Eda had faced a lot of terrifying things in her life, from gorenadoes to her own curse, but she'd never been more scared than when the door to the Owl House opened and Boscha and Willow carried in an utterly broken looking Luz. Her face was stained with tears, and the only reason why she wasn't crying at that moment, Eda could tell, was that she had flat out ran out of tears.

"What did you do to her?" Eda shouted at Willow. She could feel her magic just itching to eviscerate her daughter's former best friend. Willow just looked down at the floor, her face ashamed.

"Leave her alone!" Boscha said, stepping in front of Willow protectively. "She feels bad enough."

Evisceration could wait until later, Eda decided. Her daughter was more upset than Eda had thought she was possibly capable of being, and her welfare came first. Willow and Boscha were holding her upright; Eda genuinely believed that Luz was not capable of moving under her own power right now. Eda helped Luz over to the couch. Luz barely reacted at all.

"Sweetie, what happened to you?" Eda whispered in the gentlest voice she had available to her.

For a few seconds, Eda didn't think she'd get an answer. It was rare that Luz went nonverbal, but it had happened in the past before when sensory issues overwhelmed her or she'd gone through a particularly stressful period of bullying in school. But then Luz whispered, in a raspy voice filled with infinite pain, "I…lost..."

"Lost what?" Eda asked, trying and failing to keep the panic out of her voice. Luz didn't say a word. Those two words had completely exhausted whatever energy she had left; she was now officially nonverbal. Eda looked over at Willow and Boscha. "What the hell happened to her?"

Before Willow could answer, Eduardo emerged from his home office. He'd been working from home a lot more, since now that he was his own boss (more or less) he could do that without incurring Kikimora's wrath. He took one look at Luz and appeared to know exactly what was going on, which was good news, because Eda was still in the dark.

Eduardo sat down next to her. He looked like he longed to touch her, but he knew very well, as did Eda, that when Luz was in one of these states, touching her was a very bad idea. "Lucecita, I'm just going to ask you a few questions, and you don't have to say a word, just nod or shake your head. Is that okay with you?" Luz nodded. "Did she find out?" She? Who was Eduardo talking about? Luz nodded. "Okay. It's going to be okay, Luz. Can I tell Eda?" Luz sighed and nodded.

Eduardo gave Luz an encouraging smile. "You're so brave, mija," he said gently. He walked into the kitchen and returned with a potion. "This potion will give you eight hours of dreamless sleep. It's not something I want you to be using on a regular basis, because it can be addicting with enough use, but it's not a problem to use it just this once. Would you like to take it?" Luz grabbed the potion bottle without even bothering to nod and downed the entire thing in one gulp.

Pretty much instantaneously, Luz fell asleep. Eda and Eduardo carried Luz together into her bedroom and put her into her bed. She looked so much younger than she really was like that. There had been an enormous weight upon Luz recently, Eda realized belatedly, and only now was she seeing it lifted.

Eda followed Eduardo back into the living room. She was glad that her husband had an idea how to handle this situation, because Eda was even more confused than when she had started, a considerable accomplishment indeed. "I am so sorry, Mr. Noceda," Willow said fervently. "This is all my fault. I was so obsessed with the idea that Luz had hostile intentions that I just let it consume me."

"This is not your fault, Willow," Eduardo said firmly. "And while I haven't approved of your recent actions, I recognize that you were just trying to help your friend. But right now, she needs her family. I'll let you know if there's anything more you can do to help."

Willow, looking downcast, left the Owl House with Boscha at her heels. Eduardo once more went back to the kitchen and returned with a bottle of apple blood. Eda raised an eyebrow. Eduardo hardly ever drank, and though he had tried to keep his disapproving comments to a minimum, she knew he didn't approve of her drinking either. "Trust me, you're going to need this," he said grimly, and Eda couldn't help but shudder. She took a few sips of apple blood.

Eduardo took a deep breath. "Do you remember when I told you that something was wrong with Luz?"

"Yeah, but I told you it was just puberty."

"Well, I was right," Eduardo said. "This is not our Luz – she's a Luz from a parallel universe. In that universe, she's not your daughter, biologically, but rather mine and Camila's, though she still thinks of you as a mother by choice." Aha! So that was why Luz acted so strangely around Camila. "Amity was raised by her biological mother. She and Luz fell in love. But then the queen of the Seelie fae put Amity into an enchanted sleep. Luz made a deal with her and got sent to this reality, a year in the past from Luz's perspective." Eda winced. That sort of thing never ended well. "In order for Amity to be awakened, Luz would have to get this reality's Amity to fall in love with her within a set time limit. But Amity found out, and now Luz is stuck here forever."

Most people wouldn't have believed such a story, but Eda did. It made perfect sense. For starters, she had always thought there was something odd about Näkijä telling Edmond that Zoe had replaced Belos. Näkijä was scrupulously politically neutral. Most people had been forced to decide whether or not they were for or against Belos, but Näkijä's immense power allowed her to stay apart from that. No one wanted to bother risking making her an enemy. The idea that Näkijä was taking sides was profoundly odd; the idea that she was just covering for Luz having told Edmond made more sense.

Moreover, Eda was no stranger to odd things happening, and in retrospect, Luz's behavior had been pretty darn odd recently. Breaking up with Avery, having extremely detailed visions of the future, exploding on Eduardo for his collaborationist actions – it all added up. Eda didn't bear any ill will towards Luz for hiding such a secret. She was saving that all for Zoe. Oh, that fairy was going to suffer for what she did to Eda's daughter.

"There's one more thing," Eduardo added. "In Luz's reality, I died. It really messed her up." Well, that certainly explained why Luz was so insistent on spending time with Eduardo recently. She was making up for lost time.

"Who else knows about this?" Eda wondered, and took a sip of apple blood.

"Edmond, Gus, Avery, Näkijä, Hunter, and Hooty," Eduardo said and Eda sprayed her apple blood into the air.

"HOOTY?!" Eda screeched. "You're telling me that she told Hooty before she told me?"

Eduardo shook her head. "Hooty figured it out. He sees everything in the house, remember?" Eda usually made a conscious effort to forget that fact, or she'd drive herself crazy. "As near as I can tell, the only people she actually decided to tell were Gus and Avery. Näkijä figured it out, of course." Naturally. Eda would have been more surprised if Näkijä hadn't. She was Näkijä. "And Edmond, Hunter, and I sort of dragged it out of her."

