened Galdorstone (which Luz couldn’t sense any magic from) and was engraved with runic lettering.
“A Black Galdorstone? I never knew they came in different colours.” Samael commented.
“I don’t think they do.” Luz replied, touching the slab and using a light spell to channel light through it, making the runic letters stand out a little more.
“It reads; “Here lies Demetrius Deamonne, a dear friend. Let not his blackened heart deceive you; for in life it was pure as driven snow. Beware, ye who seek Dragonhood; the path is wrought with peril and the Titan’s blessing alone cannot make up for missteps, nor are blessings given to those who commit a sin. Let this monument stand in warning that even the pure can become corrupted by their reckless desires. Farewell my friend. Lillian Clawthorne will never forget you.” Damn…” Luz recited, her heart sinking.
“Deamonne… isn’t that Mr. Darius’ name?” Samael asked as Luz mourned the fallen man.
“Yeah. Demetrius must have been a distant relative. Either he had a kid who survived him, or he’s from a different branch of the family… either way, he met a nasty fate.” Luz said sadly. “Failing the Rite of Ascension turned him into a monstrous Draco Lich, and turned his heart into a blackened Galdorstone.”
“I don’t understand… how did he fail the ritual?” the young Collector asked, eyeing the blackened heart with curiosity.
“Abuelo told me that he did the ritual properly, but he didn’t get Tio Orion’s blessing. He murdered a young Dragon for its heart, so Tio rejected him.” Luz revealed.
Samael scowled; “So he was a bad guy!”
“I don’t think it’s that simple. From what Abuelo said, and what Lillian left on this monument, he was a dear friend who became obsessed with becoming a Dragon and went too far.” Luz replied, looking back at Samael; “Sometimes good people do bad things, or get caught up in things they didn’t mean to. Like how you were caught up in your siblings’ plans. Demetrius did something awful by killing that young Dragon for its heart, but he must have been a good man before that if Lillian considered him a friend.” she then regarded the black Galdorstone; “Supreme Dragon Hearts are Galdorstones, but when he failed to get a blessing from Tio, Demetrius’ heart must have turned into this corrupted form.”
The two Angels stared at the blackened rock, which looked similar to heart-shaped obsidian. Considering it was still present, they both suspected Belos hadn’t found this place, as even if it was useless, he’d likely have destroyed it and the monument out of spite. Feeling that a little purification might help Lillian’s friend rest in peace, Luz channelled some Light Magic into the crystal monument and the corrupted heart. Unexpectedly, this caused the monument, the heart, and the obsidian of the entire caldera to react, channelling Luz’s golden light through and causing the obsidian to turn completely clear, while the monument changed colours to match the three dragons it was modelled on, and the corrupted heart of Demetrius turned gold, before it seemed to disintegrate into particles of light and fade away.
“Whoa! Pretty!” Samael gasped, watching the changes to the Caldera.
“Yeah! But normal obsidian shouldn’t turn clear like this! And the monument… did Lillian set this up?” Luz wondered aloud.
Samael didn’t know, but as he looked around, he saw that the monument’s message now had an extra paragraph, which he quickly pointed out to Luz. Kneeling down to read it, Luz said; “A secret extra message? It reads: “If you are reading this, then you must be either an Angel or one who wields Angelic Magic. Let it be known that I placed enchantments upon this tablet so that one of your kind could see this message and hear my thanks. I chose this island as the resting place for my dear friend upon learning of an ancient Angelic City buried here beneath the mountain. I had hopes that one day, an Angel would come back to the city, then find and purify his corrupted heart, freeing his soul from within it. I pray you forgive my secrecy; not many in my time are accepting of Angels. But my mother and I were once saved by a Good Angel, who defended us from a monster. I pray you are able to save dear Demetrius just as she once saved us.”
Luz finished reading and stared at the tablet for a moment in stunned silence, while Samael looked curious. “The Angel she mentioned was you, right? And the monster was Belos?”
“Yes. I’m still surprised she thought so highly of me! I only spent one afternoon with Lillian when she was very little… I guess helping Evelyn deal with Belos endeared me to her more than I thought.” Luz said, beginning to smile wistfully. That little girl had grown up to be so amazing! And considering Luz’s father Michael was a genetic clone of Lillian’s father Caleb, Luz and Lillian were technically half-siblings by pure genetics. Luz wondered if that had a part in this too; she’d read once that people with the same genetics tended to be naturally closer to each other, even if they’re unaware of it.
Whatever the reason, knowing she’d had such a positive influence on Lillian’s life made Luz smile and fondly remember the girl. The fact it had also led to Luz purifying her friend’s heart and freeing him from whatever torment his soul was in made it all the more rewarding!
Luz was still smiling when she heard Samael suddenly gasp, and turned to see what had caught his attention. The little Star Child was staring wide-eyed at the now-transparent crystal beneath his feet, which revealed the inside of the volcano… a volcano that hadn’t gone dormant at all, but had instead been sealed up by Lillian. As Luz looked down, she saw a huge pool of magma far below them, and partially submerged within it was the blackened bones of a colossal dragon. The skeleton was that of a True Dragon (meaning it had four limbs, a tail and two wings), but some of the bones appeared warped and melted, as if they’d been formed incorrectly. It gave the skeleton an almost disturbing, fleshy looking texture in places, almost like a Zombie Dragon.
The two Angels shivered at the sight; “Well, I guess we know where the Draco Lich’s remains ended up!” Luz whispered. She was suddenly very glad that the thing was long dead, and even more impressed with Lillian. Not only had she killed the thing and set up this enchantment, but she’d also sealed the volcano up!
“I guess it goes to show that any one with the Clawthorne name is crazy in more ways than one!” she joked, making Samael giggle.
They may not have found any usable Galdorstones, but they had still achieved quite the discovery! They just hoped the others were having as much luck!
________________________________________________________________________________
[Meanwhile]
After Samael had raced off with Luz in hot pursuit, Salty and his crew had promptly found a spot to moor their boat on the beach not far from the abandoned ships of Belos’ expedition. As soon as they’d made landfall, Salty and his crew opted to remain with the ship while the scouting team got to work, leading to Mason and Matt immediately heading to the base of the second mountain, which they were certain was the buried Angel City. They began their investigation by walking around the base a little, trying to see if there were signs of an old road or something that might denote the entrance to the now-abandoned city. As they explored, they found evidence of battles long past, including some Witch Skeletons that had largely been overtaken by the jungle, their old weapons and armour left to decay beside them. While not many scraps of equipment survived, Matt did find a few blades that looked eerily familiar.
Holding an old spearhead up so Mason could see it, Matt said; “Look familiar to you, Mason?”
The man took and examined the spearhead with a frown, which only grew as he too recognised it.
“This metal work is crude and old… a few thousand years old I reckon, given the way its rusted. But even with all that, I can tell that these things are the same design as them strange Trapper folks that work for the Huntsman.” Mason said.
“My thoughts exactly!” Matt said with a small frown; “Notice how there are no remains of helmets around either? I think that’s because these dead guys were all Titan Trappers, and their Titan Skull masks were probably taken and destroyed after they bit the dust.”
“So you reckon them Trappers fought a war here? With who? The Angels?” Mason asked.
Matt shook his head; “No, the timing doesn’t add up. I can’t see the Angels leaving enemy corpses to rot in the jungle either. I think it’s more likely that there was a fight between Trappers and Titans here. We ARE close to the Boiling Isles, where the Titan fell after sealing up Samael, so it’s possible that others like him were in the area and the Trappers attacked them… and since there are no huge Titan corpses around besides the Isles, I think they probably lost.”
“That sounds plausible. But with that timin’, it would mean the Angel city was already abandoned; after all, if it wasn’t they’d have moved the corpses like you said.” Mason pointed out.
Matt rubbed his chin; “So the Angel City was wiped out first; either abandoned by the Angels after suffering abuse from the Demon Realm’s natives or left empty by a massacre. Then the volcano probably buried a big chunk of it by the time that the Trappers came here, and only buried more over the next few millennia.”
“A sound theory.” Mason agreed; “Maybe we can get more clues when we take a gander at the city itself.”
Matt agreed, so the two continued their search for any kind of road, eventually resorting to Matt’s Seismic Sense since the road was likely covered by over 5000 years of dirt and foliage. He soon found the remains of a kind of stone that wasn’t natural to the Demon Realm, instead being an alchemical creation of the Angels, and followed it to the side of the odd second mountain. The two Construction Experts put their hands on the mountain side and sure enough, they found the remains of the city buried within. However while they’d expected the magma to have encased everything, it seemed to have instead formed a shell over the city instead.
“This feelin’… it’s like the mountain’s completely hollow. The city musta had a barrier or somethin’.” Mason commented.
“And judging by the way the mountain is all weird and lumpy, it must be one of those form-fitting ones, like people use in the Boiling Rain. The magma, or lava I guess since it was outside the volcano by this point, must have formed over the tops of the tallest buildings and slowly layered itself over and over, making the weird shape.” Matt theorised, before shrugging and turning Pebbles into staff mode and coating him in stone; “Oh well! Time to smash our way in! This patch of wall is hollow so smash away!”
Mason chuckled and mimicked Matt with his own Palisman, Nodis the Boiling Pangolin. The two made short work of the stone wall, which was about six feet thick, by using Construction Magic to boost their strength and Matt’s personal brand of Softening Magic to make the stone more like wet sand. It only took a minute or two to smash through it, whereupon they finally found the Ancient Angel City built on the island.
The city was somewhat similar to Gran Seraphia in raw design, consisting of buildings made from white marble and alchemically created Aurum. However the buildings were also designed more uniformly, and had a very similar architectural style to King’s tower on Titan Cradle Island, further proving the Angelic influence in its construction. The city itself was actually fairly small; it covered a little less ground than Digale Town had, but ended up being larger then the town due to its tall buildings and verticality, making it look a little like a fantasy version of a modern Human City. The city was illuminated by crystal street lamps that shone a white light throughout the cavern, making it almost as bright as it if were in daylight. The place also had some clear signs of battle damage; some buildings had walls that were smashed inward, signs of fire damage, and even a few broken and abandoned weapons, which appeared to be of Ancient Demon design different from those of the Titan Trappers.
However, as Mason and Matt explored the city centre a little, they found no corpses of any kind. There were some ominous red and gold blood stains and a lot of dust, but no bones or other signs of the dead, excluding what appeared to be an old cemetery that hadn’t been so much as touched by the lava or the invaders.
“Huh… the Angels must have been attacked by Demons and then abandoned the city, taking any of their unburied dead with them. The Demons must have done the same.” Matt murmured as he looked around.
Mason nodded silently as he entered the front garden of a smaller cafe-like building just off from the city centre, and put his fingers into the soil with some bronze magic clinging to them. He frowned as he pulled them out again; “I cast a spell to see how old this place is. The stone here first got cut and laid here ‘round 50,000 years ago.”
“Dang! But this place doesn’t look that old.” Matt mused. “I guess they kept updating it over the years. Maybe it took the Demons who drove them off a long time to find this place?”
“That, or somethin’ drew ‘em here.” Mason theorised. “Let’s have a gander and see what we can find. Look for records or monuments.”
The two split up and began roaming the town, searching for signs of the Angels and their fates. Mason opted to look for the City Hall and find the records of the city’s leaders, while Matt decided to check out the hospital and see what he could find there. Interestingly, the interior of the buildings they searched were more akin to the interior of Boiling Isles buildings than Divine Realm ones, making them wonder if the Angels had begun to adopt Demon styles and ways of life more and more.
City Hall was particularly similar to the town hall in Bonesborough, though exploring the place did give Mason his first signs of life… a dead Arch-Angel was sat in what he assumed to be the City Leader’s office. Since bones had many of the same minerals and sediments as the earth itself, Mason was able to use the same bit of Construction Magic as before to judge the age of the bones, and found that they were around 7000 years old, but that just told him when this Angel stopped growing, so his actual age was a bit more ambiguous. Judging by the hip bone, Mason deduced the Arch-Angel had been female, and since she was the only corpse around, she’d likely stayed behind to cover the evacuation.
“But why stay at all? What were ya doing, Ma’am?” Mason muttered to himself.
His answer came when he peaked beneath her desk and found the remains of a peculiar apparatus. It resembled a model of the Solar System, depicting the Demon Realm’s sun, the Demon Realm itself, and then the seven other planets that made up their system. However there were complicated runes of Angelic Script all over it, and faint magic still present within.
Mason picked it up and placed it on the desk, then tried rotating one of the arms holding one of the more distant planets. It made an unpleasant screech of rust as a result, before a soft automated voice spoke from the crystal orb that represented their sun.
“Notice: Extreme Thermal Venting Procedure has been completed. Caldera Magma Reserves have returned to usable levels. Venting Enchantments have expired, rendering further venting impossible. Notice issued: 5142 years, 8 months, 3 weeks, 4 days, 19 hours, 34 minutes, 11 seconds ago.”
Mason’s eyes widened; “Extreme Thermal Ventin’!? Caldera Magma Reserves…!? The eruption that buried the city weren’t an accident! The Angels set up an enchantment and rigged the volcano to blow! The final defence!” he looked to the skeleton; “No wonder she stayed behind… Musta needed to keep the eruptions comin’ ‘till the whole place was encased. Damn… died alone in the dark. That’s not a fate I’d wish on any one.”
He noted the timing too; the final attack on the city that triggered this extreme measure happened only a relatively short time before the fall of the Titans! The Boiling Isles Titan may well have been in the area already and witnessed the events! Though Mason wondered what happened to the Angel survivors.
Continuing his search, Mason found a thick tome on one of the bookshelves, which had a cover written in Angelic Script. Flipping it open, he noted that the first third of the book was in this script too, but eventually gave way to runic script and eventually the modern alphabet, letting Mason read it and discover it was a city census. He flipped back to the start, now able to recognise the numbers as dates, since Angelic and Runic script used very similar symbols for numbers.
“Based on this, it looks like they considered the foundin’ o’ this city and their colony as Year 1. Last entry was Year 44,893. Guess the newest birth was only a little while before the attack that made them evacuate.” Mason mused. He turned to the last page and began flipping through the entries he could read; most of them also had dates of death written down, including cause, and it appeared that “Demon Attack” was the most prominent cause throughout the entire book. Even reading the runic entries listed that as the main cause of death, outdoing all others. Not only that, but the census showed the city had been going through peaks and valleys population wise; they never managed to have more Angels born than die, but occasionally survivors from other destroyed cities and colonies would arrive and join the city too.
“These folks never had a chance… wonder how much was their own fault and how much was Demons and Witches bein’ prejudiced. Guess I ain’t gonna find out…” Mason sighed, before deciding he wasn’t going to find more here. He took the census ledger with him, hoping Luz might be able to read the Angelic Script, then made sure to destroy the device that controlled the volcanic eruptions, just in case. He’d also have to make sure they found and disabled any enchantments involved in that before they made this place a new base. The notice had said they’d expired, but better safe than sorry!
He then headed out to meet Matt at the abandoned hospital, and almost crashed into him as he came running out of the building.
“Whoa lad! Where’s the fire?” Mason asked, narrowly dodging the boy.
“Mason! You’re not gonna believe what I found!” Matt panted, half excited and half shocked. He showed Mason what appeared to be a small rectangular mirror; “This thing is some kind of device that links to the medical records the city keeps!”
“Huh! I reckon Hettie will be mighty glad to get her hands on somethin’ like this! Good find, lad!”
Matt shook his head; “No, you don’t understand! This thing has some kind of link to all the people registered on it! It automatically updates with a person’s time, cause, and location of death! I don’t know how it works, but I figured out how to pull up the last entry!”
He tapped away at the mirror, using his limited experience with Luz’s DCM to get the result he wanted, which showed Mason an image very similar to a page of the census ledger he’d taken. It listed the names of twenty Angels, their dates of birth, and then their dates of death along with the cause and location, just as Matt said. Mason noted that the name of the last Angel born was not the last one that died (the last Angel born on the Census had apparently died from a Demon attack somewhere to the far south about 20 years after their birth), but the last one to die was still a name he recognised, albeit vaguely.
“Zachael… accordin’ to this, he was ‘bout 19 when the city was abandoned. Wow, he lived for another 3000 years and died of old age! Must have been a High Angel…” Mason muttered, before his eyes suddenly widened; “Wait a second… the coordinates for his location of death…!”
“I noticed it too!” Matt said eagerly; “It’s Titan Cradle Island! I’m sure of it!”
Mason gasped; “That’s why the name rings a bell! This Angel is the one that Luz mentioned built King’s old tower! Zachael’s the Angel buried there!”
“Which means this city was where he was born! The last attack must have been what orphaned him! Luz did say that the Titan basically adopted him when he was already mostly grown up.” Matt exclaimed; “We’ve got to tell Luz, and especially King! This is gonna be a huge deal for him!”
“I wonder how he’ll take it.” Mason fretted; “I mean, he spent his childhood livin’ on his Dead Pa, settled on Digale Island which was his Ma’s arm, and now we’re gonna settle down again in the abandoned city of his Godfather? I reckon the poor boy’s gonna be mighty conflicted.”
Matt opened his mouth to agree, only for a very loud, distant roar to sound across the entire island, making him and Mason freeze. The roar sounded like it hadn’t come from the island, but it was also distinctly loud and draconic.
“Oh no… I think we’re about to get some guests!” Matt cried.
________________________________________________________________________________
[Meanwhile]
While Matt and Mason were exploring the abandoned city, Boscha and Derwin were doing their own job and trying to follow in the footsteps of Belos’ expedition. They had started off by searching the ships, but had found basically nothing; just some extremely expired food supplies and some birds’ nests. The ships had only been decked out for a short expedition, likely no more than a day or two considering the island was close to the isles, so the expedition hadn’t brought a lot of superfluous supplies.
Leaving the ship behind, Boscha and Derwin had then headed in-land, trying to find a 30 year old trail.
“I don’t suppose you have any Bardic Spells for finding decades-old tracks, do you?” Boscha asked.
“Sorry, but nope. We’re doing this the old fashioned way.” Derwin smiled, snapping his fingers to turn his Palisman into a staff; “We should look from the air. If I’m remembering right, Luna said she discovered Belos’ monstrous secret after a big fight with some dragons. They probably caused some damage to the jungle that we can see from above.”
“Fair point. Guess we’re taking a bird’s eye view.” Boscha said, hopping onto Maya’s staff.
The two took to the air and began to scan the jungle below for signs of damage, or even just signs that the jungle was less dense due to regrowing from a devastated area. During this, they both noticed Luz and Samael as they flew around the Plateaus for some reason, but they didn’t linger on this thought for long as Boscha finally caught sight of something. Near the centre of the island, a kilometre west of the bottom of the volcano’s slope, she saw what looked to be a small canyon with some burned trees lining the top of it. She pointed it out to Derwin and they both flew down into it, finding that the canyon was actually some form of old mine, likely made by the Angels who once settled the island.
The canyon was about ten feet wide at its narrowest, and was almost like a scar in the earth, likely having been opened up by seismic activity of some kind, revealing minerals that the Angels had wanted and begun mining for. However several strange alcoves had been dug into the canyon walls too, each one containing either a stone cairn or a nest of bones, which contained fossilised or smashed eggs.
“I guess this was a mine-turned-dragon’s lair.” Derwin commented as he looked around.
“Yeah, and then turned into a graveyard.” Boscha frowned, using an abomination to lift a slab of stone and discovering the crushed skeleton of a Demon, as well as an unsettling large black stain that was almost certainly blood. “I think this is where Belos’ expedition found the Dragon that killed most of them, and exposed Belos’ true form to Luna.”
Derwin went a little pale as he whistled a tune to lift another slab of rock that had a black stain around it, finding a pair of witch skeletons crushed beneath it. They too had been crushed; either by Belos bringing rocks down on them, or the Dragon doing so. However there were no signs of bodies out in the open, which confused the pair a little. There were a few ashen shadows on the walls and ground of the canyon, which were likely the remains of those incinerated by the Dragon’s fire, but nothing else.
They then moved down to the very end of the canyon, where they found a partially collapsed cavern that had likely been the Dragon’s lair. The skeleton of some kind of wyvern was partially buried beneath the rubble, and red scales could still be found scattered around the area; this must have been the Dragon that Belos and his expedition had stumbled upon and then killed. Judging by the size and shape of the skeleton, and the red scales, Boscha suspected it was a Frenzy Flame Wyvern; a Greater Dragon that was born from both the Fire Drake and Thunder Wyvern lineages blending at some point. Their flames were searing yellow and moved like lightning bolts, and as they burned the flesh they would also infect the nerves with a maddening impulse, causing those hit by their breath to go mad as they writhed in agony… it was no wonder the creature had wiped out most of the expedition before being brought down!
“Belos sucks, but I can’t say I’m sad to see this thing gone. Frenzy Flame Wyverns are nasty beasts.” Boscha commented, idly grabbing some of its red scales and noting the orange underside to them.
“I haven’t heard much, but with a name like that, I don’t think it’s a bad thing that this one is gone.” Derwin agreed; “But the bodies of the expedition are gone, except those buried under rock. Aside from those destroyed by the Wyvern, I bet Belos took the others; either to destroy and hide the evidence of his true form, or to use in his twisted experiments!”
Boscha agreed with a shudder of revulsion. “I don’t think we’re going to find anything else here, and thankfully there are no signs of living Dragons. I think the island is safe, so we should go report to Luz about-”
The girl’s words were cut off by a monstrously loud roar that came from the south-west.
“What the heck was that!?” Boscha exclaimed.
