"I don't like this," said Eda.
"Me neither," said King.
After the events at the library, Luz figured it was about time to get down to business. The creature that attacked Bria, and the one that ate Lilith's Inner Phantom, were not only one in the same, but also this thing had been terrorizing the island. Luz was feeling bad for not expanding her monster fighting beyond Bonesborough, but there were a lot of things happening here, but apparently there were more things happening elsewhere. So, Luz decided now was the time to access the next level of power for herself.
She had gathered all the necessary things for the ritual. Four pedestals stood, each of which were placed on the outer perimeter of the circle, and each one had a different elemental style ring. Below the pedestals, just a few inches away from their bases, was a smaller circle with the specific glyph for each one. Luz was at the center of the circle, putting the final touches on the circle before standing up and wiping her brow.
"Okay, it's done," said Luz.
"Kid, I understand why you're doing this, but…do you have to do this?" Eda asked.
"I do, whatever's attacking people and Phantoms is an even more dangerous monster than the Phantoms. If we're going to have any hope at all of defeating it, then I need to get stronger."
"But you said this was dangerous! You might…die," said King.
Luz walked out of the circle and brought her surrogate little brother into a hug. "No te preocupes. Todo va a salir bien. I'll be fine, King." Luz broke the hug and gave one to Eda, too.
Eda sighed heavily and hugged her back. "Don't make me have to give your friends bad news, alright."
"Promise."
Luz ended her hug, took a deep breath, and walked into the center of the circle. The color of the world faded away, and in flash of flaming embers, Kamen Rider Wizard appeared.
"Are you ready, Noceda-chan?"
"Let's do this, Mr. Souma!"
"This will be painful, prepare yourself."
The Wizard simulacrum raised his left hand and then thrust it forward. Immediately the color returned to the world as the magic circle below Luz began to glow a bright yellow color. And from that light a black dome appeared around her, obscuring Luz from the sight of either Eda or King. Within the dark space, La Lechuza appeared before Luz. She was a big as she remembered her when they first met all those months ago.
"It's been awhile since we've seen each other face to face like this, Niña."
"Yeah, only last time you were trying to make me fall into despair and take over my body," said Luz.
"Who says I'm still not?"
Luz smiled at the owl Phantom. "You know you like me."
La Lechuza, metaphorically, rolled her eyes at the young teen. "You had better be prepared for this, Niña."
"Ready or not…hit me!"
La Lechuza put some distance between them, and with her eyes she fired two beams of light. The beams struck against Luz, causing the young girl to cry out in pain as the light bathed over her body, feeling like not only her body, but her soul was feeling the pain. La Lechuza stopped the attack, and then moved onto the next element, her tail feathers began to glow with icy energy. With a whip of her tail feathers, La Lechuza unleashed an icy blast of wind that slammed into Luz, the pain shifting from just pain to icy pain. It felt as if thousands of small needles were piercing her body all at once.
La Lechuza followed up with her talons glowing a bright green color and making leaves swirl around them. The great owl Phantom slashed the air in front of her, unleashing a torrent of razor-sharp energy leaves flying at Luz. The young teen braced herself and cried out again as she felt the leaves slice at her body from every direction. The fourth attack came in the form of La Lechuza's wings igniting with flames. She gave both of them a strong flap, unleashing two streams of bellowing flames. Luz was panting, but she wasn't given a chance to recover as the flames wrapped around her and burned her. These attacks, while leaving no physical damage, were causing her immense pain. The flames died down, and Luz fell to her hands and knees, panting, and there were even some tears falling from her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Niña, I cannot stop once it has begun. Either you survive this, or we both perish."
Luz gritted her teeth as she stood back up on shaky legs. With a determined expression, Luz looked up at La Lechuza and flung her arms out as she said, "I WON'T BACK DOWN FROM THIS! SO, HIT ME AGAIN, LALA!"
La Lechuza smirked.
The great owl Phantom repeated the attacks again, and again, and again. Striking Luz with one elemental force after the other. Luz decided that earlier was the first and last time she would bend a knee to this onslaught, remembering why she was doing this. To protect her loved ones, to protect the people of the Demon Realm, and…to protect the girl she loved.
"STRONGER, LALA! GIVE IT EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT!"
