As she stirred her tea and wracked her brain, Willow remembered back to the day she met Luz; specifically the battle with the Mandragora. Luz had blasted it with a light beam from her tongue! It was possible to draw spell circles with more than just the fingers, so Willow decided to try it! Focusing carefully, she used her tongue to draw a spell circle inside her own mouth, casting a herbicide spell on herself so that any plant life that entered her body would die immediately. She then slowly drank the tea and immediately felt her magic reacting to it, destroying whatever Terra had put inside it. Terra smiled even wider, clearly unaware of what Willow had done, and the girl felt her heart leap with relief.
"How do you like it, little seedling?" Terra asked.
"It's wonderful." Willow replied.
"Isn't it just? Lady Snapdragon has fine taste for the finer things!" Hanu beamed, also taking a sip of her (presumably untainted) tea.
Terra had some too, then looked Willow in the eye; "Now, I think it's time for a bit of truth, don't you? I shall go first; as a Head Witch and someone who works closely with the Emperor, I enjoy a certain level of trust, so I get access to all kinds of privileged information. Part of that includes reports on our enemies, such as the Owl Lady…"
Willow forced herself not to flinch, "… and the little Angel she has infested. Those reports include things like their known associates and friends. Imagine my surprise when one of those associates comes walking straight into our midst."
Terra's smile became sharp, while Hanu gasped and looked warily at Willow; "You are friends with the Angel!? Was this all a trick!?"
"No! I won't deny being friends with Luz, but nothing I said was a lie." Willow (ironically) lied. "I really am just in a few Gen-Ed classes with her, and I really did come here to see about joining the Plant Coven! It was my dream for years!"
Hanu eyed her suspiciously, while Terra looked surprised. "My my… it appears she is telling the truth." the old woman said. "That tea was spiked with Liar's Lament; a naturally occurring poison from the Truthful Tulips I grow. It causes liars to suffer terrible pain, yet our little seedling is quite unhurt. How interesting!"
Willow smiled, relief filling her chest; that herbicide spell had destroyed the plant-based poison, saving her from the anguish it would cause! Now Terra would believe everything she said!
"I wouldn't lie to you, Lady Snapdragon. Though I understand the need for the precautions… Luz is a dear friend, but she is being terribly mislead by the Owl Lady! I want to convince her that the Emperor isn't the monster Eda claims he is, but I'm afraid she'll refuse to talk to me any more!" Willow lied easily.
Terra tutted sympathetically; "How awful for you. Still, such loyalty should be rewarded; the Emperor will be pleased." she hummed, then smiled creepily; "Hmm, I might have an idea that could please him, bring that wayward child back to the right side, AND ensure your place in my coven as one of my little Sprouts!"
"Oh? If I can help the Coven and become one of your Aides like Hanu, I'd love to try!" Willow said eagerly, making Hanu grin too.
"Excellent! Then here's what you have to do…" Terra leaned forward conspiratorially; "Kiss up to the Angel. Stay on her good side, no matter what you have to say or do. If you can, get her to let you join those nasty rebel weeds! Then when you're in the midst, you can spy on them for us!"
Willow blinked; shouldn't Terra know that new members of the CATTs took oaths to prevent them revealing their secrets? Kikimora was aware thanks to Treble… had she not told anyone else? From what Lilith and Raine had said about the diminutive demon, that honestly shouldn't have surprised Willow.
"I'm not sure how good of a spy I'd be, but if it'll help the Emperor and the Coven, I'll do it!" Willow said determinedly. Maybe she could prove her usefulness by becoming a double agent and spying on the Plant Coven!
Terra and Hanu both looked delighted; "Oh this is marvellous! Absolutely marvellous! We get to have a new member AND a spy!" Hanu said.
"Indeed! In fact, it's such good news that I don't see why we can't skip straight to giving young Willow her reward." Terra said, snapping her fingers. The mandrakes from before (who were still sat on the table, having been nibbling on sugar cubes) suddenly jumped off the table and swelled back up to their normal appearances, before scurrying over to an ornate looking chest in the corner of the parlour. They worked together to open it, then one jumped inside and emerged with a glove of some kind, which it promptly delivered to Terra. The old woman slipped the glove onto her hand and Willow watched as the sigil of the Plant Coven appeared on its index finger.
"With this, you'll officially be a member of my coven. Give me your arm, Sprout." Terra smiled.
Willow suddenly felt her heart beating a little faster as she hesitated. Getting branded with a Coven Sigil had NOT been part of the plan! But could she even refuse at this point? If she did, surely Terra would see something was wrong. Then again… did it matter if she accepted the sigil? Aside from some Water Elemental Magic which she'd only been learning to strengthen her Plant Magic anyway, Willow didn't use anything but Plant Magic so it wasn't like she'd be giving much up by accepting the sigil. And worst comes to worst, Luz was able to get rid of the sigil the Emperor had branded her with; surely Willow could just ask her for the same treatment? With pain-killing potions, it wouldn't even hurt!
"Something wrong, Sprout?" Terra asked when Willow still hadn't presented her arm.
"N-No. I'm just nervous! I came to look around; I didn't expect to join up already!" Willow said quickly.
"Not having second thoughts, right?" Hanu asked.
Willow shook her head; "I'm not. Let's do this."
She pulled up her sleeve and with one last moment of hesitation, offered her right wrist to Terra. The Old Crone's lips stretched into an even wider smile as she lifted her finger and prepared to brand Willow with the sigil.
However, just as she was about to touch Willow's wrist, the glass walls of the parlour all suddenly began rattling hard in their frames, before they suddenly shattered. Willow and Hanu both screamed, while Terra scowled and snapped her fingers, removing the green rings of magic that kept her plants docile. They began to snap and snarl and search around for the cause of the shattering glass, only for said source to suddenly fly in on a staff, before jumping off and landing on the table, breaking most of the tea set and spilling the tea itself.
The intruder was wearing black clothes and a cloak, under which was a bat-themed face mask that covered their head completely, leaving no visible ways of identifying them. Even their Palisman was disguised, being hidden from view by a black cloth. However, their staff transforming into a violin gave Willow a pretty big clue as to who it was!
"Picking your prey younger and younger with every passing year, are we Snapdragon? Compensating for your own ageing perhaps? Or do you prefer the term wilting?" Raine demanded, their voice slightly distorted by Bardic Magic.
Terra narrowed her eyes, thankfully not recognising them; "Another annoying bard, hmm? Are you one of the traitors that fled with Whispers, or are you perhaps a new one? I really should have Cadence clean house one of these days." she said, slowly getting to her feet. She tossed the branding glove to Hanu then said; "Be a dear and take young Willow to safety, then give her the sigil. I'll take care of this fertiliser."
Hanu nodded and grabbed Willow's hand to begin pulling her towards the spiral staircase. Raine whistled sharply, creating a high-pitched noise focused on Hanu to make her flinch and cover her ears, but before they could do anything more, Terra set her plants on them. Two carnivorous ones chomped at their arms, forcing them to split them in half with a sound blade, while a poison spitting one began spewing thick purple goo, making them dodge out of the way. They ended up dodging all the way out onto the roof of the manor, while Terra and her mandrakes followed, allowing Hanu to once again grab Willow and drag her down to the floors below.
