All characters from Disney and other properties are owned by their respectful owners. The OCs made here are written entirely for the story. Enjoy this fic.
Chapter 71: The Hunting Witch
Six Years Ago…
A young eight-year-old Luz Clawthorne was working at her mom's illegal stand. She's been trying to get someone to buy their human junk, but no one was giving them a second look. They were just passing by, which made the young girl bored.
"Any sales yet, sweetie?" Eda called from the back.
"Not yet, mom!" Luz replied while drawing on her notepad. She made a light glyph and tapped on it, creating a ball of light.
"Neat trick, kiddo."
Luz looked up and noticed the old, frail witch that stood in front of the stand stand. He had pinkish skin and a white beard under his dark cloak, his left eye and left hand scarred. He was holding a staff and wore gray boots and brown fingerless gloves.
"Oh, are you here to buy something?" Luz asked him.
"It depends, what do you have for sale?" he asked her.
Luz dug into the basket and pulled out a vintage film camera. "This here will steal the souls of your enemies! Plus it's vintage, best value."
"Not in the soul-sucking business, what else do you have?" he asked her again.
"Well, how about this bobble-buddy?" Luz pulled out a bobble-head of a famous baseball player. "Or if you need something to shave that beard off, I got this baby!" She pulled out a weed whacker.
"Alright Luz, let me handle this guy-" Eda said as she showed up, but then her eyes widened when she saw the customer. She gasped, recognizing the elder witch. "O-Oh, um… is there… anything you like, sir?" she asked awkwardly, avoiding the man's gaze.
"I was just looking around when this little saleswoman got my attention," he said. "Is she yours?"
"Oh yeah, she's my daughter!" Eda said. "And um, we have been doing just fine! This little owl pellet has even been helping me with my business! Isn't that right, hun?"
"You bet, mom!" Luz replied.
"Well, if you wish to talk about-"
"Wait, I think I saw a coven guard out here!" Eda said though Luz didn't see any guard as Eda magically wrapped up her shop and grabbed Luz while summoning her staff. "Come on, Luz, let's bail before the cops come!"
"But what the-!?" Luz didn't finish as Eda flew off away from the spot, leaving the elder witch alone.
He sighed, while popping from his beard was a yellow cardinal Palisman. "That was the closest that we have to talking for years now, Waffles," he commented while watching Eda off with Luz. "At least, I got a glimpse of my granddaughter…"
Now…
The door to the Owl House was kicked open as Luz barged out, her family trying to stop her.
"Luz, wait!" King cried out to her, as Hooty stretched out to grab her.
"Stop! You just recovered!" Hooty said while Luz punches his beak. "Ohwhwow!"
"Get out of my way!" Luz shouted in anger before she felt vines wrap around her arms and legs. She fell down and she struggled to get free. Willow was the one who summoned them.
"Luz, calm down!" Willow told her as everyone ran out after Luz.
"Calm down!?" Luz snarled. "Hunter's the reason Amity's gone!"
"Luz, wait!" Lilith rushed over along with Eda. "Hunter wasn't the only one up there at the Knee. He may be innocent!"
"If he was innocent, then he shouldn't have ran!" Luz countered, her eyes glowing. "I want him to pay for what he's done to Amity!"
"I second that!" Maya agreed as she helped Luz pull themselves out of the vines. Once they were free, they made a run for it. But then Eda with her staff blocked her path along with Gus who used his mini-illusions to try to calm Luz down.
"Stop/You don't need to fight/Just stay home!" the mini Guses tried to calm Luz/Maya down, only for her to swat them away before grabbing one, squeezing it and causing it to disappear. "No, stop! I'm sentient-!" it shouted before it was gone.
"Luz!" Camila cried out and Luz turned to her. "Please, mija, don't do this!"
Luz tears leaked out. "As if you care!" she shouted as she spread her wings out, turning into a cambion. She flew off, planning to find Hunter to get answers from him. If he didn't tell her what happened to Amity…
"LUZ!"
Flying up in front of her was Harpy Eda. "Please, stop! I know you're upset, I am too! But going after him like this isn't going to help!" she told her. "Just come back and we can talk about this!" But Luz flew past her. Eda tried to grab her but Luz evaded her grasp. Harpy Eda flew after her cambion daughter, who ducked down into the forest. Eda followed her. "Luz? Luz!" she called for her, but got no response.
Eda flew back up above the trees, trying to spot her daughter. "LUZ!"
Flying back to the Owl House, Harpy Eda changed back to normal and knelt over, causing Hooty to help her up.
"Thanks, Hooty," Eda said as everyone came to her.
"What happened to Luz?" Willow asked in a worried tone.
"She managed to lose me in the woods," Eda responded as she wiped the sweat from her face, Lilith noticing a mark on her arm.
"Eda, are you alright?" Lilith asked, looking at her sister's arm.
"Don't worry about me, just from that Venoma chick," Eda assured her. "Right now we need to focus on finding Luz before she does something drastic."
"Yeah," King agreed. "Regardless of what Hunter did, I'm afraid of what she'll do to him when she catches him."
"We'll just have to find her before she finds him," Lilith said.
"Hey, is there anything we can do to help?" Gus asked.
"You two should head home," Eda responded. "It is getting late and you have helped enough. We will let you know when we find her." She looked toward the woods, rubbing her arm. "Luz couldn't have gone far."
A maskless Belos was on the balcony, watching the sun set over the Boiling Isles. Walking up to join his side was the previous Golden Guard, Sir William. He removed his mask, showing a very serious expression.
"You need to stop doing this," William told him. "You are only hurting yourself. You should have learned that by now. We can't bring them back."
"Next time will be perfect," Belos told him. "Next time I will get it right."
William shook his head. "No. Not again. We can't do this anymore, Philip. Not after what happened to Artemis."
Belos didn't answer his brother, his expression unreadable. William sighed.
"I need you to promise me something, Philip," he told him. "No more Grimwalkers. Please, promise me."
Belos was silent for a moment before he turned to William and gave him a nod. "Alright. No more Grimwalkers. I promise."
"But you didn't keep that promise, did you?" William asked, surprising Belos. "Because you did end up making another…"
"Wait, this isn't how I remember-" Belos said as he looked back at his brother. But William was gone and in his place was a scowling Hunter.
"You lied to me," Hunter accused. "You lied to me about what I am, about who my parents were. When were you going to tell me? What else have you lied to me about?!"
"Hunter, please I… let me explain," Belos said as he reached out for his nephew, but Hunter pulled away from him.
"My life is a lie!" Hunter screamed at Belos. "I am not even a person! I am a clone, a copy of someone else! All because you couldn't let go! Do you even see me when you look at me? Or do you just see me as the person you made me from?"
"Of course not!" Belos insisted. "If you would just-" He stopped and suddenly doubled over. "No, not now." He watched as his hand turned into a mud-like substance and he realized that he was losing control.
