Chapter Text
ROSAMUND WITTEBANE grasps horrifically as she started awake. Rubbing her face she stood up and looked around, everything seemed eerie and unnerving, almost like she wasn't supposed to be there. Her eyebrows furrow together as she tries to calculate what had exactly happened, but as she tries to push into her recent memories her head starts to hurt like no tomorrow. A pounding headache finds purchase and takes hold of her.
The white haired witch doesn't remotely remember what happened to end up in a void-like place. As Rosamund glances around her, the witch noticed that she was standing in what looked like a hall out of her father's palace. Although, this version of the palace seemed more hunted-looking. It was dark in hues and seemed completely abandoned. It left a pit in her stomach.
Rosamund feels incredibly dazed like she's been hit with some kind of horrible spell. She coughs roughly as she slowly sits up to better collect herself. The white haired witch quickly brushes off her white outfit as she glances out at the seemingly endless palace before her. The place was filled with various eerie paintings of her father in numerous contexts. As she turns on her feet, she stares down a vast black void. It was endless and consuming and all too hunting for the princesses like.
The palace didn't feel right; it put her more on edge than she has ever been while living in the imposing structure. It was strange, sinister, and just felt plain out unexplainable.
Rosamund could feel her stomach rapidly churning uneasily as she stood under a small cloak of protection that was coming from the darkness of the twisted palace. As the young white haired witch hide in the shadows, a strange figure started to pass her way. Without much hesitation or any thought, she tackled the person to the ground. Rosamund eyes flickered with a blue essence as she started to mumble a spell. It was only after she had pinned the person to the ground and ready herself to hex them that Rosamund realized that it was her cousin that she had pinned for dear life.
The white-haired witch blinked owlishly at the infamous Golden Guard, whom she just happened to call her cousin, and could only merely tilt her head in confusion. Scuffing in some kind of deep offense, the blonde boy pushed her off him in utter annoyance.
"I can't believe that you tackled me! And then, to make it worse, you almost attacked me," Hunter began to complain in exasperation. Rosamund merely rolled her eyes in minor annoyance.
"I can't believe that you would walk on my path and not expect me to tackle you." She quickly retorts back. Hunter glared daggers at his cousin.
Before the two could bicker further and ultimately decide who was right, a different person awkwardly cleared their throat in a sort of attempt to get their attention. Hunter and Rosamund both quickly wiped their heads toward the sound.
It was Luz Noceda, a human that Rosamund has quickly grown quite close to over the past few months.
They had a very unlikely friendship as Luz was the apprentice to a very notorious and stupidly stubborn wild witch, while Rosamund was the daughter of the strict Emperor of the Boiling Isle. Her father was the Emperor that tried to have Luz's mentor turned to stone due to her refusing to join a coven and for all her loud rebellions.
( that wasn't even getting into all the drama Hunter had caused between the two of them due to her father trying to intervene and control her life. Like always. )
But, honestly, Luz and Rosamund had more in common than one might expect from the daughter of the 'mighty and justice' Emperor Belos.
Rosamund is a human just like Luz. The two humans also share the same struggle of not begin able to use magic. Well, not the traditional way, it seems.
Luz had her glyphs.
As for Rosamund, well, she didn't wholly understand what she had for magic. But she couldn't just draw magic circles. She didn't have a magic sack after all. But, weirdly enough, she also couldn't do glyphs either.
Magic didn't particularly like her in most capacities.
Wild or traditional, alike. Magic stayed away from her like a she was a cursed object.
Yet, Rosamund could do things that were certainly inhuman and out of the capacity of any witch's magic. Lilith Clawthorne, the former historical scholar of the Emperor's Coven, had once offhandedly said that the magic forces that was likely some kind of ancient magic. Lilith had said that it was likely the effects of some magic force that the old witches would have practiced. It would have more than likely had ties to the Titan himself.
Lilith, in all her naive ignorance and unfaltering loyalty to Emperor Belos, had just told Rosamund to have her father talk to the Titan if she wanted to learn more about whatever the hell it was that she has. This frustrated Rosamund because she wasn't blind like most of the people in the Emperor's Coven; the white haired witch didn't blame them for begin blinded by her father. Her father had presented himself with, a certain kind of charisma, that just seemed to comfort and lure people in.
