Warning very long chapter
Luz POV
I was sitting up on top of the owl house. It was night and gazing at the stars helped calm me down. Amity and I hadn't spoken properly since earlier, she was still upset about me accusing Nick. Amity was downstairs asleep, Zoe said she would keep an eye on her in case she had any visions. I thought back to earlier where Eda confirmed one of my concerns.
Flash back
"Hey Eda!" I said running up to my mentor "I need to talk to you." She raises and eyebrow at me.
"If this is some teenage love thing you can count me out." She groaned.
"No it's a magical question." I say. She nods and I look around to see if Nick is listening but I don't see him. "Would it be possible for someone to put visions into someone's dreams?" I ask.
Eda gives a smirk "you trying to implant love messages into someone's head are ya kid?" She teases and I flush red.
"What no I- just-I" eda cackles at my flustered speech. I groan "can it be done?"
"I mean yeah if you're skilled enough." She responds.
"So a master of illusion would be able to then?" I ask more cautiously.
Eda raises her eyebrows again. "Well yes." She says "what are you suggesting?"
"Oh nothing just excited to learn more about magic." I lie and force a chuckle as I rush out of the room.
Return to present
"So Nick definitely could be causing the visions" i mutter to myself. As I sit on top of the house I see a dark figure rush towards the woods. "Nick?" I say to myself as I make my way to follow the figure.
Emira POV
Me and Ed were heading to the owl house. We were getting close now, we recognised this part of the woods.
"Hey." Ed began breaking the silence. "Do you think Jerbo and Viney are okay?" He asked. My brother can be an idiot, like when he tries to eat snow or keep bats he finds as pets, but he is very caring at heart.
"Hey" I place a hand on his shoulder "they'll be alright," I say reassuringly. "They're both smart they'll stay out of trouble." He takes a deep breath and smiles and we keep walking.
We hear a rustling in the bushes and me and Ed raise our guard expecting an attack when we see a figure jump out onto the path in front of us.
"What is it with teenagers trespassing on my property?" We hear the familiar voice of Eda the owl lady in front of us. Ed breathes and lowers his guard but I stay alert. "Do you know what time it is?" She says angrily "if you're parents found out you were out this late they would flip."
"We need to see Amity." I demand. Her eyes narrow.
"She's asleep." Eda responds coldly.
I scowl at her "we just want a quick visit." I press on.
"Well she's asleep so scram." She argues. I glare at Eda and notice something interesting.
"Hey Eda where's your staff?" I ask confidently. Ed looks at me questioningly "Em what're you~" I cut him off with a hand gesture that we made that communicates to each other to be quiet.
Eda's eyes widen a little, clearly surprised but she regains composure. "It's at the house." She says nonchalantly.
"And you're talisman?" I ask. She shrugs.
"It's back at the house." At this I launch a spell at eda and she dodges back in shock. "What the hell?" She screams.
"Eda only ever refers to her talisman as owlbert." I yell "who are you? Reveal yourself!"
Eda chuckles and her disguise seems to be dissolving "haha well done I forgot you're a blight so it makes sense you're frustratingly perceptive." The figures voice mutates and distorts as they back into the shadows of the woods.
Me and Ed raise our guards as we expect an attack from a specific angle. We listen carefully to the rustling but then suddenly a group of 7 figure all covered by a cloak that hides their identity jumps at us. They're all of varying heights and builds. They rush at us and me and Ed fight them off, shooting fire spells and beams on magic. The figures poof into nothingness on impact. "Illusion magic" I think to myself.
More figures appear and they keep trying to close the distance. They aren't using any other type of magic. Can they only use illusion? If so that means they have to be in the illusion coven. They also keep trying to punch us, like they've grown accustomed to human ways of fighting.
As we try and ward of the figures more and more keep coming. I hear my brother yell in pain as I turn to see him being overwhelmed by the figures. "Ed!" I cry out as I feel myself being grabbed and put into a choke hold. I try and break away but I can't shake them, as I feel the my vision going blurry and my lungs crying for air I feel myself fall into unconsciousness as the world goes dark.
