Chapter Text
Hey, where are you?
The scouts just keep telling me you’re on mission, but they won’t say where.
Do you have anything for me to do while you’re gone?
Is this a silent mission?
It’s been a couple of days, how much longer do you think this mission is going to take?
Are you alright?
Hey, answer me, I’m getting worried. Everyone just keeps saying you’re out on mission, but no one knows where.
Please come back.
You’re not avoiding me, are you?
You don’t have to stop your mission, just answer me. Please?
Please tell me they’re wrong.
Please come back.
They don’t have a body, please tell me you’re alright. Please tell me you got away from whatever it was.
Please answer me.
Phoenix couldn’t tear his eyes off the last message, dated nearly three decades ago. The scroll’s light burned his eyes in the dark room, and he pulled his blanket tighter around himself, the fabric cocooning him in a soft envelope.
I’m sorry, Darius.
He finally closed the scroll.
He didn’t get any kind of closure. Just one day… I was gone.
Ding!
Phoenix reopened the scroll, heart beating in his throat. He’d turned off any settings that would show others he’d been active the moment he’d taken it out. He knew that. It had been the safest thing to do. And yet, he hoped beyond hope that he’d somehow missed something, that Darius had seen him online and reached out again. Taken the step he’d been too scared to take.
Message from Hunter.
You don’t have to worry about neutralizing the sigils anymore. Darius and the others found a way, they’re going to use the owl lady’s curse to corrupt the draining spell.
Oh, Caleb wasn’t going to be happy about that.
Phoenix sighed and wiggled out of the blanket. The light in the hallway blinded him, but he resolutely made his way to the kitchen, wordlessly showing the message to Caleb.
“Well. That solves that problem, at least.” The human scratched his head. “There’s going to be a lot of unrest, though. The entire population has been looking forward to the Day of Unity. I hope they have a plan for getting out of there. Maybe we could stay on standby, or…” Caleb cast a questioning look to him. “Hey, Phoenix, are you… did something happen at Hexside? Besides losing Hunter, I mean. You’ve been… reclusive since you got back.”
Stupid.
Failure.
He’d noticed. Phoenix didn’t know how he’d thought staying in his room would go unnoticed—Caleb seemed to have a second sense for knowing when something was wrong. Instead of answering, he shrugged. “What are we going to do after?”
“What?”
“After the day of unity,” Phoenix pressed the distraction, “Even if Darius’ plan succeeds, it doesn’t say anything about Belos. They stop the day of unity, and then what? Do we come out of hiding? Belos is still going to be out there.”
Caleb let out a long breath, leaning against the counter. “I… don’t know. And… I’m not sure he will be here.”
“Huh?”
Caleb beckoned Phoenix to the crystal ball room, activating it and guiding the image to a strange lab-looking room. It reminded Phoenix uncomfortably of Sam’s lab. “Look here. See that door? It goes to the human realm.”
Phoenix blinked at it. The human realm. “To your home?”
“Eh. Just where I used to live. But it’s home for Philip. I don’t think he’s planning on sticking around after the Day of Unity.”
“So, what, we just…”
“Let him run?” Caleb sighed, dropping into a seat. “I don’t know. Do we want to chase him down and drag him back, even if that might endanger everyone here? If he’s leaving the isles anyway, is it better to just be rid of him, or is it better to make sure justice is administered? I just…” He plunked his elbows on the table, putting his head in his hands. “I just want it all to be over,” he groaned, “I just want to be free of all this.” He looked up at Phoenix, eyes pleading. “Is that so wrong? That I just want him to be gone, without a lot of fuss and drama? That he’d just disappear? I know people think he should answer for his crimes, and they’re probably right, but as for now, I’m… I’m tired of dealing with him. I’m tired of hiding because I’m scared he’ll find us. I’m tired of living like a mouse, scurrying away at tiny sounds. I just want him to go away, and if he leaves forever for the human realm, then good riddance.”
“You’re not worried about what he’ll do to the human realm?”
Caleb snorted. “He thinks the human realm is the epitome of perfection. And last I checked, the human realm was full of people just like him, selfish and paranoid and murderous. He won’t hurt anyone. I hope. He won’t have the same power there that he has here. And he won’t have palisman, either.”
Phoenix’s legs wobbled, and he sat down in a chair next to Caleb. “You think he’ll…”
“Die pretty fast? I don’t know. And at this point, I’m tired of caring.”
“But you do care?”
