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Chapter Text

So, obviously in this universe Luz is a Time Lord, or Time Lady, so is her mother Camila. As a Time Lady, Camila went by the tittle of “The Nurse”, she knew the Doctor personally and is an old friend of his. Camila’s husband died in battle against the Daleks during the Time War, Luz was just a baby at the the time, before the Doctor used the Moment to destroy Gallifrey and the Daleks, Camila had managed to steal a TARDIS so she and Luz could escape the war. Unlike the Doctor who failed his driving test at the Academy, Camila actually aced her test. Camila is on her third Regeneration in this story. When Camila and Luz escaped to Earth, Camila used a Chameleon Arch to make Luz and herself human to stay hidden on Earth. Camila’s TARDIS currently resembles a grandfather clock and is located in her living room.

So let’s talk about Luz herself, so, she currently still has 12 Regenerations left in her cycle. She still falls in love with Amity Blight, Lumity Forever! After the events of The Owl House, we will jump into the events of Doctor Who, starting with the 9th Doctor and Rose Tyler. Although, question to all of you, how do you think Luz would think and feel about Regeneration?

Chapter Text

The Time Lords, an ancient civilization that’s existed since the beginning of time itself. The Time Lords were an advanced race, masters of all forms of science, technology, and medicine, however their most defining feat, was their mastery of time travel. They learned exactly how time works and they became governors over Space and Time itself, hence the tittle of Time Lords. The Time Lords swore never to interfere with the flow of time, only to sit back, and observe. They were a peaceful people, although they became arrogant, they soon came to believe that no other race could surpass them. The truth was, that this was far from the case, on a planet named “Skaro”, a new form of life began.

The Daleks, creatures of war and destruction. Genetic mutations sealed inside of robotic, near indestructible, combat ready battle armor. Created by a Kaled scientist named “Davros”, the Daleks became a force of evil throughout the universe. For the Daleks believed that they were the superior life forms, they believed in racial purity, anything that was impure, anything that was not a Dalek, was to be exterminated. The Daleks began a campaign of genocide against all life in the universe, the Time Lords broke their vow of neutrality and sent a Time Lord known as “The Doctor” back in time to the point of the creation of the Daleks on Skaro to stop them from being created. The Doctor however was only able to halt the Dalek’s progress, the Daleks still came to be, and had encounters with the Doctor multiple times, the Daleks soon came to master time travel themselves, they learned about the Time Lord’s attempt to thwart their creation, and thus the great Time War, began. 

Gallifrey, the home-world of the Time Lords. A planet in the constellation of Kasterborous, with a burnt orange sky, and endless snow-capped mountains. However all was not peaceful on Gallifrey, surrounding the planet were hundreds of saucer shaped vessels, Dalek ships, all of varying sizes, some medium, some large. The ships were firing green laser bolts upon the planet, the Time Lords and the Daleks had been battling each other for centuries now, several other species got swept away by the conflict as well.

Arcadia, Gallifrey’s second city, was in complete chaos, the Daleks had blasted their way through the cities defenses and began their massacre, several drop-ships were zipping through the air, Dalek Saucers bombarding the city with green energy bolts. On the ground things were not better as Daleks moved through the streets, attacking civilians and soldiers alike, Time Lord laser turrets fired upon the drop-ships but were destroyed by the Saucers. We see people running for their lives, a squad of five soldiers ushers them to continue running, they soon point their guns to a group of three Daleks, the soldiers opened fire upon the Daleks but their Dalekanium armor and personal force fields deflected those blasts.

“EXTERMINATE!!!” The Daleks yelled out as their ray guns unleashed blue blasts of pure radiation upon the Time Lord soldiers, their skeletons are briefly illuminated as they screamed in pain and fell to the ground, dead.

The group of Daleks continued advancing through the streets of Arcadia, Exterminating as they went, paving a path of Death and Destruction. A lone Dalek had split off from the group and came across a single Time Lady wrapped up in a red cloak with a hood that hides her face, holding a purple bundle close to her chest. The Time Lady spun around quickly and pointed a Sonic Screwdriver at the Dalek, it was vaguely shaped like a medical examination light, it was mainly chrome in color with a few black parts, the light at the end glowed a bright pink as it made a buzzing noise. The Dalek began spinning around while flailing its manipulator arm and ray gun.

“EMERGENCY!!! EMERGENCY!!! WEAPON SYSTEMS DISABLED, MOVEMENT FUNCTIONS HAVE BEEN HACKED, SELF DESTRUCT PROTOCOL ENGAGED!!!” The Dalek shouted as it exploded with a loud bang.

The Time Lady raised her free arm to shield both herself and the bundle from the explosion. A babies crying is heard from the bundle, in the bundle we see a Time Tot, a baby girl to be precise, with chocolate brown hair, brown eyes, and tan colored skin, with tears leaking from her eyes. The Time Lady began soothing her daughter, rocking her gently in her arms.

“Shhhh. It’s okay Luz, that mean Dalek is gone now.” The Nurse said to her daughter, her voice had a Spanish accent.

The Nurse lowered her hood, she had identical tan skin to her daughter, her brown eyes were a lighter color actually, her hair was the same chocolate brown color except it was frizzy, she also wore glasses on her face. The Nurse smiled at her daughter who had fallen asleep, she pulled her hood back up and began making her way through the city, trying not to run into more Daleks. The Nurse made her way to a certain building, the TARDIS repair shop, thankfully it hadn’t been attacked yet. There were no guards stationed, good. Using her Sonic Screwdriver on the lock, the Nurse and her daughter entered the building, the mother ran through the halls while carrying her infant daughter. There were rows upon rows of TARDIS’s, many of them broken, some beyond repair, but, one of them, on the vary end of the row, Camila could somehow, sense, that one would work. TARDIS’s in their base form looked like gray cylinders with a door on the front.

The Nurse read the specifications for this TARDIS, it was a Type 40, slightly buggy navigation system and a faulty chameleon circuit, but otherwise was in perfect condition. Type 40 TARDIS’s were actually decommissioned before the war even began, decommissioned but not destroyed, the Nurse chuckled a bit at the irony, the only other person she knew who piloted a Type 40 is her old friend, the Doctor. The door of the TARDIS slid open and the Nurse entered the ship, which was bigger on the inside, Time Lord science, the doors then closed behind them. The control room was currently the standard default desktop, simple white room with the console in the middle, the round things on the walls, strangely though, there was a crib in one corner of the room, not that the Nurse was complaining. She set Luz down in the crib and made her way to the console, Type 40 TARDIS’s were actually meant to be flown by six pilots, one for each panel of the console, but it was not impossible for one to be flown by a single pilot, after all, her friend the Doctor has been managing to fly his TARDIS for centuries on his own.

She began with setting in a destination into the navigational panel, she knew a planet and time that would be safe for her and her daughter, far enough away from Gallifrey, and far away from the war. The Nurse lost so many friends and family in this war, her husband, was one such casualty, he had been on the frontlines of Arcadia’s defenses, and the Daleks had killed him. With their destination put in the Nurse went to the helm and activated the Time rotor, the Time rotor began moving up and down as the TARDIS began making a whooshing and wheezing sound, the noise was caused because the breaks were on, but everyone always just left them on because the noise it made was actually pretty cool to listen to. The TARDIS dematerialized from the workshop and entered the Time Vortex.

Meanwhile…

In a desert, there was nothing for miles, except for a familiar blue phone box, and a man walking towards an old barn. The man wore a brown leather coat, a faded red scarf, his face wrinkled, his hair gray, he had a beard on his face. He had a grim look on his face as he was carrying a burlap sack, slung over his shoulder. This, was the War Doctor.

‘Time Lords of Gallifrey.’

‘Daleks of Skaro.’

‘I serve notice upon you all. Too long I have stayed my hand. No More. Today, you leave me no choice. Today, this war will end.’

‘No More. No More.’

The War Doctor thought to himself as he entered the barn, closing the door behind him, the reason he landed so far away was, he didn’t want the TARDIS to see what he was about to do. He was about to commit the most heinous atrocity ever, but, to him, there was no other alternative solution. He had stolen a weapon from the Omega Arsenal, the forbidden weapons vault of Gallifrey, he had stolen the only super weapon that hadn’t been used in the Time War against the Daleks, the most dangerous weapon in the universe. The Moment, the galaxy eater, the final work of the Ancients of Gallifrey. He set the bag down and brought out the Moment, it looked to be a simple wooden cube with internal clockwork mechanisms, he began fiddling with the device.

“Now, how do you work?” The War Doctor muttered to himself.

He began examining it from several sides. He fiddled with one side, twisting something that seemed to activated the deadly machine.

“Why is there never a big red button?” The War Doctor complained to himself.

Meanwhile on Earth…

It was late at night outside as the sound of a TARDIS materializing filled the air, however instead of a gray cylinder, it now had the appearance of a grandfather clock. The date was May 10 2008, the location, Gravesfield Connecticut. The TARDIS had landed next to a small house. Inside we see the Nurse messing around with a Chameleon Arch and two fob watches, getting to Earth was just step one, now she had to seal her and her daughter’s own Time Lord essence in order to blend in with the humans. Normally the process of using a Chameleon Arch was extremely painful, but, the Nurse didn’t just pick her title because she liked the sound of it, she was actually one of Gallifrey’s top medical minds, she found a way to nullify the pain caused by using a Chameleon Arch. She attached one of the watches to the arch and put it on her daughter’s head, Luz was still asleep which was good. The Nurse activated the Arch and her daughter’s Time Lord essence was stored into the fob watch, when the process was completed she took the arch off of her daughter’s head and detached the fob watch and replaced it with another, before the Nurse then placed it on her own head, she fiddled around with the settings a bit, she would be sealing away most of her own memories in addition to her own essence, she would still remember the TARDIS, but she would give herself a new personality as a decoy, her new name would be Camila Noceda. Before she used the arch, she decided to record a message for herself, instructing herself what to do in case Luz opens her own fob watch.

With that done, the Nurse placed the Chameleon Arch onto her head and activated it. Her essence and memories were sealed into the watch, waiting to be opened…

Chapter Text

Luz Noceda was sitting in her room in the Owl House, earlier today she had attempted to recreate the portal door to return home to the human realm, but instead she created a gateway to some, in between realm, she could interact with both the demon realm and human realm, but only through reflective surfaces. She attempted to get in touch with her mother Camila, and found out that a Basilisk named Vee had taken her place and was impersonating her, Camila was none the wiser. Luz helped Vee after she learned about her backstory, turns out she was part of a group of Basilisks that were resurrected by Emperor Belos so he could study how they drain magic, Vee escaped to the human realm when Luz first came to the Boiling Isles. Vee got captured by some Witch Hunter wannabe named Jacob and Luz managed to get her mother to save Vee. The portal Luz made was starting to decay, but as she was being pulled back through, her mother told her something.

Flashback

It was raining tonight, we see Camila Noceda and Vee standing in the rain next to her car, the headlights on, illuminating the rain, an ethereal outline of Luz was midair. Camila trying to hold on to her daughter’s hand.

“Mom, I’ll find a way back, I promise.” Luz said.

“Luz. Luz listen to me carefully, the watch in your bag, open it, you need to open it.” Camila said.

Flashback End

Luz was looking at the watch intently, she didn’t even know she had it with her. Her mom’s last spoken words to her before she was pulled back through the portal, were for her to open the fob watch. Luz brought the watch closer to her face to get a better look at it, it was silver, and the cover had several interlacing circles, almost like a glyph.

“Why did my mom tell me to open you?” Luz asked herself.

Luz took a deep breath, and opened the watch. A golden light flowed out of the watch, reaching outward and flowing into a wide eyed Luz. The light fully entered Luz and the center of her chest started glowing, which soon died down, followed by a massive influx of memories, learned knowledge restored, things from school in the human realm, memories from her early childhood. Luz grabbed her head and she began hyperventilating, she saw vivid images of a futuristic city engulfed in flames, bolts of energy flying through the air, weird robotic tank things that shouted, people screaming and running for their lives. Luz stumbled around the room and accidentally made something fall off a table which shattered. The commotion was heard from downstairs and Eda and King entered the room. Eda was an older witch with pale skin, one of her eyes were gray and the other was yellow, she had large gray hair and pointy ears and wore a red dress. King was a small demon with black fur, a red collar, and the top of his head was a skull with horns. Luz was having what looked like a panic attack, Luz fell to her knees and Eda ran up to Luz and embraced her, King followed and looked up at the two.

“Luz? What’s wrong?” King asked.

“Kiddo? What happened, what’s wrong?” Eda asked.

“Eda.” Luz whispered.

Eda could feel Luz shaking in her arms, she began stroking Luz’s hair comfortingly.

“Hey, kiddo, it’s okay, it’s okay, shh.” Eda said.

Luz stopped shaking and her breathing returned to normal. Luz sat down on the floor, her eyes still wide, King walked up to Luz and jumped into her lap.

“Luz, are you okay?” King asked.

“I-I think so, but, my chest, it feels funny, like I have two hearts or something.” Luz said.

Eda pulled out a stethoscope from her hair. Luz raised an eyebrow.

“Why do you have that?” Luz asked.

“I sometimes use this for safe cracking.” Eda answered.

King jumped off Luz’s lap and stood next to her. Eda put the stethoscope on and put the end to Luz’s chest to check her heartbeat. Eda’s eyes widened in shock at what she heard, she removed the stethoscope and put it back in her hair.

“Eda. What’s wrong? Please say something.” Luz pleaded.

Eda was quiet for a moment, she shook herself from her stupor.

“Luz, go with King to the living room, I need to make a call.” Eda said.

“Eda, what’s wrong with me?” Luz asked.

“I don’t know. I’m gonna call in a favor, I know a guy in the Healing coven.” Eda answered.

Luz nodded, she picked up the watch which she closed, she then went to the living room downstairs.

*Timeskip*

Luz was pacing back and forth in the living room carrying a notepad, sketching new glyph designs. Luz had calmed down more since her little panic attack, but her head was filled with so many ideas, glyph combos, originally it took her a while to make a new combo, but now they were just coming to her easily. King was sitting on the sofa holding the fob watch while watching Luz pace.

“So, you opened this watch, and then what?” King asked.

“Then this golden light came out of it and went inside me, then, my head was filled with all sorts of things, and my chest felt weird.” Luz answered.

King looked down at the watch for a second and then up at Luz.

“So, where exactly did you get the watch from?” King asked.

Luz set her notepad down on the table and sat down on the sofa next to King, Luz started rubbing her temples.

“All I know is that I’ve had that watch since I was born, mom said it was a gift from dad, but I always thought it was broken, just a broken fob watch. But, before you, Eda and Hooty pulled me back through the portal before it collapsed, my mom told me to open it.” Luz answered.

“So, how are you feeling now?” King asked.

Luz stopped rubbing her temples and picked her notepad back up, almost half of its pages were filled up with new glyph combos and mathematical equations and formulas. Technical stuff which she probably never would’ve understood before, now made complete and perfect sense, like she’s known it her whole life.

“Actually King, I feel better, better than I ever did.” Luz replied.

“Do you think your mom knew this would happen? I mean, why else would she tell you to open it?” King asked.

Luz’s face scrunched up in thought, closing her eyes, she then opened her eyes and her face returned to normal.

“I think so, King, like you said, why else would she tell me? But, if mom does know what’s happening to me, then it’s more important to build a stable portal than ever.” Luz answered.

The front door swung open to reveal a man wearing half moon spectacles, with brown hair which had some gray parts, caucasian skin, and green eyes. He wore gray and blue robes and carried a medical bag with him. Eda came from the kitchen to greet the man.

“Glad you could come on such short notice, Kane.” Eda said.

The man, now known as Kane, entered the house.

“It was the least I could do, Edalyn.” Kane said.

Luz looked at the man, then to Eda.

“Eda, who is this guy?” Luz asked.

“Luz, this is Kane, he’s from the Healing coven. He owed me a favor.” Eda answered.

Kane set his bag on the table and brought out a stethoscope, he put it on then touched the end to Luz’s chest.

“Now, what seems to be the issue?” Kane asked.

“My chest was feeling funny, my heart more specifically.” Luz answered.

Kane took off his instrument and put it back in his bag. He then drew a circle in the air, a blue light followed his finger to create the spell circle. A bright green light came from his hand and he pointed it at Luz’s chest, an intrigued look came to his face, he then shrugged.

“She’s got two hearts.” Kane stated.

Luz’s eyes widened.

“What?!” Luz exclaimed.

She looked down to see that the spell was showing her internal organs like an X Ray scan. Instead of a single regular human heart, there were two identical hearts. Eda was shocked when she saw this.

“Kane. Humans don’t normally have two hearts.” Eda said.

Kane sighed and turned his head to look at Eda.

“Well Edalyn, I don’t know what a human’s biology is like, I don’t know what the normal vascular system of a human is like, if I had a diagram of a human heart I could help.” Kane said.

An idea clicked in Luz’s head.

“I could draw one for you.” Luz said.

Everyone turned to look at Luz. Luz picked up her notepad and pencil, she pressed the pencil to the paper and began drawing.

“Give me some time and I can give you a diagram of a human heart.” Luz said.

Five minutes passed and Luz produced an accurate diagram of a human heart. Even labeled the various parts and their functions. Kane was looking at the diagram and the X Ray.

“Well miss Noceda, this is certainly very useful, I can say for certain that your vascular system has indeed changed, you now have a binary vascular system.” Kane said as he pushed his glasses back up his nose.

“But is there anything wrong with her? Before I called you the kiddo here was having a full blown panic attack!” Eda exclaimed.

Kane deactivated the X Ray spell and drew another spell circle, this produced a pink ethereal circular platform above Luz’s head, his eyes glowed the same color, the platform descended and phased through Luz’s head, it then went back up like it was scanning something. Kane then deactivated this spell as well.

“Extraordinary.” Kane said.

“What is?” Luz asked.

“I scanned your brain for any negative neurological effects, nothing negative, but, there is increased neuron activity in your brain.” Kane said.

“So for those of us who don’t speak in nerd tongue?” Eda asked.

“It means that Miss Noceda’s learning abilities have been increased, and new connections in her brain have been unlocked. Luz, tell me what is 355 x 65?” Kane stated.

“23075” Luz said nonchalantly.

Luz’s eyes went wide at what she said, so did Eda and King, Hooty had come in at some unknown point and his beak was hanging ajar. Kane was using his scroll to confirm the numbers.

“That is accurate.” Kane said.

Luz shook herself from her shock.

“So wait, I have two hearts now, and I’m smarter now too?” Luz asked for clarification.

“There might be more than just that Miss Noceda, but for now that’s what’s the most obvious.” Kane answered.

“But she’s not in danger is she? There’s nothing wrong with her hearts now is there?” Eda asked.

“As far as I can tell both hearts in Luz’s binary vascular system seem to be working properly.” Kane answered.

“And what about the panic attack?” Eda asked.

Kane sighed and closed his bag, and stood.

“The increase of neuron activity must’ve been overwhelming to Luz’s brain, it seems to have more than sorted itself out now. I wouldn’t worry about her having more of those.” Kane said.

Kane then looked at Luz.

“I would like to know how this happened.” Kane said.

King held up the pocket watch and handed it to Kane.

“I opened that watch and this golden light came, the light entered my body and this happened.” Luz replied.

Kane studied the watch, looking at the cover and its unique pattern, he pushed the button and it opened, nothing happened. He closed the watch and handed it back to Luz.

“Truly interesting indeed.” Kane said.

Kane turned to Eda and she escorted him to the front door.

“I’ll keep in touch if you need me further on this matter, Edalyn.” Kane said.

“Thanks again for coming, Kane, take care of yourself.” Eda said as she closed the door.

Meanwhile back in the Human Realm…After Luz got pulled back to the Boiling Isles.

Camila Noceda walked into her house, a determined look on her face. Vee followed behind, they got inside and out of the rain, Camila went to her bedroom and pulled open the drawer of her nightstand, inside was an identical fob watch to the one Luz had, she picked it up and exited the room. She entered the living room where she found Vee sitting on the couch, Camila approached and sat next to the young Basilisk.

“So, Vee, you come from a world of magic?” Camila asked.

Vee nodded.

“The Boiling Isles, in the Demon Realm.” Vee answered.

“The same place where Luz is.” Camila said.

Camila traced her thumb over the closed watch. She then stood up, and walked to the other side of the room, where there stood a familiar grandfather clock. Camila pulled the front of the clock open, like opening a door, and the entire front of the clock opened like a door, leading into a bigger room on the inside. Vee saw this and was intrigued, Camila entered the clock, Vee followed Camila in and looked around, the room was white with circles on the walls, in the middle there was something that looked like a table, it was white in color and had all sorts of switches and controls on it, in the middle there was a clear glass tube with metallic parts inside.

* Imagine the TARDIS control room from the episode Hell Bent*

Camila was flipping switches on one side of the console unit, some panels on one of the walls opened and a screen came out, Camila flipped another series of switches and the screen came to life. On the screen was a younger Camila wearing a red and gold dress, an infant Luz was seen in the corner of the screen in a cradle.

“Hello Camila, if we’re watching this then that means that you’ve told Luz to open her watch. Listen carefully, when she opens it she is probably going to have many questions for us, we need to open our watch as well.” The Camila onscreen said before the screen cut to black.

Camila sighed and removed her glasses, rubbing her eyes before putting them back on. She brought the watch up to her face, pushed the button, and it opened. Golden light surged out and flowed into Camila, instantly, sealed knowledge and memories were reawoken, biology restored. The Nurse is back.

“W-what is this place?” Vee asked, astounded.

Camila turned to look at the Basilisk.

“Vee, welcome to the TARDIS.” Camila.

To Be Continued…

Chapter Text

Luz was asleep in her sleeping bag, tossing and turning, it had been a while since she had opened the watch, and a few days ago, she began having vivid dreams. She dreamt of a futuristic city within a giant translucent dome, a beautiful burnt orange sky, and endless snow capped mountains. People who wore red and gold clothing, and her mother holding her in her arms. But these dreams were not always peaceful, sometimes Luz had nightmares. Horrors of her early childhood. Luz was having one such night terror right now.

She dreamt of the same city, engulfed in flames, buildings destroyed, people screaming in fear and running for their lives. Bolts of energy flew through the air, flying saucers in the sky hailing down barrage after barrage of green laser fire. On the ground there were these robots that looked like pepper pots with a plunger and an egg whisk for arms, they had a single eyestalk that glowed blue, and lightbulbs on the sides of their domed heads that stuck out like ears which lit up when they spoke.

Their voices were mechanical, yet sounded like they were drowning at the same time, their voices portrayed nothing but malice and hatred, and a desire for death and destruction. Blue laser blasts shot from the egg whisk arm as the robots shouted a war cry that shook Luz to her very core.

“EXTERMINATE!!!” The Daleks shouted as they took aim with their guns, and opened fire.

Luz woke up with a startle, sweating bullets, breathing heavily. It was always a similar nightmare, a futuristic city engulfed in flames, it was a complete warzone, people running and screaming, and those evil pepper pot shaped robots. Luz looked around, she was still in her room in the Owl House, she breathed a sigh of relief.

“Just a nightmare, get a grip Luz.” Luz said to herself as she laid back down and tried to go back to sleep.

The next morning Luz got up, got dressed and headed downstairs. Eda was in the kitchen, King was sitting on the couch with his stuffed bunny Francois. Luz took out her phone and began recording a video for her mom.

“Hola mama! It’s been a while since I last saw you, and I have a lot of questions. so let's start with this.” Luz said as she took the watch out of her pocket and held it up in view of the camera.

“The watch that dad gave me. The one I always assumed was broken. The one I didn’t even know I had with me. Given that you told me to open it, you must’ve known what would happen next.” Luz continued.

Luz put the watch back into her pocket and continued talking.

“So to recap, when I opened it this golden light came out of it and went inside me, next thing I know I’m having a panic attack. Then I found out that I’m smarter now, and you wanna explain this?” Luz asked as she pulled up a copy of her X-rays.

“I now have a binary vascular system, which I know humans aren’t supposed to have. Good news though is that both of my hearts seem to be working properly. But those aren’t the only things that have changed.” Luz said as she put down the X-rays and the camera feed switched to Luz walking down the streets.

“Not only have I gotten smarter and gained an extra heart, my bones have also become more durable and my reflexes have increased.” Luz said as she accidentally bumped into Boscha.

The three eyed Witch glared at Luz.

“Watch where you’re going, Human!” Boscha said angrily as she drew a spell circle and launched a flaming grudgby ball at Luz.

“Gah!” Luz exclaimed as she threw up one of her new glyph combos, consisting of three ice glyphs, and one fire glyph in the center.

The glyph glowed blue and a jet of water shot out, dousing the oncoming ball, and leaving Boscha utterly soaked and scowling. Luz chuckled sheepishly and she hightailed it out of there. The camera feed switched to Luz sitting in potions class wearing her Hexside uniform, her table littered with vials, flasks, a cauldron, and a litter of notes. Luz was using a dropper to carefully add some green liquid to the currently purple mix in the cauldron.

“And I’ve been able to remember things more clearly, no matter how vaguely I was listening in class.” Luz said as she set the dropper down for a second.

Luz took out a sketch of the periodic table of elements.

“Because, I’m pretty sure I was half asleep during class when my science teacher was going over the periodic table.” Luz said as she put the sketch down and picked the dropper back up.

“Of course I have been using my increased intelligence to do better in school, all of my grades are now top of the class.” Luz said as she carefully added the ingredient.

The result was that the mix changed to the same green color, and was glowing. The potions teacher then put an A+ on the cauldron. The camera feed then switches to Luz in her casual clothes in the Owl House, laying in her sleeping bag at night, with a slightly grim expression on her face.

“But, mom, there is also something else. Occasionally, I’ve been having strange dreams, and not just dreams, but nightmares as well. I-I don’t, I don’t know what they mean mom…” Luz trailed off and the video ended.

Luz was sitting on the steps of Hexside school with her friends Willow Park and Gus Porter sitting a few steps below her. Luz was deep in thought about her current situation regarding her sudden changes, and how she would explain the nightmares to her mother. She was pulled from her thoughts when Willow called out.

“What do you think, Luz?” Willow asked.

“Yeah, you’ve seen Belos up close. What’s he look like under, all that?” Gus asked as he charaded wearing a mask.

“Well, I only chipped off a piece of his mask, but he did have a glowing blue eye.” Luz said.

Willow and Gus got curious.

“Anything else?” Willow asked.

Luz rubbed her chin in thought.

“He also uses a mechanical staff instead of an actual Palisman. Probably because he’d be tempted to consume the soul of any Palisman he’d use.” Luz said nonchalantly.

Willow and Gus were now staring at Luz with wide eyes, their mouths agape in shock at that last part.

“Wait, he does what with Palisman?” A female voice asked.

Luz got startled and fell down, she looked up to see the familiar sight of her girlfriend, Amity Blight.

“Amity!” Luz exclaimed in surprise, a blush on her face.

Amity offered her hand to help Luz up to her feet.

“Hola Batata.” Amity said.

“Did you just call me a sweet potato?” Luz asked as she took Amity’s hand and she was back on her feet.

“Yes, is it not a term of endearment? I’m still figuring out this human language book from Gus.” Amity said as she held up a book she was holding a Spanish cookbook from the human realm.

Luz blushed even more and gave Amity a heartfelt look.

“Aww, Amity, you're the sweet potato.” Luz said lovingly as she leaned against her girlfriend’s shoulder, this caused Amity’s face to become redder than a tomato.

Gus snapped out of his shock and shook his head.

“Luz, when and where did you hear about Belos consuming Palisman?” Gus asked.

Amity and Willow both looked at Luz, expecting an answer.

“Oh, well. I actually witnessed it first hand on the day of the field trip to the Emperor's castle. But I guess I kinda repressed it for the most part, up until recently given all the traumatic stuff I went through that day.” Luz answered.

“Luz, not that I don’t think you’re trustworthy, but do you have any proof?” Gus asked.

“Well, actually I talked with Lilith via a chat call through the crystal ball and she confirmed that she’s personally witnessed him consuming Palisman on multiple occasions. In fact Lilith was actually there when I witnessed him consuming a Palisman, later Lilith told me and Eda that whatever Belos gained from consuming Palisman seemed to restore his vitality, as he always appeared to be well rested after doing so.” Luz answered.

“Wait.” Willow chimed in.

“Then why let Lilith keep her Palisman?” Willow asked.

Luz rubbed her chin again.

“That also bugged me to an extent, Lilith as well, to which Eda suggested a theory that it was to sow animosity between Lilith and the other coven heads. Considering that even they had to turn over their Palisman, it seems to make sense as it kept Lilith from having any real allies in the coven system.” Luz explained.

Willow tilted her head slightly.

“If you repressed it, why are you now remembering that whole experience?” Willow asked.

Luz’s eyes zoomed from left to right, she was a little nervous to tell her friends, and her awesome girlfriend, about her recent biological changes.

“Oh. Well within the last few days my memory has gotten like, a whole lot better, to the point where I’m clearly remembering things I only briefly listened to years ago. So I guess it’s just at the forefront of my mind, ha ha…” Luz sheepishly said.

Amity sat down next to Luz.

“So Luz, did you ever get around to making use of that Titan’s Blood to make a new portal?” Amity asked.

Luz scratched the back of her head.

“Kinda, the portal didn’t exactly turn out… How it was supposed to.” Luz answered.

A hooting sound rang through the air.

“Oh! That’s Eda. Gotta go.” Luz said as she pulled Amity in to kiss her on the cheek making Amity blush.

“Bye guys!” Luz said as she waved goodbye to her friends and girlfriend.

Amity smiled as she watched Luz get on Owlbert with Eda and King and flew away. She loved that girl so much, but she could tell something was off about her today. Amity noticed something out of the corner of her eye.

‘Luz’s phoon, or phun? Whatever, she must’ve left it by accident.’ Amity thought to herself as she picked up Luz’s phone.

She noticed there was a video on it, Luz looking a little down. Amity wanted to know why by watching the video, maybe it would provide some insight as to why she was acting a little odd earlier, but she wouldn’t invade her girlfriend’s privacy like that. Amity decided she’d give it back to Luz later.

Meanwhile with Luz, Eda and King.

They had landed in Bonesborough’s marketplace, there were Emperor’s coven scouts all over the place setting up decorations.

“Whoa, what’s going on?” Luz asked.

“They’re probably prepping for the annual Coven Day parade. Floats, streamers, fireworks.” King said enthusiastically as he climbed onto Luz’s shoulder.

“Pfft! It’s just a fancy way to kiss the Emperor’s…” Eda trailed off.

Luz had her hands over King’s ears, lest his innocence be spoiled.

“Whatever. I’m just here to pick something up.” Eda said as she walked off.

Luz was about to follow, when she heard a familiar voice coming from an alley. Luz turned to see Kikimora, a member of the Emperor’s coven, talking to someone via bird.

“Mother, please. No, I'm not seeing anyone! Y-yes I am standing up straight. Listen, I can’t come home. If I don’t lead this parade, Belos will end my-No, no no no, of course I miss everyone. What? I-I can’t choose. Hello? Mother? Mother? Mother?” Kikimora said into the bird.

Luz felt sorry for Kikimora as she walked off to join Eda and King who were standing in front of a stand with a sign reading “Private Inspectergator”. A ghost wearing a Sherlock Holmes hat was inside the stand and handed Eda a file. King hopped onto the counter.

“Hey Luz, guess what kinda juicy gossip I got?” King said.

“What is it, King?” Luz asked.

“Guess why we’re here?” King stated.

“King.” Eda said warningly.

King stood up and pointed at Eda.

“Eda hired someone to spy on her ex!” King said.

Eda gasped and blushed a little, she turned to glare at King in the face.

“Did you read my diary?!” Eda asked indignantly.

“And they're, Head Witch of the Bard coven!” King continued.

“Stop it!” Eda exclaimed.

“And they’re also-” King was cut off.

“Yes! They secretly led a rebel group against the Emperor and got captured. I was there!” Eda exclaimed.

“Oh, I didn’t read that far.” King admitted.

Luz let out a long drawn out gasp, Eda and King turned around, Luz practically had sparkles in her eyes. Luz then fainted.

“Well, good job, you broke Luz.” Eda told King.

“It was the Yeast, I could do.” King laughed at his own bread pun.

Later when Luz woke up from fainting, she began reading the file Eda was given on Rain.

“And then, Raine battled their fellow coven heads. And sacrificed everything, to save Eda? It’s just like Hecate and Azura in book five!” Luz said with tears in her eyes.

Eda took the file from Luz’s hands and continued reading it.

“It says here, Raine is still working with the Emperor’s coven which doesn’t make sense. They were seen as a traitor.” Eda said.

Something caught Luz’s eye.

“Maybe you can ask them about it. Look!” Luz said as she pointed upward.

A billboard with Raine on it playing the violin with text reading “Celebrate the Coven Day Parade”.

“If they’re here for the parade, they’ll probably be surrounded by scouts. Oh, we’d need someone on the inside to lend us a hand.” Eda said.

“Hmm.” Luz hummed in thought as she looked at a particular tiny demon.

Kikimora walked and tripped on a random floorboard. Then got walked over by coven scouts.

“Hmm?” Luz hummed as she leaned towards Eda, a plan in mind.

Eda snorted.

“Yeah right. As if she’d give us the time of day.” Eda said as she waved her hand dismissively.

Cut to Luz having her arm draped over and hand on the shoulder of a crying Kikimora. With Eda just leaning against the wall bored and King just watching.

“And-And then she said that if I don’t make it back in time for the family reunion, I’d be banished from Palm Stings and the family home! But I’ve failed too many missions and if I leave my job now, I’ll be banished from my life!” Kikimora sobbed.

Luz patted Kikimora on the back.

“There you go. It’s gonna be okay. Maybe there’s a way we can help each other out-Whoa!” Luz said but was cut off when Eda pulled her up to her feet by her hood.

“Are you out of your mind? Kikimora nearly turned me to stone. She attacked you back in Latissa. And she didn’t blink when your girlfriend was thrown down a pit! Oh she is bad, and not the hot kinda bad.” Eda grumbled that last part.

Luz actually stopped to think about Eda’s words for a moment.

“Sure you have several good points, Eda. But we gave your sister Lilith a second chance, why can’t we do the same for Kikimora? And besides, this could be your chance to talk to Raine.” Luz reasoned.

Eda crossed her arms in thought.

“Maybe. But what are you getting out of this?” Eda asked.

“Nothing other than the satisfaction of helping someone. Plus, I’m a sucker for romantic reunions.” Luz admitted.

Eda starred for a second.

“Well this is true. Ugh, fine!” Eda gave in.

“Fine? What’s fine? What are you cretins planning?” Kikimora demanded.

Luz zipped over to Kikimora and put a hand on her shoulder.

“Worry not Kikimora. We’re gonna help you. By kidnapping you and Raine!” Luz declared triumphantly.

“What?!” Everyone else exclaimed.

What followed next was a series of preparations, Eda rummaging through a couple of trash cans to find cloth to turn into disguises for her and Luz. King engaged in a shady fireworks deal with Amity’s older brother Edric. Luz got potions from Morton at his stand “Mr. Elixir”, Hooty coughed up some snails and an animal skeleton into Morton’s hand, telling him to keep the change.

Luz and the others were working on a float for their plan at the festival.

“Nice work everyone. Now let’s go over the plan one more time.” Luz said as she gestured to an easel with the plan drawn on it.

“King and Hooty will pilot the float during the parade. Once it gets to the halfway point, you two will set off all the glyphs, potions and fireworks to distract people.” Luz said.

“With my love of mayhem and Hooty’s desperate need for attention. This will be a cakewalk.” King said.

“When Kikimora sends off the guards to investigate, that’s when Eda and I will obscure the stage and whisk her and Raine away.” Luz said as she pulled out some glyphs.

Eda gave a thumbs up.

“Sounds like a plan kiddo.” Eda said with a smirk.

Later that night when the parade began, Luz’s plan was set into motion. Floats of all kinds drove down the streets of Boonesborough, and there were coven scouts everywhere. Luz and Eda were on the rooftops, watching and waiting for the right moment. Luz looked down at her watch which had King on the face.

“It’s almost time.” Luz said.

Eda looked to the left.

“Is that our float?” Eda asked.

A float that looked like Emperor Belos drove down the street.

“Not bad, right?” Luz asked.

Inside the float were King and Hooty, both of them pulling an assortment of levers and switches which made the float move and wink.

“That was the signal.” Luz said.

“Let’s move.” Eda said as she jumped onto another roof.

“Right behind you, Owl Lady.” Luz said as she jumped after Eda.

The both of them jumped across the rooftops, using the darkness and shadows to their advantage. They got to the street and used some invisibility glyphs to sneak up to the float that Kikimora and Rain were on. Back with Hooty and King they were eagerly looking at a watch, waiting for the time to trigger the fireworks.

“Four! Three! Two! One!” They counted down.

They pulled a leaver and fireworks shot out of the eye of the float. They exploded in the air and made text which spelled “Belos, More like Boo-los”. This drew everyone's attention. Kikimora instructed some coven scouts to investigate the float. Eda and Luz needed to release their breath and the invisibility wore out. They pulled out another set of glyphs and activated them, which conjured a thick mist which covered most of the area. Taking advantage of the cover provided, Luz approached Kikimora.

“And scoop!” Luz said as she picked up Kikimora.

“I cannot believe we are being taken, against our will! What sayeth you, fiend?” Kikimora said in a terrible attempt at acting.

Luz tried to play along.

“Uh! That’s right! I Hecate, will whisk you away to my kingdom of mirrors and snakes!” Luz said in a deep voice.

Amity who was in the crowd, facepalmed at her girlfriend’s acting, she still loved her though.

Raine was about to cast a spell but Eda stopped them and restrained them with vines.

“Knock it off you two. Let’s get cracking.” Eda said as she picked up the restrained Raine and used an invisibility glyph.

Luz used an invisibility glyph as well, and with that they snuck away from the scene. King peaked out of a peephole in the float.

“Mission success Hooty!” King exclaimed.

Coven scouts then drew spell circles and began approaching the float on all sides.

“Now, how do we get outta here?” King asked worriedly.

Hooty got close to King’s face as he assessed the situation.

“We’re gonna have to be sneaky.” Hooty said.

Hooty then used his coils to lift the float up as if it were standing and alive.

“Hi, it’s me! Your good buddy Belos! Worship Me!” Hooty said.

A coven scout pointed at the float.

“Kill that monstrosity!” He shouted.

Hooty laughed.

“Not the first time I’ve heard that! Hoo Hoo Hoot!” Hooty said.

And like that Hooty began hopping around while being chased by coven scouts.

Meanwhile with Luz and Kikimora, they had gotten far away from the crowd. They were now in the alleyways.

“Oh my gosh, it’s working, it’s actually working!” Luz happily exclaimed.

“We’re, we’re visible? We need to disappear again. If we’re caught, she will end us.” Kikimora said.

“Who will end us?” Luz asked.

The ground then began to shake as if there were an earthquake. Luz turned around to see massive green vines emerge from the ground. Luz held on to Kikimora and ducked behind a cart, from the center of the vines came a massive venus flytrap which opened to reveal an elderly woman wearing plant themed attire.

“Head witch of the Plant coven, Tera Snapdragon.” Kikimora whispered her answer.

Cut back to Hooty still being chased by scouts.

“Law is meaningless. Stealing is legal now!” Hooty shouted.

There was an explosion and some of the coven scouts were running away screaming, with Hooty now chasing after them.

“I AM YOUR GOD!!!” Hooty shouted.

Cut back to Luz and Kikimora hiding from Tera. The head witch sat on her giant venus flytrap, surveying the area.

“Oh my word, where could Kiki have gone?” Tera said out loud.

Luz and Kikimora looked at each other with worried looks.

“Such a valued member of the coven must be found posthaste!” Tera continued.

A fly flew close to her, Tera pulled out a plant.

“Have you seen her little fly?” Tera asked.

The plant she held then ate the fly. Tera smirked.

“Guess not.” She said.

Luz quickly drew another invisibility glyph, she took a deep breath and activated the glyph.

“What a shame that Kikimora would disappear, and right before her promotion.” Tera baited.

Kikimora released a small squeak. Tera was pleased by the reaction, seeing as she now knew where Kikimora was.

“All the missions she would have led. The shiny new badge. The respect.” Tera continued as she drew a spell circle.

One of the vines rose up.

“Ah, well. Guess we’ll have to find someone else.” Tera said.

The tip of the vine sprouted several sharp thorns and launched towards Luz and Kikimora’s location. However it stopped before it could get to them, Tera looked behind her to see an abomination holding the vine. Luz let go of her breath and she and Kikimora became visible again. Luz took off running while carrying Kikimora.

“Hmm. Another pest.” Tera said as she commanded a vine to destroy the abomination.

Luz ran, and a familiar person was running alongside her.

“Sweet potato? How did you know?” Luz asked.

“Book 5, chapter 8, Azura pretends to kidnap Hecate.” Amity said.

“During the ice festival to save her from the wizard clan. You remembered my favorite part.” Luz gushed.

Amity smiled.

“Yes, but right now I just want to keep my girlfriend from being sent to the Conformatorium, again.” Amity said.

Amity drew a spell circle and created a skateboard using abomination goo.

“Ooo.” Luz awed at Amity’s creation.

Luz and Amity hopped on, with Luz still carrying Kikimora on her back. Eventually they got to the docks, where Kikimora’s flying creature was waiting. Luz helped Kikimora onto the saddle and handed her back her whistle.

“There you go. Now you can go spend time with your family, and when you get back, you brag all about your daring escape.” Luz said as she got back onto the dock to stand beside Amity.

Kikimora let out a sigh.

“You’ve been such a help to me human.” Kikimora said.

“You really are a kind person. And an utter fool!” Kikimora continued before laughing evilly.

Luz was shocked and Amity took up a defensive stance.

“Palm Stings can burn for all I care! Did you hear Tera? They want to promote me. ME!” Kikimora exclaimed.

“She could’ve been lying.” Amity said.

Kikimora’s beast rose to attack, looming over Luz and Amity.

“That’s a risk I’m willing to take.” Kikimora said.

“And maybe as a present I could give the Emperor, a trouble-making human, and. Ah, you’re the little fire starter from Eclipse Lake.” Kikimora said threateningly.

Luz pulled out an invisibility glyph which both she and Amity used before Kikimora’s beast could crush them. They got safely out of the way.

“Amity, now!” Luz exclaimed as she pulled out an ice glyph.

Amity drew a spell circle and a burst of magenta flames shot forward and collided with a spire of ice Luz created. The resulting mist was used as a diversion to get further away from the beast. This did not impede the creature as it charged forward, destroying a portion of the dock and took flight. Luz and Amity ran, the creature glaring down at them. Amity and Luz stopped running and Amity drew another spell circle which formed one of her abomination gloves, Luz then put an ice glyph on the front of the glove.

“You got 'em.” Luz said as Amity launched multiple fist projectiles from the glove, the ice glyph empowering them.

When one made contact with the creature, it froze solid, it crashed into the dock and went underwater, but reemerged in front of Luz and Amity. Kikimora wickedly stares at the couple.

“Yes, thank you Luz for all the help.” Kikimora says evilly.

Luz glares at the small demon.

“You’re welcome! I mean… Ah dang it!” Luz grumbled.

Kikimora’s beast reeled up to strike, but soon found itself bound by several large vines. Luz and Amity gasped at the sudden turn of events.

“What is this?” Kikimora exclaimed as her beast was tied down to the dock, Kikimora soon found herself tied to the dock by large leaves. From the water, several large leaves formed into a pod, and from that pod emerged Tera Snapdragon.

“Oh Kiki. Try not to get ahead of yourself. The Emperor has a great many plans, but causing a riot by hurting a couple of innocent children isn’t one of them.” Tera said.

Kikimora’s eyes widened when she saw her.

“Tera! Shouldn’t you be babysitting the bard?” Kikimora asked.

Tera chuckled and she drew a spell circle, Kikimora was released from her confinement.

“I wasn’t sent here to watch over Raine. I was sent here to watch over you. The promotion is real, you just had to prove your dedication.” Tera said.

“Did I pass?” Kikimora asked.

“Unfortunately, yes.” Tera grumbled.

Kikimora squealed in delight and she did a little dance.

“So? What’s the promotion? Who’s under my command? What do I get?” Kikimora eagerly asked.

Tera bent down to Kikimora’s level and stared her in the eyes.

“You get. To live.” Tera said darkly.

Kikimora wilted a bit at this. Fireworks went off in the distance, Tera drew another spell circle.

“Come, Kiki, time to head back.” Tera said.

Kikimora was then fully encased in leaves and dragged under the water, so was her beast. Tera turned to look at Luz.

“The Emperor says he’s looking forward to meeting you, Human. Until then, Happy Coven Day.” Tera said before she herself was encased in leaves and submerged underwater.

Luz and Amity let out their shared breath and they slumped to the dock floor. Luz turned to Amity and pulled her into an embrace.

“Amity, you saved me.” Luz said.

Luz released the embrace and looked into her girlfriend's eyes.

“How can I make it up to you?” Luz asked.

Amity took out Luz’s phone. The video was still displayed.

“Maybe you could explain what this is?” Amity asked.

Luz’s eyes widened and she let out a gasp, that’s the video she made for her mom, did Amity watch it?

“Don’t worry, I haven’t watched it, but, does it have something to do with how you’ve been acting lately?” Amity asked.

Luz pulled her knees to her chest. She nodded.

“Yeah, it does.” Luz said.

Amity put her hand on Luz’s shoulder.

“What’s been going on Luz? Please tell me, I can’t help you unless you let me in.” Amity said softly.

Luz sighed.

“Okay. Okay. Like I told you before, I made a portal, except it didn’t quite turn out like the original. Something must’ve been missing from it. Instead of taking me to the Human realm it took me to weird, space in between realms, or spaces? It’s weird to explain, anywho it did allow me to communicate with anyone I knew by name, by just saying said name out loud, a cube that had this cosmic look to it would appear, and it would allow you to communicate with others through reflective surfaces.” Luz said.

Luz then went on to explain how she found out about Vee, how she had her mom rescue the young basilisk from some crazy guy who worked at the historic society. Then she got to the most relevant part.

“And before Eda and the others pulled me out, my mom told me about this watch.” Luz said as she pulled the fob watch out of her pocket.

“I didn’t even know I had it with me, until mom mentioned it. She told me to open it.” Luz continued.

Amity studied the watch in Luz’s hand for a second, looking at the intricate design on the cover. She had never seen such markings before. She then looked up to be eye to eye with Luz.

“What happened after you opened the watch?” Amity asked.

Luz put the watch back into her pocket and tapped the phone.

“It’s better if you just watch the video, I explain it in the video, it was meant for my mom, but, you’re my girlfriend, so if anyone else deserves to know, it’s you.” Luz explained.

Amity clicked play on the video, her eyes went wide when she saw the X-rays that Luz showed. She paused the video and turned her head to look at her girlfriend.

“Luz, tell me this part was just a weird Human realm joke that I’m not getting?” Amity asked.

Luz shook her head and smiled softly.

“No Amity, it isn’t. Take a listen.” Luz said.

Luz guided Amity’s head to her chest, Amity pressed her ear against one side of Luz’s chest to listen to her heartbeat. She heard Luz’s steady heartbeat, Amity then moved to the side where the X-ray showed Luz’s second heart, there was a second beating, but in a more unique rhythm, not unlike that of a witches actually. Amity lifted her head to look into Luz’s eyes.

“Tell me everything I wanna know.” Amity says.

Luz smiles wider at Amity.

“Okay.” Luz said.

Luz stood up and offered her hand to Amity, her girlfriend took her hand and Luz helped her to her feet. The two of them then walked off to join Eda and the others, with Luz explaining the other changes that she went through following her opening the watch and what the healer told her and Eda. They soon joined Eda, Hooty and King on a rooftop to see that the parade had concluded.

Kikimora, Raine, and Tera were standing on stage waving, with the people of Bonesborough were cheering, confetti was in the air. Kikimora took center stage and began speaking into a microphone.

Um, thank you, Bonesborough. For joining us during this year’s Coven Day Parade. This year is extra special. Because the Emperor himself has an announcement to make.” Kikimora said as a massive projection of Emperor Belos himself appeared and the whole crowd began cheering.

“Thank you, everyone. Today we are perfecting the Coven system as the Titan intended. The Day of Unity will be in exactly one month, when the tide is at its lowest and the moon obscures the sun. At that time we will journey to the head of the isles, and then, the worthy shall inherit a utopia, free of Wild Magic.” Belos declared.

His projection changed to a tapestry depicting the events Belos described. The crowd gasped in awe. Luz and the gang just gasped and stared.

“Free of wild magic? How’s he supposed to do that?” King asked.

The tapestry projection changed back into Belos.

“There is one more thing I’d like to share with you. I’ve always hidden my face, out of fear. But thanks to your support, I can finally take off this mask.” Belos said.

Eda blew a raspberry at that.

“So phony, he’s just trying to distract us from his fancy utopia talk! Too bad it won’t work.” Eda said.

The crowd gasped as Belos actually removed his mask, Belos had wrinkles, caucasian skin, long gray hair, blue eyes, and his face had a green line across it. However, a feature that drew Luz’s attention immediately, was his ears, Luz squinted her eyes as she looked closer at Belos's ears, they weren’t elvish like all the other humanoid witches she’s seen, they were actually shaped more like a human’s.

Belos smiled as he gazed at the people.

“Thank you, Boiling Isles.” He said.

Everyone began cheering.

“Happy Coven Day, everyone.” Belos said as his projection disappeared in a blast of fireworks.

Amity turned to look at Luz.

“Is Belos. Planning something?” Amity asked.

Amity took hold of Luz’s hand and held it tight.

“And why did he say he was going to meet you again? Didn’t you already meet? What else don’t I know? What’s gonna happen?” Amity asked.

Luz brought her girlfriend into an embrace.

“I-I’m not sure. But for now, we’ll take things one day at a time.” Luz said.

The sounds of cheering and fireworks rang out through the night as Luz and the others just sat on the roof, thinking of what Belos might have in store.

Meanwhile in the Human Realm.

Vee entered the console room through a corridor, using her phone as a map, Vee was currently in her basilisk form. She had wanted to explore just how big the inside of a TARDIS was, ever since Camila explained to her about the TARDIS, and about what she and Luz really are, and this place was massive and would be easy to get lost. Camila was busy at the console unit, flipping switches and twisting knobs, occasionally looking at the screen on the wall which displayed several circular symbols.

“You weren’t kidding when you said this place was big Camil-mom.” Vee said.

Camila looked at Vee for a second and smiled softly at the basilisk before she returned to flipping switches.

“Well the TARDIS utilizes dimensional folding technology, along with pocket dimensional storage to contain so much space.” Camila said.

She chuckled for a second before looking up from the console to Vee.

“Funny thing is, this specific model of TARDIS is actually obsolete by most Time Lord standards. Type 40s fell out of commission a long time ago.” Camila stated.

Vee approached the console.

“So, any luck finding the planet which the Boiling Isles are on?” Vee asked.

Camila looked at the screen one more time before letting out a defeated sigh, she flipped a switch and the screen turned off. She turned to Vee. Camila had been trying to see if the Boiling Isles were just on another planet in the universe, however that did not seem to be the case.

“Sadly, no such luck. And I’ve already scanned from one end of the universe to the other, just to be sure the TARDIS’s tracking systems aren’t glitching.” Camila said as she walked towards one of the walls.

Camila put her hand on one of the round things for two seconds and the round thing opened like a compartment, a rack came out with several translucent cubes on it, Camila picked up one and closed the compartment back up.

“I’m afraid Luz is in another universe entirely, which is unfortunately out of my reach.” Camila said as she walked back to the console unit while carrying the cube.

Vee looked at the cube curiously, and then to Camila.

“So what do we do?” Vee asked.

“We get a hold of someone a lot more experienced in traveling than me.” Camila answered as she closed her eyes and concentrated, the cube then lit up with an ethereal blue energy.

“Who?” Vee asked.

Camila smiled at Vee.

“An old friend from home.” She said as she approached the front door of the TARDIS.

Camila opened the door to reveal the vast blackness of outer space, and Camila tossed the cube out, it then zipped away to go to its destination.

To be Continued…

Chapter Text

Luz was in her room in the Owl House, notes and glyph combos littered the floor, there was a chalkboard with several mathematical equations. Luz was currently sitting in a nest of notes reading a book labeled “Quantum Physics for dummies”, occasionally pausing her reading to write down on a notepad. Next to Luz sitting on a table was the tank with the Echo mouse running on a hamster wheel inside. King entered the room, stood next to Luz and looked at all the paper and notes on the floor, he also had a party hat on.

“Whoa, dang Luz, I didn’t know your Abomination homework was this complicated.” King said as he looked at all the notes.

Luz looked up from her book to look at King.

“This isn’t my abomination homework, King. I’m trying to figure out where I went wrong when I made that door.” Luz said as she continued to scribble down notes.

Eda then stepped into the room, she too had a party hat on. She took a second to look at all the paper on the ground then looked to Luz and King.

“Hey you two, don’t forget Lily’s party is going on downstairs.” Eda reminded them.

King perked up.

“Oh yeah.” King said as he scrambled to make his way to the door.

As he made his way he accidentally stepped on one of Luz’s new glyph combinations, the glyph glowed a gray light and King floated in the air for a second.

“Weh? Weh!” King exclaimed as he was sent hurdling in the air towards Eda.

Eda caught King before he impacted her head, but it still felt like some force was pulling him towards her head.

“Luz, you wanna explain why King all of a sudden went hurdling towards me like he was flung with telekinesis, and why he’s still being pulled towards me?” Eda asked as she kept holding King.

Luz adopted a sheepish look.

“Sorry, my bad, King must’ve accidentally activated one of my new glyph combos, magnetic. The reason why he was pulled to you must be because his tag was super magnetized, and was drawn to the nearest metal object, so your gold tooth must not be all gold.” Luz apologized as she got up.

Eda then grumbled something about someone owing her an explanation for her tooth not being all gold. Luz then walked over to them and deactivated the glyph combo. King was no longer being pulled towards Eda and Eda set him down on the floor.

“Sorry, again.” Luz apologized again.

“Eh, don’t sweat it kiddo. Heck, I’m proud of how far you’ve come come in these glyph combos. I didn't even know that there was a spell to magnetize something anyway. Who knows, you may have uncovered some spell that’s been lost to time.” Eda said with a proud smile.

Luz smiled back at her mentor, she then bent down and started gathering up all the loose notes and glyph combos.

“Thanks Eda, I’ll be down in a few minutes. I just gotta clean up in here, don't need another accident happening all over again.” Luz said.

Eda smirked.

“Smart thinking kiddo.” Eda said.

After Luz finished picking everything up she headed downstairs and King gave her a party hat, which Luz put the Echo mouse under. The guests were already conversing with each other, this party was to celebrate Lilith becoming the new assistant curator at the Supernatural History Museum. Luz approached Hooty who was serving something, to people on a serving platter. Steve, a coven guard that Lilith knew personally, took one of the things from the platter and walked off to socialize.

“Hooty, did I miss the toast?” Luz asked.

Hooty turned to Luz.

“Yes, but not the app-pellet-tizers.” Hooty said as he present the platter to Luz.

It was covered in moldy green owl pellets with one of them having a still living creature in it, squawking.

“You want it? There’s an extra one. I’m working on it.” Hooty offered as he then began trying to regurgitate another pellet.

“No, no, no. That’s okay. Uh, where’s Lilith? We wanna congratulate her!” Luz said as she pulled the hat up slightly to reveal the Echo mouse. Amity walked over to her girlfriend while carrying a glass filled with some kind of green drink.

“She’s outside, talking to Flora.” Amity answered as she took a swig of her drink.

“Who’s Flora?” Luz asked.

Just then the end of a purple whip grabbed one of the pellets off Hooty’s tray. Luz walked outside to see the owner of the whip, a woman, talking to Lilith. The person then used the whip to lasso a random gryphon and flew off.

“Who was that?” Luz asked Lilith.

“Flora D’esplora, bad-girl historian, celebrity, and my former mentor in the Emperor’s Coven.” Lilith said.

“I have questions about that name.” Luz said.

“And I have questions about my life!” Lilith exclaimed.

Lilith then began pacing as she began ranting.

“All I ever got to do was desk work while she goofed off riding wild snake horses and…” Lilith said.

Luz let out a cute gasp at the mention of snake horses.

“Snorses.” Luz whispered.

“…and-and-eating mummy jerky!” Lilith continued.

Lilith then pounded her fist into her palm in determination.

“Well, I can be just as exciting as Flora. I’ll make an exhibit that’ll knock the Titan’s socks off!” Lilith declared as she walked back into the Owl House.

Luz just watched as Lilith walked back inside.

“Congratulations on your new job!” Luz called out.

The party went on for a little bit but ended and everyone else went home. Luz was currently on the couch recording with her phone as the Echo mouse showed her another projection of Philip Wittebane’s diary, the projection showing things as a voice narrated.

“After careful analysis during this Deadwardian Era, I believe the current human year is 1660. Or is it ‘70? The years are flashing by, but it will all be worth it. I’ve gathered all the portal ingredients, including Titan’s Blood. All that’s left is to seek out The Collector. And he will tell me what I need to complete my mission. But first, my companions and I must face…” The voice of Philip narrated but soon became garbled and the projection stopped.

Luz rubbed her chin in thought as she laid on the couch and began rewatching the recording. King approached, holding a pillow.

“The Collector. I’ve never heard that name.” King said.

Eda walked by while carrying a trash bag.

“Me neither. What kind of jerk puts “The” in front of their name anyway?” Eda said.

Luz turned her head to look at Eda.

“Don't see the irony in that? You first introduced yourself as, and I quote, I'm Eda The owl lady!” Luz said.

Eda furrowed her brow, snorted, then smirked at Luz.

“Ha! Got me there kid, looks like you’re not just more book smart, but you’ve got a sharper wit as well.” Eda said.

As Luz was rewatching the recording, she paused the video to the point where it showed a skull shaped flask of Titan’s Blood. Luz’s eyes widened and she snapped her fingers.

“That’s what was different!” Luz exclaimed in realization.

“What is? I didn’t see anything else but that part with “The Collector”.” King said doing air quotes.

Luz pointed at the flask on the screen.

“Look at the size of the flask that Philip has his Titan’s Blood in. That looks close to half a liter of Titan’s Blood. With this I’m now sure one of the major components I was missing was the correct amount of Titan’s Blood needed to punch through the dimensional barrier. But regardless, it would be much easier to go back in time and ask this guy in person.” Luz said as she slumped back.

But then Luz perked up as an idea popped into her head. Luz turned around to look at Eda.

“Eda? Is time magic a thing?” Luz asked.

Eda turned her head around as she was putting something in the trash bag.

“Not really, but…” Eda trailed off as she set down the trash bag and reached for a red book on a shelf.

Eda opened the book and Luz went to get a closer look.

“Back in the day, I was a bit of an urban-legend junkie. Twigfoot, Lenderman, possums…” Eda listed off as she flipped through the book’s pages.

Luz looked up at Eda with an eyebrow raised at the mention of possums.

“Those are real.” Luz said.

Eda snorted at that.

“Yeah. Sure, kid.” Eda said in a humoring tone.

Eda turned a page.

“Anyway, there are stories about these things called Time Pools. Mythical puddles that act as windows into the past. but they’re never in the same spot twice. Me and Lily used to search for them. She’d say I forced her into it, but I think she had more fun than me.” Eda said.

“Lilith! Of course.” Luz exclaimed as she took the book from Eda’s hands and ran off to go find Lilith.

Lilith was carefully using a paintbrush to paint a part of her diorama.

“Lilith!” Luz said as she popped up behind Lilith.

Lilith jumped in surprise.

“Oh, Luz, you startled me. Either I was so focused on my project, or you came up with a glyph combo which suppresses sound.” Lilith said.

Luz shook her head at that.

“No, not yet, but good idea though.” Luz said as she took out a pen and a piece to write herself. Reminder for later.

“But I have come up with a few others, including…” Luz trailed off as she took out two of a new glyph combo. This combo consisted of two parts, a smaller version of the mist combo feeding into another glyph combo of three light glyphs that connect to a fire glyph at the center by jagged lines that vaguely resemble lightning bolts.

Luz activated the glyphs and she began juggling an arc of lightning between her hands. Lilith watched with intrigue.

“Outstanding. I bet Edalyn can’t wait for an excuse to throw her signature lightning bolt spell at someone.” Lilith said.

Luz chucked for a second before the lightning dissipated.

“Oh I wouldn’t doubt it. In fact, I think you might enjoy this one.” Luz said as she pulled out another combo.

This combo consisted of a circle of 3 fire glyphs that connect to a light glyph in the center via waving lines. A bright blue fire appeared in the palm of her hand. Lilith looked at the flames in Luz’s hand, then she looked up at Luz herself, a smile on her face.

“Oh thank you Luz, you found a combination for my signature blue flames!” Lilith said in joy.

“You’re welcome, but be careful though, it’s three times hotter than a regular fire glyph.” Luz warned.

Lilith chuckled a bit.

“I know, it took me a while to perfect my fire to that point, thanks again, but is there something I can help you with?” Lilith asked.

“Actually, there is.” Luz said as she handed Lilith the book already opened to the section on time pools.

Lilith took the book from Luz’s hands and looked at the pages.

”Ah yes, time pools. I remember, they’re supposedly caused by coagulated Titan’s Blood mixing with a type of rare algae in sea shores during certain tide phases. Though, what's your interest in them Luz?” Lilith asked.

Luz scratched the back of her head.

“Well you see. I’ve hit a bit of a snag in my research to create a new portal to the human realm. I think I'm missing some critical information about the making process that, well, makes the difference. So I figured you could help me find the time pools so I could get the intel I need from Philip personally. What do ya say?” Luz proposed.

Lilith rubbed her chin in thought.

“Well, I did make a device to locate them when I was younger with Edalyn. But it was faulty, it required much more power than I was ever able to give it.” Lilith said.

Luz smirked.

“I got you covered.” Luz said as she ran off and came back with the glove covered in Titan’s Blood.

“Would Titan Blood do the trick?” Luz asked.

Lilith stared at the glove for a second.

“Well it should more than work, but isn’t that a finite resource? Don’t you need this to make a new portal?” Lilith asked.

Luz waved her hand dismissively.

“Don’t worry, I was gonna start working on a device to help locate more. Especially considering that it looks like making a new portal will require more anyways, plus you're device should help give me a head start on how to go about making mine.” Luz said.

Luz then noticed Lilith’s diorama.

“What were you doing here?” Luz asked.

“I was planning my first museum exhibit, I’ll show Flora she’s not the only bad-girl historian in town. I’m thinking, the architectural history behind Deadwardian balusters.” Lilith said as she pulled out a timeline showing the various styles of balusters during the Deadwardian Era.

There was a bit of an awkward silence.

“This isn’t gonna work, is it?” Lilith asked.

“Well, maybe you can show up Flora with something truly lost to the ages, like in the Deadwardian Era or around that time.” Luz offered.

Lilith thought about that.

“Hmmm. That would be the discovery of a lifetime, if I could prove the existence of functional time pools, not to mention what other discoveries could be made!” Lilith said enthusiastically.

“Let’s do it!” Lilith said, filled with determination.

Lilith and Luz then set off to find the time pools using Lilith’s device. With Luz informing Lilith on everything that’s been happening up until this point.

“So yeah, now I have a binary vascular system, increased metabolism, reflexes, coordination and near total memory recall.” Luz listed off.

“Incredible, and all that from you opening a simple looking fob watch?” Lilith asked.

“Well, I think it's anything but simple. It's designs are like nothing I've ever seen.” Luz said as she pulled out said watch to show to Lilith.

“Oh, and I forgot to mention that for some reason I can understand various different types of demon and beast speech whereas I didn't before.” Luz added.

Lilith adjusted her glasses as she observed the watch, looking at the complex design on the cover.

“Yes, I don't think I've ever seen symbols like these before. Though, they do remind me of those in King's nursery chamber.” Lilith said.

Luz shrugged and put the watch back into her pocket.

“Well anyway, back to my update, later on me, King and Eda found out about her ex, Raine, being in the Coven Day parade. so we began to make a plan for Eda to see them.” Luz said.

Some 30 minutes of explanation later…

“Then Kikimora was taken away by Tera and me and Amity talked about the whole pocket watch situation, as we've dubbed it.” Luz said.

“And how did that go? By the way I'm glad you and Amity have started dating, both you and Amity really deserve each other.” Lilith said.

Luz smiled at her.

“Thanks Lilith, it means a lot, you, Eda and so many others give their support. But yeah it went pretty smoothly, Amity was very accepting of my new situation and wanted to know everything in regards to it, so I filled her in as we made our way back to Eda. Later after the parade Amity said she'd try to get her dad to take a look at my watch to see if he can reveal anything about it.” Luz said.

“I’m sure Alador can figure something out about the watch.” Lilith said as she turned her head to look at a tree.

Lilith then pulled out a sword and embedded it in the tree, she removed some of the bark and put it into a vial attached to her device. The piece of bark then began to shrivel and age rapidly.

“Aha! I knew it, these are wrinkling oaks!” Lilith exclaimed.

Luz took a closer look at the tree’s bark.

“They don’t look very wrinkly.” Luz stated.

Lilith took out her book and began looking through her calculations.

“That’s because something is keeping them locked in time.” Lilith said as she began writing down another set of calculations.

Luz stepped forward and felt a shiver down her spine, like she could sense something in the area.

“So, accounting for local plague patterns, the quake in the ‘30s, and the switch from Boiling Units to the Empirical System, the time pool should be…here!” Lilith said as she pushed aside some bushes, only to see an empty beach.

Lilith began to be filled with uncertainty.

“But I triple-checked all my calculations. My equipment is first-rate.” Lilith said before she almost tripped.

“Stupid rock!” Lilith said as she kicked at the sand.

Luz kept having a feeling that something was there, it was a feeling she didn’t know how to describe.

“No, there's definitely something here, I don't know how or why, but I can feel it.” Luz said.

Lilith quirked an eyebrow at that, then began looking at random spots on the ground.

“Well if that's true then perhaps it's due to you being from another realm and you're more sensitive to these phenomena, unlike us witches where we've become desensitized to such things.” Lilith theorized.

Luz then knelt down and began examining the sand on the beach.

“Interesting theory, and you may have a point, though I'm also not exactly a normal human now anyways, so it might strangely have something to do with that. Whatever the case, let's look around, and watch your step.” Luz replied.

Luz felt a strong pull to an area in the sand, Luz picked up a nearby pebble and dropped it, it fell through the sand and disappeared. Luz turned around to face Lilith.

“Lilith! Over here, I think I found it!” Luz called out.

Lilith ran over to where Luz was, Luz put her head into the sand, Lilith stared for a second then followed suit. On the other side of the time pool they saw boiling water on the beach, volcanoes spouting lava. Luz took a whiff of the air, which reeked of sulfur, and shook her head.

“Nope, Hecktaceous period, wrong time. Oh cool, a Stonesleeper!” Luz said as she caught sight of a bipedal triceratops-like creature with two dorsal plates on its back.

Luz and Lilith pulled their heads out of the time pool and Lilith looked at Luz surprised.

“Um, Luz, how did you know what time period it was exactly?” Lilith asked.

“Temporal Awareness.” Luz said nonchalantly.

“What?” Lilith asked as she tilted her head slightly.

“What?” Luz asked back.

“You just said that you could tell what time period it was because of temporal awareness, what is that?” Lilith asked.

Luz just blinked for a few seconds.

“I don't know, I just said it without thinking, like instinct or something.” Luz answered.

The pair then began searching the beach and found more time pools, they checked each one and Luz finally found one that led to the Deadwardian Era. Lilith and Luz fully went through and saw the Bonesburough of the past in the distance, Luz brought out a bag and took out two stopwatches and a pair of wristwatches, she then handed one of each to Lilith.

“What are these for?” Lilith asked.

“So we can keep track of our available window to get back to our time. According to what the tide cycles should be for this time of year, we should have around six hours and forty-three minutes.” Luz says this as she marks down these details in her notepad.

“The stopwatches are to mark how long it takes us to get to Bonesburough and back, so we subtract our traveling time, then we keep measuring to know when we should start on our way back to the time pools.” Luz adds as she straps her wristwatch on.

Lilith put her wristwatch on as well and smiled proudly at Luz.

“Smart thinking Luz, so what do you know about Philip? Anything I should keep in mind when around him?” Lilith asked.

Luz rubbed the back of her neck nervously, ever since she had opened the watch, she remembered one particular lesson in class, and where she heard the name Philip Wittebane before.

“Well. He may or may not be the same guy mentioned in my hometown’s local folklore, who along with his brother, were Witch Hunters during the 1600s.” Luz said.

Lilith stared at Luz with wide eyes, then gained an uneasy look.

“So, judging by the job title, I’m guessing he and his brother killed Witches?” Lilith inquired.

Luz nodded slowly.

“Yup, legend has it that he and his brother, Caleb, met a witch and were spirited away, never to be seen again. If I had to guess, the two of them were probably hunting a witch and fell through a portal the witch was using, and wound up here in the demon realm.” Luz said.

“But, how many of us could there have even been in the human realm at the time? And how would humans back then even prove someone was really a witch?” Lilith asked.

Luz bit her lip, she never really enjoyed those particular history lessons regarding the Salem Witch Trials.

“The thing is, almost none of the people accused were actually witches. There’s a reason those times are called the “Dark Ages”, because they were a time of great ignorance and superstition for humanity. And they didn’t even try to prove anyone innocent, if you were accused, you’d either be drowned, burned alive, or hung.” Luz answered.

Lilith just stared with her eyes wide and jaw agape.

“But-But, why? What would drive those people to do that?” Lilith asked.

Luz shook her head.

“Religion, religion was a key factor, back then people just believed whatever the Church told them. The spark that lit the flame however was an outbreak of a disease and people just blamed it on witchcraft.” Luz answered.

“Well that's just ridiculously stupid and ignorant. Why would they follow such religious doctrine without proof?!” Lilith asked.

Luz cleared her throat.

“That's pretty hypocritical of you Lilith. After all, Belos has been doing the same thing with the Boiling Isles, with just as little proof as the overly religious preachers that pushed the people into following such messed up rhetoric.” Luz replied.

Lilith frowns and looks down at the ground, disappointed in herself once again for her ignorance and not for seeing Belos's tactics, whereas Eda has time and time again even if she didn't fully know the Emperor's reasoning.

“You're absolutely right Luz, so many people are blind to the truth of his tactics.” Lilith admitted.

“Yeah, just be careful around Philip. He’s incredibly intelligent, I mean he was able to successfully make a cross dimensional portal in the 1600s, and look out for anything hostile from him.“ Luz advised.

Lilith nodded.

“Noted, let’s pick up the pace, time is of the essence.” Lilith said.

Luz nodded back.

“That it is.” Luz replied.

Luz and Lilith synchronized their stopwatches and made their way to Bonesburough. When they got there Luz had pulled up her hood and found a white long coat, and a pair of boots, Lilith had just put on a straw hat as her current attire was already suited for the era. They began asking aroundtown  to see if anyone had seen Philip Wittebane, but they didn’t get any leads. That was until Luz heard a commotion happening just around the corner. As Luz and Lilith came around the street corner they saw a human man around his early thirties, dressed in 1600s era clothing, with long brown hair tied into a ponytail, and a decent sized beard.

The man was being harassed by two demons who looked to be twins, one dressed in red and the other dressed in green, and were tossing the human’s journal back and forth playing keep away. It was then that Luz was sure, this was the Philip Wittebane they were looking for, as the journal was the exact same one that Luz had in the future. One of the twins held the journal and drew a spell circle, a small flame appeared on the tip of his finger, he was about to set the book on fire.

Right as the journal was about to get burned, Luz decided to step in, if nothing else than to save the journal, while also helping Philip out in the process. Luz used another of her new glyph combinations, wind, to knock the journal out of the demon’s hand, and then used a plant glyph to summon a vine which grabbed the journal and deposited it into Luz’s hand.

“That doesn’t belong to you.” Luz said to the demons.

The demon wearing the red was about to move forward but the one in green put his arm out to halt him.

“Don’t waste your time on the kid. We should keep looking.” Green Fang said.

“Ask your friend what happened to our brother Blue Fang and his Palisman.” Red Fang told Luz as the brothers walked away.

Luz grew curious when they mentioned something about their brother’s Palisman. Luz turned around and held the book out to the man.

“I believe this is your's, good sir.” Luz said.

The man took the journal back.

“You wouldn’t happen to know where me and my aunt could find Philip Wittebane the scholar, would you?” Luz asked, playing dumb.

Philip blinked for a second, not expecting to be referred to as a scholar and not simply “the Human”, then he cleared his throat.

“Um, yes, that would be me.” Philip answered.

“Great, it’s a pleasure to finally meet the esteemed scholar, Philip the Legend Hunter. I’m Luzura, me and my Aunt Dirtrude were wondering if you’d be kind enough to assist us in some architectural research we’re doing in hopes of finding irrefutable proof of the existence of a being known as, "The Collector”. We’d be in your debt, and more than willing to compensate you.” Luz said with a fake smile.

Philip stroked his beard, on the one hand, he didn’t want to accept the help of filthy Witches, on the other hand he needed a sacrifice to get past the beast which guards The Collector, and these Witches might just prove to be the perfect distraction. And they referred to him as a scholar, finally some proper respect. He might as well use them to get what he wanted so he could finish his sacred holy mission.

“Philip the Legend Hunter. It has a nice ring to it. Very well, Luzura, I shall aid you and your aunt in your quest, after all it seems that our goals seem to align.” Philip said as he and Luz shook hands.

And with that the group set off, they trekked through the forest, Lilith was having idle chit chat with Philip, but Luz was studying Philip’s every move, more specifically, his limp. He had a stick tied to his leg, like he had broken it, but the way he moved, the way he limped, there was something off. Eventually the three of them found a cave system. Philip turned to Lilith and Luz.

“Anyone bring a torch?” Philip asked.

Luz took out a light glyph and activated it, creating a small sphere of light which illuminated the cave. Philip’s eyes widened as he looked at the small ball of light.

“Astounding! I thought I was the only one who used pictoglyphs.” Philip said as he took out his journal and began writing down in it.

“You use glyphs as well?” Luz said as she took out another light glyph and handed it to Philip.

“Oh yes, fire, ice, plant growth. It took me years to find them all though, it’s almost as if the world was hiding them from me, I even found one in a snowflake once.” Philip said as he began tracing the light glyph in his journal.

“I found one in a snowflake as well.” Luz admitted.

Philip began walking further into the cave, creating more spheres of light every few steps. Luz and Lilith followed in after Philip.

“Luz, are you sure it was a good idea to give Philip that glyph?” Lilith asked as she whispered into Luz’s ear.

“Don’t worry, he was bound to find it eventually, all you have to do is look at the night sky.” Luz whispered back as they continued to follow Philip.

They eventually reached a dead end, Philip summoned up three glowing spheres which illuminated the entire area. Philip then grabbed a nearby stick and began drawing glyphs into the dirt, Luz carefully watched in fascination as Philip weaved an intricate web of interlacing glyphs.

“What is this?” Luz asked.

“A shortcut, to The Collector.” Philip said as he touched the glyph combo.

The three of them found themselves engulfed by a bright orange light, in mere seconds they found themselves someplace else entirely. It had white marble-like walls, which was actually bone, and a massive door.

“Where are we?” Lilith asked as she looked around.

Luz spotted a hole in the wall, she looked through it and saw Bonesburough in the distance, the realization struck her instantly.

“We’re in the head of the Titan?!” Luz exclaimed.

Lilith looked around, flabbergasted.

“We’re what? But this is sacred ground!” Lilith exclaimed.

Philip shrugged.

“I guess that’s why no one wanted to accompany me.” Philip said as he “Limped” towards the door, Luz and Lilith followed behind him, both of them on their guard in case the Witch Hunter tried anything.

“The door is locked, but I can't find the mechanism to unlock it. If only I wasn’t so frail.” Philip said as his leg gave out under him.

Luz knew he was definitely faking it, but she’d play along. She rushed towards him and helped ease his fall.

“It’s okay Philip, why don’t you rest up while me and my aunt try and open the door?” Luz offered.

Philip put his hand on Luz’s shoulder and smiled at her.

“Thank you for your kindness, Luzura, perhaps we were destined to meet.” Philip said.

Luz took his hand off her shoulder while baring a smile, she then walked up to Lilith who was actively trying to unlock the door.

“This mechanism truly is something, but…” Lilith trailed off.

“But?” Luz asked.

Lilith gestured to the door with her hand, it had several glowing blue lines on it, and some that weren’t glowing.

“Look at this, half of it has already been solved. And Philip, I know he’s a Witch Hunter, but there’s something else about him.” Lilith trailed off again.

Both Luz and Lilith turned around to see if Philip was listening in on them, he wasn’t, he was preoccupied with writing in his journal, his back turned to them.

“The way he acts, the confidence, the charm, he says everything you want to hear. It feels eerily familiar.” Lilith said as she shivered a little.

Luz turned her head to look at Lilith.

“Who does he remind you of?” Luz asked.

“Belos, oddly enough.” Lilith admitted.

Luz rubbed her chin as she went through her memories of every time she saw Philip’s face.

“Hmmm, perhaps Belos is a descendant of Philip? Take away the beard and he does look a bit like Belos. It would explain his familiarity with the portal.” Luz reasoned.

Luz gave Lilith a serious look, then turned her head to look at Philip, then back to Lilith.

“Keep working on the door, but be on your guard.” Luz said.

Lilith nodded and resumed her work, Luz walked over to Philip, looking over his shoulder as he wrote in the journal.

“I single handedly defeated the beast behind the door, unfortunately I could not save my companions? So that’s how you think things will go down, oh well, guess we’ll see who was really playing who, shall we Mr. Fake Limp?” Luz asked.

Philip’s eyes widened in surprise and he turned his head to look at Luz.

“What are you talking about?” Philip asked.

Luz gave out a snort.

