23. Chapter 61: Prelude to War: Part Two(2)

Luz and Eda's eyes widened. They turned around to see Emily and Stella at the entrance of the slayground. Emily stepped inside, with a calm expression. "I tried so hard to forget about this place and what happened here," Emily was saying. "But it never went away. This place is important to both of us, Luz. I'm here for the same reason you are. Because this was where both of our lives changed forever."

Eda gave a look of concern as she stood up with Luz. "Listen, kid, I am sorry about-"

"I don't want your apology," Emily shot her down with a glare, her calm face twisting into anger. "You don't get to be sorry, Owl Lady! It is because of you that my parents abandoned me!"

"Hey!" Luz shouted. "She didn't mean to give you Boiling Zits, okay? She did it to-"

"Protect you? Yeah, I get it, I was just collateral damage," Emily retorted, eyeing Luz. "You know, I wasn't expecting to see you here… but perhaps this is an opportunity."

"What are you saying?" Luz asked her with a glare.

"I'm saying a witch duel, me and you," Emily responded. "A fight at your level. No tricks, no magic, just a good old fist fight, just like how you humans do it. And I can make this worth your while if you win."

"How?" Luz questioned.

"If you can manage to beat me, I can call off the war," Emily revealed. "You can save your school and your friends so much trouble."

"You don't have to do this, Luz," Eda told her. "You don't need to play her game."

"But if it means her calling off the war…" Luz looked up to Emily. "How am I sure that you'd keep your promise?"

"An everlasting oath," Emily suggested as she had her hand up. "That way, if you win, I will have no choice but to honor my promise."

Luz gave a determined look, as she walked up and shook Emily's hand. Emily drew the spell circle over their handshake, sealing their oath.

"Since we are gonna fight like humans, no transformations," Emily said as she watched Luz take her jacket off.

Luz nodded and Emily snapped her fingers to change out of her clothes, changing into a black sports shirt and shorts, with tape around her arms and legs. Luz noticed how muscle-toned this witch was, even if she looked slim.

"Were you going for the She-Hulk look?" Luz asked as she took a fighting stance.

"I have no idea what a She-Hulk is," Emily said. "But I have been training for this for a long time."

Stella stood by as the referee. "Luz Clawthorne versus Emily Tricks. If Luz wins, Emily calls off the war." She raised her hand up and brought it down. "Begin!"

The two faced off as they both took a fighting stance. Luz hopped sideways towards Emily, throwing the first punch. Emily blocked her punch with her arm, then blocked another punch. Luz swung her left foot at Emily who blocked it, but Emily was pushed back as a result even though she kept her stance. The green witch responded by side stepping and doing a high kick towards Luz, who blocked it but was pushed back. Emily delivered more kicks again, forcing Luz back as she shielded herself.

Luz felt her arms burning from the kicks. She moved aside as she did a left-hook kick at her opponent. But Emily managed to grab her leg with her hand and flip Luz to the floor. Luz tried to swipe Emily off her feet in response, but Emily jumped up and did a flip. She lands her foot onto Luz's back, pinning her down.

"Give up?" Emily asked,

"Never," Luz replied as she got herself up, forcing Emily to back off. She resumed her fighting stance and charged at Emily, only for Emily to instantly move out of the way and deliver a lower punch to the stomach, launching Luz back. Luz gasped as she felt the pain from the punch and rubbed her stomach. Then Emily jumped up and delivered a swinging hook kick which Luz blocked with her arm, causing her to fall onto her knee.

'She's fast,' Luz noted, studying Emily's movements. 'She's much faster than I am in this state. But I can't let her psych me out.' Luz then threw another punch, which Emily dodged again, but Luz was just faking her out and her actual attack connected as an uppercut across Emily's face, launching her back.

Emily rubbed her face, grinning. "You got a good arm, I'll give you that." She then adopted a different stance, one that Luz recognized.

"That's… the snake stance," Luz whispered as Emily side stepped and brought her hands to the ground, flipping her legs over to deliver some kicks at Luz, causing her to fall back in order to block the kicks. She then saw Emily land in a crouching tiger stance. "When did the Boiling Isles teach Chinese Martial Arts!?"

"You'd be surprised what you can buy from a stand selling human junk," Emily noted, causing Luz to turn to Eda.