However, Rosamund might not know the full truth or see the bigger game going on, but she knew there were many things amidst her father. Especially, given how he treats her cousin and lies to those in his own Coven. Rosamund knew better than to believe the lie that he could talk to the titan.
"Rosa!" Luz calls out in utter relief as she recognizes the girl. The brown-skinned girl calls yanks Rosamund out of her complex thoughts and brings her smashing back into the weird reality she stands in. "Luz!" the white-haired girl calls out as Rosamund quickly forgets about the blonde boy before her and rushes towards the human. She pulls the girl into a tight embrace. And for those few fleeting seconds, things don't seem all dark and confusing.
Rosamund knows and understands Luz.
"Do you guys know where we are? Because I have no clue."
Luz hugs the female back with the same unwavering ferocity and sincerity. When they pull apart, the young Dominican-American girl looked around at the pictures. All of the paintings were of the man 'great' things that Emperor Belos has done in his long lifetime. But, Eda had taught Luz better than to believe any of the none senses about the Emperor. "No, I don't know where we are." Luz trailed off. Thankfully for the pair, Hunter was there to give guidance on where they were.
"Of course, you forgot how and where we are." Hunter deadpanned annoyedly as he stares at Rosamund, who merely huffs in a sort of childish retaliation. "Where trapped inside the Emperor's mind." The blonde boy finally elaborated to the group as they just shared silent glances. The white haired witch felt like the whole world was spinning out of control as she struggled to control her breathing. The white haired witch was admittedly quite startled. She just couldn't remotely believe the fact that they were in her father's mind; a fact that her father, Emperor Belos, would be furious about in the very near future, which is what scared her most. Rosamund knew all too well about the vastly horrible consequences that would come from her father's visceral anger. It wouldn't be remotely pretty for anyone that was remotely involved.
"And it's your fault," Hunter added as he glared daggers at the human that was amongst the group of witches.
Hunter, unlike Rosamund, had unbreakable loyalty to her father. Which Rosamund could not begin to understand? Belos treated them horribly and in different regards.
Honestly, sometimes Hunter's loyalty to that man didn't feel human. It was mechanical and almost instinctual.
But, she also knew that they had years, upon years, of brainwashing and manipulation and trauma from that man. Belos has had his hooks deep within them since birth. They never had a chance to begin anything other than what Belos wanted.
And, as terrible as it sounds, the only reason that Rosamund can explain why she is not an exact carbon copy of Hunter is simply because of her father. With all of his terrible and old-fashioned notions about how women should be and what witches are like. They are the very reason that leads to her seeing flaws. Not all once, but bits of flaws in Emperor Belo's ideas and white lies. It wasn't till she meet Luz that things were expanded upon and her eyes open further to the whole truth of her father.
It made her sick sometimes to just think about it. All the beliefs that his father had taught and the cruel words he had spewed, couldn't just be forgotten. They were etched into her brain and soul. They couldn't be unlearned in an instant.
There was so much trauma and hurt that she, and more so Hunter, need to heal from and process. They need to get away from that ridiculous palace and her so-called father. But as to where they would go was such a bittersweet question that consumed her thoughts. And true proper answers seemed to always just allude to the white haired witch.
"Wait! Hold up! Where inside my dad's mind? Oh, my titan!" Gasped Rosamund rather horrifically. She looked like she was gonna be sick as she clenched her stomach. She had to control her breathing with how much she was freaking out. "This is so bad!" The blonde-haired boy simply nodded in agreement with her words.
"Agreed! It's absolutely terrible that was in's mind."
"Wait! What?" Luz asked in complete shock as his eyes went comically wide at the recent development of information. "I remember being with Eda and King, Then I saw Hunter and you... so I followed after you to ask you two some questions about Belos, to prove he was bad." Luz said the last part a bit sheepishly. "I mean, no one would know him better than you and Hunter," Luz stated as she looked at Rosamund. Keeping the female within arms reach, Luz grabbed the white-haired witch's hand.
"You want to prove my uncle is evil? And you thought I would help." Hunter laughed almost hysterically. Rosamund shot Hunter an exasperated look as the boy continued to laugh. The human female took a deep breath to calm herself down.
"Well, since I'm in his mind, I can learn the truth for myself!" Huffed the human. She then paused to take in the palace. She frowned slightly. "Weird though. This place looks different than when I was in Willow's mind, Willow had a lot more trees," she said as she looked around at the paintings. Hunter snorts a little to himself.
