Boscha led Luz, unexpectedly, to Hexside. Not exactly where Luz expected people to have spent 7 months unfound to be hiding out, but she knew the place had plenty of secrets. For all she knew, Boscha found out about the secret passages Eda made and the detention track kids found. Instead of going into the school, however, Boscha brought her out to the sports field. They went back behind the bleachers and down to a hidden area that looked kinda like an old human realm press box. Boscha slid out a brick and pressed a hidden button behind it, which made a click come from beside them. She slid the brick back and opened up a hidden door.
"Mother! I'm back!" Boscha called in as she walked in.
Luz looked around as she stood just inside the door as it closed behind her. The room was fairly small, but functional. There was a window that looked out to the field with what looked like one-way glass, two hammocks, maps pinned to the walls, a potion making area that also had lots of various weapons hung up around it, and lots of storage. Boscha hung her cloak up on a hook, laid out her potion belt, and sat down on a storage bin. Luz awkwardly stood for a few moments before sitting down on an open spot on the ground next to Boscha.
"Mother! I brought someone, so get up already!" Boscha said, sounding a bit exasperated.
There was the sound of a groan and a woman with three eyes, bright pink hair, and pale pink skin sat up from one of the hammocks. There was no doubt in Luz's mind that this woman was Boscha's mother. The woman brushed her messy hair out of her face, looked at Luz, blinked a few times, then sighed. She practically rolled out of the hammock and pulled her hair back, using magic to tie it into a tight ponytail knot. She walked over to the potion making area and sat down, staring intently at Luz the whole time.
She looked even more intimidating than Boscha during Grudgeby season.
"I see you're the human Eda kept around. You helped Willow Park beat my superstar at the sport she has spent her whole life being a master of. You openly rebelled against the coven system, took every track, disrupted a petrification ceremony, attacked the Emperor multiple times, and was one of the five people besides a child god who was around him during the time of his death."
Luz tensed up, worrying that Boscha's mother was a supporter of the whole coven system. Knowing Boscha, that did make sense and there wasn't really anything to prove that just because Belos caused the draining spell, that didn't mean everyone automatically went to hating him.
Instead of that, her tone quickly changed and started full on laughing. Luz glanced at Boscha and it seemed she was also surprised by this reaction.
"You got some guts, kid. Not surprised. Eda was your mentor after all. Her and I weren't really close, but I knew some things. She was a great athlete, had a wild personality, always spoke her mind and, well, you've seen how badass her curse makes her look."
"Mother!" Boscha hissed.
"What? Look superstar, I admired the kids' mentor when I was younger. She was just about the best potion track student, better than her sister even. If she hadn't been such a rebel, she could have easily become the next potions coven head. Don't like me being complementary? Fine. I see your potion belt got plenty of use and your hair is down. What happened, how did you get captured, how did you get out, and did you kill anyone?"
Luz was a bit taken aback once again at the tonal shift, but this time it seemed like Boscha was less surprised.
"I saw the human walking around not realizing who she was, followed her, she went into trapper territory, I tried to save her but got sloppy. We got captured. The human nearly screwed up our escape but thankfully they..." Boscha looked over at Luz and saw how nervous she looked at the chance she was going to spill about her magic, sighed, and turned back to her mom, "they had a few of those paper magic things. We got out, beat the shit out of the trapper who caught us, and came here."
"And why did you bring her here?"
"Because we're going with her to the hideout."
Her mom paused, stood up, and walked over to the maps.
"No." She said plainly, not even looking at them.
"Mother!"
"Superstar, we aren't leaving. Especially not to a fake hideout."
"But it isn't fake!"
"Even so, we aren't going anywhere. We have it good. We aren't risking that on some he said-she said. Your mom looked and got captured, now you say we should. Stick with your opinions."
"It isn't he said-she said! It is somebody who comes from the hideout! We didn't have that, mom didn't have that! She went looking without anyone from there and was just relying on being found first!"
"Oh no it's your mom's fault she got captured?" Boscha's mother scoffed.
"With all due respect, Ann," Luz interjected, surprising her by saying her name, "I went to where the Collector had been hiding out a few days ago and talked to your wife, Lynn. She didn't tell me much, just where to find my little brother, her name, that she knew Eda, your name, and that she's Boscha's mom. We didn't talk that long. But she also told me to tell you and Boscha that she's okay and that she loves you. I won't try to speak for her, but with how much she sounded like she cared about you, I think if she knew you were offered a chance to go to the place she was looking for, she'd want you to go."