“I don’t know, but it sounded like a Dragon’s roar! It’s too far away to be from the island though.” Derwin answered, transforming Dulcett into a bassoon and readying for a fight.
“I swear to the Titan, if Luz’s luck brought a Dragon here for the first time in 30 years, just when we’re visiting, I’m going to find a way to invent a good luck potion and shove it down her throat every day for the rest of out lives!” Boscha growled, readying her own staff for a fight as she began heading back up the canyon. She hopped onto her staff to fly out, giving Derwin a ride so he could keep his bassoon readied, and flew all the way back to the Salty Sea Dog, where they found Luz and Samael already waiting for them with Salty and his crew, who were noticeably in a flap.
“What’s going on!? What was that roar!?” Boscha asked immediately.
Luz just grimly handed her a spyglass that Salty had given her, then pointed to the south-east. Boscha raised it to one of her eyes and took a look in the gestured direction, then immediately paled at what she saw; it was a small fleet of four Titan Trapper Longboats. Three were normal sized ones, carrying a dozen or so Titan Trappers each, and the fourth was a much larger ship that was more like a dreadnought. This ship was like a blend of Titan Trapper and Angelic craftsmanship and was manned by about 40 Titan Trappers from what Boscha could see, but most disturbing was a gigantic sandpit on the deck of the ship, upon which sat the black-scaled form of Godric the Fire Drake, just as Luz had described him from her trip to Pulvoltary.
Lowering the eyeglass, Boscha slowly turned to look at Luz and with the most deadpan expression Luz had ever seen, the girl asked; “How are you even still alive with luck this bad?”
Luz chuckled nervously; “I have my ups and downs I guess.”
“Well we better hope it swings up again, because there are like 80 of those Trapper jerks and a Supreme Dragon coming our way. Dang it, this base might be compromised before we even finish setting it up!” Boscha groaned.
“Not necessarily.” Derwin said, pulling out the Signal Jammer that Alador had made to block scrolls and DCMs from being able to connect with each other. He turned it on and said; “Ma made sure I took this, just in case. I don’t know how those guys followed us, but so long as they haven’t already contacted the Isles, we should be safe! We can just take them out and we’ll be fine.”
Luz shook her head; “You make that sound easy!”
“Well yeah? There are two Seraphim level Angels here! One Supreme Dragon, even one with the Divider’s Blessing, can’t be that tough to beat!” Derwin smiled confidently.
Luz wasn’t so sure; Lars had been tough and Zara had taken her out before she could even start fighting, so there was no guarantee this would work out! Still, she wasn’t going to let her friends down, so Luz forced a confident smile and nodded.
“Okay! Samael, you and I will prepare to deal with Godric and leave the Trappers to the others. If the worst should happen and they get overwhelmed, leave me to fight him while you help the others.” Luz instructed; “I’ve fought Godric once before and this time he’s not in his ideal environment, so that might help!”
Samael gave a little salute, and a few moments later, Mason and Matt came running. By the time they arrived, they saw that Godric and the Trappers were only a minute away, and after Luz told them the plan, Matt eagerly said; “Stall them! See if you can negotiate for a bit! I’ll make something out of the abandoned expedition ships! That’ll turn the tide in our favour!”
He then hopped back off the boat and ran towards the beached boats, disappearing amidst them. Luz and the others let him do his thing, while the young Seraphim ordered Salty to take them out to sea a little to meet with the incoming ships in open water, where they’d have more manoeuvrability. As expected, the smaller longboats immediately moved to surround them, while the large one blocked their path forward as Godric gave another mighty roar, before sitting up in his sandbox (constructed so he didn’t ignite the boat by sitting on it directly) and staring down at Luz, who stood on the bow of the Salty Sea Dog.
“Luz! It has been too long, my little friend! Not since Pulvoltary, if memory serves.” Godric greeted loudly, the gold ring around his eyes confirming his Divided nature.
“Hello, Godric. I wasn’t expecting to run into you today! What brings you here?” Luz asked casually.
“Doing my job of course!” Godric said jovially, his draconic maw lifting into a grin; “The Lord Divider has decided that I’m wasted guarding a Union Pillar and has instead given me the role of Lord Justiciar of the Boiling Isles. It’s a fancy title that basically means “Hunt down criminals who manage to escape the Wings of Rani.”, and my first assignment was meant to take Cartilia back from my mates, who’ve lost their blessing. I decided to answer the report of a stolen ship instead, wanting to wait until the Lord Divider removed the eternal night on the Knee before I attacked, and imagine my surprise when that led me to you, Luz.”
Luz scowled, while Boscha grit her teeth; “How did you find us!? I erased the memories from those Angels who chased us before!” she demanded.
“So aggressive! You should really consider taking the Lord Divider’s blessing! You’ll never feel angry again! It’s all just bliss and peace.” Godric smiled serenely, flicking his tail back and forth almost playfully.
Boscha went red in the face and began counting to ten inside her head to calm herself down, while Luz said; “Are you going to answer our question or not?”
Godric’s smile fell and he became neutral again, which was somehow even creepier on his Fire Drake face. “You erased the memories of the Angels who saw you, but not those who reported the theft or that you knocked out and left on the docks. When the team we sent after you did not return, we found them and realised you’d hidden your tracks, so we began patrolling the coast. I happened to be out testing this new boat the Angels made for me, and decided to join the patrol. As a Dragon, I am aware of this island and thought to check it out, and found a lucky breeze carrying your scent to me. Naturally I followed it to see if it was really you. I’d suspected it was just your allies, but it seems I got very lucky.”
That was a worry; if Godric had gotten a lucky break and caught Luz’s scent whilst checking out the island, there was a chance he’d already reported it!
“So, are you just the vanguard? When does your back up arrive?” Luz asked.
“No back-up. I wanted to talk to you first and try to convince you.” Godric began smiling again; “You’ve gotta know by now that the Lord Divider can’t be beaten! He even got the Archivists to serve him in recompense for their sins against the Titans. There’s no beating him, so you might as well just accept his blessing! You’re going to get it eventually anyway, and why suffer all that negativity in the meantime? Just let it go and join us!”
“Not gonna happen. You should have called for help when you had the chance, because now I can’t let you leave!” Luz declared, spreading her wings and taking flight; “I’m sorry Godric, but I’m gonna take you down!”
Godric grinned viciously; “Oh ho! Time for a rematch! It’s been a long time since our bout in Volcarpalis! You’ve become a Seraphim and I’ve regained my full Supreme Dragon form, along with the Lord Divider’s Blessing! Let’s see how it goes this time!”
With that, Godric conjured wings of black smoke and deep red flame from his back and flapped them hard, using them and flames from his feet to take flight, causing patches of the sandpit to turn into molten glass as a result of the flames. Fire Drakes didn’t possess natural flight abilities, but could fly with their flames and conjured wings of fire and smoke as weapons, reminding Luz of the Balrog from the Lord of the Rings.
Preparing to chase him into the sky, Luz gave orders to her friends; “You stay and deal with the Titan Trappers! Samael; make sure none of them get away! If they haven’t told anyone they’re here yet, we can capture them all, erase their memories of today, and keep this new base a secret!”
Salty’s crew gave a battle cry as they summoned harpoons and cutlasses, while Mason, Derwin, Boscha, and Samael all prepared to fight with their own magic. In a flash, Samael flew around in the air, drawing a giant spell circle that released a wave of pink and blue sparkles into the ocean, forming a large ring around the entire island. This ring was about half a kilometre away from the shores of the island and turned the water that touched the ring into some kind of bouncy, electric blue jelly, which wiggled and rippled as the waves brushed against it on both sides. It was far enough out to sea that all their ships could still move about a little, but also kept them from sailing away from the island, essentially trapping them with an aquatic wall of jelly. Such a big spell winded Samael a little thanks to his powers being weakened, but the praise of his friends and big little sister helped him bounce back a little as he landed back on the boat.
“Good job, Samael! Now I’ll take care of Godr-whoa!” Luz began, only for Godric to suddenly dive-bomb her, using his flames like a rocket boost. Luz managed to avoid it by using her own flames to blast herself out of the way, then shot a jet of water from her left hand to douse his flames a little. The water hit him and caused a loud hissing sound as steam suddenly erupted from his side, making him yelp in pain and fly away as fast as he could, moving closer to the island to get out of the way of Luz’s attack. Luz pursued him, but was then suddenly knocked back as an obscene wave of heat came off of him.
“Lord Divider, may your blessing take root within me!” Godric yelled, “TARAK! Use the Sol Orb!”
Luz’s eyes widened at the familiar name and looked back at the largest Titan Trapper ship. Some of the Trappers were wearing the same style of armour as the tribe from Titan Trapper Island, and all were still on their ships as they tried to figure out what to do about the sea wall. That was when the familiar masked visage of Tarak emerged from below deck of Godric’s ship, holding a deep red orb of some kind.
“Wait a second! I remember that guy! He’s the one who walked in on my first ever talk with King!” Samael exclaimed.
Boscha narrowed her eyes; “Is he the guy who stabbed Luz!?”
“No, that was that little creep Bill.” Luz answered, before suddenly shooting another jet of water at Godric. He countered with a blast of flame from his mouth, and the two attacks collided and created a massive burst of steam, obscuring each of them from the other. Luz was mindful of Godric’s nose though, so took a page from Gus’s book and created an olfactory illusion by flooding the mist with Illusion Magic, hiding her scent from Godric.
Meanwhile on the deck of Godric’s ship, Tarak was watching the display with an angry expression; “How dare that Titan loving brat insult Bill! Especially after he only barely survived her attack on him!”
“What? You mean like how Luz barely survived his attack on her! She told us all about it!” Boscha yelled; “She saved his life when that finger came down, and he stabbed her for it!”
“She was part of the team that brought the finger down in the first place, destroying our mines! Not to mention doing massive damage to our island right after we’d saved her life from her sickness!” Tarak snapped back.
“You tried to murder her little brother for being a Titan!” Derwin yelled; “And tried to kill her and the others for being friends with him!”
“He’s a Titan! Slaying them is our grand purpose, given by the Grand Huntsman! The real Grand Huntsman!” Tarak yelled, sneering at Samael, who responded by blowing a raspberry at him.
“He’s my brother and bestest friend in the whole world! If you come after him, I’ll beat you all up!” Samael declared, conjuring his squeaky hammer toy in one hand and fistful of what appeared to be little Lego men in the other.
Tarak sneered and held aloft the red orb, which the CATTs assumed was the Sol Orb that Godric had mentioned. As he raised it into the air, Tarak screamed; “Trappers! The Lord Divider and Grand Huntsman have ordered that we take everyone alive! Take these Titan lovers down! We’ll drag them back in chains!”
The Trappers all gave a battle cry and began a full-on assault. Using grappling hooks and heavy ropes tied to harpoons, the Trappers tied their smaller ships to the Salty Sea Dog and then began boarding, each screaming as they ran at the CATTs with their weapons drawn and their spell circles prepared. With almost 80 of them against the currently four man Scouting Team and six man crew, the CATTs were outnumbers 8 to 1… but Samael’s toys were not just for show!
“Try and step on these Legos!” he yelled, tossing down the Lego men, who each grew larger and transformed into man-sized golems that now appeared to be made from Bionicles. Luz had introduced Samael and King to these toys, and they’d both become obsessed, so Samael based his new golems on them!
He conjured about 40 golems, which turned the tides a little (though still left the CATTs outnumbered), then ordered them to attack. Each golem had one hand that could shoot bolts of magic that did minor damage, and a blunt sword that was more like a club, letting them smash through the enemy without fear of killing them. They were also sturdy golems, so even a direct hit from a Trapper’s weapon or spell wouldn’t take them out immediately. With so many soldiers now on their side, the CATTs were now able to push back the Trappers a little, and Boscha, Derwin, and Samael each jumped onto a different one of the smaller longships to begin attacking the Trappers directly.
At the same time, Mason leapt up onto Godric’s ship and calmly approached Tarak whilst conjuring his trusty hammer and turning his Palisman Nodis into a spiked mace so he could duel-wield these weapons. Tarak conjured a spear in response, but then thrust the Sol Orb into the air as a spell circle appeared around it, causing the orb to slowly turn from red, to orange, to yellow, and then to white, glowing brighter with each shift as it transformed into a miniature sun. Mason didn’t know for certain what it would do, but knew that it would likely be bad for the CATTs, so he conjured a large spike of rock with his Nodis Mace, then smashed it at Tarak with his hammer, aiming it for the orb. The spike nearly hit the orb, but was suddenly stopped by a small barrier around it, which then caused the orb to appear larger as the light expanded to fill the barrier. Tarak then gave a battle cry and tossed the Sol Orb into the sky, where it flew up and seemed to transform into almost a second sun.
It had already been a fairly clear and sunny Spring day, with almost no clouds in the sky, but now the few clouds remaining all disappeared, evaporating in the duel heat of the real sun and this mini-fake sun that now hung in the sky. The Boiling Sea, which always gave off a faint vapour, began to give off even more steam as it heated up further, and everyone began to feel the heat. Luz had to cast an Ice spell on herself to cool off, while Boscha chugged a cooling potion and tossed one to Derwin to chill him out too, while Salty, his crew, and the Titan Trappers began shedding some of their clothing, leaving most of the men bare chested and the female Trappers covering their torsos with simple cloth bindings to beat the heat and preserve their modesty. The only ones unconcerned by the heat were Mason, who as a Merrow was accustomed to the Boiling Sea, and Godric, who actually roared with laughter as the rays of the twin suns fuelled him further.
“There it is! The power of the Sun, God of all Flame! Now bear witness to the true power of a Sephiroth-Blessed Supreme Dragon!” Godric declared, as the Divider’s Fire Glyph appeared on his forehead in a deep, ruby red.
Suddenly, Luz watched as the red flames of Godric’s wings began to intensify and turn lighter, eventually becoming golden flames. The magma-like red veins of heat that ran between his scales also began to turn gold and spill flames as the Drake’s body swelled and grew, eventually becoming almost twice the size of his original Dragon Body, which meant he was now large enough that his ship could ride him instead of the other way around. His mace-like tail hammer had also caught fire, and his black scales had heated up and become a fiery red, making Godric look like a dragon made straight from sun fire and magma. The heat he was giving off was monstrous, rivalling the Sol Orb and causing everyone to feel the heat even more, to the point that Derwin and Boscha felt like they were in a desert even with their cooling potions, Salty, his crew, and the Trappers needing to douse themselves with water and ice spells so as not to pass out, and even Mason began sweating a little. Luz had to turn up her own Ice Magic coating just to survive the onslaught of heat, and Samael (who’d been focusing on using his squeaky hammer to smack Trappers into the decks of their ships) was finally forced to use some Ice Magic of his own. To make matters worse, the Boiling Sea was now releasing so much steam that the water was almost impossible to see through it all, and the dryer parts of the Jungle began to smoulder a little, risking a fire.
“Dang it, we’ll all fry at this rate! Godric, we’re taking this higher up!” Luz demanded, before using her magic to create a geyser from the sea below and making it smash up into Godric’s underbelly. It evaporated on contact, but the initial force was still enough to force the Fire Drake upward a little, and as Luz flew up high too, he decided to simply follow her and continue their fight in the sky. The distance stopped the smouldering in the jungle and reduced the heat on everyone down on sea level, though it offered no relief for Luz, who immediately began firing freezing Ice Beams. Godric countered with jets of sun fire from his mouth, causing a massive eruption of steam. Luz then dove through the steam and attacked Godric with a sword made of light, knowing that so long as she avoided his true body in the middle of his Dragon Form, she could attack with wild abandon and not worry about killing him. Godric blocked the swing with his tail hammer and breathed golden flames on Luz again, forcing her to use a Barrier to block it.
As their battle raged in the sky far above the island, the battle down on the ships was a lot less uncomfortable for everyone now that the heat was less intense. Sadly for the CATTs though, that didn’t mean it was going well for them. Samael’s toy soldiers were doing a great job of keeping half the Titan Trappers occupied, but the rest were swarming the CATTs and keeping Boscha, Derwin, and Samael all very busy, while poor Salty and his crew were totally overwhelmed. They were no slouches in combat, but they didn’t have the experience, magic, or combat genius of their fellows, so the experienced warriors of the Titan Trappers overwhelmed and defeated Salty and his crew, disarming them and then either knocking them out or tying them up. Once defeated, they were bundled onto one of the Trapper Longboats and a couple of the Trappers made threatening motions, as if planning to hurt the captives unless the CATTs surrendered, but it was an obvious bluff. Everyone present knew that the Divider would reap bloody vengeance on the Trappers (whom he already hated) if they should hurt the CATTs more than necessary, so the capture of Salty and his crew was more demoralising than debilitating.
But while the other three were fighting as a group and Matt was hidden away and building his next secret weapon, Mason was engaged in a one on one fight with Tarak. Mason was only about half the height of the large Titan Trapper, who’d ripped off his heavy Titan fur robes and fake wings, leaving him clad only in dark brown pants and his Titan skull mask. His body beneath those heavy robes turned out to be extremely thick and muscular, with the entire right side of his body tattooed to a dark blue colour that somewhat resembled Samael’s blue side. Stars and moons in a seafoam green were also tattooed on the blue side of his body, forming a constellation on his right pectoral muscle, with a full depiction of the lunar cycle forming a circle around it. On his left side, which had his true tanned skin tone, was a few dark red comets that were circling a golden sun that had a bronze coloured ring around it.
“Ya’ll really do like those Archivist fellas.” Mason commented as he ducked beneath a swing of Tarak’s spear.
“These are the blessed markings passed down through generations of Trappers! I am proud to wear them all!” Tarak roared, shooting a bolt of red magic at Mason whilst also lunging with his spear, hoping to catch the man as he dodged again.
Mason didn’t dodge this time however and instead deflected the magic bolt back at Tarak by channelling magic into his Palisman Mace and smacking it back, while using his hammer to parry the spear. The magic hit Tarak’s mask and knocked it askew, leaving the eyeholes unaligned and blinding him, forcing the Trapper to fumble with his free hand to try and correct it, giving Mason a chance to lunge forward and deliver a double blow from his weapons. He smashed his Palisman mace down on the shaft of Tarak’s spear, shattering it to splinters, while smacking his hammer against Tarak’s gut. The man’s hardened abs actually took the hammer blow remarkably well, but it still sent Tarak skidding back with a pained wheeze.
“Well damn, if you ain’t the most solidly built man I ever did see! I thought that hit would knock ya off your feet!” Mason commented.
Tarak scoffed, his skull helmet now back in place; “You think a proud warrior of the Titan Trappers would fall so easily!? How would we slay Titans if a measly blow like that was all it took to defeat us!? Let em show you what we can really do!”
With that declaration, Tarak drew a spell circle and conjured another weapon, this time creating a large, brutal looking glaive with a very wide blade, more akin to a giant butcher knife than a normal spearhead. Tarak then roared and slashed it at Mason, who used Construction Magic to harden his hammer and then blocked the glaive with the blow. His hammer held up without a scratch, but Tarak’s muscles and giant blade still carried enough force to knock Mason off his feet, making him bounce to the side.
Mason recovered, but Tarak continued his assault, attacking with a flurry of blows, though noticeably aiming to hit Mason with the flat of his glaive blade or the handle, while only using the blade to try and destroy his weapons. Mason used Construction and Earth Magic to increase his density, making him sturdier and heavier, as well increasing his strength, allowing him to go toe to toe with Tarak. They fought hard in a vicious melee, each smashing their weapons against one another in an attempt to get through the other’s guard. Tarak went for an overhead smash with the flat of his blade, but Mason blocked with his mace and then tossed his hammer at Tarak’s chin. Tarak stepped back to avoid the blow, then coated his foot in magic and stomped to shake the ship a little, unbalancing Mason and leaving him open to a smash to the side by Tarak’s glaive, which knocked him into the guardrail of the ship. The Trapper then went to grab Mason’s beard and pull him forward, but Mason suddenly summoned his hammer back and caused it to ram into Tarak’s back, causing the man to stumble forward so Mason could smash his mace against the Trapper’s hand, making him drop his glaive, then elbow him in the jaw to knock him to the floor.
“Ha! You are a worthy opponent, small one! I have not been challenged in hand-to-hand combat like this in years!” Tarak beamed, enjoying the bout.
“Same here. Not a lot of time for some friendly wrestlin’ with wars to fight and tyrants to bring down!” Mason smirked, kicking Tarak’s glaive away and going to summon his hammer again. As the hammer flew towards Mason, Tarak suddenly caught it and used its momentum to pull him to his feet and towards Mason, where a double hammer fist had the former Coven Head reeling back, his head spinning. Mason dropped his mace, and Tarak promptly picked him up and crushed him in a bear hug, before launching him in the air, intending to jump up, catch him, and pile drive him into the sand pit. Mason wasn’t about to let that happen though, and whistled sharply whilst using Construction Magic to make him lighter, causing him to catch the wind and float a little. Tarak was confused by the whistle, only to be knocked onto his knees by Mason’s Palisman, Nodis, who’d grabbed his glaive in his little teeth and swatted the back of his legs with the flat of the blade. Tarak growled and wrenched the glaive from the Palisman’s grip, then turned to smack Mason with it just as the man was about to land. Mason summoned his Palisman back to his hand to block the blow, but being light AND airborne caused him to be sent flying anyway, going careening off the side of Godric’s ship and into the side of one of the smaller longboats, before he fell into the water.
Tarak cried; “No!” as he watched Mason fall into the Boiling Sea below; “By the Huntsman! No one was supposed to die!”
