I hope readers enjoy this last chapter. A sequel will be written once season two starts to air.

Luz-beast slowly woke up. She sniffed the air for any signs of trouble. She smelled nothing unusual. Her big eyes didn't see any danger. Her ears twitched as she picked up the sounds of someone approaching her hidden den.

Growling softly, she tested her wing and bit back a snarl. It was still injured. Worse, the muzzle wouldn't come off. Slinking backward, she waited in the dark to see what happened next.

The healers came into the cave after spotting Luz-beast's tracks. The guards escorting them had their weapons ready. The healers had warned them it would be better to use them to keep their target secure before knocking her out with magic.

"According to these tracks, her right wing is damaged. She won't be able to fly away," the new head healer remarked. He was a normal looking witch with blond hair.

"We should still approach with caution. We can't be certain if her rational mind has returned," the second healer commented. He was a cyclops witch

"Let's hope they have," the third one said. She was a sun-shaped face witch.

Everyone proceeded further into the cave, casting light spells to see. They came across the cavern where Luz-beast had been sleeping.

The guards studied the area. "She was sleeping here. The impression on the floor verifies that. The question is where she is now?"

They cast brighter light spells searching the darkness. They saw a shadow of something hidden behind some stalagmites. They cautiously approached keeping an eye on the shadow.

When they were about two feet away, the guards ran and jumped on top of the rocks thrusting their weapons down. To their surprise, there was nothing there except another rock.

Before they could think, something dropped down from the ceiling on top of them. Luz-beast dug her talons deep and spun around, throwing the guards off her talons and into a group of stalagmites.

The sun-shaped face healer face started to light up, blinding Luz-beast. The healer then proceeded to cast a calming spell.

Before it could touch Luz-beast, her entire body glowed bright orange. She let out a screech as a force field formed around her body. The spell bounced off the force field.

The sudden use of magic made the teenager seize up as her entire chest tightened. It felt as if she was being squeezed to death. She started to thrash about. The other two healers moved in to restrain her.

They weren't prepared for their patient to throw up abomination goo. They lost their balance and went sliding into the wall. Noticing all threats were down the crazed beast took off running.

The cyclops healer pushed himself up. "I think we're going to need more help if we're to get our patient back by sunrise."

Meanwhile, the confused hybrid was running as she searched for a path out of the canyon. The pain in her body was spreading from her chest to her legs. She pushed past the pain until she collapsed.

Feathers were falling off as she panted. The hybrid was severely thirsting. She sniffed the air and smelled water close by. If she was going to be able to drink, she needed to get the muzzle off her face.

Using her hands, she pulled as hard as she could, but the muzzle would not budge. She tried several times, but it didn't work. Moaning, she hunkered down and started crying.

As she did, her tears turned red. Upon touching the muzzle it started to dissolve. Luz-beast wasn't aware of this until she realized her face wasn't in pain anymore.

Since she could now feel her face, the hybrid knew she could finally drink. Walking on all fours, Luz-beast followed the scent of water until she came upon a small creek.

She drank as much as she could. Once she was finished, the hybrid used her senses to determine if there was danger near her. Her hearing detected a large group was forming near the cave.

The beast's brain understood it was a large pack coming to hunt her down. With an injured wing and pain all over her body, she would be easy prey. If she was going to survive it was vital to get out of the canyon before finding a way to heal herself.

Her eyes detected a small path that led to the lip of the canyon. Hopefully, the hunters wouldn't notice it in the dark. Grunting, the creature followed the path up.

It was the afternoon, and Amity was mentally preparing herself for her first tutoring session. Until the Construction Guild got their down payment, they would not build the training center. So she would be using the Abomination classroom instead.

Her parents called it negotiating. Amity knew it had to do with all the rich parents not wanting to spend a snail more than they had to in building the training center. Her parents had continued to voice their disdain between congratulating Edric and her for getting the convenient positions.

"You can do this Amity. They're your classmates, not strangers. I can do this," she whispered to herself. Taking a deep breath, she entered the classroom and stood in front of the blackboard.

