Raine narrowed their eyes suspiciously, but Luz just smiled at them; "I'll be fine, Titi. Hettie swore it wasn't a trap and she wouldn't try to capture me. I'll be fine." she then leaned in and whispered; "And if the worst should happen, I'll just bust out and fly away! She's got windows up there after all."
That made Raine grin; Hettie had mentioned having a great view of the town from her office at one point during their rounds, so Luz would easily be able to flee if this mystery patient attacked her.
"Alright. I'll wait down here. Call me the second something bad happens." Raine ordered.
Luz gave a little salute and a cheeky grin in response, making Raine laugh. Hettie then directed them to a lounge area for the members of her Coven, before directing Luz to the closest Pneumo-Vein. Luz gave Raine one last wave goodbye, before she and Hettie were shot up towards the Head Witch's office. When they arrived, Luz looked around briefly and was initially pleasantly surprised by the homey nature of the east-facing side (not to mention the great view of the city and isles). Then she noticed the actual clinic/lab side of the room and was shocked; it looked like a fantasy style version of a modern day hospital! There were things like an MRI machine, an X-Ray machine, high-tech microscopes of different kinds, and all manner of similar stuff, but all seemingly made with a combination of organic material, abomination goo, and metals and minerals native to the Demon Realm. It really was like someone had made Demonic versions of Human Realm equipment! Hettie wasn't kidding when she'd mentioned adapting Human techniques and tech from things washed up on the Isles!
However as Luz was looking around in amazement, she saw movement in the corner of her eye and turned towards it. Rising from the shadows on the comfy side of the room was Lucy the Silver Sentinel. Luz went completely still as she laid eyes on her, and Lucy in turn looked at her for only a moment before looking down, seemingly shy or ashamed. Hettie didn't acknowledge the awkwardness or tension that had suddenly filled the room, instead speaking to Lucy.
"Why were you in the shadows? Did you leave my office?" she asked.
Lucy nodded like a child who'd been caught doing something she shouldn't have; "I was nervous about inviting Luz to help me with my problem, so I hid in your shadow. I've been watching the whole time." she looked nervously at Luz, her purple eyes meeting Luz's golden ones for a moment before she averted them again; "Y-You do good work, Luz."
That nervous compliment didn't truly register in Luz's mind, as nothing but the sound of her own heart hammering in her chest seemed to reach the Arch-Angel's ears. Her pupils had shrunk to pinpricks, and her fingers were practically twitching to cast a spell.
This was the girl who had caused almost all her current problems! The girl who'd taken advantage of her weakened state to rob her of the Portal Key and give it to her greatest enemy. It was because of her that Luz had broken her promise to return home to her Mami. It was because of her that Luz didn't know when she would see her Mami or sister again. It was because of her that she was so stressed, and working so hard to rebuild a portal when she could be helping the rebellion more!
It was all Lucy's fault… she'd taken the Portal away…
She'd taken Luz's mother away from her.
Anger filled Luz's body, fiery enough that it actually surprised her so much that she almost hesitated… almost.
In a flash, Luz was in her Holy Raiment and her wings were spread wide behind her as she darted at Lucy, using wind to speed herself up. Lucy gasped in surprise and tried to flee into the shadows, but a bright flash of light from Luz's wings briefly destroyed all shadows in the room, preventing Lucy from escaping. The next thing the Sentinel knew, Luz had grabbed a fistful of her shirt and pushed her up against the wall, using her slightly superior height to lift the other girl off the ground. Lucy blinked the spots out of her eyes from the flash just in time to see Luz wave a hand to make vines appear from the wall and bind Lucy's hands like manacles. Once again, Lucy tried to disappear into the shadows, but Luz's wings were shining with light and keeping her pinned. The next thing she knew, Luz was glaring at her and a sword of light was pointed at her chest.
Lucy was shocked by how quickly she'd been rendered helpless! Luz knew all her tricks and without Hunter as back up, there was nothing she could do! She couldn't even use the new Oracle Magic Osran had taught her, since Shade was cowering in his stone in the presence of the furious Arch-Angel.
Still, Shade did have enough courage to speak to Lucy through their link; "Lucy, are you alright? Should I go and get your brother? I can probably escape without her seeing me."
"Yes. I don't think she'll kill me, but I could use the back up just in case! Besides, you'll only get exorcised if I try to fight with you." Lucy thought back, barely keeping her mind straight as she stared into Luz's burning golden eyes.
She felt Shade disappear from her Oracle Stone and phase through her body and the wall, then flying off to find Hunter down in the slums. However once he was gone, she suddenly felt very lonely, especially as Hettie wasn't rushing to help her!
Thanks to her oath not to attack Luz, Hettie was forced to stay back, watching the two worriedly, wondering if she was going to have to treat an injury or clean up a body. She could still speak though, so she gently approached Luz and said.
"Luz, the Silver Sentinel came to me today for help. She's been suffering from lethargy and weakness for several days now. She's no threat to you in her current condition. You didn't strike me as someone to attack a patient so please, let her go." Hettie pleaded.
Luz growled and pointed her blade at Lucy's face; "She stole the Portal Key! Because of her, I can't go home! I can't see my Mami or sister like I promised I would! I can't even call her to explain! Mami probably thinks I've run away and abandoned her, and it's all your fault!" she hissed, glaring furiously at Lucy.
Lucy felt her heart clench; so that was why Luz was so angry! Now she understood. For a brief self-deprecating moment, Lucy was tempted to stay silent and accept sole responsibility for stealing the key. She'd felt awful about it happening, especially under the circumstances, but ultimately Luz deserved to know the truth… and Lucy really didn't want to die or get beaten up!
"I didn't steal it!" Lucy blurted out, her fear making her sound more desperate.
Luz sneered, then suddenly her eyes widened; Lucy was an Angel… she couldn't lie! "Then who did!? Hunter!? Osran!? Tell me!" she demanded.
"Neither! It was my Oracle Spirit!" Lucy cried.
"So you did steal the key, and you're trying to hide it with semantics?" Luz scowled.
Lucy shook her head; "No! I didn't order him to do it! He did it on his own! I didn't even know about it until I got back to the castle and Uncle was yelling at me for sneaking out!"
The Arch-Angel narrowed her eyes and searched the younger Angel for signs of pain or deceit. She was a relative of Belos, so maybe she could lie like he could? Still, Luz found herself believing Lucy despite this; her instincts were screaming at her that the girl was innocent.
Lowering her light blade but keeping Lucy pinned by vines and light, Luz crossed her arms and said; "Tell me what happened. All of it."
Lucy complied; she told Luz everything about Shade reading her mind when they first bonded, and discovering her desires, leading to him stealing the key without anyone's knowledge. When she was done, Luz looked more upset than angry, and she let out a long sigh and snapped her fingers. The vines holding Lucy disappeared and she felt her feet touch the floor again. Then Luz's wings shrank down and stopped giving off light, leading to Lucy immediately leaping into the newly returned shadows and reappearing on the other side of the room, hiding behind one of Hettie's machines.
"I-I'm so sorry…" Lucy said tearfully. "I didn't want to hurt you or make you lose your way home! I just wanted to protect my brother! He gets so upset when he thinks he's disappointed Uncle! If it weren't for that, I would have given the key back!"
Luz blinked; "You would have?"
"Yes! You saved my life! Sure I saved yours too, but it's also thanks to you that I ascended and don't need to rely on Uncle's magic any more! It wouldn't have felt right to keep the key after that, especially since you were bleeding out at the time." Lucy cried, before looking down guiltily; "It still doesn't feel right… but I can't do anything about it."
Luz opened her mouth to suggest she just steal the key back for her, but decided against it. That would make her the enemy of her only family, and it was an unreasonable thing to ask even if Belos was evil. In fact, him being evil made it more unreasonable, as Luz doubted he'd be kinder to his niece than he was to her during their last two meetings.
Instead, she sighed heavily and said; "I see… I'm sorry I attacked you like that, especially if you're sick. If I can help you, then I will."
Lucy peeked out from her hiding place a little more, while Hettie smiled with relief. "Y-You will?" Lucy asked shyly. "I-I can swear an oath not to betray you or anything! It's just… I really need to find a way to fix what's wrong with me before Uncle confines me to the castle again."
"Yes, really." Luz said, smiling. Lucy reminded her a little of a scared rabbit; the girl was powerful, especially now that she had magic of her own, but the combination of guilt and whatever was wrong with her magic meant she was unusually timid. And years of wearing a mask all the time had left her unable to control her facial expressions very well, so Luz could read her like a book. It was a little like having a little sister again… perhaps it was just because Luz was missing Vee, but she found her prior anger melting into protectiveness. It also helped that Lucy wasn't guilty of what Luz had thought she was, meaning there was no reason for her to be angry with the girl.
