The Secret Project

There was still much that needed to be done for the reconstruction of the Boiling Isles. Between all that has happened with Belos revealing his true colors and the Collector. 

The main aspects of the reconstruction was the shift in how the Boiling Isles would be run. The Coven System was still a possibility, but given its ties with Belos, there wasn’t much belief that it would stick and that a new established governance would be required. But with the destruction of most if not all the materials surrounding the ‘Savage Ages’ as Belos called it, there wasn’t much else for the residents to go off of.

Thankfully, neither has caused serious damage to town itself. Most damage was limited to the establishment of a makeshift city inside of Hexside School. All the materials that were taken from various areas of Bonesborough. These materials had to be returned to where they were taken from. Given the circumstances surrounding the theft of the items, no one was punished. 

Luz, Amity, Lilith, Eda, Raine, Hunter, Willow, and Gus took the time to get used to the Boiling Isles, free of the series of strange and at times frightening events. Camila wanted to take the time to get used to the area that her daughter had spent so much time in. 

“Feels so weird, seeing the Boiling Isles so peaceful for the first time in who knows how long.” Luz admitted, taking greater pleasure and anticipation in seeing the area that held so many memories for her, free of any reckless or malicious schemes that are immediately present. 

“Will take some time to get used to the scenery. But it is peaceful.” Camila retorted, still trying to get acclimated to some of the residents of the Boiling Isles, but they seemed nice enough that she felt it was only a matter of time to be able to speak with them. 

“You’ll get used to it Mama.” Luz responded affectionately, knowing that it took a while for her to get used to them herself. 

“Lilith....” A voice calls out behind the group, prompting Lilith to indirectly guide the entire group to turn around, coming across Darius who had a calm yet serious look on his face as his gaze dances across all the members of the group. 

“Yes, Darius?” Lilith inquired, unsure about the reason why she was singled out among the group. The last time that she had been on good terms with Darius was before she left the Emperor’s Coven. Given what had happened during the Day of Unity, Lilith doubted that Darius would even give a passing glance to the concept of following the coven system set up by Belos, but that only made the topic of discussion even more elusive. 

“There is no telling how long it will take for the damage Belos had created to be undone, but the Boiling Isles needs some sort of authority figure to ensure that Anarchy doesn’t ensue. All the coven heads agreed that you would be best suited for the task, some more openly than others.” Darius stated outright, but several of the coven heads initially believed they were the best choice to rule, but eventually a consensus was reached with Lilith as the chosen ruler. 

Compared to Belos, Lilith was a clear and welcomed improvement and congratulatory glances went toward Lilith, but Lilith herself was still trying to take in the decision. 

After several silent moments that slowly escalated in awkwardness, Lilith took a deep breath. She doubted there were many who would want to lead after the bad publicity that accompanied Belos’s rule, the next closest option in her opinion was Hunter, but after everything he had been through, Lilith knew that he has earned some time to live a normal life. 

“Alright, so who is my council?” Lilith inquired, drawing a confused look from Darius, accentuated with his right eyebrow raised with a mixture of confusion and curiosity. 

“Council?” Darius wasn’t sure what a council was going to have with the style of ruling that Lilith has in mind. 

If it wasn’t for accounting how Belos ruled, Lilith would’ve approached the lack of a council to be a bad sign. Circumstances changed her outlook, so she would just take a deep breath. “People with knowledge about various aspects of guiding an area. This is new to everyone, so we’ll just start with the coven heads and work our way from there.” 

“Very well. For the moment, we are still using the grand hall of Belos’s castle for the meeting area. Better to start somewhere familiar so there isn’t much explaining needed to get to the location. We can identify a better location later. No one wants to be in the castle longer than necessary.” Darius retorted before sending a calm friendly wave to the group as he turned around and started on his way to the castle. 

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Lilith would turn toward the rest of the group. “Looks like I will be having my hands full for a while. I’ll catch up with all of you back at Eda’s house. Relax and enjoy the scenery.” Lilith stated before walking slightly accelerated to catch up to Darius before the two began discussing various matters. 

“Raine and I need to make an early break for the house to ensure the Collector isn’t turning it into his playhouse. He’s getting better, but there is still room for improvement.” Eda and Raine would turn toward the forest surrounding Bonesburrough and started walking toward the Owl House.

