A/N – Hey everyone! So I had this idea for a oneshot yesterday; yes, yesterday! I cannot believe I wrote 5k words in 4 hours. IT just seemed to flow out of me.
I hope that you all enjoy my version of the ending of Season 3. I added some elements that may not make sense for the show as we know it so far, but maybe give insight into events that happened earlier in my version of the story.
I hope you enjoy my version of Phillip's backstory and I hope it seems believable that he would become the monster we know he is.
As much as I hated to do it, people die in wars. And those that survive may never be the same. Maybe I am too much of a coward to have Luz make a tough decision regarding the portal and the human/demon realm.
I hope that Dana Terrence does not end the Owl House the same way that I do, but I know it will be satisfying and sad, as I have grown to love this show.
Please read and review :)
"You can't do this to me!" shouted the Collector. Tendrils of magic, all of varying hues, one for each of the nine covens, were wrapped around the child's scrawny limbs, binding him to the carved circle of stone at the crest of the hilltop.
Purple for Darius Deamonne and the Abomination Coven.
Red for Raine Whispers and the Bard Coven.
Orange for Eberwolf and the Beast-keeping Coven.
Brown for Mason and the Construction Coven.
Blue for Professor Venmore and the Healing Coven.
Light Blue for Edric Bight and the Illusion Coven.
Purple for Odalia Blight and the Oracle Coven.
Green for Willow Park and the Plant Coven.
Yellow for Morton and the Potions Coven.
But it was not enough.
The ancient spell was holding the Collector at bay for the moment, but only just. One more ingredient was needed.
"I don't want to go back in time-out!" screamed the Collector. "It's so boring in there!"
The child swiveled his head back and forth until his eyes found King, the little demon clutched in Eda's arms. Their eyes met.
"King, please! You promised we could play together!" The child's eyes were wide. Desperate. "You pinky swore!"
"I'm…I'm sorry, Collector." Said King, tears in his eyes. "But my friends aren't like you. I can't let you hurt them anymore."
Beyond the stone circle, the Boiling Isles were ripping themselves apart. Mountains were crumbling, forests were burning, new land was rising from the roaring waves of the boiling sea. Screams rent the air as witches and demons alike fought, and often failed, to survive.
"Eda! King!" shouted Lilith, holding a large spell book with an intricate rune carved onto the cover. "It's time! We need to affix the binding spell!"
From his perch in Eda's arms, King cast his eyes around the circle, taking in the chaos surrounding his friends.
Alador Blight, tears misting his eyes, was restraining his daughters with a single large abomination. Both girls were screaming out for their brother and mother. Alador himself was silent, devoting all of his concentration to protecting Emira and Amity.
Hunter stood shoulder to shoulder with Gus, the latter projecting a shield that formed a bubble, protecting both himself and Hunter, as well as Luz and Camila, who were huddled in each other's arms. Luz desperately scoured her mind for a helpful glyph combination, something, anything to help her friends. But nothing came.
"Remember, King!" Eda shouted, trying to be heard over the howling gale. "You only need a few drops!"
King gulped. He glanced back at his adopted mother. "I know. I'm ready."
Eda grinned, her golden fang flashing in the swirling magical light. "Go save the world, son."
Quick as a wink, Eda transformed her hand, slicing one of her claws across King's palm. Grabbing King, she threw him towards the magic circle with all of her might. King sailed through the air and landed on all fours; gathering both his breath and magic at the same time, King let out a mighty "WAH!". Blue blood from his slashed paw began to soak into the stone.
Rings of light and power erupted from King, echoes following his mighty shout, smashing over the stone circle, and causing many of the gathered witches to fall to their knees. The runes carved into the ancient stone circle began to glow bright white, forcing King to close his eyes against the glare.
The Collector screamed – a harsh sound that bit at the eardrums of everyone present on the hill, a sound so primordial that it would forever haunt the nightmares of every witch gathered to contain the celestial child.
