A/N: Man, that new episode tho. Season 2 is really picking it up in the later half. I'm very curious how Hunter will be handled in the second half because let's be honest Belos is going to do something real effed up to him and we'll end up with Lilith 2.0.

Luz dreams of the stars.

And there are so many of them. She closed her eyes and was taken into the greater universe. Nebulas and stars and comets all surround her. They're alive. The whole universe is alive on a cosmological scale she could never fully comprehend. Not in a human body at least. The stars and clouds of dust and all the shooting stars talk amongst themselves about her in a language she can't understand. A part of herself feels like they're... angry with her for some reason? As though something about her presence is undesirable or heck- maybe that's just it. Maybe her presence isn't what's desirable to them.

Pricks. She flips them off for good measure but the gesture must be lost on them. Their whispers pick up and some of the words seems almost decipherable.

She thinks she hears the sun say 'Lorkhan'.

There's a new presence suddenly. It is old and powerful and feels as hot as a raging fire but... it doesn't hurt. The force the presence emits is like that of Sheogorath but inverted somehow? A description comprehensible by human standards is impossible but to Luz the best she can describe it as is the presence of a Daedric Prince but not malicious. An anti-daedra? Distantly she remembers there being a word for things like the universe gods. Was it something Amity's father told her once?

A word enters her brain. It comes in gently like a feather floating down onto a still pond. The word is Aedra. Aedra? That's a nice word. The Aedra around her don't seem to like her. She feels like they blame her for something that happened so long ago to her but to them time doesn't matter so it is as fresh as though it just happened. She frowns. Why would something so powerful hate her so much?

She floats nearby a star and it flashes at her angrily. The power is great but its more of a warning than it is a promise. The new presence pulses and the star goes flying away from her. The strange presence is as great as a Daedric Prince but softer in subtle ways she can't explain in a mortal language.

Don't get her wrong it is still overwhelming and she's pretty certain the sheer 'might' of it made her pee herself (again) but its more of the 'holy shit what is that' variety rather than the 'holy shit I'm going to die'.

Does that make sense?

Suddenly there's a giant golden dragon in the empty space of space in front of her. The creature is massive with scales like polished gold coins and eyes red like the bloodiest, biggest rubies ever imaginable. She tries to tear her eyes away from the thing as the fear claws at her chest but she can't. The force of the dragon locks her head in place and forces her to stare into the very heart and soul of the monster.

Huh. The longer she stares the more she sees the clear image of something.

It looks like a priest.

The emperor has aspirations.

Belos does not like humans. They're filthy, weak, uncultured and destructive. He has experienced firsthand the danger their inferior kind possesses yet in a twist of cruel irony they are the ones who live in a stable and peaceful world while his fellow Witches are picked apart like beasts of burden in the cruelty of the Boiling Isles of Oblivion. Humans of the earth deserve the rotten pocket-realm, not his kind.

Long has the old emperor worked to bring the festering island to the human realm. His glorious Day of Unity when his realm and all within it are transported to the human world to forever be free from the threat the other realms of Oblivion would eventually possess.

It is merely a stroke of luck on the cosmological scale that the Witch's particular realm exists on the border of the plane of Aetherius. Were he a greater Witch he could nearly 'skip' into the divine realm and be free from his burdens forever. But he is not and he has work to do. Had he the option he would move the Boiling Isles to be within the bounds of that divine existence but it was not meant to be. The Titan itself, back when it still lived, once called itself an Aedra but became corrupted by another of its kind and found its own realm within the opposing plane of Oblivion to have access to the ability to change. The others of the Titan's kind will not allow anything from Oblivion into their realm. They guard their borders jealously and would destroy the realm the instant it appeared on their side.

He can't help but laugh at the thought that thousands of years of misfortune and constant danger exist because his god wanted to be able to be different. Change. A concept so simple, so mortal yet it was unobtainable to a god. And then the Titan was killed by a Prince. It really could be any of them. Oblivion is in a state of constant fluctuation after all and anything Aderic would be a hot target for a glory kill. The Titans body fell and drifted through the plane until a realm formed eventually where the body landed. That realm came to be known as the Boiling Isles and from the rotting blood the first to inhabit the land appeared. The 'demons' as his future fugitive ancestors would call them.

