Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“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 Echo Mouse, suddenly stopped playing the book.

“Ugh,” Luz grumbled under her breath, “I’m never gonna get anywhere if he keeps stopping,” 

She started wandering around The Owl House “This would be so much easier if I could just, I don’t know, talk to Philip? But no, I have to take care of this mouse thing as if it were a Tamagotchi just to get home.”

Luz stopped and thought for a bit about what she just said, “Huh, talk to Philip.”

She ran down the stairs of The Owl House, being careful to not trip on the vines growing out of the floor. 

“Eda!” Luz suddenly shouted, waking Eda from her nap, “Is time magic a thing?”

“Why would you care about that?” Eda asked, yawning a bit. 

“I could use it to-” Luz was cut off by Eda.

“I don’t know, go ask Lilly about it,” Eda muttered out before turning over and going back to sleep. 

“Alright then,” Luz muttered before walking back up the stairs to find Lilith, who was working on her first exhibit for the museum she now worked at.

Luz walked up behind her and tried to get her attention without startling her, but she seemed too focused on painting these small little sticks.

“Lilith!” Luz had to shout after 5 minutes with no response.

“Ah!” Lilith dropped the paintbrush and turned around to face Luz, “Luz! Don’t startle me like that!”

“I tried not to,” Luz told Lilith with a bit of a pouty face, “Anyways, do you know if time magic is a thing?” Luz asked, now having a very hopeful face.

Lilith’s face brightened up at the question, “Well, not really magic, but there is a myth about these things called Time Pools,” She paused for a moment, adjusting her glasses, “Me and Eda used to search for them when we were younger, but nothing ever came of that,” She paused again “Why would you want to use time magic anyways?”

“I thought that I could talk to Philip,” Luz smiled while Lilith pondered.

“Well, I did try to make something to find them, it never had a powerful enough magic supply to work though,” Lilith said walking over to a pile of boxes filled with stuff she had grabbed from home, after a few moments she pulled out a weird weather vane looking thing.

Lilith turned around to show Luz only for her to not be there. She turned around again, disappointed. She was about to put it back when she heard a loud crash. She saw Luz on the ground, holding up Amity’s glove with the Titan Blood on it. 

“Luz! Are you okay?” Lilith asked walking over to the stairs where Luz had fallen.

“Yeah,” Luz said, while pulling herself back up, “I just tripped on one of the vines.” 

“Why did you bring the glove down?” Lilith asked

“You said it didn’t have enough power, would this be enough power?” 

“But that would take all of the Titan Blood! Don’t you need that to get home?” Lilith asked, a bit concerned

“Yeah, but one, It’ll take me forever if I keep trying to use the Echo Mouse, and two, if this does work, we can just get more from the past, before it dried up!” Luz told Lilith, very ecstatically.

“Well, that is true but…” Lilith thought, looking back at her in-progress exhibit “Actually, confirming the existence of Time Pools would be a far more exciting exhibit. You know what, let’s go!” Lilith said, to the excitement of Luz.

About an hour had passed since they went out, and Luz was already getting tired, Lilith, however, was still very much ready to go.

“How much longer do you think it’ll be?” Luz asked Lilith

“Well, if these calculations are correct,” Lilith looked at her device before looking back at Luz, “It should be right…here!” Lilith said pulling back a bunch of leaves only to reveal nothing but an empty beach.

“What? I, But, How?” Lilith asked, sighing, “Go ahead Luz, just be careful, the tide is gonna come in soon.” 

Lilith sat down in the grass and buried her head in her hands, not even 30 seconds later however, she heard a scream from Luz, her head shocked up to see Luz, half buried in sand and clinging to the edges.

Lilith jolted up and tried to reach for Luz to pull her out, but wasn’t fast enough, Luz lost her grip and was fully submerged.

Lilith just sat there in shock. Where did Luz go? What happened? How was she gonna tell Eda?

She laid her hand on top of where Luz got dragged down, only to quickly realize, it wasn’t solid. Luz hadn’t been dragged down, she fell.

Lilith crawled back a bit and stuck her head through the strange sand, she could only see the ocean and some very strange creatures that she didn’t recognize. She popped her head back out after not seeing Luz and started walking back home. If she was going to find Luz, she was gonna need help.

“Hey, Eda?” Lilith said walking back into The Owl House, “I may have lost your kid…”

Chapter Text

“Hey, Eda?” Lilith said walking back into The Owl House, “I may have lost your kid…”

“Hm?” Eda looked up at Lilith, “Oh I wouldn’t worry, Luz runs off to have adventures with her friends a lot, she’ll probably be back in, I don’t know, 6 hours, give or take.”

Lilith wanted to stay silent, to not bring absolute panic to her sister. But she knew that if she did stay silent, it would turn out far worse when Eda figured it out on her own.

“Eda. She’s missing. We were searching for time pools-”

Eda chuckled “Why would you be searching for a myth from when we were kids?

“EDA.” Lilith pretty much shouted at her “They’re real. We found them.”

Lilith could pretty much see the color drain from Eda when she heard that, and yet she still tried pretending as if she didn’t care.

“Heh, yeah right!” Eda looked around, “And what happens after that?”

“She fell into one. I couldn’t get her out in time.”

While things were quickly delving into panic at The Owl House, things weren’t going too well elsewhere on the isles.

“Uncle, Intel has been gathered by scouts at The Owl House, The Human has gone missing.”

At first, Belos had seemed quite happy about this news, but almost like a light switch, the happiness on his face had melted into a weird mixture of annoyance and panic. He had thought for just a moment.

“Hunter. Find her.”

“But, isn’t she your enemy?” Hunter had got up for a moment, bewildered by this order.

“Did I stutter?” Belos was looking very annoyed now “Find. Her.”

Hunter knelt down, “Yes Uncle.” He then got up and turned around to leave.

It had only been 3 days. 

Eda and Lilith were fighting, Amity had let her mom dye her hair green and started bullying Willow once again, even the thought of a human on the isles was starting to be met with a lot of confusion, and not even Belos had been safe from noticing these changes, he started noticing how The Collector was responding to him less and less, in only 3 days, all of this had happened.

Belos had given up. Luz was critical to the plan even starting in the past.

Nobody was even looking for this ‘Luz’ anymore.

Chapter Text

“Ow…Where am I?” I tried to get up, “Why is my head throbbing?” I opened my eyes, “...AHH!”

I screamed louder than I ever knew I could, I had the right to though. My hands were pure black and glowing a bright white light was around them.

“Ow! Can you try not to scream so loud?” A stranger said as I tried to look up.

I was too horrified and confused to even try screaming again “Wha-Who ARE YOU?!”

Staring right back at me was another strange black-and-white being, this one, however, looked far less human.

It sighed before speaking “Look, I’m known as չคเςคɭ๏Շยเչ, but you can just call me,” It paused for a moment, thinking, “The Collector, Y’know, so I don’t break your little brain every time you try to say that.” It said, chuckling a bit.

“Okay then…” I thought, trying to regain my composure a bit, “What are you?” I asked the being.

“Alright, I’m gonna just knock all your potential questions out of the way,” It said, lifting its finger in the air, “One, I’m an Archivist, Two, No, I have no idea where you came from, and three, you’re gonna be here a while,” It put its finger back down and looked straight at me, “Now, Who are you?”

“I-” I stopped for a moment. 

Why didn’t I know my own name?

“I don’t know…” I replied, “Why don’t I know?” I said, now almost whispering

“Simple enough, you’re a mortal. Even the simple act of being sealed in here can fuck with a mortal's mind. Stay in here long enough and it could even start fucking with a god's mind.” It said nonchalantly, “So, for now, unless you remember your name, I’ll just call you Light.”

“Light…Yeah! That sounds right!”

“Alright! Good for you, you have a name now.” It stopped and thought for just a moment, “I’m sure you’re wondering where we are, aren’t you?”

“Well. Yeah, I guess.”

“Well it ain’t my first time here, so I’ll explain where we are, and I guess what I know about how you got here.”

“Alright,” I tried to sit down so I could listen, but instead just bent along the walls of the sphere we were in.

“Okay, so from what I know, me and the Titans were battling, one of them was about to seal me away but then you just kinda…fell from the sky and got sealed in here with me.”

“I…fell? From the sky? That’s weird.”

“Yeah, imagine watching it happen.” They took a breath, “Anyways, we’re in the outer edges of the In-Between. The most dangerous section.”

“The…In-Between? Why does that sound familiar to me?” I started feeling a bit uneasy. I didn’t even know who I am anymore, why would I know about this place?

“Look Light, I have no idea who you are we’re just stuck in the same situation.”

“Oh, right. Sorry.” 

“Anyways, as I had mentioned earlier, this place can fuck with your head, so be careful of that. Next, stuff like memory loss can be very common even after only a few hours here, don’t be surprised if you can’t remember stuff that happened 5 minutes prior. Also, personality shifts can happen, y’know, messing with your head.” 

They continued to go on about some stuff I was gonna need to know about this place, after a few minutes they seemed to be finished and waved their hand asking if I had questions.

“You mentioned mortals and gods, are mortals usually trapped here?”

“Hm? Oh, no. Mortals are pretty much never sealed here. So yeah, good luck, I don’t know what would happen after a few years.”

“Wait…did you say YEARS?” I was confused, years didn’t make sense, if I had forgotten this much in a few hours, would I even be alive after years?

“Yeah, normally I’m sealed here by the other Archivists when I’m being too annoying. But they usually take me out before permanent damage could happen. However, this time I was sealed away by Titans, who kinda hate us.” 