From the earth sprang new tendrils, ropes of pure energy that wrapped around the Collector, pulling him down, down, down towards a particular stone – a stone that had fallen from the sky eons ago. A stone that had been retrieved by Edalyn and Lilith Clawthorne for just this occasion.
With one last lingering cry, the Collector was sucked down into the stone; blazing white runes began to appear as if traced by some unknown scribe. With nowhere else to go, the lingering energy sought the paths of least resistance and raced along the multicolored magic tethers towards the nine witches who, along with King, had successfully bound the Collector once more.
Although a few of the faster witches dissolved their magic tendrils before the rampaging magic could overtake them, the majority found themselves overwhelmed by the wild energies. There was a flash of light as the magical rebound impacted through their bodies.
The raging gale began to subside – the stinging wind reduced to a calming breeze. The distant sounds of cracking stone and violent seas began to lessen. The overcast sky began to lighten and clear.
Luz slowly opened her eyes, blinking them several times to restore her vision, which had been whited out by the sudden flash. She gazed around the magical circle, eyes and mouth widening in horror as she took in the violent aftermath of the Collector's re-imprisonment.
Darius Deamonne looked unharmed; he was holding the limp form of Eberwolf in his arms, running one hand absentmindedly through the Coven Head's unruly auburn hair.
Raine Whispers was standing protectively in front of Harpy Eda, her violin in her arms and a magic shield protecting both witches. Lilith was half obscured by one of Eda's wings, her eyes still squeezed closed.
Mason, the head of the Construction Coven, was lying on his back; kneeling next to him, Morton was rubbing a yellow potion into the bloody and shredded remains of what had recently been the lower half of his right arm, blood pooling around the pair as it ran down between Morton's fingers.
A piecing scream ripped through the chaos, horror, and like a knife. Luz felt her heart freeze; Odalia Blight on the ground, her arms wrapped around Edric's body, hugging her son to her. Blood was dribbling from a corner of the teenager's mouth and a patch of crimson was rapidly spreading over his chest, soaking his clothes. Emira ran over and slid to her knees next to her brother and mother, her hands already enveloped with blue light. Professor Venmore arrived a second later and joined her in healing Edric. Behind them, Amity clutched her father, her face buried in his robes; Alador stood stock still, his face pale and unreadable.
Finally, with a feeling of unwavering dread, Luz turned to where she had last seen Willow. Her breath caught in her throat as she caught a first glimpse of her friend. Hunter and Gus were on their knees on either side of Willow's body, each holding one of her hands in theirs; several breathless seconds passed for Luz until she realized, with an almost overwhelming feeling of relief, that Willow was breathing. She gently extricated herself from her mother's arms with a soft "Vuelvo enseguida, mami" and stumbled over to her three friends.
"Hey guys, did we win?" said Willow, her voice shaky and weak but with a hint of her usual bubbly self. Despite herself, Luz chuckled, happy that at least one friend seemed to be physically unharmed.
"Yeah, captain, we won." Said Hunter, squeezing Willow's hand. Willow smiled.
"Good, because someone owes me one copy of Cosmic Frontier."
"Willow!" Luz sank to her knees and wrapped her arms around Willow, who winced. "I am so so happy you're alright!"
"I think that depends on how you describe 'alright'." Said Willow, gasping in pain. Luz quickly released her grip.
"Sorry! Do you need a healer?"
"If you can spare one; I think I may have a broken rib." Willow said. She looked around. "Where's Amity?"
Luz felt a sudden drop in her chest; she had been so happy to see Willow alive that she had briefly forgotten about her girlfriend's current plight. Without answering Willow, she jumped to her feet and ran towards the Blight family.
Edric was lying unmoving in his mother's arms, Emira and Professor Venmore remained crouched over his still body. Luz approached Amity from the side – the pink-haired young witch was standing frozen, her eyes downcast, tears running down her face, her shoulders shaking. Luz tentatively reached out her hand and took Amity's.
"Amity?"
Amity turned to face Luz; the pair stared at each other before Amity launched herself into Luz's arms, gripping Luz so tight that Luz felt like she understood how a sponge felt being wrung out.