She did her best to smile encouragingly. "Welcome to Abomination Tutoring Session. The Emperor had decided it is in the Boiling Isle's best interest to produce quality witches."

She looked at her classmates, several were glaring at her. She tugged on her cowl and continued to speak. "I was chosen by Emperor Belos to help the witches in this track reach their highest potential. I believe everyone has to start with the basics and move up. So we'll be starting with learning about the goo used in making abominations."

She started writing the ingredients on the board when she felt someone use their magic the jerk the back of her cowl causing her to fumble the chalk. Picking it up again she finished writing the ingredients.

"To make the perfect abomination the goo must consist of at least three pounds of enchanted mud. The best mud is usually found by watering holes of local animals.

"Next, you need to have the appropriate amount of slug slime. It's best to use fresh snail slime because it has better elasticity. Remember to add at least one quart for every foot tall your abomination is.

"Lastly, it's important to use a strong bonding element. Tree gum is good to use for a first-timer. Other agents include flour, rice, and my personal favorite, cockatrice eggs."

The others were whispering behind her again. She heard one of them call her a teacher's pet. Thinking about how Luz was treated as a pet, she shuddered.

She tried to push Luz out of her mind as she got ready to explain the proper heating process. Before she could even write on the chalkboard her phone rang.

Embarrassed, she turned the phone off. Amity started to talk about how to keep a fire going when Gus busted inside the room. "Amity! We need your help! It's an emergency!"

Amity's face turned red. "GUS! I'm tutoring students right now! What could be so important that you would interrupt me on my first day?"

"Your Azura friend is in trouble."

Amity's face went from red to white. She knew who he was talking about. She turned to the class and said, "If you guys practice perfecting your abomination recipes, will you not tell the teacher I left early?"

The class whispered and agreed. Amity thanked them and then ran out of the classroom following Gus.

"What's wrong with Luz? The last time I saw her she didn't look physically hurt."

"Not sure. Lilith's palisman, Nevermore, flew into a rook and the other ravens told him that a strange beast matching Luz's description, was being hunted by the Emperor's coven."

A million thoughts rushed through Amity's head. Had Luz's plan of being a double agent been discovered? Was this a false rumor? Whatever was going on she had to know.

At the Owl House, Eda was looking over a map of the Boiling Isles. The Bat Queen's kingdom covered the woods from the edge of Bonesborough and they stopped ten miles from the canyon near the Emperor's Palace.

King circled the ten-mile stretch. "Luz is somewhere in there. It's a really dangerous area. Thick forests that you can't fly through. Poisonous gases leak up from the ground. Not even the water is safe. Water demons love to attack unsuspecting travelers."

"Our girl is tough King. She'll do whatever it takes to get away from being hunted," Eda told him as she patted his head. Her fang cut into her lip. Deep in her bones, she knew something was wrong.

Lilith came down the stairs huffing. Nevermore flew around her head a few times before settling down a nearby chair. "I used up a lot of favors to get this information Edalyn. If this is a trick to get us to leave the Bat Queen's kingdom then I just condemned myself."

Eda let out an exasperated sigh. Right before she could get Lilith to spill her guts, Hooty opened the door. "We have a lot of guests coming over! Are we having a slumber party? I love slumber parties.

"Can it Hooty, we're coordinating a search party, not having a slumber party." Hooty sighed and closed the door as the last person entered the house.

All six of Luz's school friends had made themselves comfortable. Their expressions were grim. They all wanted to know what was going on with their friend.

"According to my contact, Emperor Belos ordered his healers to perform experimental surgery on his valet. My contact didn't know much about the surgery other than it had to be performed while Luz was in her full human state.

"Since Emperor Belos has been going on about the Day of Unity, he thinks the surgery might have been an attempt to gift Luz with magic."

The others gasped as Lilith continued to speak. "Something happened after the surgery. Luz had been recovering normally. At one point last night something hurt her enough that she busted out of the castle and has been running wild ever since."

Viney understood better than the others what dangers faced Luz-beast. A wild animal would be running and hiding to avoid being caught. If cornered, the animal would lash out at anyone close.

