No, Boscha isn't the big bad, you guys are surely thinking about it too hard, she's just very very prideful and arrogant and has several demons (heh) of her own to deal with.

That's all you get from me on her character though, enjoy this chapter!


How many people could wake up one day and say; "I'm the Princess, Luz Noceda Belos! I'm from Earth and I'm trying my best to be the best Empress one day!"

No one but Luz Noceda herself.

It was an odd feeling, only enhanced by the fact that her father had a measuring tape wrapped around her skull, saying numbers aloud while Camila wrote them down.

The powerful Emperor himself was without his mask and cloak, in his regal underclothing while he was taking a break in his home.

The Royal Family were in their living room, with Princess and Emperor sitting on the floor while Camila sat on the couch, sipping tea.

If they didn't know better, it'd simply look like regular family bonding time, but in reality, it was Luz being fitted with a symbol of her status as a leader of the Isles. Hawk seemed to be right on her suspicions yesterday.

"Dad," Luz suddenly asked, looking forward and holding still for him, "How come, you know, we couldn't ask a jeweler to come to the castle to do this?"

Belos chuckled at the question.

"What? Don't trust your father's skills?" He joked.

Luz shook her head quickly.

"It's not that! I'm just curious is all…"

"Well, firstly, I don't know any jeweler with the skill necessary to make something good enough to put on your head. Secondly, my…" He hesitated for a moment, realigning the tape on Luz's skull.

"My older brother, he taught me how to carve wood. Though he was leagues better than I, he taught me a lot of other things as well. All such things being crafting with my hands and besides. Where do you think your mother gets her jewelry?" He asked.

Camila smiled, rubbing her handmade necklace between her fingers. It was made of a Hinterlands sapphire and Demon Land ruby, surrounded in gold and held together by silver.

"Yes, your father is quite skilled with his hands…" She commented with a giggle, writing more things down on the page, "I expect nothing less."

Luz then looked up at Belos.

"You had an older brother? What was he like?" She asked, excited to learn more about her secretive father.

Belos laughed at her enthusiasm, shaking his head.

"Yes, and every day, I see more and more of him in you every day, my little light," He said, realigning Luz's head forward, "He always wanted me to let go of my anger towards Wild Witches and what they did to our family… He was always very forgiving, of not only those around him but to me as well," He smiled at the memory, "I realized far too late that I should've been following his current, rather than trying to swim against it…" He said with a saddened breath, shaking his head.

Luz frowned at that, she hadn't seen her father look sad before, it was an odd thing to see. He usually only had a neutral or intense face at any given moment.

"He sounded like he was an amazing person, someone to look up to…" Luz said softly, leaning back against her father, "What happened to him?"

Belos carefully wrapped his arms around Luz and held her in his arms very gently, leaning against her. It felt like he was scared of hurting his daughter with just his touch…

He sighed, closing his eyes.

"I happened, my little light, I made a mistake that I will atone for the rest of my life… But that is a story for another time," He said with a newfound smile.

Luz pouted at that.

"I mean, I get why you don't want to talk about it but come on! I practically know nothing about you Dad!" She exclaimed.

Belos chuckled.

"For good reason…" He commented.

Camila laughed at that, shaking her head.

"That's just how your father is, Mija, you know how long it took for him to get him to tell me his middle name?"

Luz looked on curiously.

"You have a middle name?" She asked.

Belos slowly nodded in confirmation, seemingly debating in his mind about something to himself.

"Yes… I do. It's from my past. My full, Titan-given name, is Alexander Wittebane Belos..."

Luz hummed at that.

"Alexander Wittebane Belos…" She repeated back to him, "Very classy and regal, reminds me of our old hometown in Connecticut."

Belos chuckled at that for a multitude of reasons.

"Thank you, I got it for my birthday."

Luz couldn't help but giggle at that, looking up at him.

"Did the mighty Emperor just say a Dad joke?"

Belos smiled, looking back at him.

"I've been told I have a lot of catching up to do, in that regard, my little light…"

Luz smiled and leaned further into his hug.

"Happy to say you're making great progress…" She said with a sigh.

