Elsewhere, Luz made it to the library. She found an alley to transform back in, walking out casually as she dusted her clothes off while making sure her hood was up.
"Alright, let's see if Amity is here today." Luz said, walking up the steps of the library.
She opened the door and headed to the kid's section.
'Amity said she usually reads to the younger kids, so that's the best place to find her.' Luz thought.
She did find Amity there, reading about the animals of earth from the book she found earlier.
"And this majestic creature is called a Tiger, one of the strongest cats in the Human Realm. My personal favorite, is the Bengal Tiger, because they can occasionally give birth to a tiger with white fur." Amity said, flipping the page and showing the pictures of tigers.
"Ooooh!" The kids let out, fascinated by the earth animals.
'Where did she get that book?' Luz thought in surprise.
Amity flipped a few pages.
"And this, is a Jaguar, an apex predator in the area it inhabits." Amity said, flipping the page to a black version, "And this is a Black Jaguar, commonly referred to as a Black Panther. It occurs when a mutation happens, that prevents it from having the orange fur color. I believe this is the monster that's been reported in the woods, somehow getting to the Isles from the Human Realm, working its way up the food chain until it's the queen of the woods."
"Oooooh!" They let out as one child held up their hand.
"Yes, Braxus?" Amity asked.
"Is it's dark color also a means of camouflage in the night?" Braxus asked.
"Yes, yes, it is." Amity said with a nod, "According to the book, they hide in the trees, blending in with the shadows, and wait for hours for their prey to go under them. That's when they strike. Biting down on the back of their prey's head. A single killing blow, and then it will drag it to its den and eat it."
'Okay, this cannot be child-friendly.' Luz thought before hearing the kids cheer and clap. 'Dear god, this place has no limits at all, does it? A bet a graphic horror novel would just be 1st grade level here!'
"Okay, I think that's enough for right now." Amity said, closing the book, "Your parents will be here soon, so play a little while I put the book back, and remember, if the Panther shows up, she'll probably like being scratched behind the ears."
'Damn, that does sound nice.' Luz thought.
Amity walked up to Luz and kissed her cheek.
"Hi, Luz."
"Hey, Amity. Guess I wasn't exactly stealthy, was I?" Luz asked her.
"No, I noticed you right when you arrived." Amity said with a smile. "So, did you come here to see little old me?"
"Well, I'm on a mission." Luz said, "I'm helping King with something."
"Awe, this is what I like about you, you always help others." Amity said, scratching Luz behind the ears, "You are so adorable when helping others."
Luz got a relaxed look as Amity did that.
'Oh, she's right, I do enjoy this.' Luz thought.
Amity giggled at Luz's relaxed look as she leaned closer, stealing another kiss on her cheek.
"So, what exactly do you need to help King? I've studied the library system enough to help with nearly any subject." Amity said.
"We're looking for information about... Titans." Luz said.
Amity deflated at that.
"Well, that's the one thing I know nothing about." Amity said.
"What? Why?" Luz asked, no longer feeling the joy from ear scratched.
"All those books were destroyed decades ago, those that weren't are hidden and kept under lock and key." Amity said, "Listen, I'll go talk to Malphas, he's my boss and the owner of the library about this. Can you keep an eye on the kids while I do?"
"Sure." Luz said.
"Great. Oh, and one more thing, don't let any of them talk you into summoning a demon lord. They're not ready for that yet." Amity said before walking off.
"Sure thing." Luz said.
Luz walked to the kids.
"So, you're Amity's little readers, huh?" Luz asked.
"Who are you?"
"Oh, I'm Amity's... friend." Luz said, unsure if these kids understood what love is yet, "And she wants me to keep an eye on you while she's doing something for a minute."
"Really? What is she looking for?" Another one asked.
"Just... a book to help a friend." Luz said, "Now, what would you kids like to do?"
"Summon the dark lords!" A blonde with two pig tails said.
"Well... I can't do that." Luz said before coming up with an idea, "But... I might have an idea for something we can do. Do you kids know about the creature in the woods?"
The kids nod.
"I'm going to let you in on a little secret, but you can't tell anyone, okay?"
The kids all gave nods as Luz looked around the outside of entrance just to be sure nobody was around to see. She leaned down and whispered.
"I'm the creature of the woods." Luz said, "You see, I have a special power that allows me to turn into a Black Panther."
"Really?" One girl asked.
"Really." Luz said with a grin.
"Can you show us?" Braxus asked her. "Please?"
"Okay, but remember, this is a secret that only a select few know about." Luz said.
She got on the ground and shifted into her Spirit Animal. The children were in awe of the transformation and began crowding Luz in awe, wanting to touch her fur and see more of her features. One even scratched her behind the ears like Amity said. Luz subconsciously rolled onto her back because of that, showing her belly, which the kids began petting.
'Oh, I can see why cats like this.' Luz thought.
She heard footsteps and quickly shifted back.
"Good news, Luz, Malphas said you could- why is your hood down!?" Amity said, "Luz, you know you're not supposed to let your hood down in public!"
"Uh." Luz put her hood back on, "One of the kids was helping me with my hair, right kids?"