They ran all the way down to the second floor landing that overlooked the foyer, so Hanu could shout down to the servants and scouts running around in a panic, looking for the intruder.
"Lady Snapdragon is fighting up on the roof! Get outside and climb up from there! And make sure the perimeter is locked down! If that intruder escapes, you'll all be mulch!" she ordered. None but Terra's Sprouts were allowed beyond the first floor without permission, and Hanu wasn't about to have the whole coven traipsing through their private spaces. The coven members, including a few of Terra's other Sprouts (who'd returned with Terra and stood out since they lacked the scout, maid, or butler uniforms) all rushed outside, leaving the manor itself virtually empty. Willow smiled, knowing this was just what Eda needed to sneak in and grab the wood.
Once she'd given her orders, Hanu turned back to Willow with a smile; "Silly question I'm sure, but you wouldn't know anything about that intruder, right?" she asked, assuming Willow was still effected by Liar's Lament.
Willow smiled right back; "Of course not! That was as much a surprise to me as it was to you!" she said, only half-lying. She genuinely hadn't expected Raine to burst in through the glass like that! They must have been spying on the meeting and attacked like that to save Willow from being branded.
Hanu sighed with relief; "Marvellous! Follow me to my room, I'll keep you safe and get you inducted into the Coven before Lady Snapdragon finishes up with that crummy bard."
She grabbed Willow's hand again and led her to a large bedroom that was overflowing with stuffed toys and frilly furniture; the kind one would expect from a rich little girl or young princess. It seemed a bit odd for an adult witch, though Hanu did admittedly look to still be school age. Hanu must have understood the look on Willow's face, because she explained herself.
"I'm actually only 16." Hanu explained, "Lady Snapdragon raised me from the time I was about 10. I was the child of a noble and his mistress, and when my father's wife found out, she made him throw his mistress out. My mother couldn't care for us both, so she sold me to Lady Snapdragon. Luckily I was skilled in plant magic, so she gave me everything I ever wanted growing up. I used to be so jealous of my father's legitimate daughters, and now I have everything they do and more! Lady Snapdragon is very generous to those who earn her favour!"
"And just as cruel to those that don't…" Willow thought, even as she felt some sympathy for Hanu. She'd obviously been groomed and twisted by Terra… well, Willow had no intention of letting herself be twisted too!
As Hanu walked into the room, she let go of Willow's hand and walked over to the window to see if she could see any signs of the battle happening outside. Seeing her chance, Willow subtly summoned Clover into her hand in staff form and crept up behind her, using plant magic to grow a wooden hammer head around Clover, ready to smack Hanu over the head and knock her out. Once Hanu was unconscious, she'd be able to run and meet Eda in the greenhouse with the Palistrom Wood, or perhaps even steal it for herself so Eda could go and help Raine while she escaped!
Unfortunately, the subtle glow of green magic that came with creating the hammer head drew Hanu's attention, causing her to look up and see Willow's reflection in the window right before she could bring her weapon down. Hanu shrieked in surprise and dove to the side, causing Willow's strike to miss and break the window.
Willow cursed and tried to strike Hanu again before she could stand back up from her dive, but Hanu rapidly drew a spell circle that caused a pair of vines to whip down from the ceiling, one grabbing her and pulling her to safety while the other grabbed Willow's staff before she could bring it down. As quick as she could, Willow withered the wood around Clover and turned her back into Palisman mode to free her from the vine, then back into staff mode so she could shoot a trio of green spells towards Hanu. The monkey demon girl ducked under two of them and blocked the third by kicking the chair from her dressing table into its path. The chair, and the two spots on the wall that Willow's spells had struck, suddenly grew long tree roots that tried to grab Hanu.
With a monkey-like shriek, Hanu leapt high into the air and grabbed a vine hanging from the ceiling while throwing off her lacy yellow dress to reveal what was underneath. Beneath it was a green sports bra and spats, making her look almost like an Olympic athlete and she effortlessly swung around on the vines that she'd begun growing from the ceiling, using her feet and tail as dextrously as she used her hands.
"Traitor! You're with that invader, aren't you!? This was all a trick!" Hanu growled.
"Sorry, but yeah. I've got nothing against you personally, Hanu, but Terra is crazy and needs to go down! You've got to see that turning people into mind controlled drones or dressing them up and enslaving them is pretty evil!" Willow yelled, careful to keep the other girl in her line of sight.
"Shut up!" Hanu screeched; "Lady Snapdragon is always right! She knows best, she told me so herself! I won't let you bad mouth her! I'll make you pay for lying to us! And I'll start by making you tell me how you did it!"
Hanu twirled her finger and caused a flower to appear in her palm. Willow eyed it warily, wondering what it could be, but instead of using it on her, Hanu pulled it close to her face and inhaled deeply. Hanu's yellow hair and fur darkened from golden to a deep bronze as her eyes went from brown to green and her nails elongated into claws. As soon as the effects appeared, Willow knew what it was Hanu had inhaled, just as the girl suddenly lunged at her claws first.
"Time to see what we can really do together, Clover!" Willow said, spinning her staff and creating a giant green spell circle, which resulted in a thick oak tree spawning in front of her, protecting her from Hanu's attack. Since the manor itself was made of plant life, Willow didn't need to use magic to create the plant from scratch, and combining that fact with Clover's power made it almost effortless.
Hanu collided with the tree, almost managing to smash all the way through the trunk but falling just shy, instead ending up stuck in it and struggling to pull herself free. Willow ran around the tree and pointed her staff at the trapped girl.
"I imagine it's hard to move when your body is as heavy and hard as iron!" Willow declared; "That flower you inhaled the pollen from… that was an Iron Iris! Anyone who inhales it gains the properties of iron for a short time; great for attacking and defending, but not for moving!"
"This isn't my first fight, Traitor!" Hanu spat as her hands began to glow green inside the holes they'd punched into the oak tree. Little red flowers began to grow on the bark around her head, which Willow immediately recognised as Blood-Boiling Buttercups; a flower that produced a psychedelic pollen to drive the inhaler into a furious frenzy. One sniff had Hanu's skin turning blood red as her eyes glowed green, her chemically-induced rage triggering a Bile Overload.
"I'll grind you to mulch!" Hanu screamed in a fury, effortlessly ripping herself out of the tree and leaping at Willow.
Willow leapt back, sitting on Clover as she did so, and began to fly around the room to avoid Hanu's iron-hard strikes and slashes. Thanks to the weight of her iron body, Hanu couldn't use the vines on the ceiling to climb any more, so she instead climbed up the walls and onto the ceiling by stabbing her fingers into them like climbing spikes. Seeing this, Willow flew back over to her oak tree and cast a spell, causing it to wrap one of its branches around each of her wrists, then snap off, allowing Willow to manipulate them into wooden bangles. She then used these bangles to grow plants with, starting with a pair of vines that she used like whips, lashing at Hanu to keep her at bay. The cracking of the vine whips did little to hurt Hanu's currently iron body, but the sound did make her flinch, giving Willow the chance she needed to grow a very long, razor sharp leaf from a Perforating Palm Tree, which she used like a sword to slice apart the door to Hanu's room and fly back out to the more open area around the foyer of the manor.