“Still have some ways to go before everything is back to normal.” Hunter inquired, though his concept of normal was still in the works, but now that he was free of his moniker of the Golden Guard he could enjoy his life, or at least the life that should’ve been Caleb’s that Belos stole from him. 

“What do you consider normal?” Amity inquired, turning to look at him while she uses the time to play through the sequence of events. She barely had any real time to think between stopping the Draining Spell, the hasty retreat amidst the Collector’s initial release, finding a way back to the Boiling Isles and then racing to stop Belos from manipulating the Collector again. 

Before Hunter could really try and pinpoint what he could consider normal, Amity had finished her playthrough of events. “I need to find my dad. Also, with Belos out of the picture, I don’t think my mom.....” Amity explained before a voice cut her off from a distance. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, it is our pleasure at Blight Industries to introduce our newest product.” A familiar yet unwelcomed voice sounded throughout Bonesborough that emanated from the city square. 

Well, at least that answers that question. Amity thinks to herself before the remainder of the group makes their way to as close as they can get to the city square. 

To the surprise of no one in the group, but to most if not everyone’s chagrin, Odalia was up on a platform and beside her was what appeared to be a young man with deep violet almost black skin, adorned in midnight black armor that consisted of a helmet, armor, a pair of gauntlets and a pair of boots. Almost beaming out from within the helmet were a pair of jade green eyes that scanned the crowd, hovering and searching, passing over everyone in the group. 

“Rest assured. We were entirely unaware of Belos’s intentions and were just as horrified when we learned the truth. We wouldn’t have offered the abomatons if we were aware of this fact.” Odalia proclaimed, making sure to eliminate as much of the possible unease and suspicion as possible from her part in nearly making the Draining Spell a success. 

“To assist in rebuilding, we have come up with a new model abomaton. Far more advanced than any previous model. So advanced that it has a name. Its name is Abel. Rather than just blindly following orders, Abel can receive the orders and execute them by his own thinking and planning. He is also so advanced that he is the only successful model that we have created. We are in the middle of trying to mass produce him, but it will take time. Abel is able to speak, so feel free to talk with him.” Odalia proclaimed before taking her leave. She had better things to do than to see how the product is handled. She had other people to do that, but between the draining spells and the havoc created by the Collector, practically all of them were recovering. 

Amity wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to try and pursue Odalia. The only thing she knew is that if her mother was joyful about something, at this point, it was always going to be something bad for her, Luz, maybe even both of them. That only made her suspicious of Abel. 

With Abel being surrounded by various residents of the Boiling Isles, so Amity didn’t consider him to be much of a threat at the moment. 

“Amity, let’s head back to the Eda’s house.” Willow prompted gently, though she could tell that Amity was a bundle of nerves following Odalia’s sales pitch for Abel. 

Keeping her eyes in Abel’s direction for a few more seconds to make sure it wasn’t trying to follow them, eventually Amity would let out a deep sigh of exasperation and nods her head before turning to face Luz, Willow, Gus, Hunter, and Camila before they all started toward Eda’s house. 

Several minutes later and part way through the forest, Luz stops and looks around. 

“Something the matter Luz?” Willow inquired, though it wasn’t long before the unease spread, and everyone looked around the forest trying to find the source. 

“Feels like someone or something is watching us.” Luz admitted, but being in the forest meant that it could be anywhere. Luz could only hope that it wasn’t Belos. He was a crafty and manipulative person, so there was always a chance he had managed to escape and would aim again for revenge. 

Behind one of the trees, a single hand in a glove draws a green magic circle, hidden among the foliage. 

Vines would spring up from the ground end ensnare everyone’s feet, scaring and surprising everyone. “Vines? Snapdragon, come out!!” Hunter barked out angrily as Willow shifted her focus to getting everyone free. 

Emerging from the trees wasn’t Terra, it was Abel. Amity would narrow her eyes while everyone else outside of Willow were still confused by why he was here. 

Abel didn’t speak, but instead used a portion of the material that made his body to create a sword in each hand before rushing straight toward Luz. 

