Chapter 52: The Envious Witch of Curse
"Holy crap!"
The exclamation burst from Hex's mouth, completely shattering his usual dark, menacing aura. Without a second thought, the master magician channeled his levitation magic, his boots leaving the pavement as he bolted into the sky like a frightened pigeon.
"Don't run!"
Seeing Hex taking off with the Charm of Bezel, Terraspin flipped his massive, shell-covered body horizontally. His large, fin-like limbs retracted into his shell, instantly rotating at blinding speeds. A miniature hurricane erupted beneath him, launching the giant Geochelone Aerio into the air in hot pursuit.
Hearing the roaring winds and the booming voice of the giant turtle right behind him, Hex poured even more mana into his flight spell, his dark robes flapping wildly against the rushing air.
'You are screaming at me not to run!'Hex thought, his face pale with exertion.'Am I supposed to just stop and let you flatten me?!'
Down on the street, Charmcaster stood completely frozen. She blinked, entirely ignored by both the giant alien and her own uncle. Her mouth hung open slightly. It was the first time in her life she had ever seen her terrifying, all-powerful uncle flee in sheer, undignified panic.
She shook her head, snapping out of her daze. Now was not the time to stand around gawking. Hex needed to perform the ritual to summon the true power of Bezel during the impending total solar eclipse.
Muttering an incantation, magenta energy flared around Charmcaster's boots, and she took to the sky, trailing far behind the ridiculous high-speed chase.
Miles away, the Rustbucket was currently losing a battle against gridlock traffic.
"This is so annoying! Why is nobody moving?" Ben complained, resting his chin heavily on his hands as he glared out the RV window at the endless sea of brake lights.
Sitting across from him, Gwen crossed her arms, a deep scowl etched on her face. Her foul mood had started the moment she woke up and found Klein's bunk empty. He had left a vague note, which only confused her more. Since when did her lazy, indifferent cousin care about magic?
More, why didn't he wake her up to go with him?
"Looks like there's some kind of commotion up ahead," Grandpa Max's voice called out from the driver's seat.
Ben and Gwen immediately leaned forward, peering through the windshield. Up ahead, dozens of drivers had abandoned their idling vehicles. People were standing on the asphalt, pointing their phones toward the clouds, camera flashes blinking rapidly.
Following their gaze, Ben and Gwen pressed their faces against the glass. High above the city skyline, a strange figure in a flowing black robe was zooming through the air. Hot on his heels was a massive, spinning green turtle. Trailing far behind them both was a girl glowing with pink light.
Gwen's eyes widened. "Klein!"
Outside the RV, a guy leaning against the hood of his sedan was screaming into his cell phone. "Bro, I swear to God! I am not crazy! It is a giant flying turtle! I am looking right at it!"
High above the city, the chase continued.
"Don't run!" Terraspin's voice echoed out from the spinning vortex of his shell.
"Then stop chasing me!" Hex yelled back, genuine tears of frustration pricking the corners of his eyes.
"If you stop running, I will stop chasing!"
"If you stop chasing, I won't have to run, will I?!" Hex screamed, his lungs burning.
Desperate, Hex spotted a massive, sprawling hedge maze in the center of a large city park. He immediately cut his altitude, diving straight into the labyrinth of tall green bushes.
Terraspin slowed his rotation, hovering high above the maze like a surveillance drone, his sharp eyes scanning the identical green corridors below.
"Why is this ridiculous turtle so relentless?!" Hex gasped, pressing his back against a thick wall of leaves in a dead-end corner. He peeked upward, watching the massive shadow circle the area.
As he caught his breath, a sudden realization hit him. He looked around the empty dirt corridor. Where was his niece?
"Where did Charmcaster go?" Hex muttered, wiping sweat from his brow. "She handed me the Charm of Bezel and just... vanished."
He paused, looking down at the glowing stone in his hand. A horrifying thought slowly crept into his mind.
Wait. Where did she even get this amulet?
Hex looked up at the giant, furious flying turtle hunting him from the sky. Then he looked back down at the Charm of Bezel in his palm. His jaw dropped as the pieces clicked together.
She stole it from the turtle. And then she handed it to him.
Back on the highway, the Rustbucket was still trapped, but Ben and Gwen weren't. They had bailed out of the RV minutes ago, sprinting down the sidewalks until they reached the park's entrance and plunged into the hedge maze.
They didn't find Hex. Instead, they ran face-first into the trailing party.
"Who are you? Where is the guy in the black robes?" Gwen demanded, planting her feet and blocking the narrow dirt path.
They had seen this girl flying behind Klein and the robed man. Since she used magic too, she had to be connected. More, finding the robed man meant finding Klein.
Charmcaster rolled her eyes, completely uninterested in dealing with two random brats. She stepped to the side, intending to just walk past them.
Ben immediately slid over, blocking her path again. He exchanged a quick glance with Gwen. They both remembered Klein's golden rule for dealing with suspicious strangers: 'Beat them up first, ask questions later.'
Ben slammed his hand down on his wrist. A flash of emerald light illuminated the hedge walls.
