Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tremors shook the Isles in its entirety.

The few survivors were fearful for their lives, left with nowhere to run or hide. While they were granted a victory against a misunderstood foe with perhaps a little too much power for his own good, and even had him in their corner, it was all for naught, because the true threat had been right in front of everyone from the start.

At that time, the several decades old Emperor, better known as The Witch Hunter, Belos, threw away the remaining remnants of his humanity to see through his ultimate goal: to eradicate witches and demons… by any means necessary.

He took root in the Titan’s heart. And then the very lands that witches and demons inhabited for millennia suddenly began to shift…

A last stand followed shortly after the Titan began to awake from its eternity of hibernation.

The last living Titan and an infamous wild witch witnessed the loss of someone who was very precious to them. The human known as Luz Noceda.

While she withered away, she could only watch as the inseparable duo battled against the repulsive abomination that was once a simple, but very twisted human named Phillip Wittebane.

They were ultimately no match for him at the height of his power.

The Collector, a child from the stars, the one who took over the Isles for a time after the failure of the draining spell, also fell. And, with him, so did The Archives.

Nobody that was inside survived.

Luz could only watch in horror as it all happened. Everyone she ever knew, both as a friend and more, was now deceased under a pile of rubble. Anyone who did manage to escape would soon meet their fate regardless.

The remaining two had fallen in front of her, now slowly decaying just like she was. But, out of mercy, they fell rather quickly, unlike Luz who was suffering an agonizingly long, drawn out, painful death.

The human had front row seats to the deaths of her now former mentor and someone who she saw as the little brother she never had. Irreplaceable.

Stringbean, her new and now former palisman, helplessly watched as her new owner began to finish the transition from the land of the living to the land of the dead.

The entire time, Luz heard a faint voice inside her head which continued to get louder and louder with each passing minute. It was calling her name, trying to get her attention, and only continued to get louder still the closer she got to death’s door.

But it was too late. Whoever or whatever was on the other side of that voice seemed like they would be unable to help the truly apocalyptic outcome that had already occurred. Even if she now somehow had a way to stop Belos, it would be almost for naught; besides the landmass itself, there would be hardly any survivors at all. Certainly not enough for witches and demons to not be bound for extinction.

Luz wanted to persist. She wanted to persevere. She wanted to save everyone and save the Isles… but it was far too late. There was nothing left for her.

All of her friends and family were gone. Her second home was in ruins… and what would she even tell the poor basilisk back at home who was blissfully unaware of just how bad things had gotten?

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, as a means to snuff out the remainder of the witches, demons, and other life that still somehow existed in the wake of that day’s harrowing events, the Titan, or what’s left of it, rose from the boiling waters.

Predictably, before it could finish doing so, it slowly crumbled and broke apart, the pieces of the carcass collapsing back into the water. The rest crashed back into the boiling water.

It was just a carcass, after all. An ancient one at that.

As Luz hurtled towards the debris ridden water to join the rest of the deceased, the voice was now much clearer than before.

It was a voice that sounded vaguely familiar to her. One that she’d heard before in the in between. An older, fatherly voice. Friendly.

All she heard was-

“I’m sorry. If… If I just had more time, then maybe-”

…before her entire body was overwhelmed with a brief, burning pain from landing in the boiling water.

Everything went black.

. . .

Luz shot up from her bed, clutching her chest as she suddenly woke up in a cold sweat, barely managing to suppress a scream that threatened to escape her mouth, only then realizing that she was alive, and feeling no pain like she was just seconds ago.

Well, no physical pain, at least.

Frantically, she whipped her head around to gauge her surroundings.

It was very dark; beyond the areas directly illuminated by the moonlight from outside, the rest of her surroundings were shrouded in shadow. But she didn’t need light to recognize where she was.

Luz found herself sitting in her bedroom back at home, her true home, on Earth, back in Connecticut.

She wasn’t in a grotesque fantasy world. None of her friends were there.

She tried to get up to take a closer look around, but she ended up collapsing instead, finding that she was trembling too much to stay steady.

That’s fine, I’ll just stay on the floor for now…

Rolling onto her back, she gazed up at the top bunk.

Part of her was hoping that Vee would be there. But instead the top was empty, neatly made, in the same exact way it had been for as long as she could remember.

She never knew why she had a bunk bed instead of a normal one. Luz was always an only child.

From what she could see on the floor, she saw no evidence of anyone else being here at all besides herself.

She spotted her phone resting on the floor, connected to a charger in the wall.

The first thing that jumped out at her was that it looked fairly normal in terms of wear. Previously all sorts of scuffs and dents adorned the case, and the screen even earned a pretty bad crack, but all of that was gone.

With a gulp, she crawled over and powered it on, dropping it after being blinded by the sudden flash of light in the dark.

Trying again with a squint and shielding her eyes with her free hand, she saw the date.

It was June 17, 2022. And a very early hour in the morning.

In other words…

It was the day that Luz was originally meant to go to summer camp… but instead of doing that, she followed a certain owl that had nabbed her book.

And… the rest was history.

That’s exactly what it was. History.

Luz found the strength to sit up, hugging her knees to her chest.

“S-So… did that… does that mean that…”

If I’m right… that means I went back in time somehow. I went back before…

Everyone’s alive? Everyone?

“But…” Luz whispered, realization dawning on her.

Everyone was alive, yes, however…

None of those events had happened at all. She was back to square one. It was bittersweet…

She was no longer friends with Gus or Willow. She’d never gotten to meet Eda or her sister, Lilith.

Her palisman… her palisman.

Stringbean was no more. And it was possible that Stringbean would never exist again, at least not in the same way.

King had never learned about his past or what he really is. All of the memories they shared were now nothing…

Hunter was back to blindly serving under Belos, who would simply dispose of him if he stepped too far out of line, and Flapjack, his now yet-to-be palisman, was without an owner…

Vee was still on the run, being hunted with no place to call home…

Amity…

Luz sniffled.

Everything between the two of them was erased, too.

Why do I have to remember..?

Why am I even back here? I don’t want to deal with-

She slowly shook her head. “N-No. No. I… I can’t be selfish. I can’t think like that.”

They are alive again. That’s all that matters in the end, isn't it? My feelings don’t. How could they? None of it ever happened. It might as well have been a dream and nothing more.

Luz suddenly sat herself up.

“Maybe…” She trailed off, opting to finish in her head, Maybe they’re better off without me. It’s my fault all of that happened… and I couldn’t even save them from the mess I made.

Maybe, this time, Luz would go to that summer camp instead, like she was always supposed to.

. . .

Luz was not able to sleep that night. Even the simple act of resting her eyes proved to be a challenge.

She kept replaying the final hours of the past, all while being unable to remember the good parts. That part of her memory was failing her.

She was only remembering the bad.

With the start of her day ruined and a continued want for ignorance, she finally left her bed, now able to stand.

She was exhausted, but she had to be strong for what came next.

Luz felt nostalgic at the smell that wafted upstairs into her room. Her mom’s cooking… something she never thought she’d experience again.

Camila. Her mama.

She’d accompanied Luz on her trip back to the Isles.

…she didn’t make it.

She exited her room and made a beeline straight for the restroom.

…and proceeded to throw up what would be yesterday’s dinner into the toilet. She was surprised it took that long to happen.

After flushing the toilet, she washed her face in the sink and looked at herself in the mirror after wiping it with a towel.

She looked terrible.

Her hair was messier than usual. Her brown eyes which used to be so warm and full of life now looked dead, and were somewhat bloodshot, adorned with eyebags for good measure. She wasn’t looking forward to explaining herself.

In addition, the scar on one of her eyebrows was now gone… and her hair in general was shorter, as she went several months without getting it cut in the past timeline. It was now back to its previous state.

She felt a little smaller, and definitely felt weaker.

Luz grew a small amount during her time on the Isles, and got much stronger there, too. She remembered that she started out not being able to pull a simple lever two-handed, but after a point she was able to easily carry her girlfr-

She stopped that thought as soon as it began, reminding herself that it was no longer true. She had to remember that she now had only herself and herself alone.

She now lived in a world where she had no friends, with Camila being the only person who doesn’t want to avoid her or who doesn’t fear her.

“Luz! Breakfast is ready! The bus will be here soon to pick you up for camp, okay?” Camila’s voice called from downstairs.

Her voice. She wasn’t ready to hear her voice again.

But… she felt a small amount of comfort knowing that her mother would be ignorant to the failed timeline. She hoped nobody else would remember.

Luz herself had to live with remembering her own death and what caused it. She’d never go near boiling water again.

Luz wouldn’t wish that on even her worst enemy… well, besides the one that killed everyone she loved.

Fuck that guy.

Luz didn’t swear much, certainly not out loud, but there were certainly some people (she wondered if he could even be considered a “person” at all given what Belos actually was) that made her want to.

Not wanting to get her mom to worry and check on her, Luz tried to make herself look as presentable as possible, opted to ditch her usual apparel by going for a white and purple striped shirt and dark blue tights, and descended the stairs for what would be the longest and most agonizing fifteen minutes of her life.

. . .

Luz wasn’t ready. She’d never be ready.

Previously, the two of them had been separated, and never ended up reuniting after finally defeating Belos and saving everyone… because Luz failed to do just that. Instead, even though she didn’t specifically see Camila die, she knew. She was among the others who fell to their doom.

Camila was the same as ever. Or, the same as she was before everything happened. That’s not to say she actually changed much even after all of the crazy events that took place during and after that fateful summer, it’s just that now Camila was now oblivious to the world of magic that lied just beyond the door of a decrepit shack in the woods just a short jog away, and the fact that her only daughter made the reckless decision to stay in what was, in hindsight, a very dangerous place.

Now Vee did cover for her during all of that, Luz didn’t even want to imagine what would’ve happened if Camila found out she was missing immediately after she was meant to take the bus, especially now that Luz knew that Camila (in that timeline) had been under the belief that Luz detested the idea of staying with her, which couldn’t have been further from the truth, not then or now.

Those mistakes just piled up endlessly. They continued to just hurt everyone involved over and over and-

“Luz? Are you alright? You haven’t touched your food…” Camila asked after swallowing a bite from her own plate.

It was a pancake morning. Luz loved pancakes, especially those made by her mama, but…

“S-Sorry. Just… not hungry?” She mumbled out.

Camila set down her fork, giving her a concerned look. “You aren’t? I find it hard to believe you aren’t hungry after you forgot to eat dinner last night… I told you that you need to learn to pace yourself a little when binging those, er… animes? Ah.” Camila waved her hand dismissively. “Still. Are you sure you’re doing okay? You look…”

Luz internally winced. She had absolutely no recollection of the previous day, only the previous timeline. She’d deemed it decidedly unimportant relative to everything else that happened afterwards.

“...you aren’t worried about camp, are you?”

“Yeah. Sorry.” Luz lied.

Luz could never tell her the truth about why she’s so out of it.

“Aw no… well, don’t be, alright? I promise that it’ll fly by… and maybe you can make some friends while you’re there!”

