TRIGGER WARNING
It had been a week since the woods fiasco, and Luz had never felt better. She still felt awkward that she hadn't told Eda and King yet about her 'new normal', but ever since Gus and Willow found out it felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Luz had never noticed how distant Amity and Willow had been until suddenly after that Saturday conversation. The distance just disappeared. It seemed like whatever barriers had been remaining between them had finally disappeared, and that made Luz happy. Gus had actually been a life saver a few times when boscha got particularly bad. He had managed to use his illusions to hide Luz's 'slips'. Today Eda was going to pick Luz up from school on her way back from meeting some of her contracts. According to them, their was going to be some kind of big spell that was going to be cast the following weekend but no one knew by whom. The bad girls Coven decided that they should keep an eye out and if it was one of Belos's they'd learn what they could before ruining they're night. Friday night was important for another reason though.
Once more Luz returned to the grom tree. As she woke up P.T. was waiting. "Back again I see, partner," he said with a smile.
"Hey P.T. It's been a while. I figured after the last few times this would be a regular thing. Was I wrong?" Luz asked.
After a pause P.T. kneeled down in front of Luz and said, "No, I won't be pulling you to this place again after tonight, I hope. That's not to say that you can't drop by anytime you want… even if I wanted to, I couldn't stop you," P.T. laughed. "Luz… while you've been learning to master my powers and the consequences out there, I've been determining all the other effects our deal had on you," P.T. frowned. "Luz… you need to be careful. Your 'demon form' wasn't the only change to you physically and unlike them the other changes aren't so easy to hide once exposed."
Luz looked at him concerned, "Ya I know that no ones been able to 'assess me' according to Eda. The spells just seem to fizzle or rebound, but I'm ok right?"
"Don't worry partner, you're as health as can be. Let me start from the top then. Firstly, no one's going to be able to check you out with magic or the human way unless you allow it. My powers wouldn't allow it. It's a defense mechanism of sorts. For now don't let anyone examine you that way. The last thing we need is that kind of heat. Secondly, you probably haven't noticed but when we talk like this you don't get a very restful sleep. With your mind so active it's not really that big of a surprise, and that's why I've been working on an alternative. We'll circle back to that later. Lastly, congrats kid you are now as much of a magical creature as anything else on the isles. That whole three day coma, it wasn't just your body processing my powers. My powers changed you on the inside. They reinforced your muscles and organs to handle the strain. For the most part that's all they did except for your stomach, you can now digest just about anything, your blood, which now carries pure magic and probably looks different now idk, and your heart, because it needed to be able to process and channel my power… There is one other thing but it's only a guess right now…," P.T. sighed.
"Wow. Whatever it is, it can't be that bad by comparison. After all, apparently I'm barely human anymore," Luz gave a choked sad laugh.
"Luz. I'm sorry. I didn't know it would be this much of a change. But if I'm right this might be the worst part for you… Ok. I'm sure you've noticed but magical beings tend to live longer lives than humans unless something happens to them. I know it's occurred to you at least once but before your change all of your friends would have likely outlived you by a good amount. To put it simply while both mature at roughly the same rate witches tend to live twice as long as humans, but that's not really the problem anymore…" stated P.T. flatly. Luz looked at him in excitement. "Luz, given what you are now. It's possible you could live for thousands of years or even longer," P.T. finished and Luz's face dropped.
"Wait. Are you saying I could end up outliving everything and everyone I know? I'll end up alone again," Luz said, starting to cry.
"Almost. King will probably be around even longer then you and there are a few other beings with similar life spans but most likely yes," P.T. sighed.
For the first time it began to rain in Luz's mindscape. It felt like a lesser form of the boiling rain they knew. It was hot and heavy, but unlike true boiling rain. This rain didn't burn or sear the skin. Instead it felt sharp like a blade, like hot knives full to bursting with fear, pain, and loneliness. While Luz didn't seem to feel it or react, P.T. felt every drop as it struck his bone face or hit his back and shoulders and ran down. Of all the things the old being had ever done, of all his mistakes, this might have been his greatest. Or so he thought as he used his body to continue to shield the poor child before him as best he could while she cried.
It felt like a long time before Luz finally stopped crying and the rain stopped. The clouds went away eventually but the sun didn't return. P.T. reached down and lifted the shaking latina, and they began to walk off the cliff and up into the night sky. As they did Luz began to notice stars coming closer, but they weren't stars. They were glittering memory windows, precious memories of her times with her friends, her mom, her dad, and many others. Somewhere short snippets, little memories of times she helped someone or made their day. Others were long and showed days where she did more. As they walked P.T. spoke, "I know this whole thing is a lot to accept but it's not all bad. All around us are examples of what you have been able to do with only fourteen years of life. By just being you, you have touched and changed so many lives. Just imagine what you will be able to do with possibly thousands more years and all the power we possess. By the end of your road I truly believe that there will be more windows than stars in the actual sky and all of those people will continue to live on here, never forgotten." After a few minutes Luz reached up and hugged him. "Thanks," was all she could muster. As the world faded around her and she began to wake up P.T. gave her a light poke in the middle of her forehead with a glowing claw, and she faded away out of her mindscape. As P.T. went to return to the grom tree and sincerely hoped he had made the right decision he saw a new window spring into existence. It was the memory of their walk through the stars and it radiated so much peace and love he began to cry as well. As we walked way he said aloud, "I know someday there won't be a person alive who doesn't bask in your light, Luz. You're going to become so much more than I ever was."
Luz awoke to her face being wet with tears and her heart full of love.
