A/N: So, apparently I have a TVTropes page about this fic, which just… astounds me. That is honestly one of the coolest things ever done for me. I haven't been this happy since a reader made a piece of art based off a Little Witch Academia fic I did, like, three years ago. I spend a lot of time browsing TVTropes, and it's the first website I jump to after finishing any movie or video game I've gotten into so I can read the pages on them. So this is so cool!

Fun fact for this series that I've never mentioned before. For some reason, whenever I write Lucia's dialogue, I imagine she sounds like she's got an angry Boston accent. The angrier she gets, the more Bostony it goes. I don't even think she's BEEN to Boston, but she sounds like that in my head.

Back at the Owl House, the mood was split between somber in the living room, where Hunter lay back on the couch surrounded by Lilith and Raine, and a quiet(relative only to the occupancy of the Owl House) party in the kitchen, with everyone else who assisted in taking down the Emperor.

Edric held up a glass of Apple Blood, the one glass he'd been allowed to have due to the circumstances, "Here's to today! May tomorrow never come, because our parents are going to murder us dead!"

"Cheers to that!" Em clinked her own glass to his, followed by Amity with her own, non-alcoholic beverage, which they all immediately chugged.

"Hey, watch it! That's the good stuff, you don't wanna drink it all in one go!" Eda warned, laughing over the din as the two choked from the burn that met their throats.

Amity chortled over her siblings' misery as Emira gasped out, "How do you drink this stuff?"

Eda patted the girl on the back with a sympathetic look, "Oh, you'll understand one day, you poor, naive child."

Lucia laughed as she sipped carefully at her own mug of booze. It smelled vaguely of apples, which made sense, but had the consistency of blood… or fruit syrup. Lilith had been very much against the underage drinking, but after a mild argument with Eda she accepted allowing the older teens to have a single glass. It wouldn't be enough to get any of them drunk, and they were in a house full of "responsible" adults, and Ed and Em had been very insistent.

"We're going to be adults next year anyway!"

Luz blinked, and looked at them as if they'd each grown another head, "Aren't you only sixteen?"

"Yeah? So? What's the age of adulthood in the Human Realm?" Ed had asked, cocking a brow.

"Eighteen."

"That seems incredibly arbitrary," Em then commented.

"Wait until you hear we can't drink there until we're twenty-one! Why is it seventeen here?"

Both twins had looked at each other then back to the human, and shrugged, "We have no idea."

That had nearly been the end of the discussion, until Lucia brought up that she was seventeen. Eda had jumped at the chance to pour her a drink, and argued in favor that it seemed unfair to let the others, only a few short months away, to not be able to properly celebrate and that had been the end of the conversation, with Lilith finally giving in.

It occurred to them all that when Lilith had said responsible adults, it was likely she was in no way referring to Eda, and instead Lucia herself, which was as flattering to the human as it was incredibly inaccurate.

Either way, the appleblood didn't sit too well with Lucia, probably because of its viscousness. Amelia on the other hand seemed to enjoy it, at least while sipping at it like Lucia had, and not chugging it like her siblings, but that just might be a witch thing. From what Luz had told her, witches had very different food and drink here that humans just couldn't digest properly, if they could even get past the taste.

Vee was being celebrated for her role in playing Amelia during the fight, having used the various smokescreens they had thrown up to swap out with the girl. Having the knowledge of every track studied under the school curriculum, paired with a galderstone of her own, she'd been able to mimic Amelia in power while also having a flair for the dramatic.

"Who knew you'd end up being camera shy?" Vee smirked. She had tried to get her own glass of potent appleblood, even shapeshifting into a few of the adults to try and get her hands on it, but had been declined at every turn despite being old enough to do so by a millennia. No one wanted to be responsible for the shapeshifter getting drunk, and the havoc that would come with it.

Amelia grimaced, "I know we were aiming for dramatic, but I was getting secondhand embarrassment from some of those lines, Vee. You have clearly been watching too much of Luz's anime back home."

Everyone who had been to Earth had let out a laugh at that, including Eda. All the other witches in the room looked confused over what "anime" was, which just made Luz all the more eager to get home to her dvd collection so she could bring it here. Monster Slayer Academia was sure to be a huge hit with this friend group.

Some of the Bards Against the Throne, being all adults, were already starting to get a bit thrashed. This was a pretty big deal for them, after all. What Throne would they Bard Against now that Belos was off his? While Derwin was still on his first glass, Katya was already looking a bit tipsy, and was pantomiming out her latest story of the forbidden love between fruits and vegetables using Eda's produce, and Amber was already out of it, singing a song to all the Palismans in the room that she'd just made up and trying to get everyone else to sing along with her.

