Chapter Text
12:31AM 09/25/20 - hello_willow: whew, sorry! scare-ennials hw tonight was a lot, i thought i’d be done sooner. dw if you’d rather go to bed than chat tonight, i get it 💚🌱
12:33AM 09/25/20 - Guard102311304: I can understand attending to your other responsibilities first. Fortunately – or unfortunately – the pile of reports on my desk is going to have me up for a while either way.
12:33AM 09/25/20 - hello_willow: oh nooo, don’t let me keep you up!
12:34AM 09/25/20 - Guard102311304: Actually, the distraction is appreciated.
12:34AM 09/25/20 - hello_willow: well ok, but remember you need to sleep, too!
12:34AM 09/25/20 - hello_willow: i know you get up early
12:35AM 09/25/20 - Guard102311304: No, you just get up late
12:35AM 09/25/20 - hello_willow: sorry caleb, but 5am is early
12:35AM 09/25/20 - hello_willow: and also in just a few hours
12:37AM 09/25/20 - Guard102311304: Please, I’ve done missions on less sleep.
12:37AM 09/25/20 - hello_willow: noooot exactly a good thing, buddy
12:38AM 09/25/20 - Guard102311304: We’ve had this conversation already.
12:38AM 09/25/20 - hello_willow: and we will again 🥰
12:39AM 09/25/20 - Guard102311304: I just don’t want to sacrifice the one time anybody actually wants to talk to me all day for sleeping, okay?
12:39AM 09/25/20 - hello_willow: rough day?
12:39AM 09/25/20 - hello_willow: 💚
12:41AM 09/25/20 - Guard102311304: Normal day. The other Coven heads just don’t talk to me much. You know how it is.
12:41AM 09/25/20 - hello_willow: not really, caleb. i spend the day around other kids
12:42AM 09/25/20 - hello_willow: hey………. do you mind if i ask you something kind of personal?
12:43AM 09/25/20 - Guard102311304: That depeds. Like what?
12:43AM 09/25/20 - Guard102311304: That depends. Like what?
12:44AM 09/25/20 - hello_willow: you don’t have to fix all your typos that way, haha
12:45AM 09/25/20 - hello_willow: how did you even end up in the emperor’s coven though? especially as a witch with no magic
12:46AM 09/25/20 - hello_willow: i’m not judging you for that part btw. i just know my dads were always worried about me getting a good job before my magic really kicked in. so i’m kind of confused
12:57AM 09/25/20 - hello_willow: sorry caleb was that too personal? 🙁
12:57AM 09/25/20 - hello_willow: you don’t have to answer
12:58AM 09/25/20 - Guard102311304: No. It’s okay.
1:01AM 09/25/20 - Guard102311304: I don’t know how much I want to say.
1:02AM 09/25/20 - hello_willow: sorry ☹️
1:03AM 09/25/20 - Guard102311304: The Emperor took me in.
1:03AM 09/25/20 - hello_willow: what, like instead of your family?
1:03AM 09/25/20 - hello_willow: oh. my. titan.😱
1:03AM 09/25/20 - hello_willow: is he your family???
1:06AM 09/25/20 - Guard102311304: I just owe him, okay?
1:07AM 09/25/20 - hello_willow: do you though? the coven seems like it kind of sucks
1:09AM 09/25/20 - hello_willow: sorry
1:15AM 09/25/20 - Guard102311304: I think I should get back to finishing my reports.
1:15AM 09/25/20 - hello_willow: are you mad? i didn’t mean to make you upset
1:16AM 09/25/20 - Guard102311304: I’m not mad. But I don’t want to talk about this.
1:17AM 09/25/20 - Guard102311304: At least not right now.
1:17AM 09/25/20 - hello_willow: ok well say goodnight to flapjack for me!!
1:17AM 09/25/20 - hello_willow: clover says good night too 💚 [image attached]
1:18AM 09/25/20 - hello_willow: also gus says he wants to teach you about memes so make sure to check the entrails chat tomorrow
1:19AM 09/25/20 - Guard102311304: About what?
