It was a new day and Willow, Gus and Amity were sat in the cafeteria. Alongside them was their palismen, Clover, Emmeline and Ghost.
"There are the last few messages I got from Luz..." Amity said worriedly, showing Willow and Gus her cat tamagotchi-like device, "She must've typed them quickly, because all I could decipher was, 'Learned a lot of bad stuff,' something, something, 'Day of Unity,' something, something and, 'Don't scare him away'? I don't know what any of it means..."
The other two gave worried looks and so did their palismen.
"What about all those hearts?" Gus asked, trying to break the silence.
"Oh," Amity replied while blushing, "...Those are for me!"
"Huh, I wonder what Luz is doing?" Clover said, lying on the floor.
"I don't know, I hope she's ok..." Emmeline mumbled.
"Me too, I don't like seeing Amity sad like this, she spent all last night crying!" Ghost said.
"Oh yeah, I forgot you were here!" Emmeline said, realising the white cat was here.
Ghost growled a little.
"So I'm guessing we've made up, huh?" Clover asked.
"Well I guess if Amity is friends with your owners, we could be friends too!" Ghost replied, smiling.
The three palismen stopped talking so that they could continue listening to their owners conversation.
"I went by and checked out the Owl House. It was crawling with Coven Scouts. I was thinking of capturing one for information, but..." Willow was about to say but was then interrupted.
"It's okay Willow, they're tough. Not everyone can stand up to them!" Amity said.
"But I didn't want to bring any more attention to Luz and Eda," Willow explained, squinting suspiciously at her ex best friend.
"Oh! Of course... smart move!" Amity mumbled awkwardly.
Then Clover stared at Ghost with narrowed eyes.
"What?" Ghost said, taken aback, "It's not my fault Willow is a Half-a-witch..."
"HOW DARE YOU CALL WILLOW A HALF-A-WITCH!!!" Clover screamed back.
But just before anything else could happen, the bell rang. Amity then picked up her food tray and walked away from the table. Willow looked down at the floor with a sad expression on her face.
"Hey, maybe you should say something?" Gus suggested, putting his hand on her shoulder.
"I'm fine... we just started hanging out again, and she needs time to get to know the new me," Willow replied, moving his hand off of her shoulder.
"You mean, the real you!" Gus said, winking at her.
Willow nodded and winked back. Clover flew onto her owner's shoulder and the two walked off with Amity. Meanwhile, Gus picked up his bag of food but then he hears a rattling noise coming from behind him.
He turned around to see a red cardinal fly out of the rubbish bin with a sandwich.
"I remember you!" Gus gasped.
Flapjack chirped, dropped the sandwich and then began to fly away.
"Wait get pack here!" Gus shouted, putting the paper bag in his pocket and summoned his staff.
With that, Gus began chasing Flapjack. The poor cardinal had no idea what was going on and naively ended up leading the boy to Hunter.
Tha palismen then ended up leading Gus to the Paranoratorium. When they got there, the boy looked around curiously until he then found that standing behind him was Hunter.
"What are you doing here, Golden Guard?" Gus asked, taking back out the staff form on Emmeline even though she didn't want to hurt him.
"That doesn't matter, but rest assured Gus I-" Hunter was about to explain when there was some clattering noises coming from nearby.
It was then Gus spotted a bunch of packets of Hex Mix in the corner of the room. Hunter is embarrassed by that and tries to hide it with his torn cape.
"I'll ask you one more time. What are you doing here, Hunter?" Gus asked.
Hunter wasn't really too sure how to explain until Flapjack flies over and begins pecking at his hair strand.
'Noodle!' Flapjack thought as he did so.
"Owwwwww, okay I'll explain!" Hunter shouted.
As Hunter explained, Flapjack was too busy in thought. Now that the two were in Hexside, maybe they would see Clover and Willow again...
After a few minutes, there was a voice heard from a speaker nearby, similar to the one is the Palismen forest.
"Students, please join me in the gym for an important announcement!" Principle Bump announced.
Gus then turned back towards Hunter.
"I'm not sure what you're going through, but that much Hex Mix can't be good for your stomach," He said and handed his bag of lunch to him.
As Hunter began looking through the contents of the bag, Gus ran off

