AUTHOR'S NOTE: Ayo, so this came out hella fast lol. I really did expect there to be more fights, there are still a few, but I took a different approach than I thought I would. In the end, I think it makes for a much better story and a lot of things get explained but don't go into it thinking it's 8k words of pure action. I am very happy with how this came out and I hope you will be too, just look out for callbacks, because they are EVERYWHERE in this chapter (It made for some good motivation and nice dialogue :) anyway, see you at the bottom of the page, enjoy!

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Chaos, as far as the eye can see. People, witches, or others running around New Haven. Buildings crumbled beneath the weight of the Titan's skeleton, one could only imagine how many people died when it fell. It was a tragedy. News helicopters fly above the scene taking notes and reporting live on the scene. Search and rescue troops worked hard to save as many people as they could, some were even saving witches, whether they knew it or not.

From the top-down view that Luz had on the scene, she could see people she knew from both worlds, whether it be Boscha and Skara running for safety, or some people from human school, bullies, friends, acquaintances all scurried around amongst the disaster.

"Oh no," Gus said as he looked up into the clouds. Luz noticed this and followed his eye line to the sky. It was horrifying, a giant vortex in the sky was dropping things at an alarming rate. From what she could see, it was all stuff from the Isles, rubble, marketplaces, and even people, creatures of all shapes and sizes.

Gus continued, blaming himself for the accident, saying "This is my fault! The portal is collapsing and it's all my fault!"

His panic continued. He shook in place as he looked down at the chaos, Luz wanted to comfort him, but she was on a separate staff, so she was too far. Willow, however, was not too far. She put a hand on his shoulder softly speaking in his ear, saying something about not everything being his fault. Luz couldn't exactly hear it, but she got the message.

She didn't know how to feel about Willow. They had been through so much, but she couldn't shake the feeling of betrayal. It made no sense. Why would she do that? Surely the Emperor put her up to it, but still, from what Luz knew, there was no plausible reason that Willow would do such a thing. From the moment that Luz met Willow, she was so much like her that there was a mutual understanding that she hadn't felt since her childhood, having been picked on in school for as long as she could remember.

But Willow, in the end, just like everybody else, went back on everything. Was friendship worth nothing to these people? Luz was seriously losing faith in people the longer she lived, but at least she still had Gus and Amity no matter what, along with Eda and King of course.

Either way, with no sign of Belos and many people in trouble, Luz knew that she needed to do something.

"We need to go down there and help," Luz declared, earning a nod from Eda and a proud expression from her mother.

"Alright, Owlbert, you heard the girl, take us down," Eda said.

Just like that, the four people on Owlbert zoomed down to the ground very quickly, unsettling Camila in the process.

When they got to the ground, Camila hyperventilated and announced through her breaths, "I did not remember how terrifying that was."

Luz smiled back at her mother and looked back to the chaos, losing her smile. She turned on her heels and ran towards the wreckage, calling Amity to follow her. Her abominations would be very helpful for saving people.

It was almost immediately that they found someone in peril, a human trapped underneath some rubble.

"Amity, you got this?" Luz asked.

Amity nodded and summoned her abomination and lifted the rubble, despite her struggle, she still managed to lift it for long enough for Luz to run underneath the rubble and help out the young woman. There was something about her that Luz felt she recognized, but she wasn't sure.

With her newfound strength that she obtained from the Isles, she was able to pull her to safety with relative ease. The woman was lucky to be relatively unharmed, despite being completely covered in first from the crash.

Once the woman was safe and calm, she looked at her savior, Luz, and spoke, "Luz? Is that really you?"

Before Luz could respond, Amity came to her side and stood behind her, asking if the woman was okay.

The woman, freaked out by the shape of Amity's ears, took a few steps back and looked like she was about to run away.

Luz finally responded in an attempt to calm the woman, "Um, yes, I'm Luz, Luz is me, this is Amity, she helped you get free from the rubble. Please don't be afraid."

The woman stopped shaking for a moment and gave the two a puzzled expression.

"Please, get to safety. You can find me after this all calms down, we can talk then, okay?" Luz offered.

The woman turned on her heels and jogged away, looking back at Amity the whole time. Her face was riddled with conflict and fear. If this is how humans responded to witches, especially a nice human responding to a witch that saved her, Luz was terrified for the future.

Either way, whether or not she could change minds, she could save lives. She needed to.

"You still good?" Luz asked Amity.

She smiled and nodded.

From behind Amity, Luz could see Eda and Lilith working together to lift a much larger building out of the way to save several people. Maybe this could actually work, Luz thought.

"Then let's keep going," Luz said, Amity's smile remained.

After a short few moments of searching, Luz found another person, this one even more familiar to Luz, Boscha, trapped underneath a finger of the Titan. Amity could lift it for a few seconds, but only a few. Just before they were going to help her, they heard a groan to their left.

