Author's Note: I'd Be Your Memory has been rewritten and reposted on AO3 and it now includes SEASON 3! I will be posting the season 3 chapters here once a week! You should also be aware that I've changed the epilogue a bit, specifically the part with the Collector's defeat, to reflect what we learned about them in 3x02 (and also to remove hints of a future Raine/Eda/Camila pairing). Now instead of having the Collector's parents swoop in and fix everything, Luz was able to make the Collector see how their actions were hurting others and, consumed with remorse, they transformed themself into an ordinary witch baby without their powers or memories and have been adopted by a loving family. I hope you enjoy this!


It had been two weeks since Luz had experienced the vision about how things would have gone if she hadn't shared her memories with the family. During that time, Luz had been having recurring nightmares about those events, about seeing the possessed Hunter, about seeing Flapjack get squished to death. And those were the easiest nightmares. Her subconscious had decided to also regale her with even worse scenarios, like her friends and family getting killed as well. To make matters worse, her dreams distorted her memories of the vision to the point where Luz was having trouble figuring out what really happened in the vision.

Luz was a proud person who hated telling the people she loved about her insecurities, but she was really trying to work hard on changing that, especially with the help of her new therapist, none other than Hooty. ("I make my own economy!" Hooty had proudly announced to her during their first session.) So she'd finally bit the bullet and told Eda about her nightmares.

"Proud of you for telling me that, kiddo," Eda had said immediately after Luz finished haltingly explaining. "You've come a long way. You really have." Luz beamed at hearing that. She truly and officially thought of Eda as her second mother now, and not just because she was dating Camila. "I've got an idea or two about how to help. I've just got to make a couple of calls."

Three days passed after Luz told Eda about the nightmares, three days where Luz was worried Eda had completely forgotten. She hadn't mentioned anything and Luz was too afraid to breach the subject, with her stupid emotions telling her Eda would think she was weak and needy, despite knowing deep down very well Eda would think nothing of the kind. But on the afternoon of the third day, Luz walked into the Owl House to find it absolutely packed with people.

There were her friends and family, of course, but not just them. The Park parents. Perry Porter. Masha. The Blight twins. And Viney and Skara. For the life of her, Luz couldn't imagine what they were all doing there.

"Hi, Luz!" Emira said with a wave. "Ready for another watching the show extravaganza?" She turned her head towards Masha. "Did I say that right?" They nodded.

Luz blinked. "I'm not sure what's happening right now."

"Well, Eda told me about your bad experiences with the branching paths ritual," Perry explained. Luz recalled that he was actually something of an expert on esoteric oracle magic. "Since part of the problem seems to be that your visions were fragmented and only the most emotional parts of it – which in this case were the worst – were clear, I thought it might help you for all of us to see the whole thing. I'm much stronger than you are – no offense – and I believe I have enough power to show all of it."

"None taken, Mr. Porter!" Luz said, smiling genuinely for what felt like the first time in ages. "I think that'd help a lot. I'm just surprised there are so many of you here."

"None of them would dare refuse an invitation to help the Princess of Demons!" King announced grandly. "And, well, they care about you a lot, Luz. We all do. You're my sister. I just want to help you."

Luz wiped a tear away from her eye. "Aw, you're the best brother ever."

"He's what?" Hunter said, sounding legitimately offended.

"Best little brother ever," Luz quickly corrected. Hunter narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

King stood up on a table. "It's too late! The title of best brother is officially mine! My sister has spoken!"

Hunter took a few steps in King's direction and it seemed like they were going to actually come to blows before Camila stepped in between them. "Now, mijos, this fighting isn't going to help your sister. There's no such thing as the best brother. We all love you equally."

"Sorry, mami," Hunter and King said in unison.

Amity raised her hand like she was in the classroom. "Where's Lilith?"

Eda scowled. "Yeah, she and Hooty left on an emergency mission to the Pancreas. Apparently there's some tomb there with a magical amulet that'll help stop an epidemic in the Ankle. They said to watch without them. They could be gone for weeks."

Luz was hesitant about starting without her aunt and friend, but on the other hand, she was pretty nervous about how everyone might react and she didn't want to have to deal with that anxiety for weeks.

Masha conjured sofas for everyone using their construction glyphs and everyone quickly found their seats. Eda had "bought" (read: stolen) an expensive flatscreen TV and installed it in the living room. Perry would use a variation of the branching paths ritual to project the images on the screen.

"Is everyone ready?" Luz asked. "Hunter, are you okay with this? It's gonna be upsetting for you."

Hunter squeezed Luz's hand. "I'm sure, hermana. I've been through a lot worse and I'd go through a lot worse than that to help you." The two siblings shared a smile.

"Whoo!" Viney said, putting her first into the air. "Let's delve into parallel reality already!"

Without further ado, Perry cast a spell circle and began showing them what could have been.

[Picking up from where the last episode left off, the screen is shown black. King's voice is then heard saying he was happy to have Luz as a big sister.]

Luz quickly put King into a hug. "Love you too, hermano."

[Cut to Luz, Amity, Willow, Gus and Hunter getting launched from the Demon Realm to the abandoned house the Human Realm, all landing on their backs. Luz runs back towards the door. She attempts to reach the portal, but the door closes on her just as she reaches it.

King bowed his head in shame. "I'm sorry, Luz…I didn't know I'd upset you so much. I just wanted to help you."

"King, you did the right thing," Luz promised. "I was safe in the Human Realm. It was the responsible thing to do."

She opens it, hoping the portal would activate again, only to find the empty room of the house in front of her. She tries it two more times unsuccessfully, as the others look on in shock. Luz turns around, just as Gus begins to break down crying.

Perry's heart broke at his son's distress. It had not been an easy couple of months for him since the Day of Unity. He was wracked with self-loathing. He knew in his heart that his insistence in spreading Belos's propaganda had made it so Gus hadn't been able to trust him, thus making it so Perry wasn't able to be there for him when the Day of Unity rolled around.

As if reading his mind, Gus said, "It's not your fault, dad."

"Maybe," Perry said. "But even Amity was able to trust Alador to help her. Alador. I was less trusted than Alador! That hurts."

"Willow didn't confide in us either," Gilbert reminded him. Willow looked at the floor, unable to meet her dad's eyes. "It's not your fault just as it wasn't ours. You had no reason to disbelieve Belos's lies. Our children just wanted to keep us safe."

"It's not their job to keep us safe," Perry said quietly. "It's our job to keep them safe."

"Dad…" Gus said and then trailed off, unsure of what to say. "I love you," he finally settled on. By the look on Perry's face, it had been the right thing to say.

Meanwhile, inside the Noceda residence, Camila is in the kitchen cooking soup for a hungry Vee while reading a news article on her tablet.

"Who is this Anne Boonchuy?" Eda wondered. "I've never heard of her."

"She got trapped in a swamp universe because of some enchanted music box," Camila explained. She'd researched Anne after the viewing but before Masha had uncovered the Titan's Blood. "I thought she might be able to help the children return to the Isles, but it turned out to be a dead end."

Both then suddenly hear a knock on the door. Camila opens it, and gasps in shock to find the five teens looking disheveled out in the rain, as Luz looks up at her. Luz says she's back and starts crying. Camila looks at her daughter and gives her a warm embrace, with both shown crying. Cut to inside the house. Camila is washing the dishes. Gus helps her by using magic

"Doing chores has been a lot easier since I started being able to use glyph magic for them," Camila commented. She'd been doing her level best to try to catch up to her daughter's level magically with the help of night classes Lilith was hosting at the historical society. "And thank you, Gus."

and an awkward Amity gives her a cup of wrongly prepared tea, who then in turn receives a pat on the shoulder.

"That's not how you make tea," Masha informed Amity, who looked stricken. "Hey, don't worry about it! Human things are tough, I get it. Mom and I are still having issues adjusting to life here in the Demon Realm."

"I think it's probably just a rich person thing," Skara speculated. "We have servants to do stuff for us."

"I appreciated you trying to help, Amity," Camila said, "and that's what's important." Amity smiled. She always liked it when she could impress her future mother-in-law.

Cut to the bathroom. Luz gets out a box of bandages that have cartoon mascots resembling Eda, King, and Hooty, which makes her sad. Hunter then approaches her. Hunter thanks Luz for not telling the others he's a grimwalker while Luz opens a box of bandages.]

"Wait, you're a grimwalker?" Edric asked. Hunter couldn't help but tense. He was so used to the people who cared about him not caring about such things that he had almost forgotten that it was actually not common knowledge. While the people who mattered knew it didn't matter he was a grimwalker, some people still believed grimwalkers were vile, soul stealing monsters. "That is so…so…SO AWESOME!"

Hunter blinked. "What?"

"Dude, it's just the coolest thing ever!" Edric said, his eyes alight with enthusiasm. "I'm friends with a mythical creature!"

"Since when have we been friends?" Hunter wondered.

"Since my sister started dating your sister, that's when," Edric shot back. Hunter shrugged. He wasn't sure that made them friends, but then again, he had once thought friends stabbed each other in the back on a regular basis, so what the hell did he know?

[Hunter asks Luz how she has been since she's been in Belos's mind. Luz fears the others will hate him for helping Belos meet the collector.]

"Luz didn't mean to help Belos," Camila told the people who didn't know about Luz inadvertently helping Belos already. "He tricked her, just like he tricked most of us."

Eda's hands were suddenly talons. "Yeah, and if anyone's got a problem with that, it's time to speak out now. Cause it wasn't her fault."

"Of course we don't blame Luz," Harvey said firmly. "I'm sure there's a perfectly plausible explanation."

"I stumbled on a time pool and encountered him four hundred years ago," Luz explained.

"I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation," Harvey corrected himself.

[Hunter assures Luz they won't hate her. Luz wipes away her tears and slightly smiles. Hunter starts panicking the others will hate him when they find out he's a clone of a fellow witch hunter of Belos.]

"It doesn't matter if you're a clone, Hunter," Gilbert promised him. "You're still the boy my daughter loves very much. We know you're a good person and that matters."

"Thank you very much, sir," Hunter said with a stiff bow of his head. Gilbert sighed. He wished Hunter felt more comfortable around him and his husband. But Hunter was constantly paranoid about how the Parks felt about him, terrified that he'd screw up and drive Willow away from him. Gilbert wished Hunter saw himself as Gilbert saw him: as a kind, loving, selfless individual who would one day be a very worthy addition to the Park family.

[Cut to the dining room. Willow and Amity are seated at the table, looking despondent. Cut back to Luz and Hunter. Luz says they'll tell the others when they're ready.]

"Let me guess," Eda said in an utterly deadpan tone. "You'll never be ready."

"You don't know that," Luz said, trying and failing to both convince Eda and herself. "We told them eventually! Sort of. We let them find it out during the watching, anyway. You know how difficult it is to tell people big secrets!"

Eda nodded. She regretted so much now keeping her curse a secret from Raine. She was just glad the two of them were friends again, even if they'd politely rejected Eda's entreaties to add them to her relationship with Camila. The two of them hadn't just been lovers – they'd been best friends too. Eda was happy to have one of those things back in her life, even if she couldn't get both.

[Hunter nods. Luz and Hunter join the others in the dining room, Luz putting a bandage on Amity's hand. Camila tries her best to wrap her head around Belos turning into a monster.]

"Turned into a monster," Hunter muttered. "Like he wasn't one from the get go."

[Gus says Belos started out human.]

Luz flushed with embarrassment. She was so panicked and traumatized that the fact Camila had already been told of Belos's true identity had completely flown past her head. If she'd known that, she probably wouldn't have panicked quite as much about Camila learning the truth.

[Camila, sounding unsure, says Belos was defeated by a newer, smaller bad guy. Willow says the bad guy in question is the Collector, and they don't know what he is or how Belos found him. Luz, in a panic, says they may never know the answer to that question.]

"You're just lucky we were too tired and traumatized to see through that," Willow said. "Even for you, that was pretty bad."

"Don't worry, I've been giving the gal some remedial con artist lessons," Eda assured her. Camila gave a long suffering sigh, but she'd gotten mostly used to Eda's rascality. Eda had influenced Camilw to be more wild and Camila had influenced Eda to be more cautious and the two of them had developed quite a nice equilibrium.

[Luz says the Collector is creating a lot of chaos. Amity says they have to do whatever it takes to get back. Camila promises they will return, but says they have to rest first. She assures them they are safe in the Noceda house. Cut to outside the house. The lights turn off when the sludge from Belos floats by.]

"Oh, crap!" Hunter shouted. "He was there! We missed him by that much!"

Willow looked him in the eyes. "He's gone, Hunter. He can't hurt you. He can't hurt any of us ever again."

"You're welcome," Masha said smugly.

[Cut to the basement. Gus and Hunter are settling in. Gus opens up an umbrella. Gus is impressed with so much awesome human stuff.]

Even though Perry still felt terrible watching his son trapped in a parallel dimension, he couldn't help but grin a little at Gus's enthusiasm. Humans had long been Gus's obsession, but Perry had never suspected he would ever get to experience the Human Realm. It was nice to see Gus accomplishing one of his foremost dreams, even if it wasn't in the way he'd suspected.

[He takes out some bubble wrap and begins to pop it, but when it rolls out, a snow globe falls to the floor and breaks. Hunter comments that on Earth, human stuff is just stuff. Camila comes in with some bedsheets. She says the bedsheets aren't much, but she hopes it'll make them comfortable.]

"Thank you so much for looking after our little girl while she was stuck in your dimension, Camila," Harvey said.

Camila waved a hand. "You don't have to thank me for doing what any decent person would have done."

"Yeah, again, you really sell yourself short when you say things like that, Mrs. Noceda," Masha told her. "I can't think of a lot of humans who'd do half of the things you did for Luz's friends."