"Come on, Mommy Eda, you know the words!"

"You're literally making them up as you go along, sweetie, so no, I don't."

All in all, it was a very good time in the kitchen.

Meanwhile, it was less of a good time in the living room. Lilith tended once more to Hunter's wounds, scolding him about getting out of his "bed" while he still needed the rest. Raine, meanwhile, was going over the likely course of events that would take place now that Belos was no more.

"Because of his public unveiling, the amount of witches willing to openly support the previous regime will be at an all time low. Doubly so for those willing to champion it. Civil war has been averted for the time being." They summed up.

Crossing their arms, they continued, "We can likely expect some resistance from the Coven Heads that remain, as well as many of the high ups in the Emperor's coven. They won't like having to give up the power they feel is theirs when a new regime takes over."

"Kikimora especially," Hunter added, wincing as Lilith reapplied something to clean a cut on his cheek. "She'll likely take over as de facto leader of what remains of my uncle's more loyal forces."

"Despite you apparently being his chosen for next in line?" Raine asked, brow raised.

"Especially since he's next in line," Lilith commented dryly. "Kikimora's been trying to get in Belos' graces for a chance at the throne for over two decades, and now she has it, if only in the literal sense of her being in the castle right now."

"We'll handle her later." Hunter promised, leaning back in his seat and resting his head on the pillow laid out for him.

Raine nodded, "I agree. She's a problem for later. The issue now is what to do with you."

Hunter locked eyes with the bard, and Lilith turned back to face them as well. "Raine, can't this wait?"

Raine shook their head. "As of now, Hunter is the Emperor of the Boiling Isles, as far as I'm concerned. I need to know he'll handle the job better than his predecessor."

"And how exactly is he supposed to prove that when he's bedridden and away from any of his responsibilities that would prove his capabilities?" Lilith goaded, for as much as she hadn't liked the Golden Guard, the fact that Raine was already willing to test a teenager for his ability to lead boggled her mind.

Hunter caught her arm, bringing both adults attention to him. "You want a job?" Was all he asked.

Lilith balked, mouth hanging open. "What?"

"A job. Head of the Emperor's Coven. Advisor. Grand Vizier. Fucking Royal Jester, I don't care, take you pick." Hunter listed, growing more agitated as he went on.

Lilith held up her hands to soothe him, "okay, okay! I'll take one. Not the jester, but I'll get back to you. What is this even about?"

Hunter had already moved on, his attention on Raine now, "There, you have someone on your side in a position of power in the new government. Congratulations. Now can you leave me in peace?"

Raine crossed their arms, clenching their teeth until they closed their eyes and let out a sigh, "Fine. I suppose you deserve a bit of rest after today's events."

"Howdy doody, how's the party pooper coven doing out here?" Eda called out, stepping out from the kitchen and into the living room, a few empty mugs carried by their handles in one hand and a bottle of liquor in the other.

Hunter groaned, putting his head in his hands, "Great, more of this."

Raine snorted and smiled gently, "We're doing fine in here, Eda, just finishing up going over the last few details of the day."

"Well, that's good, because I was needing a drinking buddy," Eda grinned, and thrust one of the mugs into Raine's hands, both of their faces faintly blushing at the brief contact their fingers made.

Lilith facepalmed, "Sister, there is an entire coven's worth of drinking partners in the kitchen."

"Yeah, but they're all kids who can't handle more than a cup, or they're Amber, who's about ready to pass out." Eda smirked, though at Raine's concerned look she threw in, "Don't worry about the girl, I cut her off already. If she's going to call me Mommy, I may as well play the part."

"Speaking of kids who can't handle their liquor-" Eda poured one of her mugs up to the brim, and held it out for Hunter, earning a scornful narrowing of eyes from her oh-so-responsible sister. "What, all the other big kids got a glass, he might as well have it."

"Well, I don't want it," Hunter huffed, looking very much like a child as he crossed his arms and looked away.

"Look, I'll just leave it here on the table for you, and if you want you can take a sip in celebration, or down it to drown your sorrows." Eda did as she said, ignoring the coasters her sister had laid out and putting the mug right on the wood. She winked at the soon-to-be-crowned-emperor, "I find this stuff is great for the latter."

"How you're responsible for so many children, I will never understand," Lilith muttered, while Raine chuckled good naturedly.

"It's because I'm the fun Mom, Lily."

Later that night, when the house had calmed down and everyone who remained at the Owl House was asleep, Hunter still lay awake and staring at the ceiling. It shouldn't have been so hard for him to fall asleep, since the bards had abdicated the house, heading back to their own secret lair to plan for another storming of the castle as needed, and as such that left Hunter alone downstairs and away from their dreaded, now drunken, snoring.