He reached out and squeezed Eda's hand. "Please don't take it personally, mi amor. Luz was petrified of me finding out the truth and thought you'd tell me if she told you." That wasn't true. If Luz had asked her to keep it a secret, she would have. But she could understand why Luz would have thought that way. "After I found out, I didn't want to press her on telling you. I figured she'd do it in her own time."

Eda's heart was practically breaking at the thought that Luz had taken on such a ridiculously gigantic burden all by herself. She may not have been this Luz's mother biologically, but she still loved her. That wouldn't change, ever, no matter which version of Luz she was dealing with. "Oh, Eddie…is there anything I can do for her?"

"Make sure she understands that you love her," Eduardo said firmly. "She's going to be feeling guilty. Impress upon her that she has nothing to feel guilty for. Lie if you feel otherwise."

"Why should she feel guilty?" Eda said caustically. "I'm the one who should be feeling guilty! Another Luz has been living in my house and I never even noticed! I said it was just puberty!"

Eduardo actually looked somewhat amused. "Don't feel too bad, Eda. After all, she did learn con artistry from the best." He went into greater detail about Luz's past, which sounded absolutely miserable for the vast majority of it. Eda felt a flash of homicidal rage when she heard about all the bullying Luz had to go through. Yes, her Luz had been bullied, but at least she'd had friends to make things better – Camila's Luz had no one. Even her own mami had thought so little of her that she sent her to a camp to make her normal! She ached to go to Luz's dimension and introduce those bullies to the Owl Beast.

The next morning, Eduardo called into Hexside and claimed that Luz was sick; they didn't bother questioning him. There was no way that Eda was going to let Luz face Amity again in the condition she was in. When Luz didn't come to the breakfast table, Eda brought her breakfast into her room. She was heartened to see Luz cuddling King like he was a stuffed animal. It was just so cute, and clearly, it was helping Luz.

"Hey, King," Eda said softly. "You mind giving Luz and I a chance to talk in private?"

"But she needs me!" King protested. "The Princess of Demons needs her brother!"

"It's okay," Luz said, her voice rough from lack of use, but the fact that she was talking at all was a very good sign in Eda's opinion. "King, you've been so nice to me. It's more than I deserve. You've helped a lot. I really appreciate it."

King frowned. "Well…if you're sure…" He stalked out of the room with a pout.

Eda sat the breakfast down on Luz's end table and pulled up a chair. "Eddie told me everything," she told Luz, who flinched. "You've been impersonating my daughter for months, and I had absolutely no idea. I've just got one thing to say to that." Luz closed her eyes, bracing herself. "I am so frigging proud of you, kid!"

Luz blinked repeatedly. "What?"

"Do you have any idea how impressive that was?" Eda said, keeping her voice light and enthusiastic. "You outfoxed me, the biggest con artist in the history of the Boiling Isles! You bamboozled the witch who sold the Suffering Bridge five times! You impersonated my own daughter and I didn't have a clue!"

Luz scowled. "Great. I'm awesome at lying to my own family. Thanks, Eda."

Eda crossed her arms here. "Let's make one thing clear, Luz. I don't blame you for any of this. There is only one person responsible here, and it is not you, it is Zoe. She's the one who tricked you into accepting the deal, a deal that she knew you never could succeed in, and despite that, you still came damn close anyway!" She sighed. "Luz, even if you'd won Amity's heart, you'd still be stuck here. You know that, right?"

Luz's eyes widened. Clearly, this fact – which seemed transparently obvious to the schemer that was Eda – had not occurred to Luz at all. "No…that's not true. She'd have sent me back."

"Did she ever actually say she would send you back?" Eda asked her. "I bet she didn't. I bet you just assumed she would. No, I bet the only thing she actually promised was to wake Amity up, not send you back."

Luz looked absolutely appalled, and in that moment, Eda knew that she was right on the money. The fae never gave you a fair deal, ever. It was who they were. This whole deal wasn't about true love or about Amity at all. It was about removing Luz from the equation, and making her suffer to boot. Eda would stake every snail she owned on that. Luz must have been about to do something that would have hurt Zoe, something that Eda's daughter couldn't do. That was why she tricked Luz into removing herself from the equation. Eda would almost admire the brilliant manipulativeness of it all if it weren't for the fact that Zoe had made the fatal mistake of messing with her daughter.

"Luz, I'm afraid you're stuck here," Eda said bluntly. "But it's not as bad as it looks. You have a home here." Luz looked about to protest, but Eda put up a hand. "None of that. I'm your mother and you're my daughter, simple as that. I ain't gonna hear another word about it. You will always have your parents' love. You can stay in that bed as long as you need, but if I know you, you'll be up and at 'em soon enough. Anything you need, you just give a shout."

"Thank you, Eda," Luz said, her voice stronger than it had been since her secret had been exposed. "Thank you so much. I don't know how I can repay you."

Eda flicked her gently on the nose. "My silly owlet. Love isn't about payment. It's offered freely." She kissed her on the forehead. "I love you, Luz. And you know what? A lot of people here love you too. Remember that. Even if Amity hates you, you're not alone. And you'll never be alone."

It was strange what you could get used to, Edmond reflected. He had thought that he'd despise eating ice scream, which was like ice cream, but with more eyeballs and it emitted a shrieking sound when you ate it. But it was exceptionally delicious (though he still had to avoid thinking about the eyeballs as he was eating them, or else he instinctively started gagging). Moreover, even if it had been absolutely terrible, the fact that his boyfriend was with him would have made it all good.

"You want the honest truth?" Edmond said. "I'm kind of glad that I'm still stuck here. It means I get to spend more time with you."

"You're such a charmer," Hunter said, and licked some ice scream off of Edmond's cheek. Edmond blushed. He was glad that Amity wasn't there to see it, because she'd tease him forever. "But don't forget, you're going to have to go back anyway eventually. You don't have forever." He looked slightly panicked upon seeing Edmond's downcast expression. "But it's cool! We can go on all sorts of fun dates. Like…um, going to a drive in theater? Or a malt shop?"

Edmond furrowed his brow. "Why do your date ideas sound like they're from the 50s?" Hunter just looked bewildered. "Did your uncle tell you about that stuff?"

"EDMUNDO JOAQUIN SERRANO!" a voice called out before Hunter could answer the admittedly ill-advised question. Edmond looked over to see Amity charging towards him, looking angrier than she'd ever been in her entire life. His heart sank. There was only one thing that could have made Amity that mad with him. Well, so much for Luz's elaborate deception. Given that he was an oracle witch, he really should have seen this coming.

