27. Chapter 64: The Glandus War: Turning Point(1)

Latissa, Thirty Years Ago

Latissa back then was still the lawless town it was in the present day, populated by bounty hunters, wild witches, and Glandus High students.

Coming out of a vacant building were two hooded figures who spotted some Coven Scouts chasing after a wild witch.

"I thought you said there weren't Scouts here," one of them said to the other.

"That's what I thought," the second hooded figure said as they went back inside. They unhooded themselves, revealing their identities to be a teenage Eda and Angel. "But it looks like the Emperor's Coven has set up some patrols in Latissa. We should still be safe though."

"Hopefully they won't check in here," Angel said, looking around the abandoned clinic that the two teens had turned into their hideout. It was filled with junk that they had brought back from the human realm.

"How much of this did you steal?" Angel asked Eda, who had picked up a comic book to read.

"Hey, it's not stealing if they throw it away, like these super cool earrings," Eda said, pointing to the clothes hangers that she was wearing over her ears. She rocked her head causing them to swing around. "See how they swing?"

This made the human girl chuckle. "How familiar are witches and demons with human stuff?" she asked while playing with a rubix cube.

"Not much besides the occasional junk that gets washed up here thanks to the leaks between the demon realm and the human realm," Eda replied. "I think you're the first human in the Boiling Isles since… well, since I don't know when. Centuries maybe."

This got Angel thinking. "You know, we are still going to need snails to pay for food and supplies here, since I would rather not take a shopping trip back to the human realm and risk getting caught," she pointed out. "And I think we could make some snails by selling off this junk that we brought with us. Like pass them off as human treasures and artifacts."

Eda considered this. "Hmm, yeah, I like where you're going with this," Eda said as she picked up a large laserdisc. "For example, I'm sure someone would be willing to buy this shiny human throwing disc. We could make a killing!"

"I hope you don't mean literally…"

"No, I just mean sell this stuff to suckers," Eda clarified. "Man, you're so morbid."

Angel snickered. "Hey, can you blame me? We live in the demon realm."

Later a disguised Eda and Angel had set up their own stand in the streets of Latissa.

"Feast your eyes on these wonderful treasures from a different realm!" Eda said while dressed in a long overcoat with her hair tied underneath, a toboggan hat, sunglasses, and a fake mustache.

"Come and look at these exquisite artifacts that you won't find anywhere else in the Boiling Isles!" Angel said while wearing a werewolf mask and holding up a cane to show off a broken lamp and an orange cat phone. "Like this, a cat phone that you can use to receive a call from Cathulu…" This earned the attention of many witches and demons as they passed by.

"Any of these rare items can be yours… but for a limited time only!" Eda added.

"How much is this one?" someone asked, holding up a polka-dot sweater.

"Can my child eat this?" a parent asked while holding up some batteries.

"Can I use this for potions making?" asked someone else who held up a glass blowing kit.

As the two friends continued to make snails with their new business, Eda spotted the last person that she expected to see in Latissa of all places.

"Please, have you seen Eda Clawthorne?" asked a young Raine Whispers, who was holding up a missing poster with Eda's face on it to some denizens of Latissa. "She's been missing for over a month and her family is worried about her!"

A suddenly nervous Eda turned to Angel. "Hey, I think we should head back in."

"What? But why-"

"I think I saw the fuzz, let me gather our things," Eda said while using her magic to collect their items and take down the stand. "Sorry folks, but we're closing early!" she shouted as she and Angel headed back to their hideout.

Angel could tell that something was up. "Hey, um, are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," Eda replied, but Angel didn't buy it. She looked back and saw Raine putting up their posters all over Latissa.

More than a week later, Eda and Angel had gotten the hang of their business. "Here you go sir!" Eda said to a younger Vitimir Breathton, who appeared without his top hat while holding a broken fan.

"What a strange item, but it'll probably look good for décor," Vitimir said as he walked away with his purchase.

"See that, Angel? I think I'm getting pretty good at this businesswoman thing!" Eda said while showing her friend the snails that she had just earned. Angel nodded.

"Angelica Sinclair…"

"Huh?" Angel asked, turning around. "Is someone there?"

"Angel…"

While Eda was busy with another customer, Angel found herself being drawn away by the mysterious voice, leaving both Eda and their stand. "Say Angie, do you think these will sell?" Eda later asked as she held up a broken record, only to realize that Angel was nowhere in sight, "Angel? Where'd you go?"

"Eda."

Eda turned to see that Angel had reappeared. She seemed unharmed, but there was something about her face that made her look… haunted.

"Angel, what's wrong?" Eda asked worriedly, only for Angel to grab her hand.

"We need to go back to Earth," Angel said, surprising Eda.

"Earth?" Eda asked. "Why would you want to-"

"Just take me back right now," Angel insisted while looking down. "Please."

Eda was still confused, but she could tell that Angel was being serious. She nodded. "Alright."

CH. 64: THE GLANDUS WAR: TURNING POINT

In the present day the Owl House was in the middle of a siege. Eda held up her rifle, taking shots through a broken window at the Tarot Guild members outside. Lilith was armed with a crossbow and placed glyphs on the arrows. When she fired her arrows, pirates, spice demons, and Guild members were either entangled in vines, frozen, or set on fire.

"AAAHHH!" the one on fire screamed.

"They have guns? Well, so do I!" Hook declared as he used his flintlock pistol to shoot out several of the windows, forcing the Clawthorne sisters to duck down.

"Good shot, Captain!" Smee cheered.

"You can't hold out much longer, Clawthornes!" Craig shouted as his forces laid waste to the Owl House and the raptor hound creatures continued to attack Hooty. The masked woman, meanwhile, stayed in the back and summoned several shadow creatures that she had a task for…

When Lilith got a good look at the hound raptors mauling Hooty, her eyes widened. "That's impossible… they're supposed to be extinct!"

"What?" Eda asked her.

"Those are Labraptors, creatures that died out during the Scarrasic Era!" Lilith stated as one Labraptor, which had the head of a black pitbull, crashed through the window. It tried to bite Lilith but she punched it on the snout, causing it to withdraw its head.

"We should be safe down here," King said as he and Camila managed to get Levi's sister down into the basement. They heard a noise and saw Hooty, who was covered in bite marks and scratches, weakly slide into the basement as well. "Hooty! You don't look good, are you okay?"

Hooty responded with a cough. "Horrible… pain! Hooty Lockdown Mode, activate!"

As he said this, the Owl House started to shield itself from its attackers. The doors and windows were barred, the chimney closed. Even the door to the basement was closed off. Spikes popped out of the ground around the Owl House, which hit a couple of Tarot Guild members and pirates nearby. The rest pulled back as Craig called the Labraptors over to him.

Hooty then nearly passed out, King catching him before he hit the ground. "Thanks, Hooty, you're a good soldier," King said.

"Tell Lulu… that it was an honor," Hooty said before he succumbed to unconsciousness.

"So you said we're safe, right?" Camila asked, protectively holding the egg with Levi's sister to make sure that no harm came to it.

"Yeah, we should be fine," King assured her. "However, it does mean that we're stuck here for the moment."

Camila nodded, though she was still worried. Not just for herself and the occupants of the Owl House, but for Luz as well…

Eda and Lilith sighed in relief. It sounded like their enemies had ceased their attack… for now.

Lilith noticed that Eda's hands were trembling as she held her rifle "Eda… are you alright?" she asked her.

"Yeah, this is just a little too much, too familiar," Eda responded, wiping sweat from her forehead. "Now, tell me what did you do to piss off that Craig guy?"

Lilith looked down. "He used to be a coven scout and he was assigned to be a test proctor during Hexside's exams last semester. When a duel between Luz and Boscha went off the rails, he let it continue because he wanted to send a message to you. He also tried to arrest Bump. I had him kicked out of the Emperor's Coven and I thought that was the last time I would have heard from him… but now because of my choice, he wants to hurt me and my family. This is my fault."

Eda looked up to her sister "Look Lily, you did the right thing by kicking out the creep. So don't blame yourself. Instead, help me protect our home from these punks."

Lilith gave a determined nod, but then noticed a shadow creature rising up behind Eda. "Look out!" Lilith shouted as she fired her crossbow at the shadow creature, the arrow passing through it and hitting the wall.

Eda turned around and spotted the shadow creature. "What the hell is that!?" Eda questioned as she raised her rifle, only for the shadow to choose its form.

"Eda…" the shadow spoke in a familiar voice as it took on a familiar shape.

Lilith tried to help her sister, but was immediately pinned to the wall by another shadow. "Eda!"

Eda's eyes widen, her pupils dilating as the shadow took the form of Raine. "No… no… no!"

"You left me, Eda." the shadow taunted in the voice of Raine. "You left me to die along with Darius…"

"Raine, I didn't mean to… you can't be dead!" Eda insisted.