"That makes sense that Willow's had trees. Mindscapes reflect the individual." The blonde boy starts and Rosamund instantly sends the boy a knowing teasing grin. Rosamund knew all too well about Willow and the growing friendship between her and her cousin. She found them rather enduring. Hunter just rolls his eyes at her. "Well, I read a lot on the subject of mindscapes," Hunter adds proudly.
Rosamund watches as her cousin suddenly gets sidetracked from the conversation as he sees a painting of her father and what she presumes are that of wild witches. The painting made the white haired witch nauseous. "You know, unfettered wild magic wiped out our family. Everyone knew too much and it got them hurt. That's why Belos took in all the survivors and dedicated his whole life to making the coven system." Hunter tells Luz as he moved to the next painting of Belos.
"It's why he's so well-liked! Our sigils protect us from ourselves and the Titan happy." Hunter tries to explain to Luz. Rosamund and Luz shared an uncertain look. Before either one of the girls could even dare respond, Hunter was bounding over to the next painting. The painting was of what was assumably the blonde witch, in all of his Golden Guard armor, getting knighted by Emperor Belos. "Oh! This is when I inherited my staff! You know, I'm the youngest scout to become Golden Guard. I never found out what happened to the previous one." Hunter says causally as he shifts a little uncomfortably. "Huh, why does Darius look so sad here?"
Rosamund nearly jumped out of her skin as she felt someone grab her hand. Pulled away from her cousin's rambles, she looked down to see that it had been Luz who had grabbed her hand. Which helped Rosamund feel a little bit more relaxed; The human had a way of making Rosamund always feel more comfortable just by simply begin around her. Both she and Amity had of making her feel like she was someone else. Someone that knew what love was and what it felt like to be deeply loved. They made her into someone that was carefree and wasn't raised in a palace filled with pressure and tension.
"Will be fine, Princesa." Luz tried to reassure the girl as she see the look of worry and anxiety wash over her delicate pale features. "We are going to be okay! I won't let anything happen to you," she promised seriously. Luz wanted to be there for the person she loved and in reality, she wasn't going to stand around and let Belos push Rosamund around.
As Luz took to leading the white-haired witch around the very eerie and vast palace-like structure, Rosamund couldn't help but wonder what they would see in the unseen depths of her father's mind. Rosamund also couldn't help but innocently wonder if she would see any memories of her family as a whole instead of the tattered current state of the beginning. She was suddenly pulled out of her thoughts as she started hearing an eerie crying-like sound.
"Okay, this place is seriously creeping me out." Muttered Rosamund as the group made their way deeper into Belos's mind. The white haired witch begrudgingly followed after Luz and Hunter as they started moving towards the sound.
Hunter shared a confused look with his cousin as they suddenly heard crying sounds. The three of them all follow the sound to its very source. A strange ghostly little boy ran out in front of the three of them. The boy was wearing clothes that looked a little dated but tattered. He, most notably, was wearing a strange wooden mask.
"Is that Belos?" Hunter questioned at the same time as Luz before the little boy ran away from them. As the boy ran away, a new looming figure took his place. Rosamund didn't know if it was truly her father or not, but he took to pleading with it just in case it was. The figure held the same look as Belos, but it quickly change and morphed into something much more terrifying and feral.
Her iridescent eyes flickered about wildly as Hunter started to talk to the beast as if it truly were her father, but it didn't take long to figure out that it wasn't remotely her father.
"Hunter! Watch out!" Luz warned as she charged at the boy in hopes of getting him away from the danger. Rosamund grabbed her cousin's hand and forcibly yanked him along with her and Luz. The trio started to quickly run away from the little boy and the strange beast that took up a similar form to that of her father.
As the three of them began to run down the hallway in the haunted mindscape palace, the floor beneath them suddenly disappeared.
Screams filled up the open void as they started free-falling from one place to the next.
Luz was quick to react and slapped some slow-falling glyphs on each of them.
Suddenly, the three of them all landed in a dead forest-like area with an audible thud. "What in the name of the Titan was that? Something deeply messed up is going on here and I want absolutely want no part in it!" Rosamund sty as she roughly pushed herself to her feet. If Rosamund thought her anxiety levels were bad before this, then they were certainly much, much, worse now.