They seemed so calm about this whole thing, How many times had they gone through this?

“Anyways Light, try your best to stay sane. I’m gonna go over here and try to get some sleep.”

I am feeling a bit tired, and maybe still lightheaded. Maybe I’ll try to get some sleep too.

So…tired…

But first, my ¢ðMþåñïðñ§ and I must face the fearsome Stonesleeper…Tнє ¢σℓℓє¢tσя can then aid me on my quest.

Chapter Text

“Alright Collector. What do I need to do next?”

“Now you just need to wait!” The Collector did a little spin on the wall “Maybe we could play some games while you wait?”

“No Collector, I said we could play once I’m finished. I’m not finished yet.”

“But Philipppp!”  The Collector whined, “You keep saying that! When are you gonna be able to play?”

Philip just rubbed his brow and started grabbing stuff to go to his sleeping area

“Is it because of that injury the mean lady gave you?” The Collector asked, pointing to his nose, “It’s been getting worse whenever you eat those wooden animals.” They said, sounding a bit concerned.

Philip touched the injury and was confused when he saw some green goop on his hand. 

What the…? Philip whispered

Philip sighed “Alright Collector, we can play tomorrow, but I am very tired. So I’ll go get some rest, you do the same” Philip said while grabbing a blanket

“WAIT WAIT WAIT!” The Collector yelled out in a tremulous voice, “Don’t put me back in there!”

Philip was walking back with the blanket in hand.

“Please! It’s…Cold…and…Lonely in there.” The Collector said, voice now wobbling.

Philip ignored the pleas and put the blanket on top before leaving the room to go to sleep.

The Collector now sealed back in there was on the brink of tears. They thought that they had escaped this place, even though they hadn’t been freed yet. They thought that Philip would’ve never put them back in here.

“Sometimes…HE’S JUST AS BAD AS BELOS!” they yelled as they slammed their hand against the bubble, they heard a crack. A crack in the bubble stayed for a few seconds before repairing itself.

“Huh…” The Collector said.

Wαιƚ…Wԋσ’ʂ Bҽʅσʂ? Wԋყ ԃιԃ I ʂαყ ƚԋαƚ?

After calming down a bit, The Collector turned around to where they had smacked the bubble prior. 

They focused and punched the bubble with all the force they had.

Shit that hurt… The Collector winced in a bit of pain

They opened their eyes and realized that the bubble was reforming from shattering, but they were no longer inside it.

They tried to perform some magic to escape this dimension, but it failed

“Okay…So I’m still tied to the mirror.” The Collector thought for a moment, “But at least I have some more room to play games when Philip isn’t here!” 

They floated up and grabbed the piece of the mirror that they used to communicate with Philip

“If I don’t have this, Philip would think I abandoned him and he’ll let me be buried again…” 

The Collector’s eyes drooped as they sat down on one of the rocky spires, they let out a small yawn while wondering what to do.

“Huh…is this what Philip calls ‘tired’?” The Collector yawned again “Maybe I’ll take a little nap..”

The Collector then dozed off.

The Collector was floating in a strange dark void, they could hear all sorts of whispering around them.

ฬђєгє ๔เ๔ รђє ﻮ๏?

    ฬђץ ฬ๏ภ'Շ ץ๏ย ΉΣᄂP!

  ɨ ʍɨֆֆ ђєг…

But there was one voice louder than the rest.

ᒪᑌᘔ ภ๏ςє๔ค

It may have been louder, but it was garbled, and scratchy, they could only understand one part.

   Luz.

“Luz? Who’s Luz?” The Collector said, not really understanding what was going on at that moment.

Suddenly a strange but small cube came floating out of the darkness of the void below them.

It grew in size and flew up to The Collector and started showing them something. 

A strange girl, sleeping in a thick black liquid, her hands and legs fading into a sealed shadowy form much like theirs, but less…no, more humanoid. 

“Wait…isn’t that…no.” The Collector kept hesitating. It looked like that girl from the sky…what was her name again? The Collector stopped, they tried to think back to when they had last seen her.

They were sealed with that girl…but over time she kept sleeping more and more until she just…vanished.

Is this where she went? Why can’t I remember her name? 

All of a sudden the girl woke up, she stood up and stared at them through the cube.

Then the same garbled voice spoke 

    “ɭเﻮђՇ…”

She reached out her hand through the cube beckoning them to follow.

 The Collector started floating and tried to follow, but the cube remained solid on their side

   “ɭєՇ ๓є คฬคкєภ”

Before The Collector could respond they were dragged through the cube.

They now stood in the same goopy substance, the girl nowhere to be seen, they tried to float because the liquid here felt weird on their feet, but quickly realized they were unable to even move, not long later it dawned on them that they couldn’t move because they were sinking.

Upon this realization, they started to panic. Not realizing that this panicking was only making them sink faster. 

They tightly closed their eyes and held their breath as their head went under the goop.

When they opened their eyes, they saw the girl in front of them, She smiled, nodded, and then pointed up towards the glass tablet.

  Right. Philip is probably looking to speak by now. 

I started freaking out when I realized that the piece of the tablet wasn’t with me anymore.

Then the girl spoke one last time. This time, however, her voice was far clearer.

       “Wake up.”

I jolted up and almost fell off the rocky spire I was on.

It was all a dream. But how? Archivists don’t need sleep. Why would I have dreams? Why was I tired?

Then I heard a sound from the glass tablet piece, Philip was here.

“Heyyy Philip!” I said, masking my confusion as to what just happened.

“Hello Collector. Just one more task to do today, then we can play like I promised.”

He sounded off. I could hear just how honeyed his words were now.

So sickeningly sweet. 

It made me want to barf.

Chapter Text

I was awoken by a muted ding from the glass tablet.

Of course, Philip wanted to talk again.

He had been pestering me an unusual amount lately. Maybe it’s because he thinks I'm starting to see through his little facade?

Ah well, might as well go see what he wants this time. Maybe he’ll have some more news on our game?

I came out of the tablet and didn’t see Philip. I assumed it was just a false alarm and was about to go back in when I heard a voice from the ground.

“Collectorr” The voice was dank and scratchy with raspy breathing behind it.

I was about to move onto the ceiling to get a closer look at it until a green gloppy hand slopped onto the table and pulled itself up.

I quickly hid since Philip had told me that if anything were to see me, they would take me and throw the tablet into the boiling sea out of fear of my power.

I peeked out from under the shadows of the table I was now under and realized something.

This wasn’t ‘anything’

This…thing was Philip.

I came out from under the table and took a closer look at this state

His hand was a long, green, mess on the table. He was barely able to keep standing and there was a massive green scar across his entire face. 

“What’s happening to me!” Philip croaked out with a yell

“I-” I didn’t know what to say, what if he got mad? 

I didn’t know what was going on. 

He can’t know that I can’t help!

₩ⱧɎ ₩₳₴ ł ₩ØⱤⱤłɆĐ ₳฿ØɄ₮ ₮Ⱨł₴?

Philip realized I wasn’t answering and instead started crawling over to his pile of carvings and cracked open one, pouring some floaty green liquid into his eyes.

Upon doing this he almost went back to normal instantly.

Philip stood up and just stood there in silence for a moment before smashing his fist into a nearby wooden plank, nearly shattering it.

“I fucking knew it. Those witches cursed me.” Philip grumbled under his breath. 

“This.” Philip rushed right up to where I was, getting in my non-existent shadow face “THIS is why I need the draining spell.”

Philip leaned back, cleared his throat, and tugged on his coat to straighten it out.

“Sorry for the…outburst, Collector.” Philip had his nose partially stuck up “Now, is it ready yet?”

“I haven’t been able to figure out the final part.” 

“I thought you said this was a spell native to your kind.” Philip replied with a twinge of anger in his voice

“I was never taught it, it was-” I was cut off

“I expect to see results by tomorrow. Or I’m afraid we’ll never be able to play our game.”

“But, you’d still free us, right?” 

“Why should I put in the effort to free you if you aren’t going to put in the effort to help set up our game?”

That made sense to me. Why would he set up his part of the game if I’m not gonna set up mine?

“Okay!” I teleported back into the realm of the mirrors to try and figure out that last part.

As I was trying to figure out that last part I heard something

  ｲ尺ひ丂ｲ

“Hello? Who’s there?”

            んﾑ√乇

“This isn’t funny.”

     ᗪの ﾘのひ?

Whoever it was clearly wasn’t responding, so I decided to try and ignore them.

They didn’t stop though, it sounded so close too.

        Ļ†Èñ

They would not shut up.

I decided to go look for them.

We couldn’t find them. 

They weren’t real.

WHO WERE THESE VOICES?

GO AWAY.

After many hours I had finally figured out the last part of the spell and had left to go tell Philip.

“Philip! I figured it out!”

I told Philip what he needed to do while he wrote it down.

Philip started walking away after I had finished.

ᗩᘻᓰᖻᘿᕲᗩ

“No” I muttered under my breath, starting to hold my head in my hands

              ᖽᐸᓰᘉᘺᓰᒪᓍᘺ

“Stop” I was still muttering, however this time it was loud enough for Philip to hear.

                                              ᘜS

“Get out.” Philip turned and looked at me as I started to float higher up

            ᒪᑘ

“GET OUT OF MY HEAD!” 

I let out a sudden explosion of magic.

₩Ⱨ₳₮ Ⱨ₳₴ ฿ɆɆ₦ ₩ⱤØ₦₲ ₩ł₮Ⱨ ₥Ɇ Ⱡ₳₮ɆⱠɎ?!