La Lechuza's wings, tail, eyes, and talons all glowed with their respective elemental energies, and all together, the owl Phantom unleashed a powerful blast of all four elemental powers at once. Luz stood strong as all of them crashed upon her body like a tidal wave threatening to wash her away in its power. However, Luz did not falter, she continued taking on that power, all of it. With a fierce war cry, Luz reached out towards that power, and grasped something that shined bright within the torrent. All four elemental energies stopped striking her and now flowed into that light.
On the outside of the black dome, King and Eda were getting anxious, they could neither see nor hear Luz, all they could see was the black dome. But soon the dome began to crack as rainbow colored energy poured out from the cracks. And within a few seconds, the black dome shattered apart, revealing Luz with her right arm thrust into the air, and a glowing object clasped in that hand.
"LUZ!" Eda and King exclaimed.
The Latina opened her eyes and brought her arm down, and that's when she saw it. It was a new device that was meant to be worn on her wrist and forearm. The top part had a translucent mini statue of an owl, with the back half shaped just like the Hand Author of her WizarDriver and WizarSwordGun. At the center of the hand was a rounded object with a glass covering. On the other side of that glass covering was an image that was sectioned into four different colors, yellow, blue, green, and red. And in each colored section had one of the four sections had a white glyph painted into the respective color sections. And on top of it was a minute/second hand that was pointed in the six 'o clock position.
Now that the ordeal was over, Luz dropped down to one knee, feeling exhausted from having to go through all of that. Eda and King rushed over to her, checking Luz over for any signs of injury, or anything else.
"Luz, how are you feeling?" King asked.
Luz looked at the little demon and smiled as she stood up. "Great, actually. I feel…stronger. And weak…like, I need to recharge kind of weak."
Eda looked at Luz's right hand and saw the device that was in it. "All of that for that thing? Is that really going to help?"
The Latina smirked at her mentor, "Never underestimate a Kamen Rider's accessories. Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to collapse now."
And she did just that, she fell face first onto the ground, fast asleep.
Many things were occurring on the Boiling Isles, the Phantoms, Witch, Heka, and now some unknown threat that was attacking the citizens of the isles and putting them into comatose states. It was part of the reason why the Emperor had called upon the heads of each of the nine Covens to come to his palace. This was the second time the Coven heads had been gathered since the first meeting when the Phantoms made their appearance, being led down a stairwell to the hidden chamber that was located behind Emperor Belos' throne.
Coven Scouts stood sentry as they watched the leaders of the Covens walk down into the chamber. A makeshift throne had been erected before the reconstructed portal door, along with the additional mechanisms that was to be used to aid in its ability to open a gateway to the Human Realm. On the makeshift throne was Emperor Belos himself, with Kikimora at his right, and the Golden Guard at his left. And flanked on either side of those two were two Abomatons from Blight Industries. There was a pedestal at the center of the room a few feet away from where Belos was, and basin set upon it that had coals that glowed and created a low burning mystic blue-green flame.
Kikimora gently cleared her throat and said, "We welcome you, leaders of the Nine Covens. Mason, of the Construction Coven. Osran, of the Oracle Coven. Hettie Cutburn, of the Healing Coven. Terra Snapdragon, of the Plant Coven. Vitimir, of the Potions Coven. Adrian Graye Venrnworth, of the Illusionist Coven. Eberwolf, of the Beast Keeping Coven. Darius Deamonne, of the Abomination Coven. And lastly, our soon-to-be head of the Bard Coven, Raine Whispers. The Emperor has called you here today for two matters. The first is regarding the new threat to the people of our fair island."
"Indeed, several of our fellow witches and demons are being sent to Healing Coven Hospitals in states that can't be described as living or dead. What say you, Cutburn, what has the Healing Coven figured out?" Mason asked.
"Unfortunately, we have never seen an affliction such as this. It's not a disease of any kind that we have come across. All current medical spells have not been able to bring them out of their current states," said Hettie.
Vitimir groaned in dismay. "I'm afraid that we have had no luck either. We even joined forces with the Healing Coven to help create a potion that could bring them out of it, but alas, nothing."
Osran hummed as he said, "This affliction is not natural. It is born of a shattered spirit. My Oracle witches have examined the afflicted, and we have managed to conclude that their very souls have been shattered. I'm afraid no form of potion or medical spell will be able to fix this."
