22. Chapter 60: Prelude to War: Part One

Chapter 60: Prelude to War, Part One

Night had fallen over Bonesborough. Several air ships guarded the newly reconstructed Conformatorium, while coven scouts patrolled on the ground. One of them noticed a shadow flying overhead.

"Did you see that?" the scout asked.

"See what?" the other scout asked.

"I don't know… could be a griffin or pegasus."

Unknown to the coven scouts, what they had seen was a cambion. Luz landed and hid herself behind a pillar. After watching the guards march past, she used an invisibility glyph on herself.

The routes and passages of the Conformatorium were still mostly familiar to her, while none of the guards noticed her because of her invisibility. Once she had snuck in and was alone, she became visible again and brought out Brucy. "Ready to bash some heads and start a break out?" Luz asked him.

Brucy smirked. "You read my mind, boss."

They traveled through a torch-lit corridor, Luz holding up Brucy as she looked around at her surroundings to make sure she was going the right way. Then she heard the door slam shut behind her, which caused Luz to tense up.

"Hello, Clawthorne."

Luz turned around and saw Emperor Belos himself stepping out of the shadows.

"You!" Luz snarled, using her wings to launch herself at Belos. She swung Brucy down on him, but Belos used his staff to block her attack. Luz glared at Belos intensely as she was pushed back. Sliding away from Belos, Luz threw down some of her glyph cards and shot flames toward the Emperor, who dispersed them with a wave of his hand. But while he was focused on the flames, Luz drew a spell circle and fired a light beam at Belos, which he managed to dodge.

"You've learned so much, Luz," Belos commented, sounding impressed.

"Yeah, I'm full of surprises." Luz slapped a plant glyph on Brucy, covering him with thorns. She swung him at Belos, who blocked the attack with his staff. After blocking several more attacks, Belos used his staff to knock Brucy out of Luz's hands, disarming her.

Luz flew toward where Brucy had landed, but then a red claw burst from the floor and snatched Brucy away from her. "Hey!" Luz shouted, turning around to glare at Belos.

"I had a feeling that you would be paying a visit, which is why I left the door open for you," Belos explained. "Though a part of me had hoped you would be smarter than this."

"I ain't afraid of you, you tyrant!" Luz declared as she flew toward Belos with her claws outstretched, only for him to melt away and reappear behind her, zapping her in the back with his staff. "AAH!" she screamed as she hit the wall. She was then bound by red claws that emerged from the wall, grabbing her wrists, ankles, and wings.

"As always, I commend you for your dauntlessness," Belos told her. "But I wouldn't recommend doing this again."

"Let my friends go!" Luz shouted in anger.

"You mean the traitors we arrested? Don't worry. The BATTs, the Thians family, and Witch Rick will not be executed… as a favor to you and to my nephew, who I doubt would like hearing that I had your friends petrified."

Luz growled. "You tell that lying piece of-"

A hand came out of the wall and covered her mouth. "I will not tolerate you speaking of my nephew in that tone," Belos warned her. "However, while I am willing to show mercy to your rebel friends now… their fates ultimately rest on your shoulders. So behave and don't do anything stupid like this in the future, for your sake and for theirs." He saw her glaring at him. "Now don't look at me like that. You should be grateful. If it were anyone else, you would be joining your friends in a cell. Or your girlfriend would be with Goonla and the rest of his traitorous crew." He snapped his fingers and uncovered Luz's mouth.

Luz looked at him suspiciously. "What's the catch? You're just going to let me go instead of making me your prisoner?'

Belos just chuckled. "I imagine that you are going to wish you were my prisoner soon enough…"

A coven scout knocked on the door of the Owl House. Eda answered the door and her eyes widened when she saw her daughter with the scouts, among them was Steve holding Brucy in a muzzle.

"By the order of the Emperor… we're returning your daughter to you," Steve said while Luz nervously waved at Eda.

"Hey… mom…" Luz said while Eda frowned.

"Get inside… now," Eda told her daughter, pulling Luz inside.

"Your daughter was caught trying to break into the Conformatorium, ma'am," Steve's partner explained, while Steve hands Brucy back to Eda after taking the muzzle out. "The Emperor decided to be lenient, but this is her first and only warning."

Eda glared at the scouts. "Get out of here or I'll sic Hooty on you," Eda told them while Hooty popped up.

"Hey! Thanks for bringing back Luz!" Hooty said, causing the scouts to scream and run to their cart.

After the door was closed, Eda turned to Luz. "Okay, I know it looks bad and you said not to go, but I just had to go take a look at what security was like there and-"

"Luz, do you have any idea how worried I was!?" Eda shouted in anger. "Do you know how stupid it was to go to the Conformatorium like that, how obvious it was? Do you know how badly that could've gone!? I am not ready to lose you to the Emperor again!"

"Come on, mom, I was only trying to free our friends from the Conformatorium," Luz pointed out. "Besides, we've broken into the Conformatorium before."

"Yeah, but this time was different, this time Belos already anticipated that and was ready for us!" Eda countered.

"So we just have to leave them there?" Luz questioned.

"We can still help them, but just not right away," Eda explained. "We have to be smart about this, especially since Belos is playing games with us. How him letting you go factors into that I don't know-"

"Come on, mom, if we wait then it may already be too late before we do something. I don't… I don't want our friends to suffer. Levi's been through enough as it is, and Raine… they need us," Luz said with a grim tone.

"I know how you feel, Luz," Eda nodded. "But right now, keeping you safe from the Emperor is my top priority and we can't take any chances. Not with Belos. So for disobeying me and sneaking out at night to do something so foolish and dangerous… you're grounded." Luz looked down upon hearing this. "There will be no more sneaking out at night, and after school you will come straight home if that is what it takes to keep you safe. Also, no CB…"

"Fine…" Luz muttered.

"And to add salt on your lemons, you are… forbidden from seeing your girlfriend!" Eda declared, shocking Luz.

"What!? You can't do that!" Luz had her hands up. "We live here!"

"Oh right, you do. Then you two will have to sleep in… separate rooms," Eda said in a distorted voice, causing Luz's eyes to widen.

"Come on, you can't do this to me, mom!" Luz complained.

"Sorry kid, but to make sure you learned your lesson, no Amity," Eda declared. "I'll let her know that she will be sleeping up at the tower with Lilith and Camila for the time being."

"Why the tower?" Luz questioned. "Why not have her sleep in the basement-"

"Because Cam and Lily will make sure that you two don't try to sneak around your grounding," Eda told her. "Besides, you might need the basement to train in preparation for what's to come this week…"

The girl woke up in a place she had never hoped to find herself in again. Despite the bright lights distorting her vision and the drugs clouding her mind, she recognized the table that she was strapped to now and she struggled fiercely against her bonds.

"No, no, no, no…"

The girl had amber eyes, tan skin, shoulder-length red hair, and spots around her face. She looked like a witch, but the people who had brought her back here knew better.

"Welcome back, Number One," said the voice of an unseen woman.

The girl's eyes widened in fear. "M-my name is Megan," she managed to say.

"You don't have a name," the voice of the woman said. "You are Number One of Six. Perhaps you need a reminder…"

The girl felt electricity racing through her body and she screamed in pain. She continued screaming until she forcibly transformed back to her true form, revealing her serpentine body, which was covered with red scales and a tuft of red hair on the top of her head. Her eyes were green with black irises. The pain stopped and the basilisk let out a whine.

"There you are," the voice of the woman said. "Now then, we know there was another basilisk with you. Unlike you, they escaped. Who were they? Number Three? Number Five? Number Six?"

Number One didn't answer and was rewarded with another shock.

"Where are the other escaped basilisks? Tell me before I lose my patience."

Number One just whimpered. "You can't do this to us…"

The woman scoffed. "Why not? An extinct species has no rights. You only exist because we made it so. You are the property of the Emperor's Coven and Hieron Labs, though it seems like you have forgotten that…"

Number One heard a door open and she could make out the silhouettes of several alchemists coming toward her. She braced herself for the worst.

"But make no mistake, we will get the information we want out of you," said the voice of Nicole Hieron. "No matter how hard you make it for yourself. And this time, there will be no escape…"

MONDAY

Felicity Fox was on the Crystal Ball. "Today the funeral of Abominations Head Darius Nightshade will be held after he was shockingly killed yesterday during an engagement with wild witches-"

Lilith turns the CB off, staring at the now blank globe. The news of Darius's death shocked not just her, but Eda as well. Both knew him from their Hexside days together, but Lilith had also worked alongside him for years in the Emperor's Coven.