No, he was kept awake by the thoughts that plagued him. His Uncle's death and his grief over it. That he was to be the new Emperor. That he'd have to help them eventually take back the castle from Kikimora. It was a lot to process in only a single day's time.

He was torn from these thoughts by Rascal, still as protective as ever and resting in a little blanket nest at Hunter's feet, who began to chirp in warning as a shadow fell over his body. Twisting his body to get a look at whoever was there he nearly yelped when he found them already looming over him, and wondered what kind of ill intent they must have for him.

Only to feel mildly embarrassed to find a very groggy elder Noceda as the culprit, an empty cup in her hands. "Sorry, didn't mean to wake you. Was just getting some water."

"No, it's- it's fine." Hunter assured her, laying back down in a huff, "Wasn't asleep anyway."

Lucia blinked wearily at him, then shrugged, heading into the kitchen and filling her glass at the sink with water. Taking a gulp, then topping it off again, she shuffled back into the dark living room, scratching at her backside as she did so and stifling a yawn.

She spared another glance at Hunter, who was clearly doing his best to ignore her. This was the first time they'd been alone since… ever, and while Hunter wasn't sure what to make of the girl, she knew enough about him from what Luz had told her. "Hey. Uh, sorry about hitting you with my bat the other day."

Hunter winced at the memory. "Don't worry about it. We weren't on the same side at the time. And it was far from the worst wound I got that day."

Lucia grimaced, knowing that to be the truth. Taking the butt of a baseball bat to the gut was definitely better than the beat down he received after they left. Though that did remind her, "Also, sorry about your… Uncle, right?"

"Yeah. And no you're not." He dismissed her sympathies flatly, not in the mood for false condolences.

Lucia sighed. Luz had also told her about that Belos guy, and Hunter was right. She wasn't sorry he was dead. He sounded like a damn terrible tyrant. He turned people into living statues as punishment, rounded up anyone who didn't conform to his way of thinking, and nearly got everyone on the Isles, and likely Connecticut, killed. "Yeah, you got me there. I'm not sorry he's dead. I am sorry you've got to deal with your loss, though."

Hunter craned his neck to look at her, surprised to see she didn't appear to be lying. Lucia slid over to the coffee table, sitting her tired rump on top of the wood finish. "Luz told me a lot about you. She considers you a good student, and a decent enough friend. A "bad but sad" boy."

Hunter rolled his eyes, "That's not the first time I've heard she's said that about me before."

"Anyway," Lucia talked over him, "She also said you helped her out of a bit of a crisis, when she wasn't sure if the door she's trying to gather materials for was going to work or not, and you encouraged her to keep going. That means a lot to me. So it doesn't matter if I didn't like your uncle. I like you, and can at least offer an ear if you ever want to mouth off to a stranger."

Hunter smiled despite himself, "Thanks. That's the first genuine thing anyone has had to say about my Uncle's death today."

He turned his eyes back to the ceiling, feeling the weight of his bags under his eyes, "You know, Luz actually mentioned you when I talked to her about her portal. Said I reminded her of you."

"Oh no, she's adopted you, hasn't she?" Lucia groaned, "I heard she had a habit of picking up strays while over here."

"It's worse," Hunter chuckled, "She was clearly thinking of ways of setting us up."

"God dammit, sis." Lucia grumbled, face in her hands, but still laughing despite her embarrassment. "Well, I shouldn't have to explain to you why that won't work out, lover boy."

"Oh please, like I'd ever want to date a Noceda," Hunter mockingly placated, "You're all loud, in everyone's faces, and annoying. Always poking your nose in everyone's business under the guise of helping."

"Hey, I take offense to that."

"Oh really? Because just a moment ago you were doing the exact same thing, offering to be a shoulder for me to cry on despite hardly knowing me. Hypocrite."

"I don't need to stand for this," Lucia said haughtily, then did exactly as she said she didn't and stood from her seat at the table. "I'm going to bed now. See if I care about your sorry emo ass tomorrow, pipsqueak."

Hunter chuckled under his breath, "Good night, human."

"Night, dork."

Hunter, alone once more aside from his Palisman, breathed out a sigh, and laid his head back into the folds of his pillow. His eyes weighed heavily under the temptation of sleep, which swiftly took him until the morning came.

A few days later, Luz wanted to show Lucia around Bonesborough properly, without the threat of an angry emperor bearing down on them all, and invited Amelia and Vee to join them, Amelia curious to the world she grew up in, and Vee wanting to see how the markets had changed since she'd been there last.

