As this was going on in the demon realm, in the Human Realm, Vee and Masha were walking to Vee's house, still very confused on everything. From Tracey knowing about glyphs, to being able to use them in the human realm, to Camila growing stronger, it was crazy!
"So, how are you going to explain this to your mom?" Masha asked Vee.
"I don't know. Mom seems to like the positives to having magic but if she finds out about this, she might blame herself for it." Vee said as they arrived at the house. "Not to mention that we still have to find out where Tracey went."
Opening the door, the two walked into the living room and saw that Camila was letting her wings stretch out.
Whenever Camila was home, she liked let her wings out go stretch, or go out for a flight in the middle of the night. It was an incredible way to see the world.
"Mom?" Vee asked.
Camila turned around and smiled.
"Hello, Vee, how was your day?" She asked.
"It was good. Nothing to complain about." Vee said as Masha gave her a look, making her flinch. "B-But something MAY have come up that could be a bit concerning."
"Really? What is it?" Camila asked as she stood up but kept her wings out.
"So, you know how Luz has glyphs?" Vee asked.
"Why of course. They're the langue of the Titan and I still remember them from when Luz taught them to me." Camila said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a little black book. "I even keep notes on them just in case."
"Wait, so you've been using them here?" Masha asked.
"Well, only here and there." Camila said as she put her notebook away. "Why?"
"Well, since you mention that, I DOES make what I'm about to say easier." Vee said, chuckling nervously.
"Make what easier? Vee, did something happen?" Camila asked her daughter.
"You could say that." Vee said, glancing away as she rubbed her arm.
Camila was confused by Vee's wording as she looked to the more blunt person of the couple.
"Masha, can you explain?" Camila asked.
"Well, it would seem... that someone else has learned how to use glyphs." Masha said, holding her hands together.
"WHAT?!" Camila shouted as her wings shot out, knocking over a vase. "HOW?!"
"H-h-have you noticed anything happening with you?" Vee asked, tapping her fingers together, "Like, do you feel like you're getting stronger or something?"
"Stronger? Like physically or magically?" Camila asked, slowly folding her wings in.
"More so the magic part." Masha said.
"I mean... I guess when I use a glyph, it is more powerful." Camila said, rubbing her chin.
"Define that please." Masha said.
"Well....i used a light glyph to check the attic after the bulb went out and instead of a baseball light, it grew to the size of a basketball." Camila said, making the size gestures with her hands.
"Okay, that explains why glyphs are able to be used outside of Luz being here." Vee said.
"But that also brings up more problems if Tracey shared the glyphs with anyone else." Masha said.
"Tracey? That cheerleader girl that looks sort of like Amity?" Camila asked in shock.
"Yeah, her." Vee said, with a nod. "She used a plant glyph."
"But how?!" Camila asked, still in shock.
"Remember when that creep kidnapped Luz? He sort of possessed Tracey before hand, Luz explained it to us." Vee said quickly. "We don't know what happened exactly or when she started using it, but we need to find her and let her explain."
"I can help with that." Camila said, pulling out an invisibility glyph, "I hope you aren't afraid of heights."
"I'm not." Masha said with a smile.
"Wait, but don't we need to hold our breath for that to work?" Vee asked.
Vee could ho her breath for a long time because she was a basilisk and a basilisk needed a large lung capacity to suck in as much magic as they could, but Masha was human. Who knows how long they could hold their breath for?
"Guess we'll see." Camila said, before walking to the backyard of the house.
Vee and Masha glanced at each other before they followed after Camila, reaching the backyard as she activated the glyph and pulled them into the sky.
'This is crazy!/awesome!' Vee and Masha thought as they quickly held their breaths.
What seemed like an only a second of flying, Camila landed in the middle of the woods. Where else would a person that uses a plant glyph go to do it in secret?
'No, where are you?' Camila thought, letting go of Masha and Vee as they all became visible again.
The mother had began sniffing around, shaking that her magic powers weren't the only thing that had increased as her other senses were stronger too.
"Are you trying to track her?" Masha asked.
"Yes." Camila said as she continued to sniff the air.
"There's no way that-"
"I know where she is." Camila said, cutting off Vee, pointing ahead. "She's that way."
Masha and Vee was shocked, seeing how quickly Camila was able to find Tracey's scent when they JUST got into the forest.
"Pardon my French, but DAMN! Your nose is better than a bloodhound!" Masha said with wide eyes.
Camila couldn't help but smirk.
"Damn right." Camila said, rubbing her nose. "Now, I can't go in because my wings are too big, so you two will have to go see her."
"Can't you tuck them into your body?" Vee asked.
"That takes too long, trust me." Camila said to her daughter, rolling her left shoulder. "Go, I'll be here, waiting."
Looking towards each other and back at Camila, Vee and Masha nodded to her before walking further into the forest. Hopefully Tracey would be easy to find if she was using magic in a clearer area.
