18. Chapter 56: Going Through Changes(1)

Nine years ago…

"Get that thing away from our children!"

"Throw some more rocks at it!"

"Shut her up!"

Little Luz was on the ground, crying and covering her head as she was pelted by rocks. She then felt the older kids and teens grabbing her, pinning Luz down as they began beating and kicking her. She closed her eyes and screamed. "AAAAHHHH! MOMMY HELP!"

But her mom wasn't coming to save her. Not this time. Nobody could help her except for-

DEVOUR!

Little Luz heard the deep voice in her head, followed by the cries of horror from the witches who were attacking her. She felt herself get released as something pulled her assaulters off of her.

DEVOUR!

The witches continued to scream, but only briefly.

DEVOUR!

Little Luz kept her eyes closed, too afraid to open them. She didn't know what had happened to those other witches, but she didn't want to know. She just stayed on the ground, shivering in fear before feeling something touch her shoulder. This caused her to shout-

And sit up in bed, having woken up from a nightmare. The slayground incident was still fresh in her mind and this wasn't the first nightmare about it she had experienced. She looked down at the Otabin book in her lap and she hugged it tightly to her chest. Little Luz took a deep breath and tried to remember her mother reading the book to her, wanting to retreat to that happy memory.

"With every needle and thread the pages he mend," Little Luz repeated. "But all the while he longed for a-"

FRIEND.

Little Luz yelped and saw something on her wall. A dark shadow. But as she looked at it, the shadow started to resemble the silhouette of a rabbit. She stared at it in confusion.

"…Otabin?"

"That's right, Luz," said the silhouette. "I heard that you were in need of a friend right now, so I thought I would pay you a visit."

Little Luz looked down at the cover of her book… and the Otabin illustration winked at her. She gasped and dropped the book, turning to where the silhouette had been… but it was gone.

"You do need a friend, righ?" asked the Otabin on the cover. "I understand that you're going through a really hard time lately and I was so sorry to hear that. I just want to help you Luz, if you'll let me."

Luz stared at the Otabin talking to her. "Are you… real?"

The Otabin smiled. "I will always be here for you, Luz."

Luz smiled back and picked up the book. "Thank you, Otabin. And yeah… I could use a friend right now."

"And that's why I'm here," the Otabin told her as he began to cheer the girl up.

Present Day.

Luz had her eyes shut, but she was still awake. Her face was covered in dry tears as she laid on her bed. With her was Amity, who was hugging Luz closely in comfort.

A young Luz was walking the forest, in front of her was the Bat Queen.

"Who are you, child?"

"I'm Luz Clawthorne! I've come to challenge you to prove I'm a strong witch!"

This resulted in Luz being tied up by the spider cow, followed by Eda having to apologize to the Bat Queen for the disturbance.

The events of last night were still fresh in the minds of the two girls, as was the feeling of betrayal.

"Are these all Palismen?" Luz asked, seeing all the Palismen in front of her.

"Yes, they have no homes or owners to go to. That's why I've provided them sanctuary here," Bat Queen told her.

"Wow," Luz said as she held one. "I can't wait to have my own someday!"

Luz couldn't forget what happened to Maya. The way she cracked the crab Palisman… and ate her essence…

She started to tear up again. Silently crying as Amity held onto her in comfort, placing her head on her shoulder.

Elsewhere in the Owl House, Lilith and Hooty were searching the Owl House for more bugs. So far, they haven't found anything. Eda was trying to contact Raine through her crow.

"Raine, if you're there, please pick up." Eda was growing more worried. "Belos bugged my house, and he may have learned about the BATTs. Belos knows everything! Please, pick up…" She received no answer and was forced to put the crow down.

"Eda, are you okay?" Camila asked her.

"How can I be? Because of me, Raine's in danger now, the Emperor now knows of their treachery and…" Eda's fists tightened. "Hunter… I invited that boy to our home, he was Luz's friend, someone she can relate to…" Eda slumped on the couch, wiping away her own tears. "Luz… how could things turn out like this?"

"It's not your fault, mom," King assured her. "We were all fooled. Not just you."

"Belos compromised our home, who knows how much he learned…" Eda turned to Camila. "He must be aware of you, Camila. Because I let Hunter into our home, I've endangered everyone…"

"No, it's not your fault, Eda. You didn't know," Camila assured her.

"She's right, Edalyn," Lilith said as she walked over to them. "None of us knew. I was in the Emperor's Coven for years but I didn't even know who the Golden Guard really was behind that mask… Belos was really good at keeping him his little secret. We were all fooled."

"HOOT-HOOT INTRUDER ALERT!" Hooty cried out, alarming everyone.

"Oh man, they're here already!" King panicked.

"King, Camila, stand back!" Eda pulled out a shotgun from under the couch, while Lilith held onto her staff. They both rushed out of the front door to find…

"Hello there," Julia Traveler said as she calmly petted Hooty, who was enjoying the petting. "Sorry to drop by so suddenly, but I'm just here to make sure the girls are all right after you called in and said they weren't coming to school today."

Eda lowered the shotgun. "Alright, false alarm. It's just the school counselor."

A hooded Hunter knew he was being foolish when he decided to go see Ed. But he needed to see him, to explain himself. "Ed! Edric, it's me!" he shouted as he knocked on the door to Geist's bar. But when the door opened-

PUNCH!

Hunter fell back onto the ground with a new black eye. He looked up and saw a very upset Edric standing over him. "Ed…" Hunter whispered.

"Why the fuck are you here?" Edric hissed at him.

"Ed, calm down, l-let me explain-"

"Explain what? That you've… lied to me about who you were all this time? That you had the gull to bug my house, Luz's house, and endanger my sister!" Ed lashed out at him, tears leaking down his face. "And your uncle is the Emperor himself?!"

"Look, Ed, I had a good reason if you just-"

"Good reason? What could possibly be a good reason for lying to your boyfriend, for spying on his sister and her girlfriend, for attempting to murder my sister's godmother, and for invading the privacy of my family and Luz's?!" Edric shut Hunter down. "Must be a pretty damn good reason!" He glared at Hunter. "I trusted you! But you hurt Luz, you hurt her family, and you hurt my baby sister and my family! I thought we meant something to you."

"You do, Ed! I'm doing this for everyone's own good!" Hunter claimed.

"...I don't want to see you ever again, Hunter," Edric told him while turning his back on Hunter.

Hunter looked shocked and heartbroken. "Edric… Edric, please don't-" Suddenly Emira showed up at the door, holding a sword in front of his face.

"Get the hell out of here, Hunter!" Emira shouted at him, getting in front of her brother. "Get off of our property right now! You are not welcome here anymore, and if I catch you around here again, you're fucking dead!"

Feeling intimidated by Emira's threat, Hunter got to his feet and ran off, tears in his eyes.

Emira lowered her sword and turned to her brother. "Ed?"

"I'm… I'm going to be fine," Edric responded, trying to keep himself together. But Emira could tell he was not fine.

"Hey," Geist came after hearing the commotion. "You two alright?"

"Ed may not want to go to school today and if he does want to stay, I'm not going today either," Emira said while handing her uncle his sword back. "Here, I used this to chase his ex away."

"Alright," Geist understood, patting Edric's shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Ed. Come on, there's some ice scream I keep in the fridge for ya."

"Madame Kikimora," spoke a coven scout, who was waiting for her when she came out from the recovery room. "You have been summoned by the Emperor."

"He wants to… talk to me?" Kiki gulped, feeling that this was not going to be good for her.

"Yeah, in the throne room," he said before he dismissed himself.

The aid to the Emperor was sweating. She had only ever felt this nervous when her mother called. Kiki made her way to head down to the throne room, feeling the tension in every step she took. Finally, she made it through the doors to the throne room and saw Belos sitting on his throne, tapping his arm chair.

"Kiki," Belos spoke, his tone displeased.

"I… I'm here… sir," she replied, then suddenly she heard the doors slam shut from behind. "Yek!" she yelped, turning to look at the doors. Shaken, she turned back around, only to find Belos gone. "My liege…!?"

"I don't like saying how disappointed I am in you," Belos spoke from behind her. Kikimora froze as she felt his shadow looming over her. Belos raised his hand and activated Kiki's coven tattoo, causing golden glowing thorns to come out of her arm and wrap around her face. "But I am very disappointed in you."

"GAAH! But… but sir! I was only-"

"Trying to kill the only family member I have!" Belos spat at her, making her kneel before him as she continued to have trouble breathing. His eyes flashed brightly and angrily behind his mask. "Hunter told me about how you interfered with his mission and caused him to fail! You're not just incompetent… you're also a traitor."

"The Golden Guard is lying to cover up for himself! H-he's trying to make me look bad!"

"I doubt you would need his help for that," Belos said as he let Kikimora go. "The only reason you're not dead where you stand is because of your loyalty to me for so long. For that you get to live. But you are no longer welcome in this castle. Until you can prove otherwise… you are demoted to coven scout."

Kikimora was breathing and panting heavily. "I… I'm sorry, sir! I-It won't happen again! Please reconsider, I'll do anything!" she begged him.