Luz POV
I cower behind a tree with my hand covering my mouth to quiet my rapid breathing. My heart is pounding so hard with fear I'm almost completely convinced they're going to hear it. I hear the illusions poof away leaving only the original, still covered in the identity concealing cloak.
They pick up a scroll and dial a number which is picked up almost immediately. "I have them." The figure says. There voice is distorted so it's unrecognisable. This also seems like a high level illusion technique which furthers my suspicions that this in fact Nick behind this. The figure hangs up, clearly being given instructions by the voice on the other end, who I suspect is the Blight Parents. The figure picks up the twins in their arms and dashes off into the woods.
I slump down against the tree. "What the hell do I do?!" I think to myself. I need to tell someone obviously, but who? I can't tell Amity as she will get even angrier, I'd tell Eda but the two of them have a shared history. I can't tell King cause he'd tell Eda and I don't want to lit him in danger. I sigh as I come to conclusion on who I need to ask for help.
I need to ask Willow, Gus and Zoe.
But as my heartbeat slows and my adrenaline levels go back to normal I realise how tired I am. The twins will have to hold out for a little while so me and my three fellow classmates can think of a plan.
Viney POV
Me and Jerbo had been hanging out in Emira's room. It was pretty simple, she had a nice queen sized bed "must be nice" and a bunch of notes in a desk next to a make up table. She had prank plans spread around the room which some of which seemed very dangerous but overall it seemed fairly normal. (Im not a teenage girl so I don't really know what they keep in their rooms so just picture teenage girl stuff)
Suddenly we hear a knock at the front door.
"Twins would you get that." We hear the voice of Odalia blight call up to us. Me and Jerbo look at each other and shrug before heading downstairs.
We open the door and our eyes widen with horror as I let out a loud gasp. Before us, laying on the floor was the actual Edric and Emira, looking bruised like that had been in a fight.
I look around to see a shadowy figure rushing back towards the woods. I look at Jerbo horrified before we hear the menacing voice of Alador behind us.
"I'm sorry." He sneered "were you expecting someone else?"
Amity POV
I was back in the basement. The book was in my hands but the symbol was missing from it. Instead my eyes were fixed on the stone wall where the demonic symbol burned a menacing glow. I was fixated I reached out to touch it and felt a surge of energy flow through me. I looked at my hand and saw the symbol burned into it.
"Come to us Amity." I heard a raspy voice and turned to see the two shadowy figures floating in front of me. They seemed more pronounced now, more real.
"Who are you?" I yell.
Their white eyes glow brighter "come to the manor, find the truth amity, the truth about who you are, the truth of your purpose." The figures say in unison.
"What does that mean?" I yell but the figures disappear and my vision goes dark.
I woke with a start and took in a large breath. "Woah you alright there?" I heard a voice beside me. I turn to see Zoe sitting by me.
I let out a groan as I rub my eyes "what time is it?" I ask.
"Time to get ready." I hear the voice of Nick, I look up to see him standing in the doorway. I stare at him for a moment. "There's no way he's really working with my parents." I think to myself. "Right."
He gives me a curious look. "Everything okay Amity?" He asks.
I nod "just another vision." I say to which he nods.
"We should definitely investigate that soon." He says.
"Yeah" I respond "I will." I make sure to emphasise the 'I' I'm not positive I want him coming along, not that I'm admitting he's untrustworthy, just that I should take precautions.
Time skip
Luz POV
"Nick is a what!?" Gus yells and I do a shushing motion and he covers his mouth apologetically.
I had explained the situation and how I had suspicions about Nick being a traitor to Gus and Willow.
"We don't know anything for sure." Zoe says.
"Actually about that." I say "I have new info that acts as pretty solid evidence. But first." I look around for Amity, I don't see her. I had taken Zoe, Willow and Gus to the side of the school grounds for some privacy at lunch so Amity didn't over hear but i don't want her to worry where we are.