[Gus is sure they'll be comfortable. Hunter clears his throat and walks up to her on his knees and bows. He very formally thanks her for providing them with shelter.]

Hunter cringed. "Yeah…that wasn't exactly my finest moment."

"Oh, honey, don't beat yourself up about it," Camila said. "It was a difficult time for everyone."

"I don't beat myself up," Hunter assured her. "I mean, other people did, but I never did."

Camila sighed and forced herself to remain calm at one more reminder of her son's horrible past. She knew Hunter hated it when she made a big deal over his traumatic experiences. It made him feel guilty. "It's an expression, Hunter."

[Camila is freaked out and urges Hunter to never do it again as she backs away.]

"Yeah, that had been pretty disconcerting," Camila admitted. "I didn't know what to expect from Luz's friends – heck, I didn't even know she had any – but that wasn't it." Hunter's face fell. "But, sweetie, it's all just water under the – it's all in the past. Remember what Hooty says."

"'We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity and it was not meant that we voyage far,'" Hunter quoted promptly.

"Uh…no. Hooty always says that too many people were mean to past Hunter. Present Hunter shouldn't be among them."

Hunter nodded. "Yeah. I liked the other one better, though."

[She encourages Hunter to call her by her first name. She wishes them good night. Camila walks up the stairs and Gus discovered he has popped every bubble, to his disappointment. Cut to Luz's room. Camila creaks open the door to peer in. Vee shows Willow and Amity an alarm clock. Vee tries to show them what the alarm clock will do instead of screaming in the morning. She activates the alarm.]

Edric let out an earsplitting shriek of terror.

[Willow and Amity gasp in shock. Amity and Willow promise to keep her safe. Willow destroys the alarm with her plant magic.]

Gilbert patted Willow on the shoulder. "Great work, honey. You show that horrible contraption who's boss."

"It's me!" Willow said proudly. "I'm boss!" Luz gave a friendly smile at Willow, not wanting to burst her bubble.

[Willow and Amity bump elbows and congratulate themselves for destroying the alarm clock. Vee is unhappy her alarm clock is destroyed. She looks down at the floor where the hole created by Willow's vine is. Camila closes the door and decides to deal with Willow and Amity later.]

Luz looked at the note Vee had left her welcoming her home on the wall. She hadn't noticed it the first time around. "Oh, Vee, that's so sweet. You must have been so scared about what me coming home meant, though."

"Nope, never occurred to me," Vee admitted. "I guess I'm lucky!"

"Vee knew deep down there was nothing to fear," Camila decided. "She knew very well she was just as much of a Noceda as you and I."

"And me now!" Hunter said with a wave.

"And me…eventually!" Amity said, blushing furiously at the slip.

[Camila looks down the hallway and sees Luz looking sadly at the photo of her and her family. Luz says she knows she shouldn't have left. She regrets lying, but does not regret staying. However, she assures Camila it wasn't because she didn't like living with her. Camila hugs her and promises they will have time to talk later. She is relieved the others are home. Luz says she is home, but the others aren't. She looks at Willow and Amity inside her room, the latter comforting the former as she undoes her braids.]

"This must be where the timelines diverge," Amity explained to the new watchers. "At this point, Luz tried to convince Camila to let her go back, which is what led us to watching the memories. In this timeline, Luz must have not bothered trying."

[A montage occurs of time passing with events: the kids goes back to the old house, begin refurbishing it and setting up portal schematics.

Perry, the Park dads, and the twins let out very similar sounds of delight upon seeing Gus, Willow, and Amity put up drawings of them. Though Willow couldn't help but feel sad Hunter didn't have anyone to do the same for, not even Darius.

Luz puts together a coming out video

"Ah, Lumity Studios," Camila said with a smile. "Some things are the same no matter what timeline you're in."

Edric let out a yelp. "Is their ship name really Lumity? I've been calling it Luzity the whole time!"

"You're dead to me, Edric," Amity deadpanned.

and shows it to her mother

Camila looked at the words "Hi, I'm bi" on the laptop for Amity's presentation and just barely restrained from saying the obvious thing. Eda, of course, had no such restraint and said, "Hi, bi! I'm Eda!" Luz broke into full on giggling, but Camila couldn't help but feel a little sad. That was such a dad joke and Manny should have been there to say it.

who happily accepts her and Amity's relationship.

"I still don't understand this pride thing," Viney complained. "Like who the hell cares if people like or don't girls? I mean, I like girls, but so what? It's no big deal. Hardly worth noting."

"Yeah, no big deal at all," Emira said, struggling to hold back an Amity style blush. Her crush liked girls?! That meant she had a chance!

"It's a human thing," Gus said. "Humans are unfortunately experts at finding new ways to hate each other, whether it's accusing people of witchcraft or hating people because they like more than one gender. Thus in the face of that hatred, pride is an act of defiance as well as self-love."

Luz sighed. "Yeah. We're not…we kind of suck. But things are getting better, I think! On the bright side," she said, pointing at the screen as Gus displayed his illusionary bi flags. "Flags!"

Camila felt a shiver running down her spine as she realized she had exactly and precisely predicted how Luz would come out to her right down to Gus and his flags. Was that a coincidence or was there something deeper at work?

Luz and her friends get new clothes

"That's…not exactly the height of fashion," Skara noted upon seeing Hunter's tribute to Flapjack.

Don't listen to her, Flapjack said. I think you look majestic!

while Vee chooses a new human form to take.

"I LOVE IT!" Masha screamed, causing Vee to jump. "You're so adorable and cute and I just want to squish your cheeks and cuddle you forever! Can you shift into it? Please, please, please!"

While ordinarily Vee didn't like it when Masha asked her to shapeshift into different forms – the two of them had their first full on fight when Masha tried to convince her to shapeshift into an actress they had a celebrity crush on – she decided she'd make an exception because her alternate self had thought it was a good form to be in.

Masha let out an excited squeal when Vee shifted and duly proceeded to squish Vee's cheeks and cuddle her. "So pretty," Masha said with a dopy grin. "My basilisk. My adorable basilisk. I'm so in love." Vee blushed incandescently.

Hunter has a mental breakdown due to his hair growing out enough to remind him of Belos

"It's okay," Hunter said honestly. "I'm fine. I really am. I've moved on from that fear, the fear I'm like Belos." Learning that Caleb hadn't been Belos's accomplice but his victim and a good, decent person had been a major factor in that as well.

"Still, it sucks you went through so much, Hunter, and we weren't there to help you," Viney said. "We thought about you a lot when you were in the Human Realm. We were hoping you were safe."

"Thanks, Viney," Hunter said with a smile.

and he attempts to hastily cut it, which gets Willow's attention and she does it for him, much to his appreciation.

"HUNTLOW! HUNTLOW! HUNTLOW!" Luz chanted.

"That's a blush of humiliation that Willow saw me in such an embarrassing state," Hunter decided.

"You mean your crush saw you in such an embarrassing state," Luz persisted. "And you're sure it doesn't have anything to do with the fact that a pretty girl in shorts is giving you a haircut?"

Hunter cast about for salvation and then smirked as he found it in the form of a certain purple haired girl. "Hey, Amity, your girlfriend says another girl is pretty!"

"Nice try, Hunter, but I'm not going to be lured into petty jealousy."

"Oh, yeah?" Hunter said. "What about when we saw the twins flirt with Luz?"

"That jealousy was entirely justified." Just for trolling purposes, Emira decided to wink at Luz again. This proved a mistake when Amity hurled a pillow at her face with pinpoint accuracy.

When the gang attempt to test a portal, it briefly breaches the In Between Realm before exploding, which depresses Luz.

"It was still an impressive showing," Perry pointed out. "Transdimensional physics is a complete enigma to us, even after King used his blood to create another door. Few scientists in either realm could accomplish such a feat."

"Yeah, but it still sucks we failed," Luz said. "If the portal had worked, we may not have been able to return, but at least we could have let our loved ones let we're all right."

"It doesn't do to dwell on what-ifs, lucecita," Camila said.

"That's literally the point of this exercise!" Luz pointed out.

Amity, Gus, Willow and Hunter offer Camila some Demon Realm cuisine much to Luz and Camila's shock and disgust. Luz and Vee show everyone the non-boiling rain with Willow taking an interest in photography.

"It's still an extraordinary thing to see," Harvey said. "Rain that doesn't boil. You know, I always thought Gus had fallen victim to sensationalism when he told me about that during all those years before you showed up, Luz. Never believed him. Well, shows what I know."

Luz becomes homesick for the Boiling Isles and her surrogate family with her egg showing no signs of hatching despite her incubating it; she also has to go back to school.]

"Oh, f…fudgesicles," Luz corrected herself swiftly. She didn't usually believe in policing her language, even for Gus's sake, but for King's sake, she'd make an exception.

"I'm sure it's not going to be as bad as you think," Camila said with an optimism she didn't feel.

"She's not wrong," Luz told everyone, recalling the flash of memory she had about her alternate self's rant in Mr. Sandoval's classroom. "It's worse."

Luz just thanked her lucky stars she was going to Hexside now. Despite the occasional mortal peril, Hexside was superior to her old school in just about every way, and it wasn't just because she studied magic. She got to spend time with her friends, her teachers actually were invested in her success, and most importantly of all, she could be comfortable being herself without being mercilessly and constantly mocked.

[Amity, Gus, Hunter, Vee, and Willow are hanging out together in the abandoned shed, which they have remodeled. Willow takes a picture while everyone else looks down at a tablet. Amity, Gus, Hunter, and Vee trill their Rs. Gus wonders if he is doing it right. Vee says a sentence in Spanish.]

"What does that mean?" Gus asked.

"Three sad tigers eat from three sad wheat plates," Luz translated. "It's a Spanish tongue twister."

[The tablet congratulates Vee for being the top student.]

"It's really easy for me to learn languages," Vee said. "I think it's a basilisk thing. Our brains are just wired that way, maybe to make it easier for us to sell our shapeshifting."

[Amity remembers when she used to be the top student.]

"It doesn't matter if you're the top student, Amity," Emira assured her. "All that matters is that you're doing the best job you can." Amity gave her a grateful smile. Bard magic hadn't been coming nearly as easily for her as abominations had and her grades reflected that. But she was getting better with each day. Amity was just happy doing something she loved. And the look on Luz's face whenever she serenaded her made her feel better than any badge ever could.

[Flapjack begins pecking at the table. Gus is bemused by Flapjack's antics. Hunter says Flapjack won't tell him what he's looking for.]

I am a bird of mystery, Flapjack bragged.

[Camila enters the shack. She is pleased with the décor and the newfound lack of exposed nails and possum nests.]

Edric's jaw dropped open in astonishment. "Wait, possums are real?" Luz nodded. "First grimwalkers, now possums. What's next, giraffes?" Luz gave a nervous laugh.

[Camila motions to a painting of Hooty on the door and says it confuses her. Willow says Hooty also confuses them.]

Everyone shivered. Hooty may have been a superlative therapist, but he was still an eldritch owl creature that everyone knew instinctively should not exist in this, or indeed any, plane of reality.

[Gus greets Camila in Spanish and says they are learning it from a scary owl app.]

"Oh, yeah, Duolingo," Eda recalled. "I had to ban that from our house. Hooty got a crush on him and went completely feral trying to impress him. On the bright side, I'm fluent in Welsh now!"

[The tablet warns them to practice every day or it will appear in their nightmares.]

"Yn union fel yr hen amser," Eda mused wistfully.

[Camila says she's going to pick Luz up from school. In Spanish, she asks them how they say that. Hunter tries to speak Spanish, but fails.]

Hunter couldn't help but feel smug at the sight of his alternate self failing at Spanish, since he was almost fluent by now. Unlike his sister, he did not have a good aptitude for languages, but obsessive studying had offset his natural disadvantages. If he was going to be a Noceda, he had vowed, he'd immerse himself into their family traditions, like knowing Spanish.

[Vee correctly says the phrase. Camila is pleased and leaves the shack. She says she never expected to be a mother of six.]

"Hey, you're doing a great job of it," Eda said with a grin. Camila couldn't help but be pleased. Her girlfriend wasn't the type to just hand out meaningless praise. If she gave a compliment, she meant it.

[Back in the shed, Hunter sits down next to Gus as everyone resumes learning Spanish from the tablet. Flapjack is seen still pecking on the floor. The group practices a simple word and then a short phrase.]

"That means the fat cat," Luz translated.

[Amity suggests they take a break. Willow says they should have a siesta. Amity says they've been there for months with no progress on the portal door. She says they can't expect Camila to take care of them forever.]

"Sweetie, you don't have to worry about that," Camila said immediately. "It was my responsibility to take care of you kids and a Noceda never shirks their responsibilities."

"Sure, that's why Luz keeps on putting off taking off the trash," Hunter joked. Luz glared at him.

[Gus suggests they cook more and brags that his mustard ravioli brought tears to Camila's eyes.]

Camila laughed nervously. That didn't sound remotely appetizing at all.

[Vee warns him that the tears were not tears of joy. Hunter offers to fix damaged clothes. Willow offers to spruce up the garden and holds up a plant monster.]

"Um, I don't think the garden needs that much sprucing, cariño," Camila said.

[The plant monster growls at Vee. Amity suggests they look elsewhere in the Human Realm. Willow takes a picture of her and she flinches. Willow points out that Luz has school most of the week. Amity suggests they explore the town themselves, reminding them that Luz did the same in the Demon Realm.]

"Ah, look at you," Edric said, ruffling her head. "My little sister, the great explorer. Maybe one day you can join Lilith on her expeditions." Amity was tempted to make an epic comeback, but the more she thought about it, the more that sounded fun. She'd long been tempted to try to patch things up between her and Lilith and that seemed like just the opportunity she needed.