The kids nodded.
"That still doesn't explain your hood being down. And why would you let them do your hair?" Amity asked, crossing her arms.
"Uh... they wanted to." Luz said, "Uh, you know, I have to get going, thanks for the book, see ya!"
Luz quickly took the book and walked away. Amity just looked behind her.
"She told you about her power, didn't she?"
The kids just looked away and tried to act natural. Amity just facepalmed.
"That lovable idiot." Amity said.
Luz was walking with the book held tightly under her arm. It should be easy to get it back to the Owl House... until she smelt something... another animal... like nothing she's ever smelt before. It smelt like a jungle cat mix with a monkey and gorilla? But that was impossible, there's no way a normal animal would have the scent of other animals mixed unless it was crossbred. Yet in the demon realm, there's no such thing as normal.
'What is that and why does it worry me?' Luz thought.
Luz put the book down and shifted into her Panther form, growling at anything that could be there.
'Now where is it?' Luz thought, sniffing the air some more before prowling away from the book.
She sniffed the ground, catching the scent of the... thing. She followed it until she came upon a tree. She looked up and saw glowing eyes.
'There!' Luz thought, growling at the glowing eyes.
The shadow the eyes belonged to growled back.
"This is my territory, you are not welcomed here!" Luz said, but it came out as a roar
"Interesting, I've only heard rumors of you, creature." The shadow responded, also in a roar.
'This one must be related to this worlds version of panthers.' Luz thought.
"I hope the rumors weren't exaggerated too much. Now get out of my territory before I drive you out!" Luz said as a roar.
"No, I need to see this."
Jumping down from the tree and making Luz come back, the intruder to her territory made themselves known as she glared at them.
Luz growled at the intruder.
"Who are you?" Luz growled.
"I am Eberwolf, the head of the Beast Keeping Coven." Eberwolf growled.
'The Beast Keeping Coven? This is the head witch?!' Luz thought in shock, 'And close to the Owl House... I won't let you hurt Eda.'
Luz got low to the ground before she pounced.
"Have at you!" Eberwolf roared as he pounced as well, tumbling with Luz across the ground!
Luz roared at him, while Eberwolf growled and snarled, becoming more vicious and dangerous. The coven head pushed Luz off them, standing on their feet as they glared at Luz! Luz watched as their teeth became sharp and went in different directions, while his claws became longer. The two creatures circled each other while growling. Eberwolf was the first to make a move, jumping at Luz intending to claw her. Luz easily dodged and bit down on the back of Eberwolf's neck, holding him just like how her mom held Luz when she was a newborn cub. Luz violently shook Eberwolf before tossing him to the side. Luz ran at him and jumped, but this time Eberwolf was able to dodge and watched as Luz landed, before jumping on her and clawing at her. Luz shook and did everything to get him off. Eberwolf began to bite onto the back of Luz's neck. Luz roared in pain before managing to shake him off. Luz slammed her head into him and sent him back. The two growled at each other, wanting to prove that they're the ruler of the woods. They ran at each other when a yellow bubble formed around Luz, while Abomination goo stopped Eberwolf.
"Enough!" Eda said, "Luz, they're with me."
A fancy dressed man walked next to Eda, with a spell circle made.
"Eberwolf, I'm going to let you down, try not to bite anyone." The man said.
"No promises, Darius. And the beast started it, not me!" Eberwolf roared, pointing at Luz.
"You shouldn't be in my territory anyway!" Luz roared.
"Calm down, Kid." Eda said, "And shift back to normal."
Growling once more, Luz shifted back to her human self as Eberwolf changed back to his normal form as well and looked very surprised at Luz.
"The beast is a human?!" He roared in shock.
"Damn right I am." Luz said, easily understanding him.
"This day just keeps getting surprising." Darius said as he lowered his friend.
"So, what exactly are you guys doing here?" Eda asked.
"Well, the Golden Guard has learned about something important." Darius said, "Also... Belos learned you have a Titan."
"What?!" Luz and Eda asked!
"How?!/When?!" They said again!
"Not long ago. Said a scout managed to overhear it when he was spying on your home." Darius said.
"Hooty! You lazy demon!" Eda said.
"Where is King now?!" Luz asked as Eda set her down.
"He's at home." Eda said.
"I need to get that book I dropped, you head back to the house." Luz said.
"A book?" Darius asked as Luz rushed off to get it.
"Probably the last book in the titans! I got it for King!" Luz quickly said back.
Luz quickly grabbed the book and rushed to the Owl House… seeing the door blasted open.
"Luz… King is gone." Eda said.
"What?! No!" Luz shouted, dropping the book in shock, "He... he can't..."
Luz fell to her knees and started crying. Of all the people to get kidnapped, it was the one that Luz considers a little brother.
"It's not too late. Maybe Eber can sniff out where they went if they're still close or find tracks." Darius said.
"We'll try that, but first, you need to get the rebellion together." Eda said, "Belos has everything he needs, which means that he can perform the Day of Unity now. We need to get everyone together and come up with a plan... No one messes with my family and gets away with it."
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