Big On The Boiling Isles - ImmortalStarscream (2024)

Chapter 1: Teen Girl In A Demon World

Chapter Text

Chapter 2: Friend's and Foe

Chapter Text

Chapter 3: Aftermath

Chapter Text

Chapter 4: Welcome To Hexside

Chapter Text

Authors Note: I would like to thank Wolvenstrom for beta reading this chapter for me.

Luz was beyond nervous at the moment. She was now backstage in the Hexsides auditorium waiting for Principle Bump to call her name out. Thanks to Amity, she had set up a time for Luz to show off her two spells to be initiated into Hexside. "Luz No-see-da" Luz steeled what little nerves she could and stiffly walked out onto the stage "So, the human that wants to be a witch. Against my better judgment, I've allowed you to take this exam into Hexside, despite the fact you have a criminal record. But can you even do magic with all your... human parts?"

"W-w-well to b-be f-fair, I checked th-at up and h-humans a-a-and witches aren't t-that dif-f-ferent b-b-biolog-g-ically"

"Riiiight, so can you do magic"

'Come on Luz, you can do this.' "I sure can." She reaches into the front pocket or her new grey hoodie that Willow made for her "It's said that humans can't do magic"

"That's a well-established fact!" Someone called out

"Thank you professor Hecklear." Bump motioned his hand "Continue miss."

She pulls out papers and shows them to both sides of the auditorium. "As I was saying. It's...an established fact that humans can't do magic. but I discovered a lost technique that changes everything" Principal Bump raised a brow at this. Getting down on her knees, which was a bit of a struggle thanks to her now 310lbs frame, Luz activated the light glyph and let the ball of light rise up. She then moved the plant glyph under the light and activated it, resulting in a small Mercury Fly Trap, which ate the light ball. Luz beamed and did jazz hands, or hand in her case now. "Mmmmagic."

Principal Bump's eyes widened "spells cast with paper? I've never heard of such a thing." He said to himself "But is it enough to pass the exam?"

Luz then pulled out another piece of paper "I've also been experimenting, I found that by combining glyphs in specific ways, I can do this" activating it, she made a large flower with glowing petals.

Principal Bump was now even more surprised "and you discovered this all on your own?!"

"yep, I read up on the different types of magic performed in the past and when I heard about lava magic I figured that that could be just broken down into fire and plant magic as its basic elements"

"how…very observant, however combining magic is against school rules"

"whys that?"

"When you study at Hexside, you're put into a specific track of which you can only learn from"

"what track were you in when you went to school?"

Principal Bump showed her his abomination sigil "I was in the Abomination Track when I attended here"

"did you ever want to learn other magic besides abomination magic?"

"…well…I did want to learn healing magic as well when I learned my vision was going to fade, but I was only allowed to choose one"

"Well, you're the principal now, can't you change the rules to allow students to learn from multiple tracks?" a thoughtful look came over Principal Bump's face as he got up and walked away "so did I get excepted?"

"huh? oh uh right, welcome to Hexside?" and a brochure smacked Luz in the face with enough force to knock her flat on her back

"ouch"

Luz, along with Amity, Emira, and Edric, was now headed to Hexside, Luz was currently wearing a plain version of the typical Hexside uniform with her left sleeve rolled and pinned up. Throughout the whole walk however witches and demons kept offering her food, and Luz being Luz, happily accepted everything given to her…though she could swear that half of it was made by Amity "you know, you two make a really cute couple" Emira said, making both girls freeze in place.

"uh, were not a couple," Luz said, her face now bright red

"you hang out after school, you spend all of your time together, you sleep in the same bed…"

"…and I may or may not have taken this for blackmail purposes" Edric held up his pinstagram and played a video of Luz and Amity in bed, while Luz was sleeping, Amity was getting rather frisky as if trying to grab as much of Luz's stomach as possible while also kissing her repeatedly.

Luz turned to Amity, whose face was now a deep purple "Amity?" Amity then fell forward but was thankfully caught by Luz, who then slung her over her shoulder "wow, either she's lighter than she looks, or I really am getting stronger the fatter I get"

"wish I was getting stronger like you," Emma said before she removed a hidden concealment stone revealing her 500lbs form

"Holy magic girdle batman! Amity's work?"

"yep, I couldn't help myself! Her trudge-stuffed abomination brownies were just too irresistible!"

"Don't you mean fudge?"

"Whats fudge?"

"...have you tried working out?"

"yeah, but it's like any weight I gain from Amity's food is permanent. Whatever that girl makes sticks to you like a kid's fingers on the door of a toy store" she said before slipping the concealment stone back on "It takes a 'lot' of work than normal to work anything off. I may be wearing a concealment stone to make myself look thin, but I still feel every pound I gained from her food"

Luz then turned to Edric "don't look at me, I never eat anything Amity makes. No matter how hard she tries" he said as they continued walking.

The rest of the walk was spent in silence with Luz the only one speaking, and even then that was only just to thank witches and demons for the food. As soon as they reached the school grounds, Amity came too. "huh? Wha? Luz!"

"hey there sleepy head, we're here" Amity went red in the face again as as Luz placed her on her feet

"Luz, I…" Luz held up her hand

"Let's save this for after school, okay?"

"...Kay," Amity said, clearly ashamed of her actions.

Emira and Edric headed off to their classes while Luz and Amity joined up with Gus and Willow "Luz!" the two called out

"Hello, fellow Hexoleos!" Luz greeted

"Hello, classmate!" Willow replied

"I knew you could do it, Luz!" Gus said proudly before he summoned letters reading out 'BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME!' earning a glare from Willow, Amity just looked at her feet, finding them more interesting than anything else at the moment "uh hee hee, sorry, I was, uh, just covering all my bases"

"So, do you know who those witches are?" Willow asked, gesturing to the nine banners

"yeah, those are the heads of the main nine covens. Each one excelled at a magic school like Glandus, St. Epiderm, and, of course, Hexside, Emira told me that"

"It's good that you know that, so, are you prepared to enter these hallowed halls?"

"Hmm, that's what I'm gonna figure out right now. [Goes inside.] See you on the other side, friends"

"See you later, Luz" Gus replied before summoning letters spelling out "GOODBYE FOREVER!" earning an even harsher glare from Willow "you know what? I'm uh, I'ma just get rid of these"

Willow then turned to Amity and noticed that something was off about her "Amity, are you okay?" she asked, Amity just shook her head

"Willow…I messed up with Luz…big time"

"Sorry but class is about to start, let's talk about this at lunch"

"yeah…okay" and the three of them headed inside.

Meanwhile

In Principal Bump's office, said witch was sitting in his chair while watching a crystal ball "A terrible development at Glandus High School. Students and teachers were found dead with no injuries to speak of, the cause of death still remains unknown" the reporter said, Principal Bump gave a concerned look, while hoping that whatever caused that would remain far away from Hexside. His door then opened and he saw Luz walk in, her mouth packed with something.

Swallowing whatever it was, she smacked her lips "hmm, tastes like chicken"

"I have no idea what that is. Now, today we'll be visited by the Emperor's Coven for a routine inspection. If we want to impress them, you'll need to join a coven track before they arrive"

"Actually, Principal Bump, I've made my own schedule." She unfurled the scroll "First, Vet Care for Mythical Beasts, then Healing and Dealing, and then after lunch—"

Principal Bump looked at the list "getting a head start already, I was going to say this in a little while, but I might as well tell you this now. What you said during your initiation test, stuck with me. I thought it over and I've decided to allow students to study multiple tracks at once…judging by your list, I take it you want to study a bit of everything"

Luz got serious "more than anything"

"That's the spirit" he then twirled his finger and Luz's plain uniform gained multiple colors on it "now off you go to class" and with another twirl of his finger, Luz was lifted up off the ground and headed to her first class.*screams*"The Choosy Hat! It broke free"

Luz stood in front of a door that had 'Beast Keeping 101' above the door, she could hear a loud ruckus going on inside. As soon as she entered a small griffin, the size of a lion reared up at her "Puddles! Don't!" and as if on pure instinct, Luz dodged the swipe and punched it across the face. The griffin stopped completely and began to tear up "well, you deserved that for acting like that" a witch said firmly, making the griffin start to cower under its master firm look "sorry about that, are you the human who's joined our school?" she asked before offering Luz a very large deep fried potato

"yes I am, I'm Luz" Luz replied before accepting it and eating it.

"I'm Viney, nice to meet you"

"ike ise" Luz said with her mouth full of fried 'potato'. The class teacher then came up and asked the same thing to which Luz gave the same answer before the teacher gave her a meatball the size of a baseball.

"I take it you don't have a beast of your own at the moment?" the teacher questioned

"no, I don't sorry"

"That's fine, you can use the class pet, Boopsie"

"awe what a cute name where is the little guy?"

"right behind you"

Luz turned around to see a giant, hairless, scar-covered, demonic-looking bulldog that had to be taller than Eda "this, is a Boopsie?" Boopsie then began panting and stuck its tongue out before giving Luz a massive lick, soaking her front "Heehee E...ww?". Thankfully the demon dog's saliva was the same consistency as water and smelled like roses. "Good Boopsie" Luz said while patting its side while trying to regain her composure. The teacher was actually surprised at how well Luz was at vet care, to which Luz explained that her mum was a vet, so she knew a thing or two about taking care of the sick and injured. What was even more impressive was that she was able to do it all despite only having one arm. As Luz expected, everyone in the class came up to her and offered her food of all different types, and when she asked if anyone had something to drink after eating a dry sort of food that sucked all of the moisture out of her mouth, she ended up waterlogged from all the drinks she was offered. Students had also asked her why her school uniform was multi-colored, to which she replied "you'll find out later".

While Luz was enjoying her first class at Hexside, an inspector from the Emperor's coven arrived at the school "welcome to Hexside, inspector" Principal Bump greeted

"Greetings, Principal Bump.*Bows*If everything's in order, the Emperor's Coven will be happy to give a substantial donation to the school's funding"

"Excellent. Please come this way. We've prepared a show with some of our finest students"

An abomination and a similar-looking creature comprised entirely of vines were fighting on stage. The two creatures were being controlled by Amity and Willow respectively. The fight ended with the two creatures merging into one being before it turned to the Inspector and Principal Bump and gave a bow "And that concludes the presentation from the Plant Track and the Abomination track" Willow said as she and Amity also gave a bow.

Principal Bump politely applauded the show "that was some real Hexside magic, huh?"

"Yes, this is... good. But let's see if your students can put up more of a fight!"

"yes, yes—wait, what?" the inspector slammed her hands down on the stage. Her face then deformed, revealing that she was in fact a greater basilisk. "Is, uh, this part of the inspection?"

"Monstrosity, fight!" Willow and Amity said in union. The two girls creation ran forward and grabbed the inspector. The inspector fully transformed into a basilisk and tried to fling the monstrosity into the air, but roots in its feet kept it attached to the stage. The greater basilisk flipped over and sliced the monstrosity in half with its tail before eating one half and then the other in quick succession. It growled and then slithered toward the two girls, who began backing away

"the life force at Glandus High was tasty. But I hope yours will be more filling" Principal Bump ran between the two girls and the inspector

"Girls, stay back. She's an impostor!" the basilisk then inhaled deeply, causing a glowing ball of light to come out of the three witches' chests, which the basilisk swallowed. Their skin turned grey and the three of them fell to the ground, lying perfectly still with eyes glazed over. The basilisk gave an evil laugh before it began eating the life force of the other students in the Paranoratorium.

As the bell rang to signal the next class, students began filling the halls heading to their next class. As Luz headed to her next class, which was healing and dealing, she heard many different-sounding screams. This made her, as well as many other students, stop and look in the direction of the screams. At the end of the hall, they saw a student seemingly paralyzed in fear, before there was a powerful sucking and a glowing ball came out of his chest before he fell to the ground. The students watched as a greater Basilisk appeared around the corner and licked its lips. The students turned and ran while screaming in terror as the Basilisk began sucking in waves of life force from the students with them all dropping like flies.

As Luz ran for her life, literally, she watched as Viney from the Beast Keeping class opened up a large section of the lockers and stepped in "WAIT FOR ME!" she shouted as the Basilisk was on her heels. Luz dived through the opening and it closed right before the Basilisk rammed into it. Luz was now gasping for air as she lay on her back. Looking around, she saw several other students the first one she recognized was Viney. Another two students she recognized were Skara and Boscha, the latter of whom looked ready to kill her. There was also a male student, a dog wearing a hexside uniform, and the giant-eyed demon girl she had seen around town. Luz looked around, she was now in a very spacious area with different colored and shaped doors all over the walls "where am I?"

"the last place you'll ever see alive if you don't shut your mouth!" Boscha snapped, making Luz flinch

"cram it Boscha," Viney said, making the triclops scowl

"hey, if it wasn't for me we never would have found this place"

"she destroyed the detention room in a rage after she was thrown in it following her fight with Amity and Willow" Viney explained, making Boscha growl "and while it was under repairs the "detention track" was made. While we were in it, we discovered this place. It's called "the secret room of shortcuts". This place connects the different parts of the school. The witch who made it is known as..." She gestures to a defaced portrait and wall of signatures. "Lord Calamity!"

"What did you do to get tossed into detention, you seemed pretty well-behaved in class," Luz asked

"Jerbo, Barcus, Skara, and I tried mixing different kinds of magic. Jerbo mixed plant magic with abomination magic. Barcus mixed Potion magic with oracle magic. I tried mixing healing magic with beast-keeping magic…which in hindsight was kinda unconventional. And what did you do Skara?"

"I tried mixing Bard magic with healing magic, I could heal a room full of people at once but Bump said 'a witch must hocus focus'." She moaned "Who cares if it's not proper? isn't helping people better than following the rules?"

"well I do have some good news about that, Principal Bump is going to allow students to study multiple tracks at once, hence why mine multi-colored"

"that would explain why we were pulled out of the detention track yesterday"

"*muffled*You're the human right?" the giant-eyed demon said in a muffled voice while extending a sandwich out to Luz, who happily accepted it

"yeah I am, I'm Luz"

"*muffled*Eileen. Wow, I can't believe I'm seeing a human face to face, I'm a member of-"

"Can we actually focus on the fact that there's a giant Basilisk killing everyone in the school" Boscha snapped

"you're right, can we use this place to get out of the school and warn someone?" Luz asked

"or to just escape" Skara added

"yeah we can, but unfortunately the only door that leads to the outside is too small for the three of you," Viney said while gesturing to Luz, Boscha, and Skara.

Boscha scowled "so we either stay here and wait until that thing kills everyone and leaves, or we fight it and hope for the best"

"*bark* *bark*"

"Barcus says if we're smart, we can overcome any enemy"

"hey guys, out of curiosity, does anyone here know any spells that speed up digestion?" Luz asked

"I do…why?" Viney asked, Luz, grinned

"Well I'm super hungry and I could really use a lot of food to fill up this belly of mine" she said. Pressing down on their instinct button as everyone materialized a large amount of food.

After a large amount of food was borderline forced down Luz's throat and rapidly digested thanks to Viney, Luz was now 380lbs. After telling everyone her plan they all agreed to it, mostly due to no one having any better ideas.

"Hungry! Still hungry!" the greater Basilisk said after eating the life force of another 5 students

"has anyone told you that you may have an eating disorder?"

"huh?" 3 vials of liquid dropped from above and smashed on the ground creating a large smokescreen. As the Basilisk was blinded by the thick cloud of smoke, it didn't see a piece of paper being tossed in front of it. A giant Mercury Fly Trap emerged from the piece of paper and bit down on the Basilisk. The Basilisk screeched in agony as the plant's digestive juices started to rapidly dissolve away its flesh. It unfortunately was able free itself relatively quickly though as it slashed the head of the plant to ribbons, where it dropped to the ground.

"From the humblest of beginnings, a hero will rise" the Basilisk looked up and saw Luz "I've trained with long-forgotten techniques to discover the power of mixing magic! I am—"

"Dinner!"

"Wah!" Luz began running as fast as she could as the Greater Basilisk righted itself and began chasing after Luz. As the Basilisk rapidly got closer to Luz, she called out "Viney! Do the thing, do the thing!" Puddles then flew through the halls and attacked the Basilisk

"Attagirl, Puddles! Jerbo, now!" Viney called out

"On it!" Jerbo replied, An abomination that he created opened a door in the floor as Jerbo summoned several thorny vines. The vines latch onto a door handle in the ceiling. The Basilisk clawed at Puddles and threw her before it fell through the opened door. Getting stuck in the door of the floor of the Secret Room of Shortcuts, the Basilisk turned its head and saw a student with a giant eyeball for a head, Eileen then poured a potion on her head, and in a puff of smoke, she was now 5 times bigger. Raising a foot she stomped down hard on it, sending it through the door in the floor of the Secret Room of Shortcuts and into the auditorium, where it crashed on the stage. It was about to get up only to be pinned down by a demonic-looking abomination. Jerbo then came down with his abomination and helped hold down the basilisk as well.

Up at the top Luz and Skara stood at the edge of the first door that opened up "okay Skara, let's go!" Luz said and the two then hugged each other tightly and jumped down through the two open doors and landed on the Basilisk's stomach, making it release all of the life forces it had consumed, as well as knocking the breath out of it. The witches watched as glowing balls of light went into the bodies of the lifeless witches who had been lying around the auditorium. The witches then sprang up while taking a deep breath.

The group cheered that their plan succeeded, but their cheers were quickly silenced "you little brats!" The basilisk growled out as it rose up. It opened its mouth to suck out its life force when Boscha was thrown onto the basilisk by her abomination, she then wrapped her arms around its neck and squeezed tightly

"What are you doing? Egh. A witch is-K! Spsed to use magic."

"Magic of these guns! there's just one more life force I need to remove from you, YOUR'S"*snap*and with that, the basilisk fell to the ground, dead.

After having the dead basilisk removed from the school, an assembly was held in the auditorium. Principal Bump appeared on the stage "silence students" he started, silencing even "as all of you were aware, a basilisk infiltrated the school and ate your life forces, including my own. Our lives would have all been lost if it hadn't been for these brave students, who not only freed our life forces but also killed the basilisk preventing it from taking any more lives" everyone in the auditorium cheered and clapped as the students who had defeated the basilisk stood proudly on stage.

After school finished for the day, Luz, who was stuffed to the max, exited, happy that her first day of magic school went better than she expected it to go…sure it went a bit pear-shaped with the whole basilisk fiasco, but she left now being seen as a hero and Principal Bump had pointed out that Luz was the reason he was now going to allow students to start taking multiple tracks at once.

Luz turned to Amity with a serious look on her face "Amity, after what your brother and sister showed me this morning, I've decided to stay with Willow for a while"

Amity forced a smile onto her face "s-s-sure L-L-Luz" she strained out

"don't get me wrong, I like you, and I think you're cute, but I think that you like my weight and feeding me more than me as a person" Luz stated, Amity stayed silent, she knew that Luz was right, she did only see Luz as someone to fulfill her desires and her obsession with feeding people. She gave Luz a small nod before she ran off. Luz felt a pain in her chest at seeing her friend run off

"I think she needs to get her feelings in order," Willow said,

"wait, what did she do?" Gus asked, to which Luz told him what happened. He was a bit confused but just brushed it aside. After a bit more walking, Gus split off from the two girls, and they continued to Willow's house.

When they finally arrived Luz took in Willow's house in awe, everywhere she looked, she saw sculptures and paintings, all of them being Luz's sort of weird. "Welcome to Park Homestead" Willow said proudly

"whoa, Willow, are your dad's awesome art collectors"

"Oh, no, my dad's actually made all of this. My dad Gilbert makes paintings with different shades of abomination goo, and my dad Harvey uses his construction magic to make sculptures"

"wow, these sculptures look like they could come alive any minute now"

"yeah, my dads take great pride in their work, come on, I'll show you around" and Willow showed Luz around her house, occasionally offering her food.

"And finally we have my room," Willow said proudly, Luz looked around, Willow's room was filled with plants of various types and sizes, she also had pictures of her and Gus, as well as pictures of her and Amity up on the walls. There was also a desk, a bed, and shelves of books.

"Nice room" Luz said, clearly impressed

"Thanks, it's not much, but I like it"

"wow Willow, these plants are so cool!" Luz said as she walked up to the largest one which looked like a certain plant from a little shop of horrors

"that's Betsy, I've been growing her to enter her in a plant growing competition next month"

Luz then turned back to Willow "well given how big it is you're sure to win" she said before Betsy rose up and bit down on Luz "hmmgmmffthhfm!" Luz cried out

"Betsy! No!" Willow shouted and she used her magic to free Luz.

"Are you okay Luz?!"

"Yeah I'm fine," Luz said, her hair now completely messed up.

"Betsy, Luz is my friend, not food, do you understand?" Betsy nodded before going back to its original position. "Sorry about that Luz, she gets that way around new people"

"It's fine, I'll only be having nightmares for a few days," Luz said before two red needles embedded themselves into both sides of Luz's neck "ow! What the?!" Luz exclaimed before she pulled the two needles out

"oh sorry about that Luz, the twin Dart Shooters I have, love doing that to new people as well"

"These aren't poisonous are they?"

"Oh, no they're not"

"phew tha…" Luz trailed off as she tensed up, went wide-eyed, and clenched her teeth tightly, before falling back with a thud

"They just cause almost full body paralysis for 5 hours"

"take eee to Gus's house thlese" Luz said to Willow, who nodded in acknowledgment before going to get her heavy-duty wagon.

When Willow arrived at Gus's house, she was now hauling Luz and three wagons of food "wow, now that was a workout"

"you're really strong Willow"

"hehe thanks, Luz, well here we are" and she knocked on the door

"I'll get it!" They heard Gus's voice ring out, there was a pause before the door opened "oh hey Willow, what's up"

"hey Gus, do you think that you and your dad could take in Luz, I don't think she would survive at my house, especially in my room" Gus looked and saw the paralyzed Luz

"dart twins got her?"

"In the neck"

"ouch, you doing okay Luz?"

"I'd give you a thumbs uth ut I can't ove"

"when they first got me, they got me in the butt" this made the two girls laugh.

"And what's so funny here?" Gus's father asked as he walked up, becoming surprised at the sight in front of him.

"Hey Dad, can Luz stay here with us"

"wait isn't that the criminal who broke all of those prisoners out?"

"They were just a bunch of weirdos who were locked uth for not fitting into society" Luz explained, surprising Perry

"Wait, really?"

"All fanfic writers and guys who eat their own eyes."

Perry pinched the bridge of his nose. His tax snails paid for 'that'?

"so can she stay with us please?!" Gus pleaded

"of course, she can," Perry said before thinking to himself 'maybe if she stays here, Augustus will stop going on about her, plus I'd be the first reporter to interview a human'

Gus hugged his dad tightly while thanking him profusely before Willow brought in Luz and the wagons of food. "She should be able to move in about 3 hours from now," Willow said before she headed back home, slightly disappointed that Luz would be staying at Gus's house instead of her's.

By the time Luz could move again, it was dark out. Feeling that there would be riots, as soon as she could move, she began devouring all of the food people had given her, while Gus and Perry wrote down notes on human behavior. By the time Luz had finished all of the food, she was too stuffed to move. "Wow Luz, I've never seen you eat that much in one sitting"

"if I didn't, you'd probably have half the town banging on your door, trying to feed me the food they made" Luz explained before a belch erupted from her mouth "I'm so sorry for that!" she said while going bright red in the face, making the two witches laugh.

Chapter 5: To The Past We Go

Chapter Text

Chapter 6: A Life Of Crime

Chapter Text

It took the group of friends about 40 minutes to get from the knee to the left tibia of the titan. They arrived to see a large thick forest that was so dense that they couldn't see the forest floor. Landing outside of the forest they were all in awe at how big the trees actually were, to Luz they were like wooden skyscrapers due to how tall and wide they were with branches above that all seemed to be intertwined with each other. Spotting a trail that lead into the Dark Forest, the group began following it in, hoping that it would eventually lead to some Sunweed's. they didn't get very far into the forest before it lived up to its name, due to the branches being all intertwined, all light from above was cut out making it pitch black in the forest fortunately there were lanterns of Spark Flies along the sides of the trail. Soon the dirt trail turned into a concrete path, something that surprised the lot of them, Willow bent down and touched it "hold on...this is concrete. This stuff wasn't made up until a hundred years ago"

"Well, seems like our history books need to be updated" Amity quipped and they continued along the path, which eventually opened up into a bustling city

"Whoa, what is this place?!" Gus asked, now in as much awe as his friends.

"It's a city!" Luz exclaimed, her friends looked at her confused

"what's a city?" they asked in union

"It's like a town, but 'bigger'!" Luz explained before she walked off in a random direction with her friends following her. As they wandered around the forest city, Luz took note that it looked like how cartoons depict cities in the 1920's, from the style of clothing demons, wore to the technology they had, what surprised her the most however was the fact that this place was literally hundreds of years more advanced than the other towns that they had visited so far in this time, heck it was even more advanced than what Bonesborough was in their time. While vehicles such as cars and trucks did exist in this city, they appeared to be made solely out of wood, bark, and leaves. "This is weird, even by demon realm standards," Luz said as Willow walked up to someone in a suit

"excuse me sir" the demon turned, revealing himself to be a plant/pitbull hybrid

"yes?" he replied in an annoyed tone

"Could you tell me where we could find some Sunweed's please"

this greatly caught his attention "why would a young witch want to associate with them?"

"We need their gloves to make two enchanted articles of clothing"

"you'd be better off making something else, you don't want to ever associate with them, good day," he said and turned back around, making Willow give a sigh of defeat before heading back over to her friends

"no luck," she said

"well let's keep asking around, I'm sure we'll find someone who knows where to find them" Luz stated confidently, but try as they might, they all got the same answer. "geez, it seems like everyone knows about them, but no one wants to tell us where they are" Luz stated in frustration, her friends now in the same boat as her.

After some more walking around, a distracted Luz fell down a flight of stairs and burst through the door at the bottom of them. She heard many familiar clicking sounds before she heard her name being called out. Getting her bearings, she realized that she now had about 20 wooden Tommy guns pointed at her, all being held by what looked like large sentient sunflowers covered in thorns, with their stamen's being faces that sported large narrowed eyes and long pointy noses, and they were all wearing 1920's gangster outfits. Luz gulped while her friends remained frozen at the door.

"Who are you and why have you busted into our headquarters?" One of the sunflower demons asked

"*gulp* sorry, we were looking for Sunweeds and I wasn't concentrating and I fell down the stairs, please don't shoot me!"

"At ease boys" they all put their guns away "so what is a group of witches and a human doing looking for us?" The head Sunweed asked.

"Um we were hoping that we could possibly get a pair of your gloves, please," Luz said

"Hmm…boys help her up" with a bit of struggling they got Luz back onto her feet "follow me, all of you" Luz and her friends followed the boss to a back room. When they reached the back room they all took a seat while the rest of the Sunweeds surrounded them. "So, you want a pair of our gloves huh? Let me guess, it's to make an enchanted article of clothing right?"

"Yes sir" Luz spoke

"Hmm tell yah what, you perform a task for us and in return, I'll give you my gloves"

"what's the task?"

"Well you see, we've got a shipment of pixie dust coming in, unfortunately, the town's coppers don't like us so much, you help us complete the delivery and I'll give you my gloves. So, do we have a deal, or what?"

"Deal," Luz said and the two shook hands.

"Perfect" the boss then slid a photo onto the table "head over to dock 7, you'll see this guy, tell him "the sun shines brightly" and he'll give you the goods, which you are to bring to number 5, 22nd street"

"We won't let you down"

"you'd better not, or else"

"*gulp* well I think we've taken up enough of these fine plants' time, let's go!" And with that, Luz and her friends left as fast as they could.

"Why do I have a feeling that what we're about to do is highly illegal" Willow questioned

"Because pixie dust is illegal" Amity stated

"eh even if we do something illegal, it's not like the consequences will follow us 300 years into the future" Luz stated

"Besides, Luz is already a criminal," Gus said, earning a glare from his friends "a crime of which she is totally innocent" he sheepishly added.

After some searching, and asking for directions, the group soon found the docks which were situated at the edge of the forest city. Traveling along the docks, they quickly found dock seven and sure enough, they spotted the guy in the picture leaning against a wooden van that was parked next to a ship. The guy looked like a demonic anthropomorphic weasel wearing a trench coat and a fedora, he eyed the four friends suspiciously as they made their way over to him. "The sun shines brightly," Luz said, making the demon's eyes widen

"Budsy sent you here?! Well I guess a group of kids is less suspicious" he said before giving Luz a cherry the size of her head, which she was more than happy to eat, Amity decided to take over

"so there's like a shipment of pixie dust?"

"Yep, it's all loaded up in here," he said while patting the van, "all I need is my payment and it's yours to take"

"payment? We weren't told that we had to pay!"

"Well, no snails, no pixie dust"

"oh f*ck it," Amity said before she made an abomination that grabbed the demon and threw him in the water. "In, in, in!" Amity shouted they then all hopped into the wooden van and closed the doors. Luz, who had plopped into the driver's seat saw that most of the things in the van looked identical to what was in her mum's van.

"Does anyone know how to move this thing?!" Willow asked,

"hold on!" Luz said turning on the van, she then put it in gear and floored it with the van screeching out of the docks.

"wait Luz, you've been in one of these things before?!" Amity exclaimed

"yeah, but this is my first time driving one!" she said as she weaved through some traffic before coming to a stop.

"You don't think we're going to get in trouble for this?" Gus asked

"probably not," Luz said before there was a knock on her window. Turning, Luz saw a police officer, with a gulp, Luz rolled down the window "uh hello there officer, fine day isn't it"

"license and registration," he said flatly, knowing that they obviously didn't have one given their ages.

'note to self, never do this when I get home' she then pulled out an ice glyph and activated it, making a pillar of ice shoot out and smash the officer right in the face, knocking him out. Luz put the van back into drive and sped off

"Luz!" her friends said in union

"if you had any better ideas of what we should have done, then I would like to hear them," Luz said as sirens began blaring behind them

"well, it's not like we have many options at this point," Willow said before she opened up the side door of the van and used her plant magic to make large roots burst out of the ground causing some of the perusing squad cars to crash. Amity who was in the passenger seat saw a car pull up alongside the van on Luz's side and an officer aiming something at Luz, with a gasp Amity shot abomination goop at them blinding the man as well as the driver, causing them to crash.

Using his illusion magic, Gus made a huge slitherbeast appear on top of the van which roared and frightened to the police so much that most of them lost control and crashed. There was a pause as Luz sped along the road, continuing to weave through the traffic "you can slow down Luz, I think we-" Willow was cut off as something burst through the side of the van and grazed the bridge of her nose

"get down!" Luz shouted as the van was pelted by projectiles. When they finally stopped Amity and Willow sent out fists of Abomination goop and vines, taking out the 2 cars on either side of the van "hold on tight!" Luz shouted as she made a sharp turn, then another, and another, until she went straight into an ally and turned off the engine, giving a sigh of relief as the few police cars still in pursuit drove past "phew, that's what we in the human world call a police chase"

"oh, my titan! Luz, you're bleeding!" Amity exclaimed, and it was true, a fair amount of projectiles had either gone through her or were in her, thankfully though it was mostly her fat that was hit and nothing vital.

"Guys let's just get this pixie dust to the Sunweed's before we worry about me," Luz said, putting the van into drive again she headed down the alley and surprisingly exited onto 22nd street. After a bit of searching, she found number 5 which was a large factory. Driving in, she soon spotted Budsy and most of his men. She parked the van and she and her friends hopped out

"I am never getting in one of these again" Gus moaned out

"Geez, you in a shoot out or somethin'?" Budsy asked as he examined the hole-littered van

"something like that, can you help our friend please, she was hit many times" Willow stated while pointing to the bleeding Luz

"Daffy, Rosé, take this young lady to Doc" two Sunweeds with yellow and red petals respectively, guided Luz to the Sunweeds personal doctor. Budsy examined the cargo and gave a nod of approval "well-done kids" he said he said before he took off his gloves "you held up your end of the bargain, so I'm holding up mine" and he gave his gloves to Willow who put them in the hammerspace bag. After getting patched up Luz, along with her friends, departed on their palismans/brooms, and left the forest city as fast as they could, not wanting to risk being caught by any officials on their way out.

Once they were finally out of the forest, they all headed to the head to meet the man who knew about ancient magic. As they flew, Amity looked at Luz "hey Luz, how are you feeling?"

"really sore, turns out they were shooting acorns at us, and the doctor had to pull 20 out of me, and even then I still think he missed some" Luz said with a slight wince of pain, making her friends give concerned looks to her. Seeing her friends looks, Luz smiled "you know I thought all of this weight would be a hindrance, but it looks like it's saved me more than once, first crashing into that cliff face and then being shot at" she said, but that still didn't relieve their concerns. After 2 hours of flying, they finally reached the head of the titan. Flying around the head and scanning it thoroughly, Gus spotted a tent near the right horn with a man sitting out the front of it

"Hey, a guy's, down there!" Gus shouted while pointing at the man and his tent. The girl's faces lit up at this and they all flew down to greet the man. When they got closer, they could see that the man was just staring out at the Tranquil islands with a small smile on his face. When they landed he got a look of surprise before he got to his feet

"hi there, can I help you?" he asked, the four friends looked surprised, he looked to be an average-sized human in his late 30s, wearing clothes from this current time and era.

"Um, are you a human?" Luz asked

"haha no, I'm a vampire," he said and showed his fangs "I get mistaken for a human all the time, though I take it you're a human?" he questioned, Luz, however, got a puzzled look on her face

"wait you're a vampire? *looks up* shouldn't you be burning up because of the sunlight?"

"…no, sunlight only weakens a vampire, who said we burn up?"

"well most vampires in movies or on TV burn up in sunlight"

"movies and TV, what are those?" Luz then explained to him about their situation before explaining what movies and TV were.

"so can you help us?" Gus asked

"Jure Grando is at your service," he said with a bow "I know of many of magic, including magic to help you with your current situation" the friend's faces lit up at this "please follow me," he said before he went inside his tent. Then the teens followed him they were in awe to see that the tent was about 10 times bigger on the inside. Magical items, potions, runes, books, and spells were everywhere

"wow, dimensional transcendence," Willow said in awe

"yep, and even if I fold up this tent, it won't disturb anything inside" the man added as he began searching through some scrolls. Luz however was transfixed on what was displayed on the wall. It was a display of different types of glyphs, there were the 3 she already had plus there were also many others including water, healing, darkness, wind, clairvoyance, and many others.

"Luz? What are you…oh"

"take a picture please" Amity pulled out her penstagram and took a picture of all of the glyphs. Willow was looking at the different magical items, some of which she had never even heard or seen of before, such as a silence band, a wristband that silenced anything you did, which was great for stealth. There was also a golden hammer that could transform anything it hit into whatever the wielder desired, well at least that's what it said on the description cards.

"found it!" the 4 friends looked and saw Jure holding a scroll which he unfurled on the table. "In order to get back to your original time, you must simply make this symbol, then stand on it while reciting this chant and state the date you wish to travel to and it will send you to that date, in the exact spot where you're standing," he said before he furled it back up and handed it to Luz

"thank you so much for this sir"

"you're welcome little lady, you're all free to explore the things I've collected over the years" the 4 friends happily accepted the offer and began searching. Scanning through several books, Gus found one that only had the sign for infinite on the front

"what book is this?" he asked before he opened it up to blank page words shimmered into view and he read it "this book you are currently holding is an Infinite History Book. Ask this book any questions and it'll give you full details to your question, but only if it has happened. This book cannot tell you about future events, only past and present events that have occurred…wow this book could answer so many questions for me"

"You can have it if you want, I already have 10 of them," Jure said casually

"Really?! Thank you so much!"

"you're welcome kid" he said before he walked over to Amity who was holding something that looked like a snowglobe only inside it had a blob of abomination goo moving around inside it "that's master abomination goop"

"master abomination goop? I've never heard of such a thing"

"it's an extremely rare form of abomination goop that forms naturally on the Tranquil Isles. If it comes into contact with someone who's adept at abomination magic, they will become the greatest abomination, user"

"I study abomination magic, may I use it?"

"Sure, not like I have any use for it other than decoration, just open it up by twisting the globe" Amity did as Jure instructed, and as soon as it was free, the master abomination goop slithered out of the globe, and onto Amity's hand, which it completely covered.

Amity's eyes shot open and she screamed as it felt like she was wearing a red hot iron glove. The master abomination goop began merging with Amity, seeping in through her pores and fusing to her very DNA. Amity was now on the ground, writhing in pain before a blue glow surrounded her, numbing the pain. Her friends looked and saw Jure's extended hand was also glowing blue "sorry, I should have mentioned that this would happen" he said sheepishly.

When he stopped Amity felt perfectly normal again "Are you okay Amity?" Luz asked, greatly concerned for her friend

"yeah I'm fine" she replied, there was then a pause before amity's forearms went purple and then formed into scythes, stunning her friends, she then turned them into mallets, then spears, and then giant versions of her hands, before she doubled in size while turning into a standard abomination, albeit with a normal shaped head with her hair now flowing, and in an instant she was back to normal.

"Amity! That was so cool!" Luz exclaimed with Willow and Gus agreeing

"This should put that 3 eyed demon in her place," Amity said, planning to upstage Boscha the first chance she got.

As the group continued searching Jure came up to Gus "tell me, young man, what type of magic do you excel at?" he asked

"I'm adept at illusion magic" Gus replied

"hmm illusions are good for distractions, but not so much for combat" walking over to a box Jure pulled out a small amulet that had a crystal in the shape of an eye on it "this is the Third Eye Amulet, if you perform an illusion while wearing it, the illusion will become real for about 10 seconds. I know 10 seconds might not seem like much time, but if you're smart and know what to do, 10 seconds is plenty of time" he explained before he put it around Gus's neck.

Gus then made an illusion of himself and was shocked as his illusion was solid "oh man, this is so cool!" he said before his hand went through his illusion.

Satisfied, Jure walked over to Willow "tell me young lady, what type of magic do you excel at?"

"I excel at plant magic, but I'm currently in the process of getting my own magical item, the Green Thumb Gauntlet"

Jure's demeanor changed at that with his eyes narrowing "interesting, are you enjoying the journey to obtain the items to make said item?"

"Actually, I am"

"That's good, out of curiosity, what have you collected so far?"

"only a Sunweed glove at the moment, but we're headed to the castle after we get Weremummy bandages"

"I'd seriously watch yourself with those royals, they don't take too kindly to non-demons, also you have to wait until nightfall when the moon is full, and it won't be full for another 2 weeks"

"What?!" they all exclaimed

"Sorry kids, but that's how it goes"

"you know guys, if you want, once we have Willow's Green Thumb Gauntlet made, you can go back to the future and I'll follow after once I've made the Healing Hat"

Amity put a large abomination goo-covered arm around Luz's shoulders "if you think we're gonna leave you in the past, you've got another thing coming, big girl" and Amity poked Luz's stomach

"yeah, besides, we're learning about stuff that I'm assuming has been lost to time because they haven't taught us about it in school or anything" Willow added, Luz, smiled and this and spread her arms

"bring it in guys" confused looks "hug me" they understood and the 3 witches hugged their huge human friend.

When they let go, the three witches went back to looking while Luz decided to ask Jure questions "so sunlight doesn't burn you, it only weakens you?"

"that is correct"

"Are you able to turn into a bat"

"yes I can" and in an instant, he was a bat "as well as other animals" he then turned into a dog, a cat, a horse, a wolf, and a snake, before turning back to normal

"Can you be seen in a mirror?"

"of course, how else do you think I look this good"

"Good point, can only a stake through the heart kill you"

"yeah, well, who wouldn't that kill?"

"…huh? You have a very good point. Um, do you drink blood?"

"yes, vampires need blood like you need water, ever woken up at a normal time and felt half dead?"

"Yeah"

"then a vampire has drank your blood"

"but I've never found bite marks before?"

"that's because 1. Bites don't hurt, and 2. All bite marks instantly heal up. shall I show you"

"I won't turn into a vampire will I"

"…no, what makes you think that being bitten turns you into a vampire?"

"tv and movies"

"ah, no, vampires can only reproduce the same way most creatures do"

"cool, okay, bite me" Jure's fangs extended and he bit Luz's neck. Luz raised a brow at this, it was like he was just resting his head on her shoulder. He then moved away from her revealing his blood-covered fangs. Luz touched her neck, but felt nothing wrong, though she did feel a tiny bit woozy.

"you should really cut down on sugar, any sweeter and your blood could be classified as syrup"

"well I've always been told that I was a sweet girl"

Jure chuckled at that before he got a questioning look on his face "as a human, you can't use magic right?"

"Actually, I can use glyphs," Luz said proudly while pointing to the picture frame of glyphs

"and which ones do you know?"

"Before I came here, I knew light, plant, and ice glyphs, and now after seeing those I know more spells that I can do"

"Are you aware that you can combine glyphs?" "yes, and I've made several spells already"

"That's great to hear, would you like something that could help you with those spells of yours?"

Luz's eyes widened and sparkled "more than anything"

After a bit of searching, Jure found what he was looking for. He showed Luz what looked like a paintbrush with black paint on the end as well as a sparkling cloth "this is a Magic Paintbrush, and this is an Erasure Cloth. Use this paintbrush to paint glyphs on yourself, and use this cloth to erase them if you don't want them on you anymore"

"so this paint won't come off in the water?"

"no, it won't. May I have your hand please?" Luz extended her hand out to Jure who grabbed it and painted a symbol on her palm "now when you touch a glyph on your body and thrust your hand outward the spell will activate" he said before he handed the two items to Luz

"Could you put those in my backpack please, I don't want to risk wiping this symbol off" she said to which Jure complied.

After a bit more searching the group of friends thanked Jure profusely before taking their leave. "I have a feeling that we're going to be well known in the future, thanks to our upgrades," Gus said with the others agreeing

"okay next stop the castle" Luz stated before they all headed off to the titan's chest.

Landing in the courtyard, they were instantly greeted with spears and swords pointed at them, all being held by anthropomorphic horse demons wearing knight armor "probably should have gone through the front first" Willow stated, getting nods from her friends

"Who are you and why are you here!" the biggest knight demanded

"we're a group of travelers looking for a holy ring, holy water, and the jewel of a Royal Crown, which we were told that we could find here" Luz explained, the guards lowered their weapons

"next time kids, use the front. Follow me," the biggest knight said before he gave Luz a turducken drumstick, which was followed by all of the guards offering her food as well.

As the group followed the knight through the halls, Luz now had all the food given to her impaled on a spear and was eating it like a souvlaki. As they walked through the halls, Luz noticed that all of the castle staff were all 4ft tall anthropomorphic pawns, with perfectly round heads floating above their bodies and all wearing what she would assume jesters would wear. Putting the pieces together, she guessed that the king and queen of this castle would look like chess pieces as well. Her guess was proven correct when they were brought into the throne room where the King and Queen of the titan were currently sitting "greetings young ones, what brings you here?" the King asked, a hint of disgust in his voice.

Luz stepped forward "greetings your Majesties, my friends and I have traveled far in search of the jewel of a crown, as well as a holy ring and holy water," she said with a bow, the king's brow furrowed

"So, you want the jewel of my crown as well as a holy ring and holy water"

"yes please your highness" Luz said

"Hmm, tell you what, you do something for me and I'll give you the jewel of my crown and give you the chance to get the other two items you desire"

"another task" Amity mumbled,

"If you can get for me the scales of a mermaid, then I'll gladly give you the jewel to my crown," the king said

"We shall complete this quest with gusto," Luz said, with her friends giving her odd looks

"very well, Mortimer please escort these children out so that they may start their quest"

"yes your majesty" and with that, the 4 friends were led out of the castle

"probably won't be seeing them again," the king said to his wife, who gave a small laugh.

Once they were out, Luz turned to her friends "so where do we find mermaids?" Luz asked

"We don't, mermaids have been extinct for hundreds of years" Willow stated

"what?! How?!"

"No one knows"

"…wait you just said hundreds of years ago, you mean back in our time?" Willow realized what Luz was suggesting "so there might be some still around at this point in time. I take it that mermaids live somewhere in the ocean?"

"Yeah"

"then let's begin our search!" Luz said before she hopped on her brooms, her friends then hopped on their staffs and they all flew off.

After searching around the coast of the titan 3 times, the group decided to make camp for the night on the hip of the titan before widening their search the next day. From when they had finished setting up camp to the time they went to bed, Luz had been practicing different spells. She already knew how to combine glyphs, but with the new ones she now knew of she began randomly combining glyphs to see what the results were. By combining 2 healing glyphs along with an abomination glyph, she could make a green goop that rapidly absorbed into the body and fully healed an injury in seconds. She had first tested it out by wiping it on the wounds she had received during the police chase, and while the wounds did heal up, there were still small scars in their places. She tried using the spell to regrow her arm, but the only thing it did was remove the tenderness of it and not re-grow it. Nevertheless, she painted the combo on herself.

She had also found out that by combining 2 gravity glyphs and a light glyph, she made a spell that made something float up into the air before their weight was increased by 10 times and they'd shoot straight back down to the ground. Using her new magic paintbrush she painted the glyph combo on her stomach. Placing her hand on the combo, she removed it and saw that the symbol Jure had painted on her palm was now glowing, touching a nearby boulder she watched as it floated up into the air before shooting straight back down, embedding into the ground. She also painted the rest of the glyphs on herself due to even on their own they were great such as the fire glyph or the clairvoyance glyph that allowed her to see up to 15 seconds into the future in an instant.

The next day, they headed out to sea, going further and further out until the titan was out of site. They had encountered several small ships, but no one on board any of them had seen a mermaid in years, much to the teen's disappointment.

After 4 days of searching, taking rests on small islands that appeared occasionally, they came across a very large boat that had the same symbol on its sail and flag that was on the flags and banners in the King's castle (white flag with a blue cross and a crown in the center). The group watched as almost every sailor on board the ship was helping to pull in a huge net. "Wow, they must have one heck of a catch" Luz said with her friends agreeing. What they hauled in however left Luz slack-jawed and bug-eyed. In the net was a mermaid, it looked a lot like how typical mermaids are depicted in media, with only one slight difference, it was bigger than a whale!

They watched as it desperately tried to get out of the net it was currently caught in "man the harpoons and fire!" Someone called out. Several harpoons were brought to the side of the boat and were fired, all of them piercing into/going through the mermaid, with one going into its eye. The mermaid screamed in agony as the harpoons tore into and through her body before she was hauled up and out of the water. Luz, unable to take this anymore, flew down to the boat and used a plant glyph to make a huge ball of thorny vines around her hand which she stuck out in front of her "leave her alone!" She shouted and she knocked down the whole crew. The 3 witches saw what their friend did and sighed before they flew in to help.

As soon as they landed, Amity formed a massive abomination and had it attack and throw all of the sailors overboard. Willow used her plant magic to make thick vines which she used to whip more sailors off the boat. Gus used his newly enhanced illusions to make several giant hands that reached down and quickly grabbed the mermaid, placing her on the deck before they became normal illusions. The mermaid thrashed about in pain as well as in desperation to get back into the water, despite bleeding profusely at the moment. The mermaid watched as the 4 kids attacked and overpowered the landies, with the kid landies eventually getting rid of everyone on board.

Removing the net from her, she now had tears of agony streaming down from her eyes. "Please don't kill me!" She begged

"Amity, Willow, I'll need you to remove these harpoons quickly and one at a time" the two witches nodded before she turned to Gus "Gus, you've got to try and keep her as calm as you can" Luz ordered, to which Gus nodded and went up to the mermaids head.

"Hey there, don't worry, we're not going to kill you, we're actually here to help you," Gus said to the crying mermaid.

"W-w-why? Don't you landies want ahhh *groan*" Willow and Amity quickly pulled out a harpoon and Luz used her new healing goop to heal the injury, resulting in a large scar being in the injuries place

"sorry this will hurt, a lot, but we need to get these harpoons out of you"

"o-okaaaayyyy! *groan*"

"so what's your name?"

"Marina"

"Mines Gus, I've got to say, I didn't think that mermaids were so big"

"what do you meeeean!" Gus then explained their situation and what they were even doing out there. By the time he was done, the girls had removed all of the harpoons except for the one in her eye. This one would be the most difficult to remove, Gus formed 4 large hands, two to Marina's head still, and the other two to hold her eye open. At the same time, Amity and Willow, pulled the final harpoon out, and Luz used her healing goop combo to heal Marina's eye, unfortunately, while Luz's spell did heal Marina's eye, she was now completely blind in said eye.

"Sorry if that all hurt" Luz apologized, Marina was about to reply when she heard a loud creek, turning, her eyes widened as she saw the soaking-wet captain now had the last harpoon pointed straight at her. Before he could launch it, however, he, as well as the harpoon cannon were engulfed in ice. Everyone looked and saw Luz blow on her index finger with a grin on her face

"Good save Luz" Gus stated with Amity and Willow agreeing. Luz turned back to Marina, only to see the young mermaid glaring intensely at the captain

"That's the landie that was on the boat that took my parents, I can never forget his face" using a fire glyph, Luz melted the ice around the captain's head

"mother of pearl!"

"Okay you, spill, what did you do to her parents?"

"they probably ended up at a fish market or something after I collected the bounty on them, s'not like I care what happens to them after I kill them"

"What bounty?! My parents never did anything wrong!" Marina shouted as fresh tears started flowing down her cheeks

"It's not that kind of bounty, the Royals of the Tranquil Isles have bounties out for all non-demon creatures. Mermaids, vampires, werewolves, you name it, bring them to one of their collection agencies and they'll pay you"

"so you just go around hunting and killing creatures for profit?!" Willow snapped angrily

"yeah, I honestly thought there weren't any mermaids left seeing as how we went several months without catching any, you just might be the last mermaid"

"I'm going to do to you what you did to my parents," Marina said before she used her arms to launch herself up into the air where she started spinning.

"get off the boat, get off the boat, GET OFF THE BOAT!" Luz shouted before she hopped on her brooms and flew off the ship with her friends following her on their staffs. Marina came down and split the whole ship in half with her tail. Everyone watched as he ship, along with it's captain, sunk beneath the waves until there was nothing showing except for debris.

Marina glared at all of the sailors and sank beneath the waves. Everyone then heard what sounded like muffled screams before Marina reemerged only now a fair distance away. there was a long pause before a giant, half-rotted shark burst out of the water with one of the sailors in its jaw. Everyone watched in horror as the shark bit the sailor in half before more sharks came and began tearing the sailor to shreds in a massive feeding frenzy. By the time it was over, there was nothing left of them except for a large multicolored spot in the water.

"what the heck was that?!" Luz shouted as she went down closer to Marina

"zombie sharks, we mermaids can communicate and control sea creatures. Thank you for saving me…and healing me"

"don't mention it, though I'm sorry I couldn't restore the sight in your eye"

"It's okay, is there any way I can repay you?"

"…nope, just try not to get caught again" Marina smiled and nodded before looking at Gus, she gave him a wink and disappeared below the waves

"why didn't you ask her for a scale?" Amity asked

"because it wouldn't be right to ask her to tear off a piece of her body for us after what just happened," Luz said to which the others agreed.

"so what do we do now?" Willow asked they all thought hard until Gus's eyes widened

"I know, we'll just ask another royal family for what we need!" he exclaimed

The others looked a bit skeptical at that "well…I suppose it's possible, I mean I didn't know the boiling Isles had a ruler before Belos" Amity said

"but where do we start looking I mean look around there's no sign of any other titans anywhere" Willow stated

"Well, I guess we'll just have to keep flying until we find one" Luz said, and with a nod, the 4 friends flew off in a random direction.

Chapter 7: Fall Of A Monarchy

Chapter Text

Chapter 8: Election's

Chapter Text

Chapter 9: Enchanting Grom Fright

Chapter Text

Chapter 10: It's Alive!

Chapter Text

Chapter 11: The Empire Strikes

Chapter Text

Luz was out the front of the owl house lying on her belly as she finished drawing a new glyph spell "aaaaaand, activate!" She then activated the glyph spell which glowed white before turning into a black sphere which resulted in an extremely powerful suction. Luz used all of her strength to prevent herself from being sucked in. With a loud rip her shirt tore straight off and was sucked into the sphere which disappeared the instant the shirt did. "…Okay…black hole spell…maybe for absolute emergencies" teleporting back to her room, she slipped on a green shirt with a floral pattern on it, that Willow had made for here "comfy and fashionable" she said before teleporting back to the living room where Eda was knitting with golden wool that had a faint glow to it "wow Eda, never pictured you as the type of person who likes knitting"

"hey, Willow isn't the only one who has a thing for fashion, by the way, thanks again for letting me use some of your titan's blood"

"no problem" she then put the pieces together and gasped "did you use the titans blood to make that golden wool *gasp* are you making a magic blanket that can make all of a persons dreams become real?!"

"Nah, she's making an invisibility cloak so she can spy on her ex's" King said, resulting in a whack on the back of the head from Eda

"actually Luz it's a surprise for someone special, and NOT an ex!"

King just giggled at that. Teleporting back outside Luz's smile dropped the whole house was surrounded by emperor guards with a woman with black hair and a slender body, a shorter person with a golden mask and an odd liking staff, and a woman who was wearing a white hood over most of her head with a semicircle-shaped top. "Uh Eda, I think we have a little problem out here"

there was a pause before Eda exited "and what's the whoa…okay this could be a problem"

"Eda clawthorn and Luz the human, by order of the Emperor, you are here by under arrest for-" she was cut off as her scroll retracted and smacked her in the face

"nah I don't think so" Eda replied

"oh come on Edalyn, if you come with us and join a coven, then the emperor will cure you of your curse and pardon you of your crimes, both of you"

"no thanks" everyone looked at Luz "being wanted makes me a bad girl, and I like being a bad girl" she said with a sly look

"you heard the kid, no deal, besides, I'm now fully free of my curse and I'm stronger than ever"

"Eda, do you know that witch?" Luz asked

"Yeah, she's my sister, Lilith" Eda stated

Luz gasped at this before her eyes narrowed. Luz then reared one arm back and put her index and middle finger on her forehead and in the blink of an eye, she was right in front of Lilith while launching her fist forward and punched her right in the stomach, making her double over in pain "that's for cursing Eda years ago" Luz said before teleporting back to Eda's side. Everyone was too stunned at what Luz did to even react.

Finally Eda spoke "Luz, was she the one who cursed me?"

"yeah, I read it in the infinite history book. When you two would be duelling to get into the Emperor's coven, she wanted to win so badly that she decided to put a curse on you to make sure you didn't win" this made a few of the Emperor coven scouts whisper amongst themselves.

"and this was back when you were kids?" the one with the Golden mask questioned

"yes, that's the one thing I've regretted for years" Lilith replied

"that's low"

"oh shut up"

"Eda, what are our chances of winning against this many Emperor Coven scouts?" Luz asked

Seeing even more appear Eda's confidence started to waver "I'm not gonna lie, it does not look good" Luz quickly racked her brain trying to think of a solution when one finally came to her.

"without the emperor guiding them are they useless?" Luz asked quickly

"pretty much"

Luz then reached into Eda's hair and pulled out a familiar key and case, activating the portal door everyone charged at them "Wait!" Luz shouted surprisingly making them stop "before you take us in, I'm just so hungry. Won't someone please give me something to eat?" she asked before teleporting through the portal. Everyone made food and chased after Luz through the portal. Luz ran as fast as she possibly could down the path that lead from the rickety old house to the street, the second her foot hit the side walk, she teleported back to the house where the last of the scouts had just run through, she then teleported back through the portal and closed it "and that is how you get rid of an army" she said as she spun around to see the only ones left were Eda, who had her fingers in her ears and her eyes shut tight, and the one with the golden mask.

In an instant, the one with the mask was in front of Luz and had his glowing staff an inch from her face "What did you just do?"

"I just trapped all of those scouts in the human realm…I just trapped all of those scouts in the human realm…wait, why didn't you follow me?"

"maybe because I actually have a functioning brain"

"so you don't have the urge to feed me or at least give me food?"

the mask wearer took a step back "um no, why would you even ask that?" a look then crept onto Luz's face that started to creep the mask wearer out, before he knew what was happening though he was pulled into a tight embrace while Luz jumped up and down

"finally someone on this island that doesn't want to give me food for once! My name's Luz, what's your name?!"

"let. go. of. Me" he strained out. Eda was now using every scrap of will power she had not to laugh. She knew exactly who this guy was, but if she was being honest, he was a lot scrawnier and shorter than what she thought he would be.

"Luz, let the golden guard go"

"Golden Guard? Is that your name or your title?"

the Golden Guard finally broke free and got some distance between them 'how the hell is she so strong?!' he thought

"look Golden Guard, you're out numbered and out powered. Leave now and tell Belos that we'll be more than happy to get rid of more of his scouts" Eda stated, the Golden Guard tightened his grip on his staff

"you both have just made a big mistake, next time Belos will bring the full force of his coven down on you"

"ha, if they're anything like those chumps, we have nothing to worry about"

"that's what you think" and without another word he flew off on his staff.

"who was that exactly Eda?" Luz asked

"that Luz was the Golden Guard, right hand to Emperor Belos"

"is he a witch, or a demon?"

"I…m not sure. I mean I thought he was one of those two but he didn't even flinch when you said that, speaking of which" Eda then made a 10 pound chocolate cake and extended it out to Luz.

Luz took the cake and looked at it "don't judge me" and she started eating it with just her face while Eda gave a relieved sigh. Luz finished the cake in no time, though she was a fraction annoyed that despite the fact she ate a cake that could feed 20 kids, it hardly touched the sides. A thought then came to her "Eda, they're not going to say destroy the human realm and enslave everyone right?" she asked, referring to the coven scouts she had just gotten rid of

"Pfft no, those guys are so brainless that without Belos telling them what to do, they'll be totally lost"

"but what about your sister and that woman with the big hood thing"

"trust me kid, if they're as green as I was when I first went to the human realm, they'll probably be arrested in the first hour"

"you were arrested in the human realm?"

"Yep, more times than you can count"

"how did you escape so many times?"

"Uh magic" makes a ball of fire

"oh, yeah"

"*snore*Hoot, hoot, hoot, hoot, hoot, hoot, hoot..."

"as for you Hooty why…huh?"

"*snore*Hoot, hoot, hoot, hoot, hoot, hoot, hoot..."

"Hooty, wake up!" but Hooty just continued snoring. Observing him closer she could see that he was under a sleeping spell "the bird tube is under a sleeping spell"

"can you wake him up?"

"sure…wanna graffiti him" she asked while stretching him out and pulling out magic paint brushes out of her hair

"sure!"

"hey King, we're graffitiing Hooty"

"oh dibs on the forehead!"

Luz was now slightly nervous, today most of Hexside were going on a field trip to the Emperors Castle, and were told that if they were lucky they might just meet the Emperor himself. As they flew to the castle, Gus and Amity, who were on opposite sides of her, noticed Luz's nervousness "what's up Luz?" Gus asked, Luz then grabbed them both and brought them face to face before whispering into their ears what she did yesterday to the Emperors coven scouts as well as reminding them that she was a wanted criminal

"don't worry Luz, if anything bad does go down, we'll go down together" Amity said, with Gus strongly agreeing.

"Besides, helping a wanted criminal wouldn't be the worst thing we've done" Gus said, making both Amity and Luz get sheepish looks

"what happened in the past, stays in the past" Luz said quickly, making her friends laugh a bit.

After a while the castle finally came into view. This was actually the first time the students were seeing the castle in full, though when Luz and her friends saw it, their eyes widened "that's the castle that the Crown was using!" Luz blurted out which caught the attention of everyone on the ship

"Pardon miss Noceda?" Principal Bump questioned

"when we went to the past, that was the exact castle that the Crown resided in"

"really? Hmm I was always told that Emperor Belos built it as a symbol of unity"

"well he may have simply rebuilt it seeing as how we partly destroyed it" Willow added

"…you 4 clearly did more in the past than you've let on" Principal Bump stated with the 4 students squeezing their thumb and index finger together.

"You know Luz, before Emperor Belos came to power, folks were doing magic all wrong. He taught us that the only way to respect what the Titan gave us is through joining covens" Amity explained

"when exactly was this?" Luz asked,

Amity's smile faded "…always…"

Gus and Willow's eyes widened at that "if they were wrong about the deadwardian era, maybe Emperor Belos is wrong about folks not using magic correctly, unless it only happened in like the past hundred years or so" Luz said as they finally landed.

Principal Bump then spoke up "now, the Emperor's assistant will be your tour guide. Please don't make me regret taking you here"

A small demon stood on a platform as a bridge extended out to the ship. All of the students then walked across it until they reached the platform "Children of Hexside, Emperor Belos welcomes you to his castle. We're honored by visits from students. You'll soon be a part of the coven, some lucky few may even find their home here, in the mighty Emperor's Coven! You... are the future of the Isles! My name is Kikimora, assistant to the Emperor, but my job today is to teach you the Boiling Isles past" she said before she got the same feeling as everyone else to feed a human, looking directly at the source of the feeling, she realised that Luz was a part of the group. Seeing Kikimora looking directly at her, Luz gave an sharp 'eep' "you're that criminal who broke out everyone in the Conformatorium!" she stated, while absentmindedly making something that looked like a bright blue porkchop and extended it out to Luz.

Thinking quickly, Luz blurted out "I'll let you feed me as much as you desire if you don't point out my criminal history to anyone!" Kikimora looked like she was struggling with that choice a small smirk came to Luz's lips "come on, don't you want to feed a hungry human?" that set off not just Kikimora, but everyone else present

"fine!" Luz then snatched the porkchop and ate it all in seconds, making the small demon give a sigh of relief before Luz started eating everything everyone had made as they then all entered the castle. Guards flank either side of a hallway, saluting, as others walk on overpasses. The walls were covered in tapestries, murals, and statues.

"Today, the Isles are a place of peace and prosperity. But that wasn't always the case. [Gestures to a mural of witches dancing around a fire.] Up until 50 years ago, witches and demons practiced wild magic during what we called the Savage Ages. [Leads the students away.] Witches had access to corrupt knowledge, and that dishonored the Titan. That was, until our great Emperor ascended to the throne, and taught witches how to use magic properly" she stated while gesturing to a mural of Belos holding up a beam of light, that had witches below celebrating his power.

"Um miss Kikimora" Willow spoke up

"yes student"

"when my friends and I went back in time by accident, we found out that the 'savage ages' weren't that bad at all, I'd say that they were even better than they are right now"

"how… did you go back in time?"

"we went through a time pool and ended up over 350 years in the past, back then it was known as the Tranquil Isles"

Kikimora was actually left dumbstruck by this information, regaining her composure, she continued on with the tour "moving on, our next stop is the Emperor's personal collection of relics" soon they entered a large room with various items on pedestals "behold, The Relic Room. These items are reminders of our great Emperor's overwhelming power. [Passes the Oracle Sphere.] From the curious and mighty. [Passes the Green Thumb Gauntlet.] To the very handy. [Passes by the Healing Hat.] And even, the most valuable" Luz looked as Willow and pointed at the healing hat, while also giving a thumbs down while sticking her tongue out, Willow giggled before flipping off the green thumb gauntlet, before they both had their ears pulled by Amity

"behave" she said quietly and sharply

"Come along, children" Kikimora ordered and everyone followed her out of the room "here at the Emperor's Coven, we require members with sophistication, elegance, and grace" A door then slammed open. Everyone turned and saw the Golden Guard "Ah! Make way for the Golden Guard, students" there were whispers and murmurs amongst the students

"that's the Golden Guard? He's a lot…scrawnier than I imagined" Amity said making Luz burst out laughing, this made everyone look at her

"something f…the human?!" he then aimed his staff at Luz, making all of the other students back away, and Luz raise her hands. Instantly, Amity was in front of Luz, one arm an abomination blade and the other holding her staff, Gus and Willow were ready to step in at a moments notice "stand aside youngest Blight, this doesn't concern you"

"actually when my girlfriend is involved, then it does concern me"

"very well, you can go down with her" he then fired a beam of magic from his staff which tore right through Amity and struck Luz sending her tumbling back from the impact.

The two halves of Amity fell to the ground causing Amity to scowl "okay, now I'm mad" she then remerged together, shocking her classmates, and then she struck the Golden Guard across the face with her staff. The Golden Guard stumbled from the hit and was about to retaliate when one of his legs was encased in ice trapping him in place before Luz bounded in and launched him off his feet with an iron fist to the stomach. This commotion caused guards to appear from everywhere all ready to attack. Gus and Willow saw this as the moment to step in and they joined Luz and Amity. The four of them were now back to back

"Wild Witches to the end?" Luz said

"Wild Witches to the end!" her friends replied with confident looks, and the second the first guard attacked, all hell broke loose. The 4 friends classmates watched in awe at how well their 4 classmates were disposing of the Emperors guards

"wow, they probably have sophistication, elegance, and grace, but one thing they don't have is strength" Boscha said as she stood next to Kikimora with her arms crossed

"you should watch your tone young lady, the Emperors coven is made of only the best of the best"

"oh really*smacks away a flying guard*then why are they getting smacked around so easily by a group of teenagers" she then caught another flying guard, spun them around, and threw them through the floor "seems the Emperors coven has very low standards of what they consider to be the best of the best"

Willow was sent skidding back on her feet after blocking a combined plant, construction, and abomination attack from 3 guards "I hate to admit it but I think we're starting to get overwhelmed here" she said to Amity, before she launched two giant wooden fists at the 3 guard, taking them and several more out

"yeah" Amity sliced several attacks in half before making one of her hands into a giant abomination hand and slammed it down on 7 guards "these guys are a lot more skilled and stronger than those pawns we fought, but we should be able to beat them if we keep this up, or at least make them back off" she said before using the same hand to swat away more incoming guards.

Unfortunately for the group back up in the form of several Coven Heads arrived. Darius, head of the abomination coven, swiftly encased Luz in abomination goop and hardened it, preventing her from using her glyphs. Seeing her girlfriend get caught, distracted Amity just long enough for the Golden Guard to trap her in a forcefield. Willow was about to try and free them when she was hit with a sleeping spell and then encased in a vine cocoon from Terra, head of the plant coven, and finally Gus was encased in stone by Mason, head of the construction coven.

"I must admit I am genuinely impressed that that 4 mere teenagers were able to beat I'd say around 200 guards" Darius said

"Of course such acts are treason, and are dealt with, with extreme action" Mason said as he formed a large mallet, ready to crush Gus' head while Terra made several sharp vines that were aimed at the sleeping Willow

"Wait!" Luz shouted "I'm the one with the criminal record here, if you let my friend go, I'll come with you without any fuss or any problems"

Darius pondered this "hmm fine, let them go and expel them from the castle immediately" the others let the 3 witches go

"guys, don't attack, I'll be fine, I've been to the Conformatorium before, its not that bad" soon the 3 of them were outside of the castle where they were greeted by a very annoyed Principal Bump

"if I'm being honest, I was expecting Boscha to be expelled from the castle, not you 3"

"you know what guys, I just realised that sometimes you need a criminal to help a criminal" Amity said and she began sending her dad a message on Penstagram.

Alador had just finished working on his latest creation for Starlight industries, having lost Blight industries in the divorce with his wife in exchange for having full custody of his kids as well as keeping the house, when he received a*ding*on his Penstagram, seeing that it was from Amity "dad, please tell Eda that Luz has been captured by the Emperors coven" not having Eda on Penstagram, he decided to simply teleport to the owl house, via abomination magic.

Meanwhile

Eda, having finished the cloak, held it up "Yeah! Something tells me Luz is gonna like having a cape" this woke up King

"Cape? I thought you were making cake!"

"You thought I was knitting a cake?"

"I, uh... anyway! If there's no cake, then I have to get to work! [Runs off.] Would you look at us two, being all generous to that kid.*crash*You know what, when she first got here, I thought we were gonna eat her*a louder crash knocks a picture off the wall*But now I only think of that, like, sometimes"

"Yeah, she's changed the feel of this house" Eda said as she got up to pick up the fallen picture, which was of a much thinner Luz holding her arms up in victory while two demons next to her looked ready to throw up, a banner behind her reading 'FINISH OR DIE!' "Well, she always had a good heart, but was impatient and always bit off more than she could chew, quite literally in some cases. But despite all that, I think she's finally growing up" there was then a knock on the door "who the heck could that be" opening up the door, she was surprised to see an even more surprised Alador, her eyes narrowed slightly

"what do you want?"

"pardon my unannounced arrival Edalyn, but I have a message from Amity. She says that Luz has been captured by the Emperors coven. It must have happened during their field trip to the Emperor's castle today"

"What?! She never told me about this" she then stuck her hand out and Owlbert flew right into it "Hooty, you're in charge of things while I'm gone*looks at Alador*thank you for telling me this" and she flew off as fast as she could.

Alador turned back to Hooty and examined him and the fact that he was a part of the door "tell me how exactly you work" he asked

"oh I've been waiting for someone to ask me that…"

Eda rocketed across the Titan as the Emperors castle came into her sights "kid you have got some explaining to do" she muttered to herself, she arrived just as the class of Hexside were boarding the ship they arrived in. "Where's Luz?!" she demanded to Kikimora who had been watching the students leave

"oh the human is here" she then snapped her fingers and Luz, still entrapped in the hardened abomination goop was brought forward followed by the coven heads and the Golden Guard "we're willing to offer you a trade owl lady, surrender to us and join a coven and we will let you and the human go" Kikimora offered

"so what you're offering me is her freedom in exchange for my enslavement" Eda said

"don't think of it as enslavement, think of it as a new chapter in your life"

"fine I'll do it"

"Eda no!" Luz shouted,

"but, you have to let her go first"

"*sigh*fine" Darius said and he released Luz who quickly made her way over to Eda. When she reached her, she grabbed Eda's wrist

"lets get out of here" she was about to touch her instant transmission glyph when Eda stopped her

"no Luz, no more running, these guys are not going to stop until I become a part of their stupid coven system, and I have a feeling even when I do join, that won't be the end of it" reaching into her hair she pulled something out and put it in Luz's hand "take King and Hooty with you back to the human realm and then use your fire magic to burn the door"

"no…Eda…I can't!"

"sorry kid, no choice" then using her magic she sent both Luz and Owlbert over to her class "hey Bump, you'd better make sure she gets home in one piece" Principal Bump nodded and with a lot of struggling, he, as well as most of the class, got her onto the ship and left.

Eda sighed and followed the coven heads and the golden guard inside, as soon as the doors closed however, glowing chains came out of the floor and bound around her "*sigh*of course, let me guess, you're going to kill me for all I've done in the past?"

"no, the Emperor has a much more severe punishment for you, petrification" Kikimora stated, making Eda go wide eyed.

When they arrived back at Hexside, Luz just teleported back home, not wanting to talk to anyone, even her friends at the moment. Once she was back in the owl house she fell to her knees with a loud thud, which caught the attention of King and Hooty, who had annoyed Alador to the point where he just left "Hooty, you were supposed to…uh Luz?" Luz then finally burst into tears where she was quickly comforted by King and Hooty.

After a while Luz stopped crying and told them everything. When she finished, a determined look appeared on her face "we're going to save her, no matter what"

"right…um how exactly, no offence but if you couldn't beat a coven head by yourself, how do you expect to take on 3"

"well I can just teleport in there, grab Eda and come back here"

"But Eda is more powerful than ever, they most likely have her in something that nullifies magic, which means that your spells won't work at all on it" Hooty stated

"he's right…for once"

"I don't know how, but we'll think of a way" Luz said before she headed up stairs to try and get some sleep. King and Hooty looked at each other worryingly before they decided to turn in as well.

