A/N: Okay everyone, update time.
So, as you may or may not know, I am currently the caretaker of my grandfather.
Thankfully I have been writing like a man possessed and managed to get a head start on both this and Witch.
My profile will have the dates for when each of the episodes/chaps will be posted.
After that, well, not sure.
Once things have settled down and a bit, and a we get a schedule going, I'll get back to it.
Until then, I thank you for your understanding during this trying time in my family.
Down below the palace, Emperor Belos toiled. The Phantoms were gone, and now the only thing left to deal with was Witch and Heka. A trifle at this point, especially when he managed to capture a trio of mass-produced Phantoms. But for now, there were more pressing matters. Belos walked up to his reconstructed portal door. Blueprints laid scattered on the floor around its steps, along with his mask and book that was opened up to a chapter on, what seemed to be, how to make a "Grimwalker". Belos walked up to the door itself and attached a tube to the keyhole. With a wave of his hand, the Abomaton that stood by at a tank turned the valve.
Upon turning the valve, a green glowing substance began to flow through the tubing, granting a bit more illumination in the already dimly lit room. The portal door itself had been reconstructed, mostly fitted back together with strips of silver and gold metal plates and rivets. There were three more tubes that connected to the plates, allowing for the substance in the tubes to flow into the door. The door itself began to glow with bright light, illuminating even cracks in the door. A second keyhole was on the knob of the door, and it was here that Belos began to insert a key that he had made to act as a substitute for the original one. Unfortunately for him, the moment he inserted it, the door reacted, releasing a small burst of magical energy before turning the fake key into ash.
While this was going on, Hunter watched from around the corner of a huge pipe. As he watched, Little Rascal came flying up behind him and perched on his left shoulder. Hunter noticed and shooed Little Rascal away, only for the cardinal Palisman to fly around and land on his other shoulder.
"Would you like to see how it works, Hunter?" Belos asked.
Hunter gasped when he realized that Belos noticed his presence. Little Rascal immediately transformed into its petrified state and allowed Hunter to hide him in his cloak. Once that was done, Hunter stepped out of the shadows and said, "I didn't mean to hide, Emperor Belos. I just, didn't want to disturb you."
Belos turned to his head in Hunter's direction, showing his scarred face and gave a kindly smile to his nephew before he returned his attention to the door. "We found every piece of the door, but without the power of the real key, it refuses to open. Quite the conundrum if I may say."
Hunter, curious, asked, "Is it true that rain doesn't boil in the Human Realm?"
Belos smiled, genuinely, when he was asked this question. "You know, I've been there before. Did I ever tell you that?"
Hunter shook his head.
"The trees there are green. The nights are quiet. The oceans are vast and beautiful, and such lush fields of greenery, and there is still much to see of it. I look forward to seeing it again, and exploring more of it myself," said Belos as he reminisced. "Heh, were you spying on me just to hear these boring stories?"
Hunter furrowed his brow a little as he asked, "The operation at the Knee, why did you switch me out with Kikimora? I'm a Kamen Rider, I have power, I can be of more use for that operation."
Belos shook his head, the scarred emperor began led Hunter out of the room as he said, "Everyone has a use, Hunter. Kikimora has her intricate little plans. The Scouts carry out orders. And you, well, the Titan has big plans for you. Part of those plans was for you to take on the power of a 'Kamen Rider'."
"But the Phantoms are no longer a threat, Uncle. Surely there's more I can do with the powers you've granted me?" Hunter asked.
"Now, now, don't go searching for your purpose. The Titan sees all and knows all. He will show me your path in due time, but you must be patient. Plus, it would be such a hassle to find a replacement." As they approached the door, Belos added, "So, right now, you can be useful by staying safe in the castle."
"My Emperor, if this is punishment for not being able to defeat Nuckelavee o-o-or getting more Palismen, I swear I can do better!" Hunter stated.
"Good night, Hunter," said Belos as he closed the door in Hunter's face.
No…No, I can't let him think I'm useless now! I am the Golden Guard, the right hand of the Emperor! I have to show him that I can step up and do more! Hunter thought. And I know just how.
Far away from the Emperor's castle, the Owl House crew was getting prepared for an important mission. Amity walked through the house, clipboard in hand as she began checking off a few things from it. As she passed by the window, she spotted Hooty swiveling his head to and fro, as if searching for something.
"Hooty, what's your status?" Amity asked.