Slowly, Luz walked towards the girl and offered her hand; "You swear an oath not to attack me, and I'll swear an oath not to attack you. Then once this is done, we both go our separate ways. Deal?"
Lucy carefully accepted the offered hand and the two Angels exchanged oaths. Once that was done, Lucy felt much more relaxed, and Luz turned to Hettie.
"Alright, so you want to examine me so you can compare a healthy Angel with Lucy to see if you can find out what's wrong with her, right?" she asked.
"Correct. I was going to have you change into a gown, but that outfit of yours works just as well, so please keep it on. Lucy, I'd still like you to change." Hettie said, conjuring a changing screen and a pale blue hospital gown.
Lucy accepted the gown and scurried behind the screen to change, while Hettie began to explain to Luz what Lucy had been experiencing. At first, it sounded like Lucy was just suffering from magical exhaustion, similar to how Luz would feel when she still needed blessings from her mother and it was almost time for a new one, but since Lucy still had magic, that couldn't be right. The discolouration of her wings from silver to grey was also strange… the only thing Luz could think of was that Lucy might have caught whatever affliction had infected Belos, though she kept that to herself for the moment. If Hettie learned Belos was an Angel, she might be even more devoted to his cause, and the Arch-Angel still had hope she could turn Hettie to the rebels' side with time.
Lucy emerged from behind the changing screen (which promptly vanished) and placed her warm cloak and Sentinel uniform in a neat pile on one of Hettie's sofas. Her wings were hidden away with magic since there was no enchantment on the gown and no holes for them, and the loss of them seemed to have made Lucy paler and more lethargic.
Noticing this, Luz approached her and said; "Here, let me show you how to enchant your clothes so your wings phase through. It'll save you a lot of time and money getting things custom fit."
Lucy blinked in surprise as Luz cast a spell on the gown, then at her insistence, she released her wings again and was delighted to find they passed through the cloth like it wasn't even there!
"Thank you! I've got nothing to wear but Sentinel uniforms back home, because everything had to be custom made and Uncle didn't want to waste money on casual clothes! The only other clothes I have is a couple of night dresses for sleeping!" Lucy said, overjoyed by being able to wear something else with her wings out.
Luz held back an insult to Belos and instead forced a smile; "You're welcome. I'll teach you how its done while Hettie is doing her tests. Is that alright?" she asked, turning to Hettie herself.
The Head Witch smiled and began casting spells, causing more medical machines and tools to appear from magically concealed compartments. For a moment, Luz and Lucy were interested… then surprised… then very nervous as more and more items appeared, until there was almost no room in the clinic half of the office.
"Naturally. Now I'll be beginning a thorough examination. And when I say thorough… I mean it." Hettie said, an excited grin on her face as she picked up a syringe for taking blood and flicked the needle.
"Now… who's first?"
The two Angels looked at each other and gulped; this might end up being more than they bargained for!
[Meanwhile]
Hunter smiled at a job well done as he finally walked up the rickety, unauthorised extension of the Grand Staircase, which led down into the slums of Cartilia. He'd spent the whole day scouting the place out for signs of Anti-Empire and Pro-Rebel elements, and instead largely found impoverished people with a hatred for the city's nobles, a few dealers of illicit substances, and a whole lot of people asking intently if his armour was made of real gold (it wasn't). He'd spent most of the last two hours hunting and destroying Nightshines, since the people claimed they'd be the biggest threat to the security of the upcoming Coven Day Parade, and while Hunter hadn't believed them, he'd done it anyway. Flapjack (concealed to look like his usual artificial staff) had spoken in his head to urge him to agree, claiming it was the right thing to do and it would build support for the Covens if they were seen to be helping the people. Hunter couldn't argue with that, and was actually pretty glad to help!
But now he was done and it was time to head to City Hall and find his sister! A Coven Scout from her unit had told him she'd finished up her work and had gone there for a nap, which Hunter was pleased to hear; Lucy hadn't been feeling so well recently after all. A little extra sleep should perk her up in time to get dinner with her favourite big brother!
Smiling, Hunter dismissed his own unit to enjoy the festival as they wanted and began walking towards the official bottom of the Grand Staircase to begin his climb up. As he walked, he looked around at the festival and grinned, enjoying the atmosphere. It would be nice to spend time enjoying himself with Lucy and Flapjack! It was their first festival with the rascal of a Palisman, so it was bound to be fun!
However as he was about to begin climbing the staircase, something else caught his eye. He turned and saw a soft blue glow in the shadows behind a nearby house; the telltale signs of a Nightshine. Hunter was tempted to ignore it, but what the heck? He'd spent the afternoon zapping them to dust, so why not deal with one more? It wasn't out of his way and it would help the townspeople after all.
With a little hum, he headed towards the Nightshine, gripping Flapjack with one hand and channelling Lightning Magic to his other hand before reaching down to zap the flower, since his gloves would protect his skin. However just as he was about to touch it, another hand emerged from around the corner, with a green spell circle in the palm, and promptly withered the flower to dust. Hunter blinked in surprise and turned to see the person who did it, only to be further surprised when he saw their face.
They were a girl with cute round cheeks, olive green eyes behind large circular glasses, and long dark hair tied into two short pigtails, with a dyed green streak on the right side of her face. The girl was wearing winter clothes, but even through them Hunter could see she had a sturdy frame and the markings of a body turning from the plumpness of youth to the hardened musculature of a powerful woman. Hunter didn't know what this girl's exercise routine was, but she somehow managed to look silk soft and rock hard at the same time! Hunter couldn't take his eyes off her… now if only she didn't look like she was about to punch him.
"Um, hello Citizen. I see you've decided to help deal with the weed infestation as well. I appreciate the assistance." Hunter said, straightening up somewhat awkwardly.
The girl looked at him for a moment, then her eyes hardened and Hunter almost recoiled at the sight alone. He didn't understand why she seemed so angry with him… until two more girls appeared beside her, both glaring at him too. These girls he recognised on sight: Boscha Alembic, wanted for Rebellion and assaulting Head Witch Vitimir, and Skara Cadence, daughter of Head Witch Severin. He immediately backed off a step, pointing Flapjack and his still-electrified hand at Boscha (since she was the only wanted criminal of the trio), but he suddenly found three Palismen pointed back at him as all three girls drew their own staves. Outmatched, he gulped and tried to talk his way out of his current mess while readying his flash spell.
"So… hanging out with rebels, Miss Cadence?" he asked.
Skara scowled; "It's not illegal to have friends. You should try it sometime."
"Okay, ouch…" Hunter frowned; "And while that's not a crime, threatening a Coven Head definitely is."
"You pointed your spells at me first, eyebags." Boscha scoffed.
Hunter looked offended; "I have a name you know! It's-"
"Hunter." Willow growled; "AKA the Golden Guard… AKA the brother of the girl who robbed my best friend while she was bleeding out!"
Hunter actually did recoil this time. He knew the truth of what happened with the Portal Key; Lucy kept no secrets from him and she'd confessed it all the night they'd gotten back. She'd been pretty upset about it, and while Hunter could see why due to the circumstances, he didn't think she had anything to be upset about. It might not have been her decision, but they completed their mission and acquired one of the two things they needed for the Day of Unity, pleasing their Uncle greatly! The guilt was worth it!
Right?
Still, the boy was smart enough to realise that defending that action to a pack of the Angel's friends was probably a bad call, so he said; "She also saved Luz's life! Besides, is it really so bad that the Owl Lady can't as easily get human garbage to sell? Our reports from Bonesborough says she barely runs that stall any more, instead handing it off to Gus and some weird human club of his."
Willow's eyes briefly flashed green at the casual use of Gus's name, and the dismissal of what Lucy had done. "You also took away Luz's ability to go home and see her mother! Luz promised to go home every weekend and now she can't because of you! Do you have any idea how broken-hearted she is!? Be glad Amity isn't here, or she'd gut you and your sister!"
The girl's eyes were starting to flash green more and more as her temper rose, and while Skara looked a bit concerned, Boscha just smirked. It was nice to see that rage and power pointed at someone else for a change! Hunter was more concerned with what Willow had said; he'd never thought Luz was still in contact with her Angel Mother… he'd sort of assumed she was an orphan adopted by the Owl Lady, or perhaps kidnapped and brainwashed. If Lucy found out about this, her guilt would only grow.
However, seeing Willow's fierce eyes and her bee Palisman made Hunter's own eyes widen with recognition. "Wait a moment… I do know you! You're Willow Park! You were briefly wanted for assaulting Head Witch Terra Snapdragon, before the head of the Latissa Gardening Club gave you an alibi!"