... Well... it WAS a clear area, before they found the scarred girl, slamming glyphs on the ground and forming full grown trees.
'Woah, just after a month, she is already as strong as Luz was at three months.' Vee thought, looking up at the trees.
Either that was directed at Tracey or at Camila, it was still true and concerning.
"Hey, Vee, do you think I could get some of those glyphs later?" Masha whispered.
"NO. Not until after we talk with Tracey." Vee whispered back.
Unknown to the two peeping toms, a couple vines grew from behind them and grabbed the two by their legs. They let out a scream as they were brought over to Tracey. She glared at them and then snapped her fingers, causing the vines to let them go.
'Damn, for a human, she could rival Willow in plant magic.' Vee thought.
'Do I tell the readers about what Track she's going to take in the third book, or can they figure it out?' Masha thought, glancing at the readers and back.
"What are you doing here?!" Tracey demanded.
Masha and Vee could see the fear and anger in her eyes, understandable but they needed to calm her down so they could talk with her.
"W-w-we just wanted to check up on you." Vee said, "You threw a plant through a mirror after screaming at your reflection."
"Yeah. We're just worried is all." Masha said with her hands up.
"Why should I believe you?" Tracey asked, turning her back on them. lWhy would anyone be worried about me? Let alone you of all people! I've done nothing but bully you for years!"
"Because regardless of what happened, we were best friends at one point!" Masha said, approaching Tracey. "And I do care about my friends... even ones that left me."
Vee suddenly understand why Luz likes mysterious backstories, because this is incredible. Tracey looked back at Masha for a minute before looking away.
"Why?" She asked.
"Because everyone sees you as some pretty, popular, cheerleader... but I know the truth." Masha said, looking said for a moment. "You were a geeky, glasses wearing, braces using, little nerd... and we were as thick as thieves."
"That... was a long time ago." Tracey said, "Things change over time."
"Yeah they do... but blood doesn't." Masha said, putting a hand on Tracey's shoulder. "Isn't that right... Cousin?"
"Cousin?!" Vee said in quick shock, looking between Masha and Tracey. "You two? Cousins?"
"Don't see the resemblance?" Masha asked, turning Tracey to face Vee while they still stood beside her.
"We're half cousins." Tracey said, gesturing to Masha. "My mom's half brother is their dad."
"Not that big a detail." Masha said with a shrug.
'I feel like this is a big detail since it was personal for Masha and she didn't tell me!' Vee thought.
"So anyway, back to the problem at hand." Masha said, stepping away from Tracey. "You did magic."
"I mean, I can only do stuff with plants." Tracey said.
"HOW?" Masha said, being clearer. "That's what the big issue is, HOW did you figure this out?"
Tracey suddenly got that look, that kind of look a veteran gets when having a flashback.
"When... when that thing possessed me, I was aware of everything, I could see everything, but I couldn't do anything, I couldn't... I wasn't strong enough to stop myself." Tracey said, looking at her scarred hands, "I remember seeing Luz use these symbols that let her perform magic, but I really only remember the plant one."
Tracey closed her eyes as tears began to flow.
"I... I don't like Luz... but... but I never wanted to kill her!" She'll said as her legs began to shake before falling to her knees.
Tears began to pour from her eyes as Vee and Masha watched with bated breath.
"I almost killed her! I almost took the life of that... Titan or whatever that thing called her!" Tracey said, grabbing her hair. "Ever since I've been haunted with nightmares, reflections of myself, I've been taunted by the kind of person I was!"
'Tracey.' Vee and Masha thought, feeling bad for her as Tracey wiped the tears away.
"Maybe that's what I deserve." She said, chuckling sadly. "I was a bitch... now I'm just some scarred freak. Maybe those voices in my head are right... maybe... maybe I deserve to die, maybe-"
"Don't you EVER say that!" Masha said, startling the scarred girl. "You don't deserve that just because you were a jerk in the past!"
Masha knelt down and pulled Tracey into a hug.
"You were my best friend, you're family... Whether you can do magic or not, whether you are scarred or not, whether you are believe it or not... you don't need to think like that. I can help you, WE can help you." Masha said, motioning to Vee and themself, "... Let us help you... please, Trace?"
Tracey gave a small smile, chuckling a tiny bit.
"You... you haven't called me Trace in a long time, Mash." Tracey said as Masha pulled away.
"And you haven't called me Mash in a while." Masha said standing up and holding their hand out, "So, will you let us help you?"
Tracey looked at Masha's hand and then at the ground, before grabbing their hand and getting pulled up by her cousin.
"Thank you... for not giving up on me." Tracey said, "I don't deserve a second chance."
"Well, unfortunately for you... I don't believe that." Masha said, smiling at her cousin.
"Hehehehe. God, if anyone could beat Luz in optimism, it's you." Tracey said with a chuckle.
"Come on, we have a lot to talk about." Masha said, "And it might be best to go to the Noceda house and talk about it."
"I figured as much." Tracey said as they left the forest.