Hanu followed hot on her heels, and upon seeing Willow flying in the middle of the foyer, too high to reach from the ground but too far from the ceiling to reach from there too, she breathed some spores onto the ground, creating a massive mushroom that she used to launch herself at Willow. The younger girl prepared to fly out of the way, but noticed Hanu's hair beginning to lighten again as the Iron Iris pollen wore up, giving her an idea. Channelling magic from Pollen, Willow instead drew a large spell circle and caused the bark on her wooden bangles to spread over her entire body, creating wooden armour. Hanu's claws slashed the chest of this wooden armour, penetrating just far enough to leave shallow cuts in Willow's shirt, but otherwise not doing any damage. Without her iron body, she simply didn't have the strength to smash through. Realising she was now lighter, the Monkey Girl clung to Willow and her staff to stop herself from falling, but Willow swung one of her arms out, thickened the bark coating it, then caused a coating of thin, short cactus needles to grow all over it.
"You might wanna back off!" Willow growled, swinging the needle-coated arm at Hanu with all her strength. Hanu panicked, but the Frenzy she was in impaired her judgement and so she didn't flee in time, instead taking Willow's attack right to the chest. It struck her with enough force to crack a rib and sent her smashing down into the first floor of the foyer, leaving a small crater in the wood.
Willow winced in sympathy for her, then cast a spell so roots would grow from the floor and gently bind the prone girl, keeping her from attacking again.
"Sorry Hanu, but Terra has to be stopped!" Willow said.
"STAY AWAY FROM LADY SNAPDRAGON!" Hanu screeched, still in the middle of her pollen-induced Bile Overload. Her fingers were still free enough to cast magic, so she drew a spell circle that covered the ground around her with a myriad of sweet smelling flowers. She then inhaled deeply, ignoring the pain of her ribs, and the pollen of all the different flowers began to blend together as she breathed them in, causing her body to glow as she began to heal.
Willow prepared to stop this, but ended up mesmerised by it; this was the famed Aromatherapy Healing Magic of the Plant Coven. Since the sigils prevented them from learning normal healing magic, or casting the spells needed to brew the more advanced healing potions, the Plant Coven had developed their own form of healing that involved combining the minor positive effects of a myriad of different flowers, which their Plant Magic carefully blended together, suppressing negative effects and enhancing the positive ones, all while ensuring no bad reactions from two particular pollens mixing together. It was a hideously complex method of healing, and only very skilled witches could do it, but it allowed a Plant Witch to heal all kinds of injuries.
"Incredible…" Willow whispered.
Hanu's injuries healed, and as the flesh mended itself, the needles that were left in her skin were forced out, leaving the girl in top condition again. The redness of her skin was also fading as the Blood-Boiling Pollen would wear off soon, so Hanu made use of the Bile Overload while she still had it to grow large red flowers that resembled some kind of blend of orchids and lilies, known as Acidic Amaryllis. As the flowers bloomed, a pair of nostrils could be seen inside each one, which promptly sneezed out red pollen that began to burn away Willow's roots.
Seeing this, Willow had her bark armour retreat back into her bangles, then had them grow a Shooting Seed Pod, which she used to fire seeds at Hanu at high speed. Each seed was the size and hardness of a walnut, so anyone pelted by them would really feel it, but Hanu cast another spell that caused Cushioning Cotton plants to grow around her, allowing her to manipulate their soft, cotton-like pollen into a barrier that absorbed the impact, giving her acidic pollen enough time to eat through the roots binding her. Now free, Hanu used her tail to push herself back onto her feet and begin growing more plants under the blanket of cotton spores.
Willow felt like she was suddenly transported to the Knee, as the entire area was covered in white, snow-like cotton. As she cast a spell to regenerate the seeds in her Shooting Seed Pods, Willow began to notice little red, spiky looking flowers appeared on the walls and ceiling all over the room, producing a silvery powder that she didn't recognise. Hanu then suddenly climbed up the wall and clung to the ceiling not far from Willow, her skin now back to normal and her eyes no longer glowing from an overload, but her hair once again darkened from an Iron Iris.
"This'll be your funeral pyre!" she declared, suddenly revealing a small Fire Melon Cactus, which she threw like a grenade. Willow didn't want that exploding anywhere near her, so she shot it with her Shooting Seed Pod, causing it to explode well out of range to hurt her.
Or at least it would have, had it not ignited the silvery powder, which Willow realised almost too late was the pollen of a Flashing Fairy Duster; the plants Hanu had grown everywhere from beneath the cotton. The powder went up in a huge gout of flame, blasting Willow with the full force of the explosion. She had just barely enough time to bring her arms up to cover her face and coat Clover in a layer of bark before she was blown out of the sky. The cotton spores were all burnt up too, so Willow had nothing to cushion her fall and she hit the ground hard, making Hanu grin. She'd been protected by her iron skin, and now hopped down and walked over to the dent in the floor that Willow had left when she landed.
The girl appeared unconscious; her glasses were cracked and her clothes were singed, but she was otherwise surprisingly unscathed, and her Palisman was buzzing around inside the wooden casing Willow had protected her with, trying to get out to help her partner.
"Lady Snapdragon is going to make you into a seedbed for her latest experiments. I actually feel sorry for you, little traitor." Hanu said, stooping to pick Willow up. As soon as she grabbed the front of Willow's shirt to pull her up, the Monkey Girl was shocked by how much she weighed! There was no way a girl this size should weigh this much!
Suddenly, before Hanu could react, Willow suddenly swung her fist at the girl's face. It was covered in bark and had a pair of flowers growing on it; one of which Hanu recognised as an Iron Iris. Hanu was struck hard, but thanks to her iron skin she was knocked back but not hurt, while Willow pulled herself to her feet and snapped her fingers, freeing Clover.
"Ugh, you're quick with your plant magic!" Hanu complained, "You grew an Iron Iris to tank the explosion at the last second!"
Willow nodded with a smile. Since her hair was already dark and the pollen didn't effect hair dye, it hadn't darkened noticeably enough for Hanu to see as she approached. The result had let Willow take her by surprise.
"That's not all I did." she said, lighting petting Clover on her shoulder; "You're an amazing Pollen Plant Witch; I've never met one who can use it as well as you, so I thought I'd whip out my own speciality."
Hanu looked confused, until she suddenly found herself sweating a lot. It was like her body was heating up from the inside! Even stranger, the sweat was coming out pink and unusually thick, like some kind of sticky syrup.
"W-What is this!?" she cried, trying to move as her own sticky, syrup-like sweat began to bind her like gum, rapidly sealing up her entire body below the neck. "What did you do!?"
"That other flower I hit you with just now was one I cultivated myself." Willow explained, showing the other flower that had been on her wooden gauntlet; it resembled a miniature sunflower, but with the centre of the flower full of thick, powdery yellow pollen of some kind. It was very fragrant though, and Hanu's sharp nose could detect some of it on her cheek.
"You see, I have a bully at school… or rather, a rival now I guess. She made my life hell for years, so I fantasized about putting her in her place with her own power! But I'm no good at Potions Magic, so I decided to find a way to use Plant Magic to do the same things. This is what I came up with; Grafting Plant Magic!" Willow declared.
Hanu's eyes widened; grafting was the act of attaching parts of two or more different plants together so they would grow together, and potentially even become a hybrid plant! It was extremely hard to do with magical plants, yet Willow had not only done so, but she'd manage to grow a grafted plant from scratch! Similar to how Aromatherapy Healing Magic used different pollens to produce healing effects, Willow's Grafting Plant Magic used fused plants to produce different potion-like effects!