"Run for it," Edmond advised Hunter. He wasn't sure whether Amity would actually be violent towards either one of them, but he wasn't about to take any chances. It was his choice to hide the truth from Amity, and he was now going to suffer the consequences of his actions. Hunter, on the other hand, had just followed Edmond's lead. He wasn't to blame for any of it.

"I can't just leave you here," Hunter argued.

Edmond gave him an expression filled with much more confidence than he actually possessed. "It'll be fine, mi cazador. I'll take care of everything." Hunter nodded slowly and walked away, slipping out of sight just as Amity arrived.

"I can explain," Edmond began, and then Amity grabbed him by the hair and smashed his head against the table. The patrons started running out, which was definitely a testament to how fearsome Amity looked; normally, a fight wouldn't have really provoked much panic.

"EXPLAIN?!" Amity screamed at him. "Is that what you're planning on doing, Edmond, or are you just planning on lying to me some more?!"

Edmond shook his head. "I was faced with the choice to try to save a life or save you from heartbreak, and I chose to try to save a life. If you want an apology for that, Amity, you're not going to get it."

Amity cast a spell and then Edmond was covered from neck to toe in abomination goop. She threw the abomination goop telekinetically at the ceiling, causing Edmond to be stuck to it. "Oh, so you're just doing the right thing, then? Is that your defense?"

Some people, Edmond knew, would have lied to Amity, tried to claim innocence. They might have groveled at her feet. Well, metaphorically since Edmond couldn't move now. And had Edmond believed those tactics would be effective, he would probably have utilized them. But Edmond's magic was telling him that nothing less than complete and total honesty would be the best strategy now.

"There were no right options," Edmond said, keeping his voice steady, but also making sure he wasn't sounding condescending. "There were two utterly crappy options, and I chose the one I believed was best. Amity, I really thought we could get through this with minimal heartbreak for you. I was going to have this universe's Luz break up with you in a gentle way. I was thinking maybe something about her not wanting to have a long distance relationship."

Amity looked actually somewhat surprised and touched by this. "You were?"

"Amity, you're my little sister," Edmond said. "I never wanted to hurt you. Look, you'd have been just as upset if I'd have told you the truth then. I bought you a couple of weeks of happiness." He sighed. "Luz isn't a bad person, Amity. She's not a monster. She's just a girl who was put in a horribly difficult position. I understand why you're upset with her. And me. But I would have made the same choice even knowing how this was going to play out."

Amity sat down in a seat, looking as if all the fight had gone out of her. "I trusted her. I thought she loved me, but it wasn't me she loved." She moved Edmond gently back to the floor and dissipated the goop on him.

Edmond sat down next to her. "I don't know about that, Mittens. I think Luz really does love you. To her, I don't think that there's much of a difference between Amity Blight and Amity Serrano. You're both Amity."

Amity scowled. "So, what, I should just forgive her? Go back to dating her, as if nothing happened? Try to fall for her so I could save a parallel version of me that I'll never even meet?"

"You could do that," Edmond said calmly. "You could take a memory potion, forget that Luz isn't who she claimed to be, resume your relationship like nothing happened. But I don't think you should. Your feelings are valid. You have a right to feel betrayed." Edmond was fine with participating in Luz's deception by inaction, but he wasn't willing to go much farther than that. The whole thing made him deeply uncomfortable, and a huge part of him was glad that the truth was finally out, even if he still believed that he'd done the right thing in the end.

Tears were forming in Amity's eyes. "I should have known it was too good to be true," she said, barely keeping any semblance of composure in her voice. "Clara chose an imposter over me, and Luz turned out to be an imposter. Why did I think anyone would really want to date me?"

"Now that is just crazy talk, Amity," Edmond said, his voice stern. "You are a smart, confident young woman and I'm sure there are a lot of girls who would want to be with you. Hey, I hear Steph is single. I could set you two up when we get home."

Amity shook her head. "I think I'm done with relationships for now. I just…I can't get over it, Edmond. Luz was so special, and the way she acted, like I was the most important person in the entire multiverse…it made me feel special too. And to find out she was just using me…"

"Let me set you up with someone here," Edmond offered. "For Grom. It doesn't have to be anything more than that. But I think it'd help you to know that there's some girl out there who…" An idea suddenly occurred to him. "Hang on, does it have to be a girl?"

Amity glared at him. "Yes, Edmond. That's what being a lesbian means."

"Well, what if they were assigned female at birth, but identify as nonbinary?" Edmond asked, and Amity immediately understood what he was talking about. "It's just one date. You don't have to go steady. Then again, it'll probably piss off Luz to see you happy with someone else…"

Amity leaned back in her chair and smiled for the first time in the conversation. "You know, I could probably give them a chance."

"Are you going to tell Mami?" Edmond asked her. "Because…well, I don't know if you know this, but in Luz's dimension, she's sort of her biological mother. And if Mami finds out, she's going to be pissed, and Luz is going to have to suffer the consequences."

Amity looked at the table for a while. "I want her to know…I want her to understand why I'm so upset. But…yeah, you're right. Luz is really just as upset over this as I am. I may not want to be with her, but I don't want to hurt her either. Well, not like this." Edmond understood. There was a world of difference between going with Avery to Grom to make Luz jealous and causing her a ridiculous amount of psychological harm by having Luz's own mami come after her.

"Let me tell her," Edmond offered. "It's the least I can do to make things up for you. I can calm her down and make sure she doesn't go after Luz. And, look, Amity, I'm sorry I hurt you. I really am."

Amity laughed softly. "I guess I kind of overreacted, right?" Edmond shrugged. If anything, Amity had probably underreacted. If the roles were reversed and Amity hid a secret like that about Hunter, Edmond probably would have gotten much, much angrier.

Amity stood up and then Edmond stood up as well. She walked over to him and hugged him. "I'm sorry I tied you to the ceiling," she said with a light laugh. "You're a good brother, Edmond. Don't you forget that."

"Love you too, Mittens," Edmond said.

It didn't take very long to find Camila in the library where she usually spent her time these days. She'd been looking for information that would help her make a portal quicker, but without the rare reagent that Steve had bought on the black market, they were spinning their wheels. "Hey, mami," he said, sitting down in an armchair across from hers. "I've got something important to tell you about Amity. And Luz."

Camila closed the book she was looking at. "This sounds like a conversation we should have in private."

