𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐛𝐢𝐞 | 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝

[87]

𝘼 𝙙𝙞𝙢 𝙗𝙡𝙪𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙛𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛𝙛, 𝙖 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙚-𝙛𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙠, 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙣-𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙙𝙞𝙧𝙩.

Suddenly, the hand twitched before clenching into a fist, the arm sinking deeper into the dirt before it shot back into the air. A man pulled himself out of the ground, his skin seemingly melting as with each flash of the blue light, his skin leaked off his bones.

Belos groaned as he saw his bones, clenching his hand in pain. He hissed, standing up, his jaw clenched in annoyance.

"It's not ready," He hissed in reluctance, resorting to leaving the cave.

Once out, he looked upwards, spotting a crown-liked castle perched atop the Titan's Skull. With his skin melting off his body, Belos peered through an open window, a growl escaping him.

The window was quite a way up from the ground, where Odalia stood, commanding Raine's puppet body around, other puppets in their arms, and a pile of puppet bodies lying on the ground in a messy mound.

"Put that one over there," Odalia commanded, and Raine walked in the direction she mentioned, but the woman's glare deepened.

"No, no, no, over there!" She jutted her finger out, arm raised as Raine's puppet body followed her command.

Frustration was all Odalia felt at the moment, her fingers pinching the bridge of her nose, her rage escaping her as she began to talk to herself to let off steam.

"Making a deal with that child was a waste of time!" She huffed, clapping her hands together in a begging manner. "I wish someone would see my potential."

Suddenly, from behind her a shadow loomed, the creaking of bones and squelching of dark green goo filling her ears as her eyes widened in mild shock and horror.

"Yes," A chilling voice behind her called, glowing blue eyes appearing behind her. "I think you'll prove to be quite useful."

"Me?" She squinted, pointing a finger at herself in slight hope and fear.

"No," Belos hissed.

A piercing shriek took over him as he lurched forward, his body disintegrating into a large volume of goo, darting around Odalia and towards Raine's mindless puppet body.

"You!"

A blue light sparked as the wood of Raine's body absorbed the liquid, their head flopping over limply. Slowly, they raised their head, their once neatly styled hair becoming messed up and rogue. Green streaks lined their cheek and the edges of their ear, accompanied by a smile wide enough to make anyone uneasy.

Soft laughter filled the air as blue eyes darted around the castle, cold and calculative.

–––

Polaroids were clipped onto a nearby string, allowing the memories to settle. Luz's worried expressions lined each one, most of the pictures heartbreakingly sad and worrying as a new picture joined the bunch.

Camila winced at the sight of her image attached to a frightening monster, her eyes glowing a bright white as the monster with four eyes loomed over her teenage daughter. Interrupting her little moment of worry was Willow's cheerful voice letting out a hopeful cry.

"I think we found it!" She cried triumphantly, pulling a picture out that glowed a bright red.

The image cooled down quickly, revealing a diagram of a glyph spell, Luz and Lilith standing side-by-side as Philip stood across them, a stick in his hands.