Amity was starting to enjoy her time in the Boiling Isles, as loathe as she was to admit it. The fact that the arrest warrant against her had been abruptly rescinded, allowing her to openly attend Hexside, was the primary reason for that. It was so nice not having to go to school covered in mud. It felt awful on her skin. Maybe if she'd been neurotypical it'd be fine, or at least better, but she wasn't, and she just wanted to scream sometimes with that muck covering nearly every square inch of her body.

For some reason, Amity could study only one field of magic. That seemed less than effective, in Amity's opinion, but that was likely the point, she realized when she learned that the emperor's personal coven could alone wield all of them. Belos didn't want rivals. In any event, Amity wasn't interested in making waves unless necessary, so she'd duly continued to study just the one track. She decided to study abominations, because she'd always had something of an affinity for them. That might be because of her biological father, she reluctantly conceded.

Also, she wanted to keep an eye on Boscha. Amity did believe that her feelings towards Willow were genuine, but so was her bullying of Luz and Gus. Willow may have consented to have Boscha pretend to bully them, but Luz and Gus had not. Amity was determined to make sure that Boscha didn't take things too far. If she did…well, she wasn't sure what she'd do. Probably tell Principal Bump, she decided.

Boscha turned out to be very pleasant company when she wasn't bullying people. She could be curt and blunt, but she also had a surprisingly good sense of humor and was very good with abominations. So with Mrs. Hart out of town on business, Amity decided to accept Boscha's offer of a sleepover with her, Luz, and Willow.

"What about your dad?" Amity asked Boscha when she proposed the idea. "Won't he mind?"

Boscha shook her head. "Dad's been dead since I was a baby. He had a heart attack. Well, that's what mom says, anyway…" Yeah, that isn't sketchy as all hell, Amity thought. She didn't have to use oracle magic to figure out that Boscha didn't believe that for a second. "I wish I'd gotten a chance to know him."

"I never had a dad," Amity admitted. "I guess we've got that in common." She tried to put on a happier face. "So…what's entailed in a witch sleepover?"

Boscha gave an impish smile. "I guess you're just going to have to wait to find out."

A witch sleepover, as it turned out, wasn't all that different from a human sleepover. They told horror stories (at Luz's urging, Amity had told the story of the Salem witch trials, and worried through the whole thing that she was being incredibly culturally insensitive), eaten s'molds (which were like s'mores, but with a shockingly tasty mold in lieu of marshmallows), and watched movies on Luz's iPad. Amity was having fun…and she couldn't help but feel a horrible sense of guilt for doing so.

Amity had been in the Demon Realm for weeks now, and there was absolutely no question in her mind that her family thought she was dead. They probably had a funeral for her. Camila was almost certainly destroying herself slowly trying to stay strong for her family's sake, and the only question was when, not if, she would end up breaking down completely when she was inevitably worn down. Clara must have been blaming herself, maybe even thinking that Amity killed herself because of the rejection.

If only she could somehow get a message to them! But despite Mr. Harrington's best efforts, he hadn't come anywhere close to successfully making a portal. And looking for a temporary portal door was out of the question too, because their output was utterly random. The portal could open up ten thousand feet in the air or at the bottom of the sea. While the Boiling Isles could be seen from the Earth side of the portal, the reverse was not true, and no one was sure why.

Still, Amity had decided that if she was stuck in the Boiling Isles, she'd make the most of it. It wasn't as if she'd chosen to stay there. And there was hope, even if it was hard to see. After all, if someone had made one portal, it was possible to make another. For now, she was going to have to just get used to living her life in another universe.

"Let's play truth or dare," Willow suggested after they were finished watching The Sorcerer's Stone on Luz's iPad. They had been interested in seeing how witchcraft was portrayed in human media, and, honestly, there were far worse choices they could have made.

Luz eyed her suspiciously. "This wouldn't happen to be your attempt to figure out why I broke up with Avery, is it?"

"Well, you have to admit, it is kind of odd, Luz," Boscha pointed out. "They're really hot, you know." Willow glared at her ferociously. "Um, I retract that statement. But, still, it really came out of left field."

Amity quite wanted to know the answer to that herself. "Let me guess. It's because you had a vision of me and wanted to clear the playing field so you could make a move on me." Amity had meant her comment completely in jest, but upon looking at the flustered expression on Luz's face, she realized that she was actually right.

Amity wasn't at all sure how to feel about that. On the one hand, it was definitely creepy and weird and stalkerish. On the other hand, Amity couldn't help but be flattered that Luz was that enamored with her that she'd sacrificed a relationship just on the hopes that the two of them could be together.

"That's just…how could you do that to them?" Willow demanded.

"It's not…it sounds so bad when you put it that way!" Luz defended herself.

Boscha narrowed all three of her eyes. "We're still missing something there, though. Avery isn't the type to have a problem with sharing you with her."

Amity put up her hands. "Hang on a second, back up. Sharing Luz with me? Isn't that pretty weird in itself?"

Willow slowly shook her head. "It's not weird here. Polyamory isn't for everyone – I don't want to bring anyone else into my relationship with Boscha – but it's a thing for a lot of people here."

Amity looked down at the floor. "I'm sorry if I was being insensitive there."

Willow squeezed her shoulder gently. "Hey, it's okay. Your body is a witch's, but otherwise, you're 100% human. There's bound to be a huge adjustment period." She looked back at Luz. "Come on, Luz, I shared my biggest secret with you."

"I don't…I can't tell you. I just can't!" Luz started to look frantic, like she was a cornered animal or something, and Amity decided right then and there that this wasn't the right time or the place for the conversation.

"Okay, let's lay off her," Amity said. "This is supposed to be fun. Look at her. She's not having fun now. But I'm game with truth or dare if we stay away from this subject. Agreed?" Luz cast Amity a profoundly grateful look. Amity knew that Willow was right, that there was something else they were missing, but if Luz didn't want to tell her, then that was Luz's business.

Before the game could begin, there was the sound of a door opening elsewhere in the manor and Boscha's eyes went wide with fear. "Oh, Titan, it's my mom. You have to hide. Run! Jump out the window! Something!"

"She can't be that bad," Luz said, demonstrating a startling level of naivety in Amity's opinion. Willow clearly knew that she was wrong, because she was already scurrying under the bed and was soon gone from sight.

"She's worse!" Boscha hissed, and then, before either Luz or Amity could properly hide herself, the door opened and Mrs. Hart walked into the room.

At first glance, one would assume that Luz was right, that Mrs. Hart was a stern but loving mother. She wore a dark grey pantsuit and her blonde hair was tied into a ponytail. Like her daughter, she had three eyes, but they were all blue. She was a small, thin woman, and didn't look like she could take Luz in a physical fight, much less anyone else.