"Are you going to hurt me again?" Hunter asked, now looking much younger with blood coming from his cheek and ear.
Belos gasped, rising from his bed. Backing away was Hettie.
"Easy there, sir," Hettie advised. "You just recovered from an illness-"
"Where's Hunter?" Belos immediately asked. "I… I need to see him!"
In the woods, Hunter was in the middle of a panic attack.
"I… I can't go back," he said, hugging himself while talking to Flapjack. "There's no way I can go back empty-handed, not after disobeying orders yet again! A-And the Clawthornes!" He looked terrified. "There's no way they'd believe me! Why would they believe me after everything I've done?" He turned to Flapjack. "What do you think I should do?"
Flapjack chirped and Hunter shook his head. "No, we can't do that! It's not like we could disguise ourselves… maybe… we need to lay low. We need a safe place to hide… and I think I know who can help us!" He pulled out his scroll and started texting Gavin. "'Gavin, I've messed up really bad and I need help! Think I can crash at your place?' Do you think he'll answer?" he asked his Palisman, who just pecked his wing. He paced around anxiously for a few minutes before he heard a ding. "A response!"
GavTheGreat: Sure man, you can come crash at my place. Mom says it's okay.
"Thank the Titan!" Hunter said in relief as Flapjack turned back into a staff, which he grabbed. He then flew up into the sky, the new plan being to head to Gavin's place.
Back at the Knee, Wolffe and her group had made it back to camp. Steve along with Venoma, Alburno, and Kikimora were being treated in a tent by their healers.
"Ow! Are you trying to sting me?!" Venoma shouted at the coven scout trying to heal her.
"Sorry, it's just ointment," the scout responded.
"Oh don't mind her, fellow scout," Alburno replied with an ice pack on his arm. "She's just mad because she lost to the Owl Lady."
"If I had summoned my poison Abomination…" Venoma muttered to herself.
Alburno smirked while turning to Steve, who was nursing his nose. "You've been quiet for a while, Steve," he noted and Steve didn't respond. "Okay, silent treatment. Pugsley, how's Kiki?"
"Still unconscious, Al," Pugsley explained, making Alburno's eye twitch. "Healer says she suffered from a concussion, but she should recover."
"Don't call me Al, Pugs," Alburno responded in a threatening tone, which Pugsley didn't pick up on.
"D'oh okay, Al," Pugsley replied, only making Alburno feel more peeved off.
Meanwhile, a maskless Wolffe was talking to Abel about what had happened on their search for Kikimora.
"I feel like I should be demoted for abandoning the mission," Wolffe admitted. "I prioritized getting Kikimora to safety over finding the Titan's Blood. We were so close to it even when the Clawthornes interfered… I'm not fit to remain a captain, sir." She shut her eyes while looking down. "I let my own personal feelings get in the way of my duty. I'm sorry."
"Captain Wolffe," Abel said, patting her shoulder. "You have nothing to apologize for, because you made the right call."
Wolffe looked up in surprise. "But… the Titans' Blood…"
"Is just a thing," Abel reassured her. "I knew that you had some complicated feelings about your former superior and I do think it is better for you to acknowledge them rather than keep them buried. You were placed in a difficult situation and I won't judge you for it, since I was not in your position. However, thanks to your actions, Kiki will continue to serve the Emperor… and so will you."
Wolffe had never felt this much validation and she gave Abel a salute. "Thank you, Abel sir! I won't let you or the Emperor down next time!"
"At ease, Captain," Abel told her. "Now I want to ask you a bit more about what you saw in there…"
Flying above the Isles was Hunter on his staff.
"Almost there, Flapjack," he said even though Flapjack was inanimate right now. "Once we have made it to Gavin's place, I'll be able to think about our next move and-"
"HUNTER!"
His eyes widened when he heard that voice and he looked back to see Luz in her cambion form chasing after him. "Luz!" he cried out as he flew straight ahead, but Luz was catching up.
"Get over here!" Luz shouted as she narrowed her wings, spinning them. Hunter dodged her flying spinning attack as he flew up high in the sky. She glared at him while continuing to chase him down.
He flew above Latissa and over a bridge, only for Luz to block his path. He turned around and flew toward a forest with Luz still after him.
"Where's Amity!?" Luz demanded while chasing him.
"I don't know!" Hunter shouted in response before a light beam went past him.
"LIAR!" Luz shouted as she shot more spells at him. "You did something to her! Because of you she's gone!"
Hunter dodged each blast, passing by many trees until he was hit by a magic bolt. "AAH!" he shouted before he then hit a tree, causing him to tumble over and drop his staff which changed into Flapjack, who got hit by a tree, knocking him out.
Hunter rolled over the ground, groaning. He felt a sting from the shot as he looked up. When he saw Luz was still in pursuit he ran to the bushes to hide.
'Oh Titan, dear Titan, I'm so dead!' he thought while panicking. He heard Luz land nearby.
"Come out here, Hunter!" Luz shouted in rage, her eyes glowing red as Maya took over. "I can't wait to get my hands on you after what you've done to me!"
'Did… did Luz's voice change?' Hunter thought, noticing something was different about Luz. He peeked through the bushes and saw the knocked out Flapjack. 'Flapjack!'
He grabbed a rock and threw it. When Luz heard the rock land, she rushed in the opposite direction. He quickly ran up to get to Flapjack, only for his cowl to get caught by her claw.
"Going somewhere?" Luz/Maya asked while holding his face up to hers.
"L-Luz, please let me go!" Hunter begged, only to be raised up in the air and slammed to a tree. "Ack!" he cried out as he was then thrown across the woods, breaking branches in the process. At a high speed, Luz caught up to him, grabbing him by the leg as she slammed him down to the ground three times before slamming him against a tree. He grunted and groaned throughout the assault, before Luz decided to stop beating him around and pin him to a tree. Her eyes shifted from glowing yellow to red.
"It's because of you that I died!" Maya shouted at him, confusing Hunter.
"What… what are you talking about-AH!" He felt the claws digging through his uniform.
Maya chuckled. "Let's take a refresher down memory lane, shall we? You tried to kidnap the Palismen for your predatory Emperor and Luz tried to stop you. But you ended up crashing and as a result, I died." She tipped her head with an angry look, Luz taking over. "And I ended up absorbing her soul into me as a result! You got Maya killed, and now you've gotten Amity killed as well!"
Hunter was terrified after hearing this about Maya. "I… I didn't know that this would-AH!" He felt her claws digging into his body. "A-Amity… I didn't do anything, she was-!"
"LIES!" Luz shouted as she threw him to the ground. "All you do is lie!"
"I say it's better to just end him!" Maya suggested.
"But I'm telling you the truth!" Hunter claimed, only to feel the claws dig into his back. "AAH!" Luz slashed him across his back, drawing blood. She wasn't attacking him at this point, she was mauling him.
