Hollow Mind

Luz and Cruz's eyes flickered as they opened it and saw a dark roof. As the twins stood up, they looked around and saw multiple paintings hanging on the walls.

They gasped when they saw a painting of Belos looming over Eda in her Owl Beast form along with Luz, Cruz, King, and Lilith. Underneath the painting, it had the title "Triumph Over Wild Magic". The twins stand as they look around to see all the paintings in horror.

"What is this place?" Luz asked

"Is it some kind of messed up museum?" Cruz wondered

"You know exactly where we are, human," Hunter said as the twins turned to look at him as he stared at them furiously. "You got us trapped in the Emperor's mind!"

"Huh?!" Luz exclaimed as Cruz looked at him in shock. "We're in the Emperor's mind? That's bananas!"

"I don't know what those are and I don't care to," Hunter said

"It's a type of fruit, you lemon," Cruz said. "What happened? How'd we even get here?"

"Remember what happened at the Night Market?" Hunter asked as he began to remember.

At the Night Market, a peddler demon with four eyes and a second mouth was wandering around as he tried to get customer's attention.

"Teeth! Get your teeth! We got all varieties and qualities!" The peddler said as he put his hand on someone's shoulder. "I even do trades," the peddler's second mouth said smugly.

When the person turned around, the peddler was startled when he saw that it was Hunter wearing his Golden Guard uniform.

"Oh, I... mean, why would I trade teeth? That's illegal and unsanitary. But, I mean, if you're interested..."

Hunter then noticed three witches wearing hooded cloaks walking nearby.

"I heard whispers of an attempt to invade the Emperor's mind with wild magic. I decided to take the villains out myself," Hunter narrated as followed the three hooded witches into an alley.

In the alley, the smallest witch drew a spell circle on the ground, while the witch wearing glasses began to play a flute. The tallest witch took out a vial before summoning and dropping in purple goo turning the potion a bright yellow.

As they put the potion on the ground, the tallest witch turned his hand into an abomination hammer as the other two got ready.

"But just as I was about to stop them..."

Hunter jumped out from a pair of barrels and confronted the three witches.

"Halt! For crimes against the Emperor, you are under arrest!" Hunter yelled as he took out his mechanical staff.

"Oh, wait! I remember now!" Luz yelled as she interrupted Hunter's narration

"Hey!"

Eda, King, and Luz stood outside of a shop as Cruz ran back up to them after putting his scroll away.

"Eda took King, Cruz, and me to the Night Market to repair our witch's wool cape. But after Cruz came back from his phone call, we ran into some trouble."

"Sorry about that," Cruz apologized. "Had to go over some details with a client."

Eda was banging on the glass panel of the store as she peered in. "Hello? Prim? Did you get into the Night Juice again? Hello~?" Eda said in a sing-song fashion.

Eda pressed her ear to the door as Luz's walkie-talkie buzzed.

"Is this thing on? Demon King to Luzura, you copy?" King asked over the walkie-talkie.

"Sure do!" Luz called out as she turned to where King was hiding.

King popped out of a cauldron full of skulls. "Use the walkie!" King said holding up the walkie-talkie

Cruz chuckled as Luz turned back to the walkie. "Oh, uh, right. 10-4, Demon King. Luzura here with Echo, Delta, Alfa. What's your 20? Over."

"Uh, oh. Uh... Hable… más… lento… por favor? (Speak more slowly please)" King said slowly into the walkie.

"Aw, you remembered your lesson. But that wasn't Spanish, buddy. I read you loud and clear! Over."

"Wait. How wasn't that Spanish?" Cruz wondered.

Before Luz could answer, they heard Eda banging on the door. "Hey, Prim!"

As she banged on the glass panel again, a small blonde witch finally opened up the door.

"Ah, there you are," Eda said as she squatted down. "I need more witch's wool. I got a couple of kids with cold shoulders and a knack for gettin' into trouble."

"The shop is closed, Eda. I've... finally decided to join a coven," Prim said as she showed Eda, Luz and Cruz her sigil for the Oracle Coven. "Emperor Belos says wild witches celebrate destruction and... pain."

"I mean, I know I can be... abrasive, but-" Eda began to say before Prim cut her off.

"He also says that the Titan punishes those who aid wild witches. I can't have you here."

As Prim was about to close the door, Cruz grabbed it and stopped it from closing.

"Prim. You know me," Cruz said as he showed her his Mechanical Witch mask. "In the whole time you've seen my matches have you ever seen me act in the way that Belos said?"

Prim shook her head as Cruz smiled at her. "Listen, if you don't want to do this for Eda. Please do it for me and my sister. I promise you, the Titan will not punish you for helping us. After all, you're not helping wild witches. You're helping out a couple of kids."