Hunter declined, having healed enough to move around. He wanted to save his energy for when they stormed the castle, and also thought going out was an "unnecessary risk" to their safety, which Luz just scoffed at. No one was a match for them, between Luz's glyphs, Lucia's bat, Amelia's magic and Vee's adorableness.

In the time they'd been away from Bonesborough since the fight the market square had been fixed up enough. Matholomule had tried on the day of, but his repair skills with construction magic had been… lacking, to say the least, and it seemed the townsfolk agreed, since someone had clearly been around to properly fix it since then.

"Most of the shops are pretty static during the day," Luz informed them, handing out a few snails to each of them from her own purse, "but if you want, we can stick around until sundown for the Night market. That's when stuff gets weird. Nothing is ever in the same place twice."

"I think it'd be best if we don't stick around until night, Luz." Vee warned, glancing over her shoulder. People were clearly looking their way, and who could blame them when they'd helped in overthrowing the ruler of the Isles on a Titan-wide newscast.

Lucia nodded in agreement, her hands tightening around the bat she had hoisted over her shoulder. Luz had decorated it in a plethora of glyphs that would go off the second they made contact with someone's face, just in case.

"We should all stick together," Amelia suggested to the agreement of everyone else.

So they did, taking their small group from place to place. Luz introduced them to various shopkeepers she knew from her time on the isles, many of which she was on a first name basis with. It was definitely a far cry from the Luz who shied away from other teenagers and adults back home, in Lucia's opinion.

Luz gave them a tour of where Eda's old shop used to be set up, and where she got her first introduction to the Boiling Isles. That had been an experience for Amelia, who wandered around the place where she'd vanished before so long ago. To cheer them up, Luz next took them by a bookstore run by Willow's parents, Mr. and Mr. Park, who were a nice couple and greeted them all kindly.

They avoided a shop run by some pig looking guy named Tibbles, who seemed to have had enough of Luz himself and kept his own distance, outside of sneering in their general direction.

"You seem to really love it here," Lucia observed, as Luz cheerfully waved to yet another group of passerby's.

Luz flinched, almost as if she was in trouble, "Yeah. It's… pretty great here. I'd probably even stay here, if I could…" she admitted, with a bit of guilt in her voice.

Lucia bit her lip as she looked around the colorful market. Over the past few days, she'd played with the idea that Luz felt this way. She seemed… happy. Happier here in this nightmare world that kinda freaked Lucia out, than she ever had in their own world.

Luz wasn't taking the silence between them too well, fidgeting in place, "Does that make me a bad person, Hermana?"

Lucia thought back to all the people here who genuinely seemed to love Luz, and shook her head slowly. Reaching out, she ruffled her little sister's hair, "No, Hermanita, I get it. You found a place as weird as you, so of course you feel like you belong."

Luz leaned against her older sister, "Sometimes, I feel really bad about not wanting to go back. I missed you, and Mom, but I'm afraid that if I go home, I won't be allowed to come back here again."

"I won't let that happen, Luz." Lucia assured her softly, then gave her a firm pat on the back, "Now, let's go, the others are leaving us behind."

As the group made their way down the streets, they did their best to ignore the whispers and gossip that followed them. Unfortunately, the gossip train wasn't ignoring them, and as they rounded a corner, trying to decide on what to get for lunch, they suddenly found a camera in their faces. Or, Amelia did, at least.

"Mr. Porter?" Luz asked, surprised to see her friend's dad out and about.

"Not now Luz, I'm on the job," He said quickly, making Luz pout at being brushed off. Vee meanwhile waved to the cameras excitedly, hoping all her new friends at the Owl House could see her.

Perry Porter shoved a microphone up to Amelia's face, "A word for the Boiling Isles News Report, if you will?"

He didn't wait for the girl to reply before asking, "We're all looking for a bit more clarification on what exactly happened the other day. Are you who you say you are, and are you or are you not the new voice of the Titan?"

Amelia looked taken aback, her nerves spiking over having a camera in her face. Lucia reached out and grasped her hand, "Hey, back off a bit, buddy, give her some room to breathe." She shifted her body in a way that emphasizes that she was in fact carrying a weapon and wasn't afraid to use it.

Perry gestured to the cameraman, who took a step back. Gulping, her mouth feeling a lot more dry than it had a moment ago, Amelia tried to answer, "I am who I said I am. I go by Amelia Bane now, but I was born Emily Blight. The circumstances of how I got stranded on Earth however are completely different from the story we gave to the camera last time."

She shook her head, "Not that you, or anyone watching this, need to know that story. As for the Titan thing, no, I have no relationship with the Titan at all."

Perry kept his face straight and professional, "And do you think it was unfair, or even callous, to do what you did? You claimed to be the voice of the Titan, only to take it back now?"