But Amity just had to take one look at the sheer unending fear in Boscha's eyes to know that Mrs. Hart was a monster.

"Mother, I didn't think you'd be back so soon," Boscha said, her voice trembling slightly.

"I was drawn here by the stench," Mrs. Hart said softly. There was a slight air of menace in her voice, well hid, but nonetheless present. "The scent of filth."

Amity drew herself up and presented her hand for Mrs. Hart to shake. "Good evening, Mrs. Hart. My name is Amistad Serrano. I'm a friend of your daughter." Amity decided to use her full name at the last second because she didn't want to remind Mrs. Hart that she was the biological daughter of one of her rivals.

Unfortunately, even this polite greeting turned out to be the wrong thing to say, as Mrs. Hart turned to face Boscha with a disgusted expression on her face. "Is this true, dear?" she said, sounding disappointed. "Surely it can't be true."

"We…we were working on a group project together," Boscha tried to lie frantically. "The teacher assigned Amistad to work with me…"

"And the half-breed?" Mrs. Hart said. Amity's blood boiled at hearing a slur directed against Luz. How dare she?! "Did your teacher assign an oracle student to work with you?"

Boscha looked down at the floor. "No, mother."

Mrs. Hart clicked her tongue. "Boscha, I can't begin to tell you how disappointed I am. Not only are you associating with a half-breed and a depraved criminal, but they've influenced you to lie to your own mother. You know what that means, don't you? It means you have to be punished."

Amity did not like where this was going at all. "Mrs. Hart, please don't. It was all my fault. It was like you said. I'm a depraved criminal, and I forced your daughter into this sleepover. It didn't have anything to do with her."

But Mrs. Hart appeared not to be listening. Instead, with a bright, almost dreamy smile on her face, she made a circle with her finger and Boscha's right arm was severed at the elbow. A huge spray of blood echoed outwards, drenching Luz and Amity with it, and the limb fell to the ground with a splat. There was a horrified scream, but it wasn't coming from Boscha. It was coming from Luz. Boscha didn't scream at all, and it wasn't because she wasn't in pain, because she clearly was. It was because she was used to such treatment.

"Apologize to me, my dear," Mrs. Hart commanded. "Do it now, and I'll forgive you. You want that, don't you?"

"Yes, mother," Boscha muttered. She looked Mrs. Hart in the eyes. "I'm sorry, mother. I will end my association with Amistad and Luz immediately."

Luz stepped forward, and Amity knew instinctively that she was about to do something brave but stupid. Sure enough, Luz shouted, "This is so messed up! You can't expect to just get away with cutting your own daughter's arm off!"

Mrs. Hart cast another spell, and the arm leapt up and reattached itself. One would never know that it had been severed. "I can get away with anything," she stated. It wasn't said as a boast, but as a simple statement of fact. "Where there's no proof, there's no crime." She stroked Boscha's face tenderly. "In the end, you'll thank me, sweetling. It's a hard job being a mother. You're not making it any easier. I don't want to hurt you, but I have to make sure you follow the right path."

It was taking all of Amity's self-control not to leap forward and try to strangle Mrs. Hart with her bare hands, and, really, the only reason why she wasn't doing that was because she didn't believe that she could win such a fight against her. "I'm going to take a bath," Mrs. Hart announced. "When I return, if you haven't taken out the trash, I'll do it myself, and I won't be nearly as gentle as I usually am with you."

It wasn't until five minutes after Mrs. Hart left the room that Willow emerged from the bed. "Yeah, that's Boscha's mom," she said grimly. "I guess you can see why I want to keep our relationship a secret, huh?"

"This…this is horrible!" Luz shouted. "How long has this been going on, Boscha?"

Boscha was silent for a few moments. "As long as I can remember. She doesn't always sever limbs…sometimes it's just cuts and stabbings."

"Like that's okay?!" Luz said, looking angry enough to kill. "Boscha, you've got to do something about it! Run away!"

"I tried once, when I was ten," Boscha admitted. "She found me. She slit my throat and then just as I was about to bleed to death, she healed me. Then she did it three more times. I never ran away again." Amity was horrified at the completely calm and cavalier way she was stating all this. Boscha's eyes widened. "Why are we still talking about this?! You've got to go now!"

Amity did not bother arguing with her. But she knew one thing: she was going to see Mrs. Hart go down hard. By the time she and Luz got back to the Owl House, Amity was practically incandescent with fury. How dare Mrs. Hart treat her daughter so cruelly?! Willow had warned them that Mrs. Hart was physically abusive, but Amity had assumed that it "merely" meant hitting Boscha, not chopping off her limbs on a regular basis. Something had to be done.

Luz retreated to her room and slammed the door behind her. Amity could tell that she needed to be alone. Amity, on the other hand, knocked on the door of Eda's bedroom and kept on knocking until she heard a grunt and the door opened to reveal a sleepy, irritated Eda.

"Okay, new house rule," Eda announced. "No one bothers me when I'm getting my beauty sleep or – holy Titan, is that blood?!" Amity looked down at herself and realized that she hadn't cleaned away any of Boscha's blood yet. Well, at least Eda got that things were serious.

"It's Boscha's," Amity said, and Eda immediately magically summoned a knife to her hand.

"If that bench lay a finger on you, I'm going to –"

"No!" Amity shouted. In the room, she could see Eduardo shift position but still stay asleep in the nest that he shared with Eda. "You don't understand. It's Boscha's mother. She's abusing her! It's horrible!"

Eda narrowed her eyes. "And just how were you there to witness this?"

"Boscha invited me to a sleepover," Amity explained, choosing her words carefully. She had forgotten that they weren't supposed to be on good terms with Boscha. She would leave out the part where Luz was there too, though she wouldn't lie about it if pressed. "Mrs. Hart freaked out when she found out that Boscha was associating with a 'degenerate criminal.'"

Eda sighed. "Look, kiddo, I ain't so keen on you associating with Boscha yourself. She's been bullying Luz for years, did you know that?"

"Boscha's mother chopped her arm off," Amity said flatly, and Eda let out a gasp. "She healed her so no one would know. And she's been doing this on a regular basis. We have to stop her."

Eda nodded. She wasn't the type of person to let children, no matter their faults, get hurt. "Okay, but how?"

Amity had considered this on the way to the Owl House, and she'd come up with a plan. "Let me ask you a question. Why is Mrs. Hart allowed to get away with such stuff?"

Eda misunderstood her; Amity could see that right off the bat with the sympathetic expression that formed on her face. "Amity, this universe, it's not any more fair than yours. Probably less fair, what with that whole democracy and freedom stuff you got back home. Sometimes, good people suffer, and the bad guys get away with their crimes.

Amity shook her head. "I didn't mean that in a philosophical sense. What makes Mrs. Hart so powerful?"

"Um…all the money she has?"

