So, today marks the anniversary of when "Thanks to Them" came out.

Perfect time to post the chapter if you ask me.


Chapter 1

Thanks to Them

While Luz is in school, Amity, Willow, Gus, Hunter, and Vee are passing the time by learning Spanish with Duolingo. Vee is a pro at it while the others are struggling.

That's when Camila comes in. "Ooh!" she said. "I like what you've done with the place. No more exposed nails or possum nests. But this still confuses me."

She reveals a drawing of Hooty's face on the door.

"Yeah, he confuses us too," Willow admitted.

"Well, I'm going to pick Luz up from school," said Camila. "Pop quiz. ¿Cómo se dice eso en español?"

Hunter stepped up. "Voy a, Luz, e-escuela?" he guessed.

"No," said Camila. "Anyone else?"

Vee stepped up after. "Voy a recoger a luz de la escuela."

"Muy bueno," Camila congratulated. "Keep it up."

She then leaves, while the kids continue perfecting their spanish.

A bit later, Amity stands up. "We should take a break. We've been here for months with little to no progress and still have no clue about the Demon Realm. Maybe we need to look elsewhere. We've got an entire human realm to search. After all, Luz entered the Demon Realm on her own."

"If Eda came here," said Willow. "There could've been others."

"Maybe they left something behind that we can use," Gus added.

"That's the spirit," said Amity. "Together, there is no challenge that can hold us back."

That's when she tripped on a crack on the floor. The crack revealed a weird box. She picked it up and opened it, revealing a scroll, showing symbols. There was an eye on it that looked much like the portal door. Willow and Gus started cheering "portal door, portal door".

"Let's tell Luz," said Vee.

"How about no?" said Amity. "For all we know, this could be another dead end. Luz is already blaming herself for the Isles being in danger, we can't have her blaming herself for anything else."

"Then, let's not tell her until we can figure it out," said Willow. "Using our buff brains!"

"Buff brains," everyone except Hunter shouted.

"Ha ha ha, yeah," he said.


Meanwhile, Luz was at school reading a book called "Fate vs. Free Will". The book ended with the protagonist coming off as a hero, but Luz wasn't buying it.

"Some hero," she scoffed. "Everywhere he went, people ended up suffering."

"It did get bleak," the teacher admitted. "But no one said it would be easy. Plus, if you take the ripple effects into account…"

"Who cares about the ripple effects?" Luz interrupted. "He was just a pawn in someone else's game and was too stupid to realize it. If his family knew about everything, they would've realized their lives would never have been in danger if it weren't for him. They should hate his guts and it would be better if he literally never existed."

Everyone stared at Luz with concerned expressions. She realized what she said and sat back down.

She thinks about every word, especially that last part. "They should hate his guts and it would be better if he literally never existed." She was really talking about herself then. Even after her confession and her friends' assurance that they don't hate her and aren't better off without her, she still saw herself as the villain. She still thought she was only making things worse for herself and she even tried to… finish what Vecna started.


At the end of the period, Luz went to her locker to get stuff for her next class, and after she got them, she's approached by two boys.

The first one was average sized and thin. He had a small pony tail and wore damaged glasses. He was wearing a gray T-Shirt with an egg on it, and gray shorts.

The second boy was a bit taller and thicker. He wore broken, taped glasses, and he had short brown hair. He wore a yellow T-Shirt with a pumpkin on it, and black pants.

"Hi there," said the first one. "I'm Dayne and this is John."

"We heard what you said in class," said John. "You're right. We read too much about crusty old dudes. Why not crusty old women?"

"I used to know one," Luz remarked. "I haven't seen you two around. Are you new?"

"We are, but we heard a lot about you," Dayne replied.

"Are you gonna make another crazy costume this year?" asked John. "Cause if you are, there's a Haunted Hayride happening in town this Halloween. Old Gravesfield is the spookiest town in the state. You gotta come."


Later, Camila is driving Luz home from school, and they were bringing home groceries.