“I don’t know if I care or if I just think I’m supposed to.” Caleb’s voice cracked. “I don’t know how to tell.” He buried his head in his arms. “Hunter’s gone, the day of unity is tomorrow, my great granddaughter is going to be on the front lines… I’m not a soldier. I never was. But I feel like we should be doing something, that I should be doing something. One last mess of Philip’s to clean up before I’m free to just live with my family in peace.”
“Okay,” Phoenix said softly, “You weren’t a soldier. But we were. Let us help you figure it out.”
“I can’t ask you to—”
“I’m not saying everyone. I know you want to protect them. But me, Cherry, maybe Meleager—this is something that we’re capable of, something that we want to do. So tell us. What is it you’re most worried about when it comes to the day of unity?”
Caleb took a deep breath. “Panic. I’m worried when people realize what’s going on, they might stampede and hurt themselves or others.”
“Okay. We can handle crowd control. We’ll make a plan. What else are you worried about?”
“Philip isn’t an idiot. He’ll be expecting last-minute interference. What if Darius’ plan doesn’t work? What if he gets caught?”
The thought plunged a dagger into Phoenix’s gut, but he pushed it down. Planning for problems was one thing, panicking over something that hadn’t happened yet was another. “So we need a backup shutoff plan.”
Caleb ran a hand through his hair. “Sam would be your best bet. We don’t know enough about the spell to come up with a plan here, but if anyone could take it apart and come up with a counter on the spot, it would be him. If he’s okay with getting that close to the whole thing.”
“I am okay with that, actually.”
Phoenix twisted in his seat to see Sam standing in the doorway, arms crossed. “Were you planning on inviting the rest of us to this war meeting, or…?”
Caleb sputtered for a moment before finally spitting out “I didn’t want to—”
Sam held one finger up. “No. Nope. You want us to make our own choices, don’t you? So give us the option to take part in your little treason instead of deeming some of us too fragile to know. I’m telling everyone. I will see you in five to ten minutes.”
He disappeared, and Phoenix leaned back in his seat. “He’s right.”
“Hm?”
“About giving them the choice. Protecting us is one thing. Keeping us in the dark is another. They should have the option to join in or not.” Even if some of them joining would be disastrous. Even if Phoenix wouldn’t put some of them on the front lines in a million years. Hopefully they all knew themselves well enough. Knew the stakes well enough.
“If any of you get hurt—”
“We’re used to it. Besides, we’ve got a great healer waiting in the wings.”
“That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be careful.”
“We will be,” Phoenix assured him, annoyance flaring up in his belly, “Either trust us or don’t, Caleb, you can’t do it in half measures.”
“You were planning a rebellion without us?” Dagger’s outraged voice sounded from the door. “Betrayal.”
He moved into the room, followed by about ten more Grimwalkers. Jason wriggled through them to Phoenix’s side, tugging Mole behind him. “Hey! You left your room!”
If he should have expected Caleb to notice, then he really, really, really should have expected Jason to notice. “Was I really gone that long?”
Mole shook his head, tilting one hand back and forth in a so-so gesture.
Jason blinked up at him. “What happened at Hexside that spooked you so bad?”
Stupid.
Failure.
“Nothing. Nothing happened. I mean. I was just upset that I couldn’t convince Hunter to stay is all. Let’s just focus on this, okay?”
Before Jason could press any further, the final batch of Grimwalkers piled in, and Sam shut the door behind them. “Look at that. Everyone wanted to come. Who could have predicted this turn of events.”
Phoenix counted heads, crossing off names—it really was everyone. Even Chryses. “Your family’s waiting,” he said quietly to Caleb.
Caleb took a deep breath, pushing his chair back. “The day of unity is tomorrow. Luckily, there is a group of individuals with a plan to stop it, but they may end up needing our help. Phoenix and I already plan to go. None of you have to come with us. No one expects that of you. But if you want to help, if we can make a plan together… you’re more than welcome.”
“How are we going to get there?” Lake piped up, “Most roads will be watched closely for wild witches. The concealment stones will help, but there’s a lot of us, and we’ll lose the element of surprise.”
“I can fix that,” Joseph offered, “The adult griffins are all okay with riders. We can fly in.”
Caleb nodded. “That does limit how many people we can bring.”
Joseph tallied up on his fingers. “We have four adult griffins, and each are big enough to fit about three riders on their backs. So, twelve of us.”
“Sam’s going. Phoenix, too. So am I. And Joseph, we’ll need you to keep the griffins in check, since they trust you the most. That leaves us with eight more seats.”