"Where are we now?" Hunter questioned in confusion as he slowly pushed himself off the ground.
"We must be in the emperor's true mind," Luz stated plainly. Hunter recoiled at the human's sentiment. Hunter was having a hard time believing that his uncle would lie and have fake parts to seem like a better man.
"What do you mean the emperor's real mind? That gallery-" The blonde started to try to defend his uncle, but the human of the group promptly cut him off.
"Was full of lies, Hunter! He's not who you think he is!" Luz states softly. It unsettled the blonde boy to even consider the fact that his uncle could have been lying to him this whole time; he knows the kind of ramifications that would mean and it made him sick to even think about it. Hunter gazed over at his cousin, whose own emotions look somewhere between him and Luz's.
The boy can see the fear in her eyes. He knows her all too well and just knows that she is already picturing all the wrath and fury her father, his uncle, will bring down upon them both. He can see her trying all so desperately to calculate their next move. She's both vigilant and calculating, yet also just anxiously paranoid and miserable.
Rosamund watches Hunter as he picks up a bird-shaped palisman, similar to the little red cardinal her cousin has. The palisman in question is covered in dark and burnet looking. There is no life or magic left within the palisman. As he holds it, the bird-shaped palisman quickly turns into nothing but a pile of ash.
"We're probably begin punished because you provoked his inner self." Hunter tried to defend.
"Well, his inner self had a thousand glowing eyeballs." Retorts Luz horrifically.
"Oh, no, eyeballs! You're so easy to scare." Hunter says mocking before letting out a small scruff. Rosamund gave a small pointed glare at him.
"Boo!" Edalyn Clawthorne suddenly says over Luz's strange human walkie-talkie. The sudden noise makes both members of the Emperor's Coven jump. They both look equally startled, while Luz smiles a little in amusement. Hunter full-on glares daggers at the white bunny walkie-talkie as the human holds it up to her unprinted human ears. "Luz, where are you? Oh? Wait! Hey, Blondie, your friend wants to talk to you."
"Uh?" Hunter stammers confused as he glances at his cousin, who merely shrugs in equal confusion. But, the blonde boy's confusion instantly melts away as the sound of a friendly bird chirps over the strange human device. "Flapjack! Are you okay? Have they hurt you?" Hunter immediately questions his palisman.
Rosamund found it rather enduring to see her cousin so protective and compassionate over the red cardinal. She had felt immensely reassured and grateful when she found out that her cousin had gotten himself a palisman. It brought her some comfort to think that the boy had someone else who also had his back and could give him comfort.
"Give me that back," Luz says as she snags her bunny-shaped walkie-talkie back from the blonde witch. "So, Eda, we may kinda sorta be trapped in, uh... the Emperor's mind."
Eda gasped over the walkie-talkie, then silence filled the air for a few fleeting minutes as the older woman took in the sudden information.
"How in the world did you...No, we don't have time for that. Has the inner Belos spotted you yet?"
"Yes, but we were able to get away...with help. Can there be two inner selves?"
"No. But, I have heard of strong emotions materializing. Alright, stay safe. If you're devoured in his mindscape-"
"Will be trapped." Hunter and Rosamund finished at the same time.
"Will be dragged down into his subconscious forever. Like I told you, I've read about this stuff." Hunter adds.
"Well, we're gonna getcha out! We'll make a return spell as fast as we can." King promises them. A strong sense of urgency and sincerity laced through his words. "Just don't lose the walkie-talkie. It's our only connection to you." Eda adds.
"You got it, Owl Lady. Over and out!" Before Luz could finish her mock salute and hang up on her mentor. Hunter suddenly grabs the walkie-talkie from Luz.
"Wait!" Hunter exclaims as he quickly pulls the bunny-shaped device towards him. "I'll be home soon, Flapjack! Stay safe," he starts to tell his palisman, who merely chirps at him in response to his protective and loving words. Hunter's voice drops to a stage whisper as he pulls the walkie-talkie closer. "I love. Over and out!"
"Aww!" The four of them coed at the boy, who merely his eyes in exasperation. Hunter then tosses the walkie-talkie back to Luz.
Rosamund quickly looked around the group's new setting to make sure it was clear. Her eyes looked around to really take in her father's true mind. The strange dead forest was full of paintings just like the eerie palace, but there was one very notable expectation; the paintings showed the cruel and unfiltered truth.