"Money that she got though her ownership of Blight Industries," Amity clarified. "The company that my parents owned. The company that got given to her because there were no heirs around. Back then. But there are now."

Eda's eyes lit up as she figured it out. "You want to make a play for Tasha's company! Man, that's a bold move. It might work too. If she's no longer of use to the emperor, he won't lift a finger if Lily brings her in on child abuse." She scratched her head. "But I don't know, Amity. How would you persuade him to give it to you?"

"I don't know. Do you have any ideas?"

Eda's lips twitched in a savage smile. "As it happens, I might have a few."

Eduardo knew that he was likely being paranoid. Hell, for all he knew, he could be the one with his mind being messed with, causing him to be suspicious of his loved ones. He wasn't ruling out the possibility. When he had mentioned his suspicions that something was wrong with Luz to Eda, she'd laughed for a good five minutes, even though she knew he was serious. She found the idea to be that ludicrous.

When she had finally composed herself, Eda was completely dismissive of the idea. In her opinion, Luz was just probably having puberty induced mood swings. Since she was half-human, no one really knew how she'd react to, well, just about anything. They'd certainly had a few surprises during Luz's childhood. And Eduardo wanted to believe that Eda was right. He did. But he trusted his instincts, and every single last one of them was screaming at the highest volume possible that something was dreadfully wrong.

Finally, in an effort to placate him more than anything else, Eda had suggested that Eduardo talk to Näkijä about his worries. Mind tampering magic fell under the purview of the oracle track, and Näkijä had forgotten more about it than most people would ever know. Though Eda would never admit it, Näkijä was one of the few – if not the only – teacher at Hexside she respected. Näkijä's species had a lifespan of nearly a millennium. She'd been at Hexside for centuries, and would be there for centuries more.

The idea sounded reasonable enough, Eduardo had to admit, so he made an appointment to see Näkijä. Though Näkijä was famously difficult for parents to see (she hated hearing their whining, she had said once with her usual bluntness), she immediately made time for Eduardo when she learned it was he who wanted to talk to her, which did not reassure Eduardo one iota.

When Eduardo finished explaining the situation to Näkijä, he was alarmed to find that she had a very grim expression on her face. "You have placed me in a very difficult ethical position, Mr. Noceda," she told him. Eduardo blinked. He had not expected that reaction.

Näkijä drummed her claws on the table absently, silent for a while. She looked uncertain of what to do next, which was almost certainly a very rare thing for her. "You are correct in that something is happening with your daughter," she said eventually. "It is not your imagination. Though I was not, in fact, sworn to secrecy regarding this matter, your daughter told me of her situation in confidence. Losing her trust by breaking that confidence could have…consequences. While I am deeply sympathetic towards your desire to learn what is going on, I am afraid I cannot enlighten you."

"Is she in danger?" Eduardo asked. "How can I help her?"

Näkijä offered him a rare smile. "It speaks well of your aptitude at fatherhood that this is your first reaction, Mr. Noceda. I do not believe that Miss Noceda is in danger at the present time."

"And in the future?" Eduardo demanded.

"I do not know," Näkijä said. "There are many paths available to her. Some of them lead to victory. Others to death." A chill of fear went down Eduardo's spine. "In the end, I have a feeling that she will make the right choices. As for how you can help, you should just continue being supportive of her. Please do not press her on this matter. If she wishes to confide in you, she will do so."

Eduardo nodded slowly. "Does it have anything to do with nightmares? On the day that she started acting strangely, she said she had a nightmare where I was dead. Does that mean that I'm going to die?"

"Everyone is going to die, and you are no exception," Näkijä said serenely. Eduardo rolled his eyes. "To the best of my knowledge, Luz has not foreseen your death, if that is what you want to know." She sighed. "You should know what is going on, and I am quite sorry that I cannot tell you. I will advocate to Luz that she confide in you. I sincerely hope she listens to me. Though I think we both know that she will not."

That was true enough. If there was one thing that Eduardo could rely on Luz doing, it was following her plans to their logical conclusion, heedless of anyone who told her to stop or that it was a bad idea. Eduardo just had to pray that Luz knew what she was doing.

"Tell her I love her and I want to help her," Eduardo pleaded with her, not caring that it sounded like he was begging her.

Näkijä nodded. "I will pass along the message. I would recommend you get some rest, and stop panicking over this matter. If Luz thinks that you are having a difficult time of matters, she would be less likely to confide in you, as she would not want to add to your burdens." Yeah, that was also classic Luz. She had refused to tell her parents that she was being bullied. In the end, Willow had to go behind her back to tell them.

"Thank you for your time, Näkijä," Eduardo told her, "as well as being an ally towards Luz on this matter…whatever it is."

Näkijä looked surprised but pleased that he was bothering to thank her. "You are welcome. And one last thing. If she does confide in you, please keep it a secret from others, especially Miss Serrano. If she finds out, matters will become deeply destabilized." Eduardo did not like the sound of that at all. What on Earth did Amity have to do with what was going on?

When he got back to the Owl House, he did something that he rarely did. He lied to Eda, saying that Näkijä had told him that it was indeed just puberty. She seemed too distracted to question it. Eduardo knew what that meant; it meant that she had some scheme of her own brewing. Between Eda and Luz's perennial scheming nature and King's antics, Eduardo often felt like he was the voice of reason in the household.

He knocked on the door of Luz's room, not expecting to receive an answer, but she told him to come in. She looked very tired. Whatever was going on with her, the thing that she had trusted Näkijä with but not her own father, it was draining her. It took all of Eduardo's self-control to not ask her what it was. Näkijä was right. Luz would tell him in her own time, and if he made an effort to pry, it'd just make her more reluctant to do so.

Instead, he said, "Looking forward to going to the Covention?" Luz loved going to the Covention every year. Eda always refused to take her, so in years when Eduardo was unavailable, like this one, ensured that adult supervision would be present from outside the Owl House. It wasn't that he didn't trust Luz, but he felt better when responsible adults were looking after her to make sure that she didn't end up getting in a skirmish with members of the Emperor's Coven like last year. Poor Steve the guard (not to be confused with Steve Harrington) had been temporarily turned into an otter. He had enjoyed it, but that wasn't the point.

Luz's eyes widened. "That's today? Oh, man! I nearly forgot about it. Thanks, dad. You think that Amity would want to go with me? Um, not as a date, of course!"

"Any progress in that direction?" Eduardo asked.

Luz scowled. "No. I guess I can't rush her. I just…" She quickly closed her mouth to prevent herself from saying whatever she was going to say.

"Well, I'm happy to help you if you ever need anything, mija," Eduardo assured her. Let her think that he was talking about her relationship with Amity. That seemed safe enough. "I want to help you."