Luz didn’t even remember what it was about or why she was even being sent to a summer camp in the first place. She was half-tempted to ask, but Camila would probably think something was wrong with her if she admitted that she forgot such a big detail.

So, instead she settled with a simple “Okay.”

“Try to at least have some of what’s on your plate, ok? The ride is a few hours at least… you wouldn’t want to be stuck there while-”

“I get it. I’ll… I’ll try.” Luz interrupted, halfheartedly cutting off a sliver of her pancake. She’d elected to only get one even though she’d normally have at least two, if not three.

Camila finished her plate, giving Luz a knowing look. “Listen… if you really hate the idea of going to this camp for the summer, I can try and work something else out to help you. Or maybe I can look into getting you into a different school?”

Luz shook her head. “I’ll be fine.”

To Luz’ dismay, Camila didn’t trust her word one bit, but she also elected not to push further either.

“...alright. The bus will be here in a few minutes to pick you up.” Camila said softly.

“Okay.”

. . .

Luz felt relieved to finally be outside.

Sometimes she still had to do a double-take at how normal and peaceful everything was. Now she was more used to red grass, fleshy moss, pointy red trees, bones… and also all manner of little critters and other things that wanted to kill her.

Instead, she was standing on the sidewalk of a quiet suburb, situated in Gravesfield. 

The sky was blue with fluffy white clouds, birds were in the sky, it was pleasantly warm…

Luz would say it’s a good day. And maybe it is, for everyone that is not herself.

She saw the bus round a corner and begin its approach.

Luz tried. She really tried to talk herself into going back. But, she just couldn’t. She couldn’t do it.

Maybe it was selfish, or stupid even. She’d been granted a second chance to right her wrongs and save everyone… but she thought it might be better if she never intervened at all.

There are other people who are probably better suited to handle that. Maybe some other human will find their way in there somehow and get rid of him and his terrible Day of Unity… or his cover for committing literal genocide.

Maybe someone else who isn’t afraid to get their hands dirty. I… I can’t even imagine actually...

Luz shook her head.

Maybe in time she’d forget. Perhaps everyone would be better off without her. After all… she did miss out on what happened at that summer camp, only able to get little snippets from Vee (and the fact that she did in fact make friends like Camila was hoping she would, even if it wasn’t actually Luz who made them).

Luz could’ve sworn she saw a familiar brown-feathered owl with golden yellow eyes staring at her from the branches of the trees in the distance, but when she blinked, it was gone.

“Just a normal owl…” She whispered to herself as the bus came to a stop in front of her house, the doors opening, beckoning for her to enter.

Luz understood now. The second chance… it wasn’t for her.

It was for her (now former) friends… and a plea for her to stay far away from the fantasy world of her dreams and do what she was always meant to do from the start.

Before she boarded the bus, she tossed the Azura book that she’d nearly forgotten about in her bag into the bin, before stepping on and finding a seat.

It’d be best if she fully took a break from the whole “fantasy” thing for a bit. She can always get another one eventually, couldn't she?

Chapter Text

Luz Noceda found herself being assigned to “Cabin Seven,” and being shepherded into, unsurprisingly, a cabin, with a big “7” stamped onto the door.

It was a quaint little cabin. Two bunk beds on either side, a round table for four, and some empty shelving, presumably for stowing belongings and whatever else would be accumulated over her stay.

Luz didn’t bring much of anything with her at all, just a small and empty sketch pad she’d use to pass the time and a few changes of clothes, all of them identical to what she wore now.

Being the first to arrive there, she silently placed her bag on the barren shelf.

She didn’t know what to expect. So many things had happened ever since she was originally even meant to go to this camp in the first place that she forgot what it was all about, or why. She only remembered the “Think Inside the Box” part… maybe she was originally meant to go because she was stuck inside her own head, and getting into shenanigans at other peoples’ expense.

Luz nodded to herself in understanding.

Sounds about right…

It would probably be dull. The people she’ll get paired with will probably give her a run for her money in terms of “weirdness” factor.

But it’s a distraction. A distraction is exactly what she needs.

In time, she’ll forget.

She’ll forget, right? She has to. After all, all of her friends have already forgotten about her, whether they wanted to or not.

She can’t remember. She won’t remember. Last time-

The door violently swung open behind her, mercifully jolting her from her spiraling thoughts and back to the present, causing her to jump and spin herself around to see just who suddenly barged into the once quiet room.

“Oh hey, somebody’s already here. Whoops…” The newcomer said. They looked familiar to Luz… their name was on the tip of her tongue…

“Well, howdy stranger! The name’s Masha, I guess we’re cabin mates?” Masha said with a hint of hesitance.

I knew it! So this is how Vee knew them…

“L-Luz.” She stuttered out uncharacteristically.

She wasn’t quite in the mood for socializing today… even if normally it came a lot more naturally to her.

“Nice to meet ya, Luz! Pretty sure there’s supposed to be two more any second-”

They were both rudely interrupted by the door being slammed open… again.

“Hey-”

“WHAT IS IT WITH PEOPLE THROWING OPEN DOORS?!” Luz shouted, cutting off the voices of the two that were walking in, “JUST TURN THE KNOB AND OPEN IT NORMALLY!”

Silence filled the room as they all stared at her in shock.

Luz blinked, before putting her head down and apologizing. “S-Sorry! Sorry… I had a bad day yesterday. Stressed.”

The awkward silence persisted until Masha decided to break it themselves, “No worries!” Masha lightly slapped her on the shoulder, clearly forcing a smile. “Now, what were you about to say?”

“Yeah, my bad. Uh, I’m Alex.” Said the orange-haired girl. She was solidly built, tall, and wore rectangular glasses. The lenses are slightly dirty.

“And this nerd here-” She jabbed the lanky, long haired boy next to him in the forearm, “Is my friend Jay.”

A chuckle came from the boy. “Says the one wearing glasses.”

“...and there’s nothing wrong with that!” Alex defended, struggling to keep a straight face.

Masha left Luz’ side to go converse with them, but Luz had already checked out of the conversation after she learned all of their names.

Instead, Luz decided she’d try doodling to pass the time, at least for a little while.

. . .

Luz learned the hard way that the first day of camp was… basically nothing.

Essentially, it was a means to let the attendees get familiar with both their surroundings and their peers. To that end, there wasn’t anything that could distract Luz or otherwise keep her mind off of what had been at the forefront of her brain ever since she woke up several hours ago. She could’ve tried socializing with the very people she’d be spending the next few months with, but she really wasn’t feeling up to it today.

Luz spent a solid twenty minutes just staring at her sketchbook, and when she finally found some inspiration… she just drew what was in her head.

A impressively realistic depiction of a bipedal, furry creature with an exposed, horned skull, donning a collar… and wearing a paper crown atop its head.

She’d drawn King without putting much thought into it. A terrible mistake.

Luz decided afterwards that she’d try taking a break from that and doing something else… but she had nothing else to do. She’d completely forgotten her phone charger, so she intended to save her phone for an emergency rather than wasting battery watching cat videos or something.

She already made a terrible first impression on her peers, who now probably saw her as a ticking time bomb that was to be avoided at any and all costs.

Alex and Jay seemed to mostly interact with each other given the fact they already knew each other going in, and Masha fit right in to… whatever it was they were doing. Luz didn’t really pay much attention to it all, so she didn’t know.

Luz did notice Masha giving her a few concerned, and also apologetic looks from time to time throughout the duration of the day, but they never approached her directly after the first meeting.

It was now night time. The sun had set, and the inside of the cabin was dark. Everyone was asleep except for Luz, at least that’s what she was thinking.

Luz still couldn’t sleep, so she decided to give it another try. The moonlight from the window illuminated the paper well enough for her to not require a lamp.

…and she came to regret it after she finished.

She drew a cartoonish rendition of Azura and Hecate, except she made a few small alterations to their designs to make them resemble herself and…

And Amity respectively.

So much for taking a break from fantasy stuff. Idiot.

Luz could only think back to that one halloween party they went to together… Was it even a party? She no longer recalled the finer details, but that’s what they went as together, with everyone else there as well.

Too bad the rest of what happened that night completely ruined it. That was the night that Flapjack-

“Psst. Whatcha drawin’?” Masha whispered over her shoulder.

Luz almost fell out of her chair, letting out a surprised squeak.

Masha snorted. “Ahah. Uh, sorry, you looked, er…” Masha tapped their foot, eventually finding the word they were looking for, “Absorbed in your work? Was curious is all.”

Luz opened her mouth to speak, but turned back to it without saying a word.

Masha leaned in to look. “Damn, these are really good! Wish I could draw that well… all I can do is stick figures.”

Luz traced her finger over something else she drew earlier, shortly after she drew King.

A harpy. Not just any harpy; harpy Eda. She was doing a really bad job of forgetting everything. How could she?

A few tears threatened to spill from her tear ducts.

“Didja make this up yourself?” Masha curiously questioned, oblivious to what the drawings were really referencing, or the fact that they were, in fact, not just from some work of fiction or something she made up.

“N-No, they’re…” Luz trailed off, stopping herself as she noticed her wavering voice.

What am I crying for??? These look like some characters from a fantasy book! I haven’t even met them in this timeline… I haven’t… met them…

“They’re… what?” Masha looked at her, gasping when she saw the tears that Luz tried so hard to suppress roll down her face. “Woah, um… you okay? Wasn’t something I said was it-”

Luz shook her head, Masha stopping themselves mid sentence.

Luz sniffled, wiping her eyes. She placed her finger on the drawing of King. “T-This is… his name is King. He’s the king of demons!” She proclaimed with a small, but sad smile, which betrayed her weak and wavering tone.

“He’s a cutie, that’s what he is.” Masha snorted.

Luz frowned. “Yeah.”

Silence.

“Look, uh… sorry if this isn’t my place… but you mentioned you had a bad day yesterday? Kinda seems to me like it’s taking a really big toll on you.”

Luz bit her lip.

“You’re not like the others here, y’know? You’re all sad… or even on edge. I mean, I was sent here because I tried to summon the demon lord. Emphasis on tried.” They said to her nonchalantly.

Silence again. Stunned silence, this time.

Masha seemed to notice her expression so they explained, “You know, with the candles, the star circle… ah, forget it.” They shook their head at themself, “Thing I’m trying to say is, everybody’s got a reason for being here, like some kind of quirk or some crazy thing they did to ‘justify’ it… but I’m really having a hard time seeing what that something is for you.”

Masha peered over Luz’ shoulder again, gazing at the genuinely impressive drawing. “And I don’t know anybody who gets that emotional over a drawing, no matter how good it is.”

Luz winced.

“I can’t make ya talk, but you’re bumming me out, and even though we don’t really know each other… you’re still part of Cabin Seven! We’re all in this together, even if you don’t think so.”

Luz loudly sniffled, wiping her nose with her arm. “I-I, uh… thanks. It’s just…”

What do I even say?

Of course I want to talk to somebody about this. Carrying this burden all alone is awful… but who would even believe something as crazy as this?

“P-Please, don’t worry about it. I’ll be okay, I swear. It’s kind of, er… private, anyway. Sorry.”

