"Amity, no!" Luz shouted, reaching out in an attempt to pull Amity away from Camila until a small abomination materialized between them. The words Amity chanted were vividly familiar to her, as the spell that Lilith used to share Eda's curse. The operative word of course, being shared. The faint purple glow that had began at the clasp of Amity and Camila's hands and spread across both of their bodies retreated again, and Amity opened her eyes. The abomination at her side diminished and vanished, and Amity let go of Camila's hand and stood. "Amity, what did you just do?" Luz asked.
"I told you earlier that if we had caught it sooner, there was something we could do for her." Amity said quietly. "I just gave her a chance."
"Mom would never have wanted you to do this for her!"
"Luz, the Boiling Isles have been dealing with tumors far more dangerous than the ones in humans for millennia."
"Amity! You can't just go around making these decisions for everyone! We're not…" Luz raised her voice, searching the room for the words she was looking for. "We're not abominations that you can just control, and you're not the Emperor!"
Amity met Luz's gaze, but was rendered speechless by the accusation, and her eyes wavered for a moment as she caught her reflection in one of the steel cabinets, draped in white and gold and wearing a gold mask with narrow antlers stretching upward. She gasped and staggered back. "I… I have to go." she said suddenly, nervously moving toward the door.
Luz moved into her path and spread out her arms. "No. You don't get to just run away again." she said, rubbing the bridge of her nose with pinched fingers. "Look, this is confusing, alright? I'm grateful for everything you've done for Earth, and for mom, but I never asked you to walk away, or sacrifice yourself. You mean the world to me, Amity. Do you understand what that means? This world… my world, it's just… surviving, without you."
"Luz…" Amity said, her eye catching the movement of a shadow beneath the room door.
"No, listen." Luz said, beginning to pace beside her mother's bed. "I know something must have happened that you seem to think I wouldn't understand, but I'm sure if you just tell me, I can handle it."
Amity looked down at her hands that were beginning to fade as the tall and imposing form of Emperor Belos passed through the door, his glowing blue eyes focusing on her specifically. "Luz, if I don't make it back just know that I…"
"Amity?" Luz asked, looking up from her monologue.
"Luz?" Camila asked, waking with a groggy voice.
"Mom?!"
"Luz, where's Amity? She was just here, wasn't she?" Camila asked.
"She… she healed you, sort of. But…"
"Luz, she's in danger. There was a man here in a white cape and a horned mask that took her. You have to find her."
"Mom? We defeated Belos. Years ago. He's gone."
"No. This was something else."
"You're dead." Amity said, standing in a dark void with the intimidating presence of Emperor Belos her only companion. "We brought an end to you, your reign, and your empire."
"Did you?" he asked, that hauntingly intelligent voice sending a chill up Amity's spine. "Or perhaps you only inherited my ambition, carrying on my goals as I saw fit?"
"No!" Amity shouted. "I am not you!"
Belos let out a quiet laugh. "As you say, but why don't we have a look at what will come to pass?" he asked, his floor length white cape parting down the middle to expose the black void of his body beneath it as he extended an arm. The entirety of the environment shattered into pieces to reveal a stone ramp that curled around the inside of a great tower with bars cells built into the outside wall. "This is…"
"The Conformatorium, yes." Belos confirmed. "Newly rebuilt and renovated, and far more effective. Why don't we have a look around?"
"No need." Amity said, crossing her arms. "I won't let anything that you show me to happen."
"You sound very confident, Ms. Blight. Let's hope that you are correct." he replied, waving his hand. The environment coasted along to stop in front of a particular cell, and Belos snapped his fingers, brightening up the room behind the bars to reveal an old woman curled up in the far corner, her thin arms hugged around her chest and her thin white hair frayed and unkempt. "Ah, Eda the Owl Lady. While her curse would not let her die, it also wore out her body and mind at an advanced rate. She became so dangerous in her later years that the only viable option was to imprison her." he explained in a casual tone, as though he was describing a museum piece on display.
Amity thought back to seeing Eda in the Owl House, seemingly already losing her mind. If she was left to her own devices, this was the most likely scenario that she could see. "No, I won't let this happen. I can fix this."
