𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘺𝘮, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥.

Gus ran in, joining the crowd of students as Principal Bump, the Head Illusions teacher, and a third, hooded, figure stood on the stage.

"Uh, students, teachers," Bump began. "Let me introduce the esteemed–"

"Please, Principal Bump," The figure interrupted. "I deserve no accolades. Hello, everyone."

He walked ahead, pulling his hood off to reveal his dark, teal hair, light blue eyes and a slight stubble. He had a mirror-shaped earring hanging off his pointed ear, fingerless brown gloves wrapped around his hands. His fangs glinted slightly in the light.

"My name is Adrian Graye, Head Witch of the Illusionist Coven," He frowned at the students gasped, hushed whispers flying in the air. 

"Unfortunately, I'm not here with good news," He closed his eyes, shaking his head. "The Emperor's Coven has plans to stop multitrack studies by inducting every Hexide student into a coven before the Day of Unity."

Every student present in the hall gasped again, sharply. Viney looked over to Jerbo in fear, Jerbo soon looking to Barcus. 

"Mother Titan!" 

Mattholomule hissed, ripping his new illusionist sleeves off, throwing them on the ground in frustration as Emira and Edric watched him in concern. The student then crossed his arms as the fabric landed on the ground.

"Don't worry, No one's magic is going to be sealed away forever," Bump smiled. "Head Witch Graye supports us, and has come to help."

Hearing this, Mattholomule bent down, pulling the torn sleeves back onto his arms, crossing them again while blushing.

Another Illusionist teacher walked up to the Blight twins, placing a hand on Edric's shoulder as he nodding solemnly.

"Before any coven scouts come by, I'm going to make illusions of sigils on your wrists," He pointed a finger to his own wrist. "They'll be temporary and harmless."

Edric walked onto the stage, the Head Illusionist gently guiding him along as the Blight twin watched Head Witch Graye with unease.

"Woah, woah, woah, wait! Wait!" Edric frowned. "I just started the other tracks. Are you sure this is safe?"

"Don't worry," Adrian smiled. "Once a scout sees the fake sigil, they'll move on and you can continue your studies in piece."

Edric sighed, rolling up his sleeve as his unease was still evident, Adrian taking his arm as he drew a spell circle, looking at the boy's wrist.

"Now, hold still."

The spell circle was then hovering over Edric's wrist, Gus squinting as he noticed a light blue sheen ghost over Adrian's hand. His eyes widened as he gasped, realising what was going on.

"Stop!" He called out, Edric and Adrian looking over at him in confusion.

The crowd of students parted, looking over to Gus as the boy held his arm out, pointing at the Head Witch Illusionist on the stage.

"Don't trust him. He's hiding behind an illusion!" Gus glared before casting a giant spell, sending it towards the stage.

The crowd of students once again gasped as Adrian's figure soon morphed into the Captain of the coven scouts. Edric pulled his arm away in fear seeing a sigil-imprinting glove on the Captain's hand, one specifically of an illusion coven.

Principal Bump and the Head Illusion teacher instinctively rushing over to him in protection. The teacher readied her spell, the Captain doing so as well before a voice cut in harshly.

"CUT!" It hissed. 

The Captain instantly retreated his spell, relaxing his tense posture as everyone in the hall looked at one another in confusion.

"Just..." Adrian's voice groaned. "Just cut!"

One by one, coven scouts appeared, all of them surrounding as the students gasped, eyes wide. As they revealed themselves, Bump's eyes were widened in horror to find multiple coven scouts on the stage. 

Some were holding light bouncers, some were holding mics, but the most surprising of all was when Adrian was sitting right in front of the group, cleanly shaven and in a clean suit, sitting on a director's chair. The three on the stage tossed him dirty glares as he hummed with a smile.

"All right," Adrian chuckled, a cup of coffee in his hand. "Couple of notes."

He got up from his seat, walking over to one of the scouts, with a smile.

"Tom," He grinned. "That Adrian illusion was lacking a certain... hmm? You get me?"

Adrian snapped his fingers, walking away to the next scout as Tom shrugged, shaking his head.

"Severine, that was really," He smiled before it dropped. "Poor work. You're on thin ice."

He frowned at a female guard, the woman lowering her head with a frown as she dropped the light bounce, whining.

"Captain," Adrian approached the Captain of the Guard as Bump glared. "The read of your last line was just a little... mmm."