Those daedra-worshipping ancestors made contact with the vestiges of the Titan's soul and forged a contract so deep it changed their very bodies.

And so the Witches of the Boiling Isles were born.

Belos was born to be a scholar and practiced it under the old king's regime. The knowledge and nature of their daedric neighbors was always of great concern. Should their far-flung realm be discovered a great tragedy would flood the Isles and all that they built would be lost. And the old king and all who came before him did nothing with that knowledge. They were content to hide their ancestral roots and lore and simply exist in a precariously stable existence. It sickens him still to this day.

He spent years studying until he heard the voice of the Titan. All that he knows of the cosmos, of the aedra and the daedra comes from the deity. And from the Titan he learned of a particular Kalpa his Witch brethren had floating contact with for a few centuries now, the human realm. One so far reserved from everything that the forces of Oblivion would never be able to threaten it.

He hatched a plan with the Titan. One to unite the realms and safeguard his people from the greater threats of the cosmos forever. Only then would his sins be redeemed and he could fade away a content man.

Naturally everything fell apart wen the madgog himself appeared and all that he worked for was ripped away and cast into the pit. Now he is a fugitive to the government he himself created and is stuck in an abhorrent shack infested with creatures while he waits for his body to heal. And for ever second that passes the Isles are corrupted more and more all whilst a Deadric Prince looks on with a smile.

While ever faint there is a spark of hope left. He just might be able to save his people in the end.

...He does believe that the Owl Lady's pet has been relieving itself on his cloak.

King doesn't know what the fuck is going on.

King doesn't know what the fuck is going on. Eda's been in and out of consciousness for days, Luz has been straight up comatose the whole time, Lilith is missing and now emperor fart-face (Eda's nickname for Belos) is living with them. Oh, and Luz's girlfriend. And her mother and older twin siblings also are living with them. The twins, and Amity to a lesser extent, are alright but their mom is effin' weird.

Oracle and seer Witches were always weird but she takes the cake and eats it too (that's how the human expression goes, right?). One second she's as quiet as a blade of grass the next she's raving at the top of her lungs about how awesome Amity is and how she'll rule them all one day. And that she'll give them all ponies and free tooth brushes too. They ended up locking her in the shed outdoors which sort of made them feel bad but Hooty likes to keep her company and she seems to like it too. King thinks she's happy being friends with the owl tube but he can't really tell with the crazy lady.

He has no idea why they like each other so much but Hooty's happy so he doesn't need to dig into it anymore.

Things haven't been... good around the Owl House. Lilith has been missing for three days now and he ended up having to tie Eda down to stop her from running out the door before she reopens the wounds in her ribs and dies drowning in her own blood. He wants to go find Lilith but he knows no one is up to it. Not yet.

Eda has fractured ribs and some bad damage to her spine. Luz has a near-broken neck and has been essentially comatose ever since they all got back and Amity has a concussion so severe one of her pupils is the size of a pinhead and the other you could probably fit a finger through. And she can't walk with balance to save her life so she's been stuck up in Luz's room and needs Kings help to guide her to the bathroom when duty (haha) calls. He's also pretty certain her skull has some minor fractures too.

The Blight twins are cowards who can't fight, their mom is batshit insane and the emperor is too weak to even stay awake for half of the day. There's no healers and no healing potions either. They'll have to weak until Eda gets well enough to use magic properly before they try and heal everyone else before they go out to find Lilith.

So things really aren't good around the Owl House but King is doing his best. He's been cleaning, feeding everyone and slowly helping them all heal and smile when he can. His work is underappreciated but without him none of them would've made it through the first night they came back. Its humbling but that's okay. He loves his family and always will.

He pees on Belos' cloak once more for good measure.

The Blight Twins don't like meat anymore.

Except they're liars. Edric and Emira, the inseparable wonder twins, spent a few weeks being force-fed Witch flesh by a deranged psychopath to 'fatten them up' so they could be eaten later. However that is stupid because, like, they were fed Witches that were alive until they ate them so 'fattening them up' was kinda wasteful and stupid? The Warden was dumb but going insane seemed to have made him even dumber. They really hope he died screaming.

Anyways the first few meals were... unpleasant and the terrible smell still haunts them, but a combined six hour shower between the both of them (they shower separately you sickos) and all the trauma and madness went down the drain. Except for the fact that it didn't.