If surgery had been performed it could be causing problems to the Luz-beast hybrid body. Problems that could lead to death. It was vital they find her and quickly.

"We need to form a search party and look for her. In her state, she's more dangerous to herself. If we bring her back here, I might be able to help her."

"We also have to avoid being caught by the Emperor's Coven. If they see us searching for her and taking Luz-beast back to BQ's kingdom, they'll know something is up," Willow added.

As the group planned their search and rescue party, Eda glared at the suppressor anklet. She wanted to rip it off and go search for her daughter and instead, she was helpless.

Wait, there was something she could do to help her child. She needed to start making her new staff. Leaving the children to plan their rescue party, Eda put on her cloak and went outside to find the perfect branch.

Luz-beast was tired and hungry. She had been loping for a long time. Her hunters never stopped coming at her. Her tricks kept her ahead of them for now. If she didn't get more distance they would catch her.

Growling in frustration, she clawed at her useless wing. If it wasn't broken, she would be able to get out of here and to safety.

There was another sharp pain from her chest forcing her to the ground. She rolled over several times, not noticing a dark blue light cover her wing. When the pain stopped the hybrid noticed something.

She flexed her wings and found the broken one had healed. Luz-beast didn't understand how it happened. At that moment a headache started to form in her brain.

Her hands clutched her head. She stomped her feet not noticing they glowed green. A strange plant grew in front of Luz-beast. She was hungry enough to eat the flower.

Her stomach instantly felt full. The hybrid didn't question how it happened. With a full stomach and her headache fading, she flexed her wings and took off.

The Emperor's Coven had been tracking the emperor's valet for hours. When the deadline had passed, heads did roll. Emperor Belos had cut off his healers' heads and rolled them all over the palace.

Thankfully, most healers knew the spell for removable body parts so they didn't die. The bad news, they wouldn't be getting reattached to their bodies anytime soon.

The entire coven knew if they didn't get Luz-beast back before sunrise the next day, Emperor Belos would certainly take his anger out on them. If he was going to this much trouble to recapture his valet, then she had to be vital for the Day of Unity.

The new head of the Emperor's Coven had been chosen only a few days before. Finding to find someone who measured up to Lilith's standards had been difficult.

The new coven leader was a witch named Llorona. She was of average height with black hair and olive skin. Her eyes were a watery blue and she had teardrop tattoos under her eyes. Unlike other members of the Coven, she wore a white dress.

"Isn't there a better way to track the girl? Emperor Belos placed a tracking spell on her torc. Why haven't we used it?" Llorona asked the trackers.

The trackers explained the torc hadn't been adjusted to recognize Luz-beast magic. Her spontaneous spurts were causing interference.

Llorona rubbed her head. "Have our aerial trackers spotted anything?"

"They keep spotting images of her, but they turned out to be illusions. With the beast mind in control, it probably doesn't know it's casting them."

It was both fascinating and concerning the amount of magic the former human was using. They had seen her use a beast keeping force field to protect herself. Found drops of red bard tears around the muzzle she had.

Now she was using sky blue illusions. What else was she capable of? A report came in from an aerial tracker. They had seen something unusual on the ground and went to investigate it.

The tracker had found signs of plant and healing magic. The hybrid's wing was fixed so she would be able to fly. "Enough of this. We're done chasing this monster. Time to make her come to us."

In the Bat Queen's kingdom, the six students, along with King and Puddles the griffon, were checking out the ten-mile stretch hoping to find Luz-beast. Everyone had paired up for protection.

So far they had checked two miles flanking the Bat Queen's domain. So far there had been no sign of either Luz-beast or the Emperor's Coven.

Amity was with Barkas and had three abominations searching for traces of her friend. "None of my abominations have found a trace of Luz yet. Can you smell anything?"

Barkas shook his head. His sense of smell was slightly better than most. It wasn't at bloodhound level either. He wiggled his ears listening to the sounds of the forest.

"The trees are blocking most of the sound. I think we need to stop and use an oracle potion to help us search."

Amity didn't understand what Barkas said. She did, however, pick up on his body language, and knew what he wanted. She took out a portable cauldron from her backpack as well as potion ingredients.