"The Boiling Isles, born from the flesh and bones of a fallen Titan. This original magic was so potent, all life on the Isles evolved to wield magic too. For years, we explored those power freely. Until, a mysterious witch appeared who declared that he, and he alone, could speak to the island. He said that we were using magic all wrong. His teachings took hold, his strength grew, and he became... Emperor Belos. Belos said that mixing magic was wrong, that only he had that right. So he created the coven system. And there, our knowledge was restricted, and our potential sealed away. Those who resist are called wild witches, and they face harsh punishment. Emperor Belos has since retreated into his castle. There are whispers that say he's planning something big." King stopped reading from the book in front of him and looked at Luz who was scribbling down multiple glyph spells in preparation while also trying to think of the best way to save Eda

"wait, so you all know that your knowledge is restricted, and your potential sealed away, and you're okay with that?" Luz asked

"yeah, we've all kind of accepted it at this point, so as to not anger the titan"

"over 300 years ago everyone believed that the titan was dead, what the heck made them change their minds?"

"I have no idea, maybe that infinite history book will tell you"

"later" she said, suddenly a crow phone flew in through her open window and landed on the chest in her room

"hello, is the human Luz there" an unfamiliar voice spoke

"yes, I'm here, who is this?"

"you may know me as Emperor Belos"

"Belos"

"indeed you see, after a lot of interrogation from the owl lady, or Razor Claw as she prefers to be called now, she revealed that the key to the portal door is currently located at your current location. She said that you would follow her orders, but after observing you for a while, I knew that you wouldn't do that, in fact I'd say that you were in the middle of crafting some plan to save her, am I correct?" hearing a growl in response he continued "I thought so, however I can be a forgiving man who can sometimes not see such a thing happening to any of my prisoners"

"get to the point!"

"very well, if you bring me the key to the portal door, there will most likely be very few guards and obstacle's stopping you from saving your friend, now how does that sound?"

"…fine, I'll bring you the key"

"wise choice, oh and just to let you know, the petrification of Edalyn Clawthorne will be at midday, don't be late" and with that the crow phone flew away.

"Luz?"

"King, I don't know how today will play out, but I have a feeling that we'll lose something" Luz said before she continued what she was doing.

Once Luz had a decent half-baked plan, and she had finished making certain spells, she then looked at King "King, if I don't come back, take Hooty and go stay with Amity"

"wait Luz I wanna-" before he could finish his sentence or touch her, she teleported out of her room, reappearing out the front of the owl house

"Hooty, I'm giving you a major responsibility, guard this house from any intruders"

"will do Luz, please bring Eda back"

"I will, or die trying" she then put her fingers to her forehead again and disappeared.

Luz then reappeared in front of Eda who was chained to a platform while she sat in a lotus position. The second Luz had appeared her eyes snapped open as she instantly had the urge to feed "Luz! I told you to go back to the human realm!"

"come on Eda, did you really think I would"

"*groan*no, but I was hoping" Luz then put a magma glyph on the chain which melted it slightly "whoa, I thought that your glyphs would be too weak to damage these chains" Luz tried a powered up ice glyph which froze it and then touching a metal glyph on her stomach, she touched her other hand, turning it to metal and she punched the ice shattering it and causing a small crack to appear on the chain. She repeated this process 2 more times with the final punch breaking it, making the chain around her neck disappear.

"one down, 2 to go" she said, before moving to the ones around Eda's ankles. Changing her tactic she instead touched a magma glyph with her palm and then made a fist which turned her hand and forearm into magma. Grabbing one chain, she simply held it, feeling it slowly start to melt in her hand. Once one link in the chain was broken, the whole thing disappeared "yes, one more" she was about to grab the final one when an alarm went off and the room glowed red. The remaining chain around Eda's other ankle glowed and turned into a cage around Eda, knocking Luz back in the process. The cage then rose up and was out of reach by the time Luz got to her feet "No! Eda!" she shouted before Eda disappeared from sight.

She was about to teleport up when red tendrils came out of the floor and engulfed her before bring in her down into the floor. When Luz was finally free she was now in front of Belos, who was sitting in a throne "greetings human, trying to get out of our little deal" he asked as Luz's arms turned back to normal

"I don't have time to deal with you"

"no you don't" more tendrils then came out of the ground and pinned her down "so I'll make this simple, give me the portal to the human realm, and you will be free to save your mentor" unable to reach any of her glyphs and the tendrils being too strong for her, she sighed in defeat

"fine" the tendrils then loosened up allowing her to sit up and grab the portal door and key "what do you want with this anyway, are you going to take over the human realm?"

"No, the Titan's will is not so boarish. You'll understand soon. Tick tock, human. Your mentor doesn't have much time left" placing the key around the handle she hugged the portal

"Lo siento, Mamá" she said before reluctantly handing it over to Belos, who then fully released her, allowing her to stand up

"The Titan will be pleased. Go on then. Go be a hero"

"I may have lost the portal, but so have you" she then thrust her hand out and both the portal and the key were sucked into a black orb which disappeared Belos looked at his now empty hand in shock "you've got to love black holes" and she teleported away before an enraged Belos could attack her.

Luz reappeared on the stage where she saw Eda being turned into stone. Wiping her hand across all of her glyphs, she aimed it at the device turning Eda to stone and fired a large multi-coloured beam at it, destroying it. Turning to Kikimora she touched a lightning glyph which made her arm glow with electricity crackling around it "if you don't want to know what 10,000 volts of electricity feels like, release her now" Kikimora shrunk in on herself and made a spell circle, making the cage disappear. Rushing over to a now weakened Eda, Luz grabbed her "come on Eda, its not safe here anymore!" she said before they were surrounded by quite possibly every member of the Emperors coven

"Emperor Belos wants you at any cost" the Golden Guard said as he aimed his staff at Luz

"you'll have to catch me first" and with that Luz touched her forehead and disappeared.

Luz then reappeared back in the owl house, much to King and Hooty's relief "Luz! You're back!" King said joyfully

"no time King, we need to get out of her, now!" Luz then let go of Eda who flopped to the floor Luz then grabbed the doorway and put her fingers to her forehead before focusing as hard as she could. Her body began to glow which rapidly spread to the rest of the house, and in a flash of light the owl house disappeared, leaving nothing but a crater where it once stood.

Chapter 12: Welcome to...

Chapter Text

After a quick use of the Golden Healing Hat, both Luz and Eda were back to 100%, to which they were then embraced by King and Hooty, the latter of whom wrapped around them tightly like a Boa Constrictor. "Luz, what the heck happened back there?" Eda asked, Luz sighed and told Eda, King and Hooty what happened.

"and then to ensure our safety, I teleported us away to a place where the Emperor will never find us" Luz finished

"where the heck are we?"

Luz then teleported out side "welcome to Ribcage Is…le…whooooaaaaa" she said as she now found herself in the middle of a massive city "I was not expecting this"

"huh, looks a lot like Las Vegas" Eda said making Luz whip around

"you've been to Vegas?!"

"yeah, didn't think much of it. Though I did 'marry' this one guy before I stole his car and took it for what you human's call a 'joyride'"

"remind me to ask you about that later" she then looked up into the sky and from what she could see, the whole Isle was encased in a steel dome that had flashing neon advertisem*nts on it

"this place looks way more advanced than the Boiling Isles, everything is so flashy" King stated, as a flashing neon sign on the roof of the dome said 'Buy Critter Chips' "must. Buy. Critter Chips"

"King, no! Last time you ate those you broke out in hives" Eda said while making him look away.

A green skinned horned demon that looked like a stereotypical British police officer walked up to them "I'm afraid that you can't just park your house in in the middle of Sun Square" he said

"sorry, I was desperate to escape so I just teleported here, I thought that I would be in a forest or something, not a city"

"there hasn't been a forest here for over 200 years"

"well the last time I was here was when my friends and I liberated this Island from the crown about 350 years ago" The officers eyes widened at this before turning to the side. Following his gaze Luz, Eda, King, and Hooty went wide eyed as they saw a statue of Amity, Willow, Gus, Ocki, and a thinner Luz, all striking heroic poses

"dang kid, immortalised as a statue, not bad"

"but how could you be here now?" the police officer asked

"time travel sir, long story short, my friends and I travelled to the past through a time pool, and after causing a whole lot of "trouble" we used a spell to get back to the present"

the officer looked at the statue and then back to Luz "I believe that, welcome back to Ribcage Isle, I'm sure the mayor will be over the moon to meet you, you have a good day now" and with that he left.

"You know what kid, I think we're going to be okay here" Eda said and she wrapped an arm around Luz's shoulders, to which Luz hugged her arm and sighed "Looks like I'm now a permanent resident here, now that I completely destroyed the portal"

"hey, Luz, if a portal door can be made before, it can be made again, heck there might even be one already here, who knows"

Luz brightened up at this "yeah you're right, I've faced impossible odds before and triumphed, and I can do it again!" she said dramatically, making several people take pictures of her and others start to ask questions regarding the stories told about her and her friends.

Eda picked up King and walked back over to the house "Eda, is this our new home?"

"For now, until the heat cools off back home. Though, knowing that bonehead Belos, he's not going to take this lightly, he'll probably have his scouts searching every inch of the isles looking for Luz or all of us for months"

"Well I've never even heard of this place until Luz told us about it"

"yeah, though to be fair, not many people travel outside of the isles, and we don't get news from other places besides the isles, so Belos most likely won't be finding us anytime soon" she then looked at Hooty who kept looking around in awe at the city "Hooty, King and I are going to search this place out, keep an eye on Luz and don't let anyone enter the house"

"you've got it Eda" he replied, and Eda walked off.

King was in awe at the sights, sounds, and lights of the city "wow, this is amazing!"

"yeah it is impressive, I honestly didn't think that there was anywhere in the demon realm that was this advanced"

"have you ever left the Boiling Isles?"

"yeah, quite a few times to escape the Emperors coven, it's how I found you, remember"

"eh my memory from back then is a little on the fuzzy side"

"well in any case, the only place I've been too that was more advanced than the Boiling Isles was Australis, and that was only by a thin margin" Eda said before she stopped and went wide eyed at a sign "everything 90% off, woo mama" before she made a bee line for a clothing and jewellery store. King then climbed onto her head

"no, no, not a clothing store" he then grabbed two pawfuls of Eda's hair and tried to steer her away, to no avail. Before she went into the store King jumped off and shuddered "I promised myself that I would never go into a clothing store with her ever again, and I'm sticking by it" and he started walking off on his own, though he didn't get very far before he stopped in front of a 'Sweet Weapons' store "sweet, weapons" and he scurried into the shop.

After having her picture taken more times than she could count, and given enough food to stuff her to her limits, Luz decided to head to the Mayors office at the suggestion of the police officer before. As she slowly made her way to the location, both to take in the sights and the fact she didn't know what the place looked like, she saw that there were creatures of all kinds everywhere. Were-animals, fairies the size of 10 year olds, giant insects, Sunweeds, vampires, flaming skeletons, fish head people, bird head people, reptilians, and of course demons and witches. As she kept looking around in awe, she stepped on something that was not the ground "ahh!" Luz whipped to the side an saw a basilisk rubbing its tail. The sight of the basilisk made her freeze, this one was much bigger than Ocki, but not as big as the one that attacked Hexside "ooohhh I'm so sorry! Please don't eat my life force!"

"you clearly aren't from around here are you?"

"no sir"

"all of the basilisks on this Isle reached an agreement some 200 years ago. We were allowed to live in peace if we helped control the vermin problem this Isle has, and only consume the life force of said vermin" a rat with multiple eyes over its body scurried past them before the basilisk sucked the life force out of it and then tossed the now dead rat in a sack. "200 years, and there now being 2000 basilisks on this Isle, and the vermin problem is still at an all time high, well I need to get back to work, see yah kid, and welcome to Ribcage Isle" and he slithered away with Luz seeing "Ribcage Vermin Control" printed on the back of his shirt.

As Luz continued heading to the mayors office she had many more encounters and run in's with various other citizens of Ribcage Isle. During some of these events she could have sworn some of the citizens say 'another human' though she never got the opportunity to question them about it. When she arrived at West City Hall, her eyes widened as she saw that the building itself was shaped like a giant casino themed circus tent, only made of concrete. "whoa…that is so cool" she said before heading inside. After talking with the reception she started to head towards the mayors office only for the receptionist to speak up

"oh and just a bit of warning, he can be really weird and eccentric"

"well I'm a weirdo myself, so I'm sure we'll get along" and with that she made her way to the Mayor's office. When she reached the door, she knocked 3 times

"come in" a gravelly yet highish pitched voice said, opening the door she saw what looked like a medieval court jester wearing an outfit made of various different colours, designs, and patterns, completed with a white ruffle, and an extra long jesters hat. He was currently sitting in his chair with his feet up while reading a comically oversized book, he lazily turned his head to look at Luz

"oh sorry, am I interrupting your reading?" Luz questioned

"nah*turns it to Luz*every page in this thing is blank" and he tossed it behind him and through a window before sitting up straight

"ah! My eye!" with a groan he opened up a draw and pulled out a brief case before performing the same action "ah! My other eye!" his neck then stretched until his face was at the broken window

"that should cover any potential lawsuit you would have wanted to pursue, curtesy of mayor Jullaré hahaha" and his neck retracted back to its original length "so girlie, what can yah do for me?"

"uh well I-"

"WAIT! Don't tell me!" his arm now stretched across the room and his palm on Luz's forehead "hmm…nope I give up! What brings you here?"

"well a police officer said that I should visit you seeing as how I'm one of the five that liberated this Isle from the crown centuries ago" the mayors eyes widened at this and began shifting from Luz to a painting of her and her friends above his door.

The top half of his body stretched out to Luz, stopping when their faces were only an inch apart "huh? We always thought that you were just a really fat witch, not a really fat human. Also, I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure humans don't live for over 300 years" he said before the rest of his body retracted to the top half. He then spun around like a mini tornado and when he stopped he was now holding a platter of greasy "bacon" burgers "from me to your taste buds" and he shoved one of the half way into her mouth. Luz gave a moan at how good they were, and ate the rest with gusto. When she finished Jullaré was now slumped in his chair looking like he had just had an overload of endorphins released "oh yeah, you are going to fit in well here" he then regained his composure "so if you truly are who you say you are, how are you still alive?"

"time travel" Luz said casually

"through a spell?"

"yeah, though my friends and I went to the past after I accidentally stumbled through a time pool"

"time pool ugh those things are the worst, I once lost a pair of sunglasses through one of those" he then pulled a framed photo of them out of his sleeve that had R.I.P on the bottom. Giving the picture a kiss, it began to smoke and hiss before he tossed it out through his remaining unbroken window*BOOOM*"well no sense dwelling on past losses" he then leapt to his feet and turned into a mini tornado again, this time catching Luz in it. When he stopped he was now dipping her while straining "yeah, theres no way I can hold this much weight" and Luz fell to the ground.

Jullaré then did several back flips, leapt over his desk and spun around in his chair, stopping with his head rest in in his palms "so, what brings you back here to our fine isle?" Luz sighed and explained her situation. When she finished, Jullaré burst out laughing "wow that backwater sh*t hole of an isle still has an empire, I would have thought that it would have crumbled years ago. Tell me, is bonehead still spouting nonsense that he can talk to the titan?"

"well I wouldn't call the Boiling Isles…that, but yeah he does claim to be able to talk to the titan"

"ha! To say that he can talk to that titan, would be like me saying that I can talk to this titan, its nothing but a f*cking ribcage hahaha! Ooooohhhhh sorry, but on a sliiiiightly serious note, you now have no way to get home?"

Luz looked down "yeah"

"hmm" he then turned in his seat "see that section over there with the blue glow?" Luz looked at where Jullaré was pointing "that's the Mystic District of West City, there are heaps of stores over there that sell magical items, its possible that there might be a way for you to get home there, be it an item or knowledge on how to get to the human realm" he then reached into his desk and pulled out what looked like passes, which his arm then extended out to Luz "here, these passes will allow you and your friends to get anything you want in West City for free, forever, and it will come straight out of the city's budget"

"but isn't this money for the citizens"

"trust me, you could buy everything in the city 10 times over and you wouldn't put a dent in the budget, I should know, I've done it multiple times" gesturing to the many newspaper headlines that adorned a wall

"idiot mayor buys everything and gives it back for free" Luz read out loud

"ah that was a good day, well I am a busy man and have many things to do, so if you ever need anything, please, hesitate to ask" he then slammed his hand down on a large red button on his desk and a large trap door opened up underneath Luz.

Luz went down a large slide that twisted and turned before she was finally spat out into a ball pit "…I like him" she said before she climbed out of the pit, only to realise that she had absolutely no idea where she was. Not even having so much as a broom on her, she sighed and began walking.

Elsewhere

Eda, after trying on countless articles of clothing, exited the store now wearing a new wardrobe, she looked around and spotted King who was now leaning against a wall licking a green bladed hunting knife "King, what are you doing?"

"oh Eda, this place is absolutely amazing! all of the weapons in there are made of candy! including this knife!"

"if you cut yourself with that thing, I ain't helping you" King just shrugged before he saw a poster for an amusem*nt park

"oh Eda, can we go there!"

"sure, I could go for some amusem*nt", she then brought out Owlbert and they both hopped onto the staff before they flew off to find the amusem*nt park

Back with Luz

After a bit of asking, she managed to get general directions to where the Mystic District was located, as well as a mountain of food in the process. During her walk, she found herself entering a small park, probably the only nature left on the isle. Looking around her eyes then landed on a very odd sight, sitting on a bent park bench was the fattest demon or witch that Luz had ever seen or thought was possible to get to. She could tell that whatever they were, they were female due to the haircut and bust. The girl had pale, grayish-white skin, violet eyes, somewhat thick eyebrows, and straight, angled, violet hair with a prominent widow's peak. As to what she was wearing, her attire consisted of a hooded navy-blue cloak (which Luz thought looked awesome), matching ruffled ankle-boots with grayish-black soles, a long-sleeve dark navy-blue legless leotard with regular navy-blue cuffs.

Luz's eyes widened even further as she saw a passer-by give her a meter long hotdog which she wolfed down like she hadn't eaten in years. Wanting to know who this was, Luz quickly made her way over to her. As she approached the girl, she saw the happy look on her face instantly turn into one of annoyance and anger. This made Luz stop in her tracks. She was about to back away when the girl looked straight at her, her eyes widening. Levitating onto her feet, the blob of a girl made her way over to Luz, stopping when their bellies were only a few inches from each other "are you a human?" the girl asked, Luz just nodded her head "how did you get here?! Do you have a way to get back to the human realm?!" she asked, almost panicking

"I came here through a portal door…which I then had to destroy to prevent someone bad from using it"

the girl then dropped her head in defeat "well then, its official, I'm a permanent resident here"

"so you're not from the demon realm?"

"no, ironic since I'm half demon"

"so you're half demon, half human?"

"yes I am"

"that's so cool! Can you do magic like demons and witches here?"

"no, I actually have my own type of magic. Azarath Metrion Zinthos" Luz watched in awe as the bench was torn out of the ground and floated above the girl before she put it back

"whoa…"

"yeah, I can lift things much heavier though, especially now"

"…so…awesome!…my name's Luz"

"Rachel, but my friends call me Raven, which is my superhero name"

"superhero…you mean you fly around stopping bad guys?" Raven nodded "I hate to break this to you, but I don't think that you're from the human realm linked to this realm"

"what!...you don't have superheroes in your world, do you?"

"only in comics, movies, and tv, how did you get here?" Luz asked before Raven buried her face in her hands and gave a long groan before looking at Luz

"over a year ago my team, the Teen Titans, were fighting a powerful magician named Mumbo. Most times we're able to beat him, albeit with a few bumps in the process, plus his magical abilities are limited due to his mental state. I don't know how he did it, but he managed to retain his sanity, thus making his magic 10 times stronger. He said that I was the biggest thorn in his side and that he was going to get rid of me for good, there was a bright flash of light and the next thing I knew I'm here in this realm"

"and you haven't found any possible way to get back to your home realm?"

"sadly you were the first lead I ever got to finding a way to get home*sigh*I've actually come to accept that this is my home now, and I've made a decent life here"

"do you like it here?"

"…honestly…yes, I really do like it here, I fit in and am accepted. Before I came here I had the basic controls over my powers and would lose control if I let my emotions get out of control, so I was a generally mono-tone type person. Then I met this oldish vampire who gave me the steps to a ritual that would not only unlock my full potential but also give me full control and mastery over my powers" she then smiled "since then I've been able to express all of my emotions, which is something a lot of people take for granted"

"was this Vampire's name Jure by any chance?"

Raven's eyes widened "did you and some friends met him like over 300 years ago?"

"yeah we did, he gave us ways to get stronger and gave us a way to get back to our original time. Have you checked the Mystic District for ways to get back to the human realm?"

"many, many times, nothing"

Luz sighed at this "well it was worth a shot. If you don't mind me asking, before I saw you happily accept and eat the food that guy made but as soon as you finished you looked like you hated your very existence"

Raven sighed "everytime someone makes food for me I have an intense uncontrollable urge to eat it, no matter what it is, its because of that that I'm now the 2000lbs blob before you, I take it that it's the same for you?"

"actually I eat the food people make for me because I don't want to be rude by rejecting what they've made for me"

you keep doing that, another year in this place, and you'll be as big as me"

"…and I also eat to help Eda earn snails"

"eating food for money, why didn't I think of that. Wait you said you got here through a portal right?*Luz nodded*so if a portal to the human realm was made, theres a chance that another one could be made, maybe even one that could link to my world"

"hey you're right! I never actually asked Eda how she got it in the first place. Here, grab my hand" Raven did as she was told before Luz touched her forehead and in the blink of an eye, they disappeared.

Meanwhile

"King, how could you have possibly have blown through 400 snails in five minutes?"

"because that knock the bottles over is rigged!"

"oh for the love of titan" she then walked over to the stall and slammed 4 snails down on the bench

"here you go ma'am, 3 balls and 3 chances to win" the carnie said

"ha, I only need one" Eda then threw the ball and it struck the bottles dead on, but they didn't even wobble

"ooo, try a little bit harder next time"

"…okay then, two it is" this time she threw the ball right at the stall owners head, knocking him out. She then used her magic to not only pluck a plush demonic chick off the prize wall and give it to King, she also took all of the stall owners snails and stored it in her hair. Realising that someone was laughing she turned and saw a giggling Luz standing next to another much MUCH larger girl who was doubled over while laughing.

A devious grin then came to Eda's face she then leapt over the stall bench and with a snap of her fingers she was wearing clothes identical to what the stall owner was wearing. She then poofed up 2 pizza's and extended them out to he two girls. Luz was about to take one when Raven snatched them both, sandwiched them together and rolled them into a log before eating with gusto. "So…Luz…I see you made a new friend"

"yeah, her name is Raven, she's a half human half demon superhero, she's stuck here in the demon realm like me"

"superhero? Like in comics?"

"yeah"

"I didn't know you had actual superheroes in the human realm"

"we don't, together we've come up that she's from a different human realm, one where superheroes do exist"

"wow…that's actually mind blowing, I always thought that only the human realm and the demon realm existed"

"apparently not"

"ah that was amazing, I haven't eaten a real pizza in so long, I almost forgot what it tasted like" Raven said happily

"hey Luz" Luz looked at King "at the rate you're going, that's going to be you in a few months"

Luz looked at Raven and then herself "yeah, most likely. Anyway we wanted to know how exactly you were able to get the portal door in the first place?"

"well kid if I'm being honest, I stumbled upon the Portal by pure chance, when I ran away from home back when I was a kid, I found it partially buried in the ground. I don't know who made it or why it was buried where it was, but I could tell it was old, even back then"

"excuse me" they turned and saw a witch and his son "we would like to play please"

"sure, that'll be 3 snails" the man looked at the 4 snails sign but didn't question it, thankfully Eda wasn't as greedy as the stall owner she had knocked out and used her magic to easily make the bottles to fall over.

"I have a feeling she's going to be doing this for a while"

"yep, if there's a way to make easy money, Eda is on top of it" King said as he climbed up on Luz

"oh aren't you adorable!" Raven said before scratching King's back

"I am not ad…oh, oh yeah, keep doing that" he said, practically melting on Luz

"seeing as how you've been here for a long time, could you recommend anything to do?"

"well, I've always found this amusem*nt park to be very fun, I come here weekly"

"well then, lets go have some fun!" the three of them began to enjoy the amusem*nt park, Luz was genuinely surprised that most of the rides here could easily accommodate someone Raven's size and weight, including her own. Luz had also given King and Raven a pass each which allowed them to go on any ride or play any game they wanted. King found himself trying to win at a game of ring toss, but the rings either bounced off or missed

"here little guy, let me try" Raven said as she held 3 rings "Azarath Metrion Zinthos" and she threw the rings with each one landing on a bottle

"hey young lady, can't you read the sign "no magic"" the stall owner said

"King, which one do you want"

"ooo that one" he said pointing to a dagger, Raven raised a brow before shrugging

"give me the dagger and I'll eat anything you make for the next 5 minutes" the stall owner then conjured up a platter loaded with demon realm versions of pizza, burgers, hotdogs, French fries, cakes, and pastries which she immediately began eating.

With Raven gorging, and the stall owner looking like he was getting does of endorphins every 20 seconds. Luz whistled nonchalantly as she made her way behind the stall and grabbed the dagger "now King, if I give you this, do you promise to be careful with it"

"I swear on my heart Luz"

"okay, here you go" and she gave it to him

"yes, a blade worthy of a king, with this I shall smite my all those that oppose me" he declared before the life was sucked out of him by a basilisk and he dropped to the ground dead

"jeez the vermin around here just keep getting bigger and bigger"

"King! He's not a vermin, he's my friend! Give him his life back!"

"really? oh my bad*cough*there yah go"

"*GAAAAAAASSSSSSP* *pant* *pant*what the heck!"

"sorry little fella, I think I need new glasses, good day" and he slithered away. King was then picked up and pulled into a bone crushing hug

"uh Luz, you might want to ease up, otherwise you might kill him for good" Raven said, making Luz lighten up

"thank you" King wheezed out. Suddenly what looked like projections of the mayor appeared all over buildings and even the ceiling

"greetings citizens of West City, It is I your beloved Mayor; Jullaré. I have a fantastic announcement for you all, one of Ribcage Isles 5 liberators, Luz the human*holds up a picture of Luz*has come to our wonderful Isle, so if you see her makes sure you give her a warm heroes welcome and treat her and any of her friends with the utmost respect*gives a salute with a serious face and tone*Jullaré, signing off" and the projections ended

"well Luz, I think that everyone on the Isle now knows that you're here" King said while Luz facepalmed

Chapter 13: Another World: Part 1

Chapter Text

A week had passed since Luz had teleported herself, Eda, King, Hooty, and the whole Owl House to Ribcage Isle, and the group were starting to adapt to their new living situation. Raven had been a major help in getting them adjusted to their new environment, especially with how much more advanced to what things were on the boiling Isles. If Luz had to guess, Ribcage Isle was about 80-100 years more advanced than the human realm, she doubted that her friends would even be able to comprehend half of the stuff that was here, given how 'primitive' the Boiling Isles were compared to Ribcage Isle. Eda had taken full advantage of the special passes that Mayor Jullaré had given her, and had been going on massive shopping sprees.

Today she had finished one such spree and was now in the process of moving her old stuff into the basem*nt, which had also been thankfully teleported along with the house. Luz and Raven were in the Living room watching Eda's new wall mounted TV, yes, you heard that right, instead of crystal balls, Ribcage Isle actually had televisions, though they were called Pictoboxes or PB for short

"wow, the images are so clear, and sharp!" King said in awe with Luz agreeing, Raven, already having one, was less impressed than her two new friends

"so how long do you think its going to be before you can go back to the Boiling Isles?" Raven asked

"after what Luz did, I don't think we'll ever be going back, not that I'm complaining, I love it here" King said

"I think I'll wait another week before I go to the Boiling Isles and snoop it out to see if it will be safe to move back" Luz stated

"hey blobby 1 and 2" Eda said as she entered the room "I need that couch put in the basem*nt cause I'm getting a new one brought in"

"but you just bought this couch 2 days ago"

"so?"

"Well, you can't beat that logic" King quipped, Luz gave a weary sigh before she activated her floating spell and instantly got to her feet "King, Raven, up, up" she said, Raven then floated up off the couch while King put up a fuss

"but I just got comfy"

"do you want to be in the basem*nt without PB?" with a grumble he got up before Luz grabbed the couch and teleported it down to the basem*nt.

Finding it pitch black in the basem*nt she touched her light glyph several times before making a huge glowing ball from her palm that lit up the whole area. After moving the couch to a decent position, she was about to teleport back up, not even wanting to risk taking the creaky old wooden stairs, when the glint of something caught her eye, looking, she was surprised to see that it was a small box, with a gold outline and plating. There were lots of small engravings on the box from what she could see. Luz waddled forward, and got a better look at it. It had trees, lily pads, and a frog on the top of the box, with three gems on it as well. Each had a different color; blue, pink, and green. The box was so beautiful, Luz couldn't help but wonder about its origin.

Luz picked up the box with her spare chubby hand, and gazed over it. She didn't know what it was, but maybe Eda, or even King did. Opening it up she was slightly disappointed to find that it was completely empty "aw I thought that there would be a frog in a ballerina outfit" she said to herself before teleporting back upstairs "hey Eda, I was curious about this thing." Luz said, raising the box up for her maternal figure to see. Eda saw the box, but immediately rolled her eyes. To her that box was honestly something she had forgotten about. She didn't even remember what the purpose of the box was. All she knew was that it had been down there for years.

"Luz, that thing is just a box, with some weird frog symbols on it. Probably a cult thing if you ask me." Eda slyly remarked.

"but why would you have something this pretty kept in a damp musky basem*nt?"

"Eh I've got better things to display, besides, the darn thing doesn't even make sound" Luz then turned the key and opened it up again, only this time there was a mash of colorful lights.

"What the…" King started, before the box cut him off.

A blinding white light exploded out of the box, consuming the quartet in. They all covered their eyes as everything around them turned white.

When everyone could see again they knew one thing, they weren't in the demon realm anymore. Looking around Luz was the first of the group to speak "Eda. Any idea's where we are"

Eda looked up to the clear blue sky "Not sure, but judging from the colour of the sky, I don't think that we're in the demon realm anymore, maybe we're in the human realm?" she suggested, Luz put her fingers to her forehead and pictured her mum, but nothing happened. She even tried thinking of some landmarks in the human realm, but only received the same result. Before she could say anything, they all heard loud footsteps, they then froze up as they saw a giant praying mantis walk by, thankfully not noticing them.

Once it was gone, Luz finally spoke "yeah, definitely not in the demon realm or the human realm" looking at the box in her hands, she opened it up, but nothing happened. After opening and closing it a few times she realised that the gems and the gold on the box were now grey. The box was then engulfed in a black aura and pulled out of Luz's hands where it then floated in front of Raven, who was using her magic to scan the box.

"it's a device that allows one to travel to multiple different worlds, using sound as coordinates…it was used by the inhabitants of this world to conquer other worlds and take their resources…it was sent to the demon realm by complete chance as someone tried to get rid of it…it doesn't work now because all magic has been drained from it when it brought us over here" Raven relayed

"so we just need to charge it with some more magic?" Eda asked

"…yes…there are 3 temples where the gems can be recharged"

"what if I just used my magic, or yours?"

"…don't know, apparently the temples are the only way to charge it, but hey lets give it a go anyway" placing the box on the ground, the two magic users blasted the box with magic. When they stopped, they saw that the gems and the gold were flickering between grey and their normal colours

"you might need to keep doing it until the colours go solid" Luz suggested, the two nodded and fired continuous beams of magic until they were completely drained of energy and had to rest, by this point the colours were now slowly flashing as opposed to the rapid flashing from before.

"Sorry kid, I'm tapped out for the moment" Eda said with Raven agreeing

"it's fine" Luz said before a rustling cut her off. She then watched as multiple giant blue and yellow frilled necked lizards emerged from the surrounding woods, all of them showing their razor sharp teeth. Luz slowly raised her hands up and touched two of the many glyphs that adorned her vast ever expanding belly. They then charged at Luz while hissing. Luz stuck her hands up and a stream of fire shot out of one hand while a beam of pure electricity shot out of the other one. Luz swung her arms around with the beams of fire and electricity, frying and roasting all of the lizards until they all lay on the ground dead.

"Nice work Luz" Eda said while giving the girl a thumbs up

King sniffed the air "mmm I smell barbeque" scurrying over to one of the lizards, he took a bite out of it

"King!" Luz said in a disapproving tone

"hmmm, needs either salt or barbeque sauce" he said and took another bite

"hey skinny" Luz looked at Raven struggling to reach one of the lizard's. With a roll of her eyes Luz moved the lizard closer to Raven "what? Don't judge me, its just meat at this point" and she tore off a leg "now that's a drumstick" Luz giggled at that

"come on its not safe out her, lets at least find some shelter" Eda nodded in agreement and she hopped on her staff along with King, while Luz used a flotation spell on Raven and carried the girl who was essentially immobile at this point.

The town of Wartwood was crowded, with all the townsfrog gathering in the town square. There was a large stage set up near the mayor's office, with Mayor Toadstool and Toadie standing atop the stage. Every frog was murmuring to one another, asking questions, talking or just chatting.

Anne and the Plantars walked over to the statue of the town founder. Well, the Plantars walked. Anne WADDLED, before plopping herself down on the stone wall surrounding the statue. She huffed and puffed as she caught her breath. The world of Amphibia hadn't been so kind to Anne's figure these last two months. When she first landed in Amphibia, she was as skinny as a twig. But now, she was anything BUT a twig. She found out the hard way that bugs in this world, while packed with large amounts of protein, were also extremely fattening, well at least to human's they were, so the once twiggy framed girl had swelled up to just under 600lbs. Anne initially tried to slim down, but found it pointless, as she gained double, so eventually she just gave up, and accepted her new found obesity. Aside from the girth being difficult to squeeze in and out of tight space, as well as it being very tiring to walk sometimes, being fat wasn't as bad as people made it out to be.

Anne looked around, as she absent mindedly scratched her gut. She was honestly used to being fat at this point that she really didn't care about what people thought, and it honestly hadn't been that bad. "Man, what is with this crowd? Are fruit flies on sale or something?" Anne asked Hop Pop, looking down at the orange frog.

Hop Pop chuckled before looking back up at Anne. "No. Today's the day they announce the Frog of the Year award."

"Frog of the what?"

"Frog of the hoppin' Year, Anne." Sprig proclaimed, jumping onto her large belly, causing it to jiggle. "Every year, the town gets together and votes on the frog they think best embodies the values of Wartwood."

"We all voted last week." Polly added. "Don't you remember?"

"Huh. Not at all. Wonder why." Anne pondered, tapping her chin. Toadstool tapped on his microphone, letting the town ooze with anticipation.

"All right, folks. It's time! As you all know, the Frog of the Year goes to the most selfless, noble, blah, blah, blah... Let's get on with it." Toadie handed Toadstool an envelope, to which the mayor ripped it open hastily, like he's hoping for a result in his favor. He smiles, getting closer to the mic. "And this year's Frog of the Year award goes to…" Toadstool starts, before his face squints at the paper in confusion. "Well, this can't be right. Anne Boonchuy?!"

The entire town turned to face the obese teen, who just sat in shock, she couldn't believe it, it was like being named prom queen. She twisted her puffy head, watching all the frogs cheering and clapping and calling out her name. Without warning, Hop Pop pushed Anne to her feet, causing her giant body to wobble and jiggle as she fixed her balance. It was still something she was getting used to, having a new center of gravity that's so hard to maintain. "Go on, Anne. Get up there!" Hop Pop yelled with glee. Anne waddled her way up to the stage, while a tear shed from his eye. "A Plantar, Frog of the Year. I'm so proud." He wiped a tear away, only for it to get stuck on his finger, he desperately tried to get it off, but to no avail.

Anne lugged her stocky legs up the steps, panting as she did so. She got to the top, and quickly caught her breath. Man she needed to get some cardio in, she thought. She waddled over to the front of the stage, seeing the entire town cheering her on. Her eyes welled up, as she brought her hands to her now developed chest. "Wow! Thanks, everyone. I don't know what to say." Anne said, barely holding back tears from streaking down her face.

"I do. Are you people out of your frog-dang minds?!" Toadstool protested, waltzing up next to Anne butterball body. "She don't deserve to host a party!"

"Party? What party?"

"Oh, it's one of our oldest traditions." Toadie replied. He pulled out a scroll and opened it, revealing text the read Ye Old Frog of the Year Bash. "The Frog of the Year has to put on an incredible party for the whole town."

"Yeah. And that party is supposed to demonstrate the Frog of the Year's selflessness. Anne isn't selfless. Far from it." Toadstool said, glaring at Anne's puffy face.

Anne felt her full face blush red, but her eyebrows furrowed, and she frowned upon the mayor. She stomped her fat foot down, cracking some of the stage boards and crossed her bingo wing arms across the top of her gut. "You don't know me. I'll prove I deserve this by putting on a party so big, it'll blow all your minds!" Anne said with energy and pizzaz. The town just stayed silent, looking nervous and anxious at what she just said.

"...I don't want my mind blown" a frog said

"…That's a good thing!" Anne replied.

Suddenly the town was won over by the clarifying statement. Everyone was cheering, excited in anticipation for what the party might be like. Soon the town dispersed, heading back to their homes or to their jobs, for the time being. Toadstool walked past Anne, bumping into her large rear, taking her off guard for a moment. "I'm looking forward to seeing this thing, go down in flames." He snarkily said. Anne grumbled, vowing to make this a party no one would forget anytime soon. The Plantars were soon the only frogs left in the square.

They hopped over to the stage, and stood by Anne "So, Anne, you wanna get back to the farm and start planning?" Sprig asked, his voice beaming with excitement.

"Oh yeah!" Anne confidently said. "We're gonna throw a party that will be exciting. Riveting. Unexpected!"

"Anne, these things are pretty straightforward." Hop Pop clarified. "There's not gonna be anything unexpected."

"You know Hop-Pop, when someone says that, something unexpected does happen" Anne stated with Sprig and Polly nodding in agreement.

Meanwhile

After a while of travelling, Luz, Eda, King, and Raven arrived at the entrance to Wartwood. By this point Eda and Raven had gained the strength to walk again, but their magic was still mostly depleted "Wartwood. 'Slow to accept, and even slower to respect' ha sounds like an interesting town" Eda said as the group entered the town. They quickly realised the type of inhabitants that lived in either this world, or just this town, as they saw bipedal amphibians everywhere. They saw the towns folk look at them silently with wide eyes and a hint of fear

"anyone feeling uneasy right now?" King asked as his head poked out of Eda's hair, receiving simultaneous nods in response. Luz gave shy waves to the townsfolk, but only kids who probably didn't know any better returned the gesture. Eda had finally had enough

"can anyone in this town actually speak?!" she finally said as they entered the town centre, this outburst caught the attention of Anne and the Planter's, the former of the lot stunned that there were other human's here.

And judging by the look of two of them, they had also become victims of the bugs in this world. Hopping off the stage, she waddled over to the new visitors. The Plantars followed suit, curious at the sudden appearance of 3 new humans.

Getting the same feeling that she normally received from Luz, and now Raven, Eda turned and saw another human, quite a bit thinner than Luz, approaching them "uh kids" Luz and Raven turned and went wide eyed

"another human?" Anne said, shocked at the statement. "I don't believe it!" She squealed with glee.

"I don't believe it! More Anne's!" Sprig said exuberantly.

"And two of them are bigger than our Anne" Polly added on.

"wow, so you creatures really can talk" King said as he hopped out of Eda's hair and walked over to Sprig they then heard simultaneous gasps

"¡Ay, que lindo!/oh how cute!" Luz and Anne said in union before they scooped up Sprig and King respectively and embraced them tightly

"this is…seriously…bringing back…memories!" King strained out

"ease up…you're crushing me!" Sprig also strained out, before both girls eased up.

The two girls turned to each other once again, this time taking in the others appearance Raven stepped forward and broke the silence "well I'll get the ball rolling, this is Luz, my name is Raven, that's Eda, and the little bundle of joy in your arms is King" Raven introduced, earning a glare from the latter for the taunt. This snapped Luz and Anne back to reality

"oh, my name's Anne. Anne Boonchuy. And these are the Plantars!" Anne said and she introduced them "This is Hop Pop, Sprig, and Polly."

"nice to meet you" Luz said with a bit of a bow

"its so great to finally meet another human*casts a glance at Raven*full human"

"how long have you been in Amphibia for?" Anne asked

"we only just got here" Luz said and she explained her situation

"wait, hold up" Hop-Pop said and pointed a finger at Eda "you're a witch?!"

"sure am" Eda said while using both fire and water magic. Anne, the planters, and all the townsfolk who had become interested in Luz's story, were in awe

"I can also use magic" Raven said and she fired a bolt of mana up into the sky which struck a dragonfly. Everyone watched as it spiralled out of control and crashed with an explosion outside of town

"oooooo" the townsfolk said in awe

"nice shot kid" Eda said giving Raven a nudge.

"I can do magic as well" Luz said, she then wiped her hand across all of her glyphs before thrusting her hand up, unleashing a multicoloured beam of light up into the air resulting in more awes.

Everyone then turned to look at King, expecting him to be able to do magic as well. Feeling his heart drop into his stomach, he got out of Anne's arm and scurried into her hair "cool, just like Eda" Luz said before she decided to ask her next question

"so have you always been that big?"

"nah, I was a twig when I first came here, but it turns out the bugs here pretty much just turn into fat on your body when you eat them, how about you two?"

"yep, turns out magically made food is really fattening for human's"

"add to the fact that demons and witches constantly offer or force you to eat food that they make through pure nature, then there is no way you could remain thin, I'm a prime example of what spending a year in the demon realm can do to a human's figure, and I'm half demon myself so only every second person gave me food" Raven added, before a sly smile came to her face "is there any reason that you're walking around in just one shoe?"

"yeah I lost the other one to a giant centipede*shivers*he was not going to give that up"

Raven couldn't help but laugh at this "ah, I love laughing"

"why do I get the feeling we're very similar?" Luz questioned Anne "Don't know, but something tells me, we're gonna be besties!" Anne replied and she stuck her hands out to Luz and Raven to shake them…well they tried anyway, unfortunately the 3 girls big bellies collided before they got close to even touching their hands. It felt weird for Anne, seeing 2 people bigger than her, and they couldn't even shake hands. The three of them eventually just pulled away, making Anne and Luz giggle, while Raven laughed a bit harder.

They then watched as Sprig jumped up on Anne and reached deep into her hair "aaaaaand, got him" he said and pulled out king "that's my comfy spot"

"fine" King said before he leapt into Luz's waiting arms where she peppered his head with kisses, knowing that there was no resisting her, King just gave a weary sigh and waited for her to stop

"ha, lame" Polly said

"well at least I'm not stuck in a bucket" King said

"again" Eda quipped, Polly then hopped out of her bucket

"let me change my previous statement, at least I have legs" Polly went slightly red while squinting her eyes.

"You want me to rip the skull off your head?" She said in a menacing voice. King froze at that, while Eda laughed her butt off. It brought a tear to her eye, which she was quick to wipe away.

"I am loving the energy the little one is giving off."

"So to back peddle a bit, you said that you found a music box, can I see it?"

"Sure, Eda could I have the box please?" Eda reached into her hair and pulled out the calamity box before handing it to Luz

"that looks just like the one I have" and she showed them a picture that was on her phone"

"looks like yours is depleted of magic as well" Raven said

"huh? How can you tell?"

"the gems are grey"

"Hey, you're right. I never actually noticed that. Why are yours flashing?"

"they still need to be charged with more magic, and mine and Eda's magic is currently too depleted to charge it all the way. We could go to the temples, but we don't know where they are"

"how much do you know about it"

"I can used my magic to know anything about any artifact"

"that's so cool"

"yep, Raven is just full of surprises"

"Hey, Anne, I know you have new friends, but you gotta be prepping for the party!" Hop Pop interrupted between the three giant gals.

"Party? What party?" Luz asked.

"Will there be apple blood?" Eda added on.

"No, I'm just supposed to plan a big party for the town because I was named 'Frog of the Year.' you know, if you guys want to help…"

"We'd love to!" Luz blurted out.

Raven gave a shrug "why not, sounds like fun"

"Awesome!" Anne said, giddy with excitement. "Come on, let's go back to the farm, and we can talk more there."

"Sounds good to me"

And the 3 huge girls made their way to the farm, while the rest followed behind them "word of advice, try not to look at them from behind when they're walking, their jiggling butts are hypnotic" Eda said only to see that King and the planters had blank looks on their faces while drooling "oh for the love of titan"

Both found families, plus Raven, were huddled in the Plantar's living room. Eda, King, Hop Pop and Sprig all sat on the couch, while Polly rested in her bucket and both Luz and Raven were sitting on the ground. Eda was sipping some tea Hop Pop made, only to spit it out.

"Bleh. It's like Trash Slug mucus" Eda said.

"Why thank you, its my own special brew" Hop Pop stated.

"I must say, your house is very nice Mr. Planter. It reminds me of a gnomes house…well the human realms depiction of gnomes" Luz said

"And you don't have an annoying owl-tube screaming 24/7, so that's a plus." King added

"hey, don't you talk about my Hooty like that" Raven said in a mock disapproving tone.

Anne waddled in carrying a large blueprint under her meaty arm. She laid it down on the table, and rolled it across, until it was fully open. She took a seat in front of the table, leaning in as far as she could.

"Boom! Here are my plans for throwing the best party ever and proving that mayor wrong. Stupid mayor with his stupid dumb face." Anne said, mumbling under her breath.

"Anne, don't worry about what the mayor said. Just have fun planning your party. You're Frog of the Year." Hop Pop pointed out.

"Right, right, right, right. Okay, guys, listen up. A great party has three ingredients: entertainment, exclusivity, and spectacle. Hop Pop and Eda, you're in charge of entertainment. I dub thee Master's of Ceremonies."

Anne pulled a microphone out from one of her fat rolls "ha, who needs pockets" and she handed it over to Hop Pop. He gasped, and accepted it with grace, like he was getting an award of some kind.

"I've been waiting for this day my whole life." Hop Pop said with glee.

"don't worry kid, I'll knock em dead with my magic" Eda said with her hands getting engulfed in flames

"not literally Eda" Luz said, not entirely liking the way Eda said that

"eh we'll see how the night plays out"

Anne turned to Polly, and pulled out a pair of stanchions. "Polly, exclusivity. It's your job to decide who gets into the party and who doesn't." Polly took the stanchions and giggled maniacally.

"I can't wait to abuse this power!" She said, swinging the poles around like nunchucks.

"Raven, seeing as you're basically a wall, you'll be in charge of making sure nothing gets too wild or out of control"

"you got it" Raven replied

Sprig looked like he was getting more and more excited. He kept hopping up and down on the couch, like he was about to burst. "And what about me?" Sprig asked.

"Sprig, you have the most important job of all: the spectacle." Anne said with lots of flare.

"Oh, my frog, oh, my frog, oh, my frog!" Sprig squealed, hardly able to keep his excitement in check.

"At the party...you're gonna tell Ivy how you feel about her!" Sprig stopped dead in his tracks, with his excitement gone from his face, and replaced with fear and confusion.

"Wha–huh?" Sprig said, confused.

"ooo, does someone have a crush on someone else?" Luz asked cheekily

"yep, Sprig's in love with a cute little frog named Ivy, and a legendary party needs a legendary spectacle. Can you imagine how excited party-goers will be to see true love blossom before their eyes?" Anne gave Sprig her dating magazine, for him to look over.

"I can definitely see it." Luz said, her eyes glowing with excitement. "I always love a good ship."

"I'm not really sure I'm ready for this." Sprig said, sounding a little on the fence about the option, his voice wrecking of nervousness.

"well if you're not ready to date or be in a relationship with someone, then don't force it, let it happen naturally" Raven said, making everyone look at her

"what? I'm more than just a pretty face you know"

Anne looked slightly crestfallen "well when you put it like that…hmm what could I do to replace it"

"oh how about I show my fiddling skills" he then pulled out his fiddle and played a quick tune, resulting in a enthusiastic clap from Luz "boom, done"

Luz's eyes then widened "I have an Idea!" Luz said while waving a hand around "why not get Eda to do catering as well?!"

"well I was just going to get Stumpy to do that, what can you make?" Eda responded by making a burger the size of Anne's head, a pizza that was a meter in diameter, and a wheelbarrow sized bucket of fries before she made them float over to Anne, Raven, and Luz respectively. Raven tore into her pizza immediately, Anne took a massive bite out of the burger and was instantly brought to heaven, and Luz gave a shrug before she started shoveling handfuls of fries into her mouth. "Okay, you're doing catering as well, no backing out" Anne said

"sure kid, as long as you three eat more than your fair share of the food as well"

"deal" the three girls said in union.

"Okay let's get started, we have much to do and less time to do it" Anne said, before taking another bite of the burger

"can't work, eating" Luz and Raven said in union.

The town square of Wartwood looked nothing like it did that morning. Lights were being strung up all across the different shops and houses, all lit up thanks to an 'eternal light spell' Luz had made. Tables were being rolled in and set up by the townsfolk. Loggle was busy carving a statue of Anne, trying to get her size just right. It seemed everything was coming together.

Anne waddled around, looking at how everything was coming together with Anne now sporting a FOTY hat atop her head, and a checklist in her chubby hand. She gazed around at the decorations, and a smile of satisfaction came across her face. It was going smoothly so far, but she wanted to make sure that things kept running smoothly.

"All right, let's see how things are going." Anne said. She waddled up to the table where the food would be served to see Eda with her feet up while reading "Gold Tooth Monthly" "I take it that you're just going to make the food when the party starts?"

"You got it kid" she said before she made an apple and gave it to Anne, taking a bite out of it, she found it to be the most applie flavoured apple she had ever had

"wow, this is awesome"

"I only make the best" Anne continued walking around checking things off her list

"okay, Decorations are up, glassware's looking polished."

She glanced up at the statue Loggle was making. He looked like he was almost done with it.

"Loggle, love that statue!" Anne and Luz said, both giving a thumbs up to the woodsmith. Loggle just went back to carving and sculpting Anne's love handles.

Making her way over to Luz and King, she saw that Luz drawing more of the glyphs "hey Luz, what are you working on?"

"I'm currently working on a light show as well as some glyphs to really make things go 'wow'" she then turned to King and gave him a stack of glyphs "see all of the plants on the tables, put one of these on each one and activate it"

"sure thing Luz" and he scurried off, the two watched as he climbed onto a table put the glyph on the plant in the centre of the table, and activated it, what resulted was a large flower with royal blue petals, a glowing yellow bud, and a very pleasant and calming scent.

"Wow, that's beautiful" Anne said in awe

"thank you, its amazing at what you can do with magic"

"I'll say, I can't wait for the light show"

"It'll look great at night" Anne gave a nod and continued moving around. Making her way over to Hop Pop, who was up on a small stage not that far off the ground. The backdrop of the stage was a giant wall of bricks. "Hey, HP. How's the comedy coming along?" she asked. "hey Anne, have you heard about the snail who went on a diet? He's a shell of his former self!"

"hmm. Okay, okay. A little soft, but keep working on it." Walking over to Sprig she saw that he was using Luz's phone to see something while he practiced "Hey Sprig, what are you doing?"

"I'm practicing these two fiddle songs Luz said I should try, I should be able to remember these"

"well I don't want to be spoiled, so I'll just wait for the big show"

Looking around Anne then spotted Polly using the stanchions as nunchaku's "Polly? That's not what those are for!" Anne yelled.

"Says you." Polly replied with snark.

"You tell her, kid." Eda called out. As Polly kept swinging the stanchions, back and forth, she didn't realize that a caterer was right behind her. With a quick swing, the stanchions collided with the caterer, sending him backwards into several crates of expensive beverages. The drinks spilled everywhere, and the soil absorbed the liquid until it was gone.

Toadstool and Toadie walked by, like they were just going out for a stroll. But Anne knew that they were there just to see how bad of a job she was doing. And her suspicions were confirmed by Toadstool's passing remarks to Toadie… "What'd I tell you, Toadie? She's gonna be the worst Frog of the Year ever." That last sentence echoed in Anne's mind for what felt like an eternity. It felt like her parents telling her she might have to go to summer school. It just…rubbed her the wrong way. She felt the whole world spinning around her, like everything was crashing down right in front of her eyes. She did NOT want to be remembered as the Frog of the Year who put on just a mediocre party. She then felt something large and soft press up against her, turning she saw Raven

"I saw that, don't listen to that windbag. In my limited experience if you try to outdo someone's expectations, it will most likely lead to disaster, plus culturally these frogs are different from what a city girl's culture would be like, what you find 'edgy and lit', could be interpreted as weird and strange to them"

"…wow…I…are you actually an adult?"

"no, I've just grown up differently than you. Instead of being raised on cartoons and a poor educational system, I was raised by pacifists who were really big on philosophy and educating each new generation through leaps and bounds, essentially once we knew how to write and read, we were taught things that most adults know instead of slowly learning towards that"

"wow, you're really making me appreciate my childhood, how old are you?"

"I'm 16, I was 15 when I came to the demon realm over a year ago"

"wow, I've only been here for almost 3 months, I can't imagine what it must be like being away from your family for so long"

"well family is a bit complicated for me, especially when your father is the true embodiment of evil, but I did have good friends, that I now realise, were like family to me and not just a team. Well I've managed to start a new life in the demon realm"

"after say another year or 2, if you found a way to get back to your world, would you take it?"

"that's a dilemma I'm currently dealing with. I've changed a lot in the demon realm, and not just physically, before I was unable to emotionally express myself, if I didn't keep my emotions in check, my powers could have gone out of control and caused widespread devastation. I was also the only way for my father to be able to travel to the world I came from. But now, thanks to two spells, I have full control over my powers, and the link between my father and I has been permanently severed. Depending on how my life continues in the demon realm I might very well just stay, even if I did find a way to get home"

"I hope that decision doesn't become too difficult for you to make. Back to the party I was planning on having a DJ instead of a jug band, and also have a giant chocolate fountain in the centre of the whole party, what do you think?" Raven tapped her chin "well I'm pretty sure no one would complain to a chocolate fountain, myself included, but do DJ's exist here?"

"Well only one way to find out" and she walked off to find someone who knew where to get a DJ

The day had come and gone, and now Wartwood was lit up by neon lights (multi coloured light spells made by Luz) blasting blue, green and pink lights into the sky. It was truly a beacon in the night. The party was bonkers!

Polly waited by the entrance, checking people before they went in. She was constantly opening and closing the stanchion. "You. You." Polly said, letting some kind frogs through. As soon as Wally came up, she stopped him. "Uh-uh! Not you." She said, in a dismissive way. Wally deflated in sadness, as he looked down at the ground. Polly then snorted and opened the stanchion for him. "I'm just kidding. Get in there, you crazy frog!" she laughed.

"Validation!" Wally blurted out and front flipped in. The townsfolk all made their way to the center of town, where the party was starting to heat up. All they gasped in shock and awe at the scope and beauty of the party. There was so much to be seen, that it took some frogs off guard for a couple of seconds.

A giant statue of Anne, dabbing with her obese body, sat atop a pillar next to a staircase. Below, was a giant chocolate fountain with multiple layers of sparkling chocolate, with a table next to it covered in an assortment of different bugs. A huge disco ball that shone many different colours was suspended above the center of town. Anne had managed to procure a DJ, who was currently blasting out music that were techno -ish versions of music the citizens of Wartwood would normally listen to. Hop Pop as well as King were at their stage, both with mics of their own, and bouncing off each other with various jokes. To the left was Eda who had conjoured up types of food that the citizens of Wartwood had never seen before (pizza, burgers, fries, and all kinds of dipping sauces), and was serving guests who had already entered, including Toadstool.

Raven was now wearing a suit, with a fake ear piece, and dark glasses. Luz had suggested that because Raven was going to be security, to make sure nothing got out of hand, she should look the part. Surprisingly Raven had been all for the idea, and was now trying to keep up an intimidating persona. She had also found that if she stayed in one spot too long she would sink into the ground, so she was currently floating an inch off the ground.

Anne was standing on another stage waiting for everyone to arrive. Thanks to Eda taking some time to learn how to do some tailoring spells, she had been able to make outfits for both Anne and Luz. Anne was now wearing a clean, sleek white tuxedo with a blue shirt that, thankfully, covered her bulbous belly, and a nice black bowtie. She had a sash draped across her large chest, indicating her 'Frog of the Year' status. She even her hair styled down to look more glamorous.

Luz on the other hand, wore what she had worn to Grom, only it was a much larger size, and her belly was fully exposed, allowing her quick access to any of her glyphs and spells.

"Welcome, my friends, to the best Frog of the Year party ever!" Anne confidently decreed.

And with that, the party was up and off. The entire town clapped and cheered, as they all went to explore the different activities and venues. Some went to the catering table where they indulged in the food Eda had made, others got caught in the beat of the DJ and started showing their moves on the dance floor, and others went to listen to Hop Pop and King comedy hour.

On the backside of the crowd, Sprig wandered by, looking at some of the firefly balloons they had. He looked up, and he saw Ivy. She was kicking one of the balloons before it popped, startling her. Sprig gulped, but felt a big belly brush up against him. He whipped around to see Luz, who was also looking at the young Sundew.

"Is that the Ivy girl you wanna ask out?" Luz asked.

"Mm-hm." Sprig nodded.

"she really is cute"

"*sigh*yeah"

"why don't you ask her to dance? you could show her some of your moves"

"hey that's a great idea, thanks Luz" and he made his way over to Ivy. Luz decided to mingle with the locals, especially the one named Wally, from what Luz had heard from Anne and the planters, he sounded like the type of frog she could get along with.

A lot of the frogs didn't really know how to dance to the music being played, the beat was good, but they couldn't get into it dance wise, well that was until Sprig and Ivy made their way onto the dance floor and Sprig started dancing freestyle with Ivy quickly joining him, slowly the rest of the townsfolk walked onto the dance floor and began doing their own freestyle.

Anne walked up to Raven, with a large tray of food and handed it to her "here you go, have to keep up our end of the bargain"

"thanks, I've got to say, you look good with your hair styled like that"

"thanks, it took two tubs of styling gel to get it down*poof*dang it!"

"ah never mind*wolfs down a slice of pizza*no trouble in sight yet"

"good, lets hope it stays that way. By the way, thanks for your input before, this party might have turned into a disaster if I had gone the way I was"

"don't mention it"

While the party was going great, what no one suspected was that the lights of the party would catch the attention of an extremely unwelcome guest…

Everyone, even Mayor Toadstool, were now thoroughly enjoying the party, Luz and Wally had started chatting like old friends, Hop Pop and King had the townsfolk in stitches, Polly had started enjoying the party while also becoming a hazard with her nunchaku skills, thankfully Raven had confiscated the stanchion, much to the party goers relief, Anne was receiving praise for how good the party was, and Sprig was now on stage playing his fiddle as a way to cool down after having a mini dance off with Ivy.

Eda however had astoundingly found out that she was receiving the same feelings she got when feeding Luz and Raven from the townsfolk, while she did feel it on a low level, due to how many townsfolk were eating her food, it was like she was feeding 10 human's at once.

As the party neared the halfway point a loud screech made everyone freeze in fear before what looked like a giant heron landed in the center of town. Unlike other heron's this one had a red and black plumage "Hop Pop! What is that thing?!" Anne shouted

"that's a Hellfire Heron, the most dangerous creature in all of Amphibia!" Hop Pop explained before the ground underneath the heron gave way under its immense weight, up turning all of Wartwood in the process and engulfing the whole area in a thick cloud of steam. With a screech a stream of white flames came out of its mouth and lit a good amount of buildings on fire. The Hellfire Heron flapped its wings, blowing away all of the steam allowing it to see all of the helpless frogs clinging onto anything they could that wasn't in danger of collapsing into the now boiling swamp.

As it was about to make a meal of the townsfolk a multi coloured beam of light struck it in the side and launched it out of Wartwood. Everyone turned and saw Luz with her arm extend "Eda! Put out the flames and then join us, Raven, lets go!" Raven nodded and the two disappeared as Eda used Owlbert to help make a water blast spell to extinguish the flames.

The Hellfire Heron corrected itself and screeched before it was struck multiple times with ice blasts. Seeing that the attacks were originating from Luz, the Hellfire Heron went in to eat her only for black bands to wrap around it and pin it to the ground "ha! You ain't going nowhere" Raven said as she held it down "now Luz!" Luz then began making the most powerful ice blast that she could. As she was about to unleash it the Hellfire Heron's feathers began to glow red and a continuous blast of hot air came off of it. It kept getting hotter and hotter which was starting to give both Luz and Raven 1st degree burns. Luz fired the ice blast but the Hellfire Heron was now so hot that it had no effect. Raven changed her bindings into a shield, but the heat still came through. Nearby trees and plant life burst into flames and the ground started to melt. Adjusting the shield, it constricted around the beast while also freeing its head, at the same time, Luz was wiping her hand across her glyphs multiple times. Luz then finally thrust her hand at the heron unleashing a massive multicoloured blast of magic at it which it instantly countered with a stream of lava.

As Luz struggled to keep the beam of magic going, the Heron lunged its head forward and its beak snapped shut around Luz. This shocked Raven to the point that she lost concentration and the heron broke free of her bindings. Raven and Eda, who had just arrived, watched in horror as the heron gulped down a large bulge.

Raven grit her teeth and was about to unleash everything she had on the beast when she felt a massive surge of magic coming from Eda. Eda was angrier than she had ever been in her life as tears rolled down her cheeks. Raven's eyes widened as Eda's hair went from orange to what looked like green flames "give me back my Luz!" She shouted before she shot up and punched the heron across the face. She then shot down to the ground, pushed herself to the side and then shot up, kicking the heron in the stomach with enough force to make it throw Luz back up, who was now covered in stomach acid as well as second and third degree burns.

Eda was so engulfed by rage that she hadn't realised that Luz had been thrown up. Grabbing the heron by the beak, she began swinging it around and repeatedly slamming it to the ground. After the 20th slam she let go of it. The heron scrambled into a correct position and tried to fly away. Eda, still engulfed with rage, brought out her staff and spun it around before unleashing a large beam of green light that took the form of a colossal owl with Hooty's face it opened its mouth and engulfed the Hellfire Heron before it exploded, leaving behind not even a feather of the beast. Eda wobbled on her feet before she passed out, turning back to normal as she fell back, thankfully Raven caught her with her mana before she hit the ground. Turning to Luz, she saw that the horrifically burnt girl was now being buried in snow that was now coming out of her raised arm. Raven flew over to Luz and began using her healing abilities on her, even though her powers had increased since coming to the demon realm, her healing abilities were still inferior compared to the healing that witches and demons could do.

"I'm sorry that my healing abilities aren't that good" Raven said as she had started healing one of Luz's arms

"its fine Raven, if you can just heal my arm to the point where it doesn't hurt to use it, I can do the rest" Luz replied, making Raven raise a brow, but continue healing. Once Luz's arm was fully healed, she moved some of the snow away, revealing her healing goop spell. Using it she was able to heal her front with Raven helping to get a lot of places that she couldn't reach, by this point, all of Wartwood's citizens had arrived to see their heroes and tried to see if there was anything that they could help with. By the time Luz was fully healed, Eda had regained consciousness and despite feeling completely drained, She stumbled her way over to the girl she saw as a daughter and hugged her, having gotten used to the concept by this point.

"So Luz" Sprig started "what was it like inside that thing?"

Luz shivered "fire, lava, and stomach acid, I almost fell into it, thankfully it threw me up but I was still temporarily engulfed by it as it came up with me" Mayor Toadstool turned to Anne "well Boonchuy, this is definitely a party no one will forget. Now come, everyone. Let's try and savage this party, shall we?" and everyone headed back to the town centre with Raven using her mana to carry Eda.

Despite the massive cracks, partly destroyed houses and buildings, and the fact Wartwood was now about 10 feet lower thanks to the swamp being evaporated, the townsfolk were able to continue with the party. Luz, King, and Raven stayed with Eda for the rest of the party, due to the latter still being tapped out. "Everyone, seeing as how Luz and King didn't see it, and Eda was too engulfed by her rage at the time, I'm 99% sure the reason the calamity box is the way it is, is because the power that was in it was transferred into us. Eda got the powers of the green gem" Raven explained

"cool, what powers do I get!" King asked, Raven closed her eyes, she could sense and "see" the green aura surrounding Eda, but she was getting nothing extra from Luz and King, as well as herself

"I can't detect anything, it must be sealed away until something happens to trigger it" she stated, before their attention was drawn to the stage, which had surprisingly stayed intact, as Mayor Toadstool tapped the mic

"everyone I'd just like to say that despite the Hellfire Heron and the almost total destruction of our town, this party has exceeded my expectations. Anne, would you come up here please" Anne made her way up to the stage "now I'm sure you've also prepared your speech to give to the citizens"

"*gulp*speech?...well uh *she walked up to the mic*thank you everyone for voting for me to be frog of the year…*sigh*…though I have to ask why? During the party I thought over things that made me worthy to be frog of the year, and I couldn't for the life of me figure out why? I've lied, been irrational, over compulsive, irresponsible, and over all not worthy of receiving an award, let alone one of this honour. Why did anyone even vote for me?"

The townspeople looked at each other, then back at Anne. Hop Pop stepped forward, and cleared his throat, drawing Anne's attention to him.

"Anne, we didn't vote for you because you're flawless." Hop Pop said, chuckling. "Far from it. We voted for you because of how far you've come. You've grown so much in your time here, and this town just wouldn't be the same without you."

The crowd cheered on, saying Hear, hear. It truly brought a tear to Anne's chubby face. Wally played his accordion "that's why I voted for her." He said.

"Gosh dang it, I tried to fight it, but I have to say, even I'm a little impressed with how you've come alone since you arrived here" Toadstool admitted, tears trickled down Anne's chubby cheeks before she hugged Toadstool who gave her a light pat, Luz, Eda, King and Raven couldn't help but smile at the scene going on the stage.

"And…we all have a little something for you." Hop Pop said. Anne let go of the mayor, as Hop Pop approached her with a box, covered in wrapping paper. She looked back at HP, who simply nodded. Anne tore open the gift, and her eye beamed when she saw what was inside. They were new clothes! Pink and purple clothes. The tears were still coming as she looked back at the residents of Wartwood. She wanted to say something, but didn't have the right words. But Hop Pop did.

"We thought since you've done so much for this community, we wanted to reciprocate that."

"Thanks, HP." Anne softly said, with tears still fresh on her face.

Anne clipped the last button of her new suspenders on, as she got a chance to finally feel the comfort of her new clothes. After having to simple tear her old clothes off, Anne got to try on her new attire, and they were lovely! It was a soft, large pink T-shirt that fit her well. It felt like she was wearing a blanket. But she also got some nice purple overalls that covered her belly, and showed no signs of stretching. She wore new pink socks, and the town was even kind enough to make her some hiking boots. Anne finally remembered what it was like to have a shoe on her right foot. She also wore a handkerchief like a scrunchie, tying her bushy hair into a nice ponytail. She giggled at the sight, and turned to Luz and Raven, who both had changed back into their normal clothes.

"So, what do ya think?" Anne asked her fat friends.

"You look so adorable!" Luz squealed. "I'ma hug you!" and she squeezed Anne tightly, making the big girl blush slightly.

She turned to Raven who nodded in approval "the farm girl style actually suits you"

"thanks, they also make me feel completely free" she said, as Luz let go, Anne did a few movements "no restraining at all" she said as her new clothes stretched, she then caught Sprig in the corner of her eye, walking over to them

"looking good Anne"

"thanks, I absolutely love them"

"yeah we didn't know exactly how big to make it so we used 6 frogs for size, and made it out of Rubber spider silk"

"good call, also sorry that I suggested that you should confess your love to Ivy earlier. You do that when you're good and ready."

"Thanks, Anne. When the moment strikes, I'll know it." Sprig said.

"Hey, Sprig." Ivy announced herself to the quartet. "There's something I've, uh, been meaning... to ask you. I, uh... Do you, um…" Ivy was struggling to find the strength to speak the words she wanted to. "Do you think you'd wanna go out with me sometime?" She shut her eyes and braced for a reaction. When she opened her eyes she saw Sprig, gasping, while Anne and Luz squealed with delight, and Raven rolled her eyes with a smile. Ivy blushed in embarrassment. "Never mind. I'm stupid. This is stupid. This is stupid." She started to walk away, but Sprig grabbed her by the hand, drawing her attention back to him.

"I'd love to. Mlep!" Sprig said, pulling his pilot cap over his eyes. "Wanna dance again?"

Ivy took his gesture in stride. "Heck yeah!" Both went off screaming, in a good way. Anne and Luz laughed at the sight of it finally happening "not exactly what you originally planned, but the result is the same" Luz laughed out. As Anne nodded in agreement, Toadie came forward. He cleared his throat, announcing himself to the obese girls.

"Ahem! Miss Frog of the Year? There's someone waiting at the entrance to Wartwood for you. They say they're a friend."

"A friend?" Anne asked, and she headed over to the entrance with Luz and Raven following. To Anne, it felt nice being able to walk with two shoes again. As the trio approached the entrance, which had mostly crumbled away making a slope, they saw a figure, covered in a hood. The figure was tall, skinny, had white skin, and when she turned, Anne saw blonde hair sticking out. As soon as the figure pulled off the hood, Anne recognized her right away…it was Sasha!

"Anne?!" Sasha exclaimed.

"Sasha?!" Anne retorted.

Instantly the girls went crazy, giddily screaming and laughing like teenage girls would. Anne waddled toward Sasha, whilst Sasha slid down the slope and toward her ample friend. Both embraced each other with open arms. Sasha leaped up and down, while Anne could barely get off the ground. Anne pulled back, over the moon with excitement.

"well, looks like at least one of her friends has survived being here" Luz said

"yeah, surprisingly if this world is full of monsters like that Heron" Raven added

"Oh, my gosh! I can't believe that it's you! You're here too? I wasn't sure. I woke up all alone and…" She gasped. "Is Marcy with you? Where have you been? I've missed you so much!" She squeezed her best friend tightly.

Sasha pulled out of the hug a few seconds later, looking Anne up and down. She tried to keep an open mind, but her discomfort at her friend's "new" form was apparent. "Well, it seems some things happened while you were by yourself." Sasha said, poking a finger into Anne's gut, letting it sink into the fat.

"I-I… may have let myself go. But I'm just so happy I found you!" Anne screamed with joy.

Sasha giggled. "I'll fill you in later. For now, I'm just glad I found you. We came as soon as we heard."

Anne paused, and tilted her head. "We?" She asked.

"Yup. Just me and some friends of mine."

She gestured to up above where they saw many toads with glowing pink eyes lining the edge. They watched as a firefly buzzed on by one who quickly snatched it up with his tongue. The toad had a green and blue eye, and stared menacingly at the quartet.

"Nice to finally meet you, Anne Boonchuy." The toad said menacingly.

This sent a small shiver down Anne's spine while Luz raised one hand to her glyphs and Raven's hands became surrounded in orbs of mana...

Chapter 14: Another World: Part 2

Chapter Text

The Plantar's, seeing the 3 teenagers walk off had decided to follow them to see where they were going exactly. They spotted Anne, Luz, and Raven at the town entrance talking to another human, only this one was thin. "Holy toot, it's another Anne!" Polly exclaimed, as they reached the girls, but were quickly frozen in place at the mass of toads standing above them. Anne fully whipped her girth around to face her new friends, holding Sasha's hand in her chubby palm. She looked so happy to see her, although Sasha seemed less than thrilled at Anne's new body. "Oh. Guys, meet my bestie from back home, Sasha!" Anne said with delight

"Hey," Sasha said nonchalantly, before turning her attention to Luz and Raven. "And I see you're not the only butterball."

Luz smiled, and gave a small wave "Hi, I'm Luz. I just got here like a few hours ago along with my friend Raven."

"hey," Raven said with a small wave

"Oookay." Sasha said, her tone very clearly showing discomfort.

"Anyway, Sasha, meet the Plantars," Anne said, moving Sasha over to her found frog family. "This is Hop Pop, Sprig, and Polly."

"'Sup," Polly said.

"You're Hop Pop?" Sasha asked the Plantar patriarch. "I thought you'd be taller."

"Huh?" Hop Pop asked, sounding stumped.

