"I sense a great spark in that girl, something he lacks."

Kikimora absorbed the man's order with little resistance, making sure to show the least amount of emotions possible. She stood stoically at the foot of his throne, internally contemplating the recent revelation.

"Then it will be so. The portal only needs one more ingredient, the key."

Belos silently shifted his gaze to the roof of the room after hearing a noise from above. He searched for a moment, but found nothing and returned to the conversation with Kikimora, "You have your orders then, get me that key, only then will the day of unity come."

Kikimora's gaze was unmoving, set on Belos as he spoke. Once he finished, she responded in short with "Yes, my lord," and slowly sauntered her way out of the room with a new task at hand, finding the key. She knew only one place that she could possibly start.

.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,…

All was peaceful in the mind of Amity. She had spent the whole day with Luz, start to finish, from the moment she woke to the moment she fell victim to slumber. It was perfect, a word she hadn't been able to use until now. There were no distractions, no torturous lectures from her parents, no playful jokes at her expense from her siblings. It was perfect.

She knew one thing now, she could spend every day like this for the rest of her life and be at peace.

She hadn't awoken yet. She had never been so comfortable during her whole life in the Boiling Isles. It wasn't even about the bed or couch she slept on, it was about the person by her side. The unbelievable warmth that radiated off of Luz in all situations… was something Amity never wanted to lose.

Many nights had been spent dreaming of how a day like this may have played out, but no matter how much she tried, she never imagined it going this well. Even if she had lost… everyone… she felt comfort knowing that Luz would always be by her side.

So, she finally opened her eyes. Time for slumber was gone, it was clearly very early in the morning, but there she was, still on Luz's couch, with her only crush by her side. She sighed in contentment as she started to gain her senses. She didn't even feel nervous having Luz lean against her, in fact, she only felt the comfort that she described to herself as what the afterlife must have been like, heavenly, peaceful, serenity.

She smelt something, clearly food, coming from the room behind her. She ate plenty the day before, and she was never very hungry in the morning, but there was something different about whatever was waiting in the kitchen behind her, it tantalized her, teasing her nose and making her mouth water. It was human food, which in her single experience appeared to be far better than anything on the Isles. She didn't want to move from Luz's side, but her rumbling stomach was a strong persuader, so she caved. She lightly set the girl down and moved from the couch with a long stretch accompanied by a yawn.

Only when she was totally and completely awake did she return to the issue at hand, finding out what in the world could smell so alluring.

Amity, with a spring in her step, strolled over to the kitchen, where she was met by none other than the mother of the very same girl she had slept beside the night before.

Camila spoke, "Good morning Amity. I hope that my daughter's snoring wasn't too loud to sleep through."

Amity incredulously stared at the woman and then looked back at Luz, who was suddenly snoring very quietly, so it turns out she had been snoring and Amity never even noticed. It was strange because hearing her older sister's snoring used to drive her insane.

Amity finally responded to the woman, "No, I didn't even notice it until now, but uh- good morning to you too."

Camila quietly nodded as she tended to whatever dish she was preparing inside the multiple pans sitting on the oven. Amity stood on her toes to try and see what it was from a distance but found herself unable to tell even when she did see it. Camila noticed the girl trying to decipher her dish and kindly stood aside to let her have a better look, which she quickly accepted.

There were three pans, with only one containing a dish she was familiar with, eggs, although they probably didn't come from a griffin as they would have on the Boiling Isles. There were two other dishes, sausage, and bacon, which Amity recognized as meat, but she had no experience with them, so she was very curious as to the taste of these items. If the sandwich from the day before was anything to go off of, then she would thoroughly enjoy breakfast.

Camila watched the girl as she backed away from the food with a puzzled expression on her face. In her experience, people from Isles knew very little about the culture here on the "human realm" as they called it, but she knew that they could come to accept it as well, so she was determined to show Amity a good time, as she clearly enjoyed a lot of things here after some time to get used to them, like that poor sandwich that she devoured.

Amity was getting lost in the smell when Camila began talking again, "So, Amity, I didn't get to talk to you much yesterday, especially with Luz answering all of the questions for you, but I'd like to get to know you, is that okay?"

Amity refocused herself on Camila and responded, "Yeah, of course,"

Camila smiled at the girl for a second before continuing, "So, I know you're from the Boiling Isles, and I know you met my daughter there, but what- what is it like there? Who are you on the Isles? I'm sorry, I have many questions."

Amity internally cringed and prepared herself to answer as honestly as she could without bringing up her deal.