If he’d still been wearing his Titan Fur robes, he’d have braved the Boiling Sea to try and save the man, but by the time he got the protection back on, it would be too late… his worthy opponent would have boiled to death.
“The Lord Divider will rip my soul asunder for this! I shamed the Grand Huntsman and now I’ll live as nothing but a mindless pawn! And my worthy opponent has lost his life… Damn it all! I am sorry I did not know your name.” Tarak sighed bitterly.
“It’s Mason.”
Tarak’s eyes widened and he spun around just in time to have his glaive knocked from his hand by a sudden wave of sand from Godric’s sand pit. The same sand then swirled around him in a vortex, binding the Trapper before it condensed around him and suddenly transformed into tempered glass with the refining power of Construction Magic.
“W-What!?” Tarak exclaimed, before looking up and seeing Mason walking towards him from the other side of the ship from where he’d fallen. The man was dripping wet and in his Merrow Form, shocking the Titan Trapper. “You are an Aquatic Demon!?”
“Half, yeah.” Mason nodded, “Sorry to take ya down by surprise like that. You’re a worthy opponent yourself, but ya don’t know nothin’ ‘bout fightin’ a man like me.”
Mason, now summoning his Palisman and his hammer back to his hands then approached Tarak directly, knocking out a few Trappers who tried to attack him and free their leader. When he got to Tarak, he reached up and removed the man’s Titan skull mask, revealing his face. Most of his appearance was hidden by his massive beard, as well as his fairly large moustache and eyebrows, which were a darker shade of grey than his hair and beard, but what could be seen was solid and masculine, and heavily tattooed; the right side being totally blue like the rest of his body with a seafoam green crescent moon over his eyebrow, while the other side of his face was his normal skin tone and had a blue star over his eyebrow. Interestingly, his eyes were very similar to King’s, having red irises and yellow sclera, so when he wore his full robes and mask he really did look like a Titan, or at least one of their Avatars.
“I feel like in another life, we could have been friends. Ya’ll are being lied to by the Huntsman about the Titans, that I’ll swear, but I can’t take risks with tryin’ to convince ya’ll, not when an innocent kid’s life is on the line.” Mason raised his hammer to knock the Trapper out; “So long, Titan Trapper.”
He prepared to bring his hammer down when the captured man spoke; “Tarak. My name’s Tarak.”
Mason nodded with respect; “Good night Tarak. It was a short fight, but a good one.”
He then brought the hammer down just hard enough to deliver a sturdy wack to Tarak’s head, knocking him out cold. He then put the man’s mask back on him as a sign of respect, then turned to continue the battle with the others. Things were slowly beginning to swing in the CATTs’ favour, even with them being outnumbered and Salty’s crew being captured. Boscha and Derwin were fighting hard; the former using Abomi-Potions to even the odds as she tossed out potion bombs, fire blasts, and even sonic shockwave whistles that Skara had taught her, while Derwin played his bassoon like he was in a jazz club and blasting Trappers with directed sonic attacks and songs, using his own Wind Magic to carry the sound to their ears without disrupting his friends and allies (though at the cost of making them a bit less effective.
As for Samael… well he was basically just having fun with the Trappers; making and maintaining his Toy Soldiers weakened him a good deal, but he was still decimated the enemy with what he and his friends had dubbed “Joy Magic”, which was a kind of magic that revolved around fun, whimsy, and childish delights, and was used to defeat enemies without doing too much physical damage to them, as Samael didn’t like hurting them. Samael had developed this magic by combining his old skills with the results of the gamified lessons he’d gotten from his new friends and family, whilst always keeping the spirit of it light-hearted and whimsical.
With this in mind, he’d transformed the longboat he was fighting on into a giant bouncy castle that was shaped like a sundae-themed pirate ship, making the entire thing bouncy and rubbery, and causing everyone on it to go bouncing around. This was his form of Construction Magic, just as his Toy Soldiers was his form of Abomination Magic, and went well with his version of Beast-Keeping Magic, which was creating a giant inflatable kraken that picked up the bouncy castle ship, and caught any Trappers who went tumbling off of it. The ship also doubled as a fun house for Samael, whose Joy Oracle Magic created fake ghosts like a haunted house to scare the Trappers, and Joy Illusion Magic to trap the frightened Trappers in their own minds, similar to what he’d done to the Hexsquad back in the Divine Realm, only this time trapping them in illusions of joy and laughter, leaving their real bodies giggling happily as they bounced around. Samael also combined Joy Plant Magic and Joy Bardic Magic to create cartoonish singing flowers, whose voices compelled the Trappers to dance and sing along, while he created candy with Joy Potions Magic that when force-fed to the Trappers would render them too full to fight, with each piece feeling like eating a full course meal. Finally, Samael created little teddy bear minions dressed in healer outfits, which ran around all the ships and performed simple Joy Healing Magic on all the defeated Trappers, fixing them up and giving them pleasant dreams whilst still keeping them tied up and restrained.
It was all very effective, though also very draining for Samael, who’d already used a fair bit of magic by creating the jelly wall that stopped the Trappers from escaping by sea. He had Seraphim-level reserves, but his inexperience with fighting without his unlimited power meant he didn’t really know how to ration his magic, and combined with his playful nature and exuberance, Samael was very quickly becoming sleepy.
That was a problem for the near future though; currently their biggest issue was still the Divider and Sol Orb-empowered Godric, who was flying rings around Luz as the poor girl tried very hard to deal with the heat.
She had flown as high as she could, hoping the colder temperatures and the thinness of the air would impair Godric’s flames and cool her off, and while that had worked a little, it was also hard for her to breathe and the stifling heat only made that problem worse, especially as the Sol Orb seemed to be following Godric so he was never too far from its light. Luz had already tried to destroy it with an overpowered Light Beam, but it was being protected by a barrier made from the Divider’s magic.
“Ugh, this isn’t going well! It’s WAY too hot…” Luz panted, feeling a little light headed. She conjured a barrier around herself and then used Wind and Ice Magic to fill it with a mini-blizzard to cool her down, whilst also conjuring water to rehydrate herself.
“If you can’t stand the heat, feel free to just surrender. While a thrilling bout with you would be fun, I don’t actually want to hurt you.” Godric declared.
Luz found that hard to believe, especially as he’d said it whilst waving his tail at her, sending an arc of golden flames at her. The flames crashed into her barrier and naturally failed to break through, but the intense heat passed through the prism-like crystal of her barrier, causing a greenhouse effect that made Luz gasp at the sudden up-tick in heat. It also caused her mini-blizzard to melt immediately, becoming a horrible, muggy rain. Luz dropped her barrier and flew back, then conjured more icy cold wind around herself to cool off. The heat was starting to become a real problem, as Luz began to see double as her head pounded, her body drying out so fast that she’d almost immediately become dehydrated.
“Ugh, I can’t keep this up! Think Luz! What can I do here!?” she thought desperately. Her first thought was to combine Ice and Darkness Magic to counter the heat and light of Godric’s flames, but the light was snuffing out her shadows before she could conjure them, and she wasn’t sure her magic was able to produce darkness powerful enough to counter the light at this stage! Seraphim were on a similar level to normal Supreme Dragons, and while Luz was stronger than average thanks to her Titan Power, Godric was much stronger thanks to the Divider’s!
“I can’t beat him in raw power at this point, but maybe I can do something to douse his flames or distract him long enough to get rid of the Sol Orb!” Luz looked down at the sea below and smiled; “It may be hot, but water is water! A quick dip should help snuff out Godric’s flames!”
With a plan now in mind, Luz decided to do the unthinkable and actually charged at Godric, getting closer to his burning hot flames. He was hot enough that getting within six feet was enough to inflict first degree burns, and actually touching him was another story altogether, but Luz made all eight of her wings glow with icy blue light, cooling her body as much as she could without freezing herself, whilst also using Blue Light to make Icy Light Swords, which she aimed to attack Godric with. The amount of magic she needed to use to keep them in one piece as she slashed Godric’s underbelly with them was obscene, and Godric (who’d assumed the weapons would never each him anyway) hadn’t even bothered trying to block, so when the freezing light construct bit into his fiery flesh, he yelped in pain. Of course the blade didn’t go in very deep as Godric’s body got even hotter closer to his heart, but the cut was still a good six inches deep and spilled crimson blood that bubbled as it fell from him.
Godric flapped his fire wings as hard as he could, sending a billowing cloud of scalding hot ash and smoke right into Luz’s face whilst also giving himself some distance from her. Luz winced as the hot ash barely overcame her icy protections to very mildly burn her, but she wasn’t done yet. Godric was serious about not wanting to hurt her, so he was mostly using his burning heat to try and defeat her through dehydration and overheating, and only used attacks when she put up barriers or defences that might stop his heat, but if Luz’s plan was going to work, she needed him to be proactive and attack her directly.
With that in mind, Luz conjured a series of illusions of herself, with some Homunculi shaped like her mixed in to the batch and armed them with swords of freezing light and crystal, then sent them all to attack Godric while her real body summoned her Ocarina and began to play the Ballad of Blizzards; a song that changed the weather to create a freezing cold blizzard. Since they were above the clouds, the blizzard began to form beneath them, much to Godric’s confusion, but he didn’t have time to think on it as the horde of fake Luz clones descended on him. The illusions could get as close as they liked without being disturbed by his head, so naturally they screamed in his ears and blocked his eyes to try and keep Godric from detecting the Homunculi, whose scent was identical to Luz’s since she’d conjured them from her raw magic. At the same time, the Homunculi struggled to get close to him through the heat, as within a certain distance they began to melt, then bubble and boil, and then finally dry out and become like dried earth as the liquid within them was evaporated. However this was part of Luz’s plan as the Homunculi not only stabbed their icy weapons into him, but also made sure to splatter their bodies onto Godric’s scales before they dried out completely, focusing on his joints and elemental wings in an attempt to slowly tie him up.
“You are an unconventional fighter, Luz! With your level of power, I’d expected a direct assault! Why go through such indirect means of fighting me?” Godric asked. The fight wasn’t entertaining for him like this, though as he was Divided, he could only appear blank.
“Hey, if you were going to fight me for real, I’d do the same! But you’re relying on the Divider’s help! That means I’ve got to fight smart!” Luz countered, her song complete and the blizzard being maintained below her through magic alone.
Godric tilted his head curiously, then said; “I remember your sleeping tactic back in Volcarpalis… you certainly are clever. And these little cuts and wounds…” he looked down at his Draconic body, which now had many little scratches and slashes in the red scales from the ice blades of her Homunculi, as well as stiff lilac coloured patches on his joints that made moving a bit more difficult. “You’ve been trying to gradually weaken me. I’m afraid that isn’t going to work though! I don’t know what you’re planning, but I’m afraid it will have to end here!”
With that, Godric curled into a ball in mid-air and focused his full firepower into his body, releasing more golden flames from between his scales and further heating his scales, turning his body into a mini-sun too, just like the Sol Orb. Luz saw what was coming and used Fire Magic of her own, as well as Wind Magic, to produce a thick black smoke which provided enough shade for Luz to slip into the Shadow World without issue and without Godric noticing, as he assumed she was just using the smokescreen to hide and launch a sneak attack. Once Godric’s heat had reached its maximum, he uncurled from a ball and flexed his body, stretching it out with a loud roar as he released all the compressed firepower he’d stored up. The result was a massive explosion of golden fire, which blasted out in all directions.
They were high enough in the air that the blast radius wouldn’t be able to reach the island below, but the intense heat DID hit the blizzard Luz had made in the cloud layer beneath their battle… a blizzard that she had been secretly overpowering, creating the coldest conditions she could at the very centre, reaching almost absolute zero temperatures. When the intense heat of Godric’s explosion hit the intense cold of the centre of the blizzard, the extreme clash of temperatures caused a massive change in pressure, resulting in a huge explosive shockwave.
The shockwave caused a thunderous blast to be heard across the island below, while Luz’s blizzard and Godric’s fire explosion were both completely overpowered and blasted away, clearing the sky and also causing Godric to be struck and briefly knocked out of the sky, as the shockwave destroyed his elemental wings. Godric plummeted to the ground, desperately trying to re-conjure his flame wings. However Luz had different plans; within the blizzard she had combined Plant and Darkness Magic to create small black seeds that worked like smoke bombs, and they had been blasted downward by the shockwave too. As Godric got close to them, his heat made them pop like popcorn and release a thick black miasma that allowed Luz to emerge from the Shadow World and use the inherent cold of that world to produce a huge blast of purplish blue ice, which struck Godric in the back. The otherworldly coldness was enough to freeze his back, if only for a few seconds, which further delayed his ability to fly again, giving Luz a chance to complete the second step of her plan; dealing with the Sol Orb!
As Godric plummeted and tried to conjure his wings, Luz conjured more of her Dark Miasma Seeds and launched them up at the Sol Orb with a gust of wind, before treating back into the first miasma and disappearing into the Shadow World. From there, she watched and waited for the second round of seeds to get close enough to the Sol Orb to pop too, allowing Luz to emerge from the second miasma right beneath the Orb. Once again, she used the coldness of the Shadow World to bolster her Ice Magic and sent vines coated in ice to wrap around the Sol Orb and drag it into the Shadow World, really overpowering her own Darkness Magic so the light of the orb wasn’t able to dispel the shadows. Once the Orb was dragged into the Shadow World, Godric (who’d finally been able to shake off the ice and conjure his wings right before hitting the ocean beside the island) immediately lost a big chunk of his power, causing his flames to turn back to their normal red colour, though his scales also remained red and his size only decreased by a fraction, causing him to be roughly halfway between his normal Draconic size and his super powered size, with the Divider’s/Civa’s fire glyph still emblazoned on his forehead.
Now in the Shadow World, Luz gathered the necessary focus and magic to unleash a petrifying light beam, turning the Sol Orb’s barrier into stone and allowing Luz to smash it apart and then repeat the process with the orb itself, destroying it once and for all. Petrification was not as easy as it looked; it drained a lot of magic (especially when using the humane version) and was unpleasant for Luz to cast thanks to the knowledge of Belos using it so much and also her Mom suffering from it at one point. Luz had also found that as her magic grew stronger, so too did the Panacea Magic within her, which actually made it even harder to cast Petrifying Spells, as her mind AND magic rebelled against it.
With the Sol Orb now destroyed, Luz left the Shadow World and faced down Godric, who had a blank expression even as he gave Luz a nod of respect.
“I rescind my earlier comment. You’re clearly far more dangerous with your indirect methods. It seems now I have no choice but to force a direct assault. I apologise for any pain I cause you.” Godric said, before suddenly expelling a huge amount of flame from his feet, tail, and back, rocketing him towards Luz with incredible speed. Since he still had the Divider’s Blessing, he was still far stronger than normal and reached Luz almost before she could defend herself. However Luz was able to cross her arms in front of her at the last second, layering ice and stone over her whilst also producing a barrier. The barrier was thrown up too hastily to fully stop Godric, but it did take a lot of his momentum as he crashed through it, and the ice and stone on Luz’s skin absorbed most of what remained, meaning the poor girl only suffered a mild burn and bruised abdomen as Godric’s snout smashed into her, knocking her down several feet. Luz caught herself before she crashed into the jungle below, then flew out towards the sea again, ensuring the island and the battle on the boats was not beneath them, but that they were still within Samael’s jelly ring.
Luz then began preparing the third and final phase of her plan; phase one had been getting Godric distracted so she could deal with the Sol Orb, phase two had been destroying the orb, and phase three was dropping Godric into the Boiling Sea to suffocate his flames and hopefully use the Fire Drake’s crippling weakness to water to destroy his dragon form and defeat him for good. To that end, Luz summoned Stringbean from inside her hair (she’d kept the poor thing hidden while the heat was intense, so she wouldn’t overheat) and transformed her into an Owl-themed bow, which Luz then used to begin firing arrows of light, ice, and lightning at Godric as he flew after her. He tried to charge her again like before, but this time he’d coated his whole body in fire to make it more damaging, but also causing his speed to be hurt a little, giving Luz just barely enough time to dodge out of the way (albeit with a burned foot) and begin charging a massive light spear to fire from her Palisman Bow.
“Here’s a gift from one of my favourite games! Dragonslayer Great Arrows!” Luz grinned, before firing the massive light spear, which then split into a series of smaller light and crystal spears. They plunged into Godric’s body, piercing his scales with ease thanks to their size and the strength behind them, and managed to leave his torso looking like it had been hugging a giant porcupine. Godric roared in pain, but thankfully he was still large enough that the spears were more like thin daggers for him and none had come close to his heart. He gathered fire power and released it in another explosion to force the spears out, after which he roared once more and released a huge wave of smoke and ash from his mouth, obscuring Luz’s vision. In response, Luz put up a barrier to protect herself and turned Stringbean back into her staff mode and drew a spell circle to reinforce the defence against flames. However as Luz looked around, bracing herself for Godric to reappear, she wasn’t expecting to see a sudden glow from above. She looked up just in time to see Godric’s wide open maw, his throat full of red light right before he unleashed a hellishly powerful heat beam directly down on her. It looked like a giant version of Luz’s own red disintegration beams, only it was actually a blast of fire so intense that it took on a laser-like form.
The beam hit Luz’s crystal barrier and was blocked, but turned up the heat inside so much that the air itself began to give Luz mild burns, making her scream in pain. Godric stopped the breath attack and Luz’s barrier faded away a moment later as Luz fell from it, seemingly unconscious and with Stringbean in the form of a large eagle trying to grab her by the shoulders and keep her in the air. However the little Palisman wasn’t strong enough and they both went plummeting towards the ocean below, where they would be consumed by the boiling water. Godric burst into action upon seeing this and dove down to catch her, extinguishing his own flames and returning his scales to their black colouration so as not to burn Luz when he caught her. He just barely managed to get beneath her and catch her in the palm of one of his forepaws only about ten feet from the ocean below.
“Phew, that was close! I am sorry for your pain, little one; that was the power of Coruby Flames, which is the only form of fire said to rival Sapphice. The fact I had to use it against you is proof of your power and resilience! You’ve grown far stronger since both Volcarpalis and Pulvoltary. I look forward to sparring once more, when you are blessed by the Lord Divider.” Godric said softly, his voice a monotone as he looked at the unconscious Luz.
Or at least, what he assumed was the unconscious Luz.
In reality, Luz had used the smokescreen Godric created to once again hide in the Shadow World, and replaced herself with a dummy she had made whilst in the Shadow World previously. The dummy was an advanced form of homunculus created and bonded to a skeleton of reinforced stone and wood, which had ice glyphs carved on them to keep it from melting in Godric’s grasp. It also had illusions cast on it to trick his eyes, ears, and even nose, whilst the coldness would trick his sense of touch too, as he’d write that off as Luz cooling herself in his presence. As Godric regarded the damaged form of the fake Luz, the very real Stringbean gently tapped the fake’s chest with her beak and then flew away towards the boats, making Godric assume she was going to warn Luz’s friends. He prepared to follow her, hoping to use Luz’s fallen form to make her friends surrender, but the Fake Luz suddenly went through a violent explosion as Stringbean’s tap triggered a glyph combo that broke open a potion bottle that Luz had whipped up and stuffed inside her fake. The explosion was an Ice Magic Bomb that was further enhanced with ice glyphs carved into the bottle and produced a cold enough blast that Godric’s face and hand were both covered in pure white frost.
“GAH! What is this!?” Godric exclaimed in pain.
“SUBZERO SLAMMER!”
Godric looked up, hearing those words roared by Luz. He had to look directly into the sun to catch a glimpse of her, as she had hidden there to avoid being seen. Her eight wings were spread wide and glowing with blue ice magic, with a giant ice glyph on each one. Luz then summoned Stringbean to her hand and spun her around in staff mode to create an even more gigantic ice glyph, which she then combined with all the other ice glyphs to create a single ball of Ice Magic, which she then infused into a light glyph that she drew with Stringbean too.
The beam, which was larger than Luz herself, slammed into Godric’s chest with blinding speed and made him roar at the bitter cold, which began to creep over his scales and freeze them. Since he’d thought he had to catch Luz, he’d turned down his heat and thus was much easier to freeze! It took mere seconds for the entire Dragon to be encase in a thin layer of ice, after which the beam caused an explosion of magic that made spikes of ice emerge from all over the frozen dragon, trapping him inside a gigantic snow flake. The snowflake then fell into the sea, where Luz knew it would rapidly melt, especially as Godric turned up the heat to melt it from the inside too, but since it was already in the water and sinking beneath it, Godric had no way of escaping the ocean’s salty touch.
“Phew! That was tough and I doubt it’s over yet, but the hard part is over at least!” Luz sighed with relief, descending to land on the beach near where Godric’s icy prison had sank. Her legs shook a little so she had to sit down, especially as Stringbean was fretting over her a little.
Luz was trying to hide it, but she was growing more exhausted with each passing day. She gave her all in every battle and rarely went to bed without having expended almost all of her magic, and she’d also had to deal with numerous high profile missions in short succession and without a proper break. The battle in Manubrium, the battle in the Navel Woods, the second battle on Digale Island, and of course, today’s battle had all happened back to back with scarcely any time between them! 24 hours had technically passed between the Navel Woods and the Divider’s attack on Digale, but since Luz had also spent that night in his Dream World, she didn’t feel like she’d fully rested, and a single night’s sleep truly wasn’t enough to heal her from her growing fatigue, worsened by the Palisman Fusion effects.
“I really need a proper break. Have I had more than a single day off since I was arrested in the Human Realm?” Luz murmured to herself. Thinking on it, there were a few occasions when she’d had two days off, but with Luz being herself, she’d barely enjoyed them and had spent them working or training in some regard. She’d obviously strained herself to the point that a single day’s rest was no longer enough to fight her growing exhaustion.