“Mija, look out!” Camile shouts before throwing her bat toward Abel. 

Abel kept his path straight but wasn’t oblivious to the incoming projectile. His stance shifted with his right draped over to the left side of his body, across his chest, with his left hand tucked near the back of his body. Once the bat was close enough, Abel slashes straight threw the bat with the sword in his right hand as he flings the blade in his left hand toward Luz as a large stiletto. Shortly afterwards slashing through the bat, the right sword is thrown as a spinning blade toward Luz, not breaking his stride toward her personally. 

For the moment, just considering Abel to be an upgraded abomaton that wasn’t, couldn’t, or didn’t fire blasts like previous models, there wasn’t any consideration to using their palismans to take to the skies especially since someone would have to grab Camila among the fighting. 

“Knew she was up to something and that you were trouble.” Amity states accusatorily as she steps in front of Luz and uses the proximity to absorb the approaching blades into the mass of abomination goo that she keeps on hand as well as to affect Abel within the expanse of her own magic circle. 

Once all the weaponized goo was part of her mass, she would break the circle, causing the goo to fall to the ground. Abel would manage to hop away from Amity to keep from following suit, but not without having his right arm collapse into abomination goo also, the right gauntlet falling to the ground. 

By this point, Willow has managed to get everyone free. “Why is Abel attacking us?” Gus inquired but wasn’t going to let his confusion deter him from defending himself. 

“Probably my mom’s orders and it’s not us it’s after. It’s Luz.” Amity stated matter of fact as she made her way toward Abel. He was another abomaton, so something she could easily get rid of once she was close enough. 

Abel used his left hand to form an orange magic circle, which stopped everyone in their tracks for a few moments, surprised that it was able to perform such a feat. 

Abel’s body would collapse into goo, but the goo was also covering the hole that Abel made a short term escape through. 

“How is an abomaton able to use magic?” Willow asked, struggling and also slightly shaking at what that could mean in the future given that Odalia said she was in the process of mass producing abomatons like Abel.

“Doesn’t matter, Amity got rid of him, right Amity?” Hunter retorted, since Abel was apparently reduced to goo and she was most proficient with abomination magic. 

“No, I didn’t get a chance to make the circle. Get your palismans out and get into the air. He can’t follow us there without exposing himself.” Amity stated shaking her head as she got Ghost to attach to her staff. 

Willow, Gus, and Luz brought out Clover, Emmiline, and Stringbean respectively and followed suit. 

“Amity, let mama hop on the staff with you. If he is aiming for me, I don’t want her getting hurt.” Luz stated before heading into the air.

Under the ground, a small portion of abomination goo was still attached to an artificial magic staff and formed another yellow magic circle and shortly afterward would break the circle.

A stone pillar would erupt from the center of the group and shortly afterwards break apart and start falling in various directions, causing them to split up. 

“I am not going to like this.” Camila complained before joining Amity on Ghost’s staff. Hunter teleported intermittently as he made his way to Willow to join her on Clover’s staff as Gus looked to make sure that everyone was accounted for before taking off so all four had a good view of the forest, but couldn’t see much underneath the canopy since of all the trees. 

Eventually, the artificial magic staff would emerge and the abomination goo would reform around the staff with the armor pieces in tow, reforming Abel’s body. 

While lacking some normal aspects associated with bile production and usage of normal witches, Abel could still only utilize a certain amount before he started to succumb to similar effects. 

Abel had to think of a way to execute the objective. He wasn’t going to sacrifice his life when he estimated he can be of more use than just this purpose. Examining the area, he couldn’t see anyone and as much as they couldn’t see him, he couldn’t see them through the canopy.

“I got a plan.” Luz states before taking a deep breath and slapping an invisibility glyph on her forehead. 

Unable to see Luz, the only belief was that she was heading down toward Abel under the effects of the glyph, so Amity, Gus, and Willow headed down with their staffs, taking Camila and Hunter with them. 

Once they were seen, Abel would just acknowledge their presence, but wouldn’t attack them, validating Amity’s idea that he was only after Luz. 

Unsure about Luz’s plan, all they can do is to try and stall Abel while Luz gets her plan ready. 