It started out as an itch. For Edric he swore off meat for the rest of his days and dedicated himself to fruits and vegetables for good... but then his gaze would linger on any exposed skin near him. First it was Amity's arm. Something about it made him... hungry. His mouth would water and his brain would feel like bugs were crawling around in it. He'd have to pinch himself before anyone caught him staring too long and accuse him of being some sort of creep. He'd force fruit down his throat until his stomach hurt but he was never satisfied. It tasted like ash on his tongue.

He felt so terrible having those cravings, especially towards his family, and he started to become afraid that he'd simply lose it and take a raw bite from their arm. He had to do something about it. One night, when everyone was asleep, he snuck into Eda's kitchen and found some dried meat and by the Titan... it tasted so good. Like dry, red candy.

It was then that he felt someone watching him. He spun around, so afraid to have been caught, but it was Emira and she did not judge him. They talked and she revealed she's been having the same... cravings. Like him anything other than meat tasted like ash but any bite of flesh of any kind was simply orgasmic. Never before had meat tasted so good but they needed more. Animal meat was good but it wasn't enough. Only their old meals could satiate the painfully hunger sweltering within their bellies.

They needed Witch flesh.

"We're going scavenging. We'll be back before dark!" Emira didn't wait for an answer. The twins decided to head to the city for specific supplies. Sure Edric and herself would scrounge for some wild veggies and crap but really they're hitting up the ruins of Bonesborough for some much needed tools for their cravings. They need knives, real ones, if they're going to butcher anything efficiently so as to not waste any of the precious meat.

And what better place for quality knives than the old butcher shop?

Getting into the town is painfully easy these days. All the fighting has shifted elsewhere now and the scars of battle are still too fresh for any civilians to want to return to the ruins. It was hard navigating the streets as most of them are filled with the debris of collapsed buildings but Edric managed to spot half of the iconic sign of their family's favorite butcher.

Edric and Emira meet one another's eyes and nod before getting to work. Half of the building was destroyed and with it went much of the tools but Edric got lucky and managed to find a well-seasoned cleaver. It was hefty, maybe two pounds, but undamaged and pretty epic looking. Emira didn't get jealous but...

"C'mon, gimme it! I called dibs!"

"You can't call dibs-ow!-I found it!" Edric holds the cleaver high in the air with one had while the other is occupied with pushing his needy and bitchy sister away! Something clangs from the mostly standing backroom and the teens freeze. What could be back there? An enemy? Another scavenger?

"H-hello? Ed, Em, is that you?" The voice is weak, incredibly weak, but familiar. A figure emerges from the shadows behind them. It's Willow, Amity's childhood friend, and boy Emira can tell that she's seen better days.

Willow is thin which just looks wrong on her frame. The plant Witch wasn't ever really fat but she did have a somewhat bulky frame. But now? Now she looks more like Amity's weight which, if Emira is being honest, is way too thin. Willow also appears dazed and is without her glasses. She almost topples over as she slowly makes her way to the twins with a trusting smile weakly placed on her face.

Ed shares a look with Em before slowly looking to the cleaver in his grasp.

"I-I'm glad I found you guys... Ive been... I've been looking for Luz with Gus but I-I hit my head on a rock... and now I can't see too good... Thinking... hurts. So now I try not to think. By brain... fuzzy. Have you seen Luz? Gus really misses her." She holds up an object in her left hand. It looks like the charred and essentially mummified remains of a severed hand as though Gus was blown up by a firebomb and only his hand in Willows made it out. "I-I would really like to see her again."

Emira parts from her brother and smiles down at the younger Witch. Her smile is that of a wolf. Edric is by her side with the same smile and a cleaver raised high in the air. The twins learned long ago from their mother to never waste an opportunity. And here is a golden one presented to them on a silver platter.

Willow never saw it coming.

Lilith has regrets.

Lilith can't help but curse herself for her own stupidity for a second time in the same day. It really is her own fault for being caught off guard but in her defense there was never any inkling of Wrath possessing any real dangerous attributes.

Sure he had the right personality for running a prison; a large frame, a sadistic side and a reasonable strength to handle most of the average Witches, but never any real potential like she or Edalyn possessed.

And because of that she is dying.