"Do you think this food's okay?" asked Camila. "I wish I knew how to make demon food for your friends. Do you think they'd prefer to drink blood?"

"Mom," Luz scolded.

"I'm sorry," Camila replied. "I'm just saying that if we need to find a way, we will."


That night, Willow, Gus, and Hunter were in the basement getting ready for bed.

"Woo!" Gus shouted, sliding down the stairs and onto the couch. "We've got a big day ahead of us, so I'm gonna buenas these noches."

That's when Hunter cuts his finger using the sewing machine. Willow and Gus look at him with fear.

"Don't worry," Hunter tried to assure them. "I've been through worse."

However, it was clear that he was not handling the pain of the cut, so Willow approached him and tried to look at the cut. Hunter tried not to show it, as he didn't want to be a burden, but eventually, he gave up and showed the cut. Willow grabbed some cleaning materials to clean the cut, and then she grabbed a band-aid to patch it.

"What exactly have you been working on?" Gus asked, pointing to the sewing contraption.

"Oh, that?" Hunter replied. "Camila taught me how to use this contraption." He shows the wolf shirt he'd been working on. "These are mystical beings called wolves, and I love them."

"That looks great," Willow complimented. "You know, you've been smiling a lot more since we came back from Hawkins."

"It's not that I don't want to return to the Demon Realm," Hunter replied. "I just need a way to pass the time, and I guess I'm just happier knowing that you all accept me unconditionally."

"Is there anything about the Demon Realm that you miss?" asked Gus.

"I miss Darius," Hunter replied. "I've hardly interacted with him, but during those few interactions, he felt like a better parental figure to me than… you know who."

"I miss my dad/s," Gus and Willow said in unison.

"We'll find a way back," Hunter assured. "We have to."

"Oh, that's a line from this book I found," said Gus, showing a book titled, "Cosmic Frontier". "Humans like spreading junk everywhere. This is a story of people trying to get back home, just like us. We got Captain Avery, Security Office Quando, and you'll definitely like this character, Hunter, Chief Engineer O'Bailey, who's hiding the fact that he's a clone from the enemy side."

"Is he lucky?" asked Hunter. "Do his friends accept him like you accept me?"

"I guess you'll have to read it and find out," Gus replied, opening a closet door revealing a bunch of costumes.


In Luz's room, she was asleep on her bed, with only one thing on her mind. Her guilt.


When Luz opened her eyes, she found herself in Belos' throne room, sitting on the throne. She took in her surroundings, wondering how she got here. She looked at herself and saw herself wearing not her pajamas, but Belos' robes. She walked around the castle trying to figure out what happened, and when she went outside, she saw a bunch of petrified bodies on the ground, including Eda and King.

"How did this happen?" she asked herself.

"You should know how this happened," a voice replied.

Luz turned to see her girlfriend standing on the bridge.

"Because you're just too nice, you helped Belos meet the Collector," Amity continued. "Because of that, he created the Coven System and the Draining Spell. Now I'll never see my family again because of you and your dumb kindness. You were the real villain."

"Amity, I don't know what I missed," Luz tried to assure. "But I'd never do this."

Luz throws off her cape to prove herself.

"I'm sorry Luz," said Amity, tears streaming down her face. "But I must take you out, and I don't mean out on a date."

Amity charged towards Luz and formed a sword out of abomination goo. Luz dodged and quickly checked her pockets for glyphs. Conveniently, she did have some. She quickly used an ice glyph to make an ice sword. She uses it to block Amity's next attack. They spent the next few minutes crossing swords, Luz only trying to defend herself from Amity's blows, and not wanting to attack. Eventually, Amity kicked Luz back into the palace. Luz began to run, as she thought to herself, Is Vecna still alive? Am I in another one of his nightmares? Is he back to finish the job?


Luz kept running to avoid Amity, and eventually found herself in an area filled with trees. She saw Willow standing in front of one of the trees.

"Willow," said Luz. "I'm so glad to see you? Do you know what's going on?"

