Hunting Palisman

In the Emperor's castle, four scouts guard a flight of stairs as nine witches, wearing white cloaks, walk down towards a room where the rebuilt portal door was held.

The nine witches surrounded a bonfire of blue flames while facing Kikimora, Belos, and the Golden Guard.

"The Day of Unity approaches, where we'll celebrate the purification of magic under the coven system, just as The Titan intended," Kikimora announced to the nine witches, who turned out to be the nine head witches. They all held badges on their cloaks with the symbol of their coven on it.

"As heads of the nine covens, we celebrate your efforts to complete this plan. For this, you have earned a glimpse of the reward that awaits."

"Step forward," Belos commanded them as they all removed their badges and placed them in slots on the pedestal surrounding the bonfire.

Lights swirled into the flame from their badges as the fire rose up. The nine head witches gazed in awe into the fire as their eyes began to glow white.

A vision in the flames showed the Titan's skull appearing in the human realm as its eyes are glowing. The vision fades as the head witches' eyes stop glowing.

"The larger your covens grow, the more power we have to unite our realms, where the worthy shall inherit a utopia free of wild magic," Belos said as he suddenly grunted in pain before he clutched his chest.

The Golden Guard helps Belos to stand up from his throne as he begins to lead him away. Kikimora tries to follow but the Golden Guard holds up a hand to stop her.

"No. Stay here. I can handle this alone," the Golden Guard said as he and Belos left the room and Kikimora glared at him.

As the Golden Guard and Belos enter the throne room, Belos transformed into a large creature made of sludge. He then proceeded to punch the wall multiple times as the Golden Guard turned away.

As Belos pulled his fist away from the wall, he seemed to calm down before placing his mask back on with green goop seeping through the cracks that's formed on the front of his mask.

The Golden Guard then handed him a Palisman as Belos snatched and broke it before absorbing its essence. His eyes changed from a green to their usual blue color.

Belos let out a sigh of relief. "I need more," Belos commanded as he reached a hand out.

"That was... the last from our reserves. The palistrom wood has been over harvested," the Golden Guard said as Belos turned away.

"Uncle, let me help!" The Golden Guard pleaded. "We can make more palismen! Actually, I read about this technique: harnessing wild magic to..."

The Golden Guard cut himself off as he noticed that Belos was staring back at him with disapproval.

"Uh... sorry."

"Please be careful," Belos said as he placed a hand on the Golden Guard's shoulder. "Our family is gone because of wild magic. I can't let the same happen to you." Belos' griped onto the Golden Guard's shoulder as green goop seeped through his hand.

Outside of the throne room, Kikimora was listening in to their conversation. "Find me more Palismen. I can depend on you, right?" Kikimora glared as she ran off determined to gain an advantage over the Golden Guard.

In the Owl House, Luz was sitting in her room while looking at the echo mouse as it sat in the terrarium she'd gotten for it.

"Oh, little echo mouse. You ate the diary that can get us home. Can't you cough up a teeny bit?" Luz asked the mouse as Cruz entered the room ready to head to school.

"Just squeeze it out," King said as he squeezed his teddy bear so hard that its head popped off.

"Please don't squeeze the mouse's head off. That's not going to do anything except make a mess," Cruz pointed out.

"Hmm. Maybe I just need to be patient?" Luz said... before immediately pressing her face on the terrarium's glass.

"Please tell me your secrets."

"Hey, knuckleheads. You're gonna be late for school," Eda said as walked in wearing a black blazer over her usual dress. Luz ignored Eda as she continued to stare at the echo mouse.

Cruz smirked knowing that Eda had a sure fire way to gain Luz's attention.

"Alright. I guess you and Cruz won't be getting a magic staff with your classmates," Eda said as Luz suddenly zoomed past the two. She was waiting for them at the front door wearing her school uniform.

"Come on, you two. We gotta fly!" Luz said eagerly

"There we go," Eda said in amusement as she went to go join her

"Figured that would work," Cruz said with a chuckle as he and Eda joined Luz before she closed the door happily with a hum.

At Hexside, Luz and Cruz joined a group of students as they all stood in front of a large stone pen in the Grudgby field.

"Hey, Willow. Shouldn't Amity be here?" Luz asked as she noticed the girl was missing from the group.

"Oh, sorry, Luz. I heard she stayed home today," Willow said

"Oh, that... actually makes sense," Luz said with a chuckle.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get the chance to talk to her soon," Cruz said reassuring her. He then looked over and saw Skara before she locked eyes with him.

The bard and the inventor both blushed before looking away. As Cruz looked away he saw Luz smirking at him.

"Don't you even start."

"I wasn't going to say anything," Luz said with her smirk ever present.

As Cruz was about to retort, Eda and Principal Bump joined them.