She did beat the warden but in her pity she offered him the chance to runaway and fight another day. Instead he slashed her belly open before dying of blood loss mere moments after. Now she's on the path to doing the same mere feet from his corpse. She'd laugh were she able but her body seems to have shut down. She couldn't even lift an arm if she tried.

Alador... also died but earlier in the fight. The Warden, for all the he is proud of running the Conformatorium, didn't think twice about trying to collapse the whole place around them when it was obvious he'd never be able to overpower both of the adult Witches. One piece of falling stonework is all it took for the Blight Father's head to crack open and for him to hit the ground dead. She believe Eda refers to it as the room temperature challenge. How crude and how very Edalyn.

Lilith has to admit that, personally, the loss doesn't bother her. Not really. She feels regret of course but not because the man was a great parent but because he is the Blight children's only parent. Odalia Blight died long ago. Her mind went and all that remains is a husk with a worrying obsession with her youngest daughter. She's useless now which means three children are now orphans and it is Lilith's fault. That is her regret.

Craaaack!

Ah, it appears more of the building is collapsing. She suspects her time left can be measured as around two minutes. All there is left to do now is ponder while she awaits her end.

There are other things she regrets. She regrets not asking Odalia to the dance in school, she regrets not pushing Raine to ask Edalyn out earlier and, of course, she regrets cursing her sister to ensure she could follow her selfish dream (something that never needed to be done as Eda never intended to stand in her way in the first place.). She has more, naturally, but there's far too many to list in short order and festering in such thoughts will do her no good anyways.

Crack! Snaaap!

One minute left. What does someone do with one minute left to live?

Lilith thinks about the smiles of her close ones. She sees Eda's stupid smirk before smacking her ass saying that Lilith has the better 'Clawthorne booty'. She'll miss that snark and uncouth behavior greatly. She'll miss not being able to properly reconnect with her sister and make up for the lost thirty years they should've spent together. She had a taste of that and it is so bittersweet. Hell, she'll even miss that stupid gold tooth Eda screws into her mouth every morning before flashing it to her at the table every chance she gets. Who else?

Ah! There's Luz's absolutely positive beam of a smile that could practically be seen a hundred miles away. The human possessed such positivity to any simple aspect of magic that it was practically infectious. Lilith severely regrets almost snuffing the life of such a gift to the world but not even that could make the human hate her. The two of them got along quite well and the more studious and professional teacher-student relationship they had reminded the older Clawthorne of good times long past.

Finally she sees Amity. The one pride and joy that she had cultivated while heading the Emperor's Coven and naturally something that she had ruined for selfish and petty reasons. Her jealousy of her sister reared its ugly head once more and the hard earned trust vanished in an instant.

She saw so much of herself in Amity it hurt. That same drive for strength and perfection needed a mentor to groom into something great. It was in her second year of training the young Blight that Lilith started to see something greater in Amity. The connection felt deeper than that of a student and a master. Lilith began to feel... fulfilled.

In another life she sees herself in Odalia's place. Those kids... all of them were so wonderfully talented. They are so wonderfully talented. Will they be able to reach their potential without her? Such a stupid thought. Of course they will. It will just be under someone else's guidance. It hurts deeply to not be able to be there to see them come into their own but she'll depart them with a lesson worth remembering.

Lilith's death will deal a weighty blow to everyone but she has faith in them. It will take time but they'll recover and learn what not to do in life. It is bittering for that to be her legacy but it is an important wisdom and if it must be her to teach it in death then let it be her greatest and final lesson!

CRRraAACK!

Her time is up. The building collapses down upon her. She closes her eyes with a quivering smile on her face.

Amity is being possessive and she knows it. Sure she got some sniggers from her bastard siblings for putting her sleeping back right next to Luz's but she really doesn't care about people's opinions anymore. Except for Luz's. That stuff is like the word of god... Is she being dramatic? She killed Boscha for kissing Luz (before her, not that Amity would admit it) so maybe she is. Someone could also argue murdering her competition is being possessive but like she said, she doesn't care.

Luz has been asleep for days now and Amity is very worried. Humans don't normally sleep for days right? She's not sure if Luz has some sort of hibernation instinct but she really hope she doesn't. Amity misses spending time with Luz. The human is...endearing.

She will admit, however, that she's been using the opportunity to essentially snuggle up to her human in the name of heat preservation. The nights on the Boiling Isles can get cold sometimes and she wouldn't want her favorite human getting sick now would she?