She grabbed him by the leg and dragged his body across the ground before throwing him. His back hit a tree, causing him to cough out blood. He fell down and saw Luz flying toward him again. A panicked Hunter saw a steep hill and jumped for it, rolling away from Luz.
Once he rolled down, he immediately got back up, though he struggled to walk. As he limped away, he saw Luz standing on the top of the hill, watching him. 'Why is she standing there like that?' he thought, but he wasted no time in trying to escape. He tore a piece of his cape and smeared something on it, holding up the fabric in preparation. He looked back at where Luz was, only to see that she had disappeared.
"SHIT!" he shouted as he attempted to run, but then he got tackled down by a talon, Luz now standing over him with a demonic scream. Hunter responded by slamming the piece of cloth. "I'm sorry, Luz!" he shouted as he showed a glowing fire glyph, which sent flames into her face, catching her by the eyes.
"AAAH!" Luz/Maya cried out, feeling the burn on her face. She ended up letting go of Hunter, who crawled away quickly before picking himself up and running.
He ran as fast as he could while Luz winced. Maya turned to him with a glare, now having burnt rigid circles around her eyes, and she flew towards him while seeing red. She kicked him and pinned him to the ground while grabbing his arm, twisting it.
"AAH!" Hunter cried in pain. "Luz, please, listen!" he begged. "I'm… I'm sorry for burning you, it was self-defense! And what happened at the Knee… there's this old witch who-AAAAAH!" Maya grabbed his arm more tightly while keeping him pinning him to the ground.
"THIS ENDS NOW!" Maya shouted as Hunter felt her start to pull.
"No! No, please don't-!" His cries fell on deaf ears. "LUZ!"
KILL HIM!
Luz could hear the voice in her head, the same voice that had encouraged her to devour Maya.
But it was too late. With a gleeful grin, Maya ripped off Hunter's right arm as he cried out a blood-curdling scream.
Maya tossed the arm aside and looked down at Hunter. But then she stopped and realized something. She picked up a familiar scent and her eyes widened.
"W-What?" she asked in shock, looking down at Hunter as she stepped off of him. "You… you smell like… Palisman." She covered her mouth and felt like gagging, shocked and disgusted at herself for what she did "Why… why do you smell like a Palisman? I… I can't believe… oh no…"
Her eyes rolled back and Luz gasped as she was brought back in control. "Maya? Maya what-" She gasped in horror when she saw Hunter's downed body with his right arm ripped off. She had realized what they had done. "No…"
She backed away from his body and started to throw up. Her hatred for Hunter was replaced by a sick feeling in her stomach. She then felt wobbly and dizzy suddenly before she fell back, passing out.
As a fearful Hunter saw her pass out, he took this as his chance to escape. He got up and ran, trying to get far away from Luz while not even bothering to grab his discarded arm or close up his bleeding stub. He left behind a trail of blood.
Luz was left alone in the woods, passed out.
Luz gasped as she found herself in the Owl House. "Maya? Maya, where are you?" she asked, looking around the living room. "What… am I… back already? No." She took a closer look at some of the details. "The glossy features… I'm dreaming again, am I?"
"Bingo, Lizard Bat!" said a familiar triangle with a top hat, Bill Cipher, as he popped up in front of Luz. "My, has it only been a week since we last talked? It almost felt like months!"
"Maya?" Luz realized. "Where's Maya? I need to talk to her!"
"Maya? I don't think she's available at the moment," he said as he summoned some chairs for her and Luz to sit on. "Now then… how's your day going?"
Hunter was trying to put as much distance between him and Luz as possible, despite his limp. As he panted, he knew he had to find Flapjack, who had to be around here somewhere.
But he was growing tired. He could feel himself losing blood from the stub of his arm along with the deep cuts on his bleeding back. He started to choke up and look pale. Blood dripped from his mouth before he passed out completely. He was now alone…
"Luz!" cried out a voice in the distance. Flying on her staff was Lilith, who was looking around for her niece. She then spotted someone down there, someone in a coven scout uniform. She went down to check on them and as she turned the body around she gasped. "Hunter!" She noticed how banged up he was, including the missing arm.
'Did Luz do this?' Lilith asked, worried. 'If she did, she must be close.'
She looked up at the direction Hunter had come from, then back down at Hunter. She knew that she could leave him here and continue her search for Luz. After all, he had once left her to die without a second thought. And Luz was more important. It would be fitting to leave Hunter here, especially after everything that he had done.
And yet… Lilith knew she couldn't do that.
"No," she said as she picked Hunter up and leaned him against a tree. "He needs my help." She burned the bleeding stub on his arm with a fire glyph. "He's lost too much blood… but I think I know who to take him to."
Lilith then picked up Hunter and got on her staff with him. As she flew away, she just hoped that her choice to save Hunter didn't cost Luz…
"…And after learning that my godmother's a witch hunter, me and Amity discovered that there's Titan's Blood up at the Knee," Luz recapped to Bill. "But I got sick so Amity went with mom, King and Lilith, but when they got back… Amity was gone and Hunter had something to do with it!"
"Wow, sounds like you've been through a lot," Bill replied.
"I got angry and went after him, and I did… I did something terrible and…" Tears flooded from her eyes as she started to break down. "Dear Titan, what have I done?! I was angry and I wanted to hurt him, but… and Amity… I never got the chance to…" She wailed and buried her face in her arms, getting into a fetal position.
"Oh, wow, I… okay, gonna be honest, I'm not good with this kind of thing, Lizard Bat," Bill told her. "Why don't I just… head on out-"
"No," Luz told him, causing Bill to stop. "I… I don't know what to do right now. You're like a deity of some kind and… Mason's friend. So what do you suggest I do?"
Bill hid his smirking eye, while turning around to give a fake concerned look. "Well… I think I can give you a sweet deal, Lizard Bat!"
He suddenly teleported onto Luz's shoulder, holding his cane. "I can, with your permission of course, get inside that little scaly noggin of yours! Have a look inside and see all the messed up teenage horror shit that's been going on in there, and I'll fix you right up!"
"R-Really?" Luz asked him. She was incredibly vulnerable and Bill knew it.
"Hey, I'm a good listener, kid. Just think of it as a form of therapy!" Bill declared, while extending his hand. "So… do we have a deal, Lizard Bat?"
Luz looked at his hand and slowly reached for it. She was desperate and what Bill offered her sounded good, so it was her decision… to take Bill's hand and shake it.
Inside Luz's mindscape, Bill was laughing to himself while roaming around.
"Oh boy was that easy!" Bill declared. "I knew that someday this would pay off! Now I'm free to roam around inside Lizard Bat's mind! I wonder if there is anything useful here? If not, then I'm free to cause as much damage as I like!" He then spotted someone with their back turned to him. "Oh, that must be her inner self. She would make for a good travel guide!"