Behind his mask, Belos was glaring at Kikimora in disgust. "Get out of my sight! And if you ever try to hurt my nephew again… may the Titan have mercy on your soul." His voice turned into a snarl for a moment before he turned his back to her. "I'll be sure to have Steve send your things."

Kikimora shivered, tears leaking from her eyes. "Y-Yes, sir," she whimpered as she walked towards the door, making her leave.

Once he saw she was gone, Belos sighed and walked back to his throne. He took off his mask, rubbing the temple of his head. "What am I going to do?" he asked, his mind taking him back to a distant memory…

The Golden Guard stopped outside of the throne room. A woman wearing a hooded cloak and a mask was just leaving. When she saw the Golden Guard, she gave him a respectful nod.

"Sir William," she acknowledged.

The Golden Guard nodded back, smiling behind his mask. "Vina."

The woman stepped aside, letting the Golden Guard enter the throne room. The Golden Guard knelt before the throne of Belos, keeping his head low. "My Emperor."

Belos chuckled. "William, it is just us. You can refer to me by my other title."

The Golden Guard nodded and reached up to take off his mask, placing it down on the floor next to him. His face had a fair complexion, his hair was blonde, and his nose was slightly hooked. He looked up at Belos. "Yes… brother. I wanted to speak to you about our newest recruit."

"Lilith Clawthorne," Belos guessed.

"Yes, her," William confirmed. "She wants to keep her Palisman."

Belos shook his head. "Take it away from her," he ordered. "Her Palisman is now in the Coven's possession. No except-"

"She carved it with her father, Dell Clawthorne," William added, which gave Belos pause.

The Emperor was silent for a few moments. "Hmm," he said. "We do owe a lot to the Clawthornes, don't we?"

"Yes, we do," William said, remembering the Palisman that he carved with his father so many years ago.

Belos sighed. "You want her to keep it, don't you?"

"She is family," William argued.

"That she is," Belos agreed. "Fine. Lilith can keep her Palisman. Let it not be said that I never repay my debts."

William smiled. "Thank you, brother. I am certain that this will only ensure her loyalty to us."

"Is there anything else you wish to bring to my attention?" Belos asked.

For a brief moment, William's gaze flickered elsewhere. "No, brother," he replied. "That is all."

"Then you are dismissed," Belos told William, who stood up and put his Golden Guard mask back on. He then exited the throne room, Belos watching him leave…

Luz had never thought she would see the school counselor in the Owl House. She sat up in bed while facing Julia, who had found a chair to sit in. "So is there anything you want to talk about, Luz?" Julia asked her.

"I feel like I've become a monster," Luz answered with a mutter. "Not a witch, not a human. Just a monster…"

"That's not what I see," Julia told her. "Do you want to talk about why you feel this way?"

Luz was trying to find her words, but all she could think about was Maya. "I… I killed a Palisman," she told Julia, the words just coming out of her mouth. "I just… I was trying to help fix her after she fell. I-It's hard to explain but… I-I was out of control… like I was acting on instinct." She covered her mouth, still remembering what happened. "Is this what cambions do? Drain the essence of innocent Palismen like food? And they go to their eyes… fuck!" she cursed, but then looked up to Julia. "Pardon my language."

"It's alright, you're just stressing out," Julia assures her, while passing a tissue box to Luz.

Luz accepted the tissue and wiped the tears out of her eyes. "I didn't mean to hurt anyone! I-It just…" She stopped herself, sighing. "I can never undo what I've done. No Palisman is safe around me… not that I want to be near any of them after this."

"Do you feel guilty?" Julia asked.

"Yes," Luz nodded with a sniff.

"Well Luz, I think it's a good thing that you're feeling guilty. Do you know why?" Julia asked her. "Because all that guilt, grief, and remorse is proof that you're not a monster. It's okay to have guilt, it's okay to feel remorse. You did not mean to kill the Palisman, it was an accident."

"I… don't know if I can forgive myself…" Luz said.

"And you don't have to right away," Julia told her. "Learning to forgive yourself is a lot like learning to forgive someone else… you take it one step and one day at a time."

Sometime later, Julia closed the door slowly after letting Amity go in to comfort Luz. Julia went over to the other residents. "I'd like to speak with Edalyn alone right now," she said.

"Is Luz going to be okay?" Eda asked in concern.

"She will, let's speak somewhere we can be alone," Julia responded and Eda began leading her away, though before she followed Eda she turned to politely acknowledge the other adults. "Lilith, Mrs. Noceda, King."

"Wait… did you tell her about me?" Camila asked Lilith and King, realizing that Julia didn't seem surprised by her presence and seemed to already know her name. Lilith and King both shrugged.

"So… how's she doing?" Eda asked Julia in the other room.

"Your daughter's still grieving over what happened. But I've told her that it's okay to feel remorse, and what she's feeling right now only proves that she's still a good person," Julia explained. "But now she is afraid to be around Palismen, since she thinks that she can't trust herself with them anymore."

"Is there anything we can do for her?" Eda asked.

"Right now, I would suggest making sure that she is kept in a loving and supportive environment. I also recommend keeping Palismen far away from her until she is comfortable with being near them again," Julia suggested. "Though Luz isn't the only one I wanted to see."

"Oh, well if it's Amity-"

"I'm talking about you, Edalyn," Julia told her, causing Eda to look confused. "I noticed yesterday that you seemed a little out of focus. Something's bothering you and I am willing to hear you out if you need to talk about it."

Eda looked at Julia. "Okay, but this gets to be kept between us, right?"

"Of course," Julia said with a nod.

Eda sighed. "Okay," she said while looking down on herself. "I didn't want to say it in front of Lilith because I don't want her to feel worse about cursing me than she already does. It started ever since I had a talk with Amity about living like I have. The girl's already considering not joining a coven and I wanted her to know what it's like to be a wild witch. I told her about my time in the human realm, and how my own mugging was a lot worse than just having my stuff stolen…"

Julia recognized Eda's body language. "I'm sorry. No one should have experienced that."

Eda sighed. "Thanks," she told her as she continued. "But something I didn't tell Amity and something I have been thinking about ever since that talk… is how someone saved me. A girl my age. She was the first human friend I made there, until I changed into the Owl Beast and…" She remembered the screams and the blood. "I killed her."

"Edalyn…" Julia said.

"It was my fault what happened," Eda told Julia. "I wasn't careful enough, since I hadn't gotten used to my curse yet. I didn't have my system yet and if that hadn't changed, then I would have never taken in King or Luz. I haven't told them about this, I've tried my hardest not to think about it. But with everything going on right now…"

"I know what you're going through, Eda," Julia told her. "I think, like your daughter, you're struggling to forgive yourself. It takes time, years even. And like I told your daughter, it is okay to feel guilt."

Eda sniffed, "Thanks Julie, for helping my daughter and… um, maybe when you're not counseling students…"

Julia nodded. "I'm always available for those in need, Edalyn," she replied as she offered her card to her. "Just give me a call away if you need me."

Eda nodded, wiping her tears. "Thanks, Julie."

At Hexside, Boscha was clearing out her locker. She then stopped by the Detention Track room, thinking that she should make sure the teacher knew about her transfer. She found Kitsuni talking to someone over the crow.

"Excuse me, Ms-"

"Look, can you please get me to Baku?" Kitsuni asked, not hearing Boscha.

"The line is already busy as it is!" shouted someone at the other end of the line, a screeching sounding voice that made Kitsuni wince. "You yokais always come and go chatting like peacocks up in Tim Buk Tu! But no one thanks me for the job I've been doing for years! Oh, do you know the migraines I get from redirecting all of your calls! I'm not paid enough for this!"

Kitsuni sighed. "Look, Iago, I just need to speak with Baku."

"Just hang on to your furry tails and wait!" Iago shouted from the crow. "Geez-louise, why did I let the blue wonder talk me into this job with the Order!?"

"Kitsuni, can I talk to you?" Boscha asked.

"I'm sorry, Boscha, but this has to wait," Kitsuni said before her call finally got through. "Baku? Baku I'm glad that I got your call…"

Boscha lowered her head, sighing as she decided to give up. As she walked out of the classroom she spotted Willow and Skara walking by.

"So are Luz and Amity alright?" Skara asked.

"Amity says that Luz's still shaken up from last night," Willow responded with a sigh. "I can't believe this is happening. I can't believe Hunter has been playing with us the entire time."

"Yeah, I thought he was a nice guy," Skara replied. "But we're still doing a sleepover, right? As soon as I am done tutoring with Vine-" She stopped when she noticed Boscha.

"Hey," Boscha muttered.

"Boscha… what… do you want?" Skara asked.

"I'm not looking for trouble or anything," Boscha told them. "I… just want to let you know that this is my last day here in Hexside. I'm being transferred to Glandus."

The two girls are shocked by the news. "Glandus?" Willow asked, her tone worried.

"But why would you go there?" Skara questioned.

