Chapter originally published on 30/04/2023
William takes Amity and Hunter to an old "friend" who can help them. Meanwhile, an enemy prepares its move.
After breakfast, Amity, Hunter and William took to the streets of Türzumeer under guidance of the latter. He told the two witches he had lived there for a while before moving to the east, so he somewhat knew his way around the city.
William told them to leave the crestbirds at the inn, saying it would have been too cumbersome to use and "park" them where they needed to go. That forced them to go on foot, but at the same time gave Amity and Hunter the chance to take a calmer look at the city and its people.
After going through the winding alleys of the neighborhood, the three found themselves in a wider street with iron lampposts lining both its sides that went straight towards the gates of the inner city. Lots of people of all ages—workers, city guards, merchants, children with their parents, mercenaries, simple passers-by—were there as they went about their daily routine. Once they reached and passed the gates, Amity and Hunter were presented with the look of the inner city. The road widened into an avenue surrounded by buildings a few stories high, with decorated windows and rooftops; the lamppost where now accompanied by trees, complementing paved sidewalks.
Amity—and to a lesser extent Hunter—looked around in awe at the relative majesty and density of the buildings around them.
"Everything's so big here," murmured Amity while still looking around, "it's almost overwhelming."
William, who was just a step ahead of the two on their right, briefly glanced behind to her. He left his armor at the inn, opting to keep only his sword and dagger. His magic gauntlet was inside a bag hoisted on his shoulder; apparently, a more thorough inspection before leaving the inn had revealed damages in its internal mechanisms, forcing him to seek replacement parts.
"Guess you're not used to such crowded cities back home, huh?"
Amity nodded distractedly at him, too busy glancing around. So distracted she was in her sight-seeing, she inadvertently wandered towards the middle of the road.
Hunter wasn't showing the same wonder, still in a sour mood from his quarrel with William, and was just giving disinterested looks at the city and its people. He betted someone like Lady Lilith would've appreciated more their little tour; he heard her sometimes drone on about the past of the Boiling Isles and how she would've liked to study the architecture of the Savage Ages, at which she had to be reminded to tone down such interests as they could've been seen as "inappropriate" for the Head of the Emperor's Coven.
In its wandering, his gaze fell on Amity; he noted how she had ended up in the middle of the street. With the corner of his eye, he spotted a bulky contraption coming towards her from behind at relatively high speed.
"Blight!"
"Wha—"
Called by Hunter, she turned around and, like a deer caught in the headlights, froze as she saw a weird four-wheeled vehicle—which resembled a coach—seemingly move by itself towards her.
The driver of the vehicle fumbled with what looked like a horn, honking at a terrified Amity to make her move out of his way.
Thankfully, tragedy was averted as Hunter lunged at Amity, pushing her away from the incoming vehicle. The two witches rolled to the ground on the other side of the street, while the driver cried bloody murders at the two teens as he drove away.
After he felt everything go to a standstill, Hunter slowly reopened his eyes…
"Blight! Are you—?"
…only to see a pair of golden ones looking closely at him. Too closely.
He realized they were sprawled on the streets, with him on top of the Blight girl, effectively pinning her down. Their faces were almost touching each other.
"Hunter," she spoke with a bewildered tone, "can you get off of me, please?"
After becoming aware of her request and his physical proximity with her, he blushed furiously and rolled to the side in an instant, allowing her to get into a sitting position.
"Kids!" William shouted worriedly to the two teenagers, running towards them. Seeing as they didn't look hurt, he relaxed. "Are you two well?"
"Yeah, we're fine," said a shaken Amity as she took William's hand to lift herself to her feet.
"Oh, thank goodness," he let out a sigh of relief. "Good thing Blondie had quick reflexes."
Amity nodded in agreement, and turned to a still blushing Hunter who was fumblingly trying to stand up.
"Hey," she called, making him look up at her.
"Thank you," she gave him a faint smile, something between gratefulness and incredulity; it wasn't the first time this had happened, but since they were technically still enemies, she was genuinely surprised that he had saved her.
"Y-y-you're welcome, B-blight" he replied without making eye contact with her.
She looked quizzically at him, perplexed by his out-of-character bashfulness. She then shifted her gaze to the vehicle that had nearly killed her shrinking in the distance as it drove away. "What the heck was that thing? A haunted carriage?"
William glanced at the "haunted carriage" going around the corner. "Oh, that? Must've been a self-propelled coach."
"A self-what now?"
"They're special carriages that move without being pulled by animals, all thanks to magical motors," he explained. "I heard some people call them 'cars' for short."
"Is it one of those magical machines you told us about?" Even though it almost killed her just moments before, she wouldn't mind taking a closer look at its inner workings. Despite her father wasn't as close to her or her siblings as she would've liked, his passion for magical engineering had somewhat rubbed off on her.
"Yup," he nodded, "I bet it belongs to one of the families that live in the citadel. Usually, only the military and the nobility can easily afford them."
"Maybe it's better we stick to the sidewalks," she proposed, "I don't want to survive an encounter with demons only to be run over by those things."
"Yeah, and I don't want to die of a heart attack because of you two," he joked, putting a hand on his hip and giving her a simpering smile. "You can admire the scenery from there."
She lowered her gaze. "Sorry, I got distracted."
"It's fine, just be more careful next time, okay?"
She nodded and walked away from the middle of the street. "Come on, I've already made you waste enough time."
William nodded, and turned to Hunter. "You heard the young lady. Let's go."
Hunter—still slightly blushing—nodded nervously and followed the other two.
What the heck am I doing? Why did he save her? She was nothing to him, just an obstacle to get the blood, who cared if she got hurt?
A dark thought passed on his mind. He could've let her be run over by that wild magic carriage. Had she died, there wouldn't have been nothing to stop him from grabbing the key: no Blight girl, no oath. It wouldn't count as theft if the holder of the key died, right?
Then again, why helping her felt the right thing to do?
The image of her smile was still vivid in his mind. It wasn't like the cold satisfaction Belos expressed at him for completing a mission. Her gratitude was warm and genuine. It felt… good.
After the scare caused by her near-death experience, Amity too ended up absorbed in her thoughts. She couldn't take her mind away from what happened in the morning, namely the fact that William was about to broke her wrist because she almost touched his earring. She recalled the eerie look he gave her; it was almost like he wasn't really there. And that earring…
Her hand went to the chocker around her neck. Could it be… a glamour? He admitted to use another identity in these lands to blend in, it wouldn't be too farfetched for him to hide his real features too. Perhaps, after he had rescued them the first day, he took inspiration from her face to create his disguise. She frowned while looking at the back of the titanid walking in front of him.