"Can't your Oracle Coven piece their souls back together?" Darius asked.
"Sadly, no, once a soul has been shattered to this degree, there is no bringing it back," said Osran.
"Dear me, well, then, should we not put the poor things out of their misery?" Terra asked. "If there is no hope of bringing them back, then I don't really see the point in using up resources caring for what is essentially an empty shell."
Raine furrowed their brow a little and retorted, "Ms. Snapdragon, they're still people. And they're still loved by those who go to them and see them every day. We can't let them go until we're absolutely sure that they cannot be healed."
Belos nodded towards Raine. "Our so-to-be head of the Bard Coven is correct. We cannot waste the lives of our fellow witches and demons so frivolously. Rest assured, we will continue to care for them, for I will not allow these vile creatures to take another soul from our dear citizens. For all deserve to see the paradise that we will forge."
"Yes, my Emperor," said Kikimora. "For on the Day of Unity, we will celebrate the purification of Wild Magic under the Coven System. Just as the Titan intended."
Belos raised his hand towards the Nine and said, "Step forward, place your sigils down, and catch a glimpse of the future that I see for our world."
All nine Coven heads took off the sigil badges of their respective Covens and placed them on the designated spots on the pedestal. Once placed, the magic within them began to activate, funneling into it into the basin of magic coals. The energies mixed and made the flames shoot up into the air, becoming a mini-inferno. As soon as this happened, all nine of the Coven heads' eyes began to glow bright white. The flames continued to dance, but after a moment the flames started to show images. It was the skull of the great Titan that they resided on, and at first it only showed the forests.
But soon, the Titan's eye began to glow, and in a bright flash of light, everything changed. The great head of the Titan was still in the same spot, but now the sun had been eclipsed in the skies above, and the forests were gone, replaced with a modern city.
"The larger your covens grow, the more power we have to unite our realms, where the worthy shall inherit a utopia free of Wild Magic. Where paradise awaits us all, free of strife, free of the evils that plague our world, a place where we – Augh!"
Suddenly, Belos started to clutch at his heart, groaning in pain. The Golden Guard saw this, dismissed his staff, and quickly helped the Emperor up out of his makeshift thrown as they started to walk away. Kikimora saw this and walked with them, but the Golden Guard quickly turned around and raised his hand at Kikimora.
"No, stay here. I can handle this alone," the Golden Guard assured her.
Kikimora gave a low growl of displeasure but did as she was told.
Belos and the Golden Guard managed to leave the room and returned to the throne room. The Emperor walked in first, with the Golden Guard closing the doors behind them. As soon as the doors were shut, Belos dropped to his knees in pain. His mask fell off as his body began to contort, and within a matter of seconds, his entire body transformed into a hideous monster. The Golden Guard turned away as Belos roared and began punching away at a large metal pipe again and again. After a while, the leader of the Boiling Isles managed to regain his senses and return to his original form. The only evidence of his transformation was tar-like substance splattered on the pipe that he had struck.
The Golden Guard had used his own staff to summon a Palisman staff. Once in hand he brought it over to Belos, who had placed his mask back on. He turned around and saw that his righthand man had brought him and swiftly took it from him. Belos snaped the staff in half and began absorbing the magical essence from the Palisman, which helped to ease the pain he was feeling, but it was not enough.
As the staff crumbled to dust in his grasp, Belos reached out with his hand towards the Golden Guard and demanded, "I need more."
"That…was the last from our reserves. The Palistrom wood has been overharvested, I'm sorry my Emperor." The Golden Guard watched as Belos turned his back in frustration. "Uncle, please, let me help! We can make more Palismen! Actually, I read about this technique: harnessing Wild Magic to–"
The moment that the Golden Guard mentioned "Wild Magic," the Emperor stared at him from over his right shoulder.
The Golden Guard understood what that stare meant and immediately apologized, "Uh…Sorry, Uncle."
Belos turned around and walked back to the Golden Guard, placing his hand on the young Coven head's shoulder as he said, "Please, be careful. Our family is gone because of Wild Magic. I can't let the same happen to you. Find me more Palismen, I can depend on you right?"
Little did either of them know, Kikimora was listening closely to the dilemma of her Emperor, and she would help.