"I didn't want to, but my mom has already signed a contract that you don't want to break if you want to keep your eyes," Boscha told them. "I have an orientation later today, so I'm just here to collect my things and say… goodbye and… apologize to both of you."

This surprised Willow and Skara as Boscha continued. "Willow, I'm sorry for picking on you and calling you half-a-witch. You were a lot stronger than I realized or gave you credit for and I admit that I was wrong. And Skara… you were right about me." She turned to Willow "And can you also tell Luz and Amity that I'm sorry for the mess I caused for them? They didn't deserve it and it went farther then I intended. I wanted to tell them myself, but they're not here today."

Having said her piece, Boscha turned around and started to walk away, but then she felt Skara put a hand on her shoulder. She stopped and turned to her former friend.

"Boscha, wait," Skara said with a sigh. "I just want to say… good luck at Glandus."

"Thanks," Boscha said.

"I'll relay your message to Luz and Amity," Willow promised. "And thanks for the apology, I appreciate it."

Boscha nodded. "You're welcome," she said before she continued walking away.

Back at the Emperor's Castle, a hooded Hunter came into his uncle's throne room. When Belos saw the black eye that his nephew was sporting, he stood up and walked over to Hunter.

"Hunter, what happened?" Belos asked in concern.

"Edric… broke up with me," Hunter admitted, keeping his head low.

Belos removed his mask, his face saddened. "I'm so sorry, Hunter. I knew how much he meant to you…" He put his hand on his nephew's shoulder… before pulling him into a hug. Hunter was surprised, but he quickly hugged his uncle back while tears fell down his face. He could feel his uncle rubbing his back gently.

"I understand what you're going through," Belos told Hunter. "I went through something similar with someone I once knew long ago, someone I ended up losing…"

"You… you mean my father?" Hunter asked, looking up at his uncle.

Belos shook his head. "Your father isn't the only one I've lost," he admitted. "You could say that I once had my own Edric…" He sighed and released his nephew from the hug. "Me and Darius have been talking and I've realized that I've been putting too much pressure on you. I think it's time to take you out of the field for a while."

Hunter was shocked. "If this is about my failure to retrieve-"

"I'm doing this for your well being, Hunter," Belos interrupted him. "None of this would've happened if Kiki hadn't interfered, but it's also my fault. I… I wanted you to be ready for the Day of Unity, but I was too hasty. That's why I have decided to set you up for therapy. Since Kikimora has been demoted, let me introduce you to her replacement… Abel Reisender."

Stepping out of the shadows next to Belos was someone Hunter didn't recognize. He was an old witch man with white hair, a beard, and gray eyes. He wore a dark robe with golden trims, black fingerless gloves, and black boots with golden soles. He carried a bag in one hand and a staff that doubled as an umbrella with an oni Palisman in the other.

He walked over to Hunter and raised his hand. "Your uncle has told me a lot about you, Hunter!" he spoke with a welcoming tone. "The name's Abel Reisender, but you can call me Abel, or Abe, whatever you like!"

Hunter looked at his hand before shaking it. "Nice to meet you, sir."

Abel nodded. "My room is always open if you need to talk. I reside on the third floor of the castle. Make a left, then a right, then down to the third door to your left in the fifth hall. Say, why don't I draw you a map to my office? I've made fried ring worms and some ghoul-laid that you chaps will love."

Hunter blinked. He didn't know what to make of this but he spoke politely. "That… sounds nice."

Abel smiled. "Atta' boy, I know that we'll be good ol' mates just like me and your uncle. Ain't that right?" He looked at Belos.

"Yes, I believe so, old friend," Belos responded with a nod.

Back at Hexside, Boscha had met up with Simon to inform him about her transfer.

"I'm sorry that things turned out this way," Simon told her, looking saddened. "I'm gonna miss you when you're at Glandus."

"Yeah, I'll miss you too. Even if we were never the closest," Boscha admitted.

"Yeah, but… I wish you luck at Glandus," Simon said. "Fortunately my older brother goes there so he'll probably show you the ropes."

"I guess, hopefully he'll have my back," Boscha said. "And thanks."

The two cousins fell into an awkward silence as they looked at each other. Simon finally spoke up. "So uh… do we… hug…?"

"I-I don't know, this is… new territory for both of us," Boscha said.

"Right, right. We've never hug each other before-"

"Y-you know, let's just… let's just… it's awkward enough."

"Right, too awkward," he agreed. "Let's just grasp our hands together as our muscles flex."

"Yeah, that sounds better," Boscha preferred, the two grasping their hands while their arm muscles flexed. This was followed by a guitar riff that could be heard in the background, coming from a bard student in a black top hat that was just passing by, which the two cousins paid no attention to.

After that, Boscha started to head out. She'd said her goodbyes, leaving her old life for a new one she was not looking forward to. If she had to transfer, her mom could have just sent her to Merlin Meadows, or St. Epiderm…

"Boscha," said a voice behind her.

The triclops witchling turned around to see the school counselor suddenly there. "Ms. Traveler?"

"Hey dear, I heard about your transfer," Julia said. "Personally, your mother has to be crazy to send you to a school like Glandus."

"Something we can both agree on," Boscha nodded.

"Well, even though you're no longer attending Hexside, that doesn't mean that you can't reach out to me." She handed Boscha a card which contained her contact info. "If you ever need to talk, I'm always available."

Boscha looked at the card, thinking about it for a moment. "I'll… hang onto this. Thank you, Ms. Traveler," she said as she put the card in her pocket.

Back at the Owl House, Lilith was in the bathroom drinking several more elixirs. Once she was done, she looked at herself in the mirror for a few moments and sighed.

She needed to talk to Luz.

Luz was sitting on top of the tower, wanting to be alone as she stared at the distant Boiling Seas.

"Luz."

She didn't turn or budge when Lilith called out to her, nor did she respond. Lilith climbed over to her niece. "Can you talk?"

"I'm becoming like him, am I?" Luz asked, startling her aunt. "Belos, you once told me that he eats Palismen the same way I did."

Lilith sat next to Luz, rubbing her back. "You are nothing like Belos, and you'll never be," she assured her niece, looking down on herself. "It's just… you're more like me."

"What… do you mean?" Luz asked her.

"I know what it's like to be in your shoes, Luz," Lilith told her. "I know what it's like to take an innocent life by accident and be wrecked by guilt afterward." In the woods near the Owl House, the Baron was watching while smoking a cigar, unseen by either Clawthorne. "Dealing with that guilt isn't easy; I've tried dealing with it by distracting myself with something else, anything else. But to this day, I still haven't forgiven myself."

Luz looked at her aunt understandingly. "You don't have to say anymore if you're not comfortable with it, Aunt Lily."

Lilith looked away for a moment, like she was having second thoughts. But then she took a deep breath and made her decision. Luz was better off knowing, she deserved to know. Even if she hated her for it. "Y-years ago… back when I… tried to hunt down Eda… I decided to follow her into the human world."

Luz glanced at Lilith, while the Baron watched with intrigue.

"I found the means to travel there besides the door Edalyn used…" Lilith continued. "I already checked, that means isn't available anymore. But when I got there… I didn't know what to expect. I then… saw something coming towards me and I… reacted by instinct."

Listening, Luz realized what her aunt was talking about. She remembered what the Baron had said to her.

"You lost your dear mother, bless her soul, in an accident that shouldn't have happened. Someone knows more about it than they let on and they hold onto a dark secret that has yet to be exposed."

Luz started putting the pieces together. "No…" she said, but instead of reacting out of anger… she just cried. "No, it… it can't…!" She teared up, burying her face in her knees.

Lilith looks down again. "I'm so, so sorry, Luz," she said, moving her hand away from her niece and scooting slightly away so that there was some distance between them. "I'm sorry that I killed your mother and hurt you as a result. And I'm sorry for keeping it a secret… I've known for a while now but I was afraid that if the truth came out, I would just hurt my family even more and lose any hope of reconnecting with them… I know that was selfish on my part, which is why I'm telling you this now. Not because I have no choice… but because you needed to hear this. You need to know that you're not the only one who has been in this position… and perhaps it will give you someone else to be angry at other than yourself." She looked away from Luz, tears falling from her eyes. "I'm not asking you to forgive me, I know that I don't deserve it. But seeing you like this, I knew that I couldn't keep this from you anymore."

When Luz calmed down from crying, she fell silent and stared at the floor. Lilith stayed, waiting for Luz to lash out on her. Finally Luz was able to speak.

"I… should be furious," Luz admitted, her voice sounding tired. "I should be screaming at you and cursing you out." Her scales appeared trailing up her neck as she sighed. "But after Hunter… I don't have the energy for it. All of my anger was spent and… I get it. I get that you made a mistake, unlike Hunter who deliberately hurt my family by leaving you to die and using me as bait for mom, and I get why you were afraid to tell me." She looked up to Lilith and saw the guilt in her eyes, the regret. "But I can tell that you feel guilt and remorse for what you did. It means that you're not a monster. I don't want to be angry at my aunt, even though I have every right to be. I know that if you could take it back you would, just like I would want to take back what I did to Maya. And I believe that you would never want to hurt me or anyone that you care about again. So… I forgive you, Aunt Lilith."