"Gracias, papi," Luz mumbled. "If I, um, if I need anything, yeah, I'll tell you." That definitely did not sound sincere at all. Ugh. If only Eduardo had even the slightest clue what was going on!

Well, he had done his best. And some time at the Covention would help get Luz's mind off of things. It wasn't as if anything truly dangerous would be happening there.

Nothing truly dangerous would be happening at the Covention this time around, so it was the perfect time for Luz to execute one of her trademark foolproof plans! Sure, it didn't have quite the panache of her anatomically correct griffin model (Luz had been very smug when she'd pointed out that she'd been right about griffins to Camila), but it was still completely incapable of failing.

It was really very simple. She'd go to the Covention and blackmail Lilith into helping her by threatening to reveal that she knew that Lilith cursed Eda. Having the leader of the Emperor's Coven on her side would be a useful asset indeed. She wasn't quite sure what she'd end up doing with that asset, but making sure that Lilith didn't arrest Eduardo again or any of her family would be a good start.

And once that was done, she'd be able to enjoy the festivities without freaking out about having challenged a witch way above her weight class to a witch's duel. That…had not been one of her more foolproof plans. Of course, it'd all worked out in the end. But still, this time, she'd make sure not to challenge anyone to a witch's duel. She'd be able to hang out with her friends and maybe sneak in some more bonding time with Amity.

"It's so nice of you to look after King this afternoon, lucecita," Eduardo told her. She'd readily agreed. King had had so much fun there when they went in her universe, and this time, it'd be even better because Amity wasn't going to step on his cupcake this time. Nor should anyone else be doing that, and if they did, they'd have to reckon with Luz, even if it was Emperor Belos himself.

"No problem, papi!" Luz said. "I'm happy to help!" She'd tried to be extra perky and enthusiastic since she and Eduardo had last chatted, but she could tell he was seeing right through it. Thankfully, he hadn't pried more into her issues since then, which was good, because she was pretty sure that if he pressed much harder, she'd end up telling him everything, and he'd hate her forever, because why would he do anything else?

"The King of Demons does not require a babysitter!" King announced.

"Aw, come on, King, don't you want to spend time with us?" Luz said. She may not have had Other Luz's years of experience wrangling King, but she was pretty good at it. "This is your opportunity to thumb your nose at the peasants…and to get free cake."

King's eyes lit up with greed. "Yes! Tributes! Sweets worthy of a king! Lead the way, Princess Luz!" It was funny. Luz felt uncomfortable with being called a princess in the real world…but in this one, she was okay with it. She supposed it was different when it was just a nickname instead of an actual royal title.

There was a knock on the door. "That guy with the weird hair is back!" Hooty complained. Guy with the weird hair? That could only mean one person. And as the door swung open, Luz turned out to be right on the money. Steve Harrington, Avery's father, waved at everyone.

Luz had only met Mr. Harrington in her timeline on a handful of occasions. She quite liked him. She'd come clean about the Boiling Isles back in May to him, and he'd believed her entirely. Of course, given that he ran an occult library, that wasn't all that surprising. He hadn't known about the Boiling Isles specifically, but he did know that alternate dimensions existed. In fact, the only thing that surprised Mr. Harrington about her story was that the Demon Realm was inhabitable to humans at all; the only alternate dimensions he'd ever had the displeasure of dealing with had been death realms with creatures that made Luz's blood run cold to think about (not an easy accomplishment, to be sure).

Mr. Harrington always seemed to know what to do in any situation; though he was more laidback than his intense child, there was always a confidence about him that Luz admired. She was not the first teenager, he had said once, that had come to him with their occult related problems. Luz wasn't sure what was up with that comment, and Mr. Harrington clammed up whenever she tried to get him to explain.

This version of Mr. Harrington appeared much more of his usual self than the other people who hadn't been in Luz's dimension. Which made sense. He'd only had roughly three years' worth of divergence, whereas Eduardo and Eda had more than twenty. True, Avery had the same amount of time as their father, but it was a much larger percentage of their life.

And, as usual, that usual self involved him deluding himself into thinking that he looked cooler than he actually did. Mr. Harrington was a cool person, but he didn't look like one, despite his expectations to the contrary. His fashion sense was perpetually stuck in the 80s, and his long, elaborately coiffured hair piled up on his head like it was…well, actually Luz couldn't think of a good metaphor. But Mr. Harrington had always looked weird, and Luz, who looked pretty weird herself, couldn't help but admire that about him.

"Hi, Luz!" Mr. Harrington said with a wave. It was nice to see that he didn't hold a grudge against her for breaking up with Avery. She'd probably be pissed were she in his shoes. "Two for the Covention?"

"Actually, three," Luz said. "We're just waiting on Amity."

As if on cue, Amity emerged from her newly grown guest bedroom (Hooty had grown it faster than everyone anticipated; under no circumstances did Luz want to know how) and stopped in her tracks when she saw Mr. Harrington. "Steve?" she asked incredulously. "What are you doing here?"

Luz was genuinely shocked. "Wait, the two of you know each other?"

Amity nodded. "He's one of Jane's friends. We've met on a handful of occasions. He used to run the Seattle Parapsychological Library…before he disappeared and became a fugitive wanted for kidnapping." Kidnapping?! Luz couldn't imagine Mr. Harrington kidnapping anyone.

"Turns out when you disappear with your child to an alternate dimension, people start asking questions and come up with their own answers when they don't get any," Mr. Harrington explained. "Not to mention Catherine probably lied to the cops." Catherine was Avery's mother. "How's your wizard stuff doing?"

Amity made a face. "Yeah, the wizard thing…didn't really pan out. But my magical skills are progressing by leaps and bounds! So I'm going to guess you're Avery's dad? It's not like there are a whole bunch of other humans on the Isles."

Mr. Harrington nodded. "The best child any dad could ever ask for. I still have no clue how a pair of people as messed up as Catherine and I could create someone so awesome." He looked over at Luz. "Hey, Amity, would you mind giving Luz and I a few moments to talk together?"

"You're not going to beat her up or anything, are you?" Amity said, and then winced. Yeah, it was definitely too soon to make that joke.

"No, no, I'm totally cool with her, Scout's honor," Mr. Harrington assured her. "How's about you go outside and show King some of the new spells you've been learning?"

Mr. Harrington led Luz into the basement while Amity and King went outside. Despite the easygoing and friendly expression on his face, Luz couldn't help but be a little worried. Even though she was a trusted friend of Other Luz's family, he was more or less a complete stranger to Luz. "So…um, now don't get angry at them, but Avery briefed me on your whole…situation."

Luz groaned. Yes, she'd forgotten to swear Avery to secrecy, but she'd assumed they knew not to tell anyone. But out of all the people Avery could have told, Mr. Harrington was probably low on the list of causing her problems…probably. "Please don't tell anyone else. Especially not Amity. I'm screwed if she finds out."

