Willow did not look away, her olive eyes boring into Hunter's crimson ones. She could tell from his expression that he wasn't mocking or pitying her; just giving an honest (and accurate) review of what she'd been like back then.
"But then, to my surprise, everything changes a few months ago. There is an incident report in which you stand up to your bullies, and are then transferred into the plant track, where you rapidly rose through the ranks to become the top student in not just your year, but all of Hexside. Reports of bullying cease almost overnight, your general education grades shoot up to above average, and you even briefly served on the Banshees as a starting player, though you did lose your only game due to the Smidge. Aside from that last bit of bad luck, I find it hard to believe these two sets of records belong to the same person." Hunter mused; "You changed."
"I did. And I don't regret it. Papa made a mistake putting me in the abomination track; he was looking out for my best interests, but I simply didn't have the talent for it. After Luz showed up and the incident with the Mandragora happened, my parents and Bump agreed to switch me to the plant track. After what I did to Boscha and her gang, no one wanted to pick on me any more, and with my new confidence, my other grades improved too. Funny how much a person can grow when their sense of self-worth is allowed to bloom instead of being withered daily." Willow said, smiling triumphantly. She may have hated it, but she wasn't ashamed of where she'd come from, because it had been the seed from which her current self had grown!
Hunter's eyes shone and he gave her an earnest smile; "I'm impressed, Willow. Or should I call you Captain?"
"Call me what you like, Golden Guard." Willow said; "Now I'm assuming you were trying to make a point? Maybe about Luz showing up and changing me?"
Hunter shook his head; "She didn't change you; I can see that clearly. She supported you as you changed yourself, am I right?"
"That's what a friend does." Willow nodded in agreement. "I had Gus and Amity to support me too."
"Just as my sister and I have each other. I get it, believe me. But my point was why you'd form such a strange team of misfits. You're all so different and with less than stellar backgrounds in different ways. What brought you together and made you the Hexside representatives?"
Willow looked at him for a moment, before deciding there was no harm in answering. She told the story of Professor Hermanculus trying to shut down her team, only to agree to let it stay after Willow's team had beaten him, and how he'd then suggested them for HECK since they'd impressed him and most of the optimal students were unavailable. Hunter was shocked to his core by the idea of an authority figure rewarding a subordinate for defying them and defeating them! Such a thing was unheard of in the Emperor's Coven! Defying superiors was the fast track to an unwanted reassignment there, and in most cases, superiors took credit for their subordinates' work while passing blame for their failures off on them too. But it seemed this Hermanculus had taken his loss graciously and given Willow and her team their dues for beating him.
"The world outside the castle is bigger than I ever thought…" he muttered to himself. It bothered him a little how much these rebels were starting to get to him… it would be so much easier if this was a conflict between the Benevolent Emperor and Evil Rebels, rather than a good but flawed man doing his best for the greater good while fighting against people with fair reasons to be upset with his regime. Hunter wondered if negotiation was possible… if both sides just understood the other's perspective, would the civil war end and a different kind of unity be formed?
He shook those thoughts off and looked back to Willow; "I guess that explains why your team were made representatives for your school. But it doesn't answer my question about why you chose them for your team. Nothing I saw in their records paint them as great Flyer Derby players."
Willow smirked; "Not everything about them is in those dumb files! Gus is a natural speed demon now that he's found a way to fly that suits him. Skara is a strategic wizard whose Bardic Magic can control the flow of a game. Viney's the best healer in school and a tank that can power through almost anything. And even Emira, who wasn't my first choice, has a conniving mind and knows just how to get into her opponents' heads and mess with them. They're all great teammates, and like me, they're underdogs."
"Underdogs?" Hunter tilted his head.
Willow's smile became sad; "We've all been misjudged in different ways. Gus was a younger kid moving above his age group and got used by older students who took credit for his work while pretending to be his friend. Skara's a Bard and had some bad history with her Mom because she wanted to follow her heart, leading her to becoming dependant on a bully…" Willow grimaced, then sighed and added; "Though that bully has turned herself around lately."
Shaking off thoughts of Boscha, Willow continued; "Then there's Viney; chased out of St. Epiderm by snobs and bigots, only for her love of different magics to make her an outcast and "troublemaker". Even Emira was misjudged; seen as expendable and a tool by her own Mom, while her Dad barely acknowledged her… until he pulled his head out of his butt at least. She and her brother were basically just dolls for Odalia, and were tossed aside and forgotten when their sister was decided to be more useful. And then there's me… Half-a-Witch Willow. The biggest loser in Hexside. But we all changed and turned things around, finding friends who supported us."
Willow looked Hunter in the eye with fierce determination; "I wanted a team of underdogs who were like me; people who had something to prove to the people who doubted us, and who wanted to show the people that supported us that we were worth it. That's why I chose them all, beyond their practical abilities."
Hunter was struck silent by Willow's impassioned words, and as he looked her in the eyes and saw the determined smile appear on her face, he felt his heartbeat quicken. Unintentionally, Willow had touched on something deep within Hunter… old insecurities and doubts.
"I… I understand. You all struggled hard to reach the point you have. That is commendable, and even if we're on different sides, I have nothing but respect for you." Hunter said earnestly. "I know what it's like to be considered Half-a-Witch, and to fight tooth and nail to prove you're worth something, and to please the people who cared for you when no one else did."
Willow nodded sympathetically; "Luz told me that you didn't have magic. It must have been hard becoming Golden Guard without it."
Hunter raised an eyebrow; "What? Not going to accuse me of getting the position because I'm Belos' nephew?"
"No." Willow shook her head; "I get the impression that you wouldn't be so proud of your position if you'd got it through nepotism. And Belos is a lot of things, but I don't think he'd promote you without good cause; he doesn't seem the type to believe in nepotism. Plus Luz said you gave her a run for her money in your first fight. So no, I think you earned your position fair and square."
Hunter's eyes shone and he smiled; "Heh, maybe I should introduce you to Head Witch Darius and let him hear you say that! Maybe then he'd finally find me a worthy successor to his mentor."
Willow made no comment; she knew Darius had more of a soft spot for the Little Prince than he let on. The meeting they'd had before Luz went off to find the Time Pools proved that. So what was the man doing? Was he trying to demoralise Hunter into quitting so he'd be out of danger? Or was he perhaps trying to push him into improving himself by making him seem less capable? Darius was a crafty man, so Willow wouldn't put it past him, and Skara had told her about her own encounter with the man once; how he disliked the idea of children born with silver spoons in their mouth getting uppity and acting better than they were. There was definitely something going on between Darius and Hunter… still, talking to him like this did make Willow feel a little sorry for the boy. Maybe she'd ask Darius to lay off a bit when she next saw him.
Hunter drained the last of his cup and stretched; "Well, I got my answers so I'm satisfied. Though there is one more thing I wanted to know. What's the name of your Flyer Derby team? The records didn't mention it."
Willow groaned; "I haven't thought of one. I've been trying, but nothing I come up with sounds good!"
"Hmm, how about the Emerald Entrails?" Hunter suggested. He was met with a blank stare from Willow, so he shyly explained; "You know, because you're green and there's more to you guys than what's on the outside?"
Willow grinned; "I like it. Plus it lets everyone know that we've got guts!"
Hunter chuckled; "Well, I've got to get back to work. But it's been nice talking to you, Captain." he winked; "You know, you're not so bad for a rebel."
Willow sniffed haughtily; "Who said I'm a rebel?" she asked, before giving Hunter a coy grin; "But if I was a rebel, I'd probably reply that you're not so bad either… for a coven stooge."
She then drained her own cup and began walking away; "Nice talking to you, Hunter."
Hunter watched her go with a small smile, his heart beating a little faster. He was totally unaware that the girl walking away was feeling her own heart beat quicker too.
"The dark and troubled type. A real rose with thorns…" she whispered to herself, a sweet smile pulling at her lips.
[Meanwhile]
"And the winner of the Illusion Event is… Hexside's Gus Porter!" declared the Illusionist running the Illusion Event.
Gus smiled proudly and puffed his chest out to show off the new Blue Ribbon he'd just won. The Illusion Event had been a fun challenge, but nowhere near enough to stop Gus! His biggest competition had been Emira, who applauded him and slapped him lightly on the back.