"But you did leave them," spoke a shadow taking the form of a bearded and mustached man with a sloped nose and a scar over one of his eyes. "Just like how you left your family and left me after ruining my life!" He showed off his scarred hands to Eda, shocking both her and Lilith.

"Dad…" Eda said as she recognized the voice and form of the shadow as belonging to her father. She shivered and started to tear up. Even if it wasn't really him, this was still getting to her. Then she saw a third shadow take the form of someone else that she hurt…

"Eda," Angela Sinclair spoke to her, missing half of her face and an arm. "Why did you do it? I thought you were my friend…"

"Angel…" Eda said, her heart racing as the shadow drew closer to her.

"You killed me!" Angel accused, pointing at Eda. "You did this to me! You. Did. This!"

"No! No it's not… it's not… Angel… Dad… Raine..." Eda was overwhelmed and she started to hyperventilate.

"Eda!" Lilith cried for her sister as Eda tilted her head back, her eyes blackening.

For Eda, everything went dark.

"GASP!"

Luz returned to consciousness with a gasp. She still couldn't see well due to blinding herself, so everything was a blur to her.

She tried to move, only to realize that she was strapped to some hard surface. "Hello?" she cried out. "Amity! Gus!" She continued trying to move, but to no avail.

"They won't be able to hear you," said a voice that she didn't recognize. "It's just you and me."

"Who are you?" Luz demanded to know. "I can't see you, but I can hear you!"

"Your vision is still recovering, human," the voice informed her in a dismissive manner. "And you may not know who I am, but you should."

"For Titan's sake, what did I do to piss you off?" Luz asked as she struggled against her restraints.

"You hurt someone very dear to me," the voice told her.

Luz stopped her struggling for a moment. "And… who'd that be? I'm asking, cause I've beaten up a lot of folks."

"Well let me give you some hints," the voice said. "She used to work at Hexside and was a good demon woman, even if she didn't care much about those punks there. She still put up with it though, at least until a human girl was put in her class and sicced the Choosy Hat on her! Tell me, does that ring any bells?"

Luz's eyes widened as the realization hit her. "Oh my Titan… you're Mrs. Torigore's-"

"Yes, you get it now?" the voice asked her.

"Her neighbor, right?" Luz asked, shocking the voice.

He wanted to slap her, but he instead just growled. "No! I'm Asi, her son!"

The revelation hit Luz like a demon cycle. "Oh shit…"

"That's right, and because of your stunt she had to quit and go into retirement!" Asi shouted at her. "But I'm guessing you don't know what happened next."

"What… what happened to Mrs. Torigore?" Luz asked him.

"She was meant to be sent to a St. Lauffer's retirement farm after the Choosy Hat incident," Asi told her as he looked over his medical utensils. "But the Emperor's Coven made a mistake. There was a mixup and instead she got sent to the slaughterhouse!" He gritted his teeth as his eyes twitched. "So now there's choice cuts of meat from my mother all around the Boiling Isles' marketplaces and restaurants for people to feast on! My mother is dead because of you!"

Luz looked horrified. "Oh Titan… hey, dude, I'm really sorry. I know that I could've handled that situation better and-"

"You don't get to be sorry, human!" Asi shouted at her. "If you never enrolled at Hexside, my mother would still be alive! A human like you doesn't even belong at a school for witches, but still had to play witch regardless of the lives you ruin in the process!"

He picked out his scalpel and cast a spell that formed lines over Luz. "You won't be needing sleeping nettles for this operation. I'm gonna dissect you alive!"

Viney, while riding on Puddles, managed to grab some of the students and place them on her griffin's back. "Hang on!" she shouted as she brought them away from the battlefield.

"Viney, over here!" shouted Edric as he waved at her. With him was Barcus, who in his mouth was carrying his staff with a raccoon Palisman. They climbed onto Puddles with the rest of the students. "Is Emira alright?"

"Don't worry, she's fine with the other healers up top!" Viney assured him as she led Puddles to a locker that was in front of a secret door. "Hurry in!" she told Edric, Barcus, and the other students as they entered the Secret Room of Shortcuts. She held up a crystal ball and contacted Willow. "General, are you still there?"

"Yeah, we found other students and teachers and led them here," Willow responded, as Viney found a door leading to a classroom. She brought Ed, Barcus, and the four students through the door to said classroom where Willow, Skara, Eileen, were waiting for them with other students, teachers, and the school spirit.

"Are you sure we're safe here?" Ed asked.

"Don't worry, Ed, this is the algebra classroom. Nobody wants to be in here," Skara assured him.

Willow used her crystal ball to contact other students. "Anyone in the other sectors, can you hear me?"

"This is Cat with the healers," Cat responded.

"Morty here, at the right wing of the first floor," Morty responded.

"This is Dr. Spott of general studies," said a teacher with pale skin, black smooth hair, blue markings around his eyes, and a blue robe. "Reporting from the bunker."

"What's everyone's situation?" Willow asked.

"Things are a whole lot more chaotic on the first floor," Morty explained. "We are dealing with an infestation of zombie weasels."

"Did you just say… zombie weasels?" Willow asked.

"Yeah, turns out one of their top students has a special kind of plant powder that can turn witches into mindless zombies," Morty informed everyone.

"I think I've read about that kind of powder, it's a special kind that the Plant Coven tried to contain due to its parasitic properties," Willow recalled. "I don't know how Glandus managed to acquire it though…"

"Probably from the Night Market," Morty suggested. "But I don't know how much longer we can last down here."

"We also got a report that some of our top-hitters are down," Cat said solemnly. "Selene was defeated, Dusty got eaten, and Simon…" She looked down, saddened. "He got taken out by the Top Construction Junior."

"They took out Simon too?" Willow asked in shock.

"Yeah, and what's worse, Bump got taken out as well by one of Glandus's teachers," Cat said worriedly.

"Don't give up just yet," Dr. Spott told everyone. "Right now I'm with the baby class students. Commander Moose and Lieutenant Scabrina have said that they have a plan for counterattack that they think can win this war."

"That's great- wait, Commander Moose?" Cat asked.

"Lieutenant Scabrina?" Skara questioned.

"Yes, the children insisted that they call themselves that. Scabrina also said that she has a secret weapon," Spott explained. "They won't say what, but they say when they unleash-"

"Don't tell them anything until we are ready to put the plan into motion, Private!" an unseen Moose shouted.

"Um, yes, Commander, sir!" Spott saluted as he ended his transmission.

"Alright, looks like they have their plan, but until they're ready we are going to make due with what we have!" Willow declared.

"Um, yeah…" the school spirit spoke up. "Nothing personal, but I've decided that you're all doomed. My time would be better off served preparing your places in the afterlife. Laters!" They phase down through the floor, much to everyone's shock.

"…It's not reassuring they went down, instead of up," the Illusionist teacher, Ms. Rachelle, said.

"Forget them," Willow said, turning to Ed. "Pull us up a map."

Ed nodded and used his illusion mag to create a 3D model of the school.

"Are you still with us Morty?" Willow asked.

"Here!" Morty confirmed.

"Good, because I want you to quarantine the first floor," she told him. "We can't risk the infection spreading. We also need to focus on protecting the foundations of the school, since Glandus will without a doubt try to bring down Hexside on top of us. We need to tell our construct students to prioritize reinforcing the foundations so that doesn't happen. We also need to keep Glandus away from our healers and our wounded. If possible, we should contain the fighting to the first and second floor so that we are less spread out. And keep the fighting in more closed spaces instead of larger areas like the auditorium, lunch hall, and gymnasium. By keeping them in tighter parts of the school, they become larger targets and have less room to move around in addition to them not knowing the battlefield like we do, which is something we have to use to our advantage." As she gave her explanation, Willow pointed to different parts of the 3D model.

"Agreed," Skara nodded. "That includes using the Secret Room of Shortcuts to launch ambushes. With it we should be able to easily transport and pull out our forces."

"And if we can, we should make our way over to the greenhouse and the Beast-Keeping Pens, since it has a few things that I think will help us," Willow noted.

Barcus looked at the other students and noticed something about some of their auras. He started to growl, which Ed noticed.

"Uh, hey what's wrong with this dog?" asked a blue-haired boy, backing away as Barcus snapped at him. "Hey!"

"Hey, Barcus, stop!" Ed pulled Barcus back as Barcus began to bark at the boy. "Hey, what's the matter with you? He's on our side!"

"What's his deal?!" a striped girl asked.

"I don't know what's gotten into him, Jerbo usually understands him!" Ed said while turning to Viney. "What do you make of this?" he asked while Barcus kept barking at the two students.

Viney looked at Barcus, then at the student in question. A thought had occurred to her, so he marched up to him, confusing the blue-haired boy.

"Hey, what are you-"

Before he could finish, Viney punched him and instantly knocked him out.

"Ms. Potts, what's gotten into you!?" asked the goat teacher.