Mr. Harrington made a lips zipped gesture. "This isn't even in the top five list of crazy things that've happened to me. Try discovering a secret Soviet base beneath a mall in Indiana. Or getting attacked by some crazy huge crab monster…" He shuddered. "Uh, anyway, I live in the Demon Realm; you're going to try a lot harder than that to phase me."

There was silence for a while. Mr. Harrington seemed to be searching for the most politic way to say what he wanted to say next. "You really hurt them," he said finally. "I know that wasn't your intention! And, look, I'm not sure you could have handled it better. But it's a crappy situation no matter how you slice it."

"I'm sorry," Luz said quietly. She really was, though she wouldn't have changed anything she'd done.

"Yeah, it's…you don't get how important you – she is to them. Moving here was a tough transition on them. But your other self, she swooped into Avery's life like a shooting star. She brought them out of their shell, brought light to their life. God, I love seeing that smile on their face every time they talk about you."

Well, thanks, Steve, Luz thought bitterly. That doesn't make me feel bad at all. Aloud, she said, "Any progress in the portal department?"

Mr. Harrington's eyes lit up. "Yes and no! I've got a lead on a potential gateway to the In-Between Realm, a land between all the dimensions. You won't be able to physically access your home dimensions from there, but you will be able to communicate with them, through reflections. Kind of like an interdimensional Zoom call."

Well, that sounded nice, Luz had to concede. Amity would be able to communicate with Camila, her siblings, and maybe even Clara, to let them know that she wasn't dead. If only Luz could communicate with her own family!

Wait a second. What was stopping her?

"Mr. Harrington," Luz began.

"You're going to want to call me Steve if you don't want people asking questions," Mr. Harrington advised. She'd do that aloud, she reluctantly decided, but not in her head.

"Steve," she said with a slightly mocking tone, "is it going to be possible to change the future in my timeline, so I was never sent here?"

Steve shrugged. "How the hell should I know? I've never discovered any concrete proof of time travel…but here you are. I don't know what the rules are, or even if there are any. But, you know, in movies, that sort of thing sometimes ends up, like, destroying the universe. I mean, sounds like a paradox to me. If you tell your younger self not to make that deal, and she doesn't, then how did she know not to make that deal in the first place?"

A good question. She would consult Näkijä, she decided, and abide by whatever advice she had on the whole "changing the future" thing. That sounded like a sensible plan, and if it went wrong, then she could blame someone else for it, which was always nice.

Mr. Harrington gave Luz a smile. "Anyway, I just want you to know, whatever you need, I'm here to help. I'm going to guess that you don't want me to rebuild the portal?"

"No, keep working on it," Luz said immediately. "Full speed ahead." She would not keep Amity from going home if she wanted to. Besides, Zoe had said when she needed to get Amity to fall in love with her by, but she never said where. Amity didn't have to be living full time in the Boiling Isles for them to be in a relationship. Hah! The fae weren't the only ones who could take advantage of loopholes!

"Gotcha," Mr. Harrington said. "Well, we've been talking long enough. It's Covention time! You're going to love it – oh, right, you've been there already. Well, you'll still love it."

Luz was reasonably certain that he was right, but not entirely. Back then, she hadn't comprehended that the Covention was yet another propaganda tool to enable Belos' tyrannical regime and facilitate his stifling of witchkind's true potential. Eda had tried to warn her, but in Luz's defense, Eda hadn't exactly done a very good job of explaining it.

But still, Luz was determined to have fun. She'd been in so much distress since she arrived. Didn't she deserve a calm day where absolutely nothing went wrong?

The door to the basement slammed open and King ran in, with Amity hot on his heels. "Sorry, Luz! I couldn't hold him back any longer!"

"No worries, we're done talking!" Luz said cheerfully. "So got any plans for the Covention?"

Amity smirked. What was that about? "Oh, you could say that."

Mr. Harrington looked over at Amity, a very concerned expression on his face. "This wouldn't have anything to do with the rumors that the emperor is attending this year's Covention?"

Wait, what? Not only did Belos rarely emerge from his palace these days, he definitely hadn't been at the Covention last time. Luz may have been unobservant at times, but she definitely would have noticed that. So what had changed in the timeline to make him want to attend? Had Luz changed something or was this just another consequences of the preexisting changes to the timeline?

Thankfully, Amity looked just as shocked as Luz to hear this. "No, I hadn't heard that." She seemed lost in thought for a few seconds. "But that just makes things even easier, really."

Luz gulped. "Please tell me that you're not going to challenge Belos to a witch's duel."

Amity put her hand up in the air. "I swear upon my mother's life that I have no intention of challenging Belos to a witch's duel, or engaging in any hostile contact with him in any way whatsoever." Well, that seemed pretty ironclad to Luz, so she allowed herself to relax.

King let out a loud yawn. "Enough of this boring political carp!" Luz had to restrain herself from giggling, lest King figure out that the "swears" he'd picked up were nothing of the kind. "I am the true sovereign of the Boiling Isles, the one and only king of demons, and continuing to talk about that usurper is making me angry!"

Luz picked up King and cradled her little brother in her arms. "Well, we wouldn't want that. Onward, Steve!" Mr. Harrington gave a mock salute and they all started walking. There was a lot of walking in the Boiling Isles. It had made Luz surprisingly fit, even though she didn't look it. This version of her had a lot more stamina, she could tell instantly. It was probably a half-witch thing.

Once again, Willow and Gus met with the four of them in front of the Covention. Luz had been a little worried for a few moments that Gus might overwhelm Mr. Harrington with his questions about Earth, but then she remembered that they'd known each other for years. And, sure enough, Gus besieged Mr. Harrington with questions about Earth and he answered them all gamely.

"Hi, Amity!" Willow said with a wave. "It's nice to see you again. It feels like ages since we've last seen each other." Translation: No one mention the ill-fated sleepover in front of Gus. Of course, unless one counted the sleepover, it had been a while since Willow and Amity had seen each other, as they were no longer taking classes together and they didn't have the same lunch.

Luz couldn't help but feel a warm, fuzzy feeling seeing that the two of them could interact without their past weighing them down. Luz's Amity had been a bully at this point, hiding her numerous insecurities beneath a veneer of toughness and cruelty. This Amity was just herself. With Camila's love to nourish her, she'd flourished.

Amity gave Willow a hug and then, seemingly on impulse, gave Gus one too, which Luz thought was nice. Even in the main timeline, Gus and Amity had never been particularly close. "So who's ready for some fun?!" Gus asked. "It's going to be amazing. Rumor has it that the emperor himself is going to be here!"

Luz sincerely hoped that the rumors were wrong. Belos' powers were immense and some part of her feared that, like Näkijä, he'd be able to instinctively tell that she was not who she said she was. She wasn't precisely sure what he'd do with that information. After all, Näkijä hadn't been able to figure out that Luz was from the future until Luz told her. But she was very sure that she didn't want to find out.