"Not bad, Short Stuff. I thought I had you for a minute there." Emira grinned as Viney held an arm around her waist.
"You were the biggest challenge I had to beat! If not for you, the game would have been boring!" Gus replied with a grin. "I think we both did Professor Lavestra proud!"
Said Professor nodded very proudly, looking overjoyed by her two students' excellent performance; "You both did wonderfully! That's five Blue Ribbons in a row! Now we're guaranteed to tie at the very least!"
"Great job guys. That was a weird event!" Viney commented, looking back to the Illusion Zone they were just leaving.
The majority of the zone had been turned into a theatre with pale wood, and cyan curtains and upholstery, similar to how the Bard Zone was a concert hall. The booths for extra activities were also decked out to look like private viewing boxes, and where instructors and illusionists were teaching students what they could make with illusions, as well as how to make simple ones of their own and more importantly, a spell to detect simple ones. It was all stuff way below Gus and Emira's level, so they'd mostly just wandered around until the event itself, which turned out to be a massive game of Hide and Seek. The giant stage part of the theatre was turned into a maze with mirrors and clear glass sheets for walls, and their objective had been to find and tag other participants before they themselves were tagged, with the last one standing being the winner. Illusions were a tricky kind of magic (and not respected in Glandus), so Gus and Emira had blitzed through most of the participants with a few simple distraction illusions and invisibility spells. The St. Epiderm students had been a bit more challenging since they actually did value illusions, but they were still no match for the Illusion Genius Gus, or the Sly and Cunning Emira! The whole last ten minutes of the twenty minute event had been just the two of them tossing illusions at one another to try and find their opponent without being found themselves. Emira thought she'd caught Gus when she had her Palisman sniff out his deodorant, but by infusing some illusion magic into water vapour from a mist spell he'd conjured, Gus had managed to create even an olfactory illusion that lured Emira into a trap and finally allowed him to tag her.
"It was entertaining to watch. I'll have to speak to Principal Bump about making some of these events into games we can play at Hexside. Something like this would definitely help our students learn more and have some fun." Professor Lavestra smiled. "But it's on to the Oracle Event next and you two are both up again! Do you think you'll be alright?"
Gus and Emira nodded; Viney had taken on four events in a row, so they could manage two (or three in Gus's case). However now that the Illusion Event was over, the remaining five events were all ones that they weren't so confident in… they didn't have anyone who specialised in Oracle, Construction, Potions, or Abomination Magic, nor did they know what the Emperor's Coven event would entail. It would be all of them trying their hardest in events they weren't really equipped for. Still, they'd do their best!
They all headed to the Oracle Zone, though Viney excused herself to visit the Construction Zone instead, since that would be her next event and she wanted to brush up at the demonstrations before hand.
When Gus arrived at the Oracle Zone, he was surprised to find that it had been completely closed off from the rest of the Covention Centre with deep purple curtains, essentially turning the place into a giant indoor tent. Will o' Wisps that were floating around and glowing a soft blue were the main source of light, supported by crystal balls that hung from the "roof" of the tent and glowed purple. Smaller tents were set up at the front of the zone for the activities, which followed the same basic idea as the ones in the other zone; demonstrations and lessons. Fortune Tellers would read the fortunes of the students, while nearby Oracles showed them what could be done with spirits and tarot cards and the like. The bulk of the zone was made up of an oracle-themed flea market though, with hawkers selling their wares to random people who didn't appear to be staff, student, or teacher.
"A market? This is going to be a weird one." Gus commented.
"You're right about that." came a familiar voice.
Gus's eyes widened, initially thinking it was Luz sneaking up on him. But then he noted that the voice was higher pitched and sounded younger, giving him a good idea of who the speaker was… which was good, because when he turned around all he found was an unfamiliar girl. His sharp eyes traced over her, identifying her initially as a student form Pamilen, the Oracle specialist school, but he could see… seams. That was the best way to describe his ability to see through illusions; Gus could sort of see the seams in the illusions, were reality leaked through. It was something anyone could see if they tried, but few had his attention to detail.
"You're… Silver, right? Or I guess you go by Lucy now." Gus said, beginning to smile.
The unfamiliar girl smiled and took his hand to pull him to a dark corner of the market where they wouldn't be seen, before dispelling her illusion (which turned black and melted away like shadows) to reveal her true face. Gus had seen it on a Crystal Ball Broadcast and heard about it from Luz and Amity, but seeing the face of one of his best friends, but younger and with purple eyes and more scars was definitely a shock to the boy's system.
He shook off his shock quickly and began to closely examine the girl's face, noting that it was starting to redden a little. He felt bad about embarrassing her by staring so much, but he needed to memorise every single difference between her and Luz (the two really were scarily alike; Lucy looked like Luz did when she was Gus's age after all). He also wanted to make sure she looked healthy, remembering how skinny she'd been back in the desert and hearing about her recent run-in with Hettie. Thankfully the girl seemed well; her cheeks looked fuller and her colour was healthier (if a little red), and while it wasn't easy to tell with her uniform, Gus was pretty sure she filled it a little better than before.
"U-Um Gus? It's really me… you don't need to stare so intently." Lucy murmured, her wings beginning to fold in front of her a little, hiding most of her face from him.
"Oh right, sorry. Just wanted to get all the details memorised." Gus smiled, leaning back a little; "You and Luz do look crazy similar! Still, when you look close you see a lot more differences."
"It's just a shame they're mostly your hair, eyes, and scars…" he thought grimly. Seeing the prominent scars on her eye and over the bridge of her nose was bothering him a lot, especially since he knew they likely came from Belos during one of his weird fits.
"I'm glad you think so." Lucy beamed; "Sorry for dragging you over here in disguise; now that everyone knows I'm an Angel, I get hounded a lot by people wanting my blessing or favour. I didn't want them to see us talking and hound you too."
"That's nice of you. Thanks bud!" Gus grinned.
Lucy tilted her head adorably; "Bud… like a flower?"
"Nah, it's short for Buddy! You know, like a friend? It's a human thing; they shorten the names of everything over there." Gus said wistfully, wishing he could go back to the Human Realm for another visit soon. He was probably the one who wanted the new portal built the most (not including Luz of course).
The young Angel began to fidget as her face fell; "We're still friends? I thought that after what happened with the Portal Key…"
"Luz told us about what really happened. Your spirit did it without you asking." Gus cut her off, "I'll be honest, if it weren't for that then I'd probably have a harder time calling you my friend; robbing one of my best buddies when she's on death's door would be low, even for the Emperor's Coven. But it wasn't really you, so I can't hold it against you."
Lucy perked up a bit; "T-Thank you! I was kind of scared that I'd lost one of my only friends! I don't really have many, so I was worried."
That was certainly true; she had Hunter, Flapjack, Osran, and Shade as friends, but their relationships were different than it was with Gus. Hunter was her big brother, Flapjack was more Hunter's friend than hers, Osran was like a teacher and a grandfather-figure, and Shade was in a pact with her… Gus was her only friend without extra circumstances bringing them together. In fact, since he was basically on the opposite side of this civil war, their friendship was even more fragile and rare, but all the more precious to Lucy.
Gus nudged her with his elbow; "Hey now, cheer up! You're not a bad person, so I won't ditch you that easy! Trust me, I know what it's like to have fair-weather friends…" he said, scowling as he thought about the older kids who'd "befriended" him when he first skipped a couple of grades.
Lucy let out a sigh of relief; "Thank the Titan for that! I can't wait until all this is over and I can finally take you up on that offer from the desert! You know, to show me the fun stuff in Bonesborough? It's hard for me to go there now that everyone knows my face, especially since I can't lie about who I am very easily."
"I can agree with that! But why can't you come with me before the whole war thing is over? Bonesborough is neutral." Gus pointed out.
"It's just awkward… and I'm scared of running into Luz. Don't tell her I said this, but she kinda terrifies me!" Lucy confessed, shuddering a little.
Gus couldn't stop himself from snorting; it was hard to imagine Luz being seen as scary! He'd watched her cry her eyes out whilst watching a wedding being held between two CATTs back on Digale Island! He'd seen Alador pick her up by her hood like an errant kitten and gently toss her out of his lab because she kept wanting to push all the buttons! Luz was the epitome of Chaotic Good trying to pass herself off as Lawful Good, and aside from Belos and perhaps Terra and Vitimir, she didn't even want to hurt her enemies!