Suddenly, Sprig leaped over next to Sasha. He looked up at her with so much admiration. Anne had told so many stories about their friendship, and she looked just as awesome as Anne had described her.

"Hey, I'm her bestie too. I guess that makes me your bestie-in-law." Sprig said, chuckling.

Sasha co*cked her eyebrow, unimpressed. "Does it?" She said.

In an instant, Sprig felt gravity pushing down toward the ground like he was being crushed by a boulder. He tried to play it off, but the awkwardness was crushing him. "Did y'all feel that?" Sprig said, coughing.

"Walk it off, boy." Hop Pop said.

As Sprig caught his breath, Grime slid down the slope and walked up to Sasha's side. The Plantars gasped in horror as soon as they saw Grime approach them.

"Captain Grime?" Hop Pop exclaimed.

"The cruelest toad soldier of all time?" Sprig added on.

"Here?" Polly finished.

Sasha just shrugged her shoulders. "Ah, he's not so bad once you get used to him. C'mon nerds, we got a party to go to."

"Party?" Anne, Raven, and Luz said while tilting their heads.

"Yes. We toads have come here to invite you to a banquet." Grime said, actually sounding quite joyful. "The moment we heard that Anne was here, we rushed over to reunite these two friends and hold a celebration."

Hop Pop squinted in disbelief, looking up at the toad captain. "Really?"

"Yes. Despite my rough exterior, I really am just an 'old softy'." Grime said. Sasha cleared her throat and gestured toward his face. Grime faced the group again and gave off a creepy smile, showing off all his sharp teeth. He was trying to look happy, but he just looked scary. It caused Luz to shiver through her entire body, "what does Anne think?" Sprig asked, a little scared.

"Uh…Sasha's been my friend since kindergarten. If she says it's fine, it's fine." Anne brushed off, laying her hands atop her gut.

"Alright, let's get this party rolling! Let's round up the town, and get to partying!" Sasha cheered. She, along with the toads marched into Wartwood to the screams of everyone. Anne and the Plantars rushed back, well Anne waddled back, to the town, leaving Luz and Raven standing alone at the entrance "I got a bad feeling about this." Luz muttered to herself with Raven nodding in agreement.

Sasha had been kind enough to allow Anne and the Plantars to ride back with her in a carriage reminiscent of a fairy tale. The rest of Wartwood, including Luz, Eda, King, and Raven all went on the "Party Barge," a large cart carried by a giant tarantula.

As they rode to their destination Luz turned to Eda "You feeling better now Eda?"

"yeah I'm fine now, I'm telling ya, that transformation can give you a heck of a hangover"

"I just wish I had seen it, from what Raven said, it was awesome"

"To be honest Luz, I can barely remember what I did, I just remember getting furious, feeling a rush of magic that I had never felt before, and the next thing I know it's leaving me"

"well with the display I saw, if you're able to use that magic all the time, I don't think that there would be anyone in the demon realm that could beat you," King said,

"you think King and I also got powers like that?" Luz questioned

"if you did, I'd say that the demon realm would be doomed"

"hey!" they said in unison.

"Sorry but with Luz's spontaneousness and King's thirst for power, you two would most likely destroy the demon realm"

"well you can't be a ruler without breaking a few islands," King said while raising a tiny fist.

Soon the Party Barge as well as the carriage came to a stop outside of Toad Tower. Luz craned her head and got a good look at the tower. It was mossy, old, with some stones falling out. It didn't look very stable.

The carriage door opened, and Sasha stepped out. Anne, who was honestly larger than the carriage door, squeezed through the exit, with her belly and butt getting stuck in the frame. Eda walked over and gave Anne a tug, while the Plantars pushed her behind out. Anne landed face-first on the ground

"I'm OK. My fat broke my fall."

Anne took some time to stand up, with Eda supporting her as she got to her feet. She huffed and puffed as she regained her balance.

"You okay, kid?" Eda asked.

"Yeah, I'm aces." Anne replied, smiling.

Sasha cleared her throat and stepped between Anne and Eda. "Yo, Percy!" Sasha called out. Instantly, Percy came running over as fast as he could.

"Yes, Commander?"

"I'm gonna give Anne a quick tour. Escort these frogs and her friends to the banquet hall." Sasha ordered.

"Hey, I wanna go on the tour too." Sprig complained. "Me three," Polly added, only for Hop Pop to shoe them along.

"Come on, kids. Give Anne and her friend a chance to catch up." Hop Pop said, looking back at Anne. Eda scooped up King and headed for the entrance as well.

"Don't worry. I'll find you guys later. Go have fun in there." Anne smiled.

"Hey, Anne, could we join you two?" Luz asked. "You know, since we're humans as well."

Sasha shrugged her shoulders. "I don't see why not, Liz." Sasha said, without a care in her words.

"Uh…it's Luz."

"Whatever. Follow me, nerds." Sasha said, leading the three butterballs into the tower. It was a long, arduous walk for Anne, Luz was actually accustomed to her size at this point and could easily walk the distance, Raven, however, just floated. Eventually, they reach a set of doors, where Sasha came to a stop.

"So you lived in a basem*nt?" Sasha asked Anne. She gagged. "Yuck."

"It's not that bad. I like my basem*nt." Anne said, shrugging her very broad shoulders.

"Well, wait until you see my room." Sasha swung open the doors, revealing her decked-out room. It had a statue of Sasha riding a skateboard. So many different pieces of jewelry, an ornate bed, a couch, a long dinner table. It was so cool!

"Hoopa da boopa!" Was all Anne could muster out. The three obese girls waddled into the room, gazing around at the space and its beauty. Sasha closed the door, and snapped her fingers.

"Yo, Brunton!" Sasha called out. A toad, wearing a chef jacket and hat, appeared in the room from a set of saloon doors. He was postured like a professional chef.

"Oui, Commander?" Brunton asked in a French accent.

"Bring us the usual." In an instant, the toad raced back into the room he came from. Luz looked at Anne with trepidation.

"The usual?" Luz asked.

The moment she finished, ten toads, including Brunton, came out, carrying out large platters of food, and placed them down across the table in Sasha's room. Anne gazed in awe at the buffet they had been given. It was literally enough to feed a whole town! Maybe two!

"Pizza? Tacos? Hamburgers? Woah, you got ketchup?" Anne asked, getting more excited and looking at the delicious food before her face turned blank. "It just occurred to me that I've been eating nothing but bugs for a month."

Anne plopped her big butt down, shaking the room slightly, rubbed her hands together, and licked her lips in excitement. Luz also sat down and joined her. Raven chose against eating, being suspicious of Sasha as well as the food. Both Anne and Luz just wanted to dig into the feast that was bestowed upon them.

"Can we…?" Anne asked.

"Sure, go ahead," Sasha said. Before she could finish her sentence, Anne and Luz grabbed as much food as they could, and began to eat feverishly. Anne took a big bite of a burger, and ate it in two bites. She went to another. She grabbed three slices of pizza and stacked them on top of each other. Luz grabbed some cricket fingers and tore them apart easily.

"Freaking pigs," Sasha muttered to herself. She couldn't believe that Anne had let herself go this much. This wouldn't stand. She could care less about Luz since she just met her, but Anne was her friend since kindergarten, and now she looked massive. "I heard that," Raven said, just loud enough for Sasha to hear, but to not distract Luz and Anne.

"Anything else, Commander?" Brunton asked.

"Could you tell Kenneth to run the hot water for the shower, please?" Sasha said while waving him off, and with a bow, he left.

"mmm show goout?!" Anne said, with her mouth full of food. Her cheeks were bulging like a squirrel holding too many nuts in its mouth. She took a few big gulps and swallowed all of her food. Anne never thought she would hear those words again. She grabbed a milkshake and downed the whole thing in one swig, as did Luz.

Sasha turned to Raven "I've got to ask, are you sick or something"

"no, why?"

"oh gee I don't know maybe because your skin is grey"

Raven's eyes narrowed in annoyance "No, I always look like this" she replied

"I'm just saying it looks really freaky like you're not even human"

"Hey, that is uncalled for!" Luz stated, putting down her food and standing up "Raven is just as human as you or me" Luz defended, making Raven smile "Look we know that you're planning something bad, so spill it already"

"wha?!" Anne said, her mouth still full

"And what makes you think anything bad is going to happen?"

"Because you're totally giving off 'bad guy' vibes"

"...Alright fine. You 'got me'." She said while going as far to make air quotes "here's what's really going on…"

Down in the banquet hall was an entirely different story. Many of the frogs were enjoying themselves, but the tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Sprig and Eda both looked around the room, as King chased Polly around in her bucket, while Hop Pop was over at the buffet table, grabbing lots of crab legs. But Eda and Sprig were more focused on the toads surrounding the room.

"Hey, uh, Eda, right?" Sprig said. "Something doesn't feel right."

Eda snorted. "You're telling me." She replied. "These big guys seem…on edge. Like something's going to happen."

"Let's go find Anne, Luz, and Raven."

"Yeah, ditto."

Eda and Sprig walked toward the banquet exit when they were stopped by a toad blocking the door. He held his spear at them but was trembling like he was nervous.

"Hey, pal, I'm just gonna go for a walk, get some fresh air—" Sprig started before…

"No!" The toad soldier snapped anxiously. "Sorry. Uh, you frogs aren't allowed to leave this room."

"And why not?" Eda sneered, leaning in closer to the toad's face. She grabbed the collar of his chest plate, and brought him in close. "What's really going on here?"

"The party was a trap. You're all prisoners, just please don't tell anyone." The toad begged quietly.

Eda looked down at Sprig, smiled, and gave him a wink. Sprig instantly knew what he had to do. Sprig ran back over the banquet tables.

"You have my word, I won't tell a soul," Eda said.

The room was startled by the sudden noise of Sprig bashing a crab leg against a plate. "Hey, everyone! This is a sham! We're not guests! We're prisoners!" He cried out in fear.

Instantly, the frogs got rowdy with fear and paranoia. Everyone was yelling, and the toads started to panic. The toad Eda held looked back at the witch, as she looked at the chaos behind her.

"I can't say the same about him though." Eda snickered.

Polly and King were busy charging at toads and knocking them down with relative ease.

"Bow before the King of Demons!" King cried out. Things were getting messy downstairs, but upstairs…

Anne was in a state of shock after the bombshell that Sasha just dropped about Hop Pop inspiring rebels to stand up against toads "What?!" Anne exclaimed horrifically. "Hop Pop's not a revolutionary! He's a senior citizen who legally ran and graciously lost."

"Doesn't matter," Sasha said slyly, tossing a bunch of newspapers at her friend who caught them. Each paper has Hop Pop on the front page. Anne could feel sweat dripping down her cheeks. She was horrified. And Luz, although she didn't know Hop Pop for long, was just as terrified. "Word travels like wildfire, or in this case like the flu. He challenged a Toad and we've got to make an example out of him."

She then gestured for the 3 girls to look out the window "So, the toads are just gonna feed him to that thing."

The 3 girls look down to see a giant Venus fly trap, being wrangled by toads, trying to keep it under control. It was MASSIVE, being 3 stories high and having a head big enough to eat Raven and Luz in one go. Anne gulped in horror. Why would Sasha be okay with this?

"Okay, here's the thing. I struck a deal with Grime. I'd help him capture Hop Pop and crush the rebellion, and Grime and his army will help us find a way home. The whole banquet trick- My idea, obvi. Now we've got those slimy frogs right where we want them. Isn't this great?"

Anne was at a loss for words. Thankfully Raven found those words for her "You're insane if you think we're going to let that happen" Luz then touched several glyphs on her stomach "Nighty-night" and she thrust her hand forward unleashing a large gust of wind that sent Sasha flying back and slamming into the wall, slumping to the ground unconscious. "come on, we have to get everyone out of here" Luz said, getting nods in response from the two other girls, "grab onto me" the two did as instructed and Luz used her instant transmission spell to teleport them to the banquet hall.

When they appeared in the banquet hall, they went wide-eyed as they saw all the toads were unconscious and tied up in a big pile in the middle of the room. King and Ivy were busy tying up the last remaining soldiers. Sprig and the town caught a glimpse of Anne and Luz.

"Guys!" Both girls screamed with joy.

"Anne!" The town screamed as Sprig leaped onto Anne's giant belly with exhilaration. Eda and King hurried over, and gave Luz a big hug, for the big girl.

"Luz, are you okay?" King asked.

"Mhm." Luz nodded.

"Anne, are we glad to see you!" Sprig said with a sigh of relief. "We've got a situation. We're not guests. We're—"

"Prisoners, I know." Anne finished off Sprig's sentence. She pointed her fat finger over to Hop Pop, still snacking on crab legs. "And it's worse than that. They're planning to execute Hop Pop!"

The crowd gasps, as Hop Pop spits out his crab legs. "Saaay whaaaaat?!" Hop Pop said in the perfect style of a sitcom. "But why?"

Anne pulled the propaganda poster out from her bosom, and showed it to the room. "Turns out Hop Pop's been inspiring rebellions all across the valley cause he ran against Toadstool. Blah, blah, it's some political nonsense."

Eda took the poster and looked it over. She chuckled and smiled looking at the wanted poster. "This is a pretty good poster, they really got your good side"

"Well thank you…I'm gonna die!" Hop Pop screamed.

"Don't worry, youngster. We won't let 'em get you." Mrs. Croaker reassured HP.

"So what do we do?" King asked.

"Uhhhh…" Anne stuttered. She honestly had no idea about how they could get out of this. She saw the manhole cover. Maybe the sewer– no, no. She, Luz, and especially Raven wouldn't be able to fit through there. "Anyone got any ideas?"

"I do–" Loggle started to say. "...n't. I don't."

"Aw, come on!" Everyone screamed at the craftsman.

"I've got one," Wally said, approaching Anne and Luz. He opened his vest to show dozens of boomshrooms tucked inside his shirt. "What say we plant these boomshrooms around the joint? Blow the place sky high."

"With us still inside?" Anne said, bewildered at the thought. "Yeah, we're not doing that."

"Right. We're not doing it." Wally said, leaning in weirdly towards Anne.

"Seriously. No boomshrooms."

"Loud and clear," Wally said slyly. Eda burst up front, right next to Wally, and with Owlbert on her shoulder.

"I got an idea. Let's charge them. We've got an entire town, plus magic on our side. We should be fine." Eda exclaimed to the town. The town cheered this idea on.

"or, to point out the obvious, get Luz to teleport us back to Wartwood" Raven suggested

"I literally just did that and I didn't suggest it, stupid Luz, stupid Luz…okay, everyone hold hands" They all did as instructed. Once they were all linked Luz put her fingers to her forehead and pictured Wartwood, everyone began to glow blue, before it faded "Huh?" Luz tried it 2 more times but got the same result "Come on, I teleported a house and its foundation"

Eda then let go "Maybe you're only able to teleport with a certain amount, I mean a house and 3 occupants is one thing, but this is a whole town" she stated

"Okay then, plan Eda, let's charge 'em" Luz said,

"causing another mass breakout, is this a hobby of yours?" Eda questioned with Luz squeezing her thumb and finger together. Touching her plant glyph two times with both hands, she thrust them forward and a mass of vines came out that bashed the door off its hinges "Let's get out of here!" Everyone charged out of the room, with their voices echoing throughout the tower. Except for Wally, who opened up the manhole cover. He grabbed onto the ladder and descended into the sewer, with a boomshroom in hand.

"Just a little gift for our generous hosts." Wally laughed as he stuck the shroom into the stone wall and clicked it. The fungi started beeping as he continued down into the sewer.

Luz, Anne, and Eda led the charge, with Raven bringing up the rear. Anne was now gripping a toad's sword in her chubby hand. "Come on. We're almost there!" Anne said with confidence, as they approached the tower entrance. With a double ram from both Anne and Luz, the doors burst wide open!

They waltzed out into the open courtyard, where a slew of Toads, Grime, and a now-conscious Sasha were waiting. The town came to a screeching halt with Anne staring her best friend down. Sasha shook her head in disappointment, instantly regretting it due to her mild concussion.

"Anne, Anne, Anne. Very disappointing." Sasha said with disapproval. "I expected you to be better than this. Then again I also expected you to be a third of the size you are so I supposed this is what I get for expecting people to live up to my standards"

"Like I'm going to let you take Hop Pop!" Anne retorted with a raspberry.

"Enough, creature!" Grime bellowed. "Seize the traitor, Hopediah Plantar!"

The toads began to close in on the frogs, Eda, Luz, King, Raven, and Anne. But the group formed together, into one large circle, all surrounding Hop Pop. Anne glanced around at all the toads, her sword drawn and ready to strike. Everyone was ready for a bloodbath.

"Enough!" Sasha declared. She walked toward Anne, with a more soft look on her face. "Anne, what are you doing? Are you really gonna risk your life for these talking frogs? We don't even belong here. Don't you wanna get back home? See your family?"

"Well, yeah, but–" Anne hesitantly said, before Sasha cut her off.

"Then put your sword down, you titanic fat*ss. End. Of. Discussion." Her tone was as cold as ice, just like it was back on Earth. But the fat*ss comment really pierced through Anne's heart. Sasha never called her names she hated, but this was something else. And soon, Anne felt hesitation, and she lowered her sword. Eda, Luz, and Sprig looked at Anne, upset that she was lowering her guard.

"There. Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" Sasha said with moxy, when…

SPLAT!

A sludge ball hit Sasha smack dab in the face, covering her head with mud. She wiped it off, her face now filled with fury. "What the heck?!" She yelled.

The entire group, including Anne, Luz, and Eda gasped in shock, as Anne glanced down at where the shot originated from. It came from Sprig. His hands were still in the position of arming his slingshot. He looked Sasha dead in the eye, not afraid of her.

"For someone who's Anne's best friend, you sure don't know her very well." Sprig yelled at Sasha. "She's brave! She's smart! And most of all, she's not gonna be pushed around by a bully like you!" He loaded another sludge ball into his slingshot, ready to strike again.

Anne's chubby face went from shock to happiness, with a small smile brewing across her full cheeks. No one had ever stood up for her since Sasha did, and seeing Sprig ready to fight for her, made her realize how lucky she was to have a friend like him.

"Ugh. I think I've had enough of you, squeaky toy." Sasha said, pacing forward toward Sprig, drawing her sword. She raised up high, and swung fiercely at Sprig, intending to slash him to pieces. Sprig shielded his face, thinking it was futile. He expected to feel the sword, but instead, he heard a–

CLANG!

Sprig opened his eyes, and saw a shadow cast over him. He gazed up to see Anne, completely shielding him with her bulbous body, holding off Sasha's sword with her own. She was grunting and sweating, trying to keep her friend at bay.

"Anne, what are you doing!?" Sasha questioned.

"Something I should've done a long time ago. Standing up TO YOU!" Anne bellowed. With a thrust of her hips, she belly slammed Sasha back, causing her to slide a few feet. She stopped herself, in shock at what just occurred. Anne never was like this. She never stood up to her.

Anne craned her head around to look at Sprig. "Thanks for believing in me, Sprig." Anne said solemnly, smiling while doing so. Sprig returned the smiling favor with his own. "Spranne against the world!" He declared.

Sasha was now breathing heavily through her teeth, her face writhing with anger. She wasn't going to let any of this slide. She gripped her sword tightly and gritted her teeth. And Eda saw she was getting ready to hunt for blood. So with a raise of Owlbert, she yelled at the top of her lungs.

"Frogs, attack!"

And just like that, a messy free-for-all ensued. The frogs charged at the toads, taking them by surprise. Eda leaped into the air, and sent a wave of magic at the toads, knocking a handful of them out cold. But Anne went straight toward Sasha. Luz stayed back with Hop Pop, protecting him like a giant boulder.

"Don't worry, Hop Pop!" Luz assured him. "I got you."

As she darted her eyes around, she saw Grime approaching her, his eyes squinted and snarling monstrously.

"Get out of my way, creature." Grime menacingly said, drawing his sword out.

"You want him?" Luz retorted. She then touched a fire glyph and an electric glyph resulting in one hand being on fire and the other crackling with electricity "Come and get him."

"So be it."

Grime charged at Luz, with his sword up high, but Luz anticipated that. She then thrust her flaming hand out and shot a stream of fire at his sword. The heat from the flame caused the sword to get hotter and hotter until it seared Grime's hand. He grunted in pain, dropping his sword on the ground. He looked back up at Luz, who then grabbed him by the arm with her other hand and gave him a massive shock before throwing him into a group of toads.

Anne and Sasha's swords clashed multiple times, with Sasha pushing back against Anne. She swung, barely missing the girthy Boonchuy, who charged in at her. Their swords locked, as they came in closer, both fighting for the advantage.

"What's gotten into you, Anne? You were never like this back home!" Sasha Angrily stated, like she was trying to knock some sense into her.

"Would it kill you to stop talking for once?!" Anne angrily spouted. She did another belly bump, knocking the blonde warrior back, once again. Angry, Sasha charged with all her might, and Anne held up her sword in defense.

Raven, Eda, Sprig, Polly, and King all were busy fighting the toads. They actually weren't that hard to fight given that most seemed freaked out of their minds. Eda sent waves of fire at them, causing the toads to run into King and Polly, who trampled the soldiers like they were made of cardboard. Polly grabbed a mace from one of the soldiers and started to swing it fiercely. King tore apart the toad's armor like it was nothing. And Raven used her mana to fling all of the downed toads out of the tower yard. Many of the toads were also simply running for the gate, realising exactly how outmatched they were.

Grime, who had recovered from the shock, noticed his troops fleeing. "Where are you going, you cowards?!" Grime spouted at his dishonorable army. Feeling the ground shake slightly, he turned just in time to be socked across the face with a metal fist, courtesy of Luz, and sent flying into a wall, now out cold.

Anne and Sasha's fight was still ongoing. Anne knocked Sasha back with her sword and then swung it at her-

SLASH!

Anne slashed her sword, right across Sasha's face. It was right across her right eye, leaving a large deep cut on her eye and eyelid. Sasha stumbled back, disoriented by the blow. She regained her footing and felt her face. She felt the searing pain in her eye when she touched it. And just like that, her anger exploded. She let out a monstrous cry, similar to the toads, and charged back at Anne. The strength she had, took Anne off guard, causing the fat girl to try and maintain her center of gravity.

As she regained her footing, Sasha had her sword right at Anne's neck, or her ring of fat that was her neck. She looked furious.

"They're just slimy little frogs, Anne! They don't matter!" Sasha fiercely decreed.

Anne could feel her anger boiling over as well. Her chubby fists dropped her sword and clenched it up. This was a long time coming, and she needed to finally speak up for not just herself, but all the people Sasha hurt that day.

"They're not just frogs," Anne said quietly. She snatched Sasha's wrist holding her sword and squeezed it tight. The pain caused Sasha to release her sword, which clinked on the ground. "THEY'RE MY FRIENDS!" Anne roared, tackling Sasha to the ground.

In normal circ*mstances, the fight would have just continued. But this wasn't any normal circ*mstance due to Anne weighing well over a quarter ton. She laid on top of Sasha like she was a rock. An immovable object, that Sasha was struggling to weasel her way out of. She grunted and struggled, but there was no use. She was stuck under Anne's massive body.

"Ngh..Get off me Boonchoy!"

"It's over Sash. You're not going to push me around anymore." Anne decreed. This left Sasha at a loss for words and left staring at her giant ex-best friend.

Anne glanced up and around at the rest of the toad army, unconscious, with Wartwood standing atop them. Eda and Luz looked strong and capable. Hop Pop just seemed stunned. 'That was surprisingly easy' Anne thought. But she instantly regretted thinking that as the ground began to shake and rumble.

A manhole cover slid off, and Wally leaped out, landing flat on his face. The shaking got more and more intense. Wally got to his feet and saw Anne staring at her.

"Wally, what did you do?!" Anne screamed.

"What? I thought we agreed." Wally said. But his mind clicked when he realized something. She was mad. "Wait, could you not tell I was winking?" He asked, pointing to his closed eye. "Ah, curse you, one eye!"

A beam of blue flames exploded out of the manhole cover and into the sky. The tower behind them began to crumble as explosions went up the tower to the very peak. The citizens of Wartwood, terrified, bolted for the exit.

The Plantars ran over and helped Anne to her feet. Eda and King ran, while Luz waddled over to the four. They all heard cracking and looked up. Parts of the tower were collapsing. A giant piece of stone crushed the Venus fly trap like a bug.

"We got to go, now!" Eda said.

Anne looked down at Sasha, who had passed out from being sat on by Anne. "But what about Sasha?" Anne asked.

"Forget her! We need to go!" Hop Pop and King said desperately.

Luz grabbed Anne's chubby hand, and they all took off toward the gates, only to be scooped up by Raven's mana and carried to the gate. Sasha felt woozy, as she slowly came to. Everything was still pretty blurry, so it was difficult to comprehend the situation. But she gazed up and saw a large piece of debris falling right toward her. Her eyes widened with horror. She shut her eyes and whimpered as the rock got closer and closer. But, just as she was about to get crushed–

SWOOOSH!

Grime dived and grabbed her, clearing both of them from the debris' trajectory. It crashed to the ground. Grime ran with Sasha slung over his shoulder for the gates, pulling out a grappling hook from his back. He shot it at the ground and ran toward the edge of the cliffside. He leaped off, saving both him and Sasha from a blast.

Anne heard a large thud and twisted her girth back around to see the tower completely collapse in on itself. It was nothing but a large pile of rubble. But something caught Anne's eye. She gazed down at Grime, descending the cliffside, with Sasha on his back. Anne collapsed to the ground, her eyes wide open, and filled with heartbreak.

Sprig took off his pilot cap was slowly walked to Anne, who was staring into nothingness. He placed his hand on her thigh, and looked up at her, concerned.

"Anne…are you…okay?" Sprig worriedly asked.

"Oh yeah," Anne responded. "Never felt–"

Anne couldn't hold in her emotions anymore. Fighting her friend. Losing said friend, it was just too much for her to handle at the moment. She burst into tears, choking on her own words. Sprig leaped onto her belly and gave her a hug, as far as his hands could reach. Everyone else joined in on comforting Anne, from HP and Polly, to Eda and Luz. The group stayed with her, as the sun of a new day rose over the mountain horizon. Knowing nothing would be the same.

The center of Wartwood was silent as the sun rose above it. Everyone was moaning, stumbling to get back to their houses. The events of the previous night were so much to handle. But Anne, Luz, Eda, King, Raven, and the Plantars all sat by the fountain.

"I know that was hard for you, Anne." Hop Pop said with sorrow to Anne, who looked like a deflated sack of butter. He looked at his adopted granddaughter with both admiration and sadness, knowing he couldn't possibly imagine what she was going through. "Thank you. You know…for everything."

Anne deeply sighed and looked down at the old frog with a smile. "Hop Pop, you three are my family. I'd never let anything happen to you." She quietly said with warmth.

Eda yawned and cracked her back, before standing up and digging through her hair. She then proceeded to pull the calamity box out of her hair, gems and gold still flashing "hey Raven, you ready to give this thing another crack?" she asked Raven nodded and the two began to pour more of their magic into it, by the time the box was fully charged, Eda and Raven were once again exhausted, though not as much as they were yesterday.

Using her knowledge of the box, Raven put in the right coordinates "When I open it, it should make a portal right to the owl house" she said. Everyone said their goodbyes to each other with Luz and Anne hugging

"here, I want you to have this" Luz then pulled a thin metal chain from around her neck that had a small corked jar attached to it that was filled with what looked like metallic blue paint

"oooh it's pretty, is this nail polish?"

"no, it's titans blood, I always keep a jar of it with me wherever I go"

"wow, the blood of a dead monster, I'll treasure it always"

"lie detected," King said, getting a light kick from Eda.

Raven then opened the box and there was another bright flash of light. The 4 of them found themselves back in the owl house

"We're ba-WHAT THE HELL!" The owl house was filled with random demons, witches, and other creatures dancing while lights flashed and rave music played. Eda raised her hand and opened her mouth only to relent with a groan "I'm too tired for this, I'm going to bed" Eda said with the other's agreeing, Raven left the house while Luz, Eda, and King tiredly headed upstairs, they'd deal with this later.

Chapter 15: King's Origin

Chapter Text

Luz was bouncing with excitement; she would be going to her first major celebration in the demon realm. Every year the citizens of all four cities on Ribcage Isle gather in the center of the isle to celebrate their liberation from the crown, this year would be the 354th celebration. "I wonder if this will be like a human realm New Year's Party" Eda questioned as she slipped on a black leather jacket.

"Who knows," Luz said now wearing a huge black t-shirt that had 'PARTY GIRL' on it in big metallic rainbow letters, blue shorts "held up" by neon-colored suspenders, and topped off with a pair of green shutter shades.

King wore a jacket that matched Eda's along with a pair of shades "Normally I don't wear clothes, but I can't object to something that makes me look coOOOOL!"

"oh, you are so adorable!" Luz said as she embraced King tightly

"Cool! I look 'cool'!"

"come on, let's get going you two" Eda said while plucking King out of Luz's arms

"you want to come Hooty?" Luz asked, before Eda could protest, due to Hooty still being in trouble for the party he threw while they were stuck in Amphibia, he gave a surprised gasp

"I-I'll get ready!"

The three all looked disgusted and very disturbed at what Hooty was doing until they all gasp in horror. The part of the door where Hooty would be was now hollow, with pulsing organs at the edges. Below it, Hooty was now sitting in a birdhouse-shaped backpack. "Porta-Hooty, reporting for Hooty!" Luz dry-retched. King teared up while slowly shaking his head. And Eda's hand was on her chest while she was struggling to keep her last meal down.

Luz, Eda, King, and Hooty appeared next to Raven, via Luz's Instant Transmission spell. She had forgone her leotard and cloak in place of a plain black T-shirt and long stretch jeans with her belly fully hanging out. "wow, someone's gotten into the party spirit" Raven said

"sure have!" Luz said as she looked around, different colored lights danced around the dome, a colossal disco ball hung from the ceiling, celebratory music blasted from all directions and there was a massive stage that had 4 people standing on it, one of them Luz recognized as Mayor Jullaré. Another was a greyish-skinned man who was wearing a red pinstripe coat with a bright red dress shirt with a black cross on the chest, and long black dress pants with matching bright red cuffs. Another was a young woman who had blue skin, long flowing green hair and only 'wore' a tube top and a mini skirt, both comprised of dark clouds. And the final one, the tallest of the 4 of them, looked like an anthropomorphic spider with 6 arms, 4 large eyes, and 2 fangs protruding from its mouth. "I recognise Mayor Jullaré is but who are the other ones on the stage with him?" Luz asked

"Those would be to Mayors of the other 3 cities. The one in the red suit is Beilzabob the mayor of south city. The woman with blue skin and green hair is Gaia, the mayor of the north city. And the extremely tall one is Racnid, the mayor of an east city"

"they all look so cool!"

"yeah, and their magic is nothing to sneeze at, though Gaia is the most powerful of the 4 of them. They're all originally from Mathuzala"

Eda's eyes shot open at this "Mathuzala! But they never leave there!"

"well apparently they did"

"am I missing something here? What's Mathuzala?" Luz asked. That name was familiar, but familiar didn't mean anything in the demon realm

"it's a small continent, far away from anywhere else, where the most ancient beings reside, their magic, while limited to the individual, is over a thousand times more powerful than even mine" Eda explained

"whoa…"

"yes, and they never leave Mathuzala, ever"

"well apparently 4 did, and Gaia's the one who fully stabilized Ribcage Isle with her earth magic, as well as helped make the Isle what it is today. I tried speaking to her once, but it turns out she's mute, though her assistant told me that she's made islands throughout the demon realm over the years and she also made 3 planets in the past. So in other words, don't mess with her" Raven stated

"noted," Luz said

After a while the music died down and everyone turned their attention to the stage where Mayor Jullaré tapped a microphone "Welcome one and all to the 354th celebration of our freeing of The Crown" the crowd cheers "Tonight we have a very special guest, those of you in West City, the best city, may have already met her, or have at least heard of her, give it up for one of our Isles heroes…" he then snapped his fingers and in a puff of smoke Luz was on stage "Luz, the human!" the clapping and cheering from the citizens of West City was drowned out by the collective gasps of the rest of the isles citizens. The other Mayors were genuinely shocked at the fact that one of the legendary heroes was now standing right in front of them. "now you may be wondering how she's alive here and now, well the simple answer is that she's actually from the present time, she and her friends, the other heroes, traveled to the past through a time pool, and then they used a time spell to come back to the present" Jullaré explained, making the crowd cheer.

A red gloved hand was then stuck out to Luz "Splendid to meet you Luz the Hero" She turned and saw Beilzabob, she then grabbed his hand only for him to shake hers very vigorously "I'm Beilzabob, the mayor of South City"

"nice- to meet- you" she jerked out before he was sent flying to the side with a windmill kick from Racnid, who now stood in front of Luz, who was only eye level with their knee "Wow, you're even taller up close"

"thank you, young lady. Have a giant sammich" they said as they knelt before her before offering Luz a 6-foot-long sub "Wow, thank you" Luz said as she graciously took the sub

"I'll give ya 100 snails if you can eat that whole thing in half an hour" Jullaré offered

"deal!" and Luz began wolfing down the sub like a machine with the entire crowd chanting for her.

"GORGE! GORGE GORGE!"

Luz managed to eat the whole thing in just under 8 minutes. She raised both of her arms in victory and the crowd cheered. A large stone hand clamped onto Racnid's head before they were thrown straight up onto the giant disco ball which swung back and forth from the impact "You guys really don't like each other do you" Luz said as Gaia stepped forward, her face bearing a blank expression before she made several signs to her assistant, who in turn relayed the message to Luz.

"Are you kidding, we're BFF's, we do this kind of stuff to each other all the time. Anyway it truly is an honor to have someone so famous attend this celebration" the assistant translated

"of which, ironically, you are responsible for" Jullaré added, earning a slight eye narrowing from Gaia. Jullaré then extended a microphone to Luz "Anything the hero would like to say to the crowd?"

"sure*takes the microphone*hey everyone, Luz here, first I would just like to say to everyone from West City, thank you so much for your hospitality these past few weeks. You have an amazing city and you should all be very proud of what you've made of it. As for the other cities of this Isle, I'll be looking forward to exploring everything that your cities have to offer. You know it's funny, when I first came to the demon realm, my greatest desire was to be a witch, most people said I couldn't be one, but I showed them" She then touched one of her glyphs and thrust her arm up, unleashing a stream of fire "back at home I was always treated as an outcast, I didn't have any friends, and the day I first came here, my mum tried to send me to a summer camp to be more "normal", well clearly that didn't happen. Here in the demon realm, I've made friends, I have people who I consider a second family, and as I've been talking I've realized that during my time here on this Isle, my true greatest desire, is to be understood"

A bright bluish/purplish light began shining from underneath Luz's shirt. Everyone watched as a bluish/purplish mist came out of the neck of Luz's shirt and swirled in front of her before staff came out of it and the mist turned into a glowing ball. Everyone was in awe, hardly anyone had ever seen a Palismen egg hatch before and they were all curious as to what it would become. Finally, it turned into the cutest thing SHE'D EVER SEEN!

"EEEEEE!" Without a moment's hesitation, she pulled the tiny adorable cat, snake, otter thing into her thick arms and hugged it to her face. Rubbing her cheek against it, which it took in stride as it looked delighted for her to be doing so.

"Happy?" Jullaré questioned

"So Luz, care to introduce us to your little friend?" Beilzabob asked

"Everyone, meet my Palismen Stringbean, she's a snake shifter and she's perfect" The crowd cheered at this as Stringbean flew onto her head and formed into a cat ear headband, before Luz handed the mic back to Jullaré

"Wow, that was honestly the first time I've ever seen a Palismen egg hatch, its definitely going to be something that everyone here will remember. You know I have a pretty funny story to tell you all that happened the other day…"

Flashback

Mayor Jullaré was in his office going over some paperwork when he got a buzz on his intercom from his secretary "Go ahead Rhonda"

"Mayor Jullaré, there's apparently some men at the docks looking for Luz, they say it's rather urgent"

"I'm on it" and in a poof of smoke, he disappeared from his office, reappearing in front of a group of Emperor's coven guards. "greetings gentleman, and what brings you to my city, hmm?"

"We're here looking for a human, she's an extremely dangerous and wanted criminal" one guard said as he held up Luz's wanted poster

"wow that's a lot of zeroes"

"indeed, have you seen her or have any idea where she might be residing?" Jullaré was now filing his nails

"oh yeah she's here in my city, but you ain't getting her, she is a hero and is fully under our protection"

"if you don't hand her over willingly, we'll take her by force"

"Yeah, you don't have any power or authority over me or anyone on this island, we're out of your jurisdiction, so buzz off"

"This is your final warning, tell us where she is or-" he was cut off as Jullaré made a circle with his thumb and index finger and blew through it with his breath turning into smoke, which engulfed the guards and solidified, trapping them

"I think it's pretty clear who the top dog is here. Now, here's what's going to happen, you're going to fly back to the Boiling Isles, and you're going to tell that blowhard Belos…

End flashback

"hahaha, knowing how dumb those guards are they probably told him exactly that," he said, the entire crowd what shocked at the rainbow of words that Mayor Jullaré said.

King grinned "I just learned SO many new words"

"and if you repeat one of them in my house, you'll be on dish duty for a month" Eda snapped.

The party went on for hours with Luz being the guest of honor, she danced, she sang, she showed off her many spells and glyphs, she ate an inhumane amount of food, and she also had her first taste of hard Apple Blood of which she was currently having a drinking contest between herself, Eda, Raven, Racnid, and Gaia. Luz slammed her mug down in wiped her mouth "refill!" she said, and as soon as it was filled back up she chugged it all

"wow, she can really handle her alcohol, that's her 17th mug" Jullaré stated, right now the score was:

Luz: 17

Eda:15

Raven: 22

Racnid: 19

Gaia: 20

"well she does have a larger body to help her absorb all of that excess alcohol" Beilzabob replied

Finally, Gaia passed out after finishing her 23rd drink, was quickly followed by Eda at her 20th drink, then Racnid at their 25th drink, so now it was down to just Luz and Raven. everyone was shocked at just how much the 2 teenagers were drinking with neither slowing down at all. Now on their 50th drink each, the two were so wasted that nothing that they said was understandable

"(looks like your slowing down Raven)"

"(oh please with this gut I could keep going all night)"

"(well my stomach can stretch to 3 times its maximum size, so I can fit in lots more apple blood)"

"(well I can open up a vortex in my stomach to allow me to drink indefinitely)"

"(that's cheating you know, the fundamentals of a drinking game it that the one who can both drink and hold down the most wins the game, while my stomach can stretch it is still limited. Having a vortex in your stomach defeats the whole purpose of having a game like this in the first place)"

"(?)"

*thud*

"and we have a winner, Luz the human!" Jullaré announced, making the crowd go from stunned silence to cheering.

Luz jumped up and threw up her arms before giving a loud "Woooooo"*thud*

"and our hero has decided to nap the rest of the night" Jullaré stated earning laughter from the audience, he then snapped his fingers and all of the passed-out contestants disappeared in a puff of smoke "I teleported them to my floor of the hotel I frequently stay at to rest"

"Why do you have a private floor of a hotel in the same city you live in" Beilzabob questioned

"why not?"

"I'm not going to get a satisfactory answer from you aren't I?"

"Beil, you should know me by now"

"sadly, I do"

The next day

Luz woke up with a pounding headache "Ugghhhhhhhuhuhuhuhuuuhhhh. I regret every forever. It feels like my brain being licked by a greasy carpet."

"that would be a hangover young lady" Luz looked and saw that the voice belonged to a demon wearing a uniform who was currently cleaning up a mess that Luz had drunkenly made "You apparently ate enough to feed 20 people last night"

"I did?"

"Yes, it's a good thing our wait staff can speak fluent drunk" Luz looked and saw that she was now significantly bigger than she was last night

"did you mean feed 20 people, or over stuff 20 people, geez" With a bit of a strain, she got up, but instantly regretted it as the pounding got even worse. "Why is there a whole industry around this stuff? Why do adults keep drinking if this is the result?"

"Most believe in moderation instead of drinking until they pass out." He said dryly "Here, drink this," he said as he handed Luz something that looked like a pitcher of a green margarita. As Luz drank it, her headache began to rapidly subside. She kept drinking until it was all gone, along with the headache.

"Wow that was good, and my headache is gone," she said, "What was in it?"

"Never ask what's in a hangover cure, Luz. It will only upset you."

"...Right." Stringbean then made herself known as she turned back to her normal form and nuzzled Luz's face "Hey there sweetie*kiss*did you have a nice sleep?" Stringbean made a few hisses "Really, well I'm sorry you had to see that, I normally don't eat or act like that" more hisses "Awe you're so sweet" she said before putting her hand to her chest "*growl*that stupid pain in my chest is back"

"What kind of pain is it?" the demon asked

"It feels like a pressure building up in my chest, I put on a healing hat and the pain goes away for like 24 hours and then it comes back, it's been like that for about a week now"

"a week?! I think you should go see a doctor, if a healing hat can't properly fix it, then it might be an even bigger problem than you think" which filled Luz with dread.

"I take it that everyone else who was in that drinking contest is here?"

"The only one still here is the grey-skinned one, everyone else left at least a day ago"

"a day?! How long have I been here?!"

"about 2 days now"

"2 days!" the demon nodded with Stringbean hissing in agreement "Oh geez, I better get home, thanks for the doctor's suggestion, and thank you for letting me stay here while I sobered up"

"Well, you were teleported here by the mayor so he's the one who you have to thank" Luz nodded before putting her fingers to her forehead and disappearing, reappearing in the owl house.

"I'm back" she announced "Luz!" King exclaimed as he scurried over to her and leaped into her arms "Aw how's my little cutie pie, did you have fun at the party?"

"Yeah, but not as much as you did, I can't believe you drank that much hard apple blood"

"yeah, how many did I end up having?"

"50"

"50! Wow…did I win?"

"Yep, you beat Raven by thiiiis much"

"you know Luz" Luz turned and saw Eda leaning against the door frame "The party was not last night, but two nights ago"

"Yeah, one of the people at the hotel told me" She then felt the pain in her chest increase slightly "Eda, could you take me to the doctor please?"

"Can't you just use the golden healing hat?" Eda asked as Stringbean started flying around in circles around Luz's thick neck, causing the large girl to giggle as it tickled her. Eda walked over to Luz and stuck out her hand, Stringbean saw this and left Luz before curling around Eda's arm, where she gave it a scratch on the head "So do you think your up to the task of being Luz's mode of transportation?" Stringbean looked at Luz and then turned back to Eda with half-lidded eyes "I don't have to understand you to know what that look means"

"I would actually be surprised if she could lift all of this. It's fine though, as long as I can teleport, I don't need a staff to help me get around" Luz said as Stringbean went back over to Luz and turned into a staff which Luz then proceeded to twirl around effortlessly.

"Well kid lets go find a doctor to get you checked out," Eda said, and with that, Eda, King, and Luz left the house.

It took them a while, but after getting several directions, they found themselves at a modern human-looking hospital. The hospital was mainly only used when the citizens had something wrong that normal healing magic couldn't fix. After filling out just 2 forms, they were now just waiting to see a doctor. "So King, what did you and Hooty do after Eda and I passed out drunk?"

"we continued enjoying the party until I got too tired and we headed home, and trust me, seeing Hooty do back into the door is a lot less stomach-churning than what we saw" As soon as he finished speaking, they all heard Luz's stomach making a horrific noise

"Oh god, that was…indescribably wrong" Eda and King shuddered at that.

"Noceda, Luz?" a doctor called out, the three got up and followed the doctor, a blue-skinned, human-looking demon with 4 eyes, and a Lizard-like tail that had a bone ball on the end.

They followed her to her office and they took a seat as she examined Luz's file "So you've been experiencing chest pains that have persisted over the past week?" she asked

"Yes," Luz replied. After checking Luz's blood pressure, breathing, and heartbeat, the doctor had her stand behind a screen which she adjusted so that the top was under Luz's chin

"Okay, let's see"

turning a dial, Luz's clothes disappeared, and with another, her skin disappeared showing all of her fat, another turn made the fat disappear revealing her muscles

"Whoa, that's quite the physique you have under there," Eda said and she made a reflective surface, allowing Luz to see her very muscular body

"Wow, I'm like a mini she-hulk," she said and started doing poses that her fab abs hidden under her beautiful belly mirrored. Another turn made her muscles disappear, now only showing her circulatory system and the inside of her heart

"Hmm, your arteries and veins look perfectly fine, no clogging or anything"

"Really? What about my EKG?"

"Well, I took a look at it."

"And?" The doctor turned the paper around.

"It spells out WAFFLES."

"Is that bad"

"It 'should' be spelling out PIZZA."

"Ah..."

"Well enough of that Let's try another look." another button pressed then it showed all of her organs. Eda, King, and the doctor gave Luz curious looks and moved in closer. Touching the screen and zooming in as you would do on a phone, Eda spoke up.

"is that what I think it is?"

"it very well looks like it" The doctor then looked Luz in the eye "Are you a full human?"

"yes, why"

"Because you have a bile sack"

"WHAT?!"

"It's small. Like the size of a thimble, but it's definitely a bile sack"

"Luz, focus on one of your index fingers and make a circle with it" Eda ordered, Luz did as she was told, and to her shock, she made a glowing circle which made a puff of smoke before crumbling away.

"Wha? Ba? Za?"

"how in the world could a human have a bile sack, or even develop one?" Eda asked, the doctor tapped her chin

"well witches developed bile sacks due to being exposed to Titan's blood in the beginning, so maybe just being in the demon realm has caused the same effect on Luz here"

"actually" Luz started as she moved out from behind the screen, she then reached into her shirt and pulled out her emergency vial of Titan's blood "I've had a vial of Titan's blood hanging around my neck for well over 2 months now"

"...That would do it. Having that much-concentrated magic that close to your chest for so long has caused you to develop your own bile sack, which would also explain the pressure your feeling as it is slowly expanding in your chest. From what I can see it's only about a quarter of the size of a fully developed bile sack for someone your age."

"Would it develop faster if I drank Titan's blood?" She said a bit too keenly.

"I would highly recommend against that, titan's blood is so rare that not much is known about it, especially its effects on someone if its ingested, it could melt your insides for all we know"

"well Luz, looks like in a month or so, you'll be able to perform magic without your glyphs," Eda said, while Luz beamed in excitement. The doctor then cast her glance at King and raised a brow

"What?" King asked

"I'm sorry, it's just that you look like a miniature titan"

"King can't be a titan, I mean look at him, how could something that small turn into something that big?" Eda protested

"I'm not saying he is, he just has a similar skull shape, plus I've seen ancient paintings of titans, and if he was stretched out he'd look exactly like one"

"I can't be a titan, I'm the king of demons"

"Historically, demons have never been united under a single monarchy"

"Are you a doctor or a historian?" Eda asked

"I majored in both" the doctor then turned back to King "Do you know where exactly you came from?"

"yeah I do, and it proves that I'm the king of demons"

"Can I see it?" Luz asked,

Eda was about to protest, but King spoke first "Sure let's go right now"

After leaving the hospital, with the doctor only suggesting that Luz just keep using the Golden Healing Hat every day until the pain finally stopped, Luz teleported them home where she quickly used said hat to get rid of the pain in her chest. Once the pain was gone, she used a clairvoyance glyph to get a mental picture of the location where King came from, before teleporting herself, as well as Eda and King to the place that King had pictured in his mind.

The 3 of them found themselves now standing in front of a tower that had a keyhole-shaped doorway that was blocked by large rocks "Whoa, it's even more impressive in person" Luz said in awe

"ha, you should see the inside. I'm gonna find you guys another way in" Eda was about to say something, but King wriggled his way out of sight. A few seconds after King disappeared from sight, the rocks were engulfed in a black aura and yanked away from the doorway. The surprised group turned to see Raven "Well, that's one way to make an opening" King said

"hey there, I teleported to see you guys and you just disappeared the second I arrived, so I teleported again and here I am"

"How did you teleport?" Luz asked, Raven then raised her arm to reveal that she had the same Instant Transmission spell that Luz had, on her arm

"so what's this place…it looks ancient"

"This is my castle where I ruled as the King of Demons!" King declared proudly

"now this should be interesting"

"come in" he insisted and the three followed him inside.

Once they were in Luz activated a super light spell which made a glowing ball that rose up and expanded until the whole room was entirely lit up "Ah, the chamber where I would devour the hearts of my foes. The taste was cold and bitter, but I bet yours would be sweet, Luz"

"With all the sugar I've been eating lately, it better be"

"I've studied ancient languages and writings of the demon realm, but I haven't seen anything like this before," Raven said, as King climbed up onto a pile of rocks, showing off to Luz.

"they were probably too scared of my presence to write correctly. Ah, my kingdom. I, uh... [Wipes a tear from his eye.] I got some bone dust in my eye"

"What was up there?" Luz asked while pointing up to a hole in the ceiling with rocks plugging it

"I-I can't quite recall. I just remember a muffled roar, probably some minion praising my name!"

"Hey cool, an ancient depiction of a titan" Everyone turned and saw Raven looking at a wall, which had a carving of a giant demon resembling King.

"That's a titan?!" Luz exclaimed

"yeah, there are carvings like this all over the demon realm…which would mean that these writings would have been made at around the same time," Raven said

"wait, hold up" Eda started "Titans died thousands upon thousands of years ago, and all demons and witches originated from their corpses. We didn't live on 'em while they were still walking around."

"so then, who made this?" Luz finished, a rapid pattering sound was then heard Luz turned and saw what could only be described as a pile of rocks held together with sinews of flesh, with one arm raised that had an axe on the end its head twisted with cracks before it swung at Luz's neck only for there to be a bright blue glow.

When the glowing subsided everyone could see that the rock creature's axe hand was destroyed, and a glowing Stringbean was floating next to Luz's head. Stringbean then turned into a staff which Luz grabbed "Time to see what you can do!" Luz then aied her staff at the rock creature and a massive beam of magic came out that obliterated the rock creature, as well as making a large hole in the tower "Whoa" was the only response everyone gave

"I uh may have gone a bit overboard," Luz said before all of the rocks plugging the hole in the ceiling fell out.

"Luuuuuz, you and Stringbean damaged my castle" King whined

"Well it wasn't in the best shape, to begin with," Raven stated,

"hmm I wonder what's up there?" Luz wondered before they heard more scurrying coming from a hallway

"I don't think that was the only rock monster," Raven said as a horde of them came out from the hallway with more dropping down from holes in the ceiling.

"Luz, get us out of here!" Eda shouted before one came down with both arms as axes separating the group one then grabbed King and leaped up into the hole in the ceiling

"King!" the three shouted

"Stringbean, less magic this time" A beam of magic then came from her staff and she swung her staff with Eda doing the same. Together they blew away all of the rock monsters.

Up above

King was still in the grasp of the rock creature only now he was having repeated flashbacks of his life before he met Eda. Every memory that was returning was breaking him more and more, his life, his identity, everything about himself that he thought that he knew was being shattered. His army was nothing but piles of rocks, his feasts were whatever bugs he could find, he wasn't a king, he was… he looked up at the rock creature. It, or rather the one that Luz and Stringbean had just destroyed, had been there when some doors first opened, it had grabbed him and taken him down the hole. King's eyes narrowed "You, tell me. Who am I?" the rock creature's eyes glowed brighter and King's pupils shrank.

Back down below

No matter how many rock creatures they blew away, more just kept coming back. Raven fired a barrage of mana balls at the horde, Eda made several giant Hooty's to eat and smash them, and Luz was using Stringbean with one hand while using her glyphs to attack with the other hand. she had found that the only glyphs that did work in this place were her fire, ice, plant, and light ones. They kept this up until they were all out of breath. Scattered around them were pebbles and flesh

"for crying out loud that was hard, do you think we got them all," Raven said

"yeah, I don't think they're coming back after that" Luz replied proudly before the flesh began rippling and all of the flesh and pebbles came together to form one giant monstrosity covered entirely in a thick carapace of rock "Luz, you fool!" and they all dived out of the way as a massive hand swung at them

"girls, aim a beam of magic right at the center if its chest, now!" Eda aimed her staff at the creature and fired a large beam of magic as did Luz with her staff, and Raven with her mana. The monstrosity slowly slid back from the force of the combo attack it then roared as the triple beam tore through its chest and through the side of the tower, sending cracks throughout its ancient walls.

When they finished their triple beam attack, flesh filled in the hole before rock formed over it. Eda bit her tongue to stop herself from cussing up a storm. The monster roared and swung a clawed hand at them so fast that they couldn't defend and they were sent flying into a wall. Luz and Raven were unharmed due to their extra padding, but unfortunately, Eda broke her arm on impact with the wall, she also hit her head and fell unconscious. Luz saw the state Eda was in and gasped in horror. The monster swung its hand in an attempt to crush them, only for Raven to make a barrier out of mana "Get her out of here now!" Raven ordered as she struggled to keep the monster at bay.

Luz looked at the unconscious and bleeding Eda, a rage began to boil inside of her and she clenched her free hand into a fist "You hurt Eda" she said in a low tone before turning to the rock monster, her pupils now glowing blue. Raven flung the monster's arm back before turning to Luz, all words dying in her throat as she could feel a massive amount of magic rising within Luz. The rock monster threw a punch at Luz only for her to stop it with an open palm, the impact which made the rock carapace on the monster's hand crack. Luz looked at Stringbean "Get Eda out of here and to safety" she more or less ordered Stringbean merely nodded before turning into a hawk and began flying towards the nearest exit with Eda. Luz turned her attention to the rock monster as she clenched her teeth, the glowing in her pupils got brighter and a blue aura surrounded her "You hurt Eda!" she then shot up and kicked it across the face, making its head do a full 360. Luz flew around the rock monster delivering blow after blow turning the monster's carapace to dust while Raven just watched in awe. She could tell that Luz was showing the same powers Eda did back in Amphibia only at a lesser level due to her hair not changing color. As Luz destroyed the final bit of rock carapace the glowing faded from her eyes as she landed on the ground before falling to her knees in exhaustion.

Not wanting to take any chances, Raven engulfed the now flesh monster in her mana and began tearing it apart and hurling chunks of flesh all around the now crumbling room. When the monster was finally completely scattered, Raven relaxed and went over to Luz, who was now struggling to get up "Come on big girl, let's get King" she said, before movement caught her eye. The two girls looked on in shock as the pieces of flesh rippled and twitched before they all started gathering towards the center of the room while taking whatever rocks and dust they could gather "But how?! it was in a thousand pieces!" Raven exclaimed

"Let's get King and get out of here while we can!" Luz shouted, Raven nodded before she engulfed Luz in mana and flew up the hole King had been taken through.

As Raven neared the top, a giant hand wrapped around the two girls before yanking them straight back down and slamming them to the ground. Luz had been saved from most of the impact due to being surrounded by mana, but Raven hadn't been so lucky. Luz watched as the monster fully finished reforming before it raised a foot and stomped down on Raven, causing the young half-demon to scream in pain as quite a few bones were shattered. She then screamed again as her body was impaled as multiple sharp rocks extended from the sole of its foot. Luz gasped in horror as the monster removed its foot from her friend, revealing all of the bloody holes in her body. The monster then stuck its hand out and fired multiple sharp rocks out of its palm, straight at Luz. Unable to move or defend herself in time, all of the sharp rocks tore through her body, leaving her with just as many bloody holes as Raven.

The monster then formed one of its hands into a giant mallet and raised it up, as it was about to crush the two of them, King, still in the embrace of the rock creature, came down in front of it "Stop!" he ordered making the monster turn its hand back to normal and kneel before King. Unfortunately, before King could give any more commands, the whole tower began to collapse due to the fight. As the roof fell down King braced for impact, but nothing happened, opening his eyes he saw that the monster was holding the roof up. King then called out "Save my friends, and me" Two tendrils made of flesh protruded from the monster's chest before they wrapped around the two girls and threw them out the nearest hole in the wall while the rock creature holding King ran towards the nearest hole and lunged through it, just as the whole tower came down. Once everything settled, King looked around he saw Stringbean and an unconscious Eda to his left and a bleeding Luz and Raven to his right. Right now he was freaking out, not knowing what to do at all. He then watched as Luz started trying to get up "Luz!"

"Ki*cough* *splutter*" Luz looked and saw her hand was covered in blood "Yeah, that's not a good sign, be right back" Putting two fingers to her head she disappeared. Only to reappear 30 seconds later now looking as good as new as well as holding the Golden Healing Hat, which she quickly placed on Raven's head, and in a bright flash of golden light, she too was fully healed

"wow, that thing works like a charm," Raven said as Stringbean brought Eda over to Luz, to which she placed the Golden Healing Hat on. Turning her attention back to Stringbean, she peppered her head with tiny kisses while thanking her for what she did for her.

Eda stood up and saw the destroyed tower "Whoa, I missed a lot" Luz and King then embraced Eda to which she smiled and returned and said hug.

When they let go, King spoke up "Eda, I know the truth, as well as my past. I'm not a king, everything that I thought I was, was a bunch of lies that you made up and allowed me to believe were true"

Eda looked at King with guilt "King, I'm sorry that I lied to you for all of these years, you were just so happy believing that you were a king of demons that I didn't want to take that away from you" King started to get teary eyed at that and held out his arms for another embrace then embraced, something that Eda was more than happy to give. When they let go, King looked a bit uneasy, as if even he couldn't accept what he was about to say.

"Yeah well...I might not have been totally wrong about that."

"...Eh?" Said Luz

"Jean-Luc over there also showed me who I really am, …I'm a titan"

there was a long pause before Eda finally spoke "...I'm with her. Eh?"

"what that doctor said was true, I'm a titan…so it looks like I'm due for a growth spurt soon"

"Wow...out of everything I thought you could be, Titan was somewhere way down on my list...mostly because I didn't think they'd start out that small" Luz said unable to believe the truth bomb King had just dropped

"I think it would be wise to keep that you're a titan under wraps," Raven said making everyone look at her "People would be after your head or blood due to how valuable they are"

"now that I think about it, that's a really good suggestion," Eda said, King looked slightly disappointed at that, but quickly cheered up as Luz picked him up and embraced him "Come on, I think we've all had enough for one day, Luz, take us home and I'll make you kingcakes"

"Kingcakes? Are those like Pancakes?"

"Pancakes in the shape of your head."

"Can...can they be crowns instead? I'm too upset for autocannibalism."

"Of course, they can cutey pie. With sprinkles for the jewels," Luz nodded and everyone grabbed onto her before she teleported back to the owl house.

Chapter 16: Back to the Boiling Isles

Chapter Text

Chapter 17: New And Old Faces

Chapter Text

All of the students and personnel at Hexside had been shaken to their core after what happened to Boscha, while most of the students feared her with the rest hating her, to have her arms removed and prevented from doing any magic other than potion magic, which she could now no longer do, was a fate that no one would wish on anyone. The shock of having her arms permanently removed as well as essentially having her magic sealed off had put Boscha in a catatonic state. She was now currently residing in the psychiatric wing of the healing coven. Her parents had complained with the only response from the Emperor's coven being that the two guards responsible had allegedly been dealt with by Emperor Belos personally. Luz had been tempted to use the Golden Healing Hat on Boscha, but Amity had protested, saying that Boscha would be less of a threat now that she couldn't do anything with Willow and Gus agreeing, as much as Luz didn't like it, knowing that he could help someone, she didn't want to go against her girlfriends wishes and heal Boscha.

Luz had started attending Hexside again, she had been assured by Principal Bump that she would be safe at Hexside, so she didn't need to use her disguise ring and if anyone tried to take her away, they would have to deal with the entire teacher faculty, she had also made a deal with the students that if they didn't tell anyone that she was here, they could feed her till their heart's content. Luz had also received some surprising news from Eda, who since mending her relationship with her father, had been a lot happier than usual. According to Dell, there was apparently a journal left at Bonesborough library by a human. He had found this out when he had been searching for information on humans, after finding out that his daughter had one with her. This excited Luz as it meant that if it had been made by Caleb, it could possibly have information on how to return to the human realm.

Due to both Willow and Amity being busy with their families, it would be just her and Gus on this little trip. Teleporting into the library the two headed up to the front desk where a librarian was reading "Ehhem excuse me sir" Luz started, getting his attention

"I heard from a friend that a very long time ago a human donated a Journal here, I was wondering if you could tell me if it's still here?"

"Just a sec," he said as he put his book down and tapped a crystal ball on the counter before waving his hands over it "Yes it's still here, but it's located in the Forbidden Stacks of Forbidden Knowledge, only Malphas, the master librarian, is allowed in there"

'Course it is. The book the hero wants is never in front of the library with the newspapers and autobiographies.' "oh, well could you get him to get it for me please?" the librarian then rang a small bell which caused black smoke to fill the area "Wah!" Luz yelped as a huge bird-like demon kneeling on a large floating book appeared

"What is it? *cough* *cough* ahem ugh sorry, I'm a bit under the weather"

"Sir, this young lady requests to see a book that's kept in the forbidden stacks of Forbidden Knowledge" the librarian stated,

"Did you tell her that the forbidden stacks of Forbidden Knowledge are forbidden?"

"The name implies that sir."

Malphas looked at Luz "And what book are you seeking"

"a journal that was donated by a human a really long time ago"

Malphas stroked his neck in thought "Oh yes I remember that journal, he gave it to me if I didn't tell anyone he was here" Hearing that made Luz get a horrible feeling in her stomach

"May I borrow it please?"

"What exactly do you need it for?"

"it might have something inside it that could tell me how to get back to the human realm" Malphas looked Luz up and down

"BACK to the human realm? Were you born there or something?" Luz realized that she was still wearing her disguise ring and removed it for just a bit to reveal that she was actually a human before sliding it back on.

"I swear it's like I've seen you two before, a really long time ago..." You've neevr been stared at until you've been stared at by an eye that doesn't seem to need to blink "...eh probably just old age, anyway, I'll get the journal for you" and with that, Malphas disappeared in a cloud of smoke. He returned about 10 minutes later with the journal "Here you go, I took a quick skim through it, you can have it if you want" Luz's 'eyes' widened as she beamed

"Thank you so much, sir"

"no problem. I'm just grateful I can get rid of 'something' in here to make room for once" he replied before once again disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

Luz opened the journal and her heart fell into her stomach while her face turned into a scowl as she saw the words 'Property of Philip Wittebang' written on the front page "I thought it would be his, ugghhh...well better than nothing" Luz said before she slipped the journal into her backpack.

After exiting the library, Gus turned to Luz "I take it that you're headed back to Ribcage Isle?" Luz was about to reply when they heard a loud roar and screaming. Rushing over to the commotion, they saw a slitherbeast on the loose and it was now heading towards an innocent child. Luz and Gus were about to spring into action when two boys wearing uniforms from a different school jumped in front of it. The dark-skinned witch conjured up a slick of abomination goo that caused the Slitherbeast to slip, then the demon boy created a net of vines that launched it back. After it landed, a girl leaped over it and used construction magic to trap the Slitherbeast in stone.

"Good work guys!" the girl said with her friends agreeing. The Slitherbeast then burst out of its stone prison and leaped up into the air to pounce on them before vines wrapped around its feet and slammed it to the ground before a large anvil landed on its head, knocking it out cold. Everyone turned and saw another dark-skinned witch and a willowy cyclops.

"don't worry, he won't be getting up any time soon," Gus said proudly as he and Luz walked up to the kids

"nice job you two" the girl congratulated as animal control took the unconscious beast away.

"Judging by your uniforms, you're Glandus students, right? We go to Hexside. My name's Gus. And this is Luz"

"what up?"

"Nice to meet ya. [Gestures to the demon boy.] This is Angmar. [Then the dark-skinned witch.] Gavin. And I'm—"

"Bria!" Gus and Luz looked and saw Mattholomule panting, running over to them "I would've helped too, but like, there was this other baby in danger. You probably couldn't see"

"Mattholomule?" Gus questioned,

"You know him Gus?" Luz asked

"Yeah, he goes to our school *whispers* kinda the school loser"

"Augustus? Back off, twerp! This operation is Glandus kids only"

"Hey, Matty, it's all cool. Did you get the map?" Bria asked

"Yes! It was in a pile of my brother's belongings that were sent over from the emperor's coven"

"Nice work!"

"Well, uh, we can see you guys are busy, so—" Gus started before Bria cut him off

"Wait. Have you ever heard of the Galdorstones?"

"They're powerful relics. Many witches and demons have sought them" Gavin said

"But they've all returned empty-handed, haunted by its guardian. Until us!" Angmar said

"We heard some coven scouts talking about them, but it'll be rough going. You said you are a Hexside student, right? We could use the extra strength" Bria finished

"That sounds awesome, we'd be happy to join you" Luz said happily

"but don't you want to find out what's in that creeps journal?" Gus asked

"I've got it now, I can wait until later"

"Well, he can't. Gus is just an illusionist. And the Cyclops there is actually a hu-"

Mattholomule was cut off as a gag appeared over his mouth, courtesy of Gus "I dare you to finish that sentence out loud" The gag then disappeared and Mattholomule kept his mouth shut.

"Hold up, was that an illusion just now?" Bria asked

"yep, I can make my illusions real for 10 seconds, which is how I knocked out that slitherbeast" Gus explained, rather proudly, this amazed the Glandus kids.

"Yep, Gus here is a regular super witch" Luz said while putting an arm around Gus's shoulders, though due to her invisible bulk, it looked like they were trying not to touch each other

"Alright. So where do we find these Galdorstones?" Gus asked

"We're journeying to the Looking Glass Ruins in the Forearm Forest!" Bria stated

"didn't we go there in the past" Luz questioned

"yeah, it looked a lot like Ribcage Isle, only made of wood"

"then let's go, I'm sure we're not wanted there anymore," Luz said, making the others give them questioning looks.

After a long trek to the forest, it took much longer due to them having to stop multiple times for Luz, who at this point had revealed her true appearance to the Glandus kids. They finally reached the edge of the forest. During the trek, everyone had been offering food to Luz, who due to her kind nature and her now much larger appetite, had been accepting and eating their food almost non-stop "Wow Luz, you are really out of shape" Mattholomule stated with the Glandus kids agreeing, Luz was about to retort when Gus spoke up

"well to be fair, let's see how in shape you would be at 700lbs" he said "Actually it's more like 770lbs now" Luz added before she used a water glyph to make a large blob of water in her hand which she drank in seconds. Once she was done they continued on their way.

Bria was now cutting her way through the forest with her sword while the others followed behind her "This will be a breeze once we get the Galdorstones" she said

"hey Bria, why don't I do something that will make this easier," Gus said

"sure Gus, go ahead," Bria said and moved aside. Gus then conjured up something that looked like a bazooka, which was now resting on his shoulder, he then pulled the trigger and a powerful burst of air came out that tore through a large section of the forest, with the air slicing and cutting everything in its path, turning it into mulch. Everyone was now slackjawed at what Gus had just done.

Luz was the first to break the silence "whoo Gus! You da man!" and the two high-fived

"whoa, I thought illusion magic was the worst type of magic, guess I was wrong," Gavin said with his friends agreeing.

As the group continued through the newly made path, Luz decided to ask the main question on her mind "So what can the Galdorstones actually do?"

"If you're holding one, every spell you cast gets a big power boost!" Mattholomule stated

"I can grow an entire forest, and make my own butterfly sanctuary!" Angmar stated

"I can create the biggest Abomination ever! [Bitterly.] I bet Dad will pay attention to that" Gavin said

"Whoa," both Gus and Luz said I union

"imaging the kind of things that Amity and Willow could do with them" Luz stated

"Knowing those two, Amity could turn into a literal titan, and Willow could cover the entire titan in a forest" Gus stated

"Maybe it would be beneficial for us to take a few, you know, for the future" Gus nodded in agreement

"Well Gus, we've come to our first challenge," Bria said as they now stood before a mass of thick brambles.

"Show us what else you got, super witch" Mattholomule taunted

"Actually, Luz, why don't you show them what a human can do" Gus suggested

"Gladly," Luz said as she stepped forward, wiping her hand across all of her glyphs she then stuck it out in front of her and a huge beam of magic shot out, tearing through anything in its path. When she was done she grinned and they continued walking through the newly made path. After a bit more walking they came to a big open area that was once the city, only now it had almost been completely taken back by nature

"wow, I wonder what happened here?" Gus pondered

"yeah, I mean you remember how advanced it was at the time, by all accounts, it should be much more advanced than what Ribcage Isle currently is"

"Maybe there was a disaster of some kind"

"most likely"

"Have you two been here before?" Bria asked

"yeah, it's a long story" Gus stated as they walked through the eerily silent city. Thankfully they made it to the other side of the city without any issues, well that was until the ground gave way under Luz and she fell down into a cavern which caused the rest of the ground under Gus, Mattholomule, and the Glandus kids to crumble away causing them to fall in as well.

When Luz came too, she found that she was boiling hot and in complete darkness. Making a super light glyph she fully lit up the area to find that she was now in a huge cavern that had a large pool of boiling water in the center. Looking down she yelped in fright as she saw that she was now sitting on the skull of a colossal skeleton, looking around she saw the others were all caught on various parts of the skeleton. Using a floating spell and her Instant Transmission spell, she gathered up everyone and brought them back up to the surface, unfortunately, they were all still unconscious from their fall, with some of them having cuts on their heads. While her healing goop spell could heal external wounds, it was possible that they all might have suffered more internal damage than she had, due to their lack of 'padding'. With a quick use of her Instant Transmission spell, she retrieved the Golden Healing Hat, and used it on everyone, waking them up in the process.

"What happened?" Bria asked as she was the last to be healed "And why do I feel fantastic?" Luz then explained what had happened "Whoa, I take it that that hat is an improved version of the Healing Hat relic?"

"Sure is, this baby can even resurrect the dead"

"…wanna try it on that skeleton" Gavin suggested.

Luz thought about this 'maybe that giant got trapped in there and was boiled alive by the heat "Sure" Luz said before activating an anti-gravity spell and walking back over to the hole

"Luz are you sure that's a good idea, what if that giant was down there for a reason"

"I'm sure we can handle ourselves against one giant, besides, you could just make an army of them with your illusion magic"

"that's true…okay then, do it" Luz then continued on her way to the hole and jumped in there was a pause before a bright beam of light burst out of the hole and lit up the whole area.

When the light faded, they heard a loud voice that made Gus perk up as it sounded familiar to him "What the Titan! I'm alive?! Bu-criminy it's hot in here, *gasp* a way out!" a giant arm came out of the hole followed by another before a massive girl pulled herself out and flopped onto the ground with a thunderous boom "oh that is so much better" she said with relief

"Marina!" a familiar voice said the girl turned and her face lit up

"Oh my Titan, Gus!" she said as she sat up with Luz falling out of her hair and landing on her lap "Luz! Wow you got even fatter since I last saw you"

"Marina! Wha…what were you doing in there?!" Luz asked, shocked that the young mermaid that they had saved in the past was now right in front of her

"Well when the sea started to boil I tried to flee it, but because it started from the top down I couldn't escape onto land, so I found an underwater cave and followed it till I entered that cavern, I tried digging my way out from there but the ceiling was too hard for me to dig through and I just cooked alive in there, I take it the sea is still boiling?"

"yep, and it has been for over 300 years" Gus stated

"300 YEARS!" They nearly fell over as the ground shook "I've been dead for 300 years!" Luz and Gus nodded before Luz explained to her how she was alive again "...Well no big loss, I was probably the only merperson left at the time anyway. Thank you for bringing me back to life again"

"ah don't mention it," Luz said while waving her off "Your taking this pretty well."

"Externally. Internally...ehhhh."

"So, Marina, how long has it been since you last saw us?" Gus asked

"About a year roughly, as you can see, I've grown a bit since we last saw each other" and it was true, in just a year she had grown an extra 12 feet bigger, making her now slightly taller than the bell tower of Hexside, with her peak height still not close to being reached yet.