When they turned to face the source, they were shocked. The Golden Guard was stuck as well, only under something far heavier, he was stuck under a giant boulder that was covered by the leg of the Titan. There was a choice. Only one could be saved.

It wasn't much of a choice, but it felt terrible to have to leave him behind.

Amity looked to Luz for her choice. She gave Amity a pained look and looked to the ground. She looked back at The Golden Guard with his pleading face and back to Boscha, who couldn't last much longer under the weight.

"Boscha," Luz said. Amity nodded.

With all the strength she had, Amity pushed hard against the finger, lifting it only inches from the ground. Luz ran over to Boscha and pulled on her arm. With all of her strength, Luz was able to pull her out just before Amity let go of the finger, narrowly saving the unconscious girl. Willow ran up to them and picked up Boscha and leaned her against her side, pulling her along and bringing her to safety.

Amity let out a few ragged breaths with her hands on her knees and looked back to Luz. Luz was already trying to help the Golden Guard. She tried everything. She lifted with her legs, back, arms, and anything else she could muster. It simply would not budge. Even when Amity came over and tried her best to conjure any remaining magic, the weak abominations she was able to muster could not make the rock budge even an inch. Through the whole thing, the older boy looked up at the two hopelessly.

Amity stopped trying to lift the rock and looked back to Luz, who was still trying her best to save him.

"Luz," Amity called.

Luz still tried.

"Luz," Amity called again.

Luz still tried her best.

"Luz!" Amity yelled.

Luz finally stopped.

"I CAN'T JUST LEAVE HIM!" Luz yelled back.

Amity stared into the girl's pained eyes and saw her on the brink of tears. She had exerted herself so much that day. Amity looked around for someone to help, hoping to not disappoint Luz. She saw something even better, a staff, his staff. Amity ran over to it, kicked it over to the boy, and looked at Luz once more. It was just in his reach, so he would likely be able to escape using it.

Luz gave her a thankful expression and the two ran off in another direction.

Despite their efforts, they still heard his grunts until they got far enough away.

They found their way back to Eda and Lilith, who stood with a large group of witches and humans, most of which they likely saved. Camila was with them as well, tending to the people to the best of her ability. It was a good thing that she was a doctor, otherwise, these people might have sustained much worse injuries.

Once they made it to the sisters, Eda welcomed her with a snarky remark, "What, saved everyone already?"

That was a bad thing to say. Luz gave a pained expression.

"Oh," Eda let out. Luz ran to her and hugged her.

Meanwhile, Amity ran to her ex-mentor and explained the situation, "I- I can't make anything useful anymore. My magic is running out!" Her panic was subsided by Lilith's reassurance "Don't worry Amity, I have a potion that might help."

"Do you think-" Amity started, but stopped herself.

"Do I think what?" Lilith asked.

Amity, although doubtful, asked, "Do you think she's gonna be okay?"

Amity looked over to Luz to help Lilith understand. Lilith looked back at the girl and smiled.

"She's tough. She'll be okay. Especially with you by her side, I'd bet."

Amity smiled at that.

"Thank you," Amity said.

Lilith reached into her bag and handed Amity the potion she needed. It would regenerate some of her magic so she could help for a little while longer.

Just before the two could head out again, a witchling in Hexside attire. She looked much younger than Luz or Amity, but she was panicked.

"Emperor Belos was spotted! He was spotted near the head!" The witch shouted.

It was jarring to hear someone else fearing the Emperor. Luz knew his true nature, in fact, her entire circle did by now, but everyone else had been blind to it for so long. Maybe having him almost kill thousands of his own people was big enough to finally show the witches what he was really like. Maybe it meant one less problem once everything else subsided.

Either way, it was the lead that the crew needed. They needed to find Belos and stop whatever he was doing so the chaos could finally end and they could figure out how to move past this. Belos had wanted to unite the worlds for a long time now, but nobody knew why, nobody even knew that he wanted to unite the worlds until a few days ago.

So, with her vigor renewed, she ran to her people with one message, "Let's end this, together."

Everyone looked back at her with hope, even Willow, most likely because she said together.

They obliged, readying their staffs once more for the ride to "the head". The head was far. The Titan was huge, back on the Isles it would have taken longer to reach it, but since there were fewer obstacles now, it would be reached in minutes, especially with trusty old Owlbert.

Using said Palisman, the group reached the head in roughly ten minutes, hopefully, Belos hadn't done whatever he was going to yet.

By the time the group arrived, the head was pulsating with red magic floating all around. From what they could see, there was a door-sized hole in the side of the school leading to his brain.

Great.

The group approached slow and silent, hoping to spy on what they were doing before they attacked.

Luckily, they were able to do just that. They snuck right up to the hole and stuck their heads around it, watching intently as Belos picked at the brain with magic and the Golden Guard stood behind him.

No Kikimora, Luz noticed. That meant… not everyone survived the collision.