"I grafted a Sweating Sunflower with a Gummy Goldenrod, and the result was a topical pollen that can be absorbed through the skin and induce sweating, while also turning that sweat into sticky goo that binds the body. It's a plant version of the sticky sweat stimulant!" Willow declared with a victorious grin. Boscha had once used the same potion to prank her, so Willow had been preparing for this day for years! She never expected to use it on someone else though.
With her iron-enhanced strength doing nothing to help her escape the stretchy, sticky syrup that she was still sweating, and her fingers too gummed together to draw spell circles, Hanu was completely helpless.
"With Plant Magic like this, you could have become Lady Snapdragon's successor! Why betray the Empire like this!?" Hanu cried as Willow approached her.
"Because the Emperor hurt my friend. Any one who hurts my friends will feel the wrath of nature! Now sleep tight; I've got a job to do!" Willow declared. With that, she grew some sleeping nettles from her wooden bangle and held them under Hanu's nose. The Monkey Girl tried to hold her breath but soon found herself needing to breathe, inhaling the pollen and swiftly falling asleep. Even in unconsciousness, she remained gummed up and left in a standing position. Once Willow was certain she was fast asleep, she used her very limited water magic to wash the residue of her flower (which she'd decided to call her Syrup Sunrod) off of Hanu's face, so she'd soon stop sweating and thus be free of the goo… eventually.
With that done, Willow thought about what to do next. She'd originally planned to go to the greenhouse with the Palistrom Wood instead of helping Raine so as to keep her cover, but now that Hanu had fought her, Willow's cover was blown anyway, so she might as well go and see if she could help the Bard. She might just be able to take a few of them by surprise, before they realised she wasn't on their side!
She dashed outside, and was immediately surprised to find dozens of servants and scouts lying unconscious all over the manor's front yard. Most seemed to just be sleeping, lulled to sleep by one of Raine's songs, but others (all of them scouts) looked like they'd fallen unconscious after Raine broke their masks and the mind-controlling roots within them. The sounds of battle could be heard on the rooftops above her head, so Willow rode her staff until she could climb onto the vines that hung from the roof, then sent Clover away.
"Terra doesn't know I have a Palisman, so you'll be my ace in the hole if I need an escape! Hide somewhere nearby and I'll summon you when I need you, okay?" Willow whispered.
Clover nodded, and the voice of a young woman entered Willow's mind; "I'll do as you ask. Be careful though, my Queen. That woman is very powerful."
Willow blinked, still not used to hearing Clover's voice in her head, nor her insistence on referring to Willow as her Queen. However she smiled all the same and gave the Palisman one last pat before sending her to hide, then slowly peeking up over the edge of the rooftop.
She saw Raine, still masked and hooded, playing their violin with great skill and speed, sending sonic blades to destroy plants while dodging lunges from Plant Scouts and facing down two of Terra Snapdragon's Elites, all while Terra herself watched from nearby, sitting on a throne made from a giant flower.
Seeing Raine fight really did put into perspective the difference in skill between a Coven Head (or at least a would-be one) and a regular witch for Willow. Raine moved to the beat of their own internal rhythm, never stopping their playing no matter what was sent there way. They didn't rely solely on magic either; despite being a fairly slender witch, Raine used their legs to great effect, dancing around the battlefield and dealing devastating kicks that were often enhanced by bardic magic. It took Willow a moment to realise that they were basically casting spells with the rhythm of their kicks too, tapping the ground and the enemy to make a song that accompanied their violin.
A trio of Plant Scouts shot vines at Raine and a single note had the vines charmed like snakes, turning back to bind their creators, then coat them in bardic magic as they rolled down one of the rooftops' slants and to the ground below, where the bardic magic slowed their fall. Five more tried to surround Raine, but they kicked one in the face hard enough to break their mask, whistled sharply to cast a spell of dizziness on two others so they bumped into each other, then used Bardic magic to make the remaining two do a ballroom dance together, sweeping and twirling into their three companions until all of them were tumbling off the roof, landing safely in a water feature down below. A duo of scouts tried to grow tree roots to bind Raine's legs, but they were moving so much that they couldn't manage it, and with a magic enhanced jump, Raine sailed through the air above them and cast a trio of sonic blades around them, cutting a triangular hole in the roof that had them falling down into Terra's bedroom below, landing safely on her bed (much to the woman's chagrin).
Willow watched as a similar pattern repeated itself a couple more times, until it looked like every scout currently stationed at Spriggan Manor had been defeated, leaving Raine alone on the rooftops with Terra and two of her elites. Raine's face was still covered, but their posture seemed a little winded (unsurprising considering they'd taken on pretty much the whole manor) and Willow couldn't help but worry. She was tempted to jump out and start helping immediately, but that didn't appear to be necessary…
The Elites were on odd pair; one was a red-furred Dog Lycan wearing only loose fitting white pants and a head wrap, with no shirt or shoes of any kind, making him look like he'd just stepped out of the desert. The other was a flamboyant Avian Demon of some kind, with brightly coloured pink, purple, and cyan feathers, though Willow couldn't tell the exact species due to the thick (and highly fashionable) winter furs they wore, giving him a look like he belonged on the Knee. Willow assumed they were the keepers of the Desert and Snowy Biome Gardens down below, especially when they began using their magic. The Dog Lycan attacked by conjuring Fire Melon Cactus grenades (similar to what Hanu had done to ignite her final attack) and Artillery Azaleas, having them blast Raine with cannonball-like seeds and explosions of needles, while the Avian Demon attacked by using bladed plants like Pike Pines, Daggerdils, and Slashing Snowdrops, all of which were native to the colder regions of the Isles.
Despite this onslaught, which Willow was sure she'd have been shredded by, Raine still didn't buckle. They ran right at the Avian Demon, staying close and using their sense of rhythm to avoid the bladed plants he was sicking on them, and thanks to how close Raine was sticking to the Avian Demon, the Dog Lycan couldn't as easily use his explosive plants without harming his partner. However, Willow could see Raine was starting to get tired and the irritated look on Terra's face made it likely that she'd soon join the fight too, so she decided to offer a little subtle help. While Raine had the Avian Demon between them and the Lycan's Artillery Azaleas, Willow cast a spell that sent a pulse of green magic through the plant-life of the rooftops, taking control of one of the Azaleas that was currently useless due to the Avian Demon being in the way. The Lycan didn't even notice what was going on, until the Azalea suddenly shot at his partner's back, making the Avian Demon squawk in pain and allowing Raine to swiftly knock them out with a sonic blast, sending them barrelling into the Lycan and off the roof entirely.
"It looks like your "Dog eat Dog" manner of running your coven has come back to bite you, Snapdragon." Raine declared, voice still distorted so she wouldn't recognise them. The Bard had no idea Willow was there, so they just assumed Terra's so-called Elite had just taken out his own teammate in an attempt to take them out too.