"Hey," Eda said, patting her sister's shoulder. "How are you holding up?"

Lilith sighed. "Even with everything that's happening recently, Darius's death is… a lot to take in. I know that he was helping Belos… but I still want to pay my respects. However, I know that I won't be welcome there, especially after yesterday."

"I can help with that, Lulu!" Hooty popped up, gagging out a coven scout uniform into her hands. "Here you go! One coven scout uniform!"

Lilith was surprised, "Oh, thank you, Hoostifer, I-" She noticed the name tag. "This is Clint's uniform… I always wondered what happened to him. Where'd you get this?"

"Oh from a scouting raid last year," Hooty said while his tube body dragged Luz downstairs. "Here's Luz, Eda! She was trying to sneak into the tower!"

"Thank you, Hooty," Eda said while Luz was handed to her. She glared at her daughter. "I thought I told you no Amity…"

"Come on, mom! You can't expect me to not see her in school!" Luz complains.

"Actually, I do. Willow will come flying by to pick her up and I'm not letting my eyes off of you for a second if I can help it," Eda said while Luz just murmured,

"Hang on, Lulu, let me get the mask," Hooty said as he left, heading into the forest.

Hooty stretched over to a certain spot in the woods where he spotted the mask. "Mind if I take this, Clint? Thanks!" He grabbed the mask with his mouth before leaving the pile of coven scout corpses half-buried in the woods…

A little witch girl around eight years old was visiting the Bonesborough marketplace, running errands for her parents. After picking up an order of fruit, her pointy green ears heard a commotion.

"HUMAN!"

'Human? In the Boiling Isles?' the girl thought as she was drawn to a crowd that had gathered at the slayground that her parents took her to every now and then. She then saw some teenagers beat up a girl younger than she was… and she had round ears.

The green-skinned witchling was shocked, having never seen a human up close before. She wondered why the crowd was just watching her get beaten up. Why didn't anybody try to stop this? The witchling thought about trying to stop it herself but then-

"LEAVE HER ALONE!"

In a flash, Eda the Owl Lady was there. And to this day the witchling could still remember the curse that the wild witch had placed on the crowd…

"To those who have committed this worst sin, shall be cursed with popping boils into their skin!"

As a wave of gold and green energy blasted the crowd, the girl screamed.

"NO!"

Shooting up in her bed, Emily was panting. This wasn't the first time she had experienced that nightmare, but it still managed to get her worked up every time. After a moment of shaking, she managed to regain her composure.

"Emily?" asked Stella, who had been sleeping by her side before being woken up. "Are you alright? Is it that… dream again?"

Emily looked at her girlfriend. "You have nothing to worry about, I'm fine."

"Are you sure-"

"I'm just hungry right now," Emily interjected. Stella didn't say anything or push it further, instead she got out of the bed and went to the kitchen.

Stella was fixing up some breakfast when Emily walked in after taking shower and putting on her Glandus uniform. She sat at the table and checked her scroll, looking to see how many views her interview from the other day had.

"Here you go," Stella said as she put in front of Emily a plate of griffin eggs with sausage worms formed in a smile.

Emily inspected the plate, using her fork to examine the food. "The eggs look a little burnt."

Stella gave a nervous look. "O-Oh, well I was trying to cook them as fast as I-"

"And the sausages look as if they've been undercooked," Emily criticized, her tone causing Stella to shiver. "You are usually better than this, Stella. You're not trying to kill me, are you?"

"What?" Stella asked in shock. "N-No! You know I would never-!"

"I know you wouldn't," Emily told her, her voice more dominating. "I just thought I would give you a warning so you can do better than this next time… that way, we won't have any problems."

Stella looked down, rubbing her own arm. Emily noticed this and sighed. "Don't beat yourself up over it, my pet." Emily stood up, tapping under Stella's chin to make her look up at her. "You know how important you are to me, don't you?"

Stella nodded. "Y-Yes."

"So why are you nervous around me?" Emily asked her. "There's no reason for it. I've been good to you and protected you over the years." She kissed Stella's cheek while wrapping her arms around her back. "You know I love you, don't you?"

Stella was still nervous, but she calmly replied. "Yes, I know."

Meanwhile at Hexside, Principal Bump had to handle a sea of parents at his office.

"I can't have my kids partake in this war!"

"What are you going to do about this, Bump!?"

"I don't want those Glandus barbarians to mess with my children!"

Eda leaned against the wall while watching the parents argue. Next to her was Sandra who looked to be lost in her own thoughts. "Hey, are you alright?" Eda asked her.

"Yeah," Sandra responded. "I can't believe this is happening… my son can't partake in a war like this, I pulled him out of Glandus to get him away from this kind of thing."

"Alright, quiet down!" Bump shouted at the parents, silencing them. "Look, I don't like this either, but once a school declares war on another, not even the Emperor's Coven can do anything about it. These rules are older than the Emperor himself, I should know since I was in the last Glandus war… and I can only hope that this one isn't as bad…"

The sound of dramatic war music, say 'Fortunate Son', played as a young Bump faced his Glandus rivals. He held his sword, slashing down the teachers charging at him while summoning his Abominations to shield him and his comrades.

"Yaaahh!" cried out one student, who was shot down by light blasts.

"Gary!" Bump cried out before turning to the Glandus student who had shot his friend. "You bastards!"

By the time that Hexside had won the war, Bump had to wear his Palisman over his head to help with his eyesight, which had been damaged by the Glandus students. They had won… but at what cost?

Bump stared blankly into space for a few seconds before shaking it off. "I didn't want there to ever be another Glandus War," Bump admitted. "And I'm sorry that your children have to partake in it. But let me reassure you, Hexside will not fall to Glandus."

"You think you can win against Glandus?" Gilbert stood up. "Listen here, Hieronymus, I used to go to Glandus before I transferred to Hexside. I know what its students are like. They follow the 'Survival to the Fittest' to the T, which is common in the Boiling Isles, but Glandus takes it up to thirteen!"

"Maybe we could ask the other schools for help," Mr. Jeepers suggested.

"Carl's right," Mrs. Jeepers responded. "Maybe you could even ask the previous principal, what was his name? Faust?"

"NO!" all of the parents who had attended Hexside in the past immediately shouted.

"Might I speak?" someone asked.

Everyone turned toward a larger man who had to sit in two chairs due to him being kind of a giant. He had a large torso, was overly muscular, and had a hardened face with a long gray beard. He had gray eyes, long frolicking hair, and wore a brown poncho and black robe, gray trousers and white sandals. His bare arms were covered in scars going all the way up to his strong neck.

"Um, yes Mr. Saltstar, if you wish to speak," Bump responded.

"Wow, it's Samwitch Saltstar, guy's a hero around Bonesborough," one parent whispered.

"I hear he took on the largest Slitherbeast in the Isles when he was just a student," Swan commented to a parent.

"I heard he rejected an offer to be Head of Construction," spoke Betty to another parent.

"Now then," Samwitch said, silencing everyone. "I have thought about this war declaration made by Emily Tricks. I share your worries as no one wants their child to partake in a war, but Glandus is serious about this. They intend to destroy this school and I doubt most of your children would be willing to just let Glandus do that. Which means that it is our responsibility to make sure that they are ready for the worst. But I have faith in this school, its teachers, and its students. Glandus is asking what Hexside is made of… so I say we show them and make Glandus regret picking on the wrong school."

Bump nodded in agreement. "He's right, the best we can do is get the students ready for what is to come. Of course, you are all free to pull any of your kids out for the war if that is what you wish. And hopefully there will still be a school for them to come back to when the war is over…"

Boscha was flying towards Glandus on her staff. The young Hieron girl couldn't help but think about the war declaration Emily made.

'A war against Hexside?' she thought, wondering if it meant she would have to fight against Skara or her other former friends. 'This is ridiculous, why would she declare war? Because of some grudge? Because of Luz?' Luz being involved in the Boiling Zit incident had been a surprise to her. She had heard before that it was one of the Owl Lady's exploits but she never knew Luz's role in it.

That led her to a lot more questions. Deciding that she needed to cool her head to think, Boscha turned her staff away from Glandus and headed elsewhere. She landed on the streets of Latissa, where she pulled her hoodie up. "Maybe a skip day is what I need."

As Boscha looked around, she slowly got the feeling that she was being watched… or followed.

