Chapter Text
There was something different about Hexide when I walked through the front doors that morning. The many murmurs of students chattering amongst one another had a happier tone than usual. Scattered from here to there were bouts of laughter and excited shouts. My gaze circled the hallway as I scanned my surroundings. To my surprise, no one was wearing their uniform. Instead, they were all in heavier clothing, some in nice sweaters while others were in long sleeved dress shirts. Everyone didn’t look quite as dapper as they did during grom. It looked more like an office party type of thing.
A concoction of confusion and curiosity drew me forwards, my focus stuck on my surroundings. I was hungry for clues. The closer I looked the more I began to notice that everyone was bearing gifts of some kind. A lot of students were holding food containers that they were going around sharing with everyone. One had what looked to be eyeballs resting in cups of chocolate while another had tiny square sandwiches with God knows what in them. Though a few of them had wrapped packages. There had to be some sort of holiday going on, but what was everybody celebrating? Was it an Independence Day of some sort? Maybe it was a religious thing like Easter and Christmas.
“Hey, Luz” a soft silky voice from behind me called. I spun around to find Amity along with her two siblings. In the mint-haired witch's hands was a tray of cookies shaped like snowflakes. “Want a cookie?”.
“Sure” I replied while grabbing one, instantly taking a bite. The cookie was very soft and crumbled perfectly in my mouth. It tasted very sweet with a bit of a bitter aftertaste that balanced the flavor. “This is really good. What’s in these?”.
“Just the usual. Flower, sugar, ground fairies”.
I swallowed my mouthful with a nervous gulp. Suddenly, I lost my appetite.
“What’s going on today?” I asked, moving on my draught of disgust. “Is it everyone’s birthday or something?”.
“Right, this is your first frozen family festival, isn’t it?” Edric joined in. He leaned nonchalantly on his younger sister’s shoulder, much to her annoyance. Amity bared her fangs and crossed her arms, hoping her sibling would get the hint. It was all in vain.
“Frozen?” I questioned. “But it’s eighty degrees outside”.
“We celebrate on the knee,” Emira explained. “That’s the only place that has enough magic for the visions to occur”.
“Every year, the titan bestows the witches of the isles a peace offering, the power to receive visions from dead loved ones.” Amity growled while she shoved her brother away from her personal bubble. She then let her posture grow straighter as her scowl faded back into a collected, friendly smile. “To celebrate his kindness, we throw a celebration where we give each other gifts and have a feast”.
But couldn’t oracles already communicate with the dead? Who else would give them their visions of the future? I opened my mouth, about to ask just that, but by the time I did, Emira was already answering me. “This is more than just visions of the future from random ghosts. The spirits actually share memories. Some even say you can feel a strong feeling of peace or hellish turmoil radiating from their souls. It’s supposed to indicate where in the spirit realm they reside”.
“We’ve never been visited before, but dad has. Right after our grandmother died, she visited him. He said it was the most fascinating thing he’s ever seen” Edric added. His twin playfully bumped the side of his shoulder.
“Dad thinks everything is the most fascinating thing he’s ever seen” Emira argued.
I mulled the idea over in my head. It sounded so cool! Maybe I’d get to meet Eda’s ancestors. I had already met her sister and mother. I’m sure her grandma and grandpa were just as interesting, and they could tell me even more about Eda’s mysterious past. Or maybe King will get to find out about his family. Ever since he had found out he wasn’t actually the king of demons, he’d wanted more than anything to find out who, and what, he really was. If his grandparents visited him, they could tell him what kind of demon he was or where his living family was. Who knows? Maybe I would get a vision!
Who would visit me? I had never met my mami’s abuelo before. It would be cool to see him. Maybe I’d get to meet his parents, or my bisabuela’s parents. I had a whole tree of people who could come see me. Though, did they even know I was on the boiling isles? Did they even know the isles existed? Were they in the same spirit realm all of the witches went to when they passed? A surge of dejection made me deflate a little. Maybe I wouldn’t get a vision…but that didn’t mean Eda and King wouldn’t get one! And there were still the presents and the feast!
Realization struck me like lighting.
“Ah! I need to get a present for Eda and King!”. I burst into a sprint down the hallway, calling behind me, “Happy frozen festival thing!”.
“Wait!” Amity shouted after me. “We have classes today!”.
“Bump’ll understand”. He did not understand, but that's a story for another day.