Eda was just as surprised. "What? I don't remember every customer!"

But Luz made the mistake to take her eyes off of Emily and she got kicked in the side of her arm. Luz fell back and got back up, glaring at Emily. She delivers a kick to Emily's face, who swatted the leg aside and punched Luz in the chest. Luz tried to kick her again, but Emily ducked, grabbed Luz's leg and swung her towards the swing set. Luz saw Emily launching herself to kick her but Luz dodged the kick, grabbed Emily's leg, and pulled on it causing her to hit the ground.

The fight between them has caught the attention of some spectators passing by, some bringing out their scrolls to record it. Eda and Stella noticed the spectators, their presence making Eda nervous.

Luz threw an upper hook punch just as Emily did, then Luz went to grab Emily to swing her over her shoulder but Emily wrapped her legs around Luz's neck, flipping her over as they both hit the ground. Luz got up and turned around with a kick towards her opponent, which Emily dodged and before hitting Luz across the face with a sidekick.

"Is that the best you can do?" Emily asked while Luz side stepped, then jumped at Emily with her fist raised, bringing it down and forcing Emily to to block her attack with her forearms. Luz then did a double kick to her abdomen, causing Emily to fall back. "Alright, no more playing around," Emily said as she gave a determined look.

"Same," Luz responded. The two circled each other, preparing to strike. The two then launched at each other, both trying to deliver kicks to the side. Luz hooked Emily's leg before punching her in the stomach and then across the face. But then Emily made an uppercut to Luz's face and tried to grab her shirt, but Luz kicked Emily off as she was punched in the nose, drawing blood. Luz grunted.

"This would be easier if you surrender!" Emily told her, circling around Luz.

"No… not until you call off the war!" Luz declared while ignoring her bleeding nose.

One teenage spectator who was watching the fight eyed Luz with a glare. He then grabbed a rock from the ground and focused on his target who was fighting against Emily. The teenager then threw the rock and it went soaring towards her…

HIT

Luz felt the sharp rock hit her across the forehead, leaving a cut. It knocked her back. "AAAGH!" she shouted as Emily stopped, turning to the spectators, glaring at the one who threw the rock.

"That'll teach ya, you little $^%&!" the teenager shouted, but then he felt something hit him and send him to the ground. He looked up and saw a pissed off Eda who held him down by the arm.

"I know your face now," Eda snarled at him, twisting his arm. "And if I ever see you again… I don't need magic to make you pay."

"L-Let me go!" he cried as Eda threw him into some trash cans. The teenage boy glared at her, but she glared back and made him run off.

"ROOAAARR!"

Eda turned and everyone saw that Luz was midway through transformation into her cambion form. Emily stepped back as she saw Luz's wings popping out and her claws sticking out.

"Wait, Amelia has a thing for… Goops?" Boscha asked her.

"Gus, and yeah she does. Though I don't think he realizes it yet," Amity said.

"You think you know a guy," Boscha noted as she and Amity saw people running past them towards the other side of the marketplace.

"What's that about?" Amity asked, as Boscha opened her scroll up after hearing it buzz.

While checking her notifications, her eyes widened. "Um… I think I know why." She showed it to Amity, whose eyes widened at the live video of the fight between Luz and Emily.

Luz screeched as her cambion form was getting out of control. Half of her face was covered in black scales as she knelt down, holding her head.

"Luz! It's okay, calm down!" Eda told her daughter.

"If you try to fight me in that form, then you can forget about me calling off the way," Emily told Luz, who screeched at her.

The cambion girl glared at Emily and was about to attack her. But then she stopped herself. Luz stepped back as she managed to restrain herself from attacking Emily in her form. She dug her own claws into her left shoulder, causing her to scream. Then she stopped screaming as she remembered what Amity had taught her.

'Look around your surroundings, and take deep breaths.'

Luz looked around the slayground, trying to not let the memories flood in. She took some deep breaths, her scales starting to disappear and her wings shrinking back into her back. Luz calmed down, brought down to normal, but she looked a little exhausted.

"Are you able to continue or not?" Emily asked Luz, giving her a chance to catch her breath.

Luz looked up to Emily, even though she was tired, she still got up into a fighting stance. "I can do this all day," she told her.