"Surprise," said a voice.

Boscha was startled as Nina Fangs jumped in front of her.

"What? Didn't think you'd go out on a skip day, did ya?" Nina asked as her tail knocked Boscha's staff out of her hands. Nina caught it before Boscha could.

"Hey, that's my staff!" Boscha shouted while Nina held the staff up in front of her.

"Go ahead, try to grab it," Nina said sinisterly, almost looking more feral.

Boscha thought back to how Nina had scratched her when the top students pummeled her. She remembered Nina's smile when she had her turn with her. Acting on instinct, Boscha turned around and ran away from Nina.

"The prey always runs," Nina said with a smile. "And I love it."

Boscha ran down an alley and through the market, going as fast as she could. Nina was up on the rooftops chasing after her, purposely going at Boscha's pace so that Boscha stayed ahead.

The Hieron girl jumped over a cart and threw down a potion to create a cloud of smoke. The smoke provided cover just as Nina jumped down. She couldn't see through the smoke nor smell it, but her ears did pick up the sound of footsteps.

Boscha eventually stopped underneath a bridge to catch her breath, believing that she had managed to lose Nina.

"Glad I… lost that… crazy cat bitch," Boscha said while exhaling. She then felt something fuzzy touch the back of her neck. "Huh?" She turned around and saw nothing. But when she looked back, she saw a tail waving in front of her face. Because directly above her, hanging to the bottom of the bridge, was Nina.

The Glandus student gave her a Cheshire Cat grin. "I got you now, Boscha… YAH!" She jumped down and pounced on Boscha.

"WAH!" Boscha screamed as held her arms protectively in front of her face. Nina continued to grin, loving the hunt as she pinned Boscha to the floor. "No! Let me go!"

"Don't make this worse by struggling," Nina threatened while pinning her hands and knees down to keep Boscha from punching and kicking. Nina used one hand to grab both of Boscha's wrists while circling a spell, summoning binding ropes to tie her by her hands and knees. "There are no skip days in Glandus. Any student that does will be hunted down by me and taken back to school. Comes with the job as being the best huntress," Nina sing-sang as she stood up and swung Boscha around her neck, holding her like a hunter carrying a deer. "Now then… hope you don't get whiplash," she said before starting the run back to Glandus.

"I can't believe she has the nerve to show up."

"She started this whole mess to begin with."

"I'm not ready to fight in some war."

Ignoring the students glaring at her and blaming her for getting Hexside into a war with Glandus, Luz was more focused on drawing in her sketchbook. This morning, she had tried to see Amity in the tower, but Hooty stopped her under Eda's command. To add insult to injury, Eda called Willow to take Amity to school, while Luz had to ride with her mom, who had to come to Hexside early to attend the PCA meeting. Luz was drawing a sketch of Amity riding her Abomi-bike when she heard a voice.

"Clawthorne."

Luz looked up, seeing Horace with Elliot and several others. Horace was speaking. "This is all your fault that we're in this mess with Glandu-"

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Luz asked, shocking Horace. "Look, whatever dickless rant you have for me, I could care less for what you have to say, Moe. I don't need some nameless background character to antagonize me right now." She turned to Elliot and nodded. "Elliot," she said before walking past Horace.

"You… remember me?" Elliot asked her and Luz stopped.

"Yeah, from Gus's HAS meetings," Luz answered. "I also remember why you dropped the HAS."

Elliot looked fearful of her. "You… you're not angry at me, are you?" he winced.

"Angry? No," Luz responded. "But I am just disappointed. From what I heard, you tend to give into peer pressure a lot, and letting others make choices for you rather than making them yourself. But hey, if that's how you want to live your life, that's fine. You'll just be another drone for a background character rather than being with friends who actually liked you."

"Hey, we're not finished here!" Horace pointed to Luz, only for Luz to glare at him while shifting into her cambion form, making him back away. "I… I-I'm not afraid of you."

"If you're actually smart, then back off," Luz snarled as Horace stepped back. Luz then shifted back into her human form and continued walking away.

Up ahead Luz spotted Morty and Summer, who were talking to the Blight twins and a tall redhead that Luz had seen in her Bard classes, though she now also sported Blue Healing Coven leggings with her Bard arm sleeves.

While Morty, who was in the Potions Track, was talking to Jessica, Edric and Emira gave heartfelt hugs to Summer, who was in the Oracle Track. Luz sighed, feeling that she should talk to them.

"Hey, Morty, Summer," Luz said, getting their attention.

"Luz, it's… um, hey," Morty responded.

"Hey Luz, we thought Amity would be hanging out with you," Edric pointed out.

"Are you having relationship troubles?" Emira asked worriedly.

"No, I snuck out and… well, mom grounded me from seeing her," Luz explained. "She literally went so far as to hire Jerbo and Barcus to be her bodyguards."

At the cafeteria, Jerbo and Barcus, both wearing black suits and sunglasses, held up a drink to the cafeteria witch. "Look, Ms. Goodfellow needs to know if this ghoul laid contains a high amount of lactose."

"Ruff! Ruff!(She could've had lactose intolerance)!" Barcus barked while Amity just stood there, watching them with a deadpan expression.

"Those traitors won't even let me speak to her…" Luz grimaced, she'll remember this. "Anyway, Summer and Morty, think you have time to chat alone?"

Morty nodded. "Yeah, we can."

"You guys go ahead," Summer told their friends, who left the Smiths siblings with Luz.

"Look, I just want to say I'm sorry for what happened to your grandpa," Luz told them. "I-I wish there was something I can do, especially since he had offered to help me and my family."

"Hey, don't work yourself up over it, Luz," Summer assured her. "Grandpa Rick has been in these kinds of situations before, he'll get himself out in no time. But if not, me and Morty will figure out-"

"Summer, we talked about this," Witch Morty told his sister.

"Yeah, I know, but our grandpa needs our help-"

"And what can we do, Summer? We're just kids," Morty retorted. "Mom's already upset about it as it is. Rick gave himself up so that we won't face persecution, we can't let that be in vain." He sighed, turning to Luz. "Sorry about that, Luz, we're just… coping."

"If it makes you two feel better… I did try to break your grandpa and his allies out last night…" Luz told them.

"Well at least she's doing something," Summer said while glaring at her brother. "Our grandpa deserves to be free, and it upsets me that you're not doing anything about it." She then stormed off, leaving the two alone.

"Is… she going to be alright?" Luz asked.

"She's really going through some things," Morty explained. "In all honesty, I knew what Witch Rick was doing at the time, and he told me that I didn't have to get involved. Now I wonder if I should have, but hey you're only fourteen once. He gave me a choice and I decided to live my life how I wanted. I'm probably one of the lucky Mortys with a much kinder Rick." He saw Luz's confusion. "I'll explain that later, but since you are here, Witch Rick wanted me to hand you this." He grabbed something from his pocket and handed it to Luz, a recorder with ear plugs. "Well, I should be heading to Potions to help make weapons of magical destruction for the war, see you later."

While he walked away, Luz looked down at the recorder and wondered what it contained.

For now, she put it in her pocket as she realized that the bell hadn't screamed yet for some reason. Looking up, she noticed that the bell was dismantled. "Huh?" She then noticed that the nearby water fountain and radiator were also dismantled. Curious, she followed a trail of parts leading away…

Kitsuni was with Julia as they both discussed the current situation.

"Well, I do not like this one bit," Julia said while drinking her tea.

"I share your concerns, Ms. Traveler," Kitsuni admitted. "I've been through a couple of wars myself. These kids don't know what true war is really like." She stared down at her own tea, frowning.

"Hey, Ms. Traveler, Kitsuni," Luz said to the two. "Do you know anything about the stuff that has been dismantled around school? Someone seems to be taking parts from the speakers, radiators, water fountains, bells-"

Kitsuni's eyes widened in realization. "Oh no," she said before running away.

"Hey, wait!" Luz shouted as she ran after Kitsuni, leaving Julia to calmly sip her tea.

"Just another day at Hexside," Julia said with a sigh.

Kitsuni ran her way over to the detention room. Luz managed to follow her and through the open door she saw someone taking apart the school bell.

"Wow, is that a spring connected to an organ?" asked a small, orange fox girl with twin bangs hanging out along with a gray underbelly, black nose, red eyes, and four tails. She was wearing a black shirt, green pants, and goggles over her head. She looked up, saw Kitsuni and Luz in the doorway, and waved at them. "Oh hi, big sis!"