Masha seemed to be mostly satisfied with the answer, even if they didn’t believe the first half of her sentence. “If ya say so! But I’ll always be open to lend an ear.”

“Alright. I’ll… I’ll think about that.” Luz said with a ghost of a smile.

. . .

It never got easier.

After an entire month, the memories still continued to linger, and they were no weaker than on day one.

She wanted to destroy the remnants of the past that no longer existed in her present world. She wanted to toss her sketchbook into the fire and then forget it all happened. It was too much.

But… something stopped her. Her brain refused to let her forget, too.

Did she actually want to forget everything? No… no, of course she didn’t, but what else was she supposed to do? The adventures she had, the friends and even family she made, they’re all precious to her, and yet…

Now, in the timeline she finds herself in, they serve as nothing but a reminder of what she threw away thanks to her meddling and lack of ability. She always just held everyone back.

While the monotony of day-to-day activity in the camp helped, it did nothing when it came time to try and rest.

During the unreasonable hours of the night and the earliest hours of the morning where she was gripped by her newfound insomnia, she found herself replaying all of those memories.

While Luz made a valiant effort to remember all of the good times and all of the precious moments she shared with all of the wonderful people she met in her past, she ultimately could not help but tie those very memories to the aftermath which resulted in everyone’s demise… and also the undoing of those very memories in the first place.

They might as well just be fantasies of a future that never was, and never will be.

During those times of reminiscence, she also sometimes considered the idea of going back.

Luz wanted to go back again. Part of her wanted to actually finish what she started.

But could she actually do it? Her first attempt led to everyone getting killed. She helped people, sure, but that was irrelevant if her presence ended up indirectly wiping out an entire civilization, with her meddlings in time travel sealing everyone’s fate.

Fate was a cruel thing.

Even if she wanted to entertain that idea, she had to find a way back without the portal door, and she certainly didn’t have the ability to make one by herself.

There was always the possibility that Belos had already claimed the portal key or figured out a workaround. Eda might’ve been captured by now…

It was another one of those restless nights. Thinking of what could’ve been, what she could’ve done, and wishing she could just forget it all…

Something that Luz found helpful though was sneaking out and just… walking around for a little. Seeing as it was summer, it was pleasantly warm out, not cold at all. All she had to do was open up her window, climb through, and then take a few laps, sticking to the shadows to avoid getting spotted, until her mind was more at ease. It never really helped her with getting a good night’s sleep, but it helped calm her down, at least for a short while.

That’s exactly what she set out to do again.

The moment Luz escaped the confines of her cabin, her ears picked up something peculiar.

Someone, or some thing was nearby. Luz ruled out it being any of the camp personnel…

The location was relatively remote. It was quiet and out in the countryside, though there were a few towns a few miles away. Still, it’d be highly unusual for someone to just be wandering in, and doing what Luz could only assume as rummaging through the dumpsters, as that’s what it sounded like to her.

While normally she’d be more inclined to take a detour and avoid what may be potential danger, she chose to ignore her better judgment that time and go straight to the source.

Luz figured that, assuming she was quiet, she could get a look at whatever was happening, and then back away if it was dangerous.

The camp had waste to take care of, such as unfinished meals, discarded packaging, or broken equipment, all of the following and more being destined for one of the dumpsters kept near the edge of the camp, very out of the way.

And Luz could confirm that someone was, indeed, digging through them.

What Luz did not expect was the identity of who was rifling through the garbage.

It was not human, or even any creature that Luz might recognize as being native to Earth, a reptilian, snake, slug looking creature. Luz knew exactly what it was… and who.

Smooth, pale green and beige scales. Blue tufts of hair, with a blue tipped tail. Blue, yellow, and black eyes… and looking worse for wear overall.

Its scales were stained with dirt and mud, a few stray leaves and pebbles lined its hair, and there were a few faint scars throughout its skin.

It was number five, better known as Vee.

Luz cursed herself for being so stupid.

Because she chose to go to camp instead of “running away,” Vee never got to make the switch. Vee never took on her form, only managing to escape the Isles and nothing more. She never found another form to take, it seemed.

Luz could only imagine what she’s been doing this whole time. Vee already figured out that she’d have to be cautious in unfamiliar territory, and she was already used to hiding herself from the world as stipulated by her identity as a basilisk, so there was a good chance that she was just hiding out in the wild, trying to survive in secret.

And now, she was digging through trash.

In the last timeline, Vee would’ve instead been inside, safe, and probably thinking about what she would do with her new friends. But because of Luz’ decision, that didn’t happen.

Fate is cruel.

Holding her breath, she slowly backed away, choosing to leave Vee to her own devices for now.

Luz didn’t want to make a rash decision she’d regret. She had an idea of what to do now… but she didn’t know if she had the strength to actually do it.

She had a few things to think about.

. . .

Ever since seeing Vee that night, Luz kept asking herself a new question: “What about everyone else?”

How was everybody else doing? How did her absence affect the people on the Isles, especially those whose lives she intervened with directly?

Is Willow still stuck in the Abominations Track? Still struggling with a kind of magic she’s not good at while ignoring her true talent? Being picked on by Hexside’s bullies?

Is Gus still an Illusionist, or has he given up and tried something else after caving to peer pressure? Is there even an appreciation society for humans..? Not that I deserve to be appreciated in that way.

Has Eda succumbed to her curse, or even been captured? Does she even have the portal key anymore? Not like I have a way to check…

Is King still oblivious to his past or what he is? Has the Emperor’s Coven figured it out yet..?

Amity, has she…

Luz gulped as she thought about Amity.

The Amity she first met all that time ago was very different to the one she ultimately ended up falling head over heels for.

Cold, prickly… and also a bully. One of Willow’s former friends. Something of a perfectionist, aiming her sights squarely at the Emperor’s Coven, who she at the time believed to be her future, ignorant to how it would actually be her end, had she continued down that path.

Luz wondered how she was doing now.

As much as she dwelled on how much harm she did to the people she called her friends… She did recognize that she did at least in part help the Blights reconcile a bit. Not so much the parents, as Luz believed Odalia to be a lost cause after every interaction she had with her and every recount from Amity herself, but the siblings and their father, Alador.

Edric and Emira, her older brother and sister, were once more distant than ever, and had once threatened to humiliate Amity by spilling all of her diary’s contents out for the world to see.

Thwarting their plans and getting everyone to make up was the start of their relationship… but, details.

Thinking about the bigger picture, there was also the fact that the Day of Unity would still happen, with or without her. The only difference is, Belos would live to see the end of it, with the end result still being ultimately the same.

And that was something Luz could not allow.

Every minute she spent wasting away in this dull camp was every minute that ticked off of the Isles and its time to continue to exist.

She knew what she had to do. She had to save everyone somehow… now, rather than meekly hoping someone else does it for her. Luz already knew what would happen, and it’s not like she unlearned everything she picked up along the way from before, so… what’s stopping her?

Well… she was terrified of messing up again. She’d convinced herself that it was her fault and her fault alone that everything happened. And there is a bit of truth to that; thanks to time mumbo-jumbo, she went back in time and helped Phillip meet The Collector. Had that never happened, the Day of Unity would have never even existed. Belos would’ve had to figure out a different plan entirely… but no, she just gave him the perfect one on a silver platter, along with many years to perfect it.

The whole thing made her head spin. She didn’t know if everything would be the same if she went back now. What would have changed if she chose to change the time that she arrived? What if she never returned to the past in this new timeline? How did it all even work?

Nonetheless, she was having a really hard time not thinking about all of it. Vee’s appearance changed things for her. Perhaps it was fate’s way of telling her what she really needed to do.

She and Masha talked from time to time, which helped. Luz always voiced everything in a very roundabout and vague way to avoid the possibility of sounding insane (who knows, maybe she is at this point), and Masha was willing to listen to her ramblings and give her something to ponder afterwards.

The other duo, Alex and Jay, were helpful too. They were always getting into crazy shenanigans or talking about the most bizarre things, and were eager to include her in their antics. It was a welcome distraction from the whirlwind of thoughts and emotions she had to deal with every day.

A week had passed since she first encountered Vee, and after a few subsequent checks, she learned that Vee frequented that area, which made things nice and easy for Luz.

She’d been spending the week preparing for her return, as behind schedule as it was. Luz couldn’t prepare as quickly as she would’ve liked, as she wanted to be discreet about it all.

She planned for Vee to swap places with her, just like before. The less everyone knew about her disappearance, the better. She wasn’t even sure she’d return herself, after all. What would be the odds of a third chance in the likely chance that she screws up again?

Her sketchbook had been taken up by several redundant drawings of useful glyph combos, along with some basic standalone glyphs for whenever she’d need them. In the past timeline, Luz used them and experimented with them so much that she knew all of them by heart. The combinations, less so, but she didn’t have over a century of practice like a certain someone did.

Then it was setting up a plan. Luz already had one in mind; enter the Boiling Isles, investigate the surroundings, see what changed if at all, and figure out where Belos is in his plan… and figure out how to stop it without anyone getting hurt.

While it would normally be impossible for Luz to return to the Isles without the portal door, she did it once before… with the vial of Titan’s Blood buried in the cemetery. She could just return there and open up a portal that way.

It all seemed simple on paper, but Luz had a sneaking suspicion this would not be the case.

With all of that in mind… I think… I think I’m finally ready to go back.

Tonight.

. . .

Moonlight cloaked the camp in blue light as Luz escaped the confines of her cabin for the final time. All of her belongings (that were required) were with her, as she arrived at the dumpsters. Sure enough, the young basilisk was hungrily digging through, looking for any tiny morsel of food.

“Hey.” Luz said quietly, Vee jolting and staring at her wide-eyed, like a deer in headlights, her eyelids blinking sideways exactly twice in quick succession.

She was about to flee-

“W-Wait! Please, don’t run. This is… this is important.” Luz grabbed onto the basilisk’s arm.

“Vee.” Luz said softly.

The basilisk was taken aback by hearing her own name. “H-Huh? How… How do you know my name? Who- but… wait, you aren’t-”

Luz shook her head. “No, I’m not working for Belos… quite the opposite actually. I was hoping you could do me a favor!” She said with a small smile, forcing herself to sound more cheerful and friendly.

Vee gave her a confused look. “But… Belos-”

Luz continued before Vee could say anything, “I need to go back to the Boiling Isles. I have some…” Luz looked away briefly before continuing, “Some friends I need to help out. They’re in danger. But… if I just disappear, my mom will worry about me. So…”

“...you want me to take your place.” Vee finished.

“That’s right! Just pretend to be me, and that’s it. You’ll be able to meet some friends, have a place to eat and sleep… oh, and my mom’s really nice!”

Vee was stunned, yet looked slightly frustrated. “W-What..? So… why are you…” She trailed off. Luz felt her tense up a little.

“Why am I what?”

“N-Nothing. I’ve um. Been living off of scraps for a while. This place is a lot safer than my real home, but there’s hardly any magic here. I haven’t seen anything that even resembles me either, so… I guess I have no choice, huh?”