...Images of herself in a nurse's outfit feeding Luz medicine from a spoon suddenly pops in her mind and oh boy does she flush.

"...Amity?"

"Huh?" The fantasy pops out of existence before she gets carried away. Luz looks at her through bleary eyes with clear confusion to them. "Are you holding my hand?"

She is but sly removes it hoping to convince her otherwise, "No, you must be... hallucinating! You hurt your head so you're probably imagining things."

Luz looks disappointed. Fuck!

"Oh... I guess that makes sense. Hey, is everyone else okay? I think we made it out but I was kinda dizzy from, you know, being used as a bat so I couldn't really hear too well."

Oh dear. How's she going to break it to Luz?

"That bad, huh?"

"Crap, said that out loud didn't I?" The human nods with a small, teasing smile on her face. Amity sighs, "Well... Lilith and my dad didn't make it back and its been three days now. I don't want to be negative, but I was raised to be a realist."

"I think," She struggles to get the words out, "-I think my dad and Lilith are dead."

Amity doesn't cry. She's been through much and fears she's lost that ability but she can still feel sad and right now she feels conflicted which in turn makes her feel bad. She loves her dad. She really does. But coming to terms with his death is difficult because she can't muster the ability to feel sad about it. She misses him, obviously, but she can't tell if she misses him because they had a deep connection or if its because she wishes they did and now she'll never be able to even try and be able to build that.

And then there's the terrible conflict with Lilith. Their parting as mentor and mentee wasn't... smooth. It's obvious that the older Witch had some family issues that got the better of her and unfortunately she got Amity involved in it which was very much not appreciated!

Still... Lilith had quite the impact on her life. While her parents were too busy for the 'simple affair' of training their own daughter Lilith was there ready to teach and praise her and Amity was eager to learn. While not always intentional Amity learned a fair amount about life from her old master than just teaching Abomination magic as she was hired solely for. She learned how to use a knife competently in self defense (which she took to quite well) and even learned quite a bit about the complexities of life and other such various things. Regular things her peers already knew about but the separate world she lived in left her almost stunted.

This makes her all the more frustrated that not only did her parents never bother to teach her such things themselves but Lilith also showed that even the highest and mightiest of her role models really were nothing but a bunch of lying hypocrites! And now she can't try and heal the damage dealt to her anymore. Her father and Lilith are dead and with them went the ability of reconciliation that she so hungrily craves. Not even her living mother can give her that satisfaction. The woman is pitying now and needs to be cared for. Is this her reward for years of soaking up all that any of her mentors could teach her? She's sorely disappointed.

It was in that disappointment that she came to the realization that all the wisdom of adults are built upon by decades of bias and only a keen mind (like the one she has thank you very much!) can decipher anything useful. She will become like them in time and that really pisses her off. Is there ever going to be an escape from the cycle? She's starting to believe that there isn't.

"I'm okay, Luz," She lies right through her teeth with a faux smile, "There's nothing to worry about. Really!"

Luz stares at her with wide eyes. It takes Amity a few minutes to process why.

"Ah. I said all that out loud, didn't I?" Her human nods very slowly and carefully, "...Fuck."

The human tries to sit up but the terrible pain in her neck stops her right in her tracks. She desperately wants to take Amity into her arms both to comfort and be comforted. She met Amity's father and felt really bad for him. She was close with Lilith and the hollow feeling in her heart where she once was is gaping and soul crushing. And she's not the only one who feels that way. But before she can start to heal herself... she wants to help Amity heal. She tries to desperately reach for Amity but the pain is so terrible and any movement makes it worse and worse.

"Luz! You've got a broken neck or something, you shouldn't be moving! I can't believe I'm saying this, but we need King up here. He's everyone's... nurse."

"C-cute." She chokes out through the pain with a stupid smile, "B-but can you stay h-here, with me? Longer, please?"

Amity doesn't argue. She'd do anything for her human. What's a few more minutes of laying down with her loved one while they wallow in agony? Amity's not letting the human out of her sight ever again. She'll tear the whole world down around her so long as she can stay by Luz's side for the rest of their days. That itchy, tickling feeling starts scratching at the back of her brain. She almost giggles as she takes the human's hand in her own.

Finally. Finally Luz will be hers. Forever and ever.