Suddenly I spot a small girl with pinkish grey hair with a red uniform. "Skara!" I call out as I run up to her. She looks to be carrying a small note, not too dissimilar to the one Amity had on grom night.
She fumbles with her note when she sees me. "Hey Luz I'm not doing anything, not that you asked but if you did I'm not doing anything, this note is nothing." She scrambles for an explanation.
I raise an eyebrow at her. "The note is for Boscha isn't it." I say.
She hangs her head in defeat and sadly nods.
"Anyway" I say "I need you to do something for me."
"What do I need to do?" She asks.
"You need to get better acquainted with me is what needs to happen." I hear the flirty voice of Zoe approach from behind extending her hand out to Skara so her palm was facing upward. "The name's Zoe." She says.
Skara places her hand on Zoe's much like a noble woman would. "Skara" she says.
Zoe kisses the top of her hand "a pleasure." She says.
"Oh wow." Skara says, her face growing as red as her uniform.
"Would you stop flirting for 5 minutes." Willow scolds as she pulls on Zoe's ear.
"Ow ow you're no fun." Zoe complains as I shake my head in disbelief.
"What we actually need is for you to distract Amity for us for a little while, would ya?" I plead.
"I mean I can but why." Skara asks.
I fumble for an answer "uh because we are um..."
"Throwing her a surprise party." Gus yells.
"What?" Skara says.
"What?" Zoe and Willow say in unison.
"What?!" I say in an almost kettle high pitch.
"Yeah a surprise party..." Gus stumbles "for Amity."
"You do realise her birthday isn't for another 2 months right?" Skara asks.
"Yes!" I say now trying to go along with this absurd excuse "that's what makes it a surprise." I say raising my hand to shoulder height.
Skara studies is for a moment before smiling "okay I'll distract Amity for you." She says happily before skipping off.
The four of us let out a relieved sigh. "A surprise party really?" I say to Gus.
"Sorry." He says "but you didn't look like you were coming up with anything."
I groan, it was annoying but he was right I had nothing. "Well whatever the case we need a plan to stop Nick." I say. "Also he took the twins last night, he had a fight against them and took them somewhere and I haven't been able to get a hold of them since."
"Should we tell Amity?" Willow asks.
I think for a moment before answering. "No that'll just make her panic, we should just try and think of a plan to capture and interrogate Nick."
"Well we've got time, we can iron out any ideas so we have a great plan." Zoe says.
As we nod in agreement the bell screams indicating time for next lesson. We say our goodbyes and head of in separate directions.
Meanwhile
Amity POV
I was wondering around looking for Luz and the others. They hadn't been in the cafeteria, which was okay all the food there often made me nauseous. As I kept searching I heard my name being called.
"Amity! Amity!"
I turn to see Skara running up towards me with a waving hand in the air. "I wonder what she wants?" I think to myself. I mean me and Skara used to be really close yeah but she had been pretty much glued to Boscha's side for years and so when me and Boscha had fallen out of friendly terms, me and Skara had in turn grew apart.
"Hello Skara." I say politely.
"We don't really ever talk anymore." She says with a pout.
I smile softly, she's still the same good old Skara. It felt weird, considering how much I had changed since Luz got here the fact that some people like Skara were just how I left them, it felt odd.
"Well that's because you're always around Boscha and me and her are... well you know." I explain.
"Still I miss you Amity." She says.
My eyes widen with shock "wait you missed me, really?"
"Well" she shuffles where she's standing and presses her index fingers together. "Yeah."
I smile at her. "I've missed you too." Skara looks at me, tears in her adorable grey eyes. She pulls me into a tight hug, I'm caught off guard at first but I soon return the hug.
After a couple of minutes we broke away and Skara wiped her eyes. "So have you got any plans for the meteor shower that's tomorrow?" She asks.
"Um well no." I admit. "Do you?"
"Well." She said fidgeting awkwardly. "I was gonna ask someone to watch it with me."