Willow growled and pushed her staff a little closer, daring the boy to keep talking. The boy responded by actually lowering his own staff and releasing his lighting spell, showing he wasn't going to attack (though his flash spell was still ready to go if needed).
"Look, I'm sorry about what Luz is going through, I really am. Neither my sister or I knew what was really going on, and technically we didn't even steal the key. Lucy's Oracle Spirit did it on its own because it knew she wanted it. I'll make an oath that it's the truth if you want, since I'm not an Angel like my sister." Hunter offered. He felt he could probably win in a fight with these three if he wanted to; a quick flash behind them and some lightning spells would put them out of commission fast, but he really didn't want to ruin the festival by hauling in three teenage girls!
The girls narrowed their eyes; "Do you expect us to believe that?" Skara frowned.
"Did the offer to make an oath not give you a pretty good reason to? I'll make it right now; take my hand." Hunter retorted, offering his hand to them, willing to make the oath with any of them. Skara and Boscha suspected it was a trap, especially since they'd seen the lightning in his palm when they first saw him, but Willow decided it might be worth the risk. She pulled her staff back a bit and prepared to take Hunter's hand.
Just as they were about to join hands however, they were interrupted by the sudden arrival of an Oracle Spirit, looking frantic.
"Hunter! Lucy has encountered the Arch-Angel Luz and it looks like it's going to come to blows! She requires your assistance!"
Hunter and the girls all gaped at the spirit's sudden appearance, before their expressions hardened. Willow tried to grab Hunter while Boscha shot a small fireball at him, but Hunter immediately flashed away to the roof of the building they were stood behind. He was still close enough for the spirit to talk to though.
"Is Luz attacking City Hall!?" Hunter demanded.
"No, she is in the office of the Head Witch of the Healing Coven."
"Caduceus Grand Hospital!? What is Lucy doing there!? Argh, forget it; I'm on my way!" Hunter declared, flashing off towards the hospital.
Willow, Skara, and Boscha saw him disappear in a flash of golden light and immediately got on their staves to give chase; Hunter and Lucy were a powerful threat if they fought together, and while Luz was sure to have Raine on her side, the Emperor's Elites would have Hettie! Luz and Raine would need back up!
With all the speed they could muster, they flew off in pursuit of Hunter. They considered flying straight up the side of the Grand Hospital and blasting in the office windows, but Skara happened to know that the offices of Head Witches were heavily defended against such tactics (thanks to her father now being one), so they were forced to head for the entrance and find their way up from the inside.
"Luz, you better be okay up there!" Willow muttered to herself as she flew towards what was sure to be a battle.
[Meanwhile]
As it turned out, Hettie really wasn't kidding when she said she liked to be thorough in her examinations. Luz and Lucy found themselves being prodded, poked, and put through just about every machine and test in Hettie's sizeable repertoire! It had started with simple stuff; she looked in their ears and mouths, then gave them a hearing and vision test, paying special attention to their eyes. She took samples of hair, skin flakes, and even a feather and a few drops of blood from each of them for testing purposes (all of which Luz had personally destroyed once Hettie was done testing them, keeping an eagle eye on them until that point). But with each test result, Hettie got more excited and began giving them more tests. She tested their reflexes with a little hammer tapping their knees, then went behind them and listened to their heartbeats with a stethoscope by putting the cold metal disk between their wing joints, and took their blood pressure (both of which were noted to be higher than average for girls of their age). Then came the machines, where Hettie put them both through x-rays of their whole bodies, and then MRIs and other such scans to get a look at their insides.
As she was putting Luz through the first of these tests, she told the girls that she'd gotten enough results to form a theory about Lucy's problem. She believed that because Lucy's body was currently between the Cherub and full Angel stages, similar to Luz's after she bonded with the first glyph, her body was now requiring the magical energy of a full Angel in order to fuel itself, but Lucy's wings weren't yet developed enough and were only generating enough for a Cherub. As such, Lucy had enough magic to survive and even cast spells, but her body was craving more and so she felt weak and lethargic. Plus, since Angel Magic was strongly effected by emotion, similar to a witch's bile production, Lucy's guilt had further weakened her ability to generate magic. Luz should have had the same problem, but the light glyph itself had allowed her to passively absorb magic from the Titan, which made up the difference.
Lucy was relieved to at least know the reason for the problem, as was Luz, and both girls suspected it would take care of itself once Lucy matured more, likening it to a teenager who was always hungry due to going through puberty and growth spurts. Hettie wasn't satisfied though and wanted a medical solution, so she continued the tests.
However, it was these last few tests that caused a shift in Hettie. She wouldn't let either girl stand at the monitor with her as she was looking at the results for the other girl (something about Healer-Patient Confidentiality), but after looking at an MRI of Lucy, her excited expression had fallen into a severe frown.
"Is everything alright?" Lucy asked, noticing her frown.
"Yes, I just think the machine is playing up a little bit. Lay down and I'll repeat the test." Hettie replied, not looking up from the monitor.
Lucy looked over to Luz, who was sitting on the clinic bed nearby, but the older Angel could only shrug in response. Lucy obediently laid back down and was put back into the machine, whereupon Hettie's frown deepened.
"Impossible… he couldn't have…!? Belos… what have you done!?" she whispered frantically, just out of the girls' ear shot.
"What was that?" Lucy asked, the loud buzz of the machine keeping her from hearing properly.
Hettie pressed a button to deactivate it and let Lucy get up, though she didn't answer and instead got up and moved over to one of her microscopes. She went to look through it, then scowled as she remembered Luz had destroyed the blood samples.
"I believe I have found a way to deal with Lucy's problem." she said shortly, "However I need to compare her blood with yours once again, Luz. Might I have another drop of blood from each of you?"
Luz blinked, then nodded; "Alright… but I'll be watching closely." she said, feeling suspicious due to Hettie's obvious shift in mood. Hettie handed both her and a confused Lucy a tiny device shaped like a wingless mosquito, which they placed on the tips of their right index fingers. The device then stabbed a very small needle into their fingertips and drained out a single drop of blood, just enough for a microscope slide. She'd used a normal syringe earlier, but that had been because she needed more blood for more tests; she only needed a drop for this… plus Luz didn't like needles and poor Lucy had been even worse and nearly passed out when it had been her turn. As per usual, Luz's blood was a shining gold, while Lucy's was a regular red, and both drops were immediately placed on slides and loaded into the microscope (which was quite different from the ones Luz knew about). Hettie fiddled with some strange dials on it, and cast spells that did who knows what as she examined the blood, seemingly growing more and more agitated.
"This can't be right… to be so blatant…" Hettie scowled, before handing the slides back to Luz to destroy; "I need another sample. I need to be certain there is no cross contamination!"
Luz destroyed the slides with her red light, then she and Lucy both hesitantly gave another sample with the little mosquito devices. However the result was the same and Hettie stood and began to pace, muttering to herself darkly. She didn't just look agitated, she looked angry! Her jaw was clenched and as she muttered, Luz could see her teeth grinding together. Something was obviously up!
Curious, Luz went to the microscope and took a subtle peek at the sample inside, which happened to be Lucy's. There was nothing strange on the surface… at least until Luz noticed something green inside each red blood cell, as well as something else she vaguely recognised from science classes back in the Human Realm.
"Is that… a plant cell?" she frowned.
Hettie snapped to attention and cast a spell, popping the slide out of the microscope. "Healer-Patient Confidentiality, Luz."
"O-Oh, sorry. But maybe I can help? I'm fairly certain Angels don't have anything like plant cells inside them." Luz said, destroying the slides.
Lucy was surprised to hear such a thing was inside her too, and could do nothing but shrug; "Maybe it's from my father's side? Uncle only ever said he was a Wild Witch, but he could have had Demon DNA too. I don't remember what he looked like, but it's possible he was descended from Plant Demons of some kind? Like Mandragoras or Dryads?"
"That must be it. Without asking Belos, I'll doubt we'll get any other answers. It'd explain the green stuff I saw in your blood cells too; probably some form of Chloroplasts." Luz said, proud of herself for remembering that word.
Lucy had no idea so just accepted it, while Hettie was muttering to herself still. "I need to do something about this, but what…?"
The things she'd learned from Lucy's scan and blood sample couldn't be ignored! Something had to be done before a greater tragedy occurred!
Before she could come up with a plan, Hettie felt her Comm-pact vibrate, so she excused herself behind a privacy screen (which also blocked sound) and answered it, finding the caller to be one of the Receptionists.
"What is it?" she asked shortly.