Whatever they were doing, the Titan wasn't responding. The brain was dark, unliving, which wasn't surprising. They had figured that Belos lied about the Titan telling him things, but still, there was a chance, especially with the fact that his heart was beating in Belos's throne room. The easy excuse for that was that maybe it was fake, an illusion or something, but it seemed too real. It was a mystery for another time… hopefully.

Finally, after having waited long enough, Luz looked to the rest of the group, then to Amity, and said "Spells Blazing?" Both Amity and Eda smiled at that, albeit for different reasons, but they smiled nonetheless.

Everyone agreed.

Luz held out three fingers to start her countdown.

Two.

One.

In that instant, the group stormed into the room, targeting Belos with all of their attacks. As if expecting this, Belos and the Golden Guard teleported out of harm's way. They refocused their attacks on his new location, but he vanished again, reappearing elsewhere. The group tried this several times, but he was far too quick. They would need to go for a different approach.

Suddenly, Lilith shouted for everyone to "Spread out", which they happily obliged to do. It made sense, give him fewer places to teleport to, hurt him when he tried.

What they weren't expecting was the level of foresight that Emperor Belos possessed. He took his chance and teleported to Luz in the center of the room, grabbed her, and teleported again to the brain. Instantly, he tossed her at it. She hit it directly, using her hands to cushion the impact. When her fingers made contact, images flashed in her mind. She pulled away the second she hit the ground.

"What was that?!" Luz shouted.

She got no answer, except the Emperor's glare. He brought her here on purpose. It must have been his plan all along. Quickly, Amity managed to make her way to Luz's side to protect her.

"What happened?" Amity asked, using her abominations to protect herself and Luz.

"I- I don't know, when I touched the brain, I- I saw some things, very creepy." Luz tried to explain.

"Well, maybe you should do it again. Maybe it could help." Amity reasoned.

"Umm, okay, but how will I defend myself?" Luz asked.

"Come on Luz, what do you think I'm doing?" Amity joked. Luz smiled back at her and nodded.

With slight apprehensiveness, Luz made contact with the Titan again, with her only thought in mind being how to defeat Belos.

In a flash of images, Luz's eyes rolled back into her head as she absorbed new information.

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The night was dark and cloudy. Luz wasn't sure what she was seeing, but she recognized the night sky as that of the human realm. The Titan was showing her something, but she wasn't sure what. If there was a way to tell them to cut to the chase, she would, but it seemed like the Titan wanted to be more thorough, so he was starting at the beginning, but at what beginning, Luz wasn't quite sure.

From what Luz could see, she was high up, with the clouds below her and the night sky above. That wasn't all though, she rode a staff, a staff she had seen before, the Emperor's. As she soared through the sky, she took it all in. It should have felt peaceful, but there was a sense of dread that she couldn't shake.

When she looked behind her, she saw something that shook her to her core. It was her mother, but younger. She was holding something, a bundle of blankets… with a baby wrapped inside. Was this her father?

"Did we have to fly home?" Camila asked.

She heard the voice, but she could tell the question wasn't aimed at her, but the person whose body she was inhabiting in whatever memory she was in.

It was jarring seeing herself in the third person, let alone riding a staff when she was likely only days old. Her mother looked happy, but Luz still didn't understand. That sense of dread never left. Something wasn't right here.

Then, she heard another voice, shrill, deep, one she had never heard before.

So, what was the Titan trying to show her, why was the Emperor's staff involved, was that the key to defeating him?

A voice inside her told Luz to be patient. It was even more jarring than seeing herself, hearing a voice in her head that didn't belong to her, it was the stuff of nightmares… or stupid fanfictions she read.

The voice warned her to focus, which she did.

She looked around, confused about where they were going so late at night.

That was, until they suddenly changed trajectory, heading downward. Luz held on tight as they descended. Once they finally stopped, Luz opened her eyes again. She wasn't on the staff anymore but unwillingly walking into a house, her own house.

To say that Luz was confused would be an understatement, no, she was disoriented, unhinged even. She felt herself walking to the house, but not with her own set of legs, not with her in control. She looked back at her mother, who was much shorter than whoever's memory this was, she looked exhausted.

When Camila unlocked the door to the house and the two went inside, the baby was placed in Luz's hands. She looked down at the baby, herself, then back at her mother, who was walking to the bathroom.

If there was a sense of dread before, now it was terror. Holding that baby made her mind feel like it was being smashed with a hammer. It was like a headache stronger than she had ever experienced. There was clarity that came with it though like the person she was existing as in that moment had made a decision. When she looked at the baby now, she felt hatred. She was thoroughly confused. The emotions weren't her own.

She felt her gaze being pulled down, to the pockets of whatever man she was masquerading as. He pulled something out. A golden pendant. It had a triangle in the middle, with a single eye in the middle, and two small wings on the side. It looked familiar like she had seen it before, but she still couldn't put it together.