A day had passed since Luz unlocked the full power of La Lechuza, but it seemed her mana had not completely recovered from the ordeal. It was not gone, but it was just slowly regenerating, even La Lechuza was asleep as she did not respond to Luz in the slightest.
Guess we both took a beating, huh? Luz thought.
Well, until La Lechuza was rested, there was another matter that Luz needed to attend to. On a makeshift table she had a terrarium set up for the echo-mouse, having taken it in as a pet, and because it still contained the information, she needed in order to possibly create another portal door.
"Oh, little echo-mouse. You ate the diary that can get me home. Can't you cough up a teeny bit?" Luz asked as she tapped on the glass.
But the tiny skull faced rodent only slumbered.
"Just squeeze it out!" King suggested as he demonstrated on a stuffed bear, whose head popped right off.
Luz watched as King chased after the head and went back to staring at the mouse. "Hmm. Maybe I just need to be patient?" As she said this, Luz pressed her face against the glass. "Please tell me your secrets."
Just then, Eda walked into the room, she wore a black jacket over her dress for today was a special day. For a few seconds she was watching Luz watch the echo-mouse until she finally said something. "Hey, knucklehead. You're gonna be late for school." When Eda didn't get a response, she smirked knowingly and added, "Aright. I guess you won't be getting a magic staff with your classmates."
It took less than three seconds for Luz to get dressed and dash right past Eda. By the time Eda got downstairs, Luz was already at the front door, holding it open, and extremely eager to leave.
"C'mon, Eda! We gotta fly!" Luz stated.
"There we go," said Eda, her smirk still prominent.
Eda and Luz hopped onto Owlbert and immediately took off into the air and headed for Hexside.
"How're you feeling, Luz?" Eda asked as they flew.
"Alright. Still a bit tired, but alright. Unfortunately, I haven't heard a word from La Lechuza since the ritual was over," said Luz.
"She's not…you know?"
"No, she's still there, I can feel her. It's more like she's asleep, I guess I'm not the only it took a lot out of."
Eda had to admit, she was a relieved to hear that. Despite the fact that La Lechuza was a Phantom that resided inside of Luz, the Owl Lady had noticed that the Inner Phantom had started to become oddly supportive of her ward. She believed that this was mostly due to self-preservation, seeing as how if Luz were to die in battle or just die in general, La Lechuza would also cease to exist. But after hearing about this monster that eats Phantoms, both freed and still locked inside people like Lilith, it was easy to see why La Lechuza would agree to do that ritual, even though there was a risk of Luz, her host, dying in the process.
So long as they have each other's backs, they should be fine, thought Eda.
Soon the Hexside school came into view. Luz quickly dismounted the staff and ran into the school while Eda flew to the Grudgby field to prepare for the special event today. The Latina quickly entered the school, and when she did, she found her friends who also looked excited for today as well.
"Can you believe it?!" Luz exclaimed.
"I know, we're getting our own Palismen," said Willow.
"This is going to be so awesome; we're really stepping up our game now," Gus added.
"I wonder how we're going to get them?" Skara asked.
Luz looked at Skara with confusion. "What do you mean?"
The young Bard track witch explained, "Well, Palismens are carved from the wood of dead Palistrom trees, but I've heard they're kind of rare nowadays."
Luz looked at Willow, as she was their resident plant expert, for confirmation.
"It's true," Willow confirmed. "Palistrom trees are…sadly…nearly becoming extinct. At this rate, there might not be enough for future witch generations to have Palismen of their own."
Luz gasped at this revelation. "That's horrible! You mean there won't be witches or demons who'll have cute little friends like Owlbert?!"
"Unfortunately, that's about right. We should be thankful we're getting some at all," said Gus.
"Well, let's not waste another moment! Let's go!"
The group of five managed to meet up with another group of students who were heading out back to the Grudgby field. Once they arrived there, they noticed that something had been erected in the middle of the field. It looked like a little house made of wood, with a long vine that was wrapped around it. There was a wooden pin setup around the outer perimeter of the little house, the floor of which was lined with straw and some leaves.
Luz looked among the crowd of her peers, she recognized many of them, but she was looking for one witch in particular, who did not seem to be among them.
"Hey, Willow. Shouldn't Amity be here?" Luz asked.