Luz was about to remind her that she does, in fact, have a choice, and that she could maybe find another way to make things work out, but Vee didn’t allow her to say anything.

“O-Okay. I don’t really know w-what I’m doing… but I can try.”

“Thanks a bunch! You’ll look and sound like me already, and given the place you’ll be coming from and the person I was before… you should be alright!” Luz assured her.

The entire conversation was awkward. At this point, she was worried about someone walking up on them and seeing them.

Vee then shifted right in front of her eyes. It was just as Luz expected: a perfect, 1:1 replica of herself. “So… how long will I be like this?”

Luz was unnerved by not only seeing herself outside of a mirror, but also hearing her own voice without speaking the words. She’d only witnessed it a few times before in the past timeline. “...I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?! What do you mean???”

“What I’m doing is…” Luz held her arm in her hand, looking away. “Very… dangerous. I’m not sure if I’ll make it back, or if I even can go back after I leave. Might be a one way trip.”

“I just don’t wanna worry mama. It’d be easier for me to just stay here and try to forget and move on… but… I-I can’t. I have to do this.”

“Forget what?”

Luz frowned. “I made a lot of mistakes. People got hurt because of me. It’s part of why I need to go back. I shouldn’t still be here like this just… just doing nothing!”

Luz shook her head, snapping herself out of her train of thought, which was quickly starting to derail into a bad place. “I won’t make you do this, I know it’s a lot to ask.”

“I’ll do it. If… if you’re really okay with it. Just. I have one question first.”

“Ask away.”

Vee looked slightly embarrassed. “If… if you do come back… what happens to me? Will I have to just go back to… to before-”

Luz aggressively shook her head at her. “Nuh uh! Don’t even worry about that! Seriously, I bet that even if my mom figured out who you really were, she wouldn’t kick you out just because. I’ll make sure that she doesn’t. I promise.” Luz wasn’t just betting, she knew, because that’s exactly what happened before. Even if the circumstances were slightly different now, Luz strongly doubted that that would change.

“O-Okay. Sounds… sounds good.”

They both stood there awkwardly.

“So um… can you tell me what I need to do here or-”

“Of course! Here’s the gist of it…” Luz began to explain, except-

“Heya, Luz and Luz. What’s up?” Masha asked nonchalantly.

Vee didn’t know who Luz was or who the stranger who just addressed her was.

Luz on the other hand wanted to die.

. . .

“So… you’re a big shapeshifting snake slug… thing from an alternate dimension that’s on an island which is made up of a giant, rotting carcass, with magic in the air and demons?” Masha asked.

Luz had to explain everything. Vee explained exactly who and what she was. Masha was oddly calm about everything.

“Yep…” Vee confirmed.

“And you have apparently been to such a badass place like that and just… never said anything?”

Luz nodded. “Would you have believed me..?”

“Nope!” Masha laughed. “So… what’s this big thing you’re doing that requires you to go back and is apparently risky enough to be a one-way trip?”

Luz frowned. “The short of it is… someone there, the Emperor, basically wants to commit genocide on all of the witches and the demons that live there. He’s, er… a Witch Hunter. Nobody’s really figured that out except me. See where I’m going with this?”

“Witch Hunter..? Wait… what’s this guy’s name?”

“Belos. Used to be Phillip Wittebane.”

Masha smacked the palm of their hand with their fist. “Aha, I knew that sounded familiar! So that’s actually real? I thought it was some kind of made up legend to make this old town more interesting or something.”

“It’s real… unfortunately.”

Vee’s lips pursed. “So… that’s why… that’s why we were…”

Luz and Masha looked at her, but Vee chose to not continue. “N-Nevermind. It’s nothing.”

“So.” Masha tapped their foot, “You expect to defeat this guy all on your own? I highly doubt someone like that is weak… or stupid, for that matter.”

“Yeah, I do. I have to.”

“Why the hell’s that?”
“Because..!” Luz’ voice raised a little, shaky, but she brought it back down. This caused Masha and Vee to tense up.

“B-Because… my friends d- they got h-hurt really bad. They got involved. They didn’t deserve to get tied up in this.”

She clenched her fists at her sides. “S-So, this time, it’ll just be me.”

“Not happening.” Masha said.

“What are you talking about?”

Masha gave her a big grin. “Because I’m going with you, silly! Besides, now that I know it actually exists, I kinda wanna see this crazy place for myself… and see if this ‘demon lord’ I tried to summon is actually a thing.”

“N-No. I can’t- you don’t know what you’re getting into! I’m not sure if it’s even possible to come back…”

Vee’s eyes widened. “She’s r-right, you can’t. And I can’t… I can’t be both of you.”

“Huh?” Masha tilted their head. “Why not?”

“I don’t have a lot of magic left. Every time I change my form, I use a little bit of it up. I haven’t found a trace of magic since coming here… so if I get stuck in my real form because I run out of magic…”

“Ah.” Masha shrugged. “Whatever, then you can just pretend to be her I guess. Doubt it’ll matter if I disappear. Might even do me good!”

Luz looked at them as if they were crazy. “What do you mean??? There’s a reason I have her pretending to be me while I’m gone in the first place. Won’t people be looking for you once they realize you’re missing? As early as tomorrow morning?”

“Nah.” Masha said. “Pretty sure half the reason my parents sent me here was because they saw me as some kind of problem that they didn’t want to deal with. But they don’t have the stones to send me to an orphanage either.”

“They don’t care about little old me. So yeah, I think I’d rather go on an adventure with you then waste my time here before going back to my old life.” Masha frowned. “Alex and Jay are cool, I don’t wanna just ditch them all the sudden like this… but I like to think they’d get it. They never talk about why they came here themselves, I just figure everyone has their reasons. Maybe they do too.” They shrugged to themselves.

Masha finally looked Luz in the eyes. “Anyway, I wanna help with this. And hey, maybe I’ll come back after a while if we find a way back. Maybe being MIA for a bit will get my parents to wake the fuck up and give a damn for once. I’ll even get to say I went to a cool demon realm and lived to tell the tale!”

Luz sighed. “O-Okay… just don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Luz didn’t know how to feel about the idea of having someone accompanying her. Someone new who had never set foot on the Boiling Isles before, at least not to Luz’ memory, which was admittedly not the best. She wasn’t even terribly familiar with Masha aside from the few appearances they made in the previous timeline, which were all back at home anyway. Vee was the person who really knew them well before, not Luz.

“Alrighty! You there, uh… what was your name again? Vee?”

Vee nodded.

A guilty look crossed their face as they spoke their next words. “If… if those two ask where I went or what happened to me, just tell them that I went back home early, and that I had a blast hanging with them.”

She slowly nodded again. “O-Okay. I will.”

“Alright.” Luz sighed. “Grab whatever you think you’ll need. We’ll have to leave now if we don’t wanna get caught.”

“And as for you…” Luz turned to Vee, “I’ll jot down a list of everything you need to know to make sure you don’t stick out too much. And I obviously don’t want mom getting suspicious after you get out of here, y’know?”

“R-Right.”

The three began their short trek through the shadows back to the seventh cabin. For one, it was the first time, while for two, it would be the last time.

. . .

Luz and Masha, with their belongings in tow, arrived back in Gravesfield, after a multi-mile hike and one long bus ride later, managing to slip away from the camp undetected. It was a little tricky to pull off as they couldn’t rely on the invisibility glyphs, and almost got caught when they made it out, but it was all in the past now.

The two of them were now starving, as they didn’t have money to buy any food, and neither of them were able to take any with them for the trip. They didn’t feel desperate enough to dig for scraps, either.

Luz planned to just take a small bounty after she finds the nearest town in the Isles or do some small job to get snails for a meal.

The “meal” would probably suck as her body certainly wasn’t used to eating that stuff anymore, and even after months of doing so in the past, she was really only able to stomach a tiny fraction of food on the Boiling Isles.

Masha didn’t know that yet, but they’d find out. Luz did mention that they didn’t know what they were getting into.

They’d returned to the woods, as Luz was going to the only known entrance to the demon realm that did not involve a portal door.

Despite her memory being unreliable at times, she did remember very crucial information such as this. In this case: the location of the gateway and its power source.

“So there’s been a dormant portal in this graveyard for god knows how long? We dig up some vial of alien-”

“Titan.” Luz corrected.

“Okay, Titan blood, and then we’ll suddenly be able to waltz right in?”

“You don’t believe me, do you?”

“Well…” Masha sighed, “I’ll admit, it’s pretty crazy to think about. But I wouldn’t have bothered coming out here if I didn’t.”

“Watch this.” Luz said as she reached into one of her pockets, which she’d stuffed with glyphs after entering the forest.

She pulled out her trusty light glyph, tapped it with a finger, and, as she’d seen it thousands of actual times before, a weak ball of light flickered into existence. Luz cupped it in her hands, its glow reflecting off of her own brown eyes.

A tiny smile reached her lips as she felt nostalgic about what she felt when she did it for the first time, all those months ago. How she wished she could experience it again.

Masha gasped. “Woah, where’d that come from?!”

“It’s a Light Glyph. Er, the short of it is, you draw a symbol on a surface, make contact with it, and then if you did it all correctly…” Luz reached into her pocket for another. She handed it to them. “Here, you try it. Just tap it.”

Masha copied Luz, and the ball of light came to life, just like before.

“That’s awesome! I did that?”

“Yup!” Luz genuinely smiled at Masha, “They… they only work in the presence of the Titan, as that’s where the magic comes from. I’m not totally sure how it all works… but because there’s a part of one nearby, its blood, I guess that’s how these glyphs are able to work, even here.”

Luz dispelled the ball of light, though Masha decided to play with their own in their hands for a while longer as they both began to approach a clearing in the trees, getting closer to their final destination. “So yeah! Magic is real.”

“That’s genuinely so rad.”

A small island in the middle of a lake stood, and atop the hill was a large archway, along with an assortment of graves.

Luz knew where the vial would be.

“So… this is it? How come I’ve never heard of this place before? It’s not like on any map or anything.”

Luz shrugged. “Dunno.”

The ground in a specific area was soft and tender. Luz forced her hand in, and it went through with little resistance. Her now dirty fingers curled around something cold.

Unearthing her hand from the soil, she now held a blue vial of Titan’s Blood, now found months before it was ever meant to be unearthed… and without a single Witch Hunter in sight.

Masha stared at it. “What is that? How’d you find that so fast, anyway?”

“Titan’s Blood,” Luz answered, “It’s how we power the portal.”

“I, er… I left it here after my last trip!” She lied, “Yeah, I uh… I buried it! Wouldn’t be good if someone else found it and took my only way back!” She nervously laughed.

“Okay?” Masha replied, oblivious to the “someone else” that Luz was clearly referencing.

Luz, not wanting to waste another second, walked up to the arch, and in front of it, smashed the vial on the ground, the blood splattering everywhere and coating the dark, dead grass in a deep blue.

For a few seconds, nothing happened. Luz was briefly afraid that she’d forgotten something and just threw away her only ticket to the Boiling Isles.

But, to her relief, it soon began to glow, and then with a flash, the arch became a massive portal door, stretching its entire width and height across the structure.

