Chapter Text
Two weeks.
It had only been two weeks since Luz had started classes at Hexside. It felt like longer, she mused to herself, as she strolled down the hall with books bundled close to her chest; yes, this place really had started to feel more and more like... home .
Every day since she had enrolled had been exciting, and above all else, it was here, in these halls, that she could finally be herself. At least, she could be more herself than usual , compared to school back on Earth, and she found herself far more eager than she ever had at human school for what each new day would bring. Gryphon riding? Potion making? New spells?
“The Standardised Heximal System!” The weighty text book was dumped with a heavy thud on Luz’s desk. The groan of Luz’s classmates was almost equally as hefty. The professor, Mr Slitherus, tutted, his forked tongue darting briefly out between his fangs. “Oh, come now, this is important to know, and it’s only for the next week. Then we can move back onto something more exciting…”
Luz wrinkled her nose but peeled the book open, sliding it over for Willow to share. Her friend offered a sympathetic smile.
Unfortunate, but mandatory, Luz realised. Magic wasn’t always fun and games, but at least this beat algebra by a mile. The class studied in hushed whispers and murmurs for close to half an hour, Luz battling her wavering attention span and the confusing runes with help from Willow’s gentle encouragement. It seemed that as impossible as this was proving for Luz, at least she took some comfort in the fact that her classmates seemed to be finding this similarly tricky.
And then the peace was broken.
One of the speakers- a brass device but with sharp fangs and a single, blinking purple eye- opened its mouth. ‘Hello…. Is this thing on…?’ It was Principal Bump’s voice that left the loud speaker’s agape jaw. There was an incomprehensible mumble, then, far more confidently;
‘Hello students! These are your daily, morning announcements.’
The few heads that had perked up at Bump’s voice lowered again, scribbling with quills into their workbooks. Luz too had grown used to this routine, offering Bump half her attention as she worked. It was never usually anything of immense importance, just things like ‘ Hexside has been voted number one school on the island for the fourth year running’ , or ‘The cafeteria will be serving mystery slop today. Don’t ask what’s in it, it defeats the purpose of it being a mystery.’
But this time, what followed after a few of the usual broadcasts caught the attention of every single student in the room.
‘After much debate, we have decided that we will be holding the annual Hexside Jademoon Dance next month.’ The announcement was met by enthused cheers and woops from the entire classroom. ‘Now I needn’t remind you of last year’s… fiasco, so there will be a strict ‘no spells at the venue policy’ from this year forth. We are lucky the Yaga family are still letting us use their island… Poor Baba…”
Whoever Baba was, Luz spared a thought for them, and whatever horrible, terrible, traumatic thing could have possibly happened. The announcement continued,
‘ I will not be happy if I have to fork more money out of the school budget to cover damages. And to whoever keeps replacing the water in the drinking fountains with floating elixir, I bet you think you’re hilarious, but I’m onto you. That is all for now.” There was a shrill noise, like microphone feedback, followed by Principal Bump’s voice distant and quiet; ‘Karen can you get me a latte? Gryphon milk, no sugar. I’m going to need it to get through today…’ And then the PA speaker closed its mouth.
The lesson continued, but there was an undeniable thrum of anticipation in the air, and one Luz easily found herself swept up in. A school dance? At Hexside?
She leaned over to Willow, her voice threatening to rise above a whisper from sheer excitement. “Jademoon dance?”
“Shh, pay attention Luz, this is important.” Despite her tone, it was hard to ignore the excited twitch of a smile on Willow’s lips. “I’ll tell you about it at lunch.”
Wriggling excitedly, Luz barely made it through to the end of class.
***
“Jademoon dance?” Luz practically bounced in her seat, a grin on her face. “Jademoon dance!?”
Willow smiled gently, a hand placed on Luz’s shoulder to try and settle her down. “Yes, Luz. The Jademoon Dance. It’s a yearly event celebrating the Jademoon rising.”
“Don’t humans have dancing in your world?” Gus mumbled through a mouthful of his sandwich.
“Of course, we do! We just don’t have jade moons. Only… moon moons.”
“Huh… weird. How do you charge your laser vision if it’s not under a Jademoon?”