Upon hearing her question, Hooty smashed his body through the window, shattering the glass and said, "The perimeter's secure! Nothing's getting past me!"
"Good…Good. And clean up the mess," said Amity.
"Ma'am!" Hooty then swept the glass aside with his body.
I will never understand that bird tube, Amity thought.
"He unnerves me in the worst way," Bast commented.
Once her sweep of the upstairs was done, Amity headed into the kitchen where she saw Willow walking in with a bag full of groceries and Clover flying by her side.
"Willow, have you gathered the supplies?"
Willow saluted Amity and replied, "Yes. We're ready to attack this on all fronts."
"Excellent," said Amity.
As she said that, Ghost came in with a big in their mouth. The white cat Palisman walked up to Amity and dropped the dead spider in front of Amity, showing her that they did their part in protect the house.
The purple haired witchling looked down at her Palisman and smiled. "Aw, Ghost. Did you help too?" Amity reached down and scratched her companion under their chin as she said, "Who's a good Palisman." Amity then checked off another box on her list and continued, "Now all we need is–"
"Rain?" Gus walked in with an armful of CDs, a skipman, and some 8-track tapes. Along with him was his Palisman, Emmiline Bailey Marcostimo, or just Emmiline, who was perched on his right shoulder, and following next to him was King. Who had a CD perched stuck on his right horn and carrying a speaker. "Beach waves? We got all kinds of Human Realm noises and sounds."
"Even something called 'lo-fi beats to study and relax to'? We've got it all," said King.
"Eda was rummaging through her basement and gave us some soothing human noises," Gus added.
"That's great. Wait a minute. Eda's still here?" Amity walked into the living room as she said, "Eda, you're supposed to be helping Hooty build our defenses…"
Eda stood in the middle of the living room, her stance wide and her hands balled into fists as she tensed her muscles. Gritting her teeth as the veins started to bulge from her arms, neck, and one above her right eye. The Owl Lady grunted, sweating as she concentrated, and that's when she screamed.
"RAAAAAAAAAH! AAAAAAAAAHHHH!" After that, Eda relaxed and wiped her brow. "Whew."
"What…What am I looking at right now?" Amity asked.
"Ah, don't mind me. I'm just learning how to turn into Harpy Eda on command. According to these human workouts, you just gotta scream a lot until you force your inner beast out," said Eda as she pointed to several books that littered the coffee table.
Amity picked up one of the so-called "human workouts" and looked at the cover. It was a VHS tape with a picture of an anime character with spikey brown hair, dragon claws for hands, and had the title "Dragon Claw Z". "Yeah, this looks ancient."
Eda scoffed at the notion. "What? No. It's only…" The Owl Lady took the VHS tape from Amity and checked the date. "Thirty years old?! Wow. I remember seeing this in theaters."
"Yes, you're old. Who cares? We have a crisis on our hands!" Amity stated with urgency.
Eda pushed the little witch back a bit with the VHS tape as she said, "Chill, Bossy Boots. Everything's fine."
"Fine? Really?" Amity grabbed Eda by the wrist and marched herself and Eda back upstairs. The two of them approached Luz's bedroom door, and Amity opened it. "Does this seem 'fine' to you?!"
Luz was lying sprawled out on her sleeping mat, half covered in blankets. She had terrible bags under her eyes, her hair was a mess, and for some reason she had a pink sock on her right hand and a blue one on her left. She waved them back and forth in a wiggling motion, all while the half-pint Abomination golem stood there, holding a box of tissues, and looked bewildered by the sight of the human. All while the echo-mouse stood on the nightstand and watched over the goings on.
"Whoooooa. It's like I have snakes for arms," said Luz in a loopy state.
Again, Eda scoffed. "Please. She just has the common mold. It's harmless."
"Harmless for us? Yes. But Luz is a human! We have no idea how our diseases will affect her! It's a miracle that she hasn't gotten sick with anything else since she's been here. But I don't get it, I thought the mana that Bast and La Lechuza generate keeps us healthy," said Amity.
"Normally, yes. That would be case, but consider the back-to-back battles we've had to endure, and Luz has taken the brunt of those battles far more than we have," said Bast.
"In other words, her body was worn down, and with the excessive mana use from all our fights, it made it easier for a disease of the Isles to get her. Ugh! I should've seen this coming!" Amity exclaimed.
