The Angel of the Owl House

by OwlHouseAngel

Luz Noceda is a young half-angel girl living with her angel mother in the Human Realm. Her attempts to be good always backfire, and after one too many mistakes, her mother sends her to Camp Reality Check. But a chance event leaves Luz in the Demon Realm, where she meets the Owl Lady, who teaches her that in a chaotic world like the Boiling Isles, Luz might be the perfect angel.

7. EP 7: By the Light of the Stars

The Angel of the Owl House

Season 1: The Demon Realm

Chapter 7: By the Light of the Stars

After the chaos that was the Covention, Luz fell back into the comfortable if chaotic routine she'd gotten used to on the Boiling Isles, with mornings spent on chores, afternoons spent on magic, and evenings spent with her friends. Eda had been noticeably diligent in training Luz to make up for her blunder at the Covention, which had ended up being a fairly good day despite the bet. Both Eda and King had been worried to learn that Amity knew about Luz's true identity, but Luz said she trusted the mint haired girl, and so that was enough for them. In fact, Luz was trying to work up the courage to tell Willow and Gus; she trusted them too, but her Mami's warnings to never reveal herself were so ingrained in Luz's psyche that she had a hard time following through with her plans.

Eda had also bought an apology gift for Luz; her very own Smart Scroll, the Demon Realm equivalent of a Smartphone. With it Luz could call her friends and even make a Penstagram account, immediately adding Willow, Gus, Amity, and Eda. Luz had never been one for social media back in the Human Realm, but now she thought it was just because she'd had no friends to chat with on it, as she wiled away many late night hours messaging Amity, who could rarely hang out in person.

Other than training, there had been one minor misadventure involving Eda and her obsession with Hexes Hold 'em. She'd gotten so into it when not training Luz that she'd forgotten to use their new supply of Goldwort to brew up some of her elixir, with her stock drained, she'd been forced to try and buy some in Bonesborough. Unfortunately her old supplier Morton had stopped carrying elixir now that Eda was making her own, and with no way to possibly brew some more in time, she'd gone to the Night Market to acquire some, taking King with her and leaving Luz in charge of watching the Owl House.

This unfortunately meant Luz had to miss the Moonlight Conjuring that Willow and Gus wanted to have. She'd tried to ask Eda if they could have it at the Owl House itself, but Eda had put her foot down, then quietly explained that with Luz's magic being a combination of angelic and wild magic, it could have a nasty effect on a conjuring, making it dangerous to mess with. Luz, Willow, and Gus were all disappointed, but Luz wasn't going to disobey Eda on this one, and her friends didn't want to push her to do so either.

It turned out to be for the best; Eda's Hexes Hold 'em obsession got her and King into trouble with a nasty little pig demon named Tibbles, and Luz had needed to come to save them. Eda's gift of a Smart Scroll proved very useful in alerting Luz to the problem, and she'd shown up to find King enslaved and Eda about to be hauled off by guards so Tibbles could collect her bounty. Luz managed to sneak in and free Eda and King, and the guards Tibbles had called were so angry over being dragged out for nothing that they arrested him for wasting their time (and having a stall full of illegal goods. It was the Night Market after all). Even Willow and Gus's Moonlight Conjuring had gone well, as they'd found a third person in Amelia, the plant track girl that Willow had effectively poached from Boscha's gang after the Mandragora incident. They'd successfully animated some action figure that Gus brought, and according to Amelia, Boscha's gang had failed to animate their own subject.

It was now a lazy Sunday morning, and Luz was sat on the living room couch with King, flipping through the pages of an ancient tome that Eda had, searching for information about angels on the Boiling Isles, while King read her Good Witch Azura books out of boredom.

"Ugh, no good…" Luz sighed, shutting the tome; "I've officially been through every book Eda has and not one of them mentions the glyphs, or anything about angels on the Boiling Isles! I can't possibly be the first one to have come here!"

King looked up from his own book; "I mean, it's possible that you really are. The Titan is super old but it isn't the only place in the Demon Realm. Even if an angel had come to this realm recently, they might not have shown up on the isles."

Luz groaned and flopped over on the couch; "I'm never going to figure this out at this rate… Eda says these glyphs are the language of Wild Magic trying to talk to me, and that absorbing Wild Magic is what caused my rapid evolution and these markings, but is that really all there is to it?"

"Well just learning the glyphs wasn't enough. It was two days between learning the plant glyph and having it show up on your tummy." King commented, "If they are the language of the Isles' magic, maybe they only show up once you actually understand them?"

"Maybe… There has to be answers somewhere in the Demon Realm. Too bad they aren't exactly lining up at the door…" Luz sighed.

At that moment, Hooty swung his door open with a happy hoot; "Ding-dong-ding! Hoot hoot! We've got a visitor!"

King and Luz stared at him for a moment; "I swear if this is someone with all the answers to my problems, I'm gonna flip out." Luz whispered, heading to the door.

She found there was no one there, much to her confusion. She then looked down and noticed a large basket on the doorstep with its contents hidden by blankets. Shrugging, she picked it up and hauled it into the kitchen where Eda was raiding the fridge for Apple Blood.

"Eda, you got a package." Luz said as King followed her in and hopped on the kitchen table beside the basket. "It looks like a gift basket."

Eda smirked; "Probably an offering. Ah, being the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles has its perks."

King yanked back the blankets to discover the "gift basket" actually contained a baby demon. It looked like a human-like baby head with bat wings wrapped around it and little bat feet sticking out of the bottom. King rubbed his paws together.

"Mmm, fresh meat!"

"No! We are not eating a baby! I've been cool with all the other weirdness on the isles, but I'm drawing a line there!" Luz said firmly.

King whined and Eda rolled her eyes; "Oh please, witches eating babies is so 1693. What is this?"

"There's a note." King pointed out, grabbing a tag tied to the basket; "It says "Take care of my child 'til morning. Yi Yi?" I don't get that last part…"

"Nope, babies are awful! Not happening." Eda protested.

"Wait, there's more. "You will be handsomely rewarded. Hugs and kisses, the Bat Queen." King finished.

"Bat Queen!?" Eda snapped to attention. King reached into the basket beside the baby and pulled out some snails, making Eda smile; "Reward?"

"Who's the Bat Queen?" Luz asked.

"Only the wealthiest demon on the Boiling Isles! Get in with her and you're set for life!" Eda said happily, holding one of the snails aloft. "So all we need to do is keep this thing alive for a few hours and we get paid? Pfft, easy!"

Luz smiled happily; "Aw, this will be fun! I love kids! I always wanted to volunteer at the daycare back home, but Mami was worried that my chaotic attempts to help would hurt someone."

Eda winced; "Uh, sorry to break it to you kid, but I'm gonna need you to scram for the day."

"What!? Why!?" Luz cried.

"This little guy is a Bat Demon. They drink blood! They're the source of vampire stories in your world." Eda explained, "They won't drink from other demons, but witches, humans, and little angels are fair game. Who knows what effect your blood could have on the baby! An overdose of your tears caused me to have a Bile Overload, and the regenerative effects were so strong that they rejuvenated my skin to the point that I now look like my actual age instead of an old lady! Minus the hair…" Eda flicked her grey locks, "But angel blood is way more potent, to the point of being potentially toxic to Demons. We don't know for certain what it'd do to them, so I can't risk the baby drinking from you."

"Oh…" Luz said disappointedly. She wanted to stay and play with the baby, but she didn't want the poor thing to get hurt. It sucked, but she'd stay away. "I guess I'll go out for the day."

"Why don't you check out the library?" Eda suggested, "You might find books on angels in the Demon Realm there. Plus I need someone to return the books I checked out."

She twirled her finger and summoned a large stack of library books into Luz's arms. The girl groaned under the weight; "Got it. I'll be back tonight, once the little one is asleep."

"Good call." Eda said, "Oh, and speaking of little ones, that reminds me; I've got to tell you something. Remember my sister Lilith? How she called you Luz Clawthorne at the duel?"

Luz's eyes widened; "I'd forgotten all about that. What was with that anyway?"

"Lilith's got it into her head that you're my daughter who inherited my curse." Eda said, making Luz gasp, "It makes some sense too. Your eyes are like mine, and taking an apprentice isn't usually my style. Plus she sensed your concealment stone and knows what you look like beneath it thanks to the Conformatorium. She thinks the white hair and feathery wings are symptoms of the curse."

"Whoa… I know you didn't tell her I was an angel, but did you correct the rest?" Luz asked.

"Nope. It'll be safer for you if the Emperor's Coven assumes you're just a cursed kid. I figure that's why they haven't come after you even though you announced yourself as an angel when you fought Wrath; they think you were playing around. Plus, Lilith will go easy on you if you ever meet again because she assumes you're her niece." Eda explained.

Luz gulped; she was a lot stronger now, but she didn't want to go face to face with a witch on the same level as Eda! Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea… "I won't be able to lie about it, but I guess I don't have to correct her if I see her. But what do you mean she sensed my concealment stone?" Luz pulled it out from her shirt; "This thing isn't much good if witches can tell its there!"

Eda shrugged; "Eh, your Mom just neglected to put a shielding enchantment on it to keep people from detecting its magic. I guess she considered it a waste of time in the Human Realm. I'll fix that now." she said, drawing a couple of spell circles and weaving the enchantment into the stone. Once she was done, Luz noticed that the familiar warmth she always felt from the stone was gone now, making her realise that she'd been sensing it too.

"There. Now go on to the library, before the baby bloodsucker wakes up." Eda instructed.

