28. Chapter 65: The Glandus War: Masks Off(2)

Hunter and Gavin looked panicked as Gavin held his staff. "Come on, let's get out of-" But the monster swings its cage at Gavin, trapping him inside.

"Gavin, hang on!" Hunter held his own staff, trying to activate its magic. "Come on…" he said while backing away, the monster raising its cage to trap Hunter… until the plant monster was hit by a fireball.

"RAAAWWW!" it screamed as the flames burned away its arms, freeing Gavin from the now opened cage.

"Gavin, are you alright?" Hunter asked him, helping Gavin up.

"I'm good," Gavin responded, turning to their savior. "But who…?"

Hunter looked up and was surprised to see Athena Hieron. With her was Tom, who Hunter doesn't recognize.

"I've weakened it, but it still stands," Tom told Athena, who walked towards the plant monster.

The monster turned and its large flytrap-head was about to take a bite out of Athena until she managed to grab hold of its teeth. The plant monster tried to pull back, only its head to snap off. Athena threw the head aside while the body fell down the floor. Tom, Hunter and Gavin were shocked by her strength.

"Where is Boscha?" she said before spotting a crystal ball on the wall that had been filming them. She reached out to it and crushed it into pieces.

"Uh, do you have a scroll or crow that I can use?" Hunter asked, still in shock.

Back in his office, McScream had seen Athena crushing his crystal ball after decapitating his baby. "Shit, shit, shit, SHIIIT!" He jumped out of his chair, panicking because of how screwed he realized he was.

Meanwhile, Skara was fighting Nina while they were both in their wereforms. Nina slashed her across her face, launching Skara into a locker. Then Nina grabbed her by her shirt and tossed her across the hall. Skara got back up and snarled, only for Nina to kick her with her foot-paws.

"Fight back!" Nina shouted as she swiped at Skara with her claws. Skara held up her arms in defense while feeling the scratches.

"KAH!" Skara screamed. Figuring that she couldn't defend herself any much longer, Skara opened her jaws and bit onto Nina's shoulder.

Nina winced and pulled Skara away from her, slamming her into the wall. "I bet your mommy would throw a fit if she saw you in your true form," she said while Skara got up.

"My mom just wants to protect me, we werewolves have to keep this side of ourselves-"

"In check?" Nina interrupted while grabbing Skara by her fur and punching her in the stomach. "Titan, you're such an elitist, you know that?"

"Elitist!?" Skara asked, falling down and holding her stomach. "You don't know what I'm-"

"Why do you think the Emperor's Coven shows more leniency toward you Brookes?" Nina asked while grabbing Skara's fur. "Because you're wealthy, that's why. Your father is such a traitor, marrying your mother despite knowing what her family does…"

Skara's eyes widened. "P-Please…"

"Please what? Spare you?" Nina asked. "Or what? You're gonna tell your mom and ask her to put me down just like what her parents did to our kind?!" She tossed Skara into another wall. "Why should you let others make you feel ashamed of this side of you? You're a were-witch, we shouldn't be hiding this side of us!"

Skara saw the angered look in Nina's eyes as she continued. "Our parents don't want what is best for us, they want us to not be true to ourselves! They want us to lock away this part of us, to bury it and pretend it doesn't exist, to instead act 'civilized' when deep down we are beasts! But instead of being taught to be proud of who we are, we are told that we should be afraid of what we are! That we should treat our own nature with disgust, like we can help what we are!" She grabbed Skara and pinned her to the wall. "And all just to make certain witches more comfortable, to turn us into something that they won't be afraid of! Though of course unlike me, you get to actually pass as a 'normal' witch instead of a were-freak…"

"You don't know me!" Skara shouted. "I can't lose control…"

"You should embrace this side of you," Nina told her. "We were born weres, why should we act the way the people expect us to be? I know what I am and I embraced it! And once I become Beast-Keeping Head with Emily's backing, werewitches will be able to openly be themselves without being killed for it!" she declared while slamming Skara against the wall again.

Skara crashed through the wall, Nina towering over her as she grabs Skara by her tail. But then she felt Skara's claws grabbing her arm, digging into it. Skara bit back, causing Nina to scream. "Yeowch!" She felt a kick to the face, sending Nina back and giving a panting Skara a chance to pick herself up.

