Some say that destiny is a path written in the stars, predetermined from the creation of the universe. Others say that fate is what you make of it, that it is a final goal to aspire to.
Ultimately, without omniscience, both interpretations would inevitably be made to bow before the randomness of events. How two people could connect or disconnect randomly. How an event could have many potential outcomes, but always seem to go with one particular one.
A thousand tiny coincidences had piled up, starting with a witch and her student's fateful disagreement in the warehouse. What a coincidence, then, that such a disagreement never occurred in this world. As if a deity moved the pieces to prevent such a coincidence.
But that's just a coincidence, surely.
The surviving witches and titan sped through the halls, certain they would not be impeded by any Scouts or Guards, considering how all of them were, most likely, feeding the hole in the sky with their energy. Every now and then, the group would come across a Scout collapsed at an intersection, but they kept moving; there was nothing they could do for them right now. Eventually, they arrived at the entrance to the Relic Room.
Or, at least, what they assumed was the Relic Room.
"This is the way we came with Luz last time…" Willow said as she surveyed the damage in the room. None of the pedestals were lined up like she remembered, the relics were gone, and giant stone spikes pierced the opposite side of the room from where they jutted out. A single Coven member was in the room, obscured by the rubble, judging by the lone energy stream flowing up through the ceiling.
Amity marveled at the damage to the room while she searched for a way through the rubble to the exit on the other end. "There must have been quite a fight in here. I wonder who that Scout was fighting?"
Amity jumped back as Eda came up in her harpy form and ripped apart one of the stone spikes to clear a path forward. The group carefully filed through, so as to not unbalance anything.
On the other side, Gus glanced to the side, then did a double-take and gasped. "Is that–?" He rushed over to the side of a short witch with brown hair, passed out atop a pile of rubble, then brushed off a bit of the marble dust that had settled on the witch.
"It is! Hey guys! It's Mattholomule!" Gus called to the others, who paused to look at what Gus was pointing out. Mattholomule groaned and shifted at the sound of Gus' voice. "He's still alive!"
"I've got him. Emira showed me a few healing spells." Amity said, already twirling her finger into a spell. She placed her hand and the spell circle on Mattholomule's chest and felt him settle a bit. "He should be ok. Maybe. I haven't really practiced this spell."
"Uuugghh…" Mattholomule groaned as his eyes flickered open. His gaze seemed to recognize Gus. "Oh, hey… I guess we won? Yaaay…"
"Yep, he's still alive. He might be able to–" Gus paused and looked at Mattholomule with concern. "Wait, 'we'?"
"Yeah." Mattholomule said as Gus and Amity helped him to a sitting position. He held his head in his hand. "Me and… Viney. We were fighting Bria. Keep her away from Hunter. We must have fought her good, but I don't remember anything."
"Willow! Do you see Viney anywhere?" Amity called out to Willow.
"Viney? Why would–oh, yes, she's right here!" Willow called back. "She's buried under one of the spikes."
"I can…" Mattholomule said as he attempted to stand up. His legs were far too wobbly, unfortunately. Gus put a hand on his shoulder and gently guided him back into a sitting position.
"I'll get her out." Eda said plainly. She gripped the fallen spike and hefted it over her shoulder, tossing it to the other side of the room. It shook the room when it landed
Below where the spike had been, Viney lay with Puddles curled atop her. It looked as if the griffin had tried to protect her partner from the falling stones and ended up taking the brunt of the damage.
Viney stirred beneath her griffin. "Oh, that smarts. Goes to show the dangers of fighting a construction witch indoors, right Mattholomule?" She shakily brought herself up, then noticed the others in the room. "Mattholomule? Puddles?! Captain?!"
Willow dropped down and hugged Viney.
"Are you alright, Viney?" Amity said, preparing a healing spell.
"I'm–oof–I'm fine." Viney said as she hugged Willow back. "Just a little banged up. It looks like Puddles protected me from that last attack. But what are you guys doing here?"
"We're here to stop Belos." Eda said as she turned to the door. "If you want to help, then come on."
"Eda, wait! We need to help them!" Amity pleaded. "With more help, we could–"
"We don't have time, Amity." Eda said over her shoulder. "Every second we waste is one less second everyone out there has to survive. And if we take too long…" Eda turned away, then said simply "I won't lose anyone else to Belos' machinations."
"I'll be fine." Mattholomule groaned. He was standing now, supported by Gus, who had Mattholomule's arm around his shoulder. "Viney can heal us as we go. We'll be good to go by the time we get there."
Viney turned to her griffin and spun a quick healing spell, but Puddles didn't do much more than heave a few breaths. "Puddles needs more time to heal. She wouldn't be able to come with us." Viney said with concern in her voice.
"Then stay here and heal her." Eda said as she stalked off into the exit. "I'm going to end Belos' reign."
Viney looked from her griffin, to Willow, to Eda. She closed her eyes and made the hard decision.
Viney was up and following after Eda before anyone could protest. "Puddles will be ok, at least for a little bit… If the draining spell was activated, that means Hunter failed. It's up to us now." She almost sounded like she was trying to justify her decision to herself.
The others shared looks, but ultimately followed. As they walked, Viney used her healing magic to restore Mattolomule's stamina and fix the bruises he had suffered in the fight. She also made sure to assist everyone else with any last minute healing.
They would need all their strength if they were going to face down the Emperor.
Philip carefully marked the incision sites on Hunter's chest.
A Galdorstone was an essential element of a Grimwalker. It translated power through the palistrom wood and fueled the development of the internal organs. Once fully integrated, it acted as a heart, of sorts, for the Grimwalker, taking the place of the bile sack. However, it was too focused on keeping the Grimwalker alive for it to be used in the same manner. Thus, Grimwalkers lacked the ability to use magic without a staff or glyphs.
And, of course, a Grimwalker without a Galdorstone was doomed to die a slow and painful death as their energy faded and they slipped into a dreamless sleep. In such a state, they would starve, as they lacked the energy to wake or do anything to preserve themselves.
Philip was sorry, like he told Luz. Sorry the closest attempt had to die in order to save humanity. He would have liked to show him the Human Realm at least once.
But he had betrayed him, like all the others. An unforgivable act.
"Ah, yes, back to justifications, brother?"
Philip's knife paused mid-incision. He took in a sharp intake of air and hissed it out harshly.
The Grimwalker wasn't looking at him, or talking, a moment ago.
"By all means, brother." Caleb said from the face that looked so much like him. "Don't stop on my account. This is hardly the first time you've cut me open."
"Caleb…" Philip was trying to keep his tone even, but he could feel his heart, or whatever served its functions in his body, beating faster than normal. "You're back."
"I never left. I'll always be with you. As long as you carry your sins with you, I'll be there beside you."
