Fantasy The Owl House - Statice and Oak

[Edric Blight]

Thomas looked and raised his eyebrows with a bit of surprise witnessing the now large size of the ball of fire. The boy could hear a growling rumble noise, a bit unsettling to him to be honest. He soon grew visibly worried as it appeared the spell was highly unstable. It looked like this was way too much magic for one young witchlet with a single bile sac to handle. But Audrey was strong, right? Surely she could handle this, Thomas thought, maybe even hoped.

He watched as she combined her spell circles quickly and raised her right hand, pointing and signaling to him. His eyes widened as he jumped into action to assist her, nodding. “Oh uhh, got it!“ shouted the boy quickly in acknowledgement of her command and request for assistance. Thomas then drew a spell circle with Audrey. He felt an odd sensation- an almost intimate one as he combined the spell circle from him with the one from the girl. He’d never felt anything like it and was silently stunned while performing the spell. It was like a magic he had never felt before. But he focused hard as to not break the spell and their momentum.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano
​

With the larger spell circle, and the newly renewed influx of magic from Thomas, the spell was stabilized long enough for Audrey to properly proceed with the next few steps of her spell. As properly as a working a brand new spell over on the fly could be. The spell was aimed, and then finally let loose. With a high pitched roar, a jet of flame shot out and immediately connected with the rock wall. The jet was unfocused, more like a flame that reached out, it wasn't what she wanted. Audrey concentrated more, changing the focusing point of the spell, adjusting and experimenting until the flame that shot out became tighter and tighter, more transparent, and lighter in color. Shades of blue and purple, and something strange happened right before their eyes. The flame, acting completely unlike a fire, formed white diamond shapes at its core, spaced out evenly. And they saw the top of the stone wall being melted into slag right before their very eyes. The beam of heat carried so much force that Audrey noticed that the rock was more being melted through, rather than being heated into a liquid. Audrey dropped to a knee, this new fire spell that they had created hungrily ate the air surrounding it, drawing more and more towards it, creating an effect of wind that pulled them, and surrounding objects towards it. From the periphery of her focus she spotted small twigs and loose leaves being yanked towards the ray of fire. She grinned. They had created a monster of a spell, one that not even solid rock could stop, as she saw a whole boulder be liquified to half it's size, then dislodged. The very floor shook under it's power, and it was under their control.

Barely a short handful of seconds later, no more than fifteen, the entire top half of the stone wall had been blown through, and they still had power to spare. Audrey stayed on her knee, and loosened the focus of the funnel, and the ray of flame lost coherency. Becoming more like a normal fire. The diamonds went away, the color became orange once more, and finally Audrey widened the beam, letting all of the flame exit out from their spell in a single final wave away from them. Audrey was soaked in sweat, from exertion, and from the immense heat of the spell, and her hair, while still in a ponytail, was messy and everywhere from the rush of air that the jet consumed.
Through barely controlled panting, she looked up at Thomas, "That went pretty well." She said in a chipper attitude, until she noticed that the ground kept rumbling. Not at a constant amount, but more like... thuds. She glanced behind her, her demeanor slowly changing back to seriousness. She heard... bubbles? She looked back forward and noticed that the stone wall, half standing, was still glowing with heat. "Thom, do you have enough for an ice spell? We need to cool those rocks before going through, you should lead the way." She said calmly. Beyond the opening in the wall were the doors leading to the school grounds behind the building, and beyond that, hopefully, was a mossy and grassy tunnel, going upwards into the woods behind Hexside.

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas had never witnessed or felt this much magical power. What he beheld was fascinating, it made him feel almost like a God. It felt oh so good for some reason to feel powerful to the usually timid boy, but a little voice in the back of his head told him that it felt so wrong for one or two witches to be wielding this amount of power. Was it wild magic? Probably not he told himself, since it was just a general magic fire spell. But this one was different- it was more powerful and required two people doing the spell at the same time to control its mighty power. But the feeling of being that powerful and melting the large boulder down was almost orgasmic. It felt good to have that much power, even if it was for a brief few moments.

The boy noticed himself sweating not only from exerting himself so much but from the pure heat they were creating. Once they were done, Thomas hunched over a bit, panting and sweating as he caught his breath. He looked over at Audrey with a weak smile and a nod. They had done it- and quite successfully too. “Heh, yea,“ he said in between breaths, “VERY well,“ he added.

They then noticed that the stone wall was glowing with heat. His eyebrows raised a bit with surprise as he realized that due to the fire spell, the stone wall was extremely hot and much too hot for them to touch. They’d need to cool it down from its extreme warm temperature if they wanted to squeeze through the opening and be on their way. The witch boy looked to Audrey and nodded with a small determined smile as she asked him for an ice spell to cool it down a bit.

“Yea, I think so,“ he told her, recapturing his breath and some energy. “Ice spell coming right up!“ he proclaimed as he took a little breath and drew a new spell circle. The luminescent thin circle had a light icy blue color to it as a wave of cold ice came out from it. Thomas directed the ice spell onto the stone wall where the ice landed and cooled the wall. It now looked safe for them to squeeze through the opening, which was now cooled thanks to the ice spell.

Audrey did say Thomas should lead the way. He nodded and smiled a bit, keeping that small determined grin. He felt a bit more confidence in himself after getting through all that, so he was now happy to and felt he was capable enough to take the lead, just this once, rather than cowering behind Audrey and letting her lead the way all the time. Thom looked back and nodded, motioning for her to follow him.

Thomas was the first to crawl through the opening. It was an easy squeeze and the perfect size for both of the young 15 year old witches to squeeze through. As he crawled through and made it to the other side, assuming Audrey was close behind, he entered a mossy and a grassy tunnel. It seemed that they were behind the ruined school building and well on their way out of there.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano
​

Audrey followed Thomas, albeit, slower than usual, lagging behind a little. She kept an eye behind her, and just as they were past the collapsed stone wall, she spotted a slight bit of movement at the edge of the end of the hall. It looked like a part of a serpent, just barely enough in sight that she could see it rolling, then disappear out of sight. She frowned, but looked forward and kept her pace. Whatever creature it was, she didn't have the magic, stamina, and probably strength to deal with it. If it was content with slithering just out of sight, then let it slither just out of sight, while she and Thomas walked out of this ruin.

Thomas looked back at her and nodded, encouraging her on. The hallway immediately after the stone wall extended out only a short distance, and the doors were open, right into a tunnel that curved upwards. Moss were on the walls, and patches of grass dotted the floors. There were openings to the left and right, revealing more cavern, but the tunnel straight ahead was their way out. A short distance later, they could see sunlight at the end of the tunnel, as the vegetation grew more and more plentiful, and Audrey became slower and slower. She used the rocky walls to help her stay upright as she climbed, but her abomination armor fell off her in clumps, leaving just her bluer armored gauntlet on as exhaustion set in. Even Thomas's cuirass fell apart, falling in two pieces and hitting the floor with a thud, then melting away into puddles. Audrey paused to take a breath. So close to the exit, she could literally see the light. After a few seconds she took another step, and leaned forward to grab another piece of wall to help her up, visibly struggling to keep a consistent pace.

