Ended In The Rain

by TheHigherDissidency

Summary:

“You wanted magic so badly, then don’t come back!”

There was shock, horror, maybe even betrayal on Luz's face, and as the golden glow faded, Camila could only stare at the air where her daughter’s phantom had been standing. The words she just yelled set in.

Oh god, she thought. What have I done?

Chapter 1: Tomorrow's Vow

Summary:

Camila says the wrong thing at the worst possible time.

The worst day of their lives, for so long, had ended with the solid humming tone of a heart monitor. But now it ended in the rain.

“Heh! Look what I can do with the rain!” The voice was Luz, and the body was too, cast in the glittering rainstorm that was completely dousing Camila. “Vee! I'm so happy you're okay!”

The young girl reached for a high-five, and Vee met her in the middle, but their hands intersected, and Luz seemed startled.

“Thank you, Camila. For everything.” Vee said, but the addressee of the sentence felt numb. It wasn’t until now did it truly hit her, seeing her daughter cast only through the lights of a car refracting in the rain, did it hit her.

“Vee. You have a place here for as long as you need.” She said, voice dull, as she handed Vee the stack of magical playing cards, much to the basilisk’s delight.

Luz was stuck in a literal demon realm. And it was Camila’s fault, how could she not have noticed the difference? And Camila didn’t even want to think about what would’ve happened if Luz had died . Would Vee have ever come clean? Would Camila ever know?

“Mom, you were awesome back there!” Luz cheered, smile wide, the ghastly image of her cape — she wore a cape , just like the witches of fiction — flickering absently in the rain. “Thanks for being cool... about everything.”

“I'm trying to hold it together…” Camila choked out, “I really am, but I have never been this scared before!” She looked at Luz’s eyes, the familiar brown colour reflecting back at her even in the man-made iridescent rainbow, the car lights on rain. “A demon realm? Magic? How are you gonna get back here? Is this the only way I can touch you?”

Or rather, as her hand went through Luz’s, will I ever be able to?

“I need a little more time,” Luz said, confidently, at least Camila hoped it was confidence, “But if I keep working my hardest I will make a working portal, I promise!

“As scary as this is, it really does seem like you've matured.” Camila admitted, seeing how brave her daughter was.

“Yes! I've learned so much! Staying here was the best decision I ever made!” Luz said excitedly, but Camila’s world shuddered and stalled. Staying here was the best decision I ever made. So Luz wasn’t trapped, she was, she was, what was she? Did she run away, or did she…

Camila felt a flare of anger, and with more vitriol than she ever intended, enough that something in her screamed to calm down, she spat out “You… you chose to stay there?”

“I-” Luz started, but Camila wasn’t done.

“Is this, are you trying to live out some witch fantasy?” Camila accused, “Did you really run away just so you could learn magic!?”

“Mama, that’s not–” Luz started, but suddenly, Camila saw the girl shift, floating upwards, and her eyes went wide. “N-no, not yet, wait,”

“Baby? No, no, Luz, you’ll come back, right?” Camila pleaded, the words in her throat a jumble, a mess. “When you come home, promise you'll stay here, promise!”

“I-” Luz’s eyes were wide, she was hesitating, and that anger came back full force,especially when Luz spoke next. “I, I can’t make th–”

“Are you… Am I that bad?” Camila asked, “You’d rather, what, run off to a fantasy world? I tried to help–”

“Please, mami, don’t make me choose,” Luz begged, floating higher, and Camila grimaced.

“Fine!” Camila shouted at the rain, the twisted truth that her daughter was considering this nightmare realm over home echoing in her skull, voice feeling foreign in her throat. “Then don’t choose, enjoy your, your demon realm, Luz!”

The girl’s face dropped. “W-what?”

“Camila,” Vee shouted, “Please calm–”

“You heard me, Luz,” Camila spat, “You wanted magic so badly, then don’t come back!”

There was shock, horror, maybe even betrayal on Luz Noceda’s face, as the golden glow faded, Camila could only stare at the air where her daughter’s phantom had been standing.

The words she just yelled set in.

Oh god, she thought. What have I done?

Camila Noceda dropped to her knees, the painful jagged asphalt road and the puddles upon it not phasing her as she crumbled into herself, and in the few seconds between her dropping and Vee running to her side, tears were already streaming down the woman’s face.

---

“And pull, and pull, and…” Eda repeated, watching as the sickly green portal melted, warped, fizzed, and hissed, and it was with a strangled tug that Luz came staggering out the portal, eyes glazed over, wet.

“Luz!” Eda exclaimed, noticing somewhat that King and Hooty had joined her, “I’m sorry, I had to pull– Kid?”

(The portal warped, cracked, splintered, before folding in on itself and burning up completely. It went unobserved.)

“Kiddo, why are you crying?” Eda asked gently.

“They’re happy tears, right?” King asked even softer, but Luz shook her head.

“Luz?” Eda murmured, and Luz hugged her tightly.

“E-Eda, I…” Luz started, “She… not to…”

Cut it out if you have to!  

Eda heard an echo in her head, but she shook it away. Her kid needed her in the present.

“Oh, Luz, oh, Luz,” Eda held the human tightly, and she could feel her own eyes grow wet. “I promise, I understand, you’re not alone, kiddo,”

“I didn’t…” Luz started, “Tell you yet,”

“And you don’t need to,” Eda murmured, so grateful that when push came to shove, Hooty knew when to keep his mouth shut. “Is it too soon to say that you’re my kid now?”

Luz shook her head, and Eda’s heart tightened.

“Good.” She said simply, the air of confidence that helped still Luz’s tears for just a second, “Because you’re my kid now, and no one’s ever gonna hurt you again.”

---

Vee helped usher in Camila, the mother nearly dead weight at her side, and she took one step, two step, before dropping to the ground again, wet back against the wall as water ran down the paint, sobbing hard. (Without the rain to wash tears, blend in with tears, it looked like she was crying harder, least to Vee.)

“W-what have I done, Vee?” Camila’s voice was choked, strained, as though she had been crying on the road for ten hours instead of ten minutes, “I, did I j-just kick her out?” Vee sat down beside Camila, as the woman sobbed harder and harder, “All because, what? I c-couldn’t tolerate some magic?”

“Because you were scared,” Vee said slowly, “It’ll be okay,”

“Will it?” Camila asked sharply, and at the sound of her own tone, the woman cried even harder. “L-lo arruiné todo, Vee, lo a-arruiné todo.”

“If Luz could get there,” Vee offered quietly, “We can get there too.”

Camila’s sobbing halted for a heartbeat, maybe two, and then it continued.

(It was another hour and sixteen minutes before she finally ran out of tears. She fell asleep right there on the floor.)

---

Luz was curled up, tightly, in the softest blanket Eda owned, a cup of hot chocolate – the human way, too, despite how weird it was the way they made it – warm and resting on the table beside her.

The human’s eyes were wet and red, and her girlfriend was curled up beside her, King curled up in her lap, the tammy gotcha (or whatever) resting in her hand, still untouched from the initial message she had sent with it. It was only then, when she told about what happened in the Human Realm, or at least the greenish garish place Luz had ended up, and what she saw unfold in the realm she had been reaching out to.

All while Eda brewed up ways to dispose of Camila Noceda’s body, should the girl ask. Maybe if she didn’t, honestly. Eda couldn’t say she ever murdered someone before, but she was not opposed to another zero on her bounty, especially for the kid.

So while Boots held her tightly, Luz held to the blanket tightly, the cellphone that had been her lifeline to another world resting above the fireplace on the mantle. Quiet, too quiet, with the only sound being the dry sobs of a girl who had only wanted to go home.

---

She called in sick the next day. She couldn’t work at the vet today.

She called in sick the next day. She couldn’t go to school like this.

The worst day of her life ended with rain.

Notes:

YEP THE ANGST TRAIN IS AT MACH FOUR.

Anyway, I figured, Camila tries as a parent, but Camila isn't perfect, and seeing how close both sides were to saying something they really shouldn't, I think with the only shift being Luz not folding like a house of cards would lead to... well, this. Don't worry, this story will have a happy ending. It'll just take a bit to get there.

There's going to be roughly fifteen chapters I think, one per episode, including Thanks to Them, For the Future, and Watching and Dreaming, but some episodes (like Labyrinth Runners) will be exempt, and some chapters (like the next one) will be more original to progress this AU's plot from Luz (and Camila's) POVs, complete with a new acrostic poem in the chapter titles.

This story is going to get heavy, you've been warned, and I'll see you all for the next chapter.

Chapter 2: Here We Stand

Summary:

The first day after their lives changed forever.

Luz woke up, hair tangled and eyes dried up, blinking once, twice. It took her a second to remember where she was, and she abruptly sat up, doubling over.

“You wanted magic so badly, then don’t come back!”

Her voice caught, and her voice hitched in the same way it had last night, stirring Amity, who had been given one hell of an exception to Eda’s no-sleepovers rule, seeing as how bad the day before had been.

“‘uz?” Amity murmured, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, before snapping to awareness, “Oh, Luz,” She leaned over, resting a hand on Luz’s shoulder, while the girl herself stared into the wall.

“She d-doesn’t…” Luz murmured, the reality slamming into her with the force of a truck for the second time.

“Her loss,” Amity said sharply, “But it’s okay to be hurt, Luz,” Luz nodded mutely, standing up with a shake in her legs, before slumping down again. “Do you want me to make you breakfast?”

Luz shook her head, “I-I can do it, thanks,” The human girl stood up, and winced, steadying herself on the door frame. “I… Thank you, though.”

She took a step out of the bedroom, and as she started cooking a gryphon egg for herself and one for Amity, she bit back tears.

Her first breakfast in her forever home.

---

When Camila Noceda woke up, it was on the floor in the foyer. She blinked, once, twice, standing up, feeling the wet clothing that had simply sat still all night, in a heap alongside her, and she combed her mind, trying to remember why she was—

“You wanted magic so badly, then don’t come back!”

She shuddered, and slipped in the puddle she had dragged in, catching herself, eyes wide, alert, so scared. She stood up, eyes fading to vacant, and dragged herself to the kitchen, numbly turning the burner on, the littlest bit grateful Vee didn't have to wake up to the sight of her on the floor like that. She looked in the fridge, and grimaced.

Almond milk. It had always been more expensive than regular cow’s milk, but it had been a necessity. Had been.

When Vee woke up and came downstairs, it was to two cooked plates of breakfast, and the sight of Camila having fallen asleep at the table.

---

“So, uh.” Eda said, frowning a little as she watched Luz choked down the tiniest piece of snacon she had ever seen, “You can’t eat that.”

“I’m,” Luz paused, swallowing the bite. “I figure, you all adapted to it, I could… build a tolerance?”

Eda stared blankly, before the events of the past day rushed back. Shit, yeah. “Not a bad plan, actually,” She said, keeping the anger out of her voice, because it wasn’t anger at Luz, “Would make meal plans much easier, too.”

“Yeah, that’s what I… I figured.” Luz said slowly, before shoving the remainder of her snacon to King, who eagerly accepted the second piece. “I’m… I’m in for the long haul!” She said, far far too peppy.

“Kiddo,” Eda said, “It’s okay not to be okay.” It was something Eda had only learned the incredibly-slow, incredibly-hard way, after about twenty-eight years of running, losing her magic, and eventually getting drugged with sleeping nettles. “It’s rough, and like, it sucks, yeah. But we’re here for you, alrighty?”

Luz nodded silently, looking at her plate numbly, before, in a painfully timid voice, asking, “Ami, Eda? If I wanted to… cook some food from back h-” She stalled, before blinking. Trying again, a crack in her voice, “If I wanted to cook some human realm food, could I? Like, share a bit of…”

“Absolutely, Titan knows I should learn more than two recipes.” Eda quipped, and the small giggle it caused the human girl to give made it oh so gratifying.

“I’d love to know more about your culture,” Amity said softly, squeezing Luz’s hand, “And who knows, maybe you’ll be a trendsetter, huh?”

“Imagine that, huh?” Luz said softly, and Eda noticed the girl blink away tears. “I… Can I skip school today, Eda?”

“Obviously, Luz.” Eda said, pausing. “I’d have Bump’s head if he argued.” And Camila’s, too, she thought.

“I’m gonna stay too, if that’s alright, miss Clawthorne.” Amity said, and Eda scoffed.

“Miss Clawthorne, kid, I’m not Lili,” She said, feigning offence, and she noticed Luz chuckle, watching the back-and-forth. A look at Amity’s eyes, and ooooooooh, that girl is smart, huh? “Call me Eda. Titan, Miss Clawthorne, makes me sound old.”

“But aren’t you?” Amity asked, (feign) confusion in her tone, and the giggling increased, and Eda locked eyes with the Blight girl, the softest of smiles on her face.

“Yeah, but doesn’t mean you can say that!” Oh, she gets a raise, Eda thought, before thinking shortly after, she’s a Blight, she doesn’t need the money.

---

“S-sorry, Bosook, can you and Bridget cover for me?” Camila asked over the phone, keeping her voice as steady, as stable as she could, “F-family emergency.”

Vee watched with bated breath. “Alright, gracias, see you tomorrow.” The second Camila hung up the phone, she leaned her head forward, staring into the dinner table from a distance of less than a few inches. “¿Cómo s-soluciono esto, Vee?”

“I’m not sure, ma-” Vee started, and froze. Camila looked up, blinking away tears.

“Y-you can still call me that,” Camila said, voice shaky, “I-if you’d like.” Before Vee had a chance to reply, Camila continued, “O-or not, dios sabe que y don’t exactly…”

“Está bien, mamá.” Vee said softly, and Camila looked into her eyes, a soft smile on her face.

“¿Puedo abrazarte cariño?” Camila asked softly, and Vee nodded, letting the human hug her tightly, and for a moment, it was unclear who was comforting who.

---

“King, Boots, do me a favour?”

“What is it, Eda?” King asked nervously, while the Blight girl stood there, hands clasped at attention.

“I need to go out, buy some stuff, can you too just keep Luz safe?” Eda asked softly, before frowning. “I’m just worried for her, is all.”

“Alright, miss Eda.” Amity said, and Eda chuckled.

“Halfway there, kid.” She replied, before smirking. “Don’t burn Hooty down, be back in a bit.”

---

At Camila’s insistence, Vee went out to see her friends in Cabin Seven.

Camila then spent all day sitting in Luz’s bedroom, staring at the walls. (The ones she let Vee strip clean of their decor. She had kicked Luz out weeks ago, hadn’t she? She just made it official last night.)

---

“Is it bad that I'm…” Luz’s voice trailed off. “I'm more happy to stay on the Isles than I am sad about….”

“Oh, Luz,” Amity started.

“‘Cause like…” Luz continued, voice cracking. “My mom isn't a monster . But she was all I had in the human realm.”

“Surely not all?” Amity started, and King nodded.

“Yeah, you're awesome, Luz, there's a reason you're my left-hand man!” King said proudly, before adding a little softly, “...don't tell Francios I said that.”

“.....” Luz didn't reply, her voice absent. Amity raised an eyebrow.

“You can still build a portal, if you want,” Amity said, “For your friends back—”

“I don't have any, alright?” Luz snapped, before eyes wide, “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say it like that.”

Amity was stunned. “None?” She silently chided herself for the tasteless phrasing, but nonetheless, when Luz shook her head, Amity abruptly held her in a tighter hug, as King jumped to her lap, bony claws digging into her stomach in a hug-slash-pettable floor.

“Then they’re all fools!” King said with an air of finality, and Luz smiled softly at him.

“Yeah, they're missing out.” Amity murmured into Luz’s shoulder. “You deserve better than the human realm, then.” In secret, her opinion of the human realm plummeted both last night, and again today.

Really, all it had going for it was Luz.

(Had.)

---

“Luz’s friends!” Camila said to Vee confidently after she came home, “Surely she'll come back for them, right?” Her eyes were wide with hope.

And then she saw Vee squirm, shift the weight in legs, frowning.

Camila's eyes suddenly drooped again. “V-Vee. Who are Luz’s friends?”

“You don't know?”

“She never told me,” Camila asked, and it pained her to consider why. “Who, like… hangs out with you?”

Vee was quiet for a minute. “Cabin Seven. But.”

Camila didn't realise she was holding her breath.

“But a lot of people bully me- er, her? It might…” Vee’s voice trailed off, before adding with a choked voice, “It might just be Cabin Seven.”

And those were Vee’s friends, not Luz’s.

Camila rested her head on the table again, grateful to not be crying still. Luz was bullied for however long, and didn't have any friends. Camila hadn't even noticed? Had Luz ever come home talking about her friends?

It left her wondering if she did the right thing. For Luz’s sake, not hers.

---

“She told me to choose.” Luz murmured to no one in particular, staring at the ceiling.

“Choose?” King asked, the only bystander in the room, “What choice?”

“She wanted me to, to promise not to come back here.” Luz said, and King whimpered a little.

“Luz, you can’t leave,” He said, voice small and quiet, “You won’t leave, right?”

Luz stared up at the ceiling. The faintest smile on her face, “No, don’t worry, King.” She thought about Gravesfield, about her peers, about… about everything. “I’m gonna be staying for a long time.”

She thought about Philip’s journal, how he spent decades on the Boiling Isles.

Maybe he had some advice in the pages.

---

Camila sat at the table, the most bittersweet smile Vee ever saw on her face.

“I chipped off a piece of his mask! I know he's not invincible now,” came the tinny voice of Luz from Camila’s phone speakers, and Vee nearly winced. This wasn’t the first, third, or even tenth time Camila had watched this video today.

“It's a strange feeling, having gone through so much and, not having you here to share it with. And I don't know when or how I'm gonna see you again.” The tinny voice continued, and Camila stared at the screen intently, as though looking at it hard enough would turn the phone into some dimensional portal.

“But I will find my way home to you. I promise.” Camila smiled softly, not at that line, but the line that came after. “Deja una luz puesta para mí. Te quiero.”

She tapped the screen. “-ra mí. Te quiero.”

“-ra mí. Te quiero.”

“-ra mí. Te quiero.”

“Mamá.” Vee interjected, and Camila startled, looking up at the basilisk. “You know this isn’t right.”

“Por favor, déjame tener esto.” Camila pleaded, and Vee frowned.

“No,” The basilisk said softly, “We’re gonna figure out how to get to Luz, okay?”

Camila’s eyes softened, and she smiled gently. “T-thank you, Vee.”

Where’s there hope, Camila supposed.

---

Eda came home with groceries, to Luz asleep on the couch, resting on Amity's shoulder, while the abomination expert browsed her scroll.

“Everything was all good?” Eda asked softly, and Amity nodded slowly. “Alright. Staying again tonight?”

Amity paused. “Yeah, think I will.” She looked at Luz, frowning. “Titan knows she needs people at her side. She doesn't even have friends in the human realm to go back to.”

Eda froze. “Positive?” Eda asked, before suddenly her eyes widened. Suddenly, her behaviours made a lot more sense.

“Yeah, positive.” Amity said, oblivious to Eda’s mental train of thought. “Shows what humans know.”

“Hey now, the best of us is human.” Eda quipped, and Amity smiled.

“She is.”

There was quiet. “Did you two eat anything?”

“She wasn't hungry.” Amity said, and Eda raised an eyebrow. The Blight girl nodded timidly, and Eda smiled.

“Kid’s always hungry. If she really doesn't want it, you can split her share with King.” Eda said, walking to the kitchen. “Twenty minutes, gonna make some food.”

(And there were some snacon bits, just a few. Starting small.)

---

Camila wasn't hungry, but she made sure Vee had food for dinner.

She wrapped her share up and kept it in the fridge, blinking away the tears. She couldn't wallow. She, she needed to figure out how to get to this Demon Realm, and save her daughter.

She didn't know where to start.

“I'll make it up to you, Luz.” She said to the thin air. “Prometo.”

---

Her family was different, changed. But things were going to be okay.

Her family was different, changed. And she didn't know how to fix it at all.

 

 

Notes:

Bit of an experimental execution, but don't worry, the rest of the chapters will be more linear, mostly focusing on Luz, with visits to Camila at the end of each chapter.

If it's not clear, Luz is doing better than Camila. Luz has the heartbreak, but she also has her found family. Camila has the guilt, and no way to fill that gap. Reminder that Luz is going to have some really low moments (hi, Reaching Out!), but also that this story does have a happy ending though.

I'll see you next chapter, which will be much longer seeing as now we're entering 'following the episode territory', for the Coven Day Parade, in Every Float In Line. See you then.

EDIT: Also, I know Camila said Luz didn't have any friends, but here it's implied she didn't know that. I am addressing this at a later date, thank you to everyone who brought it up, but I know what I'm doing trust me. That said, thank you for the diligence on what currently looks like a mistake.

Chapter 3: Every Float In Line

Summary:

Luz projects even harder on Kikimora, and Eda pours her heart out in an alley.

“I heard there's just a mirror underneath.” Willow said, before adding in a stage whisper, “The real emperor was society all along.”

“Maybe he's so handsome people have a hard time focusing on what he says.” Gus said seriously, “I get it. I can relate… Actually, Luz!”

The human startled, glancing up from her pitch-black phone screen, snapped from the reverie, a smile instantly plastered on her face, “Huh, what?”

“You’ve seen Belos up close, right? What’s he like under…” Gus gestures vaguely at his face, “All that?”

Luz frowned. “Didn’t ever get a good look, sadly.”

“I heard he’s scarred because of wild magic,” Amity added, and Luz spun around, the smile a touch more real.

“Amity!”

“Hey, batata,” She said, hugging Luz, and the human looked at her confused.

“Sweet potato?”

“I, I think so?” Amity leafed through her bag, pulling out the book, “According to this anyway, right?”

“Aww, you’re the sweet potato, Amity!” Luz said, holding her girlfriend’s arm. Luz’s heart warmed, partly for the pet name, partly because… well, it was a bit of her home, even still.

“Anyway, Luz,” Willow said, “How was the human realm?”

“H-huh?” Luz paled, stammered, staring at Willow.

“You called Amity when you got the portal running, was it to introduce her to your mom?” Gus confidently guessed, eyebrows dancing, and Willow smacked him.

“But seriously, it’s been a week, and you’ve been kinda cagey.” Willow said, “What happened?”

“I-” Luz’s eyes stared into the distance, words escaping her, but luckily for her, Amity stepped in.

“It was a big night,” Amity said, “And it’s kinda personal, no?”

“Aaah, yep, that makes sense.” Willow said simply, the disappointment clear in her voice.

“So, did she say you could keep going to Hexside?” Gus continued, and Amity glared, but Luz patted her girlfriend’s shoulder.

“Y-yeah, I’ll be… I can probably graduate from here.” Luz said, before faking a yawn. “Sorry if I don’t seem, like. Bad sleep last night!” She said, fake pep in her voice, “Oh, look, Eda’s here to pick me up, later, taters!”

Amity could only watch as Luz ran towards Eda, and her shoulders slumped. The human had been in a down mood for over a week now, reasonably, and Amity really wanted to improve her mood.

Suddenly, an idea crossed her mind.

“Will’, Gus?” She started, lifting her bookbag over her shoulder, “See you tomorrow?”

“Sure thing!” “Where you goin’, Amity?”

“There’s a parade today, and knowing Luz, she's gonna be there! Gotta go get ready!”

---

Luz stared, Eda and King’s banter about Raine was falling to the wayside, a faint ringing in her ears.

“Mother, please! No, I'm not seeing anyone. Yes, I'm standing up straight.” Kikimora, of all people, standing in the middle of the street arguing over the phone. (Although, Luz didn’t know why anyone bothered with a crow if scrolls existed.)

“Listen, I can't come home. If I don't lead this parade, Belos will end me!” The red demon argued into the crow, hands somewhat animated. “No! No, of course I miss everybody. I- What? I can't choose!!”

Please, mami, don’t make me choose!

The ringing in her ears grew louder. “Hello? Mother? Mother?”

Luz rushed over, forgetting that Kikimora was, well… Kikimora, and wrapped the little demon in a hug.

“I-, what?” She startled, looking at Luz. “H-human?”

“Hey, I get it, I really do.” Luz said, voice the littlest bit shaky.

“Get- were you eavesdropping?” Kikimora complained, and Luz shrugged.

“You weren’t exactly quiet.” Luz pointed out.

“Fair.” The demon responded “But, how do you relate, you’re just a kid!”

Luz bit her tongue, and after a moment, she opened her mouth. “Trust me, I… I get it, okay?”

The demon’s eyes hardened, clearly annoyed at the intrusion. “And let me guess, you want to, what, pity me?”

Luz looked over to Eda and King, who were bartering with one of the shopkeeps.

“Let’s just say,” Luz said, looking back to Kikimora, “I want to help people.”

---

“Kid, kiddo, Luz,” Eda said, pacing, “Not to be harsh, but. Kikimora? Is the absolute worst. No offence.”

“I’d say the same about you, Owl Lady.” Kikimora snapped, before adding in a sickly-sweet tone, “ No offence. ”

“My point exactly!” Eda remarked, and Kikimora shrugged. “Look, kid, I get you wanna help everyone, but–”

“But if I don’t, Kiki and her mom will be on bad terms, and, and…”

“Oh.” Eda said weakly. “Oh, this is different, isn’t it?”

“I’m sorry, am I missing something?” Kikimora interjected, “Not big on being left out of the loop, here?”

“Kiki, I have the answer to your problem!” Luz said, loud and chipper, and the demon raised an eyebrow. “We’ll kidnap you!”

“What?” Three different people all yelled at once, and then the words diverged from there.

Luz smiled softly, looking at Kikimora, the human’s own words of don’t make me choose rattling inside her head. “It makes more sense all laid out, trust me.”

---

The plan was super convoluted, but also quite straight-forward. Somehow, those weren’t contradictory.

King and Hooty would steer the float of Emperor Belos, and set off a legion of distractions. In the mayhem, Kiki sends guards to inspect, and Eda and Luz would dive in, capture Raine (and Kiki, too, but it doesn’t really count as capture, does it?), and whisk them away.

“It’s perfect!” Luz had said, smile too wide. “You and your mom don’t hate each other, and you get to keep the life you’ve made here! Don’t have to choose!” (Kikimora wasn’t going to question the slightly hysterical laughter that rippled through that sentence, seeing as the scheme itself was for her benefit.)

Eda had frowned, but eventually nodded. “Seems like a good enough plan.” 

Kikimora hadn’t been thrilled, but she didn’t have anything better. King loved it for probably all the wrong reasons. Hooty was just happy to be involved.

That’s how you know the plan is gonna fall apart.

The first problem was thankfully not a horrible one, but it was Amity Blight following Luz effortlessly. In hindsight, thank the Titan no one else read the Azura series.

It was in the alleyway that the plan went even more off the rails, in the form of problem number two: Terra Snapdragon, who honestly could’ve counted as problems number three through fifteen, too.

“Oh my word, where could Kiki have gone?” She said, voice sticky-sweet. “Such a valued member of the coven must be found post haste! Have you seen her, little fly?” Luz could hear the sound of a vine snap like a whip. “Guess not. What a shame that Kikimora would disappear, and right before her promotion .”

Kikimora gasped, and Luz glared, running further, and the mocking words of Terra continued, and with a strike of a vine, Luz closed her eyes, and-

I’m alive?

“Oh, another pest,” The head witch growled, and Luz wasn’t gonna take it for granted, so she started running, fast. A moment later, turning one corner, Amity ran up beside her. She was wearing a longer green cloak, but she had changed from her Hexside uniform into something Luz assumed was slightly dresser than her regular wear.

“Sweet potato!” Luz cried out, ignoring the groan from Kikimora on her back. “How did you know–”

“You lent me book five, remember?” Amity teased, grinning. “It’s your favourite part, so it wasn’t that hard to guess it was you.”

“Aww, you remembered!”

“Yeah, and I also remembered that I don’t want you going to the Conformatorium again, so…” Amity reached for the pot of abomination fluid, and with a flick of her wrist, it took the form of a purple muddy-looking skateboard. “Let’s go!”

---

“Fine, we can do this the hard way.” Raine spat, violin at their hand, and Eda groaned. This was not going according to plan, at all, in the slightest.

“Rainestorm, look,” Eda said, voice heavy with emotion, and the way they faltered, Eda knew to keep going. “It’s about Luz, you’d love her, she- She’s alone now, her mother, she… She’s my charge now, and I’m so scared , Raine.” The wild witch’s voice slowed, and Raine stared, dread on their face.

“Her mother?” The witch asked softly, “Oh, Eda, but I already-” There was faint horror in their eyes.

Eda growled, “Please, Raine, be real with me! More than ever , I’m terrified !”

There was silence, thick and heavy. Eda looked at Raine, their teal-hair ruffled and messed up from being lugged around in vines, and her heterochromatic eyes stared into Raine’s.

“Blast it, okay. Look, Eda, I don’t have much time,” Raine started, voice quick and low, “The scouts are coming. I know how much you hate Darius, and what happened last month, but reach out, you can trust him. Please?”

“Raine, how can I trust you ?” Eda begged, “You just lied to me about even meeting a month ago. Swear on it.”

There was silence for a moment. Then, Raine whistled, one, two, five, eight notes, the start of a melody only the two witches in the alley knew the meaning of. “Swear on it.” The bard said, while the notes still echoed around them.

Eda blinked, and chuckled. “I’ll make trouble for ya?”

“Always, Calamity.” Raine smirked, before their violin vanished back into the nothing, while Eda raced forward, ice glyphs in hand, slamming one into the ground and vaulting over the teal-haired witch, and Raine smirked, just as two coven scouts wheeled the corner.

“Are you alright, Head Witch?” One of them asked nervously.

“Yeah, that looked like the Owl Lady.”

“Nah, it wasn’t.” Raine said to the guards, the lie, for once, easy on their tongue. “I’m fine. Let’s get back to the parade.”

---

“Okay, Kikimora. Princess here will get you back to your family in Palm Stings by morning.” Luz said, voice thick and heavy, “She's a good girl, but Bump couldn't keep her at his place anymore.”

Kikimora stared absently at Luz, confusion evident on her face. “Why do you seem so emotional about this, human?”

“It’s great, you’ll see everyone at the reunion, you can brag about your daring escape, and your mom won’t hate you and kick you out over the dream you’ve always chased! You’re living your best life!” Luz said, the faintest hint of either hysteria or envy in her tone. Kikimora couldn’t tell which, and her eyes narrowed.

“ That’s what this was, wasn’t it?” The demon asked, and Luz paused. Kikimora continued, “You… Something happened.”

Amity stepped closer to Luz, and the human blinked away tears. Kikimora stared at Princess, before turning to face Luz again.

“.....I won’t lie, the promotion is tempting...” Kikimora fessed up, and Amity reflexively started to move, “But!” Silence.

“But another one will come up. I should…” Kikimora looked at Princess again. “It has been a while, hasn't it?” She looked at the rippling water, frowning. “We aren’t allies, human, this isn’t a truce, but… it’s something. Thank you.”

Abruptly, vines burst from the water, wrapping around Princess.

“W-what?”

“What is this?”

“Oh, Kiki,” came the sickly-sweet voice of Terra, “I’m actually surprised. Disappointed, too, but surprised.”

“Terra! Shouldn’t you be babysitting the bard?!”

“No, that’s what the scouts are for.” Terra murmured, “I’m watching over you. A shame, traitors like you have only one fate, and it’s not promotion.”

Kikimora’s eyes were wide, albeit Luz could only see the one. “Y-Are you calling me a traitor? It’s one night!”

“You are shirking off coven duties, no?” Terra sneered, and Kikimora took a step back, glaring. Then, to both Luz and Terra’s complete surprise, Kikimora smiled.

“Fine then. Your promotion can burn.”

“What the-?” Luz started, but was caught off guard when Terra threw a vine at her, Amity, and the demon. Kikimora growled, and with a twirl of her fingertips, a burst of purple fire shot out, intercepting the vine. Kikimora spun a second, this time towards Terra, who to her credit, still threw up a shield of vines despite her shock.

“Twenty-six years, I’ve served this coven!” Kikimora said, “I’ve skipped every day off, skipped every holiday, for this coven! And it’s gone like that!?”

“Back away from her!” Luz screamed, and Terra tilted her head only to get hit in the face with a piece of ice, and the witch staggered back.

“Oh, I forgot why I hate children,” Terra growled, “And really, Kiki, you count.”

“No, Terra,” Kikimora said, and Luz had seldom heard the demon’s voice this low, “I don’t.”

Suddenly, Terra doubled over, hand reaching for her wrist, sickly red vines creeping up it. “I’ve given everything, and what, for a man who keeps me second fiddle to a child? And to be rejected at my first selfish move!?”

“Kiki, this-” Terra panted, teeth grit, “This is treason!”

“Please, we’ve all done treason, I would know, I keep cleaning it up.” Kikimora said triumphantly, “But no longer! I really can’t believe it myself,” The demon said, and she glanced at Princess, a second glance to Luz.

“But here’s my notice, Terra!” Kikimora cried, a shot of purple fire hitting the head witch, who staggered, falling back into the water.

“She’s not as frail as she looks, so I’d run.” The demon said unhelpfully, and Luz and Amity both nodded. As they climbed to their feet, Kikimora looked at Luz. “I’m gonna regret this, so make it worth it, human.”

Luz nodded, and her and Amity set off, and when a fair bit of distance was made, Luz spared a glance behind her, seeing Princess taking to the sky.

Only once there was a sizable amount of distance between the dock and the couple, they slowed down, and Luz slumped against a wall.

“No one will believe us,” Luz chuckled. “Kiki just quit in front of us, no one will believe us.”

“I barely believe it. I mean, she was right though.” Amity said, short on breath. “She’s given everything for the Emperor, and you heard Terra. What’s worse for her than that?”

“Belos himself telling her off?” Luz said, but the doubt was obvious in her own words.

“‘Oh, thank you for your time, Emperor Belos!’” Amity mimicked in a bad impression of Kikimora, and then the two girls started laughing. There’s giggling for a moment, but as it fades, there’s silence for a moment longer.

“Luz.”

“Amity.”

“You can’t keep bottling this up, you know.” Amity said calmly, and Luz frowned. “Willow and Gus will find out eventually.”

“I know, it’s just…” Luz said, wringing her hands. “I don’t wanna drag ‘em down, we’ve all got a lot. I shouldn’t have told you even-”

“Luz!” Amity said, louder, and Luz’s words slowed. “I’m glad you told me. We’ll help you, promise.”

“Are you sure, Ami?”

“Do you think Willow or Gus would be mad at you?” Amity asked, before grimacing. “They might have a word or two about your mom, but–”

“She doesn’t deserve that!” Luz said, hands outstretched. “I did… I did mess up.”

“Luz, Luz…” Amity sat down beside Luz, holding her. “Even if you did, it was uncalled for. You’re allowed to be hurt, sweet potato.”

“I am hurt!! I’m furious, I tried to do well, and she, she didn’t even notice that I wasn’t myself !” Luz snapped, and then her shoulders slumped. “She couldn’t tell the difference between me and Vee… I just… I wish I didn’t feel so bad about being mad?”

“I get that, but it’ll be okay, okay?” Amity said, grabbing Luz’s hand, and the girl nodded, smiling back. “Alrighty. Wanna enjoy what’s left of the parade?”

“We should maybe head home.” Luz said shyly. “Terra seemed mad .”

“Good. She can stay mad.” Amity said, and Luz started laughing. “I… I used that wrong, didn’t I?”

“A little, but the idea’s there.” Luz said, smiling. “I can walk you home, if you’d like.”

“Can I walk you home instead?” Amity asked, and Luz nodded.

Dusting themselves off, they started walking.

---

Edalyn Clawthorne tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for any sign that Darius actually heard her. On the bright side, there was zero chance of revealing any information, she had been vague at best when reaching out.

But also, where was he?

It was amidst her nervous waiting did she see it, a tiny abomination carrying a letter. She snatched the letter, giving the pile of goo the stink-eye, and opened up the document.

It was a recipe for… poison? No, the closer she looked… Was this a memory-wiping potion? But why in the Tit—

I've been sick for the last month in bed. She thought about the day she met Raine. A smile crossed her face.

“You know, Rainestorm,” Eda said aloud to no one, “Maybe even I underestimated you.”

She glanced at the little abomination. It was kinda twee, actually.

“Listen, Daemonne.” Eda said, voice low. “Hurt Raine, I end you. But… but if you can protect them until I can see them next, I'll owe you one.”

The abomination did a little thumbs-up (nope, it absolutely was twee), and then marched a few steps, vanishing into the dirt. Eda took a deep breath, looking at the potion recipe. She smiled.

“I'll make trouble for ya, Raine.” Eda murmured, a whistled note hovering in the air.

---

Camila Noceda looked at the box of photographs, showing them to Vee.

“This is, this is her seventh birthday,” Camila explained, showing Vee the photograph, one that showed her and a much younger Luz with Manny in shot, a bright green cake. “First one after moving to Gravesfield.”

“She was so short back then,” Vee teased, and Camila chuckled. “I mean, she's still short now, so…”

“Thank you, Vee, for… for giving me a chance. I know I…” Camila started, before smiling softly. “I am proud to call you my daughter.”

“A-about that,” Vee nervously asked, “When Luz comes back, do I have to go? Or is this… just until she gets back?” She asked it as though it were a stray thought, but the way her body relaxed after asking, she had clearly been thinking about it for a while.

Camila shook her head. “Luz wanted a younger sibling a long time ago, I think she'll be thrilled to properly meet you.”

Vee smiled, but then the scowl showed up again. The mother patted her in the shoulder. “You aren't just a placeholder, Vee. You'll always have a home here, and…” Her voice faded, before she coughed, voice wet. “And that's true, no matter what spur of the moment thing I say, alright?”

The basilisk nodded, still looking at the photos. Camila frowned at the birthday photo, but a moment later put up a smile for Vee. “I'm sure it'll be okay, mija.”

Notes:

Sooooo, already, two big changes.

Change one, and the most obvious so far: Kikimora defects early! Kikimora is not beyond... maybe redemption, yes, but beyond doing anything right? She helps King meet the Collector, at least, and it came down to, she had just been dismissed from the Emperor's Coven by Belos' words, and she instantly turns. Kiki has no loyalty to anyone but herself, and so when she sees Luz's struggle and decides to avoid that for herself, only to have Terra saying she's a traitor, time to get back at her.

The second major change: Raine and Eda! Raine can keep up a facade, sure, but seeing Eda, being emotional of her own free will, it's clear that this means a lot to her. If Raine was lying to Eda just to keep her safe, they're not above going back to honest with her if it means she safe-r. (Also, swearing on Raine's Rhapsody is a beautiful moment in my head.)

What does this mean for the overall plot? Wellllllllll, you'll have to wait and see. And if you think this is deviation from the script, wait until next chapter, Brought To Me!

Luz travels back in time to get some advice from the last human who spent a lifetime on the Isles.

Chapter 4: Brought To Me

Summary:

Luz travels back in time to get some advice from the last human who spent a lifetime on the Isles.

Notes:

Content warning: 1600s-Puritan expectant racism/sexism. (It's Philip. Of course it's Philip.)

“After careful analysis during this Deadwardian Era, I believe the current human year is sixteen sixty. Or is it seventy? The years are flashing by, but it will all be worth it.” The soft British voice of Philip Wittebane echoed across the room, the echo mouse mimicking the voice to accompany its projections.

(When Luz how that even worked, it’s not like ink has an accent , Eda, Amity, King, and Gus all gave her identical blank looks that transitioned into the various flavours of confusion, the clear realisation that no one actually stopped to question it.)

“Still working on the portal?” Eda remarked, a mild bit of disappointment in her tone, as Luz sat by the echo mouse, watching the reenactment of the dead man’s words projected on the wall.

“No, but, Philip spent years here, right?” Luz said, not taking her eyes off. “M-maybe he has advice, or something? He was human!”

Eda smiled. “Not a bad plan, and good to see the journal is helping even more.”

“Honestly, the problem is whenever the page wasn't eaten all the way. The margins, some words are missing.” Luz murmured, “Wish I could meet him, but, like.”

“Humans don't live that long.” Eda finished, nodding along. Luz froze.

“Do witches?” She asked, an obvious amount of horror in her voice.

“Oh, Titan, no,” Eda said, waving her hands absently. “No, I was born a couple years after Belos became Emperor. Think our lifespans are the same, give or take.”

Luz sighed in relief, before pausing. “Is there a way to meet him?”

“I mean, Goops wanted to raise the dead for an interview.” Eda quipped, but then her stare hardened. “But like, genuinely?”

“Wait!” Luz said cheerfully, “Is time magic a thing?”

Eda frowned. “Time dilation, time stops, but those are…” The owl lady shivered, “Titan, those are not exactly doable. That said…” Eda reached for one of the books on her bookshelf, “I used to be an urban legend junkie.”

“Now she’s just an urban legend!” King commented, and Eda glared.

“But all the greatest myths are in here. The Purple Guy, Lochness, platypi,” Eda read, leafing through the pages, and Luz quirked an eyebrow, but didn’t interrupt. “There’s some stories about time pools, mythical puddles that are also gates to the past. Me and Lili spent so much time looking for ‘em we probably would’ve bumped into ourselves if it ever succeeded.”

“Actually, Eda,” Luz said, eyes wide, remembering Lilith’s recent troubles with a history exhibit, “I think that’s what I needed, thanks!”

---

Ultimately, it wasn’t that hard to justify using some Titan’s Blood on one of Lilith’s old projects, especially since it’s not like they needed it for a portal any time soon, and with a few distractions, they found themselves in old Bonesborough, and they found themselves meeting Philip.

“That doesn’t belong to you!” Luz cried, ice glyph shooting the journal of Red Fang’s hands, and Philip Wittebane turned, seeing– were those round ears? He watched in shock as the human wielded magic, and Red Fang took a step, preparing to fight.

“Don't waste your time on the kid.” Green Fang said, pulling his red brother back, “We should keep looking.”

“Ask your friend there what happened to our brother, Blue Fang, and his Palisman.” Red Fang spat, and the two brothers walked off.

Philip went to grabbing the pages of his book, his leg flaring with pain, as the human — yes, undeniably round! — helping him up, grabbing the pages.

“Y-you’re Philip Wittebane, right?” Luz asked, hope in her voice.

“W-why do you ask?” Philip stammered, looking at Luz dismissively.

“I- I got stuck here, in the Boiling Isles, just like you,” Luz explained, “My name’s Luz, I’m human, from Gravesfield!”

“H-human?” Philip startled, smiling wide. “Oh, it's been so long since I saw a friendly face!”

Luz frowned at the wording, “I mean, plenty of people are friendly.”

“Don't lie to me, Luz,” Philip said, his grin wide, “Some people can be savages.”

“Okay, look,” Luz snapped, “Don't know who you've been meeting, but trust me, Lilith is good.”

“Mm…” Philip hummed, clearly disapproving, and Luz blinked. “Anyway, how long have you been here?”

“Only a few months,” Luz admitted, and Philip winced. “And I figured, since it seems like I'm gonna be here for awhile, I…” She paused. While honesty was maybe key to get helpful advice, she didn't want to give away much.

“I encouraged her to seek out the only other human on the Isles,” Lilith said quickly, and Luz sighed in relief, “We came all the way from the Toes to meet you.”

“Huh?” Philip startled, but he smiled. “I suppose it's the Wittebane charm, I'm grateful to have met you, Luz! And just in time, perhaps, I was looking for a companion!”

Luz’s eyes shined. “Wait, what for?”

“I need help acquiring something special,” Philip explained, “I'm striving to meet the Collector. Rumour has it he’s a child from the stars who can get us home.”

“I help you meet the Collector, you tell me how to live on the Isles?”

“See, you’re a quick study” Philip said, stretching out his hand. “Follow along, now.”

---

“So, Luz, you ended up here and started travelling with Lilith when you got separated from the…” Philip started, his words soft, looking for a last name.

“Nocedas.” Luz supplied, and Philip chuckled.

“I see…” He said, and Luz frowned, but the elder human continued. “And now, until you can make it back to Gravesfield, you’re looking for the secrets of my quality of life, yes?”

“T-that’s more or less it, yeah!” Luz explained, and Philip chuckled.

“Brilliant, absolutely brilliant.” Philip said, “Well, I suppose then, wait… Did anyone bring a torch?”

“I brought something better,” Luz said, pulling out her paper, and sketching a light glyph quickly. Philip watched in amazement.

“Astounding, you use picto-glyphs?”

“Yep, I found fire, ice, plant, and light!” Luz said proudly, and Philip nodded.

“Thanks to you, I have the light one as well.” He said, sketching. “Oh, I wish you had been my companion sooner, it took me years to find the three that I did. One was in a blasted snowflake, can you believe that?”

“At the Knee!?” Luz asked excitedly, and Philip nodded.

“Humanity’s strength, I suppose.” Philip said, as he started sketching a glyph combination of the floor. “And it allows us to do what these witches can’t.” He said, the word flying from his mouth alongside both vitriol and some spit.

“Luz, can I–” Lilith started, eyes narrow, but the teen wasn’t listening, too focused on glyph magic to even notice the tone Philip was using.

“What is this?” She asked excitedly, and Philip smiled a wide grin.

“A shortcut.” Philip said, voice level, and Luz’s world went to white. As the light subsided, Luz looked around, eyes wide.

“A-are we in the Titan’s Skull?” She asked, looking out the mouth-shaped opening in the wall.

“What?!” Lilith startled, “W-we can’t be here!”

“Silence, both of you,” Philip said urgently, and Luz stilled, surprised by the outburst. Then, in a softer voice, Philip said. “Behind that door lies the Collector. Unfortunately, the mechanism has proven too much of an obstacle for me.”

Lilith’s eyes shone. “This? Oh, it shouldn’t be hard.” She said confidently, any previous train of thought she had to tell Luz derailed under promise of the satisfaction the puzzle would deliver. Looking at the wall, though, she faltered.

“That’s strange, most of it is solved already.”

“I unfortunately couldn’t complete the last stretch,” Philip explained, and Lilith’s shoulders relaxed, but Luz looked nervous.

“Philip, why… why did you bring us here?” Luz asked, voice shaky, and the human laughed.

“Don’t question me, Luz,” Philip said, a hint of anger in his voice, “Understood?”

“I got it!” Lilith said, and Philip grinned.

“I just needed a sacrifice.”

“Lilith, ru-” Luz started, but Philip grabbed the girl by the collar, pulling her back. The sound of a roar, and Luz watched as Lilith started to run, hopping aboard her Palisman.

“Wonderful!” Philip said, racing to the room, and Luz’s head spun. She took a few steps, pausing. Lilith was currently using her Palisman to stay out of the creature’s reach. She had to stop Philip, Lilith could hold her own, right…?

Luz chased after him, and inside, she saw Philip throwing a shovel aside, grabbing a shiny glass disc, the shiniest thing Luz had ever seen, a mirror with a crescent moon on it. “The Collector…” The witch hunter breathed, and he grinned wide. He turned, seeing Luz.

“Come here, girl,” Philip snapped, and Luz wanted to scream.

“No, give that to me!” She said, grabbing the half of the disc she could reach, and Philip tugged, hard, Luz losing her balance and hitting the ground.

“What the, Lilith’s in danger-” Luz started saying, as Philip grabbed her arm tightly and squeezed. Luz took a swing, and while she did land a punch on Philip's nose, the human seemed nonplussed by the connection.

“C’mon, Luz, the Collector is calling.” Philip said harshly, voice nasally, “Your better demands it.”

“B-better?” Luz stammered, and Philip’s eyes narrowed.

“Please, I know why you came to this land. Attempting to sneak from some master’s call?” Philip said calmly, but his voice had a bit of iron to it.

“We, we don't do slaves anymore, Philip.” The girl explained, squirming under Philip’s cold stare, the realisation hitting that, no, this man was a 1600s witch hunter, “A lot’s changed.”

“....like?” His voice had not a drop of levity, and Luz could hear the alarm bells ringing in her head.

“We don’t keep slaves, w-we let people marry whoever, guy, girl, we’re not British anymore, we don't do witch trials!”

“...This is Gravesfield ?” Philip confirmed, and Luz suddenly noticed the fury in his voice.

“Y-yeah,” She started, and the other human stood up quickly, hand tightly on the glass tablet.

“They've strayed?” Philip growled, and Luz’s eyes went wide. “W-why would they stop the trials?”

“B-because, even if there were witches there, none of them actually try to hurt—”

“Evelyn did!” Philip roared, and he glared, throwing Luz back. “You—” Philip seemed to be scanning the room, for a tool, an answer, a witness, before his voice warped and twisted, growling. “So, the land of the living has fallen astray?”

“P-Philip?” Luz staggered bad, tripping on a rock, “What the hell has gotten into you?”

“Clarity, Luz.” The human said, voice a strained echo in the cavern halls. “Clarity, for in the little time I’ve been gone, my town has corrupted itself. You even think me your equal.” His arm twisted, pulsed, and erupted in a cloak of green, sickly tendrils firing at the younger human.

Luz screamed, jumping up and running, but Philip grabbed her, smirking.

“You probably think I want to kill you,” Philip asked, voice low and cold, and then he laughed, a deep heavy sound that wasn’t right, wasn’t normal. “But God’s will is not so boorish. I can’t fix you if you’re dead.”

“You probably think we want to invade the human realm,” The emperor spoke, in a smooth British accent that Luz had yet to encounter elsewhere on the Isles, a hint of amusement in his words, “But the Titan's will is not so boorish. You’ll understand soon.”

No. No, no, no, Luz’s head was spinning, dominos falling into place.

No.

“Y-you…” Luz’s eyes were wide, but Philip continued.

“It could take a lifetime, but it doesn't matter.” He closed his mouth, grinning wildly, and then he tutted, “Thanks to you and the Collector, I’ll live long enough to see this through.”

“To see what–” Luz started, confused, but Philip roared, throwing the girl back ten, fifteen, thirty feet, and she hit the wall with enough force to hear it crack.

“Run back to your country, Spaniard.” Philip said, scratching a glyph into the ground, his voice cold and level, his two-tone dialect shifting and screeching, and Luz stumbled to her feet. “Consider yourself dismissed.” His voice echoed in a way so so familiar, and then, holding the glass disc he had fought over proudly, he slammed his foot on the glyph, vanishing in a haze.

“L-Lilith!” Luz screamed, and Lilith raced over, soaring quickly along her Palisman, and Luz spared one more glance at her fellow human.

“We gotta get out of here!” Luz yelled, but as they soared out of the Skull, she frowned.

Philip had the Collector.

And Luz was pretty sure that meant Belos had the Collector too.

---

“Luz, it’s impossible, spells don’t extend your life that much!” Lilith argued as the two made their way back from the beach. Luz had what she heard, explained her theory, that Philip was actually Emperor Belos. As much as Lilith wanted it to be wrong, her niece (was that official now?) had a point. But, every argument needs a devil's advocate. 

“I know what I heard, Lilith!” Luz argued back, “It’s the same voice, it’s the same words! You said it yourself, he made us think he was our friend, remind you of anyone?”

“The only thing with a natural lifespan that long are Palismen, Luz,” Lilith said, and the human stopped. Lilith didn’t notice, and kept talking, “And by proxy, he’d have to be, what, part Palis- Luz?”

“He-” Luz’s eyes were focused on the middle distance. “He uses Palismen as, as something, remember?”

Lilith’s eyes widened, the devil's advocate conceding the point. “He said it was to heal the curse, but… How long has he…”

“I should’ve known,” Luz spat, “Of course he’s human.” She said, the last word spat out in a way that Lilith found unsettling.

“What do you mean?” Lilith asked, confused.

“Backstabbing, lying,” Luz murmured, “It’s what we’re good at!” Covens. Claiming to be at camp. Loving unconditionally. “I can’t believe I never thought about it.”

“Not all of you.” Lilith said softly, and Luz looked up at her, to see a soft smile. “The first human I met was a wonderful person.”

“Technically, the first human you met wa-” Luz started, but Lilith shushed her.

“You.” Lilith stated, “If he’s been alive for four hundred years, he’s not human anymore, not really. The only human I know is nothing but kind.”

Luz turned a bit red. “Thanks, Aunt Lilith.”

As the Owl House came into view though, there was a sinking pit in Luz’s chest, a twist of guilt. “D-Did I help Belos?”

“Huh?” Lilith seemed confused. “How so?”

“I helped him meet the Collector, right?” Luz explained, voice cracking. “And, and I taught him the light glyph!”

“I served him for decades, loyally. You’re feeling guilt over being tricked. You even tried to stop him right away.” Lilith said simply, “Perhaps you helped the emperor, yes, but I’d say everyone on these Isles have at some point, it’s basically a modern-day custom.”

“Surely not everyone?” Luz asked, and Lilith smirked.

“Your friends never lauded to you about the wonders of the coven system?” Lilith said, and Luz’s fists balled up.

“Don’t talk like that about my friends!” Luz snapped, and Lilith chuckled.

“Then don’t talk that way about my niece.” She said simply, and she looked up, to the sight of Eda, hanging out with Gwendolyn and a man Luz didn’t recognize, and with a chirp — an actual chirp, Luz couldn’t help but wonder if that curse-related — she ran off, catching up to the people up ahead.

Luz blinked, once, twice, smiling softly. It’s basically a modern-day custom. To her surprise, that made it easier to ignore the twist in her stomach that told her she was wrong, because Titan be damned if she talked about her friends like that.

Luz followed too, breathing easy. She did have important news to share, yes.

But weirdly, she wasn’t too worried about it.

---

Camila was worried. There was only a month left until school started up, and maybe it was some instinct ticking over from the past eight years, maybe it was a claw at normalcy, but she was stressing about Luz’s first day of school.

Was she attending a proper school in the demon realm? If she was, what did the education look like? Camila couldn’t help but daydream about a magical school, and she caught herself praying that it wasn’t anything like magic schools in fiction. Maybe Luz would find some real friends—

“Do you have any friends? Real ones, not imagined or drawn or reptilian?”

Her chest ached. Luz actually had been all alone, and she had rubbed that fact in the last time Luz saw her for real. Every counsellor at every school only ever said she ‘had trouble’ making friends, and in a rare moment of letting her anger seep through at the umpteenth infraction, taking her frustration out on her, and she had mocked Luz for the truth of the matter.

When she got a chance to make it up to her daughter, she then yelled at her and… Well, the moments maybe weren’t as rare as she hoped.

Camila frowned, looking over the pamphlet that was sent to her, inviting Luz Vee to Gravesfield High good and proper, instead of the middle school section of the building.

In the midst of all this, she only hoped Luz was safe and getting the education she needed.

 

Notes:

Two chapters in one day? In all fairness, I was writing this and Every Float In Line in parallel. It was bound to play out this way. (The next one will take a bit though, soooooo....)

SO YEAH! Push Philip to his limits, and he always snaps in the same ways. Maybe he quoted himself in this timeline for the inside joke, or maybe he just falls back on gospel. It seems he's pissed now, he sees the human realm as needing help as well. I wonder what this means...?

Also, Philip being racist but biting his tongue around Luzura, who to him is yet another witch, makes way more sense than him being tolerant. Here, he treats Luz the way he thinks. (In case it needs to be said, racism is bad. Don't be racist.)

On top of that, Luz officially knows Belos is Philip, a whole four episodes ahead of schedule, which definitely impacts Hollow Mind... Although, in a rare win for this fic, Lilith was able to help Luz, by pointing out the real crux of every 'if it wasn't you' argument: it wasn't just her. Everyone's been slighted or scammed by him, especially if he's Emperor.

(So Hollow Mind won't be emotional? Right? .....right?)

In the meantime, I'll see you all next chapter, for... Open The Sky!

Luz tries to have a normal day after the string of misfortune. To her surprise, she mostly gets one.

Chapter 5: Open the Sky

Summary:

Luz tries to have a lighter day. Surprisingly, it mostly goes well.

Notes:

This chapter takes advantage of a work skin, for the colourful usernames below. Turning off creator's style will not effect the experience in any notable capacity.

Content warning: Mentions of Philip and his racist behaviour in the last chapter.

Luz was pacing the kitchen restlessly. “Please tell me Raine or the rest of the BATTs got back to you, Eda.”

The Owl Lady shook her head. “Really hate to break it to ya, kid,” She said, sitting back on the couch, “But these things take time.”

“But we might not have time!” Luz said, exasperated.

“Trust me, Raine is level-headed,” Eda said, “But that’s exactly why they won’t risk giving anything anyway, they’re undercover, remember?”

“I mean, yeah, but…”

“Shouldn’t school be taking your mind off things?” Eda remarked, and Luz frowned.

“Nah, it’s club day. I’d love to join,” Luz explained, “But, I feel I’ll be busy with all this.”

“Well you need something to keep you busy, so instead of pacing a hole in the floor, time to tell ya.” Eda said, “You’re staying here for a lot longer than planned, so I’m giving you some snails, you can meet up with your friends, and you can finally get a scroll you like for yourself.”

“H-huh?” Luz looked shocked, which was fair all things considered. “Are you sure?”

“Positive.” Eda said, smirking. “Try not to spend every last penny, if you can help it, and make sure it’s one that you can summon without magic, because….” Eda clarified, the vague gesture of summoning a scroll performed with an honestly embarrassingly-apathetic flick of the wrist. “You know.”

“Able to summon, cheap-”

“But worth the money, it better not break!” Eda said, mock threat in her tone, and Luz smiled.

“Cheap but good, gotcha!” Luz said. “Do you want me to take King?”

“Nah, we’re practising his shout in the backyard.” Eda said, and Luz cocked her head. “Pick him up a sweet though!”

“Will do, Eda!” Luz assured, grabbing her bag and slinging it over her shoulder, racing outdoors. Eda waited a minute, letting the clack of her harpy claws on the coffee table soothe her for a second, before smirking.

“King, get your butt down there!” She yelled up the stairs, “I need to talk to you!”

---

“You haven’t brought Luz here for awhile,” Camila’s coworker said, and the woman couldn’t help but flinch, thinking about Vee was still living Luz’s life to those unaware.

“She’s spending a lot of time with her friends,” Camila said coldly. “She made so many when she was gone, Phil.”

“Well, that’s good,” Phil commented, “She finally grew up?”

“It’s not ‘she grew up’,” Camila snapped, “She finally found people who support her, and I’m so grateful for that.”

“Alright, alright, not grew up,” Phil said defensively, lifting his hands in mock surrender. “But she’s happy?”

“Y-yeah.” Camila stammered, and if Phil noticed the falter, he didn’t say anything. “I’m so proud of her, she’s living her best life.”

(On her break, she realised she didn’t know which of her kids she was talking about.)

---

“You know, just because I’m rich,” Amity said, “Doesn’t mean I actually know what’s good in a scroll?”

“I mean, yeah,” Luz explained as the two started stepping away from Blight Manor, “But that was just an excuse in case your parents aren’t happy with you having a girlfriend.”

Amity winced, “Yeah, fair. My mom isn’t exactly thrilled that I’m friends with you.”

“Exactly, yeah,” Luz said meekly, before smiling wide. “Point is, I just wanted an excuse to go on a walk with you, and for once, it shouldn’t be anything evil or crazy!”

“But you said those words, though.” Amity teased, and then she looked into the overall shape of the Bonesborough’s skyline. “So, how was your weekend, Luz? I haven’t seen you since school ended last week.”

“I,” Luz started, took a deep breath, “I found a way to talk to Philip.”

“Wait, what??” Amity stopped, evidently confused. “Like, oracle magic, or–”

“No, uh,” Luz started, “Do you believe in time pools?”

The abomination witch blinked at Luz, before saying in a slightly flat tone, “Well, I do now .” Luz giggled a bit, and the human continued.

“So, I found time pools, went back and met Philip, and uh…” Luz winced, and Amity couldn’t help but frown. “Turns out, he’s worse than I could’ve imagined?”

“Titan, your luck has been awful recently,” Amity commented, and Luz scoffed. “How bad was he?”

“Well, he was racist,” Luz started, counting off on her fingers, not noticing the confused tilt of Amity’s head, “Nearly killed me and Aunt Lilith, and I’m pretty sure he’s somehow Emperor Belos.”

Amity froze.

“Luz, are you messing with me?” Amity asked, voice serious, but she looked at Luz’s eyes. “Oh, Titan, you aren’t, are you?” The human shook her head. “Alright, we’ll deal with that later, c’mon, no more sad stuff today, we’re getting you a scroll and maybe we could stop somewhere, how’s about it?” 

“Sounds good to me!” Luz said cheerfully, smiling softly, and Amity eagerly grabbed Luz’s hand and the two started running to the Bonesborough markets.

---

“So, King,” Eda said calmly, “If at any point in this, you feel uncomfortable, say the word.”

“Which word?” King said cheekily, but Eda looked at him, without an ounce of levity.

“And I’m serious, King.” Eda explained, “I may not always know when to be the rational one but right now I do.”

“Eda?” King responded, confusion evident on his face. “You’re actually kinda freaking me out, what’s got you worked up?”

“It’s about Luz.”

---

Vee was pouring over some of Luz’s eighth grade textbooks to prepare herself for the upcoming semester, and Camila was taking the time to clean up a form the clinic needed while she did so, offering help when the basilisk needed it.

“You know, mama,” Vee abruptly started, looking up from her worksheets, “If Luz got stuck in the demon realm near the start of camp, and she only managed to reach us last month,”

Camila’s eyes widened, pausing her focus on the paperwork. “Then she’s probably not ignoring us, is she? It’s just taking time?” The hope in her voice was tangible.

“Exactly!” Vee said proudly, “I was thinking, and like. You’re wonderful, Camila, I’m sure Luz knows you didn’t mean it.” She said, and Camila smiled back. “But like, that first portal took a few months. It’s just taking time.”

“Oh, gracias, mija, I… I really needed to hear that.” Camila said gently, a genuine smile on her face for the first time in a while. “I can’t wait for you to really meet her. I think you’d get along.”

I hope so, you two are the best thing that ever happened to me , she thought, but rather than say it, she went back to filling out paperwork.

---

“Actually, uh, Luz?” Amity started, clearly nervous, and Luz paused her ramble about her potions homework. “Can I ask you something about that?”

“About what, potions?” Luz responded, not entirely sure where Amity was going.

“No, uh,” The witch started, before shyly adding, “Multi-tracking.”

“Oh! Yeah, go ahead,” Luz said excitedly, “What is it?”

“I… I’m good at abominations,” Amity said, and Luz couldn’t help but think of it as an understatement. “Really good, and it’s likely that… however this goes, I’m not going to be joining a coven…” She added the last part, voice barely above a whisper.

Internally, Luz was cheering. Outwardly, well, she was still cheering, but more subdued. “That’s awesome, batata,” She said, and Amity looked at her.

“W-what, that I won’t join a coven?” Amity asked, clearly baffled.

“Do you think the Amity I met would ever turn down a coven?” Luz pointed out, “Or do you think it means you’ve changed?”

The witch blushed, hand on the back of her neck, embarrassed. “I mean, yeah, but.”

“Sorry, yeah, continue! Not joining a coven?”

“Yeah, so, I’ve been thinking… what if I learned another track, too?”

“You should do all of them!” Luz said enthusiastically, “It’s not that bad!”

“Luz, I don’t know a single person who can handle your workload,” Amity confessed, “I think you’re selling yourself short.”

“Eda did it!” Luz pointed out, and Amity raised an eyebrow.

“After she left school. And she’s the most powerful-” Amity said, slow and steady, and Luz sighed.

“Okay, fine,” Luz interrupted, “But then what track were you thinking?”

Amity frowned. “That’s the problem, I…” She sighed, looking upwards. “I’ve spent my whole life only doing abominations, even when I was planning to go into the Emperor’s Coven. Sticking to what mom wanted. I’ve never really… thought about it.”

“Okay, well, is there any you really don’t wan-”

“Oracle,” Amity said quickly, voice bitter. “I’m sure it’s good for something, but all it ever makes me think of is mom’s stupid amulet.”

“Alrighty, so not Oracle, that leaves seven to go.” Luz said, thinking. “Beastkeeping, yay or nay?”

Amity paused, before shaking her head. “Not to sound like that , but it’s just a bit… messy for me.”

“Six. Anything stand out or not stand out?”

“Illusions maybe, but I’m worried it’s just because my siblings are natural prodigies at it…?” Amity murmured, and Luz patted her shoulder.

“You’ll think of something, sweet potato,” Luz said, “Maybe just wait to see what calls to you? Titan knows I couldn’t decide either.”

“Mmm, yeah, I mean, that makes sense, right?” Amity explained, “You think I can do it?”

“I know you can. I know you aren’t big on me mentioning it,” Luz said, and Amity scowled at its mention, “But you were top student for a reason, Amity.”

“Yeah, because mom pushed me to be.”

“Because you are the top student,” Luz said, “Didn’t you fight Hunter? And win until he got all blackmaily?”

“Hunter?”

“Errrr, the Golden Guard.” Luz clarified, and Amity’s eyes narrowed.

“You’re on a first name basis with the Golden Guard ?” She asked, disbelief crept into her tone, and Luz laughed.

“Yeah, he’s not actually that bad.” Luz said, “That was months ago, did I never tell you about that?”

“Nope, now tell me everything.” Amity lightheartedly demanded, and Luz started recalling a story about the Palismen adoption day.

---

“Gonna be honest, King,” Eda said, scowling at the absolute mountain of paper, “I’m starting to suspect you filled this in wrong!”

“I may not be a King of Demons, but I still get nothing wrong!” King said cockily, but then he frowned, bravado faded. “Luz helped me with most of it.”

“Aah.” Eda sighed, “Well, that’s not an option here, so… Titan, I hate paperwork.”

---

“Heyyy, Camila?” Vee asked later that night, “I know I’ve been here awhile, but… But first it was me as Luz, then it was after everything and…” The basilisk wringed her hands, before looking up at Camila hopefully. “Do you mind teaching me how to cook?”

“Do you not know?” Camila startled, “What have you been eating when I’m at work?”

Vee stayed silent for a moment, and when she opened her mouth, she stalled. “Leftovers, usually. I, it’s, when I was, uh,”

Camila grabbed Vee in a tight hug. “Of course, Vee, I wish you asked sooner. Do you want to help with dinner tonight?”

“Alright!”

---

“Look at it, Amity!” Luz said proudly, holding up her new scroll, the gold and purple back shiny in all its never-used glory, the small smartphone adjacent object floating in her hand. She had already summoned and unsummoned it about a dozen times just because she could, enjoying the power rush she got from it.

“Yes, Luz, I see it,” Amity chuckled, “But you should probably actually set it up now, in case you need to refund it, no?”

“I mean, yeah, but,” Luz said, chuckling, unsummoning and summoning one more time for fun. “Anyway, yeah, I should do that.”

---

WITCHCHICK128: So, Willow, Gus? I’ve got good news!

Hello_willow: How good Amity

biggest_human_fan: i could use a pick me up today

WITCHCHICK128: Wait, did something happen?

Hello_willow: Yeah but we’ll explain later

Hello_willow: Whats the good news?

WITCHCHICK128 added TheGoodWitchLuzura to the chat.

TheGoodWitchLuzura: ✨ Behold! ✨ Me! ✨

Hello_willow: Wait you got a scroll?

biggest_human_fan: oh finally i thought it would never happen

TheGoodWitchLuzura: Yep! ✅ Amity helped me pick one out ❣️

TheGoodWitchLuzura: Now I can actually catch you guys up on things when they happen! 🎆🎆

Hello_willow: Do you normally use this many emotes, Luz?

TheGoodWitchLuzura: Nah, but new phone

biggest_human_fan: you used to be just as bad for it willow

biggest_human_fan: maybe even wor se

TheGoodWitchLuzura: I shouldve said new phone who dis dammit

Hello_willow: this*

WITCHCHICK128: Hey shes excited leave her be

Hello_willow: Amity without proper punctuation oh no

Hello_willow: But genuinely, thats great news Luz!

biggest_human_fan: yeah whats the occasion

TheGoodWitchLuzura: A lot tbh can I talk to you 2 about it in person? @ the market

Hello_willow: Good or bad news?

Hello_willow: But yeah we can be there soon

biggest_human_fan: speak for yourself willow

biggest_human_fan: but yeah we can

TheGoodWitchLuzura: Really bad but getting better?

biggest_human_fan: take your time luz well be there in a bit

WITCHCHICK128: This is a big deal. Would it kill you to use capital letters?

WITCHCHICK128: Or punctuation? Just this once?

biggest_human_fan: yes

WITCHCHICK128: Luz is laughing beside me right now

TheGoodWitchLuzura: Ill see you both soon!

---

The kitchen smelled delicious, it really did. It’s part of why Camila loved making pollo guisado, and she figured it’d be nice for Vee to learn it too.

With hints of brown sugar, sazón and adobo filling up the air, there was a rare moment of levity in the Noceda household, Camila showing Vee how to make a dish Camila knew by heart.

“You know, Vee,” Camila pointed out, “You’re really good at this, are you sure you don’t know how to cook?”

Vee blushed, going a deep blue at the praise, a sight that was becoming increasingly common. “I’m just a quick learner, I think.” She modestly replied, the end of her tail swishing side to side not unlike a dog. “It smells so good…” The basilisk murmured, eyeing the simmering pot.

“You know, mija,” Camila said, voice small, “If you’d like, no pressure, I wouldn’t mind doing this more regularly.”

“Wait, do you mean it?” Vee asked, optimism obvious in her voice.

“I mean, not every night, you’ll have school in a bit, and sometimes you’re out with your friends,” Camila clarified, “But any night you want, we can make dinner together. I’d love to teach you too.”

Vee smiled softly, staring at the floor timidly, before nodding. “Me gustaría eso, mamá,” she said softly, and while her accent when in her natural form needed work, Camila’s heart swelled with pride.

---

“Willow! Gus!” Luz cried out, running over to the edge of the market, her startled girlfriend blinking away the shock.

“Titan, you move quick,” Amity commented, and she leisurely caught up to her.

“We came as soon as we could!” Gus said eagerly.

“How was your day, you said you needed a pick-me-up,” Luz asked curiously, and the two other witches sighed.

“Long story. Flyer derby started today, we just had our first win!” Willow cheered, “We crushed them!”

“Oh, that’s awesome!!” Amity said, watching as Luz put each of her hands out for a high-five that Gus and Willow quickly returned.

“But, so, you wanted to talk to us, Luz?” Willow softly pushed, and Luz’s smile dropped, staring at the ground.

“Do you want me to do it, batata?” Amity offered, but Luz shook her head.

“Thanks, though.” The human said, before swallowing. “So, I talked to my mom, r-right?”

“Yeah, how did it go?” Gus asked, voice tentatively optimistic. “You haven’t talked about it.”

“Then don’t choose, enjoy your, your demon realm, Luz!”

“L-long story short, she… She told me to choose between her and the Boiling Isles,” Luz said, voice small and weak, and she heard Willow and Gus both gasp.

“But you’ll be able to visit at least, right?” Willow asked, voice shaky, “I don’t wanna lose you.”

“T-that’s not it…”

“Wait… will you go visit her then-” Gus started, evidently confused, but Luz squeezed her eyes, and spoke, loud and sharp.

“She kicked me out, guys.” Luz said, letting out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. “I-I told her I couldn’t choose, so she… She told me not to come back.”

“She… she what?” Gus started, and Luz noticed his fists balled, but it was noth-

“After all that!?” Willow shouted, “L-Luz, you did… What is wrong with her?”

“W-Will’, calm down,” Luz started, pointing at Willow’s feet, which were already tangled in still-growing vines. “Guys, it’s fine, though, well, I mean, it’s not–”

“Why am I surprised!?!” Gus added, “Of course!”

“What do you mean ‘of course’?” Luz asked, confusion and anger in her voice. “Tha-that’s still my mother !”

Gus looked at her, equally confused. “I know you’ve said tons of good about her, Luz, and like, I believe you, I never doubted you…” He trailed off, before adding in a soft, quiet tone so unlike his own, “But looking back on it, your worst fear was your own mother , Luz. That’s a red flag.”

There’s a heavy silence, and Luz blinks a few times.

“W-wait, do you guys think…” Luz trailed off, “What did you all think Grom was?” There was silence still, no one daring to speak, and Luz’s eyes went wide. “S-she never hurt me, you guys,”

“We never said she did!” Willow hastily added. “Just that you were scared of her.”

“I’m scared of my mom,” Amity blurted out, faint realisation in her voice, eyes distant, before wincing at the confession. “Sorry, it just hit me.” She said, voice quaking just the littlest bit.

“To be fair, Amity–” Willow started, but Luz cut her off.

“I’m not scared of her! I was just scared that… that…” Luz started, but she felt woozy, and she sank to her knees, the pavement cold and rough. “That she’d be disappointed in me again.”

Amity kneeled over, holding her girlfriend's shoulders softly while the human sat there, nervous, afraid. But she had an unspoken question that Willow thankfully asked for her.

“Again?” Willow softly prodded, eyebrow raised.

“Y-yeah, I…” Luz murmured, looking up. “She sent me to summer camp, to be more…” She took a deep breath. “To fit in more, since I was bullied a lot?”

“That’s not your fault, Luz, you helped me against Bosc–”

“No, like.” Luz interrupted, eyes foggy. “Bad. Really bad. They’d pick on me for everything, my books, my hair, my hobbies, my skin, the fact that I didn’t have any friends or the fact that I used to be a complete wimp,” She spat out, worlds tumbling out with no clear stop in sight, “And the teachers always punished me too because ‘zero tolerance is no tolerance,’ so I started acting out, and mami was struggling and I, I…” The human girl folded in on herself, sobbing, and Gus silently spun a spell circle to hide the four of them from the crowd that made up the marketplace.

There was a moment of quiet, letting Luz collect herself a little, before anyone spoke.

“Well,” Gus said with a level of finality, “Then this means you’re one of us for life, Luz.”

“Yeah,” Willow added, “I bet you’ve heard this already, but we’re still here for you.”

“U-us, us weirdos gotta stick together?” Luz asked, her words coming out in a hiccup, looking up at her friends.

“Us weirdos gotta stick together.” Amity repeated, rubbing Luz’s back softly, and for just a minute, Luz felt her crying seize, as she looked at the first real friends she made.

“I love you guys,” She said, voice cracking and hoarse. And she meant it.

---

“So, scroll shopping take your mind off things?” Eda asked, but Luz looked at the ground, her expression guilty.

“You didn’t have to,” Luz said, “You know that, right?”

“Yeah, well, you needed it–”

“I'm, I'm nearly an adult,” Luz said defensively, “You don't need to buy me gifts just becau-”

Eda snapped her fingers, and a scroll showed up in her hands. “No, you need it. Look, I'm protecting you, and Titan knows you get into scrapes.” Eda explained, “So this? Easiest way to reach you, easiest way to reach me.”

“Huh?” Luz seemed startled by the explanation, and Eda smiled.

“I said it, Luz, I’m not letting anyone hurt you.” Eda clarified, before chuckling. “And if I can’t keep you here at the Owl House where it’s mostly safe, I want you to at least have a way to reach people if you’re in danger. I should’ve done it weeks ago, honestly.”

Luz smiled weakly, before rushing over and hugging the Owl Lady tightly. “Am I doing this right? I'm not moving too fast, am I?” Eda asked gently, and Luz shook her head.

“To be honest,” Luz murmured, “It’s perfect.”

Eda just held the human tighter. “Then it’s an honour, kid.” After a moment, Eda smiled. “Now, I don’t think I’m doing this entirely right, but come sit down, tell me how your day went?”

(Luz sat that night, staring at the screen for nearly twenty minutes straight, the keypad hovering on Eda’s name. Backspace, backspace, backspace, before hitting the keys on the keyboard. Mom, the black font on a white screen stared back at her, and she softly smiled, liking the sound of that, not feeling the wrongness she expected to.)

(She was still scared to ask Eda about it for real though.)

 

 

Notes:

Ta-da!!

So, in the angst corner we have: Luz expecting Odalia to be a bigot, her experience in Brought To Me, and a breakdown in the Bonesborough Market, with fun revelations like 'Amity realising she's scared of her mother and being unable to process that yet' and 'Luz feeling all alone again' and 'Gus being a cynic at the wrong time because No One At Hexside thought it was a red flag when Luz's worst fear was her own mother??? Amity's wasn't even her mother, how did the staff (or better yet, EDA, the woman Luz seemingly on a whim chose to stay the summer with, not ask questions??, and I as the writer make it look obvious in hindsight'.

In the fluff corner we have: Raine confirmed open(ish) with Eda about the rebellion, Luz gets a scroll, Amity talks to her about multi-tracking (I've already decided her second track, any predictions?), Eda is filling out Luz-related paperwork that King and Luz did hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, Camila and Vee bonding over cooking (i dont know how to write them help). Genuinely, I don't want this story to be all doom and gloom, and while I expect it to have an upward swing (For the Future and Watching and Dreaming will be chapters that have decidedly happy notes, and the fic has a Happy Ending when its all said and done), I wanna sprinkle some fluff in. I also wanna explore some stuff, and multi-track Amity is one of those things, for plot and thematic reasons.

In the flangst...? corner: Vee reassuring Camila that Luz's second portal is taking awhile, and this comforts her, allowing fluff. When we as the viewer know that's not the case hehehe

In the writer-hating-themselves corner: god those colourful usernames were HARD dammit praise me pls

Anyway, see you all for the next chapter, Reaching Out redone, in Newest Champion!

EDIT: Just fixed some typos, mostly, and added Luz's coloured text in the chat section.

Chapter 6: Newest Champion

Summary:

The Bonesborough Brawl is underway.

Luz woke up to an alarm screaming at her, and in her chest, she felt a deep, deep feeling of dread, breathing felt hard, and she looked at her phone, the notification looking back at her exactly what she expected.

Event reminder with Mami.

Luz squeezed her eyes shut, hitting the screen with enough force she could hear the chipped glass front chip further. But the phone fell silent, and so she laid, staring at the ceiling.

I need a distraction.

---

“Kiddo, what in the Titan’s name is all this?” Eda asked, gazing at what had been a living room. Instead, it now served as some workshop, with papers everywhere, a whiteboard that Eda was ninety-nine percent sure had been in the basement, 

“I feel great!” Luz said, voice cracking and giving away that she really wasn’t, “Today's gonna be a productive day of problem solving. Look!”

Eda glanced at the papers that were now her hand–Hey, where did her apple blood go?–”’Learn every glyph combination’? ‘Complete this year’s Hexside curriculum’? ‘Figure out Philip’s plan and ruin it’?”

“Yep!!” Luz said, and Eda looked in her eyes, unable to fight back a wince. In Luz’s eyes was what Eda could only call a mix of misery and mania, but before she could speak, “I've already learned a new combo!” Grabbing one of King’s plushies, she said, almost too quick to handle, “Excuse me, Francois. I call it the safety hover!”

With a toss in the air, Francois fell, coming to a soft halt before the ground. Luz wasn’t sure how that worked, seeing as that wasn’t how terminal falls worked, but she was not going to complain. 

“Ooh, thank you Luz!” King said excitedly, “That'll work great when birds try to fly away with me!”

Eda’s eyes narrowed, trying to think of even once that had happened, but Luz gave him a solemn expression of understanding, and Eda had a sneaking suspicion she was ‘birds’.

“Alrighty, kiddo,” Eda said, sitting down next to Luz. “Spill, you’re clearly avoiding something.”