That would explain why he looks an awful lot like Edric, she mused. But why doing it in the first place?
She bowed her head, dejected. It had been more than three days since she disappeared from the Demon Realm. She wondered how Luz, her siblings and the others were doing. They must've been worried about her, thinking she was stranded somewhere in the Human Realm. She put her hand on her chest, where the key was hidden behind the fabric of her clothes. If only there was a way to at least tell them I'm fine…
Back in the Demon Realm, a certain human witch-in-training was sitting on the floor of the Owl House living room, a pencil sticking out of her mouth. She was watching intently at many sheets of paper lying around her, trying to make sense of the many records, schemes and notes written on them. Eda was there too, seated on the couch and reading a book. She lowered the tome for a moment to glance at the human girl in front of her.
Since the disappearance of Amity, Luz had been profusely working on transcribing and deciphering the entries of Philip's diary. Thankfully, once she figured out the trick to convince the echo mouse to show her more pages, it had been very collaborative.
She and King had been at her side during these days, helping her but at the same time worrying for her. Since the disappearance of Amity, Luz had been, well, "less Luz" than usual. When she didn't have to be at school, Luz worked full time on the portal without pause until late night. She always tried to hide it by giving them glimpse of the jovial and energetic girl they had come to know, but Eda knew she was still feeling guilty for the disappearance of her girlfriend, and was working hard to make up for it.
Eda was actually glad those two Hexside brats—Willow and Gus—would always come there to check on Luz and help her; the Owl House was basically becoming a second home for them. The illusion kid, in particular, was always eager to listen about that Philip guy and his diary entries; seeing as she had been multiple times in the Human Realm, she didn't see the appeal, but for a fan of human stuff like him, she guessed it was very intriguing to hear the point of view of another human visitor of the Demon Realm. Plus, it was always funny to see his reaction when she showed him new human trinkets retrieved from the trash slugs.
Soon, the problem of explaining the disappearance of Amity to her family emerged. Luz decided it was best to approach the subject with Emira and Edric first, seeing that their relationship with Odalia and Alador was… not exactly optimal. The Coven Scouts keeping tabs on them—more than usual, now that she noted—was already a nuisance as it was, the last thing they needed was to have an army of abomatons unleashed on them.
As expected, the twins were devastated by the news, but they were surprisingly understanding and didn't put any blame on them—much to Luz's relief. They even offered their help to hide Amity's absence from their parents. Luz seemed fretful at the idea of hiding Amity's disappearance from her parents, but they convened that if they managed to bring her back in a reasonable amount of time, then there wouldn't be a reason to let them know what happened. If they came to know, Luz feared they—Odalia, in particular—would try to cut her off from Amity for good.
After a quick brainstorming, and discarding ideas like alien abductions and contorted pyramid schemes, the twins came up with a story about a last-minute signing up for an exchange program to gain extra-credits between Hexside and some backwater magic school located on the Left Foot—Was it Hogwarts? Hogwash? Eda didn't remember. They even showed them fake leaflets to sponsor the event; she suspected they had already been working on this fraud for some time and were simply waiting for the right occasion to put it into practice.
Eda had to admit: those two might had some potential as con artists. Shall they succeed in pulling it off and fool old Bumpikins as well, she might even consider taking them under her wing as apprentices.
"Argh!"
Eda got distracted from her reading by Luz. She crumpled up one of the sheets of paper she had been writing on for some time and tossed it away in anger.
"Why it doesn't add up?! Where am I wrong?!"
Eda closed the book and sighed. "Luz, you've been immersed in numbers, schemes and formulae for three days. You're barely eating, sleeping or even practicing with glyphs."
Luz groaned in frustration and let herself fall backwards on the floor. "I can't waste time, Eda. I need to figure out how to build a portal a soon as possible."
She frowned. "And you think overwork yourself is gonna help?"
She sighed and closed her eyes. "What else I'm supposed to do?"
Eda put the book away and slid off the couch to sit next to Luz on the floor. "I know you're worried about Amity, but you won't get anywhere banging your head on a wall like this."
Luz reopened her eyes, but didn't say anything. She frowned and turned her head away from Eda to hide her features, worry and guilt evident in them.
"Why don't you take a day off from all this portal stuff and relax with your friends, huh?" proposed Eda, "I can take care of this for you while you clear your mind. What you say?"
Luz silently pulled herself up into a sitting position. She didn't reply to Eda at first, only to force a smile and turn to her.
"Yeah, maybe a little distraction won't be so bad."
Eda nodded and smiled at her go off on her way. She then scooped up in her hands the papers on the floor, grimacing as he gave a quick peek at their content.
"Dang, no wonder she was freaking out about this," she sympathized with her apprentice; it was quite the complicated stuff. "Maybe I should call Lilith to let her have a look at this too."
The sound of a window breaking was heard, and a second later, Eda found herself wrapped in a tight hug by Hooty.
"Lulu is coming here?!" he shouted in excitement, his face pressed against Eda's.
"Yes, Hooty. Lily's coming," she replied, shoving him away. She frowned when she looked at the glass shards littering the living room. "You owe me a new window, by the way."
"A small price to pay to see my dear Lulu! Hoot-hoot!"
"Why are we at a book store?"
The trio was standing in front of a small book store. Or at least something resembling it judging by the books displayed on the shop window. It was hard to tell for the two witches, since the words on the book covers and the signboard were written in Gutar runes.
"The owner of this place is an old acquaintance of mine. He helped me settle here in the past," replied William to Amity.
Hunter frowned. "How's a bookseller supposed to help us?"
"This guy's a forger, among other things. He can make the documents we need to embark on the ship for Draconia."
Hunter groaned, not really liking the idea to deal with criminals. "Wonderful…"
"Trust me, I don't like it either to deal with these kinds of things, Blondie." He then smirked. "But he still owes me a favor. I'll just have to remind him that."
Amity looked up to him, and noticed how he seemed strained. She didn't have the chance to ask him more as he stepped into the shop.
Once inside, the three found themselves into what appeared to be more of a printing workshop than a book store. Alongside racks and bookcases filled with books, there were desks and tables with sheets of paper, tools and other printing machinery laying over them haphazardly.
From behind one of these bookcases, a titanid emerged to greet potential new clients. He was a man in his late forties of medium height and light skin. He had graying black hair with blue eyes. He was wearing brown pants with black shoes, a beige shirt with rolled up sleeves, and a black workshop apron.