“Laser vis…” Luz trailed off. “Gus where exactly do you get all these ‘facts’ about humans?”
“I have my sources.”
Luz’s ears perked at the sound of an all too familiar voice as she walked by. Amity. She was with a group of students Luz knew only vaguely from around school, all in deep conversation about the dance. Though she didn’t catch the beginning of the conversation, Amity’s voice rose in volume a little, almost suspiciously so.
“…So yeah, I’m actually hoping someone will ask me to the dance this year,” She chimed. “It might be quite nice for a change.”
Luz looked up curiously at the posse. A girl with long dark curly hair, blue curled ram horns, and fin-like ears trotted close to Amity’s heel with an excitable smile. “Anyone in particular you’re hoping for, Amity?” Luz knew her as Bee, one of Gus’s classmates on the Illusion Track. It was strange though, Luz had never really seen her, or any of the group really, hanging out with Amity before. She wondered quietly where her other usual gaggle of girls could be...
A twitch of a smile found Amity’s lips and Luz could have sworn that their eyes met, if only for a second.
“Hmm… I guess we’ll have to wait and see, won’t we?”
Luz, unfortunately, did not catch the hint. She didn’t catch it at all. In fact, the hint flew so far over Luz’s head even if she had stood and held her hands up in the air, she wouldn’t have ever hoped to reach it.
“Oh, good luck getting a date, Amity!” She chimed as she waved over at her. This got an odd reaction out of her classmate, as she stared back across at her flushed almost disappointed.
“Uh… thanks, Luz. I guess.”
Luz didn’t understand the gawking looks of her friends as Amity settled some few tables away, Luz blinking between them.
“What?”
Willow simply shook her head despairingly. “Luz…. You’re hopeless.” She sighed.
Luz didn’t get it. In fact, it would be a while before she did get it.
The next day when Luz opened her locker, sitting square and neat, balanced carefully on top of her books, was a little blue vase, and a single purple rose. A tag was attached to its stem, the thorns carefully filed down so that Luz didn’t have to worry about injuring her fingers. There were only two words that greeted her.
‘Love, Amity’
A giddiness stirred in her heart; one she didn’t immediately recognise. And as Luz looked up, she spied her, Amity, peeking around the corner of the hall as though to gauge her reaction. As soon as she was spotted her eyes widened and she ducked away.
Strange behaviour, Luz thought. It still hadn’t quite clicked.
“Hey Luz! What have you got there?” Willow’s voice snapped Luz out of her daze.
“Oh, hey Willow! Uh, Amity left me this rose in my locker! Isn’t that nice of her? I wonder if she did that for all her friends or- what, why are you looking at me like that?”
Willow looked sceptical that Luz could truly be so oblivious. “Luz… you do know what this means right?”
“…That Amity is a very thoughtful friend who has nice taste in flowers?”
“She wants you to ask her to the dance Luz!” Willow looked exasperated now. “She was hinting to you about it yesterday!”
Luz’s eyes widened. “Wait, she was?” She whirled around to the corner where Amity had been, but there was no sign of her would-be admirer now. “Me? Why me?”
“Because she likes you, Luz! It’s so obvious!” Willow sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Ugh… never mind…”
But Willow’s words and the gesture of Amity whirled around in Luz’s mind for the rest of the school day. Could that really be true? The more she thought, the more realisations began to dawn on her.
She liked Amity. A lot. Like, a lot, a lot. And now her imagination was running wild. What would it be like? To be with Amity? To hold her, to kiss her cheek, to cuddle up watching dumb movies together? Luz daydreamed all the way through class about it, and the more she did, the more the idea appealed to her, and the more butterflies danced in her stomach.
When the bell rang to signal the end of the day, it snapped Luz away from her fantasies of making brownies in the kitchen together, and she found her feet faster than she had in a long time, the chair screeching on the floor loudly.
She needed to tell her! She needed to ask her to the dance! She needed to-
Luz tripped on the chair leg. She needed to get up off the floor to avoid social embarrassment amongst her peers!
Luz’s bag was thrown over her shoulder and she dashed out of the classroom, far more careful of chairs and table legs. Amity would be coming out of spelling class at this time, right?