Amelia frowned, "Look, what's worse, that I pretended to be the voice of your God for an hour, or the guy who pretended for fifty years and got a lot of people killed for it?"

Perry chose not to respond to that line of questioning, instead moving on to the next, "If you, nor the Late Emperor are the Voice of the Titan, do you know who is? Who will be the one to speak on his behalf?"

Amelia stared blankly at the camera for a moment, then sighed. "I don't have any answers to that question. I spent nearly my entire life in the Human Realm, where we don't have a Titan. I know next to nothing about the culture surrounding the Titan, or anything about the religion."

Perry opened his mouth to ask another question, but was cut off by Amelia, "I know everyone is confused, and looking for answers, but I don't have any. If you all want to keep worshipping the Titan, go ahead. But I'm still getting used to the fact that I'm walking on top of a giant corpse in the first place to help."

She pushed past them, "I think this interview is over."

Lucia, Luz and Vee followed after her, leaving Perry alone to signal to his cameraman to cut the feed.

"You alright?" Lucia asked softly as they walked.

"… let's just skip lunch and head back for now." Amelia answered curtly, stopping at a local cloak shop and buying a hood to wear over her head for the rest of the trip.

When they returned to the Owl House, and cooked up some lunch, Lucia had been experienced enough in dealing with Amelia to know when she wanted her alone time to stew and throw herself a pity party, and kindly rallied the others away from her so she could eat her eyeball soup in peace.

Eyeballs were one thing Amelia hadn't expected to enjoy eating. She still had to close her eyes when she spooned them into her mouth, and the sight of them bobbing in the broth was stomach churning, but they were absolutely delicious.I really must be a witch thing. She just had to make sure to never enquire about whose eyes they once were and she was fine.

While the Noceda's had the good sense to keep away, someone else hadn't gotten the message, and in the time between bites, when Amelia squeezed her eyes tightly shut to eat another eyeball, and opening them back up, a familiar head of lavender hair had entered her peripheral view, taking the seat next to her to help herself to her own lunch.

Together, Amelia and Amity ate their lunch quietly, the older of the two shooting the younger the occasional side eye. Amity hadn't been around to go with them to the markets this morning, but must have shown up while they were gone if she was here, leaving Amelia to wonder what it was she wanted.

Amelia finished off the remaining eyeballs in awkward silence, then set her spoon aside, lifting the bowl in her hands and bringing it to her mouth to loudly and obnoxiously slurp, knowing it would probably rile up her newfound sister, who even at a glance had clearly had manners hammered into her from a young age. The face Amity made, along with how she tensed in her seat as if she wanted to smack the bowl out of Amelia's hands, amused the woman, then she set the empty bowl back down with a clatter and turned her full attention to Amity, gesturing for her to say something.

Amity clasped her hands in her lap, looking uncomfortable under Amelia's gaze. This was the first time they'd ever been alone together, and while it wasn't a first impression, it was still important. "I, uh, heard about what happened in the market today." She uttered out after a moment.

Amelia leaned against the table, propping herself up by her elbow. "Yeah. Shit sucks. But what can you do?"

Amity pursed her lips at her language, but wisely didn't comment on it. "Well, if you ever want to talk about it-"

"Don't do that, Amity." Amelia sighed, brushing a hand through her hair.

Amity jumped, "What do you mean?"

"Try and help me out. Look, I know we're sisters and all, but you don't know me. And I don't know you. And while I appreciate it, you don't have to try and force a bond or something. Your first one on one chat with me shouldn't be about stuff like this."

Amity bowed her head. "Sorry… I just- I don't have a real strong connection with Ed and Em, and seeing Luz with her older sister and… whatever Vee is to her, it's-"

Amelia huffed and rolled her eyes, "Don't compare yourself to them. They're a bunch of goofy freaks who immediately get along with everyone. They aren't natural, and we don't have to immediately jump into trying to be like them. Let's get to know each other first, before you worry about supporting me through my issues, okay?"

Amity nodded, partly disappointed, but equally relieved to hear she didn't have to try and force their relationship to be any closer than they were both comfortable with. "Do you have a subject you want to talk about in particular? To get to know each other better?"

Amelia picked her brain to try and find something the two of them might have in common to start with. "Okay, Nocedas. What is with the two of us and them, huh?"

Amity went tomato red, but had a smile on her face as the conversation shifted to her favorite subject. "I know, what are the odds we both started dating sisters? It doesn't surprise me, though, since they seem so loyal, and friendly, and kind-"

"And they're pretty good kissers, too. Or at least, my Noceda is. How's Luz fair in that category?" Amelia teased, making a show of inspecting her nails, while actually watching Amity for her reaction.