 

[Edric Blight]

The two young witches made their way out of the ruins, encountering a very mossy path. The boy was feeling good, he could tell they were almost out, almost free, almost back to the surface, no longer trapped here in these ruins. As they went along, Thomas kept a consistent pace, not really checking back to see how Audrey we doing. He just assumed she’d be sticking right behind him. As they went further down the grassy path, he could see the light. His eyes widened a bit as he grinned excitedly.

Eventually, he noticed his abomination armor chest plate split into two and fall off of his body. But it was ok, he didn’t need his armor any more- they were almost out of this dangerous place. As they were nearing closer and closer to the exit, Thomas looked back with a large grin as he turned around to Audrey. “We’re here!“ he proclaimed. “We finally made it! We’re out!“ he said cheerfully. He was glad to be out of this hell hole, that was for sure. But the boy paused and tilted his head, curiously and confused. He furrowed his brow with concern and frowned as he looked at a very tired looking and panting Audrey. “A- Audrea, a- are you ok?“ he asked compassionately, concern in his tone. She looked a bit exhausted, maybe even weak. It was a position Thomas wasn’t used to seeing the girl in during all the time he’d known her. He kneeled down next to her just seconds away from the exit as she seemed to take a breather.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano
​

Audrey sucked in a deep breath of air through her teeth.
"I'm fine. Just. Tired." She managed to say between breaths. She was so close to making it out, the exit was right there within reach, but whatever adrenaline that kept her going since the Spider-Demon fight had since run out, and she was left with an exhausted bile sac and depleted strength. If she was alone, she wouldn't have been exhausted like this, but also, she wouldn't have been able to find solutions to get out as fast, and she wouldn't be ascending this tunnel to the surface as quickly. The sun was still out, if she were alone, it could have taken a full day to escape. Instead, with Thomas it had only taken what, a few hours? She took another step, but stumbled forwards, her legs and arms entirely devoid of strength. It reminded her of her hard training sessions with Liberi, hikes that sapped her of all her stamina, leaving the girl almost crawling before having to take a rest. In this case, she might actually have to crawl, she wasn't alone here, she couldn't halt the climb, she was already slowing it down.

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas just frowned, staying kneeled by her side as he looked at the girl. He nodded slowly. “I understand…“ he said softly, “We’ve been through a lot,“ he said, acknowledging their exhausting trials in the ruins of old Glandus High. But he noticed she looked particularly exhausted. He couldn’t blame her though, she had done the majority of the work. He sighed and just frowned as she attempted to take another step forward but just seemed too tired and winded to lift her body up to get herself out of here.

So, without thinking any further, Thomas bent down and wrapped his arms around her body, picking her up and carrying her bridal style. She was a little heavy, at least to the skinny young boy, but even Thomas was astounded by his own strength. He was a bit surprised he was able to lift her up like this and carry her. “Don’t worry,“ he told her, looking down at her in his arms, “I can carry you,“ he told her.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano
​

Audrey heard the tone of his voice, it was comforting, understanding, and his sigh sounded like he pitied her. She felt anger bubble inside of her, anger at herself that she wasn't strong enough to make this simple climb and, irrationally, at Thomas for pitying the almost crawling girl. If only she had just a little more strength in her arms and legs, or did things better down in the ruin, so she could have more strength for right now. She didn't need to look up at Thomas, nor did she want to. Then she felt a pulling and her orientation suddenly flipped upside down.
"Hey! What the he-" She snarled, her face contorted in an angry frown, before shutting up. Her face gradually grew more neutral, more appraising. She was looking up at him, and she felt his arms around her legs and back. "Hm." She mumbled, finding out that her arms had naturally pulled themselves in, and she had her hands just under her neck. If she really wanted to, and if she had any power left in her arms, she could very easily punch him.
He glanced down at her, "Don't worry, I can carry you."

Whatever protest she had in her died down quickly as she realized that their pace up the tunnel would be quicker than if she just crawled, slowing them both down. If she punched him, he would drop her and she would just roll down the tunnel. Her arms and legs were jelly at this point anyways, as if she could put any power behind a punch in the first place. And if he could do it why not let him do it? Pace would be decent. They might even be able to make it to the front of the school before sundown, whenever sundown was. The rest was nice as well. And you know what she did most of the heavy lifting in that ruin so Thomas putting in some effort would balance out those scales.
A wry smile grew on her face, "Okay... you know, you're looking very heroic right now." She teased, "For someone who said 'definitely not' to adventuring you're pretty good at it, I'm finding out that you're quite the dependable one. If I find myself tumbling down another dark and mysterious hole to a dungeon full of danger I may mail you an invitation to join me." Audrey complimented and joked. "And for the record I'm 'definitely yes' going to play you up if anyone asks me what happened." The girl dramatically put the back of her hand to her forehead and put on a voice mimicking a high class woman, "Oh! After I fainted! From the mere sight of that Spider-Demon, Thomas bravely fought it off with a volley of fireballs, then he carried me in his arms out of the ruins. Nothing could stop him, not even a wall of solid stone!"
She sighed, her smile growing sadder, just a tad. "Just you know, I don't want anyone to know I can fight. So don't play me up. We did everything together, we overcame all of it as a team. And that's the truth anyways."

In the front of the school, the students had been instructed to go home. The club stands remained, deserted, and the fair was abandoned. The sounds of exertion and loud thudding could be heard. Professor Ursa Varan, the Construction Coven professor, and a small number of older construction students worked the ground. They used their magic to cut and lift entire blocks of soil and earth, digging downwards at the location that Thomas and Audrey were pulled in at. Professor Varan himself had his arms crossed, tapping his foot impatiently, watching while the Construction Coven witches worked the ground with incredible effort. While the student body had been instructed to leave the campus and go home, some had stayed behind, hidden. Curious Plant Coven students created bushes to hide them and their friends, Illusion students made them and their posses invisible, all watching the drama unfold. Two students had just been swallowed by the Isles, pulled in by powerful plants which had just gone and left afterwords. What was going to happen next?

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas simply looked down at her as he picked her up, giving her a soft little smile, despite Audrea’s angry frown. The blonde haired witch boy began carrying her through the tunnel as they went to go make their way out to escape this horrible place. He ignored her initial grumblings but hoped she wasn’t too mad or he was over stepping. With Thomas carrying her, they were on pace to make it back in front of Hexside by sundown. As they continued on, Audrey seemed to have a small change of heart about being carried.

Thomas’ face flushed bright red as the blushing boy’s eyes widened as he continued on, listening to Audrea call him “heroic.” Did he really look like that, heroic? He couldn’t lie, he felt a bit macho in that moment carrying the weakened girl, but it sure flustered him to hear Audrey say that he was looking quite heroic. But the compliments only continued, which didn’t quite help Thomas’ red blush to cease. Still, he kept walking, but of course becoming silently flustered with Audrea’s words.

The boy couldn’t help but chuckle a bit at her light hearted jokes, his face becoming red and hot as he embarrassingly remembered what a coward he was before the whole ordeal. But she was right- he had stepped up and aided her in a big way in the battle against the Spider-Demon. Here he was now carrying Audrey in his arms, like her knight in shining armor. Indeed she was right, he did look very heroic and valiant in that moment. Aside from the blushing red face, he looked brave and certainly a great deal more confident then the skittish and timid young boy that had been pulled into this mess by the powerful plants in the first place.