[Gus points out that if Eda came there before, it's possible others did and left something behind they could use. Amity is pleased and says there is no challenge that can hold them back. She trips in a hole Flapjack pecked and faceplants. Gus announces they are doomed. Amity is annoyed at Flapjack and says it isn't funny anymore.]

I disagree, Flapjack said. It was hilarious! He still had a slight grudge against Amity for fighting against his Hunter. Not a huge one, but a palisman of his age was slow to forgive and forgets nothing. Just enough to enjoy her faceplanting.

"What did he say?" Amity said, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"Sorry?" Hunter lied with a nervous smile.

[Once Amity gets her foot free, she sees something in the hole. Amity holds up a hexagonal box. She opens it and takes out a scroll and unrolls it. All gasp. Gus thinks it looks like a map. Willow thinks it's a secret code. Flapjack twitters on Hunter's shoulder. Hunter asks if Flapjack was searching for it and where it leads to.]

"My Caleb buried it there not too long after he met Evelyn," Flapjack explained. "He never told me why." He looked downcast. "It's been four hundred years, but I still miss him."

"It, uh, it must be tough looking at me and seeing him," Hunter mumbled.

"I look at you and see you," Flapjack said. "I always have."

"Thanks, buddy."

[Amity thinks the eye on the scroll looks like the old portal door. Gus and Willow are enthused and start chanting. Vee says they should tell Luz. Amity doesn't like the idea, since it could be a dead end and make Luz feel even worse.]

"Yeah, because keeping stuff from each other has worked out so well in the past," Viney reminded them.

[Willow suggests they figure it out themselves using their buff brains and then tell Luz. Hunter laughs, blushes, and agrees. Vee dabs.]

Luz pointed at Hunter's blushing ears with a triumphant smirk. "Aha! Looks like you were thinking about something else buff, if you know what I mean."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Hunter said, sounding quite smooth and convincing to his own ears. The effect was spoiled when Willow flexed and Hunter started blushing in the exact same manner as his parallel self.

"Also, Vee, dabbing is so 2015," Luz added. Vee shrugged. It was a fair criticism.

[Cut to Luz at school during an English class.]

"Oh, boy," Luz muttered. "This is gonna suck."

[Mr. Sandoval quotes from the ending of a book and says the protagonist's return showed that he was a hero. Luz doesn't agree, saying that everywhere the protagonist went, people ended up suffering, clearly actually referring to herself.]

"That's…you really think that about yourself?" King asked.

Luz was dearly tempted to lie, but she forced herself to tell the truth. She knew it was the right thing to do. Her family deserved it and most importantly, she deserved the support telling the truth would bring her. She deserved more than what she'd gotten in the past, and only being honest would allow her to get it.

"Sometimes, things get hard for me," Luz said quietly. "Sometimes, I think bad thoughts like that, King. I've never…never been very good at seeing worth in myself. So many people told me I'd never amount to anything because I'm so weird, a part of me started to believe them."

Eda clenched her fists. Camila had made it very clear she'd be extremely upset if Eda took revenge on Luz's bullies, and Eda had promised not to, but it was times like this that made it very difficult to keep her promise. Those idiots had hurt her little girl!

"When I'm alone, I can be my own worst enemy," Luz continued. "I think only bad things about myself sometimes. But when I'm with the people I love, people like you, I'm reminded of the good things I've done. The people I've helped."

"What she said, what you said, it's not true," Harvey said firmly. "I couldn't see it, but until you showed up, Willow was suffering. Both from bullies and the weight of the expectations we shouldn't have placed on her." Amity looked at the floor, unable to bear seeing Harvey's expression. "You changed all that, Luz. You brought my daughter to where she needs to be."

"You inspire people to become the best versions of themselves," Amity said. "Wherever you go, people don't suffer. People get better. You bring hope. And whatever mistakes you made were just that. Mistakes. You didn't set out to hurt people and when you did, you did everything you could to make things right."

"You saved my life, Luz, and I'll always be grateful for it," Hunter said.

Luz wiped a tear away from her cheek, but they were nowhere near done. "You didn't just help them, you helped me too," Skara said. "Watching Amity get away from Boscha's toxic influence gave me the courage to do the same, and that wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for you."

Viney nodded. "And without you, I'd have gotten stuck in the detention track forever. I never would have amounted to anything in my life."

Luz scoffed. "You would have found some way, Viney. I helped you, yeah, but you would have helped yourself."

[Mr. Sandoval admits the story is dark, but the difficulty was what made the protagonist so heroic. He reminds Luz that the protagonist's actions had a ripple effect.]

"See, you should listen to your teacher," Camila said. "He knows who you're really talking about. He knows you're a good person." Luz's first instinct was to deny Mr. Sandoval was trying to help her, but everyone had always said he was a really cool guy, so it was possible Camila could be right.

[Luz says the ripple effects are meaningless because "he" was just a pawn in someone else's game.]

"You know what?" Edric said. "There are worse things in life than being a pawn. Because if a pawn makes it across the board, it can become anything it wants."

"Just like me," Hunter said quietly. "I made it across."

[She berates "the protagonist" for not being smart enough to realize it.]

"It's not a question of being stupid, Luz," Eda said. "Sure, maybe if you were as paranoid and suspicious as me, you wouldn't have fallen for it. But that has a price of its own. Being like that allowed me to survive, sure, but it prevented me from living. I wasn't really living, Luz, not until you came around."

"Yeah, you believe in other people's goodness," Gus said. "It's not your fault they keep on letting you down."

"Belos was a master manipulator, a person who'd had four centuries of practice," Perry reminded her. "I understand exactly how you feel. I've spent the last several months consumed with the question of what I could have done better. But in the end, I made the best choices I could with the information I had. Just like you."

[Luz says that if "the protagonist's" friends and family knew about "his" mission, they'd know that their lives would not have been in danger were it not for "him."]

"Right, like Belos wouldn't have found another way to find the Collector," Hunter scoffed. "Get over yourself, Luz. In the grand scheme of things, in his grand scheme, you're just not that important."

"Thanks?" Luz said.

[Luz says the family should hate "his" guts.]

"Well, that's the most absurd thing I ever heard," Camila said. "As if I would ever hate you for something that wasn't your fault. Or, for that matter, something that was. You're my daughter, Luz. I could never hate you, no matter how much you hate yourself."

[Luz says it would have been better if "the protagonist" literally never existed.]

Everyone let out a gasp at what seemed like a thinly veiled admission of suicidal ideation. "You didn't…didn't mean that literally, did you, kiddo?" Eda asked, biting her nails nervously, terrified of what the answer would be.

"That's a parallel version of me," Luz deflected. "How am I supposed to know what she's thinking?"

"Have you ever thought of it, Luz?" Camila demanded.

Luz wanted to lie. She wanted so desperately to lie. But she'd learned her lesson. Lying didn't help her. Bottling her feelings didn't help her. It only caused her and everyone around her more pain. Openness and honesty helped her. It was what would save her. "Y – yes," Luz said, her voice whisper quiet.

"Oh, sweetie," Camila whispered, though her voice sounded loud and harsh in the sudden void of silence Luz's admission had caused.

"Just once or twice," Luz hastened to add. "And it was just idle thoughts! I never, ever planned to do it. I would never do it. I wouldn't do it to you, to me. Not even she would," she added, pointing at the screen. "She could never do that to the people she loved."

More silence descended upon the room. No one seemed to know what to say. Then King abruptly got up from Eda's lap and ran in the direction of the new portal door. He was almost to it when Willow wrapped him up in vines and moved him back onto Eda's lap.

"LET ME AT THEM!" King screamed. "Those fiends will taste the wrath of the King of Demons! No one hurts my sister and gets away with it!"

"King!" Luz shouted. "I love you for trying to help, but that's not going to fix anything. What's done is done. I'm getting better and I just want to leave those jerks in the past."

King growled. "So they're just going to get away with their crimes?"

Luz shrugged. "I guess. But if I hurt them, King, then I'd be no better than them. Remember what I've taught you. With great power comes great responsibility."

King grumbled, but then nodded. Willow released him. "Well, I'll leave them be as long as they stay in the Human Realm," he decided. "But if they ever come here, I'll smite them!"

"Okay, King," Luz conceded, knowing there was no way her bullies would ever show up in the Demon Realm. "I can live with that."

Eda suddenly grinned satanically as she realized a loophole in the deal they'd just made, but Camila was faster to react, having learned quite well how her girlfriend operated by now. "And she means come here of their own free will, not because you kidnapped them, Eda."

"Darn it," Eda muttered.

[School bell rings. Luz walks by her art class A sign there reads "No taxidermy, no spiders, no snakes, no animal parts, no fireworks", clearly directed at Luz.

"WHAT?!" Camila screamed. "How dare they single you out like that? If you were still enrolled at that school, Principal Hal would get a taste of my mind – and maybe of my chancla. I clearly made the right choice letting you to go Hexside."

Her teacher sees her, and gives her a dirty look.

"Can I beat her up?" King begged. "Please, please, please?"

"Yeah, Luz, please?" Amity said, giving puppy dog eyes.

"Y – no!" Luz shouted, cursing herself for the weakness that had caused her to almost give in, even for almost a second, to a very illegal and probably quite immoral plan.

Camila gave a fearsome look. "No one is beating anyone up! Violence is not the answer."

"That's right!" Hunter said. "Violence is the question and the answer is yes!"

"You're not helping, mijo."

Luz opens her locker, which is full of art of Eda and King. Luz sighs and when she closes it, some students are standing next to her. A student greets Luz by name, startling her. He agrees with Luz's monologue, thinking she meant it literally, and thinks they should read more books by crusty old women instead of crusty old men.]

Luz blinked, hard. Were these students actually trying to be friends? She didn't recognize them, but that didn't mean anything since she didn't know everyone at school. But still…was it possible that if she'd just tried harder, she could have had the friends she'd longed for? Had Luz just given up too quickly?

[Luz muses she used to know a crusty old woman.]

"Hey!" Eda said indignantly. "I ain't old! I just look old. I'm still in the prime of my life."

"You just keep telling yourself that," Luz said. Eda gasped theatrically.

I've never seen you two around.

Student 1 We're new, but we've heard all about you.

[Luz says she's never seen them around. The student says he's new, but has heard about Luz.]

"Wow," Luz said, feeling both flattered and disconcerted. "I never considered that my reputation might make people think I'm cool…"

"You are cool," Gus reminded her.

[The other student asks if Luz is going to make another crazy costume for Halloween.]

Luz gave a sharklike grin. Her Halloween costumes were always legendary. She put an extreme amount of effort into them every year and every year, everyone thought they were cringe. But she didn't care. She was just happy to be her weird self.

[The first student announces they are volunteering at the Haunted Hayride. The second student says old Gravesfield is the most haunted place in Connecticut.]

"Given all the people Belos and his ilk probably burned as witches, I'm not all that surprised," Hunter said.

"Actually, the so-called witches of Gravesfield were all hanged, not burned," Masha lectured. "With the exception of Rupert Burton, who was pressed to death when he wouldn't give a plea."

[The first student encourages Luz to come. Cut to Camila and Luz in their car. Camila worries the food she's picked out is okay. She wishes she knew how to make demonic cuisine and asks if the witches would prefer to drink blood.]

"Human blood is actually extremely corrosive to witches," Viney said. "You really don't want to know how I know that."

"I could stand to hear about it," Emira said eagerly.

"Not me," Camila said.

"Still, it's sweet you're going to all this trouble to help my son, Mrs. Noceda," Perry said. "I couldn't have asked for a better person to look after Gus."

Luz Mom.

Camila Ay, I'm sorry. I'm just saying if we need to find a way, we'll find a way.

Luz No, look out!

[Luz tries to get Camila's attention. Camila thinks she found the comment insensitive and says what she means is that whatever the witches need, she'll do her best to get them. Luz urges Camila to watch out. They both gasp as they nearly crash into a damaged car stopped in the road. The driver is talking to a police officer. She says they hit a deer and wonders if her insurance will cover it. Her child says it was not a deer they hit, but a monster.]

"There are no monsters scarier than bureaucracy," Camila intoned ominously.

"Oh, I can think of one," Hunter said. They all looked at him. "Oh, come on! That's obviously Belos!" Everyone gasped. It hadn't occurred to them at all. "He's lurking around, seeking hosts to prey on." He shuddered. "Who knows what could have happened if Masha hadn't taken him out?"

[Later that night at the Noceda Residence, Camila, from offscreen, thanks Gus for helping. Gus bids her goodnight. He says they have a big day ahead of them, so he's going to get some sleep. Hunter gets his finger caught in Camila's sewing machine and whimpers. Gus asks if he's okay, since he sounded in pain. Hunter assures Gus he has been training in the Emperor's Coven for as long as he can remember.]

Camila put her hands on her hips and looked at Hunter sternly. "Hunter, you're not to tank injuries just because you think it'd make you weak or I'd be disappointed. What would disappoint me is if you didn't take your health seriously."

Hunter nodded. "Yes, mom."

[Hunter thinks he can handle a little pain, and then cuts his finger and whimpers. Gus notes that the needle went straight through Hunter's finger.]

Camila just thanked her lucky stars she didn't have to see her son get hurt onscreen, but even the thought of the injury made her shudder. Unfortunately, from what little Luz had shared about her first time viewing this, she knew it was going to get worse for Hunter.

[Drawing a spell circle, Gus bandages Hunter's finger. Hunter says Camila taught him how to use the sewing machine, which allowed him to have stitches even neater than Darius. He holds up a shirt with a wolf on it and says he made it.]

"Oh, Hunter, that's so impressive!" Camila said. "You know, Manny bought me that sewing machine for my birthday. I was never very good with it. I'm sure he'd be very proud to see it getting put to good use." Hunter beamed.