"Unlike you, I don't want to hurt anyone in this form!" Skara shouted while grabbing a desk from the classroom she had been sent into, slamming it onto Nina to put her down. "And I don't want to be feared! You are not helping others like us, you're only helping Emily to hurt and bully others, which in turn makes you a bully!"

"Shut up!" Nina shouted, grabbing onto Skara's paws while she and Skara tried to bring each other down.

"I had no choice in being a werewitch, but I do have a choice whether to be a bully or not, while still accepting my own nature!" Skara counter argued while knee jerking Nina in the stomach and pushing her away. "And I can choose to be around people who are more a positive influence on me, rather than be around those who bring out the worst in me like you've chosen."

"You have no idea what you're talking about!" Nina shouted, gripping her fists. "Emily-"

"How do you know she'll help you get what you want?" Skara questioned. "That she won't betray you or leave you behind? Is she really your friend? Or are you just her lackey, her obedient little pet?"

"Shut up!" Nina growled angrily. "You know nothing!" She extended her claws and angrily launched herself at Skara. And this was what Skara wanted, to make her opponent angry. She ducked down and grabbed Nina's tail, swinging her into the chalkboard.

Nina growled as she got back up, only for Skara to deliver a haymaker punch on Nina's snout. She delivered another punch to Nina's chest. Nina took a scratch at Skara's arm, but Skara responded by biting her arm again. She then grabbed her head and headbutted her, slamming Nina back against the wall.

Skara backed away, recognizing that Nina was about finished. Then she heard Nina chuckle. "What… what's so funny?" she asked her.

"Maybe I am a lackey, or some pet," Nina responded while struggling to stand up. "But I still have my ambition… to be the first were-witch to become a coven head. Have you ever thought of being one?"

"Well, it'd be nice… maybe as a Bard Head," Skara responded.

"Bard… if you do, please don't hide what you are, because it could make a difference. If only you knew…" Nina started changing back to her basic form, wobbling over to her knees. She gave a weak smile. "...What they do to us…" She then fell forward, passing out as she remembered her reasons for wanting to be a Beast-Keeper…

Eight years ago…

A young Nina was bouncing around in front of a critter that was minding its own business. She gave a little roar. "Rawl!" The critter, however, was unbothered. That was when her ears picked up the sounds of trouble.

"No, please, let me go!"

She kept herself out of view as she recognized several coven scouts dragging a werecat with them. It was a werecat she recognized from her village. What were they doing to him? What did he do? She could tell that this werecat isn't a wild witch due to the oracle sigil on his wrist.

"What were you doing out here at the market at night?" one scout asked, holding a stick.

"I was just going there for a snack-" The werecat was hit by the stick, knocking him down.

"Really? In a public area? You know damn well that were-witches belong on their reservations. If we hadn't caught you, who knows what you'd have done!" another scout said as the group continued to beat him.

Nina gave a quiet gasp in horror while she witnessed one of her own neighbors get killed in front of her…

"And then they ganged up on him and kept beating on him and they even started shooting spells at him until he wasn't moving anymore!" Nina cried to her parents, tears coming from her eyes. "I-I think they killed him!"

"Oh sweetie, come here." Her mom went to comfort her daughter. "I'm sorry you had to see that. Do you know who it was?"

"Mr. Tuggers," young Nina answered. "We should tell people about it. Tell them what happened to Mr. Tuggers-"

"Nina, calm down," her father assured her. "There's nothing we can do about it."

Nina was confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, Mr. Tuggers went out and of course the scouts would be suspicious of him. If he just avoided the scouts or did not go out at this time of night, he would still be alive," her mom explained.

"But… he didn't fight back, how is it his fault that he got murdered by those pigs?!" Nina complained, pulling herself away from her mother's embrace.

"Nina, you have to understand," her dad said to her. "When these things happen it is part of the Titan's will, since the Emperor allows us to live as long as we stay on our best behavior-"

"But Mr. Tuggers did nothing wrong!" Nina shouted, she couldn't believe what her parents were saying. "How can you defend the actions of those scouts?! Mr. Tuggers was the victim!"

"Well, it depends on the perspective…" her mom said but Nina wasn't having it.

"I can't believe you!" she shouted at them. "You're both cowards! How can you two just do nothing while one of our own kind was murdered?"

"Enough, Nina!" her dad spoke out. "You have to understand- wait, where are you going?"