[Timeskip]

Amity and Willow are running together as they try to escape with Clover and Ghost following behind until they find themselves in the illusion of a carnival.
"Whoa, what? How did we get here?" Amity exclaimed as she looked around.
Amity takes out her scroll while Willow walks over to a wall.
"I think it's an illusion," Willow said, touching it to reveal waves of illusion.
"I just got a text from Ed! He, Principle Bump and a bunch of other students are in the Healing Homeroom!" Amity explained and then put away her scroll, "We should find our way over!"
Just then, a coven scouts sneaks up behind Willow. She doesn't notice until Clover realises.
"Bzzzz bzzzz! (Watch out!)" Clover screamed.
Willow then turned around quickly and realised.
"Willow, watch out!" Amity cries, trying to push her friend out if the way so she doesn't get hurt, but fails.
The purple haired girl then tried to draw a spell circle until she realised that there were now vines wrapped around the coven scouts tightly.
"I got it!" Willow said, putting her hands on her hips with pride.
"Lucky shot, Willow!" Amity congratulated her and then walked off, leaving Willow feeling disappointed.
"Hey, don't listen to her! You totally got me!" The coven scout exclaimed, poking his hand out of the vine to give a thumbs up.
Willow watched up with Amity but Clover and Ghost were now side-eyeing each other.
Clover thinks that Willow is really strong and going a great job but Ghost still thinks that Willow is weak and is on Amity's side. The two hated each other to begin with but now they had even mire reasons to squabble with one another.

[Timeskip]

Amity and Willow are still walking around until they then find a Guard captain who summons a rock scout and lunges it towards the two girls.
"I got this!" Willow said, drawing a green spell circle on the ground.
"No, I got this!" Amity replied and then draws a purple spell circle.
Vines and abominations are summoned from the spells but it ends up that Willow's spell impales Amity's. That's when the rock scout almost hits the girls, but they manage to dodge.
"What are you doing?" The black haired girl asked, frustration filling her voice.
"I just got you back as a friend, let me protect you!" The purple haired girl exclaimed.
Then a bookshelf falls down above Amity. It almost hits her but Willow slid in and caught it just in time. She then uses vines to keep it in place.
"I don't want your protection! I want you to see me for who I really am!" The girl yelled.
She is then able to push the shelf aside.

[Timeskip]

"Is this real?" Hunter asked as him and Gus are running through the hallway.
Gus stops to touch a water fountain to test. When he touches it, he ends up getting gum on his hands which makes him groan with disgust.
"Yes! Yeah, we made it through the illusion! High five!" The young boy announces and gets his hand out ready.
Hunter looks really confused as he raises his hand to return the gesture.
Then, "Willow" is walking through the hallway until she then finds the two boys.
"Willow, you're okay!" Gus said, his voice full of relief.
When Hunter sees "Willow", he blushes.
"Augustus! I've been looking everywhere for you!" 'Willow' replies, and then she sees Hunter, "Whoa, what is he doing here?"
"Oh, don't worry. It's cool. He helped me escape from Graye," Gus explained, and then began to whisper, "I think he ran away from the Emperor's Coven. Also, he hasn't showered... in a while. Be nice!"
"Interesting," 'Willow' says, squinting suspiciously at him, "Anyway, let's find the others before these illusions get any more... *squeals*"
Hunter was confused by how she said that and stared at her suspiciously. Flapjack had also noticed so he turned into staff mode.
"Okay, let's get moving!" Gus said without noticing the change in his best friend, and took her hand.
Before the two could walk off, Hunter teleported with a golden light in front of him.
"Who are you?" Hunter asks.
Gus then stands in front of "Willow" to protect her, "What are you doing? Willow's on our side!"
"That's not the captain!" Hunter replied, narrowing his eyes at her.
"You're scaring me Hunter!" 'Willow' squealed.
"Have you ever seen her play Flyer Derby? There's no way she'd be afraid of me," Hunter directed his question at Gus.
The younger boy the realises and begins to back away from the person disguised as his best friend.
"Willow" was about to try and get Gus back but then this happened,
"Oh, again? Cut!"
It was then that it was revealed that it was actually just a coven scout disguised as Willow.
"Severine!" Adrian shouted, "You had your chance, and you blew it! Not that I'm surprised..."
"But I-I followed all your notes!" Severine tried to stand up for herself, but was failing miserably.
Well, he was still able to see through your shoddy performance. So maybe you should've figured out the note inside the note!" The head of the Illusion coven explained.
Severine began whining an stomped away.
"And you two, are making my job very difficult!" Adrian added.