“Excuse me, sorry, coming through!” Luz pushed with care through the crowds of students preparing for the end of the day in an attempt to get to Amity’s class as quickly as possible. And then she spotted her hair amidst her classmates. “Amity!”
Amity looked up and around curiously, trying to find the source of her voice. When her eyes finally landed on Luz, they lit up. “Luz!”
Luz shoved through with more urgency now, until at last, she was face to face with the girl. Immediately, she froze up, her body rigid. What was this? Why was she suddenly so nervous now, when she had been so eager before? “Um… I uh…” She was a little close, and took a step back. Had… had Amity always been this pretty? Or was she just now all too aware of it?
“What is it?” Amity’s voice came out gentle if not a little quizzical.
“I wanted to… t-tell you, uh…” Luz felt her tongue go dry, and the words just fumbled out, though they weren’t the ones she had initially planned. “Your shoes are untied! Haha, y-you’d better tie them before you trip, I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself- okay, see you tomorrow, bye!”
“Luz? My shoes don’t even have laces… Luz?” But it was too late, Luz had disappeared into the crowds, unseen once more, leaving a disappointed Amity behind her.
Luz’s actions played on her mind all the way home, her brain scolding her over and over angrily; ‘Ugh! I can’t believe I just did that! What even happened there, Luz? Why didn’t you just… ask her? Like a normal person?’
She hardly noticed when she made it to the front door, Hooty rambling in his usual fashion about a ‘super weird bee’ he saw, ‘or maybe it was just a fly-’
“Any way, I ate it and it tasted like-” The door was slammed shut behind her, but even muffled, Luz could hear Hooty continue to talk to himself.
“Woah hey, watch it!” Eda called out from the hallway, a scowl on her features as she rounded the corner. “I just lacquered the doorframes; you don’t need to scuff them all up so hastily. Anyway, what are you doing going around slamming doors? That’s not like you. Bad day at school?”
Luz dragged her feet as she flopped across the sofa with a groan, burying her face into one of the musty, old pillows. “More like a complicated one.”
There was a pause, before she heard Eda’s heels against the floorboards and felt her weight as she settled to sit in the small space left near Luz’s legs. Her hand found the girl’s shoulder.
She took a more serious tone. “Alright, what’s going on?”
Luz sighed, tilting her head to blink a sad puppy-dog eye up at her mentor, her cheek still squished against the cushion. “I tried to ask Amity to the Jademoon Dance, but when I got up to her, I panicked and chickened out.”
There was a creak of springs as Eda leant back into the sofa, her face wistful. “Ahh… the Jademoon Dance. That brings back memories. Like dunking Magregory’s face in the punch…” She snorted. “He did not like that at all.”
“Eda.” Luz whined.
“Oh right. I guess I’m supposed to be giving you some sort of life advice right now or something, huh?” A bony hand ruffled Luz’s hair and she offered Luz a sympathetic smile. “You’ll figure it out, kid. These things are… confusing, to say the least. You just need to take your time and feel things out. Keep your chin up and keep trying.”
***
Despite Eda’s words of encouragement, the rest of the week involved failed attempt after failed attempt at Luz plucking up the courage to ask Amity to the dance. Dejected, the girl had settled on the fact she would probably never be able to find the right words for Amity, and would instead simply go to the dance with Gus and Willow. It’d be fine, she figured. There was always next year’s dance.
But as yet another week rolled past, the hum of anticipation in the air only intensified. Decorations hung up around the hallways now, flyers plastered on every wall. It seemed like this dance was a big deal; Luz had seen kids back on earth excited about prom before, but her school never made this huge a spectacle out of it. It seemed too that every day as she passed through the hallways, she couldn’t avoid some grand gesture or confession of adoration, students coupling up all lovey-dovey wherever she went.
It didn’t exactly do wonders for the pit of regret gnawing on the bottom of her stomach.
Amity was around less and less each lunchtime Luz noticed too, and whenever she did see her, she seemed deep in serious discussion with her new group, planning and brainstorming on sheets of parchment.
“Amity’s on the dance committee,” Willow explained when she caught Luz staring. “She’s been working hard to get everything set up.”
“Oh… right, that makes sense for her, yeah.”
“Are you still thinking of asking her?”
