Seeing the rocks and fragments of bone fall towards Luz, Amity quickly dashed to her human, calling out her name, and running to her companion's aid. She summoned an arm of abomination jelly to shield the two of them, her own hand protectively shielding the human as Amity pulled her close.
Turning her attention to the cracking sound of a whip, Amity and Luz looked to see Willow once again attempt to entangle the raging behemoth that was Emperor Belos. The thick green vines sprung forth, binding the large slimy creature to the bridge they stood on once again. Feeling the already unstable structure tremble under them and start to give way, Amity pulled on Luz's hand, leading her away from the crumbling bridge, deeper into the Titan's Skull.
With Belos's rage centered on the human, who's witts had bested him, the monster quickly broke free of his viney restraints preparing to give chase. However, with a flash of golden light, Hunter flashed in front of him, quickly utilizing his staff to cast a large light spell, blinding the large creature.
As Belos roared in rage, the monster turned its gaze on the young boy standing in front of it. Turning its head back into the humanoid guise it had utilized for so long, it attempted to plead to Hunter's inner turmoil.
"Hunter, why are you hurting me?" it pleaded, lacing anguish and hurt into its voice, expertly putting on a false expression of betrayal. "I only wanted to help you." it stated, 'pleading' to the poor confused boy.
Beginning to cower in fear, Hunter took a step back, holding his staff close to himself. "You're... you're lying!" He stated, turning partially away from Belos's false face. Almost as if he were turning to his Palisman for protection.
Upon recognizing the Palisman, Belos lost its concentration on its false visage, shouting an enraged and bewildered "Caleb?!" before roaring, and charging at the young boy. Vines quickly grabbed the trembling witch, pulling him up into the air into safety. As Belos continued to pursue the young boy, Luz and Amity had fallen back into the main room within the Titan's Skull, to avoid the collapsing bridge.
Upon entering, Luz took a moment to look around desperately for something to hedge their bets. Belos was proving to be too powerful for the 5 of them. She needed an edge. Something to tip the scales in her favor. As she ran to the nearby table, and began digging through the items scattered around it, Amity called out to her.
"What's the plan Luz?" she asked anxiously, looking to the human, a hint of fear in her voice.
"I'm thinking... I'm thinking..." Luz responded, as she stood, pressing her hands to the sides of her head, as if it would force an idea to come to her mind. Looking around the room as her thoughts raced, Luz looked up to the ceiling where light had shown through. Her eyes widened as she recalled her mentor's teachings. That the Isles would teach her new magic. Would show her what she needed to know.
And, inside the skull of a massive long dead titan, Luz once again found something new. Something she knew she was looking for. A new glyph that she already knew some parts of. And she knew it was exactly what she needed.
Turning to the purple haired witch, Luz took a deep breath, pushing down thoughts and emotions that now came to her. This needed to work. And she needed Amity to help. Which meant that Luz couldn't show her girlfriend any of the fear or sorrow that was coursing through her as she realized what this meant.
"Amity... I have an idea. But I need to work fast... Belos is too strong for us to beat in a fight... But I have one last trick up my sleeve. Something I only just now figured out." Pointing to the glyph in the top of the skull, Luz showed Amity what she meant. "I need just a few minutes to draw the glyph combo. Can you help the others hold Belos back just a little longer?" Luz pleaded, hoping that her voice sounded confident, instead of terrified. She needed Amity to believe in her, if this was to work.
Amity looked to Luz, and could tell there was something that the human wasn't telling her. Right as she was about to question Luz further, a loud roar echoed throughout the skull, along with shouts of pain from her 3 friends still batting the enraged behemoth. Pulling her lips into a tight grimace, she looked to Luz. "I can do that. Just... Stay safe" She requested, before dashing out into the hall again. Using her abomination jelly to carry her across the gap in the broken bridge, she rejoined the fight.
Luz quickly began to work, using a long broken piece of wood from the surrounding room, she began drawing the largest glyph combo she ever had before. One she memorized, even though she hadn't known the full combo yet. Pulling out papers she had stashed away, she placed small pre-drawn glyph combos in pre-designated locations, shortening the total time spent drawing the glyph.
Meanwhile, outside of the room, Willow, Gus, Hunter and Amity battled on. Belos lunged towards the Illusionist, but was held down by Willow's vines yet again. Gus took this chance to use the monocle artifact that he had swiped from the head of the illusionist coven. Quickly, Gus attempted to push some of Belos's memories back to it, in an attempt to calm the raging behemoth down. Gus aimed for memories close to Belos's heart, in the hopes it would be of a loved one or someone dear to the monster. With the aid of the monocle, Gus could see what the mad titan could see.
What Gus didn't expect to witness was the flashing of memories of a human boy. One that looked remarkably similar to Gus. One who, as Gus viewed the memories, Belos had slain. Gus lived through the memories as well. The sadness, and twisted sense of right that Belos experienced. Believing they were doing the right thing. Gus, too stunned by what he was seeing, did not notice the behemoth rush at him in anger, and was only saved by Hunter's quick reaction timing.