"Um- Well, I'm Amity Blight, and my parents own a big company, but I guess none of that matters anymore. To answer your other question, the Isles are a lot less dangerous than they seem, well unless you're Luz, but generally speaking they're alright."

That didn't seem to ease Camila at all. Amity continued.

"Luz got herself in a lot of trouble when we were there, but someone had to do it. She did a lot for the Isles. She was changing things for the better before everything went bad. She changed me, so I guess that's the most I can show you."

Camila eased up a bit, looking over to her slumbering daughter and back at Amity.

"I believe it. That's my Luz. I just wish things could have gone differently, or at least she could have kept in contact over the last month, but I noticed that she doesn't have her phone, so I don't know if I can blame her."

Amity cringed a bit at that. She knew that Luz had tried to text her mother, but there was… interference.

"Well- I wouldn't blame her either, because she tried. I didn't notice that she lost her phone, but back on the Isles, she sent videos every day. Some even had me, but something was stopping the messages from going through- It's really hard to explain." Amity assured.

"Well, if nothing else, I'm glad she had you while she was there, otherwise I might not have her with me now, so thank you," Camila remarked.

Amity paused for a moment out of surprise. Did Camila just thank Amity? It was as plain as day and yet Amity didn't believe it. She didn't even feel in control when she replied "You're welcome", she was just shocked.

...

At that very moment, Luz's eyes opened. She didn't remember much about when she fell asleep, but she was sure that Amity was by her side, so, noticing her absence, Luz was off of the couch in seconds, much faster than Amity had been.

The aforementioned female and Luz's mother both watched with puzzled expressions as Luz searched the living room for Amity. Finally, Luz set eyes on her friend and she felt a wave of embarrassment wash over her as her panic had been a spectacle to both her friend and her mother.

"Uh- Hi Amity," Luz muttered out, avoiding eye contact.

Amity was quick to respond, not with words, but a soft giggle. Luz felt a little better, even if slightly embarrassed. She made her way to the kitchen to join the two in conversation.

"So, what's going on?"

Her mother was the person to answer her question, quickly picking up one of the many pans on the oven and asking Luz "How would you like your eggs, scrambled?"

Luz quickly nodded, excited to taste breakfast, little did she know how much that answer eased her mother, at least some things hadn't changed.

"So, did you sleep well?" Amity asked Luz, who stretched in place.

After Luz completed her short stretch, she answered "Well, if I'm not mistaken, you were there too, so I'll just say that I slept as well as you."

"...definitely snored enough to prove it," Camila budded in.

"I promise it wasn't a problem," Amity assured, which seemed to prevent Luz from being embarrassed again.

"I'm glad. Well, how did you like the movie? I promise I don't usually fall asleep, I was just… so comfortable." Luz asked.

Amity blushed a bit, but less than usual, and responded, "It was really good, just wish you were awake to watch it with me…"

A bold move.

Luz blushed, answering "Well, I'll keep that in mind next time."

Since Amity was feeling bold, it was almost not a surprise when she let "It's a date," slip out. Scratch that, it was a surprise to everyone in the room, Camila included. She wasn't facing the two, but she smiled wide at the not-so-subtle flirt.

"Ha ha, yeah, for sure," Luz stammered.

The family would spend the next hour eating breakfast and relaxing together on the first peaceful day since before everything went wrong.

.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,

Eda and Lilith didn't know how to feel, nor did they know what to do. The Emperor wanted Luz and he was going to get her. Eda was infuriated by that fact, but it was just that, fact. Luz would surely come back through that portal and it would be up to Eda to save her from the Emperor.

There was also the matter of the Golden Guard. Should they help him? How could they? When the Emperor wanted something, he got it, no matter what. He always had, for the last four hundred years he had been the Emperor and everything had gone his way. How could they defy him and come out on top? They had done it once before, but even then they ended up losing in the end.

The girls had a lot to think about in the coming days, as the Emperor would very likely be able to open that portal very soon.

After a quiet and contemplating journey, the two arrived back at the Owl House in time. There was much to do, but first, Eda had to check on something, she left Lilith downstairs to tend to King and Hooty while she went back upstairs to Luz's room.

Eda knew exactly where Luz kept the thing, she just needed to make sure they still had it, otherwise… They couldn't imagine what they would do otherwise. Eda wasn't very worried about the key, mostly because she assumed that either Luz had it, or she left it in the same spot as always, the key was hers, so hopefully, she hadn't done something to get it into the wrong set of golden gloved hands.