"Good tidings on this momentous day. You're all about to receive your witches' staff and, more importantly, meet your Palismen. This is a crucial step in your magical development. Palismen are lifelong partners. They can be both your good friends and a powerful tool. In my case..."

Bump snapped his finger as the Palisman sitting on his head opened its eyes before turning into a staff. Bump's body length black hair dropped as his right eye had a large scar, while his left was completely closed.

"Holy, Titan!" Luz said with a gasp as the rest of the class looked on in awe.

"Frewin here, helps me see."

Eda stepped forward as she addressed the group. "Now, traditionally, young witches carve their staffs from the branch of an old palistrom tree."

"But sadly, palistrom trees are becoming more rare. And those that remain are guarded covetously."

"That's why I've teamed up with Bumpy-poo..."

"Never call me that."

"...to bring you..." the Bat Queen flew in as she landed on a branch over the pen.

"Palisman adoption day!" The front door of the pen opened up as multiple Palismen all ran out to look at their potential partners.

"They're so cute," Luz cooed at them as the others students all looked at the Palismen happily.

"Thanks for the favor, BQ. Here's your whistle back," Eda said as she held up the skull whistle she'd gotten after babysitting her children.

"Save it for another time. This was my pleasure. What a wonderful idea," the Bat Queen said as she looked at her wards in happiness

A red cardinal Palisman with a scar began to hop around towards a hole in the pen as it tried to escape. Before it could make far from the pen, Bump picked it up.

"Nope! You're staying right here," Bump said as he placed the Palisman back into the pen.

"Aw! Little rascal!"

"These little ones have not had homes in many years. They want to feel a connection. Kneel and state your deepest wish, and your like-minded partner will find you," the Bat Queen explained as Boscha rolled her eyes at her.

"Ugh. I want my own palisman, not some trashy hand-me-down."

"Your loss," Willow said as she pushed Boscha out of the way. "I want to be strong and wise to protect everyone I love. And if anyone gets in my way... they'll feel the sting of defeat."

"Tender yet tenacious. Clover gives her support," Bat Queen said as a bee Palisman flew out of the pen next to Willow as she began to chitter before transforming into a staff.

"Oh! Oh my gosh! I'm gonna take such good care of you," Willow said as she hugged the Palisman.

"Beautiful. Just beautiful," Gus said as the rest of the class looked on in admiration.

"Outta my way!" Boscha said as she pushed Willow out of the way. "I want to play professional Grudgby!"

"A competitive spirit. Maya will be thrilled," the Bat Queen said with a chuckle.

A crab Palisman hopped up towards Boscha before transforming into a staff.

"Okay. This is pretty cool," Boscha said as she held her new Palisman with a blush.

"I want to open my own veterinary clinic for mythical pets," Viney said as a manticore Palisman rose up and turned into a staff.

"Alright!" Viney cheered with a slight chuckle

"Dad wants me to become a master illusionist, but that's easy. So instead, I'll become an ambassador to the Human Realm and re-establish contact with the giraffes!" Gus said as a blue chameleon climbed on his arm and turned into a staff.

"I just want to make it to graduation," a spiky headed abomination student said as a sloth Palisman hung from his arm before turning into a staff.

"I want to be able to forge my own path," Skara said as a red cricket jumped up and turned into a staff.

Luz pushed Cruz a bit forward towards the pen.

"Oh fine, I'll go first," Cruz said as he kneeled in front of the Palismen.

"I want to keep exploring the demon realm. And I want to keep making inventions to help everyone."

Suddenly, a blue blur shot up to Cruz knocking him back. Cruz began to laugh as the Palisman gave him multiple play bites.

"A curious and innovative spirit. Gizmo will be happy."

Cruz looked down towards the little blue weasel Palisman that was currently biting on his arm with a bright smile before the Palisman turned into a staff.

Luz stepped forward as she kneeled to the Palismen.

"I wanna be... a witch!" Luz said happily before her smile dropped as none of the Palismen seemed to react to her.

"Uh... probably just takes a little longer 'cause I'm a human, right?"

"Palismen bond through emotion. I do not sense any conviction from you."

"That's impossible. I'm Luz, I'm chock full of conviction!"

"Perhaps specificity would help," Bump said as Eda smiled at her. "There are many kinds of witches. What do you hope to accomplish with your magic?"

"Oh, uh... get home to my mom?" Luz said unsure if that was the right answer

"Would you still train to be a witch in the Human Realm?" Gus asked

"Can you even do magic there?" Boscha said as Luz began to look nervous.

"Huh, I guess I never thought that far ahead," Luz said as she began to sweat

"You okay, Luz?" Eda asked as she looked at her with worry as Luz looked around nervously.

Back in the Owl House, Luz was pacing around in her room after changing back into her pajamas.