"Look." Viney pointed to the blue-haired boy, whose disguise vanished in a poof of smoke, revealing him to be a biped shrimp demon and an illusionist… from Glandus. "I may not understand Barcus like Jerbo does, but I know him well enough to recognize that he sensed something was off. Clearly he was right."

"Wait, Glandus has illusionists!?" Skara realized.

"Ah great, boys, the jig is up," said the striped girl as she and several other students revealed themselves as Glandus Illusion students. Some even pop up from the objects and walls they were disguised against.

"Wait, I thought Glandus doesn't have illusionists…" Ed questioned.

"Glandus doesn't know they have illusionists either!" said the once striped girl, who turned out to be a biped talking thumb-headed girl, said as she brought out some chains. "And you Hexside Hacks are going down!"

"And to make this much trickier!" One illusionist snaps his fingers, creating duplicates. The others did the same, creating duplicates of themselves to spread confusion.

A fight broke out between both sides. Eileen held up her staff to block an attack from the Glandus student holding a club and 'screamed', causing that student's ears to bleed. She then used her staff with a Newt Palisman to blast several illusionists, but they turned out to be duplicates.

Ed created duplicates of his own which fought against the other duplicates. A lot of magic was thrown around the room with Willow summoning vine whips and Skara shooting out flame magic. Viney punched one illusionist who turned out to be a fake while Barcus bit another who turned out to be real. A few Hexsidians got shot from behind and knocked out by several disguised illusionists. Ms. Rachelle tried to grab a couple of students, but they turned out to be chairs.

Skara suddenly sensed a presence near Willow and shouted out. "Willow! 3 o'clock!"

Willow turned and kicked an invisible Glandus student, causing them to reappear as they crashed into a wall. "Thanks, Skara!"

This made Skara realize that somehow she could smell the real Glandus students and tell where they were. "Viney, the one on the left!" Skara pointed as Viney shot a magic beam from her own staff to the real Glandus student rather than the illusion. "Behind you!" Viney lifted her fist to punch the upcoming student with a mace from behind.

"Edric, by your right!" Skara pointed as Edric summoned Batric to attack the invisible student about to attack him.

"AAAAHH!" he cried as Batric mauled his face.

Though the Glandus illusionists continued to put up a fight, thanks to Skara's nose and Barcus's aura reading they got taken down one by one, until all that remained was the thumb-headed girl..

"No… no this isn't how it's supposed to end!" she declared, trying to run only to be grabbed by one of Willow's vines, which she used to tie all of the restrained illusionists together. "T-there's no way you'll make us talk!"

"Oh we got ways," Viney said as she summoned Puddles, who unleashed a roar.

"Now talk. Are there more of you around here? What is Glandus planning?" Willow demanded to know.

"It wouldn't help you even if I did tell you," the thumb-headed girl responded. "Your school is doomed, as are your friends Luz and Amity."

Willow's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

The Glandus girl chuckled. "Why do you think Augustus Porter was taken in the first place? The Queen of Glandus was waiting for them with a trap that she prepared. It is already too late for them by now."

"So you're saying Emily is at Glandus?" Willow asked, causing the Glandus illusionist to realize she had said too much.

"Actually, I meant… well, shit."

Skara stood up. "General, I know that it wouldn't be wise to leave now, but what if Luz and Amity need backup? Plus since we have confirmation that Emily is at Glandus, making sure that she gets defeated would help us win the war."

Willow considered this. "Alright, but I don't want you to go alone."

"I'll go with her," Viney volunteered. "That way she will have a healer."

Willow nodded. "Then go reinforce Luz and Amity, rescue Gus, and take out Emily. The rest of us will continue to lead the defense. But please-" She held Skara's hand. "Be careful."

Skara gave a determined nod. "We will come back with all of our friends. I promise."

Meanwhile, back at Glandus, things weren't looking good for Amity.

"Leave me alone!" Amity shouted as she shot flaming abomi-goo from her hands, which Bangles dodged.

"Such a poor shot!" Bangles mocked.

"Are you really the best Hexside has to offer?" Zepher questioned while dodging.

Amity formed spiked whips and tried to strike them, but the three muggers managed to avoid them. 'Why aren't my attacks working?' she thought to herself as she dodged Bangles's bandages and ended up in front of Zepher.

"Let's see how many bones I can shatter," Zepher said as he chased Amity, who backed away and created an abomination wall. Zepher however only ran around the wall and closed in on her

Amity managed to shove Zepher into a locker using her abomination goop, but as he fell Amity noticed that there was no dent despite how hard she had slammed him.

Brian tried to grab her, but she moved aside and drew out long swords made from abomination goop. "Stay back!" she said to the trio.

"There's nowhere to run, Blight!" Bangles mocked as her bandage wraps twirl around.

"Yeah, you'll end up like your human!" Zepher stated wickedly.

"What are you… where's Luz?!" Amity demanded to know.

"Who knows?" Zepher replied with a smirk.

Amity felt a tug on her legging and she glanced down, seeing nothing but her shadow. However, this caused her to notice something about the shadows of her opponents. They looked a little different from hers.

'Their shadows are more faded than mine,' she thought, confused about this. She looked back up at Bangles' levitating bandages and saw one going through the wall. 'Wait a sec…'

She formed a light glyph with her abomi-goo, activating it and flashing the trio. They screamed but then they started to poof away, one by one.

"Illusions," Amity realized.

"So you've figured it out," said a voice. Amity spun around and saw a teacher standing nearby.

"Were you the one that cast this?" Amity asked.

"I wish I could take credit, but no, it wasn't me," Miss Heinous said as she walked towards Amity. "I could tell you who did this, but instead I think I would rather just kill you." Her arms grew purple fur with stripes as she unsheathed her claws.

'She must be from Beast-Keeping with those claws,' Amity thought while using her abomi-suit to unleash her attacks. She shot out purple webbing at Heinous who dodged and slashed the webs coming up to her. The pink-haired teacher instantly disappeared and then reappeared behind Amity, who quickly dodged a swipe from Heinous. She attempted to trap her opponents feet in abomi-goo, but Heinous just grinned and summoned fire from her hands, slapping the purple substance on the floor. This caused it to harden and shatter. However, Heinous didn't put out the flames. Instead, she let them continue to spread.

Amity backed away from the flames as Heinous jumped over towards her, grabbing her by the wrists and pinning Amity to the wall.

"Let… let me go!" Amity shouted as she struggled, but Heinous kept her pinned to the wall as Amity could feel something burning. Her abomi-suit started to crumble as the flames surrounded them. "The fire… it's going to get us both!"

"No, it'll just get you," Heinous said as she ignored a kick from Amity to the stomach. She chuckled and slowly drew her claws against Amity's face, scratching her cheek. Suddenly Heinous felt something pulling on her hair, yanking her back. "You dare-" She tossed Amity aside and looked behind her, seeing nobody there. "Who's there? Answer me!"

But the shadow had already returned to the side of Amity, who was on her knees and feeling the cheek where she had been scratched. She looked at her hand and saw the blood on it, which shocked the former Blight girl. As the flames drew in closer, Amity tried to use her abomi-suit but it crumbled completely because of the heat, leaving her in her school uniform. "No…"

She looked back up at Heinous and gasped when she saw something behind the teacher. Some graffiti that was on the wall.

"THE INNER DEMON SEES ALL!"

When Heinous turned back toward Amity, the teenager was gone. Not invisible. Just… gone, despite being surrounded by flames.

"What!?" Meteora exclaimed in shock. "Where did she go!?" She dispersed the flames while looking around for her target, but Amity Goodfellow was no longer around, almost as if she had teleported…

Elsewhere in Glandus, Boscha, Gus and Hunter were attempting to fight Nina. It was… not going well for them, since she kept dodging their attacks.

Gus even used his illusions to form duplicates of him, Boscha and Hunter to get Nina off of their tracks. But Nina could smell the real ones, swiping through the illusions and heading straight for them. "You're gonna have to do better than that!" she mocked as she saw Hunter swinging his staff at her, which she blocked. "Do you even know how to fight with a witch's staff?"

"I… I do!" Hunter said as he looked at his cardinal staff. "Um, any of you know how to work this thing?"

Boscha simply pulled Hunter away as she levitated some chairs and trash cans, throwing them at Nina who shredded the objects with her claws. "Seriously, they're made of magic. Couldn't you just channel your magic or some spells?"

"Um, not really," Hunter replied while the trio ran down the hall. "I… don't have magic."

A shocked Boscha turned to Gus, who nodded in confirmation. She turned back to Hunter. "Then how are you a scout-?"

"RAAAWWRRR!"

The three were startled at the sound of a leopard's roar as they turned to see Nina in pursuit. Hunter got in front of them to face Nina. "You two get out of here!"

"But what about you?" Gus asked, looking worried. But he was grabbed by Boscha. "Hey!"

"Come on!" Boscha, who knew that fighting Nina was not an option, said as she dragged Gus away. Though she also knew that running only delayed the inevitable…

Hunter looked at his Palisman and shook it. "Why… won't… you… work!?" he demanded, only to shoot a golden blast around the walls.