"Okay, thanks Eda! Good luck!" Luz said, before giving King a kiss on the cheek; "Love you, little buddy!" she added, then ran out the back door as King giggled.

She was barely ten feet from the house when she heard the most ear-piercing wailing she'd ever heard. She looked back to find the entire Owl House shaking from the vibrations.

"Oof, I guess they woke the baby…" she muttered to herself, before shrugging and skipping off to Bonesborough. She wished she could actually fly to her destination, but she was still new to her wings and couldn't concentrate on flying and maintaining an illusion at the same time yet, and the risk of being spotted was too large in broad daylight (she'd only been able to go on a few late night flights since gaining her fully grown wings). Still, it was a nice day so she enjoyed the walk into Bonesborough.

When she arrived (and exchanged a brief nod with Tinella Nosa, who was leaving with a massive tome of her own), she gasped up at the impressive library. It looked almost like a mix between a library and a medieval cathedral, being vast and ornate with colourful stain glass windows. The young angel grinned excitedly and hurried inside, and the moment she passed the threshold, the pile of books in her arms began to glow green and fly away from her towards the front desk, where a stern male librarian was making them fly through a red spell circle.

"Late. Late. Late…" he frowned, then grabbed one of the books; "Coffee, grass, and blood stains? These are Eda's, aren't they?"

Luz chuckled nervously; "S-Sorry. I can pay for those…" she said, summoning the coin purse Eda had given her. While she didn't get paid for doing chores, Luz did receive a cut of the profits for any potions she personally sold, brewed or were brewed with ingredients she'd grown, so she had a tidy sum of snails to her name.

The librarian just sighed and shook his head; "No no, I'll just put them on her tab." he said, summoning a long scroll and writing the new debts on it. He then pointed to a sign by his desk, depicting a shooting star with a crying face. "By the way, we're closing early tonight for the Wailing Star meteor shower."

"Ooh, what's that?" Luz asked.

The librarian gave her a deadpan stare; "You're in a library. Read a book."

"I am in a library… I will read a book!" Luz smiled, happily running off as the Librarian shushed her.

With two topics to look into now, Luz began searching around for something to help her find what she was looking for, and quickly found herself hopelessly distracted. She'd always loved reading at the library back home, but the Bonesborough Library was so much more interesting! The Dewey Decimal System was the Demon Decimal System here, and was alive (and not to be fed apparently), and books flowed through the air like literal rivers of knowledge. Even the computers often found in libraries had their own magical version here in the form of crystal balls.

"This place is amazing!" Luz gushed.

"What do you think you're doing!?" said a familiar voice.

Luz flinched at the harsh tone, recognising the voice as belonging to Amity. She wheeled around, expecting to find her friend behind her, only to find no one at all. She then heard the sound of small children laughing coming from the same direction as Amity's voice, so she decided to follow it. She ended up following the sound all the way to a secluded kid's corner, then gasped at what she found.

Amity was sat on a stool surrounded by small children, reading a story to them. The kids were all enraptured, and the mint-haired girl had such a serene look on her face as she read to them that Luz found herself becoming enraptured too. As quietly as she could, Luz crept in and hid herself behind a low shelf of books to listen to the last few pages of the story of Otabin the Bookmaker. It was a cute little story, but it was the storyteller that made Luz smile.

It was almost unfair! Amity was pretty and cool, not to mention smart and strong, but now Luz found she also had a cute side and was great with little kids! Amity must have access to the universe's cheat codes or something!

The story came to an end and the children thanked Amity happily before skipping off to continue their days (including a surprisingly deep voiced little boy named Braxas, who looked like a younger Warden Wrath). When the kids were all gone and Amity was putting away the book, Luz finally emerged from her little hiding spot.

"Oh! Luz! Uh, how long were you there?" Amity asked, embarrassed.

"Only for the last few pages." Luz smiled, "I never expected you to be reading to kids."

"It's for extra credit." Amity said quickly, though Luz didn't buy it.

"Aw, don't be like that. I thought it was really sweet." Luz giggled, "Maybe I could help next time? We could take turns and do voices! Oh, and Gus has been teaching me more about illusions, so I could make some cool effects to go along with it!"

Luz twirled her finger, conjuring an illusion of Otabin, based on the picture she'd seen on the cover of Amity's book. Amity smiled at the adorable little rabbit creature, but shook her head in refusal.

"That's nice of you Luz, but I think you'd be a bit too high energy. The other Librarians would get upset if we made the kids too excited and rowdy."

Luz pouted and dismissed her illusion; "Oh well. Maybe we could still hang out?"

"I'm sorry Luz. I'd normally love to hang out and talk, but I'm working right now." Amity replied.

"Aw, don't be like that Mittens!"

Luz and Amity turned to face the source of the new voice, the former with curiosity and the latter with annoyance. There stood not one person, but two; a pair of near identical twins in the illusion track uniform of Hexside, and apparently a few years older than Luz and Amity. One was male and the other female, yet both had the same golden eyes and mossy green hair, as well as extremely similar faces with matching beauty marks. The boy had short but neat hair with his beauty mark under his right eye, while the girl had long hair in a braid and her mark under her left eye. Both smiled strangely, making Luz wonder if they were being teasing or not.

"Oh, hi! Who are you guys?" Luz asked, trying to be polite.

"They're my older siblings." Amity scowled; "Edric and Emira. What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"Come on now Mittens, is that any way to talk to your big brother and sister?" Edric grinned.

"Yeah, especially since we came all this way to deliver your lunch." Emira added, holding in a giggle as she held out a cutesy rabbit themed lunch bag.

Amity blushed and snatched it away, hiding it from Luz's view, though the Latina angel just thought it was adorable.

"Mom says to stop forgetting it. "It's unbecoming of a Blight!" Emira continued, doing an impression of a snooty and cold sounding woman. Luz shuddered, hoping it was just the bad impression of a rebellious teen rather than accurate.

"And stop being a jerk to your friend, who came all this way to hang out with you." Edric finished, actually sounding serious for a moment.

"I'm not being a jerk!" Amity protested, "I just have to work!"

Luz put her hands up to calm things down; "Hey now, it's okay. I get it, Amity is busy today. Besides, I didn't actually come here for her. I'm looking for books on stuff."

Edric and Emira exchanged smiles and moved to flank Luz. Edric put an arm around her shoulders and Emira put another around her waist, wedging the girl between them and making her blush; "Well, if our little sister is too good for her friends, we'll happily help you." Edric said.

"R-Really?" Luz asked, getting flustered at how close the twins were.

"Of course! It'll be fun to hang out with Amity's only decent friend. The rest are all brats, but you're a sweet little cutie, aren't you?" Emira winked. It was hard to tell if she was being flirtatious or treating Luz like a cute animal, but either way it was making the poor girl's face heat up.

Amity growled and stalked forward, grabbing Luz's arm and yanking her out of her siblings' embrace and into her own. "You two only want to cause chaos! If Luz needs help, I'll be the one to do it. Helping library patrons is part of my job, after all."

The twins raised an eyebrow at their sister, before smirking and shrugging their shoulders. "Whatever you say, Mittens. See you around, cutie!" Emira said, leading her brother away. Amity kept her hold on Luz and watched with narrowed eyes until her siblings left the library. It was only once they were gone that she realised she was basically hugging Luz to her side.

"Oh Titan! I'm so sorry Luz!" she yelped, almost shoving the other girl away.

Luz just laughed nervously; "It's fine. Your siblings seem… nice?"

"They're nightmares who constantly try to get me in trouble." Amity corrected, "But enough about them. What can I help you with? If it's books, then I'll still be doing my job."

Luz brightened; "I'm definitely looking for books but it's kind of a secret. Involving my… condition?" she said, miming the flapping of wings with her hands.

Amity's eyes widened in understanding. She peered around to see if anyone was watching, then pulled Luz along with her to the romance section of the library. Luz blushed when she saw the topics of the books, and wondered why Amity was bringing her there, until the mint-haired girl suddenly stopped and pulled one of the books on the shelf; specifically "The Lone Witch and the Secret Room." The book glowed and made a clicking sound, then as it was returned to its original position, it clicked again and the entire shelf moved back into the wall, then slid across to reveal a secret entrance.

"Whoa…" Luz gasped, peering inside. It was a cosy little study area with Amity's personal books on the shelves, and throw pillows scattered around the place. There were even glow-in-the-dark stars and moons hanging from the ceiling. It looked exactly like the kinds of secret bases Luz had dreamt up as a kid.

"This is my secret hideaway." Amity said, closing the entrance behind them as Luz began to look around. "The Master Librarian Malphas lets me use it as a private place to study away from my family."

Luz frowned upon hearing that. Her only family was her Mami, and she'd never imagined wanting to be away from her. Before she was sent to camp and ended up on the Demon Realm, Luz had always been with her mother, so the idea of someone actually wanting to be away from their family was foreign to her.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked awkwardly.

"No." Amity replied firmly, before smiling; "I'd rather talk about you." she blushed, "I mean, talk about what you needed."

Luz nodded and explained the situation to Amity. The girl obviously knew she was an angel now, but she didn't know the truth about the glyphs or Luz's unusually sporadic evolutions, so Luz did her best to explain everything she knew, namely how she'd come to memorise the light and plant glyphs, and the events that had led to them bonding with her and triggering the beginning and completion of her maturity. She even temporarily removed her concealment stone so Amity could get a close look at her true, angelic form. Both girls had blushed as Luz pulled down her shirt a bit to show the light glyph on her sternum, then pulled it up to reveal the plant glyph on her stomach.