"Mai…" Kitsuni said.

"Big sister?" Luz asked curiously, looking at Kitsuni who was focused on the small fox girl.

"Mai, what are you doing here?" Kitsuni asked.

"Mom dropped me off, didn't you get the letter?" Mai asked as she handed Kitsuni a scroll, a more traditional one. "Well, she may have forgotten."

Kitsuni grabbed the scroll and she read it. "'Dear fifth eldest daughter, I'm leaving this smart little angel under your care for the week after Mai left one of her inventions on and it exploded under your father's chair, so we need her out of the house for a while. Make sure to-' and it's just filled with instructions for your meals and stuff." She rolled up the scroll. "Wait, how did you get here from the yokai realm by yourself?"

"Oh, I had a friend to drop me off here," Mai said before noticing Luz and seeing her ears. "Wow, I didn't know humans lived in this realm."

"Hey, the name's Luz Clawthorne," Luz greeted.

"Whoa, you mean the Luz Clawthorne?" Mai asked, her tails spinning like a helicopter as she flew up to her. "By Kami's toenails, I thought you were just a legend but you are real! The one who clashed with and defeated the Coachman! Every realm has heard the story! Back home, you're known as the 'Hellish Baseball Bat Girl!' Oh, is your partner, the 'Pink Hellcat' here?"

"Hmm, I think you mean Amity," Luz replied. "She's around here but has her own thing… so what's with destroying school property?"

"Oh I can't help it, I have this desire to know how things work," Mai answered. "I have a fondness for human tech especially, though this witch bio-tech is also fascinating. I am actually something of an inventor, which is rare for my age since I'm only 500 years old!"

"500 years old!?" Luz asked in shock. "But… you look so young…"

"Yokais and other deities age differently than mortals," Mai mentioned. "For example, my sister's about five thousand years old!"

Kitsuni sighed. "Please don't tell others how old I am," she told her baby sister. "And look Mai, as much as I like having you around, things are a little complicated right now. But… you can still stay at my place for the time being as long as you don't destroy anymore school property."

"Okay, Sunny," Mai responded with a nod.

Luz then realized something. "Wait, me and Amity are famous?" she asked Kitsuni.

"Famous may not be the right word," Kitsuni admitted. "Controversial would be more accurate…"

In the cafeteria, Amity was explaining what happened yesterday to her friends.

"Wait, Levi and his dad are in the Conformatorium!?" Skara exclaimed.

"Yeah," Amity responded sadly. "His sister's currently being kept in the Owl House."

"Thank Titan that you found her, the Emperor's Coven would have probably just abandoned her in one of their orphanages," Willow said sympathetically.

"Yeah, and legally since you found the egg, that makes her yours to keep," Amelia said, causing Cat and Viney to turn to her. "What? It's all in the 'Finders-Keepers' Clause in Witch Law. The egg belongs to her for the time being unless she forfeits it."

"Well, I don't feel comfortable leaving the egg at an orphanage; there's no guarantee that she'll end up in a good home," Amity replied. "So I am going to take care of her, at least until her family is free."

"Hey, if you want, I can come over sometime and help out," Viney offered.

"I think I'd like that," Amity responded, appreciating the offer.

In the Hexside news room Felicia had just finished recording her vlog, "I'd like to thank my followers for the support as Hexside is about to go down against the Glandus. Be sure to like, subscribe, and circulate the links," she said as she ended the recording just as she heard a knock on the door. "WHAT!? Can't you see this is a slow news-" When she opened the door, she saw Luz standing there. "...Heeeey."

"I got your text," Luz said as she came in. "You got something to show me?"

"Oh, right!" Felicia said as she uses her necklace to summon her camera ghost. "Cammy, the footage?"

"Sure thing, boss," Cammy the camera ghost said as they handed her the crystal ball before disappearing.

Felicia held up the crystal ball, tapped it and waved her hand. "Look into this crystal ball…" Her eyes glowed as the crystal ball showed footage of what happened yesterday.

Luz looked into the ball and saw Darius, Raine, and Eberwolf. They were looking at something and Darius screamed before something went straight for him. The creature was huge, but unrecognizable to Luz. Its form seemed to be constantly shifting and changing. One second it had tentacles, the next it had wings. But it moved quickly and Luz saw the flash of claws as it began to tear Darius apart, flinging bits of him all over the battlefield and making it impossible for him to keep himself together. Because of how fast it happened, Luz was unable to see what happened to Raine. But one second the creature was there, the next it was gone, leaving behind a bloody and gooey mess that had once been Darius and a catatonic Eberwolf. The creature was nowhere to be seen and neither was Raine. Luz flinched when she saw what happened to Darius. She tried to rewind the footage to get a better look at the creature or what had happened, but had no luck. "What else did your ghost find?"

"Well, I did find footage of you and Amity fighting against Darius and Eberwolf before that. I didn't show it to my mom though, instead I told her that you two ditched the race for a make-out session," Felicia explained. "Luckily, she bought it."

"So whatever took out Darius is probably responsible for Raine's disappearance," Luz noted as she wondered what she was dealing with. Was it a basilisk? Another Fae? Or was it something entirely new?

Having no choice but to attend school that day, Boscha couldn't help but notice how the walls of Glandus High were covered with poster propaganda.

WIN AGAINST THOSE HEXSIDE HICKS

DESTROY OUR ENEMIES, SACRIFICE THEM IN THE NAME OF GLANDUS

IF ONE IS A HEX, PUT THEM TO REST

Boscha was a little put off by those posters and she had also noticed several other students giving her glares as she walked down the hallway, not trusting her because she used to attend Hexside. She tried to ignore them as she made her way to her locker, which had been vandalized with 'Dead Meat' spray-painted on it.

As Boscha went to open her locker, a potted plant suddenly went up in her face. Startled, Boscha stepped back and saw that it was Angmar offering her the plant. "Oh, it's you."

"Hey, um, Boscha," Angmar spoke to her. "I just want to give you something because of what happened last week," he told her. "I don't think I have seen anyone stand up for me like that. To be perfectly honest, it was completely stupid to challenge Emily like that… but I appreciate it nonetheless and I felt like I owed you so here." He held out the plant again. "I got it from my garden. The petals have healing properties if you rub them in wounds and that can come in pretty handy… especially this week."

"Uh, thanks," Boscha said as she took the plant and noticed a group of students in helmets marching past them in formation. "And yeah, I can see what you mean."

Angmar was silent for a moment before speaking up again. "Since you are new, I should warn you that lunch period can be rough if you sit in the wrong place."

"Yeah, I figured," Boscha admitted. "I was planning on staying away from the cafeteria."

"That is smart," Angmar acknowledged. "But it is also smart to not eat alone, since there is strength in numbers. I used to eat with Bria and Gavin, but Bria isn't around anymore and Gavin is at a funeral right now." He looked down sadly. "I don't think he is going to be around much this week."

"Oh, I'm sorry for his loss," Boscha said sympathetically. She then realized something. "Wait, Bria? I met her once…"

"At the grudgby match," Angmar nodded. "You… don't have to worry about her anymore."

He didn't elaborate and Boscha chose not to bother him about it anymore. "Since your friends aren't available today and you said there is safety in numbers… maybe we should eat lunch together," she suggested.

Angmar was a bit surprised by this. "Really?"

Boscha placed the plant Angmar gave her into her locker. "Yeah, I could use some new friends anyway," she admitted before noticing a poster of Emily holding up a sword. "And I don't think those are easy to find around here…"

"We are here at the Coven Cemetery where the funeral of Darius Nightshade is taking place," Felicity said in front of a camera. "All of Darius's friends, family, and acquaintances have appeared to attend his funeral, which includes Blight Industries' Alador and Odalia Blight. And standing next to me is Head Witch Graye, who was the one who had originally reported Darius's demise."

Graye, in a black version of his outfit, was drinking from a flask. When he saw Felicity walking over to him, he hid the flask. "What was it like when you discovered what had happened to Darius, Head Witch Graye?" she asked.

"Well, it was hard to gather each piece of him to put into the casket," Graye confirmed, his eyes showing some grays. "Which is the reason this is a close casket funeral. Honestly, we probably missed some bits of him. But it was… traumatic to say the least. We tried asking Eberwolf about what happened, but they remain unresponsive. Eber's catatonic state means that they are out of commission, at least for now."

"What about Raine Whispers?" Felicity demanded to know. "There are rumors that-"

"No comment," Graye told her.