Barkas slipped his backpack off and started rummaging through the contents pulling out different crystal balls. He barked quietly as he went through them until he found a small white one.

He quickly brewed up a friendship potion and mixed it with a crystal ball for viewing present events from a distance. The potion turned from white to lavender. A viewing portal sprang into existence.

In the viewing portal, they saw Luz-beast coughing badly. There was a large amount of smoke around her. Their friend was stumbling around poisonous gas vents.

Both Amity and Barkas observed Luz-beast eyes flashing purple. She twisted her body and jumped sideways to avoid a falling tree. She couldn't have seen it through the smoke.

"Can you tell me where she is? I can't think of any place with gas vents in this area."

"I don't either. That smoke isn't from the gas vents. It's from a fire!"

Amity gasped as she recognized the barking sound for fire. She instantly used her phone. "King! Can you and Puddles see the fire from the air?"

"I see the fire, but that's not the only thing I see!" the demon exclaimed through his borrowed phone. Puddles started hovering as they looked at the disaster approaching them.

The Emperor's Coven had cast a large natural disaster spell! Aside from a forest fire, King could see water levels rising unnaturally. Puddles was forced to dodge as a thunder-snow cloud rushed towards them.

"They're destroying everything in sight! Why would they do that?"

Viney jumped into the phone conversation. "They're trying to flush Luz out. The storm disaster is being directed to destroy the areas with the best hiding spots. They're trying to maneuver her to a zone where they can catch her."

Jerbo added, "My plant abominations sensed the western section of this area is not under attack. That must be where they're herding her. Let's meet up there."

Luz-beast was panicking. She had gotten out of that nasty smoke, only to find herself on a patch of land that was rapidly shrinking because of the rising water.

The thunder-snow storm made flying too dangerous. The hybrid looked around looking for a way to safely cross. She started to sneeze multiple times as brown boogers flew out.

The boogers became stones and formed a bridge to get her across. Luz-beast ran across the bridge. The ground was becoming mush so she launched herself into the trees.

That's when the ground started to shake. The trees started to shake and bend. She angrily spate a pink substance on the ground. From the spit, several abominations formed from the mud.

They kept the trees standing straight. Thankful for the help, the hybrid continued on her way. At the top of the tree, Luz-beast surveyed the area. The storm was moving closer blocking her path.

To the west was a meadow. It was a fair distance away though the hybrid was certain she could make it if she was fast enough. With great force, she pushed off from the tree and soared through the sky.

The Emperor's Coven was waiting on the edge of the meadow. Their massive storm had worked. It worked a little too well. They had lost control of it for a short time. This forced them to move from their original capture zone.

The meadow was on the border of Bat Queen's kingdom. The kids had finally regrouped. They were hiding behind the trees. King and Puddles had gone to get Eda and Lilith.

The kids watched in terror as Luz-beast flapped her way towards the meadow. She was unaware of the danger.

"We've got to do something. We can't let them capture Luz again," Gus hissed.

"I know Gus, but we can't be obvious about it. If we're caught, we can't talk our way out of this," Willow replied.

Amity ignored the conversation. In the afternoon light, it appeared as if the sunbeams were bouncing off her friend's ears. Then her eyes widened in disbelief a blast of yellow fog started to cover the meadow.

"Cough, where did this…cough, fog come from?" Jerbo asked between coughs.

"This is a basic fog potion! Yet, I didn't see anyone uncork a bottle of it. It's almost as if someone cast it!"

The fog grew denser blocking the Emperor's Coven's line of sight. They were all coughing and struggling to get out of the fog. "Disperse the fog!" Llorona shouted.

A series of wind spells cleared the fog revealing a snarling Luz-beast. Her body was glowing in a rainbow of colors. The coven members quickly cast net spells and captured their prey.

Unfortunately, the nets didn't hold as a surge of magic broke the nets and swept across the area. The amount of magic was so powerful it knocked all the coven members out and burned up the grass. It even burnt the trees forcing the kids to move quickly to safety.

Luz-beast panted heavily having used up a lot of magic. She fell flat on her face unable to move.