“I should go as well,” Evelyn offered from the back of the room. Phoenix jumped—he hadn’t seen her come in. “If anyone gets hurt, I’d prefer not to wait for you to get back to begin healing.” She cracked her knuckles. “And I’m more than capable of cracking a few skulls.”
“Seven seats.”
“Me,” Cherry offered, “If they’re okay with it, I think Meleager and Cyrus are a good choice to come along.”
They nodded.
“Alright. Four.”
“I’m going,” Jason announced.
Caleb shook his head. “Jason, are you su—”
“You have to think about weight, too. Even if there’s space on the Griffins for three people, you, Phoenix, and Cherry are all bigger. You can’t overload the griffins, or they won’t make it. But I’m a good fighter and I’m light.”
“Me, too,” Silver offered, “I can ride with one of you guys—I’m at least as light as Jason.”
Caleb hissed in. “There’s going to be a lot of people, and they’re going to be angry, or frightened. Will you be alright?”
“Hey, you need someone good with crowds, right?” Silver joked, “I’ve already tamed one mob, what’s the entire population of the boiling isles, huh?”
Phoenix saw the battle in Caleb’s eyes—a moment of hesitation, before he took a deep breath, and nodded. “Okay. If you’re sure. Two more spots.”
“We could all squeeze onto one with Meleager,” Horus offered, pointing to himself, Hamlet, and Venari, “I’m sure we could all fit, it’s only one more person.”
Joseph shook his head. “Three is the maximum. There’s not a lot of space, and like Jason said, we have to worry about weight.”
Caleb took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, but… Venari, you have a sigil. If one of the four of you has to stay behind—”
“That’s not fair!” Venari burst out, “Phoenix, Sam, and Cyrus all have sigils, too, and they’re going! Kick Phoenix or Cyrus off!”
“Venari—”
“I want to—”
“I know,” Caleb soothed, hands up, “I know, but we’re not going there to fight Philip, anyway.” He shot Meleager, Horus, and Hamlet a look. “The three of you need to stay on task, okay? We’re going to help with crowd control, and make sure everything runs smoothly. Hopefully, we won’t even see him.”
“We’ll get him for you,” Horus murmured to the fuming Venari.
“I’m serious. If you’re only after Philip, you are off the team.”
“After we make sure there isn’t any horrible panic,” Horus amended.
“Good. Thank you, everyone. I know this isn’t easy—and I know it’s not easy for some of you to stay behind. Hopefully after tomorrow… well, things are going to be different, one way or another. However things change, we’ll figure it out. All of us.”
Grimwalkers slowly trickled out, murmuring to themselves. Phoenix opened his Penstagram scroll, rereading the message from Hunter. Was he part of this plan? Surely Darius wouldn’t risk him like that. Not after what had happened in Belos’ mind. Where are you going to be?
On a rescue/protection mission in Bonesborough.
Jason tugged on his arm. “What’s that?”
Phoenix pulled his scroll out of reach. “Communication device. Hunter’s going to be far away on the day of unity.”
“Good.” Jason tapped Phoenix’s forearm. “Are you going to be okay? I mean, the sigil—”
“If everything goes to plan, the sigil won’t matter.”
“And if it doesn’t go according to plan?”
“Then we’ll figure it out. Hey.” Phoenix ducked his head to catch Jason’s eyes. “We will. You’ve taught me that.”
Phoenix didn’t sleep that night. Could anyone?
What if I mess up? What if I can’t protect them?
Failure
Phoenix shook himself, padding out the door. Sam’s lab glowed, and when he went in, he saw globes of light surrounding Petro. Sam himself scurried around, drawing glyphs and packing various odds and ends into a satchel.
“Getting ready?” Phoenix asked in a low voice.
“Oh!” Sam ducked his head, wafting some of his light around. “Yes. There’s no telling what we’ll find up there. The only way to prepare is to prepare for everything.”
“Do you think you can stop it? If Darius’ plan doesn’t work, I mean.”
Sam absentmindedly rubbed his own sigil. “I wish I could say for sure. I’d prefer to study the sigils when activated, to run tests, to make sure it’s safe before I do anything that could affect others, but… we don’t have the time. Whatever I do, that’s it. It works or we die. Or maybe it works and we all die anyway, because the cure is deadlier than the disease. If only we knew more.”
Sam pushed the lights towards the statue with a sigh. “I wish I could free him before we leave. If anything happens to me… well, maybe whoever tries next will have more success. I suppose I didn’t do much good for him anyway.”