Nina ducked as the light beam bounced around her. She eyed Hunter, her torso becoming broader and her arms becoming more muscular along with her neck. Her face had more lion-like features, though her legs remained the same. "Nice trick, but it won't save you."

"S-Stand back!" Hunter demanded, holding up his staff. "Look, just let us all go, and I-I don't have to report you for anything…"

"Oh don't worry, you won't," she replied before charging at him. However, Hunter managed to dodge her swipe with a high-speed dash, managing to surprise both him and Nina. "Looks like you may know a thing or two after all."

"Yeah, I do!" Hunter said as he gripped his staff tighter. Nina swiped at him again, but Hunter once again managed to use his staff's magic to perform a high-speed dash. This time he also fired a magical blast of energy at Nina, which she mostly avoided but it still singed her fur, causing her to growl. She increased her attacks on Hunter, who continued to dodge them with his high-speed dashes, irritating her even further.

"Stay still!" Nina shouted angrily, Hunter sticking his tongue out as he teleported around her.

However, Nina soon realized that there was a pattern with Hunter's movement, which she could predict. So when he tried to teleport behind her, she backhanded him into a locker.

"AAH!" Hunter yelped as he crashed into the locker and dropped his staff. Before he could recover it, Nina grabbed him by the collar and kept him pinned to the locker.

As she held onto Hunter, Nina was able to pick up Boscha and Gus's scent. "They're still close, but I can give them a head start," she decided, since she liked a good hunt. She grinned as she turned her attention back to Hunter. "As for what I'm going to do with you…"

Boscha and Gus were making the most of the time that Hunter had bought for them, trying to put as much distance between them and Nina as they could.

"Listen, we can't outrun her," Boscha told Gus. "Nina Fangs is a huntress, to her this is a game. But I do know where the exits are, I made sure to take note of them during my time here." She recognized a trophy case and smiled. "Perfect, if we turn left we'll be able to get out! Come on!"

Boscha led Gus to where she knew an exit would be. However, to her surprise, there was just a blank wall where the door should have been. "Huh?" she questioned as they came to a stop. "I was so sure there'd be one there." She looked around at her surroundings. "This hall… it looks different from how I remember it." She shook her head. "Come on, this way!" She led him down another path, but found no exit. They checked another hall only to find that it led to a dead end, followed by another, and another.

"Boscha, are you sure you know the way?" Gus asked while taking a breather.

"Of course I know!" she snapped before trying to calm herself down. "Sorry, this has been really stressful and I haven't eaten since yesterday." She then saw a classroom door. "Come on, if we can't find an exit, we'll just sneak out the windows." She opened the door, only to find a brick wall on the other side. "Oh come on! Who builds a brick wall over a door!?"

"This is… unusual," Gus said while opening another door, only to find a brick wall as well. "This is like one of those maze houses. Something's not right about this school."

"No kidding, a school without any fire escapes shouldn't even be beneath Glandus," Boscha replied as she thought of something. "The mess hall! We should try to find the mess hall!"

Boscha led the way and after several turns and dead ends, they finally arrived at the entrance to the mess hall.

"Finally!" Boscha declared as she pushed the mess hall doors open… only to be met with a smiling purple missile heading towards the two.

"Look out!" Gus and Boscha split as the missiles missed them and exploded behind them. They looked up and saw Cooker holding a purple bazooka with glowing green eyes.

"Cooker!" Boscha exclaimed.

"Heh, I have been waiting for a chance to use my new Blight Industries patented Abomizooka!" Cooker declared, holding the bazooka on his shoulder. "Best four thousand snails I've spent!"

"I think I'm starting to get why Amity disowned her parents," Gus said as he and Boscha were forced to take shelter behind some tables. He then felt a stone hit his arm. "Ow! What the-!?" He turned to see who threw that stone and was shocked by their identity. "You…"

"What's up, Geek Porter?" Horace said mockingly as he held up more stones.

"Horace, what are you doing here at Glandus? Shouldn't you be at Hexside or at least at home?" Gus questioned.

"I thought about staying at home after selling you out to Glandus in order to bring Luz here, but then I realized that I wouldn't want to miss this for anything," he said, noticing Boscha. "And you, I'm surprised that you're with that human-loving loser, Boscha."

"Oh shut your trap, you traitor!" Boscha shouted at him.

"Wait, you sold me out!?" Gus shouted at him, realizing that Horace was the reason that Nina attacked him and Amelia. "How could you, Horace? Luz had saved all of us from the Coachman! I thought you'd at least be grateful to her for that!"

"Oh please, she was probably the reason the Coachman was here in the first place!" Horace claimed. "All she does is attract trouble!" He looked at Boscha. "You should know, since you were the one who revealed to everyone that humans are witch hunters! Helping a loser like him is beneath you Hierons!"

Boscha narrowed her eyes at him. "Petty vengeance doesn't interest me anymore. I let go of my grudge against Luz and her friends. What I did to them wasn't right."

Horace scoffed. "Right? Right?! Strength is what's all about!" Horace levitated more stones to target Gus and Boscha with. As he threw them, Boscha summoned a magical force field to block the stones. However, they saw purple missiles coming at them, causing them to separate.

"I was waiting for your little teen drama to finish," Cooker said as he reloaded.

Gus ended up face to face with Horace, who levitated more stones. "I already took you down once, Horace, don't think I could do that again!"

"Your party tricks won't work on me!" Horace responded as he summoned pillars to land a hit on Gus, who turned out to be an illusion. "Huh?" he questioned as Gus appeared behind him, pulling his hood up over Horace's head. "Ah!" he cried out as he was kicked to the floor.

Boscha, meanwhile, was avoiding shots from Cooker's abomizooka. She levitated the tables and chairs, throwing them at Cooker, but he blew them up with his abomizooka. "You gotta do better than that, little witchling!" he declared.

Boscha slid back, glaring at the cafeteria worker, "You want me to do better?" She levitated some trash cans. "I'll show you why I was captain of the Banshees!" she shouted as she set the trash cans on fire and threw them at Cooker, who managed to shoot one but was hit by another.

"Gah!" Cooker shouted as he flew back into a wall and had to put out the flames that had gotten on him. "Oh, it's on!" he declared, pulling out a black round shaped object.

Back to Gus and Horace, the latter was summoning more pillars to target against Gus, who narrowly dodged them. "You can't run from me, Porter! You and your human-loving friends have had this day coming for a long time!"

"Would you shut up?!" Gus shouted as hid behind a pillar, creating more duplicates of himself to attack Horace. "It's because of you that Amelia got hurt when Nina took me!"

"So what?" Horace brushed it off, using his stones to counter attacks from the duplicates. "It's still Luz's fault that this whole war is happening in the first place!"

"No it isn't!" Gus shouted. "Luz is guilty of nothing besides protecting her friends! You've been an asshole long before Luz showed up to save my skin, so really, your problem with Luz is that she made you feel weak, since she easily put you down like the rat you are!"

"It's she that will be put down!" Horace declared, using his levitation spell to summon out a large rock, planning to hit Gus's face with it. But to his surprise, Gus appeared in front of him. "Huh?" Next thing Horace knows, a flash of blue light happened in front of him.

Boscha meanwhile used her own levitation spells and fire spells at Cooker, who dodged each of them. She then saw a fog appearing out of nowhere and felt herself getting grabbed.

"What's this fog?" Cooker asked as he looked around for his target. "Come out, come out, I got a new toy that I want to try out!" He then saw a blue flash behind him, making him turn around to see nothing. "Ugh, this is getting real creepy," he noted before spotting Boscha who was looking around holding a large rock. The two saw each other.

"GOTCHA!" they both shouted, 'Boscha' throwing the rock at someone who she thought was 'Gus' while 'Gus' threw his black round shaped object at who he believed was 'Boscha'.

As the illusions wore off, the large rock hit Cooker in the forehead, causing him to fall back and hit the floor, knocking him unconscious. His ball hit Horace in the face, spreading out a green substance that splattered his face.

"AAAAHHH!" Horace screamed in horror and pain, feeling the burning sensation of the acidic feeling of the green goop that covered his head. He fell back while holding his burning face as it smoked and melted...

Boscha and Gus were visible again thanks to Gus's illusion. They ran away from the two, leaving them to their agonizing fates. "That was a good plan, Gus," Boscha complimented.

"Thanks," Gus replied. "Though, are those two going to be fine?"

"Eh, I'm sure they'll be fine," Boscha dismissed. "But you did pretty good back there for an illusionist."

Gus smiled, only for that smile to falter once he realized something. "Wait a sec," he said as he came to a stop. "You said that Glandus was different than it was before, right?"

"Uh, yeah…" Boscha replied, wondering where Gus was going with this.