Chapter Text

I stood up, head throbbing, how long had it been?

What happened last…Wait, I think it’s coming back to me.

They…exploded? Ugh, my head hurts. I don’t get it. What they hell do they think they’re doing? 

Disobeying me? Refusing to help me? Hurting me? Disgusting.

I got up and walked over to where The Collector last was. They weren’t there anymore.

Of course. They’re hiding because it’s a ‘funny little game’.

“COLLECTOR,” I yelled out, it hurt my ears a bit. 

They had never acted out like this before. And that was an intense blast, my ears are still ringing.

I limped around the area, unable to spot them anywhere. 

“Collector!~” I said, trying to keep my voice from exploding into a rage, “We can play your game now! But I can’t play if I don’t know where you are!”

After a moment I heard a small voice from the shadows under the cape on the wall. 

“N-NO! Stay away!” The voice sounded actively panicked, which was…unusual for them. 

I lifted up the cape trying to uncover them, but as soon as I moved it, a small black blob flew from under and dashed along the walls elsewhere.

“Collector! Come on! You said you didn’t enjoy hide and seek” I said, still trying to hide that twinge of anger in my voice, though it was becoming more noticeable. 

This time, however, they refused to respond.

“I’ll even let you choose the game!” I tried to get their attention.

The more ‘honeyed’ facade started to slip.

I tried to focus and managed to slowly shift my arm into its cursed form.

At first, it just glopped onto the floor. But with some more focus, I managed to bring it back into a solid form. I swept it around the room, trying to get a reaction and find where they were.

Then I heard it. A small little shriek.

There you are.

I swept back the curtain they were now hiding behind. 

They had a large white scar-looking thing across their face. 

Were they mocking my cursed form? I couldn’t believe it. What the fuck had gotten into them?


Never mind this stupid ‘Draining Spell’ 

I have the instructions. What would I need from them now?

That’s it.

I started walking up to them. But they kept trying to go further up the wall.

“Stay away! Stay away Belos, JUST STAY AWAY!”

I stopped. Who else knew about their existence? Who was this ‘Belos’?

“I THOUGHT I told you to NEVER interact with anyone other than ME. Who is Belos?”

“I-I don’t know!” 

“Rember what I told you? Everyone else out there is just trying to use you for your power. Who is Belos?” And what kind of witch had a name as stupid as ‘Belos’?

“I DON’T KNOW WHY I KEEP SAYING THAT!” They yelled out at me, the look of panic in their eyes grew as their face seemed to morph and change even as we talked.

“You don’t ever yell at me.” I said, looking at them sternly, “Who. Is. Belos.” I asked, one final time.

“I don’t know who that is!” They seemed to choke back some tears.

Ridiculous, trying to trick me into falling for THAT. They’re a god. They wouldn’t need to deal with such childish emotions. 

I gave up trying to ‘ask’ them about it. They clearly weren’t going to budge on telling me who they were talking to.

I couldn’t risk them talking to anyone else, lest they figure out my true nature and fight against me.

If I couldn’t convince them to talk…I could make them. 

I started walking over to the glass tablet while they cowered under the table.

“Tell me who this ‘Belos’ is, or I will smash this thing into itsy-bitsy little shards!” I said, with a bit of an annoyed sing-songy voice.

“PHILIP! PLEASE NO!”  The ‘panic’ overtook them as they rushed over to me and covered the tablet up, “PLEASE! I SWEAR, I HAVE NO IDEA WHO BELOS, OR AMITY, OR LUZ ARE!”

Luz?

I stopped and put the tablet down as The Collector breathed a sigh of relief.

Why did the name Luz sound so familiar to me? 

Wait. I know.

What connection do they have with ‘Luzura’?

And why?

Chapter Text

Who am I?

Who am I?

Who am I?

I…I don’t even know who I am anymore.

This isn’t what I sound like.

This isn’t what I look like.

This isn’t me.

THIS ISN’T ME.

The Collector hid away in the realm of mirrors, they refused to answer to Philip’s calls.

He didn’t want me. He wants The Collector. I’m not The Collector. They wouldn’t act like this.

They kept overhearing Philip talk about Luz. It hurt our head. I wasn’t sure why

I hate this. What’s wrong with me?

It was just one stupid dream. Why would it be causing all this?

I can’t let Philip see me like this. He already freaked out when he saw the…scar? I don’t know what it is. All I know is it’s white, long, and not mine.

Wait…I can morph and change at will! Maybe my powers are just…freaking out! I’ll just regain control and then revert this!

“Alright, focus,” I whispered to myself.

After a moment I managed to shape myself back into…me.

I was so happy to be me again.

Then there was another ding from the glass tablet, Philip wanted to talk, and now I could! I was The Collector. 

————————————————————————————————

“Heyyy Philip!” I responded to the ding, coming out of the mirror for the first time in weeks

“Collector. There you are. I was about to think you had abandoned me,” He shook his head in disappointment, “Anyways, I need your help with something.” 

“What is it?” I feared he was going to pick up on the fact that I was acting differently, but he hadn’t seemed to notice so far.

“Do you know anyone by the name of ‘Luzura’?” Philip asked, looking directly at me

My head hurt at that question, “No. I don’t know anyone called Luzura?” I tried to hide the slight pain my head was in whenever he mentioned that, but this time I was right there in front of him. 

He definitely noticed.

“Alright then, what about by the name of…Luz?” 

The pain got worse.  

 Why was I in pain? 

         I shouldn’t be in pain.
                        I don’t even know what pain is.

                                  I don’t know.

I stayed silent and unmoving, but Philip seemed to notice something.

He shot up and walked over to where I was, while I slid up the walls, confused as to what he was doing.

He wasn’t going for me.

He wasn’t going for the tablet.

He was going for a weird, white dot on the ground.

A very strange, shiny, dot on the ground.

Where did it come from?

Then, Philip touched it. He was able to pick it up.

It seemed to be a goopy liquid, but it was solid.

What was this thing?

As I stared at this thing, the whispers started to come back.

Loud. Grainy whispers.

As if the whisperer was right next to me.

Louder.

The more I stared at this thing on the ground, the louder it got.

Even Philip had seemed to freeze and just…stare.

I had to stop staring at it. 

I forced myself to look away.

As soon as I stopped looking, everything unfroze.

Philip looked back at me and started talking.

I couldn’t hear a thing he was saying.

I don’t think I would’ve been able to hear him even if I tried to focus on what he was saying.

The whispers had turned into yelling. 

           A constant scream.

Scattering my thoughts everywhere. 

I could only focus on the screaming and yelling. 

As if thousands of people were all trying to grab my attention. 

I couldn’t think.

  I couldn’t speak.

     I couldn’t move.

Thousands of people.

Thousands of voices.

Thousands of thoughts.

More of the white gloppy stuff had appeared.

The voices finally started to quiet. 

As if a valve of pressure had finally been released.

Philip was now on the ground…staring. But this time at me.

He looked annoyed. I wasn’t sure why though.

———————————————————————

Something is clearly wrong with that kid. Considering that is the second time I’ve nearly been hurt just by being around them. Philip sighed. But, I do need their power for The Draining Spell to work. If I didn’t have them, it would take thousands of years to power even the simplest of steps.

Philip quietly got up and walked away to his room, putting the old frayed blanket over the tablet as he left.

In his room was a sloppily made bed, and an old dresser. Philip leaned down and pulled out something from under the bed.

A sharp crooked dagger, covered in old dried blood.

I’m sorry I did what I had to do. 

You were tainted by her.

Straying from the path of god.

I saved you from a far worse fate.

I am the one who brought you back to the correct path.

But I do miss you.

I do regret what I had to do to save you.

Philip touched the tips of his ears. They still stung, even if it had been a month.  

He was disgusted by what he needed to do to his pure human body just to save humanity.

But, he knew as long as he never let any magic willingly enter him, he would still keep his own humanity.

He wandered over to the improvised bathroom he had made in this small cave and looked in the mirror.

The sink around the mirror was still covered in more dried blood from carving. But what worried him more was the now bright green scar, growing across his face. 

He sighed. I’m worried that if this curse continues, all that I’ve done will be for naught. 

He lowered his head, in doubt. 

If The Collector keeps their promise, I’ll be fine. But based on what I’ve seen so far, it seems someone has managed to curse them . Which is not good.

Philip quietly shook his head.  Not good at all.

I need to find a way to convince everyone to fall under this spell. And quickly.  He looked back at the old masks he and his brother had carved when they were younger and put one on. He was surprised to know that the one his brother had carved, now fit him.

Philip stopped. Thinking of a way to move his plan forward. Then, he realized something.

Philip has been banned from all of the towns. But if I rethink my plan, find a new name, and wear this mask to hide my identity…I might be able to succeed.

Just maybe.

Chapter Text

The whispers had evolved.

Rather than just hearing whispers everywhere I went, it now felt like something was staring at me, at all times.

I hated that feeling. 

I hated the feeling of knowing I was never alone.

But..it was also the feeling that I’m always alone.

No matter where I go.

Always alone.

Alone.

Always.   

It freaked me out.

At least it’s quiet.

Philip hasn’t been around that much.

No.

Philip hasn’t been around at all.

He uncovered the tablet and then just…left. I don’t know where he’s been.

Maybe sometimes he’ll show up, but then he’ll just go into his basement for a few minutes and then leave.

I have no idea what he’s doing.

Coming and going.

Whispering behind closed doors.

I think he assumes I don’t notice.

I don’t know what’s going on in that basement.