Stringbean hissed at her worriedly, and Luz smiled and snuggled with her; “I know, Beanie. I promise that after we rescue Mami, I’ll take a break. If I keep going like this, my body is going to be as rundown as my mind is, and with the Divider to deal with and Belos still out there somewhere, I can’t afford to let myself slip.”
Her Palisman seemed pleased with her, but neither had a moment to rest now, as there was a huge eruption of steam from the ocean where Godric had sunk, followed swiftly by a roar and desperate splashing as a rapidly shrinking Godric struggled to get out of the water. He was lucky and enough of the ice survived from his prison to create a kind of raft that he could crawl on, then leap awkwardly onto the beach, causing a small tremor as his Fire Drake bulk hit the sand. As soon as he was clear of the water, he released as much heat and flame as he could to evaporate the liquid still clinging to his scales. This resulted in more steam, and the sand on the beach beneath him turning into molten glass as Luz backed off and prepared to continue the fight.
“You know, I’d really hoped that dip would have taken you out of your Dragon mode altogether.” Luz sighed, holding her staff at the ready.
Godric’s dip in the ocean had weakened him, but only to the point of losing his Divider Blessing, as he was still in the form of a Fire Drake, albeit without the extra fire glyph and increased size.
“Ugh… all these illusions and tricks… it’s like fighting my Mates! You’d have made a fine Dragon, Luz Noceda-Clawthorne! But this old man still has some fire in him!” Godric laughed, before roaring into the sky and unleashing a gout of flame, then charging at Luz once again. Luz sighed heavily and flew at him too, ready to continue the battle; she’d really need a rest later!
________________________________________________________________________________
[Meanwhile]
Back down the beach, at the other battlefield on the boats, things were just about to reach their end. The Titan Trappers; robbed of the leadership of Tarak and with the might of Mason, Samael, Boscha, and Derwin facing them down, had lost three quarters of their number, leaving only about 20 fighters left, against three elite CATTs and six surviving Toy Soldiers. The rest of Samael’s minions had been brought down, and Samael himself was now lying on his back on the bouncy ship he’d created, panting a little and struggling to stay awake; he’d massively overused his power and now really wanted a nap, but was staying conscious so his Toy Soldiers stayed strong. He’d nodded off for a couple of minutes earlier and it had led to more than half being wiped out!
Boscha, who’d seen Godric fall from the sky and hit the sea, then crawl out again in a weakened form, smiled as she took out another Trapper by tossing a Lightning Magic Bomb at him. Things were going well! The battle was almost over!
However, something suddenly caught her eye over on the main ship, where Mason was cleaning up a couple of Trappers who still fought on its deck. They were trying to go for the ship’s cannons to barrage their enemies on the other ships, but Mason wasn’t letting them, which also left him blind to someone new emerging from below deck. This new person was a woman that was larger than Tarak, and wearing white robes with grey Titan fur accents, as well as a Titan Skull mask with ram-like horns. She also appeared to have a strange harness on her back, which caught Boscha’s attention, so she used a jet of fire alongside her staff to launch herself over to Godric’s ship before the large woman could sneak up on Mason.
“Hold it right there, Big Girl! Mason’s busy, so you can contend with me!” Boscha declared, pointing her staff at the woman.
The large woman grunted and turned her back on the girl, revealing what she’d had strapped to her back… or rather, who. It was another Titan Trapper woman, though this one was a tiny old woman that was easily shorter than Mason, being closer in height to Samael. Her robes were silver with white Titan Fur accents, and her Skull Helm had deer-like antlers. She was also wearing a necklace of purple and black pearls, which gave Boscha a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach; those were definitely Oracle Stones of some kind, but she’d never seen black ones before! They gave her the creeps.
With a snap of the old woman’s fingers, a large spider appeared from under her robes. Boscha almost screamed at the sight of it; it was a giant hairy tarantula with bone white chitin on its legs and head, and what appeared to be a Witch’s skull over its abdomen, acting as a shield. The three-eyed girl had heard of such creatures before; they were White Widows (or as Luz had called them; Skulltulas) and they started life as tiny white spiders that crawl inside a person’s ear, then eat their way through to the brain, which they liquefy and drink to grow much larger, before tearing off the head of their victim and using the skull as a shell to protect itself. They were horrible creatures, but tended to react poorly to Titan Magic, so didn’t natively live on Titan Landmasses, much to the relief of Boscha.
This particular specimen crawled around the old woman’s torso and eventually onto her hand, where it transformed into a staff, revealing itself to be a Palisman.
“Well looky here; another of your spunky Boiling Isles Brats! You’re not the first of your type to cross my path! I once healed up that little Angel over there, and spent some time with the purple haired one who called the Angel her lover!” the old woman said, stepping down from her large subordinate’s back as the taller Trapper knelt down.
“Wait a second… you’re the healer woman who fixed up Luz when she got the Common Mold!” Boscha narrowed her eyes; “Right before your boss stabbed her in the chest!”
The old woman nodded, her eyes actually filling with regret; “That old cretin Bill was a real idiot! The Titan and Angel brought down a Titan’s finger by themselves, and he responds by stabbing the girl and sending the living Titan into a frenzy! Do you have any idea how much work I had to do after that!? Barely a soul on our island got out of that mess without needing me to fix them up! And Bill was in real bad shape too, though it serves him right! I only barely managed to save the old fool’s life, and then he almost caused a civil war in the clan by blaming Rakusa for not stopping the Titan and his posse from escaping! As if that meek lad could stop an Arch-Angel and a Titan! Bah!”
Boscha blinked, not expecting to suddenly have this old woman venting at her. Apparently the woman really didn’t like this Bill guy, which might well be the first point of agreement between a Titan Trapper and the CATTs.
Shaking off her brief temper, the old woman looked at Boscha and said; “Right then, I’m the healer for this sorry crew! Can’t say I expected to get much work with one of those Dragons on our side, but I suppose when you’ve got the fake Huntsman on your side, it was bound to happen.”
“His name is Samael and he’s not a “fake Huntsman”. He used to be the Huntsman’s little brother, before he traded up.” Boscha said, narrowing her eyes.
The old woman cackled; “Oh look at you! You’ve got some fire in your soul, girl! It’s the red hair, isn’t it? Red heads are always hot-tempered! Give me your name girl, I want to know whose been giving my boys such a beating!”
“You first, old lady!” Boscha snapped back.
“Fine then! I am Denasu, Chief Healer, Herbalist, and Bone Shaman of the Titan Trappers! The big lug carrying me around is Galeh, my bodyguard. I’ve got a brat apprentice too; the son of that glass statue over there…” she pointed at Tarak, “… but I left him with his mother back on the Boiling Isles. Now give me your name girl; a deal’s a deal!” the newly introduced Denasu demanded.
“Boscha. Boscha Alembic, member of the CATTs, Hexsquad, and Captain of the Banshees; the best Grudgby Team this side of the Demon Realm!” Boscha replied, puffing her chest out proudly.
Denasu nodded with a grin; “A strong name. Fitting for a fiery brat like you! Honestly, everything is far too hot today! The sun, the sea, that thrice cursed Dragon, and now you! I prefer things a little… colder.”
As she said those words, wisps of lilac mist began to emerge from the elderly woman, her every breath now releasing clouds of it as if it were freezing cold. Boscha narrowed her eyes, especially as she noticed frost beginning to build up on the deck of the ship beneath Denasu’s feet. The girl edged back a little until she was beside Mason, who’d just finished off the last of the Titan Trappers on Godric’s ship. The man had been keeping an eye on Denasu too, and now that he was able to, he turned to pay her his full attention too.
“Something is wrong here.” Boscha whispered as she eyed the frost. “This cold is NOT natural or normal magic! There’s something really off about it! It’s like the Cold of Death!”
Mason shuddered; “What did that Lady call herself? A Bone Shaman? Ya don’t reckon she could be one of them Necromancers?”
Boscha didn’t know, so decided she might as well ask; they were going to fight anyway by the looks of it so it was worth a shot.
“What exactly are you plotting, lady!? You’ve got some freaky bone powers, right? That’s what a Bone Shaman is, isn’t it?” Boscha asked aggressively; “You’re some kind of Necromancer, right!?”
Denasu tensed and glared at Boscha; “Don’t insult me, girl! I’m not afraid to tan your hide here and now! Necromancy is an abhorrent practice and nothing but a perversion of my art! A Necromancer is in the business of using the souls of the dead to raise their corpses… my own magic merely raises the bones without a soul, turning them into bone golems.”
Boscha and Mason both paled; “That sounds like Necromancy to me!” the former spat.
“The ignorance of youth… bah! What would you know!? You’re still wet behind the ears!” Denasu spat back. “Oracles form pacts with the souls of the dead, Bone Shamans move their bones, and Necromancers combine the arts in a profane mockery of death! Dead is dead and should remain as such! Forcing souls back into their bodies to try and imitate life is an aberration!”
Boscha’s first instinct was to scoff, but if she was being honest, she did understand what Denasu meant. Necromancy was all about calling back souls that had moved on and stuffing them in corpses to create undead abominations, while Oracle Magic was about working with the souls that refused to move on. Oracle Magic and this Bone Shaman art (which appeared to be Oracle Magic of a different kind) could be combined into a monstrous and profane art, in the same way mixing two relatively harmless compounds in potions could create something incredibly dangerous; like how bleach and ammonia could be mixed to make poisonous gas.
Still, as Boscha thought about it, her mind focused less on the Necromancy comparison and more the implications of Denasu raising skeletons as golems… there were only two types of skeleton on the island; the crushed skeletons left behind by Belos’ expedition, which would make for rather lousy minions, or…
Eyes widening, Boscha yelled to Mason; “We can’t let her use her powers! She’ll raise the dead Dragons!”
Mason didn’t need to be told twice, and used the sand of the sandpit to launch himself towards Denasu as Boscha flew at her with her staff. The three-eyed girl also waved her hand and conjured a stream of fireballs that she shot towards the elderly woman, not holding back despite her age and apparent frailty. It didn’t end up mattering though, as Denasu waved her staff and caused the fireballs to darken and turn purple, then be sucked into some of the black stones on her necklace, which then turned purple too. At the same time, Galeh moved with shocking speed to intercept Mason, and while he was able to smash her in the face with his hammer, she had punched him with her muscular fists at the same time, causing both of them to be knocked back, severely dazed.
With those two borderline knocking each other out, Boscha was left to attack Denasu with all her might, and went gunning for her at top speed, tossing a Lightning Magic Bomb directly at her. Denasu responded by pointing her free hand at the bomb in mid-air and causing the skeleton of a snake to dart out from her sleeve and catch the bomb in its mouth, before tossing it back at Boscha, forcing the girl to fly up sharply to avoid the blast radius. With Boscha high in the air, Denasu raised her staff in the air and began drawing spell circles with it, each of which drained the magic from one of her Oracle Stones, slowly turning the purple ones black, before the black ones then released an explosion of skulls made from black and purple flames, which then rocketed towards the Dragon Graveyard Island. Boscha tried to shoot fire at them but the magic skulls were incorporeal, and she soon found herself hit with a huge wave of Ice Magic from the spell circles Denasu had drawn. The ice would have frozen her solid if not for Boscha offsetting it with her flames, so instead of being trapped in ice, Boscha simply found herself partially encased and forced to slowly thaw herself out while Maya kept her in the air, both of them helpless to stop it as the countless magic skulls fell like hail on the island, searching for Dragon Skeletons to revive.
“Damn it! I thought you didn’t use souls!? What the heck were those skull things if not souls!?” Boscha demanded, looking back at Denasu (who seemed surprised and impressed that she was unfrozen).
“Those are the Bone Shaman’s Geas.” Denasu explained, pointing to her necklace (which had now turned completely clear. “These Shamanic Beads absorb magic and slowly use it to craft Geas, which causes them to turn purple and then black when they can no longer hold more. The Geas is basically an animation spell, like the kind used in Golems and Abominations, but infused with an imprint of my will, allowing me to control whatever skeletons they possess and raise. I can also use the magic of these beads for other spells if they are not yet turned into Geas, as you are now proof of.”
Boscha grit her teeth to try and stop them chattering as she slowly thawed herself out; “Does that mean you can just absorb any magic you want!? You stole my fire like it was nothing!”
Denasu chuckled and shook her head; “Those fire spells were weak. I can easily overpower it with my Grave Ice Magic and steal the heat to fuel my magic. You’ll need to turn up those flames if you want to try that again!”
Boscha prepared to do just that as soon as she was thawed out, but Galeh suddenly recovered from being stunned and leapt at the girl, using her impressive leg muscles to jump high enough to reach her and almost punch her out of the sky. Boscha couldn’t dodge fast enough while partially frozen, but thankfully Mason came to her rescue, having also recovered. He tossed his hammer at the large Trapper Woman, smacking her hard in the side of the face and knocking her down to the deck of the ship again. Boscha then used her one unfrozen hand to rapidly mix together another Lightning Magic Bomb and toss it down on the woman, zapping her into unconsciousness.
“You okay up there, Lass?” Mason yelled.
“I’ve been better! I’ll be thawed in a minute.” Boscha yelled back, chugging one of Eda’s emergency Bile Boosters to recover her strength and intensify her flames, allowing her to melt off the last of the ice. She and Mason then both flew at Denasu, who shockingly just dropped her staff and raised her hands in surrender.
“I’m no warrior. I can’t beat either of you in a straight battle, so I’ll surrender here.” she said, almost casually.
Boscha and Mason had no time to comment on that though, as a rumbling suddenly came from the beach. They feared that this was the start of Denasu’s spell (which seemed to be taking a long time to raise the dead Dragons) but it turned out to be Matt, finally bursting onto the scene with his latest creation.
The sides of one of the abandoned ships on the beach suddenly burst open as a giant mechanical claw ripped its way out of the large ship’s hold. Another soon followed, and then the rest of Matt’s creation emerged, almost as if it was being born from the abandoned ship. Matt’s voice then echoed across the beach, amplified by a speaker within the new creation.
“Sorry for the delay guys! But allow me to introduce the newest Alpha Model from the MTH-Series: Axolotl!” Matt said, the smile clear in his voice as the giant form of a mechanical Axolotl appeared on the beach. It appeared to be primarily made of sheet metal with rings of brass and clay throughout it, making it look almost like an Axolotl-shaped Abomaton with magic clay in place of abomination slime. It had a distinctly cobbled together look, with its body being made from the hulls of some of the abandoned ships, its legs armoured with the entire hull of smaller life boats, its claws made from the sawed off points of anchors, which had then been sharpened and serrated into proper claws, and its tail was tipped with the rest of these anchors, welded together into a spiky mass of hooks that looked hellish to deal with. The Axolotl’s limbs and tail were made primarily from clay with rings of brass, to allow fluid movement, and its head (modelled on a slightly more primal looking Pebbles) was crafted from the bridge of one of the ships, with all the ship’s controls rewired to instead control the mech, while the bridge itself was reshaped into the head of an Axolotl, with the tops of the ships’ masts attached to the sides of the head to mimic the frills of an Axolotl. Matt was strapped into a harness he’d made for himself within the head, using a ship’s wheel to steer the thing and the other ship controls to move it at his will.
The site of the creation was enough to get the exhausted Samael to get back to his feet and gasp; “Robot! It’s another robot! I wanna see! I wanna play with it!”
“You can have a go with it later, Sammy! Let me just finish off these Trappers first! Derwin, Boscha, Mason; you can step back and let me handle this now! You’ve fought long enough! In fact…” the side of the Axolotl’s body suddenly opened up as a panel shifted to the side to reveal a hatch leading into the main torso; “Grab Salty and his crew and come aboard!”
Samael and Derwin didn’t need to be told twice; they immediately began hurrying Salty and his crew (who’d been gradually rescued throughout the fight, but then kept out of the way since they were so outmatched) over to the Axolotl, with Samael using Joy Magic to create a series of video game-like bounce pads that they could jump on to launch them all the way over to the mech. Of course, the remaining Titan Trappers weren’t about to make it that easy for them, but the moment they moved to attack and stop the CATTs from retreating, Matt used his new toy to put the fear of the Titan into them. He had the mech charge out onto the water, where it was able to walk on the water by using a glyph combo to freeze it beneath the Axolotl’s claws and belly, allowing it to move over the surface of the sea as easily as the land. It then moved to the side of one of the Titan Trapper ships and smashed its tail down on it, breaking a hole in it and causing the ship to begin sinking. Most of the conscious Trappers were onboard that ship and began scrambling to jump onto one of the other ships or to just jump overboard, using their Titan Skin clothing to resist the Boiling Sea. Those who were injured, unconscious, or tied up were rescued by their fellows, who began dragging them to the shore. It was close enough that most barely got there before becoming too exhausted to fight or move, but a few were unable to make it and so were saved by Samael’s Toy Soldiers. At the same time, a few chose not to swim away at all and instead swam towards Matt and his Axolotl, hoping to damage it or claw their way in.
Matt grinned inside the co*ckpit and said; “You might not want to do that! The outside and inside of the Axolotl is separated by an insulation layer, so I can do this!” he pressed a button, causing a series of lightning glyphs within the outer later of the mech to activate, causing the entire Axolotl to begin conducting electricity. The resulting shock hit every Trapper currently attacking him, making them scream and fall back into the water, stunned and unconscious. Matt then had a second hatch open on the underside of the Axolotl, which began to drop clay egg-like containers, which opened up to reveal mini-Axolotl golems made of clay, which Matt ordered to retrieve the unconscious Trappers and take them ashore.
Within five minutes of joining the battle, Matt and his creation had successfully defeated all the remaining Trappers (excluding Denasu) and sunk one of their ships, whilst Samael and Derwin had successfully gotten Salty and his crew into the belly of the Mech (which was tighter than the Dragonfly, being mostly filled by the mechanisms that moved the thing), leaving only Godric, Denasu, and the spell she’d cast still to deal with… a spell that was still being eerily silent, making Boscha wonder if something had made it fail.
Seeing Boscha and Mason holding Denasu hostage rather than coming to join him, Matt moved the Axolotl (which was of a comparable size to Godric) over to Godric’s ship and carefully crawled onto it, avoiding the defeated Trappers and the still knocked out Tarak.
“Hey Boscha. All going well over here?” he asked.
“Matt? How the heck did you make something this big so fast!? I was expecting little guys, like Samael’s toys!” Boscha exclaimed.
“There was a lot of raw material, and I already had a blueprint dreamed up for an Axolotl mech based on Pebbles! It was just a matter of finding the right pieces and synthesising the rest by conjuring earth and refining it into metal and clay. Full disclosure though, I kind of had to use up my Power Glyph, my Bile Boosters, my Ambrosia, AND all my glyph notes to make this thing.” Matt answered over the speaker.
Mason frowned; “So ya’ll are tapped? No power left in ya?”
“Well I’ve still got a little, but not really enough to be useful, y’know?” Matt replied; “Now are you guys coming aboard? There should still be some room in the body, especially since Samael is now in the co*ckpit with me.”
“Hi!” Samael’s cheerful (if tired) voice chirped over the speaker, making Boscha and Mason grin briefly, before becoming serious again.
“We can’t yet! This hag just used a spell to raise the dead Dragons on the island! She’s a Bone Shaman!” Boscha yelled.
“She what!?” Matt exclaimed; “That’s what that light show was earlier!? I was afraid she was trying to ignite the volcano! I saw all those lights going towards it through the jungle!”
The CATTs all looked puzzled, and Boscha turned to stare at Denasu. She saw the old woman’s eyes looked just as confused as the CATTs, making it clear she had no idea what was going on either.
“What did you do!?” Boscha demanded.
Denasu shrugged; “I cast my spell! The Geas should hunt down the most powerful skeletal body it can, then once it is raised, the other Geas would lock on to the next one! If all the Geas are going to one location, then it must be because a powerful set of bones is waiting there! But if it still hasn’t risen after all these Geas have possessed it, then it must be truly powerful…”
Boscha and Mason’s eyes widened; “The Draco Lich!” they both gasped.
“Samael! Did you and Luz find Lillian’s monument!?” Boscha yelled in terror.
“Yeah! It was in the volcano, at the top! It was all black and shiny, but then Luz did some magic and it went clear and we saw a big pool of lava and a scary dragon skeleton!” Samael answered, either too tired or ignorant to really understand the danger.
Matt and Derwin (who’d also joined him in the co*ckpit) exchanged terrified looks as they got the implication, while Boscha and Mason turned back to Denasu with desperation.
“Stop your spell, now! If you don’t, we’ll make you!” Boscha growled, lightly jabbing Denasu with her staff.
The old woman was undeterred; “Not going to happen, brat. You knock me out or kill me and the Raised Skeletons will still follow my will and defeat you all. You can try torturing me, but I can tell you don’t have the stomach for it, and after all my years as a Bone Shaman for the Titan Trappers, I’m not weak to pain!”
“Ma’am, ya’ll are about to reawaken a long dead Draco Lich buried in the volcano!” Mason yelled; “Do ya really reckon you can control that thing? And even if you can, breaking it out might just trigger the volcano to erupt!”
Denasu rolled her eyes; “Oh calm yourself! A Draco Lich is too strong for the number of Geas I released to awaken it! Once the Geas fail to raise their current vessel, they’ll move on to the next one! They’d only be able to possess a skeleton that strong if-”
The old woman was interrupted by a deafening roar that shook the entire island. It even made Luz and Godric, who were still battling further down the beach, freeze and turn to the source of the noise, which happened to be the volcano.