Prim began to ponder before looking back at Cruz. "Alright. Come back tomorrow during the day or send one of your minions. I'll give you the capes then," Prim said as she closed the door.

Luz looked over to see that Eda had a hurt expression on her face from being turned away by her long time friend.

"Well what does he know?" Luz said angrily as she walked up to the door.

"Luz, calm down," Cruz said. "She already agreed to make the cape."

"I don't care! Belos is a liar. He just wants power! And I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that he can't speak to the Titan!"

The crowd around her all gasped as they began to murmur.

"Do you think she's right?" A purple-haired witch asked

"Don't let the Titan hear you say that. Belos says he can read minds," a yellow demon with horns said quickly.

"What even is a doughnut?"

As the crowd dispersed, Eda noticed how weary the crowd was acting as she called out to Luz.

"Hey, I'll be fine. You're the one who needs to be careful," Eda said.

"She's right, you know," Cruz said. "Saying something like that can get you arrested by the guards."

"But people should know who Belos really is!" Luz protested

"And who is he really?" Eda asked as Luz looked down, not being able to give an answer.

"Listen, Belos has been Emperor for 50 years. Everyone is used to this. No one's gonna risk change unless you have proof that he's up to something."

"She's right, Luz," Cruz said. "Belos has a firm hold on this place, it won't be easy to prove what we know about him."

Eda looked at Luz and saw that she looked dejected.

"Ah, come on," Eda said as she playfully punched Luz's shoulder. "We'll figure something out. But first, let's see if there are any respectable criminals left in this city."

As Eda walked away, the people around her murmured as they cleared the path for her to pass.

King walked up to the twins. "I hate seeing people look at Eda that way," Luz said

"I know what you mean," Cruz said. "But not much we can do right now."

"But how can I prove he's actually evil? It feels so obvious, but no one believes me! No one answers my letters!" Luz said as she groaned. "I don't know what to do!"

"Who are you sending letters to?" Cruz questioned

"No one wants to think they've wasted their life following the wrong person," King pointed out. "You just gotta find something big to change their minds."

As King walked away to follow after Eda, Luz looked down as she began to think.

"King's right. How can I find that something?" Luz wondered as she suddenly noticed Hunter running after a group of hooded witches into an alleyway.

"Perfect timing," Luz said as she rolled up her sleeves.

"Oh no," Cruz said when he noticed who Hunter was following.

Hunter looked around to make sure he wasn't being followed before tailing the three witches. From behind the barrels, Luz and Cruz popped up as they followed after him.

"Halt!" The three witches turned to look at Hunter as he took out his mechanical staff. "For crimes against the Emperor, you are all under arrest!"

"Hunter!" Luz yelled as she tackled him to the ground.

"Sup blondie!" Cruz said as he looked at the three witches before glancing down to see the potion on the ground.

"Hey! Can I bug you with a few questions?" Luz asked as she took out a pen.

"Human?!" Hunter yelled as the witch with glasses played their flute covering them in smoke.

"No, no, no! Stop! I forbid you to flee!" Hunter yelled as the three witches disappeared.

"Has that ever worked?" Cruz wondered as Hunter turned to the twins angrily as he took out his regular staff while taking off his mask.

"Human! Do you know what you've just done?!" As Hunter stepped forward, he accidentally stepped on the potion still on the ground breaking it.

As he and the twins look down, they see Hunter was stepping on neon yellow liquid as it began to glow.

"Uh... what's that?" Luz asked as the circle surrounding them begins to glow

"Quick, run!" Cruz said as the circle flashed brightly surrounding the three.

As the light died down, Hunter's staff, mask and Gizmo all fell to the ground. Gizmo and Flapjack looked at each other in worry.

Back in the Emperor's mind, Hunter burst out laughing as he heard what their plan was.

"You wanna prove that my uncle is evil? And you thought I would help?" Hunter asked as he continued to laugh.

"Well now that we're in his mind, we can learn the truth for ourselves," Luz said as she looked around wearily. "Weird though. We've been in Willow's mind once, and it had more, uh… trees."

"Are trees universal for mind scapes? That might've just been a Willow thing," Cruz wondered

"Eh, makes sense," Hunter said with a shrug. "Mindscapes reflect the individual. I've read a lot about this subject."

Hunter then gasped when he noticed a certain memory.

"Whoa, look at this memory," Hunter said as he walked up to the memory of Belos guiding people away from a burning town.

"You know, unfettered wild magic wiped out our family. Everyone knew too much and got themselves hurt. That's why Belos took in the survivors, and dedicated his life to making the Coven System!" Hunter said happily as he ran up to another painting.

"It's why he's so well liked!" The next painting showed Belos surrounded by happy witches as they reached out to him while he held a pair of glowing orbs.

"Our sigils protect us from ourselves, and make the Titan happy."