"I stayed here because I wanted to learn magic, right? I wanted to be a witch like Eda and Azura. But what does that even mean?" Luz asked herself as she crawled to the echo mouse terrarium.

"And I read stories like this. The main character always has to return home, and what? Did I expect to be a witch back in Connecticut?"

The echo mouse looked at Luz before going back to sleep and ignoring her. "Mmm. Yeah, I wouldn't want to be my palisman either."

Outside of her room, Eda, King, and Cruz listened in as they felt bad for her. Eda whispered her plan to Cruz as he gave her a thumb up as she and King left. Cruz headed towards the kitchen to make some food that would hopefully cheer Luz up.

Inside of her room, the red cardinal Palisman hopped out of her bag, gaining Luz's attention.

"It's you! Did you come here... for me?" Luz asked feeling hopeful before it was dashed away when the cardinal continued to hop around the room.

"No. Of course not. Come on, little dude. I'll take you back to your nest." Luz grabbed her cloak and began to head out. When she opened her door, Cruz was standing there holding up a plate of griffin eggs for her.

"Where you going?" Cruz asked

"I was going to take this little one back to Hexside," Luz said as she held up the cardinal. The bird chirped at Cruz.

"I'll come with you. It's getting pretty late," Cruz said. "And besides, it's a good chance for Gizmo to see some of his friends again."

"Where's Gizmo?" Luz asked

Cruz pointed to the top of his head. Luz looked between his horns and saw that the Palisman was nestled on his head looking at her.

"Aww! How precious," Luz said as Gizmo jumped onto Cruz's hand before turning into a staff.

"Ready when you are," Cruz said as they left towards Hexside.

At Hexside, Luz and Cruz landed at the Grudgby field landing in front of the Palismen pen that was covered in a gold forcefield.

"How are we supposed to get through that?" Luz questioned

"Not sure. We'd have to find what's keeping the barrier up," Cruz said before the cardinal Palisman jumped off from Luz's hand and placed its forehead to the barrier.

The barrier began to shimmer before breaking apart.

"Ooh, Palismen powers. Neat!" Luz opened the door as the little Palisman hopped in with the rest. The rest of the Palismen woke up when she opened the door.

"Aw," Luz said as she began to crawl into the nest.

"What are you doing?" Cruz wondered

"I want to stay until I can figure out what my future is and one of these little guys becomes my Palisman."

"Alright, but I'm staying too. Might as well bounce ideas around and see if one sticks," Cruz said as he crawled in too and closed the door.

"What if... I use my powers to become a popular magician back in the Human Realm? No, I'm horrible at card tricks. What if... I stay on the Boiling Isles, and become a rugged bounty hunter?" Luz wondered as she picked up the red cardinal again.

"No, I'm too lovable. Oh! If I go back..." Luz continued to say different occupations but none of them seemed to catch any of the Palismen's attention.

After what felt like hours, Luz was the only one still awake as she continued to ramble on.

"What if... I open a magic pet shop, but it's password protected. The password is: You're a little angel." The cardinal chirped at her as the entire pen started to shake spooking everyone inside.

"I'm awake!" Cruz said as he stood up in a daze.

Luz opened the door angrily. "Hey! We're a little busy in... here?" Luz looked down to see the shelter was being lifted into the air. Luz and Cruz looked up to see an air ship carrying them.

"Oh that's not good," Cruz said

"I think we're being kidnapped," Luz said to the Palismen as they began to whimper and shake with fear.

"Don't worry, we'll figure this out."

"The one time I decided not to bring my gloves or gauntlets," Cruz said in exasperation.

Luz drew a plant glyph onto the dirt as a vines snaked its way up to the airship. Luz and Cruz climbed up the vine while Gizmo hid in Cruz's pocket.

As the two climb up to the airship's side, they see the Golden Guard piloting the ship while whistling a strangely familiar tune to himself.

"Ugh, him again," Luz said

"We've got the element of surprise here, let's see what we can do," Cruz said as he looked to see Luz holding a leaf with the fire glyph on it while she chuckled with a mischievous look.

"Oh, no."

"Hi-ya!" Luz yelled out as she slammed the leaf on the Golden Guard's back.

"Huh?" The Golden Guard turned to look back just as the glyph activated and began to rocket him as he hit the floor then the ceiling before flying off the ship.

"Did you just..."

"...He'll be fine," Luz said as they watched the Golden Guard fly away. "Okay, now how do we land this thing?"

"It's gotta be one of these levers," Cruz said as they looked at the dashboard

"Oh, you just pull that cord above your head," a voice instructed the twins.

"Oh, thank yo-eh?!" Luz and Cruz looked up in surprise to see the Golden Guard lying on the dashboard

"Hi~" The Golden Guard fired a spell from his staff as a pair of ropes were summoned tying Luz and Cruz, knocking them off their feet.