He floated toward the small figure. "Hey, kid!" he said. "Are you Lizard Bat's inner self? Cause I don't know where I am right now. Can you show me where the memories are?" he asked, but he got no response. "Hmm, are you Lizard Bat's inner self or what?"
The inner self, who had an indigo glow, turned around and Bill realized that it was a child that did not resemble a young Luz. Instead, it was a dark-haired child wearing some kind of wooden mask with two eye holes and antlers, a button white shirt with an overall with one strap, and black old shoes. He seemed to be carrying a bag full of something. This child had white skin, unlike Luz's brown skin.
"Huh, you look different than what I pictured," he said, only for the child to laugh at him.
"HahahahAHAHAHAHAHA!" the child laughed as they started to change. Bill backed away as the mindscape around him flashed red and the child transformed into a more familiar figure… an unmasked Belos.
"Hello, little dream demon," Belos said with a mocking smile. "Now what are you doing here?"
"W-What!?" Bill exclaimed in shock. "Wow, I did not expect this! Lizard Bat's got some old grandpa living in her mind!"
Ignoring Bill's words, Belos shifted behind the dream demon. "You think you can make this girl's mind your own personal playground?" he asked while shifting in front of Bill again. "Think again."
"Who… who are you? Are you that Belos guy she's been ranting about?" Bill asked.
"Correct," Belos confirmed. "And let me make one thing clear. Luz's mind does not belong to you… it belongs to me," he said while flicking Bill's hat off.
"Hey! Watch the hat!" Bill told him off. "Wait… how'd you do that?!"
"Let me just get to the point, little dream demon," Belos said as for a second his head shifted back and forth until he was stable. "I don't take what you're trying to do here lightly, especially since you are messing with something that is mine, so I'm going to teach you a little lesson about messing around where you don't belong…"
Bill backed away, sweat dropping. "Um, sure um, I'll be on my way-" He bumped into Belos who had appeared behind him. When he looked behind him, he saw Belos starting to change again and soon Bill was doing something he did not often do… he started screaming.
Luz's eyes widened as she shot up from the ground. She looked around and saw that Hunter was not there, only his arm.
"Gah!" Luz backed away from the arm. "Bill? Bill, where are you?" She got no answer from him, nor could she see Hunter or sense Maya.
"Maya?" she asked, but got no response.
She was all alone.
Lilith carried Hunter on her back as she landed in front of a door. "Hang on, Hunter," she said as she knocked on the door. "Hey! I need help!"
Answering the door was Iggy. "Lilith? Need a check up-"
"Where's Dr. Bride?" Lilith asked her immediately.
Seeing Hunter on her back, Iggy gestured for Lilith to come inside. "Come in," she told her while calling for Dr. Bride. "Hey, Doc! Lilith's here with a guest!"
"Lilith?" Dr. Bride asked as she popped up. "Well it's been a while! How is my former patient doing?" she declared cheerfully before she noticed who Lilith had on her back. "Ooh, a coven scout! He looks banged up… is he dead?"
"He's in a state of shock," Lilith told the good doctor. "He's missing an arm and lost a lot of blood. You may be the only one who can help him right now. He really, really needs your help."
Dr. Bride understood and she led Lilith into the next room. "I see, well follow me. Place him on the table, and I'll prepare for the procedure… Iggy, get my tools, and the blood packs!"
Lilith followed Bride and placed Hunter down on a slab. "We'll take it from here," Bride said as she activated various machines while Iggy helped hook up IVs onto Hunter's arm and a heart monitor. They placed a breather mask on him as well.
After taking his cowl and shirt off, injecting anesthesia, and cleaning the wound on his stub, Dr. Bride checked the heart monitor. "Breathing and heartbeat is irregular. Iggy, defibrillator."
Iggy handed her the defibrillators and she charged the watts.
"Clear!" Dr. Bride said as she placed the defibrillators onto Hunter's chest, trying to restore a normal heartbeat.
Lilith was outside of the room, walking back and forth while Edgar was on her shoulder. "He's going to be fine, he's really going to be fine," she said while Edgar nudged her. "She revived me, so she should be able to revive him too, right?"
After what felt like an eternity to her, Iggy popped up. "Hey, Dr. Bride wants to let you know that the boy's stable."
Lilith sighed in relief. "Thank Titan."
"However, he will be staying here for medical treatment. He's got a lot of wounds, almost as if he was mauled. And it is hard to say when he will wake up."
Lilith didn't want to think what had happened to Hunter, nor who had done it to him. "Tell Dr. Bride thank you and to call me if there are any more developments," she told her while starting to head out.
"You're not staying?" Iggy asked her.
"I was just dropping off," she explained. "Right now, I have a niece to look for."
As Lilith exited the clinic and flew away on her staff, she didn't see a red cardinal Palisman sitting on the rooftop of a nearby building. Flapjack chirped worriedly, hoping that Hunter would be okay.
Luz Clawthorne wandered through the woods. She felt dizzy, having still just recovered from the common mold. She sneezed while wiping her tears, not knowing what to do now.
'Amity…' was all Luz could think right now. She was emotionally broken. She doesn't know where Bill went, but for all she knew, Bill left after 'fixing' what goes on in her mind. Not that she felt 'fixed' and she wondered if perhaps she shouldn't have made that deal at all.
She has reflected on everything that had happened to her recently over the last few months. Gaining her cambion form, getting trapped in the Forest of Fear, being imprisoned by Belos, the petrification ceremony, Puck's death, dealing with the Coachman, absorbing Maya, the school war… all of this was just too much for her.
And now she would rather live in the woods than go back home after what she had done. There was no reason to go back, is there? No Amity, her relationship with Camila was strained, there was now blood on her hands, and there was no way she could face her friends… she fucked up real bad and now Hunter had to be dead.
Clip-clop, clip-clop
Her head tilted as she heard something. It sounded like… hooves, though it was probably just the kirins migrating or a minotaur. But for some reason, she suddenly felt colder than usual.
"W-W-What?" she asked herself while feeling a chill run up her spine. She heard the sound of clopping again, echoing in the woods around her. "I must be losing it… still under the effects of the common mold," she said while passing by some dead trees.
She looked around, wondering what part of the woods she was in. She couldn't be that far from Bonesborough, or any other town. She then stepped on a pinecone and realized that she was barefoot.
"Ah!" she winced, backing away a little. The clopping noises just kept getting louder. She looked up at the night sky and saw the moon. Had it already been night when she left? How long had she been out here? She couldn't tell.
She heard the clopping sounds again and she looked around, trying to find the source of the noise. Then she froze.
Coming into view was this bestial figure, who was on a horseback, dressed in a crimson cloak. He wore a mask that looked like a bleached skull with deer antlers coming out of it… or was it even a mask? His eyes were burning.
"The hell…?" Luz asked as she rubbed her eyes. When she looked again, the figure had disappeared. "Shit, I must be seeing things," she muttered as she continued walking.