A couple hours later Luz was in the kitchen making breakfast for Eda and King when she heard a voice. I think I saw Eda hide some cinnamon in that right hand drawer. "Oh thanks P.T… wait P.T.? How are you talking to me right now?" Luz sputtered. Yup, don't you remember when I said I found a less taxing way for us to stay in contact. When I poked you I opened a channel for us to speak. Bt dubs you can think your answers. Unless you want people to see you talking to yourself. Also I can help you during the day now. "That's cool, but why didn't you do this before now," thought Luz. Frankly I didn't know I could. I have one more trick I'd like to try though. Relax your arms and let them hang for a second. Luz shrugged and did so, and she felt her hands move with her trying to move them but her arms stayed limp. Dang. That's unfortunate. I was kind of hoping I'd be able to 'borrow' your arms but looks like I'm limited to your hands and mind. Well I guess that's all I need in order to give you some more gylphs and combos. Luz had gone back to cooking while he spoke but dropped the spoon when she heard glyphs. "You know more glyphs. There are more than four glyphs? OMT," Luz shrieked aloud. Yup but you're going to have to be careful with them and you can't teach anyone the new one's till I tell you otherwise. You're not the only one who will want them and they won't use them for good things. I know it sounds selfish but trust me the core four are enough for everyone else for now. "Ok P.T. I will," she promised. Also the eggs are burning. "Oh dios mis huevos," Luz cried and P.T. laughed.
For the rest of the day P.T. showed Luz some new glyphs and combos. She learned one to create and control lightning and wind, create a sonic blast, create darkness to hid in, and an improvised invisibility combo that lasted only a minute or two each and she couldn't really do much while invisible besides creep slowly or it would break, but made her silent without needing to hold her breath. Which wasn't a problem because according to P.T. once she memorized a glyph or combo she could replicate it nearly instantly in her demon form. He did say he knew how to do the transportation combo but refused to show her how yet. In the process they learned P.T. could give her a headache or releave one to discourage 'dangerous experiments' as he called them, but Luz managed to hide one finger from Amity's old glove amongst her notes.
That night Eda, King, and Luz went out to the Night Market to repair her witch's wool cape, and keep an eye out for anything strange. Eda knocked on a glass panel.
"Hello? Prim? Did you get into the Night Juice again? Hello?" asked Eda.
King's voice comes up from a walkie-talkie Luz is holding while she waits with Eda.
King asks, "Is this thing on? Demon King to Luzura, you copy?"
Luz turns to her left and calls out to King, "Sure do!"
King pops out from a tub filled with skulls, and in a low voice says, "Use the walkie!"
Luz blushes in embarrassment, "Oh, uh, right. 10-4, Demon King. Luzura here with Echo, Delta, Alfa. What's your 20? Over."
King stutters, "Uh, oh. Uh... Hable más lento, por favor. (Speak more slowly please.)
Luz beams proudly, "Aw, you remembered your lesson. But that wasn't Spanish, buddy. I read you loud and clear! Over."
"Hey, Prim!" Eda yells while banging on the glass panel again until someone finally opens the door. "Ah, there you are. I need more witch's wool. I got a kid with cold shoulders and a knack for gettin' into trouble."
Prim sighs, "The shop is closed, Eda. I've... finally decided to join a coven." Prim shows Eda and Luz an Oracle Coven sigil on her wrist, much to Eda's dismay. "Emperor Belos says wild witches celebrate destruction and pain."
Eda stammers, "I mean, I know I can be abrasive, but-"
"He also says that the Titan punishes those who aid wild witches. I can't have you here," Prim says while shutting the door.
Luz glances over at Eda, then becomes angry. "Well, what does he know?! Belos is a liar. He just wants power! And I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that he can't speak to the Titan! He can't. I can assure you of that.
Everyone around gasps.
"Do you think she's right?" asks a purple haired witch.
A yellow demon with horns warns, "Don't let the Titan hear you say that. Belos says he can read minds."
How ironic.
The crowd disperses, and Eda notices people's reaction and calls out to Luz, "Hey, I'll be fine. You're the one who needs to be careful."
Luz growles, "But people should know who Belos really is!"
Eda sighs, "And who is he, really?"
Luz is unable to give an answer, but hears P.T sound frustrated.
Eda smiles at her apprentice, "Listen, Belos has been Emperor for 50 years. Everyone is used to this. No one's gonna risk change unless you have proof that he's up to something." Eda notices that Luz is looking away dejected and is shaking slightly. Unbenounced to Eda holding in any changes. Eda punches Luz's shoulder, "Ah, come on. We'll figure something out. But first, let's see if there are any respectable criminals left in this city." Eda stands up and takes out her Owl Staff from her hair, then walks away while everyone around gives her dirty looks and whisper among themselves. King walks up to Luz.
Luz continues to growl, "I hate seeing people look at Eda that way. But how can I prove he's actually evil? It feels so obvious, but no one believes me! I don't know what to do!" Don't worry partner his time will come.
King sighs, "No one wants to think they've wasted their life following the wrong person. You just gotta find something big to change their minds." King walks away to follow Eda, and Luz looks down thoughtfully.
Luz and P.T. agree that King's right. "But how can I find that something?" She thinks. Luz suddenly notices something and gasps. Not far away from her, she sees Hunter running into an alley.
Luz rolls up her sleeves and says, "Perfect timing."
Hunter was following three hooded figures into an alley and hid behind a barrel. Although not outright shown, the three figures are implied to be Raine, Darius, and Eberwolf. After Eberwolf finishes drawing some circles on the ground, Raine starts playing their flute, while Darius mixes up some liquid in a test tube he is holding. He then puts the test tube on the ground, and transforms his left hand into an Abomination hammer, preparing to break it. Hunter jumps out from behind the barrel and confronts the trio, "Halt! For crimes against the Emperor, you are under arrest!"
