Claws of Truth

No Tres

FLASHBACK

"Wow... They really did a number on the place." Gus observed as he carefully made his way into Eda's house, following Willow and Amity.

And this, unfortunately, was a profound understatement. The splintered edging of the doorframe Hooty used to inhabit was only the first in a long line of damaged property they would find.

The entire living room had wood chips and glass scattered about, like a dusting of dangerous snow. They couldn't take one step without an echoing crunch coming from underneath their shoes, or kicking some piece of debris across the floor, knocking and scattering other pieces around it.

But those pieces wouldn't make it very far considering that patches of floorboards were missing entirely. In a few spots scattered throughout the living room alone there were holes torn up big enough to hide a body in.

Hopefully that's just a coincidence.

Amity walked over to the hole in the floor closest to them, the sounds of what would under normal circumstances be satisfying crunches filling the air around her. Now they were just a reminder that her best friend and her family had been driven off by the Emperor's Coven. Amity went to the edge, where she stood and looked down.

Nothing but darkness.

She drew a small yellow spell circle in front of her, creating a ball of light in the palm of her hand. A destitutional smile arose on her lips as she dropped it above the opening. As the light floated gently past the floorboards, cresting into the abyss, she could begin to see some shadows being casted by objects below.

Amity carefully got down onto her knees, making special note to not get any glass or wood lodged into the palms of her hands.

"Careful, Amity!" Willow called out from the front door. With all the destruction that happened to Eda's home, she barely registered Amity leaning over into a hole to who knows where.

Amity rolled her eyes in response. "I'm fine, Willow." She loved her childhood friend to death, but all she was going to do was look through a dark hole surrounded by sharp objects in the floor of a wanted criminal's raided home. What's to be overly careful about?

She poked her head down through the opening, heeding Willow's concern just a bit. And it was exactly as she had expected.

Everything was upside down.

No, wait. That was just her.

Orientation aside, this was just a plain ole run of the mill basement. Sure, it might not look as cozy as her own, but it didn't seem maniacal or anything of the sort. She got a good look around, but upside down from a floor above wasn't good enough for her. She had to get down there and take a closer look. Hopefully Luz or Eda left some kind of directions, coordinates, or at the very least a heart felt goodbye letter!

Woah, reel it in, Blight. Reel it in. She took a calming breath, quickly talking herself down.

She popped back out of the hole, waiting just a second before she got up. She dusted off her knees and clapped her hands together. "Okay," she said, grabbing the attention of both her friends who had found their ways to opposite ends of the room. "There's three floors to this place, and three of us. I say we each take a floor and try to find any clues to where Luz, Eda and King may have ran off to."

Nods were all given in agreement.

"I'll take the basement. Gus, you take this floor, and Willow, search upstairs. Yell if you find anything."