"LUZ!" the group sprinted out of the forest. They reached her within seconds. Viney started checking her over.

"Her heartbeat is erratic and her lungs sound weak. She must have inhaled some of the smoke from the fire. I don't know what the normal temperature is for a cursed human, but she's really hot. We need to cool her down."

Barkas summoned ice and placed it on Luz-beast's head. She shivered for a second before relaxing.

"I need some oasis berries stat. They should help clear out her lungs."

Jerbo and Willow quickly grew some while Gus moved Luz-beast jaws up and down. He then tilted her head forcing her to swallow the bits of berries.

Amity summoned a large abomination that was strong enough to carry Luz-beast to safety.

"We should hurry. If we get her back to…"

The air started to hum loudly. In the middle of the air, the symbol of the Emperor's Coven hung. In a burst of gold light, it vanished, leaving Emperor Belos floating in the air. His staff held in his right hand.

The kids froze in shock. None of them had expected the emperor to suddenly appear in front of them.

The man landed on the ground and looked around. "It seems my coven underestimated my servant," he tutted.

He focused his attention on the kids, who had formed a circle around his valet. "Ah, so that's why the tracking spell finally worked. Poor girl exhausted herself.

"Many thanks, children for coming to my valet's aid. I'm not surprised a top student like Ms. Blight would gather friends to find my missing servant."

Amity stood up and blocked the three double track students from sight. She had to give them a few seconds to disguise their duel colors. "Emperor Belos, it is an honor to see you once more," she said while bowing low.

"Luz-beast is very sick. We were administering first aid. My abomination is ready to take her to the Bonesborough hospital for treatment. Would you like to follow us there?"

Emperor Belos gave a little laugh as he walked over until he was a foot from the group. "I am grateful for your help. I see no need to take my valet to the hospital. My healers can treat her as they are more familiar with her condition."

There was a tiny moan that caught everyone's attention. Luz-beast's eyes opened and they were no longer red, but normal again. "What a nightmare. At least I'm cough awake."

"LUZ!"

Luz-beast blinked a few times, trying to clear her head. She looked around her and realized she wasn't in the hospital wing. Her friends were looking at her in concern.

"Hey, what's going on?" she asked confused. She grunted as her torc tightened for five seconds.

The others reached out to help her, but she shook her hand indicating they should stop. She wobbly got to her feet and looked past her friends. Her stomach filled with dread when she was Emperor Belos was standing a foot from her.

"It's nice that you have come to your senses. I expect you have an explanation for losing control and running away?" His servant opened her mouth to reply. He snapped his fingers and she closed her mouth.

"You can explain your actions once we return to the palace. I would also like to know more about your use of magic. Come along, now," he commanded.

Despondently, Luz-beast started to shuffle over to him when a loud voice shouted. "STOP!"

Luz-beast recognized the voice. She started to panic as she turned and saw Eda and King standing in the forest. Her breathing hitched and her heart started beating too fast again.

"Edalyn Clawthorn. You can't help breaking the rules can you?"

Eda snorted before staring him down. "I'm not breaking the terms of my exile. The forest is the Bat Queen's domain and I haven't left it. I still can't use magic and I have enough bite marks on me to prove I've been taking care of those little devil bats.

"What's is important is I won't let you continue to torture my foster daughter anymore. I want you to release her right now!" Eda snarled.

"That's right! Luz belongs with us because we're her family."

"Eda, King please ahhhhh!" The torc tightened a bit more. The kids wanted to help her only they couldn't. If they did, the emperor would know they weren't completely loyal.

"Kids, go with King. He'll escort you to the edge of the forest near Bonesborough. There's no reason for you to get accidentally hurt."

Emperor Belos agreed and ordered them to go back home. The kids had no choice, but to follow King. King led them away, whispering they were going back to the Owl House.

Meanwhile, Emperor Belos was staring down Eda. Luz-beast was in between them, unsure what to do.

"It's time to go valet. The healers need to check you out."

"Luz, you don't have to go with him. You pledged to serve him the rest of your life as a human. You're not completely human anymore. You can choose who you want to go with yourself."