“You need better acting lessons, that’s the worst fake limp I’ve ever seen. Though I think you’re improving, considering your career change from Witch Hunter to Petty Thief and Murderer.” Luz said nonchalantly.

Philip stood up and continued to look at Luz in surprise, how did she know he was a Witch Hunter? Regardless, Philip heard a noise and looked up to see that the other Witch had got the door open, he looked back down at Luz, a smirk on his face.

“I must say you are quite clever. But you didn’t exactly have the foresight to warn your Aunt.” Philip said as he pointed at the door.

Luz turned her head around just in time to see Lilith get grabbed by a claw and pulled into the room behind the door.

“Dang it, I told her to be on her guard.” Luz mumbled to herself as she brought out an ice glyph, activated it and slammed it onto the floor.

Solid ice surrounded Philip’s legs and kept him stationary. Luz then took off into the room to go save Lilith, when Luz got out of eyesight Philip unrolled his right sleeve to reveal glyphs carved into his skin, he tapped a fire glyph and melted the ice around his legs. Luz got into the room to see Lilith being held by a Stonesleeper. Lilith struggled in the prehistoric demon’s grasp.

“Let her go!” Luz said as she brought out another new glyph combo.

Multiple illusion copies of herself and Lilith appeared and began running around the room to get the creature’s attention, the Stonesleeper dropped Lilith, and both she and Luz ducked behind a pillar as the creature tried searching for them. Philip entered the room and took advantage of the distraction, he reached the center of the room and untied the stick from his leg, it unfolded into a shovel and Philip began digging. Lilith peeked her head out to see what Philip was doing.

“Hey! That better be your own grave you’re digging!” Lilith yelled, she ducked back behind the pillar before the Stonesleeper’s tail hit her.

Philip’s shovel made contact with something solid. Philip ginned and he bent down to pull a shiny flat elliptical object out of the ground. He then began drawing another glyph combo circle and quickly teleported away. The Stonesleeper kept chasing after the illusions, Luz knew this couldn’t be kept up forever, but then she remembered something about Stonesleepers that she read in a textbook. Using an ice glyph she slid under the Stonesleeper, and began tickling it behind its ears, the creature then became docile and layed itself on the floor. Luz ran her hands over the creature’s head like you would a puppy.

“Aww, who’s a good Stonesleeper? You are.” Luz said.

The Stonesleeper let out a huff. Luz however heard words.

“Oh really, you were just lonely and wanted to play?” Luz asked.

The Stonesleeper huffed again.

“Well do you have a name?” Luz asked.

The Stonesleeper shook its head, no.

“No huh? Well, how about, Boulder?” Luz suggested.

The Stonesleeper perked up at that and let out a huff, it then licked Luz’s face. Luz let out a giggle. Lilith just watched the entire scene, confused.

“Boulder it is then-whoa!” Luz exclaimed as Boulder lifted her onto his back using his tail.

Timeskip.

Philip was walking through the forest, writing in his journal while narrating to himself.

“And so, I doggedly limped home, but I had my prize.” Philip said as he closed his journal and took out the object he had taken.

It was a round plate-like object, with a crescent moon on it. Philip studied the object.

“Now, how to describe you? Oval? Oblong? A round boy…” Philip trailed off as he heard a rumbling behind him.

He turned around to see Boulder standing there, Boulder roared, startling Philip, the man backed up as Luz and Lilith hopped off Boulder’s back, both of them glaring at him.

“Tell me how that thing is going to help you build a portal to the Human Realm.” Luz demanded as she pointed at the object in Philip’s hands.

Philip looked at the tablet for a second before looking back at Luz.

“This? Oh no, I need this for something else.” Philip said as he put the tablet into his bag.

Luz’s eye twitched slightly.

“No? What do you mean no?” Luz demanded.

Philip kept his composure.

“I mean if it’s information you want, I’m sure we can come to an agreement. I may need another sacrifice sometime soon, perhaps if you or your aunt-.” Philip trailed off as he approached the two but was cut off when Lilith punched him in the face, which also broke his nose.

Philip staggered to the ground, his hand over his nose as he glared up at Lilith.

“You hateable sorceress!” Philip exclaimed.

Philip just glared at the two as they got back onto Boulder’s back and left. Luz and Lilith still had plenty of time left before the tides came in, so they spent a little while for Lilith to look at Deadwardian balusters. They then found a place for Boulder to hibernate. Then they went back to the time pools and returned to their proper time period. Using Lilith’s staff they flew back to the Owl House to find Eda outside.

“Finally you’re back, did you nerds find the time pools and talk to that dead nerd?” Eda asked.

“Yeah, he kinda matched my expectations of what a witch hunter who survived here would be like.” Luz said as she walked over to an area in front of the Owl House.

Luz knelt down and pulled out another new glyph combo, she slammed it onto the ground and the ground sank and formed a flight of stairs which led downwards into a cave. Luz went down the stairs and found what, actually rather, who, she was looking for. At first glance one would just assume it was just a statue of a dinosaur.

“Wakey wakey Boulder, rise and shine.” Luz said.

The stone receded and Boulder woke up with a yawn.

“Weh?! What is that?!” King yelled out.

Luz whipped her head around to find that King had followed her down here. Boulder walked up to King, sniffed him, then licked him. Luz giggled at the display.

“Aww, King, he likes you.” Luz cooed.

King was currently trying to ring out his fur of all the saliva.

“Yeah, like me, whatever, enjoy your rock beast Luz, I’m gonna take a shower.” King says as he walks up the stairs, leaving Luz and Boulder in the cave.

Boulder let out a huff.

“You slept great? That’s wonderful.” Luz says to Boulder.

Luz let out a yawn herself.

“I actually need to hit the hay myself soon, good night Boulder.” Luz said as Boulder let out another huff.

Luz walked up the stairs to find Lilith explaining to Eda about how they had stashed a Stonesleeper underneath the Owl House. Eda turned to Luz.

“Luz, have you filled in Goobs and Glasses in on the whole two hearts situation?” Eda asked.

Luz noded.

“Yeah, me and Amity did a three way crystal ball chat after we got back to the Owl House from the parade. So we’re all good there.” Luz said as she entered the house, went up to her room, got in her sleeping bag and went to sleep.

To be Continued…

Chapter Text

A familiar blue phone box floated through the vastness of space. Inside the TARDIS we see a man and a young woman. The man wore black jeans and shoes, an olive green T-shirt, and a black leather jacket. He had caucasian skin, blue eyes, short cut black hair, and big ears. The young girl had caucasian skin, blonde hair, and light blue eyes. She wore a magenta hoodie, skinny jeans, and black and white converse shoes. This was the Doctor and his most recent companion, Rose Tyler. The Doctor was standing at the helm panel of his TARDIS, flipping some switches, he looked up at Rose and spoke in a Northern accent.

“Alright Rose, our next stop is going to be-.” The Doctor was saying before he was cut off when a knocking sound rang out.

The Doctor and Rose whipped their heads to the source of the sound, it was coming from outside the TARDIS door.

“Doctor, what is that?” Rose asked in a Cockney accent.

The Doctor slowly approached the door and turned to Rose.

“I don’t know, but, stay right there.” The Doctor said.

The Doctor opened the door and there, floating in front of him, was a blue glowing cube. The Doctor’s eyes widened in surprise at the sight. The cube then zoomed through the doorway and the Doctor caught the cube but was knocked onto his back, a message began playing through his head. Rose gasped when she saw this.

“Doctor! Are you okay?” Rose asked.

The Doctor let out a chuckle as he got to his feet, holding the cube close, he turned to Rose, a grin on his face.

“I’ve got mail.” The Doctor said.

The Doctor closed the TARDIS doors and bolted for the console unit and placed the cube down.

“Mail? From who?” Rose asked.

The Doctor looked up from the controls for a second to look at Rose.

“Rose, change of plans, we’re going to meet someone. Someone I once thought dead. An old friend of mine, another Time Lord!” The Doctor excitedly explained as he began flipping switches and levers.

The time rotor began moving up and down as the TARDIS made a groaning and wheezing sound. The Doctor zoomed around the console unit with a spring in his step and a grin still on his face. Rose stood next to the Doctor.

“So, this other Time Lord, who are they? What are they like?” Rose asked.

The Doctor began explaining as he continued to operate the controls.

“She goes by “The Nurse”, but she still prefers to go by her real name, Camila.” The Doctor said.

This got Rose intrigued.

“So the Nurse. What’s she like?” Rose asked.

The Doctor looked up and grinned at his companion as he was still excitedly operating the controls on the console.

“Oh she is brilliant Rose, really quite brilliant. She’s helped design quite a few medical devices used in the field, and she was incredibly well known for her compassion towards animals of all species. She and her husband Manny were some of my closest friends, they even named me the godfather of their daughter, Luz.” The Doctor continued.

“Wow, this is a pretty big deal for you. What about Manny then? Do you think he survived as well?” Rose asked.

The Doctor’s smile dropped a little, his mood becoming somber.

“No. He died on the battlefield on Gallifrey. He managed to save his whole squad because of his sacrifice. He was a good man.” The Doctor said.

Rose frowned a little.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know he had died like that.” Rose apologized.

The Doctor shook his head.

“It’s alright, you didn’t know.” The Doctor said.

But then the Doctor perked up and continued operating the controls. The TARDIS made its noise again, indicating that they landed. The Doctor walked out the door with Rose following suit, they found themselves on a street with houses lining it.

“Thankfully her message held her coordinates. Gravesfield Connecticut, the year 2021.” The Doctor said.

The Doctor closed the door to the TARDIS and he and Rose began walking down the street.

“How will we find where they live?” Rose asked.

The Doctor turned his head to look at Rose and gave her a small smile while tapping the side of his head.

“I’ll know, Time Lord’s intuition.” The Doctor said as he walked up to a small house and knocked on the door.

Camila and Vee were sitting in the living room when the knock came to the door, Camila set down the book she was reading.

“About time he showed up.” Camila said with a smirk as she got up to answer the door.

Camila opened the door to see the Doctor standing there with Rose next to him. The Nurse smiled at her old friend.

“Hello Doctor.” Camila greeted.

“Hello Nurse.” The Doctor greeted her with an even bigger smile.

The two Time Lords then embraced each other in a massive hug, the both of them happy to see each other again. Rose smiled softly at the tender reunion between old friends. The Doctor and Camila eventually ended the embrace.

“It’s so good to see you again.” Camila said before she took notice of something about how the Doctor’s current regeneration looked.

“And you too Camila. I’d thought you and Luz were gone along with the rest of Gallifrey… Why are you looking at me like I have a ridiculously huge hat?” The Doctor asked.

“Well, not a huge hat but… Wow, you really do get some incredibly, diverse regenerations. I mean, I don’t think you’ve ever had such large ears.” Camila said as she pointed to the Doctor’s ears.

The Doctor’s face gained a sour expression.

“Well I just hope next time I get to be ginger. You and Manny both got to be ginger. Lucky the both of you, well, you know what I mean. By the way, can we come inside?” The Doctor asked.

“Of course, please right come in.” Camila said as she opened the door wider and gestured for both the Doctor and Rose to enter the house.

The Doctor, Rose and Camila walked inside and entered the kitchen. Vee creeped in her Basilisk form around the corner of the entrance to the kitchen, Rose caught sight of her. Vee didn’t freak out at seeing Rose, knowing that the Doctor, who Camila had explained was also another Time Lord, so Rose was safe to be around. Vee tilted head, kinda like a dog as she examined the human girl, one Vee’s ears flicked like a cat’s. Rose stared at Vee, wondering if she was some kind of alien pet. Rose bent down to Vee’s level and examined her.

“Hey there, what are you?” Rose asked as she reached her hand out to try and pet Vee.

Vee spoke up.

“Um, hey, you know I’m not a dog right?” Vee asked as she gently moved Rose's hand away.

Rose’s face reddened in embarrassment. Camila turned around to the two, having heard Vee. The Doctor looked fascinated by Vee.

“Ah, sorry, let me introduce you guys. This is Vee, she’s a Basilisk from another place called the Boiling Isles.” Camila explained.

Rose rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.

“Sorry about that.” Rose apologized to Vee.

Vee awkwardly rubbed her shoulder.

“It’s fine.” Vee accepted.

The Doctor and Camila sat down at the table. Rose and Vee soon followed suit.

“So, what’s your name, young lady?” Camila asked Rose.

“Rose Tyler, mam.” Rose answered.

“Please, call me Camila, or The Nurse.” Camila said with a soft smile.

Rose nodded, The Doctor smiled at the interaction between his companion and his old friend. A question lingered in his mind though.

“So, how did you escape the Time War?” The Doctor asked.

“I stole a TARDIS, ran away, used a pair of Chameleon Arches to make myself and Luz human.” Camila answered.

The Doctor grinned at the answer, it was brilliant. But another question lingered.

“So where is Luz? I’d love to see her again after all this time, have you filled her in on everything?” The Doctor asked.

Camila let out a sigh and took off her glasses for a second to clean the lenses before putting them back on.

“I’m afraid she isn’t here. She’s stuck in another universe entirely.” Camila said.

The Doctor and Rose just stared at Camila with open mouths. Silence lingered for a second.

“She’s what?!” The Doctor exclaimed as he bolted up from his seat.

To be Continued…

Chapter Text

Luz tossed and turned in her sleeping bag, it was happening again, another nightmare. They’ve continued to show up, always playing out similarly, a futuristic city in the midst of war, evil robots, people screaming and dying. But recently, her dreams have added a new factor, her dad. The father she never got to know. Luz was awoken from her nightmare by the sound of her phone letting out a notification alarm. Luz let out a sigh of relief at being woken up, she lifted her phone to check her notifications. Her eyes widened at what she saw, she clicked the decline button and set the phone down, a sad look on her face. Luz pulled her knees to her chest, she looked to her left and saw a notepad.

The next morning. Eda and King walked into the living room to find Luz surrounded by yet another mess of papers and notes. Luz had bags under her eyes and was in a very manic and obsessive state as she scribbled away at a notepad. King walked forward and tripped on another glyph combo, but before he hit the ground a blue aura surrounded him and he hovered mid air before he made impact, the glow then disappeared and King then fell back to the ground.

“Weh!” King exclaimed as he hit the ground and got back up.

Eda chuckled at the display.

“Ha, that must be that safety hover glyph combo you mentioned a couple days ago.” Eda said, aiming her statement at Luz.

Luz looked up from her notepad to look at Eda with a smile.

“Oh yeah, but that’s kinda old news compared to these.” Luz said as she held up four new glyph combos in her hand like she was holding cards.

“I’ve already reverse engineered Philip’s teleportation glyph array, and made several different variations of it.” Luz said.

Eda looked at the papers, they had several complex combinations of glyphs on them. Luz tapped the side of her head with the eraser end of a pencil.

“See, I haven’t fully figured out how to rework it to be able to allow for completely unrestricted teleportation, but, I did figure out how to make specified versions to teleport to certain areas or places, basically in gamer terms it’s like fast travel. For instance this one will take you to Blight manor, this one will take you to the Knee, this is for Hexside and this one is for Morton’s.” Luz said as she pointed to each glyph array.

Eda blinked in surprise. Inside she felt overflowing pride. Eda smirked at Luz.

“Gotta say Luz, that’s quite the accomplishment. Even I didn’t get the hang of my short range combat teleportation ‘till I was 20, though, how long have you been up kiddo?” Eda asked as she took notice of the bags under Luz’s eyes.

Luz nervously rubbed the back of her neck.

“Um, like since 4:00 AM.” Luz admitted.

Eda furrowed her eyebrows in concern. King brought over two different glyph combos.

“Hey Luz, what about these glyphs? They don’t look like the teleportation ones.” King asked.

Luz looked at the combos King was holding and smiled.

“Oh, that’s because they aren’t, those are two different applications for time magic, watch.” Luz said as she took one of the glyphs from King.

Luz then took a pencil and broke it into fourths. Luz then activated the glyph combo, aimed her index finger at the broken pieces of the pencil, the pieces were coated in a silvery glow and the pencil reassembled itself as if it were never even broken. Eda and King stared in awe.

“Wow!” Eda and King said.

Luz meanwhile had absolutely no reaction to the accomplishment, Eda took notice of this.

“Alright something’s up Luz, this is a huge breakthrough yet you act like you’re just hearing Hooty ramble about his day, you’re hiding something, spill.” Eda said as she looked Luz in the eyes.

“I am not! Okay, maybe I am. Okay, I definitely am.” Luz said as she sits on the couch and pulls her knees up to her chest and stares at the floor.

Eda and King sat on opposite sides of Luz. Luz let out a yawn. King noticed several drawings on the table, he picked some of them up and began looking through them. Most of them were of these weird looking pepper pot shaped robots with plunger arms, firing lasers from an arm that looked like an egg-whisk, they had eyestalks attached to domed heads with light bulbs sticking out of the sides like ears. Others were of a futuristic city being bombarded with green laser fire from giant flying saucers. King set down the drawings and turned his attention back to Luz.

“I haven’t been getting much sleep. I’ve been having nightmares of a foreign world at war, death all around. Screams of pain, pleas of mercy as distorted, mechanical voices keep yelling “EXTERMINATE” again and again. But that’s not the worst of it yet, I-I.” Luz choked up.

Eda put a hand on Luz’s shoulder with a look of sympathy on her face.

“Take your time kiddo.” Eda said.

Luz took a deep breath.

“I see my dad, mixed in with these nightmares.” Luz said.

Luz looked up at the ceiling for a second and then stared back at the floor again.

“Today’s a special day, dedicated to him, it’s something me and mom usually do together, but I’m not home and…” Luz trailed off as some tears started to form in the corners of her eyes.

Eda and King pulled Luz into a tight, comforting hug.

“Hey, hey, it’s alright.” Eda said soothingly as she and King continued to embrace Luz.

Luz sniffled as she wiped away the tears, she smiled at Eda and King.

“Thanks guys.” Luz said.

“What you need is a good old distraction. Oh hey, what’s that?” King asked as he pointed to another glyph combo that was similar to the previous one, but different.

Luz looked over at it, her tears had already dried.

“Oh that’s another time magic glyph, one specifically for combat use, I haven’t had a chance to test it though.” Luz said as she began to cheer back up.

Eda chuckled a little.

“Luz, you never stop surprising me.” Eda said.

King hopped off the couch.

“Come on Eda, let’s go make some breakfast.” King said enthusiastically.

Both Eda and King walked towards the kitchen, Luz picked up some of her glyph equations and began looking them over, then Amity walked through the front door.

“Luz! I have a problem and it could distract us all day!” Amity said.

This presented an opportunity for Luz to take her mind off things. Luz let out a gasp, shot up and flashed her girlfriend a smile.

“Tell me all about it and don’t spare a single detail!” Luz happily said.

Amity stepped in and sat on the couch next to Luz and crossed her arms.

“So, the annual Bonesborough Brawl is tonight, it’s like an underground witches dueling league, to see who is toughest, my dad used to do them when he was younger, even won the championship belt once. I want to participate in it, but my mom signed me up for tryouts for the Emperor’s Coven, and my dad made an Abomiton escort to make sure I get there. I don’t even want to join a coven anymore, and this thing is so embarrassing I even tried disguising it!” Amity said as she and Luz walked outside.

As soon as they were outside Luz saw the disguised Abomiton, actually dressed up in an outfit she vaguely remembered Eda having in her closet. It was standing in front of Boulder who was currently stone, a red light on its head as it made an alarm.

“Also I think my dad needs to improve the scanner on it because it thinks that Stonesleeper statue is the real thing!” Amity said as she gestured at the Abomiton with her hands.

“Actually that’s a funny story.” Luz says as she walks towards the sleeping Boulder.

Luz gently patted Boulder on the snout and whispered into his ear, the stone on his body receded and Boulder stood up and yawned. Amity stumbled backwards, almost falling as she was completely stunned by seeing a real life Stonesleeper. Luz gave Amity a sheepish smile.

One tale of time travel later…

“And that’s how Boulder got here.” Luz said as she gestured to Boulder who was sitting on his haunches and wagging his tail.

Amity sighed as she held the bridge of her nose.

“So let me get this straight. You and Lilith went on a time traveling adventure, met Philip Wittebane who by the way is a Witch Hunter. Lilith nearly got mauled by a stonesleeper, she also punched Philip in the face, and now you got the same stonesleeper as a beast keeping familiar.” Amity said.

Luz nodded.

“Jeez, I take my eyes off you for not even a day and this happens.” Amity said in false exasperation.

Luz rubbed the back of her head and grinned sheepishly as Boulder licked her cheek.

“Yeah, sorry for not telling you sooner but I was pretty tired after everything. I wish I got to beat up Philip a bit myself, but gotta leave the timeline intact.” Luz said as she scratched Boulder behind his ears.

Amity blinked for a second.

“Wait, how do you know that you didn’t mess with the timeline by assisting him?” Amity asked.

“Oh. well that’s the easy part.” Luz said as she took out her phone and scrolled through her videos.

Luz paused on the diary entry video on the part where it showed Philip and his blurred out companions, Luz pointed at the two blurs.

“I’m pretty sure that, based on height and width, is me and Lilith. Meaning we were already part of events. But anyway, enough about this stuff, I think you should ditch Coven tryouts and go to the Brawl.” Luz said as she put her phone away.

“What?” Amity said with wide eyes.

Luz put Amity in a one arm embrace.

“Come on babe, you know I always go for the chaotic route.” Luz said in a flirting manner.

Amity blushed a little.

“And if you win, you can use it as a chance to tell your dad that you don’t wanna join a coven anymore.” Luz proposed.

Amity furrowed her eyebrows in contemplation. Eda poked her head out the door while King is on her shoulder and carrying a mug.

“Did somebody say, Bonesburough Brawl? Ah, I used to love going to those, your pops was great in duels.” Eda said as she walked outside.

“Plus you can get that ugly thing away from my house.” Eda said as she gestured at the disguised Abomiton.

Amity hummed in thought and then gained a determined look.

“You know what? I’ll give it a shot.” Amity said as she drew a spell circle.

Amity spoke but when she did, her voice was filtered to sound like her dad’s voice.

“Abomination, go fetch me a, uh, rare and-and difficult to find Emerald Dagger from the Night Market!” Amity ordered.

The voice activation command set, the disguised Abomiton set out to accomplish its goal. Everyone watched as it walked away.

“That’ll keep him busy for a while.” Eda said as she took a swig of her drink.

“But my dad can’t find out I ditched tryouts, not until I win that belt!” Amity declared.

Luz gained a smirk as she looked at Amity and rubbed her chin.

“I gotcha boo.” Luz said.

Timeskip…

“Hey, Mittens!” Emira and Edric said to Amity, smirks on their faces and a butterfly and a moth flying over their shoulders respectively, these were actually their Palismen.

Amity groaned slightly as Luz just chuckled.

“We’re proud of you sis.” Emira said.

“Yeah, you’re becoming more of a delinquent every day.” Edric said.

“Alright Ed. Hand over your concealment stone.” Emira instructed.

Edric crossed his arms, closed his eyes and smirked.

“Like I need one of those-Hey!” Edric exclaimed as Emira gained an annoyed look, she grabbed his collar and pulled him forward.

“Don’t play games, Ed. I saw you take one this morning.” Emira said.

“Well, you saw wrong!” Edric said as Emira forced him into an arm bar.

Luz and Amity just watched the scene unfold with Amity having a neutral expression.

“This won’t take long.” Amity said to Luz.

Edric raised an eyebrow at that.

“Wait. What’s that supposed to mean?” Edric asks indignantly as Emira rolls up his sleeve to reveal a stone tied to a string around his wrist.

“Found it!” Emira says as she removes the bracelet from Edric’s wrist.

In a puff of blue smoke Edric’s appearance changed, he wore dark beige pants, a yellow T-shirt, he had the beginnings of a mustache on his lip, and he wore rectangular glasses. Emira released her brother from the arm bar and handed Amity the bracelet.

“Here’s mine too. For a little extra flair.” Emira said as she removed her pendant from her shirt.

The same poof of blue smoke happened, the only difference with Emira now was that her face had freckles on it. Amity took the two concealment stores and held them together, in a puff of blue smoke Amity’s appearance changed, she now wore magenta glasses with tinted frames, an Abomination themed dress, heeled boots, and a single golden earring.

“Not bad.” Amity said as she examined her appearance.

“Ooh, so pretty!” Luz said as she picked her girlfriend up and twirled her around a bit before setting her down.

They all shared a good laugh before walking off to the sign up line. Luz took notice of someone in line. A female Witch with purple hair, caucasian skin and orange eyes, she knew this person. Bria, she had met her only once with Gus, she was a student who went to another magic school, Glandus, according to Gus and Mattholemule she had used them to try and steal these objects called the Galder stones from a place called the Looking Glass Graveyard. Luz turned to Amity.

“Actually Amity, I’m thinking of entering the Brawl myself.” Luz said with confidence.

Amity was a little surprised by this.

“How come?” Amity asked.

Luz took out some of her new glyph combos.

“I figured this might be the perfect opportunity to test out some of my new glyph combos, see if they’re effective or not.” Luz said with a shrug.

Luz snapped her fingers in realization, she had wanted to ask Amity something. Luz took out the watch from her pocket and held it out to Amity.

“Amity, I was wondering if, after the Brawl, you could have your dad take a look at my watch for me? See if he could figure out anything about it?” Luz asked.

Amity took the watch and pocketed it, she gave her girlfriend a small smile.

“Sure, I can do that.” Amity said.

Luz smiled softly.

“Thanks Amity.” Luz said.

After they finished signing up for the Brawl, they waited for the contest to begin. A demon who Luz recognized as one of the Demon Hunters who tried to capture Hooty held a microphone as he walked onto the stage.

“Witches and Demons, welcome to, the Bonesborough Brawl!” The announcer said.

The crowd cheered and applauded.

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

The crowd cheered again.

“Last one standing will get a chance to snag the coveted Brawler’s Belt from our reigning champion~.” The announcer trailed off as a familiar figure came onstage.

“Warden Wrath!” The announcer said as Wrath held the championship belt high above his head.

The crowd cheered louder.

“For our first round we have Scab the All Knowing vs the Mighty Mittens!” The announcer said as from a zipping shadow on the floor emerged a cloaked figure holding a crystal ball, and from Abomination goo came Amity.

The crowd erupted in cheers again. Luz cheered louder than anyone else, blowing kisses at Amity, with Emira and Edric behind her waving their arms and cheering.

“Now, let the Brawl, begin!” The announcer said.

Scab jumped into the air and launched a fireball at Amity. Amity formed a shield using Abomination goo which stopped the fireball from hitting her, while she also created two spare arms from Abomination goo with eyes on the wrists so that she could examine her opponents moves without exposing herself. Amity then used the Abomination arms to launch two magenta fireballs at Scab, catching him off guard and knocking him out and off the stage in one go. The bell rang, signaling the end of the fight. Amity walked offstage to be met with a smiling Luz who picked her up and twirled her around both of them giggling, Emira and Edric soon came along too.

“You did it! I knew that guy was no problem for my awesome girlfriend.” Luz said to Amity as she set her down.

“Yeah way to go, I bet that eye and arm combination would really surprise dad.” Emira said to Amity with confidence.

Soon came the time for Luz’s first match. The announcer walked back onto the stage.

“Let’s keep the brawl going!” The announcer said as he gestured to one side of the stage.

“In one corner we have, the Flexicutioner!” The announcer said as a slightly round but muscular demon wielding a battle axe jumped onto the stage, he had a hood that revealed one eye and he also wore tattered brown overalls and brown boots.

“And in the other-” The announcer was cut off by Luz who used an ice glyph to launch herself into the air while shouting “Whoo-Hoo!” Luz then used a plant glyph to surround herself in vines to soften her impact onto the stage. When she landed the vines receded and Luz raised her arms triumphantly, a determined look on her face.

“The Spellraiser!” The announcer said and the crowd erupted into cheers. Emira cheered while Amity just stood there, covering her massive blush.

The two opponents approached the center of the stage.

“Let the brawl begin!” The announcer shouted.

The fight began with the Flexicutioner swinging his axe at Luz, Luz dodged every swing. Her opponent brought his axe back up, about to cleave Luz, but Luz pulled out an invisibility glyph and disappeared, the Flexicutioner got confused and looked around but could not find his opponent. Luz canceled the invisibility glyph when she got behind her opponent and attached a fire glyph to his back before activating it. Which caused a the Flexicutioner to be launched like a rocket, he crashed into a nearby cliff, the bell rang. With the match won, Luz raised her arms in triumph.

The night continued with Amity and Luz facing of against multiple different opponents, both of them taking them out. Eventually. Luz’s match against Bria came. The announcer walked on stage.

“In one corner we have…” The announcer trailed off as the ground began shaking, a fissure opened in the ground and from it emerged Bria atop a stone pillar. Bria created a staircase for herself and climbed down onto the stage.

“Avalanche!” The announcer proclaimed.

Bria crossed her arms and smirked, the crowed erupted into cheers.

“And in the other corner we have, the Spellraiser!” The announcer said as Luz used a mist glyph and walked through the mist dramatically.

The two opponents stared a each other as they walked to the center of the stage.

“Now, let the brawl begin!” The announcer proclaimed.

Luz used an ice glyph and threw several ice spikes at Bria who retaliates by making a shield out of two slanted slabs of rock with a small gap to see in between them. Bria starts summoning several spiked pillars all around the arena stage, seemingly at random. Luz, not sure what Bria is up to decides to change things up and used a mist glyph to cover her next moves.

Luz, after making a large amount of mist, used two of her illusion glyphs and made two copies of herself and sends them out to the left and to the right of her end of the mist cover and prepares another glyph. Bria, seeing Luz quickly moves the closest pillar to pin her down only to be shocked that it was an illusion and quickly does the same to the other finding it also an illusion. Luz blasts a large blue fire ball at Bria but she acts fast enough and raises herself out of the line of fire with a new earth pillar.

Bria commands her pillars to lunch their spikes at Luz. This put Luz on her back foot and she used a shield glyph to protect herself from the onslaught, however after five seconds the shield started to degrade. Bria, seeing that Luz's shield only lasts five seconds at most, gives her an idea to beat Luz. Before Luz can get out a lightning glyph Bria attacks again forcing Luz to use another shield glyph, but this time Luz sees that only half of the spikes are firing realizing what Bria's plan more than likely is she quickly get out her second experimental time glyph.

“Well, no risk, no reward.” Luz muttered as she claps the glyph, activating it the second her shield drops and the second volley of spikes began to launch.

Time then began to move at a standstill and Luz felt like she was experiencing the biggest rush of adrenaline humanely possible. She easily out runs the spikes as if they were completely frozen in time, cause they basically were. Luz notices that she can't hear anything aside for her own heartbeat which was insanely fast. Luz is easily behind Bria before the she deactivates the glyphs effects and quickly restrains Bria with a vine from a plant glyph right as the effects end. The bell ring, declaring Luz as the victor. The crowd erupted into cheers as Luz walked offstage, she felt extremely exhausted, Emira and Amity ran up to meet with Luz, smiles present on their faces.

“Way to go Luz! That was amazing! What was that move you used to get behind Bria?” Amity asked.

“Yeah that was impressive, she’ll definitely think twice before messing with you.” Emira said with a smirk.

Luz gave a small smile to them.

“Oh, I’ll explain as soon as I get healed up.” Luz said before she then practically collapsed in between Amity and Emira.

“Luz!” Both Amity and Emira exclaimed as they saw Luz collapse.

Tw minutes later Luz was sitting on the ground being healed by Emira while also placing healing glyphs on her legs. With Amity sitting next to her.

“Okay Luz, you wanna explain why you're internally all banged up like you've run a marathon in three times our gravity, with micro fractures dotted all over your skeleton, and minor muscle tearing like you did a full body workout?” Emira asked Luz.

“I’d like to know that as well.” Amity said as she examined the experimental time glyph Luz used.

Luz looked up at Amity.

“New experimental glyph combo I created.“ Luz answered.

Amity and Emira looked at each other, then to Luz.

“Time Alter firstly detaches my flow of time from the flow of time around me, and then it accelerates all my bodies biochemical and neuroelelctrical processes by a factor of 20, allowing me to perceive time as if everything is frozen and move to fast to be seen no matter what. But I guess the recoil from my bodies flow of time being forcibly adjusted, combined with my body operating way beyond the limits it should normally be capable of, super exhausts me as well as does a bit of wear and tear to it, though I did keep it active for like 2 minutes and 15 seconds so probably far to much use at once as well.” Luz answered more in-depth.

Amity and Emira were left speechless for all of five seconds. They then both slapped Luz on the shoulder.

“You idiot!” Amity and Emira exclaimed.

“That was incredibly risky Luz, that's not the type of thing to take lightly!” Amity said.

“Sorry! Sorry, I guess I just underestimated it's power, I'll save its use as a last resort measure.” Luz promised.

Emira nodded.

“Good call Luz, to be honest I'm surprised you're body could handle so much strain.” Emira said.

“Oh that's probably cause of the whole 2 hearts thing and my already high metabolism.” Luz said without thinking.

“Wait, what?!” Emira exclaimed with wide eyes.

Luz began nervously looking left and right until she spotted someone familiar walking away. Bria.

“Uhhhh, oh look there’s Bria, I better go talk with her Amity can explain bye!“ Luz said as she ran off to go talk with Bria.

When Luz gets over to Bria she notices that Bria is crying, Luz comes to a stop as soon as she sees this and collects her thoughts before getting Bria's attention.

“Hey Bria that was a really good match you really had me on the ropes there ha ha.” Luz said with a chuckle and a smile.

Bria turns to face Luz having wiped away her tears.

“That's not true and you know it if you had a spell like that in your arsenal you could've taken me down easily any time why didn't you? Were you just toying with me?! Is that it?! Playing with your food before you finish me off like a Slither Beast?!” Bria exclaimed in response.

Luz was a bit shocked at Bria's response but starts to get a read on what might be up.

“You’re right Bria, I could've used Time Alter to take you down from the start, but I chose not to, partially because I wanted to challenge myself and also.....” Luz trailed off.

“What?! What other reason was there huh?” Bria asked.

Luz took a deep breath.

“I wanted to show you how there's more than just sticking to one type of magic, and that every magic has its applications, like illusions.” Luz said.

Bria looked to the side for a moment.

“Did Gus teach you that spell? The one where you made copies of yourself?” Bria asked.

Luz smiled softly.

“Kinda he helped me with a lot of my illusion assignments for a while until recently.” Luz answered.

Bria smiles slightly.

“Yeah you pretty much never find kids like Gus at Glandis.” Bria said as she kicked a pebble.

Bria left out a sigh.

“The whole reason why I'm here was to earn back some respect back at Glandis by winning that belt. It's survival of the fittest at Glandis, and after I got my ass kicked by an illusionist from Hexside, my reputation went up in smoke. So here I am out of option's again.” Bria said as she started to slowly walking away.

Luz then had an idea.

“Wait, you've still got Hexside as an option, just transfer there, if Matt can do it why can't you? Besides what have you got to lose? At least you'll have the option to multi track your classes and pick up new skills.” Luz offered. 

Bria stopped walking then turned her head slightly in Luz's direction.

“I'll think about it, see ya around, Spellraiser.” Bria said with a smirk.

Luz smirked back.

“You too, Avalanche.” Luz replied.

Bria then walked off and out of sight. Amity caught up to Luz after info dumping on Emira everything that happened to Luz after opening the pocket watch.

“So how did that go?” Amity asked.

“Better than I thought, anyways your next match should be up s-“ Luz was saying when her phone's notification buzz went off again stopping her mid sentence.

“I gotta go take this.” Luz says as she starts walking off as she pulls out her phone.

Amity watched with concern as Luz walked off. Luz walked away.

“Next time I am throwing you into the ocean.” Luz muttered as she deactivated the alarm.

Luz then bumped into something. Luz looked up and saw, the Abomiton, it was no longer wearing a disguise and it was holding an emerald dagger.

“It’s you!” Luz said as she looked up at the Abomiton. 

“Geez. Did you actually find an emerald dagger?” Luz asked stunned as she looked at the dagger in its hand.

The Abomiton then began walking forward towards the brawl.

“Hey! Wait.” Luz said as she ran ahead of the Abomiton.

“Amity is so close to winning. Just stay back!” Luz said as she tried pushing the Abomiton backwards but to no avail.

“Fine! If that’s the way you want it.” Luz declared as she used an ice glyph to form a bat.

Luz then used to bash the Abomiton on the head, this did not and the bat just went through the head. Then a red light emerged from the top of the head and began blaring an alarm. Luz let out a gasp and then covered her ears from the sound of it.

“Get out of my head!” Luz said as she brought a plant glyph to the ground to create a platform of brown vines, Luz jumped off the platform and swung her ice bat which severed the alarm from the Abomiton, effectively silencing it.

Amity and Emira walked over to Luz.

“Luz.” Amity called out.

Luz threw away her ice bat and turned around.

“Hey, guys.” Luz said awkwardly with her hands on her hips.

“Look who I found!” Luz said as she gestured to the Abomiton.

Amity’s hand met her forehead and she groaned.

“Ugh. It’s back already.” Amity groaned.

Amity then looked Luz in the eyes.

“You didn’t touch it, right? Dad filled this thing with alarms.” Amity asked.

Luz got nervous.

“Uh, of course not.” Luz said.

A roar was heard, Luz and Amity looked to see Warden Wrath on the stage with his mask off and shooting flames in the air and the crowd cheering. Luz took Amity’s hand and smiled at her.

“Come on, Amity. It’s showtime.” Luz said, both her and Amity gained determined looks.

Amity walked onstage and the announcer spoke.

“Now, we’re getting close to the end, folks! Will the Warden lose the Champion’s Belt?” The announcer, well, announced as Wrath blew a jet of flames into the air and the crowd wen wild.

Amity turned to see Luz was mocking Warden Wrath which made them both giggle. Amity then turned back to her opponent.

“The Mighty Mittens versus the Warden! Now, let the brawl-” The announcer said before the ground began rumbling and a giant mass of Abomination goo erupted from the stage.

“Stop!” A male voice announced.

The top of the mass came apart to reveal, Amity’s father, Alador Blight, a cold look on his face.

“This child forfeits the match.” Alador said sternly.

“Dad? How did you find us?” Amity asked.

Alador used a big pseudopod of Abomination goo to lower himself to the stage, staring at Amity with a disapproving glare.

“Not only did you ditch the coven tryouts, but someone set off your Abomiton’s alarm. I just followed its signal.” Alador said sternly as he walked towards Amity and pulled out the broken red alarm that Luz batted away earlier which he then tossed to her.

Amity caught the light and turned to Luz.

”Luz did you lie to me earlier?” Amity asks.

Luz hesitated to answer.

“I-I did I'm sorry, I just didn't want you to worry, I wanted you to achieve what you set out to do here and help you do it.” Luz answered.

“But there's something more Luz, I can tell something is bothering you, please tell me.” Amity says.

Luz started sweating.

“It's nothing really j-just nothing.” Luz responded.

Amity frowns at Luz's response but then Warden Wrath speaks.

“Hey! I’m tired of waiting around. I came here to fight!” Wrath said as he changed his arms into a mass of writhing tendrils, which he then used to propel himself into the air.

Alador turned around and drew a spell circle, Abomination goo emerged from a container secured to his back which formed into a massive hand that caught Wrath mid-air and slammed him into the ground, rendering him unconscious.

“Oh. Well, it looks like the Champion’s Belt goes to..” The announcer was gonna say before Alador cut him off.

“I already have one.” Alador said coldly.

Alador then walks to and stands in front of Amity.

“Mittens, go round up Edric ad Emira. We’re leaving.” Alador said sternly.

“But.” Amity said.

Alador walked closer and put his hand on Amity’s shoulder.

“And if we beg, maybe we can set you up for the next tryout.” Alador said.

Amity breaks away from Alador.

“No, I'm not going anywhere, with you. Either of you.” Amity said as she drew a spell circle and took an invisibility glyph from Luz’s jacket and disappeared, clearly upset with both Alador and with how Luz has been as of late.

“Amity, please wait!” Luz pleaded as she quickly takes off following the sounds of Amity moving through the low hanging branches and bushes of the forest.

Luz comes across Amity sitting at their Grom tree, her knees pulled up close to her chest, her eyes glistening with fresh tears. Luz awkwardly stands beside Amity trying to think of what to say finally she thinks, ah screw it.

“Uh, can I sit here?” Luz asked.

Amity meekly nodded, Luz sat down next to her girlfriend. Amity wiped the tears from her eyes and turned her head to look at Luz.

“Luz, what’s wrong? I’ve never seen you this driven to distract yourself, you went at Bria fully focused on beating her, completely unlike I’ve ever seen you fight before.” Amity asked.

Luz furrowed her eyebrows in contemplation.

“Then you lied to me about the Abomiton Luz! Please let me in, I want to help!” Amity yelled pleadingly.

Luz took in a deep calming breath, then let it out.

“Okay! Okay.” Luz relented.

Luz took another breath, she then looked at the horizon.

“So...” Luz trailed off as she took out her phone and showed Amity the notification, Amity took the phone and looked at it.

“Today is the anniversary of my dad’s death.” Luz said.

Amity flipped through the pictures attached to the notification, but none show Luz and her dad in the same photo, only Camila and Manny before Luz was born.

“We would pick flowers and bring them to his grave...” Luz continued before pausing.

“I wasn’t able to mourn with my mom today, th-that’s no excuse for my actions though!” Luz continued as she turned her head to look at Amity as tears started to well up in her eyes.

Amity had a look in her eyes that says how much she grasps at the amount of pain Luz must be in.

“Luz, why-why are you not in any of these pictures with your dad?” Amity asked, although she had a pretty good theory as to why, she really hoped she was wrong.

“W-well, the thing is that he died when I was still an infant. I was only six months old when he died Amity, and I never even knew him!” Luz cried out, the floodgates broke and she began crying.

“Oh Luz.” Amity said as she leaned over and embraced Luz as she cried.

“N--No-Normally it never hurts this much, but lately I’ve been having nightmares, about some futuristic city, caught in a war, and I keep seeing flashes of my dad there, and it worries me about what my mom’s been hiding from me.” Luz said as Amity continued to hold her tightly.

The two of them sat there until Luz calmed down. When Luz’s tears finally dried, she sighed and took a deep breath.

“I guess, I was also kinda jealous about what little of a relationship you have with your dad. And I guess, maybe I wanted to experience being closer to a father figure vicariously through you. I know it’s wrong, but, everything has just been so much, ya know?” Luz said as she held her knees closer to her chest.

Amity smiled softly at Luz as she looked her in the eyes.

“Yeah, I think I do. And I understand maybe a bit better than you think. I often find myself a bit jealous of your relationship with your mother, even if it wasn't always at it's best, it was always way more than what I've ever had with my mom.” Amity said softly as she brushed her hand against Luz’s cheek affectionately.

Luz blushed a little.

“Thanks, Amity.” Luz said.

Amity opened her mouth to continue talking but a commotion in the distance drew both her and Luz’s attention. They looked to see flames coming from the location of the brawl. Amity stood up and was about to start running in the direction of the Brawl, she turned her head to see Luz using the tree as a support to stand, only for her legs to wobble and give out under her. Luz looked up and chuckled sheepishly.

“Oops, looks like all this emotional exposition has given me a case of the old jelly legs, you go on, I’ll catch up.” Luz said.

Amity was about to run again but turned back to say one more thing to Luz.

“I don’t know what traditions you got in the Human Realm, but after this I’ll help you pick some flowers and we’ll think of something from there!” Amity said with a tone of conviction, and a blush on her face.

With that said Amity ran in the direction of the Brawl, leaving Luz sitting there gobsmacked, processing what Amity said, Luz smiled. Luz mustered her strength and got to her feet and ran after Amity. When Luz caught up she saw, Warden Wrath, but, heavily mutated and rampaging. Alador was trying to fight him and Eda was in her Harpy mode, King was on Edric shoulder and was standing with Amity and Emira. Luz heard a conversation that Eda and Edric were having.

“Well if the Fire Bee Honey caused the potion to mutate, maybe something cold would reverse it?” Edric offered.

“We don’t have time for a new potion.” Eda said.

Luz then got an idea and decided to speak up.

“You don’t.” Luz said as she walked towards them.

Luz looked over to Eda.

“Eda, can you give me a lift?” Luz asked.

Eda smirked.

“You got it, kiddo.” Eda said as she spread her wings and took flight.

Luz then walked over to Amity and gave her a soft smile.

“Thank you for listening.” Luz said as she held Amity’s hand.

“I can’t wait to pick flowers with you.” Luz continued.

Amity smiled back and they separated. Luz stepped back and held out some glyphs in front of her face like cards, her eyes half lidded, she raised a hand and Eda swooped by and grabbed Luz with the two of them taking to the air. Wrath crushed Alador’s Abomiton with his limb but then an Abomination that Amity made helped the Abomiton hold Wrath. Amity and her Dad’s Abominations then merged together into a giant Abomination and held Wrath down with long tendrils. Alador spared a second look at Amity with a small proud smile. Eda and Luz flew closer to Wrath and Luz threw the glyphs into the air for Eda to activate, the glyphs produced a massive amount of snow which fell onto Wrath. Eda and Luz landed next to the Blights and watched the snow pile tensely. Alador spared a glance at Eda.

“Edalyn.” Alador greeted.

“Alador.” Eda said back.

Alador looked back at Eda and began scratching his chin stubble and lowered his purple goggles onto his face.

“Were you always able to do that?” Alador asked, referring to Eda’s current harpy form.

Eda then turned back to normal while giving him a stern look.

“Don’t you have family stuff to clear up?” Eda asked.

Eda then glared at Alador.

“Also, I heard about the factory incident with Luz. I’ve got my eyes on you, Blight.” Eda said as she did the ‘I’ve got my eyes on you’ gesture and walked over to the snow pile.

Eda reached into the pile and pulled out Warden Wrath by the collar. 

“What’s going on at the castle? What’s really gonna happen on the Day of Unity? Have Raine’s memories been altered?” Eda demanded.

“I don’t know! I don’t know” Warden Wrath said.

“I actually got demoted for stealing my coworker’s lunches. I just wanted to feel in control again, you know?” Wrath said.

Eda growled and turned her other hand into her Harpy forms hand.

“Okay, okay, okay. I don’t know about Raine, but I have heard some things. The Day of Unity is supposedly going to unite us with the Titan, but some of us don’t think this “new world” will be be very inviting to magickind. Wild or not.” Wrath admitted.

Eda then shoved Wrath back into the snow pile and began thinking to herself. Later, Amity after clearing things up with her dad walked up to the Grom tree to find Luz picking flowers. Except they looked shriveled.

“Find any good ones?” Amity asked as she sat down next to her girlfriend.

Luz looked at the ones she had in her hand.

“No. Not really.” Luz admitted.

“Let me try.” Amity said as she attempted to draw a plant glyph in the dirt.

It didn’t turn out quite right and instead when she activated it, it produced a small thorny vine. Amity groaned at her failure.

“How do you get it to do what you want?” Amity asked Luz.

Luz smiled and began drawing a plant glyph herself.

“You gotta know what you need.” Luz answered as she kept drawing.

“I can’t believe I didn’t try this first. My head’s really on backwards today.” Luz said as she tapped the plant glyph.

The glyph glowed a bright green and it produced three pink flowers which Luz picked out of the ground. Luz then looked at Amity.

“Now what?” Luz asked.

Amity then created a balloon out of Abomination goo and offered it to Luz who then tied the flowers to it. Luz then let it go, and the balloon floated away, carrying the flowers.

“Do you think they’ll reach the Human Realm?” Amity asked.

“Probably doesn’t work that way, but it’s a nice thought, right?” Luz said.

The two lovers just sat there, watching as the flowers and the balloon drifted of into the beautiful starry night sky.

Meanwhile in the Human Realm…

Camila and Vee were in the TARDIS sitting together on a green couch which Camila added to the console room as well as a coatrack. Vee was in her Basilisk form and Camila was holding a photo album filled with pictures of her and her husband, along with several of the friends including the Doctor himself.

“Wait, who are all these people?” Vee asked as she gestured to all the photos.

Camila smiled fondly at the pictures.

“That’s me, my husband Manny, and the Doctor in some of our previous incarnations. Along with some of our other friends.” Camila said.

Vee raised an eyebrow and her left ear flicked.

“What do you mean by previous incarnations?” Vee asked.

“Well. We Time Lords have the ability to regenerate from death incurring circumstances such as poisoning, being shot in the heart or head, or anything else that can immediately cause our death. Before we fully die, as in clinical brain death occurs, we go through a process known as Regeneration, in which all our bodies cells are renewed, with the age of the cells resetting as well. Every Time Lord has a standard set of twelve regenerations, giving us each thirteen lives.” Camila explained.

Vee blinked for a second.

“Okay, that’s a lot to take in. But what do you all look like different people?” Vee asked as she looked in the album again.

“Well part of the regeneration process is a complete change of the physical appearance, as well as some personality traits as well. But our core personalities, memories and intellect always remain the same.” Camila explained.

She then pointed to a picture of a woman with Caucasian skin, emerald green eyes, and bright ginger hair. Another with a blonde woman with tan Caucasian skin and iced blue eyes.

“These were my two prior regenerations, the one with blonde hair was my first, and the ginger was my second.” Camila pointed out.

“Making, this you, regeneration number three?” Vee asked.

Camila nodded.

“Also we age rather slowly per each regeneration, with the average regeneration lasting between 500 and 1,000 years, making a long lived Time Lord anywhere between 6,000 to 12,000 years old.” Camila said.

Vee’s mouth was open so much it could practically touch the floor.

“Holy crap. You and Luz could actually live that long?!” Vee asked, amazed by what she learned.

Camila nodded.

“Yes we could.” Camila said as she looked at one particular photo.

In the photo Camila was her current incarnation, her stomach indicated she was at least three months pregnant. Her husband was next to her, so was the Doctor in his 8th incarnation. The Doctor’s granddaughter, Susan, was also there, and Romana. This was a photo of Luz’s baby shower. Camila smiled sadly as she brushed the photo with her thumb.

“If-if you don’t mind me asking. If your husband died on Gallifrey, how is his grave on Earth?” Vee asked.

Camila smiled softly at Vee.

“Simple, it isn’t. It’s nobody’s grave, it’s just a blank headstone I added a perception filter to. To Luz and my human self, it was my husbands gravestone. But to anyone else, it’s just some old grave from the 70’s that no one would even bother taking a glance at.” Camila answered.

Vee nodded slowly. Vee yawned and her eyes got heavy. She leaned against Camila and drifted to sleep. Camila smiled at the young Basilisk and brushed her hair comfortingly as she dozed off. Vee was like a second daughter to her at this point, part of the family, but still she missed Luz. But the Nurse had faith in her daughter, she’ll find her way back home eventually. Nothing can keep family separated, not for long.

To be Continued…

Chapter Text

Eda walked past her window, but then walked back to see Luz out on the lawn with King. Luz was currently scribbling in a notepad and drawing some glyph combos into the dirt as she tested them out. She had been working on finishing some unfinished glyph combos she had found in Philip Wittebane’s diary, as well as her own creations. A petrification glyph which she tested out on a doll. An audio mimicry glyph combo, and a magical restraint glyph combo. Luz was currently drawing another glyph combo.

“Okay, let’s see what this one does.” Luz said as she activated it.

The glyph glowed red and a fleshy arm emerged from it, the fingers having claws on the tips. Luz and King jumped back slightly startled, Luz quickly pulled out a barrier glyph and activated it, a light blue dome surrounded the fleshy arm before it could reach either of them. Luz bent down and examined the contained arm, it was violently scratching at the barrier, trying to get out. Luz rubbed her chin in thought and wrote and note in her notepad, this particular glyph combo would need some more looking into.

A shattering sound rang through the air. The arm broke through the barrier but before it could slash at Luz, Eda brought her staff downward and squashed the arm. Luz looked up at Eda with a smile.

“Thanks Eda. That was, not the right one.” Luz said as she scribbled down notes about possibly reinforcing the barrier spell.

Eda picked up the petrified doll which broke apart, Eda shivered, slightly creeped out.

“What are you doing out here?” Eda asked.

Luz looked up at her mentor and pointed at Philip’s diary.

“I started looking through Philip Wittebane’s diary again, since my trip with Lilith I’ve found that most of his margin doodles were actually unfinished glyph combos. I thought, maybe they could help with the portal door but…” Luz trailed off as she and the others looked to right.

The flesh arm was trying to grow again but Hooty came out of the ground and munched down on it.

“No luck.” Luz glumly said.

“Maybe it’s for the best, I don’t like it that you’re still thinking about that Witch Hunter.” Eda said.

Luz pulled her hoodie up and laid down on the ground.

“I know, I just miss my mom, and everything else that’s happened ever since I opened that watch.” Luz said, her voice muffled by the dirt.

King looked up and Eda and gestured to Luz. Eda bent down to Luz.

“Let’s take a break, huh?” Eda offered.

Luz didn’t move.

“Maybe I could tell you, a story?” Eda offered.

Luz shot up and looked Eda in the eyes.

“Like a backstory?” Luz asked.

Eda then went on to tell Luz and the others about the day she met Raine Whispers. Eventually Luz and King fell asleep and Eda brought them all back inside, and tucked them into bed.

The Next Day…

Luz and Amity were making their way to Hexside while riding on Boulders back, talking as they made their way to the school.

“Thanks again Luz for your research into how I might be able to perform Darius’s Abomination transformation technique, even if I can only manage to transform a couple fingers it will definitely secure a ton of extra credit while also impressing my dad.” Amity said to Luz.

Luz smiled at her girlfriend.

“No problem, I was doing quite a bit of Abomination research anyways, and Darius being one of the biggest innovators for Abomination magic, I needed to research his unique techniques sooner or later. I'm just glad I was able to help you out as well.” Luz said to Amity.

The couple soon arrived at Hexside with tons of their fellow students stunned by the sight of a living breathing Stonesleeper, and those that were a part of the Beast Keeping track even more surprised by Luz the human being the one in command of the mighty beast. Luz and Amity dismounted Boulder, they soon saw Willow and Gus approach them.

“Amity, Luz, hey!” Willow and Gus called out to their friends.

“Oh hey guys, what’s up?” Luz asked.

“Yeah, what’s going on Willow?” Amity also asked.

Gus and Willow looked at each other and then to the couple.

“We should be asking you guys that. What’s with this guy?!” Willow asked as she gestured to Boulder.

Luz looked up at Boulder and then to Willow and Gus.

“Oh yeah. Sorry, I forgot to fill you two in. The short answer is that I finally got a beast familiar for my Beast Keeping class. He’s a Stonesleeper, his name is Boulder and he’s a very good boy, aren’t you?” Luz said as she pet Boulder’s snout, Boulder then let out a soft grumble.

“So, you gonna tell us how you got an extinct species or what?” Gus asked.

“Well it’s a bit of a long story, so how about I fill you guys in at lunch?” Luz offered.

Gus rubbed his chin in thought.

“Well I guess I can wait, but I’ll be sure to write it all down for the school paper.” Gus said.

“Sounds like a plan Gus, but we should get to class, we have less than a minute until the bell screams.” Amity said.

Willow looked at her watch and nodded.

“Amity’s right, let’s get going Gus, see you two later at lunch guys!” Willow said as she and Gus ran off to their classes.

Amity turned to Luz.

“Catch you later Batata.” Amity said as she kissed Luz on the cheek and then went to class.

Luz then made her way to class, the blush from her cheeks slowly fading as she makes her way to the Beast keeping stable area to place Boulder. Luz entered the classroom and takes her seat next to her fellow multitrack student Viney. The teacher, Professor Tucker then entered the classroom. Professor Tucker was a relatively human looking Witch wearing a small pair of glasses with a buzz cut, missing right arm, slight stubble on his face with a scar across the left side of his lips and a bracer built for falconry on his left arm and was also holding his phoenix Palisman, Elbis, in staff form. Mr. Tucker addressed his class with a relative upbeat energy that contradicted his rather world weary appearance.

“Good morning class! How's everyone doing this fine morning!?” Mr. Tucker said.

Most students gave a simple reply of good or fine. 

“Well class, show of hands, how many of you managed to complete your homework assignment?” Mr. Tucker asked.

Most of the class raised their hands, including Luz.

“Very good, for those of you who didn't complete the assignment, you'll have a bit more to do on your next homework assignment.” Mr. Tucker said.

Some of the students groaned at the mention of extra work. Mr. Tucker cleared his throat.

“Anyway, let’s all make our way to the Beast Keeping stable for today’s assignment.” Mr. Tucker instructed.

The students all got up and followed their teacher outside to the stables. Mr. Tucker then turned around to look at his students.

“Alright class, so first thing's first, a quick overview of the homework assignment. Can one of you give a quick explanation on what the assignment was?” Mr. Tucker asked.

One of the students raised his hand, he was a humanoid witch with Caucasian skin, electric green eyes and brown hair.

“Ah yes, Ben.” Mr. Tucker said as he pointed at the student who raised his hand.

“The assignment was to either gain a beast keeping familiar or learn a new spell to help with non lethally holding off a aggravated beast.” Ben said.

Mr. Tucker nodded.

“Very good Ben, quick and concise, now on to where that homework comes into play with today's lesson which is to competently communicate and come to an understanding with a beast of one of your fellow classmates. Now who wants to bring out their familiar first?” Mr. Tucker asked.

Viney raised her hand.

“Sir, I’ll be happy to bring out Puddles.” Viney offered.

“Very well Viney, go ahead.” Mr. Tucker accepted.

After most had brought out their familiars, Luz being ever the showman, used a mist glyph to set the mood as she announced Boulder's entrance in a very theatrical way.

“From ages long since past, a creature long since thought extinct now makes its presence known.” Luz said forebodingly.

The ground rumbled as Boulder lumbered out of the mist, looking like he stepped through time. Mr. Tucker was slacked jawed at the sheer magnificence of the sight of the Stonesleeper, he'd only studied the bones of excavated skeletons, never seeing one in the flesh before.

“Oh miss Noceda, you keep on surprising me still, thank you for giving not just me, but all of us, the chance to see this in person.” Mr. Tucker said in awe as he looked at Boulder.

Most of the other students were as equally stunned as Mr. Tucker was, thankfully for Luz's surprise, none of the Beast Keeping track students that saw her and Amity enter Hexside on Boulder had the morning class. Mr. Tucker whistled loudly to refocus the attention of the class.

“Alright class, everyone spread out and start talking to these beasts.” Mr. Tucker instructed.

The students spread out, Viney came over to Boulder.

“Man, Luz sure is lucky huh big guy?” Viney asked Boulder.

Boulder tilted his head and proceeded to lick Viney's face then softly grumbling.

“Ha, I think I understood that, ha, you were glad Luz found you, right?” Viney asked Boulder.

Boulder seemed to nod and leaned forward to which Viney gave him a pat on his snout. He then seemed to smile. Luz smiled at the scene as she was petting Viney’s gryphon familiar, Puddles.

“Looks like he already likes you, nice work Viney.” Luz complimented her friend.

Viney smiled at Luz as she kept patting Boulder’s snout.

“Thanks Luz.” Viney said.

Viney then took a second to look at Mr. Tucker who was currently talking with another student, she then looked back to Luz with a smile.

“Ya know, in all my time here I've never seen Professor Tucker so utterly speechless about a student's familiar.” Viney said.

Luz smiled.

“Thanks Viney. But I think it will take a bit more time until me and Boulder are as connected as you and Puddles are.“ Luz said as she brushed Puddles’ feathers.

Viney gave Luz a soft smile.

“Thanks Luz, but I had the advantage of taking Puddles on as my familiar since he was only a hatchling, so he imprinted on me pretty quickly.” Viney said.

“Ha. Like with ducklings?” Luz giggled.

“Exactly!” Viney said enthusiastically.

The rest of the class passed rather quickly after the hype started to die down a bit then class was dismissed by the bell and Luz was off to potions. Potions was such a breeze for Luz at this point that she spent the majority of the class time tinkering with her prototype Titan’s Blood detection device which looked like a cross between Lilith's Time Pool detection device and a geiger counter, and a PKE meter from the Ghostbusters movies. Luz's reasoning was that Titan’s Blood, being as powerful as it is, must give off a type of radiation that should be able to be detected and thusly, tracked. Her current prototype was ready for testing she just needed to be sure it was properly attune to Titan’s Blood by seeing if it picks up anything from her remaining supply.

After Luz was finished with her potions class she made her way to the lunch room after swinging by the library to pick up a couple of books on Oracle magic, as Luz was curious about how far an Oracle magic user can see into the future. Luz made it into the lunch room and quickly honed in on her and her friend’s usual table and swiftly raced walked over to it after getting her food. As Luz approaches the lunch table with Gus's back to Luz as he talks with Willow and Amity, she catches a bit of what he's talking about.

“I’m telling you, I'm sure it was Bria I saw being toured around Hexside by principal Bump!“ Gus said.

“It's not that it's not possible Gus, it's just incredibly rare to have a Glandus student transfer to Hexside this late into the 2nd quarter of the school year, I mean Mattholemule did- Oh, hey Luz what took you so long?” Willow trailed off as she finally noticed Luz.

Luz sat down next to Amity.

“Oh well I wanted to get some research materials from the library to do a smidge of light reading before my next class while we catch up and eat.” Luz said as she set down her books on the table.

Gus turns his head and raises an eyebrow at the 3, 1 inch thick books Luz has all on Oracle magic.

“You sure you can read all of those before lunch is up?” Gus asks as Luz looks up from a book she had opened and was looking through.

“Not really, I'm only skimming through them to zero in on what I need.” Luz said as she flipped to the next page.

Amity cleared her throat. Luz set down her book and gave Amity her full attention.

“Hey Luz, Gus says he saw Bria around the school being given a tour by Bump, you haven't seen her have you?” Amity asked.

Gus and Willow then gave Luz their full attention.

“Well I think I did see her here and there, but it honestly didn't really surprise me given how when last I spoke with her she showed some interest in the possibility of transferring to Hexside.” Luz said.

Willow and Gus looked surprised when they heard that.

“Wait, really? When was this?” Willow asked.

“Oh yeah, it was after my match with her in the Bonesburogh Brawl, me and Amity went there a couple days back.” Luz answered.

“Wow, you gotta give us the full details.” Gus said.

“Sure, but didn't you want to know the story behind how I got Boulder, my Stonesleeper?” Luz asked.

Gus’s eyes widened in realization.

“Oh yeah, you're totally right Luz that one first, the public has a right to know!” Gus exclaimed as he made an illusion clone of himself that was dressed in a film noir detective hat and scribbling in a notepad.

Luz chuckled a bit at her friend’s antics.

“Right, so it all started when I hit a roadblock in my research to making a stable portal to the human realm, during Lilith's party in celebration for her new job....” Luz trailed of as she began recounting her adventure.

One recounting of a Time Traveling Adventure later…

“And that’s how I got Boulder.” Luz said as she finished telling her story.

Gus had his mouth hanging open. He and his illusion clone now were both furiously scribbling notes.

“Holt Titan, Luz! That’s amazing, I can’t wait to publish this in the paper!” Gus said as he kept writing.

Luz rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.

“Yeaaaah, about that Gus I'm gonna need you to make some of the more hyper specific details really vague, at least until Lilith publishes her findings, we don't need students recklessly looking through the woods in hopes of finding the Time Pools.” Luz said.
Willow nodded.

“Luz makes a good point there Gus.” Willow said.

“Anywho, you also wanted to know about the whole Bonesburogh Brawl story, right?” Luz asked.

Gus nodded.

“Oh yeah, thanks for the reminder, though I don't need all the details, just why you and Amity were there and how things went between you and Bria both during the match and afterwards.” Gus said as he picked up another notepad.

Luz smiled at her friend.

“No problem Gus.” Luz said as she began recounting the events of the Brawl.

One Epic Tale of Ass Kicking later…

Gus blinked.

“Huh, I didn't think Bria had it so bad after the whole debacle at the Looking Glass Ruins, man now I kinda feel bad for her.” Gus said.

Amity spoke up.

“Well, to be fair from what you told us about Bria her motives seemed to be genuine, she just was still to caught up in the dog eat dog mentality that is, how would you put it Luz?” Amity asked her girlfriend.

“Indoctrinated.” Luz answered.

Amity nodded.

“Right, thanks Batata. That’s how indoctrinated she and many other students are in Glandus's way of thinking thankfully it seems she making a change in no small part do to her losing her street cred in her former school.” Amity continued.

Before they could talk more the bell screamed and everyone went off to class with Luz on her way to her Oracle class. As Luz enters the Oracle classroom and takes her seat Professor Delfie addresses her students.

“Good afternoon class, today we will be refining our remote observation spells and attempt to improve your range of sight. Now partner up and remember to not lose your sense of self while you attune yourself with the spirit in your Oracle crystals, less your mind becomes fractured.” Ms. Delfie said to the class.

Luz of course paired up with Barcus and got right down to business. Ever since the watch incident Luz has found her capabilities within Oracle magic to be far better, as if she was one of those people who claim to be naturally gifted psychics. By the end of the lesson Luz and Barcus had managed to double their range with remote observation and was able to, with the spirit’s help, see all the way to Blight manor.

Before the class was dismissed Luz went up to Professor Delfie to ask some questions about Oracle magic.

“Excuse me Ms. Delfie but I was wondering what can you see when you try to view The Day of Unity?” Luz asked.

Luz was suspicious about this whole Day of Unity thing. Perhaps Oracle Magic could give some insight to Belos’s plans.

“Ah, well that's a bit complicated as you see whenever a Oracle attempts to see what events unfold during The Day of Unity, all anyone sees is blinding light.” Ms. Delfie answered.

Luz raised an eyebrow at that.

“Doesn't that seem strange to you Professor?” Luz asked.

Ms. Delfie shrugged.

“Under normal circumstances, yes it would, but Head Witch of the Oracle Coven, Orstead, has informed us all that it's nothing to worry about, and that the blinding light is simply the result of the energy displacement from everyone being taken all at once to paradise.” Ms. Delfie answered with a smile.

Luz's brows furrow in thought as she doesn't buy that excuse one bit, but nodded along with the professor's answer anyways. Not but a moment later the bell screamed dismissing class. Luz is now on her way to her second to last class of the day, History class, which Luz already intends to tune out for the most part as half of it is already doctored via Belos's influence, and the other half she'll remember with only half listening anyways. While on her way Gus or more specifically one of his clones caught up to her before she entered said classroom.

“Luz! Great news, I managed to get my old position back as the president of H.A.S! Isn't that great?!” Gus exclaimed.

Luz smiled.

“That's fantastic Gus, I'll stop by during the next H.A.S meeting when I get a chance.” Luz said.

“Thanks Luz well bye for now.” Gus's illusion then poofed away.

The teacher, Professor Salazar, was just as boring as usual so Luz worked on ideas for new glyph combos and theories as to why Oracles can't see the Day of unity. A passing thought struck Luz after she easily answered some of Professor Salazar's questions, he thought she wasn't paying attention. Kinda weird of a coincidence that a Boiling Isles Witch would have a Spanish-like last name? Then again Park, Porter and Demione were all either English or French-like names so maybe not.

After the bell screamed Luz was finally off to her last class of the day and one she both loved and hated. Loved cause it being Abomination class gave her more time with Amity, and hated because Professor Homunculus always had a tendency to be unreasonable with his demanding of top notch results, hopefully her new prototype glyph combo will get him to shut up for once. Luz took her usual seat next to Amity who turned and smiled at Luz with a small dusting of blush on her face.

“How were your other classes Luz?” Amity asked.

Luz smiled at Amity.

“Oh same old same old, especially history, ah what about you sweet potato?” Luz asked.

Amity was about to reply when Professor Homunculus entered and addressed the class.

“Good afternoon class, today's lesson will be a review of the 3 fundamental Abomination formulas which are, anyone?” Professor Homunculus asked, waiting for a student to answer.

Luz and Amity raised their hands.

“Ah, miss Noceda.” Professor Homunculus picked.

Amity lowered her hands and gave Luz a soft smile.

“The 3 fundamental formulas are Pulp, Batter and Bile.” Luz answered.

“That's correct, but can you tell me the specific benefits of each formula?” Professor Homunculus asked.

Luz cleared her throat.

“Certainly, the Pulp formula can be used to make a very resilient and sturdy Abomination that is the most durable of the 3 and can create more durable weapons and shields. The Bile formula is on the opposite end of the spectrum, in terms of durability it's the weakest in terms of durability and weapon and shield constructs but makes up for it in its flexibility, and being able to stretch it's limbs to be used as restraints, ropes, lassos and utilize its sticky properties to restrict enemy movements when commanded to cover its targets. Lastly the Batter formula is the middle mixture, with half the durability of Pulp and half the flexibility of Bile, usually the best mixture to use for general work assistance able to reform and mold itself in most ways the other two can.” Luz answered.

“Excellent work miss Noceda you’re right in every regard, a master Abomination Witch can shift any Abomination they summon to any one of these 3 to accommodate their specific situations, this is why it's so necessary to know these formulas perfectly. Now besides our review we will also be evaluating how well each one of you can summon an Abomination.” Professor Homunculus said.

After the review of the three basic formulas was done, one by one each student went up to the front of the classroom to present their skill in summoning Abominations most of the class gets a B with Amity and Jerbo getting A+ then it was finally Luz's chance to test out her new glyph combo. Even though Professor Homunculus said she could hold off until next time and simply make up for it via an extra credit assignment, Luz wanted to present something. Amity smiled at Luz.

“You got this Luz.” Amity said.

Luz smiled back at Amity.

“Thanks Amity.” Luz said.

Luz got up to the front of the classroom and using some chalk, quickly yet precisely drew the new glyph combo on the floor. Before activating it though Luz told something to the class.

“A fair word of warning, this won't look like a normal Abomination, I think this might be the precursor to what Abominations would look like.” Luz said.

“Yes! Yes now get on with it!” Professor Homunculus said impatiently.

Luz takes a calming breath and activated the glyph combo, the result was a arm made of fleshy clay with scattered veins came out of the glyph and reached out and rested on the floor, then a moment later another arm came out at the near opposite end of the glyph, then the arms seemed to pull the rest of the yet unformed Abomination head and torso from the still active glyph as if someone was pulling themselves up from within a manhole in the street. Soon the rest of the fleshy looking Abomination was pulled out from the glyph once fully materialized the flesh Abomination was observed to have claw tipped hands and feet with five fingers and five toes. It's face had purplish black eyes and a fanged maw slightly open as if it was actually breathing, it was also extremely gaunt and had a slight slump to it's posture.

“My word, I've never seen an Abomination like this before, very intriguing miss Noceda, but can you command it?” Professor Homunculus asked.

“Well let’s see.” Luz said.

Witch her hands still on the glyph combo Luz gave a command.

“Abomination, walk forward and kneel.” Luz ordered.

The fleshy Abomination did just as commanded and took a few lumbering steps then went into a kneeling position.

“Well done miss Noceda, fantastic job!” Professor Homunculus congratulated Luz.

“Thanks Professor Homunculus, but I'm still getting the hang of commanding this flesh Abomination, so far most of it's capabilities are untested.” Luz said.

Professor Homunculus rubbed his chin in thought.

“Hmmm quite right, how about some extra credit to whoever wants to test Luz's Abomination with their own, anyone, do I have any volunteers?” Professor Homunculus asked.

Jerbo raised his hand.

“Ah yes Jerbo, excellent 2 abnormal Abominations going head to head.” Professor Homunculus said.

Jerbo and his Abomination stand at the ready waiting for the professor's go ahead.

“Aaaand, go!” Professor Homunculus declared.

Luz quickly commanded her Abomination to destroy Jerbo's Abomination. Luz's Abomination rushed at Jerbo's Abomination with surprising speed and easily dodged its opponents attacks or vines coated in abomination matter, covering the vines give the vines far more grip than normally, but it didn't help against this Abomination. Whereas Luz's Abomination extended the length of its solid bone claws and started slicing Jerbo's Abomination to pieces with sheer savagery. By the time Jerbo's Abomination got a safe distance away from it, it was missing an arm and had severe damage to it's leg and chest, though before the slaughter could continue the bell screamed and cut the Abomination fight short. Luz after getting a confirmation nod from the Professor.

“Abomination, cower.” Luz ordered as she still had her hand on the glyph combo.

The flesh Abomination then melted and flowed back into the glyph combo that acted as it's summoning medium.

“A+ miss Noceda, excellent work.” Professor Homunculus congratulated Luz on her Abomination.

“Thanks again Professor Homunculus.” Luz said as she and Amity paired up and exited the classroom followed by the rest of the students.

The couple walked through the hallway, conversing with each other.

“Sorry again that I can't hangout today, but I really need to test my prototype Titan’s Blood detector.” Luz says as she pulls out her prototype to show Amity.

“Oh no worries, but that reminds me. My dad did get around to looking over your fob watch but unfortunately he wasn't able to find anything useful, though he did say that all of his equipment tested its materials and all of them are of unknown elements, even the one's from the periodic table you provided didn’t match.” Amity says as she passes Luz back her fob watch. 

Luz took the watch back and pocketed it.

“Ha, so still more questions than answers, darn, well no sense on worrying about it right now, thanks again.” Luz said to Amity.

“Don’t sweat it.” Amity replied.

The two of them then met up with Willow and Gus catching them chatting about possible flyer derby strategies to practice later.

“Sup guys, got any new plays to practice yet?” Luz asks.

Willow smirked.

“A few, swing by the field next day after school if you wanna see for yourself Luz.” Willow offered.

Luz smirked back.

“Sounds like a plan, but I'm afraid right now I gotta cut things short, me Eda and King got a few things to do before heading off to the night market to get my witches wool cloak repaired.” Luz replied.

“Ah that’s fine, we’ll catch you next time Luz.” Gus said.

“Bye guys.” Luz says as she waves to her friends, kisses Amity on the cheek, and runs off.

To be Continued…

Chapter Text

Luz groaned as she opened her eyes. Luz quickly sat up and looked around, she was currently in an ornate looking gallery. Luz got to her feet and looked around, the portraits on the wall, all of them had an easily recognizable figure in them. Emperor Belos. Luz looked at one particular portrait, it showed Eda in her Owl Beast form, along with Lilith, King, and herself, cowering away from Belos. The portrait had a label on the frame. It read: Triumph over Wild Magic. Luz backed away slowly.

“What is this place?” Luz asked herself.

A familiar male voice answered.

“You know exactly where we are, Human.” The voice said.

Luz quickly turned around to see, Hunter, aka the Golden Guard. The right hand man of Emperor Belos himself. Hunter was scowling at her.

“You got us trapped in the Emperor’s mind!” Hunter exclaimed.

Luz let out a gasp and she began looking around frantically.

“We’re in the Emperor’s mind?! That’s bananas!” Luz said.

Hunter crossed his arms.

“I don’t know what those are. And I don’t care to. Remember what happened at the Night Market?” Hunter asked.

Luz actually did. She was just playing him.

Hunter Flashback…

Hunter was at the Night Market. He was approached by this one demon who was apparently trading teeth. Which was illegal, not to mention unsanitary. Hunter caught sight of three individuals in brown robes. He followed them into the back alley where he found them performing a ritual.

“I heard whispers of an attempt to invade the Emperor’s mind with Wild Magic. I decided to take the villains out myself. But just as I was about to stop them…” Hunter narrated.

Hunter jumped from the shadows and took out his mechanical staff which he pointed at the three people in robes.

“Halt! For crimes against the Emperor, you are under arrest!” Hunter yelled at the cloaked individuals.

“Oh wait! I remember now!” Luz interrupted.

“Hey!” Hunter whined at getting interrupted.

Luz Flashback…

“Eda took me and King to the Night Market to get my Witch’s wool cape repaired, but we ran into some trouble…” Luz narrated.

Eda knocked on the shop door.

“Hello? Prim?” Eda called out.

No answer.

“Did you get into the night juice again? Hello?” Eda asked as she pushed her face against the door.

Luz was standing right next to her and was holding a bunny shaped walkie talkie. Static came on and King’s voice came over the speaker.

“Is this thing on? Demon King to Luzura, you copy?” King asked.

Luz turned around.

“Sure do.” Luz said.

King popped out of a basket of skulls and bones holding an identical bunny shaped walkie talkie which he pointed at.

“Use the walkie.” King insisted.

“Oh, right.” Luz said.

Luz nodded, turned around and spoke into the walkie talkie.

“Ten four Demon King, Luzura here with Echo Delta Alpha, what’s your twenty? Over.” Luz said.

King thought that was something in Spanish.

“Uh, hable más despacio por favor.” King said, which meant “Speak more slowly please.”

Luz gushed over King’s Spanish.

“Aw, you remembered your lesson. But that wasn’t Spanish buddy. I read you loud and clear. Over.” Luz said as she put the walkie talkie back into her jacket pocket.

“Hey, Prim!” Eda called out as she gave a hard knock to the door.

The door finally opened, Eda looked downward to see a short female Witch, who was the shop owner. Eda bent down to her level and brought out Luz’s damaged cape.

“Ah, there you are. I need more Witch’s wool. I got a kid with cold shoulders and a knack for getting into trouble.” Eda said.

“The shop is closed, Edalyn. I’ve decided to finally join a coven.” Prim said as she rolled up her sleeve to reveal an Oracle coven sigil.

Eda opened her mouth slightly. Luz stood next to her.

“Emperor Belos says Wild Witches celebrate destruction and pain.” Prim said.

“I mean, I know I can be abrasive, but…” Eda trailed off.

“He also says, that the Titan punishes those who aid Wild Witches. I can’t have you here.” Prim said as she closed the door.

Eda just watched, shocked. Luz was so fed up with all this crap that Belos spread, the guy is a manipulative spin doctor, who is using religion to back up his tyrannical rule.

“Well, what does he know?! Belos is a liar and a spin doctor. He just wants power! And I bet dollars to doughnuts that he can’t speak to the Titan!” Luz declared as she violently knocked on the door with both of her hands.

Several Witches and Demons heard this and gasped.

“Do you think she’s right?” One Witch asked someone.

“Don’t let the Titan hear, Belos says he can read minds.” A Demon said to the Witch.

“What even is a doughnut?” The Witch asked herself.