Edmond shook his head. Being in a public place would force Camila to keep her reaction more sedate. Or at least get Steve to convince her to quiet down. Edmond wondered if he should get Steve to help him with telling Camila, but then decided against it. This was his mess, and it was his responsibility to clean it up. "Better that we do it here," he said curtly. "It's…going to be kind of a wild story."

Camila gestured at her surroundings. "I am literally in another dimension, talking to my witch son, surrounded by creatures out of mythology. At this point, I think my capacity for disbelief is pretty much gone."

So Edmond explained the whole thing to her. Camila's expression wasn't spectacularly easy to read at the best of times. Amity had been formally diagnosed with autism, but there were times when Edmond thought that he might fall under that category a bit as well, and this was one of them. He had no clue in any way whatsoever what she was thinking of. He had also turned his power off completely; this was not a moment to manipulate Camila.

Camila clutched her head as if she had a headache. "So let me see if I've got this straight," she said quietly. "My daughter's girlfriend is actually a temporally displaced doppelganger from another dimension where she's my daughter, and has been dating Amity under false pretenses to save her Amity from a fate worse than death. And you have been actively hiding this from everyone."

Edmond winced. "Yeah, and you can totally punish me all you like for that. I deserve it."

Camila was silent for a few moments. "This…is just ridiculously hard to process. Edmond, I believe you, but…wow. This is a lot." Edmond waited patiently for her to say something else. "Okay. You're not going to Grom. And you're banned from seeing Hunter until it's over too. That's your punishment."

Edmond nodded. That sounded fair, in his opinion. He wouldn't try to skirt around the punishment. "Can I still talk to him over the scroll?"

"Yes," Camila decided after a few moments. "Only because I know his mental state is somewhat fragile and I don't want to hurt him by keeping him completely out of contact with you."

"What are you going to do about Luz?" Edmond asked. "I know it's hard to see, but she's a victim here too. If you confront her, you could seriously hurt her."

Camila closed her eyes and was lost in thought for a while. "You're right, Edmond," she said eventually. "I just wish there was something that we could do for her Amity. Isn't there any other way to break the spell?"

Edmond shook his head. It was a lie. It was well known that killing a fae caused all their spells to reverse, though that was certainly a feat that was easier said than done. But telling Camila this, or even that Zoe was around and impersonating Belos would almost certainly just get her killed. It was far better to let the rebellion handle Zoe. Well, the part of the rebellion that wasn't him. He wasn't going to make the mistake of getting involved in any more assassination plots. That sounded like an excellent recipe for getting killed.

"You seem to be taking this way too calmly," he pointed out.

Camila laughed and laughed and laughed. She was nearly doubled over with laughter when she finally noticed people staring at them. "I'm pretty sure I'm just in shock," she said. Edmond nodded slowly. "I am going to probably freak out about this a ton and maybe even get drunk this evening, but for now, I have more important things to do. I need to talk to her this evening, make sure she's all right."

Edmond shrugged. "I left her on the ice scream place on Screamers Boulevard. Maybe she's gone home?"

"You know, a part of me suspected that something was off with Luz," Camila admitted. "Perhaps it was just…motherly intuition?" She made a face. "Oh, dear Lord, the whole thing is just so messed up, isn't it? I know there's no actual incest involved, but still…"

"Best not to think about that," Edmond advised, speaking from personal experience.

Camila stood up. "All right. I'm going to see what I can do to help Amity. Does Emma know about any of this?" Edmond shook his head. It was true. Emma was sensibly staying away from the drama surrounding her family. She hadn't wanted to even look at Odalia, much less get involved in the drama of whether or not Luz was a changeling. "All right, then I'll get her to help Amity out. Um, no offense, Edmond, but you might want to stay out of this."

Edmond stood up too. His back protested at the sudden movement, still being in pain from getting slammed against the ceiling of the ice scream shop. "Yeah. Message received loud and clear."

For years, Lilith had never really believed that she had a good chance of freeing the Isles from Belos' tyrannical rule. Belos was just too ridiculously strong. The powers he'd gotten from his deal with the TENEBROUS MAGISTER of the REALMS FROM BEYOND THE SHADOWS had made him nearly invincible. True, they'd cost him his sanity and would eventually cost him his physical form and cause him to, in the fullness of time, become one of the KNIGHTS OF PURE DARKNESS, the feared enforcers of the TENEBROUS MAGISTER, but that would hardly be much consolation to everyone in the Isles who would die when the Day of Unity was complete.

Yet that was no excuse not to try and Lilith had done her level best to try to plan out a world without Belos. Even if they could kill him – a big if – dealing with what came after would be almost as hard, if not harder. Belos had forced an end to the ancient rivalry between witches and demons, but if he was not there to keep them from killing each other through his iron fisted reign, a bloody civil war would ensue. And that wasn't even including the many loyalists of Belos who would be determined to avenge the man who claimed that he spoke for the Titan.

But then something wholly unexpected had happened. Edmond had come to her with news that Belos was dead, slain and impersonated by Queen Zoe of the Seelie Fae. Lilith had not believed him at first. She knew that he thought he was telling the truth, but mental instability, misinformation, or some combination thereof could have led him to that conclusion. But then he'd told her that Näkijä had told him of it, that she'd unlocked the memories of the failed assassination attempt in his head and sent him to tell the rebellion the news.

Of course, Lilith hadn't believed that either at first, but then she'd asked Näkijä point blank and she backed up his claims. And that was the end of that. Näkijä was many things. A liar was not one of them. But then again, she'd never gotten involved in politics before. Lilith could easily understand why; most of the individuals who claimed the title of king, emperor, or voivode of the Boiling Isles and survived lasted an average of three years. The particularly long reigning ones lasted a decade or so. Belos was an exception, but his sixty years on the throne only constituted about one tenth of Näkijä's existence. If Zoe's existence was causing Näkijä to break her long established trend of neutrality, then she must have been one hell of a threat to reality itself.

Threats to reality or no, Zoe's usurpation was the best news the rebellion had received in ages, because now they weren't fighting against Belos. They were fighting against his murderer. And that meant that there was now a golden opportunity to unite their forces with enough of Belos' supporters that an apocalyptic civil war wouldn't immediately erupt after they took over. Of course, they still had to prove all this, ideally in a public, incontrovertible fashion, or it really wouldn't matter at all.