"Wha-hey!" Luz protested

"Good to see you too, human. And you too, hybrid," the Golden Guard said as he dusted his shoulder.

"Why are you stealing Palismen, Golden Guard?" Luz questioned.

"There's better ways to start a petting zoo," Cruz said

"Frankly," the Golden Guard began before teleporting in front of the two; "You should be more about yourselves. For the crime of... rocketing me off my own ship, you'll be locked in dingiest cell in the Conformatorium, for the rest of your sad little lives."

Luz scoffed at his threat. "Whatever. We already broke out of there, like twice."

"Seriously, we even beat the warden up like three times. Get some better security," Cruz said as Luz was confused with his miscount

"Then we'll just zap you to dust and throw you into the sea. That better?"

Luz grumbled at him.

"Good," the Golden Guard said as he continued to pilot his ship.

Luz looked down at the ship's deck and noticed that her shoe left scuff marks. She began to discreetly draw a glyph onto the deck.

Cruz noticed what she was doing and smirked at Luz's creativity.

"Say, how did you get back on the ship so fast?" Luz asked

"Staff," the Golden Guard said as he pointed to his staff

"Cool." Luz slammed her foot on the ice glyph she drew as ice spikes struck his staff sending it flying.

"No!"

Luz chuckled as she looked at him smugly.

"You probably shouldn't have told her about the staff," Cruz said with a smirk

The Golden Guard chuckled with slight irritation. "Human, it'll take more than that to thwart my mission."

Suddenly a loud is heard as a large dragon with a pair of hands as its face lands on the airship's balloon.

"What is that?!" Luz asked

"Not friendly!"

The hand dragon ripped apart the balloon causing the airship to plummet from the sky. The three all scream as they fall from the sky.

Luz begins to regain consciousness as she opens her eyes. The cardinal Palisman chirps as he begins to peck at the ropes tied around Luz.

"Huh? Little rascal?" The ropes around her finally break free letting her move around again. "Oh, thank you. My head," Luz said with a groan as he she looked over and saw Cruz begin to wake up too.

"That wasn't fun at all," Cruz said as began to stand up. He noticed the rope around his body had broken on the impact of the fall.

"At least I don't have to worry about this any more," Cruz said before he noticed blood coming from his hand.

"You're bleeding," Luz said with worry

"It's not a lot, I can just bandage it up later when we get back home," Cruz said as he felt Gizmo climb up to his hand.

"Hey, Gizmo. I'm glad you're okay," Cruz said as the weasel looked at him with joy in his eyes before looking at his hand with a small whimper.

"It's okay, buddy. Don't worry about it too much." Gizmo looked at his hand before licking it trying to make it felt better.

As Gizmo ingested a bit of the blood, his fur seemed to flare up before he shook his head.

"You probably shouldn't do that, don't want you getting sick from it. Guess I can cross off dragons on the list of things that've tried to kill me," Cruz said before he noticed the Golden Guard's staff lying near them.

"Guess this is where it landed," Luz said as she picked it up. The two then heard the Golden Guard groan as they noticed him lying closely unconscious.

"Kikimora, ma'am," a scout captain said as Luz and Cruz peeked over a large yellow rock.

They saw that Kikimora was surrounded by a large party of scouts as the captain reported to her.

"We found the Palismen. They seem rattled but unharmed," the captain said

"Very good, Captain. Return to the city and prepare them for travel," Kikimora orders

"Is it true, ma'am? Is the Golden Guard really..."

Kikimora holds up the Golden Guard's helmet as she shows it to the captain.

"This is all that remains," Kikimora said as the captain gasped in shock.

"Such a horrible accident. Probably caused by the incompetent pilot." Kimora shook her head as the captain processed the news.

"I'll... alert the castle. Scouts! To Latissa!" As the captain and the rest of the scouts leave, Kikimora takes out a whistle that looks like a dark teal finger.

As she blows on it, the hand dragon approaches her before Kikimora begins to pet it. "Excellent work, my pet."

Luz and Cruz gasp as Kikimora holds up the Golden Guard's mask up to the dragon.

"Now, find the rest of him and have yourself a nice little snack. I'll call for you soon," Kikimora said as the dragon began to happily eat the mask as Kikimora left.

Luz and Cruz look back towards the Golden Guard and see that he's still unconscious, completely vulnerable for the dragon to attack. The cardinal Palisman chirped at them in concern.

"Don't worry. We won't leave him," Luz reassured the Palisman as they began to approach the Golden Guard.

As they reach the Golden Guard, Luz and Cruz see that he looks to be around their age with light blonde hair with a little cowlick that stuck out to look like an antena. A large scar decorated his cheek along with a little tooth gap in the front.