"I admire your spirit. Why don't we have a look at the bigger picture?" Belos asked, making a sweeping gesture. The Conformatorium zoomed out to reveal the larger Boiling Isles, and they stood atop the Knee in order to see the Titan as a whole. The headless corpse was now desolate. Bonesborough could be seen smoking in the distance; Blight Manor and the Owl House now nothing more than decrepit husks. There was no vegetation left to block their view of anywhere on the Boiling Isles. All that remained was the stone and metal structure of the Emperor's Castle nestled deep in the chest. "Did you really hate your own world so much that you'd see it burn, trying to save someone else's?"
"No! I wouldn't…"
"Well let's see what your sacrifices have wrought, shall we?" Belos made a gesture similar to swiping on a digital tablet, and the Boiling Isles were thrown aside to be replaced by an image of Earth. Amity found herself standing in a few inches of water in the street in front of the Noceda's house. It looked old, and it hadn't been taken care of in years. "As you can see, all your efforts have been useless. As much help as you've given these people, if allowed their free will, they will continue to destroy themselves. You will come to the same conclusion that I did." he said, placing a gauntleted hand on Amity's shoulder. "Only through your rule, can you save these people from their own savage ways."
Amity's knees were growing weak, and nausea was sweeping through her abdomen. "No. I can… I can…"
"Yes, you can fix this. Given enough time." he continued, snapping his fingers. The environment shifted once again, into that of the Blight Industries Office Building penthouse where Amity could see herself from behind. The future Amity turned, her face scarred and aged, and reached out to her desk where a small brown owl figurine stood. Her hands were gloved, and she clenched her fist until it cracked, releasing an eerie green smoke that she breathed in. "Do you understand now, Ms. Blight?" Belos asked. "I sacrificed as well in my pursuit to save your world. It's an inevitability that no good deed goes unpunished, in this world or the next."
Amity had collapsed to a kneeling position at the sight of herself consuming Owlbert, and the notion that Ghost was nowhere in sight made her heart feel like it dropped out of her body. She could see the decisions she could make to lead her to this point, and she shook her head, holding back the the sick feeling in her stomach. Purple wisps of magical energy were seeping out of her hands and shoulders, floating upward and being drawn into the eyes of Belos' mask.
"It's not inevitable." she said, looking up at Belos. "Luz saved the Boiling Isles. Without sacrificing her friends, her family, or her heart. These worlds can be saved. Maybe it just takes the right person. That's just not me." she continued sadly. She thought back to her visions of the past; of the times that she felt how she had no control of her life as a child, and how mistakes were made due to her lack of control as an adult. She recalled seeing Eda, alone in the Owl House due to the control that Amity had started to exert on everyone around her in order to control more so that mistakes wouldn't be made again. But all it did was ruin everything. "Maybe I'm just not the hero of this story."
The environment faded into an empty black void again, and the magic leaking out of her began to brighten. She felt as though her magic were being drained away again, but slowly and painfully. She was growing colder and weaker, and her mind felt as though it was being filled with fog. Belos' form grew taller, and more hunched as Amity's magic was siphoned away. His white and gold cape shimmered and shifted into a thick fur pelt, and his mask pulled against his face. A jagged maw cracked open, taking on a fanged skull motif as the antlers grew more pronounced. The creature breathed in, taking a gulp of her magic as the wisps of purple energy began to emanate from the rest of her body.
"I may not be the hero." Amity struggled to say. "But you're just a second rate Grometheus. A shapeshifting wad of hatred and regret feeding on fear and hopelessness."
The sound of drops of water striking a pool echoed through the void from behind Amity as she struggled to stay upright, and the now transformed figure of Krampus looked up, its teeth slathered in saliva as it continued to slowly take in Amity's energy. "What?!" it growled.
"Hey! Stay away from my Amity!" Luz shouted, materializing in the darkness with Eda's palisman staff in hand. To one side of her stood Willow, her hornet topped palisman staff held at the ready. To the other side stood Gus, his normally blue palisman now a bright shade of red to show it was ready to fight. Krampus roared at them, batting Amity to the side and he stopped his magical consumption as he charged forward.