I raise an eyebrow "still got a crush on Boscha then." I tease to which Skara blushes. "OMG that's adorable no wonder people love it when I blush."
"Seriously does everyone but Boscha know I have a crush on her." She says frustration clear in her voice which makes me giggle.
Suddenly Skara's eyes widen. "Ooh you should ask Luz to the meteor shower." She says excitedly.
"Oh I don't know." I respond nervously.
"Oh cmon its a great idea." She argues.
"Luz already told me she doesn't have feelings for me once so I really shouldn't." I continue.
"Yeah I don't buy that." Skara says "I've seen her around you she toats has the hots for you." She raises an eyebrow. "Just ask her, what's the worst that can happen."
I groan in defeat. "Fine I'll ask her." To which Skara shoots her arm into the arm excitedly. The bell screams and me and Skara say goodbye and head to class.
Time skip
After lesson me and Zoe head out of class and head to the library for some reading. Luz texted and said, her willow and Gus were gonna go out to hang out just the 3 of them and that I should hangout with Zoe for a little while so I did.
"So what're the other 3 up to?" I ask Zoe after about an hour of reading.
She glances to the left and laughs nervously, "oh ya know nothing in particular. Just hanging out." I raise an eyebrow but I decide not to pry.
"So got any exciting plans coming up?" She asks.
"Well I was gonna ask Luz to the meteor shower that's tomorrow." I admit but immediately regret it. I see Zoe's expression drop to a more somber one. "You idiot" I scold myself "you know Zoe had feelings for you how could you be so mean as to talk about asking someone else out."
Zoe forces a smile "that's great, do you know when?"
"Later today probably."
"Aw how sweet." I hear Nick say as he approaches. The two of us glare at him as he continues. "Sorry didn't mean to interrupt."
Suddenly I see the demonic symbol for the book burning on his forehead and I jump back out of shock.
Both Zoe and Nick look at me with concern "woah Ams are you okay?" Zoe asks me. I nod slowly.
"Yeah just saw the symbol again that's all."
"Alright we will go to the manor soon and figure out just what the hell is up with that." To which me and Zoe nod. We probably won't bring Nick but the visions are getting worse.
"Well we should probably head back soon." I say "I wanna have some time to ask Luz to the shower." I say.
"Okay I'll see you later." Zoe says as she leaves the library with me and the 3 of us go our separate ways.
Time skip
I'm coming up on the owl house and I'm mentally preparing on what I'm going to say to Luz. I take some deep breaths and see her in the distance. I run up to her and call her name as she turns and waves at me. "Hey Ams" she says. "Huh" I think to myself "she doesn't usually call me Ams." I think nothing of it as I approach her.
"So did you want to talk to me about something?" She asks.
I nod and take a deep breath. "Sotheresasmeteorshowerandiwaswonderingifyouwouldwanttogoseeitwithme." I say all in one breath.
Luz looks at me with clear confusion "could you say that again but slower." She says.
I take another deep breath and try and conceal the blush growing on my face. "There's a meteor shower tomorrow and I was wondering if you wanted to go see it."
Luz's eyes widen. "Yeah that'd be awesome."
"R-really?" I ask.
"Yeah" she says "we could get eda to find us a great spot and we could have Gus bring his human telescope he's always bragging about and we could have willow and Zoe come too." My heart sinks a little at her words.
"Well" I begin now even more nervous. "I was thinking maybe we could go just me and you" I say again now blushing even harder.
"Oh."
I look at her and her expression is less that of joy and more of a sympathetic/awkward one.
"Like a date?" She asks. I nod my head and she sighs. "Look Ams I do care about you but I've told you before I don't feel that way about you." She begins and I feel my heart shatter just like when she rejected me on the snowy mountain. "I love being your friend but if you can't be my friend without always wanting something more and asking me out multiple times then I don't know how this friendship will work."