Luz’s eyes drifted, and she frowned. “T-today’s an important day for me and… her.” She said, voice quivering. “It’s nothing. Just. Emotional. First time we haven’t.” Luz said, her words short and clipped, and Eda grimaced.

“What you need is a healthy distraction, like breakfast!” King said, and Eda glared hard at her legal child. 

“Yeah…” Luz breathed softly. “Okay. I could go for a gryphon egg.”

“Well, let us know if you need anything, okay?” Eda starts, getting up, hearing Luz say something while she grabs King by the scruff of his collar.

“King!” She hissed once in the privacy of the kitchen, “A ‘healthy distraction’ is not going to help, and if anything might make Luz bottle it up more!!” King had the decency to look guilty, but Eda sighed. “Not mad, just… Watch what you say a bit mor–”

Bang!

Eda startled, hearing the wooden door of the Owl House slam shut. She blinked, once, twice, and, with one more thrown glare at King, and the words of don’t burn Hooty down quickly uttered, she placed King down and bolted after Luz.

---

“I don't even want to join a coven anymore,” Amity finished explaining, “And this thing is so embarrassing, I even tried disguising it.”

“Yeahhh, I think Eda owns that suit, actually,” Luz said, frowning.

“The Bonesborough Brawl is the one cool thing my dad did before joining the abomination coven,” Amity said, and Luz nearly flinched, not that she knew why, “It would've been nice to share something with him.”

That’s why.

Her gaze unfocused, for just a second, before it snapped back, and she smiled at Amity.

“I get that, sweet potato.” Luz pointed out, and Amity looked at her. “I actually got into Azura because of my dad.”

“You did?” Amity asked, surprise in her voice, before her eyebrows lifted gently. “Wait, have you ever told me anything about your dad?”

“He-He’s not around much,” Luz lied, “But that’s why I get ya, I can help you win the Brawl,” She said enthusiastically, “And then your dad will see it and he’ll be really proud of you!”

Amity looked like she was going to say something, but bit her tongue. “Thanks, Luz.”

---

It wasn’t actually that bad to sit in the audience, Luz realised, and so as the announcer gave a resounding call to the crowd that had gathered, she eagerly stood by, watching Amity in the arena.

“You know the rules!” The announcer said, “Contestants will fight one-on-one. Not for honour, not for glory, but for the ultimate bragging rights as the toughest dueler on the Boiling Isles!”

Luz tuned out the announcer’s spiel, and instead watched Amity eagerly get up to the arena, decked out in two concealment stones. As the announcer cried to let the battle begin, abomination fluid swirling at Amity’s beck and call to combat ‘Scab the All-Knowing’ and his attack, and the human couldn’t help be left alone with her thoughts.

Wow! Amity’s got this in the bag, Luz couldn’t help but, eyes drooping. Guess I… don’t need to do much. The human stared, watching her girlfriend fight like her life depended on it, unable to control the blush that filled her face.

She doesn’t need me either, Luz pondered, before shaking her head. Nope, not thinking that. How was she going to help Amit-

Abruptly, she broke out in a run, praying she’d be fast enough to see the finale.

---

Luz Noceda wouldn’t deny how fancy and pristine the Blight estate was. Alador Blight wouldn’t deny that he, by virtue of fact one, didn’t accidentally match the overall cleanliness of his estate.

“Mr. Blight,” Luz said eagerly to the engineer, who stared at her blankly. “I want to talk to you.”

“...We’ve met.” Alador said, realisation finally in his voice, and Luz almost wanted to scream. After a moment though, the engineer piped up again, “You’re… Edalyn’s kid, right?”

Luz paused, thinking. Maybe if Alador had asked this when they first met, she’d have denied it, Eda was just her mentor after all. But then she actually thought about it, Eda teaching her magic and Boiling Isles culture, the adventures they had gone on. Eda had been nothing but supportive, and not once did Luz ever think it was going to run out. She hadn’t thought that before, either, but when push came to shove, Eda had stayed.

“Yeah, I am,” She replied, hoping her response hadn’t taken too long. Alador merely nodded thought, so either she was quicker than it felt, or the abomination witch didn’t notice the lengthy pause. “And I want to talk to you about Amity.”

“Did she do well at the tryouts?” Alador asked, with the casualness of asking for tea, while he fiddled with the hardware in front of him.

“She- She’s not going,” Luz said, and Alador froze like a deer in headlights.

“What do you mean, she’s not going?” Alador asked, voice filled with concern. “Did something happen? We are talking about my daughter, Amity,” Alador confirmed, “And not an unrelated Amity?”

“Yes, your daughter,” Luz snapped, “Surely you see how distant you two are, and she’s, she’s trying to follow in your footsteps.”

Alador’s eyes narrowed. “What is today, other than the tryouts?”

“The Bonesborough Brawl,” Luz said, and Alador’s eyes widened. “And you’re going to see your daughter win.”

---

The ride there was startlingly quiet. Alador had a Palismen, which was somewhat miraculous, and the ride was dead silent, both still and focusing on nothing more than leaving Blight Manor and arriving to the Brawl.

At least, it was quiet until it wasn’t. As they reached the ground, there’s this tentative silence, Amity is being seen weaving abomination fluid against some opponent. Luz turns to see Alador’s eyes, indecipherable emotions flitting by, but the one it rests on is resignation.

“Stop!” He yells, and Luz halts, shock in her eyes. “This child forfeits the match!”

There’s a pause, and Amity looks at Alador first, an expression not unlike Alador’s own in her eyes, before her gaze drifts to Luz.

“Luz!?” Amity snapped, face red with anger and hurt in her voice, “W-what, did you bring my dad here?”

Luz was still dumbstruck, before coming to half-alertness, “What? No, she doesn’t forfei-Amity?”

“Did you actually get my dad?”

“I told you, he’d see—” Luz stammered, “He’d see you win!”

“Luz, I trusted you,” Amity murmured, “You were acting weirder than usual this morning, now I'm in trouble, what’s wrong?”

“I…” Luz started, words failing.

“I'm tired of standing around!” Wrath interrupted, “I came here to fight!”

Luz glared at him, but an idea crossed her mind. Before any Blight could move, or speak a word, Luz took a step. “And I’m ready!” She yelled, reaching for glyphs in her pockets.

Wrath grumbled, all while Amity looked at her sceptically, confusion in her words. “What are you doing, L–”

“If I beat Wrath, and you beat me,” Luz explained, “You’re the champion, right?”

Amity’s face tinted redder, but a worried expression crossed over her face. “Luz, you don’—”

“Mittens, get the twins. We’re going home.”

“But dad!”

But the words faded in Luz’s background, as she took her march up the arena, feeling inside her pockets. She had only ten or so glyphs, which would hopefully be enough to stop Wrath.

The announcer looked at Luz, clear nervousness on his face, but he shrugged.

“Now, for the final battle,” He spoke to the crowd, “The Warden versus…”

“The Good Witch Luzura!” The human confidently said.

“The Good Witch Luzura,” The announcer repeated, “Let the brawl… begin !”

Luz broke out in a run immediately, yanking out a glyph and with a moment of pause to see the symbol, she slammed the plant glyph into the ground, watching the vines shoot upwards, and Luz grabbed one as it accelerated, feeling herself fly into the air from the growing mass. With a jump, she landed on Wrath’s back, his arms twisting, reaching helplessly behind him.

With a smirk, Luz slammed an ice glyph on her combatant, and with a second jump, she set it off, watching a block of cold ice encase his shoulders.

Wrath screamed, but to Luz’s surprise, the warden was able to break off the ice block, and she paled. Wrath bellowed a burst of fire, and Luz dived to the side, reaching for a glyph, grabbing her invisibility glyph.

With a breath held, she vanished, and Wrath stared at the spot where she was. With a growl, he swung his tentacle arms in a wide motion, and Luz fell to the ground just to his left, gasping as she hit the ground.

“Luz, what are you doing?” She heard Eda’s voice from a distance, but she had to push. She rolled, narrowly dodging a heavy smash of Wrath’s punch, and a burst of fire that trailed it. She skidded to a stop, throwing another ice glyph, this time to block a wall of flame thrown her way. She frowned, and with her last invisibility glyph, she darted as fast she could towards Wrath, praying he didn’t see her.

She slammed down a plant glyph, and while she regretted how close it was to her, feeling it narrowly clip her left arm, Wrath liked it less, staggering back as the thorny vine whipped his face at extraordinarily quick speed.

“Get her out, she’s human ,” Eda yelled, and Luz felt her vision cloud with stubbornness. I can fend for myself, she thought. With a grimace, clutching her side, she glared at the demon she was battling, and searched her tunic for a spare glyph—

Well, she found one.

With a loud victory cry, Luz took a run, diving to the ground as she slammed a fire glyph on the floor of the arena, intending to roll asi–She felt herself be stopped by a pain-blinded Wrath, who staggered unaware of the glyph, and Luz had just enough time to realise how bad it was about to be before it happened.

Then Wrath picked her up, her hand leaving the glyph's surface, and at that, the fire glyph went off.

And Luz’s vision cut to searing hot white, and then into cold, unshifting black.

---

When Luz wakes up, she can’t help but hear a ringing that for the briefest of seconds reminds her of the hospital. But as she blinked away the sleep, dark spots on the edge of her vision, instead, it gave way to a hot pain in her left arm, leg, and torso. She looked up, groggily, at Amity and, of all people, Emira Blight.

As her gaze focused, the words of her loved ones fading from the haze, she could see pink blossom flowers fluttering from the sky.

“W-where am I?” Luz groaned, voice dry and scorched, wincing from the words.

“Hold on, lemme finish,” Emira said, a dark blue spell circle swirling around her fingertips, and Luz felt a bit more of the pain wash away. Amity stared at her sister’s spellcasting for a moment, before looking at Luz.

“Where’s mom?” Luz asked, throat less raw and the term of endearment slipping by without her notice, and Amity’s eyes softened.

“She’s…” Amity paused, “Wrath’s not going to mess with you again.”

Luz snorted, and instantly regretted it, feeling her whole body tense and ache.

“Can you not heal her faster?” Amity growled at Emira, and her older sister glared.

With the last spell circle, Luz craned her head softly, blinking away tears of pain she hadn’t even noticed forming.

“Feeling better?” Her healer asked, and Luz weakly nodded, and Emira smirked. “Alrighty, I’m a healer, but not a third-wheel.” At their red faces, Emira gave a sharp laugh. “Anyway, off to talk to dad. It’s my turn,” The twin said, her gaze darkening.

“Her turn?” Luz asked, and Amity’s face shifted from one of nerves to mild frustration.

“Me and Edric have both given dad a piece of our mind,” Amity said, but her expression softened, “But I think he actually gets it, and I think…” She hugged Luz a bit tighter. “Thanks. You helped, and I’m sorry for snapping.”

“Nah, you were right,” Luz commented, “I was kinda getting in the way.”

Amity’s glare made Luz shrink. “You don’t ‘get in the way’, Luz,” Amity said, her voice softer than her expression, “I just, you need to stop being reckless, please.”

“I cost you your belt, sweet potato.” Luz pointed out, and Amity looked at her.

“Luz, it’s just a belt, you could have gotten hurt, or, or,” Amity started, voice choking up. “I can’t lose you, Luz, but if you keep bottling things up and jumping into stuff like this, you’re gonna get hurt. So please. Tell me, what’s wrong?”

Luz is quiet for a moment, and she weakly speaks, barely audible under the rustling of the leaves, “It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing, Luz,” Amity said, and she bit her tongue. “Y-you tried to fight Wrath just to ignore it, what if you died, Luz…?”

“It’s not…” Luz started, but she looked out at the water. “It’s not that.”

“Then what is it?” Amity asked, and Luz sighed.

“My dad.” Luz murmured softly. “I’ve only ever talked about my mom, because. Today’s the…”

“Take your time, Luz,” Amity reminded her, and the human nodded.

“He passed away when I was seven,” Luz explained, and Amity felt her heart stop for just a second, left wondering for a moment and a half about how her childhood would hav been different without her dad. “He passed away, and it was this day, and every year, me and my…”

Luz’s words faltered abruptly.

“And your mom?” Amity urged, and Luz nodded timidly.

“Me and Camila ,” Luz continued, the first name still clearly not natural for the human to use, “Every year, we pick flowers and we… we visit him. But this year… Like, I was seven ,” Luz emphasised, with the saddest chuckle Amity had ever heard, “Forever ago, it’s not… important…”

Amity held Luz tighter, and the human girl’s chest heaved as she started crying.

“He always brought us flowers on our birthdays, Ami,” Luz said, “So after he passed away, me and mami would keep d-doing it, and we would bring him f-flowers, but this year, I…” She leaned away, and wiped her eyes, the palms of her hands rubbing into her eyes, and when she pulled them away, her eyes were red, her face flushed from emotion. “I can’t visit him.”

Amity paused, and Luz leaned into her. “And here I’ve been going on about my dad all day,”

“I-it’s fine, sweet potato,” Luz stammered, “I just… I get it, wanting something close to him.” She gave a weak laugh, “My dad gave me the first Azura book, the day before he…”

Amity stared at Luz, before turning to gaze into the boiling sea. “I don’t know what rituals you have in the human realm, but we can still pick flowers, Luz, and do someth-.”

“No, Amity,” Luz said, voice shaky, “ I can’t visit him, I can’t, I—” She choked, a sob rent from her, wincing from the motion, and Amity took the healing patch and applied it to Luz’s leg, and the girl sobbed on her lap, Amity running a soft hand through the girl’s hair, the longest Amity had ever seen it.

After a bit, Luz collected herself enough to continue, “I can’t, Amity, even I had a portal and flowers and…” Her voice caught again, but Luz swallowed, “I-I’m not… If mam- Camil-” The girl paused, looking up at the sky, taking a deep shuddering breath, “It’s a family thing, Amity, and I’m not…”

Amity’s heart broke, and she held Luz tighter. “Luz, you’re allowed to grieve, for Titan’s sake,” The witch said, stroking Luz’s hair. “He’s still your dad if you want him to be.”

Luz made a small whimper that sounded pained, and Amity nodded. “It’s allowed, batata, and I’m sure he loves you still.”

Luz wordlessly held Amity tightly, wincing through pain again, and Amity gave the girl a kiss on the forehead. “I-if it’s not flowers, can we still do something?” The human eventually asked, voice but a shadow of her normal excitement.

“Absolutely, Luz.” Amity replied, “Anything in mind?”

Luz paused, the air around them silent if not for the rustle of leaves. “He gave me Azura.” She said softly, and Amity nodded, catching on.

“Do you want to read it in the hideout tomorrow?” Amity asked gently, trying to keep her tone as soft as possible. Luz nodded weakly.

“We keep planning to anyway.”

“We do, don’t we?”

There’s silence.

“He was like me,” Luz admitted, “Head in the clouds. Camila pulled both of us down to earth when we needed it.”

“I would’ve loved to meet him.” Amity said, surprised at how genuine her words were. “And I know that he’d be proud of you, Luz.”

Luz murmured incoherently, voice soft, as she rested in head in Amity’s lap, unable to fight back the exhaustion.

“Rest, Luz.” Amity said gently, “When you wake up we can pick some flowers for him, and tomorrow we’ll read.”

Luz liked how that sounded, and soon after, she fell asleep, a soft wind underlining the warmth she didn’t realise she had been missing.

---

“Hey, Manny,” Vee spoke softly, and Camila watched with a soft smile. “Y-you don’t know me, but Camila, uh… She adopted me, and things are rough but she wanted me to be here.”

“I don’t know you, but. I know Camila and I know Luz, and they’re both amazing. And everything I’ve heard about you, I think you’re amazing too. I don’t really… have anything else to say, but I wanted to meet you.”

“You did good, cariño.” Camila offered softly, and Vee glowed under the praise, and wordlessly, she nodded, stepping a bit aside so Camila could have some privacy.

Camila laid the flowers her hand softly on the cold ground, wishing that it would feel like the middle of August. Alas, clouds had rolled in, and Camila would be lucky if she didn’t get caught in the rain.

“Hola, tesoro,” Camila murmured softly, “I miss you. Always, I miss you, con todo mi corazón.” She paused, looking up at the sky. “Luz does too. She’s… it’s a wild story, Manny, you’d love it, witches and magic and covens. Dios, ella es tu hija.”

She paused, looking down at her feet. “I made a mistake, Manny, el peor error de mi vida.” She bit her tongue, “And you wouldn’t forgive me if I told you, and I’m not strong enough to tell you. But if you’re really watching, y dios, I hope you are, Manny… I’ll fix it. I swear.”

“A través de los vientos solares.” She murmured, the sentence echoing through the empty graveyard, the other half never to be heard. Camila rubbed the tears from her eyes, and she took her leave, quiet, praying that Luz would be by her side next time.

The rain came in mere minutes after she left.

 

 

Notes:

Gods this took me so long to write, glad it's done. I like Reaching Out, but it's sorta a meh episode to me, so couple that with needing to reinvent it to avoid treading canon, and having to account for Luz's shaky mental state, this one was a challenge. As it is, don't like the number of horizontal lines, but whatever. Unlike usually, where I have about 2K words in end notes alone, I'm actually sorta neutral for once. I hope you all enjoyed!

(Knowing me though, I'll come back and edit it later to make it bigger.)

EDIT 1: Actually, yeah, by the way, sorry for the bait-and-switch title hehe, Newest Champion sounded cooler than Nearly Champion.

As with last chapter, friendly reminder that Amity's considering a second track: this is your last chance to guess which one, however.

See you all next chapter for Different Worlds, the last chapter before Hollow Mind.

Chapter 7: Different Worlds

Summary:

Luz and Amity talk about the past and future. Camila and Vee have eventful days. Eda does something she should've a long time ago.

Notes:

Content warning: Luz discusses the human realm's racism, homophobia, and transphobia.

It was a rather regular Tuesday afternoon, albeit the one after the morbid anniversary the Nocedas celebrated, and Vee had just arrived at the Noceda residence when her phone went off.

“Masha wants to hang out with me, bit last minute, but is that oka–” Vee started, and Camila nodded.

“Always, Vee.” Camila said gently, “Have fun, text me if you need a ride.”

“Thanks, mama,” The basilisk said, tendons twisting into a human disguise, a spring in her step as her human foot hit the ground in a run, “See you tonight!”

“Hasta luego, mija!” Camila called after her, and with a thud, the door was closed.

Camila paused. She had gotten used to Vee’s noise when she was home, and already, merely a few seconds after she left, the silence was getting to her.

She considered playing her music on her cellphone, but a part of her was scared to do that, on the off chance that Luz tried to get her attention through the glass again. So instead, she focused on her food, a sancocho that would take some time. She sat in the silence, thinking, and, against her better judgement, she walked into the basement, opening the closet that rested there for the first time in awhile. Sitting there, were boxes that she had not seen in forever.

She leafed through one of them, pulling out a hardback cover, and she looked at the shiny front. The first Cosmic Frontier novel. Carrying the book and its laminated cover upstairs, she closed her eyes for a moment, fond memories flashing in her head.

To Luz, Azura had been… maybe not everything, but definitely major. How could it not, Camila supposed, especially knowing what she did now. And in many ways, Azura was to Luz what Cosmic Frontier had been to her.

Would be to her again, Camila supposed. As she sat, the dog-eared pages of her novel open wide, unable to fight the small grin that formed, she realised she had never told Luz about this series, and a small part of her already felt the urge to, what did Luz call it, infodump?

When Vee came home that evening, weirdly relaxed, it was to Camila sitting on the couch, a book she had never seen before in her hands. Camila didn’t even move to hide it.

---

It was calm and quiet in the Bonesborough Library, and Luz and Amity were sitting in the comfortable silence of her hidden alcove in the romance. The couple was snuggled into a beanbag, the dog eared copy of the first The Good Witch Azura book, Luz’s copy, rested between them.

There they sat, quietly reading the first few chapters of the book, taking turns reading sections, doing voices, and there was a moment of weirdly-tense levity. Amity couldn’t deny, she liked Luz’s copy more. It felt more personal than her own pristine copy.

But part of Amity was curious about Luz’s more personal history.

“So, Luz,” Amity asked after chapter three, voice gentle and faint, “I know you don’t talk about the Human Realm much, but…” Her voice faded. “But can I ask what was it like?”

“...why do you want to know?” Luz asked, confusion in her chest, “I’m not going back, Amity.”

“I know you’re not, but.” The abomination witch explained, “But it’s still a part of your life, and I… I want to know more about your life.”

Luz paused, a small smile on her face. “The grass is green,” Luz started with, basking in Amity’s baffled expression. “The water’s cold,” Luz added, and this time Amity just looked at Luz with disbelief.

“We have cold water too,” Amity tried to defend, but Luz shook her head.

“No, like, the rain back there is frigid, the plants love it usually.” Luz said, but Amity raised an eyebrow.

“Only usually?”

“Sometimes it's cold enough to put plants into shock,” Luz said, mostly certain that was right. Maybe not in Gravesfield as much, but definitely some places.

Amity stared. “Ice cold rain,” the witch eventually whispered, as though the idea was sacrilegious.

“A lot of palismen tend to resemble animals back home too?” Luz added. “Like, do you know what a cardinal is?” Amity shook her head. “Little red bird, sometimes they've got black stripes.”

“...like that one that followed you and the Golden Guard?” Amity asked, obvious confusion.

“Exactly!” Luz exclaimed, “In fact, Gwen’s palisman is called a hawk, and yours is called a cat.”

Amity’s eye went wide, and she turned to face Ghost, who sat curled up next to the two. Amity softly pet her palisman, the word cat coming off her tongue in various inflections and tones.

“Almost all the Palismen I've seen are Earth animals. Willow’s a bumblebee, Gus has a chameleon.” Luz rattled off, confusion in her tone. “It almost makes me wonder if some human-obsessed carver was the one who carved all of them.”

“I know where Ghost comes from,” Amity offered, “She was carved for my great-great-grandmother by…” She paused, racking for the name. “Evelyn Clawthorne, back when the name wasn't…”

Luz raised an eyebrow. “Don't talk bad about Eda’s family.”

“Well, Eda and Lilith are both wild witches now, imagine my mom paying Eda to carve a palisman.” Amity defended, and Luz snickered. “But I love Ghost. Maybe the Clawthornes knew human realm stuff?”

“Like me!” Luz said with a smile.

“What about places back in the human realm?” Amity asked, and Luz paused to think about it.

“Well, uh, there's. It's realllllly big. So, think of the Titan. It's big, right?”

“Obviously?” Amity asked, confusion apparent.

“My old home, Connecticut, is bigger.” Luz said, the familiar name sounding awkward in her mouth. Amity looks gobsmacked.

“How much bigger?” Amity asked, and Luz titled her head.

“Eight of the Titan?”

The witch stared.

“And there's fifty Connecticuts in the country, which we call the United States.” Luz added, smirking at the increasing horror in Amity’s expression. “Some are smaller, but some are bigger!”

“And so, the United…”

“United States.”

“United States,” Amity repeated, “Those are your Boiling Isles?”

Luz grinned widely, debating if she wanted to drop this now.

Oh, whatever.

“There's about two hundred United States?” Luz said, and Amity’s expression shifted from horror to downright fear. “Some are smaller than the Titan, but there's like five or six bigger than the United States.”

There's a pause on Amity’s end, before she scrunched her face. “Is that, what, four hundred Titans in your United place alone, and it's not even the biggest? ” Luz grinned. “Are you messing with me?”

“Could I even make this up?” Luz asked, half-joking, and Amity nodded.

“Yes, you’ve got a great imagination, batata,” Amity said, smiling, “But Titan, that’s… Wow. What about the people?”

Luz paled for a second, before shaking her head before Amity noticed. “We’ve done a lot. Wanna hear something I can barely believe? We sent a man to the moon.”

Amity gasped. “You’re making that one up!” She accused, but Luz chuckled.

“His name was Neil Armstrong. We did it about sixty years ago?” Luz continued, “And now there’s people trying to reach other planets.”

Amity froze, staring up at the little star stickers she and Luz had clung to the ceiling once. “You’ve gone to the moon? Like, the, the rock in the sky?” Luz nodded, but Amity noticed the slight frown on Luz’s face. “Is something wrong? You suddenly seem a lot more down.”

“Just…” Luz’s voice was small, and she took a deep breath, “I like the human realm, but I don’t really like humans, you know?”

“You’re human,” Amity pointed out, and to her shock, Luz nodded slowly.

“I know.” Luz admitted, “It’s just… Humans and me never got along, really?”

“What do you mean, Luz?” Amity asked, voice faint.

“I’ve never told any of you this, but I didn’t have any friends back in the human realm.” Luz sighed, brushing her hand across the soft carpet of the hideout.

“You… you said that, the day after… everything with the portal.” Amity reminded her, “And it’s their loss, why wouldn’t they stay friends wit–”

“No, like, I didn’t ,” Luz cut her off, the slightest almost-imperceptible edge to her voice, “Willow was my first friend, ever .”

Amity froze. At first, she had assumed Luz had friends, but it was moving that ruined that, or they’d fallen out, or perhaps the aftermath of the book report that Luz had recounted that Amity honestly wished she could’ve seen first-hand. That Luz—

“Willow Park ?” Amity’s mouth moved, and she instantly cursed herself for the asinine question, before doubling back to her real point, “That doesn’t- How?”

“What do you mean, ‘how’?” There wasn’t any bite this time, just… Amity’s heart twisted, realising it was resignation in the human’s tone.

“You’re incredible, Luz, you, you made friends with Willow and Gus, you melted Eda and Lilith’s heart, our principal cried when you got expelled.” Amity said, before vaguely pointing at herself. “Just, what about me? You see how you made my life better, right? You’re the best thing to ever happen to me, Luz.”

The human was quiet.

“What’s their problem?” Amity asked, and Luz snorted from the bluntness of the question.

“It’s just all the regular stuff?” Luz said, “Just dialled up to eleven?” Amity’s expression was lost though, so Luz kept going. “Racism, being the weird kid or the poor kid, I made the mista-”

“Sorry, what is that?” Amity interrupted, “You used that word about Belos, too.”

“Which word?” Luz said, pausing with a weird look, before it dawned on her. “Oh, uh. In the human realm, I—” The girl froze, and with what was a truly miserable smile, Luz coughed out a laugh, “Of course you all don’t have it here, it’s perfect here.”

“Luz?”

“Y-your skin’s pale,” Luz asked, and Amity nodded, completely clueless. “And mine isn’t, right?” Another nod. “I- It's not a lot of Gravesfield, but some people seem to think that means you’re just… better than me.”

Amity stared, and it took her self-control not to comment harshly on Luz’s home world. “That, that makes no sense?” She said, confusion across her features, and Luz’s gaze darkened, and Amity felt something catch in her throat.

“It used to be really bad.” Luz said, and Amity bit her tongue on the question of ‘how is that not bad?’

“Titan, Luz,” Amity murmured instead, “That’s… And they bullied you for that?”

“It wasn't as bad as some places, but it wasn't like the staff actually stopped it, and. And then I started feeling lonely, so I let myself be creative or whatever at school, or get teased for my interests. My mom tried to help but… but instead I ended up hearing on the Boiling Isles.” Luz went on, and Amity frowned.

“I actually…” Amity dug through her bag, and pulled out a crumpled pamphlet. “I found this, a few weeks ago. Didn’t want to bring it up if you weren’t ready, but, is this where your mom tried to send you for the bullying?” Amity was not exactly thrilled with the camp, but she bit her tongue, because she knew that would not help Luz right now.

Luz nodded weakly, “Yeah. Maybe if I had my goals more grounded, I’d be bullied less.” She said, frowning. “Wouldn’t matter, really. Made the huge mistake of telling Clara I liked her and I don’t think I’d ever live it down if I had stayed.”

Amity bristled at the mention of this Clara, but kept her voice still. “Why was it a mistake?” She asked, picturing someone like Boscha. If Boscha didn’t like you, she would absolutely tease you over an unrequited crush.

Luz’s eyes were glazed a little, and she blinked them, misty and teary-eyed. “Do- Do people on the Boiling Isles get picked on for… liking someone of the same gender?”

Amity froze, trying to think. “No one’s… no, I don’t think so? Did that happen?”

Luz frowned, “Yeah, a lot. It’s… The human realm isn’t super accepting of different.”

“Different from what, though?”

“A guy and a girl. Everything else was seen as illegal for… for a long time.” Amity looked horrified , but Luz was abruptly on a roll, “And I, I’m bi, I like guys or girls, but so Clara started bullying me and the human realm has never been accepting, bi people, trans people—errr, that’s people who are a different gender than the one they were assigned at birth,” Amity’s chest felt tight, abruptly, and Luz kept going, “Like Raine, and I- It’s illegal in a lot of places, it’s considered wrong, and a lot of parents don’t even let their kids transition and… I’m realising, I’ve never seen that here.”

Amity paused, the idea of Odalia having even more control over her than she already did tugging at her chest, unable to hide her wince. “No, it’s–It’s not, never anything, anything like that.” Amity said, voice shaky. “Could you see yourself dating one of those people? The, uh, different gender ones?”

“Trans people?” Luz started, and Amity nodded. “I’ve already got the world’s greatest girlfriend, but if you told me you were trans, I’d still date you, because you’re my Amity.” Luz said, before adding, “Well, I guess it wouldn’t be Amity, it’d be, whatever name you pick–”

“Amity.” The witch said, and Luz froze, looking up. “I chose Amity.”

Luz’s eyes widened in recognition, and she smiled. “I’m still gonna date you, Amity Blight, because who wouldn’t want to date the most beautiful girl the world’s ever seen?”

“I can’t think of a reason not to,” Amity said, smiling back, “Which is why I’m dating you .”

There’s a moment of soft giggling, before Amity speaks up.

“I’ll be honest, Luz,” Amity said, her voice faint, “I don’t think I like the human realm that much, and I know it’s not ideal, and I know, like, it’s…” The witch took a deep breath, and Luz looked at her, breath held. “I’m glad you’re here , that you’re staying.”

“........me too, Amity.” Luz said after a moment, the words surprising herself, voice soft and gentle. “Me too.” There’s silence for a while, and then out of the blue, Luz speaks up again. “Wanna get back to the story?”

“I think so, yeah.” Amity said gently, before clearing her throat. “Ahem, Chapter Four, A World Apart …”

---

“Hey, thanks Luz, for coming on such short notice,” Masha said, voice soft, running their hand through their hand. “It means a lot.”

“It’s no biggie,” Vee said, scratching her neck nervously. “You said there was an emergency?”

“Yeah, so, you know how Hopkins finally got arrested, right?” Masha said, and Vee nodded. It had come to her relief to hear that Jacob was arrested, something that Masha had been stoked over for different reasons.

‘For a town with this rich a paranormal history,’ Masha had said to her once, ‘We need someone with their head screwed on right running the historical society.’

“Yeah, I know.” Vee said, “How’s it going running the place, now?”

Masha stared at the ground. “Luz, we’re friends, right?”

“W-what?” Vee stammered, shocked, “Of course. Cabin seven.”

“No, not cabin seven,” Masha corrected, “You and me.” Neither them or Vee knew quite what they had, but it wasn’t a cabin seven thing. “Right?”

“Always.” Vee said, and Masha frowned.

“Jacob left behind nearly twenty-two VHS tapes.” Masha said, and their voice broke into a ramble, “And really, who uses VHS nowadays, it degrades so easily, especially in the backroom, the humidity is wild back there, but–”

“Masha, you’re stalling.”

“Luz.” Masha said sharply, “I saw his camera tapes.” Vee’s skin paled, and Masha bit their tongue. “What are you?”

Vee was silent. “C-can we go to the society building?”

“Only if you want,” Masha said, but it was clear from their tone they wanted that. And maybe it was stupidity on Vee’s part to trust the head of the historical society to lead her to the back a second time, but she trusted Masha.

The walk there was painfully quiet, and Vee felt like she was holding her breath almost the whole time. Being led into the back room, Vee was shocked at the difference.

The room was clean now, most of Jacob’s paranormal stuff was gone, except for a box full of VHS tapes.

“I thought you said the humidity back here was bad.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not keeping them.” Masha described, and Vee froze. “I just want answers, Luz.”

Vee stood still, breathing deeply, and then, in a twist of scales and sinew, her body warped from the Luz image to her own natural appearance. Masha stood in shock, and they were slightly aware they should be running in fear. But they trusted Vee.

“Nice to meet you again, Mas’.” Vee said, while her best friend stared with wide eyes. “My name’s Vee. Vee Noceda.”

---

“I think I know what track I’m going into,” Amity said at one point, after the chapter about Azura healing Hecate’s wounds, and Luz shifted excitedly, eyes wide.

“Wait, really?!” The human exclaimed, smile on her face, “Is it bard, I bet it’s—”

“Healing,” Amity interrupted, before adding, “Bard was my first idea though.”

“Wait, for real? That’s awesome, sweet potato!!”

“Thanks,” Amity said, voice showing her lack of confidence, “I won’t lie I’m definitely more than a little nervous about a new track…”

“Oh, you can handle it, Amity, I know it,” Luz said, hugging Amity tightly. “What was your reasoning?”

Amity sighed, looking up at the ceiling of the little hideout. “I was considering doing the bard track, I wanted to when I was little, but… but I want to protect people. You, the twins, Willow, even my dad.” Amity explained, voice soft but also a little on edge. “I-I’m scared to lose any of you, and Emira won’t always be there for me.”

“Amity…” Luz murmured, holding the witch tight.

“So, healing. Bard would be fun, I think creating things other than abominations would be really cool,” Amity said, eagerness in her voice, “But healing means something to me.”

“I think you’ll be a wonderful healer, you know.” Luz said, and she smirked. “And hey, bard track will be there next year, and really, I’d be surprised if you can’t do it.” She said, hugging Amity tightly.

“Luz, two tracks is already a lot,” Amity pointed out, and Luz giggled.

“Yeah, but you’re Amity.” Luz said simply, “If anyone could do three tracks, it’s you.”

“You’re doing all of them!” Amity pointed out, and Luz cocked her head to the side with a grin.

“Which means you’re smart enough not to make yourself as busy as me.” Luz teased, and Amity’s face went red.

“Luuuuuuz….” Amity groaned, and the two girls laid back, the beanbag in the secret hideout being a soft cushion.

“Just saying it like it is, batata,” Luz commented, grin on her face, and her breathing was calm and easy, the words rattling in her head.

I’m glad you’re here, that you’re staying.

Me too, Amity.

---

Amity and Luz were walking to the Owl House that evening, hand in hand, when Luz abruptly stopped walking. “Hey, sweet potato?” Amity turned “When did you say Ghost was carved?”

“Sixteen hundreds,” Amity stated, confusion on her face. “How come, you all good?”

“Yeah,” Luz said absently, “I just think I realised something.”

“Good or bad realisation?” Amity asked tentatively, and Luz shrugged.

“I’m going to go to the Night Market next week and see what I can find.” Luz said ominously, “Do you wanna come with me?”

Amity frowned, “I’d like to, but I can’t, Luz,” she explained, “I can’t risk my mom finding out I was at the Night Market. Sorry, batata.”

Luz shrugged, “It’s all good. See you in class, Ami!” She said, kissing her girlfriend on the cheek, a small spring in her step.

Stepping back into the Owl House, Luz was somewhat startled by the sight of Eda pacing, hands slightly sharp with claws, looking stressed and nervous more than Luz could ever remember.

“Luz, you’re back, finally!” Eda said excitedly, “I wanted to talk to you about, uh.” She paused, looking at the floor with an anxious chuckle, “I wanted to talk about how you’ve been staying here.”

There was a ringing noise suddenly, that Luz was mostly sure only she could hear.

“That came out awful,” Eda stammered, “Oh Titan, that was terrible, I’m sorry, but. Look, kid,” Eda started, looking uncharacteristically nervous. Luz couldn’t deny the fear creeping in at Eda’s expression. “There’s- There’s no easy way to say this.”

“Eda, what’s wrong?” Luz asked, concern apparent in her voice.

“I have been planning this all day, okay,” Eda took a deep breath, eyes closed, and she looked at Luz semi-confidently. “I, I messed up with King a lot,” Eda rambled, wringing her hands, “And so, like, I might be moving fast, might be too slow and the window went by, but–”

“Eda?” Luz asked, voice raised, bracing for the worst, already her mind drifting to solutions. Maybe I can stay at Willow’s for a bit? Or maybe Amity’s hideout in the library?

“I—” Eda started, before reaching into her hair and pulling out a huge stack of papers. “If this is too much too quick, we can have a bonfire. We can do one anyway, but not with this. Unless you’d- Here.” Eda said, shoving the stack of paper into Luz’s hands, and her heart promptly stopped. Is this…?

“Your call, all it needs is a signature.” Eda finished, “But, uh, surprise, you’re maybe adopted?”

Staring back at her, in clean print, it was all filled out, and Luz felt her breath hitch. A change of name , proper Boiling Isles documentation, and it bore a hole in Luz’s eyes, and she turned her head, blinking away tears. She tried to speak, but the words wouldn’t come out.

“N-no, that’s a no,” Eda said, unable to keep the dejection out of her voice, her expression shaky, and she started chewing her wobbly bottom lip, “If it’s a no, bonfire it is—”

“Yes. It’s a yes.” Luz interrupted, her voice cracking, a smile on her face, “Can I- I need a pen.”

Eda faltered, her expression shifting from a miserable one to one that even a stranger would recognize as the happiest of Eda’s life. She grabbed a pen from the table, and Luz kneeled over so she could rest the stack of paper on the table surface.

Gripping the pen tightly, she rubbed away the tears with her palm. Staring at the thin line on the paper, she wrote her name, neat and tidy.

Luz Clawthorne stared back at her.

---

“Rainestorm,” Eda murmured much later, wiping her eyes still red from happy crying, staring at the letter in her hand, “This is reckless, insane, even for me.” She glanced at the document further, reading it through a second time. “But yeah, I know how to cast it.”

The twee little abomination had the decency to look guilty, and it shrugged.

“Look, you three go in there, find what you need, and get out.” Eda clarified, “And you leave my kid out of it. I don’t want her in there.”

The abomination started moving erratically, as if cutting her off.

“No, listen here, Daemonne, you can shove it,” Eda snapped, voice raised a smidge, “Luz has been through enough, I don’t care if you want a human guide. I’ll help, but you keep Luz out of it. If not, you can wait for Kikimora to get to the Isles for whatever important she claims to have. Clear?”

The abomination stared her down, and Eda snarled, throwing a well-aimed kick at the abomination, and it splattered across the yard, the little mass it had flying askew.

“Mindscapes, huh?” The witch breathed softly, staring at the starry sky. “It’s one way to get answers, I guess.”

 

Notes:

IT'S OFFICIAL, LUZ CLAWTHORNE GIVE IT UP FOR LUZ CLAWTHORNE.

Anyway, it's official, Amity is going to adding healing to her schedule, as a multi-track student. When I first got the idea, it was bard, and it's even Dana's Word of God that Amity wanted to do bard when she was younger, but I figured, healing would make the most sense for Amity at this time. (However, if and when this is all said and done, she'd probably take bard as well.) Ultimately, I picked healing since it works best for her character and the story at this point in time. (Also, transfem Amity Blight is my own personal headcanon, and I realised, if I'm talking about human realm prejudice, I had a chance to canonize it here. Yay, but in a sad way.)

And yes, Masha knows about Vee now. This will have no effect on the plot probably... Jokes aside, I'm surprised they didn't find out sooner, so this was also a chance to add someone else human to the cast, especially for reasons that will become obvious much later.

In the next chapter, Luz and Hunter venture deep into the Emperor's mind, in What Happens After. Bring tissues.

Thanks to a user, I'm aware Connecticut is a left-leaning state. Gravesfield still has two witch hunters idolized in town square, and so while I've adjusted some dialogue to account for this, ultimately I do still seeing the bullying being bad.

Chapter 8: What Happens After

Summary:

Luz and Hunter enter Belos' mind.

Notes:

Content warning: Philip being a racist, as his religiously-motivated hate is both more explicitly and heightened.

The night market was the most tense Luz could remember seeing it. With the Day of Unity only a mere eight days away, and the amount of wild magic being pawned and traded illegally at this event, it was silently whispered across the rogue’s gallery that the Night Market would, one way or another, be obsolete when it was all said and done.

So, the likely-seventh-last Night Market noted a hectic week to come, and Luz Clawthorne was strolling through it, witchwool cloak wrapped tightly around her gifted grudgby jacket, the colder night temperature making her shiver again.

“B-because, even if there were witches there, none of them actually try to hurt—” “Evelyn did!”

“She was carved for my great-great-grandmother by Evelyn Clawthorne, back when the name wasn't…”

Luz had been thinking in-depth, about the fact Evelyn Clawthorne and Philip had existed at the same time in history, and a part of her was nervous about what it could mean, and so she was here, looking for banned history textbooks. While she did strictly have access to both Eda’s own knowledge and a girlfriend who would’ve broken her into the Stacks, if she was wrong about this, she didn’t want to cause commotion.

But did Philip bring about the coven system to target the Clawthornes specifically? A part of Luz wondered if the man was actually that petty. And regardless of the reason, Luz imagined there was a reason for all of this regardless.

Unfortunately, nearly all of the writing available at the Night Market was more of the academic sort, banned textbooks for spellcasting, arcane rituals, and maybe one book that Luz actually did pick up about illegal potions, for Eda as a gift.

She grimaced, clinging tighter to her bag, snails and textbook joining it together, as she looked for a table she had yet to visit, when she saw something she hadn’t seen in awhile.

The bright blond, slightly unkempt hair of The Golden Guard.

Oh no you don’t , Luz thought, and she bolted into a run, wondering if she could maybe get information out of Hunter. She ran as fast as her feet would let her, and when Hunter used his fancy golden-guard-flash to skip past a table, Luz glared, a spring in her step, jumping, foot landing on the table and the other hitting the ground, her momentum maintained.

As Hunter swerved a corner, Luz swerved a moment, and she saw what Hunter had been running after.

Four witches stood, some elaborate arcane illustration on the ground, a bottle of neon yellow fluid that hurt Luz’s eyes a little bit to look at, and Hunter took a step.

“The four of you wild witches are under arrest for treason against the Emperor,” Hunter snarled, his cadence more in line with the boy she had met out at sea then the one she knew played flyer derby. “Come easy, and petrification will be quick–”

“No you don’t,” Luz snarled, jumping and grabbing the long white cape Hunter had, and the Golden Guard twisted and recoiled, teeth bared.

“Get off me–human?”

“Luz?!” One of the hooded figures said, and Luz’s eyes widened — was that Eda? — but her thoughts were lost, as she (or maybe it was Hunter? She wasn’t sure) stepped hard on the vial, clipping the very edge of the yellow bottle’s glass, and in a flash, a bang, and as the light subsided, she tripped and staggered, hitting the ground with a heavy thud.

When she lifted her head, it was to gilded halls, painting after painting of Emperor Belos in various forms of heroism, including a few Luz recognized as vaguely familiar from somewhere.

“W-where are we?” She asked, standing up, and Hunter glared at her.

“You– You got us stuck in the Emperor’s mind!” Hunter snapped, and Luz’s eyes went wide.

Why search history books, she thought, when I can search his head directly?

“This works, actually,” She said simply, smirking, “You think your uncle’s so moral?” Hunter glared, brandishing the little rascal, and Luz gave him a look. “Just, just hear me out, howzabout it?”

Hunter paused, before giving a weak nod.

“That said, I was in Willow’s mind once,” Luz commented, “It had more trees, though. Weird.”

“Every Mindscape reflects the inner thoughts and goals of the person who it stands for,” Hunter rattled off, “I’ve studied this a lot, actually, it’s born of the person’s desires, and it’s supposed to be vaguel–” He paused. “It’s wild, but know thy enemy, right?”

Luz looked at Hunter, then Little Rascal, then back at Hunter. “Between you and me,” She said, “You like wild magic?”

Hunter looked offended, “My family was killed by wild magic! I don’t know what my dad’s face looks like because wild magic slaughtered thousands!” He glared, ignoring his palisman’s chirping. “Belos saved us survivors, and since his brother was the one who died, he adopted me.”

Luz froze. Something didn’t make sense here. “When was this?”

Hunter blinked, “I’ve been alive sixteen years, so maybe… fifteen years ago? Fourteen, that’s how old you are, right?”

Luz paused, doing maths in her head. “Does the name Philip sound familiar?” Hunter shook his head. “Hunter, can you promise me to keep an open mind?”

“About what–” He started, but then Little Rascal chirped loudly in his ear. “Huh? Why would I trust her?” Chirps. “Promise?” Some more chirps and tweets, and Hunter’s face paled. “I trust you, buddy.”

He turned to face Luz. “Fine, open mind.” He snarled. Luz smiled.

“So, if you know the past of the Isles so well,” She asked, “What does this painting mean?” She asked, vaguely gesturing to the wall, a painting of Belos surrounded by red grass with an open hand, flanked by trees.

“Every day, Belos would walk the streets of the towns,” Hunter said, praise in his words, “And preach the gospel of the Titan, and how wild magic was volatile and dangerous.”

“I practise wild magic, though,” Luz pointed out, “And I’m fine.”

“That’s how it gets you.” Hunter said, slight shake in his voice. “But it is dangerous, it’s why my uncle’s cursed.”

Luz paused. “Eda’s cursed, but her’s wasn’t wild magic.” She pointed out. “It was only after her curse she went wild.”

Hunter’s eyebrows burrowed. “Belos always told me it was the other way around.” He said softly. “The theory is, wild magic is unfettered, with infinite potential… And thus, people would accidentally find something dangerous. It’s impossible to cast a mindscape spell with sigils, for example.”

Luz blinked, “What do you mean? How so?”

“It requires oracle magic or complex potions to get with the mind that closely, and either plants or abominations for the actual teleportation trick” Hunter described, cold instruction fading into a warmer teaching tone, “But illusions are also needed, since its the only thing that can keep the person involved from being aware of your entry. What you get? Well, you can’t enter a mindscape, making the mind safe from intrusions!”

Luz’s eyes narrowed. That… actually made sense, conceptually, at least a little. “Why does everyone say it's just the Titan's will? That's what Belos says, right?”

“The Emperor doesn't need to explain himself,” Hunter defended, “But if you must know, I asked him why the Titan hates wild magic, and that's why.”

Luz nodded, for the first time actually understanding that point. Disagreeing, but understanding nonetheless. “What if they all worked together? A-and what about the Emperor’s Coven?”

“More people involved makes it easier to get caught,” Hunter said, “And the Emperor’s Coven is noble and right. You don’t see coven scouts abusing their power, do you?”

Luz looked dumbfounded at the question. “Literally all the time?”

“No you don’t.” Hunter said flatly, and Luz sighed.

“But so, why do you research wild magic?” Luz asked, taking slow steps through the corridor of memories.

“Like I said, know your enemies.” Hunter restated, but then his shoulders loosened up. “Plus, it’s fascinating how it was done in the wild days, like your glyphs!” He frowned. “And I want to cure my uncle’s curse.”

“Curses can’t be healed,” Luz complained, “Eda spent years learning that.”

“This one can be!” Hunter argued, “The palismen hold it back from consuming him completely, and it makes his fits bit less…” There was a sudden end to his sentence.

“A bit less what?”

“He gets violent when the curse takes hold,” Hunter recounted, “Not unlike the Owl Lady.”

Luz frowned. “He uses palisman, which are wild magic, to hold the curse at bay?”

Hunter scowled, confusion on his own face. “Wild magic is what cursed him.” He said, voice shaky, “Look, just, you got your answers, right?”

“Huh?”

“Belos saving people, Belos putting out fires, Belos introducing covens…” Hunter said, pointing at three random paintings. “You just hate him because you don’t like the coven system.”

Luz glared. “I don’t believe it, maybe he’s hiding his own memories!” She said, semi-excitedly, “Is that doable?”

Hunter stared at the floor. “I mean, yes. It’s not even hard.”

“So?!”

Hunter looked around. “Fine, I’ll help you look for more memories.” The golden guard stuck his hand out, and with a tweet, Little Rascal transformed into a staff. “Me and Flapjack can figure out how the curse was cast while we’re here.”

“Flapjack?” Luz said excitedly, “¡Eso es tan lindo!” The human reacted, looking at the cute cardinal, but then her eyes narrowed. “You guys have pancakes here?”

“Paincakes,” Hunter corrected, “And what’s that got to do with the name Flapjack?”

Luz stared at the walls. “That’s another name for pancakes in the human realm.”

Hunter cocked his head, looking at his palisman. “What are the odds?”

Luz blinked away the thought that was forming. “Well, you, me, and Flapjack, detective trio of the year.” She said, smiling, “It’s elementary, Hunter.”

Hunter stared, baffled. “Never say that again.”

---

“Rainestorm,” Eda yelled, “I swear to the Titan, how do you not have a backup plan?”

“It’s not my fault, Eda,” Raine argued, “You said Luz would be staying home tonight!”

“Appreciate the help you two,” Darius quipped bitterly, him and Eberwolf overlooking the spell schematics that Eda had created for the team as the quartet walked back to The owl House. “We’re getting tons done with your lovers’ quarrel.”

“Since when are you underprepared, Raine?”

“Since when do you have backup plans?” Raine pointed out, “You cornered me in an alleyway during the biggest event of the year!”

“It worked, didn’t it? Besides, couldn’t anyone have walked in!” Eda pointed out, “I’m mad it’s my kid, but what if it was a random stranger?!”

“I don’t think you understand just how quick Luz and the Golden Guard were.” Raine points out, and they keep talking, ignoring Darius’ interjection of his name’s Hunter .

“Of course I understand, I saw it!” Eda snapped, “Two children without magic were too quick?”

“You picked the location!”

“You guarded it poorly, and now my daughter is stuck in that monster’s head!”

“It’s not my–Your daughter? Is it official yet?”

“Titan, yes, but really, Raine? Now’s not the–

Darius groaned. With a flick of his wrist, purple fluid flew over the hands of the arguing witches. “Silence, both of you. Now, it wouldn’t actually be miserable to get them out if there’s anything we can reach them through.” Darius looked at the two. “Well?”

Eda grabbed the fluid over her mouth, ripping it off, before snapping her fingers. A scroll manifested at the command, and she smiled. “Got Luz a scroll a few weeks ago, she never goes anywhere without it now.”

“Then. Call her.” Darius said slowly, his voice dripping with thinly-veiled frustration, and Eberwolf gave a scoff, to which Darius grumbled. “What? We’re getting nowhere, and we’re getting there so slowly, Eber.”

Eda ignored it, hitting the one contact she had on her scroll.

---

Luz and Hunter were walking through the seemingly endless mindscape, both of them a bit more tired then they’d like to be.

“Okay, this is,” Hunter panted, “Why is it so big? Nothing said they were big.”

“Willow’s wasn’t this big,” Luz complained, “Me and Amity could run from one end to the other in maybe a minute?”

“So he’s just special,” Hunter snapped, “With about fifty kilometres of mindscape to walk through, oh, how fancy.”

Luz stared. “Did you just badmouth the Emperor?”

Hunter paled, before he shook his head. “Just his mindscape. Everyone has some flaws. It just makes him relatable.”

Luz gave Hunter a look. Before she could speak however, there was a loud ringing, and she startled, pulling out her scroll.

“It’s Eda, wait,” Luz said, accepting the call. “Hi, m-mom,” Luz said, her voice cracking a little with a smile.

“Hey, kid,” Eda’s voice crackled over the line, “Are you where I think you are?”

Luz winced. “I was at the Night Market—”

“—and now you’re in the bonehead’s mind?”

“Yeah, me and Hunter, I don’t want him stuck here either,” Luz said, and Eda sighed loudly over the line.

“Two people, does that actually change anything?” Eda asked to someone on the other end of the line, “Okay, yeah, me and Rrrrrrebellion members are here, we’re gonna try and get you out. Keep your scroll handy, alright?”

“Gotcha!” Luz said, “Oh, and Hunter’s palisman,” She whispered over the line, as though that was more secure. Hunter scoffed.

“And a palisman?” Eda groaned, “That does matter? Okay, two people and a palisman, anyone else?”

Luz shook her head, before remembering Eda couldn’t see her face, going red from embarrassment. “No, just the three.”

“Alrighty,” Eda said, and she sighed again. “You’re gonna go exploring, I know you, Luz, so just. Try and stay safe, okay?”

“Will do my best!” Luz said, and there was a small pause in her words, before adding, soft and quiet, “Te quiero.”

There’s a choked sound on the other end, and Eda responds, “Te, um… You too, kiddo. See you soon.”

The click of the scroll was audible, and Luz’s shoulders slumped, a small smile on her face. Hunter just stared in surprise.

“She’s your mom?” Hunter asked, surprise obvious in his voice. “Thought you were human.”

“I am ,” Luz said, and Hunter actually took a step back at the sheer vitriol in her words, but it softened instantly, “But I was disowned. Eda picked up the pieces.” Luz explained briefly, a smile on her face that Hunter was weirdly jealous of, and Hunter felt a weird tug in his chest.

“My uncle adopted me too,” Hunter said, nodding sympathetically, “So I kinda get it.”

“So, speaking of your uncle,” Luz said, gesturing down the hallway. “Mindscape time?”

“Mindscape ti-” Hunter started, but suddenly froze. “Do you hear that?”

Luz paused, listening, and indeed, there was the rhythmic sound of footsteps in the far off distance.

“Inner Philip.” Luz breathed softly, and Hunter looked at her.

“Philip?” Hunter asked, “Wait, do you think this Philip guy is the Emperor’s real name?”

“No, he can’t see us,” Luz said nervously, “We gotta go!”

“Oooor he can help us get out,” Hunter offered, turning, only to blink. “Is his inner self still a kid?” He cooed, looking at the small boy wearing a wooden mask in front of him, a faint glow around the edges of their form. “Awww, see, still has his innocence. Even the smartest people can’t change their inner self.”

Luz was still staring into the black, listening to the steady rhythmic walking noise still. “Hunter?”

“Yeah?”

“Is Inner Belos moving?”

“No, why?”

“...whose footsteps are those?”

Hunter paled, looking up, and from the black, a dark twisted beast made of green rot, black blood, and swirling purple mist with what almost looked like animal faces soaked deep into the vapour, the creature sprung, brilliant blue eyes along its arms and legs, and Hunter screamed, staggering back.

Taking a jolt forward, Luz slammed a fire glyph down, the burst of magic throwing her, Hunter, and The Creature back, with Inner Belos just outside the reach of the blast. As the two trespassers stumbled, the gilded wall behind them gave out like the cheapest paper Luz had ever seen, unsuitable for crafts, and the two stumbled from a height, landing in a field of trees, black and white and grey looking down on them, oppressive in all its splendour.

Luz sighed. “This.” She said simply. “This is more like Willow’s.”

---

It was straightforward, but anything but. Darius, Raine, and Eberwolf had their own way out planned, they just needed to figure out a way to get two magical individuals to cast it. So the three rebels sat round the table, while Eda, unneeded at this time, paced the room.

“So, Whispers,” Darius snarled with a hint of anger and amusement, “You’re suggesting we put them from the Emperor’s Mind into one of our own?”

“That way, they’re both safe while we figure out a way to actually get them out,” Raine explained, frowning. “Perhaps then we could send them into Eda’s mind,” They continued, “And then we could go in there too and get all of us out?”

Eberwolf seemed to grin, leaning back with just a bit of tooth showing. Darius’ expression got deeper.

“No, awful plan, don’t enable them, Eber,” He said, voice bitter but soft enough to give away his amusement. “Is the hard part getting them out, Whispers?”

“Well, you haven’t offered anything up!”

“Titan, what if she gets hurt?” Eda said, voice above a mumble, before frowning, and Raine looked at Eda and her nervous pacing.

“She’ll be okay, Eda.”

“I know, I’m just scared.” Eda seemed startled, but relaxed a little. “No one ever said this parenting thing would be so scary,” She paused, giving a smug grin, “Well, everyone did, but that’s why I said I’d never do it.”

Raine smiled back. “Well, for what it’s all worth, I think being worried is normal?”

Eda smiled, a small chuckle escaping her lips. “Thanks, Raine.” She admitted, looking off in the distance a little. “I know we’ve been distant and all, but. But I missed us.”

Raine chuckled, “And I missed us too. When this is all said and done, no more Day of Unity, nothing, old times’ sake?”

“You bet.”

“Lovebirds!” Darius called, and the two witches startled, “I might actually have a solution!” He then turned to Eber, “That gets their attention quick.”

“Lay it on me, Darius,” Raine said, and Eda leaned against the wall, watching the discussion unfold, a soft smile on her face.

Luz would be okay.

---

Luz was not okay.

She was not okay, she was pretty sure she had hit something hard, and now her leg — the same one she had burn scars on, funnily enough — ached awfully, and she stood up, wincing just a smidge.

“T-this…” Hunter groaned. “Oh, how far did we fall?”

Too far , Luz thought, standing up and trying to bite back a yelp. She swayed a little, but there was a smile on her face. “But, now we’re really able to see his memories.”

Hunter leaped to his feet behind her, and he looked around. “Why would the Emperor need to hide his memories?” He asked, just a bit of doubt creeping in, but he shook his head. “Perhaps, actually, because people like you trespass into his head.”

Luz just stood quietly, before adding, “You’re aware we’re both trespassing, right?”

Hunter grumbled, letting Flapjack shift into the more free-flying form the palisman seemed to favour. “Well, doesn’t help that we made the… thing mad.”

“What is that, anyway?”

Hunter shrugged. “His fear, maybe?” He said, pausing. “Strong emotions can take form, but, I never really checked this part too much.”

“Fear of what?”

“Wild magic.” Hunter said simply, and Luz sighed.

“Look, just, we might need to hide.” Luz added, taking a step and unable to hide a wince. “Because if that Fear thing finds us again, we’re in huge trouble.”

“Please, we fell how far?” Hunter remarked, “We’ve got time.”

There was a deafening scream of the Fear up above, and Luz and Hunter both paled.

“I’m hiding in his memories, do what you want, Hunter.”

Luz made her way over to one of the paintings, as quick as she could with a limp, and Hunter sighed, as Flapjack chirped away. “Fine, fine, I’ll help her.” He groaned, and he raced after the human.

---

The air was colder than Luz figured it should be, hugging the cloak and jacket tighter, as she and Hunter walked a little. The golden guard seemed confused though.

“This isn’t possible,” He breathed, and Luz looked at him inquisitively.

“What’s not?”

“T-this is the Deadwardian Era, you can tell by… well, everything, but specifically, that’s the Library.” Hunter commented, pointing at a building in the distance. “That was… centuries ago, how does he have memories here?”

Luz bit her tongue.

“I heard he can talk to the Titan,” One of the people walking by said, and Luz tugged Hunter’s sleeve, the two of them following the crowd to an empty stage where Belos was giving a speech.

“Fellow citizens, we are born into chaos,” Belos said, voice light and airy, but with an underlying edge. “Our lives anger the Titan. My own family has been maimed by the darkness of wild magic.”

“Wild magic?” One of the people commented, “What’s wrong with that?”

“The Titan finds it disgraceful,” Belos replied, “And it pains me as much as it pains you, but the truth is our ways of life have no place in the Titan’s world.”

Belos spun his staff, and it shone brilliantly, casting bright orbs of light that Luz couldn’t look directly at.

“I’ve been shown the purifying light, and it shines in nine bright hues.” Belos continued, and while the townsfolk were in awe of the light show, Hunter scoffed.

“See? Helping people, it’s what he does.” Hunter said, but he startled when an explosion rang in the distance.

“The wild witches!” Belos claimed, “They’ve found me, run!”

The memory went hazy and shifty, and it was Belos yelling at a golden guard. “You nearly took my head off with the blast,” He snapped, “Don’t think I can’t find someone better!”

“I apologize, my lord,”

“Just…” Belos said, hand up to the mask he wore. “I’m off to the next town.”

“And the remainder?” The past golden guard asked, gesturing to a box of explosives.

“Put on a bigger show,” Belos commanded, and the memory started to smear, running like an oil painting left in a rainstorm, Hunter unable to keep betrayal off his face.

“See? He was lying,” Luz exclaimed, “No one was attacking him, he- He–”

“He had to be, uh, this was a special technique to spread his message. But it’s for the better?” Hunter said weakly, and Luz could actually see tears welling up in Hunter’s eyes.

Hunter’s voice was choked when he opened his mouth next, “Can we find another one?” He asked, wiping his eyes. “Maybe this was a one-off type of event,”

Luz nodded, leading her and Hunter to the next painting, climbing through it with a wince.

“Look at what wild magic has done to your city,” said yet another recalled vision of Belos, “Now imagine what it's doing to you. A city can rise from the ashes, but a soul…”

Hunter stared, eyes softer again, smiling. “See?” His breathing was steady. “He-He’s doing a sigil ceremony. Maybe even the first one.”

Luz watched, chewing her bottom lip.

And then, in harmony, the witches clutched their wrists and fell to the ground, Hunter dropping to his knees. “How? How did the sigils not work?” Hunter asked, voice shaky and thick.

The past golden guard — was it the same one, Luz wondered — inspected the bodies. “They’re still alive, my lord.”

Belos tutted. “We’ve got work to do, then.”

Hunter curled up, as yet another memory faded into the coil, and Luz could hear what sounded like a suppressed sob come from the boy. “H-he said it was…” He stammered, and Luz leaned down, holding the guard tightly.

“Hunter, I get it,” Luz said, “Maybe not this bad, but I get it, you spend your whole life trusting someone, and they break that trust. It hurts, but it’ll be okay.”

“How is it going to be okay?!” Hunter screamed, “My uncle’s a fucking murderer, are you happy , Luz!?” He stood up, glaring. “I… I need to find more. Either the truth, or proof, or…” He stammered, and he looked at Flapjack. “You’ll stay by me, right, buddy?” The palisman gave a chirp of approval, and Hunter's expression softened the littlest bit, before he took off in a sprint.

Luz raced after him, the limp feel like fire in her leg, as she made her way to yet another memory.

Before her, stood the Portal, a circular ring steadying it staring back at her.

“The portal…?” Luz breathed, feeling her blood boil. “He kept it?”

“Yep, me and him have been repairing i—” Hunter said, voice shaky, and Luz turned.

“Why would you build a portal to the human realm!?” Luz snapped, “What could possibly be there for him?” She glared, as the memory played out before her.

“I can hear you,” Belos murmured, and Luz and Hunter froze. But before they could respond, a cackle came from behind them.

“You caught me,” The cackle claimed, an astral image projected along the walls, a canvas for the trickster to play upon. “To you, who stray so far from home. To me, who's trapped beneath these bones…”

As he spoke, the shadow danced and spun, their image cast on every corner they chose to cast it on, swirling ‘round the room with a flair for the dramatic that Luz had seldom seen.

Belos groaned. “What can I do for you, Collector?”

Luz gasped, and Hunter turned. “You know that name?”

Luz blinked, once, twice. “I helped a man named Philip find the Collector in the sixteen hundreds.”

Hunter smiled. “That’s when Flapjack was carved, right, buddy?” The bird gave a sad chirp, and Hunter raised an eyebrow.

“I’m booooooooooored!” The shadow on the wall, the Collector seemingly, spoke, “When’s the draining spell!? I’ve never seen an actual god before! Oooh, and then everyone can play forever and ever and—” The words echoed, seemingly from nowhere, but they went silent as Belos spoke.

“Silence, Collector,” Belos snapped. The shadow baulked at the command, but listened ever the same, as a knock was heard at the door. The shadows went light.

“I, I know you didn't want me going to Eclipse Lake, ” The past voice of Hunter came, and the golden guard of the present gasped. “But if I hadn't, I wouldn't have found this!” Both Hunters still looked so guilty.

Belos took the key, staring at it.

“Some… of the Titan’s blood did spill, but, but if you let me explain then–” Past Hunter stammered, and Belos snapped.

“Leave. Now.”

The golden guard nodded and made his leave, but the second he was gone, Belos’ shoulders relaxed. The Collector laughed.

“Oh boy, I actually thought you were going to break another one!” The shadow proclaimed, and Belos waved it off.

“He’s loyal, I say the Titan has big plans and he obeys.” Belos remarked, and Hunter didn’t even try to hide the heartbreak on his face. “It took so long to get that right, and just in time, too.”

Hunter dropped to his knees, and the memory dissolved like oil.

“Is there… more?” Hunter asked, not looking up. Luz murmured a soft yes, and the boy stood, holding his breath. “Well, if neither the Inner Belos or the fear thingie have caught us, might as well keep exploring?”

Luz nodded, and the two walked into the fourth memory, the last one to line the gallery they were nearest to.

Inside, it was the Deadwardian Era again, and Hunter frowned.

“ Philip! ” A voice said, its owner undeniably related to Hunter, and the present one did a double take. Luz was busy looking at the red-haired woman to the doppelganger’s side, someone she was mostly certain was a Clawthorne.

“Philip?” Hunter asked, “The one you—”

“Yeah.” Luz admitted, still focused on the red-haired woman. “It’s why I was– Wait, what’s wrong, li’l rascal?”

The palisman was fluttering, trying to tug Hunter away by the little strand of hair, and the boy stared at his companion. “You’re never this scared, what’s wrong?”

“Caleb, Evelyn,” came a soft British accent, unmistakably Philip’s and abruptly, two heart sank.

“Evelyn knew Philip.” Luz breathed, suspicions confirmed.

“Wait, Caleb?” Hunter remarked, turning to his palisman, “Is this why you suggested—Who is this?”

The palisman nustled deep into Hunter’s cloak, and the boy stared ahead.

“Phil, how’ve you been?” The woman — Evelyn, probably? — asked, and Hunter took a moment to stare at the face beside her, the one belonging to Caleb. It was… identical, except for the scars that lined his face, and the brilliant brown eyes that looked back at him.

“Suitable enough,” The future-emperor spoke, “Still no closer to finding our way home, unfortunately.”

“A-about that, Philip.” Caleb responded, “Do we have to go back?”

Philip’s gaze darkened. “Obviously, Caleb, Gravesfield needs us, we can’t throw away our dreams.”

Caleb looked at the ground. “I don’t want to be a witch hunter, Philip. Not anymore.”

“What!?” Philip snarled, and he pulled out the blade he had been hiding behind his back.

“P-philip?” Caleb stammered, looking at the blade, and a small red cardinal that looked oh so familiar unburied itself from Caleb’s robes, taking the forefront in staff form. Hunter gave a small whimper at the sight.

“You. Have strayed, Caleb, Gravesfield needs us, we could be the famous Wittebane brothers,” He screamed, and he looked at Evelyn. “And it’s all her fault.”

“Leave my wife alone!” Caleb snapped.

“Step. Aside.” Philip demanded, “With Clawthorne out of the way, we can do what we were always meant to.”

“I’d rather die than lose her.” Caleb murmured, “Reconsider, Philip, me and her have a child on t–”

Philip grimaced, and with a roar, jolted forward, brandishing the knife. Caleb jumped in front of the man, parrying the blow best he could, but Philip got a good hit, his palisman flying feet away with a crack down its eye. Philip lunged a second time, and this time, Caleb stood defenceless, as time seemed to move in slower and slower motion, until it halted completely, Luz and Hunter unable to turn away from the horror.

“Well, well, well,” Sinister tones spoke from an omnipresent force as the memory twisted and peeled, the oil painting that it was curling and catching fire. “Haven’t thought about that in a while.”

“Philip…” Luz breathed, and the voice chuckled.

“I was looking forward to unveiling that to you,” Belos complained, his rotten body forming and twisting in front of Luz, just a step behind Hunter.

Luz’s eyes went wide, and she looked down, reaching for her glyp—

“Stop,” Philip said, voice calm and level, and Luz looked up to see–

No.

Hunter was being held tightly by the scalp, Philip’s hands looking slightly distended to keep a grip, Philip’s other arm manifesting a twisted green blade extruding off his arm, was inches from Hunter’s neck, and Luz froze.

“Take a step, forwards or back, I kill him.” Philip explained with the casualness befitting the chessmaster he had become. “Reach for a glyph, I kill him. Move quickly? I kill him.”

The emperor stared, a cruel grin on his face, and he chuckled, Luz forced to watch, her acts frozen, petrified in place. “See, Luz? Is it that hard?”

“Is what th–” Luz started, but Philip tutted.

“Speak out of turn, I kill him.” He added, and Luz fell silent. “Back straight, chin up.” He ordered, a humourless mirth to his tone.

Luz didn't move, and Philip snapped. “Or I kill him, really, you're not quick, are you?” He added, and when Luz straightened her back, the tyrant laughed. “See, it's not that hard to follow instructions.”

Luz stared, physically biting her tongue, before noticing Hunter. While he looked at Philip’s mercy, and he was , she could see… Flapjack , dragging his talons through the sand of the mindscape in a circular pattern.

She had to keep Philip distracted. Luckily, he was more than capable of doing that himself.

“You've did well, Luz, you saved my plan.” The emperor murmured, voice deafening in the silence, “Before you came, I'd have been content with cleansing this world and returning to humanity as a revered witch hunter general.” He said, pride oh so obvious in his voice. He tilted his head, frowning. “But to see how it's fallen, I realise that we have strayed much too far from God’s light.”

The confusion of Hunter’s face from the whole second half of Philip’s speech was obvious, eyebrows scrunched as the monarch rambled on.

“For centuries, I grappled with the whys.” Philip said, “Why did Luz and her witch follower vanish? Why were you able to learn the glyphs that took me decades to find? Why couldn’t I find you or a way home?”

“You didn't—” Luz started, and Philip tutted her again.

“Shush.” He spat, “Because then I got my answers, nearly three hundred years later, in the form of a Lilith Clawthorne dragging herself to me, praying for a shot of fixing her follies.”

Luz’s eyes went wide, and the monarch smirked at the reaction. “You see, don't you?”

“You knew I was from the future then?” Luz asked, and Philip didn't tut her, so she supposed it was ‘her turn’, and she kept going, “Y-you knew I was from the future because you met older Lilith with me in the past, and-”

“-I knew you'd be arriving.” He interrupted. “It was easy enough to figure out the timings, and I am quite proud of guessing your year of arrival perfectly.” Philip said, confidence in his words. “Of course, I had to postpone her capture of the Owl Lady until you arrived, I didn't know what role Lilith played in you meeting me, and that could not change.”

“Why not? Anyone could’ve helped you meet the Collec-”

“Yes, Luz, anyone could’ve.” Philip laughed, the green rot across his face looking less like rot and more like a trick of the shadows and lights as he took a step, dragging Hunter by the scalp a step with him. ”But only you could’ve told me how washed up my world became. Only you had the knowledge I needed.”

“S-so, what?” Luz stammered, “You still wanna be a witch hunter general in a world where those don’t exist!?”

“Quite the contrary,” Philip replied, “Once this world is dealt with, the human realm remains.”

Luz’s eyes went wide. “You're going to kill everyone in the human realm too?”

“Oh, no, Luz,” Philip growled, “I'm going to free it. A draining spell to rob these creatures of their lives is well and fine, but perhaps I need to use even God’s worst creations as the tool they are, put aside the pride that plagued me so long, and, well… A population’s worth of magic is likely enough to raze the Earth anew.” Luz could only stare in absolute horror, but Philip kept talking. “I was given up by God’s world to fix humanity’s sin. It remains only fitting that my return marks a Second Coming, and with God as my witness, my benefactor, my will be done.”

“Y-you’re going to destroy the human realm?? Are you—” Luz screamed at him, and Philip pressed the blade closer to Hunter’s throat, and the rest of the yelling died in her throat.

“I will scour its surface, for God to repopulate at his leisure,” Philip said, a smile that was soft and genuine on his face. He believed himself, Luz realised. “Any fool could've helped me find the Collector. But you aided me with the one thing this realm could never offer — the truth. Perhaps you’re well-behaved after all.”

Her world grinded to a halt for a moment. The moment after, the world exploded into fire.

---

Hunter wasn’t going to lie. Today was going awful.

His uncle was a killer, responsible for the deaths of countless people, including who Hunter was pretty sure was Hunter’s dad? He’d been lying to everyone, about the Titan and about the sigils, and his whole world had come crashing down in one night.

And then his uncle holds him at knifepoint, and starts waxing poetry about something that sounded vaguely like how he spoke of the Titan, but with a determination Hunter had never heard his uncle use before.

“I’ve been there before. Did I ever tell you that?” His uncle had shared thoughtful, “The trees there are green, nights are quiet. I look forward to seeing it again.”

His uncle was human, almost certainly, this meant his dad was human, which meant… He was human? Abruptly, his world caught on fire, and he felt himself be thrown forward, somehow alive. A chirp in his ear, and lifted his head, and smiled. Flapjack.

Grabbing his palisman’s staff, he stood up, seeing Luz staggering, her limp now unable to be hidden, and the rotten hulk that was his Uncle’s inner self twisting and writhing.

“Get back here you two!” He bellowed, before lunging at Luz. In a smear of gold, Hunter parried the strike, throwing his uncle off balance. Flapjack gave a tweet, and Hunter felt his chest.

“This time, buddy, we win.” He said calmly, as Belos regained his footing.

“A shame,” He snarled, “Of all of the grimwalkers, you looked the most like—” Hunter’s ears were ringing, but it was still quiet enough for him to hear Belos’ next words, a roared and deafening, “You!!”

Hunter grabbed Luz’s arm, and in a smear of gold, the two were as far away as Hunter could bring them in one dash, while Belos screamed. “Get that bird back here!”

Hunter panted, looking at Flapjack. “You were Caleb’s, right?” Affirmative chirp. “You knew my dad?” The palisman gave a weird warble, and Hunter knew to ask questions later. 

“C’mon, Hunter, we have to run,” Luz said, pulling out her scroll, hitting one of the many contacts. “Pick up, pick up, pick up,” Luz murmured to her phone as the two trespassers kept going, Luz’s leg feeling like fire as she pushed through it.

“Kiddo? Great timing, we were just ab–,” Eda said quickly, but Luz cut her off.

“Philip’s after us, he’s after us,” Luz screamed to the receiver, unable to hide the pain in her voice, “It’s bad, mom, how much longer?”

“A minute, maybe?” Eda replied, and Luz nodded. “Stay on the line though, we’re using your scroll as the anchor.”

“Alright,” Luz panted in the scroll, as she and Hunter turned a corner. “Hunter, what’s a grimwalker?”

Hunter paled, thinking about his research. He did look just like Caleb, didn’t he? “Later, but it’s bad,” Hunter said, breath heavy, the catacombs of the mindscape twisting and churning as Belos ran after them, a primal noise from the emperor’s jaws as he raced after the duo.

“Almost ready, kid,” Eda said, but neither Luz or Hunter heard it, too busy staring ahead at the dead end they had run into. The demonic former-human wheeled the corner, and the invaders could see it running at them. 

“Eda, he’s right there—” Luz said, and in a blitz of gold, Hunter appeared in front of Luz, brandishing Flapjack, teeth clenched, as the hulking rot that was his uncle struck him in the chest, him falling backwards into Luz, still a tight grip on his palisman.

“And done!” Eda triumphantly said over the receiver, and in a flash of white, blue, and teal, Luz blinked away the light spots on the edge of her vision, welcomed to the sight of the Owl House.

There was a moment of nothing. Looks of horror and fear, King curled up on the couch with his tail in his face quaking, Hunter quiet and cold in her arms, Luz too stunned to speak.

“Make sure he stays,” She eventually coughed out, right before her knees finally gave up, pain blinding, and she was out cold before she even hit the floor.

 

 

 

Notes:

AND THAT IS HOLLOW MIND

...nearly 7K words in one chapter. You all better enjoy it haha. I wrote a lot of this while stalling on Newest Champion, so.

So, first off: we get to see Evelyn, Caleb, and Philip interact for the last time hehe :) I wanted this scene for awhile, I felt it was missing from the show, and so if they weren't lugging around Inner Kid Belos, maybe they'd get there eventually. Similarly, I let Hunter keep Flapjack, because I could. Also, Belos' plans have been altered! Since in Brought To Me, he learn that humankind is progressive, he now plans to erase everything completely. And he made sure Luz knew who was responsible for helping him. (This might be worse for her.)

We get to see Hunter react in a way maybe more fitting for "everything I've ever known is a fucking lie", and in fact, the first of only two F-bombs of this entire story (if I'm not forgetting one previously?) is used in his reaction. Luz gets the other one later. We're going to get to see Luz' guilt kick up in next chapter, which will start when Luz wakes up, and lead us into Edge of the World.

This is also the only chapter that doesn't feature Camila and Vee, which will remain the plan. I just couldn't fit it in nicely here, so. Alas.

See you all in the next chapter, At the Edge, and I'll see you all then!

Chapter 9: At The Edge

Summary:

Luz, King, Hooty, and Hunter travel to the Titan Trapper Island.

“Oh, it’s so much worse than I thought, Eda,” Luz said, pacing a hole in the floor, “I- I could handle helping him meet the Collector, Lilith kidnapped me and I forgave her —”

“Maybe don’t remind Lili of that, but,” Eda interjected, but Luz kept going.

“—but I- Did I condemn two realms? Am I, he wouldn’t have been able to, I’m the only human,” Luz said, hands running through her hair with a flash of paranoia. 

Eda and King sat, waiting for Lilith’s arrival, as the girl went on about what she saw, most of her own account matching the one the Golden Guard had given, who himself was standing by the hallway doorframe, arms crossed.

“Thanks to me, now, now the human realm is doomed, Hunter’s disowned,” Luz said, voice cracking harshly on the last word, and Eda felt a part of her wince for her adopted daughter, “And now he’s building a portal, and I messed up so badly, and I—” Luz fell to her knees, hitting a hand on the floor in frustration. “What do I do, mom?”

“Well, the Day of Unity’s still a bit away, right?” Eda said, and Hunter chose now to pipe up.

“Seven days, yep.” Hunter added, “And I’m here to help, by the way, since you insisted on kidnapping me.” That was a lie, and Eda knew it. The kid had bolted out the door the first second he got, only to come back with his palisman tugging at his hair, and the blond boy was unable to say no to the chirping.

Eda tried to ignore how similar Flapjack looked to her dad’s palisman, Toast. Titan, even the names were similar.

(A small part of Eda couldn’t help but acknowledge that twice now, a human had run to the demon realm and chose to forsake their world to stay. Maybe it was a Clawthorne thing. Maybe it was a Human Realm thing.)

“C’mon here, kiddo,” Eda said, arms outstretched, and Luz nuzzled herself into Eda’s arms, the witch holding Luz tightly. “It’s bad, Titan, it’s bad, but it’s not your fault.” Luz sniffed, breath hitching, so Eda continued. “It’s not. Maybe if he had never met you, he wouldn’t have stalled looking for you and your portal. Maybe you bought us centuries more than we had, alrighty, kid?”

Luz sniffled, and paused. She eventually nodded her head slowly, but Eda could see the disbelief in her eye.

“Not to break this happy sappy stuff,” Hunter commented, “But seriously, how in the Titan’s name are we going to stop him? Extra centuries don't help when we still have no plan.” Luz curled back into herself at his words, and Eda glared hard enough at him that Hunter wilted, a small look of resignation. “Know what, that’s fair.”

