Luz spent the whole night besieged by nightmares. Nightmares of getting turned to stone, sure, and seeing her friends killed by the draining spell (and, yes, obviously only Hunter could have been killed by it, but someone didn't give her subconscious the memo). But worse than that were the nightmares she had of Camila telling her that no, she could never return to the Isles. Of having to give up on her family forever. Of returning to school once more alone as the freak Luzer.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the morning arrived. Yet despite Luz's hopes the matter would be resolved quickly, Camila seemed to be avoiding her. But Camila seemed to be more than happy to talk to everyone else! She'd spent a great deal of time talking to Vee and Hunter, shutting Luz out completely, it would seem. The fact she'd gotten to spend a lot of time spending time with Willow, Amity, and Gus was only a small consolation prize. Not when Camila may decide to not let her ever see them again.

"You're so brave, Luz," Amity said after they'd finished watching one of Luz's favorite movies, Goncharov. Amity hadn't understood any of it, but she liked the aesthetics and the company couldn't be compared. "Showing us all that, even though you thought we'd hate you…I wish I could be that brave."

"You're brave too, sweet potato," Luz said and gave Amity a peck on the cheek. "I love you so much. I couldn't have made it through all that without you."

"Please don't get yourself petrified again, Luz," Gus begged her. "It was so scary! I've seen a lot of terrible things in Belos's memories, but this was so much worse because it was my friend!"

Luz laughed. "Don't worry, Gus. Getting petrified is not on the agenda for the future."

Camila finally stepped into the living room. "Sweeties, could you give Luz and I the room?"

"We got your back no matter what happens," Willow promised her, as she and Gus and Amity filed out.

Camila sat down on the couch next to Luz. "First of all, Luz, I just want to say how proud and thankful I am. What you did, showing me all those memories, was an act of extraordinary bravery. It must have been one of the hardest things you've ever done in your entire life. Your father would be so, so proud of you, and all you've accomplished."

"Please don't keep me in suspense, mami!" Luz begged her. "Can I go back?"

Camila looked at her sternly. "Since summer began, you have been taken hostage, broke into a prison, ran away from home, systematically lied to me, nearly tricked into getting eaten by a puppeteer demon, broke into a school, almost got dissected, abetted King into stealing vital medication, almost got eaten by your own mentor, fought a duel despite knowing only one spell, held a party behind Eda's back, broke into a library, nearly got Eda branded with a sigil that would have killed her, got thrown into detention twice, stole Eda's palisman…"

Luz gulped. This was not going well. And this was only the first ten episodes listed so far!

"…almost got eaten by a ravenous beast which you provoked, stole Amity's training wand, almost got eaten by different wild beasts, faced down a fear monster, had a fireball thrown at your face, challenged a homicidal bully to a grudgby match, broke into a dictator's palace, got taken hostage, thrown off a bridge, fought a witch hunting lich with absolutely no plan twice, ran away to fight a dangerous sea monster, nearly killed by Odalia's stupid robots, nearly killed by Jean-Luc, attacked Eda with snakes, broke into the forbidden stacks of the library, fought Kikimora, set an object on fire mere inches from Amity's head…"

Luz sighed. She might as well just say goodbye to any chance of returning to the Isles right now.

"…planned on having Vee knowingly continue to lie to me, took an insane risk by helping a woman who'd already tried to kill you, almost got sacrificed by a genocidal maniac, lied to Amity about a matter imperative to her future, got attacked by crazed Titan Trappers, deliberately got captured to be handed over to Belos, and nearly turned to stone!"

Luz started crying. "But, mami, please! You don't understand!"

"It is sheer lunacy, utter madness, to ever let you return to the Isles –"

"NO!"

"–without me around to help keep you safe."

Luz stared at her, barely even daring to hope. "You…you mean?"

Camila gave her a warm, brilliant smile. "Sí, lucecita. We will be moving to the Boiling Isles. Our whole family."

Luz opened and closed her mouth repeatedly. "But…what about Vee? Isn't she scared of going back?"

