Eclipse Lake

At the Emperor's Castle, Belos walked towards the portal door as he passed by multiple documents, including a book about Grimwalkers.

As he reached the portal door, Belos placed a tube on the door's lock as he signaled for an Abomaton to turn a vail and pour a green solution into the door.

As he inserted a key into the door, the key disintegrated. Belos grew angry as his fist shook with rage.

From around the corner, Hunter watched him conduct his experiment as the cardinal Palisman flew to his shoulder and chirped.

"Shoo." Hunter gently swatted the bird away as he flew to his other shoulder.

"Would you like to see how it works… Hunter?" Belos called out to him

Hunter gasped as he hid the cardinal, now that he turned into wood, into his cloak.

"I didn't mean to hide, Emperor Belos," Hunter said as he approached Belos. He turned around to face Hunter. He'd left his mask resting on a desk, letting Hunter see his old weathered face with a large green scar running diagonally across it.

"We found every piece of the door. But without the power of the real key… it refuses to open," Belos explained.

"Is it true that rain doesn't boil in the human realm?" Hunter asked curiously

"It is," Belos said with a smile. "You know, I've been there before. Did I ever tell you that?"

Hunter shook his head in denial.

"The trees there are green. Nights are quiet. I look forward to seeing it again," Belos said as he reminisced. "Were you spying on me just to hear these boring stories?"

"The operation on the Knee, why did you switch me out with Kikimora?" Hunter wondered

"Everyone has a use, Hunter," Belos said as he placed a hand on his shoulder and began to lead him away.

"Kikimora has her intricate little plans. The scouts carry out orders. And you, well, the Titan has big plans for you, and it would be such a hassle to find a replacement. So, right now, you can be useful by staying safe… in the castle."

"If this is punishment for failing my last mission, I swear I can do better," Hunter said as Belos smiled at him.

"Goodnight, Hunter." As Belos closed the door on him, Hunter gained a determined look before running off.

At the Owl House, Amity was walking down the hallway as she looked at a clipboard with a checklist on it.

"Hooty, what's your status?" Amity asked as she looked out a window as Hooty burst through it.

"The perimeter's secured. Nothing's getting past me!" Hooty reported

"Good. Clean up that mess," Amity said as she walked away towards the kitchen.

"Ma'am!" Hooty swept away the broken glass using his body.

In the kitchen, Willow walked in carrying bags of groceries as her Palisman Clover floated next to her.

"Willow, have you gathered the supplies?" Amity asked as Willow put the bags on the counter.

"Yes, we're ready to attack this on all fronts," Willow said giving a salute

"Excellent," Amity gave her a thumbs up as a white cat walked into the kitchen leaving a dead spider at Amity's feet.

"Aw, Ghost. Did you help too," Amity said as she gave the cat chin scratches. "Who's a good Palisman? Great, now all we need is—"

"Rain? Beach waves?" Gus asked as he and King walked into the kitchen. Gus had his Palisman, Emmiline, hanging on his shoulder as he held onto a box of CDs.

King was holding a speaker with a disk hanging on his horn. "Something called 'lo-fi beats to study and relax to'? We've got it all."

"Who knew there were so many different songs from the human realm here," Skara said as she walked in holding another box of CDs. Her Palisman, Cayenne, was sitting on her head.

"Eda was rummaging through her basement, and gave us some soothing human noises."

"That's great," Amity said before she realized something. "Wait. Eda's still here?" Amity went into the living room. "Eda, you're supposed to be helping Hooty build our defenses. Huh?"

She saw Eda was clenching her fists as she gave an intense look forward before yelling. "Whoo! Ah, don't mind me. I'm just learning how to turn into Harpy Eda on command," Eda said as she wiped away the sweat from her brow. "According to these human workouts, you just gotta scream a lot until you force your inner beast out."

Eda started to grunt and yell again as an unnerved Amity picked up the human workout video she was talking about. The cover said "Dragon Claw Z".

"This looks ancient," Amity said

"What? No. It's only… 30 years old?!" Eda yelled in surprise as she grabbed the VHS. "I remember seeing this in theaters."

"Yes, you're old. Who cares? We have a crisis on our hands," Amity said

"Chill, bossy boots. Everything's fine," Eda reassured her as she poked her forehead using the VHS.

"Does this seem fine to you?" Amity asked as she opened the door to Luz's room to see Luz and Cruz lying on the floor in their sleeping bags.