"Apologises, Head Witch. But the Golden Guard is here and demanding access to your office! He claims there is an emergency up there involving the Silver Sentinel and the Arch-Angel! Three girls are with him too, claiming to be friends of the Arch-Angel, and Mx. Whispers has caught wind of it and is demanding access too! They're about ready to come to blows with us AND each other! What should we do!?" the receptionist asked fearfully.
Hettie growled under her breath, then paused. She could use this!
"Tell them that the emergency was de-escalated and I am currently in the middle of a consultation. Let them know that I will allow access shortly, and that I'll be sending the Arch-Angel down to help settle things peacefully." Hettie ordered.
The Receptionist obeyed, and Hettie ended the call. Now she could get Luz out of the way while she dealt with Lucy!
"Luz, I'm sorry but would you mind heading down to the reception? Your friends have arrived and are kicking up a fuss. Three girls I think it was?" Hettie asked.
Luz blinked; "Oh! Willow, Skara, and Boscha must have thought I was taking too long and got worried! Hold on a second, I'll just call them and let them know."
She summoned her scroll, but Hettie piped up; "Actually, I was hoping you'd go tell them in person. I'm ready to give Lucy a treatment for her condition, and I'd like some privacy."
"Really? But then couldn't you use a privacy screen?" Luz asked, feeling her suspicion rising. Hettie had just been agitated, and now she seemed calm and ready with a treatment? Something was off.
"This treatment requires a lot of space and I don't have any privacy screens big enough." Hettie hastily explained.
Now Luz was certain; something was wrong here! She looked to Lucy, who appeared nervous about what this treatment could be. The younger girl gave her an imploring look, not wanting Luz to leave her alone. Seeing this, Luz signed to her; "If you want me to stay, just nod your head. I'll hide under an illusion and make Hettie think I've left."
Lucy responded with a nod, confusing Hettie. Luz then smiled and said; "Okay, I guess I'll go down. I'll be right back up after though! Good luck with the treatment, Lucy!"
She walked over to the Pneumo-Vein, and drew a spell circle that cast her illusion. The illusion turned Luz invisible while creating an illusory copy, which walked into the Pneumo-Vein (also covered in an illusion) and descended with a quick wave. Hettie watched the whole thing, but since the illusory Luz was wearing her winter outfit again, Hettie just assumed the illusion was to change her clothes. Now hidden, Luz gently flew up above Hettie's head and began to hover silently, watching her every move.
The Head Witch turned to Lucy with a pleasant smile; "Take a seat for a moment, Lucy. I need to whip up a medicinal tea first."
"I don't need to disrobe or anything?" Lucy asked, sitting on the sofa she'd put her normal outfit on.
"Not yet. The medicinal tea will relax you and help stimulate your body first. Don't worry, the treatment isn't painful at all, I just need to make sure your body is properly prepared for it." Hettie said, walking over to a cabinet behind her desk. She opened it, Luz peering over her shoulder, and revealed a series of herbs and flowers. The cupboard door kept them from Lucy's sight, so Hettie reached in and pulled out a familiar glowing blue flower… a Nightshine! Luz held back a gasp; if she made tea with that, the drinker would die! Unless Hettie was going to add something else to counter the poison?
She didn't however; she simply plucked some petals with her gloved hands then returned the flower to the cupboard and closed it up. She didn't allow Lucy to see what she'd gathered until the natural light had touched the petals and made them stop glowing, then she finally placed them on her desk.
"What are those?" Lucy asked.
"Cerulea Poppy Petals. I'll be making an herbal medicine based on Cerulea Tea. It won't taste great, but it'll do the job." Hettie said, opening another cupboard and pulling out a tea kettle and a bag of tea leaves. Using Water Magic (a component of Healing Magic), Hettie filled the kettle and used the enchantments on it to start it boiling, then began to make the tea, which she added the petals too. A horrified Luz watched invisibly, hoping with all she had that Hettie was going to add something more, right up until she poured some into a summoned cup and handed it to Lucy.
"Drink up Dear. I added normal tea for flavour, so it shouldn't be too bad." Hettie smiled kindly.
Lucy accepted the tea and began to bring it to her lips, only for Luz to suddenly burst out from her illusion beside her and grab the tea, tossing it cup and all at Hettie's head. The Head Witch hadn't expected it and couldn't get out of the way in time, leading to her headdress being soaked in tea and her face being scalded by the hot liquid. Thankfully for her, none got in her mouth, but she was still hurt and outraged.
"W-What is the meaning of this!?" she demanded.
"That's what I want to know!" Luz roared; "You just tried to feed Lucy tea made from Nightshines! If she'd drunk that, she'd be dead!"
Lucy's eyes widened and she backed away from Hettie, summoning her artificial magic staff with a spell. "What!? Why would you do that!?"
Hettie spluttered; "I-I would never! I swore an oath to do no harm that is not to save! Luz must have mistaken the Cerulea Poppies for Nightshines! It's a common mistake, even by Cartilia natives!"
Luz growled and used some wind magic to open the cabinet behind Hettie and levitate the pot of Nightshines out. Bringing them over to her, she handed them to Lucy; "Use your Darkness Magic to block out the light on these things, and you'll see the truth!"
Lucy didn't hesitate, instead drawing a purple spell circle that briefly blotted out all light in the room… all light except for Luz's softly glowing wings and eyes, and the gentle blue of the glowing Nightshines.
Dropping the spell, Lucy looked at Hettie with horror; "Luz is right… you tried to poison me! You tried to kill me!"
Hettie scowled; "I prefer the word "euthanise". I'm sorry to do this, but I've got no choice! I cannot allow you to leave this room alive!"
She conjured a scalpel in one hand and made her other hand glow with blue magic, while Luz conjured a light sword and Lucy brandished her staff.
"Why!? Why do you want to kill me!?" Lucy cried.
"It's because of those results, right? Lucy has something in her blood that you're afraid of! Let me guess; her father was from some race of big scary Demons that Belos or someone else drove to extinction?" Luz asked with a sneer. That sounded about right for Belos and the Demon Realm; they'd wiped out Basilisks and Mandragoras for similar reasons. Maybe Lucy's father was the son of a Mandragora? It would explain the plant cells.
Hettie paused, weighing up the pros and cons of explaining the situation to Luz. She briefly thought that if she told her the full truth Luz would help her, but she quickly dismissed that idea. No, Luz would still say Lucy deserved to live! She was too innocent and ignorant of the horrors the creature beside her could inflict! Instead, she opted to keep her silence and not waste time on a pointless explanation, especially with the Golden Guard and Luz's allies ready to beat down her door.
"I'm sorry, but I need to do this for all of our sakes. The Dark Angel must die; don't get in my way!" Hettie declared, throwing the scalpel at Lucy's face while using her other hand to conjure bandages at Luz.
Lucy easily side-stepped the scalpel while Luz shredded the bandages with a flurry of slashes from her light sword. However the scalpel suddenly turned and shot back at Lucy from behind, aiming for her neck. Lucy didn't see it, but Luz did and she slashed her light sword (which she turned red with Fire's Aspect of Destruction) towards it, slicing it in half and making the two pieces disintegrate. At that same moment however, Lucy had been preparing to conjure dark tendrils from her shadow to bind Hettie, only for Luz's light sword to destroy the shadows and cancel her spell, leaving her open for a moment.
Hettie took the opening to charge forward, both fists glowing with blue magic. Lucy tried to dive into the shadows, but Luz casting a light blast at Hettie once again destroyed the shadows and stopped Lucy's spell, allowing the Head Witch to duck the light blast and grab Luz's sword arm with one hand while punching Lucy in the chest with the other. Lucy felt her magic drain from her at the moment of impact, even as Hettie's enhanced strength smashed her into the reinforced windows of the office. They cracked, but were strong enough to stay largely intact… sadly the same couldn't be said of Lucy's ribs, and the girl began to tear up as she was overwhelmed with pain and struggled to breathe.
Hettie saw she was helpless, so briefly turned her attention to Luz; "You really shouldn't have thrown that tea back in my face. It was an act of aggression that freed me from my oath. I can fight back and defend myself against you now."
Luz, held aloft by her wrist, found her light sword shrinking as Hettie's blue magic aura drained her magic. It was just like the aura used by the Combat Healers outside!
"Ugh, what is this…" Luz groaned as she struggled in-vain to pry Hettie's fingers open so she could escape.
"Healing Magic can do many things to the body. I can use it to enhance my muscles and thus my speed and strength, or I can use it to disrupt another person's magic. I discovered while examining you that while your blood carries your magic through your body instead of keeping it in a Bile Sack, you still have to channel it into your nervous system to make it work and Healing Magic can block your nerves ability to feel magic, just as we can prevent it from feeling pain or other sensations." Hettie explained, unable to resist instructing a "fellow Healer".