Still, Luz had confessed how she'd attacked Lucy upon seeing her in Hettie's office, Gus could see why Lucy would be wary.
"Luz said she's sorry about attacking you last week. She didn't know about what really happened with the key." Gus tried to defend.
Lucy shook her head; "Oh, I know that. It's more that she's scary because she's like the epitome of Angels! She's all light and powerful, while I'm all dark and still kind of weak, at least compared to her. It looks bad for an Angel serving the Emperor to be weaker than one fighting against him and the Titan's will. It's hard not to be intimidated, you know?"
That made Gus pause; so Lucy was less scared of Luz herself and more scared of what she represented… He could understand that. He was also tempted to say that maybe Luz's strength compared to hers was proof that Lucy was on the wrong side, but it felt cruel to exploit her insecurities to make her join his side. That wasn't what a friend should do.
"I guess I understand. But you really don't need to be intimidated; you're fine the way you are." Gus said honestly; "And it's nice hearing you actually speak. Your voice sounds nice!"
"I-It does? Thank you…" Lucy blushed, making Gus blink. Was she getting too warm? They were pretty close to a Will o' Wisp after all.
He reached out and took her hand, then began pulling her away from it, making the girl squeak in surprise. Gus paid it no mind, but before they could move more than a few paces, Lucy yanked her hand free and clutched it to her chest.
"Oh, sorry. I should have asked first. I just thought you were getting too warm." Gus said innocently.
"I-It's fine, I just… I'd rather not say." Lucy said, on the cusp of lying before thinking better of it; "But anyway, I didn't just call out to you so I could make sure we're still friends. I also wanted to warn you about something."
"Warn me?" the boy frowned.
"Yes. After the Plant Event earlier, I came across a strange meeting between students from St. Epiderm, Glandus, and most of the smaller schools. It was unusual and I heard Hexside brought up even though no students from your team were present, so I decided to eavesdrop using Shade." Lucy pointed to the purple Oracle Stone she currently wore around her neck. "He came back with some interesting information. The other schools are plotting against Hexside."
"Wait, they're plotting? I know the HECK is kind of a school pride thing, but isn't that a bit much?" Gus asked.
Lucy shrugged; "It's likely the mystery grand prize that the Emperor has provided; everyone wants it."
"So what's the plot? Only one school can win it after all, so why'd they all gang up on us?"
"Well originally, Hexside had 4 Blue Ribbons, so I overhead that to keep them from winning, the other schools would conspire so one of the other big schools would win one ribbon and the other would win the other five. Basically they'd sabotage you and help each other. But the plan was thrown out since St. Epiderm and Glandus couldn't agree on which of them would win the big prize; they agreed they didn't want Hexside to win, but that's all they agreed on." Lucy explained.
Gus scowled; "Dang, what's their beef with Hexside?"
"St. Epiderm sees you as low class, and Glandus sees you as weak. Meanwhile the other schools view Hexside as just a jumped up smaller school like them. Hexside wasn't considered a major school until it managed to overthrow and destroy Fibul Academy, so it's not as respected by some of the others." Lucy answered; "But the plan changed. Now that you've won a fifth ribbon, it's impossible for the other schools to get a majority and win the prize, so they all finally came to an agreement; they'll be helping Glandus win the remaining five Blue Ribbons."
"Because if two schools have five out of ten ribbons, then there's got to be some kind of head-to-head tie breaker, right?" Gus asked. Lucy didn't answer (likely unable to due to her role as proctor), but he could tell from her eyes that he was right; "And Glandus is the school most likely to be able to beat us in a head-to-head."
Lucy nodded at that part; "Glandus excels in combat magic of all kinds. In a straight fight, I'd normally bet on them to beat any other school… but Hexside is different this year. I think you could actually win. Which is why…"
She gulped, hesitating to finish her sentence. Gus smiled kindly, coaxing her with his expression until she finally said; "Which is why I want you to throw in the towel."
"Wait, you want Hexside to take a dive!?" Gus gasped, barely keeping his voice down, "Why!?"
Lucy bit her lip; "I can't tell you… but let's just say that the Grand Prize isn't something you and your friends would want. Please; it's better to let Glandus win."
Before Gus could question her further, the Oracle proctoring the event called out for all remaining participants to assemble. Lucy heard this and cast a spell to coat her in shadows, which soon became her previous disguise.
"You need to go. Please remember what I said." Lucy begged, before hurrying off and leaving a dumbfounded Gus behind. He frowned and tried to consider what she'd told him, but he didn't have time before the event began.
The Oracle Event turned out to be a kind of scavenger hunt within the flea market; each participant received a list of items and were told to find and acquire them within 15 minutes. The goal was obviously to use Oracle Magic to scry for the items and acquire them, but some items were notably not for sale by the Flea Market, which only accepted other items in trade rather than money anyway. They had to predict which items the sellers wanted and how best to quickly get them so they could make the trade, so it was all about mapping out the ideal sequence of trading… or using a well hidden Oracle Spirit to steal the items. Gus knew some Oracle tricks, but didn't actually know any Oracle Spells and so wandered around helplessly, while Emira was in a similar boat, though she was cunning enough to try and steal a few items… sadly she and Gus were doomed from the start. As part of the other schools' union against them, they'd spied on their lists, and everyone except the Glandus students were actively trying to get Hexside's items instead of their own, to keep them from winning. When the 15 minutes were up, Gus hadn't retrieved any items and Emira had only managed to snag three out of ten. That still left her in third place behind the Glandus duo thanks to the other students not hunting their own items, but it meant Hexside was dealt its first loss.
Emira and Professor Lavestra were both confused and frustrated, though not overtly disappointed since they hadn't expected to win the event even if the other schools hadn't worked together. Gus was quick to fill them in on what Lucy had warned him about, so Professor Lavestra decided to call the rest of the team together for a brief meeting before the Construction Event.
Gus repeated his tale a second time, and the others looked annoyed.
"So they're all gonna gang up on us? I guess we got lucky the five events we were good at came first." Skara mused.
"Or unlucky." Viney frowned; "If we hadn't been on such a hot streak, they'd never have come up with the plan in the first place. We might have won."
"But that's probably a bad idea, Kitten. Lucy warned us away from the Grand Prize, so it's probably something terrible or that we couldn't use, like an audience with the Emperor, or a tour of his castle or something." Emira said, nose wrinkling at the idea.
"With Lucy being an Angel, we can bet she was being honest. She wouldn't hurt herself lying just so someone else can win." Willow pointed out; "…unless she thinks the CATTs will use the prize in some way to hurt Belos. Something like an audience or a tour of his castle would be a good way to get through his defences. If that were the case, I could see her lying to protect her Uncle."
Professor Lavestra and Gus both shook their heads; "I don't think it's a good idea." the teacher said; "I say we take her warning seriously. We've already won half the ribbons; we've guaranteed second place at the least. That's more than enough prestige for the school."
Gus agreed; "Yeah, I don't think Lucy was trying to trick me. Didn't Luz say she basically got sick with guilt over the incident with the key? And that wasn't even her fault! I can't believe she'd try a trick like this."
That was a convincing argument, so Willow nodded; "Alright, then we'll let the other schools continue their sabotage, and then throw the tie-breaker. If Glandus wants the big prize, then they can have it." she declared, before putting her hand forward.
Her teammates put their hands in too, then Willow grinned; "1, 2, 3! GO EMERALD ENTRAILS!" she cheered, throwing her hand into the air.
Her friends did the same with a short cheer, though they all looked curious at the name; "Emerald Entrails? Finally thought up a team name for us, huh?" Viney grinned.
"Uh, kind of. A… friend… suggested it. Because I'm green and there's more to us than what's on the surface." Willow said shyly, twiddling her fingers nervously.
Her teammates were curious about her reaction, but they liked the name and cheered "Entrails, Entrails, Entrails!"
Clearly, the name was a hit!
With a plan in mind, the Emerald Entrails went about the rest of the events with only a casual amount of effort; they did what they could, but didn't bother pushing themselves to win. Not that the other schools would have let them of course.