I think he assumes I don’t see the mud he brings down there.

The shiny blue stones, the lungs of ancient beasts.

I see them. I don’t need to know what’s going on to see them.

I have no idea what he’s doing. But he’s still a friend.

Friends may keep secrets.

 Friends may lie to you.

  Friends may hurt you.

    But they are still friends.

That’s what I know.

They are still friends.

As long as they apologize.

No matter how bad it was. 

No matter how much they hurt you.

No matter how much they lie to you.

That’s what I know.

That’s what I was taught.

As long as they apologize, it’s fine.

They’re fine.

Even if they ignore you.

 Even if they never follow through.

  Even if they leave you behind.

   Even if they forget about you.

    Even if they leave you to do their dirty work.

You’re still friends.

Right?

It feels right.

But sometimes I get this…doubt.

A doubt that Philip won’t free me. 

A doubt that Philip doesn’t care about me.

A doubt that I’m just a pawn in HIS own game.

A pawn that was forgotten about.

Gathering dust.

No! Bad thoughts.

Ignore it.

Suffocate it. 

Get rid of them.

Bad thoughts are never true.  

Bad Thoughts

Bαԃ Tԋσυɠԋƚʂ

๒ค๔ Շђ๏ยﻮђՇร

They aren’t true. It’s not a truth. 

Lies are a bad thing. I hate lies. 

Philip doesn’t lie.

Friends don’t lie.

Friends shouldn’t lie...

Shut it out. 

Ignore it.

I would never be friends with someone who lies.

I can tell who is a liar.

I wouldn’t be friends with a liar.

The whispers were just in my head. They weren’t real.

The whispers weren’t real concerns.

Philip is trustworthy.

I trust him.

You trust friends.

Philip is my friend.

But now it’s quiet. 

I’ve silenced the lies around me.

But now it feels like the lies are staring at me.

Judging me, as if the lies are trying to trick me into believing that I have fallen into a trick.

I won’t fall for lies. I hate lies. I wouldn’t fall for them.

Philip says we’re best friends.

Does a best friend leave you behind?

I don’t know.

They were my best friend and they left me behind. 

So I guess it’s true.

But then why does it feel wrong?

They were older, they knew better .

So why do I feel uneasy trusting their word?

It hurts. 

That stupid dream.

Why has a dream done this to me?

Philip has said that he’s had dreams before.

He hasn’t seemed to be dealing with anything like this.

But…what if these voices are right? What if I am the pawn in his game? 

What if…they lied to me?

What if I am the fool here.

The one they just play around with for their own entertainment.

Not like it matters. If Philip is lying, what could I do about it? I can’t use magic. I can’t just…leave.

I’m stuck here. Forever and ever. 

Because what if…Philip is a liar?

Everything was just so simple.

But now it’s like I’m more…aware?

I’m not sure how to describe it.

I miss the days of it being that simple, I would help Philip, maybe he’d try and change the rules of our game, but it was still simple. 

It was enjoyable.

I don’t like wondering if my friend is lying to me.

Even now, when I hear him talk, there’s this strange sickening sweetness to his voice, one that wasn’t there before.

I don’t know why.

Stop. Bad thoughts going too far. 

Bury it.

Ignore it.

Just listen to them.

They are right.

They are older.

So they are right.

Chapter Text

My whole life has been dark as far back as I can remember. Nothing but pure blackness. I’m not really sure why, it feels like there was color in my life at one point. But I can’t remember it. 

Not that I really need to after all. It’s not like I’m suffering by not having color, maybe in the past I was, but I’ve gotten used to it.

So…that was sight I guess. Maybe I could talk about sound next? 

Eh, this is boring. There’s nothing for me to do here. 

Like what am I supposed to talk about when it comes to sound? Tell myself that I can’t hear anything again?

I just wish something interesting would happen!

Even if I am used to not seeing anything, that doesn’t mean it’s not boring. It’s still just as if not more boring. I’ve been trapped here for so long, with nothing to see, nothing to touch, and nothing to hear. 

Well, I guess that isn’t entirely true, I can at LEAST hear myself. I think that if I wasn’t able to at least do that, I would’ve become an unhinged, demented lunatic by now.

Then again, it’s not like I’ve been interacting with anyone, so for all I know, I AM an unhinged, demented lunatic. I don’t know, to be honest, part of me doesn’t really even care anymore.

I mean, considering how long I’ve been in here, I doubt it’ll ever matter whether I am or not.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Something weird is going on. For the first time in, I don’t know, probably millions of years, I heard something that wasn’t me. I’m not sure why, but I also kinda recognize the voice. It’s a bit freaky to just be sitting there, and then I suddenly hear someone talking about Witches and Humans, whatever those are.

Even weirder is…I see color. 

Granted, it’s not much color. It’s just some white.

But it’s still color.

All I know is, something is going on outside of where I am. I’m not sure what it is, or who’s doing it. But hey, it’s finally some change. At this point, I don’t care WHO is doing it, I’m just happy something interesting is finally starting to happen.

Okay. So it may be a variety, but I’m starting to not like it already. The first voice is now grainy and loud, and whenever I hear it, it hurts my head.

There’s also a new voice that’s started entering the mix. Sometimes this new voice is so god-dang whiney and piercing, other times it’s panicked and crazy, and sometimes it’s just brittle and low. Like, dang it whoever you are! Can you just make up your mind? It’s annoying to listen to you and not be able to understand a word you’re saying without getting a headache!

Even now, when they aren’t speaking, the voices are still ringing in my head. I’m starting to wonder if these voices are even real, or if they are my own brain going batshit insane.

Or both, It could very much be both. 

Something has been a bit nauseating lately. And no, it’s not sickness. It’s that one voice. Something about that voice is nauseating, and I’m not sure why. It just sounds off. 

Also, I might now know who the first voice is, at least if the second voice is to be trusted.

I heard that second voice mention Philip while they were clearly having a conversation with the first one.

Oh and after that, the next time I heard them was a freaking massive explosion. So yeah, something weird is going on there.

In other news, after I heard that explosion, a white drop appeared on the ground, and it’s been growing. Out of curiosity, I did touch it, and my hand went through it. Which means it’s a hole of some sort. Not sure why that’s now here. 

I have been considering just jumping through the hole, but part of me stops myself. Almost as if the small sliver of sanity left in my brain is…worried. Worried that something bad will happen as soon as I jump through. That'll lose who I am, forever.

But the other part of me is more like, welp, who cares! It’s something new! I’m not sure which side I should listen to. Side one may be trying to keep me “safe” but side two sounds so much more fun.

Being able to get out of here and play some games might be nice. It’d also be nice to get away from the voices. The nauseatingly sweet voice. And the other voices, a little bit ago, there was a thing wandering around.

It was the first time I had seen anything here in, well, ever. So I walked up to it. A hollow-eyed blob stared back at me. It had stringy purple stuff on its head and a cracked frown. It then spoke.

“Remember me from a long long ʟօռɢ time ago?" it kinda whispered it out in a loud guttural voice. It was really freaky and I’m not really sure how to describe it.

“No..?” I responded. Part of me wanted to back away. To just get away from this thing.

But the other part of me felt a pleasant, warm feeling. One that I hadn’t felt in a long time. 

My hand burned. I wasn’t sure why. But it didn’t hurt, it felt nice.

Then it smiled. A small, genuine smile appeared on its face. “Think about it.” The voice was now much clearer. It sounded of genuine concern.

It made me feel a bit weird, but…safe. Comfortable even. It confused me.

It then pointed to the white hole. Which had now grown to an uncomfortable size. It was right next to me. The being floated over to me and just stared at me. It smiled and whispered something.

“Promise you’ll try?” it asked, the smile cracking back down into a frown.

It pushed me in.

Chapter Text

“Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock” I repeated, mimicking the clock on the wall near me.

It was quiet a lot now. Philip wasn’t around a huge amount, he was always out doing his ‘meetings’ 

It’s just way too quiet.

Meh, at least we got a living upgrade. We’ve been in this giant castle for a few years by now. 

Even if this castle is…weirdly quiet. 

You would think this bustling castle, full of mortals, would always have the chattering of these creatures.

I guess that’s what happens when you’re hiding. Philip keeps telling me to make sure I never leave this room. 

Hah, like I could anyway, I’m bound to this stupid glass tablet. 

When was Philip gonna finally uphold his promise?

I don’t know.

Philip also keeps ranting to me lately, it is kinda interesting to hear about what’s going on outside of the castle. So I just let him just rant to me, as if I was listening to him. But no, I just like listening to the stuff going on outside. 

A common name that’s been showing up a lot lately was ‘The Owl Lady’

I have no idea who that is, but it sounds…familiar. I guess. I’m not sure to be honest.

Philip keeps saying the “Day of Unity” is almost upon us. I have no idea what the hell that means. Philip says it’s when our game will be ready, but I can sometimes hear those little spiders outside talking about how it’ll unite all of witch kind.

Which also didn’t sound right. That didn’t sound like Philip at all, he hates these witches for cursing him. 

Though it is kinda ironic that he convinced them to put him in power, I doubt they even know he’s human, much less that he wishes to kill them. 

I chuckled at my little comment. Then I heard a voice from outside the door.

“Wha- Who was that? Come out whoever you are!” It was a small, slightly squeaky voice that I thought I recognized. My suspicions on who this was were confirmed when the barged through the door.

I quickly hid underneath a dark shelf as he stormed in, searching for the ‘intruder’

It was Philip’s newest grimwalker, I think this one was called Hunter? I don’t really know, why should I care about these disposable servants? And why does Philip keep making these things? It takes way too many resources and he just kills them after a few years. The longest one only lasted 5 years. I think it’s kinda dumb.

