Chapter 22: Everyone's Got Mommy Issues

"Beans!"

Luz startled awake, flailing in the air before falling on her back. Groggily, she opened her eyes again, being met with the kitchen ceiling.

"We ran out of apple blood." Eda voiced out her dismay. She also kicked the fridge door closed. "Any luck you two?" Eda asked, turning to Luz.

Luz lifted herself over the pile of books she and Flint had been sifting through, though Flint was still out like a light and hunched over the table flat on his face. "None. We were up all night too. And we searched everything, even tea leaves." Luz brought up a nearby mug and turned it toward Eda, the leaf forming the outline of someone shrugging. "But nothing explains how to make a portal to the Human Realm. And if Flint's from the Demon Realm, we don't know how he managed to get across realms either."

Eda sighed. "I wish I could help ya, kid, I really do. But as far as I know, that door was one of a kind."

Luz frowned at that. "How come?"

Before Eda could answer, a scream could be heard from the living room, this one being enough to finally cause Flint to wake up with a start and fall back with a yelp.

"Ow." Flint groaned.

While Flint lay there, Eda and Luz ran to the living room and the source of the scream. When they got there, they were met with the sight of Lilith on the floor, her fingers beginning to grow into claws as black feathers sprouted from her forearms.

"Help...me." Lilith pled as she tried desperately to resist the transformation.

Eda rushes over, swiping an elixir from behind a pillow on the couch. She repositioned Lilith as she uncorked the elixir. "Calm down, just calm down. The curse acts stronger when you're stressed." Eda reminded as she fed Lilith the elixir.

Lilith panted as the feathers receded. "That was...horrible. How have you managed all these years?" Lilith asked, rubbing her forehead as her brain tried to comprehend it all.

"Well, it's been hard. But since we split the curse, at least the elixirs are working again." Eda answered, helping her sister up.

"That's a relief." Lilith sighed as she raised her left hand…only to realize it was no longer there.

Lilith cried out in terror as Luz did in mild shock. After all the shit Luz has seen, this was nothing, but it still manages to slip her mind.

"Whoops, forgot to mention that," Eda said sheepishly as she retrieved Lilith's missing ligament from the ground. "Not really sure why, but it's kinda fun and useful sometimes," Eda remarked as she set the hand back in place.

"It's still a bit unsettling," Flint said, leaning on the doorway as he looked somewhat strained. "But given I watched you get your head cut off not even fifteen minutes after meeting you, it has its uses," Flint admitted, holding his hip.

Eda shrugged in agreement before looking back to Lilith. "Don't be such a worrywart, I've stashed elixirs all over the house," Eda says, revealing a great many elixirs hidden around the room. Under the couch seat, behind a flower pot, and pulls one out of Luz's hood in the typical 'what's this behind your ear?' kind of way. "Whenever you start feeling feathery, just help yourself to one of these bad boys."

Luz claps her hands at the last one.

Lilith looked on in a mix of disbelief and regret. "And you've dealt with this for thirty years…all because of me," Lilith said with a downcast look.

Eda's brow furrowed as she flicked Lilith in the forehead, causing the woman to sputter as she rubbed the spot.

"Oi, I thought we already went over this. None of that. It happened, deal with it. But hey, you've got an expert at dealing with it, and now I've got company. I've got your back, 'kay?" Eda said, handing Lilith an elixir and patting her shoulder as she and Luz walked out the door.

Lilith then lies down on the couch and notices a few bottles of elixirs taped to the ceiling, letting out a small hum as she smiles softly.

Flint wisped through the gap and reconstructed himself against the wall outside, stumbling a bit as he steadied himself. "Man, sleeping like that must've screwed with my back." Flint pulled his arms back and forcefully straightened himself with a loud set of cracks as he winced.

Eda rolled her eyes. "Just wait till you get to my age."

Flint walked up next to Luz as she looked at Eda. "You said something about the door being 'one of a kind'?" Luz asked.

Eda crossed her arms as she explained. "Yeah, I never figured out how that portal door was made, let alone who. I found it in the dirt when I tripped over it. The thing was pretty mysterious, but I kept it to myself." Eda noted.

"Why not tell anyone?" Luz asked.

Flint shrugged. "Makes sense. Who wouldn't want to take advantage of an artifact like that? I mean, Belos did."

Eda pointed to Flint. "Not my original intention, but you make a good point." Eda looked at Luz with a raised brow. "You're just curious about my past, aren't you?"

Luz looked at her with a serious expression. "Of course I am."

Eda donned a scowl as she looked away. "The real reason was because I used it to hide from someone."

"Emperor's Coven?" Flint asked.

"Exs?" Luz asked.

"I think I see her right now." Hooty chimed in from the door, squinting into the distance.

Eda tensed. "Say what?"

"That's right, my dear!"

Everyone looked toward the source of the new voice as a sudden strong gust of wind started blowing, forcing Eda and Luz to shut their eyes and shield their faces as Flint stepped in front of Luz protectively.

Luz opened her eyes to look at the source again to see a miniature twister flying toward them with some kind of large bird flying above it.

"Magic bird tornado?" Luz asks in surprise.

The tornado comes to a stop as an older woman lands in front of them, the hawk-like bird landing on the end of a palisman staff. Judging from her face, Flint deduced she must have some relation to Eda.

"Hello, little witchlet." The woman greeted cheerily as she dissipated her staff and then ran forward with open arms. "Come here."

Eda glared as she held her hand up, pressing her hand on the woman's forehead and holding her at arms-length away. "Gwendolyn," Eda said with a sneer.

Gwendolyn stopped struggling and stepped back. "Oof. Are we still on that? I'm your mother. Call me 'Mom'."

"Mom?!" Flint, Luz, and Lilith cried out in shock; the last of which [Or should I say the last of witch?]flinging the window open.

"It is so good to see you again," Gwendolyn said, squeezing Eda's face with both hands. "How are you feeling? Are you eating well?" Eda proceeded to remove her mother's hands from her face. "I heard all about the Petrification Ceremony. Trust me, I have a lot of strong words for that Belos." Gwendolyn said, crossing her arms with a huff.

Lilith jumps onto Eda's back before moving in front of her. "Mother! Mother, you know, I was there too."

"Oh, hello to you too, Sweet Flea." Gwendolyn greeted, reaching up to touch Lilith's hair. "Still dyeing your hair, I see. Well, it's very sleek. Now give me a moment with Edalyn, dear. It's important."

Lilith dons a look of surprise before it morphs into a frown as she backs off. The action causes both teens to frown.