Denasu paled as she whispered; “-the skeleton still has magic inside it…”
Unbeknownst to Denasu, when Luz had purified Demetrius’ blackened heart earlier that day, she had unknowingly flooded the bones with magic too. With Demetrius’ soul freed from the bones now that his heart was purified and destroyed, the magic hadn’t reanimated his Draco Lich body and had instead remained within the bones, where it would eventually have fizzled out. However since the Geas had possessed the bones before that magic had completely disappeared, the Geas had fed on that magic and caused a reaction, partially restoring the skeleton of the Draco Lich… and to Denasu’s horror, she couldn’t feel her link to the Geas any more; meaning the Draco Lich was reanimating with only her will installed via the Geas; a will that wasn’t strong enough to control the entire beast.
“Oh no!” the old woman gasped as realisation hit her. Boscha and Mason looked worried by her concern, but were soon distracted by another roar from the revived Draco Lich, followed swiftly by a blast of black magic shooting out from the side of the volcano. The Titan Trappers on the beach all screamed and began hurrying over to the abandoned boats, climbing up onto them as a river of lava began gushing out of the hole that had just been blasted through the rock of the volcano. The lava immediately began flowing through the jungle, moving slowly but steadily as it set the treeline ablaze. Luz and Godric completely stopped their fight to turn and see what had happened, and then with barely a look exchanged between them, they decided to put their fight aside and rush back over to the others to find out what was going on.
“Guys, we need to prepare to evacuate the island!” Luz yelled, looking visibly exhausted (as did Godric).
“What caused that blast anyway!?” Godric demanded, looking to the Trappers.
“The Draco Lich!” Boscha yelled, before giving a very quick recounting of what had just happened on their end. Luz and Godric’s eyes widened in shock, and Luz realised that her magic in the Draco Lich’s bones might well have been responsible for all of this.
“I am really not having a great day… Denasu, can you undo your spell and stop the Draco Lich before-” Luz was cut off as another beam of black magic shot out of the volcano, resulting in another hole and more lava, as well as more of the jungle catching fire.
Despite the interrupted question, Denasu shook her head in answer; “I can’t! I can’t feel my link to the Geas any more! No link means no control and no dispelling! Draco Lich are naturally undead creatures, so the will left in its bones must have used the magic in them to overpower my Geas! It might still act on my will and attack my enemies, but it might also just rampage out of control!”
Godric looked around blankly, unable to feel any positive emotion, especially as he saw the fire in the jungle get more out of hand. “If that’s the case, we’ll need to put out the fire, plug the lava, and destroy the Draco Lich. Luz, I understand that we have been enemies thus far, but can we please work together on this?”
Luz nodded without hesitation; “Yes. Order your Titan Trappers not to attack the CATTs and we’ll work together.”
The Fire Drake did so, sending a deadly glare at the Titan Trappers along with his orders so they wouldn’t dare disobey him. A third beam of magic shot from the volcano and another hole began to spew lava, though thanks to the close proximity of the three holes, the flow of lava melted the rock enough that it all became a single hole and destabilised the side of the mountain, causing a rock slide that turned the hole into a massive one.
Then, with a haunting roar, the Draco Lich emerged from the hole and onto the volcanic slope. It was a horrifying beast; a four limbed, two wings draconic skeleton with black bones that melded and melted together unnaturally. Lava clung to the bones almost like sinew in places, giving the Draco Lich the appearance of a freshly melted Dragon whose flesh was still sticking to it in strange ways. It’s wings, which lacked membranes since it was just bone, were purely vestigial and did nothing to help it fly as it clambered out of the hole in the volcano and clung to the cliffs, trying to slowly slide down without losing its balance and tumbling. Seeing this, Luz debated attacking it and making it fall, hoping that would damage it enough to buy time to figure out how to destroy it completely, but Godric acted before she could and began eating sand from the beach, then using the heat inside him to melt it into glass and then launch it at the Draco Lich in the form of molten glass spit. The projectile hit the Draco Lich head on and made it roar as it lost its grip on the mountain side and went head over heals down into the jungle below, the lava still flowing over it.
“Luz, go and cool the lava with Ice Magic! A Draco Lich is all but invulnerable until you pulverise the bones down to powder or drain away all its magic, so our best bet is to trap it!” Godric ordered.
Luz nodded and shot an Ice Beam at the lava, hardening it and redirecting the flow from the volcano as well as causing the Draco Lich to be encased. It wasn’t perfectly trapped as it hadn’t been totally covered in the lava, but it was enough to keep it busy for a moment and give the CATTs and Trappers a moment to act.
Flying over to her friends, Luz briefly shot a glare at Denasu before handing out orders; “Samael, try and put out the fire in the jungle! Mason and Derwin; help Salty’s crew and the Titan Trappers dig trenches and cut down trees in front of where the lava is flowing, to stop more fires from spreading! Boscha, watch Denasu and make some potions; I’m nearly out of energy so I’m gonna need them! Matt, help me and Godric deal with the Draco Lich! If we need to smash its bones to powder, we’ll need all the heavy hitters we can and this new toy of yours looks ideal!”
The CATTs all immediately went to follow Luz’s orders, with Boscha taking Denasu into the Axolotl Mech while Derwin, Samael, and Salty’s crew got off on the beach and began working with the Trappers, who were given strict orders by Godric to cooperate. Samael was the first to complete his mission, going to attack the fire in the jungle by first dismissing his Toy Soldiers to get some magic back, then transforming parts of the Boiling Sea into giant bubbles that he then floated over the fire, before making the bubbles turn into rain clouds that poured water down on the fire in a torrential rain, which very quickly put out the fire and cooled the lava that was causing it. Samael’s energy only lasted long enough to put out the fire though, and as soon as that was done he was too sleepy to do anything more, so retreated to Matt’s Axolotl to take a nap. Thankfully, since he’d still done his job, Mason, Salty’s crew, and the Titan Trappers were able to quickly dig trenches, raise walls of earth, and move the trees with Plant Magic, creating path for the lava river to flow safely down to the coast, where it hit the sea and began to cool rapidly, expanding the island very slowly. Derwin had helped by using his Bardic Magic to perform songs of inspiration to make them all work harder and in unison despite their animosity towards each other, which allowed them to get it done just in time to prevent further fires, then he and Mason remained with the Trappers to keep them under control and from trying to launch a sneak attack on Luz and Matt.
As this was happening, Luz, Matt, and Godric all attacked the Draco Lich while it was still trapped in the cooled lava. Luz unleashed a barrage of Bullet Seeds, which grew into the Plant and Darkness Magic vines that drained the magic of whoever they were attached to, aiming to drain the Draco Lich quickly. At the same time, Matt spun the Axolotl around and raised its tail weapon high, before smashing it down on the Draco Lich, with Godric doing the same with his own tail hammer (since fire would destroy Luz’s vines). The result was smashing the Draco Lich to pieces, sending bone fragments in all directions… however the fragments were still large enough to contain magic and they began to rebuild themselves, this time without the draining vines all over them. Luz and Matt then tried to attack again; the former with disintegrating red light beams and the latter by using carved lightning glyphs to shoot bolts of electricity from the “frills” of his mech at the Dragon. This worked to slow the creature’s regeneration and also to permanently destroy its entire hindquarters, leaving it as just a screeching upper body, but one of Luz’s beams had also hit the volcano and drilled a hole through to the magma chamber, causing a sudden jet of lava to come spurting out, forcing Luz to dodge and stop her attack for a moment. The lava got on the Axolotl, but Matt had made it as heat resistant as possible to deal with Godric, so it just slowed him down a fraction thanks to the added weight.
With Luz avoiding the lava and Matt moving the Axolotl to try and cover the hole Luz had accidentally made, that left just Godric and the Draco Lich, and in an unexpected move, the Lich leapt at Godric and actually landed on his back, stabbing the bottom end of its spinal column into the Fire Drake’s back. Godric roared in pain and rolled onto his back to try and shake the Draco Lich off, but it just responded by digging its claws into his sides and dragging them back, carving deep wounds into the poor man’s sides, earning another howl of pain. Godric then produced his flame and ash wings from his back, causing them to smash into the Lich as they emerged and knocked it onto the jungle floor, where it promptly tore a tree from the ground and smashed it over Godric’s head. The first blow dazed Godric, but the second was stopped by a sudden roar of flame from him, destroying the tree in an instant, after which Luz rushed back into the battle. She erected a barrier around herself and smashed into the Draco Lich like a meteor, sending it skidding through the jungle and out onto the beach, where Matt (who’d used Construction Magic from within his mech to seal the hole Luz made in the volcano) then pointed the Axolotl’s tail at it before launching the tail weapon from the end. The tail weapon remained attached via an anchor chain, but the tail had launched it with enough force to smash the Draco Lich’s ribcage and send it out to sea.
“Godric, are you alright!?” Luz asked urgently as Godric limped a little due to the wounds in his sides.
“I’ve been better, but I’ve been worse too.” he replied.
Luz raised her hands to begin healing him, but paused and bit her lip; was it a wise move to heal him? When the Draco Lich was dealt with, she’d need to fight Godric again after all and her magic was almost tapped! She’d need to take a break soon, or she’d pass out! Using yet more of it on someone who’d soon be an enemy again felt like a bad idea.
Godric didn’t blame her for her hesitation, but it ended up costing them both dearly, as Godric suddenly cried out in pain, then reared back onto his hind legs, revealing that the spine of the Draco Lich had extended out of the sand beneath him (each vertebrae being connected by ominous black and purple magic) and impaled him through the chest, missing his heart by mere inches. It seemed that the Draco Lich, still repairing its shattered ribs, had made its spine extend and burrow underground for a sneak attack!
“Godric!” Luz cried, seeing the red flames between the Dragon’s black scales suddenly turn purple as she sensed a sinister energy building up within him. Godric screamed in pain as the Draco Lich began crawling back out of the sea, causing Matt to retract his tail weapon and aim to smash the monster’s skull, but before he or Luz could do anything, Godric suddenly erupted with purple flames and exploded, unleashing a huge sphere of necrotic magic that struck Luz and Matt whilst destroying Godric’s dragon body.
Boscha, within Matt’s Axolotl, braced herself as the explosion shook the entire island and came very close to wiping out everyone near Godric. She held Denasu close to her and gripped onto one of the mechanical parts in the Axolotl’s body to try and anchor herself, but this didn’t end up helping much as the mech was blasted through the air. It eventually crashed hard into the abandoned ships further up the beach, and Boscha and Denasu barely avoided being badly hurt with the aid of an emergency Abomi-Potion of Boscha’s, which she released whilst they were falling to create a kind of airbag to protect them. Even with this though, the impact stunned Boscha and it took her a moment to get her bearings after the rough landing.
The fact she and Denasu were no longer inside the Axolotl did not paint a great picture for Boscha as she pulled herself out of the slime. She urgently looked around and saw the mech in pieces, having broken apart after crashing hard into the abandoned ships, which where themselves completely destroyed. Small fires of both red and purple were scattered about amongst the rubble, and Boscha saw Matt unconscious nearby. He was a little banged up, but it seemed some kind of emergency clay golem airbag had protected him and Pebbles (who was sitting on his chest and trembling as he tried to protect the boy), so he wasn’t too badly hurt. Samael was also still asleep inside the wreckage of the Axolotl mech’s head, just a short distance from Matt; the former Archivist hadn’t even stirred through the crash and was unhurt and still deep in his exhausted slumber.
Boscha then looked down the beach towards where the battle with the Draco Lich had been, and gasped upon seeing Luz unconscious in a crater, with a barrier erected by Stringbean keeping her safe… She was mildly burned, and had likely taken the full explosion right to the face, only surviving thanks to her Seraphim endurance. On the other hand, Godric was now back in his Witch form and laying unconscious in the rib cage of his Fire Drake Skeleton, which was scattered across the jungle, beach, and even the volcano after he’d been blown up from the inside by the Draco Lich’s power. Speaking of the Draco Lich; it too had been blown apart by the explosion, but was already in the process of reassembling itself and crawling towards Godric’s dragon skeleton. Boscha didn’t know what it planned to do, but she rightly guessed it would be bad!
Upon reaching the red bones of the Fire Drake, the Draco Lich began tearing the skeleton apart and affixing the bones to itself, slowly rebuilding itself in a macabre fashion. Not only that, but a strange spectral arm emerged from the seemingly empty ribcage of the Draco Lich and reached down to grab Godric’s unconscious form, then left him up into the ribcage, where some of the ribs constricted and wrapped around him, trapping him inside it. Boscha knew that couldn’t be good, so she quickly threw together some Super-Sizing Syrup, then gulped it down to grow massive and charge at the Draco Lich, hoping to stomp on its head and rip Godric free before it could complete whatever it was doing. However, the Draco Lich suddenly looked up and shot its breath attack right at Boscha, hitting her giant form through the right shoulder with a beam of black and purple necrotic magic, which not only hurt like hell but also felt as cold as the grave.
Boscha fell to the ground, her giant size making it shake as she screamed, and shrunk back to normal only a few seconds later, her wound thankfully staying proportional to her size. Denasu flew over on her staff and dragged Boscha to safety, then began healing her.
“There’s a limit to youthful foolishness and hot-headedness you know!” Denasu scolded. “You’re lucky I’m here! The breath of a Draco Lich initially freezes the wound and prevents bleeding to death, but if it is not healed properly, it will eventually thaw and putrefy the flesh, causing it to rot and decay supernaturally fast!”
“Ugh, could have used that warning ahead of time! Also could have done without you raising that thing and then immediately losing control! Dang it!” Boscha hissed as Denasu used some Fire Magic of her own to melt the necrotic ice and then apply Healing Spells. The woman looked guilty over her part in raising the Draco Lich, as she and Boscha were both forced to watch on in horror as the Draco Lich finished its disgusting work of rebuilding itself.
The newly rebuild Draco Lich was even more of a monstrosity than before; it had ripped the head and neck from Godric’s dragon skeleton and then fused its spinal column to his, effectively making itself a kind of twisted Dragon Centaur, with the Fire Drake as the lower half and the Draco Lich as the upper half. The head and neck of Godric hadn’t been discarded through; it had instead been attached to the shoulder of the Draco Lich, making it a two-headed monstrosity, with a mix of deep red, black, and purple flames burning between each of its bones. Within the creature’s upper ribcage was Godric’s real body, which remained unconscious as it burned with black and red flames, obscuring Godric completely from view. Twisted, flesh-like veins of molten glass and magma also wove around the Draco Lich’s skeletal form, seemingly forming an imitation of a cardiovascular system with Godric at the centre.
“What the hell is that thing!?” Boscha exclaimed in horror.
Denasu cringed; “I only know a little about Draco Liches. They’re the failures who weren’t blessed by Titans when becoming Supreme Dragons. They insatiably devour life until they find and consume a Supreme Dragon, which they supposedly keep as a trophy and energy source to try and attain the power they’d originally sought. It seems that will remains in the bones even after death!”
Boscha cringed; “Wonderful! Samael and Luz are both out cold, Godric is inside that thing, and Matt and his Axolotl both got wrecked! Now we’re expected to fight this thing ourselves!? Can this get any worse!?”
As if to answer her question, the Draco Lich suddenly roared, causing its lava veins to burn brighter, before the island began to tremor and black smoke began billowing from the hole in the side of the volcano. As a Fire Drake, Godric had the power to make the volcano erupt with his roar, but had not done so in order to prevent unnecessary death and destruction… however the Draco Lich had no such compunctions, only have the will to attack and defeat everything it could see! Thanks to this and the power it stole from Godric, the Lich had triggered an eruption that now sent lava pouring out of the volcano at an even greater speed.
“Damn it, I need to stop opening my big mouth… my luck is getting as bad as Luz’s!” Boscha yelled, before grabbing every Ice Magic Bomb she’d had time to make and launching them at the hole in the volcano’s side, using her Grudgby skills and a bit of Fire Magic to make sure they flew far enough to hit her target despite the distance. A series of white and blue explosions went off and the lava began to cool, hardening a little and slowing the flow, though not completely. Still, it bought Boscha some time to dash forward and grab the unconscious Luz and begin carrying her away to safety with some help from Stringbean.
Using a bit of Bardic Magic that Skara had taught her, Boscha screamed at the top of her lungs so the whole island could hear her; “EVERYONE GET OUT TO SEA! GRAB THE WOUNDED AND GET ONTO ONE OF THE BOATS! THE DRACO LICH IS SETTING OFF THE VOLCANO!”
Her words reached the CATTs and Trappers, who didn’t need to be told twice; they began running for the ships as fast as they can, with the Trappers diving into the water and swimming with their heatproof gear, and the CATTs hitching rides on their Palisman. The Trappers all got aboard their own ships and Denasu, who was dropped off on one alongside them, began to revive the unconscious ones and heal those who couldn’t move enough on their own, while the CATTs got aboard the Salty Sea Dog and immediately lay Matt, Luz, and Samael on cots that they moved onto the deck so they could keep an eye on them. They then began to sail away from the island, only to find themselves trapped by Samael’s wall of jelly-like water around the island, which hadn’t faded when he fell asleep.
“We can’t escape by sea!” Derwin exclaimed.
“We’ve got bigger problems! Attack incoming!” yelled one of Salty’s crew.
Everyone turned and watched in horror as the twin heads of the Draco Lich fired beams of intense red flames, aiming right for them. One was aimed for the Salty Sea Dog and one was aimed for Godric’s ship, and while Mason and Derwin were able to work together and put up a barrier to stop the first beam (though only barely), the second beam was stopped by Boscha, who chugged another Bile Booster and used all the Fire Magic she could muster to manipulate the flames of the beam and redirect it just enough to sail over the deck of Godric’s ship, missing it by a few feet. The beam continued on into the distance until the Draco Lich stopped, then turned its attention fully on Boscha.
“Well, looks like it doesn’t like me.” Boscha smirked, before looking to her friends; “Mason, Derwin; I’m gonna try and delay this thing! My Fire Magic might just offset its own, so I’ve got the best chance! Protect the ship and try to wake up Luz and Samael, so they can come and help me actually defeat this thing!”
She made a move to fly towards the Lich, but was stopped by Mason and Derwin.
“Lass, this is madness! Let us go with you! Ya’ll are gonna die if you go out alone!” Mason argued.
“You can’t; it took both of you to just barely block that last doom laser spell.” Boscha countered; “You both need to stay here and protect the ship! I’ll be fine; I’ve filled up on power with Eda’s Bile Booster, and I’ve got an emergency bottle of Ambrosia and my Power Glyph! I can buy us time to wake up Luz and the others! Just trust me!”
She punched her palm and grinned at the Draco Lich; “I’ve got some stuff to work out, so I’m gonna destroy this thing!” she declared, feeling a heat building in her heart.
Mason opened his mouth to argue again, but Derwin shook his head and said; “Boscha has a point. At least with her fire powers, she can withstand the Draco Lich’s new fire attacks, and we really do need to work together to protect the ship. I saw we let her go.”
He could see the determination in Boscha’s face and didn’t want to deny her, especially after their talk earlier. This didn’t feel like her “trying too hard” or trying to redeem herself more; this felt just like Boscha wanting to protect her friends and comrades; something she was clearly passionate about.
Derwin turned Dulcett back into Bassoon mode and began playing a variation of the Ballad of Motivation, which not only pumped up Mason and the crew of the Salty Sea Dog, but also made Boscha feel even stronger. Not only that, but Derwin used his Magical Earworm to embed the song within Boscha’s mind, so even when she flew out of his range, she’d still hear the song in her head and gain the benefits of it.
Boscha gave him a warm smile and said; “Thanks for believing in me, Derwin. Now hold tight; the Queen of the Banshees is gonna make this bag of bones scream!”
With that, she slapped her Power Glyph onto the back of her neck, giving her an intense red aura of magic, before hopping back onto Maya and flying at the Draco Lich at top speed. The Dragon saw her coming and began firing its laser breath attack, but Boscha easily swerved around the first beam and used her control of fire to bat away the second, before getting right in the Draco Lich’s black head. Remembering that only reducing the bones to powder or draining their magic was enough to stop the Draco Lich, Boscha decided to see if the Pale Curse Potion would prevent its bones from knitting back together, so she swiftly launched one into the Dragon’s face (she’d made it while inside the Axolotl earlier, as a tool against Denasu). The potion caused the Draco Lich’s black skull to briefly turn a sickly grey, distracting it long enough for Boscha to coat her arm in abomination slime to turn it into a Samus Aran-style arm cannon. With her control over the slime, Boscha made channels on the inside in the shape of fire and light glyphs, allowing her to fire a rudimentary beam of red light at the black skull. The beam was too potent for the arm cannon, which blew apart after one shot and mildly burned Boscha’s arm, but it was still strong enough to smash right into the dragon’s black skull and shatter the entire top half of it.
Unfortunately, since Boscha’s version of the Red Light Beam wasn’t as refined as Luz’s, it didn’t reduce the entire skull to dust and instead merely blew it into bone fragments, which began to regenerate despite the Pale Curse Potion. Boscha frowned at that; it seemed the curse didn’t prevent the Draco Lich’s regeneration since it was more like reassembly than actual healing.
