reposting this image here because it's updated whipee

also shitty short chapter because im so tired im so so so sorry,

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𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘺. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘏𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘍𝘭𝘢𝘱𝘫𝘢𝘤𝘬'𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴.

His palisman chirped, tilting his head with what almost seemed like a smile of relief. It wasn't long before another dark-skinned face appeared, their voice soon following.

"He's waking up!" She called out, another face with green eyes appearing beside her.

Viney pulled away, her healing magic disappearing as Hunter winced, sitting up from the cot he was on. He gripped his head with a grunt, Flapjack flying off of him as he opened his eyes in confusion.

"Huh?"

He looked around, seeing students being healed and taken care of by students and teachers. All of them sat on cots, Bump placing an ice pack on Mattholomule's arm as a scratch was across his eye.

Emira cast a healing spell over Edric while holding up his hair, a large gash over his forehead. Viney walked over from Hunter's spot towards a bruised brunette, Georgia smiling nervously over at the healer who shook her head with a small smile.

Georgia winced as Viney placed a hand on the girl's bruised eye and arm, lightly wiping away the blood that continued to leak from her nose. Another girl cast a healing spell over Willow's injured arm, scratches present as they soon disappeared through the torn uniform sleeve.

Hunter gasped, looking around before a frown appeared on his face.

"This– This is an illusion!" He frowned in fear. "Gus, are you–"

Hunter stood up quickly, trying to find his friend before collapsing on his knees, grunting in pain. Viney and Skara looked over at him in worry, rushing over to him to help.

"Woah! It's okay!" Viney smiled as Skara frowned. "Try not to stand so fast!"

"This isn't an illusion, you're in the Healing Homeroom," Skara smiled at him kindly, hoping not to scare him.

"Well, Mr Golden Guard," Bump sneered.

Hunter frowned, standing up as he corrected Bump, telling the principal his name. The illusion teacher behind him glared, the rest of the students eyeing him up and down as Georgia looked at him with a little worry.

"Hunter," The blonde frowned guiltily, Flapjack hopping onto his shoulder.

"We saw you being dragged around along with Ms Hathaway, and the Flyer Derby team was determined to save you," Bump huffed.

Hunter looked back at Skara and Viney, the healer crossing her arms with a smile while Skara smiled nervously at the boy.

"But I am not yet convinced of your innocence," Bump walked closer to the boy. "Where have your scouts taken Augustus?"

"That's the Golden Guard?" Edric raised an eyebrow.

"Dude looks sickly," Emira whispered to her twin, Edric listening in.

"I could probably take him," Mattholomule chimed in, crossing his arms as his scars were now healed.

Barcus coughed before growling, the others understanding him as he said, 'He's not to be trusted'.

Hunter looked behind him, Viney and Skara looking away with guilt. Georgia watched him in pity as she looked over to Willow, eyes widening as she could tell her friend what was going on.

"I'm not with them, I swear!" Hunter frowned. "I was with Gus the whole time! I was trying to get him to you!"

"Maybe we could trade him for Augustus," The illusion teacher offered. "I'm sure the Emperor would want him back."

Hunter's eyes widened in fear as he whimpered. Georgia let out a silent gasp, tugging on Willow's sleeve as the plant witch's eyes widened.

"Georgia," She frowned. "I know that you're... attached to him but he could be lying..."

Georgia shook her head ferociously, desperately looking to Willow as the green-haired with heard Hunter's rambling from in front of her.

She tested out her elbow, clenching and unclenching her fist as Georgia looked over to her boyfriend desperately. She couldn't just go up there and confront Bump, she couldn't speak! They would think she was lying.

"...Gus was showing me around! There was a sandwich and he showed me this breathing thing!"

Hearing this, Willow's frown dropped. Georgia held her hand out in proof, Willow sighing before nodding.

"Fine..." She muttered. "I'll help."

"Please! You gotta believe me!" Hunter looked over at the principal in fear, desperation clear in his eyes as Willow placed a hand on his shoulder, Georgia soon walking up beside her.

"He's telling the truth," Willow nodded at Bump.

Hunter looked over at her in surprise, the plant witch smiling kindly at him. Hunter's frown relaxed slightly, Georgia nodding at Bump in agreement with a defensive frown.

"And he can help us drive Head Witch Graye and his scouts of the school," Willow walked towards Bump, Hunter's eyes widening slightly. The plant witch looked back at Hunter with a raised eye and smile, Hunter taking the hint.

"Yes, uhm," He froze slightly. "Graye said he'll be in the gym. But he will be guarded."

Bump placed his hand on his chin in thought, thinking of what to do before Amity cut in, telling the others her thoughts as she stood up from a cot.

"That won't be a problem," She spoke up. "Willow can bust through anything."