Terra narrowed her eyes sharply, sensing something was off as she stood up and turned her throne flower into a large platform. She glared down at the masked Bard causing her so much trouble, even as she sent a pulse of plant magic through her flower platform and into the plants of the manor itself, allowing her to momentarily sense all life forms in contact with them. Her eyes and ears might be fooled by the Bard's disguise, but the magic-sensing plants she created could not be fooled so easily, revealing their true identity. Terra wasn't too surprised; she had suspected after all, but it wasn't their presence alone that she sensed. She growled when she sensed a familiar, cursed presence down in her Rare Plant Greenhouse, as well as when she sensed Hanu bound and unconscious in the foyer… She'd have to deal with the girl's failure later, as well as the betrayal of yet another of her would-be Sprouts.
The thought of Willow made Terra's eyes flicker over to where the girl was hiding just below the lip of the rooftop. The Head Plant Witch hid a smirk; the foolish girl had just won this battle for her.
"Failures tend to fail. It is the way of things, unfortunately. I'll be sure to whip them all into shape later… Allow me to give you a demonstration!" Terra declared, suddenly causing hundreds of vines to sprout from the rooftop surrounding Raine.
They all whipped towards them, some trying to lash at them and others trying to bind them, while Raine spun on their heel as they used their over heel to draw a large spell circle, which they promptly activated to create a massive sonic ring-blade that expanded outwards to cut all the vines short. Unfortunately, the vines that were cut down soon regrew, and even the parts that were removed took root in the rooftop and began attacking again, effectively doubling the number of vines. Raine couldn't keep up with all of them, and while they were able to begin playing the Burning Ballad to ignite the vines and burn them to ash, one was able to sneak through their guard and lash them across the face.
Raine winced in pain as the lash left a bleeding cut on their cheek, but was more bothered by their mask, which was ripped in half by the strike and knocked from their face. In a panic, Raine tried to pull their hood down further to hide their face, but Terra just chortled at them.
"Oh my dear Sprout… did you really think that mask would hide you from me forever? I'll admit, you had me fooled for a bit there. But I have ways of rooting out all the little weeds in my garden and identifying them. It was quite an amazing show however; you put your whole body into it and not just your magic! It's why you always fascinated me so much more than the wretched little girl who grew into the Owl Lady." Terra smiled as Raine glared up at her, the tattered remains of their mask at their feet.
"I should have known you'd get it eventually. You always did spend a creepy amount of time watching me! Guess it's a good thing I'm already a wanted criminal, or else exposing me might have been a problem!" they spat.
Terra laughed coldly; "Oh trust me, finding out who you are is the least of your worries. But I'm afraid this little show is over now, so let me make you an offer; come back to my garden, Little Sprout. I'll keep you as my own personal songbird; a secret from the Emperor. I'll forgive your crimes against my coven and take excellent care of you! And in return, you'll obey me and bring me the Angel. If I hand her over to the Emperor, I can enjoy even higher status than the other Coven Heads!"
Raine looked at her like she was nuts; "And why would I even think of betraying Luz like that!? I'd sooner die than give her to you!"
Terra's smile grew wider as her eyes glimmered cruelly; "Oh no, you won't die… but she might."
Before Raine could react, there was a shrill female scream from behind them and they spun around to see Willow being hoisted into the air by a tree root that had wrapped around her tightly. Raine couldn't help but cry out; "Willow!?" before turning back to glare at Terra; "Let her go!"
Terra smirked; "Let me think… no." she then cackled; "I'm quite surprised you and the Owl Lady involved this little Sprout in your mischief. Not that I blame you; she's rather talented! I'll need to figure out how she got passed my Liar's Lament, and how she escaped Hanu. I'll be sure to enjoy getting the truth from her." she said ominously, making Willow whimper with fear.
"Now I think we both know you don't have much of a choice. In truth, even without the girl as a hostage I could end this fight in an instant, but I'd like to give you a sporting chance. So get on your knees and swear to obey me, or else…"
The root around Willow began to squeeze a little tighter, making the girl wince in pain. Raine hissed; this was no bluff! Terra was cruel enough to kill Willow if Raine refused to surrender! It was humiliating, but even if Terra captured them, so long as Eda was free, she could save them, and if Terra wanted to control Raine, then she'd keep Willow alive as hostage. Surrender was the only sure-fire way to ensure Willow got out of this alive.
With a bitter sigh, Raine turned his violin back into his Palismen Rena and sent her away as they kneeled.
"Fine. You win, Snapdragon." they growled.
Terra laughed, "Oh, I know."
She snapped her fingers and the root holding Willow tossed the girl into Raine's arms. For a moment, both looked confused as to why Terra would give up her hostage without restraining Raine first, but the answer soon revealed itself as bulbous yellow fungus began to grow over Raine's and Willow's bodies.
"Amber Pustules! From Latissa!" Willow cried as her hands were rapidly covered, leaving her unable to make spell circles.
Raine tried to whistle and get them off, but the moment they inhaled, their airway became clogged with more of the fungus, effectively choking them into unconsciousness. The terrified Willow soon followed them, and Terra only destroyed the fungus once she was certain both were down for the count. Looking down at the unconscious duo, Terra shook her head in exasperation; if she'd used her plant detection spell earlier, she'd have noticed the Amber Pustule spores on them from their trip to Latissa, and could have ended the fight in an instant! Now she had to deal with all her unconscious minions…
"Well, they can wait for a moment. I've got a bigger bird to fry…" Terra grinned sadistically, snapping her fingers to cause large flowers to swallow Raine and Willow and take them elsewhere, while her own flower took her to meet their third intruder.
[Meanwhile]
Breaking into Spriggan Manor and the Rare Plants Greenhouse was barely even a challenge for Eda. She'd done it once before, years ago when she tried to steal Goldwort to brew her own Elixirs. She'd been discovered by one of Terra's creepy "Sprouts" and chased off without her prize, but with Raine now off keeping them all busy, breaking in was child's play.
The Owl Lady used a spell that conjured a blade of intense heat to slice open the glass roof of the Rare Plants Greenhouse and float straight in with Owlbert. Naturally there were magical plant alarms, but Eda had already wafted magic-nullifying gas (something she'd picked up from the lab she'd invaded with Lilith back before their Mom's visit) into the greenhouse's ventilation system, effectively rendering all the plants useless until it wore off.
As soon as she was inside, she flew over to where the Palistrom Saplings were and found the largest of them, which was basically a tree already. "One Palistrom Log coming right up!" Eda grinned, grabbing a pair of pruning sheers. She snipped off the thickest branch and pruned it into a short log, easily big enough to carve into any shape Luz's heart desired! Eda could hardly wait to see her little girl's face when she handed it over!
"Should I grab a log for King too? Nah, he's still years away from needing a Palisman and with how big he'll grow, I think I'll need more than one measly log. I'll start growing a giant tree once Belos bites the dust!" Eda said to herself, stowing the log away in her hair.
With her part of the mission complete, Eda prepared to leave, but the eerie silence gave her pause. She'd been hearing the sounds of battle from outside until just a moment ago, but now it was as silent as the grave. Raine couldn't have taken them all out already, could they? Eda had no doubt most of the coven would be no threat, but surely Terra had put up a fight! Raine had been pretty worried when they'd seen her in that picture Willow had taken…
Before Eda could think on it further however, the hole she'd cut in the greenhouse roof was suddenly sealed shut by Iron Vines, and the actual door to the greenhouse opened on its own. The smug face of Terra Snapdragon appeared as she waltzed casually into the room.
"Ah, and there's the thieving little magpie now. Come to steal some twigs for your nest, Owl Lady?" Terra asked with a mocking smile.