Once inside the Covention Center, Luz was somewhat relieved to find that it looked precisely the same time as last time. So much was different in this strange new world, and it was nice to see that some things remained the same, even if said thing was a tool used by an evil dictator to solidify his power.

The various members of her party split up soon after they entered the center. Mr. Harrington, as if sensing that Luz had her own agenda, kept a close eye on King so Luz didn't have to do it, which Luz thought was really nice. Luz pretended to scour the various booths, but she was actually searching for Lilith. She had to be careful, though, that she wasn't too obvious. If Lilith found out that she was searching for her, she would…

…hang on a second. She'd be delighted, right? The two of them were niece and aunt in this world by blood, not just by choice. It was only natural for her to be looking for her aunt. Once more, Luz was just overcomplicating things for herself.

So Luz wandered over to the Oracle Coven booth and was surprised to find Näkijä of all individuals manning it. "Näkijä? What are you doing here?"

Näkijä scowled. "I lost a bet. I do not wish to discuss it." Luz very assiduously did not laugh at all, a Herculean task, but one that she succeeded in accomplishing, to her immense pride. "Please do not tell me that you have any half-baked schemes in store today. My nerves are frayed enough having to deal with all these simpletons who have no respect for the glories of oracle magic."

Luz plastered an indignant expression on her face. "First of all, my schemes are always wholly baked. Three quarters baked at worst. I'm not the same girl who brought snakes to a book report!" Näkijä tilted her head in confusion. "And, no, the only thing I'm trying to do here is find my aunt and make conversation with her." And a little bit of blackmail, but details.

Näkijä nodded slowly. "Of course. My apologies for jumping to conclusions. It has been a trying day for me."

"Are the rumors true?" Luz asked her. "Is Belos coming here?"

"Yes," Näkijä said. "Do not speak to him. Do not even look at him if you can avoid it. You should have no contact with him whatsoever. He is…different as of recent. I cannot pinpoint how. Every time I try, it is as if my efforts just…dissipate." Well, that didn't bode well.

Näkijä was having a tough day. Surely she didn't want to be burdened with Luz consulting her about how to properly handle time travel risks. As if reading her thoughts – and perhaps she was – Näkijä gave her an unimpressed look. "Miss Noceda, please just tell me what you need and then get away from me as quickly as you can. I have a headache."

"Mr. Harrington thinks he's found a way to contact my universe," Luz blurted. "And me. My old self. I'm wondering if I should."

Näkijä sighed. "You are seriously considering this? Respectfully, Miss Noceda, I thought you were smarter than that."

Luz was insulted by that comment. She was a lot of things. Stupid wasn't one of them. "I'm trying to ask you for advice, because I trust you! But if you don't want to help me…"

Näkijä rubbed her temples. "Very well, then this is my advice: Don't do it. In fact, you may not be able to. You have no recollection of this future conversation, so how would it have occurred? But I am just postulating here. Time travel magic is the exclusive dominion of the fae and they, of course, do not reveal their secrets. Just…please be careful, Miss Noceda. It is bad enough that you are here disrupting the future. It would be much worse if you disrupted your own past."

Okay, then. That seemed pretty clear cut to Luz. She hadn't been lying to Mr. Harrington: She really did intend to go along with what Näkijä advised. She knew more about magic than Luz could learn in a whole lifetime, given how much longer Näkijä's lifetime was. So she wouldn't contact her younger self. Still, it seemed like such a waste to have that opportunity available to her and waste it…

"So have you seen Lilith around?" Luz asked Näkijä.

Näkijä wordlessly pointed behind Luz and she yelped when she saw Lilith looming there, like a shadow dressed all in black. Luz had forgotten how intimidating Lilith could be as leader of the Emperor's Coven. But she wouldn't hurt Luz, right? Luz was family. But then again…so was Eda.

Lilith gave Luz a smile. "Luz, dearest, how are you doing? Let's chat, shall we?" Luz allowed Lilith to lead her away to another part of the Covention Center. She couldn't help but have a chill of fear run down her spine. Luz had gotten so used to the perfectly composed Deputy Prime Minister Lilith that she had almost forgotten how volatile Emperor's Coven Leader Lilith could be. The wrong words could set her off…and Luz was about to deliver some wrong words indeed.

She didn't have to, of course. She could just let things be. She didn't even need Lilith in her corner to succeed in her plans. She could just have a pleasant chat with her aunt and enjoy the Covention in peace, sneaking out before Belos could arrive.

"I'm terribly sorry about having to arrest your father, Luz," Lilith said, sounding as if she was genuinely sorry. "There was no getting around it, not after I discovered his cache of human weapons." She made a face. "Honestly, I thought parenthood had made Eda slightly more responsible than she used to be, but obviously not."

Luz scowled at her, indignant on Eda's behalf. "Did you just come here to insult my mother?"

"It is a fun pastime," Lilith said, her voice containing a bare trace of mischief, "but, yes, I'll try to move on. I'm relieved to see that young Amity is back on the right side of the law. To be honest with you, it was nice to see Wrath taken down a peg, not that I'd ever admit it."

"I know you cursed Eda," Luz suddenly blurted out, feeling as if the words had been compelled to come out of her mouth somehow.

Lilith's eyes narrowed. "How do you know that? Did your parents tell you? I told them to let me do it."

Luz's brain did the mental equivalent of a record needle scratch as she tried to process this statement. The news that Lilith had cursed Eda had come as a total shock to Luz the first time around, and Eda had been just as surprised. This time, Eda apparently knew about it? What the hell? "Wait, you've told them?"

Lilith sighed. "Blame your father. He was very persistent in trying to get Edalyn and I to reconcile. Eventually, he dragged it out of me. He's quite the stubborn man…a trait that you and he share, to be sure." She didn't look angry, just sad and very tired. "I didn't mean to curse Eda for life, just long enough to…well, it doesn't matter. Belos can heal her, but only if she joins a coven."

"He won't," Luz said bluntly. She had learned that last time. She knew that Lilith wouldn't believe her, but it still needed to be said, if only so Lilith couldn't claim that no one had told her so. "He's going to betray you and not heal her even if you bring her in."

Lilith shushed her, looking around her frantically to see if anyone had overheard her. Which made sense. Her statements were seditious in the extreme. "Don't say things like that, Luz," she hissed. "Not in public, anyway. You didn't answer my question. How did you find out?"

Luz gave her a confident smile, pulled out a smoke glyph, activated it, shouted, "NONSPECIFIC EXCUSE!" and ran off in a random direction. Lilith made no moves to follow her.