Once Eda reached Luz's room, she scanned it, pleased with how in order the place looked, no signs that the key should be anywhere but where she usually left it. She gingerly walked to the girl's dresser and opened the bottom drawer, knowing that the key was stashed beneath the clothes. She reached under the leftover sweatpants the girl had missed and felt around for the key, sure she would find it with ease.

She wasn't finding it with ease at all though, she twisted her hand around and frantically lifted the clothes, hoping against hope that she had just missed the key by some miracle, however, no such miracle would come. Eda pulled out the bottom drawer as a whole and emptied it, nothing. She pulled out the middle drawer, nothing. She even pulled out the top drawer, the same.

To say that Eda was freaking out would be an understatement. Luz had to have the key. The alternative was something comparable to the end of time. If Belos had somehow obtained the key, his "Day of Unity" would cause so many deaths. Eda knew of his plans, to crash the two worlds together, the unity undoubtedly causing the deaths of billions, either human, witch, or both. Eda was one for chaos, not war, not unity. She needed it to somehow not be true.

Eda sprinted back down the stairs and into the living room, where all of the house's inhabitants were located, but there was one that she needed some answers from.

Without skipping a beat, Eda made it past King and Lilith and toward the demon that was Hooty, who remained in the door, strangely silent.

"Hooty, please, tell me nobody was here while Lilith and I were gone," Eda pled. The house demon gave her an incredulous look before conforming to her wishes.

"Umm, okay, nobody was here while you and Lilith were gone," Hooty declared with little conviction behind his words.

"Oh thank the Titan-"

BOOM

A thunderous, ear-bursting explosion could be heard from outside the house. All of the aforementioned inhabitants sprinted outside with no reservation, praying that the supersonic blast hadn't been nearly as damaging as it sounded.

To Eda's brief relief, there was no apparent damage around Bonesborough from what she could see, but when she looked toward the direction that she had only just come from, a sight that put fear in her heart, a bright blue beam of magic coming from the Emperor's castle. On the living room table, Eda heard some sudden buzzing. She glanced back and spotted the culprit, Luz's phone.

Eda ran back inside and picked up the device. It worked nearly exactly as a scroll did, so she was able to navigate it relatively easily. On the lock screen came a flood of messages from her mother, one hundred and seventeen to be exact. The phone was on low brightness and contained only two percent battery, so Eda would have to hurry.

She quickly navigated to the app labeled "Dialer" and quickly searched through her contacts for the one person that might have been near Luz, her mother. She quickly tapped on it and the call started to dial.

RING

RING

RING

The phone rang for a tantalizingly long thirty seconds or so. Eda needed someone to pick up, even if it was the mother, to who she had no clue how she could explain things to.

Luz and Amity sat on the living room couch in the Noceda residence, Amity rigid and Luz laying with her feet across Amity's lap as she went on about how Hecate and Azura totally should have been a couple, which Amity had explained that she agreed with at least eight times.

Camila had gone to her room to relax on one of her two weekly off-days.

That was when they heard it, the ringing.

RING

RING

Luz jumped up from the couch and made her way to the phone that lay on the kitchen counter, ready to run it to her mother, the person calling was what caught her off guard, herself.

Her school picture from years ago was flashing on the screen with the accept or decline options to the call.

RING

While it had initially taken her back a bit, she calmed herself and realized that she didn't have her phone with her. It wasn't even in the same dimension as her right now, it was… at the Owl House.

"Oh crap!" Luz yelled as she quickly picked up the phone and accepted the video call.

Behind the opposite end of the screen was the face of a woman that she had hoped to see more than anyone in the world since she had been forced back home.

"EDA!" Luz yelled through the screen, which was just as ear-piercingly loud as Eda would have expected. Quickly, Lilith and King scurried behind her with Hooty expanding himself from the wall to watch the call as well.

Right before Eda could respond, King interjected, "LUZ! YOU'RE SAFE!"

Luz was about to respond as well, but Amity had apparently gotten to her side at some point, which caught her off guard more than she would have like to admit. She spoke as Luz fell to the ground screaming, "Lilith? What's going on?"

As Luz was visibly recuperating from her plummet, Lilith answered quickly, "Amity? Oh thank the Titan he didn't hurt you two!"

"Well…" The two spoke in unison as Luz lowered the camera slightly so the witches could see their bandages, to which they cringed.

"I'm going to kill that son of a-" Eda started, but was cut off by Luz.

"Eda! We're okay. We just… have no idea what to do."

Eda calmed herself after the girl reassured her, "Yeah? Neither do we, but before we ask each other how we're doing anymore, I need to ask you, something kid."