Ann looked like she had frozen. It made sense, she had heard what must have been the first news of how her wife is doing in five months. She wasn't even there when she got taken, and now this stranger says they talked to her. Luz was a bit worried about how they'd react next, mainly that she'd accuse her of lying, and an uneasy look from Boscha didn't help. Then, Ann's expression changed to a small smile. She chuckled softly, wiped away a single tear, and moved to Boscha and Luz. She clapped a hand on Luz's shoulder and nodded at her.
"Alright. I trust you. If my superstar is with you on this and my love trusted you to get a message to me, then I trust you." Ann turned to Boscha, "Pack up everything necessary. Potions, snacks, your staff, and whatnot."
"Oh, yeah snacks are a good idea. It's a long flight." Luz agreed.
"And once we're ready to go, human," Ann said, turning back to Luz, "You're leading us to this hideout. I'm still fairly suspicious of this whole schtick, so remember that if I so much as get a hint of a feeling you're being anything less than honest I will end you. I may be limited to potion magic, but I have enough experience that I don't need any magic to kill you in more ways than you could count on your fingers."
Luz nervously gulped and nodded.
"Don't worry, you'll be fine. We just need to head out to where Eda and I were supposed to meet back up and we'll be on our way."
Ann nodded and went to help Boscha pack up. After just a few minutes, they were ready to go. They walked out and began walking away, but just before the door closed Ann tossed an explosive potion over her shoulder and into their little hideout and, just as the door sealed, there was a muffled sound of an explosion. Ann could see Luz's surprised expression and just shrugged.
"Don't want there to be any trace, what can I say?" She explained.
The group walked back through Bonesborough, Boscha and Ann easily navigating the terrain, but still following Luz to know where to go. After around ten minutes, Luz saw enough familiar stuff that she knew when she got back to the place her and Eda landed.
"Alright, Eda should get back here any-"
Luz was cut off by a whoosh of wind and Eda landing in front of her, between where she and Boscha and Ann stood.
"Kid! What took you so long?" Eda asked in a panic, taking Luz's face in her hands, "I mean, I trusted you but at one point I thought I heard screaming, not you screaming but I was still worried, and you weren't back even after I had time to go all around town. Shit, I even had time to see where my house used to be. Still not used to it being gone. I'm getting off topic. Are you okay? Are you hurt? Did you have to fight off Titan trappers?"
"Damn. It really is something different to see the great Harpy Lady up close instead of just up in the sky." Ann laughed.
Eda turned around and turned back into her normal form. She had tears in her eyes as she pulled Ann into a tight hug.
"Oh it is so good to know you're okay." Eda whispered, "Hunter told me about Lynn and I was so worried you had also..."
"It's great to see you too, Eda. Been too long since I've seen a familiar face."
"But you said you saw me flying around." Eda said, pulling back from the hug but keeping her hands holding Ann's shoulders, "Why didn't you flag me down? I could have taken you back to the hideout."
"You know me, always one to be suspicious. But after my superstar assured me your kid was telling the truth about the existence of the mythical safe place, I decided to give it a shot."
Eda pulled her back into a hug and laughed.
"Ann, you smell awful."
"Well at least I aged well, unlike you Edalyn."
The two stayed in their embrace a few moments longer, savoring the contact after having not seen each other in so long. They did pull away and stepped back, Ann moving next to Boscha and Eda next to Luz.
"So, you gonna take us?" Boscha asked, pulling out her staff, "Luz hyped up the place so much it felt like she was being paid hundreds of snails to say it."
"You do take after your mother as far as stubbornness goes, don't you?" Eda chuckled, "But yes. It's a few hours away but it's safe and invisible to the Collector, thanks to a handy little symbol all over the place."
Eda reached into her bag and pulled out two pins with the symbol on it and handed them to Ann and Boscha, who took them and pinned them on. Once they had confirmed they were secure, Eda turned back into her harpy form and Ann and Boscha got on Boscha's staff. Luz had just realized she hadn't seen Owlbert since the house, but her nerves were quickly calmed when he climbed out of the backpack pouch, apparently having been hiding in his wooden state since things started going south to be safe. Owlbert went into his staff form and Luz got on. The group flew off and began their trip back to the hideout. After hours of flying, the fog in front of it cleared and Boscha and Ann gasped as it came into view.
"Mother of Titan, it's real." Boscha gasped.
Luz glanced over to see Ann's reaction, and saw her just crying.
"You were right, love. You were right." She whispered, so quiet Luz could barely tell what she said.
They all landed, Eda went back into her normal form, and Boscha, Ann, and Luz got off the staves. They walked through the woods and to the base. Eda nodded to the golems at the door and led Boscha and Ann through.
"Blight brother! We got some new people!" Eda yelled into the tower.
After a few seconds, there was a puff of blue smoke and Edric was standing there, looking ecstatic. When he saw who was standing there, he only got more excited.