"Vee and I have discussed this matter at great length. She was very scared, but seeing your memories and realizing that the Demon Realm could be more than just a source of trauma to her helped her overcome her fears. She is willing to give it a shot. She wants to go to Hexside, to study healing magic. It will not be easy for her. There will no doubt be people who will bully her for being a basilisk. I expect you to defend her."

Luz nodded eagerly. "Of course! But what about Masha?"

"Vee is hardly the first person to have ever had a long distance relationship," Camila pointed out. "Though she probably is the first person to have a long distance relationship between dimensions."

Luz pounced on Camila abruptly with a massive hug. "Air! AIR!" Camila shouted frantically and Luz quickly released her. "It was a difficult decision for me to make. But in the end, it's what's best for you. Your friends and family are there. While I still have reservations about Hexside – and I assure you, Principal Bump and I are going to have a conversation – it is nonetheless a more suitable academic environment than your present school. And…and it's what Manny would have done."

"Thank you," Luz said. "Thank you so much! I am…I'm so happy right now!"

"Well, you're going to want to hold onto that happiness, because you're grounded for the next month," Camila announced. Luz's mouth dropped open in astonishment. "This isn't open for negotiation. If you try to argue with me, I'll add on to the punishment. I consider this quite lenient, honestly. You will not be returning to the Demon Realm before that. Even if a portal opens tomorrow, you won't be going back for a month. Eda and your family will visit you here; you will not be deprived of them. It's going to take that long to get my affairs in order, anyway."

Luz bowed her head. "Okay, mami. I guess that's fair."

Camila kissed her forehead. "Look at you. The Good Witch Luz. My wonderful daughter. I can't wait to see the magic you can do in the flesh, mija."

"And I can't wait to show you."


The shotgun in Masha's hands was loaded with Dragon's Breath incendiary shells, capable of sending a jet of fire over a hundred feet from the barrel. It was one of the many guns that Hopkins had scattered around the historical society. Most of them, Masha had handed over to the police, but a few they'd kept for themself, just in case. Beside them as they trudged through the forest, Michael had a pistol in his hand, also one of Hopkins' weapons, and Starla held the nearly empty training wand.

In most cases, it would be a massive case of overkill. Not in this one. After what felt like an eternity of tinkering and experimenting, Masha had finally managed to get their tracking spell to work on their phones and show the magic present in the Gravesfield area. So far, they'd found four places where magic could be found. In addition to the abomination goop in the woods and the Noceda house, there was also a stationary source of magic in the cemetery.

But it was the fourth source of magic that was the reason they'd armed up and taken to the woods. It was a moving target, which meant it belonged to a living being. It could be literally anything. A witch, another basilisk, some other mythological beast, or even a real, actual dragon. And on top of that, Masha had been hearing rumors of creatures roaming the woods with glowing eyes. The matter had to be investigated.

"We should have brought Vee with us for this," Starla complained. "We could really use a basilisk on our side! We have no idea what we're getting into!"

"Pardon me," a cultured, urbane voice with a British accent said. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. Did you mention a basilisk?"

Masha and their friends let out a scream because the voice wasn't coming from a man, but rather from a black bear. Masha raised their shotgun and aimed it at the bear's head.

The bear raised his pawns in an almost dainty gesture. "I apologize for startling you, kind lady," the bear said. "I imagine my form must be quite frightening to you. My name is Philip Wittebane. Pray lower your musket so that we may parley as civilized beings."

Masha's eyes widened, but they otherwise kept their composure. Vee had briefed them on the revelations she'd learned from Luz's watch the show type extravaganza. They knew all about Belos, his true identity, and the depths of his sheer, unrelenting evil. Vee had said Belos was dead, but she must have been mistaken, because unless there was another person out there possessing creatures and calling himself Philip Wittebane, this was definitely the emperor in the flesh.

"Long ago, a witch cursed me into this form," Belos went on. "Since then, I have made it my business to destroy all witches everywhere, as well as other abominable, devilish creatures. So tell me, where did you see this basilisk?"