"That's right! Today, I am about to complete a thirty-year mission." Gwendolyn began, raising an arm theatrically.

Eda though, looked heavily displeased. "Not again."

"Your mother has finally succeeded." Gwendolyn continued, pumping her fist.

Eda pinches her eyebrows. "Thirty years. Thirty years of this shit."

"Today, I shall be curing your curse!" Gwendolyn finished, spinning her staff and jabbing it on the ground.

"No thanks." Eda digs her ear, uninterested.

"What?!" Luz and Lilith exclaimed in disbelief as Gwendolyn frowned.

"I said, 'No, thanks.' The elixirs work. It ain't broke, so nothing to fix." Eda said, crossing her arms.

"But...but who knows what they put in those nasty concoctions?" Gwendolyn said.

"Can't be worse than the unhealthy amount of energy drinks and sugar I needed just to function before coming here," Flint said with a deadpan.

Lilith looked at him with a furrowed brow. "Okay seriously, how bad could it have possibly-"

"I had a glass of his morning juice one time. I swear the world felt like it was moving in slow motion." Luz said.

"I once zoned out for two hours straight because I had one less glass than usual," Flint added.

All three Clawthorne women looked at Flint with varying levels of concern.

"…The more I learn about your life before coming here, the more I question how you lived for this long," Eda said with a far-off look before shaking her head.

"Anyway, would you look at the time?" Eda grabs Gwendolyn's staff as it goes into flight mode, and Eda makes Gwendolyn sit on it. "I got a lot to do today. So sad to see you go. Okay, bye!" Eda insisted, slapped the butt of Gwendolyn's staff, and sends her flying away.

Eda dusts off her hands before turning back to the three. "Moms. Am I right?"

Luz and Lilith look at Eda with a completely shocked expression on their faces, while Flint fixes a glare.

"I haven't seen Mother in forever! And she was handing you a cure on a silver platter!" Lilith said in barely contained frustration as she clenched her fists angrily.

"I'd kill to see my mom right now, and you just launch yours into the sky?!" Luz asked in disbelief, throwing her arms up.

"Choose your next words carefully, Edalyn," Flint said darkly.

Eda sighed. "Look, she comes around every year, claiming she's found some new cure for my curse. And if you couldn't tell, they don't work." Eda huffed, crossing her arms. "Even gave her the benefit of the doubt the first few times. I'm not gonna bother getting my hopes up. Can't get disappointed if you know it's not gonna work anyway." Eda says, walking toward the house.

Lilith looked at her sister in disbelief. "Mother visits you...regularly?"

Eda stops before the door and turns back to look in confusion. "Does she not for you?"

Lilith just stared at the ground, a broken look on her face as she walked past everyone and into the house. Everyone watches her go into the house without a word.

"…That's messed up." Flint eventually said.

"I'm…gonna go check on her." Eda excused herself, going inside to maybe talk to her sister.

Luz looked in the direction Gwendolyn had shot off in as the woman landed with a saddened look. Luz frowned. The woman just wanted to help her daughter, and it only served to remind her about her and Flint's current predicament.

"Mrs. Clawthorne? Wait!" Luz called out, getting Gwendolyn's attention as the woman turned around to see Luz running up to her. "I'm Luz. Eda's apprentice. I think what you're doing is so sweet. Eda can just be so...Eda sometimes."

Flint walked over, treading lightly. "I'm Flint. Gotta say, your daughter is certainly…something."

"Oh, call me Gwen, dearies," Gwen said before sighing. "Don't blame Edalyn. It was the curse that created the rift between us."

"Trust me, I get it. Flint and I kind of have our own situations with our moms." Luz said.

"Yeah…our way back to the Human Realm was destroyed. Makes things a bit difficult." Flint remarked.

Gwendolyn blinked at that. "The Human Realm? My, that certainly does make things difficult." Gwendolyn's eyes widened a bit as though she just remembered something, and she let out a gasp. "I think I may have a solution for both our problems."

"Really?" Luz and Flint said. The former excitedly and the latter skeptical.

Gwendolyn nodded. "Yes. I've heard some information that may assist you on your quest. Help me cure Eda's curse and that information is yours."

Luz is left ecstatic as she rapidly pumps her arms. "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" Luz hugged Flint tightly, who winced. "You hear that Flintlock? We have a lead!"

"Luz. Air." Flint managed to get out.

"Oops! Sorry!" Luz said, quickly releasing him before turning to Gwendolyn again. "Where do we start?"

"We'll be consulting someone very special," Gwendolyn said, grabbing her necklace and causing the rune on it to start flashing.

The three could be seen walking along a trail as Gwendoyln guided the two teens along the path.

"So we're gonna meet a curse expert? This is so rad," Luz said excitedly.

Flint frowned. "I wouldn't get your hopes up yet Luz. Eda said that no one had ever seen a curse like hers before. Lilith even said that the Healing Hat wouldn't work for that same reason." Flint said.

Gwendolyn scoffed. "Please. As if I would trust the artifact of those Healing Coven hacks. After years of dealing with those fools, I finally found someone who promised me a cure." Gwendolyn said before looking forward. "Ah! Here we are."

The three now stood before a stone door in the side of a cliff. Gwendolyn walks up to it and displays her necklace, the rune lighting up as the door flashes with the same symbol, moving to the side to reveal a cave. They walk inside to be met with an elaborate-looking altar with an old witch sitting atop it. The old witch had four hands and sat with a gremlin kneeling in front of them, who had boils on his eyelids.

"Please, they're so itchy." The Gremlin pled.

The old witch waves his hand, casting a spell circle. A circle of purple light surrounds the gremlin and lifts him up. The light then flashes, and after that, the gremlin is healed. Gwendolyn and Luz gasped at the sight, with Gwendolyn looking happy and Luz looking shocked. Flint, however, kept a skeptical look plastered on his face as his body gave an involuntary shiver.

The gremlin is then put down on the ground. "Boils, they're...they're gone! Thank you, Wortlop. Thank you." The gremlin thanked the now-named Wortlop, and ran away, crying happily.

"That's Master Wortlop. He's a traveling curse expert who's perfected next-level healing magic." Gwendolyn explained.

Master Wortlop gestures for Gwendolyn to come over, and the woman pushes her aside for Flint to catch, passing her staff to land in the girl's hands as the woman walks up and kneels before him.

"Gwendolyn, my pupil. Your aura is shining bright." Master Wortlop said, his voice somewhat echoey and ethereal.