"Hello, there. Welcome to Bahabel's Corner, how can I—"
The man halted on his greetings to look in surprise at the newcomers; his gaze was settled in particular to William. His initial surprise turned into amusement, as evidenced by his smirk.
"Well, well, if it ain't Little Willy," he said, resting his fists on his hips.
"Hello Hardmod," replied "Little Willy" with an awkward smile, "it's been a while, isn't it?"
"Yeah, almost what? Five years?" He then grinned broadly and lunged at William for a hug "Come here, boy". William was taken aback by his sudden move, but he clumsily reciprocated nonetheless. After a few pats on the back, Hardmod stepped back and scanned him from head to toe. "Titans, you look like crap. Are you well?"
"Yeah, just a bit tired." Looking around, he noticed the many books lying around. "Tidy as always, hmm?"
"Sorry 'bout the mess, been pretty busy." He then glanced suspiciously at Hunter and Amity. "Who're these two?"
"Don't worry about them, they're with me," he reassured him.
Hardmod nodded and smiled at the two witches in disguise. "Hey there, kids. How ya doin'?"
Amity and Hunter looked at each other for a moment with uncertainty, not being able to understand what he just had said to them. They assumed he was greeting them, so they waved their hands at him.
"Lively younglings you got there…" he commented, dejected by their cold response.
"They don't understand you," William warned him, "try with Albionic."
"Oh." He addressed the two witches once more. "Hello there, I'm Hardmod. You understand me now?" This time, he spoke in demonic, albeit with a mild accent.
Amity's face lit up, finally able to interact with someone else of this world besides William. "Hello, Mr. Hardmod."
"William said you can help us leave this kingdom," Hunter butted in, drawing attention from him. "Is it true?"
Hardmod was slightly taken aback by his directness, but that helped him get an idea of the situation. "Straight to the point, huh?" he stated again in demonic. He then turned back to William. "They're not from around here, yes?"
"Yeah, something like that," confirmed William. "They hired me to escort them back to Albion, but they lost everything along the way."
"I see." Hardmod went to flip a sign hanged on the front door and gestured them to follow him. He led them at the back end of the shop; there, circumscribed by some dividers, lied a small office; it had a desk and some shelves filled with binders and other books. Hardmod stopped at the door and turned to the two witches.
"Why you two don't wait outside for the moment?"
Amity and Hunter didn't appreciate to not be let in and wanted to protest, but were stopped by a gesture of William.
"Don't worry. We're just going to catch up a little," he reassured them. "It won't take much."
"In the meantime, you can give a look at the books over there," Hardmod proposed, pointing at some shelves and lockers outside the office. "There should be some of 'em in Albionic, see if there's something it can interest you."
With "Albionic" they assumed he talked about their language. Albeit reluctantly, they accepted the offer and went for the shelves, while the two titanids entered the office. Once inside, Hardmod leaned against the desk, while William stood before him.
"So, where've you been all these years, Little Willy?" the forger started.
"Don't call me that," William deadpanned. "I've been around the East and Aurosia, seen many places and people."
"I remember you said you wouldn't have come back," he recalled, "guess you didn't find your place in the world, huh?"
William scratched the back of his head, looking away. "Something like that."
"And I s'pose you happened to find those two lost souls on your way back," inquired Hardmod, referring to Amity and Hunter.
William nodded and proceeded to tell him the fake background he had come up the day before. While that was happening, Amity was huddling with Hunter to discuss her doubts about their escort.
"What is it?"
Amity hesitated a bit, trying to come up with the right words. "William is wearing a glamour."
Hunter's eyes widened, before narrowing. "A glamour? Are you sure?"
She nodded. "I think it's the earring. I tried to touch it while he was sleeping, but he caught me."
"So that was all the ruckus this morning…" he mused, before looking puzzledly at her. "Why were you even doing that in the first place?"
She averted her gaze from him, nervous. "I, uhm, was looking at him, and—"
"You were staring at him while he was sleeping?" he raised an eyebrow. "That's kinda creepy."
"Shut up, it's not what it sounds like," she huffed. "It's just… he looks a lot like my brother."
"He does?" Hunter didn't have in mind the exact features of the person in question, but now that she pointed it out, he could see some loose resemblance to her even though William was a male.
"Yes, but it can't be. We're not related, we're not even of the same species or world," she argued, "he must've used my face as a reference to put up a disguise."
Hunter crossed his arms, scrunching up his brows in thought. He then shook his head. "No, I don't think that's the case."
"Why not?"
"That man, Hardmod, he recognized William immediately. It must be his actual look."
Amity bit her lip. It made sense. She didn't know when William and Hardmod met, but even if he had made up his disguise before that, he couldn't have possibly come up with his current look without knowing her. "Okay, but—what if Hardmod knows it's not his real look and didn't say anything earlier?"
"Look, I know I said I don't fully trust him, but I feel like you're grasping at straws on this one, Blight."
"Then why does he look like that?"
"Maybe it's just a coincidence," he shrugged, "how would he even know how to be like your brother just by looking at you?"
"I…" she groaned in frustration. "I don't know, okay? It's just so weird."
Hunter glanced at the two titanids in the office; they didn't seem to have noticed them confabulate. "We should pretend to be looking at the books, like they said. Better to not draw suspicion on us."
Amity nodded—albeit begrudgingly—and the two went on separate ways in the hallway. There were lockers on both side of it. Maybe inside there were some books she could read to learn more about this world.
At the same time, William had finished retelling the false story of how the two witches had met him. For a moment, he feared Hardmod wouldn't buy it, but the mentioning of the Tulmadi pirates seemed to do the trick.
"Those damned pirates," he grumbled, "if only the Remorians hadn't been so busy killing each other they could've kept them at bay".
That comment seemed to pick up the attention of William. "The war's still going on?"
"It never stopped," he revealed, crossing his arms, "there's been highs and lows with the hostilities, but they're still at it. Have you been livin' under a rock or something?"
"I came back from the east only recently," he replied truthfully, "haven't had the time to catch up with the state of the world."
"Uh-huh, I can—" Hardmod stopped speaking abruptly, his attention on something past William. "What's she doing?"
Following Hardmod's puzzled gaze, William turned around, spotting Amity… pleading the lockers to open?
They looked in bafflement as she made a curtsy to the metallic closets, and even caressed and scratched them. They noticed how she seemed frustrated, almost like she was expecting something to happen.
"I…" William was at a loss of words "…Absolutely have no idea."
