Luz B. Noceda: The Next Belmont

Chapter 18: Return of the Curse

At the ruins of an abandoned castle, a man with platinum hair, dressed with the crest of Devil Forging, walks past the draw bridge before it collapses. After 3 years of peace, lost at an instant, it has lead this man to return to his roots and hunt down his once considered who had allowed darkness.

"Show yourself, Isaac! I know you're here!"

"Is that you...old friend?"

And that is when a man with crimson hair, wearing the same crest as our hero, appears alongside his favorite toy, a demon-type Innocent Devil reached to its full potential. He stairs down at the platinum haired man, who glares from the courtyard of the castle.

"It's been too long, Hector."

"I have finally tracked you down, Isaac! You're going to pay for what you did to Rosaly!"

"Tracked me down? I lured you here, all so that you play out your role, the fool who betrayed Lord Dracula and pays with his life." Isaac mockingly tempts Hector "You will have your revenge, but not before you reclaim the power that you revoked. The power of Dracula that still resides in this land."

"Devil Forging..." Hector looks shocked.

"Yes. The most forbidden of arts, a wisp of conjured matter can be transformed into a hellish devil! And only you and I are masters!"

"I gave up that power long ago!" Hector retorted. "Never again, shall I use it!"

Isaac replied "Oh, but you will. You'll have no choice. Without it, I could crush you in an instant... but that wouldn't be very satisfying, now would it? You deserve a most gruesome fate for the humiliation you brought upon me 3 years ago. Bereft of the power of devil forging, you cannot hope to pursue me! That is why you will reclaim your powers, and thence, follow where I lead you..." He turns his back towards Hector. "But in the end, the glorious vengeance you seek will not be yours...t'will be mine!"

Boscha was not having a good month. Ever since the arrival of the Belmont and her befriending Amity, she felt like her popularity was at risk. She even made Willow revoke the taunting name "Half-a-witch" with her success in Plant Magic and now power over some kind of elemental magic said to exist in the human's realm. How could this have happened?

"You are talented. You are a star. You may be hated, so long as you are feared." She said to herself as she puts her hair in its signature bun, then putting on a varsity jacket. "Most important of all, you are a winner..." Unknown to her was that mysterious tattoo appeared under her eye once more. "...and a master."

She was hoping to start the day with being admired by the students of Hexside, but upon entering the school, her spotlight was stolen by Willow, who demonstrated both her plant magic and speaker magic to everyone."

"No way!"

"A human taught her this?!"

"This is amazing."

Boscha growled as she said "Oh, you gotta be kidding me. What makes er so special with all those human parlor tricks?"

"For the record, Boscha, that is the kind of magic that masters in the human realm do." Amity stated. "And Willow is definitely a master."

"She doesn't deserve such a title. If anyone's a master here, it's me!"

"Oh, please! You know, I used to be like you, Boscha, obsessed with status, challenging my competition. But I grew up. When will you?"

This made the crowd laugh while Boscha turned her back at them all and growled angrily. Later on, Luz was arriving at the school to check on her friends. Yet, she could see that another thing was going that she wasn't fully aware of yet.