1:20AM 09/25/20 - Guard102311304: Is this like that video he tricked me into clicking the other day? With the singing man?
1:20AM 09/25/20 - hello_willow: no 💚🌱
1:20AM 09/25/20 - hello_willow: go to bed soon though!!
1:21AM 09/25/20 - Guard102311304: Not really my choice, but I’ll try.
1:21AM 09/25/20 - Guard102311304: Good night.
1:22AM 09/25/20 - Guard102311304: Flapjack says goodnight, too.
1:22AM 09/25/20 - hello_willow: 💚🌱💚🌱
9:12PM 09/28/20 - hello_willow: hey caleb, what’s up?
9:12PM 09/28/20 - hello_willow: school was kiiiiiiinda crazy today
9:14PM 09/28/20 - hello_willow: someone forgot to lock the door to the greenhouse last night so guess who had to round up all the flesh-eating mushrooms 🍄💪
9:15PM 09/28/20 - hello_willow: this girl!!
5:42PM 09/29/20 - hello_willow: caleb?
10:07PM 09/30/20 - hello_willow: hey, i’m really sorry if i upset you the other day. i was curious but i guess i haven’t known you that long, and i know what it’s like for people to be weird about your magic. so i really should have known it might be too much
10:10PM 09/30/20 - hello_willow: are you doing okay?
10:21PM 09/30/20 - hello_willow: we can drop it.
10:21PM 09/30/20 - hello_willow: how’s flapjack?
10:49PM 09/30/20 - hello_willow: caleb?
11:33PM 09/30/20 - hello_willow: hunter?
Willow sighed as she reached the end of her message history with Hunter, setting her scroll down next to her on her bed and looking over at Clover, who was perched on the footrest. Her palisman looked concerned, which meant Willow must have been frowning on the outside, too.
“You don’t think he was lying, do you?” she said. “Maybe I really did make him mad.”
As if on cue, her scroll buzzed. The sound was slightly muffled by her comforter, but unmistakable. She grabbed at the device a little too eagerly, almost like, if she was just fast enough, she could will the message to turn out to be from the person she’d been worrying about for most of the past week.
💚💫 Emerald Entrails 💚💫
6:53PM 10/01/20 - griffin_mama: lmao look at this guide I…
Willow sighed. Again. Of course she was loving this whole “chatting with more people than just Gus and maybe Luz, when she borrowed Eda’s scroll” thing, but more messages also meant more chances to get her hopes up.
Still, they were all her friends. Which was super nice, and kind of hard to believe. And she was not about to miss a chance to see whatever Viney had just dug up. The older girl had a knack for finding the absolute weirdest things, she was learning fast. Opening up the team’s Penstagram chat with a swipe of her finger, she looked at the latest message.
6:53PM 10/01/20 - griffin_mama: lmao look at this guide I found
Another buzz. Someone else must have already clicked on the link – to an article innocuously labeled “How to Win at Flyer Derby”
6:53PM 10/01/20 - lyregirl💖: oh no
6:53PM 10/01/20 - lyregirl💖: i’m scared to open it
6:54PM 10/01/20 - griffin_mama: it’s perfectly normal :)
6:54PM 10/01/20 - gustopher: nice try Viney I can spot a Bunion link a mile away
6:55PM 10/01/20 - griffin_mama: did you eat a newspaper as a child
6:55PM 10/01/20 - gustopher: Worse. One of my dad’s investigative reports
6:55PM 10/01/20 - griffin_mama: LMAO
6:55PM 10/01/20 - lyregirl💖: 🤣💀🤣
Willow snorted, then turned a little more thoughtful, her previous train of thought still lingering in her brain. If everyone was online, it might finally be a good time to ask the rest of the team if they had any better idea what was going on with Hunter.
Before she could chicken out, she swiped into their other groupchat.
💚💫 Emerald Entrails 2💚💫 [TOP SECRET DO NOT TELL CALEB]
6:57PM 10/01/20 - hello_willow: hey, have any of you all heard from caleb lately?