The remaining zones were decorated largely as one would expect; the Construction Zone was designed like a construction site and had areas were students could watch a builder craft things, or could learn how to craft things themselves, as well as cast repairing spells. The Potions Zone was like a giant apothecary, and had the usual demonstrations on what some cool potions did, and small lessons on how to brew a couple of easy potions that largely just required putting the right ingredients in a cauldron in the right order. The Abominations Zone was designed like a mad scientist's laboratory, and again had the usual demonstrations of what could be done with Abomination goo, and a few short seminars on how to make the slime and shape it into usable items. Finally, the Emperor's Coven Zone had been designed to look like the interior of the Emperor's Castle, and demonstrations by Coven Scouts about what they could do with multiple types of magic. Interestingly though, there were no practical demonstrations of magic and instead there were some propaganda lessons and readings of scripture from the Faith of the Titan.
The Events themselves were fun enough to take part in, and the Emerald Entrails decided to make each event a kind of game of their own; they'd do the best they could with their limited knowledge and the sabotage of the other schools, seeing how close they could get to the winner's podium. Even without the sabotage, it was unlikely they'd have won any of these events, but it was still a fun challenge.
In the Construction Event, they were each given a blueprint and then told to construct the building on it, with there being some materials available to those who couldn't conjure their own. Some of the materials were intentionally damaged though, to ensure the participants had to try and repair them. Also, since Viney had already done four events and Willow only had three in total, Willow decided to substitute with Viney so the girl could rest, meaning it was a team of Gus and Willow taking on the Construction Event. Predictably, the other students swarmed the piles of materials before Gus or Willow could even move, and took every single thing even if they didn't need it. They didn't even leave the broken and damaged stuff! Despite this though, Gus and Willow did an impressive job; Gus used Illusion magic to make a perfect replica of the building he was meant to make, then mixed water magic with the miniscule amount of earth magic he'd been able to learn from Matt to create some very rudimentary clay, which he shaped into a rough shell of his assigned building. Willow had done something similar, but had instead grown trees and plants into a rough replica of the building she'd been tasked to create, which actually turned out pretty well. They'd still lost naturally, but they'd been far from last place, which seemed to frustrate Glandus even as one of their own took the Blue Ribbon.
The Potions Event was very similar, only with them having to craft a potion instead of a building. Again, the other participants interfered by snatching up all the ingredients before Willow or Skara could get any, but with Willow's Plant Magic, that was barely an issue. They couldn't make the potions properly without some fauna ingredients though, so Skara used a little of what Boscha had taught her to find substitute plants for Willow to grow and then tried to make up for the difference with Sonic Alchemy. The resulting potions were good enough that they almost won, but the Proctor docked them points for deviating from the recipe… still, they ended up in fourth and fifth place! The Glandus kid that won the event didn't know if he should be more frustrated by their high rank, or the fact they didn't seem upset about losing!
The Abomination Event was, predictably, an event to craft an Abomination and then have it perform set tasks, and as with the last events, everyone else took all the materials so Hexside had nothing to work with. Instead, both Gus and Emira had made Abominable Snowmen by mimicking Luz's spell, and they both did excellently, though were naturally docked a lot of points for not actually making the Abomination goo. However the Proctors had caught on to the other schools' plot and docked them all points for taking more than they needed and wasting the supplies.
Finally, the Emperor's Coven Event was a simplified version of a form of real EC training; a maze full of traps that they were all dumped into via random gates, with the goal being to reach the exit without going under the maze, over the maze, or breaking down walls. It was being proctored by Lucy, who watched the Hexside duo of Willow and Skara rather nervously, especially when the event began. Willow and Skara could have both potentially won the event if they'd wanted; the former could coat the maze in plants and use that to find the exit, while Skara could do the same with sonar, but they didn't get much of a chance to even try. They'd planned to just find each other in the maze and then get near the exit before pretending to get lost, but that was ruined when they were attacked by just about every other student in the maze right after they found each other. Part of the event meant the students could fight one another if they wished, so everyone but the two Glandus students were gunning to take out Willow and Skara.
Under normal circumstances, it would have been a fairly tough fight, but Willow had gone head to head with an elite from the Plant Coven and won, and Skara was considered a Bardic prodigy that could stand on the same level as even higher ups in the Bard Coven, so both were formidable foes. By the time Lucy announced that the event was over and Glandus had won, the girls had driven off most of their opponents, with only one student from St. Epiderm and a few from the smaller schools still daring to fight them. It looked like their work with the rebellion had paid off!
Still, with the ending of the EC Event, there was a buzz in the crowd of students and teachers. Hexside had won the first five Blue Ribbons in a landslide, while Glandus had won the second five, making HECK a tie between those two schools. There was some talk amongst the organisers about what they should do; some advocating for giving Hexside the Grand Prize since they'd had the overall higher rankings in each event compared to Glandus, while others felt it was unfair for that to be considered. Others believed Glandus should be disqualified since the other schools blatantly sabotaged Hexside, but Lucy had pointed out to these organisers that none of them had broken any rules of HECK, and their little plot could be seen as a positive sign of teamwork.
Ultimately, Hunter and Lucy were the hosts and head proctors, so they went away to discuss what should be done while the rest of the organisers told the students they could continue to take part in demonstrations and lessons at the various zones, but were to be ready to return to the Central Zone for an announcement on the award ceremony. The Hexside group deciding to take a short break in the Refreshment Zone, especially since they were already certain a tie-breaker event would be held, thanks to Lucy's warning.
After only a five minute break, an announcement echoed across the Covention centre, ordering all students back to the Central Zone for the verdict. Hunter and Lucy waited on stage for everyone to arrive, and after confirming all students were in attendance, Hunter stepped up to the microphone.
"Well everyone, this year's HECK has been quite the spectacle. You've all done well and are a credit to your schools and your teachers. However as you can expect, we weren't exactly prepared for the idea of two schools dominating the events so much that they each earned five out of ten ribbons! My partner and I had to have a serious discussion on whether or not we should share the prize between both schools!" Hunter grinned.
The Emerald Entrails gulped nervously as the other schools murmured; based on Lucy's warning, that would probably be bad.
Hunter waited a moment to let the murmuring quiet down, then continued; "Sadly, this year's Grand Prize, offered by the Emperor himself, isn't something we can give out so casually! Only the best of the best can claim it! And so to determine who the best of the best is, we have decided to host an eleventh event as a tie-breaker! Partner, if you would?" Hunter said, moving aside so Lucy could take centre stage and explain the final event.
"Hexside and Glandus will face each other in a Tag-Team Duel. The rules are simple; each school will select two students to enter the duelling ring, and then a 2 vs 2 duel will begin. At any point, a student may choose to tag out and be replaced by a different member of their team. We will also be placing a barrier around the duelling ring, and if a student is knocked through it, then they are considered out of bounds and are eliminated, and a different student from their team must take their place. This will continue until one team no longer has any students to fight with, leaving the other team as the winner!"
The Emerald Entrails exchanged looks; this worked out great for them! Since an opponent was only eliminated when tossed out of bounds, they could control the flow of the duel easily! They didn't want to win the event, so it would be easy to fake being hit by a spell and launched out of the ring, but they could still put on a good show by making sure it was close! Gus wondered if Lucy had asked for this kind of event specifically because she knew how easy it'd be for them to fake a loss… she was an Oracle now after all, so it was possible she'd predicted the outcome.
However, Hunter wasn't entirely satisfied. He'd watched the reaction of the Entrails and the Glandus team, particularly Willow's, and something about the casual relief the girl showed on her face made him frown; did she think this was too easy? Well, maybe he could make it more of a challenge! He and his sister hadn't exactly had much to do after all, and they could use the chance to stretch their legs.
Shooting a sly grin at Lucy, who reacted with confusion, Hunter stepped back behind the microphone and added his twist to the game; "Naturally, with it being 2 vs 2 duels and there being only five students in each team, things could end up being a little unbalanced. Plus, it would be unfortunate for one of the teams to get this far only to lose at the very last hurdle and get no reward, so as a little added prize, my partner and I will each be joining one of the teams! That way you get the honour of fighting beside a Hand of the Emperor, as well as making each team an even six members!"