This one was just created a few weeks ago, he seems to take this job pretty seriously despite being only about 12 right now. 

Philip also says that this is the best one he made, I don’t personally agree, I think the hair noodle is weird, I preferred Reven, he had the fluffiest hair ever!

At this point, I think Hunter was starting to get annoyed that he couldn’t find this intruder and I, was getting bored. I decided that since this was just Philip’s grimwalker, I could mess with him a bit, as long as Philip never found out it would be fine.

I started quickly moving along the walls, just fast enough that it couldn’t see me, but slow enough that it could notice me.

“Who’s there? Come out now!” He cowered down a bit, gripping onto his child training staff, “On behalf of The Emperor's Coven, I command you to come out now!” He tried to stand straight and tall but still was clearly cowering in fear. 

Maybe, just maybe I could speak, just to mess with them of course. 

“You’re not even a full scout yet! What do you think you could do to me?” I decided to bring out my slightly ‘creepy’ voice to spook him, but he still stood tall. I guess that makes sense, he was created to be the best scout Philip had.

“I’ll be one soon! My uncle is training me well! He wasn’t intimated at all, it was still interesting though, most of the young grimwalkers would still get freaked out.

“My uncle even said I’ll be the next Golden Guard once I’m of age!”

Then, I quickly realized, he was gonna tell Philip about a strange shadow intruding into the throne room. I needed to find a way to try and stop him from doing that.

I decided to stop flying around the room and took a tall deformed shape in front of him. 

“Whatever you say, little itsy bitsy spider. But whatever you do…” I flew right up into his face, which was the first time I saw him spike back in shock, “Don’t. Tell. Your uncle. I will make your life a living nightmare if you do.” 

I saw him attempting to keep a brave face while he kept refusing to not tell him, but he eventually cracked and said he wouldn’t tell him, he then ran off. I imagine because he needed to get to his next lesson.

Well, it didn’t really matter what he ran off to go do now, I don’t really care, as long as he doesn’t scamper off to his ‘uncle’

I don’t need Philip to know that I did that, especially to his precious little grimwalker. 

I don’t know why I decided to do that, it was honestly way too risky. I mean, I know I was bored, but that was still stupid of me. Philip is very protective of his little grimwalkers.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think he ratted me out. 

Philip came storming in after his meeting was over. He didn’t even try and talk to me. 

He just threw his mask off onto the floor and started glaring at me.

He stormed over to the blanket and just threw it onto the tablet.

So either that little rat chose to rat me out, or he was just mad from his meeting again.

He does tend to take that anger out on me. 

Sometimes he’ll just rant, other times he’ll just put me back into the tablet.

But considering how that little grimwalker acts, always assuming he’s better than everyone else just because he’s the Emperor’s ‘nephew’. I’m just gonna assume he ratted me out. 

I’ll just wait this out, Philip will have to let me out soon.

Chapter Text

A little while had passed since my first meeting with that new bratty grimwalker.

I was right, Philip did eventually let me out. 

Eventually.

I was just, I don’t know, floating there I guess? I was also making little shadow puppets on the walls. It was all I could do with my time. Philip wasn’t talking to me much. 

Granted, that’s pretty normal from him. 

What else…

Well, I guess nothing else really. 

I was trying to think of what else had really been going on until my train of thought was interrupted by the young golden scout slowly creaking the door open. He was quietly walking around as if he was looking for something.

I was about to mess around with him again, but then, I saw something. 

There was a small scar on his cheek, and it was fresh. 

Who did that? I may find him annoying, but he’s still a child.

He’s just a little kid.

Like me.

“I know you’re there!” He seemed to be trying to get someone's attention, his voice was quivering, so something was going on. 

I decided to stay quiet. I didn’t need Philip to know that his grimwalker was in here again.

“My Uncle got mad at me when he heard that I saw you! S-So you must mean something to him!” He was kinda whispering? I wasn’t sure, but it did dawn on me that he was looking for me specifically. 

I cowered back down further into the shadows, if I dared talk to him again, I would be locked away forever. Again. 

And Philip would know. Philip always knows.

Then the little scout actively started looking around for me, rather than just calling out. He was moving tattered capes off the walls and opening old broken drawers.
Why was he looking around so much for me? I didn’t want to be found!

He was still peering into the shadows, trying to spot any of the white marks on me. Meanwhile, I was hiding in the shadows under one of the dressers desperately trying to hide the giant white mark on my face. 

“Uh…Shadow guy? I don’t know what your name is,” I think he was now trying to talk to me, I didn’t like it, “Please come out, I’m sorry for telling my uncle last time. I thought you were an intruder!” 

I was getting tired of this, so I decided to try throwing my voice to throw him off and to just leave.

“Your Uncle means nothing to me!” I thought that would work because he seemed to be looking for me because of Philip. But I think it just made it worse.

“I’m not stupid, you shadow thing! My Uncle got mad at me when I mentioned you. So he knows about you!” He was now irritated and was shoving stuff out of the way to find me. He was surprisingly strong for a 12-year-old, but I guess he wasn’t an actual 12-year-old, so that should’ve been expected. 

Meanwhile, while he did this, I was now cowering further down into the old drawer, shaping myself into a small ball so he wouldn’t see me.

A few short minutes later of him throwing stuff around, he gave up. He couldn’t find me. So, he just sat down on the old floor, hearing the room creak and groan around him. 

“Why are you here? Wouldn’t you want to be in any of the better rooms?” He was staring at the floor as he asked me. 

I stayed silent. I mean, I knew why, Philip wanted to keep me safe, so he kept me in this old dingy room since nobody would go back here. But that doesn’t mean I needed to tell him that.

I honestly have no idea how the little scout even found their way here. It’s a room hidden behind many twists, turns, and long corridors.  

“Look can you just say something?” The Grimwalker was now shouting again, “I shouldn’t even be here, if I’m caught the consequences for me would be dire!” I still stayed silent. I refused to ever talk to the grimwalker again. 

Then, we both heard footsteps. There was only one other person who would ever come back here. Philip. 

Shit

“Hey!” I whispered out to the little grimwalker “Just let me help you.” He looked around for a bit before spotting me and then he nodded.

I surrounded him with a shadowy bubble, moving him over to the darkest corner. Hoping that when Philip got in here, he wouldn’t notice him.

A few moments later, Philip walked in. He wandered over to the tablet and picked it up. 

“I know you’re in here Hunter. I saw you wander down this hallway from my meeting.” He had this stern look on his face, he clearly wasn’t playing around this time, the last time he looked like this was…when Reven disappeared after meeting me. 

After receiving no response from Hunter, he turned to me. “Collector, where is Hunter?” 

It was now up to me, I didn’t want him to disappear because of me again. I mean, he may be a bit bratty, but he’s still a kid. That’s going to happen.

“I haven’t seen him. Nobody’s been in here other than you.” I know. It was a lie, and I hate lies. I hate lying, but, it was to save someone from vanishing, and it’s someone that…is causing those headaches again. So, he’s important, to someone. I think.

Philip wasn’t seeming to fall for my lie, he was just staring at me with a disapproving look on his face. 

“Collector, you know how much it hurts me when you lie to me. But if you’re going to lie, you could at least make it convincing.” He looked down and was staring at the shadow trail leading to the corner. 

He turned around and put his mask and cape on the floor before turning back around and walking over to where he left my tablet. 

I just closed my eyes, prepared to be sent back to the realm of mirrors. But when I opened them, I wasn’t there, I looked back at Philip now holding the tablet, he put his finger on it and whispered something then he swiped.

I suddenly went flying across the room into a wall, which caused me to unform the bubble around Hunter. 

“Tsk tsk tsk, I expected more from you Hunter. And you Collector. You really thought you could get away with lying straight to my face?” He had this old disappointed tone to his voice, but it didn’t have the twinge that it should’ve.

“Now, Hunter, Come with me, I need to talk to you.” Hunter slumped down and didn’t do anything for a short moment. Philip then gave him this…look, and he immediately picked himself up and started quietly shuffling out of the room.

Chapter Text

I hadn’t heard from the grimwalker in a while, I’m really hoping they haven’t vanished too. 

I would hate it if I made another one disappear. 

The day after I saw the grimwalker again, Philip moved me back into the Titans skull, but it looked a bit better this time around, with Philip at least having some tables. 

Granted, they weren’t the nicest, they were old and moldy wood tables that were covered in clutter and blueprints. 

Philip now just leaves me here, I think he doesn’t want me even having the chance of seeing the little scout again, which does feel a bit odd to me, but whatever.

I decided to try exploring a bit at least, I may have been bound to this thing, but I can still move around a bit. The area that most intrigued me was the stairs near the crumbling old bridge right outside of Philip's little headquarters he had situated up here.

I tried slithering down there, trying to keep in mind my constraints, but it was too far away. Which disappointed me, but I just let myself be pulled back up to the top.

After that small failure, I decided to instead look around the room I was in.

There were a bunch of the coven gloves, along with what seemed like an old, broken prototype. I don’t want to know what could happen if someone got sealed with one of these.

Out of curiosity, I did touch the broken one, it sent a strange tingly sensation throughout my body, but it quickly faded, probably because I wasn’t a witch, nor was I even a physical being at the time. 

I then decided to dash over to the many blueprints on the desk. They mostly just looked like a bunch of old guy nerd stuff. But I did recognize what it was trying to replicate. It was attempting to replicate the old portal that Philip had almost made over 300 years ago by now. 