"You know, Luz," said Willow, completely ignoring the question. "My life changed when you came. I finally believed that I had a chance at a future, but you destroyed that chance. You destroyed my home. You destroyed any chance I had at happiness. I have no future now. NONE OF US DO!"

Willow summons vines and attacks Luz, but she uses her ice sword to cut them. Afterwards, she ran as far away from Willow as she could.


After running for a while, Luz felt this bright light shining on her, and she looked around, seeing herself on this huge stage with Gus holding a microphone and approaching her.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, it's good ol' Luz the Human," he announced to the audience as they cheered. "And she might just be the biggest hypocrite of them all." The crowd booed. "I went out of my way to help her get back to her mom, but because of her and her stupidity, I will never see my dad again."

"I swear I would never do something like that," Luz tried to assure, setting down her sword to prove herself.

"Tell that to him," Gus replied before pushing Luz off the stage.


When Luz woke up, she found herself back in Belos' throne room. Hunter was there with her, holding Flapjack in hand.

"My whole life, all I did was follow orders," he cried. "I always tried to do the right thing, yet Belos never cared. He tortured me and abused me all my life, yet here you are, doing all the wrong things, yet you have a mother that cares about you and will never try to hurt you. Why, Luz? Why do you get to have it all?"

Amity, Willow, and Gus appear with their palismen in their hands.

"I'm sorry," said Amity. "But for the sake of everyone you hurt, I challenge you to a witch's battle."

Luz was shocked by what Amity just said. She misquoted the Good Witch Azura. The saying is, "I challenge you to a Witch's Duel", not "Witch's Battle".

Before Luz could react though, Amity charged in with her abomination sword and stabbed Luz right through the heart.


Luz woke up scared. She looks around and realizes she's on her bed. She touched where her heart was and felt it beating fast. She turned to see Amity laying next to her as she woke up to the sound of Luz waking up.

"Luz, what happened?" she asked.

"Nothing," Luz assured. "Just a nightmare."

Amity stared at her girlfriend with suspicion. She knew something was bothering Luz, but she didn't want to force it.

"Okay," she said. "But if there is something bothering you, please, let me know."

"Okay," said Luz.

Amity fell back asleep, but Luz couldn't do the same. All these negative thoughts flooded her mind, until one thought came.

She went to the bathroom and grabbed a pair of scissors that her mom uses to cut her hair, and then she pointed the sharp edge towards her heart, about to stab herself, but then she stopped herself. She didn't know why. She felt like this was something she deserved so much, but for some reason, she can't bring herself to do it.

She then sneaks back into her room and looks at her palisman egg. She grabs it and heads over to her mom's room.

Once she headed inside, Camila burst awake, as if she just woke up from her own nightmare.

"Luz?" Camila asked. "What time is it?"

Luz didn't answer the question. Instead, she asked her own question. "Mom, why aren't you mad at me?"

"Oh baby, come here," Camila replied, as Luz climbed onto her mother's bed. "I've been scared, sure, and believe it or not, I know how it feels to want to run away, but the point is, you came home, and everything is okay."

"But it's not," Luz cried. "It's my fault that the Isles is in danger and my friends are trapped here. I don't know if Eda and King are okay. I wanted you to meet them so bad, but I keep messing up."

"Everyone makes mistakes," Camila assured. "What matters is that you learn from them."

"Can I sleep here tonight?" asked Luz.

"Of course," Camila replied, kissing Luz on the forehead.

"Give the Palisman a kiss too?" Luz requested.

Camila does so, and places the egg on her nightstand, before turning off the light, and the mother and daughter both fall asleep.


That morning, Luz's friends were in the shack getting ready to get information about the scroll. While making sure they have everything they need, Hunter shows up with an O'Bailey costume.

"According to Cosmic Frontier," he said. "This is what the modern human male wears."

Vee looks at the book and says, "This was written in the 90s about the year 2008."

"Can't wait for that New Year's party," said Hunter.