"He's not waking up, Luz!" Amity's voice was frantic but soft. "What if he – "
"Hey." Said Luz, running a hand through Amity's shoulder length hair. "Don't talk like that. Emira's great at healing magic."
Emira could feel herself fatiguing as she concentrated her magic on healing her brother's broken bones; the bleeding from the horrific wound that had been slashed open across his chest had ceased, but blood was still being lost internally. She shouted that she was feeling faint before she collapsed. Professor Venmore pressed on.
"Raine! Raine, you have to help!" Eda shouted, looking to her ex-partner, an unconscious King clutched in her arms. "I think you're the only one who can!"
Raine gulped; they nodded and summoned their violin, rushing over to stand amongst the mourning Blights. With a deep breath, they begin to play – notes began to ring out, layered over each other in a magical melody that warmed the souls of those gathered on the summit of the hill.
Raine began to play faster, introducing sharps and flats, key and tempo changes; a red swirl of magic began to spread from their feet, washing over Edric's body, combining with Professor Venmore's blue aura.
Edric gave a small gasp, followed by a cough. Amity covered her mouth and cried out in happiness – no words, just a sequel of happiness. She broke away from Luz and made to rush forward but Odalia held up a hand.
"Amity, I need you to see to Emira with Matty."
Odalia nodded to Professor Venmore, who had already knelt over the unconscious Emira, her hands covered in a blue aura. Alador rushed to his wife's side, all animosity towards her forgotten, at least temporarily.
Edric's eyes opened. He blinked a few times and then looked around in confusion. His eyes locked with Amity's, who was sitting a few feet away, Emira's head cradled in her lap.
"Hey, Mittens." He said. His voice was soft, almost a whisper, but strong and steady.
"Yeah, hi, Mittens." Said Emira, her eyes opening a fraction.
Amity covered her eyes and began to sob; it was loud, it was ugly, it was pure, raw emotion. Luz felt her knees go heavy and collapsed onto the wet grass of the hilltop.
All around, the last few dying notes faded away.
Silence. Broken only by the sounds of sobbing.
Suddenly…
Laughter.
The laughter that haunted Hunter's dream's every night. It echoed all around them, coming from everywhere and yet nowhere all at once.
Eda transformed into Harpy Eda, springing in front of Luz. One large hand shoved King into Luz's arms.
"Luz, take King and stay behind me."
Luz automatically closed her arms around the little Titan; she felt frozen in place, the unwelcome laughter of Phillip Whittebane metaphorically rooting her to the spot.
'No!' she pleaded in her head. 'no no no NO NO!'
In the center of the stone circle, white slivers of molten bone began to creep up the sides of the smooth-sided stone that now encased the Collector. Faster and faster than climbed as muscle and flesh began to cover them.
The stone was lifted from the ground as an arm began to form below it. This was quickly followed by the torso, head, and legs of Phillip Whittebane, his appearance human save for the hand that held the Collector's prison, which continued to morph and twist until the fingers were covered in a thick greenish goo and unnaturally long and spindly.
Belos smiled warmly at the group, appearing for all the world, save for one arm, as a kindly old man.
"Thank you. I dare say, I was rather concerned that you wouldn't find the tome until it was far too late."
Belos slowly turned to face Lilith.
"I needn't have worried. You truly are a wonderous historian, Lilith. Your help has proven invaluable to me…once again."
Lilith glared at Belos; her eyes flicked to King, who was still unconscious in Luz's arms. Belos did not fail to notice.
"Oh, you thought that the little Titan was the one who helped you? Perhaps something he saw in a dream?"
Lilith clapped a hand over her mouth.
"How…how can you possibly –"
"Please. The Collector may well be the most powerful being on the Isles at the moment, but you really think I didn't prepare for this?."
Belos paused, seeming to relish the looks of horror and loathing on the faces surrounding him.
"Poor Collector; he thought he was passing along information that would help locate a way to free himself. Instead, he only ensured his imprisonment and destruction!"