It almost worked, but somehow he missed something and it nearly locked him in the realm of mirrors with me, but he managed to drag himself out after a few hours.

I am a bit worried about how that may have affected him though, he’s been a bit meaner to me since that time, but it’s not that bad, it’s rather normal, barely worse than them.

I still wasn’t honestly sure what happened to that portal after he got spat out. 

I think the portal door blinked, flickered with an image of a forest, and then collapsed in on itself. But the thing is, it also could’ve teleported somewhere, magic can be finicky like that. 

I wasn’t sure why he was trying to remake it though, after it failed, he promised he would stay here and play with me. Maybe he was just curious?

After looking at these few things here, I very quickly got bored, there was nothing to do here, so I went ahead and started playing with some shadow puppets on the walls, again.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Belos walked back to the throne room, Hunter slowly shuffling behind him.

After they got back, Belos sat Hunter down to talk with him.

“Hunter, I told you to not interact with that thing again.” Belos stared at him, with a look of extreme disappointment on his face.

Hunter felt really bad, he didn’t want to disappoint his uncle, but that shadow guy seemed so..odd.

Belos then went on to explain why he got so mad the first time, “Hunter, that thing showed up in town many years ago, it was a being of chaos and destruction. I sealed it away and put it in that room for our safety.” 

Belos had this smooth, convincing way of talking, and while Hunter was confused why Belos would’ve called it with a name, well…why would his uncle lie to him? 

It must just be a way to keep it locked away or something. He didn’t know magic too well, so maybe it was.

“Oh, sorry uncle.” Hunter knelt down while apologizing, Belos looking upon him disapprovingly.

“The Golden Guard would have no need to apologize in such a manner,” Belos remarked.

Hunter jolted up from the ground “But, I’m not the Golden Guard?” 

“Are you?” Belos asked as he reached behind his chair to give him the cloak of the golden guard, “You’ve been performing exceptionally well in your classes lately, and you have proven your worth, from now on, you are the youngest to become Golden Guard.”

Belos continued on for a short moment, “Now, don’t disappoint me, and keep proving your worth, and you shall continue being the Golden Guard.” Belos gave Hunter a warm smile, a warm, crooked smile.

Chapter Text

9 / 18 / 2016

Dear Diary,
I haven’t even been here for 8 weeks and school is already a nightmare! There’s this one girl at school, I don’t even know what she has against me. But she trips me, steals my stuff, and is already coming up with names to call me. Her favorite seems to be Luzer.
Anyway, not everything is bad! I get to see my dad again tomorrow! He has to spend most of his time in the hospital, but he’s getting discharged tomorrow!

9 / 19 / 2016

I woke up the next day, expectantly running to the door, waiting for Mom to get ready so we could leave to go and pick up Dad, I hadn’t been able to properly see him since we moved here, and I couldn’t wait to show him around Gravesfield!

Mom finally got dressed but went to the kitchen instead of the door.

“Mom! Come on! Let’s go!” I shouted out to my mom, quite anxious to leave.

“Calm down Luz, we need to have breakfast so we can greet your dad at full energy!” Camila responded.

I nodded and hopped over to my mom, leaning over to see what she was making.

After about thirty minutes she finished making pancakes and sat us down to eat, a few minutes later, Mom’s phone rang.
She smiled and told me it was the hospital, so I gobbled down the rest of my pancakes and skipped back to the door while Mom went into her room to answer the call.

Ten minutes passed, and she hadn’t come out, I wandered over to her room and heard crying.

I was worried, why was Mom crying? It’s time to pick up Dad, she should be happy.

I crept into her room and sat by her, asking why we hadn’t left yet.

She looked at me, holding back her tears, and she pulled me in for a tight hug.

She whispered to me through her sobs. 

“Your..dad,” Her voice kept breaking up, “It got worse last night, and…he passed away.”

“But..” I  didn’t know how to respond, “He, he was better last night? Wasn’t he..?” I could feel my throat close up as I lost all words. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

9 / 24 / 2016

Dear Diary,

The school gave me a week off, the funeral was yesterday.
Dad left me a book, it doesn’t really seem like something I’d be interested in, but I’ll be giving it a read soon, I wouldn’t want to let him down again by not reading it.

I keep thinking that maybe, just maybe if I had gone down to see him more, to talk with him more, he’d be here.

9 / 25 / 2016

Dear Diary,

I don’t want to go back to school tomorrow. I know Britney is gonna start making up for lost time as soon as I get back. I tried telling Mom I didn’t want to go back yet, but she told me that the school wasn’t going to give me more time off, so I should just “Try my best and try to keep on a smile”

I’m not ready to be normal yet, I don’t want to put on a smile!
I’ll read the book he left me after school tomorrow, get ready to deal with that…hellhole.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How ironic , I thought to myself while getting ready for school the next day, All snowy and icy on the day I have to return to hell.

As I mostly expected, Britney was making up for her lost time by teasing and picking on me extra today. But, it also seemed that she managed to come up with ‘clever new’ ways to pick on me. 

“Hey, Luzer!” Britney called out from across the little playground this school had, “Why so miserable today? You know nobody likes a gloom gloom face!” Britney was now grinning, while leaning over me, waiting for a response.

“Britney, can you not do this today?” I responded, turning my head to glare up at her.

Britney got a bit annoyed, she didn’t like it when she thought people were trying to sass her.

“Why should I Luzer? You’re a weird freak!” She noticed how my glare intensified. 

But Britney desperate to get a funny response out of me, decided to push it further, “I bet your Dad would’ve loved how freakish you are at school.” 

Britney grinned, expecting me to break down sobbing.

 “You don’t speak about my Dad like that!” I jolted up, yelling at her, and shoved her away.

The next thing I heard was her screaming. But not in anger. Pain

I looked up, mortified, her arm was bent in all the wrong ways, I made her slip on the ice behind her. 

She was screaming for teachers, screeching at me.

Other students out there heard her and came to see, but all I could do was run.

I didn’t want to be seen like this.

 I couldn’t be seen like this.

I sprinted home but stopped right outside the front gate. 

The principal was going to call my Mom, I couldn’t disappoint her like this.

She couldn’t see me like this.

What was I going to do? I have nowhere I can go right now!

Tears started welling up in my eyes as I was about to accept going home, but then I heard a whispering from the woods behind my house. They were calling me.

I snuck around the house, ducking to avoid the windows, and jogged to the woods. 

A few minutes passed before I found a strange house. Was this on our property? Why didn’t we know about this? Did Mom know?

So many questions were racing through my mind until I heard my Mom calling for me, she got the call.

All logic and reasoning left as I raced through the brightly lit open door.

Chapter Text

I dashed through that door without a second thought,  I closed my eyes tight, holding back the tears. Suddenly I slipped and fell on…grass?   I opened my eyes to see red grass and trees. I sprung up to try and go back through the door I had gone through, but it was closed and wouldn’t open.

I slowly walked around this strange house, I could hear people talking behind the door I went through, I was worried it was my mom, but it didn’t sound like her at all. I decided to lean next to the door and listen in.

“ I know I heard something over here. Do you think it was The Owl Lady? ” The first voice was quiet, but understandable.

The second voice however seemed to croak out in whispers, and I was unable to understand it.

“ Well yeah, but…” “Hey! Cheer up a bit! I’m sure we’ll catch her, and I’m sure Belos will give us a raise when we do”

Who was Belos? That’s a…weird name, I guess it was the police chief's name. But who was ‘The Owl Lady’?

I started walking around a bit, both the grass and trees felt quite real, and the smell was impossible to not notice, I decided to just sit down on the grass, and wait for someone to find me, hopefully the whole broken arm thing would blow over by the time they found me. 

Hours passed, it was dark. And cold. Strange.

This house is strange.

I flopped down on the grass, lying there, I fell asleep.

"ᴵˢ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ᵃ ᶜʰᶦˡᵈˀ" 

   "ᴵᵗ'ˢ ᵃ ʰᵘᵐᵃⁿ” 

                     “ˢʰᵉ'ˢ ᶜᵒˡᵈ "

I woke up lying on a couch. It wasn’t my couch. It wasn’t the couch of anyone I knew. 

I shot up from this couch, I was in a messy house, with a strange owl mural on the roof.

Where am I? 

 Had I been kidnapped??
    WHERE AM I?

I started screaming, I didn’t know where I was, I was scared. 

Suddenly I heard a voice from the top of the stairs. 

“Eda! The thing you brought home is making loud noises!”

A tall pale woman staggered down the stairs.

‘Please don’t hurt me!” I cowered down into the couch.

“Hurt you? Now why would I do that?”

“Y-you kidnapped me!” I squeaked out, cowering further into the couch.

“Kidnapped you? I saved you! There was boiling rain last night and you were just lying there!” The woman stood tall as her eyebrows furrowed in frustration.

“Boiling rain? That’s not real!”  

I stopped and looked at her, noticing the pointy ears.

“Why are your ears pointy?!” I screamed at this lady, tears welling up in my eyes.

She sighed and whispered to herself “It’s fine Eda, she’s a human and probably scared or confused…”

She lifted her head back up to look at me, “Where do you think you are, kid?”

“Uh…Gravesfield..?” I looked at her with confusion, why would she ask that?

“Of course..” she muttered under her breath, “Alright kid, welcome to The Boiling Isles!” She swung open the door, allowing me to see the greenish sea and the red trees & grass, the pungent smell from before hitting my face again..

“The WHAT?” I stared at this scene, not wanting to believe any of it, but…it was right in front of me, how could I deny this?