"I don't know what that means," The Captain frowned. 

"You'll figure it out," Adrian winked before disappearing in a light blue cloud before appearing behind Gus, grabbing the boy's forearm.

"And you," He frowned. "Well, you just ruined any chance we had of making this something."

Adrian raised his hand, a scout walking over to him as he placed the sigil glove on his hand. Gus glared, struggling to get his arm away.

"You were gonna trick us into getting sigils!" Gus hissed.

"Uh, yeah," Adrian scoffed. "I work for Belos. Kind of my job. But let's make sure you can never use your little illusion tricks again. Shall we?"

The sigil on the sigil-imprinting glove changed into an abomination sigil, Adrian grinning widely. Everyone gasped, Gus panicking as he tried pulling away from the Coven Head.

"No! No, stay back!" Gus hissed, struggling to get away. "I said stay back!"

He screwed his eyes shut, but as they opened, they were glowing a brilliant light blue, an illusion of the forest covering the group as the students faded away.

A wave of illusions covered the students as everything faded away into different memories. The wave covered the whole school, the two teens in a run-down hall sitting up as Georgia frowned.

Something wasn't right.

Amity and Willow frowned, the illusions changing rapidly as everyone went mad, running around as scouts chased them, Graye's grip still on Gus' forearm.

"How are you doing this?" Graye hissed, Gus looking over to the Head Witch in fear.

Suddenly, Hunter appeared between the two, shoving Adrian out of the way, grabbing Gus' forearm as he ran out, Georgia casting an abomination spell to hold the Head Witch back. 

Hunter looked back at her in worry, Georgia nodding with a small smile as Hunter nodded back, running off with the boy. The brunette witch then ran off, spotting scouts approaching before spotting a nearby exit.

Graye glared, spotting the three teens running out of the exit before pulling the small mirror on his ear off, casting the spell with it, tapping on it. A blinding white light filled the area, the image freezing to show the Illusionist graveyard where they all had found the Galderstones.

The scouts and Captain around him observing their surroundings as they groaned.

"Head Witch," The Captain approached the Head Witch. "It looks like the whole school is covered in a giant–"

"Illusion," Adrian finished, frowning.

He walked over to a statue, holding up his tiny mirror, using it as a magnifying glass. He hummed at the illusion, putting his hand through the illusion with a smile.

"Find that boy," He smiled at the scouts. "The one who did this."

"This is a complicated spell," The Captain frowned. "I-If we could have some direction..."

"Am I the only one who knows how to do their job?" Adrian rolled his eyes, frowning. 

"Just figure it out!" He hissed before going back to the statue. "Would you look at this? The detail is just so... POW!"

"I hate working for this guy," The Captain muttered under his breath.

–––

Willow and Amity ran through the illusions, slowly halting as they looked at the flashing images, frowning as more images passed by. The two girls stood back to back, unsure of where to go before their eyes widened, the image halting to show the carnival.

"Woah..." Amty gasped. "What? How did we get here?"

Amity cast a spell, her scroll appearing as Willow walked over to a wall before tapping it. Glowing blue lines appeared from her hands, Willow humming.

"I think it's an illusion," She looked around with wide eyes. 

"I just got a text from Ed," Amity kept her scroll away. "He, Bump and a bunch of others are in the Healing Homeroom. We should find our way over."

Willow nodded, two hands and a scout mask appearing from the illusion behind her. Amity gasped, about to cast a spell as she dashed forwards.

"Willow, watch out!" She cried out before being cut off by plants wrapping around the coven scout.

Willow dusted off her hands, smiling with her hands on her hips.

"I got it," She grinned, Amity placing her hands on her friend's shoulder.

"Lucky shot, Willow!"

She smiled before walking off, Willow frowning at the comment.

"Hey," The scout called out. "Don't listen to her. You totally got me."

–––

Hunter pushed through the dashing illusions, Gus' forearm in his hand before the illusions stopped moving. He ran into a solid wall as the illusion rippled from the impact, the two boys collapsing.

Hunter gripped his head, groaning while Gus was flat on his face on the ground.

"Why are we here?" Hunter exclaimed in surprise, realising that it looked lot like the streets in Bonesborough.

Gus stood up, Hunter looking up at the boy in surprise as he saw one of his friend's eyes glowing, the other completely normal.