The time to strike was nearing. It would be soon, the day that the Hexside field trip to the Emperor's Castle would be occurring. With Eduardo seizing control of the Bonesborough Devourer and Perry Porter being at least sympathetic to their cause, the media was, in practical terms, under their control. Lilith had hired mercenaries to pose as coven guards keeping visitors out of the building while the basilisks impersonated senior coven leaders, Eduardo's nonexistent new boss, and occasionally Lilith herself to give the impression that all was well at the offices. When the revolution came, the control of the media would hopefully give them the advantage they needed.

Lilith had pretty much given up on being leader of the Emperor's Coven. Instead, a basilisk was impersonating her with her consent and wreaking all sorts of havoc on the inside, and she was spending most of her time planning out the revolution.

"I need you to punch me," Eda said without preamble upon walking into Lilith's office completely unannounced, and Lilith gladly obliged with one hell of an uppercut to the jaw. She didn't even hesitate for an instant. Titan, it was satisfying to punch her sister.

"Thank you for making my morning a good one," Lilith said cheerfully. "If you want to make it any better, you can brew me some tea." She closed her eyes in remembrance of the fact that Steve Trevalier had once been in charge of her tea brewing, before Hart had blasted his head off.

Eda rolled her eyes. "I've got some critical information, but I kind of promised not to tell anyone, so I need to make it look like you beat it out of me."

"Who did you make that promise to?"

"Luz," Eda admitted.

Lilith laughed. "My dear Edalyn, there is not enough hurt in the world that I could do to make it look like you betrayed her confidence. Just tell me."

Eda took a few deep breaths and then proceeded to tell Lilith, practically in one breath, a really quite out there story about Luz being an imposter from another dimension that Zoe had switched with the real Luz so that she could get Amity to fall in love with her and thus free her Amity from an enchanted slumber. Or something like that. Eda was talking way too quickly for even the very experienced Lilith to understand everything she was saying. After asking her to talk more slowly and getting her to go over quite a few details, Lilith figured she had the gist of what was going on. "That would explain why she was so surprised to learn that you knew I cursed you," Lilith had to concede.

It was an interesting story. Was it true? Probably, to be honest. The fae were always doing this kind of thing…but there was something going on here beneath the surface, Lilith knew. Though the fae were compelled to avenge slights, they were also pragmatic creatures at heart. Eda's counterpart was prime minister of her realm (a horrifying thought that Lilith was resolutely avoiding processing for the sake of her sanity), and thought of Luz as her daughter, even if it wasn't by blood. Such an attack on Luz would have driven the other Eda to tank the peace treaty with the Seelie fae and perhaps even to ally the Boiling Isles with the Unseelie fae. That may have even ended the long-term stalemate between the two fae kingdoms, and not in Zoe's favor.

So what was Zoe's true motivation? What did she want? What was Luz supposed to do that Zoe didn't want her to do? It had to be something that this reality's Luz couldn't or wouldn't do. But what? Well, short of asking Zoe herself – a ludicrously horrible idea even (or perhaps especially) if the fae queen was willing to give answers – there was no way of knowing.

"I have an idea about how to end this once and for all," Eda admitted. "The only problem is that it's kind of a little manipulative." Lilith simply arched an eyebrow. That had never stopped Eda before. "Towards Luz," she clarified. Lilith nodded in understanding. "But if I'm right, it's our best chance."

"And if you're wrong?"

"She kills us all."

Lilith leaned forward, a smile on her lips. "Tell me the plan, sister dear. And together we'll make it perfect." So Eda started talking, and despite herself, Lilith was liking what she was hearing.

Luz stared at the letter in her hands and read it through. She'd done that so many times now that she'd lost count, but she still could barely believe what she was reading.

It read:

Dear Luz,

Amity and Edmond have told me everything. I am not pleased at all by your actions. You have broken my daughter's heart. She has cried more than I have ever seen her cry. She is suffering from poor self-esteem thanks to you. She genuinely does not see how anyone would really want to be with her, and it has been hard to convince her otherwise, despite her having found another date to Grom. You really hurt her, more deeply than she has ever been hurt. You weaved a web of deception around her. She believed she was in love with you thanks to your manipulations, and it will take a long time for her to recover.

At the same time, I understand why you did what you did. I also don't really see what else you could have done if you wanted to save your version of Amity. You were placed in a no-win situation through no fault of your own. And I recognize just how important I am to you, now that I finally know why. I know that despite Amity's fears, you really do love her, even if that love is just a reflection of your love for Amity Blight, and I am grateful to you for showing that love. So I forgive you for what you have done. Know, however, that Amity does not forgive you, and I can't say she ever will.

For the time being, please do not contact me, in person or over a scroll. I do not want to say something we will both regret. I hope in time we can have a more cordial relationship. I am not, however, Camila Noceda, nor will I ever be her. If a motherly relationship is what you seek, you will not get it from me.

I wish you good luck, and if there is something I can do, within reason, to help you get home, please send a message through Eda.

Sincerely,

Camila Serrano

Luz smiled as she did every time she read the letter. Camila forgave her! The woman who would be her mami in another universe actually forgave her. And that made a world of difference. Luz hadn't had much to smile about since her secret was revealed, so it was nice to be able to look at the letter and know that Camila didn't hate her.

She had tried her best to go through the motions since Amity had learned the truth. She had told herself that being stuck in this parallel universe wasn't going to be too bad. She had her dad, after all. And she didn't have to worry about going back to high school in the Human Realm. She'd never have to see Clara or Erik or any of her bullies ever again. She had friends who had her back no matter what. There were even some times when she believed it.

But she knew otherwise. She'd never see her real friends and family again. Camila Noceda would have to go without her daughter for the rest of her life, to say nothing of the rest of the people that Luz loved. And Amity would remain asleep for all eternity, never to wake, never to age, never to die. It was as if she didn't even exist anymore. A fate worse than death. And Luz had made it possible. If she'd just told Willow the truth at the start, this wouldn't have happened! Amity would be in love with her by the time Grom rolled around, and she'd have won!

Luz had gone back to Hexside eventually, dodging Amity whenever possible. When it wasn't possible, Amity just glared at her with an expression of pure hate in her eyes. She didn't say a word. Luz was pretty sure that Amity wasn't trusting herself to speak. She just gave Luz the silent treatment. Luz hated the silent treatment. She would rather Amity scream at her or hit her instead of getting the silent treatment.