The Draco Lich then reared up on the hind legs of its Fire Drake half and tried to slam its front legs down on Boscha, aiming to crush her beneath its bony claws. Boscha dodged between the claws to avoid the crushing attack, then poured a simple healing potion over her arm to heal her burns, before conjuring an abomination and using a Super-Sizing Syrup on it, turning it into a massive abomination that grabbed the upper body of the Draco Lich in a bear hug and held it tight while Boscha began brewing two does of Gooey Gab-No-More. She barely got them brewed up in time and had to use magic to skip some steps in the process, but she just managed it before the Draco Lich dragged itself and the abomination into the lava, where the abomination promptly began to melt from the extreme heat. The Super-Sizing Syrup wore off right after this and the abomination promptly burned up in the lava, but Boscha didn’t care; she used two tendrils of conjured slime to very briefly force the Draco Lich’s two mouths to close, then tossed the Gooey Gab-No-More right in their maws, binding their teeth together with the incredibly sticky substance and temporarily taking away their ability to use breath attacks or even roar.
The Draco Lich thrashed around in a vain attempt to get the goo off its mouths, but soon gave up and attacked Boscha with a frenzy of melee blows. First, it whipped its red skull towards her with enough force to break her bones, but she nimbly dodged out of the way, using a little fire as a booster. Next, the Draco Lich tried the same with its black skull, whipping it down on top of Boscha. The girl tried to dodge this one, but the monster also clapped its claws together, meaning Boscha either had to dodge forward and be hit by the Dragon’s neck, or backwards, where it’s red skull had already moved to gore her with one of its horns. Unable to escape via dodging, Boscha instead used her limited Transmutation Magic to transform some of the air around her into ice, creating a sturdy frozen barrier to protect her. The black skull slammed down on her and knocked her into the beach below, shattering her ice barrier, but Boscha thankfully had another Abomi-Potion airbag to break her fall within the barrier.
She shook off the brief stun she’d received from the fall, then looked up in time to see the Draco Lich trying to stomp on her again, so she dodged between its claws with help from Maya, then used Sonic Alchemy to make her Abomi-Potion extremely sticky, whilst also using a blast of Fire Magic to turn the sand beneath it into molten glass. The Draco Lich got its foot stuck in what was essentially molten quicksand and abomination slime, and Boscha promptly threw several vials of water from her Potioneer Belt to rapidly cool and harden the molten material, trapping the creature’s claw completely. The monster began to thrash and struggle to pull free its foot from the mess of glass and slime, giving Boscha a chance to retreat and think over how to deal with the creature permanently. She was running low on potion supplies for her Potioneer Belt and hadn’t spotted many usable herbs in the jungle while exploring earlier; only a handful of basic ones that would barely be useful for anything.
“Damn, if only I was better at Transmutation! It’s the only part of Potions Magic I haven’t figured out how to master!” Boscha thought desperately. She could uses spells to skip and accelerate various steps, making even complex potions easier to craft if she had the ingredients, and she could use Sonic Alchemy and limited Transmutation to trigger minor changes, but she hadn’t yet been able to fully master Transmutation! Traditional teachings said that Transmutation used magic to alter one thing into another that it would not normally be able to become through natural means, but thanks to her studies in Human Chemistry and Angelic Alchemy, Boscha had discovered that at its core, Transmutation was more about altering the atomic make-up of a substance, literally rebuilding and reforming it on an atomic level to make it something different. If one knew the make-up of the base ingredient and the desired result, they could easily transform it by using magic to rearrange particles.
The problem Boscha had was that she couldn’t just effortlessly remember all the different chemical make ups! She could remember basic ones for certain elements, common ingredients, or useful potions, but the rest was all just too much… a constant web of shifting forms and reactions. It was almost as bad as navigating the social web of Hexside or the Noble Families! So while she’d pretty much memorised the atomic make up of most of the compounds she used, transforming unfamiliar materials into them was all but impossible, and even transforming familiar ones proved a taxing challenge!
Shaking off those thoughts, Boscha conjured a new Abomi-Potion, whose heart was made from an acid that was solid when not exposed to oxygen, but became liquid when touched by air, and had it run and splatter itself on the other front Drake leg of the Draco Lich. It splattered and released its acid, which ate away at the bony ankle and allowed Boscha to rub a Blitz Balm onto her fists and legs. The Blitz Balm hardened the flesh it was rubbed into whilst also allowing it to move at incredible speeds, uninhibited by friction. Combining this with a Chromatic Shade Potion to leave colourful after-images that were semi-solid, and some Jet Juice to bend the wind around her and grant her temporary bursts of super speed, and Boscha dashed at the injured leg with incredible speed and began wailing on it with powerful punches and kicks, which she further enhanced by igniting herself with flames. The high speed and hardness caused by the Jet Juice and Blitz Balm allowed Boscha to begin smashing through the bone at high speed, while the Chromatic Shades assisted her by punching alongside her, as well as flying around with their own copies of Maya to launch multi-coloured flames at the Draco Lich to keep it distracted.
After half a minute of this, Boscha managed to punch through the ankle completely and briefly topple the Dragon, whose heads fell very close to the Boiling Sea. Boscha then conjured a mini-horde of Acidic Abomi-Potions and used Sonic Alchemy to up their acidity so much that they began to melt and slop over the foot she’d just broken off, melting Godric’s bones into red slurry that couldn’t reform. Boscha cheered at her small victory, but sadly it did not last long.
Enraged, the Draco Lich thrashed its heads and ended up dunking them into the sea, were the boiling salt water melted away the goo sealing their mouths shut. This allowed the black skull to unleash a deafening roar, which destroyed the Chromatic Shades with the sound wave whilst also stunning Boscha, while the red one whipped out towards Boscha and hit her hard. The girl was sent flying all the way to the volcano, where she smashed into the side of the slope with so much force that it would have killed her if she hadn’t managed to take the blow with her hardened hands and legs, then turn in the air so they were the first things to hit the slope. Still, she was badly hurt and almost fell from the mountain she’d been smashed into; only surviving because Maya used Fire Magic by herself to jet her staff form into the rock, forming a pole for Boscha to slump over as she fell. Her friends back on the ship cried out in terror, especially as the Draco Lich got back onto its three remaining feet and used its twin heat beam breath attack to melt free its trapped forepaw, allowing it to move uninhibited once again.
Boscha, her hands and legs feeling like jelly from the impact she suffered, barely managed to pull herself around so she was riding Maya properly. She shakily grabbed her last healing potion and chugged it to undo the damage, but almost immediately cursed right afterwards. Her pre-made potions were used up, her ingredients pouches were virtually empty of any usable combination, and her Power Glyph had expired after using it to skip so many steps in her potions, leaving her all but tapped out. To make matters worse, when she looked over to the Salty Sea Dog in the distance, she saw no signs of Luz or Samael regaining consciousness, so she had no one who could tag in to help her out. All she had was her Potioneer Belt’s infinitely regenerating water and glass bottles, a few ingredients that couldn’t make anything useful when mixed, and a not even half-full tank of magic, all with no idea how to deal with the Draco Lich.
“Acid was my best shot… it melted its hand…” she panted as the Draco Lich’s two heads looked between her and the boats in the distance, seemingly split on who to go after next. “But I don’t have enough strength to make enough to melt this thing completely, and I don’t know how to get Godric out of those flames!” she looked down at her Potioneer Belt; “I doubt the water this thing makes will be enough, and I’ve got no idea how to move something that big out into the sea!”
Within her head, Maya began to speak; “Boscha, I don’t know how but you can do it! Remember what Derwin said; you’re good enough. You don’t need to push yourself to the point of self-destruction!”
“I know, but I don’t know what to-” Boscha went to reply, only for her eyes to widen as the Draco Lich settled on her for its target. Both heads opened their mouths and charged beams of magic, before unleashing them in a nasty breath attack; a black and purple beam of necrotic energy from the black skull, and a black and red beam of intense flames from the red skull.
Boscha was quick to kick herself and Maya away from the volcano’s side and begin flying around to avoid the beams, but the two heads of the enemy tracked her wherever they went, and as she tried flying close so she could dodge through its bones in an attempt to make it hit itself, the creature began to violently spew lava from the various fiery veins it had threaded through its skeleton. She dodged desperately, until help came from an unexpected place.
Denasu, riding her own staff, came flying at Boscha with one of Mason’s Power Glyphs in her hands, ready to give her a much needed pick-me-uip. Boscha could scarcely believe it, but that brief moment of hope didn’t last long as the Draco Lich attacked Denasu too. The three-eyed girl didn’t know if the Dragon had heard or smelled Denasu coming, or had just caught sight of her while chasing Boscha around with its breath attacks, but however it happened, the Draco Lich suddenly flicked its Fire Drake Tail Hammer directly at the old woman, who wasn’t even close to being agile enough to dodge it. The woman was able to put up a weak barrier to absorb some of the damage, but the bony tail hammer smashed right through and struck Denasu hard in the side, sending her flying out to sea. There was no one close enough to save her, so the old woman fell into the sea and rapidly sank beneath the waves, protected from the heat by her Titan hide robes, but unable to swim to safety due to being knocked unconscious.
Boscha didn’t even hesitate; she merely shot the strongest fireballs that she could at each of the Draco Lich’s heads, doing no damage but blasting the heads back a bit with the force, allowing Boscha to fly right at the spot Denasu had fallen. As she flew, she went through countless calculations in her head, trying to remember the chemical make-up of heat-resistant Salamander skin and her own Witch skin, with the intention of using Transmutation Magic to transform the top layer of her skin into that of a Salamander in order to survive the Boiling Sea. She managed it at the last moment and closed her eyes tightly before casting the spell, causing the top layer of her skin to break apart and reform as the glossy orange skin of a Common Salamander. With her eyes closed and her mouth sealed shut, Boscha plunged into the Boiling Sea, holding in a whimper of pain as the boiling heat still got to her through the thin layer of skin she’d transmuted. She couldn’t open her eyes without boiling them and didn’t have the ingredients for the usual potions she’d used in this case, or for any cooling or ice potions either, so she had to rely on Maya (who was based on a sea-faring Boiling Crab and thus able to survive the boiling water) to guide and carry her as she dove down after Denasu.
As the girl swam down, the water only got hotter (especially as the Draco Lich fired its breath attacks into the water blindly, trying to hit her) and she began to mentally go over what else she could do. She’d pushed Transmutation to a new level out of desperation, so she had to be able to do something more!
“Ugh, ouch! Damn it, think! T-This is basically just hot water, right? That means its the result of heat, which is part of warmth; an aspect of Fire! I’m great at Fire Magic, and Water and Ice Magic too with my potions, so I should be able to control the heat!” she thought desperately. “Just focus! This is what I’m good at! It’s the magic I love most! I can master this! I can do it! Just think; how would the others figure this out!?”
In a flash, a series of mental images flashed through her head, displaying all her friends and family. She saw her parents, who were largely responsible for giving her the drive and passion she had inside her for both victory and potions, for better or for worse. Her Mommy would change the laws of thermodynamics out of sheer pettiness, and her Daddy would tell her to deconstruct the problem and rebuild it from its base elements.
She saw the Banshees and her gang at school. Amelia; who was always timid yet fierce and going through a rough experience as a Mandragora without losing hope. Cat; who healed Boscha up without a word of judgement whenever she went too far in practice. Bo; who never joined the Banshees but had always been a pillar of strength for them all, offering kindness and aid. Even Jeb, the sole boy in her gang whom she knew had a crush on her, and yet had only ever shown support when it became clear Boscha’s heart belonged to another.
She saw her friends on the Hexsquad. Luz; who took in everything, made it her own, and combined it all. Amity; who rose above the influence of her mother and carved her own path, redeeming herself and refusing to let her weakness hold her back, developing a new magic by taking the Angelic Arts and remaking them in her image. Gus; who never let his genius become arrogance, and who mastered his magic to an all new level by mastering its most basic principles and pushing them to their limits. Matt; who like her had once been a bully, but had strived to overcome that and had taken inspiration from his friends to create an all new magic that suited him. Hunter; who was awkward and unsure of himself, but never gave up and never let his disadvantages get him down. Lyra; who had found herself and the person she wanted to be, and even now strove to overcome her biggest weakness…
And of course; the biggest two… Willow and Skara. Willow, the girl who’d risen from bullied “Half-a-Witch” to probably the one person Boscha respected most as her rival, showing her and the world exactly why Willow Park was someone to be feared, respected, and yet still loved. And Skara… the girl who set Boscha’s heart aflame, whose gaze, scent, voice, and touch were like Ambrosia of the finest quality… who ignited in Boscha the desire to redeem herself and reignited the passion she’d let simmer in the absence of a real challenge.
Her parents had birthed her and provided Boscha the foundation of her life. Her friends at Hexside had helped build her up further. The Hexsquad had kept her humble and reminded her that she was not a big fish in a small pond, but a talented girl surrounded by just as talented people. And Willow and Skara had been the two flames that burned away the foolish habits she’d built; Skara the flame of love, who’d driven her to change and be better, and Willow the flame of forgiveness, who’d silently given her approval for her change despite Boscha not deserving it, in her own mind. Everyone she loved had helped her get here, but Boscha had gotten in her own way… she’d turned her progress into a contest; a race against herself!
Derwin’s words echoed in her mind; “It’s your life, Boscha. No one can live it better than you, so there’s no contest and no rush.”
Deep beneath the Boiling Sea, Boscha began to forget the heat of the water on her skin, and felt an all new heat burning brighter in her heart. She began to think; about the warmth she felt for her loved ones, the passion she felt for Skara and her pursuit of new magic… and the deep desire to destroy everything that came between her, her friends, and the happiness they’d thought so hard for, alongside the shadow of her old self.
Feeling the heat in her heart boiling over, Boscha squeezed her staff a little tighter and smiled as the warmth filled every fibre of her being; “I am Boscha Alembic, Captain of the Banshees and Lover of Skara Cadence! I’ll prove to all my friends that I was worth the effort! I’m gonna prove to myself that I am still as awesome as I always was, and I am gonna tear both those bony heads off and crush them! So turn up the heat as much as you like, universe! I’ll take it all!”
In that moment, Maya snapped her claws in agreement and the fire glyph appeared on Boscha’s chest, glowing crimson. At the same time, over on the Salty Sea Dog, Mason and Derwin turned and gasped as they saw the fire glyph appear on Luz’s right hand again, before connecting to the unfinished glyph on her chest, which then fired a beam of intense red light through the air, arcing like a rainbow into the water, where it went through Boscha’s back and hit her glyph. In that instant, Boscha felt the world around her shift suddenly, and the feeling of the sea suddenly vanished, leaving her able to breathe again as she floated in a white void.
The mildly confused girl looked around, then saw Maya in her normal crab form right in front of her. The sight of the Palisman made Boscha gasp, and then beam with delight; “Oh Titan! It happened, didn’t it!? We unlocked our Palisman Fusion!” the excited girl looked down at her chest (noting that she didn’t have her Salamander skin here) and saw the fire glyph glowing there.
“I really did it! WE really did it!” she cheered, grabbing Maya and holding her up in the air.
“No, my partner. You did it. I offered my quiet support and nothing more; this is your achievement.” Maya said, her voice soft but also a little raspy, with a strange bubbly after-effect to her words, almost like she was talking while underwater.
“Hey, don’t knock the power of quiet support!” Boscha retorted with a big grin; “My friends have been giving me theirs this whole time, and once I got out of my own way and saw it, I was able to finally bond with the glyph and with you!”
She looked wistfully off into the distance; “I felt Warmth for them, and my family. I felt Passion for Skara, and for my potion craft. And of course, I wanted to destroy that monster, the Divider, Vitimir, and all those other jerks who’ve tried to hurt us, just as I destroyed my old self! Derwin was right; as soon as I stopped trying too hard to go beyond and started appreciating what I’d done, I finally began to understand all those feelings.”
Maya snapped her pincers affirmatively; “I knew you’d get there eventually, partner. I would have just told you that myself, but I know how much it meant for you to work things out on your own. Then when you began to slip more, I was afraid of hurting your pride… in the end though, Derwin’s advice did what I couldn’t. I’m sorry for not being a better partner.”
Boscha scoffed and cuddled the crab; “It’s fine, Maya. You’re right that I’d probably not want to listen… I know I can be stubborn in situations like this, and you’re right about my pride too. But letting things like that get away from me is what caused all my problems to start with. I’m moving on from that; I’ve still got my pride, but I’m not letting it rule me! I’m already awesome and the people I care about know that; there’s no point in rubbing it in people’s noses!”
She followed this up with an intentionally haughty laugh, jokingly making fun of her own arrogant streak. Maya blew bubbles of amusem*nt, and then said; “You really have changed so much! I never met the Bully you, but the more I get to know the new you, the harder it is to imagine. I think you’ve already completed half of the ambition that bonded me to you.”
The three-eyed girl thought back to the day she’d gotten Maya, and the wish she’d made at the time; “I want to play professional Grudgby! And make people see I’m not the same cruel jerk I was before.”
She smiled a little wider; Boscha had certainly proven that! Even Willow, her biggest victim once, knew she wasn’t that person any more!
“I guess so! Next up is the Grudgby League! Hope you’re up for it, Maya!” Boscha grinned.
“I am. More than you can ever know! Your competitive spirit is something I love; it reminds me of my last owner, Ruthis. He was just as competitive as you! But to tell you the truth, while that wish is what forged our bond, your other wish is what solidified it.” Maya confessed; “Ruthis was my dear friend and partner, and I loved him… but he was not a good person. There’s a reason he had no lovers or children despite being so famous…”
Boscha cringed a little; she knew all about the professional Faceball player known as Ruthis Babel. He’d been an amazing player and a pretty respectable sportsman, but he had no respect for anyone outside the sport, including his own fans, whom he viewed as vultures. He was a misanthrope who viewed himself as better than most people because of his (admittedly amazing) skills. He was a lot like Boscha’s old self in that regard, though he was less of a bully.
“…but in you, I saw what he could have been. Maybe it’s because you had people you cared about, or maybe it’s just because you’ve got an inherently warmer heart than him… whatever the reason, you’ve become amazing, and I couldn’t be prouder to be your Palisman!” Maya finished, little tears in the eyes on her pincers.
Her partner had tears in her own eyes as she kissed the top of the Crab Palisman’s shell and hugged her close; “Right back at you, Maya! And I’m not done with this marathon either! I’m gonna keep getting better! In fact, I can practically feel my head filling with ideas for ways to improve my magic! You, Skara, Luz, Willow, Amity… you’ve all become inspirations to me! But if you tell anyone other than Skara that I said that, I’ll deny it!”
Maya laughed, making more bubbles as she joyfully snipped her pincers. Boscha laughed too, and they continued to laugh as they held each other, their hearts swelling with love and a feeling of completeness as the white void began to be consumed by light, and their bodies slowly melded together.
And just like that, two flames burned together as one.
________________________________________________________________________________
[Meanwhile]
Back on the surface, Mason and Derwin were watching and waiting with bated breath for Boscha to emerge from the sea. While they hadn’t seen it themselves before, they’d heard the stories of Amity’s, Gus’s, Skara’s, and Willow’s fusion awakenings and recognised that a glyph appearing on Luz, connecting to King’s incomplete glyph on her chest, and then shooting out a beam of light was the precursor to a new fusion appearing, and since it was the fire glyph and had shot into the sea after Boscha, there was no secret who it would be.
“I can sense it… the tides have just turned on this fight.” Mason commented, looking out at the water. “Look there!” he then gasped.
He pointed to a patch of the sea that seemed to be glowing. At first glance, it looked like it was just the sun reflecting onto the surface of the water, but as steam began to rise from it thicker and thicker, it became obvious that this was something more.
Soon, the steam became a huge, unmistakeable column of white vapour and even the Draco Lich, who’d been firing its breath attacks into the water with reckless abandon, had to stop and look on with confusion. That was when Derwin spotted a shadow in the steam, rising up from the water.
“I think Boscha 3.0 has just arrived!” he grinned.
The Draco Lich, also spotting the shadow, roared and spewed a jet of lava right at the shadow, only for the lava to suddenly stop in mid-air, then be flung back into the monster’s face, getting all over the black bones that were part of its original body. The Draco Lich screeched and roared, especially when the heat was pulled from the lava to harden it, causing the beast’s upper body to be encased in stone that left it top-heavy and falling over. As it toppled onto the sand, the shadow in the steam suddenly shot towards the Salty Sea Dog and Titan Trapper ships like a mini-meteor, wrapped in an aura of flame. The new and improved Boscha came to a stop on the deck of Godric’s ship and placed the unconscious Denasu that she’d just rescued into the arms of one of the Trappers, before flying onto the deck of the Salty Sea Dog with a wide grin, giving Mason and Derwin a good look at her.
As expected, Boscha’s body had fused with Maya, and while she hadn’t gained many crab-like characteristics physically, she had gained an outfit covered in orange chitin. Outfit wise, she now wore red shorts with yellow detailing on the hem and inside thigh, and orange chitin plates on the sides as armour. A yellow band wrapped around her waist and divided the outfit’s upper and lower body, and the upper body consisted of a red shirt with orange chitin armour on the sides and top, which was attached to two chitin pauldrons which had red versions of Maya’s eyes on them, and were shaped like Maya’s claws. Her arms and legs were covered by black sleeves and tights, and her feet were clad in orange chitin boots with red soles, a red spike on the heel, and red crown-like decorations along the top, complete with a ruby-like jewel cut into a diamond shape. Her hands were clad in red fingerless gloves with spikes on the knuckles, and which exposed her fingers and the orange chitin that coated each one, giving her claws that vaguely resembled the legs of a crab. The final parts of her outfit (which looked almost like a fire and crab themed Grudgby uniform) were a long, cape-like orange scarf that hung down to the back of her legs, and the ruby red fire glyph glowing on her chest. The rest of her changes were limited to her head, and were generally more physical; her long dark plum hair was tied back by a yellow band, and she had an earring shaped like a crab claw in each ear. Her eyes had turned orange, and her third eye even had the small armoured eyelids that Maya’s eyes did. Lastly, Boscha had gained small horns atop her head that resembled open crab claws, and looked a lot like a novelty headband she’d bought herself after first getting Maya.