Well, so much for that plan. Luz couldn't very well blackmail Lilith if everyone she didn't want to find out about her misdeed already knew about it. She couldn't help but feel indignant on Other Luz's behalf that her parents were keeping such a big secret from her. But in the end, she was just a guest, not their daughter, and so she'd keep the secret too, not mentioning it in her totally not diary entries.

"Luz!" King shouted, holding a pile of boxes. "I got all these cakes from the Baker's Coven and I can't carry them all without – " A box slid out of his hands, but Luz caught it before it hit the floor. She grabbed half of the boxes and carried them for him. "Steve taught me new intimidation techniques! See?" He made several different facial expressions that were even cuter than normal. That Mr. Harrington was a clever man, Luz had to concede. "They were so scared of my wrath that they surrendered their tasty treats!"

Of course, two could play at that game. "You will save some of those cakes for me, won't you, King?" she said with an expression that was one of the most adorable in her arsenal, though only a tenth of the cuteness level available to King.

"The King of Demons makes no promises!" King said grandly. Luz made it look like she was about to cry. "But he is also generous to his family, so, yeah, I'll save some for you, Luz, I promise. Now come on! The demonstration is about to start! Steve and Amity saved you a seat!"

Luz didn't even bother trying to hide her fear. It's not like King would have noticed anyway. It's not that he didn't care; it's just that he had difficulty figuring out human body language. At any rate, she had a plausible reason to be afraid that didn't involve any her secrets. Belos was the tyrant of the Boiling Isles who had recently had Eduardo arrested and had been pursuing Eda for years. Other Luz would have been scared too.

King led her into the stands. Mr. Harrington had secured them surprisingly good seats in the front rows. She'd have a very close look at what was to come…and her family would have a close look if Belos decided to just kill Luz and save time. No, that wouldn't happen, she told herself, and she mostly believed it.

The lights dimmed and then when they came on again, Lilith was standing in the center of the arena. "Almost sixty years ago, the Boiling Isles was in chaos. It was a time of great fear and confusion. The height of the Savage Ages." Luz tuned out the rest of Lilith's speech. She knew the spiel already. Belos arrived in the human year of 1962, he saved the isles from wild magic, so on and so forth. By the looks of it, no one else looked especially interested in hearing the speech either, though quite a few people were pretending to be. "And now, I present to you, our savior, His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Julian Belos!"

Belos appeared out of nowhere in a cloud of white smoke. He looked exactly the same as he did when Luz first fought him and chipped his mask. That memory brought a smile to her face. It was a turning point in the Isles' history, though she hadn't known it at that point. Belos had been thought an invincible god. He had forcibly changed the language, for God's sake. But Luz had proven that he was just a mortal man, and that had led the way to the revolution that had led to his death.

"I bid you welcome," Belos said in that soft British accent that Luz had nightmares about still. But now that she was hearing it again, it sounded…fake. As if he was just talking that way to sound more menacing. There were echoes of another accent beneath his fake one. Luz couldn't tell what it was, though. She was always terrible with accents. "It is an honor to be among you, my loyal subjects, again, especially so close to the Day of Unity."

Whispers ran through the crowd, the gist of which seemed to be people wondering if Belos was finally going to dish about the vague and mysterious Day of Unity that people had been promised for quite some time. But he did no such thing. Instead, he turned and looked over in Luz's direction.

Luz let out a yelp and started shaking and then realized that Belos wasn't actually looking at her, but rather at Amity. "I understand we have a newcomer to the Isles among us tonight. Is that not so, Miss Serrano?"

Amity stood up, not looking remotely perturbed to have Belos' attention on her. Luz had a horrible feeling that she was about to utter the traditional greeting that one offered to the Lone Power or its avatars. Thankfully, that didn't happen. Instead, Amity offered a bow that was likely a hair shallower than was expected for one bowing to Belos and said, "It is a pleasure to be here, Your Imperial Majesty, and to be recognized by a personage such as yourself."

There was silence in the arena for a few seconds, and Luz had the distinct impression that Belos had also been expecting Amity to react in a hostile manner. With the wave of his staff, he teleported Amity so that she was standing right in front of him.

Amity didn't look even slightly perturbed. "I must thank you for ridding the universe of the disgusting wastes of space that had the nerve to call themselves my parents," she went on. "Your decision to execute them is indicative of your wisdom and just nature."

Well, that was true enough. Luz hated Odalia and Alador a lot more than she hated Belos, and though she wouldn't kill them herself (if only because they were so not worth the stain on her soul that killing them would leave), she wouldn't shed any tears over their death if it happened in the main timeline.

"In my time here," Amity said, her voice registering calm confidence, "I have learned that Blight Industries has been in my family for centuries. Certainly, my parents deserved to have the company taken away from them, but I see no reason why that tradition should continue to be disrupted now that I am here."

On the other side of the arena, almost directly across from her, Luz could see Mrs. Hart looking like she was two seconds away from trying to kill Amity and the only thing that was stopping her was clearly the open question of how Belos would react to it. Next to Mrs. Hart was Boscha, keeping her face very carefully blank.

Amity took a deep breath. "I therefore formally request that Tasha Hart be removed from her caretaker role and that ownership of the company be placed in my hands, just as ownership of the company has passed from parent to child in the Blight family for over three quarters of a millennium."

Luz was really impressed. For starters, she never would have guessed that Amity would make a play for Blight Industries at all. But beyond that, Amity had thought past her anger and came up with a plan to assume control of the company that had a very decent chance of succeeding. She'd come up with a plausible reason to take over, one backed by tradition, and she knew that Belos had promised to uphold many of the Isles traditions. Moreover, no one had to publicly lose face by him agreeing to the plan, not Mrs. Hart, not Belos, and not Amity.

Belos turned to face Mrs. Hart. "And what do you think, Tasha? Do you think that Miss Serrano here is more deserving of running Blight Industries than you are?"

"Absolutely not," Hart said immediately. "She's just a child. She knows nothing of business matters." An almost believable sympathetic expression formed of her face. "It is for the best that I continue running the company, Your Imperial Majesty, until Amistad comes of age, at the very least."

Amity's face twitched. She was letting Mrs. Hart get to her, Luz knew. "No. I want it now." She strode over in the direction of Mrs. Hart. "I challenge you to a witch's duel, Tasha Hart!" Luz groaned. So that was why Amity had so readily promised to not duel Belos – it had never been him that she was planning on dueling in the first place!

Mrs. Hart let out a laugh. "It would be beneath my dignity to duel with a child!"

"I do not agree," Belos said, sounding amused. "I think both of you make legitimate points, and that a duel will enable the Titan to resolve this matter through his favor of the victor."

Mrs. Hart looked so angry that were she a cartoon character, steam would have been coming out of her ears. (Luz's brain briefly became distracted by thoughts of what she herself would look like as a cartoon character, before reluctantly returning to the present. She lived in real life, not in some Disney cartoon like Kim Possible.) But Mrs. Hart could do nothing with that anger. Nothing to stop the duel at any rate. She'd certainly be able to do a great deal with it against Amity.

