Chapter Text
She moved quickly. Today was going smoothly, still she couldn’t just abide being careless. The slightest misstep could spell a disaster for the two of them. She knew that much and so she picked up her pace, moving past the tall red trees using their shadows as cover. She was unsure if anybody had seen her move from the location.
If anybody had then it was already over. Silence and secrecy were imperative until she found Luz. After all they were both parts of the same puzzle. The two main pieces to make this entire thing work smoother than an oiled snake. If they couldn’t pull this off, then nobody could.
Truth be told, the mounting pressure was all her fault as she was late to the striker and now was suffering the consequences of what being late led to. Lateness led to fear, fear led to irrationality, irrationality led to sloppiness. Being sloppy wasn’t like her. Though she had been like that in the past for far more times than she would’ve liked to admit, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t move past it and that helped drive her forward even more this time.
With that spurring her on she pushed onward, the target in sight. She opened the door quietly and slipped inside. Nobody had seen her as she kept moving. Luz said she would be found here with the others and waiting for her.
She had been here before, but always when it was flooded with light. If anything the darkness would be a welcome change of pace if it wasn’t eerily quiet that made the chill creep into Amity’s bones.
It was concerning. Luz was always loud if not in sound then in impact. Such a cold dark place did not mesh with her in word being or acts at all making Amity wonder if the letter was wrong. As she checked the coded letter again and indeed saw she was in the right place. So she got back to searching, brushing a long brown strand out of her eyes. It had gotten longer since the wedding.
Her hair being longer was a symbol that she managed to make some measure of peace with all the trauma. While she was still a long way from being completely free, she was at least improving with her coping. She was no longer afraid after the lady was turned to stone and locked up fully conscious of everything, but unable to stop the steady drip of water that turned the stone to dust.
She was better than before, a graduate with honors of Hexside academy who managed to defy expectations and improve the lives of those around her despite everything that happened to her. She touched the mask on her hip, running her fingers along the beak to the eyes and feeling where the spatter crested the design bringing a small amount of color to such an otherwise plain mask. It was a symbol of station. Only 5 others had unique masks even if theirs were just reskins of the normal masks as opposed to the full design of the other 3.
Looking around for anything at all to distract from these empty rooms that seemed the same no matter where you went she kept searching for her wife. She had to be here. Even though it was an odd place for her to be, she just knew she had to be here. Her footprints were still in the hall. Her mask was on a table as if a calling card, she simply had to be.
So the search continued onward as she continued walking the halls. Banners of Azura in some halls as if prophetic, the books neatly stacked under them and a cracked crystal ball in the windows.
She took in the scene. Her eyes drinking deeply of the majesty and spectacle in still form. All of it just mesmerized her until she let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding and opened yet another door.
The darkest room greeted her. If she didn’t know better she would’ve sworn the room was flooded with ink. However she did know better and aided by the fact that no tidal wave of writing fluid came to drown her she knew it was magic that darkened the room. Only gifted to the caster and a few select targets was vision. So Amity stepped in cautiously thinking about it and considering her course of action after walking in.
So lost in thought that she didn’t notice the arms reaching out to pull her into the darkness. She was there for hours, not daring to move save for breathing as the sun died down.
Then in walked the demon, red with a toothy maw, his eyes just beginning to show. He scanned the room, sensing others without seeing them.
Then they jumped out at him as the lights came on “Happy 9th birthday Braxas!” Amity and Luz shouted as the rest of the coven reeled down from the rafters with cakes and gifts. The cake was brought before him as he breathed out to light the candles and then blew them out. The 9 flames fading out from the gust of breath.
His mothers smiled at him as they took their seats and the cake was cut. The feast consisted of griffin thighs, eggs, spider demon steaks, and a few human delicacies the troops have managed to procure.
During her tenure as Outsider, Luz had been placed onto scout duty as she would draw the least attention due to her origins in the human realm, most would just see somebody who missed a convention, which wasn’t out of place in Gravity Falls, Oregon. She was still unsure what Belos’ play in her home would be, though she could tell he wasn’t lying about not wanting to invade it.
His magic being similar to her was a massive stumbling block to that idea. She didn’t doubt that he could get past it if he put his mind to it though. Despite all that she felt that her time was drawing closer. The past decades had not been kind to Belos. He was struggling to stand.
Still he had groomed her to take his place when his body finally failed. Alongside that he had made it clear he had a contingency plan in the form of the Golden Guard. If Luz failed to uphold an iron stranglehold on the Isles, the Guard was to usurp her position. Then take her, Amity, and Braxas along with any other progeny the two had to the darkest abyss he could find and leave them there.
Lethality, efficiency, and brutality was his specialty after all.
Still they pushed that from their minds as they were friends for today at least. Braxas didn’t deserve to be wrapped up in their plans, yet one who disobeys the emperor finds themselves breathing soil or tied up and torched.
So they carried on as they ate and Braxas unwrapped his presents, coming face to face with all manners of tools. One was even sent from Caída in an unmarked save for a note that said “Tía” and when unwrapped revealed a mismatch of mechanical parts stamped with glyphs. Luz had a sneaking suspicion of what it was and promised to help him assemble it if she got stuck.
Under her breath she cursed her older sister for giving a 9 year old a, thankfully disassembled, LMG.
Eventually after the revelries faded they decided to turn in for the night.
All of them, save for Amity and Luz. It felt like they had been planning it forever as they divided all the tasks.