Gus got closer to the walls. "I remember you said that Glandus had a secret Illusions Track," he said as he tapped on the wall, causing it to shimmer slightly. "Of course…"

"Wow," Boscha said, impressed by the elaborateness of the illusion. "Whoever is doing this must be crazy powerful."

"Yeah, but now that we know that we have been surrounded by illusions…" Gus felt around the wall, looking for a way out. He found an empty space that his hand went through. "Hey, I think I found-" Someone grabbed him from the other side of the illusion and pulled him through. "AAAH!"

"Gus?" Boscha turned around and saw Gus being pulled through the wall. She rushed to the wall. "Gus!" She tried to go through it, but the wall had turned solid.. "What? How is this wall solid?" she questioned while feeling up the wall. "How is this possible!?"

"Found you…" said a voice that sent a chill up her spine.

Boscha froze in terror, unable to do anything else before Nina pounced on her.

As Eda woke up, she realized that she was no longer in her house. "Where… where am I?" She looked around at the gray place, noticing that it seemed a little familiar…

There was a TV on that was playing some kind of Christmas special. She saw a lot of food laying around, dishes in the sink. Wooden floors and walls… pills scattered on the ground. She then felt something in her hands. Something cold and heavy. She looked down and her eyes widened.

It was a gun that she was aiming at herself. A moment later she was no longer holding the gun and she was instead facing her younger self, who was holding the gun herself. Recognizing the orange unkempt hair, white tank top, and jeans of her younger self, Eda realized where she was and when she was. Her darkest hour.

"Oh no… hey, hey listen to me," Eda spoke to her younger self, who didn't respond or acknowledge her presence. "I know that we've been through a lot of shit together but things will eventually be okay! Why am I talking to a memory of myself?" she muttered. "I know how this ends, I don't go through it. I'm still alive, raising kids and living with my sister…" She then looked back at her younger self. "But it still hurts to see this again."

She then felt a rumble and she turned, seeing that the Owl Beast was in the cabin with her. It screeched when it saw Eda and Eda glared at the creature.

"You," Eda growled. "Haven't you done enough? You're the reason why I ran away from home, the reason why my relationships with the people I care about worsened!" Her glare intensified. "And worst of all… you're the reason Angel's dead!"

The Owl Beast hissed as it ran outside. Eda chased after it, only to find herself in a new location. "What?" She was now in her old childhood room. She looked at herself in the mirror and saw her younger teenage self. "Well, this is a development."

"Edalyn, come downstairs please!" the voice of Gwendolyn called out.

The teenage Eda went downstairs, passing by family photos. She found her mother setting up the table while a teenage Lilith was folding up her napkin.

"Mother, do you like my napkin folding?" Lilith asked, showing her swan-shaped napkin. Teenage Eda just rolled her eyes and groaned.

"That's nice, sweet flea," Gwen responded while not looking. "Edalyn, help us set up, won't you?"

"Sorry, dream mom, but I have more important things to worry about," Teenage Eda told her as she walked down the stairs in a hurry.

Dream Gwendolyn just laughed it off. "Oh you're going to say that, the night your father leaves for the mandible?"

Teenage Eda's eyes widened. "Dad?" she asked as she saw her father coming in through the front door with both of his eyes intact and his hands uninjured.

"Hey, Pumpkin! Are you here to see me off?" Dell Clawthorne asked, only to receive a hug from his youngest daughter.

"Dad!" Teenage Eda choked up, hugging her father again.

"Pumpkin, are you alright?" Dell asked her in concern.

"It's just… it's so good to see you again," Eda said.

"Hey, it's alright, I've only been gone for an hour," Dell assured, calming his daughter down. "Look, I won't be home for a while, so that's why…"

Eda's eyes widened again. "No…" she said as she saw her dad pulling out a party popper.

"I'll be leaving in style!" Dell set it off, creating a bright purple flash. Teenage Eda gasped as she started to transform and the next thing she knew she was watching as her father held the Owl Beast back.

"No! I will not let you hurt him again!" she declared as she pulled the Owl Beast away from her father and threw it out the door. After she shut it, she was back to her present day appearance and she turned around to see her teenage self on her knees sporting feathers. She then saw Dell, who was holding his bleeding left eye.

"GAAH!" he groaned in pain, shocking both Gwen and Lilith.

"Dell!" Gwen cried out, turning to Lilith. "Call the Healing Coven, now!" she shouted as she went to tend to her husband, while Lilith rushed away to call the Healing Coven.

It was then that everything else faded away, leaving Eda in the darkness with her teenage self.

"It wasn't your fault…" Eda said as her teenage self faded away and Eda found herself in another scene. "What?" She looked away and realized that she was in a familiar old house…

"Eda? Eda!" Angel's voice called out, causing Eda to turn around and see her old friend.

"Angel?" Eda whispered, her hands shaking as she was back to her teenage self. "I... is it really you?"

"Yeah, it's me," Angel replied, concerned for Eda. "Are you okay?"

"Oh um… yeah, I'm fine," Eda responded, looking around "So um, ready to go?"

"Go? Eda, we just got back from the Demon Realm," Angel said, causing Young Eda's eyes to widen in realization. "I told you that we needed to go back."

"And you never told me why… is everything alright with you, Angel?" Eda asked.

"Yeah, just fine!" Angel claimed, though her eyes said otherwise.

"Look, if there's something that spooked you in the Demon Realm-"

"I said I'm fine!" Angel told her, startling Eda. "Sorry, it's just… look, let's just… I need some air." She walked out of the old house, Eda following her.

"Okay, if you say so," Eda replied. "But that doesn't mean I can't-"

"FREEZE!"

Outside of the house were a group of men dressed in black, armed with guns and shields. Their uniforms had badges on them and on said badges was the letter 'A' with a halo over it and silver wings to each side. Leading the group was a man dressed in white.

"What's going on?!" Eda cried out in shock.

"Mister Gates?!" Angel exclaimed, recognizing the man dressed in white.

"See, I told you dad," Abigail Gates said as she revealed herself at the side of her father. "Look at her ears. Angelica ran away with a witch."

"Yes, you were right, sweetie," Mister Gates told his daughter before turning to the two girls in front of the old house. "Now both of you, on the ground now!"

"Abigail!" Angel shouted in anger. "What are you doing here? Who are all of these men?"

"They work for my daddy," Abigail told Angel. "And they're here for your witch friend."

"Don't worry, you're going to be fine, Angelica," Mister Gates tried to reassure Angel. "We just want the witch. She is a threat to our kind and must be taken out by any means necessary. After she is dealt with, we will return you to your parents. They are worried sick about you."

Angel's eyes widened and she took a step back. "No! I won't go back to them! You can't take me back!"

Eda saw Angel started to panic and she grabbed her hand. "Cover your eyes!" she shouted and as Angel did Eda brought out her staff to create a flash of light, blinding the men in black. Some of them fired blindly, but Eda created a force field that deflected the bullets.

"Hold your fire!" Mister Gates shouted angrily at his men. "You might hit the kid!" Once his vision cleared, he saw Eda trying to fly away on her staff with Angel.

As Eda and Angel flew through the forest, they heard motorcycles in pursuit and sirens blaring up behind them. Eda turned to look at her pursuers, but when she turned back forward she saw a net coming right toward her. Eda shouted and tried to avoid the net, causing her to hit a tree and send both her and Angel to the ground.

Eda got up and saw men in black coming toward her. As she prepared to defend herself, she heard Angel cry out.

"Hey! Let me go!" Angel shouted as she was restrained by the men in black.

"Angel!" Eda cried, only for bolos to wrap around her, electrocuting her "AAAH!" she screamed in pain as she fell.

"Let go of Eda!" Angel demanded, trying to get the men to let her go as she heard Eda scream. "Stop hurting her!" She turned to see Abigail, who had caught up to the men. "Abigail, tell your father and his men to stop! Please, she's my friend!" she declared, shocking Abigail.

"Your friend?" Abigail repeated, her surprised expression quickly darkening. "Uh, here is a reality check. I don't know what spell she put you under, but this little witch is nobody's friend. She is not even a person. She is a servant of Satan and she was trying to lead you astray. But don't worry, we are going to save you, Angelica. And you won't have to think about her ever again, because she is going to be put down like she deserves…"

As Angel heard this, her anger flared up… and she snapped. Angel let out a yell, headbutting one of the men holding her and kicking the other. She then charged towards Abigail, tackling her. "You bitch!" she shouted, punching at Abigail, but the latter fought back and rolled over to pin Angel down.

"This is for your own good, Angelica!" Abigail claimed, only to get kicked off of Angel.

"Shut up! Stop pretending like you care about me, because you are not my friend! You are just a bully and I won't put up with you any longer!" Angel said as she started beating on Abigail. Mister Gates saw the two girls fighting and exchanging hits, but before he could intervene he heard a loud roar.

"RAAARRR!"

Everyone stopped to turn toward Eda, who was no longer there. In the stress of the moment she had transformed and standing in her place was the Owl Beast.