Camila smiled at the interaction, nothing could make her smile and warm her heart more than seeing her family bond.

Now, if only the rest of the family were present…

"Dear, I just remembered, when is our Golden Guard getting back?"

Belos looked towards her at the question, remembering a conversation between him and Hunter he had a while ago when he called in to check on his nephew.

"Last I checked in with him, he was making his way back to the Isles, he says he completed his mission much sooner than he thought, he should be back in… 2 weeks I'd say if his airship isn't knocked off course." (1)

Luz looked at the two of them curiously.

"Who's the Golden Guard?" She asked.

Belos looked down at her and realized several things at once. He never told her about her cousin, not once in the few months Luz and Camila have been here and it never once even came up in conversation. How could it even pass his mind to mention such a thing to his daughter?

Belos cleared his throat and laughed a bit nervously.

"That is my fault, Luz, my little light, the Golden Guard is my brother's son, my nephew, and your cousin…"

Luz's eyes widened in shock and awe at the reveal, gasping loudly.

"WHAT!?" She yelled, a wave of magic washing over the living room and making things float around them and by extension, the Royal family as well.

"Dear?" Camila asked, absentmindedly taking a sip of her tea and catching her notebook before it floated too far away.

"Already on it, my love." He said, summoning a rod to his hand. He lifted the rod, and from it, his staff unfolded itself and formed in his hand.

The glass orb glowed brightly with his red magic and pulsed a single time, his magic washing over the entire living room and canceling out his daughter's magic and making them and the furniture float back down into place.

"I'm glad you are excited to meet your cousin within two weeks, my little light, but do try not to destroy the living room in your excitement. I do not believe I could afford the repairs."

Luz looked at him curiously.

"Didn't you spring the furniture up from the floor of the castle?" She asked, "How'd you do that, anyhow?" She asked, pulling out her journal and pencil.

Belos chuckled, pulling out the measuring tape once again.

"Look forward, please, I'll answer your questions as we continue to take measurements."

Luz nodded, sitting crosslegged and facing her mother as Belos sat behind her.

"So, the castle was made after my Victory against Crisis, the very first Construction Coven Head. He truly was a master craftsman, he made it so that my magic was forever connected to every stone, glass pane, and block of wood in this castle," He explained, watching Luz writing this all down, "He called the spell "Domain Holder". At a single thought, I can rearrange the entire castle."

Luz paused her scribbling.

"Wait, if that's the case, then why didn't you just fix the castle yourself?" She asked.

Belos huffed at the question.

"In truth, I had wanted to do just that, but your mother had seen this as an opportunity to update the castle in several hundred ways and get rid of my original designs for everything."

Camila giggled, giving Belos a look.

"Because as I always told him, his position is secure as Emperor. It doesn't need to be a siege-proof castle anymore. It's a symbol of the future ahead and the people we lead shouldn't be scared to approach their Emperor's home."

He smiled at that, sighing and nodding in agreement.

"She's right, as always."

Luz hummed at the information given to her, remembering something else.

"Another question, the Stranger, who were they really, under the mask?"

Belos' eyes widened at the question before he cleared his throat.

"Even if I did know who she was, I would not be at liberty to share a secret that isn't mine to reveal," He said with closed eyes, "She appeared to me and Kikimora after a particularly hard battle, saying that she was here to help and that she was a force to reckon with. I elected for her to be Empress after she proved herself right, but she refused. After that, she walked into the woods and I never saw her again." He said with a wave of the hand.

Luz groaned at that.

"Ah come on, nothing at all?" She asked, "I tried looking in the castle's library, and even Bonesborughs' too! She's a complete mystery! A complete-"

"Stranger?" Belos guessed, with a raised brow.

"-Recluse…" She finished with a sigh, now drawing the Stranger in her journal with her pen. The image was of a tall woman in a hood and a halfmask made of bandages, with flowing green hair coming out the side of the hood. Just like in the mural at Fera Clan castle… She wondered how she looked now if she was as old as her father after all.

Was she Immortal too? Or was it long lived…?

Her father brought her out of her thoughts and speculation.