"It took many months, but I was able to gather the sacred items you requested," Gwendolyn said, pulling out a bag and taking out three items in sequence. "The copper egg from the Snowy Rib Cage, the silver dagger from the Swampy Toes, and, the golden chalice from the desert of Palm Stings."

"You're a dedicated mother, aren't you?" Master Wortlop said, stroking his beard before summoning a tome using his magic, and passing it in the air to Gwendolyn. "Inside this tome is the healing ability you seek. But keep it away from the eyes of non-believers, for many will be blinded by the power it holds." Master Wortlop warned.

Gwendolyn looks at the tome in awe. "I understand." Gwendolyn then stood up and bowed to Master Wortlop. "I am in your debt, Master Wortlop."

Gwendolyn turns around and walks away with Luz. Luz stops to look at Master Wortlop admiringly but then looks over to Flint to see his calculative look.

"Flint, is something wrong?" Luz asked.

Flint turned around as Luz followed him out of the cave.

"Something's off about this," Flint whispered.

Luz's face became serious. "What is it?"

"Wortlop. When I looked at him, I shivered." Flint stated.

Luz frowned. "But…you don't get cold."

"Exactly," Flint confirmed.

King could be seen looking outside the window of the Owl House as Gwendolyn hammered a sign into the ground. Luz then writes 'APPLE BLOOD' on the sign and draws an arrow pointing away from the house. Flint meanwhile just looked on from nearby, pinching the bridge of his nose. King could hear the faint "If she falls for this, she loses a lot of my respect," coming from Flint.

"Isn't it amazing, Francois? If Eda's mom can just pop up, who says my dad can't?" King said to his stuffed rabbit, holding it out to reveal one of the symbols from the ruins he'd been found in carved into his collar.

As the trio outside walk back into the forest, King closes his eyes and stretches his arms. "Nyeh! Better get my hugging arms ready." King said.

"Ha!"

King opens his eyes and looks at Lilith as she lies on the nearby couch with a tub of ice cream, having already finished one tub as she ate a second, moping.

"Yeah, good luck with all that dad stuff," Lilith said condescendingly, taking another bite. "Sometimes it doesn't matter how dutiful you are or successful you are, parents just won't give you the time of day," Lilith said depressingly.

"Don't listen to her, Francois. My dad won't be like that." King said to his stuffed animal.

"Right. Your mysterious father, who didn't even stick around to watch you hatch." Lilith said with a sneer before looking down at her ice cream sadly. "Looks like you and I are in the same boat, King," Lilith said dejectedly.

King's face furrowed. "No!" King yelled. "There's no way he would have!" King denied, jumping off his perch and climbing onto the closer armrest of the couch. "Flint said that place was made to hide me. Why would he do that if he didn't care?!"

Lilith huffed, taking another bite. "Ever hear of accidents? Maybe he wanted to hide you because he was ashamed and didn't want anyone to know."

This seemed to only make King angrier. "No!" The shout seemed to sober Lilith up a bit as she looked at him in surprise. "I don't know what he said, but I know he didn't abandon me! So don't you say stuff like that about him!" King defended adamantly.

Lilith looked down in thought for a moment before sitting up, setting the tub of ice cream on the table, and interlocking her fingers with forearms on her thighs. "I…apologize. That was rude of me." Lilith apologized with a downcast look.

Lilith laid back with a sigh. "I just…so much has happened lately that I hardly even know what to think. My old life is essentially gone. I'm not 'Headwitch Lilith' anymore. I no longer serve the Emperor. I now share this infernal curse. I went from having an apprentice to making her hate me, and then gaining her back again. Did you know that I haven't seen my mother for decades? Meanwhile, she's been visiting Edalyn regularly, how about that?" Lilith said, the last remark scathingly.

King blinked at that. "Not even once?" King asked, before glancing at something past her.

Lilith shook her head. "No. Ever since Edalyn ran away, she became obsessed with finding a cure." Lilith snorted mirthlessly. "As if I was any better. Like mother like daughter, I suppose…"

SMACK

Lilith jolted as a hand smacked her upside the head. She rubbed the spot before turning to see Eda behind her.

"Would you quit with the moping?" Eda said annoyed.

"B-but-"

"But nothing." Eda interrupted her sister. "Look. I'll be the first to admit that I am still more than a bit peeved about that, but sitting here like this ain't gonna change it, you got me?" Eda pointed her finger close to Lilith's nose before casually walking toward the door and waving her arm. "If she didn't visit you, then that's on her."

Eda blinked, donning a look of realization before letting her shoulders slump as she let out a long groan. "Ugh. Great. Now I'm sounding like Flint."

Lilith snorted. "And is that supposed to be a bad thing?" Lilith asked with amusement.

Eda smiled a bit fondly. "No…I guess it's not that bad, as long as it's not one of his weird tangents." Eda admitted.

"Thank you, Edalyn. I needed that." Lilith said after a moment with a smile.

Eda gave a toothy grin as she opened the front door. "Don't mention it Lils. Now, I need-"

Eda stared at the 'APPLE BLOOD' sign out in the open for a minute.

"…is it bad that I probably would have fallen for that?" Eda asked, gesturing to the sign.

"Yep./Most certainly./Ooh a sign!" King, Lilith, and Hooty responded respectively. The last of the three punctuates his statement by consuming the aforementioned sign.

Eda sighed, cracking her neck. "All right. Fine then. I'll play along."

"Flint. If you mention how disappointed you'll be if Eda falls for this again, I'm going to strangle you." Luz said with annoyance as she finished tying a rope.

"I don't have to, you just did." Flint sassed.

"You really think this might not work?" Gwendolyn asked.

Flint shot Gwendolyn a deadpan look as he gestured to the multiple, extremely sketchy signs that were set up around them.

"To be fair, I'm pretty sure she's always down for more apple blood, and I've also heard you extensively curse out the water supply for some reason." Luz justified.

Luz then turned to Gwendolyn as she got back to her feet. "So, that Wortlop guy was really something. You're his pupil?"

Gwendolyn closed the tome with a nod. "Oh, yes. But first, I had to prove that I was worthy of his secrets. So I spent the last year on a bunch of dangerous quests. And I didn't even get that many scars." Gwendolyn said, flexing her arm to flash her scars and built biceps.

Luz looked in amazement. "Cool. Also, dang, girl, you're a beast keeper in more ways than one." Luz said, comparing her noodle arm to Gwendolyn's that could snap hers like a twig.