"Snapdragon!" Eda narrowed her eyes; "Don't you have bigger problems to be worrying about!?"
"Oh, do you mean my little sprouts? I'm afraid Raine and Willow are currently occupied. But don't worry; I'll be sure to reunite you with them." Terra's eyes gleamed.
Eda brandished her staff; "If you hurt one hair on either of their heads, I'll burn you and your tacky manor to the-ack!"
The Owl Lady's threat was cut off by the sudden growth of Amber Pustules in her throat as Terra triggered the spores clinging to her. She tried to cast a spell with Owlbert, but a vine had already reached up and bound him while Eda was distracted, and she soon found herself too coated in fungus to move, and blackness crept into the corners of her vision as she struggled to breath. The last thing Eda saw before the darkness took her was Terra's cruelly smiling face looking down at her.
[Later]
When Eda awoke, it felt like someone had gone at her throat with sandpaper; it was sore and every breath burned as it worked its way to her lungs, yet the Owl Lady relished every inhale regardless, just thankful she could breathe at all! When Terra had made the Amber Pustules begin to grow in her throat, Eda had been half-afraid she was about to die! That was the last time she went from Latissa to anywhere else without a shower and a regiment of herbicide potions! Taking a moment to collect herself, Eda found herself chained to a wall with heavy manacles around her wrists. She was in some kind of alcove that was built onto the side of a large, empty circular room, with an Iron Vine gate in front of her. Since the alcove was quite shallow, Eda could lean forward and see more of the larger room; it appeared to be a massive circular arena built atop an ancient, massive tree stump, which now made up the floor of the arena. A dozen other alcoves, some with closed gates and some without, lined the edge of the arena, and at the very top of the arena was a viewing box, in which Terra was sitting on a plant throne, looking like the cat that got the cream.
Eda narrowed her eyes on her, and the old woman seemed to notice she was awake.
"Ah, Edalyn Clawthorne AKA the Owl Lady. You're finally up! Now the show can truly begin!" Terra smirked.
"You crazy witch! Let me go!? And where are Raine and Willow!?" Eda demanded.
"You'll see little Willow soon, and as for Whispers… just look straight ahead, dear." Terra smiled condescendingly.
Eda looked to the alcove directly opposite hers and sure enough, Raine was inside it with their hands chained just like Eda's, but with a vine gag in their mouth to ensure they didn't talk. Eda called out to them, only to find a vine suddenly gagging her too, and with the Anti-Magic manacles binding them, neither Eda nor Raine could cast any spells to escape.
Smiling with satisfaction, Terra addressed Raine; "You know Whispers, I always knew you had a soft spot for this wretched girl… but I confess to being disappointed that you actually took a piece of her curse!"
Raine's eyes widened; so Terra had found out about that!? They knew rumours had spread, but there had never been any confirmation outside of Raine and Eda's closest friends, who would never spread those rumours themselves.
Terra saw their surprise and commented; "I attempted to place one of my Scout Masks on your precious Owl Lady while she slept; she'd have made a powerful puppet after all, but the curse decayed it before it could work its magic. Imagine my surprise when the modified version I'd planned for you met the same fate… Alas, I can't have a cursed Songbird so I'm afraid you've rather wasted my time today! Not to worry though… I'll squeeze some entertainment out of you!"
Raine and Eda both gulped as Terra snapped her fingers and two bound figures were lowered from the ceiling into view. It was Willow and Hanu, both wrapped up tightly with their hands bound behind their backs with some kind of sap gumming up their fingers to stop them casting spells. They were hanging from vines wrapped around their waists, and both were gagged. Willow was looking around fearfully, while Hanu was sobbing and looking pleadingly at Terra.
Seeing this, Eda felt feathers begin to poke out from the back of her neck as her curse raged. She bit down hard on the vine, biting through it so she could talk again.
"TERRA! LET THEM GO!" she roared, struggling hard.
"Hmm, how about I let just one go? Eenie meenie miney… mo!" Terra snapped her fingers and Hanu was dropped to the ground, the vines releasing her. It was only a short fall so she wasn't hurt, though her hands remained bound by sap.
"Lady Snapdragon!" she sobbed; "Please, I'm sorry! Don't do this to me!"
Terra rolled her eyes; "You failed me, dear. You, one of my elites, lost to a school girl! Not to mention the mess you made in my foyer! I could have forgiven that if you'd won, but losing on top of that mess? Unforgivable! But by all means, if you survive I'll forgive you." she cackled cruelly, before snapping her fingers and raising the Iron Vine gate in front of Raine's alcove, while also removing their vine gag.
"What are you doing, Terra!? I thought you wanted to keep me around! You can't do that if you hurt Willow or Eda… or this girl!" Raine yelled, adding that last part as an afterthought, seeing how devastated the poor child looked.
"Did I put vines in your ears too, Whispers? You're cursed! That little infection makes you no more than a high maintenance weed! When it comes to disease, an infected flower must be plucked out at the root before it infects the rest of the garden." Terra retorted. "I'll have my fun with you and your precious Owl Lady, then hand you over to the Emperor! And if I have to host you for a bit, I might as well make sure you're both well-fed! Your first meal can be a nice juicy Macaque Demon!"
Hanu stared up at Terra with heartbroken eyes, while Raine paled.
"Y-You're joking!?" Raine cried.
"And why would I do that? That curse makes you a monster now… might as well feed you like one." the Evil Crone grinned.
Raine shook their head vehemently; "I won't do it! I won't hurt some innocent girl so you can get your sick kicks!"
"Oh Whispers, what makes you think I'll give you a choice?" Terra said, eyes darkening as her smile grew bloodthirsty.
She cast a spell that caused two flowers to appear directly in front of Raine's face, growing down from the ceiling of the alcove. The flowers were black rose-like flowers with red rings on each petal, and jagged thorns along the stems. With another spell from Terra, they began to almost inhale, then puff out fiery red powder from their petals, which made Raine begin to cough and splutter as they were forced to breathe it in. As soon as the pollen was in their system, Raine began to thrash as their entire body tensed up and a deep, fiery anger filled them from the pits of their stomach to the very marrow of their bones. It was a fury like none Raine had ever experienced, and Eda, seeing them grit their teeth and begin growling like a beast, gasped.
"Those are… Wrathful Roses!? Snapdragon, you moron! If you stress out someone with our curse, they'll transform! You'll get ALL of us killed!" Eda yelled.
Terra rolled her eyes; "I know what they do, brat. I am quite safe. You lot… less so."
An anguished roar drew everyone's attention back to Raine, and they gasped with horror as Raine's body began to sprout patches of mint fur, almost like some kind of werewolf transformation. Raine's eyes turned black and the glasses fell from their face as their body swelled and transformed, until finally, Raine's transformed state ripped free from the manacles holding it back and roared into the arena itself, snarling in it's rage-filled state.
Unlike Eda's Owl Beast or Lilith's Raven Beast, Raine's curse didn't manifest as a bird at all, but instead a Bat. The Bat Beast resembled a massive Flying Fox Bat, with its arms sporting huge wing membranes and razor sharp claws, and its face being a monstrous, enraged version of Raine's. The Bat Beast was covered in mint-coloured fur, just like Raine's hair, and its exposed claws and legs were pitch black, while its wings were the same colour as Raine's skin. The Bat Beast screeched loudly, making everyone in the arena wince at the sound, then turned to glare up at Terra, who actually looked a bit frightened by it. With another loud screech, the Bat Beast flew up at Terra and tried to slash at her with it's claws, only for them to bounce off a magic green barrier that suddenly appeared around the evil woman.
