𝘼 𝙫𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙧𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙪𝙚𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙'𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙗𝙖𝙣𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙.
The sun shone brightly as vines crept up along the home's wooden pillars. Within, four witch teens and a basilisk sat around an iPad, the green-haired witch snapping a picture with her camera.
Amity frowned along with Gus and Hunter, the three trying their best to read off the iPad as Vee watched them curiously.
"Ra?" Amity frowned in confusion, placing her hand on her chin.
"Ra... ra?" Gus copied. "Ar, ra... am I doing this right?"
He glanced over at Vee, the basilisk reading Spanish off the iPad fluently with a smile, her hands clasped together.
"Tres tristes tigres comen en tres tristes platos de Trigo," Vee said confidently, the iPad's owl mascot smiled with excitement.
"¡Perfecto!" It chimed, a gold star appearing on the screen. "You're our top student!"
"Hmmph... I was the top student once," Amity scoffed.
Gus smiled before a pecking noise was heard, the illusionist tapping Hunter's shoulder as the two boys looked in Flapjack's direction. The cardinal pecked at the ground in frustration, as though looking for an item.
"He's... still doing that, huh?" Gus raised an eyebrow.
"He won't tell me what he's looking for," Hunter shrugged as he watched the palisman in concern.
Flapjack hopped to the front door of the house, Amity eyeing him before the door opened, Camila popping around the corner.
"Hi!" She grinned, the others perking up instantly as they smiled up at her.
The woman glanced around the abandoned house, clasping her hands in awe as her smile grew wider.
"Ooh! I like what you've done with the place," She cooed. "No more exposed nails, or possum nests! But this still confuses me..."
The woman frowned lightly pushing the front door wider inwards, retracting her hand away from the door instantly as a red watery paint outline of Hooty was splattered onto the door.
"Yeah," Willow grimaced. "He still confuses us too..."
"Hola, Camila!" Gus stood up. "We're learning Spanish from this scary owl app!"
"Hoot hoot! Practice every day!" The owl chimed before its eyes turned dark. "Or I'll appear in your nightmares..."
"Oh, okay!" Camila responded. "Well, I'm going to pick up Luz from school. Pop quiz! ¿Cómo se dice eso en Español?"
"Oh, oh, uh!" Hunter stood up, taking in a deep breath of confidence. "Voy a... Luz... ¿eh... escuela?"
He frowned, doubting his sentence before Vee took over, speaking the sentence fluently.
"Voy a recoger a Luz de la escuela," She smiled.
"Muy Bueno!" Camila clapped her hands together. "Keep it up!"
Just as Camila was about to leave, her eyes widened as she spotted a familiar witch leaning against the wall of the Wittebane house, the girl looking away shyly.
"Oh and, I nearly forgot!" Camila smiled at the girl, walking back in. "Someone's back from their hairdresser's appointment!"
Camila winked, placing her hand on Georgia's back. The brunette nervously walked through the doorway, rubbing her forearm shyly. The front of her bangs was dyed a dark blue, the oracle witch now sported an undercut as the upper half of her hair was tied into a short ponytail.
"Ta-da?" She smiled shyly, Amity and Willow gasping as they burst into smiles, the two hugging the half-witch tight.
"Oh, my Titan, Georgie!" Willow chimed, picking the girl's bangs between her fingers. "You dyed it back to blue! I mean, yeah, it's a different shade but you look great!"
"Will's right!" Amity flicked the brunette's ponytail. "You look amazing, so don't doubt how you look. Besides, we're dye buddies now!"
The abomination witch pulled her and Willow close, the two posing together with finger guns as Georgia chuckled, sending one back as Camila chuckled at their shenanigans.
From behind Willow and Amity, Hunter cleared his throat, raising an eyebrow. Gus stood behind him, curiosity visible on his features.
"Excuse me, ladies, but I didn't get to have a look at this new hair. You guys were way too eager," He huffed, gently pushing Willow and Amity aside.
"Besides, I should get first glance 'cause I'm her boyfrie– holy Titan..."
Georgia blushed seeing Hunter's surprised stare, building her confidence up as she gave him an awkward smile, the blonde boy's cheeks now tinted pink.
"So... how do I look?" She joked.
"U-Uhm... great!" Hunter cleared his throat. "You look... you look great."
The brunette's heart sank slightly, hiding her eyes behind her bangs. Hunter failed to notice the change in her confidence.
Just great? He used to call her beautiful.
She brushed off her pain briefly, smiling back at the boy with her least painful smile, before thanking him softly, something that only he could hear. He smiled back, tucking a few stay hairs behind her ear as Camila smiled softly at the two.
