Willow had gone through several phases in the space of not even five minutes. During the first minute she had cursed herself countless times and with endless epithets, and had repeated to herself that she had to go back immediately under Luz's protection, and yet she had kept going. Then by the second minute she had started to relax a little, telling herself over and over that she wasn't in much danger because the birds weren't hanging around at that time of day, and so she was safe. By the third minute she had gained much more confidence and had begun to enjoy the beauty of flying after a long time. By the fourth minute she had forced herself to remain rational, reminding herself that even though the sky now seemed calm, the outside world was still very dangerous and she had to be careful. By the fifth minute… she had completely surrendered and enjoyed the pleasure of a smooth flight for the first time in her life.

She couldn't help it, flying was part of her nature, just like jumping and tending plants. The rustle of the wind in her wings, the feeling of blood pumping through her little body, her muscles contracting, her exoskeleton moving piece by piece to aid her flight, the houses and trees passing by beneath her like a river: all this gave her a feeling of magnificent euphoria, much more than she had felt when she had beaten that masked man at the circus. She was in her element now, she was fully following her nature, and nothing could make her happier. Maybe Luz was right... maybe she just needed to realize how being afraid of the outside world was unreasonable. How could she be afraid to venture into that world that allowed her to savor such beautiful sensations, which she had never been able to have in the little plant that was on Camila's windowsill? Sure, the outside world was extremely dangerous, but it was worth facing if the reward was that. Even if Willow was far from taking a naughty girl like Luz as a role model, she had to admit that she wasn't entirely wrong when she said that people had to take some risks in their life.

So she continued to fly, still in her ungraceful and noisy way, but still she flew further and further; and as she did so she almost seemed to tire less than when she had carried Gus. It was as if her wings gained strength with each flap, as if they had been trapped for too long and now that they were finally free to do what their nature commanded they were numb and were slowly but inexorably regaining their former glory.

Flying over Gravesfield she was able to easily find Camila; the poor woman was wandering the streets asking everyone if they had seen Luz. Willow felt sorry for her: she and Gus were already exhausted by that puppet, and they were only her friends, so she didn't dare imagine what Camila, her mother, was feeling. She hurried down and didn't even need to call the woman to be noticed, as the sound of her wings immediately attracted her attention. "Willow! What are you doing out of the shop alone?" she asked with extreme surprise, knowing well the cricket's aversion to the outside world.

"It's a long story" Willow replied resting in her hand. "Listen, Gus and I found Luz again. She's on her way home now, Gus is with her"

"Did you find her?" Camila seemed to be in a strange state somewhere between relief and utter concern. "Is she okay? Did she get hurt? Did she get into any trouble?"

Poor woman, Willow couldn't help but think. Luz was such a bad girl to worry such a good person. "She's fine, don't be afraid. Things have happened, but she'll explain them to you when she gets back" she told her. She wasn't at all sure that Luz would rethink her plan and tell her mother the truth, in fact the opposite was very likely, but she wanted to at least give her the benefit of the doubt. "Go home and wait for us there. I'll go back to them, and we'll be home soon"

"Are you going back to them? Alone?" Camila murmured, more and more amazed.

Willow felt proud of herself. In reality, she would have much preferred to remain safely hidden in Camila's pocket, but she still wanted to fly one more time. "I flew many times today, one more won't hurt. And then I want to get back to them and make sure they don't get lost". Or rather, that Luz would screw up again by ignoring Gus's advice, but she didn't say it out loud.

Camila remained silent, then she smiled at her. "I'm glad you're flying again" she told her. "Okay, I'll wait for you at home. Thanks for coming to tell me, Willow"

Willow blushed at the compliment. "Thanks, see you later!" she said, and took a leap again and flew into the sky, which by now had become almost completely dark, but this was not a problem for her since crickets could see very well at night.

She found herself smiling without realizing it. With each passing second flying became easier; not in the physical sense obviously, since she always had to make a lot of effort to keep herself in the air due to her size, but in the sense that the fear that gripped her was fading more and more. Willow kept trying to remember the dangers posed by the outside world, but the more she did, the more she found she didn't care: now that she'd tasted her true nature in its entirety again, she had no intention of going back. And if some bird tried to eat her or some other cricket made fun of her... she could punch it like she did at the circus. In a way, she had Luz to thank for giving her the courage to finally overcome her fear... even if indirectly.