If anything, Amity became even more crimson, "A-Amelia!"

"What, do you want me to have to wait until the inevitable double date those two dorks drag us out on to find out the answer to that question?"

"We wouldn't make out in front of you!" Amity argued, covering her face in her hands.

The older girl chortled, and gave Amity a hard clap on the back, "I know I just said we don't have to throw ourselves into a sisterly relationship so soon, but I can't help it. I gotta get some teasing in for all the years I missed."

"Edric and Emira made plenty sure to make up for any you didn't get to do," Amity grumbled.

"Forget about them for a minute," Amelia waved her hand as if to brush the comment off. "Tell me more about yourself."

Amity blinked, then nodded.

As the two talked, the air around them grew more comfortable as Amity told her about school gossip involving another girl named Boscha that got several "oh no she didn't!"s from the older girl. Soon Amelia forgot all about how she'd come in there to be alone to stew.

The Bad Girl Coven struck the Castle once more before the week was out, not wanting to give Kikimora time to gather any more forces to her side. It was decided early on to leave the children out of it, as they had done enough, even as Luz argued that she should be allowed to come along.

"It's no fair that Lucia is able to go, but I'm not! She just got here, but this has been my fight for months!"

Eda put her foot down, "First off all, 'your fight?' No, our fight. You're an outsider here as well, Luz. I wouldn't have let you fight against Belos if I didn't know that you'd be dead if we lost, but that's not a factor in this fight."

She pointed at Luz sternly, "Second of all, your sister is almost an adult by human standards, and is an adult by ours. She's old enough to do as she pleases. She's not my kid, either, you are, so I don't get to be the boss of her."

"Thirdly, Lucia isn't even fighting with us. She had the option to, but she's staying behind to make sure you don't do anything dumb, like chase after us." Eda finished, hands on her hips.

Luz pouted, but at least didn't argue against Eda anymore. Which was good because Eda was very close to her breaking point and letting the irresponsible trouble maker in her let Luz tag along against her better judgement.

The raid had gone quickly, and without much of a struggle. Raine had brought together a bunch of Emperor's Coven Guards who were willing to fight to install Hunter onto the throne for one reason or another, ranging from trying to honor the last will of their former emperor, or just a distaste for Kikimora. With these numbers, heralded by Eda, the former leader of the Emperor's Coven, Lilith, and the leader of the Bard Coven, Raine, many of the remaining forces in the castle simply surrendered against the sheer numbers.

And the Bad Girl Coven had numbers, at least compared to Kikimora's forces. With Belos kaput, a number of the Emperor's Coven stepped down from their positions, leaving their posts abandoned. Kikimora was working with a skeleton crew of forces loyal only to her.

In record time, Eda, Raine and Lilith, along with the rest of their forces, burst into Belos' former planning chamber, Kikimora at the head of the table, sitting on what looked like a stack of thick books just to be able to be seen. The rest of the table's seats were taken by the remaining coven leaders, and the room was full of the guards who remained to defend their new Empress.

For a time no one moved, until Eda and Raine stepped aside, letting a mostly healed, slightly bruised and tender Hunter to pass by them, clad in white cloak. "You seem to be in my spot." He said with a confidence he didn't feel.

"The Golden Guard… or should I just say, Hunter? As you are very much fired." Kikimora retorted, slamming her tiny hands on the table. "You're not welcome here, now I suggest you leave before I have my Coven Heads here retract what mercy I am willing to give you."

The various Coven leaders sat stone still, not making a move unless ordered. Darius sat with his arms crossed, not even looking their way. Eberwolf still seemed to be nursing a few wounds, though a cheerful and toothy smile remained on their face. Many of the others kept their faces blank, looking either towards Kikimora, or the castles invading forces.

Hunter eyed each of them, and wondered who was here because of loyalty, and who was here because they were trying to hide from the consequences of the previous reign. Not many of them had clean hands, after all. If they chose to fight on even footing, a lot of good people could still die by their hands. But that didn't matter, as this battle had been won before Hunter had even entered the room.

Beside Kikimora's head, a glowing circle was formed, making the tiny terror of a tyrant freeze up as she realized a spell circle had been cast and was ready to fire at point blank range. She shifted her head, carefully, slowly, trying to see who dared betray her when her victory was at hand. "Steve?! How could you?! And after I gave you shoulder pads!"

"Steve doesn't need shoulder pads anymore." Steve said cooly, or, at least he hoped it sounded cool. "He's got himself a lady at home who needs him to bring a tyrant to justice."