Phoenix sat down at the statue’s base trying to banish the uneasy feeling in his gut. There wouldn’t be a miracle to save them this time. If something did happen to Sam, or anyone else, that was it. And it had been his idea to include them. “It’s supposed to be permanent. I think the fact that you tried so hard at it means something, whether it worked or not. It has to, right?”
Sam sighed, sitting next to him. “I hope so. I really do.”
“Time to go,” Caleb whispered from the doorway. Phoenix sprang up, making his way outside. The sun already climbed through the sky, and the moon rose with it, creeping closer and closer to extinguishing the light.
Meleager handed Phoenix a sticky pad with glyphs drawn on each piece of paper. “Most of them will just create a spear or staff, that seems to be your speed. Hopefully, you won’t need to use all of them.”
Joseph led the griffins out of the coop making gentle shushing noises and holding their heads in his hands as their team climbed onto the creatures’ backs.
“No one with a sigil drives,” Joseph warned, “I don’t need everyone going down because one person is incapacitated.”
Mole stood in the doorway, watching, and Jason grabbed him in a hug. “I’ll be back in a bit.” He let go and tugged Phoenix up to the griffin with Sam. “Let’s go.”
Jason wriggled up front, patting Lucy’s neck. The griffin jumped up into the air, muscles rippling underneath her soft feathers with each wingbeat.
No one said anything. The only sounds were the wingbeats of the griffins, the wind rushing by. The house fell behind quickly, and the moon loomed towards them.
We should have left earlier, Phoenix realized. The moon moved faster than they did, eating the face of the sun. We’re not going to make it in time.
“Oooo boy,” Sam muttered from behind him, “Phoenix? Yours, too?”
Phoenix glared at the glowing mark on his own. He didn’t feel anything yet—no sudden exhaustion, no cold edge of death. But it still couldn’t be a good sign. “Yeah. Mine, too.”
“Making us invisible now,” Evelyn’s voice called, “There are a lot of places for scouts to hide around here.”
Jason and Sam disappeared in a puff of blue, leaving just Lucy beneath Phoenix. His seal sputtered and went out.
“It’s working,” Sam crowed, “The corruption plan is working!”
Ding.
Phoenix checked his scroll.
Change of plans. Luz captured. On way to head. Don’t respond, driving.
“WHAT?!” Phoenix nearly dropped the scroll.
Stay where you are, we’re going up. We can get her.
No response.
“Be irresponsible for once in your life and look at your scroll while driving!” Phoenix yelped, shaking his own scroll.
“What?” Jason yipped, “Phoenix, what’s going on?!”
“Hunter’s on his way to the head!”
“What?! Why?!”
A jolt of pain pricked at Phoenix’s forearm, and he nearly dropped the scroll as veins of gold erupted up his arm. Behind him, he felt Sam start to slide off of the griffin, and Phoenix fumbled for his invisible arm, yanking him back.
“Hey! Stick with us! If it didn’t work, then we need you!”
“What’s going on?” Jason’s disembodied voice asked, and Phoenix felt him trying to shift and twist around. “Are you guys okay?”
“Eyes on the road!”
A beam of gold erupted into the sky, twisting around the kissing moon and sun. The sigil stadium loomed into view, entrances sealed off by those abomination creations. The illusion keeping them invisible disappeared in a puff of blue, and Caleb wheeled around in the sky to face the rest of them.
“Sam, get to the middle and see what you can do. Jason, Phoenix, protect him. The rest of you, help me destroy those creatures, and we’ll start evacuating people. Go.”
Jason took the griffin over the wall and to the center, but Lucy squawked and flapped to avoid the pillar of magic, forcing them to land to the side and run up the stairs.
The coven heads had all collapsed, and Phoenix skidded to his knees next to Darius. “No! Darius, wake up, please wake up!” Darius didn’t move, only fell limp in his grasp, and tears pricked at Phoenix’s eyes. He couldn’t die—not like this. Not after how he’d been fighting against Belos all these years. “I should have told you I was alive. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I should have…”
“This isn’t a normal glyph,” Sam announced.
Phoenix wiped at his eyes. “Wh-what?”
“It doesn’t use the basic glyphs. Whatever it’s using to give the command, it’s not something we’ve seen before. It doesn’t follow the rules I know.” Sam scuffed his foot through the sand, disrupting the lines. “And messing it up isn’t helping. I need to know where this came from: I need dear old Uncle Pip’s journals.”