Gwendolyn chuckled. "Oh, you flatter me, dearie. I could give you two some tips." Gwendolyn turned to Flint. "How about you?"

Flint shrugged, pulling up his sleeve to show some moderate muscle. He gave it a flex to reveal a greater definition of his bicep. "I was stronger than I looked already. Held off Jean-Luc and Louis by myself while the others-Luz are you drooling?"

Luz quickly snapped out of her trance and wiped her mouth. "No." Luz lied.

The sound of a twig snapping and rustling gains the group's attention.

"Our signs must've worked," Gwendolyn said with a gasp. Gwen flies up to a large branch overlooking the area, Luz slings up to her using a plant glyph, and Flint deconstructs into flames that wisp up and reconstruct next to Luz.

"Oh, baby, time to stock up on Mama's night juice," Eda said, walking along the path beneath the trio with her staff in hand.

"According to Wortlop's tome, we start by lowering the beast's defenses with special crystals. And they're supposed to be quite calming." Gwendolyn said, looking from the tome.

Eda notices a shadow falling from above and narrowly avoids a falling crystal with a yelp, spinning her staff to shatter the rest, then narrowly avoids another falling crystal.

"Knife season already?" Eda questioned before a much larger shadow loomed over her. She looked up in alarm to see a crystal larger than her flying straight at her. She screams as she manages to barely avoid the crystal, falling on the ground on her back. She panted as she looked up in shock as a bunch of feathers popped out across her.

Luz looked worried. "She's stressed," Luz said, taking an elixir from her pouch. She is about to throw it to Eda, but Gwendolyn grabs her hand and stops her.

"Oh, no, no, no. The texts say those feathers mean we're driving the beast out." Gwendolyn assured.

Flint and Luz looked at each other briefly before Luz nodded to him, seemingly giving him permission for something.

"Gwen…what kinds of things does that book suggest?" Flint asked cautiously.

Gwendolyn looked through the pages. "It discusses various steps, like attempting to freeze her, make her sweat it out with a strong fire, and overall put her in mortal peril to scare the beast out…why do you ask?" Gwendolyn asked confusedly.

Luz brought her hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose as Flint stared the woman dead in the eye with possibly the most blank expression she'd ever seen. His right eye twitched in irritation as he took in a deep breath and then let out an extended exhale.

Lilith looked at the sheet of paper sitting on the table in front of her. It was a combo glyph of ice with an open space that had a portion of some of the ice cream she had been eating earlier in it. She tapped the glyph and suddenly a cube of ice erected from it resembling the ice cream rather than a normal block of ice.

"Interesting. As I suspected, we can insert physical items to adjust the glyphs. I assume there is likely a combination that would cause the same effect naturally, but it is likely far more complex. However, using a physical object instead, those additional glyphs aren't necessary. Substituting those glyphs reduces the overall complexity of the spell itself, making it easier to cast as long as you have the right ingredients on hand." Lilith said, noting the information on another sheet of paper.

"I don't get what any of that means, but cool," King said, grabbing the cube and taking a bite from it.

"Think of it like the block of ice cream you just ate. I could use the same spell, but use a sample of the rotten candy flavor instead. The sample tells it how it needs to taste, and then the rest of the spell reproduces it." Lilith explained.

King looked down at the block in his hand. "Cool."

Lilith snorted. "Literally." Lilith snickered before her face twisted into a frown again. "But I doubt motherwould think so, she's always been focused on Edalyn," Lilith said bitterly.

Hooty stretched over next to Lilith. "Come on Lulu, it can't be that bad."

Lilith gave the bird-tube-thing a deadpan look. "Hootsifer…she didn't even show up for my Emperor's Coven Initiation."

Hooty and King both cringed at that. "Okay, I know we're all against the covens, but that's not cool," King said.

"I would've been there Lulu." Hooty offered.

Lilith gave a small smile. "That's nice of you Hootsifer, but that time has passed." Lilith sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "It's no wonder I screwed things up with Amity. It's not like I had the best example myself."

King frowned. "Didn't you two make up though?"

Lilith scoffed. "It doesn't change that I betrayed her in the first place. If it wasn't for her ignoring me, if it wasn't for that damned curse, if it wasn't for me being so weak-" Lilith paused as the gears in her mind seemed to fall into place.

"No. It's his fault." Lilith donned a crazed look as she began to laugh equally so, causing both Hooty and King to back away cautiously. "Yes…yes. That's right! It's all his fault!"

"Um…who are we talking about?" King asked, starting to get scared by Lilith's odd behavior.

Lilith cackled like a madwoman and turned to King with a look showing very little sanity. "'Who'?! Why, it's Belos of course!" Lilith bared her hands like claws. "Yes. The entire reason I sought the curse was because I wanted to join his coven! If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have had that goal! If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have sought the curse! Yes! IT ALL MAKES SENSE NOW!" Lilith then devolved into a fit of hysterical laughter as both of the room's other occupants looked at the woman with heavy concern, as feathers ejected from the sides of her face.

CRACK

The three's attention is diverted momentarily by the sudden sound of something in the distance.

"Did you hear that?" Lilith asked questioningly, the sound sobering her with a sense of confusion.

"I felt that," King answered, also confused.

Hooty made a sound as if he was smacking his lips. "Tastes like a combination of annoyance and disappointment, with a dash of swearing."

Lilith shook herself back to attention, only to notice the feathers falling from her face, causing her eyes to widen with panic. "No!" Lilith cried out in terror as she searched for an elixir. There was just one…minorissue…

"WHERE ARE THE ELIXIRS?!" Lilith screamed, her heart racing as she frantically rummaged through the house, none of the spots Eda had shown having the elixirs she had been shown earlier, with even more feathers appearing over her with every failure.

Lilith even sprinted up to Eda's room, opening the space she knew Eda kept more of them, only to find it empty.

Lilith backed away from the closet as her breathing quickened. She drops to her knees near Eda's nest, covering her face with her hands as she begins to sob.

King hesitantly pops out from behind the door with Hooty following close behind, both worried.

"Lilith?" King managed to squeak out, shivering in fear.

Unfortunately, Lilith pulled her hands back as she screamed to the heavens, her voice warping in an all-too-familiar manner, becoming beastly as her eyes turned back. Her body shifted as the transformation took control of her for the very first time, looming over the two.

CRACK

Eda blinked in confusion at the sound. "Hang on, don't I know that sound from somewhere?" Eda pondered to herself as she got to her feet from the giant crystal that nearly crushed her. Eda's eyes widened. "Wait! Isn't that the sound of Flint facepalming?!" Eda said in alarm.