The torc did tighten, compressing her neck slightly. Luz-beast struggled to get enough air to breathe.

I want to go with you, Eda. Once I knew you were completely safe I would have found a way to return Luz-beast thought to herself.

I don't remember how, but I lost complete control of myself. My mind protection glyph is failing. If it goes completely, I could kill someone. Maybe I was stupid to think I could outwit Emperor Belos.

Luz-beast took two steps towards Emperor Belos. Underneath his mask, he was smiling in delight. It was nice to see the training he did with her paid off.

Eda moved half a step forward. She was still in the forest. If she took four full steps forward she would be in the Emperor's kingdom. She wasn't going to give up on Luz.

"You're stronger than this kid! Why are you letting someone else tell you what to do? The Luz I know would refuse to conform to societies' rules. You're a weirdo and proud of it.

Seeing her student pause for a moment, Eda took full advantage of the situation. "You are Luz Noceda. A human girl who rediscovered glyph magic. The one who faced me in my curse form to help get me back to normal.

The only known human to get admitted to a magic school. Think about all your friends. None of them would be who they are if they hadn't met you. You never give up. So don't give up now."

Luz took a single step back and she screamed as the torc started sending jolts into her body. Wanting it to end, she started crawling towards her master. It didn't matter what she wanted. The oath compelled her actions.

Eda saw that Luz was struggling. She was getting closer to Emperor Belos. As soon as he took her hand, Luz would be gone forever.

She took another step closer. Two more and she would violate the terms of her exile. The old her would say screw it and have gone after her kid. The new Eda knew she couldn't betray Luz's sacrifice.

There had to be something she could say to get Luz to fight for herself. Should she mention the girl's mother? No, Belos had the means to send Luz home making the girl go to him.

She had used her friends already. Reminded the teenager what she believed in. What words would work?

Luz-beast was only a few crawls from Belos when Eda realized what words needed to be said. "Luz Noceda, I'm proud of you for just being you."

Those words stopped Luz-beast. For so long, she wanted to hear those words directed at her. Her teachers and classmates had always said she was an embarrassment. The neighbors had called her loco.

Her mom had said she was proud that she was going to Reality Check Camp. Her mom was not proud of who she was. Emperor Belos had been proud that he had tamed her.

Eda was just proud of who she was. She didn't care about accomplishments or acceptance. She saw Luz-beast as a person who was happy with who they are. That was enough for her.

Luz stopped in her tracks and stood up. She started walking towards Eda. She was halfway there when she fell to the ground. The purple oath binding circle had encircled her.

"You can't walk away from a Forever Oath. If you attempt to break it, you'll suffer the consequences," Emperor Belos said. With a wave of his hand and leash attached to the torc.

He started to drag Luz-beast away. The hybrid tried to dig her fingers into the ground. She held herself in place for only a minute before she was pulled away.

I am Luz Noceda. The first student at Hexside to study all magical tracks. I'm the apprentice of Eda, the Owl Lady. I have six great friends I never thought I would have.

I'm King's partner. I'm in the boo-boo buddies club with Owlbert and Hooty. I won the respect of the Bat Queen and her subjects. I beat Warden Wraith and survived being a servant to Emperor Belos.

I choose my own path!

The magic bile sac inside her grew and stretched. Magic filled her body wanting to be released. She spread herself out and relinquished control.

A mini explosion occurred, which was seen for miles. The entire island shook. In the throne room, the heart of the Titan began to beat strongly once more to Kikimora's astonishment.

At the epicenter of the event, the adult witches had been thrown through the air, before hitting the ground hard. Neither could believe the power they had just witnessed. It was stronger than either of them.

In the crater, the teenager was back in her full human form. The dress she had been wearing was in tatters. The beads had fallen out of her hair. Also, something weird had happened.

A tattoo of the Forever Oath spell circle had formed around the teen's right arm. The magic had taken the right side of the torc and reconstructed into an armband that encircled her upper arm.

The left arm looked normal. The torc piece was gone. Also strange was that the interlock had disappeared. Luz felt whole again for the first time in weeks.