[Timeskip]

Hunter opens his eyes to see that he is now in the Healing Homeroom with Flapjack by his side. Soon after he gets up, Skara and Viney rush up to him.
"He's waking up!" Skara exclaimed.
Th blonde haired boy then sits up but immediately has to rub his head because of how much pain it was causing him. He looked around to see Willow and other students being healed. Seeing her causes him to freak out.
"This.. This is an illusion! Gus! Are you- ah!" Hunter screamed.
He had tried to stand up but fell down in the process. Viney and Skara then bend down to help him out.
"Whoa, it's okay! Try not to stand so fast!" Viney says cautiously.
"This isn't an illusion, you're in the Healing Homeroom!" Skara added.
Principle Bump then walks up to him with a very distrustful look on his face.
"Well, Mr. Golden Guard," He said.
Hunter is then able to stand up, "Hunter!" He corrects him.
Flapjack is happy that he is okay and perches on his shoulder.
"We saw you being dragged around, and the flyer derby team was determined to save you!" Principle Bump explained.
Hunter is suprised at this and glances at Viney and Skara for a second before turning his attention back to the principal.
"But I am not yet convinced of your innocence, where have your scouts taken Augustus?" Principle Bump asks.
Everyone then turns to stare at Hunter. They begin to whisper things about him that make the boy unsettled and uncomfortable.
"I- I'm not with them, I swear! I was with Gus the whole time, I was trying to get him to you!" Hunter tried to defend himself.
"Maybe we can trade him for Augustus, I'm sure the Emperor would want him back!" An Illusion track teacher suggests.
That makes Hunter feel even less safe.
"I'm not lying, Gus was showing me around! T-There was a sandwich, he showed me this breathing thing!" Hunter explained.
After hearing this, Willow turns to look at him. And she then realises that there is no way he is lying.
"Please, you have to believe me!" Hunter begged.
Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder and looks to find that Willow was standing there.
"He's telling the truth!" Willow shouts and then glances at him with a smile, causing him to blush, "And he can help us drive Head Witch Graye and his scouts out of the school?"
"Y-yes! Um, Graye said he'll be in the gym, but he will be guarded..." Hunter mumbled.
Amity then stands up, "That won't be a problem, Willow can bust through anything!"
Willow turns to her and smiles. Shortly after that, Ghost approaches Clover.
"I'm sorry I called your owner a Half-a-witch, I just never realised how strong she is..." The cat palismen apologised.
"It's fine, don't worry!" Clover replied.
"Yeah, but I'll need help!" Willow said.
Amity begins to walk to her but another student cuts in front.
"Say no more, I'm on it!" Mattholumole said, which makes Willow annoyed.
"Let's just come up with a plan!" Principle Bump sighed.
"Yes, this is my favourite part!" Skara exclaimed and claps her hands together.

[Timeskip]

"But I realized that a true genius can find the art in everything he does and- Hey! Hey!" Adrian had realised Gus hadn't been paying attention and then began shouting at him.
Meanwhile, Gus had been looking down at the floor in disappointment the whole time.
"You've done it again, Augustus, you can't even tell Willow apart from the fake one!" Gus sighed.
"Yoo-hoo! Come on, are you listening? This is my monologue. Now, this is your doing?" The head of the Illusion coven asked.
"Yeah... It's all my fault," Gus replied and turned his face away in shame.
"Oh right, all about you! Now how about telling me how yoy know about the Looking Glass Graveyard? I've been looking for the Galderstones, they would make great gifts for the Emperor! Where did you say you found them?" Adrian asked but then realised that the young boy still hadn't been paying attention, "Ah... Boring..."