She kept walking until she toppled over a bit and had to hold onto a tree. She saw a bug and she quickly grabbed it, stuffing it in her mouth. It had been a while since she had eaten a bug. Good for proteins. Maybe she could stay here in the woods for a while, make it her home. Yeah, wild witch goals right there. Even if that mysterious bleach-skull guy with the red robes and horse kept popping up in her vision.
Okay, this was getting a little disturbing for a figment of her imagination. Luz just tried to ignore the delusion as she made her way through the woods. "I'm only seeing things," she told herself, pretending not to hear the clopping noises again. When the red cloaked figure popped up again, she walked past it. "This is just the common mold messing with me again," she said to herself while the figure kept drawing nearer and nearer.
Sweat dropped as Luz heard the sound of hooves coming closer. "Leave me alone, you delusion!" she said while shutting her eyes. "I am not looking at you because you don't exist! This is just… common mold madness or something that I'm having! I am not looking!"
"Not even for your old friend?"
Luz's eyes snapped open as she recognized the voice and turned around. "Otabin?"
Sure enough, the pink rabbit character from one of her favorite childhood books had suddenly shown up. "Long time, no see, my friend!" Otabin said as he rushed over to Luz, hugging her.
"What… what are you doing here, Otabin?" Luz asked in shock. "Why are you here and… I don't know if you're real or not… or I'm just imagining a log."
Otabin laughed. "I'm no log, and I am just as real as I was back then! Do you remember when I was there for you, after the slayground incident? Well, just like then I am here for you now!"
"Oh… really?" Luz asked as she knelt down. "So you're here now because of what I've gone through now?"
"Yes," Otabin nodded. "I know all about that and I couldn't help but feel sorry for you. It's so unfair! Especially having to share your body with your new friend."
"Maya?" Luz asked her and Otabin nodded. "Well, it was the least I could do for Maya. I was the one that got her trapped in my head."
"And how does she thank you? By causing you, your friends, and your family a great deal of trouble," Otabin pointed out.
"She's not all that bad," Luz reassured him. "I mean, she's a little rough around the edges but she's not a bad-"
"She is making a mess of your life and got you to rip that boy's arm off," Otabin pointed out. "I don't think she's a good friend, nor does she belong in your head. Maybe I can take her out of your hands."
"What… what?" Luz asked in confusion. "How?"
"You can trust me, Luz," Otabin reassured her as he hopped closer to her. "Let me take her."
"I don't know…" Luz backed away, rubbing her own arm. "We promised that we would work something out together. Just… what do you plan to do to her if you could extract her from me?"
"I'm trying to save you, Luz, save you from the pain!" Otabin tried to convince her. "You don't have to worry about her, so just let me take her!"
Luz didn't like how Otabin was acting. "You're being a little pushy, Otabin. It's making me a little uncomfortable."
"Just let me have her, Luz, please!" Otabin begged, but Luz shoved him aside.
"Hey, knock it off! You're being a real creep right now!" Luz shouted, really getting some bad vibes from the pink rabbit.
"Then it looks like I'll just have to do it the hard way." Otabin's eyes glowed green and his mouth widened unnaturally much to Luz's surprise.
"What!? What the fuck!?" Luz screamed as she backed away. Her eyes glowed green and to her shock, she saw the crab-shaped essence of Maya coming out from her eyes. "Maya!?"
"Luz!" Maya cried out as she felt her essence being sucked out of Luz. "Help!"
This shocked Luz and caused her to draw a spell circle. "Enough, Otabin!" she shouted as she shot a light beam towards the pink rabbit, knocking him back.
When she looked at the knocked down Otabin, he shot up his head. "You should have let me help you, Luz!" he said his head grew large while his neck shot up. His body grew as it hunched, his arms turned boney and large with skeletal hands, and his beady eyes glared at her while he bared his crooked fangs.
Luz backed away when Otabin transformed into something similar to what he looked back at the library, but more demonic. He even grew horns and spikes. "No, you're not… Otabin…!"
"DEVOUR!" Otabin screeched.
Wasting no time, Luz ran away from the demotic rabbit. Otabin started giving chase. Luz panicked and shot spells behind her. "Leave us alone!"
"You can't run from your friend, Luz!" the monster Otabin declared. "I'm doing this because I love you! Now let me have her!"
Some distance away, the elderly bearded witch with the yellow cardinal Palisman was planting some seeds when he heard a nearby commotion.
"What the…?" the witch asked as he decided to check out the commotion. As he got closer, he could hear crying, which alarmed him. It sounded like someone was in trouble. "Hello? Is there anyone out there?" he asked before he spotted someone.
It was Luz, who was shivering on the ground in a puddle of her own vomit. Dell Clawthorne recognized her and unhooded himself, quickly rushing forward.
"Luz?" Dell asked while kneeling down and holding the back of her head. "Oh Titan, are you alright? What are you doing out here?"
"T-T-Otabin… Maya… Amity…" Luz muttered while Dell felt her head.
"Don't worry, kiddo, let me take you back home," he said as he removed his cowl and covered her with it for warmth before picking her up.
Luz was delirious and she looked behind Dell, her eyes in a panic. "T-The Deer Man! Look out!"
Dell looked behind her. "I don't see anyone, Luz," he told her, since only Luz could see the demonic being while he carried her.
"But… but I heard him singing…" Luz claimed while still shivering and resting into Dell's arms. "Can't you hear his song?" She began to sing along. "Hush, now, hide, all you little ones…"
Luz wasn't the only one on the Isles who heard the song.
"Rush now, into the middle of nowhere," Belos sang while alone in the halls of his castle. "Singing and laughter will die…"
"Dreamless sleep, follows the Horned King!" the Inner Demon sang along as he sat in the Forest of Fear, the spirits of children keeping him company. "When his kingdom comes, darkness is nigh!"
In a clinic in Latissa, Hunter shifted in his sleep. He began to mumble while still in his unconscious state. "Quiet, crawl to the in-between," Hunter sang, which was noticed by a curious Dr. Bride. "Silent, secretive feeling, of fearsome hatred that reaches the skies…"
"You will bring joy to the Horned King," the Horned King himself sang as he watched Luz be carried away. "When I see the light leaving your eyes…"
Eda's arm was bandaged as she desperately continued to search the woods. She spotted Lilith as she landed next to her.
"Did you find her?" Eda asked.
"No, but I did find Hunter," Lilith responded with a worried look. "Hunter… I'm sorry, Eda, but he was banged up and I had to take him to Dr. Bride's in order to save his life, even though I should be searching for Luz-"
"Hey, don't beat yourself up, Lily," Eda reassured her. "Sounds like you made the right call, you said he was hurt bad?"
"He's… missing an arm," Lilith said, making Eda look worried.
"...I don't want to know how that happened," Eda said. "But at least we don't need to worry about him for now and we can focus on finding Luz."