"You're one of Mitten's old friends! And you're her mother, right? I remember seeing you so many times when dad and Odiala invited all their rich friends over."
"And I remember you too." Ann said, in a much more stern tone, "You and your twin had a habit of releasing various bug demons in my trophy room while me and my wife were out."
Boscha snickered and Edric's face dropped, forgetting that she was the person he did that to.
"Anyway," He said awkwardly, "I will show you where you'll be staying and give you the run-down of the place. See you later, Ms. Eda. You too, Luz."
Edric walked off with Boscha and Ann, leaving just Eda and Luz.
"There's a room next to my office for checking scavenged items and seeing what's useful," Eda explained, "Go ahead and unload everything you gathered there. You remember how to get there?"
"Yep! What will you be doing?"
"I need some food. I snatched up some voles while I was out, but the owl beast's hunger needs and mine are different."
Eda headed off to the cafeteria and Luz reminded herself how to get to Eda's office. After a few wrong turns and asking people for help a few times, she did find it and found the scavenge room quickly. She stepped inside and began pulling items out of the bag. All the potion things, heath items, and various other things. The last things she pulled out were the griffon stuffed animal and the branding glove. For some reason, seeing the plush griffon hurt so much more knowing what happened to Puddles. She wasn't even her pet, but it still hurt. With a sigh, she tucked the plush in her pocket to give to Viney next time she saw her. Then, she was just left to stare at the branding glove.
"I won't claim to be an empath, but you seem conflicted as you look at the glove." Belos commented.
"You stayed quiet for a while. What were you up to?" Luz asked, avoiding the comment.
"When you're stuck as I am, you find that you have lots of time to observe. And think."
"What were you thinking about?"
"I'd much rather know what you were. Penny for your thoughts?"
"I think it's 'Snail for your thoughts' here, and money doesn't really mean anything in the apocalypse."
"Well then, may I just ask what you're thinking about?"
Luz sighed as she knew he'd keep asking until she said something.
"This thing hurt so many people. The branding gloves in general. When I went inside your mind, I saw the original branding glove. How its purpose was to kill people. And it worked. The draining spell worked. It might not have caused mass genocide, but there are at least a bakers dozen people scarred and comatose with hundreds of others scared.
"When I asked you if you regretted what you did, you told me that you wouldn't have changed a thing if it meant we wouldn't have met. And I'm trusting you to tell me how to change the thing you created to kill people to save people? How? Why? Why am I doing any of this? Listening to you? Philip, why on earth should I trust anything you're saying? Have you changed? Can you change? Can you be redeemed? You are, for all intents and purposes, a homicidal maniac who killed his brother, countless grimwalkers, tried to kill hundreds upon hundreds, and indirectly caused the deaths of a good chunk of those people. So why should I continue risking everything, my relationships with all these people, the safety of people already on the verge of death, for you? You of all people."
"You shouldn't." Belos immediately replied.
Luz was very taken aback by how quick he answered, and the fact that he didn't even try to spin some defense.
"I know it may seem out of character for me to respond like that," Belos continued, speaking as if he knew what Luz was thinking, "But I have decided it would be in both of our best interests if I was honest with you. And, in all honesty, you should not trust me. When you went back in time and met me you were nothing but nice and helpful and I betrayed you. I tried to kill your mentor, causing you to have to blow up the portal so I couldn't use it, which didn't even work. I was, pardon my language, an abusive son of a bitch to Hunter. In every sense of the word. I lied, cheated, and manipulated anyone who got close to me. Kikimora and Lilith would have been much better off without me. I have done next to nothing to prove my words of only wanting to help you. I showed you some magic and helped you using my curse, sure, but anyone could easily call that me trying to gain your trust. So, you have no reason to trust me. Hell, you have no proof I can change or be redeemed. I know having the glove in front of you is a reason to make you reconsider everything. Because we both know once you change the glove, the second you try to use it, everyone will know. Succeed or fail, it's unlikely nobody will notice the human with a branding glove using it on people in comas. So, now is your chance to decide if you want to go through with this. You have no reason to listen to me and anyone else would walk out of this room and hand me over. But you aren't just anyone else. So, Little Light, what do you want to do?"
Luz was once again surprised. She couldn't think of a single time Belos had been this honest to her, or anyone on that matter. He said things she hadn't even mentioned. Why would he say all this to her? This had to be some trick, right? It was most likely a trick.
But there was a chance it wasn't.
And a chance at being able to finally be helpful was enough.
"Alright," Luz sighed, "You are right, Philip. I shouldn't trust you. But, even though you don't deserve it, I'm willing to give you a chance. But if listening to you gets anyone hurt, I won't hesitate to throw you to the wolves. With all you've done to her, I doubt Eda would hesitate to kill you. So, I'm giving you a chance. Don't do anything to screw it up, okay?"