Willow winced. "Oh…sorry, Luz. I heard she stayed home today."
Luz chuckled a little as she rubbed her left arm and looked down at the ground sadly. "Oh…yeah, that actually makes sense…"
"Did something happen with Amity?" Gus asked.
"Well…it's…complicated…" Luz confessed.
Before she could get into any specifics, Eda and Principal Bump arrived on the field. The old principal had a happy look on his face as he turned to his students.
"Good tidings on this momentous day. You're all about to receive your witches' staffs and, more importantly, meet your Palisman. This is a crucial step in your magical development. Palismen are lifelong partners. They can be both your good friends and a powerful tool. In my case…"
Bump snapped his fingers, and as soon as he did, Bump's weird hat started to glow. The cap levitated off his head as long black hair flowed down his back and over his shoulders. The hat, as it turned out, was not a hat at all, rather, it was a Palisman. The Palisman itself looked like a little devil with two horns, and an arrowhead tipped tail. Now no longer covered by his Palisman, the students were able to see the full face of their principal. Bump had one brown colored eye open that had a scar over it, while his left was shut.
Everyone gasped upon seeing this, with Luz exclaiming, "Holy Titan!"
"Frewin here helps me see," said Bump as he tickled Frewin below his chin.
Eda stepped forward and added, "Now, traditionally, young witches carve their staffs from the branch of an old Palistrom tree."
"But sadly, Palistrom trees are becoming rarer. And those that remain are guarded covetously," Bump explained.
Wow, so it's just like they said, there might not be any more Palistrom trees in the future, thought Luz.
Eda smirked as she said, "That's why I've teamed up with Bumpipoo–"
"Never call me that," he interjected.
"–to bring you…!"
At that moment, the Bat Queen flew down from the skies and landed atop the little wooden house as she announced, "Palisman Adoption Day!"
As soon as she said this, the little door to the house opened and revealed several Palismen that came strolling out into the pin. The cute little creatures all gathered in a group before the Hexside students, with each of them gushing over how cute they looked.
"Thanks for the favor BQ. Here's your whistle back," said Eda as she offered back Bat Queen's whistle.
Bat Queen waved off the offered whistle as she said, "Save it for another time. This was my pleasure. What a wonderful idea."
Luz watched as one of the Palismen, a cardinal with a scar over its left eye, tried to leave through a crack in the pin, but Principal Bump was quick to intervene.
"Nope! You're staying right here," said Bump as he picked up the cardinal Palisman and put him back in the pin.
"Aw, Little Rascal!" Luz gushed.
"These little ones have not had homes in many years. They want to feel a connection. Kneel and state your deepest wish, and your like-minded partner will find you," Bat Queen explained.
Boscha scoffed at the idea of this whole thing. "Adoption Day? Ugh! I want my own Palisman, not some trashy hand-me-down."
Willow furrowed her brow at Boscha for a moment before she pushed past her and said, "Your loss!" The Plant track witch knelt before the pin and said to the Palismen, "I want to be strong and wise to protect everyone I love. And if anyone gets in my way, they'll feel the sting of defeat."
Bat Queen smiled as she heard this wish. "Tender yet tenacious. Clover gives her support."
From the little house, a Palisman flew out. It looked like a been, with two translucent wings buzzing on its back, a striped thorax with a stinger, a small furry mane around its neck area, and a sharp beak-like stinger on its face. Willow watched as Clover flew over to her and nuzzled her before the Palisman transformed into a staff, which Willow took ahold of.
"Oh! Oh, my gosh! I'm gonna take such good care of you," said Willow as she nuzzled her new companion back.
Skara came up behind her and gave her girlfriend a little kiss on the cheek. "She looks perfect, boo."
"Thanks, Skara," Willow replied as she blushed.
Boscha felt her face heat up a bit watching their little display of affection, and also because she did find those little Palismen to be cute as heck. "Out of my way!" Boscha gave the two lovebirds a little shove and said, "I want to play professional Grudgby!"
Bat Queen chuckled at Boscha's aggressiveness and said, "A competitive spirit. Maya will be thrilled."
A crab looking Palisman, Maya, scuttled up to the edge of the pin and glowed bright before transforming into a staff for Boscha. The Potions track witch grasped her new staff, feeling giddy at the fact that she was now holding her own staff.