“He’s right, Eda, what do we—”

Bang! “I came as fast as I could!” Lilith excitedly proclaimed as she stepped in, “Owlbert filled me in on the Draining Spell,” She looked guiltier than Luz somehow. “Oh, Titan, I can't believe this is what the Day of Unity was about the whole time, I was such a fool, a—”

“Yeah, well, I helped him ‘perfect’ his plan,” Luz murmured miserably, and Lilith froze.

“We’ve been over this, Luz,” Lilith said, “Even if you helped him once, I helped him for decades willingly ,” The witch pointed out, and Eda snorted.

“Yeah, and you kidnapped my daughter.” Eda quipped, and Luz gave a wet giggle, looking at Lilith, wiping her eyes.

“She’s got you there, aunt Lilith.” Luz pointed out, and the witch didn’t even try to hide the embarrassment and guilt over her former actions.

“Lulu!!” The house demon screeched, “I’m so happy to see you, I could– I could—” A violent retching sound, wet and visceral, coughed from the demon’s mouth, and a clump of trash was dropped directly on King, the demon complaining at the act.

“Hooty, please stop eating gar—” Eda started, but King jumped out of the pile, brandishing an envelope.

“Stop eating our mail !!” King snapped, “Look!”

In King’s hand, he held a rich black envelope, with gold cursive reading King Clawthorne looking back, the ink catching the light beautifully.

“ Dear King Clawthorne, if you wish to know who you truly are, come to this location and meet our warrior clan? ” The small demon read aloud, realisation growing on his face. “Guys, I think this might be my family!! And maybe they can help us with Belos!”

“That’s incredible, King!!” Luz said excitedly, but confusion crossed her face. “But, uh, how can they help stop Philip?”

“It’s a warrior army, Luz,” King said eagerly, “What better way to defeat an army, then an army of our own?!”

“Well…” Lilith added with a hint of embarrassment, “We don’t exactly have many people on our side.”

“Coven support is actually at an all-time high, except among children,” Hunter added, voice a bit stilted, “Trying to tell the public would just get us outcast even more.”

“And King can meet his family!” Luz said, shaky pride in her words.

“But you three need somewhere safe!” Eda pointed out, “And chasing after this when it could be a trap?”

“Actually,” Hunter glanced at the map, “I’ve been there, that’s just the Pointer.”

“Wait, the map leads to the Pointer?” Lilith said, confused. “Nothing’s there,”

“Well, almost nothing.” Hunter corrected, and Lilith sighed.

“Will one of you explain?”

“The Pointer is part of another Titan, not ours, and it drifted through the ocean for awhile.” Lilith said, “I’ve been there on four separate occasions, and the one and only thing there is one tall stone tower.”

“Yeah, but there’s a small landing between the joints, blocked from tides and boiling rain,” Hunter said, “It’s so far out of the way, yet still recognizable to someone without seafaring experience. It’s…” He paused, shrugging his shoulders. “Genuinely, there’s nowhere better to hide.”

“Like I said, nothing.”

“Can you two stop arguing?” Eda asked with a small laugh, “I swear you two are trying to out-pedantic each other.”

“I’m not pedantic, he’s just wrong.” “I’m just correcting her, Owl Lady.”

“See?” Eda exclaimed, with a smirk. “Pedantic! But…”

“It’s worth a shot,” Luz said quietly, while King just looked at her with eager eyes.

Oh Titan, I need to learn to say no.

“Yeah, you kids need to get somewhere out of the way anyway.” Eda said, shoulders slumping. “Go pack for the trip.”

Luz and King excitedly started running — not that Eda was dumb enough not to see how plastered on Luz’s smile was — and she grabbed Hunter’s collar, tugging the guard towards her.

“I know I’m sending Hooty with you three, but I’m still putting an awful lot of trust in you, kid.” Eda said. “Swear you’ll try to keep them both safe.” There was chirping from the palismen, and Hunter gasped.

“That’s a lot, Flap– I know, but…” Hunter looked at his palismen, and the chirping continued, Eda trying not to grind her teeth waiting for a reply, “You’re more than just… Yeah. You sure?” Once last chirp, and he looked at Eda, dead in the eyes, “Swear on my palisman.”

Eda’s eyes widened, a soft smile on her face. “Most witches who’d say that wouldn’t ask the palisman first. Kudos, kid.” Eda said, trying to hide her own anxiety. “You have experience packing?” Hunter nodded.

“Get to it.” She said, and the blond boy raced after Luz and King. Eda’s shoulder sagged.

“You seem more stressed, someho–” Lilith commented, and Eda’s head dropped into her hands, harshly sobbing.

“This is so so much bigger than I thought, Lili,” Eda said, voice cracking, “I thought Luz was a kid, but she’s so strong and she’s… But it’s bad, it’s awful, and I don't know how to help her.”

“That’s a normal part of parenth—” Lilith started.

“She’s blaming herself for genocide , Lilith.” Eda snapped, cutting her off, “This isn’t normal, this isn’t fair, Titan, she’s a kid who's been through so much. What if I never see her aga–”

“The Pointer is empty, Edal–,” Lilith reminded her, and Eda snarled.

“Yeah, well, the Isles aren’t!” Her voice was two-tone, the owl beast growling under her breath, “If I slip up, Luz and King will both be alone again , I can’t do that to them!”

“Edalyn, calm down, please,” Lilith said, “How many years did you evade capture?” Eda didn’t respond. “Thirty years, when you had nothing to fight for. Now you have your kids to fight for, you’re gonna do even better.”

“…yeah, you’d know how hard I was to catch,” Eda chuckled, a wet sad laugh. “And Goldie’s tough, he’ll protect Luz if something did happen.”

“You trust the Golden Guard?” Lilith asked, unable to keep the disapproval out of her tone.

“Kid took a slash to the chest for Luz,” Eda shared, “He has a palisman, and he doesn’t trust the bonehead anymore. Yeah, I trust him.” She surprised even herself saying those words, but that didn’t make them any less true.

“...Ready, then?” Lilith asked, “We’ve got lots to do, if we’re gonna keep them safe.”

Eda sniffled, nodding, palm wiping away tears. “I’m ready.”

“You’re lying.” Lilith commented, and Eda shook her head.

“Not for them, I’m not.”

---

“No, that counts as supportive, you just aren’t used to it,” Luz was arguing with Hunter, carrying Hooty on her back. The Golden Guard barely had the oxygen to argue back.

“How the… everliving…” He panted, “You’re carrying the worm, he’s two feet tall, and I’m the… Best of the… How are you not winded?”

“I dunno,” Luz said, “But does i–Oh, we’re at the top? Is anyone here?”

They had arrived at a flat landing, the joints of the pointer finger of some other Titan serving to create a comfortable alcove of space, the flat rock mostly filled with a round… Luz supposed it was probably a bone?

“Maybe we’re early birds!” Hooty said excitedly, but King looked dismayed.

“Or maybe we’re late,” He said sorrowfully, “The letter was over a month old.”

“Doesn’t make sense,” Hunter said, breath steady, “This place is way too clean for a whole month of disuse…” 

“Hang on,” Luz said, “There’s something here.”

Stepping to a section of the wall, a small section that featured a crack in the surface, Luz pulled the small stone King’s letter had included, and with a flourish, she slotted it into the hole.

Suddenly, gravity stopped working.

Blue lightning coiled around the stone tower, a pulse of energy rending some of the flora at the bottom of the island, the water rippling and twisting. Thunder and lightning crackled, as the four floated into the air.

Hunter felt his limbs fall loosely, and in a haze of gold, he skipped to King, grabbing him by the collar, eyes wide, his other hand firmly wrapped around Flapjack.

The air went fuzzy, hazy, and in a flash, the horizon changed.

Gravity kicked back in, and the heap of people fell to the ground, and while Hunter was ninety-percent sure Hooty was turning himself into some worm pretzel, the golden guard used his dash, striking the ground at lightning speed, King held close to him.

“...where are we?” Hunter asked.

“I only had two, Hooty!” Luz said, replying to the demon for something that Hunter had missed. “Did you think I had more?”

“Luz, where are we?” Hunter asked loudly, the scruffy demon in his hands bouncing away, back to standing on the ground.

“Yeah, Luz, look!” King eagerly said, tugging at her leg, and the human finally paid attention.

“What do—” Luz’s face paled, brown eyes wide. “Oh, oh , Toto, look.”

“...Who?” Hunter said, face scrunching at lack of recognition.

“It’s… human thing,” Luz said, “We’re not in the Boiling Isles anymore though.”

“No you aren’t,” said an unfamiliar voice, and Hunter turned with a bolt of horror running down his spine, “Welcome to the other side of the world.”

---

“You dare trespass on this sacred land!?” The figure asked, towering over the four, curled skull feeling vaguely sinister, and Luz felt her breath hitch.

“You—” The beast started, before pausing. “By the Huntsman, 'tis King! My name is Tarak, hail and well-met!!”

The demon at Luz’s feet cheered happily, “Y-yeah, ‘tis King!”

“Psst, introduce us, King!” Luz stage-whispered, and King nodded.

“Right!” King said, “This is Luz, my sister; this is Hooty the… uh… door? And this is Hunter, he’s our friend.”

Luz noticed the golden guard’s face grow red, a tiny bit of green wisping the edges of his blush as he dropped to his knees in a kneel, but Luz was too stunned. Sister . She always wanted a sibling.

(A small part of her whispered in the back of the head that this wasn’t new, and had become official the second she signed the name-change form. Titan, this wasn’t even the first time King had called her his sister. But to be introduced that way felt nice, realer than anything before.)

“Are you my dad? Did you send that letter?” King asked, but Tarak shook his head sadly.

“No, alas, nor is he here.” King looked at the ground timidly, “But I did send that letter. Whoever your father is, he must’ve loved you to pass down that handsome skull of yours.”

King giggled excitedly, as Tarak stood up, “Now, we celebrate! Everyone will be so happy to see you!”

“...whose everyone?” Luz asked, confused, and Tarak looked at her confidently.

“Welcome to the Titan Trapper Island!”

---

Between stories of grand huntsmen, slaying Titans, and more, Luz was definitely confident saying: these people matched the idea of the ruler fantasy King had dreamed of prior.

With a brandish of a weird bone-weapon and the accompanying startle, she realised they even had the same weapons she’d expect.

“Don't worry. It's mostly paper mache,” King said,, before adding as an afterthought, “And bone.”

“Looks like it’s mostly bone,” Hunter quipped, and Luz chuckled.

“They're gonna show me their Titan Trapper ways, Luz,” King said happily, before gasping. “I guess they're my ways, too.”

“So, me and Hooty can go see the elder, and in the meantim—” Luz said, but Hunter tutted her.

“Let me, I’ve been negotiating with powerful people longer than I remember.” Hunter offered, and Luz hid a wince at the sadness of that sentence, “And Hooty can keep me ‘moral’, or whatever,” He said, back straightening. “Besides, King’s family’s yours too, Luz. Go meet them.”

Luz scratched the back of her neck, smiling. “Yeah, Luz, c’mon!! You and I can meet my family!”

“Alrighty, King,” Luz said, “I’ve got my scroll, call if you have questions, Hunter,”

“Will do.” The golden guard said, before he started being led by Tarak to wherever Bill was, “So, that portal sort of looks like some experimental magic, can you tell me how…”

Hunter's a nerd, no matter how much he denies it , Luz thought. “So, ready to learn your ways, buddy?”

“You bet I am!” King said, giggling, and Luz smiled. Finally, things are turning around.

---

Luz was being kinda dragged around by the Titan Trappers, King doing the rituals and stuff of his people — ranging from the safe like regular normal pinatas, complete with nonlethal candy, to the less safe like jumping on a small rock next to a boiling waterfall. (Luz felt her hair go white just seeing it.)

Luz meanwhile was watching, cheering on her little brother on the safer tasks, and cheering him on while praying for his safety on the rest.

“Hey, Luz,” King asked, tugging at her leg, “Do… do you think I should… ask Tarak if he wants to play catch?”

“Huh, why not, buddy?” Luz asked, voice soft and kneeling to King’s level.

“I mean, he’s not my dad, but… we don’t know where he is,” King said, “Or even if he’s…”

Alive , Luz realised with a twist of the heart.

“I’m sure Tarak would gladly play catch,” Luz said, smiling. “You should ask.”

“Okay, maybe we can do it now!” King said shakily, following after Tarak into a weapons cabinet, and Luz smiled, pulling her scroll out and firing a message to Eda.

TheGoodWitchLuzura: Sorry for no messages, busy afternoon

TheGoodWitchLuzura: Met King’s family, call themselves titan trappers

TheGoodWitchLuzura: While Hunter talks to their leader about an army King’s been learning their traditions and stuff

TheGoodWitchLuzura: It’s nice.

Luz looked sadly at the screen, wishing Eda could’ve been here right now. But she’s snapped from her attention when Tarak comes out, leading King.

“It’s time for my induction, Luz!” King said excitedly, and Luz smiled. “I’m gonna be a Titan Trapper!”

“That’s awesome, King!” Luz said, a jovial skip in her step.

This was going great.

---

This was going terrible.

“C-can you slow down—” Hooty asked weakly, each word separated by a flash of gold, the hallways and staircases of the Titan Trapper Island’s main building smearing past Hunter in a frankly nauseating manner.

(Well, no, Flapjack and Hunter both felt fine. Not a drop of nausea. Hooty was doing worse.)

“No, we can’t,” Hunter said, tripping and scattering to the ground, Flapjack sliding across the smooth floor. The blond boy winced as he stood up, racing to his palisman, grabbing Flapjack firmly. “Sorry, Flap, ready?” Chirp. “Okay.”

“C-can you tell Luz with your… Your scroll?” Hooty asked, voice clearly warbling, and Hunter in-between blitzes of gold snapped his fingers, the thin object in his hands. He hit his finger on the call button, listening to it dial.

“Oh, the hallways are all the same, I’m lost…” Hunter growled, but then Flapjack chirped at him. “Yeah, we’re gonna have to, huh?”

Flapjack tweeted, and with a twirl and a flourish, Hunter aimed the palisman at the solid stone wall. And in one strike, there was a startlingly-clean hole in its surface.

A blitz of gold later, as the phone call connected.

---

“Hey, Hunter, can it wa—”

“Luuuuuuz!” That wasn’t Hunter, his voice was less annoying than this, and there were sounds that sounded like scraping glass — not unlike Hunter’s dash power, if she thought about it — flickering through the receiver. “Where’s King?”

“He’s getting inducted into the Titan Trapp—”

“Gimme that!” She heard on the other end, “Yeah, so, these guys worship the Collector?”

“They what?” Luz hissed into the phone, “What do you—”

“And King’s the Titan they’re trying to trap.”

Luz’s ears were filled with static. “H-huh?”

“Look, just, get King out of here, to the dock, okay? We’re on our wa–”

The line went dead.

King’s the Titan they’re trying to trap.

King’s a Titan? Luz’s voice started hitching, as she broke into a run, the sudden blue face paint feeling warped in meaning, and as Bill ripped the cloth covering away— The Collector’s tablet, cleaved in half. Maybe a different one, but nonetheless, the Collector’s tablet. 

They’re going to kill him. Luz felt her feet hit the ground hard, pushing the Titan Trappers around her aside, no, no, I’m not losing him, I can’t, she thought, and she dug through her jacket, hitting herself with an invisibility glyph, and before anyone could catch her, a flashbang of a light glyph let her grab King, hold her breath anew, and bolt.

She heard pandemonium break out behind her, but she kept running, hiding behind a rock as she took a breath. King was looking at her peeved.

“Luz, what is it!? We were just about to play catch!” He said, voice warbling, and Luz almost felt bad for interrupting.

“Hunter called.” Luz murmured, “These… they’re not…”

“They’re not what, Luz?” King asked, voice filled with hurt, and Luz sighed.

“King, you’re not a Titan Trapper.”

“Then what am I!?” He asked, voice cracking harshly, and Luz took a breath.

“You’re a Titan, King.” Luz said, voice as steady as she could keep it, and King’s eyes widened. “You’re a Titan.”

“Hark!” Tarak’s cry was audible, “”tis the wretched spa—”

“Oh, just get him!” An older voice snapped, and Luz bolted to her feet, running anew. There was a smear of gold in the distance, and Luz smiled the smallest bit. Hunter.

In a streak of gold, Hunter appeared six or so feet in the air, parrying one of the magical blasts Tarak had thrown, returning to sender with enough force that the Titan Trapper fell to the ground, his skull clean in half. The figure stood up, face paint homaging the Collector scattering his expression.

“My brothers and sisters, a new hunt begins!”

“Your god isn’t the Grand Huntsman,” Luz bitterly snapped, still running. “He’s called the Collector.”

King squeezed her eyes shut, the name rattling in his head, and behind them, the roaring fire that surrounded the glass tablet grew louder. The elder — was that Bill? — paused, looking at the tablet. “I-it’s working, it’s actually working! You called them the Collector?”

The fire grew hotter, and King could hear murmurs in the back of his head.

“Get! That! Titan!!!!” Bill(?) screamed, but Hunter took to the skies, riding Flapjack, and he grabbed Luz by the collar of her shirt, and he soared carrying Luz, who in turn carried King.

They all fumbled into a pile, as Luz slammed the little rock that had gotten them here into the matching crevice on the dock. Gravity fell, lightning cracked, and in a hazy flash, the air caught fire, and they returned to the Pointer.

As before, Hunter and Hooty worked to cushion the falls of those plummeting, and Luz rolled to her feet. “We have to destroy this, we can’t let them through.

“Step back,” King said, voice shaky, “I’ve got this.”

With a deep breath in, a deep breath out, he took a stance, and then, louder than he ever had before… “Weh!!!!” The ripple of sound, almost tangible on the wind, rippled through the sky, striking the Pointer hard.

The whole thing shuddered, and it started to splinter and crumble, cliffs of stone falling away into the sand, the blue energy and gold lightning all fading, cracking, snapping, as the entire monument came down in sheets . Hunter took a defensive stance, and Hooty wrapped himself in a ball around the three kids, debris and loose stone flying every which way.

As the debris subsided, Hooty unravelled, revealing an island barren of Titan Trappers.

And home to one Titan.

“I wanna go home,” King said, voice shaky. Luz nodded, picked him up. There was a long trip back to be made.

(“Okay, Hunter, you’ve been staring, what is it?” King would ask about two hours later, Hunter’s constant shakiness and nerves around him finally becoming too much.

“It’s just… you’re a Titan,” Hunter replied in a murmur, and King glared.

“Can you stop saying that!?” King growled, and Hunter nodded, the motion quick and clean. King groaned, “Wait, no, not like that!”

“I’m not sure what you want?” Hunter asked, fighting the urge not to bow again.

“Just, whatever!” King exclaimed, “I don’t want to be special, just do, just do whatever you want? I’m not your god, Hunter,” He said, fear creeping in his voice, “I’m not like that, just. Do things that make you happy, me be damned.”

The golden guard froze. Be Hunter . He wasn’t actually sure what that meant.

“Please don’t overthink that,” King added, noticing Hunter’s expression. “Ac-actually, talk to me. Like you would Luz, not. Not like with me.”

Hunter blinked, and he stared at King. “I don’t really… spend a lot of time thinking about my own interests, or really… who I am? I thought I was born , and even that was wrong.”

King blinked, expression softer. “I can get that.”

“Yeah, and I don’t really know what to do about that?” Hunter murmured, staring at the floorboards. “I thought I was destined for something, that the Titan had big plans.” He looked up at King. “But there isn’t a big plan, is there?”

King pauses, thinking in silence. Hunter doesn’t dare rush him. Eventually, the words come out, “Do you want a big plan?”

No, Hunter wants to scream. He wants to be free. But at the same time, it’s purpose that he trusted for so long. “Yes, please.”

“We stop Belos.” King starts, and Hunter nods on reflex, before swallowing the conflicted emotions that bubbled up, treason to one idol or to the other being ignored; “We stop him, and then you, would you like to attend Hexside? Actually want to?”

“Yes,” Hunter spoke, and he knew that much was real. He liked flyer derby, he liked learning, he liked seeing kids his own age. “Yes, my lord.”

“Never call me that again.” King said solemnly, but he nodded. “But okay. We stop Belos, then you attend Hexside.”

“What then?” Hunter asked, desperation in his voice.

“That’s it. That’s the big plan. Be happy.” King said, a hint of regalness in his tone that vaporised a moment later, adding in a meek voice. “Do you like it?”

Hunter pauses, thinking. Stop Belos. Go to Hexside. Be happy. It’s simple, but. It sounds fulfilling. He thinks so, anyway.

“I think I like it.”

“Alright,” King said, smiling, “I’m proud of you.”

There’s a moment of quiet, Hunter fighting the urge to cry because to hear those words from his god, to hear them at all, hits like a boulder.

“And if it means anything,” King adds, “I don’t know what I’m doing with my life either.”

Hunter doesn’t know what to say to that, and they’re both exhausted, so they lie down and let the rock of the ship soothe them to sleep. The last thing Hunter thinks is he realises he didn’t gush about having something in common with the Titan.)

---

Camila Noceda was having a really rough day.

Not that days were particularly good anymore, but at least she usually had Vee to keep her company. But, school had started today, and Camila had already cleaned the house to a tee, a few times over. She had been doing it for days while Vee prepared, and with her not having a shift at the clinic today, no Vee to spend time with, Camila was… alone.

The silence was deafening.

She could read Cosmic Frontier again, she pondered, but she decided against it. She needed to do something else with her time, just a little bit. She even considered going to the library and picking up copies of Luz’s Azura, but it felt wrong not to do it with her.

Everything felt wrong without Luz, and Camila had more than once felt she was mourning again. Every photograph, every song. Every time she used the handrails, she remembered how Luz would keep bumping into them as a kid. The carpet that had lost its softness over the years, remembering how soft it had been when the Nocedas, the full three that there had been, first moved into this house.

Everywhere Camila turned, Luz was there, a phantom watching and dreaming and pondering her mother’s next move. But Luz wasn’t dead, Camila had to keep reminding herself.

Luz was alive, and soon, she’d be safe.

Camila tried to ignore the small part of her that asked what if she’s not coming back , because she was optimistic. Luz would come back. She couldn’t do anything but stay optimistic.

Camila sat, turning a nature documentary on. (She wouldn’t retain a word of it.)

 

Notes:

And that’s Edge of the World!

Not super happy with this chapter, not much was available for changing, even with Hunter being added, so my only part here I really like is Eda's dialogue and the start; and the King and Hunter bonding at the end. The rest was mostly canony with a bit of extra Luz feeling loved.

The original plan for this chapter... kept changing, to be honest. There was a original plan that when Luz said the Collector’s name, and King hearing it that close to the burning tablet, the two would be connected even further – it’s still there, but I originally wanted the Collector’s words to be discernible to King. I even considered using hover text like evAlpha’s Biblically Inaccurate to establish the Collector’s spoken words, but Hide Creator’s Style formatting mattered too much to me. Ultimately, it was just adding to an already-long chapter for little gain though, so it sorta vanished when King left the Island.

I also considered a version of this chapter where Luz wasn’t present, and a version where Luz wasn’t present but Eda was. Ultimately, this story is Luz-centric, with the focus on her dynamic with Eda, Camila, and at this point in the plans, Amity and Hunter. Luz is the centre to which everything revolves, so around her is the world revolving.

As an aside, I also wrote the entire chase scene with the Fifteenth Doctor’s theme on loop, so uh, "hello. You're the Titan. Basically? Run."

Also, Camila’s starting to crack. Luckily, her daughter will be back in less than a week! …yay?

We are skipping Labyrinth Runners and going straight into O Titan, Where Are Thou?, with the next chapter, Somewhere Else, It’s Raining.

Chapter 10: Somewhere Else, It's Raining

Summary:

Eda tries to make her time count. Vee tries to make an identity of her own. Both of them are kinda wrecks.

BADGIRLCOVEN: Hey sending you a map to where me and the BATTs are

BADGIRLCOVEN: [1 attached file, view image ]

BADGIRLCOVEN: Please come here when you get back kiddo

BADGIRLCOVEN: Love you Luz

---

It took some sneaking around to get in, but it didn’t take long for Luz, King, Hooty and Hunter to find their way into Latissa, and to the base of operations for the BATTs, or CATTs ( hiss! ) as it was quickly introduced to Hunter’s complete disappointment. Between good news like ‘the rebellion has a plan’ and bad news like ‘the Owl House had been ransacked’, Luz wasn’t sure how to feel, but she had a good feeling about things.

(King’s expression dampened when no one could say they knew where Francois was. Luz knew she had to fix that if she got a chance.)

“Where’s Eda—” She finally asked nervously.

“Right here, kid,” A voice said behind her, startling her as the voice – Eda – grabbed her tightly. “Huh, never thought I’d be a hugger,” Eda admitted, and when Luz turned, there was a weird darkness in the eyes, maybe guilt.

“So, my son’s even more of a special someone now, huh?” She asked, kneeling down, scratching King’s skull affectionately.

King looked at the ground, smiling gently. “Found my dad,” He said, stamping his foot a little. “Surprised it took this long, everyone knows him,” He joked, and Eda scoffed.

“Yeah, and everyone knows me,” She bragged, “I’ve made damn sure of that.”

“Yeah, and I mean, it’s nice to know who he was, but you’re… you raised me, Eda.” King said gently, and Eda scooped him up, holding her child tenderly — really tenderly, she seemed more affectionate right now than she usually was — and she gave a soft laugh.

“Raised you? More like taught you to swindle when you were still small enough to fit in my arms,” Eda joked, rocking King in her arms, eyes a bit wet. “Aah, remember it like it was yesterday.”

“Eda? You’re crying.” King accused, and Eda scoffed.

“Ah, sentimental day, memories are a funny thing, huh?” The owl lady commented, blinking away the tears. “You know I love you, right? Both of you?”

Luz nodded weakly, and King made a grunt of approval, scampering onto Eda’s shoulder like a parrot, much to the older witch’s amusement.

“Good. Never forget that.” Eda said, voice a bit hitched with something Luz couldn’t place. “So, me and the rest of the CATTs have a plan, and it’s… It’s gonna make everything right again.”

“Really?” Luz exclaimed excitedly, “What is it?”

“Nope, nope, not telling ya,” Eda said, “It’s complicated and the less people who know, type of deal. Don’t wanna endanger you, kiddo.”

“Please? I’ll stay out of—”

“No means no, kid.” Eda interrupted, smiling softly. “Trust me, though, you’ll be safe. It’s gonna work, and then, hey, maybe with the bonehead gone there could be a wild magic university!”

“Who would teach it?” King asked.

“You’re already counting me out?” Eda asked, tooth glinting in the light. “I could’ve gone into teaching, teach a whole generation about mixing magic, I never knew how much I’d love teaching, but I did it with you two, right? Imagine if I hadn’t lived my life on the run.” Eda froze, gaze darkening. “Don’t imagine that, because then I wouldn’t have met either of you, and no fancy dream is worth that.”

Luz stared, a bit shocked. “You… you sure you’re okay, Eda?” She asked, “You’re not usually this…”

“Sappy.” King finished, and Eda threw her head back in a chuckle.

“Titan, yeah, just. Things are nearly over, and emotions are running high. That jazz.” Eda said, and she sat down on the bottom bunk. “Hey, uh, kiddos?” Eda asked, “So, when this is all said and done, I’m– You know…”

Luz turned to face Eda, confusion on her face. “What is it, mom?”

Eda smiled at the title, before saying, “When all this is said and done, draining spell stopped and the bonehead’s overthrown and all, I’m not… gonna be an outlaw anymore. So uh, if you wanna commit one last crime together, for, old times’ sake?”

Luz’s eyes lit up brightly at that. “Yeah, I think I’d like that.”

“Do you want in, King?” Eda asked, a hint of desperation in her tone, and King nodded eagerly.

“Yeah, I think I’d like that,” King offered, and Eda’s expression was visibly brightened.

“Family bonding with crime.” Luz said in a weirdly-nostalgic tone, grinning. “It feels like it was just yesterday when you kidnapped me.”

Eda snorted, before adding in a more joyful tone, “Perfect, got any ideas?”

“So, the coven scouts have Francois, right…?” Luz offered up, and Eda groaned with a soft air to her voice.

“I was thinking vandalism, but sure,” Eda said, unable to fight a grin that made Luz wonder how sentimental today had been for Eda, “Breaking in and stealing King’s stuff back, just like the good ol’ times.”

---

Masha had handled things rather well all things considered.

That’s to say, they fainted, then ghosted Vee for the immediate forty-eight hours after, leaving the historical society with a vague ‘I need to process this’. In all fairness, Vee supposed that was probably the normal reaction.

What wasn’t normal was the fact Masha actually came back to Vee, smile on their face, “Thanks for letting Luz see me again, miss Noceda,” jovially on their tongue and yanking the basilisk through the streets of Gravesfield, falling into a strangely still-comfortable cadence walking through the streets.

For a moment, Vee thought Masha just bottled up the entire day and tossed it into the ocean of their mind.

“Luz?” Masha said, before pausing. “Vee?” They added in a faint whisper.

“Yeah?” Vee asked, voice slipping from that of Luz Noceda’s and slightly more into her own.

“Soooooooo…” Masha trailed off, amber eyes staring into a matching sky, an imminent rain in the next few hours. “I’ve got some questions for you.”

Vee gulped, and nodded.

“Lemme know if I’m pushing,” Masha said, before suddenly, “But so, do you need to eat? What does magic taste—”

“Wait–” Vee cut off, “You don’t…” She paused. She didn’t know what questions she expected. “You don’t mind?”

Masha gave a nervous chuckle. “Won’t lie, I’m probably still in shock, because hoo boy, but it’s not like I didn’t believe in the supernatural.” That was true. Vee had listened to Masha ramble more than once about occult myth, the urban legends of the world, rumours like a seemingly-haunted town that banned discussion of its five-day radio silence.

“But like…” Vee didn’t know why she was digging this hole, “You’re not mad at me for hiding it, or… Lying, or anything?”

Masha shrugged. “Not really, isn’t that wild!?” The archivist chuckled, “Goddess, I’ve mentioned how much freaky stuff around you? I’d be more concerned if you did just tell me, because like, I don’t wanna run from men in black, get me?” They pause. “If I ever go on about stuff like that again and freak you out, cut me off, ‘kay?”

Vee smiled, “Will do. So, do I need to eat?” Masha nodded, “Not really, I can live… forever without food, or at least fifteen years, so, probably don’t need it. I do get hungry, though.” Vee added, and Masha raised an eyebrow. “What, you’ve never had Camila’s cooking, it's goooood….”

“Some point, I'm asking about the oddly specific fifteen years thing, but but that's another time. For now, wanna visit that cafe and talk? Because…” Masha tugged a small folded-crumpled piece of paper, unfolding it. Vee craned a half-look, seeing Masha’s fine scrawl filling the sheet. “I’ve got a lot of questions.”

“...is this why you ghosted me for two days?”

The paranormalist went red with embarrassment. “Maybe?”

Vee rolled her eyes. “Fine, but you’re paying for the interview with a lemonade.”

That was a week prior, and to Vee’s sheer amusement, aside from now random tugs-aside to answer specific questions, the dynamic between Vee and Masha was weirdly the same. But with Vee able to breathe the smidgest bit easier around one of her friends (her best friend, really, and there was a part of her that tugged to say something else, Titan knew what), to be seen by someone other than Camila as not-Luz, it awoke a small blaze in her chest, and she had been thinking a lot about her identity as Vee , instead of being Luz Noceda.

When Luz came back, maybe Vee would try being Vee, there couldn’t be two Luz Nocedas after all.

Which was fine, she couldn’t keep being Luz.

That’s how she found herself in the school bathroom during what should’ve been her class, door locked and a garbage can blocking the door, her hair rippling through a range of colours, bathing in the flickering light in the bathroom, tinting between the full-strength white light, dim warm oranges, and harsh blues, a deck of hexes-hold-em cards already half-devoured.

(She needed to ration those, she really did. But Eda Clawthorne had dumped, like, *fifty* of the decks, a bit beyond obsession Vee figured, and she normally didn’t go through them like this. But more importantly, she couldn’t stand to see Luz in the mirror. In fact, it was a lot harder to stand seeing Luz in the mirror. Her brownish hair wasn’t right, her skin felt too tan, her voice was too off-kilter and was missing a certain ring.

She wondered if Luz had ever felt this primal urge to get out of her own skin. She twisted her shape into Clara, Masha, classmate after classmate. Each one was more and more stomach-churning then the last. At least Luz Noceda was a name she was used to, Clara was stunning, Masha was a person she nope not unpacking that yet , but each peer was more and more distant.

Surely it was universal for humans, she tried to believe.

She ignored the whistling taunt in the back of her skull reminding her that she wasn’t human.)

The sandy brown colour was really nice, but it was a touch bland, despite being rather sacred among the Gravesfield High population. Vee tried to look it down deafeningly in the jarring bathroom lights, wanting to like it, but it was empty.

But nothing else fit.

She pulled out her phone, back against the wall, trying not to breathe too heavy, firing a text to Masha.

You: Hey masha can you come to the bathroom by the lunchroom

Masha (860-5…): yeah gimme 2 mins

Vee sank her head into her hands, suppressing the urge to feel something foreign. Brown hair, tan skin, stubby fingernails. Her height was off, her voice was wrong. (It wasn’t off, it wasn’t wrong, something in her screamed. She screamed back.)

A bang on the bathroom door snapped Vee from her panic, bolting to her feet, sandy hair giving way to brown again, keeping her eyes away from the reflective glass.

“Luz, you in there?” Masha’s voice came, and Vee breathed heavy as she tugged the trash can back to where it went, and Masha stepped in, grimacing. “Ooh, you’ve been crying.”

“I hadn’t noticed,” Vee said dully, and Masha grabbed her hands.

“What’s wrong, L—”

“Vee, please.” The girl cut off, eyes full of pleading. Masha nodded.

“What’s wrong, Vee?” The enby asked, and Vee felt a warmth in her chest, smiling. “Ooooh, it’s that.”

“It’s what?”

“You’re struggling with pretending to be Luz, rig— okay, you flinched , yeah.” Masha said, “C’mon, it’s last period anyway.”

“Last period?!” Vee exclaimed, startling, “It was lunch when I came in!”

“It’s not lunch anymore,” Masha quipped, “Text Camila, I’m taking you for a stroll through what’s left of my wardrobe. We’re gonna see if— Yeah, you’d fit, you need a makeover, thoughts?”

“That feels like a lot for…” Vee wanted to argue, but…

“I’ve got a nice brown pair of boots that I think would suit you,” Masha continued on as though Vee hadn’t spoke, “Maybe a jean jacket? Luz’s taste don’t really work with your whole vibe, so let’s work on finding you your own style, how’s that sound?”

“How do you know I didn’t pick this myself?” Vee insisted in a joking manner.

Raised eyebrow. “Then it’s my responsibility to fix it.”

---

Luz was almost disappointed how easy it was to break into the police precinct. Like, depressingly easy. What wasn’t depressing was the warehouse itself, rows and rows of boxes piled high, and the room was daunting just to look at.

“Okay, soooooo…” Eda groaned, looking at the labyrinth, “Take whatever you can carry, I suppose?”

“Eda, these belong to people!”

She smiled, “Raised you too moral.” She quipped, “Okay, fine, me and Luz can grab—”

“Eda,” came the deadpan, and the human crossed her arms stubbornly.

“Fiiiine, take whatever you can find that belongs to us.” Eda settled on, chuckling. 

The two kids nodded, and thus a scavenger hunt through the halls began, while Eda looked over her kids with a sombre expression, pain evident in her eye, her smile slipping when their backs were turned.

Eda had never been the religious sort, but she couldn’t help it. “O Titan, who watches from beneath,” She murmured, voice faint even in the quiet warehouse, hand over her heart, “Blessed with thy humours and thy gaze, keep these children safe.” She cracked a smile, seeing Luz pull King aside to show him something in a box, and the two laughed, their exact words hazy to Eda. “This is all I ask of you.”

It had been decades since she prayed to the Titan, because it wasn’t like he was there for her in the past. But if their god was watching and real and true, she hoped three decades of not pushing her luck made the weight of this one wish clear.

She took a deep breath, gliding down. “Find anything neat?”

“Look, a fidget spinner!” Luz triumphantly said, “These were a big fad a while back.”

“Of course it was, what isn’t a fad at some point,” She said, and Luz nodded like it was some profound life advice.

King suddenly cheered triumphantly, “Found him!!” He pulled a plush bunny from a box, holding up his ‘second-in-command’ with awe and pride. “Welcome back, commander!” He said, hugging the rabbit tightly, and Eda smiled.

“Welcome back, buddy!” Luz said jovially.

“I love you two,” Eda said abruptly, eyes wet, cursing her for sentimentality. The ‘Owl Lady’ would’ve never , she thought, the words “Thanks for being in my life,” coming out in a soft, casual cadence.

“We love you too, mom!” King said, but Luz was looking at Eda’s expression carefully.

The human paled. “I love you too, Eda, but this is… you’re really sentimental today, it’s almost a little… are you hiding something?” Luz insisted, and Eda shook her head.

“I’d tell you if I was—”

“Eda, you’re acting… Please, if you’re sick, you can tell us,” The girl begged, something vaguely like fear creeping into every syllable.

Eda turned, a look of desperation and fear in her eyes. “No, I’m not sick! Just worried, is all. We’re going to bring you two back to the base,” Eda said, voice two-tone between witch and harpy, giving away her stress, “And then you’re both going to stay there in the hideout, where it’s safe , and secure, and I’m going to end this!”

“You don’t have to do it alone, Eda,” King said, voice choking up.

“This time, I do.” Eda said, unable to keep a sob out of her throat, and Luz froze for a half-moment, before looking up at Eda with confused eyes.

“What are you hiding from us? Please, mom, just tell me!” Luz yelled back, brandishing Owlbert, “I can help if you just tell me what’s going on!”

“Yeah, well, I know you won’t approve!” Eda growled, and Luz’s arms were wide in disbelief.

“Then why are you doing it?” King asked, hurt in his tone.

“Y-you can trust me,” Luz exclaimed, “Please, just tell me, I’m sure it’ll be oka–”

“I’m probably going to die, okay ?” Eda said, voice cracking, and King stopped moving, frozen like a statue, while Luz gasped, hand going slack and Owlbert clattering to the floor, the palisman fluttering back towards Eda and nuzzling itself into her hair. “I’m gonna take Raine’s place in the Draining Spell, use my curse to corrupt it, and odds are it’s gonna kill me and the other eight coven heads, no one else .”

“What makes you think it’s going to kill you?” Luz snapped, voice bubbling with emotion and maybe a splinter of hope.

“You’re strong, you can—” King started arguing, but Eda cut them off.

“When you two did the race, and me and Raine met up again,” Eda explained, voice cracking, “I… me and them tried to take out two coven heads. Curse nearly did all four of us in. Raine stopped me that time, but…”

That splinter of hope fell, as Luz slipped to her knees, “And you’re going to do it again ?!” Her eyes were filled with horror, already welling up, a look of betrayal, maybe even guilt, crossing her features, “Y-you can’t do—”

“Eda, that’s not—” King’s voice warbled, “How is that fair to us ?”

“Raine will take care of you two, you won’t be fugitives,” Eda said, eyes wet, palm rubbing into her sockets to try and clear her vision, “And you will both get to live a happy, safe life, so it’s worth it , okay? I’ve got it all figured out.”

“You can’t… Please, mom, you can’t do this,” Luz said, voice harsh, and Eda looked away from her adopted children, visions blurry.

King dropped to his little knees, visibly pained.

“I would’ve died in the Conformatorium if not for you two,” Eda added softly, “I was on borrowed time anyway, heh. To get that extra time with you was… Was the best I could ask for, kiddos. Who knows, maybe I’ll make it, and I’m worrying you both for noth–”

Almost as if in sync, King hopped onto Luz’s shoulder as the human blinked away her tears, and looked up at Eda with a glare. “No.”

“Huh?” Eda wasn’t sure what specifically Luz was denying, but before she got a chance to question it, Luz was running at her, and it was only sheer instinct that got Eda in the air in time.

“No, we’re not letting you,” Luz said, “I won’t let you, King won’t, we’ll, we’ll think of something else!” Eda landed on the rows of boxes, eyes black with the curse’s change, and she heard nothing but desperation in Luz’s voice, “Anything else, I’ll take your place, just… You can’t do this, Eda!”

“You’re our mom, Eda,” King said, voice shaky, “We’re not gonna stand there while you, what, sacrifice yourself?!”

“You can’t take my place, you aren’t cursed,” Eda said, as though that were the only reason instead of the hundreds flitting through her mind, you’ve got your whole lives ahead of you , then what’s the point in saving the world , you’ve both got more people to come home too , and Luz’s eyes narrowed.

“Neither was Lilith,” Luz said, the words coming out in a shallow breath, voice hit with the faintest of epiphanies, and while the words sunk in and as King gasped, every alarm bell known to both witch- and human-kind ran through Eda’s head.

“Don’t you dare,” Eda said, taking a step back, “No, that’s not happening,”

“ This isn’t happening,” King answered back, as Luz dug through her jacket pulling out a plant glyph, slamming it into the ground, thick vines reaching after Eda, “We’re not going to let you die!”

Eda soared, twisting in the air to dodge the vine attack, and she swooped down, grabbing Luz by the collar, and the human flailed, King holding onto Luz’s shoulders tightly. “Please, I don’t want to fight you!”

Luz twisted, and King took a pained breath, giving out an echoing weh!, and Eda flew back, Luz slipping from her grasp to land on top of many of the boxes within the warehouse, and the human bolted, skidding to a stop. She slammed an ice glyph into the ground just as Eda tried to reach her again, rolling out of the way. 

Eda felt her wings get caught in a wall of ice, the owl beast somewhere deep inside screeching to be released, and while she struggled, Luz grabbed Eda’s arm by the wrist — Eda couldn’t help but think, where her sigil was about to be.

“Let go of m—” She started, but Luz seemed numb to the words.

“With this spell declared,” Luz murmured, holding Eda’s arm tightly in her grip, “Let the pain be shared.” And for a moment, Eda briefly wondered if she would have enough of her curse left to play her role, and how would cleaving the curse in half again affect her, how would it affect Luz if she wasn't magical, what if—

Luz isn’t magical.

And for that, the spell did nothing.

“H-huh?” Luz stammered, “W-with this spe–”

Owlbert fluttered from Eda’s hair as she finally managed to wrench Luz and King off of her, the ice wall splintering to the ground in pieces, and the human and Titan both looking dismayed in a heap.

“For once, I am so so glad you need your glyphs,” Eda said, and Luz looked at the harpy lady with what was almost a look of betrayal, “Because you’re my kids, it’s my job to protect you , got it?”

Luz wrapped her arms tight around Eda, King hopping to hold Eda tightly as well. “I know, but, but it’s my fault you need to protect us, if I hadn’t helped—”

“N-none of that, kiddo, okay?” Eda looked at Luz in the eyes, and the human girl looked back, tears welling up anew. “You made my life worth living, never forget that, promise me that,”

“W-why are you doing this,” King whimpered, and Eda held her tightly.

“Because, I don’t want either of you to get hurt,” Eda said softly, “I would never forgive myself if I could save you but didn’t.” King held Eda tighter, not even trying to hide the sobs racking his small body, before Eda asked in a soft, gentle cadence, “Do you understand?”

“B-but I can’t—” Luz started, voice choking up and giving a small hiccup.

Eda swallowed. She already felt guilty for this, but the kid never listened to reason unless… “If not for you, kid, for your friends?” Eda asked, and Luz gave a wet cough. “This is the only way to protect your friends; and before you get ideas, your friends would kill me themselves if I let you do this.”

Luz chuckled, looking up at Eda. “N-no, no reckless stuff,” She said, voice wavering, “If you can make it, please make it, mom,” She tightened her grip around Eda, “I don’t wanna lose you too.”

“And I’m not dead yet, there’s still plenty of options,” Eda said, and she felt weirdly optimistic saying it, “Maybe the Draining Spell just won’t work since I don’t have magic, we’ll have wasted the one shot Belos has, and all of this crying will be pointless, wouldn’t that be something?”

“Nothing we say c-can convince you?” King asked, looking up, and Eda shook her head.

“Nope, but don’t mourn me yet, I’ve still got fight in me.” Eda teased, “And I want you to live for me, okay? Let me do this, okay?” She paused, “Your palistrom wood is somewhere here too, right? Let’s find it, and we can carve it tonight if you’d like.” Luz didn’t reply, but she nodded her head weakly, and her breathing was starting to calm.

“It’s not fair,” King murmured weakly. “It’s really not…”

“Life usually isn’t, but hey,” Eda said, “It’s a life I’m proud of. So give an old gal her last wish, and promise me, both of you promise me, that you won’t try and pull some heroic victory. If I live, if I die, well, leave it up to the Titan.”

Luz and King both said nothing.

“Promise me, please,” Eda asked, voice soft, and the human and Titan both nodded.

“Alright.” “We promise.”

(They both felt so bad for lying already.)

---

“Aaaaaaaand ta-da!” Masha said triumphantly, pulling their hands from Vee’s eyes, and the basilisk gasped. 

The jean jacket hadn’t fit, but the ripped jeans did, and Vee stared into the mirror, staring at sandy blonde hair on top of her head, a cosy orange turtleneck covering Luz’s graphic tee. There was a look of awe on Vee’s face.

“Mmm, you need a splash of colour, maybe?” Masha said, chewing their lip. “Maybe, maybe… No, wait a sec!”

Masha without explaining anything — the MO for this wardrobe excursion, really — started digging, before adding at Vee’s confused expression, “I might have that turtleneck in blue? A bit of blue would go a long way, I bet.”

“Is it the hair?” Vee asked defeatedly, and Masha nodded absently.

“It’s nice hair, but it doesn’t go well—” The paranormalist said, hopping gently to reach a hoodie on the top shelf. “Ah, go well with the orang—This is from grade four?” They cut themselves off, pure bafflement across their face. “Why do I have this still?”

Vee stared in the mirror. With a ripple of her hair, she smiled, staring at blue frosted tips, smirking a little. “Little hint of blue, right?”

“R-right, and I might have that in bl– what the hell? ” They snapped, yanking— “Did I put all my grade school hoodies up here, for the love—” They turned to Vee in disbelief, before their expression softened. “Oooh.”

“Blue and orange go well, right?” The basilisk asked, doing a little twirl.

“Yeah, they do, but you—” Masha froze, staring at Vee’s smile. “You look happy , wow, has anyone seen you smile that way?”

“Camila, probably.” Vee said, and Masha sighed.

“Well, glad I can see it too then.” Masha said, “Keep the clothes, it suits you way more than me.” They mock-shuddered, “Bright colours ruin the whole groove I’ve got.”

“Thanks, Mas’” Vee said, hugging them tightly, and there’s a still pause, before Vee let go, blushing. “I, uh—”

“Wait, come ba–” Masha abruptly said, before going bright red, coughing, clearing their throat. “It-It’s late, we should get you home, huh?”

“You could probably, uh… Stay? For dinner? As thanks?” Vee’s voice was hesitant, gaze was distracted, a smile dancing across her features. “Yeah, should I grab a bag for this?”

“I’ve got one.”

“Mm. Thanks.”

They didn’t get up yet though, content to just sit on the side of the bed together in each other’s company. There was easy breathing despite the tension being thick as a small building.

She didn’t want to be Luz Noceda anymore. And thankfully, she didn’t have to be.

---

Ultimately, returning to the base in Latissa was relatively easy, considering the one coven scout who bore witness to the fight unfolding quickly got attacked and thrown to the side by Eda — eh, he’ll wake up in the morning with a headache, I handle it just fine — and after a bit of fancy footwork to throw off anyone who might’ve been on their tail, well, all was well now.

Well, it wasn’t, but. It was as good as they could get, Luz realised. I’m not ready to lose her too. But she sat calmly-as-she-could on the bed, trying to quell the tears, Eda holding the carving knife with a soft smile.

“So, my pops taught me all this, his mum taught him, all the way back to grandma Evelyn, it’s… it’s a Clawthorne tradition,” Eda said, failing to keep the wobble out of her voice, “But I haven’t actually done it in a looooong time, so bear with me. First, let’s give ourselves some space.”

Eda shoved some blankets aside, and Luz held the slab of wood with a smile, looking at Eda with a grin. “Do you know what you want to carve, kiddo?”

Luz paused, smiling widely. “I think I do, yeah.”

Eda smiled, “So, first, you want to shave the outer layer gently, really gently, just to get the harder bark out of the way…”

Her and King were going to save Eda, and Belos was gonna be defeated, and she’d have a palisman. Luz tried to breathe easy, telling herself it would be okay.

(It wouldn’t be okay, she feared, and she did her best to not focus on the flatline ringing behind her ear.)

---

Camila heard a knock at her door, and she set down her chequebook to open it wide, only to see— Well, that was Vee’s friend, Masha, looking proud and sheepish, but then— Camila didn’t know this girl. Around Luz’s height, she had sandy blonde hair with blue dyed tips, wearing a bright orange t-shirt, and ripped jeans.

Camila had zero clue who this was.

“Sorry, Vee’s not here right now,” She offered gently, “And uh, Masha and… I don’t believe we’ve met?”

“Hi, mama,” The blonde said, and Camila’s eyes went wide. “What do you think?”

Camila wrapped Vee in a tight hug, “¡Te ves maravillosa!” And indeed, Vee looked happy, smiling wider than she ever had as Luz.

“Thanks, Masha helped me,” Vee said, “And now I think I’ve got a style going!”

“You say that like you didn’t do all the work yourself,” Masha quipped, “Literally, I just threw clothes and overwhelmed her.

“Well, it was a good overwhelming,” Vee shot back, and as Masha quipped something about not how overwhelming works, Vee , Camila smiled gently.

“Can Masha stay for dinner?” Vee asked, and Camila felt like a deer in headlights. I’m supposed to say yes to this, right? She was making enough food for leftovers anyway.

She nodded, “Of course, mija, and… And also, I take it Masha knows your secret?”

“Yeah, it’s… It’s a bit of a relief,” Vee admitted, “I can tell you about it over dinner?”

Camila nodded, I’d love that, sit down, feeling a surge of pride run through her. Her daughter was inviting a friend over for dinner, and she ignored the sting in her chest that pointed out she was only feeling this now after fourteen years.

 

Notes:

:(

Eda spent time strategizing with the BATTs to formulate an attack plan, and Eda's going into this knowing she's probably gonna die. The kids fought her, and let's be honest - the only reason they aren't still is because they're coming up with a plan to save Eda themselves.

We also get Vee having gender species dysphoria, and her wanting to make a name for Vee instead of Luz. As well as a bit of Masha, a character who has received a small ascended fanon role here for thematic reasons that will be obvious later.

Not... super happy with this chapter, but I don't actually know where to attack it because I'm not sure why it's not gelling. I will almost certainly be making edits to this chapter based on reader feedback in the comments, so be kind please haha

Something I am sorta proud of is Masha in this; in the original show, a lot is left up in the air regarding who they are. They’re into tarot, and the creepy past of Gravesfield. They’re a bit sarcastic, laid back, and they work at the historical society for reasons likely related to an interest in the occult and paranormal.

Ultimately, I designed them as a mirror to Jacob: paranormal obsessed, but instead of Jacob’s violent, self-serving ‘self-righteous’ obsession, Masha’s a more benevolent approach, fascinated in the knowledge. Jacob's GOC to Masha's Foundation, for those who get that reference. Like I said, they'll be important for something later, so I wanted to figure them out. And bam! End result!

Either who, see you all next chapter as the Day of Unity commences, in Skies of Gold!!

Chapter 11: Skies of Gold

Summary:

The Day of Unity has begun.

Notes:

Content warning: The obvious genocide package that comes with the Day of Unity. Additionally, parental physical abuse.

Vee wasn’t up yet. Camila instantly took this as a bad sign.

Call it better than a cage, call it Vee just liked learning, call it a chance to see her friends, but Vee never missed a day, was always up at crack of dawn. If Camila herself wasn’t usually a morning person, it’d be infuriating.

And Vee was still in bed five minutes before she needed to leave for school.

“Mija?” Camila knocked on the bedroom door lightly, “¿Puedo entrar?”

“Si mamá.” Vee replied weakly, and Camila opened the door to find the basilisk curled up in the bed, a sombre and miserable expression on her face.

“Are you not feeling well, cariño?” Camila asked, and Vee shrugged.

“I… I told you why I was… made, right?” Vee asked, voice shaky, and Camila shushed her daughter.

“You don’t have to tell me if it’s too m—”

“No, I, I want to,” Vee said, “So I can put this behind me.”

Camila nodded silently, and Vee continued.

“Me and the rest of the basilisks, we were made for, uh… this thing called the Day of Unity.” Vee said, “Not sure why, but that was our purpose. And it’s… The Day of Unity is the eclipse.”

Camila tried to keep the confusion off her face. “It’s not the eclipse, though?”

“In the Demon Realm, I… it is.” Vee said, “I spent my whole life dreading what came after, I know that it’s today.”

Camila paused, not sure what to say, before quietly offering, “Would you like to stay home today?”

Vee silently nodded, tugging the blanket closer to her chest.

“Okay, I’ll call the school, I’ll say you came down with something…” Camila offered, before noticing a worried look on Vee’s face. “Your grades are great, you can afford a day off, Vee.” The basilisk instantly relaxed. “And even if they were awful, you can still take a day off, okay?”

“Thanks, Camila,” Vee murmured, tugging the blankets even higher up. Camila nodded.

“And call Masha, after school. Company helps me through tough times,” Camila offered up, and Vee nodded, “How does albondigas sound?” At the brightened expressions, Camila smiled. “Alright. Baja cuando quieras.”

Camila closed the door softly, her expression slipping. The Day of Unity, whatever it was, clearly had Vee scared.

She could only pray Luz was okay.

---

It was an emotional day. Luz didn’t want to let go. Neither did King. Neither did Eda.

“Raine’ll keep you two safe,” Eda murmured, hugging her children tightly, “Behave for them, got it?”

“Us? Behave?” King teased, and Eda gave a wet chuckle.

“Do me proud, then,” Eda said, voice light, and Luz nuzzled her head into Eda’s side more.

“Please, Eda, try and come back,” Luz begged, and Eda nodded.

“I’ll try,” Eda said, “Titan, I’m gonna try. But if I don’t, King, Luz, you both were an amazing family. I’m so glad you were in my life.”

There were choked sobs and coughs, and after a moment more, Eda stood up, letting go with a sorrowful look in her eyes. “Time to finish this.” She murmured, too faint for almost anyone to hear.

Eda looked at Raine, frowning, and the bard nodded. Eda turned and walked off, footsteps a bit shaky, and Luz grabbed Raine’s sleeve, iron in her eyes.

“Raine?” Luz asked, “Promise me, promise me you’ll keep Eda safe!”

“Promise.” Raine said, “And if I fail, you can blame me.” Their voice was so level, and calm, that Luz wanted to throw something at them. Suddenly, she felt a flare of rage at Raine.

“How could you let her do this?” Luz asked with a sharp tone, voice stinging, “How cou—”

“I’m asking myself the same question,” Raine said, cutting Luz off, holding her in a soft hug. “I wish there was another way.”

“There has to be, right!?”

There was quiet for a moment. “Eda made me swear to protect you two,” Raine finally said.

“Huh?” King spoke up, voice cracking and filled with confusion.

“That if anything does happen to her, to keep you safe,” Raine continued, voice shaky. “She tries to act nonplussed, but this is the happiest I’ve ever seen her. I’m pretty sure she’d take on the Titan for you kids. It’s a little scary, to be honest. She loves you a lot, more than Lilith, more than me.” Raine admitted, chuckling. “She always said she’d never have kids. Not worth the trouble. And yet…”

Luz was silent, but she leaned more into Raine.

“I know I’m not Eda.” Raine said, “Never can be, never should be, she’d hate me if I pretended to be someone I’m not. But I promise you, if I can save her, I will. No matter what.”

Luz weakly nodded, sniffling into Raine’s arm. The bard let go, and gave Luz a bittersweet smile.

“But stay here , okay?” Raine repeated, “Please. I’ll try and save Eda, but you have to stay here, it'll be hard saving just one person.” Luz and King nodded, and Raine raised an eyebrow. “You’re both lying, aren’t you?” Suddenly, eye contact became difficult, and Raine chuckled.

“Heh, you really are Eda’s kids, huh?” The bard commented, before snapping back to focus, “I’m having Hunter watch over you both to prevent any stunts, got it?”

Luz nodded, frowning, and part of her was falling to the ground in small shards, because she had to save Eda, she had to.

She couldn't lose her. She couldn't bear to see Eda fighting to the last breath, she couldn't bear to see Eda robbed of herself in her final hour, she couldn't watch the one person who understood her die.

“G-got it,” She choked out, grabbing King and holding the baby Titan to her chest. “N-no stunts…”

“Yea…” King whimpered, and Raine gave a look of pity.

“I'll try, promise.” The bars said, and then with a heavy sigh, turned and left.

Now only one goodbye remained, and it seemed Darius was nothing if not efficient. He pulled Hunter aside, “The last golden guard was my mentor.” He told the boy gently, “Judas would’ve been proud to call you his successor.”

“But I’m not the gold—” Hunter tried to argue, but Darius shushed.

“And he’d have been prouder to know you aren’t . It was trying to escape that got him killed, he’d be thrilled to know you made it.” The head witch finished, hugging Hunter tightly, and he looked at the blond and his friends with a rare expression that was filled with emotion. “Keep Hunter safe, human.”

With that, the head witch turned, and Darius left the room, his steps a bit heavier than Hunter ever remembered seeing them.

One by one, the room emptied and stilled, and the room was quiet for a whole five seconds, with the three kids sitting in a calm and sombre room, when Luz looked at King, a bitter look on her face. The small Titan looked at her with an equally-morose look.

“We’re going to save them, right?” Hunter finally asked, voice shaky.

“Wait, really?” Luz exclaimed, a soft smile on her face. “Thank you, Hunter, thank you!” She bolted to grab her bag of glyphs that her palisman egg was also resting in.

“Aren’t you supposed to watch us?” King asked, but already the Titan was acting a smidge brighter, grinning wide at Hunter.

“Oh yeah, I can’t let you leave, forgot.” Hunter said, but he was already slipping on the jacket Darius had lent him the night prior. “Guess you’ve gotta stay—It’s sarcasm , Flap, stop tugging, it hurts!”

---

“So what's the plan again?” King asked, nuzzled in the hood of Luz’s sweater, and Hunter groaned.

“Last time, King,” The guard said, no malice in his voice, “We meet up with Willow, Gus, and Amity, we convince Mr. Blight to help us, we take control of the Abomitons, and we disrupt the spell before it happens.” He looked up at the sky. “Six hours, I think. We have six hours before the eclipse.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Luz said, holding her witchwool cloak to herself tightly. “You did pensta Willow and Gus, right?”

“Nope, he totally forgot,” came a cheerful voice, and Luz turned with a wide smile towards the sound.

“Yeah, luckily, we knew to be right here, right now!” Gus teased, and Willow rolled her eyes.

“You gotta be gentler, Gus, now you just overdi—”

“Hi you too!!” Luz said, hugging the duo tightly, but when she stepped away, she noticed the third person standing amongst them. “Mattholomule?”

“‘Sup, human?” The construction witch greeted loosely, and her gaze narrowed.

“Gus, did you invite him—”

“Adrian Graye tried to give everyone at Hexside sigils,” Luz’s face paled, and it got worse when Gus kept speaking, holding his fingers up a hair’s width apart. “He was maybe this close to giving me an abomination sigil, but Matt saved me.”

“It doesn’t make sense, either,” Willow said, “It’s supposedly big deal for the Day of Unity, but no one is saying why , and—”

“You didn’t tell them!?” Luz snapped at Hunter, and the guard shrugged. “Ugh, fine, so, me and Hunter ended up in Philip’s mind–”

“The journal guy?” Willow asked, the three witches' expressions scrunched up in increasing senses of confusion, and Luz sighed.

“Okay, long story short, Emperor Belos is a human named Philip from four hundred years ago,” One set of gasps, “He’s what the human realm calls a ‘witch hunter’, exactly what it sounds like,” Second set of gasps, “And the sigils are going to kill everyone during the eclipse if we don’t stop him.” Dead silence, eyes widening.

“I’m sorry, what in the Titan’s name have you been up to!?” Mattholomule asked, a hint of disbelief creeping into his tone, “You got here, like, five months ago? Do you even sleep?”

“If I told you everything, it’d be, like, at least two seasons on the crystal ball,” Luz said, before pausing. “Plus whatever happens from here, I suppose. Anyway, where’s Amity?”

Willow sighed. “She helped fight back against coven heads, and she missed school the day after. I’m pretty sure her mom is being… her usual, really.”

“Okay, so, mini-rescue mission, we’ll get Amity out, and since we’ll be at the Manor anyway,” Luz said, “Here’s the plan you three…”

---

Blight Manor had the best security money could buy. But the warehouse had been the best security the law could provide, so Luz wasn’t terribly surprised to say, ‘that was easy’.

An illusionist from the coven serving as a herald of any intruders, quickly detained with a bundle of vines, courtesy of Willow. Abomatons guarding the surroundings, but it wasn’t hard for Hunter to zip by and lob off the alarms using Flapjack as a baton of death.

Really, all Luz had to wonder is why Odalia had such good security. Was this really all just to keep Amity grounded?

Standing outside the balcony that Luz knew belonged to Amity — thanks, Willow, imagine if I went in the wrong one — she slammed a plant glyph down, watching softer vines weave their way up, Luz taking a step on the balcony when she froze.

“ —can’t believe it, she’s never…” Amity’s voice came muffled through the door, and Luz froze. “Is it all gone?”

“Yeah, it is. And I’m… I wanna be surprised, but when there’s no image to maintain, I guess,” Emira’s voice came through.

“No, it feels fine now,” Amity replied, “I just wish Luz were here, you know? That at least she’s safe, and… I dunno.”

“What do you think Luz would say if she were here?” Emira asked.

“Probably something dorky, but also sweet,” Amity said, voice gentle, and she had a soft air to her voice that warmed Luz’s heart. “Like how I shouldn’t give up and that… anything is possible.”

Luz slid open the door on Amity’s balcony, looking into the room as Amity continued. “Or she’d say that I might be scared now, but to not let that stop me, because— because every problem has a solution!”

Emira’s eyes landed on Luz, widening the slightest bit, and she nudged Edric, who looked in her general direction. Luz gave a curt wave, awkward facial expressions giving away how unsure she was of how to progress. The twins, being the traitors that they are, chose to simply leave Amity alone, getting up and walking away while the abomination witch rambled into the wind.

“And everything’s been so crazy, we've barely been able to spend time together. And I am not letting the world end before we go on a real date!”

Luz cleared her throat, and Amity turned, shock in her eyes that melted into hope. “ Whoa , you’re right!” She said, grinning. “I would say all that.”

“Luz!!” Amity cried out, grinning, and the two ran into each other’s arms, Luz giving her girlfriend a spin as they reunited.

“I’m gonna take you out when this is all over, a fancy dinner and a slow walk through town, no hijinxs, no running, just the most mundane, slice-of-life date ever, okay?” Luz said, grin wide, and Amity smiled back. “And it’ll be awesome, okay?”

“I know…” Amity said softly, and for a brief moment, she faltered, but then she leaned in, cupping Luz’s head, and she planted a kiss on the human’s lips.

The human had read her fair share of fanfictions in the human realm, but she always dismissed it when an author described a first kiss as an explosion, fireworks, a warmth that she suddenly realised she had been freezing without. But that warmth wasn’t the kiss itself, Luz now realised, that firework show was the feeling, knowing she had Amity in her arms, knowing that she was in Amity’s, and that for a moment, everything else in the world had vanished.

It was just them, awkward first kisses exploding across every inch of Luz’s mind; a small fragment of her mind drifted to the cliché ‘she looked into her golden orbs’, but most of her was caught in the now, kissing Amity back, oh Titan, she’s kissing me!

When the two separated (was it three seconds, three hours? All Luz knew was oxygen was suddenly overrated), she tried to speak, open her mouth to say anything, and what came out—

“Oh, crikey,” she said, and her face grew even redder.

“I can’t believe I just did that,” Amity murmured, and Luz nodded.

“I can’t believe I just said that,” She admitted, “‘ Oh crikey ’, c’mon Luz, be cool next time.”

There’s a wide smile on each of their faces, and after a moment, emotions conflicting and agreeing across her pale face, Amity reached around her neck, lifting up the crescent-moon necklace she was wearing. Holding it in her hand, she slowly draped it around Luz’s neck.

“You’re lending me your necklace?” Luz asked, not daring to assume, and Amity shook her head, the human’s heart beating even faster somehow.

“ Giving it to you.” Amity said, voice a bit breathless and shaky. “It’s… It’s a big trust thing here, kinda.”

“I know. I…” Luz started, voice faint. She wasn’t clueless. Time that would’ve been spent on portal research had been adjusted, spending her time learning the cultures and ways of the Boiling Isles, ranging from mundane things like pop culture reference, to…. things like how couples would exchange important things, sentimental objects like jewellery, vital ones like organs, as a mark of their bond, in a way that reminded Luz of promise rings in the human realm.

The crescent moon necklace now hung from Luz’s neck, and it felt so wrong not seeing it on Amity, so warm on her chest that she almost wondered if it was warm to the touch, and she wiped at her still-dry eyes.

“I’ll guard it with my life.” Luz said with a chuckle, and Amity’s face paled. “No, it's, it’s an expression, I’ll be okay, promise.” Amity hugged Luz tightly, no words spoken as she listened to Luz’s breathing for a moment. “I promise, we’ll make it out of this.”

“I know we will.” Amity said, and the couple held each other close for a moment longer.

“Now c’mon.” Luz said, “We’ve got a world to save.”

“Is that all the hydraulics?” Odalia asked the abomiton workforce flying her ships. “Good, install them, the Abomitron is nearly finished.”

The workers mindlessly marched onwards, and Luz patted King gently. “Alright, King, stay here, okay? It’s safer if Odalia doesn’t see you.”

“But I can—”

“Please, King,” Luz asked, and the Titan nodded weakly. As she bolted off, the silence grew, and in the depths of his mind, he could hear rambling, he’s my friend, right? He wouldn’t lie, he couldn’t lie, we pinky-promised that we’d play my game when his crummy one was done! I wanna play a new game!! But what if he’s lying to me—

King shook his head, trying to ignore the voice, taking small steps in circles just to drown out the childish voice of… was it the Collector? Drowning out the Collector(?) with the sound of his feet clicking against the ground and the wind in the air when—

Are those chip bags?

…Well, it’s not like he could get in more danger by getting away from Odalia…

---

“You know, Rainestorm,” Eda commented, leaning over the railing of the carrier ship, “It was always you who wanted kids, and you got them, didn’t you?”

“I’m not gonna ask what brought this on,” Raine said, “But I am gonna ask about me having kids, because since when , Eda?”

“Katya, Derwin, Amber.” Eda answered, “You treat ‘em like your own kids, the way I do. Don’t even lie to me.” Raine stared into the distance as Eda spoke. “Motherhood is wild , now I get what my mother went through,” Eda admitted, “Just before the whole mindscape thing, she found a hexdrinker skin, tried to bring it home.” 

Raine’s face paled, “A hexdrinker?” No witch reached adulthood without knowing of the little serpents, whose bite drained a witch’s bile sac in a way that would never fully replenish. “Please tell me you said no!”

“It was just the skin, and no one in the house has magic so…” Eda said, “Think it’s framed in her bedroom, actually… Titan, I need to get her a proper bed, don’t I? Maybe I can bring her to pick out a material she likes, she’s picky with textil—” Suddenly, Eda’s expression dropped like a sack of rocks. “It’s never… I’m not gonna get to do that for her.” She wiped her eyes, “Look at me, upset because I can’t buy a mattress.”

“I can… help her get—”

“It’s not just the mattress, Raine, because, you… you don’t know King and Luz, not really!”

“I can learn t—”

“What foods can Luz stomach?” Eda asked, but before Raine could even process the question, “Which stuffed animals are off limits, why isn’t Luz going home, can you get to King’s island, can you keep them safe and sound?”

“Eda, I’m—”

“I don’t want them to have to upturn their lives for a person they barely know, both my kids have abandonment issues, and I’m abandoning them!!” Eda said, and Raine tried to speak up, but the Owl Lady kept going, “I’m no better than King’s parents or Luz’s piece of shit mother!!”

“Eda!” Raine snapped, “Calm down.”

“Don’t ask me to calm down, Raine!!” Eda roared, “I’m, I’m leaving my children, I’m never gonna see them again!!” Eda’s eyes were wide, black sclera creeping in slowly, plumage rising from her arms, voice shifting into two-tones. “My kids are going to watch as everyone else comes home, praying that you saved me, because you made a promise you couldn’t keep!!”

“I’m going to try and keep—” 

“You can’t do that!” Eda screamed, tugging at her hair, “Raine! How do I survive this!? How close was it in the forest, without a draining spell ?! I’m dead , Raine, surely you know this!!”

The bard was quiet, and Eda took a shuddering breath, reaching into the bag of elixirs she had brought. She downed two of them back to back, and most of the feathers receded.

“I just hope there’s… something for me after the smoke clears.” Eda finally said wistfully, sloshing the little bit of potion in the second bottle around with a sad gaze. “I wanna watch ‘em grow up, Raine, that’s all.”

“You really love them,” Raine said, and it wasn’t a question.

“I’d have gone into a coven for them.” Eda said, almost casually, but without an ounce of Eda’s traditional hyperbole or snark to be heard. She downed the last splash of potion, eyes glistening. “I am going into a coven for them. Let’s get this over with, Rainestorm.”

---

So Alador’s workroom was empty. Odalia also had about twenty feet in each direction warded with silent alarms. And now, mere minutes later, Luz could confidently say she had no clue why force fields were oracle magic, and she was definitely complaining.

“Don’t you get it, mom,” Amity snapped, “You– Belos is a witch hunter!!”

“Really, Mittens,” Odalia drawled, “I am so tired of all this drama. Sneaking around in little disguises, convincing the twins to act out, are you trying to get yourself in more trouble?” The oracle asked, waving her arm in a dismissive gesture.

Amity grimaced, and Luz’s eyes narrowed. “She’s trying to help you!”

Odalia sighed, “Hush, brat—”

“Don’t talk to my girlfriend that way!” Amity snapped, but the girl flinched as Odalia raised her hand. The older woman chuckled, and Luz’s gaze darkened, “You didn’t!”

“Oh, I miss when you listened, Amity. At least now, there’s a ‘chance to use your healing magic’, right?” Odalia asked, the thinly-painted veneer of calm and collected cracking a little as the question came out in an angry, vitriolic flare. “And we’ll find you a better girlfriend then the Clawthorne, clear?”

Amity was silent, glaring up at her mom. Suddenly, the jug of vial on Amity’s waist wobbled and twisted, and a thick current of abomination ooze rose from it, twisting into a fist around her right hand. Odalia rolled her eyes as Amity threw a hard punch into the surface of the shield they were confined in.

“You’re all being petulant, all of you,” Odalia remarked, “But perhaps if I bring the human to the Emperor, I can cash in a hefty reward and deal with the, ahem, distraction .”

“Stay away from her!” Gus said, and a plant appeared at Willow’s feet and shot towards Odalia, only to helplessly careen off the interior wall of the purple dome. Matt was the next to try, all while Flapjack chittered around Hunter’s ears distractingly, but as with the vines and abomination ooze before it, the dome held.

Odalia sighed, and turned around. “Is that the last crate of lightning vials?”

One of the Abomitons made a curt nod, and Odalia snapped her fingers, gesturing to the towering hulk of a machine sitting inside the warehouse. Amity kept throwing punches at the force field, until eventually, between punches, the force field dissolved.

“Huh? W-was it…” Amity seemed shocked that it worked. “...the power of believing in myself?”

“No, it was the power of science,” came a triumphant voice, Alador stepping onto the landing bay with a remote in his hands, King standing behind him. “But you almost had it, sweetie.” With a second tap on the remote, the abomitons went slack.

( Aah. It was abomination magic, Luz realised, not oracle. That made a bit more sense.)

“‘Dalia, the emperor is planning on killing everyone,” Alador said, voice a bit choked up, “A draining spell and—”

“Yes, yes, you’re late, welcome to the party,” Odalia snapped, “Now, c’mon along, dear.”

There’s a cold silence over the landing bay.

“You knew?” Alador asked, but his tone was not a questioning one. Nor was it even accusatory. It was anger. “You knew about this?!”

“Why do you think I relented on letting the kids ‘wait for their sigils’? You didn’t think you were actually calling shots, did you?” Odalia scoffed, and Alador’s face curled up first in confusion, before twisting into an angry grimace.

“T-that was when Edric and Emira were twelve !” Alador accused, spinning an abomination spell circle, a towering behemoth beside him, “You’ve known for years ?”

“If you spent less time in your lab, you’d have heard the rumours on the grapevine too.” Odalia commented, “And I’m not the only one. Kikimora decided to ditch the Isles completely, and the Golden Guard went missing just a week ago.”

Hunter’s eyes widened at this, gripping Flapjack’s staff tighter. He was tempted to speak up, but he knew Odalia’s type didn’t like to be interrupted. He paused. No, he wouldn’t speak up, because if he could sneak away, he had seen how his reputation had preceded him, Odalia talked a big game, but… He nudged Gus, whispering in the boy’s ear as Odalia went on and on.

“And with the Isles wiped of our competition and the lessers who couldn’t make it through, the Blight name will be actual royalty for the first time in decades!”

“Mom, you can’t really be serious!” Amity cried out, and Odalia rolled her eyes.

“You’ll thank me when you’re a literal princess, princess.” The oracle sneered, chuckling at her own joke. “We’ll be a royal family, rulers of the Boiling Isles!”

“Of ruins!?” Amity angrily snapped, and Odalia chuckled.

“Anyone else who’s anyone will lose something during the end,” Odalia said calmly, “But the Emperor is kidding himself if he believes there will be no survivors. I myself have a nice stash of healing potions to get me through it. And if you stop this petty quarrel now, Alador, I’ll even share.”

“If I stop–Are you threatening me!?”

“Not threatening, promising. After all, a Blight always upholds—”

“Not sure you do,” came a cocky cadence from one section of the field, “Private armies are against our agreement, Mrs. Blight.”

Odalia’s face paled, turning to the sound of the voice — a regal dusted cloak, palisman in hand, she stared into the mask of the Golden Guard.

“The Emperor will not be thrilled,” He said in a chuckle, and Luz shivered a little at how easily Hunter slipped back in the role of the Golden Guard, “A private army, plans to escape. And you’re either expecting the Emperor to die, or to kill him yourself, both of which are… well, grounds for treason.”

Odalia’s gaze hardened. “You ran,”

“To spy on a few strays.” He pointed out, gripping Flapjack tightly. “By fluke, I arrive while you’re talking about, lemme restate, treason , which is honestly making my job way easier!”

Odalia stared at the lying blond, face cloaked in a mask that didn’t exist, and she scowled. “What is it that you want, then?”

“Simple. You’ll hand over these traitors, and I will dispose of them properly.” Hunter said, “And I’m a rather benevolent Guard. Since I don’t feel like fighting, if you go without one, I’ll give you until after the Day of Unity to put out your warrant.”

Hunter was sweating bullets under the arrogance of the Golden Guard, but Odalia’s expression went softer, considering her options. She turned to the children, but when she turned back to Hunter, her expression had hardened.

“You’re the blond.” She snapped, before she grabbed the pendant on her neck, and a spirit was rent into being, rushing towards Hunter at breakneck speed. In a dash of gold, the boy staggered to the side, before racing to Odalia, and the greenette parried with a spirit, turning around to hit the guard again, pendant glowing a bright pink as she sidestepped, grabbing the boy’s arm, and the illusion caved in, revealing the ratty tunic Hunter was in, the golden mask vanishing in a puff of blue.

“Nice try, illusionists,” She growled, heaving Hunter up by the wrist, ripping Flapjack from his hand, “But you don’t seriously think I didn’t notice one of you going missing?”

“Let go of Hunter—”

“Mom, be reasonable!”

“Hunter?” Odalia asked, “The golden guard is named Hunter, how juvenile. Now…”

Odalia threw Hunter off of herself, the spirit swirling around her, amulet a bright pink. Odalia’s eyes glew bright with oracle magic, and Odalia’s hand ignited with a dark purple fire, one that looked almost translucent in the light, and she sent a bolt of flame towards Alador, the other witch blocking it with a wall of ooze.

“Odalia, you’re going too far–”

“I haven’t gone far enough!” Odalia remarked, “This is necessity, Alador, for the good of the family!”

“You hit your own daughter, how is that good!?” Luz yelled, and Alador faltered, gaze darkening.

“You what?” His voice was calm, dissonant with the expression of fury on his face, and he slung a bolt of abomination ooze at Odalia, hard, and it cleanly clipped her side. 

Odalia staggered a little, clutching her bleeding side, and one of her spirits wrapped around her. As the spirit disappeared, it appeared that Odalia did too, the only trace of her existence being the faint shadow she left behind, as it made a break for the cluster of teens, Gus spinning a spell circle as she encouraged Luz to run.

“Show yourself, ‘Dalia!” Alador roared, and it was undeniable that this was maybe the maddest Luz had ever seen him. “You can’t take this back, not this time!”

Matt brought the ground Odalia’s shadow was sprinting across up into the sky, the shifting terrain causing the woman to stumble out of the shadows, her eyes still nearly fluorescent pink.

She fell, slinging two bolts of purple flame, a pink spell circle blindly spun that caused Luz (and, from what little she could make out of reality still, likely not just her) to stumble, visions of something flashing before her eyes, hitting the ground hard and Gus’ illusion vanishing in a puff.

Green slime at her ankles, a young boy with a crescent moon face, her falling into a lake in the middle of a green forest, stone crackling, Luz was seeing fleeting thoughts of things she didn’t recognize, and she was snapped from the reverie when Odalia grabbed her wrist, pulling her back to reality with a painful yank.

“Back away,” Odalia demanded, eyes wide and wild, “Back away, or I kill her right now.”

Everyone halted, and Odalia grinned. “F-finally, people are listening,” She said, grinning, a small mad giggle coming from her lips. “I could’ve been a coven head, I could’ve been so much more, and I let you drag me down, Alador,”

Alador started to spin his finger, but stopped as Odalia yanked Luz’s wrist again, blindingly-bright purple fire held closer and closer to Luz, and the oracle laughed.

“Oh, I’ve missed this,” Odalia bragged, “And now, us Blights can be royalty !! You can join me, or you can stand against the throne!”

Abruptly, Odalia was pulled back by goo, Luz slipping from her grip, and the Amity she had been looking at vanished in a puff of blue.

“You’re not the throne,” Amity said from behind her, “And you’re not part of this family.”

With Luz no longer held to the fire, Alador took the opportunity to strike some of the pipes and metalworking that made up the factory, and it started shutting down in a painful-sounding whir. 

“Yo-you can’t!” Seeing the witch in hysteria, panic, the upper-hand she had held so tightly slipping away was nothing short of satisfying for Amity, who didn’t relent on the abomination ooze keeping her mother held back, “You’re destroying our life’s work!”

Odalia grabbed the pendant, pink haze clouding the air around her, “I won’t let you destroy it any—” A surge of purple goo shot out towards the oracle, knocking the pendant from her neck, it hitting the ground with a loud shatter, and Alador’s expression nothing short of malevolent.