Belos raised his eyes to the smooth stone clutched in his hand, a crazy smile on his face.
"Because now his power is mine!" Belo said, his grip tightening. Red glyphs suddenly appeared along his arm, spreading to the stone that encased the Collector.
"NO!" Eda shouted, springing forward, one hand outstretched.
Belo squeezed. The stone shattered. The red glyphs began to spread over Belos' entire body, burning brighter and brighter. Eda was forced back by the wave of force.
Belos began to transform. His limbs elongated, horns sprouted from his head, and greenish slime enveloped him. His bones cracked and snapped as his form reconfigured itself. His knees suddenly snapped and reformed backwards. Yellowish vertebrae erupted from his back. His fingers lengthened and became claws.
Suddenly, the transformation reversed itself. Belos' form shrank and reshaped itself back into that of a man. A young Phillip Whittebane stood before them; his hair was pure white, and the right side of his face was covered by a blue mark, just as the Collector's had been. Finally, his eyes were yellow with red pupils.
"So, you have your power. What are you going to do now, Belos?" Said Eda, her wings still protectively covering Luz and King.
Belos smiled.
"I'm going to create a new draining spell. And finally rid this realm of the horrors of magic." Not 'wild magic'. Just 'magic'.
Belos' words triggered a series of memories to flash through Luz's mind: her first time reading The Good Witch Azura, emerging from the portal, and taking her first steps on the Boiling Isles, meeting Eda, Willow, and Gus, befriending Amity, enrolling at Hexside, her first kiss with Amity; all of the good magic had done in her life, and Belos wanted to destroy it?
She opened her mouth to shout Belos down, to tell him he was insane and blinded by anger, but a small claw shushed her. She looked down and saw that King was awake.
"Eda has a plan." King said, his voice so low Luz had to struggle to hear it.
"So, you would destroy all magic just because some witch stole your brother away?" Eda asked, smirking at Belos. "And they call me petty."
"Oh please, you witches forced my hand." said Belos, glowing red glyphs appearing on his limbs momentarily. He panted for a second before taking a few deep breaths.
"You poor souls only know a few carefully selected fragments, don't you? I suppose I should tell you the full story, perhaps?" Belos said, his voice now calm. "Yes, one last story, here before you die."
"I was born in a town called Windsor, in the human colony of Connecticut in the year 1602. My brother Caleb and I lived with our mother Alice and our father John. It was a simple life, one I enjoyed very much."
"One summer, there began a terrible plague, a pestilence, in our town. Many families died that year. Many more starved as our crops rotted in the fields. Livestock died and the air turned foul."
"One fateful day, I was out playing with my older brother. We were running through our fields when we came upon a young women who was standing over a dying man. As we watched, she did something I will never forget: she draw a circle of light in the air and suddenly the man was covered in an enchanted blue glow. As we watched, the man rose to his feet, hale and healthy, a far cry from the dying man in the ditch he had been only a few moments before."
"Earlier that summer, our parents had taken ill; full of hope, my brother approached the young woman and inquired if she would be willing to heal our parents. She agreed to do what she could."
"After healing our family, the witch attempted to cure our neighbors of their sickness. Sadly, they were too far gone and she was unable to save them. Despite this, I bore her no ill will. The neighbor's son, a boy a few years younger than I, and far too young to understand, shouted at the woman as to why she made his parents die. Several people, overhearing this, decided that she must have been responsible for their own family's misfortune as well."
"I can tell you I regret not speaking up, but what could a child of seven say to convince grieving people that a witch was trying to save their families, not condemn them? My father rushed to the woman's defense, but it was no use. She was killed for her alleged crimes."
Belos paused and hung his head. After a moment, he continued.
"We didn't know it at the time, but we made a horrible mistake. One night, as my brother and I were going abed, we suddenly noticed a light coming from the town proper. We raced to the window and saw that our town was aflame! We could make out faint flashes of light and hear distant screams."