"As much of a scary thought as it is, Rosa, do you think we will find some memories of your mother here?" Luz asked quietly. The white haired witch looks down at her hands uncertainly as she thinks about the girl's question.
Her mother has always been such a forbidden topic for Rosamund. Whenever she would ask her father about her when she was much smaller, he would always get angry and volatile. He had, the first few times, kept it together and told her about how her mother was an evil wild witch that caused a great deal of harm; she had once been a pure and loving woman, but the other untamable and truly wild witches had corrupted her and there was no way for him to save her. Which, now that she's a little more older and mature, she can just see how much of a lie it sounded. It made her angry, but it also confused her.
Rosamund didn't know what her mother was like. For all she knew, her father was for once telling the truth that her mother was some kind of evil monster. But, on the other hand, her mother could also be the kindest person that the Isle has ever seen. Yet, she'll never know as she can't go look for her. She doesn't know her name or even what her mother looks like. Rosamund supposes that her mother must look a lot like her as she didn't inherit her father's blonde hair or blue eyes. But that hardly narrows things down in a magical place like that of the Boiling Isles. She assumes her mother is a witch as her father has talked about her mother having magical capabilities, which also doesn't narrow anything down.
There was nothing on her mother. No cliff note in history books about the Queen of the Isles or any memory of her with the people of the Boiling Isles. It was like she was scrubbed away from history. A historical figure simply edited out of existence to benefit Emperor Belos, at least that is what Lilith had told her when she randomly asked her about it when she had gone to the Owl House.
Chasing after her mother is like chasing a phantom or figment of imagination. She was just this elusive figure that was just out of reach.
"I...I don't know. A part of me wants to hope to see her and to know what truly happened to her. Yet, another part of me is utterly terrified of finding out the whole truth of what happened to her. It's exactly like opening Pandora's box. Anything can be in there and once's it open you can't just close it, you know?" Luz nods understandingly to the witch's words.
As they look around at the various paintings that littered the room, Luz suddenly came upon an empty painting where kid Belos is hiding. Luz slowly approaches the little ghostly boy before them. "Thank you for helping us before. You don't seem nearly as scary as you're inner self." Luz starts but is quickly cut off by a loud thunderous roar. Unsettlement is visible on all three of the young witches' faces as they glance at the cowering little boy. It was hard for Rosamund to believe that he was some part of her father. "If strong emotions can take form, maybe he's the Emperor... I don't know. Maybe his sense of guilt?"
"Him? Have guilt? Yeah, I'll believe it when I see it." Scuffs Rosamund under her breath as she rolled her eyes at the mere concept.
"What? Belos has never done anything worthy of feeling guilty." Hunter augured and the white haired witch had to bite her tongue to make herself not call Hunter blind and oblivious. "It's obviously his, uh, sense of innocence. His pure in
"Well, whichever it is, I think he can keep us stay safe." Luz retorts. She leans in close to the purple ghostly boy. "And maybe you can show us who Belos really is."
"What was that?"
"Nope! Let's go!" Luz yelps as the boy starts dragging her towards a painting as the monstrous roars get louder and louder than before. The monster is quickly upon them and they all have to think fast.
"Wait! Where just gonna invade his memories? That sacrilege!"
"Hunter, it's literally our only way to survive!"quickly counters. Luz grabs Rosamund's hand and Rosamund with the other hand grabs Hunter's hand. The link of witches quickly runs through one of Belos's memory paintings.
Rosamund, Hunter, and Luz quickly ran out of the painting like their lives completely depended on it. The three witches let out a terrified scream as they tumbled into the new scenery around them. The three witches quickly pulled themselves up before scurrying into the narrow grey streets of an old town and followed after the purple ghostly boy. The little boy laughed carelessly as ran away from them. Rosamund's eyes darted about the town in a sort of morbid curiosity. The town seemed ancient, even by Boiling Isles standards. The small town was eerie quiet. Too quiet for Rosamund's taste. Vast darkness spread across the small town as heavy boiling rain clouds ready themselves for a future downpour.
The strange trio ran after the little boy and eventually came upon a strange group of witches and demons. The group of strangers were all anxiously waiting on someone. Rosamund frowned and gave the two to the left a confused look. Luz merely shrugged, while Hunter watch the stage in a confused anticipation.