Grom drew nearer and nearer. When Luz heard that Zoe as Belos was going to be attending this year's Grom, she resolved not to attend. Why give Zoe the satisfaction? But Eda had been adamant that she go. Avery would be profoundly grateful, for one, that their friend was there to cheer them on. They needed all the help they could get. For another thing, the best victory Luz could score right now against Zoe was to go on living. But what sold Luz eventually was the argument that Zoe might get suspicious that Luz had figured out her true identity and thus make Luz suffer in more direct methods – like maybe hurting her family.

Still, Luz wasn't exactly in a party mood when Grom night finally arrived. There was a very good reason for it, aside from everything else that had been going on in her life: Amity had given a pointedly dramatic Gromposal to Avery, who had said yes. Avery hadn't done it to be malicious, Luz knew, but still, it would hurt to see the love of Luz's life dance with another person. They were perfectly within their rights to do so – both of them were single, after all, thanks to Luz. But it would still hurt.

There was a knock on her door, causing her train of thought to thankfully be disrupted. "Are you decent, lucecita?" Eduardo called out.

When Luz answered in the affirmative, Eduardo walked in and cast his eyes upon Luz with immense pride. "Look at you. My precious baby girl, off to Grom. You look amazing." Luz didn't actually agree – she'd barely put any effort into choosing her Grom outfit, opting for the first dress, a long light blue one, that she found at the store which fit her. But she appreciated the sentiment.

"I bet you say that to all your daughters," Luz joked as she got off the bed and gave herself an inspection in the mirror.

"And I am right every single time," Eduardo said, and planted a kiss on Luz's forehead. "There, there. It'll all be fine. You'll have fun! And your mom – Eda, I mean – will be there chaperoning. I asked her to have the DJ play some human music. That'll cheer you up!" He nudged her. "Who knows, maybe you could find some girl or guy to dance with? You never know!"

Luz gave a slight smile. "Thanks, dad. I really appreciate everything you're doing for me. And you know what? I'm glad you're here. I mean, here in the Isles. I always wanted you to see this place…and to know that a version of you thinks of it as home…it means more to me than I can say."

Eduardo reached out and hugged Luz, struggling to hold back tears. "It's going to be okay, mija. We'll work through this as a family. Who knows? Maybe there's some way to get you back to your universe. If you could communicate with there, maybe you can travel there." Luz hadn't actually thought of that possibility. "But we'll worry about that later. For today, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to have the best Grom you can. Show that fairy queen what it means to mess with the Nocedas!"

"Okay, dad," she said. "I will."

There was a horrible noise that barely deserved to be classified as noise, since it sounded so appalling and unnatural, and then Hooty called out, "LUZ, YOUR DATE IS HERE!"

"You had a date and you didn't tell me?" Eduardo said, sounding angry.

"No!" Luz said, genuinely confused. "I don't have a date. Wait a second…could it be?" She ran of her room at top speed, ran down the staircase, threw open the door, shouted out, "AMITY!" and then leaped into Gus's arms.

Hang on, she did what?

Gus gently extricated himself and then took a few steps backwards just in case. "Hi, Luz," he said with a wave. He was dressed in a tuxedo that honestly cut quite a smart figure on him. Even if he was romantically interested in people, he never would have been Luz's type (he was too young for starters), but she could appreciate the fact that, aesthetically speaking, he looked damn good.

"Gus, what are you doing here?" Luz asked, completely bewildered.

A cloud of smoke suddenly erupted and Eda emerged from it. "Yeah, Gus. Just what are your intentions with my daughter?" She winked at him.

Gus furrowed his brow. "To take her to Grom so we can have a fun filled night of dancing, listening to music, and watching Avery face down their worst fears?" His eyes widened. "Hang on, wait a second, I'm not here as Luz's date if that's what you're talking about! I'm aromantic! I don't want to date anyone! Remember what I told you? If you don't have a date to Grom, I'll go with you as a friend."

Oh! Now that Luz was thinking about it, she did remember him saying that. She had put it out of her mind with everything that was going on in her life. "Yeah, but Gus, you didn't think it was me you were making that offer to."

"Yeah, well, I know now, and I'm still here, so there you go. Look, you don't have to go with me. I just thought…it'd be nice. You've been so down. I want to make you smile."

Luz was smiling now, truly and genuinely. It was awesome to know that she still had friends on her side, even if she'd completely giraffed up her whole life. "Okay, Gus. Sounds good."

"Yeah, well…your hair looks weird," Eda said, no doubt sulking that her best weapon in her teasing arsenal had been snatched away from her.

"I'll take that as a compliment!" Gus said perkily. He held out his arm. "Ready, Luz?"

"You know what?" Luz said. "Why not?" She hooked her arm on his and together, they walked out the door with their heads held high.

All Principal Bump wanted was to be able to run his school in peace. It really wasn't that much to ask, in his opinion. Without his efforts (and, he reluctantly conceded, those of the principals of the manifestly lesser schools of magic), witchkind would never be able to use their powers to the best of their abilities. He would like, very much, to be left alone while doing so. But, no, it was always a cat and echo mouse game outwitting the Emperor's Coven, the Parent Creature Association, and Luz Noceda. Just once, he'd like to have a calm, ordinary year where no one died, no one's soul was devoured, and no one was cursed to speak in rhyme.

And it had definitely looked like that would be happening this year – until Luz Noceda's prediction had come true and the school had been attacked by Tasha Hart and her basilisk accomplice. Perhaps, Bump privately conceded, he should have listened to Luz – after all, Näkijä had taken a special interest in her lately, and she didn't do that to just anyone – but in his defense, Luz had rather become the girl who cried werewolf recently.

Speaking of Näkijä, the oracle demon was on vacation, and that was an extraordinarily bad sign. If one was to believe her, she was going to Tír na nÓg to take advantage of the island's legendary spa treatments, and for no other reason. But given that the last time she had gone on vacation had been when Belos had taken over, there was ample reason to be alarmed. Still, there was nothing he could do to stop her; she was quite within her rights to utilize some of her almost a decade's worth of cumulative vacation time. Bump just hoped that whatever was coming, his students would survive it.

At least Grom was certain to be yet another success this year. Bump had been reluctant to let a human study at Hexside at first. But Avery Harrington had exceeded his expectations and then some. Their lack of a bile sac didn't impede them in becoming magically successful. Indeed, it forced them to think outside the box in ways that Bump never would have thought of to compensate. With the PCA currently leaderless (Bump couldn't help but crack a satisfied smile at that), no one was telling him who to pick as Grom monarch, so he had chosen Avery. He had complete confidence in Avery's ability to defeat Grom.