[Hunter, elated, says the wolf is a mystical beast and he loves it.]

"Hmm," Hunter said. "Wolves, eh? Something to look into."

"I'm a bit surprised you don't have them here," Masha observed. "Or werewolves anyway."

"Nah, but we do have wereplatypuses," Viney informed them. "Actually, my second cousin is one."

"Platypuses are from the Demon Realm?" Masha said, their eyes lighting up with excitement.

Luz shrugged, completely unsurprised by this revelation. "Honestly, I'd be more surprised if they weren't from the Demon Realm."

"Good point," Masha admitted.

[Gus likes the shirt. He notes Hunter has been smiling more since they got there.]

"It's nice to see you happy, Hunter," Willow said. "You really deserve it." Hunter's mental state had been improving by leaps and bounds ever since Camila had adopted him and it was really an incredible thing to see. While it would take a long time to remove all traces of the child soldier Belos tried to mold him into, he was making great strides in the right direction.

[Hunter promises he wants to return and is just trying to pass the time. Gus is pleased Hunter is happy, since he is not.]

Perry winced at the reminder of those terrible days when the Collector was running amok and he didn't know if his son was alive or dead. He'd tried his best to console himself by assuming Gus would be so overjoyed to be in the realm he'd sought for so long that he wouldn't even waste time worrying about him. Now that illusion was crashing down as if it was one Gus had conjured himself.

[Gus wonders what it was like to be in the Emperor's Coven. Hunter says he trained and studied extensively and wasn't allowed to be around the other scouts.]

"Yeah, he didn't want me to make connections outside of himself," Hunter said bitterly. "Or have people get close enough to me to realize the next grimwalker he made was a copy."

"I'm just glad we could help you get out of that mentality, Hunter," Skara said and squeezed his hand. Hunter gave her a grateful smile.

"I kind of miss the training, though," Hunter admitted. "Well…not really so much the training as knowing exactly what my future held at all times. All this freedom is wonderful, don't get me wrong, but it can be kind of overwhelming."

[Hunter says he got to leave the castle for missions on the weekend and liked that part. Gus asks if he misses the coven. Hunter misses knowing who he's supposed to be.]

"Right now, I know who I'm supposed to be," Hunter said proudly. "Hunter Noceda, budding historian, flyer derby player, and Mario Kart champion extraordinaire. And I love it."

"I don't," Luz muttered. "You beating me at Mario Kart all the time," she added quickly.

"Well, you're just gonna have to get used to it, Luz, for I am the man and the man is me," Hunter announced with a smug grin.

[Gus misses Perry.]

"I missed you too, Gus," Perry said. "I just hope you can trust me more in the future. I'm going to do everything I can to be worthy of that trust."

"Oh, dad," Gus said, realizing suddenly just how much his refusal to put Perry in the loop had hurt him. "Of course I trust you. I just didn't think you'd believe us. And I didn't want to put you at risk. I'll try to do better in the future."

"We both will," Perry vowed. "I'm not going to just regurgitate everything I hear. I'm going to listen to reliable sources. Like King, who showed me the most remarkable videos – did you know your planet is hollow, Luz?" Luz did a truly epic facepalm.

[Hunter vows to return. Gus says the line echoed one from a book he found called Cosmic Frontier, a story that takes place in space.]

Camila bit her nails nervously. Eda would think she was so lame if she found out she was a Cosmic Frontier fan! Eda always scorned nerdy, boring stuff. What would she think of Camila when she found out how much of an avid fan she was of the best book series to ever be written?

[Hunter wonders why people would like to go to space.]

"Because it's there," Masha said simply. "There doesn't have to be another reason. The urge to explore is hardwired in the human experience. It's how we spread across our planet. And one day, maybe within our lifetime, we'll visit other planets."

"Isn't that what you're doing now?" Willow pointed out.

"Huh. Didn't think of it that way."

[Gus doesn't know and thinks it's because humans just like spreading junk around.]

"I mean…he's not entirely wrong," Luz admitted. "The atmosphere is just filled with space junk."

[Gus says Cosmic Frontier is a story of people trying to get home, like them. Hunter is intrigued. Gus says the characters include Captain Avery, Security Officer Quando and Chief Engineer O'Bailey, who is hiding as a clone from the enemy planet.]

"Oh, yeah, this is definitely me hinting I know you're a grimwalker," Gus decided. "I know I would have wanted you to come out in your own time, but I probably dropped that hint to let you know I'm supportive."

"Thanks, man," Hunter said. "I really appreciate that."

[Hunter sees a clear parallel between himself and O'Bailey and wonders what happens to O'Bailey. Gus suggests he read the books and find out. He opens the closet to reveal a plethora of Cosmic Frontier memorabilia.]

Camila winced and looked at the floor, her face flushed with complete embarrassment, as Eda looked at all the costume and merchandise with complete shock in her eyes. "I can't believe what I'm seeing…"

"Look, I know it's kind of cringy, but I've totally outgrown –"

"You're a Cosmic Frontier fan too?!" Eda said, her eyes shining bright.

Camila blinked, hard. "You like Cosmic Frontier?"

"It's only one of the best things humans have ever made!" Eda shouted. "Oh, I've watched every single episode! Even stood on line for three hours twenty years ago at Emerald City Comic Con to get Stewart Patrick's autograph!"

"You were at that ECCC too?!" Camila asked. She had very fond memories of that time, especially the time she'd spent nerding out with a new friend she'd made about the various shipping possibilities. A certain redhead. A redhead who'd been wearing the most amazing pointy-eared Hephaestan cosplay Camila had ever seen… "MARILYN?!"

Eda let out an eep. "Cammy?! Oh, darn, I can't believe I never made the connection!"

"BACKSTORY," Luz said, her eyes wide and reverent. "DOUBLE BACKSTORY!"

"You…you almost kissed me," Camila blurted. Camila had gently but firmly turned down Eda's advances since she had a boyfriend (and erroneously thought she was straight) and to Eda's credit, she'd said no more about it for the rest of the weekend.

Eda let out a wink. "Looks like I had good taste even then!"

"This is so amazing," Luz said, her eyes shining unnaturally brightly. "Your first meeting wasn't really your first meeting. Classic fanfiction stuff! I LOVE IT!"

[In the girls' room, Luz is wide awake. She picks up her palisman egg and leaves the room, spilling some of the things on her desk. Amity hears the noise and wakes up; she finds the flyer for the Haunted Hayride and picks it up. Cut to Camila in her bed researching the Demon Realm.]

"Isn't it ironic that you can't eat batatas, Amity?" Emira said, pointing to the list Camila had made about what foods witches could tolerate.

"Well, I may not be able to be hungry for one, but I can be thirsty for one!" Amity shot back and then kissed Luz passionately, leaving her a dazed, grinning mess.

"Yeah, I walked into that one."

[Camila says witches don't hate garlic like vampires.]

"Vampires don't hate garlic," Eda said. "It makes them high."

"And just how do you know that?" Camila wondered, already knowing the answer.

"You can't prove I was a vampiric drug dealer," Eda said. "No one can!"

[She notes the witches weren't entirely against eyeballs when they were watching a zombie movie.]

"Mmm, eyeballs," Edric said, licking his lips in anticipation. "I'm getting hungry just thinking about it."

[She says Gus said apple blood comes from the apple butcher, but since no such thing exists, she'll have to use food coloring instead. She yawns. As Camila drifts off to sleep, she begins to have flashbacks in the form of a dream]

"Are we sure we should be watching this?" Gilbert wondered. "It seems very invasive."

"No, no, it's fine," Camila said. "If it'll help Luz, I think I can handle you seeing all this. I'll let you know if I change my mind."

[Luz is on a playground and asks her peers to see what she found: the shed skin of a snake. The children are disgusted by it and Luz.]

King scoffed. "These losers wouldn't last five minutes in the Demon Realm. And they should all be ashamed of themselves too!"

"They're just children, King," Luz said. As much as she hated having been bullied, in her opinion, feeling scorn for them was devoting energy to them that they didn't deserve. For her, the best revenge was living well, and with a huge family who loved her with all her heart, she was living better than she could possibly be.

[Luz tells them it's not a corpse as they thought, but the skin of a garter snake, who shed their pajamas as they grow.]

At least I don't have to worry about that, Gildersnake said. That doesn't sound pleasant at all.

"It's not so bad," Vee said after Luz translated. She'd shed for the first time she could remember – presumably a part of her puberty – last month. It wasn't even painful and actually felt kind of good, like slipping off a particularly uncomfortable jacket.

[Luz says there's a snake near them that just got a lot bigger. The children are disgusted and scream.]

"Philistines," Masha said. "Snakes are awesome, and I happen to know that for a fact." Vee blushed. "I wish I went to your school." Masha had gone to different schools in the same school district. "I bet we could have been good friends."

"Well, better late than never," Luz pointed out. She got along extremely well with her sister's partner. They had similar senses of humor and a shared love of the macabre, even though their interests in media were quite different.

[Camila finds Luz's way of talking adorable.]

"You…you really didn't have a problem with my weirdness back then?" Luz asked. She was really quite stunned. She'd assumed Camila had always had contempt for her interests. "This is all accurate?"

"It's a bit distorted by the dream, of course, but it's more or less accurate, yes," Camila said. She was tempted to say something to address Luz's other comment, but she decided it wasn't quite the right moment.

[The parents of Luz's peers are disgusted by Luz and says she must have been raised by wolves.]

Hunter pounded his fist into his hand. "Don't you talk about my mother like that, you fudging Karen!" Camila couldn't help but smile at her son's loyalty.

[Camila defends the parenting of wolves. Flashforward to a more recent time. Luz is doing her audition and gives the line "O happy dagger, give me death!"]

"You know that's not the actual line, right?" Masha pointed out. "It's 'O happy dagger! This is thy sheath; there rust and let me die.'"

"Awesome!" King said. "Human plays must be pretty cool!"

"Oh, absolutely," Masha said. "I'll show you my favorite play, Titus Andronicus, sometime. I think you'll really like that one."

[Camila is surprised. The children scream. Camila laughs and says Manny taught her the trick with the sausages.]

Luz and Camila shared a wistful grin, both of them remembering happier, simpler times with Manny, back before cruel fate had taken him from them.

[A parent is disgusted and says everything now smells like lunch meat.]

"Well, it's a better smell than the stench of snobbery!" Hunter retorted. He may have been unafraid to call Luz out on how cringe she was, but he had the right to do that because he was her brother and he loved her. These people were complete strangers. They didn't know Luz like he did. She was cringe, and he loved that about her.

[Another adult insults Luz. Camila is offended and calls them out.]

"I can't believe you actually defended me to these people," Luz whispered. "You've really been on my side all along, haven't you?" Camila tried her best to ignore the way those words speared her through the heart. "All that time, I thought I was a disappointment to you."

"I just wanted you to be happy, Luz," Camila assured her. "Also, not getting sent to the principal's office so often would have been nice too."

"Eh, there's nothing wrong with being sent to the principal's office," Eda said. "In the Bad Girl Coven, it's a badge of honor!"

[Camila's chair falls backwards, Camila screams, grunts, and Camila is transported to even more recently, in a man's office.]

"That's Vice Principal Stone," Luz informed everyone. "Man, that guy was an ass…" Camila glared fearsomely "…embly line guy. Yeah, always wanted people to act the same way, like we were on an assembly line." Camila decided to let the near swearing slide this time, especially since that had been a genuinely inventive save. "He hated me. Anyone disabled, really, but especially me."

[The man says grief can manifest in different ways and one of them is Luz's acting out for attention.]

Luz winced. Stone was actually not entirely wrong here, in her opinion.

[Camila says that while losing Manny was hard on them both, Luz has always been different from her peers. The man reminds Camila she was bullied in high school.]

Camila squirmed in her seat. She did not like being reminded of how she'd succumbed to Stone's manipulations. She supposed her daughter must have felt the same way when she saw herself back in the past being manipulated by Belos. Well, probably not as bad, given that Stone for all his faults, would never have committed genocide. Probably.

[Camila admits he is right.]

"Why would you even tell him that?" Eda demanded. "Why the heck is it any of his business?"

"He's very charismatic!" Camila defended himself. "I had no idea how much he hated Luz. I thought he was trying to help her."

[The man points out that Luz has made no friends, her grades are inconsistent, and she brought a live snake to school. He hands Camila a brochure for Reality Check Camp and says it will help Luz. Camila is hesitant.]

"Wow, that guy looks really uncomfortable," Viney said, pointing to the figure in the brochure.

"It wasn't that bad!" Vee protested. "The camp was just what I needed. It was like a crash course in being human."

"Well, I was already human," Luz said coldly. "I didn't need extra help with that."

"It still would have turned out okay, Luz," Masha assured her. "Cabin 7 would have welcomed you as one of their own, I promise you. Though I definitely am glad you didn't go, right, Vee?" Vee grinned.

Principal You don't want Luz to struggle like you did, right?

[The man says Camila doesn't want Luz to struggle like she did.]

"Luz, I know I made a mistake, but I really was motivated by love," Camila said. "I just wanted to do what I thought was best for you. I failed you once, but I promise I'm not going to fail you again."

"Thanks, mom."

[Luz calls out to Camila, who wakes up and gasps. She asks Luz what time it is. Luz wonders why Camila isn't mad at her. Camila says that while she has been terrified, she does understand what it is like to want to run away.]

It had been fear that had kept her living with her parents in the end. She had heard so many horror stories about what life on the streets would be like that she deemed it to be just too dangerous to run away, even with bullies making her life miserable and her parents just adding insult to injury by caring more about her as a status symbol than her as a person.