"This is the Golden Guard?"

"He's just a kid. They seriously have child soldiers here," Cruz said with worry

"It looks like her could be a student at Hexside." Luz began to slowly lean towards the Golden Guard.

Cruz looked at her in confusion before she suddenly slapped him sharply

"Wake up!" Luz said as the Golden Guard's eyes snapped open with a start

"There it is," Cruz said used to Luz and her sudden wake up calls

"Wha-you!" Luz placed a hand on the Golden Guard's mouth silencing him

"Shh! Listen. You are a bad person, and I do not like you. But Kikimora is trying to kill you and unfortunately, I'm too nice to let that happen!"

Luz suddenly removed her hand from his face in disgust seeing that it was covered in slobber.

"Ugh, are you licking my hand!" Luz began to wipe the slobber on the Golden Guard's face. "I'm trying to help you!"

"Why should I believe you?" The Golden Guard said as he began to push Luz off of himself.

"Because-" the two stop fighting when they hear a large creature approaching.

"Hide. Now," Cruz said as the three all ran behind a pair of rocks.

They peak over the rocks and see the hand dragon round the corner before spotting the Golden Guard's cloak as it began to happily devour its snack.

The trio head towards Latissa with the Golden Guard taking the lead.

"Whew, man. Kikimora must hate you," Luz said as they entered the town. They saw an old lady brush away spiders before she punched a larger one out of the window.

The twins turned to see a demon eating demon wings as the spectators cheered when they breathed fire.

"Whoa! I haven't been outside Bonesborough that much, Latissa is so cool! Wait!" Luz called out as the Golden Guard began to walk away faster. "Where are you going? Hey man, we just saved your life, the least you could do is tell us your name."

The Golden Guard huffed as he began to walk towards a precinct.

"Oh great we're at one of these places," Cruz said as he and Luz caught up to the Golden Guard.

"Scouts! Direct me to your communications room. I need to contact the castle immediately," the Golden Guard ordered as he slid his glove down slightly to show his coven sigil.

"Cute," the scout said unimpressed. "I didn't know kids your age were still into temporary tattoos."

"Yeah show us your badge number," the other scout said.

"I am your superior and I can prove it," the Golden Guard said as he turned to look at Luz. "Staff."

"Hmm?" Luz quickly hid the staff behind her back as the Golden Guard looked at her in bewilderment. Cruz snickered at his face.

"Isn't it a little late for you kids to be outside?"

"Yeah, go home before we call your parents." The two scouts walk away towards the precinct.

The Golden Guard turned back toward Luz with an angry glare before he began to run towards her. Luz and Cruz quickly turn and flee towards the city.

Luz and Cruz run through the crowd as the Golden Guard follows them closing in on them. "Uh, excuse me. Sorry!" Luz said as they bumped into different townspeople.

A cat demon hissed at them as they almost run them over before the Golden Guard knocked them out of his way.

Cruz pushed down a garbage can as the Golden Guard jumped over it before Luz and Cruz jump down a ledge down a flight of stairs. As they land on the stairs, Luz knocks over a basket full of eyes before they keep running.

"Sorry!" Luz apologized as she and Cruz run into an alleyway. The twins stop at the end of the alley as Luz begins to draw an ice glyph on the ground.

When the Golden Guard stops in the alleyway, he spots them before he begins to run towards them.

"Ice glyph!" Luz yelled as she activated the spell launching the two of them up onto the roof of the building behind them.

Luz and Cruz look down and see the Golden Guard looking up annoyed at them but not doing much else.

"Come on, Golden Guard. Don't you know any, like, levitation spells?" Luz taunts as the Golden Guard glared at her in annoyance before he looked away.

"Are you powerless without this?" Luz asked as she pointed at the staff

"Never heard of anyone like that before," Cruz said as the Golden Guard began to walk away. He quickly began to run towards them as he began to jump off of different rocks and other objects as he made his way up to the roof.

As he landed on the roof, the Golden Guard moved to the side as he dodge a red bolt of magic that Luz had shot at him.

"Back up, or... or else!" Luz said as Cruz stood in front of her defensively.

"Or else what?" The Golden Guard said as he began to approach the two. "Gonna blast me to bits? Nah, you're too nice for that. Fly away? Uh-uh, you know neither of you would do that either. 'Cause then you'll be leaving behind your precious Palismen. You don't tend to think things through, do you, human?"

Luz bit her lip in frustration knowing that he was right.

"I'll blast him," Cruz said before they saw the hand dragon land at the precinct.

"So Kikimora was after my catch," the Golden Guard said as the three spied on them

"Seems like none of us want her to win right now. So, let's work together to take back those Palismen," Luz suggested

"Then what? You think I'll just let you walk away with them?"