“This work is finished, Odalia.” Alador snapped, “You’re fired.”

Odalia’s eyes narrowed, but she snapped her fingers with a glare. To Alador’s surprise, a bolt of purple energy rent through the room, and he dived to the floor as the beam shot through wildly, Odalia’s expression nothing short of manic.

“I’ve come too far, Alador,” Odalia sneered, voice raised above the calamity, “And if I can’t take the Emperor’s throne when this world falls, then I’ll simply get in his good graces!!”

“Dad, can’t you turn that off?” Amity yelled to the engineer, abomination ooze once spent on containing her mother repurposed to block falling debris. Alador shrugged.

“Built this one to be remote,” He said, giving a yelp as a metal pipe clattered to the ground beside him, “Only its owner can steer it, and that’s…”

Luz screamed, and Odalia cackled, eyes bright.

“All of you, freeze!!” Odalia screamed, as the Abomitron pointed its cannon at its own hand, the one holding Luz, and the girl looked terrified, but there was an iron in her eye, a resolve that made even Hunter falter. What is she doing,  he thought, but he didn’t have time to dwell on it.

The room stilled, half-spun spell circles and blitzes of gold terminated abruptly, as Odalia grinned widely, taking a slow walk to her assault suit. She rested her hand on it, taking a deep breath, turning around.

“You’re right, Alador, this work is finished,” Odalia said, voice light and airy, “I have a better job lined up. I quit.”

As Odalia stepped into the mech, it rose to its full height, and a shiny glass orb spun around Luz to keep her trapped. As the mech started to rise into the air, it took off in the general direction of the Skull, and the room fell quiet.

“We have to save her,” Amity said, and King scampered into her arms. “We have to follow her.”

 

Notes:

And that was the cloud on the horizon!!

So, lots happened, and also, behold, this chapter has maybe the lowest amount of Luz-focus in the whole story, which… makes sense. Like Labyrinth Runners, it focuses more on other characters, in this case Raine and Eda’s chat, Camila and Vee’s short conversation, and the Blight Family Dynamic™, but unlike Labyrinth Runners, I obviously couldn’t skip it, it’s an important moment, but so you get this.

I made up for it though with having an actual fight scene, complete with, admittedly, some headcanon interpretations of both the Golden Guard that mentored Darius, as well as Odalia’s power set. Odalia was a big chance to explore what Oracle Magic can be, for what its worth. I drew weirdly from Vivian, from Paper Mario, a little, fire powers are already there, the spirit motif, so having oracle magic include slipping into the shadows felt like a powerful move that suited the coven’s aesthetic well. I also give it accurate fortune telling with uselessly vague details, which Odalia has used here as a weapon to disorient others. Feels like the sorta roundabout she'd come up with.

Some extra quicker notes: Hexdrinkers come from Magic the Gathering, they have protection from instant spells and from everything, fitting for a magic draining snake; Judas is my headcanoned name for Darius’ mentor, because the biblical allusions are fun; there’s the popular headcanon of exchanging jewellery as a promise; and there’s a second snakeskin story.

I do worry Odalia comes off a bit too supervillainy in her dialogue, but with me making her even worse than canon by making her explicitly physically abusive, I don't care too much.

See you all next time for King’s Tide, and all the fun that entails, in Entry!! I have 2,934 words written for it already at its nowhere close to done, so brace for it hahah

Chapter 12: Entry

Summary:

The Day of Unity is ending.

Notes:

Content warning: Regular Day of Unity genocide stuff; Philip being a racist; a particularly graphic description of violence; character death; and mentions of vomiting.

“Children of the isles!” The emperor bellowed, voice echoing across the segmented audiences in a victorious tone, “For too long, our world has been home to an insidious pox , a sickness that defiles our true god’s blessing. But today, we bear witness to the ruination of sin!”

“The Titan’s will be done, uniting their strength with that of the eclipse, we shall eradicate the threat of wild, unkempt magic forever .”

“Paradise awaits!”

As the various coven heads lined up in a circle, Philip felt the urge to chuckle, but suppressed it. He’d come too far to fail now. “Ah, I forgot to mention. I decided to switch up the arrangement.” As Graye and Snapdragon took over for Daemonne and Eberwolf, Philip’s eyes crinkled with glee beneath the mask.

With spins of his staff, drowning out the bickering of coven heads around him, their insolent voices snuffed under his focus, she drew an elaborate array of symbols into the ground beneath, before lifting his staff victoriously, eyes wide with glee.

“For I, the Lord, have spoken,” He whispered to himself, unable to keep his tongue still, but it mattered not. Goodbye, Boiling Isles.

He brought his staff down, and the array lit up, and the heavens were aglow, God’s smiting light raining down as the sigils of the witches ignited, growing brighter, hotter. ‘Raine’ would be dealt with, and while it would take some time for the Draining Spell to actually work its fittingly-called magic, but he had all day.

His work here was finished.

In a twist of rot that made his bones grind, squeal, shift, he reformed in the Titan’s skull, wrestling his own arm. Those weepy souls, they fought against his every step, they fought against his every move, voices chittering so loud he could barely make out the Collector’s incessant rambling.

“We did it, we did it! It’s done, it’s done!” The Collector jovially cheered, an abstract projection on the walls, black and white against grey spinning wildly in a victorious way, “It’s time for new games, it’s time for new fun!!”

“About that, Collector.” Philip said, voice light and airy even though, really, it didn’t matter now, did it? “I only have enough Titan’s Blood for… one trip through the portal.”

Tipping the key into the portal’s frame, he smiled wide, the Collector begging and pleading like mad for the Titan’s Blood. Philip tried to keep a smile, but when the star-child’s lexicon seemingly became the singular word ‘liar’, the emperor scoffed, tossing a sheet over it.

Quiet. Much better. He could even hear the sound of something arriving, and with a turn… Blight. Lovely.

“Your emperorship,” Odalia said, “I come bearing gifts,”

Well, he wasn’t one to turn down a present, perhaps it would be a kind memento of his time here. Or one more palisman for the road.

The oracle dropped a purple sphere with the human in front of him, and Philip tried to hide his displeasure. She was beaten and bruised, but standing still, “I roughed the human up for you to what you’d like with.”

“You harmed her?” Philip asked, trying to keep his voice level.

“There’s a sizable bounty, no?” Odalia asked, and Philip tried to bite back a snarl. “Perhaps you could aid me in… surviving the Day of Unity?”

Philip tried not to let surprise cross his face. It stood to reason if the human could figure out, so could a trained oracle. He inwardly blamed himself, he met to block the day itself with something to prevent oracle seeing into it. He always figured saying the Titan would disapprove of that sort of spying was enough.

So Odalia was a heretic, he supposed, even among her kind.

“Bear to me your sigil arm,” Philip demanded, Luz climbing to her feet inside the purple sphere, insisting Odalia not listen. The oracle, to his amusement, ignored it.

“Wonderful.” He said, arm twisting into sharp green rot, and dropping it down on Odalia’s arm, grinning as the sound of witch marrow (and a bloodcurdling scream) gave out. Philip had always found that fascinating, witch bones sounded so much more like crumbling charcoal to his ear, a sound he lived for, but to his regret, tended only to get with some of the Golden Guards.

A real witch making that noise, crashing to the ground limply holding a short stump that flowed recklessly onto her pristine uniform, made the Emperor smile.

“The Day of Unity won’t kill you,” The emperor bluntly stated, “I will. I thank you for the opportunity, however.”

She tried to speak through the blinding pain, but Philip merely smirked, lifting his right foot gently, and he nudged Odalia’s side, the woman kneeling to her left, her one remaining hand hitting open air as she fell.

The human stared in horror.

“As for you, Collector,” Philip said, grabbing the di–He was still saying liar.

“Silence, Collector!” He snapped, and the young star-child went on about how they taught him the draining spell, but he cared very little for the rambling of a toddler. He dropped the glass tablet deep down after Odalia, a wide grin on his face.

Perhaps his biggest regret, after all this? He was too far from the ground to hear the disc shatter into pieces. That would’ve been all that could make this day more cathartic.

“You… you killed them.” The human girl said, and Philip rolled his eyes.

“Glad to see you too,” He said, dispelling the protective orb. “Glad it could bring you here, perhaps there is a chance for you anyway.”

“I’m not going with you.” The human said, and Philip groaned.

“Have you not learned your lesson from last time?” He asked, and when the girl tossed a bolt of fire at him, he dispelled that too, frowning. “Of course not.”

The fight was on, Philip supposed, and as Luz threw fire, he first assumed her skill had plateau’d same as him, but to his great annoyance, she was also using invisibility, feather falls, the works.

“You’re already combining glyphs,” He commented casually, the terrain shifting in a ripple of brown, a spike twisting up as he then manifested behind the girl, “It’s a strange intuition, it took me years to figure that out.”

The human vanished in a puff of blue, glyph expended, and the witch hunter took a stride towards her, basking in the smears of golden light that were now finally reaching the Titan’s Skull, entering his wrists in a beautiful golden glow, feeling magic surge through him. The Day of Unity had taken centuries, but it was finally worth it, the sparks of power coursing through his system felt new and fresh, vibrant against the weeping souls.

His time was here.

“Almost like something was hiding them from me,” He hissed, and with a swing of his staff, Luz fell to the ground. He pointed the sharp end of his now-obsoleted staff down at her, and his chest ached for his bayonet. He had ripped it from a foolish French soldier who had failed to kill him, and that bayonet became the pride of joy of his witch-hunting arsenal, exotic but pure human craftsmanship. Sadly, firearm maintenance wasn’t his strong suit even before the boiling sea rusted it away.

He wondered how firearms had advanced in the centuries since. He wondered how his new human-mastered magic would compare.

“Eat dirt, Philip!” Luz growled, and the other human smiled.

“It’s been so long since I heard that name.” He supposed, “And despite it all, Luz, I believe even you deserve a chance at life. There is a place for you, in my world, although I yet to know what. Servant, consort, perhaps my new golden guard of Gravesfield, you have the ability.”

Luz looked disgusted, “I’d rather die than help you!”

“Is that so?”

“You talk big of protecting the world, but you’re just destroying it,” Luz said, and Philip’s gaze darkened. “This world is good, Philip, better than the one we came from.”

Philip cocked his head to the side. “You’re too far gone,” He said simply, “These monsters have actually made you desire to be one of them.”

“Because the people here are–”

“I should put you out of your misery,” He said, and he spun his fingers, a dark murky trail following it, and the sound of crackling stone rattled the room.

“—kind and, and, no…” The human tried to take a step back, but she tripped, hitting the ground hard as stone crackling filled her ears, the table she bumped into clattering with junk. “P-please, Philip, I can help you, I can, I can be your guide!”

“A… guide?” Philip asked, and Luz nodded.

“The human realm changed a lot, so much, and I… I can show you, I can show you what changed, so you can…”

“I do not need a guide, but a herald…” Philip interrupted, an idea dawning on his face, “A herald of my return, how distinguished would that be?” Philip closed his eyes, and opened them for a second, “Perhaps I’m willing to relent a little, and forgive your previous… comments. I’m efficient, Spaniard, not cruel.”

“A-anything, please, Philip, please…” Luz begged, and Philip smirked, and with a flick of his wrist, the stone started to undo. Luz took a breath, surprised, and then—with all the strength she could muster because she’d only get one shot at this—she dove for Philip as fast as she could, branding glove in hand.

He had to stop lying his junk everywhere, he truly did. Philip was not a man who took the lord’s name in vain, but if he was ever going to, wow, did that hurt.

The emperor roared in pain, his other hand extending to throw Luz backwards, and he glared, watching the magic in his own body leave and re-enter ad nauseum. If the swirling streaks of gold cluttering the sky were bad before, now Philip himself was a beacon, gold bands flowing from one wrist into the other, making the room even brighter. He hissed through his teeth, wincing from the pain.

“You…” He snarled, looking at Luz, and a cruel grin showed on his face. Before Luz had a chance to get up, Philip spun a spell circle and Luz felt her feet grow solid and rigid again, the magical gold currents shifting and twisting to strike at her ankles. Her eyes were wide as crackling stone filled her hearing.

“That was brilliant, I didn’t think your sort were capable of planning under pressure,” Philip admitted, “Perhaps if we had met in a different way, I’d be wishing you well.” He turned, facing the portal, and Luz could hear the grin on his voice, and the slow creep of stone crawled up her ankles to her legs. He took a slow stride, and Luz could only sit there, unable to get up.

“You were one-of-a-kind, Spaniard,” Philip muttered, “But understand this is the price for choosing to stand by witches.” He gripped the doorknob to the portal, and the machine flared to life, although Luz was almost unable to hear the engines whir over golden wind swirling the air, and the crackling feeling that was working its way up her torso, and Philip opened it wide, took a long stride over the mantle…

And the portal door slammed shut, and while the blinding gold streaks were cut off in a heartbeat when the portal door was sealed, the stone kept creeping up her chest and neck all the same.

---

King tried to ignore the screaming in his head, a juvenile whining, as he was carried by hand through… something. His thoughts were hazy, drowned out by a voice, but he was pretty sure he saw people passed out in piles? Eda was in a smaller pile, and by the time he came to that realisation, he tried to do something but…

“Weh…”

“You up, little guy?” Willow asked, “We’re trying to make it to the Skull, we think it’s where Belos is hiding.”

“Where… Where’s… Eda?”

“Eda’s…” Willow said, trying to keep up with Amity, Gus, and Hunter, “We left Matt to sift through everything, he told us to race ahead.”

“Matt?” He asked, eyes hazy, why was I so— “No, Eda, what about Eda–”

“She’s alive,” Willow said, but her words were stiff, and there was a pause. “She’s alive still.”

King came more to his senses, and he noticed in front of him, Hunter clutching his arm as it glowed so bright gold that King could see it despite the arm being tucked into Hunter’s chest, the aura of light casting onto his arms, the shoulders of Amity and Gus.

King wobbled to his feet, frowning. “Wh-what about Luz?”

“That’s why we’re here.” Willow said, as they entered the Skull. It was quiet. Really quiet.

“You sure she’s here?”

“It’s a big place,” Amity piped up, “We should split up.”

“Me and Hunter go one way, Amity and Willow go the other.” Gus offered up, and King squeaked indignantly.

“And me!?” He asked, and Willow set him down.

“Stay safe, if you get hurt, Luz’ll kill us.” Hunter said, “We’ll be quick, don’t worry.”

“No, I’m coming with!!” He said, before tapping the first step of the staircase. “Besides, I…” He looked at the steps, and took one, two, three steps down. “I can hear something.”

“You three then, me and Amity will go on ahead.” Willow said, and King nodded, as he hopped from step to step going down the descent.

“Are you down here,” King asked timidly, and with a step-step-step, he made his way down the staircase.

As he made his descent, Hunter abruptly blitzed in front of him in a streak of gold, face the faintest bit green. “Hunter?”

“Found Odalia…” He grimaced, swallowing. “I… It’s bad, King.”

“How bad?” Gus asked, craning to see, but Hunter held his arms wider, blocking off the view,

Hunter’s eyes were hollow. “She’s…”

King nodded.

“Then we keep going.”

The voice was louder, nearly drowning his thoughts out, and as he made his way to the bottom, Hunter kneeled, face growing greener, cursing softly behind him, Gus joining him in the disturbed category. Dozens of skeletons laid in heaps, chipped and broken golden guards masks lining the bodies.

In front of King, caught up on a slab of rock, was a cloth holding up a glass disc. The voice was louder, louder, so maddening, and King walked up to the tablet.

“Hello?” He breathed softly, and a black avatar traced the walls, Hunter giving a gasp.

“The Collector,” Hunter said gently, and Gus turned confused, “We’ll, I’ll expl–Just, later.”

“Leave me alone…” The small voice said, and for once, the double-echo in King’s head wasn’t maddening. “I don’t associate with fibbers, plbbbbt!”

Suddenly, the avatar along the wall shifted, twirled, “Wait wait wait, someone else is there?” The Collector said, shadows dancing in a circle around King’s feet. “I can see your friends, I can see your shadow, but I can’t see you !”

King paused, before noticing the glow of his medallion. With a small motion, he takes it off, and instantly the Collector begins to celebrate.

“Wow, you look kinda like the bully who put me here!” They said, voice weirdly jovial, before it got even brighter, “Wait, no way, are you his little Titan baby?”

“King, who is that?” Gus asked, and Hunter’s face was pale.

The Collector’s projection twisted, vaguely in the direction of the two witches, and his eyes widened. “Oh my, you’re the grimwalker! I was there when you were… Are potatoes born?” The question was so innocent, but Hunter’s face was growing queasier by the second.

“Grimwalk—” Gus started, but Hunter cut him off.

“You have the wrong guy!!” He exclaimed loudly, glaring at King, “Nope, no sirree, totally alive,”

“Are you sure? There was Caleb, then Caleb, then he started with new names,” The Collector rambled, and Hunter’s face was getting paler and paler, Gus turning to him confused. “There was Jasper and William and Judas, man, Philip really liked that one, something about the old book he used to have,”

“Stop it,” Hunter said, and King turned to the Collector.

“Collector, can you… You worked with Belos?”

“Taught him everything he knows!” The Collector said, before their mood dropped. “Then he threw me down a hole! I just wanted to play, we pinky-promised, and I’m, he threw me off a cliff like the green haired lady!”

“Green haired…?”

“Yeah, don’t know where she is, though, she was on the other side,” The Collector said, before adding, “But this talk is bumming me out, howzabout hide-and-seek, hide and seek is way more fun! You hide first, one, t–”

“Wait!” King said, “H-how about, we uh, we play, uh… The Owl House, huh?”

The Collector twisted in confusion. “I don’t know that one.”

“Oh, it’s tons of fun,” King said, and it was the wrong time to think of Eda, but yeah, she had been teaching him to swindle all his life. Time to swindle, he supposed. “The most fun, and, and… Aw shucks, wait, nevermind.”

“Nevermi–No, if it’s fun we have to pla–”

“It’s just, you need a lot of players,”

“Yeah? So!?”

“Like, a whole island’s worth, and… And that stupid Draining Spell is gonna kill all of ‘em. That sucks too, it was fun…” King turned on one foot, and started walking towards a baffled Gus and Hunter, when the Collector spun with glee.

“Wait, I can stop the Draining Spell!” The Collector insisted, “You’re a Titan, you let me out, I stop the spell, and then we can play Owl House together!”

“Wow, really?” King asked, “You’d do that for me? You’d be my best friend!”

“Yeah, yeah,” The Collector said, giggling hysterically. 

“Alright, I’ll let you out right now! Pinky swear!” King said, “Do, do you need my blood, or—”

“Just follow my lead.” The Collector said, twisting and turning towards the tablet, a hand design printed on the surface in harsh shadows, a grin on their face that made King hesitate, but the draining spell loomed, the very air warm and staticy.

It had to end.

King tapped the glass tablet with his pinky, and a shadow appeared on the floor, star shapes and constellations that he was sure any good oracle would recognize, spinning to a crescent moon, chimes playing along in a discordant harmony.

The circles spun, faster, faster, and King wanted to blink, close his eyes.

But he couldn’t. Wouldn’t?

It mattered not.

The tablet split in two, clattering to the floor.

A pair of slippered feet hit it a moment later.

---

Eda was dying, and she wasn’t sure what was going to do her in.

The curse had always been cold, feathers cushioning the frosty feeling of the resting water that filled her dreams and fears, and as the black spots grew, her skin was ice-cold, the dark rot rushing up her arm and body so frigid that Eda wanted to pass out just so the ice would finally go numb.

The draining spell was fire in her veins, each drop of the inferno repelling her own body heat, magic and blood syphoned through the hellfire and into the sky. She wasn’t just burning alive, but being bloodletted at a billion degrees. If her curse was colder than ice, the draining spell was a raging fire that laid waste to a forest.

She was being reduced to steaming puddles and frosty ash, and it hurt even worse than it sounded.

She was dying, and she tried to picture Luz and King with her last thoughts through the pain, praying to the Titan and even to the human ‘God’ that her kids would be safe. Eyes spotty, vision hazy, senses aglow with billions of volts coursing through her system, she suddenly felt a grip on her good arm.

“W-wh—” She weakly choked out, eyes focusing enough to see… Raine.

The bard gripped both of Eda’s wrists, staring at her, tears of pain and hurt in those teal eyes. “I keep my promises,” They said, voice faint and raspy, and Eda wondered if Raine was fighting the same pain she was, because how were they able to sound so sturdy and oka—

Keep what promise?

“I love you, Eda. A-Always did…”

Suddenly, she felt a surge of pain as Raine ripped her arm off, the curse letting the limb separate cleanly, and instantly, the fire and ice running through her went out, blinding pain from the whiplash causing her gaze to shift, a vignette around her vision, a crystal ball flickering through the channels rapid-fire.

In front of her, she watched her own arm crumble into frozen ashes, fluttering on the breeze as Raine slumped, whatever energy keeping them awake spent up on one act of heroism. The temperature running through her was room, and the absence of pain became too much for her consciousness. With no further warning, it went dark, the Owl Lady passed out, feeling feathers cushion her fall into peaceful rest.

---

The Collector stood, and King was ninety-nine percent sure he could hear music, some song that had way too stringy a guitar. Did the Collector just… make music? King wasn’t going to question it.

“Le-let’s get to the top, quick, Amity and Willow—” Hunter started, and the Collector snapped their fingers, and King was pretty sure he was just… at the top of the skull now? Was he ever down in the basement? Hunter staggered, clutching Flapjack tightly, holding his stomach, looking so close to finally throwing up. Gus looked rough too now. King felt weirdly fine, seeing their reactions, but he wouldn’t complain.

“O-okay,” King stammered, “You can do that?”

“I can do everything!” The Collector bragged, “And now, King, you said something about Owl House, right?”

“F-first, you’ve gotta stop the Draining Spell,” King insisted, and the Collector kicked the floor with a soft grunt. They floated to the eye of the Titan, and frowned.

The star-child blinked, and with a flick of the wrist and not a bit more, the moon buckled and shifted, its higher up demanding its attention. To the Collector, it was trivial at best; to the heavens that had been hung millenia ago, it was their reason to exist, and so what the Collector wanted was.

There was cold silence, the Collector’s own ambivalence, and King, Hunter, and Gus’s equally silent reaction of shock, horror. But the game was starting, the rules established.

The game took centuries to start. But the last player had finally arrived.

“B-before we start,” King said, “I wanna find Luz,”

“I suppose so, she’s a player too, right?” The Collector asked, and King nodded.

“Luz?” He called out, wandering through the halls, “Luz!”

“Luz!?” Gus joined in, and Hunter echoed the cry.

King could hear… something from beyond the giant door, vaguely like laughing, or… or crying? He felt something in his heart tense up, and not wanting to imagine the worst, King pushed the giant doors open, and instantly, his voice hitched as he dropped to his little knees.

Willow and Amity had long beat him here, and Luz had long beat any of them. Philip clearly had too, the portal resting deactivated but audibly powering down even still, but that didn’t matter.

Willow was unable to stand, on her knees bawling, a fate that Gus quickly followed; Hunter kneeled, whatever stomach contents he diligently held in this long finally abandoned; and Amity was sitting next to Luz, holding the girl tightly, tears streaming down all four of their faces.

Because before them in carved, frigid stone, sat Luz Noceda, panic and resignation clear on her face, features immortalised, every inch covered in a mosaic of cobble. There was faint golden light subsiding at her ankles, where the stone looked thickest, and her body, down to the smallest details, were preserved.

The ruffled texture of Eda’s jacket, the way her hair was frozen in the middle of a gust of wind and splayed in a way that remained unshifting, how around Luz’s neck sat a necklace that she had only gotten hours prior, the human girl having clutched it tightly in her final seconds. Amity herself was pressing her forehead against Luz’s, cupping the human’s face, the faintest rivulet of the human’s tears caught along her stone cheek, and King could feel tears of his own and maybe stomach bile welling up. 

And The Collector seemed nonplussed by the whole thing. “Why are you all so upset?” They asked, voice jarring in the mostly-silent, and King looked towards him with hurt.

“L-Luz is…” King’s voice was choked up, and the Collector simply sat there, confused.

“C’mon King, when will you be ready!?” They asked, and King looked mad at him? Well, that wouldn’t do, “What’s wrong, telllllll me!”

“I…” King seemed defeated, “Luz was, uh…” He turned to face the human girl, “You needed her to play. She made everything better.” He said, voice so thick and heavy with hurt, and The Collector laughed . King felt a burst of rage, but before he could give the Collector a piece of his mind—

“If you need the girl, just say so!” The Collector said, and with a twirl of his fingers, they — and everyone else, voices hitched — could hear the sound of stone crackling. The wind in the room didn’t change, but its sway on the girl did, stone reverting to hair, bellowing in the breeze. Everyone could only watch in horror as Luz took a breath, eyes wide with something indecipherable, incoherent babbling from her lips for a moment when she choked out, “I- wh… h-huh?”

Second by second, or maybe hour by hour, King felt like time was stretching and squashing at the moment, the stone crept away, and when it was all done, the Collector did a twirl. “Yeah, I’ve still got it~!” They bragged in a sing-song voice.

“You can… undo petrification ?” Hunter asked, unable to keep the relief or fear out of his voice. The Collector was above hearing the emotion.

“Yeah, psssh, that? Child’s play,” The star-child said proudly, “And speaking of play…” The ground beneath them shuddered. “If we’re gonna play Owl House, we’re gonna need an Owl House, right!?”

The Titan’s Skull heaved, shuddered, splintered, players in musical chairs to a silent harmony plucking away with each collapsing shard. The Collector spun and twirled, their excitement but the centre of a new gravity, of which the Skull was beginning to revolve around.

“C-Collector?”

“Are you ready to play, King? Luz?” The star-child asked, upside down and looking to his brand new friends! Luz clammered to her feet, eyes wide with horror.

“W-what just happened?” She asked, and Amity grabbed her arm tightly, looking into the human’s eyes, trying not to throw up at the eyeshadow that she realised with a churn was faint grains of stone.

“We-we thought you died, Luz,” Amity started, voice thick and eyes wet, “You were… You were petrified.”

“I know that, how am I—” She started, voice dry, eyes hollow just a little bit, chest feeling weirdly numb, “Who’s that?”

“I’m ready to play, that’s who!” The star-child bellowed, before giggling like he had told the best joke he’d heard in centuries.

“That’s the Collector.” Hunter spoke up loudly, and Luz’s eyes widened with a bit of surprise. “They undid it, Luz. And that’s the portal, we can hide and recov—” 

“W-what? We can’t go back!” Luz said, and Amity looked at her, desperation in her eyes. “We can’t, Philip used up the last of the blood!”

“You trusted me with the last of the Titan’s Blood, Luz, and besides, the Skull is—” As if to prove her point, the floor shuddered, a large rift running along it. Amity made a leap for the portal, and Luz felt nothing but fear. Reaching into her pockets, she tried to find her glyphs, only to be met with wafer-thin tablets of stone. Amity ripped the glove from her pocket, and Luz missed the gesture, but clearly Amity found somewhere to put it, because the portal lit up in bright gold light, although the shifting of the Skull meant the light was flickering and fading.

Enough for one more trip.

As Hunter, Willow and Gus went for the portal, Luz stood stock still. She looked at the portal like a prisoner on death row would stare at the executioner’s block.

“W-we can’t go back!” Luz screamed, and Amity turned to stare at her.

“We have to, Luz!” Amity yelled back, voice faint above the wind. While the universe grinded and shifted, acts against the stars like friction and solidity taken as offence, Luz grabbed Amity’s hand, looking at her with tears.

“W-we’ll have nowhere there, Amity,” She said, voice shaky, “We might never get back!”

“If we stay here, we’ll die!” Amity pointed out, and she tugged Luz’s arm. “You already did , I can’t lose you ag—”

“It’s better than going back !” Luz screamed, and Amity blinked, horror in her own eyes. 

“Luz, you got petrified !” Amity shouted back over the whirlwind of breaking rock, glowing portal, cackling collectors. “You can’t seriously think that’s better ?!”

“Please, let me stay and fight !”

“Luz,” a voice behind her said. The human spun, seeing King, wh– No .

He was being pulled into the Collector’s orbit, and he looked at Luz with tears in his eyes.

“I'm so happy I had you as a big sister.”

“King, what are yo–”

“ Weh!!! ” The baby Titan hollered, and Luz felt herself fly backwards, expelled from the game the Collector deigned to play, as she flew through the portal, their only way back. She hit the ground, green grass cushioning her fall. Green…?

“N-no,” She stammered, rushing to her feet and racing back to the door as it slammed shut, not even bothering to look at her friends on the grass beside her. But when she swung open the door, the flimsy rotting wood it appeared to be.

All it opened to was a dusty cabin.

“No, no, no, no,” Luz said, each denial punctuated with a slam of the door, opening and closing it, faster, faster, her heart felt tight, her vision blurry, she can’t be back, not in Gravesfield, please no , and she slammed the door one more time, a sickening crack accompanying it, her own momentum causing her stagger back with a doorknob in her palm, left foot hitting open air, falling backwards back to the grass.

She looked at the doorknob in her hand.

The dams broke.

“W-we can’t be back, we can’t—” Luz panted, voice strangled with tears, racing back to the door, her friends watching her with horror, as she slammed on the wooden frame, voice a whimper as it came out. “Mierda, por favor abre, por favor…”

She sank to her knees, sobs racking her body. There was quiet, no one daring to speak, when she wiped her eyes, and turned to face her friends. Hunter was staring at the sky, hand outstretched, letting cold water splash into his skin. Gus seems numb, staring off into the middle distance, and Willow staring at the ground. Only Amity seemed to be looking back at Luz.

For minutes, they sat there, cold human realm rain pouring in rivulets down their faces, hair, the frigid chill resonating deep in everyone’s bones, but no one daring to move or to speak.

“What… do we do, Luz?” Amity finally asked, breaking the silence with a voice that cracked harshly, a wobble in her tone. “W-where… What should—” Abruptly, her words were cut short by a coughing fit.

Luz paused, slumping down and sitting on the steps of the shack. She looked inside the dilapidated interior, and grimaced. If we clean up the shack, she almost said, but no one had the energy for that. But no one wanted to sleep in the rain. But no one wanted to get injured from the debris and trash that littered the building.

“W-what about your mother,” Hunter said, voice shivering, and the other four looked like him like he had crossed a line. “I know you’re not fond of her, but s-she wouldn’t let us f-freeze to death, right?”

Luz was about to say I’m not going back , but she froze. Literally, a shiver running down her back, the wet shirt soaking deep into her, and she gave a cough. Her mind drifted briefly to what she’d do if her friends got sick. She couldn’t let that happen.

“Does anyone have anything better?” Luz asked, and she wasn’t surprised to get no responses. She was the only human-realmer here, and just thinking about that made her blood boil like the rain and sea.

She stood up, frowning. “T-their house isn’t too far from here,” Luz said, and there was a pause, “...I won’t let them hurt you. Follow me.”

---

Camila Noceda was quite happy with this soup, and it turned out to her utter glee that Vee was every bit good in the kitchen as Camila herself was. Not that Vee was helping at this point in the recipe, Masha was staying over tonight, watching some cheesy movie. But she was snapped from her soup reverie by a knock at the door, at… it was nearly eight at night, who was this? Her mind drifted to Hopkins, grimacing, or maybe that kind man that had asked for directions a few hours prior.

“I’ll get it, mija, you and Masha keep watching your show,” Camila said, before Vee could move for it, and she walked to the door, opening it—

She dropped the wooden spoon, and it clattered uselessly to the floor, as she stared, tears abruptly threatening to overwhelm her.

While the four unfamiliar faces stared back, in states of hurt and confusion, maybe even fear, the familiar face and her expression was stoic, cold, the slightest hint of a grimace visible even in the cloudy moonlight and the downpour of rain.

“Hi, Camila,” Luz said, voice level and dry, blood splattered on her face, shoulders and arms, part of her shirt and jacket dusty with crumpled stone, staring not at the woman she had been missing for over four months, but instead at one of her friends, the girl with lilac hair that had an arm around her. “Surprise.”

 

 

 

 

 

Notes:

And Luz got petrified :) I’m not even sorry! Maybe I’ll end the story here and ruin everyone’s day!!

Jokes aside, we’re in the endgame. Welcome to the human realm.

Anyway, some things. First off, I killed Odalia. This was maybe needless, but I have no quarrels. It takes her out of the picture while also letting the last interaction she had with the Blights be nothing satisfying, robbing a lot of catharsis. This will become relevant. As for the petrification, yes, The Collector undid it. Petrifying to me feels like it firmly falls within 'preserving', and thus within the Collector's wheelhouse. You can argue me if you'd like. I'm not changing it. It also serves as a feat comparable, if not better, than one-shotting Belos.

Writing Belos' POV hurt not gonna lie. I hate him so much. He comes back too, because he escaped into the Human Realm.

I swear, after this is when it starts getting better. We get bonding and fluff in small doses next chapter, I'm not just needlessly cruel.

Five chapters remain, with the next one being Thanks to Them… Part One!! Yep, in Vaguely Alright, we see a fair bit of Thanks to Them, but due to its length, it was split in two. So was Watching and Dreaming. Next chapter is also going to fucking hurt, and it's long. Like I said, I'm splitting Thanks to Them into two. It could be a week, if not more, before I actually get to posting that, it's at 3.4K words at it's maybe... god, it's barely done? Maybe a fifth? So consider the back-to-back uploads of Skies of Gold/Entry a rarity going forward.

We are getting into the finale, everyone, and I hope to see you all soon.

Chapter 13: Vaguely Alright

Summary:

Luz is stuck in the Human Realm. It mostly gets worse from there.

Notes:

Content warning: This chapter deals with talk of Philip’s attempts at genocide, his religiously-motivated bigotry, and a small segment of his treatment of Hunter; lots of grief; and depressive episodes, including mild to moderate suicidal ideation.

Thank you to my beta readers, Not_a_cop and MemoryOverload, for making sure I didn't drop the ball on such an important chapter.

“Hi, Camila. Surprise.”

Camila Noceda could cry, and she made a soft lunge to hug her daughter tightly, but Luz took a step back away from Camila, almost falling backwards on the steps.

“Don’t,” The girl said, and Camila felt a shudder down her spine, before Luz then looked at Camila’s face, looking for… something? “This was a stupid idea, I– We should go—”

“Luz, you’re…” Camila quickly started, but her voice was thick, grateful her daughter was okay, “You’re all injured, come in…” Camila said, and the lilac-haired girl tugged on Luz’s arm, and Luz’s face seemed to flicker through a wide range of emotions, before slowly nodding, and letting Lilac lead Luz inside.

Vee and Masha both looked with wide eyes, Luz looking at them with a glare that held equal amounts confusion and envy, but space was made at the dinner table and her friends sat down.

“A-are any of you bleeding bad, or…” Camila noticed the sharper, pointed ears on each of Luz’s friends, and a small realisation hit her. Aaah, witches. That made sense, she could maybe still work with that? Surely it wasn’t that different. “Is there anything I can—”

“It’s fine,” Luz interrupted, voice clipped, “We just…” The girl stared at the floorboards, before choking out in a dry voice, “I’ll go grab band-aids, antiseptic, that stuff. Stay here.” The lilac-haired witch at Luz’s side hesitated briefly, before slowly nodding, and Camila watched her daughter leave the living room, going for the staircase.

“So, you’re all Luz’s friends?” Camila asked tentatively, and she received curt yes es and uh-huh s, and Camila was unable to keep a small smile off her face. Luz’s friends. So much had changed in so little time, it seemed.

The blond boy and the girl with dark greenish-blue hair seemed to be the most alert, watching Camila’s movements like hawks, the girl clutching what appeared to be a magical staff with a bee decoration on top; while the boy was busy murmuring to a small red cardinal that sat in one of his hands. His other hand was rubbing small circles on the brown-haired boy’s back, the child — clearly the youngest of them all, or at least the shortest — nearly doubled over, small sobs racking his body. The lilac-haired girl simply looked through the doorway Luz had vanished through, barely blinking as she waited for Luz to return, wringing her hands nervously.

So much had changed. Her daughter found friends, even if they all seemed roughed up from whatever had been happening. Camila briefly wondered if it was the Day of Unity thing Vee was talking about.

Luz came back, wiping her eyes as she stared at the design on the front of the bandage box, a box of cotton balls and a bottle of antiseptic tucked in her shoulders, and she started setting them down so she could get to work, the blond boy — judging by thanks, Hunter, Camila could guess his name well enough — taking a share of the supplies, and he got to work on the smaller boy dressed in blue.

There was a hard look in Luz’s eye Camila didn’t recognize.

“Mija, can I help at all?”

Luz is quiet for a minute, tending to Lilac’s injuries — Camila needed to ask them their names — but after a few seconds go by, she seems to realise Camila was talking to her. “Oh, that was, um, can we…” Luz turned to face her, confusion in her eyes. “I’m honestly not sure, I thought you’d…”

Camila’s chest felt tight. “Thought I’d what?”

“...turn us away?” Luz said weakly, and Camila’s heart dropped.

“Luz, I’d never do th—”

“You did it literally two months ago,” The girl snapped, and Camila’s words faltered. For that brief reply, Luz Noceda was unrecognisable to her mother, an anger Camila couldn’t remember seeing her daughter wield brandished freely.

“Luz, I’m so–”

“Stop it,” Luz said, voice low, “Just… my friends need me, can we talk about this after, Camila?”

This wasn’t the first time Luz had called her Camila today. But it only seemed to catch up to her now, blinking away early tears as she tried to grapple with the fact she was on a first-name basis with her own daughter.

“You wanted magic so badly, then don’t come back!”

Camila went from overjoyed to wanting to throw up, and she tried to grip the counter tightly to steady herself, the smooth material gliding under her hand. She had been telling herself for months that Luz knew it was heat-of-the-moment, that Luz would come back. That things would be okay.

Luz was back, but were things not okay? Camila hadn’t actually realised they’d need to talk about this, but of course they would.

Her chest felt hollow, and she stared at Luz as the girl set to work patching up her friends, Camila soaking in all the details she had been too excited to notice before. The way she seemed to put herself between her mom and her friends. The way she refused to accept help from Camila, or Vee. The way her reputation seemed to precede her, Luz’s friends staring at her hesitantly.

Was Luz scared of her?

Of course she is , a small part of her whispered, and Camila felt the room spin faster. She had to keep herself together. Luz wasn’t scared of her, if she was, she wouldn’t have come back, right? Camila took a deep breath, trying to stand steadier.

“I’ve made soup,” Camila offered quietly, and Luz didn’t reply, instead checking that the girl with dark blue hair was alright, and Camila paused. Her heart tightened a little more, Luz was… responsible. Camila had kinda always assumed Luz was never truly paying attention when Camila patched her up when she was young, but the girl was doing everything right.

Camila was terrified for Luz, but she was so proud , too.

The two girls Luz had tended to were okay, and it seemed Hunter(? Camila wasn’t sure she was right,) was done patching up the younger boy and himself. Luz sat down, taking a shuddering breath, head in her hands.

“Luz?” Lilac asked, “You’re, you’re bleeding still.”

“In a minute, Amity,” Luz said, words muffled a little by her hands. The moments ticked by, and she lifted her hand, staring at the smear of red her eyebrow had left behind, frowning. “I can–”

“Let me.” The girl, Amity , Camila recalled, offered, and the human gave up abruptly, hissing in pain as the antiseptic was applied to her forehead, her leg bouncing rhythmically as the girl kept her eyes opened, staring into the ceiling fan and the accompanying light.

A moment later, Amity stepped away, and Luz blinked a little from the light. She took a breath, standing up, and she turned to face Camila. There was a brief pause, and then Luz turned, already in a brisk march for the door.

“I… Oh, I can’t do this, guys,” Luz said, tugging the jacket closer, and Camila screamed as Hunter teleported with a golden haze, feeling her heart race as the boy stood between Luz and the outdoors. The two seemed to have a silent conversation, and Luz clenched and unclenched her fists.

“Everyone,” She said timidly, “This is… Camila Noceda.”

Camila put a hand outstretched, worry on her face. “It’s nice to meet you all, Luz–” —wanted to stay in your world for you— “—mentioned you all briefly last time we spoke.”

“This is Hunter,” Luz started, gesturing vaguely to the blond, “Willow, Gus,” Two points, and two accompanying shy waves, “And this is Amity… my girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend?” Camila replied, excitement in her voice, “¡Oh, estoy tan feliz por ti!” She moved in for a hug, and Luz stepped back, and instantly Camila’s expression dropped. “L-Luz, is this about—”

“Yes.” Luz replied, voice level, and Camila felt her stomach churn. “You know why, Camila.” Luz said, the faintest edge to her words, “I… I don’t know why I let them bring me here.”

“Just tell me what’s been going on, cariño,” Camila begged, “Maybe I can help!”

Luz’s expression shifted, rage flitting across her features. “Okay, okay, you wanna know? In the time since we last talked, I got tricked into helping a witch hunter destroy the world, me and who knows how many other people died , a-and now the Collector is wreaking havoc,” Luz growled, and Camila felt her world grind to a halt, trying to process when Luz said. She– She couldn’t have heard that right, Luz was right here in front of her, right ?

“My home is under attack,” The girl continued, “And I can’t be here , I need to be back there fighting the Collector! Every second I’m here is a second we could be stopping them!”

“Then why did you come back, mija?” Camila asked, voice a mix of exhaustion and confusion.

“I didn't want to!!” Luz yelled back, and the room went quiet. “King and Amity made me, I wanted to actually stay and fight.” She growled, and Camila stared with horror in her eyes.

“You just said that you died! I’m…” There was a heavy weight in Camila’s words, and Luz’s expression darkened, but the girl offered nothing up. “You… were going to stay there ?” Camila asked, hurt obvious in her words to everyone but Luz. “Do you really hate me that much?”

“It's not like you wanted me around!” Luz snarled back, “You got rid of me, remember?”

Camila stared, lip wobbling, and Vee could see the heartbreak in her eyes. “Y-you thought I meant that?!”

“Of course you meant it, Camila ,” Luz spat, the name uttered like a curse, and Camila felt something in her break, “I begged you not to send me there!”

Vee's eyes widened. Luz wasn’t talking about the miserable night in July, where she appeared in reflections and rain but never reality. No, Luz was talking about Reality Check .

“I begged, but no, I need to make ‘real friends’, right?” Luz continued, eyes hard and cold, “It's fine making reptilian friends when they're my replacement !?”

“I’m not a garden snake, Luz!” Vee argued.

“Luz, that's not what I—” Camila started, and her voice choked up, “Mija, please, I didn't mean it like that, I swear.”

“The last two times you saw me, you got rid of me both times!!” Luz said, speaking loudly over the older woman, and her voice cracked harshly, “You got rid of me, you left me with Eda, and now you have your perfect daughter, so why the hell are you complaining?”

“Luz, calm down!” Amity said, tugging on her girlfriend’s sleeve.

“I-I'm trying to understand, Luz,” Camila spoke up, but Luz cut her off.

“Dad wouldn’t need to try ,” Luz said, “He wouldn’t have asked me to choose .”

Camila’s eyes hardened for the first time in this conversation. “But he’s not here, mija,” she argued, voice paradoxically steady and shaky at once. “I am—”

“That’s why I’m going back.” Luz said, and Camila’s voice dried up.

“W-wha–?”

“I’m going back,” Luz said, and Vee wrenched her arm free from her friends, taking a step forward.

“You can’t just talk to mom like that, Luz, she’s tr–”

“She’s not my mom.”

A ringing static was all Camila could hear, rushing blood and pressure behind her eyes so strong she felt like she was going to break. “You’re— Luz, please tell—” Camila begged.

“You heard me.” Luz spat, voice wavering, “Eda adopted me. I’m a Clawthorne now, Camila.”

Luz paused, the weight of her words catching up to her. Luz’s eyes widened, and the room was silent, not even the sound of breathing in the air, as Luz and Camila stared at the other, no one daring to speak, to move, to breathe, lest it be the straw that finally broke the camel’s back.

The first breath, either a millisecond or an hour later, no one knew, was Luz’s, a dry heave as her foot moved, as she bolted, careening down the hallway; the second was Camila’s, as her eyes glazed over, tears streaming — she didn't realise she started crying — as she fell backwards, mouth slightly open as though she was about to speak.

The heartbeat of the room picked up, a beat, a beat, but the world stayed still.

It would stay still for a while.

---

Vee knew this house well, and she wagered Luz still did too.

Vee knew where the most secluded place was in this house except the bedrooms, and judging by Luz’s outburst, Luz likely didn’t want to use the bedroom that belonged to her. But the back porch of the house, with the awning and the view that overlooked the backyard was perfect. It was quiet, secluded, and she raced after Luz, arriving at the porch.

Luz was sitting there, holding what looked, to Vee, like  a wooden egg. But the smell coming off of it was… oh, it was magical , through and through. It hit Vee. Was this palistrom wood? She had never seen it, only heard of it, guards whining about losing their palisman, smaller bubblings that the Emperor ate palismen. But to actually see it, Vee was hit with a rare sense of grief for the Demon Realm.

“Luz,” Vee started, and Luz glared at her.

“What do you want, Vee?” She snapped, cradling the teal egg closer to her chest.

“Oh, you do not get to act like the hero, Luz,” Vee insisted, sitting down next to her could-be sister, “Were you trying to hurt her?”

“Yeah.” She said, and while the woods came quick, there wasn’t an ounce of satisfaction in her tone, “I just… wanted to make her feel the way I felt.”

“What did you even have to gain—”

“It felt good, okay?” Luz spat, and Vee noticed the painful expression on Luz’s face. “It felt good, and I’m mad at myself right now, but I just… Today’s been a rough day, Vee, and her trying to act like everything was fine was… Too much. I’m sorry.”

“I…” Vee trailed off, not actually sure what to say, “Do you want to… maybe talk about it, instead of blowing up at mamá?”

Luz held the palismen egg — weird, Vee was pretty sure you carved them into their shape, from everything she had overheard, but she’d been plenty wrong before — and kissed it gently on the top. “I was petrified , Vee.”

The basilisk faltered. “W-what?”

“Emperor Belos petrified me,” Luz said, voice feeling so distant, “Completely. I’m only…” Her voice hitched, “I- I think I died, Vee, do you know what it’s like to feel… Titan, I was dead. It was all so murky, and cold, it was so cold, Vee, this rain feels hot compared to it, and I…”

The human was crying, and Vee sat next to her, sandy blonde hair blowing in the cool September breeze. “It’ll be okay, L—”

“Will it!?” Luz snapped, “That wasn’t even the worst thing today! I’m pretty sure everyone’s dead! And, and it’s all my fault, you know, every single person—”

“Luz, you didn’t–”

““I’m never going to see Eda again, probably King, because both of them are too stubborn to let me take the fall for them… And my, my palisman.” Luz held the egg closer, crying harder. “I had one job, keep this little guy safe, so they don’t get hurt. M-my glyphs were turned to stone, Vee, I died, what if… What if my palisman’s dead, what if I killed them?”

“Luz, you just said it was Belos, not you–”

“But they trusted me, it was my job to keep them safe, no matter what,” Luz’s voice cracked, words lost in the noise, and she rocked the egg gently. “...Even if they wouldn’t approve.” She added in a distant voice, mind drifting to something Vee wasn’t privy to.

Vee stared at Luz as she cradled the egg closer, tracing small circles on its surface. “I can smell it, it’s still plenty magical,” Vee said, and Luz instantly held the egg tighter, snapping back to reality, looking at Vee with a mixed expression of fear and relief. “Relax, I’m not gonna hurt it.”

Luz kissed the egg’s surface, tears running her cheek with a sad smile, “Oh, gracias Titán, estás bien,” Luz murmured to the teal egg, lips nearly right on its surface, “I’m so sorry, I’ll never let anyone hurt you again…”

Vee pauses for a moment, while Luz cradles the egg happily, and she feels a small twinge in her. “You know Camila didn’t mean it, right?” She asked, and Luz locked up. “She was beating herself up for weeks after, you… You do know that, right?”

“She kicked me out months before that, Vee,” Luz said, and her voice was choked up, “She didn’t want me to come home, she wanted you . Proper, normal, regular Luz Noceda. Well, she can keep you. I’m going back.”

“Luz, what about your mom? She’s been worried sick!”

“My mom is in the Demon Realm, Vee,” Luz interrupted, “And once I get a portal working, I’ll be there too.” 

“Please, Luz, Camila’s trying her bes—”

“I was trying too!” Luz yelled, the words deafening against the quiet rain and soft-spoken words. The words echoed briefly, and Luz was quiet as she stared out into the backyard, rain spitting from the sky and stray droplets hitting her feet. “I spent my whole life trying to be you .”

“Huh?” Vee was visibly confused, “We only met two months ago.”

“You got here, what, five months ago?” Luz asked, and Vee nodded. “In five months, you made friends, Camila was so happy, you fixed my reputation. You walked up to classmates and they were excited to see you.” Luz bitterly spat, “You were a better Luz in five months then I was in fourteen years.”

“Luz, I didn’t want—”

“To replace me?” Luz yelled, and the basilisk cowered a little, “To, to make mom so much happier than I ever did.” Her shoulders slumped, looking out the window again as she pressed her forehead against the glass. “You win , Vee. You can keep Luz Noceda, and I’ll keep Luz Clawthorne. Happy?”

“No!!” Vee said, “Y-you get why she’s upset right? You replaced her—”

“She replaced me !” Luz spat, voice cold and vaguely threatening, “Eda was there for me, she, she sacrificed herself for me twice , Vee,” Luz’s voice was twisted, “She did everything she could for me, not the ideal, low-maintenance version of me, actually for me !”

“Camila just wanted you—” Vee tried but Luz shifted, and Vee gave a squeak of fear.

“It’s your fault too!” Luz snapped, and Vee’s expression shifted into one of hurt. “How do you think it felt watching Camila accept you for who you were, unconditionally, demon and all, just to turn around and kick me out!? She sent me away because I’m too weird, but you’re normal enough to stay?”

Vee knew better than to answer right now, and Luz kept going. “I found my normal! I made friends, I found a family, a school I actually liked attending, and when I begged her not to make me choose between my life and her, she chose for me!!”

Luz’s voice echoed in the backyard, and her eyes were wide with what might’ve been mania, or maybe just fear, “Eda gave everything up for me,” She finally said, voice so quiet Vee could barely hear it over the pitter-patter of the rain. “ Camila just gave me up.”

Vee looked horrified, eyes welling as she ran her wrist over her eyes to wipe away tears. “Do you… actually think that?”

Luz froze, as if unsure of how to answer, before giving a curt nod, eyes staring off into the trees. She took a shuddering breath, and she climbed to her feet. “I'm going back, I need to make sure my friends are okay.”

“Just, you’re still welcome,” Vee said, wringing her hands, “Even if you don’t believe me.”

Luz’s gaze was indecipherable, but she nodded a little bit. The human turned around, kissing the palistrom egg one more time before tucking it into the pouch, and she headed back inside, leaving Vee in quiet on the rainy porch, the basilisk praying that she didn’t make things worse.

---

When Luz came back inside, it was to Masha having headed home, and to the offer of the basement being set up as something of a bedroom for the children, and Luz paced back and forth trying to decide.

If she were alone, she would’ve. But she had four witches with her who didn’t legally exist, who if they got sick, Luz would be helpless. And… And she couldn’t do that to them.

“Does everyone have enough space…” Luz asked for the umpteenth time, knowing the answer but praying it had changed regardless, and she felt like she was seconds away from pulling her hair out. The basement was cluttered, small, and no matter how Vee insisted that ‘ our room is big enough, Luz, we can— ’, Luz couldn’t, wouldn’t explain to anyone, not Vee, not Amity, why she wanted her friends to be in one place.

She told herself the maybes. Maybe it was because Vee was a basilisk, and she didn’t want her friends to be uncomfortable; maybe it was because it felt like she was intruding on Camila’s home enough.

(Maybe, but it wasn’t. It was because everytime she blinked, she saw Philip lunge for Caleb.)

She helped her friends get comfortable, wincing a little from the pain in her ankles. They hurt like hell, and Luz was only noticing now, but Titan, they were sore, and she tried to sit as much as she could to take the weight off.

Your girlfriend knows healing magic, a small voice in her murmured, but she shrugged it off. She’d be fine. She held tightly the notebook she had snatched from her Vee’s bedroom, and even as her friends fell into a quiet sleep, Luz sat there, not even entertaining the idea of joining them.

Once she was sure everyone was fast asleep, and really, it didn’t take long, everyone was exhausted, she tiptoed up the basement stairs, sitting down with her back against the wall, the basement door just to her side.

She shivered, the dark room feeling small, claustrophobic, the phantom texture of stone in her legs. She turned to the very first page of the notebook, and she drew a shape that had become second nature to her. And with a tap of the light glyph…

It remained still, unwavering, on the page. Luz tapped it again, then again. Her vision swam with tears, and she held the book tightly to her chest. She knew it was real, but in this moment, her friends elsewhere, in a house she hadn’t thought she’d return to, she wondered for just a moment if she was just crazy.

She wiped away the tears, stifling the dry sob that wanted to escape her throat. And she started writing things out. She had to get home.

---

When Hunter awoke, it was still early. He would never say it, because Titan forbid he encourage the Emperor’s Coven and its behaviours, but he didn’t understand the merit in sleeping in past six. You had a whole day you could be doing productive stuff, why waste it sleeping?

But to his surprise, he got upstairs to see Luz, sitting by the door, writing in her notebook. “Up already?” Hunter asked, and Luz jumped back with a small scream as she held the book up like a shield. Her eyes narrowed, and her shoulders went slack.

“Oh, morning Hunter.” Luz said, and Hunter was not going to lie. Luz looked rough. She was sallow, bags under her eyes that Hunter was sure weren't quite as deep yesterday, her hair was a mess, and Hunter wouldn't be surprised if she got only a couple hours sleep.

“Morning,” He grumbled, but his expression brightened when Flapjack fluttered from his outfit and into his hands, the cardinal palisman seemingly just happy to be here. “Hi, Flap, you were warm enough, right?” A happy chirp, and Hunter’s expression brightened more. “So, what were you up to, Luz?” Hunter asked as the cardinal zipped from Hunter’s hands to his shoulder.

“I’ve been figuring out, like, a plan of action.”

“A plan?”

“So, the portal, in the shack, right?” Luz was saying quickly, and Hunter could feel the eagerness to put this plan into motion. “Well, it’s been a few weeks, but I was trying to build a portal, and so I might know how to do it still? We could maybe find an alternative to Titan’s blood,” The girl was going fast, and Hunter glanced at her pages. She had… maybe two dozens pages filled with notes. 

“Luz.” Hunter interrupted, “Did you sleep at all?” 

The girl’s gaze darkened, and she shook her head weakly. “No, I…” Luz paused, and she squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, “I think I’m scared of the dark now, haha, and… and my glyphs don’t work.” She admitted, the words coming out in a strangled tone that only got deeper as she continued, “And even if I wasn’t, I… uh… Can’t stop thinking about Philip and Caleb.”

Luz coughed, clearing her throat, all while Hunter’s stomach dropped. “Sleep, Luz.” He said, “I can read over these notes, if you want, and if anyone tries anything, I’m more than capable.”

“Yeah, but it’s—”

“ Please , Luz.” Hunter said, “I’d feel better if you slept.”

“I don’t think I can sleep right now, Hunter.” Luz said, voice cracking. “I’ll sleep tonight, okay?”

“...okay.” The boy said, voice soft, and Luz opened the book wide, lying it on the counter for Hunter to read.

“So, I’ll leave these with you, but I’m gonna head out now,” Luz said, and Hunter nearly jumped to stop her.

“What, it’s six in the morning!” He whispered in a hiss, “I—”

“I don’t want to be here when Camila wakes up.”

“So you’re leaving it to me?”

“Please, Hunter,” Luz hissed, “You’ve seen how things were between me and her last night. Use some of that, I dunno, diplomacy training, did they do that?” Luz asked, with a shrug.

“Yeah, of course the—” He started answering, before his eyes narrowed. “Luz, I don’t thi—”

“See, you’ve got it, okay, bye!” Luz said quickly, making a break for the door. The second she was outside she took a shuddering breath, eyes closed, and she took a second, ignoring the flair of pain in her ankle, right where the golden current that had petrified her had made contact.

It still hurt so badly.

But then she stood up, bit her lip to keep in a whimper, and made her way to the cabin in the woods.

By the time everyone else made it out there, Luz was already lugging a heavy portable generator.

“You need a hand,” Willow offered, twirling her fingers, and a light levitation spell kicked in, the human holding the generator instantly breathing easier.

“Oh, wow, that’s better, thanks Willow,” Luz said, “Just need it close to the door.”

“What exactly is your plan?” Hunter asked.

“Tell me if I’m right, but,” Luz started, “If I can give the portal door enough power on this side, I can maybe power it on the other side.”

Hunter’s face morphed into one of uncertainty. “I mean… Maybe?”

Luz’s expression dropped. “Well, we’ll… figure it out. We have to.”

Luz’s notes were clear, how they could rebuild the portal the way that Luz had before to reach the green realm she had stumbled upon two months ago. With an actual portal to connect it to, hopefully this time it would actually work.

The issue was resources. Or more specifically—

“The generator isn't working!!” Luz snarled, watching sparks fly needlessly from the portal doorframe, twisting a dial that was already cracked up to its limit.

“Does the human realm have safety codes?” Hunter asked, and Luz nodded, “What if the generator’s capping some of it?”

“Yeah, and how do we remove that?” Luz asked, glancing at the red-and-black generator.

“How can we power it that isn’t this generator?”

“I don’t know, Hunter!” Luz snapped, wiping her brow. 

Willow looked up from Luz’s rough notes. “Is the portal wood or metal?”

“Uhhhhh…” Hunter froze. “Me and the Emperor couldn’t figure that out.”

Willow spun a twirl of green, gesturing vaguely at the portal frame. While the roots took hold in some of the house itself, the wooden-looking doorframe remained stationary.

“...Was that…” Luz paused. “I assumed the portal was wooden,” She said, scratching out some of her notes, double-glancing at the frame.

“What was wrong with the original portal?” Amity asked gently, voice a bit hollow.

Luz tilted her head to the side with a sigh. “We don’t have Titan’s blood, and besides, if we remake it exactly, that sends us to that green place.”

“You never actually…” Hunter said slowly, “Explained it, what green place?”

Luz froze.

“I ended up in a third realm, full of cubes and water. I could talk to Camila, but that…” Luz trailed off, scowl growing deeper. “Point is, it’s not the demon realm. So it’s not what we need.”

Luz abruptly swung a kick to the generator, knocking the red unit over and exhaling with a bit of contentness. “Sorry, just… Don’t think this’ll help us. We’ll need something stronger .”

“…what’s strong enough to match Titan’s blood?” Gus asked quietly, and Luz’s shoulders slumped.

Back to square one, Luz supposed.

---

So the rhythm began.

Luz would ‘wake up’, keeping watch over her friends. And once Hunter was awake to take her place, she’d head out to the shack in the woods and work on the portal. When her friends came out to join her, she didn’t seem as animated and vibrant as the Luz they really knew.

Her and Hunter were the most productive — both of them had experience with the portals in the past, but neither of them had all the information. Luz was working from memory, Hunter from a mere repair job. But more than once, sparks flew in hues of green, watery ripples visible for a half-heartbeat.

This just made her work harder.

Even when Hunter sat down, the portal was never ignored, splinters and scratches gained as Luz went through a stack of paper and several pens jotting down everything, pinning the successful papers to the wooden wall on the inside of the shack.

She’d eat if food was brought out, and when she had a moment; the norm became food sitting in the cold September wind for anywhere from ten minutes to a couple hours, the frigid meal choked down as Luz’s eyes drifted to notes and ideas.

She was almost never in the house when Camila was awake; she was never stepping foot in the bedroom that technically belonged to her. It was clear to everyone that Luz was almost just going through the motions of life, everything but the portal becoming irrelevant to her.

(Even herself.)

---

Five days into the cycle, Luz surprised everyone.

“You guys wanna explore Gravesfield?” Luz asked, voice distant as she took a pencil to the portal wall, sketching lines at two inch intervals, something about if the wood warps.

“I mean,” Gus started, “Sure, it’d be neat, but the portal—”

“This is all busywork, really,” Luz dismissed, “Only one of us needs to be doing it, and you four have been out for, what, ten hours?”

“You could take the break with us, you know—”

“If we all take a break,” Luz said, “It’ll take longer to get home.”

There was a painful quiet over the clearing, the silence broke only by the scratching of graphite on wood, and the wind.

“The Boiling Isles are way more confusing than the human realm,” Luz said with a bit of humour to her voice, “Just remember that most things don’t eat here, and you should be fine. And watch out for cars.”

Amity looked at Luz, “Sweet potato, we don’t want you to work yourself into the ground.”

“And I won’t, and I… I’d rather you all take more breaks, anyway, it’d make me feel better.” Luz explained, “If you all bring your palismen, maybe ask Vee or something. She should know the place well.”

“You trust Vee?” Willow seemed a bit surprised, and Luz made a vague noise.

“If it came to that, four-on-one,” Luz explained shakily, “But yeah, she hasn’t pulled anything yet.”

“Luz, we’re not just going to—”

“You guys go have fun,” Luz said sternly, and Amity wanted to scream at how genuine Luz sounded. “I’ll be here when you get back.”

“Luz, we’re not going to venture out into Gravesfield without you—” Amity started, and Luz spun around, iron in her voice.

“Then go to the house!” She snapped, “I don’t care, just… Only one of us needs to be here, and I’d rather it be me.”

“Don’t we get a say, Luz—”

“My realm, my rules,” Luz snapped, trying to ignore how queasy that sentence made her. “Just… please, guys? For me?”

The next fifteen minutes continued, louder and louder. And then Luz was left alone outdoors at the cabin.

She took a breath, letting herself cry a little bit where there was no one else to see it, cradling her ankles. After nearly ten minutes, she blinked away the last of the tears, and stood up.

She had meant it. She could do this alone.

(The pattern shifted. Urging Luz to take a break became a routine step. Her denial was a routine response.)

---

Nine days into the cycle is when Luz finally met them.

Even as dinner happened, the sun beginning to dwindle on Gravesfield, Luz was at the cabin. Everyone else had headed back, but no amount of tugging and asking her nicely was going to get her inside. She could eat when she got back.

Luz ran her fingers through her hair, staring up at the cabin. She was happy with the interior now, she really was. She had cleaned up at least the main room, trying to quell the feeling inside her.

The portal was taking too long.

The walls were painted with a cheap paint Luz found rummaging in the basement, hidden away beneath empty boxes labelled Cosmic Frontier, and the interior was now nail- and shrapnel-free. If Camila changed her mind, Luz breathed easy knowing they’d have somewhere to be.

The portal itself, though, Luz had made painfully little progress. Luz had gone through six brooms, and however much money in food for her and her friends.

She wasn’t trying to be bitter at Camila, or maybe she was trying too hard? Luz couldn’t understand how Camila could be this nice now, when she was the same woman who… She breathed slowly, trying not to cry. She didn’t know what to think of Camila anymore.

Was she being petty? Camila was doing so much, Vee was doing so much. 

“Then don’t choose, enjoy your, your demon realm, Luz!”

But Luz was making the right call here. Camila had disowned her. That wasn’t something you could take back, was it?

“You wanted magic so badly, then don’t come back!”

She had to be right.

She could hear the crunching of grass behind her, footsteps, and she wheeled, hands instinctively reaching for pockets that had no glyphs. In front of her was someone Luz recognized as one of Vee’s friends from Cabin Seven, the one with a black bob and a tooth gap, and Luz froze.

“W-who are you?” Luz asked, voice shaky. A small part of her realised this was her first conversation with a human other than Camila in… five or so months? Suddenly, she felt less prepared than she’d like. “What are you doing here?”

The goth smiled with a wave, “Vee’s friend. I’m Masha.”

Luz’s shoulders went loose for a second, before winding up defensively. “She’s at the house.” Luz said, and Masha shook their head.

“Yeah, I know, she sent me out here.” Masha said, and Luz clearly reacted, because they chuckled. “Oh, I wanna play poker with you sometime.”

“Don’t know the rules,” Luz snapped, turning back to the portal, “And I’m busy.”

“With a portal to another world—”

“How do you—” Luz started, panic creeping into her tone, and Masha waved a hand dismissively.

“Relax, Vee told me… kinda everything?” Masha said, like it was the simplest thing ever. Before Luz could keep asking questions, they continued, “You can ask Vee, I’m all over this sorta thing, paranormal stuff, myths, legends.”

“The Boiling Isles aren’t a myth,” Luz said, voice cold, and Masha cocked their head to the side.

“I never said it was.” Masha said, “All I’m saying is maybe a fresh set of eyes will help.”

“...you don’t know anything about there.” Luz said, and Masha walked up to the door, and Luz wanted to get them away from the no-longer-delicate frame.

“Then tell me.”

Luz paused. “You sure…?”

Masha shrugged. “I’m stalling on asking Vee to the homecoming on the thirtieth. The longer you take, the better.”

Luz chuckled at that. “Alright, this is going to sound crazy—”

“You don’t have to convince me, I’m sold,”

“Shush.” Luz said, but to her own surprise, there was no malice. “So, it’s this huge ocean, and the water is boiling hot.”

“Oooh, Boiling Isles.” Masha interrupted, and Luz nodded.

“And long, long ago there was these giant creatures called Titans.” She continued, grabbing her notebook, leafing through it. She had drawn the Isles the night prior, much to present self’s glee, and she presented the image with grandiose. Saying the words felt like a weight off her shoulders, that her friends and her summer there wasn’t some crazed hallucination. “When they die, they’d fall into the water, and over the centuries, millennia, whatever, they become islands!” Luz said, and there was a glee in her voice, memories flitting back from her home. “So, then people started living on the Titan’s corpse, and building homes there. Over however long, they gained the ability to do magic, and… History wasn’t my strong suit at Hexside, but skip a couple thousand years and bam, present day.”

“There’s some creation myths like that.” Masha pointed out, “Big creatures serving as either the planet, the continents, that sorta thing.”

“That’s actually kinda what Eda told me.” Luz murmured softly, a smile on her face. “Every myth we have came from the Isles, according to her. Griffins, demons and magic, giraffes.”

“Giraffes are real though?” They pointed out, eyebrows raised in confusion.

“They got banished here.” Luz said simply, and Masha blinked once, twice, the information clearly not processing right, and Luz snickered. “The grass there is red,” She said wistfully. “The rain is hot.” She leaned forward, gently touching the doodle of the Titan. “I can’t wait to see it again.”

“You sound like it.” The paranormalist commented, and they frowned. “If you build a portal, you could go back and forth whenever, right?”

“Maybe?” Luz said, but she shook her head. “I’m not…”

“Think on it.” Masha interrupted, before grabbing Luz’s hand and tugging her upwards. “So, Vee will kill me if I let you starve because you’re storytelling, which would be really bad because I still need to ask her out, so, walk and talk?”

Luz looked at the portal, the golden glow of sunset beginning to shift to darker tones of nightfall as the treeline cloaked more and more of the sun. She gave a sigh, but there was a lightness to it. The Boiling Isles are still there. The Day of Unity had been stopped. The Collector was free, yes, but… But it would be okay.

“Yeah.” Luz said. She grabbed her notebook and the blanket off the ground, and she started walking, rambling to Masha, a spring in her step that hadn’t been there before.

---

“No, see, that’s why Eda never joined a coven,” Luz was explaining as she stepped in, and Masha nodded somberly.

“I don’t think I could either,” Masha admitted, and they waved, “Hello, miss Noceda, hey, Vee!”

“Luz, you’re back early!” Amity cheerfully said, rushing to her girlfriend and grabbing the human in a tight hug, and Luz chuckled, giving her girlfriend a kiss on the cheek, smiling wide.

“Yeah, I am,” Luz said, looking at the scene in front of her. Her heart warmed a little, noticing Vee clearly teaching Luz’s friends how to play a game. “Learning Uno?” She asked, smiling.

“Yeah, we…” Amity looked guilty, and Luz titled the girl’s head towards her gently.

“I’m glad.” Luz said, “I know I’ve been working myself into the ground. But it’s so you all don’t have to. And…”

“But we don’t want you to, Luz!” Amity said, “I’d… I’d rather be stuck here longer than see you miserable.”

Luz looked taken aback, and she looked over at the rest of her friends. Willow was clearly winning, judging by the hyper competitive cheer the plant witch gave, and the dismayed looks on Hunter and Gus’ faces. Vee was rambling to Masha about something, and…

And Camila was watching over them, quiet, calm. Luz felt another pang in her chest. Why is she being so kind, Luz asked herself.

(She bundled that thought up and threw it in the water.)

“I love you, Amity.” Luz said, unbidden, and the witch’s eyes widened softly. “I do, and I’m sorry. I… If you want me to take breaks, I can… try.”

“If not for you, for us? We… want to see more of you , please.” Amity asked, and Luz nodded slowly.

“I can’t take every day off, but…” She closed her eyes, swallowed slowly. “What if tomorrow, I take a break, and show you all Gravesfield? Get us out of the woods a little bit?”

“Thank Titan,” Amity breathed, hugging Luz tighter, “I’ve missed you.”

“I know,” Luz said, trying to ignore the guilt creeping into her, “I know, Ami. I’ll show you Gravesfield, and hey, I can show you all the places I knew growing up.”

“I showed you the Isles,” Amity said, smiling wide. “You can show me the Human Realm.” A small amount of concern crossed her face. “It’ll… be okay, right?”

“Yeah, it will be,” Luz said, chewing the inside of her mouth. “I need to look… for a change of clothes that isn’t…” Luz gestured down at herself, wincing a little. She had been cycling two outfits, both of which at this point were stained with grass, oil, and lubricant.

“Yeah, you do that, I’ll catch everyone up,” Amity said, kissing Luz gently. “Thank you, Luz I’m proud of you.”

Luz let go of Amity, immediately desperate for the touch again — no, you don’t deserve it, a small part of her thought — and she turned, climbing the stairs to the upper floor. She stood in front of the slab of wood that had once demarcated her bedroom, staring at it.

She froze.

I should stay here , Luz thought, Gravesfield is the only place I belong.

She shook away that thought. She couldn’t imagine living her life without the Boiling Isles, and yet, the more she stood before the closed door, the more she thought that it was her door, that if she had never gone to the Isles, then Philip would’ve never decided to go after humanity, that Philip would’ve never killed Odalia, that Eda wouldn’t have died just to save her.

Luz squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, trying to remember the last thing Eda said to her. I’m so glad you were in my life.

Luz opened her eyes, the wooden board in front of her feeling suddenly monolithic, Eda’s last words to Luz were being okay with what Luz had caused. Would Amity? Would Willow, Gus, Hunter? The vague inkling of losing her friends, losing the Isles felt like a fate worse than death. Maybe Philip actually was putting her out—

Luz’s stomach was twisting tightly, and she didn’t hear the sound of anyone approaching, but she nearly screamed, falling backwards — stone crackling filled her ears, the faint golden hum of an engine unlike either realm whirring — staring up in horror at…

Vee. Not Philip, Vee.

“H-hi, Vee!” Luz said, voice peppy and high, too high, “Whatcha doin’?”

Vee raised an eyebrow. Luz only noticed the way Vee’s human eyes appeared distinctly inhuman, the golden-and-black irises with white sclera. It was uncanny, but despite not knowing the basilisk well, it felt distinctly Vee.

“Going to our room,” Vee said, before looking guilty, “Or… mine. But.”

“C-can I talk to you?” Luz asked, inwardly cursing. She shouldn’t be trusting Vee, she stole my life , a part of Luz screamed. “It’s gotta be you,” Dammit, Luz.

“Sure, c’mon in,” Vee said, concern lacing her tone.

The inside of the bedroom was… familiar to Luz, actually. The bunk bed still stood, and suddenly it hit Luz how painfully lonely her childhood had been. She had begged her parents to get her a bunk bed for sleepovers, and they caved and gave it to her, since the price difference was surprisingly negligible.

…she hadn’t ever had one before the Demon Realm.

“Should I stay?” Luz blurted out, eyes wide, and Vee seemed just as shocked. “In the Human Realm, I mean, I’m from here and—”

“Nope, stop, stop stop,” Vee cut her off, hands on Luz’s shoulders. “Do you think I should go to the Demon Realm?”

“What?! No!” Luz said, but before she could get any other words, she slowed. “No.”

“What brought this on?” Vee asked, stepping back from Luz, sitting down on the bed. She patted the mattress next to her, and Luz hesitantly sat down.

“It’s my fault things are so bad, Vee,” Luz said, feeling pain in her chest (and ankles, but that one was real , for some reason the phantom pains mattered more?), “Eda’s dead, Amity’s mom is dead, maybe everyone’s dead. And… And I can’t save them.”

“You don’t have to save everyone, Luz,” Vee said, and quietly, “You saved me, your friends. Does that not matter?”

“You? When did I—” Luz started, but she trailed off, “Jacob. Yeah.”

“Not that, before then.” Vee said, guilty expression. “You gave me a life , Luz, and… I’d probably be dead if not for…”

Luz was quiet. She thought about how she had been treating Vee since she arrived in this realm, nothing but callous and cruel, and suddenly, her chest felt even more hollow somehow. “I’m sorry.”

“Huh?” Vee seemed surprised, and a heartbroken expression on her face.

“I yelled at you,” Luz explained, “Got mad at Camila for keeping you around, and…”

“I get it, I think.” Vee admits. “Like, not exactly, but I do.” Vee’s leg was bouncing, and Luz couldn’t keep a smile down. The little details, the differences between them. Vee was no longer disguised like Luz, but she could suddenly get it.

“Was… Was Camila…” Luz started, wringing her hands, “Was Camila kind to you, before, after, uh…”

“Yeah.” Vee said, “She tries, she really does, when she… said that stuff, it was heartbreaking for her. She fell to the road crying, Luz. She… called in sick, she… She felt awful.”

Luz was quiet.

“I can’t forgive her, Vee.” Luz admits, “Titan, I missed her so bad between losing the portal and making the new one. And she…”

“You don’t have to forgive her.” Vee said, and Luz’s expression must’ve been terrible. “She doesn’t want you to forgive her. She just wants you back, you know.”

“She told me—”

“Luz.” Vee said, voice stern, and Luz fell silent. “She didn’t mean it. You… do know that, right…?”

Luz was quiet. And slowly, so slowly, she gave a small nod. Vee smiled.

“I get why you hate the human realm,” Vee said, “I’ve been living as you at school. And… And I see why. But this realm is beautiful, Luz, and things are… the rain isn’t dangerous, there’s no monsters or evil plants. There’s no power differences, there’s no covens. Here I can be Vee , not a basilisk, not a weapon. And I…”

Luz’s heart felt tight. “Vee?”

“I wanna be human.” Vee admitted, “Normal. All my life I’ve never been anything but someone else, and you don’t know how confusing it is not to have an identity, even now I had to make this body out of bits and pieces of our classmates , because basilisks can’t become things we haven’t seen ,” Vee rambled, “I have Clara’s hair, Iris’s height, you and Camila’s name, Clover’s teeth, hell, Masha gave me this clothes. Nothing I have is mine , and it’s maddening.”

“And I haven’t been helping. For what it’s worth, I know Clara, does she still bully us?” Luz asked, and when Vee nodded, Luz continued. “Your hair didn’t remind me of hers, so let it be said, you rock it way better than her.”

There’s quiet for a minute, before Luz’s eyes widen. “Do you still have my laptop?”

“Yep. Figured out the password too, which was… miserable to guess.”

“How did you figure it out?”

“Used the library computers to look up popular Azura ships.” Vee answered, and Luz’s face went red. “Hey, it’s me who had to do it.”

“With my name!” There’s a beat, and the two start laughing. Luz feels like a weight dissolved, shoulders slumping contently. “Lemme show you something,”

Vee grabbed the laptop from the drawer she had put it in, and passed it to Luz. Opening it up, Luz looked up at Vee with a mischievous smile. “How realistic do things have to look for you to copy them?”

“I mean, fair bit of variance, how come?” Vee answered, and Luz smirked, opening her mouth to speak, but it opened and closed a few times. The girl frowned at the screen.

“Ta- I… This was supposed to load faster, hang on…” Luz said, a dramatic flair the girl was about to have slowing down, before abruptly, she swivelled the laptop around, and Vee could see a character in a game, with a ton of sliders and dials next to it. “Bam, character creators!”

Vee looked at the screen, looked at Luz, and looked back at the screen.

“Could you become them?” Luz asked, and Vee shrugged.

“I mean, sure? But he’s not really—”

Luz sat down next to Vee, and using the cursor, grabbed one of the sliders, and slowly dragged it to the left. The reaction on Vee’s face, confusion melting away to fascination, watching the character on Luz’s screen change appearance.

As Luz meddled with the sliders, Vee’s smile grew wider, and she looked up at Luz optimistically. “Oh my god…”

“It’s cool, right?” Luz said with a chuckle, “I’ve played a lot of video games, and you’d be surprised how many have character creators.”

“Luz, thank you, thank you, thank you,” Vee said excitedly, hugging the other girl tightly, before stepping back, eyes wide with fear. “Sorry, didn’t mean to—”

“Come here,” Luz said, grabbing Vee in a hug, and for a minute, it felt right. When the two let go, Vee had a soft smile.

“I always wanted a younger sister,” Luz blurted out, mentally yelling at herself. But rather than recoil like the human expected, Vee simply nodded.

“I’m older than you, but, but I spent a few months getting to know you, Luz,” Vee said, with a wry chuckle, “And honestly? I’d… love to be your sister, if you’ll let me.”

Luz pauses for a minute, looking up at Vee, nerves aglow with anxiousness.

“I’m not staying here, Vee. But… But you’d be a great sister too.”

Vee nodded, smile dropping a little, but her eyes widened when she looked at the laptop screen again, the little character model spinning slowly.

“Knock yourself out,” Luz said, chuckling at Vee’s excited expression. “But uh… can I borrow some of your clothes? I’m showing my friends Gravesfield tomorrow.”

“You can borrow yours, I kept it all on the left side of the closet.” Vee said.

“Wait, you divided it? Since when?”

“When did you buy a pumpkin t-shirt, Luz?” Vee said, smirking. Luz looked at the decal on Vee’s shirt, then turned back to the closet. She heard Vee add in a stern and slightly desperate tone, “Those are mine, please leave them be.”

Luz thought about the aforementioned identity crisis, and with a thumbs up to her sister Vee, she started rummaging through the left side of the closet for something she liked, the room filled with the ambient noises of shuffling through clothes and the clicking of the mouse.

---

Luz figured she looked presentable that next morning. A nice, long shower to wash away some of the grime, time in the mirror, dressed in some of her nicer clothes she had left at home before camp, although she still wore Eda’s grudgby jacket over the whole ensemble, but you’d have to pry that leather material from her cold dead body.

(It didn’t smell the same anymore. The faint hints of sulphur and soot that had felt immortalised in the material had been washed out. The Boiling Isles felt more and more like a dream. Luz was doing fine.)