"Except for the simple fact that he can't even talk to the Titan," Cruz said in annoyance

"How would you know if he can or can't talk to the Titan?" Hunter questioned

"Just trust me. I know for a fact he can't."

Hunter looked over to another painting before happily running to it. "Oh! This is when I inherited my staff! You know, I'm the youngest scout to become Golden Guard. I, uh… never found out what happened to the previous one."

Luz and Cruz looked at Hunter with a concerned expression. "Huh, why does Darius look so sad here?"

As Luz looked over to the painting of Triumph Over Wild Magic, Cruz looked at the previous images that Hunter had shown them. He touched the painting and one thought crossed his mind, why did none of the witches have any eyes?

Suddenly, Luz and Cruz heard a child sobbing. As they followed the sound, they rounded the corner and saw a small child wearing a wooden mask that resembled Belos'.

"Belos?" Luz and Cruz turn when they noticed that she and Hunter had called out to him simultaneously.

Kid Belos ran off as Luz and Cruz turned towards Hunter. He was looking at the empty hall before Belos' figure began to approach him.

"Emperor, you're here!" Hunter said quickly as he kneeled. "We beg for your assistance to return to the physical world, so that I may capture your enemies! And so that they can ruin someone else's day."

From behind Belos, Kid Belos appeared as he started shaking his head and waving them away.

Suddenly, Belos began to roar as his whole body began to be covered in glowing blue eyes.

"Hunter! Watch out!" Luz and Cruz called out to him as they rushed in front of him. Luz took out a glyph paper as Cruz created a red spell circle creating a fiery explosion in between the three and Belos.

The explosion sent the three tumbling backwards as they crashed through the wall as if it was paper.

As the three fell down the darkness, Luz grabbed onto Hunter as she placed the safety hover in her mouth and activated it. The two floated above the ground for a second before falling down.

From above them, Cruz quickly drew a spell circle as he sent a burst of air towards the ground slowing down his fall before landing.

"Are you two okay?" Cruz asked as Luz and Hunter stood up.

"Where are we?" Hunter asked

"We must be in the Emperor's real mind," Luz said as she looked up and saw the hole they crashed through disappear.

All around them, they were surrounded by dead trees and paintings that seemed to have been somewhat damaged.

"What do you mean the Emperor's real mind?" Hunter asked as he looked up. "That gallery was—"

"Was made of all the lies he tells. He's not who you think he is," Luz said quickly as Hunter looked away.

"Belos is nothing but a pathological liar. He's been lying since the beginning," Cruz said as Hunter walked over to what looked like a small bird Palisman.

As he picked it up, the Palisman crumbled away as it turned to dust. Hunter grabbed his hand as it began to tremble.

"We're probably being punished because you provoked his inner self," Hunter said as he pointed at Cruz.

"Well, his inner self had a thousand glowing eyeballs!" Luz protested

"Oh, no! Eyeballs!" Hunter mocked as he scoffed. "You're so easy to scare."

"Boo!" Eda said from Luz's walkie talkie startling Hunter.

"Ah!" Hunter yelled as he flinched.

Cruz laughed at his reaction. "Who's easy to scare?" Cruz asked as Luz took out her walkie talkie.

"Luz, Cruz, where are you two?" Eda asked through the walkie. "Oh, wait. Hey, blondie, your friend wants to talk to you."

Hunter narrowed his eyes skeptically. "Uh…"

From the walkie, Flapjack started chirping. Hunter immediately brought the walkie closer to him.

"Flapjack! Are you okay? Have they hurt you?"

"Give me that!" Luz said as she took the walkie back. "So, Eda. We may kinda sorta be trapped in, uh... the Emperor's mind."

Eda gasped. "How in the world did you- No, we don't have time for that. Has the Inner Belos spotted you yet?"

"Yes, but we were able to get away... with help," Luz said not knowing for how long the Kid Belos would help them out. "Can there be two inner selves?"

"No. But I have heard of strong emotions materializing," Eda explained

"That explains the two Willows," Cruz said

"Just stay safe. If you're devoured in his mindscape—"

"We'll be trapped!" Hunter said with a panic as Luz and Cruz turned to him to see him pacing back and forth. "Dragged down into his subconscious forever. I... told you I read about this stuff."

"Well, we're gonna get you out! We'll make a return spell as fast as we can!" King said

"Just don't lose the walkie-talkie. It's our only connection to you," Eda said

"You got it, Owl Lady. Over and out," Luz said

"Wait!" Hunter quickly grabbed the walkie from Luz. "I'll be home soon, Flapjack. Stay safe."

Flapjack chirped happily. "I love you. Over and out," Hunter quickly whispered.

"Aww!" Eda, King and Cruz cooed as Gizmo barked into the walkie-talkie.