“Now, how you got here is anyone’s guess because I haven’t used my portal in a while..”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Where was Philip? He hasn’t visited in weeks. Well, I think, time is finicky here.

I was just lying there, doing nothing, not even shadow puppets were entertaining anymore, so I just lied on the ceiling, hiding from potential intruders, but there was a sudden flash of pain, before quickly fading. 

I slipped down the walls, trying to see if someone was here, but there was nobody. 

I climbed back up the wall, but heard something, a crack, I hovered back down the wall, looking for the source of the noise, I saw nothing.

That is, until I turned around and noticed a small glow coming from my tablet. I hovered over there and took a look at it. There was a tiny crack on the moon with a small glow coming from it.

I touched the small crack and felt a small jolt from it, the first true, non-painful, feeling I had in millennia.

I touched it again, feeling that small jolt again, but also feeling a bit stronger. 

Curious I floated over to the table, and touched it, sending a small sheen over it, then, I tried to hover it, and I was able to. 

Granted, I could only lift it about a foot off the ground, but..I had magic again.

After the small astonishment wore off, I started questioning what had just happened.

Was that glow my magic? Why did touching it give me some magic back? 

But one question overpowered the rest. Why did it crack?

I didn’t do anything to cause it to crack, well, I think. 

I glanced back over to the tablet, the crack was still there, but it wasn’t glowing anymore. 

Then, I came to a realization. If this tablet can crack and start releasing my magic without Titan magic, maybe, I could free myself without Philip!

Life was about to get far more interesting.

Chapter Text

The principal had called, worried about Luz because she just ran from the school. He had been wondering if she ran home, I became rather worried and informed him that she did not.

“Luz?” I called out, trying to find her. 

I heard rustling noises coming from the side of our house and started walking towards the woods behind our house, “Luz!” I continued to call out.

Further into these woods, I spotted a strange sight. There was an old decaying house. 

I then saw Luz staring at the door of the house, “Luz?” 

As soon as I said that, she seemed perturbed for a bit, and suddenly dashed for the door, never reaching out to grab the handle. There was a bright flash of light as soon as she touched the frayed and tattered doormat. 

I looked up moments later to see that she had vanished, I sprinted over there and tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge. I dashed over to the window to see if I could spot her, but there was nothing. 

She didn’t return for dinner. Nor breakfast by morning. 

I called up the cops to file for a missing child case last night, in the morning they sent out a small team and a detective to investigate where I had last seen her.

I opened the door to a detective with basic gear, he walked in, brought me to the couch, and started the questioning process.

“Alright, so you’re saying she vanished in a ball of…light?” He clearly didn’t believe my story, that was obvious.

After a few minutes, he went out to start investigating the area I told him I had last seen her, next to that strange house deep in the woods behind our house.

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Strange,” he whispered to himself, “Footprints are running into the door, yet the door was never opened.

There were signs of the door trying to be pulled open, however, the mother did say she tried to pull the door open, and the fingerprints did match.

The investigation ended soon after as any evidence for a kidnapping, a runaway, or anything in between ran cold within about an hour.

The detective started chatting with the leader of the dispatched team, “Sir, all evidence points to the mother’s story to be true.” He stopped to think for a moment, “But that is just simply illogical.”

The Dispatched leader nodded in agreement, “Unless more evidence manages to pop up, I’m afraid this might be a cold case.” 

The detective looked down, hoping to think of something that might provide more evidence, when an idea popped in, “What if we checked the inside of the house? I know it wasn’t really a part of the case, considering it wasn’t opened, but there might be cameras inside, it could be something!” 

He looked at the detective and decided to give him the go-ahead.

The detective shoved the jammed door open and spotted a tiny red flashing dot. A camera. 

There were also animal traps inside for some reason, but he shrugged it off and grabbed a poorly fitted memory card out from the camera. 

He brought it back to the station to unload it and watch the footage. Upon loading it, the first thing he noticed was a glitched, broken recording, but it was still watchable. Reversing through the footage back to when the incident happened, he noticed something shoot across the floor. He slowed down the footage and got a better look at it.

A small blue wisp flew across the floor and under the door, afterward a blue light grew and shone under the doorway, before vanishing. 

Something magical might actually be afoot, he thought, but I’ll need more info first.

Chapter Text

No matter what I do, he can’t know. I hide the crack.
I think he’s suspicious, but he hasn’t seen it yet. I can’t let him see it.

It’s been growing, small clumps of magic drifting out every so often. 

I catch them most of the time, but I do have to wonder what happens when I don’t.

I hope it’s nothing bad.

Philip has started sending the grimwalker on missions. Two months seemed a bit young for Philip to start sending them on missions, but I guess he’s just being extra careful after our last encounter. 

I’ve still been practicing using my magic again, it’s taking a while though, as I’m very out of practice at this point. There was one time when Philip almost caught me levitating some papers when he suddenly warped to the skull, but I managed to cover them in shadow to make it just look like shadow puppets.

I’m hoping that once I get enough of my magic again, I’ll just be able to shatter the binding stone inside the tablet. I’m not sure if that will revert me to my physical form, but it will allow me to roam free. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Okay Eda, you need to teach me magic!” The small human stood in front of Eda, who towered over her, “I don’t want to stay in this place without defenses while you fix your portal!”

Eda sighed, this was the 5th time this week she asked, and Eda always answered with the same thing, “Humans have no magical potential. I can’t teach you.”

“I can figure something out! You just need to teach me something!” 

Eda grumbled and got up from the couch, “Okay, so this is a basic light spell.” Eda hoped that she would show her, she couldn’t do anything, and she would give up trying to ask.

Eda drew a circle in the air and made a small ball of light, Luz tried to replicate it, to no success. 

After 30 minutes of trying, and constantly failing, Luz gave up, Eda went back to sleep on the couch, and Luz wandered upstairs when she spotted something.

A small bottle with golden liquid inside, She had seen Eda drink one of these bottles every day since she got here, and…it was the same color as the circle Eda made, so that must be how she gets her magic!

Running out of ideas to get this magic thing to work, Luz snuck in, grabbed the bottle, and ran back to the small closet Eda gave her as a room.

She stared at the golden liquid, it looked like honey but far less viscous, she stopped and read the tag attached to the bottle, “An Elixir A Day…” Luz muttered to herself.

She glanced around, making sure nobody was around. After confirming, she tugged on the cork until it gave, she then gulped down the whole bottle.

It smelled sweet but had a bitter, sour taste that stung her tongue. After finishing the liquid, she tried to do the circle thing again, only for, still, nothing to happen.

Disappointed, Luz slumped back down onto the floor cot Eda left her and decided to go back to sleep.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luz woke up to a loud growl from the hallway, she glanced outside, it was late at night. She didn’t know what could be making that sound.

After a moment, it silenced. Then her door creaked open. It was King, she didn’t know much about him, but he seemed spooked about something.

“Hey King, what’s wrong?” Luz patted her little cot.

“N-No! What if you change too?!” King hissed. 

Luz tilted her head in confusion “I won’t ‘change’, I promise.” Luz smiled and held her hand out to King.

He carefully wandered over, feeling better when he reached Luz’s hand and she didn’t change.

“Come on, King, let’s find what spooked you. I’m sure it’s not what you thought it was.”  

Luz grabbed an old backpack that she used for storage and let King hop inside while she stood up to check the hall.

Upon stepping out of the room, a small blue clump flew towards Luz, it hovered around her for a bit before flying right into her, between her collarbones.

She found it odd, but shrugged it off as a terrified King tugged on her sleeve to get her attention.

“There it is!” King whispered while pointing off into the darkness

Luz squinted while her eyes adjusted to the darkness

A large owl-like thing stared back at her, Luz’s eyes widened in shock as the beast screeched and started bounding toward her.

Luz ran, quickly zipping the backpack shut to make sure King didn’t fall out.

She dashed through the hallway as the beast kept leaping towards her, clattering objects onto the floor.

She ducked into one of the rooms as the beast slipped on a rug, getting shot into the wall.

As Luz took a short breather she spotted another blue wisp, she reached her hands out as the wisp gently floated into her palms.

The wisp seemed to dance in her palm as two more joined it, eventually, one by one they flew into the same spot the last one did, between her collarbones, but this time it made her feel more…powerful.

Suddenly the beast slammed on the door, Luz panicked as she had nowhere to go. 

She shut her eyes tight awaiting her fate, when King tapped her shoulder.

“Try doing that circle thing!” He whispered.

“I already know it doesn’t work though,” Luz whispered back.

“Yeah and? It’s better than doing nothing right? Maybe it will work!” King tried to hype up Luz.

Luz sighed and tried making a circle in the air, but nothing.
“Let there be light!” she said, hoping maybe she had to say something for it to activate. Nothing. 

The beast finally burst through the door as Luz screamed, “PLEASE WORK!” 

Suddenly a giant ball of light flashed in front of them, the beast screaming as Luz and King shut their eyes tight.

As the light faded Luz felt a strange tingly sensation in her chest, ignoring that, she looked down at the beast and saw Eda, lying on the floor.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I had been practicing my magic for a while, and I had collected a decent amount of those wisps of my magic. It was at this point that I started wondering something.

Am I stronger than Philip? I honestly didn’t trust him anymore, not after these last few centuries.

Even if part of me still wanted to bury those thoughts deep, I didn’t trust him.

He made any grimwalker who saw me vanish. Except for Hunter, he seems to be…special.

I knew he was worried about someone finding me. But. He made anyone who saw me vanish. That’s not worried, that’s manipulative.

