𝙒𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙩𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨, 𝙆𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙨, 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙗𝙮 𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙗𝙮 𝙣𝙤𝙬.
Evelyn had left his side as she had to attend to matters with Kyle, although she had agreed to meet up with him along with her husband to meet their hidden crew as soon as they were done.
He looked up from his path, hearing Odalia's frustrated muttering before gasping recognising a puppet in her grasp.
"Oh, it's getting tangled!" She grunted, lifting an elongated spiral neck.
"Wait, wait," King interrupted, holding his hand out to the woman. "Can you, uh, give me that one?"
"Hmm?"
King looked down, recognising Hooty's face, even if in puppet form, and smiled as he took it from Odalia, who dropped the toy without care.
–––
Marching down the hallway, King wrapped Hooty's neck around his head as the bird demon's little house-bag was in his clawed arms. He neared a darker corridor that led to the Owl Beast's location, signs reading 'keep out' and 'beware of the beast'.
Broken bars were visible and tapestries that were nearby were scratched terribly. Before the broken bars of the area stood the Heads of the Covens lined in a row, and next to a certain Bard-coven Head stood the Owl Lady.
Feathers stuck out of her hair and neck, the woman pretending to be dead as she stuck her tongue out playfully, making a 'bleh' noise. She raised the stump of her right arm in the air, her left arm dangling, holding her joking pose.
With a frown, King told Eda off, his mother figure placing her hand on her hip with a smirk.
"Eda, come on. Not right now," The small Titan huffed.
The Owl Lady glanced down at the line before her feet, hesitantly stepping over it. For a brief second, it was silent. Then, an alarm turned on, the line before her feet glowing red. Suddenly, the eyes of the Coven Heads glowed yellow, their heads whipping around to look at Eda's figure.
They rushed into a line before her, casting spell circles aimed at her, but none of them fired. Raine's glasses glinted against the light, glaring menacingly at the Owl Lady with bright yellow eyes, Eda's smile turning sad.
"Wait!" King warbled, rushing over to Eda's side before guiding her back behind the glowing blue line.
The alarm turned off, the Coven Heads going limp once more as they floated back into their original positions in a line, guarding the Owl Beast's cage.
"You gotta stop leaving your room! The Collector thinks you're still in Beast Mode," King scolded Eda, the witch beside him sighing out a reply.
"I know," She smiled. "I just like visiting Raine."
–––
"Evie," Kyle sighed, hugging his wife tight as the two embraced.
Evelyn nuzzled further into her husband's warmth, feeling comforted in his arms as they stood behind closed doors. The Collector was asleep, and they finally had a moment of peace to themselves.
"Oh love," She smiled sadly, pulling away. "You look so tired... I should speak with the Collector, tell him to let you have a break now and then."
"No, no," Kyle frowned, placing his hand over his wife's that cupped his cheek. "I'm fine. I brought this upon our family, it's about time I do something to fix it."
Evelyn let out a small sigh, resting her forehead against his.
"If you say so, dearie," She muttered. "But you do need rest. Promise me you'll rest. Please?"
"Always and forever for you," He chuckles, placing a gentle kiss on her lips. "But... I have something I'd like to say."
Evelyn glanced at her husband in worry, Kyle looking up as his glance matched her own as if what he was about to say would ruin what they had between them.
"Go on," She gently urged. "I'm listening."
"A lot of things have been... sinking into my mind," Kyle glanced down, his eyes afar. "And maybe it's been... impacting my senses because today when we were out with the Collector, I thought– I thought I heard our daughter. I thought I heard Georgia."
At his discovery, Evelyn's eyes widened, tears instantly glossing over the thought of her beloved child. She shook her head in disbelief, her breathing becoming more laboured.
"But, how? I thought she was with Luz, and her friends, in the Human Realm. Even so, she's not safe back here!"
She began to pace, her blonde, greying hair swaying behind her. Kyle gently placed his hands on his wife's shoulders, soothingly rubbing circles into her back.
"I don't know if she's really back. As I said, things have been impacting my senses, and it might not be real. But if it is, have faith in her... okay? It's the least we can do to protect her. We can't have the Collector finding out about her just yet."
Kyle lifted his wife's chin, tilting towards him to look her in the eye.
"Please, Evie. We need to keep this between us. For now, okay?"
With a worried frown, she bit her tongue, sighing.
"Okay. Just between us."