“Hello boys.” Boscha greeted with a confident grin; “Liking the new look? You wouldn’t believe how amazing it feels to be this in-sync with someone!” she opened her hand and produced a fireball, which began to dance around her fingers at her will; “It’s peerless! No offence Mason, but this feels better than your Power Glyphs!”
“None taken, Little Lady. Ya’ll look like you’ve finally put everything together on the inside!” Mason grinned.
“I did. I’m finally getting out of my own way! I’ve gotten a lot of support…” Boscha glanced at the still unconscious Luz, then looked to Derwin; “… and a lot of advice. I’ve been overcomplicating everything; now it’s time to keep it simple and do what comes naturally! Kick butt and be awesome!”
With that, Boscha flew up into the air, then shot toward the Draco Lich with a burst of fire from her feet, grinning widely. The Draco Lich, who’d managed to smash its way free from its rocky restraints, spewed lava into its claws and used them to form a giant spear of semi-molten rock, which it launched right at her. Boscha didn’t even pause, instead throwing a punch with her armoured fist and some fire from her elbow to boost the strength of the blow, allowing her to smash through the spear with barely any effort. The hot rock didn’t even make her flinch; it would take far hotter temperatures than this to stop the fire-imbued girl now!
“Remember Partner, we need to pull Godric out of that thing before we destroy it for good!” Maya warned her as Boscha continued shooting towards it.
“I remember. But first things first, I need to keep that thing from launching any more big attacks at the ships! If it sinks them, it’s gonna be a mess! Let me show you a new trick I just figured out!” Boscha grinned, before making gun shapes with her hands and pointing them at the sea. She fired intense beams of heat from her fingers right into the water, vaporising a great deal of it and creating a massive plume of steam. Boscha then clapped her hands together and created a ball of red energy around her, which she rapidly expanded to encompass the steam. This red energy was the raw destruction aspect of Fire Magic, which Boscha used to completely break down the steam and air into their most basic elements.
“I’ve been thinking about Transmutation, Angelic Alchemy, Human Chemistry, and Demon Potions like they’re all these hyper complex different arts! I was overcomplicating things as I tried to mix them together… but at they’re core, they were all the same from the start! It’s all about mixing compounds to create new ones with new properties! From mixing elements to form new compounds, to mixing chemicals and ingredients; at the base of it all it is just fusion, while Transmutation is all about dividing a material to its building blocks and rebuilding it as something new!” Boscha declared
With that in mind, Boscha used her Transmutation on all the raw elements she’d just broken down, and reformed it all together into a series of different powders, each of which had the same chemical make-up as some of the ingredients she liked to use most in her potions. They refilled her ingredient pouches, which were revealed to be hidden on the back of her yellow belt, and then with a wave of her hand, Boscha transmuted some of the air around her into sand that she rapidly refined into a glass potion bottle, then filled it with water that she transmuted out of the air itself. It all felt so much easier now that she wasn’t overthinking it; she knew the chemical make-up of a lot of her ingredients, and she didn’t need to know the make-up of the base materials she wanted to transmute if she just used Fire Magic to break it down to raw atoms anyway!
Boscha poured some select powders into the glass bottle, then gave it a good shake, a blast of heat, and wove in some spells to make the reactions she wanted happen as she wanted them to. Once it was done, Boscha conjured abomination slime in the form of a Grudgby ball around it, then kicked the ball with all her might directly at the flaming heart of the Draco Lich, where Godric’s real self was currently trapped. The abomination slime burst as it hit the flame, and the glass bottle shattered against the magma that coated Godric’s body within the Draco Lich’s false heart, causing a massive explosion of white, extinguishing foam to burst out and completely fill the Draco Lich’s black ribcage. The Dragon Monstrosity screeched and screamed in agony, and Boscha grinned as all the flaming hot lava veins it had threaded through its bones began to rapidly cool and give off steam.
“Enjoy that, you bag of bones? That is the Ether of Extinguishing! Made just for you with my new magic: Atomic Alchemy!” Boscha boasted proudly.
This was the culmination of all her research and work, finally completed after she stepped back and realised she already had all the pieces and just needed to put it together. It was literally the magic of breaking down any material to its smallest building blocks with the Destructive Aspect of Fire Magic, then using the core tenants of Transmutation and Angelic Alchemy to reconstruct them into what she wanted, before finally mixing these new compounds together into potions with a mix of Demon Potion Craft and Human Chemistry. It stripped away the complexity and could, theoretically, be used to create any single thing from scratch, if Boscha knew how to replicate the chemical make-up of the thing. She could even make new compounds with properties that didn’t exist in nature with this method, though that would require a lot of experimenting! She was also unable to reliably create anything TOO complex, as putting the particles together became too magic intensive and needed too much concentration even if she knew the structure, hence why she made ingredients and mixed them, not just the potions themselves. There were a few simple exceptions, but none that were groundbreaking.
As the extinguishing foam smothered the fire around the Draco Lich’s false heart, cooling the magma, Boscha then used her Atomic Alchemy to create a potent rock-dissolving solvent, which she then sprayed all over the Draco Lich as if spraying it with a fire hose. The hardened magma around Godric began to dissolve into a thick grey and black sludge, and slop off from the unconscious Dragon Priest’s body, exposing him to the open air once again. Boscha gave a satisfied smirk; it would have been easier to just destroy the rocky heart, but she’d wanted to avoid hurting Godric, so took this slightly slower route.
Of course, the Draco Lich wasn’t about to make it that easy for her. The beast dropped its torso down to the ground and used all five of its surviving claws to dash forward like some kind of disgusting bony insect, its dual ribcages dragging through the dirt, and then leapt into the air to try and land on Boscha, its twin heads bearing down on her with their mouths open and both spewing their breath attacks in the form of black and red flames. The red flames were actual fire, so Boscha easily took control of them and used them to block the fire-like necrotic energy being shot by the black skull. In fact, Boscha wreathed herself in the dragon’s fire and used it to fly directly into its maw, where she decided to show off some of what she’d learned from Human Chemistry by conjuring abomination slime with explosive properties, mimicking nitroglycerin and C4. She planted a little of it between each vertebrae, then when she reached the chest of the Dragon, she whistled sharply to set it all off, causing the Draco Lich’s red skull and neck to be blow to smithereens.
“Ha! Enjoy my A-Bomb-I-Potions!” Boscha taunted. Still, while the red skull was in pieces, it would soon rebuild itself, so Boscha was quick to use her powers to animate the lava still spewing from the volcano, creating a gigantic abomination-like Lava Golem, which promptly grabbed the black skull and neck of the Draco Lich and ripped them off, leaving the creature temporarily headless and borderline defenceless. Borderline wasn’t enough for Boscha though, and since both she and Godric were virtually immune to heat at this stage, she had her Lava Golem (which was about the size of the Draco Lich) belly flop on top of it, flooding the beach with lava and creating a huge amount of smoke and steam as lava touched the jungle and ocean. Boscha and Godric got lava on them too, but neither were even mildly burned, and with the Draco Lich now completely unable to move for a bit, Boscha went about freeing Godric.
She moved the lava aside so she could reach him in the Lich’s upper ribcage and then applied a bit more rock-dissolving solvent to completely remove the hardened lava from him. Seeing that some of the Dragon’s ribs were wrapping around him too, Boscha decided to use her fire in a way that was inspired by Cosmic Frontier; she focused the red Destruction Magic and general Fire Magic into a red beam that emerged from her palm, creating a sword-length beam of intense heat and disintegrating power. It was just like the Laser Swords of the Cosmic Frontier series (which were totally distinct from the Star Wars lightsabers, no matter what Amity and Luz said) and allowed her to easily cut through the rib bones and free Godric, whose large body flopped onto Boscha’s shoulders. Almost as soon as he was free from the Draco Lich, Godric began to stir a little, so Boscha rapidly flew away and opted to land atop the volcano, knowing the heat would do the man good. He wasn’t fully waking up yet though, so she left him there alone and flew back down to deal with the Draco Lich once and for all!
Without Godric’s power, the Draco Lich had lost a great deal of its magic and no longer had the power necessary to fuse its original black skeleton with the red bones of his Fire Drake form, so the red skull Boscha had destroyed remained shattered, and the creature’s lower body remained completely motionless, forcing the upper body of the Draco Lich to crawl free and begin scrambling away. The silver lining for it at least was that it was a lot easier to escape the Lava Golem without lugging so much extra weight, and its head had since regenerated. In an act of desperation, the Draco Lich actually began crawling out to sea in order to escape the lava, unnaturally extending the length of its ribs and spinal column to allow it to remain above the surface even as it got into the deeper waters.
Seeing this and deciding the volcano had served its purpose, Boscha used her newfound powers to move all the still molten lava back into the volcano, then hardened some of it over the open holes, sealing the volcano up again. As soon as she was done with this, she snuffed out all the fires in the jungle and used her power to vaporise the destroyed trees, letting fine ash sprinkle over the soil and the rest of the jungle, where it would become excellent fertiliser for the rest of the jungle. Then she vaporised the rest of Godric’s old Fire Drake Skeleton, wanting to make sure it couldn’t be used again no matter what. Only then did Boscha finally turn her attention back to the Draco Lich, who’d begun firing skull-shaped blasts of necrotic energy at her, which she’d casually dodged or blocked with barriers of flame.
The Dragon was almost a kilometre out to sea now, and as Boscha flew towards it, it used its bony wings and arms to create huge waves to try and splash her and weaken her fire power, though the girl easily flew out of its range, forcing it to instead use the water inside its chest cavity to fuel a water jet breath attack, which Boscha countered with a beam of intense heat to evaporate it. It seemed that even with no meat or organs, the Draco Lich could still “spit up” whatever was inside its ribcage, and it was quite a sight to see the water lift from the sea by itself and twist its way up through the Dragon’s throat.
“I’m almost impressed; you’re pretty smart for an undead monstrosity! Or maybe that’s just the Geas and Denasu’s will, puppeteering you. Going out to sea and using the water against me? That’s clever! Even my incredible new power can’t stand up to a whole ocean of water! Something like this would be a scary sight for a Fire Witch.” Boscha smirked. “But I am not just a Fire Witch. I’m also a Potions Witch, and you know what the ocean is to me?”
She pointed her hand at it and drew the biggest yellow spell circle she could; “A giant cauldron!”
With that, she used her new Atomic Alchemy to on the water surrounding the Draco Lich, breaking it down to pure water and salt. From there, she used a Potion Spell that separated sediments from liquids, forcing the salt to form a thin wall around the pure boiling water, dividing it from the rest of the sea and literally creating a cauldron of salt with the Draco Lich inside, and fresh bubbling water already inside. From there, all Boscha had to do was land on the salty rim of the cauldron and put her hands in the fresh water before using an almost insultingly basic Transmutation Spell to turn the entire thing into acid. Immediately, the Draco Lich began roaring and screeching as its bones hissed, being slowly eaten away at by the acid as it tried to escape. Boscha did not allow it to flee though, always darting into its face and using an explosion of fire or a Potion Bomb to knock it back into the acid whenever it tried to leave the giant salt cauldron. The process was too slow for Boscha though, so she used a combination of her new Atomic Alchemy and the Sonic Alchemy she’d learned from Raine to increase the acidity of the cauldron’s contents, making it significantly stronger. The Draco Lich’s bones began to completely dissolve in the acid, and in one final last ditch attempt to take Boscha down with it, it fired all its remaining necrotic energy straight at her in one huge beam of deep black and purple magic. It was enough magic to vaporise her, yet Boscha was not going to let something like that take her out! She was winning this battle with some style!
“Time to burn it all away! I’m taking a page from Luz’s book with this one!” Boscha declared, unleashing a monstrous amount of fire and condensing it all down into a single sphere in the palm of her hands. The fireball slowly grew to be as big as Boscha herself, and blocked the necrotic magic, before Boscha screamed; “INFERNO OVERDRIVE!” and launched the ball directly at the Draco Lich. The ball, growing larger as it flew towards the Draco Lich, consumed its last ditch attack in a flash and then struck it head on before erupting in a pillar of flame that shot all the way up to the clouds above, piercing them and coming very close to vaporising the acid in the salt cauldron. The Draco Lich couldn’t stand up to it and was blasted apart, and its bones fell into the acid and promptly dissolved away into nothingness, finally bringing an end to the Draco Lich.
There was a brief burst of purple magic as the Geas dispersed without a body to contain it, after which Boscha returned the acid to normal water and destroyed the giant salt cauldron, before using a stirring spell to mix all the salt, fresh water, and Boiling Seawater back together so the local ecosystem of the island was safe. With all that done, a mildly exhausted Boscha pumped her fist in the air with a grin and panted out; “Victory… for… Boscha!”
There was a moment of silence, followed swiftly by loud cheering from the ships nearby, which actually began sailing over to Boscha. Mason and Derwin were the loudest, and were now being supported by Matt, who’d regained consciousness. Salty and his crew cheered too, but most shockingly, Tarak and Denasu (who’d each regained consciousness too) were leading the Titan Trappers in cheering too! Enemies or not, they could respect someone who brought down an enemy that large and powerful!
Boscha felt a little bit wary of them, especially since she was now pretty tired (she’d really overdone it) but she used her Atomic Alchemy to whip up some Reinvigorating Resin; a chewy paste that helped give a person a bit more pep as they chewed it, to hide her fatigue and then flew over to the beach where Godric still lay unconscious. The people on the boats ended up disembarking and joining her on the beach, with Derwin carrying Luz on his back (though he left Samael to snooze in his cot).
“Boscha, that was incredible!” Matt beamed; “I only caught the last couple of minutes, but it was so freaking cool! You whooped that thing!”
“It was mighty impressive, little lady! I couldn’t a done better meself.” Mason grinned.
“Glad to see the result of you finally finding yourself, Boscha. You did good.” Derwin praised.
Boscha blushed a little, but puffed her chest out proudly; “What can I say? I AM awesome! But… thanks guys. Your support has meant a lot to me, and I wouldn’t have gotten here without you.”
Denasu shuffled forward, escorted by a slightly wary Tarak; “I owe you my thanks too, girl. And my apologises. It was my actions that unleashed that thing; I didn’t know about the dead Draco Lich, but that was my error. And even as your enemy, you saved my life. I’m grateful.”
“As am I. Denasu is important to our tribe.” Tarak said stiffly.
Boscha narrowed her eyes on the trappers, a scathing retort on the tip of her tongue. They deserved her ire for what they’ve done and what they wanted to do, but Boscha was tired and not in the mood for more caustic remarks.
“You’re welcome. Enemy or not, I’m not just going to let someone die in front of me. Besides, even if your jerk leader almost killed her, you DID heal Luz when she was sick, and if I remember right, you didn’t get anything out of it in the end. So we’ll call it even.” Boscha said, “Now excuse me for a moment…”
The girl approached Luz on Derwin’s back and used some of the compounds she’d made and stored earlier to create a rather foul smelling potion that had Derwin holding his nose to keep himself from retching. It was basically just a bottle of smelling salts, and as soon as Luz got a whiff of them, she regained consciousness with a shudder and retch, before plugging her nose.
“Ugh! That’s gross! Boscha, keep that away from- wait… Boscha!?” Luz exclaimed, finally noticing the girl’s new appearance.
“In the flesh… and chitin too. My whole body is coated in it beneath this get-up.” Boscha grinned.
Luz wiggled free from Derwin’s grasp and got onto her own two feet (though not without giving the man a brief hug and “Thank you!” for carrying her), then grabbed Boscha’s hands with big sparkly eyes; “Look at you! You’re awesome! And you must have had a big emotional moment! I can’t believe I missed it AGAIN! Gus, Skara, Willow, and now you too! I’ve missed all the fusions except Amity’s!”
“Well at least you were there for the important one then.” Boscha said with a teasing smirk; “But thanks Luz. You did a lot to help make this happen; the things you said when we were flying back from the precinct in Bonesborough after I saved you all those months ago… that stuck with me.”
Luz beamed and hugged Boscha, while Stringbean nestled on top of the redhead’s hair and nuzzled her; “You’re welcome, Boscha! Skara is gonna flip when she sees you! Heck, the sight of you is making me feel all warm and fuzzy in my heart!” the young Seraphim said.
Boscha rolled her eyes, but then noticed that the glyph on Luz’s chest was actually starting to glow a little brighter. “Uh, Luz? What’s going in with King’s glyph? Are you doing something with it?”
Luz looked down as everyone else looked at the glowing ring too, but as she looked at it, Luz began to feel its power welling up inside her. Then, without any input from her at all, the light, plant, and ice glyphs all appeared and connected to her central glyph as well. For a brief moment, Luz was terrified that something horrible had happened in the Divine Realm, and her friends had all used their fusions at once to defend themselves, but then Luz noticed that she didn’t feel any fatigue or exhaustion (at least none she hadn’t felt already) and began to wonder what was going on.
“Uh… this is new. Give me a second!” Luz declared, before summoning her portal door and opening it, then calling Amity on her scroll. Her girlfriend immediately answered with a worried voice.
“Luz! Are you okay!?”
“Yes! I think? Is something going on there? You sound freaked out?” Luz asked.
“I was going to ask you the same thing! Gus, Willow, and I all just suddenly took on our fused forms! We were just helping out some of the other CATTs when we changed out of the blue! I thought you did something! Are you okay!? Three fusions at once has got to be hard on you, right!?” Amity asked.
“Actually it’s four fusions, and weirdly enough… I feel totally fine!” Luz revealed.
There was a moment of silence as Amity mentally processed all that; “Four fusions…? I’m going to go out on a limb and say it was Boscha, right?”
The three-eyed girl preened as Luz confirmed it to Amity. The Blight girl then replied; “I’m not gonna tell anyone, and just let it be a surprise for Skara, but I can’t help but notice that Skara is the only one not transformed.”
Luz, realising what Amity was getting at, gasped and said; “Light, plant, ice, and fire… the four glyphs of Orion! His glyphs are the ones causing this!”
“Exactly!” Amity replied; “This is just a theory, but maybe having all four of a single Titan’s glyphs now bonded to fusions means that you don’t suffer fatigue? Like instead of opening multiple connections between you and Orion, you only need to open one?”
Luz thought about it; was that the secret to overcoming the fatigue of maintaining multiple fusions? It was like bonding with all four of a Titan’s glyphs provided some kind of synergy effect that allowed her to shrug off the fatigue! It gave her a suspicion; perhaps when she’d been opening the links between her friends and the Titans before, she’d had to open a passage for each individual glyph, which strained her, but now she could simply channel all four glyphs through a single connection! It meant most of her friends needed to be fused at the same time, but since simply being fused didn’t use magic or cause fatigue, it shouldn’t be a problem! Now all Luz needed to do was find a solution to the fatigue of maintaining two connections! Once her remaining friends fully connected to Cassiopeia, that would end that problem too!
That made Luz remember something, so she said; “Amity, could you check and see how King feels? This involves his glyph too!”
“I’ll find him.” Amity replied, before going quiet for a moment. As she waited, Luz stepped away from the Trappers and switched her scroll from audio to video, so she’d be able to see King. Luz soon heard Amity’s voice speaking quietly to someone, before she handed the scroll to King and his face appeared before Luz.
“Luz! Amity told me what’s going on! You’re okay, right?” King asked urgently. “And Samael too?”
“I’m fine; a little roughed up since we ran into Godric and the Titan Trappers, but we’ve handled it… mostly. And Samael wore himself out and is taking a nap! But listen, how are YOU feeling? Your glyph did something kind of crazy here and I wanted to make sure you’re okay!” Luz replied.
“I don’t know… I feel kind of different. Using my own glyph feels a LOT easier, and a lot stronger too! I think it’s getting closer to being completed!” King said, an unsure look in his eyes as he forced a smile.
“King? Are you okay? You don’t look too happy about this.” Luz frowned.
King shook his head; “I am happy, I just… it doesn’t feel like I did anything and yet I’m getting more powerful. It feels like I took a shortcut…”
Luz shook her head; “King, your glyph power is what is allowing all these Palisman Fusions to happen! Your power is literally required, and I’ll bet my halo that using the glyph so much is like using a muscle, and you’re getting stronger each time!”
“You think so?” King asked, still unsure.
“I know so! You aren’t getting stronger because our friends are fusing; our friends are fusing because you’re getting stronger!” Luz reassured him.
King smiled a little brighter, and Luz noticed her white glyph glowing a bit brighter too; “Y-Yeah! You’re right! And I bet its the same for you too, Sis! Our powers combined are getting better the more we use them! In fact… I feel kind of tingly! Like we’re reaching a new level!”
Luz looked down at the unfinished glyph and began to occasionally see lines of light moving within the circle, almost as if trying to draw the glyph. The lines were always random and seldom repeated, but they were proof that King was closer to completing his glyph, and Luz was helping with that. Her Angelic Power always seemed to strengthen him, just as his Titan Power strengthened her.
As she looked back up, she saw King’s eyes flash gold and his little white wings began softly glowing, then looked down and saw her body beginning to glow too with an aura of white magic, just like King’s did when he used the glyph.
“This is…!” Luz whispered, her eyes widening.
She didn’t get to complete that thought though, as a burst of fire roared up into the sky, accompanying a loud, actual roar from Godric. She cursed and looked behind her to see everyone on the beach backing off a step as Godric, now conscious, hauled himself to his feet.