And he did keep changing the rules of our game, then acting as if those were always the rules.

I just don’t trust him anymore.

I’ve made up my mind. When he shows up tomorrow. I’m gonna try and break him. If I regret it, I can just…fix him later.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I saw him teleport up to the skull, now was my chance. I had one chance to do this.

I slithered out, making sure he didn’t see me, I tapped his shoe, sending a quick sheen over him, and alerting him of my presence.

As I started levitating him he screeched at me, while I slowly brought him over to the pit next to the bridge.

“Y-You aren’t trustworthy. I…I can’t call you a friend,” My voice quavered while I said that.

Suddenly I couldn’t move him, he whispered something and shattered the spell, causing him to land on the floor.

“Tsk tsk tsk, you really thought I would be taken out by a…levitation spell? What do you take me for Collector?”

I knew I failed, he was going to seal me back in that stone and bury me again. 

He walked over to the stone as he spoke “But now, I know you’re not trustworthy.”

I expected him to grab the cloth, but instead, he grabbed the mirror alone and started walking back to the edge.

“And why should I keep someone who’s untrustworthy around?” 

I quickly realized what he was about to do as he raised the cracked tablet in the air. I tried to levitate it away from him, but he held on tight.

Soon after, he tossed the tablet into the chasm, and I was dragged with it.

I heard something shatter when we reached the bottom.

I glanced up, seeing hundreds of thousands of the little wisps of magic flying off as I lay there, too weak to move.

Chapter Text

My head felt a throbbing pain that it never had before, as the world slowly came back into focus around me. All I could feel was the cold hard ground under me. As my eyes adjusted to the pitch dark, I spotted a skeleton. It was old and clearly had been here for a while.

I tried to slide myself back up the wall, but nothing happened. Where was I anyway?

I could see a faint light, it was quite far away. I glanced over and noticed a small shard.

A shard of the stone. I looked back at myself and noticed I had hands. And legs. I was freed.

I sat myself up, head still spinning a bit.

It didn’t feel real. It couldn’t have been real. Philip wouldn’t have done that to me.

But…I was a bad friend first. I couldn’t tru- I don’t know.

Hundreds of years of buried thoughts and emotions flooded back to me at this moment.

I sat there and just broke down. I didn’t fully understand what this stuff pouring out of my eyes was, but I didn’t care, I just sat there and let it flow.

After a few minutes, I wiped the liquid from my eyes and stood up, my legs wobbling a bit.

I stared back at the tablet, shattered into tiny little shards on the floor, I noticed a small blue orb embedded in the core of the moon, that must have been what was containing my magic.

My magic. I’m freed, I can definitely use that to get revenge on Philip. See how he feels being thrown off a cliff.

I tried to start floating so I could glide up to the top, but when I jumped I just fell back to the ground. That’s weird I muttered to myself. I tried snapping to summon my star, but nothing happened, I tried again, and a little bit of magic flickered in my hand but quickly faded. What happened to my magic?

Then it came back to me, right before I passed out, the wisps of magic were floating away. Thousands of them. That was the majority of my magic. 

I needed to find it, or whoever steals them. But first I need to get out of this pit, I grabbed the blue stone and looked around. The blue stone let off a bit of light and allowed me to notice some stairs all the way to the top. I sighed and threw the stone away as I slowly started climbing up the stairs.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After what felt like hours I finally made it to the top, I peeked over the edge to see if Philip was still there, but he didn’t seem to be.

I went up to the top and suddenly noticed the red glow, Philip was warping here. Damn, I’m unlucky. He was probably coming here to grab any research stuff, but now that I wasn’t here, he didn’t want to leave it unprotected.

I quickly dashed over to the shadows to hide, but he spotted me instantly. I forgot I had color now.

Philip started walking up to me as I stood there, frozen, “Collector! I told you I would never hurt you! I only did that to free you, as you can see, it worked!” He still had the same slimy way of talking to me, but I could see there was…fear in his eyes? Was he scared of me?

I started to back away as he got closer, he seemed to squint at me with suspicion, perhaps he noticed the wobbling in my legs from walking for so long, or maybe the flickering of failing magic in my hand.

“Do you not have…magic Collector?” his eyes seemed to furrow in frustration as he stared deep into my eyes.

As soon as he said that, I dashed for the exit, and he shifted himself into his monstrous form chasing after me. He had used a partial form on me before, but that was as a shadow, he couldn’t hurt me.

His full form charged at me, it was a green goopy monster covered in drooping bright blue eyes. 

I clambered out of the titan's eye and started running up the skull, Philip still chasing after me, If I wasn’t going to work with him, he wanted me dead, I could tell all the witches and demons the truth.

He confronted me at the top of the skull, “Collector…” his voice creaked out, “If you stay here, and 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥 me take out these evil beings, I won’t have to harm you!” He tried saying that in a sing-songy voice, but it just groaned out terrifyingly. 

I stepped back, feeling the ground crumble a bit under me, I looked behind me and noticed the Boiling Sea. Archivists are immune to the temperatures, right? I’m not sure if that’s the case without my magic though… I glanced back and forth until I made my decision.

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and quickly spun away from Philip, running towards the edge, I took a big leap into the air, Philip tried to reach out for me, but I slipped out of his grasp and dove into the Boiling Sea, where he couldn’t follow me.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Eda?!” Luz stared in bewilderment, “You were the thing chasing us?!”

Eda groggily pulled herself up from the ground in response to all the screaming, “Luz? Why are you yelling? And where am I?”

She got up and brushed some leftover feathers off of her, “Oh. That’s what happened.” 

“What do you mean, ‘Oh’!?” Luz yelled in confusion, “You turned into a giant monster, tried to kill us, and all you have to say is ‘Oh’?”

Eda sighed, “I should’ve told you two sooner. I was cursed at a young age, I don’t know who did it, but it’s still something I have to live with. I couldn’t find my elixir, so I guess I ended up transforming because of that.”

Luz took a small gulp as her eyes widened a tiny bit, “What does your…elixir look like?” Luz asked nervously. 

“It’s a small bottle with a golden liquid in it, have you seen it? I could’ve sworn I left it in my room.” Eda looked straight at Luz, starting to catch onto what happened when Luz only responded with a nervous chuckle, “Luz, did you take the bottle?”

Luz lowered her head, “Yes, I took it…sorry Eda…I thought it might give me magic.”

After a short moment, Eda responded with a little chuckle, “Well at least that was a logical assessment,” Eda put her hand on Luz’s head, “But don’t take anymore random potions, you’re lucky that potion doesn’t do anything unless you have a curse, it could’ve been much worse.”

Luz looked back up at Eda, “Does that mean I’m forgiven?” Luz looked at Eda with hopeful eyes.

“Yes,” Eda responded to Luz’s happiness, “But you’re still in trouble. I got some boxes that need to be taken up to the tower, so as your punishment, you’ll be doing that.”

“Aww, Edaaaa, can I not?” Luz looked at Eda with hopeful puppy dog eyes, “Pleaseeee?

“No cutesy eyes Luz, you did this to yourself.” Eda stared Luz down, “Now go downstairs and start working on getting those boxes up there, the sooner the potions can age, the better.”

Luz pouted a bit but went downstairs. She saw the boxes Eda was talking about in the corner and went to start dragging them out. 

After about 30 minutes she had managed to drag them all up the stairs of the tower, she plopped down onto the floor, taking a short break, when she noticed another one of the little wisps.

This one didn’t fly into her, but it rather danced around her for a long while, jumping up and down. Within moments five more showed up, doing the same thing, swirling around her, dancing. Soon, more and more showed up, Luz tried to get up and leave, but dozens more showed up and shoved her back down.

The number of wisps gathering and flying around her continued to grow, to the point of her being unable to see anything other than the bright glowing blue of the wisps. But she could tell more were showing up.

As the wisps sped up and started closing in, Luz felt the floor tremble a bit. Eda could also feel it. Suddenly, all the wisps flew outwards as a massive explosion collapsed the tower on top of Luz.

Eda heard a massive boom right next to her house, she dashed outside and saw the collapsed tower, Luz was up there! Eda thought to herself, “Owlbert!” Owlbert flew out of the house as Eda quickly hopped on and flew up to the rubble.

Only the top half of the tower had blown up, but, how did it blow up in the first place? Eda shook that off her mind and as she started trying to dig Luz out of the rubble it quietly shook a little bit. 

Suddenly, Luz burst out of the rubble, wildly floating around with strange markings all over her body, and a miscolored eye.

“Eda! I can do magic!!” Luz yelled as she summoned a ball of light in her hand.

Chapter Text

Hello! Yeah, another update chapter. 
Uh, idk really how to put this.

I'm not super in the Owl House fandom anymore?

Like, I still do ENJOY it, quite a lot. But as some may have seen from my page, I have other fandoms I write for now. cough cough, hazbin

But this fic means quite a lot to me. It was the thing that sparked my interest in writing again, and...all of you and your support forced me to improve.

I don't want this fic to just...end. 

I want it to have a proper ending.

I just don't think I'm the one who's going to give it one.

So this is my official announcement, after a LOT of deliberation, I'm deciding to hand the reins to somebody else. Who? I don't know yet. 
That's actually why I'm posting this. 

I want to know who's interested in it. 


If you may be interested, let me know. I'll put you on a list of potential people. 

I'm hoping with this move I'll finally be able to see it finished, and not have a fic that means so much to me simply sit, abandoned. 

Signing this fic off, for theoretically the last time

                               -InkedGravity