"Well, I could tell you that," Masha said. "But there's a problem with your story…I find it bearly credible!"

Their friends snickered. "Yeah, I don't think you're really bearing the truth here!" Michael said. Starla gave him a high five.

"Well, maybe I could convince them," Starla said with a mock contemplative expression. "But you'll have to bear with me and wait!" She burst into hysterical giggles.

Belos let out an animalistic snarl. "So you have chosen to align with the devil. How tragic. I will make your deaths swift." He charged at Michael, his paws out and razor sharp.

Michael raised the pistol with two trembling hands and opened fire on Belos. Belos looked absolutely stunned to see a gun that was able to fire so many rounds in such a quick period of time. Bullets smashed into his hide as he let out a bestial roar.

"BIPPITY BOPPITY BOO, BITCH!" Starla screamed at him as she let loose an ice spell from the training wand which smashed straight through Belos's eye, blinding him. She tried to do the same for his other eye, but the wand was out of juice.

Michael coolly shot Belos in both knees, leaving him snarling and powerless on the ground.

Masha stepped over to him. Belos started to look frantic. "My dear girl…we don't have to be enemies. You don't understand the depths to which these vile creatures can sink."

"I'm not a girl," Masha snarled at him. They pressed the shotgun between his eyes. "The basilisks send their regards."

Masha pulled the trigger, a jet of fire emerged from the shotgun, and that was the end of Philip Wittebane. They grinned at the corpse. After learning of all the horrific tortures that were done to Vee, to say nothing of the harm Belos had done to Vee's siblings, it was immensely satisfying to see him finally brought low by a combination of modern technology, magic, and bad puns.

Masha wanted to keep the fact they'd slayed Belos a secret on the grounds that the bastard deserved to be just completely forgotten. But in the end, their friends had convinced them Vee being able to see him gone with her own eyes could bring her some measure of closure. So they returned with cutting equipment, beheaded the bear, and placed it in a basket. After swinging by the cemetery to pick up the Titan's Blood, they went to the Noceda residence alone.

"Hi!" Masha said with a wave as Mrs. Noceda answer the door. Vee was next to her in Luz's form, but quickly shifted to her basilisk form when she saw it was only Masha. "I killed Belos and found Titan Blood!"

It was rare to find Mrs. Noceda speechless, but this appeared to be one of those rare times. Masha stepped in and placed the basket on the coffee table. Vee opened it and tilted her head quizzically at the bear head inside. "He was possessing a bear," Masha explained. "I blew his head off with a shotgun."

Vee's mouth dropped open. "Masha Petrov, I am so in love with you right now."

"You…you just went out by yourself and fought him?!" Mrs. Noceda said. "Without getting an adult? Are you insane?!"

"Who'd believe me?"

"I would!" Mrs. Noceda shot back.

Masha shrugged. "Look, I know it was reckless and stupid, but he's dead and I'm not, so who cares?" They took the vial of Titan's Blood out of their pocket and gave it to Mrs. Noceda. "So…wanna show me around your old world soon, Vee?"

"Um…I'm really not the best tour guide," Vee admitted. "But, yeah, we'll have a date there!"

Mrs. Noceda appeared to calm down. "I'm sorry I snapped at you. It's just…I can't believe he's been alive here the whole time. Who knows what he could have done to my kids?" She smiled at them. "Thank you, Masha. I really appreciate it."


Camila was fairly shocked at how easy it was to defeat the Collector. Luz realized that the crux of the Collector's issues, at least with regards to the Collector's reign of terror over the Isles, stemmed from the fact they didn't understand what death meant to mortals. To fix that, Luz shared her memories of Manny's passing and the effect it had on her. It was a devastating realization to the Collector to realize they were almost responsible for causing so much pain. But Luz and her friends convinced them it wasn't their fault, pointing out that Belos was responsible ultimately for warping the Collector's sense of morality. The Collector then transformed themself into a baby witch so they could reverse the damage Belos caused them through his manipulations.