"Eda…" Angel said in shock when she saw what her friend had become.

"Shoot the monster!" Mister Gates ordered. "Kill it!"

The men in black fired their weapons at the Owl Beast, causing the creature to use its wings and claws to take down the men shooting at her. The Owl Beast lashed out, biting one of them in the arm to throw at the others. Some tried to trap it in a net, but the Owl Beast flew up to avoid it and spotted Angel and Abigail fighting each other. Subconsciously remembering that one of them was their friend, the Owl Beast flew toward them.

"Why can't you see I'm trying to help you?!" a bruise-covered Abigail asked Angel.

"I don't need your help!" Angel declared as the two were at each other's throats and grabbing their faces.

The Owl Beast, unable to tell who was who because of how similar they looked, raised its claws and brought them down…

"Eda! No, it's me! EDA-!"

Abigail fell back, covered in splattered blood. Her mouth hung open in horror as she watched the Owl Beast maul Angel.

"ANGELICA!" Abigail cried out, her father grabbing her and managing to drag his daughter away from the creature.

The Owl Beast paused when it heard Abigail cry out, but by then it was too late. Half of Angel's face was now torn and shredded, claw marks around her neck and chest. One of her arms had been forcefully pulled out as well. With her final breaths, Angel coughed out blood.

"Ede…" she spat out weakly before expiring. Angel Sinclair was dead.

Before the Owl Beast could do anything more, a gun shot rang out. The Owl Beast turned and saw Mister Gates leveling a gun at it.

"You killed her!" he shouted. "You monster!"

Rather than fight back, the Owl Beast spread its wings and flew away. Mister Gates and a few other men continued shooting at the Owl Beast, but it was soon out of range. Mister Gates turned back to his daughter, who was now on top of Angel's mauled body, crying.

"No, no, no…" Abigail muttered. "I never wanted this, I never wanted you dead…"

One of the men in black ran up to Mister Gates. "Director Gates, are you okay?" he asked.

"Forget about me," Mister Gates told the man, his voice saddened as he watched Abigail embracing the dead body of Angelica Sinclair. "Get my daughter out of here."

The man nodded and pried Abigail away from the corpse with some difficulty. As she was dragged away, Abigail looked up to the skies with tear-filled eyes and saw the Owl Beast flying overheard. She glared up at it hatefully. "We won't forget this!" she promised. "You hear me?! You will pay for this! YOU WILL PAY!"

As Abigail made her vow, Eda while in her Owl Beast started to fly away from Gatesfield with the intention of never returning…

SLASH!

"AAAH!"

Luz screamed as she felt another cut from Asi's knives. The cut to her arm was deep, but like the cuts inflicted on her before, it quickly healed up due to her healing factor of her cambion form.

"Interesting," Asi noted. "Your body refuses to remain split open. Do all humans have some kind of healing factor like you?"

Luz was stressing out from this brutal torture she was enduring, her uniform showing tears from where he had slashed her. He was treating her as if she was a lab animal.

"Aren't you supposed to be a Healer?" Luz asked, trying to keep herself together. "Those in the Healing Track are supposed to take an oath to not harm their patients."

"Well I never took that oath!" Asi launched a knife into Luz's shoulder, causing her to scream. "I wanted to be in Abominations, but my mom signed me up to Healing. But after what you did to her, I committed to my track and learned how I can take my enemies apart!"

Luz winced as Asi continued to dig the knife into her shoulder. "I'm going to make you hurt like I have been hurt. Hmm, I wonder if your eyes have a healing factor as well…" He pulled the knife out of Luz's shoulder and lowered it toward her eye. Luz tried to keep her eyes closed, but Asi used a spell to forcefully pry them open.

"Nah-ah-ah, I want you to see what I'm about to do," Asi sadistically said as the knife drew closer to Luz's eye. But to Asi's surprise, Luz's eyes start glowing… orange. "What the-"

Suddenly, a wing sprouted from Luz's back and grabbed Asi's knife. Shocking the Top Healer, Asi tried to get her to let go, but to his surprise Luz bust herself out of the straps. She turned to glare at him, her orange eyes piercing into his soul.

"What… the hell… do you think you're doing?" she demanded, grabbing his knife from him.

"Hey! Let me go!" Asi begged, only for Luz to shove the knife straight down through his snout. "AAAAAHH!" Luz then threw him into a tray filled with supplies, elixirs, and surgical tools, which scattered across the floor as Asi laid there, holding his bleeding snout with a whimper.

As Luz stepped out of the Healing Track room, she appeared to be quite different. Her once dark brown hair has changed into crimson. Her black scales were now red and had taken over her body though her face remained human. Her wings looked more narrow as well.

"Where am I?" she asked herself, looking around the hall.

Back at Hexside, a group of Glandus students were fleeing for their lives. "Come on, before she gets us too!"

"Should we really run?" another replied.

"Obviously, man! We have to banana split! Blow this Popsicle stand! Kumquats! I don't know! Let's get the hell out of here!" the other rambled as he fled.

They had just come out of Julia Traveler's office, where the guidance counselor was now humming to herself while placing her new paintings on her wall. The paintings looked like the Glandus teachers that tried to attack her, their terrified features now trapped on a canvas.

"You know, they do look a little tasteless. I'm sure someone wouldn't mind getting these paintings out of my hands," Julia commented as she continued. to hum. "Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down…"

In one of the school restrooms, Eve and the Ceberus Sisters were hiding inside a stall.

"Well, this isn't the ideal hiding spot, I must admit," Blondie said.

"I think we should've taken them out!" Patty responded. "We should've bitten their faces off, then used their faces as flags to show those Glandus bastards that they have messed with the wrong school! And then we would pull out their intestines-"

"A tactical retreat to figure out our next move was the best call," Cyndi pointed out. "What do you think, Eve?" When her friend didn't answer, she looked at her in concern. "Eve?"

"Huh? Oh uh, I guess, we'll just hang out here until they find us and turn us to dust," Eve muttered before she felt a paw on her arm.

"Is there something wrong, Eve?" Blondie asked.

"Yeah, you're even more down than Patty and Korn were when their favorite show got canceled after it was getting good in the second season," Cyndi stated.

"They should have not canceled Rooster Cottage," Patty muttered.

"Thanks for your concern," Eve replied while looking down. "It's just… for a while now I feel like I am nothing but a hindrance to the team," she said while bringing her knees to her chest. "Right now our friends are in trouble and I'm just not the one who can help save them. Everyone else brings their own special skills to the gang, but all I have is my bad luck curse…"

""Hey, hey, enough of the negativity about yourself, Eve!" Pat assured her. "You aren't a hindrance at all."

"For once, I agree with Pat," Blondie added. "You don't need to justify your place in the group, since we're your friends no matter what. We all grew up in the same village together and we've always looked out for each other."

"Plus we know how you feel," Cyndi commented. "Like, most people consider us all the same being just because we're a Ceberus breed. But we're both different individually, like I'm the only one who knows how to write a good poetry slam."

"And I'm very good at the keyboard, and biting," Patty declared. "Also loves reading untamed romance novels!"

"And I love collecting different kinds of rocks," Blondie stated. "Just because we share the same body, doesn't make us the same."

"Well yeah, you three do a lot for the team, while I end up either stuck in places, kidnapped, or almost eaten," Eve said sorrowfully while her rabbit palisman comforted her. "Link's good at making traps thanks to his Construction abilities. Sioux with her illusions can construct formulas and map out plans while recounting the clues we've seen. And your brother, Korn, his plant magic helps provide us with some food to eat when we get hungry, making him very resourceful at that. But me? I'm just a klutz who falls into traps too many times. I'm not even that good of an oracle." She brought out the journal she took from the library, looking at the name 'Philip C.' with the rest of the last name faded. "I thought that with this diary, I could prove that I bring something more to the team by solving the mystery of the locket that we found."

"Dear, listen," Blondie told her friend. "You don't need to prove that you are useful to the team, because you already are."

"Your determination keeps us going, since no matter how many times you fall down we know that you always get back up and it encourages us to do the same," Cyndi pointed out.

"You're the heart of the team, Eve!" Patty declared, making Eve smile. "So don't even think about selling yourself short!"

"Thanks girls, I appreciate it," Eve replied, petting the heads of the Cerberus sisters, making their tail wag happily. "Let's get out of this stall, we need to save our friends."

Meanwhile, Redback continued his fight against his rival, Serkis. The oracle chimpanzee demon levitated more objects while Redback used a large desk to swat them back.

'I'll show you that Glandus's way is the superior way, Redback!' Serkis declared, launching himself against the gorilla demon. 'You, your fellow teachers, and your students!'

Redback grunted, shoving Serkis aside as he signed. 'You will not lay a hand on my students!' he stated as Serkis fired a blast from his brain, but Redback jumped up over it with his fist raised. Serkis levitated another desk to block his path, but Redback's fists went through the desk and into Serkis' face, knocking him down to the floor.