"I've never seen anything like these symbols." Amity said, her cheeks dyed red as she looked at Luz's bare abs. The angel girl was more skinny than shredded, but she still had a fairly toned midriff that had Amity sweating. "So you saw this in that weird flash back when we found the Mandragora Flowers?" she asked, trying not to think about Luz's bare skin.

"Yep, but it didn't appear on my skin until I fought the Owl Beast." Luz nodded.

Amity hummed; "I'm not sure I'll be able to help much with these "glyphs", but I think we have a couple of books on ancient iconography that might have clues. And there are a handful of books with angels in them. I might have looked through them all last week, when I first found out what you were." she admitted bashfully.

Luz just smiled; "That's fair; I read all the books on witches and witch biology that Eda had too. Did you know that aside from our hearts and wings, angels have almost identical bodies to witches and humans? All three of our races are super similar, though Mami once told me that we're a lot more different on the deeper, magical levels."

"Fascinating!" Amity smiled, leaning forward a bit; "Actually, I had a few questions about angels that I wanted to ask, if you don't mind?"

"Go right ahead. Ask anything you want; I might not answer if its too personal, but I won't get mad." Luz promised.

"Well first, I was wondering about your wings. How do they work exactly? They're sticking out of your back even though there are no holes for them in your shirt, and my siblings didn't notice them earlier when hugging you. Concealment stones like yours only cover up the things they hide, not magically remove them."

Luz gently flapped her wings, just enough to stretch them out and lightly rustle Amity's hair in the breeze; "Angels can use magic to "put away" their wings. They sort of just disappear when we want them too, though we can't do the same with our ears or hair colour or anything, so we still need concealment stones if we want to hide those features. If I'm wearing mine, then I put my wings away so they don't get caught on anything; they're kind of big now!" she grinned proudly. She really loved her fully grown wings; the stubby little cherub wings she'd had before were cute, but they'd also been a source of shame for Luz that she was happy to have lost.

"According to Mami, angels don't really like putting their wings away if they can help it. If they're hidden then they can't be used to generate our magic. There's even supposed to be a stigma in the Divine Realm against hiding them without a really good reason. As for my clothes; my shirts and tops are all enchanted by my Mami to let my wings pass through. It's a common thing that all angels learn. Even I can do it, now that my magic has matured." she finished.

Amity listened intently, and found herself subconsciously reaching to touch Luz's wings. She pulled back when she realised what she was doing, but Luz just smiled and gently brought her wings forward so they loosely wrapped around Amity in a hug-like hold. Amity blushed bright red, but took the opportunity to brush her fingers through Luz's feathers. They were soft and luxurious feeling; a little stiff in places but soft as silk when brushed the right way. Amity loved the feel of them on her fingers, and considering the way Luz was practically melting at her touch, Amity guessed she loved it just as much!

"I-I see! Have you ever been to the Divine Realm?" Amity asked, forcing herself to stop stroking Luz's feathers so both girls could concentrate.

"No, I've never been there. I was born and raised in the Human Realm, and never left until I accidentally stumbled my way here. I used to ask Mami about it, but she always said she didn't want to go back. I'm not entirely sure how we would go back… I think we'd need a portal like Eda's, but I have no idea where I'd find one." Luz said, a little disappointed that Amity had stopped petting her wings.

"Don't you have any family there?"

Luz shook her head; "Not really. At least not like humans or witches. Angels don't "do" families apparently. We have our Crest Orders and that's it."

Amity raised an eyebrow; "Crest Order?"

"Yep! Think of them like a combination of coven and commune. There are seven Crest Orders and all angels are born into one based on the role that we're judged to be best for. Each order has a role in society that we have to fulfil, and we're assigned to one based on what we're good at and where we're needed. We're usually raised to fulfil the role of the order we're born into, but if we prove to be better in another order, then we're moved to that one instead. Even if we don't want to." Luz said, adding that last part with a frown. "Our Crest Orders are our families, and Mami said there's a strict hierarchy with Cherubs on the bottom, then the grown Angels, followed by the slightly stronger High Angels, then the powerful Arch-Angels, and lastly the Seraphim. Each order has one Seraphim angel, which rules the order, and the Seven Seraphim make up the ruling government of the Divine Realm."

"That does sound a bit like our Coven system… what Crest Order are you in?" Amity asked.

"Crest Kindness!" Luz said proudly, "Our order is focused on healing. We're the doctors and nurses of the Divine Realm."

Amity smiled; "That's fitting." she said quietly. "What about the others?"

"Well there's Crest Chastity, which are the teachers and in charge of caring for children. Then Crest Charity, who run the economy…" Luz counted them off on her fingers, trying to remember the details. Her Mami hadn't liked talking about it, so she only knew a little bit about each one. "Next is Crest Diligence, who are the police officers and military angels. After that is Crest Temperance, who are the farmers and in charge of food. Then Crest Patience, who are like the courts, and lastly Crest Humility, who are the administrators and organisers."

Amity blinked; "That's… weirdly simple and straight forward. Are those really the only jobs?"

Luz shrugged; "It's probably more complicated, but that's what Mami told me. Chastity teaches Cherubs what they need to know for when they grow up, Temperance keeps everyone fed, Kindness keeps them healthy, Charity makes sure everyone has what they need to survive, Diligence keeps the peace, Patience deals with those who break the peace, and Humility makes sure the whole system is working. Mami said we can sometimes pick our Crest Order if we really want, but only if we're good enough at the job they do, and we aren't needed more elsewhere. In cases like that, we're stuck where they put us."

"So do you think you'll stay in Crest Kindness then?" Amity asked.

"If I ever got stuck living in the Divine Realm, then probably yeah. I like the idea of healing, and now that I can make my healing flowers I think I'd be good at it. But I could see joining Crest Temperance too, or maybe Chastity. I do love kids." Luz smiled, "I bet you'd be in Chastity if you were an angel; you were really good with the little ones."

Amity blushed; "T-Thanks. And for the record, I think you really suit Crest Kindness. You're the kindest person I know."

Both girls ended up blushing and avoiding each other's eyes after that. It was a few minutes before their faces had cooled down enough for them to face each other again.

"I-I don't have any more questions right now. Shall I show you the books I mentioned?" Amity offered.

"S-Sure! It's getting a little warm in here, so we should probably get moving." Luz replied, fanning herself.

The two girls stood and Luz put her concealment stone back on before they both left Amity's secret hideaway and began their search for the books Amity knew about. It took them a good hour just to hunt down all the titles currently in the library, and when they were done they had quite the stack to go through on both angels and iconography. They sat together at a free table and began to skim through them, with only the occasional interruption when someone else needed Amity's help for a moment.

After two hours of reading, both girls were becoming frustrated at their lack of progress.

"There is absolutely nothing on these bizarre glyphs of yours anywhere in these books." Amity scowled, closing a copy of "Symbols of the Deadwardian Era". "I've learned more than I ever wanted to know about ancient runic languages and Savage Ages Iconography, but nothing on glyphs!"

Luz nodded with a frown; "The books with angels in them aren't any better. Most of them have barely a mention of angels or the Divine Realm, and what I have found are old fairytales and folklore. The closest thing to non-fiction I've found is this." she held up a copy of "Taxonomy of Exotic Peoples from Beyond the Realm", before dropping it back to the table with disgust; "But even this is either wrong or flat out lies. Most of the information it has about angels, and humans too, is just plain wrong. I don't think the writer had even met an angel or human!"

Both girls groaned; they'd wasted hours gathering and looking through all these books, and the library's early closing time was fast approaching. Luz had gotten so caught up in her own research that she'd forgotten to even look into the Wailing Star like she'd planned to, and now her enthusiasm for reading was burnt out for the day. However, as annoying as the failed search had been, Luz did notice one thing that made her curious.

"Hey Amity, can I ask what you were taught about angels? Like in school or by your parents?" Luz said, lifting her head from where she'd laid it on the table.

Amity hummed and tapped her chin; "I remember being told stories about them when I started school. My parents aren't the type to tell their kids bedtime stories, so school was the first I'd heard of them. All we were told was that they're the dominant species of the Divine Realm, they have feathery wings and use magic, and that they live to spread their own brand of goodness and order."

Luz nodded; "None of that is inaccurate exactly… but when I first showed up here, King was freaked out. He thought angels were like dictators who killed anyone that didn't fit in to their order."

"I've never heard anything like that." Amity frowned.

"That's what I'm getting at." Luz said, "I read the old books that Eda had on angels, and they tended to paint us as dangerous like King thought, which explains why he reacted like he did. But all of these…" she gestured to the tall pile; "Just paint us as good and orderly. A few of the fairy tales even have us as heroes! Plus everyone else who found out what I was reacted like I was something special, but not scary." she added, thinking back to when Adegast had figured out what she was.

"I see what you mean. It's like there's been some cultural shift in our perception of angels. These books are all from the modern era, so perhaps the Savage Ages viewed angels as bad, while the modern era sees them as good or neutral." Amity suggested.

"But then what caused that shift? It can't have been random…" Luz said.

Amity wracked her brain for a moment, before gasping; "There are only two explanations I can think of; either Emperor Belos was involved, since he's the one who ended the Savage Ages and founded the modern era, or an actual angel showed up here and changed people's minds somehow!"

Luz shot to her feet; "Amity, you're a genius! There has to have been another angel here!"

"And the Savage Ages only ended about 50 years ago, so there's a chance there are still living people who knew this angel! Plus, if they were like you and found these glyphs, they may be the secret to figuring out why they're appearing on your skin!" Amity smiled, feeling like everything was clicking into place.