Emily's face showed no reaction. "I'm not holding back on you," she said as she sprinted towards Luz, raising her knee to hit her chest. Luz blocked the attack but Emily gave her a haymaker to the face, and then delivered punches to her arm.

"AAH!" Luz cried out, feeling the pain in her arm. But Emily wasn't finished as she grabbed Luz's head to hit it with her knee, giving Luz a black eye. Luz backed away as she kept her stance, but Emily delivered three punches to her stomach and a knee strike causing her to cough out blood.

"Luz!" Eda cried out. Feeling that things had gone too far, she tried to intervene only to feel her feet sink into the ground. She turned around to see Stella, who had used a spell circle to trap Eda where she stood.

"The duel isn't over," Stella told her calmly, causing Eda to growl.

"Let me go!" Eda shouted.

Emily held Luz down while elbowing her in the shoulder. "AAAHH!" Luz screamed in pain before Emily swung her fist into Luz's face. She continuously punched Luz, who couldn't take much more of this. Emily's eyes burned with anger as she raised her fist to deliver the final punch, but then she was blasted away from Luz with a smell that caught her in the side.

"AAAH!" Emily cried out, losing her composure as she got off the ground with a snarl. "WHO DID THAT?!" she demanded to know, glaring into the crowd. She spotted Amity, but she wasn't the one who had dared to strike her…

Instead, Boscha had her finger held up after blasting Emily with a spell. She wasn't sure why she did what she just did, but it had reminded her of her duel with Luz during the exams… and it had compelled her to stop this madness before Emily could have gone any further. She felt Emily's glare on her. "I can't believe I just did that," she said in shock. "And I'm dead." Amity rushed over to Luz, passing by Stella.

"Leave her alone!" Amity shouted at Emily, holding onto Luz.

Eda managed to get herself free and she shoved Stella aside as she joined Amity to help protect Luz, standing between them and Emily. "This duel is over!" she told her, while Emily glared at Eda while breathing intensively.

"…Fine, I've proven my point. See you on the battlefield, Luz." Emily marched over to Stella, grabbing her wrist rather than her hand, pulling her aside. "Let's go, Stella."

"Um, r-right," Stella replied, while Emily looked around and saw that Boscha had already disappeared into the crowd. That didn't matter, Boscha could be dealt with tomorrow.

"Why didn't you stop that rock from being thrown?" Emily whispered, scolding at her girlfriend who fell silent. "When we get back home, we're gonna have a serious talk." She then took Stella away from the crowd.

Amity also tried to spot Boscha in the crowd, frowning when she couldn't see her.

"Let's go home," Eda said as she got Luz and Amity to hop onto her staff, finally leaving the slayground.

At the Emperor's Castle, Abel was in his office reviewing the files that he had on the Brooke and Blight family when he heard a knock on his door.

"Come in," he said, looking up from the files. He saw the door open and Emperor Belos himself coming into the office. Abel smiled when he saw him.

"Belos, what a surprise," Abel said. "How can I help you?"

"Did you know that Hunter had Flapjack?" Belos asked, getting right to your point.

"Your brother's old Palisman?" Abel asked, sounding unsurprised. "If I did, I couldn't tell you. That would breach doctor-patient confidentiality."

"Of course," Belos grumbled, sounding slightly annoyed behind his mask.

"You let him keep it, didn't you?" Abel asked. "You could have destroyed Flapjack like you destroyed so many other Palismen, but you didn't."

"Yes," Belos admitted. "I… I couldn't hurt him, destroying him would be like losing a part of William forever. I knew that by killing Flapjack, I would only be hurting myself and hurting Hunter."

"And you think you made the right choice?" Abel asked, detecting the Emperor's uncertainty.

"…I don't know," Belos confessed. "I am worried that having Flapjack may cause Hunter to start asking questions, questions that will be difficult for me to answer."

"Like who he really is?" Abel clarified. "You couldn't hide the truth from Hunter forever, he is going to find out sooner or later."

"I know," Belos said. "But I don't want him thinking that he somehow has less value just because he's a… copy of someone else. I'm afraid that it could hurt his self-image."

"Then shouldn't he hear it from you?" Abel asked. "The best way he could learn of his true origins would be with the reassurances that he is valid and you still see him as family, as his own witch and not just a replacement or a duplicate of someone else. You do see him as his own witch, don't you?"