"Not here!" Nina responded as she ran out of her tree home. She jumped onto a branch and slid down, away from her parents. They called out to her, but she ignored them.

Eventually this led to her meeting with Donna and then Eberwolf, which gave Nina her ambition to become a head witch…

Nina passed out, unable to fight anymore. Skara also changed back to her normal form and took a moment to catch her breath.

She walked out of the classroom while feeling her injuries. She winced as she leaned against herself to a locker. She thought about what Nina had said. While she was still getting used to being a were-witch, Nina had lived with being one her entire life. And Skara did recognize that she was luckier than Nina was. She even worried what might happen to Nina if word got out about what she did to Boscha. Because despite what she did, Skara didn't want Nina to be put down like she could have been if events had been different…

"So you defeated my top student, very impressive."

Skara heard a voice and turned to see a woman standing in the hallway with her. She looked like she was one of the teachers.

"Who… who are you?" Skara asked her.

"Call me Ms. Heinous," Meteora introduced, extending her claws.

Up on the roof of the school, Emily had brought Gus with her.

"This is the top of the school," Gus said as he looked around.

"Yeah, nothing gets past you," Emily said, feeling annoyed by him.

As Gus was dragged toward the side of the roof, he realized what Emily was about to do. "You're… you're not gonna-" He saw Emily's expression, which only confirmed what her intention was and made him start to panic. "You're… you're crazy! Let me go! Someone help!" He tried to escape from her, but Emily just grabbed him tightly and held his arms behind his back. "Please, I don't want to die!"

"Some sacrifices must be made," Emily whispered into his ear before she felt Stella grabbing her arm.

"Emily, don't!" Stella shouted at her. "Don't do this to him!"

"It has to be done, Stella," Emily told her. "He knows and that threatens everything that I have made for us, everything that I have worked so hard for."

Stella stepped in front of her, blocking her path. "There has to be another way! You can't kill him, he's just a kid and-"

SMACK!

Stella was smacked across the face, causing Gus to gasp in shock. Emily just gave a cold expression.

"Look what you made me do to you," Emily told her while grabbing Stella's shirt collar. "Why do you have to make me hurt you? I'm doing this for our own good and this is how you repay me!?"

"But… I was-"

"We will talk about your insubordination later." Emily gritted her teeth, showing her anger towards her own girlfriend. All Stella could do is quiver. "On your knees."

Stella did as she was told, sitting on her knees while looking down, tears leaking from her eyes. "Y-Yes, Emily," she said.

"Good," Emily nodded while bringing Gus to the edge of the roof. She was once again interrupted, this time by a familiar voice.

"EMILY!" Amity shouted, the green witch turning to see Amity with Maua. "Give us Gus, now!"

"Guys!" Gus shouted, glad to see the two are safe. Unfortunately, he was not feeling safe at all as Emily held him over the edge of the roof, causing the two girls to panic.

"Don't move an inch," Emily responded. "Or else Augustus here will have a great fall…"

"Emily, don't do this," Amity told her. "Just put him down back-"

"You don't get to make demands, ex-Blight!" Emily snapped while continuing to dangle Gus over the edge.

"Luz, Amity, help, she's freakin' crazy!" Gus cried out while struggling.

"Shut up! I am not going to let you ruin my future!" Emily shouted at Gus, distracted enough for Maya to get close enough to punch Emily in the face.

Amity, Stella, and Gus were shocked by this, which caused Emily to drop Gus. Luckily, Maya was there to grab Gus and stop him from falling. "You alright, kid?"

Gus looked up at Luz, noticing something strange about her. "Uh, yeah I- LUZ, watch out!"

"I'm not Luz and-" Emily tackled Maya, which caused her to let go of Gus.

"NOO!" Amity shouted as she went to go save Gus, but she found herself getting grabbed by Stella's pigtails and pulled away from the edge. "GUS!"

Gus screamed as he fell from the top of the school, tears forming as his life flashed before his eyes. Fortunately, his fall was stopped when a vine came out of a window and grabbed him, cutting short what would have otherwise been his final journey.

"What…?!" Gus asked as he realized what had happened. "Willow?"

"Not quite," said Angmar as he and Ukla helped Gus back inside.

"Angmar?!" Gus said in surprise. "What are you…?"

"Me, Gavin, and Ukla are here to save Boscha and Hunter, but we heard some shouting coming from the roof and when I saw you fall I just-"

He was interrupted by Gus hugging him tightly.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Gus said, still terrified from his near brush with death.