As Serkis hit the floor, Jane had finished fighting off another teacher after stabbing them in the eye with a ruler. She turned to Redback, cheering for him. "You're doing great, Red!"

"Hey professor, look who we got."

"Hmm?" Blanc turned around and saw his Abomination Track students dragging the body of Snope over to him. "Hey, I know this guy. He chooses to go by Sheldon now."

"What do we do with him?" the student asked his teacher.

"Yeah, he's just sleeping, nothing much we could do," another said.

"Well, you did the right thing bringing him to me," Blanc said as his Abomination raised its fist, which transformed into a hammer. "Because now I can have my revenge against Hexside for replacing me with this… this… nobody upstart that Amity abandoned me for!"

He swung the hammer down on Snope, but they suddenly stopped before they could hit him. "Huh?" Blanc asked, seeing that Abomination arms had sprouted from Snope's back and caught the hammer.

"Hitting someone when they're down isn't very sporting, is it?" Snope asked as he got up, his Abomination shoving Blanc's back, much to the diminutive teacher's shock.

"What!?" Blanc questioned. "I… I thought you were asleep!"

"Half," Snope said, sounding tired at first, but then he raised his head up and took on a more serious expression. "I remember having you as a teacher… and how you weren't very good at your job."

Blanc looked offended as he glared at Snope. "You think you can take me on, Snope? I've had fifty-five years of experience in Abomination magic!" he declared while controlling his Abomination to attack Snope.

Snope, however, used his Abomination's abilities to form a shield, blocking the attack and shoving Blanc and his Abomination back. Blanc almost fell but his abomination kept him up.

"I'm not going to lose to some upstart like you!" Blanc declared as his Abomination formed into a gatling gun that shot out goop towards Snope.

However, as the goop flew towards Snope, he simply dodged the projectiles, sliding across the floor on Abomination goop covered shoes while the goop hit Blanc's students instead. He made his way over to Blanc and jammed the gun with his own goop, much to Blanc's surprise.

"H-H-How!?" Blanc asked, only to be met with a fist to his face.

"Because after you I got a proper teacher," Snope said while punching Blanc, launching the short teacher into a wall and knocking him into unconsciousness. "Alador Blight." He watched as Blanc slid to the floor, a fist mark in his face.

On the third floor, the healers had set up their base. As Matt stood guard by the entrance, he saw some healers returning with their wounded. To his surprise, he recognized one of them.

"Elliot?" Matt asked as the horned goat biped looked up to see his old HAS club mate.

"Oh uh, hey Matt," Elliot replied, lowering his head awkwardly.

"Found these guys down by the steps," the male healer said as Matt let him in.

"Come on, sit right down here," Cat instructed while setting Elliot on a bed, quickly tending to his black eye.

"Um, thanks," Elliot replied, while turning to see Matt who turned away as he headed back outside. Elliot spotted his former club mate Bo as well, though she was paying attention to another student she was healing rather than him.

"Need help with that arm?" Emira asked him.

"Oh uh, just bandage it up," Elliot replied, holding up his injured arm for Emira to wrap up. "Say um, have you thought about why we are at war in the first place?" he asked her.

Emira sighed. "Honestly, I don't know whose idea it was to make schools battling each other like this a tradition. Yeah, I get that Hexside is built on top of the original Glandus. But that was a long time ago. You'd think that these days we could just, I don't know, steal each other's mascot or something. Not wage war. I wouldn't be surprised if there are students at Glandus who want nothing to do with this war, but they are being forced to participate by their Queen. She seems to be the main instigator."

"But isn't it Luz's fault that Emily Tricks started this mess?" Elliot asked. Elliot asked.

Emira looked up to Elliot, giving him a narrow look. "Why would that matter? Emily is the one who declared war on us, which is something that Luz had no control over. She is not even our enemy, so why would you blame her for the actions of others?"

"I… um… well, there are students here that think Luz is responsible just like what Horace and some other witches said-"

"Oh for crying out loud, why don't you think for yourself instead of giving in to peer pressure?" Cat interrupted. "Like, you can't continue letting other people make choices for you. After all, you're a goat not a sheep!" She sighed. "Sorry, but I'm just speaking from experience. Being nothing more than a follower isn't fun in the long run, since then people will only see you as just that: a follower. You know what I'm saying, Elliot?"

"I… I guess." Elliot replied, while thinking back last night when he saw Horace with someone. Someone from Glandus.

"Let me finish bandaging him up for ya, sis," spoke Dog, who appeared in a violet coat uniform with Bard sleeves and pants, along with white tennis shoes.

"Thanks, Dog," Cat said as she walked off.

"Wait, aren't you from Merlin Meadows?" Elliot asked Dog. "What are you doing here at Hexside?"

"Volunteering," Dog responded. "I gotta look out for my sister and her friends."

Cat went over to check up on Amelia, who was laying down and covered in bandages. "Hey Amelia, how are you holding up?" she asked her best friend.

Amelia could only sniffle. "I couldn't protect Gus, Cat. He got taken because of me."

"Hey, don't blame yourself, Amelia," Cat replied, holding her friend's hand as she hid how worried she was. 'Luz, Amity, please bring Gus back for Amelia's sake. And Simon… dear Titan, please be okay.'

Outside in the hall, Mattholomule was watching the door when he heard a voice.

"Hey!" cried out a Glandus student who had made it to the top floor with his friends. "It's the traitor!"

"Oh crap!" Matt shouted, summoning a pillar to stall the Glandus students heading his way. He ran off, leading them away from the healer's, and they chased after him. Matt slowed them down by summoning structures.

"Hehe, there's nowhere to run, traitor!"

"Yeah! Did you really think that you could escape Glandus?"

After managing to get ahead of his pursuers, Matt started to open a door. When the Glandus students turned the corner, they saw Matt dart inside the dark room, which prompted them to follow him inside.

"Alright, looks like you're cornered!" one of the Glandus kids said as they held their weapons. Matt, however, just turned around, stuck out his tongue… and vanished. He was just an illusion.

"What the hell!?" a Glandus student cried out before he heard the door close behind them. He went to try and open it, but couldn't. "The door's locked!" The four looked confused until a pair of yellow eyes opened in the darkness behind them.

"AND NOW I FEED."

Outside of the locked room where the Choosy Hat was kept, Mattholomule smirked as he listened to the screaming inside. He started to walk back to his post, leaving the Glandus boys to their faiths.

"Oh Titan, it ate Kenny!"

"You bastaaard!"

Outside of Hexside on the grudgby field, Simon still laid unconscious. His squirrel Palisman, Flint, tried to wake him up but to no avail. Simon wouldn't budge…

The day before the war, Simon returned home from school and was greeted by his older sister, Beck.

"Hey, Simon," Beck said to her little brother.

"Hey Beck, is dad home?" Simon asked her.

"Yeah, he's at his usual spot in the backyard," Beck replied sadly. "I saw Cain today, since he and his friends showed up at St. Epiderm. But when I called out to him him, he ignored me." She looked down. "Almost as if… I didn't exist."

Simon looked concerned for his sister and tried to reassure her. "Don't worry, Beck, I'm sure whatever problems he has, we'll be able to get through to him."

After talking to Beck, Simon went outside and found his father in front of a tombstone with Delara's picture on it. Samwitch sensed his son and turned to him.

"Hey dad," Simon said to his father.

"My son," Samwitch responded. "Something's troubling you. Is it about the war?"

Simon nodded. "I'm going to have to fight my own brother, dad. Back when I confronted him at the Gland Prix, he was so cold and distant but… for some reason, I felt that something was eating him up. I… I want to help him, but I don't think he would accept it."

"Did I ever tell you how I met your mother?" Samwitch asked him after listening to his son. "When I was young, me and your aunt had our own way of doing things. We caused trouble, we picked fights, and we made sure that nobody messed with the Saltstar Twins. But that all changed when I met Delara."

Samwitch looked at his wife's picture and sighed. "I had found her after she had passed out from a heatstroke. I did what any reasonable person would do and I took her to a Healing Clinic. And I stayed with her while she recovered. Underneath my tough exterior, she saw someone who had trouble expressing himself without his fists. She helped me open up more and it helped me realize that I could be doing more. We became good friends and she even became my Grom date. After graduation, we would meet up from time to time despite being in different covens, but you know what that resulted in." He turned to his son. "Your mother recognized the good in me and I came to love her for her compassion, which was always her greatest strength. She was… stronger than I could ever hope to be."

"So are you asking me to fight my brother… with compassion?" Simon asked.

"The point is, your brother may not want help. But he does need it. Find a way to reach out to him. It won't be easy… but it will be worth it to bring him home."

"You think I can?" Simon asked him.

"I do, because you are not just my son. You are your mother's son. Her strength and her compassion exists in you now," Samwitch said. "I failed to keep this family together because I'm not your mother. But I know that you can succeed…"

"Hey, hey wake up, ya knucklehead!"