Thomas just frowned and nodded slowly, acknowledging that Audrey wanted to make it clear that they BOTH pulled their weight and not to give her too much credit if they told stories of their trials and ordeal. Maybe he didn’t realize it now, but if Thomas could go through all of that, survive, fight a Spider-Demon, find his way through ruins, then surely he could make the Hexside grudgby team during grudgby trials. It was a bit nice though to know Audrey was humble and didn’t want him to player her up- since Thomas certainly would unintentionally- but she never did strike him as the cocky type.

“G- got it Audrea, thanks,“ he said softly, still a bit flustered from the whole “hero” comment, among other things. Soon, the two had finally made it. It was getting dark out but Thomas had arrived in front of the Hexside school, carrying Audrey in his arms. Surely his parents would be worried sick, and they’d probably be pissed off at him. But he’d have to cross that bridge when he came to it. As they arrived in front of Hexside, Thomas breathed a huge sigh of relief, wanting to drop to his knees but not doing so since he was carrying Audrey. “We did it,“ he said, sounding quite exhausted himself now, “We actually did it! We made it, Audrea! We’re alive!“ Thomas proclaimed, stating the obvious. And to think he was a little wimp before this. Sure he didn’t feel he could tackle ANYTHING by any means, but he definitely felt some more confidence in himself thanks to this situation. Maybe it was necessary for him that this whole mess even happened in the first place….

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano
​

Thomas' pace was quicker than she expected, and they went past the back of the campus grounds she eye'd the Grudgby grounds and seats as he marched past them. And not long after, he had rounded the edge of the school and ended up at the front of Hexside. She looked back over Thomas' shoulder and saw that the sun had only just started going down the horizon, casting its orange glow over the Isles.
Thomas proclaimed that they had done it, audibly winded, and as they rounded the corner they spotted the massive frame of Professor Ursa, as well as a few others at the spot where they were taken. She smiled, they really did do it, and it was done now. The finish line was the corner of the school, all they had to do now was walk up to them, or all they had to do was turn around and see them. Audrey looked up at Thomas, "Well Thomas, I would say you did really good today." She said before looking back at the small crowd of teachers and students. As they got closer, both Audrey and Thomas were able to see what they were doing. Digging, the Construction Coven were lifting massive blocks of dirt and rock out of the ground and stacking them a few paces away. They hadn't noticed the two adventure-weary students yet. Audrey stayed silent for a moment, thinking of something witty to say, and then she grinned.

"So! How long is that hole going to take?" She shouted over to them.
"BAH!" Professor Ursa replied, waving a hand annoyed, "HOURS UNTIL WE REACH WHERE WE NEED TO BE!"
"How unfortunate." Audrey said, now that they were closer.
Professor Ursa turned around and finally saw the two missing students, he blinked in surprise, and then turned around and crouched in front of them, looking them over. "ARE EITHER OF YOU HURT? WHAT HAPPENED DOWN THERE!?" He, was always shouting, but was particularly loud this time.
"We're fine." Audrey said, lying about the cut on her back, she looked up at Thomas, "I think you can let me down now, while you explain what happened." She said, noticing that the rest of the group that had been digging stopped. The Construction Professor walked over and stood next to Ursa, while the older Construction students peeked their heads over the edge of the hole, listening in.

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas nodded and smiled, proud of the both of them and happy Audrea was proud of him, saying he had done well today. The two eventually got closer to the Construction Coven workers. Thomas was still unknowingly holding Audrey in his arms, bridal styleas he walked over to the workers and Ursa. As they stopped, eventually the professor noticed them.

His eyebrows raised a bit as he was caught a little off guard by the usually loud professor, having to remind himself that this was just the way Ursa was. He watched on, a little stunned as Professor Ursa analyzed them, asking what happened. The boy looked down at Audrey as she told him he could let her down now and explained what happened. Titan! He was still holding her!

Thomas’ eyes widened as he blushed a bit, realizing he was still holding her. “Oh r- right, sorry…“ said Thomas softly as he gently put Audrea down, still a little red in the face. He then cleared his throat and looked at Professor Ursa with a tired smile. “Well…“ he began. Thomas then proceeded to explain the whole club fair incident and how investigating a particular off looking booth led them to be dragged into the ruins of Old Glandus High. He then went on to describe the battle with the Spider-Demon and everything and how they eventually escaped and made it back here relatively unscathed.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano
​

Audrey was set down gently and she smiled, she half expected to be dropped like a sack of potatoes, but Thomas was able to keep whatever impulsive reaction he had under control. If his reaction would have been to drop her in the first place. Now on her feet, she had some strength in her limbs, but she was still tired. The girl closed her eyes and took deep, controlled breaths, her armored gauntlet morphed back into a bracelet, moving to hide itself under her sleeves. Audrey ended up hugging herself to keep warm from the cooler evening air. She half listened like this to Thomas recount the adventure to Professor Ursa, who was silent, and had his full attention on Thomas. After a few minutes, Ursa spoke up, startling Audrey, causing her to open her eyes.

"THIS... IS TROUBLING." Professor Ursa started, "HEAD HOME, YOU'VE EARNED YOUR REST. I'LL NEED TO REPORT TO PRINCIPAL BUMP ABOUT THIS, WHAT YOU'VE DISCOVERED IS NO SMALL THING. DO NOT BE SURPRISED IF YOU ARE CALLED TO HIS OFFICE, HE MAY WANT TO HEAR ABOUT THIS FROM EITHER OF YOU PERSONALLY." He stated. The large lizard demon turned back to the Construction Coven witches helping him, and he thanked the older students, and spoke to his colleague about assembling a exploration party of professors to more thoroughly assess the ruins beneath Hexside, as well as tasking groups of Hexside Guards to watch over both this hole they'd just made, and the tunnel behind the school at the edge of the grounds.

Audrey leaned towards Thomas, still hugging herself, "You know, you didn't have to apologize for carrying me earlier..." She said, pausing and looking away. "It was nice." There was something about it, touch that didn't have any malicious intent behind it. Audrey glanced back at Thomas, "Uh, we should start heading back home shouldn't we?" She looked forward and immediately started heading down the path out of Hexside.

 

[Edric Blight]

Even Thomas who was in the very process of explaining the whole ordeal to Professor Ursa and fully paying attention was a little caught off guard as he heard the loud voice of the professor respond as soon as he was finished with his story. His eyebrows raised a little, stunned as the professor spoke. Great, just what he needed, to be called down to Bump’s office. At least he wasn’t in trouble, at least he hoped that was the case. Thomas just simply nodded in response to Ursa.

He then looked to his side at Audrey as she leaned a bit towards him. The blonde haired witch boy’s big chocolate brown eyes widened at her words about him carrying her. “It was nice,“ she had said. The boy repeated those words in his head. His face seemed to flush a bright shade of red now as he blushed. “Oh heh, umm, n- yea, n- nice…“ he said very softly.

Thomas then tried to recompose himself and nodded at her suggestion that they start heading home. “Y- yea, that sounds good…. We should be getting home…“ he said, agreeing. Oh boy, he thought, his parents we not going to be happy with him at all. He’d cross that bridge when he came to it though. The boy then watched as she started heading down the path away from Hexside. After pausing for a moment, he quickly ran up to her and slowed down once he was walking next to her at a normal pace.

