A/N: Heyo, so, yeah, I'm uploading these chapters early. I'll be busy attending a funeral for a death in the family between Friday and Saturday and will be away. So, I did not want you guys to have to wait, nor did I want to have to worry about uploading it while everything is going on.

Anyway, enjoy, and stay tuned for next week's update. It'll be EPIC.

The Phantom Generals had gathered in the cave that was their home base. Tiamat remained in the shadows as Set, Ahuizotl, Typhon, and Ifrit stood across from each other. Barbatos was kneeled about a foot away from them as all five of the Phantom Generals looked down upon him.

"This is starting to get worrisome," said Ahuizotl. "Gates are getting attacked, and having their Phantoms devoured before they can even emerge."

"Indeed, Lord Ahuizotl. At first, I thought it was due to this world making it difficult for me to find the Gates due to the amount of magical energy, but it seems that was only half the problem. I followed up on some leads and found that some of the potential Gates I tracked down were among those that were attacked by this unknown monstrosity," Barbatos explained.

Ifrit slammed his fist into his left hand, creating a flash of flames from his seething anger. "Not only that, but some of the Rogues and those loyal to us have already been devoured!"

"I say it's Witch's fault, along with that new Rider, Heka!" Typhon suggested.

"There is no evidence supporting that, Typhon. Whatever this thing is, it's of a sinister nature," Set countered.

"There is a more troubling aspect of this that we mustn't overlook. Whatever this is, it's getting stronger with each devoured Phantom. The few times I have been able to sense it, each of those times its power has ascended from what I previously sensed," Tiamat added.

"Lady Tiamat, my lords, let me take a couple of our loyalist Phantoms and hunt this creature down before it becomes that much stronger," said Barbatos.

Typhon scoffed at the idea. "Tch! I see no need for us to hide from this thing! I say the five us fight this thing head on! As powerful as you say it is, there's nothing it can do if we five, the strongest of the Phantoms attack it all at once!"

Set gave Typhon an incredulous glare. "Are you saying we put Lady Tiamat in danger like that?! What if this creature is stronger than we think?! And even worse! If it manages to devour one of us, it's power will only magnify that much more! Eventually it will come for all of us!"

Tiamat thought about this for a minute, this was not something that her master had spoken about. Nor did they warn her either. What was it? What was this creature that stalked the Phantoms, but left the Kamen Riders alone? Was it really their ally? Was it a desperate creation of theirs to stop them? No, most likely something of this nature would probably have been created by the ruler of these mortals. Just from the reports that Pan provided, this would be something that man would be capable of.

"Barbatos," Tiamat spoke. "I authorize the creation your pack. Hunt this creature down and exterminate it. But should it appear as if it will get the best of you, I want you to retreat. I don't want you providing more power to that thing in the unfortunate chance that you fall to it. I'd rather have information than more Phantoms dead."

Barbatos rose to his feet and bowed to the head Phantom General. "At once, Lady Tiamat."

With that order given, the lupine Phantom disappeared. The five pairs of eyes of Tiamat locked onto Set as she said, "Everyone, leave us, and stay in your disguises as you wander the surface. I would like to speak to Set, alone."

Ahuizotl, Ifrit, and Typhon disappeared next, leaving the chaos bringer and Tiamat alone.

"What is it, Lady Tiamat?" Set asked.

"I don't like this, any of this. But something tells me whatever this creature is, it's a threat to the mortals as well. We may need to resort to…drastic measures if it comes down to it…"

Set's eyes widened. "You're not saying we–?!"

"I am saying that desperate times may call for desperate measures, Set." Tiamat interrupted. "You are my most loyal General, so I must ask you, will you carry out my will if I feel that we are left with no other choice?"

Set sighed heavily as he got down on one knee and bowed to Tiamat. "If it means the survival of the Phantoms, and the fulfillment of our mission handed down to us by the Master, then I will do as you say, milady."

"I am grateful, Set. But let us pray that it does not have to come to that."