"Shoot!" Luz excitedly responded.

"Alright, glad you're still enthusiastic as always. Anyway, please tell me that you have the key." Eda pled once more.

Luz visibly checked her pockets for the magical artifact. Once she realized it wasn't in her pockets, she checked her bag, still no key. She started to panic, but Eda called her back to the phone.

Right after Luz announced that she didn't have it, Eda was about to start talking, but Hooty cut in, "No, Luz! When she asks you to 'please tell her something,' you're supposed to just tell her that, even if it's not true, Hoot!"

Eda slowly turned her head to the demon with a scowl, "What?" she paused.

"Wait, were you lying earlier about nobody showing up when Lilith and I were gone?" Eda asked.

Hooty remained still, a drop of sweat streaming down his face as he answered, "No,"

Silence.

"You made me! Hoot!"

Eda facepalmed at the answer, but quickly asked a more important question, "Hooty! Who was it!"

Quickly, Hooty made his response, "They were wearing a Hexside cloak! I don't know!"

Luz was the next to inquire, knowing more about the students there than anyone inside the Owl House, "What color were their sleeves?"

"Green," Hooty shot back.

Amity was the next to the question, "Was there anything else special about them, like their clothes or something?"

Everyone in the room looked to Hooty as he answered quickly, "they had very round glasses, but that's all I saw! They came in the back door and jumped out of Luz's window! Hoot!"

Luz and Amity shot each other a glance at the sudden revelation.

"Willow," The two stated under their breath.

Suddenly, the phone shut off, likely due to the extremely low battery.

Amity and Luz didn't know how to comprehend the revelation. Willow had not only stolen the key, but Luz knew that Belos had the pieces of the door. This was bad news.

Right as Luz was about to talk, they heard a deafening noise, the same one that Eda had heard.

Their worlds were fully connected once again.

.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,

The cloaked Hexside student stood at the foot of the Emperor's throne, with the key in hand.

She looked up to Emperor Belos and removed her cloak.

"Now let them go," Willow spoke with a resolute tone.

The Emperor shifted in his throne and held out his hand.

Willow looked down at the key in her hands once more.

"Is that doubt? There's no room for doubt in a great witch you know," Belos commented.

Willow took a deep inhale and closed her eyes for a moment before exhaling and looking back up at the man with a deep, determined glare.

"Let them go first, then you can have the key,"

Belos leaned back in his throne, surprised by the young girl's persistence.

"Maybe you can be better. Some other witches your age are much worse at negotiating than you,"

Not sure what he meant, she ignored his monologuing and once more exclaimed, "LET THEM GO!"

Belos stopped moving and stared at her cruelly. Willow's resolve crumbled.

"I will… allow your pestilence just this once."

He paused, then looked past the girl and called out "Hunter!"

Shortly, the Golden Guard arrived at Willow's side. She looked over with a glare and looked back at the Emperor.

He nodded at her and commanded the boy, "Release the Park child's parents at once, and bring them here."

Willow internally let out a sigh of relief and tried her best to save face while still under the scrutiny of the Emperor.

"Now, the key."

Willow was smarter than that. She answered back, "Only when I have my parents. Until then, you're gonna have to wait."

He scowled at her, unsettling her slightly before he continued, "Fine. I must admit, your will is strong. You would be a strong asset to the Emperor's Coven, especially with the Day of Unity so close now."

Was he serious? Did he seriously just ask her to join his coven, after all, he did to her parents? She knew it would be unwise to snap at him before she got her parents back, so she held her tongue, instead opting to simply shake her head back at the man.

"What then, Child?" Belos asked. He watched as she shifted in place and reposed his question, "What will you do when the Day of Unity is upon us? Any student your age would be honored to receive such an opportunity. I know that your little Blight friend would have."

Willow clenched her fist.

He continued.

"Oh what a shame that she had to attack me. She would have been great, you know. If it wasn't for that human ruining her potential, she would have been one of the most powerful witches on the Isles, much like you still can be, you just need some perspective."

Her fist was enveloped in a green aura. It took everything she had to not unleash all the power she had on that man.

He continued.

"For some little witchling to be able to steal from the Owl Lady and survive, it's not a small task. Not even Lilith remained pure, but you, you're different, aren't you?"

The aura faded. Willow finally responded with an unclenched fist, "Yes, I am different. I wouldn't betray the people I love for you."

The response was exactly what Belos wanted, "Oh, but you have, haven't you. No, you're no different. You're exactly the same. You betrayed not only the Owl Lady, but her apprentice, your friend, did you not?"