The hand holding the pendant gripped hard, then looked back at baby Luz. He opened Luz's mouth and stuck a gloved finger inside, pulling it out after a second. Luz's terror grew as she watched it unfold. The wet finger was then smeared onto the pendant. It shone a bright gold and ceased after two or so seconds.

Whatever the man was trying to do, he did.

Luz felt violated having to watch this happen without being able to do anything, especially when it was her it was happening to, and if this was her father like she thought, that made it even worse.

Then, her mother left the bathroom. Her face was wet, so she had cleaned her face, maybe splashed herself for the sake of staying awake.

Luz stood there, helpless as Camila came back and took the baby. She was thankful that the man didn't have her anymore, otherwise, he might do something weird again, whatever that was.

At that moment, the voice in her head let out a frustrated grunt. Suddenly her mother was gone again, the man had the baby again, and he was holding the pendant. Did this memory seriously just rewind.

What did it mean? Was she missing something? The voice confirmed it.

She watched the scene again, although it was very unsettling. The finger, the saliva, the glow. What was she missing?

Time rewound again. Maybe it would be a good time for Luz to stop being oblivious.

This time she didn't have to watch him put her saliva on the glove, the moment started again with him smearing it on the pendant.

The glow. She noticed it more that time. What is this? Why did it glow?

The voice gave no affirmation, but the memory resumed until it was at the point it got to before. When Camila took the baby, she had gotten farther in the memory than ever, so maybe she got the point.

The man took his turn going to the bathroom. When he was finally inside, he shut the door behind him and bent over on the counter.

"Just look up you goof!" Luz yelled, even if the man couldn't hear it.

If he would just look up, she could maybe get some answers.

After a torturously long time, the man looked up slightly, still not high enough. He turned on the sink and splashed himself with water a few times.

He looked down again, grunted in a sound that was slightly familiar to her. Finally, he jolted his head up and looked right in the mirror.

Luz gasped.

It couldn't be.

A man, very tall, stood in the bathroom of her house, wearing a white cloak with gold highlights. There was a slot in the neck of his cloak, it made a little more sense now. The man grunted at his appearance in the mirror, which Luz understood because when she looked at his face, the borders of it were covered in a dark, void-like sludge.

Belos.

This didn't mean. No. It couldn't mean that.

"Is he?" Luz asked. The voice in her head, the Titan, confirmed.

Emperor Belos, THE Emperor Belos, the man that fought to ruin Luz's life for the past several months, the man that left her at birth, the man that stabbed her through the chest, he was her father.

The memory paused.

It explained so much.

It made her feel so much worse.

She didn't know how to process it.

If she weren't in Belos's memory, she would be hyperventilating.

It was crushing news.

"Is that what I needed to know? That Belos is my father?" Luz asked the Titan.

Another frustrated grunt.

"Then what?"

The memory rewound back to the moment of the pendant when it was glowing.

Luz looked at it for a second, then the memory returned to the bathroom, where the slot in his neck remained. Belos pulled the pendant out of his pocket again and looked back at the mirror. In a swift action, he stuck the pendant in the slot, it was a perfect fit.

The pendant glowed once more.

"So it glows? What is it magic or something?"

Of course, the voice confirmed her suspicion.

"So what do you want me to do?"

Silence. There was pure silence for several seconds.

Suddenly, her surroundings changed. It was like a glitchy computer screen, everything was obscured.

All she could see was a hyper-zoomed-in image of the pendant, it glitched, for a moment she could see another image, but it was gone too fast.

Again, the image flashed, she could almost make it out.

Finally, a third time, the image flashed, this time it held for a full second, the Titan groaned, he was clearly exerting himself trying to show her this.

She saw it this time.

"So it needs to break? I need to break it?"

After a moment of silence, the voice affirmed.

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All around her, things went white. It was blinding, overcoming her vision. When the flash cleared, she was back in the real world, where Belos, her father was fighting everyone she cared about.

There was no sound, in fact, all she heard was ringing. She saw Eda protecting Camila, something she was thankful for. She saw Lilith protecting the other two teens, Gus and Willow, even if they insisted they didn't need it.

Together, the two teens combined their powers to give sneaky plant attacks while everyone else remained on defense. Occasionally, a hit would land, thanks to Willow's insane plant magic ability.

Finally, Luz looked directly in front of her, Amity was still defending her. Using her abominations to fend off any attack that came.

Suddenly, Amity turned and gave Luz a quick glance. She noticed that Luz was looking around and she held a hand out to held Luz get up.

She was talking to Luz, but she didn't hear a word. She should have heard something, there were crashes and blasts everywhere, she could see it all clear as day.

Despite the terrifying lack of hearing, Luz took Amity's hand and got to her feet. Her legs were weak and she was wobbly, but after putting everything she had into it, she picked up an icicle and sprinted in the direction of Belos. There were blasts and beams of magic narrowly missing her as she approached, in one case, an attack managed to graze her side, but she continued her pursuit.