Lilith tried not to facepalm as her sorta boyfriend, sorta bootycall made himself look ridiculous in front of all the important people in the empire. She could hear Eda stifling her laughter and grit her teeth to keep from yelling.

"Are you going to stand down, or do I need to give Steve an order to take your head off?" Hunter asked calmly, gripping his staff in hand just in case.

It looked for a moment that Kikimora was going to try and go down in a blaze of glory. Her eyes bulged out of their sockets, she trembled with rage, and finally she-

Let out a sob and started throwing a tantrum on the table. "You always have to get in my way, don't you, Golden Guard?!"

Everyone stared at her awkwardly as she pounded her fists against the table, screaming bloody murder. Darius beside her grimaced in disgust, and muttered, "This is why I only work with professionals."

Slate rose from his seat somberly, hands raised, "I can't speak for everyone here, but I will go in peace." The bearded man lowered his head to Hunter.

One by one, the Coven Leaders surrendered, knowing the chances of them leaving there alive were slimming the more the others turned against them. The Coven Guards still loyal to Kikimora, realizing their positions and hoping for leniency set aside their staves, giving in to their new Emperor as well.

Hunter had the surrendered forces cuffed, and escorted out of the castle. Many of them would end up going free at the end of the day, others would stand trial. Some of them Hunter would have to work with, including many of the Coven leaders, at least until suitable replacements could be found, if he didn't just scrap the entire system in the end.

Kikimora had to be bound and gagged, and as she was dragged away by Steve, Hunter said, "I actually feel a little sorry for her."

"Really?" Eda asked, unconvinced.

"No, she was horrible," Hunter admitted, "But she probably wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't for my Uncle, constantly dangling praise out of her reach unless she went to extremes to get it."

"Sounds like you have experience with that."

Hunter just huffed as the last of the rabble was taken away. When they were gone, he walked by the long table, tracing his fingers against the smooth wood, then took his place at the head, soon joined by his compatriots. "That was a good plan, Lilith. I can see I chose wisely in making you my… whatever position it was you took again."

"I've decided to reclaim my post as the head of the Emperor's Coven, actually." Lilith clarified. "And thank you, but really the praise should go to Steve."

Eda chortled at the name, elbowing Raine beside her. "I love that guy, he was so corny up there."

Raine smiled, "I'll have to make sure his contribution is included in the history books. Word for word."

Hunter put his head in his hands and groaned, having hoped they'd let him rewrite at least that segment of history so it never officially happened.

With the castle cleared, and the guards reinstated, Luz was finally allowed access. It felt weird to be walking freely through the castle halls, since the last time she'd done so had been the very first time she'd visited, back when she was here on a Hexside field trip.

Eda and the others hadn't come home the night before, only sending Owlbert along with a message for her and King, telling them they'd taken the castle back. As soon as the sun had risen, Luz had grabbed a pot and a wooden spoon and went around the Owl House banging them together until everyone had awoken so that they could go to the castle together, much to Lucia's annoyance.

Now the five of them were walking together. Her, Lucia, Amelia, Vee, and King. Amity had gone home to face her parents, who had apparently been inquiring about when their dear Emily would be visiting, but Amelia still hadn't seemed ready yet. Amity had gone in her place to placate them long enough for her newfound older sister to find the nerve to face them, and was missing out on the trip. All they needed was a tour guide and their castle adventure would be perfect.

Then when Luz brought that up, Vee was happy to give them a bit of the castle's history, having been on multiple field trips in the past herself. Luz listened in awe as her new sister went on about some of the tapestries and how they predated Belos' reign by over a century, and that Vee even knew the demon who had made them so long ago.

As they made it to the throne room, the big, grand doors were opened for them by some guards and they stepped inside. Luz looked around the place, enjoying the sight a lot more than the time she'd spied on Belos on the field trip. For one, the giant beating heart had been removed, a fabrication of Belos' to convince others he worked for the Titan, and secondly, the room was more brightly lit. No more dim, intimidating lighting that cast long shadows over the place.

The last thing she noticed was that Hunter had taken his Uncle's place on the throne, looking much smaller in the seat than Belos had. He was overlooking some paperwork that Lilith was going over with him. The bags under his eyes were even darker than usual, a sign he'd skipped out on sleep the night before in an attempt to get things settled faster.

Luz skipped forward, bowing dramatically before him, "My liege!"

Hunter looked too tired to be amused, and instead greeted them plainly with a nod. He set aside his work, handing the papers over to Lilith, who on further inspection looked just as tired as Hunter did, and Luz wondered if the fact she hadn't seen Eda yet meant she'd been up as well and was only now getting any sleep.

She tried not to think that Raine also wasn't around, and might be with Eda while they slept. That was kind of sweet in one way, and really icky in another.