He erased the rest of the glyph, drawing something new in the center. Phoenix removed Darius’ cloak, folding it up and sliding it under his head as a pillow. “We’re going to fix this,” he promised, his voice wobbling, “We’re going to—I’m going to save you. I’m going to save you. And then I’ll explain everything, I promise.”
“All aboard that’s coming aboard,” Sam remarked, and Phoenix pressed his forehead to Darius’ for a moment before standing up and joining Jason and Sam in the center. Jason took Phoenix’s good hand, giving it a squeeze, and Phoenix gripped him like a lifeline.
“He’s going to be okay,” Jason said confidently, “Sam will find an answer.”
“No pressure or anything,” Sam muttered, tapping the glyph he’d drawn.
The world dissolved into a flash of gold, and when it faded, they stood in a completely different room, mechanical ends and odds sharing space with dusty old journals and the portal door.
“Have you been able to do that this whole time?!” Phoenix yelped.
Sam beelined for the journals. “It only works with places I’ve been, I can’t just go anywhere willy nilly. I was hoping Uncle’s skull-lab was still in place. What a dump.”
A shiver ran down Phoenix’s spine. The skull. The very tip of the Isles. “You’ve been here before? On the head? Isn’t that kind of sacrilege?”
“Mmmmonce. It didn’t go well. Oh, don’t fall over the edge of the bridge outside, it’s a long way down.”
Phoenix swept around the room, tossing stray journals to Sam as he went. The disc Dagger had mentioned—was it here? His eyes fell on a clean circle inside a field of dust. He’d taken it, wherever he’d gone. Phoenix closed his eyes. It had to be Sam, then. He was their last hope.
A roar shook the room, and Phoenix moved towards the door, numbness sweeping through his body. “That sound…” he murmured, lips barely moving.
Run.
Stupid
Failure.
“Guh,” Jason yipped next to him, trembling.
Phoenix put his good hand on Jason’s shoulder. “Stay here. Protect Sam while he works. I’ll…”
What? Die fighting Belos again? But he had to, didn’t he? He couldn’t let that monster in here. He couldn’t let him ruin Darius’ only chance—and Sam and Jason’s as well.
“Hunter? Why are you hurting me? I only wanted to help you!”
“No,” Phoenix hissed, running out the door. “No, no, no, not here, why are you—”
“You—you’re lying!” Hunter yelped.
Phoenix heard a snarling “CALEB!” and summoned a spear of ice as Belos reared back to strike, hurling the spear as hard as he could. It struck the monster in the hand. Phoenix skidded to a stop behind Hunter and Gus, yanking the two of them backwards and out of the strike zone.
Belos’ eyes widened. All fifty of them. “You should be dead!”
“Oh, that is rich, coming from you, you slimy fossil,” Sam snapped from the room at the end of the bridge. His voice echoed in the empty space like a ghost. “Guess it runs in the family.”
Phoenix summoned another spear, the shaft awkward in only his left hand. “Are you okay?” he asked out of the side of his mouth, keeping his eyes fixed firmly on Belos.
“Ish,” Gus replied shakily.
Vines snagged Belos, dragging him back, but he easily snapped them in two, turning with a roar towards Willow. Phoenix darted forward, jabbing the spear at Belos and making him turn around again. “Eyes on me!” He darted to the side. Rolled to avoid Belos’ slashing claw. Two girls he didn’t recognize sent blast after blast of ice and abomination at Belos, but the impact didn’t even slow him down. Phoenix ran at a pillar, running halfway up it and arching his back in a flip, landing squarely on Belos’ back. He stabbed the spear into Belos’ shoulder, but before he could summon another, Belos shook himself, and Phoenix flew backwards, twisting into a somersault.
“Okay!” Sam’s voice called, “Everybody, stand back!”
Phoenix rolled away from another slash of Belos’ claws, darting back. Two ice stars the size of Phoenix’s head whirled across the room, cracking into pillars across from each other. Vines spread slowly across the stars, hitting glyphs etched into the ice and activating them one at a time. The stars erupted outwards, forming a box around Belos. Then, the vines sprouted into flowers, just as a fire and ice glyph activated, hissing out in a mist. Belos swayed and roared in confusion, waving at the smoke.
Sleeping nettle flowers, Phoenix realized, just as the vines hit the last glyph, and stone crept over the ice, turning the entire enclosure into solid rock.