While Luz sneaks up on Hunter from behind, Raine and Darius turn around to look at Hunter. Darius restores his Abomination hammer hand to normal state.
"Hunter!" Luz yells as she pounces up on Hunter from behind, causing both of them to crash into the ground. "Hey! Can I bug you with a few questions?"
Hunter sits up, and asks incredulously, "Human?!"
Raine proceeds to start playing their flute and create a smokescreen.
Hunter screams, "No, no, no! Stop! I forbid you to flee!"
By the time the smoke disperses, Raine, Darius and Eberwolf are all gone.
Hunter groans in frustration, then turns around and takes off his mask. "Human! Do you know what you've just done?!" He takes out his staff, but accidentally steps onto something and breaks it, causing it to start glowing. He glances downwards and notices that he had stepped on a neon yellow vial. The liquid flashes brightly.
Luz asks, "Uh... what's that?" Oh crap. The circles Luz and Hunter are standing in start flashing brightly, causing them to cry out in shock. The light then wraps them up and shoots up into the night sky, creating a firework. Hunter's staff falls to the ground, but it then transforms into Flapjack as he lands next to Hunter's mask.
LUZ. Wake up. You need to wake up. Luz slowly opens her eyes and groans as she finds herself lying on the floor. She looks to her left and then sits up, finding herself in a dimly lit corridor. On the walls of both sides, there are multiple huge paintings. Luz then looks to her front and gasps. In front of her, there is a huge painting depicting Emperor Belos holding his staff while looming over her, King, Lilith and Eda in her Owl Beast form. Below the painting is a plaque which says "TRIUMPH OVER WILD MAGIC".
Luz then stands up and moves backwards with a frightened expression on her face, "What is this place?"
"You know exactly where we are, human," Hunter spits.
Luz turns around to find Hunter staring at her angrily.
"I heard whispers of an attempt to invade the Emperor's mind with wild magic. I decided to take the villains out myself, but you got us trapped in the Emperor's mind!" yelled Hunter.
Luz looks around, "We're in the Emperor's mind? That's bananas!" And extremely dangerous for us. We need to get out as soon as possible. "Why P.T. this might be our only chance to get answers," she thinks. Some questions are better left unanswered, partner. Trust me.
Hunter scoffs, "I don't know what bananas are, and I don't care."
Luz tries to explain to Hunter that they can get answers, but he bursts out laughing.
Hunter continues to laugh, "You wanna prove that my uncle is evil? And you thought I would help?"
Luz scoffs, "Well, now that I'm in his mind, I can learn the truth for myself."
Hunter suddenly notices something and gasps. He walks towards it. "Whoa, look at this memory!" Gasps Hunter. They see a painting depicting Belos guiding people away from a burning town. Hunter and Luz approach it. "You know, unfettered wild magic wiped out our family. Everyone knew too much and got themselves hurt. That's why Belos took in the survivors, and dedicated his life to making the Coven System! That's why he's so well-liked!" declares Hunter. He stops next to a painting depicting people happily reaching out their hands towards Belos, who is holding a glowing floating orb with his left hand. "Our sigils protect us from ourselves, and make the Titan happy." Hunter notices another painting to his left and gasps, then walks towards it. "Oh! This is when I inherited my staff! You know, I'm the youngest scout to become the Golden Guard. I, uh, never found out what happened to the previous one."
Luz looked at Hunter with an uneasy expression on her face.
Hunter wondered, "Huh, why does Darius look so sad here?"
Luz starts looking around and notices the painting she first saw when she woke up. She walks up to it, and touches the part where Owl Beast Eda is drawn at with a glum look on her face. Suddenly, she hears the sound of a child crying. She follows the sound, and finds a child figure with a wooden mask similar to Belos' sitting behind a pillar sobbing. He notices Luz and immediately stands up, frightened by her presence.
Luz asks hesitantly, "Belos?"
Hunter wipes around looking in the opposite direction, "Belos?"
Luz and Hunter both speak out at the same time, much to Luz's surprise. The child figure turns around and runs away. Luz turns around and notices a dark figure resembling Belos approaching them.
Hunter kneels, pleading, "Emperor, you're here! We beg for your assistance to return to the physical world, so that I may capture your enemies! And so she can ruin someone else's day," he spits.
The dark figure stops in front of Hunter. The child figure emerges from behind it and shakes his head and hands at the duo desperately. Luz looks at him with a puzzled expression when suddenly, the dark figure roars and starts transforming, revealing multiple glowing eyes on its body while also screeching.
Luz screams, "Hunter! Watch out!" Luz rushes to the front of Hunter and takes out some fire glyphs from her pocket, then slaps on it. This creates an explosion which blasts strong enough to send everyone flying backwards. Luz and Hunter roll on the floor then crash through a wall, falling down a dark void. Luz takes out a hover glyph from her pocket, grabs onto Hunter, then activates it before they hit the ground. They manage to come to a halt near the ground, but the paper then disintegrates, causing them to crash into the ground face-first. The duo sit up, as Luz rubs her head in pain. "You ok, P.T.," she asks but only feels shock and rage from him.
Hunter looks around, "Where are we now?"
Luz looks up to see the hole they came through just now disappearing. "We must be in the Emperor's real mind." The duo stands up and finds themselves in a strange place filled with dead trees. Some paintings can be seen on the tree trunks.
Hunter rounds angrily, "What do you mean the Emperor's real mind? That gallery-"
Luz sighs, "Was made of all the lies he tells everyone. It's the mask he wears in mental form. He's not who you think he is."