I feel tears start to sting my eyes as I desperately try to say I understand without breaking down and I run off back into the woods ignoring Luz call out my name. I keep running until I eventually find myself at the market. I sit down by one of the walls and start to sob uncontrollably. I grab my scroll and go through my contacts. I need to talk to someone to help me feel less upset. I see the name of someone who so far has a perfect record of cheering me up when I'm rejected by Luz.
I call Zoe.
Viney POV
I wake up and feel my arms above my head. I try and pull them to my face to rub my eyes but I feel resistance and look up to see them shackled to the wall.
I look around to see Jerbo, Emira, Edric and some man I don't recognise all in similar chains to me.
"Hey everyone wake up." I yell and some of them start to churn in there sleep. I yell again and they all slowly wake up.
"Where are we!?" I yell.
"Blight Manor my dear." I turn to the source of the voice to see Odalia blight standing in front of me holding a potion bottle with a strange looking green liquid in it. "Or our basement at the very least." She continues.
"What do you want with us?" Jerbo asks, now properly awake.
"With you boy, nothing." The cruel voice of Alador retorts. "But with them." He sneers as he turns to his children who gulp in fear.
"Alador, Odalia." The stranger begs "don't do this."
"Oh please, Stevan. Oh I'm sorry." Odalia stops herself "Doctor Venat, we are just doing what must be done to protect the family name."
"You'll never get away with this." Emira spits at her parents.
"Oh sweetheart." Alador says as he takes the potion from his wife and grabs his daughter by the chin "yes we will." He forces some of the liquid down his daughter's throat and does the same with Ed. The two of them cough and slump in their chains.
"What did you do to them!" I scream.
"That was a mind control potion" Dr Venat answers. "Very powerful and very illegal."
"Well done gold star." Odalia mocks cruelly.
"The effects are temporary however" the doctor continues. "And the potion is very hard to make, there's now way you can keep using it forever on your children."
The blight parents chuckle "oh we don't have to, we only need them controlled long enough for us to get our youngest daughter back in our clutches." Odalia answers.
"Oh that reminds me, Stevan." Alador says. "Thank you so much for recommending your cousin to that dreaded Owl lady, he has made this whole plan go much smoother." Dr Venat hangs his head in shame as we hear the distinct ringing of the door bell.
"Well we must be off." Odalia says "that potion should come into effect within the next 24 hours and then we can really start implementing the main part of the plan."
The Blight parents laugh menacingly as they leave us in the basement, chained to the wall.
Lilith POV
I approach the Blight manor, where the emperor had told me I was needed immediately. I had hardly had time to rest after my last mission before being sent on this one. I was curious at what the Blights needed me for. Usually they can handle their issues alone.
They may not look like it but they are honorary members of the emperors coven. They do not engage in field work but do help the emperor with supplied and funding if needed as they are the riches family in the boiling isles. They also very powerful, having access to all forms of magic and being equal in skill to me and my sister.
I approach the door and ring the doorbell. After a couple of moments I am greeted by what appears to be one of the families may servants. They welcome me inside and lead me to a table where a meal and a drink is already prepared.
The Blight parents walk in and sit down at the table. "Lilith." Odalia begins. "Thank you for coming to our aid."
"My pleasure Odalia." I respond. "I assume you have something that requires my assistance."
"Yes Lilith unfortunately we do." Alador says.
"Well I will assist in anyway I can."
"Good." Odalia says with a grin.
"We have a very special task for you."
Mystery POV
I see Amity run off after I rejected her disguised as this pathetic human. After a few moments and making sure no one is around I draw a spell circle in the air and my disguise falls away I return to my usual form.
After a few more moments I look down at my scroll and grin at the words that indicate the next part of the plan is under way.
Amity Blight is calling you...
Authors note: Holy hell this was a long chapter. I had so much I just really wanted to have happen and I really didn't want to have to make a part 3 to the next 6 days so I settled for a super long chapter instead.
I mean over 4000 words is certainly more than I've written so far. Since it's so long I may have missed some typos so if you spot any let me know and I'll fix it.
Hope you enjoyed, see you in the next one.