With every ounce of her being, she pushed forward. With tears in her eyes and hate in her heart, she sprinted faster than she ever had before.

Finally, when she was close enough, she lept off of the ground. The path to Belos became safer when a wall of abomination goop surrounded her path.

After what felt like an eternity in the air, she swung down hard with the icicle in her hand and struck the pendant with everything she had.

The last thing she saw was the pendant cracking and a bright red explosion.

Luz didn't know it, but her eyes had closed at some point. When she finally opened them, she could feel her ability to hear increase.

And yet, it was still silent, only no ringing now.

After listening for a while and noticing that she was stuck somewhere very dark, she finally heard something, someone.

There was crying, sobbing coming from a girl. Luz recognized its source, Amity.

Luz tried to wiggle around to escape, but wherever she was, she was stuck.

"Amity!" she shouted.

The sobbing stopped. She could hear footsteps.

"Where are you?" Amity called out.

"I don't know!" Luz shouted, oh that was so very Luz.

"I found her!" Amity shouted.

Luz kept trying to wiggle but found no room.

Eventually, she saw some light peering through some holes in whatever she was stuck under. It didn't take long for the light to fully pierce through, as the roof to her prison, apparently rocks, were lifted off of her.

Of course, the first person she saw was Amity, who else would it have been that day? Luz was glad to have someone look out for her that wasn't like a parent, it was a new luxury that she knew she appreciated deeply.

That same hand she accepted before, she accepted again. Amity pulled her up and to her feet. Luz leaned against her, discovering that her legs were hurt.

"What happened," Luz asked.

Amity didn't answer that question, instead asking one of her own, "Are you okay?"

Luz smiled back at her, "Belos is my father, my leg is the least of my worries."

Amity stopped in her tracks, "What?! How- How is that possible?"

Luz's smile dropped, "I'll explain later," she promised.

Amity, with a deeply concerned expression, slowly nodded and continued walking toward the group.

Eda called out, "Luz, you had me worried for a second kiddo."

Luz didn't respond with words, instead just giving her a look that read "ugh".

Eda giggled at that while the girl's mother stood with a concerned expression.

"So, gonna tell us what that was about?" Eda asked.

There was a moment of silence.

"Well, the Titan showed me… some things," Luz explained.

Eda's eyes widened.

"What- How is that- I thought it was… you know, dead?" Eda wondered aloud.

"Yeah, definitely not dead, but this isn't over, where is Belos?" Luz asked.

The group shared a look.

"What?" Luz asked.

Amity took a deep breath and spoke directly to Luz, "That's the problem, we don't know. After you attacked him, he vanished, Golden Guard too."

Luz facepalmed.

"I think I know where he went, but I need to go alone."

Everyone stared at Luz.

It was Gus who finally spoke, "Luz, that's stupid."

Eda budded in, "I agree with Dweebus."

Amity was next to add her two cents, "Luz, we can't- I can't let you do this alone."

Luz looked back at her with clear determination, saying "It's my father, I just- I have to."

Amity frowned and looked to the ground, "Do you remember that night we spent outside the library?"

Luz, confused, nodded.

"You told me that you weren't going anywhere. I know that it didn't mean that much at the time, but-"

Her volume lowered.

"But it meant everything to me. And I don't want to be alone. So please, please don't make me risk that."

Luz looked to the ground, avoiding Amity's eye contact. After a few seconds, she looked back at Amity with glistening, teary eyes.

"I won't leave you alone, it meant a lot to me too. I just can't risk you getting hurt." Luz reasoned.

"I can't risk that! Besides, when I needed you, back at Grom, you told me 'that's what friends do', so I can't let you get hurt. Plus, how many times have we both gotten hurt in the past week?" Amity replied.

Luz made eye contact with her this time.

"Fine, but only you, okay?" Luz offered, Amity smiled and nodded.

"So, you convinced her that going alone was stupid, right?" Eda asked from a distance.

Uncharacteristic of Amity, she didn't answer, instead giving a sly smile and nudging Luz to lead the way, she happily obliged.

Off they went hand in hand, to wherever Luz was leading them. Luz knew where he would be, he already went there once that day, and if memory served her right, it meant a lot to him, so he would likely be there again.

The two arrived at Luz's house after a run much longer than they had expected. It was time they stood their ground. The two walked up to the door, this time not tripping over each other, and opened it quietly.

Immediately, they spotted him, along with his apprentice, who was sat in the living room on the couch with his feet up.

Glad they made themselves comfortable, Luz sarcastically told herself.

Belos was standing behind the couch, staring directly at the door, with his mask off, very likely destroyed in the blast. In his hands, he held the destroyed pendant, shattered into three pieces. When Luz walked in, he tossed them, to the side and faced them with ill intent.

The shadowy goop that consumed his face fourteen years ago had fully enveloped him now. She deduced that it was a curse of some kind and he had dealt with it for a long time.