At the funeral hall, Odalia and Alador wore black versions of their outfits while keeping a healthy distance from each other. Among the scouts attending were Hunter, who had worn his old uniform so he could attend, and Lilith in her disguise. Also among the mourners were Gavin and the woman with braided hair from the Gland Prix, his mom. A crystal ball projected the image of Emperor Belos into the hall.

"What happened to Darius was a tragedy," Belos declared. "He was the unfortunate victim of a terrorist attack by wild witches and he died valiantly in an attempt to protect the rest of the Boiling Isles and its children."

Under her mask, Lilith glared at Belos.

"I ask you all not to forget Darius's sacrifice," Belos continued. "I promise you that his death will not be in vain, that the Day of Unity he worked so hard for will still happen in spite of these losses. While we should still mourn, we should also celebrate his life and his service to the Isles and the Titan's."

Alador looked at the portrait of Darius that hung over the casket. He sighed.

A young ten year old Alador was struggling to stay up. He had been up all night trying to figure out how to make a mini-abomi-bot. He dozed off, almost falling until someone stopped him..

"Careful, you don't want the teachers to see you sleeping in class," spoke a young dark-skinned boy who happened to be Darius in his Hexside uniform under the Abominations Track.

"Uh… thanks," Alador replied, getting up.

"No offense, but you look like a mess," Darius told him, noticing Alador's tired eyes. He then realized something. "Wait a sec, aren't you one of the Blights?"

Alador nodded. "Alador Blight," he introduced.

"Man, I almost didn't recognize you," Darius admitted. "You look so much worse than you do in those family pictures."

"Yeah, my parents always have to make me look presentable for those," Alador explained.

Darius laughed. "Really? Though honestly, I think I prefer what you really look like over what you look like in those pictures."

This surprised Alador. "You do?"

Darius nodded. "I mean, you may be a mess, but this is the real you, right? Not just a lie used to make the Blight family look better. Once again, no offense."

"None taken," Alador said. "I am well aware of how my parents lie. It is a necessary sacrifice to keep Blight Industries running."

"Yeah, I get that," Darius acknowledged. "But it still might be nice for someone to get to know the real you sometime. My name is Darius, by the way." He offered his hand to Alador, who shook it.

"Nice to meet you, Darius," Alador said.

Years later, a teenage Alador and Darius were hanging out with Odalia and Geist. Odalia was chasing Geist around after he had pranked her, the two other boys sitting on a bench watching them.

"I don't know if I have a future at Blight Industries anymore," Alador admitted. "My parents said that if I don't get my priorities sorted and my grades up, they are going to cut me off."

"Damn, seriously?" Darius asked. "You know what, Al? Fuck them. You don't need them. If they cut you off, you can just start something on your own. You have the genius for it. Make them realize that they need you."

Alador looked down. "I… I don't think I have what it takes. You know that my people skills aren't exactly the best."

"Okay, then I'll help you," Darius suggested. "The two of us working together? We would be unstoppable."

"You… you really mean that, Darius?" Alador asked and Darius nodded, slowly reaching out to take Alador's hand.

"Of course," Darius promised.

Days later, Darius was heading home when he saw his parents getting led out by the Emperor's Coven. Shocked by this, he ran up to the coven captain.

"Hey! What are you doing to my parents!?" he demanded.

"Oh, you must be the Nightshade boy," the captain replied. "How do I explain this… oh yeah, we were tipped off by the Blights that your folks have been keeping some illegal pixie dust. Apparently the youngest Blight boy, Alador, found it and brought it to our attention."

"We are innocent, I'm telling you!"

"Please, we were framed!"

Darius watched in horror as his family was taken away. Later, Darius confronted Alador and started screaming at him,

"You ruined my life!" Darius shouted angrily at Alador,

"Darius, I'm sorry, but I didn't have anything to do with it!" Alador claimed.

Darius scoffed. "Like hell! The captain told me that you were the one who tipped them off! I know that my folks are innocent, but it won't matter. Even if they get released from the Conformatorium, do you know how hard it will be for my folks to find new jobs with a criminal record? They could go covenless! And all because of you." He glared at him. "Is it because my grades were higher than yours? Did you see me as a threat, so you planted pixie dust in my home and reported it to the guards?"

"What? No, Darius, I-"

"Save it," Darius said as he turned around and started walking away. "I should've known better than to trust a Blight. You are as fake as your photos…"

Soon Alador confronted his parents, their shadows looming over him. "You had something to do with this, didn't you?!" he demanded.

"Now, now, don't raise your voice against us," Destiny warned him.

"And yes, we did decide to step in and help you," Arthur confirmed. "We bribed a coven captain into arresting the Nightshades on fake charges and claiming that you were the one who tipped him off. You're welcome."

Alador was shocked. "But… why?!"

"We had been keeping a close eye on you two and we felt like he was getting too close," Arthur explained, confusing Alador.

"What do you mean too close?"

"Don't worry about it, son," Destiny told him. "What you should have been worried about was how Darius was turning you against us, against the family. He could have ruined your life, convinced you to throw it all away. He was a distraction and a rival, both which are unacceptable. So with his parents imprisoned, you should have a chance to raise your grades up while he is distracted."

"But… Darius's parents are innocent!" Alador told them. "You ruined their lives and their reputation… because his son was friends with me?"

"We did you a favor, my boy," Arthur said. "You will be grateful one day, believe me. This was a necessary sacrifice to get you ahead of life. So I suggest you forget about this… unless you want Darius to join his parents as well…"

Alador, shocked, had no choice but to give in to their demands.

Alador looked down, remembering what his parents did to him he later did to his own daughter. He really was a Blight…

As Lilith looked over at the casket, she realized that she and Darius had not talked as much as they honestly should have. Though she did remember one of their interactions from years ago…

Lilith, now as a coven captain, had her hair covering her left eye and she was wearing a coven mask, watching as Darius was made the new Abomination Head.

"With the retirement of previous head Olive Slick, a new Head Witch of Abominations has been chosen. May we present Darius Nightshade!" announced a young Felicity who sported bangs and a bobcut. The other Coven Heads, including Head Witch Vina of the Emperor's Coven, was present along with Kikimora and the previous Golden Guard as Darius was given his coven sigil.

"Thank you, this is a great honor," Darius spoke. "But I couldn't have made it this far without the support of my colleagues, my fiance, and, of course, my friend and mentor, the Golden Guard."

Later, during the afterparty Lilith went to speak with the new Head Witch. "Excuse me." He turned to her as Lilith removed her mask. "I just want to say congratulations, Head Witch Nightshade."

Darius chuckled. "Lilith, we went to school together," he reminded her. "Please just call me Darius. And thank you. It is good to see you again. How have you been?"

"I-" Lilith stopped herself from answering when she realized that she didn't know what to say. Before she could decide on her words, the Golden Guard came over.

"I am so proud of you, Darius," the Golden Guard said, putting his hands on the Head Witch's shoulders. "Your family would be so proud of you."

"Yes," Darius said, looking down slightly. "I am sure they would be."

The Golden Guard noticed Lilith, who immediately bowed.

"My Guard," she said respectfully.

"Lilith, there is no need for formalities," the Golden Guard said, surprising her. "This is a celebration, after all. Both of you go and enjoy yourselves. You deserve it."

Lilith sighed. She was gonna miss her old colleague.

Though not as much as Hunter was going to miss him as he looked at the casket one last time…

Darius walked alongside Emperor Belos. "Forgive me, my Emperor. But I feel like babysitting is beneath me."

"Normally, I would agree," Belos told him. "If I wasn't asking about the Golden Guard's son."

Darius froze in his tracks. "William had a son?!" he asked in shock.

Belos nodded. "With Vina," he confirmed. "You can see why I came to you, right?"

Darius looked down sadly, thinking about his old mentor. He sighed. "Yes, sire."

"I knew you would understand," Belos said as he led Darius to a room in the castle. "I need somebody I trust to watch over him when I am unavailable. I'd ask Kikimora, but she's not really… child-friendly."

"What is his name?" Darius asked.

"Hunter," Belos told him. "His name is Hunter."

He opened a door, showing Darius a room with a crib. Inside the crib, a baby Hunter was wailing. Darius walked over to the crib, summoning an abomi-rattle as he held it up over him. "Hey there, you must be William's son," he said, shaking the rattle which made baby Hunter stop crying.