"Gizmo!" Cruz said as he took the walkie from Hunter. As Gizmo barked into the walkie again, Cruz smiled. "It's okay, Giz. I'll be back soon. We'll be fine."

Cruz hung up as he handed the walkie back to Luz.

"The two of them are going to have a thought time making that spell," Cruz said. "It's going to need a powerful source of magic to make it work."

"How do you know?" Hunter asked.

"It's because I'm the one that made that potion," Cruz said as Luz and Hunter looked at him in shock.

"Why would you make that?" Luz asked

"Some people asked me to make it for them. It was for a good reason so I made it. Didn't think we'd get caught up in it."

"How are they going to get us back?" Luz asked.

Cruz scratched the back of his head. "They're going to need Titan blood."

"Oh, great," Luz said. "They might have to use up the last bit of Titan blood we have left."

"You still have some?" Hunter asked

"Yeah, it was on Amity's glove," Luz explained

"That's not the only place we have some," Cruz said with a whisper.

The three flinched when they heard the sound of leaves rustling behind them.

When they turn, they saw Kid Belos coming out from behind a tree.

"It's you! Kid Belos!"

"What?" Hunter looked at her in confusion as she approached Kid Belos before kneeling down.

"Thank you for helping us before. You don't seem as scary as your inner self," Luz said. Cruz narrowed his eyes. He didn't trust Belos, even if he only looked like a child.

From somewhere in the mind, the inner Belos roared as Kid Belos grabbed his head in fear before latching onto Luz's arm.

"If strong emotions can take form, maybe he's the Emperor's... I don't know, sense of guilt?" Luz wondered

"What? Belos has never done anything worthy of feeling guilt," Hunter argued.

"Right. You'd need a conscious to be able to feel guilt," Cruz retorted

Hunter glared at Cruz. "It's obviously his... uh, sense of innocence. His pure intentions!"

"Well, whichever it is, I think he can help us stay safe," Luz said as she turned to Kid Belos and began to whisper. "And maybe you can show us who Belos really is."

Kid Belos simply nodded in agreement.

"What was that?" Hunter asked

From above them, inner Belos screeched again as Kid Belos grabbed onto Luz's arm and tried to drag her away.

"No time! Let's go, go, go!" Luz said as she was dragged by Kid Belos towards a painting.

As Luz and Cruz were about to climb into the memory, Hunter called out to them.

"Wait! You're just gonna invade his memories? That's sacrilege!"

From above them, inner Belos screeched as he got closer.

"It's a way to survive," Luz argued as she dragged Hunter into the memory.

"Just get in there, blondie," Cruz said as he kicked Hunter in before jumping into the memory.

As the trio landed on the ground, Kid Belos ran past them while laughing. As they followed after him, they saw him disappear as he arrived at a stage.

"He says he can talk to the Titan," a witch said

"The Titan's dead, how is that possible," another witch asked skeptically.

On the stage, Belos stepped forward. He had graying hair while wearing a wooden mask similar in design to his normal mask. He held up a staff that looked eerily familiar to Cruz.

"Fellow citizens, we are born into chaos," Belos said as he bowed. "Our lives anger the Titan. My own family has been hurt by the darkness of wild magic."

The gem on his staff glowed red before a puff of smoke came out of it covering him.

Belos began to twirl his staff. As the smoke cleared, nine different colored lights began to shine from his staff.

"I've been shown the healing light, it shines in nine hues!"

The towns people all gasp with delight as they look at the light.

"See?" Hunter nudged Luz's shoulder. "He's always been helping people."

Suddenly, multiple explosions start going off all around Belos as the towns people all start to panic.

"The wild witches! They have found me, run!" Belos said as everyone began to run away.

Luz, Cruz and Hunter run into an alley way. As they're about to climb out of the memory they spot Belos scolding someone.

"You incompetent fool! You nearly took my head off with that blast," Belos said angrily to someone dressed in the Golden Guard armor.

"I'm sorry… Lord Belos," the Golden Guard apologized as he lowered his head.

"I'm off to the next town," Belos said as he began to walk away.

"Uh, what about... the rest of these?" The Golden Guard asked as he removed a blanket to show multiple explosives.

"Put on a bigger show," Belos said before walking away.

Hunter looked at the scene with shock as the previous Golden Guard lit an explosive before following after Belos.

Kid Belos appeared again as he picked up a sack full of glass bottles before jumping out of the memory with the trio following after him.

"Belos was lying! Wild witches weren't attacking him. How could you help someone like that?" Luz said as she pointed at Hunter

"That was... probably a... special technique to get people to listen to his message. It's... It's for the greater good," Hunter argued

"How is making people fear others a good thing? He's always saying that Wild Magic is bad. Back then, there was no Wild Magic. It was all just Magic," Cruz argued back

From the memory, inner Belos began to seep through startling Luz.