Luz heavily sighed, these people were so blinded by Belos’s lies. Eda turned to Luz and put a hand on her shoulder.

“Hey, I’ll be fine. You’re the one who needs to be careful.” Eda said.

“But people should know who Belos really is!” Luz exclaimed.

“And who is he, really?” Eda asked.

Luz looked from left to right and then got closer to Eda’s face and whispered.

“I told you, my investigation is still ongoing, and so far Belos's origins literally sprang up from out of the blue, and he seems to have been at this “I hear the Titan” crap for longer than anybody knows, we’re talking more than 39 years before the coven system at least, probably more!” Luz retorted quietly.

King walked up to Luz.

“Don't worry so much Luz, I know you got this, if anyone is gonna get what they need to expose Belos, it’s you, heck you invented time magic!” King said.

Eda smiled at Luz.

“King's right Luz, but let's focus on the task at hand, come on there's got to be a few decent criminals left in this town.” Eda said as she pulled her staff out of her hair and walked off.

People started muttering about Eda and her being a Wild Witch. Luz scowled at this.

“I hate seeing people look at Eda that way. But how can prove Belos is really evil when my investigation into Belos's past has hit dead ends no matter where I look!“ Luz said clearly frustrated.

“No one wants to think they’ve wasted their life following the wrong person. You just gotta find something big to change their minds.” King said as he then walked off to follow Eda.

Luz thought to herself about what King said. About finding something big to change people’s minds. Luz then spotted someone running. Hunter. Luz smirked and rolled up her sleeve.

“Perfect timing.” Luz said as she followed after Hunter.

She stuck to the shadows, never letting Hunter out of her sight. Hunter stopped to hide behind a crate. Luz spotted three people in brown hooded robes standing in a glowing yellow magical circle array with a flask in the center circle. Luz’s eyes widened, she recognized the spell they were casting. These people were attempting to enter someone’s mindscape. And from the proportions of the cloaked figures, and the fact that she could she glasses under one of them, and another currently had their hand turned into a hammer made of Abomination goo. Luz determined that these people were none other than three of the coven heads. Darius, Ebberwolf, and Raine. Luz had familiarized all their public information, in case she ever came across one of the coven heads face to face again like with Tera.

Hunter jumped out from behind his crate and pointed his mechanical staff at the three cloaked figures.

“Halt! For crimes against the Emperor, you are all under arrest!” Hunter proclaimed.

Luz acted quickly and jumped at Hunter, knocking him to the floor and making him drop his mechanical staff. Hunter was rubbing his head in pain.

“Hunter!” Luz said.

Luz then pulled out a pen.

“Mind if I ask you a few questions?” Luz asked.

Hunter quickly sat up and looked at Luz.

“Human?!” Hunter demanded.

Raine used their flute to produce a cloud of mist so they and the other two members could escape. Hunter stood up and looked around.

“Stop! I forbid you to flee!” Hunter yelled but it was too late, they were gone.

Hunter removed his mask and glared at Luz while summoning his secret Palisman, Flapjack.

“Human! Do you have any idea what you just did?!” Hunter demanded as he took a step forward.

There was a shattering noise, Luz and Hunter both looked down with wide eyes as they saw that Hunter had stepped on the flask which held a golden glowing potion.

“Uh oh.” They both said as they were consumed by a bright golden light.

Flashback End…

Hunter was now laughing hysterically.

“You wanna prove that my Uncle is evil, and you thought I’d help?” Hunter said as he continued to laugh.

Luz just watched him with a blank expression.

“Well, now that I’m in his mind I can find out for myself.” Luz said.

Luz looked around for a second. Something about Belos’s mindscape was, off.

“Weird though, I’ve been in Willow’s mind once and it had more, uh, trees.” Luz said.

Hunter shrugged.

“Eh, makes sense, mindscapes reflect the individual. I’ve read a lot about this subject.” Hunter said.

“So did I.” Luz said.

Hunter gasped as he spotted a memory.

“Look at this memory!” Hunter said as he walked towards it and Luz followed behind.

The memory showed Belos escorting panicking civilians away from a burning town.

“You know, unfettered Wild Magic wiped out our family. Everyone knew too much and got themselves hurt. That’s why Belos took in the survivors, and dedicated his life to making the Coven System! It’s why he’s so well liked!” Hunter said as he walked towards another memory that showed Belos being adored by a crowd of Witches.

“Our sigils protect us from ourselves, and make the Titan happy.” Hunter continued.

He gasped as he spotted another memory. He ran to it with a smile on his face. The memory showed him, kneeling before Belos with the Coven heads in the background.

“This is when I inherited my staff!” Hunter said with a mix of joy, pride and nostalgia.

“You know, I’m the youngest scout to become Golden Guard. I, never found out what happened to the previous one.” Hunter said as he scratched his cheek.

That last bit raised some red flags for Luz.

“Huh, why does Darius look so sad here?” Hunter asked himself as he examined the memory.

Luz’s attention was grabbed by a sound. It was the sound of a child crying. Luz walked around a corner and saw, a little boy wearing a white shirt, brown tattered overalls, wild messy brown hair, but, with a little wooden sword, and his face was hidden behind a wooden mask, that was unmistakable. He radiated a purple aura. The boy caught sight of Luz and stood up startled. Luz was equally startled, if this was Belos, he would have control of everything in here.

“Belos?” Both Luz and Hunter asked.

Luz turned around to see Hunter looking down a dark hallway, and from the darkness emerged a shadow figure in the shape of adult Emperor Belos that walked towards Hunter. Hunter knelt before the figure.

“Emperor, you’re here, we beg for your assistance to return to the physical world. So I may capture your enemies. And so she can ruin someone else’s day.” Hunter said.

The figure made no reply and stood still. The little Belos peeked out from behind the shadowy Belos and began waving his arms and shaking his head frantically while making upset noises. Luz sees that something is up with the Belos looking figure as it starts to shift and contort with dozens of eyes glowing an eerie blue and it started to make very animalistic noises. Luz dashes forward, not wanting to take any chances she pulls Hunter back and threw down a barrier glyph, then used a blue fire glyph but the force was stronger than she anticipated at this close distance and the force pushed her, Hunter and the quickly shrinking barrier to the far wall and instead of a hard impact or at least the one both her and Hunter expected they broke through the wall as if it was made of paper.

The two of them found themselves free falling, Luz pulled Hunter close and she used a safety hover glyph. Before they made impact with the ground they were bathed in a blue aura and hovered for a few seconds before dropping. They got up off the ground and observed their surroundings, they were in a forest, the trees lacked leaves and there was snow on the ground. Several trees had portraits attached to them. Luz looked up and saw a hole in sky, where they fell from, the hole sealed itself up.

“Where are we now?” Hunter asked.

“We must be in the Emperor’s real mind.” Luz said.

Hunter raised an eyebrow.

“What do you mean, the Emperor’s real mind? That gallery-.” Hunter was saying but Luz cut him off.

“Was made of all the lies he tells. Belos is not who you think he is.” Luz insisted.

Hunter noticed something on the floor, he bent down and picked it up. It was a bird Palisman, a dead one, it’s color was dimmed, and it had a giant crack on it. Second later it disintegrated into dust. Hunter’s hand shook uneasily for a second before he stood up.

“We’re probably being punished because you provoked his inner self.” Hunter reasoned.

“Well his inner self had a thousand glowing eyeballs!” Luz exclaimed.

“Oh no, eyeballs. You’re so easy to scare.” Hunter mocked before turnning away.

“Boo!” Eda’s voice spoke from the walkie talkie.

Hunter got startled by this and adopted a defensive stance. He quickly dropped his stance and turned back around. Luz took the walkie out of her pocket.

“Luz, where are you?” Eda asked.

“Wait, hey blonde your friend wants to talk to you.” Eda said.

Hunter had a confused expression. Flapjacks chirping was heard over the walkie. Hunter took the walkie from Luz’s hand.

“Flapjack! Are you okay?! Have they hurt you?” Hunter asked as if it were a hostage situation.

“Give me that.” Luz demanded as she took back the walkie talkie.

“So Eda, we may kinda sorta be trapped in. The Emperor’s mind.” Luz said.

Eda gasped.

“How in the world did. Never mind, has the Inner Belos spotted you yet?” Eda asked.

“Yes, but we managed to get away. Can there be two inner selves?” Luz asked.

“No, but I have heard of strong emotions materializing. Alright, just stay safe, if you’re devoured in his mindscape-.” Eda was about to continue before Hunter spoke up.

“We’ll be trapped. Dragged down into his subconscious forever.” Hunter said.

Luz looked at him.

“I told you I read about this stuff.” Hunter said.

Luz was slightly freaked out by that.

“Well we’re gonna get you out, we’ll make a return spell as fast as we can.” King said.

Luz smiled at that.

“Just don’t loose the walkie talkie, it’s our only connection to you.” Eda instructed.

“You got it Owl Lady, over and out.” Luz said but then Hunter took the walkie talkie.

“I’ll be home soon Flapjack, stay safe.” Hunter said.

Flapjack chirped.

“I love you, over and out.” Hunter whispered.

“Aw.” Eda and King said at the same time.

Hunter passed the walkie talkie back to a smirking Luz. Luz began looking around the memory trees, she took out her phone and started taking pictures.

“Hey! What are you doing?” Hunter demanded.

“Taking pictures of the memories.” Luz answered.

“Well stop it! That’s an invasion of privacy!” Hunter exclaimed.

Luz rolled her eyes at that.

“Hey, if the mighty Emperor Belos, he who really speaks for the Titan, is so good, then he should have nothing that needs to be hidden, right?” Luz reasoned.

Hunter thought about that for a second, then heavily sighed.

“Fine, I may not personally like it, but I can’t argue with that logic. Come on, let’s put some distance between that thing and us.” Hunter said as he walked off.

Luz nodded and she followed him as she kept recording. They walked for a bit until they heard a rustling noise. Luz and Hunter turned around to see, the young Belos.

”Oh, hey little guy. Thanks for helping us out back there. You mind showing us to some place to hide?” Luz asked.

Kid Belos nodded and he ran off at a slow pace so that Luz and Hunter could keep up.

“Do you really trust him?” Hunter asked.

Luz didn't really trust him, but playing along will hopefully give her ample opportunity to get intel from Belos's real memories.

“If he’s really part of the Emperors mind, then shouldn't we follow him?” Luz reasoned.

Once again Hunter couldn't immediately find a reason to argue with Luz's logic so he agreed.

“Fine, lead the way kid.” Hunter said as they followed Kid Belos.

The creature’s roar filled the air and they picked up the pace. They came to memory tree and the kid jumped in, Luz was about to do the same but Hunter grabbed her arm.

“Wait, you’re just gonna invade his memories? That’s sacrilege!” Hunter said.

Luz pulled Hunter’s arm.

“It’s a way to survive!” Luz said as she pulled Hunter into the memory portrait and threw a barrier glyph on the floor so that the creature would have a tougher time getting in.

Luz and Hunter found themselves in what appeared to be Deadwardian Bonesburough. They followed Kid Belos and they came across a crowd in front of a stage.

“He says he can talk to the Titan.” A male citizen said.

“The Titan’s dead, how is that possible?” A female citizen asked.

Belos walked onto the stage, his outfit much different from the one Luz was familiar with, and his staff was different too. Luz took out her phone and began recording with a skeptical look on her face.

“Fellow citizens, we are born into chaos. Our lives, anger the Titan. My own family has been hurt by the darkness of Wild Magic.” Belos said as he created black smoke with his staff. Luz rolled her eyes at that.

He then twirled his staff.

“I have been shown the healing light, and it shines in nine bright hues!” Belos said as he made several colored beams of light. The colors of the main nine covens.

Hunter gained a smirk and elbowed Luz’s side.

“See? He’s always been helping people.” Hunter said smugly.

An explosion rang out, people screamed in fear.

“The Wild Witches! They have found me, run!” Belos yelled as he ran offstage and everyone else scattered.

Luz and Hunter went behind the stage as well. Luz’s phone was still recording.

“You incompetent fool! You nearly took my head off with that blast!” Belos said to a Golden Guard.

Hunter’s eyes widened at the sight of another Golden Guard.

“I’m sorry, Lord Belos.” The Golden Guard apologized.

Luz squinted her eyes, that Golden Guard sounded, just like Hunter.

“I’m off to the next town.” Belos said as he opened a door.

“What do I do with the rest of these?” The Golden Guard asked as he pulled back a tarp to reveal a pile of explosives.

Belos turned around to look at his lackey.

“Put on a bigger show.” Belos said as he walked through the door.

Luz’s and Hunter’s eyes widened as the Golden Guard got a match and lit a fuse of one of the explosives before walking off with Belos. Kid Belos then picked up a bag of, something and ran past Luz and Hunter. Luz stopped recording and she and Hunter followed the kid out of the memory. 

“Belos was lying! Wild Witches weren’t attacking him! How could you help someone like that?!” Luz demanded.

“That was probably a special technique to get people to listen to his message. It’s-it’s for the greater good.” Hunter reasoned, but there was a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

Luz walked off and began studying the memory portraits, trying to read their story without diving in, she suddenly heard some animalistic noises in the distance and they seemed to be getting closer. Luz then saw that Hunter was being lead into another memory by Kid Belos.

“Luz, come on, best not to take the risk and let that thing catch up to us!” Hunter said.

Luz nodded.

“Right, on my way go on through I'll be right behind you!” Luz replied.

Hunter nodded and finished going into the portrait. As Luz was running to the memory out of the corner of her eyes she caught view of a couple of memories that that stuck out more then the other's at least thus far. Luz quickly refocused herself on her task at hand and quickly dived head first into the memory.

As Luz regained her bearings and caught her breath she glanced up seeing Hunter's extended hand in offer to help her up one Luz easily accepted. Once on her feet Luz asked.

“So where and when are we this time? Also follow up question how old is Belos?” Luz asked.

At Hunter's questioning look Luz decided to clarify her inquiry.

“I ask cause a little over a couple of weeks back me and Lilith managed to time travel back to the Deadwardian era via some Time Pools we found and the people and surroundings of the last memory we were in matched up way to close to my own experience in 1600's Bonesburogh. So,  Hunter, I ask again. How. Old. Is. The. Emperor?” Luz clarified.

Hunter realizes that Luz isn't messing with him he's heard of Time Pools before but to actually find some and travel back to the Deadwardian era just seems impossible. Then again he's witnessed a lot of previously thought to be impossible things from Luz. That and he knew from his snooping around in Lilith's office before Flora cleaned it out that she had a way to find Time Pools.

“The Emperor is in his mid 70's and while I don't doubt your claim of time travel I don't believe my uncle to be century's old like your implying this probably just looks like the Deadwardian era due to.....the Emperors love of history and his knowledge getting crossed with his memories here and there yeah! That's it.” Hunter said, unease in his voice. Kid Belos walked over to a Witch with purple skin and horn and took a rope that was hanging off her shoulder.

Luz gave Hunter a concerned look before sighing and pulling out her phone to start recording again. They appeared to be at the Knee, and Belos along with the Golden Guard were facing nine other individuals, the burning remains of Bonesburough in the distance.

“Look at what Wild Magic has done to your city! Now imagine what it’s doing to you. A city can rise from the ashes, but a soul.” Belos said as he shook his head after that last part.

The nine individuals began conversing with themselves.

“I can make your magic pure again, as the Titan intended!” Belos declared as the Golden Guard walked forward while putting on a glove with a gold tipped index finger.

The nine individuals presented their wrists and the Golden Guard touched each of their wrists. A coven sigil, one of the main nine, appeared on each of their wrists. Belos raised his staff and the nine individuals raised their sigil arms.

“Welcome, to your new Covens.” Belos said.

Then, colored lines started spreading off from the sigils and worked their way around each person’s body like veins and their eyes illuminated. They all dropped to the ground. The Golden Guard checked one Witch’s pulse, she still had one. He turned to Belos.

“They’re still alive.” He said.

Belos walked forward.

“Then there’s still work to be done. Gather the Palisman.” Belos ordered.

The Golden Guard did just that and Belos ripped one from it staff and he and his subordinate walked off. Luz stopped her recording and knelt down in front of a girl with purple skin and horns, Luz placed her hand on the girls shoulder, a sympathetic look on her face.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Luz whispered.

Luz stood back up and turned to see Hunter still looking down at the recently branded in deep contemplation.

“Let’s go.” Luz said.

Luz and Hunter left the memory, Hunter going first.

“You can’t deny it now. Belos is trying to hurt people. In fact I'm thinking that, Belos, isn't even his real name. Though I'm still gathering my proof for that. .” Luz said.

Hunter, hearing this shook his head.

“He was just, perfecting sigil magic. And besides, maybe he’s remembering things wrong? Who knows how mindscapes work?!” Hunter said, frustrated.

“I thought you did?” Luz asked.

“Then maybe I’m an idiot! You, get back here!” Hunter yelled as he started chasing after Kid Belos in hope of answers.

Luz prepared to run after the both of them but then out of the corner of her eye she saw the portraits that drew her attention earlier, she took her phone out and snapped some pictures of the memories before proceeding to chase after Hunter and Kid Belos. As she was running Luz quickly started connecting to dots on the story behind the memory portraits she saw. Philip Wittebane was facing towards another man, who fit the historical descriptions of Caleb Wittebane, Philip's older brother. Caleb appeared to be introducing a female Witch with reddish brown hair, who had a strong resemblance to Eda ironically, and Philip had a jagged dagger hidden behind his back at the ready. The other portrait showed Phillip glaring angrily at Caleb and his Witch friend, who he was following from behind, the two of them walking hand and hand, and it also appears that based on her appearance that the witch was pregnant meaning she and Caleb were quite possibly more then just friends.

All this knowledge, mixed with what Luz knew both from 1st hand experiences with Philip and from the history books, it wasn’t hard to come to the conclusion that Philip most likely thought his brother was betraying their ideals. Luz snapped out of her head just in time to avoid smacking herself head first into a the tree that held the memory that kid Belos lead them to. This tree, was different from the rest in the mindscape. It was light blue in color, and had sun and moon elements on it.

“Luz, come on!” Hunter called out.

Luz looked up to see Hunter, hand out stretched to help her up and into the memory portrait. Luz grabbed Hunter's hand and is quickly pulled into the memory right before the creature could catch up to them. Luz looked around and gasped when she saw, the portal.

“He’s got the portal?! Did you know about this?!” Luz asked Hunter.

“Of course, I helped rebuild it.” Hunter answered.

“I can hear you.” Belos said, causing both Luz and Hunter to tense up.

Belos walked towards the portal. A childish giggling filled the air as a shadowy entity appeared on the walls.

“You caught me, to you who stray so far from home. To me who’s trapped beneath these bones. We’ll play forever me and you, when you paint the land in nine bright hues!” The entity rhymed before cackling.

Belos was unfazed by the entity.

“What can I do for you, Collector?” Belos asked.

Luz’s eyes widened, that’s the Collector?

“I’m bored, is the draining spell ready yet? I wanna play and see everything go all.” The Collector said as he screamed and displayed a rather disturbing scene through shadow puppetry.

“You’ll have your fun, on the Day of Unity.” Belos said as he walked away from the portal.

“Betrayed beguiled. Alone deceived. We’ll have our revenge on… Ugh, “Unity” is so hard to rhyme.” The Collector said.

As Luz watched the Collector’s rhyme unfold, along with a rather helpful illustration via shadow puppet show, she connected the dots on what the Day of Unity really is, a draining spell meant to kill everyone branded with a coven sigil. A second Hunter ran through Hunter like a ghost, Hunter freaked out for a second before calming down. The Collector had disappeared out of sight when this happened.

“I know you didn’t want me going to Eclipse Lake, but if I didn’t, I would have been able to bring you this.” Memory Hunter said as he held up the damaged portal key which Belos swiped from his hand.

“Some, of the Titan Blood did spill but, if you’d just let me explain.” Memory Hunter said before Belos cut him off.

“Leave. Now.” Belos angrily said.

Memory Hunter bowed and left the room. The Collector came back into view.

“Ooh, you were mad. I thought you gonna go all…” The Collector trailed off as she changed form to what looked like a skeletal version of Belos’s mask on a body of writhing tendrils, while making a mock spooky noise.

“On that kid.” The Collector finished.

“Not as long as he stays on the right path. I say “The Titan has big plans for you”, and he does what he’s told. Unlike the previous attempts.” Belos said.

“I’m starting to think you make those things just to destroy them. You have fun with it, admit it!” The Collector said with a chuckle.

“Of course I don’t, Collector. It hurts every time he chooses to betray me.” Belos retorted.

Finally Luz saw something that felt like one of the last missing puzzle pieces to this mystery, an open book on a page depicting the formula for making Grimwalkers. Luz turned back to look at Hunter just in time to see him starting to leave and quickly caught up. As Luz was climbing out of the memory, she had already known that given Hunter's uncanny resemblance to Caleb Wittebane, even if Caleb had descendants and Hunter happened to be one, the odds of him being an exact one to one match with Caleb, minus the eye color and ears, was astronomical. But factoring in that Grimwalkers are clones, and it all makes sense, and only helps confirm Luz's suspicions about Belos's true identity. But right now Hunter needed her.

Luz exited the memory and saw Hunter standing by a tree. She walked up to him.

“Hunter, I know this is a lot to take in and process, but the Owl House is a safe place, I'm positive Eda won't mind if...you.....stay…” Luz trailed off as her attention is drawn to where Hunter's attention is on which is a section of memories, all depicting various Golden Guards, various Grimwalkers dying and being killed by Belos himself. At least 26 individual memories of Belos killing a different Golden Guard, with a Golden Guard mask at the foot of each memory tree. Luz looks over and sees Hunter start to have erratic breathing as the truth hits him harder.

Then all of a sudden Luz and Hunter hear something being broken and come back to the clearing and see kid Belos burning Golden guard masks as fuel for a fire inside of what appeared to be a snare trap with potion bottles connected. Hunter's training kicks in and he quickly moves the kid away and puts out the fire.

“What do you think he was doing Hunter?” Luz asked.

“I don’t know, but I don’t have a good feeling about it.” Hunter answered.

All of a sudden the creature appears and shrieks at Luz and Hunter. Several small animal faces sprouted from the creatures body and spoke.

“Get away from him. Danger. Danger. Run!” The souls cried out.

Luz’s eyes widened in horror as she realized what this creature was.

“Are those. Palismen?” Luz asked in shock.

The realization struck both Hunter and Luz.

“We weren’t running from the inner Belos. He was with us, the whole time.” Hunter said as he and Luz heard kid Belos sobbing.

But that sobbing soon turned to maniacal laughter. Kid Belos turned around and raised his sword which he brought down on the rope causing it to progressively be covered by a red aura, almost like a burning fuse. Luz and Hunter turned around to see the potion bottles get launched and hit the amalgamation of Palisman souls, it roared out in pain as it kept getting bombarded. The rope came to life and wrapped tightly around it and the creature fell to the ground. There was a bit of red flame on it that seemed to be burning it away, it roared out in rage as Kid Belos approached. Luz and Hunter turned around to see Kid Belos transform into Adult Belos, now glowing a menacing red aura. He looked upward and smiled menacingly at the two.

“Hello, Hunter. Hello, Luz.” Belos greeted.

Belos walked toward the tied up creature which was violently thrashing around.

“I was finally able to catch it. This thing has been a thorn in my side for years. All these weepy Palisman souls, their voices constantly nagging me. Vile.” Belos said venomously as he ripped one of the souls from the amalgamation as the rest of it fully disintegrated.

“But without them I wouldn’t be able to do this,” Belos said as Hunter and Luz watch in horror as the arm holding the souls mutated into a writhing mass of dark green sludge which absorbed the soul before returning back to its original form.

Belos turned around and smiled as he walked up to Hunter.

“I’m feeling better already. Thank you for distracting it.” Belos said.

“What did you do to the other guards? To our family? It wasn’t Wild Magic, was it?” Hunter asked, fear in his voice.

Belos flicked a strand of Hunter’s hair.

“What a shame, out of all the Grimwalkers you looked the most like him.” Belos said with a fake smile.

“What?” Hunter asked.

The ground began rumbling and Hunter began sinking into the ground. Luz rushed over quickly taking off her coat to use it as a rope for Hunter to grab on and slow his descent. But Hunter just kept sinking deeper.

“Hunter! Just hold on I got you! I got you! You're gonna be okay! You're gonna be okay!” Luz said frantically.

Luz quickly used a plant glyph to grapple a hold of a nearby tree and slow her from sliding more but it was of little help as soon her grip gave out and she collapsed to the ground after Hunter went down with her coat in hand, some glyphs and the walkie talkie remained though. Luz was on her knees, tears threatening to pour from her eyes. Belos walked past her.

“I was really expecting him to last longer than the others.” Belos said.

Luz turned around and glared at Belos. She suppressed her tears.

“I’m gonna tell everyone the truth about the Day of Unity! That you’ve been lying about the Titan for years!” Luz said with tears pouring from her eyes.

Belos looked to the side for a second.

“Yes this has gone on longer than I would’ve liked but, no one ever said being a Witch Hunter was easy.” Belos said with a smirk as he looked back at Luz.

Luz's mind was going at a million miles a minute. Belos had just confirmed her suspicions, he is Philip Wittebane the Witch Hunter. Luz knew she couldn't give away that this wasn't as huge a shock as Belos clearly thought it was, so she pretended like this was new to her, maybe she can get some additional information from him if she plays her cards right and keeps him talking, plus she needs to stall for time until Eda is ready to bring her back.

“Witch. Hunter? You mean that all this time, people have been mindlessly following, a Witch Hunter?! How could they be tricked so easily?” Luz asked. She knew how, she saw a sample of his early work.

Belos smirked.

“I wouldn’t be so judgmental, if I were you.” Belos said as he made a hand gesture and pulled forth a picture frame from the ground that he started to play some of his memories, specifically ones of him as Philip Wittebane when Luz helped him out in the Deadwardian era. Luz definitely knew right then and there that Belos was just toying with her, literary playing mind games, but two can play at that.

“No no no, you’re Belos! You’re just Belos!” Luz said in fake despairs turned around from watching the memories that ran on a loop tears threatened to spill down her cheeks, these tears were for Hunter. Luz could see the shadow of a smirk on Belos's face.

“Please, do me a kindness. And call me by my real name.” Belos asked smugly.

“I…can’t.” Luz said as she hung her head low, keeping up her act.

Belos’s memory displayed all the times in the past Luz said his real name, Philip Wittebane. Luz looked up to see Belos approaching her with a smug look on his face. Luz scooted backwards away from him. Eda’s voice came from the walkie.

“Luz? Luz are you there? We’re ready with the return spell. Luz?” Eda called out.

“It does feel good to hear another human say that name. I had to change it when Philip was run out of too many towns.” Belos said.

That was it, Luz’s in to return fire. Luz looked up at Belos and smirked.

“So, Philip, seems like you weren't as smart as you thought hmmm?” Luz said smugly.

Belos looks back at Luz still a shadow of a smirk on his face.

“Oh? And pray tell, where do you see my short comings?” Belos asked.

“Well, let’s see here.” Luz said as she took a more relaxed posture on the ground, conveying some confidence while also hiding the fact that she had managed to retrieve a glyph, specifically the Time Alter glyph, just in case.

“Let's start with the fact that you didn't have the foresight to not torch your reputation as Philip Wittebane by backstabbing, probably literally in a few cases, most if not all of those that helped you. Especially if you were going to just pull off your draining spell in the end anyway, at least then you wouldn't have needed to mutilate yourself.” Luz said as she gestured to his ears

Belos's face falls into the smallest of frowns. But he got an idea.

“Oh? And what about the helping hand you gave me, Luz, hmmm? You gave me the light glyph, one of the core glyphs that unlocked so many more possibilities for me.” Belos said as he smirked a bit, thinking that he reclaimed the upper hand in the conversation.

Luz smirked back.

“Oh, you mean the same glyph that you can see in the night sky every night? Thinking back on it, it's kinda funny how such an easy glyph slipped through your line of sight, literally! But I'm more curious about what's a Grimwalker?” Luz retorted with a question of her own as she stood up.

Belos turned his head enough so Luz wouldn't see the frustration apparent on his face as he grinded his teeth in anger at himself for not being able to see a glyph that was practically right in front of his face every single day. Though the inquiry about Grimwalkers gave him a good chance to shift the conversation in his favor again.

“Oh that, well Hunter is, a better version of an old friend.” Belos said.

“Don’t you mean your brother, Caleb Wittebane?” Luz asked with crossed arms.

Belos's face became a frown of frustration at the mention of not only his brother, but the connection Luz made that Hunter is a Grimwalker of Caleb. 

“You’ve been making Grimwalkers of him almost from the moment you killed him, haven’t you.” Luz said with a scowl.

Belos scowled right back at her. Luz knew she had struck a nerve. Eda began a countdown.

“Honestly the fact that your coven is so massively incompetent shows a bit too much that you're not cut out to be anything like a general.” Luz said with a smirk.

Belos’s left eye twitched a little. That struck a nerve with him, just a bit more than the Caleb comment, more so then he thought it would actually.

“Well what difference does it make? In the end it was all just a means to an end, more specifically an end to these vile Witches. I'll do anything to save Humanity from evil.” Belos said.

Luz couldn’t hold herself back anymore.

“You’re the one who’s evil!” Luz yelled.

Belos rolled his eyes and shrugged.

“Can’t reason with crazy.” Belos said to himself.

Belos quickly turned his hand into a pendulum axe and extended it out in Luz's direction with incredible speed. If Luz's reflexes weren't as fast as they were she might've activated her Time Alter glyph to dodge and run from Belos, but Luz noticed something in the corner of her eyes and saw it was Hunter brandishing a couple of her glyphs. He activated them, making a wall of ice spikes and plant vines dense enough to block Belos's attack but he activated them so fast he was carried up to the top of the wall he made.

“Luz!” Hunter called out.

Luz looks up and smiles at seeing him, he quickly jumps down into a roll and gives Luz her coat back. Luz quickly takes a fire glyph and the two run through a hole Luz burns into the wall and quickly dive into grabbing the walkie talkie as Eda reaches her count down of zero. The two are consumed by a gold light and they reappear in the living room of the Owl House on the floor, the both of them catching their breath. King and Hooty were excited and were about to rush them but Eda stopped them.

“Don’t crowd them, they may still be shaken up.” Eda said.

Luz decided to take a moment to slip some glyphs into Hunter’s pocket, nothing complicated just some basic glyphs she knows that he can use, just in case he needs them. Flapjack flew over to Hunter and chirped. Hunter let out a gasp.

“He knows, he knows we were in there. I can’t, I can’t go back.” Hunter erratically said as he started having a panic attack.

“Kid, hold on.” Eda said as she approached.

Hunter backed up and tore off his cloak and ran out the door hyperventilating with Flapjack following him. Luz ran out after him.

“Hunter!” Luz called out hoping to get him to stop.

He didn’t stop running, he disappeared into the forest. Luz knew he needed some time to himself to sort things out. After everything that just happened. Besides, Luz had work to do.

“Luz!” Eda called out as she stepped outside, with Hooty and King as well, only to find Luz standing in front of the door looking at the horizon.

Luz turned back at Eda and the others with a look of determination in her eyes.

“Luz, what happened in there?” King asked.

“A lot. Hooty, get my glyph making supplies and my toolbox and bring them downstairs!” Luz ordered.

Hooty did a salute with his coils.

“On it!” Hooty said as he went upstairs to grab what Luz requested.

Luz had to start working on a way to defeat Belos. If she didn’t, the Demon Realm was doomed. Emperor Belos didn’t know it yet but soon he would face her fury, the Fury of a Time Lord.

To be Continued…

Chapter Text

Luz sat at the table in the living room, next to her was an open toolbox, drawings and blueprints scattered around the table as she was working on Hunter’s artificial staff which Eda had taken the previous night at the Night Market. Luz had disassembled it to study its inner workings and it was quite the feat of engineering, Luz was currently in the process of putting it back together. Meanwhile Eda was sitting on the couch going over Luz’s photos and recordings of Belos’s memories, uploading them to her Penstagram to spread the word out about Belos. While King was snoozing away on the couch next to Eda.

“Man, who would've thought that this was Belos's end game, jeez, wonder if anyone saw this coming eh Luz? Luz?” Eda asked.

Luz looked up from the table as she finished reassembling Hunter’s staff and smirked at Eda.

“You know, I remember an action movie character saying a pretty good piece of advice that kinda fits this situation, “It's always the hit you never see coming that knocks you out.” Luz said as she picked up another device an attached a piece to it which she screwed in.

Eda smirked.

“That’s a good one, it means no matter what, if you're enemy doesn't see the attack coming they can't defend against it right?” Eda asked.

“Exactly… and that should do it on the prototype.” Luz said as she tossed the device into the air and caught it.

Eda raised her eyebrow.

“Prototype what exactly?” Eda asked.

“Well, given how one of Belos's advantages in a fight is his artificial magic, I decided to take apart Hunter's staff to figure out how it worked so I could make a counter strategy.” Luz said.

Luz held up the device for Eda to fully see, it looked like a steampunk style electrical grenade.

“This, once perfected, should be able to completely short out his artificial magic staff, come on, grab Hunter's staff and let's go outside and test it, times a wasting!” Luz said as she got up and ran outside.

Eda smirked at Luz’s genius. Eda picked up Hunter’s staff and followed Luz outside.

“Alright kid, let’s do this.” Eda said.

Timeskip…

Luz and Eda were out on the lawn. Luz was currently behind a sandbag barrier while holding her prototype. Luz peeked up and called out to Eda.

“Alright Eda, you ready!?” Luz asked.

“Luz, are you sure me wearing all this is necessary?” Eda asked as she was currently wearing a football helmet, hockey pads, baseball catchers chest pads and MMA sparing gloves.

“Better to be safe than sorry, we can't really afford to have anyone getting unnecessarily injured.” Luz reasoned.

Eda sighed.

“Fine, let's just get this over with.” Eda said.

Luz primed her grenade by twisting the two ends in opposite directions and pulling the pin.

“Fire in the hole!” Luz yelled.

Luz threw the grenade and it landed a good 12 feet from Eda as Eda's actively used the artificial magic staff to shield herself for the test. The grenade goes off and a blue magical pulse is sent out by the device, then suddenly the artificial magic staff Eda was holding shorts out with the red crystal on top popping. Eda smirked at Luz’s success.

“Yes! It works!” Luz said triumphantly as she pumped her fist.

“So what do you call this?” Eda said as she picked up the grenade and handed it back to Luz.

“I call it the A.M.P, anti magic projectile, not very catchy but eh, better than nothing right? Anywho I'm gonna go make a few more of these, just in case.” Luz said as she went back inside.

Eda smiled at Luz's enthusiasm as she ran inside, Eda got a text from Lilith saying she's only half an hour away. Eda walked inside and closed the door. King had woken up from his dream and went to the kitchen table where Luz was sitting and scribbling down on a notepad. Eda dished up some breakfast for the two and halfway through Luz excused herself from the table.

“I gotta get back to work, there’s still so much to do.” Luz said as she got up and walked back to the living room with a look of sadness and contemplation on her face. 

Eda saw this and how King took notice, made eye contact with King and gestured with her head for him to go to Luz. King got down from the table and walked over to Luz. A few minutes later Luz was half petting King who was tucked into her side as she worked on trying to make a counter spell for the draining spell. Then all of a sudden, Lilith kicks in the front door in a dramatic like fashion that you'd usually only see from Eda than from Lilith.

“Eda, Luz, King! I got here as soon as Owlbert delivered your letter and was catching up on the other details from your Penstagram feed, nice work by the way Luz!” Lilith said.

King had jumped a foot up into the air like a startled cat at Lilith's dramatic entrance before Luz calmed him down.

“Hey aunt Lilith, how's Gwen doing?” Luz asked as she held King in her arms.

“Oh she's doing good, after finding out what Eda told me, she and dad have decided to stay home during the Day of unity.” Lilith answered as she closed the door.

“Well that's a relief, but we still gotta figure out how to actually stop the draining spell, otherwise it won't make a lick of difference.” Eda said as she came out of the kitchen handing Lilith a cup of fresh black bean juice, the Boiling Isles version of coffee.

Lilith took the cup and took a sip.

“Thank you Edalyn, but when did you start making black bean juice? I thought you never cared for the taste?” Lilith asked.

“Maybe not, but it's better at waking me up then my usual apple blood.” Eda admitted as she took a sip of her her own cup.

Hooty came into the room and smiled at Lilith. Luz set King down on the floor and he walked up to Lilith.

“Lulu! Boy am I glad to see you! I'm so happy I could just.....Just......Blughhhhh.” Hooty said as he puked out random objects and items all over the far side of the living room right over by where King was walking by, getting partly buried in the junk he's eaten.

“Hooty, you've gotta stop eating random stuff from off the ground.” Eda said.

King noticed something in all the mess and pulled himself free of the junk.

“He’s also been eating our mail, look!” King said as he held up a letter addressed to King Clawthorn. 

“What’s it say?” Eda asked.

King opened the letter and read it. There was also a small object enclosed in the letter as well that fell out, Luz picked it up, it looked like a small rock, but it didn’t feel like a rock. Luz pocketed it.

“It says they’re a clan of warriors, and that they believe that I'm a lost member of their tribe. Guys, this could be an answer to our problems! After all, how do you beat a tyrant with his own army? By making an army of your own!” King said.

“Well the extra muscle couldn’t hurt.” Lilith said.

“How would we even get you and Luz, cause I'm not letting you leave the Boiling isles alone, out there?” Eda asked.

“We know a crew that can help us out.” King said as he climbed onto Luz’s shoulder.

That clicked in Luz’s head instantly.

“The old Selkidomus crew!” Luz exclaimed with a smile.

“Exactly.” King responded.

As Eda sat and listened to everyone going back and forth about things involving this trip, Eda began to feel the weight of the whole Day of Unity situation baring down on her shoulders especially with the knowledge of her kids being caught right in the middle of this. Hooty in the middle of it said something about marching on the edge of the forest.

“Well I think you guys should stay here and pursue this lead later!“ Eda exclaimed.

Luz was caught off guard by Eda's sudden declaration but quickly came up with a couple of points to argue.

“Look Eda, I get you want me and King safe, but even with the odds low on these warriors helping us out we should still take the chance to get some backup. Plus it would be an outside element Belos won't anticipate.” Luz argued.

King spoke up.

“Uh Luz, just curious but what’s the math on the odds of this working out?” King asked.

Luz rubbed her chin in thought.

“Oh, it's got a 21% chance of success!” Luz answered as she was tinkering around with her Titan Blood detector. She had tested it out earlier, but for some reason it read King as Titan’s Blood.

“My decision is still no!” Eda protested.

Lilith walked next to Eda and put a hand on her shoulder.

“I thinks it's a marvelous idea, at the very least King can confirm what demon species he comes from and reconnect with his culture. Plus I'm familiar with this region it's quite a ways away, far away from the Boiling Isles.” Lilith reasoned.

Eda thought about what Lilith was clearly implying. Lilith then walked over to Hooty.

“Besides, Hooty could travel with them. Their safety would be your responsibility, my dear Brave Hootsifer.” Lilith said.

Hooty bowed as if he was facing a lord or lady of standing.

“I would protect these silly children with my life.” Hooty declared.

Eda sighed.

“Fine, if Hooty goes with you I’ll allow it.” Eda relented.

“Yes!” Luz and King cheered and they ran upstairs.

After Luz and King went upstairs to get ready to head out to enlist Salty's help, sitting on the couch Eda began thinking things over in deep contemplation. Lilith decided to try and lighten her sister's spirits with a joke.

“Don't worry, I've been out that way multiple times, just a few ruins on a titan's finger, whoever sent King that letter is send them on a wild Luz chase.” Lilith joked.

Lilith chuckled at her own joke before she saw Eda start crying, Lilith quickly backpedaled.

“Oh no my joke wasn't that bad was it?” Lilith asked, concerned.

Eda stopped her crying to explain to Lilith.

“It's Luz and King, Lily, they’re just kids! They shouldn't have to be risking their lives to stop Belos. When I first took in Luz I just thought she was a kid who had run away from home for a bit, but now she's tangled up this mess with Belos and the Day of Unity and it's all so much!” Eda explained.

Lilith began patting her sister on the shoulder comfortingly.

“Hey, hey, it's alright, we’ll think of something, we still have a week before the Day of Unity to come up with something, in the meantime Luz, King and Hooty will be far away from here.” Lilith said to console Eda.

Little did the Clawthorne sisters know that Luz was listening in on their whole conversation, she was already down in the kitchen making some boiled griffon eggs for the road when she started to hear Eda crying. Luz was gonna help as much as she could before they set off. Later before they left Luz made sure to explain to both Lilith and Eda about the evacuation and rendezvous plan if worse came to worse and Lilith and Eda need to leave the Owl House to avoid being caught by a coven raid. Luz also made sure that Boulder was ok with taking instructions, and knew what route to take to get to the Knee. Luz, currently wearing her sailor bandanna, passed a note to Eda, it was a list of supplies took take with during an evacuation, should it come down to that.

“There, and remember food, medical supplies and potion supplies, don't bother with weapons and anything else that will add unnecessary weight. Also here.” Luz said as she passed Eda a stack of lightning glyphs.

“I know that the lightning spell was your go to finisher back when you had your magic.” Luz said.

Eda took the stack with a smirk.

“Thanks kiddo, I'll put these to good use.” Eda said.

Luz smirked back.

“I know you will teach.” Luz said back.

Eda snorted.

“Honestly Luz, I think you've gotten way passed me being any use to you as a teacher, at least magically speaking. Now hurry up or you guys might not catch Salty in time.” Eda replied.

Luz, King and Hooty, who was currently connected to a backpack, something he liked to call “Porta-Hooty”, walked out the door and waved goodbye to Lilith and Eda while getting onto Owlbert. Luz, King and Hooty soon arrived at the port and quickly found Salty's ship. Luz and King got off Owlbert and Luz turned to face him.

“Alright Owlbert, now that we've found Salty you can go on and head back home and tell Eda we made it on the ship safely, ok?” Luz said to Owlbert who hooted in confirmation, then flew off back in the direction of the owl house.

Luz turned back around to see King already talking with Salty, already explaining everything, her little brother was really taking the initiative this time, of course he had quite a lot of motivation to.

“Hey Salty, you up for a little trip?” Luz asked enthusiastically as she walked up.

“Aye, tis been a while since I been out where you 3 wish to venture but it shouldn't be any longer then a day of traveling at most, yer wee brother King here filled me in on all the specifics, come on let's load up and set sail.” Salty said as he walked onto the deck, gesturing for Luz and the others to join.

“Aye aye Captain.” Luz said with a salute as she and the others walked onto the deck.

Once on the ship King noticed that besides Salty, there were only 2 other crewmen still on board.

“Uh, Salty, why’s your crew so small?” King asked.

Salty let out a sad sigh.

“Ah, since I’m no longer in the employ of the Golden Guard most of me crew sailed off for brighter, snailier pastures. All of them except for Gibbs and Jack here that is. And I plan to run this ship ‘til me dying breath.” Salty answered.

“That's pretty noble of them to stick by you true comrades eh Salty?” King asked.

Salty gave a hearty laugh worthy of a sailor.

“Right you are.” Salty said.

Luz overheard Salty's plight and decided to help out, while also testing out a new technique she's seen Amity use.

“Hey, Salty, mind if I lend a hand?” Luz offered.

“Of course not Luz, you’re trained after all so you know this old ship well enough, have at it and help us set off.” Salty accepted.

Luz saluted.

“Aye aye Captain.” Luz said.

Luz then took out some chalk and started making two large glyph combos, both within arms reach and once finished sat down in between both of them and put a hand on both, activating them simultaneously. Soon two completely formed flesh Abominations came from the glyph combos along with no less than two dozen flesh Abomination arms, but each one had an eye on its wrist with all the arms spread out over the ship and after a few seconds Luz furrowed her brow in concentration and then, all the arms and the two full Abominations started moving and doing work around the ship. King and Salty, along with Gibbs and Jack, watched in amazement as this unfolded.

“Holy Titan, your sister is incredible.” Salty said to King.

King nodded.

“Yeah believe me, I know it.” King said back.

Soon the ship was quickly on its way out, Luz dropped the spell after 15 minutes with her nearly passing out, only for Salty to catch her in time.

“Easy there squirt ,that was some magic you just did, take a few minutes before you stand back up.” Salty advised.

Luz smiled and nodded.

“Thanks, Salty.” Luz said.

And so they set sail in search of the location on the map. Eventually Luz spotted an island in the distance.

“Land ho!” Luz exclaimed.

They weighed anchor, Luz observed the island, it, like the Boiling Isles, was obviously the remains of a dead Titan, except this was just a finger and part of the hand, pointing towards the sky.

“It’s a long way from our Titan.” Hooty pointed out.

Salty walked up with King.

“That’s because it’s not from our Titan, this be from a different beastie.” Salty explained.

Luz, King and Hooty boarded a small rowboat and rowed their way to the island. Salty waved to them as they rowed.

“Good luck sea squirts! Come back with a good story! If ye come back at all!” Salty called out.

Luz turned to Hooty.

“Awe, he’s so encouraging.” Luz cooed as she kept rowing.

Eventually they made it to shore. There was a staircase carved into a crack in the giant finger bone. The group ascended the stairs with King taking lead, when they got to the top they found, nothing. No one except for themselves were here.

“Maybe we’re a bunch of early birds?” Hooty proposed.

“Or maybe they got sick of waiting! That letter was over a month old.” King lamented.

Luz noticed an ornate carving in the wall, with a small indentation in the center.

“No, wait. There’s something here.” Luz said as she walked over to the wall and traced her thumb over the indentation.

Luz’s mind went back to that piece of bone that came with the letter. Luz fished around in her jacket pocket and she pulled it out. Luz then inserted the bone piece into the indentation. Gold magical lines spread out from the piece and all over the finger, like veins. A massive shockwave occurred, causing waves and rocking Salty’s ship. A portal opened in the sky and the trio were pulled upward into the portal. When they came out the other end of the portal the trio hit the ground, Hooty was wrapped around both Luz and King. The small bone piece landed in front of Luz. They landed on a small land mass connected to a bridge, there was fog everywhere.

“Luz! Are you okay? Where’s your other arm?!” Hooty asked, worried.

Luz raised an eyebrow.

“I’ve only ever had two, Hooty. Did you think I had more?” Luz asked as she and King untangled themselves from Hooty.

Luz picked up the bone piece and pocketed it again. King turned around and saw something.

“Luz, look!” King exclaimed.

Luz turned around and saw what grabbed King’s attention. Through the fog the group saw the remains of several Titans.

“That doesn’t look like the Boiling Isles to me.” Hooty said.

Then a deep male voice spoke up.

“That’s because it isn’t.” The voice said.

The group turned around to see a big demon, who resembled King, walk through the fog. He wore long robes, had wings on his back, and his horn were more curled. Along with a large beard.

“Welcome to the other side of the world.” The demon greeted menacingly.

The trio stood there, eyes wide open, Hooty’s beak was ajar, as they stared at the demon who strongly resembled King. Luz’s thoughts were running wild, was this guy related to King? The demon glared at them.

“You dare trespass on this sacred-.” The demon cut himself off with a surprised gasp as he looked down at one member of the group, King.

“By the Huntsman! ‘Tis King! My name is Tarak. Hail and well met!” Tarak said with a slight bow, his tone becoming much more friendly.

“Uh, yeah, ‘tis King!” King stuttered as he greeted back.

Luz bent down and whispered to King.

“Psst. King, introduce us.” Luz whisperd.

“Right! This is Luz the human/friend/sister. And this is Hooty the, uh, door?” King said as he gestured to Luz and Hooty.

Luz bowed followed by Hooty.

“Your warriorship.” Luz said.

King became filled with hope as he looked up at Tarak.

“Did you send me that letter? Are. A-Are you my…” King trailed off as his spirits soared.

“Father? Alas, no, nor is he here.” Tarak answered.

King’s head dropped in disappointment. Tarak walked up and knelt down in front of King.

“But I did send the letter, and by the sight of you I know he was one of us.” Tarak continued.

King looked up and Tarak booped him on the snout of his skull.

“He passed down that handsome skull of yours, didn’t he?” Tarak asked playfully.

King giggled. Tarak stood up.

“Now we celebrate! Everyone will be so delighted to meet you!” Tarak said.

Luz spoke up.

“Who’s everybody?” Luz asked.

Tarak gestured for the group to follow him. They followed him up a cliff, the fog cleared to reveal a village. Tarak spread his arms out wide gesturing to the village and the island.

“Welcome, to Titan Trapper island!” Tarak proclaimed.

As Luz, King and Hooty were being lead on a tour of Titan Trapper island by Tarak, Luz ever the inquisitive observer, took notice of various details of the island and it's inhabitants while Tarak gave them a quick run down on his people's history and lore, about how their deity, the Grand Huntsman said that there is still one Titan left in the world, and that it was the Titan Trapper’s duty to find it and slay it. One such suspicious detail Luz took note of was that there were no kids amongst the Titan Trappers, all of them were adults. Though it might just be the way their settlement is structured but still, odd. Another detail that Luz noted was that there was maybe only 500 people here at most, unless there were a lot of other nearby island settlements of Titan Trappers then this was quickly starting to look like a group of tribal people slowly dying out, not a good sign if these were in fact King's people. Tarak lead them into a giant tower in the center of the village. The trio walked in and took notice of various relics and items, there was a giant staircase in the center, with the skeleton of a Titan standing next to it.

“This is our museum and trophy display for all our hunts! So that the youth of today can learn of our great victories against Titans!” Tarak said excitedly as he patted King on the head.

King gained an excited look at that. Luz had a question nagging at her.

“So, Tarak. I'm curious about how big your settlement is. Like are the Titan Trappers set up on other islands or?” Luz inquired.

Tarak sadly sighed.

“Alas times have been hard for my people, and many of us perished from an outbreak of fire flu a decade ago. Since then our people have kept to small recon voyages not more then a few days out via the sea in our hunt for the last of the tyrannical beasts that are Titans.” Tarak answered.

“I thought the fire flu was rendered harmless because of the Healing Coven’s research.” King said.

“It is harmless King.” Luz reassured.

Tarak nodded in agreement.

“Your sister is right King. We simply don’t have enough contact with the people of the Boiling Isles to develop the same immunity that you do.” Tarak said.

“Probably doesn’t help that you guys are on the other side of the planet too.” Luz added.

“Yeah, that too.” Tarak replied.

Tarak then looked at King.

“I may not have known your father, but he was definitely one of us. And now King, you can become a Titan Trapper yourself!” Tarak declared.

“Weh?” King exclaimed as the Titan Trappers began cheering.

Luz felt happy for King, that he could reconnect with his people, his culture, and for some odd reason Luz felt sad at the same time. Like she could relate to King more than she thought she could before. Her dreams came to mind, that strange but familiar place, burnt orange sky, endless snow capped mountains, that beautiful domed city, the people who wore strange red and gold clothes. Luz couldn’t shake the sense of familiarity with it. But her nightmares, also came to mind. Those strange shaped robots and their terrible war cry of “EXTERMINATE”, the flying saucers, the city in ruins, her father, the people running for their lives, screaming and dying, they chilled her to the core and made her feel a sense of loss she couldn’t describe. But Luz would figure it out, for now though this was King’s moment of happiness, and that’s all that mattered right now. Luz smiled, bent down and pulled King into a hug.

“King, this is great!” Luz said before standing back up and addressing the Titan Trappers.

“We don’t know any Titans, but the world could really use your help right now.” Luz said.

“That’s right! It’s a lot to explain right now, but could you-I mean, we, help the people of the Boiling Isles?” King asked the Titan Trappers.

A random Titan Trapper spoke up.

“Any enemy of yours is an enemy of ours!” He said.

The Titan Trappers began cheering in agreement and pulled King off to the side. Tarak walked up to Luz and Hooty.

“But we can make no vows. For that you must beseech our elder, the wisest hunter of them all. Bill!” Tarak said as he gestured to the top of the staircase.

“Is that short for something?” Luz asked.

Tarak shrugged while shaking his head.

“Nope, just Bill. He’s so cool, he actually met our god, the Grand Huntsman! He’s my best friend. It’s no big deal.” Tarak said.

“Luz!” King called out.

Luz turned around to see King walk forward excitedly. Luz knelt down in front of him.

“Luz! Look what they gave me!” King said as he pulled out what looked like a scythe made of bones, the blade opened up and began munching like a mouth and grunting.

Luz was startled by this slightly and back up a bit before smiling at King.

“That looks awful pointy there, buddy.” Luz said nervously.

King chuckled at that.

“Don’t worry. It’s mostly papier-mache. And bone.” King reassured Luz.

“They’re gonna show me their Titan Trapper ways, Luz!” King said excitedly before letting outa gasp.

“I guess they’re my ways too.” King continued, still excited.

Luz came up with an idea and smiled at King.

“How about Hooty and I go see the elder, and in the meantime, you learn all you can about being a Titan Trapper?” Luz proposed.

King’s eyes practically sparkled. He jumped at Luz and hugged her which Luz gladly returned.

“This is a dream come true!” King happily said as he then walked off, dragging the weapon which had embedded itself the floor.

“Just be careful!” Luz called out.

“I will!” King replied.

Hooty moved to look at Luz in the face.

“Are we really leaving him alone?” Hooty asked.

“He should have time to get to know his people and culture. Besides, we have a job to do.” Luz reasoned as she turned around to the stairs.

As Luz scaled the stairs to the top floor and passed the solar system display hanging around the staircase, she couldn’t help but wonder if it was 100% accurate or not. Luz made it to the top floor and entered Bill’s office. As Luz made her way through Bill's office she looked over all the weapons that lined the walls Luz was sure that not all of these were actually used for Titan hunting as some were more built for dueling armed opponents rather than hunting beasts. One such example was a short sword she picked up to better examine, it looked to be of Scandinavian style, it quickly disintegrated to dust like the morigul blades from Lord of the rings.

Luz soon caught sight of Bill sitting in a chair like throne decorated like it came straight out of Conan the barbarian, he was quite small with him just being a bit bigger than King with longer horns, longer neck fur that was grayish black, a yellowish tinted skull and a blue flame candle lit and seemingly melted in place atop his head. He was reading one of Flora Desplora's books titled Boiling isles the last titan.

“Hello good sir! I seek an audience with…” Luz said but was interrupted.

“Yeah yeah I heard ya, come on and step closer, my hearing’s not as good as it used to be.” Bill said.

Luz did just that.

“Oh, sorry, Tarak didn’t mention tha-” Luz was saying before getting interrupted again by Bill letting out an exhausted sigh.

“Of course Tarak sent you, let me guess, he told you to say hi to me on his behalf?” Bill asked as he leaned his head against his hand.

“Yep that's the jist. Uh, me and my family are in a kinda bad situation and require your people’s assistance in facing Emperor Belos and his evi-” Luz was saying but was cut off by Bill who let out a scoff.

“Oh, Belos, that up start ruling over the carcass kingdom? He's nothing to worry about, heck I got scars older than him wanna see?” Bill asked as he lifted up his shirt, showing a normal fur less chest with a scar across his abdomen.

Luz highly doubted that Bill had scars over 400 years old, but his lack of chest fur is more than a bit suspicious, it could be that at his age some fur has simply fallen out do to an illness but still, suspicious. Luz raised her hand and covered her eyes.

“Uh, no thanks, we just really need your help. A lot of people are in danger.” Luz pleaded.

No less than a second later, Bill answered.

“Oh of course, of course, you can have our help. But let me tell you, a tyrant like Belos is nothing compared to a real Titan, horrible beasts that bring destruction in their wake and crave power like you wouldn't believe. Their appetites insatiable and endless. heck even their young act like little monarchs. You know me being as old as I am, I remember what the Boiling Isles was actually like before Belos took over, the Savage Ages. what crap, things were fine until he came along with all his “I speak for the Titan” nonsense. Every so often Tarak brings me new books from the Boiling isles like Flora Desplora's books of utter nonsense, she's doctored the history of the Boiling Isles like you wouldn't believe.” Bill said as he threw the book he was reading off to the side.

Luz rubbed her chin in thought.

“I think you would actually get along with my Aunt Lilith, she doesn’t like Flora either, especially as a fellow historian.” Luz said.

“Glad to see that there’s still some good and honest people in the historical community over there.” Bill said.

Luz looked around for a second before looking at Bill.

“So....out of curiosity, how is it that you guy's mange to take down Titans? I'd imagine their power is no joke.” Luz asked.

Bill shook his head.

“Oh it isn't, in fact a juvenile Titan, which is just a bit taller than you yourself, is easily capable of leveling multiple cities like it's nothing. So we have to get to them while they’re still young and immature in controlling their powers. we overwhelm them by both numbers and by using traps we lure them into to catch them off guard.” Bill explained.

“But what about the big skeleton of a Titan you have your staircase wrapping around?” Luz asked.

Bill then answered that.

“Ah, that was a kill curtesy of the Grand Huntsman, our patron deity. They’re the one who told us of the evil the Titans bring onto this world.” Bill explained.

Luz nodded at the answer.

“So what of adolescent Titans, like what would I be on the look out for as I'm guessing that you guys are still on the hunt for him?” Luz asked.

Bill nodded.

“That we are, Titans as you may know, live for millions of years and take just as long to decompose, hell, a Titan egg’s incubation period lasts for multiple hundreds of thousands of years just to hatch.” Bill said.

Luz’s eyes widened at that bit of info.

“Wow.” Luz said.

“Yeah, but anyway, their young eat almost all the time, sleep around as much as a house cat, are invulnerable to Boiling rain and Boiling sea water, act like little monarchs, will often perch upon a parent or older sibling’s head or shoulders for comfort and to stay out of harms way, oh and their scream is deadly, it goes like.....Weh.” Bill explained.

The world around Luz suddenly slowed as she processed the new information that Bill just told her, and all evidence pointed out to her, that her little brother King...Is...a...Titan! Which also meant her Titan Blood detector wasn’t malfunctioning. Luz had to get King out of here as soon as possible.

“Sooo, Bill do you guys have any leads on the last titan?” Luz asked.

“Honestly, the only thing we know is that he's the last descendant of the Boiling Isles Titan, in fact I even took a printing class and made this poster.” Bill said as he walked to a wall and pointed to a poster depicting an egg with a small crack on it with a headline saying “The last son of the Boiling Isles”. Bill rubbed his chin as he examined his poster.

“I’m not to sure about the font I used though.” Bill admitted.

Hooty snaked around to tell Luz something.

“Hey, Luz. I found something you gotta see, come on.” Hooty said as he went into a room behind a curtain, she followed him.

The sight was disturbing to see. Several Titan skulls and bones surrounding a pedestal in the center of the room, there were depictions on the ceiling of the Titan Trappers killing Titans. The pedestal in the center had a sun with a face on it, half of it being blue, the other half gold.

“Oh, hey! Thought I’d get Lulu some souvenirs.” Hooty said as he picked up a snow globe.

Luz examined the contents of the globe and made a connection. The Grand Huntsman, was the Collector! Bill entered and saw Luz and Hooty.

“Ah! You’ve found the shrine to the Huntsman. It’s been my little DIY project for years.” Bill explained.

Luz watched as Bill rolled up one of his sleeves to reveal hairless skin, he was just wearing a disguise!

“You like our disguises? Gotta look like a Titan to trap one.” Bill said as he held his head and his eyes looked in opposite directions.

“But if I ever find that missing titan, I’d hunt it, tear it limb from limb, and mount its head in pride as we release to Huntsman! Then we can finally go from being Titan Trappers to Titan Slayers!” Bill insanely monologues as he then becomes more calm and friendly and turns to Luz.

“Say, who’s your buddy’s tailor? His costume looks so real!” Bill asked Luz, referring to King.

Luz definitely had to get King out of here, right now! Luz began walking out of the room.

“It’s was nice meeting you Mr. Bill, but right now I need to go find my brother and talk to him. Have a nice day.” Luz said calmly as she walked out of the room.

As soon as she closed to door behind her, Luz ran off to find King before it was too late. As Luz was running as fast as she could while carrying Hooty she was taking mental stock of her available glyphs and running through scenarios and strategies as to how to get King and get the hell out of dodge. If all else failed Luz could always use her trump card and use Time Alter to speed blitz in grab King and be halfway across the island before anyone has time to blink, but she'll be risking her ability to fight at full strength for awhile if she does that on top of not knowing how much of that speed King could safely handle before blacking out.

15 minutes of searching later and Luz finally saw all of the Titan Trappers gathering for some meeting or from their talks, an important ritual.

‘Ritual? Oh crap! They’re probably getting ready to sacrifice King! I gotta hurry!’ Luz mentally shouted.

“Hooty!” Luz said.

“Mam!” Hooty replied.

“Hooty, I need you to grab and throw Bill once I get close enough to pick up King. Once I get King I need you to activate and drop all of these snow glyphs on the rest of the Titan Trappers, that should slow them down and give us some time to put some distance between them and us, got it?” Luz ordered as she passed Hooty some snow glyphs.

“Got it, but what about Tarak?” Hooty asked.

Luz smirked.

“Don’t worry Hooty, I got him covered.” Luz said.

Later at the ritual as Bill was about to stab King with a ritual dagger Luz took a breath and activated an Invisibility glyph and hopped up on the stage, Hooty sprang into action and stopped Bill by wrapping around him and throwing him across the crowd. Meanwhile Luz used a plant glyph to restrain Tarak and then restricted his movements to escape by using a construction glyph to cocoon him in rock up to the neck, she then grabbed King and used a light glyph to cause a huge flash bang, before Hooty used the snow glyphs on the crowd of Titan Trappers to stun them for just a bit longer. Luz ran off while carrying King in her arms.

As Luz is running with King in toe he starts squirming around too much especially once he sees what Luz is doing after the cloth on his head flew off.

“Luz?! What’s going on?” King asked. Luz can see King is gonna need some answers otherwise he's gonna try to run back to who he thinks are his people.

Luz quickly took out and used a mist glyph to make a smoke screen cover, then used an illusion double glyph to clone herself, King and Hooty and sends them running out in the opposite direction to lead the Titan Trappers away from them. It works and Luz runs around a boulder and set King down on the ground.

“Luz, what are you doing those guys are my people!” King said.

Luz frowned slightly. King had gotten his hopes up so much on this adventure, but he needed to know the truth.

“King, they’re not who you think they are. You’re not one of them.” Luz said.

King narrowed his eyes.

“Then what am I?!” King asked, upset.

There was a pause, but then Luz spoke up.

“You're a Titan, King. More specifically the last child of the Boiling Isles Titan, and they're Titan Trappers King! They want to sacrifice you to release their god, the Grand Huntsman.” Luz answered.

King’s eyes widened, he felt a wave of awe, and fear. But also doubt. But he was pulled from this by a voice. The trio looked to see Tarak and the other Titan Trappers.

“Hark! ‘Tis the wretched spawn of-“ Tarak said but was cut off by Bill.

“Shut up and get that Titan!” Bill yelled as he pointed at King.

Tarak drew a blue spell circle and fired several blue magic bolts at the trio. Luz picked up King and continued to run. The Titan Trappers ran after them. Luz turned around and pulled out a lightning glyph and activated it, firing a lightning blot at some of the Trappers, zapping them and launching them away. A Trapper levitated King off Luz’s shoulder. Luz reached out for her little bro.

“King!” Luz exclaimed.

Luz took a light glyph, activated it and threw it at the Trapper’s face, a flash happened and the Trapper was disoriented, King fell from the telekinetic grasp but used the cloak he had been adorned with as a parachute to safely float to the ground. The Trappers began launching spells and throwing weapons at Luz, Hooty got in front of her and the Trappers began attacking him, launching bolts of magic and bolos, Hooty dodged some but got tied up by some bolos and blasted by magic bolts. He fell to the ground and Luz ran over to untie him.

“Tell, Lulu. How brave I was.” Hooty said as he looked up at Luz, as if he wasn’t gonna make it out of here.

Tarak approached Luz and Hooty, ready to finish them off. But King landed and jumped onto Tarak’s head while wailing on him.

“Stop fighting! I’m one of you guys!” King pleaded.

Tarak threw King off of him. King had grabbed the skull covering his head and pulled it off to reveal Tarak’s face. Tarak glared down at King.

“You were never one of us.” Tarak said as the other Trappers gathered around and removed their skull masks too.

“My brothers and sister, a new hunt begins today!” Tarak declared.

Bill came up.

“with this gift, the Grand Huntsman will return, and I will ride cloaked in glory above all others.” Bill declared as he began laughing evilly.

The rest of the Trappers looked at each other as they heard Bill speak. Tarak then spoke up.

“You mean, “we,” right? You promised the Huntsman would grant all of us glory.” Tarak said.

Bill’s eyes widened as he caught his slip up.

“Uh…” Bill trailed off.

“Are Titans even evil?” Hooty asked.

“How much have you been making up?” Luz asked as well.

Bill began nervously looking around.

“D-Don’t let the girl fool you! I-I’m totally not lying.” Bill stammered before taking off his mask and sticking out his hand.

“Hand me my spear.” Bill ordered.

Everyone else just gave him questioning looks.

“Whatever. Just gimme that thing!” Bill said as he jumped up and snatched a spear from Tarak’s hands.

Luz used a construction glyph to launch Bill into the air. Luz glared at the Trappers and picked up King.

“No today.” Luz declared as she ran.

She ran back to where they first arrived when they teleported here. The Titan trappers still hot on their tail. Luz noticed the same indentation on the ground as on the wall of the Titan finger. She put the piece in and the same portal showed up again. They were sucked up through the portal but were falling several feet in air above ground! Luz used a safety hover glyph. Luz looked up and saw the Titan Trappers on the other side of the portal.

“We gotta stop them from getting through!” Luz declared.

King got an idea.

“Stand back.” King said.

Luz knew what King was planning. King took in several deep breaths, and then let out a mighty “WEH!”, a golden ring of magic, almost like a sound wave, came from his mouth and shattered the Titan finger, cutting off the portal connection.

Debris’s began falling, Hooty wrapped around Luz and King to protect them and Luz also used a barrier glyph. Hooty cleared away the rubble and Luz and King stood there, exhausted by everything they just went through. King held onto Luz’s leg.

“I wanna go home.” King said sadly.

Luz picked King up and went back to the row boat. They rowed back to Salty’s ship and began the voyage back to the Boiling Isles. Luz was leaning against the guard railing, looking at the sunset. Luz then looked up at King who was on the crow’s nest looking glum. Luz had a little sense of what he was going through. Luz would help cheer her little brother up, someway, somehow.

Meanwhile at the Owl House…

Coven scouts marched into position around the Owl Lady’s house, readying their spell circles. The house demon seemed to be gone, this raid would be successful for sure. The commander held up a bird and spoke into it.

“We have the Owl Lady’s house surrounded.” The commander said.

“Excellent, arrest anyone inside. For the Emperor.” Kikimora ordered.

“FOR THE EMPEROR!!!” All the scouts proclaimed.

To be Continued…

Chapter Text

Hexside school was abuzz. Eda’s Penstagram post had really stirred things up. It was currently lunchtime, Amity, Willow and Gus sat at their usual table in the cafeteria.

“This is the last message I got from Luz before she went radio silent.” Amity said as she held up her tamagotchi to show Luz’s last transmission.

Willow and Gus couldn’t decipher it.

“Uh, you mind translating it for us? That went by a bit too fast for me to read.” Gus asked.

“Oh, of course, it says “Me and King going to get some reinforcements, Day of Unity really bad! Stay tuned to Eda's Penstagram posts you should get most of your answers to your questions from there. PS don't worry about Eda and the Owl House”.” Amity translated.

“So, what about all those hearts at the end?” Gus asked.

Amity smiled blushed.

“Oh, those are for me.” Amity answered.

“But, Luz was definitely right about most of my questions being either party or completely answered by checking out Eda's Penstagram posts.” Amity said as she took out her scroll.

Willow nodded.

“Yeah, I was right in the middle of going to check on the Owl house when Gus messaged me, telling me to check on Eda's posts and I gotta say this has to be the most chaos Eda's caused the Emperors coven in a long time.” Willow added.

Amity nodded in agreement.

“I agree, though it's probably because Belos and the Emperor’s coven as a whole have never had to tackle what they are claiming as false claims spread so far and wide over social media. Luz once mentioned stuff like this happening back in the human realm, only the authorities are better at countering it.” Amity added.

A familiar female Witch with purple hair, Caucasian skin and orange eyes approached the table, carrying a lunch tray. Bria cleared her throat. The group looked up at her. Bria smiled nervously.

“Hey guys do…you mind if I sit here with you all?” Bria asked sheepishly.

The group looked to Gus to make the choice, knowing that he and Bria had history together. Gus thought it over for a second, then let out a sigh.

“Well, I guess there’s no harm in it, Bria, go ahead.” Gus said.

Willow smiled softly at Gus’s decision to give Bria a second chance, though it probably helps that based on appearances Bria has joined the multi track program with her sporting both the Construction and Beast Keeping track colors, meaning she's become more open minded if only a bit. Bria sat down beside Amity.

“So, what do you think about all those insane posts that the Owl Lady has been posting on her Penstagram, pretty out there right!? Guy's?” Bria asked.

Bria looked around the table and took in everyone’s reaction to what she said. Willow and Gus looked deep in thought and Amity looked pissed, clenching her fists tight in anger. Gus finally spoke up after what felt like 10 minutes of silence but was probably only a minute at most. Gus interlocked his fingers and rest his hands in front of his mouth as he talked, trying to get across the seriousness of what he's telling her.

“Look Bria, I know you're new, but it's important that you know what Luz has done for not only us personally, but for this school, hell she got Bump to start the multi track program in the first place, and with Willow and Amity's help she put Bocsha in her place. She was the one to get those photos and recordings that Eda's been posting and she's not been heard from since she sent a message to Amity. So don't take Eda's claims lightly, all right?” Gus said in a serious tone.

Bria was rather stunned. Gus was speaking with more seriousness than even back at the Looking glass ruins. Willow then spoke up.

“Besides, while it's no secret that Eda is no fan of Belos, or the coven system as a whole, she's the last person to spread baseless claims. In fact I almost nabbed a coven scout to get some intel but Gus got to me before I could.” Willow said.

“Not that you can't handle yourself against a dozen or so coven guards, but it's best to save your magic, especially when you have the Intel for free.” Gus says as he held up his scroll showing Eda's posts.

Bria spoke up.

“But still, it’s the Emperor. Why would he possibly do this?! What reason or cause could he have?!” Bria asked.

“Luz told me once while she was digging into Belos's past, or trying to at least, that back in the Human Realm a lot of wars were wagged simply because of differences in religious beliefs, and that some people are easily turned on marginalized groups because they claim they speak for a religious deity. Belos has been doing the exact same thing with the people of the Boiling Isles, persecuting the Wild Witches to get us to fall in line with what he wants us to think.” Amity answered.

“As for the why? Well the post does explain it, he's a Witch Hunter, killing Witches and Demons is kinda their whole thing, Luz explained it once when she told us about Philip Wittebane being a Witch Hunter, that it was driven by the religious beliefs of the 1600s.” Gus added.

There was a pause.

“So…what do we do? And where’s Luz and Eda?” Bria asked.

“Luz's last transmission said that she and King were off to get some reinforcements, no other details about but she did say not to worry about the owl house, so I'm guessing that Eda probably fled to a planned evacuation point that she and Luz agreed upon. Luz has been coming up with a lot of those lately, heck she even told us to get to the room of short cuts as a regrouping point in case Hexside has another attack.” Amity answered.

Bria sat there going over everything that Amity, Willow and Gus had just told her and it was a lot to take in. Then all of a sudden the bell screamed. Students began leaving the cafeteria to head to their classes. As Gus was about to get up himself he heard a noise coming from a nearby garbage can. Gus turned around to see a familiar red cardinal Palisman emerge while holding a sandwich in his beak. Gus let out a gasp of surprise.

“You?!” Gus let out.

Flapjack dropped the sandwich and flew off.

“Hey, wait!” Gus called out as he summoned his chameleon Palisman, Emmiline, in staff form.

Gus hopped on and flew after Flapjack. He saw Flapjack fly through the doors to the Paranoratorium. When Gus entered the room, Flapjack was nowhere to be seen. Gus landed on the stage and looked around, holding his staff at the ready. The sound of footsteps drew his attention, Gus turned around to see, Hunter. Gus gasped.

“What are you doing here, Golden Guard?” Gus demanded.

Hunter smirked.

“Wouldn’t you like to know. But rest assured, Gus, I-.” Hunter said before a clattering sound stopped him.

Gus looked behind Hunter to see a pile of empty Hex Mix bags. Hunter moved to the left to block Gus’s view of the pile, his face red with embarrassment. Gus got a better look at Hunter’s current attire, he was not wearing his usual uniform and cloak, he was more or less dressed in old rags and a blue sheet. Gus lowered his staff slightly.

“I’ll ask you one more time. What are you doing here, Hunter?” Gus asked.

Hunter didn’t answer. That was until Flapjack came in and started pulling his hair.

“Ow, ow, ow, ow. Okay fine!” Hunter relented and Flapjack stopped pulling his hair.

Hunter let out a sigh.

“Truth is, my living situation has been compromised. Maybe. So, I just need a place to crash. Temporarily. Hexside was the only place I could think of.” Hunter admitted.

Hunter’s eyes widened and he started looking left and right.

“Has anyone been asking around for me?” Hunter asked nervously.

Gus shook his head and lowered his guard.

“No, I think the Emperor’s coven is more preoccupied with trying to find Eda.” Gus answered.

Hunter raised an eyebrow.

“Wait, why?” Hunter asked.

Gus held up his scroll to show Eda’s Penstagram posts.

“See for yourself.” Gus said.

Hunter snatched the scroll form Gus’s hand and began scanning through a few of the posts before gaining an alarmed look. He handed Gus his scroll back and took out his own to check for himself. The P.A system came on and Principal Bump’s voice spoke.

“Attention all students, please join me in the gym for an important announcement.” Bump said.

Gus summoned his lunchbox and handed it to Hunter.

“Here. That much Hex Mix can’t be good for your stomach.” Gus said before hopping on his staff and flying off.

Hunter opened the lunchbox to find a sandwich, an orange and an apple. Gus entered the gym to find Principal Bump and the Illusion teacher were standing onstage with a man in a brown hood, several students were already here.

“Now that everyone is here, I’d like to introduce the esteemed-.” Bump was saying before the person in the hood put up a hand to pause him.

“Please, Principal Bump. I deserve no accolades.” The man said before removing his hood.

“Hello everyone, my name is Adrian Graye, Head Witch of the Illusionist coven.” Adrian introduced himself.

“And unfortunately I do not bring good news. Emperor Belos and the Emperor’s coven plan to put a stop to the multitrack studies here at Hexside school. By inducting every student into a coven, I’m sure you’ve all seen the posts made by the Owl Lady, about the Draining Spell, unfortunately these posts, are true.” Adrian said.

All the students gasped in fear.

“Calm down everyone, Head Witch Graye supports us and is here to help.” Bump said.

“Now, before any Coven Scouts arrive I am going to make illusions of Coven sigils on your wrists so that when any Scout sees them, they’ll continue on their way. That way you all are safe from the Draining Spell.” Adrian explained.

Edric came onstage and presented his arm. Adrian drew a spell circle but Edric spoke up.

“Are you sure this is safe? I just started the multitrack.” Edric said.

“Don’t worry it’s just an illusion, once this is all done you’ll be able to continue your studies in peace.” Adrian said.

Gus watched as Adrian brought his hand downward, but Gus saw a blue shine over his hand. The shine, of an illusion.

“Stop!” Gus exclaimed.

Everyone looked over to him. Gus pointed at Adrian.

“He’s hiding under an illusion!” Gus said as he drew a spell circle and the illusion dropped.

The guy onstage wasn’t really Adrian. It was a Coven Commander. Several students, including Amity, Willow, Jerbo, Bria, Viney, Barcus, Emira, Skara and Matt prepared spell circles. The Coven Commander prepared spell circles and the Illusion teacher jumped in front of Edric and prepared spell circles of her own. But before a fight could ensue, the voice of Adrian spoke.

“Cut!” Adrian declared. 

Illusions dropped and it was revealed that there were several Coven Scouts around the gym, some of them were holding film equipment. The real Adrian Graye was there as well and he was sitting in a director’s chair while holding a megaphone. Adrian then began critiquing his own Scouts, saying how they did a subpar performance, like he was actually a movie director.

‘What is this, a raid or a film set?’ Gus thought to himself.

Adrian teleported behind Gus and grabbed his arm.

“And you… You just ruined any chance we had of making this. Into something.” Adrian said as a Coven Scout put a sigil branding glove on Adrian’s hand. The sigil set to the Abomination coven.

Gus resisted against Adrian.

“You were gonna trick us into giving us sigils! Essentially condemning us all to death!” Gus shouted.

Adrian rolled his eyes at that.

“Honestly kid, don’t believe everything you hear online. That Draining Spell nonsense is just anti coven propaganda. The Day of Unity is not going to hurt anyone.” Adrian said.

Gus grew fearful as Adrian brought the glove closer to his wrist. Gus’s magic grew out of control and a massive wave of blue magic spread throughout the school, producing countless different illusions. Adrian looked around.

“How are you doing this?!” He demanded.

Hunter came in and grabbed Gus away from Adrian and ran off into the illusions. Bria spotted them and began following close behind. Willow and Amity found themselves in an exact replica of the fairgrounds. Amity looked around.

“How did we get here?” Amity asked.

Willow walked over to a nearby stand and touched it. Her hand phased through it.

“I think it’s an illusion.” Willow said.

Amity brought out her scroll.

“Ed says he and the others are in the Healing homeroom.” Amity said.

“Then we better get going.” Willow said.

Amity nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile with Hunter, Gus and Bria. After the three witches had gained some distance from the gym or, at least from Adrian, they stopped to catch their breath.

“Man that was intense....oh....hey....I'm...Bria by the way.” Bria introduced herself as she extended a hand toward Hunter.