–––
Odalia grunted, pulling the pile of puppets behind her with rope before halting. She cracked her back from exhaustion, spotting the standing Coven Head puppets from the corner of her eyes. She perked up in curiosity.
"Hm?"
An idea appeared in her mind and she glanced at the puppet pile behind her, a smirk growing on her face as she hummed.
"Hmm..."
–––
Deep in the forest, a large cauldron sat on top of a raging fire, a curly-haired witch stood before it, stirring the substances within the metal pot.
Beside her were candles that lit up the area, books stacked on top of more books, and a random couch that was placed beside the stack. Gigantic wooden cubes with carved stars and moons lay randomly on the forest floor, and a large sack of seeds was placed near the cauldron, an open book lying beside it.
"Lily!" Eda chimed, pushing a random red cloth that hung from a low tree branch aside. "Guess who King found!"
King hurried after Eda, the Titan lifting Hooty's wooden head as the puppet 'clinked' softly. Lilith manoeuvred around the cauldron, grabbing a nearby cup as her focus was zoned in on the golden potion within. Eda neared her sister in curiosity.
"In a moment, Edalyn," She chimed, scooping the potion out. "Drink this, I think I got it right this time."
Eda took the cup from her sister's hands, gulping the liquid down as the feathers from her skin disappeared rapidly. As soon as the liquid was drunk, Eda retched at the aftertaste, then smiled at her older sister.
"Ugh, Lily, it's actually impressive how the taste keeps getting worse. But it does work!" Eda praised her older sister. "Keep it up and you'll put Morton out of business."
"Great," King interrupted, his claws clinking together as he picked the puppet-fied Hooty up from the ground.
Turning his gaze to Lilith, he watched the way her eyes widened at the sight of the owl demon, asking her in a hopeful tone.
"Now can you do something about this guy?"
Lilith pressed her palms to her cheeks, her mouth opening to release a loud squeal. Instantly, she got onto her knees and worried over the lifeless puppet, a whole series of questions escaping her lips.
"Hootcifer!" She began. "Is he okay? Can he hear me?"
Seeing that she had no response from the other two beside her, the witch aimed her questions at the puppet, a shrivel of hope in her heart at the chance that he could hear her.
"Hoot. Ci. Fer!" She yelled out each syllable, eyes watering at the thought of her best friend being lost forever. "Can. You. Hear. Me?"
Unbeknownst to her, a drop of her solemn tears landed on Hooty's eye, the puppet in her hands rattling for a brief moment before a muted voice responded, sounding as though it was said through a speaker.
"Sequestered to the darkness like unto death, the dulcet tones of an angel wakes me," The puppet responded poetically. "Be it you, Lulu?"
"It be, it be!" Lilith responded joyfully, hugging the puppet tight with a smile while Eda watched their interactions with an unsettled frown.
"Hooty, you keep finding new and impressive ways to creep me out," She muttered, her hand on her hip.
King then waddled up to Eda, an idea popping into his head as he hopefully made his suggestions to his adoptive mother.
"Maybe the Collector can release him too! Like you and Lilith!"
"No," Lilith interjected, sternly looking down at King. "You are already putting yourself at enough risk just for us."
"Lily's right," Eda chimed. "If the Collector finds out you're lying, we could all turn into puppets for good."
A tiny thud and pressure at Eda's leg snapped her out of her daze, the Owl Lady looking down to find King clinging onto her leg, as a child would to their parent.
Frowning, Eda worried about King, her maternal instincts kicking in. She lowered herself slightly, softening her tone as she picked up the glossy faraway look in the small Titan's eyes.
"Huh? What's the matter?"
"I dunno," King pouted, clinging tighter to Eda's baggy pants. "I just miss Luz."
"I miss her too, Kiddo," Eda kneeled down, placing her hand on King's covered skull-head. "But she's in the human world now with, you know, her real family."
Eda smiled sadly, realising that despite the bond the three of them shared, Luz was never a witch, she never belonged in the Isles with them. And as much as Eda should've prepared herself for the day she had to say 'goodbye' to the only daughter figure she ever had, it still stung her that they were now worlds apart without any way to stay in touch.
It hurt much more knowing that they didn't have a chance to say 'goodbye'.
"Don't say it like that!" King protested, pulling away from Eda's touch. "You know you don't mean it."
"What Eda means to say is that we'll find a way to defeat the Collector," Lilith smiled, sensing rising tensions.
Sadly, she picked up Hooty, looking sadly into his eyes as deep down, she, too, worried about the teenagers and their wellbeings.