Gus creates four clones and have them rush toward Abel as Willow has vines and roots emerge from the ground and slam down toward Abel as Hunter teleports around at various speeds and angles to disorient Abel while trying to get close to him. With her bat destroyed, Camila had to remain away from the fight to keep from getting hurt, otherwise, she might cause Luz to break out of the invisibility glyph’s effects earlier than desired. 

Abel would weave around the vines and roots, slashing through them with a pair of new swords formed from the abomination goo of his body when necessary, taking some time to form a violet magic circle and turning a portion of his body into projectile needles and fires them to restrain Gus for a while. 

“Don’t think so.” Amity would get in the way of the needles and return them back at Abel. 

Abel would destroy the clones and vines that got in his way, but wouldn’t attempt to avoid the redirected needles, raising his arm so the needles just got reincorporated to his body. 

That moment of near stillness was all that Hunter needed to get behind him and use Abel’s armor against him by kicking the armor, taking the staff somewhat sandwiched between the metal with it and Abel would react by shifting his body to stay with the armor and staff. 

As Hunter began his approach for a second swift attack, Abel draws a pair of violet magic circles and have the abomination goo of his body shoot out in various directions like a life-size pincushion, but with the pins pointed outward. Hunter is able to barely react, though some of his clothes get torn by the sharp ends of the pins and just circles around Abel, looking for an opening to attack. 

During a pass when Hunter is on the same direction of him as Guz, Amity, and Willow, Abel quickly reforms his body and hops away from the four of them, keeping a cautious and wary eye on them.  He was more used to physical combat than magical combat, so he didn’t have much bile left and needed to reserve a small portion to keep his body intact. 

All four of them and Camila would relax and smile. Abel was curious about why they were smiling and began to turn around, but by that time it was too late. 

“Gotcha.” Luz manages to say through slightly ragged breaths from holding her breath for what felt like an eternity, she took the opportunity while Abel had his back toward her as he observed Guz, Amity, Willow, and Hunter to approach Abel from behind and quickly plants and activates an ice glyph on his back, trapping his body from the neck down in ice. 

“Everyone alright?” Luz inquired concerned given she had went off without much notice. 

“We’re fine. Question is, what do we do with Abel?” Willow inquired, looking over at the trapped abomaton. 

“I have an idea.” Amity stated calmly as she began to draw a violet magic circle again. 

To everyone’s surprise, Luz interrupts her. “Amity, stop!” Her voice was soft, yet also rushed, just wanting Amity not to complete the motion. 

Amity was at a loss and looked over at Luz. “Luz, he is trying to kill you.” Amity remarked in retaliation, but knew where Luz was about to go. 

“Yeah, but so did Hunter technically. I’ll explain once we get back to Eda and Lilith returns from being Empress for the day.” Luz rebuts before shifting her attention to Abel. “Abel, I am going to let you go.” Luz would add on before looking over at Willow. 

Willow was still personally concerned for what Luz was thinking, but knowing that Luz had the best of intentions, Willow took the cue and had vines erupt and crush the ice until it broke. 

Free from the ice, Abel looked among all those he had previously fought against. Amity was still apprehensive of him being in the area, Luz was more welcoming, Hunter was cautious, Gus and Willow were mainly just worried about how Abel would react but weren’t immediately identified as defensive or combative. 

Examining his options and his current situation, Abel would turn toward Bonesburough and would run away from the group for a couple dozen feet before stopping and turning toward the group. 

The only significant differences between his up-close examination and looking over at them from a distance was Camila was with the group, Amity narrowed her eyes further, while Luz only gave a friendly wave. 

Unable to think why Luz had let him go but knowing that winning the fight was near if not entirely impossible, Abel took his best option to return to Odalia and would turn back toward Bonesburough and restart his run. 

“Hope you don’t regret letting him go Luz.” Hunter states cautiously, knowing the feeling of being sought dead, but Luz remains undeterred. 

“Trust me, I’ll explain later.” Luz states carefree before restarting the trek back to Eda’s house. 

While they waited for Lilith, the situation about Abel was informed to the Collector, Raine, Eda, King, Hooty, and Owlbert. 

A few hours would pass before Lilith arrives at Eda’s house, slightly worn out from the dealings with the coven heads. 