She jumped into the arena, healing the twisted leg that this caused her on the fly. Her eyes were filled with infinite hate and malice. It was startling to see. Luz's version of Mrs. Hart had been a gifted politician with the ability to keep a cool head in any situation, even if she used that ability for evil purposes. This version of Mrs. Hart didn't seem to know what subtlety even was.

"In fact, I agree with you, Mrs. Hart," Amity said. She didn't look remotely scared. Luz just had to admire that. Whether real or feigned, it was extraordinarily impressive, no matter how you sliced it. "I am not qualified to run Blight Industries. Instead, I propose these terms: If I win the duel, you will swear an Everlasting Oath to cease your abuse of your daughter. If you win the duel, you may continue abusing your daughter at your leisure. Do you accept these terms?"

Gasps rang out through the stands. Mrs. Hart looked stunned and it seemed legitimate, though not for the reasons the crowd thought. She was shocked that Amity actually would bring up that in front of everyone else. "I do not abuse my daughter!" she said, and had Luz not seen the proof with her own eyes, she might have bought it.

"I would think that would be even more reason to accept my terms," Amity said, pitching her voice in a mocking tone. "You lose nothing should I win. But we both know that you are lying. I refuse to tolerate your depraved behavior for one second longer. I ask you again, Tasha Hart, do you accept my terms?"

Mrs. Hart looked like she was seriously considering just making a run for it, but with the eyes of Belos upon her, she could not. "These terms of yours are preposterous! There is no way I would agree to them!"

"Tasha accepts your terms," Belos said, and Mrs. Hart's eyes widened in fear. For a second, just a second, Luz thought she was going to attack Belos. But instead she just jerkily nodded.

This had Eda's fingerprints all over it, Luz decided. There was no way that Amity could have come up with this sensationally brilliant plan on her own. It was almost as good as one of Luz's schemes! Well, not quite as good. No one's schemes were better than Luz's. But this one came close!

The duel commenced and Mrs. Hart made a spell circle. Yellow light danced and Amity let out a scream of pain, but she quickly shook off whatever Mrs. Hart had done to her and summoned an abomination. The abomination wasn't quite as impressive as the ones that the other Amity had been able to make at this point, but that made sense, given all the training Luz's Amity had been given that this Amity lacked.

Mrs. Hart threw back her head and laughed. "You really think I'm intimidated by that thing?" Amity opened her mouth to speak and then she summoned a pistol to her hand and shot Mrs. Hart in the face.

The force of the bullet knocked Mrs. Hart flat on her ass. She healed the wound, but Amity kept on firing at her. Aiming with expert skill – Eda must have taught her that too – Amity fired bullet after bullet into Mrs. Hart. The sound of the gunshots must have been incapacitating for Amity's witch ears – hell, Luz was about ready to pass out herself from hearing it – but she powered through it.

Mrs. Hart kept on healing herself and Amity kept on shooting at her, a serene smile on her face. Amity didn't miss once. The gun eventually clicked empty, but Amity didn't even miss a beat before summoning another gun and continuing the gunfire. Mrs. Hart hurled spell after spell at Amity, many of which would have been fatal, but Amity had her abomination take most of the spells and the rest she dodged.

"Using human weaponry is cheating!" Mrs. Hart said, as she healed a shot to her head that must have bounced off her skull.

"Is it, though?" Amity said in a sing song voice as she looked over at Belos, who shook his head. Mrs. Hart let out a scream of frustration. "Not so fun when the shoe's on the other foot, is it, Tasha? I hope you'll learn a valuable lesson from this."

Amity aimed the gun at Mrs. Hart's forehead and pulled the trigger, and the gun clicked empty. Her eyes widened in fear. "No, no, no…"

Mrs. Hart strode over to Amity and grabbed her by the throat, her eyes afire with savage hatred. The crowd was seeing her as the beast that she was deep down, and no one seemed much impressed with her. "I'm going to crush the life out of you, you insolent whelp," she snarled.

And Amity…just laughed. She laughed and laughed until tears were coming out of her eyes. "Abomination, seize!" she shouted, and the abomination that Mrs. Hart had clearly forgotten about until now grabbed her. Mrs. Hart struggled and struggled, but she could not extricate herself from its grasp.

Amity summoned a machine pistol to her hand – clearly, her earlier fear about having run out of guns had been feigned just to lure Mrs. Hart into a false sense of security – and fired a stream of bullets into Mrs. Hart's chest. Then she had the abomination drop Mrs. Hart on the ground. Mrs. Hart frantically healed herself, but she expended so much energy into doing so that when she tried to hurl a spell at Amity, nothing came out.

Amity walked over to Mrs. Hart, punched her in the jaw, and pressed the machine pistol against her forehead. "Yield!" she screamed. "Or I will kill you."

Mrs. Hart grimaced, sounding as if the words were hurting her more than all the bullets she'd taken, but she managed to say, "I yield," before she collapsed to the ground, still conscious, but exhausted to the point where she couldn't move.

Applause erupted through the chamber and it was coming from Belos. "Very impressive, Miss Serrano. Clearly, your realm has much to teach us…just as we have much to teach them. You are the clear winner of the duel. Boscha, would you come down here, please?" It was definitely not a request.

Boscha had been trying to keep a cool head and not let her emotions show, but now, Luz could detect hope dancing in her eyes. She had been living in fear of her mother hurting her for her entire life, and now it was coming to an end.

Belos telekinetically lifted Mrs. Hart until she was standing up. "Tasha, grasp your daughter's hand," Belos commanded. Hart did so. "Now repeat after me: I hereby vow to refrain from harming you, through word or deed, from now unto perpetuity." All three of Mrs. Hart's eyes twitched repeatedly, but she eventually realized she had no choice but to repeat the refrain, which she did. The oath was bound; Luz could feel it.

Boscha was safe now.

"This is not over!" Mrs. Hart shouted. Amity just yawned and returned to her seat. Mrs. Hart let out a growl, and said, "Boscha, come."

"Do as your mother says, girl," Belos told Boscha, and though Boscha looked like she'd rather be doing anything else, she reluctantly allowed her mother, who now could not hurt her anymore, out of the room.

Luz gave Amity a high five. "Wow. That was something else, Amity!"

Amity let loose a contented smile. "Why, thank you. I aim to please."

"So…what's exactly stopping Mrs. Hart from coming after you now?" Luz wondered.

"Oh, crap," Amity whispered, her eyes wide with terror. Well, at least Luz didn't have to be worried about being upstaged in the awesome schemer category anytime soon. Just having a homicidal weapons manufacturer after her true love. Spectacular.