“Hey umm Audrea, d- do- would you like me to walk you home?“ he asked, a slight pink blush on his face. He didn’t know what came over him but Thomas felt a little bit more confident, heroic even. Hell maybe even “manly” or “macho” if you will. Carrying her, he felt like a hero- her knight in shining armor. Surely he could continue this and offer to walk her home.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano
​

Audrey walked at a slower pace than usual, and she ended up pinching her shirt and rubbing the fabric between her thumb and finger after she said that. She didn't know what to expect, so she just kept walking. Thomas could be dumbstruck, just standing there and watching as she walked on towards the streets of Bonesborough. Or he could be, Audrey heard footsteps and looked over, right next to her now.
“Hey umm Audrea, d- do- would you like me to walk you home?“ Thomas asked,
Audrey gave him a small smile and then looked forward down the path, "Aren't you doing that right now?" she asked, "And... sure." she replied. She was tired and already looking forward to a hot meal, her bed, and a very early sleep. If she had a palisman, well, if they had palismen then they would have been out of that dungeon with much more ease she imagined. But if she had a palisman, she would be sitting on her staff and soaring home at this very moment. Audrey glanced to Thomas, or sitting on the back of Thomas's and already napping. Conversation didn't come easily to her at this moment, and she found herself thinking about the spell they'd created together, the compressed fire spell. She was almost certain nobody else had ever used a spell like that before, and if they did, it was a lost art.
"So... our fire spell. We should probably come up with a name for it. And I guess we should refine the spell too, you should know how to do it right? You saw my casting." She said, knowing that her choice of word, 'saw', carried much more meaning than it implied. "I don't think anyone else ever did something like that spell. Maybe some witch, a hundred years ago, or something. Either way, nobody does that sort of thing today. As far as I know. It's ours." Audrey said, a small devilish grin grew on her face, and she let out an amused hmph, "Our very own secret spell, anyone who messes with us is gonna be in for a surprise. Spider-Demons included."

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas raised his eyebrows and blushed a little bit, shrugging. “Oh uhh yea, I suppose I am…“ he replied softly. He simply smiled shyly and nodded as she agreed, walking alongside the girl as he had been doing. He felt a little awkward but felt less tense as they walked along.

The witch boy tilted his head curiously at the mention of their fire spell that they had performed. “Oh a name?“ he asked, thinking it over. Thomas shrugged, he had no idea. He wasn’t exactly thinking of naming their spell either. His priority right now was getting them both home safely and some warm food in his belly.

Audrey’s comment and her devilish smirk couldn’t help but to force a little chuckle out of Thom. The boy smiled softly, “Heh, yea. Watch out world!“ he said jokingly with a little giggle. “Not very creative with names. Maybe the Vlasic-Sano fire spell? Or uhh, Sano-Vlasic if you want your last name to come first,“ he suggested with a shrug.

Just then, Thomas both felt and heard his empty stomach growl, crinkling with hunger. The boy frowned and put a hand on his abdomen, realizing how he hadn’t eaten in a while. “Titan. I’m really hungry…“ he said softly, realizing his hunger. “I could probably eat the whole Boiling Isles!“ Thomas joked with a smile and a chuckle.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano
​

Audrey chuckled softly at his attempts at naming their spell, he spoke true, not very creative with names at all. She wondered if the witches who had their own original spells had the same dilemma. Their spell had a niche use sure, but then again, so did well known and commonly used spells like the Thorn Vault. Their spell excelled at cutting, with a magic form, at range. Off the top of her head, the closest thing she could think of that would be anywhere near similar, would be the Abomination Coven's Goo Glaive. A spell that attached a blade at the end of a limb made of abomination goo, typically replacing the hand of a golem. But Audrey learned how to do it over her own arm, instead of a golem. Their spell though, unlike the Goo Glaive, couldn't be parried. The beam would just cut through anything physical. Her mind, though tired, was crowded with applications in duels.

"You're right. These names sound like we're trying to name some kind of new science theory." She replied, "Then again I've never seen, or heard of, those diamond shapes in the spell before. And I've done a good deal of studying with fire spells. There was so much about that spell that was... well, weird." Audrey admitted. She knew fire consumed air as one of it's fundamental components, but this spell actually caused a rush of air, mimicking a gust of wind, towards it. And the force it emitted, it wasn't just heat that melted the stones, the beam had a force behind it, that pushed through the wall. Normal fire spells didn't do that. Normal fire spells were just simple deliveries of heat. There was something more to her trains of thought, but she found that those trains now only went at a snails pace. It seemed like she couldn't escape exhaustion after all.

"I think I'm looking forward to rest more than food. There's so much more to this spell and I want to look more into it, refine it so that we can use it independently, while still being able to come together to form the larger one with diamonds in it. Without needing to use a dozen or so magical batteries to start it up." Audrey explained passionately, "But my head wants me to sleep, so the wheels aren't spinning as fast as I want them to." She sighed, "I wish I could just spend ten hours in the woods fine tuning this spell."

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas frowned slightly, nodding once. “Oh, yea… right…“ he said softly, realizing she had a point. His name suggestions were a little silly for a spell, but he didn’t by any means think they were good options. He shrugged, not really having any creative names after spitballing a few less than desirable ideas. The two walked along talking, Thomas realizing he was more and more excited and relieved to be going home so he could eat and rest, trying not to focus on the chewing out he would get from his parents.

As they walked on, Audrey began talking about the spell again. She seemed so infatuated with it and curious to tweak it and learn about it. Thomas personally wasn’t as captivated by the spell clearly, and it certainly was a big thing on Audrey’s mind. For the boy though, right now what was on his mind was food. “Yea, rest too- can’t wait to just lie down in my own comfy bed. Gonna sleep like a baby tonight,“ he said. “Ahhh don’t get so worked up on that spell. Think about it tomorrow or something. What’s done is done- the important thing is we survived. Just get some rest at home, don’t let figuring out ways to tweak this little spell of ours keep you up,“ said Thomas with a soft smile.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano
​

Audrey slightly rose an eyebrow at him for a moment. Did he mean to try and comfort her, like she was beating herself up for the rough execution of the spell? Sure, she often replayed past duels in her head and looked for places for improvement, things she could have done better, or shouldn't have done, or should have. But this spelling talk wasn't one of those cases, it was amazing to her that it even worked in the first place. Audrey was excited to work with the spell further, but Thomas was right. Just rest. Tomorrow isn't running away from her. She gave him a small smile,
"You're right, I can work on it tomorrow." She admitted, a small amount of longing in her voice.

Soon enough, they reached the edge of the downtown street that The Blood and Bread Cafe was on. Like before, the street was populated, but not so busy, especially now in the waning sunset. Witches were home already or heading home, and the ones who were still out were with friends or colleagues, heading into restaurants and cafes for food, drink, and discussion. A few groups were out shopping, and Audrey noticed the uniforms of Hexside in one of the smaller cafes to the side of the street. She looked back to Thomas.
"Well, this is where we split last time. Any further and you would be going out of your way." Audrey said casually, her walk, already slowed compared to her normal pace, slowed even more. She spun on her heels and walked backwards, a daring move, considering that her limbs had only just recovered their strength and faced Thomas, looking at him.