It was a few moments – everyone was probably still in the other chat – but not too long before some of them hopped over and she saw the tell-tale signs of the others' typing.
6:57PM 10/01/20 - lyregirl💖: like in the groupchat?
6:58PM 10/01/20 - gustopher: I sent him a link to a palisman care page the other day, after we were all talking about it
6:58PM 10/01/20 - gustopher: he messaged back and said it was “Extremely informative; thank you”
6:58PM 10/01/20 - lyregirl💖: with a semicolon?? lol
6:59PM 10/01/20 - hello_willow: has he said anything in the last week though?
6:59PM 10/01/20 - hello_willow: i asked him something sort of personal the other night and at first i thought i just made him mad, but that was a week ago
7:00PM 10/01/20 - hello_willow: he might just be ignoring my messages, but i’m getting kind of worried about him
7:01PM 10/01/20 - lyregirl💖: woah wait u two talk outside of the team chat?
7:01PM 10/01/20 - hello_willow: does he not dm any of you?
7:01PM 10/01/20 - gustopher: Not really
7:02PM 10/01/20 - lyregirl💖: nope
7:02PM 10/01/20 - griffin_mama: once or twice. I send him very-best-friend updates from Puddles
7:03PM 10/01/20 - gustopher: Bet he loves that 😂
7:03PM 10/01/20 - hello_willow: ok, but none of you have gotten messages from him in the past week?
7:03PM 10/01/20 - lyregirl💖: also nope
7:04PM 10/01/20 - gustopher: Let me check when he replied
7:05PM 10/01/20 - griffin_mama: he didn’t reply to my last message
7:06PM 10/01/20 - gustopher: Okay yeah last heard from him last Tuesday
7:06PM 10/01/20 - gustopher: So kind of a while ago
Frowning, Willow started to type out another message, then deleted it. She started it again. Deleted that one, too. Tapping her fingers against the back of her scroll just a bit anxiously, she looked back at Clover, who was regarding her with a curious expression.
“I’m not being crazy, right? she asked her palisman. “I mean, if I hadn’t heard from Gus in a week, I’d be super worried. But that’s because I know him really well. Maybe Hunter just doesn’t like us as much as I thought.”
Her frown deepened. For some reason, that idea made her pretty upset. Sure, she still wasn’t entirely sure about the other teen, especially considering what he’d pulled when they first met. He was the Golden Guard, after all. But she liked him anyways – and selfishly, if she was being honest, after being regarded as “half a witch” for so much of her life, it felt pretty good having the Head of the Emperor’s Coven give her more than just the time of day.
Even if she didn’t really think the Emperor’s Coven was so great anymore.
Before she could dwell on that too much, the sound of her scroll buzzing again drew her from her thoughts.
💚💫 Emerald Entrails 2💚💫 [TOP SECRET DO NOT TELL CALEB]
7:10PM 10/01/20 - gustopher: Okay had to scroll back a ways but his last message in the team chat was on the 23rd
7:10PM 10/01/20 - gustopher: Which is kinda worrying yeah
7:10PM 10/01/20 - lyregirl💖: you think he’s just been busy?
7:11PM 10/01/20 - griffin_mama: He’s always busy though
7:11PM 10/01/20 - lyregirl💖: truuuu
Okay. Willow was starting to feel a little less crazy.
7:11PM 10/01/20 - hello_willow: could one of you send him a dm? i’m still a little worried he’s just mad at me
7:12PM 10/01/20 - lyregirl💖: girl what did you SAY
7:12PM 10/01/20 - lyregirl💖: i got u tho
7:12PM 10/01/20 - gustopher: I’ll message him
7:13PM 10/01/20 - griffin_mama: what do you think might have happened? If he’s not just ignoring us
7:13PM 10/01/20 - gustopher: Nothing good
7:13PM 10/01/20 - gustopher: Dude’s life sounds like it’s kiiiind of a nightmare
7:13PM 10/01/20 - griffin_mama: NO KIDDING
7:13PM 10/01/20 - griffin_mama: Im still haunted by Wait what’s different about the weekend
7:14PM 10/01/20 - lyregirl💖: do u think there’s anything we could do?😕
7:14PM 10/01/20 - hello_willow: i don’t know
7:14PM 10/01/20 - hello_willow: that’s why i was hoping he’d messaged one of you😞
“Willow! Dinner’s ready!"