A vaguely familiar, craggy landscape appeared in the portal. The land was anything but flat; large hills of mud and stone stretched out everywhere, big yellow cysts stuck out of the land at random, with faded red fleshy growth draped over many surfaces. A town could be seen in the distance, with the seas just poking out from behind it.

“I really hope I’m not dreaming. This is super sick.” Masha commented, their face cloaked in the portal’s light.

“You’re not.” Luz confirmed, “Anyway…”

“This is your last chance to turn back. I’m not sure of how to get back here yet, and I don’t know what’ll be going on in there when we enter. It could be dangerous for all I know.”

Masha shook their head. “Nope! Even if it is dangerous, I’ve gotta see what this place is about! And…”

“I still want to help you. Who knows, maybe this place might actually be for me? Not like my current time here has gone too well so far…”

Luz remembered when she thought like that. She was naive once, and thought that the crude and grotesque fantasy world she found herself in before was perfect. It was a place where she could just be herself and not have anyone gawk at her or treat her like some plague. She could live out her fantasy.

If only it had been that simple. If only there hadn’t been a threat looming over everyone when she arrived.

“...okay. Let’s…” Luz took a deep breath.

She was trembling, and she couldn’t take another step forward.

She stood right before the threshold. Once she took one more step, there was no going back.

Once she took a step, she would have to enact a plan to ensure that her friends survive this time. She would have to make sure that she never hurts them again.

Maybe it wouldn’t be impossible with someone in her corner. After all… if her friends knew the truth about her, would they ever dare associate themselves with her again?

Still… she had to also make sure that Masha would survive this, too.

Masha gave Luz a knowing look. “Are you sure you wanna do this?”

Luz vigorously nodded. “Y-Yeah, of course I do! It’s just… this is hard. I don’t know if it’s gonna work out.”

“I’m sure it will! Now c’mon, I really wanna see what this place is about.”

“Okay, okay! Let’s… l-let’s go.”

Luz stepped in first, as she crossed the threshold between the two worlds.

Masha followed not even a second after.

No turning back now.

Chapter Text

The portal closed behind them, severing their only connection back to their real home. From that point on, their only way to leave would be to find a working portal door… or build one. Neither was ultimately a priority, however.

Now, Luz sought to see what changed, and what didn’t… and also make sense of her current surroundings, because it most certainly wasn’t Bonesborough.

Luz did think it was familiar, though. She’d certainly been here before, but when? What was she doing..?

“Man, this place looks nasty! So we’re really just standing on a giant corpse that a bunch of people collectively decided to live on?”

Luz nodded. “More or less yeah. But we’ve gotta stay focused.”

“Right. What are we doing exactly?”

Luz first started by descending off of the high overlook the two of them were standing on, into the rolling hills that would soon lead them to the town ahead. “Well… we have no food, no money, and I haven’t been here in a long time, so I need to see if everything’s the same. Uh…” Luz scratched the back of her head sheepishly when she was on flat ground again. “A lot happened before I left. Been out of the loop for a whole month, y’know?”

The entire experience didn’t feel that long to Luz at all. The time flew by; it seemed like every day she went on a new adventure, got into some sort of trouble, and some days she came back with a new friend, a new enemy, or a new understanding of the bizarre and crude fantasy world she’d stumbled into, completely naive to the long road that would be ahead of her.

“Gotcha.”

As they neared the town, there was a worn and weathered sign. Made of stone, but it had several chips, cracks, and even holes in it, with some unsavory growth in lower areas…

Still, etched into it, was Latissa.

Next to it was a somewhat fresh looking flag stuck into the ground with a logo that Luz didn’t recognize at first… but after looking at it a bit longer…

A downwards sword and a Titan’s skull with two sets of wings… and even though she recalled just one triangle before, it appeared that the design had changed slightly to be three smaller triangles in the background, resembling a primitive crown.

It vaguely resembled the logo for the Emperor’s Coven… but it just simply wasn’t that. It was something unfamiliar to Luz.

Nonetheless, Luz recognized the town. Latissa… she’d been there a long time ago when she encountered Hunter for a second time. It was a crazy night…

Luz stopped.

Hunter.

Hunter must still be out there, right? What if… what if something happened to him? Belos… he wouldn’t hesitate to hurt him if he stepped too far out of line. Did that happen in this timeline? Will it?

I know that was me who caused him to find out the truth. But… surely he’d figure out eventually, right? What then?

“Luz?”

Luz’ eyes darted to a bounty board. She was thankful it was right at the edge of town, likely to attract any passing bounty hunters.

There were several wanted posters strewn across it. She had to do a double take when she saw it.

Hunter had a wanted poster of his own. Unsurprisingly… Eda was on there too, but the thing that shocked her was that Hunter’s bounty was actually higher than Eda’s… by one.

But why? Why is he wanted? What… What the hell happened here?

“Jeez, what’s got you so worked up?” Masha said as they looked at the poster in Luz’ hand. “Oh, do you know this guy or somethin’?”

Luz slowly nodded. “Y-Yeah… I guess you could say that.”

“He’s. How do I put this…” She put her hands in a steeple, taking in a breath, breathing out… “He’s supposed to work under Emperor Belos… as his right hand. But the fact he’s instead the most wanted… even above Eda…”

“You know her too?”

Luz nodded again. She pocketed the poster after crumpling it up, taking down Eda’s as well. They were probably everywhere, but she supposed at least the thought counted.

“It’s… this is a lot. Where do I even begin..?”

“Hey.” Masha laid a hand on her shoulder, which made her jump a little in surprise. She was on edge.

Masha ignored this, however, and reassured her, “Chillax. We’re not gonna be getting anywhere if you freak out like this. Focus.”

“Who’s… in the most trouble?”

Luz took a minute to respond, doing what Masha told her. After a while, she finally replied, “...Hunter. Eda’s tough, I think she’ll be fine for now. But Hunter…” Luz closed her fist around the crumpled up poster in her pocket. “He doesn’t have any magic… he probably is still under the delusion that he has to serve him, even if he’s wanted. And not in the good way. I don’t know what happened to him… but he’s alive, and I need to find him. I just don’t know where he could be if he’s not at the castle…”

“Then we’ll find him. Remember I’ve got your back, right?”

“Masha…”

They lightly punched her in the arm. “Before that though, I wanna take a look around this place! And uh… y’know, somehow fix the fact that we’re homeless?”

“R-Right! Sorry, I got so caught up in all of that that I uh… n-nevermind! I’m being a lousy tour guide aren’t I?”

“Sure are.” Masha jokes.

“Well then! Welcome to Latissa!” Luz announced, her voice full of enthusiasm and vigor that had been completely absent just moments ago. It was slightly forced, but Masha didn’t seem to notice, or at the very least they didn’t call her out on it.

The sound of creaking and cracking bones could be heard. It came from a pack of crackets nearby, chattering and crackling away at Luz’ lack of a follow-up to her words.

“Well… er… that’s about it. I uh, didn’t exactly have the time to explore the place any when I’ve been here before. Always bad timing…”

Her first time at Latissa was her first meeting with Hunter, the grimwalker who resided underneath the mask and the moniker of “golden guard.” It was quite a night… and it was the very same one where she met Flapjack, who ultimately ended up choosing him in the end.

The next was right before everything went downhill.

The failed plan to stop the Day of Unity. If only it had been that simple…

Luz, realizing she’d been staring into space again, snapped herself out of it. “Anyway! Let’s just have a look around. Maybe we’ll find something while we’re here.”

She couldn’t help but feel like she had dozens of eyes on her as she continued into town with Masha at her side.

. . .

While Latissa was an interesting place, it was also… dangerous.

Luz and Masha quickly learned to avoid alleyways after an attempt was made at their belongings, but there wasn’t much of anything to steal from the two humans anyway… some quick thinking and invisibility glyphs allowed them to escape.

The streets meanwhile were crawling with guards, whose appearance took Luz off guard.

They no longer had a simplistic, mostly monochrome appearance, but quite the opposite; just about every single one wore a silky white and gold cloak, something she would’ve expected to be reserved for the golden guard, and the masks were also the same: gold. The uniforms she could see poking out underneath were more armored than before and streamlined. More… modern somehow?

Luz always thought they looked “old fashioned” before somehow.

What’s more, she saw a few of them carrying around staves. Not with palismen, but, again, like what the golden guard would carry, just an evolution of an old design. It was a simple pole with a colorless orb at the end, Luz assumed that the staves served to channel and enhance magic like how a traditional staff would, just minus the palisman. Though, she was hoping she wouldn’t have to find out for herself.

Luz and Masha were having to make an effort to somehow hide themselves, their ears in particular, as two humans walking around would probably cause a scene. And the last thing Luz wants is for Belos to know of her arrival.

Perhaps he’d been anticipating it this whole time? Maybe he was already-

“Hey.” Masha nudged her, snapping Luz out of her thoughts, “You’re doing that thing again. Where you’re… y’know.”

“Sorry! I…” Luz trailed off as she saw a banner which read ‘Latissa Inn,’ draped under an overhang that sat above the door… s. Plural. There were two doors, a normal door, and a significantly smaller one with a symbol above it. A bug door?

“Oh hey, an inn! Don’t those places usually have, I dunno… rumors or… quests?” Luz wondered, completely forgetting about her previous train of thought.

“Pff, maybe. What’re you thinking, exactly?”

“Fifty snails says that we walk out of there with a job so we can get something to eat.” Luz betted.

“...snails? Those exist here?”

Luz shook her head. “Oh, uh… no! I don’t think so… a-anyway, snails are basically money here. They’re these little coins… you’ll know them when you see them.”

“But we don’t have-” Masha stopped themselves mid sentence, “You’re making a bet with money we don’t have?”

“Yes.”

Masha rolled their eyes. “Okay, so what happens if you lose and have no money because you don’t have a job to give you the money?”

“I’ll just have to win then.” Luz finished, electing to save the mystery of the second miniscule door for another day. There were more pressing matters.

. . .

Luz ducked as she dodged a flying bottle that flew and hit the wall where her head was positioned just moments ago. The liquid that splashed made the wall sizzle, despite being made of stone.

She shivered, and with a gulp, she pressed on, with Masha in tow, completely oblivious to what just happened.

It was very busy. 

There was a sort of bonfire in the center of the room, except instead of wood it had bones in it, with the flames glowing a sickly green hue, which cast its light across the entire room, coating it in a spooky green light. Somehow, it didn’t feel warm, either.

Still, there were a few demons sitting around it, a few keeping to themselves, and a few talking amongst themselves.

Situated against the walls were bench tables, all were packed full, and all contained witches and demons alike chowing down on… something. Luz caught a glance at one of the plates, and it looked like an incomprehensible glob of tentacles that writhed as the witch tried to go in for a bite.

At the back were stairs which presumably went up into the rooms.

Finally, near the door was the counter, where a single, towering, gruff red demon was holding down the fort, tending to the customers who were in varying states of wellbeing. One was having a one-sided conversation with the bartender, two, presumably a couple, sat next to each other, while a few at the far end of the counter were completely wasted.