The twins were dressed for bed, as Luz had socks on her hands with a towel on her forehead.

Cruz had another towel wrapped around his forehead but his arms were inside of the sleeping bag as he wiggled in the sleeping bag.

A little abomination was holding tissues next to Luz while Jean-Luc was standing near Cruz.

"Whoa. It's like I've got snakes for arms," Luz said, completely delirious.

"Look at me. I'm a bagworm," Cruz said equally as delirious as he wiggled around on the floor.

"Please, they just have the common mold. It's harmless," Eda said reassuring her

"It might be harmless to Cruz since he's a hybrid. But Luz is human. We have no idea how it'll affect her!"

Suddenly, Luz sat up holding the portal key. "If I ate the portal key, would I return to the human realm?"

As she was about to try and eat the key, the little abomination grabbed the key from her hand before walking towards Amity.

"I am not giving this back until you're feeling better, okay?" Amity said as she put the key around her neck.

Luz pouted before pulling out a small game device and started to press buttons on it. Amity takes out her own device and sees multiple symbols on it. She looked at it in confusion as she lowered the device and saw Luz looking at her with a beaming face.

"Oh, uh… you got it!" Amity said with a chuckle as she closed the door, leaving a very confused Luz in the room.

Amity closed the door as everyone gathered outside of Luz's room. "Got to admit, Amity, seeing you around more often is… different," Willow said

"I know. But I was taught to see every situation as an opportunity. And today, I'll show Luz that I am an awesome girlfriend," Amity said with determination.

"Feels like just a few months ago, you almost got her dissected by your crazy principal," King said

"That was a few months ago," Gus reminded him

"You don't have to try too hard to prove it," Skara said. "From what Cruz said, Luz was always talking about you and how amazing you are."

Amity blushed slightly in embarrassment. "You might be right. But still, there's nothing wrong with trying to prove it. What about you and Cruz? Don't you feel the same way?"

"Well… yeah. But there's no reason to be stressed about it right now. We've just started dating so there's nothing to worry about," Skara said before they all heard Luz yell.

"Spoke too soon."

"Luz!" Amity and Eda yelled as they all rushed into the room.

"M-mouse. Uh. Philip. Diary entry!" Luz said as she held a pencil while pointing at the echo mouse.

"It's all shimmery!" Cruz said and he wiggled in his bag

"After five years, I have finally found it. A power source so potent it can pierce through realms. Titan's Blood," Philip said as images were shown of him and a hand dripping blood into a pool of water.

"There are old tales of lakes reflecting green trees and blue skies. The Titan's vein runs through the land. And many believe that these wild portals are created when a little of its blood leaks into the water. That is how I came here. So that is the first place I shall look. I will journey back to… Eclipse Lake."

As the projection ended, the echo mouse squeaked before scurrying off. Luz was drawing the map on a piece of paper she had laid out.

"I have to go to Eclipse Lake!" Luz yelled as she ran toward the door. As she jumps toward the door, Amity and Skara ducked down as Gus and Willow back away as Eda catches the flying human.

"Luz, no. You are not well," Willow said as she began to push Luz back into the room.

"She is shockingly strong!" Gus said as they all tied Luz up in her sleeping bag before throwing her back onto the floor with a grunt.

"Alright, Luz. Me and King will get your Titan blood if you just calm down," Eda said as she looked down at her apprentice

"Yes! A perfect chance to take our new powers for a test drive," King said as he jumped up on Eda's shoulder.

"You guys are the best," Luz said as she handed the map to Eda who took it… begrudgingly. As she began to leave, Amity quickly raised her hand.

"I volunteer as well. As Luz's girlfriend, I must—"

"I get it, boots. Just grab a coat. Willow, Goops, Strings, watch over Luz and Cruz. She thinks she has snakes for arms, and Cruz thinks he's a bagworm. Whatever that is."

"Whoa." Luz looked at her hands before hissing, scaring Gus and causing him to flinch.

They then noticed someone in the room was being oddly quiet.

"Where's Cruz?" Eda asked in exasperation noticing that he wasn't in the room anymore.

Skara looked out of the room and saw Cruz slowly wiggling down the hall as Jean-Luc followed him nearby.

"Cruz. Where are you going?" Skara asked

"To Eclipse Lake! Gotta get some blood. Who knows what kind of stuff I can make out of it," Cruz said as he continued to wiggle down the hall.

