It's a Long Way To Dearest Gravesfield

Chapter 2: Hexside School of Magic and Demonics

Despite it being late evening, there are lights on at Hexside Academy. When they see silhouettes passing in front of the windows, they aren't sure if it will be friend or foe that greets them at the door. Clutching each other's hands, they walk up the steps. Amity takes a deep breath and knocks.

"Do we really need to knock? Gus asks, "I mean, it's our school."

"Yeah, well we don't know whose school it is now," Hunter replies, "Maybe it's not."

"Should we just open the door? Nobody's answering," Luz asks.

Willow takes a deep breath and asks everyone to stand back before she uses vines to try the door. It doesn't open. She walks up to the door and knocks again.

Amity gently moves her aside, "let me try." She forms a fist of abomination material and slams it into the door, knocking loudly. Then she steps back. "Guess we see if that works."

Within a few moments, they hear the sound of locks clanking open on the other side and the door slowly creeps open, "Hello?" Asks a familiar voice.

"Principal Bump!" Willow shouts, flinging the door open and running toward him, throwing her arms around him, pinning his arms to his side.

He stands, stunned, staring at them, "Is..is this real? We didn't know where you were. You disappeared after the Day of Unity...."

Amity gently tugs Willow back as Principal Bump extracts himself from her, "It's really us. We were gone so long because we were trapped by the Collector in the castle and the only way we could get to safety was to run through Belos' portal to the human realm. It wasn't stable, so it collapsed as soon as we went though. We've been staying with Luz's mom this whole time."

It is then that Principal Bump notices Camila; she steps forward and offers a handshake, which he accepts, "Camila Noceda. Luz has told me how much she's enjoyed being your student while she was here."

He smiles, "I've enjoyed having her as our pupil."

"I hope she hasn't caused too much trouble. Sometimes she struggled to fit in at her other schools."

Bump shakes his head, "Not at all! Being a school for young witches, we're rather used to unusual sorts of trouble. Nothing Luz has done has been something we couldn't manage." He gestures for everyone to come inside, "But why don't you all come in? We were just finishing up a meeting when you knocked and I'm sure you'll want to see your families."

"Is my dad OK?" Gus asks.

"And my dads?" Willow says at the same time.

"They're all just fine. And Alador is here, too," he says, addressing Amity, "along with your brother and sister."

Amity's face perks up, "That's fantastic!"

"The school's become our town square since the Day of Unity. It isn't really safe to meet in a group publicly, but here...well, Hexside has some special protections and nobody has dared to try to breach it."

"What happened?" Gus asks, "I mean, we know about the Day of Unity - we were there and saw the Collector come out and everything. But why isn't the town safe?"

"Let's start with reunions," Bump says, "And we can explain later. I'll call for some tea. Do you need supper?" Amity's stomach rumbles in reply and he smiles kindly, "I'll take that as a yes."

"Is Eda here?" Luz asks.

"No, not this time," Bump says, "She and Lilith have been working with the former coven heads and needed a break. Despite reports of his death, Belos still has some ardent followers who aren't convinced the Day of Unity was a scheme to destroy our magic, rather an attempt at salvation that went wrong. Let's just say there've been a few personality conflicts. They needed a break to keep the peace."