Hunter collected himself before looking around to get his bearings, then focused back on the dark purple haired witch who decided to follow him and Gus and had introduced herself as Bria. Hunter shook her hand.

“Nice to meet you, I'm Hunter. I'm a friend of Gus and Willow’s.” Hunter introduced himself.

The two ended the handshake.

“Yeah I kinda gathered as much seeing as how you saved him back there, nice timing by the way.” Bria said.

“Thanks, but I was just lucky, I think.” Hunter said as he rubbed the back of his head.

Gus, being the least physically fit out of the three of them, had been the last to finish catching his breath, but had been observant in taking in his surroundings and hearing Bria and Hunter make their introductions. Even things were really tense with everything going on he was glad that Hunter seemed to make another friend in Bria, though he wondered why she decided to follow them anyway?

“Bria, not that it's not nice to see another familiar face but, why did you follow us?” Gus asked.

Bria turns her head a bit off to the side as she blushed a bit.

“Well since you're illusionist up against a Coven Head of Illusion magic, I figured you could use the extra strength of some Construction magic, ya know?” Bria explained, she pumped her arm to emphasize the strength part.

Hunter saw Bria’s blush and tilted his head slightly, curious as to why she was blushing.

“Thanks Bria, you're right we could use your help, plus more strength in numbers, right Hunter?” Gus said.

Hunter nodded.

“Definitely, but we better get a move on, Gus you take up the back, I'll take the front and Bria takes the middle got it?” Hunter proposed.

Gus thought it over.

“Support, defense then offense, smart formation, alright.” Gus agreed.

As the Gus, Bria and Hunter made their way through the school, they quickly ran into a problem with navigation. Although Gus could see through the illusion, the others, not so much.

“Wha- Gah!” Hunter exclaimed as he fell down a set of stairs. 

Bria nearly fell right after Hunter, if not for Gus thinking fast and pulling her back at the last second. Hunter groaned as he picked himself up.

“Damn that hurt, alright new formation, Gus you can see through this illusion right? Gus?” Hunter called out, but he got no answer, Gus was otherwise engaged.

Gus and Bria were conversing with each other. Their bodies close.

“Thanks for the quick save Gus, Matty said you were fast on your feet, guess he was right ha.

“Ye- Yeah, I uh, try to be, it helps to be fast in casting most magic but especially illusions ha ha.” Gus stuttered.

Gus was blushing because of how close Bria was.

“Gus!” Hunter called out.

Gus snapped back into focus.

“Oh, yeah Hunter?” Gus replied.

Hunter sighed as he got to his feet.

“Gus, if you can see through the illusion then you take the lead.” Hunter said.

Gus nodded.

“Right on it!” Gus replied.

As Gus lead the way through the illusion Bria inquired into Hunter's background.

“So, Hunter, why are you not dressed in your track uniform? Not that I'm complaining mind you, just curious is all, ya know?” Bria asked.

Hunter hesitated to answer.

“Uhhhhh. I don’t actually attend Hexside, I’m……..” Hunter trailed off before Gus spoke up.

“Hunter was actually homeschooled, so he's less used to interacting with normal school students.” Gus lied.

Hunter was glad that Gus came to his rescue, he's not exactly sure how friendly Bria would be if she knew he was the Golden Guard. Bria bought the lie.

“Oh that's interesting, so how do you know Gus and Willow?” Bria asked.

“Oh, well I'm a part of their Flyer Derby team, the Emerald Entrails.” Hunter answered.

Gus chimed in.

“Yeah, he’s our fastest player on our team, he’s gr-.” Gus was saying before Hunter cut him off.

“Gus look out!” Hunter exclaimed as he saw two Coven Scouts come around the corner.

Hunter quickly closed the distance and knocked down one Scout but quickly got caught off guard by the other one who restrained him in Abomination matter while the knocked down Scout cast two spells and quickly restrained Gus and Bria in plant vines. The second Scout then recognized that Hunter was the Golden Guard.

“Hey, you're the Golden Guard, dude what gives we’re on the same side.” The Scout said.

As the Coven Scouts were talking with Hunter, undoing the Abomination matter on Hunter, Gus was trying to break free. Bria seeing and hearing about who Hunter really was had her a bit stunned but still adds up, if the Golden guard has abandoned the Emperor’s Coven then it must be true now more than ever. Bria looks over at Gus just in time to see him finish drawing and use a fire glyph.

As Bria was watching Gus finish his glyph she realized that Hunter's Palisman had pecked through some of her vine restraints and was partially through working on Gus's. Right as she caught on to what Gus was fully up to he activated his glyph, sending a wall of fire at the two Coven Scouts beside Hunter. Bria quickly broke free from her vine restraints and broke into a sprint to keep up with Gus as he went over to Hunter. After Bria passed the quickly recovering Scouts she quickly used a bit of Construction magic to raise sections of the floor, enough to trip up the Scouts when they started pursuing them. Hunter and Bria followed Gus through an illusion wall of the school into another illusion, which appeared to someone's room. Hunter started to panic and began to hyperventilate as he retreated to a corner of the illusion room, Gus took the initiative to help calm Hunter down. Bria decided to hang back since Gus had known Hunter longer, it's best to let him handle this situation solo.

Bria decided to take initiative of her own and used some Construction magic to make a wall in place of the illusion wall they all ran through, just in case. After that Bria decided to take a bit of a look around the illusion room they were in. The room was obviously Gus's, given the collection of human realm stuff on the dresser that Bria had seen, bits and pieces of what the owl lady's human collectables stand had, back when it was still up and running. Then there were the photos hanging on the opposite wall from where Gus and Hunter were talking with, all the photos showing Gus and his friends, one in particular showed him and Matty at Matty's birthday party which brought a bit of a smile to her face. It was good that Matty had become such good friends with Gus, he really needed a true friend like Gus, after all the hazing and bullying he got from the Glandus kids, and her. Bria looked down and off to the side in reflection of her past actions. Then she caught movement and looked back to see that Gus had worked his magic and calmed down Hunter and were ready to get going.

“Alright, if you guys are ready let's head out and find the others.” Bria said.

Timeskip…

As Gus, Bria and Hunter walked through the halls of Hexside they finally found themselves out of the school wide illusion that Gus had instinctively cast.

“Are we out?” Hunter asked.

Gus touched the side of a water fountain finding gum stuck to the side.

“Yuck! Yeah, this is definitely the real Hexside, we’re out!” Gus said with a smile as he started wiping off his hand.

The trio then saw Willow come around the corner.

“Willow!” Gus called out as he ran up to her while Bria and Hunter hang back.

“Oh my Titan, Augustus! You’re okay, I’ve been looking all over for you! Oh, hey yooou?” Willow trailed off as she turned her head to address Bria, who furrowed her brows in slight annoyance at Willow forgetting her name.

“Willow, this is Bria, remember we all sat together at lunch?” Gus asked.

Willow sheepishly scratched the back of her head.

“Oh, yeah, now I remember, sorry Bria, it's just that everything's been a bit hectic ya know?” Willow apologized.

“Yeah I get ya, it's fine.” Bria accepted the apology.

Willow then noticed Hunter not far behind Gus.

“Whoah, what is he doing here?” Willow asked as she pointed at Hunter.

“Oh, it's cool, he helped me get away from the Emperor's Coven, also he hasn't showered in awhile, be nice.” Gus whispered that last part.

Willow’s face scrunched up a little at the mention of Hunter not showering in a while.

“Interesting. Anyway, let's find the others before these illusions get any more, eh.” Willow said as she turned around and began walking off.

Right at that moment Hunter felt like something was off with Willow, and the more he went over her interaction with Gus and Bria right now, the more suspicious she seemed. Hunter quickly teleported in front of Gus and Willow, holding his staff at the ready.

“Who are you?!” Hunter demanded.

“Dude, what are you doing? Willow’s on our side!” Gus said.

“Hunter, you’re scaring me.” Willow said.

Hunter didn’t back down, especially when he heard what Willow said, which confirmed his suspicions of this being an imposter.

“You’ve seen her play Flyer Derby, there’s no way she’d be scared of me.” Hunter said.

Meanwhile Bria was stunned by what just went down, but quickly got into a defensive stance and had a spell circle holstered and at the ready. Gus was stunned by what Hunter said and was implying but then he heard the Illusion Coven Head, Adrian, make his presence known.

“Agh, again!” Adrian groaned.

Suddenly Adrian appeared off to the side about 30 feet behind them.

“Severein, you had your chance and you blew it. Ah, not that I'm surprised at this point.” Adrian sighed as he rubbed his forehead in frustration.

The Willow illusion disappeared to reveal a tall female Coven Scout.

“But I-I followed you notes to the le-.” Severein protested but started getting chewed out by Adrian.

While Adrian was chewing out poor Severein, Gus, Hunter and Bria decided to make a break for it and run. Unfortunately their escape was cut short as Hunter was caught off guard by a Coven Scout under an illusion disguise of Emperor Belos Hunter, he was so stunned that he fell backwards and started to panic as he crawled backwards. Gus and Bria were less effected but were still stunned enough for Adrian to take advantage of the situation, he grabbed Gus with one hand and when Bria tried to intervene he created an illusion of a coven sigil branding glove, still on the Abomination sigil as he left it, and quickly grabbed Bria's exposed wrist.

Bria was so caught off guard by the branding glove being used like a weapon that she completely lost focus on her spell circle, she shut her eyes tight in fear of losing access to her magic, but it never happened, instead Severein as commanded restrained her and Gus with Abomination matter. Meanwhile Hunter had been knocked out by a bit of bard magic from a Coven Scout, he and Bria were then taken away by more Scouts.

Timeskip…

Hunter groaned as he opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Flapjack looking at him, chirping. Then Skara and Viney came into his field of vision.

“He’s waking up!” Skara called out.

Hunter sat up and looked around. He was in the Healing homeroom, several students were here, along with Principal Bump and the Illusion teacher. Amity, Willow and Bria were sitting next to each other. Seemingly talking about where Gus could possibly be. Hunter quickly became paranoid and shot up onto his feet.

“Th-This is an illusion! Gus! Are you-.” Hunter called out but he quickly stumbled and fell to his knees.

Viney and Skara came over to him to help him up to his feet.

“Easy there. Try not to stand up so fast.” Viney said.

“This isn’t an illusion, you’re in the Healing homeroom.” Skara added.

Principal Bump approached Hunter, hands behind his back and a stern look on his face.

“Well, Mr. Golden Guard.” Bump said.

Hunter got to his feet.

“Hunter.” Hunter corrected.

“We saw you and Bria being dragged around, and the Flyer Derby team was determined to save you.” Bump said.

Hunter looked at Viney and Skara who smiled at him.

“But I am not yet convinced of your innocence. Where have your Scouts taken Augustus?” Bump asked.

Several students became suspicious of Hunter.

“I’m not with them. I swear. I was with Gus the whole time. I was trying to get him to you.” Hunter said.

The Illusion teacher spoke up.

“Maybe we can trade him for Augustus? I’m sure the Emperor would want him back.” She proposed.

Hunter’s eyes widened in fear when he heard that. His mind went back to when he and Luz were in Belos’s mind, back to the memories he had seen of Belos murdering the previous Golden Guards. If Belos got his hands on him, he would kill him on the spot.

“Please, you gotta believe me!” Hunter pleaded.

Bria, seeing that Hunter needed some back up stood up, literally, and methodically going over to Hunter as she made her case.

“Hey! Look, the whole time that me and Gus were with him, Hunter never once attacked or tried to assist the Coven Scouts in taking us. In fact his Palisman helped free both me and Gus during our first encounter with Coven Scouts after leaving the gym, and if it wasn't Hunter's intention to help us then his Palisman wouldn’t have done that! Also before we were captured Hunter was running with me and Gus trying to out run Adrian, but an illusion of the Emperor stunned him so badly he was practically catatonic, and what type of right hand man of the Emperor would be so terrified of him unless he defected?!” Bria proclaimed.

“Gus was showing us around! There was a sandwich, and this, breathing thing. Please.” Hunter pleaded.

Willow perked up at the mention of the breathing thing. She had taught that to Gus when they were younger, to help him calm himself down.

“He’s telling the truth.” Willow spoke up as she walked up to Hunter and put a hand on his shoulder.

Hunter flashed a small smile at Willow, one which she returned. Willow then turned to Principal Bump.

“And he can help us drive Head Witch Graye and his Scouts out of the school.” Willow added.

“Yes, Graye said he’ll be in the gym. But he will be guarded.” Hunter said.

Bump rubbed his chin in thought. Amity stood up.

“That won’t be a problem. Willow can bust through anything.” Amity said as she smiled at Willow.

Willow nodded and smiled back.

“Yeah, but I’ll need help.” Willow replied.

“Say no more!” Mattholemule blurted out.

Willow gained a slightly annoyed expression.

“Let’s just come up with a plan.” Principal Bump said.

Skara began clapping.

“This is my favorite part!” Skara said.

Timeskip…

Gus was being held by Coven Scouts, Adrian standing in front of him. They were in the gym which was covered by an illusion of the Looking Glass Graveyard.

“And yes, I though fooling children was a waste of my impressive talents. But I realized that a true genius can find the art in he does and-.” Adrian monologued, Gus tried to tune him out.

Adrian soon realized that Gus probably wasn’t even paying attention to him.

“Hey, hey!” Adrian called out.

Gus sighed.

“You’ve done it again, Augustus. You couldn’t even tell Willow apart from an illusion.” Gus muttered to himself.

Adrian snapped his fingers in front of Gus’s face to get his attention.

“Yoo-Hoo. Come on. Are you listening? This is my monologue. Now, this is your doing?” Adrian asked as he gestured to the surrounding illusion.

Gus lowered his head.

“Yeah. It’s all my fault.” Gus said.

Adrian rolled his eyes.

“Oh. Right. All about you.” Adrian said in exasperation.

“Now how about telling me how you know about the Looking Glass Graveyard?” Adrian asked.

Adrian tapped a statue.

“I’ve been looking for the Galdorstones. They’d make great gifts for the Emperor. Where did you say you found them?” Adrian probed.

Gus refused to give up the location of the Looking Glass Graveyard. He just glared at Adrian. Adrian scoffed.

“Boring.” Adrian said as he detached his mirror shaped earring.

“See this mirror? It’s a handy little magic amplifier. It’ll help me sort through those little memories of yours.” Adrian said as he drew a spell circle.

Gus felt Adrian probing around in his mind.

“Stop! This hurts!” Gus complained.

“Oh don’t be so dramatic.” Adrian said.

Gus’s magic flared up, Adrian turned around to see that the illusion was dispelled.

“Hmm. Well, that’s one less thing to worry about. Now, where were we?” Adrian said as he turned back around to face Gus.

Gus’s eyes were glowing bright blue, his magic out of control. A sphere of blue magic began swirling around Gus.

Outside the Gym…

The Coven Scouts turned around to see Principal Bump approaching. The Commander walked forward slightly.

“Gym is off-limits. Graye’s orders.” The Commander said.

“Graye may be Head Witch, but I’m still principal. It’d be wise to let me through.” Bump argued.

The Commander chuckled.

“Oh, yeah?” He asked as he brought his spear up and pointed it at Bump.

Bump’s Palisman, Firwin, detached from his head and turned into his staff form. Bump held his staff at the ready.

“Yeah.” Bump said.

An illusion dropped to reveal the students behind Bump, also at the ready. The hallway erupted into a massive brawl between coven guards and Hexside students and their faculty the Emperors coven guards were quickly being shown to be not even close to the high standards they promote themselves to be. Edric and Barcus ride in on Puddles throwing various immobilization potions left and right. Viney and Cat acting as defense. Bump, Merry and Amity using Abomination arms and Abomination drones to toss the coven guards left, right and center while Willow and Amity took to being sure the downed guards didn't get back up and quickly wrapped them in vines and Abomination goo. Jerbo's plant Abomination was smacking guards left and right. Lastly Hunter along with both Bria and Matt on his staff, with him teleporting to the other side of the hallway on the coven guard’s blindside. Once there Hunter then shot an energy blast that divided into four separate blasts and knocked down four more guards.

“Go! Go! Go!” Hunter ordered.

“On it!” Bria and Matt said as they made quick work of restraining the guards with Construction magic.

They entered the gym along with willow and Amity to find a blue magical sphere surrounding Gus, who was sitting on the floor with his legs pulled to his chest, Adrian and his Coven Scouts were on the ground clutching their heads, their eyes glowing blue.

“Make it stop. Make it stop. I don’t like these memories.” Adrian whimpered.

Amity walked up.

“What’s going on?” Amity asked.

Willow came in next.

“Gus is trapped in his head. And the others are being affected too.” Willow explained.

The ground rumbled. The ground turned around to see an Abomiton Soldier break through the door. The Coven Commander was behind it and hold the control while laughing.

“I’ve been wait for an excuse to play with one of these!” The Commander laughed.

Amity groaned as she and Willow summoned their staffs, Matt drew two spell circles.

“I really need to speak to my parents about this.” Amity groaned.

Willow turned around to face Hunter and Bria.

“We’ll keep it distracted, you two help Gus.” Willow ordered.

“B-But how?” Hunter asked.

Amity, Willow and Matt engaged the Abomiton. Hunter turned around and ran to Gus with Bria following him. They entered the magic sphere, their worst memories began playing in their heads. But they powered through and reached out to Gus. The world shifted around them. They saw Gus sitting alone at a desk looking sad.

“What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I learn?” Gus asked himself.

Hunter approached and called out to him.

“Gus!” Hunter called.

Before he could reach Gus the world became a white void. Hunter looked around until he saw Gus sitting on the ground, three people dancing around and laughing at him.

“I let myself get tricked again.” Gus said.

Upon closer inspection Hunter noticed that Bria was one of the three people. Hunter looked over at Bria with a questioning look. Bria rubbed her shoulder and looked away in shame. The world became a white void again. They saw Gus in a room standing in front of mirrors that had glowing blue eyeballs in some. Gus had his hands covering his face.

“Everyone thinks I’m the smart one. So why do I keep acting so dumb?” Gus asked his reflection.

Bria felt a massive pang of guilt. Hunter walked up to Gus, trying to reach his friend.

“Gus, can you hear me?” Hunter asked.

The world became a void again,  but Hunter and Bria soon found themselves in Gus’s room, Gus was sitting on the floor, his legs pulled up to his chest, his arms wrapped around himself, his head hung low.

“I can’t even trust myself anymore.” Gus lamented.

Hunter sat down next to Gus on the right, Bria took a seat next to Gus on the left.

“It’s hard when you can’t trust yourself. I spent my whole life believing I was doing something good for someone good, but it was a lie. And some part of me still wants to believe in that lie. Just like you want to believe you’re dumb or whatever. But it’s not true!” Hunter said.

Bria then spoke up herself.

“Gus, I know we, don’t have the best history. But I want to try to put all of that behind us. I want to make up for my mistakes and forge a new path. I’m sorry, for everything I’ve done.” Bria said with absolute certainty.

Gus looked up at Hunter, then to Bria.

“I promise. I wouldn’t mess with you. Uh, now, uh, how did that breathing thing go again?” Hunter asked as took in a deep breaths and whistled instead.

Gus chuckled at this. His eyes stopped glowing blue. Bria smiled softly at this. The illusion dropped. Gus spotted Adrian’s earring and picked it up, and put it in his pocket. The three of them turned around to see that their fellow students defeated the Abomiton. Willow turned around to face the group.

“Gus!” Willow exclaimed as she ran over with a smile.

Amity turned around to see Gus and Willow hug each other.

“Oh, I’m so glad you’re okay.” Willow said in relief.

“Me too.” Gus said.

Hunter and Bria just stood next to the two on opposite sides. Willow and Gus then Pulled Bria and Hunter into the embrace. The both of them blushing at the close contact.

“Thanks, Hunter. Thanks, Bria.” Willow said.

“What is this?” Hunter asked.

“Just go with it.” Gus said.

Later…

The Coven Scouts were dragging their leader into a blimp. Adrian was in a near comatose state, muttering and murmuring. The Commander turned around to look at Bump and the students.

“When Emperor Belos catches wind of this…” The Commander trailed off, but Bump interrupted him.

“I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to learn one of his captains was defeated by a couple teenagers.” Bump smirked.

The Commander groaned and turned to a familiar looking Scout who was walking away.

“Severine, get on that ship or you’ll be walking back to the castle!” The Commander yelled.

“You know what? It has been a rough year, and my self-esteem can only take so much. I quit!” Severine yelled as she removed her mask and threw it to the ground before walking off, grumbling about going back to the Tiny Cat Coven.

The blimp took off and the students watched it fly away. All of them cheering. Amity and Willow walked up to Gus who was standing next to Hunter and Bria.

“I can’t believe you took down a Coven Head.” Amity said.

“Yeah, and I almost went down with him.” Gus said.

“Is Graye gonna be alright?” Hunter asked.

“Uh, probably.” Gus said sheepishly before he and Hunter, along with Bria began laughing together.

Amity looked around for a second.

“Uh, where’s Professor Homunculus?” Amity asked.

“I think he left at the first sign of trouble.” Bria said with a shrug.

“Hunter!” Skara called out.

Hunter turned around to see other students approaching him.

“What’s going on at the castle?” Skara asked.

“Did you actually leave the Emperor’s Coven?” Viney asked.

“Have you ever sneezed with your mask on?” Edric asked.

Barcus barked, which translated to “The people crave the truth”.

Hunter looked back and forth, then to Gus who gave him a nod. Hunter took a deep breath before letting it out.

“Everyone in the castle is traveling to the Head for the Day of Unity. I think I did. Yes?” Hunter said.

“That’s gross, man.” Edric said.

“Listen. Emperor Belos has been lying to everyone. The Day of Unity isn’t about the Titan or magic. The Owl Lady’s posts are all true. Everything regarding Belos's past, his motives and the true meaning behind the day of unity, it's all true. I was there with Luz when she took those recordings and photos of Belos's memories, they’re the truth! Belos is a Witch Hunter bent on killing every Witch and Demon he can through the Day of Unity's draining spell and the sigils are a crucial part of it.” Hunter said.

Bump looked at his Abomination coven sigil and furrowed his brow in worry for everyone else that will be caught up in this.

“Is there anything else you can tell us Hunter?” Bump asked.

“The Coven Heads are a focal point of the draining spell, each of them act as a challenging conduit for one of the 9 different branches of magic.” Hunter said as he looked in the direction of the airship that had Adrian on it.

“Maybe if we’re lucky, Adrian's unconscious state will keep him out of commission.” Hunter said.

Gus spoke up.

“Unfortunately I don't think we can count on that.” Gus said.

“Mr. Porter is right, between the healing expertise of Hettie Cutburn and the abilities of Orsted head of the Oracle Coven, they will probably have him back on his feet by the Day of Unity.” Bump said.

“Best we can do is reinforce the school's defenses and inform the rest of the community, especially the parents.” Bump said as he began to walk back inside the school.

Emperor’s Castle: Throne Room…

Emperor Belos was angrily pacing back and forth, his eyes glowing blue with rage.

“How could I have been so careless as to not keep an eye on her while she was amongst my memories?! I thought she would’ve just followed me into the memory portraits that I lead her and Hunter into, not look around and take phots and recordings of my memories! Ah!” Belos shouted.

Belos flew into a fit of rage and transformed into his corrupted monster form and started destroying a wall in the far corner of his throne room to vent out his frustrations, much like when those Palisman souls would irritate him into a violent frenzy, except this time it was just him. The Collector watched on in amusement as Belos had his little episode.

“Oh man, I never thought someone would ever manage to get one up over on you. Ha ha ha ha, man that human is pretty entertaining, is that a human trait or just a...what's the word…coincidence, yeah that's it!” The Collector said as he snapped his fingers through his shadow manifestations.

Belos glared at The Collector as he shifted back into his human form, still breathing heavily from his fit of rage. Belos let out a heavy sigh of frustration.

“What's most concerning is that this has heavily effected the coven's efforts to brand the students of the schools, hell, Hexside, where Adrian was sent personally to take care of, and he came back in a near comatose state, if he had been any worse he might not recover in time for the day of unity.” Belos said, frustrated.

Then a Coven Scout entered the room, the Collector disappeared when this happened. Belos glared at the Scout.

“I said I was to not be disturbed!” Belos yelled.

The Coven Scout bowed his head.

“Sorry, Emperor Belos, but Coven Historian Desplora thought you should see this.” The Scout said as he handed Belos a scroll tablet.

The tablet depicted various complaints and grievances towards the Emperor's coven for the attempted forced branding of Hexside students, many of whom’s parents were outraged and were now boycotting the Day of Unity entirely. Belos's eye twitched, his rage came to such a boiling point that he instantly petrified the poor Coven Scout that had brought him this news, his arm transformed and he then swung his arm at the petrified man shattering him instantly as he shouted out in anger.

“AAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” Belos shouted.

To be Continued…

Chapter Text

King was currently asleep. Dreaming. His dreams recently became, odd, unusual. He dreamed about this childish voice. The childish voice saying how it wouldn’t be alone anymore, and, about being free. King was woken up from this dream by Luz who was calling out to him, Luz had climbed halfway up the mast.

“King! Time for breakfast!” Luz called out.

King nodded and Luz climbed back down. King, from his position in the Crow’s Nest saw the approaching landmass that is the Boiling Isles, and the remains of his dad. King thought back on his words he said to Hooty when he was trying to help him find out what he was. “HE LEFT ME ALONE!!!”. That was mainly said out of frustration at him not having any answers, but a part of it was definitely said in earnest anger, something he was coming to regret as his dad may not have had any real choice in the matter. King sighed.

“I’m sorry dad.” King said.

Meanwhile Luz was watching King look off to the Boiling Isles, his father, while she leaned back against the ships guard rail. She couldn't imagine what it must be like to be in King's shoes. To be both the last of your kind and to know that one day you'll outlive everyone else around you. Luz sighed and made her way to go eat breakfast. After breakfast, as they still had about an hour before the ship started docking at port, Luz decided to do something to help Salty out. Luz walked over to Salty.

“Hey captain, I was wondering what coven you're a part of?” Luz asked.

“Aye. I be a member of the ship wright coven, which itself is part of the Construction Coven, see.” Salty said as he showed Luz the wrist of his non-clawed hand, revealing his construction coven sigil.

“What about the other crew members, Gibbs and Jack?” Luz asked.

“Aye, normally we try and have one person from each of the 9 covens on board at any one time, so as to properly respond to any situation with the needed magic. Gibbs is a Oracle, using his magic to for tell the weather conditions we’ll experience on the seas as well as the spirits helping in navigating the sea and communicating between ships. Jack uses plant magic, a great help in preventing Scurvy, but just between you and me he's not officially part of the plant coven, and also practices potion brewing.” Salty whispered about that last part.

Luz nodded.

“I see well let me help you expand your crew.” Luz said.

At Salty's puzzled look Luz proceeded to show him how to summon and control flesh Abominations via her glyph combos, it didn't take him long before Salty got the hang of summoning them.

“Aye Luz, you've helped me out quite a bit, thank ye.” Salty said with a smile and a hearty sailor laugh.

Luz smiled.

“Think nothing of it Slaty, I’m always happy to help.” Luz said back.

As soon as Luz, King and Hooty got back on dry land they quickly saw unrest amongst the witches and demons walking the streets, some fortifying their homes and store fronts and others quickly scrambling to buy various supplies, it reminded Luz that Y2k episode, King of the Hill, which makes sense given Eda's posts. Luz checked her tamagotchi to see any messages her batata may have sent and sees that her latest says that her Willow and Gus have found Hunter and that Hexside has been made safe from the Emperor's coven.

“Is that Amity? If you want you can go check on her I know the way back.” King offered as he saw Luz look at the tamagotchi.

Luz immediately turned down King's offer, knowing her little brother shouldn't be left alone at a time like this.

“Hey look! Someone put up cool pictures of all of us!” Hooty said.

Both Luz and King take immediate notice of what Hooty saw and quickly moved to get a closer look. Sure enough there was wanted posters up for her and King as well as Lilith, Hooty and a new one for Eda with her sporting her Harpy form. Interestingly enough, the one of Lilith shows her wielding fire magic, meaning that the Emperor’s Coven might not know about Lilith's magically weakened status.

“This is about what I expected, come on King, let's move before somebody takes note.” Luz said.

“Right.” King said as he hoped onto Luz’s shoulder.

Luz used an invisibility glyph to hide where they run off to. A few alleyways down from the poster board Luz, King and Hooty are revealed, Luz quickly looked over her shoulder, making sure the cost is clear, then used a construction glyph to raise a stone wall to make the alley end short and giving her some time to work. Luz then took out some chalk and started making a teleportation glyph array to get them to the Owl house.

“Uh…not that I want to distract you from your work Luz but…”King trailed off as Luz kept drawing.

“Don't worry about it, I got these ones memorized, go on and ask away little buddy.” Luz said.

“Well, I was wondering why you didn't use a teleportation glyph combo to get us to the owl house from Salty's ship yesterday?” King asked.

Luz paused for a second to think before answering King’s question.

“That's a good question. Hmmmmmm. Let's see…how to explain it....Ah ok, so basically a common feature that all of these teleportation glyph arrays share, is that the central starting point of your place of origin is always the same.” Luz said as she pointed to the center part of the array.

“All of them have the point origin being the Boiling Isles Titan. This means if I used this on Salty's ship without adjusting the point of origin, the whole thing could backfire. Basically I haven't figured out how to adjust the point of origin yet.” Luz explained.

King took all that in.

“Huh, weird, but definitely makes sense with how you explained it.” King said.

“Yep now hop on and let’s go.” Luz said.

Luz activated the glyph array right after King hopped on. Then in a flash of light they were gone. Luz, King and Hooty reappeared in a flash of fiery light, their eyes quickly adjusting. What they suddenly saw didn’t fill them with joy. Standing before them are a couple of coven guards about to throw some lit touches onto the Owl House, about to set it ablaze. Before Luz could move, King in a rush of anger, jumped down to the ground and sprinted until he was in front of the coven guards and immediately roared his Titan roar at them. Luz quickly covered her ears as she saw the coven guards knocked down to the ground. Luz quickly used a sleeping mist glyph combo and knocked them both out. King stood back up and wiped away his tears of anger as he witnessed Luz use some plant glyphs to cocoon the coven guards in giant beds of moss and then blast them off via a couple of ice glyphs.

“Well, now that that's done, let's see if they left anything behind we can use, then we’ll make our way to the Knee and find Eda and Lilith, okay King?” Luz said.

“Yeah, come on, let’s move.” King said.

After Luz, King and Hooty had throughly checked the Owl House, King met up with Luz outside where she was already working on the teleportation glyph array to get them to the Knee. Luz noticed King standing off to the side.

“Oh, hey King, almost done here then we’ll be at the Knee in no time, and one step closer to finding Eda and Lilith. And there we go finished! Alright King, hop on.” Luz said.

King jumped up onto Luz's shoulder, then Luz knelt down and activated the glyph and they were gone in another flash of light. Several miles away and thousands of feet up in elevation, a sudden flash of fiery looking light resulted in Luz, King and Hooty all suddenly standing in a blank spot in the snow with just earth under their feet with a clearance of snow in a circle as big as the full size of the teleportation glyph array.

“Wow! Hey Luz, what happened why did all of the snow melt in the area we arrived in?” King asked as he looked at the ground.

Luz looked down at the ground and thought for a second.

“Well if I had to guess, it's probably because during the use of the spell, for a very brief moment two points in space are connected and this caused an exchange of temperature difference between the two points, with the warm hot air quickly melting the snow, and the cold air probably making quite a bit of frost of where we were beside the Owl House.” Luz reasoned.

“Ha, neat, well let's get going!” King said as he sniffed the air and pointed in the direction, towards Eda and Lilith’s scents. 

As the group walked through the snow, looking for Eda and Lilith Hooty decided to ask Luz a question.

“Hey Luz, are you sure you're okay without any winter clothes on?” Hooty asked.

“Don't worry Hooty I'm perfectly fine, it's my high functioning metabolism, it's good for not just providing me with all my endless energy, but also makes it easy to withstand incredibly cold weather, in fact it would be a near perfect adaptation for people who live...in…” Luz trailed off as she stared into the distance, deep in thought.

Luz saw vivid flashes of snow capped mountains surrounding a domed city. The sky was burnt orange in color.

“Luz…Luz?…Luz!!!” King called out.

“Huh?” Luz exclaimed.

Luz shook herself from her thoughts and looked down at King.

“Oh, King, hey. What’s up?” Luz asked.

King furrowed his eyebrows in seriousness as he spoke up.

“Luz, you were just staring off into the distance for like five minutes straight without blinking, it was…concerning.” King said.

Luz looked at King smiling softly at the concern he had for her.

“It’s okay little buddy. I was just reminded of something from my dreams, that’s all.” Luz said.

“What was it?” Hooty asked.

“It was the snow covered mountains.” Luz said.

King suddenly made the connection as to what Luz basically just had, was a flashback.

“Alright, well if you're sure you're okay, let's get back to it.” King said as he hopped down and sniffed for a bit, easily picking up Eda and Lilith’s trail.

“Hey, King. I was curious, what do Eda and Lilith’s scents smell like?” Luz asked.

“Oh yeah, no problem. Eda smells of apple blood and owl feathers.” King answered.

“Of course, no surprise there. What about Lilith?” Luz asked.

“She smells of books and regret.” King answered. 

After about 30 minutes of walking Luz, King and Hooty finally came across a cave entrance with, at least to Luz, a very poorly hidden trap. Luz used a plant glyph to grab the trigger rope to set it off and alert Eda and Lilith. About 3 minutes later Eda comes out, seeing the trio.

“Ah, there you three are, come on in and warm up.” Eda said.

The trio are lead into the cave to where Lilith is sitting near a fire pit full of fire Bee's, Boulder was currently curled up in the behind Lilith, currently stone as he was sleeping. Lilith saw Luz, King and Hooty enter the cave chamber her and Eda had situated their supplies in.

“Luz! King! and Hootsifer! Oh it's so good to see you three back and safe.” Lilith said as she stood up.

“Hey Aunt Lilith.” King said as he waved.

“How’s the plan coming along?” Luz asked.

Hooty snaked over.

“Lulu! I missed you!” Hooty said as he stretched over and laid his head on Lilith's lap.

“It's alright Hootsifer you're back now.” Lilith said as she patted Hooty's head.

As Luz and King took their seats by the fire Eda asked a few questions.

“So....were you guys able to avoid the Emperors coven guards? Also Luz do you need some winter clothes? Cause I'm pretty sure I got your hat, gloves and boots somewhere in here.” Eda said as she dug around through the pocket dimensional storage space in her hair for said items.

“Nah, we got around either teleporting or using Invisibility glyphs so we went unnoticed, also no I'm fine, high functioning metabolism remember?” Luz said.

Eda stopped digging around in her hair.

“Oh yeah. Nice.” Eda said.

“So, how did your trip go?” Lilith asked.

Both Luz and King glanced at each other with uneasy looks. Hooty perked up as he remembered something.

“Lulu! I got you a shirt!” Hooty said as he then proceeded to regurgitate said shirt.

Lilith picked up the shirt, it had a Titan on it and text reading.

“I was Sacrificed to the Grand Huntsman?” Lilith read out, confused.

Luz spoke up.

“So it turns out the people who sent King the letter were actually a group of Titan Trappers, and they may have tried to sacrifice King to the Collector, who they worship.” Luz said.

Eda then glanced at Lilith, trying to hold herself back from having an outburst.

“Oh, so you mean you found a commune of bloodthirsty fanatics in a place that was supposed to be empty?!” Eda growled as she kept dangerously looking at Lilith.

Lilith was sweating a little. She pushed her glasses back up her face.

“Well they couldn’t have been that scary. Not without any Titans to trap.” Lilith said.

Luz spoke up, she wrapped an arm around King.

“Actually. King, is a Titan.” Luz said.

King looked up.

“Looks like I’m due for a growth spurt.” King said.

Eda and Lilith’s eyes widened as they took in this new information.

Timeskip…

Luz came out of the cave with Eda following close behind her. Luz saw King staring off, looking at the Titan's skull, his face a look of contemplation. Eda came to stand right besides Luz.

“I can’t believe that little guy is gonna grow up to be that big guy.” Eda said in amazement.

Luz nodded.

“Yeah...it's quite a lot to take in, especially for a kid only 8 years old, to find out that you're the last of your kind, with unfathomable magical potential and a life span that eclipses everyone's on the Boiling Isles put together a thousand times over.” Luz said.

Eda sighed.

“Yeah, by the way, how are you handling all this King is a Titan stuff?” Eda asked.

Luz looked up to the sky as she mentally went over the events of the last few days and any useful information gleaned from them.

“Well if nothing else we now know some useful information about Titans, especially considering that King's power will take awhile to fully blossom, so it will be easier for him to gradually acclimate to his powers, plus we learned stuff about their life span, things that the Witches of the Boiling Isles have no idea about.” Luz answered.

“Yeah that reminds me, if King's dad, the Titan we’re currently standing, on died hundreds of thousands of years ago, then how is it that the Titan Trappers were able to hunt any other Titans let alone know facts about their biology?” Eda asked.

Luz rubbed her chin in thought.

“Well, best guess is that the Titan Trappers developed as a civilization only within the last few thousand years, and were probably a lot more wide spread than what me, King and Hooty saw first hand. They probably were convinced by this Grand Huntsman persona of The Collector's to hunt down Titans, them being manipulated like how Belos did the Boiling isles. Obviously there had to be other Titans still roaming, though none were powerful enough to survive the trappers tactics. My theory is that their population shrunk down do to unfortunately timed disasters, like plague outbreaks and such.” Luz theorized.

Eda blinked for a second.

“Yeah, well, we’re lucky all the same that you guy's got back to us in one piece.” Eda said.

Lilith exited the cave and approached Eda and Luz. She was currently wearing Hooty’s backpack carrier.

“I can't believe it that all this time you had a Titan living under your roof!” Lilith said with an excited tone.

Lilith gasped.

“I’ve eaten ice cream with a god!” Lilith exclaimed.

Luz turned to Lilith and raised an eyebrow.

“Hey, just cause he has tall guy genes doesn't make him a god, he's still a kid.” Luz said.

“Plus he falls into the toilet at least once a day.” Eda added.

Lilith dismissively waved her hand.

“Perhaps his powers...just haven't fully awakened yet, though he'll still be quite formidable in the fight against Belos!” Lilith said.

Luz spoke up. Her tone of voice serious.

“One, Belos is at least city level in terms of his destructive capabilities, whereas King is only large building level. Secondly we’ll be waiting near of a decade for King's powers to mature enough to match or exceed that of Belos.” Luz said.

Eda put a hand on Luz’s shoulder.

“Don't worry Luz, King is a Clawthorne and your nephew dear sister, remember!” Eda said pointing her finger at Lilith to stress her point.

“Yes of course. Sorry.” Lilith said.

“I’m a god’s Aunt! But is he a merciful god? Or a vengeful god?” Lilith rambled as she turned around and began walking back into the cave.

Luz turned back to face Eda.

“So, what’s the game plan Owl Lady?” Luz asked.

Eda grew nervous.

“We’re....uh ...waiting on some contacts to deliver us details on the movements of the Coven Heads before finalizing anything specific.” Eda lied.

“Good thinking, we don't need to have any unnecessary encounters with any of them.” Luz said.

Eda began sweating slightly. The truth was that she and Lilith didn’t really have a plan.

“Exactly.” Eda said.

Luz turned around to see King struggling to build a snowman version of his stuffed toy bunny, Francois. Luz called out to him.

“King! How about I give you a little help with that?” Luz offered as she walked over to him.

Eda smiled sadly at the sight of Luz helping King with his snowman. Eda walked back into the cave and sat next to Lilith.

“What are you going to tell them Eda? You and I both know that we don't have any allies in our court, everyone who we might be able to rely on has distanced themselves from us entirely out of fear that they will be targeted by the Emperor’s Coven to get to you, the Coven is more frantic then I've ever seen it, I'm not sure how we plan from here but you better tell Luz and King now.” Lilith insisted.

“I know I know alright it's....just that it's hard ok?” Eda sighed as she then put on her, “Let’s Cause some Chaos Face”.

Eda walked out of the cave and over to her kids.

“Hey Luz, King, if you guy's had nothing else to worry about and you wanted to do something, what would it be?” Eda asked.

King looks down dejectedly at his snow version of Francois which was starting to fall apart. Luz however got an idea, she pumped her fist and smirked.

“I wanna go on a heist!” Luz said.

Eda smirked.

“Of course you do.” Eda said.

“I'm good, I just wanna get in some good playing in the snow while were here, ya know?” King said.

Eda nodded.

“I get you.” Eda said.

Luz used an ice glyph to help fix up the snow version of Francois while Eda went back to the cave to get Owlbert. Luz then went into the cave to grab some white dye potions to help create some quick yet decent coven guard uniforms, they didn’t have to be super good and on point as due to all the chaos Luz was sure that the Emperor’s Coven would be too distracted to even consider the possibility of Eda the Owl Lady and Luz the Human sneaking into the Bonesburogh Coven office.

“Ah. There you are.” Luz said as she picked up some white dye potions from a small chest over by where Boulder was sleeping. Boulder stirred a bit and looked at Luz through sleepy eyes like a tuckered out dog or cat.

Luz smiled at Boulder and patted him on the snout.

“Oh don't worry buddy, go back to sleep, you deserve it after hauling Eda, Lilith and all of stuff up here. But don't worry, if I need you I'll give you the signal alright?” Luz said.

Boulder let out a huff before closing his eyes and drifting off back to sleep. Later as Eda and Luz are flying their way to Bonesburogh, Eda couldn't help but ask.

“Kid, are you sure doing a heist is really what you want to do? Wouldn't you want to have a beach day with your friends or go on a date with boots?” Eda asked.

“There will be time for all of that and more after the Day of Unity is stopped and Belos is taken care of. Besides it's not just about getting King his toy back, among the stuff those Coven Guards confiscated was also my A.M.P grenades, which we’re gonna need to have a better chance against Belos.” Luz answered.

Eda sighed and turned back to the horizon to see a quickly approaching Bonesburogh. Luz and Eda landed in an alleyway to avoid being seen. Two Coven Guards passed by escorting people in colored robes holding candles.

“Ugh, I hate double shifts.” One guard complained.

“Me too.” The other agreed.

“I can’t until the day after the Day of Unity. You know what I mean?” The first guard asked.

“Sure, but, man, I am racking up OT like crazy.” The other guard said.

Luz and Eda peeked out to see their target. The Bonesburough Coven office. There were several Scouts surrounding the place. And some were taking in boxes with red confiscated labels on them. The stuff they took from the Owl House. Luz took out the potions she brought and looked around to see some materials. Luz smirked as she got to work crafting her and Eda’s disguises.

Later…

Eda and Luz kicked the door of the Coven office open. The both of them dressed in makeshift Coven Scout uniforms and masks.

“Take me to my-I mean, the Owl Lady’s confiscated junk!” Eda demanded.

“Nice save.” Luz muttered.

Everyone looked at them for a second before returning to their duties.

“Huh, I would’ve appreciated at least some kinda reaction.” Luz said.

Eda walked up to a Scout sitting at a desk and writing stuff down.

“Hey you! Fellow guard! We just found a load of illegal Hexes Hold ‘em cards. Can we get the key to the, uh, warehouse?” Eda asked.

The scout didn’t say anything as he reached under the desk and pulled out a gold skeletal hand with the number 2 printed on it in red, and set it in front of Eda. Eda picked it up and she and Luz walked over the lift, Eda placed the key onto the hand shaped pad and the lift opened with a ding. They got inside the lift.

“Why is everything going our way now?” Eda asked.

“Maybe our luck’s finally turning.” Luz answered as lift lift went down.

When they got to the floor they wanted the elevator dinged again and the door opened. Eda and Luz walked out to see a room with isles upon isles of crates and boxes. Eda looked around. Luz removed her mask.

“Hoo boy! We’re gonna need to split up to find Francois and your grenades.” Eda said as she passed Owlbert to Luz.

“If things get hairy, you fly out of here as fast as you can.” Eda instructed.

Luz took Owlbert but looked up at Eda with a serious look.

“I'm not gonna leave you behind, family takes care of each other, ya know?” Luz said.

Eda smiled softly at Luz.

“Yeah I know, just, if things start to look like I'm gonna get captured for some reason and you can still run, do so and come back with Lilith, Hooty and Boulder to break me out, alright?” Eda said.

Luz sighed.

“Fine, but it's not gonna come down to that cause we really don't have time to do a jailbreak.” Luz said.

Eda snorted and then smirked.

“Oh but we have time for a heist?” Eda asked teasingly.

Luz became embarrassed.

“Shut up! Besides you said we had time!” Luz said.

Eda smiled.

“Yeah we do, come on, let's find what were here for. Also if you see a box labeled “Eda's longest toenails,” get it.” Eda instructed.

Luz stuck her tongue out in disgust at the thought of Eda’s toenails.

“Ew, alright.” Luz said with a chuckle as she walked off in a different direction than Eda.

Luz soon came across a large amount of crates and goods stashed into open crates with police tape or rather Emperors coven tape saying “Property of the Emperor’s Coven Authorized Emperor’s Coven Personnel Only” written across the tape multiple times. Luz rolled her eyes and slipped under the tape and started rummaging around for what she was after. 5 minutes later Luz found Francois, her A.M.P grenades and Eda's box, she was positive it had something else in it but she'll wait for Eda to say. Luz packed them into the backpack she had hidden under her fake Emperor’s Coven cloak and went off to find Eda. Luz saw Eda up in an office that had a view of the room. Luz walked up the stairs and found Eda talking to someone via crystal ball.

“Raine, I know about the Day of Unity and the Draining Spell. Nope! I-I saw that expression.” Eda said.

Luz stood by and watched her mentor silently, she was obviously talking to her ex, Raine Whispers.

“It is that bad, isn’t it?” Eda asked.

“And that’s why…I need your help.” Eda said.

“There’s no time for your schemes Eda.” Raine said.

Eda spoke up.

“Wait. This is for my kids. They can’t be around during the Day of Unity. Put them in a castle bunker, get them on an airship-I don’t care, just-just keep them safe. If you do I’ll-I’ll give myself up right now.” Eda pleaded desperately.

Raine was about to say something but they were cut off by Tera Snapdragon.

“Come along sprout.” Tera said.

Eda put her mask back on and adopted a soldier posture and saluted.

“Awaiting instructions, Head Witch.” Eda said.

“Stay where you are, I’ll send someone to receive the package.” Raine said.

Tera then said something about Eda’s uniform looking like old garbage or something but Luz wasn’t paying attention, she was currently livid. The crystal ball shut off and Eda sighed. Luz then spoke up.

“Eda…are you…sending me away?” Luz asked.

Eda didn’t answer.

“You’re-you’re sending me away? But I can help! Wh-Why don’t you get that yet? Call Raine back! Tell them that there’s no “package to receive.” I’m not going anywhere until Belos is defeated!” Luz said, upset.

Eda lowered her head, and then looked back up at Luz.

“No.” Eda said.

“After everything we’ve been through, I can’t believe you’re still underestimating me.” Luz said indignantly as she walked off.

Luz was pissed about Eda suddenly trying to sent her and King away. ‘What ever happened to “Us weirdos have to stick together?!”’ Luz was snapped out of her thoughts by Eda in her Harpy form landing right in front of her.

“Luz, please, be reasonable here, it's my first priority to protect you and King, even if that means you hate me for it!” Eda said.

Luz turned her head as she tried to steady her breathing then turned back and looked Eda in the eyes with unshed tears reflecting off her eyes.

“I could never hate you Eda.....but what about, us weirdos have to stick together? How's that gonna work when you have me and King tucked away unable to help?!” Luz asked.

Eda sighed.

“I'm sorry Luz, but I can't let you leave here, Raine’s escort will be here soon to pick you up and I'll send King over later, come on.” Eda said.

Eda tried to grab ahold of Luz’s arm to calm her down, but Luz wasn’t having any of it.

“No! We’re headed back to Lilith, King and Hooty, even if I have to drag you there by force!” Luz declared as she quickly pulled out and activated a sleeping mist glyph combo, holding her breath at the same time.

Eda quickly recognized that this wasn't normal mist, it was sleeping mist, she quickly flapped her wings while holding her breath to disperse the mist. To Eda's shock Luz was gone, Eda looked over the railing to see Luz swinging on a vine attached to the railing. Luz quickly used a blue fire glyph while holding Owlbert in her mouth to give her the speed and momentum she needed to swing all the way around and come up on the other side behind Eda. Once Luz was back in the air she got back on Owlbert and dived towards Eda as she turned around to see her.

Luz used a magical energy binding glyph to toss a net over Eda to stop her from using her wings again to disperse the sleeping mist. Then Luz proceeded to come back around on Owlbert with a new sleeping mist glyph at the ready. Eda, seeing what Luz was up to, pulled Owlbert from Luz with a command.

“Owlbert!” Eda called out.

All of a sudden Luz was without Owlbert and falling to the ground, but she quickly got out and used a safety hover glyph to stop her fall just in time. Before Eda could fully catch up to Luz a mist glyph was used to give Luz cover. Eda instinctively pulled back at the last second, thinking it might've been another sleeping mist glyph again. Thankfully it wasn't, but just as Eda cleared the mist cover with her wings she saw 3 Luz's all take off in opposite directions. Eda right away knew that two of those had to be clones and quickly came up with a counter. Eda closed her eyes and focused her hearing, which had been heightened by her Harpy form, she quickly honed in on the rhythm of quick footsteps of Luz running off to her right. Eda then opened her eyes and took off after Luz. Little did Eda know that Luz's plan was more thought out than that, after Luz had made her clones she quickly used a invisibility glyph, and then when she saw Eda close her eyes she activated an auditory illusion glyph to fake the footsteps Eda heard as well. That way Luz could get the drop on Eda and hopefully end this fight.

Luz quickly got to work using chalk to draw a flesh Abomination glyph with each hand while never taking her eyes off of Eda to know how much time she had until Eda started looking for her. Luz's eyes then widened in shock at what she saw, right as Eda made contact with the Luz clone and it vanished, a magical net came down upon Eda along with a torrent of Abomination goo from a Abomiton that then came into view, along with a dozen other coven stooges and another Abomiton. Luz grew enraged by the sight that unfolded before her, she quickly finished her glyphs and activated both creating three Abomination arms with each of them grabbing and throwing crate after crate at the coven guards and Abomitons, but the Abomitons quickly took action at the incoming threat and deployed shields to defend the coven guards. Luz quickly switched tactics and used a mist glyph to make some cover, then sent out a clone as a distraction and used the diversion to take to the air by using a ice glyph to send her rocketing into the air. From the air Luz had a clear line of sight and quickly unloaded a veritable thunderstorm of lightning bolts, with 4 hitting and utterly demolishing one of the Abomitons, three more stunned and knocked out 3 guards with the last Abomiton losing an arm and its shield breaking from the last 3 bolts. Luz then, with the last bit of air time she had, launched a blast of 6 ice spears making the remaining guards hide behind the still stunned Abomiton and others putting up a quick earth barrier.

Luz used a safety hover glyph to land safely and quickly put up a barrier, then she assessed Eda's current state and whether or not she was able to move after the beating she just took. Luz saw now that she was closer that the net on Eda was sending small electrical shocks to immobilize her. This meant her wings were likely too numb to allow her to fly. Luz was running through her remaining options, she could use her Time Alter glyph, but even if she took out all the guards here she's not physically strong enough to lift Eda up and get out of here, plus if she tried to wait for Eda to recover before they left, more coven guards could arrive and she'd be to spent at that point. Luz still had her last option, but it would involve letting herself be captured, still it was the quickest way to get Eda out, so Luz went down to her knees the second the barrier faded.

As soon as the coven guards didn't get another assault of attacks they moved in on Luz's position and cast a net over her. Eda was still conscious enough to see this and snapped more awake.

“Luz! Luz! What are you doing, I told you to run if this exact type of thing happens!” Eda said.

Luz closed her eyes briefly, then opened them.

“And I told you! Us weirdos have to stick together.” Luz said with a small smile.

As they’re both taken away Eda overheard some of the guards talking about how surprised they were that anyone short of Head Witch Darius could actually destroy an Abomiton like that. Hearing this brought a semblance of pride to Eda, not only that her kid did that, but that they weren't surprised of what she could do as a human, but in general.

Later, not long after Eda and Luz were thrown into a two person cell awaiting transport to the castle, Eda was taunting the coven guards still.

“You really couldn't just let me help? You couldn't have let me in on the plan?!” Luz asked, frustrated.

“There was never any plan!” Eda exclaimed.

Luz let out a surprised gasp. Eda let out a sad sigh and some tears threatened to leak from her eyes.

“We tried to reach out to any allies we still had left, but even those that were now against the coven system and the Emperor didn't want to risk being hunted down by signing up with me and Lilith, especially with me being most wanted again, along with Lilith, Hooty and you...there were never any final details we were waiting on, okay?” Eda said.

Luz was shocked, but she had to admit it definitely made sense why people were keeping their distance, even if she didn't like it. Even if this all proved Eda was right about Belos from the start. Luz took in a deep breath, and let it out.

“I'm sorry Eda, but don't worry, I've got a plan to break us out.” Luz said with a small smirk.

Eda smiled softly at Luz.

“Ya know, that's something that's very hard to not love about you, Luz. You always push on and move forward.” Eda said proudly.

Later…

As Eda and Luz were loaded into their prisoner transports and the doors were closed and locked, Luz quickly wasted no time and took off her left shoe and shook it until a folded piece of paper wrapped in plastic wrap fell out. Luz turned around and got on the floor and grabbed and unwrapped the paper. Then she carefully unfolded it, making sure not to activate it yet. Once unfolded it was revealed to be an audio illusion glyph. Luz focused her thoughts on what she wanted and activated the glyph, sending out a specific melody hidden within a sound frequency so high, only select animals and demons can hear it.

Meanwhile back at the cave hideout on the Knee…Boulder's ears suddenly flicked back and forth at hearing the signal Luz had mentioned. Boulder quickly started to get up and stretched before sniffing the air to pick up Luz's scent, once he got her scent he started off walking in Luz's direction before steadily getting faster and faster before he was full on running. Less than an hour later Luz's transport stopped, which was weird as by carriage it should take at least 3 to 4 hours to get to the Emperor’s castle.

‘Unless they were given orders to take us to the Conformatorium, in which case even better as Boulder should be here even sooner, and in general it’ll be easier to break out of the Conformatorium than the castle.’ Luz thought to herself.

As Luz hears movements outside of the transport door she keeps herself calm, she needs to immediately take in and see what she can make use of in her surroundings. The door unlocked and opened, Luz stepped out and let her eyes adjust to the influx of light. Once Luz's eyes adjusted she quickly sees that Eda's free and that Lilith, King, Hooty and Steve are here along with Raine and off to the side she can see Ebberwolf and Raine's Bat's.

Luz's mind worked overtime as she connected the dots, coming to the conclusion that Raine's team, along with Ebberwolf and presumably Darius, have formed a resistance. Before Eda could say much beyond Luz's name Luz started vocalizing her realizations.

“You guy's are the resistance!” Luz said eagerly.

Raine smiled at Luz’s quick mind, that and Eda’s instant shock.

“You catch on quick Luz, it's a pleasure to finally meet you, I've heard a lot about you.” Raine said.

As Raine talked Ebberwolf went over to Luz and chewed through her shackles.

“Thanks Raine, and thanks Ebberwolf.” Luz said.

Ebberwolf nodded.

“I must say, I expected you to come out of there kicking and screaming, guess Eda wasn’t talking tall tales when speaking highly of your intelligence.” Darius said, sitting atop the wagon Luz was just in.

“Thanks Dar-.” Luz trailed off as she saw Ebberwolf go on high alert. Then it hit her. Luz had forgotten that she’d called in reinforcements.

All of a sudden, Boulder came bulldozing his way through fungal growths that looked like giant boils. Luz quickly ran up to Boulder to calm him down.

“Easy there Boulder, everything's fine, these are all friends.” Luz said as she patted Boulder on the snout.

Boulder calmed down. Eda stared wide eyed.

“Holy Titan! How in the world did you get Boulder to come and find you?” Eda asked.

“Well, Boulder here actually has my scent memorized, and can track me by that alone. All I had to do was give him the signal that I told him I'd use. Which was a high frequency melody that I cast with an emergency audio illusion glyph I kept in my shoe.” Luz explained as she put her shoe back on.

Everyone who heard Luz's explanation was stunned and nearly had their jaws on the floor. King rushed over to Luz and jumped into her arms. Luz caught King and held him in a tight hug. Everyone else had gotten over their shock. Luz looked up at Raine.

“Wait, I thought the Emperor’s Coven captured you?” Luz asked.

“And then your memories got scrambled.” King said.

“I would have been, if Darius and Ebberwolf hadn’t gotten to me first.” Raine answered.

Darius spoke up.

“I thought I was the only one who found this Day of Unity stuff suspicious. When I heard Raine was causing trouble, I had a feeling they’d know more.” Darius explained as he got down from the wagon, walked over to Raine.

Darius smirked.

“You would’ve been locked away if it weren’t for me.” Darius said as he playfully elbowed Raine.

Raine rolled their eyes.

“And a little less bruised. You could’ve let me in on things before attacking me.” Raine complained.

Darius kept smirking.

“You’re a horrible actor. I had to make it look real.” Darius defended himself.

Raine groaned.

“This is just like Hexside.” Raine said.

Steve the former Coven Scout walked up to Lilith.

“Did you know any of this stuff when you were in charge?” Steve asked.

Lilith rubbed her chin in thought.

“I’m starting to think I wasn’t very, good at my job.” Lilith replied.

Eda walked up to Raine.

“Raine, why didn’t you tell me anything? I could’ve helped.” Eda asked.

Raine turned around to face Eda and rubbed the back of their neck sheepishly.

“Is it so unbelievable that I wanted to keep you safe?” Raine asked.

Eda was gobsmacked.

“But, in typical Eda fashion, you’re not gonna stop until you make things right.” Raine continued.

Eda smiled.

“I guess not.” Eda said.

Lilith walked over to Eda, smiling.

“Things aren’t hopeless. They have a plan to stop Belos and the Draining Spell.” Lilith said.

Luz let out a gasp as she stood up, still holding King.

“Really? Wait, wait. Before you get into that, please tell me you have a cool rebel name.” Luz asked in a hopeful tone.

Raine smirked.

“As a matter of fact. We do. Allow me to introduce…” Raine said.

“Wait. Hold on.” Darius said as he tried to get Raine to stop.

“The Covens Against the Throne.” Raine continued.

Darius was now rubbing his forehead.

“We talked about this. You promised.” Darius complained.

“AKA.” Raine continued with a sly smirk.

“I did not agree to this name!” Darius insisted.

“The CATS!” Raine finished.

The members of the original Bards Against the Throne then hissed like, well, like cats. Darius facepalmed in embarrassment and Luz smiled widely while pulling up her own cat ear hoodie.

“Everything’s come full circle, baby!” Luz said excitedly.

Later everyone was in CATS base, Luz, King and Eda were sitting on the bottom of a bunk bed. Darius and Raine were at a table reviewing aspects of their plan. Lilith was currently snuggled up with Hooty asleep on the floor. Eda pulled Francois out of a bag and handed him over to an excited King who eagerly held him in his arms.

“Francois!” King excitedly said as he held his stuffed bunny closed and spun around.

Luz smiled at the heartwarming scene. Eda turned her head to smile at Luz.

“You know, that was a pretty impressive trick you pulled on me back at the warehouse with the clones and the mist.” Eda said.

Luz smiled back at Eda.

“Thanks Eda, but really it was already a strategy I had planned out, but originally it was meant to be used against Ebberwolf.” Luz said.

Eda smirked.

“Ha! Well I've said it before and I'll say it again, you never cease to amaze and surprise me kiddo.” Eda said.

“To be fare, King helped me out a bit with some of my counter plans.” Luz said.

“Well when I'm always hanging around the smartest witch of the isles and the craftiest witch of the isles, I'm bound to pick up a thing or two.” King said gesturing to Luz and Eda.

Luz smiled down at King.

“Aw, thanks buddy.” Luz said.

Eda took a familiar box out of her hair and passed it to Luz.

“Anyways, here, figured now is as good a time as any.” Eda said.

Luz looked at the box labeled “Eda’s longest toenails”. Luz opened it to find, Palistrom wood, the same Palistrom wood that Eda and King had stolen from the Bonesburough Garden Club for her on Palisman Adoption Day when she didn’t get a Palisman of her own. Luz looked up at Eda.

“You think I’m ready?” Luz asked, slightly unsure herself.

Eda smiled.

“Without a doubt kid. Here let's get it situated so that it's level and on a stable surface, and remember take your time, you got this.” Eda said as she got to work on helping Luz carve her Palisman.

Everything else could wait for now.

Meanwhile at the Emperor’s Castle…

Kikimora approached Emperor Belos, who had just petrified another guard for bringing him more bad news, and was looking over the latest numbers for sigil branding.

“My lord, will it be an issue if a lot less people attend the Day of Unity?” Kikimora asked.

Belos looked up from the scroll tablet.

“Hmmm. Ah fear not Kiki, for their attendance does not really matter, no. What really matters is how many are actually branded, for you see the magic of the Day of Unity will reach every Witch branded, regardless of distance.” Belos answered.

“So then how are things effected by Glandus now joining Hexside in not letting us brand their students?” Kikimora asked as she looked at former Glandus student Bria Jones's Penstagram feed, showing her along with dozens of Hexside students with unbranded wrists, and some photos even showing their triumph over Coven Guards. Bria, being a former Glandus student seemed to have held more weight as she was being followed by tons of Glandus students who followed Hexside's example.

Belos growled in frustration.

“This complicates things unnecessarily. Send more Coven Guards out to brand as many as possible!” Belos ordered.

Kikimora bowed.

“It will be done at once, my lord.” Kikimora said before leaving the room.

Belos sat down upon his throne and grinned to himself. Soon the Day of Unity would come. Soon his sacred holy mission would be complete. Soon he would triumph over these vile Witches. Soon he would return home and be hailed as a hero. Philip Wittebane, Witch Hunter General and savior of Humanity.

To be Continued…

Chapter Text

Belos watched as an Abomiton attached a tube to the portal. It was then bathed in a golden glow, signaling that the portal was ready. Belos looked Dow at the portal key around his neck, there was just enough Titan’s Blood left for at least one trip through. The Collector appeared.

“You nervous? You haven’t been home in, like, how many hundreds of years? What if it’s all changed? What if you’ve changed? You got so used to eating Palisman, you can hardly maintain your human shape anymore.” The Collector taunted.

Belos launched out his fist at the Collector’s shadow, the Collector dodged.

“Ya know I wonder what that other human, what was her name again....oh right, Luz! Yeah I wonder what she could tell you about what the Human Realm is like today?” The Collector proposed.

“I can’t wait to be free from this prison! There are so many games I wanna play. If we need a third player, we could make another Grimwalker.” The Collector said.

Belos turned and began walking away.

“No, not until I deal with this one first.” Belos said.

The Collector grew impatient.

“Just free me already! You promised!” The Collector whined.

Belos just kept walking.

“The Draining Spell must work first, like you promised.” Belos retorted.

“You need to have more faith in pinky swears.” The Collector.

“Don’t worry Collector, your patience will be well rewarded. The Day of Unity is about to begin.” Belos said.

Meanwhile…

Luz looked down at her tamagotchi in worry. Amity had sent her a message, but it was incomplete, which made Luz concerned for her girlfriend. Eda walked up to Luz and looked at the message.

“What kinda language is that?” Eda asked, referring to the emojis.

“It’s the language of love, Eda. But it’s not finished, it just says, “Grounded. Come quick,” and then nothing.” Luz explained.

King walked over carrying a wooden box over his head.

“Special delivery.” King said as he set the box down on a bench and took something out of it.

It was an actual Coven Scout mask. The box was full of them.

“Ooh.” Luz said.

Lilith pumped her fists.

“Disguises, yes! A milestone of malfeasance in my new life of crime!” Lilith said excitedly.

“This is just a trick to get me to wear clothes. Well, it won’t work!” Hooty declared.

King wanted to be helpful and spoke up.

“Anything else I can do? Grab some tea? Defeat some baddies? Create sentient life? I am after all a Tita-.” King was saying but was cut off by Eda who put her hand over his mouth.

“Totally frightened? Yeah, me too pal.” Eda spoke over with a snort.

Eda then knelt down to King’s level and whispered to him.

“I know you wanna help, but we gotta keep this stuff a secret between us five for now. You may be a Titan, but you’re still a little guy.” Eda reasoned.

King was a little bummed out at that. Darius then walked over.

“Alright, let’s get this briefing over with.” Darius said.

Everyone then walked over to the center table where the other resistance members were sitting. On the table there was a map of the Day of Unity ceremony location.

“Okay, we have 24 hours until the Day of Unity begins and Belos activates the Draining Spell.” Raine said.

Darius then spoke up.

“And everyone on the Boiling Isles is taken out in one fell swoop.” Darius said while he pushed some red character pieces of the board.

Raine and Ebberwolf gave him looks.

“Well, not everyone. The spell targets those with Coven Sigils, using the nine types of magic as ingredients for the spell itself. It’s channeled through each of the Coven Heads during the duration of the eclipse.” Raine explained.

“So, what’s the plan? Do we hide one of you?” Lilith asked.

Raine shook their head.

“We can’t count on that after my stunt with the bats.” Raine said.

“Belos made sure we all have replacements.” Darius elaborated.

Luz was taking notes of the entire plan, to try and see if there were any flaws in it.

“We can’t stop the Draining Spell, but we can corrupt it. That’s where the Owl Lady comes in.” Darius said as he gestured to Eda.

Eda blinked for a second.

“Huh?” Eda exclaimed.

Darius groaned.

“The curse, Eda.” Darius said.

Eda’s eyes widened in realization as she recalled what happened during the fake battle between Raine, Darius and Ebberwolf.

“That’s right. my curse warps magic. Huh? Did quite a number on you two, if I remember correctly.” Eda said as pointed at Darius and Ebberwolf.

Darius crossed his arms.

“You remember incorrectly. I was completely unfazed.” Darius proclaimed.

Ebberwolf then hissed at Darius which startled him. Darius then collected himself and drew a spell circle which produced small little Abomination figures on the table, these figures were shaped like specific people.

“Eda would have to sneak into the tower, and here’s how. I’ll control a pair of Abominations to release Ebberwolf’s flesh-eating beetles into the crowd. It will create a distraction so big, we can get Eda up with the Coven Heads. The spell will halt when it comes in contact with the curse, and the day will be saved. No problem” Darius explained the plan.

Everyone looked on as small little Abomination beetles attack and destroyed the Abomination crowd members. Then they looked up at Darius with raised eyebrows.

“What? Only a few people would get eaten. Even then, just the small ones.” Darius reasoned.

Raine then spoke up.

“If we must do this, the safest bet is to have Eda tap into the spell by taking someone’s place as Coven Head. My place. Sigil and all.” Raine declared.

Eda gasped at the implications. Darius then spoke up.

“As Head Bard, you’d also be flanked by me and Ebber, where we can keep an eye on the others.” Darius added.

Lilith stood up.

“Why are we acting like Edalyn’s the only one with a curse here? Please, let me do this as a-.” Lilith said but Eda quickly shot the idea down.

“No. You haven’t had your curse for that long. You don’t know how it would react. But I do.” Eda said as she looked downward.

But Eda then stood up with a smirk.

“And how can I say no to sticking it to Belos one final time? Not only that, but I got the Raine Whispers watching out for me.” Eda said as she gestured to Raine.

One of the resistance members stood up.

“Heck yes, Owl Lady!” She said.

Everyone else stood up and cheered for Eda. But Luz was going over her notes of the plan. There needed to be contingency plans in place in case something went south.

‘Belos probably already knows of our plan. If he knows our plan he will plan around our plan. So I shall in turn plan around the plan that he’s planning around our plan!’ Luz thought to herself.

When others got up from the table and began preparing to execute the plan. Luz pulled Raine and Lilith to the side.

“Lilith, were you serious when you said you’d be willing to take Eda’s place as a stand in for Raine?” Luz asked quietly, making sure that no one else was listening.

“Of course I was.” Lilith said.

Luz nodded.

“Good, because I think the Emperor might be onto us, so as a countermeasure, Lilith, you will put on a concealment stone to disguise yourself as Raine, only after Eda goes out of sight to join the others, and Raine, you will wear a concealment stone to look like Lilith at the same time as Lilith puts her’s on. This way, when they see that the Raine up there isn't the real you, they'll find what they think is the real you in Lilith in her disguise and leave you alone. Also for good measure give Eda a fake sigil.” Luz said.

Raine and Lilith both blinked for a second. Luz’s back up plan was logical and could work.

“Wow, that's quite devious, are you sure you're not Eda’s biological daughter?” Raine asked with a smile.

Luz snorted.

“No, but I have picked up some things from her.” Luz said. 

Later…

Luz and King stood on the balcony, watching as a fleet of airships passed by. Luz was deep in thought as she looked at her tamagotchi message from Amity. King was about to say something until Eda walked onto the balcony holding Luz’s Witch’s wool cape, along with something else.

“There you are. Look what I got.” Eda said as she pulled out, a green egg.

Luz had carved the Palistrom wood into an egg.

“The coat’s finally dry. I thought you’d carve something cute like a tarantula.” Eda said as she passed the egg to Luz with a small chuckle.

“Why an egg?” Eda asked.

Luz smiled down at the egg and then looked up at Eda, still smiling.

“I got to decide what my future looked like when I chose to be a witch, and I want them to have that option too.” Luz answered.

Luz paused.

“Until then, I’m willing to wait.” Luz added.

Eda patted Luz on the head, she was proud of the kid.

“Try to play them music sometime. They can hear you.” Eda advised.

Luz turned around and held the egg close.

“I love you already.” Luz said as she planted a quick kiss on the egg.

Eda leaned against the balcony guard rail and sighed.

“Can you believe I gotta pretend to be a Coven Head?” Eda asked.

Luz was having concerned thoughts. She was concerned for Eda, that was why she proposed the back up plan to Lilith and Raine.

“Eda, are you sure you want to do this?” Luz asked.

Eda scoffed.

“Of course I don’t. You know, even before the curse, I couldn’t stand covens. Only a select few can learn about different types of magic. I made no sense. But, if it’s the only way to stop this, then I’m gonna do it.” Eda answered.

Eda then spotted Luz looking down at her tamagotchi. Eda then smirked.

“But as exciting as saving the world sounds, it’s not nearly as romantic as going on a rescue mission to save your girlfriend.” Eda said with a motherly smile.

Luz’s eyes widened and she turned her head to look at Eda.

“I never said I was gonna-.” Luz was saying before Eda cut her off.

“Ooh, but you wanna. It’s written all over your face.” Eda said with a chuckle.

“Of course I want to, but I also wanna be there for you.” Luz said.

“Hey, us adults can handle ourselves. Tell bossy boots I said, “Yo.” Eda said.

King then spoke up while grabbing Eda’s hair to pull her face towards his, a serious look on his face.

“Stop talking like that. This isn’t goodbye. I command it!” King ordered.

Eda smiled at King.

“We’ll see each other after the Day of Unity.” Eda said as she pulled Luz and King closer.

“If we succeed.” Luz muttered.

“When we succeed.” Eda affirmed.

“We have the advantage, after all. We’ve got King the Titan and Luz the Human on our side. Legends in the making!” Eda proudly boasted.

Luz smirked.

“Don’t forget Eda the Owl Lady.” Luz added.

“Already a legend, and the most horrifying one of them all.” King declared.

Eda then tickled King on his tummy, making him giggled, Eda and Luz giggled as well and they shared and embrace.

“So, you two protect each other, and we’ll be back together before you know it.” Eda reassured as she put the cape on King.

Raine then walked onto the balcony, followed by Lilith.

“Eda, let’s get moving.” Raine said.

Eda then walked inside. Luz then walked up to Raine and Lilith.

“Remember the back up plan.” Luz whispered.

Raine and Lilith nodded in confirmation. The three of them then walked inside where everyone was gathered around the meeting table.

“The next 24 hours are going to be rough. But everyone knows their part, and I’m confident we’ll succeed. Because we are the Covens Against the Throne.” Raine declared.

Darius then put his hands up, he knew what Raine was gonna do next.

“Wait. Can we please not make this our battle cry?” Darius pleaded.

“AKA the CATS!” Raine continued.

Everyone other then Darius hissed like cats, Darius facepalmed and groaned.

“Oh, Titan, help.” Darius groaned.

King heard that and muttered to himself.

“I’ll do my best.” King muttered, slightly unsure.

Later…

Eda had boarded and airship with Raine. Luz and King were currently on the staff of a Witch named Katya, she was flying them down to the ground. They stopped in the forest, a few inches off the ground.

“What's with the early drop off, we meeting up with someone?” Luz asked.

Katya then pushed Luz and King off the staff gently. The both of them landed on their feet.

“Yeah, security escort, I'm sure you'll like them.” Katya said.

Luz smiled.

“Cool, me and King can always use backup, any guesses?” Luz asked.

Katya smirked.

“Sorry Luz, that's a surprise.” Katya said as she flew off.

A familiar voice then spoke.

“So who’s being who’s backup, Luz?” Willow asked.

Luz turned around to see Willow and Gus. Luz smiled and ran over to them, pulling them into a hug.

“Willow, Gus! I'm so glad to see you both, how are things at Hexside and where's Hunter?” Luz asked.

Hunter came in walking around a bush after letting Luz reunite with Willow and Gus and now having a great opening to step in. 

“I'm here, don't worry, Darius told us you were going on a rescue mission for Amity and he thought it best for us to back you up, not just for support, but to also take out the Emperor’s source of Abomitons.” Hunter said.

Gus then spoke up.

“That and he didn't want to fully go until we heard and joined in.” Gus added as he looked at Hunter with a smirk.

Gus then turned to look at Luz.

“Also I hope you don't mind Luz, but if you could hold on for a few minutes, Bria should be back at any moment.” Gus said.

“Back, where did she go?” Luz asked.

Willow spoke up.

“Bria said she needed to go back home real quick and grab her Palisman.” Willow answered.

Luz nodded.

“So...Bria is part of the Hexsqaud, cool, but how come she couldn't have just summoned her Palisman like I've seen you guy's do?” King asked.

“Well we all have a pouch on us that can act as compressed storage space, it's not infinite but has plenty of space to store your Palisman, some clothes and other random possessions like are scrolls and lunchboxes. It actually works by using a recycled shrinking and unshrinking spell system to store all of it, but Bria left hers at home so she had to go back and grab her's.” Gus answered.

King blinked for a second as he took that in.

“Huh, I guess that explains Eda's hair holding so much stuff.” King said to himself.

Suddenly Bria’s voice called out.

“Hey guys! Hey Luz and King!” Bria called out.

Everyone looked up to see Bria flying towards them on a Palisman staff. Bria landed and Luz walked over to her with a smile. The Palisman itself was a beaver.

“Hey Bria, it's good to see you again and it's nice to have you with us for this mission. Also I saw through Eda's Penstagram how much of an impact your posts made for your old school, Glandus, rival school or not it's important that everyone takes some sorta stand against the Emperor’s Coven.” Luz said as she and Bria shook hands.

Bria smiled back.

“Thanks Luz, I appreciate it, oh! Also let me introduce you all to my Palisman, Timber.” Bria said as Timber went from staff form to animal form and climbed up to sit on Bria's right shoulder, slightly wagging his tail side to side, happy to meet new people and Palisman.

Luz was gushing over how cute the little beaver was.

“Awww! He’s so adorable, and what a cute name too!” Luz said.

Bria scratched the top of Timber’s head, Timber enjoyed this.

“Thanks, he was my mother's Palisman before she passed away. Since then he's been dormant since until a few weeks back, for some reason he chose me after all this time.” Bria said.

Gus had a saddened look. He could sympathize with Bria having lost his mom a while back. Gus came and put a comforting hand on Bria's shoulder, opposite of the one Timber was sitting on, and smiled in a comforting manner when she turned to look at him. Luz smiled at how well Gus and Bria seemed to be getting along, Luz had a feeling that, if given the chance, Bria would be able to become good friends with Gus, kinda similar to how Gus and Hunter did. Speaking of after Gus and Hunter had their little bro moment Luz asked for Hunter's assistance in setting up the teleportation glyph array to get them to the Blight manor property quicker.

“So...Hunter how are doing after everything? You know with finding out that..you're..a.” Luz trailed off as she whispered to Hunter.

Hunter looked over his shoulder to see if anyone was listening. He then looked back at Luz.

“A Grimmwalker? Of Belos/Philip’s older brother, Caleb?” Hunter whispered.

“Yeah…that.” Luz said.

Hunter sighed.

“To be honest, I'm just trying to get through it one day at a time, also thanks for not posting those pictures of the memories that showed Caleb, it wouldn't have taken much thinking for someone observant as Gus to connect the dots.” Hunter thanked Luz.

Luz smiled softly at Hunter.

“Don't sweat it, though I do wonder, when are you going to tell them?” Luz asked.

“Well, when are you going to tell them you helped Belos when he was still Philip?” Hunter asked back with narrow eyes.

Luz glared at Hunter for a moment before looking back at the glyph array she was nearly finished with. Hunter sighed.

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean for that to come off as harsh or mean Luz, I know that's quite a bit.” Hunter apologized.

Luz sighed.

“To be honest Hunter, I think I've come more to grips with it than I would've normally and not long after I encountered Philip in the past I did tell Amity and later Willow and Gus about the details of the encounter, so either they've put it together on their own, or will once we get more relax time to collect our thoughts. Either way, given the way time travel seems to work it seems like him finding The Collector and eventually learning the light glyph were inevitable facts of time, I can't really explain it, but if I wasn't the one to show him the light glyph it still would've happened somehow.” Luz said.

Hunter smiled at Luz then looked down at the glyph array.

“Well that's a lot more of a mature way of looking at it than I think most in your shoes would, but then again, you do keep on surprising me and everyone else.” Hunter said.

Luz’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.