It took me all morning and half of the afternoon to find something decent enough to get my mentor and my fluffy little roommate. It of course needed to be cheap enough for me to afford with what little I had in my pockets, but special enough to make a good gift. By the time I had stepped onto the wooden trail leading to the owl house’s oceanside clearing, the sun was starting to set. A soft breeze hummed along with the sound of birds and wild pixies, making the forest seem alive. The way the red pines swayed in unison brought a feeling of peace to me I could barely begin to describe. Nettles crunched and dead leaves crackled under each of my footsteps. They got louder and louder the faster I went. When I reached the cliffside the owl house laid on, I was practically running.
Eda and King were both outside. The older witch was leaning against her staff while the latter was nestled in her ragged silver mane. Her golden eyes (at least one of them was gold) fell on me and one of her long ears flicked in welcome. King leapt from his perch with an excited, “Luz!”, his furry tail bobbing up and down as he ran to my feet. He jumped up and down while he stretched his hands up into the air. I picked him up as if I were holding a little baby and began to tenderly scratch his light gray under belly.
“Where have you been?” Eda asked, suspicion lining her voice. “I got a call from Bump saying you didn’t show up for class today”.
“I thought you said to feel free to skip class whenever I wanted?” I argued.
“You should at least warn me when you do. You could’ve been kidnapped again for all I knew”.
It was only for a single second, but I flinched like I was just stung by a bee. Eda had opened a freshly healed wound with her worry. She was obviously thinking of that one-time Lilith had kidnapped me. I had gotten in too over my head with an idea to help Eda with her curse and ended up being caught by her once evil sister. Eda had almost been petrified and her and Lilith had both lost all of their magic. It was a horrible memory that I hated remembering, but Eda’s concern was fair. We wouldn’t want something like that happening again.
My mentor noticed my reaction and sank a little. Her gaze softened while it traveled away from the frown on my face. It scanned the inside of her mind for a way to change the subject. A partially pained smile then grew on her face as she spoke “I’m guessing you know what today is”.
“Yeah. Amity told me. I left school to get you guys presents” I responded, a bit of my pep returning. King's yellow eyes widened at the word “presents”. The horned demon scuttled up onto my shoulder using his long claws to grip onto my cowl. He made little “weh” sounds the whole way before excitedly asking, “What did you get me?”.
“You know the rules, King” Eda jumped in before I could say anything. “You know we don’t open presents until after the feast”. The graying witch tilted her staff on its side and let it float in midair. She gestured towards it with her boney hand. The look on her face easily portrayed her impatience, her one gold fang sticking out in a sneer. “We're already late to get a good spot so we need to get going now”.
Despite what she had just said about leaving right at that moment, Eda turned around and went back into the owl house. She was only gone for a few seconds. She soon came back out with a large basket and all of our jackets, all which she stuck in her mountain of hair. When she noticed I hadn’t moved from my spot, we locked eyes, and her expression silently prodded me over to beside Owlbert. I mounted the staff then plucked King off my shoulder and placed him in front of me. Eda hopped on in front of us, then, with a hard kick to the ground, the three of us shot into the air.
It was odd to see the knee again after what happened the last time I was there. Long story short, Amity and I saved Eda and the twins from the slitherbeast. Just like the woods around the owl house, the knee was covered in red pines, though those red pines were all covered in snow. Everything on the knee was, including the mysterious ruins that used to be towns a long long time ago. There was also a strong lively feeling in the air. It was nearly impossible to describe, but it made me have a fervor for the isles in a way I’d never felt before. According to Eda what I was feeling was the titan’s magic. It was its strongest on the knee for some strange reason.
Amongst the many giant stones, the crags and rocky hillsides, the knee was dappled in open clearings. At least they would be open if it weren’t for the sea of people overtaking them. Like spreading flood water, people littered every spot that wasn’t taken over by trees. Each family had their own set up, a blanket, tons of food, and some even had tents full of supplies. Worry made my heart drop down to my stomach. There was literally nowhere to land. Were we really too late to get a spot? Dammit, I should have gotten to the owl house earlier!
To my relief, Owlbert began to lower to the ground. Hidden in a deep bundle of forest, at the bottom of a large overhang, was a secluded patch of grass just barely touched by snow. Forebodingly, the shadows nearly swallowed it whole, only letting tiny stripes of pale dying sunlight peak through the branches. It somehow felt colder than the rest of the knee. When we touched the ground, the snow below my feet sent a chill all the way up my back. That may have been because I didn’t have a jacket on, but I couldn’t help but feel like there was a reason that spot was empty.