"Yes, she valued privacy above all else… Only confided in her private "companion" but I knew better, especially with the reports from my Knights. They were lovers, I just know it…" He commented with a chuckle.

"You had Knights?" Luz asked, flipping to a new page to get this new info down...

"I had an entire army at my command, Luz, during Crisis' reign, magic was less common and Knights littered the land. Two of the best Knights I've ever met were the commanders themselves who worked under me,"

"Well, who were your Knights?"

Belos went to answer the question but found no words escaped his lips, he looked down at his wrist and saw a glowing green spell circle.

"Ah, I seem to have forgotten about that… Sorry, Luz, I'm bound to never reveal their identities," He said with a saddened sigh, "It was the least I could do for them, after all," He clenched his fist, "I can tell you, however, that you have met their decedents already."

Luz hummed at that, thinking a bit.

An everlasting oath bounding him to secrecy? That was very interesting…

"Say, Dad-"

"No, I can not find a loophole in my everlasting oath, I've thought of that already. It won't work."

Luz gave him a look.

"I wasn't going to say that…" She said, although unconvincingly so.

Belos chuckled at that and placed a hand on Luz's head.

"Trust me, my little light, you'll find out in due time, it's bound to come up eventually. Now stop moving your head, I need to get these measurements correct, I hate redoing these sorts of things…" He said, once again focusing on measuring Luz's head...

Luz patiently sat still, now drawing in her journal with a hum.

That ever-lasting oath was very interesting, and she wanted to know more about it but what was one to do? Her father couldn't speak about and from what he said, it seemed that the everlasting oath covered Loop Holes too… Whoever made it must've really wanted to cover their bases.

Thus, Luz was left with several questions.

Who were his Knightly commanders or who was this gilded guardsman? But most pressing was…

"Who was this Stranger…?" She asked herself.

Suddenly, her scroll appeared before her, beeping at her with an alarm.

Luz gasped, suddenly standing and tearing herself away from her father's measuring.

"I completely forgot that Eda wanted to talk to me about something today! About getting ahead in my training!" She said excitedly.

"Blast it, hold on, I just need one final measurement and then I'll take you myself…" Belos said, standing up and wrapping the tape around her head once more, "I just need the crown…"

Luz rose an eyebrow in confusion.

"Wait, you'll take me?" She asked.

"Sure, I don't see why not, after all, a father ought to walk their daughter to school at least once," He said with a shrug, "Maybe your Mother would perhaps like to join us?" He asked, looking toward Camila as he started to wrap up the tape.

Camila hummed at the thought and got to her feet.

"I don't see why not," She said, "I've been wanting to personally meet the Owl Lady lately anyhow, want to see that she's not turning Luz into an enemy of the state under our noses."

"Can you imagine?" Belos asked with a laugh, "I wouldn't worry though, I don't think Luz has the first to betray anyone."

Luz cleared their throat, regaining their attention.

"But Dad, won't you be recognized by the Isles?" She asked.

Belos smiled at that.

"Ah but my little light, no one said anything about me going in uniform," He lifted his hand and snapped his fingers, turning his uniform into common Witch clothing. Although, it was of course of the high-end variety. To complete it all, he had a medallion matching Luz's on his neck.

"No one has ever seen my face, after all, but just in case…"

Belos brought his hands up to his hair and pulled it back into a ponytail and materialized a hairband to his hand, tying it up securely.

"There, now I'm sure that no one will recognize that it is me."

Luz hummed at the look and circled him a bit.

"I'm liking the look…" She said with a nod, "It's very stylish…"

Belos chuckled as he summoned his staff as Camila came near.

"Thank you, Luz, let's go on a walk."

The mighty Emperor held Luz while Camila held him and he tapped his staff on the ground, in an instant, they melted into the floor and teleported away.

At the edge of Bonesborugh, the royal family appeared. Belos was completely fine, Camila was a bit woozy but Luz seemed to get the worse of it all, nearly keeling over and expelling the contents of her stomach into a bush at the sensation.

"Oh dear God, that was horrendous…" She said with a groan, shivering at the feeling.

Belos chuckled, coming up to her and petting her back while Camila laughed as well.

"Are you alright, Mija? I know your Father's teleportation can be hard to get used to."