Belos continued to rage about the group, unable to focus on a single target. Too caught up in its own emotions after having those painful memories brought back to the forefront of its mind. It could no longer even discern who its target was. Simply seeing in shades of red, only barely able to tell whether there was a person in its view or not. It quickly lashed out, its drippy green arm crashing into the form in front of them.
A purple ooze formed trying to block the blow, but was not enough to prevent it, and Amity was sent flying into a nearby pillar, shouting out in pain as the wind was knocked from her body. She gasped for air, her vision bright with pain. However, she only had a few moments to recover, before she had to rush back to her feet, dodging out of the way as Hunter now flew into the same pillar.
Hearing her friends' shouts and Belos's roars, Luz felt the sweat on her brow thicken, as she hurried to draw the glyph and complete it faster. It didn't take too long, but Luz knew her friends needed her to finish, before Belos defeated them. Completing the last line of the massive glyph, Luz took one more look at the glyph combo, ensuring she did it correctly. It was massive. Filling up the entire floor in the room, easily 20 feet across in diameter.
As Belos raged about, the group gradually lost more and more ground. Forced to separate to try and take turns drawing Belos's attacks from each other. Effectively playing a game of monkey in the middle. A very dangerous one. Belos would flip from target to target as they took turns lashing out at the beast with their spells, making it change its focus right before it hit one of them. For a while it was working, until Belos let out a ferocious roar, that deafened the group, causing them to all cover their ears in pain.
That was all the mad titan needed, however, to get the upper hand. In a matter of moments, the beast had swatted Willow to the side, causing her to shout in pain, and sending her flying off the bridge. Were it not for Hunter's fast movements and reactions catching her, the plant witch would have fallen far into the darkness.
Belos howled again, turning back towards the two remaining members on the bridge. Quickly rushing forward, Belos was able to pin them both down under its front claws, snarling in the witches faces. Amity struggled, trying to escape, and Gus lay paralized with fear. Belos roared again, before lifting the two witches into the air, and beginning to squeeze. Their shouts only aggravate him further.
Luz took a deep breath, and running along the outside of the room so as to not activate the glyph, returned to the door that would lead out to where her friends still fought the crazed beast. Opening the door all the way, she placed an ice glyph at her feet, stepping on it to quickly have a sheet of ice re-construct the missing part of the bridge. Taking a deep breath, she steeled her nerves, and called out to the mad Emperor.
"Hey Belos! If you ever want any hope of returning to the human realm, to become the 'Witch Hunter General' then you better come stop me now before I destroy that door once and for all!" She cried out. Waiting only a moment to ensure that Belos had heard her and was chasing her, she turned and ran back into the room, pushing the door closed behind her. Quickly, Luz rounded the outside of the Glyph, to ensure that when Belos came rampaging in, he would run straight into it. Luz carefully stepped into the glyph as well, watching her feet to not touch the lines, so as not to activate it early.
Hearing that infernal Human call out to it, Belos dropped the witches in its grasp, and turned, to acknowledge the human's taunts. Realizing what they were threatening, Belos began a mad dash towards the interior room, frantic to stop the human from destroying the portal yet again.
It was only a few more moments, as she heard (and felt) the massive form of Belos trampling across the bridge after her. She waited, as calmly as she could for it to burst through the doorway. Finally... I can fix everything I did wrong...
In a loud crash, the massive green beast flung the doors open, banging into the wall. Seeing Luz just standing there, it leapt into the air, arms stretched out towards her to grab her, and finished her once and for all. In his rage, he had not noticed the massive glyph combo until it was too late.
Letting out an audible gasp, Belos watched in horror as Luz stepped onto the glyph, activating it with both of them inside. Instantly, a loud crackling of energy could be heard, as the large glyph glowed pink and purple, and began lifting the two of them slightly into the air. Preventing them from moving anywhere.
Only moments behind the massive beast, Luz saw her friends enter the room, ready to continue fighting. Her heart breaks slightly at their battered appearances. Hunter had a black eye, and was covered in many cuts. Gus was holding his arm close, and it appeared to be hanging limply. Willow looked ragged, like she had been dragged through a thorn bush by a griffon she tried to lasso. And Amity. Her Amity. Had a large cut going across her beautiful face. Blood trickled down her pale cheek. Yet she looked fierce and determined.
Immediately, Luz knew she had made the right decision. Her friends would never get hurt, and they would be safe. She would fix her mistakes, and finally make sure that she righted her wrongs.
The group watched in awe and confusion as the massive glyph combo crackled with electricity and energy. Belos's form reverted to his humanoid one, as he seemed to be yelling in terror. "What are you doing?!" He cried, the sound of fear obvious in his voice. "You have no idea what magic you are toying with! You will destroy everything!" He shrieked. Turning to look over his shoulder the 4 witches were stunned to see genuine, unbridled fear radiating off of the Emperor's face.