“This’ll have to do,” Eda said with a fake hiss. She threw me my jacket and that hat she found in a trash pile with those floppy little paws. “Luz. Go gather some firewood while I set things up”.
“You’ve got it” I hollered with a salute. I raced up to a tree and, with a few yanks, pulled a small branch from it. I dug a fire glyph out of my pocket and stuck it to the limb.
The tip of it lit a blaze, covering the whole area with its strong flickering light.
I tried not to stray too far from our campsite, but with the sun almost gone, I struggled to see. Even with the fire, I could barely make out what was right in front of me. I didn’t really notice the dead twigs and branches I needed to collect until I stepped on them. So, I just wandered, aimlessly traipsing around until I’d collected enough kindling. Maybe that was why I soon stumbled upon the wide-open mouth of the cave buried in the nearby overhang.
I was going to turn around and start retracing my steps, but I could hear something from deep inside the cave’s gullet. Was that…singing? It wasn’t in a language I understood, but it was definitely a whole group of voices all harmonizing together. It sounded so carefree and overall jolly, like they were all drunkards celebrating something inside the local pub. It drew me inside, my curiosity turning to an unbeatable craving. There was something mystical going on, and I wanted to see it. Just a little peek, then I’d go back to Eda and King for the Frozen Festival.
My fire was soon joined by another light. I squinted my eyes and hardened my focus. I could make out something more than the rocky insides of the cave. There was a…tiny house out in the distance…no… There was a whole tiny town!
A bunch of buildings that only stretched up a couple of feet were nestled against the cave wall. They were all made of brick-like stones neatly plastered together by clay. Colorful glass windows littered them like spots on a leopard. It was as if there was a window for everybody in Bonesburrow between all the buildings that were there. The ground in front of them had pebbles embedded into small walkways which were lit by a row of old-timey lanterns. And walking on those streets and living in those houses were these small creatures with ears even longer than witches had. They flopped whenever they moved, jiggling like gelatin. Their eyes were all wide and were deep blue like a young baby’s, and each was covered in rugged fur coats that were as white as the snow outside.
The sight made me quicken my pace from a slow crawl to a run. I raced behind a large boulder and peered out at the mystical beings. A large group of them that nearly filled the entire street were gathered in the middle of the stone road. Singing, dancing, drinking, and eating snacks, they must have been celebrating the frozen festival too. I was so busy staring at them that I didn’t notice one of them had walked up beside me until it pulled on my jacket.
“Oh. Hello little buddy. I didn’t mean to spy. I only–”. I was interrupted by the little creature’s ghastly scream! The cave went completely silent, before all the creature’s friends shot towards me in a giant hoard. I turned to run, but the little creature sprung onto my leg and sunk his teeth into something vital. I dropped to the ground with a howl, the pain searing through my leg so strong it shot through my entire body.
The hoard swallowed me in a wave of sharp fangs that dug into my soft caramel-colored flesh. I scrambled in their hold, flopping around like a fish stranded on land, but to no avail. The more I squirmed, the deeper the creatures’ teeth went. As they weighed me down, more of the creatures grabbed me by the legs and drug me across the cave floor. I reached out with my bloody hands and grabbed ground, but I just slid across the rough surface like it was ice. They brought me past all of their houses and streets into a large cavern filled with gemstones, which all shimmered in the moonlight that peeked through a hole in the roof. On the walls were carvings of the little creatures bathing in the blood of a witch tied down to a giant stone. Looming above them was a horned monster with big talon-filled paws, giant eyes that were big black bottomless pits, and tusks that curled like claws.
I soon ended up on that very same stone, tied to it by leather straps that rubbed against my many new wounds. I once again tried to wriggle my way free, but I barely moved.
All of the creatures began cheering as they circled around me. The wind began to rise until it left every inch of the cavern frozen. And from that wind formed a dark cloud that sprouted a long tail and neck. Antlers popped from the forming head, while tusks grew from its opening maw. The last thing that appeared were two deep eyes that pierced any soul that dared look into them.
The beast placed its paw on my chest and prepared to tear its claws into it. I closed my eyes and braced myself for the agonizing pain of him tearing into my stomach. But that feeling never came. Instead, I felt a strong feeling of peace: a sort of peace I couldn’t even begin to describe. I opened my eyes to find I was outside of the cave. In fact, I wasn’t even on the boiling isles anymore. I was in a hospital room. Everything was bright white from the sunlight peeking through the window behind me. It was kind of hard to see. But when my eyes adjusted, I saw I was sitting right in front of someone I never expected to see.
“Dad?”.