The other schools all looked ecstatic at the idea of watching the Hands of the Emperor battling it out, while the Emerald Entrails gaped and looked to Lucy, who was pouting at her brother. Clearly she hadn't been told! If they weren't in such a public place, she'd be yelling at her big brother right about now!
Hunter was about to declare that he'd be in the Hexside team and Lucy on the Glandus one (he quite liked the idea of fighting alongside a certain Plant Witch), but Lucy got to it first.
"I will be duelling alongside the students of Hexside, while the Golden Guard shall duel alongside Glandus." she declared. This way she could help Hexside throw the match, and maybe get a little revenge on Hunter while she was at it. The boy pouted in response, but didn't make a fuss.
"With that decided, the EC Zone will be converted into a duelling arena, so everyone is to convene there in ten minutes time for the big event!" Hunter finished, as all the HECK personnel began rushing to the EC Zone to start the conversion. With a grin over to Willow, who smirked in response, Hunter went to oversee the conversion, while Lucy decided to head over to the Entrails to speak with them privately.
"Gus, you told your friends what I said before, right?" she asked quietly.
"Yup! Don't worry, we're not gonna win the event. We'll just put on a good show and make it close." Gus replied.
"That okay with you?" Viney asked. This was the first time she and Emira were meeting the Silver Sentinel without her mask, and both were a little thrown off by how much she looked like Luz. If they went to the Divine Realm and visited Crest Kindness, would there just be tons of Luzs all over the place? Emira kinda hoped so… the look on Amity's face would be amazing.
Lucy nodded at Viney; "It's why I put myself on your team before Hunter could. Don't worry, I'll let myself get taken out once Glandus is down to its last player… it'll probably be Hunter. He's strong!"
There were no denials there, though Willow did have a question; "What exactly is the Grand Prize anyway?"
"I'm sorry, but I'm not allowed to tell you. After Hunter saw Gus was here as part of the Hexside team, he made me promise not to tell any of you. He must have thought I'd tell him because we're friends." Lucy frowned.
"Well, he was technically right." Gus grinned at her, making Lucy fidget and blush a little.
"Breaking a promise isn't exactly the same as lying, you know. It shouldn't hurt you." Emira pointed out.
Lucy shook her head; "I don't care. I don't want to break a promise to my brother. He's always looked after me… I'd feel awful breaking a promise to him. Besides, it doesn't matter right? You're not gonna win the prize! Trust me, you wouldn't want to! But those Glandus kids probably would."
The Entrails once again exchanged looks; so it was something that wouldn't benefit the CATTs then. Lucy didn't look to be lying, and her expressions were too open for her to be hiding pain, so they had no choice but to believe her.
For the next few minutes, the team and their temporary new member chatted with one another (primarily consisting of Emira teasing Lucy and Gus warning the older girl off whenever she went a little too far). Once the conversion of the EC Zone was complete, everyone was summoned there to witness the final event of the day.
The maze had been completely torn down and the traps removed, and a large circular duelling platform had been built instead, as well as arena style tiered seating on either side of the platform, so everyone could watch the duels from a safe and comfortable distance. Upon arriving, the Emerald Entrails and Lucy were made to stand on the platform's left side, while Hunter and the Glandus team stood on the right side. A Scout Captain stood between them, acting as the referee for the duels.
"Good afternoon everyone! The Tie-Breaker Event is about to begin, so allow me to introduce our dualists! From Hexside, we have Captain Willow and her teammates; Gus, Skara, Viney, and Emira! With the added support of the Silver Sentinel; Lucy!"
The Entrails raised their fists and received a round of cheers and applause. The Referee then pointed to the other team; "And from Glandus, we have Captain Ukla and her teammates: Gobzo, Throak, Baran, and Mia! With the added support of the Golden Guard: Hunter!"
Willow watched as the audience cheered for Glandus (though it was noticeably no louder than it had been for Hexside, despite the plot the others schools had shared). She also recognised both Gobzo and Throak; the former was the rotund, fish-headed demon that had won Glandus their last Grudgby match against Hexside by catching the Rusty Smidge, while Throak had been the burly but nondescript witch boy that had been subbed into the game. Both had normal uniforms on now, marking them as members of the illusion and plant tracks, which was a surprise given Glandus' attitude towards illusionists. The other three students were new though; Baran was another burly witch boy who appeared to be Throak's twin, and was a member of the abominations track, while Mia was an extremely small Gnomish girl with wild white hair that resembled a dandelion, and whose uniform marked her as an Oracle. Lastly, Ukla was an androgynous looking girl from an amphibious race of demons born from the mixing of witches and Sahagins. She had purple skin, ears that resemble spiky fish fins, and a squid-like beak for a mouth, as well as yellow eyes and a magenta coloured Mohawk. She was a member of the construction track, and had a confident smile on her face as she summoned her flying fish Palisman. Everyone else on both teams summoned their Palismen too (with Lucy summoning her normal staff and Hunter disguising Flapjack as one too), and Willow saw that Gobzo had a raccoon, Throak and Baran had a frog and a toad respectively, and Mia had a tarantula.
"Captains, decide who will be your starting dualists!" the Referee ordered.
Willow nodded to Skara and Emira, while Ukla sent up the twins. The rest of the teams jumped down into the sidelines and the Referee moved to a little referee's podium on the side of the ring, before casting a spell circle that made a blue barrier rise up all around the ring, separating the fighters. It was the kind that would catch the person hitting it and slow them down before letting them pass through, so it would be safe to get blasted into.
With the barrier in place and the dualists ready to go, the Referee raised their hand and then declared; "BEGIN!"
The instant the word left the Referee's mouth, both Throak and Baran leapt at Skara and Emira, aiming to overpower the girls with their brawn and point-blank magic. The instant they got close, Throak's fist was coated in tree bark as he aimed a punch at Skara's stomach, while Barak coated his own fists in an abomination goo gauntlet as he brought them together and tried to slam them down on the top of Emira's head. Emira acted fast and used Healing Magic to create a dark blue barrier, blocking both blows while Skara switched Melody into Harp mode and began playing a simple tune. The tune enchanted Baran and Throak's feet and caused them to begin dancing on their own, forcing the two boys' upper bodies to follow along and move away from the girls. As soon as they were further away, Skara stopped playing her harp and began to whistle instead. Her whistling summoned the wind, creating a mini tornado around the boys that spun them around while Emira used ice magic to pour snow into the tornado, turning it into a blizzard to try and freeze the boys. It almost worked too, but they were able to summon vines and abomination slime to lasso themselves out of the tornado.
Once the two were free from the tornado, Skara and Emira stopped their spells to conserve magic, as Throak turned his wooden gauntlet into full wooden armour so he could charge at the girls, while Baran created a troupe of about six abominations to follow beside his brother while he stayed at a distance.
"Woody is all yours! I'll take care of the goop troupe!" Skara grinned at Emira, plucking a single string on her harp to create a gust of wind beneath her, rocketing her over the heads of Throak and the abominations. She then played a harsh note, sending a blade of Bardic Magic directly at the abominations, slicing the whole lot of them in half.
Meanwhile, Emira stood completely still as Throak charged her, aiming to shoulder smash her out of the ring. However the instant he hit her, Emira disappeared in a puff of cyan smoke, revealing herself as an illusion. Throak was so surprised that he almost ran straight into the barrier that would have disqualified him, but he just barely managed to stop himself and begin looking around for the real Emira, who'd made herself invisible.
"Quit hiding!" he growled, conjuring numerous flower buds all over his armour. The buds began to bloom and as they did, they released a huge cloud of pollen that not only filled the air and coated the duelling arena, but also stank to high heaven. Skara and Baran both gripped their noses and whined at the stench, temporarily distracted from fighting… yet the pollen didn't appear to settle on any invisible forms! "Where's that other Hexside Loser!?"
"Right here! And watch who you call a loser!" Emira suddenly yelled in his ear from her perch on the back of his armour. Before the boys had gotten out of the tornado earlier, Emira had switched herself out with an illusion, and the instant he began coating himself in wood armour, she jumped on his back. Since it happened before the armour was fully grown, Throak hadn't noticed the increase in weight as anything out of the ordinary!