"Ah! He found us!" Luz yelled as Kid Belos laughed before jumping through another memory.

The trio landed in a pile of snow as they followed after Kid Belos. As the approached a group of witches, Kid Belos stole some rope from a witch as she was distracted.

"What's the kid doing?" Hunter wondered as Luz shushed him.

"Look at what wild magic has done to your city," Belos said as he gestured to a burning city left in ruins. "Now imagine what it's doing to you. A city can rise from the ashes, but a soul..." Belos lowered his head before shaking it sadly.

The witches gasped as they looked at each other.

"What does that mean?"

"Wait, what?"

"I can make your magic pure again, as the Titan intended!" Belos said as another Golden Guard walked up beside him putting on a glove. The finger on the glove began to glow yellow as the towns people all offered up their wrists.

The Golden Guard placed his finger on their wrists placing different coven sigils on each of their wrists.

"Welcome, to your new covens!" Belos announced

A horned witch looked down at her Oracle Coven sigil before suddenly, lines started forming all over her body. As the lines spread, she, and the rest of the townspeople, began to groan before they all suddenly collapsed onto the ground.

"They're… still alive," the Golden Guard said as he bent down to examine the woman.

"Then we still have some work to do," Belos said. "Gather the Palismen."

The Golden Guard grabbed two Palismen as Belos snatched one of the Palisman from its staff before walking away.

The Golden Guard turned to look back, when he heard the woman groan. Luz, Cruz and Hunter looked at the fallen witches with a disturbed look.

Outside of the memory, Kid Belos climbed out while laughing. Hunter quickly climbed out of the memory while running after him. The twins quickly climbed out following after him.

"You can't deny it now. Belos is trying to hurt people!" Luz argued.

"He was just... perfecting sigil magic!" Hunter argued weakly. "Besides, maybe, he's remembering things wrong. Who knows how mindscapes work?"

"I thought you did!" Luz shot back

"Belos said that they still had work to do. He was trying to kill them! How can you not see it!" Cruz argued. He knew that Belos was planning genocide. If the draining spell was like what he'd just seen, then he wanted them to suffer as they died.

"Well, maybe I'm an idiot," Hunter said angrily before turning to Kid Belos. "You! Get back here!"

As Hunter is about to catch up to Kid Belos, he suddenly stops and turns to look at them when inner Belos screeched.

The trio turn to look back as they see inner Belos standing behind them.

They saw inner Belos as a lanky skeletal creature looming over them. Inner Belos screeched at them causing them to scream and run away following Kid Belos.

They followed Kid Belos as he climbed into another memory. The memory seemed to be surrounded by stars while a half black-half white face was above it.

As they reached it, Hunter stopped and looked back at inner Belos with hesitation.

Inner Belos looked at him with murderous intent as his eyes appeared withered and hollow.

"Hunter!" He turned to see the twins extending their hands out to him. Hunter took their hands as they pulled him into the memory.

As they landed in the memory, they quickly ducked down as inner Belos peeked in before leaving.

As the trio sighed in relief, Kid Belos extracted himself from Luz's grasp before running off and started collecting empty glass bottles.

Luz gasped when she saw a familiar object in the distance. "Cruz… look!"

Cruz looked towards where Luz was pointing and narrowed his eyes.

"He's got the portal?!" Luz exclaimed before looking back at Hunter. "Did you know about this?"

"Of course, I helped rebuild it," Hunter said

"I can hear you," Belos said as the trio looked shocked.

From behind them, someone began to giggle. The tree turned around to look up towards the tree behind them.

They saw a pair of eyes appear from within the tree branches. "You caught me!" The voice said happily as a shadow in an abstract form came out from between the branches.

"To you, who stray so far from home. To me, who's trapped beneath these bones. We'll play forever, me and you, when you paint the land in nine bright hues!" The shadow rhymed as they moved around the room, changing their forms into different images.

As they reach the portal, the shadow reverts to their original form before cackling.

"What can I do for you, Collector?" Belos asked as the Collector floated towards a statue and laid on its arms.

"I'm bored! Is the Draining Spell ready yet? I wanna play and see everything go all..." the Collector transformed to cover the statue before shrieking and shattering into pieces.

"You'll have your fun… on The Day of Unity," Belos said as he walked away from the portal. The Collector appeared on the door putting their hand on their forehead.

"Betrayed, beguiled, alone, deceived! We'll have our revenge on... Ugh, 'unity' is so hard to rhyme."

Luz and Cruz glanced back at Hunter who shrugged not knowing anything about the Collector.

Suddenly, an image of Hunter from the memory passed through Hunter as he ran up to Belos with urgency.

"I-I know you didn't want me going to Eclipse Lake. But if I hadn't, I wouldn't have found this!" Memory Hunter said as he took out the portal key.