"Maybe you won't have a choice!" Luz said as she began to twirl the staff. Cruz took a step to the side to avoid being hit.

"I'm more formidable than you think." Luz lost her grip on the staff almost dropping it over the edge, causing the three to panic.

"I'm keeping this for now," Cruz said as he took the staff from Luz

"I doubt that, but fine. A truce til then."

"Truce," Luz said as she extended her hand out to him. As the Golden Guard was about to shake her hand, Luz quickly took it away.

"Too slow." Luz ran off chuckling to herself.

"And for some reason people are surprised that she's older," Cruz said to himself as he followed after Luz.

"Let's just get this over with," the Golden Guard said with a grunt.

As Kikimora was getting ready to leave the precinct, no one noticed the Golden Guard sneaking away carrying a large sac full of supplies.

As he climbed onto a roof of a building, Luz was drawing a large glyph combo of fire and ice while Cruz was busy looking over his staff.

"Huh, I've never seen magic like this. What will it do?" The Golden Guard asked

"Well, we don't want to spook Kikimora's steed, because it might drop the nest and hurt the palismen! So, using these fire and ice spells, I can command the glyphs to produce a thick mist!"

"And the sleeping nettles?" He asked pulling out the plant from the sac.

"They're essential! Combined with the magic mist, it'll create-"

"A sleep-inducing smoke, forcing Kikimora to land."

Luz and Cruz looked up at him in surprise.

"Look at the nerd brain on this one," Cruz said with a chuckle as he continued to fiddle with the staff

Oh, um, I... I-I read a similar spell in Bones to Earthâ""

"A Study of Wild Magic! Eda once pickpocketed the guy who wrote it."

"I've never seen glyphs before, but, it seems very similar to the elemental magic practiced in the Savage Ages."

"Really?" Luz asked

"Actually, not many people know this, but..." the Golden Guard began to say with glee before stopping himself. "No. No, no, no, no. This stuff is restricted for a reason. You should forget about it before you're hurt."

"Uh huh... Other than Lilith, I've never spoken to someone inside the Emperor's Coven. What made you want to join?"

"You were right before," the Golden Guard began to say as he slid down the wall. "I'm a powerless witch. A lot of my ancestors were."

Cruz stopped working for a moment as he looked up in curiosity. He'd never found any records of witches being born without magic.

"I never thought I'd have a future in a world like this. But then, Belos found me and gave me a staff with artificial magic. He said the Titan had big plans for me."

Cruz clicked his tongue, hearing about Belos and his lies.

"At least you have your future figured out now."

"At least you can figure out your own."

The cardinal Palisman hopped towards the Golden Guard as it started to peck at his leg.

"Hey! Stop, get away from me!"

"He's just being friendly," Luz reassured

"I don't care! These things are made from wild magic. It's dangerous."

"And does he look dangerous to you?"

"He's just a harmless little Palisman," Cruz said with a smile

"What are you doing to my staff?"

"Fixing it," Cruz said simply

"It's not broken. Stop before you break it," the Golden Guard said in annoyance

"I'm not going to break it. Man when Aunt Lily said my staff looked like the ones in the Emperor's Coven she wasn't kidding." Cruz twisted the staff as it pulled apart revealing the inner gears working to generate its features.

"Even the inside is almost identical. When they made this thing they ended up messing us some of the basic components," Cruz explained as Luz and the Golden Guard leaned closer.

"With the way it's made, the spell will come out too slow and too weak." Cruz began to tweak the inside of the staff fixing some loose gears and screws.

"I can't believe someone would make something so flawed and call it a day. Seriously, it's almost like either an idiot who didn't know the first thing about machines made this, or they made it flawed on purpose." As Cruz finished his work he closed up the staff and gave it a once over before humming in satisfaction.

"Perfect!"

"Great job, you just made the staff of the person who tried to kill us stronger," Luz pointed out as Cruz gave a sheepish laugh.

"Sorry, can't help myself. I see something that needs fixing and I just gotta fix it."

The three then notice Kikimora's dragon take off into the air.

"Masks on," Luz instructed as the three pulled up a mask to protect themselves from the sleeping gas.

"Once they're surrounded by the smoke, we'll need to stay close to see where they land."

The Golden Guard nods before he sees Cruz hand his staff back to him.

"Are you sure?" He asked with hesitation

"Take it. If we're going to work together then you'll need your staff for it. And besides, I'm curious to know how the staff feels for you," Cruz said

As the hand dragon flies over them, Luz activates the glyph combo sending the smoke towards the hand dragon.

The three took off into the air pursuing them. As the smoke engulfed Kikimora, her vision began to turn blurry as she fought off her wooziness.

"I think it's working," the Golden Guard said as Luz activated a light glyph using a piece of paper the Golden Guard had taken from the precinct.