"He says he can talk to the Titan." A man next to them muttered to his wide. The woman looked at her husband with disbelief and scowled. "The Titan's dead! How is that would even be possible?" She huffs annoyedly as she crossed her arms over her chest and merely shook her head.
Suddenly, the small crowd of people gasped dramatically. A man, whom the trio all almost instantly recognize as Emperor Belos, walked out of the shadows. His outfit seemed a little less refined than one that Hunter and Rosamund were so used to seeing. It was very odd and strangely off-putting for the duo.
Rosamund glanced behind the memory of her father to see another person standing behind the man. She narrowed her eyes as she tried to get a closer look, but all she could make out was the silhouette of a dark forest green cloak and a crusade of long brunette curls. The white haired witch supposed the figure seemed like it had a feminine frame, but she couldn't be too sure and didn't want to jump to conclusions.
"Fellow citizens. We are born into chaos. Our lives anger the Titan. My own family has been hurt by the darkness of wild magic." Belos begins as yellow eyes shine from behind his mask of gold. His staff shined red before a cloud of black smoke suddenly filled the stage he was on and wafted down towards the people beneath the stage. "I have been shown the healing light. It shines in nine different hues." Belos adds as nine bright orbs spine out in front of him before they grow brighter in overwhelming light. Rosamund raised her hands to cover her eyes as it was a bit too bright for her. The rainbow lights beamed down upon them as her father manipulated the orba. The crowd was awed as Belos soon extinguished the light.
"See? He's always been helping people." Hunter states as he elbows Luz sharply. Suddenly the blonde looks at his cousin worriedly as she grasps in fright. An explosion rumbles out from behind her father and the stage quickly catches on fire as the explosion quickly starts to spread. The townspeople instantly start to freak out and Father only adds to the flames as quickly yells out to the innocent townsfolk, "The wild witches! They found me! Run!"
Rosamund, Hunter, and Luz quickly ran the opposite way as the explosion turns into a full-blown fire that starts eating anything that is in its pathway. As they turn the corner, they see Belos and the strange cloaked figure again. Although, this time round, the Emperor is with a Golden Guard.
"You incompetent fool! You nearly took my head off with that blast!" Belos growled annoyed at his guard. The woman behind Belos seemed to stiffen uncomfortably as the man in front of her talked down to his guard. It was hard for Rosamund to wholly read the woman's emotions on the situation as she couldn't see any of her facial features.
"I'm sorry. Lord Belos." The guard instantly apologize as he moved to kneel to the man. The way the man moved and talked oddly reminded her too much of her cousin. The movement felt a little too similar for Rosamund's liking. It also reminds her how her cousin almost always knees anytime someone does something nice for him or shows the blonde boy a little ounce of true compassion; she had her father to 'thank' Hunter's habit.
"I'm off to the next time."
"What about the rest of these?" The golden guard questioned as he walk forward to grab a dingy grey cloth that was covering a bunch of boxes. The guard pulled off the cloth to reveal a bunch of boxes with cation taps over them. They were most definitely explosives.
"Put on a bigger show," Belos said with no emotion in his voice as he looked away from his ever-so-loyal golden guard. Belos nodded at the cloaked girl. "Let's go, Alicent." He forcibly ushered the woman out of the building they were in. The golden guard quickly lit one of the many explosives before into toe with them.
Rosamund, Hunter, and Luz watched as the little boy appeared again before running out of the painting. So the trio followed after the boy.
"Belos was lying!" Luz panted as they arrived back into the strange undead forest. "Wild witches weren't attacking him! How can you help someone like that?" Luz exclaimed.
"That was probably a special technique to get people to listen to his message!" Hunter tried to defend. Rosamund groaned in frustration. "It's...it's for the greater good!"
"Hunter, stop defending him! What has he done to deserve all of you're loyalty? Absolutely nothing! He has done you more hurt than any family member, or that of merely Emperor, ever should!" Rosamund states in frustration. Tears of anger and confusion welled up in her eyes. Her fist rolled up tightly as tried to hold herself together. She could feel a pulse of old magical energy flow through and then the sharp cold feeling of ice forming. She quickly shook her hands and very small ice shards fell harmlessly to the ground.
Luz suddenly yelps in terror. Which quickly gets both witches' attention as she runs away from the painting the trio just left. "He found us!" Luz exclaims in a panic. Harmony grabbed Luz's hand and dragged her through another random painting.