"Suddenly, we saw them, coming down the road – a whole host of malformed beings. They were carrying staffs and swords and calling for blood."
"Our father burst into the room then; he shouted for us to follow him, that he would get us to safety. We raced down the stairs of our house, but the mob was already at our door. As they began to batter it down, our father pushed my brother towards the back of our home."
"'Run' he said, 'you need to protect your little brother!'. Just then, the door finally gave way and a tall man burst through, followed by what I, at the time, thought to be a monster but what I know now as a witch's abomination."
Belos' eyes flicked towards Alador.
"Before our eyes, that purple monster fashioned a long and curved blade from one of its arms and ran our father through. I shouted and tried to launch myself at them, but my brother gripped my arm and pulled me away. As we ran through the field behind our house, we heard our mother screaming."
"To this day, I will never forget that man's name, spoken as his monster stabbed my father through the heart."
Belos locked eyes with Alador.
"That man's name was Simon Blight."
Amity gasped, a sound echoed from several other sources around the hilltop. Ignoring them, Belos continued, his eyes grim.
"My brother and I wandered the countryside after that night, scavenging, stealing, but surviving. We encountered several more witches during our travels. We cut them all down without mercy."
"Eventually, we arrived in Gravesfield. Initially only planning on staying the night, we instead made it our home after discovering that the townspeople loathed witches and witchcraft nearly as much as we did. Reports came in everyday, of towns destroyed by witches, burned by witches, of monsters unleashed on humans, babies torn apart by demons. We established ourselves as witchhunters and began to fight back, to make the word safe again, for our kind."
"One day, my brother and I were ambushed and separated. I was able to fight off my attackers, but when I returned to the site of the ambush, I could not locate my brother. For days I searched for him, fearing the worst. First my father and mother, and now the witches had taken my brother from me. Days turned to weeks and my anger grew into rage."
"One day, I was walking through the town square when I heard a voice calling my name, a voice I recognized. There was my brother, accompanied by a beautiful woman with a wild mane of red hair. I was overjoyed to see him alive and well. When I asked him how he had escaped the vile witches, he beckoned me to follow him."
"We eventually reached the Gravesfield graveyard; I could tell my brother was hiding something. He turned to me and asked if I still desired to kill witches. I told him that I would not stop until every witch that threatened our world was dead. My brother gave me a sad smile and nodded to the woman accompanying us. She gave a whistle and a small bird, a cardinal, flew out of a tree and landed on my brother's shoulder. He held out her hand and the cardinal transformed into a magic staff before my eyes. 'Evelyn made this for me, Phillip' he said. 'With this, I can do real magic and perhaps help people just like that witch helped our parents all those years ago'".
"At first all I felt was disbelief; my brother, who hated all witches and magic, was standing here with the very thing we had sworn to destroy. He told me that our fight was at an end, that he was in love with…with Evelyn, and that we could find homes with her in a new realm, a realm of magic, far from the violence and hatred of our world. In that moment, I knew he was bewitched, and I attacked his witch."
"My brother and I had trained together for years, but he was still the stronger fighter. He fought me to a standstill and knocked my sword from my hand. He told me that Evelyn was with child and that I would not harm my future niece or nephew. I was agape; in that moment, my brother was dead to me. Seeing the truth in my eyes, my brother departed through a portal with Evelyn."
"Before the portal closed, however, I was able to pass through it and found myself on the shores of a lake in a strange new world. I searched for my brother and Evelyn for months, never having any luck. But fortune smiled on me, for one day, I discovered my brother in a town called Bonesburough. After searching for many months, I found that my anger had much abated and we embraced, brothers once more. Evelyn was weary, but she eventually welcomed me into their home."
"Evelyn shared with us secrets of magic, tales of the mythical Titans, and stories of powerful beings that ruled over this realm. One such tale involved the Collector, an all-powerful being that had fallen from the stars and was imprisoned by the very Titan we were living on. My mind once again began to toy with the idea of revenge."
