"Belos? You're...back. How? Why? What are you doing here? You should be dead!" Luz questioned, trying to figure out what was going on.
"You know, a part of me missed your questioning. All will be explained in time, little light." Belos said casually.
"Why did you call me that?" Luz asked, changing from scared to confused.
"Is that not a nickname of yours back in the human realm? I apologize, I'm not as great with Spanish as I used to be. Pardon the possible mistranslation."
"No, you got it right. It's just...only my mom calls me that. The only other person who's called me that, besides her, is..."
Luz trailed off, staring at the floor.
"Your father?" Belos asked, genuine sympathy in his voice.
Luz just nodded, unable to bring herself to say anything.
"My father and I had a bad relationship. Honestly, my brother was a better father than he ever was. I've been observing you for a while, and it seems like your father was a good man. I'm sorry you lost him when you were so young."
"Thanks."
Luz paused for a moment, realizing what was really going on and tried to refocus.
"I still want you to explain what's going on. How are you not dead? And how are you talking to me?"
"Ah, yes, your questions. Happy to explain." Belos said, sounding very chill despite the situation, "When the Collector sent me flying into that wall, I was still in my cursed form. As such, I couldn't be killed so easily. A part of me was able to land on Hunter. I hitched a ride back to the human realm. After that, I left your house for a while and stayed in my old home, but when you and your friends started to use it as a place to rebuild your portal, well, I got curious.
"I admit I spent the most time observing you as you're the only human of that group of friends and by far the most interesting. I learned a lot over those months. I hitched a ride back on you and have been attached to you since then."
"What's your plan?"
"Do you really think so little of me that you assume I always have an ulterior motive? If you must know I simply wish to find the rest of this form so I can reform into my normal self. I've realized how extreme my original plans were and have given up on those. Once I reform, I will rid myself of these palismen souls and return to the human realm as I once was. Nothing malicious to speak of here, little light. You don't need to worry."
"Stop calling me that. And how am I supposed to believe you? You nearly petrified me!" Luz exclaimed, growing frustrated.
"I don't care if you don't believe me, though I hope I can convince you my intentions are not bad."
"Another thing, where even are you right now?"
"Look in the mirror."
Luz leaned closer, trying to see what Belos was wanting her to look for. A small slug-like piece of the green goo poked out from behind her ear.
"I've just been here, so that you may hear me."
"Glad you're not inside my skin or something." Luz nervously chuckled.
"I could, but I don't see it as necessary right now."
Luz stared at the mirror, looking at the goo slug and thinking about what to do.
"You know, it wouldn't be hard for me to make sure your plans, whatever they are, don't happen."
"I'm well aware." Belos sighed, "So go ahead. Take me to the Owl Lady. Have me contained and never see me again. But, I don't think you should."
"Yeah, why?" Luz scoffed.
"Because I can teach you magic."
Luz froze at the offer, not expecting him to say that.
"I-I don't need you to teach me magic. I have Eda."
"Ah yes, the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles. The woman who not only can't do magic, but never struggled when she could. You really think a magicless ex-prodigy could teach you well? Or would you rather have your friends teach you? The ones who, while incredibly skilled, can only do one type of magic?
"I'm like you, Luz. I was once a powerless human who went from glyphs to creating powerful spells. Granted, I was much less patient and didn't get the time to develop a bile sack, but my point still stands. I can be your teacher. If you'd let me, that is. Think about it."
Belos shrunk down and hid himself again. Luz stayed staring at herself in the mirror, thinking.
Should she tell Eda? Should she not? Can Belos be trusted? Would he be a better teacher?
What was she supposed to do?
She decided to table that question for now and just get her mind off things. She left the bathroom and looked for the cafeteria, figuring there's no way she could get any sleep.
Luz walked over to a metal counter with various small containers on it, all labeled with their contents and allergy warnings. She grabbed one that had unfermented apple blood, crab apple slices, and scrambled griffin eggs as well as a few packs of salt and pepper.
She found the table her friends were sitting at and sat down next to Amity. Gus and Willow smiled at her as she opened up her ration box. Luz was a bit disappointed in the change from her mom's food to this, but it was good enough.