However, her gratitude for Luz was short-lived: when she returned to the road where she left her and Gus and didn't find them, Willow found herself cursing the puppet in several unkind ways. Seriously, what had happened this time!? Why couldn't she go straight and stay on the path!? She hoped that at least she and Gus were okay and began frantically searching for them. She flew in ever wider and higher circles to be able to see the landscape around her better, she searched from one side to the other, and finally by pure chance she glimpsed a small glimmer in a tiny clearing in the middle of the woods that seemed to come from the rays of the moon hitting golden coins. She darted in that direction so fast she almost collided with a passing bat, and she didn't stop until she landed on the woody surface that was Luz's right cheek. "So this is where you were! Didn't I tell you to go home!?"

"Willow!" Gus, who was on the puppet's shoulder, seemed delighted to see his friend again. "Please convince her to go back. I can't"

Luz pulled Willow off her face and placed her on her shoulder next to the spider. "Don't worry, Willow. I'll be home by tomorrow"

The cricket was already on the verge of a nervous breakdown, but she decided it was best to know the story before speaking. "Where are you going?"

"At the Field of Miracles" Luz answered.

Willow raised an eyebrow. "The what?"

Gus and Luz quickly told her about their brief encounter with Terra and Adrian. When they were done, Willow was pretty skeptical. She had no problem believing in the possibility of the existence of a Field of Miracles, after all she had seen for herself that fairy magic was something prodigious and at that moment she stood on the shoulder of living proof of this, and the story told by Adrian and Terra seemed quite plausible; however, she felt something was wrong. "I don't like it" she said. "I didn't learn many things spending my life in a shop, but if there is one thing that has become clear to me it is that if someone promises to make you rich from morning till night then they are crazy or cheaters"

"But they weren't chaters! Gus was skeptical too, but we tested them and they turned out not to be! Right, Gus?" Luz replied.

The spider shrugged. "Well, I admit that they didn't seem like cheaters... but that doesn't rule out that they weren't crazy, or that they weren't cheated themselves"

"But it doesn't rule out the possibility that they were telling the truth either, right?" Luz said.

"Well, no…" Gus answered, but he quickly realized he had made a mistake, because the puppet raised her arms in the air in triumph as if she had just won a marathon. "Splendid! Then it's worth a try!" Luz exclaimed as she started walking even faster. "If Terra and Adrian were mad or fooled, then all I get will be a disappointment, but all I have to do is get the gold coins from the earth and go home, and I won't lose anything. But if they were right, then I could be rich tomorrow!"

Gus sighed and looked at Willow pleadingly, as if he hoped she at least had a good idea to dissuade her. But even the cricket didn't know what to do. "Luz, at least wait until tomorrow!" Willow pleaded. "It's dangerous to walk around the woods alone at night!"

"But I'm not alone. You two are with me!" Luz replied.

"Do you think the two of us can protect you in case of danger!? We're not even a hundredth your height!" Willow snapped. Okay that she had punched a man not even an hour ago, but that was certainly not enough to save Luz in the case of an attack by a wild animal.

Luz snorted. "Ugh, Willow, you're too apprehensive! What's the worst thing I could encounter in the woods?"

"A wolf" Willow answered.

"Or a whole pack of wolves" Gus added.

"Or wild dogs"

"Or a boar"

"Or a bear"

"Or an angry badger"

"Or a poisonous snake"

"Or the assassins"

They would have continued with the list for a long time, but Luz interrupted them: "Ok, now don't exaggerate! I'm made of wood, no animal would try to eat me. Even if we met one, it wouldn't take me into account in the slightest"

"That wouldn't be the case with assassins, though" Willow pointed out. Technically she could have also pointed out that an animal could kill her even without eating her, just to defend its territory or because it wanted, but she doubted she would listen.

But of course the threat of the assassins too entered in one of Luz's ears and went out the other. "Tsk! The assassins, come on! What are the chances of meeting them? Personally I don't even think they exist, they seem more like a fairy tale invented by parents to keep their children at home at night"

"It's no use, Willow" Gus whispered in the cricket's ear. "I've already told her all these things several times. She doesn't listen"

Willow sighed; seeing that using rationality wasn't working, she tried to leverage Luz's heart. "Your mother was very worried about you, when I found her she immediately asked me if you were hurt. She's at home waiting for you now, and if you don't come back soon she might get even more scared. Do you really want to do this to her?"

Luz finally stopped walking and looked unsure of what to do. "But... if I went to the Field of Miracles, mom could finally get out of poverty. I could buy her a beautiful jacket, and any dress she wanted, and all the best food in the world..."