“Don't get me wrong, I'm still beating myself up on the whole thing, but that's something for later, right now I gotta keep pushing forward.” Luz said as she stood back up, now fully completing the glyph array.

Luz then called out to the others.

“Alright everyone, get in the circle but make sure not to touch the actual lines, otherwise you could activate it prematurely.” Luz said.

Everyone got assembled within the glyph array.

“Alright before I activate this, Gus, I need you to cast an invisibility spell over all of us and hold it until we get our bearings and can get to cover, okay?” Luz said.

Gus nodded.

“On it Luz!” Gus said as he quickly made a spell circle, keeping it holstered on his right wrist as he cast the Invisibility spell over everyone.

“Alright, it’s done, you’r good to go Luz.” Gus said.

Luz nodded.

“Right. Alright everyone, brace yourselves!” Luz said as she knelt down and activated the glyph array, sending them all away to Blight manor in a flash of fiery light.

When they arrived the disturbance their arrival made drew the attention of a couple of coven guards. Luckily everyone was perfectly concealed by Gus's spell. Luz and Hunter quickly assessed their surroundings and directed everyone to behind some hedges to which Willow quickly made a bit bigger and thicker to be sure they were fully hidden. Once behind the hedges Gus dropped the illusion then used another spell to make the movements of the hedges look like the results of some small squirrel like demons foraging. Once they were in the clear everyone exhaled a breath they weren't aware they were holding.

“Good thinking Luz suggesting Gus make us invisible, and quicker thinking on your part Gus making a diversion with those demon squirrels.” Bria complimented while whispering.

“Thanks Bria, but now, let's see what else is here.” Gus said as he took out and used his recently acquired magic amplifier to reveal the coven guard keeping a mass concealment illusion going to hide the rest of the coven guards.

“Nice catch Gus. Now, let’s get to work.” Willow said with a smirk.

Willow cracked her knuckles as she drew spell circle, which produced several vines that popped out of the ground around the coven guard, incapacitating them before they could even make a sound. Meanwhile Hunter and Bria quickly despatch a dozen other guards before they even fully realize that the illusion spell is down using shock and aw tactics to make quick work of them. Willow also took out an Abomiton and Gus distracted two other Abomitons with illusions while Luz slammed them into each other with a couple of magnetic glyphs, then crumbled them to dust with a couple of petrification glyphs.

Now Luz had a clear shot up to Amity. Luz used a plant glyph to get herself up to the balcony to Amity’s room, it also happened to produce flowers over the door. Luz took a deep breath before opening the door. Luz saw Amity talking with her siblings Emira and Edric.

“She’d probably say something smart and endearing at the same time. Like how I can’t get myself down and that I have to keep moving forward, and not let anything get it the way till we finally go on a real date.” Amity said.

Emira and Edric had caught sight of Luz who was in awe and smirked. Luz shook herself back to focus and spoke up.

“Wow, that does sound like something I would say.” Luz said.

Amity turned around to see Luz and ran towards her, smiling.

“Luz!” Amity called out.

Luz ran toward Amity.

“Sweat Potato!” Luz called out.

The two lovers embraced each other. They looked into each other’s eyes, the both of them still smiling.

“I promise to take you out when this is all over. No monsters, no shenanigans, no life or death situations. It’ll be the most mundane slice of life date ever, and it’ll be awesome.” Luz said.

Amity smiled at Luz and blushed.

“I know.” Amity said adoringly.

Amity put her hands on Luz’s cheeks and pulled her in for a kiss. Luz’s eyes widened in surprise at the action, though it was not an unwelcome surprise. The two of them separated the kiss, both of their eyes wide, their faces red. Luz chuckled.

“Crikey.” Luz said.

“I can’t believe I just did that.” Amity said.

Luz then got embarrassed, why did she say “Crikey”? Of all things, why that?

“I can’t believe I just said that. Ugh, Crikey, why did I say that? Come on Luz be cool next time.” Luz said.

Amity chuckled at her girlfriend’s antics. They were part of the many things she loved about Luz the most. Amity then thought about her parents.

“Luz, I don’t think my parents know what they’re helping Belos accomplish. Will you help me tell them about the Draining Spell?” Amity asked.

Luz got over her embarrassment and smiled at Amity.

“Of course, that’s why we’re here.” Luz said.

“We?” Amity asked.

Luz turned around and gestured for Amity to follow her. Amity followed Luz to the balcony and looked down to see the rest of the squad. Luz turned her head and smiled at Amity.

Later…

The squad peeked out of bush, they were outside of the Blight Industries factory. The plan was to get inside and sabotage the factory to cut off Belos’s supply of Abomitons. Gus drew a spell circle, he and the others were then dressed as coven scouts. The others began walking, except Luz, King and Bria stayed behind. Luz knelt down to King.

“King, listen, I know it might seem like I'm leaving you out of this to protect you, but that's not it.

“Weh?” King exclaimed.

“King, I need you out here with Bria to act as our rescue backup, after what Amity mentioned on the way over here about Kikimora being here, it makes me uneasy.” Luz said.

“Why? I know you can kick her butt.” King asked.

Luz sighed.

“Kikimora always seems to be unpredictable, even at the best of times.” Luz answered.

“Like you?” King said.

“Kinda, but in a different way, the point is, I need you and Bria at the ready to blow a hole in the side of the main building to act as a distraction, to help create chaos so we can break out if worse comes to worse.” Luz said.

King saluted.

“You can count on me.” King said.

Luz walked over to Bria and whispered to her.

“Bria, while what I told King is true, don't let him make the move to break us out until I give the signal, until then don't worry if King wanders, he has a knack for helping out in just the right way.” Luz said.

Bria nodded.

“Don't worry Luz, you can count on me but...uh...what's the signal gonna be?” Bria asked.

Luz smirked.

“Don’t worry, you can’t miss it.” Luz answered.

Luz walked off to rejoin the others. They began looking around for Alador, and try to find a way to shut down production of the Abomitons. When they reached the personal workshop reserved for Alador, inside all they found was a bunch of food wrappers as any indication that someone was ever there. 

“Damn, just my dad's Palisman, Remey, though that at least means he's not far, he never goes far without him.” Amity said.

Meanwhile…

King and Bria were outside. King sat down and heard a voice in his head. A familiar, childish voice. The Collector.

“He’s my friend, right? He wouldn’t lie to me, he wouldn’t! W-We spent hundreds of years playing, his, game. I wanna play a new game.” The Collector said.

“Weh?!” King exclaimed.

King stood up and looked around frantically. He then spotted something on the floor. An empty snack food bag. A whole trail of empty snack food bags. King looked over to Bria.

“Hey Bria, I'm gonna go investigate something, come come find me if you get the signal, okay?” King said.

Bria gave King a thumbs up.

“Sure thing little buddy.” Bria said.

Back with Luz and the others…

The Hexsquad exited Alador’s office, only to be confronted by Odalia.

“What are you all doing over here? This area is restricted to staff personnel only.” Odalia asked sternly.

Luz quickly thought of an excuse. She stepped forward and spoke up.

“We’re on the lookout for any suspicious individuals as we just received reports of hysterical citizens breaking into various weapons businesses to arm themselves and some unknown people have been spotted just outside of Blight Industries property.” Luz lied.

Odalia narrowed her eyes.

“Hmmmmmm, and why am I just now hearing about this?” Odalia asked.

“Our captain said he was going to tell you and for us to search the factory's main building immediately”. Luz said.

Just for good measure Luz got out and activated an audio glyph behind her back, making it sound like there were the sounds of people rummaging around off in the distance. This drew Odalia's attention away before she turned back to them.

“Very well then hurry and secure the building, I'll not have crazed witches and demons stealing my company products!” Odalia ordered.

Luz and the others saluted.

“Yes ma’m!” Luz said.

Meanwhile…

King sat with Alador Blight on a swing made of Abomination goo. Alador held out a bag of potato chips and King took a handful. Alador had apparently been stress eating, with Odalia being the main source of his stress. He was currently venting out all of his frustrations through conversation for a while now.

“And was that the last of it? Of course not.” Alador said before chewing and swallowing more chips.

“While I was recovering from the fire flu, she fired half my team and expected us to continue working at the same time. Did I mention I haven’t had a weekend off in 5 years?” Alador said before he sneeze, with small flames shooting from his nose.

“Sorry, fire flu side effects.” Alador apologized.

Alador sighed.

“I-I don’t mean to vent. I-I should let you return to your duties.” Alador said.

King finished munching on the chips Alador had given him and spoke up.

“The Emperor’s Coven, uh, requires I take a meal break, so, uh-No worries?” King said.

Alador gave a lighthearted chuckle.

“Sounds like I joined the wrong coven.” Alador said.

Alador looked at the sky.

“This is a big night. I-I should feel accomplished, but none of this feels right.” Alador said as he tore up the empty potato chip bag.

Alador looked over at King.

“Do you have kids, Mr. Scout?” Alador asked.

“No, I don't, though I do have an older sister and a mom.” King answered.

Alador smiled sadly.

“Yeah, I unfortunately never had any siblings, so I haven't been able to give any useful advice to my kids, not that I've been able to spend as much time with them as I would like.” Alador said.

Alador sigh heavily before gaining a determined look.

“But that's all going to change after the Day of Unity, I'm going to be a better father!” Alador declared.

King rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

“Oh boy, uh, you haven't been looking at your Penstagram lately, have you?” King asked.

Alador raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Yeah, let's just say there's not going to be an after to the Day of Unity.” King said.

Off in the distance Bria was keeping a watch on King, smiling at the difference King made all on his own.

“Yeah Luz, you were definitely right, King has his own ways.” Bria said to herself.

Meanwhile with the Hexsquad…

Back inside the factory, Luz and the Hexsqaud were busy trying to disable Abomiton production line when all the sudden they heard a voice.

“You five don't look familiar, I ferried all the coven guards here myself while doing order pick ups, I thought it useless busywork but it looks like it's paid off!” Kikimora said madly.

Luz took notice, well it was really hard to notice, that Kikimora was piloting an Abomiton mech, Luz may or may not have broke into the Blight Industries files with Amity’s help and saw the blueprints for this particular device. It was going to be incredibly hard to deal with.

“Run!” Luz exclaimed.

The group made a mad dash for the exit but a couple of dormant Abomitons beside the doorway, that were thought to just be for show, suddenly moved on the fleeing Hexsqaud, everyone stopped in such a hurry that Gus bumped into Amity and fell backwards, losing his focus and dropping his spell revealing everyone.

“Well, well, well. Looks like today really is my lucky day, in more ways than one.” Kikimora said evilly as she looked at the group, specifically Hunter.

Luz quickly assessed their options, they’re surrounded by five Abomitons, Odalia who is probably the easiest to deal with if push comes to shove but then there's the Abomitron, a mech with possible flight capabilities, energy cannon on its hand that and probably has who knows what other functions, piloted by the biggest pain in the ass imp demon on the Boiling Isles, Kikimora. Then Luz caught sight of Bria in a window, meaning they still have their plan B.

‘We might have more opportunities to try and convince Odalia if she thinks were contained and not a threat, risky but still worth the shot.’ Luz thought to herself.

So Luz stood down, with Amity and the other's following her example.

Later…

Everyone was outside, an airship was parked, there were several Abomiton guards. Luz and the others were trapped inside a pink magical sphere while their hands were confined by Abomination goo. Kikimora piloted the Abomitron to walk up to Odalia.

“Odalia, is my airship ready?” Kikimora asked.

“Just about, and I found two adorable little stowaways trying to steal it.” Odalia said with a smirk as an Abomiton walked over holding Emira and Edric in each hand, the twins struggling against the grip but to no avail.

Amity’s eyes widened.

“Emira! Edric!” Amity called out, worried for her siblings.

“Oh don't worry they'll be just fine, just grounded, guarded by maximum security.” Odalia said.

“Ha! As if that will really make a difference, clearly your idea of security is a joke!” Luz said.

“Don't you get it? You're helping in the mass genocide of our people, our species!” Amity pleaded.

Odalia scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“Really, Mittens I’m tired of all this-.” Odalia trailed off.

“Yeah, sure.” Luz muttered with a snort.

“Sneaking around in disguises, convincing the twins to act out-.” Odalia continued.

“Hardly needed any convincing at all, not that you'd know.” Luz muttered.

“Are you trying to make me look bad?” Odalia asked Amity.

Amity glared at her mother.

“Ha! Trying, I don't have to try to do anything to make you look bad, you do a pretty good job at that all on your own, the history books will remember you, the power hungry Odalia Blight, too stupid to see when she's being played despite the evidence!” Amity said.

Luz jumped in to back up her girlfriend.

“Besides, She's trying to actually help you, not that you seem to deserve it.” Luz said.

Odalia glared at Luz.

“Hush, brat.” Odalia demanded.

“Make me!” Luz countered.

“And don’t you dare talk to my girlfriend like that!” Amity yelled.

Odalia was slightly taken aback by that.

“Girlfriend? Oh no no no, that won't do.” Odalia said as she summoned a wanted poster of Luz and tore it in half.

“We’ll find you a new girlfriend one that's not on wanted posters being hunted by the Emperor’s coven.” Odalia said snobbishly.

Amity felt her anger rising even more.

“I don't give a shit what you think, and I certainly don't care that Luz is wanted by the Emperor’s coven, I'll take them all on if they come for her!” Amity declared as her magic flared up and her own Abomination restraints shifted into an Abomination gauntlet and she punched the barrier, it still held strong.

Odalia sighed and rubbed her forehead.

“Really, you’re only embarrassing yourself.” Odalia said.

“That's rich coming from you, you can’t even hold us without your Abomitons, which you didn't even make yourself.” Luz said.

Amity kept punching the barrier. While Amity kept Odalia distracted, Luz looked over to see how Hunter was putting up with Kikimora, Titan knows he needs the support.

“I aways knew you were rotten to the core-.” Kikimora said before Hunter cut her off.

“Coming from you that's rich, Luz told me about how easily you were tricked into casting away your own family for a promotion that wasn't even real.” Hunter said.

Kikimora got angry.

“The promotion was real!” Kikimora replied with a huff.

“You mean the one where Terra Snapdragon said that you get to live? Yeah that's really worth throwing away your family for.” Hunter said sarcastically.

Kikimora’s eye twitched.

“You're one to talk! You abandoned your uncle!” Kikimora exclaimed.

Hunter glared at her.

“No, I ran away from someone who was going to kill me, a move you should've made but didn't.” Hunter said.

As Luz observed their verbal sparring she could easily tell that Hunter's comments were easily getting under Kikimora's skin, it seemed as if she wasn't as needed as she thought, but then.

“Hmmmm. Belos will probably snap you in two like a twig when I deliver you to him, maybe he'll even make me his new right hand.” Kikimora said.

Luz could quickly see the impact that made on Hunter and stepped in to help him out.

“Leave him alone! You sniveling little pest! Honestly, I can see why Belos wouldn't have ever promoted a pathetic little welp like you. You have no one that earnestly wants to be under your command, you have no charisma unlike Lilith and Hunter and ya know, now that I think about it, every time I've seen you outside of the castle you've always been riding or sitting on something that does all the work for you, let's see there's your hand dragon, Princess, the Abomiton's and now it's this Abomitron, you're incapable of doing anything on your own.” Luz said.

Luz could see how much her words struck a deep nerve in Kikimora. Kiki's brow furrows in intense anger and frustration over Luz's words.

“Hmmm. I'm surprised you're here human, aren't all your friends about to meet their end at the Day of Unity?” Kikimora asked.

Luz let out a fake gasp of surprise.

“That's right the Emperor has eyes everywhere and there all pointed at the Owl Lady ha ha ha.” Kikimora laughed as she walked off.

Meanwhile Luz just kept the up her look of fake surprise for a few more seconds before dropping it. Luz turned to Hunter.

“Don't worry Hunter I got your back.” Luz said.

Hunter smiled.

“Thanks Luz.” Hunter said.

Luz the walked over to Gus.

“Gus, it's looking like Kikimora is gonna try and bring Hunter to Belos, obviously we can't let that happen, and I'm betting Belos is going to be leaving for the human realm soon, and if we wanna be sure that we stop the draining spell for sure, we either have to make him stop it, or better yet, you go through his memories and find out how we can do it ourselves.” Luz whispered.

“But what about the main plan and the back up you told us about with Lilith?” Gus asked with a whisper.

“Those may be enough, but it never hurts to attack from both angles. Besides at best the modification of the plan with Lilith will only delay the draining spell from fully going off for a bit before the coven heads make the correction, especially now that we know the Emperor is onto us, but with a frontal assault we keep him preoccupied long enough for you guy's to catch up and help subdue him long enough for you to do your thing.” Luz reasoned with a whisper.

“Alright, if you're sure about this, plus it will save Hunter from Belos, what do you have in mind?” Gus asked with a whisper.

Luz looked over her shoulder to see if anyone was listening to them before she turned back to Gus.

“When there's a big enough distraction, cast an illusion of Hunter over me and an illusion of me over Hunter, that way Kikimora will take me directly to Belos. Also I'll need your to explain my plan to the others.” Luz instructed with a whisper.

Gus sighed.

“Alright.” Gus whispered.

Luz, after talking with Gus, saw Bria outside the barrier, hidden yet still keeping a watch on them for the signal, Luz made eye contact with her and gave her a nod as if to say “get ready” and Bria nodded back. Luz then went back to Amity's side to give her motivation to push on forward and break through the barrier.

“Keep going! You got this Batata!” Luz cheered.

Amity smirked at hearing Luz cheer her on. As Amity was drawing back her arm for another punch Alador and King approached the Hexsqaud from inside the factory warehouse King was on Alador's shoulder.

“Wait.” King said.

“What?” Alador asked.

King pointed at Amity.

“Wait until  after she breaks through the barrier to intervene, I think she really needs this.” King said.

Alador nodded his head and went back to watching for the right moment to intervene. Meanwhile Amity was about to punch the barrier again, though this time she felt her magical energy surge and amplify her striking power which was seen through her eyes glowing with her Abomination magic to the point where she actually broke through the barrier.

“What?!” Odalia exclaimed in shock.

Amity was surprised at the feat she just performed.

“Wow, I did it.” Amity said.

Luz smiled at Amity.

“You did it!” Luz said.

Alador took out his master control remote and pressed a button, then everyone’s restraints melted.

“Okay, that wasn’t me.” Amity said.

Alador then spoke up.

“No, it was me! With the power of science! Also great job sweetheart.” Alador said with a smile.

Odalia glared at her husband.

“Alador, what is then meaning of this?!” Odalia demanded.

“The Emperor is using our Abomitons to forcibly brand people against their will for the Day of Unity, which will kill everyone branded through a draining spell and we’re helping him do it!” Alador explained.

Odalia looks completely unfazed as if some gardener had just told her the hedges were trimmed. Alador could tell she wasn't the least bit surprised.

“You knew? This whole time?!” Alador demanded.

By that point Odalia was just casually checking her nails as if discussing the weather. 

“What he does with our products is none of our business, keeping our family on top is.” Odalia said.

Alador's brow furrowed in rage and anger with his complexion burning red with rage his eyes flash with his Abomination magic as his magic rippled through the air making the nearby Abomitons Abomination matter ripple.

“This is too much, even for you.” Alador said.

Alador pressed a button on the master control remote to shut down the nearby Abomitons. Odalia grabbed her bolo pendant and summoned an Oracle spirit to go and grab the remote from Alador, once Alador started using the remote to turn the Abomitons on her but Alador quickly summoned a Abomination drone to counter Odalia's spirit which was then locked via their arms in a stalemate. That was until Odalia sent a new command to the spirit, making it produce a spirit of it's own which phased through Alador's Abomination drone and quickly grabbed the remote and got it back to Odalia.  

“Oh, I don’t have time for this!” Kikimora said as she closed the canopy of the Abomitron’s cockpit and started attacking the Hexsqaud.

Everyone scattered, Gus cast the illusion, with Bria stepping in to back them up and distract Kikimora. Bria used her magic to jab several earth pillars into the Abomitron's back, throwing it off balance and knocking it over. Unfortunately the Abomitron was maneuverable enough to quickly get back up start attacking again but instead of Kikimora attacking Bria, she honed in and found Hunter and grabbed him before he could run away. 

Odalia spun the remote around in her hand.

“You know, this is exactly why I don't tell you things dear. I mean don't you see, with the Emperor’s new favor we’ll live like royalty, crowns and all.” Odalia said.

Alador scoffed.

“Yeah right.” Alador said.

As he was preparing his Abomination matter for a big attack, he saw Kikimora running towards his direction and changed tactics to make a net over the doorway to try and block her off, only for her to run right through it. Amity quickly ran up and used her magic to repurpose the Abomination matter to make a wave of liquid muck to slow Kiki down, then when she saw that not doing much she made dozens of Abomination tendrils to wrap around the Abomitron which finally slowed its movements. Willow then came in and tried to use a literal wave of plant vines to rip up Kikimora's Abomitron but Kikimora held Hunter out as a human shield at the last second, forcing Willow to call off her attack. 

“You think you're attempts to stop me will last?!” Kikimora crazily said as she used the Abomitron’s arms cannon to blast a wide energy beam in a circle around her, vaporizing the Abomination matter and making the tendrils on her Abomitron deform. 

Gus tried to give them all cover with a blackout that only effects Kikimora, but before they could coordinate for a unite strike Kikimora started firing wildly, making Gus drop the spell with Bria and Amity making a shield wall of earth and Abomination matter. After Kikimora could see again she wasted no time in activating the jet pack and flying off, she knew that she needed to get Hunter to Belos, but also that if she kept fighting them any longer they would start to take the lead and overpower her.

Alador looked on in amazement as Kikimora flew away.

“Ha! The jet pack actually works!” Alador exclaimed happily.

Then the implications struck him.

“Oh. The jet pack actually works.” Alador said, concerned.

All of a sudden, everyone was surrounded by Abomitons.

“Well, since we’re finished with that little mess let's get back to business, shale we?” Odalia said as she stood at the end the factory.

Amity glared at Odalia.

“You! You're a fucking monster! I'm never speaking to you again!” Amity yelled.

“You’ll thank me when you’re a literal princess, princess.” Odalia said.

“No I won’t!” Amity declared.

“It’s what’s best for the family.” Odalia said.

Alador then spoke up.

“No! What’s best for the family is putting an end to all of this, once and for all!” Alador declared as his eyes glowed with his Abomination magic as he started wrecking the whole factory, Abomitons and machinery alike.

Odalia looked around frantically as Alador destroyed everything.

“No wait! No no no! You're destroying our life’s work. I won't let you destroy it any further.” Odalia said as she grabbed her pendant summoning an Oracle spirit.

“Well this work is finished, I quite.” Alador said.

Then he was backed up on his left and right sides by Gus, Amity, Willow and Luz, all at the ready for a fight against Odalia. Odalia quickly accessed her situation and decided to leave without fighting them.

“Fine, I've been meaning to find a more competent business partner away.” Odalia said.

Alador rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, good luck, I doubt anyone will willingly work with you.” Alador said.

Odalia glared.

“We shall see.” Odalia said.

Odalia seemingly disappeared after some smoke blows past her. However everyone suddenly heard the smack of someone hitting the ground and the smoke clears again to reveal a unconscious Odalia with Bria standing before her.

“What? Can't let her go and tell the Emperor’s coven about this.” Bria reasoned.

Amity, Gus, Luz and Alador all shrugged at this but Willow quickly ran off to Kikimora's airship and tried to get it going to start catching up with Kikimora.

“Oh come on you stupid thing, we have to follow them.” Willow said as she started randomly pulling switches and levers with Amity joining in.

Amity turned around to look at her father.

“Dad, that remote can work on the other Abomitons right?” Amity asked.

Alador boarded the ship and walked over to the controls. The rest followed him onboard.

“If you’re gonna catch up to your friend, you’re gonna need a pilot.” Alador said as he started pulling the proper controls.

Alador turned to look at Luz.

“Also Luz, I apologize for Odalia, you are always welcome at our home.” Alador said as he touched Luz on the shoulder, but suddenly the illusion breaks revealing Luz to be Hunter. 

“I’m a bit confused.” Alador said.

“What’s going on?!” Amity asked.

Hunter put his hands up.

“I swear I don’t know, it all happened so fast.” Hunter said.

Gus then stepped in.

“I can explain.” Gus said.

Gus, with the help of Bria started to explain about the illusion he had been keeping up the whole time.

“She wanted to protect you Hunter, as well as get a head start on facing Belos, I'll explain more once we get in the air and on our way, but Luz wants to stall Belos as long as possible so that we can get there for backup, and to get the information from him to fully stop the draining spell.” Gus explained.

“Then that means that, she is being taken to Belos, instead of Hunter.” Amity said.

Meanwhile…

As Kikimora flew onward to the Emperor’s castle she kept what she assumed was Hunter inside of a magic orb. But then, the illusion dropped and revealed Hunter to actually be Luz. Luz sat in the orb and thought about her plan of action, for when she would face Emperor Belos.

To be Continued…

Chapter Text

King was napping on the airship. They had gotten into the air and have been pursuing Kikimora for an hour now and King got tired, so he fell asleep. King opened his eyes to find himself in the in between realm that Luz described to him and the others. King heard a pair of familiar voices.

“But you said-you said you’d let me out! I hate it here!” The Collector said.

“Just a little longer. We have to wait till after the Draining Spell.” Belos said.

King peaked around a corner to see the Collector’s shadow on, something that looked similar to this thing that Luz showed him called a Beast Ball.

“You better not be fibbing. You pinky swore me.” The Collector said.

“Patience, Collector. You can trust me.” Belos said.

King scoffed at what Belos said, as if he could ever be trusted. This drew the Collector’s attention.

“Hmmm? Who’s there?” The Collector asked.

King started to wake up.

“Wait wait wait wait! Come back!” The Collector called out.

King woke up startled with his fur bristled like an extremely agitated cat. King realized he's laying on Willow’s lap.

“It's ok it's ok.” Willow said soothingly.

This calmed down King as he started to take in his surroundings and seeing what everyone else is up to. Alador was piloting the airship with Hunter seemingly being by his side acting as either a co pilot or navigator. Amity was pacing back and forth looking over all the information that they had on Belos on Penstagram trying to prepare no doubt. The Palisman were all huddled together in an effort to keep warm. Gus was what seemed to catch his attention most, as while Gus was sitting on one of the many crates, Bria was asleep right beside him with her head comfortably resting on Gus's shoulder. Gus who upon King looking closer, was lightly blushing and seemingly trying to distract himself by examining his magic amplifier.

Hunter then started making adjustments to the controls.

“I know how to fly an airship.” Alador said.

“Then fly faster! We're barely halfway there! We gotta meet up with Luz as soon as possible!” Amity said insistently.

“Maybe if I take over flying?” Hunter proposed.

Alador eyed Hunter suspiciously.

“Awfully in a hurry to get back to your master, eh, Golden Guard?” Alador said.

Hunter glared at Alador.

“Well at least I never made an army for him!” Hunter retorted.

“Don’t take that tone with me young man!” Alador said.

Alador had taken his hands off the steering wheel when he had turned to address Hunter and now the airship was swaying to the right, throwing everyone off balance. Amity started to stumble and fall and Bria was suddenly brought out of her sleep, nearly falling face first. Only for Gus to grab her by the shoulder at the last second. 

“I got ya.” Gus said as he pulled Bria to her feet

“Wow, thanks again, Gus.” Bria said with a blush dusting her cheeks.

“No problem, I got you.” Gus said.

Bria, tuning out the argument going on in the background, quickly realized that she had fallen asleep with her head on Gus's shoulder and blushed more.

“Oh and, uh, sorry about falling asleep with my head on your shoulder.” Bria apologized while rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.

Gus rubbed the back of his neck.

“It's fine, we’re all tired and you gotta get your sleep while you can, right?” Gus said, a small blush of his own on his cheeks.

“Right.” Bria agreed.

Meanwhile King was talking with Willow.

“I can't believe Luz is going off to face Belos again, and I'm powerless to help.” King said as his head dropped.

Clover then went over, and with the other Palisman’s help, gets everyone's attention by presenting some food reserves. Everyone seeing this calmed down a bit.

“We should be focusing on trying to help Luz and not fighting amongst ourselves.” Amity said.

Hearing this everyone calmed down more and started to take a break and eat some food. With Alador letting Hunter take over piloting for a bit and joining Amity for a bit of father daughter time.

“That’s amazing!” King marveled at how the Palismen managed to get everyone to calm down.

Willow smiled down at King.

“There's always a way to help, you just have to look for the right opportunity, like when you found Alador and got him up to speed.” Willow said.

King thought on Willow’s words.

“Thanks, Willow.” King said before drifting off back to sleep.

Meanwhile at the Day of Unity ritual site…

Emperor Belos looked below seeing only half of the Boiling Isles Witches and Demons present, if not less, he furrowed his brow in annoyance. Then he made a large illusion projection of himself to address the audience. 

“Welcome citizens of the Boiling Isles, I am honored to have so many loyal and faithful Witches and Demons here to join me in this momentous day. The Day of Unity! For too long, our world has been home to an insidious pox. A corruption that defiles the Titan’s blessings. But today that changes.” Belos announced.

Belos gestured to the approaching solar eclipse.

“United with the Titan and the power of the eclipse, we shall wipe out wild magic forever. Paradise awaits!” Belos declared.

The crowd erupted into cheers and applause at Belos’s speech. As Belos undid his projection the other 8 Coven Heads made their way out and onto the circular platform for the Day of Unity ritual. Meanwhile just below them the BAT's along with Raine, Lilith, Hooty and Eda were about to make the switch. 

“Now remember to not say anything to not give yourself away, my well known stage fright should be a logical enough cover for you as me not saying anything but otherwise don't do anything out of character for me.” Raine told Eda.

“Don’t worry Rai-.” Eda was saying before Raine cut her off.

“Don’t tell me not to worry, okay?” Raine asked.

Eda smiled softly and nodded to Raine.

“Alright Raine, I won’t.” Eda said.

“Remember, these guys think they’re gonna be royalty after today, so play it safe.” Raine said. 

“You know it.” Eda said as she winked at Raine, making them blush a bit in response.

Lilith came over to Eda next.

“Don't worry Eda you go-got this.” Lilith stuttered.

“Hey hey hey.” Eda said as she put her hands on Lilith’s face and pulled her close enough for their foreheads to make contact.

“With this spell declared. I’ll be alight, okay?” Eda said.

“That’s not a real spell, it doesn’t even rhyme.” Lilith said.

Eda playfully rolled her eyes.

“Well it’s the best I got. Now come on, let’s go stop mass genocide.” Eda said as she put on her concealment stone and her appearance changed to that of Raine.

“See you in a bit.” Eda said as she walked off.

As soon as Eda was out of sight range Lilith and Raine turned their heads to look at each other, they then nodded and put on their concealment stones, Raine now looked like Lilith, and Lilith looked like Raine. Lilith passed Hooty over to Raine.

“Let’s hope Luz’s backup plan works as intended.” Lilith said.

Raine nodded at the statement. Eda went over to Darius and Ebberwolf and nodded, they nodded back, they then joined the other Coven Heads. Belos smirked at the three, he knew about the resistances plans to stop his spell, it was truly futile.

“Oh! I forgot to mention I decided to switch up to arraignment.” Belos said.

Ebberwolf and Adrian switched places, Adrian had a disheveled appearance, bags under his eyes and stubble on his face, he glared at the disguised Eda.

“Don’t say a word about my appearance. I will not be taking notes at this time.” Adrian said.

Tera and Darius switched places. Tera smirked at the disguised Eda.

“Hello, sprout.” Tera said.

Eda gulped nervously. Drums began beating as Belos began drawing the spell array with his staff. A network of circles and lines leading from each Coven Head to a center circle. Belos raised his staff into the air and activated it, red sparks of artificial magic extruding from it.

“Goodbye, Boiling Isles.” Belos muttered to himself with a smirk.

The moon inched closer into alignment with the sun, Belos brought his staff down and activated the array. Belos then teleported away, his body contorting into dark green sludge and disappearing. Sorta like Abomination teleporting.

Belos reappeared in the room where he had been rebuilding the portal. Belos then began discarding his Emperor’s his robes and gauntlets, what with him having no further use for them. Under his robes were his 1600's clothes from when he was known as Philip Wittebane, he also tied his hair back into a ponytail as he also adjusted his height down from 7 feet to 6,1", an easy enough feat when the rearranging of your biomass is child's play after consuming so many Palisman.

Belos was then greeted by the Collector who manifested his shadowy form from his disc.

“We did it! It’s done! It’s done! Now you can set me free and we can play new games!” The Collector excitedly said.

Belos had a small smirk.

“I’m afraid that’s impossible.” Belos said as he walked forward.

The Collector was dumbfounded by this.

“Uh, excuse a what now?” The Collector asked as he floated over to Belos.

“B-But you said, you’d use the Titan Blood to help free me.” The Collector said in an agitated tone.

“And I’m sorry, but I just realized I only have enough Titan’s Blood left to open the portal.” Belos said as he took out the portal key and presses his thumb into the cracked eye button squeezing out the last of it's Titan’s Blood into some sort of chemical processing machine that took the energy from the Titan’s Blood and properly distributed it into the portal door via the attached power cables and machinery. The portal door hummed to life and illuminates a golden glow from it's edges. 

“But you said we were friends.” The Collector said.

Belos's sleeve glowed red with his glyphs activating as he used a concealment illusion spell to hide his, magical corruption scar, as he calls it.

“We pinky swore! You lied! Liar! Liar! Liar! Liar! Liar!” The Collector whined.

Belos just tuned out The Collector's squawking as he stared at the portal door in anticipation of finally being able to go home after all these years away. Then Belos just casually covered The Collector's disc with some cloth from his cloak as he looks over his shoulder to see Kikimora approaching still piloting her Abomitron and holding someone in a containment orb. Kikimora then knelt down and set down the containment orb, the details of the person inside partly obscured by the dark pink color of the orb.

“Lord Belos, I come baring a gift, the former Golden Guard. I hope that this show of my capabilities is enough to grant me my former rank and station, or perhaps even being made your new right hand?” Kikimora said.

Belos picked up the covered disc and walked over to examine the orb closely, quickly realizing that it's not Hunter inside it, but Luz. Belos turned his head to look at Kikimora.

“Have you as my right hand? I’d sooner cut off my whole arm.” Belos said.

Kikimora wilted a little.

“B-But I only want to help and be of use!” Kikimora said.

Belos used his telekinesis to push Kikimora and her Abomiton out of the room and onto the bridge, he walked over and then looked over at Kikimora.

“You want to be of use? Go find a hole, to wither away in.” Belos said coldly.

Belos then then walked over to the side of the bridge and uncovered the Collector’s tablet.

“And you…” Belos trailed off.

The Collector manifested his shadowy form, still very agitated with Belos. After everything he did for him in exchange for his freedom, now Belos was Turing his back on him!

“I gave you the Draining Spell. I taught you magic stronger than anybody’s.” The Collector stated.

“Yes and that's exactly why I can't help you with your imprisonment, I can't have that knowledge of your’s being given to anyone else, especially not Luz.” Belos said as he dropped the Collector’s tablet into the pit bellow.

As the Collector fell he yelled out at Belos.

“You’re a liar liar pants on fire!” The Collector yelled as he fell.

Belos then walked back into the chamber and over to the orb holding Luz.

“Well, I can't say I'm surprised that Kikimora managed to screw this up as well but you know how she can be, right Luz?” Belos said with a wave of his staff which popped the orb.

Luz fell to the ground and onto her hands and knees, just motionless. Belos smirked.

“Though I am glad to see you, my fellow Human. What no fight left? Or have you learned your lesson from last time.” Belos asked.

Luz turned her head to glare at Belos.

“You wish.” Luz said with a smirk before taking a large breath and activating a sleeping mist glyph combo.

Belos immediately took on the defensive and teleported backwards by about 30 feet  to avoid inhaling the mist.

“No, of course not.” Belos said to himself.

Meanwhile…

As the Hexsquad is getting closer to the ritual site their ship is spotted by the Emperor’s Coven with one of their ships coming up on their left flank.

“Your ship has been reported as stolen, land immediately, by order of the Emperor!” The guard ordered and was backed up by four Abomitons.

“Crap! Kikimora must’ve called her ship in as stolen just in case.” Amity said.

Gus’s eyes narrowed in determination.

“Don’t worry, I got this.” Gus said as he cast an illusion on the ship, disguising it as a flock of birds.

The Coven Guard growled in frustration as his fellow guards were slightly confused.

“Don’t be fooled! Take them down!” He ordered.

The coven guard's Abomitons started firing at the flock of birds. Hunter teleported over and tied up the coven guard but was swiftly knocked off of Flapjack by the swing from a nearby Abomiton. Hunter goes plummeting down but Willow flew in and caught him with no issue. Amity used the control remote to shut down the Abomitons on the coven ship and Gus took down the illusion cover, but before they could proceed to make their getaway, two more coven ships packed with Abomitons and coven guards flew up on both sides of their ship and quickly began to open fire on them, punching holes into their ships blimp causing them to descend into a crash. Everyone braced for the impact with Alador summoning Abomination matter to help cushion their crash.

Meanwhile…

Back at the Day of Unity ritual site, the coven heads started to realize that something was up as the spell wasn’t activating as planned. Eda herself realized that her sigil wasn’t even activating at all and down below both Lilith and Raine were quickly discovered. Terra grabbed Eda from behind. 

“I thought something was off, Grey if you’d be a dear.” Tera said,

Adrian smirked.

“Why of course, I do love surprises.” Adrian said as he cast a spell undoing Eda’s concealment disguise as Raine.

“Hey!” Eda exclaimed as her disguise fell.

Ebberwolf was quick to step in to help Eda but was quickly blocked by Mason, head witch of the Construction coven, but Ebber was quick to adapt and clinger to Mason's arm and summoned in a swarm of flesh eating beetles, making Mason freakout. Vettimer, head witch of the potion coven, goes to help Mason but that's when Darius decided to jump into the fray.

“Oh for Titan sake.” Darius grumbled.

Darius then shifted in to his Abomination form and started taking swings at Vettimer, morphing his hands into large blades. Just as Ebberwolf was almost finished with Mason they were grabbed by a spectral arm manifested by Orsted, head witch of the Oracle coven. Then Hettie Cuttburn, head witch of the Healing coven, threw and telekinetically held a scalpel at Ebberwolf's throat, being sure that Darius saw this first hand. Darius seeing this quickly shifted back to normal and Ebberwolf called off their beetles, allowing Mason to recover. Vettimer doused Darius with a potion that would freeze his Abomination form should he take it again as he informed Darius of this, leading him back to his spot.

“You too Darius? Did you really think you could get away with this?” Tera asked.

“Well unlike you, I actually care about people.” Darius said as he glared at Tera.

Then Raine and Lilith were brought forward, the both of them being restrained by an Abomiton. Eda’s eyes widened at this.

“Oh no no no. Stop! You’re making a huge mistake!” Eda exclaimed.

Tera turned to look at Eda.

“The only mistake I made was letting you two live all those years ago.” Tera said.

Raine was forcibly placed on the spot for bard magic with an Abomiton holding them down, with Eda also being restrained by one off to the side.

“Raine!” Eda called out.

Raine, who was actually Lilith, subtly winked at Eda, Eda calmed down at seeing this.

Meanwhile…

Belos waited with anticipation, looking at the slowing fading mist, then all of a sudden he saw two Luz's bolt out of the left and right sides. Belos knew one of them had to be a illusion clone and used his staff to cast a magic net over the Luz to his left, while activating his glyphs on his opposite arm and summoned fleshy Abomination arms to grab the other Luz, only for Belos to be surprised by both Luz's being revealed to be clones, the shock of which was only on his face for a brief moment. Meanwhile Luz was crouched low just outside the still clearing mist and holding her breath, still cloaked by her invisibility glyph. The whole point of this move was so that Luz could observe how Belos would respond to two possible threats and to test a couple of theories she had about his capabilities. And it didn't disappoint, it was subtle but she saw Belos have to move his line of sight to see her 2nd clone's location before casting an attack at it, meaning he doesn't possess a spell that gives him omnipresent sight over his environment, meaning he does have blind spots. Secondly she noticed the red glow coming from between the sleeves of his arm that he cast the 2nd spell with, meaning her theory of him being able to instantly use those glyphs she saw him carve into his arm, and probably arms, in that memory portrait. This meant that even if she took out his staff he'll still be a threat, magically speaking.

Now Luz needed to get to work. Luz quickly used a light glyph as a flash bang, forcing Belos to shield his eyes as best he could while also guarding himself by raising a bunch of earth spikes. Luz used this moment to quickly hide behind one of the many stone columns in the chamber and started placing ice glyphs on them. Belos, now recovered from the light glyph, saw that Luz has taken to hiding, he decided to start talking to try and get Luz to talk back and reveal herself.

“My my. I didn't know you were already combing glyphs it's as though you have an unnatural intuition with these as it took me years to figure out how to combine just a few, almost like the titan didn't want me to have that knowledge.” Belos said.

Luz knew what he was playing at but she was all too prepared for it. Luz used a audio glyph to project her voice to come from everywhere all at once.

“Well personally I really wouldn't doubt it! After all I can't imagine that the Titan would want some mentally unstable genocidal maniac to have access to his magic!” Luz said.

Belos was caught off guard again as he was surrounded by Luz's echoing voice, she was using one of the same tricks that he used against her during their first fight. All of a sudden a rush of eight ice spikes came down on Belos from the ceiling of the chamber, but he reacted in time and easily shattered them all into fine dust with a small wave of his staff.

“Did you really think that would do anything?” Belos asked with a small smirk.

“Not really, but it did give me some useful intel.” Luz answered.

Belos spun around to see Luz standing before him. Belos used his glyphs to try and restrain Luz with some vines, only for this Luz to also be a illusion as well. Belos furrowed his brow in irritation, her use of illusions were better then he initially thought, then he got an idea for a new angle to take. 

“Your illusions are quite good Luz, was it your illusionist friend who helped you out? What was his name again? Oh yes, Gus, that's his name I believe.” Belos said.

Luz could see through Belos's new angel.

“Oh yeah, well he was easily powerful enough to completely wreck that two bit narcissist you call the head of the illusion coven.” Luz retorted.

Belos sighed.

“Yes, well, even someone as annoying and full of themselves as Adrian can have his uses.” Belos admitted.

Luz decided to take a risk and used a mist glyph to give her some flexible cover and unleashed a burst of dozens of lightning bolts at Belos. Belos seeing the mist, used his staff to put up a barrier with invisibility layered on top of it, and sure enough his precaution was definitely warranted as his barrier was suddenly assaulted by dozens of lightning bolts one after another, each one making cracks all over the energy barrier until finally the assault stopped just shy of the barrier fully shattering, but if he was being honest he was having to punk extra energy into it from his staff to sustain it, and the staff, while endless in its feats, it did still have a risk of over heating from to much constant use of generating power.

After the mist cleared it did not surprise Belos to see that Luz had vanished again. Luz knew it was a long shot to try and break through Belos's defense without taking down his staff first but she had to give it the old college try, as her mami would say. Then all of a sudden, Belos did something different, he made mist to cover around him, then when the mist cleared Belos was holding Amity by her throat.

“Oh what have here? Oh if it isn't Amity Blight, say hello to Luz why don't you Amity dear, I'm sure she'll respond.” Belos said.

“Luz! Luz! Where are you!?” Amity called out.

Luz observed Amity crying out for her, hidden behind a invisibility glyph, her eyes wet with tears but clutching her fist hard to keep her focused on the fact that it's just an illusion. Belos was surprised that Luz had yet to act, but he decided to take his trick a step further and started to petrify Amity.

“L-Lu-Luz help! Luz please help!! He's gonna kill me!!!” Amity called out.

Finally Luz decided to end this and used a magnetic glyph stuck to a column to pull at Belos's staff, throwing him off balance forward giving Luz an opening. Luz used a construction glyph and drove a earth pillar into Belos's torso, or it would've been if he hadn't used his melting teleportation at the last instant to get a dozen feet away. Luz had hoped it would work but anticipated it failing and had already gotten behind him using an audio glyph to make it seem like she was still on the far side of the chamber.

“Nice try!” Luz said.

Belos turned around just in time to see Luz unload a massive blast of blue fire at him point blank. Belos managed to summon a barrier around himself without a second to spare, even still he could feel a great amount of pain from the heat alone still getting partly through. Then there was a loud noise and a black lightning pulsed through the air and all of a sudden his staff started sparking with random lightning and shaking, Belos tossed it just before it exploded not but 6 feet from him using a earth pillar to shield himself.

Meanwhile…

Back at the ritual site the spell was once again having troubles. Tera was not pleased at all.

“Oh what’s the problem this time?!” Tera groaned.

She looked around and noticed that Raine was hiding their right arm from view, the same one with their sigil on it. Tera hummed in thought. Terra then made a spell circle and summoned a vine to grab Raine’s arm and reveal what they were hiding, and sure enough something weird was happening with their sigil, something that was no doubt effecting the ritual.

“Grey, you wouldn't mind in testing to be sure we have the real Raine here with us?” Tera asked.

Adrian smirked.

“Of course.” Adrian said as he cast a spell on Raine revealing them to be Lilith, with the new revelation he casts the same spell on Lilith revealing her to also be the real Raine.

“Well well well, this was quite a good plan, I wonder which one of you turncoats thought it up! Not that it matters now, all you did was delay us a bit more is all.” Tera said.

The Abomiton's quickly repositioned Raine in Lilith's place. Raine’s sigil activated and the spell started working.

“Ah, now it can really begin.” Adrian relieved.

Lilith looked over at Eda.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t do more, Edalyn.” Lilith apologized.

Meanwhile…

Back with the Hexsqaud everyone was recovering from the crash with Alador holding back the incoming Abomitons while Willow and Bria checked on everyone else and got King. King's sight was blurry but he saw Alador talking with Amity as he gave her the remote and kissed her on the forehead before sending her off as he dealt with the remaining Abomitons.

Back with Luz and Belos…

Belos lowered the pillar he had raised in defense to see that his staff was completely destroyed, there was no point in even trying to fix it with how utterly totaled it was, then Belos looked at Luz only to see not just one but five Luz's with obviously most being clones. Honestly it had been a while since he had been pressured to this extent but he was certainly starting to enjoy this fight more then he thought he would, it's turning out to be far more like a good game of chess than the game of cat and mouse he had initially thought it would be. Belos saw one of the Luz clones move and decided to take action before she did and sent out a blast of powerful wind gusts in all directions destroying the four clones and sending the real Luz flying into the wall or she would've normally. At the last second Luz pulled out and used a safety hover glyph, letting her land safely.

Luz looked up at Belos just in time to see him send a wave of fleshy Abomination arms towards her. Luz knew that making and remembering to use that A.M.P grenade on Belos would help some but she was kinda hoping he would be more on his back foot then he is now, oh well, win some lose some. Luz quickly used a ice glyph freezing the wave of fleshy Abomination arms with only 5 feet to spare. Luz then used a mist glyph to make more cover, then sent out a wave of plant vines swarming Belos from both sides. Belos quickly countered with two intense blasts of blue fire, immediately incinerating the vegetation like a bunch if dried leaves in the bonfire. Belos was impressed by the speed of the counterattack but it was too easily dealt with for it to have been anything more than a good distraction. Sure enough Luz was already starting her real move. Mist, and tons of it, started flooding in from behind all the columns, Belos could tell that this was a large smokescreen for a big trap or attack, either way he mounted a defensive line making a circle of jagged earth spikes all around him and the same right above him in the ceiling but since he wanted to exhaust all of Luz's options so that she'd see the true pointlessness of this whole thing. When the mist was at it's thickest at probably 4 and a half feet he decided to continue his taunting. 

“You know, Luz, if I recall I used a similar tactic against a few witches a while back.” Belos taunted. 

Luz did mind the opportunity to shit talk Belos again and replied. 

“Oh really, was this before or after you stabbed your own brother in the back?!” Luz asked.

Belos grew frustrated and angry at that comment.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about!” Belos snapped back.

Luz rolled her eyes.

“Oh really, cause it seems pretty cut and dry to me you found out your older brother, Caleb Wittebane, had fallen in love with a witch, had betrayed your religious beliefs and also had a child on the way, you found out, flew into a rage once you couldn't convince him to leave with you back to the human realm, you killed him out of anger and you tell yourself it was to save his soul.” Luz retorted.

Belos, upon hearing this, was grinding his teeth until he exploded in anger at being so easily read by a mere child.

“Enough!” Belos exclaimed.

Belos made a shockwave of wind, dispelling the mist cover and retracting the spikes. Luz though was already done and waiting by a newly made interconnected set of wind glyphs all centered on Belos. Luz activated the glyphs and watched as a contained hurricane of wind swirled around Belos. Soon Belos began to feel the true effects of this trap, the vortex of wind was acting as a vacuum and drawing air away from Belos, suffocating him.

Soon enough Belos was on the ground knocked out and Luz stopped the vortex and walked over to him, staying wary just in case as she prepared to restrain him via ice. Belos then all of a suddenly started to wake up, Luz quickly noticed the glow of him activating his glyphs and quickly tried to tag him with a ice glyph but he was able to use melting teleportation and got away from her just at the last millisecond. Belos reformed at the far side opposite of where Luz was.

“Well that was a close one, you nearly had me there, but this has dragged on far to long and it's time to finish this.” Belos said.

Belos then activated his glyphs and littered the whole floor in spike's of earth and glazed the ground in between with ice. Luz saw what he was up to, eliminating her mobility making her easier to hit with another spell. But before Belos could start firing spells at Luz she used her last resort and activated her Time Alter glyph.

Time slowed to a standstill and the noise of the world became nonexistent, it was now or never. Luz started running and leaping from one rock spike to another, quickly getting all the way around Belos with him still frozen in time. Luz stuck two ice glyphs to his back and activated them and quickly put some distance between them and deactivated the Time Alter glyph. As time resumed as normal Belos saw that Luz was now at the opposite end of where she was behind him and looking extremely exhausted, as if she just ran a marathon then he finally felt the ice cocooning him and before he knew it he was incased in ice.

“Finally now I just have to wait for the others t- what!” Luz trailed off.

Before Luz knew what was happening Belos's whole body seemed to expand then suddenly spikes from Belos's biomass broke through the ice, freeing him. Luz, still stunned, tried to use an invisibility glyph but Belos moved too fast for her in her exhausted state to dodge and he grabbed her with his morphed hand.

“I must say now, that was definitely the closest I've come in quite a while to being beaten, well done, Luz, especially that glyph you used, I don't know what it was but it certainly wasn't teleportation.” Belos complimented with a smirk.

Luz just glared at him. She was held and restrained by Belos's morphed hand and arm which, ironically, is a similar situation to what Luz found herself in when she first came to the Boiling Isles, when she first encountered Warden Wrath. Luz was brought closer to Belos so they could talk. Luz decided that stalling for time was her best bet until her friends could catch up.

“You know, there's this quote I remember hearing back in the human realm, I'm sure you'll appreciate it.” Luz said.

Belos raised an eyebrow at this but didn't interrupt. Luz continued.

“You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common......” Luz trailed off.

Belos was curious now.

“Go on.” Belos said.

“They don't change their views to fit the facts, they change the facts to fit the views! Reminds me of a certain Emperor, eh, Belos?!” Luz finished.

“It’s Philip! And despite our differences I do want to help you Luz, you’re smart I'm sure you're aware of how impossible it is to find Titan’s Blood anymore. I have just enough left for one more trip, I can send you home.” Belos said.

Luz have a quick glance at the portal before looking back at Belos.

“Please, I don’t want to see another human life destroyed by this place.” Belos insisted.

Luz scoffed.

“Ya know, last I checked you choose to consume Palisman and ruin yourself and you’re also the one who killed his own brother, so from the facts, yeah, it’s not this place that destroyed your brother, but you! Hell, you're such a hypocrite talking a big game about protecting humanity, but at the end of the day I doubt even one part of you is still human. Hell, I bet you're soul isn't even human anymore!” Luz retorted.

Belos's expression shifted to that of rage at hearing this and the concealment of his scar slipped away, revealing the mark of someone corrupted by consuming Palisman souls.

“I do pity you, these monsters have warped your sense of reality, perhaps it would be better to simply put you out of your misery.” Belos said.

After he said that Belos activated his glyphs and started slowly petrifying Luz from her toes first with the petrification process slowly crawling it's way up. Luz’s eyes widened in panic. Luz then spotted a nearby Coven Sigil branding glove, she quickly came up with a plan.

“Wait! Wait, wait, wait! Y-You, do realize that you’ve been gone from the human realm for centuries. Times have changed. You wanna be known as the Emperor of the Witch Hunters, right?” Luz said.

“Witch Hunter General.” Belos corrected.

Luz looked down to see that the petrification had progressed halfway up her legs.

“Sure, sure. Uh, Witch Hunter General. But those aren’t really a thing anymore. No one’s gonna take you seriously if you start ranting about the demon realm. Not to mention an outdated fashion sense like that…” Luz trailed off as she examined Belos’s clothes.

Belos then looked down to examine his own clothes, then back up at Luz.

“Yikes, my dude.” Luz said with a face.

Belos then turned around threw Luz, knocking the table over. Luz quickly got into a sitting position and hid the branding glove behind her, Luz then noticed the stone had progressed to her hips. Belos chuckled and walked over to Luz with a smirk.

“So, what? You’re offering to be my modern-day guide?” Belos asked.

Luz narrowed her eyes. The stone was now halfway up her torso.

“I’m not offering anything. But I do wanna make a deal.” Luz said.

Belos raised an eyebrow.

“I can’t beat you. I know that. So, I will return to the human realm and I will be your guide. If you spare my friends.” Luz said.

The stone was now spreading more. Belos scoffed.

“Come on. You’ll need living proof that this realm exists. You’ll do anything to save humanity. Well, I’d do anything to save the people I love.” Luz said.

The stone was spreading more and more. Tears were threatening to leak from Luz’s eyes.

“Please. Philip.” Luz pleaded.

Belos thought it over, then smirked. The stone stopped spreading and receded until it completely disappeared. Luz looked herself over, then up at Belos, Luz stood up.

“Fine.” Belos agreed.

Luz held out her hand.

“Then shake on it. Human style.” Luz said.

Belos looked at Luz’s outstretched hand and the one behind her back. Luz held her other hand up to show there was nothing in it. Luz chuckled. Belos held Luz’s hand, Luz pulled Belos closer and put her other hand on Belos’s wrist. Belos was confused for a second before he felt a burning sensation on his wrist, he groaned in pain and pulled his hand back to reveal an Emperor’s Coven sigil had been branded on his wrist and the Draining Spell was still in effect. Luz let out a breath to reveal the branding glove on her hand, she had previously used an invisibility glyph to turn it invisible.

Meanwhile…

Back at the ritual site, one by one all the Coven Heads started to feel the actual intended effects of the Day of Unity as the Draining Spell went into full effect. They all started to slowly collapse from the Draining Spell. Tera clutched her sigil arm and looked at Raine.

“W-What’s happening?! Raine, Belos is giving us paradise, right?” Tera asked in pain.

Raine shook their head. Then, Tera, like the others fell to the ground from exhaustion at having her magic drained away. Eda seeing this kept trying to think of a way to help, but nothing came to mind. The Hexsqaud finally got to the ritual site and were quick to help their allies. Amity used the control remote to release Raine, Darius, Ebberwolf, Eda and Lilith of whom Eda quickly ran over to Raine and Lilith, hugging both of them and sobbing. Meanwhile, Hunter and Bria were tending to Darius and Ebberwolf, with Hunter getting out and passing Bria some of Luz's healing glyphs to apply to them. Eda seeing this also pulls some out of her hair and put them on Raine and Lilith which seems to wake them up a bit. Eda looked up at the Hexsquad.

“What are you kids doing here?” Eda asked.

“Luz went to fight and stall Belos until we could catch up and get the information out of him on how to stop the draining spell.” Amity answered.

“Well he's not here, so hurry on to the head, I'll watch over these guys.” Eda said as she continued to tend to Raine and Lilith.

The Hexsqaud quickly mounted their Palismen and flew off to the head to find Luz and Belos. 

Meanwhile…

Back with Luz and Belos, Belos was currently on his knees grabbing his arm in pain from the effects of the Draining Spell. Luz glared at Belos.

“You won’t make it out of here alive unless you stop the Draining Spell right now.” Luz proclaimed.

Belos just groaned in pain as the spell continued to spread on his body.

“I said stop it!” Luz demanded.

Belos’s body then convulsed and shifted, turning into a mass of dark green sludge which then assumed a more defined shape. Luz backed away slightly from creature that is Belos, he was tall and skeletal, his hair was wild and stringy, he had horns protruding from his head, and along his body opened several glowing blue eyeballs.

“Okay, now I just gotta keep him contained until the others get here.” Luz muttered to herself.

Monster Belos approached Luz, scratching a horrifying roar and swinging his arms. Luz quickly dodged and used her last sleeping mist glyph to try and knock out Belos, but his incredibly quick attacks kept dispersing the mist, making it useless. Luz used a construction glyph to jab several earth pillars into Belos's chest and abdomen which thankfully managed to not only work, but throw him into the ceiling, briefly stunning him.

“Well, bright side is that at least you can’t seem to use your glyphs while in this form, downside is you’re like a Dark Souls boss now.” Luz said.

Luz uses an Invisibility glyph and runs in avoiding Belos's haymaker like swings and uses a light glyph to flash bang him stunning him. As Belos roared in pain Luz quickly used some healing glyphs, applying 3 to each leg to help alleviate the distracting pain in her muscles. Luz then noticed Belos was back stepping way too close to the portal door and used some plant glyphs to lasso his head to stop him from damaging and or destroying it.

Luz's attempt stopped Belos from damaging the portal door but also gave away her location. Luz quickly ducked to dodge a swing from Belos’s now scythe shaped arm and quickly used an ice glyph to blast a dozen or so ice spikes at him while running to the door of the chamber so as to both draw him away from being anywhere close to the portal door, and to make it that much more quicker for the others to back her up when they got there. When Luz was halfway out the chamber door she suddenly realized she couldn't hear Belos's footsteps which, horror movie 101, that's never a good sign. Looking over her shoulder to see he wasn't behind her, instantly put her senses into overdrive trying to find him, only for him to in a sudden whoosh of air be behind her on the other side of the chamber door. Right before Belos could strike down on Luz with his claws he was suddenly hit right in the head by a large magenta fireball. Seeing this Luz knew it only meant one thing and she smirked, knowing backup had arrived.

“About time you guys got here!” Luz happily exclaimed.

Luz turned and saw Amity rush in and cast a large spell circle, then hitting the ground making a dozen Abomination arms sprout from the ground. Amity stood up, eyes glowing Lavender as she holstered her spell circles and used the Abomination arms to wrap around and restrain Belos's limbs.

“Don’t worry, you know we’d never leave you high and dry.” Amity said.

Willow quickly backed up Amity by summoning vines alongside Amity's Abomination arms to add extra support. Bria then came in and used construction magic to punch Belos in the diaphragm with a large earth pillar, instantly knocking the wind out of him and stunning him long enough for Gus to come and do his thing. Gus carried King over to somewhere safe and set him down.

“Buddy, it’s about to get real scary. You stay here.” Gus said.

King thought about Willow’s words earlier and nodded at Gus. Gus then rejoined the others and stepped in front of Belos.

“Alright, Belos, let's calm you down and find out how to stop all of this.” Gus said as his eyes glow and he held up and activated his spell on Belos with his magic amplifier in the center of his spell circle on his palm. With Bria and Hunter on Gus's left and right to guard him while he delved through Belos's mind.

Gus found himself in some sort of blank space surrounded in darkness tell all of a sudden a massive collection of various sized memory portraits were littering the space right in front of him. These weren't normal memory portraits though, as the memories contained within each one was running on a short loop of the events of that specific memory. Gus waved his hand with the intention of sifting through the portraits and the portraits moved aside revealing far more memories.

Gus groaned as he rubbed his forehead.

“This guy’s got 400 years worth of memories to filter through. Maybe if I just focus I can…..” Gus trailed off.

Gus closed his eyes and raised his hand trying to organize and find what they needed. Outside in the physical world Gus's breathing had picked up from the strain he's putting on himself and he started profusely sweating, Bria looked at Gus with a worried expression then turned to Hunter.

“Hunter, is that normal for Gus when doing this spell?” Bria asked.

“I don’t know, this is the first time I’ve seen him use this spell!” Hunter exclaimed.

That was not reassuring but right now there was nothing Bria could do about it except to defend Gus while he looked for what they needed to know. Gus back in the mindscape had gotten the hang of sorting through the memories he couldn't help but see something's pertaining to Hunter but put that away to unpack later. Gus felt like he had been here for hours but time moved differently when you're dreaming so it was probably the same here either way he kept turning up dead ends literally in some cases as Belos had tested self contained versions of the draining spell several times over the centuries to be sure a witch couldn't stop the process.

“No! No no no no no, come on there's gotta be something!” Gus said as he felt the mindscape world around him suddenly collapsing, realizing his body was being moved and he was being broken out of the spell.

Back in the physical world Belos tore off his left arm and dissolved his arms biomass having it reassimilate into him, allowing him to quickly regrow a new arm which he quickly brought down into a strike at Gus. Hunter quickly teleported Gus and Bria out of the way.

“Cover him till he's recovered.” Hunter instructed.

Hunter then teleported off to try and attack Belos but was stopped short do to the pain from his coven sigil. Belos capitalized on the opening and shifted his face back to his human one to try and manipulate Hunter.

“Hunter, why are you hurting me? I only wanted to help you.” Belos said.

Hunter was completely caught off guard by that.

“Y-You’re lying!” Hunter stuttered.

Belos then saw Flapjack and flew into a rage screaming in his corrupted form's voice as he shifted his head back to that form.

“CALEB!!!” Belos roared in anger.

Before Belos could attack Hunter, Willow pulled Hunter away with her vines. As Amity, Willow and Luz kept Belos preoccupied, Gus was still catching his breath and gathering his thoughts. Bria had put up a spade shaped earth shield to cover them as Gus gathered his thoughts and got his bearings. 

“So, were you able to find what we need to stop the draining spell?” Bria asked.

Gus held his head while muttering.

“No no no no no.” Gus muttered.

Bria’s eyes widened.

“Wait! What do you mean?” Bria asked as she knelt down to be at eye level with Gus.

“Gus tell me what did you find?” Bria asked.

“Nothing! Belos specifically refined the Draining Spell so that way no one can stop the process, not even himself!” Gus explained.

Bria’s expression shifted to that of worry and fear as she fully processed what Gus had said. Right as Bria was about to say something their cover was smashed by Belos wildly striking in all directions. Gus quickly grabbed ahold of Bria and used a short range illusionist style teleportation just barely avoiding the attack by a couple of feet. Bria and Gus were quick to recover and get to their feet with Gus making several copies of himself and Bria to confuse Belos while they rejoined the others.

King watched the whole spectacle unfold. Belos roared and King fell down a flight of stairs, King landed, got his bearings and looked up to see the Hexsquad battling Belos on the bridge. Then a familial Imp demon spoke up.

“It’s pointless.” Kikimora said.

King turned around to see Kikimora suffering from the effects of the Draining Spell, her Abomitron leaning against a wall.

“Belos can’t stop the spell anymore than they can. Only the Collector has that power.” Kikimora added.

King recognized that name all too well.

“Who, is the Collector?” King asked.

“Neither Witch nor Demon, a child from the stars. Belos only talked to him when he thought no one was around but I was always listening. Belos was afraid of him.” Kikimora elaborated.

King realized, this was his moment to help.

“An opportunity. Take me to him!” King demanded.

“If that means kicking the Emperor’s butt, gladly.” Kikimora agreed as her Abomitron stood up and she and King descended a long flight stairs.

When they reached the bottom there was a bunch of tattered robes, broken Golden Guard masks, and bones. King looked around, feeling uneasy.

“What, is this place?” King asked.

“Where the failures end up.” Kikimora answered.

King looked around until he saw a familiar tablet with a crescent moon on it, hanging in a cloak. King approached and and touched the tablet. The Collector’s shadow manifested.

“Leave me alone! I don’t associate with fibbers.” The Collector whined as he stuck his tongue out.

He peaked open his eye to see, no one there.

“Wait, I know someone’s there, I can feel you. But why can’t I see you?” The Collector said.

King looked down to see that his collar was glowing, King removed his collar, and he became visible to the Collector. The Collector let out a surprised gasp and floated over to King.

“You look like that bully who put me in here. No way. Are you his little Titan baby? I’ve always wanted to play with you, but your dumb pops hid you. Hey, do you like hide and seek? I’ll hide first!” The Collector said.

“Wait! Mr. Collector, please, we need you to stop this Draining Spell.” King pleaded.

The Collector groaned.

“Mr? Ugh, you are so boring.” The Collector droned.

King then got an idea.

“You know what’s better than Hide and Seek? A game called, The, uh, The Owl House!” King said.

This peeked the Collector’s interest.

“How do you play?” He asked.

“Oh, it’s so fun. Like, the most fun. And I could show you if you want. We’re gonna need a lot of players. Like, a whole island’s worth of players, but, uh… Aw shucks.” King trailed off.

“What’s wrong?” The Collector asked.

King sighed.

“Well, gee, everyone’s gonna perish from this ding-dang Draining Spell. Guess we can’t play that awesome game after all. Man, it was fun though.” King answered and began walking off.

With the bait set, the Collector took it.

“Wait, if you’re a Titan, you can let me out. I can stop the spell, and then we can play together!” The Collector said.

“Gee, you would do that?” King asked.

“Wait, you’re not tricking me into doing your chores like, Philip. Are you?” The Collector asked.

King knelt down and held out his pinky.

“I would never, pinky swear.” King said.

The Collector looked at King before smiling widely and giggling. The room shook and Belos roared.

“I’ll even let you out right now. What do you need? D-Do you need my, blood?” King asked nervously.

The Collector shook his head and floated over to his tablet.

“No silly, just, follow my lead.” The Collector said.

King put his pinky up to the Collector’s tablet and a blue spectral pinky and hand connected. King pulled and a blue ethereal cloaked entity emerged from the tablet while giggling. Back up topside with Luz and the others, Belos had them backed up against a wall, his hand shaped like a scythe, he raised it into the air, Luz now had a small slash mark on her eyebrow. This was most likely the end, and as one last act of defiance and defense Luz stood her ground with Amity behind her on her right Willow, Hunter, Gus and Bria behind her on her left with her eyes deadlocked with Belos's as he brought his arm down to make his attack. But it never came, instead Luz was shocked by what she saw. Before Luz and the others was what looked to be a boy of around 10 years old, dressed in two tone purple pajamas decorated in moon, stars and sun designs with short white hair, pale red eyes and purple and yellowish orange skin tone face. He was just casually standing before them head slightly tilted holding Belos's scythe hand by just his index finger and thumb as though he possessed the strength of a full grown superman. Then Luz quickly connected the dots this kid might be The Collector.

“Whatcha playin’?” The Collector asked.

Belos backed away slightly.

“Collector? You’re free. Just as promised.” Belos said, his tone of voice slightly nervous.

‘Well scratch that, he is The Collector, and judging by Belos's tone he was terrified of him.’ Luz thought to herself.

The Collector turned around to face Belos.

“As promised? I seem to remember someone throwing me off a bridge.” The Collector said as he rubbed his chin before smiling at Belos.

“I’m not angry though. Say, you wanna play tag?” The Collector asked as he swirled his finger, pulling and twisting Belos’s arm like string causing Belos to be pulled towards the Collector until their faces were a few inches from each other.

“I’m it.” The Collector said as he booped Belos on the nose, causing Belos to be launched at the wall at rocket-like speeds, when he slammed against the wall Belos splatted and was reduced to a pile of goo.

Everyone watched in awe, mixed with fear at what this child was capable of. The Collector giggled.

“Too slow.” The Collector laughed and turned around to look at the Hexsquad.

“You guys look slow too. Do you need a head start?” ThenCollector asked.

King jumped in front of the Collector.

“Whoah! Collector, buddy pal.” King said.

The Collector smiled down at the young Titan.

“King!” The Collector happily said.

“Remember what we talked about? You gotta help all my friends outside, or, uh, we won’t get to play Owl House.” King said as he looked behind at the squad for backup.

Luz picked up on what King was doing and backed him up.

“Uh, Owl House. Uh, gosh. I love that game.” Luz said.

“The memories last a lifetime.” Amity added.

“I play it every day.” Willow added.

“I play it every hour.” Gus added.

Hunter just let out a nervous squeak. Bria just didn’t say anything.

“I’ll explain the rules later, but remember, we need lots of players.” King said.

The Collector then walked forward to a crack in the Titan’s skull, the Hexsquad moved out of his way. The Collector looked up to see the solar eclipse and the effects of the Draining Spell, everyone branded with a coven sigil was having their magic drained and in addition, their life force.

“Okay. Boop.” The Collector said as he pointed at the moon with his index finger and literally moved it more to the right so the it was no longer eclipsing the sun.

With the eclipse over the spell lost its power and deactivated. Everyone was slowly recovering from the spell but they were still weak a little. Hunter’s sigil stopped glowing in addition to everyone else with a sigil. The squad breathed a sigh of relief. The Collector observed things before letting out a chuckle.

“If we’re gonna play Owl House, we’re gonna need an Owl House.” The Collector declared as he began floating into the air and deconstructing the top of the Titan’s skull, the bone fragments flying in the air. The Hexsquad watched in awe and worry, Luz held King closer to her.

“We’re gonna have a blast, everyone!” The Collector declared.

The ground beneath the Hexsquad began cracking, Willow turned around to look at the still active portal.

“I think there’s a way out!” Willow said as she pointed at the portal door.

Everyone began running to the portal, but Luz turned around and stopped for a second, Amity grabbed her girlfriend’s hand.

“Luz, come on!” Amity insisted.

“Everyone. Eda. I-I can’t just leave them!” Luz said with her eyes watering up.

“Luz, please.” Amity pleaded, her own eyes watering.

Luz looked King in the eyes and they ran towards the portal. As they got to the giant doors Hunter looked down at the puddle that was Belos and hesitated to walk forward.

“Hunter!” Gus called out.

Hunter gathered his will and his strength. He walked forward, little did he know, a piece of Belos’s goop had fallen onto him. The portal light slightly flickered as the metallic structure surrounding it was slightly breaking. The portal glowed brightly and Hunter pulled the door open to reveal a sea of stars with a golden aura, which then shifted to a forest with green trees, and it was raining.

“It’s human rain. Don’t worry about it.” Gus said.

Everyone then went through the portal. Amity stoped.

“Luz?” Amity asked as she turned around.

She saw Luz trying to hold together the portal door rig as it was starting to break apart. Luz was using a combination of plant vines, fleshy Abomination arms and ice to try and hold it all together.

“Luz, what are you doing?” Amity asked.

Luz grunted as she tried to keep the portal together.

“I-I have to get Eda. We’ll find a way back to you.” Luz said with her eyes still watery.

The Collector spotted Luz and King.

“Go! Go, go, go! I can’t hold the portal much longer.” Luz said.

King then started floating away. Luz turned around.

“King!” Luz exclaimed as she reached out her hand to grab King’s hand.

She grabbed his hand and held tightly.

“King! You promised you’d play with me! You pinky swore!” The Collector said.

Luz held tighter, Amity ran toward Luz.

“We gotta stick together, we gotta stick together.” Luz said.

King looked at Luz sadly.

“I’m sorry. Not this time. But I can keep you safe.” King said.

Tears were now freely streaming from Luz’s eyes as she realized what King was doing.

“No!” Luz exclaimed.

King however did not deter.

“Luz, I’m so happy I had you as a big sister.” King said as he let out a mighty WEH, knocking Luz and Amity backward and through the portal door.

Luz came crashing through the portal door to the muddy ground outside of the old cabin. Before her mind caught up with her body she was already at the door trying to open it to the demon realm only for it to not be there with the last image Luz had of King, was him floating ominously back towards The Collector. Luz and the others stood in the rain. The weight of everything that just happened, still settling. Gus then broke down crying with Bria holding him in a tight embrace, tears of her own subtly leaking from her eyes.

Later…

Camila and Vee were in the kitchen preparing dinner when Camila heard a knock at the door. Camila’s eyes widened as she sense a presence, a familiar presence. Luz. Camila rushed to the door and opened it. Camila let out a gasp. In front of her stood Luz, and several other kids, in the pouring rain. Luz rubbed her arm and looked up at her mom with a sad smile.

“Hey mom. I’m back.” Luz said.

Camila rushed forward and pulled her daughter into an embrace. Luz returned the embrace in equal amount. The mother and the daughter were finally, truly, reunited.

To be Continued…

Chapter Text

In the Noceda household, within the living room the Hexsqaud is gathered sitting down and gathering their thoughts from the ordeal they all just went through. Camila got them all some blankets and towels and Vee was passing out tea to everyone. Luz, Amity and Willow were on the couch. Bria and Gus were on the recliner each sitting on one of the arms with Hunter in between them and Camila was in the process of treating Gus's minor injuries after already getting through treating Willow, Amity and Luz.

“So, you all fled here after a powerful being known as The Collector had stopped this draining spell which was currently killing the majority of the population of the Boiling Isles and was currently completely restructuring the head of the Titan where you all were at before escaping here, is that the gist of it?” Camila asked.

Luz nodded.

“Yeah, that’s the gist of things mom.” Luz answered.

Camila hums knowing there far more to this but she'll wait tell The Doctor and Rose get back from the store so that way there was less to explain.

“Well, just so you know I have an old friend staying over currently, he and his companion should be back any minute now. Don't worry about your situation, he and his companion already know about everything that I know.” Camila said.

Suddenly there's a noise as the door becomes unlocked and swings open to reveal The Doctor and Rose their arms loaded with groceries.

“Luz! You’re back!” A male British voice said excitedly.

Everyone in the living room turned to look at who had just entered seeing a tall Caucasian man with short hair, of average build dressed in dark clothes with large ears and joyous smile holding bags of groceries. Beside him on his left was a young woman about 5 inches shorter than him long slightly messy blonde hair wearing jeans and a blue hoodie also holding a bunch of groceries as well and looking a but nervous. While everyone in the living specifically the Hexsqaud was still stunned Camila broke the tension.

“Oh you’re back, and for once your timing was actually pretty good, I just told them about you two staying here and being in the know.” Camila said as she walked over to the Doctor and took the groceries from him.

The Doctor meanwhile was still a bit caught up on the dig Camila made at his timing.

“Oh hush you!” The Doctor said.

Camila just smirked back. Vee quickly put down the tea tray she had been using and went over to help with the groceries taking Rose’s from her and taking them into the kitchen to start putting away. Meanwhile Luz was finally relaxing at seeing at how at ease her mami was at interacting with this guy. Bria, Hunter and Gus then began conversing amongst themselves.

“Ok it's not just me, that guy seemed off, right?” Bria asked.

“Well, we've only interacted with 2 humans, and one of which is Luz who is quite quirky on her own, maybe were just on edge ya know?” Gus proposed.

“I'm with Gus, plus if Luz's mom trusts him then we should as well.” Hunter said.

Willow over heard Bria, Gus and Hunter. Willow turned to Amity.

“So, what’s your opinion on Rose and the Doctor?” Willow asked.

Amity turned to look back at Willow.

“Honestly, Rose seems pretty normal, but my experience from dealing with someone with a title like, The Doctor, has certainly shown me there's more than meets the eye.” Amity answered.

“You’re referring to Eda, right?” Willow asked.

Amity smiled at Willow, which confirmed her answer. The Doctor and Rose exited the kitchen with Camila beside them, while Vee stayed back to make some more tea, what with Vee being nervous around so many people and two thirds of them being unfamiliar witches was not quite helping things. The Doctor smiled widely at Luz.

“It's great to see you again Luz, this is Rose Tyler, my friend.” The Doctor introduced Rose.

“Hello.” Rise said as she gave a small wave and a smile to Luz and the rest of the Hexsquad.

Everyone waved back.

“Last time I saw you you were only a few months old.” The Doctor said.

Luz nodded slowly.

“Uh, yeah, good to see you again I guess?” Luz said.

The Doctor smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

“Ah it’s okay if ya don’t remember me, besides I looked a bit different back then. Anyways, care to introduce us to your friends?” The Doctor said.

“Oh! Right.” Luz said as she began to introduce her friends, gesturing to Amity first.

“This is Amity Blight, a prodigy in Abomination magic.” Luz said.

Amity smiled at Rose and the Doctor.

“Hello.” Amity said.

The Doctor nodded politely. Luz then gestured to Willow.

“This is Willow Park, a natural genius in Plant magic.” Luz said.

“Nice to meet you both.” Willow said with a wave.

Luz then put her hand on Bria’s shoulder.

“Next we have our resident Construction magic pro, Bria Jones.” Luz said.

“Hey.” Bria said with a smile.

Luz then went over to Hunter and put her hand on his head while ruffling his hair.

“Then there’s our bad but sad boy and excellent teleporter, Hunter!” Luz said.

“Hey! Stop calling me that!” Hunter whined.

Hunter pushed away Luz’s hand away and fixed his hair. Luz then gestured to Gus.

“Lastly, the boy in blue, Gus Porter, the best illusionist I know.” Luz said.

“It’s great to meet two more humans, and friends of Luz’s family.” Gus said.

“Well thank you Gus, but I’m not actually human, Rose is but not me.” The Doctor said.

At everyone's expressions shifting toward suspicious the Doctor decided to elaborate.

“Don't worry, Camila and Vee already know the specifics and I'll tell you all shortly but right now me and Rose need to get caught up to speed, then I'll catch you all up.” The Doctor said.

Camila came back out with Vee from the kitchen and saw the Doctor and Rose on the floor like a couple of school kids listening to the lesson plan. Camila shook her head as she remembered her school days back on Gallifrey with The Doctor and Manny. Camila stoped reminiscing and spoke up.

“Alright guy's dinner is ready, come into the kitchen and dish yourselves up and me and The Doctor will start explaining what exactly he meant by not human.” Camila said.