Luz’s fingers curled inwards where her hand rested on the cafeteria table, eyes glancing down. She was... of course she was, but there was a difference between ‘thinking about’ and ‘actually doing’ .
So instead she stayed quiet, stewing in her disappointment. Oh well, she thought. She’d still have a fun time hanging out with Willow and Gus at the venue. Yeah. She knew she would.
***
It was the following day that Luz finally felt the pressure to find something to wear. She had overheard several students muttering about how they’d picked out their outfits already, or had ordered something from ‘Jackal Joes’ , and she figured she ought to start looking around at this point too.
After some gentle persuasion and puppy-dog eyes at Eda for money and at King to come along with her, she set out towards the Bonesborough marketplace.
King perched on Luz’s shoulders as she walked, a fair trade off, he had decided, for her disturbing his afternoon nap. The tiny demon seemed content enough, until he started pestering Luz curiously about how much of an allowance Eda had given her. Clearly, he was after something from the market.
“Look King, we’re just here to get me something to wear for the dance.”
“Then why did you drag me along?” King whined. “There’s so many other better things I could be doing! Like sleeping! Or planning conquests!”
“Hmmm...” Luz avoided looking directly at the little demon but clearly, he picked up on her plans exactly.
“...You just wanted to dress me up in cute outfits, didn’t you?”
“Okay, yeah, maybe. But, if you’re good about it, I’ll buy you a Not Dog after, how does that sound?”
“Fine.” He grumbled begrudgingly, jumping down to scamper beside her as they came up to the market. “But I want a full sized one this time! Not a Jr Dog!”
“But you’ll never finish a full sized one, you only have a tiny lil’ tummy…” Luz trailed off as they cut through the stalls, distracted by the allure of the world around them.
She’d never get used to it. Not ever. Every time she was here, it seemed there was something new to gawk at, whether it was enchanted skulls that chattered amongst themselves, or the most garish haunted paintings imported from the other side of the island.
But they weren’t here to browse the market wares. No, Luz needed to get to the town centre. She needed to focus. She needed to-
“Luz!” King cried out in a shrill voice, tugging her hand. “Luz, look!” He was pointing at one of the stalls.
“What…? No, King, we need to get to the store- wuh- hey! ”
It was too late. The tiny demon was already dragging her closer to it, a faded purple and white wagon with a big sign;
‘Madam Bewari’s Wares.’
It was run by the oldest looking woman Luz had ever seen. Her greyish skin was spectacled with light freckles, her frame frail and bony. Her wrinkles had wrinkles. She looked to be blind in her left eye, Luz could see the cataracts even from a distance. But there was a warm smile on her dry, chapped lips, inviting even, and Luz couldn’t help but find her curiosity piqued.
King didn’t take them all the way to the cart, instead stopping Luz at a few feet away. He pointed; on the lilac, wooden frame hung several beautiful looking charms dangling from rusted nails. There was one in particular King had his eye on, gesturing more aggressively.
“Second one down, on the left! Look!”
It was a charcoal black pendant, carved into the shape of what looked like a bull’s head, its eyes bright, red and shining. Its mouth was slightly ajar, fangs sprouting from its jaw. But despite its rather cool looking appearance, it didn’t look particularly special or magical in any way.
“What is it?”
“Forgarth’s Talisman! I’ve read about it, it’s exactly what you need. Trust me.”
And yet Luz felt wary. There was something about the look in the pendant’s eyes that rubbed her the wrong way. “Uh… what exactly does it do, and why do I need it?”
King rolled his eyes and sighed. “Forgarth was a mighty demon general,” He began slowly, almost irritable at having to explain himself, as though Luz should already know all this. “He was renowned for his fearless nature. He wasn’t scared of anything! At one point in history his army conquered six fifths of the entire boiling isles!”
“Six fifths? Don’t you mean five sixths?”
“Who’s the expert here?” King huffed. Luz smiled and urged him with a wave of her hand to continue. “Anyway, legends suggest that it was his talisman that gave him unbridled confidence and bravery. I thought it was lost, deep in his tomb somewhere, but that’s it! That’s definitely it! Imagine, Luz, if you had that thing, you’d be able to ask out that mean cupcake smoosher no sweat!”