"Did you reach the end?" asked Gus.

"O'Bailey is still hiding the fact that he's a clone," Hunter replied. "But Captain Avery's still figuring it out."

"I think he already knows…" Gus was about to say.

"No no no spoilers," Hunter interrupted.

"I don't think the humans here are ready for those fashion choices," said Amity. "Please change."

"Don't listen to her," said Willow, covering Amity's mouth.

Vee looks at her watch and says, "We're gonna miss the bus."

"Don't worry, I'll catch up," said Hunter. "There's a transport every half-hour."

Everyone was about to make their leave, but before Willow leaves, she asks Hunter, "Can I borrow that book when you're done?"

"You can have it now," Hunter answered, before handing the book over.

"Thanks," Willow replied before leaving.

Hunter stands alone in the shack, and he looks at himself in the mirror.

"You know, they're right," he told Flapjack. "Even if I'm not who I'm supposed to be, I like the way I am right now."

"Do you, though?" a voice asked.

Hunter looks around, shocked to hear someone there. The voice sounded familiar. Flapjack transforms into staff mode, and Hunter grabs him. He continues looking around and sees Belos standing right in front of him. Belos charges but from the looks of it, he was coming for Flapjack and not Hunter. Hunter, preferring to protect Flapjack over himself, runs out of the shack and heads back to the house.


The first place Amity and the gang go to is the Magic Circle, where they ask an employee of the shop about the scroll, but she gets distracted when Willow steals a devil costume. She tries to pay for it using some Demon Realm money. While snails weren't accepted here, the woman let it go.


The next stop was a library, but since Amity was so used to the Demon Realm library she worked at having its cabinets open themselves, she was shocked to see a kid open it themself.


Their next stop was the zoo, where they went to the giraffe exhibit. They were nervous, as giraffes were banished from the Demon Realm and brought to this realm according to Isles history. They try to communicate with them, but they don't talk. Willow took a picture of the giraffe, and it opened its mouth to reveal a bug-like jaw. The very site of it made everyone scream.

Later, everyone was getting some food and taking a break, and after eating, Vee said, "I didn't think it would come to this, but I think I know where to go next."


The quartet head to the Gravesfield Historical Society. Vee was nervous to go in there because she was once almost dissected by some Witch Hunter Wannabe named Jacob who worked there, but she mustered up the courage to get in there.

When they entered, they didn't see a man in his late 20s, with short brown hair and glasses. Instead they saw a 14 year old non-binary with long black hair in a pony tail and no glasses. Vee recognizes them as the goth NB from camp, Masha.

"You're not Jacob," she said.

"Nope," Masha replied. "He got fired for making changes to the exhibits. Say, you look familiar. Have we met?"

As a matter of fact, they have met, but Vee was pretending to be Luz at the time.

"Nope," Vee lied. "I just have one of those faces, I mean just the one. The normal amount of face."

"Funny, me too," Masha replied. "If you need a tour guide, hit me up."

Amity shows Masha the scroll and the latter reveals that it's a rebus, a puzzle.

Amity, Willow, and Gus analyze the rebus and realize that it might lead to some Titan's Blood.

"These past few months have been weird," Willow acknowledged. "But look at all the memories we made." She shows a scrapbook that she made of some of the things they did, like catching fireflies and watching any movie with magic in it, like Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and Hocus Pocus. "It was fun spending some time together."

The quartet take one final group picture for the scrapbook, and they see a map of old Gravesfield, which matches the rebus.


Meanwhile, Luz was helping her mom at the Veterinary Clinic, and Luz scrolled through her notebook filled with drawings of possible creatures her Palisman can hatch into. She eventually looks at a page with the Fire Glyph on it, and she puts her hand against it for a second, and she feels her hand burn. She touched her hand and saw some marks on it. She was shocked and wondered if it was the glyph or something else.


Back at the house, Hunter was sitting in the basement, and he turned towards Flapjack.

"Did you know that he was here?" he asked calmly.