Lilith was shocked, while the Baron was pleased. "Luz… you don't have to feel like you have to forgive me," she insisted.

"I know I don't have to, but I choose to," Luz replied. "To forgive is an act of compassion. Neither of us may be able to forgive ourselves, but the least I can do is forgive you because I think it will help you. Maybe I'll have the energy to be properly angry at you later, but right now I think that you can continue making it up to me by helping me through what comes next."

"I promise that I will," Lilith accepted and Luz hugged her, much to Lilith's surprise.

"Thank you for telling me," Luz told her and Lilith gently patted her head. "But for the time being, I think we should just keep this between us for now. I want the others to know soon, but now is not a good time in the wake of so many revelations. Also I'm worried about what might happen to Camila once she knows, since you're the reason that the Baron brought her back."

Lilith nodded. "When I was left for dead, the Baron kept me from passing on, and because of that I owe him my soul."

"Oh," Luz replied, a bit shocked. "Well then, I promise to help you get out of the Baron's grip, Aunt Lily. Because even if you did something really evil, you're still my aunt. You're still my family… and after having almost lost you once, I don't want anything else bad to happen to you. We're gonna help each other, since we're on the same boat."

Lilith smiled, agreeing with her niece as they both hugged again.

The two came downstairs, which the residence took notice of.

"Hey, how'd it go?" Eda asked them.

Lilith nodded to Luz, who replied. "Well, Aunt Lily told me some stuff that I needed to hear, but for now I would like to keep it between me and her."

"But we do promise that you all will know what we discussed at a better time," Lilith responded.

Luz nodded. "I hope you understand…"

"Hey, it's okay. Whatever it is, it's between you two," Amity assured her, walking up to Luz and holding her hand. "You can tell me when you're ready."

"Yeah, when the time's right," Eda agreed.

Hunter had found his way to Abel's office. He looked around and noticed some paintings, a cuckoo clock, a drum set, a bean bag and a refrigerator. There was also a shelf full of board games and a lava lamp.

'This is his office?' Hunter thought, feeling out of place.

"Oh, hello there, Hunter!" Abel greeted. "Come, sit anywhere you like! We got bean bags on the floor, or if you like, lie on the couch over there."

Hunter picked the bean bag, wondering what Abel's motivation was.

'This is some form of punishment,' the voice in his head told him.

"Am I being punished?" Hunter asked nervously.

"Punished? Oh no, your uncle would never send you here if that were the case," Abel replied. "Your uncle sent you here because he is worried about you, that's all. Don't worry, this is a safe space. You can talk about whatever you want, nothing leaves this room. Your uncle will not know anything you don't want him to know about."

Hunter looked hesitant. "So… I can just say anything?" Abel nodded and Hunter decided to begin. "Well… I've been trying… to juggle two different lives. One where I am just Hunter and one where I am the Golden Guard. I knew that I couldn't live both lives forever, but I still tried until I ended up hurting and disappointing everyone I care about… Luz and Edric now hate me, and I let my uncle down when he was depending on me."

"Do you really think that your uncle is disappointed?" Abel asked him.

"Of course he is," Hunter said as if it was obvious. "He always expects great things from me, and I wanted nothing more than to live up to those expectations."

"That's not the only thing you wanted, Hunter," Abel pointed out. "You also desired to seek out friends outside of the castle. That had nothing to do with Belos, that was all you."

Hunter couldn't disagree. "Yeah, that is true…"

"So tell me, Hunter, which of your two lives was more important to you?" Abel asked him and Hunter found himself unable to answer.

"Alright, I've thought about this," Luz announced to the residents of the Owl House, ready to stop feeling sorry about herself and do something productive. "Now that the bug is discovered, we are now aware that Belos has been spying on us since the ceremony. But we can't eliminate the possibility of Belos finding other ways he could keep watch over us."

"So what's the next course of action? Retaliation?" King suggested.

"No, right now we need to focus more on getting access to the human realm," Luz said. "We need to look for any leads and make sure we're the ones to get there first."

"Yeah, leave the Belos problem to me," Eda told her daughter. "I don't appreciate getting my own house bugged."

"Thanks, mom," Luz replied. "Bill actually suggested making a new portal, but what he showed me was far too complicated for us to make and I don't think we have the resources for it. Amity, you mentioned that Goonla originated from the human realm?"

"Yes," Amity replied. "He said that he swam through Titan's Blood, which is apparently responsible for bringing a lot of stuff from the human realm to the Isles."

"That's one lead," Luz nodded, making a list. "I can ask around Bonesborough if anyone knows something about Titan's Blood."

"You should ask Tiny Nose," King suggested. "She might have heard something."

"I can do some research while working at the library," Amity offered.

"I'm sure I got some sources around, maybe Dr. Bride could know some things," Eda added.

"I know someone who could help," Lilith stated. "An old mentor of mine that might have learned something during her adventures."

"Great! We can't leave any stone unturned," Luz told them all.

"Is there anything I can do?" Camila asked, everyone in the room having almost forgotten about her.

"Oh, uh, mami…" Luz said awkwardly, "Um, you don't have to do much. All you need is to just sit back and do whatever you like around here."

"Oh…" Camila replied, "I guess… I thought if I could help-"

"Mom, Belos knows that you're alive and the last thing we need is for him to have an excuse or a chance to come after you," Luz told her. "So for now, just keep safe."

"Oh… alright." Camila replied, feeling a bit left out though she was proud to see her daughter take charge.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Eda assured Camila. "Maybe you can help me make pixie pies for Luz. They are one of her favorites."

Camila nodded. "Thanks, Eda. That does sound good."

Camila instantly regretted it after seeing how pixie pies were made.

"Nothing like capturing and then beating the dust out of these insects," Eda said, holding a hammer as they were both covered in pixie glitter. "Luz is going to love these!"

"...Esas pobres cosas estaban mendigando…"

Boscha has made it to Glandus High, which looked like a dark medieval castle. It wasn't as big as Hexside, but because of the glowing blinking eye staring at her, it felt more intimidating.

Boscha, now dawning her Glandus uniform, walked through the hallways of the school. She received some stares from other students, who must've heard she was from Hexside. She kept her cowl up, trying not to attract too much attention. 'This can't be any worse than Hexside, right?'

"You wanna go down, punk!?"

Boscha turned and looked into the Healing Track classroom, where a student and a teacher were facing each other with knives. The student stabbed his teacher.

"Gah!" the teacher screamed.

"Ha! Now I get to take your fourth kidney!" the student declared while pulling out a saw.

"No! You brats stay away from me! AAAAHHH!"

Boscha quickly walked past as she noticed more of the chaos in this school. She saw the occasional students smoking in the halls, while another student was getting beaten up and fed to the lockers. She also saw one large student chewing on a bone… a piece of clothing hanging from their teeth…

Eventually she found her way to the principal's office for her orientation.

"Yo," greeted a young looking witch man with unkempt black hair, sunglasses, red skin, and black horns on his forehead. He was wearing a principal robe with a purple scarf around his shoulders and black sandals over his socks, which Boscha saw because he had his feet up on the desk. "What's up, new student? My name is Mephistopheles McScream and welcome to Glandus High! Don't worry about being new around here, I was new here too since I only recently took over after my predecessor disappeared. But if I can figure things out, then so can you, especially if Craig vouches for you!" He gestured to the awards and memorabilia of himself that he had decorated his office with. "Like me, he knows talent when he sees it. I have no doubt that he has seen several of my films like 'Giraffes 2', 'Passion of the Lucifer', or 'Dude, Where's My Witch's Staff?' I am especially proud of-"

"I literally don't know who you are," Boscha said in a monotone voice.

McScream frowned, one of his eyes twitching in irritation. But he moved on. "Anyway, I heard things didn't go so well in your last school. Hexside, am I right? Given your record, I think you will fit much better here than with the Hexside softies. But if not… well, we expel students here with something that I came up with called the Cannon of Shame."

He pointed outside the window, where hooded students were ringing bells as one student was loaded into a cannon. "Shame! Shame! Shame!" they chanted and cannon fired, which sent the screaming student flying.

"Did he just get shot out of a cannon?!" Boscha exclaimed.

"Yeah, he couldn't cut it and we don't tolerate the weak around here," McScream said, his voice devoid of empathy. "Now, how about I give you the grand tour!"

McScream started showing Boscha around Glandus, talking while she followed him. "I know you are already aware of the rivalry that exists between Hexside, Glandus, and St. Epiderm, the three biggest schools in the Boiling Isles. Part of that rivalry is trying to get the most students into the Emperor's Coven. And since the Emperor's Coven favors strength while looking down upon weakness, we promote something similar here at Glandus with our eight tracks."

"Eight racks?" Boscha asked.

"Yeah, we don't have Illusionist students here." McScream replied as he stopped in front of the Abomination Track classroom. "You're not actually the only Hexsider that switched sides when Bump started getting softer. You may recognize one of our teachers working here."