That was a tempting proposal. Luz could only take so many failed attempts at asking Amity out, after all. Her eyes found the pendant again.
A note beneath it read:
‘Make an offer’
“We should haggle for it!” King whispered. “How much do you have on you?”
“Uh…. Three hundred snails, and… a pack of gum!”
King frowned. “…We’re gonna need more snails.”
“But… I need to get to the clothes store before it clos- es! ” King yanked her hand again, scrabbling excitedly in the very much opposite direction of the town centre, and Luz sighed resigned.
‘Guess I’ll have to get something to wear tomorrow then.’
***
It wasn’t a long walk from the market back to the Owl House. It was even less of a jog, and Luz had never been more thankful for King having tiny legs that she could keep up with.
As always, Hooty was there to greet them, and as always, they spared him only half a thought as they entered the house.
“Hey guys! Get anything good at the-” Slam. “Aw. Okay. Good chat, talk to you guys later!”
Eda was sprawled out on the sofa when they got in, face buried in a witch magazine, a blaring headline across its cover that read ‘This Week’s Top 10 Housekeeping Enchantments’. Her foot bounced casually from where it hung over the arm of the chair. She didn’t look up.
“Wow, you guys are back early.”
King bounded over to Eda and grabbed her arm, yanking it like an incessant child. “We found something in the market! We need more money!”
“What?” Eda finally peered over the top of the magazine.
“It is an artefact of immense power! And I- I mean, Luz, needs it!”
Eda closed the magazine slowly and sat up a little straighter, peering suspiciously between the pair. “Oh? And what does this artefact do, exactly?”
“Give unbridled power and confidence!”
Eda raised an eyebrow at King, then her gaze rose to Luz, still standing sheepishly in the doorway. “And why, exactly, do you need it?”
“I-” Luz started, but King jumped in.
“To ask out that girl she likes to school the dance!” King started making grabby hands at the pouch from Eda’s sales that day. “C’mon Eda! Have a heart!”
Eda groaned and rolled her eyes. “Fine… you can have a few more of the tips we got, but that’s it. If it’s any more than what I give you, you’ll have to just deal with it.” She reached into the pouch, pulling out a handful of notes and coins, and she emptied them into King’s waiting paws.
“Seems like a lot of hassle, and hard-earned cash. Why don’t you just ask her out like a normal-”
“Okay, heading out now, bye Eda! ”
King made a dash for Luz and grabbed her hand yanking her along. He slammed the door behind them, an Eda let out a resigned sigh, burying her nose back in the magazine. “…Person.”
***
King couldn’t get the pair back to the market soon enough it seemed, prattling on about how they needed to get there before it was snatched up.
“It’s a relic of Forgarth himself, Luz! A relic of incredibly rarity! You’re lucky to have basked in its glory from afar!”
It was busier in the market now, patrons going about their weekends bustling through the crowds. Luz clung tight to their little pouch of money in her pocket, not letting it out of her grip for a single second; for as wondrous a place as this was, she knew better than to let her guard down.
There was another demon at the cart now, an orange, bulky looking fellow with an octopus for a head, blocking their view as he looked to make a purchase. Clearly, King wouldn’t stand for it. He sized up to him, puffed out his chest and kicked the creature a few times in the back of his foot.
“Hey! Move it big guy! Coming through! Back off this is our sale!”
“Uh, s-sorry!” Luz chimed awkwardly as the would-be customer skulked away awkwardly, passing one last begrudging glance at them before moving on.
The haggard old woman remained, eyes glassy and distant, staring through them.
“Ahh, you come seeking Madam Bewari’s wares, yes?” She droned slowly in a creaky voice. “I have what you seek… Come see…”
Luz eyed up the various other trinkets hanging from rusted hooked on the frame of the cart, and the ornaments lining the desk.
“Ooh… are these real vampire teeth?” Luz’s fingers splayed out towards a necklace of fangs, each different in length and thickness, perhaps from different subspecies around the island.
“You touch dear, you buy.”
Luz’s hand froze over it, before slinking sheepishly back away.
King jumped up and down in an attempt to be noticed and pointed at the talisman. “Hey! That one there! I’ll give you three hundred snails for it!”