Free of his work, Hunter stood from his new throne, which was tall enough his legs dangled instead of reaching the floor. At their amused expressions, he deadpanned, "That's going to be the first non-mandatory thing I change around here."

"That entire chair does make you look a lot shorter than you already are," Amelia snarked.

Hunter snarled, "We're the same height!"

"Is this really the discussion we're having?" Vee questioned, "I mean, new royalty who owes us a ton for helping out, and we're picking petty squabbles?"

"Vee, bad girl. We're not here because Hunter owes us anything," Luz scolded. "We're here to support him as the new head honcho of the Isles."

"Why do I get the feeling none of you are going to call me by my proper title of Emperor?" Hunter asked, irritation in his voice.

"Not gonna happen," Lucia confirmed, "You'll always be that pipsqueak I hit with a bat to me."

"An edgy teenager to me." Amelia added.

"I barely know you at all," Vee admitted cheerfully. "I could be nicer, but if everyone else is going to tease you, I don't wanna be left out!"

Hunter sighed, and looked at Luz, "And you?"

Luz finger gunned, "Why should I have to use fancy titles for family, huh?"

Hunter blinked tiredly, "I'm still not letting you adopt me into your army of whack jobs."

"Shoot!"

He turned back to his throne, leaning against it and closed his eyes, almost looking like he was about to slump over. Just when everyone had assumed he'd fallen asleep while on his feet, he opened his eyes wearily, "The Changeling isn't wrong, though. I do owe you a favor."

Luz tried to wave him off, much to the displeasure of her companions, "Really, you don't need to-"

"Oh really? And here I was going to offer you up all the stuff we used to repair the old portal. Figured you could use it to make your own." Hunter cut her off, amusement slipping into his tone.

Luz blanched, then perked up, racing over and throwing her arms around his waist, an act that almost got the guards on her case, only for a gesture from Hunter to call them off. "Thank you so much! That'll shave weeks off our time!"

Hunter ruffled her hair, "No need for thanks. The least I can do is try and get you guys home as soon as possible, for your sake, and the sake of my own sanity."

Luz giggled, squeezing tight, then quickly removed herself, "actually, I… have something for you too."

She waved Lucia over, who brought her a parcel wrapped up in white cloth. Luz anxiously handed it to Hunter, who with a perked eyebrow took it, and began to unwrap it. As he unfolded the bundle of cloth, he nearly dropped it when he realized what was inside.

His Uncle's mask stared up at him. The mask was chipped, and missing half of one of the decorative horns, but it was less muddied than the last time he'd seen it, cleaned and polished back to a shine by careful human hands.

Seeing his shocked face, Luz began to rapidly explain, "I- I wanted to save it for you, so you… so you had something to bury, or something. He didn't leave a body, and you didn't have time to mourn before having to start planning for everything. And I know, I didn't like him, I actually kind of hated him, and I think you should too, but I know you don't. You loved him. You wanted to save him. So I saved his mask, so you'd have something."

Realizing she was rambling, she rolled her ankle sheepishly, not meeting his eyes. "Sorry, I hope this doesn't bother you."

His hand met her shoulder, "It doesn't. This… it means a lot to me, Luz." Was all he said, and the raw emotion in his voice let her know that was the truth.

He wrapped it back up in the cloth that he held tightly in his hands, and wondered what he should do with it, or if his Uncle had bothered writing down burial plans for when his time came that he should try to find.

He turned away from them until he could mask the tears and stop the choking building up in his throat. He let out a small cough when he was ready to try and speak again, "so, has anyone showed you around the castle yet?"

Vee raised her hand, "I did!"

He forced a smile and a chuckle, "Come on, I'll give you guys the proper tour. None of that stuff they only show on the boring old field trips."

A/N: If this seems ever so slightly more clunky than usual, it's because none of this past the first section was in my original outline. I was going to end it vague on who was going to be the new ruler of the isles, a tie between Lilith, Hunter, and Kikimora, with them sending the kids home so they didn't have to deal with messy politics.

Then I remembered, Kikimora is a character that exists, and I keep forgetting about her. Outside of her bugging Hunter's room, and being one of the candidates for the throne, she had basically no role in the plot. So I changed stuff around.

Don't think too much on the lines about the age of adulthood on the isles, it was more for a silly joke than any social commentary on my part. Drinking age on the isles is also 17 though, as you are considered an adult and don't have to do that weird time gap between 18 and 21 like we do in America.

We're almost done. Two more chapters. Titan, this is exciting! Leave some comments below, it might not be too late for me to input another scene or joke before I post them, so if there's anything you'd like to see before this is over, tell me!