[Luz apologizes. Camila says that matters is that Luz is back and everything is okay. Luz says it's not okay and it's her fault everyone is trapped.]

"It's not your fault, Luz," Amity said firmly. "We all made the choice to try and stop Belos. Things just happened. Just think about what would have happened if you hadn't come to the Isles. You'd have never met King, he'd never have made friends with the Collector, the Collector never would have stopped the draining spell, and everyone would have died. You saved us all."

[Luz says she doesn't even know if King and Eda are okay.]

"You should have had more faith in me," King said, half-jokingly. "Nothing can stop the mighty and all powerful King of Demons!"

[Luz says she wanted so desperately for Camila to meet Eda and King, but keeps messing up. Camila says everyone makes mistakes and what matters is that you learn from them.]

"And I've really done that, mom," Luz said. "I mean, I've only been to the principal's office three times since I started Hexside, and I was totally framed for one of those things."

"I thought you said you only got sent there twice."

"MOVING ON!"

[Luz asks to sleep in Camila's bed. Camila kisses Luz. Luz asks her to kiss the egg as well. Camila obliges.]

I love you too, Mrs. Luz's Mom! Gildersnake said happily. When Luz translated, Camila practically beamed with happiness.

[Cut to the next day, where Amity, Gus, Hunter, Vee, and Willow are preparing to leave. Amity announces that since Luz is at Camila's clinic treating hedgehogs, they are going to take advantage of her absence to go into town and crack the code. Gus uses an illusion to make his ears round. Vee comes up with the optimum route through town. Willow announces she has packed snacks. Hunter walks in wearing a Cosmic Frontier costume, which he thinks will make a good human disguise.]

Willow couldn't help but let out a squeak. Hunter just looked so attractive in that outfit! She wouldn't be surprised if it featured in some of her dreams that night.

[Willow thinks he looks good in it and takes a picture of him.]

"Huntlow," Luz said smugly. "It's inevitable, no matter which timeline we're in."

[Hunter walks between Gus and Vee and says that according to Cosmic Frontier, this is what the modern human male wears.]

"Um…not especially, no," Camila admitted. "Not unless you're Manny. Of course, if you wore that, people would just assume you were a very dedicated cosplayer.

[Vee says Cosmic Frontier was written in the 1990s about 2008.]

"Hey, at least it's not as bad as 2001: A Space Odyssey and not foreseeing that the Cold War would be over by that time," Camila said in defense of her favorite franchise.

"What's the Cold War?" Skara asked. "Did you fight each other with weaponized ice cubes?"

"No, we just fought a ton of small wars in third world countries and spent all our days and nights terrified we'd be wiped out in a torrent of poisonous fire," Camila said.

"Awesome!" Skara said, her eyes lighting up. "And I thought you humans were boring."

[Hunter says he can't wait for 2008.]

"Did…did you actually think it was 2007?" Luz wondered.

"Of course not," Hunter said confidently, hoping desperately he was right and not nearly as confident on the inside as he was on the outside.

[Gus asks him if he got to the last chapter. Hunter says O'Bailey is still hiding the fact he's a duplicant in hyperdisguise, but thinks Avery is figuring it out. Gus thinks Avery knew all along.]

"And he doesn't care," Gus said earnestly. "He loves you with all his heart, Hunter. You're his best friend."

Hunter tilted his head, feeling pure confusion. "Did you hit your head or something? I'm pretty sure I would have known if I was best friends with Captain Avery. Who is, I might add, fictional."

Gus groaned. "Hunter. It's a metaphor. By saying Captain Avery figured O'Bailey is a duplicant, I'm saying I figured out you're a grimwalker."

"Oh! That makes a lot more sense, yeah."

[Hunter cuts him off, refusing to hear spoilers.]

"Yeah, it would have been a lot better if you'd just told me flat out," Hunter said. "I'm terrible with metaphors."

[Amity urges Hunter to change.]

Willow glared furiously at Amity.

[Willow gags Amity and urges Hunter to not change.]

Willow gave an approving nod at her alternate self. Even if she didn't quite realize she had a crush on Hunter by this point – though she was almost entirely sure she did – Alternate Willow at the very least showed she had very good taste.

[Vee shifts into her human form and laments that they'll miss the bus if they wait for Hunter to change. Hunter says they should go and he'll catch up with them, since a transport worm leaves every half hour.]

"Yes, I know they're called buses, but I prefer the term transport worm," Hunter said before anyone could correct his mistake.

[The girls nod and leave, Ghost meowing as she joins Amity, and once Gus exits, Willow turns back to close the door. She intends to borrow Cosmic Frontier when Hunter is done. She makes a finger gun and winks.]

[As she closes the door, Hunter sports a happy blush as he removes his headphones.

"Oh, yeah, okay, we're definitely in full on Huntlow territory here," Luz asserted. "There's no denying it anymore. The wink? Hunter's blush? Yep, it's happening."

Flapjack twitters. Hunter looks at himself in a mirror and says even if he is not who he is supposed to be, he likes who he is.]

"I like who you are too, Hunter," Willow said and kissed him lightly on the lips.

My Hunter is the best! Flapjack said proudly.

"Aw, thanks."

[Hunter notices something on the table in front of him and touches it. Then, he sees Belos in the mirror reflection. Cut to Amity, Gus, Vee, and Willow exploring Gravesfield. Amity says they will go to the Magic Circle first.]

"Oh, I love that place!" Masha said. "I'm surprised you didn't run into me or any of the others from the cabin there, actually. We hang out there on the regular."

"I thought magic wasn't supposed to exist in the Human Realm," Harvey noted.

Camila shrugs. "Some people believe in it anyway. I was never among them. Not until all this started, of course."

[A montage begins. They enter the Magic Circle shop; Gus and Willow look around while Amity and Vee question the cashier. The cashier shouts at Gus and Willow. Gus knocks over a barrel as Willow (in a devil costume) pokes a customer with a pitchfork.

"Hey, you shouldn't treat the merch like that," Masha said sternly. "I happen to know Winnifred works really hard to make the displays as good as possible."

"And what was with you poking that guy, Willow?" Gilbert said sternly. "What did he ever do to you? I thought your father and I taught you better than this."

"I…didn't do that, though?" Willow said uncertainly. She was pretty sure she shouldn't be blamed for anything her parallel self did. Though Gilbert would have been well within his rights to chastise her if she'd really done it.

The kids are chased out

"Great work, Willow!" Eda said with a thumbs up. Willow's face flushed with embarrassment as she realized her counterpart had just shoplifted the costume.

but Willow returns to pay for the costume with a snail then leaves again.

"BOO!" Eda shouted. "BORING!"

As they cut through the park, Willow and Gus stop at two familiar-looking statues.

"Welp, that's something I could have gone through my whole life without you seeing," hunter muttered.

The kids all go to the library next, where Amity sees a card catalogue.

"What is that thing?" Skara asked Luz.

"I…don't actually know."

Camila giggled a little. "Oh, that's a card catalogue, sweetie. Before we had the web, that was how people found books in a library."

Luz sniffed. "How uncivilized."

She expects it to be living, and greets it, bows, and gives it candy which falls to the ground. A child then opens one drawer, and Amity shouts.

"I mean, look at it from my perspective!" Amity defended her alternate self. "I basically thought she was trying to dissect it."

"And as we all know, trying to dissect people is wrong," Emira teased. Amity grumbled.

Embarrassed, she tries to run away and trips and falls on the candy. Then, they head to the giraffe exhibit at the zoo.

Edric and Skara let out screams of horror and by the looks of it, the other witches didn't look all that less terrified. "G – giraffes are real?" Perry stammered, fear dancing in his eyes. "And you keep them in a menagerie?"

"Oh, don't worry, Perry," Camila said. "Giraffes are really peaceful herbivores. They couldn't hurt a fly."

Gus bows to it, with no response. They all leave cautiously, but Willow takes a photo which scares the giraffe and it opens its mouth to reveal a monstrous inside. They all scream.]

The screams on the screen were echoed by literally everyone in the room, even Camila and Luz. "Oh my God, they really are horrible monsters!" Camila said. "Should – should we tell someone? I mean, what if they're plotting something?"

"Yeah…I don't think anyone would believe us," Luz pointed out. "They probably just weren't happy to see witches again. I'm sure there's nothing to worry about. Probably."

"I'm gonna have nightmares tonight," King said, sounding more shellshocked than Luz had ever seen him.

[Gus says his ancestors were right to banish the giraffes.]

Everyone nodded firmly.

[Vee says she knows where to go next, but she isn't happy about it. Cut to them outside the Gravesfield Historical Society.

Masha let out an excited squeal. "This is gonna be awesome! Oh, I can't wait to see alternate me. I totally did not think that would ever be possible, even after I came here."

The witchlings excitedly head towards the building, but Willow stops and turns back to see Vee anxiously hugging her middle. Willow suggests Vee wait while they go in if she's too scared. She says Luz told her about the creepy witch hunter wannabe Hopkins.]

Right now, Camila thought, she was just glad said creepy witch hunter wannabe was serving eight months in jail for supposedly blowing up the statue of the Wittebanes, even though he deserved much more than that for trying to kill Vee.

[Vee is confident she can confront Hopkins, since she's already confronted a giraffe. The scene cuts to the inside of the building as Vee kicks the door in, fists raised and screaming.]

"Holy moly, that is so hot," Masha whispered, their cheeks incandescently red.

[It isn't Jacob Hopkins she finds, much to Vee's confusion, it's her goth friend from Reality Check Summer Camp sporting a new hairstyle and wearing a staff shirt over their outfit.

"Yeah, Dad was pretty furious when I started wearing my nails nonbinary colors," Masha recalled. "I'm so glad I never have to see that guy ever again."

"Why don't you have me in that picture of Cabin 7?" Vee wondered.

"Oh, you were the photographer, don't you remember?" Masha said. "I don't think we actually have any pictures of the four of us."

The nameplate on the front desk reads "Masha (they/them)".]

"It was pretty awesome I was able to have my real pronouns where I worked," Masha admitted. "Sure, it meant there were a few jerks I had to deal with, but the advantages definitely outweighed the disadvantages."

[Vee is surprised Hopkins isn't there.]

"We can all thank Goddess for that," Masha said fervently.

[Masha says they can thank Goddess for that.]

Masha giggled at how closely they were hewing to their parallel self.

[Masha says Hopkins got fired after he made edits to the exhibits.]

"I can't believe that would be the thing that crossed the line, especially after he got arrested for all those crimes 'he' committed," Masha complained. "Dr. Green is one strange woman."

[They point to a cardboard cutout of Jacob in his armor with a sign that says "Local Hero - Humanity's Last and Most Handsome Hope".

"What a loser," Eda said. "I'm glad I ruined his car."

The cutout collapses forward, and cut back shows Vee and Willow are staring at it in distaste. Masha says they work part time at the historical society. They wonder if the two of them have met. They get close to Vee and note she seems familiar.]

"Hey, what do you know?" Masha said smugly. "Turns out I can smell a Vee a mile away."

[Vee claims she's new in town and proceeds to nervously ramble.]

"Smooth, Vee," Luz said, doing a slow clap.

"You realize you have literally no room to talk, right?"

[Masha is amused by Vee's rambling and suggests Vee ask them for a tour one day. Masha holds up a pamphlet and Vee takes it, an awestruck blush showing on her cheeks.

"WHOO! LET'S HEAR IT FOR VASHA!" Luz said, doing a happy little dance.

"I thought our ship name was Veesha," Masha said. They did not actually mean it; they were just trolling Luz.

"I am very tempted to rescind my permission for you to date my sister," Luz deadpanned.

"Joke's on you, two out of three Noceda siblings want me to date Vee; majority rules." Hunter nodded. He liked Masha and thought they were a great partner for Vee. Also, after trying to kill them, he pretty much owed them from now until the end of time.

Amity steps out from behind Vee and presents the puzzle. Amity asks Masha's help to decode it. Masha calls it a rebus and says many of them were dug up in Old Gravesfield. They say it's a riddle where the pictures and symbols make up a word. They ask Gus what he thinks they were trying to say. Gus pulls his beanie down more and screams it means one should chop off an ear.]

"Dude!" Masha shouted. "Talk about hardcore!"

[Masha disagrees. They think the first symbol means hear, an H combined with ear. They think it may mean something is waiting somewhere. The phone rings and Masha leaves to answer it. Gus, Willow, and Amity work to decipher the symbols. They realize they are a tie, tanning meat, and blood, respectively, which mean Titan's Blood. Vee is impressed about how well they work together and speculates they must have been friends for ages.]

"Yeah…I wish," Amity muttered. "I should have been better."

"Hey, Amity, you were just a little kid," Edric said firmly. "We all made mistakes. But let's not forget who's really to blame for that. It was Odalia, not us. She tried to turn us into carbon copies of her. And she failed. Because we're better than that."

"You're better than that," Emira asserted.

Amity wiped away a tear from the corner of her eye. "Thanks."

[Amity admits they weren't always friends. Willow says that while the past few months have been strange, she has enjoyed spending time with her friends and making new memories.]

Willow smiled. It was really nice to have things getting back to normal now that everyone was happily coexisting in the Demon Realm. She had everything she'd ever wanted. People who loved her, her friend Amity back in her life, and talent at a field of magic she was actually good at. She couldn't imagine how she could ever be happier.

[Amity is excited about telling the people at home about it. Vee thinks they should take another photo. Gus urges them to say giraffes are still terrifying.]

"Truer words," Viney intoned, "were never spoken." It was a testament to the sheer horror that was the giraffes that she was saying such a thing. She'd never thought it was possible for her to be frightened of or hate an animal. But the giraffes were pure evil. She could feel it in her bones.