Angmar hugged back awkwardly. "Uh, no problem," he said. "And hey, I'm sorry for what happened at the ruins."

"You are forgiven," Gus told him. "After we get through this, I promise that we're cool."

Maya sighed in relief when she saw that Gus was safe. She then turned to glare at Emily. "Are you out of your fucking mind!? You could've killed him!"

"That was my intention," Emily said while getting up. "I couldn't let him expose me, after all."

"Expose you?" Amity asked while Emily turned around, showing her aquamarine eyes.

"After I'm done with you two, I'm going to hunt down that little illusionist and those traitors!" Emily declared while Stella's eyes glowed light blue and her hair spread around.

Flames suddenly spread around, Amity stepping back along with Maya as the flames rose while Emily floated up in the air, multiple versions of her popping up around them.

"She's an illusionist!" Amity realized in shock.

"Wait, is that why she tried to kill Emmiline's kid?!" Maya shouted. "Because he learned that she was an illusionist?!"

The whole illusion was like being trapped in a kaleidoscope dome where the visuals kept changing. Emily popped up and raised her sword against Maya, only for her to block it with her wings. "Not this time, greenie," she said as she kicked Emily away.

Emily was shocked that Maya had blocked the sword with her wings. Maya then tried attacking Emily, only for her to disappear.

"Oh, so it's that kind of game?" Maya smirked while looking at the Emily duplicates.

Amity was wary of her surroundings, shooting out her own fire spells to disperse some of the illusions. She then found Stella standing there in front of her.

"Why are you letting her do this?" Amity questioned.

"Emily knows what's best for me and Glandus," Stella replied.

"I don't think you really believe that," Amity said before she noticed the mark on Stella's cheek. "She did that to you, didn't she?"

Stella covered her cheek. "You don't know anything."

"Why would you defend someone who not only treats you like that, but also started this meaningless war over petty revenge?!" Amity questioned.

Stella gave an expressionless look while her hair formed into fists. "This war isn't just about her revenge, it is about gaining approval." She launched her hair fists towards Amity.

"Approval?" Amity asked before she was forced to dodge Stella's fists. Stella then uses her magic to bring out spikes from the floor, forcing Amity to dodge them as well.

"Spikes!?" Amity questioned. "Are you in Construction!?"

"Was," Stella replied while her hair formed into drills that targeted Amity.

Maya was passing through the Emily illusions, her wings taking swipes at them. "Come out, ya coward!" Maya shouted. "Your tricks won't work on me!"

"Overconfident, much?" Emily asked as Maya sent her fist through an illusion of her.

"Why do you keep trying?" Emily asked while more duplicates popped up.

"You'll only exert yourself again," another Emily clone said as Maya finds herself surrounded by them.

Maya looked around at all of the Emilys ganging up on her. She took a deep breath, her ears picking up a noise coming from behind her. Thinking quickly, Maya turned around and delivered a kick that swept through the Emily clones and into the real Emily holding the Sword of Adam. Her foot connected to her face, knocking Emily to the floor and dispersing her illusion.

"Who's overconfident now?" Maya smirked.

"Im… impossible!" Emily shouted, getting up only to be kicked to the floor by Maya, making her spit out blood. She rolled over and picked herself back up, only for her face to get slashed across the cheek by Maya's wing.

"Not impossible, I just see through your cheap tricks and your illusion of power." Maya said.

Emily felt the cut on her cheek, her eyes widening at the touch of blood. She then saw Maya's boot coming at her, causing her to roll over to dodge it. Emily saw the boot create a crack from the impact. "Are you trying to kill me!?"

"Try?" Maya questioned while flying towards Emily and delivering multiple punches, sending Emily across the roof. "Is this really what the 'Queen of Glandus' has to offer me, a bunch of air? Illusions are just a cheap tactic used by cowardly witches who hide from their opponents. Quit embarrassing yourself! I see you for what you really are! You're not a real queen, just a cheater who didn't earn shit!" She kicked Emily in the face, making her almost fall off the roof. Maya grabbed Emily's collar to stop her from falling off the edge, tossing her back onto the roof.

"I was expecting a real challenge, not an illusionist fraud!" Maya mocked her.

This caused the green skinned girl to get angry. She glared at Maya, standing back up and getting in a fighting position.