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas just grinned softly and slowly nodded his head once, happy she’d at least be giving this a rest for tonight. “Yea, tomorrow,“ he replied quietly with a small smile. Eventually as they walked, they arrived at a good stopping point where they would have to split and each go their separate ways to their own respective households. Thomas sighed as he looked around and their pace slowed as they came to the edge of downtown.

He looked back at the girl and nodded. “Oh uhh yea, yep, looks like it,“ he replied with an awkward smile and a small shrug. “Good night and please, Audrea, get some rest,“ he advised her gently, smiling softly as he looked at her. He sighed as he paused for a bit, having one last thing to say to her before they officially bid farewell. “Oh and Audrea?“ he called softly after her, “Thank you for everything…“ he said. “You really saved my sorry butt back there- a lot,“ he admitted softly. He looked at her shyly and then to the ground a bit, his brown eyes shifting around a bit.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano
​

Audrey’s face remained unchanged when It seemed like Thomas agreed that they would split off here. She felt a slight tinge of disappointment, not understanding why, but it quickly went away as Thomas followed up with a gentle plea for her to actually get rest tonight. She smiled at that genuinely, of course, she could go home and immediately pull out a notebook and jot down every thought she had about their new spell, and every thought she had about the two magical objects they’d just retrieved. Which was her original plan.

He seemed to turn to go, but stopped, and he spoke up again. This time giving her a much more heartfelt thank you. Audrey gave him a light huff, a smile still on her face.
“Well we wouldn’t have been in that situation if it weren’t for me so I had to bring you back. I’d never hear the end of it otherwise.” She said jokingly, “Here, let me take that weird mushroom off your back so you don’t have to worry about it.” She walked behind him and pulled her messenger back to the front of her legs and pulled out a pen and some paper, unsure of what to write. “This weird little thing is going under observation until my aunts get back, then we can get some real answers.” She said idly while behind Thomas. Finally, she wrote ‘your butt isn’t so sorry’, folded the note, and dropped it into his bag before taking the terrarium out of it.

She then walked back to Thomas’ front, holding the glass terrarium with both her arms. “And it was nothing, we’re on the same side and in that world we watch each other’s backs. I’m sorry you had that peek into it, I uh, thought I left that behind but I guess I attract trouble.” She shrugged, her smile much more unsure now. “I’ll see you tomorrow Thom. We’re both probably going to be sore in the morning.” Audrey said before turning and starting her walk home.

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas stood there, waiting with a soft shy smile on his face as he thanked Audrey for her help back in the ruins before he turned to go home and part ways with the girl. It was a bit reassuring that she seemed to also wear a soft smile on her face. He was glad that at least to him it seemed like Audrey wasn’t too annoyed she had to drag him around and pull the weight, doing most of the hard fighting and saving his butt.

The witch boy couldn’t help but chuckle, shrug, and smile shyly as she joked a bit. He nodded, remembering how originally angered he was that she had them dragged into that mess in the first place. Originally, he was distrustful of her but only trusted her in the first place down in the ruins because it was all he had left. He had to be logical and there was no use in being angry about it. But as they progressed through their trials, that forced trust grew into a genuine one as Thomas felt his bond of friendship grow back and stronger with Audrey.

Thom’s eyebrows raised a bit as he remembered the terrarium in his bag. “Oh Titan, I almost forgot,“ he said with a little smile as she grabbed the mushroom out of his bag. He smiled softly and nodded as he looked at her. “Thanks, Audrea,“ he said softly to her. He hadn’t quite noticed her slip a little folded up note into his bag as she did this. Thomas chuckled, “Sure thing, it’s all yours,“ he said in reference to her taking back the terrarium to her place for further analysis and investigation.

Thomas nodded slowly, giving her a small but understanding smile as she apologized for dragging him into this. “Thank you Audrea, and it’s ok. I’m sorry for freaking out on you when we first got dragged down there,“ he said. He nodded again as she said goodbye and mentioned that they would probably both be sore in the morning. She was most likely going to be right, but Thomas would have to deal with that later. “Goodbye,“ he said softly, “See you tomorrow morning, Audrey,“ he said, smiling a bit as he used her preferred nickname of “Audrey” with her for the first time since they had originally met and he mistakenly let a nickname slip out. He always used Audrea since it seemed more formal and he wasn’t quite sure if they were truly friends close enough to be on a nickname basis. But he always smiled and noted when she used the nickname of “Thom” with him and enjoyed it. Now he was sure if it- they were truly good friends. All Thomas had left to do was go back home and figure out how to explain his lateness and this whole mess to his parents. He hoped he didn’t look too scratched up or dirty from the whole ordeal. He then turned around and went to go make his way back home.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

Audrey walked home with a bit of pep in her step, the day overall went very well. Though, she wished she had more time to look around at the clubs, maybe she would have been tempted more to join one then. Instead the adventure she went on reminded her how out of shape she was, compared to what she had before, and she felt compelled to condition herself once more. Her initial hopes that her life in Bonesborough would be a peaceful one were dashed, and if stuff like that was going to keep on happening even here, it was better to be more prepared for it. She took a deep breath and happily prepared a plan for herself mentally, even though she practiced with her swords nearly every evening, learning new techniques and trying them in motion was exciting, especially now that she had more of a reason to do more than just flow drills.

Getting home felt quicker than usual, despite carrying more than usual, and being physically more tired than usual. She was running with her happiness, and it was working, at least for just walking, and at least for just this distance. She opened the door and the bell by the entrance rang. Audrey turned and flipped the OPEN sign to it's CLOSED face, and then she noticed her parents peeking in to see her.
Astra, her mother, smiled, "Someone looks like they've had a good day! How was school today?"
Audrey walked towards the staircase to their home upstairs, "Good! I got trapped in an underground derelict ruin with monsters and then got out! I caught a slash on my back though from a Spider-Demon's horn." She said, strangely chipper. She went up the stairs.
"Oh." Astra said simply, her smile gone.
"Another one of those days huh." Deron muttered, "We better prepare some medicine, Dear could you brew up a... hm... from an underground ruin and a demons horn. I think we'll need a round of tetracycline and broad spectrum anti-fungal?"
Astra grumbled, "I know just the thing." she said unhappily.