Welp.
At the sound of her Papa calling from downstairs, Willow’s ears twitched. She tore her gaze from her scroll to the door of her room. It wasn’t that a distraction wouldn’t be sort of welcome right now, and she was a little hungry. But her brain was sure going to be doing some wandering while she ate.
“Come on, Clover,” she said. “Papa said he was making snake and kidney pies tonight. I know you like the little kidney bits.”
Her palisman buzzed over to land on her shoulder, rubbing her scruff against Willow’s face and causing her to giggle.
“You know that tickles!” she said.
Witch is worried , Clover buzzed.
“Yeah,” Willow sighed, her shoulders slumping. “I really hope Hunter’s okay.”
Clover made a comforting sound, then rubbed against her cheek again as Willow reached up to give her some scritches. She grabbed her scroll with her other hand, typing out a last message.
💚💫 Emerald Entrails 2💚💫 [TOP SECRET DO NOT TELL CALEB]
7:18PM 10/01/20 - hello_willow: got to go for dinner. keep me updated if he messages any of you back, ok?
The replies to that, at least, weren’t long in coming.
7:18PM 10/01/20 - gustopher:👍
7:18PM 10/01/20 - lyregirl💖: obvs!!
7:18PM 10/01/20 - griffin_mama: Ill message him too
7:18PM 10/01/20 - hello_willow: 💚🌱💚
7:18PM 10/01/20 - hello_willow: thanks you guys
“Willow?”
“Coming, Papa!” she shouted, tucking her scroll in the pocket of her dress and dashing down the stairs.
The table was set when she arrived, a pie on each of the three plates on the table and a freshly-squeezed pitcher of bloody orange juice sitting in the middle. Both her dads smiled as they saw her.
“Ah, there she is!” her Dad exclaimed with a mischievous smile. “Maybe we’re interesting enough for her after all.”
“Sorry!” she said sheepishly. “My friends and I were talking about something kind of important.”
“Homework?” her Papa asked.
Willow shook her head, noticing her dads exchanged amused glances as she did so. Her Dad chuckled
“Ah," he said. "Important ."
Willow’s face flushed. "I'm done with my homework tonight, I promise!" she said.
The reassurance was probably unnecessary. Looking fond, her Dad reached over to ruffle her hair.
"We're teasing," he said. "We're very glad you're making more friends these days, Will."
Oh. That made sense. Willow was glad about that too.
"Okay, but it was important," she said, reaching for the pitcher of juice and pouring herself a glass.
"Of course it was," her Papa said with a smile.
"How's Gus doing?" her Dad asked as the three of them started eating. "You should have him and the rest of your flyer derby team over for dinner sometime."
"I'll cook for everyone!" said her Papa.
Willow paused chewing to slip Clover a little piece of kidney. After a moment, she swallowed, trying to shove aside some of her more worried thoughts as they crept back up on her.
"Oh, he's doing pretty good. He's been busy with some big project for the Illusion track pageant in a couple weeks though."
Her Dad chuckled. "That sounds like Gus."
Poking at her pie with her fork, Willow thought about her dads' other suggestion. It would be fun, having the team over sometime. Maybe for a victory dinner, if they got lucky. But she couldn't help but think about the teammate she definitely couldn't invite over, and that churned up all her worries all over again.
"Hey, can I ask you guys for advice about something?" she asked eventually. Clover gave her an encouraging nod.
"Of course."
"Always, Will."