Terra smirked with relief; her viewing box was made from Barrier Birches, ensuring only the strongest magic or force could break it. The Bat Beast was strong, but it wasn't that strong, so it could only screech and roar impotently as it slashed and clawed at the barrier, unable to pierce it. After a few minutes, the Beast seemed to get the message that it wouldn't be feeding on the object of its wrath, so it turned to the next best thing; the little meal that was whimpering and crying down below.
The Bat Beast landed back on the ground and began stalking slowly towards Hanu, who was backing away in terror, her hands still bound in sap and leaving her helpless.
"L-Lady Snapdragon, please! I'm sorry I failed you! I'll make it up to you!" she begged. "I'll rebuild the foyer! I-I'll work overtime!"
The Bat Beast stalked closer, and Hanu grew more desperate; "Please! Demote me to a servant or a scout! Do anything you want to me! Just don't let this thing kill me! Please, I loved you like a mother!"
"And yet you still failed me. If you want to worm your way back into my favour, you only need to do one thing." Terra grinned mockingly; "Just kill that monster! Surely one of my elites can manage that?"
Hanu stared up at Terra with a look of pure shock and heartbreak; Terra knew her hands were bound and helpless… this was all just some sick show to her. She began to sob even harder as she turned and stared into the empty black voids that had become Raine's eyes, as the Bat Beast grew even closer, toying with its meal. Her life flashed before her eyes… a life in which she had been discarded by her father, then her mother, and now even her surrogate mother.
Eda yelled out in horror as the Bat Beast reared up to rip Hanu open with its claws, but Willow, still bound and gagged high above the arena, hadn't given up yet. Her hands were bound and her mouth was covered, but she could still move her tongue! From the instant Willow had seen what Terra intended to do, she repeated her trick from earlier by using her tongue to draw a spell circle inside her mouth and create a Herbicide Spell that killed the vine blocking her mouth. To keep this fact hidden from Terra, she held the dead vine in place with her teeth as she prepared another spell inside her mouth, and as the Bat Beast reared up to attack Hanu, Willow let the vine drop and cast the spell, which fired a trio of seeds at high velocity directly at the Bat Beast and its surroundings.
One seed slammed into the back of the Bat Beast's head, making it cry out in pain and turn its attention on Willow instead, just in time for the second seed to strike its eye. It screeched in pain as its eye was damaged (though thankfully not destroyed), and began to writhe on the ground as it covered its head with its wings to protect itself from the third seed. However the third seed instead impacted the ground directly in front of Hanu, and began to bloom.
Hanu gasped as she saw the seed bloom into another of Willow's Grafted Creations; this time mixing an Iron Iris and a Blood-Boiling Buttercup.
"BREATHE IN THE POLLEN! IT WON'T LAST AS LONG OR BE AS STRONG, BUT IT SHOULD GIVE YOU BOTH BOOSTS!" Willow cried, just as the Bat Beast was unfurling its wings and turning its wrath on her.
Hanu didn't need to be told twice, she practically dived on the flower before Terra could interfere, and inhaled the pollen. Instantly, her hair began to darken and her skin began to redden as the effects of both plants filled her. The increased strength of her iron body, and the power of the Bile Overload granted by the Blood-Boiling Pollen allowed the girl to shriek like a rage-filled monkey and rip her hands free from the sap that was binding them. Now free and able to use her magic, Hanu wasted no time in repaying Willow, and just as the Bat Beast was about to leap up and attack the girl, Hanu leapt onto its back and began punching the back of its head with her hardened fists.
The Bat Beast roared in pain and the weight of the girl on its back caused it to topple over. It then forced itself back onto all fours and began bucking wildly to shake Hanu off. The girl held on for dear life, but the effects of Willow's Grafted Plant (which Willow decided to call Iron Blood Iris Cups) really didn't last as long as the individual plants, and Hanu soon lost her boosts. Without the added weight of her iron body, the Bat Beast was able to take flight and try to smash her against the ceiling of the chamber, but Hanu was able to leap off at the last minute and grab onto the vine holding up Willow.
Terra, surprised by the display, actually applauded; "Well well, you might actually earn back my favour after all! Kill the Bat Beast, Hanu. I shall forgive your failure if you do."
Hanu's only response was a hateful sneer, before conjuring some Acidic Amaryllis to burn away the vines binding Willow, and the sap keeping her from moving her hands. Once both were gone and Willow was free, Hanu grew some Cushioning Cotton on the ground so they could both jump down safely as the Bat Beast lunged at where they'd just been hanging.
"We need to get out of here!" Hanu said, helping Willow to her feet after their landing. "We could beat that thing, but Snapdragon will probably interfere!"
Clearly any affection Hanu had for Terra had died a fiery death, but that was something to be discussed later. Willow frowned up at the Bat Beast; "We need to give Raine some Elixir!"
"Can you make some!?" Hanu asked.
Willow shook her head; "The ingredients are just plants and it doesn't need any complex spells, but we don't have time! And I can't make Grafted Plants with more than two components yet!"
"Willow, get that girl and get out of here! Raine will never forgive themselves if they hurt you!" Eda yelled.
"We can't just leave you!" Willow cried, before suddenly growing a massive oak tree to block the Bat Beast as it lunged at them. "Besides, how do we even get out!?"
"Only Snapdragon can let us out… this arena is where she pits us against each other to decide our hierarchy in the coven, so she controls every root and branch that makes up the walls, floor, and ceiling!" Hanu yelled, growing some of her Flashing Fairy Dusters to cover the Bat Beast with explosive powder, which she promptly set off with a tiny Fire Melon Cactus grenade, blowing the Bat Beast into the nearby wall.
"We're about 10 metres underground, beneath the manor's front lawn. So unless Snapdragon plans to use her plants to swallow us and spit us up back outside, you'll need to blast a hole in the ceiling!" the girl finished.
Willow scowled, nothing she had could do that much damage fast enough to stop Terra from trapping them again, and from the look on Hanu's face, she was having the same thought. Terra knew this too and was just wearing a bloodthirsty smile as the Bat Beast recovered from the explosion and screeched loudly, hitting the girls with a sonic blast that had them both covering their ears. Hanu just barely had time to grow some more Iron Irises to give herself and Willow some protection before the Bat Beast then swiped at them, cleaving shallow cuts into their iron skin instead of outright dismembering them.
Eda watched with horror and struggled in her chains, desperate to get to Willow and get her out of danger! Willow was only in this mess because Eda had come up with this hair-brained scheme, so it was up to Eda to save her! But how!? None of her magic worked while she was cuffed!
'Think Owl Lady! Maybe I should try and bait Raine into coming over here and attacking me? The curse doesn't seem to be stopped by the chains, so maybe their claws can-!'
Realisation hit Eda like a ton of bricks; the chains stopped her magic, but not the curse! If Raine could transform while bound by them, then the other side effects most surely still work too!
Putting her theory to the test, Eda yanked her wrists down hard, and sure enough, her hands popped off and she fell to the floor, leaving her hands in the manacles while the rest of her was free.