Above them, Audrey had just entered her room and set down the terrarium on her empty desk, and placed the horn right by it. She put her bag on her chair and unclasped her cloak, tossing it into the laundry pile. She changed into a sports bra and went back downstairs where she found that her dad stood by a bed with a wheeled cart full of tools and supplies. Audrey wordlessly got onto the bed and laid down onto it face down, letting her father, the practiced healer, look at the cut.
"Hm. What kind of poultice is this?" He asked casually, as he took off the butterfly bandages.
"Yarrow root." Audrey replied, "We found some underground."
"Mhm." Deron said, "Lucky, this bled a lot?"
"Yeah."
"It would have been better if you stitched this wound closed instead of using butterfly bandages."
"We worked with that we had."
"So you weren't alone?" Deron asked, he took a wet sterile bandage and began to wipe away the yarrow. Audrey winced at the pain suddenly flaring up again.
"Thomas, that boy we talked about earlier." Audrey explained, "He was pulled in when it should have just been me."
Though Audrey couldn't see it, Deron gave his daughter a stern look, "And Thomas was the reason why you're cut up like this?"
"Well... If it wasn't me he wouldn't be walking home right now." Audrey admitted, "Besides it's not that bad."
Deron was audibly not amused, "So a sacrifice play? You're lucky it was only a glancing blow, a few more inches into you, and you wouldn't be the one walking home. And it is that bad. This cut will scar, Etheldreda." He explained.
"Oh..." Audrey said, "Well, I'm fine with the scar. And I was always the lucky one."
"One of these days your luck is going to run out and I would rather you not spend what luck you have on others, if you had to spend it at all." He said. The poultice was now all wiped away, and he began to clean the cut with a second bandage. Audrey stayed quiet, this time, and soon Deron set his bandages down and drew a small spell circle with both of his hands. His hands glowed with healing magic, and he placed it over his daughter's back. In mere moments, the cut was closed, but a line of slightly off color scar tissue remained. "There. We're done."
Audrey sat back up, and a second later, her mother appeared with a mug. Audrey took the drink and sniffed it, glancing between it and her parents, before drinking the bitter, aromatic, and slightly gritty drink. She let out a noise of disgust, but drank the remainder of the medicine.
"One cup of this every morning and evening, for seven days, and I want you home for those seven days under light observation. If you get ill from the horn, then we need to treat you immediately." Deron said sternly. Astra just stood there, taking the mug back, clearly not very happy.
"Okay." Audrey agreed, not giving them any trouble.

Later in the bathroom, Audrey was filling the bath with hot water, and while she was waiting for it to fill, she stood in front of the mirror, her back turned towards it. She looked over her shoulder and looked at the scar across her back, she touched it gently with a finger, and it didn't hurt. She turned her attention back to the bath and shut the water off once it was ready, and she slipped into the warm water. Relief instantly washed over her body, and she relaxed as she basked in the heat. She thought about the scar for a while. Fictional heroes often had scars, and it wasn't like the scar was on her face or anything. Who was going to be looking at her naked back anyways? A small smile appeared on her face, she saved Thomas, they bested a primordial Spider-Demon, and they explored the ruins of a mysterious cave, and all she got was a scar on her back. That wasn't a bad trade, and it certainly had a story attached to it.
After her bath, she dried off, changed into her sleepwear and went into her room, turning off the lights and crawled into bed, covering herself with her layers of blankets. It felt like she hadn't laid in bed in days, and she closed her eyes, indulging in the thoughts of being carried.

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas made the tired walk back home alone. He was almost too exhausted from the adventure he’d had today to even worry about what the hell he was gonna explain to his parents as to why he was coming home so late and so dirty. He hated lying to his parents, but maybe he had to. He couldn’t make up something believable as to why he was in a dirty state like “grudgby tryouts.” No, that would get Thomas into some deep trouble as they strictly have prohibited him countless times from taking part in that sport. But the cravings to play it were still there obviously. Sure it was dangerous, but growing up and watching it with his dad on the crystal ball as a little witchlet boy made him want to be just like the athletes on the crystal ball.

Soon, Thomas found himself at his residence in the upper middle class suburbs of Bonesborough. His parents, Bella and Andrew Vlasic, were surely going to be crossed with their boy. Thomas stood just outside of his front door, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath before opening them back up again and putting his hand on the door handle. He slowly creaked it open, trying to be as quiet as can be. But it was useless to pretend like he could sneak under the watchful eyes of his protective parents. As Thomas slowly entered his house and quietly closed the front door behind him, he jumped and widened his eyes, seeing both his mother and father standing there, crossing their arms and tapping their feet slowly, looking VERY irritated with Thom.

Thomas’ eyes widened as his heart leapt and he gulped nervously. “Oh! H- h- hi mom! Hi dad! Heh heh…” chuckled Thomas nervously and awkwardly as he forced an uncomfortable little smile, like nothing had ever happened. “You’re late, Thomas…” said the stern voice of his father, Andrew Vlasic. “Any reason why you’re late, young man?” asked the equally as stern voice of his mother. Thomas gulped nervously and chuckled awkwardly again, beginning to crack under the pressure from his parents as he always tended to do. He knew he was in deep trouble now. He’d been through a whole fight with a Spider Demon yet he couldn’t face his parents? Pathetic!

“Thomas Andrew Vlasic, what in Titan’s name could you POSSIBLY be doing that has kept you out this late? And why has it made you oh so filthy?” his mother asked, “Look at you! You’re very dirty! Look at your hair!” she said, pointing to his usually pretty blonde tufts of hair, similar to his father’s, that were now filthy with dirt, causing Thomas to frown. “If I were you, I’d start explaining young man,“ added the stern voice of his father, “Especially considering someone has a 16th birthday coming up so soon…” he warned, causing Thomas to widen his eyes even more and gulp.

“N- no! Dad! Mom! Seriously, I- I promise! I’ll explain!” Thomas stuttered quickly in response to his father’s warning. “And are those scratches I see?! Thomas Vlasic, what have you been doing?!” his mother said in a near shout, frowning with concern as he saw the little scratches he’d gotten from the fight. As long as she didn’t see the cut on his stomach that Audrea had patched up, he figured he was saved from even more trouble. His parents could kill him if they saw the gash on his belly, but Audrey had done a great job of patching it up with healing magic, although he was a bit unsettled she as an abominations witch knew how to do so. And at least his scars and scratches weren’t as bad as Audrea’s….

“Err, mom, dad? I- I can explain…” he told them softly with a frown as he apologetically looked down at the ground at his feet, looking like a little guilty puppy. His pretty chocolate brown eyes spelled guilt. He had to think of something fast. Well, he was already in trouble- that was clear, NO MATTER what. He sure as hell couldn’t tell his parents that he’d just fought a Spider Demon in the ruins of old Glandus High with an abomination coven witch who may or may not have used some form of wild magic. Maybe the whole idea of faking going to grudgby try ours was a more valid option of a lie. Yes, he’d have to go and do that…. Thomas finally made his decision in those few seconds- both the hard decision that went against every fiber of his being to lie to his parents, and the decision of what lie to tell, telling them he’d been trying out for the grudgby team after school. Sure he’d still be in trouble, but it seemed like the better option than admitting what had truly happened.

“I- I’m sorry…” said Thomas, frowning apologetically as he slowly brought his guilty brown orbs to meet his parents glaring eyes. “I- I was staying after school… late… trying out for the grudgby team…” he lied softly. He frowned, “I’m sorry,” he said, in reality sorry and guilty for what had actually happened, but playing it off as he was guilty for the lie that he actually didn’t commit. He watched as his parents eyes widened and turned into angry eyes. “Thomas Andrew Vlasic! What did we tell you about EVER trying out for that barbaric sport! You could get seriously hurt! And look, Titan! You did!” his mother shouted. “Thomas, how dare you… and now look… you’ve got your mother screaming….” Andrew said in a much more calmer tone but still, you could tell he was extremely enraged and disappointed with his only son for directly disobeying their orders and the rule that he was not permitted to try out for grudgby.