"You won't have to look any further," said a voice.
The two Clawthorne sisters turned their heads to see Dell carrying Luz.
"She belong to you?" he asked Eda.
Both Eda and Lilith were shocked. "Dad!?"
At Gavin's place, Sheila walked up to her son. "I've set up a sleepy bag for your friend. Where is he?" she asked him.
Gavin kept trying to text him. "I don't know, he isn't respond. He said he messed something up… I hope he's okay, mom."
"I'm sure that he's alright, Gavin. Maybe something just came up," Shelia attempted to reassure her son.
"But it sounded urgent," Gavin replied as he looked out the window, hoping to spot Hunter.
He had a bad feeling about this…
Back at the Owl House, Luz was now laying in her bed, fast asleep. King and Camila stayed by her side.
"You think she's going to be okay?" King asked her, worried.
"I… I don't know," Camila admitted.
In the living room, Eda and Dell were in the same room for the first time since… well, a while. Hooty offered Dell hot cocoa.
"Here's something to drink, Mr. Eda's Dad!" Hooty told him.
"Thank you, Hooty," Dell responded while sipping his cocoa. "So Eda, have you been… well?"
"We… have our good days and our bad days," Eda said while not looking at her father. She spotted Owlbert chatting with Waffles. She sighed. "Unfortunately, this is a very bad day."
"I've… noticed that you've rebuilt the old tower," Dell commented awkwardly.
"I mean, someone had to," Eda replied just as awkwardly while tapping her elbow. It was then she received a call from a crow that flew up towards her. "Oh look, gotta take that!" she said as she answered. "Hello? Gilbert hey what's… huh? Okay, slow down, I'll be on my way." She turned to Owlbert. "Come on, Owlbert, we need to go to the Parks now."
Eda rushed out, Dell sighing as he saw her leave.
Lilith, meanwhile, was upstairs. She peeked into the bedroom, watching Luz sleep with Camila and King at her side. She wanted to go in and check up on Luz, but she knew that she couldn't. Not with Camila already there.
Lilith went downstairs and searched for her sister. "Eda?" she called out, unable to find her. "Eda, can we talk?" She turned around a corner, only to be surprised by Dell suddenly showing up. "Oh! Dad, you startled me."
"Sorry, I was… just looking around here. Your sister is gone, apparently she went to the Parks," Dell replied.
"Oh, I see," Lilith said while seeing what Dell had been looking at. He was in front of a wall covered with family pictures of Eda, Luz and King, along with photos of Luz and Amity at Grom together and Luz's first day of Hexside. He chuckled at his granddaughter's pose. "Like mother, like daughter, I suppose."
Lilith smiled as she looked at the photos. "Yeah, Edalyn turned out to be a good mother," she agreed, before seeing the Grom photo, which caused her to look down with a frown. "While I couldn't even be a good godmother." An awkward silence followed, one that Lilith broke with a sigh. "You know, it's been so long since we've seen each other, or talked."
"Well, I can't blame you," Dell responded. "After all, you have been so busy."
"That's… not completely true," Lilith admitted. "That was always just an excuse to avoid seeing her so that I wouldn't have to feel guilty. While Edalyn blames herself for what happened to you, it wasn't her fault… it's mine. Mom must've told you by now about how I was the one who cursed Eda. It was my selfishness that ruined not just Eda's life, but yours as well. I ruined our family and I… I am a disgrace to the Clawthornes. You were a Palisman carver, for crying out loud. And I helped the Emperor overharvest the Palistrom wood. I've just done so many, many awful things and have hurt so many people…" Her voice cracked and she started to cry. "I'm so, so sorry, Dad. For all of it. I don't think I will ever be able to make up for what I've done-"
But then to her surprise, she felt the embrace of her father, who held her tightly.
"I forgive you, Lily," he told her.
This confused Lilith. "How… how could you forgive me? Why aren't you mad at me…?"
"Because you are my daughter, Lily," Dell told her, tears falling out of her eyes. "Yes, you've made a lot of mistakes and yes, you can't make up for all the bad you've done. Our bad deeds tend to stay with us, but we don't do good deeds to erase them. We do them because they are good." He let go of her and looked her in the eyes. "I don't wish for you to beat yourself over your mistakes and bad choices anymore than your sister already does. Because I still love my daughters."
This calmed Lilith down. "Thanks, Dad, I… wish Eda could hear this."
"I don't know if she would listen," Dell admitted. "You weren't the only one who chased her. Years ago I had given up, decided to let Eda live her life. But maybe I shouldn't have… especially since I have grandchildren I know very little about." He sighed. "Like you, I have made my fair share of mistakes."
Eda flew down to the Park home and knocked on the door. Opening it was Sully.
"Thank Titan you're here, and using the door this time," he said as he let Eda in.
"Yeah, your husband said it was urgent," Eda replied as she went in to see Gilbert at the table with Clower and Emilie, but Willow and Gus weren't anywhere in sight, which concerned Eda. "Where's Willow and Gus?"
"That's what we've been wondering when their Palismen came home without them," Gilbert explained. "But since we can't understand them, we called you since we know your Palisman can understand them and you can translate for him."
Eda nodded and turned to Owlbert. "Alright Owlbert, talk to them," she said as she let Owlbert hop over to the two Palismen. She watched as they talked to Owlbert, who was shocked by their story. After receiving the message, Owlbert turned to Eda. "Alright, what do you got?" she asked before Owlbert began recounting what he had been told.
And unfortunately, Eda did not like what she heard.
Luz started to wake up with a groan. "Fuck… I feel like crap…"
"Luz, you're awake!" King exclaimed.
"What… what happened?" Luz asked, rubbing her head.
"Don't try to move much," Camila told her. "You were still sick. Here, take your medicine."
Luz looked at her prescription and took it along with a cup of water. "Thanks… I needed it after… what I did to Hunter."
King rubbed the back of his dead awkwardly. "Actually, um, Aunt Lilith wanted me to reassure you that he was found and taken to Dr. Bride's clinic. He hasn't woken up yet, but he's still alive."
"He… he is?" she asked him and King nodded. "Thank Titan," she said with tears in her eyes. "I… I thought I had actually ended him…"
"Luz, don't think of stuff like that," Camila told her daughter, wiping away her tears. "And… what happened to your eyes? They look burnt."
Luz rubbed the burnt marks around her eyes, remembering how she got them. "Oh… I… don't think I want to talk about it."
Camila decided to not push the subject. "Understood."
Luz then noticed someone standing in the doorway to her bedroom. It was Dell.
"Um, pardon my intrusion but just want to check to see if you're alright, Luz," Dell told her. "Name's Dell, but you can call me grandpa, or Grandpa Dell if you like. Or Dellpop."
"I… I already know who you are," Luz told him. "You're mom's dad. I know that you and her are not exactly on the best terms…"
Dell nodded as he entered the room. "Yeah, sorry that I haven't visited."