"So, how's Hunter?" Luz asked Gus and Willow, taking a bite of her griffin eggs.
"Well, he's in a lot of pain but getting healed up," Willow explained, "The healer working there said he's going to need another hour or two to heal, and he'll have to take it easy. He should only need a cast on his arm, thankfully, but he won't be able to fight or lift heavy objects even after it gets taken off for a bit."
"They also said he was lucky a rib didn't puncture his bile sack, or else he wouldn't be able to do any magic without a staff." Gus chuckled.
"I thought he didn't-" Luz stopped before finishing her sentence, noticing Gus' face, "didn't...break any ribs on that side. Are witches' hearts on the right side of the body instead of the left?"
"I forget that no matter how similar humans and witches look at a glance, there are quite a few biological differences." Amity said.
"Speaking of humans," a kid from Hexside said, walking over to the table, "Is it true that you all were trapped in the human realm."
"Yeah, it is." Luz chuckled.
"Wow! How did you survive?"
"Oh, we just stayed with my mom."
"Is it true that trees are green there?" Another person asked, walking over.
"Yes, it-"
"Does the rain still boil?"
"No it actually-"
"Do you really think you can beat the Collector?"
"When will you learn more magic?"
"Did you see my family there?"
"Will you go back to the human realm?"
Luz began to get overwhelmed by all the questions as more people crowded around, talking over each other, and demanding answers. Her heart was pounding in her chest, making it hurt. Her hands were trembling and she felt the urge to cast some sort of spell to shut them all up and leave her alone.
"Do it. Show them your power and they'll leave you be." A voice in her head whispered.
With a quaking hand, she began to draw a small spell circle under the table, but stopped when Amity slammed her hands onto the table, making everyone go quiet.
"Luz has had a long 24 hours, okay? I bet she'd love to inform everyone of the intel she gained, but Eda would need to approve of what can be public knowledge. As for the human realm, she wasn't the only one there and I'm sure me, Gus, and Willow would be more than capable of answering some questions. But another time. Now if you don't mind, I was trying to have breakfast with my girlfriend."
Everyone backed off and Luz smiled at Amity, holding her hand. The group went back to eating breakfast with slight conversation between them, mostly talking about what their thoughts are of the place and things they want to do now that they're back. Luz also mentioned that she saw one of Boscha's moms and asked if she or her other mom were there. Gus said he thought he saw them, but couldn't tell for sure and Luz should just check the roster.
Once Luz finished eating, she took up her box to the front for it to be washed, gave Amity a quick kiss, then left to check in with Hunter. As she walked away, Willow gave her the directions.
She wandered around through the rooms and halls, trying to remember where Willow said to go. She thought she wouldn't forget, but realized she was definitely lost when she found herself in a long, dim, empty hallway. She walked through, peaking in a few of the doors with windows. At the end of the hall was a door with some sort of magic sensor and a sign.
Restricted Access
"What would be so restricted it would need a scanner?" Luz mumbled to herself.
"Because we don't want people to be scared."
Luz turned around and saw Emira leaning against the wall behind her.
"You need to work on your hearing," She said, walking over, "But yeah, Eda decided it would be a bad idea if just anyone could come in here. Only the highest personnel can get in, but they are allowed to bring guests."
"What's in there?" Luz asked, her curiosity overpowering her nerves.
"When you snuck out, after you became visible again, one of the golems saw you and Hunter. You heard the conversation between me and my dad, didn't you?"
Luz hesitated, but nodded.
"Well, this is the thing we didn't want Amity to see."
Emira pressed her hand against the sensor and the door opened. She walked inside, Luz close behind, then closed the door. She flicked on the lights, revealing what was in the room.
It was like the general medical room, but a bit smaller. Every bed was filled and had charts indicating their vitals. As Luz skimmed over the first few beds, she recognized more and more people.
Raine, Lilith, Steve, Darius, Eberwolf, Adrian, Terra, the other coven heads. Almost all the others had an Emperor's coven sigil.
Every single person was asleep.
And they were all heavily scared along their veins.
"This is what the Draining Spell was supposed to do."