"I've also got to ask, what happened to your tail?" Luz stated, gesturing to her legs

"well when merpeople hit puberty their tails split and turn into legs when we're on land, all giants are actually just merpeople on land" She then spotted Mattholomule and the Glandus kids "Who are your friends?" she asked, Luz then introduced them all as well as explained what they were even doing out her in the first place "oooh can I join you?" she asked

"Sure, we could probably use a giant to help us on this journey," Bria said, Marina then picked up everyone and placed them on her shoulders and head before heading in the direction that Bria wanted them to go in.

"So how many kids at Glandus are going to believe that we've rid a mermaid" Angmar asked Bria

"absolutely none" Bria replied

"you know, this is the first time I've ever been up on land before, it's amazing up here, it's like I'm going through a still kelp forest," Marina said

"Well I must say, for being your first time, you're certainly walking very well," Gus said

"Thanks, handsome," she said making Gus blush and Luz gave a cheeky grin.

"Careful. Good chance if she kisses you she'd take off your face." Guz just blushed deeper.

Luz turned to Gavin while accepting a doughnut from him "So Gavin, how exactly do you know Mattholomule?"

"he used to go to Glandus with us, but he couldn't handle it there"

"what do you mean?"

Bria then explained "Things work differently at Glandus. Weak students are pushed around by the strong. But if I had a Galdorstone, I might be able to change things for the better"

"I hope you can, it's wrong to push people around just because they're weak or not as talented as the rest"

"Hey, are those the ruins?" Marina asked

"looks like it, speed up big girl" Bria ordered and Marina picked up the pace.

When she arrived, she placed everyone down "Okay, Marina, you're on lookout duty," Bria said, with the mermaid nodding in agreement

"I can't believe we found it," Mattholomule said as he and the others looked around. Spotting something glittering Bria gasped before she used her magic to get to it, removing some foliage she beamed as she saw that it was a Galdorstone. As she removed it, she also ended up cracking the statue in the process

"Oh. Whoops. Well, we did it, everyone. The power of the Galdorstones is ours!" she then used her construction magic to make a pillar of stone that extended a mile above the forest, she then squealed "I can't believe it. The legends were true! Woo-hoo!"

As Bria, Gavin, and Mattholomule went around stealing the Galdorstones, Gus moved aside the plants covering the bases of the statues. "Huh. "The Phantom Bringer." "Aleth the Vision Creator"? "Khari the Mirage Maker." But these titles are for— [Gasps.] Oh no. Stop! These aren't ruins. This is an illusionist graveyard" Luz tensed up at hearing that while Mattholomule dropped the Galdorstone he was holding

"Ew!"

"Aw, Gus, you're saying that as if it's a bad thing," Bria said

"What? Of course, it is. These stones were theirs. We shouldn't take them"

"yeah I agree, sorry but desecration isn't my thing" Luz stated with Mattholomule agreeing

"Well, it's not like there's anyone here to stop us. Come on, Gus. Don't you wanna power up those cool illusions of yours? you could make them last 10 times longer"

"No. This isn't right. I won't let you steal these" Gus stated with Luz standing by his side ready to fight

"I don't think you know what you're saying, Gus" Bria said with her eyes narrowing.

Suddenly smoke began to flood the whole graveyard "It's real! The guardian is real! And it's coming this way!" Angmar shouted, "I heard it has the power to control the weather!"

"And summon ghosts" Gavin added before a twister appeared which dissipated to reveal a huge creature. While the Glandus kids hid behind statues, Luz and Gus got ready for a fight, before they could do anything however a giant hand came down on the creature, making it disappear. They looked and saw that Marina had entered the graveyard

"uh what just happened to it," Marina asked

"It was just an illusion?!" Gus exclaimed before an old man that...looked like every old man you'd expect to see in a fantasy story ever, appeared

"Oh-ho! I am the keeper of the Looking Glass Graveyard, and it has been a very long time since I've had visitors!"

"Nice to meet you, I'm Gus, this is Luz, and the one who just destroyed your illusion is Marina"

"a pleasure to meet you all, so what brings you here?"

"well actually-"

"So, the big bad guardian is just another useless illusionist. Hehehe, today just keeps getting better" Gavin and Angmar then used their magic to trap Gus, Luz, and the Keeper in vines and abomination goop. The next thing the Glandus kids knew they were being held in the tight grip of Marina who was glaring daggers at them

"no one hurts my saviors" and she wound one arm before she threw Bria with all of her might, making the girl disappear over the horizon. She then proceeded to do the same to Gavin and Angmar only she threw them both in different directions.

"...That, however, was very real." The keeper said before they heard sawing, looking they saw that Mattholomule was using a stone saw to free them. After a few seconds, they were free

"thanks, Mattholomule" Gus said

"I figured that freeing you would be the only way to not get thrown to who knows where" Mattholomule stated

"do you want me to get rid of him too?" Marina asked

"no, no, it's fine Marina"

"so now that the riffraff has been taken care of, what brings you here?" Gus then explained what their original purpose was for coming there in the first place

"ha-ho and to think that one of my new visitors to come here would be another illusionist! Hehehehehe, though I don't remember them being so small" Gus gives him a face "Don't give me that face, an illusionist has always kept watch over the Galdorstones, We gain no powers from them, so we're the least likely to use them for evil...probably" the keeper stated

"Probably?"

"Well there was that one witch who hit people in the head with them."

"well I know 2 people who would never use these for evil" Luz said

"oh really, and who might they be?" the Keeper asked

"our friends Willow and Amity"

"Luz, they're both overpowered as it is, heck Willow was probably the strongest plant user even before she got those gloves"

"hmm yeah you've got a point"

the keeper looked at the Galdorstones scattered around and the damaged statues Gus saw what the keeper was looking at "I'm sorry about what those Glandus jerks did, I wish I could repair all the damage they did"

"Yus! I was waiting for someone to say something like that." touching a glyph combo on her side she then thrust her hand out and a beam of magic shot out and stuck one of the statues, resulting in a bright flash of light. When everyone could see, they saw that the statue looked as good as new she did it to every statue, both fully repairing them and making them stronger than they were before.

"You were waiting until someone said something ironic before using that?" Gus asked.

"Yep!"

"Wha if nobody said anything?"

"I would have still done it. It just wouldn't have been as dramatic." She then used her plant glyph to make vines that grabbed the fallen Galdorstones and put them back in their proper places, unfortunately, one of the Galdorstones had broken in half when it had slipped out of Gavin's hand "Sorry, looks like those jerks broke one"

"eh no biggie, they still work just the same, why don't you take this one and give it to those friends you mentioned" the Keeper said,

"Are you sure?"

"positive, besides, you just saved me a lot of hard work, think of it at a reward"

"thank you," Luz said with a bow of her head, "But, what will you do without stones to guard?"

The old man chuckled "What any self-respecting senior who spent decades performing a thankless job would do. Retire. Take up golf. Garden and complain my ungrateful children never visit."

Luz laughed. "Thank you."

"you 4 are welcome back anytime," he said before he left. Marina then picked everyone up and left the Looking Glass Graveyard with Luz giving one more quick blast to the entrance, making it look as good as new.

After a long walk, they reached Bonesborough where Marina placed the 3 teens down "Okay Marina, you stay here and I'll go get someone who can help you with this size issue" Luz said and she teleported away

"I'm gonna head home and make sure it's okay for you to stay with me and my dad" and with that Gus ran off.

Marina then turned to Mattholomule "I'm just going to go home, lie on my bed, and question whether everything that happened today was real" he said while Marina decided to just observe the town, due to her being taller than any building in Bonesborough.

About half an hour later Luz returned with Eda "We're ba-whoa" Marina was now sitting on the ground with animal control and many emperor guards scattered around her, all of them unconscious.

"They tried to capture me and take me to the emperor, but you can clearly see how that worked out for them"

"nice work kid, here drink this, it should knock you down to a good height," Eda said as she held out a potion bottle to the mermaid, who took it and put the tiny drop in her mouth, there was a pause before Marina began to glow yellow as she started to shrink. When she finally stopped she was now only 8 feet tall "Sorry kid but that's as small as you'll get" Eda stated

"So is this permanent?" Marina asked

"yeah, until you take the antidote"

"meh, good enough" She then picked up a guard and found that he felt just as light as those kids she threw were "nice, I still have my super strength" and she threw him away in the same fashion as she had with the Glandus kids. Eda and Luz gave each other cheeky looks and nodded in unison.

After throwing all of the guards away, Gus returned to see Marina throw away the last one, Luz teleported them all to Gus' house "You know Luz, I think you would be fine to walk around without your disguise ring, with the amount of emperors guards you and the mermaid have gotten rid of I don't think that there are many left, well at least not too much that you can't handle" Eda said

"you're probably right," Luz said and she removed her disguise ring revealing her true self again "Then would you like me to move the Owl House back to the Boiling Isles?"

"Nah, to be honest, I actually prefer it there, there's a lot more to do there than here"

"fair enough"

"So Gus, is your dad okay with me staying with you?"

"Sure, he doesn't mind at all, come on I'll show you around Bonesborough" Gus said before she grabbed him and placed him on her shoulders "Let go!" and she raced off into town.

"Well, that just happened. Come on kid, let's go home"

"sure" Luz said she then grabbed Eda's hand and disappeared.

Chapter 18: The CATs

Chapter Text

Hunter had been thinking about all of the information Willow had told him while he was essentially bed-bound thanks to his broken leg. She didn't seem like she was lying, but yet if what she said was true, then everything he had been taught and believed in was a lie. He also remembered that she said he looked like a human she had met in the past. During his time stuck in bed, he had also bonded with his Palismen to the point where he could understand him. Through Flapjack, Hunter learned that his original maker had been a human named Caleb, which matched Willow's story, Caleb had been killed by his brother and was revived with a gold hat that Willow and her friends had, he then went on to live for another 90 years before passing on, which after that point he left to be by himself where he eventually found the Bat Queen. "I need to find her and get more answers," he said, climbing out of bed, he grabbed his crutch and hopped on his staff before he left through the window.

After flying around Bonesborough for about an hour trying to locate Willow, he finally found her hanging out with the group he had seen at the emperor's castle. Landing behind them and hiding behind a tree, he began to eavesdrop on them "You found a way to get home!?" Gus exclaimed

"yep, it was in that creep's journal, I even have a lab in East City starting to try and make it for me using more modern equipment, they're also going to make it bigger than the original so that all of this can get through," she said gesturing to her weight.

"So Gus, how are things with Marina?" Amity asked

"Great actually, though we had to buy a bigger bathtub for her to sleep in"

"she sleeps in a bathtub?" Willow questioned

"yeah, she's still a mermaid remember? Even though she can walk on land and sleep in beds, she's more comfortable in water"

"Will she be attending Hexside?"

"yeah she will"

"Can she do magic?" Luz asked

"not traditional magic, but she can manipulate water and even make rain clouds that actually rain cold water"

"That's really cool…so when's the wedding?" Luz teased, Gus fell out of his seat at that while going bright red in the face

"LUZ! It's not like that!"

"yet" Amity then turned her head to look behind them.

"You to Amity?"

"And everybody else who knows." She said, totally not feeding on the despair of the illusionary witch.

"what's up Amity?"

"I'm getting the urge to feed someone over there," she said with Gus and Willow starting to get the feeling as well. The witches then got up to see who it was only for Hunter to reveal himself

"oh hey Hunter, how's the arm and leg?" Willow said casually

"arms healed, but the leg will take about another day to be fully healed"

"wait, that's Hunter? the golden guard" Amity questioned,

"yep, so why are you here?"

"I've actually come because I need to know more information on what you told me. Everything you said has been driving me crazy, where exactly did you get your source for all of that"

"We got it out of an Infinite History Book"

"What? I thought that they were all destroyed hundreds of years ago?" Hunter questioned

"We got it during our trip to the past"

"May I see it?"

Gus looked at Willow who nodded "Good thing my house is just over there, is back in a minute" and he jogged off

"Here eat this before I go crazy," Amity said as she held out a large cupcake to him

"no thinks I-hmmpff" Amity shoved it into his mouth and used her magic to force it down his throat "What the heck is with everyone lately?! Nearly everyone I've seen offers me food or force feeds me it if I don't accept it" he exclaimed making Luz get to her feet and make her way over to him.

She looked him over thoroughly, making Hunter feel uncomfortable "Are you half-human?" she finally asked

"no I…I don't know, I can't remember my parents, they died from wild magic when I was really young" The three friends looked at each other, all thinking the same thing.

Soon Gus returned with the Infinite History Book "Just ask it any question and open it up" he explained as he handed it to Hunter.

Opening it up he saw that all the pages were blank, closing it he decided to ask a random question "What did I have for breakfast this morning" Opening it up again he saw words that said '2 dragon eggs, sunny side up, one piece of toast, and 3 strips of toad belly, equalling to half a pound of food…' and it just went on and on while being extremely specific on everything about the meal, including how old the toad was when it was killed "wow, that is annoyingly specific" he said before closing it "…has everything Willow told me about Belos true?" he then opened it up and saw new writing that read 'yes, while what the witch know as Willow Park told you were abridged details, all information relayed to you by her is 100% factual'

Hunter was silent as he reread the message over and over, but it didn't change. He then closed it "Did Belos lie about what happened to my parents?" and he opened it up, the 4 friends watched as Hunter went wide-eyed and started to shake as he kept reading the book finally fell out of his hands and he fell back, whatever he had read had freaked him out immensely. Hopping on his staff, he flew away as fast as he could.

Seeing that the book hadn't closed Gus picked it up and read it, with the others following suit, what they read shocked and disturbed them greatly "he dug up Caleb's corpse?! How messed up do you have to be to do something like that?!" Luz exclaimed

"that would also explain why he looks similar to Caleb and the fact that Flapjack chose to be his Palismen" Willow stated before sighing "Maybe I shouldn't have told him"

"well he was probably going to find out anyway, best he find out early before it's too late" Luz assured "Maybe you're right"

After a while, Hunter had calmed down, though he was still shaken up from what he had read about himself "I'm a grimwalker" he muttered to himself as Flapjack nuzzled the side of his face in an attempt to comfort his new partner. He had taken refuge in the tower that had been behind the Owl House, which had been the only thing that remained after Luz teleported everything else away "A clone of his brother" he muttered still "Those books were never meant to lie, only to reveal the truth…maybe that's why Belos ordered them to be destroyed, so no one would find out the truth about him" He didn't know what to do at the moment, his mind was too scrambled to even think clearly. He thought about going back to the castle but chose against it, he then remembered what Willow had said about them going to the past through a time pool "Maybe if I go to the past, I can find out if all of this is true"

The next day

Luz and her friends had finished school for the day and were planning on going to the Owl House to watch some PB, the three witches had become addicted to it, especially because the content could only be viewed on Ribcage Isle PB. As Luz was about to teleport them away, they were confronted by Hunter "Hey Hunter, you okay now?" Willow asked

"Kinda…you mentioned that you went to the past through a time pool, right?" Willow nodded "Then how did you get back?"

"through a time spell," Luz answered

"Can the time spell take you anywhere in time or only forward?"

"anywhere. And really it's more of an any'when'."

"then could you let me use it so that I can confirm what I read?" the 4 friends looked at each other unsure

"we read what was in the book," Willow said

"Are you sure you want to see it?" Gus added

"Yes, I need this otherwise it's going to drive me insane"

"I'll take you," Luz said as she stepped forward before looking at her friends "Sorry guys, PB is cancelled for tonight, tomorrow for sure" She then grabbed Hunter and teleported away.

"I hope they don't do anything to change the future" Willow stated

"pfft like we can talk," Amity said

"yeah, we took down a whole monarchy" Gus added,

"that's true," Willow said while tapping her chin

"oh Gussy" they heard a voice say before two large arms wrapped around him and lifted him up

"hey Marina, how was your day?" Gus asked, feeling rather awkward

"it was boring waiting for you to finish school"

"whoa are you a giant or something?" they all turned and saw Lotis, along with her friends Eileen, and Amelia

"no, I'm a mermaid, and before you ask, our tails turn into legs when we go up on land"

"I thought merfolk were extinct?"

"they sadly are, we were hunted to the brink of extinction for our scales, and then when the sea boiled, that was the final nail in the coffin, I was actually revived a week ago"

"that's so cool, wanna join us, we were going to go to my place to practice our mixed magic"

"sure sounds great" She then looked down at Gus "Is it okay with you if I go hang with them?"

"Sure, have fun"

"awesome" She then kissed him on top of the head before placing him down and walking off with her new friends.

Gus turned and saw both Amity and Willow giving him 'Luz looks' "girls. Don't" "What? I didn't say anything, did you, Willow?" "nope, not a peep" The two girls then giggled while Gus gave an annoyed murmur.

With PB now off the agenda, the 3 witches decided to go and walk around town. When they reached the marketplace, they saw the Emperor's guards confiscating Palismen from people. "Why are they taking Palismen?" Amity asked a sad witch

"Emperor Belos says that the titan is angry that we're using wild magic in the form of Palismen's, so he's having them confiscated and disposed of to appease the titan," he said before continuing on his way. This lit a fire in the three witches

"Should we show these losers what Palismen can do?" Willow asked

"oh yeah," Gus and Amity said in union, and the three of them rushed in. A guard had just confiscated another Palismen when he was blasted by a beam of purple magic. When it ended he found himself now stuck to a wall in a huge blob of abomination goop. Willow concentrated her magic into her staff and banged the butt of the staff on the ground causing roots to tunnel under the ground before bursting out, grabbing the sacks of Palismen and pulling them underground and back to her. This commotion alerted all guards and they all quickly arrived where the 3 witches were. Amity then swung her staff back and forth releasing a wave of magic each time knocking them down Gus then ended it by making a massive spell circle causing mini anvils to rain down on the guards, both injuring and knocking them out.

Emptying the sacks of Palismen on the ground, they all activated "Go off back to your partners and tell them that everything they were just told was a lie" Willow said before they all scurried off. The three witches then gave a group high-five

"bravo young witchling" They turned and saw 4 people wearing bat masks while holding instruments

"And you are?" Amity asked

"If you wish to know, then follow us," the head of them said and they ran off, the three witches looked at each other and then began following them. They weaved in and out between buildings until they were outside of Bonesborough before they finally stopped "We should be safe now to talk openly"

"I'm pretty sure we just took down every guard in Bonesborough" Gus stated

"believe it or not, Emperor Belos has guards dressed and acting as average citizens to spy on everyone and inform guards of anything that goes against the coven system or the empire" the head of the group stated

"so who are you 4?"

"We are a rebel group with our job being to protest against the Emperor's rule to the public. We are the Bards Against the Throne", aka the "BATs"

"aka a long-time friend, Raine Whispers" They all looked up and saw Eda standing on top of a wall before she jumped down and landed between the two groups

"Eda? What are you doing here?" Willow asked

"Well Luz brought me here before she went on her little journey through time with the Golden Guard, I heard a commotion and arrived to see the aftermath of your little fight, I then saw you follow these guys and decided to follow as well. *turns to Raine* It's been a long time Raine, how's my favorite bard magic user been?" she said before wrapping an arm around their waist and pulling them closer

"Eda, you're embarrassing me in front of my crew!" they said, removing their mask to reveal their face and the fact that they were blushing

"Hey, you're the new head of the Bard Coven, my dad did an interview of you yesterday"

"ugh don't remind me"

"still got stage fright I take it?" Eda asked, making Raine's blushing intensify before sighing

"It's all right, everyone. The Owl Lady is an old friend"

"I actually go by the title Razor Claw, now that I'm curse-free"

"so you managed to finally get rid of it?!"

"yep, thanks to Luz and her friends. Now I'm more powerful than I've ever been"

"I heard that you and the human Luz were currently staying at a place called Ribcage Isle"

"yeah, ever been there?"

"no, I hadn't even heard of it until recently"

"well if I'm being honest, I prefer there to here"

"Because you have unlimited spending privileges" Amity quipped

"no…well yes, but it is also a safe place, safer than the Boiling Isles that's for sure, as well as letting its citizens use any type of magic they want"

"so are they going to be joining our group" Derwin asked,

Amber looked away "She doesn't seem like a good fit to me," she said skeptically

"Actually, she's the one that inspired me to make the group" Raine stated

"say wha?" Eda questioned

"It was a while ago"

One flashback later

"I thought you were just joking around. I only learned what it meant when I started teaching for the Bard Coven. The emperor prioritized recruitment through force. And anyone who refused to fall in line disappeared. Well, I wasn't going to stand for that! So I took matters into my own hands. I carefully moved up the ranks, and I found people who wanted to change things, like me. And that's when we formed the Bards Against the Throne"

"so how does this involve us?" Amity asked

"We saw what you're capable of, we could really use the help"

"If we're being honest, we were just using our Palismen to show them what we're capable of, if we had been using our true magic along with our power-ups, there would probably have been nothing left of them" Willow stated

"Really?...so will you help us?"

"if it means taking down the Emperor's coven we're all in," Gus said

"fantastic, then follow us" and the 4 witches began following the BAT's.

When they reached the BAT's hideout, Eda reached into her hair and pulled out several maps of Bonesborough and laid them out on a table "These maps have every nook and cranny in the city mapped out" Eda stated

"Okay. Here's the situation. Emperor Belos wants every wild witch in a coven before the Day of Unity." Raine explained

"He's trying to steal as much magic as possible. We don't know why" Derwin added

"Right now, we're just focused on helping those he's captured. And the next raids take place here, here and here" Raine said while pointing to different spots on the map before Eda marked them

"At the same time? What do we do?" Katya asked

"hmm how about this, Raine and I will take this one, Katya, Amber, Derwin, and Goop's will hit this one, and Amity and Willow will hit this one" Eda suggested

"I'm fine with that, but how should we go about it?" Willow asked

"Try and be as stealthy as possible and try not to make too much of a commotion, the fewer guards around the better"

"We can be stealthy, right guys?" Gus said with Amity and Willow giving wavy hands.

Later that night

Eda and Raine arrived at their location and saw a wagon waiting, knowing that they had some time, Raine decided to ask her a question "So Eda, what's it like having kids?"

"well technically they're not my kids, but…if I'm being honest, they've made me happier than I have been in years. Luz…titan, there's just no proper way to describe her, it was just me King, and Hooty, and don't get me wrong it wasn't so bad, but there's just something about her that changed everything, she's kind, accepting, helpful…and way too forgiving. She also gets in way over her head and more often than not gets into trouble that I have to bail her out of. But I also have to accept the fact that once those scientists are able to make a portal door, she'll leave back to her real mum" he saw a tear roll down her cheek as she gave a sad sigh, Raine was about to comfort her when they saw witches and demons being led by coven guards, begging to not be taken to join a coven.

The three teams had perfectly synced watches and were waiting to strike as soon as it reached the agreed-upon time, they moved in "Okay Raine, you take the ones on the left I'll take the ones on the right". The sound of fighting cut through the still air, catching the attention of all of the guards, Raine then used their bard magic to put the guards to sleep while Eda zapped the rest with sleeping spells. Freeing the captives the two safely lead them out of the city where Belos had less power.

With Gus

He, along with Derwin, Amber, and Katya, had found their target and got ready to strike, as soon as it hit the agreed-upon time, Gus made a giant stretched-out rubberband appear around the heads of two coven scouts banging their heads together and knocking them out, Amber then blew a tuba which sent multiple different colored musical notes out that slammed unto a guard, Katya strummed her lute sending out soundwaves that sent guards flying into walls, and Derwin took out the last 2 by playing several notes on his fiddle, putting them to sleep.

As they were about to start helping the wild witches escape, a Coven Guard, bigger than any of the others, appeared behind Gus and grabbed him "You four are in more trouble than you can imagine. Attacking Coven officials and trying to free criminals, are a serious crimes, luck for you lot, I'll just end you here and now before Belos does" he then felt a large hand rest on his shoulder, turning his head, he saw what could only be described as a giant teenager "wha-" *wham!* the guard was sent flying through a wall, courtesy of Marina's punch

"Marina?! What are you doing here?!" Gus exclaimed

"I saw that you weren't in your room so I got worried and I went looking for you"

"Thanks, I appreciate it" Marina blushed at this, the others who were with Gus as well as the 'wild witches' were all wide-eyed and slackjawed as they saw the hole in the wall

"she literally punched him through a wall"

"I think this girl will make our work a lot easier," Katya said before they all focused on the task at hand.

With Willow and Amity

The two witches watched from the shadows as emperor coven guards and scouts forced 'wild witches' into the wagon. Seeing how violent they were being with their captives to keep them in line was enraging the two, they watched as a guard backhanded a woman across the face, knocking her to the ground, where she then protectively held her large stomach "Please stop, I'm with child"

"ha, like I haven't heard that one before" he then made a spell circle before he froze turning he then charged at 2 scouts and took them out with one punch each. He then aimed his hand out with a glowing ring appearing around his wrist before a huge blast of fire came out, taking out 3 shocked guards. He then finished by running head-first into a wall and falling to the ground unconscious.

"Uhhh" a stumped Willow and Amity said in union before they watched Lotis come out of his back and dust her hands off

"Another night's work done," she said before she freed the captives and helped the downed woman up "Head straight that way, you'll soon come to the wall of the city where you'll find a hole in the wall go through that and follow this map" she instructed, the group nodded and left, Amity and Willow then made themselves known

"Lotis? What are you doing out here?" Amity asked

"oh I don't need to sleep, so I go out and patrol the city and stop these things from happening, sadly I can't be everywhere at once so people still get taken away. What are you two doing out here?"

"We were actually about to stop these guys as well before you jumped in"

"so are you part of that bard group who's helping people escape?"

"yeah, do you want to join it?"

"eh, why not, but first" She then flew over to the 2 rat-worm's at the front of the wagon, her hands sunk into each of their heads and they left.

"Where are you sending them?"

"to a spot outside the city where they'll dump the cart and then leave to do whatever it is that rat-worms do"

"Have you been doing that for a while?" Willow asked

"Yeah. I probably have like 30 wagons out there now"

"…why?" they asked in union

"Why does anyone do anything? Sheer. Absolute. boredom…plus my dad is a wagon builder and the Emperor's coven, as much as I don't like them, pay big for wagons…hey do you guys need some for these missions of yours?"

"sneaking people away in wagons would be an easier way to get people out of the city" Willow stated

"or they'll need ways to transport supplies without having an inspection done on them" Amity added before looking at Lotis "Come with us" Lotis nodded and they headed to the rendezvous point.

Amity, Willow, and Lotis met up with Eda and Raine outside of the city "I take it the mission was successful?" Raine asked

"yep, though Lotis here was the one who did all the work" Amity stated

"I've been watching your activities for a while now, nice to finally meet you in person," Lotis said and she stuck her hand out to Raine who shook it, surprised that his hand didn't go through her

"You're a ghost?" Raine questioned

"ghost/witch hybrid, you and I have the same goals, were both freeing people from becoming part of a system that restricts their full potential"

"so you're the other one who's been taking out members of the Emperor's coven"

"yes indeed, and I wish to join you"

"Are you sure? This is very dangerous work"

"I've taken out so many guards in the past 2 months that I've lost count"

"fair enough, welcome to the Bards Against the Throne" Gus and his team soon joined them with Raine being shocked to actually be seeing a mermaid for the first time, Marina had made a small cloud rain over her, revealing her true form to them. Once she dried up, they all headed back to their secret base.

By the time they got back, it was almost dawn, and most of the teens were exhausted "I can't believe it's already morning" Eda said with a groan

"I'm not tired yet," Amber said, but her sleepy tone said otherwise

"Amber, lie down" Katya ordered to which the young witch promptly collapsed on a beanbag

"We did it! Gus, you're amazing! How did you do that thing with the rubber band" Derwin asked

"*yawn* I can make my illusions real for 10 seconds" This piqued Raine's curiosity

"An illusionist that can make his illusions real? How is that possible?"

"with this" Gus said, showing his special charm to Raine, Raine looked at the charm, it was old, very old

"where did you get this?"

"a vampire gave it to me when my friends and I were stuck in the past, it's amazing what can be lost to time"

"Indeed, make sure that charm doesn't fall into the wrong hands. If someone like that pompous asshole Adrian got a hold of it, no one would hear the end of it" Raine said

"heh not on good terms with him huh?" Eda questioned

"he's insufferable! *deep breath* but let's not worry about him, we should all be proud of what we've accomplished"

"yeah, we actually helped people this time" Katya stated as Raine lay down on their pillow on the floor.

"Rainestorm" Eda said making Raine chuckle

"Haven't heard that in a minute"

"Oh, you've gotten so strong since we last saw each other. It's incredible. [She chuckles.] But how'd you become Head Bard with your stage fright?"

"I'm just that good. What about you? Do you still know any Bard spells?"

"I haven't picked up an instrument in years" Raine then summoned a lute for Eda.

Eda caught the lute and looked at Raine "How'd you become the Owl Lady with your stage fright?"

"Well, the curse did help emphasize the owl part *sigh* All right. You asked for this" Eda started playing enchanting music and as she played, objects began to rise up the young witches looked in awe though this all came to a screeching halt as a panicking Luz, a freaked out Hunter and…a second golden guard appeared. Before a word could escape Eda's mouth Luz threw her arms around her mother figure and held her tight, Eda held as much of the big girl as she could and rubbed her back in an attempt to calm her down. Raine was immediately on their feet and ready to attack the golden guards, or at least the tall one with wild hair.

"Whoa there, pull in those reins, I'm not here to cause harm," the tall golden Guard said

"Who are you?" Raine asked

"My name is Chaser, I'm…or rather was, Belos' assistant, also known as the Golden Guard"

"Chaser? I don't recall a Golden Guard by that name"

"Allow me," Lotis said and she stuck her hand into Chaser's head

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"hmm he helped Belos spread the misinformation about wild magic, the coven system, talking to the titan, taking Palismen to give them to Belos…whoa heh you should consider yourself very lucky you didn't join the other Golden Guards…oh and he's from like 200 years in the past" Lotis then removed her hand from Chaser's head before moving in front of him and sticking out her hand "Lotis, witch/ghost hybrid of the boiling Isles, pleasure to meet you" Chaser just shook her hand.

Once Luz had calmed down enough she began to speak

Flashback

(the events that Luz and Hunter experienced were similar to the ones they had in Belos' mind)

After skipping forward in time and quick teleportation, Luz and Hunter, the former who was barely holding it together at this point after all of the atrocities she had witnessed Belos commit, and the latter who now had all of the information he learned confirmed, was now at the edge of a burning city. They watched as Belos and another Golden Guard helped guide most of the townspeople out. Being as stealthy as they could, they followed the group "Hunter, are you convinced that everything you learned is true"

"y-yeah," he said quietly

"I'm sure Eda would be more than happy to let you stay with us, you're technically part of her family" Hunter shivered as he remembered watching Belos exhume Caleb's body, Luz had wanted to stop him, but Hunter pointed out that if she did, he might not exist.

The two hid behind a rock as they watched Belos address the crowd "Look at what wild magic has done to your city. Now imagine what it's doing to you. A city can rise from the ashes, but a soul..." he then shook his head slowly. The crowd became uneasy and murmured among themselves. "I can make your magic pure again, as the Titan intended!" the two then watched as a previous Golden Guard, most likely a different one from the last one they saw with Belos, appeared next to Belos, a yellow glow emitting from his finger. The crowd extends their arms outwards, and the previous guard uses his finger to brand a coven sigil onto each of them, representing all nine covens. "welcome, to your new covens!"

A horned witch looked down at the sigil branded onto her wrist. Suddenly, lines started to come out of it, spreading throughout her entire body as she gasped in pain and panic before her eyes started to glow. Luz and Hunter watched in horror as in a chain reaction, all of the townsfolk's eyes popped like balloons and a black substance oozed out of their now-empty eye sockets before they all fell to the ground like dominoes. Both teens were now hyperventilating. The previous Golden Guard's body language clearly showed that he too was horrified at the results. The two watched as he slowly kneeled down next to the horned witch and checked her pulse "They're... still alive"

"Then we still have some work to do. Gather the Palismen"

"No Belos"

"beg pardon?"

"You said that this would only restrain their magic, not…this" he then removed the glove and threw it off "I'm done with this, the lies, the destruction, the murder, all of it, I'm done *turns around* go find someone else to help you with your plans"

"*sigh* they always either betray me or they develop that stupid feeling that makes witches and demons want to feed them" He then aimed his staff at the Golden Guard and fired a beam of magic at him, blasting him off the edge of the knee.

Hunter, without even thinking, charged and leaped over the edge with Flapjack turning into a staff. Luz, filled with rage, sadness, and fright, made herself known and she attacked Belos, using every spell and glyph she had on her, while also using Stringbean to amplify her attacks.

Hunter managed to catch the the Golden Guard before he hit the Boiling Sea "Ugh what the?! *looks at Hunter* who are you?!"

"no time to explain" Hunter looked up and saw flashes of light and explosions coming from the knee and he flew back up. When they got back up to the top, they saw Belos and Luz going at it. Hunter was genuinely surprised at how skilled Luz was despite the fact she was technically magicless like him, but he could also see that Belos was definitely above her in terms of skill, deflecting and countering anything she threw at him with ease. A beam of magic tore through a pillar of lava Luz had fired at Belos with Belos' magic beam engulfing Luz and Stringbean, when it stopped Luz could be seen lying on the ground smoking while covered in heaps of cuts and gashes, while Stringbean lay next to her, oozing out a green goo.

Belos now stood over Luz and had his staff aimed at her "Blasted witch" he said before he was hit hard in the side of the head and sent flying to the side, where he hit his head on a rock and fell unconscious.

Making a U-turn, Hunter and the Golden Guard landed next to the injured Luz "Luz! Come on we need to get out of here!" Luz, being unresponsive just lay there "Crud" he then remembered Luz's teleportation spell, gathering up the wounded Stringbean, he placed her on Luz's chest and then looked at the Golden Guard "Grab onto her" The Golden Guard did as he was told before Hunter grabbed Luz's hand and placed two of her fingers on her forehead and in a flash they disappeared.

They then found themselves in a field of different coloured flowers with blue skies above "Where are we?" the Golden Guard asked

"I don't know, we're wherever she's currently thinking of"

"she and her Palismen don't look good" Flapjack flew down from Hunter's shoulder and began nuzzling Stringbean before he began glowing yellow. The two watched as the glowing spread from Flapjack to Stringbean, which made all of her injuries disappear as the glowing spread over her.

Once she was fully healed, the two Palismen nuzzled faces, and Flapjack went back to Hunter's shoulder "Good boy" Hunter said as he scratched Flapjack on the head.

A few hours had passed before Luz finally began to stir, the first thing that registered in her mind was that she was in an immense amount of pain. The second thing she registered was that a worried Stringbean was nuzzling her face "Oh thank Titan you're okay" and she hugged her Palismen. When she finally broke the embrace she saw that Hunter and the Golden Guard were off to the side making the ritual circle to allow them to travel through time. Slowly and painfully, Luz got to her feet, this caught the two's attention

"oh good you're awake how do you feel?" the Golden Guard asked

"very sore" Luz replied in a pained yet far-off tone, before she started using her healing goop spell "Hunter, I want to go back please," Luz asked quietly while the scene of watching the villager's eyes popping constantly played through her head

"Sure Luz…I'm more than convinced that everything I've been taught is a lie" Once Luz was in the circle, she said the chant and they all disappeared.

End Flashback

"When we arrived here I think the whole situation of what happened to them and what they went through finally hit them" Chaser stated as Luz and Eda were back to embracing with Amity, Willow, and Gus joining in the hug. Chaser looked around the room they were in "Judging from what I'm seeing, I take it that you're a resistance of some kind?" seeing that that cat was out of the bag now, Raine sighed and told Chaser who they were "seeing as how I literally have nowhere to go, may I join you" Raine was unsure about this "I left him and he tried to kill me, what loyalties could I possibly have to him anymore" he added

"He has a point" Katya stated

"very well, but the second I feel as though you're going to betray us, I will not hesitate to end you" Chaser dropped his mask to the floor and crushed it under his foot

"thank you" he simply said and he stuck his hand out to Raine, who shook it. Amity gave a tired yawn making Eda chuckle

"come on, you kids better get home and get some rest, *looks at Luz* and let's get you healed up," Eda said to Luz and her friends who all actually agreed "Call if you need me," Eda said to Raine as she led the group away.

The next day

Eda had noticed that Luz seemed particularly clingy ever since she and she had returned from the Boiling Isles, always wanting to be with her as well as helping her, and when Eda wanted to get time for some piece, Luz lured her back by simply uttering "I'm really hungry". When she had returned from having a shower she found Luz sitting on the couch staring off into space while constantly stroking King who was laid across her belly which now went past her knees when she sat down

"Luz?" this snapped her back to reality

"Eda! You're done!" she said and she started trying to get up. King leapt off Luz and climbed up Eda

"Eda, what happened to her yesterday?" he whispered

"I think she's been traumatized by what she saw and experienced while she was in the past…though to be fair I think a lot of people would have been traumatized, regardless of age and experience"

"What happened exactly?" she then whispered the abridged version to him "Whoa"

"I think it would be best if we kept a close eye on her for a while," she said as Luz finally got to her feet and made her way over to Eda and hugged her "Luz, wouldn't you rather be hugging King or Amity?" Luz shook her head "Then why me?"

"Because you like a second mother to me," she said quietly, tightening her grip slightly as tears started to trickle out of her eyes. Hearing this struck something in Eda's chest, holding back tears of her own she returned Luz's embrace

"you're like the daughter I never knew I wanted" she replied, hearing this broke down what little wall was left of Luz's willpower and she began to sob loudly surprising Eda, King, and an eavesdropping Hooty, who swung open.

Luz let all of her held-back emotions come flooding out as she continued holding her mother figure, while Eda comforted her as best she could. After a while Luz's crying subsided "Luz, do you hate it here in the Demon Realm?" Eda asked

"no…I've just been through so many bad things, that I can't hold them back anymore, I can't go out in public without people constantly cramming food down my throat, I now weigh as much as a baby elephant, you ate my arm, I had night terrors for weeks, I'm a wanted criminal, I had my hand cut off by a king, I'm starting to suspect that my girlfriend is becoming more interested in just fattening me up than me as a person, I've been eaten by a hell bird, and yesterday I witnessed the atrocities that Belos committed in the past and was almost killed by him…it's just too much" she finished quietly. Eda, King, and Hooty were actually taken aback at how much Luz was keeping to herself

"If I'm being honest Luz, you're a lot tougher than I was at your age, and not just because you are covered in jiggly armor. If I had to endure half of what you've been through back then, I would have broken down much sooner. You know, I bet in just a few more days those nerds will be able to make a new portal for you to go through"

"you think so?"

"I do, though you may have to suck it in a bit" This made Luz giggle a bit before the crew phone rang.

The two let go and Eda answered "Hello?"

"Eda, it's Raine, we got a tip about another raid. Are you busy?" Eda looked at Luz who gave a thumbs up "Name the time and place, Rainestorm"

Eda, Luz, King, Amity, Willow, Gus, and the B.A.T's all met up at the same time near a broken bridge in the forest "This should be the spot" Raine stated, though no one could see anybody else around

"something isn't right," Eda said before Katya, Gus, Amber, and Derwin were suddenly waist-deep in abomination goop, thick vines burst out of the ground and wrapped around Marina and Lotis, the latter of whom simply ghosted through the vines. Everyone else managed to avoid being trapped. They watched as a second pile of abomination goop rose up and turned into Darius

"That feels better," he said before Eberwolf burst out of the ground to his right. A pillar of stone burst out of the ground to the left of the bridge, with Mason standing on top of it, and a huge flower bloomed to the right of the bridge revealing Terra "So you're the ones who have been causing trouble for the emperor" Darius stated before his eyes locked onto Hunter, who was now wearing the B.A.T's outfit

"Well, well, it would seem as though Belos' precious Golden Guard has betrayed us by joining these rebels" Terra stated

"Hunter, what are you doing with these people?" Darius asked cautiously

"I'm sorry Darius, but I'm renouncing my loyalty to Belos, he is not the man that he's made everyone think he is, he's a monster who hates witches"

"hey Amity, a little help?" Gus asked, Amity then spread her arms out and puffed out her chest. As she did this, all of the abomination goop trapping the kids shot out to Amity and struck her in the chest where her body instantly absorbed it until it was all gone and the kids were free, with Amity looking a bit thicker than she was before.

Darius was completely gobsmacked at what she had just done

"you should leave now, it's 4 on 14," Eda said before multiple coven scouts and guards appeared "Me and my big mouth"

"I call dibs on Terra" Willow stated

"then I call dibs on Darius" Amity replied before Marina tore out of her vine prison, she then reached into her pocket and pulled out a potion, which she downed, and was completely engulfed in smoke. A giant fist shot out of the smoke and took out 7 guards with one swing before Marina emerged from the smoke, revealing her true height

"and now you have to deal with a giant" Eda added "Any last words?"

"MORTAL COMBAT!" Terra shouted and a massive fight broke out.

With Amity

Through training Amity had found that she could control other abomination users' abomination goop, as such, she began disabling any attack Darius tried to use on her, by turning his goop into a liquid state, making him unable to actually hit her. Amity on the other hand used her abomination goop to attack and injure Darius by making extra arms, weapons, increasing the size of her limbs, and multiple other ways. In short, unlike before, Darius couldn't lay a hand on Amity. With a mallet hand to the side of the face, Amity knocked Darius to the ground. Darius tried to get up, only to have a blade pressed against his throat "You would be wise to stay down" she said darkly,

Darius sighed in defeat "Fine, though I must say, I have never met anyone so adept at abomination magic"

"I have the master abomination goop to thank for this, plus my own determination to improve myself, and a chunk of a galder stone in my chest"

"wait, were you the one who stole that from the emperor?"

"no that was Boscha, I got mine from the past, long story. Word to the wise, Belos is planning to extract the magic from every witch on the day of unity" Darius' eyes widened at this before narrowing

"so that's what he's had planned, I suspected that he wasn't being truthful about the day of unity"

Amity lowered her blade a bit "Are you the only one?"

"no, Eberwolf, and a few guards and scouts have shared the same thought, how did you come across this information"

"we read it in an infinite history book"

"does it have any information on how to stop it?"

"Unless we're able to remove every sigil from everyone, there's no way to stop it, unless you have a way to stop or move the moon" Darius scowled while looking at his wrist, he knew what his part in the day of unity was, and if he didn't show up, they would most likely just replace him as they had already done with Hettie after she had gone missing after trying to capture Eda and Luz.

With Willow

With the 2 small chunks of galder stones glued to the backs of her Golden Thumb Gauntlets, Terra wasn't standing a chance against the young witch despite the massive difference in experience. Plant attack Terra threw at Willow, she instantly countered with a much stronger attack. Terra formed a massive Acidic Mercury Flytrap, which, true to its name, spat acid at Willow, who instantly countered by making a wall of vines with a small garden of Spitfire Daisies behind it. As soon as the wall of vines melted away, the Spitfire Dasies unleashed mini flamethrowers at the much larger plant, which burnt it to a crisp in seconds. Terra then formed a Knockout Rose in her hand which unleashed a cloud of sleeping pollen at Willow, who simply made a group of vines that acted like a fan, blowing it straight back at Terra. Unfortunately for Willow, Terra was so well adapted to plant magic that she was immune to any negatives produced by plants, from paralysis to poison, she was immune to it, so the sleep powder had no effect on her. Willow gave Terra a wicked look before she slammed both palms on the ground causing a massive tree with a fist on top to burst out of the ground and launch Terra up into the air, almost out of sight. As she came back down, Willow made a giant hand out of vines and roots which grabbed Terra and slammed her to the ground, knocking the breath out of her and knocking her out at the same time.

With Hunter and Chaser

The two were fighting Mason in perfect sync, due to them being the same person and knowing the same moves, they made the perfect team. Hunter had also been basically learning how to use a proper staff during this fight, he had found that he had the ability to teleport, as well as shoot beams of magic. Chaser on the other hand still had his artificial staff and was using that to its full potential. Spinning it around while it glowed red, it turned a pillar of stone Mason threw into dust, to which Hunter blasted him from the side with a beam of magic from Flapjack. When Mason stopped himself he was then kicked in the side of the head by Chaser and sent skidding along the ground. When he stopped, he got up and saw the two in fighting stances, mirroring each other. Taking off the huge mallet that was strapped to his back, he swung it around like a baton and slammed it onto the ground which sent out shockwaves that knocked the two off balance. Using his magic, he made stones float into the air before he smashed them with his mallet, sending them flying at the two and both knocking their staffs out of their hand but also bombarded them, taking them both out.

With Luz

Luz was currently dealing with the waves of creatures Eberwolf was sending at her. Touching a lightning glyph, she stuck out her hands and braced herself as a griffin swooped down at her, where it was promptly electrocuted. Rat worms then burst out of the ground and lunged at her, only for Luz to use a metal glyph on herself, turning herself into solid metal with the rat worms injuring themselves on her. Once the spell wore off, Luz used a new glyph combo that made her right arm giant, light, and as hard as metal which she swung around, taking out a horde of tigerhounds. Unfortunately one snuck up behind her and with one swipe of it's massive sharp claws, it sliced her spine into five sections. Her legs instantly gave out and she fell onto her back, being in too much pain to even scream.

This had been witnessed by King who gasped in horror as he saw his big sister get injured in such a way. As he watched the tigerhounds getting ready to devour Luz, something deep inside King ignited. "STOP!" He shouted which sent a red ring of magic at the tigerhound's sending them flying away from Luz, this caught a lot of people's attention, and they watched as a red aura surrounded King while his fur became longer, and appeared to turn into pinkish red flames.

"What the hell?" Eda uttered, before King disappeared, and reappeared, bursting out of the other side of a recovering tigerhound, killing it. He then proceeded to tear the tigerhounds apart, leaving everyone shocked.

He then reappeared in front of Eberwolf and socked him across the face with a flaming punch. Eberwolf went through two trees before King appeared behind him and kicked him high up into the air. When Eberwolf reached his peak King appeared above him and unleashed a pinkish-red ball of magic from his mouth, which carried Eberwolf down to the ground where the ball of magic detonated resulting in a large explosion that knocked everyone off of their feet. King then fired a barrage of more red balls of magic, with each one blasting Eberwolf further and further down into the titan until he was lying on the sea floor, hanging onto life by a thread. King landed at the edge of the hole and turned back to normal as he passed out from exhaustion.

"King!" Eda shouted as she left Raine and rushed over to him, Raine knocked away several scouts with a loud whistle and followed Eda. "King! King! Can you hear me!" Eda shouted, though he only gave a weak groan

"He's just exhausted, Eda, what was that?"

"I don't know, maybe his titan powers!" She said, her eyes then widened at what she had just said

"he's a titan!" Raine exclaimed. The members of the emperor coven had mostly stopped what they were doing and whispered amongst each other

"that thing is a titan?!"

"He's tiny"

"his head does resemble the titan's skull" These and more rang out throughout everyone there.

Everyone was then knocked off of their feet as the ground shook violently "Alright, listen up rebels" Mason started "Here's what's going to happen, we won't arrest you and we'll let you leave peacefully if you hand over the titan." Eda held King tightly "Otherwise we'll execute the lot of you, here and now, starting with these two" Mason finished as he had his mallet raised above the trapped Hunter and Chaser's heads.

Everyone's attention was then drawn to a huge cloud of smoke that appeared out of nowhere. When it dissipated, everyone went wide-eyed as they saw Luz, now looking completely different from what she looked like a minute ago. She was back to her original thin self with a bit more muscle definition, her hair was now green and spiked up, her back wound was completely healed, and she now had a glowing green ring with a cross through it on her forehead. Her eyes were now closed and a blank expression was on her face.

'What the?' Everyone thought as Luz turned to Mason she took two steps forward and disappeared, reappearing above Mason, shattering his mallet with a flying dragon kick. Everyone turned to Mason, as Luz spun around and kicked him in the side of the head, making a sonic boom on impact, and sending him flying. Luz then began taking out every member of the emperor's coven with one devastating blow after another, while also effortlessly dodging anything thrown at her. As she kept taking out guard after scout, after guard, she started to sweat and pant which only increased the more she fought. When she finally took out the final scout, she just stood there in the center of the carnage panting and grunting like a wild beast.

Reaching up, she touched a spell on her side, and in a puff of smoke, Luz's hair was back to normal and the ring on her forehead had disappeared, however, Luz's obese form was now shriveled up and skeletal with barely any muscle to speak of, she then fell to her knees and face planted.

"LUZ!" Eda shouted as she leaped to her feet, while still holding King, and she ran over to the girl she saw as a daughter. Placing the passed-out King on the ground, she flipped Luz over and her stomach churned. "Does anyone here know healing magic!" She shouted, not being the best at it.

"Back in a second," Amity said and she disappeared in a swirl of abomination goop. Darius, seeing his opportunity, did the same, reappearing next to the barely alive Eberwolf, encasing them in abomination goop, before they both disappeared in a swirl of abomination goop.

Amity returned about 30 seconds later with her sister, who immediately got to work on healing Luz. Transferring the gulderstone chunk to her hand, she pressed it onto her sister's back which greatly amplified her healing magic. Emira quickly had Luz in a stable condition, but she was still unconscious.

"It would seem as though that spell is a double-edged sword, while it amplifies all of her physical abilities, it eats away at her body fat and then the rest of her body" Raine stated as Eda held Luz protectively, Eda then glanced over to King who was still passed out.

"Raine, I will be more than happy to help you whenever you need it, but as long as Luz and King don't get involved"

"of course Eda" they replied, before looking around, from what they could see, most of the emperor's coven members wouldn't be up and fighting for a VERY long time, "I think we're done here, let's head back" and with that, they all headed back to the base.

When they arrived back, Eda lay Luz down on a bean bag, while King, who had woken up, curled up into a ball next to Luz. Amity was about to cuddle up to her girlfriend when she had her arm grabbed firmly by Eda "You and I need to have a talk" and she dragged Amity out before she could even reply. "Okay kid, I want you to be honest with me, do you see Luz as someone to love and care for, or do you truly just see her as someone for you to feed and stuff into oblivion?"

Amity looked offended at that "I do love and care for Luz, why would you think otherwise?"

"Because when she broke down a while ago, one of the things that she was fearing was that you were just seeing her as someone to feed and not as a person" Amity was left speechless at this, "Go home and get your feelings in order" Amity nodded and simply walked away.

Eda returned to Raine who was now questioning King "So are you really a titan?" They asked

"yeah, I'm the son of the titan" King stated while spreading his arms out.

"How? You're tiny and the titan is, well, the Boiling Isles" Amber stated

"Well it looks like I'm due for a growth spurt sometime" King replied

"I think it would be best if we kept this information under wraps, if Belos found out that you're a titan, he will stop at nothing to have you destroyed" Raine stated,

"while that might be true, if it were made public that King was a titan, he could topple that windbag empire in seconds," Lotis said as she floated above

"Besides, everyone heard what Eda said, those guards will tell Belos, and he would be out for King anyway," Marina said

"unlikely, with as hard as Luz beat those guys they'll either have trouble remembering or they won't be talking for quite a while," Eda said proudly. After making some copies of Luz's Instant Transmission spell, Eda and King teleported back to Luz's room, where Eda lay her down on her bed and King stayed by her side. Eda then retrieved Luz's magic paintbrush and teleported back to Raine where the Bats painted the spell onto their foreheads, even Luz's friends, minus Amity and Lotis, painted them on "there, if any of you are captured or are in trouble, you can simply teleport to safety" Eda said, everyone began practicing with their new spells with Willow and Gus questioning why they didn't do this sooner, Eda turned to Raine "call me if you need me, Rainstorm" and she gave him a tight hug before teleporting back home.

Elsewhere

Darius was standing next to Eberwolf who was currently in a medical bed on life support. A storm of emotions was raging inside of him as he saw his friend currently clinging to life, though one emotion stuck out the most, fear. "If that little runt could do this to a coven head, then I fear to imagine what kind of devastation he could cause when he is fully grown," Darius said to himself before he started thinking about his next course of action.

Back with Eda

After arriving back home Eda gave a sigh and flopped down on her couch, as she was about to close her eyes, she spotted some papers on her coffee table. Picking them up she read them over and went wide-eyed before rushing upstairs. King almost had a mini heart attack as Luz's bedroom door slammed open with such force that it cracked the wall "Eda?! What's wrong?!" Eda then shakily held up the papers that had 'adoption' written on them in big letters "Oh those, I've had them for a while now, I just didn't know when or how to ask you"

"you really want me to adopt you?"

"yeah, ever since I found out that I was a titan and that my dad is the Boiling Isles, I've been thinking about our relationship. When we first met you thought that I was a pet, then our relationship turned to that of roommates, and then when Luz entered our lives, something changed. You started becoming more motherly and protective of us. When I look back on it, in a way you've always been my mum, so I wanted to make it official, all you have to do is sign it and I'll be officially King Clawthorne" Eda, with tears in her eyes, reached into her hair and pulled out a pen which she used to sign the papers. As soon as she finished writing her signature, King leaped into her arm, and the two embraced as mother and son.

Chapter 19: Hollowed Mind

Chapter Text

Amity stood in front of the mirror in just her skivvies observing her body. Just over a week ago she and Luz had a serious discussion about their relationship and where it was headed. Luz had come to a decision that if Amity wanted to feed her beyond her natural instincts, then she had to take as much as she dished out.

Flashback

Luz and Amity sat in front of each other, both girls having two large plates loaded with Amity's fudge-stuffed abomination brownies on either side of them "one for my sweet girlfriend" Amity said and she shoved her abomination brownie into Luz's mouth which she quickly chewed and swallowed "and one for my awesome girlfriend" Luz replied and she shoved an abomination brownie into Amity's mouth. And the two continued this.

Later

Eda entered the room and saw Luz had amity resting on her belly looking half catatonic "you girls okay in here?" Eda asked as she made a bowl of spaghetti and eyeballs for Luz

"oh yeah we're fine Eda, Amity and I were just having a little snacking session, right babe?"

"...Kill...me..." Amity moaned out before she placed another abomination brownie into Luz's mouth, with Luz responding by shoving one into Amity's mouth.

"I eat. You eat." Luz said with an ottery grin.

End Flashback

Since Amity always made her food have extremely high calories, after a week of getting as good as she gave plus the use of many, many, many digestion spells, which Emira had actually taught to Amity recently, Amity had piled on an astounding 120lbs with about 110 of those pounds going straight to her butt and thighs. "Well I guess it's not that bad, plus Luz can barely keep her hands off of this" she said before she went to get dressed for the day.

Emira, having heard a familiar noise, grabbed her pinstagram and started recording "hello I'm Emira, you may remember me from such videos as Amity sleeping and Amity alone, now I give you, the eternal struggle" she then opened Amity's bedroom door to reveal said girl on the floor trying to pull her pants up over her newly massive butt

"*grunt* *grunt* stupid pants, 'one size fits all' my butt *grunt* oh the button is done up" She then undid the button and tried again, only to get the same result.

"Having some issues, not so little sister?" Emira asked with a slight taunt in her tone

"Scale" Amity replied with a frown

"What?"

"I put scales at my door just in case you walked in?" Emira looked down where she was standing and saw that she was indeed standing on a scale, She then followed Amity's eyes over to a rolling number on the wall before it stopped at 564. "Odd, I don't remember giving you enough to put on that much weight recently. I wonder how much it would reach if you put your 'other' foot on it"

"..." Emira then stepped fully on the scales and the number shot up to...

"bbbzzzzztt You're crushing me! Get off!" The scales buzzed out

"...No" Emira uttered

"You're bending the metal you fat f-*BZZT*!"

"You made it sarcastic?"

"That's weird. It's only supposed to give numbers...and I didn't install a voice box."

"...This isn't over"

"I know. You still need to return the empty tins for those eight pans of brownies you asked for yesterday for your friend's birthday...thats not for another two months"

"they 'were' for my other friend's birthday, and she loved them, in fact she asked me if you could make 10 pans for her next time"

"uh-huh, and what's your friend's name?"

" Jeh…tin…etty brow…in…sca…fat, Jehtinetty Browinscafat"

"that's the worst name I've ever heard."

*Hic*

The two turned to see a slender, light purple-skinned white-haired girl in Bard Coven colors holding a huge box of chocolates at the window tearing up. Breaking out into sobs before running off.

"Jehtinetty! Come back!" Emira grumbled "Thanks a lot Amity. Her family's the best candy makers north of the knees"

"Oh...still." Amity changed the subject "Beside that. It's obvious what you doing. So I'll make you a deal. Say 'I'm a big fat pig and can't stop eating your amazing cooking.' if you want more."

"You're a big fat pig and can't stop eating my amazing cooking"

"oh so that's how you want to play it, fine then, I hope your friend enjoyed them because I am never making anything again except for Luz"

"I'm a big fat pig and can't stop eating your amazing cooking!"

"I will never refuse to eat anything you make me."

"I will never refuse to eat anything you make me"

"Even if I end up the heaviest living thing on the Boiling Isles and can never stand up ever again."

"Even if I...seriously?"

"Luz told me about this the other day" She drew a spell circle, making a brick of...something, appear "She called it a brookie"

"...Is that a brownie...or a cookie?"

"Ha ha ha...it's both."

"EvenifIenduptheheaviestlivingthingontheBoilingIslesandcanneverstandupeveragain!"

Amity then gave an evil grin "That's a good piggy" The brookie floated over to Emira, she grabbed it and took a bite out of it. Her eyes widened and she inhaled the rest. She stared at her sister is shock, and wonder,...and hunger.

"more"

"I'm sorry, did the walking food disposal say something?"

"give me more! Give me all you can make and more!"

"Ohhhh" The room began to fill with the sweet scent of cocoa and revenge "Poor choice of words"

Later

Edric casually walked past Amity's room whistling a tune before he stopped and walked back "Uh mittens, is there something bugging you?"

"No. Why?" Amity asked

"Well it's just you trying to shove pies the size of pizzas down our sister's throat when she's flat on her back and barely conscious" and it was true, Emira was now on the floor with Amity pinning down sitting on her more bloated than normal stomach, both of her arms locked to the floor. Her face was smeared with abomination goop that had countless different textures and consistencies, while also barely able to keep her eyes open.

"No...More...pie" she moaned out

"No, More pie? Well if you insist" And she formed another, much bigger abomination rubyberry pie.

"letssss give Emira time to actually digest, while you tell big bro Edric all about what's bugging you."

"okay" she then twirled her index finger turning the pie into a liquid which she manipulated and sent down her big sister's throat "phew, that feels much better" Amity then got off of Emira and followed Edric out of the room

"I'm never eating again for the rest of the hour" Emira moaned out before passing out.

"so why are you stuffing our sister like a thankskilling turduchikpigrow?"

"well I've been unable to control my feeding habits around Luz again, and she gave me a few warning 'Amity' 's, I needed an outlet and I remembered that I used to feed Boscha and her friends and that made me feel better, so because Emira loves my food, and she doesn't protest, I've been venting my feeding frustrations on her" Amity clawed at her head in frustration "I just can't stop myself from feeding girls, if I didn't have Boscha and her friends, Willow would probably be the size of our house"

"do you know why you're this way?"

"No, and that's what infuriates me. I...I don't want to lose Luz because I can't get these stupid feeding habits of mine under control…also I think that I might be suffering a bit from amnesia, I can't for the life of me figure out why I stopped hanging out with Boscha when we never had a single argument or problem"

Edric looked at his little sister with a raised brow "Have you told this to Luz?"

"No"

"why not? Luz is an understanding person"

"if I do *sigh* knowing her, she'll do something stupid, but also sweet, and then she'll most likely get into trouble which I'll have to bail her out of...which is what I love the most about her, no matter the odds, she always tries every way possible to fix or help a situation" Edric thought over what his little sister had said, he knew that it would betray her trust in him, but Luz had to know this.

The next day

After stuffing her older sister into oblivion...again, to get feeding out of her system, Amity teleported over to Luz on Ribcage Isle and to her girlfriend. What she didn't know was that her older brother had informed Luz about the problem Amity had, and she, along with Eda had come up with a plan. Amity appeared in front of Luz, who at this point had had her daily fill of food from Eda, who looked very content.

After her Power-Up spell had nearly eaten away her whole body, she had been healed by the Golden Healing Hat making her look the way she did the day she arrived on the Boiling Isles. Though after over a week of gorging and stuffing, curtesy of Eda, Amity, and the citizens of West City, Luz had piled on close to 200lbs.

The two embraced and kissed each other gently "how's my sweet potato been?" Luz asked as her hands slid down to Amity's large rear and grabbed two large handfuls of it, giving it a firm squeeze. Before Amity could respond in any way, the feeling to feed Luz rapidly rose up inside her and became more intense every second she tried to resist these urges

"I'm sorry" she whispered as a tear came to her eye before she summoned an immense amount of food, far more than she'd conjured even for her sister, and far bigger portions.

"Amity? What are you doing?"

"...Exactly what it looks like." She said and launched it all straight at Luz and down her throat. Eda, seeing how quickly Luz's stomach was expanding used a rapid digestion spell on her, both preventing her stomach from rupturing and causing Luz's body start to swell up with fat. As the last of the food past Luz's lips, Amity, in the last moments of her feeding frenzy, reached into her pocket and pulled out what looked like a small ball of abomination goop and shoved it into her mouth which Luz swallowed on reflex. What happened next shocked Eda and King as Luz instantly doubled her weight, putting her now at an astounding 1600lbs.

"Ugghhh" Luz moaned out, currently in a daze from the feeding frenzy. "Enough."

"No." Amity said, her eyes full of tears and her face full of shame as more appeared far, far more. "Not even slightly close."

Rather than run away like most would, Luz, being Luz, threw her arms around Amity in a hug before Eda hit Amity with a sleeping spell, getting Luz at the same time making the now 1600lbs girl land on her big bootied 350lbs girlfriend as te conjured food clattered and splattered to the floor.

"Why didn't you do that before she went crazy on Luz" King asked,

Eda suddenly found the wall very interesting "Uh never mind that" She then undid the sleep spell on Luz who got to her feet. Eda summoned a bell and handed it to Luz "when you're done, ring that and I'll cast you back—Oh, and keep an eye out for her "Inner Amity." She's the gatekeeper of emotions and memory. She might help ya. King go with her, in case she gets into trouble" King climbed up Luz and rested on her shoulder as Eda lifted her hand as a spell circle appeared around Luz's feet before it began to produce a light that encased her, and King. "Now, here we go!" Eda said before both Luz and King yelled as they disappeared into the yellow light of the spell, which Eda directed straight to Amity, still fast asleep.

Luz and King found themselves in a black void. A light then appeared and burst forward. Luz and King shielded their eyes. When the light dimmed, they found themselves standing in a forest full of trees that appeared to be made completely out of abomination goop. Each tree looked like it was half melting while also growing around a dark picture frame. Luz and King looked around and started walking. "so this is what the inside of a witch's mind looks like?" Luz stated

"actually this is just what Amity's mind looks like, every mindscape is varies from person to person"

"Where's her Inner Amity? Do you really think it'll help?"

"I'm not sure if a person's mind is straight an in order they can be very helpful, but if there's turmoil or problems with the person, then the inner version can become hostile or needs to help themselves"

"Well, looks like we'll just have to start fixing stuff on our own! Hmm, now let's see..." Luz then blew dust off a frame and coughed. With the dust removed she could see a picture of a fort on a beach, only the image looked warped, twisted, and made of abomination goop. Luz touched it with her hand, which went through the picture. "Hey, I found something magical. I'mma put my face in it!" she then laughed as she was sucked into it, despite how big she now was, with King falling off of her, landing on a puddle of abomination goop

"eew, that girl really needs to clean this place up"

"Hey King" he looked up and saw Luz's head sticking out of the painting "I think I found the memories. Let's go!" and she dragged him in.

The two reappeared on the opposite side of the picture and looked around, it looked like the whole world was frozen in time, everything was deadly still and quiet "luz, lets go back, I don't like it here" King said

"just a second King" Luz walked over to the fort and wiped her finger along the fort, finding out that instead of the fort being made out of abomination goop, it was just covered in it. A cheeky grin appeared on her face before she used her finger to write 'Amity+Luz' in a heart, there was a bright flash of light and the two found themselves back outside the painting which was now not only correct but also in proper colors. The two then watched the scene play out, only to gasp in shock as they saw young versions of Amity and Luz running to hide in the fort, they watched as Amity made a large muffin out of abomination goop

"here Luz, try this, I've been working on my abomination food really hard" young Amity said

"oh wow, thanks Amity" the young Luz said and she ate the large muffin

"ah wha what?!" was all Luz could say

"I think you just altered her memory"

Luz gave a Curley gulp while tugging at her collar "I'm surely altering one teeny tiny memory won't be that bad"

"Probably not, but to be on the safe side, lets not mess with any more pictures"

"yeah, good idea"

As the two continued walking through Amity's mindscape, they also checked multiple pictures to see if there was anything that could give them a clue as to why Amity was the way she was. It seemed as though the deeper they went the more distorted and melted the pictures and memory trees became. She could see many many MANY pictures where Amity was feeding girls either normally or forcefully, surprisingly she hadn't seen one where she fed Willow, only her sister, and other kids. When they reached a clearing they saw on the opposite side was another forest only this one was bigger, the trees looked to be made of thick black oil and a huge ominous dark thundercloud loomed over it.

"whoa" Luz muttered

"That's where suppressed memories are kept, that's one place you don't want to go"

"why's that?"

"once you go in, you never come out" Luz felt a bead of sweat roll down her face

"yeah, we'd best not go there," she said before glowing red chains surrounded with a dark green aura shot out of the suppressed memories forest and ensnared her. A loud hissing sound was heard as the chains seared Luz's flesh as they tightened and rapidly dragged her into the forest despite her current weight. King had been thrown off of Luz and had watched helplessly as Luz was dragged out of sight. Seeing the bell on the ground he grabbed it and rang it frantically, there was a flash of light and he found himself back in the living room

"King? Where's Luz?!" Eda asked, King then explained what had happened.

When he was done, Eda was left rather shocked, as far as she knew, nothing should be able to do that in the mindscape. Racing over to her bookshelf she began searching for anything to do with the mindscape that could give her answers while King went to make a call.

In Amity's mindscape

Luz was still being dragged along the ground by the chains while screaming in pain as she was now leaving a trail of blood behind her. When it finally stopped the chains rapidly cooled down before she was strung up by them. She found herself in a small clearing where there were two people, one of them she recognized as Amity, only this Amity looked like they had been through hell 10 times. As she looked at Luz, Luz could see the deadness in her eyes, the look of a person who had been completely broken. Her gaze then turned to the other figure who was wearing a cloak "Who are you and why do you have Inner Amity trapped here?!" Luz demanded, the figure then spoke on a distorted yet familiar voice

"well to answer your second question, mittens is here because she has to stay on the straight and narrow path, as for the first question" They then removed their hood to reveal themselves as a demonic version of Odalia.

Luz's eyes widened before narrowing again "So even when you're no longer in her life you're still trying to control her?!"

"you say that like it's a bad thing, all I want is for Mitten's here to be the best" A frame then rose out of the ground which showed Amity and Boscha as kids the scene then played, showing their first fight before the frame disintegrated "and if that means I have to erase a few memories and keep her inner self in check, then so be it" Luz scowled at this answer

"Are you also the reason why Amity can't stop feeding people relentlessly?" Demonic Odalia gave an annoyed sigh before pinching the bridge of her nose

"no, that is the real Odalia's doing" Another frame rose up out of the ground this time it showed an even younger Amity along with the real Odalia, and a man wearing a cloak…

In picture

"Ma'am are you sure you want to do this to your daughter?" the cloaked man asked

"yes, I want her to be the absolute best, to be able to rival even Belos in power. Unlock her full potential"

"very well"

"Mummy, I'm scared" young Amity said

"ugh stop your whining, this will make you better than anyone, and make the family look powerful as well" Young Amity now stood in the center of a pentagram as the cloaked man began casting the spell. The young Amity screamed in agony as she fell to the ground as a purple mist began to surround her. Her eyes then began flashing between normal and being completely purple. While she trashed around in pain, she moved halfway out of the pentagram which disrupted and altered the spell, which the cloaked man failed to notice. When he finally stopped he took a bow and left in a puff of smoke

Out of the picture

"Because she foolishly went out of the pentagram, she messed up the spell, while it did make her a bit stronger, the spell also, for some reason, made her have an almost uncontrollable desire to feed girls be it by conjured up food or her own abomination food" Demonic Odalia stated

"Maybe it unlocked her hidden desires?" Luz pondered

"well it was because of that botched spell Emira is now the size of a selkidama"

"hey, Em looks great at her current size!"

"not to mention she's responsible for her friends and your current sizes" a chain then wrapped tightly around Luz's neck "You know, funny thing about the mindscape, if you die here, you die for real" the chains then pinned Luz down to the ground. Demonic Odalia then snapped her fingers and the chains holding Inner Amity released her "mittens, I'll leave you to feed this human until she explodes, while I give your mind a few tweaks and erase some memories, I think I'll start with the one where you befriended Willow, that should clear up a lot" and with that, she left. The broken Inner Amity sat on Luz's chest and stared at her with dead emotionless eyes before she started conjuring up enough abomination matter to flood Hexside.

Meanwhile

Back in the Owl House, Eda was still searching to find a way to get Luz out of Amity's head without knowing her exact location, the door then opened to reveal Beilzabob, the mayor of South City "Oh Eda, you have a guest" Hooty stated as the grinning Mayor strolled in

"Greetings and salutations Edalyn, I hear that one of our Isles heroes is having some mind issues" He greeted

"uh yeah, how did you know?" Eda asked

"I called him" King stated as he walked up

"How can you help?"

"well back in the past, before I was known as the Radio Demon, I was known as the Dream Demon, Mindfreak on my bad days, but never the less dreams and the mindscape are my utmost specialty *spots Amity* I take it this charming little angel is the one who Luz is stuck in?"

"Yeah"

"then off we go" and with a snap of his fingers, the three of them found themselves in Amity's mindscape.

"Hmm this girl's mind is clearly in some kind of turmoil, while its not uncommon for these trees to be made of different substances, given the fact that the images themselves are distorted and the trees are melting, is a clear indicator that something is wrong" Beilzabob stated before he walked over to a tree and raised a finger, which became surrounded by a dark red aura, and he tapped the tree twice. The tree became surrounded by the same aura and straightened up as well and the image became normal. "whoa" was all Eda could mutter

"come on, she's this way," King said and he ran off with Eda and Beilzabob following.

As they neared the edge of Amity's memories, they saw someone tapping trees, making them and any memory linked to them disintegrate. They reached the person, and Eda's eyes widened "What the? Odalia?!"

"oh it's you, the human's friend Eda" Demonic Odalia stated

"wait, you don't recognize me, I'm Eda, you know, the one who constantly pranked you as kids"

"I only look like Odalia, I don't know anything Amity doesn't"

while his huge smile never left, Beilzabob raised a brow "Fascinating, are you the inner version of Amity?" he asked

"no, I have her tucked away safely to prevent her from stopping me from making her perfect"

Eda then turned to him "An explanation Smiles?"

"it would seem as though Amity has been traumatized so much by this woman in the real world that a form of her has manifested within her mindscape" The three of them then watched as Demonic Odalia's demonic features became more pronounced as she quickly grew in size "hmm you two go on ahead and save Luz, I'll handle tall dark and ugly here" Beilzabob stated as he twirled his cane.

Eda nodded and ran off with King towards the suppressed memories. Demonic Odalia went to grab the two only for Beilzabob to intercept and with a very light kick to her hand, sent it wrapping around her body and made her spin a bit "I didn't get to become Mayor by being a weakling you know, now, shall we dance my dear?" he said only for Demonic Odalia to shoot flames at him which he blocked by simply twirling his microphone staff.