To the best of everyone's knowledge, the Collector no longer had his memories or powers and was soon adopted. Everyone was relieved that the crisis was over. Of course, there were still casualties to deal with from the Collector's games – to say nothing of the fact the draining spell had killed about 3% of the Isles' population mostly through heart attacks and similar indirect harm – but the damage wasn't anywhere close to apocalypse level.

After a brief period of total insanity wherein Hooty was crowned emperor – and dethroned within 72 hours, a period of which everyone swore a collective Everlasting Oath to never discuss again – the people of the Isles formed the Boiling Republic, which appeared to work relatively similar to the American political system. One of Boscha's mothers ran for president against Darius, but in the end, somehow Steve had managed to win as a write in candidate. The system was stable, and Camila liked stability.

While the legal framework of the coven system was dismantled and the denizens of the Isles were free to mix and match magic as they liked, the coven system functionally still remained. There really wasn't much choice, frankly, until someone could figure out how to reverse the coven sigils. Now the covens were known as guilds and served the needs of its members, not the government. There was still a stigma against mixing magic, but that was a generational thing, from what Camila could see, and in the fullness of time, would probably evaporate.

Camila was really as happy as could be. She had a wonderful new home very close to the Owl House where her three children lived with her and her children's friends stopped by to visit so often they practically lived there as well. Her children were enrolled at Hexside – she had enjoined the teachers from using the detention pit on them – and so was Camila herself. Camila was learning beast keeping and healing with the intention of opening up a veterinary practice in the Demon Realm.

Camila had made good friends with Viney and, knowing her ambition to open up a veterinary practice herself, offered to be a partner in the business once they graduated. With Camila's knowledge of how to run a business and her life experience combined with Viney's knowledge of the Demon Realm's practices and customs, Camila suspected they'd be an unstoppable team.

Once the situation had stabilized, Camila sat down with Eda over a few bottles of apple blood, which turned out to be some of the tastiest thing she'd ever drank, and as a bonus, humans turned out to be completely unable to be intoxicated by it. "First of all, Eda, I want to thank you profusely for looking after my daughter while I was…unable to."

Eda narrowed her eyes, sensing a trap, but unable to tell what it was. "You truly went out of your way to keep her safe," Camila went on. "Moreover, you love her as surely as she is your own daughter. Luz thinks of you as her second mother, and I heartily support and encourage that viewpoint."

"It's kinda hard not to like the goober," Eda said with a fond smile.

"Nonetheless, I have a variety of concerns and questions that need to be addressed to ensure we can have the most equitable custody arrangement possible," Camila announced, and removed a very thick sheaf of paper from her hair.

Eda's mouth dropped open in astonishment. "A very handy spell, no?" Camila said smugly. "I'm wise to your tricks, Owl Lady. Read through that. All the way, if you please."

Camila watched her read through the list with increasing trepidation. There were dozens upon dozens of questions there. Some of them pertained to the extremely suspect decisions Eda had made, especially in the early days of Luz's apprenticeship. Some of them were questions Camila had regarding the culture and practices of the Demon Realm to help her assimilate better. Some of them were standard, boring logistical inquiries. But the last one…

"'Would you go out with me?!'" Eda read, her voice filled with incredulity.

"Don't mind if I do," Camila said, her eyes sparkling brightly. "Pick you up at 7?"

Eda narrowed her eyes. "Is this a joke? Did Luz put you up to this?"

"I want to spend the evening on a date with an attractive, brave, strong woman who loves my daughter as much as I do," Camila explained patiently. "If you're not interested, I completely understand. But I think we could have a good time. I'm not asking for your hand in marriage, Eda. We'll have dinner and go dancing. It'll be fun. Again, if you say no, that's fine. It won't change anything. But I'd love it if you said yes."

Eda suddenly gave a smile. It was absolutely gorgeous. The last person Camila had seen with such a wonderful smile was Manny. "Okay! Yeah, sure, I'd love to take you out, Camila Noceda."