The boy yelped in fear and tried to shake her off, forgetting all about his magic in his distraction. Emira held on tightly and laughed as if she was riding a bucking bronco, then just as Throak finally remembered he was a witch and began to cast a spell, Emira whistled sharply and her Palisman Russ suddenly leapt from the end of her staff and bit down on the boy's hand, making him scream. As he screamed, Emira coated her hands in cyan illusion magic and placed them near his ears, then once her trap was set, she leapt off his back and summoned Russ back to her hand in staff mode.
"Skara, switch!" Emira yelled.
"Got it!" Skara replied, using wind magic to blast away the stench of the pollen before riding her own staff at Throak. Baran tried to use abomination slime to grab her and yank her back, but Emira conjured some blue bandages with Healing Magic and lashed them across the larger boy's chest, making him yelp and move the slime to instead attack her. Emira dodged (she was used to such tactics from when she annoyed Amity) while Skara sent some more sonic blades at Throak to shred his armour.
"Annoying Bards! Go play your little instrument somewhere else!" Throak growled, extending a massive tree root from his chest armour to try and swipe at Skara.
Emira winced as Skara's eyes narrowed; now he'd done it!
Skara dove over the root as she continued to play notes on her harp, which coated her hand in gold and red magic. The root came at her from behind, but suddenly stopped as Throak was startled by Emira suddenly screaming in his ear again (or rather, her illusion trap from before going off and making him hear the sound of her scream in his ear). The surprise not only stopped him from controlling his root, but also distracted him long enough for Skara to get right in his face and slap her glowing hand against his chest.
In an instant, she blasted him with a massive sonic shockwave, sending vibrations through his armour that caused it to splinter and break apart, while the boy himself was wracked with tremors that left him unable to move and barely able to even think. He was utterly paralysed by the sound waves coursing through him, allowing Skara to switch Melody back into staff mode and smash the base of her staff against the boy's chin with one swift movement, sending him staggering back. The sound waves in his body stopped him from recovering or catching himself, and he ended up staggering straight into the barrier, before promptly falling through it and onto the ground beyond the ring.
"Throak of Glandus has been eliminated!" the Referee announced.
Baran gasped; "No! I'll get you for that you Bardic Brat!"
Baran slammed both hands into the ground and conjured a wave of abomination slime that forced both Skara and Emira to take to the air on their staves. Baran then re-summoned his own Toad Palisman, and shockingly, summoned his brother's Frog Palisman too.
"What the!? How'd he do that!?" Skara cried.
Emira frowned; "Twins on the isles have a tradition of carving their Palismen from the same branch. We're bonded to our own Palisman, but also have a weaker bond with our twin's Palisman too! And that's not all! If this guys is anything like Ed and I, then he can-"
The eldest Blight sibling was cut off by the two amphibious Palismen beginning to croak together, creating an ear-splitting cacophony that nearly deafened the Hexside girls. They covered their ears (and Emira banished Russ so his sensitive ears wouldn't be harmed), then watched in shock as Baran's Toad Palisman opened its mouth wide and the Frog Palisman jumped into it, being swallowed whole. The Toad then began to grow to a massive size, almost twice as big as an Abomaton Mk II, and stood on its hind legs like a person. Green and purple magic markings appeared all over its body, and Baran jumped up to sit on the Giant Toad's head, then used the abomination slime he'd conjured before to create simplistic armour for the toad, as well as a very large curved sword that looked a little like an over-sized Katana, like the type Luz had shown them in one of her anime shows.
Emira and Skara gulped at the giant toad as the former finished her sentence; "-he can combine the twin Palisman into a single form…"
Skara squeaked as she ducked beneath the Giant Toad's tongue, which suddenly whipped out at her; "Can't you call on Orthie then!? Orthrus would be real handy right about now!"
"Nope! There's a range limit to summoning our twin's Palisman! It's pretty short too; we'd need to at least be in the same town!" Emira yelped, dodging a slice from the giant katana.
Skara groaned; she hated slimy things and she hated abomination goop! Still, this Giant Toad was kinda impressive… there wouldn't be any shame in losing to it and they were planning to throw the match anyway. With that in mind, Skara braced herself and used Melody to fly up and try to get one final shot off on Baran himself, but as expected, the Giant Toad's tongue darted up and caught her, then tossed her at the barrier. Skara made no attempt to recover and hit the barrier, before being caught by Willow's vines and gently lowered to the ground outside the ring.
"Skara of Hexside has been eliminated!"
"You're up, Viney! It doesn't look like Glandus has bothered sending in their next guy yet!" Willow said, noting that all three remaining Glandus students (plus Hunter) were still stood on the opposite side of the ring.
Viney nodded and leapt into the ring, then immediately used her Wild Heart spell to take on her more beastly form. The spell also worked on her Palisman; Regant, turning him into a full sized lion with a long scorpion stinger for a tail and large draconic wings. Viney and Regant both ran on all fours towards the Giant Toad's legs, with Viney using her claws to slash one of its ankles while Regant stabbed the other with its stinger. The Toad croaked angrily and shook the pair of them off by leaping high into the air. The barrier reached all the way to the ceiling, so the area they could fight in also reached that high, allowing the Giant Toad to stick itself to the ceiling with its abomination slime armour, while grabbing its giant katana with its tongue, allowing it to still slice at everything in the arena.
Viney hopped on Regant's back, while Emira used Russ in staff form to begin flying up, evading the goo katana as well as the globules of abomination slime that Baran himself was conjuring and launching at the girls. The onslaught was relentless, and both Viney and Emira had to keep stopping their advance to conjure barriers, which Viney found difficult thanks to her Wild Heart spell impeding her mind with feral instincts.
"Dang it! If only I could use the Healing Magic variant that Hettie used!" Viney growled from Regant's back as her Manticore Palisman began shooting blobs of thick green poison from his stinger. The poison collided with the abomination goo being sent her way, melting it into useless sludge, but Baran and his Giant Toad could produce more slime than Regant could poison.
Thankfully, Emira had a plan; "Hey Kitten, think you can beat the stuffing out of this guy and his big toad if I get rid of his goop?"
"Probably. Do you think you can do that?" Viney asked, dodging a swing from the abomination katana.
Emira grinned; "I may not have Amity and Dad's talent, but I'm still a Blight! I've got a trick or two up my sleeve for dealing with Abominations! Starting with this!"
Emira combined ice and wind magic (both components of Illusion Magic) to create a thick flurry of snow. The wind was weak (so as not to impede her and Viney), but visibility was next to impossible for everyone inside the barrier thanks to the powdery white snow. Thankfully, Viney, Regant, and Russ all had amazing senses of smell, and could easily detect Baran and his Toad even without seeing them.
"Nice try!" Baran yelled as his Toad began to inhale, sucking in all the snow in a giant vortex, before blasting it all back out again with a massive exhale, clearing the flurry in one big breath. Viney and Emira were so shocked that they didn't react in time to the Toad stretching its tongue out and impaling its katana straight through Regant's body. The audience gasped at what was surely a lethal blow to the Palisman, and the Referee looked ready to intervene, but then Regant and Viney both disappeared in a puff of cyan smoke. Emira and Russ did too, revealed to be nothing but illusions that Emira had created while hidden by the snow flurry.
As Baran looking around himself for signs of an attack, Emira suddenly popped out of invisibility and landed on the Toad's extended tongue. Her hand crackled with blue electricity as she slammed it against the sticky tongue, using Healing Magic to make all the nerves in the Toad's tongue spasm and go numb. The Toad shrieked at the horrible sensation and dropped the goo katana, which became embedded in the ground below. The Toad then sucked its tongue back into its mouth out of instinct, dragging Emira into its mouth with it. A second jolt of magic to the nerves had the Toad's jaw opening, allowing Emira to crawl out and cast a pink spell on her hand, which she slapped onto the Toad's armour.
In an instant, every bit of abomination armour on both the Toad and Baran began to swell and bubble as if it was boiling. Emira leapt out of the Toad's mouth and landed on Russ, who appeared from his own invisibility to catch her. He then flew her away to safety as the abomination goo all exploded violently, causing the Toad to scream and both it and Baran to go tumbling to the ground, covered in fairly mild burns. Emira smirked as they fell; she may not be able to make a decent abomination, but she could use the self-destructing spell that her Dad created to destroy them!