"Of course I do!" Belos answered. "I accepted that a long time ago. I don't love him for who he's not or who he reminds me of, I love him for who he actually is!"

"Then tell him such," Abel suggested. "Unless… you are afraid that it will change what he thinks of you."

Belos didn't respond, but Abel could tell what he was thinking.

"That's right, you did lie to him for years," Abel recalled. "And you mean the world to him. If he learned of how much you had been keeping from him, including what really happened to William… you may still see him as family, but you fear he may no longer see you as family if the truth was to get out. You're worried that he could even turn on you."

"I don't want to lose him," Belos said, his tone regretful. "If I chased him away, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself…"

He sat down, burying his face in his hands. Abel got up from behind his desk and walked over to Belos, actually removing the Emperor's mask and placing it on the desk, revealing Belos's conflicted face. Abel offered him a cup of ghoul-aid.

"Here, drink," Abel said as Belos accepted the cup.

"Thank you," Belos said as he took a sip.

"I hope you're not having second thoughts about the Day of Unity," Abel said. "It would be a shame if everything we worked together toward would be for nothing, all of the sacrifices you and your brother made would be in vain. I know Hunter is important to you, but so is this. The Day of Unity will be your legacy."

"You don't need to remind me, Abel," Belos said. "I haven't come this far to give up now." His face hardened. "I will see this through."

Abel smiled. "Good," he said. "I am so proud of you, Belos. You were always my favorite student…"

A long time ago...

A lone figure floated down from the sky while holding onto a staff that doubled as an umbrella. Upon touching the ground, the figure walked up to a house and knocked on the door. Answering it was a witch couple.

"Yes, can we help you?" asked the man.

"You must be Mr. and Mrs. Clawthorne," the figure cheerfully greeted, pulling his card out of his bag and offering it to the couple. "My name is Dr. Abel Reisender. I'm a life coach who seeks to help others find their true purpose and fulfillment in life. I am here about your sons, Philip and William. I believe that they have a lot of potential for greatness… with the proper guidance."

Boscha had rushed back home as fast as she could, managing to get inside and shut the door.

"Shit, shit, shit… I'm so dead." Boscha replied, her heart racing in a panic. She knew Emily was going to kill her tomorrow, all because she had decided to save Luz of all people. What was she thinking?! That's it, she hadn't been thinking at all. As her mind was racing she also remembered Hardy. He didn't have to help him anymore, since she now knew what happened to her brother. Now she had no reason to risk her neck for him, right?

"What am I going to do?" Boscha asked herself, realizing that her moms weren't home. Sighing, she reached into her pocket and felt something. She pulled out a card, not the one she had gotten earlier today but one she had gotten before that. Now was a better time than any to call that number, so she pulled out her crow, rushed to her room, and dialed it.

"Hello, this is Julia Traveler speaking."

"Hello? M-Ms. Traveler?" Boscha spoke to her.

"Boscha? Dear, are you okay?"

"Y-Y-Yeah, it's just…" Boscha was wiping her tears. "I… I just want to talk…"

At the Owl House, the door opened as Eda and Amity brought the beaten up Luz over to the couch.

"Hooty, get the medical kit," Eda ordered while Hooty looks shocked to see Luz this way.

"O-Okay, Eda," Hooty replied as he stretched away to get the medical kit.

"Luz!" King shouted while Camila and Lilith came in, also shocked to see Luz in this state.

"Mija!" Camila cried out, tears leaking out as she ran over to Luz "What happened?" she asked Eda and Amity.

"There was a witch duel with a girl named Emily Tricks who challenged her in order to call off the school war," Eda explained.

"And you didn't put a stop to this!?" Camila shouted in anger, which startled Luz.

"I was going to when it started to get out of hand!" Eda retorted as Hooty brought over the medical kit.

Luz groaned Amity had her lay her head on the pillow of the couch. "Luz, Luz can you hear me? Do you have a concussion?"

"Hey… Ams," Luz weakly said to her as Amity placed a healing glyph on her head.

"Don't talk, just heal," Amity responded while Luz held her hand.

"Emily Tricks did this to her?" Lilith asked her sister while she and King wrapped bandages around Luz. Eda nodded.