"Excellent work, my new star student," said the familiar voice of Professor Blanc, who was patting the back of a hefty student with light-dark skin, black braided hair that was curled into pigtails, green eyes, and a scar on his lips. "Taking not only other students' Abominations, but mine as well!"

"Thanks, teach," the boy witch replied, his Abomination a mixture of other students's abominations.

"That's one of the Top Four Sophomores here, Goredon of Abominations," McScream explained.

"Top four sophomores?" Boscha asked.

"Yeah, this school has a system similar to the Coven Heads," McScream explained. "There used to be five sophomores, but Bangles from the Healing Track got herself arrested and she's still in the Conformatorium. As for Blanc, we hired him after his last attempt to get his old job back."

"Excuse me." Bump turned to find Professor Blanc holding out a resume while wearing a mustache made out of Abomination goop. "It appears that you may need some competent teachers around, so I, Professor Hermonculus, am here to-"

The mustache was ripped off by Bump.

"Did you honestly expect me to fall for this trick, Herbert?" Bump asked in a deadpan tone as he summoned Abominations to escort the former teacher away.

"That's...just sad." Boscha mentions.

"I know, right?" McScream agreed as he showed her the Plant Track. "This track is my favorite since I'm in the Plant Coven myself. Meet the Top Sophomore, Weaselton."

"It's pronounced Wesselton!" snapped a brown furred weasel biped demon student, who was with other weasel and mongoose bipeds that looked pale for some reason. "I am working on my breakthrough… hehehe." He laughed sinisterly.

"Are those his relatives?" Boscha questioned while looking at the glowing eyed rodent bipeds...

"Potions, where the Top Sophmore Ruth resides!" McScream explained while introducing a gray-skinned girl with gray eyes, a face mask over her nose and mouth, bobcut chestnut hair and red stripes across her face. She was shown mixing potions. "And since you'll be in here according to your mom, Ruth will help show you the ropes around this classroom."

Boscha looked at Ruth, who shot a death glare at her new potential rival. A skull cloud rose up from the cauldron pot.

"Oh, almost forgot." McScream snapped his fingers, the gray colors of Boscha's Glandus uniform changing to yellow. "There, just as your mom wants."

"Swell…" Boscha said sarcastically.

"And here's our cafeteria where our food is… edible," McScream said as he led Boscha through the cafeteria and over to a large dark-skinned witch man. "And what's on the menu today, Mr. Cooker?"

"The usual griffin fingers, and chicken soup with a dash of the teenage souls," Mr. Cooker replied with a chuckle "Literally."

Boscha backed away from the chef, but then bumped into a woman behind her. "Excuse you, young lady," the woman told her as Boscha turned around. The witch woman had pale white skin and short, curly white hair with gray sides. She wore a purple Victorian-style dress with black sleeves, light gray gloves, and black high-heeled boots underneath her dress. Her thin dark-purple tail was sticking out of her lower back.

"Sorry…" Boscha apologized.

"You better watch yourself if you know what's good for you," the witch woman said with a glare as she walked away.

"Yeesh, looks like you ran into our Beast-Keeping teacher Miss Heinous," McScream commented to Boscha. Though to Boscha, she felt something off about that teacher…

"And here's the gym!" McScream told Boscha. "Coach Terry Grease is in charge here and he's not what you would call-"

"You call this a fighting position in a witch's duel!?" shouted a large witch man with a purple ponytail with teeth on his hairline, lavender skin, black eyes with red pupils, hooves, and a large horned chin. He wore a black chainmail sleeveless tank top with gray pants. His muscular arms showed black veins popping out. "You're not doing it right!" he shouted at his student.

"H-Hey man, I'm doing the best I can-"

PUNCH!

The student was smacked to the ground, hard, while Coach Grease loomed over her. "You trying to play me, punk!? Do you want to end up like the others, you little griffin shit!? And don't you dare cry! There's crying if you want to get into the Emperor's Coven!"

"He… he just struck her like that!" Boscha called out while McScream shrugged.

"It's allowed around here," McScream said, liking Boscha's reaction. "Teachers have special disciplinary privileges to keep students in line. Our students can be tough, so our teachers have to be tougher."

Grease turned to look at the Principal and Boscha. "Principal McScream, who is the fresh meat?"

"This is Boscha Hieron, she's a transfer from Hexside," McScream explained, patting Boscha's back.

"A Hieron, huh?" Grease chuckled. "So she's Nicole's daughter then? If she is anything like her mother, then I think she'll do just fine here. Has she met Emily yet?"

"Oh I was leading up to it," McScream replied with a smirk.

"Emily? Who's Emily?" Boscha asked.

Suddenly, a cloud of purple smoke appeared. Levitating down was an Oracle Track student girl with light blue hair, glowing purple eyes, and brown-skin.

"It's Top Oracle Sophomore, Kadabe!" one student announced.

"Hey, I'm the one who makes the introductions here!" McScream shouted.

"Fellow Glandus students, make way for the Queen of Glandus, and the Top Three Juniors with her!" Kadabe announced. "Presenting Emily Tricks, with her love Stella Northstar!"

The students cleared the way to make a path. Marching forth was an older teenage witch of seventeen with long ebony hair, green skin, and red eyes. She donned a Glandus uniform with golden arm sleeves and leggings and black boots. She was carrying a purple dragon biped girl with lavender spiky hair and a Construction Track uniform. She was bloodied and bruised.

Next to her was a girl her age of fair skin, rectangular glasses over her gray eyes, and night-blue hair tied in pigtails that seemed to move on their own. She appeared to have silver sleeves, her uniform having a longer skirt to her knees. She wore blue ankle boots and had a gentle smile on her face.

Behind them were Nina Fangs, Tito Jackwitch who was moonwalking, and a large, bulky student in Construction who was wearing a black apron. His muscular arms were exposed and he wore a black spiked helmet with horns. He was also carrying a large hammer.

'Isn't that…!?' Boscha thought to herself as she got a good look at one of them.

"Emily! I see you finished off Ukla here." McScream pointed to the bruised dragon girl.

"We had a witch's duel, she lost." Emily threw Ukla's body down to the floor, but the girl could be heard groaning. "Oh look, she still lives…"

"You bitch!" Ukla cried out, glaring up at Emily hatefully. "You'll pay for what you did to Yuki!"

"Tito, shut her up," Emily ordered.

"Delighted, madam," Tito said as he raised his left leg and stomped on Ukla, silencing the girl.

McScream chuckled. "I'll let Emily continue your orientation," the Principal said as he and Grease left the gym.

Boscha tried to hide her horror as Emily turned to her. "My, you must be Boscha, right?"

"Yeah," Boscha replied, keeping her cool as Emily circled her, inspecting the new girl.

"Top of Potions at Hexside and Captain of the Banshees after Amity Blight stepped down, though I heard she prefers to go by 'Goodfellow' these days. Seriously, what kind of name is Goodfellow?" Emily asked with a snicker. "But she will have her day. Today's about you, Boscha." She patted Boscha on the shoulder. "Let me tell you how things work around here. Each Track has a Top Student, and you have already been introduced to the Sophomore Four." She pointed to Kadabe levitating down to sit with Ruth, Goredon, and Weaselton on the bleachers. "Here's the Top Three Juniors below me. Tito Jackwitch of Bard…"

"G-L-A-N-D-U-S, Glandus High will kick your ass!" Tito danced as he cheered.

"Captain of the Poltergeist cheer squad, dance troupe, and former member of the Jackwitch 6… creative differences," Emily explained before pointing to Nina. "Nina Fangs, top of the Beast Keepers. A huntress from the infamous Fangs Tribe, I think she will make a fine Beast Head someday."

"Just try not to get on my bad side," Nina smirked at Boscha.

"And over here is-"

"Cain," Boscha said to the top Construction student.

"Boscha," the helmet-wearing student acknowledged with a nod.

"Oh right, you two are cousins," Emily said, pretending to be surprised. "And I'm guessing you're expecting some special privilege since both of you are family, right?"

"Not really," Boscha said, her eyes narrowed at Emily. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your girlfriend?"

Emily smirked. "Of course." Emily walked over to Stella, holding her hand. "This is Stella Northstar, she's been my aid since I found her back in our freshman year. She is quite useful to me, aren't you?" She held onto Stella's jaw, planting a kiss on the cheek.

Boscha normally couldn't handle public displays of affection. But… there was something she could sense about this that was a little off putting.

Stella nodded. "Yes, you've always been good to me."

"Excellent." Emily smiled and turned back to Boscha. "You know, Boscha, a lot of the students here don't exactly have a lot of fondness for Hexsiders. But since you are Cain's cousin, that makes you part of the Glandus family. We can keep you under his wing and make sure that nothing bad happens to you."

"Are there… any top freshmen?" Boscha asked.

"Well, how it works in our system can be explained by my aid." Emily gestured to Stella.