Philip took a deep breath, then steadied his hand. He continued the incision. "This is more important than you or me, Caleb. If I fail to seal this monster, it could escape into our world and wreak havoc." He moved his knife along the guideline as he spoke, red blood bubbling up from the cut as it widened.
"Of course. That's why you're killing me. Again."
"You no longer exist. This is a puppet, created in your likeness. Strikingly so." Philip carefully turned his knife and sliced into the next incision site. Only a few more cuts until the chest cavity would be open and he could reclaim the Galdorstone.
"Of course."
"Philip! Stop! You don't have to kill Hunter!" Luz shouted a few feet away, still held down by Philip's spell.
But he couldn't hear her; his attention was too focused on his conversation with Caleb under his breath.
"–and when I return, I'll inform whoever remains of the witch hunters of my deeds. And you will be forgotten, a footnote of history, at best."
"Of course. I should mention what's about to happen, shouldn't I?" Caleb said, moving his eyes to look upwards.
"What?"
Philip looked at Caleb in confusion. He followed his brother's eye line to the door of the room, just in time to see it burst open to reveal a group of witches and a small skull-headed demon. They were headed by what looked like the Owl Lady in her form that Kikimora had reported after the Eclipse Lake expedition.
They were blathering some nonsense about ending his reign. The normal attempted revolutionary spiel.
"Excuse me a moment, Caleb." Philip hummed. Philip stood up and sheathed his knife, slick with blood. He collected his staff and held it at the ready. "I have a few gnats to swat."
"BELOS!" Eda shouted as she leaped into the air towards the Emperor. Her claws were bared and her face was full of fury. "YOU'LL PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID TO RAINE!"
"Eda, wait!" Amity shouted behind her. She turned to the rest of the team. "Alright, remember the plan. Just keep him busy until King gets Luz and Hunter free."
"Got it." Willow said as she conjured a mass of plants to assist her.
"He'll never see us coming." Gus said as he and Mattholomule readied their illusion spells.
"I'm going with King. Those two look pretty banged up." Viney said.
"Alright. Let's do this. For the Boiling Isles!" Amity raised her staff and the whole group posed heroically before rushing into the battle where Eda already was.
Gus and Mattholomule cast illusions over the battlefield to confound and distract Belos. Eda was using her immense strength and rage-fueled power to attack him directly. Amity summoned a squad of abominations, outfitting each with a different glyph's power.
Belos' staff glowed as the illusions tried to get close, causing them to dissipate into a fine blue mist. Eda's attacks were fended off with casual flicks of his fingers raising barriers and deflecting her strikes. The abominations were sliced, crushed, and splattered by Belos' arm, which turned from scythe to bludgeon and back.
Willow tried her best to keep her friends safe, pulling them out of danger at the last moment with her plants. But Belos sliced through her plants with terrifying efficiency.
The team was making no progress, except in slowly losing their stamina.
Meanwhile, King and Viney rushed to Luz's side.
"Luz, are you ok?" King asked. "You… are Luz, right?"
"King!" Luz exclaimed. "And Viney! I'm glad to see you guys."
"Are you hurt anywhere, Luz?" Viney asked as she spun a healing circle in her hand.
"I'm fine!" Luz looked over to Hunter, whose eyes were fluttering and whose head was rolling back and forth on the ground. "Hunter needs more help than me."
"Alright, I'll see what I can do." Viney said. She leaned down beside Hunter and began to examine his injuries.
"What can I do to help you, Luz?" King asked.
Luz strained her neck to look at the ongoing fight. Amity couldn't summon glyph-enhanced abominations faster than Belos was destroying them. Willow had summoned a wall of plants to keep Amity safe and block Belos' attacks. Mattholomule was using all his magic to furiously protect Gus, who had fallen unconscious with his eyes glowing blue. And Eda was locked in a grapple with Belos for control of his staff. Luz could see the staff glowing and a wave of magic passing over Eda's body.
It looked like Eda resisted the spell, but she couldn't protect against his magic forever.
Luz took a deep breath, her face turned to the ceiling. She turned back to King, her expression more serious than he had ever seen before.
"I need you to wake up the Collector."
"But–"
"You need to break the disc above my head." She gestured to the disc with her head. "Then you need to press your hand on my forehead. I'll do the rest."
"But, Luz–"
"Please, King. He's the only one who can stop Philip." Luz was trying to hold back tears, King could tell. She was putting on a smile to reassure him, but it wasn't working. "Please."
King felt a wave of grief pass over him. He had to let her know that he wouldn't do it. He wasn't going to lose the closest thing he had to a sister. Not again. Not by his hand. His mind was racing, trying to find another solution.
King looked in Luz's eyes and said "Okay."
He saw relief in her eyes, but beneath that, fear. It was almost certainly going to be the last time he would get to see her eyes that color. The last time she would get to look out and see him again.
King stepped over and took the disc in his paws. It was nearly as large as his head. He could see his reflection in its polished surface.
Mattholomule conjured a wall of stone to block Belos' attack, to keep him from hurting his friend. He shook Gus as he tried to maintain the structure against Belos' onslaught. Willow attempted to launch a counter attack while Belos was distracted, but was knocked aside without a second thought.
King held the disc tight, then threw it onto the ground, shattering it.
Amity had eschewed summoning abominations and had gotten more aggressive, conjuring abomination gauntlets with glyphs inscribed on them in order to bring a beatdown to Belos. But he was perfectly countering her fired gauntlets, ignoring the flames and ice that tried to explode on impact. She was on the back foot.
King swept the shards of the disc aside and kneeled in front of Luz. He raised his hands to her forehead and gently pressed on it. Luz's eyes closed as the energy of King's Titan Blood flowed through her.
Eda felt her movements growing sluggish. Belos wanted her dead as much as she wanted him dead. Each swing of her talons was slower than the last and Belos was effortlessly dodging them. Rage was only taking her so far and it wasn't enough.
And then Eda was on her knees, her strength finally sapped. Mattholomule was cowering beneath his shelter with Gus. Amity was being held midair by a fleshy red hand gripping her throat. Willow lay on the ground, struggling to get back up.
"Any last words, Owl Lady?" Belos said in a mocking tone. His staff was held at his side, while his other arm was raised and prepared to scythe Eda's head.
Eda growled. Her face held a deep scowl and no words. Only hatred for the monster who had destroyed her life and the lives of everyone she cared about. She wanted to lunge at him, to lop off his head while he was gloating, but nothing wanted to move.
Belos smirked as he brought his arm down in a wide chop aimed at Eda's neck. However, his smirk disappeared when his arm stopped mid-swing.