Flapjack tweeted. (Translation: No)

Hunter puts Flapjack in a cage and assures, "If Belos is here, I'll keep you safe."

Hunter heads out just as Luz and Camila come home from the Vet. He approached Luz in particular.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Belos," he replied.


The two make their way to the shack.

"Are you sure you saw him?" Luz asked Hunter. "Isn't he trapped in the Upside-Down?"

"I'm sure," Hunter replied.

Luz sees Hunter's arms shaking and says, "If you're not up for this, we can always head back and inform the others."

"No!" he replied. "We have to take care of this ourselves. Titan, I hate this. I was never scared as the Golden Guard."

That's when a couple cardboard masks that look like King and Hooty appear out of nowhere, and Luz picks them up.

"Then how about we bring back some of that masked confidence, huh?" she asked.

Hunter puts on the Hooty mask while Luz puts on the King mask, and they burst into the house.

"All right, Belos!" said Hunter. "What's about to happen should be relatively painless, if you just do what we say."

"That's right!" Luz added. "So come out with your hands behind your creepy, dumb head!"

They search every room of the shack, just to find no sign of that black gooped, past due asshole.

"I guess it was just in my head," said Hunter.

"Well, can't blame you for being paranoid after everything that's happened," said Luz.

"I just wanna keep everyone safe," said Hunter.

"Same," said Luz. "And that includes you too. You're family now."

Hunter briefly tears up before the two head out of the shack.


When they returned to the house, they saw the other kids going through some clothes.

"Hey we're back," said Hunter. "And we bought some… cars."

Luz elbows Hunter.

"We're designing costumes for the Haunted Hayride," said Amity.

Willow and Gus approached Hunter.

"Guess what we got planned," Gus told Hunter. "I'll be Captain Avery, Willow will be his twin sister, and you can be…"

Gus reveals this comm device, and Hunter recognizes who it belongs to.

"Chief Engineer O'Bailey," Hunter squealed in excitement.

"How do you know about Cosmic Frontier?" asked Camila.

"The books in your basement," Hunter replied.

"Funny how you always find things in basements," said Camila, with a worried expression. "It's not like you hide those things in there on purpose. Life sure is full of surprises."

"Cool, humans freak out just like us," Gus remarked.

"And I thought you and I could take inspiration from…" Amity told Luz before playing a movie on the TV. "The Good Witch Azura: the Movie 2, the Betrayaning."

A scene plays where Azura goes up against Lucy, who just so happens to look like Luz, eyebrow scar and all.

"I thought I could be the Hecate to your Azura," Amity suggested.

"Yeah, that sounds great," Luz replied, trying to sound optimistic, but Amity wasn't buying it, though she still didn't want to force anything.


That night, Luz couldn't sleep, so she went downstairs and took her laptop with her. She sits on the dining table and turns on the screen. She goes to her Video Diary and records an entry.

Dear Diary,

All my life, I wanted to be a part of something, to be around people that also liked that something. When I found the Demon Realm, I thought, "I found it. I can be a witch. I won't be the moron in the Principal's Office anymore.", but I messed up too much and put everyone in danger. Mama says I have to learn from my mistakes, so I know what I have to do now.


The following night was Halloween. Luz and her friends went out to the carnival. Luz and Amity were dressed as Good Witch Azura characters Azura and Hecate respectively, while Willow, Gus, and Hunter were the Avery twins and O'Bailey respectively. Camila and Vee stayed behind to hand candy out to Trick-or-Treaters.

Hunter looks into the woods and sees what looks like Belos staring at him.

He turns to Flapjack and asks, "Did you see that?"

Flapjack chirped. (Translation: No)

"Must be my imagination," Hunter assured. "Nestle down."

Hunter joins the other teens as they get on the Hayride.

"Are you ready for a spooky ride?" asked Masha, the announcer for the ride. "Because there's nothing scarier than knowledge. Let me tell you the eeriest unsolved mystery of Gravesfield. The Tale of the Brothers Wittebane."