Amity was glowering at the stubborn lockers. She tried every trick she knew to make them open, or at least to incite some reaction from them, but to no avail.
"Uh, now that I think, I haven't tried to feed them," she thought out loud. "Maybe Hardmod has some candies somewhere in his shop…"
"What're you doing?" Hunter came at her side.
"Opening the lockers," she said without facing him. "I tried everything but they won't budge."
Hunter seemed puzzled by her difficulties. "Have you tried pulling the handle?"
"Ha-ha, very funny," she rolled her eyes at his attempt of a joke. "I'd rather my arms not to be chomped."
Hunter stared silently at her. With the same neutral expression, he grabbed the handle of the door in front of him and pulled, opening the locker.
Amity's eyes shot wide open, her mouth moving up and down like a fish without producing words.
"Wha—how—" she sputtered, a reddish hue emerging on her cheeks, "how did you—?"
"I told you, I simply pulled the handle, see?" he shrugged and pointed at the lockers on the opposite side of the hallway. "They're just metal boxes with doors, what were they supposed to do?"
"B-but—aren't they—?"
"They're looking at us."
She snapped her head to the office, spotting Hardmod and William staring weirdly at her through the glass partition windows. Realizing she had been making a fool of herself, blood rushed to her face. The two titanids watched her stand at attention, waving nervously at them with an embarrassed grin plastered across her reddened face.
"Where you said they come from again?" muttered a still astonished Hardmod.
"Uhm, Drakemouth?" William replied lamely.
"Huh, weird people those Drakemouthers."
"Yeah…" William shook his head and refocused to Hardmod. "Where were we?"
Hardmod didn't respond immediately. His gaze lingered on Amity's face for a few more moments, before William brought him back from his musing with a snap of his fingers.
"W-wha?"
"You still there?"
Hardmod shook his head. "Sorry, I thought I saw…" He cleared his voice and resumed their conversation. "If you've come here, then I suppose you want me to forge some documents for them."
William nodded. "We plan to take the route south of the Gods' Massif, so we need to reach Nazalyev first."
"Nazalyev? Why not pass through Gutania?" Hardmod seemed perplexed by that choice of itinerary. "It's the shortest route. You can take an airship to Theoderburg and then continue on land."
"I have my reasons to avoid Gutania," he explained coyly.
"I can imagine, but passing through Draconia and Remoria isn't exactly the most pleasant or easy experience in these times," he argued. "Wouldn't have been better at this point to just wait for the next ship to Albion?"
"Such a ship would have to make many stops along the way. It'd take forever to circumnavigate half the continent by sea, and it just so happens we're in a hurry," he countered. "I'd rather guide them through Remoria than risk to be attacked again by pirates along the way."
Hardmod lowered his head and placed a hand on his chin. "Uh, when you put it like that…"
"So, will you help us or what?"
"Sure, but I'm afraid to tell ya it's gonna cost quite a lot," he shrugged "demand has gone to the sky as of late, and I can provide a limited amount of goods."
"Is that so?" he crossed his arms. "If I'm not mistaken, you still owe me at least a favor or two."
"I already gave you a job, hospitality and your fake ID when I found you. I think we're even."
"You sure?" he narrowed his eyes at him. "I repaid my debt with you and even more. What about that time I retrieved all the money they had stolen from you?"
"Well, I—"
"Or when I saved your butt form those thugs that wanted to kill you because you didn't know when to shut up?"
"…"
"Or that time—"
"I get it!" he threw up his arms in defeat. "I'll forge two documents for the kids for free. Ya happy now?"
William smirked. "Thank you, Hardmod. I knew I could count on you."
"And here I thought you did all that out of the kindness of your heart. Oh, woe is me!"
"Oh, cut it out with the dramatics. Who else would bother dealing with your crap if not me?"
Hardmod bowed his head in defeat. "True." When he looked up, his gaze went past his friend and fell again on the girl William had brought with him. There was something strange about her, and it wasn't the "locker talking" thing; he felt like he had already seen her before, but where?
"Uhm, Hardmod?"
Solicited by William, Hardmod looked back at him. He went back and forth between Amity and William a few more times, until his eyes widened. Then, a sly smile emerged on his face.
William noted his strange behavior and change of expression. He wasn't liking that weird gleam in his eyes; it usually meant he was about to do or say something stupid.
"You little swampworm, you've been busy, huh?" he nudged him with his elbow. "Tell me, who's the lucky lady?"
"Huh?"
Hardmod tutted and shook his head in disappointment. "How disappointing. All these years you've been feeding me lies just to hide her existence? You could've told me."
"Told you what?" William was becoming a little bit worried. Did he see through his lie? Better to play dumb. "Hardmod, what're you talking about?"
He pointed at Amity. "You never told me you have a daughter."
William blinked a few times; he turned his head back to glance at Amity, for then face again Hardmod. As he processed his statement and its implications, his expression went from perplexed, to neutral and finally to abashed in a few seconds.
"What?!"
"I thought we were friends, when were you going to tell me?"
"N-n-never! Because she's not my d-daughter!" William sputtered in embarrassment, his face a deep shade of red.
"Come on, young man. You gotta take responsibilities," Hardmod added cheekily. "You can't disown her just like that. What would her mother say of you?"
Those last comments, coupled with a certain doppelgänger cackling madly in his head, set William off. He angrily grabbed Hardmod by his shirt and pulled him closer. Amity and Hunter saw the scene unfold and went on alert.
"Who do you take me for, you blockhead?! I'd never do something like that!" he snapped angrily at Hardmod. "And she's not related to me! Where did you even get that?!"
"I-I mean, there's some resemblance," he tried to justify his claim, "your faces look very alike, and the eyes too are not that far off. I assumed she was—"
William shook him back and forth. "She's not my daughter, godsdamnit!"
"H-hey, calm down. I just—"
"I'm not even old enough to have fathered her!"
Amity leaned on Hunter to whisper in his ear. "What's going on between those two?"
Hunter, not being able to understand what they were saying, simply shrugged and shook his head.
"Should we do something?" she added.
He shook again his head. "Nah, let them sort things out by themselves."
"Oh! Now I get it!" Hardmod exclaimed, prompting William to stop manhandle him. "She's some kind of long-lost little sister!"
If the blush from William's face had subdued before, now it came back at full force. He glared harder at the forger in his hands.
Hardmod chuckled nervously at the irate look he was receiving. "A n-niece, maybe?"
"Hardmod, you're this close to being skinned alive if you don't shut up."