Right before the Toad could hit the ground, Viney and Regant appeared from Emira's invisibility spell and leapt up to meet them. Regant stabbed it in the stomach with his tail, injecting an emetic poison, which combined with Viney's full force punch to the gut caused the Toad to violently vomit. Thankfully the only thing it spat up was saliva and Throak's Frog Palisman, but the separation of the two Palismen resulted in Baran's Toad losing its markings and shrinking back to normal size. Baran was able to use this moment to summon his Toad Palisman back to him in staff form, allowing him to avoid hitting the ground, but unfortunately he was now in range of Emira's final move.
Emira and Russ flew close to Viney and Regant, and the two girls created a sturdy barrier around themselves. Emira then pointed to the giant abomination slime katana still embedded in the floor and grinned. Baran looked at it too, then paled as it began to bubble. Emira had hit it with the self-destruct spell too.
Baran didn't even have time to scream or put up any defences; the katana exploded and launched the boy straight into the barrier while the girls were protected by their own.
"Baran of Glandus has been eliminated!" the Referee announced.
Viney and Emira cheered and landed back on the ground of the duelling ring, dropping their barrier. They both briefly cringed at the awful fishy stench that permeated the air though; had the Toad's saliva been that pungent?
Now that Baran was defeated, Glandus sent their next student up; the little gnomish Oracle known as Mia, who was almost small enough to ride her Tarantula Palisman even in animal form. Viney and Emira prepared to face her, but frowned when they saw she was alone.
"You know this is supposed to be two on two, right?" Emira asked, looking over to the rest of the Glandus team. The whole rest of the team was out there (including Throak and Baran, who were grumbling as a healer saw to their wounds), but that just confused the girls more.
Mia giggled and spoke in an extremely squeaky voice; "We don't need two of us to beat the two of you. Just one will do."
Viney and Emira scowled, feeling like they were being insulted by the little gnome girl… at least until they suddenly found themselves both being grabbed by something invisible and tossed at the barrier. Both girls were so surprised that they didn't react in time and hit the barrier. They were caught by their teammates outside, who all looked stunned by the sudden defeat.
"Emira and Viney of Hexside have been eliminated!" the Referee declared, looking just as confused.
"W-Was that some form of Oracle Magic? I didn't sense a spirit!" Lucy yelled.
Mia and the entire Glandus team (minus Hunter) burst into laughter, much to the annoyance of the Emerald Entrails. Gus narrowed his eyes, then gasped; "An Illusion!"
At those words, the Gobzo who was sat on the bench with his teammates disappeared into cyan smoke, and the real Gobzo appeared in the arena. He'd taken his place as soon as Throak had been knocked out by Skara, but hidden that fact with illusions. He'd also hidden himself from the noses of Viney and the Palismen by creating that awful fishy stench, which they'd mistaken for the result of the Giant Toad's saliva.
Seeing the surprise of the Hexside team, Mia giggled then gave a malicious grin; "I'll admit you Hexside losers did better than any of us expected; we'd thought you'd all go down like chumps to just Throak and Baran. But ultimately, you're still just losers. Hexside only exists as one of the "big" schools because all the students there couldn't afford St. Epiderm or prove themselves worthy enough for Glandus. Your school was literally founded as a refuge for losers! You should feel honoured that you managed to come this far!"
The Emerald Entrails all glared hatefully at the giggling gnome, while Lucy glared with disapproval. Mia's teammates were smirking along with her comments, with the exception of Gobzo (who still looked like he had nothing going on in his head), Ukla, and Hunter. Ukla in particular looked more annoyed with Mia than amused.
Willow turned to Gus and Lucy; "You two are up. I know the plan is to throw the fight, but I don't want us losing to Glandus themselves, so we're going to knock out everyone but Hunter, okay?"
Gus and Lucy both nodded and climbed into the ring, ready to duel. However as they both brandished their staves, Willow called out; "Make this round quick."
Grins spread across Gus and Lucy's faces and they nodded once again. Mia saw their grins and scoffed; "Don't think the pipsqueak stands a chance just because he's got the Silver Sentinel backing him up! He's still just a Hexside dwe-"
Before Mia could finish her taunt, Gus's hand suddenly shot out to his side and grabbed something no one else could see, his eyes glowing a soft cyan colour. In a flash, the "real" Gobzo disappeared in cyan smoke, revealed to once again be just an illusion. Gobzo hadn't revealed himself at all after the last duel; he'd just changed the location of his illusory clone. The actual real Gobzo had remained invisible and aimed to pick up Gus and toss him out of the ring like he'd done to Viney and Emira, but once Gus was aware of the illusionist's abilities, he kept his eyes focused and was able to detect the illusion and counter with his own. The real Gobzo became visible, with Gus's hand pressed over his face. A cyan glow had covered Gus's hand and now filled Gobzo's eyes, completely filling his brain with a nightmarish illusion. The illusion scared Gobzo so much that he let out a weird burbling sound and then turned on his heel and fled, leaping out of the arena of his own free will and running to hide behind his burly teammates.
"Uh… Gobzo of Glandus has been eliminated." the Referee replied, stunned.
Gus turned to grin at Mia; "You were saying? Also, kinda ironic to be calling me a pipsqueak, you know."
Mia went red in the face as the Glandus team were shocked. The audience began to chuckle at their expense, especially as Gobzo was so terrified that he was holding onto Ukla and Hunter for dear life, preventing them from tagging in.
Mia sneered and turned to glare at Gus; "Don't think I'll fall for your illusions too! I can see through them all with my Oracle Magic!"
Lucy smiled serenely and stepped forward; "Then by all means, bring out your spirit."
Mia glared at her and tried to summon her spirit from the stone around her neck, only to turn pale when she realised she couldn't. Her spirit was almost as scared as Gobzo was, and refused to leave her stone! Mia began to sweat bullets as she looked up at Lucy, who'd walked forward and now loomed over her.
"Having problems? Oh, that's right; Oracle Magic doesn't work on Angels." Lucy smiled, spreading her silvery wings out behind her; "How unfortunate for you. Do you have some other form of magic you can use?"
Mia gulped; she didn't. She relied heavily on Oracle Magic, and had risen high in Glandus' hierarchy through her mastery of it. But without her spirit, she was helpless. Lucy could tell by the look on the gnome's face that she was out of options, so decided not to waste time knocking the girl out of the ring. No need to hurt her body after all… her pride was a different story though.
Lucy stooped and grabbed Mia by the back of her uniform, like she was some stray cat, then had Shade grab the girl's Tarantula Palisman. The two then walked over to the section of the barrier closest to Glandus' team and tossed the girl and Palisman through it. In the end, despite all her trash talking, Mia had been defeated without casting a single spell.
"Mia of Glandus has been eliminated." the Referee announced, trying to keep her obvious amusement out of her voice.
The Audience didn't need to bother with that though and they promptly burst into laughter. Mia went beet red, especially as one student from St. Epiderm commented that she'd been the biggest talker, yet the one to achieve the least on both teams! Still, with Mia now eliminated, she could now use her Oracle Spirit to force Gobzo to let go of Glandus' final two members, allowing Ukla and Hunter to finally step into the ring.
Both brandished their staves, though Ukla looked at Gus and gave a nod of respect; "I apologise for my teammate's boasting. At Glandus, we value strength above all else, but I believe that someone with real strength doesn't need to brag, as that strength speaks for itself." she declared; "That said, I'll be going all out!"
Gus grinned; "Then let's have some fun! Lucy, mind if I leave your brother to you?"
Lucy nodded as she stared down Hunter; "It's been a while since we sparred… are you ready, Hunter?"
"You know it! Let me see what you've got, Lucy!" Hunter grinned, getting pumped up.
For an instant, all four duellists stood completely still. Then, in a single heartbeat, they suddenly burst into action. Hunter flashed towards Lucy with his hand pulsing with electricity, whilst Lucy dove into the shadows while leaving Shade behind to fight in her stead. At the same moment, Ukla got onto her staff and darted towards Gus, sand swirling around the tail end of her staff to propel her faster, whilst Gus rode Emmiline into the air as if he was surfing a giant wave, conjuring a fine mist with water magic as he went.