"Luz, get to Amity! We'll hold it off!" Willow shouted, drawing a brightly glowing spell circle that coalesced into a thick vine of thorns that snapped toward Krampus like a whip, ensnaring his tightly muscled arms.
"Right!" Luz dived into a roll to avoid her companion's attacks, and ran to her wife. "Amity! Are you okay?" she asked, sliding across the apparent nothingness to catch Amity.
"How… how did you get to the future?" Amity whispered, now barely conscious.
"Eda taught me how to enter people's minds. It took awhile, but Mom had a good idea of where she was."
"My mind?"
"Can we save the epilogue for later?" Luz asked. "You need to get up and fix this."
"Wait, what? Fix it? That's how all of this started!"
"¡Escuche a su esposa!" Luz said, dragging Amity to her feet.
Willow ducked as Gus was tossed over her head, two of his illusory copies catching him and placing him back on his feet. Krampus stomped toward them, his large claws raking through the void only inches away from Willow and knocking her staff away. "Ugh! I'm getting too old for this!" Gus complained, pointing his staff at the monster and summoning a band of chains that wrapped around his wrists. "Little help here?!"
Willow summoned her staff back to her outstretched hand, drawing a circle around Krampus' cloven hooves. From the blackness, a large flower erupted out of the circle, it's beautiful pink petals attaching themselves to the creature and engulfing him in fibrous vines. "That's not going to hold him for long!"
Amity, supported in Luz's grasp, began drawing a large circle in the space beside her with a shaking finger. "I can't…"
"Come on, Amity! You can, you're a Blight!" Luz said in an attempt to encourage her.
Amity ground her teeth and tried again. "No… we're Nocedas." she said, closing her eyes as she traced the circle again, her palisman staff winking into existence where she caught it in her free hand.
"Everyone get ready!" Gus shouted, levelling his staff at the plant cocoon as it expanded and wavered.
Luz and Amity joined their friends, side by side, and aimed their staves at the monster as his claws suddenly protruded from the summoned plant that had encased him. "I will consume you all!" he roared, peeling the last of the sticky flower petals off.
Amity looked from Luz on one side, and to Willow and Gus on the other and smiled. She had made her choice, and whatever future that choice brought, she'd face it with them. A purple beam crackled and writhed as it reached from her palisman to Krampus, pulling the energy he had stolen from her out of him. Bright blue energy flared from Gus's palisman, striking the monster and forcing more energy out of him. A surging gold beam struck out from Owlbert, adding to the array of colors that were wrapping themselves around their target, until finally Willow's green magic flared to life.
Krampus yelled out as what looked like the purple mud of an abomination covered him, growing bright blue spikes and shining with an inner golden light before sprouting vines that reached out, looking for purchase and finally pulling everything apart in a shower of light and magical energy.
Amity took in a deep breath and opened her eyes. She was lying down on her back, in her office apartment, and dressed in her black sweater and slim fit jeans. To one side stood Eda with a reluctant smile on her face and supporting herself on the back of a chair; Camila with her hands covering her mouth in shock, now wearing simple sweat pants and a winter coat over her hospital gown, and Vee hiding just behind her. Amity turned to the other side, watching as Luz, Willow, and Gus materialized in a swarm of golden lights. She looked up and pulled a piece of paper; a glyph likely created for entering her mind, from her forehead. "I guess that means it's Christmas, huh?"
Luz nodded, her hands curled up under her chin as her eyes began to water. She was bouncing from foot to foot impatiently waiting for Amity to say something more before finally giving into her impulses and tackling her in a hug. Amity let out a grunt in surprise, but returned the gesture, leaving a kiss on her wife's cheek. After a moment that she had missed for years, she opened her eyes and extended an arm out to everyone else to join. "We've missed you, Amity." Luz said, sobbing.
"I've missed you all too. I'm sorry I ever thought I didn't need any of you." she said as everyone gathered around to add to the jumble of people. "I'm going to be making some changes, and I'd like you all to help me…"