Stepping down the stairs, Luz could see the excited and slightly nervous smiles of her friends. Gus excitedly and animatedly telling Willow about something — Luz could make our the words giraffe, umbrella, and sandwich, she was gonna let mysteries stay mysterious — while Hunter was talking to Vee in a hushed voice to give Gus his spotlight — clearly they had found some common thing, although she didn’t know what yet. Luz’s eyes drifted to Amity, who was busy convincing Ghost to not meow desperately because Amity had stopped petting the cat palisman in question for two seconds.

Eventually, as the gang made their way out of the house and to her complete expectation, Gravesfield was the same as Luz remembered, and a small part of her hated that. Nothing changed in Gravesfield, it seemed. But, there was a novelty to be found in libraries that didn’t eat you, blue water, and so, for her friends, she supposed.

Even if Luz itched to work on the portal once more.

The trip started somewhat satirically, with an early suggestion to visit the Magic Circle, a hobbyist shop for weird mystical things; it was sorta amusing watching her friends pick apart the ‘magical’ items, drawing comparisons to things that actually existed in the Boiling Isles. It reminded her of Eda’s spiel about green human candy and boxes that reflected only sadness.

From there, the library, the zoo, even stopping by Gravesfield High, although it was closed, but Luz felt a bit of warmth saying goodbye to her former high school.

There was also the park in the middle of town near the historical society, and Luz froze, staring up at the towering sculpture that she had seen so many times growing up in Gravesfield, one that now held meaning.

Caleb and Philip Wittebane, the engraving read, They protected Gravesfield to the end; our glorious golden guards.

Luz swallowed once, twice, reading the plaque.

“What about that statue, Luz?” Hunter’s voice snapped her from her daze, and she turned around, shock on her face.

“Oh, it’s…”

Hunter looked at the statue properly, then at the plaque, paling all the while. “Aah.”

“Yeah.”

“...golden guards.” He read aloud, giving a small pained chuckle. “And look, that’s my crest.” He said, tapping the lighter etching at the bottom of the plaque. “He really just did everything twice, huh?”

“Seems like it.” Luz said, before turning to Hunter. She glanced around, noticing the rest of her friends a bit more up ahead, “Thanks for not telling them.”

“About?”

“Me helping Philip.”

“I helped uncle more than you,” Hunter commented, “I should be glad you haven’t told them about the grimwalker stuff.”

“What is a grimwalker?” Luz asked, and Hunter swallowed.

“You won’t like it.” Hunter said, and Luz scoffed.

“Try me.”

“All the folklore stories called grimwalkers these doppelgangers that would be used to replace loved ones, usually for some evil gain.” Hunter explained, “A couple times it was tales of rich people making grimwalkers of their loved ones, but usually they were all about replacing someone.”

Luz swallowed. “You’re not a replacement.”

“I know.” Hunter said, voice faint, “And you can’t be replaced either.”

“You guys okay?”

Luz and Hunter both startled, turning to the confused face of Masha, “You both sorta just stared at… the…” Their eyes darted between Hunter and the statues, “Anyway, point is, since historical society is a town hall thing, I get a discount, wanna stop for lunch?”

“Food sounds great right now,” Hunter said, overly peppy, and Luz choked back a laugh at how fake it sounded.

But as Luz and Hunter reunited with their friends, they all seemed distracted a small bit of pandemonium, and while Luz tried to ignore it, it was hard to completely block out the commotion to her side. Glancing, her shoulders dropped.

There was a small stage, one Luz knew was regularly used for events like local bands, the annual Halloween festivity play, sometimes even weddings, although its usage was infrequent at best. There was a man in semi-tattered clothing shooing people off the stage, sparks flying and it took a second, but Luz recognized the man.

“There’s no…” Luz groaned, blood boiling a little.

The man on stage shooing people off was undeniably Jacob Hopkins.

“Jacob’s not in jail anymore?” Vee seemed surprised, and Masha’s shoulders dropped.

“Yeah, turns out there was no proof.” Masha said, “The only proof he kidnapped you was on those tapes, but…”

“But then the secret would be out,” Luz said, and Masha nodded.

“Do we need to watch out for him?” Gus asked, “He doesn’t seem the most…”

“Stable.” Willow offered up, and Luz could agree. Jacob Hopkins had been something of his own calibre when they had met through a looking glass back in July, but seeing him again, even to Luz, something was off.

The conspiracy theorist had cleared off the stage, clearly annoying whatever it had been set up for originally, likely a band or something, judging by how he now held a microphone in one hand, and what Luz recognized as a training wand in the other.

“Fellow citizens of Gravesfield, we have been born into chaos,” Jacob said, in a calm and rehearsed cadence, and Luz and Hunter both paled instantly.

Luz reached for an invisibility glyph out of habit, coming up blank. Hunter was faster, nudging Gus, and hissing, quiet and low, “Hide us, now!” Gus spun a circle, and in a shimmer, the group of witches disappeared, and they watched the display silently.

“For centuries, demonic creatures have roamed among us, both those who practise their magical ways and those who simply wish to.” Jacob said proudly, wielding the training wand triumphantly, “Today, I have been shown the purifying light, proof of creatures living among us, witches not from Mars, but from another universe entirely!” 

“Oh, give it up, Jacob,” One person commented loudly, and people started joining in, annoyed at the interruption. The man on stage chuckled.

“I understand your disbelief. Can someone, anyone, in the audience, pick a task or challenge for me to perform with witch magic?” He asked, before pointing at one person who had his arm raised, an older man, wearing the town council uniforms.

“Can you… fix the garden?” He asked, and Jacob nodded. He twirled the wand again, green lights coiling from it, and the audience ooh’ed and aah’ed as the vegetation within the surrounding area grew wild and strong, black roses and hyacinths sprouting recklessly, and Jacob gave a soft chuckle.

Luz could see within the bubble Gus had them protected within, how everyone’s faces were paling, Masha and Vee’s faces the most.

“How the hell does he have actual magic?” Masha hissed, “He’s, he is human, right?”

“Completely,” Vee answered simply, “I’d know if he wasn’t.”

“That’s a training wand, young witches use them to practice,” Amity offered up, the tips of her ears going a little red, “Anyone can cast magic with it, but how did he get one?”

“How did he learn to use it?” Willow questioned, and Luz’s expression dropped further.

( He gripped the doorknob to the portal, and the machine flared to life. Philip opened it wide, took a long stride over the mantle… )

“Philip.” Luz said gently, and there was an uneasy quiet.

“Who’s Philip?” Masha asked, but despite the question there was recognition in their voice. Luz wasn’t listening, her breath was rapid-paced, chest heaving.

“We have to go, now .” Luz said, and there was fear creeping into her voice, “We can’t stay here, we can’t let Jacob see us. He recognizes me, he knows me, and he… he can do magic now.”

“Well, he knows me, but…” Vee pointed out, “But yeah, we gotta go. If he sees Luz…”

Luz swallowed, eyes staring at the spectacle, as Jacob twirled the wand for all manner of party tricks, illusions and construction magic dancing in a display to the bewilderment of the bystanders.

She walked away, dwelling on the long-absent sound of stone crackling.

---

Luz’s hand was in her hands.

“Philip’s here, I forgot about that.”

“How long has he been here?” Hunter asked, and Luz looked up at him.

“It was…” Her gaze was distant, “He and I fought in the Skull, I branded him to ruin his whole Draining Spell plan, but so he petrified me and left through the portal.” She answered, and she put her hand back in her hands. “Dammit, I, I forgot about him, with everything else going on!”

“So, Belos has been in the human realm for,” Willow asked, “What, two weeks and we’ve done nothing to stop him?”

“Question, who is Philip?” Masha asked, and Luz swallowed.

“I told you about the covens, and those were brought into place by Emperor Belos,” Luz started explaining, speaking quickly, “Except Belos is actually Philip Wittebane, a human witch hunter from the 1600s.”

“...are you positive it’s Wittebane ?” Masha asked, voice level, and Luz looked at them confused. “One-hundred percent sure?”

“Yeah, positive. Read the guy’s diary, sorta.” Luz said, and Masha’s normally cool demeanour shattered a little. “Why, does that mean something?”

“When Gravesfield was founded, it was mostly by nine families. A few of them spread out, the Corduroys and Davenports, a few are still here, like the Hopkins—”

“Wait, hold on, like, Jacob?” Vee snapped, and Masha frowned.

“Yeah. How do you think he got the job at the historical society?” They asked, and when no one replied, “But one family went missing, the Wittebanes.”

“It’s a story, just a myth now, but… Supposedly, Philip and Caleb were brothers who got dragged to a magical world by a witch named Evelyn.” Masha said, “And to be honest, it answers… A lot about you.” They said, pointing at Hunter.

“Me?”

“You look just like the statue of Caleb in town square,” Masha said, “And every single account of Evelyn talks of a red cardinal that followed her. It follows you.”

Hunter looked at Flapjack, who was sitting curled up on the table and gave a happy little chirp. “This is so much bigger than us, Flapjack.” A chirp and a trill. “No, I– Hold on, wait, what’s the story? In full?”

Masha paused, “1613, the brothers, both orphans, arrived in Gravesfield from Britain. Caleb took care of Philip like a father, and they both became witch-hunters. One day, a witch named Evelyn came along and took Caleb back with her, and Philip went to save him, and they were never seen again.”

“Caleb went willingly,” Luz said, and Masha turned their head to look at Luz. “Evelyn and Caleb were in love.” Suddenly pieces were making sense to Luz. “Philip wanted to bring Caleb home, but he wanted to give up witch hunting.”

“That’s when…” Hunter finished, voice faint, “They started fighting, and it ended up with Uncle stabbing Caleb.”

“Uncle!?” Masha’s voice was loud, and Hunter’s expression dropped, “Wait, your father was Caleb ? That’s why you look like him!!”

“I–” Hunter took a deep breath, and looked guilty for a moment. “Yeah. Belo– Philip raised me, saying my family was killed by wild magic. But… he did it. It was never ‘wild magic’.”

Luz looked at Hunter, fighting the urge to give him a look . She noticed Gus looking at him with something akin to curiosity, or confusion, but if he had any questions, he kept them to himself.

“So, Philip’s crazy, and Jacob’s crazy. But… but aside from Luz, he won’t recognize any of you,” Vee said, “Which means…”

“I wasn’t going out into Gravesfield much more anyway.” Luz said, but she turned to Vee. “You, uh… Might need to stop going to school as me.”

“Me and Camila came up with an exchange student story,” Vee said, smiling a bit, “So now I can probably start going as you after homecoming.”

“But you have to—”

“I can be careful, and besides, magic?” Vee said confidently, “I’m a basilisk. It’s nice to have the advantage on the emperor, to be honest.”

“You said that with… a frankly frightening amount of enthusiasm.” Hunter said, paling a little, and Vee chuckled in a way that came off a little too stilted to be natural.

“Point is, as long as we’re all safe,” Amity pointed out, “Which, seeing as we can stay here, we will be.”

Luz was busy thinking though. Only a few more days of portal maintenance, but then when the thirtieth came along, she was going to make maybe the riskiest move of her adventuring career.

Hunting a witch hunter.

---

Luz was terrified. She wasn’t even going to deny it.

She knew tons of expressions and sayings, but none of them quite captured just how doomed she felt, what with her plans to follow Jacob an indeterminate distance to figure out wherever it was Philip was hiding.

And she’d have to do it without magic. Because her glyphs didn’t work. Because she couldn’t dare risk alerting Philip to the fact her friends were here, and she knew if she told her friends, they’d jump to her aid in the heartbeat.

She wouldn’t bring the crew down with the captain.

(Willow’s the sports captain, Luz supposed. Her chest felt tight, there was a good chance she’d never actually get a chance to see Willow play now.)

( Don’t get distracted, Luz, she told herself, or you’ll definitely never see her play. )

Luckily, it was quiet and calm in Gravesfield. The town was sleepy the best of days, and with so much of the student population in attendance at the homecoming, including Vee and Masha — good for them, the shipper inside of her thought, but she quelled that — it was trivial enough to simply watch Jacob’s now-routine performance of magic, sparks and sigils and a well placed construction spell to fix the stage he had broke.

“I will now take questions from the audience!” Jacob said proudly, and Luz wished she had someone she trusted to ask her own questions. To see how quickly the persona faltered with a few well-worded asks.

But as the crowd slowly dispersed, Jacob gathered his belongings, and Luz was taking advantage of the autumn sunsets having long set, casting Luz in the shadows. She was grateful for that. Gravesfield was small enough, but clearly, Jacob lived on the opposite side of town from the middle of it all, walking forever, to who knows where; Luz wasn’t sure, the streets were dark and she was too busy following him to actually read the street signs.

Eventually though, arriving at a slightly-dilapidated house with a Titanforsaken white picket fence and everything, Jacob entered into his residence, and Luz swallowed slowly, resigning herself to a life of breaking and entering and to disappointment as she tried the doorknob gently.

He didn’t lock his door, and Luz was trying to picture how a man that paranoid would forget something so basic. It was actually sorta laughable.

But laugh she didn’t, instead moving as quietly as she possibly could, as Jacob entered a hallway, opening a door and closing it behind him. Luz was about to follow, when she noticed the block of knives sitting in Jacob’s kitchen.

She swallowed slowly.

She grabbed one.

She paled, and she followed after where she hoped Philip was.

“So the excursion went well?” Luz froze. That voice was exactly the one she had expected to hear, but her stomach dropped hearing Philip’s voice all the same.

“Perhaps a bit bland, I fear, people might be getting too used to it,” Jacob said, and Luz couldn’t help but be shocked at how awestruck Jacob sounded. Perhaps Philip had spun his Second Coming spiel again. Perhaps Jacob bought it.

“Well, have you tried using your own methods to garner interest?” Philip asked, but his voice was cold, and Luz knew a trick question when she heard one, a small part of it absorbed in the conversation, although most of her was occupied with the question of how to use the knife she had grabbed.

She felt sick.

“No, reverend, I haven’t,” Jacob said, and clearly, it was the correct answer, as Philip continued.

“When I practised and refined these speeches in Hell,” Philip said, and Luz bit back a growl at the disgracing of the Demon Realm, “I tried communicating with the demons. When they failed to listen to reason, I resorted to underhanded techniques.”

“Such as…?”

“Arson. Feigning destruction and blaming it on a subset of their kind.” Philip said casually, “Perhaps that’s a necessary step here, Jacob.”

Jacob is quiet for a long while, and Luz could only imagine the thoughts running through his head.

“Are you sure?” He finally asked.

A wet cough, the distinct sound of something splattering, and then Philip chuckled. “Hopkins, Hopkins, Hopkins. You wish to do well for the human race, right?”

“Obviously, reverend. I just… question your motives a little.”

“Question them?”

“...from everything I’ve seen,” Jacob said, words clearly measured, and Luz took a bit of relief in that Jacob sounded as scared as she felt, “This seems a little pettier than that.”

Luz took a shuddering breath, one hand over her mouth to muffle the noise, the other wielding the knife tightly, knuckles white on the handle. He was a horrid monster, she reminded herself, he was a maniac, he was dangerous and corrupt and nothing less than the absolute worst of humanity.

(Titan, she didn’t want to become a killer, she didn’t. But if it got rid of Philip, she gripped the blade tighter.)

“Petty. I’m not above such, but God doesn’t doubt the petty.” Philip said boldly, “What he doubts is the questioning, Hopkins. Understand me clearly, you are alive for one reason only.”

“A-and that is?” Jacob asked, voice shaky.

“I knew Walter Hopkins, and he was a wonderful man who I still owed a debt to.” Philip explained, “But understand that his favour gives out beyond a point. I have taught you magic, I have taught you the truth, I have given you a standing in this community, repaired the graces that you tarnished . Do not question the Lord.”

“I understand, Revere—”

“Still.” Philip said, but the conspiracy theorist kept going, “Silence, Hopkins. Hear someone’s breathing?”

Luz’s blood ran cold, and she heard a twist of flesh as she started stepping back to run, when the wooden door was rent open, and she looked into brilliant blue eyes.

“Spaniard,” The ‘reverend’ growled, his skin bubbling, twisting, and Jacob took a step back. “You’re…”

The scene was mundane, really. Jacob was standing around, Philip was sitting comfortably in a red chair, perhaps admiring Jacob’s map, papers, array of weapons, who knew what laid out of Luz’s eyesight.

But what laid in front of her now was nothing good.

A heartbeat, a second, and then Philip lunged, an inhumane roar as Luz leaped to the side, green mass twisting as the arms of the humanoid disguise Philip hid behind cracked, and Jacob gave a scream.

“ Get back here! ” The emperor howled, and Luz ran, chest thumping as she ran, the searing pain in her ankles begging to drag her down as the emperor—

She felt herself get caught in a blue haze, and she started getting tugged backwards, losing her grip on the knife as it landed uselessly on the carpeted floor. She gripped the doorframe tightly as she tried to look behind her, Philip trying desperately to keep his form human, reeling her in with arms wreathed with levitation magic.

“Luz.” He growled, “You infernal…” He was panting, and his face was rippling, green rot leaking through the pores, and Luz felt sick to her stomach. The magic bands around his arms flickered, Luz slumping to the ground, and while the emperor went to cast it again, Luz bolted, slamming the flimsy wooden door shut to buy herself a shield between Philip’s magic and herself.

She ran down the hallway, out Jacob’s front door, heart pounding in her chest. Not like this, she begged, feet hitting the ground as fast as she could make them, eyes darting for a direction to take.

But no sign of Philip.

She bolted to her left, away from Camila’s house, what if Philip knows who she is, what if he’s following and I don’t know it?

Luz could barely breathe, her lungs filled with phantom stone and maybe not-so-phantom pains, and she leaned against one of the houses, one painted a simple grey colour, panting.

One one-thousand, two one-thousand, she counted. But after even ten, twenty seconds of her catching her breath, Philip wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

She ran again.

---

The door was nearly knocked off its hinges, not when it was opened, but when Luz slammed it shut, breath rising and falling rapidly, eyes wide with fear.

“I can’t leave the house anymore,” Luz rambled quietly, and Camila turned, barely processing that Luz had stepped in the house yet. “No one can, oh my Titan, I’m sorry,” Her breath was shaky, deep, eyes wide with fear, and Camila looked at Luz with mounting concern.

“What’s wrong, mi… Luz?” Camila asked, and Luz reached for the windows, drawing the curtains back, turning her head to the door again. She reached over and locked it, frowning.

“Okay, this is… This is bad.” Luz said, “Philip saw me.” He’s gonna kill me, he’s gonna kill me, she thought, mind a flurry and panic. “Where’s Vee, homecoming? I need to call her, now !”

Camila fumbled, reaching for her phone, and Luz sat nervously on the couch, glancing at the closed doors and windows, rocking slightly, cursing under her breath. “Where’s… Where’s Amity, Gus, W—”

“Downstairs,” Camila said, “They were looking for you earlier, where did you go, Luz?”

“Good, okay,” Luz’s eyes were wide awake, and she felt like she drank two gallons of coffee. “None of us can leave the house… Well, maybe you, Vee if she’s not disguised as me .”

“Luz, what did you do?”

“I might’ve followed Jacob Hopkins home so I could maybe spy on Philip,” Luz started, voice choked up, “And, and casi me atrapa, mamá, pensé que iba a morir, todas están en pe—” Luz was babbling, eyes darting to the shadows in the room, the way the little power indicator on the TV shone its brilliant bright blue eyes, starting back at her—

“Sshh, shush, cariño,” Camila said, sitting next to Luz on the couch. “Él no está aquí, ¿vale? Estas segura.”

Luz simply whimpered, leaning into the comfort beside her, for the first time since she got stranded in the human realm to actually be relieved by Camila’s comfort, leaning into the warm and familiar embrace with tears running. “I endangered them again, I keep doing th—”

“What’s going on?” Gus asked, eyebrow raised, and Luz turned her head so fast you could hear a crack in her neck, and her eyes rolled just a little bit from the pleasant sensation, “Luz? What happened?”

“I…” She looked at the carpet, “I went after Philip.”

“Alone!?”

“We… We need to hide, Gus.” Luz said, voice sounding a bit manic, “I don’t think he followed me? I didn’t see him, but—”

“Luz, you went after him alone ?” Gus seemed stuck on that point, and Luz couldn’t fathom why.

“Yes, and he might be coming here—”

“Luz, if he’s coming, we can take him.” Gus said, “But you have got to stop throwing yourself in danger for us!”

“Gus, can we talk about this after—”

“Calm down, cariño,” Camila said softly, shushing Luz, “You said he wasn’t following?”

“Yeah, but—”

“Then rest. I’ll keep an eye out for this Philip person.” Camila said, and Luz looked like she was going to argue, but there was something in her eyes that Gus couldn’t place, relief, fear, exhaustion.

“I, but he’s—” Luz started, but then her shoulders slumped, and to Gus’s complete surprise, she nodded. The girl nearly went boneless on the couch, head rolling to the side a little as she took in a shuddering breath, eyes squeezed shut. “T-thank you.”

Gus took a minute to actually look at Luz, and he bit his lip. She looked rough.

Ignoring her posture, the way she seemed to bask in a moment of relative reprieve that Gus had only seen Hunter possess; ignoring the way her hair was a mess, how he wondered if she had combed it even once since they ventured out into Gravesfield as a group; ignoring the wrinkled clothes she wore, ignoring the bags under her eyes, ignoring all of that.

Her eyes looked vacant and empty, in a way that felt so unlike Luz.

“I can’t sleep,” Luz said, snapping Gus from the silence, “I can’t, I need to do something.”

“Do you want me to grab Amity? She knows a sleep spell.” The illusionist offered, and Luz seemed frozen with decision paralysis, before nodding the smallest bit.

Gus looked down the staircase, calling after Amity, and the abomination witch bolted at frankly impressive speeds, eyes filling with worry at the defeated posture Luz was lying in.

“What is it, Gus?”

“Sleep spell Luz,” The younger boy demanded, and Amity looked aghast at the idea.

“Luz, I’m not gonna do this if—”

“Please,” Luz breathed gently, “Titan, I feel like I’m gonna throw up,” She admitted, and Amity gave a small nod, and with a twirl of her fingers, dark blue magic radiating, Luz’s eyes grew heavy, and she slipped into a dreamless slumber.

---

When Luz woke up, all she could think was, in bright neon letters, that was the best sleep I’ve had in months . A soft padded surface, instead of her walk-in closet’s hardwood floor; a quiet, still void instead of being plagued by nightmares of any sort; a full eight-, nine-, or maybe even ten-hour rest. I need Amity to sleep spell me more often .

Then, the gears in her head turned one tick, two tick, three ticks over, and she sat up on the couch, eyes wide with a barest hint of fear again.

Where’s Amity?

“Guys!?” Luz startled, turning around her head, only to instantly take a breath of relief, seeing her friends sitting around the table, playing what Luz was ninety-nine percent sure was Uno.

“Oh, Luz, you’re up,” Gus said excitedly, “I’ve become a master at Uno, hehe…”

“Guys, what do we do—”

“Luz, calm down,” Willow said, as Amity moved beside her girlfriend. “Belos isn’t here. We won’t let him get near us.”

“But, we can’t go outside!” Luz said, “How are we supposed to work on the portal if we’re trapped here? He knows about the cabin!”

“Luz, we talked about that last night.” Willow said, chewing her lip. “And we agreed, we should stay here, at least for a little bit.”

“So, what, we can’t leave the basement?” Luz asked, anger creeping into her tone. “For, for how long? We need to build a portal back!!”

“Luz, it’s just for a little bit, besides, you could use the break.” Gus tried to assure her, but this only seemed to make Luz more agitated.

“Guys, look, I get it, I need a rest, but this isn’t okay ,” Luz said, voice cracking harshly with pure fear, “Who knows what could be happening back home? What if the Collector is some even more omnicidal maniac than the one who wants me dead ? I can’t just let them run around freely!”

“Luz, no one’s gonna let Belos kill you,” Willow started, cracking her knuckles at just the challenge.

“Maybe you should!” Luz snapped, “If I hadn’t ruined everything on the Isles, everyone would be okay right—”

“Luz!” The aforementioned was unsure who said her name for a moment, but she suddenly felt herself crushed in a tight hug, eyes filled with lilac hair and the faintest of brown roots. “Never say that again, Titan, never , okay?”

“H-hh?” Luz was startled, her own words catching up to her. She hadn’t meant to say that out loud in the first place, she supposed.

“Luz, are you…” Amity’s voice cracked a little, and Luz gulped. “Have you thought that before?” She had been lying to Amity for so long about so much ever since she found out the role she played in Philip’s plans.

“Heat of the moment, promise.”

What was one more?

---

The compromise was to stay inside the house for a bit, most usually in the basement.

Luz wasn’t going to lie. She was going a bit crazy from stress, not being able to work on the portal was maddening, but there was something tranquil about being able to simply spend time with her friends.

(More than once, she felt the urge to talk to Camila. She quelled that. She had successfully managed to avoid Camila almost every day since September 8th, she wasn’t going to break the habit now.)

But there was something almost nice in getting to just spend time with her friends, showing them smaller bits of the human realm that she thought they’d find interesting.

(Or terrifying. Somehow, the idea of the ocean being as deep as it was was frightening to her friends. She supposed it was a vending machine type of thing.)

---

“Are you positive you don’t mind?” Masha was asking, and Luz nodded. The paranormalist had asked to talk to Luz about the Demon Realm, and she agreed, unable to bite down the urge to talk about her new home.

“Yeah, I don’t mind.” Luz said, “What do you wanna know?”

“Everything, really, but first off…” Masha took a deep breath, “Why did you leave the human realm?”

Luz froze. That admittedly hadn’t been the type of question she was expecting. “I saw Owlbert, uh… Eda’s palisman. He was stealing my stuff, and I followed him, and… next thing I knew, bam, demon realm.”

Masha raised an eyebrow. “You seem to like it a lot for ‘stumbled into it’.”

“That was how it started,” Luz said, “But I started living there and it’s great, Masha, there’s magic, and adventure, but its also accepting and maybe a bit… extreme, yeah, but I found my people. It’s… I wish I was one of them?”

“A witch?”

“Yeah.” Luz said, “It’s all I’m missing. No matter how much I practise magic with my glyphs or get involved in the Boiling Isles, that’ll always be the difference between me and everyone else.”

“Hey, being human’s not bad either.” Masha said, “I don’t think so anyway, being human’s cool. You get the outsider’s look into all the weird stuff, and that’s an unique experience.”

“I don’t want the unique experience,” Luz said, “I wanna…”

“I do getcha.” Masha said, before jotting something on the notes. “Is it a problem with humans, or just you being human?”

Luz nearly answered on instinct, she really did. But she bit her tongue. Masha had been nothing but kind, and… Perhaps if Luz had gone to Reality Check, she would’ve met them, and maybe her first ever friend would’ve been a fellow human. She hated Philip, yes; she hated Clara, and honestly most of her classmates; and for a while, she hated Camila. But…

“It’s me being human,” Luz finally answered, eyes wide. And Masha nodded, quiet, before they looked up at Luz with a glimmer in their eyes.

“Okay, so, enough sad stuff. Tell me about Hexside.”

“Why are you so interested?” Luz asked with a chuckle.

“Gravesfield High has a creative writing scholarship,” Masha said, “And I wanna get the general vibe of a real magical world in my stuff.”

“Oh, well, if you wanna hear about authors, me and King, did I tell you about him?” Luz started, smiling wide. “Point is, we published a book…”

---

“So what do we do once we figure out how to deal with Belos?” Gus asked, tossing the ball into the air again.

“Back to the portal, we have a home to return to,” Luz said casually, before adding to Amity, “And yeah, I’m done this page.”

The room fell quiet for a minute, filled only with the sounds of pages turning, balls being caught, the loudest noises being Willow and Hunter tending to the palismen.

“No, but, hate to be the downer, but guys, is there anything to return to? What if we didn't stop the Draining Spell in time?” Gus asked gently, nervousness creeping into his words, “The Collector stopped it, yeah, but was it…”

“It had to be,” Willow said, voice hard, “The spell was still going when they stopped it, right? It probably would've stopped if it was done.”

“Exactly. The Collector wants everyone alive as much as we do,” Hunter said, instinctually hugging the purple jacket closer to him, “That was… King made the Collector think the Isles needed to be alive for some game, they seem…”

“A game!?” Luz snapped, “The Collector is— He can undo death , and they’re playing games ?”

“He wanted to play hide-and-seek instead of talking about…” Hunter started, but his words ran short suddenly. “Oh Titan, Amity… Did anyone tell you…” He asked slowly.

“...tell me what?” Amity replied, and Hunter frowned.

“I… your mom…” Hunter started, and Luz’s face paled. She looked at Hunter, who looked lost , and Luz swallowed slowly, turning to look at her girlfriend better, closing the book slowly.

“Tell me what, Hunter? You can’t just say that and not finis–”

“Luz, we need to talk to you about your father,” the medic said, sterile white gloves in a sterile white room clasped together, and Luz looked up from the pretty pattern of wrapping paper that decorated the rectangle her dad had given her.

Luz blinked away the memory. She wasn’t sure if she could do this to someone else.

“—’re both scaring me, what in the Titan is–”

“Amity?” Luz interrupted, voice shaky, “About your mom, uh… I need to…”

As the witch turned to look at her girlfriend, worried eyes staring back into one’s that looked so guilty. “What about her?”

“Odalia brought me to the Skull, and Belos…” Luz started, voice shaky. “He… She’s already… she’s not, um…”

Amity’s eyes were wide, and Luz watched the realisation hit Amity. Despite that, a small look of desperate hope appeared on her face. Luz wanted to cry at the expression alone. “You know my mom, she, she was just bragging about healing potions, it's like, the last thing she said to me, I—”

“Amity.” Luz said, trying to keep her voice level.

“That’s, she’s gonna make it,” Amity said, voice a bit raised, cracking, eyes growing shiny and wet, “She’s gonna make it and she’ll come out of this a better person, and, and…”

“Amity. Don't do this to yourself, please .” Luz said, voice level as she could manage, and her chest was tight. She remembered how long it took for her, how long she had denied that Manny wouldn't wake again, because any second, everything would be worth it, he'd be awake and they could go back to their happy life.

Luz had never seen it on someone’s face before, but she knew that expression well.

“L-Luz, I…” Amity’s eyes were darting around the room, as though somehow, Odalia was just hiding in the corner of the Noceda household, time crawling to a halt, hurt and pain and heartache and maybe even betrayal reflected in Amity’s eyes.

Then, those eyes burst into tears.

Amity wrapped her arms around Luz tightly, bawling, chest heaving, and Luz tightly held Amity back, unable to suppress the memories flitting back of flatlines and sterile white waiting rooms and a book wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper in August.

Amity was trying to speak, but hopelessly failing, partial words streaming off in a choked-up babble, and the world felt tight and cramped. Willow, Gus, and Hunter were quiet, and for that, she was somewhat grateful. As Amity cried into her shoulder, hiccups forming weakly.

“I’m sorry, mi amor,” Luz murmured gently, and at the sound of life, Amity’s arms tightened.

“She…” Amity tried starting, voice caught. Instead of continuing, she leaned more into the warm embrace, barely noticing as her palisman raced across the room in that way cats tend to to nuzzle on her lap.

“T-take your time.” Luz stammered out, and the witch nodded, nuzzling her head into Luz further. “Take as long as you need, batata.” Amity whimpered, and the human girl tried to ignore the stinging in her own eyes.

She knew. Amity didn’t need to say a word.

---

Local Conspiracist Found Dead.

That was what the newspaper headline read the morning of October 10th.

The local Hamden Police Department is investigating the murder of Jacob Hopkins, age 32. Foul play is assumed, and the crime scene has been condemned to an unknown green contaminant. Hopkins is survived only through his uncle, film director Mitch Harbor.

Luz swallowed slowly, looking at the paper in front of her, trying to quell the part of her that said it was still too soon. But Philip would be too busy finding another person to trick and deceive, someone else like Jacob who was desperate to play the hero.

He would be busy, now more than ever.

She was going to head back to the portal tonight.

---

Luz couldn’t help but rub her eyes, feeling sleep deprivation at its finest. Even as she wrote her notes on the ream of paper, she was forgetting the words she was midst writing.

She so dearly wanted to sleep, it was long past midnight. But every time she closed her eyes, she remembered the basilisk at Hexside, she remembered Philip trying to stab Evelyn. Every time she stopped moving, every time she closed her eyes for longer than a breath, she could feel the phantom sensation of stone around her ankles — she was pretty sure it was phantom, anyway, although her ankles were physically aching nearly non-stop anyway.

She so dearly wanted to sleep. She wanted to get home even more.

For Titan’s sake, I’d give anything to just get this done, she thought, the itch in the back of her head growing rougher, harder, hard to ignore. But the itch wasn’t unpleasant, and if anything, the more Luz focused on it… The less tired she felt?

She blinked, once, twice, not feeling a scrap of lethargy in her arms or eyes anymore, and she looked over her messy, sloppy notes.

Wow, I need to write these legibly, she thought, but the task didn’t feel like a drag suddenly. She didn’t know where this second wind of energy came from, but she wasn’t going to question it. The itch grew louder, louder. But the frenzy of her pen on paper drowned it out, her fingers writing notes for portal schematics that came to her in an epiphany she didn’t recognize.

She had work to finish.

---

“I brought food, guys,” Gus said, overly cheerfully, “Miss Noceda made arros…”

“Arozz blanco,” Luz finished absently, blindly reaching for the hammer. “You guys go ahead, I’ll have mine when I’m done with this part,” She added, and without a second thought swung her hammer. There was the loud noise, but it faded into the background, her friends guiltily watching as the human reinforced the wooden frame, stepping back only a few minutes later.

Luz dusted her hands, looking at the sturdier door frame proudly, and then, she grabbed her notebook, glancing at the pages.

“Luz?” Willow prompted quietly, “Are you going to come eat?”

“Mmmm,” The human affirmed, walking towards her but eyes locked on the page. As she got closer, she sat down on the laid out blanket, grabbing the bowl of rice and setting it on her lap. She ate with one hand, keeping the book open with the other, eyes never seeming to waver.

“Luz?” Amity asked, reaching for Luz’s hand. She grabbed it gently, and Luz looked up from her page.

“Sorry,” Luz said, “Food’s good, thank you,” She swallowed the bite, and glanced up properly. “So, the power source is all we’re missing, maybe? I used a bunch of things in the original portal as, like, cables? Errr, human—” Her eyes darted back to the page, and Amity couldn’t choke down a sigh.

“Luz, please, just take a small break?” Amity suggested, and Luz’s face raised, an expression of thinly-veiled annoyance.

“I’m trying my best, sweet potato,” Luz replied, “It’s just… the sooner we fix this, the sooner we get home.”

“Yeah, but—”

“I know what I’m doing.”

---

It was clear to everyone that Luz was getting more irritable in the days since her second wind, but no one realised how irritable she was getting.

“Luz, I know you’re glad to be working on the portal again, but please!” Willow was insisting, and something in Luz snapped. “Just, eat something warm, please.”

With a spin, Luz stood at full height, and there was something vaguely frightening in her pose. She wasn’t the tallest, but there was something in her posture, left hand wrapped around the wrench, right clutching the crudely drawn schematics tightly, she glared at her friends.

“Am I the only one actually figuring out a way home ?” She snarled, and even Amity took a step back reflexively. “I’m busy, I’ll eat when I’m hungry!”

“Luz, we want to help, but you’re–” Hunter started, but he didn’t get further.

“Well, I need magic, so if you wanna help, give me your palisman so I can do this myself,” Luz snapped, and no one spoke, the girl slumping to the ground. “Okay, nope, that was uncalled for.” She hissed as she hit the ground, pain lighting up in her feet, hands reaching for her left ankle, but she looked up at her friends. “You guys go on ahead, I can keep working on this.”

Shared looks of uncertainty were shared across the four witches, and there some murmuring Luz didn’t really pick up on, the tips of her hearing fuzzy with pain.

When she looked up, Amity was the only one still here. She sat on the steps next to Luz, concern in her expression.

“Luz, you need to rest,” Amity gently pushed, “All you do is work on the portal, and you’re becoming…” She stalled, looking for the right word, before eventually, almost timidly, “Mean?”

“I can’t, I—”

“Why can’t you, Luz?”

The improv-engineer’s shoulders slumped as she massaged her ankle. “It’s… Titan, it’s stupid.”

“I won’t be mad,” Amity said, “You forgave me for worse, right?”

Luz took a shaky breath, “The more you guys try to cheer me up, the less time I can spend on the portal.” Luz said, voice barely above a whisper, and Amity felt her chest drop. “I don’t want to bond and make memories in this realm. I want to get back to our own, I want it so, so badly, Ami…”

Amity chewed her bottom lip, “But you’re working yourself into the ground, Luz,”

“Because I can’t stand it here!” The girl snapped, and she instantly looked guilty. “Sorry, it’s just… I hate this realm. I don’t even want to be human.” Luz admitted, and Amity noticed that Luz had been using the human name with the same weight you’d give a distasteful insult.

“There’s nothing wrong with being huma—”

“There’s not!?” Luz snapped, eyes narrowed. “I can’t cast spells, I get to proudly say I’m the same thing as Belos,” Amity leaned back, Luz’s eyes blinded with incandescent fury, “Why the hell would I be proud to be one of them?”

She took a couple heavy breaths, and her shoulders slumped again. “I’d give anything to be a real witch, even just for a day.” Luz said, staring into the sky. “Just for a moment.”

Amity stared at the ground, leaning back beside her. “I think I get how you feel, to be honest.”

Luz tilted her head, confused. “You don’t, Amity, why would you want to be human ?”

“A girl.” She said, and Luz’s eyes widened. “It’s not the same, but it’s this itch that never goes away, and you start finding every flaw that others don’t notice.” The witch absently reached for her jaw, grimacing. “I feel wrong, without my potions. I look wrong, and nothing can fix that.”

“But you don’t look wrong, you’re beautiful, Amity,” Luz argued, “You are a real girl, you get that, right?”

“And you get you’re a real witch, right?” Amity asked, and Luz paused. “You figured out glyphs, you’re doing every track at once. I’ve lived there my whole life and I’m only now starting to really live life the way you are in just a few months. You’re smarter, kinder, better than you give yourself credit for.”

Luz blushed a little. “Amity, that doesn–”

“You’re a real witch, you’re just…” Amity looked at Luz, tugging on the human’s ears, “In the wrong body.”

Luz was quiet, looking up at the clouds.

“I’m not asking you to give up, Luz, I wanna get home too,” Amity said, “I want to get home to dad and the twins, I just… You’re gonna die of exhaustion if you keep this up.”

“...Will you help me?” Luz asked, “With the portal, with relaxing, with... I don’t…”

“I’ll stick by you every second if you’d like,” Amity offered, and Luz nodded. “I just want you to be okay, and if you burn out, you won’t be.”

“...I wanna be okay too.” Luz said weakly, and Amity hugged her girlfriend closely.

“What about Halloween?” Amity suggested, and the human turned to her, a little confused. “We could maybe go as Azura and Hecate, maybe?”

“It’s already that time?”

“It’s about two weeks from now?”

“Huh.” Luz stared into the clouds. There’s a hayride every year, I think? And like, a festival.” She looked a bit guilty, “You sure? It gets witches… pretty wrong.”

“Camila showed us the, uh, Hocus Pocus crystal ball thingie.”

Luz hissed through her teeth. “Aah.”

“Can’t get much worse than that.”

There’s quiet for a minute.

“What do you think of Camila?” Luz asked, voice cracking, and Amity frowned.

“She seems…” Amity paused. “Nice, to be honest. I’m not saying you have to forgive her, but she’s not gonna always… be there…” Amity’s face was flooding with regret , and Luz shushed her, holding the witch close to her.

“You don’t have to say anything,” Luz said, “It’ll be okay,”

“Will it? Just…” Amity’s eyes were wet, and she lazily wiped her palm past them, golden eyes looking sparkly through the wet. “Can you talk to her? It… Titan, I miss her, Luz, I don’t want you to feel this.” Amity’s voice hitched, leaning into Luz again, and Luz gave the girl a soft kiss on the cheek.

“I’ll do it.” Luz said, “Least for you.”

“No!” Amity said, “You gotta— Do things for you , Luz, I just…” The girl looked at the blue skies. “It hurts so much, Luz, and like, not everyone is good, but… I think… I dunno.”

Luz was quiet for a minute. “I get you.” She said simply, and silence fell again.

The two simply basked in each other’s company for a bit.

“It’s gonna start raining soon, do you wanna head inside for now?” Amity eventually broke the silence, and Luz paused.

“No…” She admitted, looked at the shack. “But I will.”

“That’s all I’m asking.”

“I’ll be after you in just a second then,” Luz said, wincing again as she shifted her legs, trying to massage the other ankle. “They’ve been like this since we got here.”

“You could’ve said something, you know.” Amity spun a dark blue spell circle, and Luz took a gasp of relief when the pain subsided. “How’s that?”

Luz blinked away stars, “Oh, that’s so much better, thank you, sweet potato.”

“It’s just a pain-relief spell, they don’t even last long, but let me know when it hurts again, okay?”

“Will do, Amity.” Luz said, nodding. “Ready to head in?”

“Your legs are fine?” Amity asked, worry on her face, but Luz nodded.

“Yeah,” Luz said, climbing to her feet, and she almost cried from how not-in-pain they felt. “I’m good now. We can… Well, you guys can catch me up on what you’ve been up to.”

“Well, to start, Hunter’s been practising his sewing.”

“He sews?”

“That’s what I said.” Amity chuckled, and Luz grabbed her hand, basking in the moment.

Tomorrow was gonna be great.

---

When Luz awoke the next morning, the first thing she thought was pure unbridled panic — her friends weren’t there, they were gone, oh Titan, did Philip get —

Jolting upwards, the room spun on its head like a top, the floor swaying and twirling beneath Luz, and the sunlight was harsh, and the sound of her hair rustling by her ears was horrendously loud, and—

It was bright.

What time is it, Luz wondered, climbing to her feet in a drunken stagger, gripping the couch with fingers so tight she was sure she was inches away from putting a hole in the leather, desperately clinging to the surface as a crutch.

The room hadn’t stopped spinning, hadn’t even slowed. If anything, it felt faster .

Luz swallowed, trying to ignore how her saliva tasted dry in her mouth, squinting in the harsh bright of the sunlight — weird, the room’s actually sorta dim, she partially realised — as she gripped the stair railing and marched up the creaky steps, each and every step feeling more draining than the last, the boards so loud that Luz was mostly sure hadn’t been as loud before.

I’m not sick, she told herself, trying to ignore the why of needing to deny such a thing.

Stepping weakly into the living room at the top of the staircase, she saw a couple people she knew she recognized, her friends likely, judging by the mops of blueish-green, lilac, blond, and brown, but any specific details like fly-away hairs, facial expressions, or even if they were actually there or not seemed wishy-washy in the haze Luz found herself in.

One of them spoke — or maybe it was just the sound of the ceiling fan, that was loud and vaguely humanoid too — and Luz swatted a hand absently.

“I’m fi—”

Luz doubled over, trying to quell the awful feeling roiling in her stomach. She was fine, her body just couldn’t accept the idea of motion, or speaking, or really breathing, there was clearly sandpaper in her lungs.

Luz shook her head no, responding to some question or another, one she hoped was ‘are you sick’, and there was a cool sensation that washed over her, a deep-blue magic rippling through her. 

For maybe one whole second, Luz felt content. Which only made the return of everything worse.

There was a commotion, loud and really, maybe everyone had megaphones, megaphone Monday, because Luz couldn’t begin to imagine speaking loud enough to silence their hushed whispers, when a second wave of blue washed over her, and her eyes fluttered, rolled, and she slid back into the black.

---

When Luz awoke the next whenever-it-was, it was in her Vee’s bedroom.

“Why am I—” Luz started, swallowing her words, saliva, and a shot of bile.

I’m sick, she thought grimly.

“Luz, you awake, batata?” A voice rang out — probably Amity’s, judging by the words, but Luz’s ears felt flooded with cotton balls, and she only had enough awareness to parse words or voices right now. 

Luz nodded, not daring herself to speak, trying to turn her gaze to the direction of the voice, a task she only managed thanks to seeing a solid plaster wall to her left.

Amity looked… nervous, decidedly. Her hands were wreathed in deep-blue spell circles, one that Luz was almost consciously aware was healing magic, and Luz tried to remember the little bit Amity had gotten around to telling her about healing magic over the months.

Diagnostics spells were effortless, so she had probably done one already; there were sleep spells, which Luz realised she loved; there was—

“–uz?” Amity was saying, and Luz’s eyes unglazed, “You’re warm and cold, you’re not speaking, are you… Titan, do you feel as bad as it seems?”

Luz nodded, squeezing her eyes shut so the motion wouldn’t dizzy her too much further.

“Okay, so, you’re not gonna like this,” Amity said, “But you need to rest. Your body is fighting itself a lot, Luz, it might be…” The girl chewed her lip, and if Luz were lucid, she might’ve noticed how long the girl paused. “It’s probably just a side effect of getting used to the demon realm, then being exhausted since we got here.”

Luz babbled mostly coherently, she thought it was impressive maybe, and Amity nodded.

“Yeah, I’m not sure exactly what,” Amity explained, “But it’s just… Camila thinks its human in… influenza, that’s the word, and it was maybe made worse by you being the first human to have both it and common mold. Your immune system got confused.”

Luz figured this was all helpful, but her eyes were glossing over, words like influenza and immune and human feeling awfully big right now, but she nodded slowly. She got the general gist though — she was sick.

“So, I want you to sleep, I’m gonna bring you soup and water, there’s a bucket here…” Amity said, nerves visible even to the dazed human, “And no portal work.”

Luz instantly shifted and jolted at this, the world coming into clarity. “I-I have to, Ami—”

“We will. I’ll come in every little bit to check on you, but otherwise, all of us except you will be working on the portal, we have your notes.”

Luz relaxed a little, giving a content whimper as she nuzzled deeper into her Vee’s blankets. It was cosy, and soft, and this pillow had been so big and fluffy, why did she not bring it to Reality Check?

“No, thank you , Luz,” Amity said, and Luz blinked, forgetting having spoken. “Rest, and I’ll check on you as much as I—”

“Stay,” Luz choked out, “T-the rest can, the portal, you, stay.” …that came out less coherent than she thought it was going to.

Amity nodded slowly. “Okay, I’ll stay. I need to grab some stuff, but I’ll stay with you, Luz.”

The girl whimpered again, tugging the blankets closer to herself, and Amity blew a kiss — that was Luz’s least favourite part of being sick, she decided, the forced distance — as she got up to grab who knew what.

Luz didn’t need a sleep spell to lull her mind back into the black.

---

“Flapjack, stop tugging!” Hunter snapped. He usually didn’t mind when Flapjack tugged at his hair, the small stray lock that dangled like an angler fish was practically asking for it, and the palisman usually only did it out of affection to his bonder, or concern for Hunter’s wellbeing.

This marked ten times Flapjack had nearly yanked his head into the dusty floorboards of the portal house in the past few minutes, and it was getting old extremely quickly.

With Luz sick, Amity occupied, and Vee and Masha both at school, it left Willow, Hunter, and Gus tending to the portal. And the productivity they could’ve had was being strangled by Flapjack constantly stumbling Hunter into colliding with the ground.

“Flap, you behave better than this, what gives?!” The blond asked, and the wooden bird responded by diving for Hunter’s stray hair again . With Golden Guard reflexes, Hunter dodged it, and the palisman turned to look at him, giving a sad chirp with an indecipherable expression visible in its one eye.

“Could it just be concern?” Gus asked, organising Luz’s notes in some semblance of an order, trying to distract himself slightly from the nearly manic scrawl that the newest papers seemed to possess. “Luz is sick, Amity’s busy taking care of her, Belos has been missing for awhile—”

“Flap, stop!!” Hunter snapped again, cutting Gus off as he turned, watching and for the absolute briefest of moments, there was venom in his voice. “Titan, stop, you’re gonna get me—Stop!”

Flapjack started pecking at the wooden floorboard, and Hunter stared intently at the palisman, dearly wishing that his companion would say something instead of resorting to haphazard hair tugging.

“It’s this floorboard, right?” Hunter asked slowly, tapping the same board Flapjack had been pecking away at. “The same one, each time?” Flapjack gave an affirmative chirp.

“Hunter?” Willow asked softly, “What is it?”

“I think…” Hunter kneeled, looking at his palisman, who was back to pecking at the board. “Is there something hidden her—”

Flapjack gave a happy chirp, cutting Hunter off, hopping on the board with enthusiasm.

Hunter stared at the wooden board.

“Lend me a hand, buddy.”

“Hunt—”

Materialising into staff form, Hunter gripped Flapjack’s handle tightly, and drove it through the wooden board, the old rotten wood caving in effortlessly against his trained grip.

Flapjack returned to bird form, as Hunter leaned over, rummaging in the hollow the palisman had revealed to him. He yanked out a red puzzle box, the same cardinal red that adorned Flapjack, and Hunter stared at the object with confusion.

“Is this what you wanted to show me?” Hunter asked, and Flapjack warbled victoriously. “And you couldn’t just tell me because…”

Promise.

“A promise?” Hunter said, gazing into the cardinal’s eye. “To who?”

Carver and mate.

Hunter paled. “Caleb.”

And carver, Flapjack repeated, and Hunter rolled his eyes. Promise not to tell, but so didn’t tell.

“I don’t think that’s exactly how that works, buddy,” Hunter said, “But thanks. Can I just assume if you tug on my hair, it’s for secrets?” At the next chirp, Hunter laughed. “Didn’t think so.”

“What is it?” Gus asked, patience finally getting to him, and Hunter nodded. He gripped the top side of the box, unlocking the little clasp, and it unravelled to reveal a scroll with designs Hunter didn’t fully understand.

“I think it’s a map…” Gus breathed gently, looking at the grid pattern.

“Well, Luz has lived here for a long time, maybe she’ll know—” Hunter started, but Willow spoke up.

“No.” Willow said sternly, “Imagine if this is some false trail? And we get her hopes up on portal stuff, and then it’s nothing. Worse, something she tried already.”

“What, so you suggest we hide this from her?” Gus asked, and Willow nodded.

“We’ll check it out first, make sure it’s all good.” Willow said, “And if it is, who knows, maybe it’s a second portal or something.”

“A second portal?” Hunter added cynically. “Do you really think there’s just another one lying around?”

“I mean, the first one was just lying around, right?” Gus pointed out, and there was an uneasy quiet.

“So we’ll investigate this ourselves.”

---

“Amiiiii…” Luz groaned, words partially muffled by the blanket she held up to her face, “Did you get my message?”

“Message?”

“The tamo- The, fool’s blood,” Luz drawled, and Amity paled a bit. Luz’s memories had been on the fritz the past four days, it wasn’t new, but Amity still didn’t like how helpless it made her feel. Medical stuff she was beginning to understand, but emotions were never her strong suit.

“We’re in the human realm, Luz,” Amity said, and the human jolted, one foot already on the floor, trying to break into a run.

“My mom, oh, I haven’t—” Luz said, and the world spun, slumping to the ground in a heap. “Necesito verla, batata,” Amity caught her girlfriend, lifting the dizzy girl up, resting her back in bed.

“Camila’s not here right now, Luz,” Amity lied, biting her tongue.

“She’s great Amity, you’re gonna love her,” Luz said dizzyingly, “We can—”

The human paled, and Amity reached for the bucket just in time, chewing her lip.

“You don’t need to speak, Luz,” Amity said, trying to quell the discomfort running through her. Luz nodded slowly, whimpering a bit.

“She’s grea’,” Luz murmured, resting her head back on the pillow, eyes fluttering. “For a long time, it was me and her,” Luz said, eyes closed as she got comfortable in the bed. “Something happened with my dad, and… life was horrible for a bit, but she made it bearable,” Luz admitted, and Amity felt her heart cave in. “But we got through it together, and she’s gonna love you guys, and… and…”

Luz’s lips stilled, breathing rising and falling, and Amity sat silently, watching her girlfriend fade back into rest, unable to stop the bout of grief rising up in her stomach.

---

“It’s called a rebus,” Masha said victoriously, smirking a little. “They dug up a ton of these in Old Gravesfield. You said it was in the floorboards of the cabin?”

“Yeah, Hunter’s palisman found it,” Willow said, “And this seems… kinda like your thing.”

“Oh, it is,” Masha said, a small glint in their eye. “I got permission to decode the ones the Historical Society still has. Guess this is my test, huh?”

“Sorry, uh, what’s a rebus?” Gus asked, and Masha’s eyes went wide.

“Oh, yeah, basically a riddle with pictures and symbols,” Masha explained, “H, and then an ear. Hear, like the sound; or maybe it’s meant to be here, like… a location?”

Hunter glanced at the paper, frowning. “The fancy tie, the cut hand, and… a hide?”

“Not all of them are as literal,” Masha said, splaying the sketches out. “Maybe it’s a cut, maybe it’s blood, maybe it’s—”

“Titan’s Blood.” Gus finished, glancing up. “Tie. Tan. Blood.”

Silence rippled over the group.

“That’s what you all need to get home, right?” Masha asked, unable to keep the small displeasure out of their voice. “Not gonna lie, gonna miss y’all.”

“It might not be there anymore,” Hunter pointed, and Willow glared. “What?”

“Stay positive, if we found it, surely the Blood’s still there.”

“Yeah. Then we can figure out the portal, and…” Gus said, “And then we’ll be back home.”

There was quiet again.

“It could be gone. We can’t tell Luz.” Willow added, and this time, everyone was in agreement.

---

The days were somewhat washed out, almost. Luz was lucid for minutes at a time, and in those minutes, the world spun. The world spun, but those moments were filled with worry, eased only by the assurance that they’d make it home.

The days were blurring together, investigations into the puzzle box going smoothly, the allure of Titan’s Blood taunting all involved, maybe the way home, and there was something weirdly bitter about leaving the Human Realm.

The days were duller and quieter, Camila thought. Her daughter was home, but something was in the air, a buzz amongst her friends. A breakthrough. She blamed herself for hoping things would be better, for all of it.

The days went by.

---

“M-Miss Noceda?” Hunter asked that evening, “Can I talk to you?”

“Of course, Hunter,” She offered, turning away from the soup she was preparing. Something about soup being good for humans, which Hunter didn’t fully understand, in all fairness. The idea of special treatment when sick was weird enough, but he supposed human customs were different.

“I wanted to thank you for lending us your home as long as you have,” Hunter said, fighting the urge to kneel — most people don’t demand kneeling, Hunter, the voice of his friends came in a mental medley — “We haven’t been the easiest, but. Thank you.”

“I’m not gonna leave you all on the streets,” Camila said, sounding slightly numb, “Especially if you’re my daughter’s friends.”

Hunter bit his tongue.

“I am,” Luz had bitterly said when Hunter called her human, “But I was disowned. Eda picked up the pieces.”

Hunter was having such a hard time seeing Camila with the same vitriol that Luz clearly did. In fact, Camila seemed… nice.

“Miss Noceda,” He asked, voice quaking a little, “What happened between you and Luz?”

The woman froze, and Hunter flinched, but instead of Camila reacting like his uncle, she simply slumped a little, staring into the soup. “Has she not told you?”

“No, ma’am,” Hunter answered, clenching his fists tightly in case Camila attacked. “I became her friend after it, and she doesn’t like…”

“I accidentally disowned her.” Camila said shakingly, “I messed up, Hunter, I couldn’t keep my emotions in check, and it hurt her.”

“I can’t always keep my emotions in check, Hunter, nor can I control the curse,” His uncle would drawl, “You can’t blame me for how I act when it takes over.”

He swallowed, and he felt the phantom shape of the rebus in his hands, wondering how close they were to finally going home.

“I understand, miss.” Hunter said, unsure if he really did or not.

“I… Promise me you’ll keep her safe when she goes back?”

“You’re still letting her?” Hunter asked, surprised, and Camila nodded.

“It’s her life, Hunter.” She said slowly, unable to keep the hurt out of her voice, the way her voice wobbled, and she squeezed her eyes shut, and Hunter’s stomach dropped. “As long as she’s safe, so promise me that.”

“Promise.”

He had to talk to Luz. He had a feeling she was making a major mistake.

---

Luz wasn’t delirious anymore. She wasn’t throwing up. She wasn’t dizzy.

No matter how many times Amity ran the diagnostic spell, nothing had changed , and Amity believed Luz for the sole reason that she hadn’t been in a state to lie before. Of course, it had been raining that day, much to Luz’s dismay, although she and Amity had made good work on their Azura costumes for Halloween — one break day , she had promised.

By the next day, Luz was feeling almost perfect, yes, but she wasn’t any less irritable. She no longer felt like throwing up from the force of Earth’s pull, yes, but that also meant she had little to distract her from the itching urge to finish the damn portal.

So if Hunter could stop distracting her, that’d be swell.

“Luz, can I talk to you?” Hunter asked at one point, and pulling her aside, Luz looked at the blond boy with a look of clear annoyance.

“I’m busy, Hunter.” Luz said, “I just got well again, I need to make up for lost time.”

“Can you talk to Camila first?” Hunter asked, and Luz’s eyes narrowed. “She’s not as bad as you seem to think she is—”

“Hunter, I’m going to work on the portal,” Luz said, “ Stop bothering me.”

“No, you don’t get it, Luz,” Hunter snapped, a small fire in his eyes, “You’re doing the same thing I did, and I don’t want you regretting it forever.”

“What thing?”

“I was so sure I knew who Belos was,” Hunter said, “That I wouldn’t listen to reason. You’re doing the same thing, and you’re going to regret it.”

“That’s different, Hunter!”

“How?!”

“I know what I’m doing—”

“You keep saying that, Luz!!” The human flinched back a little at the loudness at Hunter’s voice, “You know what you’re doing, yeah, well, we don’t!” His voice dropped to a harsh whisper, “Do you know what Amity would give for a chance—”

“That’s low, Hunter,” Luz hissed, “Don’t you dare say that,”

“Just!!” The blond buried his face in his hands, “Just– Talk to her, please!? If not for you, for us ?”

“You can’t make me, Hunter,” Luz said, “You can—”

“Listen to yourself!” Hunter said, teeth grit. “Can you just talk to her, at least a little , before Halloween?”

Luz’s gaze was directed elsewhere, clenching and unclenching her fists, and she could feel an urge bubble beneath them. Hunter was stepping out of line, it was her life, not his. Perhaps someone had to—

She suddenly felt dizzy, stomach churning, face going pale. Was I just thinking about hitting Hunter?

“I’m sorry, Hunter,” She murmured, blinking away tears. What is wrong with me? “I… Titan, I’m highstrung. I’ll… I’ll talk to her. I’m sorry.”

“Luz, you…”

“Titan, I’m sorry, Hunter,” Luz said, wrapping her arms around him slowly , telegraphed, hugging the grimwalker tightly. “I’ve been an awful friend recently.”

“A little, yeah,” He chuckled, and Luz felt her stomach twist. If he knew. “But hey, we’re both changing. That’s what matters, right?”

“Yeah.”

Luz didn’t know if she liked who she was becoming.

---

A day later, Luz hadn’t even tried to talk to Camila. Because in all honesty, Luz was terrified.

At this point, she couldn’t tell you why. It was clear Camila didn’t hate her — in all fairness, Luz figured, she would’ve had every right, after how Luz had treated her these past two months — and Luz wanted things to get better between them.

She tried to tell herself it was Camila’s past behaviour — one bad instance, she’s trying . She tried to tell herself it was because she was only doing it with Hunter begging her — no, I want her in my life again . She tried to tell herself she was busy, she was leaving regardless, she didn’t care — you’re lying to yourself .

Titan, it was terrifying. That was why. She was almost grateful when Camila pulled her aside just two days later, nearly begging.

“Please, mija,” Camila had asked, wringing her hands, “I just… one conversation, please.”

Luz paused. It was raining outside, and she had promised Amity she’d cool it at least a little on portal work. She didn’t have any excuse not to. And, as much as she didn’t want to admit, she missed Camila. At least a little.

“One conversation.”

“Thank you.” Camila said, and she looked at Luz nervously. “Do you want to start, or…”

“You know what I have to say.” Luz said bluntly, but there was no malice in her words. “But I… I never heard you out.”

“I’m sorry,” Camila said simply, “I’m so so sorry, and you have every reason to hate me. I didn’t mean it, I didn’t… But I know that’s not how it felt. And I know Reality Check was…” She swallowed, taking a deep breath.

“I did something I know I can never take back, Luz, and…” Camila took a shaky breath, “And it’s fine if you hate me. I probably would too. I was telling you to give up your friends, your new life. I tried to make you into someone you’re not, and that wasn’t fair to you.”

“That’s not what…” Luz started, before faltering. “No, yeah, that is what I’m mad about. How do you think it felt!? I come back after months to find out you… It feels like you love Vee more than me.”

“God no, Luz,” Camila said, voice cracking, “Dios mio, no, Luz. You’re my daughter, and… And nothing you could do could ever change that. I’m the one who ruined it… and you were right. Manny would’ve… He’d be disappointed, and that’s fair.”

“Don’t say that!” Luz said, iron in her eyes, “No, he… he wouldn’t be disapp–”

“Did I ever tell you how me and Manny met?” Camila said, and Luz blinked a few times, surprised at the question. She shook her head, and Camila continued. “We met at… god, we met at a comic convention in 1999.” 

“At-” Luz blinked, “A comic con? Like—”

“Not San Diego, but a smaller, local one just an hour from Buena, in Atlantic City.” Camila said, “I was in cosplay. I was… and still am, a big fan of this sci-fi series called Cosmic Frontier,” She continued, and Luz recognized the shift in tone Camila’s voice had taken, “It’s about Captain Avery and his crew travelling the stars to make the worlds better.”

“Are you a secret nerd?” Luz asked, confusion and a bit of humour in her words, and Camila gave a sad chuckle.

“Back then, it wasn’t a secret.” Camila admitted, “And… And he was there too, and we started chatting about the newest book, and you’d think there’s nothing of it…”

Camila’s expression was soft, serene, a smile on her face as her eyes stared into the middle distance, “Then, he offered to get me a coffee, and we kept chatting, and before we knew it, he gave me his number and asked me to call him when I got home.” She wiped at her eyes, smiling wider and wider as she spoke. “When I did, Manny, he used to be so awkward, I called and he said he just wanted to make sure I got home safe and hung up.”

Luz chuckled, but she was staring at the carpet intently. Camila continued. “I called him back, and thanked him, and asked if he… wanted to get another drink sometime, and he asked where I was. Turned out, he was even closer, only a half hour drive to Hammonton, and so we started meeting up, and…”

“And I fell in love.” Camila said, “He saw me, Luz, not my bad grades or my awkward habits, or any of that. He saw me, and… And I fell so far in love.”

The room was quiet for a moment, Luz looking up at Camila, who was wiping tears from her eyes with a sad chuckle.

“Wow, I haven’t talked about that in forever. He would’ve told it so much better than me.” Camila said, and she lifted her head, looking at Luz, “That’s why he’d have been disappointed in me, Luz, because of what I did…”

“Cosmic Frontier was my everything when I was your age,” Camila admitted, “I’d have fought tooth and nail for a chance to travel the stars. I get it, I understand, Luz, god, I understand, more than I ever wanted you to know.”

“Then why did you send me to camp?” Luz asked, voice shaky, and Camila gave a soft sigh.

“Before I met him, I had no one, Luz. I didn’t want to imagine you being…”

“Being what?” Luz said, and she meant for it to come out harsher than it did, but her voice was soft, barely daring to speak above a whisper.

“Being alone.” Camila said, “I could handle a lot, but not the idea of you being as miserable as I was… And I’m sorry, if I had seen how bright and happy the demon realm has made you, I’d have never said that, I’d have never asked you to choose. I was terrified, Luz, and I made the biggest mistake of my life. And I’m sorry.”

Luz was quiet for a moment, gripping the hem of her shirt tightly. “It's…” Complicated. Okay. Too late. Luz didn't know what to say.

“All I ever wanted,” Luz said, words coming to her slowly, voice low and quiet, “Was to be understood. And I found that, Camila. It's just…” Luz’s voice trailed off, and Camila nodded.

“Go ahead, take your time, Luz.” Camila said.

“I'm understood, by my friends, by Eda, you .” Luz said, wincing as she saw the expression on Camila’s face shift nearly-imperceptibly. “But I don't know if I can forgive what happened that night.”

Camila’s face dropped further, and she opened her mouth, clearing her throat a little before speaking. “I… it's your…”

“But I… I think, with time, I can forgive you .” Luz said. “I’ll never forgive that, but I… can forgive you. We’ll see.” Camila’s eyes looked brighter now then Luz had seen them since she got here, and Luz smiled gently. “I want you in my life, I just… It hurt.”

“I know it did, Luz,” Camila said, and Luz gave a small nod, Camila feeling her smile grow wider, “I know it did. I promise to do better.”

“...And I’m sorry,” Luz said meekly, “For being… for being really mean to you. You’ve been trying.”

Camila’s eyes were soft, “¿Puedo darme un abrazo, Luz?”

Luz paused for a minute, shaking her head the slightest bit. “Lo siento. Aún no.”

Camila nodded, wringing her hands gently, and Luz and her looked at her other, the tension and guilt in the room almost tangible.

“I’m, uh…” Luz said, unsure clearly of where to take the conversation, and Camila nodded, to the girl’s confusion.

“Do what you want. M-maybe,” Camila started, and she was considering biting her tongue, but she was desperate. “Tomorrow, would you… would you be willing to help with dinner? We can cook again, for…”

“Yeah.” Luz said, smiling gently. “I think that’s a good place to start.”

---

Having finally had the talk, time seemed to squash and stretch. The days after were a haze for Luz, she barely felt present for it. Maybe it was stress, but she kept spacing out, and really, before she knew it, it was Halloween night.

Dressed up in a Good Witch Azura costume, Luz tugged at the rim of the white hat she was wearing, a small part of her receding into the comfort of costume, able to forget she was Luz the human for just a moment.

“The haunted hayride seems big,” Amity commented.

“The five of us would all fit in one ride, right?” Hunter asked, completely given up on Flapjack’s determined efforts to stay hidden in Hunter’s jacket.

“We should, yeah,” Amity said, frowning a little.

“You guys should try apple bobbing,” Luz said, giggling a little.

“Look, Luz, apples that don’t bleed are so wrong,” Willow defended, “How else do you know if they’re good or not?”

“Because they get all… you know!” Luz defended, and there was a small laugh bubbling over the group.

“So, how long until the hayride?” Gus asked excitedly, and Luz rolled her eyes.

“Another five or so minutes, Gus, be patient,” Luz answered, and the illusionist gave an excited laugh, tugging on Hunter’s sleeve to say something or another about ‘orange pumpkins’. Amity was clearly just basking in the decor, eyes twinkling as she admired all the festive decorations; and as for Willow, it looked like she was just biting her tongue, clearly less enthusiastic about all this Halloween stuff then she thought she’d be.

“Hey, Willow,” Luz whispered, tugging her sleeve, “You seem… stressed out.”

“Nah, I’m alright, Luz.” Willow said, but Luz raised an eyebrow.

“You sure?” Luz asked, “Because if you’re stressed, we can stay here and wait for the others to finish the hayride.”

Willow shook her head, but paused. “M-maybe?” She asked, voice cautiously peppy, and Luz nodded. 

“Hey, guys, me and Willow might sit back on this one,” She said, “I know most of the stories anyway, tell me which one it was after.”

“You sure, Luz?” Hunter asked, and the human nodded.

“Yeah, you know how winded I get. I asked Willow to keep me company.” Luz said, and Willow couldn’t keep in a small sigh of relief.

“Alright, we’ll see you soon!” Amity said, hugging Luz tightly. “No vemo pronto?”

“Nos vemos, but pretty close!” Luz said, smiling wide, “And see you soon, batata!”

As the friend turned, boarding the wooden wagon, Luz turned to Willow.

“Thanks for taking the fall, Luz.” Willow admitted, “You know I don’t like…”

“You and me both.” Luz admitted, “I wanna be strong for everyone. You actually are though, you practically hold us together some days. Take some time for yourself though, okay?”

“Trust me, I’m fine.” Willow said, and Luz gave her a look , before her gaze darkened.

“Willow, be honest with me, please,” Luz said, a bit of anxiousness to her tone, “The four of you have been acting strange ever since I got sick. At first, it made sense, buuuuuut…” Luz did a wobbly so-so gesture with her hand, “It’s been a bit. Did I miss something?”

“It’s…” Willow started, tilting her head to the side, “We found something kinda neat, but we aren’t sure.”

“Is it a surprise, or is it portal stuff?” Luz asked, eyes wide with hope, and Willow couldn’t bring herself to lie to her friend. Sorry, guys, she thought, digging the rebus from her pockets.

“Both. We… We found this,” Willow said, waving the puzzle cautiously. “It was buried in the floorboards, Flapjack found it.”

Luz was quiet, something stoic in her expression. “Continue,” She faintly said, eyeing the red wooden puzzle.

“We think it leads to Titan’s Blood.” Willow added, “We didn’t want to get your hopes up in case we were wrong though.”

Luz’s expression twisted into something vaguely like fury, and Willow was about to comment, when Luz took a deep breath. “Wish I checked there sooner, but hey, that’s how our adventures always go, huh?” She clicked her tongue, giving a grin. “Feels a bit like home already.”

“You’re not…” Willow raised an eyebrow, “You’re actually not mad at us?”

“Why would I be?” Luz asked, “You guys were just looking out for me. It’s sweet, honestly. Should we find it?”

“We were going to wait and do it all together,” Willow offered, but Luz waved a hand dismissively.

“You and I aren’t big on this hayride, right?” Luz asked, and Willow nodded with a light shrug. “Nah, let’s find the blood and bring it to the rest, let them have their fun,” Luz said, eyeing the wooden puzzle like it was a solution to every problem, “They get their hayride, then we get to be all ‘bam, look’ and you and I will make tonight even better.”

“Well, when you put it that way…” Willow admitted, a small smile dancing on her face, picturing the smiles of their friends once they had a way home. “Yeah, okay, let’s do it!”

“Perfect! ” Luz said, voice bubbly with excitement and a bit of frustration, “I’m desperate to get back, and finish what’s been started. Now, we just gonna stand here, or will you help me find the Titan’s Blood!?!? ”

Her voice echoes, the trees doing very little to absorb the sound as the noise spun around Willow. A moment later, Luz had the decency to look guilty. “I’m sorry, Willow, just impatient.” Luz said, voice seeming genuine. “Unfortunately, now we’re stuck looking for two things, aren’t we?”

“Two things?” Willow commented, before turning for her palis- Where was Clover?

“Clover flew ahead.” Luz said, and Willow wasn’t sure if she spoke aloud or she was just predictable. Luz turned around, before tilting her head, a grimace on her face. “Fair, I must’ve spooked her off. I’ll make it up to you, Will’, you find the blood, I’ll find Clover, howsabout it?”

“...alright.” Willow said timidly, and Luz smiled.

“Thanks,” Luz said, smiling more genuinely than she had in a long time, “I knew I could count on you.”

 

Notes:

Aaaaand that’s Thanks to Them, Part One! This is, incomparably, the longest chapter so far, and as of current plans (unless I write way more than I planned), likely the longest chapter, period. This was… difficult. I underestimated my scale and overestimated my ability to tie everything together nicely, scope creep at its finest. That said, I do think I told a mostly coherent chapter here, and I hope it’s a satisfying direction for this story.

(Wow, 22,588 words. Thank you to MemoryOverload for doing the math and pointing this brought the average word count from 4K to 5K singlehandedly. Damn.)

This was a big chapter, but one I weirdly have not a ton of things to comment on, at least as of yet. TTT Part Two will be a bit of a thing though haha. Luz and Camila are beginning to grow close again, the gang found the rebus, Luz doesn’t hate humanity as much (although she doesn't seem thrilled), things are looking bright. That said, Philip is a problem.

I also got to write more transfem Amity, some Belos worldbuilding about Golden Guards and stuff, a chance to depict ...something, and explore a bit more of how I'm handling Masha and Vee. Loving this everything.

So, mild thing with Vee: I mostly keep Vee in her human form here. I have reasons for this, but mostly, because I think I’m steering Vee as Luz’s opposite, not her parallel. Vee wants to be human, one among them, and I think that fits. Vee was never given much of her own character, painfully, so she's a lot of experimenting to get something right, and I guess practice for my basilisk-oriented fic I'm working on that I'll start once EITR is done.

Speaking of other fics, of you didn’t see it, I started a new fic called Lost in Limbo, a Lost In Language-AU where Luz and Amity get trapped in Otabin’s pages instead of escaping, and the want of a nail from all this eventually means full-on war in the Isles. It... in all honesty, will probably make this fic feel fluffy when its all said and done, although it has a mostly happy ending planned. Check it out here if that’s your taste!

…See you all next chapter, in Part Two out of Two, Eternity Awaits!

Chapter 14: Eternity Awaits

Summary:

Beyond the beaten path lies the absolute end.

Notes:

Content warning: This chapter deals with most of the same content warnings as last chapter — Philip’s attempts at genocide, his religiously-motivated bigotry, his treatment of Hunter; lots of grief; and depression, including moderate to severe suicidal ideation.

The air was cold, the trees still, the slight breeze picking up through them minor to the thick roots and branches.

Willow had always found her home among plants, even when it was discouraged, strictly speaking. She ached to feel the familiar draw of red grass, of bloodbraid trees and apple bushes, instead of the Human Realm vegetation that accepted her freely.

This forest was wrong. That call was there, but the familiar greenery wasn't, and this forest was not welcoming. The closer and closer she and Luz got to the elusive X on the map, the more out of her field she felt.

The walk was quiet, too quiet, the animatedness she had come to associate with Luz Clawthorne, even in her manic portal-obsessed state, was muted and dulled, the girl seemingly focused more on this possibility of Titan’s Blood than anything else.

“We should be there any second.” Willow said with a feigned certainty, reading the map.

“Good.” Luz said curtly, “It's gonna be over soon.”

Willow brushed aside one more vine, a silent apology to the way it tore from the first but sudden bout of pressure and attention in how long, and that call was maddening, the blood in her veins running away, every single survival instinct she had saying back away from the graveyard the clearing opened up into.

“It should be on that island.” Willow said, twisting her hand in a circular motion, trying to ignore the little bit of nerves inside her throwing her magic off, the way it took extra focus to summon vines, wrapping over themselves like chainmail, to form something akin to a bridge over the water, the vines thicker and tougher and tighter than they needed to be.

“Well, let's find it,” Luz said, voice flat and a little faint, “I'll find Clover, and you find the Titan’s Blood?”

“Why should you find my palisman?” Willow asked, confusion lacing her words. “Why not the other way around?”

“I need to make things right,” Luz said, and Willow nodded. Luz had scared the bee palisman off, and it wouldn't be Luz if she wasn't thinking about the best for everyone.

“Alright, thanks.” Willow said, swallowing her fear. She walked across the water, frowning, reaching the small mound of dirt and iron and rock and stone, and she started searching for any clear mark of Titan’s Blood.

Instead, she peeked behind a slab of stone to see Clover, hiding behind a literal gravestone, shivering in the cool October wind, clearly getting over an initial fear of seeing someone approach her. Willow frowned, lifting her bee palisman off the cold murky ground and cradling her close.

“Clover, why do you look so scared?” Willow asked, and it seemed like her Palisman’s own fear was echoing off of her, because she could feel a chill down her back and-

“Oh, you found her.” Luz said, voice a drawl, the slightest bit of shake in it. “And I found the blood.” Her voice had a cadence to it that was unfamiliar, a thick layer of arrogance, or maybe pride, that Luz had not once in the time Willow knew her possessed. Confidence, maybe, but arrogance?

Willow turned, Clover buzzing to her side, taking a stance. “Luz, are you… alright?”

“ Please, Willow, ” Luz choked out, a grimace on her face, but then it went slack, eyes flashing blue and a grin taking form. “Let me have this. It’s good to be back.”

“Be back?” Willow started, when she heard a shout, and turning to her side, she saw a gaggle of people rushing near the graveyard, but whatever words that were saying blended into the cacophony.

Willow was trying to stay calm, staring up at Luz as her skin blistered and distended, a glistening green rot no longer held back creeping across her expression. “You.” She said, voice small, her plans if she ever actually met Belos again vanished in a blink of an eye. Because those plans never imagined him hiding behind Luz.

“Me.” ‘Luz’ said, mirth in their voice, and it sickened Willow to realise it was Belos’ words coming out Luz’s mouth, in Luz’s voice, “I adored my old form, but the constant weeping of those wild palismen souls was maddening.” They took a step forward, smirking, and Willow stepped back, Clover still held safely in her hands. “I prayed that the girl would give me a break from the chatter, but…” ‘Luz’ tutted, a smile that held no warmth growing wider. “Well, even I make mistakes.”

“Get out of her, Belos!”

“Why would I do that?” ‘Luz’ asked, giggling a little in a tone so unlike Luz, “It’s still a better body, young, spry, able to work on the portal without hiding. I was going to use Hunter, that's why I made him, but plans change.”

“Made him?” Willow asked, and suddenly, her eyes went wide.

She could hear Amity start something, and Gus trying to diffuse it, but luckily, ‘Luz’ started speaking, and the witches all fell silent.

“You tend to make grimwalkers, yes,” ‘Luz’ confirmed, reveling just a bit in the reveal, “But then I found someone better ! Someone who was trespassing on my childhood home, no less, working on a portal a bit beyond her understanding.” Another step forward, another step back.

“Wait, your childhood home!?” Willow asked, as Clover shifted into a long staff, taking a defensive stance against the body of her friend.

“It’s no matter.” ‘Luz’ asked, before shrugging. “Simply put, imagine my shock to find out she was alive. That she brought your merry gang here.” ‘Luz’ said, glee in their voice, “I should’ve realised it wouldn’t have been so easy to dispose of your sort, but the rodent being a young Titan was a bit beyond my ken. Nevertheless, my work is unfinished, and I need that portal back just as much as she does.”

Another step forward, another step back. “And she was so exhausted, grateful for a second wind she didn’t understand. I’ve been working towards it, and no one, not you, not her mother, not any of you,” Another step, and Willow tripped as she tried to step back again, hitting the grass with a yelp. “Even noticed.”

“Stop hiding in Luz, c-coward.” Willow said, but ‘Luz’ laughed, hand twisting, changing, distending, their blue eyes glittered in the moonlight.

“It’s not cowardice to wield a tool. Thanks to her, I can finish my work as witch hunter general.” They said, voice low and cold, “Then humanity shall bear witness to the Rapture.” There was a strangled choke on the words, coughs and obvious surprise in a voice that sounded more like Luz than Philip, drowning out whatever it was Camila and Masha were saying.

The figure swayed, swallowing slowly with a pained expression. “Still, girl,” ‘Luz’ snarled, standing straight after their coughing fit. “God has big plans for me, and I’m so close to seeing them through.”

“Don’t think we’ll hold back just because you’re hiding behind our friend!” Amity cried out, but all she got in response for a moment was a smirk.

“You won’t?” ‘Luz’ eventually said with a chuckle, and without another word, their hand bubbled and bent, a green column of rot manifesting, shot at lightning speed. Amity swung her palisman, intercepting the blow, and the fight was officially on.