Everyone gathered at the kitchen table after dishing themselves some food and sat down. Camila then spoke up. 

“So, Luz, I take it you opened the watch as I instructed?” Camila asked.

Luz nodded.

“Yeah, I did, and then this golden light came out of it and was absorbed into my body. Mom, did you know that would happen? And what would happen after I did open it?” Luz asked.

Camila nodded in confirmation.

“Yes, I did know, and I understand you must have a lot of questions mija.” Camila answered.

Luz nodded.

“Yeah, I do.” Luz said.

“Well, why don't we start with what you've seen that has changed about you after the energy from the watch was absorbed into you?” Camila proposed.

Luz then went onto list all the changes she’s noticed.

“Enhanced metabolism, reflexes, tougher bones, complete total memory recall, photographic level memory, a binary cardiovascular system, suddenly being able to talk with demons and beasts I couldn't understand previously and an uncanny ability to grasp various scientific theories, concepts and mathematical equations, and being able to completely understand said scientific theories and mathematical equations.” Luz listed off.

The Doctor smiled and clapped his hands together before setting them on the table.

“Well that settles it then. You’ve reawakened.” The Doctor said.

Luz looked up at the Doctor with a puzzled expression.

“Reawakened? From what?” Luz asked.

“From being human, Luz. You’re not human anymore.” Camila said.

Luz’s eyes widened in shock. The others were just as surprised.

“What?! Then what am I?!” Luz asked.

The Doctor answered.

“You’re a Time Lord, Luz. Just like me, and just like your mom and dad.” The Doctor answered.

Luz put her hand up.

“Okay! Okay, can we slow down here for a second? I’m not human, and neither were you and dad? Or the Doctor? And what the hell is a Time Lord?” Luz asked her mother.

Gus from way down on the opposite end of the table sandwiched between Bria and Hunter chimed in.

“Yeah, that's a hell of a bombshell to drop on us and especially Luz, by the way did I use that phrase right?” Gus asked.

Luz nodded.

“Thank you Gus, and yes you did.” Luz answered.

“Well to put it simply, we are a species of humanoid aliens, much like the witches from the Boiling Isles, though we have quite a few more differences, anatomically speaking, and we hail from a planet close to the center of the universe called Gallifrey, and our species is old, like, really, really old.” Camila answered.

Amity chimed in to give Luz some breathing room.

“And do you wanna give us more of an exact number here?” Amity asked.

The Doctor smirked at the young Witch.

“I like your spirit, Amity. But to be more exact, the Time Lords had already explored more than half the universe before the Earth even started to form.” The Doctor answered.

Luz then decided to jump back in.

“Wait, what does Gallifrey look like?” Luz asked, although she already had a sneaking suspicion.

Camila smiled as she remembered Gallifrey.

“Gallifrey was many times bigger than Earth, with it's snow covered mountains and it's burnt orange skies being rather beautiful. People called it the shinning world of the solar system.” Camila said.

Memories flooded into Luz’s head, her dreams coming to mind of the same things her mother described. Orange sky, and snow capped mountains.

“I remember it! I’ve. I’ve had dreams about Gallifrey, but, not all of these dreams were so nice, most of them had Gallifrey caught in a war.” Luz explained as she rubbed her shoulder.

Willow then spoke up.

“Wait, how is that possible if you were just an infant at the time?” Willow asked Luz.

“And what’s this about a war?” Hunter asked.

Everyone’s attention was on Camila and the Doctor.

“Well, to answer Willow’s question first is that even as an infant Luz's Time Lord biology was active in many ways such as your photographic memory and when you reawakened from opening your fob watch your memories from when you were last a Time Lord, or as a infant Time Lord is usually called, a Time Tot, started to come back to the forefront of your memory in your dreams. As for the war scenes you recall, well, Camila, might you want to take over on that bit?” The Doctor said as he looked uneasy before looking at Camila.

Camila nodded.

“Sure.” Camila said as she looked at Luz.

“For starters, Luz, I suppose it's best to explain why you and me had our Time Lord essences sealed away in these.” Camila said as she held up her own fob watch for Luz to see.

Luz took out her own fob watch, her mother’s watch was identical.

“You see, Luz, I took you with me to hide out on earth, and to better blend in with humanity and not be found I used these Chameleon Arches to store away our memories and our Time Lord essences.” Camila explained.

Luz then pocketed her fob watch and spoke up.

“But why were we in hiding? And why Earth when you had the whole galaxy to choose from? Is it because of how uncommon a couple of random humans would appear in space?” Luz asked.

Camila rubbed the back of her neck.

“Well, no, actually, Time Lords as a species are so advanced in technology that we can travel anywhere and any when we want to throughout space and time with next to no limitations, so technically I could've chosen a time and location where the human race was already spread across the stars, but I chose the 21st century because the Doctor here often finds himself within this era so I would know after reawakening that he'd still be around just by doing a little searching online.” Camila said as she pointed at the Doctor with her thumb.

“As for your other question, well, we were hiding from an ongoing war between our people and a race known as the Daleks.” Camila explained with a solemn expression.

Luz’s mind went back to her nightmares of a city engulfed in the chaos of war. Those weird robotic tank things that shouted, Exterminate.

“The. Daleks?” Luz asked.

The Doctor nodded.

“Yes, Luz. The Dalek race was genetically engineered for a single purpose.” The Doctor said.

“I got a feeling it wasn’t a good one.” Luz said.

The Doctor's serious expression said it all, even if Luz just met him today she could see a level of hatred, rage and anger bubbling to the surface and just barely held back by his constitution. 

“No. They were a menace, a scourge upon the universe, made to cleanse all other forms of life that wasn’t a Dalek like themselves. Our people, the Time Lords, were at war with them across all of time and space. With the entirety of creation itself at stake.” The Doctor said.

The kids were stunned by this revelation, their mouthes agape.

“Wow.” Bria said.

“Holy Titan.” Amity muttered.

“Geez, I can’t even begin to imagine such a thing.” Gus said.

“Wha-What was it like?” Hunter asked.

Everyone looked at Hunter, then looked back to Camila and the Doctor.

“Well, for starters it spanned across multiple planets and into other systems, with us having to intercept and stop an attack on many other worlds.” Camila answered.

The Doctor then spoke, leaned back and crossed his arms.

“At first it was like that, then they brought the war to our doorstep and started invading Gallifrey, we pushed back the tide of their forces time and time again, and time and time again they adapted and kept coming back.” The Doctor added.

Amity then raised her hand and spoke up.

“Wait, if your people have access to time travel, then why not go back in time and stop the Daleks before they can properly get their feet off the ground?” Amity asked.

The Doctor briefly smiled at Amity.

“We did try that, and we failed, and in fact it seems that might've been one of the unintentional catalysts that provoked them in the first place.” The Doctor answered.

“I wonder what idiot they sent back.” Luz muttered.

The Doctor rubbed the back of his head.

“It was me actually, and it wasn't the first time, and certainly wasn't the last time I tried to undo it, but it never worked.” The Doctor explained.

Hunter tilted his head.

“Why not?” Hunter asked.

“It's because that specific event in history is what's referred to as a Time Locked point, meaning it's not something that can be altered, they are basically blocked off points of spacetime. Where as a fixed point is something that's always meant to happen and may be altered, but never averted we Time Lords have a natural instinct to run from such things as if you die in a fixed point, there's no amount of time travel that can bring you back.” Camila answered.

The Doctor then spoke.

“But anyways, later in the war, which by the way as you may have guessed was dubbed the Time War, both sides started getting desperate, pulling out powerful super weapons and doomsday devices to try and end it. Massive monstrosities, unspeakable horrors that’d haunt your nightmares as they do mine. I fought on the front lines as well as helping out other races that needed the support.” The Doctor said.

“Luz, your father, Manny, he was a squadron commander, h-he lead his men to and through many battles and survived against insurmountable odds time and time again, but.....” Camila trailed off.

“But what?! What happened?!” Luz asked desperately.

Camila turned her head, trying to hide her tears as she remembered the day she lost Manny. The Doctor answered for Camila so she wouldn’t have to.

“He died, Luz, Manny died buying time for the rest of his men to retreat to a defendable position after they were caught in an ambush.” The Doctor answered.

Luz’s hearts shattered, her eyes started to water as she lowered her head to the table and started sobbing after hearing how her dad died. She had hoped that with her and her mami’s origins being different, that her dad was still alive somewhere out there, but no, it was just a false hope she had foolishly given herself. Amity pulled Luz towards her to offer support, Camila and the Doctor both laid a hand on Luz’s back in comfort. After a few minutes of sobbing, Luz finally spoke.

“C-Can we visit dad’s grave? His real one, on Gallifrey?” Luz asked as she looked up at her mom and the Doctor.

Camila and the Doctor both visibly winced at that. Amity noticing the Doctor wincing more than Camila, and a look in his eyes, a look of extreme guilt.

“I’m sorry Luz, but…” Camila trailed off.

“Gallifrey was destroyed.” The Doctor said.

Luz’s eyes widened when she heard that.

“Wha-What?” Luz asked.

The Doctor let out a heavy and sad sigh.

“Gallifrey was lost during the end of the war, it burned, nothing remains, it was taken out alongside the rest of the Daleks, and with it, the end of the Time War.” The Doctor explained.

“B-But, what about our people?! Our fellow Time Lords?!” Luz asked hysterically.

Camila frowned. The Doctor once more had a look of extreme guilt in his eyes.

“They’re all gone, Luz. We’re all that remains. The last three living Time Lords.” Camila answered as she looked downward.

Luz once again broke into tears. Luz stood up from her seat.

“I-I, please excuse me.” Luz said as she ran out of the kitchen and went up stairs, tears still flowing from her eyes.

“Luz!” Amity called out as she got up from her seat and followed Luz.

Back in the dinning room, everyone was in silence at what they just heard. Luz thought that she had returned back home, but in reality she had just come back to a place she had thought of as home. Her real home, her homeworld, was gone, and all she has left of a heritage she was always a part of is her mom and The Doctor. Now the Hexsqaud felt that now more than ever, that Luz was one of them.

Amity ascended the stairs and entered Luz and Vee’s room, quickly focusing in on Luz sitting on the bottom bunk of the bunkbed, with the fairy lights and the reading lamp beside Luz providing the only illumination for Amity to properly see Luz. Luz sat there, crouched forward with her fingers clutching deep into her hair as she was trying to steady her breathing with small sobs in between heavy breaths. Amity approached Luz and spoke.

“Is it okay if I sit here?” Amity asked.

Luz looked up at Amity, her eyes were red and she had tears pouring down her cheeks. Luz nodded silently and Amity took a seat beside her hum-Time Lord girlfriend and stayed silent, waiting for her opening to help. Luz's breathing calmed a bit more.

“I-I don't know how to process this, all of this it-it's just so much, more than I ever could have imagined! Amity, I'm not only not who I thought I was, but the people I belong to are gone! All of it! This is all so much more complicated than I could've imagined.” Luz said as she started to cry again.

Amity reached out and pulled Luz into a hug, rubbing soft circular motions on her back to try and soothe her.

“Hey, I know it's a lot to deal with, but me and everyone else are here for you.” Amity said.

Luz's crying tapered off and Amity kept going.

“You, know not to long ago I use to think that I had to always do and handle everything on my own, then I met you and you changed that, now I'm done doing things by myself, we either do things together as a team or not at all!” Amity said.

Luz looked up and met Amity's eyes and touched her forehead to Amity's and spoke.

“Th-That's a very good motivational speech thanks, sweat potato.” Luz said.

Amity smiled at Luz and kissed her on the cheek.

“Anytime mi batata, anytime.” Amity said.

Luz took in a deep breath, and let it out. She then wiped away her tears with a blanket.

“I, think I'm gonna stay up by here for a bit more, probably an hour at most.....I'll probably try and recreate my notes on the portal and see what the Doctor makes of them, ya know? Also, don’t let my absence hold up anything my mom or the Doctor want to tell you guys.” Luz said.

 Amity smiled softly at Luz.

“Okay, I'll go and tell them you'll be down in an hour, okay?” Amity said.

Luz smiled back at Amity nodded.

“Yeah, thanks Amity.” Luz said.

Amity gave Luz another kiss on the cheek before she got up off the bed and left the room, closing the door behind her. Amity went downstairs to find everyone else still at the table, it was silent, Amity then broke the silence.

“Luz says she'll be down in an hour or so, she just needs some time to process all of this.” Amity said.

The Doctor nodded in understanding.

“That's understandable, this was...is, a lot to take in for anybody.” The Doctor said.

“She also said to not let her absence hold up anything else you guys wanna tell us.” Amity added.

Rose then spoke up.

“So, uh, hope you guy's don't mind, but I kinda had a few questions about magic if you could?” Rose asked with a soft smile.

Willow to the initiative and spoke for the group.

“Sure, I think we could all use a bit of a change of pace, besides even if Luz said to continue on without her she's the one that would benefit most from hearing anything to do with Time Lord culture and stuff.” Willow answered.

Camila smiled at Willow.

“You make a good point there Willow, thank you, though as a bit of a side note, Time Lord isn't necessarily our species, that would be Gallifreyian, where as our race is Time Lord, it's kinda confusing but I guess it would similar to how not all people from the demon realm are witches, correct?” Camila said.

Willow nodded.

“That would be accurate yes, anywho, Rose, what was it you were curious about?” Willow asked as she turned to look back at Rose.

“Yes, well, when Luz was introducing you all, while I get what plant, illusion and teleportation magic are easily enough what exactly is Abomination and Construction magic?” Rose asked.

One Hour Later…

Luz walked down the stairs, her tears had dried and her eyes no longer red, Luz saw that Hunter and Willow were talking to Rose about plant magic and Palismen, given Willow's small size demonstration of growing a carnivorous plant from one of Camila's house plants and Hunter talking about Flapjack as said Palisman shifted into his staff form. Amity was sitting on the couch and petting her cat Palisman, Ghost, when she noticed Luz.

“Luz!” Amity said with a smile as she stood up while holding Ghost.

Everyone turned their heads to look at Luz and smiled, Luz smiled back.

“Hey guys, what did I miss?” Luz asked.

Hunter turned around to face Luz.

“Not much, we sidelined stuff relating to Time Lords and mostly answered any questions your mom, Rose and the Doctor had about magic and the demon realm in general.” Hunter answered.

“Oh! Nice, thanks guys.” Luz said.

Luz then walked over to the Doctor.

“While I was up in my room I was brainstorming and started remaking my notes from back in the Boiling Isles, specifically my research notes on making a working portal and, uh, was wondering if you could go over it Doctor, see what I'm missing in order to get it working properly.” Luz said as she held up a fifty page packet of her notes on Philips journal and the progress she had made.

The Doctor smiled.

“Sure thing Luz, I'd be happy to look over it, and actually it's funny you should bring up multiverse travel.” The Doctor said.

Luz tilted her head.

“Wait. Why?” Luz asked.

Camila walked over to Luz and started looking at a few of the pages.

“Because, Luz, the Time Lords could also travel the multiverse, just as easily as we travel through time, the problem is that when they died they took that access and knowledge with them, and now ironically it's looking like it may be you Luz, the last child of Gallifrey, to rediscover that same knowledge.” Camila said as she gave Luz a proud motherly smile as she took the packet from Luz’s hands and passed it to the Doctor.

Luz smiled back at her mom. Camila then looked at her watch. It was late at night.

“But I think it's a bit too late for any further discussions and tomorrow we will have a lot to do just with helping to get everyone properly settled. Vee, if you could help me set up the spare beds in Luz's room, I'll help make some space for the boy's down in the basement.” Camila said as she and Vee went off to set things up.

The Doctor then went to the kitchen and started making some tea to start looking over Luz’s notes.

“This shouldn’t take too long.” The Doctor said as he read over Luz’s work.

Rose, who was sitting on the kitchen counter, took a sip of her own tea.

“You sure you're brain won't explode from trying to wrap it around magic?” Rose said sarcastically to The Doctor.

The Doctor gave Rose a playfully unamused looked.

“Hardy har har.” The Doctor said.

Meanwhile in the Basement…

Hunter was setting down a mattress while Gus looked around at everything in the boxes. Gus was acting like a kid in a candy store right now, and he currently had life vest on.

“Hunter! Look at all this awesome human stuff!” Gus said as he reached into a box and pulled out a roll of bubble wrap.

Gus then began popping the bubble wrap and something fragile fell out of the box and landed on the floor, shattering. Gus stopped for a second, before continuing to pop the bubble wrap. Hunter smile at his friend’s enthusiasm.

“I think it’s just stuff here.” Hunter said.

Camila then came in while holding a stack of folded blankets and sheets. She smiled at the two.

“It’s not much, but I hope you two will be comfortable.” Camila said as she set down the stack onto a nearby couch.

“We will Luz’s mom.” Gus said.

Hunter then cleared his throat and knelt before Camila.

“Thank you for providing us with shelter, mam.” Hunter said.

Camila smiled awkwardly.

“Please never do that again, and call me Camila. Buenas noches.” Camila said as she walked up the stairs.

Meanwhile in Luz’s room…

Vee was currently giving Bria and Willow a tour while Luz and Amity sat on the bottom bunk of the bunkbed.

“So, are you going to tell your mom, about us?” Amity asked.

Luz sighed.

“I’d, like to wait a bit before telling her that we’re a couple.” Luz answered.

Amity nodded and took Luz’s hand in her own.

Later…

When the kids were all in bed Camila entered the kitchen to find the the Doctor pouring a cup of tea and Rose sitting at the table.

“The kids are all asleep?” The Doctor asked.

“Yes.” Camila answered with a nod.

“Okay, although question, why didn’t you simply give them rooms in your TARDIS?” The Doctor asked.

Camila sighed, and walked over to the grandfather clock with the Doctor and Rose following. Camila knew they would follow and kept talking.

“The kids have been through so much already today. I didn’t want to spring something like a ship that’s dimensionally bigger on the inside on them.” Camila said as she opens the clock and entered her TARDIS.

Rose and the Doctor followed, with Rose closing the exterior door, the interior doors swung open to reveal the console room, still in its default layout, although with a green couch on one side of it with a wooden coatrack next to it. The interior doors then closed and the Doctor and Rose looked around at the console room.

“But as soon as they’re all refreshed I’ll get to work on setting up some rooms for them in here.” Camila said.

The Doctor kept looking at the console room.

“It’s a bit bland in here.” The Doctor commented.

Camila playfully slugged him hard in the shoulder.

“Okay smart guy, let’s see what your latest phase is.” Camila snarked back.

“Okay, no time like the present.” The Doctor said with a grin while rubbing the spot where Camila punched him.

Timeskip…

Camila entered the Doctor’s TARDIS and examined the console room.

“I see you’re going through a bit of a grunge phase. Although the coral aesthetic is a nice touch.” Camila commented.

“I think it’s brilliant.” The Doctor said with a smirk.

Camila playfully rolled her eyes.

“Of course you do.” Camila said.

Camila shut the doors to the Doctor’s TARDIS and they all went back inside.

To be Continued…

Chapter Text

Morning came and Camila entered the kitchen to find the Doctor sitting at the table milling over Luz’s notes. The Doctor was still rubbing the spot where Camila hit him in the arm. Camila playfully rolled her eyes as she began making breakfast.

“So how goes looking over Luz’s notes? See if there’s anywhere we could start with building a new portal?” Camila asked.

The Doctor rubbed the back of his head.

“Honestly, I don't know what half of these materials are or if we even have any equivalent in this universe. The one thing we might be able to get is the power necessary.” The Doctor said.

Camila turned her head to look at the Doctor.

“I'm sure 3 Time Lords can figure it out, besides, Luz was able to make a portal capable of getting her half-way through, and that was before she even reawakened as a Time Lord.” Camila said.

The Doctor sighed heavily.

“You’re right, I just hate dealing with anything magically based, it only ever makes half sense.” The Doctor said.

“What does?” Rose asked as she walked into the kitchen with a yawn and started making a cup of tea.

“Oh, Doc here just hates dealing with magical stuff.” Camila said with a smirk.

The Doctor groaned.

“Please don't call me that, I don't want that catching on with Luz or the rest of the kids, after all I'm not Doc Brown from Back to the Future.” The Doctor complained.

Camila snorted.

“Could’ve fooled me with those ears.” Camila said as she pointed at the Doctor’s ears.

“Oi! Watch it or I’ll bring out the photo album.” The Doctor said.

Rose was trying to quench her laughter as she drank her tea.

“But don't the witches have an organ that provides them with the energy to do magic.” Rose said as she did air quotes when she said magic.

Rose sat down at the table.

“So it's not unexplainable, just hard to wrap your head around.” Rose said as she started looking through the rest of Luz's info sketches of important things and people from the Boiling Isles.

Amity stumbled into the kitchen with Ghost resting on her head.

“Please tell me you guys have coffee in this realm?” Amity asked Camila.

Camila smiled softly at the still half asleep witch teen and handed her a cup of fresh coffee.

“Here, milk is in the fridge.” Camila said.

Amity barely nodded and slowly walked to the fridge, fishing out and pouring some milk into her coffee and took an incredibly long sip, nearly drinking it all in one go with Camila, Rose and the Doctor all watching with amused expressions. Amity finally fully opened her eyes and yawned right at the same time as her Palisman, Ghost, yawning as well making everyone else in the room draw mental comparisons between Amity and her cat Palisman, especially given that Amity's yawn showed that she had fangs instead of normal canine teeth.

“Aw, Ghost is so adorable yawning right as you do, can I hold her?” Rose asked.

“Hmmmmm? Oh, sure, you okay with that, Ghost?” Amity asked her Palisman.

Ghost meowed. Amity smiled at Rose.

“That’s a yes here.” Amity answered as she handed Ghost over to Rose for her to hold. 

Rose took Ghost and began petting the cat Palisman. Camila smiled at Amity.

“So how did you sleep? Also are Willow, Bria, Vee and Luz still asleep?” Camila asked.

Amity took another sip of her coffee.

“Nah, Luz is already in the shower or is about to be, Vee is on the computer and Willow is doing a few of her early morning exercises, she says she always tries to get in her morning ones if nothing else, and Bria is exercising along with her.” Amity answered.

Camila nodded.

“Well breakfast is ready, go ahead and dish yourself up as much as you want carino. There’s plenty to go around.” Camila said as she gestured to the breakfast spread.

There were pancakes, bacon, eggs and toast.

“Oh, wow, thanks Mrs. Noceda.” Amity said as she took a plate and put some pancakes on it.

Luz, Hunter and Gus then came into the kitchen.

“Good morning.” The three of them greeted.

“Good morning, go ahead and dig in while I go get Vee and check up on Willow and Bria.” Camila said as she walked towards the stairs.

Gus took a plate and dished himself up some pancakes.

“Man, this all looks great, my second meal in the human realm, sweet.” Gus said.

“Literally what with how good these pancakes are.” Amity said as she took a bite.

Both the Doctor and Rose smiled at the kid’s more cheerful attitude, a nice change from how they mostly were yesterday. Camila and Bria, along with Willow and Vee came downstairs and joined everyone else for breakfast. Camila looked at the Doctor.

“Doctor, I’m going to need you to go out and get a rental car with enough space for us all.” Camila said.

The Doctor nodded and wiped his mouth with a napkin.

“On it.” The Doctor said as he got up from his seat and walked out the front door.

Luz looked over to her mother.

“So what’s the plan today, mom?” Luz asked.

Camila wiped her own mouth with a napkin.

“Well for starters we gotta get you all new clothes, not just to be inconspicuous, but just in general, so firstly we’re going shopping.” Camila answered.

“What about the Doctor and Rose?” Gus asked.

Rose gave a smile.

“Oh I’d love to tag along and help.” Rose said.

“What about the Doctor?” Hunter asked.

Camila answered him as she put her dish in the sink.

“The Doctor will be sleuthing around that old house in the woods. Since you all came through the portal recently he’s going to check for any residual traces of a dimensional tear.” Camila answered.

Later after everyone finished breakfast they went outside to find the Doctor pull up into the driveway in a minivan. The Doctor got out and handed the keys to Camila.

“Here you go Nurse, see you all in a bit.” The Doctor said as he walked off.

Luz watched where he was going and noticed a blue police telephone box which the Doctor unlocked with a key and went inside of, closing the door behind him. Everyone then got inside the van and Gus casted an illusion over the witches to hide their ears.

“Hey, I was wondering, why is it that only Gus knows any illusion spells? I mean, I get the track system kept you guys from getting all that much out of your comfort zone, but learning some spells from outside your specialty, even if minor, could help out when you guys get back home, right?” Rose asked.

Camila nodded in agreement.

“Actually, she's got a bit of a point there, especially considering that the whole one witch one track thing was purely a lie so Belos could have the majority of the population weakened in general.” Camila said in agreement.

Luz rubbed her chin and hummed as she thought it over before looking at her friends.

“Yeah, I think mom and Rose have a good point, starting tomorrow I think we should try and teach and learn some basic spells from each other, it will give us more to work with when we return.” Luz said.

Amity nodded in agreement.

“Alright, I’m in.” Amity said.

“Same here.” Willow, Gus and Bria said.

Camila put the keys into the ignition and turned them, the car came to life and they drove off.

Meanwhile…

The Doctor was at the old house, standing on the porch. The door to the house was closed and the Doctor was currently banging his head against it in frustration.

“I can't believe, there's nothing here, no signs of inter-dimensional rift activity at all.” The Doctor said as he banged his head against the door again for the fifth time.

After three and a half hours of scanning both with the TARDIS’s scanners and his sonic screwdriver and still, zilch. But with the Doctor preoccupied, he didn’t notice a dark green sludge, off to the side of the house, slink out of sight and into the forest.

Later…

Camila and the others had driven to the clothes store and were browsing the isles of clothes. Amity was with Camila and Vee, looking through the clothing racks for tops in her style. Amity hummed to herself in thought as she looked through some articles of clothes. Camila came over to Amity.

“Need some help, Amity?” Camila asked.

Amity was slightly surprised.

“Oh! Uh, thank you Mrs. Noceda.” Amity answered.

Amity wanted to make a good impression on her girlfriend’s mother. Camila gave Amity a warm smile.

“Please, Amity, call me Camila.” Camila said as she began helping Amity look for tops.

“Okay then, but then why did I overhear The Doctor calling you, Nurse?” Amity asked.

“Oh, well, The Nurse, is my title.” Camila answered.

Amity tilted her head slightly.

“Title?” Amity asked.

Camila nodded her head.

“Yes, similar to “The Doctor,” you see Time Lords, if they wish, can take on a title, some, like the Doctor, let it also completely substitute for their name and will, like in his case, prefer to be addressed by such, whereas I still also go by my birth name. It can also sometimes serve as a form of an alias as well, but it's symbolic, a vow you make and always stand by no matter what.” Camila answered.

“Wow, that's a pretty cool and interesting tradition.” Amity said.

Camila smiled at Amity.

“Yes, yes it is. Now, what color scheme do you usually go for with your clothes, hmmm?” Camila asked.

“Um, Purple, dark red and certain shades of pink.” Amity answered.

“Hmmm okay let's see what we find.” Camila said as she began browsing clothes with Amity.

Vee off to the side, smiled at the interaction.

Meanwhile Luz was trying to help out Hunter as Gus was checking out the coats and jackets after already getting a few things.

“How about this?!” Luz said as she held up the 4th T-shirt in a row with an anime character on it, with Hunter just not paying attention at this point.

“Hunter, you paying attention here or what?” Luz asked.

“How about this?” Hunter asked as he held up a button up T-shirt with a bunch of red birds all over it.

Luz smiled.

“Yeah that works too, now, let's find you some shoes and pants.” Luz answered.

Luz continued to help Hunter in picking out his clothes, Camila had said before they entered the store that they didn't have a budget for clothing so everyone was free to go wild, though Luz did make a point in trying to inform her friends as much as possible about the currency system of the human realm, specifically for the US, and how to tell if something was reasonably priced. Luz was pretty sure that Amity, Willow and Hunter were able to retain the information as a whole, but Gus and Bria on the other hand. Luz looked over at Gus and saw him looking at $60 shirts that weren't even good quality dress shirts. Thankfully Hunter was already on it. Luz saw a cool button down jacket shirt that was a deep red. Luz decided to get it for herself. Luz then spotted some red and white shoes which she also picked up, along with a green V-neck T-shirt and some dark gray jeans.

Meanwhile Rose was helping Willow with picking out her clothes. 

“How about this, Willow?” Rose asked as she showed Willow a cream colored T-shirt with a green Animal Crossing leaf on the front.

Willow smiled.

“Oh that looks great! And it would go great with this sweater.” Willow said holding a pine green sweater coat over her left arm.

Rose smiled, loving how much the kids seemed to be enjoying themselves.

“Right, let's see what else they got here.” Rose said as she browsed the clothes.

Willow then asked Rose a question.

“Ya know, I've been meaning to ask, you kinda talk differently than Luz and given how the Doctor and Camila mentioned time travel being common for Time Lords I was wondering if you're like, from another era or something?” Willow asked.

“Oh, me? No no no, I'm from this time....well technically, not specifically this year but 2006, still the same era though. I'm just from a different region of the planet, a place called England, specifically the city of London, England.” Rose answered.

Willow nodded in acknowledgment.

“Oh, so the culture is different in such a way you have an accent, that makes sense, Luz mentioned a group that she, King and Hooty found on the other side of our world called the Titan Trappers, and she said they spoke with a slight accent as well, makes sense the same thing would be prevalent on Earth too.” Willow said.

Bria exited a changing room, she was dressed in some brown cargo shorts, an orange V-neck T-shirt and a dark blue bubble vest. She was heading over to Luz to ask her about shoe options because Rose was busy helping Willow, when she accidentally bumped into Gus. Gus fell backwards, instinctively grabbing onto Bria's hand to stop himself from falling, only to end up dragging her into the fall ending up with her nearly on top of him, both of them blushing from their close proximity. Bria quickly got up to her feet and pulled Gus back up as well apologizing in the process.

“Sorry about that Gus.” Bria apologized, her blush still cooling down.

“Eh, it's fine no harm no foul right? Also, nice outfit Bria.” Gus said as he blushed a bit, rubbing the back of his neck while looking off to the side a bit.

“Thanks you look good too, especially the jacket you found.” Bria said while slightly wringing her hands a bit nervous.

Luz noticed all of this go down, smiling at the adorableness between the two. Meanwhile Hunter found himself a bird costume and looked both ways to be sure no one saw him take it into the changing room to try on.

The clothes shopping continued with everyone getting at least a good 7 outfits worth of clothes, pajama clothes, socks, underwear, a few coats and some extra shirts and accessories, like hats, glasses, shades and beanies. Rose also got a new coat as well made more for an English summer or early fall. Vee also showed everyone her new human form which Camila and Luz were both overjoyed for her making her own look.

At first glance Camila thought she would’ve needed to make another trip back home to drop off the clothes before heading back out, but the kids surprised her seemingly just magicing away their new clothes, minus a few things Luz got.

“Um, where did those clothes just go?” Camila asked.

“Oh yeah, sorry for not explaining sooner, you see, most witches on the Boiling Isles carry one of these.” Amity said as she took off and showed Camila her magically concealed pouch.

“You see these are, as Luz nick names them, bags of holding, they link to a witches magic passively and using preinscribed spells of shrinking and expanding, can store a large amount of items in it with additional spells canceling out the weight of the items when stored, as well as keeping other witches from accessing your specific bag. There's still a limit on the space available, like the same amount of space as Luz's closest.” Amity explained.

Camila nodded.

“Wow, that's a pretty creative way to make something bigger on the inside without dimensionally folding space.” Camila said as she got into the driver’s seat of the van.

“I know ri-wait what?” Amity said as she didn’t quite catch that last bit.

“Next stop, Costco!” Camila said quickly as she caught herself.

Amity tilted her head.

“What-co?” Amity asked.

Luz tapped Amity’s shoulder and Amity turned her head to look at Luz.

“It's like a huge building to buy most of the food you usually need for cooking and baking and it's the best place to buy good quality in bulk.” Luz answered.

Amity nodded.

“Oh. Okay, so next is grocery shopping got it.” Amity said.

Everyone got inside the van. As the minivan started up and pulled out and went on it's way to the store Rose checked to see how everyone was doing. With Amity, Luz and Vee in the first row of seats. Gus, Hunter, Bria and Willow in the second row and Rose herself in the passenger side seat upfront.

“Ya guy's doing alright back there?” Rose asked.

Willow tilted her head in confusion.

“Uh, fine, why wouldn't we be doing good?” Willow answered with a question of her own.

Rose, feeling slightly embarrassed explained herself.

“Well I just it might be a bit overwhelming for you guy's to be in a car and everything given the usual stuff your use to.” Rose explained.

Gus, overhearing everything, finally teared his head away from analyzing everything he saw outside of his window to chime in.

“We’re not from the Savage Ages, we may not have cars but we’re used to a lot of what humans would consider weird forms of transportation, so this isn't all that surprising or shocking, though I'm curious as to how these work and are built?” Gus said.

Luz then perked up.

“Oh! Well, once we get back home I can look up some documentaries on the start of the automotive industry, they should cover all that kinda stuff!” Luz said.

Gus smiled.

“That would be great Luz, thanks.” Gus said.

Bria's interest was peaked as she was transfixed by the various different buildings that they were passing outside.

“Hey, Luz, would there be anything on architecture, like on old buildings?” Bria asked.

“Oh I’m sure there is.” Luz answered.

“Though if you want, I'm sure either mine or the Doctor's library has tons of books on human architectural wonders.” Camila added.

Luz blinked at that.

“Uh, mom? What library are you talking about?” Luz asked in confusion.

Camila smiled.

“Oh you'll see when we get home, oh look were here.” Camila said as she started to pull into the parking lot of Costco.

Timeskip…

They had finished shopping and drove back to the Noceda residence. Luz was really racking her brain on what in the world her mom meant when she seemed to imply that both she and the Doctor had their own library. Worst of all, Vee seemed to know but was staying tight lipped about it until Camila said otherwise, as soon as the van was turned off Luz quickly bounded out of her side and opened the van's trunk and quickly began taking out groceries, wanting to get to the bottom of this mystery. Camila was smirking at Luz's speed of grabbing the groceries, knowing full well just how eager she was to figure out what she meant earlier. 

“Okay, Vee, if you could go and fetch the Doctor. I think it's time to show you all something.” Camila said.

Vee smiled, knowing full well what Camila meant and quickly went off to grab the Doctor. While everyone was waiting for Vee and the Doctor they got changed into their new outfits. Luz looked at herself in a mirror, she was now dressed in the red button up shirt which she had rolled the sleeves up slightly, she left it unbuttoned to reveal the green V-neck T-shirt, she also now wore dark gray jeans which she had rolled the legs up a little so they wouldn’t get torn up. She also switched her shoes to the ones she bought, which were pretty similar to her old ones, except they were red on the top. Eventually Vee came back with the Doctor, both of them smiling.

“Everyone ready?” The Doctor asked.

“Yes! Can we finally see what you meant when you said that you and the Doctor have your own libraries?” Luz asked.

Camila smiled slyly.

“Come along everyone.” Camila said as she unlocked the front door and walked inside.

Everyone followed Camila who walked over to a grandfather clock in the living room. Camila opened the front of the clock like a door and walked in with Rose and the Doctor following her. Everyone else, minus Vee and Rose, was surprised. Amity turned to Luz.

“Uh, Luz, could your clock always do that?” Amity asked.

Luz just shook her head. Vee slyly smirked. The Doctor then turned around and peeked out of the clock.

“What are you all waiting for?” The Doctor asked with a grin before fully walking inside the clock.

And so, one by one with Luz leading them, after taking a quick breath, the Hexsquad walked through, and into The Nurse’s TARDIS, Vee sticking to the back in case anyone fainted. Luz, like everyone, was stunned silent by what they bore witness to, that being a massive expanse of a large dome shaped room, with massive supporting columns made of a type of metal, with an upper deck like section with Victorian style banisters and guardrails for safety, several golden etched circular symbols in the ground floor and the ceilings center which was connected to the bottom via a large glass column that seemed to plus with a strange yet familiar energy, attached to a central console at which Camila, Rose and The Doctor were all waiting by.

https://www.deviantart.com/inkmaster42/art/Custom-TARDIS-interior-960740621

Vee, noticing that no one looked like they would faint, nodded at Camila. Camila subtly nodded back and she then motioned the kids to come closer. Everyone joined them at the console and looked around in awe.

“What, is this place?” Luz asked.

Camila smiled at her daughter.

“This, Luz, is my TARDIS.” Camila answered.

“TARDIS?” Luz asked.

Camila nodded.

“Yes, Luz, TARDIS. It stands for Time and Relative Dimensions in Space. A Type 40 TARDIS to be exact, all this space and far more is contained within a smaller exterior via dimensional folding storage technology and a pocket dimensional space as well.” Camila explained.

Luz and her friends were stunned.

“H-How big is this ship as a whole?” Luz asked.

The Doctor smirked and leaned against the console.

“Well, why don’t you ask her yourself, Luz? She’ll probably answer you directly.” The Doctor answered.

Luz raised an eyebrow.

“What do you mean by, answer me herself?” Luz asked.

Camila smiled.

“Focus, Luz. Every TARDIS is alive, they’re grown, not built. The TARDIS Matrix is a living consciousness, and you as a Time Lord can psychically link with it, and thusly talk with it, go on, Luz, give it a try.” Camila said encouragingly.

Luz took a slow breath as she closed her eyes and focused on a slight tugging feeling she's had in the back of her mind ever since entering her mom's TARDIS. Then, it happened, a weird yet calming sensation of being truly at home, seemed to radiate from the TARDIS itself, Luz’s thoughts being gently communicated to her. Luz smiled and opened her eyes.

“She's happy that we're finally back, mom. She's really wanted to stretch her legs. Also she says that in terms of volume and height she's around the size of Disney world and the height of the Empire State Building, with the exception of the engine room holding the miniature Eye of Harmony, what ever that is.” Luz said.

The Doctor smiled.

“Way to go, Luz. You’re a natural.” The Doctor complimented.

Gus examined the console Unity and raised his hand.

“Uh, question. Why are the controls all over the place?” Gus asked.

Willow took a closer look as well.

“Yeah, I was wondering the same thing too.” Willow said.

Camila answered them.

“Well, a Type 40 Tardis is actually meant to be piloted by 6 people at once, one pilot for every side of the console unit.” Camila answered.

“Doesn't mean you can't pilot it all on your own though, if anything it makes it more fun.” The Doctor said with a wide grin.

Camila then started fiddling around with the controls on one side of the console.

“Anywho, due to all the obvious extra spaces in here we can easily give all of you your own rooms.” Camila said.

After a minute of messing with the controls Camila looked up and at Amity.

“Alright, first thing's first, Amity, tell me your preferences for your room, bed size, wall colors, hard wood floors or carpet windows, large or small, the works.” Camila said.

“Oh, okay, are you sure you don't mind?” Amity asked.

Camila smiled warmly.

“Of course not.” Camila said.

Willow’s hand shot up.

“Could my room have some weightlifting equipment in it?” Willow asked.

“There’s no need, there’s already a fully equipped gym room, not to mention a swimming pool, a greenhouse, a kitchen, an observatory and a library.” Camila said.

Bria and Willow smiled at the mention of a gym. Luz and Amity perked up at the mention of a library.

Seven room designs later…

Camila had finished setting up rooms and pointed to the stairs behind her.

“Okay, now with the features set for your guys’s preferences they should be all ready, Luz the TARDIS will guide you to their rooms, just start heading down the corridor that at the end of the stairs on the far side over there.” Camila said.

Luz nodded and walked up the stairs and gestured for her friends to follow her. They walked down corridors until they found their rooms.

Amity’s room had violet colored walls and a brown wooden floor, a white dresser on one side, a bed with indigo colored sheets with a white nightstand next to it with an Abomination themed lamp on it, an abomination themed carpet at the foot of the bed, and an Abomination shaped beanbag chair in one corner next to a white bookshelf, there was some fairy lights and Good Witch Azura posters along with a scratching post for Ghost.

Willow’s room had forest green walls with a brown wooden floor, a green Animal Crossing leaf shaped carpet in front of a bed which had matching green sheets, there was a wooden desk on one side of the room with several plants on it, and there were pillows shaped like flowers around the room.

Vee’s room was cream colored carpet floor with a dark green snake shaped mat next to her bed which had dark green sheets, the walls were the same green as her scales in basilisk form and there was nightstand next to her bed that was made of brown wood. Along with some snake plushies and a navy blue beanbag chair in a corner next to a brown bookshelf and a dresser.

Gus’s room had light blue walls, a bed with dark blue sheets, a white desk with a crystal ball on it, a white dresser, a magnifying glass shaped rug over a brown hard wood floor, and a white bookshelf with several books on optical illusions.

Hunter’s room had pale yellow colored walls and a beige colored carpet floor, there was a brown nightstand with a red lamp on it next to his bed which had red colored sheets, there was a bare tree in one corner, a perch for Flapjack to sit on. Along with a brown bookshelf.

Bria’s room had tangerine colored walls and a brown hard wooden floor with a rock shaped rug in front of her bed, along with some posters of buildings and a bookshelf with books on animals and architecture. A desk and a dresser, the bed had purple colored sheets.

Luz got her own room as well. It actually resembled her room in the house, right down to the last detail.

Everyone dropped off their new clothes in their rooms and started looking around the TARDIS. Luz and Amity had found the library, it resembled the interior of Wan Shi Ton’s library from Avatar the Last Airbender.

“Now we’re talking.” Amity said as she took off the look at all the books leaving Luz smiling at her bookworm nerd of a girlfriend.

“Wait for me sweet potato.” Luz said as she joined Amity in looking around at all the books.

The two of them spent a while looking around in the library. Meanwhile Willow, along with Hunter, Gus and Bria, had found the greenhouse, while Vee was chilling around on a chair in the pool room. Eventually Luz got a text from her mom, saying that it was dinner time.

“Amity, mom says it's time for dinner let’s get the others and hurry up, mom said something about Rose cooking stew, some family recipe.” Luz said.

Amity set down the book she was reading.

“Alright, let’s get going, it sounds good. By the way Luz, ah, when are you gonna tell your mom, that were dating?” Amity asked.

At hearing that Luz blushed a bit for forgetting to even come up with a plan.

“Uh, soon, I just gotta ask the Doctor a couple of cultural questions in regards to Time Lord society.” Luz answered.

Amity nodded.

“Oh, okay, that makes sense.” Amity said.

“It does?” Luz asked.

“Well, yeah, you just found out literally yesterday that not only are you an alien, but one of the last of an incredibly powerful species that has technology that's at a godly level and you barely know anything about their culture, which is now your culture so yeah, of course you'd want to ask the Doctor some stuff about Time Lord culture, for all we know there's some intricate Galifreyian courting tradition you may need to follow to have out relationship approved by your mom.” Amity answered.

Luz blinked.

“Actually, that's a lot better than my original question, thanks Sweet Potato.” Luz thanked.

Amity smiled.

“No problem mi Batata.” Amity said.

And so the two of them left the library and went off to find the rest of the squad. Meanwhile in the console room, the Doctor and Camila were discussing magic of all things.

“So have been able to...how did Rose phrase it? Wrap your head around it?” Camila said as she did air quotes to emphasize her point.

“It's demon realm magic after all.” Camila added.

The Doctor sighed heavily.

“Please, you’re starting to sound like the Sisterhood of Karn, besides I've come to just think of it as a way of Witches as a species are to be able to manipulate the vectors of their environment in order to get varied outcomes and results. With their bile sack's producing a unique chemical that allows them to stimulate the energy within these vectors.” The Doctor said, crossing his arms in triumph.

Only for Camila to smirk and pat him on the arm.

“Sure…keep telling yourself that.” Camila said.

Luz and the others walked into the console room.

“Hey, mind if I help with dinner?” Amity asked as she approached Camila and Rose.

“Sure.” They both said with a smile.

Everyone began exiting the TARDIS, except for Luz who tugged on the Doctor's coat sleeve, when he turned to see her she gestured with her head to hang back a second to which he did.

“What is it, Luz?” The Doctor asked.

“Well, I, kind had a few questions regarding Time Lords.” Luz said.

“Ask away then.” The Doctor replied.

Luz began rubbing her hands together, slightly nervous.

“Well, more about their culture, or I guess, my culture. Anywho, I was wondering if there's any stigma against dating outside our species, and if there's any sort of weird tradition for courting I need to know if I'm gonna date someone?” Luz asked.

There was a moment of silence from the Doctor before he gave out a small chuckle and grinned.

“Ah, teenagers never change, but, no, Luz, there's nothing wrong about dating outside your species, hell both your parents dated plenty of people outside of our species of all gender as well, so don't worry about that, there's no gender roles in Time Lord culture, nor is there any prejudice against people for their sexual orientation if you're concerned about that.” The Doctor answered.

Luz released a breath she didn't know she was holding. 

“As for your other question, no, as far as I'm aware there's no courting tradition to be followed, though having your girlfriend help your mom and Rose cook will certainly help your case.” The Doctor added with a warm smile.

Luz's eyes widened, surprised she and Amity were found out.

“How did you know? And does mom know?” Luz asked.

The Doctor shrugged.

“Well, Rose told me she thought you and Amity are dating but I wasn't sure until the questions you just asked. Secondly, no, I haven't, that's for you and Amity to tell her.” The Doctor answered.

Luz smiled.

“Thanks.” Luz said.

Later…

Luz walked into the kitchen to find Rose, Camila and Amity all working on dinner. Luz took a breath to calm her nerves and walked up to her mom.

“Hey, mom? You want me to set the table?” Luz offered.

Camila looked over her shoulder and smiled at Luz.

“Yes, that would be great. Gracias mija.” Camila said.

Luz went over to the cabinet with the plates and as she was retrieving them, she really hoped that her mom wouldn't understand the Azura series witch dialect as she spoke to Amity in witches tongue from Azura.

“Good news, Sweet Potato, turns out we’re good, the Doctor said there's nothing culturally that should get in the way of our relationship, after I'm done setting the table I'll say “mom I have something to tell you” that's your cue to join in, alright?” Luz said.

Amity quickly recognized the dialect as the witches tongue from the Azura series and listened closely. Amity nodded.

“Alright, I'll be ready when you are.” Amity said.

Luz kept an eye on her mom throughout her whole conversation with Amity to see if her mom did somehow understand witches tongue from the Azura series, thankfully there wasn't a single hint that Camila had caught on. After Luz had finished setting up the table, she walked up to her mom.

“Mom. Th-There’s something I-I need to tell you.” Luz stuttered.

Amity, hearing this, quickly dried off her hands and came to Luz's side and took her hand which she could tell quickly helped calm down her nerves. Camila turned around after hearing Luz she gave her daughter her full attention.

“Yes, what is it, Luz?” Camila asked.

Luz took a deep breath and spoke.

“So the thing is is I'm Bi andAmityismygirlfriend.” Luz blurted out.

Luz sighed heavily from finally getting that off her chest. Camila smiled gleefully and quickly rushed Luz and Amity, pulling them into a hug.

“Oh I'm so, so, so proud of you and happy for you too.” Camila said joyfully, spinning them around a couple of times.

Gus, overhearing their excitement, made an illusion of mini fireworks going off above their heads. Rose set the stew to simmer and walked over to the couple, a smile on her face.

“Congratulations you two.” Rose said.

Luz and Amity smiled up at the older girl.

“Thanks, Rose.” Luz said.

The Doctor was leaning against the wall, watching the whole thing with a smile on his face.

“Ah, young love, such a beautiful thing.” The Doctor said softly.

Just before dinner the kids decided to watch a movie. Luz and Amity joined the rest of the Hexsqaud in the living room watching some action movie that was just starting, now able to cuddle up without worry. Meanwhile Rose, Camila and the Doctor were chatting while finishing up the sides for dinner.

“I told you there was something between them.” Rose said to the Doctor with a smile.

The Doctor nodded.

“And right on the money you were.” The Doctor said.

“Speaking of, you mentioned Luz talked to you about something Time Lord related, I'm curious what Luz just had to know and why she asked you?” Camila asked the Doctor.

The Doctor shrugged.

“Well, she asked if our people had any problems with Time Lords dating outside their species, as well as if there was any traditional courting stuff that needs to be observed in order for someone you wish to date to be officially recognized by your parents.” The Doctor answered.

Camila blinked.

“Well, I kinda would expect that first one, but I wonder where the second question stemmed from?” Camila replied with a question of her own.

Rose interjected.

“Well, you are Time Lords, you know as in like a lord or social class-like standing, maybe her thought process was that there maybe other old school things as well.” Rose said.

The Doctor chuckled.

“That makes sense actually, never thought of that.” The Doctor said.

Camila walked into the living room and saw the kids watching John Wick of all things, Camila smiled as she saw Luz and Amity cuddled up to each other. She was glad her daughter had found someone who loved her.

“Kids, it’s time for dinner.” Camila said.

They paused the movie and ate dinner. Dinner itself was rather uneventful. After dinner they finished watching the movie and then they went back to their rooms in Camila’s TARDIS to go to sleep.

To be Continued…

Chapter Text

It was 6:30 AM in the morning. Bria was up and just finished putting on her new running shoes along with the rest of her workout outfit of some Nike shorts and a tank top, plus some weightlifting gloves as her and Willow had planned to meet up first thing in the morning in the TARDIS’s kitchen before heading to the gym. Bria left her room and started making her way to the kitchen, admiring the design of the hallway and thinking on how incredibly advanced the whole ship was.

“Then again, as both Camila and the Doctor had explained, before the earth and likely the demon realm planet was even starting to form, the Time Lords were already exploring a vast majority of the cosmos, so it would make sense for how advanced their technology is.” Bria thought to herself.

Bria was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of Willow chatting with someone as she approached the kitchen. She saw Luz and Willow chatting in the kitchen.

“Yes! I got it!” Willow said in triumph as she pumped her fist.

Luz smiled at her friend’s accomplishment.

“Yeah, that's quite a breakthrough, you got the fire spell on only your fifth try.” Luz said.

Willow smiled back.

“That's cause you're a good teacher, Luz, the idea of using the fire glyph as a visual mental focus really helped quite a bit.” Willow said as she examined the golf ball sized green fire ball in her hand.

“Wow! What did I miss?!” Bria asked, revealing herself from around the corner.

Willow and Luz turned around to see Bria.

“Morning, Bria. Luz was just teaching me a new spell.” Willow answered.

“Yeah, I overheard how quick your progress was, impressive, those glyphs really are a great teaching aid, Gus helped me learn the same spell back in the Boiling isles.” Bria said as she demonstrated by quickly drawing a tangerine colored spell circle and producing a tangerine colored fire ball.

Luz examined the fire ball.

“Sweet, looks like Gus may have a knack for teaching!” Luz said with a smile.

Willow meanwhile was a bit surprised.

“Wait, Bria, I thought the color of your magic was brown, why was it tangerine colored just now?” Willow asked.

“Oh! That's kinda interesting, I was wondering about the same thing back a couple of months and asked Eda and Lilith about what determines a person's color of their magic.” Luz said.

Both Bria and Willow had extinguished their fire balls and were fully focused on Luz's explanation.

“You see, as they explained it, a witch’s magic color is usually pretty random with a few being rare like gold, silver and black, but when someone is incredibly magically focused into a specific type of one of the nine tracks of magic, their own magic color will often, though not always, shift to that magic types color.” Luz explained.

“So is that why Eda's magic always stayed it's natural golden color, because she wasn't wholly focused on one type of magic?” Willow asked.

Luz nodded.

“Basically, then there are cases where everyone's magic color already happens to fit their primary magic, so it doesn't really shift when they use another type of magic, like Edric and Emira, whenever they used Beast Keeping or Healing magic their magic seemed to stay in it's illusion magic color, but that’s just what their colors were to start with, the same goes for Amity and Alador's magic color. In fact, the way to tell what someone's natural magic color is would be for them to cast a spell that always manifests itself color wise as their caster's natural color, like the fire spell, barrier spell or telekinetic spells.” Luz elaborated.

“That makes sense, those spells do use a lot of direct magical energy with no specific type affiliated to them.” Bria said.

“Wait, I thought barrier spells were a part of the Beast Keeping track?” Willow asked.

“Well, not really, you see....” Luz trailed off as she started to get out the ingredients to start cooking pancakes and she continued her explanation.

“Well like with Oracle, and Abomination magic, Beast Keeping magic has multiple categories of use within it, specifically 3, those being beast taming/commanding, energy constructs and beast abilities. Taming/commanding is what most associate with Beast Keeping and involves using your magic to command and control lesser beasts such as fire bees or flesh eating beetles, while also forming a partnership-like bond with some beasts that can be connected to on an empathetic level. Then theres energy constructs which is the use of using your magic to make a temporary form of restraint like ropes, lassos, chains, nets or cages out of your magical energy. Lastly is using your magic to manifest beast like traits like claws, quills, eyes or other appendages.” Luz elaborated.

Willow and Bria were stunned by Luz’s explanation.

“Wow! I never new there was so much to Beast Keeping magic.” Willow said.

“Also, what are you cooking, Luz?” Bria asked.

“Oh I'm making a bunch of pancakes, along with some sausage, bacon, toast and eggs for breakfast, it’ll take some time so you guy's should have plenty of time to get in your workout routine.” Luz said as she began looking over the recipe book.

“Alright we’ll be back after we’re done, come on Bria, Luz already showed me where the gym is.” Willow said as she sped off to the gym.

“Right behind you!” Bria said as she quickly grabbed a couple of water bottles before race walking to catch up with Willow.

Luz meanwhile started mixing the batter for the pancakes. A few minutes later Willow and Bria found themselves entering the gym.

“Wow! This place is huge!” Bria said.

“This place has got everything, it's got workout gear I've never heard of, let alone imagined.” Willow said.

“Yeah, we should probably stick to the stuff we know before we move on to trying out some of the more complex stuff.” Bria said.

Willow nodded in agreement.

“Agreed, first rule of working out is to be safe.” Willow said.

“What’s the second rule?” Bria asked.

Willow smirked.

“No pain no gain!” Willow said enthusiastically.

Bria smirked back.

“That’s what I’m talking about!” Bria said back.

15 minutes later Bria and Willow were done with their warmup exercises and stretching and were now working with the dumbbells.

“Hey, Bria, I was kinda curious, given your schooling in the Construction track, did you ever learn how to make those power glyphs?” Willow asked.

Bria finished her current set and went and swap out the dumbbells for some kettlebells as she started to answer Willow’s question.

“Well, actually you aren't taught how to make power glyphs until you’re actually a part of the Construction coven officially. We're actually taught how to better use magical enhancement.” Bria answered.

Bria turned around to see Willow had an eyebrow raised in confusion.

“You know what magical enhancement is, right?” Bria asked.

Willow shook her head.

“Eh, no, I've never heard of it until you said that.” Willow answered.

This surprised Bria, she like many other students in the Construction track, thought that knowledge of the technique was pretty common and that it was only witches with aptitude for it that went into the Construction track.

“Hmmm, maybe it's something that's not really discussed outside of the track class itself. Either way the technique works by directing your magical energy internally, specifically to your muscles, the more precise you're control over the distribution of magical energy you have over what muscles you want to amplify the strength in, the better your results are. I can only do a little more than double my strength output for about a minute before my concentration usually breaks.” Bria explained.

After hearing Bria's explanation Willow quickly realized that back at Hexside when Adrian invaded and she and Amity were separated from the others, that she was probably unintentionally using magical enhancement when she held up a collapsed bookcase with one hand.

“Wow! That's a pretty useful technique, and I'm betting Belos didn't want it being widely taught in every track. Just one more way to limit us. Also I'm curious what's the max someone can amplify their strength through this?” Willow asked.

Bria still examining the exercise directions chart for kettlebells answered Willow’s question.

“Well, my dad told my to never go past amplifying your strength magically more than 5 times your normal unamplified output, otherwise you could severely hurt yourself.” Bria answered.

Willow thought back on how ridiculously strong Tinella was after using a power glyph.

“Then what's with the power glyphs the Construction coven makes?” Willow asked.

Bria finished her first set with the kettlebells.

“Well, the simple answer is that they’re for emergency personnel uses such as for Beast Keeping work, or to help fellow workers push through to finish the job, they only last for 5ish minutes and can't be stacked on top of each other for more power so a lot of the time their passed out to help attract new coven members at events like the Covention.” Bria answered.

Willow rubbed her chin in thought.

“It sounds like a great technique for us all to learn, though if you can use that, then why still workout to build up your strength?” Willow asked.

“Because the stronger your body is, the less risk of backlash from overuse of magical enhancement.” Bria answered.

Willow went over to the bench press and started loading the weights onto the bar before she spoke up.

“Backlash. Sounds kinda similar to Luz's time alter glyph combo.” Willow said.

“Time alter? That's no spell I've ever heard of, what's it do?” Bria asked.

“Oh, I guess that makes sense, according to Luz it manipulates your internal time and somehow by that method, gives her insane level of movement speed. Hey Bria you mind helping out here I kinda need a spotter for this?” Willow said while gesturing to the bench press.

Bria, still connecting the dots of what Willow just said, nodded and walked over to help Willow out. 

“I think I've seen the spell you're referring to. When Luz used it against me in our match I couldn’t see her move at all! But how does time magic make her that fast?” Bria asked.

Willow shrugged before laying down on the bench.

“Beats me, I couldn't keep up with half of what she said. Gus might know a bit more but it's best to just ask Luz herself. In fact we should bring up the idea of all of us working on this magical enhancement technique when we meet up with everyone at breakfast, it would be a great first step in improving our array of magical capabilities!” Willow said.

Bria nodded in agreement.

“Yeah!” Bria said.

50 minutes later Bria and Willow were making their way to the dinning room adjacent to the the kitchen after hitting the showers after they were finished with their mourning workout routine, stopping by the kitchen to see if Luz was finished with breakfast. Luz told them everything was nearly finished. Gus and Vee were setting the table, with Hunter sitting by the counter reading a book on Gravesfield local history while Amity was washing the dishes. Soon everyone was digging into their breakfast.

“Luz, if you made these pancakes first then how is it that there still so warm?” Gus asked.

“Yeah, I was wondering that too.” Amity said.

“Well as it turns out, my mom's TARDIS is actually pretty good at helping me find my way around the kitchen, she told me about these trays that everything is piled on. These trays are called, food stasis trays, and they stop the food placed in them from losing any of their heat or cold and as a result, keeps the food put on them fresh.” Luz answered.

“Wow, that sounds like something that the Bakers coven would absolutely love to get their hands on.” Amity said.

“I agree.” Gus said.

“So anyway, Bria was actually telling me about this technique that can be used to amplify a witch’s physical strength by quite a large amount.” Willow said.

Luz’s interest was piqued.

“And it sounds like exactly the type of thing that we should all learn to do to start expanding our magical capabilities?” Luz hypothesized what Willow would say next.

“Exactly!” Willow said.

“Well, Gus, Hunter, Amity what do you guy's think?” Luz asked as she looked at the others present at the table.

“Sounds like it would pair well with any of our default specialties, I'm game!” Amity answered.

“What are the risks involved?” Hunter asked.

Willow turned to Bria, gesturing for her to chime in. Bria swallowed entire pancake she some how had not choked on and spoke up.

“Well to start with, if you push this to much you could injure yourself due to the strain and stress you put on your body. Secondly you should never exceed amplifying your strength past 5 times your base strength, otherwise the injuries you could incur could be permanent. Lastly the risks can be mitigated by strength conditioning.” Bria answered.

“Well I'm convinced.” Hunter said.

“I'm in as well!” Gus said.

“Great, it's settled then, after everyone else finishes and is ready we’ll meet up in the gym.” Luz said.

After everyone finished eating breakfast Luz turned to Amity after putting away her dishes into the sink.

“I'm gonna go see if the Doctor has any idea's about my portal designs.” Luz said.

“Alright we’ll be in the gym by the time you get back.” Amity said.

Luz then kissed Amity on the cheek before taking off. Luz exited her mom's TARDIS and entered the house kitchen to see Camila talking with Rose.

“Hey mom where's the Doctor? I wanted to see if he's got any ideas on what to use for a power source.” Luz asked.

“He's in his TARDIS parked out front, it's the blue police box, just knock on the door.” Camila answered.

“Right, thanks mom.” Luz said.

“Did you kids eat breakfast yet?” Camila asked.

“Yeah, I made pancakes, eggs, bacon, toast and sausage.” Luz answered.

“Remind me to stop in for breakfast next time, sounds good.” Rose said.

Luz smiled.

“Will do, Rose.” Luz said as she stepped outside.

Luz walked over to the police box and knocked on the door.

“Come in!” The Doctor’s voice said, muffled by the closed doors.

Luz opened the door and walked inside of the Doctor’s TARDIS. The Doctor was sitting in a couch in the center of the room while reading a book on quantum mechanics.

“Ah, Luz, what’s up?” The Doctor asked.

Luz looked around at the console room in interest.

“This place is really cool, love the coral theme.” Luz said.

“Also, how did you know it was me?” Luz asked as the Doctor set the book down and closed it.

The Doctor smiled and began fiddling with a mechanical component, taking out his sonic screwdriver to work on it.

“Simply put all, Time Lords can tell when another Time Lord is within their proximity, it's a type of psychic sense we all have.” The Doctor answered.

Luz’s eyes widened.

“Wait, you mean Time Lords are psychic?! Like, to what extent? Like can we connect with the dead?! Summon magical spirits?! Foresee the future?!” Luz excitedly rambled.

The Doctor's brows furrowed and he looked off to the side in, what seemed to Luz, like annoyance. Luz stopped her rambling.

“What’s up? Why do you seem so agitated by magic?” Luz asked.

The Doctor sighed.

“Well, I guess you could say old habits die hard when it comes to Time Lord ideologies, and one of the oldest is a hatred of magic, though it wasn't always the case, but has been as such for long before I was ever born.” The Doctor answered.

“Who started it?” Luz asked.

“It was an ancient Time Lord, a founder of many Time Lord doctrine and laws, his name was Rassilon, he was powerful and influential and tyrannical in his rule.” The Doctor answered.

Luz raised an eyebrow.

“You said he's ancient, but talk about him like you knew him personally......how is that possible?” Luz asked.

“Well, besides time and space travel, we have mastered the ability to bring people back from the dead, provided they are not time locked or trapped in a fixed point in time, and the Time Lord High Council, in all their brilliance, thought the best course of action to help them prevail in the Time War was to bring, Rassilon, back to life. And of course he screwed things up more, ah, the Lord President himself, may he rot in hell. No, Luz, I don't really hate magic cause of those old decrees from Rassilon, I just don't like not being able to make sense of it via science and mathematics.” The Doctor answered.

Luz smiled warmly at The Doctor.

“Well at least now I know who to blame for there not being any magic in this world.” Luz said.

The Doctor smiled widely at Luz.

“You know, Luz. I'm betting that if anyone can bring magic back to this universe in full, it's you, but only if you never stop learning and never stop moving forward.” The Doctor said.

Luz smiled.

“That's the plan Doctor! Now, what was it you said about us Time Lords being psychic?” Luz asked.

“Right, well, for starters our psychic capabilities are not as flashy as the Oracle magic of the demon realm, at least as how I gathered based on what you've told me. No, ours are more subtle for starters, we usually need to make physical contact with someone to use our psychic abilities on said individual, this includes looking for recent disturbances in someone's mind, looking through memories, shutting away someone's specific memories, making someone go to sleep and opening their mind up to being able to perceive other psychic transmissions, like from a species that can only communicate via psychic interactions.” The Doctor answered.

Luz’s mouth was slightly agape.

“Wow, that’s a lot, but what do you mean by physical contact?” Luz asked.

“Oh, it's as simple as placing your hands on the sides of someone's temples, at least that's what usually works for me. You can also hear psychic transmissions from higher lifeforms that can only communicate by this method.” The Doctor answered.

“Huh, neat, but you and mom are gonna have to teach me more later, right now I wanted to know if you have any idea's on how to sublimate the power of Titan’s Blood for the portal?” Luz asked.

The Doctor smiled at Luz.

“Well I got a few ideas, namely using the combined power drawn from two TARDIS engines. That should easily be enough power.” The Doctor answered.

Luz thought that over.

“Sounds like a good plan for our first attempt to remake a portal, but let's set it up for early in the afternoon, my friends are currently working on this new technique to amplify their physical strength.” Luz said.

The Doctor shrugged.

“Ah no rush, Luz, besides me and Camila still need to get everything set up anyways, go back and help out your friends.” The Doctor said.

“Right we’ll be in the gym in mom’s TARDIS if you need any of us.” Luz said as she ran off back to her mom's TARDIS and soon enough found her way to the gym finding Bria and Willow testing Gus, Amity and Hunter to get a read on what there max base strength is so they know when they’re actually enhancing their strength.

It wasn't any surprise that Gus was physically the weakest in terms of physical strength, as he was 2 years younger than most of them and was physically lighter then Amity, who Luz herself could lift with minimal effort, though Luz always loved to use the cheesy line of “that's the power of love”.

“So, any progress so far guys?” Luz asked.

“Well we managed to establish a baseline for how strong each of us are without using magical enhancement, no surprise but Willow and Bria are 1st and 2nd, with me and Amity tied for 3rd and Gus at 4th, of course that's not accounting for Vee and you Luz who would probably both tie with me and Amity.” Hunter said.

Luz nodded.

“Well, first step is actually knowing if we can tell if we’re making any progress on this or not, so let's start then with a demonstration via Bria. Bria if you wouldn't mind?” Luz asked.

Bria nodded.

“Sure thing Luz!” Bria said as she went over to the deadlift and started readjusting the weight to be at double her normal lifting weight. 

“Okay, what's important is to visualize the distribution of magical energy throughout the muscles you want to put to use. Imagine your magic coating the individual fibers in your muscles and settling in then imagine a power gauge representing your total strength output at 20% then start to raise that up tell it gets to 40% once you feel the shift in your strength hold that image of the gauge in your head as you try and lift double your maximum weight.” Bria said.

Bria then closed her eyes and took in a measured breath before exhaling and reopening her eyes, both Luz and Gus noticed that only for an instant did Bria's eyes come alight with the glow of her magic. Then she deadlifted double her normal lifting weight as though she was lifting a couple of ten pound dumbbells. After Bria's demonstration, of which she was able to hold for just over a minute before hitting her limit she asked for a volunteer.

“Alright now whose next? Gus how about you?” Bria asked.

Gus's eyes widen in shock at being put on the spot.

“Ah I'm good w-wh-what about Willow, or Hunter?” Gus said with a stutter.

Bria smiled at Gus.

“Aw come on, I know you got this, hell out of all of us, you probably have the best precision control over your magical energy, you just gotta turn that focus inward! Come on give it a shot!” Bria said enthusiastically.

Gus blushed a bit at Bria's compliment and mustered the drive to rise to the challenge.

“Alright! Let's do this!” Gus said.

Bria smirked.

“Yeah, that's the spirit Gus!” Bria complimented.

As Gus readjusted the weight to twice his base limit, Hunter, Luz and Willow were watching with smirks and smiles at how motivated Bria was able to get Gus. Then Gus was ready and took his position, they had all specifically practiced with the deadlift on account of it being the easiest to see if one of them is about to suddenly give out and help them out. Vee decided to pop in to check on the Hexsquad.

“Hey guys, how’s your training going?” Vee asked.

“We’re doing good, Vee. Gus is right about to give magical enhancement a shot.” Amity said.

“Wow, that's quite a bit of weight for his size, right?” Vee asked.

“Don't worry Vee. Willow, Amity and Bria will jump in the second thing's look bad.” Luz said.

Gus then took a breath and tightened his grip and visualized the flow of his magic internally reallocating to his muscles and visualizing a gauge raising to 40% reopened his eyes with a low level glow of his magic radiating from his eyes, he slowly started standing up to his full height and lifting the weight over his head at a slow and steady pace. Everyone watched, breaking out in cheers and congratulations.

“Yes! knew you had this Gus!” Willow cheered.

“Nice one man!” Hunter cheered.

“Way to go dude!” Luz cheered.

“Keep it up Gus!” Vee encouraged.

“Yeah! that's how you do it!” Bria cheered.

Gus managed to hold it for about 55 seconds, which was incredibly impressive given his first applied use of this technique, but it definitely spoke volumes about the truth about Bria's claim that he had the best precision control over all of them.

“Alright! Now onto Willow and in the meantime, Gus, work on maintaining your magical enhancement while actively preoccupied, after all there's not much point in learning this technique if you can’t use it on top of your other spells.” Bria said.

Gus nodded.

“Yeah.....that...makes...sense, Bria.” Gus said as he was still catching his breath from maintaining his concentration for so long.

“Bria, what exactly did you have in mind for Gus to do?” Amity asked.

Bria looked around a bit.

“Uh, how about some boxing with one of those bags, just be sure to take it slow a steady on the bag, you don't wanna mess up your wrists, also, Vee, could you help Gus while Willow and the other's get the hang of this?” Bria said.

“Oh, ah, sure thing, Bria. Come Gus.” Vee said.

Gus and Vee went over and started to set up the boxing bag. Bria turned back to Willow

“Alright, let's see what you've got, Willow!” Bria said.

Willow smirked.

“Right!” Willow said.

20 minutes later the Hexsqaud had gotten through everyone, except Luz, getting the basics of magical enhancement with Willow being able to maintain 40% for 45 seconds, thus she stopped before meeting Gus's record and wanted to try more weight and was able to push herself to 60% and 3 times her strength, but could only maintain it for 10 seconds before reaching her limit. Amity was able to nearly meet Gus's record at 51 seconds and Hunter who, by needing to use Flapjack’s magic, kept the weight at normal but lifted it with only one hand, while holding Flapjack in the other hand, was only able to last for 45 seconds as he really wasn't used to channeling Flapjack’s magic in this way.

“Well you all did great, but don't rush things with this specific type of training, even being able to amplify your physical strength by twice your output consistently is incredibly useful and opens up a lot more combat options when paired with your preferred magic.” Bria said.

“Bria is right you guys, cause honestly I don't think our first portal attempt will be super successful so we’ll probably be here for at least a month, if not longer.” Luz said.

Bria nodded to Luz in thanks for backing her up.

“Yeah, so let's take our time to improve properly.” Bria said.

“So should we hit the bags like Gus to practice being able to maintain magical enhancement until it's 2nd nature?” Amity asked as she gestured to Gus and Vee about 60 feet off to her right.

Bria looked over at Gus's progress.

“You go-“ Bria said before she cut herself off.

Gus was starting to get quicker with his punches as he was starting to get the hang of keeping up his magical enhancement while being actively focused on something else, but he was ironically not pacing himself exercise wise, his vision started to blur and he before he knew it, he was starting to fall backwards towards the floor. Bria, seeing this quickly started running over to Gus but Vee, being far closer, quickly caught him before he hit the floor.

“Wow that was a close one. Bria go get Gus some water I think he's just a bit dehydrated.” Vee said.

Bria nodded.

“Right.” Bria said as she took off to go get some water while Luz ran to get Camila just in case and Hunter started carrying Gus out of the gym.

A couple of minutes later thanks to Hunter's teleportation, him, Gus and everyone else was in the living room with Camila living up to her namesake. Gus was laying on the couch. Camila hummed to herself as she scanned Gus with her sonic screwdriver and checked his pulse while looking at the readouts on the side of her sonic screwdriver.

“Well it's nothing serious, just some dehydration paired with a really low blood sugar level. These should help.” Camila said as she took out and applied a few circular bandaid looking things on Gus's left arm.

Meanwhile Bria and Hunter released a breath at the sudden relief that Gus was gonna be fine.

“So what are those?” Amity asked.

“Oh, these are rehydration patches, they deliver electrolyte chemicals directly through the skin and into the bloodstream, he should be back on his feet in no time at all. Though he should probably eat something when he wakes back up.” Camila answered.

“Thanks mom.” Luz said.

“No need to thank me, mija, I took up the title of The Nurse because I love helping those that are in need.” Camila said.

After Gus started to wake back up everyone gave him some space Willow noticed the additional space that Bria took and the look of self disappointment on her face and made her way over to Bria. Willow placed a hand on Bria's shoulder to get her attention.

“Hey, don't stress over this and beat yourself up, Gus can easily get tunnel vision, especially when he's working on something new.” Willow said,

 “Willow's right, Bria, it's similar with Luz, the important thing is that he's fine” Amity said.

 “Besides, you had the foresight to be sure that Vee stuck with him.” Willow added.

Bria softly smiled at them.

“Yeah, you're right, thanks guy's.” Bria said as she side hugged both Willow and Amity and then went back over to check on Gus.

Meanwhile, Luz was curious about what her mom meant by her tittle.

“Hey mom, what's with your title? Is it something you personally decide on, or that is chosen for you?” Luz asked.

Camila turned around to fully address Luz.

“Well. Where to start, let's see...hmmm oh! So a good example is the Doctor he took up his name, or as you can also put it, his title as like so many Time Lords do as a vow to stick by what the name represents. In the Doctor's case his is synonymous with wise man and healer, whereas mine is synonymous with those who care for others in need. The title also acts as a statement of sorts as well as in cases like mine when you go by both your birth name and title it can also be a good alias.” Camila explained.

“So not all Time Lords go exclusively by their titles like the Doctor?” Luz asked.

“That's correct and not all Time Lords have titles like me and the Doctor. Some good examples of other names are The War Chief, The Monk, The Adjudicator, The Archivist, The Nanny, The Alchemist, Oh and here's one that you'll like, they liked messing with and pissing off Rassilon and the Doctor told me he gave you the down low on Rassilon and his whole persecution of magic. Well there was an ancient Time Lord that actually went by the name of The Sorcerer, just to annoy him endlessly.” Camila answered.

This brought a smile to Luz's face.

“Well it's nice to know that you, dad and the Doctor weren't the only ones who didn't agree with his stupid decrees.” Luz said.

“Well there were quite a few that stood against his decisions, but unfortunately they were in the minority, with The Sorcerer and The Doctor being the most out spoken and vocal.” Camila said.

Luz nodded in acknowledgement.

“Well I should see if everyone else still wants to get in a bit more training before we try our first portal attempt.” Luz said.

She then got up at hugged her mom.

“Thanks again mom.” Luz said before going over to her friends.

The rest of the Hexsqaud was still willing to go and get in some more training though Gus decided to actually get in some non magical cardio training, wanting to improve his physical stamina so this didn’t happen again.

After another hour or so of training it was time to stop for the day and check and see if the Doctor was ready yet. When the Hexsqaud exited Camila's TARDIS they were surprised to see it had been completely relocated without anyone noticing any sort of movement to indicate such a change.

“Wow Luz, your mom must be a great pilot.” Willow said.

“Yeah, you can say that again.” Luz said.

As the Hexsqaud fully took in where Camila's TARDIS was relocated to they realized that it was a good 50 feet from the front of the old cabin that the portal was located at originally. They also took notice of the various cables attached to Camila's TARDIS console that extended outside of the front doors and connected to a Ironman style arc reactor looking device about the size of a child's inflatable tube for swimming, though it was a glow with the same soft eerie green color as the Doctor's TARDIS pulsating from it. It also had similar cables running from it at it's opposite side running off and into the Doctor's TARDIS as well.

Gus walked up and examined the device.

“Fascinating.” Gus said.

Luz then noticed the Doctor and Camila come walking out of his TARDIS with a bunch of supplies and started arranging things on the door of the old cabin. Rose came out of the TARDIS a second later carrying another set of rolled up cables and started connecting them with the device and passed the opposite ends to Camila to hook up to the door. Then the Doctor turned around to face the kids.

“Ah, Luz, Amity, Willow, Gus, Hunter, Bria, perfect timing, we need some elemental magic to act as conversion conduits for the incoming power to the portal. Amity I'm gonna need an Abomination head from you and Willow I'm gonna need you to line the door frame with thick vines.” The Doctor said.

“On it!” Amity and Willow said.

Both girls hopped to it and made fast work of their tasks. Then soon enough it was time for their first attempt. Camila handed out safety glasses along with hearing protection along with Rose's help. Once everyone was ready the Doctor went over to the device and pressed some buttons, making the device start up, it made a sound similar to that of one of the Ghostbusters proton packs starting up, which coincidentally made everyone take a couple steps back from the Doctor and said device. The Doctor then grabbed a dial.

“And here. We….go!” The Doctor said as he turned the dial.

Then energy from the device rushed off and into the door, causing electricity to erupt from its wood and the Abomination head and the vines glowed an ethereal glow before distorting into broken down matter and being pulled into the center of the door, creating a strange dark vortex. Then the air started to thrash about and everyone started to lift off the ground by about 3 inches before suddenly, boom! The whole thing, door and all, imploded, leaving a hole almost completely circular chunk of the front of the old cabin missing.

The Doctor then turned back to the Hexsqaud, Rose and Camila with his face completely covered in soot.

“Well, that went better than I expected.” The Doctor said.

Camila went over and checked the device and sighed.

“Well, it’s fried. We’ll have to make another one.” Camila said.

“Hmmm. I think we’re missing something that can act as a type of interdimensional signature for the portal to properly lock onto. That must be why Titan’s Blood has to be used, it contains a sort universe-like signature which directs the portal to the demon realm.” The Doctor theorized.

“Like the code read out in every animal's DNA that links it to it's genetic planet of origin?” Camila asked.

“Exactly!” The Doctor exclaimed with a smile as he wiped the soot off his face.

“Damn, one more reason why I wish King was here.” Luz said.

At hearing this everyone turned to look at Luz in confusion. Luz realizing she said that out loud decided to finally let the cat out of the bag so to speak.

“King is a Titan, the last Titan in fact, and from what we know the son of the Boiling Isles Titan. That's probably how he let out The Collector, I overheard Belos talking to The Collector and apparently he was under the impression that the blood in the key, the last Titan’s Blood that he knew of, could be used to free him from his prison.

“So King himself being a Titan, must've been able to free him!” Gus said.

“Exactly.” Luz said.

“Lot to unpack there Luz, but thanks for telling us all the same.” Hunter said

Everyone else nodded.

“Well I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving let's go and get some dinner.” Rose said.

“Great idea Rose, I could go for some good fish and chips.” The Doctor said.