She took a deep breath, setting down her fork. "I think one of my friends has kind of a bad home situation," she said, frowning. "He doesn't talk about it much, but whenever he does, I can't help but think it sounds really messed-up. I'm worried about him."
Her dads exchanged a look. Clearly this wasn't what they'd been expecting, but both their expressions still softened, taking on that kind but serious look that always really comforted her when she came to them with her problems.
"Do you know if Principal Bump knows?" her Dad asked. "Having a school authority on his side could help."
Willow shook her head. "My friend doesn't go to Hexside. He's um…" she hesitated, "...homeschooled."
Not entirely a lie. She was pretty sure Hunter had never actually attended a school, just skipped straight to being the Golden Guard, which probably explained a lot about his whole… deal… even though it also gave her so many questions.
Her Dad looked thoughtful. "That does make things harder."
"Isn't there a division of the Healing Coven for situations like this?" her Papa said. "He could always reach out to them. I can look up their confidential scroll number after dinner."
Willow sighed, squeezing her eyes shut. Usually her dads were great at giving advice, but she should have known it would be hard for them to help much without knowing the real details of Hunter's situation. Except she was also pretty sure he wouldn't want her spilling those, and besides, even if she were to decide to do it anyways for his own good, what was she supposed to say - "Hey dads, actually I befriended the Golden Guard – yeah, no, really, that Golden Guard – and it turns out he's a kid barely older than me and I think the Emperor' Coven is really awful actually? Also I think the closest thing he has to a guardian is Emperor Belos himself and all the stuff you're suggesting could technically count as treason?
Blinking, Willow noticed both her dads were giving her concerned looks. She laughed nervously.
"Um. So I'm not sure if that would help very much. Like I said, I don't know a lot about him, but it sounds like his, um, guardian is pretty important in the Emperor’s Coven and could probably pull some strings if someone tried checking up on him."
Again, not a lie. And if they pried any further she could always say she didn't know any more – which wasn't so far from the truth itself.
Her dads’ concerned looks grew worse, especially her Papa's. Feeling awkward, Willow poked at her pie again, taking a slow, careful bite as she considered what to say next. Could she backtrack? It was probably a little late for that. She felt bad, making her dads worried, but she was so worried herself that she'd really been hoping they might have some words of advice, the way they always did when she was having friend troubles in the past. Even if they'd been… really different friend troubles.
“Well,” her Papa said slowly. “I’ll still look up that scroll number, just in case your friend wants to give it a try anyways. You never know with these things.”
“And it sounds like you’re being as good a friend to him as you can,” her Dad said. “It makes sense, you being so worried, but I’m sure he still appreciates having you to talk to. Sometimes, even if that’s all you can do for a person, it helps a lot.”
Willow bit her lip. That was pretty much exactly what she’d been telling herself for the last few weeks every time Hunter mentioned something really messed-up – that yeah, she couldn’t exactly march up to the castle and tell Emperor Belos to leave her friend alone (even though she had half a mind to), but that maybe if she and the others could just make Hunter’s day a little better by making him laugh, or giving him somebody to vent to for a bit, he’d feel like he could hang in there. But that didn’t really work if he wasn’t messaging them back.
…Well, that, and Willow couldn’t shake the sinking feeling that something had finally happened that it would take a lot more than a few Penstagram messages to fix.
“I just don’t feel like it’s enough ,” she said, frustration creeping into the more casual tone she’d been trying to stick to in order to keep her dads from asking too many questions.
“Of course you don’t, Will,” her Dad said. “You’ve got a big heart and somebody you care about is hurting. But this isn’t the kind of problem kids should have to worry about solving. Even ones who care a whole lot. I’ll do some research tonight and try to find out who else your friend could reach out to. But it’s not your fault – or his – it’s so hard to fix. Try to remember that, okay?”
He reached out to ruffle her hair again, and Willow felt the corners of her mouth turn up in a small smile at the fond look he gave her. It at least made her glad she’d decided to say something, even if it hadn’t yielded much in the way of results. Talking to her dads about what was on her mind, just to get it outside instead of all crammed in, usually helped at least little.