Hardmod, though, didn't looked that intimidated; William's face being red like a tomato surely didn't help convey seriousness in his threat. Nonetheless, he complied, bringing up his hands in surrender. "Alright, I'll stop, just let me go."
Satisfied, William let go of him.
"Sheesh, why you had to get so worked up over a simple joke?" Hardmod lamented while readjusting his shirt.
He crossed his arms and looked away, still irritated.
"Gods, I like you but you can get so prickly sometimes," Hardmod muttered.
"What was that?!" William snapped again at him.
"N-nothing!" he nervously lied, not wanting to be on the receiving end of William's wrath again.
After calming down, William pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration and sighed. "Look, Hardmod…" He looked to the forger with a remorseful expression. "Forgive me for snapping at you. These've been rough days for me."
Hardmod's expression softened a bit at his apologetic tone. Having known him for a few years, he knew he was sincere in his apologies; only the gods knew how many times it happened in the past. He would tease him, William would become angry and come very close to beat him up—deservedly so, he wouldn't deny—and then apologize for getting mad at him. It was kind of nostalgic.
"It's alright. I forgot your family's a touchy subject for you. My bad."
William nodded, relieved that he wasn't angry at him. "Let's go back on topic, shall we?"
Hardmod nodded, glad to put the episode behind them. This time, he sat on the chair behind the desk, putting some furniture between himself and William. Just to be sure.
"When they'll be ready?"
"I'd usually say two or three days, but just for you, I'll make them in one day. I just have to have a chat with my brother to make sure everything is in place."
"He still works in the government, huh? I'm surprised you two haven't gotten arrested until now."
"Heh, that's what money in the right pockets do for ya," he grinned, before a frown emerged on his face. "Though it won't last forever. Things are changing around here, and I'm afraid I'm gonna lose my job."
William snorted. "I wouldn't call being a forger a real job."
"Hey, the family bookstore's nice and all, but it's not as profitable as you think, ya know? How's an honest criminal like me gonna earn a livin'?"
"I don't know," William deadpanned, "maybe putting some effort in your actual business like every other functional member of society?"
"Nah, where's the fun in that? I like living on the edge," he smugly put his hands behind his head and leaned back on his chair, crossing his legs over the desk. "Besides, you're one to talk about integrity. You want me to help you smuggle your kids across border."
"They're not my kids," he huffed.
He pointed a finger at him, smiling cheekily. "But you don't deny you're smuggling them."
William groaned and rolled his eyes, at which Hardmod chuckled. He really didn't miss that annoying smugness of his. "I'll come back tomorrow, then."
"Deal."
With that, William and Hardmod left the office. Amity and Hunter where still looking through the bookshelves, but didn't manage to find anything readable.
Hardmod approached the two teenagers and explained to them that in order to create their fake identity documents, he needed their names, a photo and a blood sample. That last bit weirded them out a bit, but he explained that these types of documents were magically enchanted to ensure their authenticity. Fortunately, all that was needed was just a drop of the red liquid to proceed with the enchantment process. As for the photos, Hardmod brought out a magical machine used for that purpose; it looked a lot like one of those obsolete cameras used in the Demon Realm before the diffusion of scrolls. Hunter was reluctant about being photographed, claiming that he "didn't want to risk his soul to be sucked by that wild magic contraption"; after a few reassurances, he finally took the shot.
"Alright!" Hardmod clapped his hands, "I got all that I needed. You can come back tomorrow."
Amity gave him a smile. "Thank you for your help, Mr. Hardmod."
"Nah, no need to thank me," he waved a hand at her, "anything for friends of Little Willy."
William grumbled under his breath and looked away, annoyed by the nickname. Amity chuckled a bit at his reaction, while Hunter crossed his arms and smirked mischievously; he finally had something to counter his nicknames.
"Let's go, kids," mumbled an irritated William, "We still have places to go."
"Always a pleasure to make business with you!" saluted Hardmod.
"Yeah, sure…" muttered William sarcastically. They then left the shop.
"What happened earlier?" asked Amity after they were a few meters away. "You looked like you were ready to beat him up."
At that, William harrumphed and turned his head away from her to hide a small blush on his cheeks. "Nothing, forget it."
Amity preferred to not insist, seeing as it must've been a touchy subject for him. They walked for a while in silence, until Hunter spoke.
"So…" he began, smirking, "Little Willy, huh?"
William groaned in exasperation. "I knew coming there was a bad idea."
Amity chuckled again, but then quickly returned serious and cleared her voice. "William, I was thinking…"
"What is it?" he asked, halting his march.
"Since you don't need us to be with you now, I thought me and Hunter can explore the city a bit."
"Huh?" Hunter was taken aback by that. She didn't say anything to him about a tour around the city. "I don't—"
Hunter was interrupted by a small back kick from of Amity to his shin. It hadn't been particularly hurtful for him, but that, coupled with the pointed glance he received from Amity quickly made him understand she wanted him to shut up.
William shook his head. "I don't think it's a good idea."
"Come on, we're not babies who need to be supervised all the time," she crossed her arm, frowning. "We won't be seeing this place anymore, might as well take a look at it while we have to wait."
"I never said you're babies," he replied, frowning as well, "I just worry about your safety."
And the key, he added in his mind.
"We have the glamours to hide our identities." She then put a hand on Hunter's shoulder; he flinched a little, surprised by the sudden gesture. "And I won't be alone, I have a high-ranking member of the Emperor's Coven to help me in case of need," she added, smirking.
William raised an eyebrow at that last statement. "You wanted to strangle him just a few days ago."
"And yet he saved me earlier," she replied in stride, letting go of Hunter's shoulder, "he may be a bad but sad boy, but maybe he's not that bad."
As Amity quoted the "title" that human had given to him, Hunter snapped his head towards her, pursuing his lips and glaring at her. Seriously, what was with everyone giving him nicknames?
William ignored them to bow his head in thought; he didn't like the idea to leave them go around like that, but she was right when she said they weren't helpless. After he gave one last glance at Amity, he closed his eyes and sighed in defeat.
"Alright," he conceded, "you two can go."
She smiled. "Thank you, William."
"Just remember, don't talk to anyone and stay away from whoever resembles a soldier or a city guard," he warned them, "if you get lost, follow the trails from the smokestacks. They should lead you back to the inn."
"Understood."
"Alright," he concluded, "we'll meet at the inn for lunch."
"I nev—" Hunter was silenced once again by Amity, who nudged at him with her elbow.
William gave one last glance at the two teenagers before leaving the place. After he was out of earshot, Hunter turned angrily to Amity.