"What did he show you?" Belos asked in a voice completely devoid of humanity.

"Leave, now," Luz commanded.

Belos didn't move a muscle.

"I assumed that you would be able to communicate with him, much like myself, daughter. But the Titan told me he would show you the way, that he would show you how to achieve balance, and restore order to the witches of the Boiling Isles, did he not?" Belos asked with a voice so venomous that Luz's ears felt like they had been poisoned.

"And what, somehow seeing that would make me join your side? How does that make any sense?" Luz mocked.

Amity stood behind her, watching it all happen a spectator to a duel of fates, one that would have major repercussions either way. Amity could only hope that they were positive, as the Emperor would be defeated in whatever battle would ensue.

Belos replied, "What other choice do you have? I am the most powerful witch there is, and you and your girlfriend are supposed to take me down? I've lived for over a thousand years, just because you are being a selfish brat doesn't mean that I won't win, I always do."

After a moment of consideration, Luz smiled at him, any fear she felt for him long gone. She said "Well, he did show me, but you're missing something. I am Luz Noceda, and I am the most powerful half-human, half-witch there is, so… EAT THIS SUCKER!"

Finished making her callback, Luz sprinted at him with valor, aiming a punch directly at his cheek. Her hand glowed a bright yellow as it made contact, something she had never experienced before. Seeing it made her feel powerful. Seeing him wince in pain for the first time also helped.

Amity took the signal and attacked as well, going for the Golden Guard instead. She launched several purple fists at him, which he managed to cut in half for the most part until one finally hit him in the side.

Belos recovered quickly from Luz's empowered strike, drawing a blood-red spell circle in the air. Spikes flew through the air and aimed for wherever they could hit. The gloves were off, he knew Luz wouldn't join him, not anymore, so it was join him or be destroyed. He figured that she chose the latter.

Luz, however, would insist otherwise, him having missed a crucial third option, one that Luz always chose when she could, victory.

She dodged the spikes to the best of her ability, but one managed to graze her forehead, leaving a deep cut behind.

She winced, but it was no time to back down over a little scratch. She pounced forward and went for another strike, this one with her leg. It connected again. She kicked him directly in the side, earning a loud grunt.

The Golden Guard, infuriated, grabbed his staff and aimed several beams of magic at Amity, all of which she dodged with ease. She had trained under Lilith for so long, battles had always come easy. She just needed to play to her strengths. Doing so, Amity summoned a full-sized abomination, eight feet tall and bending over just slightly so they didn't damage the roof. Amity commanded her abomination to strike, faking a punch, but ultimately picking him up with abomination goop and slamming him over the coffee table, okay, so some property damage was okay.

Belos quickly readied himself to attack her once more, grabbing his staff for the first time and using it to do great harm. With little effort, Belos created ten copies of himself and began closing the distance on Luz from every direction.

Luz, unsure of what to do, called for Amity's help. Amity turned to Luz and saw the situation she was in. Quickly, she threw her goop at the situation. Several of the illusions faded and left only four, coming from one direction. Luz backed away and was pushed into a corner.

Meanwhile, the Golden Guard finally recovered from Amity's slam and saw her preparing another attack aimed at Belos. She wasn't looking his way, so it was a prime opportunity. He picked up his staff and launched a quick beam directly at Amity's side. She looked over and saw it, but she was too late. The spell died in her hand and she was tossed across the house.

Luz saw it all unfold and cringed, telling herself that Amity should have just stayed behind. But Amity still got up, despite being thrown across the room, despite being told to stay behind, and despite her past, she came through when it mattered. And that reminded Luz of something. She destroyed the pendant, and whatever spell was cast using it was now gone.

Luz looked down at her hands, they glowed yellow from the fingertips and through her veins. Then, Luz connected the dots. Belos was the reason she couldn't do magic, not because she was half-human.

AND THAT SPELL WAS GONE NOW.

She had very little experience using magic, and she had no time to try anything too ambitious, but in her one time using magic as Eda, she learned something. She was good at doing damage.

So, with a change of stance, a close of the eyes, and a circle of the hand, Luz could hear a beam of magic coming from her. She opened her eyes and saw it for herself. It was just like when she was in Eda's body, but it felt different. Eda was supposed to be the most powerful witch out there, but this felt stronger. This felt purer, more focused, and it felt good.

When Luz followed her beam with her eyes, she saw Belos at the end of it, pinned against a wall with his staff on the floor.

Just when she thought she had won, she saw him again, the Golden Guard was limping his way over to where Amity stood with a busted lip. She looked drained, and her lack of attack supported that theory.

She told herself she wouldn't try anything too risky, but when the Golden Guard raised his staff at Amity and she seemed unable to dodge whatever attack would come, she used her other hand and sent a beam of magic at him as well. Her hold on them was weaker now, but she had to be doing damage to them.

When she turned to face Belos, she noticed that she had lost him, so she let go of both the Golden Guard and Belos's restraints and focused on Belos, who was writhing on the floor.