As they fell through another painting, they were instantly met by snow beneath them. The blonde boy raced after them as they pulled themselves out of the snow. They all quickly made their way up the mountain where all the townsfolk were gathered again. Belos stood in front of them all. The man gestured to the town that was now nothing more but ash and rubble. "Look at what the wild magic has done to your city! Now imagine what it is doing to you! A city can rise from ashes, but a soul..." he trailed off before merely shaking his head.
The townsfolk all muttered in clear fear.
"I can make you're magic pure again, as the Titan intended it to be," Belos says as his golden guard slipped on a glove and it instantly started to glow. The townsfolk hesitantly stepped forward toward the guard before holding their wrists out of him. The guard then started placing coven sigils on their wrists. But, there was something wrong with sigils as they all started corrupting people. Strange magic glowing veins started to randomly appear on the witch's skin. It consumed their bodies before making their eye go full white before collapsing helplessly to the ground.
The coven sigils were doing this to them. Poisoning them.
Her father - Emperor Belos - was poisoning them.
He was killing them.
Rosamund felt sick to the stomach and had to push back the urge to puke on the spot. Luz instantly moved to pull the mortified witch into her embrace. She could hear Luz mutter something under her breath in Spanish, but she couldn't make it out with how fast her heart was beating and the absolute panic rushing through her veins.
"They're still alive." The golden guard states with a hint of confusion in his voice.
"Then we still have work to do. Gather the palismen." Belo's order before making his way from the scene behind him. The green-cloaked woman watched as the two men left the scene with all the palsiman. She then quickly moved towards the withering witches and mumbled some sort of quiet incantation that made her eyes flash vibrant yellow.
Her eyes flickered around in hurry and panic.
The woman, this Alicent woman whom they saw in the other memories, came rushing towards them. There was no possible way for her to see them. She was nothing more than a mere memory of someone from the past. Yet, they were the ones where they stood
The brunette pulled the hood of her cloak down to reveal a woman with gentle and soft features. She had long, midnight-brown hair that sat in loose curls on her shoulder. She has dominantly green hazel eyes and a pale skin complexion that bears the faint beginnings of age. Alicent was slender and graceful. There was a sort of innocent and naive look to the woman.
The brunette suddenly surged forward before suddenly collapsing to the ground. As she fell to her knees, she buried her hands in the snow as she began to heave. Rosamund could see her actively holding back a scream as viscously she bite in the fabric of the cloak that covered her left arm. Her body shift uncomfortably like a force was pushing on it.
"No, no, no...not now." The woman hissed under her breath as glared daggers at the snow beneath her. She tightened her fists in the snow as an overwhelming golden light started to be emitted from her hands. "Just let me stay in control a little longer," she whimpered under her breath as the buzzing of her magic got stronger. The woman's arms shook from exhaustion as she tried to keep herself from falling completely into the snow.
"Please! I need more time to save him! I can't let him die...I can't...I can't let Philip hurt Caleb again. I'll get it right this time." The woman desperately pleaded with a force that they couldn't see.
"Maybe she's cursed like Eda?" Muttered Rosamund to Luz, who quickly shook her head in mere confusion.
"I don't know. This looks nothing like how Eda's curse acts." Luz retorts in a mere whisper.
"I will figure out a way to save everyone, I swear! I just...we... I need more time. And I need you to help me more. The ancient magic you give me only gets so far when you refuse to show me how to use it." The woman whispers.
Whatever force, ghostly or ancient or a curse force, seemed to consider her words before easing up on her. The brunette let out a small sigh as the golden magic seemed to slowly slip away from her. The brunette-haired woman blink and blinked again before her eyes faded to normal again. They watched as the cloaked woman quickly ran to catch up with the two men, who were already so far away from her.
Alicent, her mother, left them with more questions than answers.
Rosamund, Hunter, and Luz quickly ran out of the painting. They panted heavily as they shared confused looks. None of them understand what they saw in the weird and very overwhelming mindscape.
"You can't deny it now. Belos is trying to hurt people!" Hissed Luz.
"He was just perfecting sigil magic."
"Oh, my Titan!" Groaned Rosamund annoyedly.
"Besides, maybe he's remembering things wrong. Who knows now if the mindscapes are real?"