"Let's go ask one of the older librarians, they might know something." Luz said, grabbing all their books and tucking them under one arm while taking Amity's hand with the other. The mint-haired girl squeaked but didn't protest as she was pulled along to the front desk, helping Luz put back their unneeded books along the way. When they arrived, Luz noticed the same librarian who'd taken Eda's books earlier was still there, so she cheerfully greeted him.

"Hello sir! I was wondering if you could help me with something?" Luz smiled, speaking softly.

The librarian raised an eyebrow as he noticed Amity beside her; "I assume this is something you weren't able to help with, Amity?"

"We've already looked at all the books I knew about on the subject." she said primly.

"Very well. What can I help you with?"

"I'm researching angels…" Luz began.

"For a school project." Amity quickly added, so Luz wouldn't have to lie.

"… and I've noticed that public opinion on them has changed from negative to positive when the Savage Ages ended. I was wondering if you knew where I could find details on why, or if any angels have come to the Boiling Isles in living memory?" Luz finished.

The librarian stroked his chin; "What a peculiar topic for a project. It is fascinating though." he began, "I was just a young boy when the Emperor unified the Boiling Isles into the modern empire and officially ended the Savage Ages. Angels were a taboo topic back then, but after the Emperor took power, he revealed that Angels were actually blessed by the Titan to serve as agents of its will. Apparently when the Titan is in need of assistance, it summons an angel from the Divine Realm to do its bidding. After that proclamation, all old books about them were banned and largely destroyed. Only a few copies still exist for the sake of history, and they are stored in the Emperor's private library or the Forbidden Stacks here."

Luz and Amity exchanged wide-eyed looks; "I've never heard anything about this!" Amity exclaimed.

"You wouldn't have." the Librarian replied, "It was a fairly small and insignificant proclamation and decree being made in the middle of a lot of bigger, more important announcements. It also doesn't help that a real angel hasn't been seen in the Demon Realm for hundreds of years. Although there was a hoax about 15 years ago."

"A hoax?" Luz asked.

The librarian nodded; "Yes. Some fool witch disguised themselves as an angel in an attempt to gain access to the Emperor. Their plot was foiled by the previous Golden Guard and one of the Coven Heads, though the Golden Guard died whilst protecting the Emperor and the fake angel was wiped out completely. No other details on it were made public. Not even which Coven Head was involved, or the fake angel's name or gender."

Luz frowned in disappointment; "I see… thank you for the help."

She and Amity left the Librarian to his work and returned to Amity's secret hideaway, where Luz collapsed into a pillow and groaned; "So much for that theory. No real angels in hundreds of years and people changed their minds about us just because of Belos…"

Amity frowned; "Luz, aren't you seeing the potential connection here?"

"What do you mean?" Luz asked.

"Emperor Belos decreed that angels were agents of the Titan. The only other person he's described in the same way is himself! Think about it."

The young angel's eyes widened; "Eda once told me that Belos installed his own order… instilling order and changing the perception of angels… do you think Belos IS an angel!?"

"It would make sense. No one knows where Emperor Belos came from or anything about his family, other than his claims that they were destroyed by Wild Witches." Amity said.

Luz felt like all the pieces were clicking together and falling into place. Belos loved order, painted himself and angels as basically prophets of the Titan, and lost his family to Wild Witches, inspiring his crusade against them. It all fit, especially if those Wild Witches had targeted his family because they were angels and they were still going off the old perception that angels were dictators. Though the irony of Belos then actually becoming a dictator as a result was not lost on Luz.

"It all fits… Belos is an angel!" Luz smiled brightly, before her expression fell again; "But it's not like I can ask him about my sudden changes or the glyphs… he's Eda's enemy and will probably capture me on sight, if not kill me for "fraternizing" with a wild witch… It's another dead end."

Amity frowned and patted Luz's back sympathetically; "I'm sorry, Luz. I wish I'd been able to help more. The only other lead we have is the glyphs, and those are almost definitely Wild Magic. Books on Wild Magic were outlawed and destroyed decades ago."

"Yeah… it sucks that the few books Eda managed to find didn't mention them." Luz sighed. If books on Wild Magic were destroyed though, it made sense that her mentor wouldn't be able to find many… she'd probably had to pilfer the few she had.

Luz suddenly gasped; "Wait a second, the Librarian said that when those old angel books were destroyed, surviving copies were preserved for history in places like the Emperor's library and here! Amity, there might still be some Wild Magic books right under our noses!"

Amity smiled happily at the idea, then cringed as she realised something; "That's true Luz, but if we have them then they must be in the Forbidden Stacks. Only Malphas the Master Librarian is allowed in there."

"Couldn't you sneak us in?" Luz asked, giving the best puppy dog eyes she could.

"My staff card should open the door… but I can't, Luz. I'd lose my job." Amity frowned.

"What if I went in alone? That way you wouldn't get in trouble!"

Amity shook her head. There door kept a magic record of everyone who opened it, and while Malphas rarely checked the records, if he ever did then he'd feed Amity to the book worms! She couldn't lose her one safe haven away from her family… not even for Luz.

"I'm sorry Luz, but I can't. Please understand." she said sadly, hating to see the look of disappointment on her friend's face.

Luz couldn't help but feel stung by the dashing of her hopes, but she understood where Amity was coming from. In truth, she didn't really want to break-in either; committing a crime like that was against her morals as an angel, and unlike the Conformatorium, where she'd been essentially coerced until she realised the Warden was evil, this wasn't something she had to do; just something she wanted. Finding answers was important to her, but not essential.

"I understand, Amity. I'm all out of leads now, but I still owe you one big time for helping me this much."

"No you don't. After saving me from the Mandragora and getting us out of that duel, I think if anything I still owe you." Amity smiled softly, before looking at her Smart Scroll, "It's nearly time to close up for the day. I'll show you out, okay?"

"Okay." Luz nodded.

The two left the hideaway and walked to the library entrance, were the other Librarians were already herding people out so they could close up for the Wailing Star meteor shower. They stepped outside, then Amity said; "Well, I've got to help tidy things up before I can head home, so I'll see you later Luz. I'm sorry again that I couldn't do more to help."

"Nah, you did more than enough. Thank you Amity; even if I didn't get all the answers I wanted, I still learned a lot. Heck, just seeing you with the kids was worth the trip." Luz said, grinning at the memory.

Amity blushed and smiled; "Y-You're such a dork! I'll see you another time, okay?"

"See you later, Choco-Mint!" Luz teased. Amity rolled her eyes fondly and headed back into the library, Luz waving to her as she went. However as soon as the library doors shut behind her friend, Luz sighed heavily.

"Dang it… If only I had another way into the Forbidden Stacks. I feel like I'm so close to figuring out what's been happening to me, and now I'm being stumped by a locked door…" she muttered.

"Got a problem, Cutie?"

Luz yelped in surprise and spun around to find Edric and Emira stood there watching her, wearing their usual matching smirks.

"O-Oh! It's you guys! Um, are you waiting for Amity?" Luz asked.

"Nah, Mittens can take care of herself. But you look like you could use some help." Edric said.

"Yeah, something about the Forbidden Stacks. Did Amity refuse to help?" Emira asked.

Luz nodded; "Yeah, though I get why. I don't want to get her in trouble. She's already been super helpful, especially since I always seem to make her mad."

The twins each raised an eyebrow; "You make her mad?"

"Not on purpose!" Luz said quickly, "But sometimes I'll do something and she'll go all stiff and red in the face…"

Edric and Emira looked at the girl with disbelief, almost unable to comprehend just how innocent this girl was. How did their sour sister become friends with this little sweetie? They were compelled to find out, and they knew just how to do it.

"Nah, when Mittens gets angry, she looks like this." Edric said, grunting and holding his breath until he went bright red and his face was screwed up. He then released the breath and sighed; "Whoa! Almost passed out…"

Luz smiled awkwardly, not really believing him when he said Amity wasn't getting mad at her. After all, aside from the holding breath and screwed up face, that had looked a lot like the times Amity had gone red-faced…

"I'll have to take your word for it." she said diplomatically.

Emira chuckled, then said; "You really are different from Mittens' other friends. Say, why don't we help each other out?"

"You need my help?" Luz immediately perked up.

"Yeah, we're planning on coming back here tonight. There's a certain book we forgot to check out." Emira started.

"And if you don't mind helping us out, then we can help you bust into the Forbidden Stacks. Plus, as a bonus, the Wailing Star is supposed to unlock some cool magical event, which is why they had to close early." Edric finished.

Luz considered it; she didn't like the idea of breaking in, and something about the twins' offer felt a little shady, like they were hiding something… but this could also be the only way she could get her hands on those wild magic books without getting Amity in trouble! Perhaps it was just because it was the only reasonable lead she had left, but Luz felt desperate to get a hold of them.

"Just what kind of help do you need?" Luz asked curiously.

"Well we don't actually know what the Wailing Star is going to do. It could be dangerous, and since we specialise in illusions, we need someone with a bit more combat experience just in case." Emira explained.

"And who better than the girl who kicked our little sister's butt back at the Covention?" Edric grinned.

"Hoo boy, Amity's lucky that Mom thinks it's just a rumour spread by the Owl Lady…" Emira muttered.

Luz gulped; the more she heard about Amity's mother, the more worried she was getting. "I didn't kick her butt. The actual fight part of the duel was a tie, and Amity only surrendered after that because she was mad at Lilith for forcing her into the duel and trying to make her cheat."