Eda looked around before locking eyes with three individuals sitting on a branch high up. Upon closer inspection, she recognized the likes of Luz, Gwendolyn, and Flint.

"Hey! I see you up there! Get your asses down here, now!" Eda demanded angrily.

The three descended, Luz hovering down using fire glyphs on the pads in her shoes, and Flint using his fire wings as he dragged Gwendolyn down with him. However, when the only male present landed, Eda could see a very prominently red mark in the shape of a hand on his forehead.

"Edalyn! Watch your language! There are children around!" Gwendolyn admonished.

Eda stared at her momentarily before throwing her hands dramatically toward Flint. "HE SWEARS MORE THAN I DO!"

Gwendolyn huffed. "And how do you think he learned to? You should be setting a better example for them."

"Actually, he was already like this before arriving here. The only difference is that he now has the energy for it." Luz pointed out.

Gwendolyn looked at Luz for a moment before shaking her head and turning to Eda. "Edalyn, just let me heal your curse! Master Wortlop knows what he's-"

"Would you put a sock in it already?" Eda interrupted angrily. "I told you I was fine before, but noooooo. Don't bother listening to the person who deals with the curse every day, they surely don't have experience after three decades!" Eda yelled. Eda stomped forward, jabbing her finger into Gwendolyn's chest, right on her necklace. "I knew all of this was a trap so I played along, I just didn't think my own mother would start trying to kill-"

Eda's yelling halted abruptly, as she looked down at the necklace. "Wait, did you say the guy's name was 'Wortlop'?"

"Master Wortlop, yes." Gwendolyn corrected.

Eda pulled her hair as she paced in pure frustration, letting out a string of curses before turning back to Gwendolyn. "Wortlop isn't real! You're being scammed!"

Gwendolyn looked aghast. "Don't you dare accuse him of such things!"

Eda groaned. "Gwendolyn, I run a scam, I know the trick of the trade. Do you really think we scammers aren't at each others' throats? If that-" Eda gestured to the giant crystal that almost crushed her. "-was something he suggested as a cure, it's not. Those little gremlins are just trying to get you to kill me!"

Luz frowned in thought. "Wait, but Wortlop is just one person."

Eda rolled her eyes. "Puh-lease! Which act did they use? The griffin pox, or boils on the eyes?" Eda saw the three's eyes widen in surprise at mentioning the latter, making her click her tongue. "I knew it. That little shit is in on it with them. Three of them go into a costume, while the last dresses up with an 'illness'."

Flint's eyes widened in realization as he hit his fist into his palm. "That's what it was!"

Gwendolyn looked at him in confusion while Eda snapped her fingers. "Oh yeah, you have that thing with puppets."

Luz finally realized what was happening and turned to Gwendolyn to explain. "Flint has a fear of puppets. If Wortlop really is three guys puppeteering a costume, then it's no wonder he shivered when seeing him! And Flint doesn't get cold either, so it couldn't be that."

Gwendolyn looked in disbelief. "But-but…" Gwendolyn sputtered, trying to figure out how to defend her teacher.

Eda pinched her eyebrows. "Oh, would you give it a rest already? For crying out loud, this is why! All these years, and you still won't listen! Why the hell do you think I ran away in the first place?!" Eda said, a few more feathers popping out of her neck.

Gwendolyn gave a look of confusion. "What are you-" Gwendolyn's eyes widened in realization. "Y-You heard that? Edalyn, I-"

Eda stopped her with a gesture. "Don't bother trying to explain yourself. You didn't listen to me, so why the hell would I listen to you?" Eda countered bitterly, more feathers sprouting as her frustration with everything grew.

Noticing the feathers, Flint quickly used his hammerspace spell (as he liked to call it) and pulled out an elixir, tossing it to Eda as Gwendolyn failed to stop him. "Here. Take it."

Eda caught it effortlessly, popped the cork with her thumb, and then downed it in one continuous motion. "Thank you, Fireboy. At least someone knows how to pay attention." Eda thanked as the feathers receded and she felt the curse's strength dampen.

Eda turned her attention back to Gwendolyn with a tired glare. "Leave me alone. I don't need your 'help'. This damned curse has already ruined all our family's lives enough. I'm done with looking for a cure that doesn't exist, I have better things to do, like figuring out how to get these squirts back to their families. So leave me alone, I don't have time to deal with you."

Gwendolyn looked at her daughter, distraught. She hesitated as she tried to say something, only for a scream to catch everyone's attention. They all turned to the source to see King running down the path toward them, panicked.

"King?!" Luz and Eda asked in alarm.

"What's wrong?" Flint asked seriously, as the young demon jumped into his arms and scurried onto his shoulder.

"So Lilith was feeling stressed and, uh, the elixirs were gone. And then the light glyph didn't work. So, uh..." King trailed off.

A screeching sound could suddenly be heard as Gwendolyn's palismen, who was carrying a sack, cried out as he crashed to the ground. The bag opens to reveal the elixirs, the sound of glass breaking due to the rough landing as a large shadow flies past them from above. They all look up, all but King letting out a gasp.

They recognized Lilith's facial features, now adorning a beast form akin to Eda's, but different in a few ways. The beast had black hair and claws, large and crooked fangs, small ridges in her ears with no hair coming out of them, and a longer neck. Oh yeah, and she was also larger.

Much, much larger.

Fully outstretching, the Raven Beast towered over the group, nearly as tall as the trees around them.

"Sweet Flea?" Gwendolyn asked in shock.

"What the-Why is it so big?!" Eda exclaimed in shock.

The Raven Beast let out a loud roar as it charged at the group. Thinking quickly, Eda throws her hands forward, firing ice glyphs using her Grafters. The Raven Beast charges through unabated, as it raises its right claw at Eda for a slash.

Flint throws King to Luz as he jumps in front and catches the claw with his left hand, holding it in place. The Raven Beast pushed back against him, raising its left claw for a similar attack as Flint caught it two, their claws and fingers interlocking as both attempted to overpower the other. But the beast wasn't finished. With Flint in its grasp, the Raven Beast raised its wings. With a mighty flap, it dragged Flint into the sky and flew off with him, the boy struggling in her grasp.

"Flint!" Eda, King, and Luz cried out in worry.

Gwendolyn looked on in total disbelief. "That...was my little Sweet Flea? That means she's also..."

"Cursed! Yes! Were you not paying any attention to her?" King cried out.