Luz's body held Belos' scything arm in between its left hand's pointer finger and thumb. Wide scarlet eyes blazed with a dark blue glow in the pupils, staring into Belos' soul. And a confident smile was worn on Luz's body's face.
"C-Collector!" Belos stuttered out, his body frozen in place. Whether out of fear or because he was rooted to the spot by the Collector's grip, no one could say. With his concentration broken, Amity was dropped from the hand spell that held her.
"Hey, Philip~!" the Collector said with a cheerful tone. "I wasn't gone that long, but you started playing without me?" The Collector clicked their tongue in disappointment as they softly shook their head. "That's bad sportsmanship!"
"I-I, I mean, I was going to play with you, Collector!" Philip said. He tried to back away, but the Collector held tight to his scythe arm. "But that human, she banished you away, broke your deal! But now you're awake!"
"You know, Philip, I got to experience what Luz has been doing for a while with my body." The Collector put a finger to his chin and looked up and to the side. "And I saw you try to put me back in my old prison. You were going to cut up the Grimwalker and use his Galdorstone to focus the energy you're draining from all the witches to power the ritual."
The Collector gestured to Hunter's unconscious body laying on the ground. Viney was just finishing up stitching the cuts back together.
Philip's mouth was slightly agape, his eyes darting back and forth as he searched for the words to retort the Collector. Everyone else in the room was silent and motionless, watching the proceedings with a combination of curiosity and horror.
"You know, this isn't the first time you've broken your promises. You promised to free me and then we'd play a new game, and that was a pinky promise ; I can't abide anyone who breaks a pinky promise."
"W-well, then, Collector." Philip gulped. "How about we play a game? To make up for that… unfortunate mistake on my part."
The Collector's smile grew malicious. "Ok! Let's play tag!" He twirled his finger around, destabilizing Philip's arm's form and drawing him close, until they were face to face.
The Collector raised their other hand, extending their pointer finger. " I'm it ."
They booped Philip on his crooked nose with their outstretched finger.
Before anyone could react, Philip flew through the air and smashed against the edge of the skylight in the room. His body turned to the green mud of his true form as he flew, and now it painted the wall and ceiling in green and brown. And soon the floor, as the substance that made up his body began to drip down.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
Philip's body dripping on the floor was the only sound in the room. Everyone else, including the newly awakened Gus, looked on in horror. They all hoped they had heard Belos wrong, that Luz hadn't broken the deal. Because if she had…
The Collector leaned back in a hearty stretch. "Ahhh! It feels good to be physical again!" He twisted Luz's body this way and that, then looked around the room at the gawking onlookers. "What are you all staring at? Do you want to play a game with me too?"
His eyes squinted, then widened in realization as he looked at Eda, who had transformed back to normal. "Oh, hey! You're all Luz's friends! Oh boy, I've been wanting to play with you for a while ! I wonder what we should play?"
"H-how about we play 'Stop the Draining Spell'?" King stumbled over his words as he dashed between the Collector and Eda. "It's super fuuun~! " His tone was strained as he tried to convince the Collector that what he was suggesting was, indeed, fun.
The Collector squinted in King's direction, a quizzical look on their face. "King? Is that you?"
"Uh, yeah, uh-huh!" King said, nodding vigorously.
"Why didn't you tell me you were here!"
"Uh… because… you saw me after you took over Luz…?"
"Wait, you actually have a physical body? I thought you were one of those invisible ghosts! And you came all the way here to play with me?"
"Um…" King looked over at Eda, who looked back in disbelief. "Yyyeah! I did. Yep!"
"King!" Eda hissed at her adopted son. "What are you doing?"
King turned to Eda and whispered back "Saving your partner!"
"Wait a minute…" the Collector said. He looked at Eda and followed her eyeline to where he had heard King's voice a moment ago. "Can they see you?" They stamped their foot on the ground, leaving a tiny crater. "That's not fair!"
"Huh?" King said, spinning around in surprise.
"I want to see you too!"
"I don't know…" King looked down and noticed the pattern on the medallion on his collar was softly glowing. He touched it, then looked up at the Collector in realization.
"I'll make you a deal, Collector!" King said, pointing directly at the Collector. "I'll reveal myself, but first you have to stop the draining spell." He pointed at the artificial eclipse covering the sun. He knew the Collector couldn't see him, but he wanted to be a bit dramatic.
"Hmmm…" the Collector hummed. They dropped one hand into the other's palm and exclaimed "Deal! But you better not be lying!"
"Of course not, no lies or trickery!" King said, waving his hands in front of him.
The Collector took a look at the eclipse through the skylight, squinting in order to see it better. If it had been anyone else, they'd have burned their eyes out looking directly at the eclipse.
Twisting spires of energy were rising up all across the isles, from current and former coven members, as well as those the covens had managed to brand during the earlier chaos. Some, those with fragile psyches or low energy, had already begun to fade, just like during the first draining spell.
The Collector reached out their hand towards the artificial eclipse.
Then they clenched their fist shut, crumpling the lines between the lights on the corona of the eclipse. They drew their fist back, dragging the lines back until all the lights were stripped off the edge of the sun.
To an outside observer, it looked like the Collector had just reached up and plucked the darkness from the sky. And, in truth, they had. But their hand or arm did not grow, nor did they fly up beside the sun.
The lines of energy that had filled the sky moments prior faded away and fell down, back to the Titan. Though no one inside could see, some outside were already beginning to stir.
But everyone inside now realized the full extent of the Collector's powers. And that they were almost completely back.
Raine took a sharp breath in when they awoke. A quick glance around showed their fellow bards stirring with groans. Outside of the group, they could tell that the other rebels were also waking from the draining spell-induced comas.
Raine sat up quickly, almost directly into the gloved hand of Darius.
"Darius." Raine said, taking Darius' hand.
"It's good to see you're still alive, Raine." Darius said, his tone full of relief as he pulled Raine to their feet. "We already cleaned up across the bridge. Captured a couple of the loyalist Coven Heads."
Raine, now standing, looked over the area. Rebels were tying up surrendering Coven members, people were starting to get up and look around, and some rebels faced down small groups of Coven fanatics who refused to believe that their Emperor had betrayed them.
"Don't thank me so quickly." Darius quipped with a roll of his eyes.
"So… it's over." Raine said slowly. They let out a full-bodied sigh of relief.
"Certainly looks that way." Darius responded. "Now all we need to do is figure out how to get these sigils off of us."
"Hm. That we do." Raine agreed.
"Oof. Hey Raine. Darius." Steve approached the two former Coven Heads, rubbing the back of his head. "Have you seen Hunter or Mattholomule anywhere? Or the griffin girl?"
"Not since we first arrived." Raine said.