"Whatever you say, cutie." Emira said, regaining her smile, "So, you in?"

Luz thought about it for a moment, then nodded; "Sure!"

"Great! Meet us back here at midnight. See you, Luz!" Edric said. The twins then walked off, leaving Luz to begin heading home at a sedate pace.

"Perfect! Now I can get those books without getting Amity in trouble! It's not stealing if they're library books that I'm going to return, right?" Luz said, whispering that last part to herself.

As the young angel walked off, she had no idea that her mint-haired friend was watching and listening from one of the library windows, frowning severely. Amity was fuming; her idiot siblings were taking advantage of Luz! If they wanted to break into the library then it had to be for some nefarious reason; likely a prank aimed at her! Well, Amity was going to show them! She could end this in an instant by just calling Luz and telling her the truth, and then telling her parents and the librarians what they were up to!

Amity summoned her Smart Scroll and was about to do just that, only to hesitate. Sure she could end this, but maybe she could also bend it to her advantage… If the twins could get Luz into the Forbidden Stacks without getting their little sister fired, then Amity certainly wasn't going to stop them… plus calling Mom on them would be cruel, especially since they hadn't spilled the beans about the Covention… Amity still felt bad for ratting on them when they cut class, especially since her Mom's lecture to them was still ringing in her ears! And she wasn't even the target!

She put her scroll away again. No, all she needed to do was thwart their prank. That way Luz could get her books, the twins wouldn't get in too much trouble, and Amity would get a bit of payback for their teasing. It was perfect!

[Later, at Midnight]

Luz paced the front steps of the library, keeping to the shadows as much as possible to avoid being spotted by the people still roaming the town. Bonesborough had always had a decently lively night life, but thanks to the Wailing Star, it was a lot busier as people came out to see it.

The young angel had been waiting for quite a while. With the Bat Queen's child still at the Owl House and still screaming the place down when she'd gotten home, Luz had decided to stretch her improving illusion skills by going for a flight while making herself look like she was using Owlbert. She'd also gotten dinner and taken a nap on the library roof, while leaving a note with Hooty to let Eda and King know she'd be late. She doubted they'd miss her though; they'd looked busy when she'd peeked through the window, as the Bat Queen's child had somehow become three children and capable of breathing fire.

But now it was getting closer and closer to the Wailing Star's arrival, and Luz was getting antsy for Edric and Emira's arrival. Thankfully, the twins were punctual if nothing else and appeared at exactly midnight, walking up the library steps in new, casual outfits. They still matched; both having burgundy tunics with dark purple sleeves and grey pants, though Emira wore her's rolled up to mid-thigh and had a green diamond shaped gem on her chest, while Edric had a black belt around his waist.

"Hey Luz. Right on time. You ready to head inside?" Edric asked.

"Mm-hmm!" Luz nodded eagerly, "I can't wait! Everyone's come out to see the Wailing Star, and it's gotten me excited to see what it does!"

"Awesome! We'll check it out, then help you get into the Forbidden Stacks. Then we can find the book we're after." Emira said, taking an arcane scroll being offered by Edric.

Luz watched as Emira unrolled it to reveal ancient text with images of a key and key ring, which glowed faintly. Edric noticed her watching and smirked; "The door says no trespassing, but I'm allergic to the rules."

"And dairy." Emira chirped.

"Wow, okay… just… expose me." Edric pouted as Emira put the scroll against the lock of the library door.

Luz giggled and whispered; "Don't worry Edric, I'm allergic to dairy too. Or at least, I am to Human Realm dairy."

One of the strange things she'd learned was that she could actually eat the milk and cheese from the Demon Realm. She guessed it was because it didn't contain lactose, though she opted not to look too deeply into it for fear of finding out what it contained instead.

Edric smiled and ruffled Luz's hair, then they both watched as Emira's key scroll turned to ash and the door's keyhole expanded enough for them to just walk through it. Luz gasped in amazement, then followed the twins into the dimly lit lobby as the keyhole shrank back to normal behind her. Luz briefly looked around, finding the library far more eerie without people or light, then turned back to the twins.

"We're in! Now what?" she asked.

Edric pointed to the circular stain glass window high above the door; "Look there! The Wailing Star!"

All three looked up through the window as a massive green shooting star streaked across the sky, shining an emerald light over the town of Bonesborough and making a sorrowful cry echo across the isles. Edric and Emira thought it was cool, but also kind of creepy to hear a crying meteor, while Luz found her heart aching and tears forming in her eyes. She didn't know why, but something in that crying voice really pulled at her heart strings…

In fact, Luz actually found her chest and stomach heating up a little, as an odd feeling washed through her from the glyph markings.

The girl was pulled out of her thoughts by Edric, who was looking around the library with a small frown. "Huh, that was cool, but nothing happened."

Luz looked too, but saw all the books glowing with powerful emerald light. "Can't you see the books? They're glowing?"

Emira and Edric blinked, and took a closer look at the nearest shelves, where sure enough they noticed a dim glow. It was slowly getting brighter too.

"Oh yeah. Well spotted Luz." Emira said, pulling a random book from the shelf.

Luz raised an eyebrow; well spotted? The glow was so obvious though! It was so bright that it illuminated the entire library! Or was she just more sensitive to the Wailing Star's magic for some reason?

Emira opened the book she'd picked; "Beasts of the Boiling Isles Past", and in a flash of green light, all the creatures pictured on the page she'd opened it to began to flood out of the pages and into the library. Extinct Demon Realm creatures ranging from dinosaur-like creatures to other assorted mega-fauna all began to emerge and run around, either hunting each other, trying to escape, or eyeing the three teens hungrily. One beast, which looked suspiciously like some breed of draconic giraffe, opened its mouth wide and lunged down to swallow Emira whole, but Luz quickly blasted it in the face with a light beam. It backed off with a shriek and Emira screamed, dropping the book and causing it to close as it hit the ground.

Instantly, all the creatures vanished just as they had appeared, leaving Luz and the Twins breathing heavily to recover from their panic.

"That was too close! I knew bringing you along would pay off, Luz!" Emira said, pulling the younger girl into a hug of gratitude.

"I'm happy to help! But did you see what happened?" Luz asked, eyes twinkling.

Edric's eyes were doing the same thing; "Yeah! The Wailing Star brought the books to life!"

The three teens looked at one another, each thinking the same thing. With grins and excited laughter, they each began grabbing different books and bringing the contents to life. They used magazines to give themselves the newest fashions, and a graphic novel to give themselves speech bubbles when they talked. Luz opened books on cute animals so she could pet the contents, and the twins opened books on famous figures so they could get their autographs. They even discovered they could have a snowball fight by using copies of "Snowballs, a History" (definitely the most peculiar book Luz had ever seen), and all three quickly ended up cold, wet, and covered in snow, but able to return to pristine condition by closing the books to make the snow vanish.

They ended up having so much fun with the Wailing Star's magic that Luz almost forgot what she'd come to the library to do, at least until she'd wandered to the kid's corner and found the Otabin book Amity had been reading earlier. Reminded of that sweet sight, Luz picked the book up and opened it, summoning the little pink rabbit creature known as Otabin, along with his needle and ball of thread. Otabin looked up at Luz with adorable, uncomprehending eyes, making Luz coo and pet him fondly.

"You're an adorable little friend, aren't you?" she said.

"Friend?" Otabin replied hopefully.

Luz nodded and opened her mouth to speak, but she was interrupted by the twins. "Hey Luz, check this out!" Edric said, as Emira showed Luz a children's book called "Quacks eats Snacks".

"Look what we discovered!" Emira added, opening the book to summon the titular duck Quacks, who began to "swim" around on the library floor.

Luz cooed at the adorable duck, but then Edric took out a pencil and drew on the picture of Quacks in the book, giving it muscular human legs. In a flash of light, the conjured Quacks now had the same legs that had been drawn onto its picture, and it began to run around in a panic, quacking frantically.

"Now he's extra cute." Emira said. The twins laughed, but Luz just felt sorry for the poor thing. She didn't know how "alive" these conjured beings actually were, but it felt wrong to mess with them like that.

Edric offered the pencil to her; "Your turn, Luz."

Luz took the pencil and looked to the Otabin book, and the still summoned bookmaker that now sat on her shoulder. She didn't want to draw anything on him; he was cute and perfect as he was! But the expectant look on the twins' faces left Luz certain they wouldn't let the matter drop. So, instead of drawing on Otabin, Luz decided to do an experiment of her own by taking the Quacks book and writing words beneath the altered picture.

"I'll write; "Quacks really liked his big new legs, and felt really happy!" That should do the trick." Luz said.

Edric and Emira eyed her curiously, then looked over to the panicking Quacks. It shimmered for a moment, then calmed down completely and began to trot around on its new legs with pride.

"Much better! It looks like we can edit things with words as well as pictures. That could be useful." Luz said, closing Quacks' book to make it vanish.

"Speaking of useful; we didn't come here just to doodle." Emira said, "Let's get to the Forbidden Stacks; I bet we'll find a ton of interesting books there, and you can do whatever it is you're doing."

Luz agreed immediately, and the trio headed towards the entrance to the Forbidden Stacks. It was a large, imposing door with three terrifying gargoyle statues atop it, and some kind of brass panel on the side of the door frame. Seeing no keyholes or door handles, Luz tentatively pushed the doors only to find them completely locked in place. Before she could ask how to get in, Emira pulled a small card from her pocket and waved it over the brass panel, causing the door to glow red and begin opening.

"Whoa! Is that some kind of trick unlocking card? Like the scroll you used on the front door?" Luz asked eagerly.