"I should have just disposed of you when I had the chance," Belos remarked.

Luz didn't respond to his cruel words, instead giving him a sly smile, using a one-liner that she had been saving for some time now, "Knock, Knock, Emperor. Hell's waiting." She knelt down to his level, closed her eyes to focus, and pushed her hand on the center of her chest, and pushed the light of her spell deep into his heart.

She heard screams of pain through it all, but in the end, this was no man, no, this was a dark being of pure evil, and evil needed to be slain.

When the screams stopped, her eyes opened. She saw the man laying against her wall, raggedly breathing, but before she could go back in to finish him, he grabbed her hand with a torn glove.

He spoke, in a different voice than before, "It's over. It's finally over." He looked at Luz with half-lidded eyes, but he looked happy, despite being on death's door.

His breathing became more sparse. Luz pulled back her hand. She looked behind her to make sure the Golden Guard was making no advances, he wasn't. Instead, he stood, feet away, listening to the whole thing with a face of total shock.

As he struggled to breathe, the darkness faded from his face completely. His body looked far more human than before. He remained slumped against the wall, but he was aging rapidly, a product of being a thousand years old. But this wasn't Belos, this was her father. Belos wasn't a curse. Luz felt terrible watching him die in her arms, but it had to happen. He looked past Luz to Hunter and spoke in a deep, fading voice, "I love you."

He finally looked back at Luz and smiled.

"Thank you" were the man's last words, coincidentally the first words that Luz ever heard come from her father, or at least the real man, not the curse called Belos.

He closed his eyes and laid against the wall, he was gone now.

Luz exhaled and stood up. She faced the Golden Guard and spoke sternly, "Leave."

He didn't take long to obey, bending down to grab his staff and vanishing away.

Luz took several baited breaths, expecting the boy to reappear and attack her, but after a few seconds, she caved, running to Amity, who was looking much worse for wear than before the fight.

"Is it finally over?" Amity asked. Luz grabbed her shoulders and looked into her eyes for a moment. She was clearly still on edge, but when Luz pulled her in for a hug, all was right again, except, of course, the fact that the two were very much injured and required a good night's sleep in order to feel even the tiniest bit better.

The hug lasted a while, neither party wanting to pull away. So much had happened, the implications of which were untold, but here they were, in this moment, finally free from fear, so they wouldn't let go, not for a while. Even when they were so horribly maimed from the day-long fight, they didn't want to be anywhere else, besides in each other's arms.

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There was unrest with the rest of the group. They had no idea where Luz and Amity went, but they knew they were in trouble. Luz said that she knew where she needed to go and that she had communicated with the Titan, it was just so much to comprehend at once, and that was leaving out the fact that two dimensions literally just collided, leaving thousands homeless and possibly more injured or dead.

They had saved as many people as they could, but among the familiar faces they did manage to find, there was an equal amount, maybe even more, that were missing.

It was called the Day of Unity, but the group felt more disjointed than ever, possibly losing Luz and Amity only made things worse. What would they do when things all calmed down? Where was Belos? What was he planning? Would things only be worse after everything that went down?

All these questions plagued Eda's mind. She stood amongst the ruins, staring into them, trying not to imagine what kind of trouble Luz had gotten into.

Both Camila and Lilith had tried to talk to her, but she was far too distracted. She had sent Owlbert off a while ago to find the two, but still no word. What if she had just given up yet another life that she valued by sending him out?

Doubt plagued her no matter what she tried diverting her thoughts to.

That was, until some faces that were both familiar and unwanted, approached her from the ruins.

Four faces to be exact, two of which were far more unpleasant than the rest, it was the Blight family, or, what was left of it at least.

The two children approached Eda with hope in their eyes, frantically asking questions like "Where is Amity? Have you seen her?" and even the odd "Is mittens trapped under all of that?"

Eda wasn't used to being bombarded by hopeful children, she already had the one to deal with for the past few months, but this was far worse.

She tried to stop their panic so she could take a deep breath and tell them what she knew, but they continued to shoot questions her way.

Finally, Eda managed to silence them with a loud "Shut up!" She placed her fingers on the bridge of her nose and squeezed in frustration.

The two children were silenced and their parents looked deeply offended.

Finally, Eda explained in a hushed tone, "I don't know where your sister is, she ran off with Luz to go fight the Emperor. I have no idea where she went or if they're okay, so having you two pelt me with questions isn't exactly helping."

The two looked at each other and then the ground. Camila, having heard the whole thing unfold, came to Eda's side and talked to the two teens, "Children, my daughter ran off and took your sister with them. I am sure they are okay, but we have not heard from them in the last hour or so, please, be patient and help us."

Her kinder tone was very appreciated by the two. Emira was the one to speak up next, albeit in a much calmer voice, "So, you're Luz's mother? Has Mittens been hitting on her this whole time?"