"They went into the castle." Darius said, turning towards the castle with wide eyes. "We were supposed to follow behind them…"
"They went to face Belos alone?!" Raine said. They looked from Darius to the castle with fear. "Either they faced Belos and won, or…"
"Someone else beat him after he–" Steve began to say, following the former Coven Heads' looks.
Just then, the castle seemed to explode. Stones and interior decoration flew through the air above the heads of the rebels and Scouts.
And out of the castle flew a yellow and blue figure dressed in clothes decorated with an astrological motif, followed closely by a red-feathered and white-haired harpy woman.
The Collector gasped as the magic that obscured King disappeared when he removed his collar. "You're that titan kid! From so long ago!" they said, clapping their hands together in glee. "I've wanted to play with you for so long! But your mean old dad hid you away and then he trapped me in that prison…"
The Collector's expression had turned sour, but just as quickly flipped to sweet.
"But that doesn't matter now! Now we can play as much as we want!"
The Collector stepped towards King, but Eda leapt forward and landed in front of King. She was only able to transform her arm into harpy mode, but it was enough to get the message across.
"You can't touch him!" Eda said. She glared at the Collector. "I've seen what your 'play' looks like, and I won't let you."
The Collector's sweet demeanor dropped immediately into a frown. They rolled their eyes and let out an annoyed sigh. "I said we're gonna play. Who are you to get in the way of our playdate?"
Eda stood up, towering over the Collector. She changed her other arm and stared him down. "I am his mother. And a mother protects her kids."
"Grrrr… NO NO NO!" the Collector shouted, stamping their foot on the floor to emphasize their displeasure. "I've been waiting to play with him for so long! It's not fair! We played at the park that one time, but that doesn't count because I couldn't see him!"
"We don't always get what we want, Collei." King said softly, peeking out from behind Eda. "It's part of growing up. Learning to let things go and being able to take criticism. Like, this one time when I animated my stuffed–"
"NO!" the Collector shouted at King, who cowered behind Eda's rapidly furring legs. "I'm tired of making compromises! I'm sick of these stupid platitudes!"
Their eyes began to glow and they started to rise into the air. The wall behind them shifted, with pieces of stone slowly being pulled out and orbiting him. From his elevated position, in a booming voice, he said "I said we're going to play. So we're going. To. Play. "
King looked up at Eda, who returned his look. He gestured to his mouth. After a moment of thought and a look back at the Collector, who was accelerating the rate at which the stones in the wall were being torn out, she nodded.
When she turned back to face the Collector, she was fully decked out in her harpy form. She stood with a confident smirk on her face, the first genuine smile she had had that day.
The Collector raised their hand in preparation of launching the stones into Eda. Simultaneously, King took a deep breath in.
Just before the Collector could loose his attack, Eda flew towards him. Behind her, King let out the loudest "WEH!" he had ever mustered, sending a shockwave through the air.
The shockwave blasted the Collector back and caused them to lose concentration, dropping the stones they had torn out of the wall. The wall that was now being blasted back by the wave's pressure. Soon enough, it buckled and exploded outward until about half the walls on that side of the castle were reduced to flying rubble.
The Collector went with the rubble out of the hole that King's yelp had opened.
Eda rode the soundwave, dancing along the crest and flipping over and over in the air as she followed the Collector out of the castle, into the sky.
Behind, in the room where Belos had died, King slumped to the floor, then fell onto his back. Mattholomule helped Gus over to the young titan's side, both of them watching the battle that was ensuing in the air outside.
Viney kept her healing spell steady over Hunter, finishing the last few mendable parts that had been broken. It would take time, and a better healer than her, but she was relatively certain that Hunter would be able to walk and use his arms again in the future. Even still, she was transfixed by what was happening outside.
"She's not going to last long." Gus said, breaking the group's silence.
"We just…" King said in between deep breaths. "We just need to find a way to stop the Collector. Before they kill her."
Amity stumbled over, supported by and supporting Willow in standing. Amity had a hand on her neck, nursing her throat. "But how are we supposed to beat them? We all saw what they did with the eclipse. We can't face that. And if Luz…" Amity said, before she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Willow gently patted her back.
Willow sighed, then said "We need a plan. Or something. We can't just sit here–"
"Uuuugh…" Hunter groaned beneath Viney's hand. His eyes flickered open. "Oh, hey Viney. Mattholomule. Gus. Amity. Willow…" His eyes opened wide in recognition and he tried to sit up, only for his arms to scream out in pain. Viney gently held her hand on his chest to push him back down.
"Willow! Gus! Amity!" Hunter said hurriedly from his position on the floor. "Where's Luz? If you're here, then you must have stopped Belos… w-why are you crying, Amity?"
Amity brushed away the tears that had begun to run down her face without her realizing it. Gus gave her a sympathetic look, then explained what had happened to Hunter.
"And then the Collector–"
"I… I think I get it, Gus." Hunter said. "Viney, can you get my legs fixed? Or at least my arms? And I need to borrow someone's palismen."
"Hunter, you are in no shape to go out and fight." Viney said incredulously. "The best case scenario sees you laid up in bed with a full-body cast for at least a few weeks. If you try to stand, you might pulverize every bone in your legs. Even now, you'll be lucky if you only walk awkwardly for a few months." She kept a hand on Hunter's chest, just in case he had any bright ideas.
"Isn't there something we can do?" Mattholomule asked. "I mean, I never got along with that human much, but it seems kinda cruel to keep her locked up inside the Collector."
"He just won't go away. He's like a curse." Amity said as she slumped down out of Willow's arms. She rubbed one of her eyes, which still stubbornly tried to leak out more tears.
"A curse…" King said, looking up at the fight in the air above the castle. He watched as Eda in her harpy form blocked one of the Collector's attacks, then responded in kind. The battle was like a dance through the air.
King sat up suddenly, startling everyone around him. "I've got an idea." he said, tapping his skull with a claw. "We're gonna need someone who knows oracle magic, though."
"Eda!" King's voice rang in Eda's head.
"King!?" Eda said between dodging the Collector's wide-arcing kicks. She dodged upwards in the air, then brought down her foot on the Collector's back, knocking them down temporarily, but they quickly recovered. "What–?"
"We don't have much time. We need you to lead the Collector towards the bridge when I give you the signal."
Eda flew past the Collector, catching them in a chase with her. "Alright, but why?"
"Just trust me, Eda. We're going to save Luz."
Eda breathed in and out. She took a quick look back behind her to make sure the Collector was still following her. "You got it." she said, banking her wings to catch the Collector off-guard and shooting a taunt at them to keep their attention.
"Next, we'll need to get as many witches as possible."
"Well, the rebels are right outside." Gus said, gesturing to the giant hole in the wall. "We can probably ask them. Me and Mattholomule should be able to convince them."