Eda and King ran through the suppressed memories forest with Eda getting angrier by the second "How the hell can a 14-year-old girl have so many suppressed memories?!" she exclaimed

"well with a mother like that, it's not surprising" King added. When they reached the clearing, Eda was instantly in a state of rage as she saw the state Luz was in as well as the situation she was in as the inner Amity had one hand on Luz's belly constantly using a digestion spell while at the same time having her other hand on Luz's mouth, repeatedly shooting food made of abomination goop down her throat. Eda's eyes flickered green a bit as she shot forward and gave Inner Amity a swift kick to the side of the head, knocking her off of Luz and making her tumble along the ground,

"Luz, are you okay?!" Eda asked as she was instantly at the now 2500 lbs girls side Luz nodded

"Ughhhh ugh ugggghhhhh my stomaaaach-ach. *Hurp* If I eat any more I'll pop. And I don't mean that metaphorically" Luz tried to get up, but found herself still pinned down by the chains that bound her. Seeing this, Eda used her magic to turn one of the chains into onion rings, which Luz easily broke free of. She then did the same to the other chains binding Luz and then did her best to help the blob of a girl get up into a sitting position. Luz gave a sharp hiss as some of her wounds were stretched open before she looked over the vastness of her body, looking for a particular spell on her. Lifting up a roll, she found it and touched it, in a large puff of smoke she was back in the same form she had taken when she beat all of the emperor's guards and scouts over a week prior. Eda and King could see that all of her wounds were now gone.

After throwing quite a few punches and kicks, as well as zooming around the clearing multiple times, she stopped and touched the spell again, showing that she had lost a significant amount of weight, now weighing 1800 lbs. She then repeated the process a second time only for a bit longer, making her now weigh just over 1000lbs. Eda and King then saw Luz feeling her body without actually looking at it "Yeah this feels good" she said, Before she was embraced by Eda and King

"Are you okay Luz?" she asked while rubbing the girl back as she embraced her while King hugged her leg

"well kinda. Another side effect of using that spell is that I'll be blind for about 5 minutes"

"What!? really?!"

"yeah so if we're leaving you're going to have to guide me" Luz stated, before Eda could reply the ground shook violently and there was a bright flash of light. When she and King could see again they saw that the suppressed memories forest was now almost none existent with the normal memories forest being fully restored and expanded.

The two watched as Beilzabob stepped forward "The beast has been vanquished and the beauty of Amity's mind has been restored" he declared proudly while giving a bow.

"Impressive," Eda said

"I wasn't called Master Of The Mind for nothing"

"I thought you were called the Dream Demon?"

"That too"

"Is inner Amity okay?" Luz asked, everyone turned to the girl who was still lying on the ground, staring off into space.

Beilzabob's hand glowed red and Inner Amity was lifted up and carried over to them. Placing a hand on her head, he searched her memories and winced slightly "I'm afraid that this is something that I can not fix. The amount of psychological damage she has sustained is too great"

"…what if we put the Golden Healing Hat on her" King suggested

"well it can cure injuries and death, so maybe it can fix mental damage as well" Luz stated

"hmm this item you speak of intrigues me, where might I find the item in question?" Beilzabob asked

"in a chest in my room"

"Upstairs, second door on the left" Eda added

"I'll be back in a jiffy" and in a flash of light, he disappeared with Inner Amity collapsing limply to the ground.

"Luz, why don't you just sit down and wait for your sight to come back" Eda suggested

Luz agreed and sat down rather clumsily down to the ground "Could you bring Amity over to me please" Luz asked,

"Sure," Eda said before she grabbed Amity "Thank Titan you're not as big as your real-world self," she said as she lay Amity down on Luz, who then pulled her into a gentle hug while giving her repeated kisses on the top of her head. Eda watched as the corners of Inner Amity's mouth curled slightly 'Well at least she's not totally broken' Eda thought to herself.

A few minutes later Beilzabob returned holding the Golden Healing Hat and Luz's vision had been restored "One magical item for the young lady" he said while handing it to Luz, who in turn placed it on Inner Amity's head. There was a flash of light and when it faded away Inner Amity blinked and sat up. "are you okay?" Luz asked

"yeah, better than I've been in years actually" Inner Amity replied

"Well then, we can put mental damage on the list as well" Luz stated making Inner Amity giggle before kissing Luz. When she broke the kiss she turned to Beilzabob

"I was mostly out of it, did you say that you killed that monster?"

"yes indeedy"

Amity then threw her arms around him and gave him a tight hug while thanking him profusely "for one of Ribcage Isles's heroes, anything"

"That monster has had me in chains as well as torturing me for years"

"I can tell. I'll tell the real world you to cut whoever that woman was out of your life"

"thank you, sir"

"oh and while I cleared and restored your normal memories and repressed memories, I found this" and he showed them the same picture that Demonic Odalia had shown Luz. This made both Luz and Eda's hands tighten in anger "I'm very familiar with this type of awakening spell. Strength, speed, intelligence, magic, and passion, are the 5 things that are increased to their max when performing said spell, but only if the individual stays in the center while it happens because you rolled out of the center and stayed on the magic and passion points longer than the center, these two things were increased the most, and judging from what I've seen, taking care of others seems to be your true passion which was amplified the most, hence why you can't control your feeding habits, especially around humans. You equate care with food" he said before he disappeared and reappeared with an arm around Luz's shoulders before he materialized a huge pole made completely out of burgers, which Luz ate on reflex at this point.

"Is there any way to fix it?" Inner Amity asked

"Racnid knows how to undo things like this, or we could just try using this hat on the real you" Inner Amity then handed the Golden Healing Hat to Beilzabob

"well I've done my job" and with a snap of his fingers, everyone was back in the Owl House living room.

Eda undid the sleeping spell from Amity "Amity!" Luz exclaimed as she hugged her girlfriend "How are you feeling"

"good…but really depressed *turns to Beilzabob* memories are suppressed for a reason you know" Beilzabob just laughed before he placed the Golden Healing Hat on Amity and there was a bright flash of light.

When the light faded Luz took a deep breath before saying "I'm so hungry" In an instant everyone (minus King) conjured up food and offered it to Luz, to which she ate everything they made. Once she was done, she turned to Amity, "Do you want to keep feeding me?"

"Sure" and Amity kept conjuring up more food though unlike before she wasn't cramming food down Luz's throat.

After eating several abomination food Luz said "Okay I'm full now" and to everyone's amazement, even her own, Amity stopped instead of continuously feeding Luz

"I…I don't want to keep feeding you. I'M CURED!" she shouted in delight before she grabbed Luz's face and kissed her forcefully on the lips.

"and with that, I shall take my leave," Beilzabob said before he left the owl house while humming a tune to himself.

When Amity finally broke the kiss, she remembered what she had in her pocket "Oh Luz, I made these for you" she said as she pulled 3 solid balls of abomination goop out of her pocket

"what are they?" Luz asked,

"I call them Calorie Bombs. Each one contains 4 million calories, eat one of these followed by a digestion spell, and then use that spell where you go total beast mode"

"hey these are a really cool idea, thanks Amity"

"Anything for my awesome girlfriend. I'm sorry Luz but I have to go now, there's a woman with who I need to have a very long conversation with" Amity said, the two embraced one more time before Amity teleported away

"5 bucks says she tears her mother in half" Eda stated

"I've got 10 on her mother getting diced" King added

"well I have 20 on that Amity will talk things out peacefully with her mother…and then grind her into paste" Luz finished.

Meanwhile

Odalia was sitting at her dining room table drinking tea. After the divorce, she had gotten enough money to buy a new house that was just as big as Blight Manor. She had just placed her cup down when Amity appeared a foot in front of her "Mittens?! What are you doing here?" she asked

"I know what you did to me as a child by getting that guy to try to unlock my potential, and I remember all of the times that you abused me and belittled me"

She circled her hand in the 'get on with it' gesture "And your point is...?"

Amity responded by making her arms into giant abomination arms covered in rock-hard bumps "I'm going to enjoy this"

Chapter 20: Demons and Doppelgangers

Chapter Text

Luz, Eda, King, and the 4 mayor's were now standing in one of the testing rooms in West City's most advanced Lab, in the centre of the room was a large extra wide door that had more advanced objects around it than what was originally asked for. The head scientist, a female spider demon, spoke up "we've followed the instructions on how to make this portal as best we can and we have also improved upon the materials that were originally asked for in the instructions."

"well then, lets power this baby up" Mayor Jullaré stated, the head scientist gave her colleague a nod before they pressed some buttons and a large amount of power was sent into the door in the centre of the room

"Are you sure this isn't gonna like, blow our faces off?" Eda asked the head scientist

"Nope!" she simply replied

"fair enough" everyone watched in awe as all the pieces merged together forming a large door with 2 misshapen red eyes and patches of metal fused to the door opened, revealing not the Human Realm but a separate, surreal dimension.

"It... worked!" Luz said before she waddled over to the door

"Did it? That looks real different from the old door!" King stated

"Yeah. But this is my one chance to see my mum." Two scientists tied a thick rope around Luz which was attached to a winch "If it looks like it's closing, turn that on!" Eda then came up to Luz and put both hands on her shoulders

"Luz, as impressive as this is, I don't want you getting hurt."

"Once I make sure my mum is okay, I'll be right back."

"Just be careful. The Human Realm's filled with some real weirdos." She then winked at Luz and the two embraced with King hugging Luz's leg.

Mayor Jullaré was about to move into join in on the hug when a large firm hand gripped his shoulder tightly "Don't. You. Dare" Mayor Racnid said sharply, making Jullaré pout childishly

"spoil sport" he muttered

"Don't forget to mention me!" King added

"I won't" Luz replied, they then let go and Luz stepped in front of the portal.

Due to how wide her now 1000 lbs body was and how awkward the door was, she had to suck it in and go through side ways before she disappeared. The next thing Luz knew she was floating up from a pool of water. Luz gasped as she got up as best she could and started coughing.

"need a little help" a voice said as an arm was extended out to her, she grabbed it and was instantly back on her feet. She then looked up and saw herself staring at what looked like King only he was taller than Eda and his head was slightly more elongated with 6 fangs and 4 horns

"King?"

"haha no, that's *The smell of thursday*'s kid, I'm *The taste of that book report you'redefinitely not finishing before next semester*, but you can call me Ribby if that's easier. Pleasure to meet you Luz"

"wait you can't be the titan of Ribcage Isle, he's all…"

"dead looking"

"does that mean I'm also…" she started to sink

"no, nope, you don't want to do that" he said as he hauled her back up "do that without a portal next to you then you'll most likely drown."

"oh…so what is this place?"

"this is the in-between, well in-between a lot of places. It's also the place where titan's who didn't die from natural causes end up until they fully expire"

"wait, you mean you're still alive, even though you're only a ribcage?!"

"haha yep, it takes millennia for titan's to fully die, I myself only have about 5% of my life left, so that'll last me for another 1500 years roughly. I've also been observing you and your friends, and this is long overdue, thank you, thank you for freeing the people from that evil monarchy" Luz smiled

"you're welcome" and they shook hands.

When they let go Ribby continued "I'm also sorry to say that you messed up the portal, if you had done it correctly, then you would have appeared in the human realm with no problems, however because you did do it incorrectly, this is as far as you can go"

"oh, I was really hoping to see my mum again"

"well I never said you couldn't, go ahead, say a random persons name"

"uh Amity Blight?" a cube then rose up out of the water, she grabbed it and in a flash she found herself in a mirror in Amity's room

"what the? *looks around* Im in the reflection, she turned and saw Amity in her underwear lying on her bed while reading a comic with different snacks surrounding her, Luz blushed immensely before she let go of the cube finding herself back in the in between "hooboy" she said while tugging on her collar

"see something that you shouldn't have?" Ribby asked while giving her a few nudges

"yeah" once she regained her composure, she focused back on her mission "Camila! Camila Noceda of the Human Realm?" another cube floated up and she grabbed it, finding herself teleported into the reflection inside her mum's phone. "It's my house!" she exclaimed before her heart stopped in shock as she spotted her mother, "And thats my mom!"

It was her mom alright...and there was a lot more mom than she remembered having.

She had to be at least a hundred pounds heavier than what she was when she last saw her. She watched as her mum was dancing to the music before she opened the fridge and pulled out a plate stacked with brownies, she then sat down and started eating them with gusto "mum!" Luz shouted to try and get her attention

"mmm oh how is she such a good cook after just one summer camp? I'm gonna get fat if I don't stop"

"Get fat? Mum you would have killed me for letting myself put on an extra ten!...Though this does mean she doesn't have as much room to get mad at me when I get back."

"Mum? Do you need any help?" a voice called before a second Luz's head popped out from around the corner, the real Luz gasped in shock at this

"oh no sweetie I'm sure I can finish these by myself" the other Luz laughed at this

"you know that's not what I meant"

"I know, I take it that you're done cleaning your room?"

"Almost! With all that old stuff gone, I feel like a whole new person."

"Evil doppelgänger! Mum! Mum! *Luz knocked on the phone's glass* Mum! Mum!"

"I'm finished here, mija."

"cool, I'll just finish up then I'll get started on dinner soon, how does pizza tacos and burrito burgers sound?"

"sounds like something that shouldn't work like all of your cooking" She lifts up a 'brownie' and bit into it with a deep and content sigh "Mmmm, Baklava-brownie."

"great. Hope you'll save room for dessert. I made mooncake blondies" and with that the other Luz ran off.

The cube flashes and stop showing her kitchen "Follow her! Luz Noceda 2.0! Doppelgänger! Why won't you work?!"

"you see something odd?" Ribby asked

"there was a second Luz in my house! *Exasperated sigh* Okay, Luz, calm down. Just breathe and count to five." Another cube then floated up, which the two instantly noticed. Luz waddled over to it and grabbed it.

"A new life" the other Luz said before she closed the cupboard door, and saw the real Luz in the reflection.

"Youuuuuuu!"

Camila heard "Luz" screaming and headed upstairs

"So you can hear me." Luz stated angrily while the other Luz looked scared

"You're from the Demon Realm…and you're a lot bigger than before" she then gave another scream of shock "and what is that?!"

Luz looked behind her and saw Ribby "what? I was curious"

"this is the titan of Ribcage Isle, Ribby"

"sup" the other Luz then blinked a completely different set of eye lids

"I'm not going back! I—I won't go back!" she then picked up a red baseball bat and got ready to break the mirror when there was a knock on her door

"Luz? ¿Está todo bien?" Camila asked

"Sí, Mama! I just saw a spoiler from Monster Slayer Academia!" Luz replied

"...I'll never understand modern anime."

Luz then looked at her doppelgänger and shrugged, before the other Luz ran and jumped out of the window "geez, dramatic much" Ribby said

"I would like to point out that my room is on the second story of my house," Luz said,

"I'll let you sort the rest of this out" and he disappeared while Luz travelled from reflection to reflection as she followed the other Luz. She finally came to a stop in a pocket mirror in the house she had entered while chasing Owlbert a few months ago.

"So this is it. I'm gonna have to run... again. *Sad expression* Why couldn't this just work out?!" the other Luz said before kicking a rock that hit a trap mechanism and accidentally triggers it. A rope tightened around her foot and dragged her backwards. The other Luz became even more scared and revealed her true form to be a basilisk, the basilisk looked identical to Ocki only bigger and her colours reversed.

"Stop moving! You'll just make it tighter!" Luz said

"Huh?" the basilisk questioned

"I didn't mean to freak you out. I just want to figure out what's going on, okay? You're a from the Boiling Isles, aren't you?"

"*Sniff* Mm-hmm" she then reverted back into her Luz form.

"What's your name?"

"I'm Number F—I mean, I'm Vee."

"Okay Vee, I'm gonna help free you. You're gonna be alright. Now, back up a bit, give the wire some slack. Now, look for a little metal thingamabobber. Sorry, I don't know what it's called" Vee found what Luz was talking about and then pulled the rope loose. "There you go, nice and easy"

"Thank you" she said as she pulled her foot away before giving a small sob "you must be Camila's real daughter"

"I am. But right now, I'm trapped in the Demon Realm. Who are you, why are you pretending to be me?"

"I am... just looking for a place to belong" Luz got a confused look on her face, she was about to question her about Ribcage Isle when she continued "you were missing and mum... I mean, Camila seemed so kind, so I stayed with her but uh, I'll go if you—"

"Wait, wait, wait! Maybe we can help each other! Today I was gonna tell my mum where I've been, but because of you, she hasn't realized that I've been missing! So, keep living in my place! For now. When I get back, I can introduce her to the Demon Realm and help you find a place to live"

"really? You'd do that?"

"of course"

"thank you"

"no problem"

"…I'm curious, were you the one who sent all of those coven guards and scouts here"

Luz's eyes widened at that "oh titan! I totally forgot about that! have they caused untold destruction!"

"no, actually they've integrated into the town and have become residence here, they've opened up a bunch of restaurants, cheap doctors, three now work at the school, and one works with Camila"

"...And no one is freaking out or anything?"

"well according to Camila, when they first showed up there was some confrontation between them and the police, and quite a few were freaked out when they found out that the demons weren't people wearing costumes, but it all settled by the time I returned from camp"

"do they know that you're a basilisk?"

"well yes and no, they know at this point that there is a basilisk around, they just don't know its me. When they first saw me, they thought that I was you or at least your sister when they first saw me, but Camila defended me, and said that I was at camp the whole summer so it couldn't have been me who sent them all through, so they let it be. Between you and me, I've been using them as a food source"

"what? How?"

"well I get most of my nutrients and energy from magic, so I've been sneaking around and draining them of their magic, once I do it takes them about a week to recover back to 100%. I could just simply eat the food they make, but there's barely any magic in it so I'd have to eat a tonne to sustain myself"

"well it's a good thing you're a magic eater and not a life eater"

"huh?"

"nearly all other basilisks I've met eat life force" Luz then explained about Ribcage Isle.

When she was done, Vee was genuinely surprised that there was a whole island filled with life eating basilisks that lived side by side with other magical creatures 'maybe I could go there after Luz comes back' Vee thought to herself before another question came to her "why did you send them all through?"

"yeah, I didn't really think that plan through, they were going to capture Eda and I, but I tricked them into following me to the human realm, and once they were all through, I closed the door on them…hey if everyone is okay with witches and demons, shouldn't it be okay for you to walk around in your normal form?"

Vee shook her head "no, if any of those guys saw me in my normal form, they would tell everyone that I was dangerous and to stay away from me"

"oh…did mum ever ask or question you about the demon realm"

"yeah, but I just told her that I had never even heard of such a thing before, and she believed me"

"well that's good that our secret is safe. Hey, do you think that you could show me around town so I can see how the witches and demons are interacting with the people of Gravesfield?"

"sure" and with that Vee left the house.

As they headed to town Vee decided to ask Luz a question "uh Luz, can I ask you something?"

"Is it how I got so fat?" Vee nodded "well it turns out that witches and demons have uncontrollable natural urges to feed human, it also turns out that magically made food is really, 'really' fattening to humans opposed to normal food."

"huh? Well that would explain a few things"

"Now I have a question for you…whyis my 'mum' so fat?!"

Vee got a slightly ashamed look on her face "I don't know why, but I have an intense urge to cook for people, I'm constantly cooking food for mum, my friends, my classmates, and especially my partner.

Flashback

Vee, disguised as Luz, handed out huge pans of brownies to each of her classmates.

No I didn't say she was passing out brownies to her classmates from a pan. I said she was passing out pans. As in they all got like twelve brownies to themselves 'each'.

one of them could get enough of them. A popular girl gave a happy moan "god Noceda, I can't believe how good of a cook you are, and they're all low fat"

"I never said that they were low fat" Vee stated "In fact I said they were the exact opposite. These are way worse for your figure than a normal brownie."

Everyone in the class, including the popular girl that looked suspiciously like Amity paused a bit before shrugging and continued eating.

End Flashback

"I'm kinda the reason half of the kids at school have gone up a size…or three, and the witches and demons you sent here are the reason why nearly the whole town has gone up at least a size"

"And since you live with my mom, she's getting the brunt of it."

Vee nodded.

"wait hold up, you have a partner?"

Vee blushed slightly and nodded "Yeah, I met them at summer camp, along with my friends"

"that's so cool, congratulations"

"Thanks"

'hooboy this is going to make things complicated in the future' Luz thought to herself.

Vee now stood in the center of town and was slowly moving around, Luz could see various witches and demons interacting with humans, chatting, offering food, dating…apparently "Whoa this is so cool, it's like some of my dreams have come to life" she said before Vee stopped moving while looking straight at a group of high schoolers. Luz's eyes widened slightly "Hey, that girl has Hexes Hold'em cards! Eda got rid of all her decks. I was wondering where they went..." Knowing what Hexes Hold'em cards were, Vee sniffed the air "They must've run out of magic, I don't... smell anything from them, though it's kinda hard to tell with so many magic users around."

"Okay Vee, back away slowly and if they say anything, run like your life depends on it"

"Actually, Luz, these guys are my friends, and the one holding the cards is my partner." Vee stated before she started walking towards the group.

"A past connection that left its mark on your soul has shown up again, and it's asking you to shed your old ways and enter a metamorphosis! Becoming a spiritual leader, you're meant to be." Vee's partner said

"Yeah, that sounds about right" the boy agreed before scratching himself. Vee's partner had started off camp with a slim build but during and after summer camp she had blown up, now resting on just over 300 lbs, while all of her friends had put on a significant amount of weight Vee's partner had definitely put on the most.

As Vee's partner put the cards down on the ground, she spotted her "Luz!" she said as she got up with a bit of a strain

"Masha" Vee replied, closing the gap and they hugged and shared a quick kiss

'I am uncomfortable about the complications that will arise from this when I get back.' Luz thought as she watched a girl with her face kiss a stranger to her.

"I thought you said that you were busy helping your mum today"

"we finished early, I was going to come meet you guys but then my cousin asked me if I could record some of the demons and witches here because they live in Saskatchewan"

"oh, that's nice of you, would you like me to give you a reading? I wanna practice"

"sure" Masha then sat back down, making Vee do the same, they then lay down three cards on the ground. The first showed a crescent moon as the whitespace of an abstract sideways face. The second showed a skeleton with a golden chalice, and the third showed a fish with two Y-shaped arrows behind it.

"Woah" her two other friends said in union Masha then spoke

"You're running from your past. From a previous life that was not kind to you. However, the guilt and fear you carry will eventually catch you in a self-fulfilling prophecy that you won't be able to escape from" Vee made a nervous noise. "You're gonna need some bath bombs, girl."

"thanks" Vee said dejectedly, before she gave Masha a quick kiss and stood up "I'll see you around." And she walked off

"did I say something wrong?" Masha asked, getting a shrug from both of her friends.

After crossing the street, Vee stepped into an ally and gave a sigh. "Are you okay? Hey, forget what she said! Those fortune-telling cards are a bunch of bologna. Besides, I know what it's like to run away from home. I did the same thing" Luz said making Vee's eyes narrow

"You and I are not the same. You had a mum who loved you, a home, a life, you had it good! And you still wanted to run away, I... I didn't have a choice. My real name is... Number Five. As you know I'm a basilisk, and up until you told me about Ribcage Isle, I thought that I shouldn't even exist. My kind went extinct…well at least on the Boiling Isles, a long time ago, but we were brought back. They wanted to know how we drained magic."

"Wait hold on, I'm all for backstories, but basilisks drain the life force, not magic, except for this one basilisk I met in the past named Ocki. The first basilisk I ever met however did eat life force, and it ate the life force from over half of the kids at school"

"that must have been number 1, she was the odd one out of the lot of us"

"…were you all cloned?"

"yeah we were, from one specimen. Belos said that I looked the most like the specimen" Luz's eyes widened widened at this before a vicious scowl appeared on her face

"that…bastard! First Caleb and then Ocki" Luz took a few deep breaths before relaxing "sorry, continue"

"For many of us, all we knew how to do was feed. Some of us escaped, but I knew it was only a matter of time before he caught us again. While I was running from some Emperors coven guards, I snuck into a tent to avoid them. Once they passed, I was about to leave when a door appeared out of no where and you came out of it, I figured that the portal led to the human realm so I took my chance…"

Flashback

When Vee exited the portal, she found herself in an abandoned house. As soon as she left said house she heard some calling out "Luz? Where are you?" with a gasp Vee turned into a replica of Luz "Luz? There you are" Vee now disguised as Luz turned around and spoke nervously

"Hello... fellow human! Um... skin's sure weird!"

"Very funny. But, I was thinking, instead of taking the bus to camp, why don't we drive? I got the day off from work, and you'll have full control of the playlist."

"uh sure, sounds great"

End Flashback

"I didn't mean to keep playing this role, but... Camila was nice to me. I resent you for running away. But I'm also thankful that you did. I dunno. It's... confusing."

"You know, once I have a proper portal up and running, I'll take you to Ribcage Isle"

"r-really?! you will?!"

"sure I will!" Luz said before a loud growl emitted from Vee's abdomen "sounds like someone's hungry" Luz said in a slight teasing tone

"yeah, I haven't eaten any magic in a week and I've been using most of what I have to make ingredients for my cooking" she said, looking to the side, into a café next to the alley, she saw a familiar witch starting to get up to leave. Seeing this as an opportunity to get some magic, Vee went back into the alley next to the café and shapeshifted into an old lady where she waited. Luz was interested in seeing how this would play out so she kept quiet and watched. As the witch passed the ally, Vee spoke up "excuse me sonny, could you help me, my cat is very sick and needs help at the back here"

"sure, Steve is always willing to help" he said and he followed her into the ally. As soon as he was out of view from the street Vee spun around and began draining him of his magic, making him get weaker by the second. Just when she was almost done, she was struck hard in the side of the head by something and fell to the ground with the pocket mirror falling to the ground. Luz gasped as she watched Vee return to her normal form. She then scowled as she saw who it was that had struck Vee

"Steve! Are you okay?!"

"yeah I'm fine Lilith, I'm just so weak that I can't get up. So that's what's been eating our magic"

"yes…this is one of the basilisks that escaped from Emperor Belos, number 5 I believe"

"I never actually got to see any of the basilisks he had, though I thought basilisks went extinct?"

"they did, this, as well as all of the others, are clones of a single specimen Emperor Belos found, though unlike other basilisks, these ones only eat magic and not lifeforce, except for number 1, good thing that one was killed" using her magic, Lilith wrapped Vee up in a bundle which she put on her staff.

"So what are we going to do with it?" Steve asked

"well we can't kill it here, we'll take it to Suzong's restaurant and then dispose of it later tonight" Lilith replied

"sounds like a plan" She then helped Steve onto her staff, and they left, with Luz being thrust out of the reflection.

"What the?!" Luz then tried calling out 'Vee' and '5' but nothing happened

"Hit a snag?" Ribby asked, Luz then told him what happened and who that other her was "Well keep trying, as long as there's a reflective surface nearby and they're alive, you'll be able to see them" Luz stayed glued to the cube for a good 5 minutes until she could see Vee getting bound up before getting tossed in a cage.

"That should keep you from escaping until we can dispose of you," Lilith said as Vee started to regain consciousness. Once she was fully aware of her surroundings, she started shaking the cage "Let me out, please!" She begged "No, you may only consume magic now, but who knows what you'll be capable of once you reach full maturity" a snake-like demon said "but all I ate was magic, I never killed or hurt anyone!" She pleaded before all the demons and witches in the supply room left.

Vee went limp in her cage and gave a sad sigh "I should have known that I would have been caught eventually" she mumbled to herself. Looking around Luz found herself in the reflection of a small mirror

"Vee! Vee!" Vee looked and saw Luz in the tiny mirror "Don't worry, Vee, we can get out of this..."

"Go back to the Demon Realm, Luz."

"Huh?"

"Even if I do by some miracle get out of this, they won't stop until they've recaptured me…and killed me, even if it means going through Camila to do so"

"Vee! You're giving up too quickly!"

"I'm being realistic. It's okay, I knew that this would happen eventually. Goodbye, Luz."

"No!" Vee's cheeks bulged slightly before she spat out a small blob of water, which shattered the mirror on impact.

The cube Luz was using to see Vee broke "Vee! Five! Number Five!" no new cubes showed up "Agh!" and she stomped the black water. Ribby saw this and was about to question her when he saw her get a confident look on her face "Camila Noceda." a cube then emerged from the water. She then grabbed it and was transported to the reflection of Camila's phone. She saw her mum had just finished off a plate of something

"I know eating half a cake before dinner is bad but I don't know when Luz will be back…maybe I should start making dinner instead"

"Mum, are you there?"

"Huh?" she turned and looked at her phone "Luz?" she then got up and grabbed her phone

"Mum. It's so great to hear your voice."

"Oh. It's great to hear you too? Um, are you wearing a fat suit or something?"

"Mum, I have to tell you the truth. About the last few months." Camila then sat down to and began to listen to Luz's story.

Camila was now wide eyed in shock at the sight before her. After Luz had told her mother about her time in the demon realm, she thought that it was just her daughter being her old self, but after being told to go upstairs to her room, she was now staring at her thousand pounds of daughters reflection. "see mum, I'm not making this up"

"but, then who has been the you who's been with me the whole time?"

"a shapeshifter, her name is Vee and she's in grave trouble. Basilisks are seen as killing machines, BUT!" She half shouted when she realized from her mums expression that those last two words were not ones you used when convincing someone to mount a daring rescue "Unlike other Basilisk's she only eats magic, not lifeforce"

"so she's been the one who's been leaving witches and demons in comas?"

"yeah, but they do recover after a week with no damage done"

"I just thought you changed because of your time at summer camp"

"sorry mum, weirdo's don't change that easily, but we don't have much time now. I need you to save Vee, please mum!"

"…alright, where is she?"

"uh, Suzong's? Is that a restaurant or something"

Camila perked up "Yes I know where that is" and with that Camila hurried away

Camila's car arrived at Suzong's all-you-can-eat buffet. From her car, she could see the last of the patrons leaving for the night. Once the last person left, she saw a demon flip a sign making it say closed. She was about to get out of her car when she saw multiple witches and demons heading towards the restaurant from both sides before they entered it. From Camila's phone, Luz could see what was happening "They must be gathering everyone to watch the execution. Now's your chance Mum" Camila paused for a moment

"Luz, were this Vee's emotions and affections genuine or were they just an act?"

"no mum, I can tell that she hasn't been acting, anything she has said or done since she returned from camp was all genuine" Camila thought about her 'daughter's' actions over the past month or so. Lu…Vee was very helpful, affectionate, always trying to please her, and didn't get into trouble at school, despite only going there for 2 weeks now. If it all had been an act to be just like her daughter, then she was a bad actor. The corner of Camila's mouth curled a bit before she got out and walked up to the restaurant door, finding it still open she entered it but found it completely empty, despite still hearing voices.

She had only taken 3 steps forward before the air rippled and she saw all the witches and demons gathered "An illusion spell" she heard her daughter say. Sensing a human close by, everyone turned to look at her

"Sorry ma'am but the restaurant is closed," a burly demon said,

Camila put on a stern face "I believe that you have a basilisk here by the name of Vee" she said, making everyone go wide eyed the demon was about to deny the claim when another witch spoke up

"how do you know about the basilisk?" she questioned, getting a slap on the back of the head from a peer while many other witches and demons facepalmed.

"I know about her because I just found out that she's been disguised as my daughter for the past few months. So I am asking you to give her back please"

"Are you crazy! She's a well-documented magic eating mindless beast!" a witch said

"of which you fully recover in just over a week"

"Uh, cause it didn't want to risk it's food source drying up!"

"Which is behaviour you usually get in mindless beasts?" there was a long pause at that as most of the witches and demons thought that statement over "and in the short time she's been captive, has she shown or given any indication that she's a mindless beast" there was another pause before Lilith stepped forward

"she may consume only magic now, but once she fully matures, she could start craving life force instead of magic"

"…then that's just a risk that I'm willing to take for her, now please, hand her over"

"I'm sorry, but we can't take the risk"

"last warning, hand her over, or else"

Lilith gave a small laugh "And dare I ask, or else what?"

"or else I'll beat you with love and forgiveness" Most of the witches and demons laughed at this. Camila then pulled two things out of her purse, before placing her purse down on a table and propping her phone up on it "Now Luz, I don't want you to do what I'm about to do" she said before she turned around, and raised 2 sandals that she made in handicrafts, one had 'love' written onto it's sole and the other had 'forgiveness' written on its sole.

Vee, from her cage in the supply room, could her crashing, yells, explosions, and banging coming from the other side of the door. This lasted for a good 5 minutes before everything fell deathly silent. Hearing heavy footsteps, she gulped before the door was kicked open and a panting, slightly singed, and cut Camila entered dragging Susong by her collar "Now release her! Don't make me use reason and understanding." Susong cringed and made a spell circle and the cage as well as the ropes around Vee, disintegrated. Camila dropped the witch and fully took in Vee's true appearance before a calm smile appeared on her face "hi there" she started in a gentle voice "so you're the one who's been pretending to be my daughter" Vee looked ashamed at that

"I..." she was cut off as Camila embraced her

"Luz told me your story, and I'm not mad at all, though I will say, if you were pretending to be just like my daughter, you need some acting lessons" This made Vee give a small laugh "come on, lets go home"

"home?"

"do you still want to be with me" Vee nodded, getting some tears in her eyes "then lets go" and the two left the supply room.

When they came out to the dining area, Vee froze and went slack-jawed. Witches and demons were strewn all around the area, each with various levels of injuries. Tables and chairs were also broken, the front desk was in pieces, as well as the bar, and there were cracks all over the walls. The two made their way around the multiple bodies "what happened?" was all she could say

"they felt a mother's wrath"

"a mother's wrath?" Camila nodded and gave a wink before she grabbed her purse and picked up her phone where a wide-eyed slack-jawed Luz could be seen frozen in place. "Luz? Are you okay?" Camila asked

"gah wha buh words. Not. Working. For. Mouth." Camila giggled at that before they left the restaurant.

By the time they arrived back home, it had started raining. As Camila and Vee exited the car, Luz appeared through the headlights of the car "Heh! Look what I can do with the rain! Up top Vee!" they then attempted to high-five each other, only for Luz's hand phases through hers "Woah."

"Yeah. Thank you, Camila. For everything." Camila then gave Vee another hug.

"you can call me mum if you want to?"

"r-really?" Camila nodded and Vee tightened the hug before turning into Luz so she could hug her even better.

When they let go Camila smiled "You'd better go inside before you get any wetter" Vee nodded and turned to the house, only to stop as she saw Masha sitting on the front porch holding a small bouquet of flowers.

Finding her ability to move again she walked up to the front porch "Hey"

"…girl do you have some explaining to do" Masha said with a curled lip as she got up, Vee nodded and let her in.

"cool, I just got a sister," Luz said before turning back to her mum "You were absolutely awesome back there! I had no idea that you could be such a badass! Thanks for being cool... about everything." Her smile fell as she saw that her mother was starting to cry

"I'm not Luz. I'm really not. I'm trying to hold it together... I really am... But I have never been this scared before. How are you gonna get back here? Is this the only way I can touch you?" Camila attempted to hold Luz's hand, only for it to just phase through.

"Don't worry mum, I have the most brilliant minds working on making a fully working portal, I just need a little more time, I promise!"

"As scary as this is, it really does seem like you've matured."

"Yes! I've learned so much... Staying here was the best decision I ever made."

"You..." Her brow arched down "...chose to stay there?"

"Oh, uh..."

"Were you trying to live out some witch fantasy? Did you... did you hate living with me that much?"

"Mama, no! ne-" she was cut off as she was yanked down into a sitting position and felt the rope being pulled hard, Ribby then came into view startling Camila

"I'm sorry to interrupt what's happening here, but the portal you used to get here is starting to collapse, if you don't do through it now you'll be stuck here forever"

"Okay sorry mum, I have to go I love you!"

"I love you too" Camila replied before Luz disappeared.

Back in the inbetween

Luz was now trying to go through the water but she couldn't get through whatever barrier was underneath the water "why can't I go through?!" Luz said as she started to panic

"…I have an idea!" Ribby then spread out his wings and shot up into the air before turning over and coming straight down at Luz. Luz braced herself as Ribby plowed into her and they both disappeared under the water…

Back in the demon realm

While everyone was standing around bored out of their minds, the scientists noted that the portal was starting to collapse. They activated the winch that the rope was connected to, only for it to stop and become tight "she must be stuck on something" a scientist pointed out

"grab the rope and pull!" Eda ordered, everyone did as they were told and pulled with all of their might as the portal began to shake violently "come on Luz" Eda said through gritted teeth. Suddenly everyone fell back as the rope had full slack and something huge came out of the portal before it closed.

"Phew that was a close one" Ribby said, Luz looked at her surroundings and nodded before they both got up

"wait, if you're the soul of the titan, then how can you be out of your body"

"…huh? Well this is an interesting development" they then turned and saw everyone looking at Ribby and then King, seeing the similarities between them.

King then stepped forward "Dad?"

"no, no, no, no not your dad. One of your kind."

"...Another...Titan?"

"An old one, but yes. Now while I'm not your dad, I do know him very well. I also know that he loves you very much"

King started to tear up at that "thank you"

Ribby then turned to look at the 4 mayors as well as the scientists, all of whom were kneeling "it is an honour to be in your presence great one" Racnid said with the other's nodding in agreement

"please stand up, I'm not that worthy" the 4 mayors and the scientists stood back up "I will say though, I'm very proud at what the 4 of you have accomplished since taking up residence here *looks at the scientists* and the contributions that you have made to this society with your brilliance is to be greatly admired," he said before black smoke began coming off of him "ah dang, looks like I burned up what I had left coming back." he then turned back to Luz "here, take everything I have left, I'm sure you'll be able to put good use to it"

"are you sure?"

"positive"

"well okay then" Ribby then put his hand on Luz's chest and

"Oh I should probably mention this is going to hurt worse than childbirth."

"Wha?!"

There was a blinding light.

When everyone could see again, they were all once again left in shock as they saw that Ribby was gone and Luz looked completely different. She gained a pair of horns similar to King and Ribby. Her hair was now longer and curlier, her eyes had turned black with yellow irises, her arms were longer, her hands were larger, her hands and lower legs were now skeleton-like, her body was covered in thick short fur that was similar to King and Ribby's, and she appeared to have slimmed down a bit, most likely due to her increased height. Luz looked over her new form in awe, before smirking

"Luz, is that you in there?" Eda asked cautiously

"alright!" Luz declared while pumping a fist before she flew up a bit, she then made a small spell circle and a beam of magic came out that obliterated a whole wall "eep sorry, I can fix that" she then stuck out her hand and the wall's destruction went into complete reverse until it was undamaged.

"yep, that's Luz alright" Eda said half heartedly before Luz landed in front of her

"wow, this is so cool, I have the powers of a titan!" she said before knowledge of Ribby's past came flooding into her head, she paused for a bit and then sighed, there was a flash of light and Luz was back to normal.

"so that's it? Did you lose the power?"

"no, this isn't some last episode of a show power up, its a transformation that I can control" and to prove her point she went into her titan form and then back to normal before King climbed up on her shoulder

"so, did you talk to your mum? Did you mention me?" he asked

"yeah. Mama... Mum can't wait to meet you guys."

"oh by the way, did you see any of those minions you sent through?" Eda asked

"hoo boy" Luz said before she told everyone what had happened.

Back in the human realm

Vee and Masha were finishing their serious discussion, which Camila couldn't help but eavesdrop on "wow this is a lot to take in"

"I'm sorry for deceiving you"

"it's cool, I understand, but are you comfortable being this *gestures to her current Luz form* or would you prefer to be in your natural form"

"what would you like?"

"heh girl its not what I want, its what you want"

"well I know that this town has accepted witches and demons, but they're all bipedal, I on the other hand slither, so I might not be as accepted" "hmm, fair point *taps her chin* I got it!" she then scooped Vee up and carried her upstairs to her room, once they were in Luz's room, Masha placed Vee on the ground in front of the mirror "turn into your normal form" Vee did as instructed "now turn into a human version of this" Vee's eyes widened a bit before she started to slowly change, modifying certain features until she finished.

Masha gave a nod of approval and then kissed her cheek, making Vee blush "very pretty, but you don't have to be in a disguise for me, be natural if that makes you feel better" Vee then turned into her natural form "doesn't this form creep you out even a little? Don't you find it weird?"

"Yeah, and let me tell you a secret. The best people are" and she pressed her lips up to Vee's with the two falling onto Luz's bed.

Downstairs

After watching the girl carry the basilisk that had been pretending to be her daughter upstairs, Camila sat down at the kitchen table and buried her face in her hands 'she chose to stay in the demon realm. Was it because of me she wanted to leave? Did I push here away because I wanted her to be normal? Oh Manny, what have I done' she thought to herself as she silently wept while also swearing that things would be different when Luz returned.

Chapter 21: A New Realm

Chapter Text

Luz, along with King, were currently in the mystic district of East City. After the events of yesterday, Luz needed to do something to try and get her mind off of them, she had been thinking of hanging out with her friends, but the B.A.T's had a raid planned, so all of her friends, as well as Eda, were busy. King had been the one to suggest the little outing and so far they were enjoying it. The two were now looking around an oddities store that was filled with various artifacts and weapons.

King saw a glowing green ball that was labeled 'mind reading orb' grabbing it, his eyes widened as he could now see what everyone in the store was thinking, thanks to small screens floating above their heads. Looking at the shopkeeper he could see that the shopkeeper was just picturing everyone as wallets with legs. Looking at Luz he could see that her mind was shifting every time she looked at something new. He then walked over to her "hey Luz" Luz turned to look at him only for the image to change to him wearing a little doctor's outfit, making him recoil a bit "Ugh! Luz, I'm not going to be wearing something like that"

Luz's eyes widened slightly "Are you reading my mind?!" She exclaimed before covering her head

"yeah, you just hold this thing and you can see what people are thinking of" he explained before handing it to her,

Luz grabbed it and began seeing everyone's thoughts, a cheeky look appeared on Luz's face as some ideas formed in her head "I don't need that thing to tell me that you're thinking of things that you can do with it" Luz gave a slight nod before placing the ball in a tote bag she had brought with her. King then scurried off to look for more things while Luz continued with her search.

After going over several more items, from real x-ray glasses (which went into her bag) to beating crystal hearts. "hmm magic wand, magic robe, magic frog"

"I'm not magic, I mean, ribbit"

"…oookaaaay then…hmm magic sandals?" she picked them up and looked at them, they looked old, really old "hey King, I need your help" there was a pause before King appeared around a corner

"yo, what's up?"

"Could you put these on for me?" she asked as she showed him the sandals

"sure" he replied as he made his way over to her. Because of her size, Luz found it almost impossible to dress her lower half and more often than not had to have Eda (or someone else) help dress her. While she could simply use what she called her 'third eye' spell to make herself thin, when she canceled the spell she would be too thin for the clothes she already had on.

Using a wall for support, which cracked slightly under her 1000+ lbs frame, she lifted up one leg and King removed her shoe and sock before sliding the sandal onto her foot. As soon as it was on, it adjusted to her foot size before she put her leg back down "Tooo coooomfy" King then did the same to her other foot with it doing the same as the first one. Walking around in them she noticed that she felt a lot lighter, like she was back to her original weight, and it also felt like she was walking on clouds. To make a test, she jumped up as best she could (only getting 3 inches off the ground) before she floated back down and landed softly back on the ground. Getting King to try them on, with the sandals adjusting to his foot size, he found the same thing, while he did feel lighter, he couldn't jump any higher than he normally could, though he did float back down.

"Try jumping off of me this time" Luz suggested, King did as he was told and leaped off of her only to slowly float down, even when he changed to a belly flop position, he still only floated down "I'm getting them" was Luz's only reply as she then put them into her bag.

The next item she looked at was a blue, fancy-designed, hand mirror. Picking it up, she almost dropped it as she saw not her normal reflection, but a demonic one. Making several faces in the mirror, she watched as the reflection made the same faces. "Cool! Hey King, look what I found" and she showed him the mirror where he saw a scarier version of himself

"who's that good-looking guy" he said to his reflection

"I'm buying this, the guys will get a good laugh out of this," she said and slipped it into her bag.

After buying their stuff, courtesy of the unlimited pass she had, and getting a pie shoved into her mouth by the shopkeeper, the left the store "Okay where to now" she said before she felt her head being tugged to the side. Her cat ear headband then turned back into Stringbean, who then turned into an arrow, looking at where she was pointing, Luz could see a pet store "well the lady has spoken" Luz said and the three of them headed over to said store. "King, just so were clear, you have to stay away from the impnip"

"awe but Luz"

"no but's mister, remember what happened last time?"

Flashback

Luz and Eda stood slackjawed and wideeyed at the sight of the completely destroyed pet store with King rolling around in the center making happy moaning sounds

End Flashback

"oh yeah, I'm still banned from there" he said as Stringbean flew off with Luz following her while King walked off to search the store.

Luz followed Stringbean into the pet food aisle, though when she arrived, she saw that her Palismen was nowhere to be seen "Stringbean?!" she called out as she walked down the aisle, looking left and then right she saw a bag of high quality kibble with a hole in it, shaking. Peering into the hole, she saw Stringbean going to town on the kibble inside. Luz gave a shake of her head before she picked up the bag and teleported to the front desk where she bought the bag and then teleported back to her room, peering back through the hole she spoke "I'm going back out with King, you be a good girl" with cheeks full of kibble, Stringbean nodded and went back to eating. Luz then placed the bag down and teleported back to King, when she arrived however, she had to use every scrap of will power she had not to laugh as she saw that King was now stuck in a cage

"Luz! Help! That rockpig tricked me!" Luz looked and saw what looked like a Guinea pig made of stone pointing and laughing at King before it scurried off. Luz rolled her eyes and got him out "thanks Luz, I would have never have survived behind bars" this made Luz laugh before she left the store to continue exploring.

The next day

Luz and her friends were now all at Amity's house, they had originally been at the park where Luz was showing off everything she had bought yesterday, but unfortunately she had been spotted by some guards and they all fled to their current location. Since defecting from the Emperors coven and joining the B.A.T's, Hunter had integrated into the Hexsquad, and had been enrolled into Hexside by Chaser. Due to not having any magical abilities, Hunter had decided to go into the potions track. Also, if Luz didn't know any better, she would say that Hunter and Willow had a thing for each other, even if they didn't realise it yet.

The final item she showed them was the mirror everyone was impressed by their demonic appearances, though Hunter was slightly confused that his face didn't show up at all. When Willow looked at the back of the mirror, she saw some runes inscribed on it "uh can anyone here read runes?" she asked, while showing them to everyone. The witches, as well as Hunter and Luz admitted that they either didn't know runes…or they just hadn't been paying that much attention about them.

Amity then perked up "wait, I think Edric knows how to read and write runes, lets go ask him" she suggested and they all left Amity's room.

Not finding him in his room, they instead went to Emira's where they could hear him grunting and straining. Opening the door the saw him just barely struggling to get Emira's pants over her large butt "phew, Emira, I think you need bigger pants" a blushing Emira gave a slight nod

"hey Ed, can you read this?" Amity asked as Willow handed him the mirror.

Adjusting his glasses he held up the mirror before reading it out loud "dembella papa tenunson tela ponaga monocanco piccolo butla antu" there was then a bright flash of light and when Edric could see again, the only one in the room was himself. He then watched as the mirror then turned to dust in his hands "uh-oh"

In a bright flash of light everyone was surprised to find themselves now in the centre of town and not in Emira's room. It now also looked like it was night time, however, looking up revealed that the normal sun was replaced with a dim blue star that was only twice as bright as a full moon and cast a blue glow over everything. Despite the low levels of light, the town was just as busy as it normally would be during the day. They also noticed that it was cold, much colder than the demon realm. "uh did I miss something here?" Luz questioned

"guys, I don't like the looks of this" Willow said as she saw that all of the citizens looked demonic/more demonic.

"Hi" a voice said, Amity looked down and saw a very scary little demon girl standing in front of her, before Amity could give a reply however, the little demon girl materialised a huge pie and gave it to Amity. Amity looked at the pie and became compelled to eat it, she tried resisting as much as she could, but it quickly became too much for her and she wolfed down the pie like she hadn't eaten in days. She gave out moans as the taste was nothing short of divine to her. As Amity ate other townsfolk stepped forward and offered food to the rest of the witches, who like Amity were unable to resist accepting and eating the food that they were offered. Luz and Hunter were puzzled, normally it would be them who people would be offering food to, not their friends.

"Hey there" a familiar voice said, turning to said voice, they were both shocked to see a thin rag wearing, slightly dirty, demonic-looking Boscha

"uh hey" Luz said awkwardly

"you look a lot like those mean kids that constantly bully people" she said

"are their names Luz, Willow, Gus, Amity and Hunter?" Hunter asked

"yes, though I've never seen you before, I take it that your name's Hunter?" Hunter nodded "My name's Boscha, nice to meet you"

"nice to meet you too" he replied, finding this version of Boscha way less intimidating and scary than the other one he knew.

"I take it that you're not from here?"

"yeah…" and he explained what happened. "so, Boscha, what is this place called, because I am 100% sure we're not in the Demon Realm anymore"

"this would be the Echo Realm. And you're currently on the Freezing Isles"

Luz raised a brow "The Echo Realm? *turns to Hunter* have you ever heard of this place?"

"No, never"

Luz turned back to the demonic Boscha, who decided to ask them a question "out of curiosity, are your friends there witches?"

"yeah they are" Luz stated

"that probably explains why I want to feed them"

"wait, if our friends are witches, then what are you?"

"oh, I'm a warlock and so is everyone else here" Luz was slightly puzzled by this title, seeing as how warlocks were generally men, but she figured that warlock was a gender neutral term in this realm like the term witches was in the demon realm.

"so would you know anything about the mirror I told you about?" Hunter asked

"sorry, I have never heard of such an item, maybe Empress Eda could help you"

"Empress Eda?!" Both Luz and Hunter exclaimed in union before they looked at each other and then back to Boscha

"yeah she's very knowledgeable in these sort of things, come on I'll take you to her"

"uh thanks, come on guy's, this Boscha is going to help us" Luz said only to see that her friends were too busy eating

"they look like they're enjoying themselves, why don't we just let them be" Boscha said, Luz and Hunter were a bit unsure, but they also knew that their friends were more than capable of taking care of themselves, so they wouldn't be any danger for them.

"So what are you two exactly, I'm not getting the urge to feed you like I did with your friends"

"I'm a human and he's a Grimwalker" Luz stated,

Boscha tapped her chin "hmm, I have never heard of those things" she replied, making Hunter give a slight sigh of relief. As the trio walked, Luz and Hunter took note of their surroundings and the differences between the Echo Realm and the Demon Realm. While buildings all looked the same, a vast majority of them were different in what they contained, especially with stores.

Due to her weight, the group had to stop multiple times for Luz to catch her breath and regain her energy. Boscha was more than happy to make drinks and food for Luz, especially when she found out that she got a wonderful feeling at every mouthful Luz swallowed. Hunter had taken note that it seemed as though everything Luz consumed was instantly turning into fat on her, rather than a slow-ish and gradual thing. By the time they reached the castle, which was situated at the edge of town, Luz now weighed 1150 pounds. During the walk, Hunter asked many questions about this place, which Boscha was more than happy to answer. Hunter and Luz had found out through Boscha that the Freezing Isles was located on the corpse of a Leviathan (which were colossal sea serpents), and instead of the Boiling Sea, it was the Freezing Sea, a sea that was so cold that being in close proximity to it caused frostbite and going into it froze anything instantly. Hunter's eyes narrowed as he spotted demonic versions of Mason and Terra guarding the front door to the castle.

"Halt, state your business" Demonic Terra ordered

"hi there, these two are lost travellers and we'd like to see if Empress Eda could help them get home please" Boscha explained, the two guards looked unconvinced

"If you let us in, I'll let you feed me till your hearts content" Luz offered, the two guards raised a brow at this

"trust me you wont regret it" Boscha stated. Just to test it, the two gave Luz some food each, and as soon as Luz swallowed they both felt a wonderful sensation

"you two can go in but she stays here" Demonic Mason stated, Luz agreed to this and both Boscha and Hunter entered the castle. After a few twists and turns, the two found themselves in the throne room were they saw Empress Eda sitting on a throne, Hunter saw that this Eda looked like a Harpy than a witch, or a warlock in this worlds case.

Demonic Eda raised a brow as the two entered "and you are?" she asked, Boscha introduced herself and Hunter before Hunter took over and explained his situation.

Eda's eyes widened at this "An entire realm where we're all witches?"

"yeah, I take it that you don't know how to get us back?"

"hmm I have heard about mirror's infused with Leviathan's blood that can make gateways to other worlds, but I never thought that they actually existed" she then stood up before turning to a Demonic Kikimora "shorty, assemble our most brilliant minds and have them work on a way to get this kid and his friends home"

"of course Empress Eda" she replied with a bow, making Hunter roll his eyes, Empress Eda then turned to her other side to look at a spikier version of Warden Wrath, who was wearing a golden version of his normal mask "Wrath, have it so that this kid and his friends are living in the lap of luxury"

"right away Empress" he replied while giving a salute before he walked towards Hunter and Boscha "please follow me" he said in a kind tone before he walked off with the two following him, none of them noticing Empress Eda licking her lips.

When they reached the front castle doors, Hunter almost fell over in shock, he saw that Luz now had to be at least 300lbs heavier than she was before, while Terra and Mason were now slumped against the walls drooling with happy looks on their faces. "Wow Luz, how did you get so big in such a short amount of time?"

"I have no idea, it's like everything I ate just instantly turned to fat on me, and the weird part is I don't feel full at all" she said,

"that is weird." He then told her about his interaction with Empress Eda, at hearing this realm's Eda's appearance, Luz shivered as she remembered Eda's owlbeast form before she was cured

"so Boscha" Luz started, getting the young warlock's attention "If you don't mind me asking, why are you wearing rags and look like you slept in the dirt?" Boscha hung her head at this "because I don't have a home…or parents" she said, making Luz get a knot in her stomach.

"If I wasn't able to use magic to make food, I probably would have starved to death long ago. But I'm optimistic that my life will turn around soon, like my mum used to say "positive's always come from negatives, it just takes a little time" and those are the words that I live by" she explained with a cheerful smile. Both Luz and Hunter admired this girl's optimism

"and how long have you been homeless for?" Hunter questioned

"about 7 years now" this made Luz, Hunter, and even the warlock Wrath stop in their tracks

"7 years?!" They exclaimed

"yeah, why? What's wrong with that?"

"That's an awfully long time to be by yourself" Wrath stated

"maybe…"

"you know Boscha, you could come back to our realm, I know Eda would be more than happy to let you stay if we explain your situation to her" Luz said

"Empress Eda?" Boscha questioned

"no, just regular Eda"

"you'd really do that for me, even though we just met?"

"Of course!" Boscha beamed, showing off all of her razor sharp teeth, before she embraced Luz tightly while thanking her profusely 'this girl clearly hasn't had a shower in a long time' Luz thought at the stench coming off the triclopes.

They soon arrived at a fancy looking hotel, where Wrath informed the owner about the empress's desire for the kids accompanying him. They were soon shown to their rooms, which while not as fancy as the hotels on Ribcage Isle, were very nice. With a bow, Wrath left the three teens. Boscha looked at Luz and Hunter "I should be going as well, this place is way too upscale for the likes of me"

"okay then, see you around," Hunter said before he was elbowed hard by Luz

"what he means to say is that you're staying here with us as well, isn't that right Hunter?"

"*wheeze* yeah, totally"

"R-Really?" Boscha questioned

"yep, why don't you have a nice long hot shower" Boscha's eyes widened at the thought of a shower and she made a bee-line straight to the bathroom. As soon as the door shut Luz opened up the window and inhaled deeply.

"Yeah, I agree…uh Luz"

"yeah?"

"I just realised that you gained all that weight in like 15 minutes"

"yeah?"

"so what about the others?" in perfect sync they put their fingers to their foreheads, but nothing happened "uh shouldn't we have teleported?" Luz tried again and again but nothing happened. She then tried her glyphs and spells, but nothing happened. Starting to get a bad feeling, she tried to make a spell circle, but still nothing happened. Hunter then tried summoning Flapjack, but nothing happened as well "I don't think our magic works in this place" Hunter said, as Luz took the transformed Stringbean off her head, but she remained inactive

"Hunter, you can move faster than me currently, head into the town and find the others" Hunter nodded and left, even though he was chunkier now, he was still as fast and agile as he was before witches and demons started offering him food.

He soon arrived in the centre of the town where a huge group had formed. Forcing his way into the centre, his jaw dropped as he saw Willow, Gus, Amity, and Emira, all of them had absolutely blown up in weight with all of them having now gained at least 900lbs since he last saw them, and to him, it seemed as though they were completely oblivious to the weight they had gained as they happily ate everything that was offered to them. "Alright, that's enough!" he said as he started smacking food away from them "you lot follow me, NOW!" he yelled at his friends. This seemed to snap them out of their food-obsessed trance, as they all looked at the furious-looking Hunter, Willow was the first to speak

"Hunter what…" she trailed off as she looked at her now massive body, with the other's following suit

"follow me" he said before angrily telling the crowd to move, which they all thankfully complied to. His friends, simply being in shock, mindlessly followed him to the hotel they were staying at.

Once they had gotten some distance between them and the crowd, who thankfully hadn't followed. Hunter stopped and turned to see his friends sweating, puffing, and wheezing, heck Emira looked like she was using all of her remaining energy just to stay on her feet. When they had all caught their breath, Amity, being the second heaviest of the group, was the first to speak "what happened to us?!"

"It seems as though food made by people in this dimension has the same effect on you as yours does on Luz and myself, only worse"

"*Huff* *Huff* Ohhh. I'm dying. My legs are killing me and everything is moving in different directions every time I move. how does Luz move around so easily at this weight" Gus asked,

"We gained weigh in increments. You've put all that on all at once" Emira stated

"Whose we? you're more winded than any of us"

"That was before. This is now"

"come on, I'll take you lot to the hotel we're going to be staying at" and the group followed Hunter back to the hotel, having to stop every 100 meters or so the group could catch their breath.

By the time they reached their hotel rooms, everyone was barely able to stand. They were all just barely able to make it to their beds before they collapsed onto them from complete exhaustion, and quickly passed out. Luz and Hunter were now staring in concern at the 1100lb Willow, sleeping soundly. "We need to find a way to get home soon, otherwise everyone will be too big to do anything," Hunter said with Luz nodding in agreement

"and who knows if all of this weight is like mine or like normal people in the Human Realm"

"what do you mean?"

"well people in the human realm are at risk of numerous health problems at even less than a third of my size. I think because all of the food I've eaten has been magical is the reason I haven't had any health problems so far"

"Really?"

She shrugged "It makes about as much sense as anything else I could make up."

"whoa!" they turned and saw Boscha wearing a bathrobe looking both shocked and entirely refreshed "looks like they certainly had their fill…and then some"

"yeah" Luz said before explaining what happened.

When she was done, she saw that the triclopse was straining to hold herself back, an action that Luz knew all too well at this point. She sighed "give me all of your food" Luz said before she stuck out her hands. Boscha began conjuring up lots of food and Luz ate it as fast as the young warlock could make it. When Boscha finally stopped, Luz had stacked on another 50lbs

"sorry" she said sheepishly

"Eh, I'm used to it"

The next day

Luz, Hunter, and Boscha all headed to the library, while their friends stayed at the hotel, just so what happened yesterday wouldn't happen again and leave them fully immobile. "If there's any information on the mirror that got you here, it will be in this library. There are thousands of years of information stored here" Boscha explained, Luz and Hunter hoped that she was right.

Meanwhile

Back at the hotel, the Hexsquad, plus Emira, were all in the room that Gus used, watching a PB that Gus had made with his illusion magic there. They were trying to focus on the PB but they were more focused on their newly acquired bulk with great concern eventually Gus couldn't concentrate anymore and the illusion faded away "ugh! I'm sorry, I just can't believe how fat I got yesterday"

Willow was the next to speak "Yeah, it feels weird, and restrictive. I know I was a bit on the heavy side before, but this is something entirely new"

Emira had actually been less focused on her body than the others had, being very big already, she had long accepted her size, and it didn't bother her at all if she got bigger or smaller, though this… "you know, once I build up enough strength, I think I'll be fine at this size" she said making everyone look at her

"but you're the biggest out of all of us, shouldn't you be more distressed?" Gus questioned

"I accepted I was fat and likely gonna be fat for the rest of my life years ago, besides once we get back, you can just use that spell Luz has to slim yourselves back down" they felt a weight lift off their shoulder...unfortunatly it was only metaphorical weight "how about you Amity? What do you think about your size?"

Amity blushed "well lets just say Luz knows how to make a girl feel very attractive at any size" she said as she remembered the PG-13 night she had with her girlfriend last night.

There was then a knock at the door "come in?" Gus said, the door then opened and all of the hotel staff came in

"can we help you?" Amity asked.

"In a sense." One said before the staff all conjured up food and offered it to the teens, who ate it without question…

Luz and Hunter searched extensively for any information on the mirror, through books on magical items, ancient artifacts, and even just books on myths. Sure there had been books on otherworld's, but no information on how to get to them. Hunter had also noticed that throughout their whole time at the library, Boscha seemed to be on edge and look very guilty, he raised this concern to Luz, who could see it as well…now that he mentioned it. As Boscha picked out the last book on myths, Luz approached her from behind "hey Boscha" the girl spun around in shock "oop sorry"

"its fine, I think my heart will start again soon" Luz couldn't help but giggle at that before she put on her serious face

"okay Boscha, Hunter and I know that something is up with you, please tell us what it is" Luz could see that the girl was about to break "I promise, whatever's wrong, we won't be angry at you" Boscha looked Luz on the verge of tears and began to confess…

Flashback

Snuggling into a proper bed for the first time in years, Boscha was about to go to sleep when Empress Eda appeared in her room in a puff of smoke "Hello there Boscha"

"Empress Eda?!" she scrambled out of bed and kneeled before the empress

"rise" Empress Eda said with an eye roll "okay kid, I'll cut to the chase, I need you to distract the human and the sick looking kid tomorrow while we prepare their friends"

"prepare? Prepare for what?"

Empress Eda then whacked her on the head with her staff "What do you think?! We're going to eat them, you moron!"

Boscha gasped at this "e-e-eat them?!"

"yeah, why else would we instinctively give food to witches to fatten them up"

"for the good feeling it gives us?"

Empress Eda gave an annoyed sigh "I guess you were never taught or have experienced the taste of a witch before. Look if you distract those two for me tomorrow while we fatten up and cook the others, I'll make it so that you will live in luxury for the rest of your life. No more homelessness, a warm bed and shower every night, and servants to wait on you hand and foot, and all you have to do is distract those two"

"But they're my friends, and they said that they would take me with them back to their realm"

"friends? You honestly think that they're your friends"

"well yeah"

"you only just met them, plus do you think that they would want to be friends with someone who can only conjure up food instead of using actual magic, that's why your parents fought, eventually resulting in their demises, isn't that right, little orphan" Boscha was on the brink of tears as she remembered that day like it was yesterday…

Flashback in Flashback

A seven year old Boscha was used to the sight of her parents arguing, with her being the main reason for the argument once again, her father was constantly angry that she was not a strong demon and her mother defending her by saying that she was special. Every time they argued it had just been verbal, but this time, her mother punched him across the face with an ice covered fist this resulted in the two starting to use magic on each other. The young warlock screamed at them to stop which allowed her father to shove a sword made of stone right through her mothers chest. The little warlock screamed as she watched her mother slide off the sword and stumble back before hitting a wall and sliding down "mummy!" she screamed as he father turned to her with the sword and charged at her, ready to kill her as well, as he went to decapitate her with a swing of his sword a spear made of stone burst out of his third eye. He twitched a bit before face planting on the floor, dead.

Boscha raced over to her dying mum and began trying healing magic on her mum while begging her not to die, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't perform any healing magic. "mummy, please don't die"

"I'm sorry sweetie, mummy can't make make that promise" Boscha cried into her mothers chest as her mother wrapped her arms around her "Cherry pie" Boscha looked up "I want you to promise me two things something"

"what mummy?"

"promise me that you will never blame yourself for this, and never let your lack of magic get you down"

"I promise mummy! I promise!"

"that's a girl. love you…" and with that she went limp, as Boscha cried her eyes out.

End Flashback in Flashback

"Distract them for me and you'll never have to worry about being homeless again"

"…okay, I'll do it"

"good girl" and with that, Empress Eda left, leaving Boscha to her own thoughts…

End Flashback

After she had finished her story, Hunter looked angry, while Luz just looked annoyed…as well as slightly confused "why did you have such a big pause in that explanation"

"who cares, we have to save them, where are they!"

"most likely in Empress Eda's castle"

"then that's where we're going, come on Luz lets go!" Luz nodded and the two left, leaving Boscha by herself.

As the two made their way to Eda's castle through the surprisingly empty streets, something important dawned on Luz "hey Hunter"

"yeah Luz?"

"how are we going to save them? We have no magic and no working magical weapons. Plus I'm too slow at this weight" Hunter looked around to see if there was anything that could help them. He then spotted a stationary wagon with two Rock Rat's attached to it, which was next to a weapons store

"I have an idea"

Luz and Hunter were now racing through the streets in their 'borrowed' wagon, now both armed to the teeth with futuristic abomination weapons "my mum would have probably have had a nerdgasm after seeing that store" Luz said as she admired her newly acquired armour

"I like the fact that despite how big and bulky this stuff is, its as light as a feather" Hunter added as the castle came into view. By a simple thought, a set of tiny binoculars came down from the head piece that Luz currently had

"there's a huge crowd entering the front of the castle…that has a huge banner saying "Witch Feast" on it"

Hunter scowled at this and whipped the reigns making the Rock Rat's go faster "we're going to make one heck of an entrance"

The citizens of Bonesborough were entering the castle, all of them eager to taste witch flesh, the most tastiest, nutritious, rarest delicacy of all time, and from what they'd been told, there was going to be enough to last them for weeks. Their happiness was paused however as loud squeaks cut through the air before a fair number of them were knocked down and run over by the Rock Rat drawn wagon. Bringing the wagon to a stop, Luz and Hunter jumped off and got ready "We're here for our friends, hand them over and no one else has to get hurt" Luz said as Hunter made his way to her side.

"Do what she says and we won't have to use these" Hunter ordered, the two then watched as everyone perked up in unison as if they were all hearing something that they could not.

All the citizens scowled before they made spell circles, Luz couldn't help but grin "Looks like we're doing this the hard way, LET'S GIVE THEM HELL!" and they rapidly fired their weapons.

Explosions and screams rang out through the castle as Luz and Hunter used everything they had in their arsenal, and due to all of their weapons having unlimited ammo, they didn't have to conserve anything. A shield formed in front of Luz which protected her from 5 combined fire spells, which she retaliated with a barrage of energy bombs that sent the warlocks flying. Hunter swung around an energy whip that slashed many warlocks across their fronts, incapacitating them. He then stuck his right arm out which quickly became surrounded in abomination goop and machine parts until it formed into giant mechanical arm, 10 times the size of his normal arm. Forming a fist, he swung his huge arm back and forth taking out everyone in his path. His arm then crackled with electricity, which he slammed down, scattering bolts of electricity out along the ground which shocked more demon witches.

After 10 minutes, all of their attackers were either incapacitated, or had fled in fear "That. Was. AWESOME!" Luz said with stars in her eyes

"I know right!" Hunter agreed "I think I found the things that can make up for my lack of magic"

"It would certainly give you more flair…*sniff* *sniff* uh-oh I smell something cooking"

"then lets keep going and mow down anyone that gets in our way" and with that the two ran off. As they made their way to where an honestly wonderful smell was coming, they encountered many guards and simply blasted them away.

Eventually the two reached the main hall where the floor was opened up, revealing a colossal pot that was filled with a bubbling broth. Up above the pot in cages were what could only be described as massive blobs covered in cloth "are those…" Hunter trailed off. The chanting clear now.

"GROW! GROW! GROW! GROW!"

"yeah, and they're a lot bigger now" she said faintly. Not one of their friends weighed under 5000lbs at this point, and that number was still increasing as some kind of substance was flowing down tubes and into their mouths. Visibly swelling wider and wider before their eyes and they allowed it to flow into their mouths as their fat pushed against and around the bars trying to escape. Theirs eyes grey and glazed over. "Huh. Never thought I'd feel skinny again." Luz brandished a glowing sword and made several swings, letting loose arcs of energy that sliced through the tubes, preventing their friends from getting any bigger.

"Well, well, looks like that talentless 3 eyed echo-warlock, couldn't keep you two party crashers distracted" Empress Eda stated as she got up from her throne and spread her wings out "Let me guess. The dashing heros appear at the last possible minute to save the day, right?"

"Right! Were not letting you lower them into that pot!"

"Sorry to rob you of a big moment girl, but Those witches got a lot of warlocks to feed. They're not even remotely close to done."

The two of them did not pout. "Aw. Really?"

"Yeah. Really. So let's wrap this up so we can get them back on their last meals." She snapped her fingers "Wrath, Kiki, take them out"

"Yes Empress" they said in union, Wrath charged at Hunter while Kikimora surprisingly transformed into a 6 foot tall skeletal version of herself, and moved rapidly towards Luz.

Hunter's arms rapidly became surrounded in abomination goop and machine parts until they formed into two giant mechanical arms (3 times the size of his normal arms), and a thick plate of metal over his chest, before he and Wrath clashed. The two threw punches at each other, with Hunter's definitely doing more damage than Wrath was. As the two grappled with each other Wrath opened his mouth and shot out a stream of fire at Hunter, only for a shield to activate, protecting him. "where did you acquire armour this advanced"

"in the back room of a weapons store" Hunter stated. While he and Luz had originally just wanted to get blasters or something to help them take down a town of warlocks, Luz had made an off hand comment that 'the best stuff was probably in the back', and by titan, she was right. Hunter then threw Wrath's arms to the sides before placing both hands on Wrath's chest and firing twin energy beams which carried Wrath up and sent him crashing into a wall where he free fell down, landing in a heap on the ground.

Luz was having trouble taking down Kikimora, in this new form, Kikimora was faster, more agile, and stronger, opposed to Luz who was almost the complete opposite. Kikimora was using a combination of magic and physical attacks on Luz, while her magic was countered with the weapons Luz had (being absorbed and deflected) her physical attacks to Luz's unprotected spots, which was like 70% of her body, were doing the most damage. Kikimora slashed Luz across the face, punched her 4 times in the stomach and then made a spell circle, sending a huge column of ice slamming into Luz and sandwiching her between it and a wall. As she was about to fully crush Luz a glowing to her side caught her attention, she turned her head only to be shot point blank in the face with a laser cannon that had formed around Hunter's arm. Kikimora was sent plunging into the pot of broth where she was cooked alive.

Hunter pushed the column of ice away, freeing Luz "Thanks Hunter"

"no problem"

"ugh" the two turned and saw Eda facepalming "why did I even bother having those two as guards, well if you want vermin exterminated, you have to do it yourself" she said as she spread her wings out

"I'll fight her, you free the others" Hunter said

"right" Luz whispered back, before Eda shot up into the air and swooped at the two where she opened her mouth and sent out a beam of red magic at the two which Hunter countered with a laser blast. However, much to Hunter's shock, Eda's attack quickly over powered his, luckily he was able to put a shield up just in time, only for Eda to stop her attack, flip over and kick him with both feet, sending him flying back from the impact.

While Eda was distracted with Hunter, Luz was now in the process of figuring out how to save her friends, while not having them plummet to their deaths in a huge pot. "You should seal up the floor first" Luz whipped her head around and saw Boscha

"why are you helping me?"

"I know I lied to you and Hunter, so I want to make it up to you by helping you save your friends" Luz smiled at this and nodded. Turning a large crank together, the floor slowly closed up which was thankfully going unnoticed. By the time the floor was entirely sealed up, Luz was exhausted, but she steeled herself "phew, Luz no time to rest, you need to-"

"gah!"

"Hunter!" Luz and Boscha whipped around and saw a slightly damaged Eda holding a beaten and bloody Hunter up by his neck. His armour lay in pieces on the floor having been destroyed by Eda's onslaught. Luz's cry alerted Eda to Luz and saw what she had done so far

"you know, Human's always disgusted me, sure feeding them gives you the feeling of having a shot of dopamine, but they taste like garbage, they're essentially vermin, and vermin needs to be…ERADICATED!" and she fired a beam of magic straight at Luz. Luz shut her eyes and waited for the pain…but nothing happened, though she did hear a scream. When she opened her eyes, her mouth dropped as she saw Boscha standing in front of her with her arms out stretched, now both smoking and bleeding

"B-Boscha?"