Eda put her staff into flight mode as Luz got on behind her with King on her shoulder. "We need to follow them. Luz, you still have one on you?" Luz nodded, pulling the elixir out briefly before pocketing it. "Good. Your boyfriend can hold her off, but not forever." Eda said.

King pointed forward. "Let's go save my big bro!" King declared.

Eda nodded, making the three take off. Luz was the only one of them to look back at Gwendolyn, seeing the woman reaching her arm out with a conflicted expression. Luz wished she could help in trying to get Eda and her to get through their problems, but a creeping doubt bubbled up. She knew Flint could handle himself, but…

Nevareth raised his sword behind Flint, about to-

The Slitherbeast threw Flint toward the forest, from the angle it looked like a branch would-

The hooded form of Grom shot its tendrils at King, as Flint bolted to intercept-

Belos' hands moved from Flint's neck, before grabbing the sides of his head and-

Luz shook her head from those horrid memories, pushing down that feeling of dread and replacing it with resolve.

While she and the others flew away on the Owl Staff, Gwendolyn lowered her hand as they disappeared over the treeline, internalizing all this new information she had learned as she went over to check on Hawksley. Her palisman let out a cry to signal that he was fine, but the woman couldn't help but let her thoughts run rampant. One thing was clear though.

'Edalyn…Lilith…I've failed you as a mother.' Gwendolyn couldn't help but think as she turned toward the ruined elixirs, their contents soaking into the ground as whatever didn't was contaminated by broken glass.

But looking closer, she saw that not all of them had been ruined. She looked down at the rune on her necklace hesitantly before looking back in the direction everyone else had left.

"Lilith! Snap out of it!" Flint yelled as he attempted to free himself as they flew over Bonesborough.

The Raven Beast roared in his face before diving down into the street. The people in the street screamed as they fled in terror from the scene. As they did, the Raven Beast slammed Flint against one of the nearby buildings, dragging him along it and damaging the buildings before pinning him to a nearby archway.

Flint grunted in pain from the blow. "Damn it, woman! With how stubborn you Clawthornes are, I'm surprised you can't just take control yourself!"

The beast roared in his face again, but Flint threw his head forward with a headbutt, causing it to let go to recover. Flint tried to summon his fire wings, but his body flared in retaliation. Instead, Flint fell to the ground, barely able to adjust himself mid-air to soften the blow, but not by much.

Flint groaned as he lay on his stomach. "Ow. Now I know how Spider-Man feels."

A shadow descended as Flint forced himself to move through the pain, rolling over just in time to dodge the Raven Beast, whose claws broke apart the ground it struck. He pushed through the pain again and managed to spin his body just above the ground, sweeping the beast's legs and causing it to fall over.

The beast recovered before raising its claw again for another attack. Flint threw his hands out and with fire glyphs in his palms, he propelled himself away and down the street. He lost control and dropped the glyphs, his body skipping across the ground like a stone, stopping before the statue he'd insulted a few chapters ago.

'Those glyphs were a bit stronger than I remember.' Flint thought.

His musings were cut off again when the Raven Beast ran along the ground toward him. It lunged forward, but Eda dropped from the sky and landed a strong kick, sending it back the way it had lunged from.

"Sure decided to take your time!" Flint snarked.

"That's a funny way of saying 'Thanks for saving my life, Eda! You're the best!'" Eda countered.

Luz and King flew down on the Owl Staff and landed beside Flint. "Flint! Are you okay?!" Luz asked worriedly.

"Define 'okay'." Flint sassed with gritted teeth as Luz slung his left arm over her shoulder and helped him up.

Eda reached into her hair and pulled out a potion, uncorking it and shoving it into his mouth. "Drink."

Flint obeyed, downing the potion's contents. In a moment, the pain began to numb briefly as he felt his body start to recover. His body still ached, but it wasn't as bad as before, barring one spot on his back. When Eda removed the empty bottle from his mouth, he coughed with a look of disgust on his face. "Yuck! And here I thought grape-flavored was bad!"

"Deal with it, we have a much bigger issue," Eda said. "Now that you're healed, you and I need to hold her down long enough for Luz to get her the elixir."

"It'd be easier if my nerves didn't feel like they were on fire," Flint said with a strained voice.

Eda looked at him in surprise. "Wait what? That was a high-tier healing potion, and you're still hurting that much?"

King looked over toward the Raven Beast, seeing it recover. "Um, guys!?"

Eda and Luz turn to see the Raven Beast shaking itself off as it charged at them. Luz and King looked on in worry, but Eda looked resolved. She took back her staff and ran forward. When the Raven Beast swiped at her she dodged and jumped on its back. The beast flailed as it tried to knock her off, continuing forward as it still sought to attack Flint.

Seeing this, Luz managed to use ice glyphs from her shoes to form a pillar beneath the three, lifting them higher than the statue beside them. Unfortunately, the beast managed to barrel through the pillar with its momentum, destroying it and the statue.

Luz stumbled as she lost her grip on Flint and King, the three flailing through the air. Thinking quickly, Luz lit plant glyphs on her palms and soles. The ones from her palms latched around Flint and King's waists as the ones from her soles anchored to the ground to ease their descent. Luz breathed a sigh of relief-

CRASH

-until she followed the sound of something breaking to see an elixir on the ground nearby, broken.

Luz cringed. "That's going to be a problem."

"Frickin' Murphy…" Flint grunted.

Flint's body coated itself in fire briefly as he went to enter his wisp form, but a sharp pain pulsed through his body, forcing him back onto his stomach. Luz and King notice this and quickly go to his side.

"Flint! What's wrong?!" Luz cried out in worry.

Flint coughed, a bit of smoke ejecting from his lungs as he gripped the area over his heart with his right hand. "Magic weird. Chest tight. Everywhere hurts!" Flint managed to rasp out, unable to make proper sentences as his body convulsed again, causing his left hand to clench and tear the ground beneath.

Flint let out a howl of pain, and both Luz and King watched as his veins seemed to glow, pulsing under the boy's skin. They looked over him until something caught their eye. Around the area of his waist and along his back, his shorts were riding up around something. Whatever was underneath seemed to move slightly, as the fabric of the garment began to tear. With another cry of pain, a hole tore through the material and ejected from it…

…A tail?

The tail was long and bushy, reaching from the boy's tailbone to roughly his knees. It was a yellow-gold color, matching the boy's hair, with the underside of it being closer to a tan color. It was thicker further out, and it almost reminded Luz of King's tail, if it weren't for the tan underside.