"This is…certainly a very eclectic design," Bump noted to the members of the Construction Coven that were working on transforming the ballroom into what looked like some sort of pagan temple.

"Direct orders from Mistress Clawthorne, sir," a construction witch informed him. "She wanted a setup that was based on the Human Realm, to make Mx. Harrington more comfortable."

The arena that Avery was going to fight Grom in was surrounded by a circle of stones that looked like they made of some glittering silver material. Bump recognized it from a drawing he'd seen in a book about the human realm; it was reminiscent of a structure known as Stonehenge. That same silver material, Bump couldn't help but notice, was everywhere around the room. It was on friezes hanging from the walls, the disco ball hanging from the ceiling, even on the floors.

"Well, it certainly isn't my place to criticize Mistress Clawthorne for her design choices," Bump said politely. "No matter how much I may want to…" he muttered under his breath.

Rumor had it that Belos was attending this year's Grom. Granted, the rumors may easily turn out to be false, Bump had to concede, especially given that Belos had never attended Grom before, but Belos wasn't going to take any chances. He would run the show the way the Emperor's Coven wanted. It wasn't worth the risk to do it any other way. Bump wished that some day, he'd be able to run the show entirely his way, but it really didn't seem likely to happen.

The construction witches finished in record time. Bump had to admit that there was a certain beauty to the setup, but at the same time, the decorations made him quite anxious for some reason. The chaperons arrived first. Bump was dismayed and shocked to learn that Eda was among them. "You were banned from Hexside forever," Bump pointed out to her. "And yet you've returned. One has to wonder why."

Eda just gave him a smirk. "Oh, Bumpy, it wouldn't be fun if I gave away the whole show right away. Let's just say that tonight's show is going to be one you'll never, ever forget. Well, if I play my cards right, anyway."

Bump was suddenly starting to understand a little why Näkijä had made a run for it. Were it not for the possibility of Belos showing up only to find him gone and the grievous consequences that would bring upon Hexside, he would have done exactly the same. "Please tell me you're not here to sabotage Mx. Harrington's fight against Grom." He'd heard that Luz's relationship with Amity had gone belly-up and that Amity was going out with Avery to spite her.

Eda looked offended by the insinuation. "Hell, no! Don't worry about that. What we've got planned is for after that. Just relax and enjoy yourself. As my son always says, reality is an illusion, the universe is a hologram, buy gold, bye!" She started to run towards a curtain, but then stopped. "Oh, and while we're on the subject of illusions…" She cast a spell and an illusion made the strange silver metal look completely normal. What was that about?

"I'm not getting paid enough for this," Bump muttered.

Why was it that someone she cared about was always fighting Grom, Luz lamented. First it was Amity, then Eda, and now Avery. Sure, she didn't care about them to the same extent as she cared about the others, but Avery was still her friend and it sucked that they were putting themself in danger. Not that she thought they couldn't handle it! Avery had nerves of steel, and the patience of a saint for putting up with Luz despite her every moment of existence reminding them of what they'd now forever lost.

"You look very nice tonight, Luz," Avery said from behind her, and she turned around to see them dressed up in jeans and a dress shirt. They'd gone with a semiformal look, clearly, and Luz couldn't deny that it suited them.

"Thank you!" Luz responded. "Looking pretty darn good yourself there, Harrington."

"So you and Gus…?" Amity asked. It was the first sentence she'd said to Luz since her disastrous trip into Luz's mind.

Luz shook her head firmly while Gus shook his own head frantically. "There's no such thing as Gus and anyone. We're just going as friends. You two…are you getting along well?"

Amity hooked her arm around Avery's and tried to give a suggestive look to them. It fell ridiculously flat; she was obvious feigning it to make Luz jealous. "Oh, we're getting along really well, Luz. They're honest with me, after all." Luz couldn't help but wince.

"Could you give us a few moments, Amity, please?" Avery asked.

Amity sighed, then stalked away. Gus made a beeline for the buffet. Luz wondered why he wasn't hosting like he had in Luz's timeline, but then she realized the answer – it was because he gave up that opportunity to go to Grom with Luz. Luz couldn't help but be touched by that realization.

"Look, about Amity," Luz began.

Avery crossed their arms. "I'm not going to apologize for going with her. This is the most terrifying thing I've ever done, and going with her helps keep the fear down."

Luz shook her head. "Can you tell her I'm sorry?" she said. "I really am. I know she doesn't believe me, but I am so sorry. I never asked for any of this. Never."

"I'll pass along the message," Avery promised, "but if you're expecting forgiveness from her, it's going to have to wait." The bell screamed, denoting that the Grom fight was going to be beginning soon. They took out a glyph and activated it and armor formed around them. "Wish me luck!"

"Good luck!" Luz called out chirpily.

Before Avery could take their position, the doors slammed open and Zoe, in her Belos disguise, stalked into the room. Luz hid herself amongst the crowd. The last thing she wanted to do was interact with Zoe in any way whatsoever. If Zoe knew that Luz had recovered her memories that she was Belos, who knew what the consequences could be?

Zoe walked up to the stage where Lilith was already waiting and stood there in silence for a while. Despite Luz's best efforts to hide herself, Zoe spotted Luz, and although one couldn't see her expression behind the mask, Luz thought that she looked just a little bit more smug than before. "My subjects," she said in Belos' voice, "I bid you welcome. For thousands of years, the best warriors of witchkind's youth have fought against Grometheus. Yet this is, to the best of my knowledge, the first time a human has done so. Let us all hope that Ms. Harrington succeeds." Luz clenched her fists at the deliberate misgendering.

"That's Mx. Harrington," Steve spoke up, his voice utterly cold.

"Excuse me?" Zoe spat, her voice even colder than Steve's.

"My child is nonbinary," Steve asserted. "They're not a she or a her or a Ms. They're Avery Harrington, and that's enough for me."

Zoe's face twitched and she strode over to Steve. "I'm sure you don't mean to question the will of the crown, Mr. Harrington. You would be surprised how easy it is to disappear in these Isles."

Bump got between them. "As interesting as this discussion is, Your Imperial Majesty, Grom is only getting stronger the longer we wait to defeat it." Zoe nodded curtly and stepped aside. Bump pressed the button to open up the stage. Avery grabbed a sword, their hands trembling, and took a combat stance.