Phoenix twisted around to stare at Sam in the doorway, smiling the smuggest smile Phoenix had ever seen, his glasses lit up by the golden veins creeping up his face. “Have you been able to do that this whole time?!”
“It takes a while to draw and calibrate right, geeze. And I can’t make it beforehand, the ice will melt. You did a great job keeping him distracted long enough for me to make it, though.”
The three girls came around from the other side of the box, and Willow nodded to him. “Hey, again.”
“Hey.”
One of the other girls, one with purple hair, waved a hand at them. “Hunter?! Explain?!”
“Later. the important thing is that they’re on our side. Phoenix, Amity and Luz. Amity and Luz, Phoenix and…”
“Jason,” Jason offered, “That’s Sam—Sam?”
Sam was already half a journal deep, flipping through entries and grumbling to himself, dashing around the room and picking up ingredients and tubes, flipping open his own belt pouch and taking out a few more things, then consulting the journal again.
“Whaaaat’s he doing?” Amity muttered.
“Coming up with a cure for… this.” Sam shook a small vial up and down, tucking the journals away. “Alright, kiddos, neat little bit of information, Belos based his sealing magic on the basilisks. Now, a fact not a lot of people know is that the basilisks didn’t just go extinct, they were hunted. And in fighting a creature that could eat your magic, you needed another way to defeat them.”
“Could you get to the point, please?” Phoenix grated out as the veins shot up his arm further, and his whole right side went numb.
“Right, well, this is a poison that would cause the magic a basilisk ate to turn in on itself. It SHOULD act like a magic antibody, clearing your system of any magic that doesn’t belong to it. A.K.A., the sigils.”
“So do it!”
Sam twirled the vial around in his fingers. “Right. Yeah. Do it.”
“What’s the matter?” Jason sighed.
“Mmmmmm I don’t know what it will do? It tended to explode the basilisks. And I think I made a milder version, and it should act externally, but…” Sam took a deep breath, filling an eyedropper and holding it over his own arm. “Oh, boy.”
“Wait—” Phoenix held out his right arm. “Do mine. That way if something DOES happen, you can fix it and not be. Uh. Exploded.”
Sam scoffed. “I’m not strong enough to carry your great big unconscious body out of here, we need you awake. And I’m not quite terrible enough to test something dangerous and new on someone else, thank you very much. This’ll work, don’t worry about it.”
And before Phoenix could move to stop him, a drop of liquid splattered onto his coven seal. Sam flinched, his whole body tensing.
Nothing happened.
“Maybe it needs to be injec—”
The droplet sputtered, steaming, and Sam howled as black char spread out from the seal, eating away at the golden veins, racing up his arm and to his face, quelling the glowing. Sam slumped forward, his breath heaving in his chest.
“Hngh—agh—”
Phoenix caught him. “Sam? Sam!”
“Mmmmmokay,” he hissed out through gritted teeth, “I’m—it’s fine. I’m good. Ah—ow. That stings.” He poked at the smoking black burns racing up his arm. His face paled, and he blinked hard, going heavy on Phoenix again. “OW.”
“Is there enough in there for the whole isles?” Luz asked, eying the vial.
“Do the coven heads first,” Jason offered, “If the magic is being channeled through them, it might stop the whole spell.”
Sam lurched to his feet, tucking the vial safely into his belt. “I’ll… get your kid first,” he muttered to Phoenix, “Don’t worry. Ow. Worry a little.”
“Hey—just draw the glyph—”
“Need dirt,” Sam muttered, stumbling towards the door, “Need to get outside.”
Phoenix followed him out the door and across the bridge. The stone shell rumbled, exploding in a hail of sharp shards. Belos lunged for Sam, tearing at his pocket.
“Too clever for your own good,” he hissed.
Phoenix yanked Sam to the side, summoning a staff and throwing Sam towards the exit. “Go!”
Sam scrambled away, and Phoenix moved to block Belos, catching his blow on the staff with a grunt. Maybe if he’d had both arms, or even JUST his right one, he’d have been able to push back, but the force of Belos’ strike sent him reeling back. Belos pounced, knocking away his staff and pinning him to the ground under one claw.
“You always were my biggest failure,” he hissed, pressing down. Phoenix gasped for air, fumbling for his glyphs. “Soft. Stupid. You never even looked like him.” His claws dug into Phoenix’s arms, and something in his chest went crack. “Petrifying your predecessor and keeping you was a mistake. I would have killed you sooner, but it wasn’t worth the effort until you started poking around.”