She had done so in an attempt to demoralise Luz, but it instead inspired her. Her spell was basically a form of numbing spell, so the "drain" was actually just the sensation of magic growing weaker. But since Luz could still feel some magic and now she knew she hadn't lost any, she could force it out! Like a person forcing their numb fingers to move on a cold day!
Luz's light sword vanished, then Luz created a crystal gauntlet on her other hand which she used to punch Hettie's wrist as hard as she could, expelling some wind magic from her elbow to further boost her punch. There was a crack as it broke a bone in Hettie's forearm, making the witch groan and drop Luz. The young Angel used her wings to hover back and then pointed the gauntlet at Hettie's face before launching it at her using wind and fire magic, mimicking a rocket punch. The gauntlet smashed into her face, cracking her mask and tearing her headdress a bit, while also making the woman groan once again, and stagger back in pain.
The Arch-Angel moved to press the attack, but then saw Lucy's condition and prioritised helping her instead. She threw up a crystal barrier to keep Hettie at bay, then ran to Lucy's side and began urgently healing her ribs. Lucy sighed with relief as the pain vanished and she could once again breathe.
"T-Thank you. She hits like a rampaging Slitherbeast!" Lucy said, wiping her eyes as Luz helped her to her feet.
"You're welcome. But what happened back there? I thought you'd retreat into the shadows." Luz said.
"I can't when you use Light Magic. Most of my magic is either Darkness or Oracle Magic, and I can't use either very well around you. I haven't got that many other spells." Lucy replied.
Luz frowned guiltily; "Ah Titan, I didn't think of that! Sorry Lucy! I'll try to avoid using Light Magic so you can use your Dark Magic more easily."
Lucy shook her head; "It's fine, if you can just turn down the brightness a little. I didn't have this problem against Amity or when we first fought! Your light has gotten brighter since then."
"Then I'll try to tone it down. Is this alright?" Luz asked, creating another light sword which was a darker gold than the usual almost white gold colour of her light. Lucy bent the shadows beneath her and smiled upon seeing that the light didn't destroy them instantly.
"I can work with this! This'll be my first time teaming up with someone other than Hunter…" she said, stepping forward and preparing to fight.
"And Gus. Can't forget him!" Luz grinned.
To her surprise, Lucy's cheeks darkened slightly; "R-Right. Of course."
There was no time for Luz to question the odd reaction however, as Hettie suddenly leapt at them and smashed both her fists into the crystal barrier, managing to crack it slightly. The woman had healed the damage Luz had done with her crystal gauntlet and had removed her broken mask and torn headdress, finally revealing her full face.
Hettie's face was heavily scarred, with pretty much every thing previously covered up being a mess of scar tissue. She was missing her nose, but the holes for her nostrils remained and were noticeably large, while her eyes were intact and a pale blue that looked almost white. Her ears were not the pointed ears of a witch though, but appeared to be Bovine in nature (with one of them being badly torn). Matching that, she had two large bull horns sticking out from the sides of her bald head, one of which was broken.
"I guess that explains the weirdly shaped headdress…" Luz muttered; "You're some kind of Minotaur Demon, right?"
"Half-Minotaur Demon, on my mother's side." Hettie answered as she began pounding on the barrier, slowly cracking it. The crystal could take an astounding amount of magical punishment, but it was weaker against physical attacks, and Hettie was increasing her strength massively, to the point that her sleeves and gloves were being torn off, revealing clawed hands covered in very short dark brown fur. "My father was a Witch. I lost both of them, along with my face, on the day that Necromancer defiled our town!" she growled, punctuating each word with a punch to the barrier. She was slowly breaking through it, but her hands were suffering the consequences as Luz could see the bruising and broken fingers. However she wasn't even wincing, so Luz guessed she'd numbed the pain.
"I'm sorry that happened to you, but I'm not going to let you kill me just because half my ancestry is something you don't like!" Lucy yelled, casting a spell to cause Hettie's shadow to rise up and grab the woman, restraining her. Luz then lowered the barrier and used the plant glyph to grow a pair of Shooting Seed Pods, which began to fire their seeds at the Head Witch. Luz added her wind magic to the seeds to make them fly faster, and Hettie found herself being badly bruised.
"Taste my Bullet Seed!" Luz cried.
Hettie tried to power through it, but even with the pain numbed, the sheer number of attacks began to make her flinch. Seeing this, Luz aimed the next volley at the woman's prominent chin whilst telling Lucy to release her shadows. The younger girl obeyed and Luz's Bullet Seeds slammed into Hettie's chin. She staggered, and Luz shouted "Seed Bomb!" as she used Plant Magic to enlarge one of the seeds into the size of a coconut, which struck Hettie hard enough to elicit a yelp of pain and topple her over. The woman landed on her back, and Lucy bound her in shadows once again, trapping her.
"I-I think we won." Lucy said cautiously, seeing Hettie groan at the pain getting through her numbing spell.
"Don't let you guard down yet. She's a Coven Head after all! Even one focused on Healing can be pretty tough!" Luz replied, using ice and plant magic to further bind Hettie using vines and icy chains.
Lucy nodded obediently, then asked; "Why were you yelling out spell names?"
"Oh, uh… It's kind of a Human Realm thing. Giving your attacks names is just kinda cool, right? Like your spell there could be called Shadow Bind! Imagine shouting that when using it." Luz replied with an excited grin.
Lucy imagined it and to her surprise, the mental image of herself shouting "Shadow Bind!" as she tied her opponents up in their own shadow was pretty cool. She giggled; "I guess you're right!"
The two girls grinned, though their smiles were wiped away when Hettie suddenly began to struggle. Her bruises were healing on their own as a blue aura coated Hettie's entire body, and she freed her arms by using raw strength to rip them free. The shadows couldn't be ripped or torn, but they were only as powerful as the magic Lucy was channelling into them, and that simply wasn't enough for Hettie's growing strength. She went to pull the restraints from her legs too, so Luz shot a fireball at her while Lucy conjured some throwing knives. Hettie responded by blasting water at the fireball, dousing it and filling the room with steam. The water jet also knocked the knives off course and hit both girls, blasting them over with the force of the jet.
As the room filled with steam, Luz covered herself and Lucy with a barrier and then conjured a hurricane around it to blow the steam away. However there was a flash of light as Hettie used her own Light Magic to destroy Lucy's shadows and free herself. The flash stunned the girls for a moment, allowing Hettie to cast a spell out of their sight. When they regained their vision, they saw Hettie stood watching them from outside the barrier, her skirt torn to reveal Minotaur-like legs. Luz raised a finger to make a spell circle, only to suddenly feel a slight prick in the side of her neck.
The girl gasped and raised a hand to her neck, where she felt a small syringe sticking out of her. Her eyes widened as her body began to go numb. "H-How…" she slurred, teetering so much that Lucy had to hold her up.
"Thanks to my examination of you, I know exactly what medicines effect you best, including anaesthetics. This is my office and it is filled with hidden medical equipment for any occasion, so no matter where you stand, you're in range of my tools." Hettie replied, pointing to the coffee table in the sitting area, which was within Luz's barrier. A small compartment had opened up due to Hettie's spell, and it had shot an anaesthetic dart into her neck, causing her to swoon. It left Luz feeling sluggish and made it very difficult for her to move, though not impossible.
"Hmm, sadly I don't have a perfect anaesthetic for knocking you out available at the moment, but that one will keep you debilitated the longest. I'm sorry that it doesn't make you lose consciousness, making you witness what's about to happen, but you left me no choice." Hettie declared.
With Luz weakened, Hettie took the opportunity to cast a spell on herself, making the claws of her right hand glow a deep blue. She then stabbed the claws into her own neck like syringes, and caused her body to begin swelling and growing, becoming more bestial. Her face, still heavily scarred, took on a more bovine appearance, and Luz realised that whatever she'd just done to herself was likely the Healing Magic equivalent of the Wild Heart spell.
When the spell was over, Hettie was indistinguishable from a full-blooded Minotaur, and her broken horn had regenerated entirely. However unlike with the Wild Heart Spell, Hettie seemed to retain full control of her mind, as she was able to use her magic so summon two large medical items; one was a morgue slab, which she held in one hand like a tower shield, while the other was a massive bone saw, likely intended for use on large Demons.