"You're not well. Get back here," Skara said with a sigh as she looked at Jean-Luc. "Can you grab him and bring him back, Jean-Luc. He's still really sick. Cruz needs his rest."

Jean-Luc looked down at Cruz and noticed his condition before looking back at Skara and nodded as he picked Cruz up from the ground.

"Wait! No. Put me down Jean-Luc," Cruz ordered but Jean-Luc chose to ignore him, placing his master's health over any other order.

As Cruz was put back on the ground in Luz's room, he looked up with a pout.

"Betrayed. Betrayed by my assistant and by the most beautiful witch in the Boiling Isles and the human realm!" Cruz complained loudly, causing Skara's face to light up.

Luz looked over at Cruz angrily. "Amity is the most beautiful witch ever!" Luz said as Amity's face lit up.

Cruz looked over at Luz as he shook his head.

"Skara is."

"Amity!"

"Skara!"

As the twins continued to argue, their significant others simply watched as their faces began to get more and more red.

"Alright, you two. That's enough. Get some sleep now," Eda said as she ushered everyone out of the room before tossing one of Cruz's sleep pellets into the room before she closed the door.

As the gas filled the room, they all saw the smoke coming out from underneath the shut door. When she opened it, they all saw that Luz and Cruz were peacefully sleeping as Jean-Luc watched over them.

"Make sure nothing happens to the kids while we're gone. And let the others bring them stuff to help them feel better," Eda ordered as Jean-Luc nodded.

"Can I come too?" Skara asked

"You sure you don't want to stay here instead?" Eda wondered why she volunteered all of a sudden

"Well, since Cruz was determined to get that Titan's blood, I felt like it might be good if I went to help you get some too."

"Well, alright then. Just put on a warm coat and let's head out. Does anyone else feel like coming all of a sudden?"

"I can come too!" Hooty said

"No. You have to stay and look after the kids," Eda said firmly

"Okay!"

At the knee, several scouts were mining as Kikimora was overseeing them as she stood on an Abomaton's shoulder.

"Dig faster, scouts!" Kikimora ordered

"Kikimora, these tunnels are unstable," the scout captain warned. "Maybe we should slow down."

Kikimora let out a groan. "Not now, Captain. This could be my last chance to show Belos what I can do. And I just know that brat, Golden Guard, will try to spoil it. Hey, Steve. Jump over that chasm before I throw you in it," Kikimora yelled as she and her mount walked off.

"She's getting so paranoid," the captain said as she shook her head with a sigh.

Nearby, Hunter hid behind a tree disguised as a scout. Suddenly, he spotted the Cardinal Palisman standing next to him.

Hunter let out a startled yelp. "Why do you keep following me?"

The Palisman let out a happy chirp.

"I don't speak palisman. Here's the plan. I slip in with this disguise. I find the Titan blood before Kiki. I give it to Belos. Boom! I'm useful again." Suddenly, the tree trunk over him was blasted, forcing him and the Palisman to duck down.

"Ma'am, is everything alright?" The captain said as she ran towards Kikimora

"I just thought I heard an annoying voice," Kikimora said suspiciously as she narrowed her eye.

"Another way in. We'll find another way in," Hunter said as he ran off with the cardinal on his head.

Suddenly, the Palisman flew off with a chirp and landed on a tree branch, as Hunter reached him before gasping, noticing who he saw.

"The Owl Lady and her dog. And is that the youngest Blight and Scooter's granddaughter?"

The three witches were dressed for the cold, Amity was holding the map as she led the group.

"This place is crawling with tools. What gives?" King questioned

"Titan's blood is the most powerful source of magic on the Isles. I'm not surprised Belos wants it too," Eda explained

"Cruz said that Titan's blood might be three times stronger than Fool's blood. Maybe even more," Skara said

"Well, we can't afford to mess this up. Luz is counting on me," Amity said with determination before noticing the others giving her a look. "I mean us."

"All right, new plan. They can lead us to—" Hunter began to say before the cardinal grabbed onto his hair antenna and began to pull him forward. "What? Hey! Hey!"

As the cardinal pulled on him, Hunter fell down the slope and landed in front of the group with his helmet covering his face.

"A coven scout," Amity said as Eda and Skara raised their staffs and Amity conjured a purple flame.

"Uh, yes. I am but a humble scout and I surrender," Hunter said as he raised his hands in surrender.