Getting to her feet, Luz ran over to Eda. "Eda! Are you okay? Speak to me, please!"

"Stop shouting, you're giving me a headache," Eda moaned. Rubbing her head she realized that her student was next to her in the woods.

Even though she did like hugging, she threw her arms around Luz and held her tightly. "I've missed you, kid."

"I've missed you too, Eda."

Someone started clapping and the two of them realized that Emperor Belos was back on his feet. He stood on the edge of the Bat Queen's territory. "A touching reunion, but I do believe it's time to return home.

"A punishment is in order. You disobeyed me. I think you'll find solitary confinement enjoyable." He cast his leash spell again and it latched onto the armband.

He pulled on it and was surprised when he got zapped by purple energy. He stumbled back a step. That's when he felt something latched onto his left arm.

The explosion had damaged his outfit leaving part of his left arm exposed. He also had the Forever Oath spell circle tattooed on his arm. The left side of the torc was around his upper arm.

To both his and Luz's astonishment, his armband moved half an inch down his arm. Her armband glowed for a second. The teenager had no clue what was going on. Eda, however, knew what this was.

"You're both still bound to each other. The oath has been bent, not broken. You're not fully human, Luz. So anytime he uses his magic on you, he breaks the strength of his side of the oath.

The reverse is true for you. If you harm him in any way, you lose a bit of your freedom. The oath will return to normal once one of you has used up your side of the oath."

Luz didn't know what to think about that. A chill went down her spine when she heard Emperor Belos laughing maniacally.

"It seems my valet is on a small vacation for now. That's fine with me. Eventually, you'll return on your own, child. After all, only my healers know how to keep you healthy. I also have the means to send you home, child.

"Enjoy your freedom for now. I'll be waiting for your eventual return." With another laugh, he teleported away.

Eda kept her arms around Luz. It seemed their business with the emperor was not over yet. "Come on, let's go home."

At the Owl House, everyone was happy to have Luz back. They all hugged Luz, who returned them. She tried to be her cheerful self and failed. She felt somber about her future.

"So what happens to me now? I have a magic bile sac. I can perform magic on my own but at the cost of my health. Every time I used magic, it hurt my body badly."

"This is an unknown precedent. No human in history has had a witch's bile sac transplanted inside them. The problems associated with this will be unpredictable," Lilith explained softly.

The others assured her they would be there to help her figure this out. Right now, there were more pressing issues.

Eda sat down next to Luz and locked hands with her. "I appreciate everything you did to help me, Luz. There's only one way to thank you." Taking a deep breath, she added, "You need to give me back my curse."

"No!, Eda, I can handle this. You saw me. I have control over this!"

"You lost control, remember? You're not sure how, but you know it was because of someone hurting you. Your body is just not strong enough to handle being cursed.

"With your new bile sac, the curse could accelerate faster than it did for me. Please let me help you."

"But you'll be trapped in your owl-beast form forever!"

Lilith cleared her throat. "I was the one who cast the curse. I will take it on as well. With it split, there's a chance that neither of us will fully turn."

"Let them help you, Luz. That's what family does," King piped up.

Holding back the tears, she simply nodded. Once more, using the glyphs, the curse flowed out of Luz's body and into the sisters. When it was over, there were small changes in their bodies.

After giving Luz a few minutes to recover, Amity spoke up. "It's too dangerous for you to return to Hexside Luz. Emperor Belos knows you go there. He can force a situation that will use up your freedom time."

Willow nodded in agreement. "You can't leave the Bat Queen's kingdom. Her protection is the only thing keeping him out of the forest."

"We can still visit. We'll teach you everything you need to know about magic," Gus stated.

Viney added that Jerbo, Barkas, and she could talk to other students in the different tracks. Get the supplies she would need to keep learning about the different magic tracks.

For now, it was the best solution. Eda and Lilith were still powerless. It would take time to figure out how to undo the glyphs on the anklets since Belos had them altered.

Even with the terrible situation, Luz was in, she still smiled. She was back with her family and friends. She could still learn to be a witch.

One day, maybe she would be strong enough to break the bond between her and Emperor Belos. The future was looking bright indeed.