Emira put the card away and grinned; "Something like that. Now let's go!"

The three teens walked into the Forbidden Stacks, the large door closing behind them. The hallways they passed through were seriously creepy; filled with scary statues and shelves of tomes with dangerous sounding titles. It made Luz feel an unnatural chill in her bones, and even Edric and Emira looked less confident as they crept through to the main chamber. When they arrived there, they found it to be a large, dungeon-like chamber almost as big as the rest of the library, with books flying through the air on their own and spectral red hands working to keep everything in place. The size of the place alone was intimidating, and that was without knowing the books stored here were forbidden… many for probably good reasons.

"Creepy… So how we finding these books of yours?" Edric asked.

Luz smiled and gently patted Otabin's head; "You actually gave me an idea on how to do that, and this little fella is going to help!"

Emira and Edric watched with interest as Luz pulled Otabin's open book from her satchel where she'd stowed it, then began writing under the rabbit creature's picture.

"Otabin could happily and easily sniff out books on angels, glyphs, and wild magic, and lead his new friends Luz, Edric, and Emira to them." Emira read aloud.

As soon as Luz finished writing, Otabin shimmered with green light for a moment, then hopped off of Luz's shoulder and began sniffing the air. It didn't take him long to find something, leading him to jump up and down excitedly and squeak his little heart out, urging Luz and the twins to follow him. They exchanged grins and chased after Otabin, who hopped along with surprising speed until they found their way to a nondescript shelf on one of the lower levels. Otabin jumped up onto it and chased off a strange skull-faced rat who had begun gnawing on an ancient looking book, then pointed eagerly to it. Luz reached up and took the book, then blew on it to clear some of the thick dust that had accumulated on it.

It appeared to be an old leather bound diary. It was at least a few hundred years old, and its corners had been nibbled by that weird mouse, but it otherwise appeared intact.

"I've got to admit, that was clever Luz." Edric said, petting a proud looking Otabin. "But how come this little guy only led us to one book?"

"Luz wrote "angels, glyphs, AND wild magic." Emira answered, "That means he can only lead us to books with all three in them. This must be the only book in the whole place that does."

Otabin nodded with a squeak; "I help friends."

Luz picked Otabin up and hugged him; "Thank you so much, little friend! If this book mentions all three of those things, then it has to be what I'm looking for!" she said gratefully.

Putting Otabin back on her shoulder, Luz then looked down at the diary. The cover was fairly nondescript, with only the author's name scrawled across it; Philip Wittebane. Luz couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she was sure she'd heard the name Wittebane before…

Before she could open the diary and take a look however, there was a loud slam as a door in the distance was magically thrown open. Luz and the twins nearly jumped out of their skin, and peeked around the corner to see who'd made the sound. There they spotted a large figure shrouded in darkness and hidden by a large feathery cloak, who was emerging from deeper in the Forbidden Stacks. The figure had a single visible glowing eye peeking out from within the cloak, and two spindly arms reaching out too, one of which was clutching a cone-shaped lantern. The figure was sat atop a giant floating book, which releasing billowing smoke from beneath it, shrouding the area around it in fog. Luz narrowed her eyes, making out the word "Staff" written on the spine of the book the creature was riding.

"That must be Malphas, the Master Librarian Amity was talking about!" she whispered.

"We're in big trouble if he catches us." Emira whispered back, "So…"

"Let's bounce!" Edric suddenly yelled, conjuring a massive illusion of the draconic giraffe that had almost eaten his sister.

Malphas snapped his head towards them at the sound, but was quickly distracted by the illusion, which began pretending to eat the books. "Intruders!" he rumbled, chasing after the giraffe. With him distracted, Edric and Emira ran for the exit, dragging Luz along with them. They managed to get all the way back out to the rest of the library without being caught, though Luz could hear Malphas chasing closely behind them. The instant they were out of the Forbidden Stacks, the trio separated, with the twins rushing off into the shadows and Luz running the other direction. Once she was confident she was alone, Luz summoned her wings and flew up to the top of a tall shelf, hoping Malphas wouldn't see her.

The Master Librarian emerged from the Forbidden Stacks and looked around, a menacing growl rumbling out of his mouth as he failed to catch sight of any intruders. He eventually turned around, apparently giving up, much to Luz's relief, but then he leaned down to the brass panel that had unlocked the doors earlier, and waved a hand over it. It glowed and an illusory image of Amity appeared from it.

"Amity… her staff card was used to open the door… This will have to be dealt with…" Malphas growled, before heading back into the Forbidden Stacks.

Luz felt her heart stop; that card Emira had used hadn't been some secret lockpicking card! It was Amity's Staff ID! The twins must have stolen it from her so they could get Luz into the Forbidden Stacks! Luz put her face in her hands as she released a quiet whine; now Amity was in trouble! This was exactly what Luz had been trying to avoid, and now because of her and the twins, Amity might lose her job!

"No, I've got to talk to Malphas and explain!" she whispered. But without Amity's ID in her possession, Malphas would still think Amity helped her! She needed to get it back from the twins.

Speaking of which, Luz looked around and couldn't see them anywhere. She doubted they'd left the library; they still had to find the book they were after too. But they'd never told Luz what book it was they were after, so how was she supposed to find them? The young angel wracked her brain for the answer, then frowned as she thought of a possibility.

Going off this hunch, Luz flew down to the ground and hurried off to the romance section, and just as she expected, she heard the laughter of the twins and saw that the door to Amity's secret study room was open. Luz walked in with a frown, noticing the twins looking at a book with a miniature version of Amity emerging from it.

"That half-human girl, Luz, came back to school today." the mini Amity said, "Apparently she's volunteering to help with the clean up to avoid getting banned. I don't know why I felt so happy to see her, or why she's being so nice to me. I didn't make a very good first impression, what with those things I said to Willow…"

Luz's eyes widened slightly; "Huh?"

The mini Amity continued; "I went too far there. I don't want to come off as cruel, I just can't show weakness… if Mom found out I was even being nice to Willow, she'd be so angry. But Luz doesn't know that… I must have looked like a bully to her, but she's still calling me her friend. I don't understand her at all."

"What is that?" Luz asked, snapping Edric and Emira out of their amusement.

"Oh, hey Luz! We thought you'd have run halfway home by now." Edric said casually, closing the book and making mini Amity vanish. "Check this out, it's Mittens' diary!"

He handed the book to Luz, and the girl saw a hand-drawn picture on the cover, depicting Amity in Azura style garb. It was cute, and reminded Luz of some of her own drawings back in the Human Realm. However the realisation of what this meant made her scowl.

"This is the book you came for?" she asked.

"Yep!" Edric grinned, "Mittens has gotten too… full of herself. She keeps tattling on us when we cut class."

"She needs to learn not to mess with people, or poke her nose where it doesn't belong. So we'll use this to teach her how that feels." Emira continued.

"By posting the pages all around school for everyone to see!" they finished together, before cackling at their scheme.

Luz gasped; that was taking things way too far! What had Amity done to deserve such humiliation, and from her own siblings!

"No! You can't do that! It's way too cruel!" Luz protested.

"No Luz. You see, we're her family! It's tough love! She needs to learn to lighten up and go with the flow!" Emira said soothingly, while Edric took Amity's diary back from Luz.

"Yeah, plus you saw what she wrote. She was bullying your friend! A little justice is warranted, right?" Edric said.

Luz shook her head; "This isn't justice! This is just bullying her right back! Besides, she also wrote that she didn't want to be mean! Please, let's just put the book back! We've already caused enough trouble!" she cried, trying to take the diary back. Edric held it high over their heads where she couldn't reach, forcing her to try and jump for it.

Emira hugged her from behind to restrain her; "Come on Luz, she needs this! It's for her own good!"

"It'll teach her what it's like to be humiliated! She'll be a nicer person afterwards!" Edric added.

"You don't teach people to be kind by being cruel!" Luz snapped, on the verge of using her wings to push Emira off and grab back the diary. She only hesitated because it would mean exposing her true self to the twins, and after this display, she was sure that would end badly for her.

"Come on Luz! You can't tell me you're not curious what else she wrote about you!" Edric said, opening the diary again to a more recent entry.

The mini Amity rose out of the pages again and began speaking; "I discovered something amazing yesterday, Diary. I got caught out in the rain after my shift at the library and had to take cover, when some bird demon attacked the town! I thought I was a goner, but Luz showed up. I finally understand why she's so nice all the time, and why her magic is weird! She's an ang-"

Luz gasped; "NO!"

Suddenly, Otabin jumped off of her shoulder and landed on Amity's diary, covering the mini Amity's mouth to gag her and prevent the twins from learning Luz's secret. The little fella then jabbed Edric's fingers with his needle, making the boy yelp and drop the diary, which Otabin quickly closed and tied shut with his ball of string.

"Friends shouldn't bully friends." the little creature said cutely.

"We're not bullying anyone, we're just trying to- Ow! Hey!" Edric cried, trying to pick up the diary again only to be warded off by Otabin's needle.

Luz and Emira watched him keep trying for a few seconds, before Emira rolled her eyes and grabbed Otabin's book from Luz's satchel, then shut it so the rabbit would disappear, along with his string, allowing Edric to grab Amity's diary again. However, since Emira had taken one arm off of Luz's body, the young angel was able to wiggle an arm free and shoot vines out to snatch the diary back. Edric didn't let go however, and the three of them soon ended up wrestling for the book, each trying to keep it out of the others hands.

"What do you think you're doing!?"