"I'll end this abomination before the Arch-Angel recovers!" she declared, before lunging at Lucy and swinging the bone saw. Thanks to Luz being weakened and Hettie herself being massively strengthened, she was able to slash straight through Luz's barrier, shattering it like glass. Lucy dove into the shadows with Luz, aiming to flee with her, but before she could even think of another shadow to leap out of, she and Luz were suddenly forced out behind Hettie's desk by the woman using a light spell to destroy the shadows, leaving that as their only exit point. Lucy barely had time to register where they'd appeared before she was forced to roll to the side as Hettie brought the bone saw down and sliced her own desk in two, almost taking Lucy's head off at the same time.
Weakly, Luz used some wind magic to gently blow Lucy off of her and out of the way of a follow up swing. "Leave me! She's not aiming to kill me so don't weigh yourself down!"
"B-But-!" Lucy began, only to be forced to dive into her shadow as Hettie coated her bone saw in ice magic and waved it at her, sending a deluge of razor sharp icicles at her. Hettie prepared to cast another light spell to control where Lucy emerged, but Luz was able to shoot a silver light beam into her eye, damaging it and making Hettie hesitate long enough for Lucy to leap out of the enlarged woman's shadow and attack her from behind.
"Uh, Rot Knife!" Lucy cried, throwing a conjured knife overflowing with Dark Magic. It struck Hettie's saw arm, which began to slowly decay. Hettie scowled and spun around, aiming to smash Lucy with her shield. Luz hit the woman in the side of the head with another silver light beam, and the flash resulted in Hettie's shadow being cast on the shield, allowing the younger Angel to actually run and jumped into the attempted shield bash, vanishing into the shadow. The Head Witch was incredibly confused for a moment, until Lucy appeared under her with a pair of conjured knives. She slashed the woman's Achilles tendons to make her fall to her knees, then dove back into the shadows only to shoot out again and aim a Dark Magic uppercut directly to the woman's chin.
Hettie screamed in pain and fell on her back once more, while Luz cheered from where she was still flopped on the floor. "Good job Lucy! That was a mean Shadow Punch! Or maybe Shadow Sneak!"
"T-The names actually do make this a little less scary!" Lucy admitted, smiling nervously. Another downside to not having her mask was that everyone could now see how terrified she was when she had to fight; she was good at it, but that didn't change how scary it was!
Hettie groaned and unleashed a bright flash from her whole body, destroying the Dark Magic that clung to the wounds Lucy had inflicted, stopping the rot they caused. Then her body glowed blue and began to regenerate on its own as she stood up.
"N-Not bad, you monster!" Hettie panted, beginning to feel the drain on her magic; "But I'm not done yet!"
She stomped one of her hoofs and caused ice to spread across the floor in an attempt to freeze both girls solid. Lucy managed to avoid it by conjuring a ball of dark purple flames to stave off the cold, while Luz weakly summoned the fire glyph and made a ring of fire around her. The anaesthetic was in full effect now and it took all Luz had to move her mouth or even just a finger!
Seeing as Lucy had escaped her attempts to freeze her, Hettie cast another spell circle that caused the nerves in her head to begin glowing, leading to electricity arching between her horns. Lucy gaped, not expecting Lightning Magic! Healing Magic was made of Light, Ice, and Plant Elemental Magic, so it made sense that even a Sigil branded Healer could use Light and Ice Magic (though not Plant Magic, due to that using a different Spell Phlegm), but Lightning Magic shouldn't be possible!
"Forgive the pun, but I think it's time I send this monster into shock!" Hettie bellowed, bowing her head and causing the electricity to shoot from her horns towards the Dark Angel.
Lucy couldn't dodge the high speed attack in time, and the light it gave off was bright enough to stop her from using the shadows, so she was hit straight on. The poor girl screamed and convulsed as the lightning pulsed through her body, while Hettie used the opportunity to raise her bone saw to split the girl in two.
Thinking fast, Luz blasted herself forward with wind magic, making her own body flop around like a rag doll as it flew towards Hettie's face. Right before impact, Luz manifested her crystal barrier, essentially using it like a combination of her earlier crystal fist and Seed Bomb attacks. Hettie cried out as her nose was broken and one of her horns was snapped off, while Luz and her barrier fell to the ground. Luz opened and closed the barrier quickly to trap Lucy inside it with her, then cast a quick healing spell on her.
The spell countered the effects of the shock, making Lucy stop convulsing and fall to her knees, panting. However the spell also used the last of Luz's magic, as she still hadn't recovered from all the healing she'd done on the wards. As such, her barrier fell just as Hettie was recovering and glaring furiously down at the girls.
"Uh oh…" Luz groaned, unable to move or cast spells.
Hettie raised a hoof to stomp on the Arch-Angel, aiming to knock her out the old fashioned way, but Lucy conjured spears from the ground around Luz's body, so they stabbed into the Head Witch's hoof and leg and made her topple over again, falling on more of her expensive medical equipment. Lucy then grabbed Luz and again pulled her into the shadows so they could plan their next move.
The shadows were a space of near infinite blackness, where Lucy could see every shadow she could jump out of as a window. Her range was limited though, and if the windows were all closed, she and everyone with her would be forced out. Still, it allowed them a moment of peace to plan.
"We don't have a lot of time." Lucy frowned, watching Hettie remove the spears from her hoof and slowly heal herself, taking advantage of their absence to be more thorough than before. "How the heck was Cutburn able to use Lightning Magic!? Did she circumvent her sigil somehow!?"
"Given she's a Master Healer, I wouldn't be surprised if she could do that. But that wasn't real Lightning Magic; she used Healing Magic to channel and magnify the electrical signals sent by her nervous system. So it was a kind of Pseudo-Lightning Magic created through Healing Magic. Sort of like how Bardic Magic can be used to cast spells from other types of magic." Luz explained, having figured it out based on seeing Hettie's nerves glowing.
Lucy was surprised by that, but was more concerned about their situation; "I'm running low on magic, and you're basically out all together AND unable to move! We need a plan!"
"I'm open to suggestions." Luz said, feeling a little silly as she just kind of floated around in the void of shadows, unable to move enough to even face the other girl.
Lucy bit her lip; "Hunter is the planner and leader… I just followed his orders! I'm not so good on my own."
"That big Shadow Punch Combo was far from "not so good." You're clearly smart! Have some confidence! You'll need it, since I'm basically useless now." Luz replied.
"You're really out of options?" Lucy asked.
"I have a bottle of Ambrosia to boost my magic, as well as a Power Glyph… but they're in my satchel, and I can't summon it without magic to cast the spell, so unless you can get to the Owl House and back here in the space of 10 seconds then yeah, I'm out of options." the older Angel replied. "I don't even have the magic to summon my scroll and call Titi and the others to come help me!"
"And I don't have a scroll, so I can't call either… Dang it, we're stuck!" Lucy said fearfully, putting a hand through her hair out of nerves. "I can't beat her alone! She regenerates from everything I do! If only I could give blessings like you! Then I could give you my magic and you could save us! Or at least get us out of here!"
Luz frowned; Lucy's confidence issues were keeping her from thinking things through calmly. It was the same thing that Luz went through often in the Human Realm, whenever she'd messed up and struggled to fix things before it got too out of hand. Telling her to snap out of it wouldn't help at this point, so Luz helped by keeping her focused.
"Can you move us through the shadows to a place outside of Hettie's office?" she asked.
"No… entering and leaving the Void of Shadows doesn't take too much magic, but moving through it does. The further I move from where I entered, the more magic I use up! And that's doubled with you here… if I left alone, I could probably make it out to safety, but it'd mean leaving you behind." Lucy replied.
"You could do that. Hettie won't kill me… I think?" Luz said, not so sure if that was true any more. She'd made the woman pretty mad.
"Even if it is true, I can't just leave you behind. Not after what my spirit did on Titan Trapper Island." Lucy shot back, the guilt still shining in her amethyst eyes.
Luz was both touched and concerned, but she didn't have time to dwell on that. "What about your staff? Can't that boost your magic?"
The younger Angel shook her head; "Uncle says it's a waste to give me a proper artificial magic staff now that I have magic of my own. My staff can channel my own magic for bigger spell circles, and it has the same flying enchantments as a flying broom, but that's it. We could use it to escape if we break the reinforced windows in Hettie's office. We've damaged them a little already."
Luz frowned, remembering how Hettie has smashed Lucy into them at the start of their fight. That was definitely one option, if they could finish the job…
Weighing up her options, Luz said; "Hettie has got to be burning through magic like crazy with all the healing and pain numbing spells… if we can just hammer her with a few more attacks, she'll be too exhausted to fight back and we'll finally win! Or if we can hit her with a strong enough blow to knock her out in one hit! Either way would work! It's either that or we bust down the window and hope we can escape on your staff. I'm relying on you regardless, so I'll leave it up to you Lucy."