Luz nodded, taking a deep breath as she stood straight.

"Nothing a Princess can't handle…" She said with a smile.

Belos smiled, lifting his staff and collapsing it, and putting it into his sleeve.

"Let's get going before a crisis occurs that ruins this rare time off…" He said, walking forward with Luz leading the way and Camila staying close.

Belos had to admit, it was nice that not all the eyes of Bonesborough were on him, like as usual. A sense of normality came over him, one that he hadn't experienced in decades since becoming Emperor of the Isles.

It was such a weird feeling…

Growing up, he and his family were outcasted for their inability to use magic, he'd be ridiculed and made fun of and all he ever had was his brother to lean on so when he was taken away from him by Wild Witches… He knew what to do…

Take the throne from a true tyrant and bring about an everlasting peace that Caleb would be proud of…

Suddenly, an intense ringing noise washed over his skull like a tsunami and he winced slightly, a small amount of blood leaking from his right ear.

'No, not now, I'm with my family…'

The ringing got louder and then his left ear began to bleed as well and his curse began to spread up his arm, he grabbed his arm and clenched his teeth, gritting his molars.

'Fine! Fine! Let me just walk my daughter to her teacher…'

The ringing came to a slow stop before ceasing entirely, he sighed in relief and rubbed his sore head, the curse receding to nothing once more not that the stress on his mind was gone.

"Dad? Are you alright?" Luz asked, turning to face him, she had gone up to a stand and was looking at a set of jewelry that no one with half a brain would buy at that price, but Luz had absentmindedly flipped a platinum piece at the vendor before going up to her parents once again.

"Firstly, I'm fine, never better," He said, discreetly wiping away the blood before either of them could notice it, "Secondly, let's keep moving, the Titan calls for me and it's not wise to keep him waiting for too long."

Luz tilted her head in slight confusion.

"Wait, The Titan can actually talk to you?"

"Yes, of course, what did you think I meant when I say "His Will demands it" or something like that?" He asked.

Luz chuckled nervously, rubbing her neck.

"I uh… Well, I just thought it was like the local religion or something like that…"

Belos smiled and ruffled her hair as they got to walking once more, heading through the market and towards the Owl House.

It was a nice walk, something to take his mind off of his duties as Emperor for the moment.

"No, my connection with the Titan is as real as the matching medallions that hang around our necks," He said, lifting it for a moment before letting it rest once again.

"How did you and the Titan come into contact, anyhow?" Luz asked.

"Yes, you never did tell me that either, Alexander," Camila said, reaching and holding his hand as they walked.

Belos looked forward, eyes glossing over for a moment before answering.

"It's not something that I like remembering, my dear's…" He said with a whisper, "It was a painful experience, is all I can tell you… Just know, that I was a vastly different person back then and now I'm trying to be better for you both and my home…" He said softly, squeezing Camila's hand a bit.

Luz hummed at that, stroking her chin in thought.

"He's lying, but telling the truth at the same time," Zul said, suddenly appearing in the reflection of Belos' Medallion, "I can't tell about what though…"

Luz gave her a slight look.

'How can you even tell?' She asked.

"I'm a Demon of great renown and magical power, you know? I just know these kinds of things."

'Mhm…' Luz responded with an unconvinced hum before looking towards Belos, reaching out and holding his hand.

"Well, Dad, I can say with absolute certainty that you're doing great and hey, since you don't have much time, let's hang out around town before it's too late!"

Belos rose a brow at that.

"You'll be late for your lessons with the Owl Lady and my meeting with the Titan and-"

Camila cleared her throat and nudged him, giving him a sideways glance. Belos sighed and nodded, looking at Luz.

"Alright… What's first?" He asked.

Luz smiled brightly and began to pull him along.

"There was this stall around here that made food that I can actually eat!" She said excitedly.

Belos smiled softly, letting himself be pulled along by his daughter through the market, with Camila close behind the both of them. Unbeknownst to them, their Elite Guard watched from afar, on the rooftops.

Hawk sighed at the sight, staring off at them in the distance.

"It's pretty weird to see them hanging out like that, isn't it?" Eagle asked, kneeling forward to get a better look.