"You want us to what ?" Darius said, incredulously, to the young witches who were standing before him.
"We need everyone to pool their magic. To create a barrier to trap the Collector in." Gus said, trying to stand tall with some help from Mattholomule.
"We're trying to save the Boiling Isles!" Mattholomule added frantically. Steve nodded, a hand on his younger brother's shoulder in support.
"I can't believe this. You just said that he killed Belos! And you think our magic will bother them?"
"Theoretically, it's possible." Raine said beside Darius. Eberwolf hopped up on Darius' shoulder and gave a growl in agreement with Raine. "But we'd need the magical power of more than everyone here, maybe even most of the Boiling Isles…"
"I don't think that will be a problem." Alador Blight said as he walked up to the group. Behind him was a cavalcade of witches and demons who hadn't joined the rebellion yet or who had run away before Hunter's speech. "We got a call from a desperate sounding demon friend of mine. If we can put aside our differences for just a little bit, we can do this."
Darius sighed and crossed his arms. "Fine. But I saw that side-eye, you hack."
"Once Eda leads the Collector down, we'll have all the witches and demons cast barrier spells to trap him."
"But what then?" Amity asked.
"You'll be waiting on the bridge, Amity. And the most important part is next…"
Amity stood on the bridge, watching the Collector chase Eda through the air. She bounced on her heels and shook her hands to try and get her nervousness out.
King had shown her how to do the spell, but he couldn't use magic, so it was anyone's guess whether it would work or not. He had assured her that he had seen it in action firsthand, so he was certainly optimistic.
She was… less so.
After their strategy meeting, everyone had gone off to fulfill their part of the plan. Viney had been given the duty of making sure Hunter didn't get himself killed, and she had backtracked in the castle to go and tend to her griffin. Willow had gone with her, to make double sure that Hunter wouldn't try anything foolish.
At the end of the bridge, surrounded by rebels and Coven Scouts alike, Gus gave Amity a shaky thumbs up and an attempt at a smile. She cut him some slack, considering that he was just as nervous as she was.
Amity looked back up at the battle in the sky, watching Eda make the Collector in Luz's body chase her around in circles without end. They flitted through the air like distant fairies, trying to kill each other–as fairies do. Eda, like Amity and the witches Gus had gathered, was just waiting for King to give the signal.
Then King, from the arena where they had faced Belos earlier, let out an ear-splitting "WEH!" that cascaded over the valley that the castle was situated in. It was loud enough that many witches and demons waiting on the far sides of the moat covered their ears, at least those who had ears.
On cue, Eda broke into a dive and the Collector predictably followed after her.
Amity braced herself and crossed her arms in front of her face as Eda flew past the bridge, followed by a powerful shockwave in her wake. According to the plan, she would dive into the moat, but pull up before she suffered a painful spiky death. Meanwhile, the witches and demons surrounding the bridge would use that moment to prepare their spell.
Just before the Collector crossed the bridge, Gus shouted "NOW!" and every magic-using witch and demon summoned their spell circles, big and small, in every color imaginable. The spells reached out and began to intermingle. One after another, barrier after barrier was conjured around the center of the bridge, enclosing Amity and the Collector within. The barriers seemed to shift and fade in and out, creating a rainbow of colors around the pair trapped within.
The Collector did not realize what was going on, however, and plowed straight into the bottom of the layered barriers.
They picked themself up off the barrier. Gingerly, he poked the barrier, which shattered by his touch, but it was quickly replaced by two more. With a look around, they realized they were trapped.
"Very funny! But this wasn't in the rules of tag!" the Collector said as they floated up to stand upside down under the bridge. Despite their interesting position, their hair was still resting as if they were standing right side up. "Besides, you can't keep me here forever!"
Amity focused her mind while the Collector continued to lash out with his words. She summoned a spell; Eda and Willow had both described it to her, and it was abomination magic, so she was certain she could pull it off. She focused on the point in front of her, and on the Collector's voice; she focused on connecting the two points, as if abominations were carrying whatever was in one point to the other.
The Collector yelped, then Amity opened her eyes to see that the spell had worked. The Collector in Luz's body was sitting on the ground, thoroughly confused by what had just happened and covered in a little bit of abomination goop. Incidentally, Amity noticed that their hair was resting as if they were standing upside down right now.
Now wasn't the time to celebrate learning a new spell, of course. Amity put her game face on and shot Gus a thumbs up through the hazy barriers.
"Collector!" Amity said, her stance strong and her tone firm. "I would like to bargain!"
The Collector rolled Luz's eyes. "And what, exactly, do you have to bargain with?"
"My body." Amity said, with her hand on her chest. "I want to make a deal with you. You will leave Luz's body and free her, and you can have my body instead."
The Collector hopped up onto Luz's feet, causing their hair to sit normally again. "Well, I mean, I'd love to, but I'm pretty close to not needing a surrogate body soon." They took a deep breath in with Luz's arms spread wide. "This place is so saturated with magic, I bet it'll only be a couple days at most before I can take my true form again! And I'll need to thank King; that little titan's magical touch gave me just the jolt I needed."
"So, we don't have a deal then?" Amity asked.
"Nah." the Collector said, waving their hand as if the idea was entirely irrelevant to the conversation.
"Then, can I ask what you will do with Luz once you don't need her anymore?"
"Oh! Well, I've been giving it some thought, and I think she'll still be a great playmate again! I'll just need to fix whatever you broke in her, then we'll have so much fun! But if that doesn't work, I'll probably put her on display as one of my favorite toys!"
"Oh…" Amity said, emphasizing her disappointment by looking away. Sounding like she was choking back tears, Amity asked "Can I have one request, before you change Luz again, and I never get to see my batata again?"
The Collector shrugged Luz's shoulders. "Eh, sure, why not. This should be fun."
Amity turned back, but didn't look the Collector in the eyes. She kept her eyes on the bridge. "Can I talk to Luz? Just Luz? One last time."
The Collector raised an eyebrow, followed by the corner of Luz's mouth breaking into a smile. He closed his scarlet eyes and took a deep breath.
After a moment, Luz's brown eyes snapped open. Her breathing was uneven as she looked around in a panic. But she calmed as her gaze fell on Amity.
"Amity…"
Before Luz could say another word, Amity jumped into Luz's arms and wrapped her girlfriend in a hug. From the gentle pressure Amity was pressing, Luz felt the last few weeks of isolation and despair from her suppressed memories well up and spill out of her eyes. She reciprocated Amity's hug. The two sank to the floor, flooding the ground with their tears.
"Amity, I-I'm s-sorry. I'm so s-sorry." Luz said shakily, through her tears. "I've been an awful girlfriend!"
"It's… it's fine, Luz." Amity said with a sniffle and a smile as she looked into Luz's eyes. "It's just good to see you safe."