"Oh? Ready to have your ass kicked again?" Maya questioned.

"I will beat you, and the Emperor's Coven will see my worth!" Emily declared.

"Oh it's about those bozos? You really want approval from those suck-ups that kill Palismen for a bastard of an Emperor?" Maya asked, surprising Emily. "Now less talking and more beating the crap out of you!"

Maya charged towards Emily again, but Emily was ready this time. She pulled out her Palisman and placed it in front of her, causing Maya to stop her tracks.

"Stop or else this one gets it." Emily told her, causing Maya to glare at her. "I know you blinded yourself because you were afraid of hurting my Palisman. I don't know why, but you're quite fond of these things, aren't you?"

"Using your own Palisman as a shield against me!?" Maya called her out. "You really are cowardly!"

"No, I'm smart," Emily said as her eyes glowed aquamarine and suddenly flames burst out from her hands, causing Maya to cover her eyes once the flames 'hit' her.

Maya opens her eyes again, only to see that Emily had moved. "You think your fire tricks will work against me!?" she shouted, launching herself towards Emily.

Amity heard Maya shout and she turned to see Maya charging towards her. "Maya, wait-!" She dodged Maya's wing slash. "Maya, what are you doing!?"

"Fight me, Emily!" Maya shouted, believing Amity was Emily and seeing her as such.

"Maya, I'm not Emily!" Amity shouted but Maya kept charging towards Amity who continued making abomination barriers. "Maya!"

"They always underestimate me," Emily said as she backed away, taking a breather. "And that makes them so easy to hypnotize."

She looked away from the school for a moment and noticed something coming towards the school. Her eyes widened as she recognized them as coven scouts.

"Stella!" Emily ran to her girlfriend, who was watching Amity and Maya fight. "We need to go, now!"

"Go? But where-"

"We have no time, now move!" Emily shouted while dragging Stella to the door that led off of the roof.

Elsewhere, Nina had woken up and was struggling to walk. She could barely feel her legs as she read from her scroll, frowning.

"Emily's not gonna like this," she said while holding her side. As she continued to walk, her ears picked up footsteps. She looked to see who was coming down the hallway, preparing herself for the worst. She sighed in relief when she saw it was Emily and Stella.

"Nina!" Stella said, seeing the state the werecat was in. "What happened to you!?"

"Lost a fight," Nina responded.

"You lost?!" Emily asked, then shook her head. "I have no time for this, we have to go. Hexside should have fallen by now-"

"Yeah, about that," Nina raised her scroll up, showing video footage of Hexside's victory. "This has been buzzing in my mane, we lost."

Emily looked at the footage, her eyes widening. Felicia was covering the story.

"It looks like the tide of the battle has turned. While there is still some fighting going on, the top students of Glandus High have either surrendered or taken out! Cain Saltstar is said to have surrendered while Kadabe the Oracle is rumored to be a turncoat! Cain, Weasleton, Goregon, Ruth, and Tito have been defeated by some of Hexside's best including Willow Park, Jerbo Jeepers, Morty Smith, Simon Saltstar, Cat-" Nina ended the video there as the news sank in.

"We… lost…!?" Emily was not taking this well.

"It looks that way, sorry Emily," Nina said with a sigh.

"No, no this can't end this way!" Emily shouted. "We can't-"

"Emily, listen to me!" Nina told her. "We thought we had this in the bag, but we no longer have the advantage. We should just cut our losses, because this whole thing is falling apart."

Emily looked at Nina, taking her words into consideration. She sighed. "You're right, I should cut my losses…"

Nina sensed danger coming from Emily, causing her to back away. "Emily, what-"

SCHTICK!

Nina's eyes widened and she gasped as she felt a sharp pain. She looked down and saw that Emily's sword had pierced through her stomach, impaling her and coming out of her back. Stella covered her mouth in shock and Nina spat out blood while looking up to Emily who gave her a cold look.

Emily pulled her sword back, causing Nina to fall onto the ground. The blood splattered across her face didn't bother the slightest. "You shouldn't have let the Porter brat escape under your watch…" she told Nina as she turned toward her girlfriend. "Come on, Stella. Unless you want me to cut some more of my losses…"

"T-that won't be necessary!" a terrified Stella said as she followed Emily, though she still looked back at Nina as the werecat continued to bleed out onto the floor…