Flint's screaming had stopped almost immediately when the tail had torn through its confines. The tail had merely opened the spot to let itself free, the rest of it fully intact. His screams had been replaced with heavy breathing as he let go of his chest and forced himself to his feet, stumbling a bit in the process before correcting himself.

"Whoa," Flint said, holding his head like he was experiencing a headrush. "That hurt, but now I suddenly feel a lot better," Flint said, shaking his head before turning to the two.

"Come on! We need to get another elixir for Lilith!" Flint said quickly. The boy seemed to be too focused on the crisis at hand or simply hadn't noticed the new addition to his body yet.

"I've got you covered there."

The three blinked in surprise as they turned to the recently familiar voice, spotting Gwendolyn as she descended on her palisman, holding a jingling bag with the symbol on her necklace, and an elixir in the other. With a spell, the bag disappeared and two more elixirs appeared in the hand.

The Raven Beast roared in anger as it slashed at Eda, who rolled out of the way with ease before peppering it with a barrage of ice.

"Man, not gonna lie, it feels weird being on the other end of this." Eda thought out loud. It was no wonder everyone steered clear of her after she was cursed, though she idly wondered just how much of this was being influenced by Lilith.

She dodged another strike using a fire glyph in her right hand, propelling her to the left. She then used her left with a fog combo to shoot a jet of fog straight into the beast's eyes, blinding it momentarily. It rubbed its eyes, but Eda took a deep breath and activated an invisibility combo, vanishing from sight before the beast could reopen its eyes.

The Raven Beast sniffed the air, searching for its target, only to be struck in the side. It lashed in the direction the attack had come from only to strike empty space. It was then struck in its front left claw and it backhanded, hitting something as Eda was knocked back with her staff in hand, reappearing in a gasp of air and skipping across the ground.

Eda shook her head. "Sometimes I hate how good you are with your surroundings Lils," Eda remarked.

The beast shrieked as it charged toward Eda, who brought up her guard, only for a loud bird's cry to sound from behind her. She turned her head enough to try and look to the source, being met with the sight of a familiar flaming bird.

The scarlet-flamed spirit flew just over her head with Flint in a stance on its back, holding a spell circle up in front of him and the others flying on Gwendolyn's staff behind him. The boy jumped off, landing in front of Eda just before it collided with the Raven Beast, pinning it to the ground with its solid form as Flint held his arms in place, maintaining his concentration on the construct.

Eda turned to Gwendolyn as she and the other kids hopped off. Eda looked at her mother with a sneer. "I thought I told you to-"

"You were right," Gwendolyn said sadly.

The abruptness of the admission caught Eda off guard. "Wha?"

"I should have listened to you from the start. All I wanted to do was help. But I made your curse, something you had no say in, into something for you to be ashamed of. I am so, so sorry for hurting you like that," Gwendolyn apologized, raising her hand to cup Eda's cheek.

"Mom…" Eda trailed off, fighting the tears that threatened to escape.

"I did what I thought was best at the time, but even an old gal like me still has things to learn. The one thing that never changed was my love for you, my precious little witchlet," Gwendolyn said, taking the necklace around her neck and crushing it with one hand.

Eda wiped her face before steeling her features. "I…understand. After these years taking care of King, and lately with Luz and Flint…I think I get it now," Eda admitted.

Gwendolyn gave Eda a grateful smile before the two turned to the thrashing Raven Beast being held by the phoenix construct. Eda noted Flint's newest extremity but decided it was better to figure that out later.

Eda turned to Luz. "Luz, let's give Fireboy a break, shall we?" Eda suggested, her hands lighting with plant glyphs.

Luz responded with a nod as the two ran past the boy, who was struggling to continue holding the beast down. Luz ran to the right and Eda to the left, as they both struck the ground with their hands and caused the beast's body to be wrapped in strong roots that erupted from the pavement. The beast thrashed as it attempted to free itself to no avail. Flint released his spell with a pant as the construct dispersed.

Taking the opportunity, Gwendolyn stepped forward and kneeled beside the Raven Beast's head. "Oh, Lilith...you were always so self-sufficient," Gwendolyn said, caressing Lilith's cheek, which seemed to calm her down slightly. "But I didn't give you the attention you deserved. I focused so much on Eda's curse that I pushed you away."

After hearing that, the Raven Beast began to sob, Gwendolyn's words having likely been heard by her eldest daughter. Gwendolyn shushes her and embraces her, caressing her head. With her other hand, she pulled out an elixir and popped the cork. She opened the beast's mouth and poured out the contents into the awaiting maw.

The beast's eyes glowed yellow before its body was encased in the same glow. Eda and Luz released their hold as the beast's form shrank within the light. Shortly after, the glow dispersed as Lilith could now be seen on her back, her head resting on her mother's thighs.

Tears flowed from Lilith's eyes as Gwendolyn helped her to sight upright. "Mom, I heard you but I couldn't stop myself. I...I couldn't do anything. I was too weak to stop it," Lilith managed through her sobs as she clung to her mother.

Gwendolyn simply embraced her daughter. "It's okay. Everything is okay now. I'm here for you." Gwendolyn said.

Eda looked on with a small smile before moving over to join the embrace. "Better late than never," Eda said softly.

Luz smiles at the sight of this as King sits on her shoulder. Looking upon the scene, King comes to a realization.

"She was...trying to do her best, huh?" King asked.

Flint walked up beside them. "Yes. Because a parent will go to great lengths to protect their child," Flint stated, his mind drifting to his own mother.

The night skies hung over the land as Luz, King, Eda, Flint, and Gwendolyn stood outside the Owl House.

"This is certainly an odd case." Gwendolyn hummed as she inspected the yellow-gold tail Flint now sported. "I know some strong beast keepers of the past have been able to enhance themselves with a beast's abilities, or taking on their instincts, but I've never seen anything like this before."

Gwendolyn stood at full height as she scratched her chin. "Given what you've told me about how your magic awakened though, I suspect it might have something to do with that. However, there are cases of witches getting together with demons, and their offspring sometimes undertake a sort of 'second puberty' later in life, gaining more of their demon parent's attributes. Some of these hybrids never do, but sometimes they only occur thanks to some form of catalyst, oftentimes under high stress or if their life is threatened."

Eda looked at Flint. "I had some suspicions for a while now, ever since your teeth got sharper after the petrification ceremony. It was rather minor though, so I brushed it off, but this pretty much confirms it. You definitely aren't fully human, or at the very least, not anymore." Eda added.