When the hand dragon saw the light, it began to chase after them hungrily as Luz and the others led it towards the ground.

"Stop!" Kikimora said, as she crash landed on the ground as the hand dragon fell asleep. She was thrown off the saddle onto the ground with a thud.

Luz, Cruz, and the Golden Guard landed on the ground near the Palismen pen.

"The Palismen!" Luz ran up the pen as she opened it up, while Cruz looked over at the unconscious Kikimora and smirked.

"Hello, babies," Luz said as she looked at all the Palismen as the red cardinal joined them. "Aw, you guys must be so cold and scared. Here, make sure you share." Luz took off her cape as Cruz did the same as they wrapped it around the Palismen. "Now, stay in here, okay? We'll get you home safe and-"

They then heard the Golden Guard activate his staff. They turned to see him pointing it straight at them.

"Right, I didn't think this through. Again," Luz said with a nervous chuckle

"Maybe fixing that staff wasn't such a good idea," Cruz said as he and Luz stood up and face him.

"So you're really gonna do this? You're just gonna hand all these innocent little guys over to Belos? We know what he does with them," Luz said as the Golden Guard seemed to look at them with guilt.

Cruz remembered the day he and Luz saw Belos eat the Palisman and could feel his stomach turn in knots.

"I thought you might've been a good guy. But I guess that was just wishful thinking. You're not my friend. You're just... the Golden Guard."

After a moment, the Golden Guard lowered his staff before removing his mask. "My name is Hunter."

Luz and Cruz look at him in surprise before he's suddenly struck by a bolt of magic.

They turn to see a groggy Kikimora raise her finger towards them. "I can't tell who's there, but I know I've got you!"

Kikimora kept firing bolts of magic at them as Hunter blocked the spell using his staff. Hunter rushed at Kikimora as he blocked the bolts that she sent flying towards him as he dashed around her.

He teleported behind Kikimora as he eyes widened before sending her flying with a smack from his staff.

As Kikimora landed in front of them, her whistle fell off of neck. As Luz picked up the whistle, Kikimora prepared another spell aimed at her. Hunter quickly appeared and knocked her spell back before shoving her back using his staff.

"This is treason against a coven official!" Kikimora yelled as she fired another bolt of magic, singeing his hair antena.

"I will have your head!" As Kikimora continued to fire at Hunter she didn't notice Cruz running up to her before he drop kicked her a few feet to the side.

"That was satisfying," Cruz said with a smile as he ran towards Luz and the hand dragon.

"Hey... good thingy..." Luz said with a nervous chuckle as she and Cruz climbed onto the hand dragon. "The Boiling Isles will never stop surprising me."

"Let's get out of here while we've got the chance," Cruz said as Luz blew on the whistle. The hand dragon woke up and looked at the twins happily before taking off with the Palismen.

The two looked back towards the ground and saw Hunter knock back a bolt of magic towards Kikimora, knocking her out. Luz and Cruz look at him with sadness and disappointment in their eyes as he looked towards them.

Back at the Grudgby field, the Bat Queen landed as the sun began to rise up.

"Good morning, Bat Queen," Principal Bump greeted. "The Palismen are all accounted for. Although, I don't know where that thing came from..."

Bump pointed towards the hand dragon that Luz and Cruz had left sleeping on the bleachers.

The cardinal Palisman chirped happily as he landed on the Bat Queen.

"You found someone after all this time? Go then." The cardinal chirped happily before flying off to find his bond.

At the Owl House, Luz collapsed onto her sleeping bag. Cruz not having the energy to move, just collapsed on the ground. Luz sighed as she looked at the picture she had of her, Cruz, and their mom.

"Everyone got one except me, mom. Maybe I wasn't meant to be here." Luz turned her head as she heard her window opening.

She gasped when she saw Eda covered in dirt sporting a large smile. "Eda!"

"I thought I'd find you here," Eda said happily as she held a blue log

"We could've used the door!" King yelled as he climbed up the window

"What did you get into?" Luz asked as Eda threw the log to her.

"Uh. How... thoughtful?"

"It's palistrom wood, ya ding-dong!" Eda told her

"Now you... can make your own Palisman!" King said happily

"Looks like you guys managed your plan alright," Cruz said happily as Luz turned to him in surprise

"But... but how? Isn't this super rare?"

"Let's just say that the Bonesborough Garden Club-"

"Was robbed! By us!" King said happily. "Also we used some of your stuff to do that, Cruz."

"What! I had all my stuff locked up-and I just realized who I'm talking to." Cruz deadpanned

"Yup! That little lock isn't a match for me," Eda said proudly

"I don't know what to say..."

Eda placed a hand of Luz's shoulder. "No pressure, but whenever you know what you want, we'll start carving."