He was right.

He continued.

"I don't blame you. I too have done terrible things for my family. It's the people who are willing to make these sacrifices that make it in this world. The strongest wills. That is what you need to survive. The Emperor's Coven will aid you in that quest. I could even assure my mercy toward them as a token of my good faith."

Willow was taken aback. It was something that she knew she shouldn't have been tempted by, but she was. She couldn't lie to herself.

It was almost too much to bear, but she knew she couldn't say yes. She just couldn't. Right?

He continued one last time.

"Luz, Amity, Gus, they are important to you. I know this. Everyone does. I know how much their safety means to you. You wouldn't turn this down. Not the Willow Park that they love at least."

That did it. She looked to the ground, crushed with conflict.

Suddenly, the doors behind her swung open, revealing the Golden Guard, Hunter, pulling her parents along by their bindings.

It was a relief to see them safe once more, but before she could run over to hug them, Belos grabbed her wrist.

"Willow. I want you to think this over and come back to me when you hear my signal. It will be your last chance to save them."

Willow looked back to him with that same conflict she faced moments ago. "What signal?" She asked.

"Oh, you'll hear it," he explained.

Willow solemnly nodded back at him and pulled her parents behind her until she was out of the throne room. Seeing just how terrified they were was enough. She made her choice.

...

It took only two hours for the signal to come through. She did indeed hear it. It was the same giant explosion that everyone around Bonesborough had heard, and she knew that she needed to do what she could to protect the only three people she cared about besides her parents.

.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,…

It had been an hour since the explosion and people were starting to settle down. It turned out that there was literally no damage done to the infrastructure of Bonesborough, so the citizens were relatively fine, save for the Post-Traumatic Stress, but who doesn't have that?

The Emperor had called for the Town's audience in the Town Square and virtually everyone was there, likely for an explanation as to what in the Titan that explosion was, and they would get their explanation.

"Shh you two, it's is about to start!" Eda quietly yelled at King and Gus, who had been talking for the past half hour of waiting.

"Finally," Lilith added.

The group was sitting far enough away to not get noticed, but close enough to hear as it finally started.

Of course, it wasn't the Emperor himself, but Kikimora, a well-known power figure, and the Emperor's right hand. She ambled to the front of the magically-created stage and prepared herself to speak on the Emperor's behalf.

"It is time to begin. No interruptions."

She took a deep breath and looked on to the large crowd before starting again in her typically confident tone.

"The Day of Unity is forthcoming, the Titan wills it so. It is a day that has been in preparation for years, decades even, and it is finally upon us."

The crowd murmured as she paused for effect. There was no lie in that statement, the Emperor had been trying to get his hands on that portal for a very long time, and that day had finally come. In Eda's mind, it was up to her to make sure that it didn't spell disaster. She feared for the worst.

"With the will of the Emperor on our side, anything is possible, even order among all witches, as Emperor Belos has proven. With the work that we have put in on behalf of the Titan, his goals are finally in reach, as soon as tomorrow in fact."

Once again, partly true. The Emperor was going to use the portal to create the chaos he had been after for as long as anyone could remember. He was older than anyone on the Isles and nobody quite knew how long he had worked toward his goal, but there was one thing Eda wasn't so sure of. Was the Titan even real, it was becoming unreasonable considering how much credit everyone gave him despite everyone living in his decomposed corpse, of course, Eda had been told as a child that the Titan communicated with Belos, but it was becoming to the point that she had more evidence on the opposite.

"There was a great release of energy today, a sign from the Titan himself, it is time for his will to be carried out. Tomorrow is the day that we have been waiting for, the day that everything becomes worth it. The Day of Unity. Be ready, submit yourself to the will of the Titan, and march forth tomorrow morning! For the Day of Unity is upon us and the Titan wills it so. We will be united at last!" Kikimora finished.

The crowd roared with thunderous applause. To someone like Eda, this was the sign of the end. They hadn't done enough. Before her was the entire population of the Boiling Isles, ready to carry out the Emperor's will. Tomorrow wasn't the day of unity, but the day of reckoning. It was the day of judgment for witch kind. Will the strong of will succeed or will evil reign forevermore.

Either way, there was no turning back.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: So, you're all caught up! This is everything I have done by the time that I finish crossposting the story! Of course when I make the next chapter it will be up on here as well, but it's obviously not done yet, so tough luck! Just messing with you, but now that you're caught up, feel free to follow, favorite, and leave a review to help me make this story the best it can be! See you soon! Follow me on Ig lumitylucas!