“...why is the fire bones?” Masha asked quietly as they pointed to the center of the room.

“Bonefire.” Luz said simply, no emotion in her voice, as if she’d said it a hundred actual times.

“Bone-” Masha snorted. “Wow. That sucks.”

Luz didn’t react.

“Wait, are you serious?”

Luz nodded. “Yeah. They’re just kind of a thing here. I think they’re officially called Soulfires, but everyone just calls them Bonefires instead.” She explained with a shrug. “You get used to weird stuff like this.”

“Hah. I’m into it.”

Luz and Masha walked up to the counter, where the red demon eyed them strangely, all three of its bloodshot eyes of varying sizes studying them curiously.

“...humans? Didn’t know there were more of you.” He said, his main eye popping out of his socket and scanning them more thoroughly. His mouth happened to reside inside of the eye socket, which explained why it sounded muffled before. “In any case, I’m afraid I can’t serve drinks to minors. Do your parents know you’re in here?”

Nope! I hope to keep it that way.

Also… other humans?

The inn suddenly got very quiet. Conversations, one by one, came to a halt. There were a lot of eyes on them now. Luz could even see some out of the corner of her vision. Everyone was looking at them.

“O-Oh, we’re not here for that, you see-”

Masha interrupted, “We’re here to make some snails. Were hoping you had some leads or somethin’.”

Gurgling came from the demon, which Luz took as amusement from him. “Me? Nah. I’m in here all day every day, I hardly even know what goes on outside of that door. I’ve been shackled to this cursed inn for-”

“I… I see.” Luz cleared her throat, interrupting him. “So…”

His eye retreated back into his socket. “There’s a board at town hall that reads ‘HELP WANTED.’ Now, either order something or leave, I don’t allow loiterers, human or not.” He finished with a grumble, crossing his arms.

“Thanks!” Luz grabbed Masha’s arm and they rushed out of there, taking the hint.

. . .

Unfortunately, the town hall was right at the center of town, and they were only at the edge.

Normally, this wouldn’t be an issue. Simply using their legs to transport them from the town’s edge to the center would be trivial, but there was a problem.

People were staring. A lot of people were staring, something that had evidently been happening ever since they both first entered Latissa.

In the original timeline, humans were a serious rarity in the Boiling Isles, but nobody really seemed to care besides a select few. Luz was convinced most people were convinced that humans didn’t even exist.

That wasn’t the case here, though. Quite the contrary, in fact.

Luz would’ve wanted a disguise anyway for herself and Masha, but she didn’t have one. Not for either of them. Walking around with their hands over their ears didn’t seem to do anything except draw more attention to themselves, and their hair wasn’t long enough to hide them either.

Luz… could handle a few people gawking at her. She was used to that sort of thing back at home in school whenever she got into her, in retrospect, zany antics.

The problem was that even the guards roaming the streets seemed to take notice, which was a bad sign.

They both tried to ignore them and soldier on towards their destination. But unfortunately, as the building clearly labeled “TOWN HALL” was within view, guards blocked their path, and thus their view.

“Halt.” One of them said.

“Uh… hi? Did we do something wrong?” Luz questioned the guard, who shook their head.

“The hell’d you stop us for, then? We’ve got work to find and money to make!”

The other guard, who had been silent, revealed a crowphone, and quietly talked into it, “Captain, we’ve spotted two, I repeat, two humans. Town Hall. It’s the Unity Contingency.”

The crow phone immediately departed for its target.

Luz assumed a fighting stance. “Unity Contingency? What are you talking about?”

“That’s none of your concern. Now, I’m going to have to ask you two to come with us. I wouldn’t bother fleeing, as we have you surrounded.”

Masha looked behind, and two more had silently appeared behind them while they were both distracted. “The guy’s right. We’re toast.” Masha warned Luz.

I could potentially just have us both pop some invisibility glyphs so we could escape. But… would that even work?

I don’t know what happened while I was gone, but apparently everyone suddenly gives a shit about humans now and there’s this… contingency? Does… does he know about the reset..?

No, he doesn’t. Must be some weird change that happened because of that one time I messed with time pools in the past.

“What’s gonna happen to us, huh? You’re not really making me want to consider coming quietly.”

“What are you doing?” Masha hissed at her.

“If you think you’re going to be locked up… you’re quite mistaken, actually! You’ll be headed to the capital to see King Belac, our superior. What he chooses to do will be out of our hands.”

Belac..? King?

“...do you mean Belos?” Luz tilted her head in confusion.

“Oh, you know of our Emperor? And no… I did not misspeak. Our Emperor has historically been quite busy… and for the past few months he’s-”

“Are the humans here?” A gruff, female voice questioned, causing the two guards in front of them to part.

Luz recognized that voice. Luz didn’t know of her name or her identity, but she certainly sounded like one of the few guard captains from the last timeline. Some things didn’t change, she supposed.

“Ah, good. I’m Captain Viki, and I will personally escort you to the capital. Please, come with me. You two…” She pointed to the two guards who were closest, “Will accompany me as well. The rest of you return to your stations.”

All of this felt very wrong to Luz. She didn’t like it one bit.

But both of them were surrounded. There was nothing they could do. Luz supposed she could at least get some answers, such as what the capital even was. She certainly didn’t remember visiting anything like it before.

Luz slowly nodded, beckoning for Masha to follow as the other guards dispersed.

An airship had been landed squarely in the center of the town, with that same logo she saw earlier, proudly emblazoned over its surface. A walkway dropped, and they were ushered on by the captain.

Upon boarding, she and a pair of guards boarded with them, quickly leaving the town behind.

“I don’t like this…” Luz said quietly, having sequestered herself to the farthest end of the ship she could. The whirling of the wind overpowered the sound of her voice so that she could be heard by none other than Masha, who was standing there with her. “We… we could jump and escape into the wilderness. I’ve got these glyphs that can stop our fall and-”

“Don’t be crazy.” Masha shut her down, “You think I wanna jump? Besides, these guys seem chill enough. Could get some answers too, y’know?” They shrugged, “I mean, I don’t know exactly what you’re looking for there but-”

“Actually… yeah, this is perfect! I was, um… I was thinking about sneaking in to the castle to check on Hunter when we first got here, even if it’s pointless now. I could find some clues as to what happened, maybe? And I don’t remember this Belac guy at all… apparently he’s a different person than Belos, and a King instead of the Emperor..?”

Another shrug from Masha. “Guess you’ll find out when we get there. Also, you owe me 5 snails.”

Luz gave her an incredulous look. “What..?”

“You lost the bet.”

Chapter Text

There’s something that Luz noticed about the Boiling Isles now that she had a view from the sky.

She’s had a few opportunities in the past to gaze at it in all of its… grotesque glory, the giant rotting corpse that somehow served as the grounds for all manner of bizarre lifeforms and a magic civilization.

It was still mostly that though, a corpse… an overgrown corpse, but still a corpse. You could tell that people lived on it, but it wasn’t at all like back at home where towns and cities can stick out like a sore thumb, especially during the night.

This time it looked… different.

More industrialized, somehow. Luz could see one particular walled city in the distance, sat where the castle used to be, with several buildings that punched their way into the sky, and it looked surprisingly clean by Boiling Isles standards. It stuck out less like a sore thumb and more like a splotch of bright red paint on a blank canvas. The area surrounding the city’s walls had once been a forest but was now a vast and empty field littered with stumps. Luz guessed the place must’ve been the capital… and there was no wonder that she didn’t recognize it; it never even existed before.

While Latissa was very similar to what little she remembered about it, much of the Isles were different. Far in the distance, Luz was able to see what she guessed was a kind of desert, although she really could only guess. It was an expanse of a charcoal like substance that was dotted with various… bones and… spires that she didn’t recognize.

Luz whipped her head around to look for Bonesborough, but she couldn’t find it at all. She had a sinking feeling… and wondered if The Owl House itself was even still intact. Maybe she was just overwhelmed by all of the new and unfamiliar sights.

With a shaky sigh, she tightly gripped the railing of the airship, partially in frustration, and partially thanks to a twinge of fear.

It was all wrong. This… this wasn’t her home. Well… her home away from home.

It was familiar in some ways, but it was different in every other way. She was now beginning to question if her memories really would serve any purpose beyond just being a burden.

She heard footsteps from behind her, expecting Masha, but it was instead that guard captain. She almost attacked her on the spot out of reflex, having to take a moment to remember that she isn’t trying to hunt her or Eda.

…or maybe she is, Luz wasn’t sure anymore.

“We’re coming up on the capital now. The king will be awaiting your arrival on the ground, so please be on your best behavior.”

“What’s going to happen?” Luz asked, attempting to keep herself steady against the churning of her thoughts and her unfamiliar surroundings.

“He will be meeting with you and your friend, er… Masha for… a discussion. Assuming it all goes well, you’ll be able to explore the city at your leisure.” Viki explained.

“...and if I may ask, what is your name, human?”

“...Luz.”

There was an uncomfortable pause.

…

“I see. Well then, Luz, I hope you enjoy your time with the king. It is a tremendous honor for outsiders such as yourselves.” Viki, waiting a second too long, turned after her farewell to Luz.

The unfamiliar walled city was much closer now. It was very dense with all manner of towering skyscrapers, something she never thought she’d see in the Boiling Isles. It still did, by all accounts, look rather alien. Surrounding the city were sturdy, towering walls of comical thickness that looked like they’ve been maintained diligently for several years. The city that sat inside was unnervingly uniform: a mixture of white, grey, black, yellow, and gold. Hardly any of the buildings present were less than three stories in height, and all possessed very similar designs, with lots of sharp edges. It wasn’t uncommon for buildings to be largely glass, which was highly tinted and reflective. Luz couldn’t see through the window of any building, unless said window was physically open.

The streets were bustling with activity. Residents of all shapes and sizes were traversing the city, while others simply appeared to be tourists, exploring the local attractions and businesses. Luz had a hard time finding what was what though, as everything basically looked the same outside of signage.

Luz walked over to Masha, who was staring over the railing in awe. She was glad that at least one of them was enjoying all of this.

“Damn. This place is weird, isn’t it?”

“I’ve… never seen it before, actually.” Luz answered, her lips pursed, forming a frown. “So this is new for both of us.”

“Isn’t this place the capital?”

“When I was last here, there wasn’t a capital… Not that I knew of. Some place called Bonesborough is where I called my home here, but I haven’t seen it yet, if it’s even still here…”

“Well, I’m sure we can look for it while we work on stopping this Belos guy.”

“Shhhh!” Luz hissed, peering over her shoulder, relaxing when she found that all of the other personnel on the ship were on the other end, much too far to hear anything.

“Sorry!” Masha whispered back, “Kinda slipped out.”

“It’s fine. I don’t think we were heard-”

“We have arrived.” Viki announced, making them both flinch with the sudden booming of her voice. “I and the Royal Coven welcome you to the city of Titan’s Rise! We’ll be landing just outside of the castle in the Heart District.”