"Well, I'd better go. Best not to keep Luz waiting!" The woman waved as she walked out the door.
"Thanks again, Camila," Georgia smiled, turning to face the woman as Camila smiled back warmly.
"You're welcome, it was no trouble at all."
Camila turned around once more, and as soon as she was at a safe distance from within their hearing range, she sighed, placing two fingers against the frame of her glasses.
"I never expected to be a mother of seven..." She muttered to herself.
With Camila gone, Georgia sat in between Hunter and Vee, glancing at the iPad in confusion as the little owl mascot read out words for the group to repeat. The brunette glanced behind Willow's beanbag, pulling her satchel from there.
"Taxi."
"Taxi," The group chimed after, neither noticing that Amity was frowning.
"El Gato gordo."
"El Gato gordo!"
"Maybe we should take a break," Amity huffed.
"A siesta," Willow raised her brow with a smile.
"Siesta!" Gus chimed.
"We've been here for months and we've made no progress on the portal door!" Amity protested. "We can't expect Camila to take care of us forever!"
"In the meantime, we could pull more weight around the kitchen!" Gus added, walking to Vee's side before sitting down.
"My mustard ravioli did bring tears to her eyes!"
"Those weren't the kind of tears you're thinking of," Vee frowned.
"I can help fix damaged clothes!" Hunter grinned, holding up a sweater that was fixed together piece by piece.
"I can spruce up the garden!" Willow chimed in, holding up a pot of venus flytraps that growled in her hands, the plant snapping at Vee as the basilisk backed away.
"I could tell her her future so that she knows what to expect?" Georgia offered, clutching onto her necklace.
Flapjack continued to peck at the ground, leaving holes in the wood as the cool autumn air drifted in, sweeping leaves along with it.
Amity gasped, looking out as the front door creaked as she glanced out of the abandoned home. An idea struck her mind as she blinked standing up and offering a suggestion to the group.
"Maybe we need to look elsewhere!" She said. "There's an entire human realm to search!"
Suddenly, a white flash appeared from her left, making the girl flinch. Willow frowned, pulling her camera's lens away from her eye.
"But Luz has school most of the week," The plant witch frowned.
"So?" Amity shrugged. "Let's explore the town ourselves! After all, Luz went into the Boiling Isles on her own!"
"If Eda came here before, maybe there were others!" Gus' eyes widened. "Maybe they left behind something we can use!"
"Or maybe they could still be around?" Georgia offered, pulling out her father's leather-bound journal. "I mean, there could be something in this book my dad left me, who knows?"
"Yes! That's the spirit!" Amity cheered. "Together there is no challenge that can hold us back! AUGH!"
Amity tumbled onto the ground with a 'thud', muttering a muffled 'ow' as her foot was stuck between a large hole that Flapjack had pecked through.
"It's a sign!" Gus panicked. "We're doomed!"
"Come on, Flapjack," The abomination witch huffed, pulling her leg out. "This isn't funny anymore!"
Amity glanced down before gasping, spotting a small item underneath the ruined floorboards. Slowly, she reached her hand in to pull the item out.
"There's something in here..."
The purple-haired witch pulled a small box out, the others gathering around her in curiosity as they gasped. Amity flicked the lid open, pulling a scroll out as Gus hummed trying to decipher the images on it.
"Looks like a... map?"
"Or a secret code?" Willow placed her hand on her chin.
Flapjack chirped, landing on Hunter's shoulder as the blonde boy glanced at him with a raised brow.
"Flapjack... is this what you've been looking for?" He questioned. "W-What does it lead to?"
"That eye..." Amity hummed. "I-It kinda looks like–"
"–The old portal door!" Georgia finished, smiling at Amity. "Mity, this is great news! It means that we could be one step closer to getting the portal to work!"
"THE PORTAL DOOR!" Gus and Willow gasped before smiling at one another, linking arms, the two chanting the word not long after.
"Portal door! Portal door!"
"Let's tell Luz!" Vee grinned.
"What if it's just another dead end?" Amity huffed, Vee's smile dropping. "She already feels responsible for our failed attempts."
"Then... let's not tell her until we can figure it out!" Willow suggested. "Using our buff brains!"
She flexed her arms, the others chanting as they followed suit. Hunter blushed, chuckling before following after them, Flapjack flying off of his shoulder as Georgia pushed down her hurt.
"Haha! Yeah!"
–––
i am so so sorry to all those who speak Spanish, i've completely butchered the language and im just hearing the script without the transcript. so if im wrong, please, please, please don't hesitate to correct me!
- sam