Some of them still wanted some resemblance to the coven system to maintain some degree of reputation and pedigree to their titles under Belos, but they were eventually convinced that the system needed to be dismantled and replaced. With what was something that was yet to be decided. 

“Sorry about the delay.” Lilith profusely apologized. Though she was acting Empress, she did not want any part of portraying that image. The role was expected to be short-lived and wanted it to diverge from Belos’s selfish displays about his position. 

“Don’t worry about it, Lilith. Do you remember that time we went to the past to meet with Philip and saw that girl summon an abomination? Did you see something when she hugged it?” Luz hoped that she wasn’t the only that saw that effect, so she wanted to make sure. 

“Yes, it....smiled.” It took a while for Lilith to remember that event, partially because she didn’t want to remember the later events of that excursion, mainly being offered as a sacrifice. 

Hearing the statement about it smiling shocked and surprised everyone outside of Luz. “So I wasn’t the only one that saw it.” Luz proclaimed happily. 

“What does that have to do with Abel?” Amity inquired still not trying to see how the two are connected. 

“Abomatons are altered abominations, all the abomaton models before Abel simply followed orders. Abel however is capable of thinking on his own, though it might be somewhat limited due to his exposure with Odalia.” Lilith interjected calmly, earning an enthusiastic nod from Luz. 

“Yeah, before Belos, magic was treated with respect and kindness, under Belos, it was only viewed as a means to an end.” Luz added on. 

“What does Abel able to think have to do with the abominations in the past being able to show emotions?” Amity responded, the explanation only adding to her confusion, rather than diffusing it. 

“I can explain that one. Thinking and feeling are two sides of the same coin. You cannot have someone capable of thought that doesn’t have any feeling and someone with feeling requires them to think. It applies to everyone and everything.” Camila states, somewhat enthusiastic about being able to contribute to a conversation. 

“Since Abel is able to feel, given the way Odalia is, I am sure that Abel will eventually be able to see that it isn’t good to follow her.” Luz proclaims optimistically. 

“Are you sure you’ll be able to convince him Luz?” Hunter inquired, not as positive about the situation, given the uniqueness of it. 

“Wouldn’t be the first time I played a part in getting someone to change sides.” Luz responds with a coy grin on her face as she looks over at Hunter, earning a playful laugh at Hunter’s expense. 

“Not sure why you want to convince him, it would’ve been easier just to get rid of him.” Amity states, not seeing why it would be worth the extra effort for something that may not be able to work out. 

“Look at it this way Boots. Pretty sure it will feel better to turn one of her own projects against her than to just destroy it.” Eda interjects calmly with a smug grin on her face. 

“Given all that she has done to practically everyone I know, that does seem like a good retribution for her to me. We still need to think about shifting the mentality about magic to how it was before Belos.” Amity states, shifting the conversation now that she was sold on the idea of allowing Abel to live. 

“I can take care of the proclamation regarding that once we have a good starting point for rebuilding the Boiling Isles’ government. Given all that Luz has done and all the changes that have occurred since her arrival, she would be the best speaker to present it.” Lilith replies, thinking through how to phrase that in a way that would welcome the transition in ways other than as an abject divergence from Belos’s thoughts on magic. 

Meanwhile, Abel barely had much bile left to shift or maintain his body and limited his use of what bile he had left, so he was stuck in his normal appearance as he made his way to Blight Industry.

Luz’s generosity toward him perplexed him as Abel made his way to Odalia. Odalia sat in her seat, with a smug grin on her face, expecting that Abel’s return meant good news for her and would accept nothing less than that.

“Welcome back Abel. I take it that the job is done. That human girl is out of the way.” Odalia spoke calmly, her grin quickly fading as Abel shook his head.

“Sorry Odalia, ran out of bile so I couldn’t get the job done. Just need some time to rest and recover then I will head back out.” Abel responded while watching Odalia pulling out a strange remote.

“You better Abel, but just so you have some additional inspiration to make sure you get the job done this time.” Odalia quipped lightly as her right pointer finger along the edge of the remote. The remote had a black dial with a green button underneath the dial as well as a red button. Her right pointer finger and her right thumb turning a dial with five numbers to the number three before pushing a green button underneath the dial.