“I give to you for…. Seven hundred snails.”
“ Seven hundred snails?” King’s voice grew shrill. “Luz, lift me up.”
Luz reached down and plonked the demon onto the table. King skulked forward, invading the woman’s personal space, though she did not move. “Lady, I will give you four hundred snails and not a single coin more!”
The lady contemplated, pursing her lips in a way that only served to shrivel her face more. “Mmmm…… Seven hundred snails.” She settled again.
King huffed. “Five hundred snails!”
“…I give to you for six hundred and throw in coupon for next purchase.”
“Deal!” King practically ripped the amulet from its hook and hopped back down to the ground as Luz handed over the pouch. As she did so the seller reached out with her out hand slowly, and slipped a piece of paper into Luz’s hand, curling the girl’s fingers around it with her gnarled bony ones. Then she spoke in an otherworldly voice;
“ Beware the curse in blessing’s wool,
Or find yourself become a fool,
For havoc’s wrought with tooth and claw,
From Great Knee’s Peak to Marrow’s Shore.
To find this totem’s effects undone,
Find the spear that’s touched by sun.”
The woman’s hand left Luz’s, and with that, her cart folded in on itself like origami, and vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving the pair staring at the empty spot it had once been.
“Wow. What showmanship!” King crowed.
“I… I don’t know, that sounded weirdly ominous, don’t you think?” Luz frowned down at the little note in her hand. “A curse in blessings wool…?”
“Ah, don’t buy into it too much. C’mon!” King’s claws curled around Luz’s free hand and gave her a little excited tug. “Let’s go test it out!”
***
King led Luz away from the crowds of the market, down towards the beach, and although she was thankful for the breathing room, Luz couldn’t help but linger with the memory of the old woman and her warning. She hoped desperately that this plan of King’s would work, and whatever possible ill side effects there were, they wouldn’t cause any lasting issues.
She shoved her hands deep into her pockets, now emptied of their coin. And that was another issue...
“King… that was all of our allowance. Now how am I going to buy something to wear for the dance?”
He waved off Luz’s concerns. “Pff, who needs fancy, schmancy clothes when you have the power of self-confidence ?”
“I do, King. It’s a formal event.”
“It’s fine, Luz. You’ve still got time to pull something together. Now watch and be awed!”
King held the pendant high (well, high by King’s standards) above him, then pulled it slowly and dramatically over his head. Luz wasn’t sure what to expect, waiting for some incredible show of magic, or at least for the eyes to glow or... something.
Instead, nothing happened.
“…Are you awed?”
“I don’t think it worked… do you feel any different?”
King’s claws closed gently around it and he frowned. “Hmm… Maybe it doesn’t work on me because I already know how great and powerful I am!”
Luz smiled, her finger booping him gently on the end of his nose. At least the amulet seemed harmless. Maybe her misgivings had been misguided. “Alright, cutie. Mind if I have a go?”
King removed the amulet carefully and passed it over, but as she reached out for it, both of their attentions were disturbed by the little folded note still in her palm.
“Hey, what’s that?”
“Huh? Oh, that old sales-lady gave it to me before she disappeared.” King unfolded it and squinted. For such an unassuming piece of paper, once opened, the mysteries began.
‘Talisman of Forgarth.’
The following text was in runes, runes that Luz recognised from her classes at Hexside, but she still wasn’t fluent enough to translate. The final words were in English again however;
‘Madam Bewari does not take responsibility for any potential emotional distress, hair loss, or decapitation. No refunds.’
“Oh! You found the instructions! Neat!” His eyes darted across the note as he read it. “Oh. Mhm. Yeah. I see.”
“What does it say?” Luz asked as she pulled the talisman over her own head.
“It’s an incantation. You have to recite it to activate the talisman.” He cleared his throat, then stood up straighter.
“Forgarth the all-powerful, Forgarth the slayer, hear us,”
“W-Wait, you’re just going to-?” But King did not wait. He continued talking over her.
“Lend us your strength, and lend us your power! Rise! Rise! Rise! ”
Now something was definitely happening. Luz could feel it in her heart; a stirring, a power, a…
Something felt wrong. Terribly, horribly wrong.