"Woah, Gus... wha– is your eye okay?" He questioned.

Gus shut his eyes, rubbing it as he opened them again, squinting while his eye was still glowing blue. He looked around in confusion, half of his vision seeing the illusion, the other half showing the school's hallways covered with a light blue light.

"Huh?" He questioned in confusion. "My spell, it's still active."

"Well, you're a witch," Hunter shrugged. "Unspell it."

"No! I-I don't know how!" Gus stammered with a frown. "I've never made one this big before!"

"Well," Hunter placed his hand on his chin in thought. "If we're still in Hexide, we should find a teacher. Maybe they'll know how to help."

Hunter placed his hand on the wall where he walked into, the illusion rippling around his hand as he walked ahead, Gus following.

"Hunter," Gus began. "Why'd you save me back there? From getting a sigil? Don't those guys work for you?"

"I owed you," Hunter frowned, Gus halting slightly. "For the food."

The boy halted before a flight of steps, placing a hand on his chin in thought as Gus frowned from behind him. 

"Are these real steps or illusion steps?" Hunter stuck a foot out, leaning a foot out before collapsing down, Gus wincing as he heard a crash from the land.

"Real steps," Hunter strained out in pain. 

Gus soon walked down, placing a hand against the wall to be sure where he was walking, looking down at Hunter's collapsed figure, the blonde boy's feet in the air.

"When we first met you were trying to trick me into joining a coven," Gus frowned. "And now, you're helping me stay away from one. 'Cause of a sandwich?"

Hunter frowned, flipping his cape over his head, Gus holding his hand out, offering to pull the Ex-Guard up. Hunter gently nudged Gus' hand away.

"It was a good sandwich."

"No sandwich is that good," Gus ran after Hunter once more. "Come on. If we wanna find a way through this, we need to trust each other. What's going on with you?"

Hunter blinked, halting as he frowned, guilt rising in his throat. He frowned, thinking of an answer of what to say to Gus.

"I..." He began before a voice screamed through the memory.

"Hey! Get back here!" 

The two boys halted in fear, another teen running around the corner as she cast a plant spell, tripping up the scouts before crashing into Hunter.

Hunter grunted, jolting back before spotting Georgia, a small smile growing before he noticed the girl looking behind her. She pulled away from the boy, drawing another spell circle as the scouts appeared. Their eyes widened as they spotted Gus behind the girl.

"It's the kid!" The first scout called out.

Hunter pulled his staff out, teleporting as he slammed the first scout on her head. She collapsed but as he was in the air, abomination goo grabbed his staff, the second coven scout pulling his staff away as the goo wrapped around him, Hunter crying out in pain.

The second coven scout tried to grab his staff, but Flapjack transformed back into his bird form. He flew towards the second scout, pecking her on the head as Georgia used vines to try and hold the first coven scout down.

"Hunter!" 

Gus called out, running towards the boy before the first coven scout cast a spell through the vines, creating more vines as they appeared from the ground, wrapping themselves around Gus, the illusionist struggling.

Georgia silently gasped, looking back at Gus as the first coven scout used this to her advantage, cutting through the vines before using magic again to hold the girl back, vines wrapping around her torso.

Georgia struggled, letting out small, soft noises of struggle, sweating slightly in fear as memories of what last happened began to appear. She moved more frantically, trying to force her way out of the vines. Small tears pricked her eyes, the strangled noises appearing more frequently.

Gus eyed her in concern, calling her name out as he saw her erratic movements. That's when he caught sight of her glowing scars.

"Georgia! Breathe!" He whispered, Georgia's breathing irregular. "In and out! Like Willow taught you!"

She looked back at him with desperate eyes, her breathing slowing down before she eventually took in deep breaths, shifting uncomfortably against the vines. The glowing scars slowly retreated back under her uniform.

"Wait," The voice of the second scout interrupted her thoughts. "Aren't you the Golden Guard?"

"Seriously?" The first scout hissed, standing up. "Dude, what the heck?! We're on the same side!"

"Our deepest apologies, sir," The second scout cast another spell, releasing the boy from the abomination bonds.

"The Emperor sent out a search party for you!" The second scout neared the boy. "He's been worried sick!"

"You don't say," Hunter frowned, sweating nervously, backing away.

Georgia noticed his action, clenching her fists under the vines. She grit her teeth, struggling within the vines, her eyes widening as she noticed the vines had loosened a little.