"Well, that was easy," King said happily

"Not so fast, King. Don't you recognize that annoying voice?" Eda said still holding her staff wearily

"Why does everyone say that?" Hunter said feeling slightly hurt before he tried to escape.

"Don't let him get away!" Eda yelled as Amity summoned abomination goo from a jar from her waist as it wrapped around his waist causing him to fall.

"This is none other than Belos' right-hand man," Eda said as Amity and Skara gasped.

"The Golden Guard? He is a lot… scrawnier than I imagined," Amity said

"And kind of sickly looking too," Skara said as King laughed in mockery as Hunter glared at the group.

Inside the mines, Eda bursts through a wall and she lands with a flip.

"Did I do it? Did I go into harpy mode?" Eda questioned as the others entered the mine.

"No. You just screamed 'hoot' and ran headfirst into a wall of ice. Pretty funny actually," King said

As King walked forward, Amity pushed Hunter forward with her staff still pointing at his back.

"You can put down your staff. I won't run," Hunter said

"Too bad, because I don't trust you," Amity said

"Huh, this stuff is old," Eda said as she looked at mining equipment.

"Ancient witches used to mine the veins for Titan blood…"

"They're not paying attention," Amity said bluntly

"Not like they'd care too much honestly," Skara added as they saw Eda standing in front of a drill while King sat on top of it.

"Go on, fire it. Maybe the adrenaline will kick in, and bam, Harpy Eda."

"Sounds perfectly safe," King said as he powered up the drill.

"Wait. Don't!" Hunter shouted as the drill fired off a bolt of magic narrowly missing Eda as it began to bounce off the walls of the cave.

As it was heading towards Amity, Skara, and Hunter, Amity stepped forward and caught the bolt in a glob of abomination.

"How are you two more reckless without Luz and Cruz around?" Skara questioned as Eda and King stared at them.

"This isn't a normal cave! These walls are made from the veins of the Titan. Any magic you shoot will bounce right back at you!" Hunter said in exasperation

"Huh, you must be fun at parties," Eda dismissed as she turned to look at King. "Hey, King, how about you use your new powers to echolocate the lake?"

"Haha, okay!" King said as he jumped off the drill and stood in front of a tunnel.

King took a deep breath before letting out a sonic wave down the tunnel. "Weh!"

After a few seconds of looking down the tunnel, King looked back and turned to them with a shrug. "Eh-eh."

"Those two are definitely gonna get us caught", Hunter deadpanned

"Us? There is no us," Amity said. "Now keep walking."

Hunter shrugged as they all moved forward down the mine. The cardinal followed closely behind.

"You know, Luz and Cruz told me about a trip to Latissa where they met someone very interesting," Eda said as they all continued down the tunnel.

"A beat-up blonde with no magical powers. Luz called him, and these are her words, a bad but sad boy."

King burst out laughing as Hunter turned pink from annoyance.

"If I ever see that human again—"

"Watch it," Amity warned

"At least I'm not delusional enough to think I can turn into a Harpy," Hunter said as Eda turned to hiss at him.

"Hey. Come on. Give it a rest, you two," King said trying to be the voice of reason

"Yeah, listen to your rat," Hunter said as King jumped on Hunter's head and began to pull on his hair.

"Come on, King. Just let it go," Skara said, trying to keep the peace.

"Shh!" Amity shushed them as she looked down the mine. They saw that Kikimora's scouting party had entered the mine and had stopped.

"Why are we stopping? Is it the Golden Guard?" Kikimora asked as she looked around wearily.

"No, ma'am. This is a dangerous area. We need to move carefully," the captain said

"Careful takes too long. My butt is on the line, and so help me, Titan, if you ruin this, I will throw you off the tallest peak of the Knee with a smile!" Kikimora began to rant as Eda looked on with pity.

"Oh, that poor girl is going through something," Eda said

"She's also blocking the path to Eclipse Lake," Amity said as she looked at the map before pointing forward.

"We should create a distraction," Hunter said quietly.

"We should create a distraction! You kids wait for my signal," Eda said loudly as she ran off with King.

"Huh, that was easy!" Hunter said as he began to lean on the wall. "When they're caught, you and I can take the Titan blood for ourselves."

"Stop talking like we're a team," Amity said

"Seriously, don't forget you're our prisoner. No way does that make us a team," Skara said

"We might as well be. The Owl Lady and her pet have nothing at stake, unlike us," Hunter said

"You have no idea what you're talking—" Amity began to say before her game device began to beep. "I was gonna say, you have no—" her device beeped again as Hunter gave Amity a look.