Ukla frowned at the mist, knowing the water vapour would soak into her sand and make it sluggish and hard to move, so she instead condensed it down into a single perfectly spherical ball in the palm of her hand, before shooting it at Gus like a cannon ball. There was even a burst of fire and a small explosion, as if Ukla really had shot a cannon from her hand. Gus swerved to avoid the cannon ball, but then to his surprise, Ukla flicked a finger and the ball suddenly changed trajectory and nearly hit him in the side of the head. He barely ducked in time, feeling the ball blowing through the top of his hair. Seeing this, he condensed his mist into a discus of ice and launched it at the cannon ball, slicing it in half before it then swerved and headed back at Ukla. It was spinning enough to become like a saw blade, but Ukla coated her hands in sand and caught the spinning disc between her palms, before crushing it and letting the fragments melt and drip down to the battle below.
She then tried to harden the sand into rock and launch it at Gus, but the boy twirled his finger and caused the fragments of his ice disc to become vapour again, which he then used with an olfactory illusion to make Ukla think she was smelling something foul. The girl gagged and instinctively tried to cover her beak, allowing Gus to hide himself with an invisibility spell. While hidden, he produced another illusion and then conjured some water in a torrent to hit Ukla. The girl had her eyes closed due to the fake foul smell making them water, so she didn't see this coming, allowing the water to hit her. However there wasn't much force behind it and since Ukla had Sahagin blood, the liquid was absorbed into her skin without bothering her at all, leaving her bone dry. However, absorbing the water also cleared her beak of the water vapour (Sahagins could only absorb proper liquids), freeing her from the olfactory illusion.
Now able to open her eyes without them watering, Ukla looked around for signs of Gus and noticed that she seemed to have been knocked awfully close to the barrier by the torrent of water. It hadn't felt like she'd moved much, but being in the air must have messed with her sense of movement.
"Unless…?" she whispered, before a shard of ice suddenly flew at her. It came from the side closest to the barrier, so she flew away from it, then conjured a large floating rock for her to stand on so she could use her staff to fight with properly. More ice shards came out of seemingly nowhere, but Ukla expertly parried two of them with her staff, then conjured rock around her hand to catch and crush the last one. All three shards had come from different directions, so Gus was moving around a lot while invisible, which could become a major problem for her if she didn't find a way to pin him down soon.
Twirling her staff, Ukla created a massive bronze spell circle which conjured an equally massive sandstorm around her. Such a tactic would reveal Gus's location, but it would normally dry her out too… luckily for her, she'd just absorbed enough water to keep her extra hydrated!
As predicted, the sandstorm buffeted Gus with sand, allowing his silhouette to be seen despite his invisibility. However the sandstorm also revealed something else to Ukla, making her smirk. "Clever boy… but not clever enough!" she yelled, casting a spell to condense all the sand onto Gus and trap him inside a statue of himself, like a form of pseudo-petrification. Gus allowed himself to become visible again as he used water magic to damp the sand, then once Ukla hardened it into stone around him, he froze the water into ice. The ice expanded within the stone, causing it to crack apart and allowing Gus to free himself, which Ukla hadn't expected.
Gus leapt out of the remains of the stone shell and took flight with Emmiline again, casting illusions to make dozens of clones of himself, though this was quickly countered by another sandstorm, which shredded the clones and left Gus disoriented and trying hard to stay stood on his staff. Seeing her opportunity, Ukla then darted at Gus by manipulating the boulder she was floating on. Gus tried to make a last minute ice barrier, but Ukla was as good with the demolition aspect of Construction Magic as she was the others, and a single palm strike with a Construction Spell was enough to destroy the attempted barrier and allow Ukla to finally knock Gus into the barrier.
However to Ukla's eyes, it looked like he'd nothing but empty air. Gus righted himself outside the barrier as the Referee declared; "Gus of Hexside has been eliminated."
"Dang, I thought that trick would work. How did you spot what I'd done?" Gus asked curiously, seeing as Hunter and Lucy were focused on their duel.
When he'd made Ukla close her eyes earlier, he'd cast an illusion that made the entire world around Ukla look like it had shifted forward a few feet, meaning she thought she was closer to the barrier when she was actually still where she'd been flying before. The weak water torrent had been to make her think he'd blasted her towards the barrier when she actually hadn't moved. Gus's goal had been to try and make her fly into the barrier on her own, because she thought it was further away than she realised, but it looked like his plan failed.
Ukla smirked; "My sandstorm didn't just reveal you, it kept passing through a chunk of the barrier like it wasn't there and hitting another part that you'd hidden."
"Aw man, I should have covered that detail. Oh well; good duel." Gus smiled, before going to join his friends. Ukla watched him go, frowning slightly as she felt like he'd gone easy on her… an Illusionist Genius who'd figured out to use water vapour for olfactory illusions would surely have figured out that she might discover the truth with a sandstorm… she'd used sand earlier in the fight after all! Gus also didn't seem too disappointed to lose…
Ukla's frown deepened; there was more to these Hexside kids than she realised.
Shaking that from her mind, she looked down to observe the fight between the Sentinel and the Guard. Or rather, the Sentinel's Shade and the Guard. Lucy herself had been hidden the entire time, instead directing her Spirit to claw at Hunter from the shadows. Hunter was playing along, toying with the spirit by using a conjured sword to fence with its claws, but it was clear the two weren't taking the duel seriously. They had nothing to lose or gain no matter how the duel turned out, so they were seemingly just playing. Ukla considered flying down to help Hunter, but then she remembered that Hexside's captain still hadn't been defeated and should have taken Gus's place.
Looking around, Ukla saw no signs of Willow; she'd disappeared from her teammates' side outside the ring… was she under an illusion of some kind, or has she just excused herself to the bathroom and hadn't entered the ring yet?
Ukla soon got her answer, as she suddenly felt something wrapping around her body… something inside her clothes! The girl shrieked and looked down her shirt to find tiny, ivy-like vines creeping around her skin, which she traced back to beneath her body. The little vines were emerging from the shadow Ukla was casting on her own staff, and had crept up into her shirt and was wrapping around her abdomen and snaking their way up to her throat and arms. She began to yank at them, but suddenly felt all strength leave her as the vines sapped her magic and the moisture in her body. Ukla began to get dehydrated and before she knew it, she barely had the strength to stay on her staff. Then she noticed the ivy creeping up her staff to her Palisman too, and realised they were being drained of magic as well.
Slowly, the girl descended to the ground before her Palisman could lose strength and plummet, but the instant she touched the ground, a new shadow was formed beneath her and a large vine shot out of it and grabbed her, tossing her from the ring entirely.
"Ukla of Glandus has been eliminated!" the Referee announced, just as Willow rose up out of the shadows and snapped her fingers, making the vines and ivy on Ukla disappear. The audience cheered; Hexside had now officially beaten all five of Glandus' students! Under normal circumstances, that would make them the winner, but Hunter was still active and fighting, though he looked mildly annoyed that his teammate was gone and he was now in a two VS one.
"Lucy must have pulled the Captain into her shadows the second Gus was eliminated. Well if she'd planning to double team me, I'll have to show her not to underestimate her big brother!" Hunter thought.
Spinning his staff in the air, Hunter drew a massive golden spell circle and began to channel a huge amount of lightning into his free hand. A bolt of this magnitude was far too dangerous to use on someone you weren't willing to kill, but thankfully that wasn't Hunter's goal, as he thrust his hand towards the ceiling and launched the lightning bolt into the sky. The result was a monstrously loud clap of thunder and a flash of light that would have made Luz proud, destroying all shadows in the ring. Lucy was forced out of the shadows she was hiding in, but to Hunter's shock, she appeared outside the ring!
"The Silver Sentinel has been eliminated! Both teams are down to their last member!" the Referee announced.
"W-What!?" Hunter gaped. How had this happened!? He'd been so transparent about what he was going to do! Lucy should have seen that coming a mile a way and jumped out before that! The shocked boy looked to his sister, who looked back sheepishly, giving a little shrug.
Hunter frowned; was Lucy having an off-day? He hoped she wasn't getting sick again…