Chapter Text
Two weeks.
It had been two weeks since Hexside had taken their field trip to the Great Tibia Rainforest, and both Eda and Lilith Clawthorne had been in a desperate search for the missing human, Luz Noceda, and the Abomination Prodigy, Amity Blight. While Eda searched for Luz, Lilith's prime concern was on Amity.
Eda didn't know why Lilith was in such a desperate search for the youngest Blight and didn't care to find out. The only thing that mattered to her was Luz. Eda didn't know when the perky human had slithered her way into her cold, cursed heart, but the last two weeks without her had a noticeable effect on not only her mood but King's and Hooty's as well.
Despite it being such a short time, Luz had filled a missing hole in their dynamic that Eda was chasing to get back.
And unfortunately for her, Lilith used this chance to work together, since they were after the same result, even if it wasn't for the other's main concern.
Eda hated to admit it, but it was good to work alongside her big sister again, even if she couldn't stop going on and on about Emperor Belos and joining the Emperor's Coven. But Eda could deal with that broken record as long as it led to Eda finding her human.
Since then, more joined in the effort to find the missing girls, such as Luz's little group in Gus and Willow, along with Amity's Mean Witch Group and her older twin siblings and while the extra eyes were helpful, Eda already had to forcibly and nearly violent squash the intense bullying between the Mean Witch Group and Luz's friends.
And now, Eda sat, in her living room with her hands hiding behind her hand while Lilith and King slept behind her on the couch. "We must be missing something…." Eda whispered in frustration. She tossed the paper on her low dining room table and then sighed.
Hooty slid up beside the discouraged Eda and said, "Maybe you need some air, Hoot."
Eda was discouraged by this that she didn't even crack a joke about how sensible Hooty sounded just then. Instead, the Wild Owl Witch stood up, stretched her limbs, summoned her staff, and flew out the door that Hooty opened mere seconds before.
Eda flew into the cool night sky and let out a deep breath as she observed the Boiling Isles from up above. She may hate this dump for all of its restrictive rules and her hang-ups but the gentle glow of all of the lanterns and homes always left for a warming sight.
"Okay, Eda," The Wild Witch started. "Luz and Blight disappeared in the rainforest….That's where I should start. Let's go, Owlbert."
Eda's staff dashed off into the night sky, hoping beyond reason that she would find her missing student.
The Great Tibia Rainforest.
Located on the right ankle, the Great Tibia Rainforest was a location that only brave explorers would dare to reach back in the Savage Ages. However, in the Age of Unity (Coined by Emperor Belos), mostly any witch could visit the forest, as long as they remained on the path.
Stray from it, and strange things tended to occur, such as abnormal demons or witches going missing.
At least, that was the rumor that was around since Eda's youth.
Eda personally didn't believe in myths. In fact, she didn't believe in much of anything since she was cursed. All she could believe in was what she saw with her own eyes and felt with her own hands.
But even with that belief, Eda was still unsure about flying off the beaten path.
"Focus up, Eda," Eda chastised. "That brat of yours is out there somewhere. Stop being so afraid of unproven myths." And so, Eda did what she always did and that was walk off the beaten path. But unlike the previous times in her life, she did so with a purpose.
To find her human.
Three hours.
That was how long Eda traversed through the giant maze that was the GTRF. She was sure that she was going insane, considering she passed the same Spooconut Tree* over a dozen times.
At least, that's what it felt like to her.
The Owl Lady was growing exhausted and she didn't know how long she could keep searching before the beast within her forced her to sleep. But she wouldn't give up. Not while her student and the baby Blight remained MIA.
As she passed the Spooconut Tree, a faint glitter of something caught the corner of her eyes, along with something rumbling in the distance. Eda turned and in the distance, with the sun rising behind it, was a strange shape, with its identity hidden by the sunlight hitting behind it.
Eda raced through the forest until she came across a deep crater, where she saw a pyramid sitting right in the middle of it.
No, that wasn't quite right.
A pyramid was often flat on all sides with a pointed top. No, this structure had a flat top with something sitting on top of the flat surface and stairs ascending the sides of the structure. And while teal-colored vines were stretching up the structure, the sunlight revealed that the structure, including the temple on top of it, was made of solid gold.
Had the Owl Lady not been searching, she would have slobbered at the sight of it.
But a thought did strike her.
Had her student and the youngest Blight gone to this structure?
Eda sat upon her staff and flew toward the large pyramid but as she neared it, she saw that there were images etched upon the pyramid. They looked like signs of some sort but she had never seen them before.
What were they?
Eda was unable to ponder the images on the vine-covered pyramid for long because the strange images began to glow a molten gold color. The bottom of the pyramid suddenly began to twist left, while the middle turned right, and the top spun left.