Amity grunted as she and Skara turned around as Amity took out the device and looked at it. She saw the strange symbols again as Hunter peeked over her shoulder.

"Oof. That doesn't look good," Hunter said

"Stay back!" Amity warned as she pointed at him. Hunter took a few steps back away from her.

"But what doesn't look good?"

"Seems clear to me. Come back with results or else... You can figure out the rest," Hunter said as Amity zoomed in on the symbols focusing on a face with tears.

"No, Luz wouldn't make that kind of threat. I'm an awesome girlfriend," Amity said

"Has she told you that?" Hunter questioned as Amity looked away with a grunt.

"Come on, Amity. You know Luz a lot better than he does. You know she'd never do that to you," Skara said trying to reassure her friend.

"We have a lot in common, Blight. We're both trying to show what we can bring to the table. And we can't fail, 'cause there's nothing worse than disappointing someone who thinks you're special," Hunter said as Amity looked down sadly.

"Okay, watch this," Eda said as she pulled down her hair over her face. "I'll be the ghost of miner's past and spook'em out!"

"You look like one of my hairballs. Let's just do the trench coat thing," King said before a purple flame shot over them and hit the wall as it began to bounce around them.

As the fireball almost hit Kikimora, the Abomaton activated its shield covering her and the scouts in a defensive bubble.

Eda and King rejoin Amity, Skara, and Hunter as they make their way down the tunnel.

"Why didn't you wait for our signal?"

"You never told us about any signal," Skara pointed out.

"And we don't have time to play around. We are getting that Titan blood," Amity said as they ran down the tunnel. Amity failed to notice her game device falling out of her pocket as it landed on the ground.

At the Owl House, Luz was playing with the echo mouse's ear. "Little mouse, Owl House, frilly blouse. Boop," Luz said in a sing-song fashion as she poked the mouse's head.

Suddenly, the mouse began to play another projection startling Luz and Cruz.

"My journey to Eclipse Lake has been a success, and yet, a tragic failure. The tunnels were filled with a substance known as Fool's Blood. It signifies a decaying vein. I was lucky to get out alive, my companions were not."

Luz gasped as the projection ended. "Oh no. I gotta warn them. G-Gotta call."

As Luz reached for the crystal ball, she accidentally knocked it onto the floor, shattering it.

"Dang it!" Luz yelled

"Fool's blood is really dangerous. I used my knife when I got it last time," Cruz said as he tried to wiggle towards his scroll but couldn't move too far since Jean-Luc moved him back.

In the kitchen, Willow, Gus, and Hooty were wearing headphones as they were connected to a sound mixer.

"These two are train whistles in a thunderstorm and soothing opera screaming," Gus said as he played both of the sounds mixed, drowning out the sound of Luz and Cruz calling out to them.

"I gotta reach Amity," Luz said as she grabbed her game device.

Back in the mines, the cardinal Palisman landed on Hunter's shoulder.

"Hey. Find a different perch, bird," Hunter said as Eda and Amity gasped when they noticed the tunnel full of Fool's blood.

"Is this… Titan's blood?" Eda asked as she looked around

"But… Eclipse Lake is still further ahead," Amity said as she looked at the map.

"It looks kind of familiar," Skara said as she looked at the orbs.

"Who cares? We did it!" King said happily as he jumped off Eda's shoulder.

"Stop!" Hunter yelled as they all turned to look at him. "That's Fool's Blood. Don't touch it."

"Oh, so you can keep it all for yourself? Hard pass," Eda said with a scoff.

"I think he might be telling the truth," Skara said. "Cruz told me about when he found Fool's blood in that mine. He said it was too dangerous to just grab."

Eda ignored her as she lifted her staff and hid the blood, cracking it open.

The ground begins to rumble as the crack from the blood extends to the floor the crack widens causing Eda, King, and Skara to fall in.

"No!" Amity yelled as she prepared to follow after them before Hunter stopped her.

"Wait. Take me with you!" Hunter pleaded

"Yoo-hoo! Golden Guard!" Kikimora called out from down the tunnel.

"At least untie me so I can escape." Amity hesitated as she looked at him. "Please. I don't want to be replaced."

"Ugh. Fine," Amity said as she untied him. "So, where will you go now?"