"Hey, I don't really hold it against you or anything," Luz responded. "But… it is good that you are here now."
King cleared his throat. "Um, I haven't introduced myself to you yet but I'm King… your grandson. I don't know if you saw my video, but I am an official Clawthorne."
Dell chuckled. "That you are, grandson," he said, patting King's skullcap.
Luz noticed Dell's Palisman on his shoulder, which made her nervous. Something that Dell noticed.
"Oh, sorry that Waffles is making you feel nervous, kiddo," Dell apologized.
"No, it's fine. I… didn't know you'd have a Palisman with you," Luz replied.
"The Bat Queen told me what happened," Dell responded, causing Luz to look down in guilt. "She's still upset about it… but I know that it was an accident. You didn't mean for it to happen and it was outside of your control, so I know that you won't hurt Waffles."
"I still don't think I can trust myself around Palismen," Luz admitted. "So… what else have you heard about me?"
"I know about your girlfriend and what happened to her," Dell told Luz. "You have my condolences, but you shouldn't give up hope. She could still be out there somewhere."
Luz nodded. "Titan, I hope so…"
Dell then heard someone coming up the stairs. He turned and saw that it was Eda, who appeared in the bedroom door frame.
"Luz…" Eda looked at her daughter, and then at Dell. "Dad."
"Hey, witchlet," Dell responded. He turned back to his grandchildren. "I'll see you around, Luz, King," he said as he got up and left the bedroom.
Eda watched him head downstairs, before turning to her daughter with a saddened expression. "Hey Luz, how are you feeling?" she asked her daughter.
"Like shit," Luz answered honestly.
Eda sighed. "I wish I was here to lighten the mood but… I have some bad news."
"W-What do you mean?" Luz asked as Eda came over to sit beside her.
"Willow and Gus… they didn't make it home," Eda informed her. "According to their Palismans, they were on their way back home when they were knocked out by a flash of light. When they woke up, Gus and Willow were gone. They're now missing too."
"W-What?!" Luz exclaimed. "They're gone too!?"
"Luz, breathe…" Camila tried to help her stay calm.
"Breathe, are you kidding me?! First Amity, and now two of my best friends are missing!" Luz was tearing up again, about to have a breakdown.
Instinctively Eda pulled Luz into a hug. "Shh, shh it's okay, it's okay," she hushed, calming Luz down as the young girl buried her face in Eda's chest, silently crying.
"Please… they can't…" Luz mumbled as she sobbed
"I know, but we'll find them," Eda assured her.
"But what if they're…?" Luz looked up to her mother, but Eda stopped her from what she was about to say.
"We shouldn't jump to conclusions," Eda told her, "But I promise you that we will find them. Amity, Gus, Willow, we'll find them, And we'll get through this together."
This reassured Luz, though something did bother her. It couldn't be a coincidence that they vanished on the same night that Amity did. But that meant that Hunter couldn't be responsible. And while they would have to wait for Hunter to wake up to get answers, Luz had to wonder… where are her friends now and who took them?
Gus groaned, the heat waking him up. "Oh man… what happened? Willow, are you-?"
He looked around and realized that he was in the middle of a desert.
And he was completely alone. No Willow, not even a staff. It was just him.
"I don't think I'm in Bonesborough anymore…"
Elsewhere in the Human Realm, an unconscious Willow laid in the grass.
Two men approached her. They were dressed in black and on their uniforms were badges. These badges had the letter 'A' with a halo over it and silver wings to each side.
"How is she?" one man asked as the other checked up on her.
"Unconscious, but she has a pulse," the second man said before he noticed her pointy ears. "Hey, look at her ears."
His partner saw Willow's ears. "My god… we need to take her back to the Gatesfield facility immediately. Director Gates will want to know about this."
Back at the Owl House in the Demon Realm, Dell and Lilith were preparing to leave. Eda came downstairs to see them off.
"Are you leaving already?" Eda asked after making herself known. "I mean, it's your choice and I understand if you don't wish to stay…"
Lilith looked at Eda and then back at Dell. "I'm, um, gonna talk to Hoostifer outside, leave you two for a sec." She was then being wrapped around by Hooty.
"Yay! Lulu's back!" Hooty declared while dragging her out.
"Lily!" Eda exclaimed.
Dell chuckled. "Some house demon you have there," he commented. "Where did you find him?"
"Yeah, it's, uh, a long story," Eda replied awkwardly.
Dell nodded. "You know, it is good that I finally got to formally meet my grandkids. Maybe I should start visiting more, in order to get to know my grandkids better."
"Yeah, I think that's good too. For Luz's sake," Eda agreed.
"And Eda," Dell said, putting his hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Don't be afraid to ask for help, witchlet. You know you can always turn to me."
Eda turned away. "So… when you found Luz, what were you doing out in the forest in the first place?"
"Oh, I was planting this," Dell said as he held Eda's hand and placed something in it. When she looked down at it, she saw that it was a blue colored seed.
"A Palistrom seed?" Eda gasped.
"My Palisman-making days may be over, but I've been helping the Bat Queen replenish her forests. I actually intend to have Lily help me plant them as well, as a way for us to make up for the time we've lost and to help her do some good." Dell sighed. "Both you and your sister have the same problem… you two make it so hard for you to forgive yourselves… and I feel that I may be somewhat responsible for it."
"What? No, Dad, it's not your fault! It never was!" Eda reassured him. "I was the one who ruined your life, because of me you can't make more Palismen, and-"
"Stop, this is exactly what I'm talking about," Dell said. "You were a child. Both you and your sister. But here you are, as adults, still blaming yourself for what happened to me. All I'm saying to you is… let the past stay in the past, it's okay to move on. I have made peace with the fact that I will never carve another Palisman. Especially since crafting you and Lily with your mother will always be my finest work."
Eda snorted. "Don't be gross, Dad. I didn't want to think of that."
"Hey, just trying to lighten the mood," Dell responded kindly.
Eda nodded, fighting the tears in her eyes. "It was… nice to see you again."
Dell nodded back. "It was. I've missed you, witchlet. Take care of yourself, and of your kids. They are lucky to have you."
Eda watched as Dell left, then looked down at the Palistrom seed in hand. She was silent, alone in her thoughts…
Luz had gone to check up on Kay, who spotted her while swimming in her tank.
"Hey, Kay," Luz said, waving at the little demon. She sighed while walking up to her. "Listen… Amity's gone and I don't know when she's coming back… or if she will be coming back." Her tone was sad, which left Kay confused. "But… I'm not going to give up hope. I will find Amity and until then, I promise to take care of you for her." She pressed her hand on the tank, which Kay responded to by nudging on the glass. This almost made Luz smile.
Luz then headed over to the bathroom. Once she was there, she looked at her own reflection. She saw the burned circles around her eyes and felt them. It didn't seem like they were going away, but at least her eyes were still hazel and not gray. She then wondered if Maya was still in there.