Hunter notices an abandoned palisman on the ground and picks it up. The palisman then disintegrates in his hand, causing it to tremble. Hunter clutches his hand, then stands up. "We're probably being punished because you provoked his inner self," he scoffed.
Luz looks at Hunter with an irritated expression on her face until Eda's voice suddenly comes out from Luz's walkie-talkie.
Eda yells, "Boo!"
Hunter gets startled, "Ah!"
Luz takes out her walkie-talkie.
Eda asks, "Luz, where are you? Oh, wait. Hey, blondie, your friend wants to talk to you."
Hunter looks stunned, "Uh…"
Flapjack's chirp comes out from Luz's walkie-talkie, and Hunter immediately grabs it from Luz's hand.
Hunter gasps, "Flapjack! Are you okay? Have they hurt you?"
Luz snatches the walkie-talkie from Hunter's hands, "Give me that! So, Eda. We may be kind of trapped in… the Emperor's mind."
Eda gasps, "How in the world did you- No, we don't have time for that. Has the Inner Belos spotted you yet?"
"Ya, we were able to get away. But just checking, can there be two inner selves?" Luz asked.
Eda assurts, "No. But I have heard of strong emotions materializing. Just stay safe. If you're devoured in his mindscape-"
Hunter paces and shudders, "We'll be trapped! Dragged down into his subconscious forever."
King promises, "Well, we're gonna get you out! We'll make a return spell as fast as we can!"
Eda begs, "Just don't lose the walkie-talkie. It's our only connection to you.
Luz salutes, "You got it, Owl Mom. Over and out."
Hunter yells, "Wait!" and dnatches the walkie-talkie from Luz's hand. "I'll be home soon, Flapjack. Stay safe."
Flapjack chirps.
Hunter whispers, "I love you. Over and out."
Eda and King say, "Aww!"
Hunter ends the transmission and throws the walkie-talkie back to a grinning Luz. Suddenly, they hear sounds of leaves rustling.
Hunter says, "Crap."
Luz looks, "Huh?"
They look towards the source of sound and see the child figure from before emerging from behind a tree.
Luz calls out to him, "It's you! Kid Belos!"
Hunter looks on, confused, "What?"
Luz walks towards Kid Belos and kneels down to talk to him. "Thank you for trying to help us before. You don't seem as scary as the other one." Suddenly, from somewhere above, the monster screeches, which surprises Luz and Kid Belos. He covers his ears, then runs towards Luz and grabs her arm.
Luz questioned, "If strong emotions can take form, maybe he's the Emperor's sense of guilt? I don't know."
Hunter laughs, "What? Belos has never done anything worthy of feeling guilt. It's obviously his... uh, sense of innocence. His pure intentions!"
Luz whispers, "Well, whichever it is, I think he can help us stay safe. And maybe you can show us who Belos really is.
Kid Belos nods.
Hunter yells, "What was that?"
From somewhere above, the monster screeches again, and Kid Belos grabs Luz's arm and drags her away.
"No time! Let's go!" Luz says, and Hunter runs after the duo. Kid Belos leads Luz to a painting and jumps through it. Luz prepares to follow suit.
Hunter yells horrified, "Wait! You're just gonna invade his memories? That's sacrilege!"
Somewhere above, the monster screeches again.
"It's a way to survive!" yells back Luz as she grabs Hunter's arm and drags him towards the painting, and both fall into the painting together.
Outside the Owl House. Eda arrives back on Owlbert with King and Flapjack, and flings the door open.
Eda yells, "Hooty, I need you to lock down the house. Windows shut, curtains drawn, absolutely zero distractions." As she speaks, she grabs some stuff from the ledge above the fireplace, and Flapjack hovers nearby, also grabbing an object.
"King, go grab all the textbooks you can find." Eda groans, "This is gonna be tough without magic. Hooty! Chop-chop!"
Hooty nods and proceeds to barricade all the windows, summoning some spiky plants from the ground to surround the house, and latches the front door shut with multiple locks. He then hangs a sign outside the front door which says: "BRB!". Not far away, Raine, Darius and Eberwolf are hiding in the bushes. Raine intended to go near the house, but was stopped by Darius.
Hooty looks at Flapjack, "Oh, hey, your buddy's trapped too, right? The angry blond kid?"
At the mention of Hunter, Darius immediately rushes forward, but Raine halts him.
Hooty shakes his head sadly, "Eda's smart but without magic, I'm afraid she can't do much.
Raine crosses their arms as Darius scratches his head, and Eberwolf pops out from a bush beside them. Raine then proceeds to write on the ground to communicate with the duo. They write: "I KNOW HOW TO GET PAST THE BIRD", "OWL?", "TUBE???", "HIM!!!"
Back in Belos' mindscape. Luz and Hunter fall out of the painting Luz previously pulled them into. Kid Belos appears out of thin air in front of them, and runs away while laughing. The duo follow him to an area depicting one of Belos' memories - which takes place during the Deadwardian Era somewhere in Bonesborough. Multiple townspeople have gathered in front of an empty platform. Kid Belos vanishes as he approaches the crowd, while Luz and Hunter run towards the platform and stop in front of it.
A townsperson whispers, "He says he can talk to the Titan."
Another says, "The Titan's dead, how is that possible?"
A younger Belos steps onto the platform, and the townspeople gasps.
"Fellow citizens, we are born into chaos. Our lives anger the Titan. My own family has been hurt by the darkness of wild magic," Belos cries. As he's speaking, a past version of his artificial magic staff sparks and smoke comes out of it, obscuring everything around him, he starts to twirl his staff, clearing the smoke, and nine differently colored lights shine from it. Belos continues, "I've been shown the healing light, it shines in nine hues!"