Flint sighed. "I had a feeling." Flint looked at his hands as his thoughts ran rampant. "I just don't get it though. My mom admitted to me that I was adopted, but the tests back home still registered me as her biological son, even though she physically couldn't have one."

"Well, there is a spell that people can use in order to bear a child. The same spell can be used for an infertile woman as well to bypass that…issue." Gwendolyn stated.

Flint pursed his lips. "Only one issue. How would a demon have even found my mom to do that? As far as we know, Eda was the only one who had a way of going back and forth between our worlds."

Flint suddenly went stiff as Luz smushed her face against his tail.

"It's so fluffy!" Luz cooed.

Flint blushed. "L-Luz! Don't do that! Do you have any idea how sensi-"

Flint's words died in his throat as Luz scratched his tail. The boy's body visibly began to relax a bit as a rumbling sound could be heard from the boy. His eyes widened as his hands quickly flew to cover his mouth.

Luz blinked in surprise as what happened began to register in her mind. "Did you-did you just purr?" Luz asked with a growing cheeky smile.

Flint's face lit up in a blush that could rival even Amity's, making the boy go tomato-red. "N-n-no!" Flint adamantly denied it.

Unfortunately, his new tail begged to differ, as it suddenly began to wag intensely.

"TRAITOR!" Flint screamed at the appendage, as everyone else laughed at his dismay.

Gwendolyn recollected herself after a few moments before turning to her daughter. "I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused, but I-I just wanted to help. I should've trusted you more."

Eda jokingly punches Gwendolyn's arm. "Yeah, you should've. But, hey, don't be a stranger. Okay, Mom?" Eda says, eliciting a smile from the older Clawthorne.

Lilith kicks open the door to the house with her staff serving as a bindle on her shoulder. "Mom! I'm ready!"

Eda squints at Lilith in confusion. "Huh?"

Lilith walks past the four and beside Gwendolyn. "Well, we were talking and I've decided to go home with Mother and make up for lost time," Lilith said, smiling at her mother.

Everyone else is surprised at this announcement.

"What?/Nani?/Lily?/You lived here?" Luz, Flint, Eda, and King respectively said.

Hooty then bursts with a stretch from the door dramatically. "WHAT?!"

Gwendolyn's face saddened as her staff vanished. "Edalyn, Lilith told me how she gave you the curse, and about her…resignation," Gwendolyn said the last part cryptically, still trying to come to terms with how little her eldest daughter valued herself.

Lilith looked away in shame as Gwendolyn grabbed each of her daughters' hands. "I am so, so sorry to you both. To have this secret weighing you down…I wish I knew sooner." Gwendolyn said sadly.

Lilith looked toward Eda. "There's still a lot to be learned about this curse, but... it'll be nice to spend some time home and reconnect with Dad," Lilith said.

Eda looks away when hearing the last part, something Flint notices.

"We'll be away for a while, but we have plenty of elixirs stocked up!" Gwendolyn says, taking out a few elixirs from her hair.

"Someday my hair is gonna be big enough to do that too," Luz said admiringly.]

King looks at Luz incredulously. "You actually want that?"

Flint shrugged. "It'd be useful. She used to have long hair but…let's just say she got a little too excited about owning a sword," Flint said cryptically.

"It's actually just a special enchantment that can be cast, though you get more space the more you have," Eda revealed before looking at Luz with her own incredulous look. "Also, now I'm questioning how either of you managed to survive as long as you have."

Hooty stretches towards Lilith. "Please, Lulu! Don't go!" Hooty cried.

Lilith touches Hooty's cheek. "Hootsifer, I have to. But don't worry, we can be penpals." Lilith said before turning and walking away.

Hooty dropped to the ground and wept. "But I can't hold a pen!"

Gwendolyn turns to the teens. "Luz, Flint, if it weren't for you, I might still be wrapped up in Wortlop's lies. So here's what I should've told you from the start." Gwendolyn thanked them before bending over toward the two. "You're not the only humans to have lived in Bonesborough."

Luz gasped at this information.

Flint: youtube watch?v=qORouZ-qOgg

Gwendolyn stood up fully. "There's a rare substance called Titan's blood. It is extremely powerful and sometimes causes leaks between our realms. Plants, animals...you guys have a lot of garbage, by the way." Gwendolyn remarked.

Flint shrugged. "Well, we are quite trashy."

The statement earned him a jab in the side, courtesy of Luz's elbow.

Gwendolyn continued. "But humans are rare. My great-grandmother told me about a human who once lived here. But one day he just vanished. Rumor has it he left something in the library, and if you can find out more about him..." Gwendolyn trailed off.

Luz's eyes sparkled with hope. "Maybe we could find out how he got here!"

"Exactly," Gwendolyn said, winking at the two.

"Thank you, Gwen," Flint thanked the woman.

"It's no problem dear," Gwendolyn responded.

Lilith and Gwendolyn mount their staffs and lift off the ground. They look back briefly with a smile before flying off into the night as Hooty continues to cry.

"Well, I'll be on the couch for the next twenty-four hours," Eda said with a stretch and a yawn as she started walking into the house. "Goodnight."

"No, wait! I call couch." King said in dismay as he followed her inside, leaving the teens alone.

Luz puts her hand over her heart and looks up to the sky. "I'll be home soon, Mom," Luz said longingly.

Seeing his girlfriend's sad look, Flint steps behind her, gently wrapping his arms around her from behind.

"Camp's probably ended by now. They must be so worried." Luz said sadly, bending her arms up to hold Flint's hands.

"Don't worry your pretty little head, Starlight. We'll find our way back, that much I'm certain of," Flint said gently to her, resting his head on her left shoulder.

Luz donned a sad smile. "You're right. Thank you for being here with me." Luz said gratefully, pecking the boy on the cheek.

Flint smiled as the two stood there with their eyes closed, simply embracing each other's company. They'd get through this, and no matter what happened, they'd do it together.

Outtake:

Lilith tapped the glyph and suddenly a cube of ice erected from it resembling the ice cream rather than a normal block of ice.

"Interesting. As I suspected, we can insert physical items to adjust the glyphs. I assume there is likely a combination that would cause the same effect naturally, but it is likely far more complex. However-"

SHATTER

The two turned to the nearby window, now broken as someone dressed in a pink jester costume shoved their head in and yelled. "NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRDDDD!"

The stranger then ran off.

"Who the heck was that?" King asked, turning back to Lilith in confusion.

"Beats me," Lilith said with a shrug.

"I like them," Hooty said.