"Maya," Luz said into the mirror. "Are you here?"
Her head nodded in the mirror.
Luz sighed in relief. "Okay, would you like to talk?" she asked, only for Maya to shake her head. "Yeah, me neither," she said tired as she left the bathroom.
In the Emperor's Castle, two guards were escorting a prisoner: Witch Rick.
"We have brought Witch Rick before you, Emperor Belos!" one guard such as Rick was brought to the throne room.
Belos looked them over. "Thank you," he told the guards. "Leave him here. And if you see the Golden Guard, let him know that I want to see him."
The guards nodded and left the throne room, leaving the adults alone.
"So uh, nice meeting you oh wicked one," Rick said mockingly. "Let me guess, I'm being brought here because you want my help because of my high intelligence? Well with enough resources, I could muster up something for you-" He then heard Belos chuckle, which confused Rick. "Okay, already not liking that chuckle."
"That's exactly the problem with you, Rick," Belos said, glaring at Belos from behind his mask. "You're too smart. I knew that at some point, you would be looking for some way to screw me over or come out on top. I have been wary of keeping you in the Conformatorium, because I knew that if given enough time, you would have found a way to escape."
"Yeah, you're probably, well actually, are right," Witch Rick replied as he raised his cuffs. "These cuffs here? I can bust them out anytime I want. But then again, that would mean possibly putting my fellow rebels in danger if I do. Plus, you did make a promise to Eda's kid."
"...Would you like to see something interesting?" Belos asked him as he snapped his fingers.
Summoned beside Belos, Witch Rick saw three statues coming from the ground. His eyes widened. "You… you bastard!"
In front of Rick were the petrified statues of Admiral Barack, Sporky, and Squatchy. All had horrified looks petrified on their faces.
"Why are they petrified!? You gave Luz your word, you piece of shit!" Rick ranted at him.
"I did make that promise… but what Luz doesn't know, won't hurt her," Belos replied, as he dodged a shot from Rick's fingertips. Rick had broken out of his cuffs as his arms transformed into swords, springs coming out of his shoes as he launched himself against Belos.
"EAT SHIT!" Rick shouted in anger, swiping his sword arm to strike at Belos, who turned into mud and teleported away. Belos popped up behind him as he extended his arm to grab Rick, pinning him to the wall. "You want a piece of me, Two-Face?!" he declared while Belos threw him across the room. Witch Rick tapped an oracle pendant and floated in the air as he spread out ice spikes to spread out across the room towards Belos.
Belos dodged. "You know, I can justify this as self-defense," Belos states while instantly appearing behind Witch Rick, grabbing him by the head, and slamming him down on the floor. "But to me, this is nothing. Just the latest thing I have done for the good for all…"
"You think of yourself as some kind of savior of the Isles, but I know the truth," Witch Rick said while activating rocket launchers from his back, blasting him away from Belos's grip. He kept shooting at Belos who dodged each blast. "You think everything you do is the only way that works but that's just some edgelord, dictator bullshit! You don't care about Luz, all you care about is what you want from her!" He got suddenly blasted through the spine by a beam of light. "AAAH!" he screamed while he crashed down to the floor.
"What I do is for the good of the Isles, and I don't want to hear from an old mad man who strings his grandson to help him commit crimes," Belos pointed out.
"At least I ultimately gave him a chance to have choices," Rick spat at him, trying to get up before realizing that his legs were turning to stone. He saw that he was about to be petrified. "Ah shit…"
"Any last words, Mr. Sanchez?" Belos asked.
As Witch Rick was petrified to the part where he couldn't move his arms now, he responded. "Yeah… lick my balls," he said before his entire face was completely turned to stone. Witch Rick was now a statue.
Belos held up his staff and swung it down on the statue, shattering the body into a hundred pieces. "And thus ends your eternal suffering."
Once he was done with Rick, his eyes started to glow blue…
While in her room, Luz's hazel eyes started to glow blue as well. She was looking up at the moon through her window, then down at a photo of herself, with Amity, Gus, and Willow back at Grom.
"Wherever you guys are… I'm gonna find you three," Luz promised while looking back out the window and up at the stars…
Well, I did say the ending of the chapter would… sort of be pleasant the last one? Okay, this ending is debatable given the events.
So let's start with the basics. It was our intentions to have Amity be absent for this chapter. It helps to increase the tension of her disappearance if we don't know what is happening to her in the human realm, and it highlights her absence from Luz's life.
Also to talk about why Belos is in Luz's mind... Think back at Chapter 38 in Book 1, when Belos used his staff to zap her with "Something to calm her down" and how in the epilogue he told Hunter that all he needed "was a face to face talk with Luz"… So in that time, "everything will fall into place". This chapter basically reveals Belo's true intentions for Luz. When he zapped her, he was secretly linking their minds. Belos intends to use Luz's body and cambion form as a back-up in case his body fails and his back-up needed to be another cambion body. Their growing connection is why Luz has sometimes seen Philip's memories and why they both fell ill. He's been preparing to possess her if he needs to this entire time! This guy's definitely a creep!
And to explain about the Horned King. Well, he's not really the actual same character from Disney's "The Black Cauldron", and is actually more inspired by the Horned King from the novels. Especially appearance-wise. Though that doesn't mean there isn't necessarily a connection between this Horned King and Disney's Horned King. As it shown, he appears to be someone that Luz and Belos only sees…
And of course, let's talk about Rick's death. Well, it's the same reason why he's arrested earlier in the fic, because a version of Rick is just too OP, and it's smart to have him leave the story. And this is to remind you that Belos is a bad guy, something we feel like it needs to be reminded. I mean, he petrified the rebel members in secret, so his promise to Luz is empty, along with his many, many crimes.
And as for Bill… don't worry, he'll be back… eventually.
Now for reviews:
Wolf of Howl Street: Now you know.
OMAC001: And it looks like he paid the price.
Teloch: Um, haven't you not been paying attention to the story? Like, for a long time. We've established that Belos has been preparing for war.
Crosshot: Again, sorry for that. Thanks for your suggestions. And this chapter might give you a reason therapy is always opened.
Matteso585: 1) Not really, 2) Sooner than you think, and the common mold's never shown to be contagious in canon. 3) Spoilers.
The Great Fossil King: Spoilers.
61394: And you are right on both.
Crow's Apprentice: Can't promise you on that.
Shuffollower: Sorry about that, dude. But hey, expect the unexpected.
Guest: Spoilers
Ultimate-drax: Not a lost cause, just that, like Stella, he's been under the grip of his uncle. He couldn't think straight and if the old witch hadn't appeared, he would have considered Amity's deal… and now he paid the price of it.
Alamout: Nice submission.
The OC Contest still continues as if you haven't submitted your OCs yet. So keep on submitting your OCs, either old or new, and we'll see how they can fit well into the story.