"But… the Collector told me before he released me…" Luz took a deep breath before she continued. "He told me that this was the last time I'd get to see you. That you told them that?"
Luz held Amity close, nuzzling into her shoulder, and whispered "I don't want to leave you again."
"Don't worry, Luz." Amity gently patted Luz on the back. "So far, everything has gone according to plan."
"Plan?" Luz asked, pulling her head back and looking at Amity in confusion.
"If we timed everything right, Willow and Viney should be coming out of the castle right–"
On the castle side of the bridge, a rowdy griffin carrying Viney, Willow, Hunter, and a purple-haired witch on its back burst through the half-open gate. Puddles leapt with joy, only to get an admonition from her partner about sprained wings and healing once they stopped moving.
Willow transferred Hunter off Puddles' back onto her back, then gave Amity a confident thumbs-up. Above them, King glided down from the top of the castle, riding a cat-topped staff.
"–now!" Amity beamed at everyone around them. "There's only one more thing to do…"
Amity took Luz's head in her hands. "King told me how the spell works. I'm pretty sure I can do it, but…"
Luz took Amity's head in her hands and smiled gently. "I trust you, Amity. With all my heart. You can do anything you put your mind to. Really, that's part of why I fell in love with you; even if you're not perfect, you are always striving to be the best you you can be."
"And you have an infectious friendliness, Luz. You bring out the best in everyone around you. If you believe I can do something, I know I can." Amity wanted to kiss Luz so badly, but it wasn't the time for that. "Okay… here we go…"
Amity and Luz leaned their head towards each other until their foreheads just pressed into one another.
Both took a deep breath.
"With this spell declared, let the pain be shared."
Only Amity spoke, but a thousand voices seemed to speak through her. Light swirled around the pair, gently raising them into the air, still within the barrier. The light grew and grew until it was blinding to everyone outside the barrier, forcing them to avert their eyes.
Gradually, the light receded, and Luz and Amity were returned to a sitting position on the ground. Their eyes still glowed brilliantly, Luz's in gold, Amity's in purple, but even that light faded.
Luz's clothes had returned to normal, though her witches wool cloak had returned to the frayed state it had been in after her trip to the In-Between Realm. With the exception of her blue left foot, her skin had also returned to its natural shade, as had her eyes' sclera. The only thing that hadn't changed at all was her hair, which was still the slightly luminous white it had been the last month or so.
Meanwhile, Amity had experienced some aesthetic alterations as well. Her face sported a blue crescent shape over the left side of her face, and her hair had turned the same shade of luminous white as Luz, seemingly expelling her hair dye.
Each of them had one eye that had turned scarlet, Luz's left and Amity's right.
"Is… is it over?" Gus said outside the barrier once the light dissipated.
As if in response to his question, Amity and Luz's shadows stretched out into a humanoid shape on the barrier wall. Black and grey arms of the two-dimensional projections of a child of the stars stretched out and their flat eyes looked around. Both shadows followed each other in perfect sync.
"Thats… weird…" the Collector said as he investigated along the barrier. "Something feels… off."
The shadows spun around the area, as if they were trying to break out to no avail. The Collector snaked along the ground until he was 'standing' next to Luz and Amity.
"What did you two do? Why does it feel like I'm in two places at once?"
"Because you are, Collector." Amity said as she confidently stood up. "I trapped half of your spirit in my body. Now you can't break free. Now Luz can be free."
"Free?" the Collector said, tilting their head on the ground. They began to giggle. "Hehehe, all you've done is give me a new playmate! So nice to finally meet you, Amity!"
Amity's shadow disappeared, then all her limbs began to jerk around out of her control.
"Amity!" Luz shouted. She tried to stand, but couldn't, her body frozen.
Luz's shadow moved in front of her in the form of the Collector and wagged a finger at her. "Ah ah ah! We're not done playing!"
"Let Amity go, Collector!" Luz said as she struggled against her own body.
"Hey, look on the bright side!" the Collector said, now painting the top of the ceiling with the pair's shadows. He made two shadow puppets of the two and had the puppets hold hands. "At least now you two will get to play together. Forever !"
"And you might have thought you stopped me from getting my body back, Amity." the Collector said on Amity's back. "But even though you cut my power in half, I can still use your magic in its place! And I can tap into it; it's not much, but this will speed up my return significantly!"
"Glad… I could help…" Amity strained to say. "But I'm afraid… everything… is still going… according to plan…" Amity used all her strength to crane her neck towards the castle side of the moat. "WILLOW!" she shouted with all her remaining strength.
"That's the signal!" Gus said. He looked to his sides and directed the witches and demons holding the barrier. "Everyone! Make a hole in the barrier so Willow can get in!"
The myriad of witches and demons made sounds of confirmation, respinning their spells to open a hole on the castle side of the bridge, where Willow was waiting with Hunter on her back and King at her side. They strode into the barrier, King making sure to stay behind Willow.
As they entered, the Collector jerked Amity and Luz's bodies around to attack the trio and escape, but Gus closed the barrier behind them.
Willow's eyes glowed emerald green, like miniature suns of life and power. Plants appeared from nowhere and wrapped around Amity and Luz's arms and legs and dragged them to the ground so they couldn't move.
King hurried to the center of the barrier, directing Willow on where to situate their bodies, as well as having her place Hunter between the two in front of King.
"What are you doing? Why can't I break out?!" the Collector's shadows said on the walls of the barrier.
"Pretty simple, Collector." Amity said from the ground. "As long as we are in control, and don't want to hurt anyone, you can't use your strength. We learned that from fighting Luz."
"No no no no!" If the Collector had feet, they would be stomping them on the ground right now.
King sat on his knees between Amity and Luz. The Collector's shadow came up beside him, appearing as if their hands were held together, while their eyes pleaded with him. "King! I thought we were going to play together! Just you and me!"
King looked down at the Collector's shadow and sighed. "I hope, one day, we can play."
The Collector smiled hopefully.
"But today isn't that day."
The Collector's smile dropped.
"Amity, are you sure about this?" King asked. "I don't know if it'll work…"
Amity nodded as best she could, even as the rest of her body under the Collector's control struggled against Willow's plants.
"Hunter?"
Hunter looked at King upside down. He gave a little smile and said "You do what you have to."
King took a deep breath in through his nose, taking in the energy of the Isles. He exhaled slowly through his mouth. Slowly, his eyes opened and he reached out.
"In the name of my mother,"
King touched both hands to Hunter's chest, above his heart. Hunter's eyes glowed a deep blue, like the color of the deep ocean.
"By the blood of my father,"
King took his hands from Hunter's chest and pressed one to Amity's forehead and the other to Luz's forehead. When he pressed his hands to them, their eyes began to glow the same color as Hunter's.