"I think you two will get along just fine," Belos commented, smiling under his mask before leaving Darius with Hunter.

"Alright, I guess we'll be spending a lot of time with each other, Little Prince," Darius comments, while little baby Hunter laughed while grabbing Darius's finger, making the Abominations Head smile.

Twelve years later, Darius had just come back from a mission and saw a frantic Kikimora. "What's gotten you all jumped up?"

"It's that young Hunter boy!" Kikimora exclaimed. "The Emperor's nephew snuck out of the castle again!"

"What? Is he alright?" Darius asked her with a worried tone.

"Ask him yourself," Kiki told him.

Once Darius made it into Hunter's room, he and Hunter had a talk.

"So you made your first friend?" Darius asked him.

"Yeah," Hunter responded. "At least I think so. Her name is Luz, and you won't believe me when I tell you but she's a human from the human realm!" He frowned. "I am in trouble, aren't I?"

"Probably," Darius admitted. "Though if you ask me, this is a good thing. A boy your age needs friends. Maybe if you talk to your uncle, you will let you outside of the castle more so you can spend more time with this friend of yours without having to sneak out."

"You really think he would do that?" Hunter asked.

"If not, I will talk to him," Darius told him. "But… I am proud of you, Hunter. I think that Luz will be lucky to be your friend."

Hunter smiled at this.

Four years later, Hunter came to Darius and explained that he was no longer single.

"A boyfriend?" Darius asked, smiling proudly. "Congratulations, Little Prince, who's the lucky guy?"

"His name is, and you probably won't believe me when I say it, Edric Blight!" Hunter declared, causing Darius to look worried. "Why do you look like that?"

"It is nothing, Little Prince, it's just…" Darius rubbed the back of his head, looking down awkwardly. "It is just that I have some history with the Blight family… but what's he like?"

"Well, he's cool but also a nerd," Hunter explained. "The reason we met is because we were both huge Captain Coven fans and that shared interest is why we started hanging out. But he is also really smart since he invents a little, knows a lot about beasts, and is really good at illusions."

"Illusions, eh?" Darius commented, remembering a certain brother of Odalia's that was also an illusionist. "Well, be careful around that boy, just in case. I trust your judgment and I am happy for you, but Blights do have a tendency to take advantage of you."

"He-he wouldn't do that," Hunter claimed. "In fact, he's not aware of my status as the Golden Guard…"

"I see," Darius replied. "But be careful regardless. The last thing I want is for you to be hurt…"

Hunter just couldn't handle it. He looked over to where Gavin and his mom were. He wanted to talk to them, but what could he possibly say?

Once the funeral was over, everyone either began to leave or stayed to talk. Both Lilith and Hunter, still in disguise, left the funeral along with other coven scouts, which included a crying Steve. Lilith felt bad for him, but then she heard the familiar voice of Hunter.

"I can't believe he's dead."

She turned to see the short coven scout that she realized was Hunter. She thought she should probably let him be… but at the same time he looked so miserable and alone, like he needed someone to talk to.

"Hey, are you… alright?" she asked in a deeper voice.

"I'm just… upset, that's all," he responded, not realizing that he was speaking to Lilith.

"I'll admit, it came as a shock to me when I heard Darius died," Lilith admitted to him.

"It came as a shock to everyone," Hunter said with a sigh. "My life's a shit show right now. I thought… Darius was someone who would always be there… but now I'll never be able to talk to him or see him again." He looked back at Gavin with his mom, who were talking with the other Coven Heads. "I wish I could say something to his son, but I don't know if it'll do any good or if it will just make it worse for them." He turned back to the disguised Lilith and scoffed. "What am I saying? I should be talking to my therapist, not a random coven scout. Sorry to bother you with my issues." He started to walk away, but felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Wait," Lilith told him. "Were… you and Darius close?"

"Yeah, we were. I know it sounds weird, but he's always been like… a father figure to me," Hunter answered.

"I had no idea," Lilith admitted. "I'm… sorry for your loss."

"Thank you," Hunter responded before he and Lilith went their separate ways.

As Lilith moved away from the funeral, she thought about how she actually did feel bad for Hunter, especially if he and Darius were close. She couldn't imagine what he was feeling right now and despite the pain Hunter caused her and her family… he didn't deserve this. Just like how Darius didn't deserve to die. She sighed sadly to herself.

"Nice to finally meet you, Lily," said a voice behind her. "How did you like the funeral? Did you think it was nice?"

Lilith froze and turned around to face someone she didn't recognize.

"Don't worry, I won't blow your cover," the witch reassured her. "You deserve to mourn and pay your respects just like everyone else. But let me introduce myself. My name is Abel Reisender. I am the Emperor's new assistant, replacing Kikimora after her recent demotion. I expected to see you here. What happened to poor Darius was tragic, isn't it?"

Lilith wasn't sure what to make of Abel. "Yes, it was," she admitted. "But he wasn't killed by wild witches."

"I know," Abel acknowledged. "But the only way you could disprove that story is if you knew what really happened to Darius. And you don't know, do you?"

Lilith didn't take the bait. "I've never seen you in the Castle before. Where did Belos find you?"

"We are… old friends," Abel answered. "But I don't want to talk about Belos. I want to talk about you. Your old mentor has recently gotten back in touch with you, right? Have you considered Flora's job offer?"

"Oh, well… I'm not so sure…" Lilith told him. "Wait… how do you know about that?"

Abel smiled. "Because it was the Emperor's Coven that asked her to make that offer to you in order to keep an eye on you," he told her.

Lilith scoffed. "Of course…"

"However, hear me out," Abel said to her. "Look, I know things between you and the Emperor didn't work out, but despite how you ended your service to him, we don't have to be enemies. You can still be rewarded for your years of loyalty with a comfortable and a well-paying job that you would enjoy and get respected for. Think of this as the right call to take care of yourself and your family. I know that it's hard for you to make yourself useful when you no longer have magic and there are so few good job opportunities for a known traitor and associate of criminals like yourself, which I believe is unfair. You shouldn't have to sacrifice everything for your family, so this job offer can benefit both you and them." He started to turn away. "Just think about it."

Lilith watched Abel leave, silently thinking about the job offer to herself.

Meanwhile, Alador was leaving the funeral, Odalia trying to talk to him as he left.

"Alador, wait-" Odalia reached out to him, but he shrugged her off. "I am sorry about Darius and if you need to talk-"

"Just leave me alone, Odalia," Alador said as he walked off, leaving Odalia behind.

Catching the scene was Felicity Fox, who was still in her news van. "Well, well, well, trouble in paradise I see," she said to herself.

"It is good to see you again, Luz," Julia commented as Luz came into her office.

"Yeah, same Ms. T," Luz replied as she sat down. "I guess you've also seen Emily's interview…"

"Yes, and I must apologize for what happened to you. No child should ever go through with that," Julia said to her.

"Thanks, Ms. T, but there's no need for that," Luz replied.

"So how do you feel right now, Luz? And I'm not talking about the war with Glandus, I'm asking how you're feeling since we last talked. Have there been any improvements?"

"My guilt… comes and goes," Luz admitted. "And last night I… tried to help some of my friends out, but then I was turned over back home. My mom was worried sick and she grounded me for sneaking out. Now she won't keep her eyes off me and… I guess Emily's story about the Slayground Incident shook my mom up real bad."

"It's quite understandable, she is just a worried parent trying to protect her kid," Julia responded.

"Yeah, I get that. But then the icing of my grounding is that I can't see Amity until it is over. Eda has her sleep in the tower with Aunt Lily and Camila," she added. "It's some weird fairy tale crap, I tell ya."

"Well like I said, your mother is worried for your safety, Luz. And it does sound like you acted recklessly, which does mean consequences," Julia told her. "Besides, maybe a break from your girlfriend can be good for you. It could give you some time to focus on who you are outside of your relationship with Amity, since in relationships there is the danger of becoming too dependent on your romantic partner at the expense of your own identity."

Luz groaned, covering her face. "But I don't like being separated from Amity…"

"Do you know how she feels about it?" Julia asked.

"Not really," Luz admitted. "I think right now she is focusing on the egg we rescued. Levi's sister, who we found after he and his dad got… arrested. Now Amity feels responsible, like she has to take care of the egg and… I feel responsible for this mess. I know everyone is blaming me for the war and…" She looked out the window, frowned, and sighed. "To be honest, Ms. T, to some degree… I am worried that it is my fault that Glandus declared war on Hexside, especially because of my fight with that Bangles chick and what happened to Emily years ago."