"What the heck are you doing, Blight!?"
"I gave us a chance to see what he's hiding."
"Huh? Wasn't you who proposed to keep him always in sight?"
"I know what I said, but if we're always around him he'll never let his guard down."
He remained silent for a few moments, his mind digesting her words. He lowered his gaze and put a hand on his chin, a pensive look on his face. "I see," he then looked at her. "It was just an excuse to spy on him."
She nodded. "We could use Flapjack to keep track of him while we—"
"We're not using him for that," blurted out Hunter. "We're going to stalk him together."
"Don't you think he'd notice both of us tailing him? Flapjack would be better suited for that."
"I won't let him go alone," he defiantly refused, crossing his arms, "if you really care about your little tour, then you can do it by yourself."
Amity furrowed her brows, annoyed by his stubbornness, but then softened her expression into an amused smile.
Hunter noted her change in expression. "What's with that face now?"
"Look at you, being all protective to your palisman," she teased, "perhaps you really aren't a bad boy, after all."
Hunter was surprised by her words, and turned bashfully his head away from her. "Oh, shut up, Blight."
Maybe there's still some work to do. She glanced at the shape of William in the distance. "Let's split up, then."
He nodded. "Where're you going?"
"I saw a sign on our way to Hardmod's shop with the map of the city. There's a square west of here, I'll go there."
"Alright," he then smirked flippantly, "see to not run away with the key, Blight."
She replied with a smirk of her own as she started to walk away. "As if I could, Golden Guard." Having that said, she went on her way.
A faint glow shimmered near Hunter's body, and an instant later, Flapjack's head emerged from under his ivory cloak, looking up with curiosity at his master. After scanning the street to look for eventual onlookers and finding none, Hunter bowed his head to address his palisman.
"C'mon, little guy," he said, "we have a job to do."
And so, the two teenage witches went on separate ways. Hunter followed William from a safe distance, hiding around the corners of buildings or among the passers-by whenever the titanid was about to spot him. He had to be careful to look inconspicuous to the people in the streets too, least to attract the attention of the local authorities; he had a few close encounters with what he assumed were city guards, so he needed to not look like a robber stalking on his target. He considered taking advantage of his glamour's capabilities and put up a new disguise, but ultimately refrained to do so in fear of messing things up and ruin his cover. This wasn't exactly a new experience for him; some of his missions in the past concerned spying on suspected wild witches to find their hideouts.
Flapjack had it easier, since he could pass as a simple bird and spy on William from the sky. He had been instructed to fly from building to building, but never to leave his master's sight. He had tried to convince Hunter he wouldn't have minded to do all this spying stuff by himself, but he was adamant to not let him go alone. Flapjack wanted to facepalm—yes, even without hands—at his master's stubbornness, but he appreciated he had come to care for him. To think he wanted nothing to do with him until recently…
But that's why he chose to stay by his side. Hunter reminded him a lot of him.
They followed William for a while, but the titanid never did anything suspicious. There had been only an episode worth of note. At a certain point, he fumbled for something in his bag and he slipped out of his pursuers' gazes to sneak into a secluded alley. Hunter and Flapjack went on alert and were about to rush to his hiding spot, thinking that William would finally reveal his real look. Unfortunately for them, he exited the alley shortly thereafter, unchanged, and resumed his walk like nothing had happened.
William headed to the other side of the city using a big stone bridge that crossed the river that cut the capital in two. Seeing that there weren't many places to hide in case of need, Hunter feared to be spotted, but William seemed to not suspect anything. Once he reached the highest point of the bridge, Hunter took a moment of reprise and glanced at his right. From there, he could see a big island in the middle of the river; walls, towers and gates built around its shores protected palaces and buildings; as grand as they were, though, they were dwarfed by the castle in the middle of the island. Hunter assumed the rulers of the kingdom lived there.
Resuming his walk, and looking at his left, Hunter assumed that William was headed for the docks on the south bank of the river. As they approached them, given the multitude of people going on and off the many vessels anchored there, Hunter realized those docks were the ones reserved to passenger ships—as opposed to the ones located on the side they came from, which were reserved to shipyards and cargo ships.
Hunter followed William inside a building near the docks, where he started to talk with a clerk behind a counter. He wasn't able to read the writings on the walls and the various signs, but by observing the other people lined up at the other counters, he figured that was a place where you could acquire tickets to embark on the ships.
He did say he wanted to check on the available ships, Hunter recalled. So far, except for that moment with the alley, William hadn't done anything particularly strange. Perhaps the suspicions they had on him were misplaced.
In the northern half of the city, Amity was walking on a leisurely pace towards her chosen destination, finally enjoying some time by herself, away from the others.
It wasn't like she hated being with William and Hunter. After a rocky start, she had come to at least tolerate the presence of the Golden Guard around her. Their shared situation of being stranded on an alien world and the everlasting oath contributed to build something resembling a truce between them. There were moments he grated on her nerves—not like she hadn't done the same to him once in a while, she had to admit—but other than that, they weren't constantly at each other's throats.
Their relatively short time spent together had been a chance for her to know a little the man—er, boy—behind the mask, the individual everyone in the Boiling Isles knew only as "Golden Guard". From what she had been able to see, in the end, he was, in fact, just a boy: a prideful and annoying one, but still a boy, just a year older than her, as it turned out. Despite his shortcomings—and the fact that technically they were still enemies—she was delightedly surprised to see a softer side of him, like when he interacted with his palisman; the usually grumpy and brooding brat would leave room to a caring boy—his unwillingness to send Flapjack alone in a relatively safe mission was a testament to that.
As for William… She wasn't sure what to think of him. Even though she and Hunter were strangers to him, he welcomed them in his abode when they arrived in this world, and offered to help them go back to the Demon Realm. When he wasn't explaining things about his world or teasing Hunter—or arguing with him, like yesterday—he wasn't particularly talkative or sociable, but he never treated them badly. In fact, he seemed to have taken a liking to her. He was… okay, she supposed.
And yet, she couldn't shake away the feeling he wasn't completely sincere to them. For starters, he didn't want to reveal why he wanted to abandon his world. There was the fact he admitted to be using fake identities, and she was pretty sure he was using a glamour as well—she refused to believe his look was a coincidence. And then, there was this strange behavior of his; sometimes, she would catch him staring at her. It wasn't anything creepy, but whenever he did that, she could see a mix of incredulity and sadness in his eyes. Whenever she tried to confront him about it, he shrugged her off, saying he was simply distracted or something along those lines. Overall, he was a mystery to her.