"At least Luz and her friends are safe and far, far away from this madness."
–––
As Hexide was still surrounded by the Collector's spies hovering around, mindlessly looking for witches to turn into puppets, within the building, a group of teenagers snuck around, secretly carrying out their plans of rescue under the tyrannical watch of Boscha and Miki.
Turning to see if the hallways were clear, Gus hummed, he and his illusion peering around the corners to make sure that his friends weren't under the scrutinous watch of the 'higher orders'.
Suddenly, they both screamed, spotting a fireball being shot in their direction. Gus' illusion disappeared instantly in a cloud of smoke, the real Gus darting back behind the wall he emerged from.
From around the bend came a group of kindergarteners, letting out battle cries as they fired ammunition and swung their weapons in the air recklessly.
"Okay, the coast is clear," Gus called out to the group behind him, holding his thumbs up.
Mattholomule smirked, nodding as he pushed himself away from the wall he was leaning against. He then cast a golden-brown spell circle, slamming his hands into the centre of the spell as small sparks of lightning zapped.
With that bit of magic, the wall split in half, revealing a door with a wooden plank read in messy red paint, 'Keep Out!'.
Walking in, Mattholomule then explained the purpose of the hidden room, the others following behind him in awe as Willow, Amity and Luz recognised the room as their previous classroom where Willow's memories were almost completely erased.
"This is where me and Jerbo have been trying to come up with plans to make Hexide more liveable," Mattholomule huffed in exasperation.
Willow walked over to the familiar corkboard, gasping as she saw photographs of her and her friends' shared memories of grudgby, and in the corner of the board, a picture of Willow's dads.
At the sight of her fathers smiling happily down at her, the plant witch teared up, longing to reunite with her family again. Clamping her eyes shut to prevent tears from rolling down her cheeks, Willow shook her head, muttering a mantra to herself.
"Keep it in, keep it in," She whispered.
When she opened her eyes once more, Willow gasped at the sight of the flyer derby team smiling brightly. Her eyes widened as she glanced back at Hunter, who sat in the corner of the room glumly on a wooden crate.
He glared down at the ground as though the stones beneath his feet caused a crime against his whole being. Willow glanced to the opposite side of Hunter, spotting Georgia distancing herself from the others, yet still nearby.
She watched as Georgia kept an eye on Hunter from afar, yet clutched her forearm tight, the girl clearly feeling down. Things weren't ever the same after the Day of Unity.
Deciding that Hunter was in more need of encouragement, Willow smiled softly at the team picture, plucking it from beneath its pin. An idea slowly formed in her mind as she thought of new ways to cheer her two friends up.
Meanwhile, with the others, Gus gawked at Mattholomule's board of ideas, the construction witch next to him smiling with pride for his work with crossed arms.
"Plants to convert the gym into a common space? Schedules for rotating guard shifts?" Gus read out loud before gasping. "Is that a dinner menu using veggies from the Plant Homeroom? Mattholomule, you're actually a decent leader!"
Gus looked over at the construction witch, hand placed on his forehead in surprise at his discovery. Flicking his hair, Mattholomule smirked back.
"Did you ever have any doubt in your mind?" He grinned.
"Yes. Many, many doubts."
"Alright," Luz huffed, sitting on a nearby stool, Willow walking to her friend's side. "Time to take a walk down memory lane."
Willow nodded, turning around to pick up the razored tweezers from the table behind her. Luz then used her hands for demonstration, Willow listening to the Latina's instructions.
"Once, I saw Philip– I mean, Belos, use a glyph to teleport to the skull," Luz frowned, taking her Azura's hat off. "But, it may take some digging to find it."
Luz twiddled her thumbs as her mother watched her nervously from afar, Amity looking up at the woman in worry. Placing her hand on Camila's shoulder, Georgia smiled reassuringly at her temporary caretaker.
"Don't worry," The oracle witch smiled. "I've done this a dozen times. Luz will be just fine."
Amity nodded in encouragement, Willow then placing her hand on Luz's shoulder.
"Remember, Luz. No schemes, no plots, no ruses," The plant witch raised her eyebrow playfully as the both of them chanted together the final rule of their memory picking.
"And definitely no shenanigans."
The two grinned at one another, the razored tweezers glinting in the light. Camila smiled nervously at the tool, shrugging in discomfort.
"I'm gonna assume those are clean," She muttered, letting the two girls carry out their plan.