"Wittebane?" whispered Amity. "Isn't that Belos?"

Masha would tell the story, as puppets controlled by Dayne and John depict the events. "The year is 1613. Two orphaned brothers arrive in Gravesfield. Their names? Phillip… and Caleb. Caleb did his best to take care of his younger brother. They tried to fit in with this town, and its unsavory practices. They became witch-hunters! Local lore suggests that the Brothers Wittebane met a real witch from another world! Her name was Evelyn. And the older brother was spirited away. She dazzled him with magic and visions of a strange yet beautiful place. They used a secret code to travel between worlds. Phillip set off to save his brother and bring the witch to justice. But neither were ever seen again! Maybe Phillip saved Caleb, and they went on to lead peaceful lives. Or maybe he's still chasing his brother, caught in a cycle of horror and strife!"

Everyone gasped.

"Seems to me that big bro got a hot witch girlfriend and lil' bro got upset," joked Masha. "But that's just me."

Why is everyone making that theory? Hunter thought to himself. First Joyce, now this NB. Is that what happened? Nah, it can't be.


Meanwhile, since Belos couldn't survive in the Upside-Down, he died and his soul is now in the in-between. He sees his brother, Caleb, and his hot witch girlfriend, Evelyn, standing there.

"Don't look at me like that, Caleb," Belos scolded them both. "I was trying to save your soul. It's that witch's fault this happened."

Belos tried to attack Evelyn, but he felt something grab him. The souls of all the dead grimwalkers all pulled Belos under the water, where he drowned.


Back at the carnival, the teens got off the Hayride, and they met up somewhere where no one could see them.

"Luz, there's something we need to tell you," said Amity.

"Weird, I have something to say as well," Luz replied. "But I think you should go first."

"Well," Amity explained. "The secret code that the guide mentioned is a puzzle." She shows the rebus. "A rebus we found in the shack. I think it leads to Titan Blood."

For the first time in a while, Luz genuinely smiled. She had a glimmer of hope that they found a way back to the Demon Realm.

"Let's see if it does then," she said.

The pentet then follows the rebus into the woods. As they go through the woods, Hunter, the one holding the Rebus, starts to hallucinate Belos again. He runs for Belos and eventually, the others lose sight of him.

"Think, Think," said Luz. "Hunter is following the rebus to the Titan's Blood. But how can we find the blood without him?"

That's when Luz remembers earlier when she unknowingly touched a Fire Glyph on her notebook and some marks appeared on her hands. She brings out a light glyph and taps it. A faint light orb appears.

"Glyphs are powered by the magic of the Isles," she said. "By the Titan itself! The closer we are to the Titan Blood, the stronger the glyphs become."

The four keep going, Luz continuing to activate Light Glyphs, each one getting bigger, signifying they're getting closer to the Titan's Blood.


Meanwhile, back at the house,the Trick-or-Treaters have left, and Vee fell asleep on the couch. Camila saw Luz's laptop and picked it up. She was gonna bring it back to Luz's room, but she tripped. She kept herself from falling and dropping the laptop, but it opened, revealing Luz's video diaries.

So we moved. Mom said it was because "the house wasn't pretty enough" but I'm sure it's because there's a better hospital for dad nearby, because let's be honest, this house ain't that much prettier.

This may be the worst week of my life, but dad left me this book. I can't wait to read it.

I LOVED IT, I LOVED IT, I LOVED IT!

Look what I got at the convention. (She's holding a sword and swinging it around) I'm gonna cut my hair with it.

That was a bad idea.

Mom saw my report card. "Mija, if you just apply yourself", but I am applying myself. My stitches are so small they're practically invisible, I can speak witch tongue in 5 different dialects, and I can sit so incredibly still, woodland creatures come sit on me, but I guess none of that will matter on the SATs. It's been rough for mom since the funeral, but I'm gonna wow my teacher's face off with this book report. Mom, you won't have to worry about me ever again.