"I-I don't know…" Lucy fretted, "I want to run away, but…"
What would her Uncle say if she fled? She was his Silver Sentinel and Left Hand! If she ran like a weak little girl from a traitor Coven Head, he'd lose any faith he still had in her! She'd only just won back some affection from the man, she couldn't bear to lose it! There was also a bit of personal pride in it; she didn't want to keep relying on her brother all the time! She wanted to be Hunter's equal, not glorified back-up or worse; a burden!
"I-I think we should try to beat her! I think I can knock her out, and I have an idea to do it, but it's risky." Lucy said, then floated over to Luz and moved the other girl so they could look one another in the eye. "It could also get you hurt. Y-You might have to lie for it to work. Are you okay with that?"
Luz nodded with a smile; "One advantage of being numb all over is that the burning in my throat shouldn't be so bad! I'll help however I can, so tell me your plan!"
Lucy gave a shaky smile of her own, then began to explain.
Meanwhile, Hettie had finished healing her damaged hoof (those spears had really gone in deep) and was now fortifying herself with more spells in preparation for the girls' inevitable counter attack. Luz was basically beaten already; she wouldn't be able to protect that creature for much longer! A good thing too, as the augmenting spells she cast on herself had tired her out more than expected! She needed to finish this up quickly, especially if she was going to escape afterwards. The Emperor and his men wouldn't forgive her for killing the Sentinel after all.
Just as she was about to cast a bright flash to force the girls out of the shadows, one of them suddenly leapt out of the shadows in front of her and lunged towards her. Assuming it was Lucy since Luz couldn't move, Hettie prepared to cut the girl in half with her bone saw, only to hesitate when she was it was Luz after all. Dropping her morgue slab/tower shield, Hettie instead caught the girl and noticed she was still like a rag doll from the effects of the anaesthetic.
"What? How did you leap at me?" Hettie asked, bewildered.
"I didn't! She threw me!" Luz cried indignantly; "That brat tossed me at you as a distraction and so she could escape alone! She said she was going to go get her brother!"
Hettie scowled; "I told you that thing couldn't be trusted! But how does she have enough magic? My examinations showed her range should be more limited than that… Did I miscalculate?"
"I don't know, but I'd really like to smack her one for ditching me!" Luz growled, her eyes strangely glistening, the betrayal having no doubt saddened her. "Look, I've got no magic so I don't suppose you could at least stop the anaesthetic so I can move again? I can help you take Lucy down! I'll tell Titi and the CATTs that she's an enemy and they'll help too!"
Hettie weighed up her options; if Lucy had reached Hunter, Hettie would need to fight through the Emperor's Coven to take her out and escape… having the CATTs to cover her escape and give her sanctuary would be ideal! Perhaps she could find a way to enact the Day of Unity plan with Luz too!
"Alright. I'll accept your terms." Hettie agreed, before jabbing a claw into Luz's neck like a needle, injecting her with Healing Magic to remove the anaesthetic.
Luz winced as Hettie put her down, and she staggered on her feet. "Oof, that hurt like crazy!" she complained, rubbing her throat. She then looked at Hettie's large form; "You'll need to shrink down to normal again if you want to use the Pneumo-Veins."
"True. Hold on a moment." Hettie said, before jabbing herself with her claws and casting a new spell to reverse the effects of her transformation, shrinking her back down to her normal size. This meant the bone saw was also far too large to easily wield any more, so Hettie banished it and prepared to summon a scalpel instead.
However the instant her weapon vanished, Luz leapt at the woman and wrapped her arms around Hettie's right arm, gripping it with all her strength. She then kicked her legs out and wrapped them around Hettie's neck, using her own body like a makeshift cuff to hold her arm in place.
"W-What is the meaning of this!?" Hettie demanded as she used her free hand to try and pull Luz off of her. The moment she tried though, the shadows at her feet became tendrils that shot up and grabbed her left wrist, pulling it down hard enough to dislocate the woman's shoulder and keep the arm immobile. Lucy then launched herself out of the shadows behind Hettie, wielding a war hammer that she'd conjured, which she slammed down onto Hettie's head, right between her horns.
It was a heavy blow, and against most people it would have been lethal as the hammer would have broken their neck or caved in their skull. Thankfully Hettie's augmentation spells and sturdy Minotaur heritage ensured she survived, though not unscathed. The heavy THWACK of metal on skull echoed across the room and the Head Witch staggered forward, falling to her knees. For a moment, it looked like she was merely dazed and would soon rise to her feet once again, but then the moment passed and Luz watched her eyes roll back in her head as she collapsed face first onto the floor, totally unconscious.
The two girls eyed her warily for a moment, before Lucy used the last of her magic to conjure chains to wrap the woman in, ensuring she couldn't easily escape if she regained consciousness. Meanwhile, Luz collapsed exhaustedly onto Hettie's sofa and sighed with relief, rubbing her throat.
"That wasn't very fun! Still, it worked out! Good job, Lucy." she complimented, giving a weary thumbs up.
Once she was satisfied Hettie was secured, Lucy looked at Luz with concern; "I couldn't have done this without you. It was you who lied to get her guard down! If she hadn't left her Enlarged form, that blow wouldn't have knocked her out. Are you alright?"
"My throat is killing me and I've got no ice to soothe it, so that's not fun. But I'm alive and so are you, so I'll call it worth it. Still, I wonder why the heck she wanted to kill you so badly…" the Arch-Angel said, staring forlornly at Hettie's fallen form.
Lucy was wondering the same thing; "It's got to have to do with my father. Mother was an Angel and Hettie didn't have a problem with you, so that side of my bloodline can't be a problem. Maybe Uncle will tell me when I report all this to him. Speaking off, I should go get Hunter; I sent my spirit to him a while ago and they still haven't returned. He's the one with the Comm-pact."
The girl didn't have one, since talking was a new development for her, so she'd never needed one before.
However, just as Lucy was about to take the Pneumo-Vein out of the office, she saw something outside. Looking up, she saw Hunter, Raine, and three girls she didn't initially recognise all flying outside the damaged window, staring through it with wide-eyed expressions. Raine whistled sharply while Hunter shot golden magic at the window from Flapjack, causing the damaged window to shattered completely. Hunter and the CATTs then flew in, Hunter landing in front of Lucy and standing between her and the others, while the CATTs did the same with Luz.
"Sister, I'm here! Are you alright!? What in the Titan's name happened!? Did Luz defeat Head Witch Cutburn!?" Hunter asked urgently.
"I'm fine, Hunter. I'm sorry if Shade worried you; Luz and I were on the verge of fighting when I sent him to you, but we worked it out without violence." Lucy explained.
"I don't know, this all looks pretty violent." Boscha snarked, noting Luz was in her raiment and looked exhausted, while the room was trashed and Hettie was beat up.
Raine and Willow were fussing over Luz just like Hunter was with Lucy, while Skara was subtly backing up Boscha as they kept an eye on the Emperor's Elites.
"I'm fine too, just out of magic and with a burning throat." Luz croaked. "A lot happened…"
"I'll summarise for you all." Lucy added, before giving the short version of what happened.
Hunter was apoplectic that Hettie tried to kill his sister, and almost struck down the unconscious woman then and there! Meanwhile Luz's friends were just as surprised to find out it really was true that the Portal Key had been stolen by Lucy's spirit without her knowledge, and the two Angels forming a brief alliance against Hettie.
Raine shook their head exasperatedly; "Honestly, I can't take you anywhere! I'm not sure if Eda is going to be more mad or smug!"
"Hehe sorry." Luz giggled nervously.
"You're all trouble. Comes with being a rebel." Hunter deadpanned, "Still, you helped save Lucy's life again, so thank you. I'll repay you by forgetting about you threatening her at the start."
Luz bowed her head guiltily, though the guilt faded when Lucy caught her eye, then rolled her eyes at her brother's protectiveness with a fond smile. That made Luz giggle again, especially as she noticed a bit of a shine returning to Lucy's wings… perhaps she'd shaken her guilt and self-doubt a little? That would help her feel better!
"Ignore Goldilocks, Luz." Willow said dismissively, making Hunter squawk indignantly; "You had a right to be angry."
"Yeah. Shame I wasn't here to get a picture though." Boscha pouted. When the others looked at her questioningly, she smirked and said; "What? A picture of Luz in all her Angel glory pushing another girl that looks just like her up against a wall? All I'd need to do is add an illusion of flirty eyes and a little blush and I'd have the perfect weapon to use on Amity!"
The two Angels blushed crimson while the CATTs all laughed and Hunter acted like a protective big brother by pulling Lucy closer to him. The laughter eased their moods, though it did wreak havoc on Luz's sore throat, so Boscha used some water magic to make an ice cold drink to soothe her with, as Raine and Skara looked down on the unconscious Hettie.