"Hey, if anyone's at fault here, it's me. She's my responsibility and I overlooked something like this. Luz has hardly been rundown to this degree before, I just thought she was naturally immune to our sicknesses, but after this, apparently not. Still, the Common Mold is annoying and makes you feel cruddy, but it shouldn't kill her," said Eda.
"It's the shouldn't part of that sentence that worries me. That's why we have to do everything we can to prepare for any potential turn for the worst."
"I concur especially since–"
"BAST! BAST? WHERE ARE YA YOU FURRY, HIGH AND MIGHTY – BEAUTIFUL CAT!"
"Oh dear…"
Bast was pulled into the space that she and La Lechuza use to talk in private. When she arrived, Bast saw La Lechuza, although, the great Owl Phantom looked as if she was drunk as she stumbled about. La Lechuza looked directly in Bast's direction then draped a wing over her shoulders.
"Bast, you annoy the ever-lovin' crap at me," said La Lechuza.
"I know," she replied.
"But you know what?! Y-Yer my bestest friend, y-ya know that?"
"Mmm-hmm."
"No-NO! You listen here!" La Lechuza stood in front of Bast and placed both wings on her shoulders. "Y-You are my bestest friend! I know I act all proud and elegant, but you're the only one who I can be myself around! W-We're friends forever and ever." La Lechuza slumped forward and pressed her head against Bast's chest. "Hmm, soft kitty…heh-heh."
Bast would normally relish in this display from the haughty owl, but she had to admit, she was a bit concerned that Luz's current state of health seemed to be affecting La Lechuza as well. The Cat Phantom gently put her left paw on La Lechuza's head and patted it gently. "Yes, there, there, Laly. There, there."
Just then, Luz sat up and had a look as if she just had an epiphany. "If I ate the portal key, would I be able to return to the Human Realm?" Luz took out the portal key, opened her mouth, and prepared to swallow it whole.
Amity quickly commanded her Abomination to swipe the key out of her girlfriend's hand before she could accidentally choke on the item. The Abomination golem walked over and brought the key to Amity, who placed it around her neck. "I am not giving this back until your better, okay?"
Luz made a pouty face and made whinny noises for a moment. But then she reached behind her back and pulled out her tamagachi toy. The young Latina began typing something on the device, and within seconds Amity's own device beeped. Amity pulled it out and looked at the device. The screen displayed a black bat and a white cat, with a text icon appearing over the bat. Amity pressed the right button to check the message. What appeared was a series of images that consisted of an arrow looping back, a graph, what looked like an ax, another graph, piano keys, two umbrellas, and an inverted umbrella.
Amity looked back at Luz who was smiling at her, as if expecting a reply to her message. She had no idea what the message said, so she just winged it. "Oh, uh…heh-heh…you got it!"
Luz looked confused as Amity closed the door.
During their conversation, Gus, Willow, and King had arrived upstairs to join them.
Willow smiled as she said, "Gotta admit, Amity. Seeing you so dedicated to Luz is cute."
"Heh, thanks. But I was taught to see every situation as an opportunity. And today, I'll show Luz that I am an awesome girlfriend," said Amity with determination.
"Feels like just a few months ago, you almost got her dissected by your crazy principal," said King with a chuckle.
"That was a few months ago," said Gus.
Amity winced, that was not her finest moment.
Suddenly, Luz screamed loudly, causing everyone to burst through the door in a panic.
"What happened?!" Amity asked.
Luz had broken out a pencil and paper as she pointed at the echo-mouse, who was now glowing and projecting. "M-Mouse! Uh. Philip diary entry!"
After five years, I have finally found it. A power source so potent it can pierce through the realms. Titan's Blood. There are old tales of lakes reflecting green trees and blue skies. The Titan's veins run through the land. And many believe that these wild portals are created when a little of its blood leaks into the water. That is how I came here. So that is the first place I shall look. I will journey back to Eclipse Lake.
The projection from the echo-mouse ended with a picture of a map that showed the location of Eclipse Lake, where the Titan's Blood waited. Luz drew down the map as quick as she could, and once she had, she immediately knew what she had to do.
"I have to go to Eclipse Lake!" Luz exclaimed.
Without warning, Luz ran toward the door and dived straight for it, however, Eda managed to grab her at the last second. But Luz was determined to get out as she grabbed either side of the archway and pulled, trying to break free of her mentor's grasp.
"Luz, no! You are not well." Willow stated as she pushed her friend back into her room.