Luz felt Belos perk up in surprise and held back a slight chuckle. Not only had she never seen her be honest, it was almost as rare for him to be surprised.
"Thank you, Luz. I...I won't screw it up. As I've said, I won't let anything happen to hurt you, Little Light. And your faith in me won't be in vain."
"Well, how about we put that to the test. Let's get to work on modifying the glove."
Luz put the glove back in the backpack, pulled it on, and headed out to go to the cave. As she walked through the halls, she passed by the general healing room and spotted Viney inside, writing down some notes. The weight of the griffon plush began to feel like it grew inside her pocket.
"Just a quick stop." Luz whispered before pushing the door open.
Viney looked up at the sound of the door and smiled when she saw Luz. She set down her notepad on an empty bed and walked over.
"Great to see ya Luz! What's up? Want me to do another scan of your bile sack to see if it's grown? Are you having chest pain?"
"Oh, no. It's about the scavenging trip." Luz said with a significantly less happy tone than Viney.
"I heard about that! Titan, I wish I could go on one of those. But, we don't really have that many healers so it makes sense why Eda wouldn't want me leaving for a day. What happened?" Viney's expression dropped as she thought about what she left behind last time she was in Bonesborough, "Oh, oh wait. Is it something you saw? Do you want to talk about it?"
Viney sat down on an empty bed and patted next to her, so Luz sat down too.
"Yeah. It is actually. When I was out, I went to your house."
"And you saw my dad?" Viney asked, voice shaking slightly.
"Yeah. I did. But that wasn't what I came here for."
Luz pulled the plush out of her pocket and handed it to Viney, who perked up for a second before realizing what Luz meant.
"Puddles?" She asked, tearing up.
"The Titan trappers found her recently. She was in the garage. I think she was waiting for you but the trappers took over the whole neighborhood. I'm so, so sorry. But I found this plush in your room before I saw her, grabbed it as a gift, and after seeing the real Puddles, I just thought-"
Luz was cut off as Viney practically tackled her in a hug and just cried into her. Luz turned so she could better hug her back. She didn't dare say a word. She just let Viney cry into her, clutching the little stuffed animal for dear life. After a few minutes, Viney slowly pulled back and hugged the plush into her chest. Luz grabbed a tissue box that was sitting on a small table next to the bed. Viney took it from her and blew her nose and wiped her eyes. For a bit, they just sat there, Viney staring at the plush and Luz ready to do whatever was needed. Eventually she stood up and tucked the plush in the large pocket on her scrubs-like medical outfit, making it so the little griffon had its front paws and face poking out.
"Now, she can still be the best little medical assistant." Viney sadly chuckled before looking back to Luz, "Thank you, Luz. Thank you so much for everything. For this, for getting it in the first place, and even for all those months ago when you helped me and the other detention kids. You've done so much. And I don't think I could ever repay you."
Luz stood up and hugged Viney again.
"No need to repay me for anything."
As they hugged, Viney's arm felt something strange in the bag.
"What's in your bag?" She asked, mostly curious but slightly suspicious.
Luz tensed up instantly and backed up.
"Oh that? I-it's nothing. Uh, I'm going to go find Amity and the others. Tell them about my day. We found Boscha and Amity might want to be aware of that" Luz awkwardly said, slowly backing up to the door.
"Oh. Okay. Well, have fun. Oh, also, Hunter is doing a lot better. Out of the cast and honestly should be back to normal soon. He heals...surprisingly fast.
That made sense to Luz, Hunter being a grimwalker and all, but she obviously couldn't just say that.
"Weird. Maybe being the Golden Guard so long got his body used to needing to be healed fast?"
"Maybe." Viney said, now even more suspicious.
"Well, I gotta go. See you Viney!"
"Bye Luz."
Luz slipped out and quickly walked back out to the entrance. She was about to leave when one of the golems stuck an arm out in front of her. Nervously she looked up at it and gave it an awkward smile.
"Hey, uh, just going on a walk."
"Can these things even understand you?" Belos asked, getting Luz to immediately shush him.
The golem's hand morphed from the blade it had been into a hand, which was holding a spare pin to keep her invisible. Luz took it from it and it moved its arm back. She nodded, put on the pin, and left, quickly going back to her rushed pace. She went through the woods and got to the hidden cave. She walked inside, got rid of the ice tables and replaced them with a large platform-like ice workspace. She pulled off her backpack and laid the branding glove on the table. For a few moments, she just stared at it.
"Alright Philip," she eventually sighed, "How do we change this thing and save everyone?"