‘Luz’ stood in the middle of the graveyard, rot weaving across their arms attempting to strike the witches who had taken to their palismen, vines and abominations weaving as the possessed human stood their ground.

In a violent torrent of mould, the human rose upwards, limbs distending grotesquely as ‘Luz’ lunged at Willow, the plant witch parrying the strike with the lower half of Clover’s staff, keeping the palisman itself as far away from ‘Luz’s nearly-claws. The creature swung again, and Willow leaped back, a green spell circle in the air as vines launched from the ground combatively, trying to disarm and disorient the human.

‘Luz’ in turn gripped the vines, rending them from the ground in a way that made Willow’s chest ache, the vines lashed out like ineffective whips as they ran at speeds Willow was mostly sure Luz was incapable of to strike at the next nearest — Hunter.

Hunter had spent his whole life fighting.

One strike of claw, another, parried and disarmed, Hunter vanished and reappeared in blitzes of gold behind, beside, and ‘Luz’ snarled, twirling her fingers, brownish-reddish magic swirling on command. A column of dirt and rock launched from the ground, but the former golden guard took the surprise with grace.

Gripping the edge of the column as it ascended, and leaping over it, disappearing in one spot midair, a streak of gold, and the blond brought one of ‘Luz’s knees to the mud, moving behind her aiming for the second leg, silently lamenting the violence he was taking against his friend’s body — he had to hope that his uncle taking over Luz’s body like this still left the human she was once inside.

“Stop it, Belos,” Hunter said, cadence akin to the lieutenant he once was, trying to keep the fear out of his voice, “You lost.”

‘Luz’ cocked their head to the side, chuckling. Suddenly, Hunter was thrown back, a wisp of green magic dispelling from those fingers, plants yanking at his feet. He nearly rolled his eyes, gripping Flapjack comfortably as he blinked forever in a smear of golden light, and ‘Luz’ stood up, hand outstretching, catching the boy mid-dash by the throat mid-ascent, Flapjack’s momentum holding even as he separated from his bonder, clattering to the ground and flying, trying to reach Hunter even as ‘Luz’ spun on their heel, snatching the cardinal out of the air tightly.

“I taught you how to fight,” They snarled, grinning widely, before slamming the golden guard into the ground hard, green swirling around Hunter’s torso and entangling the younger boy in thick rose stems, dragging him into the dirt, before in a second burst of rot and sinew, reaching behind them to grab Gus’ palisman from the centre. With a tug, Emmeline fell, Gus falling alongside it, but the boy spun a spell circle, cloaking him and his palisman in the hazy mist.

Staggering, ‘Luz’s arms twisted into sharper forms, thin and razor-thin, and Hunter flinched in fear, expecting the familiar refined tendrils to piece him again, when suddenly, the figure swayed.

“Get out of my head,” ‘Luz’ growled, voice faint and maybe a bit desperate , pulling their hands — with fingers like normal — back to their head, Flapjack fluttering to Hunter’s side, “Silence, all of you…” Hunter took the chance, gripping Flapjack’s staff tightly and launching himself, semi-unpredictable, away from ‘Luz’.

“No longer dormant?” ‘Luz’ snarled, addressing something that no one else could see, but something shone in their eyes. Without further warning, a second tendril was shot, and Willow narrowly blocked it with a wall of vines thrown up reflexively, eyes wide with panic. ‘Luz’ swallowed, looking annoyed.

“Just let Luz go!” Willow roared, a vine crawling up ‘Luz’s leg, tripping the humans, and a small cackle was given. The rot twisted and creeped around the vine, and it curled up on itself, rapidly drying and ageing.

‘Luz’ stood tall, grinning. “You said you wouldn’t hold back.” With a twirl of their fingers, a teal spell circle was spun, sparking with hints of black and gold light, and ‘Luz’ vanished in the night. The graveyard was quiet, figures twisting and looking for any sign of where—

Suddenly, Vee yelped, staggering to the water, and ‘Luz’ came back into being, panting for breath and palms outstretched, a wide grin. The grin faltered as Vee regained her footing, blue wisps coiling around her lips, and ‘Luz’ rolled onto mainland, slamming one hand into the ground in a burst of fire, lifting themselves up triumphantly, watching as fire licked at the grass bridge Willow had grown.

“For centuries, I’ve had the chatter of palismen in my ears.” ‘Luz’ commented, “But never did they actually fight back. They like the girl.” A soft chuckle, hands growing bright with twin flames, “But like most of your world, fire’s a solution.”

‘Luz’ slung two fireballs, parried by Gus and Emmeline, hands and legs twisting, an expression unbefitting that face contorting in fury, legs moving uncannily as they raced down the grass bridge, leaping upwards in the final stretch just as the canopy gave out and sank into the murky beneath.

Claws stretched, ‘Luz’ snagged the front of Hunter and Gus’s shirts, and flung the two boys away from themselves, Hunter groaning painfully as he hit one of the thick headstones, eyes rolling just a little, Gus giving a small yelp as he landed cleanly on the grass on the other side of the path.

Amity, ignoring the way her legs itched from a brief contact with the murky and slimy water, took the last of her abomination fluid and commanded it to ‘Luz’s arms, the muck bunching up and gumming up in between their fingers, a makeshift glue to hold all the fingers taut and incapable of spellcasting, giving a small triumphant look at ‘Luz’ looked at their gummed-up hands with annoyance.

Suddenly, the sound of ripping skin was there, hands twisting unnaturally, and their hands pulsed thick in green, compressing again with only a handful of crumbs of the purple gunk falling to the ground pathetically, ‘Luz’s hands stained the softest of lilacs. Amity couldn’t even move in time to stop the way the face of her girlfriend approached at inhuman speeds, a twisted grin on their face. ‘Luz’ spun a spell circle, and Amity started to move, knowing she wasn’t going to be out of the way in time of—

A soft ball of light was brought into being, and ‘Luz’s face scrunched up in bewilderment. Taking advantage of the daze, Amity made a silent apology as she spun her wrist, the last smattering of abomination fluid striking at the human’s feet, knocking them to the ground facefirst.

‘Luz’ groaned, springing back up in a way that was inhuman, green decay hiding the swivel of joints, and spinning twin circles, two more balls of light appeared, and the bewilderment twisted into rage.

“Stop it, Spaniard,” ‘Luz’ snarled, “I know you’re in there,”

“Luz?” Amity asked, and the figure gave a small scream, limbs twisting into rot, a sharp skewer sent towards Amity that the witch parried, hands curling into yet another light spell.

A small twitch of the face, and ‘Luz’ rolled their eyes, arms extended the slightest bit, reaching quickly at Ghost, ripping the staff from Amity’s hands, yanking backwards to out of her reach, and the witch could only watch in fear as she watched wood flex, too far from her to make it, but feet moving all the same because no —

The wood flexed, but it didn’t give out, the fingers locked in place, a strain visible on the human’s face. Amity swallowed, gripping her own palisman tightly, and bringing her foot up, kicking ‘Luz’ away with a panicked expression. The body fumbled, barely keeping itself upright, as it glared into the middle distance.

“My magic is keeping you alive,” The figure said to seemingly itself, twirling another spell, and maybe it would’ve been cathartic to watch the monster steering the wheel get none of what he wanted, if Luz wasn’t being dragged along for the ride, “So stop playing games, and let me—” Another light spell, and the face visibly, physically twisted, small tear lines creeping in as the skin bubbled green in rage.

“I don’t care if both of you are slighting me, I’m doing the right thing.” They said, addressing perhaps the palismen of the past and human of the present, and without further warning, ‘Luz’ abandoned magic completely, and shot a tendril of green towards not a witch, a basilisk, but towards Camila. She closed her eyes, bracing for it…

…And nothing happened.

Camila opened her eyes softly, seeing the twisted tendril inches from her face, ‘Luz’s own hand gripping the arm, as if holding it back. It swerved into the ground, and with a strong tug, the twin columns of rot were rent from her, arms spraying a mist of red as criss-cross lines exposed themselves in her skin.

‘Luz’s body bent, a sickening crack of bone as they staggered in a way that looked like fatigue, or maybe sickness, taking over, blinking away a haze with brown eyes. “N-no, Philip, you’re wrong.”

The body in their shared possession tried to steady itself, fists clenched tight as blood cascaded down freshly torn-up arms, “Not everyone’s good, you’re not, I’m not, but people are trying, dammit.” Luz said, running bloodsoaked fingers through her hair, wiping strands out of her vision, her other hand still firmly clutching the vial of Titan’s Blood. “And they’ll keep trying as long as you and me don’t ruin everything .”

Suddenly, the girl doubled over, a low growl in their voice, eyes looking bluer than brown for a brief moment, rot creeping up their limbs again, when in a second painful snap, she stood straight, eyes dark as she held the vial high up. “I care about the demon realm, and you know what? I care about the human realm too. If this is what it takes to stop you, Philip, then it’s time to do what I should’ve done a long time ago.”

Luz looked up, brown eyes, bloodshot with fatigue and pain, stared into Camila’s. “Perdóname mamá.”

And Luz’s wrist spasmed, the vial of blue blood twirling through the air to land firmly in the water, and with a low guttural roar, ‘Luz’ dove into the water, the rot that was Philip rending itself from Luz’s body as it dove, the human girl’s momentum maintaining, throwing her forward into the lake.

Camila’s feet were moving before she even processed the scene.

Diving in the frigid water, she was at least grateful that Luz hadn’t sunk too far, much less depth then the rot that had controlled her moments prior, and with a splash, breaking the surface of the water, Camila lifted Luz onto the ground, spinning her to she was looking up into the sky.

Or, she would be, if her eyes weren’t shut, blood soaked into her arms now that there wasn’t constant water to drown it out, the only possible sign of life being the weak spurts of reddish-brownish water that she coughed up, mix of watered down mud and blood, and the ways her arms fizzed like the lake had been comprised of hydrogen peroxide, raw green palismen magic burning away at every inch of her that had been touched by the infection that Philip Wittebane was.

Philip rose from the tide, holding the vial, and before he could do anything with it, in a hazy smear of gold, Hunter ran practically through him, ripping the Titan’s blood and the hand it was attached to off of his uncle, cleanly severed at the wrist. The emperor didn’t even seem to falter, the beast roaring and a new wrist, palm, fingers, growing in a sickening wet noise, and four witches and a basilisk moved, for the emperor of death had to fall.

And Camila sat, trying to get Luz’s eyes to open, trying to get her daughter’s attention and she laid on the grass of Gravesfield past, chest horrifyingly still.

“You led me to what I needed,” Philip growled, the rot monster he had become twisting and writhing as he reached for the vial Hunter was keeping out of his grasp, golden dashes seeming to become his main technique, stalling, prolonging, keeping himself away from his uncle. “So hand it over!”

The cobbled together rot weaved and fought, and between illusions that cloaked the graveyard, plants that punctured what passed for skin, bursts of gold zipping to and fro, and purple fluid whipping like a hurricane, the emperor descended staggered and stumbled, but held his ground despite.

Camila was terrified for her other daughter, fighting the madman who created her, blue wisps glittering through the graveyard with seemingly no end in sight, sandy-blonde hair fluttering in the breeze, but as much as Camila wanted to be properly terrified, her mind was blinded with one fear, deeper than any other.

As palisman struck bone, skin and rot twisted and tore under strain of the fight where neither side could afford to lose, Camila was numb to it, because in her arms, her daughter was cold in her arms, heat washed out effortlessly by lake water. She was scared to know, scared to confirm her fears, scared to check for a pulse.

(No one went without breathing this long. She knew this.)

Philip was waxing something biblical, and Camila wasn’t listening, because she simply held Luz tightly to her, listening to a chest that wasn’t pulsing, that wasn’t beating, and nothing else existed to Camila. Not the fight, not her daughter’s heartbeat, nothing but the phantom noise, a drone of a heart monitor, a steady tone. She was pretty sure the noise was all in her head, but that didn’t make it less real.

Maybe Masha was trying to say something comforting at Camila’s side — Camila was vaguely aware that the paranormalist wasn’t fighting, which was probably in all due fairness, the right call — but Camila’s stomach was curled up tight, tears streaming.

“Por favor Luz, despierta,” Camila babbled, tongue thick and heavy in her mouth, “No puedo perderte, ni ahora, ni nunca.”

Wake up, she was pleading, as if Luz was out cold, as if the blood soaking Camila’s shirt and sleeves were that of the witch-hunter’s. A part of her probably knew, but she couldn’t afford to listen to it. Luz’s girlfriend was a medic, so why wasn’t she here by Luz’s side, but Camila was frozen to the spot, unwilling to accept the why.

When she lost Manny, she had been told by everyone — her friends, her family, her own mother — that grief hurts less each time, but Camila had never believed it, she never took solace in it. All she took solace in was that she’d died long before Luz did, never have to cradle her child in her arms, breathing for her.

And so that wasn’t what she was doing, she had long taken solace in that. Luz would wake up, she had to wake up. “Puedes mostrarme tu mundo, tu familia, cualquier cosa,” Camila pleaded, ignoring the dryness in her throat, “Sólo tienes que despertar, por favor Luz, despierta…”

She couldn’t be gone, if she was gone, then Camila would have lost her daughter again, she lost Luz to Reality Check, to the Demon Realm, to her own stupid actions one rainy night in July. And now, she and everyone else lost her daughter to Philip Wittebane. If she lost her daughter, that chance of closure, of happiness, of something to come back to, would die with her.

“Despierta, no puedo perderte a ti también, Luz,” Camila said, words escaping her, clutching her daughter tightly.

Wake up, she pleaded. Like it meant anything.

---

Luz always wondered what her deathbed would look like. If it would have bright lights and the rapid beeping sound that haunted her nightmares. If it would be sudden, an abrupt collapse of her last flickering light. If it would be tear stricken and on her own terms. If it would be in her own bed, peacefully dreaming one last time.

She never thought it would be the bottom of a lake, though. She never thought it would feel like this either.

She felt cold, the deepest cold she had ever been. Colder than the Day of Unity and the human rain creeping into her spine, colder than the sharpest winter days, colder than even the day her dad died and she felt all the warmth die with him.

Surrounded by green murkiness, the place she had been stranded in all those months ago, water up to her ankles in a place between worlds, Luz couldn’t help but feel aimless, lost.

So she walked forward. Each step felt heavier than the last, and Luz was pretty sure she was walking in the wrong direction, but it’s not like there was anything reason to think that but gut feeling. Maybe she was dying, and this was what it felt like.

Each step, sluggish and stiff, her legs screaming at her to drop to her knees and let the water take her. More than once she had considered it, more than once she considered it today, or the day before, or the day before that.

But she kept walking, looking for someone. One of her three parents, she was sure. It had been a long time for some, longer for others, and she knew on some deeper level that a part of her had died the last time she was here.

Perhaps the rest of her was joining it.

“Amity!” Camila hollered, and the witch turned, sparing a brief second to glance back, only for what little colour remained in Amity’s face to fade. The witch was in motion a heartbeat later, and by the time Camila looked back down at Luz — she didn’t remember looking away, really — Amity was there, kneeling, hands already wreathing themselves in deep blue magic, rich and calm.

“Wake up, Luz, your— Your friends are here, wake up,” Camila pleaded, and Amity’s face had a brief flitting confusion, Camila somewhere wondering if she was speaking English or Spanish right now. “Wake up, Luz…”

Blue circles spun, and the fizzing in Luz’s skin was dispelled, wisps of green remaining that Amity froze, observing. She nodded dully, and Camila’s heart twisted. The familiar sight of a doctor glancing over x-rays and analysis after scan after paper that Camila knew meant nothing good, a passive well, it didn’t get worse.

Camila’s voice was hoarse, and she cleared her throat, looking at Amity, “Heal her, please…”

Amity nodded, eyes unwavering, but there was a weak tension in her, spell circles spun with fervour but not conviction. It was like Amity had given up, and she couldn’t have given up, because Luz wasn’t dead. Camila’s chest ached regardless, a dry sob escaping her lips.

“No te vayas, Luz…” She begged, swallowing a clump of sandpaper. She was going to be fine, she told herself, and with deep blue magic washing over Luz’s body weakly, she maybe even believed herself.

---

She tilted her head to the side at a point, in her march, glancing at the floating cube that made up the skies.

She knew the rules of those cubes.

“Amity Blight.” She murmured softly, and the world she rested in obeyed, a small cube floating up from the nothing beneath the water and comfortably falling into her hands. Inside the surface, she could make out a murky image — perhaps the reflection of the water she had thrown the vial in. Amity — and several other splotches, but lilac hair stood out, fighting a green something, probably Philip, and Luz swallowed slowly, trying to ignore the looming realisation that this was her fault. But if this was still working…

“Edalyn Clawthorne.” Luz added, and a different cube bubbled to the surface, and Luz didn’t even try to bite back the relieved sob that came from her lips, gripping the cube tightly. There in that surface was Eda, and what appeared to be Lilith, in some unfamiliar location. Luz couldn’t help but notice Eda was short an arm, but Luz could feel her eyes growing wet with hope seeing that Eda was alive and well.

“Mom…” She murmured quietly, but it seemed Eda couldn’t hear her. Perhaps that was for the best, Luz supposed, and she let the cube slip from her grip, watching it splash into the water, and she paused.

“King Clawthorne.” This time, the cube’s image appeared from a weird angle, the light refracted almost like a weird diamond shape, from beneath King and the star-speckled outfit of the Collector. Perhaps they were standing on glass right now, she supposed. But even still, alive, and weirdly, the Collector didn’t seem violent.

Luz thought back to how the first thing she saw the Collector do was unpetrify her.

She wondered.

She breathed easily, dropping the cube. Her family was alive, and a weight fell into the water along with the cubes. Her family was alive. And with her biggest fear erased, she kept walking.

---

Hunter was starting to tire.

This was Eclipse Lake again, he realised, and he mentally chastised himself for never getting better, better excelling further — he was the Golden Guard, any fight physical strength failed at, blackmail was always an option. And now it wasn’t, because this was the man who gave him that flauntable status.

Blue wisps kept leeching off of Belos, and Hunter felt something akin to pride, maybe even kinship, with the basilisk. Creations, weapons , for the Emperor’s Coven no longer. It was almost awe-inspiring, and if he made it out of this alive, he was going to make sure Vee knew she wasn’t alone.

He was too distracted thinking about what-ifs, and when he was already starting to tire, that could’ve proved fatal. Belos snagged him, ripping the vial from his hand hard enough Hunter was surprised his sigil wrist wasn’t broken, before an arrogant grew on his uncle’s face.

Belos snarled, throwing Hunter backwards into a gravestone again — the same gravestone, Hunter realised, and he briefly contemplated looking back at it for a specific name — but he sloshed the vial of Titan’s Blood proudly, gaze turned darkly at the assembled crowd.

“This is for the good of humanity,” He growled, shattering the blue liquid hard against the archway, the frame wobbling imperceptibly at his touch. “You’ll thank me later.”

As the Titan’s Blood smeared along the inside edge of the frame, it glowed, greens and golds forming a tapestry of depth that Belos wasted nearly no-time in traversing, fading away into the sickly green wall of light.

Hunter swallowed slowly, turning back at where Camila and Luz were, and his breath hitched at the sight Amity kneeling over Luz, spell circles dancing around her fingertips, deep blue contrasting horribly with the thick red blood staining the grass.

---

The not-so-endless green had an edge, Luz realised.

The water at the very edge was deafening, all pouring downwards into the void, and despite all survival instincts — Luz supposed those weren’t working very well right now, were they? — she sat down, the flow of water comfortable on her back, legs dangling over the eternity beneath.

She sat at the edge, lost.

“Dad?” She asked into the emptiness, “You out there?” She frowned. Maybe this was her life flashing before her eyes, that would make sense. And if that were true, she was still alive, even if only barely. She quelled the disappointment, instead smiling softly as she let her legs hang over the end.

“Dad, I don’t know if you’re out there,” She started, “Te extraño muchísimo.” The void was silent, like it had been before. Luz supposed that made sense. “I’m trying, dad, but it’s so hard without you here, me and Camil—”

She paused. She pressed one hand in the water, and she felt it be hollow beneath, her fingers breaking the surface of the water to travel to a dry void, something lost on her dancing across her facial features.

“Me and mom aren’t doing too well, but I… I think it’s okay.” Luz said, a small smile dancing on her face. “It’s okay. Mom and I made up, she has Vee. My friends can make it back home. Eda, um… she’s my other mom, you’d like her, she’s okay. Everyone’s gonna make it.”

She paused, looking out into the distance, where the green faded away into pure black of the edge of oblivion, and she swallowed slowly.

“Well, except for me.”

She knew it wasn’t a happy ending yet, but it was the best Luz could do by herself. “I think I’m done fighting, dad. Pero no más.”

She leaned back, feeling the water around her almost warmly despite its coldness, invitingly, and a part of her wondered somewhere, would it be so bad? Her dad was wonderful, and she missed him so much. She was tired of being a hero, or the class failure. She was tired of being without the basics to life in worlds where it was second nature. She was tired of the guilt and the stress and the fears, all of her own making.

She was so tired.

She felt herself sink a bit further into the liquid, and every ounce of her was screaming to get up, stand up, because she didn’t know how, but she knew what rested on the other side of the water.

She felt the cold on her face, and she gave a small content breath.

“No more.” She repeated, “I’m sorry.”

And she fell through the ice.

---

The portal hummed loudly.

“Luz is…” Amity’s voice was cracked, Gus surprised at how different and low it sounded, thick with grief. “C’mon, Luz, don’t. Don’t leave me too,”

“Guys, what happened?” Gus asked, gaze staring at the girl in Camila’s arms, and Amity turned. Seeing her face for the first time in minutes, Gus swallowed slowly, Amity’s red and wet eyes staring back miserably.

“He couldn’t have, Luz is…” Willow beside him breathed, and he wanted to sit down, the world beneath his feet spinning. “Luz is stronger than this.”

Vee raced over, sneakers hitting the soft grass gently as she sat next to Camila, staring at Luz, words on her tongue but none escaping her lips. Gus himself swallowed again, scared to open his mouth. Death was a cruel reality on the Boiling Isles, painfully commonplace. His own mother had been lost to a painbow when he was only two, and it had been quick. But it hadn’t been this, and he hadn’t lost anyone in his own life since before he could remember.

“Luz, you have to wake up,” Willow said louder, feet moving as she kneeled, and Gus knew what Willow was like. It wasn’t a big secret how much Willow bottled things up, and she was going to pretend this was okay until it was okay.

Gus was the opposite he supposed, but he wanted to be strong. Even crying felt taboo, like it would seal a fate in stone — no, don’t think about stone — instead of optimistic hope running rampant. Even as the portal behind them hummed loudly, because suddenly, returning to the Demon Realm felt unimportant.

Everything did. Despite that, Gus’ knees gave out, and he hit the dirt with a sob.

---

Luz was sinking slowly, so slowly, the water was thicker on this side, drifting downwards, and her eyes fluttered, hand and hair splayed, when she felt something—

A hand grabbed hers on the other side, and she was wrenched out of the cold, the ambient air feeling like fire on her skin as she was brought from the cold into existence. The green surrounding her on all sides, the floating cubes, it was all the same.

But the person in front of her was new. Or… maybe not a person. Towering a little, wearing jogging pants with glyphs adorning its surface, a Bad Girl Coven™ tee, a cosy looking jacket, it’s clear regardless of whoever Luz’s fellow resident in the afterlife was, they enjoyed their comfort above all else.

But Luz’s eyes were drawn to their face, a familiar enough skull staring back, trying to avoid making eye contact with the distinctly-Hooty shaped thing in their eye. That skull was…

“K-King…?” Luz asked, voice wobbly, and the figure chuckled.

“No, but he does get his good looks from me.” The figure said, and Luz raised an eyebrow, before suddenly, her universe came to a halt.

“Oh, Titan.” She breathed, and the figure chuckled again, this time louder.

“That’s my name, that’s why they picked it.” They said proudly, “Nice to meet you, Luz.”

“I thought you’d be…” Luz’s face paled, as she slipped to her knees, the water rising up to her thighs as she spaced out. “Oh, am I dead?”

“Ah ah ah,” The Titan grabbed their hand, hoisting her up, “Not yet, but you slip into this water, you definitely will be.”

“How can I…” Luz stammered, gazing around the endless green. “How can I not be dead if we’re…”

“Titans are strange. As long as my heart beats, I’m still there, watching, dreaming, hoping for the best for my son and his friends.” The Titan said, a cube rising from the wet into their hands. “Those he trusts, and those who have protected him.”

“I still can’t believe you’re… You’re King’s dad!”

“Eh, King put it best once. I am king and queen, best of both worlds.” The Titan said, twirling the cube in her grip, and Luz thought back to when she heard King say those words, the once, the night of Grom. “I’m so proud of him, he’s making bonds… It’s tenuous, but he’s even befriending the Collector.”

“The Collector…” Luz asked, realisation in her voice, thinking back to the reflection Luz had seen in the cubes, “He isn’t that bad, is he?”

“The Collector is a child.” The Titan said, “A lonely child sent by his family to distract me, and when I succumbed, I dragged them down here in a move of pettiness, thinking that would protect my son. Thankfully, King is more understanding than I was.”

“King’s safe.” Luz said, “If he’s befriending the Collector…”

“He’s safe. Mostly. Belos is still…” The Titan drawled, and Luz’s eyes went wide.

“Dammit, Philip, I need to stop—” Luz halted. She looked up at the Titan. “I need to stop him, how can I do that? Am I just dead, do I just move on?” Luz asked, “Find my dad, wait however long for my friends and families to come along?”

“You can, that’s one option.” The Titan said, but he seemed to pause. “But Titans have sway, and while your body… is failing, I can still send you back to stop him.”

“Send me back?”

“If you can make it to our realm, I’ve got a bit of blood coursing through me still. Plenty enough to bring a human back better than ever.” The Titan explained, dropping the cube in his hands.

“Why can’t you do it now?” Luz asked, and the Titan scoffed.

“I can’t do anything in the human realm, I can’t even drag you from the tide.” The Titan said, and noticing the confusion on Luz’s face, “Those palismen Belos killed I think are getting you through to me. That or even I underestimated a good healing spell.”

“The palismen?” Luz said, and a cube bubbled near her foot, but it went ignored. “Wait, what will happen to—”

“I can bring you back to life, Luz.” The Titan offered, “Swear to me you’ll protect our home.”

“Wait, but…” Luz looked at the Titan, “What will happen to you?”

“Oh, me? I’ll move on,” The Titan said, comfortably splashing the water with their foot. “I’ve lived long enough, to spend that last little bit of my energy saving my son’s sister… That’s a pleasant way to go out.”

“But this will—”

“Let me rest.” The Titan said, voice like iron, and Luz swallowed. “Please, it’s an honour. Besides, it’s starting to get a bit boring here.”

“But, I don’t want to kill you!”

“You’ve lived on my corpse for months,” The Titan pointed out, “This is just letting me do the whole ‘in peace’ part of resting.”

“But you’re important to King, I can’t do that to you or him!”

“I’d like to think I was important in his life,” The Titan admitted, tugging on his beard, “But really, aside from parting a cloud or two for Eda, I’ve mostly just been a passive observer. No, what he needs is his big sister. He adores you. Besides, even if I wanted to come back, I couldn’t. There’s a reason I’m, well… Like I said, a corpse.”

“King deserves a chance to talk to you, though!” Luz said, “He’d love to know you!”

“How would King even know I’ve been clinging onto life this long?” The Titan asked, and Luz frowned. “You can tell him I saw him, I loved him, that I’m proud of him. That’d I’d love to play catch, that he’ll always be my little monarch and that he made me so, so proud. If you let me use what little life I have left for good, that is.”

“I… I promise to tell him that.” Luz said, sniffling a little. “If nothing else, I’ll save the world, and tell King all that.”

“Oh, tell him I loaf him!” The Titan interjected, “Could you tell him that? He’d get a kick out of it.”

“...yeah, he’s gonna love that.” Luz said, grabbing the Titan’s outstretched hand, and the Titan smiled back softly. “And… thank you for everything.”

The world melted away, like oil, like clay, swirling and shifting in the heat of the white glowing light, and Luz blinked, once, twice, the place in-between dissolving into the real.

She had a world to save.

---

Luz lurched forward, a deep shuddering breath as her eyes went wide open, her brown eyes flecked with bits of black and gold, seemingly startled, as if still under attack. Camila wrapped her arms around Luz tightly, murmuring rapid-fire words in Spanish, pace like lightning, enough so that even Vee was too inexperienced to decipher the words.

The human, much to even Amity’s own surprise, curled into Camila’s embrace, hugging her tightly, indiscernible words choked out.

There’s a pause, as Luz’s gaze turns to the portal, and as if she hadn’t just died for the second time in her life, she stands up, the action winding her more than it should've, dusting herself off, eyes weirdly distant. “Todavía no, papá,” She murmured, Amity just barely hearing it, and the human took a stride forward, unable or unwilling to hide the whine of pain that came from weight on her ankles.

“We can go back now.” Luz said, and she looked at Camila. “Is that okay?”

Camila nodded, surprise obvious on her face, “It’s not my…” She looked at the portal, at Vee, then Luz again. “It’s your life, mija, not mine.”

“You guys go ahead,” Luz said, “Quickly, I’ll be right behind you.”

“Luz, you just died again,” Amity said, trying to keep the venom out of her voice, but how could Luz expect her to leave—

“I’m okay. Please.” The girl asked, voice so soft, and Amity froze. She stood by Luz for a moment longer, before nodding, and the four witches stepped across the threshold between worlds. The second the last of the four, a hesitant Hunter, stepped over the threshold, Luz nearly doubled over, coughing madly, as she stepped towards the portal.

Camila’s eyes widened, as she started moving towards Luz, who held up a hand in a stop gesture. The younger girl’s steps were shaky, and she rested a hand against the archway. She was breathing heavily, as if each lungful of air had to be viciously fought for, and Camila felt her nerves rising.

Luz reached up, wiping away blood she had coughed up, blood that had pooled beneath her eyes, blood that Camila thought looked blue in the moonlight, and she turned to face Camila with something soft in her expression.

“Mami?” Luz started, and Camila didn’t dare get her hopes up again.

“Yes, Luz?” Her voice came out shaky, unable to bottle up the fear she was feeling.

“I…” She looked at the swirling portal, before looking back at Camila. “I’m choosing the Demon Realm,” She said, and Camila’s heart shattered—

“But when we’re done with Philip?” She added, “I’m choosing you too. Deja una luz puesta para mí. Te quiero.”

The human witch stepped through the portal, washing away in greens and golds, and Camila’s feet and lips were moving before she caught up to herself.

“I’m going after her.” Camila said clearly, without room for discussion, and Vee looked at her.

“Is it safe?”

Camila shook her head. “That’s why I have to join her.” She couldn’t let her daughter fight that thing alone, she couldn’t. “I lost her once tonight, I’m not losing her again.”

“Then I’ll come with you,” Vee offered, and Camila looked at Vee gently, before turning to Masha, who was looking nothing short of helpless.

“Wish I could, but, without knowing if there’s a way back…”

“There will be.” Vee said, and Masha smiled.

“Make sure of it,” They said, voice a bit choked up, “I’m gonna wait for you, got it?”

“Got it. Hopefully it won’t be too long.” Vee said, turning to face the portal. It hummed and whirred, the lights flickering in a dull pulse, “But we have to go now.”

Camila had stepped towards the portal, looking at the starlight in the distance, golds and greens staring into her soul. She had watched as her daughter and her best friends walked through the gate.

And now? She would follow.

“A través de vientos solares,” Camila murmured, holding Vee’s hand firmly because like hell she was losing another kid tonight, “Voy a arreglar esto, Manny.” And with a step across the threshold, they too vanished from the human realm.

Masha was quiet, watching the Nocedas step across the mantle, and for about half-an-hour, they sat there, basking purely in the silence that graveyards were meant to have.

 

Notes:

Congratulations to everyone who accurately read last chapter to understand Luz was possessed! It wasn’t the most subtle thing I’ve written, but it’s the most twisted. Little lines like “she had work to finish” mirroring a frequent line of Philip’s, demanding Hunter’s palisman, all sorts of fun moments :) So, good job to you!

In regards to this chapter, let’s get the obvious thing out of the way. I’m so sorry for the death sequences. I’m not above killing my characters for good, but not Luz. I’m lucky enough to have never lost anyone, and so this was… difficult to write, but thanks to three people — who I’m keeping anonymous because it’s not my place to parade around their loss — helped me land the guilt thing in a way that I hope was fulfilling.

I am also sorry if you thought I was actually killing Luz. That was the point, but I still feel bad. Now, some good came of this: Vee went to the Demon Realm with Camila, and all the palismen got to live!! Seeing as Belos was lauden with dead palismen souls still, and Amity’s a healer, surely one or both of those facts is enough to keep Luz hanging on… Or, you know, the Titan. Those three all helped.

And yes, Papa Titan early, this has ✨impacts ✨ on the plot, yes. You’ll have to see what later.

The fight scene was also an absolute blast to write! I struggle with action scenes, and I wanna practice more, especially for my civil war-type Lost in Limbo, yada yada, Lost in Language AU where everything goes horribly wrong. I’m proud of the planning stuff so far, and I wanted to make sure I knew what the hell I’m doing.

Hope no one minds a shorter chapter compared to the absolute behemoth that was Vaguely Alright, btw haha also these end notes are getting long oh no anyway, see you all next chapter in Right on Cue, the one part chapter for For the Future!

Chapter 15: Right on Cue

Summary:

Luz and the gang return to the Demon Realm. Some changes have occured.

Notes:

Content warning: Mild themes of dissociating. Some mild grief. Mild identity crisis.

The jingling instruments had long gotten old.

King was positive by now, the Collector had an ever-present soundtrack following him, rubber bands played against deep drums, and a soft twinkling piano, forever in loop.

“Adrian, it is I, The Collector, warrior of peace!” The star-child spoke, and King gave a thumbs-up, a smile that was all teeth.

“You’ve got this, bestie!” He said with so much enthusiasm that I know you could never fake that, King!

He swallowed when the Collector’s back turned back to the Illusionist, the wooden cobbled form that called itself life. The Collector could easily call those shots.

I mean, I don’t know why I unfroze the girl, he had heard one too many times a rambling, Caleb’s perfect proof that grimwalkers are just as good!

Adrian didn’t speak. Of course he didn’t, he was wood. But as one adventure concluded, the Collector joyfully twirling and dancing, heaving puppets back to the Archives for Kikimora to sift through.

“How were your games, Collector?” The demon asked upon his return, and King had no clue what to think of it. Kikimora seemed… happy , weirdly, serving the Collector was monotonous but all-powerful, harmless but unparalleled, and in that, Kikimora found comfort.

King was baffled. He didn’t want that type of power anymore.

“They were so much fun!!” The starchild said, and with his excitement rattling through his body, every nerve a glow, the Archives pulsed and beat, almost like the Collector had ripped out his own heart for dramatic effect.

“Are you hungry, either of you?”

“I always am, you, King?” The young Titan nodded, and the Collector cackled, “Pizza bagels, pizza bagels!”

Was this all there was to King’s life now? Playing pretend forever? Luz still wasn’t back, and time with the Collector had squashed and stretched, daylight and moonlight were but set pieces for the Collector to play with, gravity, ageing, time and space. Maybe centuries had passed. And King had no way of—

And there was the loop, King’s own inner monologue interrupted itself, hearing the familiar strumming of rubber band instruments he had long come to recognize as the start of the melody.

As with everything else, now, forever, far and wide, right on cue .

---

Luz would've never guessed a year ago that she’d nearly cry happy tears to the smell of sulphur. But instead, basking in the scent, she looked over the place she had come to call home. But something was different. The terrain, yes, but also…

She glanced down, and noticed her arms were furrier then they used to be. Much, much furrier.

“Hey, guys,” Luz said, voice a bit shaky, although recognition drifted across her features. The Titan did say something about a new body…

“Luz, you’re he— Luz?” Amity started, pausing when she saw her newly-transformed girlfriend, face growing bright red. “You look… Whoo, um, you’re… wow…”

“What happened , Luz?” Willow asked, speaking over Amity’s fluster, “You were human, like… five minutes ago?”

“About that…” Luz said, voice small, anxious. No more secrets. “That near-death thing? I might’ve sorta actually died back there?”

A heartbeat later, her friends were speaking over each other, and for a moment Luz wondered if bottling things up was still the easier solution.

“Guys, guys, calm—”

The portal behind her rippled again, and through it stepped Camila and Vee. Luz’s eyes, black sclera and gold irises, widened as she looked at Camila, who looked back at her with a bit of horror, the small clearing going quiet.

“Hi, mami.”

Camila swallowed, Vee’s jaw dropping a little in surprise.

“L-Luz?” Camila said, and Luz nodded, trying to ignore how the wind felt against the fluff she called her own as she did that.

“Yep!” The human said in a shaky, peppy voice, “That's me!”

“Nope, you are not doing this here,” Willow snapped, Clover materialising as a staff, and Luz’s eyes went wide as she stepped between Willow and Camila.

“Willow, it's… it's okay.”

“Mija?”

“…Willow, me and her talked. It’s… okay.” Luz admitted, but she turned her head a little to look back at Camila, before looking back at Willow. “She's not gonna pull anything.”

“Luz, you died—”

“And that wasn't her fault.” Luz growled, just a little, and Willow paused. With a curt nod, Clover returned to buzzing around happily, and a heartbeat passed, before Willow ran over, hugging Luz tightly. Only now did Luz realise how tall she was compared to Willow now, having gone from maybe an inch taller to now towering, maybe a couple inches taller than Raine.

“You died, Luz, you died again and we thought we lost you for good this time,” Willow babbled, “Don’t do that again, please…”

“Don’t worry, Will',” Luz said, “I'm gonna be okay, right as rain,”

Willow gave a wet laugh, muttering something about the rain boils, and Luz held her friend close, looking at everyone else. She did a small gesture with her hand, as if to round everyone in, and before she knew it, she was being smothered, four hugs like steel enveloping her.

After what felt like forever, or maybe just a few moments, Luz stepped back, running a bony hand along fluffy arms.

“Alright, so.” She started, unable to hide the bluish tint of embarrassment that dusted her cheeks, “I owe you all some answers.”

“Yeah,” Amity said, and her voice was shifting from relieved to worried again, “You said you died , but… healing magic can't solve that.”

Luz nodded, smiling. “It bought me time though, but uh… I met the Titan?”

“You met The Titan?” Hunter startled, eyes wide with a splash of maybe reverence.

“Yep, he’s great to be honest, super chill and laid back, was wearing a Bad Girl Coven tee shirt, thought he was King at first, and, uh…” Luz pointed out, rambling to avoid getting to the important part, “And she, uh… brought me back.” Luz settled on, doing a small twirl. Clearly, seeing the fluff surrounding Luz hit Amity with a second dose of gay panic.

“You’re beautiful…” Amity murmured, and Luz chuckled, grabbing Amity’s arm and giving her a chaste kiss, the witch’s face instantly turning the rest of the way to tomato-red. “You’re so soft now, oh my Titan,” Amity murmured.

“I am your Titan, huh?” She started with a chuckle, now realising the novelness of the statement, but there was an eerie silence in response to her joke. Suddenly her eyes widened. “Oh, yeah, you wouldn’t…”

Willow’s gaze turned curious, “Luz. The Titan brought you back. As a demon, or…”

“Are you a Titan now, Luz?” Gus asked, awe in his voice.

Luz shrugged loosely. “I might be? He gave me what was left of his life, so…”

“I’m friends with a Titan,” Hunter said, voice small, only for Amity’s face to grow redder.

“I’m dating a Titan.” She murmured, and Luz frowned just the lightest bit.

“I'm still Luz, you know,” She said, voice a little stiff, “And… oh, this is what King meant. Just… just call me Luz.” She instantly turned to Hunter, “And that's not an order.”

“Luz, w-what’s a Titan?” Camila’s voice asked shakily behind the transformee, and Luz turned to face her, swallowing slowly. She opened her mouth, closed it, and took a deep breath.

“People here pray to the Titan, worship the Titan, the Titan gave them the land and their magic…” Luz looked uncomfortable at her own words, but at the implication, Camila’s eyes widened.

“Luz, are you telling me you’re God ?” Camila asked, and Luz winced instantly at the words.

“I’m not God,” Luz defended eagerly, frowning deeper. “I’m just… I look like one. I look…”

“Luz,” Camila said, “You’re…”

Luz suddenly looked at Camila confused, raising an eyebrow. “Wait, why are you two here? I thought—”

“Like hell I’m letting you fight that Philip person alone , mija,” Camila said, and Vee nodded.

“I… I didn’t think I’d ever come back here, but…” Vee looked at Luz, swallowing slowly, “I’m not taking chances either.”

Luz, much to Camila’s pain, looked uncomfortable at this, maybe not used to new facial expressions, as her face was an open book, showing Camila nothing but guilt and discomfort. Her chest twisted.

“You… You do want us around, right?” She asked shakily, and Luz nodded.

“Of course, I just… I don't want you getting hurt for me.” Luz admitted, and Camila nodded slowly, reaching out slowly for Luz for a hug, which the girl seemed to contemplate, before accepting, wrapping Camila in a tight hug, the realisation that she now towered over her own mother surprising her.

Luz couldn’t deny that it felt nice to hug Camila back. She was pretty sure this was the first time the two had properly hugged since that day all those months ago, when she left for Reality Check.

“It’ll be okay, Luz,” Camila said, and she felt her daughter tense up in her hold, and Camila tried not to let her face give away any of her worries. Stepping back, Luz wiped at her eyes gently, frowning.

“Welcome to the Boiling Isles,” Luz said, gesturing to the surroundings. “Watch your step.”

Now not immediately worried that Luz was going to don't think about it , Camila actually turned to look at the surroundings. The trees were red, not the blood red she had expected but rather more like a maroon, perhaps. The trees were tall, covering the sky, but Camila could see through the canopy at an array of a pink-purple sky that reminded her a lot of… of her daughter.

The smell of sulphur was awful, but it seemed she was the only one who disliked the scent, even Vee — who in all the time Camila had known her, got easily overstimulated with scents and textures — seemingly completely content with it.

But cresting over the hill, Camila’s jaw dropped.

The ground was a cobbled mix of teal and purples, cool pastel colours of a landscape, smooth and glossy. Stars with faces twinkled in the air, and the only trace of anything macabre or eerie was the way the air was filled with bony thorns, and the distinctly… skull shaped thing in the distance, its own ominiousness struck down by the tiara it was wearing.

Gazing at the clearings, it seemed that the skull was part of a greater form, limbs visible in the distance, spikes of what looked like ribs. A corpse, long decayed.

“Luz, what…” Camila started, voice filled with fear, lost for words, “ This is where you've been staying?”

“Oh, this isn't right.” Camila heard Gus say mournfully. “That's… that's the Collector’s.”

“Yeah, it's not usually like…” Amity defended, gesturing in front of her, “This.”

“Oh, thank God,” Camila said, “I thought you were gonna say you lived on a giant corpse.”

The clearing went quiet.

“Um, mami?” Vee spoke gently, and Camila knew what Vee was about to say before she said it. “Yeah, that part… that's the normal part.”

“What, so the pastels are the weird thing?”

“Yeah.” “Basically.” “And the star things.” “Uh huh.”

“Luz.” Camila said, voice stern, and Luz seemed to shrink a little, instantly filling Camila with guilt. “I… why did you never tell me this?”

“That, I wasn't trying to hide…” Luz admitted, looking at the clearing. “I just… things weren't great, and it never came up.”

Camila nodded, frowning. “About this… Titan, thing…”

“Hey guys,” Amity piped up, interrupting Camila’s train of thought, “I got a signal .”

Luz’s expression brightened. “Wait, for real?”

“It’s… no one has posted anything in awhile, but three weeks ago.” Amity said, “Hexside is a… sanctum, basically. If we can make our way there…”

“Wait, before we go… Sweet potato, you know the spell for this.” Luz said nervously, turning back to her friends, “What am I?”

---

Amity spun the diagnostic spell for the sixth time in a row, each time coming back with the same knowledge gleaned. “Don’t know how to say this, Luz,” She said, “But you seem to be a Titan in nearly every single way. Your heart is more witcheline, but everything else is…” Amity brushed a hand on Luz’s arm, “Titan, you’re soft.”

“Amity, please stay focused,” Luz teased, and the healer cleared her throat, nodding.

“Everything else is unlike anything I've seen before. Your skin is like chainmail,” Amity said, “Your horns are connected to your spine, you're just… unique , even by the Isles. Except for… King.”

“When did you cast that on King?”

“The carrier ship crashed on the Day of Unity, after mom took you,” Amity explained, voice hitching slightly at the mention of Odalia, “I wanted to make sure he was okay.”

Luz was changed, undeniably, tufts of dark-dark-grey hair running along her arms and legs, visible beneath her sleeves and pant legs, arms in criss-cross patterns, the patchy textures hidden by the volume of dark fluff. Her hair was longer, softer, the colour shifted completely from the dark brown to a more plum colour. She had horns that didn’t exist before, and it seemed the bones in her body were raised, the silhouette of bone visible even in the shade of the red trees.

“So, what, I’m… I’m a Titan? Just, a Titan?” Luz asked, and Amity nodded.

“Yeah, and there’s no spell decay or anything,” The witch said, “I think it might be permanent?”

Luz swallowed, nodding, before standing up, dusting her hands as though there was anything to dust. “Alright then. I guess… I have to make it work—”

“Wait, Luz?” Amity said, eyes wide in sudden realisation. “Can I grab your hand real quick?”

“Uh… sure?” Luz said, outstretching it, and Amity held it softly, curling a couple of the fingers slowly, and then, twirled Luz’s hand. It was finicky, faulty, yes, but Luz watched in wonder as a small, thin golden line was traced midair, flickering out before it was finished.

“Your heart is like a witch's.” Amity repeated, and Luz gave a wide grin. Wrenching her hand from Amity’s, Luz twirled her fingers again, eyes wide, in a haphazard circle, wobbly and off-kilter. This time, she landed it, and the smallest, least perceptible ball of light imaginable formed, and Luz stared at it like it was a miracle.

It kinda was.

“I can do magic,” Luz said, voice a little high with wonder, “I, I can do magic, real magic!” Luz outstretched her hand again, twirling a third spell circle, but frowned when the golden band flickered out. “I, I can…”

“It takes practice, Luz.” Amity said gently, “I’m sure Eda would love to teach you, and if she can't, you've got me and the rest of our friends.”

“I can do magic,” Luz repeated, grinning widely, “Oh, this is a dream come true, Ami!” The former human said, hugging Amity tightly and twirling, the lilac-haired girl startled and how quickly she had been lifted off the ground.

After a few turns — too many, actually, Amity wasn’t going to admit it but she was starting to feel woozy — she set the abomination witch down, bright smile on her face.

“We need to get to Hexside right away!!”

“You are not taking courses mid-apocalypse.”

“Stop me.”

The two giggled, stepping from the small clearing that had secluded themselves in, walking in on the still-going venture that was explaining Boiling Isles “standard” to Camila.

A small quiet rolled over the crowd, and Luz clapped her hands together. “Alright, gang, Hexside’s not too far from here. If we start, maybe we can make it before sundown.”

“Luz, it’s nearly sundown already.”

“Oh, good thing we have light spells if we need it,” The human witch said proudly, twirling her fingers dramatically, and a small light spell shone in her hand.

Instantly, the noise was loud, Amity’s ears twitching as she covered them, and Camila staring at the small orb of spellcasted light.

“I can do magic now, real magic!”

“That’s awesome, Luz, gimme a hug!” Willow said, wrapping Luz in a tight hug, and Gus cast the biggest ‘congratulations’ in blue text Luz had ever seen him do. Even Vee was outwardly celebrating. Camila wanted to.

“I’m proud of you, mija!” Camila said loudly, speaking over the group a little, and Luz’s face kept growing a deeper and deeper blue with pride — was this how Titans blushed? — before she dispelled the orb.

After a few more minutes of celebration, the gang made their way on the closest route to Hexside, trying to ignore the ominous whirs of stars that filled the air, lurking to the shadows.

Safety was waiting.

---

Camila gazed out at the towering structure. It looked almost like a university, or perhaps a private school, or at least it would if not for graffiti along its surface and wooden boards covering windows detracting from the grandeur of the building itself.

“This is Hexside, school of magics and demonics, it’s amazing here,” Luz said ceremoniously, before adding to Camila in a slightly quieter voice, “And honestly, it’s gonna look rough, but this is kinda standard.”

“Oh, I thought the graffiti was new.” Gus chuckled, and Luz blushed in embarrassment, her face growing a slightly bluish tint, before her eyes went wide. Camila could only watch with growing surprise as a smile widened on Luz’s face, black and gold eyes widening in delight.

“I don’t need my glyphs anymore! I can actually do all the tracks!” The girl said triumphantly, “Oh, I can’t wait! C’mon guys, maybe there’s people inside!”

Camila stood there, watching for a moment, a spring in Luz’s steps that she hadn’t seen since Luz was a small child, and for a school of all things. Not the energy that came with her special interests, or the inherent speed and vibrance of fun holidays and exciting occasions.

Luz was more excited than that, and it was for school to start again .

“Mom?” Vee asked, snapping Camila from her musings, “You gonna be okay?”

Camila turned from Vee, looking back at her daughter, a bit of orange-brown magic twirled incredibly loosely at her fingertips to try and pry the wooden door open. She smiled a little, trying to swallow her fears about the demon realm, because Luz’s enthusiasm was contagious.

“Look how happy she is,” Camila said, giving a regretful chuckle, “Of course I’ll be fine. Let's join her.”

As Camila approached, Luz gave a victorious whistle as she ripped the heavy wooden door open, splinters falling to the ground — it had seemingly been barred from the inside — and Luz turned to face Camila proudly.

“This is my school,” Luz said cheerfully, “You're gonna love it.”

Opening the door wide, Camila’s heart sank .

“Oh, c'mon, stop doing this to me, Isles.” Luz groaned disappointedly, voice hit with a poorly-veiled worry.

Camila could see that this was a school, but with the amount of barricading, chipped walls and columns, and the… not-great smell, she couldn't imagine it actually be used as one.

“Do you think anyone is still… here?” Willow asked nervously, and Hunter shrugged.

“Hexside is a great place to hide,” The blond pointed out, “Before Flapjack made me turn around, I would've hid here.”

“Yeah, but it looks practically dead in—” Amity was saying, when Gus suddenly pushed past her, nearly shoving the girl to the ground. “What the–?”

Up in the distance, Luz could make out a familiar face, bar the new addition of stubble and smudged black Sharpie adorning Mattholomule’s face.

“Gus!”

“Matt!” The illusionist’s voice was clearly that of relief , dashing over to meet the construction witch in the middle, giving something that bordered the line between ‘hug’ and ‘football tackle’.

“You guys are alive? ” Mattholomule asked, eyes wide with surprise, and Gus nodded.

“We got stuck in, guess where?” He said, but before Mattholomule could answer, “The Human Realm!”

“Wait, for real?” Mattholomule seemed shocked, turning to face the crowd, before his face scrunched up in confusion. “How fast did puberty hit Clawthorne?”

“That's, oh, c'mon, you can meet everyone!”

“Augustus, I know your friends,” Mattholomule said, but he came over, looking at the group.

“Amity, Willow, Matt,” Gus said in the briefest ways, “This is Vee, she's—”

“I'm Luz's sister!” The basilisk interrupted, sandy blonde hair swaying as she glared at Gus, and the illusionist nodded in understanding.

“Luz, you know Matt,” Gus said, gesturing at the real Luz, and Matt’s eyes went wide.

“What happened to you, human?”

“We've been over this,” Luz said, voice a little grim, “But uh, doesn't matter, not human anymore!” She said gleefully, spinning a small light spell. Matt watched with surprise.

“Okay, then whose older Clawthorne?”

“Camila Noceda,” The woman introduced herself, and Matt nodded in understanding.

“Oh, yeah, that was her…” Matt trailed off, and Camila winced a little. That was her name , he had likely been about to say, and the painful reminder that she had been replaced.

I’m choosing you too , Luz had said. Camila clung to that hope.

“So, what happened here?” Willow asked, glancing at the damage, and Mattholomule smirked.

“Follow me,” He said, leading the gang further into the building. Just past the front entrance, Luz’s smile grew wide.

“This is more like it.” She said, and Camila could tell how fancy the school was meant to be proper. Lockers with face decals — actually, she supposed, knowing the Boiling Isles, probably faces — and posters lining some walls, she could see students bustling through the halls, some looking totally normal like the ones who had stayed at her home for several months, while others looked less than human, extra features or awkward limbs.

“Hexside has become something of a… safehouse,” Mattholomule said, “For those who made it. And you’ll never guess who’s in charge.”

“Is it not Bump?” Luz asked, and Mattholomule frowned.

“Nope, it’s—”

“Viney then,” Luz interrupted, and there was a small chattering of agreeance. Mattholomule’s face dropped.

“It’s me,” He said proudly, “I’m in charge, and I’d say we got things under control, personally. We got rotating shifts, meal plans for everyone, even relatively safe plans to gather intel and resources.”

Gus raised an eyebrow. “Are you… actually a competent leader?”

“Are you surprised?”

Gus’s eyes narrowed far too much for Mattholomule’s liking, before the illusionist simply said in a curt voice, yeah .

“Well, anyway, Boscha’s kinda my second-in-command, so don’t be surprised if—”

“Tholomule!”

“Speak of the puppeteer.”

“Wait, is your last name Tholomule ?” Luz asked sceptically, the words mostly under her breath, but she was interrupted by the return of a familiar head of pink hair walking up, before faltering the slightest bit.

“You’re not Clawthorne, just another human… Oh, hi !” Boscha said, voice a bit peppy as she turned to face Luz. “New around here?”

“Ugh, gag me.” Willow snarled, but Gus nudged her.

“No, let this play out.”

Boscha walked up to Luz, the human-turned-Titan looking confused, and to her complete surprise, Boscha put a hand out. “Boscha Havenstar, you?” She asked in far too flirty a voice to purely be an introduction, starker by the sheer dissonance of it coming from Boscha’s mouth.

Luz was quiet, eyebrows raised. Finally, she spoke, hand still at her side, “Luz Clawthorne.”

The grudgby star instantly started sputtering at the voice, gaze darkening. “What happened to you , human?”

“About that last part,” Luz said, twirling her fingers proudly, and Amity rolled her eyes a little even at the light spell that came forth.

“You’re gonna show that off to everyone, huh?”

Luz giggled, spinning another spell circle in response, and the two started chuckling, and Boscha groaned, the words of the sports player drowned out by an ominous shake of the building.

“But seriously, what happened?” Luz eventually asked, and Boscha turned to her first-in-command.

“You haven’t told them yet?”

“Chill, Bosc’, they got here two minutes ago.” Mattholomule said, before smirking. “Also, never living that little scene down.”

---

“…and yeah, that’s what happened.” Matt was finishing explaining how Hexside became a safeplace, the Collector’s rampant games, turning people into toys.

“And it’s taken us this long to get back.” Luz said simply, guilt in her voice.

“Hey, you got back at all,” Matt said, “You just earned me a lot of snails.”

“You were betting on us!?” Amity asked, voice dark with annoyance, and Matt shrugged.

“Hey, I bet on you surviving.” He pointed out. “Boscha alone owns me, like, fifty snails.”

“You get used to him being like this.” Gus defended preemptively.

“It’s the endtimes, do you even have a point for money?” Amity asked pointedly, and Boscha loudly groaned.

“Don’t get him started on—”

“They’re basically trophies,” Matt said proudly, “And Boscha owns me fifty !”

“Dude, gimme five,” cheered the illusionist.

“Anyway,” Hunter interrupted the quarrel, “So how do we get to the Skull?” His voice was agitated, and Luz could relate. 

“When I met Philip in the 1600s—” Luz said, before pausing, “Belos is Philip, I’ll explain later—”

“You did what? What in the Titan’s name were you up to?” Boscha snapped, and Matt gave a laugh.

“Five months!” Matt added with a chuckle, “She’s been here five months!”

“ Anyway , Philip had a glyph he used to get to the Skull quickly.” She started, before frowning. “And are there memory tweezers anywhere?”

“Yeah, I can have someone bring you there if you want,” Matt said, “Although, I think I see two who will be happy to see—”

“Mittens?” “Amity!”

Turning around at the voices, Amity’s eyes were wide with relief. “Ed! Em!” Racing over to her siblings, she hugged Emira tightly, glancing at the heavily wounded Edric. “What happened ?”

“He fell down a well,” Emira said bluntly, and Amity fell further when Edric added his own tidbit of info.

“With rocks at the bottom.” He said, and with a grunt, hugged Amity back, the casts breaking much to Emira’s seeming annoyance. “Where were you?”

“We got stuck in the human realm,” Amity said, voice shaky, “Oh, Titan, I'm so glad you're okay, so much has happened! Do you know where dad is?”

Edric frowned, shaking his head best he could. “We haven't been able to find mom, but we’ve seen dad as one of the Collector’s—Amity, what's with that face?”

Amity’s face had dropped, fast, and she hugged her siblings tightly. “I… mom is…”

“Amity?” Emira asked, holding her sister close, “What is it?”

“Mom's dead,” Amity blurted out, wincing at her own words, and the gnawing feeling inside her. It felt more final now than ever. “Mom’s dead, Luz saw it on the Day of Unity, she's…”

Emira blinked once, twice, face darkening a little. “Not funny, you know.”

“I'm not joking.” Amity said, voice cracking, and Emira paused. “I'm not, she's…” She hugged her sister tighter, chest heaving, “She’s gone, Em, I…”

Emira held her sister closer, face flat and seemingly a little lost. “She’s… Titan, what got her?”

“B-Belos,” Amity babbled into Emira’s shoulders, “He got mom, he almost got Luz twice, and now he’s…”

“Shush, shush,” Emira said, eyes welling up as she blinked away the start of her own tears, “Let it out, Mittens, let it out.”

(Matt nudged Luz’s shoulder gently. “I’ll lead you there myself, let’s…”

“Give her a moment, yeah.” Luz said quietly.)

---

An entire forty-five minutes later, Luz scowled at the umpteenth photograph memory to be yanked from her head, before black-and-gold eyes went wide with satisfaction. “Finally, yes!”

She slammed the memory photo on the table hard, trying to ignore the way Camila was studying the photos that came before. The room was getting crowded at this point. Luz and Camila, obviously; Vee had come with Camila, Willow was extracting the memories; Amity and the twins had long rejoined the group, at least one or two good cries later; Gus and Matt were bickering in a way that Luz partially wondered was something more, and Hunter and Flapjack were chatting to each other.

The classroom was not quite big enough for this level of commotion.

“Philip’s glyph to get to the skull.” The Titan said softly, “Does everyone here know the glyphs?”

“Yeah, I know them,” Vee commented, and Camila shook her head, once again feeling out of the loop. Grabbing a loose leaf of paper, Luz sketched a familiar design on the page, one that Camila looked at, triangles and lines within a circle. As Luz tapped it though, nothing happened.

The girl faltered. “Huh?”

“What’s…” Amity looked at the page, tapping it gently. “Still isn’t working.”

Luz suddenly started sketching extra designs, Camila watching with confusion. “Why aren’t they work—” Luz started, tapping the glyph with lots of diamonds in it, when she froze. “The Titan.”

He gave me what was left of his life.

The Titan was dead, Luz realised. And the glyphs had been hers.

“Okay, glyphs are dead, uh, while we figure out how to get to the Skull,” Luz began, before the building shook yet again with a shudder, she stood up with a snap, “What is that?”

“Grom keeps breaking out,” Matt groaned, “I don’t think we’ve gone a week without since the Day of Unity? We had some of the beastkeeping students go after it, but uh… Since one of the Collector’s stars broke the enclosure, it’s only a temporary measure.”

“Yiiiikes,” Luz said, voice full of emotions Camila didn’t recognize, “Guess you need your grom queens, huh?”

“I’m pretty sure everyone’s sick of it at this point,” Matt said, “So yeah, grom queens, help us please?” His voice was overly sarcastic, but Luz looked at Amity with a smile, and the witch nodded back.

“I could take my anger out on Grom again. May I have this dance, Luz?” Amity asked, and suddenly Luz’s eyes went wide.

“Was I the person you wanted to ask the first time?” She asked, and Camila bit back a small laugh. Luz had always been oblivious.

“Of course you were,” Amity said, softly laughing, grabbing Luz’s hand as the two headed down the corridor. “But this time, I’m not scared.”

“It’ll be a quick fight then.” Luz quipped, and the last thing Camila heard was Amity’s smug imagine if it’s the carton of smilk .

“So, what is Grom, exactly?” Camila asked, and Matt’s eyes went wide.

“Oh, yeah, you’re human too,” He commented, “Yeah, so, every year, Hexside has this party called grom night,” he started to explain, “There’s a dance, snacks, awkward photos, people getting stood up, that sorta stuff.”

“That sounds like a thing in the human realm,” Camila finally said, eyes narrowed in suspicion, “We call it prom.”

“Yeah, and then the grom royalty has to fight a shapeshifting monster that turns into your worst fear,” Mattholomule said with a jovial grin that was far too wide for Camila to assume anything but intentional misdirection, “We call it Grometheus.”

“Grom, for short.” Camila said, a begrudging realisation dawning on her.

“Yeah, well, those two handled it fine last time,” Matt said, “Not gonna lie, from everything Gus and I know about the Human Realm, your ‘prom’ thing sounds kinda boring.”

“Safer, too,” Camila added, but she was searching the room for something, “Is there something, do you have the sport baseball here?”

Matt raised an eyebrow. “We’ve got base brawl ,” He offered, “Little stitched ball that you throw really hard and thwack with a long pole, runs to little corners of a field. That kinda thing?”

Camila blinked, once, twice. “Yeah, that’s actually… the same?” There’s quiet. “Do the balls have teeth? Or the bats?” She wagered, and Matt shook his head. “Huh.”

Matt grinned, stamping the ground hard with a slung spell circle, and a hefty-looking stone bat rose from the ground, the witch looking all too pleased with himself. Camila gladly took it, and without further ado, she started marching down the hallway her daughter had gone down.

Camila could hear screaming coming down from one of the hallways, and she couldn’t deny she was a bit startled to hear it already. The echo of the room must’ve been tremendous, for the double-harmony to reach all the way.

She followed the voice, and it grew to a crescendo at the doors to the gymnasium. Slamming open the doors, she froze.

There Amity stood in front of Luz, a sword in her hand, facing a tower of purple-black ooze, of which at the top rested… Luz, skin flaked with chips of stone, her legs rigidly locked to the ground.

“A-Amity,” The copy-Luz said, voice nothing but desperate, “You said you’d save us…” The copy coughed, a cloud of dust, and with a sharp grin, the copy suddenly reached, knocking Amity to the side, the witch hitting the wall with a sickening crack that made Camila’s stomach churn.

Luz took a step, looking back at her girlfriend nervously, and the copy of her chuckled, taking the opportunity to let purple ooze strike at the girl’s furry body, and Camila nearly screamed, but after a second, the monster let her daughter go, and it twisted with sickening cracks and horrifying squelches into…

Her.

“I’m glad you ran away, mija,” Copy-Camila claimed, and Luz seemed to shake, “It was the best thing that could’ve happened,”

Camila tried to move, she tried, her feet felt locked up, and she was but a witness to the fight.

“Y-you’re not Camila!” Luz screamed, while the real Camila could only watch, unable to get her legs to cooperate, muévete, maldita sea . “Stop it, I’m not—”

“–welcome, Luz.” The copy cut her off, coiling and cascading across the cold tiles, her own face staring into hers. “You’re not welcome.”

The copy completely swirled and shifted, looking more and more human, and it stared at Luz. “I have the best daughter I could want, Luz—”

“You’re not her, you’re just Grom,” Luz cried out, running a hand through her hair. Hearing it spoken, her heart froze. This was Luz’s greatest fear. She had made it reality, hadn’t she?

“I have Vee,” The copy said, its body taking steps that only looked vaguely human. “I don’t need a witch daughter, so why would I—”

“No, we just…” Luz’s gaze was unfocused. “Please, I can prove myself—”

“I don’t care, Luz.” The copy said bluntly, and Camila’s chest caught on fire. Legs finally working, she stepped in front of her daughter, Luz’ startled reaction evident enough she hadn’t known her mother was here.

“Mami?” She breathed, and Camila turned briefly.

“Tend to Amity,” She said, and Luz nodded, bolting over to her girlfriend. Before she could back around, she felt the cold feeling of slime against her arm, and she turned to watch the creature shift and twist, resembling…

Camila knew her greatest fear.

Right on cue, the human Luz Noceda stared back at her, a sharp grin on her face.

“You followed me?” The copy asked, voice two-tone but recognizable, and Luz turned at the voice, shock in her eyes while the doppelganger spoke in disbelief. “You actually followed me!”

“I…” She tried to keep reason, this is just a copy, this isn’t— “I had to, Luz…”

“Can you not take a hint? Or are you just gullible?” Copy-Luz asked, voice bitter, a small animated hand gesture that was so much like Luz in a way that broke whatever illusion Camila had of separating the two, “You don’t actually think I’m choosing you after all this, right? No, we’ll deal with the Collector, and then… Well, you’ll need to find a portal home I guess.”

“I’m sorry, mija,” Camila said, and her voice wobbled. Rationally, she knew this wasn’t Luz, but maybe it was just something innate about the shapeshifter, but Camila could not process that truth, even hearing Luz behind her wasn’t enough to break the illusion. “I just wanted—”

“You wanted me gone, and don’t worry, Noceda,” Copy-Luz said, and the words were so unlike her, so wrong , yet Camila’s heart ripped clean in half anyway at hearing her, their last name of Luz’s mouth like that, “I’ve got a new family, a new body, a new world to call my home! I thought I needed you, but you kicking me out? Best thing that ever happened to me!”

“ I need you, Luz, you don’t know how much I—”

“The same way you needed dad?” Copy-Luz asked, and it chuckled. “The one you got over, and then you buried everything you shared together in the basement? You needed him?”

Camila swallowed, swaying a little, gripping the baseball like iron in one hand, her other hand’s grasp of the handle weaker than she could afford. She couldn’t, no matter how much the words out of Luz’s mouth proved it wasn’t Luz, no matter how wrong Luz looked, no matter the rational argument…

Camila couldn’t bring herself to swing at her daughter.

“You know, I wish he was here instead. He’d have understood. He wouldn’t have to try.” Copy-Luz said, “He’d have kept our family together—”

A jet of fire streaked across the air, lodging itself in the face of Luz’s human face, and Camila turned to see her real daughter, fluffy and Titanish, with a furious expression, smoke curling from her claws.

The fear monster twisted and churned, and Camila stepped back, gripping the bat tightly.

“Luz?”

“Amity will be fine,” Luz said, “Let’s finish this.”

“I don’t know how to fight this, Luz,”

“Then guard her.” She said, and she broke out in a run, Titan claws beared as she leaped with supernatural force, fluid skin outreaching to strike back. With a twirl of Luz’s fingers, a long skewer of ice appeared in her right head, and she drove it through the beas. Hanging on from the shard, she used her left hand to dig deep into the chest of her double, the beast locking up, flinching.

Grometheus exploded in a burst of purple, Luz hitting the ground with a skid, but the fluid reformed, and Luz’s skin went a slightly sky-blue, blood draining from her face. “We exploded it last time.” Luz said aloud, and Camila assumed Luz meant when she and Amity had dealt with it however long ago. “Okay, that’s…”

Grometheus twisted and twirled, returning to Luz’s human form. The real Luz’s hand shone as twin skewers of ice filled her hands, wielding them like swords. “You don’t get to impersonate me or Camila, Grom. Not anymore.”

As the ground grew frosty, glazed with crystally ice, Luz skidded around the beast, dragging rakes of ice into the towering creature, the ice encroaching up the structure, only for Luz to falter, eyes wide in horror watching the cold ice creep up the side of her doppelganger.

She slid to the ground, eyes dazed, and Camila watched with a bit of horror as the towering beast twisted on its ‘heel’, ice shattering helplessly, and it advanced for Luz, caught in a daze.

Camila didn’t know why she took the shot, in the slightest. But she flung the baseball bat like a projectile, watching it soar through the air and hit the beast in the back of the head.

Grometheus turned to face the assailant, and Camila swallowed.

This is how I die, she thought.

Suddenly, a vine reached from the ground, wrapping around the arm of the beast, and while its form melted to slip out of the thorny grasp, it bought time. Camila’s eyes darted back to Luz, fear and panic on her face as her wrist glew green, slamming a smear of brownish magic into the ground, a cylinder of rock rising up to barricade against the beast.

Luz ran over, barely allowing herself to skid to a stop when she grabbed Amity off the ground, the shallow breaths of her breathing having to be enough for now, and she bolted, Camila following after as Grometheus tore through the barricade.

“Damn it, okay,” Luz was panting, hard, “Can’t freeze, can’t use plants, can’t blow it up,” She was rattling things off, seemingly more for her benefit then Camila’s or the unconscious Amity’s.

“Mija, where are we going—”

“I don’t know, okay?” Luz said, “I don’t know how to stop Grom, beat it, and I don’t know how to fix this!!”

Camila paused. “Fix what?”

Luz’s hands were full, but she thrust one foot into a locker with a mortifying force, the faint sound of a hinge buckling as it opened into an Escher staircase wonderland of doorways and passages.

The magic school has a secret room of rooms, Camila realised. Made enough sense, actually.

Doors rent open, and Luz charged inside, resting Amity against a section of the wall safely, running clawed hands through fluffy patches.

“I can’t fix this, Camila, I can’t!” Luz said, “I can’t stop Grom, I can’t stop Philip, the Collector, I can’t be normal, I can’t—”

“Normal?”

“Look at me!!” Luz snapped, “You ignored the red flags with Vee for months, mom, but look at me! I’m… I’m a Titan, I’m not the daughter you raised.”

“You’re still my Luz, and you always will be.”

“I can’t even be human! I’m not human, Camila!” Luz said, and she would’ve never imagined saying that with so much pain in her voice, “I’m a Titan now, I can do magic, I’m not— I’m not human!”

“And that’s okay,” Camila said, and Luz was abruptly quiet, feeling for a brief moment like a young child who hadn’t died twice before, hadn’t fought emperors and monsters, hadn’t been sent away, hadn’t lost her dad. For the briefest of moments, Luz felt free of everything.

“I love you, not your grades, not who I tried to make you.” Camila said, “Not that you’re human, or that you’re not. I love the girl who’s creative and likes convoluted fantasy books and edits clips of her shows to music. I love the girl who does anything for her friends, regardless of realm, regardless of why. This whole… Boiling Isles, it’s a lot to take in, yeah, but it doesn’t change that I love you , Luz, just the way you are, and I’m so sorry for telling you otherwise.”

“You…”

“You’ve been hurting so long, Luz, and that’s my fault. I never told you that my love for you is unconditional, no matter what foolish, stupid thing I might say.” Camila said, “I named you Luz for a reason, mija. Trajiste luz a mi vida.”

For a moment, the two are quiet, and then, out of the blue, Luz hugged Camila tightly, chest heaving, the young witch towering over her mother. The sound of 

“T-thank you…” The girl sniffled, blinking away tears once, twice, swallowing slowly, she opened her mouth, voice faint. “I think… that’s all I ever wanted.” Luz admitted, and Camila looked at Luz.

Suddenly, the pouch on Luz’s waist glowed brightly, and Luz stood up, staggering a bit away as it shone brighter and brighter.

“My palisman.” Luz murmured, “They never hatched, I don’t even know if Philip knew they were alive or not…”

“Your…” Camila stared at the radiant light as Luz dug it out from her pouch, a long wooden staff extending outwards. At the end of the staff, where a carved creature should’ve been hovering, instead radiant a small sun, bright and blinding and simply looking at it left afterimages in Camila’s eyes when she blinked.

“Hola pequeño,” Luz murmured, eyes too close to the orb for Camila’s comfort, “I can’t wait to meet you.”

Luz held up the staff, smiling widely. “Ready for your first adventure, little guy?” Camila looked at Luz with a bit of wonder, and Luz’s face grew a bit blueish in a blush. “They, uh… awaken when you realise your deepest want.”

Unconditional love.

Camila nodded. “How do we kill this thing?”

“Sit back and watch this, mama,” Luz said proudly. Stepping out of the nearest door, Camila froze, watching her daughter step into the hallway, facing against the large shape of Grometheus, who was ripping through the hallways like it supposedly had months prior.

Twirling the staff almost casually, a trained and fluid gesture that Camila was positive Luz had learned from someone else, her daughter grinned, the white light around the orb quickly saturated with violets and golds.

“Hey, Grom?”

The figure turned, form amorphous and intangible, and Luz smirked.

“You’re done impersonating my family.”

The palisman staff glew brighter, brighter, bright enough that Camila closed her eyes and the light was still burning through her, and the entire school was hit by a deafening bang, a rattle, a burst of wind that knocked Camila to the ground.

Camila opened her eyes hesitantly, gasping loudly. In the place where Grom once stood, now it, as well as approximately three flights of stairs, two dozens lockers, and a huge chunk of several floors were all gone, a giant circular crater in their wake, the edges hissing with purple glow.

Luz looked like she hadn’t broken a sweat, and she stared at the glowing light, one that was now comfortable to look at, and she swore under her breath.

“Is that what a palisman can do?” Camila asked, voice filled with startle, trying to think of why she hadn’t seen any of Luz’s friends do this in the graveyard, and Luz shook her head confused, before eyes went wide with glee.

“Oh my, look at it, look mama!” Luz said excitedly, and Camila watched as the orb subsided completely, in its place being a cute little snake that swirled and danced around the staff it called home, its body slightly amorphous.

“Hola Stringbean, te quiero.” Luz murmured, “Her name is Stringbean.”

Camila’s heart melted a little, looking at the purple snake. “You’ve always loved snakes.”

“She’s a snakeshifter,” Luz said proudly, and Camila didn’t need to be a vet to put together what that might mean. “C’mon, let’s introduce you to everyone else!” She said excitedly, smiling wide, and Camila turned to look at the crater, unable to ignore the faint echo of eat this, sucka that she could have imagined her daughter saying proudly.

She followed behind a moment later.

---

“Guys, we’re back!” Luz said, carrying Amity, whose face was tomato red, in her arms.

“Why the bridal carries?” Vee asked, and Luz blushed too, face going blue.

“She got injured,” Luz said shyly, and before any more comments could be made — although, Willow and Gus absolutely snickered — Luz smiled as the small purple snakeshifter flew from her fluff. Without letting go of Amity, Luz extended one of her arms, the snakeshifter transforming into its full staffed form in Luz’s hand. “Everyone, meet Stringbean!”

“I was barely awake,” Amity teased, and Luz’s blush grew deeper.

“Is she a snakeshifter?” Hunter asked, and Luz raised an eyebrow. “Studied wild magic, remember?”

Vee, meanwhile, looked on the verge of tears, and Luz locked eyes with her sister. “Come here, Vee,” Luz said softly, and in a true masterclass of dexterity, Luz wrapped the arm holding Stringbean around her older sister in a tight hug, without letting go of anyone. “Te quiero, hermana.”

After a tenative moment, Vee let go, and Luz smiled wide. “Plus, I know how we’re gonna get to the Skull. Can’t believe it didn’t hit me sooner.”

“How, if the glyphs don’t work?” Hunter asked, and Luz smirked, wielding the staff up high.

“We have staffs!” Luz said cheerfully, “We can fly there. It’ll take longer, but…” She turned to face the tiara adorning the Skull. “We’re coming for you, guys.”

“You know, Eda and King are gonna love her.” Amity pointed out with a chuckle.

“I can’t wait to show them.” Luz said.

“Hooty might eat her.”

“So might King and Eda,” Luz chuckled, before slowly settling Amity down, her own palisman extending into staff form for her to hop on.

“We’ve got a long flight ahead of us,” She said, patting the back half of Stringbean’s staff for Camila and Vee, smiling wider and more genuinely than Camila had seen in a long time.

---

His head was silent. For that, he was so grateful.

Centuries he had been living, and centuries the chatter of woodland critters grew louder, louder. One should not have to monologue to drown out the noise of the damned, but wild magic be.

And finally, it was quiet . For once, Philip Wittebane could think and not need to scream over his own mind.

And in that silent reprieve, he saw clear. Perhaps God was absentee after all. One a many heretic had spouted that drivel, and for so long he had blindly doubted the sham from their lips. But perhaps they were right.

God was absent. If he wasn’t, after all, then why not aid His favourite son in his conquest, why side with the Spaniard and the rest of her kind? Why witches, and palismen, and demons and the damned be on course to prosper?

God had failed Philip Wittebane. And in the perfect silence, so holy in its nature, he turned to the unholy. To a morning star cast down, to discarding the faith he had trusted so long.

God was unfaithful. God was among men, among Titans, among tablets.

Shambling arms, limbs, legs, stepped into the Archives, and a dirty, mucky trail of green followed his every step. It mattered not.

This was His work, and tonight, it would be finished.

“If you want to get to the Collector,” Kikimora was hissing, a priestess of the Archives in her new life it seemed, and Philip could feel somewhere in the tendrils of rot the pain of the sigil the human gave him burning, “You’ll have to go through me, Belos!”

“King, where are you?” The starchild was asking, and Philip wanted to roll his eyes at the Collector’s nonstop petulance.

Instead, the rothulk twisted his head to the side, then shrugged in a gesture that was maybe too much for him now, the left arm of his body losing cohesion and starting to slide downwards.

“If you insist, Kiki.” Philip growled, and his body shifted, the weight of bone giving out as it was consumed by the acidic surface of his ‘skin’, a thin beam to rot rushing outwards, and Kikimora gave a wheezy gasp. She swayed a little as the bone and gunk reconciled in a vaguely-solid, vaguely-breathing mass.

Kikimora’s hands drifted to the hole that had been punctured in her chest, and she swayed to her left a bit more, a bit more, and she landed on the ground in a heap.

The Collector, to his credit, looked horrified, “Don’t worry, I can fix this!” They said proudly, spinning their fingertips. But Kikimora didn’t move. “H-hold on–”

“Do you not understand this?” Philip asked, voice low and perplexed, but the Collector didn’t reply, spinning circles after circle trying to ‘repair’ Kikimora. Philip chuckled.

“Why isn’t she waking up!?” The Collector asked, and Philip tilted his head to the side, annoyed slightly at the way the omnipresent piano that surrounded the starchild seemed to pick up, the blind performer losing their place in the symphony.

“Some toys can’t be fixed, Collector.”

“No, that’s not— Wake up, Kiki!! Wake up!” The star-child looked distressed, the Archives and their walls shuddering in time with the Collector’s now rapidly-rising, rapidly-falling chest, hyperventilation messing with the palace’s ventilation. 

“It’s called death.” Philip said, and without a second warning, he shot the bolt of rot that was himself towards the Collector, the star-child flailing as the green punctured his skin, weaving its way into the skin of the Archivist.

Right on cue, Philip’s nerves felt aglow, he was feeling things he had never realised he was going without. The way wind felt like a breeze of his old skin was how time and truth cascaded off him now, pain and pleasure but two sensations among the more abstract ones like status and promise.