"If it's okay... I'd like some time to think," Luz said as she looked down sadly. "It's hard to picture my future without seeing my mom."

"Eh, there's no rush. Just know that whatever you need from us, we gotcha."

"Thanks," Luz said with a smile as she looked at Eda, King, and Cruz. They were the family that she knew would always be there for her. She placed the log into her bag as she hugged it happily.

"Now, then I've gotta go make a few fixes to my security system in my room and get finished on Luz's temporary staff," Cruz said as he left the room and headed back to his room. Gizmo seemed to have calmed down again after they'd gotten back home but he was still worried about why he'd been affected by his blood.

At the Emperor's Castle, Hunter kneeled in front of Belos. He was back to wearing his uniform minus the golden mask. He had a patch covering his wound he'd received from Kikimora.

"So, you return with nothing. Is this the thanks I get for taking you in?" Belos said as he stood.

"Of course not. I want to help. A-A-And if you told me how wild magic did this to you, I might be able to find a-" he was cut off as a spike narrowly missed Hunter's ear.

"My apologies. I spoke out of turn. It won't happen again."

Belos clutched his chest. "These outbursts are... painful, and so is watching you fail," Belos said as his eyes were glowing blue. "I know you can do better, Hunter."

Kikimora is approaching the door to the throne room as Hunter steps outside causing her to gasp in shock.

"Golden Guard? Y-You're alive! I mean, I heard about the crash in Latissa."

"Luckily, some travelers picked me up out of the wreckage. So I'm actually doing great. Looks like you had a rough night though."

As Hunter begins to walk away, Kikimora is seething before she noticed the singed hair and realized that Hunter was the person who attacked her in Latissa.

In his room, Hunter lies down on his bed as lets out a sigh. "I can help, if I just knew a little more..."

At the window, Hunter hears a chirp. When he turns to look, he sees the red cardinal Palisman sitting there at the windowsill.

"Palisman!" Hunter quickly grabbed the cardinal before squeezing him slightly. The cardinal gave a chirp as Hunter quickly let go of him.

"Oh! Sorry," Hunter said as he frowned before he began to pet him. "You shouldn't be here. It'd be bad if Belos saw you."

The cardinal turned into a staff as it landed in Hunter's hands. "Oh! I was... not expecting that." Hunter looked out his window with his new staff in hand and gazed longingly for what the future might hold for him now.

In the Bat Queen's forest, the Bat Queen was busy gathering her wards that felt they were ready to try and bond with a new witch. When she heard a twig snap, she instantly got up her guard as the Palismen hid.

"Hey, Bat Queen. Sorry for dropping in like this," Cruz said as he came out from behind the trees.

The Bat Queen relaxed seeing it was the Owl Lady's son. "Hello, child. What is the matter?"

"I was just wondering about something, and I thought you might be able to help me out. You see, yesterday I got cut and Gizmo ended up licking up some of the blood trying to make me feel better," Cruz explained.

"The problem was that he started to act a bit strange. I didn't want to force him to try and fly or use any spells in case it would hurt him."

"Is Gizmo alright?" The Bat Queen asked

"He's fine. It passed with a bit of time, I'll just make sure he doesn't lick it again in case this happens again. I'd rather nothing happen to him." Gizmo popped up from Cruz's pocket as he happily cooed when Cruz scratched the top of his head.

The Bat Queen looked at the two with a warm smile knowing that Gizmo would be leading a happy life with his new bond.

"I'm not entirely sure why your blood would cause him to act differently," the Bat Queen confessed.

"Would it help if I showed you? I'm not sure what kind of demon blood I have in me."

"It might, I have known many types of demons in my lifetime."

Cruz lifted the bandage from his hand to show the Bat Queen his wound. As she got closer to it, she sniffed the injury before she leaned away from it.

"Interesting."

"What is it?"

"It's strange, the blood smells familiar. Almost as if I've met someone with the same blood as you. It must have been many years ago, as I can't recall their face. All I know is that their blood seemed to be magic itself."

Cruz looked down as he took in the information she'd given him. If his blood was similar to that person the Bat Queen was talking about, did that mean his blood had magic in it?

Cruz would have to go home and start tests on his blood to see what exactly it would do.

"Thanks, Bat Queen. Ever since I've gotten this blood it feels like there's something different to me even from all the others in the Boiling Isles," Cruz said as he began to head back towards the Owl House.

"First it was those ghosts in the Temple of Sound talking about some ancient King and now I've apparently got blood with magic in it."

As Cruz left, the Bat Queen's eyes widened for a moment as an old memory that was long since buried seemed to rise up for a moment.

A time long ago when she was living happily alongside her bond. A large horned demon that seemed to have the most brilliant magic that seemed like it had no limit. A single name escaped her as it came to her like the wind.

"...Titan"