"Now…" Hunter said as she swiped at her feet knocking her down to the ground with a grunt. "…I get to Eclipse Lake before anyone. Byeeeeeeeee!" Hunter climbed into a minecart as he went down the tunnel with the cardinal following him.

"That jerk," Amity said as her hand burst into flames.

She then noticed a shadow looming over her and saw Kikimora and the scouts with a spear pointing to her neck.

"Ooh. Would you look at this, Captain? We found our little fire starter."

Amity sat surrounded by scouts as one of them held her staff. "So... the Golden Guard is also looking for Titan's Blood, and he took off to Eclipse Lake," Kikimora said with a chuckle.

"I knew it. That little snake is always making me look bad. Well, now I can get my revenge!"

The captain cleared her throat. "Ma'am, what about the Titan Blood?"

"Oh, yes. I'll get that too," Kikimora said as she clapped her hands as the Abomaton turned into a cart with the other one doing the same.

"What should we do with the girl?" The captain asked

"Oh, I don't… care," Kikimora said as she and the other coven scouts rode the carts down the tunnel.

"So, uh, did you come with anyone else or...? Ugh. This is boring," the captain said as she grabbed Amity before throwing her down the chasm and tossing her game device down as well.

As Amity was falling down the chasm, she was suddenly caught by Eda. As the device fell, Amity narrowly caught it before pocketing it away.

She looked up to see Eda and King hanging onto Owlbert as Skara was hanging onto Cayenne.

"Guys, you're alright," Amity said as she climbed onto Owlbert.

"Oh, just barely. Owlbert's knocked out, so we can't fly," Eda said as Amity saw that Owlbert had swirls in his eyes.

"Cayenne is in the same boat," Skara said as Amity saw that the cricket was also knocked out with a small crack on its head just like Owlbert.

"I'm just, like, throwing it out there, but this would be a great time to bring out Harpy Eda," King deadpanned

"I don't know how! I've tried yelling at it, scaring it."

Owlbert interrupts her as he hoots in pain as the crack on his head grows bigger.

"Did you ever think about… talking to it?" King asked

"Ha! I—I guess I didn't but it—it's a wild animal."

"You thought I was a wild animal once," King pointed out

"Okay, I'll try. Just... give me a second," Eda said with a groan before shutting her eyes as Owlbert cracked even more.

"What? You wanna make a deal? Wait. I—I don't know if I can." Owlbert hoots again as the cracks start spreading further.

"Eda. Now would be a good time for this," Skara said

"Okay, okay. I'll do it. Just change now!" Eda yelled as her eyes turned into her Harpy eyes.

"Aha! Yes!" Eda cheered as she flew into the air and she carried everyone in her arms and the staves with her feet.

"What did you promise to do?" King asked

"I don't want to talk about it," Eda said as she flew down the tunnel.

"I can't wait to see a real-life mine cart chase," King said in excitement before they looked forward and saw that all of the carts had crashed causing everyone to be thrown around.

Kikimora grunted as she tried to free herself before fainting. Everyone winced as they saw them.

"Guess minecart chases are a lot more dangerous than video games make'em seem," King said as Amity grabbed her staff. She then noticed a sign that marked the entrance to Eclipse Lake.

"There it is!" Amity called out before an Abomaton grabbed onto Eda's foot.

"I don't know who you freaks are, but that blood belongs to Kikimora!" The captain yelled as she directed the Abomaton with her spear slamming them to the ground.

"Get to the lake, I'll take care of—" Eda began to say before the Abomaton threw her against a wall.

"Eda!" King called out in concern as Amity and Skara dragged him away towards the lake.

The captain threw her spear at them but Eda caught the spear with her hand before breaking it with a growl.

"All right, Owl Beast. Let's see what we can do!" Eda rose into the air before doing a spin dive towards the captain.

As Amity, Skara, and King entered the cave with the lake, Amity looked at the map that showed the lake filled with Titan's Blood. When she lowered the map, the only thing there was the empty lake with Hunter sitting in the middle digging.

As the three approached him, they had their guards up before Hunter spoke. "Don't worry. I won't pick a fight. There's no Titan Blood."

"Then why are you digging?" Amity wondered

"You hoping to find some if you dig deep enough?" Skara asked

"Oh, it's simple really. Belos needs Titan blood to make a new portal key," Hunter said with a slightly unhinged look. "Can't get to the Human Realm without it!"