But Luz was not giving up without a fight as she began thrashing about and scurrying around the room like an animal, trying to make a break for the door. Gus managed to block her path just as she lunged at him. He managed to wrap his arms around her and tried to hold her back, but Luz was practically dragging Gus along for the ride as she started to get closer to the door.
"She is shockingly strong for someone who's sick!" Gus exclaimed.
"Hold her down!" Amity ordered.
"I got the ropes!" Eda stated.
"And I got the blankets," said Willow.
Together, all five of them managed to wrap Luz into a cocoon of blankets and threw her back on her sleeping bag.
"Alright, Luz. Me and King will get your Titan Blood if you just calm down," said Eda.
King scurried onto Eda's left shoulder as he happily remarked, "Yes! Perfect chance to take our new powers for a test drive."
Luz showed a dopey smile as she managed to wriggle her left arm out with the crumbled-up map she drew. "You guys are the best."
Eda took the map and was about to leave the room, but that's when Amity decided to chime in.
"I volunteer as well! As Luz's girlfriend I must–"
"I get it, Boots. Just grab a coat. Willow, Goops, watch over Luz. She thinks she has snakes for arms," Eda warned.
Gus and Willow looked back at Luz, who managed to get her arms out of the cocoon and was now staring at them in wonderment. Then she suddenly began hissing at them, causing Gus to take a step back.
As Eda, King, and Amity left, the young witch girl asked, "Do you think it's wise to leave her alone? What if she needs me?"
"Willow and Goops will take care of her. The best thing you can do to help her is find the Titan's Blood so she can finally go see her mother," said Eda.
Amity furrowed her brow a bit, she had always felt powerless when it came to helping Luz find a way back to her world. She had promised she would do anything she could to help her girlfriend find a way to travel back and forth between the realms, and now there was finally a way for her to do that. A chance for Amity to be of use to her girlfriend as more than just a Kamen Rider partner.
"Let's do this," said Amity.
"I'mma gonna bite ya!" Luz exclaimed from the other room.
"Aaah! She tried to bite me!" Gus shouted.
Eda, King, and Amity paused and then looked at each other.
"We'll make this quick," they said in unison.
The Knee, the highest peak of the Titan, and the coldest. It was here that several Coven Scouts, along with Abomatons, were tirelessly searching the mineshafts. They had been sent on a mission, a mission to obtain a rare and powerful substance known as Titan's Blood. Kikimora stood in the middle of the quarry, standing on the left shoulder of an Abomaton while the Scout Captain stood next to the magical machine golem.
"Dig faster, Scouts!" she ordered.
"Kikimora, these tunnels are unstable. Maybe we should slow down," the Scout Captain suggested.
"Ugh! Not now, Captain. This could be my last chance to show Belos what I can do. And I just know that brat, Golden Guard, will try and spoilt it!" Kikimora grumbled, she then turned her ire onto a Scout in the distance. "Hey, Steve! Jump over that chasm before I throw you in it!"
The Scout Captain shook her head in dismay of her leader's actions. "She's getting so paranoid."
Meanwhile, further back at the tree line, a Coven Scout watched and listened. After he was done listening in on their conversation, the Scout removed his mask and revealed himself to be Hunter. As he turned, Hunter gasped when he saw Little Rascal perched on the tree root next to him.
"Why do you keep following me?" Hunter asked.
Little Rascal chirped in response.
"I don't speak Palisman. Here's the plan. I slip in with this disguise. I find the Titan Blood before Kiki. I give it to Belos. Boom! I'm useful again!" Hunter explained.
Suddenly an energy blast shot through the tree just above Hunter's head. The young witch boy swiftly dropped low to the ground, looked up a bit, and saw that the entire upper half of the tree had been obliterated. In the quarry, Kikimora's Abomaton had switched its right arm to cannon mode and was smoking, showing that it was the one who fired the shot.
The Scout Captain rushed to Kikimora and asked, "Ma'am, is everything alright?!"
Kikimora narrowed her gaze at the spot where her Abomaton had fired upon and replied, "I thought I heard an annoying voice just now."
Okay, that plan is out!
Hunter broke into a sprint as he got out of there as fast as he could. "Okay! New plan! We'll find another way in! Yep! That's what we'll do."
As they ran, Little Rascal flew off Hunter's head and onto a branch. Hunter stopped and looked down in the same direction as the cardinal Palisman, and that's where he saw Eda, King, and Amity Blight walking down a path.