"Yeah, especially considering how he… You know…" Crow added, "Sacrificed himself to keep us alive…"

Hawk narrowed her eyes and clenched her teeth, remembering that moment…

It was horrible to think about…

It was during her wedding when the demons first invaded the Isles with a surprise attack, she hesitated in response and it cost her, nearly taking her and her friends' lives had it not been for her father appearing at the last possible moment…

Hawk reached into her pocket and searched, before finally pulling out a medallion, an exact copy of Luz's. It was dirty, with a crack down the middle where it was broken before it was fixed. She ran her thumb across it.

"Yeah… It's pretty weird, Crow…" Hawk said, looking up, "Follow them and do your jobs as Royal guards, I have a mission to complete."

Eagle stood, stretching a bit.

"What are you going to do?" He asked.

Hawk carefully put away the medallion and looked towards the Skull of the Titan, humming in thought at the sight.

"Checking something important, don't worry, it's not important right now… Move out."

They nodded at each other, Crow and Eagle flashing away and closer to the royal family, leaving Hawk alone to her thoughts.

Hawk looked back down at her medallion, taking off her mask for a moment.

"With this emblem wrapped around your neck, know that I will always protect and love you with all my heart, my Little Star…" (2) She said to herself, repeating the words her father first said to her when he first gave her this medallion.

She squeezed the medallion tighter, clenching her teeth as she turned away.

"Doesn't matter… Everything will be alright in the end… I promised Amity I would fix things…" She whispered, putting her mask back on, "And I'm going to fix everything…"

With that final word, she teleported away to do her business.

With Luz and company, Belos felt his medallion hum a bit, glowing a bit. He looked down at it and held it in slight confusion. When he had made the medallion, it was enchanted to detect Luz's high levels of distress… It would go off occasionally, but not this strongly…

"What the devil…?" He asked, looking to Luz, who was walking ahead of him. She was laughing with her mother, it hadn't come from her…

What had activated the medallion then? It couldn't've been his daughter… So where did that surge of magic come from?

"Must be something wrong with the enchantment," He said, running a thumb across the face of it, "I'll look into it further later…" He promised himself, walking forward to rejoin his family and enjoy whatever time he had left with them before he was called back to the castle to work…

It was moments like this that made him wonder about retiring…


-Owl House-


Eda was now rummaging through the many books she had in her possession, with King helping her find what she was looking for. Speaking of, the small King of Demons emerged from a pile of books with a groan.

"Eda, I'm telling you, this is pointless! Baba had so many books here, on top of the books in your Dad's tower, this is going to take us forever!" He complained.

Without turning to face him, Eda tossed him a bag of chips, which he caught.

"I know it is, King, but this is important, our lovely Princess needs this info," She said with a hum, grabbing another book, "For being the strongest sage, she sure doesn't have much information on them…"

King munched on the chips a bit, looking at her.

"I thought you said she wasn't a sage yesterday?" He asked.

Eda chuckled.

"I was lying, she's been around for a while, no doubt Luz would want to meet her to ask her everything under the sun, but with everything going on, that may be the case."

"What are you talking about?" He asked.

"I'm talking about when her eyes start glowing with her magic. The time during the Witches Duel against Minty, then there's the other time with Adesgast, I gotta check on him actually… And just yesterday, with Ruby's kid. Not to mention all the other times she probably used it without us knowing. That's called Sage's Instinct."

"Oh, that's what that's called… Are you going to teach her how to use it?" He asked.

Eda snorted at that, shaking her head.

"I wish I could, Baba was teaching me how but I was cursed and my magic became too hindered, I was scared that if we kept training, I'd end up as the Owl Beast forever so I ended it all and Baba gave me this house and Hooty and told me to visit…" She said with a sigh before reaching for another book, reading the cover.

"A Collection of Possible Sage's and their abilities across History by Amelia Blight…" She read out loud, "Wait, isn't that Odalia's late mom? I didn't know she wrote about sages?" She asked.

"HOOT! HOOT!" Hooty suddenly entered the room they were in through a window, "Someone's here and they don't like me!"

Eda rose an eyebrow at that.

