Adventures in the Boiling Isles

Through the Looking Glass Ruins

At school today, Luz and I were walking through the hall when we saw Gus sitting on the floor, looking upset. "Hey, Gus." I greeted. "You okay?" "I messed up bad, guys." Gus replied. "Willow just needed help with this pixie problem, right? So I thought, oh, that'll just lure them away with an illusion. But then..." "That angered the pixies and they attacked Willow. We heard." Luz interrupted. "I moved up two grades. What's the point of being good at this if I can't do anything good with it?" Gus asked. "It was an honest mistake." Luz replied. "Besides, Willow's as tough as shit." I added. "I'm sure you'll both be feeling better tomorrow."

The next morning, Luz quickly woke me up to go visit Gus, or rather someone else. "It's too early for this." I yawned. Luz knocked on the door, which was answered by Gus. "Gustopher! Gusteban. Augustabeth!" Luz greeted. "Any of those working for you?" "You need my library card to visit Amity, don't you, Luz?" Gus asked. "I haven't been doing a good job of hiding that, huh?" Luz chuckled nervously. Gus and I nodded. "Well, I was also hoping to do a little bit of... research. C'mon."

I stopped for a drink before heading to the library with Luz and Gus. "So, Eda's mom told us that Luz and I aren't the first humans to have lived in Bonesborough." Luz explained. "If that's true, there might be some info on how they got here in the library." "Yeah, okay." Gus sighed. "Looking through newspapers is about all I'm good for anyway." "Spill it, Gustonimo. Are you okay?" I asked. "I've just been thinking. What if it's time for me to explore different kinds of magic?" Gus wondered. "Luz and I are all for trying new things, but what's wrong with illusions?" I asked. "Illusions are just so... you know..." Gus explains as a Slitherbeast was in the alley, attacking Hexside students, until some students from Glandus took it down. Gus and I were astounded. We headed down to the alley to meet these students. "Wow. Just, wow!" Gus gasped. "Plants. Abomination. Construction. You guys took down that Slitherbeast like it was nothing." "Nah, it wasn't that easy." A witch with violet hair said. "Yeah, looks like you had a real hard time out there." The abomination witch teased. "You're Glandus students right?" I asked. "We go to Hexside. Name's Peter, and this is Gus." "Nice to meet you." She replied. "This is Angmar, Gavin, and I'm..." "Bria!" Mattholomule shouted. "I would've helped, but, like, there was this other baby in danger you probably couldn't see." "Mattholomule?" Gus and I asked. "Augustus, Peter?" He wondered. "Back off, twerps! This operation is Glandus kids only!" "Hey, Matty, it's all cool." Bria said. "Did you get the map?" "Yes!" Mattholomule shouted. "And I had to endure 35 noogies from my older brother." "Nice work." Bria complimented. "Well, uh, we se you guys are busy, so..." Gus said. "Wait! Have you ever heard of the Galderstones?" Bria asked. "I've heard of gallstones." I replied. "They're powerful relics." Gavin explains. "Many witches and demons have sought them." "But they've all returned empty-handed, haunted by its guardian." Angmar added. "Until us!" "We heard some coven scouts talking about them, but it'll be rough going." Bria said. "You both said you were Hexside students, right? We could use the extra strength." "That sounds awesome, but I can't." Gus replied. "We promised a friend that we'd help her with something today." "Actually, Luz dragged me out of bed." I corrected. "No, I didn't!" Luz gasped for air after using an invisibility glyph. "Peter, you and Gus ran away so fast, but I didn't want to interrupt, so... I think you guys should go." "Well, they can't." Mattholomule said. "Gus is just an illusionist, and Peter is just a human. They'll only hold us back." "Shows what you know." Luz laughed. "These guys are regular super witches." "Luz!" Gus exclaimed. "I see what you're doing, and it's really sweet, but I don't actually know any spells besides illusions." "No problem." She said, handing Gus some of her glyphs. "Come on, man. You know I'm all about proving jerks wrong." I added. "Count me in!" "Alright. I'm in, too." Gus explains. "Where do we find these Galderstones?"

"We're journeying to the Looking Glass Ruins in Forearm Forest." Bria said once we left. "What's wrong Augustus?" Mattholomule asked. "Scared?" "We all are. Who knows what awaits us out there?" Bria replied. "But we've all got each other's backs, right?" "Yeah, um, yeah!" Gus stutters. "Yeah, alright. Let's go." "That's the spirit, Gus!" I exclaimed, running into the woods with the group.