The townspeople gasp in delight.
Hunter nudges Luz, "See? He's always been helping people."
Explosions suddenly start to go off everywhere around Belos.
Belos screams, "The wild witches! They have found me, run!"
Luz and Hunter run to an alleyway nearby, and see another part of Belos' memory where he is standing in front of a previous Golden Guard scolding him.
Belos whispers angrily, "You incompetent fool! You nearly took my head off with that blast."
The previous guard apologizes, "I'm sorry, Lord Belos!" Oddly sounding like an older, more tired Hunter.
Belos spits, "I'm off to the next town."
The previous guard asks uncomfortably, "Uh, what about the rest of these?" He takes off a blanket revealing various boxes of unused explosives.
Belos smiles maliciously behind his mask, "Put on a bigger show."
Hunters face turns to a mix of shock and realization. The previous Golden Guard ignites the fuse, then follows Belos into a building. Kid Belos then appears, picks up a bag filled with what sounds to be glass bottles, and jumps through another painting. Luz and Hunter follow suit, and land outside the memory.
Luz yells, "Belos was lying! Wild witches weren't attacking him. How could you help someone like that?"
Hunter sputters, "That was... probably a... special technique to get people to listen to his message. It's... It's all for the greater good."
Luz looks angrily at Hunter for a second before the monster starts to creep out of a memory, reaching towards Luz.
Luz screams, "Ah! It found us!"
They fall into another memory and find themselves in a dimly lit cave. Before them stands a younger Belos and a six year old child that looks like Hunter. As Belos raises his staff it begins to release sparks of energy. "You know what to do Hunter. Dodge all the blasts." The child looks scared but before he can object or start crying Belos starts blasting, and for a few minutes he does well. He dodges and weaves, but soon he trips and one of the blasts grazes his side causing the child to cry out and curl up bleeding on his undamaged side. Belos just looks on with a look of disdain and disappointment. "You told me you wanted to help me, but if this is the best you can do I'll have to find someone else," declares Belos.
The child tries to pull himself together and stand but he can't. "I'm sorry Uncle. I'll do better next time," he squeaks.
"You'd better train harder. This was a poor showing," Belos said without a hint of sympathy. "Bandage yourself up like I showed you."
"Yes Uncle," the child says through labored breaths and crawls to the side, and he begins to patch himself up.
As he does Luz can't help seeing two other scars on his torso, old and long heal'd. Luz grabs Hunter and pulls him back through the memory wall as bile rises in her throat. Back outside Luz notices all of Hunter's scars again. "How many?"
Hunter looks back, appearing unbothered, "What?"
"How many of your scars are from him?" rasped Luz.
Hunter begins to laugh but his hand trembles, "Really? Yes, his training methods are rough, but they are very effective."
Luz looks away. Unable to look at him and more so unable to ignore that he didn't answer her question. She felt her eyes start to shift and her horns wanting to appear, but she barely forced them back. In the back of Hunter's mind he knows something is wrong though. He doesn't remember that incident happening in a cave.
They see Kid Belos laugh and jump into another memory; Luz and Hunter follow him in. This memory takes place at the top of the Knee, where Belos is standing in front of a group of nine witches and demons. Kid Belos jumps up and grabs a loose rope hanging off one of them before running away.
Hunter asks, "What's the kid doing?" Before Luz tells him to be quiet and gestures ahead.
Belos gestures towards a burning city in front of the crowd. "Look at what wild magic has done to your city. Now imagine what it's doing to you. A city can rise from the ashes, but a soul…" Belos shakes his head slowly. The crowd becomes uneasy and murmurs among themselves.
A horned witch gasps, "What does that mean?"
"I can make your magic pure again, as the Titan intended!" declares Belos.
A different previous Golden Guard appears next to Belos, a yellow glow emitting from his finger. The crowd extends their arms outwards, and the previous guard uses his finger to brand a coven sigil onto each of them, representing all nine covens.
Belos bellows, "Welcome, to your new covens!"
The horned witch looks down at the sigil branded onto her wrist. Suddenly, lines start to come out of it, spreading throughout her entire body as she exclaims in pain and panic. Her eyes glow, as do the other eight group members with the same effect as they all drop one by one to the ground, becoming unconscious. The previous guard kneels down next to the horned witch and checks her pulse.
The previous guard gasps, "They're... still alive."
Belos sighs, "Then we still have some work to do. Gather the Palismen."
The previous guard brings two staffs to Belos, who snatches one of the Palisman off its staff and crushes it before walking away. The horned witch gasps softly and the previous guard turns around to look at her writhing in pain before he walks away.
Luz and Hunter stand behind her. Luz looks horrified while Hunter has a tense expression on his face. Luz then looks at him in concern as a strong gust of wind blows past, bringing along some snow which then obscures the view.
Outside the memory again, Kid Belos jumps out of the painting while laughing. Hunter then comes out from it and runs off. Luz emerges from the painting shortly after.
Luz looks horrified at Hunter, "You can't deny it now. Belos is trying to hurt people!"
Hunter shakes and cries, "He was just... perfecting sigil magic! Besides, maybe, he's remembering things wrong. Who knows how mindscapes work?" Hunter notices Kid Belos emerging from behind a tree while laughing.
Luz whispered, "I thought you did!"
Hunter angrily yells, "Well, maybe I'm an idiot! You! Get back here!" Hunter rushes towards Kid Belos, but before he can catch him, Kid Belos suddenly stops and turns around. The sound of the monster screeching is then heard from behind Hunter, prompting him to turn around.