It was as though the strength was being leeched from her body, and as Luz collapsed to her knees the beach around her grew darker, like a thundercloud was blotting out the sun. She could hear King cry out in fear and confusion. It was so hard to breathe.
And then everything went black.
When she opened her eyes, Luz was laying on her back, the amulet gone and King looming over her, fear in his eyes.
“Luz! Luz, are you okay? You passed out!”
“What…. where…? Ugh… my head...” King helped Luz sit up carefully, scrambling into her lap. Luz’s hand sluggishly grasped at the air around her neck, trying to feel for the totem. What a nightmarish, horrible thing to do that to her...
But her hand found nothing. It was gone.
“King…?” Her voice felt weak in her throat, still drained and exhausted. “Where’s the amulet?”
He didn’t answer right away, eyes darting away nervously. “Um… so… funny story. Remember how I said that amulet would give you boundless confidence?”
“Yes?”
“Well I thought it would but instead… uh…” There was a bloodcurdling roar behind them. King pointed anxiously over Luz’s shoulder. “ That happened.”
At first, Luz thought King was pointing at a billow of smoke from some house out in the lower Bonesborough residential district.
But then she looked more carefully. No. That smog held a shape… it was a figure, a giant, grey, minotaur shaped figure, and it was moving slowly, shambling through the town.
“King…” Luz’s horrified eyes couldn’t tear away from what she was seeing. “What is that?”
King fidgeted with his claws nervously. “I think the amulet was maybe just… a little bit haunted.”
“ Haunted?! ”
“I didn’t know, okay! But I guess when Forgarth died in battle, his vengeful spirit ended up in that trinket!”
“Trink- King.” Luz’s voice went low. “Where’s the amulet now?”
“He…. Took it with him.” He replied quietly.
Luz staggered slowly and unsteadily to her feet. “Well we have to get it back! Before it hurts someone! King, you know about this Forgarth guy, what do we need to do?”
“Uh, I-I…” King looked distraught between the giant figure, and Luz. “I don’t know what to do!”
Luz took a shaky breath, then scooped King up in her arms. “Then we need to find someone who does. Come on!”
The race was on. Luz’s legs throbbed from the effort of her sprint, but the sounds of destruction in the city behind her only spurred her on. Hooty wasn’t even able to utter a word as Luz slammed the door back open.
“Eda!”
Eda whirled around from her latest pile of ‘human treasures’ , a slinky in hand and eyes wide in surprise.
Luz spoke without pausing to catch her breath. “Eda we accidentally unleashed an ancient evil on Bonesborough and we need your help to stop it!”
“What? No! That’s not my problem!”
“Think of all the customers you’ll lose if they’re dead!” King pointed out.
Eda stared at them blankly for a second before frowning and throwing aside the slinky furiously. “…Ugh! Fine!” Eda swept past them both, staff in hand, surveying the damage the pair had caused from the entranceway. Sirens and screams blared off in the distance, smoke billowing from multiple houses as the giant beast trawled slowly through the town. She turned slowly back to the sheepish pair, a scowl on her face. “What on earth did you two do? You were gone for twenty minutes! Twenty minutes! ”
“T-There’s no time for that! We have to find a magic spear touched by the sun; it was in that creepy store lady’s warning. You’re old and wise, any ideas?”
“Firstly, don’t call me old. Secondly, touched by sun... you don’t mean that old, golden spear at Hexside do you?”
“What?”
“Yeah, it was used in the battle between Hexside and Wailingfalls… They hammered that event into our brains at school. I’m surprised you haven’t heard of it yet. It was created by a sun giant centuries ago, or something like that.”
“That’s got to be it…” Luz murmured. “That’s… that’s got to be it! Eda, do you know where it is now?”
Eda groaned as she rubbed her cheek slowly. “I’m pretty sure Principle Bump still keeps it in his office. He uses it as a ceremonial flagpole for sporting events.” She dragged her fingers slowly down her skin, then glared down at Luz and King. The girl suddenly felt so small under her gaze. A coldness gripped her heart; was Eda... disappointed in her?
“Ugh, I really don’t want to go back there, but fine.” She twirled Owlbert in her hand before mounting the staff. “Come on. Before your little mistake costs all of us greatly.”