[They laugh. Vee examines the photo they took, and notices a map behind them. The note that the map of Olds Gravesfield looks like the one on the scroll. She wonders if it is a map to a stash of Titan's Blood. Willow says they can create a real portal with that. Amity is excited about telling Luz and knows just how to surprise her. Cut to Luz at Camila's veterinarian clinic. Luz wonders what the palisman will be and speculates about the various options.]

"Or maybe the most adorable two headed snake in existence!" Luz said and cuddled Gildersnake tightly. "Oh, I can't wait to see you hatch in that reality too!"

[Luz worries the palisman will never hatch and she messed up its life too.]

"Oh, Luz, you're just too hard on yourself sometimes," Camila said softly. "He hatched eventually, didn't he? All things happen in the fullness of time. The other Gildersnake will hatch when he's ready."

[Camila says she's ready to lock up. Luz touches a glyph she had drawn and the glyph begins to smoke.]

"Magic's working now?!" Edric said. "What a twist!"

[Cut to Hunter back in the house. Flapjack twitters. Hunter, panicked, demands to know what Flapjack knew about Belos (or perhaps Caleb) in Gravesfield. He accuses Flapjack of hiding something.]

Oh, my Hunter, I am so sorry, Flapjack said. I shouldn't have kept so much from you. It's just…my past is very painful for me. I miss my Caleb a great deal. For centuries, Belos searched for me. He killed innocent people just because he heard they had a palisman who looked like me. It wasn't safe for me to have a symbiont. I took shelter with the Bat Queen to save myself, but ultimately it was because I was afraid.

"Well, you made the right choice in choosing to be brave and go with me, Flapjack," Hunter said firmly. "I didn't realize how much I helped you, but I'm glad we were able to help each other.

[Flapjack chirps. Hunter apologizes for taking his fear out on him. A vehicle approaches. Flapjack chirps. Hunter vows to keep Flapjack safe from Belos.]

Luz winced as the memory of seeing Belos kill Flapjack flitted through her mind.

[Flapjack chirps. Luz asks Hunter what is wrong. Hunter says it is Belos. Luz gasps. Hunter and Luz stand outside the shed. Luz is skeptical Hunter saw Belos, since he is supposed to be dead. Hunter is sure he saw him. Luz suggests they wait for the others if Hunter can't handle it alone. Hunter strongly disagrees and says they have to take care of it themselves.]

Hunter sighed. "I guess I – he, whatever – was kind of dumb, not trusting in the people who cared about me."

"Oh, mijo, you're too hard on yourself," Camila said. "Look at you! You're terrified. You shouldn't hold yourself up to such high standards. You're a teenager."

[Hunter hates being so scared and says he was never scared as the Golden Guard. Two masks fly by in the wind. One resembles King, the other resembles Hooty.]

"Well, that's a bizarre and improbable coincidence that stretches probability," Eda noted.

"I know, isn't it great?" King said. "Look! It's a me mask!"

[Luz suggests they use the masks to make Hunter more confident. Hunter and Luz charge into the shack and make threats towards Belos.]

"Yeah…I don't mean to put you down, Hunter, but I think a rake and a bat aren't going to be a match for Belos," Gus pointed out.

[Whooshes, wind howling, object rattles, both gasp, wardrobe rattling, Luz opens the wardrobe, both gasp, opossum hisses]

"I still can't believe opossums are real," Edric said. "It boggles the mind. It makes me wonder what cryptids in the Demon Realm come from the Human Realm."

"And vice versa," Luz said. "What about the Loch Ness monster?"

"That guy's no monster," Eda said. "His name is Dave and he's the nicest guy you could possibly meet. Also, he owes me three hundred snails."

[Luz is relieved it's just an opossum. Hunter thinks it was just in his head.]

"Why do I have a sneaking suspicion it definitely wasn't in my head?" Hunter said.

[Luz thinks Hunter was just being paranoid after going through so much.]

"Seriously, it's amazing how little genre savviness she shows," Masha said.

"I know, right!" Vee agreed.

[Hunter says he wants to make sure everyone is safe. Luz agrees and says that includes Hunter, since he's family.]

"Whoo! Hunter Noceda for the win!" Luz shouted.

"That's right, Hunter," Camila said. "No matter what universe you're in, you're still a Noceda."

"You guys are the best."

[Hunter starts crying and thinks it is making the mask gross. They laugh. Luz says they should go back before people start worrying. Hunter is relieved there's nothing to worry about. Luz and Hunter enter the house where Amity, Camila Gus, Willow, and Vee are. Hunter says they're back and brought back cars. Luz elbows him.]

"Looks like Luz isn't the only one who needs some remedial con artist lessons," Eda noted.

"No, thank you," Hunter said. "I've been lied to all my life. I don't want to learn how to lie better to other people."

[Amity says they're designing their costumes for the Haunted Hayride. Gus says he'll dress up as Avery and Hunter will dress up as O'Bailey. Camila wonders how they know about Cosmic Frontier, clearly worried they found her stash.]

"No one should be ashamed of liking the stuff they like," Luz said. "Especially not you, mami." Camila gave a grateful smile at her daughter.

[Hunter confirms they found her stash. Camila denies spectacularly badly knowing anything about the stash.]

"Wow, that was the worst lie I've ever heard," Eda said, sounding almost in awe. "I mean, Luz has given some bad ones, but this one just blew them all out of the water."

"Yeah, Camila, we wouldn't have judged you," Amity said. "I mean, Luz and I are Good Witch Azura fans. We know what it's like for people to make fun of you for your interests."

Camila sighed. "I know, Amity. It's just that the habits of a lifetime are hard to break. People always looked down on me for being a Frontiery. People were super nasty to me about it all my life."

"Was Dad ashamed?" Luz asked.

"No, Luz. Your father was always proud to be the person he was. Just like you."

[Gus is happy to learn humans freak out like witches. Willow says she wants to experience weird human traditions. She puts on fake vampire teeth and gives a vampiric style laugh.]

"I hope that wasn't, you know, culturally insensitive," Willow fretted.

"Nah, vampires are the worst," Eda complained. "They're horrible, soulless bloodsucking monsters and their checks were always bouncing. Good for you for making fun of them."

[Amity suggests she and Luz watch Good Witch Azure 2: The Betrayanning for inspiration.]

"Field of Deadly Fates was better, though," Hunter asserted.

"Field of Deadly Fates was a farce," Luz hissed. "That's my opinion and I will never budge on it, not in a thousand years. Though the Betrayanning was pretty bad too. Let's just hope the upcoming Netflix series will be better."

[They watch the movie. On the TV, Azura vows to protect Hecate. Villainous Lucy demands Azura hand over Hecate for her own good. Azura refuses. Amity holds up a drawing and says she could be the Hecate to Luz's Azura.]

"You say that like you're not already the Hecate to my Azura, batata," Luz said and kissed Amity.

[Luz loves the idea and hugs Amity. Azura demands to know how Villainous Lucy could have betrayed her friends. Villainous Lucy says it was for the greater good.]

"Ugh, this is a gross oversimplification of Lucy's characterization from the books," Hunter complained. "In the books, she was being forced into betraying Azura because the Dark Lich was holding her sister hostage. Not this greater good malarkey."

[Azura refuses to ever forgive Villainous Lucy. Luz sees this and her face falls. Later that night, Luz can't sleep again. She turns to see Amity sleeping and smiles, but it quickly vanishes before she gets out of bed and takes her laptop to the kitchen. Laptop chimes. Luz records a video diary. She says all she ever wanted was to be good at something and to be around people who liked that something. When she found the Demon Realm, she thought she'd found that something and she would no longer be the dummy in the principal's office anymore.]

Camila winced at the reminder of how her stern, long lectures after each time Luz had gotten in trouble had caused Luz to think she didn't care about her. But these days, she'd changed. While she didn't throw a party when Luz got into trouble like Eda did, she made sure she was as objective as possible about things and focused on how Luz could improve, not just the things she was doing wrong.

[Luz says she messed up too much and put everyone in danger. A single tear falls down her cheek. In accordance with Camila's statement that she needs to learn from her mistake, Luz says she knows what to do now.]

"NO!" Camila screamed. With those ominous words, plus Luz's monologue in Mr. Sandoval's classroom, Camila immediately leapt to the conclusion the alternate Luz was planning on killing herself. "You can't, Luz! You can't do it! Promise me you won't do it. We don't want to lose you."

"I'm not her," Luz reminded her very gently.

Camila took a deep breath. She had forgotten that in the midst of all her horror that they were watching a parallel version of Luz. "You said she wouldn't. Do you still believe that?"

"I do," Luz said with absolute certainty. "She wouldn't do that to the people she loved."

"Or to herself?"

Luz opened and closed her mouth several times, but her silence was all the answer Camila needed.

"Sweetie, if you ever feel like that, you have to tell someone," Camila said pleadingly. "It doesn't have to be me. I don't have to ever find out about it if that's what you need. But please, please talk to someone."

"I promise, mami," Luz said, meaning every word.

[Cut to the next day at the Haunted Hayride where Camila's dropping everybody off. Amity, Gus, and Hunter, true to their word, are dressed as Hecate, Captain Avery, and Chief Engineer O'Bailey while Willow's wearing the devil costume she bought.

Hunter gave an appreciative growl. "Looking darn good there, Willow."

"Gee, thanks, Hunter!" Willow said with a slight blush of her cheeks.

After walking forward and pocketing their palismen, Luz gets out, her Azura costume designed to be a tunic with purple pants instead of being a dress. Luz requests Camila help Vee with the trick or treaters, who are demanding.]

Camila shuddered at the thought of the horrible, rambunctious kids in her neighborhood, always running amok and causing problems.

[Camila notes Luz doesn't look good and asks if she is okay. Luz claims she is sleep deprived from being so excited. Amity recaps the plan to keep the Blood secret from Luz to her friends.]

"What could ever possibly go wrong from keeping things a secret?" Skara asked, completely genuinely. "This sounds like a great plan!"

[Belos laughing. Hunter asks if they heard that. Flapjack chirps. Hunter tells Flapjack it is likely in his head again and tells him to nestle down. Flapjack chirps. Amity says they are going to have a great night and hints she has a surprise for Luz. Luz says she also has a surprise.]

"See, that's not the kind of attitude I'd show if I thought I was going to kill myself," Luz said with absolute certainty.

"I want to be reassured by that," Camila admitted, "but it implies you do know what kind of attitude you'd show, so…"

"It's not like that, mami," Luz promised her. "I just know a little something about how I think."

[At a reenactment of the witch trials, an actor says he saw Mrs. Smith consorting with impure spirits. Another actor asks "Mrs. Smith" if it is true. "Smith" denies it and says Inquisitor Jones is framing her to steal her land. "Jones" says it is a demonic lie. Gus appears and tells the judge "Jones" is in league with the dark forces. "Jones" breaks character to berate Gus for disrupting the play. Gus uses illusion magic to turn "Jones's" legs red and animal like.]

"Seriously, Gus?" Perry said, absolutely aghast. "You're using your magic in front of everyone? What if someone was recording you?"

"Eh, no one would believe them," Gus said. "Human technology can be used to make anything these days. Special effects far outstrip anything illusion magic can do." He sighed. "Anyway, I suspect I know why he did it. We have Belos's memories. Including of the witch trials. We wanted to make a better ending than those poor people got."

["Jones" gasps and screams. Crowd cheering.]

Camila breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the crowd thought it was all part of the show. The consequences if people realized Gus had real magic would be devastating. The government would stop at nothing to get their hands on someone with such powers.

[Hopkins appears and demands to know why they are laughing.]

"BOO!" Everyone shouted. Vee trembled a bit, but Masha held her close. They knew Jacob's bark was a lot worse than his bite, but then again, it hadn't been them that had gotten locked up in a cage.

[Hopkins accuses the kids of being demons who want to steal their teeth. Hopkins removes Gus's headset and says his ears are proof Gus is from Mars. Gus claims he's wearing a costume.]

"You're just lucky you decided to blow your cover on Halloween," Masha said. "Any other day of the year, you might have run into trouble."

"Ah, I love Halloween," Eda reminisced. "It was the perfect time to use illusions to make myself look like a kid, get myself invited inside houses, and then knock the owners out and rob them blind." She cleared her throat. "Of course I don't do that anymore. Because that would be wrong."

[Two security guards tackle Jacob to the ground A woman sighs. The kids go aboard the Haunted Hayride, where Masha is dressed up as a stereotypical witch. Masha says they are all going to have a scary hayride.]

"Ooh, I love your costume, Masha!" Vee said. "I mean, it has nothing to do with actual witches."

"Any witches with a fashion sense younger than my mother's anyway," Eda muttered.

"But you still look great in it!"

[Gus and Willow demand Masha make the two of them cry.]

"This papa is ready for trauma!" Gus announced.

[Masha says the true terror of the hayride will be knowledge. Gus is displeased and wants to be lied to instead.]

"Hey!" Vee shouted. "They're doing their best!"

[Masha says they are going to tell the group the eeriest unsolved mystery of Gravesfield, the tale of the brothers Wittebane.]

"Oh, boy, this is going to suck," Hunter predicted.

[The group becomes intrigued. Amity recalls Wittebane is Belos's real name. Masha says in 1613, two orphaned brothers arrived in Gravesfield, Philip and Caleb Wittebane. Hunter is dismayed.]

"Couldn't agree more with you, buddy," Hunter muttered.

[As Masha narrates the story, cardboard cutouts depicting events that happened to Philip and Caleb play out in the background as the gang watches. Masha says Caleb tried his best to take care of Philip.]

"And look where it got him," Hunter grumbled. "He should have done better! Maybe if he had…"

"You wouldn't exist," Willow reminded him. Hunter sighed. The fact of the matter was that he felt sometimes, he shouldn't. Not in the sense that he was planning to end his existence, of course. But he felt ashamed to exist occasionally, knowing that his only purpose for being "born" was to serve the delusions of a homicidal witch hunter. His existence was a perversion of the natural order.