"In Glandus High, we run a food chain based on strength alone," Stella explained. "There's only one Senior who's on top as the strongest. Three Juniors from each track are considered the top 'generals' and the Sophomore Four are the 'knights'. There are supposed to be five, but there is still a vacant spot for Healing. The freshmen have to prove themselves to be worthy, which brings us to your initiation."

"Initiation?" Boscha asked, while Emily turned to Weaselton.

"Bring him out," Emily ordered and Weaselton created a spell circle, causing a large vine to pop up from underneath the bleachers, holding up a beaten looking Angmar. "We did our research on you, Boscha. We know how you loved to pick on a certain… Plant Track student, Willow Park, the half-a-witch. I even heard she stole your friends and is dating your ex-best friend."

Angmar had been dropped down to the floor and he looked up at the top students. "P-Please, Emily… I said I was sorry-"

"Do I allow you to speak in front of me, freshman?" Emily sneered as she turned to Boscha. "Go on, Boscha, let all of your anger and frustrations on this weakling. Pretend that he's Willow. Make him beg for life..."

Boscha looked at Angmar, who whimpered in her presence.

She thought about Emily's words, about how Boscha had lost her friends to Willow. How she had lost Skara to Willow. Her fists tightened. For a moment she wanted to pulverize Angmar and she was about to draw a spell circle… but then she stopped.

"No…" she said, looking at Emily. "What would this prove? That I'm willing to attack a defenseless kid? How does that show strength? How does beating up someone weaker than me prove that I'm strong? This way that you are doing things… it's stupid. And you know what, I was wrong to pick on Willow! Because she is now at the top of her class and she was able to do that without lowering herself to bully others! Maybe this is what you are told that the Emperor's Coven wants from recruits, but just because this is what we were raised to expect doesn't mean that it can't change! So I refuse to go along with this bullshit!" This surprised Angmar and shocked the other students.

"Wow, I have to say that I'm…" Emily drew out her flames with a spell circle. "Very disappointed in you." She turned to the Top Three. "Cain, since she's your family, you're exempt from this. You don't have a problem with this, do you?"

"…If she's unable to defend herself, then it's not my problem," Cain responded as he went over to lean on the gym wall.

Boscha's eyes widened in alarm. "Defend myself? Cain, what are you-!'' Suddenly she felt a kick to her stomach from Tito, causing her to kneel down and spit out vile.

"You had your chance and you screwed it up," Tito said while Nina walked over to pick up Boscha by her cowl.

"You'll make a fine punching bag," Nina commented while Boscha struggled, causing Nina to slash her leg.

"AH!" Boscha screamed before Nina threw her across the gym floor. Then thorny rose vines pop out from the floor, wrapping around her. "Hey! Let me go! Help me! Cain! Tell them to stop!" But her pleas fell on deaf ears, since Cain just turned around and pretended not to hear her. "Cain!" She was grabbed by Goredon, while Kadabe, Weaselton, and Ruth stood in front of her, about to give Boscha a beat down.

McScream was back in his office, watching Boscha get beaten on his crystal ball. Since becoming Principal, secretly he had been recording all of his students and saving the footage. "Hehe, this is so perfect!" he declared. "Once the network sees the pilot episode of my new reality show idea, this will be my comeback!" He hummed to himself. "I still need a title though. Total Terror? Total Torture? Eh, I'll work on it…"

"Are you sure about this, Amity?" Lilith asked, riding her staff with Amity behind her. "I'm not sure if the Bat Queen wants to see us… especially me…"

"Just let me talk to her," Amity said as they made it to the Bat Queen's territory. "If we can convince the Bat Queen that what happened to Maya was an accident, she could give Luz another chance."

Once they landed, Amity paused which Lilith noticed. "What's wrong?" she asked her.

"We're not alone…" Amity said as she heard rustling.

Lilith got into a defensive stance with her staff while Amity prepared a spell. The bushes continued to rustle and out of them came… a blue eyed white cat.

"What do you think you're doing here in the Bat Queen's territory?" the cat hissed at them.

"Oh, it's just a Palisman," Lilith said, lowering her staff.

"Look, we're not here for trouble. We just came to see the Bat Queen," Amity told the cat.

"No one will disturb the Bat Queen today!" the cat told them. "Right now, we're having a funeral and I offered to keep watch for anyone not welcome here… including those from the Emperor's Coven." The cat glared at Lilith.

"Lilith isn't part of the Emperor's Coven anymore!" Amity argued.

"Amity, are you-"

"She is still responsible for the lives of all the Palismen who were taken from wild witches and all of the Palistrom trees that were harvested by her Coven!" the cat pointed out. "Lilith Clawthorne may have kept her Palisman, but in the eyes of the Bat Queen she is a disgrace to the Clawthornes!"

"Fine, then Lilith can stay here while I go see the Bat Queen!" Amity told the cat.

"What is going on here, Ghost?" the Bat Queen interrupted as she flew down, seeing Amity and glaring at Lilith. "What are they doing here?"

"I've been trying to get rid of them, ma'am," Ghost responded.

"I just want to talk to you about Luz," Amity said.

"I already told that girl that she doesn't deserve a Palisman and I especially don't want to see Lilith Clawthorne here," the Bat Queen said while glaring daggers at Lilith.

"I'm sorry, Bat Queen," Lilith apologized. "I am not proud of what I did under the Emperor's Coven and what I allowed. I knew that they were overharvesting the Palistrom trees and I knew what Belos was doing to the Palismen, but to protect my own position… I didn't do anything." It was just one more thing she turned a blind eye to, one more thing she tried to justify in the hopes that Belos would cure her sister.

"It is too late for forgiveness!" the Bat Queen yelled at Lilith.

"I'm not asking for forgiveness," Lilith told her.

"Yes, Lilith did some bad things, I won't deny that," Amity agreed. "But she is trying to do some good now, trying to make up for her past sins and I think that should count for something. However, what Luz did was an accident. It wasn't her fault and it wouldn't have happened if not for Kikimora and the Golden Guard! They are the ones you should blame for Maya's death, Luz tried to save her!"

Before the Bat Queen or Ghost could respond, a red cardinal Palisman flew up and got their attention.

"Flapjack? What are you-" the Bat Queen started to ask before the bird started chirping.

"What's he saying?" Amity asked and Ghost sighed.

"Flapjack feels just as responsible for what happened to Maya," Ghost translated. "He was the one who dispelled the barrier that was protecting the nest. If it was still up, then they wouldn't have been captured by the Emperor's Coven."

"I understand your guilt, Flapjack," the Bat Queen said to him before turning to Amity and Lilith. "But I will not change my mind over this. Luz will never have a Palisman."

Amity tightened her fists. "I just told you that Kikimora-"

"I acknowledged that the members of the Emperor's Coven had a hand in Maya's death," the Bat Queen told her. "But it was Luz that drained Maya's essence. She is too dangerous to have a Palisman."

Amity saw that there was no convincing the Bat Queen. "Fine, we'll respect your wishes. But at least let Palisman Adoption Day continue. Keeping the Palismen from being adopted by witchlings won't bring Maya back." She turned to Lilith. "Let's just go."

Lilith nodded as she and Amity got on the staff to fly out of the forest. Ghost watched them leave, thinking about Amity. Ghost then saw Flapjack flying away. "Flapjack? Where are you going?" she asked.

"It appears that he has found someone after all of these years," the Bat Queen explained.

Ghost looked sad as she saw Flapjack leaving. "Goodbye, old friend…" Ghost said, thinking about how long the two have known each other…

A long, long time ago…

The red cardinal Palisman was hiding himself in a closet, trying to bury himself under clothing while being careful not to make a sound. He listened for the sound of footsteps and could hear some getting closer until the door to the closet was suddenly thrown open, exposing the Palisman to light as a child was heard giggling.

"Found you, Flapjack!" the child said as he pulled the Palisman out of the pile. The child was about five years old and he looked a lot like Hunter, except his eyes were blue instead of magenta and there were no scars. "Now let's go find Ghost!"

The child ran through the house, Flapjack flying after him. The child came to a stop in front of one room, since the door was open and the child could see the back of a man as he worked feverishly at his desk. The child smiled and went into the room.

"Uncle!" the child cried out. "Have you seen Ghost?"

"No, I haven't," the man said, not taking his eyes off the diary he was writing in. The man looked tired, like he hadn't slept well in a long time. He had also grown a beard that he hadn't bothered to shave. "Please leave me alone, Caleb."

Flapjack chirped and the child frowned, reaching toward his uncle and pulling on his coat. "But I'm playing hide-and-seek with Flapjack and Ghost and I thought that-"

"Go find your father," the man insisted. "I'm sure he will play with you."

The child was clearly disappointed, but he obeyed and sadly walked out of the room, Flapjack following him.

The man continued to write until his hands started to shake. Quickly he reached into a bag he kept nearby and pulled something out… a spider Palisman. He stood up and made sure that the door to his room was closed before he began.

The man's hands turned into claws as they gripped the spider Palisman, which started to turn gray. His eyes flashed green and the Palisman broke in two, its green essence going into the man's eyes.

Philip Clawthorne sighed in relief as his eyes changed from green to blue.