“GET! OFF! OF! HIM!” Jason’s voice yowled. Phoenix heard the crackling of ice, and Belos’ weight disappeared. He gasped in a shuddering breath, his ribcage tearing at his lungs. Jason skidded between him and Belos, tears running down his face. “Leave him alone!”
Belos blinked, his monstrous face transforming to a familiar one.
Somehow, that was more horrifying.
“You’re alive?”
“No thanks to you.”
“I never meant for that to happen. It was the curse. That was why I needed those palisman so desperately, so that I wouldn’t hurt you.”
He’s lying, Phoenix thought desperately, gasping for the air he’d need to say the words out loud, Jason, he’s lying.
Belos reached towards Jason, his claw turning to a hand grasping for Jason’s shoulder. “Hunter, you can come with me, to the human realm. I’ll overlook your treachery. You always were my favorite out of all the grimwalkers, even if you didn’t look quite right.”
Phoenix struggled to sit up, his whole right side, arm, and leg completely numb.
DON’T TOUCH HIM!
A crackling, splintering noise split the air, and ice rose up at Jason’s feet, knocking away Belos’ hand. “That is not a very nice thing to say in front of your other grimwalkers,” Jason quipped shakily, “And my name is Jason.”
Hunter appeared behind Phoenix as Belos snarled, his face transforming from human to monster. Willow was right in tow, and each of them took one of Phoenix’s arms, half-carrying, half-dragging him away.
“Jason,” Phoenix gasped.
Luz, Amity, and Gus joined Jason, trying to push Belos back. Willow and Hunter made it to the titan’s eye before Hunter’s right leg spasmed, and he fell, dropping Phoenix. Willow sagged under the sudden weight, lowering Phoenix to the ground.
“The sigil?”
Hunter managed a nod, hissing in and clutching his arm.
“Guys?” Willow called.
Belos swiped and lunged at the four teens left fighting him, pushing them back.
We can’t beat him, Phoenix thought woozily, not like this.
Belos advanced on them, all huddled together, and Phoenix forced himself up, his whole body shaking, begging to just rest. He pushed in front of Jason, in front of Hunter, in front of all the kids as Belos raised a scythe.
I’m sorry, Darius.
This time it’s for real.
He braced himself, but the blow didn’t land. Phoenix opened his eyes to see a… child, holding Belos’ scythe between his fingers like it was nothing.
“Whatcha playing?” the child asked brightly.
Phoenix’s legs gave out, and he collapsed again as Belos took a step back, fear flashing in those blue eyes. “Collector.”
Jason knelt next to Phoenix, opening a belt pouch and cinching bandages tightly around the gashes left in Phoenix’s arm by Belos’ claws. “Who is that?”
Phoenix shook his head wordlessly, grunting as a jolt of pain raced up his spine from his otherwise-numb arm.
Belos continued to back away from the child. “You’re free! Just as promised.”
“As promised?” The child put a finger to their chin. “I remember someone throwing me off a bridge. I’m not angry though. Say, you want to play tag?”
They twirled their finger, and Belos was dragged closer, the mud that made him up swirling around like a noodle on a fork. His face sat inches from the child’s now, and they held up one finger. “I’m it.”
They touched Belos’ forehead, and he flew backwards, slamming into the wall with a crack. Phoenix gagged as mud dripped down into the doorway, and Jason’s hands dropped away, the grimwalker staring at the puddle with a sick, horrified expression.
“No,” he whispered.
The child giggled. “Too slow!”
Phoenix chest tightened as if Belos was pressing on his ribcage again. What is this thing?
“You guys look slow, too,” the child mused, turning to face them. “Do you need a head start?”
I can’t protect them.
Phoenix couldn’t move. He’d put everything into the fight against Belos—and still hadn’t gotten anywhere CLOSE to winning, or even protecting anyone.
What am I supposed to do against a monster like this?
A small demon ran between the child and the seven of them. “Whoa! Hey, Collector, buddy! Pal!”
The… collector… raised their arms up. “King!”
King nodded. “Remember what we talked about? You gotta help all my friends outside, or we won’t get to play owl house?”
He looked back towards them. Luz straightened. “Ah, owl house? Ah, gosh.” She chuckled, a nervous sound masked by humor. “I love that game!”
“The memories last a lifetime!” Amity agreed.
“Iiii play it every day!” Willow added.
“I play it every hour!” Gus yelped.
Hunter let out a strangled whine, his eyes still fixed on the remains of Belos, wide with terror.