Camila watched each entry with sadness and guilt, remembering the passing of her husband and how it affected not only herself, but her daughter. Luz used the Good Witch Azura books and her fantasy world to cope with the loss, and Camila almost forced Luz to give all that up out of fear that she'll be bullied.

As Camila was about to close the laptop, one final entry played, one that she heard.

Mama says I have to learn from my mistakes, so I know what I must do. On Halloween, after the Hayride, I'm telling everyone I'm staying in the Human Realm, permanently.


Back in the woods, Luz and her friends found themselves in an old abandoned cemetery with a river in it. Luz used an ice glyph to make a bridge to cross it.

They entered the cemetery and saw Hunter standing under an archway. He wasn't wearing his costume anymore. Instead, he wrapped it around his waist and he's wearing his wolf T-Shirt.

"Are you okay?" asked Willow. "Have you seen Belos?"

"No," Hunter assured. "It was just my imagination playing tricks on me again, but don't worry. I'm fine. Let's just look for the Titan's Blood."

The pentet looked around the cemetery, each one using light glyphs to see where it's strongest. Eventually, Hunter activates a Glyph with a light bigger than the others, so he says, "Guys, I think I found the Blood."

Everyone heads to Hunter's location, and Willow makes a plant come out of the ground, and with it, there was a vial of Titan's Blood. Luz managed to catch it.

"This is awesome," said Gus. "We can all return to the Demon Realm with this."

"Wrong," Luz replied, with a sad look.

"What do you mean?" asked Amity.

"Not all of us will return," Luz explained. "Only you four. I'm the one that got you all in this mess in the first place. I think… no, I know it'd be better if I stay here. I won't mess up again, and I won't make things worse."

By then, Amity has had enough of Luz and every negative thing she said. "Is that seriously why you're staying behind? Because you keep messing up? Messing up is just a part of living. You think I never messed up? Well you're wrong. I let my 'mom' push me around all my life and I acted like a bitch to everyone, including my own friends, until you came along and changed my life."

"She's right," Willow added. "We've all made mistakes and you helped us become better people. I spent my childhood in the wrong class just because I thought it was what my dads wanted. If it weren't for you, I would've stayed in that class."

"I spent most of my life feeling down," Gus explained. "I hardly felt like I belonged anywhere. Ever since you came into my life, I feel a lot more accepted."

"I spent most of my life following the wrong guy, all because I thought I was doing something good," Hunter finished. "If it weren't for you, I would never have gotten to the truth, and I would never have found a place where I belong."

"But…" Luz was about to say.

"If this is about how you helped Belos meet the Collector, then that's just stupid," Amity interrupted.

"She's right," Hunter added. "You were tricked. It's what Belos does. If it weren't you, it would've been someone else, and there would've been no one left to fight back. So let's do it. Let's fight back. For the future."

Having heard a lot, Luz started to cry tears of joy. She says, "I think I just realized something. I don't know why it took me so long to figure it out." Her bag starts to glow purple. "The only thing I ever wanted… was to be understood."

That's when a huge flash of light comes from the bag, and a staff emerges, with a glowing purple orb on top. Luz grabs the staff and accidentally fires a blast. Thankfully, it missed everyone.

"Luz has a staff," said Gus.

"Why does that make me nervous?" asked Willow.

That's when Luz's staff starts shaking and pulls her up off the ground. She gets into the proper seating position and tries to bring herself back down, but she's having trouble controlling herself. Eventually, she gets the hang of it and she brings herself back down.

Afterwards, the gang head out of the woods where they see Camila driving over to where they were at. She stops, and approaches them.

"There you are," she said. "Let's get you home."

They all get into the car and drive back to the house. Once they get out, Camila addresses the staff Luz is holding.

"Did your Palisman hatch?" she asked.

"Yep," Luz replied. "And it's about to take form."

"I wonder what it's gonna be," said Camila.

Everyone starts guessing.

"Otter."

"Bat."

"Snake."