Luz turns around and sees a tall and lanky skeletal monster approaching her and Hunter. It then screeches at the duo, causing them to scream in fear and immediately start running away before it can catch them. They follow Kid Belos to another painting, but Hunter suddenly hesitates and stops. He turns around to look at the monster, who is growling and slowly approaching him, causing him to retreat in fear.
Luz screams, "Hunter!"
Hunter looks back at Luz. She extends her hand towards him, and after hesitating for a bit, he grabs her hand. Luz then drags him into another memory of Belos'. Part of the monster's skull comes through the painting, sniffs around, then leaves. Both Luz and Hunter let out a sigh of relief. Kid Belos pushes Luz's arm away, then runs forward to pick up empty glass bottles from the ground and put them into his sack. Not far away, Luz is shocked to see the portal she destroyed before has been restored.
Luz gasps, "He's got the portal?! Did you know about this?"
Hunter deadpans, "Of course. I helped rebuild it."
They hear Belos say, "I can hear you."
Luz and Hunter appear surprised at what Belos just said. Not far away, he walks towards the portal, but then stops and looks back. From somewhere behind Luz and Hunter, someone starts laughing maniacally, prompting them to turn around and look up at a tree behind them. A pair of glowing eyes then appear from the darkness within the tree branches. A strange shadow in an abstract form emerges from behind a tree branch, "You caught me! To you, who stray so far from home. To me, who's trapped beneath these bones. We'll play forever, me and you, when you paint the land in nine bright hues!" As they speak, the shadow moves around the room and transforms into multiple abstract picture forms. Eventually, after reaching the portal, the shadow transforms to depict nine people lifting up their hands in a worshiping position. They then transform again to depict a screaming Titan and people being shattered into pieces. After that, they revert to their original form and start cackling.
Belos coldly asks, "What can I do for you, Collector?"
The Collector moves towards a statue and lies down between its arms. "I'm bored! Is the Draining Spell ready yet? I wanna play and see everything go all…" The Collector transforms themselves to wrap around the statue and then screams, eventually shattering into multiple pieces.
Belos turns around and walks away from the portal reassuring, "You'll have your fun on the Day of Unity."
The Collector appears on the door. "Betrayed, beguiled, alone, deceived! We'll have our revenge on... Ugh, "unity" is so hard to rhyme."
Luz and Hunter look around bewildered by everything they have witnessed. Luz looks back at Hunter and he can only shrug. Suddenly, a projection of Hunter from the past runs through Hunter, much to the duo's surprise. Hunter then clutches his chest in shock. Past Hunter runs up the stairs towards Belos, who is standing in front of the portal.
Past Hunter pants, "I- I know you didn't want me going to Eclipse Lake. But if I hadn't, I wouldn't have found this!" As he holds out the portal key.
Belos immediately snatches the key away from Hunter's hand. He then holds up the key to take a closer look, and sees some Titan's Blood leaking out of it.
Past Hunter continues to pant as he says, "Some... of the Titan blood did spill, but- but if you let me explain then-"
Belos sternly growles, "Leave. Now."
Past Hunter looks up at Belos sadly. Belos stands in front of the portal as the sound of Past Hunter's footsteps becomes further away. Eventually, the sound of a door closing can be heard, and The Collector then emerges from behind the portal.
The Collector laughs, "Ooh, you were maaaaad. I thought you were gonna go all…" The Collector transforms into an image depicting Belos with multiple tentacles, then screams and waves the tentacles around. "...on that kid."
Belos sighs, "Not as long as he stays on the right path. I say, "The Titan has big plans for you," and he does what he's told. Unlike the previous attempts."
The Collector cackles, "I'm starting to think you make those things just to destroy them. You have fun with it. Admit it!"
Luz looks on with a sad expression on her face while Hunter looks shocked.
Belos sneers, "Of course I don't, Collector. It hurts every time he chooses to betray me."
Outside the memory. Kid Belos jumps out from the painting and runs off. Luz comes out, then helps Hunter out of the painting.
Luz whispers to herself, "Sounds like he wants to wipe out all life in the Demon Realm. And the sigils help him do that." As Luz speaks, Hunter walks away with a pained expression on his face while she follows behind him. Not far away from them, Kid Belos puts down some objects on the ground.
Luz reaches out, "Hunter, um, listen. You don't need to return to the castle. You can stay at the Owl House if you want. I'm sure Eda would be cool with it once we tell her what we saw and heard.
Luz notices something in front of her and Hunter and both of them become horrified. It is another part of Belos' memories, except this one has multiple broken Golden Guard masks on the ground. There are also some paintings on the trees depicting what happened to the previous Golden Guards.
Suddenly they are shoved from behind. In a new memory they see an older Hunter kneeling before Belos. "Uncle I've found someone. She makes me happy. I want to start my own family. It's not like it was before. We are strong enough now that we won't lose them again. Please Uncle, come and meet her," Older Hunter beams with joy.
Belos stands with a wistful look on his face as he motions for Hunter to come closer for a hug, but as they embrace Hunter and Luz can hear the Older Hunter gasp. They see Belos's hand twist as the Older Hunter slumps backwards and down the stairs, bleeding from his abdomen and drowning in his own blood. "Oh Caleb, why must you always make me do this to you. I suppose I'll have to remove the girl too, probably her parents and siblings too. If I didn't love you so brother I don't think I could even keep trying. Hopefully the next one will be more obedient," Belos sighs, as Luz and Hunter are thrown from the memory.
Luz suddenly hears something cracking and gasps, turning towards the source of sound. Behind her, Kid Belos is standing in a circle made out of rope and surrounded by multiple arrows and bottles of liquids. He breaks a Golden Guard mask in half and throws it into the fire.