He can’t run if he needs to.
I can’t, either.
“I’ll explain the rules later!” King promised, “But remember, we need lots of players!”
The collector shrugged, moving towards the eyehole. The kids scrambled away, Gus and Willow helping Hunter move. Jason grabbed Phoenix’s arm, hauling him to the side as the child peered out the hole. He groaned, looking up at the eclipse, then leaned on the wall, kicking his legs.
“Hmmmm…” He stood up. “Okay!” He lifted one hand, pointing at the moon, then moved his finger to the side. “Boop!”
The moon moved with his finger.
The moon moved with his finger.
Phoenix sagged against Jason, his legs weak for a reason that had nothing to do with the sigil that was now fading, the veins dematerializing.
What can we do in the face of someone who can move the moon?!
“Hm…” The child snickered. “If we’re gonna play owl house, we’re gonna need an owl house!”
They jumped into the air, clapping their hands, and the walls around them started to crumble and fall, before the pieces circled around to the collector. The child threw out their arms and legs. “We’re gonna have a blast, everyone!”
Phoenix stumbled on the unsteady, shaking ground. The head had become a death trap around them, falling to pieces around them. And there were no stairs left to take them out. No Sam to teleport them away.
Willow pointed back towards the lab. “I think there’s a way out!”
The kids ran for it, and Jason helped Phoenix hobble along, gasping as every step jostled his aching ribs.
Darius—I can’t just leave them.
The floor crumpled, and the kids all leapt to the next piece. Jason skidded to a halt. Hunter twisted back to look at them, and Jason waved a hand.
“Go. We’ll find a way down!”
He set Phoenix down, drawing an ice glyph that shattered in all of the shaking. “Okay. Okay, we’ll get there. We’ll…”
Phoenix coughed, wincing as it grated against his ribs. “Jason…”
“We’re getting out of here, we’re going to get back to the others, just hang—”
“Jason, we both know I can’t make that jump. You still can. That door… it goes to the human realm.”
Jason shook his head, tears running down his face. “Then we’ll find another way.”
“Jason, listen. You need to go. Now. While you can still make it.”
“I can’t—Phoenix, I can’t run like a coward again, I can’t leave you, I can’t leave them, I can’t—I can’t—I need to get you out, if anyone needs to leave, it’s you, I need to save you, and…"
Phoenix reached up, brushing Jason’s face. “Jason. I need you… I need you to protect them. You’re not running. You’re not a coward. You never have been. You already protected me from Belos, and you did it without a second thought. You’re braver than you could possibly imagine. You’ve already saved me. Now I need you to make sure that Hunter—that the other kids… that they’re safe.”
“No—no, you do it, you protect them. You’re coming with us!”
Phoenix shook his head. “I’ve disappeared on my loved ones with no explanation once. I can’t do it again, I can’t do that to them. I need to tell them where you went, tell Darius where I’ve been—I owe him that. And I need you to protect them. Since I can’t.”
“Phoenix—"
Panic disguised as anger roiled through Phoenix as the gap to the other side widened. “Jason, please. Before it’s too late.”
Jason scrubbed at his face, tears pouring down. “I—I don’t think I can. I—”
“You can. You can do this, Jason, I need you to do this.”
Jason took a deep breath, and stood up, taking a running leap to the crumbling hallway. He ran towards the door, towards safety, tugging on Luz’s arm. The demon Luz was holding onto shouted. The two of them flew through the portal door.
And then it broke, falling in pieces to the floor.
Phoenix collapsed against the stone still floating up, finally giving in to the exhaustion.
He’s out.
He, at least, is safe.
Even if I’m trapped.
Phoenix chuckled breathlessly, a chuckle that broke off into a hiss of pain.
Maybe that was stupid and soft of me.
But at least I won’t fail again.
Xxx
Luz opened and closed the door to the house, with no effect.
The portal was gone.
“I promised Mole I’d be back soon,” Jason whispered. Rain poured down his face, flattening his hair to his head. “I promised…”
Mom.
Dad.
Mole.
Cherry.
Phoenix.
Jason hauled himself up to his feet, swaying. One of the kids cried softly, and tears were seconds from falling from Jason’s own eyes.
I don’t know how to do this, Phoenix.
I don’t know how to take care of them.
It should have been you.
Jason took a deep breath, running his hand through his hair to plaster the wet strands back.
Be what they need you to be.
Act how they need you to act, no matter how you feel.
That’s what you’re good at.