"One day, I returned to find my brother having tea with a man who appeared to me familiar, yet I could not place it. After he had left, my brother took me by the arm and informed me that the man was none other than Simon Blight, the man who killed our father, and explained that the two had long since put aside their hatred of each other, for Simon's daughter had been murdered by the people of our town when we were just boys. My rage overcame me, and I attacked my brother, shouting that our father had tried to save Blight's daughter and that the witch had killed him anyway; I finally managed the upper hand, besting my brother and cutting his eyelid. Evelyn rushed into the room and restrained me with magic. She warned me to leave their house and never return, else she would kill me."
Belos spat.
"That night, while my brother and Evelyn were sleeping, I snuck back into their house and found Evelyn's book of spells. I placed a curse on Evelyn that transformed her into a wild beast. The curse required a blood sacrifice to become permanent. I offered my own pleading brother to the monster that had been his wife. I watched as she torn him apart. Finally, I slew her with his own sword, running it through her heart just as Simon Blight did to my father."
"As I watched, the curse dissipated before my eyes, leaving Evelyn in her true form, lying dead on the floor. I tore the page containing the curse from Evelyn's tome, convinced it would prove useful to me in the future. I fled from their house. The house overlooked a cliff – I tossed my brother's blood stained sword into the boiling sea before I left, never to return."
"That woman, the one my brother had fallen in love with, the one I had cursed, and the one who set me on my path to find the Collector, her name was Evelyn Clawthorne."
Belos turned his head and glanced at Eda. Despite the glare she leveled at him, he smiled at her.
"You know, it was originally the Collector who sealed the Owl Beast inside a cursed scroll. To think, the key to curing your curse was sitting right in front of you these last few months."
Eda grinned a mischievous grin.
"You know, Belos, it's a good thing you left that tome in our family."
"Is that so?" said Belos.
"And it's a REALLY you're such a blowhard that you couldn't resist yacking long enough for us to figure out a way to end you. Now, Lily!"
"WHAT?" shouted Belos, as Lilith suddenly landed on his back, a sheet of paper with an invisibility glyph crumbling to dust in her hand. She reached into her robe and pulled out another piece of paper, this one with an intricately drawn glyph covering the page. She slammed this new piece of paper onto Belos as hard as she could. As soon as it touched his skin, the glyph ignited with blue flames and adhered to Belos.
Lilith released Belos and fell to the ground, rolled, and jumped back to her feet, grinning.
Belos let out a roar; the blue flames were spreading from the glyph, engulfing his entire body. Before their eyes, he shifted from human to monster and back again. He threw himself on the ground and tried to extinguish the flames, to no avail.
"What did you do to me!" he shouted at Eda.
"We found another curse." Said Eda, simply. "This one feeds on magic and permanently erases whatever it comes in contact with. And thanks to absorbing the Collector, you have so much magic inside you there should be nothing left."
"There was no such curse in that tome!" shouted Belos, the pain and panic evident in his voice now.
"That's because we combined it…" Said King, walking over to Eda and standing next to her. "…with a curse we learned from my dad." He took a deep breath and spread his paws wide "The Boiling Isles."
Belos screamed; the flesh began to melt off of his bones, the shining white bone becoming visible underneath. Most of those present averted their eyes. Only Eda, King, Luz, and Darius watched the Emperor burn.
"If this is the end, you're coming with me, CALEB!" the burning Emperor screamed.
A sickle sharp limb came flying out of the flames, extending towards Hunter, who stood transfixed in its path.
"Hunter!" shouted several voices. Hunter felt hands on his back, shoving him aside.
SHINK!
Hunter felt the air rush out of his lungs as he hit the ground. He rolled onto his back, frantically feeling his body, searching for a skewering limb or a bloody hole. Surprisingly, he felt none. Slow realization and horror overtook him as a scream rent the night.
"MOM!"
Luz watched, transfixed, as Belos' claw shot at Hunter. She watched as her mother shoved Hunter out of the way. She watched as the razor sharp appendage ripped into her mother's chest and exited through the back, skewing Camila through the heart, and sending a gout of blood flying to splatter the grass behind her.