She just wished everybody she knew had parents like hers.
“I will,” she said, then looked down at her plate. She’d only eaten about half her dinner, but with the way her stomach kept flip-flopping, she wasn’t sure she had the appetite for much more of it. “I’m not so hungry tonight though. Is it okay if I take some alone time?”
“Of course it is,” her Papa said. “Message that friend of yours. Tell him we’re all thinking about him, okay?”
Willow sighed and nodded. If only she thought that might help.
***
8:22PM 10/01/20 - hello_willow: hey caleb. my dads say hi 👨👨👧💚
8:22PM 10/01/20 - hello_willow: promise i didn’t tell them about your secret. just that i was worried about a friend
8:23PM 10/01/20 - hello_willow: i think you’d like them. they never made me feel bad abut my magic, even when it looked like i might not have any
8:23PM 10/01/20 - hello_willow: they used to play flyer derby too
8:23PM 10/01/20 - hello_willow: and now they want to have the team over for dinner.
8:23PM 10/01/20 - hello_willow: i wish you could come
8:25PM 10/01/20 - hello_willow: i’m not sure why i’m sending you these messages tbh. you aren’t there, are you?
8:25PM 10/01/20 - hello_willow: at first i thought you were just mad. it wouldn’t be the first time a friend stopped talking to me
8:26PM 10/01/20 - hello_willow: but that doesn’t feel right
8:27PM 10/01/20 - hello_willow: if you were willing to get attacked by coven head darius to save all of us, you probably wouldn’t stop messaging me just because i put my foot in my mouth
8:27PM 10/01/20 - hello_willow: or maybe you would
8:27PM 10/01/20 - hello_willow: i don’t know. i guess i don’t know you that well
8:28PM 10/01/20 - hello_willow: i’d like to though
8:29PM 10/01/20 - hello_willow: so if you are mad, please tell me
8:29PM 10/01/20 - hello_willow: and please, please be okay
Startled by the sound of a knock at her door, Willow – who had been lying on her back on her bed – almost dropped her scroll on her face. Clover made an amused noise and she smiled back at her palisman sheepishly. She must have looked pretty undignified.
“Willow?” came her Dad’s voice from the other side of the door. “Do you mind if I come in for a moment?”
Making sure to swipe out of her chat with Hunter before she replied, she rolled over into something closer to a sitting position.
“Come on in, Dad,” she said.
With a creak of the door, her Dad stepped inside, taking a seat next to her on her bed. He pulled a slip of paper from his pocket and handed it to her.
“Your Papa wanted me to give you this,” he said. She unfolded it to see a list with a couple scroll numbers written on it: Healing Coven Youth Services - (666) 1257, Young Witches’ Crisis Line - (666) 3410, Boiling Isles Youth Help Line (666) 7290
“I think some of those only work on a crow-phone. But maybe one of them will be able help your friend, even if they’re a little old-fashioned,” he added with a wink.
Willow smiled sadly. She might still send them to Hunter. He probably didn’t know how to look stuff like that up on his own – partially because she and the rest of the Entrails were still teaching him about SpiderWeb pages and how to find them in the first place, and partially because she was 100% positive it had never even occurred to him that there might be services out there for kids and teens being hurt by the people who were supposed to take care of them. That was the only reason to tell him, really. So he knew just how not-normal everything about his life was. Because she did not think any of the witches on the other end would know what to do if the Golden Guard actually called them up asking for help. Or for that matter, that any of them would need to worry about it – because there was no way he would try.
Something about the image of poor Hunter – who was older than her, but who’d still needed to have the idea of a “link” explained to him the first time someone had shared one in the team’s chat – and how utterly confused Willow knew he would be on every level by the list of numbers her dads had looked up for him was the final straw. Before she realized it – or could try to stop it – she was sniffling, pushing her glasses aside to wipe couple of tears out of the corner of her eye.