It had been two days since the incident at the Looking Glass Graveyard, and things had been relatively quiet. Wizard had promised Luz that there was a way to increase her power, but that it ran the risk of endangering her life. Luz agreed to it, but stated she wanted to do some research first before they underwent the ritual. First of all, she needed to look into what Bria had said about the attacks on Gates. So, when the weekend hit, Luz headed to the library early that morning to look into it.

When she arrived, she immediately hit the crystal ball area, and combed through as many news articles as she could. Unfortunately, Bria was not lying, there were newspaper stories about several witches and demons from all around the island going into a kind of comatose state where they were neither living nor dead. Some of the articles attributed this to a Phantom and were wondering where Witch was when this was going on. Something that filled the Latina with guilt. This whole time she was dealing with the Phantoms in Bonesborough, there was something else hurting the people of the island.

Some hero I am…

There was nothing she could do about it now. Although Luz promised herself that once she was strong enough, she would find this monster, and defeat it. And afterwards, she would find a way to heal its victims. But before that, there was another issue she needed to look into while she was here. Gwen Clawthorne informed Luz about a human who had once lived in Bonesborough decades ago. She had said while objects and animals from the Human Realm would sometimes cross over, it was extremely rare for a human to do so. Which meant that this human may have either created the original portal door and used it to return home, or at the very least, found the person who created it and asked them to make it.

Either way, if Luz could track down some information on this human, then it would at least give her a starting point. Luz typed in the word, "human" in the search bar, and as soon as she did, a few articles came up.

"Let's see, 'Mystery vendor floods market with dangerous human goods.'" Luz shook her head. "Oh, Eda."

Luz scrolled past one article that read, "Box of human literature washes up on shore," the picture included seemed to show Azura books. But Luz was not paying much attention to that and went to the next one that said, "'Planet of Humans' flops at box office." It wasn't until she reached the last article that something grabbed her attention.

"Human resident, Philip Wittebane, donates personal diary to local library!' Yes! Yes! This has to be it!" Luz exclaimed.

"Shh!"

"Sorry."

"Well, I must say, this is first real lead you've had in a while."

I know, this is great! And it's right here in the library! I need to ask Amity if she knows anything about it!

La Lechuza smirked at hearing that. "Oh, Amity, and not any of the other employees who work here?"

Luz paused as she blushed. W-Well, Amity is part of the staff. And she knows how important this is to me, so, it's only natural that I ask her.

"Uh-huh. Look, I like this living novella, but at some point, you need to dive in, Niña."

Luz stopped her writing as her expression fell. Lala…I just…

"You like her, and she likes you. Just do it already."

…What if she really doesn't? I mean, yeah, she said that she likes me. And it's not like I don't notice the awkward glances I give her, or she gives me. But, c'mon, Lala, Amity's…well…she's Amity. She's a strong, sophisticated, and cool witch. And I'm, well…I'm just me. A crush is one thing, but to be together, as a couple, that's just…not something I can see being good for her. Especially when I don't even know what's in store for me in the future.

La Lechuza rolled her eyes. "Alright, it was merely a suggestion. Either way, I'm entertained."

Luz rolled her eyes back and closed her journal. Luz checked the clock on the wall and noticed that it should be around the time when Amity was done with her reading time to the kids. The young teen got up and made her way to the Kids Corner, but as she drew closer, Luz was growing increasingly nervous. For what reason she did not know. Okay, that was a lie, she did know, but still, there was a possibility that Amity was busy and could not help, and Luz did not want to be rude and interrupt her.

Carefully, she sneaked her way up to the entrance of the Kids Corner and peeked around the corner. That's when she saw Amity, and her heart thumped in her chest. Amity knelt before a little witch girl with pigtails, this little girl seemed to have something in her hand, something that Amity was trying to have her hand over. Something else that got the Latina worked up was how Amity looked, her hair was down. This was the first time she had ever seen Amity with her hair not tied back, it allowed Luz to see the roots of her original brown hair color, but the way her short hair cascaded down, and framed her face, made Luz reaffirm just how cute the talented a witch Amity was.

"C'mon, give it back," said Amity in a kindly voice.

"No!" the little girl refused.