Belos immediately snatched the key from Hunter. He held it up as he saw Titan blood leaking out from the eye.

"Some... of the Titan blood did spill, but… but if you let me explain then-"

Leave. Now," Belos said sternly as Memory Hunter looked at Belos sadly before leaving.

As the door closed, the Collector emerged from behind the portal. "Ooh, you were maaaaad. I thought you were gonna go all..." the Collector transformed into Belos with multiple tentacles as he screamed and waved them around. "...on that kid."

"Not as long as he stays in the right path," Belos said. "I say, 'The Titan has big plans for you,' and he does what he's told. Unlike the previous attempts."

"I'm starting to think you make those things just to destroy them. You have fun with it. Admit it!" The Collector said with a cackle.

Luz and Cruz looked at Hunter with a sad look as Hunter looked shocked by Belos' words.

"Of course I don't, Collector. It hurts every time he chooses to betray me."

Luz and Cruz pulled Hunter out of the memory. "Sounds like he wants to wipe out all life in the Demon Realm. And the sigils help him do that," Luz said as Hunter walked away with a pained expression on his face.

"Hunter, um, listen. You don't need to return to the castle. You can stay at the Owl House if you want." As Luz spoke, Cruz looked over to where Hunter was staring as his eyes widened in shock.

"I'm sure Eda would be cool with it once we... tell her what we... heard." Cruz quickly nudged Luz as pointed ahead of her. Luz's expression quickly became horrified as she saw that in front of them was multiple trees, multiple memories, of all of the previous Golden Guard dying in different ways.

The ground was littered with all sorts of broken masks. Suddenly behind them, Luz and Cruz hear something cracking. When they turned around, they saw Kid Belos standing in a circle made of rope and all of the things he'd taken from the memories.

Kid Belos breaks a Golden Guard mask before tossing it into a fire.

"Hey!" Luz rushed toward the fire. "Stop that!"

As Luz pulled Kid Belos away from the fire, Hunter put out most of the fire using his cape before stomping out the rest.

"Why would he do that?" Luz wondered

As a green sludge flew past Hunter, he stood back defensively as inner Belos formed inside of the circle. As inner Belos stomped his foot on the ground, multiple faces formed all over his body.

"Get away from him! Danger! Danger! Run!" Inner Belos said quickly in a panic.

"Are those… Palismen?" Luz asked in shock

"We weren't running from Inner Belos," Hunter said in realization as he and the twins turned to look back at Kid Belos. "He was with us… the whole time."

Behind them, Kid Belos began to cry before the crying turned into maniacal laughing.

As he turned around, Kid Belos held up a wooden sword before slamming it down onto the rope. The rope began to glow red as the potion bottles began to fire at the Palismen along with the arrows.

The rope began to move around as it wrapped around the Palismen tying them up as they fell to the ground.

They watched as smoke came from the Palismen creature before turning to Kid Belos.

They watched as Kid Belos quickly transforms into his regular adult inner self.

"Hello, Hunter. Hello, Luz. Hello, Cruz." Belos looked at the trio with a sinister smirk.

"Ah, I was finally able to catch it," Belos said as he walked up to the Palismen. "This thing's been a thorn in my side for years. All these weepy Palismen souls..."

Belos put his hand into the creature causing it to turn into dust.

"Their voices constantly nagging me." Belos grabbed a bird Palisman from the pile. "Vile. But without them, I wouldn't be able to do this."

Inner Belos transformed his hand into some kind of goo before squeezing the Palisman and crushing it. Hunter looked away as horror filled his face.

"Ah… I'm feeling better already," Belos said as he turned to look at Hunter. "Thank you for distracting it."

"What did you do to the other guards...? To our family?! It wasn't wild magic, was it?" Hunter asked with his voice on the verge of tears.

Belos looked at Hunter coldly as he reached out to him. "What a shame," Belos said as he flicked Hunter's hair. "Out of all the Grimwalkers, you looked the most like him."

"What…?" Hunter looked at him in shock and fear before he felt himself getting dragged down to the ground.

"Hunter!" Luz quickly took off her jacket as she threw it at Hunter as he grabbed onto the sleeve. "No, no, no!"

"Hold on!" Cruz yelled as rushed towards Hunter and tried to drag him up.

"You're gonna be okay. You're gonna be okay. Just... hang on! Just..." Despite the twin's best efforts, Hunter was still dragged underground along with the jacket.

Luz and Cruz fall to the ground as they grip the ground where Hunter had just disappeared.

"I was really expecting him to last longer than the others," Belos said as Luz turned to look at him with tears forming in her eyes.

"We're gonna tell everyone about The Day of Unity, that you've been lying about the Titan for years!"