Her musings ended when she heard weird whirring and humming noises coming from above. When she glanced at the sky, she gasped at what she saw.
It was a trio of flying ship of sorts. They were around 100 meters long, tube-shaped, with a flat topside deck from which protruded a control tower, a wedge-shaped bow, and a large ducted propeller on the tail. A pair of bulbous trapezoidal fins protruded from the middle of the hull. Turrets of various dimensions armed with what resembled cannons were placed in many points of the hull; the largest was placed on the deck, forward of the control tower, while the smaller ones were scattered all around the ship—one at the tip of each wing, two at the bottom of the bow, one behind the control tower, and two more on the lower point of conjunction of the fins with the main hull. Despite being painted in dark teal, it looked like these flying ships were made almost entirely of metal.
She stood there agape, marveling at the ships rising into the sky in a triangular formation and flying east. Judging by their trajectory, they must've taken off from the other side of the city. She wondered what kind of levitation magic was needed to allow such metallic behemoths—at least in her eyes of Demonrealmer—to fly without a balloon.
Those must be those "airships" William mentioned once, she thought. Like he said, having one at their disposal surely would come in handy. She lingered on the three ships for a while, then she resumed her walk to the square.
Both Amity and Hunter were right in the assumptions they made regarding their site-seeing.
In the southern half of the city there was a sizeable military base dedicated as a landing ground for airships. Among these flying vessels, one stood out, both for its general shape and the color scheme. While the others were all painted in dark teal, this one was mainly white with golden and black trims. On its hull, a winged three-eyed titan head was painted in gold.
The big castle in the middle of the river isle was effectively the residence of the sovereign of the Kingdom of Weiteben; in its throne room, that same morning, a meeting had been taking place.
Seated on a throne standing on a raised platform was a titanid woman in her mid to late twenties. She had pale skin and light green hair pulled back in a low bun, grayish-blue eyes and a pointy nose. She was wearing a regal teal dress with silver embroideries and a silver tiara decorated with small emeralds.
Beside her was standing an older male titanid with his hands behind his back. He was in his seventies, with green eyes, medium length gray hair and a beard. He was dressed with a single-breasted black frock coat over a navy-blue waistcoat, a bronze cravat, black pants and shoes.
Standing in the middle of the long hall, at the base of the throne platform was another titanid male. He was in his forties, with pinkish light skin, graying black hair slicked back, and brown eyes. He was wearing a uniform consisting of a white military tunic with black and golden trims and golden buttons—with the winged titan head painted on the heart's level—white pants, black boots and gloves; his shoulders were covered by a white cloak, while on his waist he carried a sheathed saber supported by a black belt.
Behind him, there were two soldiers. They were clad in armor—which included a sallet helmet with visor, a cuirass, pauldrons, tassets, gauntlets and cuisses—and armed with a longsword. They had white pants and black boots, a white surcoat with black and golden trims and a white cape. The usual winged titan head symbol was painted on their surcoats.
Both sides of the rectangular hall were occupied by a line of soldiers standing on guard, clad in metal cuirasses and helmets over dark teal uniforms and armed with halberds and swords. On the walls were hanged long, dark teal drapes with a sliver castle drawn in the middle.
"You are in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Linda I of Waldeburg," announced the man beside the throne.
"I'm honored to finally make acquaintance with Her Majesty," replied the man in white while making a small bow.
Queen Linda remained impassible. "To what do we owe your visit, Master Peregrino?"
"On behalf of the Sacred Order of the Great Mother Goddess, I've come to personally give our thanks for opening the Kingdom of Weiteben to us," he said, smiling, "Her Majesty has made the right choice."
"Only the future will tell," she replied coldly, not being particularly touched by his pleasantries. "I suppose you didn't come all this way just to thank me."
"Correct, Her Majesty," he dropped his smile, "there're still many points of our agreement to address, like the fate of the demonrealmers living within your realm."
"I thought I made myself clear to your previous diplomatic delegation, Master."
"Your Majesty, with all due respect, I must ask you to at least reconsider your stance on them. They're not titanids, they're not even native of this world. They don't belong in your kingdom or anywhere else."
Queen Linda slightly leaned forward, narrowing her eyes at the knight before her. "I'm the one who decide who belongs in my domains, templar master. You would be wise to remember that."
"My apologies," he bowed his head, "I'd never doubt Her Majesty's authority. The Order's policy is to not interfere with the affairs of nations, unless the defense of titanidkind is involved."
"How curious…" it was the man beside Queen Linda who spoke this time.
Peregrino turned to the man with a look of uncertainty. "I beg your pardon, First Minister Voigt?"
"The only reason we asked for your help against the marmorean infestations is because we had to divert much of our forces to the eastern borders to discourage an invasion from the Kholmovian Empire."
Peregrino listened in silence with a neutral expression.
"What I do find curious," sneered Voigt, "is that the Kholmovians are formally allied with you. Had you advised your 'friends' to not suspiciously mass troops along the Östgrenz, we wouldn't even need your assistance. And yet, here we are."
"I'm afraid you're mistaking a series of unfortunate coincidences with a conspiracy against you, First Minister. It is no secret the Kholmovians have been claiming your lands for decades," he rejected his accusation. "As is known, the Templar Order's mission is to protect the progeny of the Goddess from its enemies and led it to a brighter future, free from the blight of darkness and chaos," he spoke passionately, making wide gestures with his arms, "it is no place for us to decide what Her children should do with their freedom, whether it be peace of war."
"Like you did with Remoria?" interjected Linda, a certain edge in her voice. "On that occasion, your Order was involved in the overthrow of Emperor Amatus. Do you deny it?"
"That…" he hesitated, weighting his next words. "That was a completely different situation, one we couldn't ignore."
She frowned, leaning back on her throne and holding her head on a hand. "I'm still trying to come to terms with the fact a Remorian like you has joined the Templar Order. What has made you decide to abandon your empire?"
"My people and their rulers have lost their way, Your Majesty," he replied somberly. "They chose centuries ago to side with the demorealmers and allow them into Vesperia, the same beings that brought to our world the plague of the Giraffes and other… unsavory practices. Me, like many others, couldn't accept that," he momentarily averted his gaze, disdain in his voice. "It's no wonder the Empire has begun to decline since binding its fate to those spawns of chaos. I fear the same could happen to this kingdom if it continues to side with their allies."
"Do I sense a veiled threat in your words?" pointedly inquired Voigt.