"Who is this Bangles?" Julia asked her.

"This girl who attacked Amity at Cat's party once after last semester, and one of her muggers," Luz explained. "I stopped her and her friends from hurting Amity, but that ended up getting them thrown into the Conformatorium and apparently Bangles was one of the Top Sophomores at Glandus…"

"But what would've happened if you didn't intervene and stop her from hurting Amity?" Julia asked and Luz fell silent. "Even if Amity hadn't been at that party, Bangles would have likely just continued hurting other people like she had before. What she did to others and tried to do with Amity was completely her choice. Now similarly, it is in no way you or your mother's fault that Emily is the person she is today, because neither of you two forced Emily to make the choices she did. Because there are plenty of people that suffered like Emily did, yourself included." She got up and walked over to Luz, patting her hand. "Unlike her, you chose to be better. The Boiling Zit incident, while unfortunate, doesn't excuse who Emily is now, and you protecting Amity doesn't justify Glandus's declaration of war. So you shouldn't hold yourself responsible for the choices of others. You are only responsible for your own choices, not theirs. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Luz gave a nod. "Yeah, I think I get it." She took a deep breath. "Thank you, Ms. T."

The classroom where the HAS had their meetings had now become a war room.

"Alright, we have until Friday to get ready for the Glandus War, so we need allies," Gus declared, next to him were Amelia and Simon. Sitting at the table with them were Sioux, Louis, Dusty, Ed, Em, and Tyler. "There are the other cliques from different schools and locations around the Isles. Sioux, how did talking with the vampire goths go?"

"Well, me and the gang talked with them and they'd rather stay out of the war," Sioux responded. "They'd prefer to drink coffee blood and dance in the moonlight."

"Okay, Louis, how's the gossiping network?" Gus pointed to Louis who was texting.

"Yeah, no luck there," Louis replied while on her scroll. "The Gabbers at Merlin Meadows aren't gonna fight the war, and the Bashley's up at the Toe… they're more interested in the scandalous talk."

"The charter anime clubs by the left and ring finger aren't willing to help either," Dusty revealed.

"What about the seniors? They could be of help!" Gus asked, pointing to the Blight twins.

"Yeah, we talked with them…" Edric stated.

"But they decided to join covens early, and go for Palm Stings break," Emira finished. "They want nothing to do with the war."

"Dang it! I was hoping the seniors would help," Gus muttered before turning to Tyler who was back in his Oracle Track sleeves. "Tyler, do you have any luck on your end?"

"Oh, I got in touch with some skaters that know how to shred!" Tyler said.

"So will they help?" Gus asked.

"Well I asked if they can, but… they decided to peacefully protest against the war," Tyler answered, causing Gus to frown.

"Is no one really gonna help us?" Gus asked while Amelia looked at him in concern.

"Hey, I'm sure things will work out…" Amelia assured him.

"How? We're short on Abominations Track students, everyone blames Luz for this, and so far we can't count on anyone else for help," Gus ranted, putting his face down on the table.

"Everyone's a little on edge right now," Simon told Gus. "I think what we need right now is a leader."

Gus lifted his face off the table upon hearing Simon. "A leader…" he said, an idea forming in the back of his head.

Meanwhile, Principal Bump was contacting Headmistress Midday in the hopes of securing St. Epiderm's help.

"I'm sorry, Bump," Midday told him. "But I cannot have my students getting involved in this."

"But we could use the help we need right now," Bump told her. "Your school is known to have top healers and we could use more Abomination students-"

"I am not going to risk the safety of my students by getting them caught in a war with Glandus," Midday told him. "I'm sorry that your school is wrapped up into this, but we both know that the rivalry between Hexside and Glandus was always more personal. Good luck Bump. If it means anything… I am rooting for you." She then hung out.

Bump sighed, wondering what he should do now. The school needed a morale boost, but how was he going to-

Gus burst into the office, breathing hard. "Principal Bump, I have an idea!"

In Bonesborough, Eda had found her way to Vanz's shop. Since she knew Katya was Vanz's kid, she felt like he should know what happened to her if he didn't already know. Finding the shop wasn't easy for some reason, but she had finally managed it.

"Hello, Vanz?" Eda called out once she was inside. "You in here?"

"Mr. Ator is not here right now," said a female voice.

Coming out from the back room was an old woman in a black, cowled robe. She had long swampy white hair, green eyes, and a crooked long nose. "He left yesterday on one of his expeditions to find more items for his shop, so he won't be back anytime soon."

"Oh, well that's unexpected," Eda replied. "So you're in charge of the shop until he gets back?"

"Correct, dearie," the old woman said. "You can call me Grimhilde."

"Ugh, that name is too long," Eda complained. "You know what? I'm calling you Hilde. And if you see or hear from Vanz… tell him that well… his daughter, Katya, is in the Conformatorium… again," Eda told her.

"Message received," the old lady chimed. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"Uh, no," Eda said as she started to walk out. "But thank you."

"Wait!" the old lady shouted. "If Vanz asks who sent the message, what should I say?"

"Tell him Eda the Owl Lady left it," Eda said before she left the building.

"Thank you, dear!" the old woman said, waving her hand… before smiling evilly to herself and repeating the name she had been given. "Eda the Owl Lady, hmm?"

Outside, Eda started to head back towards Hexside when she noticed a gray stone temple that some old witches wearing cloaks and holding candles were entering. Eda immediately realized what this building was: a Temple of the Titan.

The temple brought back memories of her childhood and how her folks would take her and Lilith to pray and give their respects to the Titan. Of course, that was a long time ago. Eda stood outside the temple for a minute, wondering if she should go in or not. Eventually, she made her decision and went inside.

Inside the temple, the stone walls were covered in carvings of witches and demons dancing around. Eda looked around and saw that the Temple hadn't changed much since her childhood. Then Eda noticed the pamphlet stand, which had service schedules, bard choir sign ups, movie nights… since when did it get commercialized?

Eda rolled her eyes as she walked over to a stone idol of the Titan in the center of the temple. Several other witches were kneeling around it. Like them, she grabbed a lit candle as she knelt down, putting her staff aside.

"Hey there, Titan, it's me… been a while since I've… done this," Eda spoke to the idol, shutting her eyes in prayer. "Look, I know that I haven't been here in years, I had a lot of stuff going on. I have two kids now. One tends to get herself into more trouble, and the other one just eats and sleeps… though I guess I have a third kid if I count Amity, who I have taken in… and she is estranged from her own parents, she even called me mom the other day. But I've also begun talking with my sister again, as well as my mom… my dad's um… a work in progress…" She brushed her hair bang over her ear, tilting her head up. "Listen… I'm worried for my daughter, Luz. Her heart is in the right place but I am worried about what Belos, your so-called messenger, wants from her and I don't believe that what he wants from her is what you want from her. I want to protect her and I even grounded her, but… I think I need your help."

She sighed. "And then there's Raine… I have no idea what happened to them or if they're alright…" She looked at her lit candle. "I don't know what to do, honestly. I can't beat Belos, since he now seems to always be one step ahead of us and I don't have magic anymore to protect my family… can you at least give me a sign?" She shut her eyes again.

Eda felt a warm breeze flowing through her hair as her candle blew out. She opened her eyes, looking around before looking up at the idol again. "Was that… the Breath of the Titan?" she asked, unsure about what she had just felt, as she stood back up and grabbed her staff while the light coming down from the idol seemed to be focused on her.

She didn't say anything else as she left to go pick up Luz.

Once the school day was over, Luz walked out of Hexside with Gus and Viney, spotting Amity about to get a ride home with Willow. Amity turned to Luz and waved at her with a smile. Luz waved at her back.

"Looks like your mom's not around," Viney noted.

"Yeah, just one little talk with Amity wouldn't hurt," Luz agreed as she started walking over to Amity and Willow, but then her mom blocked her way.

"Hey, what were you about to do?" Eda asked her.

"Seriously!?" Luz cried out. "You're not even going to let me talk to Amity for a minute!?"

"I'm here to make sure to take you straight home, young lady," Eda said before spotting Gus. "But first, I need to have a talk with Gus. Vinnie, you watch Luz and make sure she stays put."

"It's Viney, and okay, Ms. Owl Lady," Viney replied as she stood by Luz, who was forced to watch Willow flying away with Amity.

"Noooo… why must you punish me, Titan!?" Luz shouted to the skies.