They touched down in an expanse of white and gold cobblestone, with yellow trees lining each pathway. In front of the ship was a massive garden full of many species of otherworldly and demonic flora that Luz had never seen before, with a palace looming over everything, casting an imposing shadow.

Standing in front of the ship was a tall masked figure, draped in ornate white, black, and gold robes. They had their hands tucked behind their back, and two glowing eyes peered at Luz and Masha, before slowly stepping forward, the pointy crown resting atop their head shifting slightly.

“Ah… greetings, children!” A soft voice spoke through the mask, which was muffled slightly. “I am King Belac. Imagine my surprise this morning when I received word that a pair of fellow humans showed up all the way in Latissa! It’s an exciting turn of events…” Belac’s gaze shifted slightly past them towards Viki, “Excellent work, Viki, and that goes to your team as well. You are dismissed.” He said, giving them a thumbs up.

“But-”

Belac waved a hand dismissively, Luz managing to catch a glimpse of it. It was golden, and didn’t look human at all. It was more metallic…

Either he was just wearing something over his hands, or…

“I’ll be fine. I trust that the discussion will go over smoothly.” Belac reassured her, only causing confusion for Luz and Masha.

“Yes, my lord.” Viki gave a bow and stepped back on the airship which soared back into the cloudy skies and into the distance, gradually fading out of view.

Belac cleared his throat. “Well then, welcome to the city of Titan’s Rise. I’m sure you’d like to have a look around, but first we have very important matters to discuss!”

“Like..?” Luz pressed.

“I’ll explain on the way. Come!” Belac deflected, spinning on his heel and causing his robes to flutter in the wind, walking upwards towards the massive castle.

Luz and Masha exchanged uneasy looks, and reluctantly followed him inside.

. . .

The castle was… empty. Very empty.

While it was furnished, such as the presence of banners draped along the towering walls curving into the high ceiling, or elaborate, demonic chandeliers hanging by what looked to be a thread, or old, unsettling statues (now that Luz thinks about it, she thinks they may just be petrified witches or demons), it was completely devoid of people.

There were no guards. They were absolutely nowhere to be found. No personnel of any kind wandered the halls for any purpose, it was just dust and echoes. It was as if the place had been abandoned for years, yet it seemed lived in.

All of it felt very wrong.

Belac glanced back as he continued to walk at his slow pace, “Are you perhaps a little unnerved by the lack of people here?”

Masha nodded. “Yeah dude, what gives? I feel like a place like this would be, I dunno… a little more guarded? Y’know, considering you’re meant to be royalty?”

He gave a slight chuckle. “Yes, you would think so. But, every week I grant everyone stationed here a day off. Even my servants!”

“So… what’s the Royal Coven exactly? I thought it was meant to be the Emperor’s Coven.” Luz questioned as she had a passing glance through a stained glass window, looking out at the sea of tall white and gold monoliths.

“That was its former name. It was later changed to the current one after the Emperor started to take a more… hands off approach to ruling the nation, and after it was properly unified. Now it is made for those who otherwise serve the emperor directly, and by extension, me, not just in the field, but also in the development of the nation. The coven heads of the former Emperor’s Coven along with the highest ranking found a secondary home in the Titan Coven.”

“Titan Coven?” Luz repeated.

Belac gave a small nod as he pushed open two large doors, which opened with a long, drawn out creak. “The Titan Coven can be considered like the inner circle of the Royal Coven. All of its highest ranking members, including the heads of the main nine covens, are part of it. And, of course, my brother leads it.”

Belac shrugged, “Technically I was already eligible as the head of the Royal Coven, but it seems as if I’ll be taking on a new position soon… he can be so annoyingly vague sometimes.”

Luz and Masha slowed their pace as they took in the room.

While it was entirely new for Masha, it was very familiar to Luz. She’d gotten a look inside once before, although it was only through a keyhole.

There was a red and gold carpet with intricate patterns woven into it that Luz couldn’t decipher. Purple torches flanked the edges of the carpet from the door all the way to the throne, which sat atop some steps at the far end of the room, giving it a demonic purple glow. On one side of the room was a long table, likely intended for meetings, while the other side contained the entrance to a large winding staircase that went down.

Embedded in the wall over the throne was the heart of the very Titan they stood on. It was no longer exposed, but rather sealed off through a paned window, which radiated a soft violet glow. The thumping of the heart periodically reverberated against the glass, which dampened the noise somewhat.

“What on earth is that? Is that a heart..? Why is it beating?” Masha jabbed a finger at the grotesque, beating heart over the throne.

Belac was about to answer, but Luz beat him to the punch, explaining, “That’s actually the Titan’s heart. The same one of the one we’re standing on, and the same one that all these people live on. It’s still alive… if only barely.”

“Really? Damn, now I feel bad for this Titan guy. Must be boring lying around all the time like this, huh?”

“That’s… correct.” Belac said slowly, surprised. “I didn’t think another human would know that. But I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, knowing who you are.”

Luz blinked. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Belac grunted as he sat atop the throne. “Come, have a seat.” With the flick of a finger, he constructed two needlessly luxurious wooden chairs, complete with overstuffed padding.

Luz and Masha took a seat.

“I’m sure you two have questions. I have brought you here to get answers to them! And… also figure out where to go from here, but that’s later.” Belac shifted, getting more comfortable, crossing a leg over his knee. “So then, ask away. I’ll do my best to answer. Then, we’ll get to what you’re really here for. I promise, it’s nothing bad!” He assured them.

Luz… didn’t trust him at all. There were certainly a few things that confused her, though.

Masha seemed eager to ask first, however.

“Soo… am I gonna have to worry about the Titan getting tired of sleeping and just getting up while we’re still on it?”

Belac laughed. “Haha, no… while the Titan is technically alive, its body has long since been lost to time. Only its bones remain, and pieces of it at that… though its spirit still saturates the air around us. It’s how even humans can use magic here! That magic, glyphs, is the magic of the Titan itself… the very rawest form of it. Really, it’s a pity that almost nobody uses it anymore.”

Luz could feel him grinning under the mask as he continued, “...but I guess two more people will be using that magic now! I’d be more than happy to teach you what I know… my brother has taught me a lot over the years.”

Over the years?

So this Belac person has been around for awhile… how come I’ve never heard of him before?

Who the hell is his brother he keeps mentioning? A mystery human? Or…

Could it be…

“Your brother?” Masha asked for Luz, sounding genuinely curious for completely different reasons.

“Ah! Right, of course you don’t know who he is. My brother’s the Emperor of the Boiling Isles! Well, he was… except…”

“Belos is your brother..?” Luz asked him slowly, to which Belac nodded in affirmation.

“Yes… that’s his name. How did you..?”

“Lucky guess?” Luz lied.

“I see. Anyway…”

“Belos has been telling me about these odd… visions he’s been having. He’s told me he’s always had them here and there over his lifetime, but they became much more frequent a few months prior. A constant with these visions is that they always contained a certain human in them, who he called Luzura.” Belac eyed Luz, who gulped.

Belac either didn’t care about Luz’ reaction or didn’t care, because he continued with, “Visions of an alternate future, an alternate universe, but one that ultimately didn’t happen… yet. Memories that didn’t belong to him, that sort of thing. It drove him crazy. So… he wanted to see if he could track down the human that had been plaguing his memories and his dreams. Naturally, he wouldn’t find them here, so instead he sought to find the long-lost portal door.”

Belac sighed, “I always wondered why he even needed one. Humans aren’t from here, so they’d need a way to enter in the first place. Was the way he came in lost..? He gets awfully cagey about it whenever I ask him about it. But I digress.” He waved a hand as he continued, “After searching the Isles in its entirety, every nook and cranny, high and low, he instead enlisted the help of the best minds on the Boiling Isles, including our own head scientist, to build one from scratch. Long story short, he and his team constructed a new portal door. He left for… for home approximately a month ago now. I may be the king of this city, but I’m also acting as Emperor in his absence.”

Luz could’ve sworn she felt her heart stop. That obviously wasn’t true, but…

Assuming the mysterious, albeit softspoken “king” that sat in front of her wasn’t just Belos himself putting up a front… that meant…

“Wait, back up.” Masha said, “You mean he’s on Earth? Why did he even go there, there’s so much ground to cover.”

“I’m not sure. But he seems to think he may know where to find her… or at the very least, gather some more clues on the way. However, I have a feeling he might not find what he’s looking for…” Belac ominously said, once again eyeing Luz.

Luz, trying to downplay her discomfort, decided to try and ask a few questions of her own.

“S-So… Belac, right? Does…”

Would he even know about Hunter? Surely he would, given his “Wanted” status…

“Does the name Hunter sound familiar to you at all?”

Belac seemed surprised, but nodded. “Well… yes. I’ve never met him, but Belos keeps telling me that he’s a “traitor.” Apparently he’s my predecessor… which I don’t really understand, seeing as for as long as I’ve been alive, it’s only been Belos and myself in the family. If I really had a little brother, I feel like I’d know about it!”

“In any case, I don’t know his whereabouts… no one does. That Wanted poster you see around? It first started being posted several years ago. He was last seen entering the Tear Chasm, located in the depths of the Titan’s skull, but nobody’s dared go down there. Everyone who’s ever ventured in has gone missing. Who knows, this Hunter may be alive… but I’m not exactly risking anyone’s lives for it.”

“...okay, another question from me… where is Bonesborough exactly?”

Belac grumbled in response. “I’m surprised you know about Bonesborough… it’s been erased from every available map.”

Luz’ eyes widened.

“They’ve been… difficult. It’s become something of a safe haven for criminals, a stronghold against the law. We even tried to just leave them alone and construct a new Bonesborough nearby, but that was met with resistance and torn down. I personally wish to let them keep to themselves and do their own thing if they won’t hurt anyone, but my brother disagrees with that notion…”

“...oh, where is it? I assume if you know its name, you should know roughly where to find it. As I said, it’s been erased from every available map, and it’s been years since I’ve been there myself.”

“Though…” Belac leaned forward, his eyes boring directly into Luz’ skull, “I must say, it is rather odd that you are familiar with that place of all places.”

Masha laid a hand on Luz’ shoulder. “Hey… I know you want answers, but this dude is starting to really creep me out. Do you know this guy..?” They whispered.

Luz shook her head. “If you want to leave you can, but I don’t trust him. Something’s off about him.”

“Never said I was gonna leave.”

“I’m glad. Now…”

“How was Belos able to go to Earth without a portal key… or titan’s blood? That doesn’t seem like it should be possible.” Luz stopped herself from explaining what happened in that scenario during the last timeline, not wanting to draw further suspicion to herself.

“...hm.” Belac’s gaze traveled over to the staircase that lead down… somewhere, “I suppose I can show you rather than just telling you.” Belac got up. His demeanor was now suddenly quite different. “Come, it’s down these stairs.”

Masha followed Luz as she trailed Belac, who soon led them to an elaborate door. Belac placed his hand upon it, and in response it lit up in many colors, intricate markings flashing across its surface before retreating into the walls with a whoosh.

Inside was a pristine, shiny, reflective white room. It was full of machinery that Luz could not hope to comprehend, and inside stood the portal itself.