Luz crys, "Hey! Stop that!"
As she speaks, Luz runs towards Kid Belos and drags him away from the fire. Hunter then proceeds to stomp out the fire. Something floats past Hunter's foot, and he gets into a defensive posture. Multiple strands of this unknown substance float towards the rope circle, then form into the monster, who proceeds to start screeching loudly. Luz and Hunter look at it in shock as it stomps on the ground. Its body appears to be made of dozens of small, screaming, animal-like figures.
With uncountable voices the monster screams, "Get away from him! Danger! Danger! Run!"
Luz is too shocked to move as she begins to cry, "Are those... Palismen?!"
Hunter finally realizes the truth. "We weren't running from the Inner Belos. He was with us, the whole time."
Behind the duo, Kid Belos is facing away from them and crying, but this soon turns into a maniacal laughter as he takes out a wooden sword and strikes the rope on the ground, transferring some sort of energy into the circle where the Palismen figure is at. This activates it and launches the bottles onto the figure. The rope then tightens around the figure, causing it to crash to the ground. Luz and Hunter turn around to look at Kid Belos, who proceeds to transform himself into Adult Inner Belos.
Inner Belos laughs, "Hello, Hunter. Hello, Luz. Ah. I was finally able to catch it. This thing's been a thorn in my side for years. All these weepy Palismen souls…"
Inner Belos puts his hand on the figure, causing the figure to start turning into dust.
Inner Belos coos diabolically, "Their voices constantly nagging me. Vile beasts. But without them, I wouldn't be able to do this." Inner Belos transforms his left arm into some sort of goo and squeezes the Palisman. Hunter's face is filled with shock and horror as Inner Belos proceeds to destroy the Palisman in front of him, causing him to wince. "Ah… I'm feeling better already. Thank you for distracting it."
Hunter on the verge of crying pleads, "What did you do to the other guards? To our family?! It wasn't wild magic, was it?"
Inner Belos' face turns cold, and he flicks Hunter's hair. "What a shame. Out of all the grimwalkers, you looked the most like him."
Hunter cries confused and scared, "What...?"
Hunter suddenly begins getting dragged down into the ground.
"Hunter!" Luz screams. Luz takes off her jacket and tosses it towards Hunter for him to grab on, but he still gets dragged downwards, and her eyes shift. Luz begs, "No, no, no!" Luz grabs onto her jacket trying to pull Hunter out, but she gets dragged towards him instead, and she feels her claws form.
Luz cries, "You're gonna be okay. You're gonna be okay. Just... hang on! Just…" Despite Luz's best efforts, Hunter still gets sucked into the ground along with her jacket. She falls towards the ground and lands on her knees and elbows as her horns and tail appear.
Inner Belos laughs, having not noticed Luz's changed form, "I was really expecting him to last longer than the others."
Luz turns towards Inner Belos angrily, with tears forming in her eyes and roars, "I'm gonna tell everyone about the Day of Unity, that you've been lying about the Titan for years!
Inner Belos finally looks at Luz and pales in disgust, "Yes, this has gone on longer than I'd have liked. But... no one ever said being a witch hunter was easy. It seems I'm not the only one tainted by those monster's, but fear not soon I will purify you as well."
Luz looks on incredulously, "Witch hunter? So all this time, people have been mindlessly helping a witch hunter?! How could they be tricked so easily?!"
Inner Belos laughed, "I wouldn't be so judgmental, if I were you." Inner Belos proceeds to summon a picture frame from the ground behind Luz. It then shows the moment when Red Fang tries to burn Philip Wittebane's journal.
Red Fang laughs, "His pretty little words should make pretty good kindling."
Luz is appalled by what she is seeing and pants heavily, mouth agape.
Past Luz can be heard saying, "That doesn't belong to you."
Luz begins to spiral, "No. No, no, no."
The picture frame shifts to the moment when Luz taught Philip how to use a light glyph.
Philip can be heard saying, "Astounding!"
The picture changes to show the moment when Philip, Luz and Lilith are inside the Titan's head. Philip winces in pain and kneels down, holding onto his knee.]
Past Luz says, "It's okay, we can help!"
The moment when the trio are inside the cave repeats next.
Past Luz begs, "I know you want to get home, but nothing is worth hurting people!"
The picture changes one last time to show the moment when Philip summoned the Collector after wiping his hand on the mirror he found in the cave.
Past Philip/Belos can be heard saying, "I just need to live long enough to see this through."
Luz breaks down on her knees in complete denial and her fur ripples, "No, no, no! You're Belos! You're just Belos!"
Inner Belos whispers snake-like in her ear, "Please, do me a kindness, and call me by my real name."
Luz weakly cries, "I... can't."
A multitude of past Luz's can be heard saying one line after another, "You're Philip Wittebane, aren't you? I can't believe I taught Philip something new! I'll go talk to Philip. Philip, why did you bring us here?"
Back in the living room of the Owl House. Eda uses a dropper to put a drop of liquid into another liquid inside a flask, but the reaction causes an eruption of gas.
Eda angrily screams, "Bones, dirt, and muck! I don't have time to fail!" As she speaks, she frustratedly throws her flask onto the ground and breaks it, then knocks over her book stand. Someone suddenly knocks on the door, grabbing everyone's attention.
Hooty whispers menacingly, "Inopportune interruption, eh? I'll handle this." Hooty retracts outside, and Eda picks up the book stand she just knocked over.
King hesitantly stammers, "Eda? Tell me it's... gonna be okay."
Eda doesn't reply and only looks at him with a worried expression.