"There's blood in the key?" Amity said in realization as she clutched the key around her neck.

Skara looked at her and noticed the key as well before looking back at Hunter.

"Since I failed my last mission, I thought, 'Hey, a chance to make up for it!' But I can't go back empty-handed!" Hunter said, laughing hysterically. "Not again. Long story short, this is my grave. Want me to make you one too?"

"This is really bumming me out," King said as he looked at Hunter wearily.

"That's just life, rat. Everyone has a use, and if you don't... bye-bye," Hunter said, blowing a raspberry. "Your friend gets it."

King looked at Amity in confusion. "What's he talking about?"

"Luz has been sending me these… strange human codes," Amity said as she took out the game device. "I don't understand all of them but this one seems pretty clear. Come back with results or we're done."

King looked at the device for a second before rotating it 90 degrees.

As Amity looked at the device she now understood the message clearly.

"U-R-RAD." Amity clicked the button for the next message.

"FOOLS-BLOOD-BAD. U-OKAY? COME-HOME?" Amity chuckled as she read the messages. "Of course. This is Luz we're talking about."

"Told you there was nothing to worry about," Skara said with a smile

"Hey!" Hunter yelled, gaining their attention.

When they looked over, they saw Hunter lying on the ground as the cardinal was pulling on his cloak.

"Go find a better witch to be with." Hunter groaned sadly as he piled dirt over himself.

Amity kneeled near him as the cardinal flew up to her shoulder.

"You know, you were right. We do have a lot in common. I grew up thinking everything was an opportunity to justify… existing, but there are people out there who won't make you feel worthless. You just… have to let yourself meet them."

Amity reached out her hand towards him. As Hunter looked up, he saw Amity smiling at him before noticing the key around her neck and gasping as he slowly got up.

"W-what are you…" Amity was confused before she noticed that his attention was around her neck. She realized that the key was visible as she gasped before Hunter lunged towards her.

Amity managed to narrowly dodge him as he landed on the ground.

"Oh, come on. Being nice usually works for Luz," Amity said in annoyance

"Come on! We almost had a breakthrough there!" Skara said as she got her staff ready.

As Hunter tried to lunge at her again, King stood in front of him as he shot a sonic roar at him.

The cardinal flew in front of Hunter as he transformed into a staff to block the roar.

Hunter grabbed the staff as he teleported but he barely moved to the side.

"Real staves are weird! Ah!" Hunter yelled as Amity tied him up using abomination goo.

Hunter teleported again before teleporting again into the air, freeing himself from the goo. From the air, Hunter shot off multiple bolts of magic as they began to bounce all around the cave.

Amity grabbed King as she and Skara flew off avoiding the bolts. Amity quickly blocked a bolt of magic using her abomination goo as Skara whistled to create a wall of sound in front of her.

Hunter teleported behind the two as he lunged for the key again before King tackled him to the ground.

Hunter quickly teleported around Amity multiple times as she blocked him using her goo before creating an abomination fist on her hand. She punched Hunter back as she created a large spell circle using her staff.

From behind Hunter, a large abomination rose and surrounded him in a cocoon.

Amity and King climbed onto her staff as she and Skara flew away trying to escape, Hunter struggled against the goo before a large stone fist rose and hit Amity and Skara's staves.

As they flew in the air, Amity called her abomination goo back to her as King landed horn first on a vein branch as Skara landed roughly on the ground with a thud.

Amity landed on the ground as Hunter teleported next to her. "You really wanna help? Then give me that key!"

Hunter used his staff to yank the key off of Amity's neck. Amity quickly grabbed the key as Hunter pinned her arm to the wall and she pointed a spike of abomination goo at his neck. The two glare at each other as Hunter pants from exhaustion.

"Don't forget there's two of us," Skara said as she pointed her staff at Hunter. Hunter looked between the two as he focused on Amity.

"Listen, you're strong, you outnumber me, and I'm tired. If this continues, you'll probably escape, but here's the thing: we know where to find you two… and your partners," Hunter said as Amity and Skara gasped.

"So… just hand over the key."

Amity looked at Hunter with worry as she squeezed the key hard enough to crack it.

"Fine. Just… stay away from Luz," Amity said feeling defeated as she dropped the key into Hunter's hand.

"You'd better stay away from Cruz too," Skara said as she lowered her staff.