It was nearly identical in design to the original, and it was lying dormant, waiting to be used.

What was definitely not in the original design however was a large capsule with tubes hooked up to it, featuring a smaller canister to the side that was hooked up to the portal itself.

The canister was filled with a deep blue substance… Titan’s Blood. Which meant…

Luz looked on in horror as she saw the last person she ever expected to see, King, curled up in the capsule, looking despondent.

King had his knees huddled to his chest, periodically shivering in place. He lacked his collar, and his body was riddled with scratches. The fur on his body was dirty and messy, and there were desperate claw marks all over the glass of his capsule. Evidently, not even his voice could shatter the glass either, or those powers simply hadn’t awakened yet.

Luz’ breath caught in her throat as Belac began to explain, “Without a portal door or its key, both had to be made from scratch. While a design for both was completed, it lacked the key ingredient: Titan’s Blood. Eclipse Lake once had a significant amount, but it was ultimately dried up, meaning that the only option was to track down a live Titan. Problem was, they were thought to be extinct…” Belac looked over to King, who didn’t seem to react to anyone being in the room, “But we were wrong.”

“As it turns out, a wild witch, from Bonesborough funnily enough, just so happened to have one living under her roof… as a pet! So, after retrieving it-”

“What… what the hell are you doing to King?!” Luz snapped, causing both Belac and Masha to flinch.

“What did you do to Eda?”

Belac’s eyes narrowed. “You know, you’re awfully knowledgeable for a human outsider. Luz, was it?”

“Luz…” Masha tried, but Luz ignored them.

“...Edalyn the Owl Lady is alive, unfortunately. And you say the Titan has a name? In any case… it’s being used as a vessel for the portal’s power.”

“You see… the portal is rather inefficient, and that entire canister is used to power just a SINGLE one-way trip. The keys are just fragile imitations of the original that break apart seconds after use. Normally the key acts as the source, but since that didn’t work we had to brute force it…”

Belac turned his back to them. “I’ve suspected ever since you came here, Luz, that you were the one from my brother’s visions. I believe my theory to be correct. That Luz and Luzura are one and the same.”

“Belos has a dream. A wonderful utopia free of wild magic! He calls it the Day of Unity… but there’s something that threatens to ruin it. The human. You.” He turned to point a finger at Luz, “So he created the Unity Contingency. When and if the human named Luzura finally arrives on the Boiling Isles, that human must be removed at all costs… lest his plans risk failure.”

Luz clenched her fists. She prepared an ice glyph, intent on breaking the capsule that held King captive. But after she blinked, she found a purple, magic trident pointed at her neck, and her outstretched hand ensnared by smooth vines.

“...while I am meant to kill the human, that’s you, I… I can’t bring myself to hurt a child. Even if you do pose a threat. So instead, you will be captured.”

“Damn, what a fucking saint!” Masha taunted. “Dude, she didn’t even do anything! Let her go!”

“And you.” Belac finally addressed them, “Although you are an accomplice, and thus technically pose a threat as well, I’d be willing to send you back home.”

“Not a chance.”

“Masha, please-” Luz begged, but Masha cut her off. “Nah, I don’t really wanna go back home. What is there to go back to? Besides, I can’t just leave you here.”

“Hmm.” Belac sighed, choosing to now fully wrap Luz in vines to free up his hands. His trident scattered into dust, now out of sight. “I suppose you are no threat by yourself. No offense, but you seem less… well read than Luz.”

Masha rolled their eyes.

“Very well. You may leave, but after you do, you will never be allowed within the city’s walls again… not until the Day of Unity. That also means you will never be able to return home again.”

A pause.

“I’m assuming you two are friends. Rest assured… Luz will be taken care of here. I do not intend to lock her in a tiny cell and feed her scraps of trash. Quite the contrary… she’ll be allowed to lead a normal life, dare I say, an easy life here, within the confines of this city, and away from where she can cause harm. I’m sure I could work something out with my brother anyway. At least… until the Day of Unity comes to pass. Afterwards I suppose it won’t matter.”

“That’s…” Masha trailed off.

“Unless you want me to put her in a cell-”

Masha shook their head. “No no, it’s just…”

“I’ll take it.” Luz bowed her head. “Just don’t hurt them.”

“But Luz-”

“...and please… stop hurting King.”

Belac gazed at her, and then back at the pint sized Titan that sat contained in the capsule, eyeing Luz curiously upon hearing his name repeated again and again. His name being something he hadn’t heard in a long time.

“Only small amounts of blood were ever meant to be extracted from… King, as you call it. Titans aren’t extinct… but rather an endangered species. Last thing I want is for harm to befall it, let alone death. Truthfully, I haven’t been down here since Belos first left, and King seemed quite different before the extractions.”

Luz didn’t respond.

“...but I will be having a talk with whos in charge of monitoring King.”

“...fine.” Luz muttered.

Belac wearily sighed, folding his hands behind his back. “And here I was hoping we’d just chat over tea…”

. . .

Back on Earth, the next morning came. And almost immediately, panic ensued when Alex and Jay, the other two members of Cabin Seven, found out that they were now down a member.

Masha was nowhere to be found, having disappeared without as little as a trace, without any forewarning whatsoever.

During all of this, Vee was trying to do damage control.

“What do you mean they’re just gone?!” Alex shouted, staring at a very frightened Vee in disbelief.

“I-I don’t know, okay? They just… they just are.” Vee lied.

Truthfully, she knew exactly what happened. Really, both Masha and the REAL Luz were gone. A deal had been struck, but never would she ever admit that to either of them.

“Masha seemed fine to me before they left…” Jay commented, keeping his hands in his pockets, unsure of what else to say.

Vee bit her lip. “All M-Masha told me was… that they just wanted to go home early. They… they d-didn’t like it here. But! They really enjoyed their time with you guys!”

“Oh.” Was all Jay could say in response. It was better than just suddenly disappearing, he supposed.

“Wh- well why didn’t they say anything to us?” Alex exclaimed.

“W-well… it was kind of a sudden thing. I just happened to be awake at the time. They were… gone before you guys woke up.”

“Hmph. Well… I hope they’re having a better summer than we are, stuck in this dump…” Alex sulked, taking off her glasses to clean them.

“That’s like, what I was gonna say.”

“You always say that, you nerd.”

Vee felt a tiny smile tug at the edges of her lips.

She felt kind of rotten for lying like that, but she supposed they were at least content to follow it. It’s not like they would’ve believed her anyway.

Instead, she focused on trying to keep the second lie from falling apart, and preparing herself for the events of the day… and beginning her new life.

“Oh, uh… we should probably get down to the cafeteria… the good stuff gets taken quick.” Jay suggested, Alex eagerly nodded.

Vee had no idea what they were talking about, but decided to just go along with them anyway.

“Come on, Luz! You heard him!”

Not-Luz let herself get pulled along by Alex, trailed by Jay, who struggled to keep up in his flip-flops.

As she was being pulled along, she noticed a strange creature out of the corner of her eye. It had glowing blue eyes, and was very green, blending right in to the bushes.

When she looked its direction, it had vanished.

Before Vee could even think about it any further, she was interrupted by a pair of disappointed groans.

“Ugh… it’s just oatmeal…” Alex whined.

“It’s not even like the good kind, either! Theirs is all watery and… blegh.” Jay added on to her complaints.

Vee had no idea what oatmeal was, but she could only hope it was not as bad as they said.

After all… it was better than trash.

Chapter Text

sorry again for this not being an update, but since its been about a month now i wanted to share progress on the next chapter, what on earth is taking me so long, and also what'll be happening in the future.

the 5th chapter is actually almost done, but i made the bulk of my progress in the past 2 weeks. i hesitate to even call it "progress" because looking back at it i see several instances of me just glossing over details or being lazy in other areas. it's a sign of me rushing through it just to get it done, which is exactly how a lot of my past works have gone: starting off strong but nosediving in quality later.

so i think that, as much as i hate to say it, i might have to put this on hiatus after all.

when i first came up with the idea for this fic, i was really excited... but this was over a year ago now, i didn't actually get around to finalizing a lot of key details and physically writing it until very recently, and at this point most of my remaining interest for toh has waned. now i'm just writing a story i'm no longer into while having to abide by the constraints of the source material.

every time i sit down to write a chapter, i always kind of dread it, and more often than not i end up just putting it off until next time.

i will do my best to try and finish chapter 5 at the very least, but i'm hesitant to release it at all because it was intended to have a cliffhanger in it (also contains details on what happened with masha). i'd hate to release a cliffhanger then have you guys waiting for several months or more to see what happens next.

i'm not sure how long this will last. i see that a few of you subscribed to me instead of this fic... if that is you, please understand that i probably won't write toh again for awhile, if at all, and it might be best for you to just subscribe to the fic itself instead. i'd recommend doing this in general if you have read this far and are interested in the continuation, because it'll be quite some time before another update.

if my motivation to continue this doesn't return after a certain amount of time (let's go with 1 year for now), i'll look into handing this off to someone else, because i'd really hate for this fic to go to waste.
alternatively, i think simply having someone to co-write with would not only make this much more interesting but also reduce my workload a little. if you're interested in that, feel free to let me know.

one more thing, even during hiatus, i may intermittently post updates if i get random bursts of inspiration and get enough done for a chapter. i'll also be returning to my other works, both current and upcoming, so if you enjoyed this and are open to other stuff beyond TOH, feel free to check my page!

Chapter Text

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it's been almost a year (or perhaps more, i forget) and I'm still very much focused on other projects. What's more, I'm currently entering a part of my life where I'm trying to get my head down in order to ensure I'll have a decent future rather than scraping by paycheck to paycheck. Unfortunately, rewatching TOH and realizing this fic's full potential is no longer in the cards, at least not for the foreseeable.

However, I am not interested in letting this idea go to waste. So here's an offer.

If anyone reading this right now thinks they'd like a new TOH project to take on, I'd gladly share my ideas with you so you can take this and make it your own, think of it as a base. Or, perhaps even edit and continue what already exists.

I'd also still be willing to entertain the idea of cowriting this with somebody else, as that would massively reduce the workload I have to contend with. It definitely helps to not have to be all on your own to come up with every facet of a story and remember everything about canon.

While normally I'd delete an unfinished fic or orphan it, I've instead moved it to my new "Archive" pseud, that way my main page reflects my current work, past works I chose to keep, and everything I'm actively working on right now.

Of course, if by chance my motivation does ever return and nobody chooses to take up either offer, I will continue working on this. That being said, if I do, I will most likely scrap the current concept, which is a swap timeline. I thought this would be pretty interesting if Luz' retained knowledge ended up being more of a burden than a boon in a familiar yet drastically different world, but on the other hand it'd be significantly easier to just take the canon timeline and run with it. I think a fic where Luz runs herself ragged trying to save the world alone with the same setup on its own probably has some merit.

If you liked this and want to read more crap that isn't TOH related, my main page has my current original story, which is soon set to receive a massive overhaul. The current version is almost done though, so it's not a terrible time to jump in.
You may find my page here: https://archiveofourown.info/users/Aldeir