But then Philip heard something moving nearby and his head turned, his eyes returning to normal when they laid upon a white cat huddled underneath a table, clearly terrified.

"Ghost," Philip recognized, realizing that the cat Palisman had been watching him. "I-I didn't want you to see that, please understand that-"

The cat didn't wait for Philip's explanation. Instead she ran out from underneath the table, climbed onto Philip's bed, and jumped out of the open window.

"Ghost, wait!" Philip shouted, running to the window and watching the Palisman as she ran away. "Please, come back! I'm sorry!"

But Ghost didn't stop and tears began to fall down Philip's face.

"N-no, don't go, I can't lose you too…"

As they flew away, Lilith turned to her goddaughter. "Amity… how did you understand Ghost?"

"What?" Amity asked, having not realized before now how weird it was that she could understand Ghost. "If you couldn't understand Ghost too… then I don't know…"

Luz was checking off her list of leads, her first being a monkey with bat wings.

"I hear you're not from the Boiling Isles," Luz said. "Care to tell how you got here?"

"I got swept up in a twister that brought me here," the monkey told her. "Though this place isn't too different from where I used to live. I also don't recommend trying it, since witches and twisters don't mix well in my experience. Does that answer your question, kid?"

"Kind of, but that's not what I was hoping for," Luz sighed as she went to her next lead.

Eda has flown over to Blight Manor, where she knocked on the door. "Hello? Odalia? Odie? Aladork?" The door was opened by the Abomi-butler. "Hey, are the Blights home?"

The Abomi-butler led Eda to the living room, where she saw Odalia… laying on the couch with an apple blood bottle in her hand. Odalia noticed Eda and groaned. "Edalyn…"

"Odalia," Eda responded. "Titan's sake, you look more drunk than I was during Palm Stings Break."

"What are you doing here?" Odalia asked, sounding drunk.

"Well you didn't answer my call so I came here to warn you about your house being bugged." Eda informed her.

"Bugged?" Odalia questioned.

"Yeah, turns out that your son's boyfriend was the Golden Guard, and he might have bugged your house," Eda states while looking down on the apple blood bottles on the floor. "How long have you been drinking?"

"I'm… handling this on my ooown," Odalia told her, looking like a mess. Eda could tell from her unkempt hair and the stains on her blouse that Odalia had been on the booze for a while.

Eda sighed. "Come on, at least let me help you to your room."

At the Bonesborough Library, Amity was stacking up books while taking some for research, looking for any about traveling between or accessing other realms.

"Hey, Mittens."

Hearing the familiar nickname, Amity knew who it was when she turned to Emira and Edric. Both were not wearing their concealing stones, so Emira was lacking her beauty mark and there were spots of acne on her face though she had still bothered to tie her hair up. Edric was wearing a blue hoodie, but Amity could tell he had been crying. When Emira had called for her, it wasn't the usual teasing tone, but rather more quiet.

"Ed, Em," Amity said while walking up to the two. She gave Edric a hug and he hugged her back. "I'll tell Gary I'm taking my break so we can talk somewhere private."

Eda managed to carry Odalia to her bedroom, where she dropped the Blight matriarch on her bed. "Okay, you really need to lay off the apple blood," she commented.

"Ha-ha, joking about my weight. You never had to bear three children," Odalia snapped.

"Well I can't have children naturally, being cursed and all," Eda said as she handed a remedy bottle to Odalia. "Drink this, it'll help with the hangover."

Odalia accepted the bottle. "Thank you." She took a long sip from it before staring at Eda for a long time. "I'm sorry that you can't have children naturally. When I suggested that your sister curse you, I never wanted it to permanently affect your life like this. Though I imagine you still must be mad at me…"

Eda sighed. "Luckily for you, I'm more than happy being a foster mom. But no, I'm not mad at you for cursing me, Odalia…"

This surprised Odalia. "You're… not?"

Eda nodded. "Lilith was the one who cursed me, not you. You may have given the idea, but you didn't perform the act. You want to know what I am mad about though?" She took a deep breath, wanting to finally say something that had been a long time coming. "I'm mad at you for forcing your daughter to end her friendship with Willow on her birthday. I'm mad at you for making your daughter feel like she couldn't come to you after she was mugged. I'm mad at you for trying to manipulate my daughter behind your kid's back. I'm mad at you for trying to force your daughter to stay away from Luz. I'm mad at you for trying to control your daughter's life and future, for not letting her be her own witch. I'm mad at you for being a bad mother. And you know why? Because I love this kid. I really do. So does my sister. So does my Luz. And I know so do you. But if your kids decide that they hate you, then you have only yourself to blame."

Odalia was shocked to hear Eda say this and she watched as Eda started to leave. "I'll do a sweep for bugs and then make my leave. You get some rest. But you know something, Odalia, you raised a good kid. It's sad that you didn't realize how good you got it." Then she was gone.

The words sank into Odalia as she remembered a conversation from her youth…

"I hate you!" a teenage Odalia shouted while in tears. "I hate both of you!"

And then tears began to fall from Odalia's eyes as the once proud Blight began to cry.

"Alright, Shmebulock, you may be my only hope in finding a way back to the human realm," Luz told the cross-eyed gnome. "So how did you get here?"

"Shmebulock," he said.

"Yes, your name is Shmebulock, but answer my question!"

"Shmebulock!"

"Can't you say anything other than Shmebulock!?"

"…Shmebu-"

"GYAAAAAHH!" Luz shouted in rage and irritation, scaring the gnome away.

Back at the library, Amity has taken her siblings to her secret room. She saw them hesitating at the entrance. "Come on, we can talk in here."

"A-are you sure we should?" Emira asked, remembering the last time she and Ed came to Amity's secret room. She and Edric both felt ashamed about that night.

"Hey, I trust you guys," Amity told them, giving her siblings a small smile.

Edric and Emira looked at each other, both unsure. When they did decide to follow Amity in, the shelves closed behind them.

"So how are you holding up?" Amity asked.

"I feel like crap," Edric muttered, sitting with his knees close to his chest. Emira was sitting next to him.

Amity knelt in front of him. "Ed, I know what you're going through right now. I understand that the circumstances are different but I know that it's hard. However, we can get through with this together." She patted his shoulder. "You still have us and we're not going anywhere."

"Yeah, Ed, we're both with you on this," Emira said, patting her twin's shoulder as well.

"Thanks," Edric said, looking up. "It's just… I can't believe all this time Hunter never told me who he was. I understand he couldn't when we first met, but he had so many chances to tell me the truth. I don't know if his uncle told him not to but I guess that doesn't matter now. How could I have gotten myself involved with someone like that? Amity, I'm so sorry about him hurting Lilith and Luz…"

"Ed, it's not your fault," Emira told him. "Don't blame yourself. Hunter was just… an opportunist that took advantage of all of us."

"I do wish that you hadn't been heart-broken like this," Amity admitted.

Edric sniffed. "Yeah, me too."

Back at the Emperor's Castle, Hunter had returned to his room and was laying in bed, looking at his scroll. Edric and Luz had both blocked him.

Hunter sighed and put his scroll away, rolling on his side and spotting the Golden Guard mask sitting on a chair across the room. In the mask's reflection he could see the sad face of a friendless witch looking back at him. Despite his session with Abel, he wasn't exactly feeling better about what had happened earlier.

He thought about Ludo and wondered why his uncle hadn't told him about the prisoner. Hunter hadn't confronted Belos about it yet, since he assumed that there had to be a reason. But Hunter didn't like the idea that Belos could be keeping other secrets from him.

"I can help, if I just knew a little more…"

Hunter heard a chirp and he sat up, spotting the cardinal Palisman sitting on his windowsill.

"Palisman!" Hunter cried out as he reached forward and clutched the cardinal. In his eagerness he started to squeeze the Palisman, but then the cardinal chirped and Hunter quickly let him go.

"Oh, sorry!" Hunter apologized as the cardinal sat in his lap. When he touched the Palisman again, this time more gently, the cardinal leaned into Hunter's touch, much to his surprise. Hunter frowned. "You shouldn't be here. It'd be bad if Belos saw you."

'You should give the bird to your uncle as a way to make up for your failure,' the voice in Hunter's head told him and for a moment he seriously considered it.

But then the Palisman chirped, flew up, and turned into a staff, which fell into Hunter's hands.

"Oh!" Hunter said in shock. "I was not expecting that."

He stood up and walked over to the window with his new staff, gazing longingly outside. He knew that he should probably still turn the Palisman over to his uncle, but it also didn't seem right. The Palisman, for whatever reason, trusted him. Plus if Belos was keeping secrets from him, then Hunter saw no reason he couldn't keep one secret from his uncle.

And Hunter realized, as he looked back down at the staff, that this Palisman could be just what he needed right now: a friend.

On Hexside grounds, Felicia Fox was contacting her mother. "Mom, are you still able to come pick me up today?" she asked through her crow.

"That won't be possible. I'm eating out with my co-workers," her mom told her.

"But you promised!" Felicia argued.