[Masha says the Wittebanes became witch hunters to fit in with the townspeople. The two of them met a real witch from another world called Evelyn, who spirited Caleb away, dazzling him with magic and visions of a strange yet beautiful place.]

"Or maybe he was just, you know, in love," Hunter said, very annoyed at hearing Masha parrot rhetoric that sounded very much like what Belos would have said about how his brother had been ensorcelled. He knew it wasn't their fault – they had no way of knowing the tale had any bearing on the present, since it had happened 400 years ago. But still, he wished humans knew the truth about how vile Philip was.

[Masha says the two lovers used a secret code to travel between worlds. Philip went to the Demon Realm to save Caleb and bring the Evelyn to justice and was never seen again. Masha speculates Philip saved Caleb and they went on to lead peaceful lives.

I still wish that had happened, Flapjack said. My Caleb was always sad Philip wouldn't listen to reason. He wanted to be brothers again. In the end, that was what killed him. He believed Philip could change. But he couldn't.

[They turn on a flashlight and point it at their face. They suggest Philip is still chasing Caleb, caught in a cycle of horror and strife.]

"That's…actually a good way of looking at it," Luz admitted.

"Yep, horror and strife, that fits Belos to a T," Hunter agreed.

[Everyone gasps. Masha turns off the flashlight and says it's more likely that Philip was simply jealous his big brother got a girlfriend and wouldn't spend time with him anymore.]

"That's also true," Vee said. "I'm impressed you got that one right."

Masha shrugged. "What can I say? I have a knack for this stuff." Vee couldn't help but agree, remembering well the remarkably accurate analyses Masha was able to make using their tarot readings. In fact, they had a very good gift for oracle magic, but wasn't interested in pursuing it.

[The hayride ends and the gang gets out of the tractor. Nearby. Hunter hears Belos laughing, which terrifies him. Hunter grabs Luz and takes her behind a tractor. Luz yelps. Luz asks what's happening. Hunter says Belos is there. He says he saw him for real and asks if Luz believes him. Luz is skeptical and wonders why Belos would be there.]

"Sorry for not believing you, Hunter," Luz said with a wince. "I guess I just really wanted to believe he was dead."

"Don't worry about it," Hunter said. "It's not like it's really you."

[Hunter informs Luz about the Titan's Blood, which he thinks Belos is searching for, and their plans to surprise Luz with it. Luz wonders why no one told her. Hunter says Luz and Camila do so much for them, so they wanted to repay the favor and surprise them that night. Luz is nervous about the idea.]

"I am really not liking this," Camila muttered. She believed Luz that suicide wasn't on the menu for this alternate version of her, but whatever she was planning, it was probably something very ill-advised.

[Amity realizes they've lost track of Luz and Hunter. Luz decides they need to find the Titan Blood just in case Belos wants to get it but not tell anyone about Belos yet. Hunter realizes that Luz doesn't believe him and vows to prove Belos is there. He asks Flapjack to get the rebus. When Flapjack hesitates, Hunter's voice distorts into Belos's and demands harshly to get the rebus, revealing Belos is possessing him at that moment.]

"¡Ay, Dios mío!" Camila shouted, horror flowing through her. That son of a bitch had gotten his hands on her son again! And this time, he was in him, controlling his very actions. That was a move worthy of a chanclaing – but how could she do that when Belos was possessing Hunter?

[Luz calls Hunter out for speaking so harshly to Flapjack. Hunter, now his real self, apologizes and says he doesn't understand why he did that. Flapjack brings the rebus. Hunter praises him. Cut to Camila that night. She is finishing watching a movie with Vee, who has fallen asleep.

"Aw, you look so cute, Vee," Masha said. "I mean, you always look cute, but still. Seeing you in human form is cool, but to me, you'll never be better in any form but your real self."

"That's one of the sweetest things anyone's ever said to me," Vee said.

She picks up Luz's laptop, trips, and barely catches herself and the laptop. This motion opens the laptop to Luz's video diary. The first entry is of a younger Luz. Luz says they moved. According to Camila, it was because the house isn't pretty enough, but Luz believes it is because there is a better hospital for Manny in Gravesfield.]

"I mean, that house was pretty ugly, let's be honest here," Camila tried to defend herself. "But, yeah, you're right, Luz. I should have been more open with you. I just didn't want to worry you."

"A lot of good that did," Luz muttered.

'Cause, let's be honest, this house ain't that much prettier.

[Luz says the new house is just as ugly as the old one. The next video was taken a few days after Manny's death. Luz says it has been the worst week ever.]

"Yeah, this was after Dad passed," Luz said. "It was…it's not fair! It's not fair he's gone. It's not fair he never got to see any of this, never got to meet any of you. He'd have been so happy to be here. I wish things had gone differently."

[Camila's hand is now on the screen and slowly sliding down. Luz reveals that Manny left her the Good Witch Azura book and she is so excited to read it.]

"So that's why you love those books so much," Gus realized. "I guess that makes sense."

[In a third video, Luz expresses great delight at the Good Witch Azura series. In the fourth video, Luz wields a sword which she got at a convention. She announces she is going to cut her hair with it.]

"Ah, Luz, don't you know you're never supposed to cut your hair with a sword?" Eda said. "I'm sure I must have taught you that at some point. If I hadn't, well, then let's blame it on the apple blood."

"You blame everything on the apple blood," King complained.

"Hey, it's not my fault it's as good a scapegoat as it is delicious."

[Cuts to another recording not long after the previous one; she now has damaged hair and admits it was a bad idea. In a fifth video, taken shortly before the series began, Luz said Camila saw her report card and was disappointed Luz wasn't applying herself.]

Camila flinched at hearing what must have been very discouraging words from Luz's perspective. She had meant well, of course, but she hadn't been taking into consideration how much Luz had been suffering and how that was making things difficult for her.

[Luz says she is applying herself. She brags her baseball stitches are so small, they're practically invisible and she can read and write Witchtongue in five different dialects.]

Amity whistled. "Wow. I can only read and write Witchtongue in three dialects."

"I can do it in four," Hunter bragged. Amity glared at him.

[Luz brags she can sit so still that woodland creatures come and sit on her. She demonstrates by sitting in a chair completely immobile: a spider soon descends on top of her head.]

"Awesome!" Viney said and gave her a high five.

[Luz admits none of those skills will matter on the SATs.]

"What are those?" Gilbert asked.

"You don't want to know," Masha muttered. "I'm just glad the Demon Realm doesn't have standardized testing. That'd really make this place hell."

[Luz says matters have been very hard for Camila since Manny's death. She vows to impress her teacher with the book report and promises Camila will never have to worry about her again.]

Camila couldn't help but cry a little at realizing the cruel irony of sending Luz to Reality Check Camp for an incident she'd caused for the purpose of impressing her.

[The final video is the one Luz made earlier in the episode. In the video, Luz announces that when the Hayride is over, she is going to tell everyone she's decided to stay in the Human Realm forever.]

"Oh, thank God," Camila said, breathing a sigh of relief. "I mean, it's not good you're staying in the Human Realm permanently. But at least it's not…you know."

[Cut back to Luz and Hunter running through the woods. Hunter removes the bandage from his finger, noticing the green goo.]

"Welp, that's probably a very bad sign," Skara observed.

[Hunter spots an image of Belos in the woods and runs after it. After losing Hunter, Luz realizes that he is going to find the Titan's Blood. She wonders how to find the blood without Hunter. She remembers the smoking glyph at the clinic and when she used a glyph the last time she was in the Human Realm, she pulls out a light glyph. When she taps it, a ball of light is created.]

"It's pretty nifty to see the glyphs work in the Human Realm," Luz noted. "I wish I'd have been able to show them to you sooner, mami." The moment when she'd returned to the Demon Realm and showed Camila the power of the glyphs was one of the best in her life.

[Luz realizes that since glyphs are powered by the magic of the Isles, by the Titan, the closer she is to the Titan's Blood, the stronger the glyphs become.]

If that was true, Luz wondered, then why had the glyphs not worked when King was beside her in the Human Realm during her fight with Lilith? He was filled with Titan's Blood. Maybe it only worked it if was outside the body? Or maybe he was just too young for his blood to have those properties?

[Back at the Hayride, the others are still searching for Luz and Hunter. Gus assures them the two of them are probably going to buy more cars.]

"Oh my Titan, I can't believe you still fell for that," Emira said.

[Amity admits he is probably right, but she wanted to show Luz the rebus. She realizes the rebus is gone. All gasp. Camila appears and asks if they've seen Luz and if Luz has seen anything weird.]

"Do you have the slightest idea how little that narrows it down?" Hunter complained. Luz glared at him.

[Vee decides they will track Luz's cell phone using the find a phone app. Luz catches up with Hunter at the cemetery. He is now fully possessed by Belos, unbeknownst to her. Belos claims Hunter's imagination was playing tricks on him when Hunter saw him.]

Perry was almost trembling with fear and horror. All these years, and he'd been serving this animal, a man – if he could be called that – who had no compunctions about violating a child to serve his goals. Yes, Gus had told him about Belos's atrocities and he believed his son, but there was a difference between hearing about Belos's monstrosity secondhand and seeing it with his very own eyes.

Perry remembered how happy he'd been when he'd gotten his sigil. An action that had sealed his doom and he'd been joyful, content that he was following the will of the Titan. Unaware that he was actually following the will of a charlatan who lied with every breath he took. He'd helped Belos weave his web of deception and he believed he was doing the right thing. And everyone had paid the price. Just as this Hunter now was.

[Belos suggests Luz locate the Titan Blood while he finds Flapjack, who got scared off. Luz agrees. She says she is very tense about Belos, but doesn't want to ruin Amity's surprise. She is grateful her friends went to the trouble of trying to help her.]

Luz put her face in her hands, feeling absolutely mortified. Why did this keep happening to her? What was it about Belos that allowed him to trick her over and over again?

Amity, of course, would have none of it. "Luz, again, this is not your fault. You didn't even know that possession was part of his repertoire. You didn't even realize this was possible. You had every reason to believe he was dead."

"Thanks, Amity," Luz said. She didn't believe her yet. But maybe one day she would.

[Belos asks if Hunter found the blood yet. Luz starts to respond, but then she notices Flapjack chirping. Luz wonders why Flapjack looks so terrified.]

Because I can tell when my Hunter isn't himself, Flapjack said.

[Belos's voice becomes distorted as he reminds Luz she used an ice glyph to get there, and thus her magic is working. The others approach the cemetery and call out to Luz. Belos steps out of the shadows and his essence is causing Hunter to have rot like Belos and glowing blue eyes.]

Everyone let out a shriek as they saw the possessed Hunter's face. "HUNTER!" Camila screamed.

"Get out of my boyfriend, you monster!" Willow shouted. Vines started curling around the TV.

Viney growled at the screen. "That's our friend you're hurting!"

"I'm gonna start studying necromancy so I can bring Belos back and kill him again!" Skara vowed.

"Please don't do that," Amity muttered. "He'll just find some way to escape."

[Luz realizes Belos survived and is possessing Hunter.]

"He grew back your hair," Willow realized. "The first thing you've done to physically change yourself for your own comfort, and he stole it from you."

[Belos confirms it. He thanks Luz for her help and announces she is no longer of any use to him. He tries to kill her, but misses.]

Camila let out a scream of terror at seeing Luz miss getting impaled by an inch. No matter how much time passed, no matter how used to the Isles she became, she would never get used to Luz being in danger.

[Luz calls out to Flapjack. Belos finds the vial. The vial is knocked out of Belos' hand by an ice spike.

"WHOO!" King shouted. "Kick his ass, Luz!" Everyone stared at him. "What? Oh, come on, I live with Eda! You really think I don't know swear words? I know every one in the book. And in Welsh too!"

Camila glared ferociously at her girlfriend, who just let out a nervous laugh.

Luz launches more glyphs at him, but all of her attacks miss. Belos taunts Luz for her poor performance, which he believes is because she doesn't want to hurt Hunter.]

"You say that like it's a weakness, Belos, because you've never really loved anyone," Willow snarled. "It made you weak. At the end of the day, you'll always fail, because people who have people who love them are stronger than those who aren't."

[Camila is shocked to see "Hunter" look so strange. Gus realizes something is wrong. Belos reveals to everyone Luz helped him find the Collector.]

"Don't you dare listen to him, Luz," Eda said. "You're a good person and you never meant to hurt anyone. He's just a jerk."

[Amity is shocked.]

"I'm not upset," Amity hastened to assure Luz. "I'm just surprised, that's all. I'm sure of it."

[Luz says she didn't mean to hurt anyone and thought she was doing something good.]

"That's right, Luz," Camila said. "You tell him!"

[Belos says Luz did do something good. He says he thought Hunter was another lost cause.]

"You're the lost cause, Belos!" Hunter shouted. "You're just a coward! I'm better than you! I always have been!" Everyone gave him a round of applause.

[Belos says the two of them (possibly implying him and Caleb) can finish their work as witch hunters, starting with Luz's friends.]

"Well, now he's just gone full blown crazy," Harvey decided. Obviously, Belos really believed now that he'd become one with Caleb, that he'd finally gotten Caleb on his side just because he happened to be possessing a copy of Caleb's body.

[Belos starts to reach for the witches, but Amity summons her palisman to swat away his hand

"Let's hear it for Ghost!" Edric shouted and everyone cheered.

Thank you, thank you, you're too kind, Ghost said as she preened with happiness.

following with Gus and Willow also summoning their palismen to fly and attack Belos.

"Clover and Emmeline Bailey Marcostimo for the win!" Gus shouted, high fiving Willow.