Flapjack flew over to Gus' side, pecking at the vines as Gus frowned, looking over at Hunter's nervous actions. The illusionist looked over to Georgia, spotting the girl casting a small spell. He looked down at his feet to spot abomination goo, dragging his feet against it.

"Georgia, hey!" Gus whispered, Georgia looking over to him. "I think I have a plan."

"I'd be honoured to escort you back to the castle, sir," The second scout neared the boy. "I am sure the Emperor would be thrilled to know you're okay!"

Hunter said nothing, shifting uncomfortably in his spot as Gus stood behind the two scouts, moving his feet around as the two failed to notice his movement.

"Say, why aren't you in uniform?" The second scout questioned, Hunter freezing in his spot.

"I.. uh," Hunter sputtered, shivering before two bursts of flames appeared, nearly missing the scouts.

Hunter looked at the flames in slight fear, Gus breaking free of the vines as Georgia soon followed after. Gus ran ahead as he looked at the blonde boy.

"Follow me!" He called out, running as Hunter soon copied his actions, Flapjack flying after him as Georgia followed.

The scouts soon stood up, running after the three as they made a sharp turn into an alleyway. Georgia frowned, casting a spell as a large ice wall appeared, preventing the two scouts from following as they into the wall in the illusion, making it seem like they had disappeared.

Hunter, Gus and Georgia panted in exhaustion, leaning against a room door before Hunter placed a hand on his forehead in fear, walking away from the two.

"Oh Titan!" His voice cracked. "He's looking for me!"

The boy gripped his hair, Georgia slumping on the ground by the door as Gus frowned at the two, concern for them growing.

"He'll know I'm here! I gotta run, I gotta hide!" He gripped his head, burying his head in his knees as he slumped to the ground.

"I g– I gotta–" His breathing was erratic, eyes wide in fear when he felt a hand being placed on his shoulder.

"Hey," Gus frowned before smiling a little. "Try to breathe. Like this."

Gus took in a deep breath, holding his fingers up, counting up to four. He repeated the action, taking a deep breath out. Hunter soon followed his example, calming himself down before shutting his eyes, facing away from Gus with his eyes closed.

"Did... you run away from the Emperor's Coven?" Gus questioned carefully, Hunter frowning as his eyes snapped to Georgia's clammed up figure before his eyes snapped back to the ground.

He nodded slowly, Gus frowning at the response.

"Why?" The illusionist frowned.

Hunter opened his mouth to say something before his expression turned into a frown. He frowned at Gus, 'hmmph'-ing at the boy before placing his arms on his knees, resting his head on them.

Gus frowned at Hunter's reaction, eyes darting to the girl not too far from them for an answer, but seeing her position, he pushed it aside, not wanting to tread over sensitive waters.

"Not too long ago," He began, speaking to the grumpy blonde beside him. 

"When I showed a little talent and started taking more advanced classes, it always felt like anyone who wanted to be my friend had an ulterior motive," A small smile grew on Gus' face. "Until I met Willow. And eventually, Luz and some others."

Gus stood up, walking over to the pictures that were pinned over the illusion of his bed, Hunter following his gaze.

"So yeah, not everybody's great, but not everyone's bad either, you know?" Gus placed a hand over the images, smiling at the memories.

"For what it's worth, you can trust me. I promise not to mess with you," Gus smiled over at Hunter.

"That's not worth anything," Hunter frowned. "Stop acting foolish."

He crossed his arms, looking in Georgia's direction, his frown softening slightly.

"All right, tough guy," Gus teased, walking up to Georgia with a soft smile, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. Hunter frowned a little at the gesture, but it fell as soon as he noticed her slightly anxious smile.

"We gotta keep moving," Gus smiled a little Georgia nodding as she stood up. "Are you sure you wanna keep going?"

She nodded, smiling, but it didn't reach her eyes. She tilted her head, Hunter soon standing up as Gus walked out through the wall. Just as she was about to walk out, Hunter's hand gripped hers. She looked up at him as he frowned a little.

"Hey, uhm. If you... If you need to talk or– or write anything, I'll do my best to listen, or read, if you want," He rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding her gaze.

She smiled softly, nodding as she gave a him a quick hug, soon pulling away to follow Gus' path, disappearing through the wall.

Hunter frowned, looking at the wall of images before following Gus