The three of them froze and turned to find Amity standing in the doorway of her hideaway, scowling furiously. The girl glared at her siblings, then noticed the book they were trying to grab.

"Really!? This was your prank!? You wanted to steal my diary!?" Amity spat furiously, marching forward. Her anger was so intense that the twins recoiled and practically hid behind Luz, who was quick to thrust the book towards Amity while bowing her head.

"I'm so sorry, Amity! I never would have agreed to any of this if I knew what they were going to do!" Luz cried.

Amity snatched her diary away and hugged it to her chest; "Did you read any of it?" she demanded.

"N-No, but the Wailing Star brought it to life, so I heard a couple of entries, and the twins were already looking in it when I caught up with them, so I don't know how much they heard…" Luz confessed, "But I swear I won't tell anyone! I'll make an Everlasting Oath to prove it if I have to!"

Amity's expression softened slightly; "It's fine, Luz. I figured my rotten siblings were going to use you for something nefarious. I overheard you three plotting to break in here earlier, and decided to follow you to thwart whatever prank they'd planned to pull."

"Surprised you didn't just rat us out again…" Emira muttered.

Amity scowled at her big sister; "I'm sorry Mom was so hard on you both, but I only did it because you're always goofing off and getting me into trouble! It isn't fair that you two get to coast on by while I'm stuck being Mom's little doll!" she yelled, making her siblings wince, "Besides, I wasn't going to rat you out because I owe you for not ratting me out over the Covention."

The twins exchanged guilty expressions. Considering what Amity had just said, and Luz's own loud protests, their original plan was beginning to sound crueller and crueller by the minute. Sure they were bitter over their Mom's lecturing, but even they had to admit that Amity got the worst of it, even though she was the one who actually tried to live up to the woman's impossible standards.

"You really weren't going to tell on us?" Edric asked in a small voice.

Amity shook her head; "No, I wasn't. If I was, I would have already done it and wouldn't have had to come down here myself! I'm starting to think that's what I should have done anyway, seeing as you wanted to expose my secrets to the whole school! Do you have any idea what Mom would have done to me if some of my secrets got out? Not to mention Luz!"

"What about Luz?" Emira said, confused.

The youngest Blight caught herself before she could spill any secrets, instead choosing to be vague; "W-Well Mom doesn't know I'm friends with her, and I may have written private things she'd told me in my diary! If you'd posted the pages, everyone would know Luz's secrets too, and Mom would make me stop being friends with her, just like she did with-"

Again, Amity clamped her mouth shut before she could say too much, though by the looks on Luz and the twins' faces, she'd still said more than she should have. Twin looks of horrified realisation dawned on Edric and Emira's faces as they pieced together what Amity had meant, while Luz just looked upset at the idea of Amity's Mom making her stop being friends with someone.

"We didn't realise…" Emira whispered, looking upset with herself.

"We thought it would be just a prank. We didn't think it'd hurt you or Luz." Edric said truthfully.

Amity certainly believed them; her siblings were more thoughtless than malicious, but it still didn't make her forgive them.

"We can talk about this later. I'm just glad Luz was here to stop you, or my whole plan to thwart your prank would have gone up in flames." she said, tucking her diary away in an expanded pocket of her casual wear; which consisted of a thigh-length black dress with elbow-length sleeves worn over dark red tights.

Luz perked up as Amity shot her a grateful smile, though her words twigged something in her mind. "By the way, if you overheard us planning to come here, how come you're so late?"

"I actually was right behind you. I tailed the twins to the library, but that spell they cast on the door lock faded before I could sneak in with you. I'd planned to use my staff ID to get in through the staff door around the back, but it was gone from my pocket." Amity explained. "I had to scale up to a window that I knew had a broken lock, and it took a while. I literally only just got in here."

The twins both cringed and Luz paled as she remembered Malphas. "Oh no… Amity, you need to get out of here! The twins used your ID card to get us into the Forbidden Stacks! Malphas knows about it too! If he finds you here-!"

Amity went as white as a sheet as she realised what it would mean for her; Malphas would assume she was the one who let the others in! She'd be fired for certain!

Unfortunately, before Luz could finish her sentence or Amity could even think about fleeing the library, all four teens saw an ominous shadow loom over them. They all turned and gulped as the cloaked, shadowy form of Malphas appeared in the doorway of Amity's hideaway.

"Amity Blight!" the Master Librarian bellowed ominously, snapping the claws on his free hand.

In an instant, the same spectral red hands Luz had seen in the Forbidden Stacks appeared from the ground and lunged at them. Luz, Amity, Edric, and Emira were all grabbed and tightly held by the hands, leaving them completely powerless to escape. Luz briefly managed to free Amity by firing a light blast from her mouth to destroy the hand grabbing her, but Malphas just snapped his claws again and another hand emerged to grab the youngest Blight, while Luz's mouth was covered by one of the fingers holding her.

The four teens thrashed and wriggled to try and get free. The twins loudly protested and Amity pleaded with Malphas, but they accidentally drowned each other out and Malphas soon had them gagged too. He floated silently on his book until they arrived at the library's front desk, where he forced the teens to sit on the ground before releasing their mouths. Malphas then removed his feathery cloak, revealing them to be his own wings, and showed his bird-like face.

"Amity…" he began, his voice a lot less menacing now that it wasn't echoing out of his wings, "I'm just like, super disappointed in you. I get that the Wailing Star is kinda cool, but breaking in with your siblings and friend? And breaking into the Forbidden Stacks too? I can't even, like, process these feelings right now."

"Sir, please let me explain! It isn't what you think!" Amity begged.

"Amity, girl, I saw your ID on the entry records for the Forbidden Stacks. I found you here, with your siblings and friend." Malphas shook his head disappointedly, then looked to Luz and the twins; "You're Edric and Emira Blight, and Luz Noceda correct? I'm probably gonna have to call your parents…"

"Wait, how do you know who we are!?" Edric blurted out.

Malphas waved his claw and a large book with the words "Visitor's Book" appeared in front of him. "When I noticed intruders, I went to check this. It has, like, super old magic on it. It tells me the names of everyone who enters the library, when they came and when they went. I saw your names there and saw you hadn't left yet."

So that was how he knew they were still there, despite seemingly giving up the search earlier. Luz was kind of curious how the book worked and how it knew people's names, but this wasn't really the time to ask.

Malphas turned back to Amity; "Gosh, it's so hard for me to say this, but like, I have to fire you…"

Amity gasped, completely heartbroken. The twins looked horrified, and Luz immediately protested; "Wait! Mr Malphas sir, none of this was Amity's fault! She only came her to stop us!"

"That's right!" Emira yelled, "I stole her staff ID from her pocket at dinner earlier. She didn't even know we had it!"

Malphas raised a disbelieving eyebrow; "Sorry kids, but I can't just believe you. You're all kinda in trouble already, so you could be like totally lying to me to save Amity's job. I mean, that's kind of cool of you, but you've all gotta take responsibility."

"We're not lying!" Edric protested, "Check Emira's pocket; she has the ID on her!"

"I do! Look!" Emira nodded frantically, wiggling to try and thrust her pocket in Malphas' direction. The bird-like demon drew a magic circle, summoning the ID from her pocket. He examined it critically, then hummed.

"Okay, that's almost convincing. But that isn't proof that Amity didn't just give it to you." Malphas pointed out.

The twins gaped, unable to think of anything else to say to convince the Master Librarian, while Amity was already lowering her head with tears in her eyes. She was going to lose her job, her Mom was going to be called on her, and her friendship with Luz would be revealed to her, all at once! In one evening, she was going to lose so much!

But unlike the Blights, Luz hadn't given up yet. "I-I can prove Amity wasn't in on it! Check your book! The Visitor's Book! If it is shows when we arrive and when we leave, you'll see that Amity didn't show up until way after we did!"

The Blights looked up in surprise, and Malphas nodded thoughtfully, flipping open the book. He turned to the most recent entries and sure enough, the book revealed that Amity didn't get into the library until almost a full hour after Luz and the twins did. In fact, she entered the library after her ID was logged on the Forbidden Stacks door, proving she wasn't involved. Malphas seemed briefly convinced, but then he frowned.

"I've got to admit, I really want to believe you kids. I mean, I like Amity, I really do. But this is serious; you guys stole a book from the Forbidden Stacks. Sure she wasn't directly involved, but like, you haven't proven you stole the ID from her instead if her just giving it to you. I've got nothing but your word, and the word of a thief is kinda…" Malphas trailed off.

Luz shook her head; "I-I was going to return the book, like any other library book! Honest!"

"Luz, girl, I literally just said-"

"I can prove it!" Luz interrupted, "The Wailing Star is still active, right? Well we found out that if you edited the books, the things that come out are edited too! I edited Otabin to help me find the book I needed! You could edit it too to make it so Otabin always knows if someone is lying! That way you can believe what we're saying!"

Malphas raised an eyebrow; "You want me to deface a book?"

"I'll clean it afterwards! I'll clean every book in the whole place! Just don't fire Amity or call her parents!" Luz begged.

The Blights looked at her with shock and warmth, while Malphas appeared moved. "That's some good friend energy. Okay, I'll take you up on it."

He took Otabin's book from Luz's satchel and opened it to the page Luz had written in earlier, causing Otabin to come out again, making Amity coo quietly. Malphas instinctively cringed at the defaced book, but used one of his own quills and some magically summoned ink to write underneath Luz's words.

"Otabin could always spot lies, and shouted "Liar!" whenever someone told a lie in front of him." Malphas wrote. A shimmer of light engulfed Otabin for a moment, then Malphas decided to test it with a little game of two truths and a lie.