Seeing the kids actually wanted to fight, Charmcaster let out a condescending chuckle. She raised her hands, magenta mana flaring around her fingers, fully intending to teach these brats a painful lesson.
"Hmm? Wait, how did you transform—"
Two minutes later, Charmcaster was sitting very quietly on the ground, looking thoroughly humbled.
Realizing she was completely outmatched in a physical brawl, she decided cooperation was her best survival strategy. But she wasn't about to give up her use without probing for information first.
"You can call me Charmcaster," she said, dusting off her skirt with forced dignity. "I don't know where Hex went. Uh... what exactly is your relationship with him anyway?"
She kept her tone casual, planning to adjust her story based on how these kids felt about her uncle.
Seeing that she genuinely didn't know Hex's exact location, Ben crossed his arms. "Useless. Let's go, Gwen."
They turned to leave.
Panic flared in Charmcaster's chest. If they left, she was stuck out here alone with a giant angry turtle hunting her uncle. "Wait! I can help you find him!"
Charmcaster quickly calculated her odds. Sticking with these two overpowered kids might actually keep her safe.
As they handled the winding paths of the maze, Charmcaster went to work. She lowered her gaze, letting her shoulders slump, and perfectly executed the role of a tragic victim.
"He forced me into this," she sniffled, rubbing her arm as if it ached. "Hex... he is my uncle, but he is a monster. He makes me do terrible things. I didn't even want to come here today."
She painted Hex as a tyrannical villain and herself as a helpless prisoner. Ben and Gwen, still young and relatively sheltered, immediately softened. Their hostility vanished, replaced by genuine sympathy.
During her sob story, Charmcaster carefully extracted her own information. She learned that the terrifying giant turtle in the sky was actually their cousin, Klein.
Just as she processed this, a massive shadow fell over the three of them.
Terraspin had spotted them from above. The giant turtle dropped from the sky, landing heavily on the dirt path. The holes in his shell began to whistle, drawing in air to blast the thief who had stolen his item.
"Klein, wait! Don't hurt her! She is a good person!" Gwen yelled, throwing her arms out and stepping directly in front of Charmcaster.
Terraspin paused, the wind dying down instantly.
'Are you kidding me?'Klein thought, staring at his cousins.'How did you two form a party with the enemy in five minutes?'
A quiet flash of deep blue light washed over the area. The giant turtle vanished, leaving Klein standing on the path, his hands stuffed casually into his pockets.
He walked forward, his expression completely unreadable. He stopped in front of Gwen, raised a hand, and gently patted her head, smoothing down her hair to calm her nerves.
"Alright, Dork," Klein said, his voice flat but not unkind. "I am listening."
Standing just behind Gwen, Charmcaster watched the simple, gentle gesture. A strange, tight feeling gripped her chest. She swallowed hard, suddenly feeling incredibly envious. When was the last time anyone had looked at her like that? When was the last time someone had patted her head, instead of barking an order?
Ben breathed a massive sigh of relief seeing Klein stand down. He and Gwen immediately launched into an impassioned defense of Charmcaster, detailing her tragic life under Hex's cruel thumb.
Klein listened in silence. He took one look at Charmcaster's perfectly crafted innocent expression and instantly knew his cousins had been played like cheap fiddles. They were total gullible idiots.
But he didn't say a word. First, he wasn't remotely threatened by whatever parlor tricks Charmcaster was planning. Second, calling her out would just cause an argument, and all he cared about right now was getting the Charm of Bezel back.
"Uh-huh," Klein muttered, cutting off Ben's rambling. "Did you two run into Hex on your way in?"
Klein was actually a little conflicted. If they had run into Hex, they might know exactly where the amulet was. But if they had fought him, there was a high chance the amulet had been lost or broken in the crossfire.
(Somewhere deep in the maze, Hex sneezed violently. 'Does that turtle really look down on me that much? Has he not considered the possibility that I might have defeated them?!')
Ben and Gwen both shook their heads.
Klein let out a slow breath. Good. The amulet was safe, but now they were back to playing hide-and-seek.
He shifted his weight and slowly turned his gaze toward Charmcaster.
Seeing Klein's deadpan, piercing stare lock onto her, Charmcaster felt a sudden spike of genuine nervousness. His eyes were entirely too calm. It felt like he was looking right through her act.
Klein didn't care about her tragic backstory, and even if he knew she was faking, he wouldn't care enough to bring it up. He cut straight to the point.
"What exactly is Hex planning to do with that thing?"
Charmcaster flinched at the blunt question. It took her a second to realize what he meant by 'that thing.'
She hesitated, biting her lower lip as she calculated her next move. "He..."
[Akarin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me and keeps these daily updates flowing!
Want to read 50 chapters ahead or just want to help keep a shameless translator alive? (My livelihood actually depends on this, haha 😭). You can support me directly here:
(P.S. Just remove the brackets and replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters): patreon[.]com/AkarinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/AkarinTL
🔗 All My Links: linktr[.]ee/AkarinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]