Belos looked at her completely unfazed. "Yes, this has gone on longer than I'd have liked. But... no one ever said being a witch hunter was easy," Belos said shocking the twins.

"Witch... hunter? So all this time, people have been mindlessly helping a witch hunter?! How could they be tricked so easily?" Luz said as she looked away.

"I wouldn't be so judgmental, if I were either of you," Belos said as he lifted his finger.

From behind them, another memory popped up. It was the memory of when Red Fang tried to burn Philip's diary.

"His pretty little words should make pretty good kindling," Red Fang said

Luz looked at the memory in shock and appall.

"That doesn't belong to you," memory Luz said

"If you take one more step, you'll regret it," memory Cruz said

"No. No, no, no," Luz said as the realization and horror hit her.

The memory showed Luz showing Philip the light glyph. "Astounding!"

Philip dropped to his knee as he grabbed it. "It's okay, we can help! I know you want to get home, but nothing is worth hurting people!"

"I just need to live long enough to see this through," Philip said as his voice changed to Belos.

"No, no, no! You're Belos! You're just Belos!" Luz yelled as she broke down in tears

"It's nothing but a lie! You're nothing but a liar!" Cruz yelled as he stood in front of Luz defensively.

"Please… do me a kindness… and call me by my real name."

"We… can't," Luz said weakly

"You're Philip Wittebane, aren't you?"

"I can't believe I taught Philip something new!"

"I'll go talk to Philip."

"Philip… why did you bring us here?" Luz looked up to him as she accepted the truth.

"That explains it," Cruz said slowly. "That explains why there are memories in here with a human. None of them show you. Only two humans. I should've figured it out before!" Cruz looked at Belos as he smirked at him.

"I always did appreciate your help more than you realize," Belos said as Cruz looked at him in confusion.

"That staff you so graciously left behind was so instrumental in my survival. I can't even count the amount of times I would've died if it hadn't been for your work."

Cruz grit his teeth with anger as his eyes began to glow. "PHIILIIIP!" Cruz yelled at him with clear venom in his voice.

"Kids, you there?" Eda asked from the walkie-talkie. "We're getting you guys out." Neither of the twins paid any attention to it

"It does feel good to hear another human say that name. Even if you've become less than human. I had to change it when Philip was run out of too many towns."

As he got closer, the twins backed away before falling down a slope.

"I told you once Luzura, O'Bailey, perhaps… we were destined to meet," Belos said as he shifted into Philip.

"And what about Hunter? What's a Grimwalker?"

Philip morphed back into Belos. "He's… a better version of an old friend," Belos said with a smile.

"You mean a clone of your brother?" Cruz said

Philip smiled at him. "You are clever. Don't know how you know about my brother, but… yes. And thanks to you, I'll have to make another one."

"They're not answering," Eda said. "Luz! Cruz!"

"But... why? Why go through all this?" Luz questioned

"Why spend so much time with the people you hate?" Cruz asked

"I'll do anything to save humanity from evil," Belos said as he grabbed a Golden Guard mask

"No…" Luz shook her head

"Kids, we're gonna start the countdown. Are you ready?"

"You're evil," Luz said

"You're the worst of what humanity represents," Cruz spat at him

"Can't reason with crazy," Belos said before transforming his arm into a scythe. As it flies towards the twins, Cruz stands in front of Luz ready to block it with any means.

Before it reaches them, a giant barricade of vines and ice blocks it. As the twins look up, they see Hunter hanging from the top holding Luz's jacket.

"Luz! Cruz!" Hunter yelled out as he jumped down to them dropping a few glyphs.

"Five…"

Luz runs towards the barricade grabbing a fire glyph from the floor before activating it. "Four…"

Luz summoned a spiral of flames as it blasted through the barricade.

"Three…"

The fire burns through the barricade as it also burns Belos' arm. Hunter and the twins run past Belos.

"Two…"

Hunter and inner Belos stare at each other for the last time as Luz pulled Hunter towards the walkie.

"One!" Luz, Hunter, and Cruz reach the walkie making a desperate dive.

"Eda, now, please, now!"

The three are covered in a bright light as they appear back in the Owl House. The house is enveloped in light as Luz, Cruz and Hunter appear in a puff of smoke.

As Hooty and King are about to approach them, Eda stops them.

"Don't crowd them," Eda said as she looked at the trio. "Are you three okay?"

Luz sat up as she gave them a blank look. Cruz sat up as he looked at his hands before clutching them.

As Hunter sat up, Flapjack flew to his shoulder before pecking at his head and chirping repeatedly.

Hunter suddenly gasped in realization "He knows. He... he knows we were in there. I can't... I can't go back!" Hunter said as he began to panic and hyperventilate.

"Kid, breathe," Eda said with worry as she extended her hand out to him.