"Be sealed within this vessel!"
King took his hands and clapped them together. Blue energy began to flow out of Amity and Luz into Hunter, then from Hunter into King. As the energy flowed in, King's eyes glowed the same deep blue as the others, but it did not overtake him.
Power swirled around, threatening to knock Willow off her feet. She had to summon more plants to anchor her to the ground as the primordial magic continued its process.
The power overflowed, disrupting and dispelling the barrier. Gus and the witches and demons around the area tried to brace themselves, but the pressure was great enough to throw some of the unprepared into the air. Those who were were luckily caught by witches flying on staffs and some in airships, but even then they had to ground quickly, lest the turbulence knock them out of the sky.
Behind and above the castle, the eyes of the Titan's skull glowed the same blue as King's from deep within. Almost as if his father recognized him and was lending him his strength.
One last burst of light emanated from the connected quartet, passing over the whole of the Isles. Massive sections shook as the light passed over them, as if the Titan itself was waking, but it passed just as quickly as it came.
The light gradually faded, and Luz and Amity came to a rest on the ground with their eyes closed. Willow released them from the plants as she rushed over to make sure they were all alright. Gus did the same, from the other side of the bridge.
As Willow helped Hunter into a sitting position, he noticed a blonde-haired kid in the crowd clutching a cardinal palismen. With Willow's help, he waved at Hunter the Younger to assure him he was alright. He got to see the pair embrace from afar as they rejoiced that Hunter was alright.
Amity stirred with a sigh. Slowly, she sat up. She checked her reflection with a picture for her Penstagram; she had lost the blue splotch on her face, but her eye was still scarlet. Most of her hair had returned to its original brown, with the exception of a streak of glowing white.
Luz looked similar, from Amity's point of view. She had lost her blue foot and her hair had returned to normal, minus the one streak of white. She was still unconscious, so she couldn't check her eye, but she suspected it was the same.
"Luz…" Amity said after crawling over to Luz's side and gently shaking her on the shoulder. "It's over… it's finally over!"
But Luz didn't respond.
Amity's expression grew concerned, then desperate, as she repeated "Luz?!" over and over as she shook her comatose girlfriend.
"I've got this, Amity." Hunter said, shakily putting a hand on Amity's shoulder to comfort her. He directed Willow to put him next to Luz. He tested his arms, further healed during the backtracking, but still somewhat sore.
He leaned in close to Luz's face, blinking slowly.
Amity suddenly wondered if he was about to try and wake her with a kiss. That was ridiculous! After all, isn't it supposed to be your true love's kiss that wakes a sleeping princess? In that case, she should do it!
Just as he got too close for Amity's comfort, he raised his arm into the air, then brought it down to slap Luz right in the face.
"Wake up!" Hunter shouted as the slap connected.
"Ow ow ow!" Luz rolled from side to side, then curled up and held her cheek while giving Hunter a glare. "What was that for?"
Hunter held his arm, which was currently in extreme pain, and winced. "That's… payback for Latissa."
Luz laid on her back with her arms splayed out and sighed. "That's fair." she said with a resigned tone. She smiled and looked at Amity, who was utterly confused. "I was kinda hoping my batata would give me a pequeño beso–that means 'little kiss', Amity–like I was a sleeping princess and she was my valiant knight come to rescue me!"
Hunter rolled his eyes while Amity's face blushed to the tips of her fluttering ears.
"Well, at least that's all over." Gus said with a sigh. He looked to King. "It… is over this time, right?"
"I sealed the Collector inside Amity, Luz, and me. I don't think he'll be able to get out any time soon." King said. "So… yes. It's over."
All around them, the witches and demons of the rebels and covens were already celebrating this moment. The fallout from this day would have to be dealt with–trials for the crimes of the covens, rebuilding what had been destroyed by Belos, healing the sick and injured–but that could all wait.
For now, they rejoiced at this moment of unity. They were certainly more united now than at any time under Belos' rule.
Eda landed on the bridge and helped Luz and Amity up before transforming out of her . Luz made a joke about matching her mentor with a gesture to her white streak and scarlet eye, which gave Eda a good laugh. Above all, she was happy to have Luz back, safe and sound.
The crowd parted as the group filed off the bridge and pointed themselves in the direction of the Owl House, to rest and recuperate. From the crowd, Mattholomule cheered for Gus and Hunter. Alador congratulated Amity as she passed him. Viney and Puddles danced overhead in joy. Before they left, Raine pulled Eda to the side and whispered something in her ear that made Eda blush.
Finally, on the other side of the crowd, the group prepared their staffs, but stopped when they noticed a figure in a maroon skirt and a pale green shirt frantically trying to run up the hill towards the castle.
"Lilith?" Eda said from her staff hovering just above the ground as Lilith reached the group. She had keeled over and was trying to catch her breath. Her staff was clutched in white-knuckled hands.
"I… I made it! We're not too late, right?" Lilith said with a determined look. "Alador sent a message and– Luz?"
"Hi Lilith!" Luz said from behind Amity. She gave Lilith a little wave and smile.
"We didn't make it in time to help…" Lilith said in disbelief. She let her staff fall from her grasp. She turned to her clawed companion, who had just caught up to her. "Salty! I told you that fighting that sea monster would take too long!"
"Sorry, Lili, but fighting them beasts is the duty o' every sea captain!" Salty said as pushed a crick out of his back. "Though I will admit, getting used to the peg leg definitely slowed me down on the way up. Maybe ye are right about fighting sea monsters…"
Lilith sighed and pushed her glasses up to rub the bridge of her nose, then turned to Luz. "So… what's next?"
"I'm going to go back to the Owl House and sleep for three days!" Luz said with a chipper tone. "After that… we'll see."
"Can I open my eyes now, Luz?"
"Not yet!"
Luz led Amity by her hand along the cliffside path. Amity recognized the smell of the boiling sea below her. Of course, being near the sea was almost everywhere on the Isles, so that didn't exactly narrow it down.
They had met outside Hexside. Classes were still canceled, but that had been where Luz had told Amity to meet just before lunch. Luz had headed off on her own first thing in the morning, right after their conversation.
"Ok… you can open them now."
Amity opened her eyes. In front of her was the tree from Grom; the leaves had long since fallen off, but it was still a beautiful sight. Amity gasped when her gaze fell on the space at the tree's base, where she and Luz had once grown flowers in honor of Luz's dad.
"You didn't!" Amity exclaimed, leaping to hug Luz.
"I did." Luz said with a smile.
Luz took a seat on the checkered red and white blanket she had gotten from Eda's junk pile a couple weeks ago. She patted the basket she had come out to set up first thing in the morning. "You've been cooking for me this last month, so I wanted to do something for you. And, hey, what's more romantic than a secluded picnic at our favorite place?"