"The Owl Lady. And is that the youngest Blight?" Hunter questioned.
"This place is crawling with tools, what gives?" King asked.
"Titan Blood is the most powerful source of magic on the Isles. I'm not surprised Belos wants it, too," said Eda.
"Well, we can't afford to mess this up. Luz is counting me!" Amity realized her mistake after seeing the deadpan looks Eda and King were giving her. "I mean us. Us! I meant us."
Hunter looked on from his high ground as he began to devise a new scheme to get to the blood. "Alright, new plan. They can lead us to – Hey! Hey!"
Little Rascal began to pull at Hunter's hood, and after a few tugs, he managed to make Hunter lose his footing and tumble down the hill. After a few rolls, Hunter found himself plopping right in the path of the trio.
"A Coven Scout!" Amity exclaimed as she drew a spell circle and conjured a fireball ready to launch.
"Uh…yes! I am but a humble Scout, and I surrender," said Hunter as he put his hands up.
"Well, that was easy,' said King.
"Not so fast, King. Don't you recognize that annoying voice?" Eda asked.
Hunter slumped when he heard that for the second time today. "Why does everyone say that?" With that said, Hunter bolted, running as fast as he could in the opposite direction.
"Don't let him get away," said Eda.
"Like he's going to." Amity drew another spell circle after dismissing her fireball.
A flask at her right hip glowed as Abomination goo quickly sprang out of it and zipped right for Hunter. Like a striking snake, the goo wrapped around Hunter, trapping his arms and preventing him from even being able to conjure his Driver. When he fell, his mask came off, and now the trio were able to confirm his identity.
"Well, hello there, Golden Guard," said Eda.
"Uh…um…"
"Of course, we'd run into you out here. Why are you dressed as a Scout?" Amity asked.
"Classified," he replied.
"Let's throw him to a Slither Beast," King suggested.
Hunter gulped.
"We're not doing that. Luz would be distraught if she knew we killed someone," said Amity.
Hunter sighed in relief.
"That is," Amity glared at Hunter as her eyes briefly shined with purple light, "so long as the Golden Guard here doesn't do anything to warrant me ending his life in self-defense, then we won't have any problems. Right?"
Hunter knew he was in no position to negotiate with them, and with his arms tied up, he couldn't even summon his Arcane Driver, let alone use his rings. "Understood."
"Well, that's settled. Now let's find that Titan's Blood!" Eda stated.
The inside of the mineshafts were iced over and filled with long abandoned mining equipment. One of the walls began to rumble, and in the next moment, Eda came crashing through the wall of ice and landed on the ground in a kneeling position as she smirked broadly.
"Did I do it? Did I go into Harpy Mode?" Eda asked.
King walked up behind her and answered, "Uh, no. You just screamed 'hoot' and then ran headfirst into a wall of ice. Pretty funny actually."
Right behind them, Amity and Hunter entered. Amity had her staff pointed right at Hunter's back as she walked him into the mineshaft, with Hunter looking none too pleased by the treatment.
"You can put down the staff. It's not like I have any place to run in this situation," said Hunter.
"Too bad because I don't trust you," Amity retorted.
"Wow, even after we fought together to defeat Nuckelavee? Or that time we defeated those two Phantoms?" Hunter asked.
"Different situation. The fate of the Boiling Isles was at stake," she remarked.
While Amity and Hunter were having their conversation, Eda and King were exploring the cavern they were in.
"Huh. This stuff is old," Eda commented.
"Ancient witches used to mine the veins for Titan Blood," Hunter informed.
"Yeah, they're not paying attention. You get used to it," said Amity.
King managed to get atop a machine that looked like a drill, and Eda was standing a few feet away from it, aligning herself with the drill.
"Go on, fire it. Maybe the rush of adrenaline will be enough to kick start my transformation, and then, bam, Harpy Eda!"
"Sounds perfectly safe," said King as he aimed the drill.
King managed to turn the drill on, and when it spun, the entire drill bit began glowing bright blue as it powered up.
"WAIT, DON'T–!" Hunter warned, but it was too late.
The beam fired from the device, missed Eda, and hit the wall behind her. But instead of piercing or exploding, the beam started bouncing off the walls. The energy beam kept ricocheting off the icy walls again and again, causing King, Eda, and Hunter to dodge it at the last second, and coming very close to getting a hole blasted through their heads and/or chests. On the next ricochet, the beam headed straight for Amity. The talented young witch girl drew a spell circle and willed her Abomination goo to come out, and with near lightning reflexes, Amity made the goo form into a sphere that caught the energy beam and snuffed it out inside of the goo. Needless to say, King and Eda were stunned by this development.