A painful shock forced Abel to the ground as the remote controlled the special chip Odalia installed around the artificial magic staff that allowed Abel to use magic. The goo that formed his body was unaffected by pain, but the staff was effectively his core and that pain was impossible to ignore in any extent.

Watching callously at the display, Odalia got up out of her chair and walked around her desk toward Abel.

“Let me make myself clear Abel. I do not care what you have to do. I just want that human girl gone. If you have to sacrifice yourself to do it, then so be it. I have tolerated enough failures between the twins failing to live up to the family image, Amity turning against me despite all the things I have done for her, and even Alador choosing to abandon the business we spent so much time building up to where it is today. I will not tolerate you failing me. Since you are not a person, I can treat you anyway that is necessary for you to do your job. You are nothing more than an abomaton, no one will care if you are gone. Do I make myself clear?” Odalia stated scowling down at Abel.

“Yes.” Abel stated through his pain, while the pain was wracking his body on the inside, he lacked the vocal cords to be affected by the pain.

“Good.” Odalia stated simply as she went back to her seat and sat down. “Get your pitiful face out of my office. Get your rest and get the job done this time. Be thankful I went easy on you with your punishment this time. Next time, I will not be so generous.” Odalia would turn off the electrical shock and return the remote to the drawer it was in.

Abel would pick himself up off the floor and nod before leaving the office.

Odalia would simply sigh to herself before turning to face the window of her office. “Doesn’t matter how advanced he becomes, Abel is still a failure.” She would stand back up and walk around her desk. 

“It’s criminal that someone as important as me has to do dirty work, but if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. Even without Alador, there is still plenty of people that can find a way to make use of this.” Odalia states calmly as she pulls out a vial from her pocket containing a dark green almost black liquid. 

Abel had no bile left to shift the abomination goo that formed his body, so he was stuck in his normal appearance as he made his way to Blight Industry. 

Luz’s words resonated with him as he made his way over to Odalia. 

“You say you want to help, but if you are assisting Odalia, then the only person you are helping is here.” The words repeated endlessly like a broken record through his head.

That’s not the case. Odalia said I was created to help the people of the Boiling Isles. Abel thought to himself as Odalia sat in her seat, with a smug grin on her face, expecting that Abel’s return meant good news for her and would accept nothing less than that. 

“Welcome back Abel. I take it that the job is done. That human girl is out of the way.” Odalia spoke calmly, her grin quickly fading as Abel shook his head. 

“Sorry Odalia, ran out of bile so I couldn’t get the job done. Just need some time to rest and recover then I will head back out.” Abel responded while watching Odalia pulling out a strange remote. 

“You better Abel, but just so you have some additional inspiration to make sure you get the job done this time.” Odalia quipped lightly as her right pointer finger along the edge of the remote. Her right pointer finger and her right thumb turning a dial with five numbers to the number three before pushing a green button underneath the dial. 

A painful shock forced Abel to the ground as the remote controlled the special chip Odalia installed around the artificial magic staff that allowed Abel to use magic. The goo that formed his body was unaffected by pain, but the staff was effectively his core and that pain was impossible to ignore in any extent.

Watching callously at the display, Odalia got up out of her chair and walked around her desk toward Abel. 

“Let me make myself clear Abel. I do not care what you have to do. I just want that human girl gone. If you have to sacrifice yourself to do it, then so be it. I have tolerated enough failures between the twins failing to live up to the family image, Amity turning against me despite all the things I have done for her, and even Alador choosing to abandon the business we spent so much time building up to where it is today. I will not tolerate you failing me. Since you are not a person, I can treat you anyway that is necessary for you to do your job. You are nothing more than an abomaton, no one will care if you are gone. Do I make myself clear?” Odalia stated scowling down and Abel. 

“Yes.” Abel stated through his pain, while the pain was wracking his body on the inside, he lacked the vocal cords to be affected by the pain. 

“Good.” Odalia stated simply as she went back to her seat and sat down. “Get your pitiful face out of my office. Get your rest and get the job done this time. Be thankful I went easy on you with your punishment this time. Next time, I will not be so generous.” Odalia would turn off the electrical shock and return the remote to the drawer it was in.