When Hunter saw her hand, he flinched before standing up with fear in his eyes. He looked down at his cloak before immediately ripping it off and throwing it onto the ground.

The front door burst open as Hunter ran off with tears.

"Hunter!" Luz called out as Flapjack flew after him. Eda, King, Hooty and Cruz all came out of the house with concerned looks on their faces.

"Gizmo!" Cruz called out as Gizmo turned into a staff. Cruz quickly climbed onto it.

"I'll get him!" Cruz called out as he flew after Hunter.

"What the heck happened in there?" King asked

"Luz… what did you see?" Eda asked

Luz looked back at them as her expression worsened as she looked at them with regret before falling down to her knees. As the two approach her, Luz just began to cry, not being able to say a word.

In the woods, Hunter is running past bushes as he panics not knowing where to run to. Close behind, Cruz flew towards him.

"Hunter! Hunter, wait!" As Cruz called out to him, Hunter tripped before falling onto the ground. As Cruz landed next to him, Hunter flinched as he tried to back away.

"Hunter, it's just me," Cruz said trying to sound calm. "Come back with me. I promise you'll be safe at the Owl House."

"How? How can anyone be safe?! After everything we saw!" Hunter said as he started to hyperventilate again.

"Hunter… breath. Take a deep breath and breathe. Like this." Cruz took a deep breath as he started to count to five with his hands before exhaling while counting down.

Hunter looked at Cruz do it again before copying him. When he finished the second time, Hunter finally looked at Cruz with a calm look.

"I'm sorry," Hunter apologized

"It's fine," Cruz said. "You saw so much more than you ever wanted to see. You never should've been through something like that. Neither you nor Luz."

"What about you?"

"I knew what I was signing up for when I made that potion. Now come on, let's get back to the Owl House. We'll get you settled in to the tower so you can try and sleep a bit."

As Cruz stood up, he noticed that Hunter wasn't moving.

"Listen… no matter what you are, it doesn't change the fact that I want to help you. You're my friend, so I'm going to help you."

"You consider me your friend? Even after everything I've done. Even though I'm not even…"

"It doesn't matter what Belos said. Even if you are a clone. That doesn't change the fact that you're my friend. And you're a friend to everyone on the Emerald Entrails too. So come back with me to the Owl House. I swear I'll protect you."

Cruz extended his hand to Hunter. After hesitating for a second, Hunter took and stood up.

As the two reached the Owl House, Hooty gasped when he saw them before opening the door.

"They're back!" Hooty yelled

"Come on, Hooty. Now isn't the time for all that energy," Cruz said as he and Hunter entered the living room.

He saw Luz sitting on the floor with Eda and King sitting in front of her. Luz gasped when she saw Hunter.

Hunter flinched slightly before looking at Cruz who gave him a nod.

"I'm sorry… for all the things I've done. If it's okay, can I stay here for a bit," Hunter asked

"Don't worry about it, kid. Luz told me you might need a place to stay. You're more than welcome to stay here if you want," Eda said. "Get some rest for tonight."

"Luz, can you show Hunter the room next to mine in the tower? I made sure that someone could sleep in it just in case," Cruz said

"No problem," Luz said. "Come on Hunter, I'll show you the room."

Hunter silently followed after Luz as she went up towards the tower.

Cruz turned to Eda before he collapsed on his knees onto the ground. Eda and King quickly grabbed onto him as he left the silent tears fall.

"Come on, kid. You don't have to strong right now," Eda said

"I'm sorry," Cruz said. "I could've stopped it. If I hadn't made a staff then Belos wouldn't have been alive right now. He used my staff to survive. He's used my technology to gain power."

Eda and King comforted him as he let the tears flow. "It's not your fault, Cruz," King said. "He's the one that used your stuff that way. You only wanted to help people. You didn't do anything wrong."

As Cruz wiped away his tears, he looked at them with determination. "I'm stopping Belos. I'm going to make sure he doesn't get away with anything he's done."

"Cruz… you don't have to do this alone," Eda said. "You know I'll help you out."

"Yeah! And I'll help too!" King said as he climbed onto Cruz's shoulders.

Cruz smiled at the two. "Thanks you two."

"And I'll help too!" Hooty yelled

Cruz looked at Hooty for a second before shrugging. "You know what? Why not? I'll take all the help I can get. But first, since you used up all the Titan blood, I should probably tell you something first."

Cruz looked over at King silently asking him for permission.

"It's okay. I already told her," King said as Cruz looked over at Eda.

"Uh… surprise?" Cruz said

"It doesn't really matter what you two are. At the end of the day, you're both my sons, and Luz is still my daughter. You chose to take the Clawthorne name so that doesn't change even if you two have tall genes now."

Cruz smiled at Eda. "Thanks, mom. I need to get some sleep. Tomorrow we'll tell you everything. There's a lot to go over."