"Yeah, but I'll need help," Willow smiled over at Amity's faith in her. Amity smiled, walking over to her as Mattholomule grinned, walking towards the plant witch.

"Say no more, I'm on it."

Willow frowned at the boy in doubt, unsure of whether to believe him.

"Let's just come up with a plan," Bump sighed in exhaustion.

"Yes!" Skara grinned, throwing her arms up in the air. "This is my favourite part!"

The small team dispersed, Hunter looking over at Willow as he fiddled with his hands slightly. The plant witch hadn't noticed his anxiousness, smiling as she spoke to Georgia. The brunette noticed Hunter's slight fidgeting, Willow noticing her friend's distracted gaze before turning around.

"Hunter?" Willow raised an eyebrow. "What's up? Did you want to speak to Georgia?"

"Huh? Uhm, no. I actually wanted to talk to you," He shook his head a little, Willow looking over to him in slight surprise.

"I– uh," Willow's eyes darted to Georgia, her friend smiling a little as she pat Willow's shoulder, soon backing off slowly.

"So, uhm, what's up?" Willow shrugged nervously.

"I-I just wanted to thank you for helping me out back there. I didn't think anyone would believe me, other than Georgia," He shrugged. "I know I've made... mistakes before, and I can understand that you wouldn't want to believe me, and I... I still wanna be friends."

Willow's eyes widened, Hunter blushing as he realised how direct he had sounded, suddenly feeling embarrassed.

"Y-You can totally say 'no' if you want tho–"

"Uhm, yeah, okay," Willow smiled. "We could be friends!"

Hunter sighed in relief, smiling at Willow's words before the plant witch spoke up again, her smile lowering slightly.

"One thing though," Willow looked over to her brunette friend, who was happily chatting to Amity. "Georgia actually helped me believe you, and when you spoke about the breathing trick? That was when I really knew you were telling the truth."

Hunter looked over to Georgia, the girl laughing with Amity before catching Hunter's eye. She waved slightly as he waved back with a small smile.

"She sees something in you, and... I do too. You're a good person, you just need a little encouragement," Willow pat Hunter's shoulder, the boy freezing slightly.

"Y-Yeah..." He smiled, nodding excitedly.

No one seemed to notice Georgia's forced smile as she felt a slight sting in her heart. And yet, she couldn't help but feel bad looking their way with such a pain.

–––

"And yes, at first, I thought fooling children was a waste of my impressive talents," Graye ranted his monologue in the school gym, scouts scattered before the hall's doors.

"But I realised that a true genius can find the art in everything he does and– Hey. Hey!" Graye called out with a glare, realising that the illusionist student wasn't listening to a word he said.

"You've done it again, Augustus," Gus frowned, muttering to himself. "You couldn't even tell Willow apart from an illusion."

"Yoo-hoo," Graye snapped his fingers in front of Gus, the boy looking over to him in surprise.

"Come on, are you listening? This is my monologue," Graye hissed. "Now, this is your doing?"

The Head Witch looked over to Gus with a raised arm to the illusion of the Graveyard around them, the illusionist student looking away with a frown.

"Yeah," Gus looked down. "It's all my fault."

"Oh, right," Graye rolled his eyes. "All about you. Now how about telling me how you know about the Looking Glass Graveyard? I've been looking for the Galderstones."

Graye tapped the illusion at where the Galderstones would be in the statues' hands, a small wave rippling from the illusion.

"They'd make great gifts for the Emperor," Graye grinned. "Where did you say you found them?"

Gus glared, growling as he scrunched his face into a frown. Adrian frowned, groaning before waving a hand.

"Boring," He huffed.

The Head Witch tilted his head, two scouts rushing over to Gus' side as they gripped his shoulders. Adrian reached for the small mirror earring on his ear, taking it off with a grin as he walked towards Gus.

"See this mirror?" He smirked. "It's a handy little magic amplifier. It'll help me sort through all those little memories of yours."

Adrian cast a spell circle, tapping the circle as Gus' eyes widened in fear. The spell then began moving towards Gus' direction, the boy groaning as he thrashed around.

"Stop! Wait! This hurts!" Gus cried out, eyebrows furrowed in pain.

"Oh don't be so dramatic," Adrian rolled his eyes.

Suddenly the illusion wore off, a large bubble expanding from where the boy stood. The scouts guarding the hall braced themselves from the impact, looking around in confusion as Adrian waited for the wind to die down, holding his hand against his face in protection.

"Hmm," He looked around at the bare surroundings. "Well, that's one less thing to worry about. Now, where were we?"

He turned back to the boy, seeing the teen's eyes glowing a bright blue. A bright blue light began to surround him, the scouts letting go of him as as the bubble began to electrify, the three backing away in nervousness.

What they hadn't realised was that they had just unleashed something extremely powerful.