The Collector was ancient and incomprehensible to Philip, to even the Titans that had locked them away. Philip could see through eyes that weren’t his the way things lined up, each grain of dust along the walls and every path it had ever taken to get here like a high-exposure photo on every inch of every surface.

It was too much, Philip realised, if his body had tried to take this all in, it would’ve killed him long before. But to the Collector, this was normal, this was the baseline of a child Archivist. This wasn’t just ascension, Philip realised, this was full-on replacement of his Holy Spirit.

He had forgotten what it felt like to be alive. He wondered if he had ever known before. He wondered if anyone would ever again.

“It’s called death,” He repeated, his voice now juvenile and high, and while he hated the way the words sounded in his mouth, there was an exhilarating feeling in speaking as god, hearing an maddening piano solo twist and change to suit a new conductor. “And I think it’s about time you get a full demonstration.”

 

Notes:

And that is For the Future! The last of the plot is next chapter, but to address this one first.

Yes, it's weird. The issue is For the Future wants to address a couple specific plot beats that are being skipped and not discussed here, like the whole Willow breakdown thing, because the catalyst just didn't *work* thematically. Ultimately, it took quite a bit of restructuring to make this chapter have a plot at all, with Grom.

Not super happy with this chapter, honestly, but I was unsure how to really handle it, aside from a handful of moments that I'm hoping carry it, mainly the Grom Fight and Luz and Camila talking things out.

Also, I'm sorry Collector fans but I mean, there's no Titan now...

Sorry this chapter was a bit disappointing, but if it's any consolation, we're nearly ready for the final chapters, the celebrations that they are. I will see you all next chapter, for the penultimate chapter of Ended in the Rain, Watching and Dreaming, Exegesis!!!

Chapter 16: Exegesis

Summary:

The final battle.

Notes:

Content warning: This chapter features mentions of character death, mainly Odalia’s and Luz’s too temporary death; it features a brief and mild return of Luz’s suicidal ideation; and in typical Philip fashion, his racism, genocidal plans, religiously-fuelled motives, and him possessing the Collector and the associated injury and manipulation of a child(-like entity).

The Skull was a sizable flight away from Hexside, Luz realised, and there was something almost therapeutic in pointing to familiar landscapes of her past few months, and likely forever.

“That’s the clearing where the Bonesborough Brawl took place,” Luz said, pointing down below at a seemingly random section of grass, before moving her finger just a little bit over. “And I know that because you see that cherry blossom tree?”

“Si?” Camila asked, holding tightly to Luz’s shoulders, teeth grit from a sudden fear of heights, “Y-yeah, I didn’t think those would grow here.”

“They don’t,” Luz said, and Camila could hear the smile, “Me and Amity grew that together.”

“I thought she was…” Camila paused, trying to remember the name, “Abominations?”

“That’s why it's pinkish and stuff.” Luz said, frowning. “Plant magic here is green. Don’t know why. But we blew up Grom and turned it into a tree.”

“…is that a fear tree?” Camila asked, and Luz gave a soft laugh, frowning.

“She was with me under that tree when… on the day he…” Luz started, swallowing, “Dad.” She finished simply, and Camila nodded with understanding.

“You’ve had a lot of adventures here, huh, mija?” Camila said, and perhaps she had known it rationally before, but to actually see landmarks of Luz’s time in the Demon Realm made it feel real and a bit more comfortable. Prove she had survived, or at least would going forward.

“Yeah, when this is done, I… Can I tell you some of them?”

Camila’s heart warmed a little. “I’d love that.”

“Tell her about when you were my homework,” Willow called out over the clearing from the left, and Camila heard spluttering from Amity to the right.

“Please don’t,” The abomination witch said, and Luz chuckled.

“How can you be homework,” Vee asked, and Amity groaned, “And why is she embarrassed?”

“I pretended to be Willow’s abomination, since she was on that track at the time, and Willow passed me off as her abomination.” Luz recounted, voice tinged with nostalgia, “Amity was still a stickler for the rules back then, so she got mad because Willow was cheating.”

“You took my top student badge!” Amity called out, and Luz snickered.

“Wow, that is really skewed, you’re down bad, huh?” Gus commented, and Hunter seemed to say something, his words lost in the wind and distance, the two boys entering a quieter conversation.

The chattering among witches and demons and human (singular) continued, soaring through the clear skies as they approached the shattered skull of the long-departed Titan. Luz’s breathing was a little easier, hearing her friends and first family at ease.

As they started nearing the Skull, Luz took slow deep breaths, not thrilled to return to the place she had died two months prior. 

“Okay, guys,” Luz said shakily, pulling into the area, “I don’t know what’ll be in here, it could be anything.” She said, coming to a slower halt and letting Camila and Vee climb off. “Amity, be careful, uh…”

“Here, right?” Amity’s voice cracked with emotion, and Luz nodded.

“It looks wrong ,” Hunter said, “It’s… it’s so open . This is supposed to be a sanctum , sacred ground, pristine, and it’s…”

“He probably just said that to keep people away from the Collector,” Gus pointed out somberly, and small mumbles of affirmation waved across the group.

“To be honest, we’ve all got a lot to learn about what the world really is,” Willow said, “Titan, it all feels horrible looking back.”

“Mom was right about the covens,” Luz said, leaping off the palisman, and Camila’s heart ached, but as Luz looked at her with guilt, the older woman nodded in approval. “No good, just a trick, the whole thing. She was right , and she’s never gonna anyone else live it down.”

“Yeah, but Eda commits tax fraud, Luz.”

“You have taxes here?” Vee asked with a jolt, and Luz turned around, a light chuckle.

“You said that so happily .” Luz said with humour in her tone, “Reality Check was fun then?”

“Oh, it was the best,” Vee said, and Luz hugged the basilisk tightly.

“Glad you got to go,” Luz said, and to Vee’s own surprise, there wasn’t any resentment in that sentence, one that would’ve been laced with sarcastic anger two months prior. “I’m glad, hermana.” As Luz pulled away, she noticed Vee’s eyes water, and the basilisk wiped at her eyes with her sleeve.

Swivelling back to the main atrium, Luz looked around, the tiara-shaped building that apparently had been dubbed the Archives ringing around the top of the Titan’s Skull proudly, ominously even.

“You know what, can I say it?” Gus asked, continuing straight on, “It looks better this way. All sorts of, like, criminal rustic. Eda would love this place now.”

“And the Titan thought Eda was cool, so that works out.” Luz commented.

“How do we get up there?” Hunter asked, holding Flapjack high, “Do we just use our palismen again?”

“I guess?” Willow wondered, “Why didn’t we go there?”

“We’re in a better spot now,” Hunter said, his tone a little more militaristic than the boy usually sounded, but vaguely softer than the trained soldier cadence Luz had heard him use before. She wondered if it was subconscious. “The most tactical place is the middle, the exterior of the Archives is likely being monitored.”

“Unless the Collector knows that too,” Camila pointed out, “In which case the middle would be overprotected.”

“Why not evenly shield, in which case, the middle is no weaker—” Hunter started, and Luz cut him off softly.

“The Collector acts like their, like, eight , you two.” Luz pointed out with a chuckle, “I don’t think they’re exactly a strategist.”

“Unless they want to look eight.” Camila added with a chuckle, and at Hunter’s eyes lighting up, Luz could see the exact same expression on Camila’s face that Luz herself got when she found a chance to talk about Azura. The Cosmic Frontier series she had mentioned likely had equally-elaborate worldbuilding, Luz supposed.

“Guys, are we heading up,” Luz started, but she froze. “W-wait, do you guys hear footsteps?”

Luz gripped Stringbean tightly, taking a step, and as she turned past one piece of debris, the tail end of the staff sparked with purple light.

“Weh, guys, it’s me!” A familiar voice rang out, and Luz let go of Stringbean, the snakeshifter returning to a living form before hitting the ground, swirling around Luz.

“King, I’m glad you’re okay!!” Luz said, not even grabbing Stringbean fully, instead opting to let the palisman catch up to her as she grabbed King in a tight hug, swirling around as she held the smaller Titan, his face muddled with confusion at the voice.

“L-Luz, is that you ?” He asked, and Luz giggled!

“You’ll never believe this, but I met your dad!” Luz said, and King froze.

“W-what?”

“I…” Luz’s face paled, going a softer sky-blue, before she gave a forced smile. “It’s been a busy few months. I sorta kinda died again, and your dad saved me. He loved you, King.”

“He… did?” The smaller Titan asked with what looked like hope in his eyes.

“Or she, both work.” Luz added, shrugging, “But yeah. He would’ve loved to play catch, she’s proud of you, and… And I swear on everything, King, he said he loafs you.”

“He…” King looked up at her, his eyes already growing a bit wet. “He… Heh, bread puns,” He choked out with a happy sob, clinging to Luz’s leg in a tight hug.

“Bread puns, King. He was always watching, I guess.” Luz said, smiling, as she stood up. “Wait, where’s mom? Is she okay?”

“Yeah, Raine… kept their promise.” King said with relief, voice still wobbly with emotion, and Luz nodded. She had known, but this confirmation in the land of living was a miracle. “I can bring you to her,” King said proudly, “We’ve been hiding in the walls of the Archives, you’d be surprised how spacious it is.”

“Okay, everyone, here’s the plan!” Luz said proudly, “We’ll find Eda, we’ll storm the Archives, and we’ll free everyone.”

“And then we can seal up the Collector again—” Hunter started, but King faced him with conviction

“No.” King said sternly, and Luz’s chest swell with pride on Eda’s behalf. “The Collector, he’s… he’s just a kid, they’re not trying to hurt anyone, he can’t even hurt me…” He turned to face Luz, “Or you, probably.”

“We’re gonna… try and talk him down.” Luz said, lifting King up onto her shoulders, the smaller Titan wheee -ing as he went up — clearly, some of the ‘play’ was still running through his system.

“We can go with—”

“No!” Two voices said at once, and King continued, “The Collector can’t kill us, can’t hurt us, it has to be us, in case they… throw a temper tantrum.”

“Well, that explains something!!” A high-strung high pitched voice rung out, and Luz looked up, King clinging to her horns for a second before he let go, hitting the ground with a soft thud.

“Collector?” King asked, but Luz froze, eyes wide with faint realisation, a cadence or tone, the way the Collector’s eyes pierced through her soul in a brilliant blue.

“The human’s a Titan now?” ‘The Collector’ asked, but Luz stepped between King and the starchild, Stringbean in staff form.

“L-Luz?” King sounded confused, and why wouldn’t he be? The Collector was innocent, and if they were in control, there’d be nothing to fear.

“You know how I said I died, King?”

“Y-yeah,” came the shaky reply, clear in King’s voice he didn’t want to think of that again.

“Philip possessed me.” Luz said, voice faint, and the unspoken echoes through the room, just the same as looming dread and worry, all while the hovering god clapped their hands slowly, dramatically, before snarling, leaning upright with a face flooded with determination.

“I see the folly of my ways, Spaniard,” ‘The Collector’ growled, Philip growled, the voice high and bouncing, the vitriol rolled between syllables wrong in the starchild’s mouth. “Perhaps God himself is in need of replacement.” Luz’s eyes went wide, staring up with horror, unable to fight back. “As the child says, time for a different game.”

They snapped, and the puppet strings in her head that let her cling to consciousness snapped in time, the world smash cutting to black.

---

Luz’s eyes opened wide to a dark gilded room, golden trim and golden floors and golden walls, the all-encompassing metallic touch lining everything, dark gloomy lighting through flickering candlelight illuminating the shiny metal in a range of hues.

Luz stood up, eyes wide as she scrambled at the silky ivory robes on her body, soft and delicate and pleasant against her fluffy skin, the sigil of the Emperor’s Coven looking up at her. Running her boney hands through a segment of the fabric, she stood in shock that the hands didn’t pierce the flimsy-feeling material.

She wanted these robes off, but she couldn’t. She had to leave first, and get into safer territory than this gilded place, coven signs staring back at her, a pyramid of fear that ran through her nerves. Her claws glided smoothly against the floor, the droning heartbeat of a god thundering in her head, as she landed squarely on the ground, eyes dazed.

Gold stared back.

“W-where am I?” She asked, voice echoing effortlessly in the empty chamber, “Is this real… What happened?”

A small hiss was audible by her ear, and Luz turned around, feeling a small nip, looking at the small shape of her newly-faithful companion.

“Stringbean, it’s you!” She said happily, “I missed you, you sweet little power noodle… But…”

Luz stood up, a small sway in her motions, “But where is everyone?”

A small hiss from Stringbean, affirming her confusion, and Luz shook her head. Ignoring the way the ivory cloak glided smoothly against the pristine floor, free of dust and debris; ignoring the way her steps hit the hard ground with a bit of reverb and echo, each step grander and more real than the last, she started walking.

The castle was deserted. Painfully deserted, really. Despite it being free of even a speck of dust, the castle was devoid of life, even devoid of wind not brought up by the whirl of Luz’s robes. The sound of Luz’s foot was all for miles, and she wandered through the hallways of a building she had never truly known like this, seeing the stained glass murals.

Dressed in ivory robes, a humanoid figure standing proudly, orbs of light hung perilously in the air, to the mane Luz recognized as Evelyn’s, as Eda’s. But with each subsequent mural, her hopes plummeted further. Her and Philip, fighting over the Collector, a centerpiece in a game of tug of war that was only four months ago, four hundred years ago.

A humanoid silhouette, in a duel with Amity. The defeat of a basilisk. Ice glyphs twinkling on the Knee.

These were not Philip’s stained glass windows, not all of them, she realised with a jolt, and her feet moved faster. When did he install these, she wondered morbidly, and why did anyone let him? These are my adventures.

And the murals that did depict the ivory robes were wrong, crowds of people ridiculing the Emperor, the Emperor fighting Hunter or maybe yet one of the countless Golden Guards. Her heart sank, and turning the last corridor before the labyrinth’s exit, her hopes crashed into the ground at terminal speeds.

With pure fear, stared up at a scene, immortalised in glass, a bluish house on a bluish road, a bluish window, the scene illuminated in vibrant oranges by a human realm streetlamp, the undisputable face and form of Camila Noceda standing desperately, begging ivory robes some promise that glass couldn’t translate.

Her claws tugged on the ivory fabric around her neck and arms again, staring at the glass so long she could see sketches and doodles in her own eyes staring back, lines and diamonds not unlike her light glyph boring holes in the glass panes.

She had to get out of here.

Stepping out the doors of the Castle to a thunderstorm — a regular, human realm thunderstorm, cold rain soaking into her fur, she looked around at the bridge to the Castle, chest aching. Beneath her — her feet swayed, she nearly fell in — beneath her, she saw, people she knew, people she loved, people she hated, bodies frozen in beautiful stone, the stone that Luz herself had escaped by fluke months prior.

Looking up, Luz’s heart sang in her relief. “Amity!!” She said, calling out to the figure up ahead, who was turned to bear witness to the crackling lightning.

“You know, Luz,” Amity said with a sad chuckle, and Luz was taken aback by how her words felt bubbly , almost as if Amity was saying them beneath water, the sound gurgling yet clear as crystal, “Before you showed up, it all made sense.”

“What do you mean, Ami?” Luz asked, and when Amity turned around to face her partner, her eyes were filled with contempt, hate, but most of all, regret .

“I was gonna be a coven head, I was gonna excel. I was top of my class, everything.” Amity said coldly. “And then you showed up.”

“Amity?” Luz asked, voice shaky. “What… what’s going on?”

“Before you came along, my life was made.” Amity said, before choking on a sob. “I had a mother, a future. And now, that's yours. You even get to be a real witch… and I just get to watch.”

“Amity, that’s not what I tried to do!” Luz insisted, taking a step forward on the bridge, and Amity shook her head.

“I tried my best.” Amity said, before adding sorrowfully, “I’m sorry, Luz.” With a grand swirl of Ghost, Luz barely had time to throw up a wall of rock — don’t think about what it had to go through to get this high, Luz — that shielded from a wall of sharp abomination fluid that consolidated, wrapping thickly around the rock and heaving it up.

Luz panicked, staggering back, and she felt a part of her deep inside flash her life before her eyes as she slammed the Castle doors shut, hearing a heavy thud slam against the wood.

“S-Stringbean,” Luz panted, “What the hell did I do?”

A hiss of confusion, and Luz sighed. Turning back to the wooden door, hearing wet slams of abomination fluid crash against its surface, Luz stepped back, ivory robes slipping beneath her heel, and she stumbled and crashed, somehow for miles, until she comfortably hit a mossy floor.

Standing up and brushing herself off, Luz looked around, seeing the familiar trees of Willow’s mindscape.

“What the… Am I…” Luz looked around, Stringbean turning to staff form in her hand. “Where are we? We were just inside the Castle…” Swirling on her heel, Luz’s eyes went wide with relief.

“Willow, Titan, I missed you,” Luz said, voice a scrambled flurry, “Amity’s acting strange, and the Castle—”

“You need our help a lot, don’t you, Luz?” Like Amity, Willow’s words were a clear gurgle, and Luz froze.

“Will’?”

“Oh, sneak me into Hexside,” Willow said, turning around, eyes shining a bright green, “Oh, help me fight a basilisk; oh, the Emperor’s a psychopath and your covens are broken and the human realm is a sham.”

“Willow, what are you—”

“And we help you.” Willow said, cutting Luz off, green vines trickling up behind the plant witch, “Because you’re our friend , and so we bottle up our own worries, until you leech all the nutrients from us, until all that’s left are hollow shells, and you act better than the Emperor?”

“Willow, please, I can help , you just need to tell me—”

“Tell you what?” Willow asked, voice a faint sneer, “If I tell you I want you gone, what world really wants you back, Luz?”

Luz was quiet, watching with fear as Willow’s hands tightened, a nearly-bolt of thorny vines, oozing with some sappy fluid, a sharp tendril of green skewing past Luz’s face, narrowly missing the girl’s eye. Luz instead nearly folded, clutching the left side of her head, fingers wet from blue blood staring back at her.

“Willow, stop it, I can fix this!” Luz asked, and with a whimper of desperation, she twirled Stringbean in a wide circle, slamming it down hard, and willingly some innate part of her that was maybe-Titan, maybe desperate, to be willed elsewhere and elsewhen.

The world shuddered, a golden gleam, and Luz lost her balance, boney feet hitting the wooden floorboards of… Hexside’s gymnasium?

Her eyes squeezed shut, a bright radiance blinding her as she stared out into a crowd.

“Look, everyone, it’s good ol’ Luz!” Gus’s voice rang out with a sloshy echo, and with a chunky whir of machinery, a second light was cast on her friend, decked out in a snazzy blue suit Luz remembered seeing him wear to Grom.

Luz bit her tongue, dreading the worst.

“And you know what I never expected from the human realm?” Gus addressed the audience, cadence calm and cool, “Any lucky guesses from those in the crowd?”

Luz took a step, and Gus turned around on the tips of his toes, a wry smile on his face. “That’s right! I always thought humans were so different from us, but then I found a human just, like, me!”

Luz’s heart warmed a little, “Thanks, G—”

Speaking right over Luz, Gus turned back to the audience. “A loner, an outcast, obsessed with pointless skills and other worlds, always thinking life could have been that little bit better.” Luz’s chest sank. “But at least I didn’t abandon the only parent I had left, at least I didn’t doom the world I always dreamed of seeing. But hey, it’s like the human realm saying goes,” Gus said, voice a trained cadence, soft and light even still, “The grass is greener on the other side.”

Without turning back to face her, Luz heard her friend give a dark chuckle. “Isn’t that right, Luz?” With a snap of his fingers, the wooden boards beneath her vanished in a puff of blue, and she instantly winced, feeling the ground of a wooden boat’s flooring and deck rush up to her face.

The ship swayed, and with all the shuffling of space Luz had been stumbling through blindly, her stomach was queasy beyond words — did she get seasick now? — gripping the surface of the boat firmly. She looked to her side, seeing Hunter lean over it.

“She’s not that bad, is she?” Hunter asked, voice still wet and warbling, “From the way you always talked about Camila, you made her sound worse than him .”

“I—” Luz tried to open her mouth, but her stomach roiled, and she felt Stringbean nuzzle into her fluff to try and ground her. Hunter took her silence to keep going.

“Only to be met with the kindest woman I’ve ever met.” Hunter said, giving a wry chuckle as he stared over the edge of Salty’s ship. “She invited us in, fed us, and she didn’t even ask to spend a day with her daughter. She let us, she let you , walk all over her. And you haven’t been scarred, maimed, killed, time and time again.”

Luz squeezed her eyes shut, the churning of the tide churning her, and she heard Hunter’s almost apathetic response to her own unspoken words, cadence akin to the Golden Guard. “You made my uncle a monster, his curse is because of you , these scars are your fault, Luz. And when you think of it like that, Camila only did what was right, didn’t she?”

The tide stopped twisting, and Luz opened her eyes softly, blinking away the suddenly bright lights that were blinding her. Between one blink and the next, she saw herself standing in the living room of the Noceda residence back on Earth.

“Hi, Luz.” Vee’s voice came, and Luz spun, only to stagger back again when she saw herself in human form only a few inches from her face.

“Vee, oh, I've missed you!”

“You have?” Vee’s voice came, and Luz wouldn't lie that it was discomforting hearing the wrong voice from that shape, even without the torrential undertones. 

“Everyone else is acting weird, and… I trust you, Vee, what’s happening ?”

“Then why did you leave me?”

“Leave you?”

“Camila’s so bad, your life in the human realm is so bad, huh?” Vee asked, a snarl in her voice as she took a step forward, pointing a finger at Luz’s chest accusingly. “So bad that you damned me to it?”

“Huh? Vee, I'm sorry, I didn't want you to live my life forever!” Luz said, and Vee scoffed.

“Well, Camila’s daughter can't just vanish into thin air! I can be the miserable screw-up Luz Noceda for the rest of my life, until every last bit of Vee is wrung out, right?” Vee scowled, body twisting and contorting. “Who cares if I have to die so ‘you’ can live miserably back home?”

“Vee, please, don't do that, you have—!” Luz begged, foot stepping over the threshold of the living room as she backed up, going quiet as her foot hit empty air and she fell backwards onto a wooden dock.

“Oww…” Luz groaned, lifting her head up. “K-King?”

“Hey, sis.”

Luz choked back a gleeful cry, nervous. “King, how are—”

“I miss my dad.” King said, voice wet and heavy with emotion, and Luz’s heart dropped into her stomach. “I can't imagine being so lonely, aching for my dad to be in my life, and then taking someone else's way.”

“King, King, no, I swear,” Luz begged, “It wasn't like that, he—”

“You couldn't have your own dad, so you got rid of mine too?” King asked, turning around, eyes wide and wet with grief. “And how he made some big noble sacrifice for you, instead of saving himself.”

“He literally couldn't, King!”

“Then why you?” He asked, and Luz swallowed, not noticing the crack of wood beneath her feet as the entire dock plunged into the boiling water, cool against her fluffy skin, and hitting a second ground, this time an ever-so-familiar field in front of the Owl House.

The voice came from behind her, and she turned around with anxiousness.

“Look, Luz,” Eda said, and just like everyone before her, the words came out as those doused in water, a cascading torrent underlining her every word. “You’re not bad, you’re not.”

“E-Eda?” Luz started, chest tight with fear, “Not you, w-where are we?”

“Uh uh, mama’s talking,” Eda cut her off, “Because we gotta have a little chat about something.”

Luz’s heart felt like it stopped. “A-about what, mom?”

“That, actually.” No. “You’re a great kid, Luz, but King… He’s a Titan, he’s powerful. You couldn’t even do magic, kiddo!” Eda said, and as Luz’s expression grew glassy, foggy, tears blurring the surroundings, as the palisman’s nuzzling grow more prominent and Eda’s voice hardened. “In fact, because of you, I can’t do magic at all.”

“Eda, mom, please..” Luz started, voice a hiccup, “D-don’t do this,”

Eda rifled through her hair, pulling out a stack of papers that Luz couldn’t discern, but deep within recognized. “It’s just… Without my magic, I’ve only got enough energy to raise one Titan, Luz. And between you and King? I don’t have to choose.”

The sound of paper ripping was deafening, louder than it should ever be, as Luz fell to her knees, tears running, only to notice, hazily, that the surroundings had changed, she was in the throne room, her ivory robes pooled around her.

“I’m sorry,” Luz babbled into thin air, “I’m sorry, I never wanted to hurt any of you, ever , I swear…”

“Mija?” Anyone but her , Luz thought, hearing the watered-down voice, her tears flowing harder from her eyes, and she could taste the tears themselves by this point — it tasted more sour than salty now, perhaps another Titan thing.

“Please, no, I can’t, please…” Luz begged, eyes shut tight, “I’ll go back, King can have his dad back, I’ll leave, just please… No more…”

“Mija.” The voice repeated, and Luz looked up, eyes blurring and wet, and she ran a wrist past them to sop up some of the tears, the fur along her arms tickling her face. “Look at me.”

Luz looked up at Camila, and what stared back was almost hollow. Camila’s brown eyes gazed into Luz’s gold, but there was no emotion behind them.

“Mom?”

“Wake up, Luz.” Camila said softly, and for the first time in wait, how long had voices been like that , the words weren’t spoken through water. “Wake up.”

“What do you mean, wake up?”

Camila spoke her words softly, “I named you Luz for a reason.”

Luz’s eyes scrunched up in confusion, twirling her fingers in a vaguely light-spell shape. The spell sparked, ignited in her chest, but petered out helpless. Luz looked at the empty air where a light glyph should’ve been, why only one spell among countless others failed her.

“This isn’t real, is it?” Luz said, voice cracking with relief and realisation, “I’m just dreaming.” Camila smiled gently, no words offered up.

Luz tilted her head to the side, a small smile on her face. “This is the Collector’s thing, isn’t it?” She asked, eyes wide with some epiphany, and she thought back to the version of herself she saw reflected in stained glass windows, the doodles in her eyes. With Stringbean’s help, she started scratching the symbol she had briefly seen into the throne room floor, impulse and gut feeling in harmony to guide her as she cleaved through gold like butter. “This is just playing pretend.”

Looking at the light glyph — and looking at it, she knew this was her light glyph, wow, that was for her to unpack at a better time — she smiled, looking back up at Camila. With a deep breath, a quirk of a smile, Luz looked at her first mother.

“I’ve been so worried that everyone hates me that I didn’t even notice how wrong they were acting.” Luz said aloud, maybe more for her benefit then Camila’s. “But we… you and I went over this all, in the real world, and it worked out, right? There’s nothing more to fight about.” 

Camila nodded silently, looking at her daughter proudly, and Luz could just make our the thinnest of red strings behind her, points of contention in her peers the result of joints held up in suspension.

“I forgive you, mami,” Luz said proudly, “Gracias por dejar la luz encendida.”

Without further ado, Luz brought one foot down onto the glyph, and in a flashbang of light, ears ringing with sensation, Luz staggered back, eyes squeezed shut from overload.

Gaining her bearings, she looked around the endless halls of the Archives, the distinct smell of smoke in the air, some distant corridor flickering red. Eyes wide, Luz spun a light glyph for her friends and family, laying in a heap on the floor, but in a move usually unlike herself, she didn’t wait for them for fully awaken, instead racing over to the flickering, gasping as she nearly ran face first into an raging inferno.

With a twirl, she watched a flume of ice wash over the creeping flames, but she swallowed thickly. This wasn’t putting the fire out, a fire that was speckled with hints of blues and purples and golds, the work of a starchild.

Luz slammed her hands down hard against the doorframe, and nodded quickly to herself watching the doorway clog with ice. This had to buy them time.

She looked helplessly as the flame slowly creeped, and with a tilt of her head, she slung two bolts of ice, using the fire as something of a parkouring platform to ascend, reaching higher elevation and jumping firmly onto the roofs of the Archives.

The world was off-kilter, it seemed, thunderstorms like the mirage she had been trapped in featured, the clouds crackling forth, and in the nexus of was that a genuine, human realm tornado? was seemingly the Collector, green rot crept along the starchild’s constellation face.

Luz felt her chest ache for the Collector, but she shoved it aside. Brandishing Stringbean, she swallowed slowly.

“Philip!” Luz hollered, and the body of a young child twisted, a clearly-annoyed expression on their face even from here. Wielding Stringbean tightly, Luz leaped off the roof of the Archives, glyphs within glyphs orbiting around her as she bolted through the air, striking wide and fast as Philip in the Collector’s body blocked the blow with a summoned piece of matter , irregular and strange. As Luz drifted back, Philip groaned.

“Are you all this stubborn?” Philip asked, voice high and fantastical, “Does even that little demonstration not work on Titans? Or are the powers obtuse?” He mused aloud, before he summoned a swirling crescent moon-shaped shard of light in his hand, flicking it hard and fast into Luz’s head. It stung for a brief moment, but Luz didn’t falter in her aerial advance. “Lovely,” came a sarcastic response.

Thrusting Stringbean forward, Luz grinned with glee as Philip got pushed back, a streak of light as Luz shifted, throwing the god back, only for Philip to duck and dodge, gripping Stringbean’s staff tightly, pressure applied to the aquamarine wood. Ripping Stringbean from Philip’s grasp, Luz replaced it with a blast of fire, erupting in the face of the Collector, the god stumbling backwards through the air.

With Philip caught off guard, Luz rushed it, palisman swung for a blow, only to be intercepted by a beam of light that Philip had conjured from the nothing.

“Do you not see that you’re wrong?” Luz asked, but the god merely chuckled in place of an answer, throwing the column of light back, throwing Luz away from him, and the Titan caught the world beneath her, dragging her claws and feet into the dirt, leaping back into the fray, watching in horror as the sky above them churned and twisted, the sun and moon flitting between day and night incrementally faster.

The sun and moon twisted and danced in the sky, and Philip gave a low chuckle, the skies above flitting from light to dark in a rapid frenzy. Luz swallowed her fear, twirling a wide spell circle to block the strike Philip threw against her, rays of scalding hot light blasting past her with singe marks dusting the fur that hadn’t been shielded completely.

Luz blew off the burning tips of her shoulder, ascending higher and higher to match Philip’s altitude, blows made of pure light and Titan magic clashing, colliding, the Collector’s body home to seemingly endless energy, Philip’s eyes shining brilliantly from within them.

Luz dashed above, swinging hard with Stringbean — I’m sorry, bebé, she thought — and the body met the blow perfectly, slinging downwards as Luz descended with him, brownish-red magic twirled at her tips to rend a clump of rock from the ground, hurtling through the skies to meet her.

With a kick, she pushed Philip through the rock, but to her amazement and horror, all it served to do was break Philip’s fall, righting himself in the air. With a volatile turn of the head, Luz felt the world beneath them shift, boiling water cascading onto mainland as Philip spun himself around, the tides turning and changing in similarly circular patterns.

Luz caught the emperor, landing a solid punch in his face, apologising silently to the Collector. With a twist of limbs, Philip struck, and Luz gripped the slime between her claws, ripping a chunk of it off into the Boiling Sea below.

“Why can’t you just let go, Philip?” She asked, and her combatant glared.

“This world is stained, Clawthorne, and I was sent to ascend, to repair it.” Philip snarled, slinging a burst of liquid fire at her, and Luz internally sighed. 

Philip twirled his hands, and something deep and primal surged at Luz’s nerves, and she shot a bolt of ice out at Philip, a second haphazard dagger of light — or maybe lightning , it was hard to tell — skewering forward harmlessly through the body, the only sign it even connected being the thick viscous green that smeared on the end of the lightning rod before it was torched.

Luz swung hard with Stringbean, and Philip flew towards the ground, hands scrambling for surfaces to slow his fall, catching them along the air itself, ripping green-golden tears into the sky itself, cracks that healed quickly as Philip soared back to Luz.

The hot pink and turquoise lightning cracked through the air, and as one bolt ran through her, Luz stifled a scream as she slipped from Stringbean, plummeting through the air down towards Philip, and she could see her palisman swerve hard, a wide arc.

Her tingly finger attached to the struck shoulder twirled into a ball of fire, one she let her claws rake over the avatar as she fell, clutching Stringbean with her good arm, swinging beneath and up, landing firmly on the staff with a flourish, shaking her fiery hand cool.

“Have I ever said how cool you are?” Luz asked her palisman with glee, but rather than wait for an answer, she rushed forward, eyes focused on Philip, fingers snapping with sparks of black and green, bolts cracking through the air in tandem.

Leaping from her palisman, gripping the tailend with a hard swing, she struck at Philip, the witch hunter parrying once with a beam of light, twice, wrists shining bright blue, and she vanished into the aether.

In a puff of blue and black, Luz reappeared behind Philip, swinging hard, the avatar flailing as he staggered, gripping Luz’s ankles tight. Pain surged through her, worse than the lightning bolt, and she swung herself ‘round, the starchild’s form separating from her and hovering a bit above as she fell a dozen feet, using Stringbean to hoist herself up, feet planted along the thin wooden staff.

Philip grinned, starlight fire of blues and golds decorating his hands as he slung ball after ball of magma down at Luz. Ignoring the way her fur singed, she marvelled at catching some of the fire in her hands — hot, okay, I’m not fireproof! — she lobbed it back, hands swirling upwards in a ring of dark blue around her, body washed with relief and clarity.

Rising, her hands shone with ice glyphs — her ice glyphs, not that she was getting a chance just yet to process their design — and she threw two thin skewers upwards, both running through Philip cleanly. With a sharp snap of fingers, Philip vanished and reappeared, the air a bit of mirage in his absence, in her reappearance, and Luz met Philip on his own ground, gripping Stringbean tightly and willing —

Her stomach lurched, smearing as black and gold to near Philip, free hand clenched and in motion, punching hard. As Philip fell, Luz raced after him only to panic as she felt herself fall slowly, dashing forwards in another dizzying blur.

Nope, Hunter can keep that, Luz thought, hitting normal speeds hard, a loud bang in the air as she decelerated, the skies above flickering like a strobe light between day and night, the sun and moon rotating at speeds unfathomable.

Hitting the ground, Luz’s ankles flared with pain, body swaying the littlest bit. She called on the ground beneath, hands twirling green, and she shot four stalks up high, thin and wiry, ascending after them. Two vines were torched by Philip, and a third the avatar gripped, the entirety of its length crumbling into splinters of wood, but the fourth found its mark, tangling around his left leg, thorns digging deep.

The witch hunter snarled, moving for another teleportation trick, but Luz gripped his arm last second, feeling reality fold and churn around her, opening into a clearing elsewhere, near the left arm. Philip backed off, gliding his hand across the air in a motion that left it sharp and crackling, a rip in thin air that seared the sky, and Luz felt blinding pain course through her stomach, before clean numbness. Her hand drifted to where reality seemed to falter, and she squeezed her torso absently, feeling no sensation.

Luckily for her — oh, thank you, papa Titan, she internally prayed — it seemed even the Collector’s body could grow tired, hands weakly returning to their side as Philip recovered from the gash the starchild had cleaved through Luz.

Luz’s heart ached for the Collector, the starchild as a vessel to Philip’s green rot lining almost every inch of them, clothing dotted with green mold, the one sacred part of them being the sharp semi-circle crescent moon that made up the darker half of their face.

Hands tangled, legs battered, and likely bruises that were hidden beneath the green, and just thinking of it, Luz felt her anger grow hotter. Perhaps it was her fault, but the anger rested solely with Philip.

It was one thing to hide behind her . It was another entirely to hide behind the Collector.

Luz’s fingers rose to her mouth, and with a sharp whistle, a red blast of noise rang ‘round the clearing, and the avatar’s hands reached for the side of his head. Staggering back, helpless, Luz’s face and mood darkened faster and faster, Stringbean held tight as she flew.

It’s over.

Rushing to Philip, still dazed from a cleave he clearly hadn’t quite comprehended, Luz’s gaze darkened, and with a twirl of concentric spell circles, purples and dark blues and oranges adorning her palms, she shoved her hands through the torso of the star avatar, clenching a distinctly foreign piece of starlight coursing through the Collector’s body, and the avatar halted, Philip looking up at Luz with horror in his eyes.

“Do not underestimate me, Philip,” Luz snarled, feeling the witch hunter try to escape her grasp, magic radiating and leeching through the two, unstable and untempered. “For I am Luz Clawthorne-Noceda, child of two realms, warrior of peace…” Luz chuckled, staring into blue eyes that belonged to Philip Wittebane, and with a tug back and a raising of her foot, she hollered “Now eat this, sucka!”

With a hefty kick, Luz shoved Philip towards the ground, the flailing body breaking the sound barrier by a notch as he plummeted to the ground, body trailing pink and dark blue tendrils as it hit a patch of red grass and continuing , a green smear across the yards of grass he had buried himself through.

With a dash of light, Luz watched as the body stopped rolling, the last few feet unaccompanied by any green sludge belonging to Philip, the groaning of pain from the body sounding lost and dazed.

Luz landed between the Collector and the slime, its toxic self resurfacing and twisting back into a vaguely human shape that solidified further into a very familiar person, one that looked at her with fear.

“O-oh, Luz,” Philip said, and his voice was light and airy, the way it had been long long ago, the voice that had coaxed Luz into reading his crooked diary, to join in the search for the Collector. “You freed me from that terrible curse.”

She raised an eyebrow, unamused, and Philip seemed to pick up on it. “Y-you saved me, now I can do good with my life, like, like your mentor!”

Luz’s gaze hardened, as she cocked her head to the side, feeling a burst of Titan magic far older than herself burn up, scalding hot droplets of water splashing comfortably in her fur. Philip meanwhile was feeling the impact of boiling rain like expected, the Collector seemingly numb to it as they heaved behind Luz.

“P-please, Luz,” He begged, and he was keeping himself together well, but even he couldn't hide the sagging of his skin, green and festering. “I can change, people can change, your mother did—”

The man startled a little from the loud clap of thunder, and when he looked back at Luz’s eyes, there was not a drop of mercy in them. This clap was harder than the last, and the temperature of the rain rose, even Luz rationally knowing somewhere in her head that she would be wincing and flinching under the torrent. Instead, she watched with uncharacteristic and unabashed glee as Philip squirmed and tripped, green sludge at her hands begging for mercy.

“P-please, you can't do this to me,” Philip said, “I, I don't deserve to die here, Spaniard.” He spat, eyes cold as he lifted an arm, one that bubbled uselessly. “I… please, we’re human, we’re better than this.”

There was no need for a third clap, but one followed, and Luz’s shoulders tensed just one last little bit as the now-former emperor’s cohesion began to give out. Philip Wittebane’s last words were his own, Luz supposed, as she watched the skin bubble and hiss, scalding acid rain burning away effortlessly as the skin of the cancer of the Boiling Isles, the cancer that nearly took apart her family finally razed.

It would never be the same, and for that, Luz didn’t bother hiding her satisfaction, didn’t bother feeling guilty just this once , watching Philip grovel and beg, until every last drop of him was burned out, the clearing before her clear of any muck and grime, only dirt, washing and sliding in the wet.

It ended in the rain, and Luz thought back to the last few cold rainstorms of her life. Maybe one of them could end on a higher note than it began.

Feeling her shoulders slump, adrenaline fading, she took mental note of the tingles in her lightning-struck arm, the singed fur, the still gaping void of sense in her torso; but there was more pressing matters, she knew, and she turned around to the Collector, the young child’s face and skin all lighter than before, scars marks running smooth and uninterrupted across seemingly all of him. They seemed weak, tired, and Luz nodded.

“I-I’m sorry—” The Collector whimpered, and Luz scooped the starchild godling up, holding them tenderly.

“Don’t be, it was his fault, not yours.” Luz said, “He did the same thing to me. I feel you.”

The Collector hummed quietly, nodding and nuzzling deeper into Luz’s hold.

“Let’s head home, Collector.”

 

 

 

Notes:

Down with Philip Wittebane!! 7,398 words later, this chapter is done! In standard fashion, I'm uncertain this is any good, but hey, I am just paranoid like that.

Let’s see, lots in order here. The fight scene was a blast to write, ngl, and I hope this final battle between Titan!Luz and (basically) Collector!Philip paid off and served as a bit of a fun mirror between the two. (I’m so sorry, Collector fans, but they survived at least, so there’s that.)

I’m also really glad I was able to spin the whole crux of this fic, the incredible angsty onset of “Luz gets disowned by accident” into something that lets Camila break Luz out of the nightmare sequence.

(Thank you to evAlpha, btw, it was her design for the light glyph that I mentioned in prose when Luz saw her reflection in the glass.)

Also, if you were curious, the entire final battle was composed to the tune of All in Jest by NoteBlock, played on loop, because autism, ADHD, and being a musically-brained clown 24/7 results in that.

Yes, Eda and Luz don’t reunite this chapter, that’s firmly in the fluff territory, which is next chapter’s whole shtick, yep, an entire fluffy chapter in Ended in the Rain!! No more stunts, no shenanigans, just fluff, aftermath, and happy endings.

I have around 600 words written for next chapter’s end notes alone, so I’ll try to be quick and short here, but thank you for reading, and if you were just here for the angst (oof) or for the action scenes — bad call, there’s not a lot of those — then thank you for reading, and I hope you have a good one!

But for everyone seeing this through to the finale, only one chapter left!! The entire Watching and Dreaming timeskip will be expanded and explored, with tons of bits over the years, in Don’t Forget (I’m With You In The Dark)!! I’ll see you all there for the final chapter, the final chapter notes, and the last goodbye!

Chapter 17: Don't Forget (I'm With You In The Dark)

Summary:

The epilogue.

Notes:

Before we begin, I'd like to thank you so much for sticking through with this.

I hope this chapter is alright. A chance to see how things pan out a little bit over the next few years of everyone's life, mostly Luz's family, up to the same point canon leaves us: the day Luz begins university. I struggle with endings, so I'm not as confident in it as I'd like to be, but I'm confident enough in it.

I won’t lie, I’m emotional. Ended in the Rain is only around three months old, but in that three months, I wrote 115,000 words, and put most of my college preparations in motion to start my dream career of broadcasting and television, and while for financial reasons I’m not going this year, maybe someday I’ll live that dream of making my own animated show. Imagine that!

With an average word count of 6.5K words per chapter; over one-hundred bookmarks; over 18,000 hits; and over 500 kudos; all thanks to you, you wonderful viewers, have made this story fulfilling, inspiring hope in me and my writing ability, which means an absolute ton to me.

Sorry for holding you up. Now that I'm done writing a small thesis in the opening chapter notes, it's time for the feature presentation you actually came for. This is the seventeenth and final chapter of Ended in the Rain. Enjoy.

One second, Camila had been standing in the Titan’s Skull, readying to help break into the Archives; the next, the world around her was murky and submerged in a vaguely-frightening dream.

When she came to, bright afterimages left behind in the dream’s wake, the Archives were on fire, and bore witness to a room with flickering golds lapping at a wall of ice. Luz’s friends were already in motion, trying to make sense of the surroundings, when Camila saw a woman.

Grey and untamed hair, only one arm, red cloak, all matching the description Luz’s friends had told her; missing an arm, which was never mentioned, but Camila realised with a shock that this was—

Suddenly, the Archives tilted , and Camila felt the ground slip from under her, and her eyes drifted to the lightning storm, beautiful pinks and blues striking through the air like some bright action movie Luz would like.

Luz . Where was she, Camila wondered, spinning in search for her daughter, when the Archives shuddered and heaved again, and then, abruptly, it all stopped. The fire suddenly blinked out, the lightning bolts ceased appearing, and Camila’s chest tightened. It was possible the storm had stopped because Philip had been brought down, but then the question remained — where was Luz?

As the seconds turned into a few minutes, Camila’s eyes kept turning to the woman in red, and Camila wanted to walk up and introduce herself. Her eyes welled up, was this where she had to let go now? Luz had her new mom back, right?

In a deafening clang, Camila’s eyes darted to the open air of the Archives, where boney feet had landed with a resounding echo. Palisman coiling around her neck and arms adventurously, there stood Luz, carrying the tuckered-out form of the Collector, the starchild racked with tremors, shuddering and sobbing into Luz’s chest.

“H-hi, mom,” Luz stammered, and Camila could make out in her peripheral the shape of red-cloak turned around, confirming any suspicions Camila had. “I’m back.”

“Luz!?” Eda Clawthorne said, eyes wide with shock and surprise, but running up and moving for a hug regardless, Luz’s arms shifting a little as if to highlight the young child in her arms. “Wwwwoah, wait, hold it, what did I miss?”

“A lot, mom.” Luz said, and she looked towards Camila, the woman running up, relief evident in her eyes. “I met the Titan, she’s always apparently been a big fan of you,” Luz said with a chuckle, and the older Clawthorne’s eyes widened with something akin to glee.

“The Titan likes me ?” Eda asked, and she chuckled. “And this is…” Suddenly, Eda’s gaze darkened, and from seemingly a lock of her hair, a small owl fluttered and became a long wooden staff — okay, this was Eda’s palisman, Camila realised — “You’re Camila?” The voice was filled with unveiled hatred, and Camila shrunk a little at it.

“You’re Edalyn.” Camila said, voice firm. 

Brandishing Owlbert, Eda took a step forward, tone and posture equally aggressive. “Eda the Owl Lady, the most powerf–”

“And you’re her mom.” Camila interrupted, and Eda faltered under the bluntness. “It’s okay.”

“....you aren’t going to try and take Luz from us?” Eda asked, turning to face Camila, voice as level as she could make, “Or any other stunts?”

“No stunts,” Camila said, lifting her arms a little in a vaguely surrendering gesture, looking over at Luz. “Rashness like that… all it does is hurt in the end. We can do it together, if you both will let me.”

Luz smiled at Camila’s words, eyes wide. “I, for real? Of course I’ll let you!” Luz’s positive energy was contagious, even the Collector turning happily in Luz’s arms. “Is that…”

“If Luz trusts you, well, who am I to argue?” Eda said. 

Without further warning, Camila moved in towards Eda, and the Owl Lady froze, realising Camila was holding her in the absolute tightest hug Eda could imagine. “You kept her safe, thank you,” The woman breathed, voice shaky, and Eda smiled.

“Would give my life for her,” Eda said, both the truth and the threat in her words apparent. Camila separated the hug, and she smiled at Eda.

“So would I.” Camila replied, and Eda made a vague sound of surprise, before stepping back.

“I believe you would, too. Welcome to the Boiling Isles,” Eda bragged, gesturing to the clearance with her good hand, eyes still on the older human, “Watch your step.”

“Hehe,” Camila chuckled, “Luz said the same thing.”

“Well, since…” Luz looked down at the Collector. “Since things are gonna be okay now, I’ll have plenty of time to show you around.”

“And what about… Philip?” Camila asked, and Luz’s eyes slipped downwards, staring at the floor. Her whole posture changed as he was mentioned, as did the Collector’s, tensing up perceptibly in Luz’s arms.

“Philip’s…” Luz’s gaze darkened, and Camila noticed the way she held the Collector closer to her, not tighter, but closer, cradling the child in a way that shielded them from others, “Philip went too far, mama. He’s not gonna be a problem anymore, promise.”

Camila realised with a jolt that her daughter just committed murder to do so. Even moreso, Camila was okay with that , and whilst she didn’t want to admit it, maybe even proud.

“It had to be done, mija, and I’m still proud of you,” Camila replied, voice thick and choked up, and Luz looked at her with something akin to relief. The older woman put her arms out, and with a nod from the Collector, Luz handed the small starchild over to her mother, shoulders slumping a little with the lessened weight. “Y Manny también lo sería.”

Luz froze, the words turning in her head, and Camila could see how that finally broke the waterworks, Camila silently thanking Eda for rushing to their daughter’s side. As Eda held the young Titan, Camila rocked the starchild in her arms, watching as Eda started gushing over Luz, “Is that a palisman? Oh, of course it’s a snake, what’s their… Kiddo?”

Luz took two steps, haphazardly, and Camila looked in her daughter’s eyes. Fatigue ran deep, and Camila spoke softly. “You’ve done so much, you can rest too, mija.”

“I… find my friends…” The loving Titan breathed gently, before her mouth opened in a yawn, and Eda caught the young tower of fluff as she swayed sideways, already out cold in Eda’s arms. Lifting her up, a small flash along her skin as Eda transformed into some mystical harpy woman that made Camila double-take, the Owl Lady looked at Camila with something straddling the line between anxiety and confidence.

“She’s been through a lot these past few days.” Camila said, “You don’t know the half of it.”

“And if you’re responsible for any more of it, I’m gonna know, got it?” Eda said, voice sharper and less forgiving then it had been when Luz was awake, and Camila nodded at the thinly veiled threat.

“I know I still have a long way to go,” Camila admitted, rocking the Collector in her arms, the starchild completely asleep in her hold. “But for now, let’s… Let’s get home, okay?”

Eda nodded, and with a gentle leap — gentle, as to not wake the saviour in her arms — Eda took a bit to the sky, blazing forward while Camila watched. She still had her feet, she supposed, and moving carefully to avoid waking up the god she carried with ease, she started walking through the Archives, realising with a sigh of embarrassment she didn’t actually know her way back to Eda’s place.

Well, she was sure she could let Luz’s friends know she was okay.

---

Hunter meanwhile was scanning the crowd for a familiar face, and his eyes lightened up when he saw Darius, a familiar orange Eberwolf seemingly trying to calm the head witch down. Hunter broke out in a run, took a small sprint towards him, and Darius seemed to only notice Hunter’s arrival now, relief washing his face.

“Oh, thank Titan,” Darius said, turning away from Eberwolf abruptly, taking a half-step towards Hunter, “You’re fine, right?” The head witch had a rare flit of emotions across his face, as he looked almost worried, before putting up an now-obviously-false expression of indifference, “Obviously you are. Glad you’re back.”

With a second glance around the room, and an adamant glare at his fellow head witch that dripped with an unspoken vow to silence, Darius gripped Hunter in a tight hug, hands luckily nowhere near the boy’s shoulders, a small shudder to the head witch’s otherwise well-composed frame.

“I’m glad you’re back too,” Hunter mumbled into Darius’ sleeve, ignoring the small wet in his eyes, relief running through his system that he didn’t realise how desperate he had been for. “I thought you were dead!”

“Bored, maybe,” The head witch quipped, his smooth voice giving himself away as it cracked the littlest bit, and when Eberwolf snickered, Darius gave him a look. “Okay, I was worried. But thank the Titan you’re okay, you are okay, right?”

Hunter gave a wet chuckle, “Yeah, the Titan herself. It’s, it’s a long story.” He looked at Darius’ confused face, “We were busy. I’ll tell you later, but…”

“Of course you did. Talk with me.” Darius said, an amused smile on his face, “I’ve spent who knows how long stuck in place, I wanna do some light walking, and…” Darius gave Hunter a light pat, not on the shoulder, but on the head like a cat, and the kid made a small noise, ducking under it before looking up at Darius with a look . “And I wanna catch up with you, if that’s alright.”

Hunter nodded, smiling, looking at Darius and Eberwolf with a soft expression. It felt normal. “I’d love that.”

---

“Dad? Papa?” Willow cried out, hands itching to wipe away the tears that she felt spilling, but she couldn’t stop looking, she thought, not until I find them , “Is there… D-dad? Gilbert? Harvey Park?” She cried out again, when she heard a voice, a familiar green- and brown- haired couple breaking through the tide of faces, and Willow’s feet moved at quick speeds, practically leaping into the arms of her fathers.

“Oh, thank Titan you’re both okay!!”

“Willow, you were gone ,” Gilbert spoke, holding her daughter tightly, two hugs wrapping the plant witch tightly. “Where were you?”

“Me and my friends got stuck in the Human Realm,” Willow said, words nearly an incoherent jumble, “I missed you both and I love you and I’m not gonna go missing again I’m sorry—”

“Calm down, tulip,” Harvey said, stepping back from the tight hug, “It’s… You’re okay, right?”

Willow sniffled, breathing slowly the littlest bit, a tightly-wound stress in her gut unravelling. “Yeah, am now. You’ll never believe what happened.”

---

“Dad!!” Amity hollered, running into the open arms of her father, and the engineer held her daughter close, and tightly.

“Oh, Amity, thank Titan you’re okay,” Alador said, voice filled with wet tears, holding his daughter closely. “Oh, thank Titan, you’re okay?”

“Safe and sound, we…” We all are, Amity had almost said, but there stood Alador, herself, and the twins. There was a Blight unaccounted for. “We’re here. I thought I lost you too…”

“Too?” He asked, voice tinged with confusion, and Amity paled further.

“M-mom, she…” Amity started, but Alador shushed her, holding her closer.

“I’ve wondered. I’m so sorry, for everything,” Alador mumbled, a bit of grief meddling into his expression. “It’ll be better now, I promise.”

“I know, dad,” Amity murmured back, stepping back, taking a deep breath. “I’ve been busy, there’s a lot to tell you.”

“…as long as you tell me about yourself after.” Alador said, the words coming outawkwardly, before giving a slightly-peeved expression at his own wording, as Amity gave a laugh. “Errr, well. I want to actually be there for you, this time.”

“I’d love that.”

---

Augustus Porter was still a kid. He had been through hell and back, and he was ever so grateful to see a familiar face. He just needed to find it fir—

“Augustus, you’re okay!” Perry said, voice cutting through all other sounds, and Gus ran in the direction of his voice, nearly leaping into his arms. “Oh, you’re fine, you’re alive , I couldn’t find you, I was worried, you’re okay?”

“I’m sorry, I should’ve told you where I was going…” Gus admitted, “But I’m okay, I was with my friends when it all went wrong. I…” I was there when the Collector woke up. “I’m sorry I had to go.”

“Where did you go?” The reporter asked, his voice hitting a similar inflection, and it was familiar, welcoming, grounding Gus to the reality he was in.

“You know my friend Luz?” Gus said, voice coming out in a hiccup, “It was the Day of Unity, and we got stuck in the Human Realm, we… It’s been a lot.”

“Heh, and you still wanted to come back to me?” Perry joked, but he felt Gus stiffen in his arms the slightest bit before hugging him closer.

“Always would.” Gus said, “The Human Realm is cool, but… This is home.”

“Well, aside from Willow, you’ll have to finally introduce me to your friends, you know.” Perry said warmly, voice shaking from relief, “Oh, Titan, I’m glad you’re fine.”

“Never better, dad, never better.”

---

Somehow, defying all logic and reason, no one died from the draining spell or the Collector’s havoc. Injuries, yes, but aside from a handful of deaths from those who had to face the elements alone for two months, everyone was alright. Traumatised, scared, yes, but everyone was okay .

And there was, miraculously, little in need of fixing, too. The Collector was powerful, and Philip had been powerful and actively malicious, but the nexus of repairs was Bonesborough’s centre and the outer layers of Hexside, since the Collector kept most of their shenanigans confined to there, like Luz before them.

While some of the beaches and coasts had soaked up damage from the boiling sea when Philip tilted creation, those were… well, coasts, no one built on the coast in the first place unless you wanted your building to be scorched by a high tide. Repairs were in order, absolutely; but an experience vaguely normal could be returned to soon, it seemed certain.

All this to say, Luz Clawthorne-Noceda was absolutely forbidden from assisting in the clean-up, much to the annoyance of the Titan in question.

“I’m awake , mom, mamá, um… m-moms? I’m awake, anyway,” Luz argued, “My friends are out helping, I—”

“No, they’re sleeping too.” Eda said, voice stern. “Besides, kiddo, you died , you’ve been through more than anyone else in the universe.”

“Mija, rest, please ,” Camila said, “You’re a kid , you shouldn’t—”

“I should, this is my fault!” Luz insisted, and Eda sighed.

“Luz, we’ve been over this.” Eda said, “If not for you, we’d all be dead. You saved the Titan. Rest. Please.”

“But I didn’t save him, I—” Luz started, giving a soft wheeze as King leapt up onto her.

“Bap!” The smaller Titan said, smacking Luz’s nose painlessly, “None of that, okay? Thanks to you, I know he didn’t abandon me, and I’d have never forgiven him anyway if he just let you die.” That was seemingly the last straw for the waterworks. At nearly blinding speeds, Luz grabbed King, who gave a soft yelp, and held him close the way she had when they’d first met. “Weh!!”

“Oh, los extrañé mucho a todos,” Luz murmured, voice a bit choked up with emotion, and Camila was about to translate when she noticed the way King nuzzled a bit more into Luz’s hug.

“Um… Los extrañé a los dos?” King tried, and Luz nodded — even though it was a little bit off — and held King even tighter. Camila smiled, wondering when Luz taught her friends other family Spanish, and she gave Luz a kiss on the forehead.

“Rest well, okay, mija?” Camila asked her, and her daughter nodded, letting King do his small dog-like circles before lying down next to her. As Camila made her way to the door, she saw her daughter animatedly telling King something.

“So, you’ll never guess what happened, King?”

“Ooh, storytime!” King exclaimed, getting up and sitting in a little cross-legged pose, closer to Luz, as the girl pet him softly. “Okay, I’m ready.”

“So, when we—” Luz started, but Camila couldn’t make out the further words as she closed the door, turning to look at Eda.

“Both of them are going to get zero rest.” Eda pointed out, and Camila nodded.

“Yeah, but they’ll at least take it easy.” Camila commented, and Eda gave a chuckle.

“Oh, that’d be nice.” The Owl Lady said with a wistful voice, and Camila could weirdly relate.

---

It took them a few days to realise, but the Collector was powerless. Completely, truly, absolutely powerless.

At first, the Collector had been hesitant about even trying their magic, scared of the power they only recently realised the dangers of; but once that roadblock was passed, the starchild started having a mild crisis over the fact that no, they still couldn’t cast spells. The last of their magic must’ve been knocked out of them by the green gunk that once called itself Philip; but Luz had done without magic on the Isles, in theory the Collector could easily do the same.

Despite that, as the Collector tapped a small sheet of paper, pulling his hand back with a hiss. Instead of the light glyph, in all its diamondy glory, crinkling into a small beacon, the Collector’s hand was smoking and Luz could already see a small circular burn wound in their palm, the faint shape of the glyph leaving broken-up ash lines along their palm.

“I-is it supposed to hurt?” They asked, and Luz frowned.

“It’s never hurt before, uh…” Luz looked around, “Amity, can you tap the glyph for me?” As the witch complied, the paper curled into a ball, and ignited into an orb of radiance.

“Why did it burn me?” The Collector asked, voice the slightest bit higher, “And why didn't it become a light?”

Suddenly, Luz’s eyes widened. “Does Titan magic burn you?”

“Uh huh, but this isn’t Titan magic anymore, is it? The Titan… died…” The Collector asked, and Luz’s expression dropped. “I-it’s not, right? I want my magic…”

“Collector, Collector,” Luz said, hugging the starchild close, “I never had magic before I came here, did you know that?”

“But you have magic now, and I… I…” The Collector sobbed a little into Luz’s shoulder, face buried in fluff. It wasn’t fair , was it? “I need my magic, or I won’t be able to play with anyone, and…”

“Oh, nosotros te amamos, we love you,” Camila said, and Luz let go gently so Camila could scoop up the Archivist — he was so small , they could only be maybe the equivalent of an eight-year-old human, right? — “We love you, and whoever told you that you needed magic was wrong.”

The starchild whimpered, curling into Camila’s arms a bit more, and Luz looked down at the ground guiltily, before looking at the Collector. “We’ll figure out something for you, but we won’t leave you.”

The Collector babbled something too quiet for Luz to make out, but Camila’s eyes went wide. “I already made such a mistake, mijo,” She murmured gently, “Never again. You’re safe here, I promise.”

“We can find you a training wand,” Luz pointed out, and the starchild jostled at the idea. “Those should be usable, right?” The Collector nodded eagerly, but didn’t make a sound, clearly enjoying the tranquillity of Camila’s arms.

Things would be okay.

---

The Bonesborough Marketplace was quieter than Luz was used to seeing it. That… made perfect sense, in all fairness. Only two weeks out from the end of the Collector’s reign, and while Luz hadn’t been allowed to help with the reconstruction, under strict orders from both Eda and Camila (and all her friends, to be fair), she was still surprised at how quickly things were fixed.

(“It’s not like anything big happened to the Isles themselves, the Collector only added a bit of colour.” Eda had joked after Luz’s confusion regarding the whole thing. That made enough sense to her.)

But, regardless of if it was quiet or not, standing in Bonesborough Market, Luz had a grin on her face, and Camila seemed more than a little out of her element.

“So, this is, like, the main marketplace,” Luz was explaining, “This was actually the first place I saw of the Isles, which is why we’re starting here. So much stuff happened here. Did you know there’s a body swap spell? That was a… hectic day.”

“It kinda sounds like a lot of days here were hectic,” Camila pointed out, and Luz scoffed indignantly.

“Not fair,” She pouted, “But come on, there’s a lot to see in town.”

“Such as?” Camila prompted, when Luz didn’t specify anything, and the girl gestured vaguely at a nearby building with a giant stained-glass window.

“The library.” Luz said, a poorly-hidden lovestruck tone in her voice. “Mostly me and Amity getting up to stuff here. So, every few years, there’s this thing called a Wailing Star…”

As Camila listened to Luz’s recounting of children’s books coming to life, she couldn’t help but notice the way that many of the random people in the Demon Realm, mostly the adults, seemed to have matching tattoos along their wrists. 

“…just glad we didn’t get trapped, that would’ve sucked probably,” Luz continued, before going a bit blue. “Sorry, I was rambling.”

“It’s alright, mija, and… And we’re gonna talk about how much danger you put yourself in—”

“Hey, it was not on purpose!”

“But I have a question… what is the deal with all the tattoos I’ve been seeing? Almost everyone seems to have one.” Camila asked gently, worried she was stepping on something taboo by asking, and Luz’s gaze darkened.

“They’re brands.” Luz said sternly, and Camila was a bit taken aback by the vitriol in Luz’s voice. “Philip made them.”

“W-what? Why?”

“There’s nine covens, err, there were.” Luz explained, “According to Philip, the Titan didn’t approve of mixing magic, so he forced it to be separate. Potions, Abominations, Plants, Illusions, Bard, Healing, Beastkeeping, Construction, and Oracle.” Luz said, counting it off on her fingers. “Everything that people were legally allowed to do was just sorta… Catalogued as one of those nine.”

“Wait, so what about…” Camila paused. “Is a veterinarian healing or beastkeeping?” The woman asked, and Luz hissed through her teeth. Camila looked at her with concern.

“Uh, it’s wild magic.” Luz said shyly, “Outlawed.”

“But that makes— Why?” Camila snapped, and some internal part of her was glad Luz didn’t seem to be taking it personally, “What pet owner doesn’t know how to take care of their pet when they get sick, what are you…”

“Aaaaaand that’s the issue with covens.” Luz said. “Willow’s memories got set on fire. It took oracle magic and healing magic for Eda to send me and Amity to fix it, and if she didn’t know both…”

Camila swallowed her anger, taking a deep breath. “So, that’s the point then? He just… wanted everyone to be helpless?”

“Yeah. The only people allowed to practise more than one track were Philip’s soldiers.” Luz said, voice dripping with sarcasm, “Because they are respectable enough not to abuse that power.”

“And what were the brands for?” Camila asked hesitantly, and Luz swallowed slowly.

“Everyone, no later than graduation, had to get a sigil and join a coven. For the rest of your life, that’s the only type of magic you’d be able to use ever again.” Luz explained, and Camila could feel her blood pressure rising. No wonder Luz was so furious. “Sometimes younger. Amity was supposed to get hers this year.”

“A-Amity?” Camila startled, “But she’s only fifteen!”

“Before her birthday.” Luz corrected, and Camila was surprised to feel her face growing warmer with anger.

“She’s a kid!! She shouldn’t be—” She started, but she bit her tongue hard . Luz simply nodded, before putting on a peppy grin.

“Point is, he’s gone now, and everyone is allowed to practise wild magic.” Luz explained, “Which is the way the Titan actually intended.” Luz turned, and noticed a bit of a look on Camila’s face, not anger, but instead almost surprise. “Something wrong, mami?”

“Aside from the whole… coven thing, it looks… there’s nine-to-fives, businesses, you said there’s a daycare? It’s just so… normal. ” Camila said, the last part is a slightly hushed whisper. “I guess I expected something more…”

“Boiling Isles?” Luz finished, and Camila guiltily nodded. “The two worlds aren’t all that different, not really. There’s libraries and schools, we’ve got holidays, we’ve even got… It’s good here, mama.”

“I can tell, you seem…” Camila pointed out, “You’re happier here, Luz, it shows.”

“…I feel more at home on the Isles than I ever did back home, mama.” Luz said, staring at the ground. “Can I…”

“It’s just… it’s dangerous, I’m worried you’ll get hurt or that something will happen.” Camila admitted, squeezing her daughter tightly in a shaky hug. “I just… I guess I wanted to not like this place, I think.”

“I get that.” Luz said, her words simple but a wave of emotion beneath the surface that Camila wasn’t sure how to process. “You wanted to hate the Demon Realm because it took me away?”

Camila nodded, and Luz paused for a moment.

“It’s better here, mama. That’s not just me, either, like.” She said, leaning her back against the cobblestone building behind her. “Free healthcare, we’re basically in Canada now. Odalia was fine with Amity having a girlfriend, just not… Well, a wanted criminal.” Luz admitted, scratching her hand nervously at the mention of the woman. “It’s okay here, and…”

“You really like it here.” Camila said, but it wasn’t a question. She watched as Luz’s expression shifted to something new, as Stringbean danced along Luz’s shoulders.

“Mama, if… if you and Vee wanted to stay here full time, I’d be over the moon. I know you don’t want that, but…” Luz said, looking up at the sky of the Boiling Isles. “Can I show you something?”

“Are you not already?” Camila teased, but the palisman that danced around Luz’s shoulder materialised into a wooden staff, and Camila felt her heart in her throat.

“I know you’re scared of heights,” Luz said calmly, and Camila chose not to mention how recent that fear was, “But I swear on the Titan, I won’t let you fall. You can keep your eyes closed almost the whole time if you want.”

Camila swallowed slowly, before giving a small nod. Mounting Stringbean behind her daughter, holding her shoulders with an iron grip, Camila closed her eyes, and she felt Luz kick off, rising into the air.

For what felt like a while, actually, the only she experienced was the air moving around her, and the sound of Luz giving affectionate praise and promises of treats to the ascending palisman.

Suddenly, Camila felt herself stop rising, and she held onto Luz tighter, before Luz opened her mouth.

“Alright, mom, we’re really high up,” Luz narrated, “But I won’t let you fall. Can you open your eyes?”

No , Camila wanted to answer, but instead she counted down from three in her head, and opened her eyes to…

Too high, mierda, she closed her eyes again, but then tentatively and slowly cracked them open, looking at the clearing beneath. Here they were, so so high in the air, so high Camila couldn’t actually rationalise falling from this height, able to see the entirety of the Boiling Isles — or at least, this one Titan — and it was…

The longer Camila looked at it, the more awe-inspiring it was. Valleys of long-gone sinew, bone and dirt-flesh making up swatches of land, all in the shape of a living creature; a living creature, just like the one sitting right next to her.

“That’s… are you…” Camila started, unsure of how exactly to ask the question on her tongue. Luckily, Luz seemed to understand.

“I’m not supposed to get that big,” Luz said, “Amity’s pretty sure I've only got a witch’s lifespan. But… that’s me, mom. That’s the Titan that brought me back, and…”

“Everyone lives on it?” Camila asked dumbly, knowing the answer. To cover it up, she spoke again, “I swear, it’s like you were destined for this place, Luz.”

“Nah, destiny’s not real, and anyone who says otherwise is selling you something, mamá.” Luz said, “If we waited for destiny to knock on our door, I’d have never learned magic, I’d have never met my friends, neither of us would’ve met Vee…”

“And the Titan saving you wasn’t destiny?” Camila asked shakily, and Luz shrugged, before giving a small laugh.

“I became friends with King, kept him safe. Or at least tried to.” Luz said, “And in turn, the Titan gave me a second chance. If I had just sat around waiting for her to do something, I’d have died waiting.”

Camila looked out at the clearing, and she swallowed again, tremors rattling her the slightest bit. They were so high up, but… “I see why you find this place beautiful. Up close, it’s all…”

“Dead looking.” Luz finished with a small chuckle, and Camila giggled a bit at the pun.

“But from up here, it’s…” Camila continued, a grin on her face, feeling lost for words. “I get it, Luz.”

“This is what the Isles always were for me,” Luz said, “Eda showed me this my second day here. Maybe… maybe that’s why I love it so much.” After a moment of quiet, Luz gave a soft chuckle. “Do you know what else we should get?”

“Mmm?” Camila absently asked, staring at the landscape beneath.

“Down from here, otherwise we’re gonna catch a mold.” Luz said, poorly stifling a shiver, and Camila gave a small laugh. “Close your eyes, we’re gonna go down a lot faster than we went up.”

Camila nodded one more time, closing her eyes as she held Luz’s shoulders, the two of them dropping too fast towards the world Camila had quite a bit more appreciation for.

---

Standing out in the clearing a bit, Eda glanced out at the sack of flour she had propped up, a cheap wooden mask wrapped on its burlap surface.

“Alright, Luz,” Eda said, ignoring Luz’s confused looks at the sack, “The first thing I was taught about magic, that Lili was taught, Raine, everyone in forever until the bonehead’s changed curriculum took over, was to let it go.”

“Don’t hold it back—” Luz sang, a grin on her face, and Eda gave a good-natured glare.

“Don’t you dare. Magic’s supposed to come to you naturally. The harder you try, the harder it is to pull it off.” Eda explained, “It’s natural, it wants to be natural. I did my best spellwork under threat of imprisonment!”

Luz stared at the ground for a half second, “What if I’m terrible at something and think I need to work extra hard to pull it off?”

“Yeahhhh, don’t do that. If you’re trying super hard, you won’t manage anything at all.” Eda said, and Luz nodded, a small scowl on her face.

“That’s why when I was fighting Philip,” Luz said, “I was able to cast spells I didn’t know.”

“Bingo!” Eda said, patting Luz’s shoulder and stepping back. “Sigils notwithstanding, every witch can cast any spell, and they can cast it easily if they’re not thinking about it. It’s our survival instinct, it’s how so many spells we know today were discovered, and it’s what always gave me an edge on Lili, ‘don’t think about it’ tended to make her think more.”

“To be fair, it’s like telling someone they’re consciously blinking.” Luz pointed out, and Eda frowned.

“What would that do? Consci-” Eda said, and Luz didn’t have to see her face to know what just cut her off. “I hate that.” A few moments later. “Oh, dammit. Anyway, I want you to pick a branch of magic at random, chop chop, quick—”

“Uh, um… bard?” Luz offered up confused, and Eda gave a vague sound of approval.

“Good pick!!” Eda said, “Either Raine rubbed off on you, or you’re more down bad than I thought, great pick. Now, I want you to use… any bard magic you want, knock that sack of flour over. Realise who it is?”

“It’s Philip ,” Luz snarled, and without further instruction, her hand spun in a blood-red glow, and a high-pitched warble slung across the clearing, a band of red surfing along the soundwave, knocking the flour back with a small kick. Luz stared at her hands.

“Eda, I just…” Luz trailed off, “I didn’t know how to cast that!” She turned around, and Eda grinned at the wide smile on Luz’s face.

“And bam, that’s how I became the most powerful witch.” Eda said with a smug grin, “Construction, punch it in the face.” Luz tried to spin the circle casually, but Eda could see the intent on her face, the calculating, and gave a curt nod as a couple pebbles shot from the ground weakly. “You get used to it.”

Turning back to the sack of flour, Luz stood in a slightly dramatic pose, and Eda smirked at the Titan’s antics. Finger twirling, “Wanna see what happens if I cast a spell I don’t know, Belos?” Finger searing a line of bright green in the air, a large vine skewered through the sack triumphantly. “It’s easy if I just don’t think,” Luz added, and Eda nodded, giving her a thumbs up.

“Alright, that sack was supposed to last longer,” Eda said, chuckling. “So, I want you to make good use of it being damaged. Launch it as far as you can, don’t care how.”

Luz looked at the sack of flour, and with one more spell circle, a wobbling brown, the ground itself heaved and shuddered, a heavy patch of dirt raising upwards and slinging the floor into the air. 

With the sack high up, Luz swung her arm, brown giving way to bright pinks as the dirt was wielded like water, smashing into the side of the sack and slinging it out into the Boiling Sea. The second Luz stopped casting, she nearly doubled over, heaving and gasping for breath.

“Oh, damn, okay,” Eda said, frowning. “Forgot to tell you, you’ll have to make sure not to burn yourself out, call it evolution’s panic button, but there’s no real exhaustion until you’re getting close to running out.”

“I can… tell…” Luz said, panting. As she collected herself, she stood up, smiling wide. “I’m casting magic!”

“You’re casting it well, too. Most professional training is focused on calling up your magic casually,” Eda explained, “The less you need to think the steps through, the easier it is.”

Luz grinned, and Eda expected Luz to need a break, a pause. Eda should’ve known better. “Okay, I think I’m good now. So how do you do the whole not thinking part?”

---

“Alright, mami,” Luz said, dropping the small stack of multicoloured sticky notes on the flimsy TV table she had dragged outside, brandishing the pens in her other hand victoriously. “Welcome to glyphs one-oh-one!” She held out one of the pens for Camila to use, which the older woman took gratefully.

“So, it’s the drawings, right?” Camila asked, and Luz nodded.

“Each of the four main elements of magic,” Luz said, “Have a little glyph. For example, light glyphs are…” Luz sketched on one of the sticky notes, a circle with a triangle and two diamonds on the inside. Luz’s hands went instinctually to tap the little symbol, before stopping herself. “Try drawing that, but don’t tap it yet.”

Camila nodded, and while her circle wasn’t as perfect as Luz’s — seriously, how were they that straight? — and the lines were a little wonky, Luz gave Camila a proud thumbs up, and the woman tapped the glyph she had drawn, watching as the slip of paper folded and crinkled into itself, tighter and tighter, glowing a warm off-white light with the faintest purple hue, Luz feeling a warm tug inside her sternum as the Titan’s magic, as her magic did its work.

“I… I did magic?” Camila asked, and when Luz nodded, the smile on Camila’s face grew wider, “How did… How did you find this?”

“The first light glyph was inside one of Eda’s spell circles,” Luz said, and Camila nodded along, and Luz couldn’t keep the grin off her face as she watched Camila move to sketch a second light glyph. “It’s fun, right?”

“And the new one was in your eyes, right?” Camila asked, looking up at Luz and her eyes, glowing faintly with the supernatural force of the Titan’s magic. The younger girl averted her gaze at the eye contact, but nodded. “These are your glyphs?”

“Yep! The Titan left me with… everything. If King ever gets glyphs, we’ll know,” Luz chuckled, “Next one is the ice glyph…”

Diamonds, curves, circles later, Camila sat surrounded by papers, puffs of smoke, spikes of ice, and creeping vines shot into the open clearing. “So, wait, I’ve seen Edalyn and Hunter use the glyphs for, like… Everything.”

“Welcome to glyph one-oh-two,” Luz said, grinning, “Draw a big circle with two smaller circles liiiiiiike…” Luz drew a basic glyph array, the symbols excluded from the design, Camila following.

Camila stared at the array for a moment, and her eyes lit up. “Mija, cut me off if I’m wrong, but…”

Camila tapped the pen against the table, before sketching Luz’s variants of the light and ice glyphs into the blank spots of the array, and watching as the paper glowed brightly, and Luz felt a tug in her body, before in thin beams, skewers of ice shot out as projectiles, Luz yanking Camila to the ground as the glyph burned up its magic.

Luz looked at Camila before giggling, and the mother’s gaze twisted into one of bewilderment.

“What’s so funny, Luz?”

“Number one rule of making glyphs?” Luz said with a smirk, “Always be ready to duck.” Looking over at her mother’s face, Luz just barely caught worry melting into curiosity.

“So… what happens if I combine other glyphs?” The older woman asked, and Luz’s smile grew wider.

“Well, that's the fun of glyphs.” Luz said, standing up and grabbing a scrap of paper and sketching on it a basic circle. “So, you’ll want to…”

---

“Alright, mama,” Luz said victoriously, decked out in multi-chromatic school robes, “Here’s a proper introduction to Hexside School of Magic and Demonics!”

“Alright, slow down, mija,” Camila said, “I’m not as young as you!”

“It’s just, I wanna show you before everyone gets here!”

The building looked a little grander than the last Camila had seen it. No longer defaced with graffiti praising-slash-fearing The Collector, Belos, or one stray doodle of a weirdly creepy mouse thing, the building was clear of any stray boarded-up windows, and looked less like a bunker and more like a school.

As Luz tugged Camila through the front entrance, she could see the main hall, clean are-those-marble floors, red lockers and stunningly nice windows staring back at Camila — literally, actually, the lockers had eyes.

“So, where to first, mija?” Camila asked, and Luz bit her lip in decision-paralysis, instantly winced from the fang, and then pointed down a random hallway.

“Since I take all the tracks, I’m one of the only students who’s using the entire school. I spend a lot of time in the Healing Wing though,” She said, before noticing Camila’s look of worry, and adding hastily. “It’s Amity’s last class of the day.”

“Aaah,” Camila uttered in realisation. Young love , she mused, missing Luz’s small sigh of relief behind her. 

“Well, this way then?” Luz asked, leading Camila forward, and the human nodded, following her daughter through the slightly winding path. Feet hitting the significantly cleaner floors, Camila was brought to a wing with dark blue hands adorning some of the iconography, with matching mouldings and lining adding the faintest pop of colour to the otherwise generic hallway.

“Welcome to the Healing Wing,” Luz said with a bit of bravado, “While a lot of it is, like, patching people up, it’s also biology, anatomy, all those people-y courses.” Luz blushed in embarrassment, scratching the back of her neck nervously. “It’s my weakest class. You can only do so much theory work here, but that changes today!” Luz said, twirling a dark blue spell circle in the air.

“And… This is one of Amity’s classes, right?” Camila asked, and Luz nodded eagerly.

“Healing and Abominations, the other one is…” Luz paused for a second, before sighing. “On the other side of the school. Aah, but I wanna show you it.” After a moment of thinking, Luz smirked. Double checking the hallway, Luz patted a section of the wall until she looked like she found something, a seemingly unhinged segment of the wall, beckoning Camila back to the Escher wonderland-slash-hellscape Luz had hurried the two in when battling Grom. With a chance to see it, Camila was actually scanning the structure plastered with doors on every wall, ceiling and floor, and realising it made no sense. There was a shelf instantly above the door they had just exited out of, one that should’ve cut into the hallway proper.

“We were in here before…” Camila said, “You said it was a shortcut room?”

“Yep, Eda installed it when she went to Hexside, a whole secret section that sorta just… exists between the walls?” Luz said, “You didn’t wanna be caught in the halls by Principal Faust. Makes Hal look sweet .”

“How!?” Camila cried, but Luz skipped right past that point.

“The shortcut room can get anywhere,” Luz said with a grin, “I can go from one side to the opposite in seconds, I can even reach what’s left of the underwing.”

“The underwing?”

“Yeah, Hexside ran a cursed newspaper there when Eda was young,” Luz shared, “Whole thing caved in. But that doesn’t matter for me, what matters is since I’m in every track, I need to get from the plant wing to my locker to the oracle wing in, like, five minutes. Hence…” She slammed one hand into one of the doors, and it opened outwards, into a seemingly normal hallway. “Bam! Oracle wing!”