The limb withdrew just as quickly, returning to the burning mass that had once been the Emperor of the Boiling Isles.
Luz barely heard the shouts of "Camila!" as she finally found her legs and ran to her mom, catching Camila as she fell to the ground.
Luz screamed for Emira, begging her to come heal her mother. Emira, tired as she was, tried to get to her feet, but was pushed back down by Professor Venmore, who shook her head, her eyes closed, a somber expression on her face.
"EMIRA, PLEASE HELP!" Luz screamed. Emira began to sob.
Amity ran over, sliding to her knees next to Luz and Camila's body. Luz looked over at her girlfriend, tears streaming down her face to match Amity's, and gasped her hand.
"What…what do I do, Amity? I don't know what to do!" Luz said, her voice becoming more and more high pitched.
Amity shook her head and pulled Luz into a fierce hug. Luz struggled against Amity's hold, yelling out in Spanish.
"Mami! Por favor, ayúdala! Eda, has algo!"
"She's dead, Luz."
Luz opened her eyes; Hunter was crouched next to her and Amity, tears streaming down his cheeks.
"Mom's dead."
Luz shook her head; it couldn't be true, it wasn't true. This was the Boiling Isles, anything was possible.
"EDA!" she screamed.
On the other side of the hilltop, Eda heard her adoptive daughter's scream and felt her heart break, but she was dealing with a family crisis of her own. From the center of chest, blue flames had begun to spread over Lilith's body, turning whatever they touched to stone and ash. Eda tried to brush away the flames, but Lilith reached out a hand to stop her.
"Don't, Edalyn. There's nothing you can do."
"Lily, I don't understand…" started Eda, her voice trailing off.
"The Titan's curse also required a blood sacrifice."
Eda blinked back tears. "Oh Lily, you fool, why didn't you tell me? We could have figured out a way –"
"There was no other way." Said King, in a quiet voice. He wrapped his paws around Eda's leg. "We knew that it was always going to end this way."
"But we're the Clawthornes! We can do anything together, right?" said Eda, her voice unusually fast. She pulled Lilith closer to her. "Right, Lily?"
Lilith reached up and cupped Eda's cheek. Eda pressed her forehead to Lilith.
"With this spell declared, let the pain be shared."
Nothing happened. Eda sniffed and repeated the spell.
"WithThisSpellDeclared, LetThePainBeShared."
"I'm sorry, Eda, not this time. Thank you…for letting me back into your life."
Lilith gave a convulsion as the curse finished its work. Eda slowly lowered her sister to the ground and backed away. Lilith's stone body lay on the ground before slowly crumbling to ash. Eda gathered King in her arms and hung her head. A moment passed.
Eda shakily rose to her feet and carried King over to Luz, who was still crouched next to her mother's motionless body. Amity squeezed Luz's shoulder before moving away. Luz gave no response. Eda came to a halt behind her; she reached a hand for Luz's shoulder but momentarily paused. What do you say to someone who just lost their mother?
Luz turned to face Eda, her eyes puffy, with tears still running down her face. After a moment, she launched herself into Eda's arms. King latched onto his big sister, hugging her, and trying to put all of his grief and sorrow into the physical gesture.
Eventually, the two broke apart and held each other at arm's length. Luz looked up at Eda.
"Eda, where's Lilith?"
Eda closed her eyes, tears falling freely, and shook her head. Luz didn't ask anything more.
"Oh Eda, I didn't want any of this to happen." Said Luz, her words hollow and broken. "To mom. To Lilith. To anyone."
"I know, kid." Said Eda. "But this was war. And sometimes…wars don't end the way you want them to."
Luz nodded, unsure of how else to respond.
"What…do I do now?" she asked, her voice small and scared. "Where do I go?"
Eda knelt down to Luz's level and put her hands on her daughter's shoulders.
"You stay in the Boiling Isles, with King and I. You go to Hexside with your friends. You learn magic and become a witch. You live your life and die happy."