"I thought you did!" Luz countered.
"Well, maybe I'm an idiot."
"Oh, Hunter." Before Rosamund could say anything, they heard the monster's loud and imposing scream again. It was terrifying. The beast appeared before them and started chasing them viscously. As they ran through the mindscape, Rosamund let out a strangled yelp as she alone was suddenly yanked into a different painting than Hunter and Luz.
Rosamund screamed as she was forcibly pulled through the painting. She was pulled into a scenery of cliffs. A sharp wind blew through all of the trees and allowed the previous morning's dew to be shaken away. Brilliance followed under the dark green canopy. An arrangement of colors flowed like a river to the edges of cliffs. Dropped off the sides of miniature mountains and crumbled with the rocks they attached to.
Her mother and father stood before her.
"No, you will listen to me!" Hissed Alicent Whittebane as she began to glare daggers at her supposed husband. Her bright green eyes were fierce and threatening. They held a sort of defiance and anger that the blonde man had never seen before. She slowly stalked towards the man. She outstretched her hand, her golden metal finger claws digging into the collar of the man's white tunic as she forcibly yanks him forward.
She looks different than what Rosamund has seen in all of the other memories of her mother.
It seemed whatever force, ancient or curse alike, had taken hold of Alicent.
Alicent was a tall and very elegant young woman with fair skin and red eyes. She has long straight hair, half of it being tied into a wide bun resembling a bow and the rest is left to flow into two individual divided sections. Her hair is white and reaches her knees, where it fades into an ashy color. Her bun is accessorized with a black hairpin, and she wears a red tassel decoration atop her head which lies between her eyes.
Alicent wears a white, high-necked sleeveless dress with side slits that reach up to about her thigh. It is decorated with a luscious fur neck wrapped around the collar, yellow patterns with gold banding, and black lace along the edge of the dress. She wears a pair of black high gloves that extend long enough to reach the ruffled extensions stretched from her upper arms. Her gloves are decorated with copper patterns and golden claw attachments on her fingers which act as fingernail guards.
"I am not you're pawn anymore, Philip!" She snarled as her eyes a bright gold. She stepped closer to the man as she bared her sharp teeth. "I'm done with this ridiculous song and dance that we've been doing for centuries now. I know what you have been doing with Caleb and I know what you did to our daughter! Do you think a curse to prevent magic is gonna be strong enough to prevent the ancient one or the Titan from finding her? You're more of a fool than I thought." She hissed annoyedly.
Philip, her father, Emperor Belos, looked unfazed by the woman's wrath.
"And what are you gonna do about it? Kill me?" He muses. He smirked at the woman growling threateningly at the blonde man. "Oh wait, you can't do that now, can you? You gave that up to protect that stupid daughter of ours." T
"You keep her name out of you're mouth," hissed Alicent as she slammed her father into a tree, which just caused his smirk to witty widen as he knew that he stuck a nerve. "If you lay a hand on either one of them, I swear on the gods of old, I will find a way to completely tear you limb from limb." She threatened as her eyes glowed darkly.
"I'd like to see you try," Philip states in a bored and annoyed tone. "You're too weak to do anything. You become nothing more than a parasite. You become no better than the witches in this godforsaken realm."
The woman laughed darkly and bitterly as she rolled her eyes at the man.
"You're the goddamn parasite trying to poison this beautiful realm," the woman counters with a hiss. "You are a monster. All of the things you have done to Caleb alone classify you as such."
"What does that make you, Darling? You stood by me through it all." The man counters with a raised eyebrow, which caused the man to tighten her hold on the man before her.
"I have just been an unwilling participant in all of your crimes! You leverage your own brother's life against me! I had to literally make you magically promise not to harm our daughter. You have threatened me night and day! Not to mention all of the abuse and everything else in between." She hissed. Alicent let Philip fall to the ground as she looked away from the man. "I will find a way to stop you. And I will find a way to save my daughter and Hunter from you. You won't hurt that boy any longer. Caleb will finally be able to rest." Her mother vowed before making her turn on her heels and walk deep into the forest.
Rosamund didn't wholly understand why she was seeing this.
But, she supposed there was a bigger-picture thing that was going on here. Pieces begin put out on the chessboard. Things begin out into motion and info begins given to them to be decoded. These memories would come to help them destroy the very man that the memories belong to.