Avery was not kidding about their cynophobia or the fact that it was based on primal fear, not reason. It wasn't just fearsome looking dogs that Grom turned into. It was also small, harmless looking dogs that just ran around barking a lot. Avery sliced and diced them into pieces, but if Luz had thought that they'd be dignified about it, she was to be disappointed. They were screaming pretty much the whole time, and almost melting from fear. Yet bit by bit, piece by piece, they overrode enough of the fear to strike against Grom's canine manifestations.

As Avery cut off the head of a rottweiler, Grom looked like it was almost dissipated. Despite themself, Avery was smiling, even if it was a hideous looking rictus of fear most of the time. They knew that they could conquer their fears, and it was giving them strength.

And then Grom turned into a human woman.

The woman had ash blond hair reminiscent of Avery's, and light brown eyes. Luz had never met her before, not even seen a picture of her, but she knew who this woman had to be: Catherine Harrington, Avery's enbyphobic mother.

Grom was smiling. It looked ecstatic to see Avery. It was all a ruse, of course. Luz knew it, everyone else knew it, even Avery probably knew it. But there was a difference between knowing something, and feeling it, and Luz also knew that Grom's powers made it difficult to realize that one wasn't working in reality. Avery dropped their sword in shock.

"Hello, daughter," Grom said, its voice light and friendly. Avery just froze, standing stock still. They didn't move at all. "Did you miss me?"

"No," Avery clearly lied. "I haven't missed you at all. You didn't love me, not like Dad does."

Grom stepped forward and stroked Avery's face affectionately. "That's not true, sweetie. Of course I love you. Every mother loves their daughter."

"I'M NOT YOUR DAUGHTER!" Avery shouted at the top of their lungs.

"You are my daughter," Grom said, its voice echoey and rough. "You can't just pretend you're not a girl, Avery. That's not how it works. You're a girl or a boy, and that's it. God made us in only two ways, and it's a sin to even consider that it could work in any other way." It put its hand on Avery's shoulder. "It's okay, Avery. It's not your fault. It's your father's. He tricked you, took advantage of your confused state."

Avery looked over at Steve, who was trying to yell something at him, only to find that Grom was using its powers to completely constrict his voice box, and every word he tried to say wouldn't come out of his mouth. A tear rolled down their cheek. "That's…not true."

"We're going to get you back to Earth," Grom promised. "We'll get him behind bars where he belongs. And then we're going to get you some therapy. You'll be back to thinking of yourself as a girl soon enough. I'll have my daughter back!" Grom gave them a huge smile. "Now come over here and give your mommy a hug!"

Avery, moving jerkily, as if they were fighting against their very self, walked over to her, and then, after a few seconds, hugged Grom as if it was truly their mother. Grom took a step backwards. "There you go," it whispered. "See, that wasn't so –"

A blue glow lit up the dark arena and a shard of ice sliced through the back of Grom's neck where Avery had placed a glyph while hugging it and then all the way to the other side. Grom exploded in a burst of black sludge and then it was gone. Avery had won!

"Avery Harrington, let me offer you my heartiest congratulations for defeating Grom," Zoe said, sounding ever so slightly disappointed. "Please come up to the stage to receive the Grom tiara." Bump summoned the Grom tiara, looking vaguely confused when he saw it, and handed it over to Zoe.

And then Zoe screamed in utter agony as her fingers took on a burned, blackened appearance.

Eda stepped out from behind a curtain and snapped her fingers, and the metal that was all over the room abruptly acquired a silver tinge to it. It was iron, Luz realized, and a huge grin appeared on her face. Eda was going to kill Zoe! She was going to go home after all! Amity was going to be saved!

Lilith grabbed the tiara and slammed it onto Zoe's head, causing her to scream even louder than before. Luz lost her hearing for the better part of a minute. But the pain had been worth it: her disguise abruptly disintegrated and the real Zoe stood before everyone, to a torrent of gasps from the crowd. Luz watched as people that she had previously thought were just chaperons grabbed weapons from the arsenal provided for Avery – all of which had been replaced with iron weapons – and blocked the doors with them. They drew more weapons and strode towards Zoe.

"Zoe, Queen of the Seelie Fae, I accuse you of the murder of Emperor Belos and the attempted murder of his heir, Prince Hunter, the Golden Guard," Lilith snarled. "In the name of the prince, I sentence you to death."

Zoe snarled at her and swept the tiara off her head with her magic. But even that weakened her. Her appearance was hideous; half of her was the form of a beautiful woman, and half of her was hideously deformed, and those halves were not uniform in the slightest. "Stupid woman!" she shouted. "You don't know anything."

Lilith drew an iron sword of her own. "I know enough, Zoe. I know that you have kidnapped my niece and lured her counterpart into a sick deal you knew she'd lose at. You brought her here to suffer, and suffer she has. What I don't know is why."

"Yeah, Zoe," Luz called out. "What's this cataclysm you said I'd cause?"

Zoe looked shocked and even more furious than before that Luz remembered this. "The only cataclysm that truly matters: the loss of my power! In nine out of ten realities, your actions caused democracy to be brought to the fae realms." Zoe said democracy as if it was a vile swear word. "My own people voted me out of office." Luz couldn't help but laugh that Zoe had made her life miserable over something so petty.

"I will not lose my power," Zoe vowed. "Without Luz to cool things down, fire will envelop the Isles, and I would rather my subjects be dead than ruled by someone else. That will not change. You cannot win, Luz Noceda, because by taking my deal, you already lost. You are stuck here, and you will stay stuck here."

Lilith swung the sword at Zoe, who effortlessly dodged it. Zoe fired a stream of red lightning from her hands, sending Lilith slamming into the wall opposite her, knocking her unconscious. She directed the lightning at the crowd, but it abruptly dissipated. The iron in the room was weakening her steadily the more time she spent there, and she knew it.

The rebellion agents charged in Zoe's direction, their weapons held high. Zoe did a cartwheel for seemingly no other reason than because she could into the crowd and grabbed the nearest child. She squeezed their neck. "Let me out," she demanded, "or I will kill this child. And then I will keep killing child after child until either I or every child in this room is dead. Is that the price you wish to pay for freedom, Clawthorne?" she asked Eda.

Eda looked around her frantically, but she saw no way out. She sagged, walked over to the door, and then removed the sword blocking the door. Zoe, smirking, dragged her hostage out of the room. She then shoved him back inside once she was safely away from the iron and then disappeared in a cloud of grey smoke.

"Well," Luz said. "That happened."