Camila gave a faint smile to the two as well as a slight nod.

At that moment, Eda sensed her palisman returning to her. It did so quickly, depositing himself on her shoulder and hooting at her. Of course, she was the only person to understand, having the connection with the palisman and all.

He told her exactly what she wanted to know, that he saw Luz and Amity at their house.

"Yeah, maybe that would have been a smart place to start looking… are they okay?" Eda asked her palisman.

He then went on to explain that when he saw her she was backed into a corner, so he didn't know. At that, the group set off on the staff in the direction of the house. The Blight parents stayed behind, but the teenage children hitched a ride with them, it was becoming a tight squeeze to fit so many people on the staff, but with Owlbert giving his best, they would reach their destination soon.

After only ten minutes, they arrived at the house. It looked no worse for wear from the outside, which gave Eda doubt that she would find her apprentice, but she pushed on, giving her last bit of faith to the delusion that she somehow could have defeated Belos without glyphs.

The front door to the house was shut and all was quiet, a sign that the battle was over. When Camila rushed to the door and opened it, Eda ran in first, prepared to defend her kin with all she had left. They scanned the room from left to right. What they saw was shocking.

There he was, lying dead against a wall, with a normal witch's face, Emperor Belos, and he was defeated.

The teens stared in shock at the body, but Eda and Camila continued their scan of the room, finally setting eyes on the two teens staring back that them, sat down in the kitchen. It was Luz and Amity, Luz wrapping Amity with bandages and Amity already having placed a bandage across Luz's forehead to cover her most obvious injury.

"Uh, hi guys…" Luz said with a slight surprise behind her words.

The next thing they knew, Amity had been tackled by her siblings in a crushing hug. Luz quietly giggled at Amity's annoyed expression.

"Good thing I don't have siblings-" Luz started, but was then tackled by her own friends, Gus and Willow, even if there was a long conversation to be had, it was still what she needed.

The adults in the room finally let out a sigh of relief and walked calmly up to the two as they laid on the ground.

It was Lilith who finally questioned the circumstances of their victory, asking "Belos was the most powerful witch on the Isles, how could you possibly defeat him?"

Luz looked at Amity from underneath the pile of bodies, stuck up her left hand, and a ball of light appeared, floating above the palm of her hand.

Everyone marveled at it, the pile of bodies on Luz disappeared, even if Amity was still covered, and finally, Eda smiled at the girl and said, "I told you,"

Luz smiled back and sighed, it was finally over, even if her house was in total shambles and the rest of the city was in disarray, the fight was over, tonight she could rest at peace with the world, tomorrow was when she would deal with the aftermath.

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In a flash of red, the Golden Guard appeared. He was in the Titan's skull. He looked around to make sure he was alone and cast an illusion to hide the entrance to the place. He was unsure of what to do now that his father was gone, and he was still pondering on it all. This was supposed to be the day that his fight would end, but now he had to carry it all on, to rebuild what his father had inadvertently destroyed. There were very likely still Emperor loyalists still out there, but he knew that their numbers had dwindled, for now, he needed to rest. He sat against a wall of the dark room and closed his eyes, but just before sleep could consume him and his exhaustion with it, a few people made their presence known in the room.

With blue-fired torches, nine cloaked individuals approached the boy. They all looked down at his slumped form, so he rose. Standing, cornered in the room, the man in front of the other eight cloaked individuals wearing a purple pendant spoke, "The Emperor has fallen, are you, the Emperor's son, his heir?"

The Golden Guard spoke with confidence inside him, "Yes, I am."

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: So, it's not quite over yet, is it. I was gonna end it off on a happy note with Luz, but I felt some explanation was in order, plus, some new villains? Anyway, if you didn't understand, the pendant is actually in Belos's real design, so I chose that to be the item that the spell was cast on, but the story was set in stone going into it, Luz would defeat Belos by pushing past a barrier he set for her and she would discover her true potential, or just scratch the surface of it. I was going to make the fight scenes longer as well, but it was already so long and I wanted to make it a better story instead because I know some people wanted some explanation on how things got to this point. If you have any questions about the story, feel free to comment them and I'll answer to the best of my ability as long as it doesn't spoil anything.

Also, thanks for the nutty amounts of support, we're at 1400 views now, 8 followers, and 5 favorites! The kind reviews you leave are also very appreciated and I like to dm you guys back, so please feel free to leave one for me!

I hope you enjoyed and look forward to the future of this story as much as I do because it takes a lot of time and effort to make these and I only want people to enjoy them as much as I do, so, thank you for coming on this ride with me and thanks to those who want to keep reading with me!

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Also, also, to those who have read Soul Bound, I left a joke about it in here when the Titan was talking to her, where it was weird and happened in a weird fanfiction once, yep, that was the joke, thank you for your time, also, I'm gonna finish that chapter now, it's already got a lot of progress, just need to finish it now, ya know. See you again soon!