Hooty barges in through the window with a bouquet of flowers inside his mouth. "Special delivery from a secret admirer!" Hooty puts the flowers inside a glass vase.
Eda yells at Hooty, "That thing could be booby-trapped. Get it outta here." The flowers suddenly start floating and glowing, surprising Hooty. The flowers then wilt, causing the petals to drop and the contents wrapped inside it to dissolve in the vase and create a yellow liquid. Eda picks up the note that comes with the flowers and reads it.
Eda gasps, "It's the teleportation potion into the mindscape! But who would…" Eda walks over to the window and looks outside, in time to see someone disappear behind a rock.
King pleads frantically, "Figure it out later. Now we can save Luz."
Eda stops him, "Hold up, according to the note, it says it still needs a power source. And a big one."
King thinks for a bit, then runs to grab what's left of Amity's glove and offers it to Eda. "Use this!"
Eda studders, "But... that's the last of Luz's Titan Blood. She needs it to get back home!"
King started crying, "She'll never get home if she doesn't get back here!"
Eda grabs the thumb and palm of the glove from King's hand and stares at it hesitantly.
Back inside Belos' mindscape. Luz backs up from Inner Belos and trips over, not knowing that she has dropped her walkie-talkie. Just then, Eda's voice rings out from the walkie-talkie. "Kid, you there? We're getting you two out."
Inner Belos laughs, "It does feel good to hear another human say that name. I had to change it when Philip was run out of too many towns." As he speaks, he slowly walks towards Luz who backs up with a frightened expression on her face. She then accidentally falls backwards and rolls down a slope. "I told you once before, Luzura." Inner Belos approaches her and turns into Philip. "Perhaps we were destined to meet." He takes a few steps away.
Luz cries, "And what about Hunter? What's a grimwalker?"
Philip morphs back into Inner Belos.
Inner Belos sighs almost lovingly, "He's... a better version of an old friend. But, thanks to you, I'll have to make another one."
Eda yells from the walkie-talkie, "She's not answering! Luz? Luz!"
"But... why? Why go through all this?" asks Luz.
Inner Belos says triumphantly, "I'll do anything to save humanity from evil."
The walkie-talkie squawks, "Luz, we're gonna start the countdown. Are you ready?"
Luz whispers, "No. You're evil." With that Luz's form explodes into her beast form and she lets out a scream of rage and pain.
Belos throws his arm, which has morphed into a blade, towards Luz. She screams again as Belos is thrown back by a sonic burst, and a barricade of vines and an ice pillar shield her and block Inner Belos' from view. Hunter is revealed to have summoned the vines and ice pillars and is grabbing onto a thorn while looking in fear at Beast Luz.
Hunter stammers, "Luz?"
He pushs his questions and fear aside for now, and turns around with one hand grabbing onto the thorn along with Eda's letterman jacket. The other one is holding onto some glyphs, with a few of them falling to the ground.
From the walkie-talkie, Eda can be heard counting, "Five…"
Hunter ran towards the walkie-talkie.
Four...
Luz stomps/summons a whirlwind of fire from the fire glyph to create a hole in the barricade which Hunter can pass through.
Three...
The whirlwind of fire damages and destroys Inner Belos' arm-pickaxe as he retracts his arm in pain. Hunter ran past him and grabs the walkie.
Two...
Hunter and Inner Belos stare at each other for the last time as Hunter jumps toward Luz.
One! A burst of light envelopes Luz and Hunter.
Outside the Owl House, the ground rumbles and multiple beams of light flashes through the gaps of the barricaded windows. In the living room Luz and Hunter emerge in a puff of smoke, and King, Eda, Flapjack and Hooty look at them as everyone backs away.
Eda yells out, "Don't crowd them. Oh, Titan what happened in there." Eda just stares in horror as a nightmare she didn't even know she had became real.
Luz stood over Hunter defensively, growling and seemingly ready to attack at any moment as everyone stared. As Hunter tried to sit up, she growled at him indicating he was not to move. Flapjack immediately flew toward him, chirping at the beast, before she allowed him to come up and peck Hunter's head repeatedly.
Hunter gasped and continued to panic, "He knows. He... he knows we were in there. I can't... I can't go back! He hyperventilates as Luz looked down and wrapped her clawed paws around him held him close to her as she laid down.
Eda tried to calm Hunter while never taking her eyes off Luz, "Kid, breathe."
Eda offered her hand to Hunter, but Luz growled and held him back. Eda backed away slowly, which seemed to help calm Luz down further and they waited. After a few minutes of calm Eda tried to get some answers out of Hunter, but it was no good. Eventually he cried himself to sleep in Luz's 'arms'. Eventually everyone else fell asleep as well from all the stress and worry, except for Eda. She watched on silently until almost an hour and a half after they escaped Belos's mind, Luz's form began to shrink and return to her demon form. At which time Eda scooped up Luz carefully and set her in Eda's nest with her. For the next twenty minutes Eda just looked at Luz in her demon form and cried quietly to herself, "I guess you really are my daughter now." With that Eda held Luz as she went to sleep.
Ok, so small peek behind the curtain, I don't plan scenes. I go into them with a general idea of where it's going but I kinda just zone out. For example the only thing I had going into the mindscape scene was "they discuss her having a titanic lifespan". Everything else was in the moment and freestyle. Tbh it's one of the reasons I've been unable to write the last few days. I have one more chapter ready for this story but I'd be lying if I said I haven't hit a bit of a wall. Thankfully if i can get past it I should be smooth sailing until the end of the DOU. After that I really will be freestyling every chapter. So this is probably the last Wednesday release for this story. Anyway I hope you all enjoy.