Amity sighed, but smiled as she said, "If you give me back my hairband, I promise to read you whatever book you want tomorrow. Okay?"

The little witch girl squealed in excitement as she hurriedly gave Amity back her hairband and proclaimed, "Finally! I can learn how to summon the dark lord!"

"…Are we not going to address that that little child wants to summon a dark entity? No? Just me?"

La Lechuza's question fell on deaf ears as Luz was transfixed on Amity, watching her crush as she used the retrieved hairband to tie her hair back into its usual style. Luz felt her face grow warm as she gulped, it was a simple action, but just watching Amity made her heart swoon. She was so transfixed on Amity, that Luz did not notice who was coming up behind her.

"Hey, Luz!"
"Hey, Luz!"

"EEP!" Luz quickly glanced over her shoulder and noticed Edric and Emira, the former giving the latter a piggyback ride. "Oh, hey Ed! Hey, Em! Pickin' up Amity?"

Emira smiled sly as she replied, "Nah, looks like you have that covered."

Once Emira got off her brother, Edric added, "I'm looking for skincare tips. I have a date tonight!"

Luz lit up upon hearing this information. "Ed, that's great!"

Edric smirked suavely. "Yeah, well, Emira's got someone special, I couldn't let her beat me. Could I?"

Emira rolled her eyes and bumped him with her hip. "Yeah, well, you need all the help you can get for this date. Especially after he accidentally texted a poem…to their mom!"

Luz had to stifle a chortle.

"Please don't tell people that…it's embarrassing enough as it is," Edric pleaded.

"Are they bothering you again?"

Luz was startled for the second time today as she whirled around and saw Amity standing right behind her. "Oh, no, no they're not! I just came here to see you and…here you are!"

Amity started to blush when she heard Luz say she had come to see her, and Luz was blushing awkwardly as well. The twins easily noticed the little awkward moment between them and decided to clear the air and make their exit at the same time. Edric and Emira glanced at each other, and instantly came to the same conclusion.

Emira, in a melodramatic fashion, grabbed her brother's face with fake alarm. "Edric, your face, it's exploding with horrific pustules!"

"Oh noooooo – W-Wait is it really?" Edric asked, his tone uncertain.

"We have to fix it before your date, or you'll get dumped!"

"W-What?! I will?!"

Emira groaned in frustration, she loved her brother, but sometimes, he could be slow on the uptake. "Ugh, come on, Ed." She grabbed her brother by the collar of his shirt and dragged him away, leaving Amity and Luz alone.

"Huh, respect for the elder Blights," said Bast.

"Agreed," said La Lechuza.

"So, uh, Luz, what was it that you needed me for?" Amity asked.

Luz cleared her throat and returned her attention back to Amity. "I was actually wondering if you could help me find this book." Luz opened her journal to the page where she drew out a picture of the diary. "Hundreds of years ago, there was a human named Philip Wittebane living in Bonesborough. And he donated his diary to this very library!"

Amity understood what Luz was getting at, and she was getting excited as well. "Which means this could tell you how to travel between the Human Realm and the Demon Realm!"

"Yes!" Luz exclaimed. "My Mom's probably worried sick right about now. There're probably police looking for me, a missing child bulletin, and I'm probably on the local news by now. If I'm gone for too much longer, she'll think I'm dead, and that's the last thing I want to do to her! So, I have to find a way back as soon as possible!"

Amity understood her urgency, unlike her own mother, Luz's mother sounded like she really did care about her. And Amity knew that Luz was not going to feel any better until she had a way to cross back and forth. "Well, if it's really from all the way back in the sixteen hundreds, from the Deadwardian Era, then something that old would be kept in only one place."

"Where's that?" Luz asked.

"The Forbidden Stacks."

Amity led Luz to the back of the library, and it was there that they arrived at the entrance to the Forbidden Stacks. It was an ominous looking entrance, with two columns that had gargoyles with eyeballs for heads on either pedestal, and one over the archway perched atop a plaque that had the name of this area. Twenty-foot-tall polished wooden doors towered over them and were at least two to four feet thick. As the girls stood before the doors, a rat-like creature with a skull for a head and face, ran out of a crack in the door and skittered by Luz.