"I'd say more like a cautionary tale." He then addressed Queen Linda again. "Nothing good will come to your people by associating with the witches. Your support to the Imperials risks to alienate your few remaining allies," he pleaded, making a step forward. "Please, Your Majesty, don't let your ties with the traitorous imperial dynasty cloud your judgment."
At those last words, Queen Linda glowered at him, barely managing to not lash out. The hand still on the throne armrest was squeezing it so tightly it started to creak. Sensing the anger emanating from the monarch beside him, Voigt intervened to defuse the situation.
"Her Majesty's judgment is crystal clear on the matter, and her decision is final," he declared firmly, giving a hard stare at the templar knight. "I suggest you don't insist further, templar master, for the sake of our agreement."
Peregrino returned the old man's pointed stare with one of his own. After a few tense moments, he stepped back to his previous spot, put a hand on his chest and bowed his head. "My sincere apologies. I overstepped my boundaries."
Linda closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself. She then leveled once again her icy gaze on the knight. "Do you have anything else to say, Master?"
Peregrino looked up to the queen and nodded. "We have received words there's been a series of gruesome murders all around Türzumeer in the last days. From what we've been told, it's clearly the work of marmorean demons lurking in the shadows."
"We're aware of that. What's your point?"
"As a sign of good faith on our part, I offer to start our operations in the capital today."
"With what Knights, may I ask?" inquired Voigt. "You came here with only one airship."
"In that regard, I humbly request the assistance of the City Watch in our hunt," he proposed. "With our combined forces, we should be able to scour the city and cleanse it form demonic presence."
Queen Linda gestured at Voigt to come closer. The two whispered between themselves for a minute, before turning again to Peregrino.
"So be it," she declared. "The City Watch command will be informed of these new dispositions. The troops will be ready this afternoon."
"Thank you, Your Majesty," Peregrino smiled at the monarch's decision. "If there's nothing else Her Majesty wished to discuss, I'd return to my airship to oversee the preparations for the joint hunt."
"You're free to go then."
With that said, Peregrino made one last bow and turned on his heels, leaving the hall with his knight in tow. Once they were gone, Linda was finally able to wind down. She let out a deep sigh and rubbed her temple.
"How did it come to this…"
Voigt glanced at the young queen with sympathy. "I know it must've been a difficult choice for you to take, but we had no other option."
She shook her head disconsolately. "I feel like I'm betraying her."
"She's always valued our effort to stay by her side despite all odds," he reminded her, knowing well who she was referring to. "I believe she'd understand our situation."
"She'd better," huffed Linda, slightly slouching in the throne. "To this day I'm amazed how she managed to find so many people still willing to fight for her. Then again, only the gods know how I haven't already been overthrown by the nobles or the commoners for upholding our alliance with the Imperials."
"I suppose loyalty works in mysterious ways," quipped Voigt.
She looked up to him, her mouth morphing into a small smile. "As it did with you serving dutifully my grandfather for all these years?"
He stared at her silently for a moment, before a gentle expression found its way on his face. "Yes, Her Majesty. As it did with me and the late King Otmar."
The smile on Linda's face slowly twisted into a sad frown as painful memories resurfaced. "I wish my father and Leuthar were still with us. They would've known what to do, surely better than me," she looked away, muttering dejectedly that last part.
"There's no need to be so hard on yourself, Your Majesty," he reassured her. "You're young and just beginning your reign. You still have plenty of time to either lead the kingdom to greatness or ruin."
She smiled amusedly at his remark. "Weren't you supposed to tell me it's not true, that I'm doing great and everything is going to be alright?"
He brought a hand on his chest, feigning indignation and offence. "I'm Her Majesty's advisor, not a sycophant."
She chuckled, before smiling fondly at her trusty right-hand man. "And I wouldn't want it to be otherwise, Lord Voigt."
Author's Notes
Hello again.
I'm considering to add titles to the chapters. My initial idea was to hide a secret message within them, like the Owl Crew did with the first letter of each episode, but then I realized it wouldn't have worked since I (still) have no idea how many chapters it'll take to complete this story. If I ever decide to go through with it, I'll add them in the next batch of chapter updates. Fun fact: the message was supposed to be a direct reference to something that played a major role in inspiring me for this story. Maybe I'll reveal the message in the far future. Maybe. Very big maybe.
I didn't forget about Luz and the others in the Demon Realm. It's still too early for the absence of Hunter and Amity to produce effective changes to the plot, though.
About the scenes with Hunter and Amity… Before anyone starts making assumptions or readying the pitchforks: no, I'm not planning to ship Hunter and Amity. Why, you might ask? Here's why:
1) Romance is not the focus of this story, and, to be honest, I can't guarantee I'd even be good at writing it;
2) Generally speaking, I tend to be wary of ships that go against a character's established sexuality, and since Amity is a canonical Luzsexual—er, I mean, lesbian…
3) In canon, Amity has already Luz, Hunter has finally found happiness with Willow, and I'm 100% on board with both (on a side note, it'll be tricky for Huntlow to be a thing in this story for obvious reasons, but I'd still like to make it happen in some way; I'll try to come up with something, but I don't want to make any promises);
4) As much as I like to imagine it as a crackship were they'd constantly try to outsass each other (but still in a lovey-dovey way), I wouldn't even know how to write that (see Point 1);
5) We do an itty-bitty amount of trolling here :D
So, Watching and Dreaming. It was… wild. Absolutely loved it. Many nice moments. A few random thoughts:
1) Belos has been an unrepentant bastard until the very end. Easily one of the best Disney Villain ever IMHO;
2) The Collector erroneously trying to use the Power of Friendship Forgiveness™ to stop Mega Evolution Belos was hilarious, like, kid, you're not Steven Universe, what are you doing? But it's alright, he's still relatively young and naïve, he has a lot to learn;
3) After Star, Anne and Molly, it was Luz's turn to get the Cool Anime Powers™. It was about time, and it was glorious;
4) I feel like there's some irony in Eda becoming the headmaster of a school in the epilogue sequence.
Unfortunately, unlike this one, I still have to start writing the next chapter, so it'll take some time before it gets published.
To "Guest": though I know a few bits of them, I've never watched Devilman or Chainsaw Man, nor played Devil May Cry. As for your question, in a way, when you get possessed, you already become a "hybrid"; the question is how long can you stay that way. I don't want to say much because I'd reveal a key part of the Titan Realm's past, but these demons aren't like the Owl Beast—which was a victim of the curse as much as Eda; it's no coincidence she managed to strike some sort of balance with it and unlock her Harpy Form.
Until next time.