"Why haven't you launched them across the Isles?"

"They say they know Luz," He said, rotating upside down.

Eda rose a brow and put the book away in her hair and picked up King from the pile of books, situating him on her shoulders and coming downstairs, opening Hooty's door and her eyes widened a bit in shock.

"Minty?" She asked.

Amity rolled her eyes.

"My name is Amity Blight, Owl Lady," She said with a groan, "Is Luz here?" She asked, "It's important."

Eda hummed at that but nodded.

"Not yet, but she's on her way here as we speak if you want to wait for her," Eda said, stepping aside for Amity to enter. Amity was hesitant but nodded, entering.

"Alright, just don't fry any Owls while I'm here…"

"Is that really what you think I do here?" Eda asked, closing the door behind her and following Amity and sitting down in the armchair while Amity took a seat on the couch, "What are you here for anyhow?" She asked.

Amity fiddled with her fingers.

"Well… Recently, Luz used this ability in the library…" She said, "During the Wailing Star, my siblings were sewed into the book and Luz undid the curse, with what we're thinking was Sage mode."

That got her attention, Eda leaned forward.

"Really?" She asked, "How do you figure it was Sage Mode?" She asked.

Amity reached into her bag, rummaging through it for a bit before producing what looked like several books.

"My family library had a lot more books on the topic, actually. These were the ones that I thought were the best," She said, "They were all written by Emalia Scourge."

Eda rose a brow at that, reaching into her hair and pulling out the book from earlier looking at the author's name; Amelia Blight… Emalia Scourge… That sounded way too similar to be a coincidence.

She drew a spell circle and the letters of "Amelia Blight" rearranged themselves to "Emalia Scourge".

"Woah, it's a pen name!" King declared.

"I knew it was fishy…" She said softly before looking at Amity, "Kid, what do you know about your grandma?" She asked.

Amity gave her a questioning look.

"Uhm… She was a researcher whose work was never recognized before she died when I was four… We were all sad about it and- Why is this important?" She asked before she fell into a rant.

Eda chuckled, drawing a spell circle, making the books glow.

"Your Grandma had a pen name, kiddo," She said, presenting Amity the book, "She wrote all the books on Sage's."

Amity's eyes widened as she took the book and looked it over with a gaping mouth.

"No way… This can't be right, are you lying to me?"

"Why would I?" Eda asked with a raised brow, "Scourge is another word for Blight, and Emalia is just a bad anagram of Amelia."

Amity ran her fingers across the letters.

"If that's the case then… She wrote all the books in my family's library…" She said softly, the realization slowly setting in. Most if not all the books in the Blight Family Libary were written by this Emalia Scourge… She read most, if not, all of them. She wrote about everything on the Isles, on all the magic and expanding… Did Mom know about this? Is this why she doesn't like going into the family library? Too many memories of Grandma?

Amity was brought out of her thinking at the sound of a door opening and Luz entering quickly.

"Eda! Sorry, I'm late! I was hanging out with my Dad and- AMITY!" She said suddenly, jumping back in shock, not having seen Amity on her way in, she cleared her throat, "Uh, what are you doing here?"

Eda chuckled and gave Luz a knowing look.

"Take a seat, Kiddo. Minty, and I here have something that you'll find interesting."

Luz gave a confused look, carefully reaching to her side and undoing her sword and placing it in the umbrella holder, and walking over, sitting next to Amity.

"Alright… What did you guys want to tell me?" She asked.

Amity and Eda took deep breaths before they began to tell Luz the tale of the Sages.


-To Be Continued in Part 2-


1. How long do you guys think Luz knocked him off course?

2. Our Belos calls her "My Little Light" While Hawks' called her "My Little Star"

Sorry to end the chapter here, it wasn't the original plan but oh well, we never do plan ahead for things like this. The next chapter will come out asap, I'll be working on it but I think I'll take a small break and update my other fics. (This one has been taking a lot of my attention, oops) I know if I work on this one for too long, I'll take too long and end up becoming bored with it and not updating it for a year. (Like last time) Until then, read, review, and all that.

All your words inspire me greatly. Have a nice day/night y'all