"There is one issue, though," said Amity.

"What's that?"

"Only Malphas, the Master Librarian, is allowed in here."

Luz's eyes widened as she understood what Amity was getting at. This place was off limits to everyone. As much as Luz wanted to get back home, this was as far as her research was going to go.

With a sigh, Luz replied, "No te preocupes. Todo va a salir bien. (Don't worry. Everything will be fine.) Like my Mom always said. I'll figure something out."

Don't know what she said…but I like the way she said it, Amity thought.

"Hold on, Luz. I never said I wasn't going to help you out." Amity took ahold of her work badge and brought it up for Luz to view. "My staff card should give me access to the Forbidden Stacks."

"Wait, I thought you said only Malphas could enter. Why can your card let you in?" Luz asked.

"It's a safety issue. The magic embedded into the cards and the scanner can track who's entered the Forbidden Stacks, so if somebody goes in that's not supposed to, then they can check later. But since all the staff, myself included, follow that rule of not entering unless there is an emergency, they don't bother to check anyway. Or in case of an emergency and Malphas isn't around. "

"Oh."

Amity released her card and brought her hands together in a pleading motion. "But, Luz, understand, once we're in there, you have to listen to exactly everything I say. If we're caught in there…I could lose my job."

Luz, without thinking, grabbed both of Amity's hands with her own and gave her a look of determination. "I promise, Amity, you won't lose your job!"

Amity smiled at the human girl, but noticed that their hands were still touching, and Luz noticed, too. The two teens quickly let go of each other's hands, still blushing at the contact.

"Well, let's not waste any time!" Amity stated.

The youngest of the Blight children walked up to the scanner and pressed her staff card against it. The huge wooden doors were outlined in a salmon-colored aura and slowly opened. A light mist drifted out from the door and hovered just above their waists. Luz and Amity gave a nod to each before they entered the Forbidden Stacks, with the huge wooden doors slamming shut behind them.

It was a difficult mission, to say the least, but Barbatos was determined to see it through. Something other than the Kamen Riders was eliminating his kind, and what was worse, it was not just simply destroying them, it was eating them, hunting them. As it if it was a predator of Phantoms. Barbatos was not one to be hunted, it was he who did the hunting. Their first stop was Latissa, there were a number of sightings there and that's where he decided to start.

Barbatos was in his human disguise, that of a Coven Scout. His rank was high enough that it allowed him to move around without anyone being suspicious of his activities or question them if they did seem him. He could just say that he was just investigating a possible Phantom sighting and civilian mortals would leave him alone to do his job. Barbatos was normally a lone wolf, but this time around he decided to run with a pack, in this case, two other loyalist Phantoms.

They were a pair of brother Phantoms, one was Cerberus, and the other was Orthros, the elder brother. Orthros had emerged from a demon who was a member of the Construction Coven, which showed in his burly physique. He was humanoid in appearance and purple colored, but sported four eyes, and pointed ears. His navy-blue hair was cut short, and in the middle of it was a fin that gave him the appearance of a mohawk. The younger brother, Cerberus, host was a part of the Oracle Coven. The host was a witch who had fiery orange hair that went down past his shoulders and had piercing violet eyes. His physique was lean compared to Orthros' host and was the definition of a pretty boy.

"I'm surprised Lady Tiamat approved of this," said Cerberus.

"Is this thing really that dangerous?" Orthros asked.

"We've recently had a Rogue get eaten. But in addition to that, we've lost Naga, Basilisk, Harpy, Mothman, and Goblin. And that's not counting the numerous devoured Inner Phantoms," Barbatos explained.

The two brothers stopped in their tracks when they heard the numbers and the names of the Phantoms that were killed.

"That many?!" Cerberus exclaimed.

"Tch, no wonder you called on us to hunt this thing down. It's menace that needs to be executed," said Orthros.

Barbatos nodded in agreement. "Which is why we're going to investigate one of its hunting grounds here in Latissa. But before that, we're going to have a talk with an eyewitness. I overheard from the Scouts that a pair of female Coven Scouts encountered the creature at an abandoned warehouse. They were sent to investigate some attacks that had taken place there."