“What did Edalyn use this for?” Camila asked, “She never did multiple tracks.”

“…Not officially. She used it for alibis, mostly.” Luz chuckled, “Eda can’t get from one side of the school to the other in five seconds, that couldn’t be her. Peeping into other classes was nice, but by the time she was able to make this , she didn’t really need ‘em.”

“And you’re using it for studying ?” Camila asked, trying to keep the disbelief out of her voice. Clearly, she was failing, as Luz’s expression faltered.

“Mami, I know how wild it sounds. Me, taking a nine-hundred percent courseload, and enjoying it.” Luz said, “But you’ve… seen it, right? I’m happy here, and it was at first just the thrill of real magic. But I’m actually a good student, I get A-pluses on the theory work, and now I don’t need to improvise the practical stuff.” Luz said, swirling a small red circle of light, a rising tone resonating from her fingertips. “I like school, just not…”

“Hal.” Camila said bluntly, and Luz nodded.

“Eda told me he expelled the top student for shoes squeaking wrong.” Luz said, and Camila paused, trying to think of h– Oh, the old principal. “Too squeaky is distracting. Not squeaky enough is suspicious.”

“No, surely not!”

“Can’t hear them, can’t trust them.” Luz said in a gravelly voice, likely an impression of an impression, and the two started laughing.

Pacing around a little, Luz smirked, opening one of the shortcut room’s doors, and guiding Camila through it into a wholly different hallway, one that had pinkish-purplish trim and decors, a small melting face decal plastered on one banner hanging nearby.

“Abominations!” Luz said, “Which… There’s a lot of theory work, Professor Hermonculus is… kinda bad at teaching, if I’m being honest.” She admitted, but then peppily continuing, “Those little purple slime things Amity can summon, those are abominations. Her dad used to build military robots out of the stuff. They punch hard, lemme tell you.”

“…Luz, why do you know that?” Camila asked, eyes narrowing just the littlest bit, and she watched as the Titan froze almost mid-step, not unlike a military robot herself, before turning to face Camila with a sheepish grin.

“I’ve had a lot of adventures.” Luz said, voice feigning elderly wisdom. Camila sighed. She’d talk to Luz about it later. “But yeah, I was a teenage abomination once, the homework story I told you about, it was a blast. Cut it a bit close, though.” She said, giggling at some pun Camila didn’t get.

As such, the tour continued, Camila being dragged inefficiently from one wing to another by help of Eda’s shortcut room; and in Camila’s honest opinion, it was… kind of inspiring? She had seen some of the school in a salvageable state when she first got here, but to actually see it in its prime, it was hitting her just how prestigious a school Luz had ended up in. It was divided into wings with full greenhouses for the plant track, stables with a full-on menagerie of creatures in the beastkeeping wing, and more for each of the tracks.

“Dios mío, Luz, this is a nice school…” Camila said, a little breathless, staring at the music hall that was reserved for the bard students. “This is fancy…”

“Turns out, the books got the fancy wizard school part right,” Luz chuckled nervously, before adding slightly quieter, “Is that… okay?”

“Luz, this looks like the type of school me and Manny could only dream of sending you,” Camila admitted. Some schools were more splendour than skill, but from the sound of everything she had been told, Hexside was  “We never had the money.”

“I…” Luz swallowed. “Do you think dad would approve of me learning here?”

“Absolutely, mija.” Camila said, hugging Luz tightly. “God, he’d be so proud of you. Friends, magic, you saved the world. You’re a good witch, and I think that’s the only thing he truly wanted.”

Hugging Camila tightly for a while, Luz eventually stepped back, taking a deep breath. “All that’s left really is, like, the common areas, like…” Her hands ghosted for the door, internally annoyed. She knew this door was hard to open from the outside. Wiping some of the dust off one of the doors, she wedged one claw in the doorway and popped it open with a small hiss, before leading Camila inside. Stepping through it, Camila felt her surroundings turn , and glancing around, Camila blinked once, twice in confusion. That door was connected to a floor panel nearby one of the entrances, and she glanced behind her to a room that was still perfectly upright.

Camila wondered if readable maps existed in this world.

“Aaaand this is Principal Bump’s office!” Luz said, gesturing to a simplistic door that clearly was in need of repainting from whatever colour it had been before. “He’s great, actually, he’s gonna act all gruff and mean, but he’s a softie!”

“A… softie?” Camila repeated, blinking away the confusion. In all her life, a soft principal hadn’t been the experience in reality. Maybe in the movies, but never real life.

“Yeah, he’s actually expecting us, so we’re right on tiiii… Hold on,” Luz trailed off, some sixth sense, and with a snap of her fingers, her Demon Realm smartphone manifested from the void. “Oh, Amity wants to meet me in the Healing wing, uh—”

“I can talk to your principal,” Camila said, “See how things are.”

“If he says anything about the detention pit, ignore him,” Luz said, already stepping backwards, before with a wide smile, turning at bolting. “And Amity’s changed since then!”

“See you, mija.” Camila said, more than a little confused but chuckling to herself as the sound of Luz careening down a hallway faded into quiet. She turned to the office door, and holding her breath, she knocked.

Opening the door wide, she saw a man who was wearing a reddish hat with a tail. He seemed not entirely surprised to see Camila.

“Ah, miss… Noceda, was it?” He asked, moving to sit at the desk in the relatively small room, and he beckoned her closer, “I’m Hieronymus Bump, the headmaster of this school, will be for… well, a few more years. You wanted to speak to me, right?”

“Y-yes, I’m just worried about… Luz.” Camila said shakily, and for a minute, she was in head office after head office, the glowering looks of both Luz’s and Camila’s own principals flashing by. Camila’s nails had been chewed to stumps for a reason, the idea of Bump suggesting the Demon Realm equivalent of Reality Check, expelling her, idea after idea ran through Camila’s head and she was, simply put, terrified. “I’ve… been told by a lot of schools she can be a handful, and I want to try and discuss this preemptively to… make things easier for both you and her.”

“A handful?” Bump interrupted, “Ma’am, your daughter is perhaps the most rambunctious troublemaker Hexside’s seen since Edalyn Clawthorne—” Dread instantly sank into Camila’s bones, but before she could open her mouth to apologise — or maybe call Bump out for such rude bluntness — “It’s a welcome change of pace.”

“Luz is try— Wait, what?”

“Your daughter is smart, brilliant, and has mastered the difficult tightrope of causing problems and not hurting anyone.” Bump said, “Her first day here she saved nearly the entire school, myself included; she introduced the now-famous multi-track system, and really, she’s made this job a bit more interes— I’m sorry, did I say something wrong?”

Camila slid her glasses off her face, wiping at her eyes, “L-Luz is… Back home, in the Demon Realm, life wasn’t fair to her. I was worried this school was… Going to be the same.”

“Aah.” Bump seemed to muse on this for a second, before with a swirl of his fingers, a simple levitation spell to drag pen and paper. “Well, if you want, you and I can go over these possible concerns.” Camila stared at Bump dumbstruck, eyes threatening to spill again. “I… do you need a minute, miss?”

“N-no, I’m good,” Camila said, swallowing slowly. “So, which things should I start with?”

“Wherever you’d like.” Bump said, and Camila froze. To be the one leading the conversation in the principal’s office was a foreign feeling to Camila, and she racked her mind for something to start with.

“Attention issues.” Camila finally chose, “I’m positive Luz has ADHD, but we could never afford the diagnosis, so I could never get any accommodations.”

“…Okay, actually, let’s start with human terminology.” Bump said with a chuckle. “But you said attention issues?”

“Distracted easily, difficulty stopping and starting tasks, supposedly talking excessive—” Camila started, and noticed Bump’s wide grin. “What’s so funny?”

“Miss Noceda, you might be describing Edalyn’s behaviours.” Bump said, “Like I said. We have it covered. Allergies, this eighty thing you mentioned, physical accommodations. Perhaps Hexside wasn’t always as flexible, don’t get me started on my predecessor, but it’s the 50s, we can handle it.”

“You…” Camila swallowed, a mountain of worrying in her chest slowly dissolving, “Can I hug you?”

“…I guess??” The principal replied, thoroughly baffled. Camila felt a weight vanish. For the first time, she understood why Luz wanted to be in the Demon Realm so badly. Like Hell she was going to stand in the way now.

---

Willow was having a quiet evening in, exhausted from construction and reconstruction, when she heard a ratta-tat-tat at the door, a soft voice piping up behind the solid oak.

“Hey, Willow?” Amity’s voice came through, and Willow lazily spun a spell circle, not bothering to get back up, “Your dads let me in.”

“They did, huh?” Willow replied, voice a bit awkward.

“I know… um, we’re not that close anymore,” Amity started, wringing her hands, and a very very small part of Willow was getting a vindictive glee in this being just as awkward for Amity as it was for her. “But I… I trust your judgement, can I ask you for advice?

“Do you still know how to do a braid?” Willow asked cheerfully, and Amity nodded, and the plant witch beckoned her inside, sitting behind Willow with a smile as the witch sat cross legged on the floor.

“So, what’s on your mind, Amity?” Willow asked, appreciating the gentle feeling of Amity’s hands weaving Willow’s hair into braided locks.

“So, I wanted to go into bard when I was really little, before we even knew each other- little,” The witch rambled, hands running anxiously through bluish locks, as she handled them delicately into a braid that came to her surprisingly easy. “But mom said no, either take after her or dad, like Titan I’d pick Oracle, so I took abominations and I love abominations, but then Luz came along and now multi-tracking is a thing and—”

“Breathe, Amity. One-two…” Willow interrupted, and the pink-haired witch followed suit, eyes closed.

Amity slowed down, breathing gently, pausing for a second. “Thanks. Point is, I wanna take bard and healing, but I don’t know if I can handle three courses at once.”

“Why three?” Willow asked, eyebrow raised, and the witch behind her sighed.

“Abominations.” Amity pointed out, “I love them, I do enjoy them. I just…”

“You could always drop it though,” The plant witch said, “You fought the Emperor with abominations, I’d say you know more about them then the teacher.”

“I mean…”

“Professor Hermonculus couldn’t tell Luz wasn’t an abomination, so that might not be a ton to say, actually.” Willow added as one afterthought, before the second escaped her lips too, “And why are you asking me and not Luz?”

“Luz would either tell me to take every track like her, which…” The lilac-haired witch continued, slowly down near the end.

“Yeahh, nope. I’m good with my plants.” Willow sympathised, and Amity nodded.

“Or she'll tell me she’ll support me no matter what.” Amity said, “Which is sweet, and I love her, but it doesn’t make decisions any easier.”

“I think you’re just not used to people supporting your choices.” Willow added, and Amity’s face tinted red.

“Okay, probably, but—” Amity said, being interrupted as Willow jumped from a painful tug of hair. “Sorry!”

“All good,” Willow said, wincing a little. “All good, bit slower maybe. But I think you’d do fine in bard, and if you can’t handle the three tracks at once, well, you’re already nearly an expert in abominations. I bet you could write a book.”

“I’d rather not.” Amity said, “I’m almost done, by the way.”

“Thank you!!” Willow said, excitedly tapping her knees. That gives me an idea, maybe I could bring Earth plants here. If they get the portal working, maybe?” Willow said, before shaking her head. “Nevermind that, point is, you’d rock at it.”

“Thanks, Willow. I…” Amity trailed off, “It’s a bit early to make a decision, but… I don’t really know what I wanna do with my life, especially since Blight Industries is…” No more. The founder’s dead, after all. “The way it is. I’m a bit lost, but… But I’ll figure it out. Thanks.”

“No problem!”

“I’m done, by the way.”

“Oh, lemme se–Ow!” Willow said, pulling her head forward while Amity still held it in her hands. As Amity let go, Willow stood up, glancing at the small mirror on her desk. “Oh, I love it, thank you! Oh, you have to teach me how to do this myself!”

“It suits you.” Amity complimented, and Willow turned around and gave the lilac-haired witch a tight hug, “Aagh, can’t breathe!”

“Oh, sorry,” Willow said, letting go, “And don’t be a stranger, I… I missed spending time with you. I’m glad you trusted me enough to ask for advice.”

“…I’ve missed you too.” Amity admits, scratching the back of her neck nervously. “Maybe…”

“You know, we could hang out a bit more,” Willow pointed, “Even if we don’t do much, you’re always welcome, maybe we could just do, like… Games or something until we’re a bit more comfortable around each other?”

“Yeah, I’d… I’d like that.” Amity agreed, smiling wide.

“You doing anything Flensday?” Willow asked, and Amity scowled.

“Um, yeah, actually. Day after?”

Willow gave Amity a second tight hug, a wide grin on her face. “Better bring your A-game, Blight.”

“…anytime.”

---

Luz couldn’t sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, all she saw was green and muck. With small, delicate steps down the stairs, a small light spell twirled at her fingertips, she figured she was going to grab a drink of water and then try again.

Instead, she stifled a scream. The Collector did not do as much, fingers snapped in tandem to still-no-effect.

“C-Collector?” Luz stammered, voice a stage whisper, “Bedtime was at nine.”

“Why are you up?” The starchild asked, shoulders slumping.

“I… couldn’t sleep, you?”

The Collector simply tugged the blankets around themself tighter, frowning deeper than before. “Philip’s a jerk, and I keep thinking about…” Oh. Luz knew exactly what the Archivist meant. “Was that my fault?”

“Was what your fault?” Luz asked, quietly, and the Collector looked at Luz desperately.

“I hurt you, I hurt you really bad, and I couldn’t save Kiki, and…” The boy’s shoulders flumphed against the couch’s material, the dark outline of the Collector vaguely curling up. “He made me feel like I played in mud and can’t wash it off.”

“That’s why I couldn’t sleep either, you know.” Luz said. “Philip possessed me too, and it was awful, Collector. You didn’t deserve tha—”

“I did though, I taught him all my tricks!” The Collector insisted, before lowering their voice. “If I hadn’t helped him, then…”

“You were helping who you thought was a friend. I helped him too, you know.” Luz said, and the starchild looked up at her, and when staring right at his eyes, Luz could make out the bright moonlight reflected in them, despite walls blocking out the what-she-was-certain-was-a new moon.

“You did?” The Collector asked, and Luz nodded.

“Big time, I accidentally gave him his terrible idea, and…” Luz swallowed, “I know what it’s like to want friends more than anything. I get that, Collector.”

“He’s gone though, he’s broken like Kiki, right? If I can’t have her back, he can’t come back either, right?” The Collector asked, voice wet and warbly, and Luz held the child close.

“He’s gone, Collector. He’ll never hurt us again.”

(When Eda came down the next morning, she found two of her children curled up on the couch in the living room.)

---

Luz was not enjoying the fluff. Easily tangled, easily matted , all-encompassing and then some, and simply put, while the human-turned-Titan was loving almost the entirety of her new form, the fur was one Luz would rather do without.

Stepping out of the bathroom with a groan, Luz tediously ran her clawed hands through a random patch along her arm, where the fluff was thinnest, where the criss-cross patterns scarred without fluff were hidden anyway due to the sheer volume of the strands that were. Nearly walking directly into Vee, who was likely about to take a shower of her own, Luz was ruffling her arm trying to floof the fluff the way it was when she first gained this form.

“It’s endless, how does anyone deal with this?” Luz whined, and Vee chuckled. “Don’t laugh, I’m being mostly serious,” The former-human said with a frown.

“What if you use dog shampoo?” Vee quipped, and the Titan turned her head to look at Vee disapprovingly. Suddenly, Luz’s eyes literally shone brightly, and Vee groaned. “I’m joking.”

“Dogs have lots of fur, it should work, right?” Luz said, a weirdly-profound tone in her voice, and Vee just stepped past her sister, closing the bathroom door with a roll of the eyes.

Only the next day, Luz made a detour to a shop in the rebuilt part of Bonesborough, picking something up. Vee was surprised that evening when, after her shower, she was surprised to see Luz wielding a bottle of… “Luz, did you actually get dog shampoo?”

“You’ve seen how furry some demons get,” Luz said, “If this stuff doesn’t work, nothing will.”

“Luz, I was joking.” Vee said, voice flaked with a slightest bit of desperation, eyebrow raised as she stared at the shampoo.

“I wasn’t!” The Titan said with a cackle, and she closed the door behind her triumphantly.

When Luz stepped out of the shower nearly an hour later, forty of which seemed silent, no sound of water rushing through the walls of the Owl House, Vee stifled a laugh.

“Shut up,” The Titan said, but Vee smirked. Luz stood before her, every single strand of her hair dried and matte, clean thoroughly, yes, but also, it seemed like Luz’s fluffy fur was standing at all ends, puffed out and honestly? Luz looked more like a demonic duckling than a person.

“You know how dogs usually shake themselves off?” Vee offered up, chewing her lip to avoid cracking up, and the Titan’s gaze narrowed.

“ How do you think I got like this? ” Luz hissed, and Vee started giggling. “How should I deal with it?”

“And I would know, why?” Vee asked, and Luz groaned.

“Maybe you shapeshifted into some furry creature or whatever?” Luz said hopefully, running her hands through a patch of fur in an attempt to set some of it straight, and Vee did wince a little. Oh, Titan fur clearly didn’t wanna give, did it? “Hold on, I might actually be able to find something.”

“Thank you, Vee, you’re a lifesaver.” Luz said with appreciation clear in her tone, and Vee dug through her drawer. Having not brought a travel bag, let alone one with a brush, Vee had poorly guessed her hair thickness in Boiling Isles measurements, and with a toss, she threw a brush that was meant for much thicker hair than Vee liked having.

With a mostly-successful catch (“Nailed it, sis.”), Luz dragged the brush against her arm, and she let out a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Vee, that’s… Thanks. Thought I was just gonna be a duckling forever, you know?”

“The most adorable duckling.” Vee said, frowning as she looked at the book Eda had given her. Dammit, lost my place. It covered a lot of myths and legends regarding the Boiling Isles, including basilisks, and it was nice getting a chance to learn a bit more about her kind, even if she had…

“Hey, Luz, we…” Vee said, voice uncharacteristically small, “We switched worlds, didn’t we?”

“Huh?” Luz asked, turning back to face the basilisk, face scrunched up in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“I hate being from the Demon Realm,” Vee admitted, “Everyone’s so kind, but I just… don’t like it here. I wanna live in the Human Realm, be human , and…”

“And I wanted anything but that.” Luz said, voice faint. “Heh, yeah, we did switch, didn’t we?”

“Do you… regret any of it?”

“I mean, I wish mama didn’t kick me out,” Luz said, forcing a strained chuckle out. “Imagine how that could’ve gone. We could’ve had sister bonding right away, and… And who knows, maybe I’d be finishing my education in Gravesfield.”

“You’re a Titan, Luz.” Vee pointed out, and the former human shrugged.

“Maybe I wouldn’t be. But…” Luz looked at Vee, then down the stairs at seemingly nothing. “I wouldn’t change it. I’ve got my magic, and me and mama are… close, closer than we’ve ever been.” Luz looked sad for a moment, as if contemplating something.

“Really?”

“You barely knew her, and it took months to notice, Vee.” Luz pointed out, “We… It was bumpy, but we’re closer now. So… I don’t think I’d change it, for even a second.”

“…I’m glad you’re my sister still.” Vee said, and Luz nodded. “Hug?”

“Hug.” Luz said, arms wide, and the basilisk ran to Luz, the two hugging. “Thanks for keeping her company.”

“Thanks for the home.” Vee murmured into Luz’s shoulders, before stepping back with a cough. “God, there’s so much fluff, what the hell?”

“Duckling!” Luz said with a cackle, before brandishing the brush. “Luckily, I’ve got the cure to being a duckling.” With another brush, Luz winced. “Ugh, there’s so much.”

“You could get Amity to brush it, don’t act like she wouldn’t.” Vee teased, and the human glared at her sternly, before her eyes widened. “Nope, I won’t even make jokes anymore.”

---

“Luz! Vee!” Eda called up the staircase, “Get your butts down here!” Turning to face Camila, Eda gave a curt nod. “Ready?”

“Well, we can’t postpone it forever.” Camila pointed out, petting the soft bundle of fur on her lap. King really was adorable, wasn’t he?

Hearing the clattering of the two teenagers descending the staircase, Eda pulled out an extra chair for herself, sitting down as the kids arrived. “What is it, Eda?” Vee asked, voice non-confrontational but confused nonetheless.

“Is everything alright, mom?” Luz asked, and Eda nodded.

“All’s good, but… well…” Eda started, trailing off unsure of where to go. “It’s about arrangements.”

“Me and Vee aren’t living in the Demon Realm forever,” Camila continued, biting her tongue on the unspoken hopefully . Work on the new portal was coming along as fast as it could, in all fairness. “But we need to figure out…”

“Me.” Luz said, voice tinged with the slightest bit of guilt. “Since I’m…”

“You can stay here, mija,” Camila said, voice level and stern, “Or we can figure out a way for you to come back. The portal door will be there, you can pick and choose whenever you want.”

Luz swallowed, a wobbly smile on her face, and she stood up. “So. I can’t exactly…” Luz said, twirling on one foot, appearing less an average height with all the ordinary humans features, and more like a small skyscraper in the Demon Realm’s idea of normal, and the girl stopped spinning with a sway. “I don’t exactly blend in.”

“Concealment stones might work,” Eda began to offer, “But you’re still seven feet tall, with fluff about three inches thick. Those stones do wonders, not miracles.”

“I don’t assume there’s any way to… Transform back and forth?” Camila asked, but she already knew the answer.

“Nah, nothing in the Demon Realm works that way. Transformations are a tedious process, ‘least the permanent ones like this. The right potions, bloodline changes, the odd curse,” Eda said, hand clenching as fingers and unclenching as talons, “But what you got is one-of-a-kind, kiddo.”

“I mean…” Luz looked at Camila, face tinted blue with guilt. “I do wanna stay in the Demon Realm, and the concealment stone could work when in the Human Realm. Would that… work?”

Camila nodded, but Vee coughed, clearing her throat. “I’m…” Losing my mind. Paranoid. Restless . “Not super sold here, so all I ask is that if you’re hanging out with me, Luz, it’s in the Human Realm then, if the stones work. If that’s…”

“Yeah, totally fine.” Luz said, and Eda chewed her lip.

“Keep careful eye on any concealment stone, then,” Eda said, “But yeah, I’m sure Goops can program one for you.”

“So…” Camila looked at Eda, before looking back to Luz. “So you’ll be staying here.” To Camila, it almost faintly made her think of messy divorces and visitation rights, and to her own admission, she gave the court of Luz every reason to prefer ‘her other mom’ over Camila. “I…”

“I’ll visit, mama, that’s why the concealment stone,” Luz said, clearly seeing the internal gears in Camila’s head, “And you can always visit. Right , Eda?” The former-redhead stifled a sigh, and nodded. Camila was realising, Luz and Eda had possibly discussed this separately, and Camila was glad Luz was on her side.

“Hurt her again,” Eda warned, tone abruptly sharp, eyes narrowed. “I send you back through the portal in chunks—”

“Eda!! I said not to threaten her!” Luz cried out, but the witch kept speaking.

“But if Luz trusts you, well… I trust her judgement.” Eda said, voice transitioning to something softer, “And besides, you don’t seem that bad… Your reputation exceeded you, that’s for sure.” Camila took a breath. Suddenly, she looked at Luz, who had a sheepish grin.

“Eda’s protective.” Luz said, like it wasn’t a clear understatement, “She is the Owl Lady.”

The witch gave a cackle. “See, that’s so much better than pinning it on shiny pens.”

“It’s not because of your Palisman?” Vee asked, “Or is it…”

“This was once a curse,” Eda said, gesturing vaguely to herself, her harpy form still present. “But hey, blessings in disguise, you know?”

“And what about school?” Camila asked, and the room halted. For a moment, no one spoke.

“Hexside.” Luz answered eventually, voice hard as iron. “But that means…”

“Gravesfield High.” Vee offered up after, “But I really don’t wanna be you anymore.”

“You won’t have to be.” Camila said, “I’m sure we can pull something…”

“I sorta once married a guy whose idea of a date was tax fraud. I know human forgeries well enough.” Eda said, and Luz’s eyebrow raised while King jolted from his peaceful apparently-not-slumber.

“Wait, you married someone?” He asked, voice tinged with almost-horror.

“And it wasn’t Raine?” She asked, eyes wide with surprise, “Wait, human, was he human? When did this happen?”

“Like a couple decades ago. You are not old enough to hear that story, Luz,” Eda said sternly, before chuckling, “Buuuuut long story short was I stole his car in exchange for one hell of—”

“Edalyn.” Camila said, and Eda coughed, clearing her throat.

“Point is, human forgeries are easy.” Eda said, “Vee Noceda, adopted; and Luz is attending boarding school in, I dunno, Glendale, right?” Eda said with a smug grin. “That lot knows nothing about professional lying, it’ll be a piece of cake.”

“Does that work for you, Luz?” Camila asked, and she nodded.

“Yeah. That should explain where I went.” Luz said, chuckling. “I’ll need to learn their schedule for holidays, huh?”

“Or just stay with me and mama when you do cross over there.” Vee pointed out. Luz nodded, and leaned over to hug her sister.

“Nope, we are getting dangerously close to sappy,” King complained, and Camila gave him more scritches. “Neeeevermind, sappy’s okay.”

“There is one other thing to talk about,” Luz said, voice a bit shy, “Um, when I was… fighting Philip, I…”

“Take your time, Luz.” Eda offered, and Camila nodded in agreement. Luz swallowed, opening her mouth, closing it. She turned to Vee, and the basilisk gave a nod. Luz nodded back, some silent discussion taking place that Camila wasn’t privy to, and Luz took a deep breath.

“…I called myself Luz Clawthorne-Noceda.” The Titan offered up with an unsure voice, and Camila felt a wave of relief wash through her every fiber, eyes prickling with the start of tears. “C-can I still do that?”

“Luz, I’d be…” Camila started, voice choked up. “Yes, yes you can. If Eda’s good with it…” She said, conceding a bit of the point — she wasn’t Luz’s mother now, not entirely anyway. Noticing Eda’s expression to her side, she was surprised to see a smile on her face.

“Okay with me, Luz,” Eda said casually, before her gaze drifted to a slightly-annoyed scowl. “But the paperwork? That was ridiculously long, you’re doing it this time, that was so much , how did you and King fill that out?”

“There were a lot of blanks.” Luz pointed out, “We didn’t know what type of demon, half the paper could just be left empty.”

“Oh, that would’ve been nice.” Eda teased, and she outstretched her arms, one good hand beckoning Luz in a come-here gesture. “Come here, kiddo.”

The room softly and gently devolved into discussion, and Camila sat, mostly quiet with King in her lap, watching her daughters interact, heart warming as she watched, grateful to have her daughter back.

It would be okay.

---

Insomnia sucked, and what sucked even more was closing your eyes and quaking in fear. After one too many a jolt, feeling like she was falling back into the cold of the in-between, Luz climbed out of bed and made her way downstairs. It was far too early to be up, but tonight wasn’t looking to be a sleeping night.

Descending down the staircase, a small orb of light guiding her as she walked through the Owl House, she noticed Eda sitting at the table, looking over paperwork, all labelled with iconography Luz recognized from the Human Realm.

“Can’t sleep, huh?” Eda asked, and Luz’s face tinged blue. She shook her head, and Eda dragged a chair out — loudly, nosily, and Luz braced for the whole house to wake up. Thank the Titan for whatever Hooty’s walls were made of. “Take a seat, Luz. I’m just forging paperwork.”

Luz sat down, and the room was filled with nothing but the almost imperceptible hum of the light glyph, and the scratching of Eda’s pen against paper.

“You wanna talk about it, kiddo?” Eda asked, and Luz tinged bluer. It was no secret she had frequent nightmares, nor was it a secret that talking about it helped.

But then you’re burdening them with your nightmares , Luz’s mind supplied, and she silenced that little bit of herself.

“I’m just…” Luz swallowed stiffly, mouth filled with lead, “I’m thinking about the petrification. That’s all.” Eda’s chest ached, and setting down the pen, she grabbed Luz’s shoulder and let the girl lean into her.

“No, that’s a reasonable thing to be scared of,” Eda said, “I don’t wanna imagine you going through it again, but… I’ve got you, I’m here.”

“It’s just… it was cold , was it cold for you too?” Luz asked, and she felt Eda’s grip tighten abruptly, the older woman holding her less in a comforting hug suddenly and more like the way one might grip someone they just yanked out of traffic. “Mom?”

“What are you talking about, kiddo?” Eda asked with a wobble in her voice, leaning away to look at Luz’s face, all while the Titan’s ears filled with the faintest static. Oh. She hadn’t… actually… told Eda. “You… What happened?”

The girl swallowed, “Philip got me,” She murmured gently, “All the way, mom, I—”

“All the—” Eda’s face was struck with horror , the words on her tongue tangled, but words were finally finding Luz.

“Stone, for hours , I’m, the Collector undid it, they were able to do that, and they–. He just left me, Philip left me to die, and—” Luz stammered, words getting faster and more jumbled, and she held Eda tightly, words melting into simple crying, crying into the plumage that had rippled upwards, not noticing the way Eda shook.

“ You’re alive, kiddo, and I’m alive.” Eda said, “And no one is ever gonna pull that over us again, okay?”

“But what if they do?” Luz asked with a faint hiccup, and Eda held Luz tightly.

“Luz, he’s dead, and he brought that secret down with him. Four hundred years and he’s the only one who ever figured it out.” Eda said, hugging Luz tighter. “And even if someone did, Titan be damned, I’d fight tooth and nail for you, Luz.”

Luz nodded, humming in approval to Eda’s words, but her mind was dwelling regardless. I’m only alive because the Collector was tricked into saving me, she thought, maybe it would’ve been—

“And I know how hard you’re being on yourself,” Eda said, cutting through the train of thought. “You didn’t deserve it, and thank Titan the Collector saved you, because I don’t know what I’d do without you. I love you, Luz, oh thank Titan you’re okay.”

“L-love you too, mom,” Luz murmured, and Eda ruffled a hand through her hair. “I… Can I stay down here with you?”

Eda nodded, grabbing a scrap of paper from beside her, drawing one of Luz’s diamond-esque light glyphs and letting it linger in the air. “I’m so sorry, Luz. I… I get how terrifying that is, kiddo,” Eda said, running a calloused hand through Luz’s fluff, sighing deeply. “I get it, I wake up almost every night to that day in the castle.”

“How do you deal with it?” Luz asked faintly, and Eda gave a resigned sigh.

“You’re doing better than me,” Eda teased, “I’d just bottle it up forever. I kept the curse from King for nearly a decade, remember?”

“Mmmm…” Luz leaned into Eda’s side, eyes fluttering. The Owl Lady gave a soft chuckle, Luz unable to stifle a yawn. Her eyes were just a bit closed, maybe just… a minute…

When she opened her eyes, it was to the peacefully crack of sunlight snaking in through the windows of the Owl House, finding herself snugly tucked into bed.

She didn’t dream of stone the night after. The dreams would come back, but for now, it was fine.

(Not that morning, because it had already arrived; but the next morning, the Collector woke up to a huge box of toys in their room, his eyes wide with wonder and surprise.

“It’s the least I can do,” Eda had said, sipping on her apple blood, and the starchild missed the knowing look between Eda and Luz. “Now eat breakfast before you play, okay?”)

---

“Luz, I swear to the Titan, you let it get tangled on purpose,” Amity murmured gently, holding the brush in her hand tightly, and the Titan’s eyes lit up.

“Ooh, will you do this more often if I do?”

“Luuuuz…” Amity groaned, and Luz giggled, head rested on Amity’s lap.

“That’s not a no?”

“Oh, shush,” Amity teased, “Just hold this, this is gonna tug.” Amity said, running the brush through Luz’s fluff. As it caught and snagged, Luz shifted.

“Wwweh!” Luz yipped, face going bright blue, and Amity vaguely noticed the gentlest of purrs coming from herself at the comforting noise.

“You make that noise every time, Luz, why do you keep being surprised?” Amity asked with a chuckle, and Luz shrugged.

“I dunno, I think I have it under cont—weh!” Luz started, interrupted by the noise again, face deeper and deeper blue by the second.

“It’s a cute noise,” Amity said, and the former human melted a little, contently, into Amity’s arms. That soft feeling of Luz, weightless in her lap, Amity paused for a second, feeling a soft purr continue in her again, and not bothering to quell her, she resumed.

With each tug, a soft weh followed, the two girls basked in the soft nothings of purring and weh ing as the fluff was untangled, slowly but comfortably.

(Bright red and blue faces stuck around for what felt like hours when Eda showed them the pictures she grabbed.)

---

The Collector was once a god, now they were but a child with less magical ability than Luz once possessed. But the secrets of the portal were actually easy enough to rectify. Under the careful watch of the Archivist, they helped build the new portal, and after nearly a month, it stood steady.

The frame was steady, at least. Willow had done the work on the hollow frame, wooden roots twisting and turning into a thick frame, and with time and energy, the portal key inlaid like the worst least-useful door knocker, a vial of King’s blood dripping down, the door stood there, complete and with a starry sky design. (The Collector had so much fun painting.)

As energy coursed through the makeshift cables, the door shuddered, shifted, folded, and in a blinding light even Luz couldn’t look at directly, the door hummed . Turning back towards it, Luz saw it, standing proud and tall, a slab of wood that likely had the consistency of wrought iron, the Collector’s design stubbornly persisting — and seemingly, refined — on the door’s surface.

The door opened wide, Camila looked through the murky green, and back at Luz.

“I’ll be right behind you, mama.” Luz assured her, and Camila nodded, stepping over the mantle. Following after was Vee, who was clearly relieved to be gone from the Demon Realm, much to Luz’s amusement.

There Luz stood, staring at the golden-greens, lost in thought. Staring at the portal door, it felt almost cursed to step through — every time she had crossed the world’s mantle, her life had changed drastically.

“…Kiddo, what’s wrong?” Eda’s voice snapped through the train of thought, “Cold feet? I can still shut it down. If you want.”

“No, just thinking.” Luz said, grinning. “Let’s do this. Hello, Human Realm.” Tapping at the second necklace around her neck, a light-blue shimmer skating across her body, Luz took a step through the door frame, suddenly hit with air that felt almost too fresh, the omnipresent sulphur fading into petrichor.

There, in the Human Realm again on the other side, she saw Vee sitting cross legged on the green grass, taking a deep breath, with Camila looking at the blue sky with a touch of surprise.

“Luz, I get it.” Vee said with a grin, “A whole month without this place, oh God, I missed you Earth!” The basilisk said, laying back on the grass, staring up at the sky with a fond smile.

“Me too, mija,” Camila admitted, “I was starting to get a little… pessimistic.”

“Imagine a whole ‘nother month,” Luz chuckled, standing on the steps, frowning at the familiar tan legs she saw as she looked down. The concealment stone was bringing her back to her human form, at least visually for others, and Luz couldn’t believe how used to Titan fluff she had grown in just a month. It just felt right, she supposed.

“Oh, I’m tall now, aren’t I?” Luz commented, tapping the wooden frame with her fingers — the sound of bone hitting wood giving away some of the illusion. “This frame used to be so much taller than me.”

“ That’s what sells it to you, mija?” Camila chuckled. “Lord knows you didn’t get that from me or Manny.”

“…Ugh, I was gonna make a joke since the Titan sort of is the lord or whatever on the Isles, but…” Luz stared at her hands. “Eh, calling myself a god eeks me out.”

“Proof you’d make a good one.” Vee said, brushing her hands through the grass one more time before leaping to her feet. “Now, Masha probably thinks I’m dead, I don’t wanna keep them waiting any longer, but…”

“Bring them to the house, they’re welcome.” Camila said, and Luz chuckled.

“Si, will do,” Vee said, “Will you…”

“I’ll be there,” Luz said, “Promise.”

“Thank you. Be back soon,” Vee said, before hitting the ground in a run.

Camila chuckled beside Luz. “She’s crushing on Masha, right?”

“Oh, absolutely.” Luz confirmed, “I can see the ship name now. Ma… No, um… Veesha?”

“…aaand you lost me again,” Camila admitted, but her smile faltered. “I’m sorry, Luz.”

“It’s okay, mama. It’s… This isn’t my world, but it’s yours, and so… I’m here.” Luz took a deep breath. “Ugh, you get used to the sulphur quickly, huh?”

“I wouldn’t have expected that. I will never take Earth’s air for granted again though.” Camila said, and the two laughed, making their way to the Noceda residence slowly.

As the two approached the house, Camila’s hand riffled through her purse, yanking out the key to the front door, and with a small jiggle of the lock, the door opened. Stepping in, Luz spun, looking at the building she had called home for so many years. Ever since they moved from Buena, Luz had called these walls home, and now, she called home in the confines of Hooty.

She’d have to pack. But she had promised Camila she’d stay overnight in the Human Realm a couple nights, just at the start. Luz couldn’t exactly say she was surprised, and in all fairness, it would be nice to say one goodbye to her second childhood home.

Thinking it that way made everything feel a lot more final, Luz realised.

“I’m going to check on Vee’s room,” Luz said, and Camila nodded.

“Your room too,” She reminded Luz, and the Titan nodded, “And Luz?”

“Yes, mama?”

“We’re home.” She said simply, “You don’t need to hide here.”

Giving a relieved chuckle, Luz tapped the concealment stone, watching it rippling away and she ascended the staircase, opening the plywood door that had just a couple months thrown her into a panic attack. The bedroom was, unsurprisingly, untouched.

Opening one of the drawers to her desk, Luz’s hand settled on an old sketchbook of hers, from before the Boiling Isles, and with a heavy dose of nostalgia, she sat down and opened it, delicate pointed fingertips scratching the pages lightly as they turned the thick drawing paper.

She had a moment.

---

Vee stood at the door to Masha’s house, feeling nervous. Despite having run all the way here — oh, that’s a workout — and knocking on the door, she was nervous for so many reasons. Despite that, there was nothing else to say, really—

She could hear a voice on the other side of the door, a vague I’ll get it , and a moment later the door swung open. Vee cracked a smile at Masha, who was standing there with a look of shock on their face.

“Vee!” Masha said, nearly leaping towards the basilisk, hugging her tightly. “Oh my gosh, you’re back, you’re okay! You had me worried,” They said, Vee looking at them with a smile.

“It took a while—” The basilisk started, hands moving a bit animatedly, sandy-blonde hair with frosted blue tips swaying. Did Vee grow her hair out a little? The two were speaking over each other, Masha realised faintly, but not fast enough to stop the flow of words fumbling from their mouth.

“But now we’re back and I rushed over here fast as I could, I should’ve said before I left but—”

“And I kept wondering if you’d make it, obviously you would , but you start to worry, and I never said that—”

“I like you.”

The two stood there, faces reddening, and Vee gave a faint chuckle. “Um, we… Did you…?”

“Oh, come here.” Masha said, their voice in a familiar air of dismissiveness, but their facial expression contorted with shock and maybe relief. Gripping the front of Vee’s shirt, the paranormalist crashed their lips against the basilisk’s.

A few months ago, Vee had never even considered the idea of romance. But right now, as the world and her senses clumsily exploded around her, she was positive she didn’t want to miss out on it.

Separating from Masha, as they brushed away a stray bit of hair in a daze, Vee grinned wide at them, a jumble of words on her tongue. “...that just happened.”

Rather than laugh at her, Masha simply smiled back. “That it did.”

“Um…” Vee’s face was bright red. Masha knew their face was probably no better, but couldn’t Vee pick and choose that? They’d have to ask. Later. Definitely later.

“So you’re back.” Masha added uselessly, internally facepalming. 

“We established that, yeah…” Vee trailed off, “Do you wanna see mom and Luz with me? And we can…”

“Obviously, lemme just tell my oppa,” Masha said, before turning to call something through the house. After a response that Vee couldn’t make out, Masha turned back to her, closing the door with one hand and slowly reaching for Vee’s hand with the other. They smiled at her, and the basilisk smiled back, grabbing their hand. “So, what happened while you were gone?”

“You won’t believe this…”

---

“Luz!!” Camila called up the staircase, “Vee’s home!”

Luz let the book clatter to the desk, careening down the hallway, wincing as she hit her head on the doorframe, making her way down the steps, preparing to tease Vee as was her sibling responsibility.

“Vee, how was Maaaaasha, there you are!” Luz corrected, leaning against the wall, one hand awkwardly placed. The paranormalist stared back at Luz, eyes wide. “Now, I know this looks bad.” Luz said, unsure of how to elaborate.

“Lllluz.” They said, sticking a hand out to shake, and Luz took the olive branch.

Turning to her sister, the Titan chuckled. “So, Vee, brought them over?”

“They insisted, and…” Vee offered up, “I mean, I missed ‘em.”

“Like hell I’m letting her vanish again.” Masha said, face tinting the slightest bit, and Luz bit her tongue. “A whole month , god, I was worried sick , and clearly for good reasons, because what the hell happened to you? I thought you were human?!”

Luz’s gaze darkened the slightest bit, shaking off the anger boiling deep beneath the surface. Oh, I have to work on that. “You didn’t tell her?” Luz remarked, and Vee shrugged.

“It kinda became normal for me?” The basilisk shyly commented. Luz could concede that point, although she suspected Vee was hiding something. It wasn’t her place though.

“Philip killed me in the graveyard. You just missed the resurrection, and well…” Luz explained, twirling a spell circle smugly, and Masha looked with fascination.

“Wait, who revived you?”

“…don’t freak out.” Luz said simply, “But remember I told you about the Titan on the Boiling Isles? Turns out, he wasn’t… dead?” Luz explained, voice becoming progressively quiet, and she watched the gears slowly turn on their face, before Luz could pinpoint the second it all clicked.

“…are you witch Jesus?” Masha blurted out, face going bright red, “I’m sorry—”

“—no, don’t be, oh, that’s great!” Luz said, laughing hard. Wiping actual tears from her eyes, she looked up at Vee and Masha, the two of them having transitioned somewhere along the conversation to holding hands, and Luz raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, Vee, can you lend me a hand?” Camila asked from the kitchen just a bit aside, and Vee darted in. Maybe in another circumstance they’d do takeout, but Camila and Vee both were dying for Human Realm food. (Luz was more than a little nervous. She had no clue what her allergies were, other than lactose still .)

“Give her a second,” Luz said casually, not noticing the way Masha was looking at her, too focused on seeing Vee turn away and run to Camila’s aid. Turning to them, Luz gave Masha a knowing look, her face still as expressive despite being inhuman. “So, it’s official?”

“Y-yeah,” Masha said, scratching the back of their neck. Oh, they had been hyping themselves up to answer to Camila, they were not prepared for Luz. Especially now that Luz looked like… Wait , hold on, wasn’t Titan the god-thing from that myth she had told them?

“I don’t know you super well, but Vee trusts you with the truth about her, so…” Luz shrugged. “Just… you’re not going to hurt her, right?”

Masha tried to keep a faint quiver out of their voice. “Obviously not.” Huh. Suddenly, all the stories that had preceded Luz’s reputation that had drawn Masha in the first place suddenly made sense. She was terrifying .

“Good. She deserves the best,” Luz said, smiling gently. “She’s been through a lot.” Masha nodded quietly, eyes locked firmly on the razor-sharp claws Luz was brandishing almost haphazardly.

“And Masha?” Luz added, almost as an afterthought. “I guess, um… Hurt her and you’ll…”

“Luz?” Masha spoke up when Luz was quiet for going-on-ten seconds, and the Titan scowled, looking at them with a sheepish grin.

“Dammit, trying to think of something ominous.” Luz admitted, “Wait, oh… No, nothing. Whatever, don’t hurt Vee, got it?” Masha was going to laugh. Luz hadn’t been trying to send them into an early grave, fear induced or otherwise, and the paranormalist started chuckling. “Got it?”

“Don’t worry, Luz,” They said, “I won’t hurt her.”

“…I believe you, you know.” Luz said, before snapping her fingers. “Oh, gotta go pack!” And the Titan cheerfully made her way to the staircase, Masha left in the dust. They sighed, making their way to the kitchen to see if they could help at all with the food.

And tell Camila.

(Camila actually would give her a shovel talk.)

---

The Collector and King lied on the floor of the Owl House, the Archivist rolling a small ball in their hands, training wand depleted at his side.

“It’s official, it’s so boring.” King groaned, “Is there nothing to do?”

“Not my fault!!” The Collector said. Sometimes, bouts of exhaustion tended to hit the Collector and Luz, seemingly a side effect of Philip’s unwanted hijacking, but the Collector was usually able to keep themselves entertained during their bouts.

Usually.

“…Collector, can I…” King wondered, “Can I see that ball for a second?”

The Archivist nodded, giving the ball a small hug before passing it to King. Staring up at the ceiling, King lobbed the ball into the air, and with a faint whisper, weh! ed the ball upwards further, eyes widening.

The Collector caught the ball, grinning wide. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“What about you, Collector?” King asked, and the starchild grinned wide.

“I can be the bad guy.”

Fifteen minutes later, after scrounging the Collector’s toybox for as many soft balls as they could, the two found themselves in the grassy field next to the Owl House, near the section torn up from Luz’s spellcasting that had since mostly healed up.

“On the count of three,” The Collector said cheerfully, “One… two… three!”

With a short lob, the Collector tossed one of the soft balls up, and with an echoing weh!, the ball was flung into the air high up, and the Collector watched it soar for a second, before smugly tossing another one over King. A second weh! followed, and before the two kids knew it, three or four soft balls at a time were being juggled.

It wasn’t maybe the most stimulating game, but the Collector was having plenty of fun grabbing whichever ones fell and throwing them back to King, a small game to see if they’d spend more time in the air — point for King — or plummeting out of control — point for the Archivist.

From time to time, that exhaustion caught up to the Collector, and breaks were had. For some of those breaks, they and King simply watched the skies. During one of them, King swallowed slowly, before speaking.

“Hey, Collector?” King asked while the starchild sat, and they looked up at him. “Do you think…”

“All the time,” He answered when King went quiet, before he grew a more serious expression. “Is something wrong, buddy?”

“I’m sorry,” King said, “For tricking you? When we met, I…”

“I get it, King,” The Collector replied, throwing the ball to King for him to catch the normal way. “I forgave you for that a long time ago.”

“Huh?” King was a little surprised, grateful, but surprised. “But I never apologised.”

“I knew you would’ve, though.” The Collector added simply, “We both… We both were desperate. Philip said he’d let me out if I helped him, and I never really stopped to think about what was happening.”

“Do you… regret it?” King asked with a hint of wonder, and the Collector shrugged.

“I knew Luz says she wouldn’t change anything, but I would. Least a bit.” The Collector confessed, “I wish someone better had found me. Eda’s nice, I bet it’d have been okay if she found me.”

“Yeah, it would be.” King said, voice faint. The Collector noticed King’s sad expression, and he frowned a little.

“Especially because then we’d have met sooner,” The Collector said jovially, snapping King from his train of thought. “So no more moping around, let’s get back to catch!”

King gave a soft chuckle and nodded. “You’re on.”

---

It had started as a movie night. Every other weekend, Eda, King, Luz, and Camila tended to stay in the Owl House, Raine out and about with the BATTs — yes, Eda, it's still BATTs. I can't convince them to change it — and Vee at Masha's house for D&D every other weekend.

Once the Collector was tucked into bed, the four would sit with some cheesy film. Sometimes it was human, the cheesy tropes not so much offensive so much as absurd to the point of comedy; sometimes it was witch, for Luz’s pop-cultural benefit and the fact that Camila found some of them surprisingly riveting.

This one was, according to Eda, one of the cheesiest horror movies on the Isles, one that Camila would have been convinced ripped off Saw if not for the surprisingly compelling Hallmark plotline that clearly came first. It was surprisingly good for being Hallmark Saw, Camila wouldn't deny it.

As the night dwelled however, Luz’s eyes grew heavy and King yawned more and more, the two Titans curling up with one of their moms and slowly stumbling into dream land.

As he passed out, Eda pet King gently, the littler of the two Titans curled up on her lap. She looked over at Camila, who had Luz out cold leaning against her shoulder.

“Should one of us get up?” Eda said, and Camila nodded. The two women sat there still. “Can’t be me, King’s on my lap.”

“Luz never falls asleep, you know how light she sleeps now.” Camila whispered, and the two just sat in silence for a minute.

“Well, we’re officially stuck. Raine will find us and we’ll still be here.” Eda joked, before clearing her throat a little.

“You know, Edalyn,” Camila said absently, still staring at the cheesy horror movie playing on Eda’s crystal ball, “At the very beginning, I didn’t like you. At all.”

“Well, that was a sudden change in topic. I can guess why though,” Eda asked, voice dripping with sarcasm, “Was it because your daughter came to me after you kicked her out?”

“Eda.” Camila said, and Eda froze. The short-and-sweet Eda was a rarity forthe human. “Let me speak, please.” Eda gave a curt nod, and looked at Camila as she took a deep breath. “I… You were the mom I couldn’t be. You never made Luz feel unwelcome, you never… God, I mocked her, Eda, she shouldn’t forgive me, I… I failed her. I kicked her out because I couldn’t accept that maybe she was at home somewhere else.”

“It’s been nearly a year , Cami.” Eda said, “And you’re only realising this now?”

“I realised it a long time ago.” The human said, stroking Luz’s soft fur, “And I… I cut my losses, I came to the Demon Realm to protect her from that tu puta madre, oh, I’m glad he’s dead,” She snapped, voice raising in anger, before quieting down as Luz stirred a little, “I did it to save her, because God forbid… she die again.”

“You hurt her.” Eda said, frowning a little as King absently nibbled on her fingers, before detaching the wrist and leaving it there. “I… Titan, the way she spoke of you before that, I think I was falling for you second-hand. Kind, courageous, it was clear that you hung up the stars in Luz’s eyes.”

“Then Raine came back, and then you pulled that stunt… And do you want the honest truth, Cam? I don’t want you around my kid.” Eda admitted, before looking at the sleeping Titans. “And I feel awful for that, because you’ve proven it was a one-off, and yet…”

“You still don’t trust me.” Camila said, and she nodded. “That’s fair, I wouldn’t trust you if the tables were turned.”

“And yet… you’re not bad.” Eda added, “You are a good woman, just one who screwed up immeasurably . So… Luz forgives you, you haven’t done anything else like that. I… I can’t forgive you for hurting our kid, but it’s clear to me that Luz wants us to turn over a new leaf.”

“You can forgive me, but not what I’ve done.” Camila said, chuckling softly. “Sometimes, I swear, you and Luz are related by blood.”

“Nah, I got it from her.” Eda said, “That one, that’s all you.”

“…our kid, then.”

“Our kid.”

The two sat there, quiet lingering in the air, as the cheesy horror movie about evil chess-themed murderers played on the crystal ball absently. It wasn’t long before Eda and Camila joined their kids in the land of dreams.

---

There weren't an awful ton of traditions Luz still took part in. Boiling Isles holidays were something different. Some holidays, or anniversaries, she spent in the Human Realm, but most of her life gravitated around the Demon Realm now.

All that said, it was Luz’s fifteenth birthday, and there was a tradition she wasn’t going to miss for the world.

Her quinceañera.

Dressed in a gown that was some cross between Human and Demon traditions, web textures (or maybe just webs) adorning softer purple fabrics, stitched and sculpted to fit the Titan, Luz stood feeling slightly awkward, maybe even vulnerable.

The event was rather private, just consisting of Luz’s family and her closest friends, but it was lively despite that, dancing filling up the room. The centre of the room was given enough clearance for Luz and Camila, the older woman taking her daughter’s hand as music crackled into being, and Luz swallowed her nerves.

As the speakers played a familiar melody over the speakers, Camila held Luz tightly, the two swaying, a small waltz to their steps that neither Noceda was exactly familiar with. Camila noticed the happy look on Luz’s face, and gave a smile.

“It’s been a busy year, hasn’t it?” Camila asked gently, and Luz gave a chuckle.

“Oh my, it was, wasn’t it?” Luz asked, “Like, fifty weeks ago was that book report. Best class project ever .” The two gave a laugh, as Luz tried to match the footsteps, a surprisingly difficult task due to the nearly-two-feet difference in height.

“He hated that he wouldn’t be here,” Camila said gently, chewing her lip with nerves. Luz looked down, eyes wide, “He loved you, and… He wanted you to always remember that, even if nothing else about him.”

“I’ve remembered, mama. And he’s still here,” Luz said, smiling fondly. “He’s still here, even if he’s… not, you know?”

“Sé que lo es.” Camila murmured, and Luz’s eyes glittered in the light.

“No sé bailar, ¿sabes?” Luz added, voice faint, “Me gustaría pensar que es él, de alguna manera.”

Camila nodded, leaning in and hugging Luz a bit as they swayed, and the younger girl felt tears running down her cheek, smile wide. “Te querido, mama.”

“Te querido, mi Luz.”

---

It had been one year since that day.

Miraculously, only one person died during the Day of Unity, and while a lot of people left flowers at the grave, most if not all were left out of basic respect for the departed and dead, not of any genuine heartbreak.

But when the night was fading, Amity stood before Odalia’s grave, without flowers, without words.

“Hey mom.” Amity said after forever. “I don't really know what we would talk about if you were here.” The clearing was too quiet. She suddenly regretted doing this alone, wishing she hadn’t insisted Luz spend the day with Eda and King.

“I guess to start, everyone else made it.” Amity murmured, “I’d like to think you’d be glad to hear that. Me, dad, the twins, we made it.” With the words coming out blindly, Amity just rolled with it, hands tapping anxious at her legs.

“Uhh, Hexside’s done rebuilding. I’m taking bard like I always wanted to. Me and Luz are steady, I’m pretty sure Emira and Viney are dating, uh…” Amity said, “A lot has happened since you left, but I don’t know if you’d… like hearing of it? It’s not the life you set up for us, but… We’re happy.”

Amity wrung her hands a little, not even bothering to stop the small flapping of her hands she did when she was young, she did again now, whenever she got stressed (or bored, or excited, really.)

“We didn’t have any mother-daughter time, so I don’t really… know?” Amity said, voice thick with emotion, “I miss the kind woman who raised me, who taught me my first spell, who was there for me when I was sad. I miss her, and maybe… Maybe she could’ve been you. But she’s not, and that makes me kinda want to cry, but… I don’t think you’d like that either.”

“I don't think… Luz visits her dad every year.” Amity said, “And maybe I'm the villain here, but… I don't think I’m coming back. You made me miserable, mom, but when you died… all I hoped is you weren’t, so you could get better , so I could have my mom in my life.”

“That was never gonna happen,” Amity admitted, and she closed her eyes, wiping at her eyes. “But I do hope you rest in peace. You deserve that much.”

Amity swallowed the bile in her throat, turning around. Without a second look at the lone gravestone, she made her exit.

---

The training wand the Collector had been using for the past year worked perfectly fine, and would probably continue when they started at Hexside in the autumn, but the Archivist had a second issue: craving companionship. And with the recent replantation of the palistrom trees, Eda had an idea of what could be done.

That was how Hunter found himself here — while several people had offered to help, the starchild was adamant about Hunter being there when he did it. While he had expressed interest in making it up to all the palismen he had been responsible for hurting under Philip’s rule, he had turned down Dell’s offers of training, so to pick him felt a bit weird.

“Okay, now, hold it a little tight, you don’t want them wobbling,” Hunter said, gently showing the Collector what to do, and how to hold the carving knife. Hunter guiding the small starchild carving away at his palisman, the clump of blue wood slowly whittled away into something fluffy looking, the natural instinct of the Archivist helping them carve away at it with grace. While the Collector was getting a couple nicks here and there, ‘that’s how they’ll know I’ve always loved them’ and they were adamantly refusing Hunter’s help to carve safer.

Oh, where was Dell?

But as the carving slowly took shape, Hunter was surprised at how well the starchild took to it, and the form of a wooden rabbit eventually emerged. When the Collector was satisfied with the look, it seemed to hit him all at once, and their eyes welled up with tears.

“I love them, I love them so much…” The Collector said excitedly, voice not its usual loud cadence, but softer, gentler, holding the wooden rabbit tight. “Thank you for helping me!!”

“Why me, Collector?” Hunter asked, still not sure why the Archivist wanted him of all people to help, instead of Eda, King, Luz. No, he insisted on Hunter.

“…I trust you, you’ve never hurt me…” The Collector said, “I wanna get to know you , this you, because all of you were… so nice…” Oh. Hunter knew what the starchild meant, thinking back to the abandoned bodies of Golden Guards of the years past. “I wanna know you the way I know King, or Luz and Vee, and…”

“Oh, I’m touched, Collector,” Hunter said, hugging the starchild tightly, “It means a lot to me, it… It really does, thank you.” To be not Caleb, and his heart swelled with pride. He still wasn’t sure how to be affectionate, so he gave the starchild a gentle pat on the shoulder. “And your palisman seems like it turned out great!”

“Thank you!!! Now what do I do?” The Collector asked, stroking the smooth blue wooden surface of the hare, and Hunter smiled softly.

“You have to tell it what your greatest wish, deep deep down is.” Hunter started, petting the cardinal that tried to nuzzle into his shoulder. “It’s okay if you don’t know right away, Collec—” 

“I…” The starchild cradled the wooden rabbit close to their chest, speaking just loud enough to cut off Hunter’s words, “I hated the loneliness, I hated it, and I… I never want anyone to be alone again.”

Suddenly, the palisman flashed bright , overwhelmingly bright, a white-hot sear in Hunter’s eyes, and he turned away, the radiance a little too much for him. A long wooden staff extended from it, but then receded, the small rabbit hopping into the Collector’s arms again. As the light slowly subsided, afterimages burned in Hunter’s retinas, he saw the rabbit nuzzling the Collector’s face cheerfully.

“Her name’s Lucienne,” The Collector said quietly, hugging the rabbit tightly. “Oh, I love you, hiiii…” As the Collector hugged the palisman, Hunter gave a small smile. There was a look of wonder of the Collector’s face, and it was one Hunter couldn’t help but think would be nice to see more often.

…He wanted to make up for how he had hurt palismen under Belos’ rule. And he had an idea how.

“You good, Hunter?” The Collector asked, snapping him from his train of thought, and the grimwalker nodded.

“You’re a good kid, Collie.” He said, and the Archivist chuckled.

“Collie?”

“It’s a nickname,” Hunter said, “And… Thank you.” He watched as Flapjack and Lucienne chatted about something, Hunter only processing half of the conversation, and his smile wide.

“I’ve never had a nickname before!!” The Collector said with a grin, kicking his feet a little as he pet the soft fluffy texture that made up the rabbit palisman’s fur. Suddenly, their face scrunched up in confusion. “Wait, thank you? For what?”

“I wouldn’t be around if not for you either,” Hunter pointed out, “And I… I think you helped me find something.”

…he’d need to talk to Dell about that apprenticeship idea.

---

Children were wonderful. That much was clear to Luz, especially with the way she watched as a group of children of varying young ages sat cross legged and calmly, as Luz and Amity took turn reading lines from the storybook they were reading to the kids in the library.

“And with a jolt of wonder, he uncovered his eyes,” Amity read from the book, “Huxtable never had quite a surprise. He jumped and he leapt, complete shock on his face—”

“You did this for me?” Luz said, going a little bit extra with the voice in a way that Amity was trying not to let captivate her — extra was just one of the things Amity loved about her, after all, “I got seventh place!”

“‘You helped dear ol’ Iris,’ his buddies all said,” Amity continued, “‘You would’ve got first, if you left her for dead,’” It was easier to notice when Amity was talking, the way the kids all seemed to turn their head excitedly, anticipating the next line.

“‘I suppose that is right, but I let you all down,’” Luz spoke in her voice, and she noticed the shocked reactions on all the kids’ faces, here and all throughout the story. She wondered if this was the first time they had heard this one.

“‘It doesn’t matter, we swear, you did the best in the town.’” Amity continued, “So the party was had,”

“The cake was delicious,” Luz inserted, as an afterthought and not simply the next-line that it was.

“While sixth through first place got dismissed as too vicious,” Amity neared the end, “But he did what was right, at the cost of his own. That’s the spirit of winning, and that’s better than gold.” As Amity closed the book with a dramatic clap , the kids started speaking over each other, and Amity gently shushed them. “We gotta go now, but I hope you had fun?”

“Yeah, we did!!” One kid said, getting up with a wobble, while the similarly-looking demon he called his sister stood up and spoke up too.

“Thank you for coming here!” She said with a smile, hugging Amity(‘s leg, considering the height discrepancy.) One by one, the kids went through, until the last one, whose name Luz recalled as Veritie, hugged Amity.

“Thank you, Miss Amity!!” She said, hugging the witch tightly. To Luz’s surprise, the small demon let go and gave Luz a surprisingly tight hug as well, “Thank you, Miss Luz!”

“…thank you , Veritie,” Luz said, ruffling the demon’s head. “It means a lot to me that you enjoyed.” The demon gave a gleeful smile, and ran off after her brother who had left several seconds prior, nearly tripping as she did so.

As the children disembarked, Luz leaned against the wall, chuckling under her breath.

“This is nice, no wonder you started doing it.” Luz said, and Amity nodded.

“I did it at first just to get out of the house some,” Amity admitted, scratching the back of her neck, “But Titan be damned, they’re adorable, right?”

“They really are.” Luz agreed, before looking at Amity with a slightly smug expression. “Soooo, how long before we show them Azura?”

“Luz. They’re six.” Amity said, “These are not books for six year olds.”

“I read Azura when I was eight, that’s basically six?”

“Seven.” Amity said, “But we’re both aware, like, I love those books, Luz, but there’s enough flowery writing to choke out any other garden. The kids wouldn’t like it.”

“I know , I know, you know how I am.” Luz said, eyes wide. “But okay, we’ll show them to our kid then.”

“I’d like that.” Amity said, before her eyes went wide and her face flushed tomato red. “Luz, you can’t just— I—”

Luz planted a kiss on Amity’s cheek, surprising herself at how Amity could grow redder. “See you tomorrow, batata, sleep well!” She said, grinning wide, grabbing her bag and making her way for the door, grabbing Stringbean from the little playdate she had been in with Ghost as she made her way out.

---

“It is my pleasure to announce this year’s Grom royalty…” Principal Bump’s voice had crackled over the intercom, “Hunter Daemonne!”

Ultimately, it had been that simple, and that’s why Hunter was decked out in a red and yellow floral suit, eagering looking at Willow (and the rest of his friends, but mostly Willow) for approval.

The chasm in the floor separated, and Flapjack ceased chirping, extending and twisting into a wooden staff that rested in Hunter’s hands comfortably.

It was no surprise to anyone what form Grom ended up taking.

“Hunter,” Grom said, a deep old-English accent creeping into words, the face of the old emperor staring back at him, “You came back to me?”

“I-I-” The grimwalker stared, hands quaking, shifting, shaking, “Yo-you’re not real, are you?”

“Why wouldn’t I be, Hunter?” The beast growled, taking a striding step, a metallic staff clicking with a deafening echo, “You’ve never seen me die, I could still be working my way into the heads of your friends…”

“Be-because—” Hunter closed his eyes for a second, and then, in a blitz of gold, he appeared behind the fearbringer, Flapjack already in motion for a swing, and the beast screamed, staggering.

“Caleb, what is wrong with you?” The nightmare snarled, twisting, changing, green rot and purple fluid mixing to become a hulking monstrosity. “Perhaps I made the wrong decision in the graveyard.”

Hunter froze, eyes narrow. “Shut up, Grom.” His voice was steady, too steady.

“You’re quick, skilled. Better than the girl.” Grom asked, voice dripping with sarcasm, “You didn’t think you had a say, did you?”

“No, you know what I did think, Belos?” Hunter asked, a golden smear streaking the air a second time, a burst of some explosive, a potion of a make or model, erupting at terminal velocity in the creature’s chest. “I’m gonna make my own choices. I’m not gonna work for you anymore, and I’ll never step foot in that throne room again!”

A second smear, and the beast tripped, faltered, falling backwards, “I’m gonna study wild magic, learn to carve palismen,” Another, and this time it was a simplistic swing, and Grom fell to the ground, twisting into the human appearance of his uncle. “But first I’ll attend Hexside, play flyer derby with my friends!”

“H-Hunter, please,” The creature moaned, pain in its eyes — real or not, Hunter cared little.

He blurred into focus in front of Grom, Flapjack fluttering beside him, not in staff form, and with only a moment of contemplation, he grabbed a dagger off the weapons rack. Only he and Luz would understand the significance of his weapon choice, but it would be cathartic all the same.

“And most of all, I’ll make sure you never hurt anyone ever again.” He growled, staring into the beast’s eyes, fears forgotten, and with one good lunge, a lifetime of training he never wanted manifested in the forefront to dig a blade with excellent accuracy into the monster's chest.

The Fearbringer collapsed. The audience cheered.

(It was the last time Hunter ever wielded a weapon.)

---

The boiling rain was surprisingly soothing to Camila. The faint hissing sound outdoors from when in the comfort of the Owl House made it almost serene , much to Eda’s complete bewilderment. For someone had spent forty odd years fearing the rain, that made sense, but for now, the change was rather welcome.

But with the portal being located just outside the Owl House, it’s not like Camila had much of a say anyway. Boiling rain and all. 

Instead she found herself in Eda’s living room, a warm cup of cider in her hand as she and Eda chatted. It turned out, the two of them actually could get along wonderfully if they looked past the rather important parenting differences.

“Well, how did you bring yourself to say no?” Eda asked, waving her hooked hand around, “King’s puppydog eyes still make me fold like a card house.”

“To be honest, I can’t bring myself to put my foot down like I should anymore,” Camila admitted, “But for a long time I asked ‘would future Luz’ want this? But she’s… Both her and Vee have been through a lot, I trust them to make the right decisions for themselves.”

“I don’t think you get it, King keeps asking to go for evening strolls in the rain.” Eda said, voice dry but humorous.

“Si, no matter if I said no, Luz did it all—” Camila started, before paling. “The boiling rain?”

“Only one we have! Apparently, he’s strong enough to withstand it now!” Eda complained, “But I still don’t like him walking in it!”

“...What if he did anyway? Can you even stop him?” Camila asked, curiosity peppered her tone, and Eda sighed.

“No, I’m glad he’s better behaved than I was,” Eda pointed out. “I once went in the boiling rain just because my mom insisted I shouldn’t. I was seven.”

Camila hissed through her teeth. “That sounds…”

“I was a stupid child,” Eda claimed with a grin, “Glad Luz and King didn’t get it from me. I’m also glad Luz doesn’t puppydog eye me anymore.”

“Dios mío, so am I. Vee just learned to try pulling it.” Camila pointed out, “It’s so hard.”

“We spoil our kids rotten, don’t we?”

The two were so busy talking they didn’t even notice the banter of the house demon, or the way Luz stepped inside the house, fur slicked with rainwater. Stepping up the stairs as quietly as she could, Luz chuckled softly, taking relief in her mothers bonding.

She couldn’t believe how lucky she was.

---

Amity took a deep, deep breath.

“Hello, everyone, friends and families of this year's graduating class,” Amity said slowly, voice clear and strong. “I am Amity Blight, this year’s valedictorian, and I have been chosen to give this year's speech.”

She smiled softly, looking at the audience. She couldn’t truthfully deny how nervous she was, resisting the urge to wring her red-clad arms in the bright lights that shone upon her and her peers.

“When I started my high school career, it was to the dream of the coven system,” She started, “And I was but a humble abomination student.”

“And then, came a human.” Amity said, face tinting. “And not to gush about her too long, but she helped us all, with introducing multi-tracks to Hexside, and leading the charge against the former Emperor.”

Amity took a breath, “But in the years since the Day of Unity, it's been nothing short of good. Students now multi-track freely, picking fields that hadn't existed before, or pursuing passions that they once couldn't.”

Amity did a small twirl, blue leggings and red sleeves caught in the light. “I’m not the only abomination student to leave that track in pursuit of other passions that bring me happiness, we’re free to explore what we enjoy instead of just what we’re naturally gifted at; and abominations aren’t the only track to receive an influx of people who would've always taken it as a second course.”

“And I could wax poetry for hours about how much good has come into our lives, but that would simply take time away from living it. So whether it be reuniting with old friends, falling in love, fighting gods and kings, everything in between,” Amity said, unable to keep the emotion out of her voice as she turned to face her classmates, “I thank you all so much for the best high school career I could've imagined. I always knew I'd graduate, but I never knew I'd be this happy.”

“Happy graduation, Hexside. Thanks for all the memories.”

---

“Oh, your speech was great, Ami!” Luz said, hugging her girlfriend with a spin, and the witch blushed the faintest tint.

“It wasn’t that good,” Amity insisted, and Hunter shrugged.

“Short, sweet, better than rambling for so long that three of my fellow graduates fall asleep.” The palisman carver said, expression faltering for the briefest moment, and he chuckled. “So, what’s the plan going forward?”

“I haven’t told you? The university’s nearly done,” Luz pointed out, “Plan to attend that, then go from there.” Wild magic was Luz’s future, no one was surprised, but every track hadn’t exactly focused her course choices. “Maybe I’ll be a teacher, Hexside needs a troublemaker on staff.”

“Since when do the staff need to cause trouble!?” Hunter asked, hands wide in confusion, and Luz gave him a wide grin.

“Takes a troublemaker to stop a troublemaker.” Gus commented, and Luz lifted a hand, high-fiving the illusionist, “Thinking of going into reporting, like dad did. Tell me I wouldn’t rock at it?” He gestured to himself proudly, and Luz leaned in, giving him a hug. “But first, the road-trip.”

“Wait, road trip?” Amity commented, and Gus looked at her like she had grown a second head.

“Me and Matt? With Vee and her partner?” Gus asked, and Amity gave her a flat look, and he gave a grin. “Road trip before college, all the weird places in the Human Realm, or at least its United States. We’ve got Paradise Ranch because obviously, middle of nowhere Oregon, there’s a weird inventor guy in the tristate area,”

“It’s all Vee’s talking about, I’m giving her a hard time but I’m so happy for her,” Luz said, smiling wide. “Keep her safe, alright?”

“Yes, I will…” Gus groaned good-naturedly. Hunter had a feeling this was a conversation the two had before. Several times.

Amity’s eyes were a bit distant, and the girl frowned. “Not sure exactly, but I’m thinking of, maybe…” Amity’s voice quieted as she scratched the back of her neck nervously, leaning into Luz’s hold a little bit. “A victory lap, figure it out a bit more, and then probably university to pursue it.” Even all these years later, it was an open secret that Amity wasn’t sure what she wanted to do with her life. She had spent so long on the Emperor’s Coven path, that anything else seemed fragile .

“I’m sure you’ll figure it o-www!!” Suddenly, a small chirp from Flapjack, tugging on Hunter’s hair, and the grimwalker’s face cracked in a wide grin, rushing over to Willow.

“Will’!” Hunter said, hugging the woman tightly. No one needed to ask where she was going, as if the absolute celebration when she was selected for a professional flyer derby team had completely gone under the radar. “Oh, I’m so happy for you!!”

“I’ll be honest,” Willow admitted, “Never thought this day would come, might miss Hexside, ya know?”

“I know!” Luz commented, “Like, it’s been… A fixture here for me, I’ve been going to Hexside almost since I got here. It’ll be weird not going there. Actually, wait, wait, wait,” Luz said, pulling her scroll from the void it normally sat in comfortably, “One last Hexsquad selfie,”

“I’m not in Hexside anymore though?” Hunter pointed out, and Luz grabbed his arm, yanking him into shot, hitting the capture button as he nearly fell, catching him too late as he sprawled on the ground, blinking away stars with a laugh. “Point taken.”

Hoisting Hunter up, Luz and her friends made their way out of Hexside’s main entrance. Luz stopped right before the exit, watching her friends leave. She turned to face the shiny surfaces, and with a grin, she waved a small goodbye to her high school.

“Luz, we going to Redstone or not?” Gus called back, and Luz turned, a small smile on her face.

“Wait for me,” Luz said, feet hitting the ground as she darted after them.

(That selfie, Luz’s arms and Hunter’s everything a blur of staggering movement, was immediately set as her scroll’s background photo.)

---

Luz swallowed slowly, listening to the ever-so-delicate click of the suitcase, one that didn't come because yep, definitely too much stuff in here . It was barely moving out, really. The Owl House would still be here, but it was, for the first time in a long time, not going to be Luz’s home.

Wow. Some time ago, that sentence would have horrified her. But… university was awaiting, and that was different.

“Kiddo, you got everything packed?” The nonchalant voice called from the hallway, and Luz’s rolled her eyes, turning to face Eda. The witch was impeccably dressed, ready to be the headmaster — yes, headmaster, ‘chancellor’ is stuck up and you know I’m right, she insisted — of the brand new university for wild magic. Decked in familiar reds, but with a frankly disconcerting amount of professionalism, Eda stood, eyebrow raised.

“Almost, I don’t have everything in right, mom,” Luz said, and Eda groaned.

“Kid, it’s a ten-minute flight from the university, you can leave some stuff here.” The witch insisted, and Luz shrugged, grabbing a bundle of twine from the nearby desk and wrapping it in tight loops around the still open suitcase. Shoving the spool deep inside, Eda shrugged. “Or do that, I suppose.”

“Learned from the best,” Luz said, and Eda chuckled.

“I have never used twine to seal a suitcase.” Eda started with a smug expression, but Luz fired back, grinning.

“But if it works, it works, right?” The Titan asked, and the Owl Lady paused, tilting her head.

After a moment, she clicked her tongue, shaking her head. “Touché, kid. Now, are we gonna get going, or are we gonna be late?”

“We’re gonna be fashionably late,” Luz said with a laugh, but she lugged the overfilled suitcase up and started to race past Eda, the witch rolling her eyes the littlest bit.

“Oh, mom, I get it now.” Eda joked to herself, following Luz to outside the Owl House, and she stepped out to the sight of Luz mounting Stringbean, an eagerness to start moving evident in her posture.

Kicking off from the ground, Luz soared through the air on Stringbean’s staff, Eda close behind, and the Titan glanced around at the ground beneath, smiling wide. It was all so familiar, but different from time, and it was… She was sentimental today, and it was inspiring to think of how much she had seen the Isles change, for the better.

And speaking of change, Luz hadn’t seen the relics of Belos’ castle after the fall of the Emperor, not before it was torn down completely. Seeing how it had been fully replaced was more than a little cathartic, nightmares of seeing herself in glass windows feeling less tangible than ever.

The University of Wild Magic now stood in its place, platforms and landing made of wood all weaved as the world’s most complex and elaborate treehouse, bridges and avenues between bits of the structure all in a densely packed cavalcade of trees, palistrom trees mostly, towering seemingly endlessly, a canopy so thick even the Boiling Rain would struggle to get through.

“Bam, welcome! Inaugural class, too.” Eda said proudly, ruffling the top of Luz’s hair, 

Luz took a step, staring at the ground that delineated the natural environment from the more maintained wooden floor that made up the property’s edge, and Luz was… actually kinda nervous to cross it. She was snapped from her staring by Camila’s voice beside her.

“Looking forward to it, mija?” Camila asked, and Luz looked up at the wrapping tree stalks and vines that adorned the university, imagination and focus drifting for a moment longer, and with a soft chuckle, she nodded.

“Yeah.” She finally said, grinning, “Yeah, I am. More than I ever have in my life.” She took one step over the mantle, leaving behind her worries on the other side. The worst days of her life were behind her, and the first day of the rest of her life had begun. It had begun a long while ago, but it felt different now.

She was happy.

And she wouldn’t change it for the world.

---

When the light is running low,
And the shadows start to grow,
And the places that you know,
Seem like fantasy;
There’s a light inside your soul,
Slowly shrinking in the cold;
With a truth, a promise in our hearts.
Don’t forget,
I’m with you in the dark.

 

 

 

Notes:

Fin. And it’s done!!

Wow! This was… tough to write. I don’t say this much, but EITR is kinda based on a very specific experience of mine, one that makes Yesterday’s Lie stressful and sickening to watch, so a chance to pour a bit of that aspect of myself into this world was something I couldn’t turn down. There were other things I wanted to do. Raine and Eda communicating, early BATTs, neat. Multi-track Amity; I got to save Flapjack!! I love this wooden cardinal; I got to basically give Masha a character, as well as Vee to be honest; permanent Titan!Luz and the fun Titan!Luz v. Collector!Belos fight; all sorts of stuff.

I started writing fanfic when I was young as practice to write my own stories someday, but only recently do I think I've actually gotten better at it, good enough to maybe try writing original works. I have high hopes for my own novel, work on it is slow but y'all have been such a supportive audience, and I feel optimistic on it for the first time in a long time. I’m not done in this fandom. But I’m done with this story, and I’m happy with it. There’s even a TVTropes page for Ended in the Rain, which feels big, I made it to TVTropes somehow!! I am enthusiastically watching the page for updates and it’s just… Aaaaa it’s cool.

(Thhhhat’s a lie. I’m not done with this story. I wanna do a single one-chapter companion piece to cover Labyrinth Runners, maybe Ended in the Labyrinth is a good name, I dunno; I wanna cover that though, lots changed off-screen. But that’s not important.)

But that was Ended in the Rain. Time for some well-said “thank you”s. Most cliche but truly, thank you, the reader, for reading. Everyone who commented, everyone who kudos’d. Whatever you’ve been reading since chapter one or are finding this fic long after completion, the fact you're reading these end notes means… well, thank you.

Additionally, huge thank you to my beta-readers, evAlpha, deciMae, and CalvinZilla, for proofreading this chapter, fixing the flow, punctuation, and my overall incapability to write, to help this chapter live up to expectations. Be sure to check out their fics and give them lots of attention, they deserve it.

Next up, thank you to everyone in Luz’s Fanfic Folder (which includes my beta-readers!) It’s a great little Discord server where I’ve been writing and brainstorming this in. Love it there, and honestly, they gave me the motivation to finish this fic. If you wish to join, you can use this link here, and thank you to every single one of you. You gave me motivation, feedback, and confidence to write this.

Finally (should be first maybe?), Dana Terrace and the wonderful creators of The Owl House. I do not pledge allegiance to the Mouse House, but the producers within it, absolutely, good job.

If you enjoyed my writing for some reason, uh, I have three other fics for you to read through, that I'm currently working on side by side.

The first is Lost in Limbo, an AU that diverges from Lost in Language, with Luz and Amity disappearing into the pages of Otabin’s book. A civil war fic with even more angst than this mess, it leads to a darker telling of the Boiling Isles rebellion, complete with changed character dynamics and arcs, higher stakes, and whole-new tension. Hopefully. Still writing it.

The second is infinitely fluffier, A Blighter Place, a softer, gentler fic, where the Golden Guard releases the basilisks from captivity six years prior to the events of the show, resulting in one becoming Luz's sister... and the other replacing Odalia Blight. Fluff, healthy family dynamics, and more domestic moments ensue before catching up with the show's main plot.

And, as a smaller project, It Could Still Be Arranged, a fic where Hunter accidentally drops Luz in the Boiling Sea during Separate Tides, and it’s as angsty as it sounds. Grimwalker Luz, identity crisises (crisisiis? crises?) abound, lots of dark angst with a happy ending. Won’t update as much but will update occasionally.

As always, comments are appreciated, but even more as always, thank you, and I hope you have a great time. You were fantastic, absolutely fantastic.

Notes:

This fic is now on TVTropes! Also, I'm available on Tumblr here! (@higherdissidency)