Willow smiled slightly. She was happy that even when she did something wrong Luz maintained her good nature. This was no justification for her actions, of course, but she liked to see it as the possibility of improvement. "Luz, you can go to the Field of Miracles and sow the coins tomorrow, when there will be the sun in the sky and in the company of your mother. Now go home and hug her again. The money will be of little use to you if you make her die of a broken heart"

Luz bit her lip and looked at her gold coins. It seemed to her that they were shouting 'sow us, sow us, sow us!'. But the guilt was gripping her heart. What if her mother really died of a broken heart because of her? "I don't know... well..."

But she couldn't say anything else because just at that moment her wooden ears heard footsteps behind her; her body stiffened and completely devoid of all the boldness she had had until recently she ran to hide behind a tree. She leaned forward slightly and clearly saw two individuals cloaked in coal-black cloaks holding two butcher's knives in their hands. The sight alone was enough to make her pale and her legs turned to mozzarella. Willow and Gus also turned pale as they saw the assassins approaching. "Damn it! We told you so!" the cricket whispered in terror. Technically she had no reason to be afraid, since she and Gus could have easily hidden under a leaf and the assassins wouldn't have cared about two bugs anyway; however, she absolutely didn't want anything bad to happen to Luz, who would certainly be their target instead.

"Ssssh! Be quiet!" Gus said. "Luz, look: there is a passage there in the crowns of the trees, through which the moonlight comes. Can you take me there?"

Luz didn't understand what the spider wanted to do, but she was too scared to ask for answers and so she grabbed it with one hand and placed it right in front of the moonbeam. There Gus twisted his paws in an almost unnatural way, and thanks to this a shadow formed on a nearby tree that resembled a person running away. The assassins saw it and ran after the shadow, away from Luz. Gus was over the moon: it really worked! "Now run!"

Luz didn't have to be told again and ran away in the opposite direction from the assassins; in doing so she moved away from the road and went deeper and deeper into the woods, but she didn't care because her only intent was to get as far away from the danger as possible. "Gus... you're the best illusionist ever!" she whispered to him full of gratitude.

"You'll tell me later. Now think about saving yourself!" Gus ordered her.

Unfortunately, however, the assassins must have noticed the trick and were reaching her quickly; and even though Luz was doing her best to hide, the clinking of gold coins in her hand signaled her presence like a beacon. The two assassins were clearly attracted by the sound of money, and suddenly one of them shouted, in a very hoarse tone due to the cloak they had in front of their mouth which changed their voice: "We know you are here, and we will find you! Drop the money without making a fuss and we'll at least spare you your life!"

"Luz, give them the coins!" Willow whispered shakily.

"I... I can't!" Luz replied on the verge of tears. "I need them... I have to make mom rich and happy..."

"Luz, this is not the time to be thinking about this!" Gus said, also terrified at the thought of what the two assassins would do to the puppet if they found her. "Your mother will never be happy if you die here!"

But Luz didn't listen to him and, realizing that the coins would continue to jingle as long as she held them in her hand, she opened her mouth wide and hid them under her tongue, and finally they fell silent; she then resumed her flight and tried to escape from the assassins as cautiously as possible. Each step seemed like the last, but now that there was finally silence, the two criminals seemed to be moving away from her. But unfortunately the woods around her were becoming less dense and this was making it more difficult for her to hide... but then she noticed something that rekindled her hope: a little further ahead of her, in a clearing among the trees, there was a house. It was a strange house, a sort of cross between a steeple, a church and a bird's nest, but there was smoke coming out of the chimney, so there must surely be someone inside! If she had managed to reach her she would have been saved...

But while she was still thinking this, a bony hand grabbed her arm and pulled her back forcefully, and the next moment she found herself with two knives at her throat. "Found you!" the assassins said with a laugh. "Now give us the money or pay with your life!"

In Collodi's original book Pinocchio, after having ventured into the woods at night, actually meets Jiminy Cricket, or rather his shadow given that he had died crushed by a hammer (even if later in the story he reappears alive and well, but the concept of death in this book is somewhat unclear), who just like Willow and Gus tries to dissuade him from continuing, only to vanish after Pinocchio ignores his warnings; consequently Pinocchio finds himself alone facing the assassins. In this story, however, Luz is helped by Willow and Gus to escape. Furthermore, in the original story Pinocchio manages to reach the little house in the woods, but the owner (the fairy with blue hair) refuses to open it for him, leaving him at the mercy of the assassins; in this story, however, for quite obvious reasons Luz is unable to arrive in time and is captured first. Also in the original story Pinocchio hides his money under his tongue just like Luz does to avoid being robbed.