"hey"

"why?"

"I thought that protecting you was the best way to make up for me lying to you and Hunter, I'm sorry" she then fell to her knees and face planted, remaining perfectly still.

Luz looked down at the lifeless Boscha as tears started to well up in her eyes "why did that useless girl have to go and mess up my beautiful castle, it'll take forever to get that blood out. If she wanted to die pointlessly she should have just walked out into the ocean, at least then there wouldn't be a mess" rage began to build up rapidly inside Luz at what this demonic harpy version of her mentor had just said this combined with the sadness of losing her new friend sparked something inside Luz. Luz's brown eyes faded to a glowing blue while a blue aura surrounded her "what the?" Eda questioned as Luz was suddenly engulfed in a bright light. When the light faded everyone could see that her hair had now turned blue and stuck up in spikes, with the armour she had been wearing having now being turned into a golden armour with blue rimming.

Up above, the immobile Amity looked down at her girlfriend in awe at her new appearance "Luz" she uttered.

Luz took a hard step forward, cracking the ground while she glared at Eda "you. Animal!" Luz shot forward and kicked Eda in the side of the head, making her let go of Hunter. She then punched Eda across the face, punched her in the stomach 20 times, and sent her shooting straight up with an uppercut.

Raising her hand, her friends, as well as the cages containing them began to glow blue before the cages disintegrated and her friends slowly floated down, landing gently on the ground "keep them safe" Luz said in a very calm, almost motherly tone, Hunter nodded and Luz shot up into the rafters where Eda was trying to recover. As soon as Luz was eye level with Eda, Eda made a spell circle which then shot out a barrage of spikes, all of which Luz effortlessly deflected away despite it basically being point blank. With just a slight flex, a blue aura burst from Luz and struck Eda sending her flying back. Luz then made a giant bat out of blue energy and in the blink of an eye Eda saw a glowing at her side before she was struck by the bat and was sent crashing though multiple walls of her castle before bursting out the side of it and tearing through half of Bonesborough, coming to a stop in the town centre. Luz looked at the path of destruction and waited for Eda to return.

"Does anyone here know what happened to Luz?" Emira asked

"it kinda reminds me of that form King took when he defeated Eberwolf" Willow stated, with Amity, Gus, and Hunter realising this

"yeah, only this form seems more controlled than the one he took, like it's the completed version of that form" Hunter said before a beam of magic tore through the castle, completely engulfing Luz. When the beam stopped, everyone could see Luz with her hand outstretched, looking completely calm

"whoa" was the only word anyone could mutter. Eda then shot through the hole and stuck out her arm in an attempt to tackle Luz, but Luz didn't budge, causing Eda to spin around her. As she did, Luz grabbed her head and slammed it to the ground with enough force to half embed it in the ground.

"that's for capturing my friends" Luz said coldly. A glowing blue ball surrounded her right hand before she disappeard and reappeared next to Hunter. She then swung her arm which paused in mid air like she had punched something solid. Luz's friends then watched in awe as cracks spread thoughout the air before it shattered revealing normal daylight and Blight Manor "you should be able to teleport them through there" Luz said before she went back over to Eda. To Hunter's happiness, he found that he could teleport through the rip between realms, and began taking his friends through it and back into the demon realm.

Luz grabbed Eda by her foot and spun her around rapidly before slamming her on her back, fracturing her wings "that's for forcing my friends to get fatter" Eda leapt to her feet and went to slash Luz across the face with her claws, only for Luz to dodge, grab her arm and slam her on her head "that's for planning to have the whole town eat them" she then grabbed Eda by her shoulder and picked her up "and-" she was cut off as she was grabbed in a master lock by Wrath

"I've got her my Empress" Eda then made a large spell circle and thrust her arm through it with it turning to metal as it did. Eda's hand pierced right through Luz's armour and into her stomach, Luz's abdomen then swelled up before a beam of magic burst out of her back and through Wrath's heart, killing him instantly. Luz coughed out blood due to Eda's attack inflicting serious internal damage. Eda ripped her arm out of Luz, taking whatever she could grab as she did. Luz looked down at the hole and saw blue flames coming out the front as her powers began to do whatever they could to prevent her from dying.

Eda then swung her metal arm at Luz, only for Luz to stop it with one arm and grab Eda by the neck with her other hand. She then brough Eda towards her and headbutted her, leaving the warlock dazed. Luz's eyes narrowed before she threw Eda up in the air. Luz then swung her arm around her front as a large glowing blue orb surrounded her hand before it extended out with the ball turning into a fist, while the ground began shaking violently. As Eda came back down, Luz's glare intensified "AND THIS IS FOR BOSCHA!" she swung her arm back and the glowing energy fist struck Eda right in the side of the chest, unleashing a shockwave of immeasurable power right into her body.

Not only did the shockwave shatter most of Eda's bones, but as it rapidly spread out, it also broke up her entire castle, upturned Bonesborough, and split the Leviathan in half. Eda coughed up blood as she dropped to the ground like a wet towel.

"And all of that, is for making me have to punch that face."

"you *cough* bitch" She coughed out as her now immobile body slid towards the split in the Leviathan due to the floor of her castle violently shifting as the castle kept breaking up. Luz and Eda locked eyes as Eda reached the edge before going over "HUMAAAAN!" She roared as she disappeared into the darkness of the split.

As Luz headed over to the opening between realms, her eyes widened as she saw Boscha's body also sliding toward the split. Luz appeared next to it in an instant and grabbed it before appearing next to the opening and stepped through it, back into the demon realm. Placing Boscha's corpse down, Luz turned around to the opening and literally grabbed the air before thrusting her arms down, sealing up the tear between dimensions

Luz gave a sigh and relaxed, in a flash she was back to normal, but she felt incredibly drained. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out the magic paintbrush she had gotten from Jure and went to draw a familiar glyph on Amity's exposed skin, before she coughed out a large amount of blood "LUZ!" her friends shouted as Luz fell to her knees "Hunter, take her to Eda now!" Amity ordered, to which Hunter agreed and disappeared with Luz, using his Instant Transmission spell. The two appeared next to a distraught Eda, who got a relieved look on her face as she saw the two, only for it to instantly turn to horror as she, as well as King and Hooty, saw the bleeding hole in her back. Rushing upstairs, Eda grabbed the golden healing hat and came back down before placing it onto Luz's head. In a bright flash of golden light all of Luz's injuries were healed. Using an antigravity spell, Luz got to her feet, only to be chewed out by Eda about where she had been and how worried she had been as tears started to well up in her eyes. Luz felt like she just had a vice put around her heart before she threw her arms around Eda and hugged her, with King and Hooty joining in, while Hunter just looked around awkwardly.

"Luz, where have you been?"

"it's a long story, I'll tell you, but I have to do somethings before I do"

"fair enough, I take it we're headed to the Boiling Isles?" Luz nodded before she teleported them all, including Hooty, which thankfully only brought the front door and not the whole house.

"whoa" was the first word that left Eda's mouth at the sight of the witch blobs

"yeah, things got pretty out of control" picking up the magic paintbrush she had dropped, she began drawing the third eye spell on Amity causing the massive blob of a girl to giggle before Luz activated it, engulfing Amity in a cloud of smoke. When the smoke disappeared, Amity could be seen now as thin as she originally was only her hair was green and spiked up...Luz wondered how long that would last.

"Wow, this is the glyph you used to defeat all of those coven members"

"Sure is," Luz said as she painted the same glyph onto Gus before activating it as well. She then did the same thing to Willow and Emira. Once everyone had the glyph activated, Luz began counting. When she reached 100 she began deactivating all of the third eye spells, revealing that everyone was dramatically thinner. Willow was 300lbs, Gus was 200lbs , and Emira was 700lbs heavier.

"Luz, why can't I see?" Amity asked

"that's just a temporary side effect, you'll be able to see in a few minutes," she said before she reactivated Gus' spell to make him thinner. Soon Gus was back to his original weight (give or take a few pounds lighter), after a few more uses of the spell. Luz then moved on to Willow only for Willow to stop her "do you mind if I give my new figure a bit of a test drive for a while"

"sure" Luz replied, feeling oddly happy at that. Luz then made her way over to Emira and with a use of her spell, Emira was now like Willow, being 300lbs heavier than she originally was, Luz was about to use the spell again only for Emira to stop her, "I'm fine with this"

"Can you get up?"

"*stuggles* *sighs* no"

"maybe this will help" Luz then painted her anti-gravity spell and activated it, allowing Emira to get back up…with a little help from Luz.

"So, what are we going to do with her?" Amity asked while pointing at Boscha's corpse.

"People keep forgetting that I have this." Luz then took off the Golden Healing Hat and placed it on Boscha's head.

There was once again a Bright flash of light and when everyone could see they watched as Boscha opened her eyes only to clench them shut "ah too bright! too bright!"

Hunter then spoke up "given where she came from, its understandable that our world would be too bright for her" Eda reached into her hair and pulled out a pair of sunglasses

"here kid, put these on" Boscha did as she was told and got a look of relief on her face

"oh that's bet…wait, how am I alive?!"

"that golden hat you're wearing can heal any injury, and even resurrect the dead" Luz explained before grinning "and welcome to the demon realm!"

"It's a lot brighter than I imagined, what the heck is that thing?!" she asked while pointing at the head of the titan

"that would be the titan's head"

Boscha looked around "Wow, you really do live on a bipedal monster"

"hey, this bipedal monster is my dad," King said before he flopped down and hugged the ground. Boscha got a look of horror on her face, before she apologized profusely, even getting on her knees. "whoa, uh maybe I overreacted a bit" King said as Amity leaned over to Luz

"I like this girl much more than our Boscha"

"Amity, don't you think that our Boscha has suffered enough?" Amity looked conflicted, she hated Boscha and wouldn't care if their Boscha remained a vegetable for the rest of her life, but she could tell that Luz really wanted to help fix Boscha's mental state and give her her arms back

"Uuuuuuugggghhhhhh...ffffine, go and heal her" Luz kissed Amity's cheek making said girl roll her eyes and blush slightly before Luz took the Golden Healing Hat from Boscha and disappeared.

"I should probably head home before my dad's lose their minds, again" Willow said and she used her Instant Transmission spell. Gus did the same, stating that his dad and Marina were most likely worried about him as well, especially Marina. Hunter followed suit, teleporting to Chaser.

"um, what should I do?" Boscha asked sheepishly

"you can stay in the spare room until we can find a more permanent living situation for you" Emira said before she wrapped an arm around the warlock and guided her inside, with Amity begrudgingly following them.

Meanwhile

Luz had teleported into this realm's Boscha's room where she sat on her bed with a thousand-yard stare. Luz tried getting any form of response from the girl but to no avail. She then put the Golden Healing Hat on the comatose girl's head and like with herself and the other Boscha there was a bright flash of light. When she could see properly she watched Boscha blink out of sync for a bit

"Luz?" she said, her voice croaky

"hey there, how are you feeling?"

"I feel good" Her eyes then widened as she remembered what had happened to her, looking down, a look of pure joy appeared on her face as she saw that she had the rest of her arms back. She hugged them around herself afraid they would disipear. She looked back up at Luz "Did you fix me?" she asked

"Well, that hat did all the work. It's the same hat that gave me my arm back" Luz explained as she looked at and flexed her left arm. Boscha looked down at her restored arms before looking back up at Luz

"why? Why would you heal me, I've done nothing but be horrible to you" Luz then told her what had happened in the Echo Realm. Needless to say, Boscha was shocked that there was another version of her now in the Demon Realm

"so what do you plan on doing with her?"

"well I was thinking that maybe your parents could take her in and she could be your twin" Boscha smiled at this idea

"I've actually wanted a sibling, I'm sure that my parents would be okay with her being with them, Let's get out of here," she said and she stood up

"Actually I think you need to be discharged first before you can leave" Boscha sat back down and gave a sigh "I'll let them know that you're all better"

"thanks" and with that Luz teleported away.

Chapter 22: Flyer Durby

Chapter Text

Luz and her friends were in the Hexside cafeteria watching Echo Boscha making new friends. Shortly after Boscha was released from the psychiatric hospital, Echo Boscha (now going by Echo), was adopted by Boscha's parents. They were worried that there would be a lot of drama with there being another version of their daughter under their roof, but to their surprise, the two Boschas got along amazingly well Echo's sweet and kind personality seemed to be wearing off on Boscha, much to a lot of peoples relief. Though there was one little problem Boscha had with her new twin, it was that she kept feeding her food that she in turn was unable to resist eating, it also didn't help that it tasted amazing.

While Luz was perfectly fine with Echo, her friends, especially Amity, were weary of her, given who she was. Amity was also still slightly miffed that Luz had fixed Boscha's mental state, however, she was somewhat pleased that Boscha wasn't like her previous self, she was now, nicer, quiet, and kept to herself she was a loner now. The group had also been told that while they were gone, another group similar to theirs, only with various shades of blue skin, had been going around feeding everyone in sight. However, because they hadn't been seen since Luz and her friends came back they assumed that the echo versions of themselves had simply been teleported back to the Echo Realm.

Yesterday had been the Coven Day Parade, with a huge parade celebrating, much to the Hexsquad's distaste, Emperor Belos, and the coven system. Luz had also told them all about her trip into the In Between as well as what had happened to all of the members from the Emperor's Coven she had sent to the human realm. Luz however did keep a lid on the fact that she could turn into a human/titan hybrid at will, the fewer people that knew about that, the better. She did however reveal that her bile sack had now developed to the point where she could cast spells just like any other witch or demon on the isle, only they were about less than half as strong as they could be for someone her age. Even though she could cast spells now, she still found glyphs to be better at this point…plus the fact she didn't know how to cast spells didn't help either.

Even though the Coven Day Parade had just been yesterday, another event was rapidly approaching, though this one only affected students at Hexside. Tomorrow would be the Club Fair which would allow students to either join a club or make a club, Willow seemed the most excited about this. "You seem to be in very high spirits Willow" Hunter pointed out

"I take it you're excited about the club fair tomorrow" Luz questioned

"Ohhh yeah!" Willow said

"mayhaps you'll be joining Amity and me in the writers club *bounces eyebrows*"

"writers club?"

"yeah we were going to do an Azura book club…buuuuuut…"

"we're the only ones in school who read it" Amity finished, suddenly finding the window very interesting.

Willow giggled at this "Thanks. But... I'm interested in something with a little more... drama, flare, and face paint"

this greatly intrigued Luz "I'm so excited to hear the next words out of your mouth"

"Flyer derby!" Willow declared and then showed the group a video of flyer derby on her Penstagram account on her scroll. "Tomorrow... [Summons her staff.] I'm starting Hexside's first Flyer Derby team!" Her friends cheered at that, though the cheering was cut off as Luz's special bench finally broke under her now 1450lbs body

"I'm okay"

Amity peered down at Luz "Luz, maybe you want to use that third eye spell to get rid of some of this weight, that is the fifth thing you broke today"

"hey those 3 stools were already on their way out" she argued, using her antigravity spell, and with some help from Stringbean Luz was back on her feet.

"Have you thought about just keeping that antigravity spell activated at all times?" Hunter questioned

"yeah, that way you can ride around on Stringbean" Gus added

"I've tried that, but it only lasts for a maximum of 3 minutes before it wears off" Luz stated before her eyes widened "…but" she then pulled out a piece of paper and began drawing on it "add this…branch out that…two of those…done" she then showed them her new modified spell which she then slapped on herself, instantly feeling lighter than what she was when she first arrived on the isles. "try and pick me up, Amity" Amity then stood up and grabbed her girlfriend before astoundingly holding her up above her head like she was just filled with air

"whoa, that's even more effective than your first antigravity spell"

"I know, right?!" Amity then placed her girlfriend back down. Luz then summoned her staff "Come on cutie we're going for our first flight!" and with that, Luz teleported outside. Her friends then went over to the window and watched as Luz hopped on Stringbean for the first time and took off, cheering in joy as she did.

"Anyone wanna place bets that she crashes?" Gus asked, with the others responding by extending snails out to him.

The next day

Willow and Hunter were setting up her stand with their palismen's help. Meanwhile, Luz was at her stand trying to attract people to come. "Journey with us to a world unlike any other! Where the limits to it are restricted by only your imagination" Luz said dramatically, which caught quite a bit of attention and already had some of the more spirited students joining her club.

"Wow, Luz and Amity's club is getting a ton of members" Hunter pointed out

"Yeah, thanks for joining my club"

"I've never actually played Flyer Derby before, but it looks fun"

"Oh it is," she said before she started calling out "Let out your inner flying freak! Once the Flyer Derby club is approved, we'll travel all across the Isles in rocking outfits and working as a team!"

"Good luck with that" Willow perked up

"Professor Hermonculus"

"I'm overseeing club approvals this year, and I just don't think Flyer Derby is worth investing in"

"Just because it's not as well-known as Grudgby doesn't mean-"

"You misunderstand me. I'm shutting it down unless YOU step down as captain. I just don't think quitters make good leaders."

Gus' eyes narrowed at this "You're just mad that she dropped your class. Give her a chance!"

"Okay. Put together a team for a friendly game of Flyer Derby after school. If you can lead your team to victory, maybe I'll approve your club." And with that, he left

"All we need is at least 2 more members and we'll have a full team…Luz and Amity are too busy with their club to help…oh, I know why don't you guys have a mini-game to entice people to join?"

Hunter looked at Gus and the two smirked at each other before they summoned their staffs "You ready to lose Hunter?"

"I think the better question is 'Are you prepared to cry?'" and the two began flying around constantly snatching the flag from each other, this did draw a lot of attention.

When the two finished the small crowd cheered, though, after the display of flyer derby skills, only one person joined, that being Viney. Looking over the crowd, Gus spotted Skara and saw that she was looking disappointed as she was facing Willow's stand. "Hey Skara, what's wrong?" he asked

"I want to join the flyer derby team *summons her staff* but I'm too heavy to ride Kix" she said sadly, Gus smiled at this

"hold on, I know someone who can help you. Sign up and I'll be right back" he returned shortly with a piece of paper "Here Skara" he said and he slapped the permanent antigravity spell on her which instantly took effect as she now felt as light as a feather.

After putting on their team uniforms (as well as face paint), Willow's team began practicing for their upcoming match. Hunter was genuinely surprised at how well they all worked together, especially with the two new girls. Gus was a natural speed demon, Skara was a strategic wizard, and Viney was the best healer in school. Combine that with Willow's plant magic and his riding skills, and they were essentially an unstoppable team.

Soon Professor Hermonculus arrived along with a team of students, all of them rearing and ready to play. As they got ready to play, Professor Hermonculus sneered "Let's see what you can do, Captain"

Willow frowned "All you got to do is fly high and snag some flags" Professor Hermonculus' abomination acted as the referee and blew the whistle. Professor Hermonculus shot some abomination goo at Willow, but Viney blocked it with a shield. All the players proceed to rush at each other. Hunter, using just flapjack, teleported himself close to the kid player on the enemy team and snatched her flag off of her, he then passed it on to Gus, who flew towards the pole and hung the flag there, scoring one point.

"Way to go Gus!" Hunter cheered, making Gus grin back at Hunter. The game continued. Mary shot some abomination goo at Gus, but he managed to evade it. The goo then explodes and hits Skara instead, causing her to crash into a wall. The abomination referee then blew its whistle to signal that she was out. The enemy team hung a flag on their pole, scoring one point. The game continues. Viney rushed towards Jerbo and he rushed towards her. Both crash into each other and fall off their staffs. Willow quickly made a huge flower to catch the two before both she and Gus rushed towards the enemy team. Mary and the spike-headed student tried to hit them with abomination goo, but every blob missed.

Professor Hermonculus was starting to get frustrated at this "She's right there! Can't you see?" he shouted as Hunter shot straight up and both snatched his flag and knocked him off of his staff before teleporting over to the pole and planting the flag. As this happened, Willow summoned some vines and aimed them at the enemy team players. Mary gasped and covered her face waiting for the impact, only to not receive anything. Dropping her guard, she saw that Willow had just used the vines to grab her and her teammate's flags. As Willow flew over to plant the two flags, a glob of abomination goo suddenly hit her staff from below, causing her to fall off. "Oops. My hand slipped" Professor Hermonculus said casually, making players from both teams glance toward him angrily.

Hunter shot forward and with a bit of teleportation from Flapjack, managed to catch Willow and place her on his staff, almost dislocating his arm in the process due to the girl's new excessive weight. "wow, my hero" Willow replied coyly making Hunter blush a bit as they continued heading towards the pole. Reaching the pole, Willow placed the last flags on it, securing their victory. Landing at the base of the pole, everyone on Willow's team then starts cheering. Professor Hermonculus begrudgingly walked up to Willow "May I please have your team name?" he asked, everyone feeling the annoyance coming off of him

"Shoot. We never thought of a name" Willow stated

"hmm how about the... Emerald Entrails!"The other team members looked at Hunter. "you know, because... we're green, and there's... more to us... than you think." The other team members remained silent for a bit before they all started chanting enthusiastically.

"Entrails! Entrails! Entrails! Entrails!"

Willow then pulled out her scroll "Entrails team photo! We're number one!" and she took a picture.

As soon as she was done a slow clapping was heard before Kikimora appeared in a puff of smoke followed by 5 guards and 10 scouts "Bravo Hunter, bravo" she said before the newly named Emerald Entrails were all bound, and restrained with different types of magic.

Professor Hermonculus stepped forward "Now see here, you can't-" he was silenced as a guard appeared next to him with a flaming sword

"unless you want to be on the business end of that sword, I highly suggest that you mind your own business, old man" Kikimora stated before she turned her attention back to Hunter "The emperor has been worried sick about you and wants you back immediately *looks at the others* he also wants those two (Gus and Willow) and any of their associates to be sent straight to the Conformatorium. Grab them and their palismen and let's go" An airship then appeared above them and floated down until it landed the 5 restrained teens were then taken into the ship and their palismen were caged before the ship took off.

After the fight they had in the Emperor's castle over a month ago, the coven members took full precaution in making sure that they were unable to make spell circles by binding their fingers still. Also, per Emperor Belos' orders, Gus, Willow, and Hunter had their teleportation spells wiped off of them, so even by the slimmest chance that they did get free, they couldn't just teleport away to freedom. "so guys, any idea's on how to escape?" Skara asked "As long as my fingers and arms are restrained, I can't do anything" Willow stated, with Gus agreeing.

After what seemed like an eternity, they finally arrived at the Conformatorium where the teens, minus Hunter, were taken off and carted inside before the airship took off for the Emperor's castle. Once inside the Conformatorium Gus, Willow, Viney, and Skara had large thick metal collars clamped around their necks before they were released from their containment. They all immediately tried to attack the guards as well as Warden Wrath with their magic, only for nothing to happen "Those are special collars that both stop the wearer from being able to perform magic, and will explode as soon as they leave the Conformatorium" Wrath explained, this made the teens hearts stop for a bit

"y-y-you're not serious are you?" Skara asked,

Wrath grabbed a ring and closed it before tossing it out a window which was almost instantly followed by an explosion that shook the whole Conformatorium "Does that answer your question?" Skara just rapidly nodded "Take them to their new homes for the time being" he ordered, the guards saluted and took the teens away.

Several hours passed, which to the group of witches felt like an eternity, before Luz, along with Amity appeared in Willow's cell, the two gasped in shock at this before Willow leaped up and hugged the two, I was wondering when you would show up"

"Willow, what happened?" Luz asked, Willow then told the two what happened and why they couldn't escape. Looking at the collar, Amity saw a keyhole in the back. Turning her index finger into an abomination goop, she shoved it into the hole and formed it into the shape of a key before unlocking it.

Willow rubbed her neck before making a flower bloom in her hand "I'm back baby" she said proudly.

Amity stretched her arm out through the bars of the cell and flipped the lever up, opening the cell. Amity then opened each cell that had their friends/acquaintances in it and freed them from their cells and collars. Once they were all freed, Luz teleported them all to the center of Bonesborough. "You guys go back to your homes as a group, Sweet potato you stay with Gus until I come and get you," Luz said in a tone that said 'don't argue' the group nodded as Luz lifted her shirt and wiped her hand along all her glyphs before teleporting away.

Meanwhile

Since arriving at the Emperor's castle, Hunter's fears about coming back here were realized to be true, as soon as he arrived, a collar similar to the ones placed around his friends was placed around his neck. Unlike the ones his friends were forced to wear, this one would only inflict large amounts of pain on the wearer. Hunter was taken and placed before Emperor Belos who motioned for the guards to leave. Once they were gone Belos spoke "So, Hunter, you've decided to defy me" Hunter stood up

"yes, now that I know the kind of person you truly are"

"*sigh* they always turn on me in one way or another" Hunter after seeing Belos try to dispose of Chaser in the past, knew what happened to all of the previous Golden Guards. Belos noticed that Hunter was now even more chunkier than he had been before he defected "They also eventually start gaining weight and having witches and demons feeding them. Hunter, I can be a forgiving person, if you tell me where the rebels' hideout is, I'll forgive you for defecting and allow you to resume your position as the Golden Guard"

Hunter stared at Belos, thinking that he had gone insane "I would never tell you where they are"

Belos gave another sigh "And here I thought this would be easy" he then raised his now glowing hand and an immense amount of pain coursed through Hunter's body. He felt like he was getting sliced, burned, and shocked at the same time. When Belos stopped it Hunter began wheezing in agony "That is just a taste Hunter, one last chance, tell me where the rebels are"

"n-n-never"

"very well" he then ordered two guards to take him down to the dungeon and continue the torture until he finally gave him the location.

Hunter was now chained up to a wall where he sported multiple injuries to his torso, the guards had not only had the collar constantly activated, but they had also used a variety of torture devices on Hunter. Hunter was now bleeding from his nose and mouth, thanks in part to just the collar, he also had third-degree burns on his stomach, cuts on his chest, one of the cuffs holding him up was now melted and permanently fused to his arm, and one leg had been broken and torn off. Belos emerged from the floor and looked at the horrific state Hunter was in

"I take it that he hasn't given up the location yet?"

"no, my lord, he hasn't" Hunter coughed up some more blood "I don't think we'll get anything from him"

"I see" Belos then aimed his staff at Hunter "Last chance"

through the pain, Hunter forced a smirk on his face "Go to hell" Belos' staff glowed brighter before Luz appeared in front of him and a second later, unleashed a huge beam of magic, blasting Belos through a wall. "*cough* Luz" Luz spun around to face Hunter, only for the color to drain from her face there was a pause before Luz threw up big time "I'm not *cough* that ugly am I?"

"oh my god, oh my god, oh my god"

"Luz, help" This seemed to snap Luz out of it before she slapped her third eye spell and in a poof of smoke she was thin again. Seeing that he was wearing a collar similar to what her friends were forced to wear, her hands began to glow green and she grabbed Hunter's collar which began to glow green as well with a bit of effort she snapped the collar in half and threw them right where Belos had gone through the wall. She then broke the chains holding Hunter up and teleported out of the dungeon a second before the collar detonated right in front of the recovering Belos, shaking the whole castle.

Luz reappeared in her room and in just 2 seconds she had pulled the Golden Healing Hat out of her chest and placed it on Hunter's head, before deactivating her third eye spell, revealing that she had lost about 100 lbs. Hunter was astounded at the fact that from simply placing a hat on his head, he was now fully healed and felt better than he had ever been in his life "Whoa Luz, what is this thing?" he asked

"That would be the Golden Healing Hat, an ordinary Healing Hat that was made with titan's blood, it can cure and heal anything, even resurrect the dead" his eyes then widened Flapjack! Belos still has our Palismen"

"on it" activating her third eye spell again, she disappeared. After just 10 seconds Luz reappeared with the remains of Flapjack in her hands and their friends Palismen perched or holding onto her. Placing Flapjack's remains on the floor, Luz deactivated her spell again, having now lost an additional 30 pounds. Tears were now starting to well up in Hunter's eyes as he looked down at his Palismen "if you place that hat on Flapjack's remains, he'll be brought back to life"

"Really?"

"yeah, try it out, just place the hat over him" Hunter did as he was told and in another bright flash of light, when he picked up the hat, he saw Flapjack, alive and well

"Flapjack!" seeming to be a bit confused, Flapjack flew up onto Hunter's shoulder and began nuzzling his face while chirping.

"Hunter, why were you in that state" Luz asked, feeling bile start to rise up again.

"Belos wanted to know the location of the B.A.T's hideout, he may be able to spy on people, but that's only limited to above ground. I refused to tell him though" he said before

"you went through all of that torture and you still didn't tell?!"

"Yeah"

"that's…beyond commendable. If it were me, I probably would have spilled the beans after the first few seconds, who needs magic when you're as tough as you are" and she gave him a light punch, making him give a small chuckle before looking around

"I take it that we're currently on Ribcage Isle?"

"yeah, I take it Willow told you?"

"no, I figured that this was your room, and I heard from some guards that you and Razorclaw were here"

"Wow, very perceptive, yep *opens up her window* welcome to Ribcage Isle!" Hunter was in complete awe at the buildings, the lights, the sounds, the sights, everything "In the human realm, this is what most cities look like, only this one is slightly more advanced"

"Really?! I thought Bonesborough was an impressively big city, but if this is what most human realm cities look like, we're way behind"

"yeah, most likely there are places even more advanced than this in the demon realm"

"if this place is so much more like the human realm, why not stay here instead of keep going back to the Boiling Isles?"

"because my friends and girlfriend are there"

"fair enough, we should probably head back to the Boiling Isles and give everyone their Palismen back" Luz nodded in agreement, and once everyone had grabbed onto her, she teleported away.

Needless to say, everyone was over the moon to have their Palismen back. Willow had asked about what Belos had done to Hunter, to which Hunter lied and said that they just interrogated him for hours, not wanting to worry her or make her go out for Belos' head. Once everyone had their Palismen back, Luz teleported Hunter back to the B.A.T's hideout, where they were both surprised to find Darius and a mostly recovered Eberwolf talking with Raine and Chaser. "uh what's going on?" Hunter asked

"oh Hunter, we were wondering where you were, we were just discussing the upcoming Day of Unity"

"My friends and I were captured by the emperor's coven" This sent them on high alert before Hunter told them what they did to him and how he didn't tell them about their base, and Luz added how she was able to heal him. A silent rage built up within the adults present. "so what were you discussing?" Hunter asked, Raine was the first to reply

"Darius and Eberwolf found out that Belos plans on using a draining spell on the day of unity"

"What kind of draining spell?" Luz asked

"It's a powerful spell that will drain all magic from anyone who has been branded with a sigil"

"so you'll just lose your ability to perform magic?"

this time Darius spoke up "If only it was that simple" he started before he made a bowl of what Luz thought/hoped were green noodles and gave it to her which she started to eat, finding that they surprisingly tasted like strawberries. "because magic is a very part of our beings if its fully extracted from us, we'll die" this made Luz do a spit take

"WHAT!? I knew Belos was evil, but to cause an entire genocide of people, that's insane!"

"indeed"

"do you know how to stop it"

"the only way to stop it is to disrupt the spell when it starts"

"and that's the only way?"

"yes, unless you know a way to stop an eclipse" Luz thought on that "I was joking, you can't stop an eclipse from happening"

"…maybe…" she put that thought in the back of her mind for now.

Luz returned to the owl house feeling completely mentally drained, she was almost instantly met by Eda who offered her a chocolate custard-filled doughnut the size of a steering wheel. Luz took it like all food offered to her, but despite the fact she loved these, she just didn't have the appetite, though for Eda's sake, she nibbled on it. Seeing that something was wrong with the girl she had come to see as a daughter, she took the doughnut from Luz's hands and tossed it to the side where Hooty proceeded to gobble it up in seconds. "okay Luz, spill, what's wrong?" Luz then proceeded to tell Eda everything that had happened that day, needless to say, Eda was shocked at this, and even more so when Luz told her about the draining spell.

By the end of it, Luz had her face buried in Eda's chest, now on the brink of tears, she may have gotten mentally stronger (and physically), but all of this, plus the fact that she still had no way home, had taken a huge toll on the girl "I just wish things were like they were when we first met, where we didn't have to worry about Belos, where I could easily just go back and see my mum, where I didn't have to use my third eye spell every second day to maintain my weight so I don't end up immobile"

Eda thought on this for a bit to try and find a solution to her problem, until an idea came to her "You know Luz, you could just go back in time to when you first arrived, slip through the portal, and go back to the human realm" Eda stated, remembering that Luz did have a time spell.

Luz actually thought on this, it was very tempting but given the things she had done in the past had affected the future, plus things she had done in the present, if she went back in time and stopped herself from entering, or staying, or just slipping back through the portal, things may or may not have happened. "as tempting as that sounds if I do go back in time, I could ruin the present or change peoples lives for the worse, or I may even ruin future events where I was a huge help"

"Are you sure?" Luz nodded, before she just hugged Eda tightly, which she happily returned.

2 days later

The Green Entrails had recovered from their ordeal, now even more against the coven system and Belos than they already were, and when the students of Hexside found out about this, that sentiment spread to them as well. Today the Hexsquad were hanging out at the park due to it being such a nice day, though Hunter, Willow, and Gus couldn't help but notice that Luz and Amity's moods couldn't be any more different from each other Amity seemed to be full of happiness and excitement, where as Luz seemed to be very depressed about something, both seemingly completely oblivious to the other's current emotion. Willow decided to speak up "Okay seriously, what's up with you two? Amity, you look like you're about to explode from excitement, and Luz, you look like your whole world was destroyed" Amity's happiness vanished in an instant at before looking at her girlfriend

"Luz, what's wrong?!"

knowing that she couldn't lie to her friends…well she could, but they would know that she was lying in an instant "Well, you see, every year, me and Mum have this little ritual we do. It's nothing big. I just miss her. That's all" this surprised her friends and made most of them feel sad for Luz, Gus and Willow knew how Luz was feeling, they would feel atrocious if they were unable to be with their parent/s, Amity and Hunter were a bit less understanding of how Luz was feeling due to Amity having a strained relationship with her parents for years, and Hunter not having parents at all, though the group were a bit curious

"What kind of ritual do you perform?" Amity asked

"Well, today's the anniversary of my dad passing away" they all inwardly winced at that "he always brought us flowers on our birthdays, so, after he passed away, we started picking flowers for each other. And then we'd visit his grave, and me and my mum would spend the day together. It's nice. But, this year, I-I'm not with her, and... I don't have any flowers…I just miss them both so much" tears started rolling down her chubby cheeks. Amity, Willow, and Gus then embraced the massive girl which only caused even more tears to flow out of her eyes "Thanks guys" she whispered as she let them keep hugging her.

Once Luz had calmed down, she shifted her focus to her girlfriend "So Amity, why are you so happy"

"well now that I'm old enough, my dad let me enter the Bonesborough Brawl tonight" She then pulled out her Penstagram and showed them all a video of different people wailing at each other

"cool," they said in union.

"yep, and I plan to win"

"maybe you'll have some stiff competition," Willow said slyly

"Let me guess, now that you've seen how cool it is, you want to enter?"

"yep, plus it'll also give you a challenge"

"that's true"

what they didn't know was that several students had caught wind of this and wanted to give it a shot as well.

Later

The Hexsquad, along with their parents/guardians were gathered at the Bonesborough Brawl. Along with Amity and Willow, Gus and Luz had decided to join as well while Hunter stayed on the sidelines to give support. Much to Gus' worry/terror, Marina had decided to join as well, though she chose to stay in her shrunken form, if she decided to go as her regular size, she most likely wouldn't be able to fit into the ring. As they prepared themselves they couldn't help but notice multiple other kids from their school there, and to Luz's surprise, Raven also appeared "Raven? Are you here to compete in the Bonesborough Brawl as well?"

"Sure am, believe it or not, this thing gets televised on Ribcage Isle PB"

"forget a brawl, this thing is going to be a bloodbath" making Raven grin in anticipation.

As the announcer stepped into the ring, he was about to speak before he was engulfed in flames. When the flames disappeared, everyone could see a new figure standing in the place of the announcer, Luz, Eda, King, and Raven instantly recognized him "Beilzabob?!" they exclaimed

"Greetings folks, it is I! thee illustrious Beilzabob, Mayor of South City on Ribcage Isle! I've decided to hijack this event in the hopes of livening it up even more than it already is. Now, welcome folks to the Bonesborough know the rules. Contestants will fight one-on-one. Not for honor, not for glory, but to eliminate the sheer boredom that this Isle produces for a fleeting moment. And let's not forget the ultimate bragging rights as the toughest dueler on the Isles!" Audience cheers. "The last one standing will get the chance to snag the coveted Brawler's Belt from the reigning champion…Warden Wrath?...seriously, that bonehead is still the champion?" ordinarily Wrath would enter the arena, but in all honesty, he was terrified of Beilzabob, having had an encounter with him years ago that left him in a coma for a month. Beilzabob then tapped the bottom of his microphone staff on the ground, making Wrath appear next to him in a puff of smoke. Beilzabob gave Wrath a huge smile with the corners of his mouth going up past his eyes showing off all of his razor-sharp teeth "Why hello there Wrath, it's been a while" Wrath began to visibly shake "Let's just hope that you last longer against your challenger, than you did against me" and with another tap of his microphone staff, Wrath was back outside of the arena. "Now without any further ado, for our first round, we have Scab the All-Knowing..." Scab the All-Knowing gets to the arena "...versus The Mighty Mittens! A.k.a one of the heroes of Ribcage Isle" Amity appeared in the arena in a swirl of abomination goop, Amity then waved at Luz, and her family. They waved back at her, and Luz blew Amity kisses. "Now let the bloodbath, I mean brawl, begin!"

Scab jumped and took off. They then start to blast a ray from their orb at Amity. Amity smirked and formed her arms into shields, which blocked the attack before solid balls of abomination goop shot out of her shield and bombarded Scab, making them fall back down to the arena. As they started to get back up, the last thing they saw was a huge fist of abomination goop, inches from them. Everyone watched as Scab flew out of the arena and crashed through a tree "And a quick and decisive victory for the Mighty Mittens! I bet that's one punch Scab will never forget *looks over at Scab* or remember. Anyway, on to the next fight, we have the Blooming Brawler a.k.a one of the heroes of Ribcage Isle" Willow entered the arena via a mass of vines, looking as confident as ever "…verses Dalv the Impaler" a hulking demon covered in sharp bony spikes leaped into the arena.

"well this'll be a fairly one-sided fight *looks at Willow* and makes him cry. Now begin!" Willow crouched down as best she could given her now bulkier physique and placed one hand on the ground. Dalv roared and went to charge only to faceplant as his feet now had vines wrapped around them. Standing up, vines tore out of the ground revealing that they were attached to Willow's palm. Willow then proceeded to slam Dalv onto the arena floor several times before spinning him around and hurling him out of the arena. Retracting the vines back she dusted her hands "Wow, that was even more one-sided than I thought it would be, and the winner is the Blooming Brawler" Willow's family and friends cheered at her victory as she hopped down. "next up we have Cronk the Crusher…" another hulking demon with 3 eyes wearing overalls stomped into the arena "…versus the Mystic Mermaid" Marina then stepped into the arena "aren't you a little small to be a mermaid"

"Why yes. Yes I am."

"...Alright, now let the next round, begin!" Cronk summoned a huge stone block and hurled it at Marina, who simply tanked the block, with it breaking on her. Everyone was stunned by this. Cronk then formed a hammer made of stone and swung it at Marina, who dodged it and sent him flying out of the arena with a windmill kick to the side, breaking several of his ribs at the same time as he flew up and up and up and...

"YAAAAGHHH-HOO-HOO-HOOEYYYYY!"

"And he. Is. Outta here!"

"…raise your hand if you plan on forfeiting against her?" Luz asked before raising her hand with Amity, Willow, and Gus raising their hands in perfect sync.

After being announced the winner, Marina leapt off the arena and landed in front of Gus "so Gus, what did you think of that"

"I think that you're going to win this thing" Gus replied, making the mermaid giggle and kiss him on the cheek, this made the people around them get sly looks on there faces.

"up next, we have Hellblade…" a tall willowy woman with two red blades protruding from each hand stepped into the ring "…verses, the Half-Witch" Everyone watched as Lotis entered the arena with a co*cky look on her face "a witch-demon hybrid, verses a ghost-witch hybrid, this will either be a one-sided fight or a draw, anyway, begin!" Hellblade moved at incredible speeds and slashed Lotis, only for her blades to just go through her. Lotis gave a taunting yawn before she stuck her hand out with a glowing ring forming around it, which was followed by a mass of vines coming from her hand which slammed into Hellblade, carrying her back, before she could be forced out of the arena however, her arms became blurs as she slashed the vines to pieces while quickly advancing towards Lotis. As soon as she reached the girl she extended out a now glowing hand and grabbed Lotis' shoulder before impaling her on her other hand's blades. Lotis's eyes widened before she looked down to see blood dripping onto the ground from her new wound.

The witch-ghost hybrid could only utter one word "How?"

"I have a natural ability to turn intangible things solid" Hellblade then roughly tore her blades out of Lotis' abdomen before grabbing her head with the same glowing hand and smashing her face into the arena floor.

She did this several more times before holding the ghost girl up and aiming her blades right at her heart "As cliché as this is, any last words?" Lotis forced a grin onto her now broken face as she raised one arm, a spell circle formed around it, and the arena was instantly surrounded by a faint glowing red dome, everyone watched as Lotis opened her mouth and saw Hellblade let go of her and cover her ears, looking to be in agony. Lotis then stuck out her other hand at Hellblade before another mass of vines came out of it and struck her distracted opponent, sending her flying out of the arena. The dome then disappeared and Lotis raised an arm in victory

"and even after taking a massive beating, the young hybrid has won her fight" Lotis then floated off the stage and headed over to Emira, knowing that she was in the healing track, plus she was also a friend of a friend "Hey there, Emira *cough* do you think you could give me a bit of healing please" without another word Emira began healing Lotis, with some help from Amity's galdorstone "I've never met anyone who could hurt me after my accident"

Alador then spoke up "I've never seen or even heard of a spell that can make something intangible, tangible. That and she also didn't make a spell circle to do it either" They turned and saw Beilzabob's shadow help Hellblade onto her feet and began talking to her while Beilzabob started to announce the next contestants

"next up we have the Sludge Demon…" Everyone watched as Boscha entered the arena "…verses, the Golden Warrior" Raven then rose from a shadow that appeared on the arena

"Golden warrior?" Luz questioned

"wow hopefully the Sludge Demon can last more than 5 seconds against the Golden Warrior here, anyway, begin" Boscha turned her arms into huge abomination ones covered in spikes, while Raven became engulfed in a bright yellow light. When the light faded everyone could see that Raven's cloak and leotard were replaced with golden armor and her hair was both golden and spiked up.

Luz, Eda, and King were now in awe at Raven "She must have gotten the gold part of the calamity box" Luz stated with Eda and King nodding in awe

"hey Luz, she looks like you did in the Echo Realm" Gus pointed out

"yeah, it's a bit of a story" she replied.

Boscha's arm extended out towards Raven while increasing in size, only for Raven to stop it with an open palm, then with a simple swipe of her finger Boscha's arm was flung to the side while Raven shot forward and gave Boscha's stomach a light jab, which sent a shockwave through her body. Boscha grunted in pain before long spikes protruded from her body while at the same time, she retracted her arm. Raven now had her head tilted to the side, avoiding a spike that would have gone right through her face, the rest of the spikes however had simply broken on her newly acquired armour, preventing her from taking any damage. Boscha retracted her spikes and lunged at Raven, but thanks to her newly enhanced strength and her now 2500lb body, Raven was a solid wall. Boscha delivered multiple blows to Raven, but Raven just stood with a smirk on her face. Boscha stopped her assault and put some distance between them, she was about to go in for another attack when she was engulfed in a golden mana as Raven held out her hand, which was surrounded by the same type of mana "Bye-bye" and Boscha was sent flying back, crashing through anything in her path for a significant distance.

'Wow' was the only word in everyone's minds as Raven turned back to normal. Luz watched as Echo, who had been there to support her new sister, raced off in a panic to see if her sister was alright (or even alive). Gus then leaned over slightly to Amity "No offence Amity, but I think that this will eventually just come down to Raven and Marina" Amity unfortunately had to agree, but she wouldn't stop battling till the end.

"well, that's one way to win, without any further ado, next up we have the Illusion Master…" Gus confidently got into the arena "…verses Heatstroke" A bald average looking witch with literal flames for hair stepped into the arena "My, my, looks like we have a real hot head here, and begin" Gus then used his illusion magic to make a giant ogre with an even bigger club appear who reared the club back

"do you honestly think that I'm scared of some illusion?" Heatstroke said before the giant ogre sent him flying away with one swing of his club before it disappeared

Beilzabob whistled "Now that's what I call a home run! You are not someone to mess with"

"damn straight" Gus replied before he left the arena and was instantly scooped up by Marina who congratulated him.

After several more fights, it was Luz's turn "And now the lucky last two, in one corner, we have... the Flexicutioner!..." The Flexicutioner arrived in the arena with a loud thud. "And in the other, a personal favorite of mine, you know her, you love her, and there is a high chance that you've fed her, give it up for Luz, the Spellraiser!" An ice pillar grew, launching Luz from it. She then flips in the air and uses a plant glyph to grow vines that wrap around her and shield her from falling, which meets the floor with a loud thud. The vines unwrap around Luz as she raises her arms as if achieving victory. "and now, brawl!" Luz took a deep calming breath and focused before she made a huge spell circle which released a wide stream of fire that caught the Flexicutioner by surprise, engulfing him in flames, Luz then made another spell circle which released multiple balls of light which exploded on contact. When the smoke cleared everyone saw that the Flexicutioner was unconscious "The winner!" Beilzabob stated making the crowd cheer.

The fights continued with the Hexside students giving it their all. When they were up against each other however, it was an absolute war zone, they fought each other to win and didn't hold anything back. Amity and Willow's fight was the most destructive, their attacks and spells were almost equal with each other, though it was clear that Amity was the stronger of the two. Nevertheless, Willow pushed forward with her attacks, but once Amity went full abomination mode she simply grabbed her and tossed her out of the arena, not wanting to deliver a devastating final blow that would severely hurt her best friend.

Exiting the arena, Amity walked up to Willow who was being checked over by her dad as well as telling each other that she shouldn't have entered. Willow had had enough. "Stop!" she said as she quickly got up and turned to them "Look, I love you two with all of my heart and I always appreciate the things that you do for me, but you're too overbearing, I need space and to grow on my own, and I can't do that with you coddling me all the time!"

Amity came up to her side "Mr. and Mr. Park, I've been friends with Willow for years, and I know for a fact that Willow is not a delicate flour, she's more like a Colossal Venus Flytrap who doesn't put up with garbage from anyone. She doesn't need protection, she needs her parents to believe she can stand on her own feet" The two fathers looked at each other, they knew that they would need to have a serious discussion when they got home.

One by one the Hexside students lost against each other until it was down to just Raven and Marina. Beilzabob's smile grew even bigger "A titan versus a demon, now this is a fight that could go either way, now let the final bloodbath, begin!" Marina charged at Raven who surrounded her in black mana in response, but to Raven's surprise, Marina was still moving towards her, albeit very slowly. Raven's eyes widened a bit at this, she was stronger than she could have ever hoped to be back home, but this Mermaid was pushing through her magic. Finally, Marina broke through Raven's mana and gave her a windmill kick, Raven however was able to put up a shield to protect herself from the kick, but she still skidded to the side. From what she knew, mermaids were masters of water manipulation, but that only applied to when they were in water, land however, they were limited to just their physical strength due to getting wet would put them at a disadvantage with their legs turning into a tail

"well if it's a battle of strength she wants, then I'll oblige" Raven then went into her calamity form and blocked a punch from Marina with 2 fingers. Marina threw many punches and kicks at Raven, but the golden-haired teen either blocked them or used her new powers to divert all of her attacks. Raven then shot up, giving the young mermaid an uppercut that knocked her out cold.

"And, the winner by knock out, RRRRRRRaven!" Raven then walked up to the unconscious Marina and used her powers to bring her back to consciousness.

"I lost, didn't I?"

"Yeah, though I must say, without my Calamity powers, that fight could have been either way" The two then smiled at each other before Raven helped the girl up.

"And now the young, the beautiful, the powerful Raven!...will be going up against Wra-something" Wrath leaped into the arena, but before he could do anything, Raven engulfed him in mana, removed his belt, slammed him onto the arena floor several times and then hurled him out of the arena "huh…give it up to the new champion, Raven!" the crowd, as well as most people watching on Ribcage Isle, all cheered at Raven's victory while she held up the belt with a grin.

While Amity had been sad that she lost, using abomination sundaes to ease the pain, her family and Luz assured her that she did amazing, with her father adding that he didn't have to fight against a mermaid the times he fought in these things (she was essentially splattered by Marina during their fight, much to her father shock that she could survive such punishment without ending up with a scratch). Now that the fights were over, Raven offered the Hexsquad and their families and friends to come with her to celebrate her victory. Wanting to see more of Ribcage Isle, the Hexsquads family and friends having only heard stories from them, all agreed.

Using her powers, Raven teleported everyone to a party room she had rented, in the grandest hotel in South City that overlooked all of the city, leaving the newcomers in complete awe at the new sight. "This is where you've been going Mitten's?" Alador questioned

"yeah, this place is way more advanced than the Boiling Isles, I think that you would fit in perfectly here" Suddenly music began playing, a bar rose from the floor, and platters of food were brought in.

"Let the celebration, begin!" Raven declared as she raised her championship belt, and everyone began enjoying themselves, which was surprisingly a very rare thing on the Boiling Isles.

By the end of the party, most of the adults were drunk, Luz and Amity were in food coma's, Willow and Hunter had unsurprisingly gotten a lot closer, and everyone else was exhausted, but overall they had greatly enjoyed themselves, not knowing the storm that was to come by the end of the week.

Chapter 23: The Ultimate Illusion

Chapter Text

Luz had been very on edge for the past few days, members from the emperor’s coven were seen more frequently in Bonesborough, while she could easily handle them, one sneak attack, and it could be all over for her. Because of this, Luz had chosen to start wearing her disguise ring again while out in public, while it didn’t hide the urge for witches and demons to feed her, at a distance no emperors coven members would be able to tell that it was her.

Currently, Luz and her friends were in the cafeteria discussing about the day of unity when Gus remembered something very unsettling that had happened regarding the infinite history book. He had been curious about the collector who helped Belos and had asked the book about who they were when it burst into black flames, incinerating it in seconds. He was about to tell his friends about it when the P.A. system crackled into life as Principal Bump’s voice was heard “Students, please join me in the gym for an important announcement.”

Soon everyone was gathered in the gym and mumbling amongst each other. Their attention was quickly caught as the illusion teacher, Bump, and a hooded figure stepped forward, Hunter recognised the tail from the figure and frowned “Uh, students, teachers, let me introduce the esteemed—”

“Please, Principal Bump, I deserve no accolades.” The hooded figure stepped forward and took off his hood. “Hello everyone, my name is Adrian Graye, Head Witch of the Illusionist Coven.”

As the students gasped and started muttering worriedly amongst themselves, Amity leaned over to Hunter “so that’s the pompous asshole Raine talks about”

“oh yeah, and trust me, he is much worse”

“Unfortunately, I'm not here with good news. The Emperor's Coven has plans to stop multi-track studies, by inducting every Hexside student into a coven, before the Day of Unity.” everyone gasped in shock at this while at the same time the Hexsquad all felt something quickly wipe against their foreheads, surprising them, though their attention was quickly drawn back to the stage

“Don't worry. No one's magic is going to be sealed away. Head Witch Graye supports us, and has come to help” Bump assured

“Before any Coven Scouts come by, I'm going to make illusions of sigils on your wrists” A hesitant Edric was led into the stage. “They'll be temporary, and harmless.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait, wait, I just started the other tracks. Are you sure this is safe?”

“Don't worry, once a scout sees the fake sigil, they'll move on, and you can continue your studies in peace.” Edric, still hesitant, rolled up his sleeve and showed his wrist. “Now hold still.” Everyone watched as Adrian drew a spell circle in the air and aimed it towards Edric's wrist

“Stop!” Everyone looked at Gus. “Don't trust him! He's hiding behind an illusion!” Gus then drew a huge spell circle, and aimed it towards the stage. The illusion dispeled and Adrian was revealed to actually be a Scout Captain in disguise. Edric fearfully shielded his wrist as the illusion teacher and Bump stepped forward and protect him. The illusion teacher and the captain draw spell circles simultaneously, when suddenly, the real Adrian's voice could be heard.

“Cut!” the teacher and the Coven Scout call off their spell circles in surprise. “Just... just cut.” to the shock and disturbance of the students, Coven Scouts start appearing from the bleachers in the gym, with some also appearing on the stage as well. The real Adrian then appeared, in a director's seat, in the middle of the stage.

Adrian then got up and started to berate the coven scouts on their poor performance. Once he was done he teleported beside Gus and grabbed his arm “And you. Well, you just ruined any chance we had of making this, something”

“You were gonna trick us into getting sigils!”

“Uh, yeah. I work for Belos. Kind of my job. But let's make sure you [The sigil on his glove changes from Illusion to Abomination.] can never use your little illusion tricks again...shall we?” Everyone gasps, horrified. Gus’ friends we just about to step in, when Gus’ eyes glowed blue and he began projecting a wide illusion, which kept shifting locations, confusing everyone. Everyone started running in different directions while Adrian looked at Gus, astonished. “How are you doing this?!” he demanded before Willow rushed in and punched Adrian in the face, knocking him over, before she rushed away with Gus.

Adrian quickly recovered from the blow and looked around at the chaos before giving a growl and used his special earing to steady the illusion. Looking around, he, as well as a few other scouts, found themselves in the Looking Glass Ruins. The Guard Captain was the first to speak “Head Witch. It looks like the whole school is covered in a giant...”

“...Illusion. Hmm” he walked over and examined a statue. When he touched it, however, his eyes widened and he recoiled his hand

“head witch, what’s wrong?” Adrien touched the statue again to find that it was indeed solid. Using his earing, he looked through it and saw that it was an illusion, it was just solid, he could also see that underneath the illusion the whole school was warping and twisting. Walking over to a wall he stood in front of where it would be, though there was still a lot of space between him and the gate to the Looking Glass Ruins taking 2 steps forward, he found that he didn’t hit anything

“its solid, that boy has somehow not only made all of these illusions real, but the whole school is warping underneath it, technically I should have walked into a wall right now”

“can you dispel it?”

Adrian tried to but he couldn’t “I don’t know or care how, but find that boy and make him stop this”

“Sir!” the guards replied and they all left through the Looking Glass Ruins gates.

Meanwhile

Amity and Hunter, having stayed together through the chaos, now found themselves in the bustling forest city that Amity and her friends visited in the past “whoa, where are we?” Hunter asked

“I don’t understand, this is Forearm Forest City on the left tibia, but Luz said that it was abandoned now” she then noticed that while there were many vehicles on the street, there wasn’t a soul on the footpath.

Hunter touched the wall of a building and could feel its barky texture “is this an illusion?”

“well thanks to his third eye amulet, Gus can make illusions solid for 10 seconds, maybe if we wait the illusions will become normal illusions again” knowing that more than 10 seconds had passed since everything stabilised, Hunter touched the wall again, only to feel the same texture.

“well that’s a bust, any idea on how to get out of here?”

“no, I was only here once…lets just go this way, we’ll at least exit this city soon” and the two walked off, with Amity starting to give Hunter food.

Meanwhile

Luz and Emira had found themselves in the centre of Bonesborough “What the?! How did we get here?!” Luz exclaimed

“I think Gus put an illusion over the whole school” she then tried to use her illusion magic to see through it, but she couldn’t “this spell is way too strong for me to break through” she said, Luz then tried her hand at dispelling the illusion, using the knowledge Eda had started teaching her since she was able to start using magic on her own, but she only met the same results as Emira. Luz watched as Emira walked over to a random door to a shop and found that a) it was a solid door, and b) it inside was the same as the store would be on the inside. “Luz. All of this is real”

“say wha?”

“look”

Luz saw for herself, she then came to the conclusion that Gus’ amulet was the reason everything was solid. Emira then got a message on her penstagram “I just got a text from Ed. He, Bump and a bunch of others are in the Healing Homeroom. Apparently it took the combined efforts of all of the illusionists to break through the illusion”

“I’ll teleport us there” Luz said while extending her hand out to Emira, who took it. Luz then put her fingers to her forehead, but nothing happened, her eyes widened “Emira, do I have any glyphs on my forehead?”

“no you don’t”

“dang it, someone must have wiped it off before *sigh* any idea on how to get to the Healing Homeroom?”

“not a clue…but seeing as how we’re in Bonesborough, maybe we should head to Hexside” while extending something out to Luz that looked like a mass of tentacles sandwiched between 2 large glazed doughnuts

“this has more tentacles then I’m used to, but thanks” she said as she ate it and followed her sister-figure to where Hexside was.

Elsewhere

Gus and Willow were now in an illusion room that looked like Gus’ room, unfortunately for the young witch, he was in an excruciating amount of pain. When he activated his spell, due to the size and intensity of it, his amulet ended up fusing into his body, where it was not welcome at all. Willow felt so helpless for her friend. She didn’t know any healing spells and she didn’t have anything she could use to make healing goop with “don’t worry Gus, I’ll take you to Viney” she then grabbed Gus’ hand and put her fingers to her forehead…but nothing happened, that’s when she noticed that the instant transmission spell on Gus’s forehead was gone. Her eyes widened that sensation she felt on her forehead must have been a guard wiping the spell off her forehead to prevent her and her friends escaping. “I’ll get you help Gus, even if I have to force someone to help you” she then picked him up and used her plant powers to help her get through doors.

Amity and Hunter had finally reached the edge of Forearm Forest City, the two had stayed in relative silence, due to their friends usually being the one to bridge the gaps between their conversations. Finally Hunter decided to speak “Hey Amity, I’m curious about something”

“about what?”

“um, don’t take this the wrong way, but, why is your butt so big? When we first met, you were slim, now…”

“now my thighs are as wide as your waist” Hunter looked down at his bulging gut

“yeah”

“a combination of stress eating after Luz just disappeared, and apparently I accumulate fat in my lower half…I’m also actively trying to make it bigger because Luz likes it” Amity explained, before she asked a question of her own “so what’s going on between you and Willow one day you seem like a couple and then the next you seem kinda distant”

“its complicated, I like Willow, and I can tell that she likes me, but I don’t want my past to end up hurting her”

“you do know Willow can handle herself right?”

“Amity, do you know what Belos can do?”

there was a pause

“are you referring to the things he’s done in the past?”

“yeah”

“yeah, Luz told me”

there was another pause

“at the bottom of the titan’s skull are the bodies of all of the previous Golden Guards. Chaser and I checked the other day. Willow, even you and Gus are already in his sights for just being associated with Luz. I want to wait after the day of unity and Belos is stopped once and for all before I ask her out” Amity smiled at this and nodded

the two were just about to exit the forest city, when the scenery around them changed, now finding themselves in the Bonesborough library “uh?” they said in union before taking 2 steps back, finding themselves back at the edge of forest city “seems like all of these different locations are linked together” Amity stated “theoretically, if we keep walking straight would we hit the school walls, or exit the school entirely?”

“I guess, only one way to find out” and the two continued

Luz and Emira had encountered several lost and panicking guards and scouts, easily disposing of them each time. By this point they had gone through several locations as well as altered locations such as a never ending carnival or an upside-down version of a building. The 2 girls were now exhausted from so much walking and had stopped for a rest, Emira was now frustrated “this is ridiculous! Even if the school is under one powerful illusion, we should have hit a wall or something by now, the school isn’t infinite!” Luz however was contemplating something

“Emira, you can keep a secret right?”

“yeah” Luz then closed her eyes…

Luz and Emira were now walking down the twisted and deformed, yet solid, school hallway. Emira was just slack jawed and bug eyed at what Luz had just done “remember, secret” Luz said while Emira just nodded. The two reached the centre of the school which was also now deformed and twisted but no longer under an illusion. Looking around they could see all hallways leading away from the centre lead to various different locations that Gus knew of, except for one. “That’s the hallway that leads to the healing homeroom, right?” Luz asked, while pointing to the level below them, this snapped Emira out of her shock

“uh I think so, its kinda hard to tell with how messed up everything is right now, I mean there aren’t any windows on this floor anymore”

“Luz!” the two looked up and saw Marina on the top floor having finally found a way out of the illusions. Marina then leapt over the edge landed on the floor in a crouching position before leaping up onto the second floor where Luz and Emira were

“so cool” they said in union as Marina flipped herself over the railing and stood up

“I had no idea Gussy could make illusions this powerful”

“yeah, neither could we” Luz said

“did you encounter any guards?” Emira asked

“only 2, but I easily dealt with them” before anyone could say or do anything else a wall across from them exploded.

When the dust settled, they could see an annoyed Boscha with Echo following right behind her with a large group of kindergarteners all holding hands. The two girls looked around “finally, some place familiar” Boscha said

“and familiar faces” Echo added and they made their way over to the other’s with the kindergarteners letting go of each other’s hands “before you ask, we stumbled across them while we were trying to find our way around. So I take it you’re having trouble navigating this maze Gus made?”

“kinda, we think the healing home room is through there, that’s where some of the teachers and students have gathered” Luz said

“and how do you propose we get down there?” Boscha asked, Luz grinned, and using several metal glyphs, she formed a large sturdy slide for them to go down.

“see you at the bottom” she said and she went down followed by Marina, Echo, Emira, the kindergarteners, and a reluctant Boscha.

Elsewhere

Willow could see that Gus was getting worse by the second, now finding herself in an endless version of Amity’s house. Finally she stopped running and was close to screaming in anger when 3 guards came out of the wall “you!” was all a guard could say before he and the others were bound by vines. Willow was about to continue when she realised something, using her magic, a tall guard with points sticking up under their hood was pulled forward “okay, here’s what’s going to happen, you’re going to use your magic to heal my friend here”

“and why would I do that?”

a vine then wrapped around the guards neck and tightened “if you don’t, I’ll make your head pop off” the guard stiffened up at that

“sure, I’ll heal your friend!”

Willow then freed her, but kept the vine around her neck, just in case. The guard then used healing magic on Gus which rapidly eased the pain. When she was done, Gus gave several relieved breaths “thank you” Gus breathed out before wiping the sweat from his brow

the guard then looked at Willow “can you let me go now?” Willow responded by encasing her in vines.

Willow looked at Gus and saw that one of his eyes was now glowing blue “hey Gus, can you cancel this illusion you put on the school?” Gus looked around in awe as his vision was split, one eye saw the infinite version of Amity’s house, where as the other could see the messed up school underneath

“oh I am so getting in trouble for this”

“why?”

“I can see that underneath the illusion, the whole school is messed up”

“can you fix it?”

Gus tried to dispel the illusion, but all he ended up doing was turning the scenery to the forest “no, I can’t, it’s too powerful”

“can you at least guide us out of here?”

“sure” he then grabbed Willow’s hand and began guiding her around. Because he was able to see under the illusion, he was able to guide the both of them through the ever-shifting school. With Willow’s perspective, she found them passing through solid objects, going to different locations completely at random, and phasing through the ground as they went down steps.

As they passed an intersection, Gus and Willow were both hit by a column of ice that sent them flying with Gus ending up going through one of the shifting walls. Gus sat up and found his vision was kind of messed up. Through one eye he could see Willow getting grabbed by 2 guards, and through the other eye he could see nothing but a swirling, twisting, warping void. Closing his glowing eye he got up and used his illusion magic to make two slither beasts that pounced on the 2 guards, before he found himself in the abomination classroom “what the?!” he then looked behind himself and saw the same void. Putting this revelation to the side, he quickly left the half fixed class room and found that the section of the hallway was relatively back to normal. He saw Willow with her arms crossed and smiling as she watched the two guards struggle against the now solid illusions “Willow! You okay?”

“yeah I’m fine, can’t say the same for those two” Gus then used him magic to turn the slither beasts into snakes made of chains that coiled around the two guards an locked into place.

Gus then walked over to a still illusioned hallway and used his magic to make several life size statues of Marina, Luz, and different beasts, with each new illusion sucking up more of his magic spell turning sections of the school back to normal “these are the biggest things that I can think of that will fit in the school” Gus explained as Willow continued following him.

Hunter and Amity stood proud over the pile of Coven scouts before them “nice work Amity”

“thanks, you too”

“though this never-ending illusion is really starting to annoy me”

“I agree…maybe…”

“maybe what?” Amity wrapped an arm around Hunter’s waist and the two disappeared in a swirl of abomination goop.

The two then reappeared 5 minutes later…right next to where they had disappeared “what the hell!” Amity exclaimed “we should have been half way across the Boiling Isles by now”

“maybe the school is more messed up than we thought?” Amity was about to reply when a section of the illusion was sucked into one point and turned into a huge statue of Luz. Willow and a tired Gus appeared from behind the statue and with one more illusion spell Hunter and Amity found themselves in a deformed school hall way.

“Guys!” Willow exclaimed and she and Amity embraced while Gus sat down to regain his energy. When the two girls let go, Willow explained the situation and what Gus was doing.

Once they were caught up Hunter asked Gus a question “hey Gus, instead of just blindly going around the shifting school, why not just make some glasses or something that can help us locate everyone” Gus gave an annoyed groan and easily made a pair of goggles that floated in front of Hunter who put them on. Looking around Hunter could see panicking students disappearing and reappearing all around the school looking down he saw Luz and a large amount of other students gathered together “Luz and a heap of others are down there” he said while pointing in their direction,

“what’s the fastest way to get to them” Amity asked

“this way” and Hunter guided them through the twisting halls, meeting and helping several distressed students as they did. They soon reached the area that Luz had dispelled the illusion, only they found themselves surprisingly on the top floor “5 snails says Luz made that” Gus said while pointing to the slide before he made his own, allowing everyone to make their way to the bottom level. Once everyone was at the bottom, they were about to head over to the one hallway that didn’t have an illusion over it, when Graye along with most of the coven guards and scouts appeared in puffs of smoke along with 20…what could only be described as abominations fused with mechanical parts.

Amity’s eyes narrowed at the abominations “for some reason I think Odalia is responsible for those things.” she muttered before she shifted into her abomination form.

Graye stepped forward “I must admit I am incredibly impressed at all of this (gestures to the messed up school), and I’m sure Belos could find you very useful, however before that I want you to tell me how you know about the Looking Glass Graveyard?” Gus frowned at this and got ready to fight “let me put it this way, tell me how you know about the Looking Glass Graveyard, and I’ll forgive your friend for striking me” the only response he got was a thick vine with a fist shaped end bursting out of the ground, and giving him an uppercut, this prompted the coven scouts to start attacking with the students responding in kind.

Earlier

Luz, along with the others, had managed to find the healing homeroom where most of the other students had gathered. Much to Luz’s disappointment and worry, she saw that Gus, Willow, Hunter and Amity were nowhere to be seen. Seeing the worry on Luz’s face, Emira put a hand on her shoulder “don’t worry Luz, I’m sure mitten’s and the others are fine”

“yeah they can handle themselves”

After a bit of waiting, and a few students finding the healing homeroom, everyone started to hear fighting coming from down the hall. Principal Bump decided to go check on who was causing the ruckus while instructing everyone else to stay, as soon as he was out of sight however, Luz, who had a new instant transmission spell on her forehead, grinned “anyone who wants to see what’s going on, grab onto me” multiple students did and before any of the teachers could stop her, Luz teleported a huge group of students to where the noise was coming from. As soon as they appeared they were immediately forced to engage in the fight as spells were being fired from all directions. Luz summoned Stringbean and began using her to deflect spells, Luz then touched her lightning glyph, mounted her staff on her shoulder like a rocket launcher, and Stringbean constantly fired balls of electricity out, shocking any enemy they touched. Changing it up, she touched an ice glyph and did the same thing only this time, Stringbean fired out sparkling orbs, that, when they touched enemies, encased the area of their body where it touched, in ice. She then did the same thing with her gravity spell, sending guards and scouts flying, and then began trying it out on all of the glyphs that adorned her body.

After having realised that the Abomaton’s were too strong for her, Willow had put on her Golden Thumb Gauntlets, and was easily disposing of the Abomaton’s like they were just regular abomination’s. Amity, however, was easily able to defeat the Abomaton’s. she had tried simply controlling them but even though they were part abomination, the mechanical components prevented her from taking control. She was about to cut down another one when a beam of green energy blew up its top half. Turning in the direction the beam came from, Amity saw Boscha blowing the smoke away from her now barrel arm, which looked like an Abomaton’s arm, it didn’t take a genius to figure out that Boscha had assimilated an Abomaton into her body, granting her its abilities and weapon’s. Amity was tempted to do the same thing, but chose against it, less someone being able to control her if they did.

Hunter had his weapon/armour activated and was easily taking down all of his opponents with a single shot or strike each. And Gus was sealing all of the downed guards and scouts in small cages, to prevent them from rejoining. He continued this before he was restrained by someone and had a dagger placed at his throat “forget the Looking Glass Graveyard, you have caused me enough trouble for a lifetime” Greye said as he pressed the dagger up to his neck. He was about to slit Gus’ throat from ear to ear, when… “STOP!” a wave of blue and yellow energy knocked everyone down with the wave dispelling, not just the illusion over the school, but every illusion and magic spell across the whole Boiling Isles.

Everyone looked in pure shock as Luz stood in the centre of the area, now in her titan form. Walking over to Greye, she now towered over both him and Gus from their position on the floor. Her abnormally long arm reached down and grabbed the dagger out of Greye’s hand and everyone watched as the whole thing disintegrated in her hand. “w-what a-are y-y-ou?” Greye stuttered out

“I am a titan in human form” she said before she reached down again and grabbed Greye by the top of his head and lifted him up off the ground and off his feet.

She started squeezing/crushing his head, making him cry out in agony “now heres what’s going to happen, you’re going to take all of your men, you’re going to crawl back to Belos, and tell him that his days are extremely numbered. And if I find out that you’ve done so much as one bad thing from now on, you will suffer the full wrath of a titan *squeezes tighter* do you understand?”

“yes!” he cried out.

Luz then let go where he collapsed to the ground “now go” Greye and the other coven members left the school as fast as they possibly could without saying a word.

Luz looked down at all of the shocked students and teachers before sighing “yes I’m part titan now” she said wearily

“Luz” she turned and saw Amity “when did this happen?”

“about a month ago when I merged with the soul of a titan”

“and when were you going to tell me this?”

“when the time was right” Luz then realised something, being half titan now, she had a much more significant influence over everyone present “okay everyone, listen up” she started getting everyone’s full attention, she then told everyone the truth about what was really going to happen on the day of unity. Naturally everyone was shocked with this revelation, but given Luz’s status now, everyone believed what she said. Once she was done revealing the truth she walked over to Principal Bump, who had begun kneeling before Luz “may I have your sigil arm please?” without any hesitation Principal Bump complied and extended his arm out to her. Grabbing his arm, Luz placed her large hand over his sigil it glowed for a second and she removed it, revealing that his abomination sigil was now gone. Bump then made a ball of fire in one hand and a ball of water in the other, something that he hadn’t been able to do in decades, some tears started to well up in his eyes. Luz then did the same thing to all of the other teachers and staff, before she finally dropped out of her titan form.

Now that the truth to Belos’s plans had been revealed to everyone in the school, they all began preparing for the day of unity…

Chapter 24: Them's the breaks, Kid

Chapter Text

It had been 2 days since the Emperor's Coven attack on Hexside, as well as Luz revealing her titan form to everyone at school. Shortly after Luz had revealed the truth about the day of unity, a student (Matt), had made a comment to Gus about him wishing that he had a palisman as well. This made Gus get an idea and after conversing with his friends, they agreed with it. The day after the attack, there had been a mass school excursion to the forest where all of the students met the Bat Queen, this had led to a startling revelation…

Flashback

The students had all been informed that they were being taken to the forest where they would be able to adopt an ownerless palisman each. Naturally, all of the students had been excited at the idea of owning their own palisman, though Amity, Willow, and Gus had stated that they couldn't choose their own palisman, the palismen chose them. Nevertheless, the students were still excited. As they made their descent the students were in awe at how many palisman there were, though one student was shocked more than anything else at what they could see.