"They were both Gates?" Orthros asked.

"No, only one of them was, a demon woman who was said to be a strong Beast Keeper, but ended up getting her Inner Phantom devoured, and thusly, had her soul broken. Her partner and apparent spouse managed to get off with only a few nonlife threatening injuries. So, it seems it has the ability to detect who is and isn't a Gate. Much like myself."

The two brothers glanced at each other, coming to the agreement that they had to kill this thing at all costs.

Barbatos and his subordinates arrived at the Healing Coven Hospital in Latissa, from his information he learned that the survivor was here. She had taken a leave of absence since her partner was harmed and has been at her side in the hospital ever since. Barbatos had little hope that that she could be that useful to them, but if she got a look at what it was, then maybe they could determine if this thing is something of the island or, in the very implausible probability, it could be a Phantom.

The trio spoke to the receptionist nurse and were given the location of the ward where several of the victims of the creature were being kept. They headed down the hallway and entered a large room that had two rows of beds, each of which had a person who was in comatose-like state. Barbatos inwardly scoffed at this, as this point, they were wasting resources on these people. There was no cure for a shattered soul, they were lost, and all that was left behind were their husks. But he kept his Phantom tendencies in check, right now he was a Coven Scout on a mission.

The trio walked down the line until they came to the bed that they were seeking. In it was a demon woman, she had gray fur, wolf-like ears that protruded from her dark blue hair, and icy blue eyes, well they were, but now they were pale blue. The demon woman had short muzzle, a black nose, and white coat of fur that outlined her lower jaw and continued down her throat and center of her body. Next to her was a witch woman, with long crimson hair, and a freckled face contorted into worry and…

Wait a minute…

Barbatos looked closer at this woman, his vision of the world around him changed as he looked past the physical plane and looked within her. Seeing a gate that had chains wrapped around it, but some of those chains looked ready to break.

She's a Gate? And it didn't attack her?

Barbatos cleared his voice and said, "Excuse me."

"Oh, who are you three, I don't recognize you," said the woman.

"My name is Flakk," said Barbatos, "and this is Dio," he pointed to Cerberus, "and this is Brun," and lastly to Orthros. "I'm here from headquarters, the Emperor's castle itself. I've been tasked with looking into the attacks that have been going on. They've been rampant across the island, and the Emperor has decided to have this looked into. And you're Bretta, correct?"

Bretta nodded.

"I'd like to ask you a few questions regarding the incident," said Flakk.

"Don't know what else I can tell you about what happened, everything is in my report," said Bretta. "Who are those two? Are they Scouts?"

Flakk pulled a stool over so he could sit across from Bretta. "Just some colleagues of mine whose skill set may come in handy. You see, I'm doing more than investigating this creature, I'm I want to find where it's living, and if possible, end its life. And you're right, I could read a report, but I find it better to get the information fresh from the source. Plus, you've had some time, perhaps there are details you recall now that you didn't then."

Bretta looked down at her wife as her hands tightened into fists. "I'll never forget that night. I wish I could say I saw more of it, but it was night, and its body was wrapped in shadows. All I can remember is its red eyes, and glowing mouth. I remember seeing it reach into Alida's body and pull something out of her. It ate it, and then looked at me for a moment before leaving."

Flakk narrowed his gaze at the woman when she said that. It just left you? You're a Gate as well, and on the verge of Phantomization. If its desire is to devour Phantoms, why would it overlook her? Did it have its fill? Or was it just simply saving her for later? Either way, this woman can be useful.

"Bretta, I would like to know if you're interested in hunting this creature down with me? Surely you would like to take revenge for your partner. And if we're successful in its defeat, whatever it did to Alida might be reversed upon its death," Barbatos lied.

Bretta looked at her wife, she reached out and pushed back a lock of Alida's hair into place. She turned her attention back to Flakk and said, "That thing needs to pay for what it did to my Alida. If it manages to save her, then all the better, but if not, I want the satisfaction of ending that monster's life with my own hands!"

Brun whistled in approval. "Heh, I like her."