“Dang it… King, I have to go. I’ll talk to you again soon. Don’t worry though, your Big Sis and pals can handle this!” she said.
King nodded confidently, then hung up the scroll, allowing Luz to rush over to join her friends and the Trappers. The Trappers had all backed off, and Salty and his crew had been forced to step back by Mason, who now guarded them carefully. Luz and Boscha stepped forward to face Godric as he fully woke up, while Derwin and Matt stood just a little bit off to the side, ready to jump in and support them if the worst should happen.
The Fire Dragon Priest looked around, confused and wincing in pain as his head pounded; “Ugh… what happened to me? The last thing I remember was… that Undead Dragon!”
“Boscha took care of it.” Luz replied casually, Stringbean in staff mode in her hand but not being pointed at Godric yet.
The man blinked and looked over at Boscha. He saw the red fire glyph on her chest and her new form, and gave a slow nod of respect; “I see. Hail, Sister of Flame. It seems you’ve gone through a similar trial to what I once did. Many were able to pass the Trials of Fire and earn a tattoo of Lord Orion’s glyph, but very few were able to earn his true blessing and bond with the glyph itself. You have my deepest respect, Sister Boscha.”
“Well that’s… nice? Does that mean we don’t need to fight? That you’ll just go home with the Titan Trappers and forget you ever saw us?” Boscha asked, semi-hopefully.
“Alas, I can’t.” Godric said, his face turning blank once more. “The Lord Divider wishes me to capture any CATTs I can and bring them to him. That has not changed.”
Luz, Boscha, and all the CATTs sighed grimly, and the Trappers began to look either frightened or reluctant; they had already lost against the formidable CATTs before Boscha’s power up, and were not keen on fighting them now that she was even stronger! Denasu and Tarak were also reluctant since Boscha had saved the former’s life, and the latter had gained a respect for Mason’s skills, but Godric HAD been put in charge, and they didn’t want to bring the Lord Divider’s wrath down on them or the Grand Huntsman by disobeying.
Realising another fight was inevitable, Luz used King’s glyph and her connection to Boscha through the fire glyph to speak to her within her mind; “Boscha, I’m gonna try and plead with him a little to get his guard down. When you’re ready, rush him and try to drain out as much of his fire as you can! Then I’ll try draining the rest of his magic with those Shadow Vines.”
“Got it. As soon as I see the right moment, I’ll go for it!” Boscha mentally replied.
With a plan in motion, Luz stepped forward with her empty hand held up in surrender and began to plead with Godric; “Please, Godric! This isn’t you! The man I know wasn’t a puppet of the Divider! Zara and Lars are both already free from the Divider’s control and are waiting for you in Cartilia! Wouldn’t you rather be with them than following the Divider’s orders like a lap dog?”
Godric froze as his mind tried to respond to that without the usual negative emotions of doubt and anger that such a statement would normally cause, and that was precisely the moment Boscha struck. She jetted forward with fire bursting from the soles of her feet and decked Godric with a powerful chitin-fisted punch, knocking the sturdy man onto his backside. She then got behind him and put him in a choke hold, redirecting his flames into her own as he expelled fire to try and get her off him. In a break between one of these bursts of flame, Luz darted forward and touched Godric’s chest, preparing to grow the Darkness and Plant Magic vines directly over his skin to drain his energy.
However in that moment, something happened that Luz didn’t expect; the white aura that still coated her began to intensify. Not only that, but it became almost iridescent, blending King’s magic with Luz’s own, then spreading out over Godric’s body as he suddenly went very still, ceasing all struggles. The man looked like he was struggling to breath for a moment, and even Boscha loosening her hold did nothing to stop him from choking, but then the aura settled into his skin and Godric’s own glyph marking briefly shone with iridescent light, before beams of the same light erupted from his eyes and wide open mouth. It shocked everyone watching it, and unbeknownst to any of them, deep within the bowels of the Union Pillar in Orion’s Left Palm, the Divided Orb made from Godric (which could be as far from him as needed thanks to him being personally divided by the Divider) briefly glowed white and disintegrated as its contents were pulled out through the ether and straight back into Godric’s body.
The man shuddered and then finally caught his breath, releasing a long and very satisfying sigh as his entire body relaxed. Without a single hint of aggression, he patted one of Boscha’s arms and said; “It’s okay now, Sister Boscha. You can release me.”
“And why should I do that?” Boscha asked suspiciously.
Godric gave a toothy grin; “Because if you don’t, you’ll finally get to see me when I’m angry! As it stands, having a little girl like you trying to strangle me is kind of getting on my nerves!”
The CATTs all gasped and Boscha loosened her grip completely (but did not actually let go), as Luz backed off a step, her white aura fading as all the glyphs (minus King’s and the fire glyph) disappeared from her skin.
“Angry? Annoyed? You shouldn’t be able to feel those feelings! Unless…” Luz peered closer and saw the golden ring around Godric’s eyes had vanished; “Oh Titan! You’ve been reunited! You’re not divided any more!”
Boscha immediately released him and leapt back, gaping in shock as Godric chuckled and rubbed his neck; “Damn right! Look at you; every time I see you, you’ve got two more wings! Good to see you’re still burning bright, Little Luz.” he said, getting to his feet.
“B-But this is impossible! I didn’t destroy your Divided Orb! I don’t even know where it is!” Luz exclaimed, looking to the Titan Trappers. None of them even knew what she was talking about; they’d only been in the Divider’s service for a day and a half, so they had no idea what Divided Orbs and Union Pillars even were!
“Can’t say I know for certain, but I think it was in the Pillar I was guarding, back in the desert. I can’t explain it well, but it felt like that white magic of yours was reaching through me to touch something else, then when you pulled it back, the thing you grabbed on the other side stayed inside me. I’d hazard a guess and say that it was my divided parts.”
Luz’s eyes widened as she stared down at her hands; “Did King’s glyph level up enough that I can use the link between the Divided and their missing pieces to drag those pieces back!?” she gasped.
“Whoa! King’s powers have really grown!” Matt praised.
Godric nodded; “My Lord’s son is truly amazing; his Titan Power is growing miraculously fast! But I need to say this; while I’m no expert on Angelic Magic, I definitely felt as much of your magic in that as I did Glyph Magic. I don’t know for sure, but it felt like both were important.”
Luz looked down at her hands, then at King’s glyph (which had stopped drawing lines of light within itself and settled as an empty ring again). “I wonder…”
“So, just to be clear…” Tarak chimed in nervously; “Godric is not on our side any more?”
“Ha! Are you kidding me? If I was still in my full Fire Drake form, I’d be chowing down on you murderous blasphemers!” Godric said, his grin becoming vicious and bloodthirsty; “You want to kill my Lord’s son, and serve the same little bastard that started the Titan Genocide! You’re lucky I haven’t already turned you to ash.”
Tarak gulped, then shakily said; “I-I see. Fair enough! Well, with that said I guess we should just… RETREAT!”
He gave that order at the top of his lungs, then began physically picking up his fellow trappers and flinging them towards their ships with his full strength, while others ran for their lives. To his credit, Tarak actually stayed behind briefly to block off Godric or the CATTs’ pursuit of the Titan Trappers, but none of them made a move to stop them. Luz and Matt both looked ready to at one point, but Boscha just gave them a look that stopped them in their tracks, while the others wouldn’t act without Luz’s order and Godric didn’t want to anger the young Seraphim by killing the foolish Witches.
Instead Tarak fled with Denasu flung over his shoulder, then boarded Godric’s former ship and began barking orders, having the Trappers start sailing away. The jelly ring was still in place, but Boscha winked at her friends and then flew out and used her Atomic Alchemy to turn the jelly ring into water vapour, which she combined with a little heat to create the perfect conditions for storm clouds, which formed over the Titan Trapper’s ships. It began to rain on them even as they sailed away through the gap in Samael’s jelly ring, and while their Titan Hide armour protected them from the boiling rain, Luz used Wind Magic to make sure the clouds followed them, pelting them with rain the whole way home. When Boscha flew back to the shore, she was greeted by the CATTs, who grinned and high-fived her… though Derwin had a concern.
“You know, they’re just going to tell the Divider what happened here, meaning we can’t use this island as a base after all.” he pointed out. “Unless you’re working on the assumption that the Divider will believe we went elsewhere precisely because he knows about it, and thus never bother to actually check. I don’t think that’s a safe gamble.”
Boscha chuckled and then gave a co*cky smirk; “Oh no, I have something much better planned! Fun fact, did you know aerosol potions are rare and Vitimir had low success with them because it’s hard to make the compounds survive the heat or pressure needed to evaporate them? In most cases, potions need to cool before they’re usable for the same reason, but there is one potion that can not only survive the heat, but can also be absorbed through the skin when heated.”
Most of those present had no idea about potions, and while Godric had some passing knowledge since it was a Magic Art that relied on Fire, it had been a thousand years since he’d last caught up with the most recent discoveries, leaving only Luz to mull over Boscha’s words. Eventually she gasped as she realised what Boscha was getting at.
“That rain… it’s not rain at all! Boscha, you clever crab!” Luz giggled; “You turned the rain into Amnesia Tincture!”
Boscha grinned maniacally; “Not sure how I feel about the nickname, but I’ll take the praise! You’re exactly right! It was a mild dose too, and by the time the Amnesia Tincture soaks through their fur and into their skin, they’ll be far enough away that when their memories of the last 6 hours start to fade, they won’t know where they’d come from, what they were doing, or why Godric isn’t with them! Our secret is perfectly safe!”
The CATTs exchanged looked, then promptly burst into cheers for Boscha yet again, whose strength waned enough by that point to finally undo her fusion, turning back to normal with a flash of light.
“Phew!” she sighed, cradling a sleepy Maya to her chest (whom Stringbean and Pebbles began to cuddle with); “That was exhausting. I could use a nap!”
Luz grinned and patted her on the back; “You’ll have earned it! Let’s all get back to the Salty Sea Dog and exchange info on our findings before that mess happened, and fill in Godric on what’s going on. Then we can call the others to finally settle the island and complete the mission!”
The CATTs agreed and everyone returned to Salty’s ship, where Luz held the still sleeping Sammy on her lap while Boscha dozed on a cot and they all exchanged info. They started off by telling Godric everything about what they were doing on the Dragon Graveyard Island, and giving him up to date information on his mates (which boiled down to “They’re in Cartilia and seem to be holding the place for the time being), to which the fiery Dragon Priest had nodded and sighed with relief, glad his mates were okay, though he was also anxious to reunite with them. Despite this anxiety though, he chose to stay with the CATTs for the moment so he could repay them for saving him. Then they got into the three scouting duos reporting their findings.
Derwin didn’t have a lot to give besides the knowledge that Belos had taken or destroyed most of the corpses from his doomed expedition, and Luz’s tale about Lillian and the memorial in the caldera (which thankfully survived the mini-eruptions of the volcano, since the lava had come from holes in the side instead of the top), was fairly short and bittersweet, though the fact the magic she’d used to purify Demetrius’ heart was in part responsible for the Draco Lich situation DID bother her a little bit. The real discovery though was Mason’s and Matt’s; the fact the Angels evacuated and buried their own city in lava to stop the Demons was a big deal, and the revelation that Zachael had come from this city too was an even bigger deal! Finally, King would know where his Godfather came from before he was found and adopted by his parents.
Luz made a mental note to inform Orion and Cassiopeia’s souls too, once she went through to get the others.
That would be very soon too, as Samael soon stirred awake and after a very brief explanation of what he’d missed, the Scouting Team and Salty’s crew had a vote on if they felt the island and abandoned city would make for a good new base for the CATTs. The vote was unanimous; everyone agreed! A ready made city in good condition was too good too pass up, especially as fully building a new base would be extremely difficult whilst also dealing with their missions on the Boiling Isles!
With that decision made, they returned to the shore of the island, leaving Salty and his crew to mind the boat, then Luz summoned her portal again and went through it. She briefly told the Titans what they’d found, which made them both smile brightly and hug her, then went through the portal to the Divine Realm and was met by her friends. The rest of the Hexsquad and the CATTs elites all eagerly followed her back through her portal to the Dragon Graveyard Island, which Luz really needed to think of a new name for.
Upon arriving, the whole group looked around at the tropical jungle and almost idyllic beaches, which were much more like the Caribbean, compared to the more Mediterranean style coast that Digale Island had. Willow and Hanu were sad to see the damage to the jungle done by the volcano, and some of the adults were fairly worried about said volcano, but Luz assured them it was all sealed up and the recent “eruptions” had only been caused by their battle with Godric, whom everyone was shocked to find lounging besides a tired Boscha (whom got a big hug and kiss from Skara, as well as a pat on the back from Severin). None of them knew the details of what had happened yet, but Luz began to tell them as she gave them a tour of the island and the abandoned city, which Mason and Matt planned to open up to the air again with some help from Steve and the Construction Team.
“This place is huge! It’s got a lot of space for workshops and labs!” Amity gushed, looking around the preserved city.
“It’s got a few of those already. Most of the gear has been cleared out or decayed, but some is salvageable.” Matt told her.
“Excellent. I still want to build more of those Dragonflies, and put my own spin on them. And those Axolotls too.” Alador said, getting some major nods of agreement from Jerbo too.
“The Hospital is still in good, sturdy condition too. Once we resupply it, it’ll be even better than Digale.” Mason smiled, looking up at Hettie as he led her towards it, with Viney, Valtora, and Meesha trailing behind, along with Emira.
“It’s bigger than Digale Town and made with Angelic Craftsmanship, so the city will make a good upgrade! It’s a fixer-upper, but worth the effort!” Luz grinned, holding hands with both her Hermosa and her little sister. With Camila gone, Vee was feeling a little lost and sensitive, so Luz was comforting her.
“Excellent work, Luz. You and the scouting team definitely found a winner!” Eda beamed, ruffling her daughter’s hair. “You did good too, Starlight! And kicked Trapper butt too from the sounds of it!”
Samael, who was still a little sleepy and holding hands with King as they walked, smiled bashfully; “Thanks Cool Aunt Eda! I did my best!”
“It sounds like you all did.” Raine smiled, ruffling Luz’s hair and giving Boscha a nod, before clapping Derwin on the back; “I’m proud of you, Derwin.” they leaned in and whispered; “Especially for helping out Boscha. I’m glad my little lesson stuck!”
Derwin grinned; “What can I say? I had a good teacher! On top of some crazy sisters from different misters!” he joked, winking to Amber and Katya. The two ladies giggled and hugged him, which got Steve to hug him too, and the two men had a bit of a Bro moment, which ended up including Matt too as Steve gushed over his latest (sadly destroyed) creation.
“Steve is a proud big brother! You’re doing awesome Matt! And you too, Pebbles!” Steven grinned, giving high fives to them both.
“And defeating the Trapper leader by yourself with both strength and cleverness… very impressive, Mason.” Hettie smiled at her small admirer.
The Construction Witch stroked his beard to hide his faint blush; “Happy to impress, Miss Cutburn.”
Hettie sighed good-naturedly; “How many times must I ask you to call me Hettie?”
Mason stuttered a little, and shifted attention off him by shifting it onto Boscha. “If y’all wanna talk about the MVP of this here mission, then we’ve got to give it up to the Little Lady here. She’s the one who took down the Draco Lich.”
Skara beamed; “I am VERY excited to hear about that! A heroic figure facing off against a Dragon amidst the backdrop of an erupting volcano and a battle with pirates at sea… I can’t think of any more romantic action tropes to jam in! Is it any wonder that I call you my Muse?”
The blatant flirting had Boscha going red in the face, but she recovered and said; “Just wait until you see my surprises! I finally put the pieces together of my own unique magic; Atomic Alchemy!”
Eda’s eyes shone at the sound of that, as did Lilith; their old pride as Potions students ignited by the intriguing sounding art. However Boscha only had eyes for Skara as she whispered; “And if you plan on making a song out of my epic adventure today, and casting me as the knight in burning armour… well, I guess I better slip into that armour!”
Everyone looked on in awe as Boscha, who’d recovered just barely enough to use her fusion again, transformed into her new fused state. Severin immediately yelled his praise and led the others in a round of applause, and both Willow and Amity had to comment.
“I knew you’d be next. You’re my rival after all. It looks like you got out of your slump too! About time! We’ll have to spar some time to see which of us is really the best!” Willow grinned. She kept it short and sweet, knowing Boscha enough to know that she wouldn’t want an overly emotional response from her rival.
“I’ll leave the sparring to you two, but still; I’m impressed Boscha! You really have grown a lot from the person you once were. Congratulations; you earned it!” Amity smiled softly, genuinely happy that her old friend had become someone so much more than she’d once been.
Boscha smiled at their words, nodding to each and letting her eyes tell them just how much their words meant to her, but the real focus was on Skara, who had yet to say a word, instead just slowly looking Boscha up and down with shining eyes.
Finally, the Bardic Girl spoke in an almost breathless whisper, spelling out her feelings as only a poetic and romantic Bard could.
“If mine life were but a fleeting breath of air, I would give it gladly to feed thy hungry flame, and set mine heart ablaze so it might be one with thou. I have seen the sun, and in shines in three citrine eyes, bathing me in warmth when they look upon me.”
Boscha blushed crimson, the sheer devotion and desire in Skara’s eyes as she recited that poem. For the first time ever, she wished she could match her girlfriend’s skill for flowery and romantic speech, and say something back that was just as profound… but that wasn’t who Boscha was. So instead, she showed her appreciation with her body, and pulled Skara against her to capture her in a searing kiss.
The others whooped, hollered, and cheered their kiss, and both the Lumity and Huntlow couples stood shoulder to shoulder as they held hands, glad to see their friend’s expressions of romance. Even Gus and Lyra stood together, their pinkies intertwined in place of holding hands properly.
Eventually the kiss came to an end and it became clear that Boscha and Skara were too distracted by each other to focus on the task at hand, and since Boscha had been the MVP of the day’s mission, the gang decided to split up and explore the city a little as they waited for the lovebirds to be done with their lovey-dovey display (though Severin remained nearby as a chaperone, to keep the girls from getting TOO passionate).
It was during this time that Luz took King off to the side, accompanied by Eda, Lilith, Amity, Raine, Samael, and Vee, as well as the medical records mirror and the town census tome that Mason and Matt had found and handed over to the young Seraphim. Once they were all alone together, Luz revealed why she’d called them away.
“King, I wanted you and our family to be the first ones to hear about this, but we learned something else when exploring the city. Matt and Mason found these records, and we found a certain person within them.” Luz said, activating the mirror and opening the tome, then making sure both relevant entries were front and centre.
The Little Titan was confused for a moment as he looked at the information in front of him, but then gave a cry of “Weh!?” as he spotted what Luz was showing him.
“Zachael!” he exclaimed, grabbing the mirror and taking a closer look at it.
The others looked amazed and a little sad, with Eda piping up; “This city is where your Godfather, Zachael was born?”
King nodded, not taking his eyes away from the mirror; “Y-Yeah… he was born here, and orphaned here before Mama and Dad found him.”
Vee looked to Amity; “Luz told me about Zachael; he built King’s nursery tower on Titan Cradle Island, right?”
Amity nodded; “Yes. It also ended up being his tomb, too.”
“I saw it with my own eyes. Zachael was a High Angel and spent his final years watching of his Godson’s egg. His golems cared for King before Eda nabbed him.” Raine smiled sadly at the memory.
Eda snorted; “You make me sound like I kidnapped him!”
“Well you kind of did.” Lilith teased.
Eda blew a raspberry at her sister, and Hooty emerged from his birdhouse on Lilith’s back and loudly hooted; “My Mommy met Zachael too! He came and checked on her a lot! I think I met him too, but I was a really tiny Hooty back then!”
“Actually, I think I remember him too.” Samael piped up; “I didn’t get it at the time; I thought it was weird for a birdie- I mean, an Angel to be around the Titans. I think he beat up a bunch of my old brother’s mean Trapper guys too! So he protected King as a little unborn baby?”
King nodded once again; “He did. For thousands of years, he watched over me… Part of me wishes I’d have hatched when he was still alive, so I could have met him, but another part is glad I didn’t; I might not have met all of you if I’d hatched early!”
His family smiled and nodded, each person present being someone important to him, either directly or via one of his other loved ones. He’d been able to survive long enough to meet them all because of Zachael’s sacrifice and protection… heck, Zachael’s blessing on his parents had apparently been what let King be born in the first place!
With this in mind, King turned to Luz and said; “I know we have to decide this as a group, but I wanted to name this island in honour of Zachael.”
Luz smiled warmly; “I was just thinking we needed a better name than Dragon Graveyard Island! Alright! You suggest a name, and I’ll convince the others to agree! I doubt it’ll be a tough fight!”
King smiled a little brighter, especially as the others all grinned and nodded in agreement. He thought about it for a moment, then came up with an idea.
“This is where Zachael was born; where he started his life! So I want to call it “Zachael’s Landing!” King declared. The others all cheered in agreement and Luz patted the top of King’s skull as he got a little misty eyed.
“It’s a good name! I’ll convince the others, so from now on this island will be Zachael’s Landing!”
It was the place Zachael had been born, the place Boscha had overcome her slump, and the place that would protect the CATTs until this war was finally over! But that was for tomorrow; today it was time for some well-deserved rest.
FAN ART SHOWCASE UPDATE:
The newest update to the Fan Art Gallery, featuring THIRTY ONE new art pieces can be found over here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/57490300/chapters/149185039
Be sure to check it out!