"Hey Eda, what's up?" Gus asked her while he held his staff.

"I'm just… wondering how your father is doing? I didn't see him in the PCA meeting this morning and he didn't answer my calls," Eda explained.

"Oh, dad didn't make it home last night," Gus admitted, making Eda look worried. "He left a letter saying that he is on an assignment that came up at the last minute, so I'm supposed to be staying at Willow's for the time being. I was just about to head my way there now."

"Assignment?" Eda asked in confusion. "So… you haven't seen him at all? Or received a call from him?"

"Don't worry, Eda, I'm sure my dad's work is a little busy. He always comes back," Gus assured her, though Eda was still skeptical. "Also, if you don't already know Amelia will be dropping by to help with Luz's Spanish lessons."

"Thanks for the reminder," Eda said, still concerned for Gus and hoping to Titan that Perry is just laying low and that he wasn't captured. "But if you hear anything about your dad, give me a call."

After Willow dropped Amity off, the Goodfellow went straight up to the tower and saw the egg being watched over by Lilith, a lamp over the egg.

"How is she?" Amity asked frantically.

"Don't worry, she's fine," Lilith assured her. "I've placed the egg under a lamp for warmth."

"There's no cracks in it, right?" Amity asked worriedly, checking the egg.

"Amity, calm down, she's alright," Lilith assured her while Amity summoned an abomi-pen around the egg. "Amity, don't you think you're overreacting-"

"I've been away from her all day!" Amity shot back, while turning back to the egg. This surprised the blue-haired woman. "Who knows what could've happened if I'm not here for her. She could get rolled over or she could have fallen down, or-"

"Amity, Amity, calm down!" Lilith held her goddaughter. "Look, why don't we call Grandma Gwen? She is in the Beast-Keeping Coven, I am sure she would know a thing or two."

"L-Like how to keep her safe?" Amity asked her.

"Yes, of course," Lilith assured her. "Levi's sister will be safe here, we will all take care of her even if you're not around. The responsibility for her does not rest solely on your shoulders, okay?"

Amity nodded, having calmed down. "Y-Yeah, I think I understand."

"The spoon?"

Luz held up a spoon. "El cuchara."

"You got it," Camila nodded. "And this glove?"

Luz thought about it. "Come on, it's on the tip of my tongue… guano?"

Amelia winced. "Actually, the answer is 'guante'."

"Alright, alright, I made a mistake," Luz replied, her hands tapping her knees impatiently. "So uh, when will dinner be finished?"

"Luz, you just need to be patient," Camila told her. "Amelia, how well did she do?"

Amelia checked the score she had been keeping track of. "Honestly, not great," Amelia replied while holding up her flashcards. "Here, try to memorize these flashcards. They helped me and I am sure they will help you."

"Thanks, Amelia." Luz replied while looking at the cards. "Say um, can go check up with Amity… and tell her how much I miss her?"

"Alright, I'll be back," Amelia replied as she headed for the tower.

Camila turned to Luz, who only looked at the flashcards. When Luz looked up, she noticed something in Camila's eyes. "You got something on your mind, don't you, Mami?"

"Well… yeah," Camila admitted, looking down as well. "Could you… explain what happened at this… Boiling Zit incident I heard about?"

Luz sighed. She figured that she would have to explain this to Camila at some point. "It happened when I was five. I had never left the Owl House before then, but mom decided that I needed an outing. But I snuck off just to go check out the Slayground and… after accidentally exposing myself with my round ears, I was attacked. The people in the Isles had a low opinion on humans, so I was targeted and hurt really bad. Eda managed to save me, but back then I decided to shut myself off. If the world wanted to fight me, I would just fight back."

Camila felt sympathy for her daughter and went to embrace her. "I'm so sorry that happened to you, mija," she told her.

"Thanks, Ma," Luz said, hugging her back. "Are you… worried about me?"

"Of course," Camila said. "I honestly just didn't know what's going on with your life these days. It… must be so difficult for you to handle all of this pressure, you shouldn't have to deal with any of this."

"Yeah, I know," Luz admitted. "This whole situation is mierda."

Camila tried to keep a straight face, but then started to laugh. "Be honest with me, the Spanish curse words were the first ones you decided to memorize, right?"

"Maybe," Luz said with a smile.

That night, Luz laid in bed alone. She missed Amity sleeping next to her, though she could still smell her scent.

But what Luz was more focused on was the recorder that Witch Morty had given her. She held up the ear buds and placed them in her ear before playing the record.

"Wubadub-dub-dub! This is Witch Rick's recording for the Luz Clawthorne!" Witch Rick's voice was heard, "Now then, if you're hearing this, Luz, then Witch Morty did a good job handing it to ya! Now listen carefully, cause I know that I said that I can help you make a portal, but if you receive this recording, chances are circumstances prevented me from doing so. So listen carefully, cause I'm gonna give you on the run down."

Luz listened carefully as the recording continued. "Now, what the Emperor plans to do, it is something that really doesn't sit well for me. He's robbing you of being able to make a choice." She looks concerned about this. "I don't have the specifics, but the Emperor plans to use you for the Day of Unity and it has something to do with your cambion form. He plans to use you as a weapon for his war against the human realm!"

This made Luz gasp silently. Why would Belos want to start a war against the humans?!

"Listen kid, I myself am usually no better than the Emperor when I force my grandson to come with me on these adventures around the Boiling Isles, but now I'm letting him choose again, which can include him choosing a path without me." His tone changed and sounded concerned. "I have done freaky wild witch stuff in the past, but I do share your mother's concerns, you kids shouldn't need to worry about these kinds of things like war and political conflicts. But… whatever you decide is up to you. You don't need to put the world on your shoulders, kid, but if you feel like you got the power to make something right, then do what you feel you need to do to stand up against that dictator and kick his butt. The choice is yours."

Luz thought about what Rick was saying. This was something that she needed to hear. But after that stunt she pulled, she knew she couldn't just charge in and go up against the Emperor. So she needed to think of a better way.

"Also after receiving this message, destroy it. Chances are, it might be rigged to explode."

"Gah!" Luz immediately crushed the recorder, then slapped a fire glyph on it and threw it in the trash can, incinerating it.

A younger Darius, who looked to be in his late teens, was on the floor, struggling to catch his breath after having gotten the wind knocked out of him.

"Get up," commanded a male voice and the younger Darius obeyed, managing to stand back up. When he saw the next attack, he attempted to block it with his Abomination sludge. But he was too slow and he just ended up back on the floor.

"I-I'm sorry," Darius apologized.

"Don't apologize," the male voice told Darius. "That's only doing a disservice to yourself. Always pick yourself back up. No matter how many times you get knocked down, always be ready to get back up and take more. Do you understand?"

Darius nodded and got back to his feet again. He expected the attack and this time he was able to block it with his sludge. He stumbled a bit… but he was still standing.

"Good," said the voice of the original Golden Guard, Darius's mentor. "Of course, there is still work to be done since you lost a little ground there. We have a lot ahead of us."

"I understand, my Guard," Darius told his teacher. "I will not disappoint you."

"You shouldn't be worried about disappointing me, Darius," the Golden Guard informed him. "Your goal shouldn't be getting my approval. Your goal should be improving yourself. I want you to be the best witch you can be, but you can only achieve that if you want it as well."

"Of course," Darius acknowledged. "Thank you, my Guard. Do we continue then?"

Darius didn't know for sure, but he thought that he sensed the Golden Guard smiling behind his mask. "Yes, let's continue," he said to his student. "And remember: always get back up."

Those words rung in the head of the younger Darius.

Always get back up.

Get back up.

GET. UP.

"What?" a younger Darius asked, clutching his head.

The Golden Guard noticed this, but chose not to attack while Darius had his guard now. "Darius, are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

"Y-yes," Darius said as he cleared his thoughts. "I'm sorry, Hunter. It's just that… you ever had the feeling that something wasn't right, that you've forgotten something important? I had that feeling for a moment."

The Golden Guard was definitely confused behind his mask. "Why did you just call me Hunter?"

Darius realized what he had said and his face flushed in embarrassment. "I meant my Guard! Apologies, I have no idea where that came from!"

"It's fine," the Golden Guard reassured Darius. "Slip-ups happen. If you want, we can continue our training tomorrow-"

"No!" Darius interrupted. "I mean, that is not necessary. I will be fine, let's just continue."

But as they resumed their training, Darius still couldn't shake the feeling that he should remember something…