"Same, let's take her with us, Flakk," said Dio.

"It's agreed then. Suit up, Bretta, and show us where you last encountered the monster."

Amity and Luz carefully walked through the long hallway, passing by several shelves filled with old books, tomes, and scrolls, and a few statues of robed figures with a skull face and horns. The whole place gave an eerie feeling, you could just feel how old the knowledge that was kept in here was. Which was probably why La Lechuza was freaking out right now.

"SO MANY BOOKS! SO MUCH ANCIENT KNOWLEDGE HIDDEN IN HERE! Oh, let's take a few with us! They won't notice! Please?! Oh-Oh! That one! Luz grab it, please!"

Bast could hear La Lechuza's geek out and could not help but laugh. "Oh Laly, you can act all proud and noble, but at the end of the day you're just a little nerd owl."

The great owl Phantom became embarrassed over how she let her haughty nature just fly out the window from seeing some books. "I'm not a 'nerd'! I'm just a very enthusiastic bibliophile."

Luz and Amity stifled a giggle, it seemed as if La Lechuza and Luz had more in common than she was first lead to believe. The two teenage girls kept walking down the hallway, prompting Luz to ask, "How much further do we have to go?"

"Actually, we're here," said Amity.

The hall opened into a wide pentagon shaped area. There was a set of stairs that went down into it a pit, and every so often there was a platform that with an entrance that lead to different halls with more books. Glowing construct arms were meticulously moving different books from one shelf to another, and some books were flying through the air, flapping their pages like the wings of a bird. Mist wafted through the air, and cobwebs filled empty spaces of the stairs and shelves.

"Whoa…this is big. Let's get lookin'," said Luz.

Amity looked around the area, but when her eyes gazed downward, she gasped. "Wait! Get down!" The teen witch girl hurriedly grabbed Luz and brought them both flat to the floor.

Luz looked in the same direction that Amity was and watched as a being floated in from one of the hallways and onto a ledge. This being was shrouded in a feathery cone, with only their arms sticking out. This being had pale skin, and dull purple claws. In their right hand they held a cone shaped lantern, with a purple flame burning within. They floated on a large book that had the word "Staff" written on the spine, and below them was a mist that followed in their wake. A gap in the feathers showed a single glowing yellow eye, and that eye gazed upwards to where Luz and Amity were, but no one was there.

"Malphas."

The being turned around and saw the Golden Guard standing there. "Did you see something."

Malphas shook back and forth in the negative.

"Alright, help me find that book. The Emperor would like to have it," said the Golden Guard.

Malphas floated back to where the Golden Guard was and headed deeper into the hall with him.

Luz's brow furrowed upon hearing the Golden Guard's voice, she did not expect to find him here. Why is the Golden Guard here? And what book is he after?

"You don't suppose…?"

He must be looking for a way to build a portal, too. I don't know how, but maybe he learned about Philip Wittebane's journal and is looking for it. Either way, we have to find it first.

"Agreed, more importantly, how much longer are you two going to lie here together?" La Lechuza asked.

Luz and Amity finally took notice of how close they were and quickly separated, rolling away and sitting back up, faces still red.

"So…the Golden Guard is here for some reason. We'll just have to be extra sneaky and quiet then, got it," said Luz.

Amity rubbed her left arm, her gaze downcast. "Malphas was the one who gave me my job, and my own study room. He's usually nice, but…if we're caught, he'll feed us to the bookworms!"

Luz smiled a little. "I know here that probably means unholy, bloodsucking, snake monster. But back on Earth, that's just a cute name for nerds."

Amity blushed again; she never knew it had a different meaning in Luz's world. "Heh, the human world sounds odd…but in a good way."

"Maybe it'd be less odd if I showed you around someday."

Amity's head shot up. Me. In the Human Realm. With Luz?! Showing me around and just hanging out and spending time together in her home!

"But let's turn back I don't want to push you and–"

Amity quickly grabbed Luz's left wrist and stated, "We're getting that dang diary, now!"

"Yes, ma'am! Wah!"

Amity hoisted Luz up and together the two of them began their search through the stacks.