“Oh! If it's fish and chips you want, there's a great place over on the west coast of Washington.” Camila said.

“Well why didn't you say so sooner? Come on in everyone we’ll take my ride.” The Doctor said as he walked over to his TARDIS.

Camila, with Luz and Rose's help, quickly disconnected the cables that lead into the Doctor's TARDIS and rolled them inside the cabin. Luz entered the Doctor’s TARDIS.

“Come on guys, all aboard!” Luz said as she waved everyone inside the Doctor's TARDIS.

Once inside as to be expected everyone was caught in awe at seeing another TARDIS interior, especially one so different from Camila's.

“I love the coral esthetic, gives the place a very organic feel.” Bria said.

“Yeah, and the green and blue lighting gives off an otherworldly yet calming feel.” Willow added.

The Doctor smiles widely at hearing the compliments.

“Why thank you Willow, Bria, you hear that Camila? Not one word of grunge!” The Doctor smugly said.

Camila, being the last one in and closing the door, rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, never mind, they probably have never heard of the word before you said it.” Camila added with a smirk of her own.

The Doctor’s smirked dropped.

“.....Anyways, where to, Nurse?” The Doctor asked.

“Seattle, Washington, by the Yi Old Curiosity Shop, you know the one.” Camila answered.

“Right, everyone hold on to something.” The Doctor advised as he began interacting with the controls on the console unit.

Everyone was immediately aware that the Doctor's instructions were not a joke, but a well advised warning as everyone was regretting not holding onto something. They were thrown all around and about like a roller coaster ride with a ton of sharp turns. Then finally it was over.

“We’re here. What happen to you lot?” The Doctor asked.

“I don’t think you have them enough warning.” Rose said.

Everyone was laying all over the place, Luz and Amity were laying beside each other up against the railing with Luz's hand holding on for dear life while her other was wrapped around Amity's waist. Hunter and Willow were laying on top of each other with Hunter's face smushed against the floor of the TARDIS and Willow laying belly down across him, face also smashed into the floor. Then there was Bria, she was upside down with her head and upper body on the floor and the rest of her body up against the railing but Bria noticed something and reoriented her head seeing that Gus and Vee had landed on top of each other with Gus's face buried in Vee's chest. Camila was just fine off to the side snickering about how everyone ended up as was Rose.

“Oi, this is no time to be cuddling, come on everyone up!” The Doctor said.

Everyone started getting up grumbling from being thrown around so much. Gus quickly got up and immediately apologized to Vee.

“Oh my Titan I'm so sorry Vee are you alright!?” Gus asked, blushing furiously while helping Vee get back up.

“Um, y-yeah I-I'm good, no worries Gus, accidents happen and all that ha ha.” Vee said.

Bria meanwhile was off to the side watching and not sure what to think of the whole thing. Then Camila brought everyone out of their own thoughts as she spoke up.

“Come on, let's go get dinner.” Camila said.

As everyone filled out of the Doctor's TARDIS Bria kept looking back at Gus and Vee but finally just shrugged off her lingering thoughts. Everyone found themselves outside of some hole in the wall place called the Yi Old Curiosity Shop, clearly one of those touristy places where you're bound to get ripped off, price wise, on everything in there. Camila took the lead. 

“Let's see Iver's should be just around the corner, I always found they made the best fish and chips.” Camila said.

“We shall see about that. Won't we Rose?” The Doctor asked.

“Yeah, I gotta say I'm curious to see how they stack up with any of the places back home.” Rose said.

 “That's right, you're from London right?” Luz asked.

“Yeah more or less.” Rose answered.

“Ah, here we are! Order what ever you want but I recommend not ordering anything with Palik.” Camila said.

“Oh crap I nearly forgot!” Gus said as he quickly made a spell circle and gave every witch human ears.

“Oh thanks for that Gus, ya know I think illusion magic should be what try to learn next, that way at the very least we don't have to always have you give us human ears.” Amity said.

“Eh, I don't mind but I'm always happy to teach.” Gus said.

Everyone enjoyed the fish and chips and the Doctor was pleasantly surprised by how good they were as well as the clam chowder and everyone left having a new favorite fish and chips place. Soon everyone was back in the Doctor's TARDIS and were now ready for the bumpy ride as the Doctor said for them to hold on tight again. This time around everyone had a good grip on the railing with Luz and Amity right beside each other with Willow, Hunter and Bria all lined up holding on tight on the opposite side then right beside Gus who was next to Bria was Vee with Rose, Camila and the Doctor all holding onto the console as the TARDIS soon dematerialized and rematerialized back in the front yard of the Noceda household. Everyone released a breath they didn't know they were holding.

“Man I can't believe the difference between how the Doctor's TARDIS flies vs. Mom's.” Luz said.

Camila looked over to the Doctor then to Luz.

“Oh it's not our ships that are different, but the pilot's skill, unlike the Doctor I actually passed my driver's test easily.” Camila said.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, but I still get around just fine.” The Doctor said,

“Oh really?! You do realize my TARDIS is back by the old cabin right?” Camila asked.

The Doctor's brows furrowed.

“Ah crap.” The Doctor said.

Everyone quickly got out before the Doctor could take off again. Once outside again Amity spoke up.

“Well I don't know about the rest of you but I'm gonna get to bed before anything else weird happens.” Amity said.

Hunter nodded.

“Good call.” Hunter said.

“You guys can follow me back into the TARDIS and go off to your rooms while I re-park back inside the living room.” Camila said.

And so the Hexsquad retired for the evening. However Camila and the Doctor stayed up to discuss some things.

The Noceda Kitchen…

Camila and the Doctor sat at the table.

“So then, we agree that we don’t tell Luz about the lifespan of a Time Lord, or the specifics of Regeneration.” The Doctor said.

Camila nodded.

“Yes, for now she has enough on her plate, and she deserves to enjoy the love she has with her friends, and Amity.” Camila said.

The Doctor sighed deeply.

“We should be sure Vee doesn't say anything as well, considering you informed her about it all.” The Doctor said.

Camila nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, I'll tell her when I next get a moment alone with her.” Camila said.

To be Continued…

Chapter Text

The next day, the entire Hexsqaud was present in the living room in the Noceda household listening to Gus's instructions on illusion spells, everyone practicing by giving their partner or trying to at least give them human ears, Gus figured it's as good a spell as any other, at least in Illusion magic, to learn. Luz could tell how much everyone was enjoying Gus's magic lessons, it was unfortunate that her mom had to head back to work today but at least she had Vee accompanying her to help out, which for some reason Bria seemed particularly happy about, which Luz thought was odd but then again she was probably just reading to much into it. Luz was brought out of her thoughts when the Doctor poked his head in around the corner leading to the kitchen and said.

“Knock knock, hey, do you guy's mind if I borrow Luz for a bit, I wanted to show her something.” The Doctor asked.

Gus spoke up first.

“Sure, no problem, right guys?” Gus asked everyone else.

Gus's question was met with a bunch of yes's and nods. Luz went with the Doctor into his TARDIS, Luz got a wee bit impatient and asked him something.

“Okay, what exactly did you want to show me?” Luz asked.

“I’ll show you when we get to my kitchen.” The Doctor answered.

Luz raised and eyebrow.

“Why the kitchen?” Luz asked.

“Plenty of things to use as demonstration targets, and Camila would have my head if I had you practice on any of her kitchen appliances.” The Doctor answered.

“Practice with what though?” Luz asked.

At Luz’s question the Doctor his sonic screwdriver behind him, Luz was quick enough to catch it. Luz examined the fountain pen sized object. It was primarily gray and chrome, with a black cap on one end and a blue gem on another.

“Uh, Doctor, what exactly is this thing?” Luz asked.

“That, my dear Luz, is a sonic probe, or more commonly known as a sonic screwdriver.” The Doctor answered.

Luz blinked at that.

“A sonic what?” Luz asked, perplexed.

“Think of it as a multi tool of sorts, it can do a lot of different things.” The Doctor answered.

“Like what exactly, and how?” Luz asked.

“Well, for starters it uses a wide variety of varying sound frequencies in the right order to do different things, such as hack electronic devices and locks, amplification of various electrical devices, unlocking and locking of mechanical locks, turning on and off electrical devices, tracking various signals, breaking glass, igniting flammable objects like candle wicks, regrowing barbed wire, tuning glass and a whole host of other things.” The Doctor elaborated.

“Like, how much other stuff?” Luz asked.

The Doctor then all of a sudden turned around and handed Luz a book that was as think as her 5th Azura book, titled “4,000 Uses for your Sonic Screwdriver”.

Luz pouted.

“Awwww, homework! No! Just when I think I'm out, they pull me back in!” Luz groaned.

“Oh come on Luz, it's not that much of a read, you can get through that in less than an hour, plus I'm gonna show you how to use my sonic screwdriver first, then once you've gotten a handle on how to use one and have read your, homework, as you so aptly put it, you can design your own.” The Doctor said.

Luz's face immediately brightened up upon hearing this.

“Yes!” Luz said as she pumped her fist in the air.

As Luz and the Doctor continued to make their way to the kitchen Luz was skimming over what she could of the book. Then before they knew it, they were there. They entered the kitchen and the Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the ceiling fan.

“Watch closely, Luz.” The Doctor instructed.

Luz meanwhile was confused as to how the Doctor got his screwdriver back without her knowing.

“Uh, I thought I had your screwdriver?” Luz asked.

The Doctor shrugged.

“Yeah well, what can I say? I’m an old hand at pickpocketing.” The Doctor said.

Luz smirked and let out a small chuckle.

“You and Eda will get along just fine once you guy's finally meet.” Luz said.

The Doctor grinned.

“Now watch.” The Doctor said.

The Doctor pressed the button on the side of his sonic screwdriver and the blue gem shaped tip of the screwdriver lit up with an almost neon blue color and made a mechanical buzzing noise as it turned on the ceiling fan.

“And there you have it.” The Doctor said as he tossed his screwdriver back to Luz who caught it again.

“So how do you adjust for the various different functions?” Luz asked as she examined the screwdriver in her hands.

“Great question, Luz. The sonic screwdriver has a neural psychic interface that immediately interprets and adjusts to what you aim to do, but if for some reason the interface is damaged there's a manual adjustment dial on the opposite side of the activation button.” The Doctor answered.

“So if I aimed at the fan again and think “deactivate” it will turn off the fan?” Luz asked.

The Doctor nodded.

“Exactly, try it out.” The Doctor said.

Luz held out the sonic screwdriver and aimed it at the same ceiling fan and pressed the button and sure enough the fan turned off. The Doctor gave Luz a proud smile.

“See? I'm sure you'll pick it up in no time at all.” The Doctor said with confidence.

Meanwhile…

Camila and Vee were finishing with stitches on an Alaskan Malamute.

“Geez, I still find it hard to believe that a cat could do this kind of damage to such a huge dog.” Vee said.

“Well Balto's owner, Mrs. Stevens, did say that the cat in question was a Maine Coon that had recently had kittens, so that was double bad luck on the dogs part, after all, some Maine Coon cats can reach sizes as big as almost 40 pounds.” Camila said.

Vee’s mouth was agape.

“Holy crap! That is huge for a domestic cat!” Vee said.

Camila chuckled at Vee’s reaction.

“Yes, well within the family of domestic cats along there's a huge variety of breeds and that's just domesticated cats.” Camila said.

Vee smiled at seeing her adoptive mother info dump about cats, she always delivered such info with such a passion.

“Uh, hey, mom? I was wondering, if it wouldn't be to much trouble, if you could enroll me in Luz's school? I wanna be able to reconnect with my friends from summer camp.” Vee asked.

Camila smiled.

“Oh, sure thing, Vee, you deserve to have an education, and I know since taking your own unique form and not using Luz's form, you've been missing your friends. What were their names again? Oh, that's right Masha, Reggie and Bruno.” Camila answered.

Vee smiled again at Camila.

“Yeah that’s them!” Vee confirmed.

“Speaking of friends, how are you getting along with Luz's witch friends? Specifically Hunter, given his past and your unique circumstances, I gathered there's probably a bit of awkwardness between you two, eh?” Camila asked.

“Well, to tell you the truth, I haven't really hung around him on my own so I think a conversation is definitely going to be needed, with Gus and Luz there as well, preferably.” Vee said.

Camila nodded in understanding.

“I understand having Luz there, she's usually pretty good at deescalating things, but why Gus?” Camila asked.

“Well, Hunter and Gus are best friends, and I really trust Gus too, he's incredibly kind and understanding of someone's perspective on various situations, or at least that's my experience.” Vee answered.

“Hmmm, yeah, I've noticed you hanging out with Gus, would you say you get along best with him?” Camila asked.

Vee perked up.

“Oh, yeah, I'd say we get along great, he's always so enthusiastic about so much in the human realm, more so than anyone else and his enthusiasm is infectious.” Vee said, slightly blushing at saying the last bit it didn't go unnoticed by Camila.

“Well I'm sure Gus appreciates having someone like you who is also so engrossed in the human realm.” Camila said.

“Really!?” Vee blurted out.

“Vee, do you, and I may be completely wrong about this, but do you have a crush on Gus?” Camila asked.

Vee's face was immediately fully blushing to a point where she could give Amity a run for her money while also waving her hands around frantically.

“N-n-no o-of course not!! W-why woul-.” Vee denied but was cut off when Camila placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Vee, calm down, relax.” Camila said.

Vee's breathing started to slow back to a normal pace. Camila smiled softly at Vee.

“Well I told you I could completely be wrong and just miss reading things.” Camila said.

Vee rubbed her neck looking off to the corner of the room in embarrassment, still blushing a bit.

“Well, to tell you the truth I don't really know, I've never had a crush on someone before so I'm kinda in the dark here. I may actually be crushing on Gus and not really know it, is that possible?” Vee asked.

Camila smiles at Vee.

“Oh easily, in fact it's actually something that everyone usually goes through with their first crush, in fact last night at dinner Amity and I were talking and she mentioned that Luz was her first ever crush, and it took her awhile to realize that's what it was.” Camila answered.

Vee chuckled.

“Ha, I would've never guessed by the way she acts around Luz.” Vee said.

“Maybe you should ask Amity for advice, see what she has to say.” Camila offered.

Vee nodded in acknowledgement.

“Yeah, that makes sense, thanks.” Vee said.

Vee thought back on her interactions with Gus and wondered if it might be mutual or not.

Meanwhile with the Hexsquad…

Everyone was already picking up on being able to use illusion magic to make their ears look human and were moving on to disguises. Rose had decided to sit in and keep an eye on them for Camila and the Doctor. Hunter had actually caught on to illusion magic quite fast and had actually found that it was quite useful in helping him workshop his sewing project ideas. Hunter was currently trying to come up with a idea of something to make for Vee.

“Hey, Hunter. Whatcha working on?” Gus asked.

“Oh, Gus, actually you could probably help me with this. You spend a lot of time with Vee, do know anything that she would like enough to be put on a shirt or something like that?” Hunter asked.

Gus slightly blushed but hid it before answering his friend.

“Well, Vee always has to be in her human form when outside, so something with her Basilisk form on or in it would probably be appreciated.” Gus answered.

“Great idea Gus! I knew you'd have the answer, now what to make? Hmmmmmm oh! What about a backpack with a Basilisk on it?” Hunter proposed.

“Nice, though I think you can do better, what about a Basilisk plushie made into a backpack?” Gus offered.

“That's even better! You're a genius Gus!” Hunter said as he got to work.

“Why thank you, but, and not that I'm complaining, but why the sudden challenge of making a gift for Vee? Ya know, out of curiosity sake and all.” Gus asked.

Hunter rubbed the back of his head.

“Well, it's actually a two fold reason. One, I want to expand my sewing skills and Luz told me a good way to do that is to find new challenges to expand your ingenuity in your skills. Second is that, well, it's kind of an apology for any part of her treatment I may have indirectly had in while she was still in the Emperor’s Coven custody cause, well, ya know…” Hunter trailed off.

Hunter showed Gus his coven sigil to suggest what he meant. Gus smiled at his friend.

“Don't worry, I'm sure she'll appreciate it.” Gus said.

“Yeah, but where am I supposed to find a small Basilisk plushie to make into a backpack?” Hunter asked.

Gus hummed in thought, Rose then spoke up.

“What about build a bear?” Rose suggested.

Both Gus and Hunter turned to look at Rose in confusion.

“Is that like the human realm equivalent of build a beast?” Gus asked.

“Probably, it's a store where you make your own stuffed animal, complete with accessories and alike. I'm sure you can find a plushie that has a close enough shape that you can just use clothing dye and magic to modify its shape into what you need.” Rose answered.

Hunter rubbed his chin as he thought over Rose’s words.

“That might actually work.” Hunter said.

“Yeah, that's a great idea Rose, thanks!” Gus said.

Rose smiled.

“No problem, though you guys are gonna have to wait till Luz gets back before I take you guy's there.” Rose said.

Meanwhile with Camila and Vee…

It had been over an hour since Camila's inquiry into whether Vee had a crush on Gus or not and since that conversation Vee had been distracted, mentally going over all her encounters and interactions with the young illusionist in order to try and come to a solid conclusion all on her own, only for it to get her nowhere but more stuck in her own head, until her adoptive mom finally broke her out of her spiraling thoughts.

“Vee?!” Camila called out.

“Huh?” Vee blurted out.

“I said are you feeling okay and when you didn't respond it got me worried.” Camila said.

Vee rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.

“Oh, sorry about that, I was just to deep in my own thoughts, ya know?” Vee said.

“Hmmm, thinking about Gus?” Camila asked.

Vee immediately blushed at Camila's correct assumption.

“Y-yeah, how did you know?” Vee asked.

Camila smiled softly.

“Mother's intuition, but I also wanted to talk to you about your sister, Luz.” Camila answered.

Vee gave her mom her full attention.

“I'm just gonna come straight out and say it. You can't tell Luz anything about Time Lord regeneration or about how long her lifespan is okay?” Camila said.

“Uh, why? Shouldn't she know?” Vee asked.

Camila looked off to the side, her brows furrowed in thought.

“It's because Luz deserves to enjoy the love she has with Amity, as if Amity's lifetime is her own. She’ll figure it out eventually, but for right now she has to much on her plate. Vee you have to understand, eventually the Doctor, me and Luz will out live everyone, you, and your friends and Luz's friends as well. Plus there's the existential crises that is coming to terms with what regeneration entails.” Camila answered.

Vee then understood what her mom was asking of her, it wasn't just withholding knowledge from Luz, but also sparring her from a lifetime of heartache.

“Okay I won't tell Luz, I promise.” Vee said.

“Thank you Vee.” Camila said.

Meanwhile with the Doctor and Luz…

“Great job Luz, you’re definitely getting the hang of it.” The Doctor complimented.

“Thanks Doctor.” Luz said with a smile as she used his sonic screwdriver to turn of the blender after purposefully frying the microwave oven.

“I know I ask this every time, but are you sure you don't mind me destroying this stuff?” Luz asked.

The Doctor crossed his arms and smiled,

“Positive Luz! Absolutely positive, besides this isn't even my main kitchen, it's just a backup that I keep around just in case.” The Doctor answered.

At Luz's curious expression the Doctor simply replied with.

“I'll tell another time. Back to training, which means you gotta finish reading that book, you’re only halfway done, finish it and then I'll take you back to the control console and show you how to design your own sonic screwdriver.” The Doctor said.

That served to re-motivate Luz to get back to reading and finish the book so that she could have her own sonic screwdriver.

Back with the Hexsquad…

Hunter and Gus were trying to work out the finer details for Hunter’s project taking stock of his fabrics and other sewing supplies, the rest of the Hexsqaud were preoccupied watching one of the many movies in the Noceda's online library, with this one specifically being John Wick 2, of which Willow was glad Gus was with Hunter back in his room helping him out, as the second movie was far more gory and filled with death than the first movie, which was a feat all on it's own. Still, Willow and everyone else, including Rose, couldn't look away.

When there was a break in the action Rose decided to pause the movie.

“Who wants snacks?” Rose asked.

Rose could've sworn she heard all three girls stomachs rumble as if agreeing independently of their witches. Rose was sure all the girls heard as well as they all blushed in embarrassed and all got up to join Rose in the kitchen to make some snacks while talking about the movie. As Rose got out and started filling the popcorn machine, Amity, Willow and Bria were making some sandwiches.

“Man, I can't believe how utterly stupid that Santino guy is, I'm not gonna be surprised if John kills him by the end of this, I mean, seriously! You don't double cross John Wick! That's like signing your own death certificate.” Bria said.

“I know right? Such a moron, he definitely underestimated his skill in accurately appraising someone's skills. Ha, seems to be a bit of a trait that follows assholes in power, just look at Odalia.” Amity said.

“Who’s Odalia?” Rose asked.

“She was my mom, but after the crap she pulled, which was basically selling out her own race to a genocidal witch hunter, I no longer consider her family.” Amity answered.

Rose was shocked at that info drop.

“Wow!” Rose exclaimed.

“It's alright, I still have my dad, Alador, and my older siblings, Edric and Emira.” Amity said.

Rose smiled at Amity.

“Ya know, like Luz, I lost my dad before I even knew him. But I still got my mom, just like Luz.” Rose said.

“You know, now that I think about ,it out of all of us I think Willow's the only one of us who still has both of her parents.” Bria said.

Everyone turned to Willow who was already eating the popcorn.

“What?” Willow asked awkwardly.

Amity smiled at her best friend.

“Nothing Willow, come on let’s finish the movie before the boys get back.” Amity said.

Meanwhile with Luz and the Doctor…

Luz was already done with her reading and the two were now at the TARDIS’s console where Luz was designing her sonic screwdriver, going over all the individual components via a touchscreen monitor and using an attached pen to draw out and redraw additional details for various different types of casings to house the inner workings. Luz felt like a Jedi trying to assemble their first light saber, or when she was carving her Palisman egg. Finally after what felt like hours of tinkering with various designs, Luz was finished.

“There. Finally done, now let’s just get it fabricated.” Luz said as she pressed a button and five seconds later, in a half dollar sized port on the control console, out popped Luz's brand new sonic screwdriver.

Luz caught her screwdriver and examined it in her hand. It was in the design of a fountain pen, with a special holographic projector on the tip of the pen cap so Luz could visually draw out her ideas at any time to more properly show them. The body of the casing itself was a mix of indigo, blue and deep purple, with metallic bands that shifted randomly between a gleaming gold and the burnt orange and red that are synonymous with her people.

Luz turned around to face the Doctor while brandishing her sonic screwdriver.

“Well Doctor, what do you think?” Luz asked as she showed the Doctor her screwdriver.

The Doctor examined the screwdriver in Luz’s hand and smirked.

“I think your father would be proud, and I know your mother definitely will, good job Luz.” The Doctor complimented as he playfully ruffled Luz’s hair.

Luz chuckled at this action and smiled.

“Thanks, I can’t wait to show her!” Luz said excitedly.

Luz and the Doctor exited his TARDIS and entered the Noceda household. The Hexsquad was just finishing the last half hour of John Wick 2 when Luz and the Doctor popped in.

“Hey guys! Oh, John Wick 2, nice, I like this one better than the first one.” Luz cut herself off as she took notice of the movie.

Amity raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Really? That’s surprising, I thought-.” Amity was say before she was cut off by Bria.

“Hush up. We’re trying to watch.” Bria said.

“Hey!” Amity exclaimed.

“It’s cool Amity, I get it, we’ll talk after the movie.” Luz said.

After the movie was over, Amity finally asked her question to Luz.

“So why is it you like John Wick 2 over the first one?” Amity asked.

“It's because John's unyielding will to payback Santino D' Antonio for double crossing him and trying to kill him. That and once again he proves to be someone who keeps pushing forward no matter what, he's a force of sheer-.” Luz cut herself off to look over her shoulder to be sure her mom, Vee or Gus wasn't around before continuing.

“-fucking will.” Luz finished.

“Well said Luz, although do try not to swear.” The Doctor said.

Luz nodded.

“So what were you and the Doctor working on all this time?” Willow asked.

“We-.” Luz was about to say before being cut off when everyone heard the front door be unlocked and sure enough Camila and Vee were back, and not long after Hunter and Gus rejoined everyone in the living room.

“As I was about to say, the Doctor showed me this cool multitool-like device called a, sonic screwdriver, and all of it's functional capabilities, and then helped me make my own. So I present to you, my sonic screwdriver!” Luz said as she held out her fountain pen shaped sonic screwdriver.

“Observe.” Luz said as she activated her sonic screwdriver.

The tip lit up a similar neon blue to the Doctor’s own screwdriver and produced an identical buzzing sound. First, Luz shut off all the lights in the living room, then turned on the TV before turning the lights back on. Luz then activated the hologram function on her screwdriver and held her device like the pen it was modeled after and began scribbling in the air, a neon line of light appeared wherever Luz moved her screwdriver, like drawing on a piece of paper. Luz then clicked a button and the hologram disappeared.

“Well, what do you guys think?” Luz asked.

Everyone was impressed.

“Definitely seems pretty useful, especially if we’re up against Abomitons.” Hunter said.

Amity examined the design of the screwdriver itself.

“The design is very you Batata.” Amity said with a smile.

“I wonder if it's effective in stunning some animals with sound?” Bria asked.

“Nice one Luz.” Gus complimented.

“Well, one more thing that makes Luz even more fearsome.” Willow said.

Camila smiled as she embraced her daughter. A mixed of motherly pride and joy flowing throughout her entire being.

“Oh great job mija, I'm so proud of you!” Camila said proudly.

Luz smiled as she returned the embrace.

“Thanks mom.” Luz said.

To be Continued…

Chapter Text

Everyone sat at the kitchen table, they had just finished breakfast and were now discussing their plans for the day. Luz and the Doctor were looking over Luz’s notes and blueprints for the portal and Luz was using her sonic screwdriver to repairs a mechanical component of their original portal attempt. Camila was washing the dishes from breakfast. Hunter and Gus, along with Bria were discussing something.

“So, do any of you have plans today?” Camila asked.

Luz looked up from what she was doing.

“Me and the Doctor are going to look over my notes and repair the portal device.” Luz answered before looking down and continuing her work.

“Well me, Gus and Bria are going to the mall to pick up some sewing supplies for a project.” Hunter answered.

“And I'm getting some additional clothes and sports apparel.” Bria added.

“That nice, but whose gonna be watching you three to be sure nothing gets out of hand?” Camila asked.

“Oh don't worry, I'll be driving them there and watching over them.” Rose answered.

Camila smiled and nodded.

“Thank you, Rose, much appreciated.” Camila said.

“Me and Amity are going to be doing some more work on our magical enhancement in the gym.” Willow said.

Vee raised her hand.

“Ah, mind if I join you guys as your spotter, I wanna get some exercise in as well?” Vee asked.

“Sure, Vee, the more the merrier right?” Amity answered.

Camila dried her hands off with a washcloth and set it on the counter before walking over to Luz and Vee.

“Well good to hear you all have some productive plans for today, I'm gonna get going, have a good day.” Camila said as she kissed her daughters on the top of their heads, causing them both to giggle.

Camila then exited the TARDIS and left for work in her regular car. Everyone then split off to do their own separate things. Hunter, Bria and Gus got into the van with Rose and they drove to the mall. Willow and Amity, along with Vee, went to the gym in Camila’s TARDIS. Luz and the Doctor gathered up her notes and the components they were currently working on and brought them into his TARDIS so they could continue working.

Later…

Willow, Amity and Vee were in the gym, Amity was currently lifting a dumbbell, Willow was taking a break and Vee was drinking a bottle of water.

“Hey, Vee, I was wondering where your clothes come from.” Willow said.

Amity stopped her reps and raised an eyebrow.

“What do you mean, Willow? Vee wears clothes just like the rest of us.” Amity asked.

“Well at the store when we were trying on and getting new clothes and she unveiled her new human appearance, she also changed clothes at the same time as she did her human form. So, where did the clothes come from?” Willow answered before asking her question again.

“That’s a good question, Vee?” Amity asked the young Basilisk.

Vee was looking off to the side while scratching at her left cheek before saying.

“Ummm, well you see all of the clothes I'm usually wearing are actually part of my body.” Vee answered.

“Wait, how does that work?” Amity asked.

“Well, as best I can figure, Basilisk's like myself have several times the layers of skin than humans and witches do, and when I shift into a form the first 4 layers of my skin morph to replicate the clothing of what I'm copying while the skin layers under the replicated clothes shift to replicate the skin, hair and other features of what I'm copying.” Vee answered.

“Wow that's pretty cool, and complex.” Willow said.

“Agreed, but what happens if someone takes off your hoodie for example?” Amity asked.

“Well, at most the skin that's morphed to look like said clothing will revert back to my normal unmorphed skin after a few minutes detached from my bodies magic.” Vee answered.

Amity winced in pain at at the thought.

“Ouch, you might wanna actually change things up and wear clothes instead, just in case.” Amity recommended.

“Yeah I think I will.” Vee said.

Vee’s thoughts then drifted back to something.

“Actually, when I explained the same thing to mom she compared it to how the creatures know as Doppler's shapeshift from this book series called The Witcher.” Vee said.

Amity let out a small chuckle.

“Maybe I should give it a read, how many book are there?” Amity asked.

“I think there’s 7 books.” Vee answered.

“Hmmm, I've been meaning to find a new series for me and Luz to start on, thanks Vee, I owe you one.” Amity thanked Vee.

Vee then spoke up before Amity could get back into her exercise routine.

“W-we-well, actually I, kinda need your advice on something I have no experience in.” Vee said as she looked off to the side again, this time blushing while fidgeting with her hands, tapping her index fingers together.

Amity saw this and realized it's pretty serious, at least it is for Vee, and gave her her full attention.

“What is it, Vee?” Amity asked.

“Well, yo-you see, I kinda think I have a crush on someone.” Vee said.

Amity tilted her head a bit like a curious cat. Vee decided to elaborate more, after all as Luz would say, all or nothing, go big or go home.

“I think I have a crush on Gus!” Vee blurted out.

Amity's eyes widened a bit in surprise then both Amity and Vee heard the sound of a large weight hitting the ground and turned to see Willow stunned, having dropped both her 60 pound dumbbells.

“What?!” Willow exclaimed in surprise.

Vee, hearing Willow's reaction shrinked in on herself and blushing furiously. Amity seeing this quickly addressed Willow.

“Willow!” Amity said.

“What?” Willow asked.

Willow looked to see Amity gesturing with her head that this was a private conversation, Willow picked up on this.

“Oh! Ah, right, I'm gonna go get in some boxing if you guy's need me, bye.” Willow said as she quickly ran off to give the two some space.

Amity turned back to Vee and noticed that Vee's eyes were glistening with unshed tears and that her cheeks were dotted with white splotches of her Basilisk form. Amity quickly leaned in and comforted Vee.

“Hey, hey, it's okay, alright, you can talk to me okay?” Amity said in comforting voice.

Vee blinked her eyes a few dozen times to clear away the tears and took a calming breath, making her splotches fade away.

“Th-thanks for that Amity.” Vee said as she softly smiled at Amity and Amity did the same.

“No problem, I'm just happy to help, but I am curious about why you would specifically come to me for advice and not someone else?” Amity asked.

Vee rubbed the back of her neck.

“Well, yesterday mom mentioned that you had told her that Luz was your first crush and, she recommended that I ask you since your experience is so fresh and you could help me sort this whole thing out.” Vee answered.

“Well, I'll try and do my best.” Amity said with a small smile.

“Okay, let's start from the beginning tell me everything okay Vee?” Amity asked.

Vee nodded and started going through her interactions with Gus and how their friendship built up and throughout Vee's explanation Amity, who was paying close attention noticed Vee's reactions to certain parts, specifically her blushing heavily and being bashful here and there, it reminded Amity of herself back before she had confessed to Luz. When Vee finally finished she seemed a bit drained emotionally, so Amity handed her some water.

“Here, Vee, you look parched.” Amity said.

“Thanks.” Vee said as she took the cup of water and took a sip.

“So, uh, any.....prognoses?” Vee asked, not quite sure if she was using that word correctly.

“Well, first of all I'm glad you came to me and secondly, I'm like 98% sure that you're crushing on Gus, ha, Camila definitely pointed you to the right person, a lot of your experiences remind me of my own when I was still figuring out my feelings about Luz.” Amity answered.

Vee smiled hearing that she's got an answer at least, then frowned.

“Amity, where should I go from here?” Vee asked.

“Well, that's up to you in the end, but I think it's worth trying to feel out if Gus shares the same feelings toward you, then if he does, well, take the risk and ask him out.” Amity answered.

“Just like that?! I don't know how to ask someone out, I've never dated before!” Vee panicked.

Amity looked at Vee with a look of sympathy.

“Hey, don't worry, you’re not alone there, Gus has never dated either and neither did I until Luz.”  Amity said as she placed a comforting hand on Vee's shoulder.

Vee looked back up at Amity and sighed.

“You're right but, ah, do you have any idea's on how I could feel out on if Gus feels the same?” Vee asked.

Amity hummed in thought.

“Well, it would be best if you and him were alone for some time, at least for the most part that way his reactions will be from interacting with you instead of mixed signals from one of us being around as well.” Amity answered.

“Well, that certainly gives me a start at least, thanks again Amity, also feel free to tell Willow if she asks, I know how close she is with Gus and that.” Vee said.

Meanwhile at the Mall…

Rose stood back and just enjoyed the silliness on display as Gus and Hunter roamed the build a bear store looking for what they needed in the end they ended up getting a snake, axolotl, Toothless from HTTYD and a mer frog. After that they were off to Michael's to get some stuffing, fabric, a few sets of zippers and a few adjustable straps for backpack straps of and some detail magnification glasses both Gus and Hunter thought they looked cool and gave off a slight mad scientist vibe. Once they were done shopping they were off to see if Bria was done at Sports authority when they found Bria she already had 3 bags with her of new stuff and was looking at all the hunting and fishing stuff too.

“Didn't know you were into hunting and fishing, Bria.” Rose said.

Bria was startled and nearly jumped six feet into the air like a human sized cat.

“Wow, you really got me, I must've really zoned out there, and kinda, Rose. Before the Emperor’s Coven came to Hexside I had just enrolled into their multi track program, with me being in both Construction and Beast Keeping tracks. My mom was in the Beast Keeping track and coven and had passed along a bit of knowledge on her profession before she died.” Bria said.

“Oh, I'm so sorry Bria.” Rose said.

“Don't sweat it, she died when I was almost five so I've had time to process. Anyway, if you guys are done let's head out!” Bria said as she called out to Gus and Hunter.

The two boys came over and the group set out.

Timeskip…

Hunter and Gus were now dressed in surgical garb, black latex gloves covering their hands, magnification glasses on their heads, they looked like mad scientists. Which was fitting considering what they were about to accomplish. They were in what looked to be a gothic mad scientist laboratory, various machines, beakers, test tubes, machines and gadgets around the place. In the center of the room was a table with a sheet on it with a mass visible underneath. It was storming, rain fell heavy, lightning flashed and thunder boomed, the perfect conditions for gifting life.

Hunter pointed over to a pulley system.

“Gus! Raise the platform!” Hunter ordered.

Gus went over to a pulley system and started pulling the chain, raising the platform covered in a cloth, Hunter and Gus watched with mad grins as the platform moved upward to a pair of giant Tesla coils. Lightning flashed, lighting up the lab momentarily as the thunder roared. Hunter moved over to a machine with a bunch of dials and knobs on it, he messed around with the control before moving to another machine and flipping switches, he then moved over to another machine with a giant lever on it, Hunter grabbed the lever in one hand and raised his other hand to the sky. 

“LIFE! GIVE MY CREATION! LIFE!!!” Hunter yelled to the heavens as he flipped the switch.

The coils sparked, transferring the very essence of life itself. The lab was lit up as Hunter and Gus covered their eyes. Hunter flipped the switch again and the machine turned off. The light died down and Gus moved the chain in the opposite direction. The platform lowered to the ground and Hunter and Gus walked over. Gus removed the sheet to reveal, a plushy backpack of Vee in her Basilisk form.

Hunter’s grin widened as he raised his arms in triumph.

“It’s Alive! It’s Alive!!!” Hunter said insanely.

Hunter then began laughing maniacally with Gus soon joining in on the laughter as lighting flashed and thunder boomed once more. From out of nowhere dramatic spooky pipe organ music played. Then, the sound of two people snickering could be heard. Hunter and Gus stopped their laughter to turn around to see Willow and Camila standing on the stairs, Willow had her scroll out while Camila had her phone, both of them had been recording Gus and Hunter. Gus dropped the illusion to reveal that he and Hunter were actually just in the basement, although he and Hunter were actually dressed as mad scientists.

Camila and Willow stopped their recording, Camila had gotten home from work a while ago and had finished making dinner, she and Willow had gone downstairs to fetch the boys, only to find the entire basement under the illusion of laboratory and Gus and Hunter acting like mad scientists, it was a truly funny sight to behold so they had decided to record the whole thing.

“Dinner’s ready Doctor Frankenstein.” Camila said as she tried to get her laughter under control.

“How long were you both standing there?” Gus asked, embarrassed.

“The whole time.” Willow answered as she and Camila walked back upstairs.

Meanwhile with Luz and the Doctor…

Luz suddenly perked up from looking down at the section of the device she was repairing, wearing a pair of glasses with like five magnifying lenses on one side.

“Something feels off, like Willow or mom just got some choice blackmail and or gossip.” Luz muttered.

Overhearing this, the Doctor smirked.

“Well then, if you're gut is telling that then it's probably true, remember Luz, always trust in your instincts, always.” The Doctor advised.

Luz smiled and nodded.

“Right.” Luz said.

Camila then peeked her head into the Doctor’s TARDIS.

“Come on you two, dinner is ready.” Camila said as she left.

Soon as everyone sat down at the recently expanded dinner table having pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables Camila spoke up.

“So, how did everyone's plans turn turn out?” Camila asked.

“Great me and The Doctor made some great progress on repairing power converter.” Luz said.

“Me and Willow got in some real progress as well with our magical enhancement as well as some great exercise in general thanks to Vee's help as our spotter.” Amity said.

“Me and Hunter did some managed to finish his sewing project.” Gus said.

“Rose helped me get in some good clothes shopping.” Bria said.

“Well, it certainly sounds like everyone has had a productive day, that's great to hear!” Camila said with a smile.

Later just after dinner Camila asked Bria to help her with the dishes Vee and Luz were still at the table chatting and Willow was doing her late afternoon check on all the house plants when she overheard Gus and Hunter talking after coming back up from the basement.

“I'm telling you this is your best work yet.” Gus said.

“Thanks Gus, but you certainly deserve half the credit as well after all you help majorly with the designing process and the refinement of the finer details.” Hunter said.

Willow gave her full attention to what the two were talking about and saw Gus holding a plushie backpack with it's design clearly made to look like Vee's Basilisk form. Seeing this Willow's eyes widened in surprise, did Gus also have a crush on Vee and she really hadn't noticed? Either way this might be a good opportunity for Vee and Gus, so Willow went over to Hunter.

“Hey Hunter, I totally forgot in all my in the zone training today to check on the plant's in the greenhouse and garden in Camila's TARDIS, would you mind coming with me to help out? Some of the more sentient species can get a bit aggressive and agitated, you would be a huge help there.” Willow asked.

Hunter blushes slightly.

“Oh, yeah, sure, hey Gus, go ahead and give Vee the gift k.” Hunter said.

“Sure man, I'll be sure to tell her how much effort went into it on your part.” Gus said.

“You were a big help too Gus, rememb-.” Hunter said before he was cut off by Will who dragged Hunter off before he could finish his sentence.

Amity who just came back feeding Ghost, saw what she thought Willow was up to and saw Luz still chatting with Vee and gets an idea. As Luz was telling Vee what to expect from her school specifically, Amity came over to them. 

“Hey Luz, not to interrupt but Vee gave me a good recommendation for another good fantasy book series to start on and I wanted your help in trying to find it in your mom's library.” Amity said.

“Oh! You mean The Witcher, that's a great series I'm still only on the first book though pretty sure you can find all of them in the library.” Vee said.

“Really? Well what are we waiting for, lead the way sweet potato!” Luz said.

Amity quickly pulled Luz off to Camila's TARDIS, they passed Gus on the way out of the kitchen with Luz noticing Gus holding a plushie backpack in the shape of a very familiar person.

As Vee was still sitting at the kitchen table looking over a couple of Luz's old school's text books from last school year Gus approached and spoke up.

“Hey, Vee.” Gus called out.

Vee immediately turned and gave her full attention to Gus while also slightly blushing.

“Oh, he-hey Gus, what's up?” Vee asked.

“Well, me and Hunter were working on and managed to finish a sewing project of his and, well, here.” Gus said as he took the plushie backpack out from behind his back and gave it to Vee. To which Vee's eyes lit up and widen immediately much in the same way as Luz's did when she first saw King.

“Oh my god Gus! It's so cute! I love it thank you!” Vee happily said.

Vee immediately hugged Gus who was furiously blushing from the surprise hug and the with how affectionate Vee was being with him not that he minded. Gus quickly hugged Vee back thinking 

‘Yeah, you're definitely Luz's sister alright.’ Gus thought to himself.

Vee at getting hugged back from Gus made her modest blush overtake her whole face with Vee closing her eyes and hugging Gus a bit tighter. Meanwhile Bria who was still helping Camila with the dishes had turned around to see what was going on only to be completely caught off guard by seeing Gus and Vee's embrace. From her angle Bria could see both Vee and Gus's reactions to the physical contact and furrowed her brow in irritation. When Bria turned back to the dishes she had found the forks in her hand completely bent out of shape by her grip.

Meanwhile…

Willow was feeding the various plants their needed plant food while Hunter was watering the plants outside the greenhouse. A bee approached Hunter.

“Oh, hello little guy.” Hunter said as the bee came closer.

“You're a friendly little bee aren't you.” Hunter said.

Then the bee flew away and Hunter went back to his watering but then two more bee approached him.

“Oh, back again, and look you brought a friend, I don't suppose you know Clover do you?” Hunter asked.

All of a sudden the two bees got to close for Hunter's liking and he backed up.

“Wow easy there I- huh.” Hunter said.

Hunter suddenly caught sight of a huge swarm of bees. Hunter’s eyes widened.

“Oh shit!” Hunter exclaimed.

Willow was just humming away hoping that everything went well between Gus and Vee when she heard.

“Ahhhhhh!!!” Hunter screamed.

Willow quickly turned around and saw Hunter running from a huge swarm of bees.

“Hunter! Quickly teleport in here!” Willow yelled.

Hunter did as instructed and teleported into the greenhouse where Willow quickly closed the doors.

“Thanks Willow that was a close one.” Hunter said.

“Yeah, I wonder why they got hostile like that?” Willow asked.

Clover then popped up from behind Willow's head and went over and examined Hunter's hair then went back to Willow and buzzed.

“Hmmm, yeah that makes sense. Okay so apparently you're hair smells to much of honey and it drew the bees to you.” Willow translated.

Hunter nodded as he thought that over.

“Well at least I know now I just have to switch shampoo brands, thanks Clover. Also Willow I don't suppose there's another reason you needed me here?” Hunter asked.

“Well kinda I did really forget about these plants and need the help, but I also wanted to give Vee and Gus some alone time.” Willow answered.

Hunter tilted his head.

“Why?” Hunter asked.

“I can tell you but you can’t tell Gus or anyone else unless they bring it up first showing that they know to got it?!” Willow said.

Hunter was kinda taken aback by Willow's sudden seriousness but nonetheless agreed.

“Very well, you have my word.” Hunter said.

“Okay, well, the truth is that Vee has a crush on Gus and Amity's advice, which I definitely find sensible as well, is to try and feel out if Gus feels the same before confessing.” Willow explained.

Hunter was a bit stunned but quickly regained his composure.

“Well, that is sound advice, though to be honest I think Gus already likes Vee quite a bit, I hope things go well.” Hunter said.

“I couldn't agree more.” Willow said.

Meanwhile with Luz and Amity…

Luz was on a shelf ladder and had finally found The Witcher books Amity and Vee had mentioned.

“Found them!” Luz called out.

“Sweet. hand me down the first one.” Amity said.

“On it.” Luz replied

Luz slides down the ladder and passes Amity the 1st book The Witcher The Last Wish, by Andrzej Sapkowski. Amity examined the cover.

“Hmmm, well it's certainly got good artwork for the covers let's have a look.” Amity said.

Amity opened and started on the first page with Luz reading from over Amity's shoulder. After they were past the second page Luz broke the silence.

“Well, it might be an early call, but this is certainly looking good.” Luz said.

“Hmmm. I agree.” Amity said.

“Soooooo. When are you going to tell me why you wanted to give Vee and Gus some space?” Luz asked.

Amity's attention immediately snapped up at Luz with wide eyes and she quickly closed the book. Amity sighed deeply.

“Sharp as ever I see. Well to make matters short, Vee confided in me that she has a crush on Gus.” Amity answered.

Luz's expression was one of surprise for only half a second before she squealed with joy.

“This is fabulous so then you wanted Vee to get some alone time with Gus to see if she can feel out if Gus feels the same way about her?” Luz theorized.

“Uhhhh, that's it, exactly how did you know?” Amity asked.

“Oh please, it makes sense given your the one that gave her advice, it's cautious and sensible, the same way you would go about things if you could ask me out all over again.” Luz answered.

“Pretty flawless logic honestly.” Amity said.

“Yeah, though I gotta admit I did not expect for Vee to also be crushing on Gus as well, man, he's not even 14 and he's already a ladies man.” Luz said.

Amity laughs a bit before catching on to the specifics of Luz's choice of words.

“Wait, what did you mean, also, you know someone else who also has a crush on Gus, who else?” Amity asked.

Luz tilts her head slightly confused.

“Wait, you mean you didn't catch on that Bria has had a crush on Gus for like over a week now?” Luz asked back.

Amity was stunned that she missed the signs.

“Crap, this complicates things, doesn't it?” Amity said.

Luz nodded.

“Oh yeah it does, we got ourselves a bonafide love triangle between Gus, Bria and Vee.” Luz said.

“Luz, do you think Gus has feelings for Bria?” Amity asked.

“I have no doubt about it, though whether or not it's to the point of romantic interest to be a possibility is anyone's guess, after all, Gus, as far as I know, has never had a romantic partner, so who knows how receptive he is to both his own feelings and those of either Bria or Vee.” Luz answered.

Amity sighed deeply.

“Good point, and Vee is in that same boat, however I'm not sure about Bria, maybe one of us should subtly talk with her and see if she has previously dated anyone if so it may give us a bit of insight.” Amity proposed.

Luz nodded in agreement.

“Good idea, but first thing's first, tomorrow we gotta get another set of The Witcher books.” Luz said in a serious tone.

Amity broke out into a small fit of giggles at Luz's tonal switch.

1 Hour Later…

Everyone was in their rooms and was winding down for the evening with Hunter drawing out some new designs that just came to him. Willow was doing a little light reading on the different varieties of trees on earth. Luz and Amity were both in Luz's room making theories on what will happen in the next chapter of The Witcher. Vee was rolling back and forth on her bed hugging her new Basilisk plushie backpack to her chest smiling and giggling away. Bria was yelling into one of her pillows in frustration while kicking her feet. Lastly there was Gus who was just laying flat on his bed staring up at the ceiling in contemplation trying to figure out why things felt different around Vee.

Then there was The Doctor, Camila and Rose watching a little late night TV.

“Alright, spill it Nurse, I know you're dying to tell us something, out with it.” The Doctor said.

Rose was grinning at Camila's pouting expression at being found out.

“How do you always know?” Camila asked.

“Manny told me all of your tells once, and those always carry over.” The Doctor answered.

Camila sighed in defeat.

“Fine, fine, fine. So, it seems my other daughter, Vee, has got herself a little crush, any guesses as to who? Rose? Doctor?” Camila said.

“Ya got me, spotting budding love is not my forte, this one is all you Rose, you got a good track record thus far.” The Doctor said.

Rose hummed in thought.

“Is it anyone from a movie or show?” Rose asked.

 Camila shook her head.

“No and no.” Camila answered.

“Then it's gotta be Gus.” Rose said.

“You're record remains unbroken Rose, nicely done.” Camila confirmed.

“This will be interesting, cause I'm pretty sure that Bria is also quite into Gus as well.” Rose said.

Both the Doctor and Camila suddenly turned to look at Rose.

“What?!!” The both exclaimed.

To be Continued…

Chapter Text

It was early morning, 6:30 AM to be exact. In the Noceda household, Amity, Wilow, Bria and Gus were watching one of Luz's favorite TV shows, Avatar the Last Airbender. Everyone was quickly transfixed by the story and characters, they were already through the first season and halfway through the second with them previously having started it watching a couple of days ago only now getting back to it. Amity still thought it was a little weird that Katara and her sound the same, but as Luz told her statistically, there's only so many voice frequencies in the world, some are bound to sound alike.

“You know, Zuko kinda reminds me of Hunter in a way.” Amity said.

“Yeah I see what you mean, oh! Wilow, here's the part I mentioned earlier, watch.” Luz said as she pointed to the TV.

Wilow paid close attention to what Luz wanted her to watch, and sure enough she got what Luz meant by plant armor as she saw the swamp Waterbender control the vines as naturally as she can while keeping them shrouded around him like a suit of armor.

“Oh this definitely gives me some ideas for my plant magic.” Willow said with a small smirk as ideas started forming in her head.

Luz smiled at her friend.

“I knew you would get it.” Luz said.

“Luz, you mentioned something that I could similarly take away from this show, what did you mean?” Bria asked.

“Oh that’s right! Okay, give me a minute to find the right episode, we’ll comeback to this character's introduction episode later, for right now all you need to know is that she's Aang's Earthbending master and can see through her contact with the earth. But this is what I wanted you to see.” Luz said as she brought up the episode she was looking for.

Bria, like Wilow before her, focused in on the show and watched as the girl named Toph raised two rock walls to have Aang face her head on, then saw Toph cover herself in various rocks like plate armor and proceeded to charge at the Airbender.

Bria smiled knowing what Luz was getting at.

“Oh yeah, I'm definitely going to try this out.” Bria said.

Meanwhile, Gus was trying his hand at expanding his arsenal of spells, currently by trying to get the fire spell right. Like with Wilow it seemed as though, at least when it came to simple elemental spells, that visualization was the key, and with Gus having previously used the fire glyph a few times already he was able to, also like Wilow, pick it up in a few tries.

“Ah ha! Got it!” Gus exclaimed in triumph.

Luz, Amity, Willow and Bria all turned and saw Gus's accomplishment and congratulated him on his success. Gus examined his light blue fire ball before an idea came to mind and he instantly cast an illusion spell over the fire, allowing him to shift through various colors of fire with ease.

As Gus cycled through various different colors for his fire he stopped on black and thought it was pretty cool looking, then Luz spoke up.

“Ha, Amateratsu.” Luz chuckled to herself.

Gus looked at Luz with a raised eyebrow.

“Amata what now?” Gus asked.

“Oh, the Amateratsu is a black colored magic fire spell from this popular anime, it's supposed to be as hot as the sun and inextinguishable.” Luz answered.

Gus looked down at his black flame and smirked.

“Huh, that sounds pretty cool, maybe I'll stick with this color.” Gus said.

Gus then put out the flame.

“Hey Luz, are there any other cool spells from this anime you mentioned?” Gus asked.

Luz nodded.

“Yeah, Naruto has got quite a lot of cool applications of various spells, in fact the main character's go to signature technique is a physical clone spell. But I think another one you'd like is Tsukuyomi, used by the same guy who uses Amateratsu.” Luz answered.

“Tsukuyomi, what’s is do?” Gus asked as turned his whole body to face Luz, folding his legs as though he was about to be told a story.

“Well, it's an extremely powerful, in fact near inescapable, genjutsu. A mental illusion where your enemy is trapped in a mindscape where everything is completely under your complete control and your opponent feels everything as if it were the real world. Even the passage of time is under your control. In fact the first time it's showcased in the anime, Itachi, the guy who wields it, put another guy through 72 hours of torture, when only a couple of seconds passes in the real world.” Luz explained.

Gus was wide eyed as he listened to Luz’s explanation, growing very intrigued by this spell.

“Wow! That is so cool!” Gus exclaimed.

“Oh!” Luz said as she snapped her fingers in realization.

“Hold on, I got something I think you'll like!” Luz said as she took off running up the stairs to her closet in her room. Moments later Luz came back down with a T-shirt in her hand and handed it to Gus.

“Here Gus, I got this last year when I went through my emo phase.” Luz said.

Gus unfolded the T-shirt to see a stylized picture on the front of a young man with long black hair and cool red eyes with cooler looking designs in them and it looked like he was in the process of disassembling into a murder of crows.

“Wow, who is this Luz?” Gus asked as he pointed to the young man on the shirt.

“That's Itachi, the guy I told you about, cool right? He likes to use crows in his illusions.” Luz said.

Bria then chimed in.

“Wait, wait, wait. Did you say you went through an emo phase? You?!” Bria asked in disbelief.

Luz rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.

“Well, I only had said emo phase for half a year at most, and thankfully my mom wasn't overly accommodating to all my requests cause otherwise my room would be black, ugh.” Luz said as she shook her head in partial embarrassment at all the things she tried to change. 

“Actually my phone case is one of the few holdovers from back then.” Luz added.

“Hey Luz, would you mind if I kept this?” Gus asked.

Luz smiled at her friend.

“Go right ahead Gus, it's not like it fits me anymore, plus I bet it would go great with that blue jacket of yours.” Luz answered.

“Exactly what I was thinking as well.” Gus said.

The front door opened, revealing the Doctor and Rose, still looking tired.

“Please tell me you guy's made some fresh coffee?” Rose asked.

Amity pointed to the kitchen.

“No worries, there’s still plenty left.” Amity answered.

“Thanks Amity.” Rose said as she and the Doctor walked into the kitchen.

After the Doctor and Rose had caffeinated up the two took on the task of making breakfast, with Rose making eggs in a basket, bacon and ham and the Doctor making cream of wheat and some English muffins. Then Camila's TARDIS door opened showing a still sleepy Vee and an awake Hunter walking out, with Vee still in her pajamas.

“Man, whoever is cooking breakfast should be the full time cook.” Vee said with her eyes still closed.

Vee then took a step where she shouldn't have and stepped on Ghost’s tail, resulting in a loud angry meow at Vee. Vee let out a scream and quickly jumped backwards right into Hunter, making both of them tumble down.

Both Gus and Wilow shook their heads chuckling a bit due to the hilariousness of the whole scene a get up from the couch to help their friends up. Gus to Vee and Wilow to Hunter, Vee was still rubbing the back of her head from her fall when she looked up and saw Gus softly smiling at her with his arm extended out to help her up. Vee, out of a bit of embarrassment over the whole thing, was blushing a bit as she looked to the side for a second before looking back at Gus and grabbed hold of his hand. Gus, both from the physical contact and because of how cute Vee there was almost pouting at the embarrassing moment also blushes as he pulled Vee to her feet.  

“Thanks.” Vee said.

“No sweat.” Gus said.

Right at that moment Ghost hopped on Gus's shoulder and glared at Vee directly in the eyes. Vee got a bit nervous and quickly apologized.

“S-Sorry about stepping on your tail Ghost, I know I wouldn’t like it if it happened to me as well.” Vee apologized.

Ghost nodded and hopped over to Amity.

Meanwhile, while Vee and Gus were having a bit of a moment, Bria was trying to burn a hole in Vee with her glare alone. Until everyone turned to hear Camila yawning as she came down the stairs, still in her morning clothes. Camila looked over and saw everyone.

“Morning kids.” Camila said.

“Morning mom.” Luz and Vee replied.

“Morning Camila.” Amity and Willow replied.

“Morning Mrs. Noceda.” Hunter, Gus and Bria replied.

Camila smiled at the kids, especially when she saw Vee beside Gus.

“Now, tell me there's still coffee?” Camila asked.

“There’s a fresh pot.” The Doctor answered.

“Breakfast is ready!” Rose announced.

All the kids started to scramble like a pack of Huskies as Camila slightly shook her head in amusement and made her way into the kitchen to get her coffee. By the time Camila got her coffee everyone was already in the full swing of eating their breakfast and Camila saw Luz and Amity chatting back and forth in witch tongue, seeing this Camila sighed.

‘Of course she can speak witch tongue from Azura.’ Camila thought to herself.

Camila also saw Gus chatting with Bria something about mental illusions and Hunter was chatting with the Doctor while Rose is talking with Vee and Willow.

Camila decided to chime in.

“So, does anyone have any idea's on what to go do this weekend?” Camila asked.

Luz thought for a few seconds before a big grin broke out across her face.

“How about a beach day?” Luz proposed.

“That sounds like a great idea, especially given the time of the year and good weather.” Rose agreed.

“Ah, it's been forever since I've been swimming.” Amity said fondly.

“It would definitely be a great time. Hunter?” Willow said as she looked over to the blond boy.

Hunter rubbed his chin.

“Sure, I'm game.” Hunter said.

“Same here!” Bria said.

“We’re gonna have to get some supplies before the weekend.” Gus said.

“As well as swimwear.” Vee added.

“Then it's agreed, now we just gotta decide on which beach.” The Doctor said.

Vee blinked for a second.

“Wait what?” Vee asked.

“Well, between me and Camila we can go anywhere and any when we want to, so no location is out of the question.” The Doctor answered.

“Oh yeah, kinda forgot about that.” Vee said as she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

“Well, over the next few days we’ll get the supplies together and plan where we’ll go, in the meantime, any plans for today?” Camila asked.

“Me and Luz are gonna do more work on the portal.” The Doctor answered.

“Me, Bria and Amity will be in the gym the majority of the day working on some new spells.” Willow answered.

“Me, Gus and Vee are going to go down to the library and see if there's anything in the historical records to shed some light on Belos's activities as Philip Wittebane.” Hunter answered.

The Doctor nodded.

“Makes sense, the history they teach in school would only gloss over the events of his life, who knows what you may find.” The Doctor said.

Timeskip…

An hour later in the gym Bria, Amity and Willow were working on their spells.

“Come on, almost there almost.” Amity strained.

Amity managed to transform the majority of her left arm into Abomination matter.

“Ha! Yes! Wilow, Bria check this out it worked its only one arm but still!” Amity said in triumph.

Bria and Willow looked at Amity’s accomplishment.

“That's fantastic Amity, you’ll be able to master the full transformation before you know it.” Willow said with a smiled.

“Well you're certainly having an easier time with it then I'm having with mine.” Bria grumbled.

Bria tried again to form an armor of rocks on herself, controlling the large assortment of rocks to magically cling to her to form up armor.

“Come on, you go this!” Bria strained.

“Bria, maybe you should scale it back to just one arm at a time, after all in a combat situation quickly pulling rocks to armor up an arm right before you punch someone would still work ya know.” Amity said.

Bria sighed before continuing. 

“Yeah, you make a good point, I just thought I'd try a bit at going for full armor, ya get it right?” Bria asked.

Amity nodded.

“Yeah, I know.” Amity answered.

Bria tried again and this time, focused on just her right arm, envisioning right where the individual rocks were to go and sure enough.....

“Yes! Willow, Amity check it out! Your advice worked!” Bria exclaimed in triumph.

Bria's right arm was now armored in rocks like plate armor. As Bria flexed her arm and hand to test the armor’s stability, she noticed Wilow holding two stop watches.

“Hey Willow, what’s with the stopwatches?” Bria asked.

“Ah, I was wondering when you'd ask, well similarly as with the magical enhancement I figured it's a good idea to keep track of how long we can keep up these techniques, given the amount of magical energy and focus it takes, it seems like something to track, to mark our progress as well as have a basic understanding as to how long in a fight we can maintain these, right?” Willow said.

“That’s some smart thinking Willow.” Bria said.

“Thanks, but Hunter and Gus are the one's who suggested it not me.” Willow said.

Meanwhile Amity was practicing shifting her Abomination arm into various weapons such as a sword, shears, mace, large claws and a shield.

“Hey Wilow, could you make practice dummy for me and Bria to practice our striking power with these?” Amity asked.

Willow nodded.

“Sure, give me a second.” Willow said.

Wilow summoned a few dummies made out of cactuses.

“That work?” Willow asked.

Amity nodded.

“Yep, thanks Wilow.” Amity answered.

Amity and Bria tried out their striking power with their armored arms, Amity with bare fist then while using a sword both worked well. Then Bria tried but after her first strike, the armor fell apart.

“You alright Bria?” Willow asked.

“Yeah, I didn't feel strained or at my limit, I wonder what went wrong.” Bria answered.

Willow stopped Bria's stop watch.

“Maybe Luz would have a Idea.” Willow said.

Amity, who after making a few Abomination throwing knives and hitting the dummy with it, her arm returned to normal.

“Well I'm at my limit and yeah, she probably has a good idea on how to improve it.” Amity said as she caught her breath.

Willow nodded in acknowledgment.

“Well  while you go ask Luz, I'll test out my spells.” Willow said.

Meanwhile…

Luz and the Doctor were in the Doctor's TARDIS working on more equipment to try another portal attempt. The Doctor was currently having Luz pass him tools and components.

“Arch Welder.” The Doctor said.

“Arch Welder.” Luz repeated as she passed the Doctor said tool.

“Heat Converter Coil.” The Doctor said.

“Heat Converter Coil.” Luz repeated as she passed the Doctor the component.

“Banana.” The Doctor said.

“Ban- wait what?” Luz asked with a perplexed look on her face.

The Doctor chuckled and look at Luz with a wide grin.

“Gotcha, ah but seriously hand me the Philips-head Screwdriver.” The Doctor said.

Luz playfully rolled her eyes.

“Ha, ha, ha, nice one. And here.” Luz said as she passed the screwdriver to the Doctor.

The Doctor took the tool.

“Thanks, oh and by the way, how are things going with you and Amity?” The Doctor asked as he began working on the device.

“Oh, thing's...are going well, just wondering if she'll ask at any point about......” Luz trailed off as she though about her little time travel adventure when she met Belos when he was Philip Wittebane.

“About your involvement with Belos back when he was still just Philip Wittebane?” The Doctor surmised.

Luz sighed.

“Was it that obvious?” Luz asked.

“Well, detail wise, yes, especially given when you mentioned interacting with Philip in the past, which by the way Luz, did you ever get a weird feeling about certain things while you were in the past? Like you were part of a play and you could somehow tell when things were going too far off script?” The Doctor asked.

Luz’s eyes widened in shock at what the Doctor said.

“Yes! I don't know why, and I never thought to sum it up like that, but yes that's it exactly!” Luz answered.

“Then tell me Luz, did what ever you did that helped Philip, did it feel like it was off script or like what you were doing was forbidden?” The Doctor asked.

Luz shook her head.

“No, not at all, in fact I...” Luz trailed off again.

Luz sighed deeply.

“I had the opportunity to take him out, but I didn't, it felt both morally wrong but also instinctively wrong, like that was off script somehow.” Luz said.

“Well Luz, that's your temporal awareness, as a Time Lord you, like me and your mom, can sense when things in the time stream can and can't be messed with, what's meant to happen and what will always happen. That's what kept you from stopping Philip before he became Belos, because through cause and effect he's the reason for your reawakening as a Time Lord, along with several other factors. That and instinct wise we always stay away from fixed points, because they’re one of the few things that time travel can't save you from.” The Doctor said.

Luz then hugged the Doctor.

“Thanks, that helps a lot.” Luz said.

The Doctor smiled and hugged his goddaughter back.

“Anytime Luz, anytime.” The Doctor said softly.

They both then heard the TARDIS doors opening and saw Bria entering the TARDIS.

“Hey Luz, I need some advice.” Bria said as she walked onto the deck.

“Hey Bria, what can I help you with?” Luz asked.

“Well I've gotten some progress on my rock armor spell, but then it fell apart after I landed a hit on a practice dummy.” Bria answered.

Luz blinked.

“It fell apart?” Luz asked.

Bria nodded.

“Yeah, literally, here take a look for yourself, I gave it another go and had Wilow record the results to look over later.” Bria said as she held out her scroll.
 
Luz and the Doctor looked over the recording that was on her scroll.

“Hmmmmmm, interesting, I think I know the problem and the answer to it. It looks like the magic you're using to hold the rocks in place loses hold due to the shock from the impact.” Luz said.

“So how do I work around it? It’s hard enough not expending any extra magic while focusing on the specifics of the rocks placements.” Bria asked.

“So, question, have you ever tried to control sand?” Luz asked.

Bria raised an eyebrow.

“No, why would I?” Bria answered with a question of her own.

“Well, I'm thinking you can use a layer of sand as a kind of a coating over your body, as like a bodysuit that acts as a magical medium to hold onto the rock’s placements. Plus it would allow you an easier way to reconfigure your rocks to make on the fly weapons as well as easily integrate more.” Luz answered.

Bria thought over Luz's words and thought it was at least worth a shot.

“Okay Luz, I'll give it a chance, I'll check back in later with the results.” Bria said.

“I bet you 20 bucks it’ll work.” The Doctor said.

“Sure thing.” Bria said before she exited the Doctor’s TARDIS.

Right after Bria left the TARDIS Luz stared into the distance as she thought on the whole love triangle between Gus, Vee and Bria. Luz sighed again and turned to see the Doctor leaning up against the TARDIS console with his arms folded and an eyebrow raised.

“Something on your mind Luz?” The Doctor asked.

“Yeah, actually nothing Time Lord related, just trouble trying to know how to help some friends.” Luz answered.

“Hmmmmmm, I see, you wanna explain and I'll see what I can do? If nothing else I'm a hell of a good listener.” The Doctor offered.

Luz smiled at the Doctor.

“Alright, so my friend Gus is kinda stuck in a peculiar situation, and I'm not sure with which side to help him on, or if I should even try.” Luz said.

“Well, why would you think you shouldn't help?” The Doctor asked.

Luz though of a way to try and summarize it but couldn’t without making it confusing.

“Uggghhh, it's annoying trying to talk around the specifics.” Luz groaned as she rubbed her forehead.

“Tell me about it literally, but seriously now, does this have anything to do with Vee having a crush on Gus and according to Rose, Bria also has a crush on him?” The Doctor asked.

“Oh, that. Titan, you already know.” Luz said.

The Doctor blinked.

“Oh, so then Rose was right, well I owe her 50 bucks, damn. Anyways, why wouldn't you help him Luz?” The Doctor asked.

“Well because my sister is crushing on him, and it's her first crush! Last thing I wanna do is help Bria out and crush Vee's chances with Gus! But Bria is a good person, a good friend and would also be great for Gus, hell she's already supportive of him. But Vee is so sweet and kind to everyone especially him, she also shares a lot of his interests as well. I just. Uggghhh!” Luz answered and then groaned and buried her face in her hands.

“I see you're dilemma here Luz.” The Doctor said.

Luz removed her hands from her face and looked at the Doctor.

“Any advice?” Luz asked.

“Well I think you should only give advice to Gus if he comes to you, as for Vee and Bria, hmmm, honestly I think you should help Vee out seeing as she is your sister and while it's admirable to wanna keep you friends at the same emotional priority level as your family, sometimes there's no denying that you're family will take priority.” The Doctor answered.

Luz furrowed her brows in concentration as she thought over the Doctor's advice.

“However you might want to get a second and third option from Rose and Camila, especially Rose, she's probably got more experience with helping friends in a situation like this, sorry if that's not the best advice.” The Doctor said.

“No it's cool, thanks.” Luz replied.

Back in the gym…

Before Bria got back Willow was making her own breakthrough.

“Yes! Amity check it out!” Willow called to her friend.

Amity who had been able to maintain her Abomination arm for 4 minutes and was now working on transforming her other hand when she turned and saw Willow's transformed right arm which was now incased in a tight interconnected network of vines forming a protective layer over her real arm, with thick plates of tree bark segmented like armor plates with large thorns on the blade of the outside of the forearm.

“Wow! Impressive work Willow, damn.” Amity said as she marveled at Willow’s achievement.

“Hey guys, I'm back.” Bria said as she walked in.

Amity and Wilow both turned around and greeted Bria who had some sand being held in a bucket to her right.

“What’s with the sand?” Willow asked.

“Well Luz's advice was that I use a layer of sand as a medium to better maintain control over the rocks while not wasting as much magic.” Bria answered.

“Interesting, you wanna try it out?” Amity asked.

Bria shrugged.

“Might as well as give it a shot ya know.” Bria said.

Willow nodded.

“Yeah.” Willow said.

Bria put down her bucket of sand and began to channeling her magical energy into the sand and focusing on molding it. Remembering what Amity and Luz had explained once before on how Amity molded Abomination matter around her to make armored fists and started integrating the rocks and slowly started to form a layer of sand and rock armor onto her left arm. After a few minutes Bria finally had her desired result. 

“Yes! It worked! Now let's test this out, Wilow can you make some more practice dummies?” Bria asked.

“No prob Bria.” Willow answered as she drew a small spell circle and summoned a few dummies made out of cactuses with additional leaves on the top that made the practice dummies more resemble coven guards.

“Have at it!” Willow gleefully said.

Bria walked up to one of the practice dummies and like before, delivered a punch to it's center mass, though unlike last time her rock armor didn't crumble off, instead her armor not only held strong, but the kinetic force from her punch blew out the entire torso of the cactus dummy.

“Holy Titan!” Bria exclaimed with wide eyes.

“Yeah, you can say that again, impressive work Bria.” Amity complimented.

“Thanks, but some of the credit definitely goes to your girlfriend. Luz was right on the money about what I needed to change.” Bria replied.

Amity blushed a bit at the mention of Luz.

“Yeah she's great, in fact it was during part from her research into Darius and his unique techniques, like his Abomination style teleportation and transformation, that she helped me learn how to do this.” Amity said as she turned arms into Abomination matter and back again.

“I wouldn't doubt it if once the schools back home get everything back in order class wise, if Luz quickly rises through the ranks and becomes the top student of Hexside overall, hell just on magical knowledge alone Luz is only matched by a few dozen adults, and that’s being extremely generous.” Willow said.

Both Amity and Bria nodded back in confirmation having no doubt about it whatsoever.

“Yeah, Luz is gonna go far and shine brighter and brighter still.” Amity said with a smile.

Meanwhile at the Gravesfield Library…

Hunter was currently looking through the historical records for the founding families of Gravesfield.

“Hmmmmmm, let's see here, Grayson no, O'Hara no, Monger no, Hughes no, Baker no, Wittebane, ah ha, yes, now were getting somewhere right Gus? Gus?” Hunter read through the names before calling out to Gus.

Hunter turned around only for him to find that both Gus and Vee were off looking at the graphic novels and manga section, chatting about some book Gus was holding. Hunter smiled at his friend. Rose was currently looking through a pop culture magazine when she caught sight of a group of kids being read to from a book titled, Bad Wolf. 

Rose hummed in thought before she shrugged off the coincidence and decided to check on the kids, more specifically to see how the potential couple of Gus and Vee were doing. She walked around the corner to see the two shoulder to shoulder, their attention laser focused on a manga, something called Bleach. Rose softly smiled at the two she hoped things would work out for them. Rose then had a passing thought, wondering how Mickey was doing. 

“Man I can't believe how cool this is, especially the way Ichigo is combining Byakuya he's moving so fast, he's leaving after images, incredible!” Gus said.

The sound of a shush could be heard. Gus quieted down. Vee softly giggled.

“Yeah incredible.” Vee said softly while glancing at Gus.

As they turned the page they continued reading and watching how the fight between the substitute soul reaper and the soul reaper captain continued after Ichigo gets an attack in on Byakuya, both Gus and Vee thought the fight was won by Ichigo, but then Byakuya grabbed Ichigo's sword and said he was going to crush him with his power, then the chapter ended. Gus and Vee quickly started looking for the next issue on the shelf, only to find nothing but other random manga chapters all out of order then several other different books.

“Damn, they don't have the next issue.” Gus grumbled.

Vee, seeing Gus's disappoint decided to search via her phone and found better than just the manga, but the anime available on Hulu, one of the streaming apps she along with Luz and her mom all have, she pulled up the corresponding episode and went over to show Gus.

“Hey Gus, look what I was able to find.” Vee said.

Gus turned his head to look at Vee.

“Hmmm? What’d you find Vee?” Gus asked as he looked at Vee's phone as she turned it around and his eyes lit up almost literally.

It brought a smile to Vee's face to see Gus's joy rekindled and it was thanks to her to.

“This is great Vee, come on let's watch it!” Gus said as he grabbed Vee's hand and the two quickly race walked to a nearby table, Vee blushing all the way as they do. They quickly sat and Vee get out her ear buds.

“Uh, Gus, I only have the one pair of ear buds.” Vee said.

Gus shrugged.

“Oh that's no problem I don't mind sharing.” Gus said.

The two quickly pick up where they left off though they decided to watch the previous chapter/episode just to get back into the feel of the world.

When they got further Into the fight between Ichigo and Byakuya they both found themselves just as drawn in as they were previously, shoulder to shoulder once again and when Ichigo looked like he was about to die Vee and Gus grabbed hold of each other's hands. When Ichigo started to hollowfie and fight Byakuya in a far more crazier way Gus and Vee's grip on each other's hands tightened. Then they both relaxed a bit once Ichigo had regained control and managed to actually win his fight against Byakuya with both Vee and Gus cheering loudly at the victory only to get shushed by everyone around them and them get embarrassed at totally forgetting where they were because of how into the anime they were. Rose seeing this couldn't help but lightly chuckle at the two.

Meanwhile back with Luz and the Doctor…

Both of them were stretching after being crouched down and hunched over for so long.

“I think we need to take a break, what do you say my young apprentice?” The Doctor asked.

Luz nodded.

“Yeah, I could go for a break, let's get some late lunch at, oooh, I don't know, what about Wendy's?” Luz proposed.

The Doctor smiled.

“Good choice, I can’t stand McDonalds, their fries just can’t compare with Wendy’s.” The Doctor said.

“I know right!” Luz said.

“So to Wendy's we go!” The Doctor said as he flipped a few switches and turned a crank and hit a few buttons.

After a bit of shaking the TARDIS had arrived. Luz and the Doctor walked outside only to find themselves on the locked side of a chain link fence on the other side of the street from Wendy's, Luz turned and looked at the Doctor with a raised eyebrow, the Doctor just shrugged his shoulders. Luz shook her head a bit before pulling out her sonic screwdriver and quickly undoing the lock on the fence.

“Come on, I'm hungry especially now that we’re here and your paying.” Luz said.

“Oi, with what money?” The Doctor asked.

Luz just raised the Doctor’s wallet into the air and smirked.

“I know my mom gave you a bunch of cash, so nice try.” Luz said.

The Doctor smiled at Luz's antics and shook his head.

“Ah, touché Luz.” The Doctor said.

After they grabbed their burgers and the Doctor was about to take them back the Noceda residence when he got an idea.

“You know Luz, let's take a slight detour.” The Doctor said as he input a different set of coordinates.

A few minute later and the TARDIS settled in it's new location.

“Where did you take us?” Luz asked.

“Open the door and see for yourself.” The Doctor said.

Luz opened the door and dropped her bag of food upon seeing where they were. The Doctor was smiling ear to ear at Luz's reaction.

“Well. What do you think of the view?” The Doctor asked.

“What do I think of the view?! This is amazing! We’re on the fucking moon!! Don't tell my mom I said the F word, please.” Luz said.

“So long as you don't tell her I brought you to the moon without her.” The Doctor said.

Luz tilted her head.

“Mom would have an issue with that?” Luz asked.

“Not really, just that she missed the look on your face.” The Doctor answered with a smirk.

Luz smiled at the Doctor.

“So, how are we breathing while just outside the TARDIS?” Luz asked as she and The Doctor sat down right outside the TARDIS with their backs up against the TARDIS exterior.

“Well it's quite simple, I just extended the TARDIS’s natural atmospheric field to about a few meters outside of the TARDIS.” The Doctor answered.

They then started eating their burgers, enjoying the sight of the earth in the sky.

Back with Willow, Amity and Bria…

All three of them were working on their new spells. Bria moved her armored arms in a swiping motion shooting rock shrapnel at three cactus dummies hitting each from 30 feet away.

“Way to go Bria! Willow, what’s her time at?” Amity asked.

Willow checked the stopwatch.

“4 minutes and 25 seconds wha- Bria you all right?” Willow asked as she looked at Bria.

Bria suddenly was hit by a wave of exhaustion and took a knee as she shook off the momentary lightheartedness and spoke.

“Yeah, I just hit my limit.” Bria sighed and released her magic, the rocks and sand then fell from her arms.

As Bria walked off to rest on a bench, water in one hand and towel in the other, Amity faced Wilow and spoke.

“Ready Wilow?” Amity asked.

Wilow's attention was drawn back to Amity.

“I thought you'd never ask, get ready.” Willow said with determination.

Wilow and Amity both activated and armed themselves in their respective armor spells. Amity's arms both transformed into their Abomination versions and she took a sparing stance. Wilow did the same as she layered both her arms in interwoven vines with plates of spiked bark.

“Now bring it!” Willow demanded.

Both friends exchanged blows left and right Willow back stepping out of reach of a whip slash from Amity then countering by shooting a bunch of projectile thorns from her palms. Amity quickly flattened her Abomination arms into large shields to absorb the hit while summoning an additional Abomination tendril with an eye to see when Wilow's attack has stopped then she quickly countered by throwing a scatter shot of Abomination knives making Willow take on a similar defense. Amity then closed the distance and went in for a sword strike after making an Abomination sword but Willow had thought ahead and while shooting thorns had extended out a bunch of vines on the floor one of which quickly came to Willow's defense and grabbed and pulled Amity away from her. The match went on like this for another 2 minutes before both stopped at a draw with Bria off to the side speaking up.

“Damn! 2 minutes and 25 seconds not bad not bad at all.” Bria said.

“Thought we'd be....at ....it ....for.....longer.” Willow said as she leaned on her knees to catch her breath as did Amity.

Bria smiled at her friends.

“Well my dad once said, even if you can shadow share for five minutes straight it's not the same as actually live combat, you’re juggling multiple factors so the stamina you build in the gym is usually brought down to around half in real combat, that's probably why you guy's didn't make it to the 4 minute mark.” Bria reasoned.