"I am over 300 years old." Otabin was silent. "I enjoy skateboarding in my time off." again, Otabin was silent. "I am a Corvus Demon."

"LIAR!" Otabin suddenly shouted, hopping up and down.

Malphas nodded in satisfaction; "I'm actually a Corvian Demon. It's slightly different." he explained. "Alright, it works so tell your story kids."

Luz, Amity, and the twins immediately reiterated their stories; Amity had only come to stop her siblings' prank, the twins had stolen her ID card, and Luz really had intended to bring back the diary like any other library book. Otabin was pleasantly silent through the whole affair, so when they were done, Malphas was finally convinced.

"Okay, I believe you. Kind of hard to argue with that." Malphas said, snapping his claws and causing the spectral hands to vanish, releasing the teens, "Amity, you're not fired, but like, next time you know someone is up to something in the library, tell me about it."

Amity nodded immediately; "Yes sir. I'm sorry for the trouble."

"As for you three, I really should call your parents… but I also don't want to deal with Odalia…" Malphas muttered that last part, "So I'll punish you myself. That cool with you?"

"Totally." the twins said together, not wanting their mother to know anything about their antics.

"Yes sir." Luz also agreed. She didn't want to bother Eda while she was babysitting.

"Great. Now the three of you are going to spend the rest of the night tidying this place up. And I mean like, top to bottom. Including the books you wrote in." Malphas said, handing Otabin's book back to Luz and the staff ID card back to Amity. "And no using magic. Amity, I'll leave you to supervise."

"Yes, Malphas." Amity nodded.

"Awesome. I'm gonna go back to the stacks… oh, that reminds me." he held his hand out to Luz; "I'll take back that book you borrowed."

Luz slouched and reluctantly handed over the diary. It sucked that this whole adventure had essentially been for nothing, but at least Amity had kept her job and the twins weren't going to get screamed at by their Mom (whom Luz was becoming progressively more concerned about).

Malphas looked at the diary curiously; "Why'd you want this old thing? I remember the guy who donated it… he wasn't a great person."

"I'm sorry, but it's a secret. I could be in danger if people found out." Luz replied.

Otabin didn't react to her words, so Malphas accepted that as the truth. "Fair enough. Next time you want to take out a book, come get a library card."

The Master Librarian then put the diary down atop his Staff book, wrapped himself up in his wings again, and floated off, leaving the teens to get on with their work.

Under Amity's watchful eye, Luz and the twins dutifully cleaned up any messes they'd made while playing around, erasing the graffiti they'd scrawled in the books, and sweeping the place clean of dust and dirt, all without using magic or the Wailing Star's powers. In fact, the Wailing Star's power began to fade as dawn approached, so Luz and Amity had said a grateful goodbye to Otabin before the little friend disappeared, happy to have spent an evening with friends of his own. Luz had then taken great care in cleaning out the things she and Malphas had written in his book, before returning it to the kid's corner.

Finally, the four of them were finished with their tasks and left the library just as the sun was rising over Bonesborough, bathing the town in warm golden rays. They were all exhausted, though Luz took some pleasure in the warmth of the sun on her face.

"Man, tonight was a trip… I can't believe we pulled an all-nighter." Edric said, yawning.

"And we've got school today too… ugh, we should skip it." Emira groaned.

The twins looked sleepily at Amity, wondering if she'd tell on them, but the girl just sighed; "I won't say a word to Mom. I actually wished I could skip too, but there's no way Mom wouldn't find out. She talks to my teachers…"

"I'm really sorry you got dragged into all this, Amity." Luz apologised. "You must think I'm a crummy friend, and an even worse… you-know-what. Always causing trouble…"

"It's fine, Luz. Those two would have done this without you, and your quick thinking is what saved my job." Amity smiled softly, "You're honestly the best friend I've ever had. And you're nowhere near as bad a… you-know-what… as you think you are. Sure you're not perfect, but you don't need to be; you're fine as you."

Luz blushed, feeling a burst of warmth and fondness in her chest as she looked at the mint-haired girl. She smiled and hugged her; "Thank you, Amity. And just so you know; you don't need to be perfect either. I think you're fine as you are… and if you ever need to show weakness, then you can show it to me. I won't judge."

Amity went red in the face; "I-If anyone else had said that, I'd accuse them of lying… thank you, Luz. I'm sorry that you didn't get the book you wanted."

"Actually…"

The girls turned to Edric and Emira, who were watching their exchange with coy smiles. "… I think you'll be pleased to find we've got a surprise for you." Edric said, snapping his fingers to dispel an illusion and reveal a conspicuous book-shaped bulge in his shirt. He reached inside and pulled out the Diary of Philip Wittebane.

Luz gasped; "How did you get that!?"

"Did you steal it from Malphas!?" Amity exclaimed.

"Nope. We stole it from Luz." Emira grinned. "When we were wrestling for Mittens' diary, I swiped it from your satchel…"

"...and I replaced it with that Quacks book, disguised with an illusion." Edric said, freely handing the book to a very grateful Luz.

"Why did you take it?" Amity asked, raising a suspicious eyebrow.

"We sort of wondered why Luz wanted it so badly… I mean, who would normally want a book about angels, wild magic, and some kind of glyphs?" Emira shrugged.

"Also, since Luz kicked your butt at the Covention, we wanted to make sure we had some insurance in case she pulled out the big guns to stop us taking your diary. Uh, sorry again about that." Edric said sheepishly.

Luz hugged the twins as she giggled with joy; "As far as I'm concerned, we're even! Thank you so much!"

"Aw, no problem cutie. Thanks for saving Mittens' job… and stopping us from making a big mistake." Emira said fondly.

"Yeah, and saving our necks from Mom!" Edric grinned.

Another mention of the Blight Matriarch had Luz frowning again. Literally everything Luz had heard about her made the young angel extremely uncomfortable. She pushed Amity to be perfect, stopped her being friends with someone, and was strict enough that even the twins were intimidated by her. Not to mention even Willow's dad and Malphas had said they wanted nothing to do with her… It painted a really nasty picture of Odalia Blight, and Luz felt compelled to ask;

"Um, is everything okay at home? With your parents I mean? It's just, I've heard a lot about them and the nicest description was that your dad was eccentric…"

The Blights exchanged uncomfortable looks; "It's… Mom is… She's strict and has high standards." Amity said, clearly trying to find the words to describe her truthfully, but without further worrying Luz.

"But so long as we meet those standards, which we can, then life is pretty good for us." Emira said.

Something in their expressions made Luz doubt they were being completely honest, but she decided to drop the topic before she started coming across as pushy. "Well, if you ever need a break then come to the Owl House. Eda's all about rebelling, so you'd be welcome there."

The Blights all smiled and nodded, then said their goodbyes; they were all dead on their feet, and the twins wanted to go to bed while Amity got a power nap before she had to go to school. The twins went on ahead, leaving Luz and Amity alone for a moment.

"Hey, I know you said it wasn't my fault that things got a little crazy today…" Luz began, "… but I still want to repay you, and thank you for all the help you gave me. So here."

She reached into her satchel and pulled out The Good Witch Azura Book 5, and handed it to Amity; "I noticed you only had books 1 through 4, so I thought I'd lend this to you."

Amity took the book eagerly and gratefully, hugging it to her chest; "Thanks, Luz. I hope you find the answers you were looking for in that diary." she said with a warm smile.

Luz returned the smile, and the two girls parted ways, each heading home. As she walked, Luz briefly glanced at Philip Wittebane's diary and wondered what secrets it would contain. It was quite possibly the only book in the isles that included angels and glyphs, so if it didn't hold answers, then Luz would be forced to try and figure out her strange new powers and connection to the Isles on her own.

She arrived back at the Owl House and peaked inside, smiling softly as she found Eda and King asleep on the couch, with the Bat Queen's three babies cradled in Eda's arms. Luz cooed at the cuteness and prepared to tiptoe up to her room for some shut-eye, when Hooty suddenly slammed his door open and cried; "Ding dong!"

"Hooty!" Luz scolded in a whisper.

Suddenly, a very large creature forced its way through the doorway and into the house. It looked like a giant version of the Bat Babies, with some light make-up, long black hair, and gleaming red eyes. It wasn't hard to figure out who this demon was.

"Whoa. You must be Mama." Luz said, amazed by the creature.

"Yi yi, Mama is I. And I is the Bat Queen." she said, her accent thick. The Bat Queen whistled and her three children sprung back to consciousness and flew out of Eda's arms to roost in their mother's hair. They were completely concealed in those ebony locks, with only their shining eyes being visible, reminding Luz of Malphas.

"Ah, Snuggle-Dumplings!" the Bat Queen cooed. She then coughed up a massive chest full of shiny snails, then spat out a strange skull-themed whistle; "For troubles." she explained to Luz, "Eda is owed one. Farewell, Angel Child."

Then without giving Luz a chance to reply, the Bat Queen squeezed her way back out of the house and flew away into the distance. Luz blinked; how had the Bat Queen known what she was? Her wings were hidden and her concealment stone was still active, so what gives?

"Ugh, questions for later. I'm too tired for this." Luz mumbled, slouching and heading off to bed. She stopped just long enough to kiss the sleeping King on the head, then retreated to her room and tucking herself into her sleeping bag. Her last thoughts before sleep took her were not of bats, angels, glyphs, or diaries however, but rather a mint haired girl curled up in a private study, reading Luz's favourite book. With that pleasant image in mind, Luz drifted off to sleep.