"Stop her! Stop her before she kills us all!" She screamed. "Hunter! Please! Stop her!" He shouted, as the glyph combo only seemed to grow in power. Wind blew around the room, stronger and stronger, and before anyone knew what had happened, the walls of the titans skill exploded in a deafening bang, as the Skull shattered into millions of pieces, blazing away from them.
The group was stunned, as a massive purple beam of light blasted into the sky, piercing the clouds, as Belos let out a blood curdling scream of terror. Luz looked to her friends, as tears ran down her cheeks. She looked sad, but there was something else.
Satisfaction, and relief. She looked at each of them, locking eyes with the terrified witchlings. Even as she felt the crackling chaos of her spell begin to tear at her body, Luz knew in her heart that she was making the right decision. Her mistake would never again lead to anyone getting hurt. Would lead to no more deaths.
Time seemed to slow, as Luz looked to her friends. A sad smile showed on her face, and she let herself speak freely.
"Willow..." She began "You are the best friend I could ever have asked for. From the first day I ran into you, you were friendly, kind, welcoming and compassionate. Even though I was someone you never met, and a creature from another world, another realm. Even though I was loud, wild, and caused you trouble beyond compare, you showed me what it meant to really have a friend for the first time in my life. I love you."
"Gus... you are the most innocent and friendly person I have ever met. From the first moment you saw me, there was nothing but awe in your eyes. And you have no idea how much that helped me with my own self esteem. Maybe at first it was just because I was a human, but over time, you showed that your enthusiasm and excitement about me was more than that. You showed me for the first time what it was like to be considered interesting, and impressive, even when I did nothing to deserve it. Thank you, I love you. "
"Hunter... To be honest, I am surprised how quickly I came to care for you. But you have shown compassion, and strength like no other. The truths you learned about yourself would have been enough to crush anyone. To make them go mad with grief and confusion. But yet, here you are. Standing up to the most terrifying inner demons you can. Facing your terror head on. You stayed strong, and you powered through, and you quickly made friends with us. You showed me what it is to be strong, even when it seems like there was no hope. You inspired me to have the courage to do this. And for that, I love you. "
"And Amity..." Luz took a deep shaky breath, as she looked into those golden eyes. She only saw fear in Amity's expression, and for that, Luz felt sorry. But this had to be done. "You are amazing. I never thought I was capable of being loved by someone. Romantically, that is. I never believed I would find love. I never thought it was even possible in my wildest dreams. Yet, there you were, shattering that belief, and making me the most lucky person in both the human and demon realm. I can never express how grateful I am that you were in my life, and how much I love you. I really truly do. Te Amo, Amity Blight"
At her friends stunned silence, Luz took one last deep breath, and faced them all at once. "However, It is because I love you all that I have to say goodbye. Seeing you all get hurt to save me again. Seeing you all fight like this for me. Seeing everyone give everything for me... Its too much. I can't stand to watch those I love be hurt any more. So, I am going to protect you all. I will miss you. All of you. More than you could ever know..."
With one last tear streaking down her face, Luz turned to Belos. His screams of terror had not stopped, his curses at the human only grew more explicit as he raged on. Struggling to fight her spell to no avail. Finally, he conceded that he had lost. "Forbidden Magic from long before I even arrived here... To believe that you of all people would learn this spell, and use it... You are truly something, Luz the Human." He said, with a terrifying air of malice in his tone.
As the spell began to surge, Luz and Belos began to rise into the air. Realizing that the spell was doing something to Luz, the 4 witchlings began to scream her name, attempting to reach out to grab her, to pull her back to them. But the edges of the glyph combo worked like a barrier, keeping them away. They could do nothing but watch in horror, as bright pink lines began to form on the Human's body. Tracing over her skin like cracks, the same as the Day of Unity spell did to hunter and the other witches.
They watched as the same thing happened to Belos. Unable to do anything but watch in complete devastation as Luz and Belos began to cry out in pain simultaneously, their voices growing in intensity and anguish, as the pink cracks in their forms began to glow brighter and brighter and brighter. Until with a Final flash, and a loud explosion, the 4 witchlings could only watch, as Luz and Belos exploded before their very eyes, in a massive show of bright pink light, that would have blinded anyone on the isles. Specklings of what looked like pink glitter snowed down into the remnants of the skull, as the four witchlings starred in traumatized horror, as the dusty remains of their friend fluttered to the ground around them.
As the beam of light vanished, the four began to feel light headed. Grabbing onto each other as they tried not to fall, they all closed their eyes as what felt like a flash migraine shot through all their skulls. Moments later they opened their eyes, only to be completely stunned as they looked around the living room of The Owl House, surrounded by everyone Luz held dear.
As everyone grabbed their heads in pain, they all looked at each other with sheer confusion written across their faces, as they all looked around, trying to figure out who all was there, and how everyone got there.
Amity. Eda. Gus. Willow. Ed. Em. Lilith. King. Hooty. Hunter.
The 10 of them looked at each other with puzzled expressions. Each having no idea how they arrived inside The Owl House. As they were about to ask one another what had happened, something small and plastic clattered to the floor near the front door, a light turning on, with a paused video open, ready to play, was Luz Noceda's phone.