"Appreciate it. I, uh, mean that, too," Hunter said as he began to fly away. Neither of the girls said a word to him.

"Ha-ha. Yes. I heard fighting. I'm ready to go. Where's that nerd?" Eda said as she flew in and looked around.

She saw that King was still struggling on the vein as Amity and Skara looked down grimly.

"Oh. Dang it."

Back at the Owl House, Luz and Cruz wake up, Luz sits up as her pillow falls off. Her head was covered in mushrooms as Luz patted her face.

"I feel… great!" Luz said before noticing the mushrooms on her head. "I wonder if this is permanent?"

Luz suddenly let out a startled gasp. "I gotta find everyone!"

"Luz! Let me out of this!" Cruz called out.

Luz quickly untied and unzipped Cruz from his sleeping bag. Cruz touched the mushrooms on his head before pulling one off.

"Wonder if I can make some medicine from this?" Cruz asked before he and Luz ran out of the room planning to head to Eclipse Lake and help the others.

As the twins rushed out of the room, they shook off the mushrooms before bumping into Willow.

The bowl of soup she was carrying flew into the air before landing on Hooty's head.

"Safe!" Hooty said as Gus gave him a disturbed look.

"Have the others returned?" Luz asked

"They're in danger!" Cruz said they all rushed into the living room.

They see Amity, Skara, and King pulling on Eda as they try to drag her into the house.

"Ow, ow, ow! Just get an elixir. I got into harpy mode and now I can't get out," Eda said

"She also ate, like… nine voles on the way home," King told them

"It was disturbing," Skara said

"Hey, I had to keep up my end of the bargain," Eda said as they finally managed to pull her in before crashing on the ground

Amity groaned as she sat back up when Luz ran up to her with a hug. "Amity! I'm so glad my awesome girlfriend is okay!"

Amity looked surprised before smiling at her with a blush as she returned the hug.

"Me too."

No King hug? What is this?" King asked as he pointed at Amity. "You are a swindler and a thief!"

"Come here, buddy!" Luz said as she scooped him up.

"I regret this!"

Skara watched with a smile as she felt Cruz hug her from behind. When she looked at him, Skara felt Cruz kiss her on the cheek causing her to blush.

"There's the most beautiful witch ever. I'm so glad you're okay," Cruz said as Skara turned and looked at him.

"I'm glad you're okay too," Skara said as she hugged him.

Cruz then noticed that Skara had been hurt on her arm.

"What happened?" Cruz said as he pointed at the injury

Skara looked at her arm before shrugging. "I guess I got hit with one of the bolts in our fight with the Golden Guard and didn't notice. I'm fine, it doesn't hurt at all."

Cruz looked at her with worry before taking out a healing glyph paper and putting it on her arm. When the glyph faded, her injury was gone.

"There we go. Good as new," Cruz said with a smile as Skara returned the smile to him. "I'll make sure to get some payback next time I see him."

Eda leaned over to Amity as she whispered to her. "Do you wanna break the news or should I?"

"News?" Amity asked

"The empty lake, the Golden Guard, losing the portal key," Eda counted off with a scoff. "Today was a disaster."

"Actually, we might be okay," Amity said as she looked at her glove. It was covered in Titan's blood that had spilled from the crack in the key.

Back at the knee, Hunter looked at the cracked key as bits of blood spilled out of it. The cardinal flew up to him chirping happily as he landed on his hand.

"Oh, hey. You stuck with me the whole time, huh, bird?"

The cardinal chirped again as Hunter looked surprised.

"I think I understood that! I-Is that your name? Can you say it again?" The cardinal chirped again as Hunter chuckled. "Weird. Can you say other things?"

Hunter and the cardinal continued to walk down the slope as the cardinal continued to chirp happily.

Back at the Owl House, Cruz hung Amity's glove in his lab as he tore off a tiny corner. As Cruz placed the torn-off piece of glove into a test tube, the blood reacted quickly with the potion he'd placed in there as the light of the potion turned a bright blue.

"It's the same reaction as my blood," Cruz said as he looked over a note he'd taken from his blood test when he got back from the Bat Queen's forest.

"Both blood samples contain magic. Titan's blood reacted in the same way that my blood reacted," Cruz said as he held his head. "I guess I'm getting closer to figuring out what I am now. Either King and I are demons that are very closely related to the Titan… or we are Titans."

Cruz stood up from his desk as he looked out the window to see the moon. "Looks like we might be in trouble."