Now was the time to get their gear and all their weapons. Plus some wicked masks. This would be dismantled if they were discovered.
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It was nearly midnight and the plan was simple. Swoop in, kill them all, and get back before sunrise. Umber Eyes was the first there. He was followed by Woodbinder. He was getting antsy before the rest of them showed up.
Apothecary, Muse, Houdini, Tirador, Ivy, and of course their two leaders: Intrusa and Decay. Their eyes swept over their small force and with a nod they moved in, spellfire whizzing ahead of them into the frozen reaches of the knee.
Houdini managed to keep a few tents in the encampment silent while Tirador picked off any who tried to run.
Apothecary was busy pouring her concoctions into the mouths of those who were yet to wake, ensuring that their sleep would never end. If by chance they were roused, they would be left a broken shell of a witch.
In the four hours that it took to make sure nobody would be getting up after this, the snow was well fed with the blood of the Emperor’s Coven. When Belos would learn of this his mental and physical health would take a steep dive as he had to find replacements that fit the strict criteria of his coven.
After all, he was a perfectionist.
They scoured the tents one last time to make sure there were no potential survivors. Satisfied they left and let whoever stumbled in next come to observe the carnage and the death.
To them they felt remorse, yet it was behind resolve. They knew that perhaps this carnage could help them usher in a new era of peace once Belos was no longer a problem. Luz listened to the true will of the titan and made judgement calls as she saw fit.
A just empress with the best the isles had to offer as her advisors as she chose who would be next to rule the isles by a council and by meritocracy. It was the best way after all. A monarchy could become corrupt and the cycle would continue, they hoped for no others to fall to that decadence.
As they retreated they took in the look of each other’s masks.
Woodbinder had a rough hewn mask seemingly carved from bark. The eyes showed a deep green from the inside and the vines that composed the rest were riddled with thorns. Surely anybody who tried to reveal them would have a hard time.
Umber's eyes were under a wolf mask, his face hardly visible between the jaws. The only discerning features were his pointed canines which were slightly larger than the usual. His eyes gleamed just below the ones of the wolf giving him a disturbing four eyed appearance.
Houdini’s mask was disorienting to look at. A mix of mirrors, black and white lines interspaced with letters that made it hard to figure out what you were looking out. It broke up his outline as if he was going for camo in a pool of mercury. Alongside that it gave those who stared for a little bit too long plenty of nausea.
Apothecary was wearing what looked like glass filled with fog brews. The liquid sloshed around inside the mask as she stared back from it. Nobody was quite sure what was actually behind said mask save for the others in her group. She had an aura that made others grovel before her.
Muse’s mask was red harp like the symbol of the bard coven. It certainly fit her. When she moved it was like watching a maddening dance. Their screams were like a war song for her as she carved a ruby red path through her enemies.
Ivy’s mask was, ironically, not made of plants, but rather animal flesh. The feathers of the griffins swept down the side like a set of wings. A crown of demon horns decorated the top. To finish off her disguise was a slitherbeast tusk faceplate that looked similar to the front of knight’s helm. Her honorable demeanor helped.
Tirador’s mask was alien compared to the rest. Skull shaped save for the two filters that stuck out of the cheeks and eyes that glowed with a faint red light marking where the night vision goggles lay. On top was a beret that was red. It took many hours of soaking it in spilt blood for it to hold the color. Yet the beret was like a beacon for the others to rally around when the spell fire began to fly at them too quickly.
Of the two leaders, Intrusa’s mask was definitely the most complex. Covered in various glyphs, and humming with the power of the isles. The top of the mask had two horns that mirrored those of the titan. One intact, the other broken near the center. Most visually striking was the shape. The mask was owl shaped to reflect her mentor from the isles and the eyes glowed with soft violet flames. The entire piece was a testament to her skills and her intensity. The flames reflect the ability to destroy and improve. The owl represents intelligence and speed.
Last was decay with a simple mask. No bells, no whistles, no frills. She had a thing for simplicity and that was shown when looked at. Her mask was simply abomination goo. The eyes were green and it could reconstitute itself provided she had the materials needed to make an abomination and the mask was known for shock absorption. It had saved more time than she could count from physical strikes as it reacted like it had a mind of it’s own solely dedicated to her protection. She was thankful, yet intrigued if it was truly thinking.
They continued, splitting from each other to make it harder for any to find them as Umber Eyes summoned more snow to fill in the tracks they’d left. Making it seem like the camp just moved around and chose to slaughter themselves in service of Emperor Belos.
All in all a success as they slipped into the night. Pride swelled their chests as they went to rest ready to plan the next kill operation.
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Caída unslung her rifle and took a seat by one of the taller trees. She reached into her pack and pulled out a cigarette, using the still warm barrel to light it as she took a long drag.
She was never much of a smoker, yet she found that as these killings continued the smoke helped to take the edge off. It helped convince her that neither she nor anyone else were monsters. They were more like gardeners, shearing the tallest branches so that the plant could continue to grow healthily.
It was how things went in this world or another as she sat there. Watching the sun rise above the horizon slowly. The hope of morning.
She figured she might as well head to the market and take the more dangerous jobs. She always charged a premium. They wanted a professional and therefore they had to pay for the gear and transport that one like her would need. She shook the sleep out of her head and got up.
“Luz, I sure hope you know what we’re doing.” she said as she stood up.