"You're close," Luz replied.

The Palisman finished taking form, and it took on multiple forms. Otter, bat, snake, and many more.

"She's a snake-shifter," Luz explained. "Her name is Stringbean, and she's perfect."

Stringbean approaches all of the Palismen and interacts with them.

Afterwards, the Palismen approached Camila who said, ¡Pero mira que preciosos mis bebés! ¡Ven, ven!


That morning, everyone was at the shack. Hunter made a door frame, and once it was steady, he brought out the signal.

Luz placed the Vial of Titan's Blood onto the door, and the 5 Palismen started running on their contraptions, transferring energy to the frame. A portal opened, and everyone looked at it, nervous. Eventually, the portal showed a forest on the other side, which the witches recognize as the Demon Realm. Everyone cheered in excitement seeing that they finally made a portal back.

"Now, to stop the Collector and save everyone," Luz said, the excitement bouncing.

"Well, I'm coming with you," said Camila. "After the whole Vecna thing, I'm not letting you go back alone. I'm not gonna let you kids go out there without adult supervision, especially when you're going against a powerful god."

"What about you, Vee?" asked Luz.

"I'm still staying," Vee replied. "Someone's gotta keep up appearances."

"Remember everything I told you to do last time?" asked Camila.

"Tell the staff you've left to visit your family," Vee replied. "Carmen's in charge, Dianne has your schedule, and I think that's it."

"Muy bueno," Camila congratulated.

"A-ha!" a voice shouted.

"Oh no," said Vee.

Jacob emerges from the bushes with his phone out.

"So you humans are in league with these witches," he said. "And you're gonna bring more of those vile creatures to this world, and I have all the proof. I will expose you all to the authorities and you will be brought to justice."

Vee approaches the Witch Hunter wannabe, increases her size, and punches Jacob hard on the nose and it leaves a huge cut.

"You hateable sorceress!" he shouted.

Vee grabs Jacob's phone and deletes the footage.

Jacob runs away crying.

That's when the portal starts to fade.

"We better hurry," said Luz.

Gus heads to the portal first. Before he walks through, he turns back and says, "Goodbye human realm, thanks for sharing your secrets. I hope to see you again."

After Gus walks through the portal, Luz, Amity, Hunter, and Willow approach the portal.

"I know things are scary," Amity and Willow said to their respective lovers. "And I don't know what the future holds, but it would be so cool if you were in it, but no more hiding, okay?"

"Okay," Luz and Hunter replied.

Amity and Willow kiss their respective lovers on the cheek before walking through the portal.

Hunter looks at Flapjack and says, "Time to go home, Flap" before walking through the portal.

Vee hands Camila a baseball bat and says, "You'll probably need this".

"Thank you, Vee," Camila replied, hugging her surrogate daughter.

Camila then approaches Luz,asking if she's ready.

"I'm not sure what we'll see on the other side," Luz replied.
"Then we best not leave unprepared," said Camila, bringing out Luz's Azura hat. "A good witch must always have her hat."

Luz takes off her beanie and puts on the hat. Luz and Camila then step through holding hands.

Vee walks away, before she realizes, "Shit, Camila still had the car keys."


Jacob has stopped crying and now he has a plan to bring the witches to justice. He grabs a crowbar and a blade, and he runs back to the portal. He's about to run through and use her blade to try and kill one of the witches, but the portal closed right as he got his hand through. His hand was sliced off, and he screamed in pain.

"You mother-fudging son of a bitch!" he shouted.


A.N.

I definitely had a lot more fun writing this chapter than I did watching "Thanks to Them" for the first time.

I especially wanted to go deep into Luz and Hunter's traumas, as that aspect was easily one of the best parts of the show.

Also, Stringbean hatching earlier, definitely beats Belos possessing Hunter.

I'm gonna hold off on continuing this story until I'm finished with New World, New Me, as that chapter is so close to finishing, and I want it done before Halloween, because I've got big plans regarding fanfiction on that day.