Thomas winded and felt himself cower at his mother’s angry screaming lecture and his father’s disappointment. Although he hadn’t actually done what he said he did, it still hurt to know they disapproved of him playing a sport he very much wanted to, and it still hurt to be scolded at like this. “Mom, dad, look! I’m sorry! I know, what I did was totally wrong and I-“ he said before he was cut off by his shouting and angry mother. “You know what you did was wrong?!” Bella shouted in disbelief, “Clearly not young man!” she yelled. Thomas just opened his mouth, stunned, frowning and feeling guilt, but also anger at how he was being scolded for this. “It doesn’t sound to me like you quite understood the gravity of your decisions, Thomas…” his father added in his usual calm tone, but you could tell he was extremely angry with his son from his fall and suppressed tone. Thomas usually would stand down and take all of this scolding and yelling, accepting all fault and blame for his actions and going off sad with tears in his eyes to his room. But, no, something changed today.

Not today… no, he had been through too much to sit back and take this shit like usual. Sure he was timid and always obedient to his helicopter parents, but he had been through absolute hell today. He’d help fight a giant angry Spider Demon and successfully escaped being trapped in the ruins of old Glandus High. He wasn’t going to stand down just because his parents were angry with him. No, he was stronger than that. These were his parents, they shouldn’t be a challenge like a Spider Demon was to him. Thomas took a deep breath and composed himself before doing something he had never done before- talked back to his parents and defended himself.

“I was just trying to be like dad was!” he yelled suddenly, shocking both of his parents. The usually quiet and timid boy who always backed down and cowered had certainly had a demeanor change. “Just get off my back! I’m 15 now, almost 16, and you guys treat me like a baby!” he yelled, suppressing angry tears. He then looked at his dad with anger in his eyes. His mother looked stunned, but his dad’s face and demeanor was mostly unchanged, still a disappointed scowl on Andrew’s face. “Young man, I told you those days are behind me and never to follow in my footsteps. Now you’d best be heading off to your room and enough with the talking back. I suggest you do as we tell you or someone’s going to be in even more trouble and won’t be getting ANYTHING for their 16th birthday,” warned his father sternly. But Thomas wasn’t going to shut up and take this for an answer- not anymore. That was the old Thomas….

“Oh yea, sure! So just because when you were my age you got to play grudgby and have your fun I can’t?!” Thomas snapped back with some sarcasm in his tone of voice. “Thomas!” his father said, opening his mouth to speak again before he was interpreted by his son. “No! Dad! Just because you got to have your fun back in St. Epiderm playing grudgby as a boy and even playing professionally when you graduated doesn’t mean I should be denied the chance just because you’re afraid I’ll get hurt! I’m NOT a baby anymore!” Thomas shouted, taking his stand for himself. The truth was, back in the day when a young Andrew was attending the prestigious St. Epiderm, he had been a highly talented athlete and played on the grudgby team there. He even played a little bit professionally once he graduated and before Thomas was born. It was why for around the first five years of Thomas’ life, he remembered his father often watching grudgby on the crystal ball while he played on the floor with his toys as a little baby. When Thomas got a little older he’d often be captivated by the athletes on the crystal ball, having a secret craving to eventually be just like them and to an extent- his dad once he found out Andrew used to play grudgby. It was something his parents tried to keep on the down low, but obviously Thomas had come across a few old grudgby pictures and trophies from his dad’s youth and days in professional sports.

Now it was Andrew’s turn to look a bit stunned. The two parents and their son stood in silence for a while before somebody finally spoke. “Just because you got hurt, doesn’t mean I will…” he said softly with a frown. His father’s expression softened as he slowly widened his eyes and raised his eyebrows. “H- how did you know?” he whispered quietly, a bit stunned that his son had seemingly found out something. “The attic… earlier this year… I was going around and looking through some of our old stuff…” he admitted softly with an apologetic frown. Andrew just exhaled and closed his eyes, frowning and shaking his head slightly. “I’m sorry…. I found some old newspaper clippings- something about a career ending injury. You never played again.” he told his father softly. “Thomas, I retired to take care of you once you were born…” his father said softly and calmly. “Honey this is-“ his mother said before she was cut off. “Dad, that wasn’t the only reason why…” Thomas said softly, frowning, “You retired because of an injury…. And you don’t ever wanna see me get hurt like you did so you told me I could never play grudgby…” Thomas said softly. It was all coming together. He had it figured out now.

Andrew just sighed and closed his eyes, exhaling as he rubbed his temples slowly. “Son,” he said quietly and calmly, “First off, please boy, don’t go snooping around our stuff up in the attic. Secondly, Thom, I know how this looks, but we’re just trying to protect you…” he said softly. “I retired because it wasn’t safe for a new father to be playing such a physically aggressive and dangerous sport. I had to come home and help your mother take care of you when you were a little boy. You were and still are my pride and joy in life, Thom. I don’t want what happened to me to ever happen to you. You’re destined for great things, but in illusions like us, a much safer and more rewarding field,” his father calmly explained. Thomas just continued to frown. He didn’t want to be held back any longer by his over protective parents like this anymore.

“Look dad, I know…” said Thomas in a genuine soft tone as he frowned and looked up at his dad with sad eyes. “But you guys need to let me grow up. You need to let me fail. You need to let me get hurt. I’m stronger than you think…” he said softly, remembering how he had just help to beat a giant Spider Demon monster. “Honey-“ his mother went to say with a soft and concerned frown, but Andrew just put his hand up to stop her, calmly sighing. “Look Thom, we’ll talk about this later,” he said, “You’re not in trouble anymore. Now please, won’t you go wash up? You’re filthy,” chuckled his father slightly. His mother then smiled softly and nodded, always particular about her boy washing up. Thomas sighed and nodded, his expression stoic. He was at least glad that he grew a pair and finally stood up to his parents and as a bonus, wasn’t in trouble anymore. He quickly went upstairs to the bathroom, washing up. As he showered, he looked down at his naked abdomen. He was grateful for the work Audrea had done to patch him up, but he was conflicted as he still couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that she even knew how to perform healing magic in the first place…. But eventually, the blonde soon-to-be-16 witch boy washed up, his pretty blonde hair clean once again, as he changed into some pajamas and headed to sleep. Thomas essentially instantly fell asleep as soon as his now clean head hit the pillow. He was exhausted from the long day of adventuring and fighting he had today, both physically against the Spider Demon and verbally against his parents.

 

[Skyrte]

Episode 3 - The Schoolyard Rumormill

Hexside was abuzz with chatter, students weren't just talking about the latest crystal ball shows, or the most recent trending fads on the web. Something exciting had happened at Hexside, and it wasn't just the announcements of the upcoming Grudgby Tryouts. The entire day the students were trying to piece together what had happened just yesterday during the Club Fair. Some had seen a blonde haired, brown eyed witch at the Grudgby booth during the Fair, just before the plant monsters burst out from the ground and took him and a girl into the dirt. Others noted that this boy sat with the Abomination Coven students during breaks, and usually kept to himself. And some Construction Coven students, who were discreetly asked to help in the rescue effort, as well as those who were more nosey than cautious, reported that they emerged from a cave from behind the school. One rumor has it that the boy carried the unconscious, and grievously wounded, girl to safety, the sun setting behind him, they were both bleeding and battle scarred from surely the innumerable and hideous monsters from below the school. Stories ran rampant, some claimed that the boy was a secret battle master, a promising recruit into the Emperor's Coven's scouts, a demon hunter, all sorts of wild theories. One thing was for certain amongst the students, if this boy wanted to try out for the Grudgby team, then it would a tryouts worth peeking into.