When the airships landed, all of the students exited and gathered in a huge group "Now students, you're all about to receive your witches' staffs and, more importantly, meet your palisman. This is a crucial step in your magical development. Palismen are lifelong partners. They can be both your good friends and a powerful tool, now I shall let the ba-"

"Baba Yaga!" Marina exclaimed, The Bat Queen's eyes widened, she hadn't heard that name in a VERY long time.

After a long pause, the Bat Queen finally spoke, "how do you know that name?"

"It's me, Marina, Triton's daughter" The Bat Queen's eyes widened as memories of her past came flooding back to her, including ones she had subconsciously blocked. For centuries she thought that she had simply been abandoned or discarded by her original owner, but the truth was a lot more saddening. Marina threw her arms around the Bat Queen and hugged her while beginning to tear up "I thought that I would never see you again after my dad threw you away to save you from those pirates"

"I had honestly forgotten about my past, I thought that I was simply abandoned. Unless my memory is still failing me, but weren't you bigger back then?" Marina then let go and took a step back before she pulled out an antidote potion from out of her pocket and drank it which resulted in the whole area being engulfed in smoke.

The smoke quickly dissipated revealing Marina's true height, which stunned a large amount of the students "Ah, a size-altering potion, that explains it" the Bat Queen stated

"As much as I really want to catch up with you, I think we should allow my classmates to try and find their perfect palisman first" Marina said, getting a nod/tilt from the Bat Queen.

The Bat Queen then addressed everyone "These little ones have not had homes in many years. They want to feel a connection. Kneel and state your deepest wish, and your like-minded partner will find you" Principal Bump then called everyone alphabetically.

By the time the last student had been called, all of the palisman had found a new partner, including the Bat Queen and her children who had become Marina's palismen. In their staff form, the Bat Queen had her wings folded and her three children perched on her head, thankfully the Bat Queen (now being called Baba Yaga), was able to change her size so she could easily fit into the Porter residence.

End Flashback

Luz had been the happiest at the fact that all of the palisman, even Baba Yaga and her children, now had new owners to care for them. Luz had also noticed that since she went titan on Greye, her classmates had started acting different, not only had they all given her gifts (or offerings, as they referred to them), but they had also started eating a lot more of their own food. Willow had found out that everyone now saw Luz as a deity, much like most did to the titan, and were trying to follow her ways and lifestyle, as well as trying to change their image to that of Luz

Flashback

Luz looked at Viney with a raised brow "you 'do' know that I put on my weight over months right? If you're going to insist on turning yourself into my image, you really shouldn't do it all at once"

"I have no idea what you mean, Lady Luz"

She pointed at the mug the other girl was holding "That's butter. You're drinking straight-up melted butter out of a beer stein"

Viney looked at her beer stein "I still find your claim dubious" and she continued drinking the churned cow juice.

Luz turned and saw Skara, Bo, and Mary begging Amity to either fatten them up (more in Skara's case) as she did to her former friends or at least teach them how to make their food as high in calories as they could. Amity, even though she could have clarified that Luz wasn't a true deity, as she had to Edric, she decided to let her feeder tendencies loose and decided to do both to the small group. Echo was also experiencing the same situation as Amity due to how fattening and irresistible the food she made was, only unlike Amity, Echo was getting the same feeling that witches and demons got when they fed the now 1250lbs Luz. The only ones in the school who weren't trying to become like Luz were her close friends, as well as Boscha, Lotis, Marina, and Echo, mostly due to Boscha not liking Luz, and the others didn't have the same perspective of the titan (or titan's in general) as everyone else did (Lotis being from actual land, Marina being from the sea, and Echo being from an entirely different creature). Luz also noticed that everyone at school now bowed to her while also offering her food. As much as Luz wanted to tell them to stop and just treat her the same as they did before, she chose to wait until after the day of unity for that to happen.

End Flashback

Today it was the weekend and Luz was helping Eda gather all of her stuff from the basem*nt to sell at her yard sale tomorrow. Because the Owl House was in the middle of West City's city square, they didn't get much privacy, so Mayor Jullaré had ordered that a front and back yard be made along with a fence and covering to give them privacy. Eda knew that she would make a killing simply by Luz being there, plus the citizens would pay through the nose to have items that one of the heroes of Ribcage Isle used. As Luz brought the last stuff up, she noticed a picture frame face down. As she put it in the correct position her eyes widened at the picture in the frame…

Upstairs

King watched as Eda slapped a price tag on a couch, King however gave her a questioning look "3000 snails for a completely broken couch?"

"That Luz broke, King, that Luz broke," said the girl then appeared next to her

"Hey Eda *holds up picture* I didn't know that you used to be fat?"

The picture was of a young, super obese, Eda with her arm around a young Raine "Ha, I almost forgot about that. Yes I was quite chunky in my teenage years, thanks to the special potion I invented making everything taste so good, I just couldn't stop eating"

"You mean like the one you made for me?"

"bingo kid, though I was significantly thinner before an event happened that made me that big" Luz's eyes widened a bit at this "Ironically, the day I was made that big, was the day I met the coolest witch on the Boiling Isles, Raine Whispers"

"please tell me about it!"

"Luz, you know that I don't like to talk about my past"

"Okay then…oh, I am so so hungry, I feel like I haven't eaten in days, won't someone feed me?" Eda conjured up a mountain of food and was about to feed it all to Luz, when Luz used Stringbean to make an impenetrable barrier. "I'll eat everything you made, and then some, if you tell me the story" Eda banged on the barrier several times before giving an annoyed groan

"Fine, but you eat seven corndogs and a bunch of other stuff first"

"deal" Stringbean then lowered the barrier and for the next 20 minutes, Eda fed Luz exactly seven corndogs followed by large handfuls of cake until Luz had consumed the agreed upon amount of snackage. Luz then started eating the rest of the food Eda made while motioning for Eda to begin.

"Okay, this is the story of how I met the second coolest, baddest, kick-buttiest witch of all time: Raine Whispers! The first naturally being myself." Eda said hyping up the story to another level…

Flashback

"Eda, you have snilk breath. Gross!" Lilith complained, as she moved quickly away from her 400lbs sister, who dropped her grudgby ball and started kicking it around. Eda chuckled as she flipped through the flashcards in her hands. She and her sister had been studying for months about what they might need to know to join the Emperor's Coven.

After eating more than a recommended daily intake throughout most of her teen life Eda now had a really wide frame with a belly that stuck almost a foot out in front of her, a very large rear, thick thighs, and puffy arms and face.

"Can you just give me another question?" Lilith asked.

"Okay, okay." Eda snarky replied, flipping through the flashcards. "On Scaburary 40th, the day Belos declared the Isles an empire…Think fast!" Just then, she whipped around and threw her grudgby ball at Lilith, who instantly caught the ball in mid-air. Once she landed, she faced her sister with a harsh look.

"Eda, we don't have time to play around," Lilith said. In the process, she gives the ball back to Eda and takes the flashcards from her. "Tryouts for the Emperor's Coven are just around the corner."

"7 months isn't 'just around the corner.'" Eda countered, before looking down at her gut "Do you think they'd let someone with a gut like this into the Emperor's coven" "…maybe" "That's yes to an ignorant person" Eda said as she shook her belly.

"You are right that 7 months isn't just around the corner, but we can't afford to slack off," Lilith said, looking at her obese sister. "But could you imagine us both getting in?" She said with a smile. "We'll train together."

"We'll prank together." Eda decreed, knocking the flashcards into the air, before Lilith magically returned to her hands.

"We'll study ancient history together."

"We'll kick butt together!" Eda launched the grudgby ball high into the sky with her kick.

"Help Demons and Witches together!" Lilith happily said, catching the grudgby ball.

Eda lept onto a lamppost and danced around it. "Take over the world together! Nothing can stop the Clawthorne sisters! Our rivals shall be crushed beneath our feet! Even the Titan shall gasp in fear!" Eda cried out at the top of her lungs, even though it caused her to take some deep breaths. But she turned to the sound of Lilith gasping at her. "Yeah, like that." She said snapping her chubby fingers.

"No! Look!" Lilith said, pointing up to the giant clock. Its hand moved to 12, and both sisters felt their hearts sink in fear. "We're gonna be late!" Lilith took off sprinting as fast as she could towards Hexside. Eda ran after her, trying to keep pace, and while she could, she was having difficulty breathing. She was really out of shape.

They rushed through Bonesbourough, leaping over carts, other Witches and Demons, and some roadblocks…well at least Lilith was, Eda was just plowing through everything in her way. It was the workout Eda never realized she needed.

But, by some miracle, both girls ended up at the steps of Hexside, seeing all the other students, fooling around, and playing with their magic. A nice grin appeared across Eda's face.

"See?" She told Lilith, gazing out at the courtyard. "We're gonna be fine." Oh, how she would come to regret saying that.

As soon as she finished, a giant circle of fire blasted up at the top of the steps of Hexside. It went as tall as the roof, nothing but a blaze of flames and embers. When it dissipated, Principal Faust stepped out of the fire as it extinguished. He was not someone to be trifled with. He pulled out a clipboard, and ran his long, pointy fingernails along a clipboard, bringing everyone's attention to the dictator-like runner of the school.

"Detention. Detention. Suspension!" Faust called out to random students.

"Uh oh," Eda said, scared. Thinking on her feet, she and Lilith rushed around the outline of the school courtyard, toward some bushed by the steps.

"What are we doing?" Lilith said.

"Keeping ourselves out of Fausty's wrath," Eda whispered. She drew a spell circle next to her grudgby ball, and the ball levitated in the air. She hurled it at Faust and Vice Principal Bump, who appeared to be the one who got hit.

Eda drew another spell circle, separating the bushes to reveal a small door. Eda opened the door, and as Lilith went through, she heard footsteps. She turned to see Lilith, signaling her to come in. But she knew that if she went, Lilith would get caught too. So, she slammed the door shut and quickly hid it behind the bushes once more.

As she turned around, she saw Faust and Bump, standing over her. She was used to staring down Faust's deadly stare, but this time, something felt different.

"Hey, Fausty. Vice Princey B." Eda hummed, trying to play off her grudgby trick, to which neither administrator looked amused. Eda knew she was going to get a bat's earful for this…

Eda sat in a chair in the principal's office, curiously looking up at Faust, who didn't flinch or move.

"Miss Clawthorne. Do you know why I keep you around?" Faust growled at the young student. He wasn't a guy you wanted to get on his bad side, which was always.

"My innate talents?" Eda confidently said. "My unbeatable charm–"

"No!" Faust quickly snapped. He pulled a string right beside him, and suddenly, a giant pile of books and records landed in front of both of them. It was Eda's record. Every wrong deed she had ever done at Hexside. Wrong was a harsh word in Eda's mind, cause most of the stuff she did was juvenile at best. "Because to fight evil, you must understand evil. All your misdeeds, pranks, and schemes, have given me insight into the depravity that lurks within the minds of children."

Eda stood up and looked at her record, just sitting on the table. "Wow, this is really shocking," she said before her face curled up into a mischievous grin. "I thought there'd be more."

"You're close with your sister, Lilith, I see. Plan on trying out for the Emperor's Coven, together?" Faust said, looking over her record. "Commendable."

"Yeah, I do kinda rule," Eda said, with her sentence rolling off her relaxed, slacking body.

"Too bad you'll be ineligible…when I expel you!" Faust decreed. That got Eda's attention. She sat her bulky frame up straight, now fully engaged in the conversation.

"What?!" Eda exclaimed. "You can't do that, I'll be separated from Lilly!"

"Maybe you should've thought of that before you filled the detention pit with green gelatin." Faust snapped back.

"It was HIS birthday! He liked it!" Eda said defensively. "Please, Principal Faust, I'll do anything!"

That piqued the principal's interest. He knocked on the walls behind him, which slid open to reveal Bump, who stepped out into the office.

"Yes, sir?" Bump asked, sounding nervous.

"No child is beyond redemption. Didn't you stake your career on it?" Faust asked, before looking over at Eda. Bump couldn't help but stare at the young Clawthorne, who was waving and chuckling nervously. "Come with me," Faust said.

Students ran into classrooms, ran away, or hid in lockers as Faust, Bump, and Eda made their way to the hallway. They kept walking until they approached a glass locker, filled with trophies, medals, and ribbons. Faust started to open the case, as Eda looked inside, with her attention locked on the blue ribbons in said case.

"Every year, Hexside participates in a special training program called Instructing Future Witches of Tomorrow," Faust said, taking one of the blue ribbons out. He looked at it with admiration, but maybe not toward the ribbon. "I attend with our most gifted students and we return with blue ribbons as a testament to my…" Faust paused, realizing what he said. "...I mean, our excellence. Unfortunately…"

"Um, you expelled our most gifted student for chewing too loudly in the cafeteria." Bump nervously piped up. He didn't like how Faust treated the students, but there wasn't much he could do.

"Disgusting monster." Faust snarled, at which point he turned to face Eda, who looked at the ribbon. "This year, you can represent Hexside. Bring back a blue ribbon, and you can remain a student here. Come back empty-handed, and I will savor the expulsion." Faust said with a look of enjoyment on his menacing face.

Eda blinked a few times, before scoffing at Faust. "Okay, that doesn't seem too hard," Eda said confidently. Again, she would later come to regret those words.

"Is that so?" Faust said, drawing a spell circle. Suddenly, Eda was encapsulated in a giant cloud of smoke.

In an instant, she felt her body get exponentially heavier like gravity was getting stronger. But the cloud of smoke dissipated, and soon, she saw what her principal had done. She looked down at her now immense body in shock. She must have been 700-800 pounds based on how she looked. Possibly even more.

"Don't worry, this spell is temporary. It will only last a single...year" The word echoed throughout the halls like a death sentence. "You come back with a blue ribbon, I'll return you to your original form immediately. If you don't...at the very least it will make your attempts at humor at my school's expense that much harder...especially since you'll be expelled" Faust sneered before he glanced at Bump. "And you'll go with her!" Faust yelled at Bump, who cowered behind his clipboard. Faust stood up and began to walk away, before glancing over his shoulder. "If anything goes wrong, I will have to find a new vice principal." He said with a wicked smile. He slowly walked down the hall, leaving Bump and a now super obese Eda standing in silent shock. Unsure of what to do?

"I can't believe I agreed to this." Eda groaned, grabbing her colossal belly, and looking at it. They were standing right outside the IFWOT center, but that wasn't what Eda was concerned about at the moment.

She may have been obese before, but now there was no denying that she was probably one of the widest Witches on the Boiling Isles. Her face was now puffed out even more than before. Her bosom had developed even more than before, which now laid atop her far more vast belly. The thing was so big now, that it stuck out almost 2 feet in front of her and when not tucked into her pants, it hung down past her knees. It was also so heavy now that Eda felt exhausted just holding it. Her legs had almost doubled in thickness, forcing her legs even further apart than before. Her butt was also much bigger than before. Her arms were covered with so much adipose that she couldn't bend them properly anymore. And finally, she was now so wide that her arms couldn't go down more than halfway before resting on her sides.

Bump glanced down at Eda's jiggly jowls, seeing her discomfort. He glanced around at all the other Witches for the IFWOT, staring at Eda, some making faces, giggling, making Eda feel even more embarrassed about her predicament. Normally Eda didn't let these things get to her, but due to now being at a size that was uncomfortable to her, it was making her feel more down by the minute. But Bump put all that aside, and a soft smile gleamed across his face.

"This will be fine, perfectly fine," Bump said, patting Eda on her fat back. "As long as you can go five minutes without setting anything on fire, right?"

"I think I got bigger problems than that, Bumpy." Eda sighed. "I'm gonna fail both of us, aren't I?"

"I-I know you have a reputation around school, but I just see a talented young Witch." Bump consoled to the young Clawthorne. With that Eda's optimism slowly rose up on her pudgy face. "And I'll wager those stories about you turning the school inside out are just urban legends."

Eda snorted and chuckled, causing her face and jowls to jiggle. "That was a fun day."

Bump looked away for a second, out of annoyance, but then breathed and calmed down. He wasn't going to hold anything against her. After all, the odds were MASSIVELY stacked against the two of them. So, he buried those thoughts in his mind pulled a purple toy out from his pocket, and handed it to Eda.

"Let's try this. This is a stress toy. If you need something to let out your anxieties or chaos, just squeeze it."

Instantly, Eda began to squeeze the toy, causing it to tightly expand before…POP! The toy exploded in Eda's hands, sending its remnants all across the ground. Bump sighed at the failed attempt to calm her down.

Just then, the doors to the building opened, and every Witch and their guardian walked inside. Well, Eda had to waddle inside, feeling tired and out of breath just from walking a small distance. 'If Faust doesn't change me back, I'm gonna sit on him' Eda thought to herself, as she approached the entrance door. She was given a name badge, which she stuck on her uniform. At least Faust had expanded her uniform to fit her fat form, though it didn't comfort her.

"Prepare yourself, Edalyn." Bump said, in a foreboding tone. "The IFWOT is a battleground of magic and skill. Witches who successfully complete these courses have gone on to do incredible things. You will face some of the greatest competition here."

Eda gulped as she waddled through the entrance, feeling a sense of dread wash over her like a curse. But as her eyes got a glimpse of what the program had to offer, all that fear washed away rapidly. Not that it looked easy, it just looked…boring.

There was much to be desired with this place. The banners were hanging up by a thread, with some falling over, and Coven Scouts had to pull out ladders to hang the decorations back up. Many of the young Witches, some from Glandus High, some from St. Epiderm, were just drifting through the halls, looking bored as well. One Coven Scout was testing the microphone, which began to spin, with a mind of its own and let out a loud piercing noise of feedback. A student from Glandus High was checking out the snacks that were there, but quickly threw them away. But as Eda glanced at them, her stomach growled.

'Great, Faust made me hungry as well' Eda thought to herself, pouting, causing her chins to scrunch up. The stuff looked terrible, so even as her distended belly cried out to be fed, Eda was not going anywhere near that junk yet.

"Wow. I grossly misjudged the tone here." Bump said, in shock, still looking around the center, realizing that Faust may have exaggerated. "Maybe this is a good thing."

But before Bump could continue, the ground began to rumble. Eda felt her fat jiggle, throwing her off balance. Her body was pulling her all over the place, with her weight unable to keep her still. It wasn't long until she fell onto the floor, sending a ripple through her rolls. She felt so embarrassed, being so big, and surrounded by so many people. But as she pulled her head up, she saw vines sprout from the floor, and onto the stage. The vines soon turned into a stem, and then a flower appeared at the top, at which point, the plant split open to reveal Terra Snapdragon, head of the Plant Coven. All the students and teachers gazed upon her with wonder, but not Eda, who was still busy pulling herself off the ground, with Bump assisting her.

"Greetings, students, educators, and third thing! My name is Terra Snapdragon, Head Witch of the Plant Coven!" Terra said with a welcoming voice, bowing as if she were a special guest to be honored. "But today, I'm head proctor for the…" As she gazed up at the banner, her face immediately soured, twitching and her eyes widened in disappointment. "IFWOT? Seriously?" She cried out as if being here was a disgrace.

She snapped her fingers, and vines sprouted up, covering the banner in them, with flowers blooming out for everyone to see. Even if she knocked a Coven Scout off who was trying to fix it, who was crying out in agony. But Terra digressed and turned her attention back to the students.

"I'm here to "Help Enhance Coven Know-how"! Welcome.. to HECK!" Terra said with a small rasp in her voice, leading to a small applause, as most students were looking at the Coven Head nervously. "Oh, this is my first year hosting, and I am thrilled. Today, you little sweet peas will go through rigorous exercises that will enhance your intelligence, strength, and creativity. Are you excited?"

At that point the audience erupted into cheers and claps, drowning out all other noises in the room. Terra smiled at the warm reception that she received.

"Lovely! Remember, this won't be a bed of roses." Terra said, her hands together in a peaceful gesture.

Behind her, a Coven Scout approached with a suitcase in hand. As he opened it, the contents were shown to be the blue ribbons. Eda's ticket to being saved from expulsion, and her new-found weight.

"Only the best of the best will be rewarded. The failures will be ground into mulch for my garden!" Terra sneered in a more sinister tone. Many of the students quivered, with some crying out. The Scout whispered something into Terra's ear, making her pipe up. "Illegal?" She asked. "Oh, we'll see about that, won't we, children? Let the activities begin!" The Coven Head decreed, throwing petals into the air, and sending the students into a frenzy.

As the students scattered, Eda looked down at herself one more time, getting a little worried. She glanced up at Bump, who was shaking a little. All he could muster to her was a thumbs up. Not very confidence boosting to her predicament. She sighed and waddled out toward the activities.

Eda was looking around for where she should start. But as she waddled her bulging body through the center, she saw how everyone looked at her. She heard a lot of snickers and saw people glancing in the other direction, or just trying to stay out of her way. She felt like everyone could hear her thoughts and they were trying to pry their way into her mind to tell her how fat she was. Normally she would want to cause some anarchy, but now being hundreds of pounds heavier and feeling like even more of an outcast put a damper on that. Eda was so caught up in her mind that…

BANG! Eda slammed into another student slamming them to the ground. Eda quickly rolled off the student and heaved herself up into a standing position. She looked at the student. They had light teal hair with glasses and were wearing a St. Epiderm uniform with red sleeves. They were a bad student. They rubbed their head as they slowly sat up, before catching a glance at Eda.

Eda, not wanting to cause any more ruckus, quickly helped the students to their feet, and brushed off their uniform.

"I'm so sorry. I'm not used to having so much of me yet." Eda said hastily, before waddling off. The student kept their eyes on her as she waddled down to some of the activities.

Eda couldn't decide which exercise to try. A lot of them seemed pretty straightforward and boring. She would say easy, but her size made her second guess that word in this scenario. Eventually, she saw a stand that wasn't as crowded with the word 'TRUST' above it. Eda just shrugged her broad shoulders and made her way over to it. As she approached, she saw the instructor talking, with a Coven Scout beside him.

"Tell me, what makes the covens strong? Strength in numbers? A dark pact?" The instructor asked. "Well, it is all of those things but also," As he was talking, he leaned back and fell, only for the Scout to catch him, in what was clearly a trust fall. "Trust." The instructor finished.

'Seriously?' Eda thought to herself. 'How lame can this be?'

"So we'll be doing trust falls." The instructor said. "Any volunteers?" All the students were dead silent, including Eda. "No takers? How about…you?" The instructor pointed to Eda. All eyes looked at her, causing her face to blush deep red.

"Come on, don't be shy." The instructor said calmly and gently, being kind. Begrudgingly, Eda waddled forward, bumping into other students.

"Sorry," Eda said, as she continued to move as fast as she could toward the instructor.

"Very good, very good." The instructor said. "And this will be your partner." Eda turned to see a blob-like student standing behind her. She would have disliked the student, but looked at them, with more worry and concern. As did they. "Now, you close your eyes, and trust that your covenmate will catch you."

"Uhh, you sure we shouldn't switch roles?" Eda said nervously, with the blob also nodding its jiggling body in agreement.

"Do you not trust your partner?" The instructor said as if trust was the issue. Eda gulped, beginning to sweat, and glancing back at the blob.

With a big deep breath, Eda fell back into the waiting arms of the blob student knowing very well how this was going to end: disaster. And she was right. As she fell onto the blob student, their gelatinous form began to cave under the immense weight of Eda's body. In mere seconds, the student was squished underneath Eda's massive body, with parts of them spread out across the floor. The students, instructor, and Coven Scout all stared in disbelief.

"Not again." The blob student said from under Eda. Instantly, the students began laughing at the young Witch.

"Man, if that's not a mess, I don't know what is." A Glandus high student joked, which spurred on the others.

Eda glanced up at the instructor, who gave a soft smile, and wrote something on his clipboard, the Scout on the other hand, was shaking his head disapprovingly, making Eda feel worse. Could this day get any worse?

Eda sat alone in a corner of the hallway, twiddling a small cup of juice in her chubby hands. She looked dejected. She hadn't been doing a great job so far, and that could mostly be attributed to her weight. While she wanted to keep trying to prove that she could get a ribbon, a thought in the back of her mind persisted that it was pointless, and Faust would expel her and keep her a butterball. Probably serves her right for her smug attitude.

"I never should've come here," Eda said, taking a sip of her drink. However, she immediately spit it out, hating the taste. "Blech! Even after my gourmet potion active, the free junk is still junk!" And with that, she threw her drink away…

Only for it to be stopped in mid-air, floating with a colorful aura surrounding it. Eda gazes at the drink with confusion, as a student made their way toward her. The same student she bumped into earlier. Eda gulped as they approached, with the drink floating into their hand.

"I don't know who you are, but you are a riot." The student said, chuckling as they handed the drink back to Eda.

"Yeah, I excel at functions like this. Heck, I even love the horrid liquids they serve." Eda sarcastically quipped, immediately feeling something different about this student, as they didn't look at her like…a freak.

The student chuckled. "Yeah, they always give us the off-brand junk. Let me try something." They leaned over, right above Eda's cup, and whistled into it. It was a beautiful sound that Eda had rarely heard. The student stood back up, still smiling. "Don't worry, I didn't spit in it." They reassured.

Eda, skeptical, took another sip of the drink. To her surprise, it didn't taste anything like the drink she had before. It was delicious!

"Whoa!" Eda exclaimed, gulping down the rest of the drink in one fell swoop. "This is pretty good! How'd you change the flavor?"

The student walked over toward Eda, and sat down on a cardboard box next to her. Well, given how cramped the space was given Eda's girth. The student fixed their glasses, looking up at Eda, ignoring her fat body.

"Little trick I taught myself: changing the chemistry of a liquid with sound waves." The student said with a smile across their face. "See, bard magic can be cool! People just don't give it a shot!"

Eda chuckled and snorted, causing her fat to jiggle. Not that the student paid any attention to it. "All right, I get it. If you whistle loud enough, can you make this…less of a drag?" Eda asked

"Not even with a full orchestra." The student said, rolling their eyes in boredom. Eda could tell that they wished they could be anywhere else OTHER than here. "Always the same boring activities, same boring faces."

When the students turned, they saw Eda's head had been replaced with a skull. No skin, no muscle, no eyes, no nose, nothing. They jumped off their box, startled, and screamed. The skull turned to face them, when…

POOF! A cloud of smoke popped up around Eda's skull, and once it dissipated, her face returned. A clever trick Eda had learned from an illusion track student. "Till wittle ole me?" Eda innocently replied and batted her eyes.

This caused the student to burst into hysterics. They started laughing at the joke, which Eda smiled at. Usually, no one thought her jokes were funny. Most of the time, people got mad or annoyed at her. They were a nice change of pace.

"Yeah." The student said through their laughter. Eda chuckled as well, but something on the student's belt caught her eye. Three ribbons, exactly like the blue ribbons she was here to get, tied to the student's side.

"How'd you get those?!" Eda exclaimed, her fat jiggling. The student spotted where Eda was looking, and tucked the ribbons away, but they plucked up one and showed it to the Clawthorne.

"Oh, these are from last year." They said, before placing the ribbon back on her side. "Maybe if you stick with me, I'll show you how to get one of your own."

Eda smiled. This was EXACTLY what she needed to get a ribbon. To stay at Hexside with Lily. This was how she proved herself to Faust. Determined, she reached her chubby hand out for a handshake.

"All right, I'm Eda Clawthorne." Eda said with a grin, waiting for the student to return to gesture. And they did.

"Raine Whispers." They said. And thus began a connection that neither would fully understand in the moment.

The activities had broken for lunch, in which many of the students were sitting next to fellow schoolmates, friends, or their mentors, eating their food, and talking about the "challenges." All except Eda and Raine. They sat next to each other, with Eda's tray being overstuffed with food, compared to Raine's. Faust had not only made her fat, but made her hungry, and right now, she felt like she could eat just about anything. Not ravenous, but just hungry.

Eda and Raine glanced over at each other as they ate. It had been an eventful morning for their activities, to say the least.

First, they both went to STRENGTH, where the students were all dressed up like sumo wrestlers. Well, except for Eda, since she looked like a sumo wrestler. But this was where her weight was to her advantage, as she pummeled her opponents with ease, knocking them to the ground, where they had the wind knocked out of them. Raine helped her finish them off, by rolling Eda like a bowling ball into the rest of the students. It ended with Eda sitting atop a Glandus High student, her face looking smug and happy, as it should.

Next, they both went to the CREATIVITY stand, where they were tasked with getting a flow of water from one end to another, without using magic. So, she and Raine built a crazy contraption, which looked like the words, "I'M FAT." The proctor was a little put off by this, but seeing Eda's weight, he understood its meaning. And with the flick of her chubby hand, Eda started the chain reaction, directing the water through the words, sometimes even defying gravity itself, before it landed in a cup that Raine was holding. They handed it off to the proctor who was quite pleased by the result. Eda and Raine ran to each other and fist-bumped.

They also went to COURAGE, which was standing up to a giant monster-like puppet, at the height of the room. Raine had never seen the IFWOT use this before, but they weren't scared. Eda ran up in front of Raine and the other students, essentially creating a barrier. The proctor tried to move around, but Eda just kept waddling, somehow keeping pace with the skinnier adult. The proctor took off the puppet and smiled at Eda, writing something down on his clipboard. Hopefully, it's good, Eda thought.

And that led into lunch, where they were now. They had other stands they went to, but felt like they were pretty boring, as Eda was sitting her wide rear the entire time, so they weren't as memorable. But she had done her best to behave, not causing anarchy, or at least a little amount of it given her heavy circ*mstances. But, at that moment, she just wanted to enjoy her meal.

Eda chowed down on her giant griffin leg, chewing greatly before swallowing. Raine watched, in shock as Eda was eating. It wasn't pleasing to see, but they were curious…

"Can I ask you something?" Raine asked.

"Yeah, gho ahead," Eda said with her mouth full of poultry.

"You seem like a strong-willed witch. Can you explain how someone with your spunk, ends up as big as you?" Raine asked, trying to come off as kind and gentle as they could be.

Eda, knowing she couldn't dodge the question, put the leg down, and sighed. "Made a deal with the devil," Eda said gloomily. "My principal made me this fat, and he said he would expel me, and make me stay like this if I didn't come back with a ribbon."

"Is that even legal?" Raine questioned, with a concerned look on their face.

"Dunno." Eda shrugged, her broad shoulders lifted up and down. "Probably not. But I know he's using me to embarrass our vice principal. As if he doesn't do that to himself already."

Eda directed Raine's attention over to Bump, who was sitting by himself at a table, looking over his clipboard. He noticed a Coven Scout waving in his direction. His face perked up, as he waved back as the Scout approached him, getting closer, and closer…until he passed by Bump to high-five another Scout. Bump recoiled back to his depressed look and state of mind. Eda and Raine couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy.

"It stinks," Eda said. "But I have a sister at Hexside. She's really my only friend. It'd be a bummer if that got taken away."

Raine turned to face Eda, looking at the globular girl, and seeing her bummed-out face. She didn't even pick her griffin leg back up. But Raine smiled and slugged Eda's meaty bicep.

"Well, you won't have to worry about that," Raine said, reassuring. "After the closing ceremony, we're home free."

Eda chuckled a little, feeling the weight of both her fat and the daunting task placed on her shoulders slowly start to lift. She went back to chewing on her griffin leg, ripping pieces of meat off to satiate her hunger.

Flames were lit around the stadium. Horns blared. Students entered the stadium as the closing ceremony for the IFWOT had begun. Eda waddled as fast as she could toward the stage but felt herself feeling a lot tired, and her gut was in a lot of pain. Too much food. She had definitely overdone it.

Eda glanced over at Bump, who was the one now holding the stress toy. She could tell by his hyperventilation and constant squeaking of the toy that Bump was WAY over the edge. To appease him, the young witch brought up her two fingers and began to breathe deeply. As Bump heard this, his breathing slowed down to Eda's pace, and soon, he was calm once again. Eda cracked a small smile, showing her chins and jowls to the VP.

The ground rumbled as vines, once again, sprouted up and split open to reveal Terra once again. As Eda came to a stop, she paused next to Raine, who glanced over at her. They gave a small smile while they fixed their glasses. Eda returned the smile with one of her own. 'You know, maybe this wasn't so bad' Eda thought. 'It's almost over.'

"Congratulations, students!" Terra spoke politely to the crowd, who began to cheer. "It seems nearly everyone earned a ribbon." Behind Terra, two Coven Scouts appeared behind her, carrying a small glass case of blue ribbons. "You must be so proud of yourselves."

Raine extended their hand out to Eda, who glanced down at it and happily took it in stride. It was a nice moment…until it wasn't.

"Well, you shouldn't be!" Terra yelled, her tone having gone from polite to sinister instantly, and causing audible gasps from the crowd. "This training camp is a joke. There was nothing "challenging" about those challenges!" All of a sudden, she pointed into the crowd, and her finger landed right on Eda, putting a spotlight on her. "And if someone as fat as this young witch can get a ribbon, then we might as well give everyone a ribbon!"

Eda and Raine winced at the comment, with Eda feeling humiliated in front of her peers. She thought it was over, that she could shed this responsibility, and pounds, but now, it seems like that might take a while.

"Before we hand out any ribbons…I think we need one more activity." Terra slyly insinuated.

With the snap of the Plant Coven Head's fingers, a giant hedge maze emerged from the ground, with thorns and vines hanging from the top of the shrubbery. No student could see the stands. The only person they could see was Terra, standing over them, like peasants and their ruler.

"We'll play my personal favorite game: Covens vs. Wilds." Terra decreed to the students, who looked at each other nervously. "Look at your badges, and you'll see if you're a Coven Witch or a Wild Witch."

Instantly, everyone's badges changed to either COVEN or WILD. Eda looked down at hers. It read WILD. She looked over at Raine, who was looking down at theirs. It read COVEN. Both witches gulped as Raine let go of Eda's hand to join her team. Eda, eyes still locked with Raine, backed up to her team. Each team looked angrily at each other, except for Eda and Raine, who were scared. They liked each other, and now they had to fight each other. 'This plant lady's crazy' Eda thought.

"Coven Witches, you have 20 minutes to capture every Wild Witch," Terra explained. "If you succeed, everyone on your team gets a ribbon! Wild Witches, you may earn a ribbon... if you put on a good show. And to encourage your shrinking violets, I'll allow any use of magic! We're in HECK, people! Let's have some fun!" She honestly sounded like a psychopath with how she was treating the minors.

Silence filled the maze, as both teams continued to glare at each other. Eda could feel her fat jiggling with worry, when…

"Begin!" Terra announced. And like that, Hell was unleashed…

Both teams began to attack each other, casting spells, and flinging magic at each other, setting the whole place into chaos! Eda and Raine stared at each other, before noticing attacks coming their way. Eda did her best to dodge the spells but was finding it difficult, given she was much wider than most of the witches in attendance.

Raine, with a final look of solace, turned around and unleashed a spell of light, distracting Eda as she covered her eyes. When the light was gone, so was Raine. Eda was the only one left in the maze center. Feeling exposed out in the open, Eda waddled out into the pathways, using her magic to the best of her ability to dodge incoming attacks. Left, right, up, down. Magic was coming from everywhere!

Unfortunately, she failed to see a Coven witch in time, so–BOOM! She collided with the student, sending both crashing to the ground, with the students stuck under Eda's belly. Eventually rolling off, Eda saw the student was knocked out cold. Using plant magic, Eda wrapped them up in vines before they were pulled underground and ejected outside of the maze. She heaved herself up, using the hedges as leverage to get herself back onto her feet. As soon as she was, however, a thick rope of abomination goo wrapped around her as well as an equally thick vine.

"gotcha!" the two students said to the now restrained Eda, who was struggling to get free

"Let's get tubby here out and continue," A cyclops student said, though the two students quickly realized a problem that they now had, Eda was impossible to move. The two pulled and pushed the wide wild witch, but Eda wouldn't budge, two more students joined in trying to get Eda out, but she still wouldn't budge. Raine came around a corner after avoiding two attacks and taking out the attackers, they tried to hold in their laughter at the sight before them. They then watched in awe as a now red-faced Eda burst free from her restraints before she spun around, knocking the other students down and then she ended it by making a huge spell circle and blasting them. Everyone who saw the results of Eda's attack was left in stunned silence, in the 4 students' places were 4 cupcakes that had their COVEN badges placed on top.

Eda looked at her hand and then back to the cupcakes "I didn't know that I could do that" She then undid the spell, turning them back to normal. As they started to panic, Eda used her magic to fling them out of the maze. Eda now turned her attention to Raine, her eyes softening. Suddenly two wild witches appeared behind Raine ready to strike them "Watch out!" Eda shouted, allowing Raine to dodge the construction and plant magic combo just in time. Eda then used her magic to restrain the two witches and made them float up

"What are you doing?" one student asked

"We're on the same team!" the other student stated before Eda banged their heads together and flung them out.

"An interesting development." Terra curiously stated. "Perhaps a showdown is in order? Let's give them plenty of room to fight!"

Terra snapped her fingers, and the maze descended back into the ground, leaving only Eda and Raine in the arena. The two witches glanced at each other, both concerned and yet steadfast. This was the outcome neither of them wanted, but here they were. They both readied their stance, and their glares became filled with anger. Terra couldn't help but be excited at watching the young witches duke it out!

Both Eda and Raine charged at each other, and…did a fist bump. This worked its way through a variety of increasingly complex handshakes, claps, and high-fives, until finally, both began to draw a spell circle, directly at Terra.

The spell sent out a blast of energy straight at the Coven Head. Terra, not fazed, brought up a wall of vines to block the attack. If she had a snail for every student who thought they could take her out, she'd have two snails. Which wasn't a lot but...wait what was burning?

She noticed that part of her hair was signed, and was on fire. With two fingers, she snuffed it out and glared angrily at Eda and Raine.

"Never a rose without a few thorns, I see," Terra said menacingly.

"Yeah, well, we got tired of your stupid challenge." Eda lamented at Terra, while crossing her arms over her chest.

"And you're awful plant puns!" Raine added on.

"Nothing is wrong with my puns!" With these insults, Terra quickly descended from the stage and landed right in front of the two younglings. She looked furious, as she slowly walked towards them. Eda and Raine were sweating, knowing they may have just made the biggest mistake of their lives. However, suddenly, Terra burst into laughter.

"Delightful!" Terra announced with pride. "Feisty witches do make the best leaders! I especially like you, sprout." She said to Raine, poking their nose. "But…I can't reward disobedience. So, everyone is poisoned!" She maliciously screamed, raising her vines from the ground. But a Coven Scout approached her and whispered something in her ear. From the look on her face, she was irritated at the response. "That's illegal too?!" She exclaimed. The Coven Scout nodded "How illegal?" the scout whispered again "Really, really illegal?" The scout, once again, nodded. Getting an audible groan from Terra. "Fine! Instead, no one gets a ribbon this year, everyone loses!"

That response immediately caused an uproar in the crowd. Many students and teachers booed into the center, mainly at Eda and Raine. But they didn't seem fazed by it. Both of them had a small chuckle with a nervous grin on their faces.

"I hope this was worth it." Eda relented to Raine, looking down on her. "Better get used to this body."

"Well, look on the bright side…" Raine started before they were interrupted by Bump approaching Eda. When Eda turned to where Raine was, they were making their exit, giving a nice wink at the Clawthorne as she left.

"Eda! I am so proud of you!" Bump said with exuberance. However, that tone soon deflated to defeat. "But also, I think we're toast. My career is over, and you'll probably be expelled and I doubt Faust will reverse his weight spell on you, but what a way to go!" As Bump finished, he felt a tap on his shoulder that jolted him up, like a petrified cat. He whipped around to see Terra, chuckling.

"Pardon me. Expelled? Weight spell? Is Fausty still playing more of his little games?" Terra asked, she seemed genuine in her questioning. "No. Budding prodigies like Miss Clawthorne need to be nourished. I'll have a word with him, letting him know I was impressed…with both of you." Terra remarked, walking away from the pair.

Eda was in shock, but Bump actually fainted from shock. She wasn't sure how to process what in Titan's name just happened. But from the sound of it, it was most likely good.

Eda carried her lunch tray (which only contained a box of ghoul-aid) through Hexside's cafeteria, looking around for Lilith. She figured she'd be alone, looking over her books, like she normally does. Eda felt a spring in her step, something she had been grateful for the last few days. Especially after the good news.

Apparently, Faust was fired from his role as principal, which allowed Bump to assume the role of principal. Not only that, but Faust reversed the weight gain spell on Eda, reverting back to her normal obese form, give or take a few pounds lighter. Things were looking up. And they were looking better, as Eda spotted Lilith sitting by a window, and rushed over to her, as fast as she could.

"Lily!" Eda said happily, plopping herself down next to her on the table and taking a seat across from her sister. "I finally caught you. I never got to tell you about that weird training thing over the weekend."

"Uh-huh," Lilith said, not listening. Her mind was buried in the book she was reading about Emperor Belos and his connection to the Titan.

"I was horrified. If I lost I was gonna be fatter than I already am, as well as become expelled and then we wouldn't be able to–" Eda was trying to explain the events, but she was cut off by Lilith's watch ringing, drawing her attention to her time reader.

"Shoot!" Lilith exclaimed frantically. She stood up and grabbed her empty lunch tray. "Sorry Edalyn, gotta go. E.C. study group is meeting. Could we…talk later?" Lilith asked, feeling bad for skipping out, but also sounding like she was in a hurry.

Eda scoffed and waved her off. "Go. Go, go, go, don't be late." Eda assured her. And with that Lilith took off, leaving Eda's line of vision.

Eda conjured up her lunch before looking out the window, now feeling the sense of boredom she felt at the IFWOT. Not only that, but she was alone, feeling disconnected. She really only had Lilith, and now that was sort of falling off. She sighed, and took a sip of her Ghoul Aid, before spitting it out in disgust "ugh, this stuff still tastes bad, even after my gourmet potion active".

"Trade?" Someone said, offering a juice box of Apple Blood to her. Eda glanced up, and her eyes widened. To her surprise, the person in front of her was Raine! Decked out in a Hexside uniform, she happily waved the drink in front of Eda.

"Raine?!" Eda exclaimed as the bard took a seat. "What are you doing here?" and then something dawned on Eda. "Oh- oh no, your scholarship!"

"Eh, don't worry." Raine shrugged it off, still smiling. "I wanted to transfer out of Epiderm anyway. And apparently, my parents always hated the cold on the Knee. So?" Raine continued to shake the Apple Blood in front of Eda, like they were tempting her to take it. And took it she did.

Eda and Raine swapped drinks, with both unable to take their eyes off the other. Both smiled, whilst Raine examined Eda.

"I see that you weren't kidding when you said your principal made you fat…er." Raine chuckled, taking a sip of the Ghoul Aid, before their face winced in disgust, causing Eda to chuckle.

"Well, after Terra came here, Faust got fired, and Bump's in charge, so now, I can kind of get away with anything!" Eda said jokingly, knowing even though it was a joke, she would still cause anarchy at the school whenever she could. She smiled, taking a sip of Apple Blood, and to her surprise, liking the taste.

"I've never had Apple Blood before, this stuff is good!" Eda exclaimed, taking a couple more sips. She placed her hand out on the table, continuing to drink it. To her surprise, Raine placed their hand on top of hers, causing her to look at them lovingly. At that moment, Eda and Raine felt something. Something that couldn't be written off as friendship, or loyalty. It was love. Romantic feelings, loving gestures and a connection neither had felt until that very moment.

End Flashback

"And after that, we were inseparable." Eda said, bringing the story to a close.

"wow, that was a great story. So how did you end up losing all of that weight?"

"a combination of Raine helping me, diet, exercise…and running from the law for years, which ultimately turned me into the hot mama you see before you" and she gave a wink…before giving Luz her 10th-yard-long sub sandwich since she started the story. Luz once again accepted it and started to eat it

"Even after all of this time I still can't figure out where you're putting all of that food, it's like your body is just one giant stomach now," King said

"*gulp* well after being stuffed to the max every day for almost 3 months, and to avoid having people cram food down my throat, I've adjusted to basically being able to eat non-stop" Luz stated before she continued eating.

"Well, that's enough story time, I have to start labeling the stuff I'm going to be selling" and with that, Eda left the room. Once she was out of earshot she stopped and sighed as she thought about her former lover, she was seeing him every second day or so now, but that was only for missions to sabotage Emperor Belos, and not personal meetings 'maybe after the day of unity, I'll see if they want to give it another go, now that I'm curse free' she said, she then closed her eyes and began getting lost in her thoughts of Raine. The one that she regretted losing.

Chapter 25: The Day Of Unity

Chapter Text

Emperor Belos stood in front of a huge archway that had been constructed within the titan's skull. Various tubes and wires from various machines of unknown origin were connected to it. "Heh, nervous?" a voice said, looking up Belos saw the shadow of the Collector "You haven't been home in, like, how many hundreds of years? What if it's all chaa-anged? What if you changed? You got so used to eating palismen, you can barely keep your human shape anymore!" Belos' arm morphed into goo and struck directly where the Collector was, only for the collector to make a hole in his body "My my, testy aren't we?" Belos then he retracted his arm, shaking. "I can't wait to finally get out of this prison! Do you have even the slightest idea of how boring it is to be sealed away?"

"After over 300 years of listening to you complain about it, I have a rather good idea" Belos replied

"Heeheehee! Soon I'll finally be free! Free as a sandwich!"

"...Yes. only if this draining spell works, unlike your other plan"

"how was I supposed to know that they would adapt to having the sea boil and all of the plague weather?!"

"hmm…fair point"

"I'm also surprised that you remembered how to construct one of these things, you lost the first one you made about 200 years ago, and then when it was finally in your grasp again, it was destroyed by a human child"

"a minor setback, which was rectified. Now if you'll excuse me, the day of unity begins" And with that Belos left the titan's skull

"blowhard"

At the newly titled Covens Against the Throne (CATs) headquarters Eda, King, Luz, Hooty, Raven, the hexsquad, and all of the other members had gathered together. Eda had wanted Luz and King to stay back, but the two were determined to join in the fight as well. Luz had made a good point that she was technically a witch, a titan, a magic girl, and a "Super Saiyan" all rolled into one, and thanks to Raven, King was able to access a small amount of both his titan powers, as well as his calamity powers.

Raine was currently going over the situation "Okay. We have twenty-four hours until the Day of Unity begins and Belos activates the Draining Spell."

"And everyone in the Boiling Isles is taken out in one fell swoop," Darius added

"Well, not everyone. The spell targets those with Coven Sigils, using the nine types of magic as ingredients for the spell itself. It's channeled through each of the Coven Heads during the duration of the eclipse. As most of you know Darius, Eberwolf, and I left as coven heads, so Belos has replaced us with just some overly loyal goons"

"can't we just take out the coven heads or at least one of them?" Amity asked, Raine shook their head

"Unfortunately, he has secret replacements for everyone, even if we did take out all of the coven heads, we have no idea who their replacements are"

"We can't stop the draining spell by force, but we can do it through persuasion" This made most people puzzled before Darius pointed at King "You are going to persuade the coven heads and their replacements to not go through with the spell"

"weh?"

"Wait, you want King to get the coven heads not to kill everyone" Eda questioned

"he's a titan is he not? Who else could convince a bunch of mindless fools to do anything, but a titan?" Darius explained

"he does have a point" Chaser agreed, Eda however looked unconvinced.

Luz got a curious look on her face "What I'd like to know is what Belos plans to do after the draining spell is complete. I mean not everyone has a sigil, and after the draining spell, no one on the Boiling Isles would trust him anymore, this is just one isle, there are countless demons and witches all over the demon realm, if it takes him as long as it did to trick people on just one isle then he will have to spend thousands upon thousands of years going from place to place, and by the time he's done, the number of people on the boiling isles would be back to its original population size, and then he'd have to start all over again" everyone was dumbfounded by how right Luz was

"...so once we're able to prevent the draining spell from happening, we have to take out Belos" Darius stated

"that should be more than easy enough for us," Amity said as she wrapped an arm around Luz and Willow.

"don't get too co*cky, Belos is the strongest being on the whole aisle. He's emperor for a reason." Raine turned to Eda "Eda, I don't want to force you or King to do something that you don't want to do *looks at King* it will be dangerous for you to go up there by yourself and there will most likely be dangerous obstacles getting up there"

"why can't one of you just teleport me up there"

"that works"

"and I could be the one to do it, and if they don't believe King…" Luz then stood up and went into her titan form "Maybe they'll believe the 'soul' of the titan" Raine, Darius, Chaser, and the original members of the CATs were temporarily left speechless.

Finally Raine found their voice "Are you actually the soul of the titan?"

"no, this is the form I took when the soul of a different titan merged with me, this is the most powerful form that I can take. I may have only 2% of a titan's strength and magic, but it's more than enough to level the entire titan itself" The confidence in winning this thing just shot through the roof

"We do have one possible problem with that" Gus started, getting everyone's attention "Belos most likely knows about Luz's titan form after she sent Greye and those coven scouts packing, so he may have found a precaution against her"

"what could he possibly do to a titan?" Darius questioned, unfortunately, Gus didn't have an answer for that.

"While it does sound like a good plan, if it fails, what's plan B?" Lotis asked, Raine responded

"Sadly we don't have a plan B"

Eda then reached into her hair and pulled out a picture of the Owl House "if everything goes south, picture this house in your mind, and teleport there, it's on a place called Ribcage Isle, you should be safe there"

Willow then spoke up "So what are the rest of us going to do?"

"there will most likely be tonnes of security around to stop people from leaving for when the spell starts, our mission will be to take out all the security that we can"

Amity then spoke up "That won't be easy, if Belos has more of those weird abominations that Greye had with him, then it's going to take everything we have to beat them. I had to go all out to beat those things"

"Yes, Eberwolf here acquired intel that your mother-"

"Odalia"

"-Odalia, had an army of those things made for the emperor. They have the strength of 20 abominations, with enough weapons to take out an army" Raine turned to Darius

"why am I just now finding this out"

"I figured that since our plan was most likely to succeed, the Isle's citizens would be able to easily overpower them"

"fair enough" Raine stated, and they continued with the discussion, smoothing out any final details.

The Next Day

During the night, Eberwolf had received startling intel from his bugs, at the same time the day of unity was to happen, Abomaton's would spread out over the Isle with the sole intention of hunting down and exterminating everyone who wasn't attending the day of unity on the isle. Knowing where they were being kept until it was time, the hexsquad, were headed to Blight Industries to see if they could either destroy them or permanently disable them. Marina had wanted to come and help them as well, and while her strength and durability would have been fantastic, due to her size, she wouldn't be that good in this stealth mission.

The group teleported outside of the perimeter of the factory, per Amity's orders. Looking around, Amity could see that the coast was clear of any security, and they teleported over to the wall of the building. Peering through the window, Amity could see the inside of her dad's former lab, which was now completely empty, with no equipment or anything "It safe for us to go in" and with one more teleportation, they were in

"so what now Amity?" Willow asked

"well if there was something to deactivate them, it would be here, but seeing as how this place is empty, my mum must have it"

"yeah, I'm pretty sure she does," Hunter said as he looked out the window of the lab door "and we're screwed"

Amity looked out and saw the remote in her mum's back pocket, she could also see that there had to be at least 200 Abomaton's from what she could see.

"Crap" Amity muttered under her breath "Any idea guys"

"I do" Luz started "I'll distract everyone, and when they are distracted you guys try to find some way to destroy this factory and those Abomaton's. oh, and until they are fully distracted, put your fingers in your ears" that made everyone get wicked grins.

Luz quietly slipped out of the lab and walked up to everyone in the centre of the factory. The urge to feed washed over everyone present and they all turned to Luz "oh don't mind me, I'm just a super hungry girl, with a big empty belly that needs a lot of food" Everyone conjured up food and began forcefully feeding Luz. Her friends took this as a que to start finding a way to stop this part of Belos' plan.

"Amity, is there any kind of self-destruct button here?" Gus asked

"this isn't a cartoon from the 90's Gus, this is real life" Amity stated "However" her arm turned into abomination goop before it extended out and plucked the remote from the distracted Odalia. Looking at the remote, a blank look came on her face as she saw that it had a big self-destruct button on it. She was about to press it when Willow stopped her

"use them to destroy the factory"

"that works too" Activating all of the abomination's Amity gave the commands for them to destroy the factory, which they did.

Odalia was snapped out of her feeding frenzy as crashes and explosions were heard, looking around she went wide-eyed at what was happening before her eyes landed on Amity, who looked like she was having the time of her life, with a remote in her hands, feeling her pants pocket and realizing that Amity had stolen the remote from her, she was about to go over and stop her when she was encased up to her neck in ice. "sorry, but I can't let you ruin my girlfriends fun" Luz then turned to the guards present "you heard what happened with Greye right?" the scouts backed up at this and fled the factory. It only took three more minutes for everything in the factory to be destroyed, much to Odalia's rage. They then moved Odalia out of the factory before Amity hit the self-destruct button, making all of the abomaton's within range to blow up, taking out what remained of the factory.

As the group cheered, Amity was suddenly trapped in a glowing pink orb that shot up into the sky and connected to the arm of an abomatron, being controlled by none other than Kikimora "if you wish to save your girlfriend, then come to Belos, with the young titan" and with that, the abomatron shot off towards the head.

Luz was now so stressed that she didn't know what to do, if she wanted to save Amity, she would need to bring King, but he was crucial to stopping the day of unity and he was needed now more than anything. She had tried teleporting to Amity but all that happened was her appearing in mid-air with the abomatron shooting past her. She had also tried teleporting to Belos, but because she didn't know what he currently looked like under his mask, which he wasn't wearing, she didn't go anywhere. "what do I do, what do I do" she panicked

"I've got it!" Gus started "I can just make an illusion of King to go with you, then you can save Amity" and then a second King appeared in a puff of smoke

"that's perfect!"

"sorry, but that won't work" Everyone looked at Hunter "Belos can tell what is and isn't an illusion…but we could do it the other way around! We can make an illusion of King to go up and convince the coven heads to stop"

"well we don't have many options, lets all teleport to Eda and tell her the situation," Luz said before she disappeared, followed by Gus, and then Willow who had confidently wrapped an arm around Hunter's waist, taking him with her, leaving Odalia by herself, still trapped in the ice.

Luz, Gus, Willow, and Hunter all arrived just as Eda and the others were getting ready to take King onto the platform "Luz! You're back!" King exclaimed, "uh where's boots?" Eda asked

"we hit a slight snag, Amity was captured by Kikimora and is being taken to Belos. He wants me and King, we thought of just making an illusion of King, but he would just see through it. So we thought that you could just make an illusion of King instead"

"out of the question, a master illusionist is up there and would easily be able to see through it" Darius stated

"I'm afraid Darius is right" Raine added, Luz thought before she got a devious look on her face

"guys, Luz has that look on her face" Willow said, sounding slightly nervous

"have an illusion of me in my titan form go up there with an illusion King, after what I did to Greye, he'll probably be too scared to think straight and realise that it is just an illusion" Luz stated

"I'll go up as you" Eda said, and in a puff of smoke Eda now looked like Luz as a titan, curtesy of Gus.

"After Luz cancelled the massive illusion I cast over the school, my third eye charm defused from my body so that illusion wont be solid in…now" Eda touched her colossal belly only for her hand to go through like it wasn't there

"its time, Belos has started the spell" Raine said as Darius made a king-sized abomination, which Gus also put an illusion over. Raine, Darius, Eberwolf, and Hunter looked at their now glowing sigils

"remember, if everything goes south teleport to my place" Eda said as she ascended the stairs

"come on guys, lets go save Amity" they then all grabbed onto Luz and they disappeared.

Meanwhile

In side the skull of the titan, Belos entered his lab where the gateway to the human realm sat, ready to be activated "Finally it's done! Now you can set me free, as per our deal" the Collector stated

"I'm afraid that's impossible."

"…what?"

"I'm sorry, but I just realized I only have obtained enough of the Titan's Blood you told me about to open the portal."

"we had a deal!"

"you'd think that after all of this time you would learn not to trust me" The Collector then disappeared when Belos placed his cape over the mirror. Kikimora then walked through the door in her Abomatron with the orb containing Amity.

"Emperor, congratulations on this momentous day. I come bearing a gift." The force field broke and Amity fell out onto the floor "The girlfriend of the human, I told her if she wanted to see her precious girlfriend again, she would come alone with the young titan" Belos slowly walked towards her "Perhaps this act is worthy of me getting a promotion to your new right hand..."

"Have you as my right hand?...No" With a swing of his staff an arc of magic came out, striking Kikimora. Amity's eyes widened in horror as Kikimora's head fell off her body and landed on the floor "She always did annoy me" aiming his staff at Amity her whole body became surrounded by a red aura that left her completely paralyzed "one moment child" he then took the cloak-covered mirror and left the lab. Walking over to the edge of the bridge, he uncovered the mirror., allowing the collector's shadow to become visible again "And you..."

"I gave you the draining spell. I taught you magic stronger than anybody's!"

"And that's why I won't release you. Can't have you giving that to anyone else" the mirror then started to glow red

"you bastard!"

"Goodbye." And he threw the mirror and cloak off the bridge, with the cloak bursting into flames

"BELOOOOOOOSSS! WHEN I GET OUT OF HER YOU'Re Going to wish you'd..." the collector roared as their shadow was pulled down with the mirror. Belos walked away from the edge and back in the room where the portal and the paralyzed Amity were.

"While she may be annoying, I will admit that she did do a good job by bringing you here, knowing how much that blob loves you, she will do anything to save her precious girlfriend" he said, practically spitting the last part.

"are you going to kill me like you did to Caleb?"

Belos scowled at that, "no, that will be reserved solely for the titan and the human"

"I've got a question for you, Philip"

"and that would be?"

"you're a human like Luz, so why aren't you as fat as her or Caleb?" Belos tightened his grip on his staff as he remembered witches and demons constantly trying to feed him for years "I unfortunately had a curse placed on me centuries ago, it changed me, to the point where no one tried feeding me anymore"

"so the big bad witch hunter isn't even human themselves anymore. I know a girl who's half human and I still get the urge to feed her…what is your actual end game here, even if you do succeed in wiping out everyone on the isle, there are witches and demons all over the demon realm, the boiling isles isn't the only place in this world you know. This whole day of unity crap is just pointless" Belos blinked at that as the realization set in Amity smirked "you spent centuries building up to this day, only to realise that you'll have to start at square one again on another isle...and another...and another and another and so on, and by the time you finally wipe out the last people the boiling Isles will have been fully repopulated." an immeasurable amount of rage built up within Belos, so much so that he lost control of his human form, turning into a skeletal, sludge covered monstrosity with multiple eyes raising an arm, it turned into a blade and he swung it at Amity.

Amity shut her eyes waiting for the attack only a familiar voice cry out in pain. Her eyes shot open and she saw Luz standing in front of her with Belos' blade arm embedded in her side. Belos was the first to respond and was about to continue cutting Luz in half when a giant vine covered fist slammed into him sending him flying out of the lab and onto the bridge. The glowing around Amity disappeared, allowing her to get back to her feet "Luz, oh titan this looks bad"

"its fine sweet potato, he just cut into my fat, she went to touch her third eye spell, to heal herself, only to realise that Belos had sliced it in half with his attack "crap, well looks like its titan time" in a flash Luz was in her titan form and she lunged at Belos with her friends following. Luz kicked, swiped and blasted Belos, and despite taking significant damage, he was able to regenerate the more serious damage he took. Willow and Amity restrained Belos while Gus made him relive his worst memories, as he was distracted Luz and King got in front of him to release a 'sibling sonic shout' when one of his arms broke free and he slashed Willow across the face, making the obese plant user stumble back while holding her face. This unfortunately gave Belos the opportunity to fully break free where he decapitated Amity, and was about to cut down Hunter when an impenetrable shield appeared in front of him, blocking the deadly strike, this was instantly followed by a sonic scream that struck Belos in the back and slam into the shield, before it turned into an ordinary illusion.

Amity put her head back on and was about to tend to Willow, only for Willow to unleash a colossal amount of vines right at Belos, knocking him off the bridge, only for him to grab onto a column and launch himself at Luz and King. As he neared the two, Luz hurled something right at him with a frown on her face. Seeing that it was a glyph with some abomination goop on it, he countered by hurling a glob of sludge at it. Luz's eyes widened as the sludge struck the glyph and sent it straight back at her. Luz dodged to the side to avoid it with King leaping off of her shoulder to also avoid it, unfortunately, King didn't get out of the way fast enough and it struck him in the chest Luz's eyes widened in horror as King screamed as he was sucked into a small black orb that disappeared a second after King did.

Belos remembered that that was the same glyph that Luz had used to destroy the original portal door when they 'first' met. Landing on the bridge he shot towards the shocked Luz and impaled her through the chest with his scythe arm. Luz dropped out of her titan state before Belos twisted his arm and tore it out before kicking Luz over the edge. Her friends shouted her name as she disappeared into the black abyss below "so much for the power of a titan" Belos taunted before an ear-piercing scream rang out. Turning he saw that Amity now had glowing pinkish-purple eyes before she turned into her full abomination form, and then lunged at Belos.

Meanwhile

Down at the bottom of the titan's skull, Luz was in an extraordinary amount of pain, having broken multiple bones in the fall, as well as the fact she was now bleeding profusely from the hole in her chest 'I failed. I failed to stop Belos. I failed to protect my friends.' Her head then flopped to the side where she saw a glowing red object, and something was telling her to go over to it. Rolling onto her stomach, she painfully dragged herself over to the object, as she neared it, she could hear a man cursing someone out, nonetheless she kept dragging herself until she reached it the glowing faded to reveal a face on a severely cracked disk that had sun and moon pattern on it

"wow, you look like you've seen better days" the face said before a shadow appeared

"yeah" Luz replied before she coughed out blood "who are you?" she asked

"I'm the collector"

"the…collector?"

"yes indeedy, hmm say seeing as how you look like you're about to kick the bucket *looks up* and Belos looks like he's about to kill your friends up there, how about we help each other, you free me from this disk, and in return, I'll save your friends, deal?"

"okay, how do I free you?"

"you've got titan's blood on you right? Pour it over one of your hands and shove it into the disk" Luz painfully did as she was instructed, feeling weaker and weaker by the second. Once her hand was covered in the titans blood from her vial she put her hand on the disk with her hand sinking into it, before she felt something grab her hand, her eyes then began glowing white as she screamed…

Up above

It was a borderline stalemate after Belos knocked the still-enraged Amity back before using his magic to revert her back to normal. He could now tell that any plan that Eda or any of the rebels had had to stop the draining spell had failed due to Hunter collapsing with glowing yellow lines on him. He was about to go in for a final strike when a beam of light tore through the bridge, everyone watched as a large figure rose up. When the light stopped the bridge fully repaired itself as the figure now stood between Belos and the hexsquad. The kids were now wide-eyed as they saw Luz now standing in front of them, only now she looked different

"Luz?" Amity questioned her girlfriend...only for Luz to stretch her mouth open like a muppet, and an old static woman voice, like a sixties phone operator, spoke

"We're sorry, the number you have dialed is not available. Please leave a message after the beep. *Beeeep*" She replied before they turned to Belos

"collector! You're free, just as promised…"

"As promised? I remember you throwing me off a bridge" the collector began walking towards Belos, who in turn began backing up "You wanted to destroy the demon realm, I helped you with the plagues. You wanted to know magic, I taught it to you. You wanted to know the draining spell, so I gave it to you. I gave you everything you asked for, and would have given you more if you asked all as long as you kept. Your. Word! I have turned the demon realm upside down, inside out and backward for you, and you repay me by tossing me off a bridge…!?" the collector then raised an index finger which became surrounded in a black aura "Stop existing. STOP EXISTING! NOW!" the words washed over Belos like a black wind. It wasn't magic. Not as Amity understood it. This wasn't spellwork. This was an order. A demand that reality and all the laws that hold it together...didn't.

Belos didn't even have time to scream as he evaporated like a puff of steam, not a trace of him remained.

Turning around to face the now-scared teens, the collector walked up to them,

"You...you killed him."

"Oh...ohohohoh ohhhh..No. Nonono. What I did was far more painful and far more complicated. See I...wait...my mistake. I don't care."

"W-who are you and what have you done to Luz?!" Amity demanded

"who am I? I go by many names...and here they are!"

"Some call me the man on the moon. Others call me the cosmic cowboy. A few rather peculiar people refuse to believe my name isn't...eh I could do the whole 'make sounds mortal ears where meant to hear that turns their brains into cheese' thing but it's more like...you know the feeling of someone being forced to put on a wet sock and walk around in their dad's boots? That. Also some call me Terry-Berry-Barry-boo. One guy once called me Bodger. The bone grinder. The king of waffles. A name that can only be spoken in interpretive dance, 'bad' interpretive dance...'specifically' bad interpretive dance' A surprising amount of people call me chocolate cheesecake for some reason they never explained."

He twirled in the air and smiled a smile that didn't have to conform to the limitations of muscle.

"And while most call me the collector...you can call me by my real name, Eclipse."

He spread his arms farther than someone constrained by a typical human-like skeleton could stretch.

"As for what I've done to your friend, I made a deal with her, I would help her beat Belos if she freed me, though due to my prison being too damaged, I couldn't free my physical body, so I simply transferred my powers and soul into this body…not my ideal choice of body, it's decidedly more female and plump than I typically care for, but beggar's can't be choosers...well unless it's those beggars that only pretend to be beggars, then their choosing to beg instead of work. Ugh, don't you just hate it when your stream of consciousness takes over and you have trouble focusing?" Eclipse then raised their hand at the teens where it started to shake before they stopped "This body is preventing me from flaying you to the point I could stretch out your skin to blanket the boiling seas...shame" Eclipse then walked past them and raised their hand again, only this time the front of the titan's skull disintegrated showing the magic of all witches being drained. Raising their hand up to the eclipse, all of the magic gathered around it funneled down and into Eclipse "Yes, finally, the true purpose of the draining spell is being fulfilled…*sigh*" they partially turned around to see the teens ready to fight. "Ah, right. The 'meddling kids'...well if I can't kill you I can do the next best thing." Eclipse then raised their other hand and twirled their index finger around, suddenly the teen's palisman were yanked out of there grip, as were Gus' third eye amulet, Willows golden thumb gauntlets, Amity's master abomination goop and the gaulder stone in her chest, and Hunter's armour. They were then encased in a single round force field before it shot off with such speed that the occupants all fell unconscious.

Chapter 26: Welcome to Heaven

Chapter Text

Author's Note: From this point forward i'm taking my own path for season 3 by adding new lore and building up the Owl House world

Amity was the first of her friends to regain consciousness looking around she could see the rest of her friends sprawled out with all of them in a small crater. Looking up, she was temporarily blinded by the sun, which didn't help the fact that she now had a pounding headache, but nonetheless, she got up and began trying to wake up her friends. After a while, she had managed to wake them all up "Where are we?" Hunter asked while holding his head

"I have no idea, let's go see" Amity replied, regaining her balance, she began exiting the crater with her friends following. Once they were out they looked around in awe they were in the middle of a huge field of flowers that were every colour imaginable. The sky was also blue without a cloud in sight, and the grass was surprisingly green

"oh my titan, it's so beautiful!" Willow exclaimed with the other's silently agreeing. Hunter's eyes then widened a bit as he remembered that this was the same place that he, Chaser, and Luz had teleported to when they had used her to teleport away from Belos.

"Does anyone have any idea where we are?" Amity asked, only to receive headshakes in response.

"Hey, why don't we check over there," Gus said, pointing to a far-off structure that looked like a colossal wall.

"Okay then, let's go," Amity said as she grabbed Gus' hand, due to her not having a teleportation glyph. Gus, Willow, and Hunter put their fingers to their foreheads…only for nothing to happen.

"Huh? Why can't I teleport?" Gus asked before looking at Amity. Looking at his forehead, she could see that the instant transmission glyph was mostly dripping down, wiping the ink with her thumb, she was surprised to see it come off, Hunter and Willow also discovered this as well

"what the? I thought this stuff was permanent unless it was wiped off by that special cloth" Amity stated

"Maybe this place disabled it like it did in the Echo Realm" Willow suggested,

"Well whatever the reason, it looks like we're walking there, I can't summon Flapjack," Hunter said with the others finding out that they couldn't summon their palismen either.

The group walked for hours with the structure seeming like it wasn't getting any closer. Amity and Willow were now starting to regret being so big with Willow weighing around 400lbs and Amity weighing almost 800lbs the two girls had to stop every 10 minutes or so to catch their breath. Hunter was also in the same boat as the girls, only to a lesser extent, weighing just over 270lbs. Gus however was perfectly fine, though he was choosing to remain silent so as not to upset or anger his friends who were growing increasingly frustrated. They eventually had to stop for the night and decided to start fresh in the morning. Willow and Amity collapsed to the ground in perfect sync, as soon as they did however, the ground shook and rose up "What the hell?!" Hunter exclaimed, they then watched as multiple areas rose, revealing that underneath the flowers were giant toads, they then had to hold on for dear life as the giant toad leaped forward. Willow then used her plant magic on the flowers to anchor her friends and herself to the toad's back.

When it landed Willow used her plant magic to control the toad and make it head towards the structure, which now had a bright glow inside it "Toad express, coming through!" Willow shouted, as they got closer and closer with every leap, her friends however were not enjoying the constant up and down movements. Gus felt like he was about to puke.

The wall got nearer and nearer with every leap the toad made. From her position, Willow could swear that she could just barely see the tops of buildings that reminded her of Ribcage Isle. As the toad leaped up into the air once again, a large spear shot through its head, almost hitting Willow before the toad was yanked straight back down to the ground where it slammed down hard, dead. Willow freed everyone from the toad's back, but they just remained where they were groaning. Willow looked at the spear jutting out of the toad's head in awe at how precise that shot was. "What in the world are you kids doing on this thing!" Willow looked and saw someone wearing light blue knight armor holding a rope that was attached to the spear, two things that stuck out about this knight however was the fact that he had large white wings on his back and a halo floating above his head.

"Did you THROW this spear?" Willow asked

"Sure did, save on blast powder, now, again, what are you kids doing riding around on a Field Toad, don't you know how dangerous it is"

"it was the fastest way to get here from where we landed" Willow explained as she and the others got off, Amity and Gus emptying their stomachs as soon as they did.

"come on, inside, it's dangerous outside the city limits," he said and he walked back towards the gates, dragging the Field Toad behind him. The teens looked at the knight and began following him

"check out the wings on that guy," Hunter said as he leaned over to Gus

"Yeah, I've never seen wings like that on someone before" Gus replied. The teen's focus then shifted to the stone wall which left them all in awe at how big it was. Soon they reached the gates to the city

"Open the gates!" the knight called out, there was a loud groan as the colossal stone gates slowly opened inward revealing a city similar to the one in Ribcage Isle, only more...intricate, with tall oddly shaped multi-colored glass buildings with gold edging and gold spires on the tops of each one with a halo around it. the teens went slack-jawed as they saw that nearly every other surface of the city was made of gold or silver "Now you lot go back to your homes, if I find you outside the city again, there will be consequences" the knight said sternly, this snapped the teens out of their awe and they started heading into the city with the gates closing behind them.

"This is so cool!" Gus exclaimed before he crouched down "Even the ground is made of gold!"

Willow grabbed Hunter's hand "It's so extravagant, don't you think Hunter?… Hunter?" Hunter looked to be more interested in the people walking around

"are those… human" Hunter asked, this caught the other's attention. While most of the citizens did look just like humans (round ears), they also all had features that weren't human, this came in the form of halos, wings, and white diamond pupils. other features included gold rings covered in eyes, and yellow or blue flames engulfing parts of their heads, whole bodies, or just their hair. some even having all of the above.