"Superlative!" Camila said with a grin of her own. "Now let's talk about how you withheld my daughter's only way back home to force her into a heist." Eda gulped.


Vee couldn't imagine it was possible for life to get any better. Not even a year ago, she'd been a prisoner of Belos, a constant victim of torture and hatred. Now she had a mother who loved her, two amazing siblings who were fiercely loyal to her (if annoyingly overprotective), a home where she was totally safe, and she even had a palisman now! Sadie and her were practically inseparable; the butterfly palisman looked benign and sweet but could be vicious to anyone who dared hurt xyr symbiont.

Returning to the Demon Realm had been somewhat difficult on her, but the advantages more than outweighed the disadvantages. For a creature who had been created to bring destruction, studying healing magic had been liberating. Vee was certain she wanted to be a medic when she grew up; she believed that with all her heart. True, she'd faced some bullying when she started going to Hexside, but not nearly as much as she expected, and after facing Luz and Hunter's…creative styles of retribution, very few people wanted to mess with Vee.

Hunter was studying in the potions track, but his true passion was history and he was happily working an afterschool job at the Supernatural Museum of History as Lilith's assistant. Hunter seemed overjoyed to be able to pursue his own path. The family was extremely proud of his extraordinary performance on the flyer derby team – though Vee suspected some of Luz's enthusiasm for Hunter's games was rooted in the fact Amity had joined the fearleading squad.

Luz was her usual bright, vivacious self. The depression and guilt she had been experiencing for all that time seemed to have lessened, though Vee knew from personal experience it would never quite go away. Luz took great delight in just enjoying being a normal student, finding new glyph combinations, and having the positive educational experience she was denied in the human realm.

Luz's friends were delighted to be reunited with their families, all of whom had survived the chaos of the Collector's rampage. Amity had become extremely taken with bard magic and now was a multitracking bard/abominations student. Luz was sure she had it in her to be a pop star, but then again, in Vee's opinion, Luz was more than a little biased. Amity's relationship with her father was slowly getting better with the help of massive amounts of therapy.

Initially, Vee had been satisfied with her long distance relationship with Masha, but that abruptly came to an end when Masha's father unexpectedly gained custody of them. Mrs. Petrov had already been informed of Vee's true identity and it was surprisingly easy to convince her and Masha to flee to the Demon Realm to avoid Mr. Petrov's abusive grasp. Now Masha went to Hexside along with Vee, though they didn't share any classes – Masha was obsessed with construction magic and didn't want to study any other tracks.

As a student at Hexside, Vee could just be in her basilisk form constantly, a luxury she never would have gotten in the Human Realm. Though sometimes she needed to be in human form so as to avoid distracting her partner too much. ("It's not my fault you're so cute and pretty and kissable!" Masha once protested.) It felt so freeing to be able to be herself, to be Vee Noceda. No fake names, no fake faces, no fake ID. Just…her.

Vee was on her way to her next class when the door to the nearest oracle classroom slammed open and Luz ran out, a haunted expression on her face. "What's the matter, Luz? You look like you've seen…well, not a ghost, I know you see those all the time in oracle class…"

It took a long time for Luz to collect herself. "We…we did a lesson on branching paths today. Our assignment was to take a decision we made and see what would happen if we'd made a different one. Well, I decided to see what would have happened if I hadn't shown you my adventures in the Isles. It was horrible, Vee! I was all emo! I went on a huge rant at school about how I shouldn't even exist! And then…" She started crying. "And then at the end of it, Belos possessed Hunter and killed Flapjack!"

Wow. It was hard to know what to say to that. "Luz…you know that didn't happen," Vee reminded her. "It's just a possibility of what could have happened. It didn't happen, and it can't."

Luz looked a lot calmer now. "Yeah…yeah I know. It's just…scary to think what could have happened if I hadn't shared all that with you. I really prevented a disaster from happening."

"Well, it was mostly thanks to Masha killing Belos," Vee pointed out.

"Yeah," Luz said with a slight grin. "Thanks to them."