Simon started opening his eyes and lifting his head up. His squirrel Palisman stepped aside. "Flint?"

"Yeah, it's me," Flint responded, though only Simon could understand him. "Can you still get up, champ?"

Simon struggled, but managed to lift his arms. "I think… I think I can."

"Don't think, know!" Flint coached him. "The fight ain't over yet! Your brother may have beaten you, but this was just the first round! I know you can do it, cause you know why? You're a Saltstar! Saltstars never give up!"

Simon looked at Flint with a nod and continued to get up while his Palisman cheered. "I'm going to go save my friends… defeat my brother… I know what to do now."

Moose stood with his arms behind his back, staring at the wall of the macaroni and bones art his class had made. Scabrina stood by him.

Spott, who was watching the Baby Class students, heard a commotion from the outside of the bunker. "They found us!" he said as he stood up. "Don't worry, children, I won't let any harm upon you!"

All the kids stood behind him as they heard the sound from the other side of the door. Then they heard some grunts and shouts. The door handle started to turn and the kids gasped. Opening the door was a large Glandus student… who slowly fell face-first onto the ground. Spott stepped back as the student fell and standing on top of the student's unconscious body… was Mai.

"What's up?" Mai asked while holding a wrench.

"We're saved!" Braxus declared.

"Wow, who are you?" Scabrina asked.

"My name's Mai, I'm Kitsuni's sister, who is out on a meeting and told me to stay home. But I got bored so I came to see what's all the commotion about," Mai responded.

"We're in the middle of a war," Moose replied. "And we have and idea that we think can help turn the tide of the war."

Mai nodded. "That so? Well then, I think I can be of some help to you then."

Elsewhere, Oberon continued going down his list of complaints.

"Another complaint I have is against Eris and her entourage," Oberon said, while looking to see the Order getting bored and frustrated by his complaints, which is what he wanted. "They went into the Ventari Realm and left a mess behind them. Me and my court were going there for some rest and relaxation, but it went to hell because Eris decided to introduce the Ventarians to cryptocurrency!"

"I'll make sure to tell my mother so she'll relay the message to Zeus," Persephone said into her mic.

Oberon gave a nod, but he wasn't finished. "And I would like to issue a complaint about Lucifer's-"

"When is this going to be over?" Sun Wukong complained. "I can only put up with your complaining for so long. Plus I'm hungry…"

"It will be over when it's over, Wukong," Oberon told him before continuing.

"Business meetings are more interesting than this," Scrooge muttered to Kitsuni, who nodded.

"Alright, I am just going to say what everyone is thinking!" cried out a rainbow colored snake with an Australian accent. "You're clearly just stretching this out to make us all suffer!"

"I think I agree," Merlin stated. "This has gone on for quite a while. Not that your complaints aren't valid, Lord Oberon. But there are other ways we could have done this."

"Oh, am I boring you?" Oberon asked. "Because I haven't gotten to the good parts yet…"

"Your list is too damn long!" Wukong declared. "What more do you have to whine about?"

"Well sorry if you don't find this exciting but it needs to be said, oh great hero of China," Oberon said mockingly.

"Oh, don't bring that up again!" Wukong shouted. "You know I was just trying to sleep when I got woken up by the mess that Mushu created!"

"I haven't even gotten to the Dragon Council yet," Oberon informed him.

"Oh come on!" Rhombulus said, raising his snake hands up.

Oberon looked at Rhombulus, then at the other Order members. "Alright, if you wish me to skip to the real meat of the list, let's bring up Baron Samedi."

"And what does the Baron have to do with anything?" Kebechet questioned.

"You know what he did!" Oberon declared. "Baron Samedi claimed the souls of one of my Fae, rather than leaving me to deal with him. He is totally out of line!"

"You mean the Little Man?" Wukong questioned.

"Yes, Wukong," Oberon responded. "The reason I bring this all up to you is because we let beings such as the Loa and the Travelers do whatever they want without any damn oversight. We have to follow all of these new rules and guidelines, but they are allowed to exist outside of those rules. And that makes me, I mean us, look weak!"

"Oh really?" spoke Genie sarcastically, while changing to look like Stewie Griffin. "And why do you care about what happens to the Coachman?" He then shifted back to normal. "The moment you joined the Order you dumped him like a prom date baby in a dumpster. You absolved yourself of any responsibility for his actions and that included the consequences of those actions. If the Coachman got himself screwed over by the Baron, that was his own doing. Don't forget the function of this council."

"Might I bring up the Mewni Massacre?" Oberon asked, causing everyone in the room to freeze up. "If it weren't for these restrictions, which limits how we can interfere with the lives of mortals, we could have done something about it. There would still be a Mewni instead of it being pulled into the Nightmare Realm! We should stop 'playing nice' and be what we truly are!"

"And what is that? Tyrants?" Yen Sid declared. "We all have our purposes, Lord Oberon. But that purpose is not to rule the destinies of mortals. Not anymore. Those times have passed and mortals have reached a point where they can govern themselves without direct interference. The whole point of the Order is to keep peace between realms and make sure that the immortals play nice with each other, and don't overreach."

"And the Baron hasn't stepped out of line, since the Coachman did come to him," Merlin added, adjusting his glass. "Every deity has its jobs and the Baron did his job just like anyone else. But don't forget that you're still on thin ice for withholding critical information about your… stepson."

"Henchman," Oberon muttered under his breath before speaking up. "But that's rich. When I withhold information, I get a strike against me. But when Rhombulus does it you let him get away scott free."

"What are you talking about?" Scrooge questioned.

"Uh, yeah, whatever could you mean…" Rhombulus replied, while looking nervous.

"Oh? He didn't tell you all about what he did?" Oberon asked, smirking in amusement. "Tell me, what do you all know about Eclipsa the Queen of Darkness?"

A lot of murmurs within the Order were heard before Scrooge spoke up. "With a title like that, I would expect her to be some evil sorceress who practices dark magic. I have my fair share of dealings with them."

"She was once a Queen of Mewni who fell into evil a long time ago," spoke a blonde bearded young-looking man in a golden suit with Nordic symbols. "According to reports, she has been known to have practice dark magic and for her terrible crimes she was sentenced to imprisonment in Rhombulus's crystal dimension."

"Correct, Chairman Froseti," Oberon nodded. "But do you know what dastardly evil deed that led to her imprisonment?"

"She ate children?" Persephone asked.

"Soul draining?" asked the Rainbow Serpent.

"Tax evasion?" Scrooge muttered while Rhombulus was sweating.

"She fell in love!" Oberon declared, leading the others confused. "Her only crime was falling in love with a monster, getting hitched and siring a child with him! A Monster/Mewni hybrid child! The scandal was so great that after imprisoning both parents in crystal, the Magic High Commission, which Rhombulus was a part of, decided to switch the hybrid child with a peasant while covering up the whole incident in order to paint Eclipsa as this great evil! Rhommy here completely left that out when he joined the Order!"

"They did what!?" Genie cried out in shock.

"Rhombulus, is this true?!" Yen Sid demanded to know.

"Um… uh…" Rhombulus had all eyes glaring at him, he shook and eventually gave in. "Alright fine, it's true! We replaced Eclipsa's monster child with a peasant so she wouldn't inherit the wand! Do you know how dangerous it is for a monster to have such a powerful artifact?"

"You mean to tell us that you orphaned a child, the true heir to a kingdom, because of her heritage?!" Scrooge demanded, disappointed in Rhombulus who he had thought was a good acquaintance. "What happened to the child?"

"No idea," Rhombulus admitted. "It was so long ago that she no longer matters. But we did it for the greater good! Eclipsa should've just sired a child with King Shastatcan after their marriage, but no she just had to have one with not just a monster, but a very infamous one. He ate Mewmans for crying out loud! She abandoned her duties just to be with a… a monster!"

"Wait," Kitsuni questioned. "What's wrong with her being with a monster?"

"It was a Mewni taboo to fraternize with them," Oberon answered. "Mewmans have had their prejudice against Monsters ever since they immigrated into their lands. Ironically enough, Mewni has vast sorts of creatures, including Rhombulus himself, that can pass off as monsters. But they don't count because of their status."

Rhombulus stood up. "The only reason you know all of this is because you were the one who gave the Mewmans the wand in the first place!"

Silence was in the room. All turned to Oberon, who didn't look bothered by the claims. Yen Sid was the one who spoke. "What is Rhombulus talking about, Oberon?"

Oberon just shrugged. "Well, it's something that not a lot of Mewmans knew about, but their ancestors were actually human colonizers who ended up in the Mewman realm through the magic leaks. When I traveled to Mewni and saw there were humans, all confused and wondering how they got there, I came to them and said, 'Hey, would you like to rule some land and defend yourself against evil monsters?' and gave one of them a wand. Since then I watched the development of Mewni from behind the scenes, curious how they would turn out."