"hi there you lost?" they turned and saw a woman who had long blonde hair and wore a dark blue tunic, a gold sash, and gold-tipped black sandals. She also had a halo, a small pair of white wings, and a large gold ring that was covered in eyes that were floating around her midsection. Amity spoke up

"uh yes we are, could you tell us where we are?" she asked, the woman looked slightly puzzled

"you're in Aurum"

"which is located on which Isle?"

"Sweetie, this isn't an Isle, this is Luminara, more specifically, Heaven" A look of horror then came over her face "You're not angels! You're Impurus'! Help! Impurus'!" she shouted

"and that's our cue to run," Gus said and the teens fled the scene as fast as they could. Unfortunately, they didn't get very far before more knights appeared in flashes of blue light. The knights all aimed spears at the teens which began glowing

"stand down Impurus'" a knight ordered, Gus however smirked and created multiple copies of himself and his friends to which they all scattered, allowing the 4 of them to escape, while leaving a group of stunned knights.

The 4 teens soon took cover in an alleyway "Wow, we were only in the city for a few minutes and we became wanted" Gus said to his out-of-breath friends.

Once they had caught their breath, Amity spoke up "Well at least thanks to that lady we know that we're in a place called Luminara and we're in a city called Aurum, which is located in Heaven, any of you ever heard of Luminara?" Gus and Willow shook their heads

"they're angels," Hunter said in disbelief

"What was that?"

"that lady claimed that we weren't angels, I thought angels were just a myth"

looking out of the alley they watched angels walking and flying around "Well clearly not" Amity said flatly before Gus used his illusions to give them angelic features

"This should make us fit in better, hopefully, they won't be able to see through these"

"why wouldn't they?" Hunter asked, looking at his new wings

"Because I think angels use a different type of magic compared to us…I think they use holy magic, which essentially cancels out our magic" Gus stated remembering his battle with the Bishop in the past.

"So what should we do now?" Willow asked

"Well, because we don't have access to our palismen, we need to find a way to get back to the boiling Isles" Hunter stated

"And to save Luz as well" Amity added, getting a nod from the others.

"Guy, just so you know, I can't keep up these illusions forever, so we'll need to stay close to areas where we can hide from view," Gus said, getting nods of understanding from his friends, once the coast was clear the group left the alley and acted non-saliently. They walked around a considerable distance, having to stop multiple times for Amity. Willow and Hunter, while they were on the large side, Willow Morso, got all the rest that they needed from Amity's stops. The group also took note of how angels acted and the things that they could do. To their surprise, all of the angel's magical abilities were light-based. While light spells could be performed by even a baby, they were severely limited in what they could do with light spells, angels however could use them in ways that they didn't think was possible. An example would be that they passed a baseball field and saw all of the baseball equipment was made of solid light, a fact that they found out when a ball of light struck Amity right between the eyes. They also saw angels walking together not saying a word, but their facial expressions changed and they gave the occasional laugh, Hunter theorized that they were simply communicating via telepathy.

The group visited numerous shops asking if they had any flying objects or any world maps, but they all turned up empty. It also turned out that all angels could fly thanks to their wings, regardless of how small they were, though they had simply used the excuse that they had injured their wings, which in itself raised more than a few brows. After stopping in another alley, Gus was close to passing out from exhaustion "Guys I need to sleep, I'm barely functioning as it is" Gus said, almost falling asleep there and then

"we're out of view here, you guys sleep I'll keep watch," Hunter said, the others got themselves into comfortable positions, Amity sat up against a wall while Willow and Gus used her thighs as pillows, while Hunter kept a vigil watch for anyone searching for them.

Thankfully no one found them, even when Hunter nodded off a few times. Eventually, the sky turned blue and all of the lights in the city turned off. Hunter was about to wake up the others when he heard "Stop Impurus!" he was instantly ready to fight when a figure dived into the alley and pressed themselves up against the wall before two knights shot past the alley.

"heh, morons," they said before they turned to face Hunter. Hunter could see that this person was a witch about his age. The two just stared at each other, before the witch's eyes narrowed "You didn't see me" She was about to leave when she stopped and turned back to Hunter "Wait a minute" She then walked over to Hunter "Wait a minute" she then stopped in front of Hunter "you're not an angel…you're a witch like me, aren't you?"

"Grimwalker actually"

"eh close enough" She then spotted the other's in the back and her eyes widened as she saw one of them "Gus!" She exclaimed, which woke up the others. regaining their bearings Gus's eyes widened

"Bria! So this is where Maria sent you flying?"

"no, your mermaid friend sent me flying onto an island, kilometers from the Grand belts coastline, I ended up here when I made a boat and sailed off the island…I had no idea how dangerous the sea could be"

"wait you two know each other?" Amity asked, Gus was about to tell his friends what Bria and her friends had done, when they were all bound in glowing chains

"you lot are going back to the cesspool that you crawled out of," a guard said before he materialized a sword with a glowing yellow blade, he then swung the blade at Bria, who disappeared in a flash of yellow light the instant the blade touched her. Before Hunter could beg for his life the guard swung his sword, there was a bright flash of yellow light and Hunter now found himself on a street corner with Bria swearing her lungs out. Looking around, Hunter saw that he was now in a city that looked like it had seen better days, looking up, he saw that the sky was red with black clouds. There were a few more flashes and Hunter saw his friends had also been teleported to this new city. After Willow gave Hunter a relieved hug, she and the others also observed their new surroundings

"wow, this place looks depressing" Amity stated

"well this is what you can make from almost nothing, it may not be as flashy as Aurum or Platina, but it's home," a voice said, they all turned and saw an angel, but he looked very different compared to all of the other angels they had seen,

The angel then crossed his arms "I take it that you're new around here" he questioned, Amity then explained what had happened.

When she was done, the angel was stunned "Wow, another Collector in the demon realm?! And this one possessed your friend?"

"yes, and now we need to find a way to get back to the Boiling Isles but we don't have any palismen or the ability to teleport," Amity said

"palismen?" Willow then explained what palismen were "Sorry, we don't have anything like that here, mainly because we have these," he said and flapped his wings "So I take it that you're witches like Bria here?"

"Actually, they're witches, I'm a grimwalker" Hunter pointed out

"I have a question" Bria butted in "How did you lot get into Aurum, undetected? I had to use my construction magic to make a tunnel underneath that wall"

"the guards must have thought that we were angels, it was dark when we got here" Gus explained

"Man those guys are incompetent," the angel said, almost laughing.

Gus then turned to Bria "So what grave did you steal from this time to have those guys chasing you?" the angel turned to Bria

"Bria, what does he mean by that," he asked Bria sighed and told the angel what she and her friends had done. Once she was finished, the angel smacked Bria upside the head "Desecration, seriously Bria"

"I admit, I'm not proud of the things I've done in the past" Before the angel could continue chewing Bria out a loud buzzing sound was heard coming from the angel's vest, reaching into it, he pulled out what looked like a small bubble holding it out, is expanded revealing a screen with another angel on it

"Apollyon, sir, I need to speak to you in private, it's urgent"

Apollyon frowned at this "Okay I'll be there soon" The bubble then shrunk back down and he put it back inside his vest before turning back to Bria "Show them around Umbra, I'm going to meet Azazel" and with that, he flew off.

Gus turned back to Bria "So back to my question, what did you steal to have those guys chase you?"

"I stole some gold because it sells for big bucks here in Umbra, I sneak in there frequently, grab what I can, and leave, and those stupid guards have never caught me"

"until today"

"*grumbles* until today" she grumbled, still pissed off that she had not only been caught but lost what she had gathered "Well I might as well show you around" and she walked off while motioning for them to follow her.

As the group followed Bria around, Amity noticed the look of worry on Bria's face "somethings wrong, isn't it?" she asked

"yeah, after what you guys said, I'm worried about my parents" The other's eyes widened in realization at that, before silently hoping that their parents were okay "There's also something else that's been concerning me pretty much since I got here"

"what's that?"

"there's currently a civil war going on between the pure angels and the fallen angels, in the short time I've been here, I've watched an entire city get leveled by the pure angels, it was like a rainstorm of glowing arrows and disks that exploded upon contact, thousands of innocent lives were wiped out in just 5 minutes, and in a form of retaliation, the fallen angels slaughtered everyone in a town, and claimed the town as their own. Apparently, this war has been going on for years, it only recently started escalating to the current extent in recent years"

"has anyone told you why the war started?" Hunter asked

"Apparently the pure angels started to see fallen angels as second-rate people beneath them, and began to distance themselves from them, and cast them aside. They then exiled them from all cities, towns, and villages, and when the fallen angels started to make their own societies, the pure angels started stealing their resources, due to their powers being stronger and able to oppress fallen angels. This continued until the fallen angels rebelled and started a war against pure angels. Now the grand belt, or Luminara as they call it now, has basically been split in half with the Pure Angels in Heaven, and Fallen Angels in Hell. Apollyon is the son of the original leader of Fallen Angels, but after he was killed, Apollyon took his place"

"so what's actually the difference between Pure Angels and Fallen Angels?" Willow asked

"well you've been to Aurum, all of the angels you saw there were pure angels, fallen angels are any angels that don't look like them, like Apollyon for example, even though both of his parents were fallen Angels, he was born as a pure angel, but then he broke his halo and his physical appearance changed and he was then labeled as a fallen angel, but if you want another example, look over there" they looked and saw an angel who looked just like a pure angel, the only difference being that he had 4 eyes, they also saw an angel that appeared to be half vampire, an angel that looked to be half pixie, an angel that was half mermaid, and various other creatures were going about their day to day lives

"so basically, they're all angels, it's just normal angels are prejudiced against anyone different, with the different angels being labeled as fallen angels"

"Exactly. Also, just so you know, the only way to get off of the grand belt is by boat, of which you'll have to make yourselves seeing as how no one leaves this place" And with that, Bria continued showing them around Umbra

Meanwhile

Apollyon landed in front of a small building and entered it, finding his brother in arms/second in command, Azazel "Azazel, what's up?"

"Nothing good I can tell ya that much"

"does it have to do with Metatron and his army?"

"yes, according to Ramiel's intel, he and his soldiers attacked another village on our side"

Apollyon growled at this "Which one?"

"Mors, but here's the kicker, they didn't kill anyone, instead they turned them into mindless slaves, they've claimed the village as part of 'pure territory' and are now advancing towards us"

"what do you mean by mindless slaves"

"I mean that they've done something to make them do whatever they say, and that includes killing themselves"

Apollyon growled at this and tightened his fists "damn it, any idea how long it will be until they get to Umbra"

"well if they continue on their current path, they'll go through Tenebris, Decidit, and Gehenna before they reach here, and at their current speed they'll be here in 2 weeks with an army that will overwhelm us within in minutes"

Apollyon thought hard about what the next course of action should be. Finally, he devised a plan to "send out troops and messengers to all of the surrounding cities, towns, villages, and other settlements and tell their citizens to abandon their homes and come here. Decidit is the second biggest city in Hell, so the addition of people from there will bolster our current troops significantly"

"Maybe, but even with the additional manpower and weapons, as well as Sergeant Raphael's military experience, we'll still need a miracle to win" Apollyon nodded, while thinking about his next course of action.

Chapter 27: Power Up

Chapter Text

Bria had just finished showing the Hexsquad the main parts of Umbra, ending the tour at a place where they could stay while they were here. A magic store they had passed during the tour had intrigued them and they were planning on heading back to it when they had the chance. “And that’s pretty much it, enjoy Umbra” she said before she left on a wave of dirt.

The 4 friends then headed inside the building in front of them, where they soon obtained a room that had 2 bedrooms with 2 beds in each one, a bathroom, a living room and a kitchen “not bad, at least we’re not all cramped into one room” Willow stated with the others agreeing.

Once they got comfy they began discussing their next course of action “okay so we’re currently in a place where our magic is mostly ineffective, there’s a civil war going on between powers beyond our capabilities, our palismen’s are gone, and we have no way to get back home” Hunter stated before slumping further

“also Luz is currently being possessed and doing titan knows what now” Amity added

“and our power-up’s have been taken away from us” Willow finished.

“Maybe that magic shop we passed earlier has some stuff that we could use, they might at least have a way for us to make something that could get us off of the grand belt” Gus suggested

“if not that then at least some more power-ups” Willow finished. They all agreed and headed off to the magic shop in the hope that they could find something useful.

When they arrived at the shop they saw that there was a timer above the door that appeared to be counting down with there being only 30 seconds left “it must be almost closing time for them” Willow stated

“well lets just go in anyway” Amity said and the group entered the store.

They found it to be similar to the magic stores on Ribcage Isle “welcome children” an old fallen angel said from the counter

Amity spoke first “um hi there sir, would you possibly have anything here in the way of flight or teleportation?” she asked

“just a second” there was then a click as the front door locked before the group saw a maelstrom of colours through all of the windows. This lasted for only a few seconds before it stopped. The teens eyes widened as they saw that they were now back in Aurum

“what the?!” the teens said before they watched as the fallen angel finished changing into a pure angel

“what did you just do?” Gus exclaimed

“my store teleports all over the grand belt, that way I can get a vast amount of different customers” he explained as the door unlocked

“are you a basilisk?” Hunter asked

“yes indeedy, the ability of transformation really helps you blend in” he replied cheerfully “now about what your asking for, I unfortunately don’t have anything that can help you fly or teleport sorry, but you are completely free to view the other artifacts and items I have in my store” the teens decided to see if there was anything useful that they could use that could give them power boosts again.

As everyone spread out Gus stayed near the front to check out some crystals that, when worn, drastically changed a persons skin colour, putting on a red one his skin went bright red “cool” he then put on a blue one and his skin went completely purple, taking them off he put on a black one and a white one, turning his skin grey, the store owner then spoke up

“take off the black and white one and put on one of every colour”

Gus did as he was told and his skin became a shimmering rainbow of colours “wooooow”

“they’re 1 guild each”

“guild, is that like snails?”

“…wow, you must be really new to the grand belt”

“yeah we are”

“well then yes, we use guild’s here, and by your question, its safe to assume that you don’t have any”

“no sorry” and he put the crystals back.

The store owner was about to tell Gus that he also bartered, when a pure angle entered his store with an intrigued look on her face “greeting’s ma’am, welcome to my store, are you looking for anything in particular?” he asked

“no, I was just intrigued by such a…” she trailed off as she spotted Gus “*gasp* an Impurer!” she exclaimed “I’m going to get-”

*BANG*

the angel felt a quick jolt of pain shoot through her body, she turned and both she and Gus saw that the store owner was holding some kind of object in his hand that was smoking at one end.

The woman looked up and saw that her halo was now broken up into pieces, the pieces flickered a bit before they turned into a dim yellow. The woman then fell to the ground in pain while Gus and the store owner watched her change. Her small wings turned black, the rings around her arms went from gold to bronze, her nails turned black and became longer, and odd black markings travelled down her arms, stopping at her wrists, when she looked up, her once blue eyes were now blood red and her white diamond pupils had turned into black stars. “w-what d-did you do-o-o to m-m-me?!” she stuttered out

“I just broke your halo, anything else that happened was all natural” the shop owner stated before the woman ran out screaming, only to see that she was no longer in Aurum, the store having moved during her transformation, before it teleported back to Aurum

“why did you do that?” Gus asked

“I do it to make them realise that they’re all the same, they just look different. The more angels that know the truth, the sooner this stupid war can be over” Gus knew that this was true, at least he now knew that if he was ever in trouble with angels, all he had to do was break their halo’s…speaking of which…

“what is that thing?” he asked

“human’s simply call it a gun”

“wait, humans?! are there humans on the grand belt?!” Amity asked, having witnessed the whole thing

“yes, human’s appear on the grand belt all of the time, seemingly out of thin air”

“so they don’t come through portals?”

“eh kinda, not your traditional portal, more like they phase into this world, and vice versa for us to them, though the latter happens much less frequently” The shopkeeper explained, Amity then walked up to him

“out of curiosity do you have any master abomination clay?”

“wanna turn yourself into a slime monster”

“kinda”

“hmmm, you’re a witch right?”

“yes”

“I take it that you’re adapt at abomination magic the most?”

“yes I am”

the shopkeepers eyes glowed blue for a bit before they stopped and he visibly paled “oh dear”

“did you just read my mind?”

“yes, and from what I saw, the whole demon realm is doomed”

“what?” both Gus and Amity said in union

“your friend was possessed by an Archivist, ancient beings from the stars that rivaled titans in both strength and magic, and judging from legends I’ve heard, the most evil one who wiped out most titans has been unleashed once again”

“would we have ended up like Belos if Luz hadn’t been Eclipse’s host?” Gus asked

“most likely”

the two witches shivered at that.

The shopkeeper looked to be thinking hard before he reached under the counter. After a bit of fiddling, he pulled out a very old looking box. Opening it up, the two witches saw that inside there were 7 crystals, each one shimmering different colours, and a piece of paper “these are ‘titan crystals’ they’re what remains of a titans tear when it dries up, as you can guess these are extraordinarily rare, and equally as powerful, if you thought titans blood was powerful, these are on a whole nother level”

“I’ve never heard of ‘titan crystals’ before” Gus stated

“as you shouldn’t, their existence was scrubbed from the history books hundreds of years ago due to bad people wanting to exploit and use the powers they give for evil, due to the rarity, and the lack of information they became a thing of legend, which even then was barely known about”

“so what do they do?”

“if you hold one up to your chest and recite the ancient text, your hidden potential will be fully unlocked and magnified”

Amity pondered this for a moment “when witches experience strong emotions our magic gets amplified, would the results of using these crystals be the equivalent of that?” she asked, remembering some of Willow’s outbursts from when they were younger

“yes, it would be akin to something like that, and I will give these to you, because I have a feeling that you’ll definitely be needing them”

“thank you very much sir” Amity said with a slight bow

“you’re welcome” he replied before Amity and Gus continued looking around.

Willow had seen quite a few plant magical items but nothing that could really give her an edge in anything. Putting down a magical bracelet that allowed one to make small gardens in an instant, she spotted a blood red sword that looked to be made out of a giant blade of grass. Picking it up by the hilt, she saw the blade part ripple before she felt a horrific burning sensation in her hand that spread up her arm, she tried letting go of the blade, but it was like her fingers were fused to it. In a desperate attempt to get it off she tried using her plant magic in her stuck hand, as she did she could feel the pain in her arm starting to recede back down her arm. Losing her concentration due to her surprised, the pain shot back up her arm. Using her plant magic again she continued focusing on her arm, forcing whatever the blade was doing, back to it. When her magic was able to get to her hand, she began channelling her magic into the sword, it rippled a bit more before going completely straight, and Willow stopped. As she was about to put it back down, the hilt unfolded and the whole sword wrapped around her arm. Willow’s eyes widened as information came flooding into her head about what this sword was. It was called a blood sword, one out of a set of 12 magical plant based weapons. This sword drained the blood of whoever touched it, be the wielder or the victim, only those that it deems worthy were able to wield it without the negative effects. The sword essentially became an extension of its wielders body, able to activate with a mere thought. Willow formed the sword then retracted it back onto her arm three times. She tapped the sword as it was now wrapped around her arm and despite it literally being made of grass, it was as hard as steel “sweet” she said and she went off to show Hunter.

Speaking of whom, Hunter really wasn’t having any luck at finding something that could give him an edge in anyway, everything he saw either had no combat purpose or magic was needed to utilise it, the latter being the most common, much to his annoyance. He felt so useless now, he had no magic, he had no palisman or even an artificial staff, and his combat abilities were lessening the fatter he got, at this point he only saw himself as a hinderance to his friends. Finally after searching through countless items he spotted an odd dark grey ball that had lightning bolt patterns on it that was in a thick glass case. Reading the name of it, it was called a Magna-sphere. Intrigued he went up to the shopkeeper “excuse me sir, but what is that Magna-sphere that you have back there?”

“oh those, they’re objects that are found only on Methuselah, they form when a certain types of mineral mix with the magic of the island forming spheres of different types of magic that, when touched by unprotected hands merge with the user and give them full control over whatever type of magic each sphere contains…ironically they don’t work on creatures that possess magic of any kind, so they’re virtually useless to the ones that live there”

“do they work on you?”

“nah, turns out that, while natural, shapeshifting counts as magic”

“if it doesn’t work on beings with magic, then why is it in a glass case?”

the shopkeepers face soured “the first time I had one out in the open, a magicless demon picked it up and gained the power to conjure up and control wax, she knocked me out and when I woke up all of my guild’s were gone and half of my inventory!”

“I’m so sorry to hear that”

“its fine, that’s why I now keep them under lock and key in an unbreakable glass case”

“how much for it?”

“well that would be 100 guild’s but judging by what your friend said to me earlier you don’t have any guilds, so do you have anything to barter instead?” Hunter thought for a second before he bent down and pulled up a pants legging revealing a scabbard. Taking it off, he held it up and unsheathed an emerald dagger that he had gotten as a gift from Belos, as much as he hated who it was from now, he would admit that it was still a handy tool to have around

“would this suffice?” the shopkeeper looked it over and rubbed his hands over it

“my word, are you sure that you want to part with something so valuable?”

“wait you can tell how much its worth just by touching it?”

“yes indeed, this will pay for anything that you and your friends want in my shop, and then some”

“cool thanks” the two then headed over to the case.

Once it was open Hunter grabbed it, only for it to sink into his hand and disappear, despite the fact the sphere had been just as big as his palm. His eyes then widened as the knowledge of the powers he now obtained flowed through his mind “test it outside of my shop please” Hunter nodded having just about messed up this mans shop.

“Hey Hunter” the two turned and saw Willow coming up to them

“hey Willow, what’s up?”

“check out this new sword I found” and she extended the blood sword out

“cool” Hunter said before the sound clinking was heard, the two looked and saw the shopkeeper had returned to his basilisk form and was looking at the blade in shock

“how…how are you able to wield that blade! Everyone who has so much as touched it passes out from blood loss!”

“it requires a strong will to wield it properly, and I’ve tamed it” Willow stated before retracting it back onto her arm

“well its yours to keep, free of charge” he said before thinking ‘not like I could remove it anyway’

“thank you very much sir”

“you’re welcome, just don’t use it for evil”

“don’t worry, I won’t”

Meanwhile

Apollyon had not so subtly barged his way into sergeant Raphael’s office, where, as he half expected, saw Raphael going over battle plans. He and Apollyon's father had been like brother's, both men were hardened through the years of war and oppression, even though Apollyon's dad had been fairly new to the game, in just a short amount of time, he had gained the experience of a lifetime of war. When Apollyon's father had died, Apollyon had been more or less forced into the role of leader despite his lack of experience, but thanks to Raphael, he had been able to become just as great and competent of a leader as his father had been. “you know I prefer to know if someone is coming beforehand, even if it is the leader of the fallen angels” he said, slightly annoyed at the interruption

“have you heard about the new development with Metatron and his army?"

a grim look appeared on Raphael's face "yes, and its very troubling, i also heard that you sent out messenger’s to tell all of the citizens in the surrounding cities, towns, villages, and other settlements to abandon their homes and come here”

“correct, unfortunately though, even with the additional troops from the surrounding cities as well as citizens with their little to no combat abilities, we still wouldn’t have a chance against an army that will keep fighting regardless of how much damage they take”

“indeed, that’s why we’re planning on using our new super weapon Goliath’s Sword”

“oh, it’s been completed?!”

“indeed it has. It’s armed and ready to fire at a moments notice”

“how do you plan on going about using it”

“Once Metatron and his army are within range, we’ll fire it and wipe them all, or at least most of them, out in one shot, any that survive will most likely be overwhelmed by our limited numbers”

“hmm not bad, it’s a simple strategy but it sounds effective in theory, in any case we should give those willing to fight some basic training, so they don’t go into battle completely blind” Apollyon finished with Raphael agreeing with him.

The Hexsquad had left the store, once it was back in Umbra, unfortunately Gus hadn’t managed to find anything of value or use to him, though the titan crystals may actually help with that problem. The group decided to use the titan crystals outside of the city, just in case this ritual got a bit wild. Once they were outside the city wall, Willow suggested that they head over a nearby hill to avoid the prying eyes of anyone from the city. When they reached the top of the hill however, they saw Apollyon training with either his twin or a copy of himself. The teens were in awe as the two Apollyon’s threw punches and kicks at each other as well as using light based attacks, but neither of them could land a hit on each other. They then stopped in union and looked straight in their direction with one Apollyon disappearing in a puff of smoke. Seeing that they had been spotted they headed down the hill to him.

“Hey there, you lot leaving?”

“no we just decided to come out here to train” Hunter lied

“if you plan on being here after 2 weeks then you had better start training”

“why’s that?”

“the battle to decide who will win this war will happen in 2 weeks *sigh* this war is going to end in a bloody massacre”

“whoa, what do you mean?”

“the leader of the pure angels, Metatron, and his army, are going to be here in 2 weeks to enslave and kill us all. We do have a plan to protect ourselves and ultimately win this war, but it will involve wiping out the other side with the use of our super weapon, Goliath’s Sword”

“but wouldn’t wiping out the enemy be a good thing?”

“well yes and no, a fair number of the people in Metatron’s army are just misguided into thinking that anyone who doesn’t look normal is evil and beneath them, if they all knew the truth, that we only just look different, then this war would be over in a heartbeat, plus many of the people in Metatron’s army are just mind-controlled enslaved angels”

Gus, at hearing that, spoke up “that actually reminds me of something that happened just a while ago. I saw an angel have her halo broken and she turned into what you mostly look like, if you broke this leader’s halo, then they would become a ‘fallen’ angel as well. The other angels would then see that you’re all exactly the same, you just look different, then the war will be over”

Apollyon looked up at his own broken halo and frowned, he had originally been born as a pure angel, but he unfortunately broke his halo when he was 6, resulting in him turning into what he was now “why didn’t we think of that” he muttered before sighing as he realised one small problem with that “while such a plan could work if I or another angel did it, then the ones in the army will probably think that we did something not natural to cause the transformation”

“well, what if we did it?” Amity asked

“…while that could work, no offence in anyway, but, you’re not angels, any magic that you do will be nullified against us, but not vice versa. Getting all the way to Metatron would be impossible for you” Gus, having faced an opponent who was capable of using holy magic, knew that he was right

“are you saying that we’re weak?” Amity questioned

“…hit me with your most powerful spells, don’t hold back” forming a club of abomination goop Amity swung it at Apollyon, only for it to instantly turn to liquid upon contact with him “eew”

“what the!”

Willow then formed vines and launched them at Apollyon only for them to stop and fall to the ground limply upon instant contact.

Apollyon tuned to Hunter who thrust his now sparking palm into Apollyon’s chest. There was a slight pause before Apollyon was flung back by an invisible force. Managing to stop himself, he made his way back over to them, now in awe “What kind of magic was that? It felt like my whole body was just yanked back instead of just your strike sending me flying?”

“that is my new magnet powers, I super magnetised all of the iron in your body, and repelled you away from myself” Hunter stated,

“amazing…how did you acquire powers like that?” Hunter then explained. “Interesting, it seems that that object contained pure magic” that puzzled the Hexsquad, so Apollyon went further “as you may know there are different types of magic in this realm there’s Holy magic, which is what most people here have. There’s Demon magic, the most common type of magic, which is what you have. Titan magic, which is the most powerful kind. And there’s Pure magic, a type of magic that just a bit above Holy magic” the teens were actually surprised that there were two other types of magic in the demon realm, they were also surprised to know that their magic was classified as Demon magic.

Amity picked up the box of titan crystals “would you mind if we tried something then tried fighting you again?”

Apollyon shrugged “go ahead”

Amity then opened up the box and pulled out a crystal and the old piece of paper, which had the ancient text on it that had thankfully been translated to a readable language. Handing the box to Willow, she held the crystal to her chest and recited the ancient text “Magne Titan, te oro ut meum potential liberum efficias, ut hostes meos superare possim, pwetty pwease” the crystal began to glow and Amity started to float off the ground a bit. The crystal then sunk into Amity’s body and multiple glowing symbols that kept changing colour appeared all over her body. Her hair began flowing about like there was a light breeze following around her. Her eyes then began glowing purple while at the same time she felt a rush surge throughout her body. This lasted for a minute before it all faded away and Amity floated back down onto her feet. “wow, I can’t even begin to describe, how I feel now” she said before looking herself over, not seeing any physical differences to her body

“your eyes are glowing” Apollyon pointed out, Gus then made a mirror to show Amity, looking into it, she could see that her once golden iris’ were now glowing pinkish-purple

“huh? That actually suits me” she said before her arms turned into abomination goop and tripled in size “oh yeah, I’m back baby” she said before she pulled her head off, spun it around and put it back on “wow, that was even easier to do than when I was fused with the master abomination goop” she stated and without warning her arm shot out and struck Apollyon in the chest, making tumble back before he quickly got back onto his feet. Looking he saw that Amity’s hand was still solid, unlike her club from before

“well I’ll be damned, those crystals must not only unlock your hidden potential, but also imbued you with a different type of magic”

“probably titan magic seeing as how these crystals do come from titan tears” Gus stated

“no you don’t” everyone turned to Willow and saw that her blood blade was active and she was grabbing her wrist “Amity is my friend and you will not hurt her, do you understand?!” she snapped before forcing her magic into the blade, making it calm back down and wrap around her arm again. Willow looked at her friends sheepishly “sorry, this thing is really hard to control. Well, me next” she said before she did the same thing as Amity, though as the glowing symbols appeared on her body, her new Blood Sword began to glow red and sunk into her arm before the symbols started glowing solid red instead of various colours like Amity’s did.

When it all faded away, Willow suddenly realised that she had new abilities, pulling her sleeve up she saw that the Blood Blade was now gone and replaced with what looked like a tattoo of it. Then, without any effort, red blades formed on her arm that corkscrewed down to her wrist, looking at her opposite hand she then formed red blades along her fingers before turning all of her digit’s into red swords “cooool” she then looked at her friends “check this out” she then turned her whole arm into a huge 3 meter long blade which she used to slice Amity in half. As the two halves fell to the sides, both sides of Amity’s face turned into frowns

When the two halves hit the ground they turned into goop before remerging and forming back into Amity “please don’t do that” Amity said after fully reforming, now feeling a bit light headed

“hey Blade Girl” Willow turned to Apollyon “you might want to look in a mirror” Willow then looked at Gus, who had made another a mirror, and her eyes widened. Her left eye was now glowing green, but her right one was glowing red, she also now had red streaks through her hair “must be a side effect of fusing with the Blood Sword" she also noted that her senses were now just as sharp as her blades.

Gus turned to Amity “my turn now, though its not like I’ll gain anything from it”

Amity gave him a soft smile “maybe unlocking your full potential will give you the ability to make solid illusions without the need for an amulet”

“well, I guess its worth a try” Gus then took a crystal and began the ritual. When it was done, his irises were now glowing blue. The first thing he did was make an illusion of himself, but much to his dismay, it was just an illusion, Apollyon however, took note of this.

Next it was Hunter’s turn, he figured that the crystal would simply enhance his strength and new magnetic magic. After performing the ritual, his irises were now glowing red, he also now felt as light as a feather. Throwing several punches, he as well as the others were surprised at how fast he was now. Testing out his enhanced magnetic powers, he raised his foot and stomped on the ground with his friends and Apollyon shot up 10 meters in the air and stayed there by some invisible force

“what the hell?!” Amity exclaimed, unable to get back on the ground

“I’ve magnetised you and the ground around us so you’re currently repelling each other” he called out to them, Hunter then raised a hand and they all slowly came back down as he weakened the magnetic field

“That’s amazing Hunter!” Willow exclaimed as she threw her arms around him. Hunter blushed a bit but returned the hug as best he could.

Finally it was Apollyon’s turn “you guys are about to see what an angel with their potential unlocked looks like…come to think of it, even I don’t know what that looks like. Well we’re about to find out” and Apollyon began the ritual. Near the end of the ritual, Apollyon’s body started to glow so brightly that it could be seen for kilometres upon kilometres away. When it finally ended the hexsquad could see that Apollyon now had markings on his arms and chest and his eyes were now glowing red “whoa, this is amazing, I feel like I can do anything!” with one flap of his wings he shot up into the air and knocked everyone else down. They watched as he shot off in a random direction, which was followed by a *boom* Hunter raised a brow “huh? So that’s what happens when an angels potential is unleashed”

Apollyon returned about 10 minutes later to find a peculiar site, he saw Amity, Hunter, and Blade Girl’s eyes now had blue aura’s over them while at the same time they were freaking out and seemingly attacking invisible enemies while the other one just stood with his arms crossed. Flying down he landed next to him “dare I ask what’s going on?”

“oh you’re back, well seeing as how illusions are my specialty I put illusion spells over there eyes so they think that they’re being attacked”

“please end it before you break their minds” and with no effort, Gus undid the illusions on his friends.

Now freed from the illusion they all looked at Gus in shock “that was terrifying” Amity said

“he could make a whole army turn against each other with something like that” Willow added

“the mind can be more dangerous to someone than any weapon, however illusions wont work on someone with a strong mind or if they know Shinrei well enough” Apollyon stated

“what’s Shinrei?” Gus asked with his friends also curious

“it’s a type of spiritual magic that exists here that can be used in a variety of ways, observe” Apollyon then raised his hand which became surrounded by a yellow jelly looking aura before his arm turned completely gold “this is known as Yoroi Shinrei when in use in physical combat it greatly increases attack damage, observe” he then punched the ground causing massive cracks to shoot out in all directions and even upturned some of the ground “even if the ground was solid metal it would most likely resulted in the same effect”

Gus basically had stars for eyes now “that is so cool!”

“it can also, true to its name, be used as a shield *turns to Willow* what’s your name sorry?”

“Willow”

“Willow, try and cut me”

“he requested it, you all heard it” and with that Willow began attacking Apollyon, who had now made his other arm gold. No matter what Willow did, Apollyon blocked each swing that Willow made with his armour covered arms. As he kept blocking his eyes went from red to gold and instead of blocking he simply dodged everything. This continued until one of his arms became surrounded by the yellow aura, knocking both of Willow’s arms to the sides he swung his aura covered arm and thrust it at Willow’s large belly, with his fist stopping an inch from it. Willow paused for a second, before she doubled over in pain while clutching her stomach. “what…was…that?” she strained out as her friends came to her sides.

The aura and the gold disappeared from Apollyon “that was the most destructive form of Shinrei, Draconem Shinrei, it can completely destroy the inside of something while leaving the outside untouched, don’t worry I held back”

“…f*ck…I feel like…my insides have exploded” Amity then used her limited healing magic on Willow, which, thanks to her unlocked potential, was now even better than her sisters magic.

Once the pain had subsided Willow got a determined look on her face “please, show us how to use Shinrei”

“um well Shinrei is something that only angels can do” Apollyon stated

Amity frowned slightly at that “well our friend Luz was just an ordinary human and she was able to find a way to use magic, so why can’t we learn Shinrei?”

Apollyon thought, while Shinrei was something that all angels could do, he had never seen anyone else use it and he had never heard of any angel teaching it to someone other than angels ‘maybe they can learn it' “alright then, I’ll teach you it, but in exchange you 4 have to help defend this city and its people from the oncoming invasion”

“deal” the 4 friends said in union.

Author's note: and another chapter down, let me know what you thought about it and until the next chapter, peace

Chapter 28: The Final Hour

Chapter Text

Over the past 2 weeks, the Hexsquad trained to not only use Shinrei, but also utilise their newly unlocked potential. It was hard for the 4 friends to even grasp the concept of Shinrei, but Apollyon was relentless in his training. Even when they finally learned how to use it, it was clear who was more capable at it and which form. Amity was only able to use Yoroi Shinrei in short bursts. Willow was proficient in using Yoroi Shinrei, especially on her new blade abilities. Hunter had gained Shiryoku Shinrei, which turned his iris’ gold and allowed him to see great distances, lock on to a target even if they were out of sight, and he could see up to 3 seconds into the future allowing him to see and dodge all oncoming attacks. Gus however surprised everyone as he was able to learn and master all 3 types of Shinrei. He had also found out that he could use Shinrei to make his illusions solid for 5 seconds, while only half as long as his third-eye amulet, 5 seconds was still better than nothing. Apollyon himself had also received some gains from this training, becoming stronger and faster. His soldiers had also managed to clear out and save both Decidit and Gehenna’s residence, who were now gathered in Umbra, but unfortunately Tenebris’ citizens had been captured and turned into slaves, with their city being levelled, just as a show of power.

During the past 2 weeks, Apollyon had also bonded well with the Hexsquad, whom he now considered his friends, and was genuinely amazed at what lay beyond Luminara’s shorelines…

Flashback

Hunter had just finished telling Apollyon about the Boiling Isles and the things and people on it, the Angel however wasn’t that impressed he had seen many titans on the Grand Belt, be them out in the open or half buried, it made sense though seeing as how Titan’s used to call the Grand Belt home thousands of years ago “even though I’ve heard about it, I still find it weird that so many civilisations popped up on the bodies of dead monsters. Truthfully, I’ve always wanted to see what was truly out there. Most of the non-angel creatures here in the dark lands are 4th generation or higher, so they have no experience from what’s out there”

“didn’t Brea tell you anything that’s beyond this place?”

“she’s not really the talkative type”

“that’s a shame, well you’re more than happy to come with us when we’re finally able to leave here”

“really?”

“yeah”

“I’m taking you up on that offer” the two watched the others practicing their Shinrei for a bit longer before they rejoined.

End Flashback

As Apollyon had trained his new friends, he had a feeling that they would be the key to ending this war once and for all. He knew that they were now the strongest out of anyone in Hell, especially now that they had mastered, or at least managed to get a grasp of, Shinrei, with he himself being the absolute strongest now. He had come up with one plan for the approaching battle, and that was for he or his new friends to break Metatron’s halo, which with any luck, would put an end to the war once and for all.

The sky was now overcast and dark grey, fitting for what was about to go down outside of the city of Umbra. An army of 700,000 soldiers comprised of fallen angels, witches, fairy’s, werewolves, and any other creature that you could think of were ready to fight to the end. Apollyon stood in front of the army, looking at them with an unsure look "Troops, this will be our final stand against Metatron, i'm terrible at speeches, especially motivational ones, but just know, should we win today, we shall obtain our eternal freedom". this earned cheers from the troops. Apollyon knew that Metatron would not stop until they were all dead or enslaved, so if he couldn't figure out how to undo the enslavement, he had a contingency plan. Looking up at Goliath’s Sword (a giant laser cannon mounted on a building), he saw that it was armed and ready to fire at a moments notice. As Metatron’s army got closer and closer everyone at the front of Apollyon's army could see the injured slaves marching towards them, their eyes glowing purple and seemingly oblivious to their injuries regardless of how severe they were. Apollyon could see Metatron flying above his army holding some kind of device. Everyone watched as the device glowed, before Apollyon could give the order to fire Goliath’s Sword however, a wave of purple light spread out and washed over Apollyon and his whole army, as well as the whole city of Umbra. Apollyon, as well as the hexsquad, felt like they had just been hit by a powerful gust of wind that made them woozy at the same time. Before they could question it however everyone around them passed out, leaving them as the only ones standing “what the hell was that?!” Apollyon exclaimed before he checked his second in command Azazel

“it must be something that renders the enemy unconscious” Hunter stated as he checked one of the fallen soldiers

“better to have an alive slave than a dead one” Amity stated bitterly. The group looked and saw Metatron’s army rapidly approaching

“well, he made the first move!” Willow stated and she charged at the oncoming army with blades appearing all over her body.

Apollyon growled “f*ck this, go all out!” and with that he shot straight towards the army, sending many flying as he ploughed into the mass of soldiers before flying straight towards Metatron. Amity and Gus looked at each other and shrugged before they too charged at the horde of soldiers, leaving Hunter by himself.

Hunter was about to fight as well before he got an idea, using his new magnetic powers he broke up and collected all armour, weapons, and anything else made of metal from all of the fallen soldiers, into a huge ball above him. The ball then came down on top of him, seemingly absorbing him into it before the mass of metal shifted and borderline fused together until it formed into a giant armour plated mecha “alright!” he exclaimed. He was about to join the fight when he spotted Goliath’s Sword on top of a building ready to fire. Using his newly obtained Shiryoku Shinrei, he saw that everyone gathered around it was also unconscious “eh I can probably use it better” using his magnetic powers, the giant weapon along with it’s power source were torn from the building and connected to his new mecha suit with the weapon attaching to the mecha’s right forearm, and the power source being absorbed into the body of the suit. Hunter aimed the weapon at the army and put it at the lowest setting before sweeping it across the army, taking out 2000 soldiers with one sweep while also leaving them alive. “oh yeah, this’ll work” and he marched towards the army.

Willow slashed and sliced everyone in her path, draining everyone she cut of their blood in a second, making them fall unconscious due to a lack of blood in their systems. With every soldier she cut down, she seemed to be getting stronger while also obtaining new powers. With a swing of her arm a red arch of light appeared in front of her, before she could question it, the arc of light shot forward while spreading out and sliced through multiple soldiers, but instead of cutting them to pieces their bodies instantly healed, keeping them whole, but at the same time absorbed an almost lethal amount of blood from whoever it went through. The arch of light then turned around and came back to Willow, giving her all the blood it had absorbed upon contact with her. A grin came on to Willow’s face “oh this is going to be fun”

Amity was being more tactical in what she was doing, while in her abomination form she was clobbering and knocking out all slave soldiers, but when she actually reached an angel, instead of striking their bodies she simply broke or crushed their halo’s making them turn into fallen angels. She went to crush another angels halo when she was restrained by several glowing yellow rings before several angels made bows and arrows out of light and fired the arrows at the restrained Amity, which went right through her body making holes in it that hissed and smoked as they slowly grew bigger. Amity grunted in pain, but she bared through it “you monster! What have you done to me?!” a broken angel demanded

“I broke your halo, that’s all!” Amity hissed as the holes in her stopped growing, but still burned

“what?!”

“try healing it” the angel tried but he couldn’t use his healing magic, another angel (a pure one) came over and used her healing magic on her friend. As soon as his halo was restored he turned back into a pure angel, leaving everyone who saw this, stunned.

Amity spoke up “all of these ‘Fallen Angels’ are just normal angels with broken halos” the Angel’s were shocked at this realisation, which was now making them question everything that they knew and believed in. The angel that had healed her friend fell to her hands and knees

“its all been lies. We’ve been enslaving our own kind” the rings around Amity disappeared allowing her to heal herself

“who has actually been telling you all of this stuff that Fallen Angels are bad?”

“our parents, schools, and most of all, our leader Metatron”

“well as you have just witnessed, everything you’ve been told wasn’t true, so if you wish to end this war, free those slaves and get your allies to rebel against your leader” and with that Amity continued her strategy.

Gus used his shinrei to make giant ogres with clubs that repeatedly swung and struck Metatron’s soldiers and sent them flying with every swing. He also had his Shiryoku Shinrei constantly activated which allowed him to avoid any sneak attacks from enemies by either dodging attacks or simply using more solid illusions to defend himself. After making an ogre take out another 20 angels, and angel appeared with a long blade made of light which he swung at Gus in an attempt to decapitate him, only for Gus to use Yoroi Shinrei to surround his neck in a gold armour, stopping the light blade.

Gus the reared his arm back with his arm being surrounded by a golden aura before he gave the stunned angel a palm strike to the stomach. While the angels armour was completely intact, it was like all of his insides had been struck with a war hammer, causing him to pass out from the pain. “wow, so that’s what Draconem Shinrei does to someone” he said before an idea came to him. Concentrating, he surrounded his whole body in Draconem Shinrei and charged forward into the army, punching randomly and crippling anyone he made contact with. He was repeatedly struck with weapons made of light, but they only dispelled upon contact with his golden aura, and any to all physical weapons became brittle when they contacted the aura, crumbling away on the second impact as the insides of the weapons were essentially turned to dust.

Unfortunately for Gus, it took a lot of energy to maintain the Draconem Shinrei barrier he had around him and he was ultimately force to stop it, lest he run out of energy and be at the mercy of angels. Being surrounded by all sides by angels, all having light arrows aimed at him, he just managed to put up a full body Yoroi Shinrei armour before they all fired, causing their arrows to ricochet off of him and strike each other taking out the group “well that was easy” he stated before he made an illusion of several slither beasts that charged and attacked more angels.

Apollyon had tried going straight for Metatron, but waves upon waves of Angels flew up to stop him, making it almost impossible for him to reach his target. He was taking out everyone in his path with no effort at all, it unnerved him at how much stronger he had become since unlocking his potential. Unfortunately, due to how many there were, he was hardly making any progress with melee attacks alone. After taking out an angel with a single kick to the stomach, he saw Metatron, who he could see looked to be getting more and more agitated by the minute, most likely at the fact that his army was being decimated by only 5 teenagers. Opening his mouth, a yellow beam of energy came out of it and struck the horde taking out about 30 angels in one blast. When he stopped he looked at the angels dropping like smoking flies, and blinked twice “…I didn’t know that I could do that” he then did it again only this time he swept it back and forth in front of him as well as over the battle field multiple times, taking out well over 400 angels, a fair number of whom got their halo’s broken as a result. Seeing that he now had a clear path, he locked eyes with Metatron, and he shot straight at him so fast that it was like he had teleported right in front of Metatron. Before Metatron, or any of his subornments could react, Apollyon wrapped his legs around Metatron’s upper body, pinning his arms to his sides before he went to grab the leader angels halo...only for his hand to go through it as he pulled several dull yellow bits from it “w-w-what?!” He stammered out

Before Apollyon could question what was happening any further, he felt a horrific searing pain in his chest, looking down he could see a glowing blade protruding out of his chest, before it was painfully yanked back out. Apollyon grunted before he spun around and punched the female angel who stabbed him in the face, making her crash to the ground. He then spun back around to face Metatron, only to have a beam of light tear through his chest.

Coughing out blood, he saw a smirking Metatron “in the heat of battle, you should never turn your back on your enemy. Did you honestly think that simply breaking my halo would end this war? You and your kind are going to die here on this day” Apollyon growled

“like hell I will!” Apollyon then shot back with one flap of his wings and stopped he then spread his arms out and thousands of glowing arrows appeared behind him “thousand year storm!” he shouted before throwing his arms forward and launching the arrows at Metatron.

Metatron smirked and put up a full body Yoroi Shinrei armour, before he was bombarded by exploding arrows. Many angels were taken out in the attack and much to Metatron’s shock, he too had sustained a fair amount of damage, simply from the amount of power that was in each arrow. Seeing sparks out of the corner of his eye, he turned his head and saw that the device that both rendered people unconscious as well as controlled people, was now broken. With the device now broken, Apollyon’s army regained consciousness and all those that were enslaved, had now been freed from the mind control.

Seeing this, Metatron looked up towards Apollyon in rage only to be tackled into the ground by him. The two tunnelled around under the battle field, throwing melee attacks and firing light bombs at each other. The assault was ended with both of them launching their biggest, most powerful, light bombs that they could muster at each other. This resulted in a massive explosion that took out most of Metatron’s army and made a massive crater.

When the rubble stopped falling and the dust settled, everyone who was still able to fight or hadn’t been on top of the blast, made their way to the edge of the crater. The inside of the crater was littered with rubble and unconscious Pure Angels, most of whom had had their halo’s broken, turning them into Fallen Angels. Standing, or rather hunched over, in the centre of the crater was Apollyon who was badly injured in the blast, one of his arms and wings hung limply as blood poured out to the now much bigger hole in his torso. Looking around, he saw no sign whatsoever of Metatron, he raised his working arm in victory.

The Hexsquad saw this and cheered, knowing that mean that he had defeated their leader. The pure angels, realising that their leader was nowhere to be seen, understood what Apollyon’s gesture meant and either dropped their weapons or fell to their knees in despair. The Hexsquad then made their way down to Apollyon (Hunter’s mecha-suit crumbling to pieces without him in it), but as they were about to reach him, a badly injured Metatron burst out of the ground thrust a light bomb into the hole in Apollyon’s torso where it detonated, making his torso expand rapidly before retracting. Apollyon coughed out a tremendous amount of blood as smoke came out of the holes in his torso. The bomb had severely damaged all of his insides, if he hadn’t had had his full potential unlocked, he would most likely have died there and then.

Amity, thinking quickly, filled up Apollyon’s insides with abomination goop, which took on the function of everything that was damaged “that feels really weird” Apollyon said, despite feeling much better.

Metatron then looked up at all of the angels surrounding the crater “brother’s, sisters, I ask of you to come down and help me vanquish the spawn of our most feared enemy, then we can march forth and conquer Umbra!” he called out, but everyone just looked at him in shock “what’s wrong with you lot?”

Gus then stepped forward “maybe you should look at yourself, fallen”

Metatron’s eyes widened, he looked at his arms and saw that they now had black markings on them and his skin was a tone greyer “my illusion!” he said, a little louder than he should have

“so you’ve had your halo broken for a while now” Amity stated before Willow formed a long red blade which she aimed as Metatron

“should I cut him to ribbons?” She asked, though before anyone could give her an answer, a spear burst out of Metatron’s chest with his heart on the tip of it.

Metatron gave a small gasp before he slid off the spear and face planted on the ground, remaining perfectly still. Everyone, especially Apollyon, went wide eyed as they saw Bria holding the spear “asshole” she said,

“still stabbing people in the back I see” Gus quipped, getting a frown from the witch.

“so that’s it?” Hunter asked

“yes, with Metatron out of the picture, the war has finally ended” Apollyon said, wiping a few tears away “finally”. He then spread out his wings only to wince in pain “great, broken wing” he said through clenched teeth, he then took a deep breath and spoke loudly “brothers and sisters, lay down your arms, look to your left, look to your right, you may recognise many of your allies, a lot of whom are now fallen angels. The only difference between pure angels and fallen angels is appearances, when a halo breaks, your appearance changes but you’re still the same person. As you just witnessed, your leader was a fallen angel as well, and if I had to guess, he has been a fallen angel for a long time, using an illusion to hide the fact that he was the type of angel that pure angels despise so much. This war, this feud, ends now. It may take a long time for decades of prejudice to heal, but all scars, no matter how deep, heal with time” he declared, there was a thick unsureness in the air, but Apollyon’s words brought hope to all fallen angels and creatures that things would only get better.

1 week later

A week had passed since the Great Angelic War ended and things were slowly getting better. News of Metatron’s defeat and the revelation that he was an Fallen Angel the whole time sent shockwaves throughout the Grand Belt. Due to centuries of false information, many Pure Angel’s found it hard to cope with the fact that Fallen Angel’s were no different (other than appearance) than Pure Angel’s. Fallen angel’s were once again allowed to enter cities and towns located in the Heaven, something that would have seemed possible only in dreams a month ago. The Hexsquad, as well as Apollyon, were regarded as heroes amongst Fallen angels especially those who were a part of the army in the final stand against Metatron.

Over the past week, Amity, along with some very skilled angel’s, were able to fully restore and heal Apollyon’s basically destroyed insides, unfortunately though he now had a huge circular scar in the centre of his chest.

With the Hexsquad however, the 4 teens still had no way of getting back home, when they raised this problem to Apollyon, they were shocked to find out that there were actually many sailing ships dotted around the coastline of the Grand Belt. When the group arrived at a beach they saw that there were many shipwrecks along the beach “I did say that there were heaps of ships…just not complete ones” Apollyon said sheepishly, as Hunter examined one of the ship wrecks

“well they may be damaged, but they still look seaworthy with a bit of a touch up” He said as he gave the side of a ship a few good pats

“so which one should we take?” Gus asked, Amity was about to speak when Willow beat her too it

“that one” she said before pointing to a ship that was fully impaled on a sharp rock that now jutted out of its deck

“seriously Willow, that one has got to be the most damaged” Amity stated

“I know, but something is drawing me to it” she said before walking over to it. The others followed her over to it and were still sceptical of its use when they were next to it. Willow then used her plant magic to slowly and carefully lift it off the rock that it was impaled on, and moved it to the side, but still kept it above the sand. “Amity, I’ll make the wood to fix this and you use your abomination goop to hold it together” Willow ordered, Amity nodded and the two got to work on fixing the ship.

It took 2 days of hard work, but finally the ship was not only fully repaired, but also painted and refurbished, making it look as good as new. Amity put her hands on her massive hips and looked at their work with pride “fantastic work guys” she said with the others feeling just as much pride

“All she needs now is a name” Apollyon stated

“Merlin” Gus said making everyone look at him

“why Merlin?” Hunter asked

“I don’t know, it just seems like a right name to call it”

“then Merlin it is” Willow said

“so are we ready to leave?” Apollyon asked

“we? So you’re coming with us?” Amity questioned

“sure am, I’ve always wanted to see what was out there, and now that the war’s finally over, I can!”

“then welcome to the group” and the two shook hands to make it official.

They had asked Bria if she wanted to come with them, but she declined, saying that she felt safer on the Grand Belt, but she did ask them to tell her parents where she was, should they meet them…neglecting to even give them a picture of them or a basic description. After bidding everyone goodbye and setting a proper course with a map they had found in another wreck, they hoisted the sails and set off towards the boiling Isles, unaware of the dangers that they would encounter while traveling through the demon realm.

Gus hopped up onto the bow of the ship and pointed forward with the others gathering around him before he declared "to the Boiling Isles!"

Chapter 29: Beginning of the End

Chapter Text

Author's Note: WARNING; first picture is a graphic picture of a character that may be disturbing for some readers

Eclipse watched as the friends of their new host disappeared from sight “well that’s one problem I don’t have to worry about” they said before they turned back to their current task by absorbing all of the magic being drained from everyone with a sigil. Just as Eclipse was about to absorb the last scraps of magic, there was a flash in the sky and to their shock, there was now a giant chunk taken out of the moon, cancelling the eclipse and putting an end to the draining spell. “what the hell?! Who did that?!” they exclaimed their eyes then glowed green and everything went in reverse until they saw a short beam of energy come out of the sky, back to it’s point of origin, which just so happened to come from Eda. Continuing to go back they saw Eda swipe the hand she had fired the beam of energy from over multiple glyphs that covered one of her arms. Searching Luz’s memories, they smirked at the contingency plan in case the original plan didn’t work out “hmm this girl is smarter than I gave her credit for” everything then went back to normal. Looking at the partly destroyed moon, Eclipse shrugged “eh no matter, 99% of their magic is good enough. Now, let the fun begin” Eclipse then disappeared and reappeared in front of Eda, who was cradling an extremely weakened Raine.

Eda looked up at the now half black half white Luz and knew instantly that something bad had happened “I must say, stopping the draining spell by taking out a chunk of the moon was brilliant, but unfortunately, you should have done that one first, though I’m thankful that you didn’t otherwise this moron wouldn’t have freed me from my prison”

“who are you?!” Eda demanded

“my name is Eclipse, but most mortals refer to me as the collector” Eda’s heart stopped at that “and in case you’re wondering, I’ve taken over your friends body, due to my physical form still being trapped, but enough about me, its time to take over this realm once again” Eclipse then stuck their arm up into the air before what looked like black sludge shot out from their palm like a geyser where it shot up into the sky before rapidly spreading out.

Knowing that this wasn’t good, Eda simply teleported back to Ribcage Isle with Raine.

Eclipse frowned at Eda’s escape, but simply shrugged it off. Stopping the geyser, Eclipse lowered their arm and watched with glee as the pitch blackness continued spreading out across the skyline blocking out all sunlight and plunging the boiling Isles into pure darkness. Eclipse then snapped their fingers and in an instant, all glyphs across the demon realm became nullified “that should prevent anyone else from escaping” they said before the cat ear headband on their head changed back into Stringbean who attempted to fly away, only for Eclipse to grab her. “oh you’re not going anywhere my little friend” Eclipse said cold yet upbeat tone “though you could use a makeover” Stringbean was then engulfed in a chaotic red and black aura which rapidly expanded outward. When the aura vanished Stringbean had been turned into a 3km long, 10 meter wide red and black serpent which floated above the Boiling Isles, a deep low growl emanated from the transformed Stringbean as its glowing red eyes pierced through all that looked at them.

Eclipse gave a nod of satisfaction before they looked down at the palismen that they had taken from their hosts friends “and now, it’s your turn” and they too were engulfed in a chaotic red and black aura. When the aura disappeared Flapjack had been turned into a Phoenix, Ghost had been turned into a Sphinx, Emmiline Bailey Marcostimo had been turned into a dragon, and Clover had been turned into a giant anthropomorphic bee “my beasts of darkness, now let the fun begin!” Eclipse then threw their arm down and black blobs rained down from the sky, all over the Boiling Isles.

Marina, Lotis, and the rest of the CAT’s had watched the plan fall apart, it had been working at first, but once the draining spell started, Darius lost his concentration and the abomination fell apart with the illusion around it being cancelled out, with Eda dispelling the illusion around herself when Raine had collapsed to the ground. They all now watched with dread as the sky went black “okay guy’s lets teleport to the owl house and regroup” Marina said and everyone touched their Instant Transmission spells, but nothing happened. Before they could question it however a blob of black sludge landed in front of Amber, suddenly two large glowing red eyes and a jagged glowing red mouth appeared on it with a screech as two long skeletal arms came out of its sides before it lunged and disappeared inside Amber. Everyone present watched in horror as Amber doubled over with her eyes going completely black. She only manage to mouth “help me” before...

Then even more of the blobs rained down on the area, turning nearly every living being in the area into the same monstrosity that Amber had become, only a handful managed to avoid the blobs. The blobs continued raining down until they had fallen all over the Boiling Isles, Eclipse laughed manically before stopping to fan themselves “bloody hell it’s hot, how does this sack of lard handle this heat” they said before they slapped their hands and a wave of red light spread out, turning the boiling sea back to its original state, which quickly cooled everything down “ah, much better” they said. Looking up, Eclipse could see that the darkness had reached the horizon “perfect” closing their eyes they scanned to find out where more life was they quickly found that their darkness had covered another isle that had civilisation on it. Hopping onto the newly transformed Stringbean Eclipse rode them to the next Isle, followed by a wide path of rock that rose up out of the sea behind them.

King opened his eyes, all he could see was himself as he floated in a pitch black void. He shivered as he registered how cold it was in this place “this must be where people die, funny, I imagined it would be hotter” he then spotted something to his side that was also floating in the void. Finding that he could ‘swim’ in this place, he swam over to the object and found it to be a huge cloth which he wrapped around himself “ah that’s mildly better *sniff* *sniff* mmm this thing smells like strawberry scones…just like…Luz” unwrapping the cloth from himself, his eyes widened as he realised what he was holding.

“This is the shirt Luz lost when she first made the blackhole spell! …which means…” he looked around frantically before he spotted it “the portal door!” Swimming over to it, he saw that it was still in one piece plus the key was still around the handle “yes!” He cheered before he grabbed the key and pressed the button on it, causing the portal to open up. He was temporarily blinded by the daylight that came through, but he quickly and awkwardly swam through the portal, landing somewhat gracefully on the other side.

Deactivating then reactivating the portal, he opened it back up, expecting to see the boiling isles, but instead he was greeted by one of Eclipses parasites. King yelled in fright and scurried back as the parasite crawled out through the portal towards a potential host, as soon as it entered the beam of light coming from the window above King however, it screeched as it’s hand was burnt horrifically in a second. It recoiled and retreated back into darkness that now engulfed the boiling isles. King then used the key to close up the portal “what the heck was that?!” He exclaimed, though unsurprisingly he didn’t get an answer. He was now left pondering on what to do, going back home was out of the question if there were more of those things running around.

Soon he came to the idea of trying to find Luz’s house, or maybe finding Lilith, whichever came first. He had seen multiple pictures of Luz’s mum on Luz’s phone so he knew who he was looking for. Slinging the portal onto his back, King left the house and travelled down the path, having never actually been to the human realm before, he was in awe at how calm and peaceful everything around him was. When he finally reached the street, he spotted a nearby house that looked extremely familiar “I think that’s Luz’s house” he said having also seen a few pictures of it. Walking up to the door, he knocked on it and perked up when he heard a familiar voice calling out. The door then opened and King went wide eyed as he saw a thin version of Luz standing in front of him. Remembering her little adventure in the in-between, he figured that this must be the basilisk, Vee.

Before he could say anything she gasped and scooped him up “oh my gosh you are so cute!” she squealed

“you did your homework on Luz’s personality” King said, making Vee ease up

“oh, you know Luz?”

“yeah” King stated and explained what happened while Vee took him inside.

When he was done, Vee, who had turned back to normal, looked concerned “and you have no idea what it was?”

“no, I know that there are some creatures and demons that are sensitive to light, but not to that extent. Do you think Lilith or one of Belos’ minions would know?”

“possibly…buuuuut I’m not exactly on good terms with them at the moment”

“are they still ticked off at you when they found out that you were the one taking their magic”

“…yes”

"well Lilith is my auntie now, so maybe some family love could get her to talk”

“huh?”

“long story short, Eda adopted me and she’s Lilith’s sister”

“well I suppose its worth a shot. Alright lets go” and with that the two left the house.

King was genuinely surprised at how well the witches and Demon’s had integrated into the Human Realm, though he did notice that they all seemed to be looking at the two of them with either hate or surprise, the surprise most likely being that they recognised him. After a bit more walking he spotted Lilith sitting on a bench reading a book, pointing in her direction, Vee turned and headed in Lilith’s direction. Hearing approaching foot steps, Lilith looked up from her book and her eyes widened “what the?! Aren’t you Edalyn’s pet?!”

“nope, I’m her son now, which also makes me your nephew”

“…”

“*sigh* okay here’s what happened”

French Narrator: one very long explanation later

“and now I’m here” King finished, Lilith was shocked at this information, to think that someone as benevolent as Emperor Belos would do something as horrific as trying to massacre everyone on the Boiling Isles went against everything that she thought or believed about him. She wanted to believe that what King was saying was false, but given the fact that he was here, with the portal and had no actual reason to lie about something like that, she believed him.

“may I see it for myself?” Lilith asked, King seemed unsure, but he complied. Opening up the portal, the group peered in and saw a black void with multiple glowing red eyes staring at them suddenly they all charged at the group, only to freeze and shriek in pain as they were exposed to the sunlight before retreating back into the portal which King closed,

“believe me now?”

“very much so” Lilith stated before she began to ponder over what she just saw as a long forgotten memory slowly returned “I actually do seem to recall something like what those creatures were, but I can’t for the life of me remember what it was…oh I know, we can see if Maddie can make a memory serum, that should help” she then noticed that King and Vee looked puzzled “Maddie is a witch who excels in potion magic, also she has the only potion book in the human realm, so there’s that as well. Follow me” and the two did.

The group soon arrived at a house that looked similar in design to houses in the demon realm, knocking on the door a witch with blue hair answered the door “oh hi Lilith, what brings you here…*eyes narrow* with her”

“I’m here because I need your assistance in making a memory potion"

“ooo memory potion huh? Sorry, some of those ingredients don’t exist here”

“weren’t you tinkering with substitutes for ingredients”

“yes and in quite a few cases the substitutes work better than the original ingredients, but with a memory potion, I can’t for the life of me figure out what a substitute for fairy dust, or rat feathers would be” Vee then stepped forward and held out her hands. In two puffs of smoke a pile of fairy dust appeared in one hand and a pile of rat feathers appeared in the other. “whoa! Hold up, I didn’t know basilisks could make things!” Maddie exclaimed

“yeah, I can materialise ingredients, but not combined stuff, so I can’t materialise say a brownie, but I can make the ingredients to make a brownie”

“then by all means, come in” Maddie said and she let the group in.

After a while, the memory potion was ready which Lilith swallowed in in one gulp “*wheeze* wow *cough* that’s got a real kick” she said before all forgotten memories, good and bad, were restored “ah I remember now, I read a book about legends where it talked about an evil being that unleashed possessing parasites upon the demon realm. They were an Archivist that went rogue and tried to take over the demon realm. All Titan’s banded together and were able to vanquish the Archivist, which resulted in their deaths, it was said that when the Archivist arrived, all light across the demon realm was blocked out, allowing their parasites to roam around possessing any living creature”

“that would explain why it was pitch black when I opened the portal, maybe the draining spell Belos made resurrected this Archivist or summoned another one to the demon realm”

“It’s possible, but if that’s the case, then we’re better off staying here than returning home”

“…do you think Luz and Eda will be okay?”

“knowing Edalyn, she’ll be fine”

“I hope so”

Luz opened her eyes and saw nothing but darkness in front of her, “woah” a voice said, spinning around Luz’s eyes widened as she saw herself…or selves in this case

Standing around her was a version of herself in her third eye form, a version of her in her calamity form, and a version of her in her titan form.

“Well this is interesting” calamity Luz said quickly getting over her shock, before titan Luz spoke up

“you fool! why the hell did you release that monster onto the world”

Luz was taken aback by this “what do you mean?”

“that guy you helped free was Eclipse, the one responsible for the extinction of the titans”

“w-well how was I supposed to know?” Titan Luz grunted before sighing, third eye Luz then spoke up

“so where are we exactly, and why are there 4 of us?”

Titan Luz responded “we’re currently in our own head, now that Eclipse has taken control of our body, we’re being forced to take a backseat, as for why there’s four of us, every time we took on a different form it made another version of us in the subconscious that are linked to the original while at the same time are our own person, hence why I know about Eclipse where as you don’t *looks at normal Luz* though you would have known about Eclipse as well if you chose to at the very least skim though Ribby’s memories while in this form”. Before anyone could say anything else a huge screen appeared which showed the 4 girls exactly what Eclipse was seeing, as well as hear everything that they said. The four girls watched in horror as Eclipse transformed Stringbean into a giant serpent against its will and began turning everyone into monsters. They tried attacking the screen in an attempt to stop Eclipse, but nothing worked, even Titan Luz going all out could do nothing to stop Eclipse

“great, we can use our powers, but they do nothing in this place” Calamity Luz stated angrily before she swung a glowing fist to the side which stuck the air making cracks appear before they faded away, the other Luz’s felt her sentiment and simply nodded.

Gaia, the mayor of the north city, stood at the edge of a pier looking out at the boiling sea, this was something she greatly enjoyed doing, though you couldn’t tell due to her face always having a blank expression on it. As she stared out at the sea, her brow raised a fraction as a glowing line was rapidly approaching on the water’s surface. When it passed underneath her, the temperature instantly dropped to a very cool 20 degrees Celsius and the sea stopped bubbling and steaming. Casting her gaze up a fraction she saw that the horizon was now pitch black and it was rapidly approaching them “hmm that doesn’t look good” she said in a high pitch voice

“YOU CAN TALK!!!” everyone on the pier exclaimed

“everyone inside now!” she ordered before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Reappearing in her office, which looked more like a greenhouse than an office, she opened a bottom draw revealing a large button which she pressed. Alarms started going off, which alerted the other mayors, and the entrances of Ribcage Isle sealed up, with everyone still outside simply being zapped by lasers which teleported them inside the dome. No sooner was everyone in, the darkness went over the dome and parasites rained down upon it, thankfully there was absolutely no way for them to get in now that the dome was sealed. The other mayors were about to call up Gaia to find out why she activated the emergency lockdown switch when they all sensed the absolute evil that had engulfed the dome. The 4 mayors all met in Gaia’s office, Mayor Racnid spoke first “so Gaia, do you know what that is exactly!”

Gaia shook her head before speaking telepathically to them all “whatever that is, its altered the demon realm itself. Also the sea has stopped boiling, and the air is much cooler”

Mayor Jullaré spoke next “do you think that this has something to do with that day of unity thing Luz and her friends were preparing to face?”

“possibly, we should go see the Norns sisters to find out what happened” the Mayor’s nodded and disappeared in puffs of smoke.

Reappearing in front of a store in the mystic district of East city, the mayors entered where they were greeted by 3 anthropomorphic cat women wearing robes “greetings” one woman with the name Verdandi on her robe greeted “how may we help you lot?”

Mayor Jullaré spoke up “theres an evil presence outside the dome and we would like to know where it originated from, and don’t do that crystal ball thing while being cryptic”

“humph spoil sport, fine” her eyes began to glow before they slowly widened and she started shaking

“that’s not a good sign”

“holy sh*t! Keep this place completely sealed up and add as many reinforcements as possible!”

“why?! What’s out their” Racnid asked

“parasites of a rogue Archivist. The second one touches you, it enters your body and makes you its new vessel in the most brutal way imaginable!”

Beilzabob then spoke up “wait, hold up, did you say rogue Archivist? *Verdandi nods* what the heck is an archivist doing in the demon realm?” Verdandi turned to her sister Urd, who specialised in past knowledge. Urd’s eyes began to glow like her sisters did and she informed the Mayor’s about Eclipse and how they were freed

“our hero wanted to save her friends, but may have doomed the demon realm in doing so” Racnid stated solemnly

“do you think the dome will be able to protect us from the power of an Archivist? I mean they were supposed to rival titan’s” Jullaré questioned, the two cat women turned to their third sister, Skuld, for an answer. Were as Verdandi and Urd could see the present and past respectively, Skuld could see the future, though in her case, she could see multiple futures which changed depending on what was done in the present

“…the dome will only be a minor roadblock for Eclipse. They will be able to break through eventually, thankfully, their parasites wont be able to breach the dome, even in its current state”

“how long until Eclipse gets here?"

“…3 weeks minimum” the Mayor’s frowned at this

“what if we reenforced the dome?” Racnid asked,

Skuld paused for a while “it would have to be an extra 30 meters thick with a magic barrier every 5cm to dissuade Eclipse from trying to get to us”

“well you heard the lady get your best builders to start working on the dome!” Jullaré declared with the other Mayor’s nodding before they all disappeared in puffs of smoke

“hey, they didn’t pay!” Urd stated

“Don’t worry, we’ll just send them the bill” Skuld replied

"will they pay it?"

"...there's a 50/50 chance they will"

After managing to escape from Eclipse, Eda had placed the weakened Raine on her couch before teleporting upstairs to grab the Golden Healing Hat, however, to her confusion she found that she was unable to teleport back down, so she had to go the old fashioned way. After a quick use of the hat, Raine was back to full strength, Eda then tried teleporting to King, but nothing happened, she tried a few more times, but still nothing. She then tried the individual glyphs on her arm, but they didn’t work either, this left her distraught, but thankfully Raine was able to calm her back down. “So, the Collector has been freed and he's taken over Luz’s body” Eda then informed Raine on who the collector was “I remember Kikimora mention something about Belos knowing a being from the stars, I thought she was just making it up, clearly not”

“Raine…what are we going to do?” Raine looked Eda in the eyes before looking down

“I don’t know Eda, is there anyone here who would know what to do in this situation”

“possibly the Mayor’s of this isle”

“then lets go and tell them what happened” Eda nodded in agreement and the two left on Owlbert.

Due to her relationship with Luz, Eda was able to skip any waiting time to see the mayor and just walk in. When she and Raine entered, they saw Mayor Jullaré on the phone “yes you heard me, a magic barrier every 5 cm, work in tandem with people from the other cities” and he hung up “hooboy are we screwed”

“so it’s worse than we think it is?” Eda asked

“yeah, your little ‘stop the draining spell’ mission failed in the most spectacular way possible. Ugh the kids got a great heart, but she should learn not to trust everyone”

“wait, so you know how the collector took over Luz’s body?”

“yeah”

“do you know how to separate the two?”

“that I do not know, right now we’re more focused on reenforcing the dome, we’re safe for the moment, but once the Collector arrives, its game over”

Raine then spoke up “and with this lockdown, I take it no one is getting out?”

“yeah, but you’re safer here…here go to this address, the girls there will tell you whatever you want to know, from if your loved ones are safe to where you put that sandwich 3 weeks ago”

Eda looked at the card “come on Raine, I need to know if at least King is okay” Raine nodded and thanked Jullaré before they both left. Once they were gone, Jullaré made a lit cigar appear before he took a long drag of it

“*sigh* it took all of the titan’s combined to take Eclipse down last time, now we don’t even have one titan to help…maybe the Big G could contend with Eclipse, it would be quite a sight to see, though he, like all the others, ‘don’t leave Methuselah’, well if Eclipse does go there, I hope both sides get a slap of reality” he said to himself