“You got a good point there Bria. Thanks.” Amity said.

As Willow and Amity were taking a break while Bria worked more on her magical enhancement Willow and Amity started to chat.

“So Willow, how do you think this thing with Gus and Vee will turn out?” Amity asked.

Willow shrugged.

“Honestly I'm not really, sure I do know that Gus isn't, how did Luz phrase it, ace? Yeah I know he's not an ace, at the least given how he had mentioned that he initially had a bit of a crush on Bria when they first met, so Vee at least has a shot ya know.” Willow answered.

Amity nods.

“Yeah she does, course she also has some stiff competition in Bria.” Amity said.

Wilow nodded then stopped and looked at Amity in surprise.

“Wait what?” Willow asked.

“Wait are you telling me that you haven't noticed that Bria has like, a huge crush on Gus?” Amity asked.

Willow shook her head.

“No! This is the first I'm hearing of it!” Willow answered.

Wilow sighed deeply.

“But this definitely makes sense as to why I saw Bria giving Vee a glare that could kill. So, when did you realize Bria was crushing on Gus?” Willow asked.

Amity blushed a bit in embarrassment.

“The truth is I just found out yesterday curtsey of Luz who has known for, like, over 2 weeks.” Amity answered.

Wilow whistled.

“Damn, she's got us both beat.” Willow said.

Amity nodded.

“Yeah.” Amity said.

Amity looked over to Bria then turned back to Willow.

“Willow, I think we should see why Bria likes Gus.” Amity said.

“What exactly do you mean by that?” Willow asked.

“Like if she honestly has a full blown crush on ,him and how it compares to Vee's crush on Gus, ya know.” Amity answered.

Willow sighed.

“Alright, I just hope this doesn't backfire on us. Hey Bria can come over here we wanna ask you some stuff!” Willow called out.

Bria quickly walked over to Willow and Amity.

“Yeah, what's up?” Bria asked.

“You have a crush on Gus, right?” Amity asked.

Bria's eyes widened in surprise turning her head to not make eye contact as she blushed from embarrassment.

“W-well you see ah I…” Bria stuttered.

Bria sighed before continuing.

“Yes, I have a crush on Gus, and I'm not entirely sure he knows or not.” Bria answered.

Amity nodded her head solemnly, knowing the feeling.

“What sparked this crush you have and what cemented it?” Willow asked.

“Well, I actually kinda had the tiniest of crushes on him back when we first met, though back then it was kinda solely due to the fact that I thought he was cute.” Bria said.

Bria sighs again as she sits on the bench between Amity and Wilow.

“But then I screwed that up by being a real jerk and desecrating the illusionists graveyard.” Bria added.

“What about later on, when did your crush on Gus reignite?” Willow asked.

“When I was allowed to sit with you guys at lunch, you all left it to Gus to decide on if could join you and despite everything that I did to him and Matt, he gave me a second chance and welcomed me into your inner circle.” Bria answered.

Amity smiled at Bria's words.

“Well Gus is a smarter witch then most people give him credit for.” Amity said.

Bria nodded.

“Yeah when me and Hunter went into Gus’s illusion projection mindscape I saw how a lot of previous people had used him to get ahead due to his intelligence and him still being naive about people's true intentions. I know a bit of what that's like.” Bria said.

Wilow gave Bria a bit of a pointed look with a quirked eyebrow.

“Mind explaining?” Willow asked.

“Well, back a couple of years I was in the AP history class and a popular girl from the 3rd year class started hanging out with mem then a few months later she completely cut ties with me. It was only later that I found out that she was failing history and decided to pretend to be my friend just to copy my homework and stuff, and what's worse is that due to how Glandis operates the teacher's and faculty don't do anything about it!” Bria answered.

Wilow pats her back in sympathy.

“That was one of my motivations to get the Galderstones, to help give me the power to dismantle the power dynamic and make some real changes, but I ended up losing myself along the way, getting as roped into the same bullshit mindset as everyone else!” Bria said, angry at herself.

“So what made you go full head over heels for him?” Amity asked.

Bria blushed a bit again before continuing.

“Well, first there were a few things that lead up to it, firstly with how much of a helpful person he is in general but especially to his friends and loved ones. 2nd is the fact of how much he seriously trusts in his friend's, like with Luz's claims about the Emperor's Coven, there wasn't a hint of doubt from him, his loyalty is on a level you don't find anywhere except for a few in the Emperor’s Coven itself.” Bria answered.

Both Amity and Willow nodded at these statements knowing just how true to heart they are.

“But above all, it's how quickly he's willing to shoulder blame, both blame that's 100% his and even blame that's clearly not his! He's bad at emotionally deceiving people because he's got to good a heart for it, but he still sticks with the magic he loves cause that's how he is!” Bria said.

Willow and Amity smiled at the girl.

“Couldn't agree more Bria.” Willow said.

“So, not to be the bearer of bad news but, Bria are you aware that Vee has a crush on Gus well?” Amity asked.

Bria dragged her hands down her face in frustration.

“Yes, I'm aware that I've got competition and that Vee has been getting all too chummy with Gus, but unlike last time I won't lose to the new girl!” Bria declared.

Amity and Wilow shared a slightly confused look.

“Wait, what do you mean by, unlike last time?” Willow asked.

“Oh, right, you guy's don't know, well, a year ago I had a boyfriend his name was, Jake Pendleton, he was in the Beast Keeping track and was from an upper middle class family and he was also half vampire.

“Makes sense then why he was in Beast Keeping track then, vampires and half vampires usually have quite a lot of natural talent in Beast Keeping, Oracle and Illusion magic.” Willow said.

Amity nodded her head at the information.

“So what happened between you two?” Amity asked.

“He traded up, dumped me not long after he started seeing this other girl in the Abomination track, Alexis Carbone, she was a top student in her class and in her year. Good grades, wealthy family and a star Grudgby player, she had me beat in every area, even looks!” Bria answered.

“Oh I'm sure you're over exaggerating or downplaying yourself by comparison!” Willow said.

“No, I'm not! Here look for yourself.” Bria said as she summoned her scroll and pulled up a picture and showed both of them.

Wilow and Amity were shocked by how gorgeous the girl in the photo was standing beside and talking to a boy with black hair green eyes average build if a bit on the muscular side and wearing Beast Keeping track colors was a girl of the same height with blonde hair voluptuous and full of volume, with green tips and short adorable red horns poking out of her head with slightly tanned skin sprinkled with freckles on her cheeks, silver eyes an athletic build and of course wearing the Abomination track colors.

“Wow! You were not sugarcoating it, sorry girl.” Willow said.

“Thanks.” Bria said.

“So, what are you gonna do about Vee?” Amity asked.

“Well I'm not gonna take being overshadowed by another girl laying down that's for damn sure!” Bria stood up with confidence as she said this.

“Well, I hope you understand if we don't interfere with your rivalry with Vee.” Willow said.

“Yeah, given that Vee is my girlfriend's sister, well, I don't want to get on Camila's bad side.” Amity chimed in.

Bria nodded.

“I understand, it’s okay.” Bria said.

“Well, I truly wish you the best of luck. Oh! Before I forget, do you want us to pass along to Vee that you're rivals now?” Willow asked.

Bria smiled at Willow.

“Thanks, but no thanks Willow, I'll tell her later tonight.” Bria answered.

Later…

In the Noceda household living room Vee, Gus, Hunter and Rose were back from the library a bit earlier then expected impart do to Gus and Vee being a bit to disruptive while watching Bleach, and because Hunter noticed some guy spying on them and wanted to get back home to an easier to guard location. Hunter didn't mention the person in question just in case he was that guy Luz and Vee had told them about, he didn't wanna ruin the good time the two were having. Right now Vee and Gus were sitting together on the couch continuing to watch Bleach. Hunter had managed to check out a couple of useful books one on the history of the witch trials and witch hunts and one about the local town history. Rose had also got a book on world history to rehearse her general knowledge, after all, you never know when such things can come in handy. 

Hunter was sitting on the recliner reading as was Rose on the other couch. Gus felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to Vee only to be scared by the sudden unexpected sight of Hallow Ichigo staring back at him.

“Ahhhhhh! Hahahaha! Nice one Vee.” Gus screamed before laughing.

Vee then shifted back to normal.

“Thanks Gus, glad I didn't scare you to much.” Vee said.

“Nah, takes a bit more than that to traumatize me.” Gus said.

“Yeah, I know.” Vee said before she yawned a bit before resting her head on Gus's shoulder, the act of which got Gus blushing quite a bit, but he didn't move or otherwise disturb her rest. Gus did however look over and notice Hunter looking at him sporting a devilish grin that would rival Eda's and once he made eye contact with Hunter Hunter gave Gus a thumbs up.

Gus turned back to the TV and resigned himself to being this cute girl's pillow. Gus decided to pause where they were at and put on something else he found a few cool shows outside of anime he marked to watch later thinking that Vee and the other's would like them as well and decided to watch a special on an escape artist, someone named Houdini.

About an hour later Willow came out of Camila's TARDIS wearing some running clothes for cardio Hunter seeing this, remembered he had barely got in any exercise himself and really shouldn't miss doing his cardio. Hunter put his book away after bookmarking it and went over to Willow.

“Hey Hunter you wanna go for a run? I could use the company.” Willow asked.

“Sure! I actually was about to ask you the same thing.” Hunter answered.

“What a coincidence.” Willow said as she glanced over to Gus and saw Vee resting her head on Gus's shoulder, clinging to his arm in her sleep meanwhile Gus was so into his movie he hadn't noticed all that much, but his blushing face certainly said some part of him was still aware.

“Come on, let's head out.” Willow said.

Hunter nodded and the two left the house.

Meanwhile with Luz and the Doctor…

The Doctor and Luz were just finishing the repairs on their equipment for another portal attempt.

“Yes! All done, now we just need another clear day which will be, this weekend.” Luz said.

“Yep, also what are you working on over there?” The Doctor asked.

“Oh yeah, this, well I'm working on a new glyph combo, this one is an illusion spell that will cast a bunch of darkness upon a wide area, it's perfect for massive disorientation.” Luz said.

“Nice thinking, but are you sure it will work and not back fire on you when you eventually get back and use it?” The Doctor asked.

Luz tapped the side of her head.

“I have the effects and combination methods memorized, as well have already run the math and had the TARDIS double check my work so all's good.” Luz answered.

The Doctor smirked.

“Well you've convinced me. Come on let's check on the others.” The Doctor said as he and Luz exited the TARDIS.

Meanwhile with Willow and Hunter…

Willow and Hunter were happily jogging down the street with a subtle breeze cooling them both, then Willow broke the silence between them.

“So how do you think things between Vee and Gus are going?” Willow asked.

Hunter nearly tripped but quickly recovered and caught back up and replied.

“Well you saw for yourself, I think it's only a matter of time before they actually go on a genuine date, thing's will definitely be decided after that, personally I think Gus may be aware that Vee has a thing for him and he definitely more than gets along with her the question is.....” Hunter trailed off.

“The question is if Bria might do something to interpret things.” Willow finished.

Hunter nodded.

“Yeah, I mean, Bria is a good person but the way I noticed her staring holes into Vee this morning says how much she already finds Vee to be a threat.” Hunter said.

“Yeah and as it turns out that mind set comes from her having a bad break up with her previous boyfriend.” Willow added.

 “Do I wanna know?” Hunter asked.

“She was basically cheated on with a girl that was better then her in near every way.” Willow answered.

Hunter visibly winced in sympathy.

“Ouch, that sucks.” Hunter said.

“Yeah.” Willow said.

Back at the Noceda Household…

Both Luz and the Doctor came into the live room just as Bria was exiting Camila's TARDIS.

All three of them, Bria, Luz and the Doctor entered into the living room at the same time. Luz quickly saw Gus and Vee.

“Hey Gus ho-.” Luz was asking before she was cut off by the following events.

Bria started walking up to and past the couch as Gus took notice of her.

“Oh hey Bria, what new spells did you develop, can we see?” Gus asked.

Bria didn’t turn around and face Gus as she spoke.

“Nah, you all are gonna have to wait till our day at the beach, it will be a surprise.” Bria answered.

“Oh, okay then.” Gus accepted.

Gus caught how Bria sounded a bit upset.

“Bria, are you okay? You know you can talk to me right?” Gus asked,

Bria smiled at Gus's caring nature and barely looked over her shoulder.

“Y-yeah I'm good I just miss my dad ya know.” Bria answered.

Gus nodded.

“Yeah, I understand that more then you know.” Gus said.

“Oh, before I forget, tell Vee to come and find me when she wakes up, I need to talk with her but don't disturb her I know just how easy it is to fall asleep on that shoulder of yours Gus.” Bria said.

Bria left but not before winking at Gus, making him blush at the action before Bria walked outside to get some air.

As Bria sat outside on the back porch staring up at the unfamiliar stars she felt like an hour or had passed, in reality on about 20 minutes had passed before she heard the back door open then she heard a familiar voice.

“Hey Bria, Gus said you wanted to talk with me about something.” Vee said.

“Yeah, go ahead and take a seat.” Bria replied,

Vee sat down on the steps a couple of feet apart from Bria. Bria remained silent after Vee sat down, just seemingly taking in the ambiance of the forest area around then the silence between them started to make Vee a bit nervous until Bria finally spoke.

“Ya know, I often come out hear to help center myself, it's something my dad taught me and he picked it up from my mom.” Bria said.

“Where is she now?” Vee asked.

“She died when I was six while she was out on an exploration mission contracted out by the Emperor’s Coven, her ship went down in a storm, her last act was to send Timber back home.” Bria said.

“I'm sorry for your loss.” Vee said as she lowered her head slightly.

Bria shook her head.

“It’s cool, once I get back to the Boiling Isles I'll get keep to learning Beast Keeping magic to continue on her legacy. But those are things to talk about later right now we have other matters to discuss.” Bria said.

“Okay, well then, what do you wanna talk about?” Vee asked.

“Do you love Gus, Vee?” Bria asked.

Vee’s eyes widened in shock.

“W-What?” Vee stuttered.

Bria looked Vee in the eyes.

“Do! You. Love. Him?” Bria asked seriously.

“Um, I-I-I.” Vee stuttered.

“Because I do! I'm not ashamed in admitting that I've fallen pretty hard for Gus, but if you haven't Vee, then BACK DOWN!” Bria said,

The way Bria delivered her words to Vee with such conviction and confidence made Vee started to shrink in on herself but then as she was looking down at the ground, she remembered that this is earth, and she's not going to be pushed around. Vee's expression became focused as she looked back up at Bria with conviction in her eyes the same conviction that Bria has. Vee starts to stand as she talks to Bria.

“Yes.” Vee said.

Bria raised an eyebrow.

“What?” Bria asked.

“I said yes! I do love him! And I'm done running from conflict!” Vee declared as her form started to change.

Vee's teeth shifted instinctively to her carnivorous teeth of her Basilisk form, her nails and fingertips shifted into slightly sharper versions of her claws, her blotches reappeared on her face and her tail manifested and was violently swooshing back and forth a clear sign that she's incredibly agitated.

Bria was more than surprised that this was Vee's response but then again when you got a hell of a family at your back like the Nocedas and someone who you care for as bright as Gus why wouldn't Vee step up. Bria didn't let any worry show on her face or in her movements as she stood up to address Vee.

“Well, well, well, today is just full of surprises now isn't it!” Bria said.

Vee kept her gaze narrowed.

“Turns out you’re tougher then you seem, so I'm think I'm fine with you as my rival, may the best girl win!” Bria said as she out stretched her hand.

“I intend to!” Vee said as she shook Bria’s hand.

As Bria turned and started to walk back inside she looked over her shoulder.

“Oh and a piece of advice, that look you have is fierce, I think Gus may like it.” Bria said.

Vee wasn't sure how to take what Bria said at the end there but as she thought of Gus liking it she couldn't help but blush and at the same time her tail wagged even more. Vee exhaled deeply before shifting her features back.

‘Man, I bet Luz never had to deal with this.’ Vee thought to herself.

Bria meanwhile was trying to come her heartbeat she knew fight wise she didn't have much of a chance against Vee, she could absorb her spells before she could get a good hit in and then there's the fact that, while to the untrained eye her change out there seemed compatible for combat they were actually incredibly smart choices.

‘Her tail would boost her agility, balance and equilibrium giving her a mobility advantage, then her claws give her a means of attack but also can give her more traction on the ground, she would be able to out maneuver me easily to dodge and counter easily.’ Bria thought to herself.

“Well, I guess I can't hold anything back moving forward.” Bria said to herself.

To be Continued…

Chapter Text

It was early Saturday morning and everyone was getting ready for their first excursion to a human beach for some fun in the sun. Only, Amity was stressing out, pacing back and forth in her room as she couldn’t decide on what to wear. Earlier yesterday when everyone was buying their swimsuits, Amity was the only one who couldn't choose one and got like 8 different designs, all in the same color scheme of purple and pink. Then there was a knock at the door and when Amity opened it she saw her best friend, Willow.

“Willow! Oh thank the Titan, I need your help!” Amity said.

Before Willow could say anything, Amity quickly dragged her into her room.

“Amity what's up, what do you need me for?” Willow asked.

“See the thing is, I don't go to the beach all that often and I'm pretty sure my swimsuit fashion is nonexistent, and usually I'd go to Emira for this kinda thing buuuut.” Amity trailed off.

Willow nodded in understanding.

“Say no more, I got your back girl.” Willow said.

Amity smiled at Willow.

“Thanks Willow, I can always count on you.” Amity said.

Wilow gave Amity a finger gun.

“You know it. Now show me what you go to choose from.” Willow replied.

Amity nodded.

“Right.” Amity said.

A couple minutes later and Amity had laid out 6 different swimsuits.

“Well, I see you certainly have opinions.” Willow said.

“Got any suggestionsWillow? I gotta narrow it down to one.” Amity asked.

“Okay, well let's eliminate the one piece.” Willow answered.

“Reason being?” Amity asked.

“Because that's what I'm wearing, along with a tie on skirt.” Willow answered.

“Hmmm, ya know you make a good point, if I eliminate all the options everyone else is wearing I'll at least have something that'll stand out.” Amity said.

Willow nodded.

“Exactly.” Willow replied.

“Now let’s see, I saw Rose buying a tankini so that's another one out, then I saw Luz getting a boxerbreif bikini top combo so that's gone.” Willow said.

“What about the bikini?” Amity asked.

Willow shook her head.

“Sorry, Bria and Vee beat you to it. Hmmm so that leaves the skirtkini, the suffering top and bikini combo, and the shorts and bikini top combo.” Willow answered.

“Hmmm, any idea's to eliminate it more?” Amity asked.

“What about something complimentary to Luz's? But a bit more classically feminine than Luz's choice.” Willow recommended.

“Right, so the skirtkini! Great, thanks again Willow, oh wait what was it you came to me for?” Amity asked.

“Oh yeah, that's right here.” Willow said as she made a spell circle and summoned from her bag of holding, a Hawaiian shirt in shades of pink and purple to match Amity with a white cat on the right shoulder.

“Here, Luz talked Hunter into modifying a bunch of these Hawaiian shirts, adding our Palisman animals to them so we can use at the beach as cover ups.” Willow said as she passed the shirt to Amity.

Amity looked down and smiled at the design.

“Thanks Willow.” Amity said.

“Eh, Hunter's the one who did all the work, thank him.” Willow replied.

Amity nodded.

“I will.” Amity said.

“Remember, we’re departing in 30 minutes taking the Doctor's TARDIS.” Willow said as she walked out the door.

“Right.” Amity replied.

30 minutes later…

Everyone is loading their beach supplies into The Doctor's Tardis such as a few water coolers, inflatable tubes, pool noodles, inflatable raft platforms, beach towels, parasols, beach mats, lawn chairs and a barbecue set. From the outside perspective it looked like something from a Loony toons skit with a bunch of people hauling stuff into an incredibly small space it was a good thing that the Doctor had reparked the TARDIS in the backyard. After everything was loaded in, people included, the Doctor spoke.

“Everyone ready!?” The Doctor asked.

Everyone was quickly scrambling to get a grip on the railing with Luz and Amity on the railing closest to the entrance, Wilow and Hunter on the opposite end, Camila, Rose, the Doctor and surprisingly enough, Gus, holding onto the console. Then there was Bria and Vee who had both had silently agreed, seemingly just by eye contact, to not crowd the console and were both an equal distance from Gus on the left and right side railings.

“Alright, off we go!” The Doctor said as he started to fiddle with the controls on the console.

And at the flip of a switch, once again everyone felt as though they were on a mini roller coaster, the time column began to oscillate up and down as the TARDIS engines made a whooshing and wheezing sound. after a minute the TARDIS settled and fully landed.

“Welcome everyone, to Okinawa Japan.” The Doctor said.

“Well let's go!” Luz said as she put on some sunglasses and grabbed a arm full of beach supplies, mainly a parasol, beach towels and a beach mat and then B lined it for the door.

Luz was followed closely by everyone else but before Bria could try and grab ahold of Gus and pull him outside she heard Camila call out to her.

“Oh Bria, Amity hold up come over here you guy's both need some sunblock on!” Camila called out.

Bria and Amity begrudgingly walked over to Camila to got sunblock put on, Bria in fact saw Vee quickly capitalize on her missed opportunity by running up and intertwining her arm with Gus's, joyously pulling him along and out the TARDIS’s front doors. Worse of all was that Vee was wearing her Basilisk plushie backpack over her cream colored unbuttoned shirt, Vee subtly turned her head to look at Bria and smirked, and even though Bria doubts it was intentional, she swore that it was like the head of the backpack was staring right at her.

Gus was excitedly being lead by Vee out onto the beach as he saw her Basilisk backpack, it brought a soft smile to his face at just how much Vee appreciated her gift, then a thought occurred to Gus and he asked…

“Hey, Vee.” Gus said.

Vee slowed down her pace and turned cheerfully smiling at Gus as she said.

“Yeah, what's up?” Vee asked.

Gus immediately blushed at how cute and full of joy Vee's smile was which was only made more adorable by her slight blush across her cheeks.

“Ah, oh right, I was wondering, how come you don't need sunblock? Your skin tone is nearly as light as Amity and Bria's.” Gus asked.

“Oh I do, but I already put some on when I was getting ready this morning. Back at camp they really hammered home always putting in sunblock when anywhere near the water.” Vee answered.

Meanwhile…

Bria and Amity were impatiently waiting for Camila and Rose to finish with applying their sunblock, well, Bria was being impatient, Amity was chatting with Rose asking about what the beaches back in the demon realm and in the UK were like.

“Ya know Amity…” Camila trailed off.

“Hmmm?” Amity hummed as she turned her head to look at Camila.

“Looking over and seeing Rose help apply sunblock for you kinda reminds me of a mama cat giving one of her kittens a bath.” Camila said.

Camila then chuckles a bit at the thought as did Rose and Amity. Camila, seeing that Bria hadn’t lightened up, decided to just jump right in.

“Hey Bria.” Camila called out.

Bria was suddenly broken out of her thoughts by Mrs. Noceda.

“Yes?” Bria asked.

“So I hear it you're pinning after Gus isn't that right?” Camila asked.

Bria's face suddenly gained a blush not from someone else now knowing about her crush on Gus no she told Vee the absolute truth about her fully coming to terms with the fact that loves Gus. No, it was a nervous blush, cause she was now talking with the mother of her romantic rival.

“That's right, I-I love him!” Bria nervously stuttered.

“Hmmmmmm, I see, well I also know that Vee has quite a crush on Gus as well.” Camila said.

Bria Nervously gulped.

“Y-yeah, I know, she told me she loves him as well.” Bria replied.

Both Amity and Rose were staying incredibly quiet as if they were watching a wolf whose about to pounce on its prey.

Camila then patted Bria on the back.

“Well I'm sure everything will work out in the end, now go on and enjoy yourself.” Camila said.

Bria quickly ran like she had just came face to face with the Collector again. Rose and Amity were stunned.

“Wow uh, Amity you're good to go.” Rose said.

“Thanks Rose.” Amity said as she walked outside.

Rose walked over to Camila.

“How did you do that?” Rose asked.

Camila shrugged.

“Oh you'll understand when you have kids that are at that age, now come on.” Camila said as she picked up a beach umbrella.

As Luz was just finishing with setting up her and Amity's beach mats and parasols she looked over her shoulder and saw Bria running out of the TARDIS as if she just encountered the Collector again then a few moments later saw her sweet potato of a girlfriend come walking out looking half as startled as Bria looked. Luz quickly made here way over to Amity.

“Amity, what's wrong? You look like you were just in the room with a murderer or something.” Luz asked.

Amity regained her composure and answered Luz.

“Let's just say, if Gus and Vee do end up dating, I so do not envy the talk Bria will be getting from your mom.” Amity answered.

Luz tilted her head.

“Wait do you mean to say that my mom thinks what that Bria will hurt Vee or something?” Luz asked.

Amity shook her head.

“Nah, just this weird feeling about her while she talked to Bria, there was no threats or anything like that, just this feeling that said watch your step.” Amity answered.

Luz blinked.

“Huh, weird, mom has never done anything like that, though I guess there's a first time for everything, yeah.” Luz said. 

Meanwhile Bria walked over to Gus and Vee who were making a sand castle. Vee was just finishing up the third tower of her and Gus's sand castle Vee sticking her tongue out in concentration while Gus was using a stick to carve in decorative details into the castle walls when they both saw the approaching shadow of Bria and turned to greet her.

“Oh hey Bria.” Gus said.

“Hey Gus, Vee is your guy's castle based off anything specific?” Bria asked.

“Hmmm, kinda but not really, it's mostly just a challenge to see how far we can get before it collapses in on itself.” Gus answered.

“I like a challenge, mind if I help?” Bria asked.

Gus nodded.

“Sure, the more the merrier, right Vee?” Gus said as he turned his head to look at Vee.

“Sure, actually, here, could you go get some more water?” Vee asked Bria as she passed her a bucket.

“No prob.” Bria said as she took the bucket.

As Bria went to go get more water she was trying to think of a way to draw Gus away from Vee the as she watched the water fill up the bucket she got an idea.

In the meantime Willow and Hunter were doing a bit of snorkeling, Willow was captivated by all the cool looking aquatic plant life and Hunter was amazed by all the different types of fish. Then Luz and Amity were just sitting back and soaking up the relaxing yet at the same time energetic smell of the sea breeze. Then the Doctor, Rose and Camila were setting up the barbecue set along with a bonfire for later on. Back with Vee and Gus Vee was making small talk until then Bria came back. 

“Hey guys, I just remembered that I've been fine tuning my Construction magic to work on sand just as well as earth, wanna see?” Bria asked.

“Sure! Come on Vee.” Gus said.

Bria took Vee and Gus to area of sand she had already presoaked in water to better help with her sculpting.

“Okay, watch this!” Bria said.

Bria then made and holstered a construction magic spell circle around both wrists and then took a calming breath raising both her hands forming a three foot tall by four and a half foot diameter large mound of sand.

“Oh, how impressive.” Vee said sarcastically.

“You ain't seen nothing yet.” Bria retorted.

Bria then stomped her right foot on the ground, sending a pulse of magic into the sand making parts of the sand rise and fall, then she stomped again with her left foot causing more sand to shift. Bria continued to stomp a few more times each time making the mound of sand become more and more detailed until…

“Oh my Titan! It’s Hexside! Bria you're making a sand castle of Hexside and it's magnificent!” Gus said with a look of awe on his face.

Gus's praise brought a huge smile to Bria's face.

“Thanks Gus, would you mind giving it a bit of color?” Bria asked.

“It would be my pleasure.” Gus said.

In a twirl of Gus's wrist the sand castle of Hexside was now a true miniature complete with color from Gus's illusion magic.

“I'm gonna go get everyone, they've gotta see this!” Gus said before he ran off to get the others.

As soon as Gus left to get the others Bria turned and gave a smirk at Vee.

“Top that.” Bria said as she crossed her arms.

Vee furrowed her brows.

“Just you watch, I will and then some!” Vee declared, puffing her chest out in pride which ironically got to Bria making the girl pout a bit.

Not from her taunt failing, but from the sudden realization that Vee did in fact have something over her, if only a quarter of a size. Vee apparently didn't notice this and instead was focused on thinking of a way to show up Bria while also getting Gus's attention again. 25 minutes later after everyone had taken plenty of pictures of themselves posing beside sand castle Hexside, both for group shots and pretending like their giants trying to destroy the school, Vee had come up with an idea and grabbed Willow and Hunter to help her out. All three went back into the TARDIS and five minutes later came back out carrying a bunch of volleyball equipment.

Bria and Gus were in the midst of making sand sculptures of everyone's Palismen when both their attention’s were drawn to the volleyball setup that Willow, Hunter and Vee were working on. Gus and Bria went over to go get Amity and Luz to join in and went over to start playing. Luz decided to be the referee with Vee, Hunter and Willow on one team and Amity, Gus and Bria on the other team. Camila, Rose and the Doctor saw the impending game and moved their chairs to set up some spectator seats to watch. The match started out with a strong lead on Bria's team but Vee's team quickly turned things around which definitely surprised Bria and Gus as it was clear that while Willow and Hunter were more athletic than Vee, it was Vee who lead the charge with her skill and strategies. At halftime Bria found out why Vee was so good, apparently Volleyball was one of the few things Vee did with her friends from Reality check summer camp back when she was still there. As the match got down to the end things got more intense with Bria getting increasingly competitive with everything soon coming down to one last tiebreaker. Bria served with Vee returning said serve, only for Bria to jump up and reverse it right back, the hit would've been a victory if not for Vee pulling off a last second unorthodox move where she suddenly used her tail to pass the ball to Hunter who spiked it and won the match. Everyone cheered for Hunter and Vee's teamwork victory while Bria was left mildly stunned by the loss.

Gus went over and congratulated Vee who immediately pulled him into a hug, all the while Vee's tail wagged like an exited dog’s tail. After that everyone went and had some snacks and chatted.

As everyone was chatting and snacking Hunter was talking to Gus about all the other sports stuff him Wilow said Vee found in that storage room in the Doctor's TARDIS. That got Gus thinking.

“Hmmm, hey Hunter, you mind showing me where this room is? I wanna see if there's something specific.” Gus asked.

“Sure thing, come on, no time like the present.” Hunter answered as he started walking over to the Doctor’s TARDIS.

“I'm pretty sure a Time lord might debate you on that.” Gus said as he followed Hunter into the Doctor's TARDIS.

15 minutes later Gus and Hunter emerged from the Doctor's TARDIS, each carrying a surfboard, one blue and the other yellow with blue stripes going through the center. Camila who was cooling her feet off in the shallows alongside Rose saw them running out into the water shouted out to them.

“Be careful you two!” Camila said.

With Hunter and Gus both shouting back in unison.

“We will!” Hunter and Gus said.

Back over by the coolers Bria, Amity, Willow and Vee were snacking on some watermelon slices when Bria looked around and spoke.

“Hey. Where's Thing one and Thing two?” Bria asked, referring to Gus and Hunter.

“I'm pretty sure I saw them swimming out to try to do some suffering.” Willow answered.

Amity shook her head.

“When those two are together they can get into as much trouble as Ed and Em.” Amity said.

Willow nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, that's definitely true.” Willow replied.

“Well, I think I'm gonna take the raft platform out and do a little sunbathing, catch you guys in a bit.” Vee said as she walked off.

“I think I'll make a bench of seaweed in the water so I can cool off, you guys wanna join me?” Willow asked.

“Sure I'll go get Luz to join us to.” Amity answered.

“I'll join you guys later on, I'm gonna get in some practice with sand sculpting.” Bria said as she walked off.

Hunter and Gus were still getting the hang of getting the timing right to just catch a wave let alone ride one fully but to them the whole experience was fun. Meanwhile Luz, Amity, Willow and Rose were relaxing their feet in the cool shallows while sitting on a massive root that Wilow had grown in such a way as act as a big circular bench just barely hanging above the water. At this point they were all just chatting and drinking some smoothies while watching Hunter and Gus as they kept wiping out.

“Do you think they'll ever pull it off?” Willow asked Luz.

Luz shrugged.

“Probably at least once before calling it quits.” Luz answered.

Meanwhile the Doctor and Camila were cooking up dinner on the grill.

“For the last time, I know when to flip the burgers, it's the vegetables and chicken skewers I'm concerned about.” The Doctor said as he flipped a burger.

“And I told you I got it handled.” Camila argued.

Back with Gus and Hunter they were almost successful this time but once again caught the wave to late.

“Alright Gus, one more time, okay?” Hunter said.

“Alright once more.” Gus said with a nod.

And so they both swam a bit further out and waited until they saw the next wave and started paddling into it until they actually managed to properly catch the wave and were actually riding it. 

“Wooooohoooo! Yeah!” Gus shouted as he raised his arms in triumph.

“Yes! Woohoo!” Hunter exclaimed.

The girls back on the bench saw their success and started cheering them on as did Vee and Bria. Then all of a sudden they lost balance and as they wiped out both of them were dragged down deep due to getting caught in the undertow of the wave currents. Willow, seeing this quickly acted as did Vee and Bria quickly making for the water. Willow used her plant magic to grab onto and use the plants to pull her into the deeper depths. Bria quickly made a sand pillar launching herself a good 30 feet out into the water. Then there was Vee, who upon seeing them go under quickly dove in after them, quickly manifesting her tail and giving her webbed hands and feet and shifting her eyes to aquatic eyes, like a frog’s eyes, as well as giving herself gills so she could fully concentrate on finding Gus and Hunter.

As expected, given her physical advantages, Vee managed to get to Gus and Hunter first with Vee seeing Willow quickly approaching, though not being able to properly see, she quickly swam over and directed Willow to where Hunter was then quickly swam over and grabbed hold of Gus. As Vee was trying to make it to the surface with Gus she saw Bria quickly come in and assisted her in getting Gus to the surface. Once on the surface Bria used her magic to drag over Vee's raft platform and got Gus on there and then quickly swam him back to the beach. Once there Vee and Bria brought him to her beach mat, once there Bria ran off to get Camila. As Bria was off to go get Camila Gus suddenly sat up and coughed up a bunch of water, then caught his breath laying back down, unknowingly laying his head on Vee's chest making her blush but also sigh in relief that he’d at least gotten that water out of his lungs.

Bria got back to Gus and Vee with Camila in hand who quickly used her sonic screwdriver to do a scan while also getting out her stethoscope, just to be sure, and took a listen. Camila after a minute leaned back and sighed in relief.

“He's gonna be fine, there's no water in his lungs and his heart rate is fine along with his blood pressure and no brain damage from oxygen starvation either.” Camila said.

“Oh thank Titan.” Bria said as she sighed in relief.

“Thanks mom, you should probably go check on Hunter now though.” Vee said.

Camila nodded in agreement.

“True, the Doctor isn't half bad at immediate medical care, but he's not me.” Camila said.

After Camila quickly ran off to check on Hunter, leaving Bria and Vee with Gus, Bria spoke.

“Thank you Vee, you saved him.” Bria said.

“Hey, I wouldn't have gotten him to the surface in time, let alone back to the beach without you Bria, give yourself some credit too.” Vee replied.

Bria smiled at Vee.

“Oh you are without a doubt Luz's sister, kind, even to your rival, but you still did the bulk of the saving here, I'm not letting you refuse that.” Bria said.

“Okay.” Vee replied.

Then Gus started to stir and opened his eyes and lifted his head, only close his eyes and slam his head back onto Vee's chest.

“Ahh!” Vee exclaimed, surprised.

“Uaah! Huh?” Gus exclaimed as his eyes snapped open and he lifted his head back up.

Gus woke up to find he was laying down with his head resting on Vee's chest, he quickly stood up, all the while his face was blushing.

“Ah, sorry about....that....Vee...wow I'm dizzy.” Gus apologized as he started wobbling.

Bria quickly grabbed and steadied Gus.

“Easy there, you got up pretty fast, here, sit down and let the blood catch back up with your head.” Bria said as she guided Gus to sit back down.

“Yeah, thanks Bria, oh, and thank you both for saving me back there, especially you Vee.” Gus thanked.

Vee blushed a little.

“Don't mention it, I'm just glad you're safe.” Vee said.

A little while after everything had fully calmed down with Hunter and Gus both being perfectly fine Bria, Amity and Wilow help set up the fold out table as dinner was about ready with Gus and Hunter setting up the chairs and Luz setting the table itself. Then finally dinner was served by the Doctor, Camila and Rose. Amity went over and started the bonfire as the sun was starting to set. After dinner was over everyone went and grabbed their tents to set up as Luz had convinced them that the sun rise here was worth the wait, and camping had a certain excitement to it as well. Though while it was a given that Amity and Luz would have the same tent, both Vee and Bria wanted to bunk with Gus who was completely lost on what to do.

Thankfully for Gus his brother in arms Hunter came to the rescue, with Hunter seeing from Gus's expression that he was in no way prepared to be put in such a position, coming in for the save. 

“Actually, me and Gus already agreed to bunk together, right bud?” Hunter asked as he put a hand on Gus’s shoulder.

Gus quickly caught on to what Hunter was doing and quickly answered.

“Yeah that's right sorry Bria, sorry Vee.” Gus answered as he apologized to the girls.

Both Vee and Bria were disappointed but expected the choice plus they realized that was a bit to pushy. Both Vee and Bria were pouting as they went off to get changed and go to sleep. Once Vee and Bria were gone Gus sat back in his tent his best bud Hunter right beside him. Gus sighs and says.

“Thanks Hunter, I don't know how that would've turned out had you not stepped in.” Gus said.

“Don't worry Gus, I'll always have your back.” Hunter said with a smile.

Gus smiled back at Hunter.

“Thanks man, I just really didn't want to be in the middle caught in the crossfire, ya know.” Gus said.

Hunter raised an eyebrow.

“What do you mean? Bria and Vee seem to be getting along pretty well.” Hunter asked.

“Well, yes and no, there's definitely something going on between them that's tense as hell, and I just don't wanna be literally in the middle of them if they both go at it ya know.” Gus clarified.

Hunter thought that over and nodded.

“Yeah that's a pretty reasonable line of thinking.” Hunter said before he let out a yawn.

“Sorry, tired.” Hunter apologized.

“It's cool, go get some sleep, I'm gonna stay up for a bit longer.” Gus replied.

Hunter nodded in understanding.

“Alright, night Gus.” Hunter said as he walked over to the tent.

“Night Hunter.” Gus said as he watched his friend walk off.

Gus got up and walked around a bit, catching whispers here and there, bits of conversations from Amity with Luz, Bria and Wilow, Vee and Rose. Gus tuned it out and walked over to the bonfire that was slowly dying down and looked up at the night sky.

“Can't sleep?” The Doctor asked.

Gus turned and saw the Doctor not but 20 feet from him, slightly behind to his left.

“Kinda, yeah.” Gus answered.

“Got a lot on your mind then.” The Doctor said.

Gus nodded.

“Yeah, quite a bit.” Gus replied.

The Doctor nodded at Gus's response.

“Is any of it girl trouble?” The Doctor asked.

Gus sighed deeply.

“Maybe a bit, I got a feeling that Vee and possibly Bria as well are both crushing on me.” Gus answered.

“Hmmm, why are you more sure on Vee than with Bria?” The Doctor asked.

Gus shrugged.

“I don't know, it just feels different from the vibe I get from Vee, is that weird?” Gus replied with a question of his own.

“Nah, not really, you're probably just instinctively picking up more on Vee than Bria because you've spent more time with her one on one.” The Doctor answered.

“Hmmmmmm, yeah I guess that makes sense, but if Bria is also crushing on me, what do I do?” Gus asked.

The Doctor stared down at the water then back up at the moon while he answered Gus.

“Well for starters Gus, have you been on a date like a real you both this is a date type of date?” The Doctor asked.

Gus shook his head.

“No, though the thought of asking out Vee has crossed my mind a handful of times, I'm just not sure, or rather wasn't up until now, if I wanted to run the risk of possibly messing up our friendship cause of that, ya know?” Gus answered with a question of his own.

“Yeah, I do, what about Bria, what are your feelings for her?” The Doctor asked.

Gus rubbed the back of his neck.

“I really don't know, I get flustered when certain things happen between us, but I don't quite feel the same about her.” Gus said.

“Maybe your reaction is more because she's trying to flirt with you?” The Doctor suggested.

Gus shrugged.

“Maybe, I don't have really any experience with girls flirting with me before I met Bria.” Gus said.

“Hmmm, what if you end up loving them both? Is polygamy an option?” The Doctor asked.

Gus sighed and shook his head.

“No, even if that were the case that wouldn't be fair to either of them.” Gus answered.

“Well Gus, the only thing I can do is help you by providing wisdom, in the end it's your choice, not anyone else's, plus remember you’re still young, the future holds a lot more, just go with your heart okay? Or don't, like I said-.” The Doctor said before Gus cut him off.

“It's my choice in the end.” Gus finished.

The Doctor nodded.

“Yes, and it will always be.” The Doctor said.

“Thank you Doctor for the advice, and for just being a good listener both really helped a lot. I'm gonna hit the hay now, night Doctor.” Gus said as he let out a yawn.

“Good night Gus.” The Doctor said.

By the time Gus was back at his tent he could tell everyone else was already asleep, and now it was his turn.

To be Continued…

Chapter Text

Hunter was the first one to wake up, his years of Emperor’s Coven training and daily routine still effecting things like his sleeping habits even a month after leaving that damn cult. Hunter stepped outside his tent to find that he actually wasn't the first one up, there staring off into the ever expansive distance of the sea, was the Doctor. Hunter decided to approach and ask him a few questions that he had been meaning to ask for awhile now. As Hunter approached him, the Doctor turned his head slightly in his direction and addressed him.

“Good morning Hunter, how'd you sleep?” The Doctor asked.

“Good, actually, and good morning to you to.” Hunter answered.

Hunter noticed a fresh cup of tea in the Doctor's hand.

“If you're more of a coffee drinker than tea there's fresh coffee sitting on the side table by the grill.” The Doctor said.

“Thanks, I may do the actually. Oh but, ah, I actually wanted to pick your brain about something, if you don't mind me asking.”  Hunter said.

“So long as it isn't girl trouble.” The Doctor replied.

Hunter looked at The Doctor with a quirked eyebrow.

“Gus?” Hunter asked.

The Doctor nodded.

“Gus.” The Doctor confirmed.

Hunter sighed.

“Well, at least he got another guy’s opinion. Anyways, no, I'm curious what you know about cloning.” Hunter clarified.

“Hmmm, quite a lot actually, anywhere specific you want to start?” The Doctor asked.

Hunter rubbed the back of his neck.

“Is it possible for a clone of someone long since dead, to be influenced by memories of the original, without even knowing of said original?” Hunter asked.

The Doctor rubbed his chin and hummed in thought.

“Hmmm, the short answer is no.” The Doctor answered.

Hunter gulped nervously.

“And the long answer?” Hunter asked.

The Doctor crossed his arms.

“Well it's complicated to say the least. For starters have you ever heard of a concept called, genetic memory?” The Doctor answered with a question of his own.

Hunter shook his head.

“No, it's completely new to me, what is it?” Hunter asked.

“Well, in many organisms it's possible for animal to pass down many of it's memories provided they’re tied to specific stimuli, such as new environmental dangers. These memories manifest in the next generation as various instincts by which guide and assist the new generation in surviving.” The Doctor answered.

Hunter nodded in acknowledgment.

“I see, so, could a clone of say, me, have an instinct to run from anything that looks like Belos?” Hunter asked.

The Doctor shook his head.

“No, within more complex thinking lifeforms, like humans and witches, it would take several generations for those instincts to manifest.” The Doctor answered.

The Doctor saw that Hunter had a sense of relief with over him after he took in that information.

“Thanks for answering my questions, Doctor.” Hunter said.

“Anytime Hunter, now come on let's get you that coffee, you look like you need it.” The Doctor said.

After Hunter got his coffee he and the Doctor sat by the bonfire and talked a bit more about cloning, with Hunter's interest being more earnestly curious as to how different alien civilizations have applied cloning. The Doctor informed him about the Sontarans as well as a few others and their applications in the science of cloning. So Camila, Rose and the other's started to wake up. The Doctor estimated around 30 minutes until sun rise, which gave him enough time to start in on making breakfast, and so the Doctor got up and went back inside his TARDIS to get the fresh food from his kitchen fridge to cook up on the grill. After everyone had started getting up so to did their Palismen with Ghost in particular being observed by Camila going to Willow’s tree root bench and staring down at the fish in the shallows no doubt trying to get some breakfast seeing this made Camila chuckle a bit.

As Luz and Amity became more lucid, Amity inquired where the Doctor had gone off to as she was pouring herself some coffee.

“Oh, well he should be back any mo-.” Camila said before she was cut off.

Everyone turned to the sound of the TARDIS doors opening showing the Doctor carrying a bag of uncooked breakfast foods.

“There's your answer.” Camila added.

Camila went over to supervise the Doctor's cooking, thinking he would ruin the ham the same way she thought he ruined the burgers from yesterday.

“Don't over cook the ham like you did with the burgers yesterday.” Camila said to the Doctor in an almost sing song like tone in a mocking way.

“Oi! I don't recall hearing any complaints from any of the kids yesterday.” The Doctor said in indignation.

Camila smirked.

“Well Luz, Amity, Willow, Gus and Vee were all raised with proper manners by their parents, of course they wouldn't be a bunch of food critics. Oh and Hunter is a former child soldier, he's used to eating the Boiling isles equivalent of MRE's and Bria was inhaling her food I doubt she tasted much.” Camila said.

“Hmmm, fair enough, speaking of Hunter, me and him were chatting this morning the early bird that he is and all.” The Doctor said.

“Oh, please tell me it wasn't girl troubles?” Camila asked.

The Doctor shook his head.

“No, that was last night with Gus, boy seems to be a natural lady’s man, anyway, Hunter and I talked about cloning of all things.” The Doctor answered.

“Hmmm, yeah that is interesting, what do you make of it?” Camila asked.

The Doctor crossed his arms.

“I think he's definitely hiding something, other than that, no idea. The only thing that remotely resembles clones, magically speaking, at least from what I've gathered from the kids, is illusion clones, and those are just interactive holograms at best.” The Doctor answered.

Camila rubbed her chin in thought.

“Hmmm, maybe I should ask one of them if there's such thing as a magical clone outside of illusion magic, who knows.” Camila said.

“Worth a shot. Also I'm gonna be done in a few minutes here.” The Doctor said.

“Right, I’ll get the kids to set things up.” Camila replied.

As it had turned out the Doctor’s timing was perfect this time around with the Hexsqaud dishing up their breakfast and sitting down just in time to witness the sun rise, and boy was this one definitely worth it. Everyone was in awe at the beauty that they witnessed.

“Well this is definitely better than any sun rise I've seen back in the Boiling Isles.” Willow said.

Hunter nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, I've seen hundreds of sun rises and this one definitely takes the cake.” Hunter said.

“Well, this is definitely one for the scrap book, right Willow?” Luz asked as she looked over at her friend.

Willow nodded.

“Definitely, everyone gather together so I can take the shot, hurry!” Willow said as she took out her scroll

Everyone quickly scrambled into position with Bria, Gus and Vee in the front row sitting. Willow, Luz, Amity and Hunter in the second, standing behind them are Camila, the Doctor and Rose finally everyone's Palismen were on their shoulders. After a few more photos were taken and everyone got in some last minute swimming before starting to pack everything up. Luz had mentioned to everyone about getting in another portal attempt later on this evening.

About 15 minutes later everyone was ready to head back to Gravesfield and was once again properly ready this time for the Doctor's rough driving/flying, when they had landed once again in Gravesfield Luz poked her head outside, only to see that they were on the roof of a skyscraper in downtown Hartford. Luz looked back at the Doctor.

“Very funny, now seriously.” Luz said.

The Doctor chuckled.

“Alright, alright. Noceda residence Gravesfield it is.” The Doctor replied.

After they arrived back in Gravesfield everyone started gathering their stuff and heading to their rooms back in Camila's TARDIS to put the stuff away, but before Luz and Gus could do so the Doctor and Camila stoped them.

“Luz, Gus, after you two are done unpacking come back here, me and the Doctor want to help you with your psychic potential and help refine your mental illusions.” Camila said.

Luz and Gus’s eyes practically sparkled.

“Really? Awesome!” They both said.

Both Gus and Luz ran off to finish unpacking. 5 minutes later both Gus and Luz were back in the Doctor's TARDIS, ready for their lessons, both ecstatic with anticipation.

“Alright Luz, you come with me.” Camila said.

“And Gus, you'll go with me.” The Doctor said.

Gus and Luz both nodded.

“Right!” Both kids said.

All four went into the Doctor's TARDIS library and properly seated at some tables with Luz and Camila's chairs facing each other and the same for the Doctor and Gus.

“Alright Gus, I'm gonna place my hands on your head and take us into your mindscape.” The Doctor said.

Gus nodded.

“Okay.” Gus replied.

The Doctor placed his hands on Gus’s forehead and suddenly both Gus and the Doctor were surrounded in a void of darkness, with only the Doctor and Gus able to see each other.

“Right, now we can really get started.” The Doctor said.

Meanwhile Luz and Camila place their hands on each other's foreheads and entered a joint mindscape space.

“Alright now we begin, first thing's first, what do you know about Time Lord psychic abilities?” Camila asked.

“Well, not much really, except that aside from psychic signals such as psychic communications it's required to make physical contact with the subject I want to use said abilities on.” Luz answered.

“Well it's definitely good that you're already aware of your limitations, but the specifics of what you're capable of is as follows. Memory manipulation such as blocking memories, erasing memories, putting someone to sleep, transference of knowledge, viewing one's memories as well as manifesting yourself amongst someone's mindscape.” Camila elaborated.

“Like we are now!” Luz said eagerly.

Camila smiled at her daughter’s enthusiasm.

“Exactly, now let's start with the simplest, thought and or memory transference.” Camila said.

Meanwhile back with The Doctor and Gus…

“Alright, let's begin with what you're already capable of doing.” The Doctor said.

“Well I'm pretty decent at pulling up memories.” Gus said.

Gus waved his hand through the air, conjuring several memories all contained within portraits. The Doctor looked around at the portraits.

“Hmmm, very good and they’re already in an interactive form you can rearrange and better organize, but how was it when you tried to go through someone else's memories?” The Doctor asked.

“Well the only time I've purposefully went into someone else's mind and move through their memories was when I did it to Belos.” Gus answered.

“Hmmm, and how did that turn out?” The Doctor asked.

“Frankly better than I expected, but there was a lot and I mean a lot to go through.” Gus answered.

The Doctor nodded.

“Well he was around 400 years old so he definitely had a lot of memories.” The Doctor said.

“Exactly! There was so much and I started to think that this was impossible, but as I started going through memory after memory, before I knew it hours had passed if not more before I came to the conclusion that he didn't have a way of stopping the draining spell.” Gus replied.

“Hmmm, now that sounds interesting, sounds like you experienced a type of time dilation. Within the mind you can control the flow of time the way you do with any other type of sensory signals to the brain.” The Doctor said.

“So, what's that mean as far as my mental illusions go?” Gus asked.

“Well it means that you can trap a person in a mental illusion of your own design where they experience time at a different rate then in the real world, for example you could trap someone in a mentally taxing memory of theirs that puts them through the memories so much that they experience, say, three days worth of time in their mind, a few seconds in the real world. Remember, mental and emotional exhaustion can hit you just as hard as physical exhaustion. Or you put someone in a loop of memories that keep them mentally preoccupied.” The Doctor answered.

Gus’s eyes were wide at the implications.

“Wow! I would've never thought of that!” Gus said.

“Alright, now let's do some practice, here, pull up a memory of mine, don't worry about going anywhere you shouldn't, I've locked away those memories from your access.” The Doctor said.

Gus nodded and concentrated.

“Alright, I think I found something.” Gus said.

“Good, now go through that memory at your own pace and keep me out at the same time.” The Doctor instructed.

“I know how to view the memory, but how do I keep you out?” Gus asked.

“Gus, mentally you have a lot more capabilities here then you would otherwise, you’re effectively asserting the control of your mindscape onto whoever's mind you enter, you think it, it happens, you just need to have experience to impose on the person's mind, remember, the mind is a very powerful resource and like any resource it can be turned against you.” The Doctor answered.

Gus nodded in acknowledgment.

“Right, I think I got it.” Gus said.

Gus then snapped his fingers and the Doctor started to freeze in place. The Doctor smiled widely.

“Nice one Gus.” The Doctor complimented.

Meanwhile Luz and Camila were practicing being able to block out someone's mental intrusion.

“Very good Luz, but you need to keep these up constantly, not just set them in place once you feel someone poking around in your head.” Camila said.

“I know, I know, it's just difficult maintaining a mind palace in my mindscape just to redirect some to willingly mentally exit of their own volition.” Luz replied.

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, you're catching onto this way faster than your father did.” Camila said.

Luz smiled at her mother.

“Thanks mom.” Luz said.

Later…

After Gus had gotten the hang of speeding up, slowing down and everything in between in a memory, the Doctor taught him how to bring a person into a specific memory.

“Well Gus, color me impressed, if I didn't know any better I'd say that I had been here for like, what, 4 hours or so, how long have I actually been here?” The Doctor asked.

“Roughly 20 minutes.” Gus answered.

The Doctor nodded in acknowledgement.

“Good work, lets get out of here shall we?” The Doctor said.

Gus nodded.

“Sure.” Gus replied.

Gus walked over to a door in the memory they were in and opened it, in doing so they were momentarily blinded by a bright light before they were then both back in Gus's central mindscape.

“Man, if feels like I've been here for days, hell I'm even hungry like it's been that long.” Gus said.

The Doctor grinned.

“Well trust me, it's only been a few hours, but this is good, it means your skill at altering the flow of time in your illusions and mindscape has massively improved.” The Doctor said.

“Tha- hah, I just felt like someone poked my cheek.” Gus said as he raised a hand to his cheek.

“Someone maybe trying to wake you up, come on back to the waking world.” The Doctor said.

“Yeah.” Gus replied.

Back in the waking world Gus sat motionless his eyes aglow with his magic until he started blinking and then his eyes were there usual color. As Gus looked right ahead of him he saw none other than Bria herself with her back to him dressed in a simple white T-shirt and black shorts, and was currently drawing a monocle on the Doctor's face, no doubt to go with the handlebar mustache she had already drawn on him. Gus shook his head slightly while softly chuckling to himself at Bria's little prank, he then noticed Willow pulling, or trying to pull a prank on Luz via trying to get her to smear whipped cream all over her face, only for Luz to slap it on Willow’s face instead. Gus cleared his throat to subtlety get Bria's attention.

“Oh! Gus, h-how was your psychic training session with the Doctor, learn any new techniques?” Bria asked as she chuckled sheepishly.

“Eh, a few, but I'm more concerned with your artwork the monocle looks good, but I'm not sure about the mustache.” Gus answered.

Bria smiled.

“Well maybe you'd look better with a mustache, hmmm?” Bria proposed.

Gus rubbed his lip as he thought about it.

“Perhaps you're right, but I'm pretty sure he would disagree.” Gus said as he gestured with his head to the Doctor who was now awake and eyeing the marker in Bria's hand.

“Were you about to draw on Gus's face?” The Doctor asked.

“Uhhhhhh.” Bria trailed off.

Gus spoke up.

“Yeah but I opened my eyes just before that, so we were brainstorming what to draw on you instead.” Gus answered.

Bria quickly caught on to what Gus was doing and chimed in.

“Yeah, I still think he would good with a monocle instead of an eyepatch.” Bria said.

“Yeah right.” Gus replied.

“Well, let’s go check on Luz and Camila then.” The Doctor said as he stood up.

As the three then approached Camila, Luz and Willow, the later of which was just finishing with wiping off whipped cream from her face, when all three of them turned to see the Doctor and immediately all broke out in laughter.

The Doctor had a confused expression on his face.

“What? What? Stop it....stop it!” The Doctor said, still confused.

Finally Camila, Luz and Willow all started to calm down their laughing long enough to point out that he had something on his face.

“Oh for the love of.” The Doctor said.

Willow, using some of her recently acquired illusion spells made an illusionary mirror in front of the Doctor's face for him to see.

“Seriously?” The Doctor asked as he looked at his reflection.

Everyone burst out laughing again at the Doctor's reaction with Willow summoning him a towel to try and get rid of the face graffiti.

“You know Bria, with how mischievous you are I'm surprised you're Palisman isn't a fox instead of a beaver.” The Doctor said as he wiped off the graffiti on his face.

“Hmmm, yeah I can see a fox fitting you just as well as Timber, in fact…” Gus trailed off.

Gus then made a small spell circle, conjuring an illusionary pair of fox ears on Bria's head.

“Yeah, very adorable.” Gus said with a nod.

Willow laughed a bit.

“Oh definitely.” Willow said earnestly.

Bria blushed slightly before looking off to the side in a slight pout.

“Well, Timber was my mom's Palisman and chose me, so I'll stick by him as long as he sticks by me.” Bria said.

Gus smiled at Bria's affirmed determination for staying by her Palisman. Gus then undid the fox ears illusion.

“Anyways we came to get you guys cause we need more players for all the games we found.” Willow said.

“Oh sweet, a game night, let's get a move on then!” Luz said enthusiastically.

15 Minutes Later…

All six of them were back in the Noceda living room deciding what to play. Amity was trying to understand the rules of Monopoly while Rose was teaching Hunter how Uno worked and Vee was setting up Battleship. The Doctor right away honed in on the operation game acting like a kid that just came across the game he could never beat when he was younger. Camila shook her head and chuckled lightly.

“Ah he'll never change.” Camila muttered.

Camila turned to look at Luz.

“Luz, you go help Amity with setting up the Monopoly board and I'll go order some pizzas.” Camila instructed.

“Right on it!” Luz said with a smile.

30 minutes later Bria and Vee were both locked in an epic game of Battleship Willow and Hunter were playing connect 4, The Doctor was still stuck on the funny bone and Amity, Luz, Gus, Rose and Camila were playing Monopoly with Amity showing her business savvy skills as she already had half the board filled with houses that she was in the process of upgrading to motels, and Gus was eliminated early on but was still watching the game unfold.

“Ugh! I can never resist the railroads.” Camila groaned.

“Well at least your not on the precipice of going bankrupt, honestly besides Amity, Rose is the only one that can keep up with her.” Luz said.

Rose slightly smirked.

“What can I say, my mum didn't raise no fool.” Rose said.

Rose looked over at Vee and Bria.

“Still their match seems the most intense, I think the both of them have only gotten one hit on each other.” Rose added.

“Yeah I know, it's we-.” Amity said before a buzzing sound cut her off.

The Doctor had failed to not touch the sides on Operation.

“Ah screw it!” The Doctor exclaimed.

He stood up the second that the knock at the door happens meaning the pizzas were finally here.

“Great timing as always Doctor.” Luz said.

Camila chuckled.

“If you would so kind as to get the pizzas Doctor.” Camila said.

“Yeah, yeah, I got it, I got it.” The Doctor said as he walked over to the door, paid for the pizzas and walked back holding the boxes after closing the door.

As the Doctor placed down the pizza's on the dinner table and everyone came to dish themselves up.

“Oi Gus, you up for a game of chess?” The Doctor asked.

“Sure, I could do with a new chess victory under my belt after being the first to go bankrupt.” Gus replied.

After everyone had their fill of pizza Gus then proceeded to get his butt kicked at chess after which him and the Doctor got Hunter and Willow to join them in Uno, meanwhile Bria had taken a slight lead against Vee, and Luz had gone bankrupt.

After going bankrupt Luz went over to see how Vee's match against Bria was going.

“Hey Vee.” Luz said.

Vee turned her head to look at her sister.

“Hey Luz, finally went bankrupt huh?” Vee asked with a small smirk.

“Yeah, well, when you're up against Rose, our mom and Amity I'm lucky I lasted as long as I did.” Luz answered.

“Still outlasted Gus though.” Vee said.

“Hmmm, true, but how are you fairing against your rival here?” Luz asked.

Vee sighed.

“Not well, she pulled ahead quite a bit and just took out my destroyer.” Vee answered.

“Bummer, well I'm beat from my training earlier with mom, I'll be hitting the hay soon but here, this may cheer you up.” Luz replied.

Luz leaned in and whispered something in Vee's ear that seemed to surprise her and definitely remotivated her to win.

“Thanks Luz, night.” Vee said to her sister.

“Night.” Luz replied.

Luz then went over and gave Amity a goodnight kiss before heading off to bed. Bria then spoke up.

“Soooo, should I even bother to ask what she said or is it strictly between sisters?” Bria asked.

“Between sisters, now let's finish this!” Vee answered.

To be Continued… 

Chapter Text

Monday morning, one week before Luz and Vee return to school for the new school year…

Currently Hunter, Willow and Bria were in the kitchen making breakfast, with the occasional hand from the Doctor. Meanwhile everyone else, minus Camila, were in the living room watching Avatar the Last Airbender. Luz was looking at the calendar on her phone and seeing how little time she had left until school started back up, then she remembered that she still owed Amity a date and what better time than the present.

Luz turned to her girlfriend.

“Hey sweet potato, would you like to go out on a date today?” Luz asked.

It took Amity a few seconds to realize what Luz asked then realized she hadn't answered and said…

“Yes! Of course!” Amity answered with a big smile as she kissed Luz on the cheek.

Luz blushed a little and gave a slight chuckle.

“Okay.” Luz replied.

Amity then went back to watching the show, resting her head on Luz's shoulder as Luz sat beside her. Vee, who was sitting in the recliner, had watched their whole exchange and thought back to how Luz explained the circumstances by which her and Amity finally started dating, and that if she had just gone straight for it and asked Amity out without trying to make a grand spectacle of it, the two of them would've been dating probably a month sooner. Vee then looked over at Gus who was currently half watching the show and half playing around with his Palisman, Vee then took a deep breath and stood up and went over to Gus.

“H-hey Gus.” Vee said.

“Hey Vee, what's up?” Gus asked.

“C-can we talk in private for a bit?” Vee asked with a stutter.

“Sure.” Gus answered.

Gus immediately got up.

“Lead the way.” Gus said.

As Vee lead Gus to the back porch Amity raised an eyebrow and asked Luz…

“So, you think Vee's finally gonna ask him out?” Amity asked.

Luz just smiled at her girlfriend, giving Amity all the confirmation she needed.

Meanwhile as Vee was closing the door behind them Gus asked…

“Soooooo, what's on your mind Vee?” Gus asked.

Vee momentarily thought of giving the all too cheesy Luz line of saying, You're on my mind, but refocused on her original goal. Vee turned back to facing Gus but still looked off to the side a bit her nerves starting to impact her ability to make eye contact and she starts fiddling with her hands to help give an outlet to the nervous energy tapping her index fingers together. Meanwhile Gus just waited patiently for Vee to continue.

“Well y-you see I...I .” Vee stuttered.

Vee then stopped and inhaled and exhaled to in an effort to reorient herself then…

“I wanted to know if you'd like to go out with me on a date?!!....Like today?!” Vee asked.

Gus was slightly stunned by Vee asking him out, but he could quickly tell that it took her a lot of courage to as him out, especially with what he remembers of Luz and Amity telling him of how hard it was to put yourself out there, it brought a soft smile his face.

“Sure, I'd love to!” Gus said.

Vee's expression upon hearing Gus's response was one of joy and excitement, her eyes seemed to glow, not in the same way as Gus's or other witches do, but in a more subtle way, if Gus had to guess it was the glow from the reflective layer within her eyes that was a holdover from her Basilisk form. He thought it made her look even cuter.

“So then ,should we uhhhh, talk to Rose or the Doctor to get a lift into the town for our date?” Gus asked.

“Oh yeah, I'll go talk to Rose right now!” Vee said as she walked off.

Vee then went back inside, leaving Gus still smiling at her contagious excitement. Vee as soon as she was back inside the house, went to find and quickly found Rose setting the dinner table for breakfast with Luz's help, as she approached them she heard the tail end of their conversation.

“Thanks in advance Rose.” Luz said.

“No worries Luz I'm glad I could help, oh, hey Vee!” Rose said as she took notice of Vee.

“Hey Rose, Luz, ah, Rose, I was wondering if I could ask a favor of you.” Vee said.

“Sure, shoot.” Rose said.

Vee looked around to be sure Bria wasn't around to overhear.

“I need you to take me and Gus into town for a date.” Vee said.

Rose and Luz both smiled happily, with Luz squealing a bit in excitement for her sister.

“No problem Vee, in fact I'm already taking Luz and Amity into town, but do you know where you want me to drop you two off at?” Rose asked.

“Uhhhhhh, I hadn't actually thought that far ahead, ha, ha, ha.” Vee answered as she laughed a bit awkwardly out of embarrassment.

“Why not the mall? That's where me and Amity are going.” Luz proposed.

“Hmmm, well it's pretty convenient when you consider everything that the mall has to offer, yeah, the mall it is then!” Vee decided.

Later on as most everyone was having breakfast with Wilow, Bria and Hunter making breakfast sandwiches, Camila spoke up.

Camila: So what are you kids plans for the day?

Rose: I'm taking Luz, Amity, Vee and Gus to the mall.

Luz: Me and Amity have a date and are also getting supplies for working on some early Halloween costumes.

Both Gus and Vee nodded along with Luz's response Vee not wanting to tip off Bria to her and Gus also being on a date as well so she doesn't sabotage it somehow and Gus just being respectful of Vee wanting to keep it low profile.

Wilow: Me, Hunter and Bria are gonna go on a cardio run which is why were not eating much now.

Camila: Well, seems like you'll all be quite busy good. Well it's time I was on my way to work.

Camila went over and gave a kiss on the head to Luz and Vee saying “take care and be safe” in Spanish. Amity turned to Luz.

Amity: Hey Luz, since you and your mom aren't actually Dominican American why do you both say somethings in Spanish still, you know, now that you're both Time Lords again?

Luz shrugged.

Luz: Honestly it's probably out of a force of habit if nothing else.

The Doctor then spoke up.

“Actually, your mum’s always had a Spanish accent.” The Doctor said before he took a bite of toast with butter on it.

Later…

After Camila left for work, Willow, Bria and Hunter left as well leaving the two couples, or rather one couple and one potential couple, and Rose.

“Well time to get ready.” Luz said.

Luz quickly went off to go shower and get changed as did the others. A little later on Luz and Gus were dressed and ready to go with Luz wearing her new outfit with the red unbuttoned shirt and Gus wearing an indigo shirt unbuttoned over his Itachi shirt, along with some faded tan cargo shorts ,waiting in the living room with Luz showing Gus some memorable scenes from Naruto such as Rock Lee vs. Garra, Itachi vs. Sauske in part 2 and Jiriya vs. Pain. Then both turned to the sound of the Tardis doors opening to see Amity step out dressed in her outfit with the witches hat from when she first went shopping here in the human realm. Luz immediately got up and span Amity around.

“Oh soooooo cute!” Luz said.

This made Amity giggle. Then Vee stepped out wearing one of Luz's larger yellow shirts with the gillder snake on the front and a dark blue knee length skirt and of course, wearing her Basilisk plushie backpack.

Gus got up.

“You look great Vee!” Gus said with a smile.

Luz chimed in.

“Just great, Gus? Come on, she's adorable. Now come on, Rose is waiting for us out in the minivan.” Luz said.

As everyone got into the minivan and were soon on their way a question came to Vee so she asked Gus her question. 

“Hey, Gus, I was wondering if you help explain something related to witch magic for me?” Vee asked.

“Sure, I don't mind.” Gus answered.

“Well, I was wondering what factors contribute to how powerful a witch is, magically speaking? Like, do you always have the same level of magical energy? Can it be increased? You know, stuff like that?” Vee asked.

Gus rubbed his chin as he thought that over.

“Hmmmmmm, yeah I think I get what you mean, though first, yo Luz, hope you're listening in case I need your help explaining something.” Gus said.

“Yeah don't worry Gus, I'm here if ya need me but I'm pretty certain you got it covered.” Luz replied.

“Right, okay then, so to start while some witches and biped demons are born with more than average magical energy at their disposal, it's entirely possible for any individual with a bile sack to build their magical energy reserves by either training to near total magical exhaustion, or by building normal physical stamina do to the bile sack being so heavily linked with the heart. That being said a person's magical energy pool will continue to grow by a small amount continuously until around 20 to 26 years of age when the body's physical growth usually settles. The other part to someone's magical capabilities is their ability to properly mold, shape and channel their magical energy into their desired results. If you've got a huge magical energy pool but not much skill in molding it spell wise. you will overuse more magic than needed whereas even if you have a smaller magical energy pool than your opponent but far more skill and precision in using that magic, you're efficiency can allow you to win.” Gus explained.

“Eda's a good example of the 2nd one, she had to be more strategic about her limited energy so her efficiency usually won her her victories.” Luz chimed in.

Gus nodded in agreement.

“That's right, though even still in Eda's situation she usually ended magical fights fast.” Gus said.

“So as to not waste unnecessary magical energy?” Vee surmised.

“Exactly!” Gus confirmed with a smile.

“Okay, so how do Palismen effect a witches magic use?” Vee asked.

“Oh, well you see obviously they provide a quick mode of transportation via flight as well as companionship, but spell wise, when a witch is synced with a Palisman the magical energy of their spells are reduced in cost and difficulty by way of the Palisman in question sharing the workload involved, as well as providing some magical energy of their own.” Gus answered.

“You said synced, meaning it's possible to not be able to use a Palisman that you're not properly synced with?” Vee asked.

Gus nodded his head.

“Right again, if you're not synced the Palisman will be completely incomplete and of no real use. Then lastly there’s also what are referred to as magic circuits.” Gus answered.

Vee titled her head slightly.

“Magic circuits?” Vee asked.

“Yeah, they’re a unique system within a witch or biped demon’s nervous system that allow us to properly control our magical energy concentration output and how we shape it.” Gus answered.

“Wow.” Vee said, astonished.

Before Gus and Vee could continue their discussion Rose called out.

“We’re here love birds!” Rose called out.

That made Vee and Gus blush and Amity and Luz snicker a bit. They all got out of the minivan and started walking towards the mall entrance.

“Now, everyone got their phones on them?” Rose asked.

“Yes.” Everyone answered.

Luz turned to Amity.

“So, where to first sweet potato?” Luz asked.

Amity tapped her chin in thought.

“Hmmm, I kinda wanna look through the book store again.” Amity answered.

Luz smiled.

“Then the book store it is! Oh, hey Vee where you two going?” Luz asked as she turned to look at her sister.

“Uhhhhhh, I'm not quite sure, Gus, any ideas? I've never been on a date before.” Vee asked as she turned to Gus.

Gus shrugged.

“You got me, I'm new to the dating scene too, how about we check out the Halloween store, that seems interesting.” Gus suggested as he eyed the Halloween store.

“Okay.” Vee said.

5 minutes later…

Vee and Gus were entering the Halloween store.

“Hmmm, what should we look at first?” Gus asked as he looked around.

“Ooh, let's go check out the costumes!” Vee answered excitedly.

Gus smiled at Vee.

“Oh yeah, now we’re talking.” Gus said.

They both went over to the racks of costumes and began looking for something for Halloween, then, Gus got an idea.

“Hey Vee, pick a costume.” Gus said.

“Oh, ah, okay.” Vee said as she picked up a police officer costume.

“Like this one?” Vee asked.

Gus nodded.

“Yep, now let's see, police officer Vee Noceda!” Gus said as he twirled his finger and in a poof of illusion blue magic, Vee was wearing an illusion version of the costume.

“Well I think you'd make a convincing police officer, what do you think Vee?” Gus asked.

Vee turned to look at herself in the mirror.

“Yeah, maybe.” Vee replied.

“Give yourself some credit Vee, here, put on your most serious expression.” Gus said as he made a serious expression for Vee to use as an example.

“Okay, here goes nothing.” Vee said before she stared at Gus with a look of intensity that was only applied by her sunglasses.

“Yeah, there you go, here I'll take a picture.” Gus said as he quickly took a photo with his scroll.

Vee then started digging through the costumes.

“Alright, now you let's see what you look like as...a....ah..as a pirate!” Vee said as she pulled out a pirate costume.

“Alright, challenge excepted.” Gus said.

Gus then twirled his finger again and in another poof of illusion magic he was now dressed as a typical pirate.

“Arg.” Gus said doing a pirate voice.

Vee giggled as she tried to get a good photo of pirate Gus. After Vee snapped a picture Gus was about to undo the illusion but Vee stopped him.

“Wait, here, your hat is on crooked.” Vee said.

As Vee got close to adjust his hat she got within an inch of his face, then Vee and Gus made eye contact and Vee realized she was a bit too close and stepped back a few feet, now furiously blushing and Gus just blinking at her.

“You alright Vee?” Gus asked.

“Yeah! I'm…” Vee trailed off.

Vee cleared her throat.

“I'm good.” Vee said.

Then her eyes caught a new costume.

“Oh, here, try on the crazy surgeon one!” Vee said.

Gus smirked.

“Okay, but only if you try out the, whatever a Ghostbuster is.” Gus said.

“Deal!” Vee said.

Meanwhile…

Luz and Amity were both sitting side by side in a couple of beanbags, reading the 1st issue of Invincible.

“Wow, this is pretty bloody.” Amity said.

“I know right? Makes me wonder how well the show adaptation turned out.” Luz replied.

“Wait, there's a show adaptation?” Amity asked.

Luz nodded.

“Yeah, but it's only one season of like 10 episodes, I think we can start watching when we get back home.” Luz answered.

“Yeah I think that would be better, come on, let's go see if we can find what we need to make Azura and Hecate costumes for us.” Amity said as she stood up.

Luz stood up and smiled.

“Alright, I'm game, but before that let's stop at Hot Topic.” Luz said.

Amity tilted her head.

“What's that?” Amity asked.

“Oh you'll love it there, also quick question, but do you know when Gus and Willow's birthdays are?” Luz asked.

Amity tapped her chin in thought.

“Hmmm, if my memory serves me right I believe both Gus and Willow were born in the Spring by your calendar system, Gus would be born on April 3rd and Willow on March 25th.” Amity answered.

“Okay, good, then I got plenty of time before their birthdays come around to get them presents.” Luz said.

Amity smiled at Luz, thinking how lucky not just her, but all of them were to have her in their lives. 

“Already thinking about their birthdays, only you Luz, only you, come on let's check out this Hot topic place.” Amity said.

While on their way there they spotted Vee and Gus sitting at a table in the food court, sharing a sundae.

“Well, looks like things are going great over there.” Luz said with a smile.

“Definitely.” Amity said with a nod.

Back over with Gus and Vee the two had decided to get some ice cream after their time spent checking out all the funny costumes.

“How about we check out the book store and see if we can't find Luz and Amity while we’re at it?” Gus recommend.

“Yeah that sounds like a plan, plus I'm curious what they might have as far as manga goes, ya know.” Vee said.

Later as their both browsing through the manga section at the book store with Vee being particularly immersed in an issue of Fullmetal Alchemist until Gus asked her something.

“Huh? Did you say something Gus?” Vee asked as she lifted her head up from the manga she was reading.

“Yeah, I was curious if you had found anything interesting, though, I guess that answers my question.” Gus answered.

“Oh! I'm sorry about that! I just, ah....” Vee trailed off.

“Hey, it's no big deal, trust me, I no what it's like to get so into reading something captivating.” Gus said.

Vee smiled as she blushed a bit from embarrassment.

“Still, this is meant to be a date, so it's rude to get that distracted.” Vee said.

”Well it's alright, after all now I'm curious what you've found that holds your interest so well.” Gus said.

“Oh, it's Fullmetal Alchemist, it's really good about not shying away from the facts of life and the cruelty that can be found within it.” Vee said.

“Wow, a dark one then.” Gus said.

Gus looked over Vee's shoulder and saw a page it's on depicting various animal experiments all in cages. Seeing that Gus immediately got why Vee has gotten so into the manga. Gus decided to give Vee a good distraction.

“You know, like Bleach and Naruto, I'm betting this to has an anime adaptation, we should check it out.” Gus said.

Vee just nodded. Gus changed his approach.

“Oh hey, I was wondering Vee, was there any specific reasoning behind your magic related questions earlier back in the car?” Gus asked.

Vee turned to Gus and spoke.

”Well, it's kinda dumb so don't laugh if I tell you, alright?” Vee responded.

“Of course I won't laugh Vee, I wouldn't do a mean thing like that.” Gus said.

Vee smiled softly at how resolute he was in his statement.

“Well, I think I may want to learn magic like what all of you guy's can do, ya know.” Vee said.

Gus saw that Vee had retreated a bit in on herself and went in and hugged her.

“Hey, there's nothing wrong with that, if Luz has proven anything it's that anything is possible!” Gus said encouragingly.

Vee hearing this returned the hug.

“Thanks Gus.” Vee said.

“Anytime Vee, you’re important to me.” Gus said.

Vee's eyes widened at hearing Gus's words. Then they parted, Vee smiling at Gus.

“Though I am still curious why you want to learn magic.” Gus said.

“Well, with how capable Luz and all of you guys are, heck even without magic Luz has a bunch of useful skills, and I just want to be able to do more ya know.” Vee explained.

Gus nodded in understanding.

“Yeah, believe me I know, but in my opinion you're already quite capable, but I'm happy to help you out no matter what.” Gus said.

“Thanks Gus, that really helps a lot.” Vee said with a soft smile.

“Good, now let's look around for a bit more before trying out someplace else, yeah?” Gus said.

“Yeah!” Vee happily exclaimed with a nod.

Gus and Vee later left the bookstore with Gus having bought a couple of books on various other sewing techniques and styles as well as a couple of books on human history. Vee also picked up the 1st issue of a new manga called Chainsaw man.

“Now, where to now?” Gus muttered as he looked around.

“Oh hey, let's check out that board game store it looks cool!” Vee said.

“Yeah, good eye Vee, let's check it out.” Gus said as he and Vee walked over to the board game store.

Meanwhile…

Just off to the side across the mall Luz and Amity were walking hand in hand now eating some crepes while between them they were hold a few bags from Hot topic.