"What a waste… she'd have made a good member of the CATTs if she hadn't gone mad." Raine sighed sadly. Skara couldn't help but agree, but she wasn't too fond of recruiting someone who wanted to kill a little kid. Lucy wasn't even a teenager yet as far as she could tell! However she wouldn't have long to think about it.
Skara looked away from the bound and defeated Head Witch as she heard a commotion from outside with her sharp ears. She looked over to the broken window and peeked out, frowning as she saw a large group of Coven Scouts marching into the hospital or making plans to get airships or flying brooms so they could fly directly up to them.
"Guys, the Cavalry is here. We should get going." she warned.
"That's a good idea. Luz is exhausted and I'd rather not fight every scout in the city with only one of my fellow CATTs as back-up." Raine said, nodding to Boscha.
It was a fairly transparent attempt to deny that Willow and Skara were rebels too, and both Hunter and Lucy saw through it immediately. However Hunter was grateful to them for the help, and Lucy had no intention of making an enemy of Luz again so soon after clearing the air with her and shedding some of her guilt. They may be on opposite sides of the Civil War, but the three teens respected each other quite a bit; they all felt that the others were doing what they thought was right, even if they believed they were mislead and manipulated. They would fight one another for what they believed in, but when the need for fighting was passed, they'd try to get along. After all, Luz considered Lucy to be a junior Angel she could help discover herself, and saw Hunter as a bad but sad boy who could do with some better influences in his life, and on the flip side, they both viewed her as a fundamentally good person being misled by the criminal Owl Lady.
Hunter turned away from the CATTs and said; "The official story will be that Hettie Cutburn tried to assassinate you both due to you being Angels. We worked together to defeat her, and then while Lucy and I were securing the prisoner, you all fled under the cover of an illusion. Understood?"
A sleepy Luz smiled as Willow lifted her onto Clover's staff; "Thank you, Hunter. And you too, Lucy."
Lucy smiled, while Hunter just scoffed; "Yeah yeah, don't make me regret it. Now get out of here! I swear, one of these days I'm going to capture you for real!"
The CATTs all smirked as Raine, Skara, and Boscha got on their Palisman. Raine began to whistle a tune known as the Hymn of Hiding to turn them all invisible, but right before they disappeared, Willow winked at Hunter; "See you around… Hunter."
The boy felt his face heat up a little, right before Willow and the others turned invisible and flew away, retreating back to their homes in Bonesborough. As soon as he was sure they were gone, Hunter made sure Lucy was alright and gave the girl a moment of privacy to change back into her uniform, then gave the Emperor a call on his compact.
When his Uncle's mask appeared on the mirror screen, Hunter said; "Uncle, there's been an incident in Cartilia. I think you need to come down here and see for yourself."
Meanwhile, thanks to their invisibility and a little wind magic from Skara, the CATTs flew all the way back to Bonesborough without incident. Willow, Skara, and Boscha separated from the group to go home and let their parents know they're okay, since they'd been gone longer than expected, so Luz and Raine said their goodbyes as they flew back to the Owl House on Raine's Palisman, Rena.
They arrived to find Eda, Rasiel, King, Lilith, Amity, and Hooty all sitting around the coffee table in the living room, translating pages of Philip's notes (well, Hooty was mostly just offering moral support as he chatted with Lilith). It looked like they'd made some decent progress too! There was a pile of newly written translations that was almost as thick as the notes Evelyn had given them, marking the translation as almost completed. There was also a pile of very large tomes stacked up behind the couch, each one looking dusty and as big as Luz's torso.
"Hey everyone! Wow, it looks like you've been busy!" Luz greeted as they walked through the door.
"Welcome back, Owlet. Did you have fun with your Titi?" Eda asked with a smile, as King hugged Luz's ankle and Amity went over to kiss her girlfriend in greeting.
Luz pet her little bro's head and returned Amity's kiss before answering; "Yeah! The first two thirds of the trip were great! But the last part was kinda… well, that's a long story. The short version is I ran into Lucy and found out she didn't steal the Portal Key on purpose… and then we beat up the Head of the Healing Coven when she tried to kill us both."
Everyone stared at her blankly, with Eda sighing exasperatedly; "Even when I tell you to take a break, you still end up doing something! That's what I get for raising a Rebel Angel I suppose."
The others snickered and Luz just smiled bashfully; Eda wasn't mad at her after all. Raine walked over to sit beside their lover, and the two exchanged kisses of their own. Eda whispered something to them and they whispered back, making Eda relax a little more. Luz guessed she'd been asking if they were both truly alright.
"I'll tell you guys the full story over dinner." Luz promised as Amity and King pulled her over to sit between them.
"Good! Darius will also be glad to hear Lucy didn't actually rob you like we all thought. He's been almost as down as you have about it… I think he cares for Hunter and Lucy a lot more than he lets on." Amity smiled. Darius and her Dad had been spending a lot of time together, and Amity had also been training in abominations with them both whenever she wasn't spending time with Luz, Willow, or Lilith, so the girl had seen Darius subtly moping over the situation for a while now.
"Yeah! But tell me about your days! How did it go at the library, and the therapist? Oh, and the notes too!" Luz said, looking between Amity, King, and Eda.
Lilith smiled and gestured to the pile of tomes; "Thanks to my Assistant Curator position and Amity's exemplary record, we were able to convince Malphas to let us into the Forbidden Stacks! He even showed us the Forbidden Forbidden Stacks, where he's been secretly hiding copies of all the books that Belos ordered banned and destroyed. We'd hoped to find a copy of Philip's diary to add to these notes, but sadly that was a dead end. But we did find those; "Grand Arch-Mage Chinana's Primordial Almanac: A Study of the Titan's Humours and Primordial Wellsprings." It's the most comprehensive collection of research on the Wellsprings that was ever written! If a way to navigate the Wellsprings exists, it'll be inside those tomes."
"Which means I'm going to be spending every free moment I have for the next few weeks reading through them." Rasiel sighed, not looking forward to it. He'd skimmed the first volume briefly and the work could be most charitably called dry reading… but it was the only clue to reaching the temple occupied by Lars, and the Black Tomb within.
"Good luck, Rasiel! If I get the portal working before you're done, I'll help you read through them." Luz offered. The Ancient Angel smiled and nodded, though he doubted that would happen; he'd seen enough from the notes to know that building the portal properly would be a difficult task.
King was the next to speak up; "My therapy was fine. I mostly just talked about how I was feeling, and they gave me this!" he reached behind one of the couch cushions and pulled out a stress toy; "They said to squeeze it whenever I started getting mad. Not sure how it's gonna help, but it's kinda fun!"
Luz giggled; "Good for you, Cutie-Pie."
Finally, it was Eda's turn to speak; "As for the notes, we're like 90% done. The good news is that we've translated most of the ingredients and a lot of them are fairly easy to get. We've also translated the details of Philip's first attempt at a portal, which didn't go so well. The bad news is that while a simple portal to who knows where is easy to make, making a proper portal to where you want to go is gonna be crazy difficult… and Philip had the Collector help him."
That was a massive shock to both Luz and Raine; so Philip really had met the Collector too… and now there was a chance Luz needed his help too! This could actually work out! She could free him with King's help, and then he could help them in return!
"So the mirror Evelyn told us Philip found in the Titan's Head really was one of the Collector's mirrors! Is there any information on what he did with it besides having the Collector help make the portal!?" Luz asked eagerly.
"We're not sure yet." Amity said, "But if something that powerful still exists, and Philip didn't destroy it out of spite, then it might be in Belos' hands." she finished with a grim expression.
Luz paled; that was a fair point! Belos had read Philip's diary, which could also have contained where Philip left the mirror! Unless Philip purposely hid the mirror and left behind no mention of where it was, then Belos had almost certainly found it first! Which meant Belos now had access to someone with immense magical power… or at least enough knowledge of it to make anyone a formidable threat.
"If Belos has the Collector on his side, then this is going to be a lot tougher than I thought." Luz frowned. "But we've got no choice; we'll find a way to stop him! And we can turn the Collector to our side by offering to free him! If only a Titan can do that, then Belos is out of luck! We can still do this!"
A new determination began to burn in Luz's chest; they were making progress on all their objectives and now had a clear idea of what to do next! Finish the portal, find a way through the Wellsprings, and defeat Belos, and now they had information to help with all three!
"By the time this is done, Belos won't know what hit him!" Luz grinned. The rest of the Owl Family found her enthusiasm infectious and soon joined her in smiling. Luz's pseudo-day off had reenergised her completely! Belos had best watch out!