"Yes! That has got to be my favourite side effect!" Eda cheered, getting back up and putting the stump of her right wrist into her right hand so she could pull the hand out from the other side of the manacle. She then reattached it and easily retrieved the other hand and reattached that too, freeing her and more importantly, freeing her magic!
She immediately tried to summon Owlbert, but the spell was met with resistance, meaning Owlbert was probably trapped somewhere. Still, Eda could sense him somewhere nearby, so she'd beat his location out of Terra once she'd freed the others! In the mean time, she'd save Willow and the other kid!
"Sorry about this Raine Storm!" she yelled, running at the Bat Beast while drawing a large spell circle. A giant owl made of golden magical energy emerged from the circle and blasted through the iron vine cell door, then slammed into the Beast just as it was rearing up to attack the girls again, sending it careening once again into the wall, leaving a giant bat-shaped dent right next to the last one. Still, Eda knew the durability of the Curse better than anyone and knew that wouldn't keep them down for long, so she quickly drew the biggest spell circle she could and created a monstrous blast of fire that roared upward, burning all the way through the ceiling of the arena and out into the open sky.
Terra sneered and tried to regenerate the plants that Eda had destroyed, but the fire had seared them to the point that she couldn't grow them fast enough.
"Go! Now!" Eda ordered.
"But I-" Willow tried to argue, only to be cut off by Eda.
"No buts! This was my screw-up! I'll fix it! Now go!"
With a moment of hesitation, Willow sighed and summoned Clover to her, the little Palisman having escaped capture since Willow had sent her away before. She switched Clover to staff mode and hopped on, pulling Hanu on with her, and began flying up through the hole Eda had made.
"You and Raine better follow us soon! Or I'll come back and get you!" Willow yelled over her shoulder.
Eda smirked; "You got it, Flowers."
Terra growled in anger as she watched the two girls fly away. She tried sending vines to restrain them, but with Clover in her hands, Willow's plant magic was enough to repulse them long enough for her to fly out of range, leaving Terra seething.
"That little weed! Where did she get that staff!?" she spat, furiously.
"She got it from Nunya," Eda answered with a cheeky grin as the Bat Beast pulled itself out of the wall.
Terra blinked; "Nunya?"
"Yeah, Nunya business!" the Owl Lady cackled.
Terra snarled in response and began unleashing as many vines and roots as she could, flooding the arena floor with them in an attempt to bind Eda and trap her in place so the Bat Beast could tear her apart. Eda dodged, dived, and blasted fire in all directions, burning up the vines and roots all while evading Raine's beast form. The sheer number of attacks, combined with Eda's limited magic, meant she couldn't afford to do anything big and fancy; she just had to avoid the attacks while trying to think up a plan. She had Elixirs in her hair, but while her own Owl Beast tended to roar a lot, Raine's Bat Beast usually only opened its mouth to blast out a sonic screech, which would make throwing a glass vial into its mouth next to impossible…
Unfortunately, Terra had no intention of letting Eda have the time to come up with a plan.
"You always were a beastly little girl, dragging Whispers down to your level! Well fine, I'll let you both wallow like beasts together! I'll let you rip one another to shreds then give your pelts to the Emperor!" Terra declared, drawing a massive spell circle that caused a wave of plant magic to spread across the room. Suddenly, Wrathful Roses began to sprout on all the vines and roots Terra had been growing, and each one puffed out pollen, soon flooding the room.
Eda gasped, then held her breath as she tried to burn the flowers while using wind magic to keep the pollen away from her. However the sheer amount of them, combined with her need to breath and Raine's relentless attacks (made worse by the fact they were also effected by the pollen), made it impossible for Eda to hold out for long, and she was soon forced to take a breath, inhaling some of the pollen.
Feelings of rage filled Eda, and the feathers that had already been beginning to sprout due to the stress of the situation grew worse. Eda reached into her hair for an Elixir, but found herself clenching the bottle so hard that it shattered, as her pollen-induced rage overcame her. With one last baleful look up at Terra, Eda succumbed to the pollen and fully transformed into the Owl Beast, which promptly roared out its fury.
Feeling like she'd regained some control of the situation, Terra smiled as she withdrew her plants and watched as the Owl and Bat Beasts circled each other for a moment, before lunging forward and attacking. The two beasts roared and snarled, clawing and biting at each other, while flapping their wings and flying around the arena, each one too big to fly out through the hole Eda had made and too focused on fighting to even want to. It was a territorial death match between two feral beasts, with Terra watching it like an Empress at the Gladiatorial Games.
But while Eda's body, warped into the form of the Owl Beast, raged out of her control, the woman's mind was trapped deep inside herself, in a black void that she had become far too familiar with. She stared up at the pitch black sky above, then down at the black ocean that she stood on, before looking to the horizon, where a strange grey light marked the border between sea and sky.
"Dang it! That crazy crone got me! Not having magic of my own really makes this a lot harder! If I could just use my own powers like before, I'd have been able to whack that weed and save Raine!" Eda cursed, kicking the water and making a little splash.
She heard a grumble behind her and turned to see the Owl Beast staring at her from about 30 feet away. Eda braced herself, preparing to flee from it as she often had to during her transformations, but unlike the last time, the Owl Beast made no effort to chase her. Instead, it just stared at her as a shining white light sat on its back. Eda tried to get a good look at the shining object, but it just looked like a blob of white, shining too brightly to be more discernible, especially in this dark void.
"So, just me and you, eh Birdbrain? What, not gonna attack me this time? No big battle for control?" Eda asked, stepping forward as her temper began to rise. She didn't know if it was the situation, her insecurities, or the residual effects of the Wrathful Roses, but the Owl Lady felt her temper flaring. "You know what, maybe this is an opportunity to finally face you down! You're the reason I dropped out of school and ran away! You're the reason my family fell apart! You're the reason I was alone until recently! And you're the reason I'm stuck being a leech on my own child just to be useful!"
Eda stepped forward with every sentence, glaring furiously at the Owl Beast; "You rotten Curse! I'll-"
She reached out to grab a fistful of feathers, but the instant she touched the Owl Beast, the world around her shifted and Eda suddenly found herself in her childhood bedroom, looking down at her empty hands, which had become much more youthful. With an equally youthful gasp, Eda turned and looked in her bedroom mirror and saw her 15 year old self staring back at her, with her mane of orange hair and her face unblemished by age or stress. Luz's Super Elixirs had rejuvenated her into looking like the 35 year old woman she actually was as opposed to the old lady the curse had left her looking like, but that was still a far cry from this! She was even wearing her old potions track uniform from Hexside!
"Well this is a development…" Eda muttered.
The voice of her mother called to her from outside her room; "Edalyn, come downstairs please!"
Confused, Eda decided to see where this was going and headed down to the dining room of her childhood home. She saw Gwendolyn and Lilith, both 20 years younger, setting the table for dinner while Lilith showed off her napkin folding. It was a strangely domestic scene, and one Eda hadn't experienced for a long time.
"Edalyn, come help us set up, won't you?" Gwen asked.
Eda sighed and began walking towards the woman; "Sorry Dream Mom, but I don't have time for this. I've got a lover to save."
Gwen just laughed; "You're going to say that on the night your Dad leaves for the Mandible?"
Eda froze; "Dad?"