Luz gestured to the other side of the blanket, where Amity took a seat. The two laughed and shared the sandwiches and snacks that Luz had prepared in advance. They enjoyed the moment as best they could.
Sometimes the conversation turned to serious topics, like the numerous attacks by the few remaining pro-Coven fanatics and the efforts of Hunter and the former Covens Against the Throne to rebuild. But they tried to keep it all together with some light things, like gossiping about Eda and Raine's rekindled romance and what their classmates had been up to in the time since the Day of Unity.
Above all, they were still here and they wanted to make the most of it.
"So, are you going to cut your hair once you get back to the Human Realm?" Amity asked just before polishing off the last of the sandwiches.
Luz ran her fingers through her hair, tousling the white streak in with her brown hair. Luz could feel the curling that always accompanied growing it out. "Maybe not. I'm starting to like it long. It's been a while since I've grown it out anyways. What about you?"
"I think I'll grow it out too." Amity said, tossing her lavender hair over her shoulder. She rested back on her hands. "Maybe I'll change up the color too. But then again, purple is–" Amity jumped a bit when she felt Luz rest her hand on top of hers. Her face filled with a happy blush.
Amity smiled contentedly, but something nagged at her.
She took a deep breath and turned to Luz, who was looking at her with an eyebrow cocked.
"So, Luz, I was thinking…" Amity said, stumbling over her words. "Um, I was thinking… do you mind, if I… come to the Human Realm with you? When you leave?"
Luz chuckled. "Of course, Amity. I've got to introduce you to my mom some time, right?" Luz started to laugh when she saw Amity blanch at the mention of meeting Luz's mom.
"She's not that bad, sweet potato." Luz said softly.
"I know… it's just really stressful. The mom of my girlfriend! Hehe…"
"Good thing I already met your mom! The only question is whether we should have both of them meet…"
Luz and Amity looked at each other before breaking into laughter.
"They'd probably be at each other's throats." Luz said, her laughter winding down.
"Definitely."
Luz looked out at the slowly falling sun. Their picnic had ended up taking up most of the afternoon and it was nearly sundown. Luz stood up and did a couple stretches.
"Well, I think it's about time we headed back, right? That door isn't going to build itself."
Amity stood up and brushed some errant crumbs off her dress. "Well, when you think about it, it kinda does."
Luz's ear perked up as a nearby bush rustled. With a single glance, she and Amity dropped into practiced fighting stances; Luz with a handful of glyphs at the ready and Amity with her staff.
But it turned out to not be a threat at all, as Willow, Gus, and Hunter came tumbling out, piled on top of one another.
Amity raised an eyebrow. "Willow? How long have you guys been there?"
"Eeeeehhhh…" Willow avoided the question and Amity's gaze.
"We've been here since you got here." Hunter said plainly.
"Oh, you guys…" Amity facepalmed and shook her head.
"You guys need anything?" Luz asked.
"Do you think you could take us with you back to the Human Realm?" Gus said as he bounced up onto his feet. He was practically buzzing. "I got my dad to sign a permission slip, if you want it!"
"Really? Gus I can understand, but Willow and Hunter? Why do you two want to go?" Luz asked.
"Well," Hunter cleared his throat before he spoke, "as the interim Emperor of the Boiling Isles, I expect you'll be traveling back and forth between the realms. I feel a responsibility to… understand the culture of your homeland." Hunter held up his hands as he reassured Luz "Purely for the good of the Boiling Isles! Of course. No ulterior motives. Nope."
Willow let out a little laugh and nudged Hunter's side. "He just wants to tag along on Gus' adventures." Hunter blushed furiously at the absolutely true accusation. Willow continued. "I want to go along to make sure these two stay out of trouble. And maybe I'll investigate a few samples of Human Realm plants. Fun and educational! Principal Bump might even give me a 'Top Student' badge for my initiative!"
"Well, I don't see why not." Luz said. "Welcome aboard!"
"We're just about to head back to the Owl House to finish up the door. If everything goes to plan, we'll be heading through first thing in the morning." Amity said, her staff resting in the crook of her arm. "We should get going. Eda's going to give us an earful if we keep King up past his bedtime."
Everyone turned to leave.
Except Luz.
She looked out at the setting sun and had a great idea.
"Hey Amity!" Luz called to her girlfriend, who was perfectly placed at the edge of the cape.
Before Amity could react, Luz had run up and took her into her arms. Luz spun her girlfriend around with a smile on her face, then placed her back on solid ground and took advantage of the moment.
Willow and Gus let out simultaneous "Awww"s, while Hunter rolled his eyes, but nonetheless smiled for the lovebirds as they kissed on the cape, silhouetted against the sunset.
"Got any twos?"
"Go fish."
The Collector in their true form drew a card from the floating deck of cards between them and King. King studied his hand, then placed a card on the field.
"I play a castle to destroy your eccentric shopkeeper."
"I hate this game."
"You're the one who wanted to play."
The Collector harrumphed and tossed their cards into the aether, where they dissolved into stardust. The pair were, after all, sitting on nothing inside of King's mind.
"I wanted to play the old rules! All these new rules are too complicated and you've beaten me every game."
King shrugged. "That's just how the game goes."
The Collector floated around, upside down above King's head. King sat there on nothing, assured that the Collector was just doing his usual sulking.
"Hey King?" the Collector said after a moment of silence. "Do you ever think… Will I be able to be unsealed? I know I did a bunch of bad stuff, but do I really have to stay locked up in your head, all my power sealed in those two?"
King sighed. "I don't know. It, ultimately, depends on you. No one is born good or righteous, those are things that take years of effort to even begin being them."
"You've done a lot of bad things over a long time. You helped wipe out the Titans. You helped Philip. You tried to kill my family. And so much more. And ignorance of the consequences is not an excuse to be malicious."
"But the things you did in the past don't matter if you are willing to try and fix them. You can't fix everything, of course, especially the things that have been long broken and gone, but you can start by helping the people in front of you."
"You saying that you did bad things shows that you already recognize what you did was wrong. All you need now is to make the effort and fix your mistakes. It won't be easy and not everyone will thank you or even like you or want you around afterwards, but you can go on knowing that you are making a positive change in the world."
King and the Collector were both quiet for a long time as they let King's words hang in the air.
The Collector gathered up the cards and shuffled the spectral deck. Once that was complete, he dealt each of them a hand of five cards. They drifted down so that they were seated just across from King in the endless void of their mindscape, the cards perfectly placed between the pair.
"Another game?" the Collector asked, stacking their cards in front of them.
King picked up the hand he had been dealt. "Sure."