​

---

Etheldreda Sano​

Audrey woke up to the sun shining directly into her face, she grumbled and turned to get away from the bright beam of light, then her eyes shot open. The sun was way too high for it to be morning, she was late for class! Audrey tossed aside her blankets before fully feeling the effects of her exertion the day before, she sighed in irritation as she felt the pain of soreness in most of her body, remembering that she was to stay home for a week just in case any health issues emerged. She was doubtful anything would actually come of it, but she understood why her parents wanted her home. Dirty objects, particularly demon horns, could carry things that the body didn't agree with at all, and that could result in disease. Better to keep an eye on it and nip it in the bud, than end up weeks into a disease and having to treat a much more severe condition. A part of her wanted this day to be a normal day, to see what the school gossip was like, but having to wake up early in the morning while sore, then having to walk to Hexside wouldn't have been an enjoyable experience at all. This was much nicer, laying in bed, sleeping in, and knowing that for the rest of the day she had no responsibilities. She felt the cool air of her room over her arms and was tempted to pull the blankets back over her, but instead she stretched her limbs out with a deep inhale, feeling that unique pleasurable pain that only came from stretching and massaging sore muscles. Then she stopped, sighing, and used her hands to try to massage herself, wherever she could reach.

After ten minutes or so, she finally managed to swing her legs over the bed's edge and stand up. She still felt sore and discomfort, but she had the whole day to herself, and the next few days as well. She could afford to be slow, and so she carefully, and slowly, made her way to the bathroom and drew a hot bath. Partly for her muscles, but also partly to enjoy the rare treat of taking a bath on school time. As the tub filled with hot water, she thought that Thomas didn't have this luxury, he probably woke up hours ago and went to a Hexside buzzing with talk about the two of them. Hopefully he wasn't as sore as she was in the morning, and hopefully throughout the day, people didn't bother him too much. When she lowered herself into the hot bath, she as usual, savored the warmth and got to work massaging and stretching once again, this time aided by the heat of the water. She drew a spell circle and summoned her scroll, which immediately began buzzing with activity. Dozens of messages from Hexside students swarmed her page, asking her what happened, where she was, how she was doing, who was Thomas. She grimaced and picked out a few select people to reply to, who asked questions that weren't too out there.

She gave them brief summaries of what happened, how they were trapped underground, how they explored a ruins, how they encountered demons and fought them. All in all, a very vague answer, leaving out parts such as the discovery of the Horn and the Mushroom. She answered the people wondering where she was with the truth, she was recovering at home. Audrey kept her answers fairly vague, but with as much truth as possible, she didn't like so many people trying to pry into her business, but she also didn't want any rumors from getting too out of hand and crazy. Though, given the timestamps of some of these messages, she was afraid she might not've replied in time. Hexside at least knew from the start that she was going to be staying home, her parents had sent a message by crow phone to let Principal Bump know, and Principal Bump let his professors know.

As she got out and toweled off, still feeling sore, but now much better, she found herself at a bit of a loss of what to do. She dressed herself, with her messy bed hair, and went into the living room and kitchen of her home, finding her parents gone. They were either downstairs making more potions, bandages, salves, whatever they needed to stock up on, or they were out grabbing groceries. Audrey found a cup of that same dark medicine from last night on the counter, and she took it, downing it forcefully and quickly, frowning through the bitter taste. She rummaged through the pantry and kitchen, eventually settling on a glass of water and a few slices of buttered bread. Audrey went back into her room, setting her light lunch on her now occupied desk. Against the wall of the desk was the terrarium, holding that strange glowing mushroom, and next to it, the etched horn. She sat down, staring at the mushroom hard. Did it have a mind of it's own? Why did it spread it's spores onto her and show her the way out? Audrey remembered that it needed water, from the strange green-sight that it granted her. She sighed.
"Alright... don't hit me with those spores again, okay?" She muttered to it. Plant Coven witches often spoke to their plants, and for the longest time, she didn't understand why. But now, she... sort of knew? She didn't even know if it understood her. She reached out to it's latch and carefully undid it, gently lifting the door to the mushroom. She didn't see any spores, or the mushroom react. Once the terrarium door was fully opened, she took her glass of water and splashed some water onto the soil the mushroom was growing in, and then she sealed the terrarium closed. Audrey let out a noise of mild surprise, half expecting it to do something, but it did nothing.

Audrey then took a bite of her food and while chewing, took out an old notebook from a shelf by the desk. She flipped through it, seeing drawings and recordings of her past duels and sparring sessions with her mentor. Eventually finding an empty page, she started to draw diagrams of the battle against the spider demon, noting down what happened, and analyzing the fight from start to finish, easily taking her right to the end of the school day.

 

[Edric Blight]

The morning sun invited itself in through the window of Thomas’ room in his nice suburban home on the outskirts of the city of Bonesborough. Unlike his female counterpart and partner during the adventures from yesterday, he didn’t awake to any texts, like usual, as he wasn’t very popular and didn’t really have many friends, if any at all. The boy woke up usual time for school. There was no off day for Thomas despite his tiring adventures and trials yesterday- the Vlasic parents expected their boy to have perfect attendance and to one day mold his mind into a perfect illusionist. One day, they hoped he would follow in their footsteps and become among one of many highly talented and skilled illusionists on the Boiling Isles. The boy groaned as he turned over and turned off his screaming alarm. It was time for another day at Hexside. Thom was still pretty tired from the day he had yesterday and he moaned as his body slightly ached getting up and out of bed. He was a tiny bit sore, but surely it was nothing he couldn’t troop through.

The boy woke up, got dressed in his usual Hexside illusions coven student uniform, going downstairs to make himself his typical breakfast- a simple and quick bowl of cereal. His parents were downstairs in the kitchen there getting ready for their mornings too. But they were pretty quiet after the events of last night. When Thomas was finished eating his breakfast in silence, his mother ruffled his blonde hair and smiled sweetly at her brown eyed witch boy. “Have a good day at school Tommy,” she said, as if the heated conversation last night never even took place. Thomas just shrugged and without another word, grabbed his back pack and headed out the door. Hey, he thought, at least he wasn’t in trouble- that was clear.

The boy made his typical walk to school, eventually arriving at Hexside. But what he noticed was that there was a buzz amongst the students at the school. Furthermore, he seemed to get weird stares and people clearly looking at him while whispering about him. He was the subject of rumors, being involved with the Audrey girl in some sort of debacle. Even a rescue. Thomas hated all of the attention and tried his best to keep his head down all day, although he knew he was being watched and stared out, talked about, all day by his fellow peers. Even more odd was the fact that Audrea was no where to be found in any of his morning classes in the first half of the day. The boy didn’t see her at all. Was she ok? Had she been hurt? He couldn’t deal with all of these rumors and being the center of them all by himself. He couldn’t stand the attention.