"Well, I might be able to come by… if you have any new information about Luz Clawthorne and her little friends," Felicity rebuked.

"Um, well… Luz didn't come to school today," Felicia answered awkwardly.

"Then find out why, or you'll have to walk home," Felicity said before hanging up.

Felicia sighed after the hang up, looking down sadly. "Man, your mom sounds like a bitch," said a familiar voice, causing Felicia to look up and see Luz flying down.

"C-Clawthorne!?" Felicia backed away.

"Hmm, I thought it was weird that after your mom got promoted, you just happened to transfer here at Hexside," Luz commented while confronting the fox biped.

"P-Please don't hurt me!" Felicia shut her eyes. "I-I didn't want to be transferred, my mom forced me out of St. Epiderm and took me away from my friends so I could be here! I-I'll do anything if you don't hurt me!"

Luz only sighed. "Relax, I ain't gonna hurt you."

"Y-you're not?" Felicia asked in surprise.

"But you do owe me for outing Amity," Luz said. "Look Fox, I pity you, but it doesn't mean I forgive you for your actions. So from then on, you work for me as an informant broker. What I request from you, you give to me. Do as I say, and I can be lenient."

"This… this is extortion!" Felicia pointed out.

"It's called a hustle, sweetheart," Luz told the fox girl. "Besides, you just said you'll do anything, remember? If you wish to pay off your debt, then you will answer to me."

"I… guess I could help you…" Felicia said. "But what do I tell my mom?"

"Tell her that I can do spell circles now," Luz told her before walking away.

"...What!?" Felicia called out.

After her classroom was empty of students, Miss Heinous made sure that the door was locked. She didn't want to be disturbed as she turned to the only other being still in the room with her.

"Make sure we're not being watched," Heinous ordered and her shadow nodded before it flew off to prevent McScream from seeing anything that was about to take place.

Only then did Miss Heinous remove her glamor, revealing the horns that were sticking out of her hair. Then she took out a cauldron, mixed in several potions, and chanted something in an unknown tongue.

Flames emerged from the cauldron and they took the shape of a face. A face with spiky hair, horns, and eye shadow. Miss Heinous knelt down.

"My Lord," she said.

"Rise, Child of Oberon," the Lord of the Fae commanded. "Rise and tell me what you have to report… Meteora."

In a tavern, Luz was following up on another lead.

"So, uh, word on the street says that you two aren't originally from the Boiling Isles," Luz said to the two people she was questioning.

"You could say that, young lady," said Smee who was sitting besides Captain Hook, both covering up their ears. "Me and the Captain have sailed many seas together and been to many lands. I honestly miss one particular land that me and the Captain used to-"

"We left Neverland for a reason, Smee, remember?" Hook asked after chugging his mug. His face looked grim. "Or more accurately we barely escaped…"

"Barely escaped? What happened there… in Neverland?" Luz asked.

"These horrible winged creatures showed up out of nowhere and started setting fire to everything," Hook revealed. "Me and Smee were fortunate enough to escape, but others were not so lucky…"

'Winged creatures?' Luz thought. But before she could ask anymore questions, she heard someone calling her out.

"Hey, I recognize ya," spoke a bar patron, obviously drunk. "Yer dat little Owl Lady's kid who declared she'll kick the Emperor's ass! So when will it happen, little lady?" he asked while his friends laughed.

"Pipe your ass down, I'm not here for trouble," Luz told him.

"Why you listen here, young lady-" the patron grabbed Luz's shoulder, causing her to turn around and punch him across the face.

"I'm warning you right now, don't fuck with me," Luz spat at him, the patron's friends getting up to help him up.

"You'll pay for this, little missy!" he shouted.

"Please don't say what you're about to-"

"BAR FIGHT!"

"Titan dammit," Luz sighed as she went into her cambion form while the patrons ganged up on her. She swiped at one charging patron with her wings. Another tried to stab her but she dodged it and grabbed his arm, throwing him over her shoulder.

Hook and Smee hid under the table during the fight. "Come on, Smee, let's get out of here!"

"But, what about the girl?" Smee asked.

"Better her than us!" Hook told him as they snuck out of the tavern through the back door just as one patron was thrown out the window.

At the Hieron household, an argument had started.

"Our daughter came home beaten and bruised!" Athena screamed. "Don't you give a damn?!"

"Don't underestimate our daughter, she's tough and I know she'll adapt," Nicole countered. "She just had a rough first day, that's all." She heard a knock on the door. "Oh who could that be?" She walked over and opened the door. "Yes-" When she saw who it was, she frowned and tried to close the door but Athena stopped her.

"Come on in," Athena told them with a smile while Nicole glared at her.

In her bedroom, a bruised looking Boscha laid on her bed while writing a note. Using her magic, she turned the note into an origami bird and sent it into the vents. Soon the origami note flew back out of the vent and landed in her hand. She unfolded it, read what Tom had written, and smiled.

"Thanks, Tom," she said in a low voice. She heard someone knock on the door and she quickly hid the note away. "Uh, come in!" The door opened and Boscha was surprised by who she saw standing there. "...Cat?"

"Hey, Boscha," Cat said. Next to her was Simon.

"My brother told me what happened earlier," Simon explained. "And when I told Cat, we both agreed to come over and see you.."

Cat brought out her medical kit. "Come on, tell me where it hurts." Boscha showed her the bruises and scratches, much to Cat's horror. "Dear Titan…" she said while her hands glowed as they were placed on the wounds.

"I'm… surprised to see you… here," Boscha admitted with her sore voice.

"Hey, just because we're not friends anymore, doesn't mean I want you to suffer. It'd go against the healer's oath," Cat told her while healing Boscha's injuries. "Even if I was going to ignore how you signed the petition to get Luz, Amity, Willow and Gus back into Hexside, Simon still cares about you and that's a good enough reason to help you."

Boscha smiled a little. "Thanks, Cat. I… appreciate you two coming here… for me."

"Hey, don't speak anymore while your voice is still sore," Cat advised, while looking disturbed by the claw marks on Boscha. "But… you're welcome."

Luz knocked on the door and opening it was Summer, the teen witch who sometimes worked at Vanz's store. "Hey Luz, you look like hell," she commented, since Luz really did look like she had gone through a war.

"Is your grandpa here?" Luz asked, ignoring her comment.

"Yeah, he's in the garage," Summer said as she let Luz in. "Grandpa Rick, your ex's daughter is here!"

"Which one?" Witch Rick asked as he popped out and saw Luz. "Oh right, Eda's-burp-kid. Heard you're a cambion these days."

"Wow, news must've traveled fast," Luz said dryly.

Witch Rick decided to get to the point. "So what brings you here? Did Eda send you?"

"Actually, I'm here because I've been looking for a way to the human realm," Luz told him, "Mom mentioned that you know a thing or two about dimension travel."

Witch Rick nodded. "Well, I think I can help you out there."

He went to his garage and came back holding a portal gun with purple liquid. "I used this to travel between dimensions. Unlike my counterparts, who use their own portal fluid, I mainly prefer to use Titan's Blood."

"Titan's Blood…" Luz said as Rick handed her the portal gun. She saw that it only had a little Titan's Blood left. "Will it work?"

"What I have left is unsta-aa-ble," he hiccupped. "I haven't been able to leave the Boiling Isles for a while now, since Titan's Blood is harder to come by these days due to drying up. Can't promise you anything, but my advice is to test it out first."

"Thanks for the help, Mr. Sanchez," Luz thanked him.

"Just call me Witch Rick," Witch Rick told her. "It differentiates me from the other Ricks."

Luz looked at him oddly. "Other Ricks?"

Witch Rick nodded. "Yeah, and almost all of them are huge jerks."

Later on, outside of the Owl House, Amity, Eda, and King were with Luz.

"Are you sure it's going to work?" Amity asked Luz.

"Yeah, from what mom said about Witch Rick, he doesn't sound like the most stable guy," King pointed out.

"Ugh, don't remind me," Eda groaned. "But it may be our best shot right now, so we have to take the risk."

Luz, who was holding the portal gun, raised it up. She took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing," she said as she pulled the trigger.

Kablooey! A rift between time and space opened up, creating a shining portal before the group.

"It worked!" Luz said excitedly, though she was still cautious. "So… should we throw something in and see what happens?"

Before Amity or King could answer, three bodies suddenly crashed out of the half-made portal. Two of them were human… and one of them was a pink frog. Behind them, the unstable portal suddenly blinked out of existence, stranding the three in the Boiling Isles. The pink frog looked back at where the portal had been just a moment earlier.

"Well, that can't be good," he said before looking at the group all staring at him and his two companions in shock. "Uh, who are you guys?"

And now...preview to what's to come…

Luz is in a mostly dark corridor, lit only by torches. She's holding up Brucy as a figure emerges from the darkness: Emperor Belos. "Hello, Clawthorne."

Our heroes faces new challenges...

Amity and King hold onto Owlbert tightly as they race against Emily.

Luz, who is her cambion form, and Amity face off against Eberwolf and Darius.