Belos manages to swat away one of Gus' illusions and a purple blast of magic. Belos laughs. Gus asks Belos if he remembers him.]

"Not like you're very forgettable," Perry said and ruffled his son's hair.

[Belos once again tries to grab Gus, only to grab another illusion as Willow grabs one of his stretched arms and slams it down. Vee tells Hunter to hang tight. Vee starts draining his magic with her powers.]

Masha let out a high pitch squeak of excitement as their face went to an Amity level of red. "That is so hot," they whispered.

Vee squirmed in her seat. "I mean, thanks, but…I don't like draining magic. I don't like hurting people."

Masha immediately enfolded Vee in a hug. "I'm sorry, sweetie. I didn't think of it that way. But if anyone deserves it, Belos does."

[Amity tells Vee to watch out. A tendril almost kills Vee. Amity pulls her out of the way in time, but Vee's concentration is nonetheless broken. Gus grunts, all scream. Luz urges Hunter to fight Belos's possession.]

Hunter felt very uncomfortable at hearing that. Why wasn't he doing that? Why wasn't he fighting harder to get Belos out of him? Was it because on some level, he wanted it? Was he still so attached to Belos it was hard to let go of him even after all he'd done?

[Belos throws Luz forward. Luz screams, as Amity uses her palisman to move mud and ice forward for Luz to land on. Flapjack starts chirping and pecking at Belos's antlers, but the latter immediately catches him.]

Everyone winced. They all knew what was coming. Luz had told them from her first glimpse at this alternate future. But it didn't make the prospect any less terrifying. Hunter started chewing on his nails, dread suffusing the very core of his being.

[Belos says Caleb wouldn't want him to harm his palisman, but he doesn't care what Caleb wants. He bids farewell to Evelyn's legacy and cracks Flapjack

Dead silence filled the room. A lot of them wanted to say something, but no one wanted to be the first to break this horrifying moment, to speak.

I'm here! Flapjack chirped frantically. I'm right here, my Hunter.

Hunter just stared at him for a few moments before breaking into tears. Violent, undignified blubbering. The kind of show of emotion he'd always been punished for before. Weakness, Belos had called it. But right now, he couldn't stop himself. He couldn't remember the last time he cried, and it was as if everything that had built up in him was now coming out in what seemed like an endless torrent.

"It shouldn't have been like this," he managed to get out between his tears. "He should have loved me! He was my uncle…I thought he loved me."

"You're right, Hunter," Camila said. "He should have loved you. And that was his loss. Life has been a lot better for us both since you became my son. He missed out on having a great kid."

I'm not going to leave you, my Hunter, Flapjack vowed. I'll stand by your side for as long as I can.

"I hope if there is a hell like he believed, he's there now," Hunter said. "I want him to suffer for what he did to me. For what he did to Flapjack here. But, you know, I can't imagine a punishment that's worse than the existence he chose for himself. To be just a pale shadow of a living being, a husk imitating life. He deserved this."

Luz nodded. She couldn't help but agree. Maybe it was wrong of her, but she was only human. "And you didn't. You realize that, right?" Hunter nodded.

and starts absorbing his essence, but lets him go as Hunter's personality starts fighting him over the control of his body.

"Oh, now you do something," Hunter grumbled.

Flapjack then flies into Luz' palm while leaking palisman essence from the cracks in his body. Luz cries and tells Flapjack he'll be okay.]

Eda winced. "Oh, no, sorry, Luz, but he's…he's not going to be okay."

"I know," Luz said curtly. "I know that very well."

[Hunter starts making his way to the river. He tells Belos he wants to leave the Emperor's Coven and never set foot in the throne room again.]

Hunter sighed. In this Hunter's heart, he still hadn't left the Emperor's Coven yet. The damage it had done to him was still there and he hadn't even begun to heal from it yet. He'd started healing from the damage Belos had done, but the Coven was a different story.

[Hunter wants to study wild magic and learn how to carve palismen.]

I hope you're not planning to replace me, Flapjack joked. I may be a red bird, but I can go green with the best of them!

"Never," Hunter vowed, unaware Flapjack was joking. "You'll always be my palisman. We're together for life, buddy!"

[Hunter wants to attend Hexside as a regular student and play flyer derby with his friends.]

"EMERALD ENTRAILS!" the members of the team chanted in unison. "ENTRAILS! ENTRAILS!"

"We love you, Hunter!" Viney shouted.

"Yeah, you're the best!" Skara added.

[Hunter says most of all, he wants to make sure Belos never hurts anyone ever again. He throws the vial of Titan's blood into the river.]

Everyone let out a triumphant shout. "Good work, Hunter!" Gilbert said.

"But I'm depriving you of a way to see your daughter," Hunter said, completely confused.

"What good is it to see my daughter if it means bringing a monster here to kill us all?" Harvey shot back.

Belos (as Hunter) No!

[Belos regains control and jumps into the water, managing to catch the vial but falls unconscious as a result.]

Camila let out a shriek. Was this how things were going to end for this Hunter? Would he drown, all alone, in the water, without knowing how much people loved him?

[Camila jumps into the water to save Hunter and manages to rescue him.

"Oh, thank goodness," Camila said, clutching her heart which was still thundering in her chest.

"Thanks, mom," Hunter said. "You saved my life."

"De nada, mijo."

The others help her hoist Hunter into the surface. Willow urges them to be careful. Belos finally leaves Hunter's body as he takes the monstrous form he previously had. Belos accuses "Caleb" of stabbing him in the back.]

Everyone laughed. "Talk about the pot calling the kettle black," Emira said.

[Luz stares at him angrily and says Belos stabbed Caleb first.]

Luz was impressed at the comeback. She was not normally too good with this stuff under pressure.

[Belos, outraged, smashes the vial of Titan's blood into the archway, opening a portal to the Demon Realm.]

"Oh, no," Edric said. "This is very, very bad."

"You think?!" Amity shouted.

[Belos says he is acting for the good of their souls.]

Camila spat at the screen. "Don't you talk to me about souls, revenant. Yours is as rotten as they come! How dare you pervert the message de nuestro Salvador for evil?! God will give you your punishment, Belos. You can't evade it."

[Belos says they will thank him later.]

Luz scoffed. "As if."

[He goes through the portal, leaving everyone speechless. Camila is gobsmacked that they have been fighting against such a monstrous enemy.]

Camila could definitely understand why the other her had been so shocked. Witches and basilisks were one thing, but the witches were humanoid and Vee was the most adorable creature who ever lived. Belos, on the other hand, was a monster from the depths of hell. For someone who prided herself in dwelling in the real world, it must have been a huge and terrible shock for the other her.

[Willow says Hunter isn't moving. Camila directs Vee to call an ambulance. Vee tries to do so.]

"Yeah…I'm not sure that was the best idea," Viney said. "What happens if the people at the hospital find out he isn't human?"

"I mean, why would they, though?" Hunter pointed out. "I don't have a bile sac. I'm pretty sure I look human on the inside. I mean, sure, there are the ears, but that's not enough, I think."

"It wasn't like I was overflowing with other options," Camila reminded them.

[Willow points out that human doctors don't know about possession. Luz adds that they don't know about grimwalkers.]

"Whoops!" Luz said with a wince. "Shouldn't have let that slip there."

[Camila is shocked to hear Hunter was possessed. Willow is shocked to learn Hunter is a grimwalker.]

"Yep, definitely should have told you before this," Hunter decided. "Well, at least you found out in a better way in real life. I mean, a bit better. It wasn't ideal, but still."

[Camila says they still need to call a doctor. Vee says she can't get reception. Amity wonders what they will do. A weakened Flapjack flies out of Luz's pocket to Hunter, chirps sadly, then settles down, sacrificing his life by giving him his palisman essence to revive Hunter as the others sadly watch on

Don't, Flapjack said before Hunter could say anything. My Hunter, you're so important to me. I'd gladly give up my life to save you any day, as you would do the same for me. Being a symbiont is a two way street. That's why we call it that. It's my responsibility to protect you.

"I…I just hope I never have to experience that for real," Hunter said.

You won't. I'll make sure of it.

He dissolves into floating balls of light in the end. Hunter groans and slowly opens his eyes, which have turned brown.]

"He stole my eye color from me too?!" Hunter shouted. "Titan, I hate that guy so much!"

"Yeah, me too," King agreed.

[Hunter asks if everyone is okay. Gus starts to inform him of Flapjack's death, but Hunter starts crying and says he already knows. The others, especially Luz, who turns away, start to cry as well. Camila tenderly urges him to sit up and asks if he is in pain.]

Hunter gave a fond grin at his mother. Even in a timeline where she hadn't adopted him, she still cared so deeply about him. He wouldn't be surprised if in the fullness of time, this Hunter would have become a Noceda eventually.

[Hunter says he is fine. Amity asks Luz if Belos was lying about Luz helping him meet the Collector. Luz admits he was telling the truth. She says without her, the Day of Unity would never have occurred.]

"Yes, I know, it wasn't my fault!" Luz said to forestall people's comments. "I get it. Chill."

[She recounts the events leading up to the incident and apologizes. Amity asks why Luz kept it a secret.]

"I mean, it's not like you have a right to get angry at her for keeping secrets," Edric said. "You kept the rebus thing from her."

"That's different," Amity said. "This was a secret that was hurting her. My secret would have helped her. I hope it still will.

[Luz says she was scared everyone would hate her. She starts to tell them she's staying in the Human Realm, but Camila interrupts her by announcing she is accompanying them to the Demon Realm.]

Everyone was shocked, and none more so than Camila. This her had just seen the worst the Demon Realm had to offer, seen a noble creature get brutally murdered in front of her, and now she wanted to go to a completely unknown place to follow a monster who had tried to murder her daughter. That took a special kind of bravery, and Camila hadn't known she was even capable of being that brave. She was so proud of her other self.

Luz What?!

[Luz is shocked. Amity approaches Luz and hugs her. She says she couldn't hate Luz because Luz is always fighting to make things better for all of them.]

"Whoo!" Emira shouted. "You tell her, Amity! You're a part of the family now, Luz. One day, you'll be just as much of a Blight as Amity will a Noceda. You can always rely on us."

[Camila refuses to let Luz go back alone now that she knows the true threat of Belos. She says it is their duty to help the kids get back to their families. Hunter says Belos tricked her, which is his modus operandi. If not her, someone else would have been tricked and then no one would have been left to fight back.]

"And I hope you remember that applies to you too, Hunter," Camila said. "He tricked you too. But you're stronger than he is, because you got better and he can't."

[Hunter asks her to help them fight back in Flapjack's name. Luz agrees.]

For me! Flapjack chirped, doing a happy little dance. Then he frowned. Oh, no, wait, that's not a good thing.

[Portal pulsing. Vee announces the portal is closing. Luz says they need to go in. Hunter heads for the portal first. He tells Flapjack's spirit it is time to go home. He goes into the portal. Gus and Willow follow him, both saying their goodbyes to the Human Realm. Gus hopes to return and goes through the portal.]

"And hopefully there'll less giraffes," Gus muttered.

[Willow is grateful for the memories and promises to return after they get their revenge. She goes through the portal.]

"Aw, that's the terrifying and scary Willow I know and love," Hunter said fondly.

[Amity paraphrases the speech Luz made when asking her out about the future and asks her to stop hiding.]

"Oh, I see what you did there," Luz said with finger guns. "Nice!"

[Luz promises to stop hiding things and vows to go to the Demon Realm with them. Luz and Amity hold hands as the latter gives Luz a kiss on the cheek. They let go of each other's hands as Luz watches Amity walk through the portal with her staff. Vee gives Camila her baseball bat.]

"Ah, yes, my trusty baseball bat," Camila said smugly. "It's served me very well over the years. One time, I beat a burglar black and blue with it. That was a good day." Eda let out a purr of excitement, her eyes shining brightly.

[Camila asks if Vee will accompany them. Vee isn't ready and instead wants to stay there to keep up appearances. She morphs into Camila. Camila gives Vee advice to help her with the impersonation. She hugs and thanks Vee. She asks Luz if she is ready.]

Masha frowned. "I'm sorry, you're just going to leave her there? All alone?"

"I mean, I don't see that I have a better option," Camila admitted. "I don't like it, but if Luz wants to go to the Demon Realm and Vee wants to stay in the Human Realm, I can't be in two places at once."

"Besides, maybe she won't be alone," Luz said. "Maybe she'll reach out to a certain goth! Maybe she'll even ask them out on a date."

Vee blushed. "Aw, you had a crush on me, babe? That's so embarrassing."

"We're dating, though."

"Still."

[Luz admits she has no clue what they'll see on the other side. Camila says they don't want to be unprepared and reminds Luz that a good witch always needs her hat.]

Luz was extremely pleased. She had no idea Camila knew one of the most important precepts of the Good Witch Azura, but she supposed something must have sunk in from her numerous infodumps.

[Luz and Camila hold hands as the two step inside the portal, prepared. Afterwards, the portal closes. Vee starts to walk away when she realizes Camila still has the car keys.]

Everyone laughed. "Well, that was certainly an interesting experience," Camila said. "Do you feel better now, Luz?"

Luz really did, especially now that she had concrete proof she had so many people in her corner that would do anything to help her. "Well, now that that's over –"

"Over?" Perry said. "Why did you think that? There's still more of this reality to see. Don't you want to find out what happened to them after they returned to the Demon Realm?"

"But this is as much of the vision I saw," Luz said.

"Yes, but again, you're not as skilled an oracle witch as I am," Perry said. "I can get us a lot more of this reality. If you want."

Luz nodded. "Definitely! We can't just leave it like this."

"Well, we should stop for now," Camila decided. "This has been a lot. We'll save the next session for the future."