"Without magic, just an all-out brawl," Eda said, surprising Lilith.

"When I met her, I had no idea she was capable of this…" Lilith said.

This got Amity's attention. "Wait, you've met her before?" she asked.

"What do you know about Emily?" Luz asked, overhearing this as well.

"Well, I once visited Glandus when they had their own school fair for coven tryouts," Lilith explained. "It was last year and I was looking for potential recruits for Emperor's Coven at the time… Emily had beaten thirty of her fellow Juniors in a battle royale, declaring herself the Queen of Glandus afterward. It was so impressive that I offered to mentor her personally and bring her to the Emperor's Coven, but she refused. She apparently didn't want to be taught by someone who couldn't even bring in a single wild witch…" She glanced at Eda.

"What kind of magic did she use?" Amity asked.

"I… that's the strangest thing, I don't remember," Lilith said, rubbing her head. "I don't seem to recall what track she was in either… almost as if she made herself an enigma. Some witches are born with unique spells of their own, but I've never met a witch like her…"

The residents looked worried and concerned, turning to Luz who was healing up. Eda saw Amity hugging Luz who laid on her lap, the foster mother making a decision.

"Amity, stay with Luz for a while," Eda told them. "Don't worry about her grounding, it is more important that you are with her right now." She sat down on the couch with Camila and Lilith.

King crawled up next to Luz, giving her an ice pack. "You're going to be okay, Luz."

"Why… didn't you use your cambion form?" Amity asked Luz, who just gave a tired sigh.

"It had to be a fair fight," Luz responded. "I wouldn't be able to call myself a true witch if I didn't fight with honor."

"Oh Luz…" Amity said as she held her girlfriend close to her, the other residents also scooting closer to Luz as they all comforted her while worrying about what was to come…

A younger Darius was going through an obstacle course, using his Abomination goop to travel between platforms and avoid hazards.

"Good," the Golden Guard told his mentee as he watched him. "Keep going, Darius. You are doing very well."

Darius smiled and used his Abomination goop to create a bridge to the next platform. But as he was crossing it, something caught his eye. Or more accurately, someone caught his eye. A young witch boy was watching Darius as well. He looked like someone that Darius could have sworn he knew... except his eyes were blue instead of magenta.

"Hunter?" Darius asked, losing his focus. One of the hazards hit him and he fell off the course, hitting the ground below. The Golden Guard ran over to him.

"Darius, are you okay?" the Golden Guard asked, but Darius was already on his feet. He saw the boy running out of the room and into the hallway.

"Wait!" Darius called out, running after the boy before the Golden Guard could stop him. He went into the hallway, where the boy had stopped with his back turned to Darius, who approached the boy.

"Hunter?" Darius asked, reaching out to the boy. Before he could touch him, the hand of the Golden Guard grabbed his arm.

"Don't," the Golden Guard warned. "Whoever you think that is… it's not him."

"What?" Darius asked in confusion, looking back at the boy as he turned around… revealing that his eyes were now pitch black. But he didn't seem to be looking at Darius. Instead, he was looking at the Golden Guard, whose face was unreadable behind the mask.

"Hello, William," the 'boy' said to the Golden Guard with an unnatural smile. "Did you really think I wouldn't notice that you were gone? That your absence wouldn't be noticed? It is time for you to come back and rejoin us." He turned to Darius. "Would your friend like to join us too? I wonder how he'll taste…"

Darius couldn't help but shiver at those words. "What is this?" he asked, turning to his mentor who was gripping his staff tightly.

The Golden Guard had only one word. "Run."

"What?"

The Golden Guard saw that the eyes of the 'boy' turned from black to a burning red. "RUN!"

Just as the 'boy' lunged toward them, growing taller while his hands turned into claws and deer-like antlers started to come out of his head, the Golden Guard stepped in front of Darius and activated his staff, blasting the 'boy' back.

"DEVOUR!" the 'boy' screamed.

"I said RUN!" the Golden Guard shouted and this time Darius didn't need to be told again. He took up running, the Golden Guard following him after using his staff to bring down a part of the ceiling, separating the 'boy' from its prey... for the moment.

But as Darius ran, he could still hear the cries of the creature in the distance.

It sounded hungry.