Her Dad’s face softened, and he wrapped her hand – still clenching the list of numbers, a little too tightly now – in his own, gently rubbing her fingers with his thumb. She squeezed her hand, to say thank you. He squeezed back.
“I hope you know we’re both so proud of you, Will,” he said. “I’m sorry you have a friend in such a scary situation. But he’s lucky he knows somebody as thoughtful as you. And you know we’re here to talk, if you need it. Or if he needs it.”
Willow pushed her glasses back onto her nose. “I told him he’d like you guys.”
“Oh really?” her Dad said. “We’re not too boring?”
She gave a hiccuping laugh and squeezed his hand again. “Never.”
“Well then,” he replied. “If he’d like us, I like him already. I hope we get to meet him sometime. What’s his name?”
Willow was glad she had a fake name all ready to go, because being cagey about something like that would probably look pretty weird.
“Caleb,” she said. “He likes flyer derby too. And he has the cutest little bird palisman.”
None of that was really a secret, at least as long as nobody pinned it to the Golden Guard, and she was pretty sure there was no way on the Boiling Isles her Dad would jump to that conclusion.
“You should invite him over sometime,” he said.
Willow frowned. “I don’t think he’d be able to come.”
It was her Dad’s turn to squeeze her hand again. “Well you ask him anyways. Which reminds me,” and here he leaned in all of a sudden, almost conspiratorially. “If those numbers don’t work out for him and he ever needs some real serious help, you tell him he’s welcome to come here, okay? We’ll figure out what to do.”
More than a little bit surprised, Willow tried to muster an appropriately comforted expression. That was a big offer, and she knew it. But just like before, at dinner, she knew it just wasn’t realistic. It wasn’t her Dad’s fault he didn’t know. She and Hunter – especially Hunter – just had the worst luck in the whole Boiling Isles.
“Thank you,” she said. “I’ll, um, tell him that.”
Somehow, that was the first outright lie of the evening. It wouldn’t be fair, passing it on to Hunter when it was completely impossible. It didn’t feel fair for her to hear, and she wasn’t the one practically locked up in the Emperor’s castle.
Maybe literally locked up.
Oh Titan, she hated this.
Ruffling her hair one last time for the evening, her Dad sat up and started heading towards the door.
“You make sure you get some sleep tonight, alright, Will?”
“Will do,” she said with a weak mock salute.
The door to her bedroom clicked closed.
And about a second later, her scroll started buzzing like crazy.
8:44PM 10/01/20 - gustopher: WILLOW
8:44PM 10/01/20 - gustopher: Turn on the news Willow
8:44PM 10/01/20 - gustopher: Also like brace yourself maybe
8:44PM 10/01/20 - gustopher: It’s about you know who
The snaky, sinking anxiety that had been curling itself around her gut all evening returned with a vengeance, and Willow leapt up to fumble for the remote to her crystal ball. She was pretty sure it was still on the desk, unless she’d left it…
“Oh, thank you, Clover,” she said shakily as her palisman flew over with the remote. Nerves already tingling with worry, she accepted it and turned the device on, glad she’d last left it on the news channel anyways. The familiar voice of Gus’ dad, who must’ve been working late, greeted her as soon as the ball was on.
“--role of interim head of the Emperor’s Coven will be served by Kikimora until he recovers. Official word is the Golden Guard was injured in the explosion on the outskirts of Bonesborough last week, attempting to subdue a group of insurgent wild witches. Though his condition is serious, hopes seem to be high that he will be back on his feet by the Day of Unity. Until then, I’m sure we’re all wishing him a speedy recovery. Back to you, Linda.”
For a moment, Willow didn’t even register that she’d clicked the ball off, stuck on some numb autopilot mode that had kicked in as she listened to the tail end of the evidently breaking report. It was only when the clattering of the remote on the floor met her ears that she became aware of anything other than the words of the broadcast, ringing around in her head.
Oh, Caleb, she thought, slowly sinking back against her bed, until she was sitting on the floor with Clover nuzzling up against her in concern, the sick feeling that had been making her nervous all evening finally taking over.
What happened?