"These walls are made from the veins of the Titan! Any magic you shoot will bounce right back at you!" he warned, again.
"Oh, you must be fun at parties," said Eda. That's when a thought sprang in Eda's head. "Hey, King. How about you use your new powers to echolocate the lake?"
King chuckled as he said, "Okay!", and hopped off the drill. He ran to the entrance of the mineshaft, took a deep breath, and released a loud, "WEH!". Waves of magical energy came rippling out from his mouth and traveled down the mineshaft. Everyone waited to see if King's abilities were suited to echolocation, but after a minute of waiting, the little demon turned around, and shrugged his shoulders in defeat.
"Yeah, those two, definitely going to us caught," said Hunter.
"Excuse me, us? There is no us. Now keep walking," Amity ordered.
The group made their way through the maze that was the mine, all the while, Little Rascal was flying close by, keeping an eye on his partner. The mine was vast, with several minecart rails set up that went in many different directions, through many different shafts. If it weren't for the map that Luz had drawn, Amity was sure that they'd be wandering aimlessly in this mine forever.
"You know, I remember Luz telling me about her trip to Latissa, where she met someone very interesting. A beat-up blonde with no magical powers. She called him, and these are her words, 'a bad but sad boy'," said Eda.
Eda and King laughed, causing Hunter to turn red with annoyance.
"If I ever see that human again–"
"Watch it," Amity warned.
"At least I'm not delusional enough to think I can turn into a harpy," Hunter retorted.
Eda turned around and hissed at the "sad but bad boy".
"Hey. Come on. Give it a rest, you two," said King.
"Yeah, Owl Lady, listen to your rat."
King released his rage squeal as he lunged at Hunter and began pulling at his hair with a vengeance. But as they went about their antics, Amity turned her head and grew cautious.
"Shh," she hissed.
The four of them hid behind a mining machine as they gazed across the small chasm and saw Kikimora, along with the Scout Captain, some Abomatons, and Coven Scouts, walking along the opposite side of the divide. The Scout Captain raised her hand, signaling them to stop moving.
"What is it, Captain? Is it the Golden Guard?!" Kikimora asked.
"No, ma'am. This is a dangerous area. We need to move carefully," the Captain advised.
Kikimora scoffed at the Captain. "Careful takes too long. My butt is on the line, and so help me, Titan, if you ruin this, I will throw you off the tallest peak of the Knee with a smile plastered on my face!"
Eda blinked when she heard the threat. "Wow, that poor girl is going through something. What'd ya do to her?"
"Tch, nothing direct. She's just a brown noser that wants my station. It's not my fault she keeps failing at her missions," Hunter commented.
"Well, whatever her deal is, she's blocking the only path to Eclipse Lake," said Amity.
The group listened to Kikimora continue to yammer on.
"We should create a distraction while she's still ranting," Hunter suggested.
"We should create a distraction!" Eda suggested, blatantly stealing Hunter's idea. "You kids wait for my signal."
Amity and Hunter watched as Eda and King jumped down and left them alone. Hunter smirked as he kicked back against the machine and said, "Huh. That was easy. When they're caught, you and I can take the Titan Blood for ourselves."
The purple haired witch had had enough. "Okay, you know what, just stop it! Stop talking as if we're a team. We may be Kamen Riders, and we may've fought together. But that does not make us friends or allies. We did what we had to in order to protect our world. Simple as that."
"Tch, really? We might as well be a team. The Owl Lady and her pet have nothing at stake, unlike us," said Hunter.
Amity chuckled at the notion. "You have no idea what you're–" The tamagachi device went off. "I was gonna say you have no–" And it went off again.
Hunter gave her a look that said, "Are you going to get that?"
Amity groaned and turned her back to him as she took out the device. It was another message from Luz. She pressed on the button and opened the message. This time the first three images were the same as before. an arrow looping back, and two graphs. The next two were different, this time it showed the image of black bird opening its mouth wide, and a head that was crying. As Amity tried to decipher the meaning of these images, Hunter got up, looked over her shoulder, and hissed when he saw the images.
"Oof. That doesn't look good," he said.