As Eda neared the structure, she then noticed that the thing that was sitting on the pyramid's flat top was a large diamond, that sat in the raised hands of a large statue of a lithe, feminine humanoid with a head that reminded her of King's head.
Eda then noticed that the spot on the head where the eyes would be were also glowing that molten gold light. Suddenly, the pyramids stopped shifting, revealing to Eda a familiar image that was etched into its sides.
The Light Glyph.
The very same light glyph that Eda had watched Luz create time and again.
The diamond in the statue's hands filled with light, which then shot through the air like a beacon, but due to the sun rising, the beacon's light was masked, leaving Eda barely able to make it out. The beam of light then flickered before winking out of existence, leaving faint motes of pale gold light to float down around the area.
It was then Eda saw it.
Kneeling on the surface in front of the statue, were two figures, with one holding another in their arms. As Eda landed on the flat surface, she took note of two things.
The first thing was the figure standing in front of the statue.
The figure's body was encased all over in white armor with gold parts on its pauldrons, poleyns, end of its vambraces, and the ankle plate of its sabatons as well as pale gold trimming.
The figure wore a huge, tattered flowing white cape, a white helmet with golden sharp wings on each side, and a golden visor that had glowing white eyes beneath it.
Eda also noticed that the figure's cuirass and poleyns were adorned with the symbol of the light glyph and also that around the figure's waist was a snake-like being with the head having small, pointed ears, fur-like tufts on either side of her neck, and small fangs with a glowing white orb that was attached to its tail sitting in its mouth.
The upper back and body of the snake-like belt were pale gold in color, but there was a hint of another color beneath it.
The next thing Eda noticed was that the armor itself had signs of heavy damage, with streams of light flowing from the various cracks in the body.
Eda then took note of the figure in the armored being's arms.
While she didn't recognize who the figure in the suit of armor was, she sure as day recognized the person in their arms.
It was Amity Blight.
Amity wore a white dress with platinum-blue trimmings, platinum-blue bands on both biceps, a platinum-blue wreath on her head, a pair of platinum-blue crescent moon earrings, a platinum-silver choker around her neck that bore the runes of ancient Felician*, and white sandals.
"Hey, Eda," The figure spoke, a familiar, if echoey, voice coming out from them.
Eda blinked in shock.
"Luz?" Eda breathed, unable to believe that it was her brat in such strange armor.
"Do you mind taking care of Amity for me?" The being asked, the glowing orbs of light behind their visor dimming for a moment.
Eda noted that Luz's voice sounded so weary.
"S-Sure, Kiddo. Anything you want…." Eda softly replied as she approached her armored kid and gently took the unconscious witch into her arms.
"Thanks…." Luz's voice drifted off and the armor she wore began to disperse into particles of white and pale gold light.
What Eda thought was a belt quickly unfurled itself and flew into the air as the color slowly shifted, giving Eda a better look at the strange creature.
The snake-like being's upper back and body were aubergine in color, with a purple stripe running from the back middle of her head and ending in a point near the end of her tail. It had two more purple stripes separating her upper and lower body colors, running from its lower cheeks to the lime green sphere on its tail, and her lower body and underbelly are lavender. Its nose and upper snout are white and form into a heart shape on her forehead.
The strange creature titled its head, its protruding eyes with dark purple irises and lime sclera staring down at Luz, who was now unarmored.
Was this creature Luz's Palisman?
The creature floated down to Luz and its dark purple forked tongue struck out to lick a tired Luz Noceda's face. Luz's hair was a little longer than Eda remembered with a slight curl at the edges, which clung to Luz's sweaty face.
The young human wore a simple yellow sleeveless shirt, black baggy pants that stopped right above her ankles, a golden bracelet around each of her wrists, a pair of black flats, and two golden earrings that had the shape of the sun.
Eda also noticed that Luz bore a lot of scraps and bruises on her skin and face as Luz said, "Please take care of Stringbean too….She's a good girl…."
"Stringbean?" Eda questioned. "I'll take care of her too. I promise…."
A relieved smile formed on Luz's face as her eyes drifted close and she fell forward, crashing to the ground face first. Eda stared down at the Luz and then at Amity, only for the temple to jerk sharply and then sink into the crater, which was now filling with water.
Eda's eyes bugged out of her skull as Stringbean took a pose and harden, confirming to Eda that it was indeed a Palisman, which then turned into a dark blue staff with Stringbean on top of it. The staff floated beneath Luz and lifted the unconscious girl into the air and darted off.
"H-Hey!" Eda yelled as she hopped on Owlbert and flew into the air. She turned around to see that the pyramid was sinking faster, with half of the structure already beneath the water. Eda shook her head and flew as fast as she could after Stringbean, as the mysterious pyramid sunk into the water beneath the Titan.