[Timeskip]

"Make it stop! Make it stop! I don't... like these... memories!" Adrian mumbled.
That's when Amity and Willow realised that Gus was curled up on the floor with a dome of blue energy surrounding him.
"What's going on?" Amity asked.
"Gus is trapped in his head, and the others are being affected too!" Willow explained.
Suddenly, a loud thumping sound could be heard and a Abomintom breaks through the walls, revealed other students stuck in abomination goo.
"I needed a reason to play with one of these!" The guard captain laughed.
The Abomaton continues in their direction.
"I really have to talk to my parents about this..." Amity sighed.
As Clover and Ghost turned staff mode, Willow then turned to Hunter, "We'll hold them off, you save Gus!"
"But... how?" Hunter asked.
That didn't matter at that point for him and the blonde haired boy ran into the blue, illusion dome. As he is running, he passes by Adrian groaning in pain, and then sees Gus burying his face in his knees.
Flapjack turns back to normal so he can help him but suddenly, Hunter started to have traumatic flashbacks to a few days prior and of all the things he had seen when him and Luz were on Belos' mind. He struggles but manages to push through and reach Gus.
When he touches the younger boy's shoulder, the background starts to shift towards many places before finally settling in a detention room.
"What's wrong with me? Why can't I learn?" Gus asks himself.
"Gus!" Hunter tries to call for him but then the background changes again
He find his friend being circled by three students he didn't recognise but must of done some bad stuff to him previously.
"I let myself get tricked... again," Gus said.
Then the illusion background changes blank and Hunter finds Gus staring at himself in three mirrors.
"Everyone thinks I'm the smart one, so why do I keep acting so dumb? Gus asks himself.
"Gus, can you hear me?" The blonde haired boy calls for him.
The illusion then finally changes to the real Gus in his bedroom, face buried in his knees.
"I can't even trust myself anymore..." The boy mumbled.
Hunter then sirts down beside him.
"It's... hard, when you can't trust yourself. I spent my whole life believing I was doing something good for someone good... but it was a lie. And some part of me still wants to.. believe in that lie, just like you wanna believe you're dumb, or, whatever. But it's not true," The boy said, making Gus look up at him, "I promise. I wouldn't mess with you. Uh, now, uh, how did that breathing thing go again?"
Hunter inhales and then starts whistling, which makes Gus chuckle. Gus' eyes, which had previously been blue from the illusions, turned back to normal, and they finally return back to reality.
Willow and Amity had just finished destroying the Abomaton and then turn around to see the two boys.
"Gus!" Willow called as she ran towards him and gave him a tight hug, "Aww, I'm so glad you're okay!"
"Me too!" Gus replied with a smile.
Hunter tries to walk away while whistling but Williw ends up pulling him into the hug anyway.
"Thanks, Hunter!" Willow said.
"What is... this?" Hunter asked, blushing.
"Just go with it!" Gus replied.
From a distance, Flapjack sees Clover and flies over to her.
"Great job Flap, things are finally starting to work out for them!" Clover said, pulling him into a hug.
"Oh... no problem!" Flapjack replied, blushing too...

__________________________________________

What has it been now... 4 MONTHS?!
Ummm... sorry about that, it's just been a struggle and anyone who has been keeping up with all my message boards could probably tell because I kept making memes a out it...
And I know what you're probably thinking, that I'll end up taking a long hiatus and giving slow updates until the fanfic finally comes to an end...
Well, that was the original plan, but after struggling enough writing thus chapter, I've decided that instead I'll try and get out more frequent updates because I planned out that there would only be around 10 chapters anyway
Anyway, sorry for everything and hopefully see you all very soon, byyeeeee!!!