"Excuse me these are private messages! And who said you could get that close to me?!" Hunter took a few steps back. Amity shifted her glance between the Golden Guard and the tamagachi device before asking, "But, um, what doesn't look good?"
Hunter shrugged. "Seems clear to me. Come back with results or else, well, you can figure out the rest."
Amity looked at the images again, was that really what these meant? The ones before she couldn't figure out, but that was before they made the journey to the lake. "No…No! Luz wouldn't make that kind of threat. She's–"
"Are you sure?" Hunter asked. "I don't know why your human wants that blood, but it must be for something important, right?"
Amity paused for a moment. The Titan Blood was important, super important. Without it, Luz will not be able to create a portal back to her world. She entrusted Amity with this mission and was expecting her girlfriend to come through for her. Luz misses her mother, I'm sure she misses her a lot. S-She's probably desperate now, since this is the first real thing that could grant her wish. If I fail…If I can't get her this one important thing, can I really call myself her girlfriend? Am…Am I even worthy of calling myself her girlfriend if I can't do this for her?
"We have a lot in common, Blight. We're both trying to show what we can bring to the table. And we can't fail 'cause there's nothing worse than disappointing someone who thinks you're special," said Hunter.
Amity was at war with herself. Part of her knew that Luz was not a vindictive person and would understand if she didn't manage to succeed. But then again, this could be the one and only chance Luz had of creating her own portal to travel between worlds again. It was only understandable that Luz might get angry with her, especially when they all stopped her from coming here, especially when Amity volunteered herself to bring back the Titan Blood.
"So, what will it be, Blight? Do we succeed or do we fail? The choice is yours," he said.
Amity did not want to fail the person she loved, the person who changed her life, the person who made everyday worth living and enjoying. The young witch drew a spell circle with her right hand and conjured a fireball. Amity took aim and shot the fireball in a random direction. As soon as it hit the walls of the mine, the fireball began ricocheting around. The Scouts and Kikimora began cloistering together to try and void getting hit, but one of the Abomatons went into action. The crystal filament in its chest began to glow and emit a magenta light. Within seconds a barrier formed around all of them, which only succeeded in making the fireball bounce off its surface, protecting them, but not stopping the problem.
Eda, who nearly got her head taken off by the fireball, began running when she saw Amity and Hunter making a break for the other side. "Why didn't you wait for my signal?!"
"We don't have time to play around! We are getting that Titan Blood!" Amity stated.
As they ran, Amity's tamagachi device fell out of her pocket, just as the group of four made down the mineshaft that would lead them to the Titan's Blood.
Meanwhile, back at the Owl House. Luz, who was still in a loopy state, was playing with the echo-mouse's ears who was perched on her chest.
"Little mouse, Owl House, frilly blouse. Boop."
Luz "booped" the nose of the echo-mouse, and upon doing so, the mouse's eyes began to glow. A moment later, it started to project more images, causing Luz to quickly turn around to see what it was the mouse was going to show her.
My journey to Eclipse Lake has been a success, and yet, a tragic failure. The tunnels were filled with a substance known as Fool's Blood. It signifies a decaying vein. I was lucky to get out alive. My companions…were not.
Luz's eyes widened upon hearing this new revelation. "No…Oh no! I-I gotta warn them! G-Gotta call…!"
The young Latina's vision was blurry and making her see double due to the illness. She tried to reach out for the crystal ball to call Eda or Amity, but as soon as she reached for it, her vision betrayed her and she accidentally knocked it off the chest and onto the floor, where it broke.
"Dang it!" Luz was panicking and called out for her friends. "Hello?! Gus? Hooty? Willow? HELLO?!" Despite her cries, there was no answer.
Luz tried to get up, but the blanket cocoon was wrapped around her legs too good and made her fall to the floor. She was also way too weak from the illness to be moving around this much. "I gotta reach Amity."
"M-Maybe we can fly…Yeah, let's fly!"
"Lala, y-you're drunk, you're drunk. G-Give me your keys," said Luz.
"I don't have keys…who took my keys?"
Luz's vision finally came into focus long enough for her to see the tamagachi device. She reached out and grabbed it, and quickly began sending Amity message after message after message. However, the adrenaline spike she got from her panicked state began to wear off as she started to get dizzy.
"Amity…answer…me…"
Luz fell over, completely passed out.
"Luz…Luz you awake? Y-You find my keys? No…?…I'm sleepy. Zzzzzzz…"