"Okay, yeah, this is pretty cool," said Boscha.
Next up was Viney.
"I want to open my own veterinary clinic for mythical pets."
A manticore Palisman floated before her and transformed into her staff.
Gus was next as he knelt and spoke his wish, "Dad wants me to become a master Illusionist, but that's easy. So instead, I'll become an ambassador to the Human Realm and re-establish contact with the giraffes!"
A blue chameleon Palisman climbed up Gus' arm left arm, ran up that same arm, over his shoulders, and to his right as it transformed into a staff and floated into his right hand.
Luz kept watching as some of the other students spoke their wishes and obtained their new lifelong companions. Luz could not wait to make a connection with a Palisman and have a lifelong companion. Of course, La Lechuza was kind of like that for her right now, but this was different. I hope she doesn't get jealous when I get mine.
Now it was finally Luz's turn. The Hispanic girl walked up to the pin, knelt before it, and proclaimed her desire to the Palismen. "I want to…! I want to…um…?"
The other students were looking at her quizzically, even Bat Queen, Bump, and Eda were as well.
Luz found herself pausing, she was going to say, "I want to be a witch," but she was already one, practically. She had access to magic, could transform into a Kamen Rider, she might very well be the strongest witch on the Boiling Isles right now, with Amity, as Heka, being her only other equal. She set out for her goal, and she achieved it, so…what did she want?
"Luz, you alright?" Gus asked.
"Uh…yeah…I just…I can't think of my wish. I mean, I was going to say, 'I want to be a witch,' but I kinda am one already with my glyph magic, so…"
Bump, seeing Luz's uncertainty, said, "Perhaps specificity would help. There are many kinds of witches. What do you hope to accomplish with your magic?"
"I…" I can't really say to defeat the Phantoms and stop whatever Belos may be plotting. "I want to get back home to my Mom!"
The Palismen had no reaction.
"Palismen bond through emotion, if that is your desire, it is not strong enough to form one, I'm afraid," said Bat Queen.
Boscha scoffed at Luz and asked, "Could you even still do magic when you get back to the Human Realm?"
Luz's eyes widened; she had not even thought about that. The last time she returned to the Human Realm, her Rider powers and glyph magic did not work, but Lilith's did. Was that because Lilith possessed a bile sack, something that generated magic, and because she was cut off from the Demon Realm, her magic did not work? La Lechuza was the source of her inner magical power, but since all her rings were based on the magic of the Demon Realm, if she was cut off from it again, then she would no longer be a witch, or a Kamen Rider.
"You okay, Luz?" Eda asked in concern.
"I…" Luz stepped back from the pin. "Maybe someone else should go next."
Gus, Skara, Willow, and Eda watched as Luz walked away from the group, her head hung low.
"I! HATE! THIS!" Typhon growled.
"Deal with it, Lady Tiamat forbade us from walking around up there, especially after Barbatos lost his arm, and we lost two other strong Phantoms to Nuckelavee. Now that freak is even stronger than before," said Ifrit as he laid on his back on the cave floor.
"Just because that mutt lost his arm, doesn't mean we need to cower in fear! Any one of us could easily destroy Barbatos if we so wished! So, what if this Cannibal Phantom got stronger from him?!"
Ahuizotl shook his head in aggravation at Typhon's, apparent, willful ignorance. "We don't know the scope of power the Phantoms it ate from the Gates. Those ones could be at our level or stronger, or even as strong as Lady Tiamat! If that is the case, then this monster probably has not even shown us it's true power, yet! It might just be waiting for one of us to be stupid enough to show our face so it can consume us, and further multiply its power!"
Typhon raised its two snake trunk leg-tails and slammed them against the boney cave floor. "Bah!"
Ifrit and Ahuizotl watched as Typhon began to slither down the cave.
"Hey, where are you going?!" Ifrit asked.
"Out."
"Are you defying Lady Tiamat?" Ahuizotl questioned.
"I am a beast that even gods fear, why would I fear her? I respect Tiamat, and it is only out of respect that I have followed her orders up until now. But I will not hide like a coward!"
Typhon's body was enveloped in silver tinted wind, and in the next moment, he disappeared from the cave.
Ifrit and Ahuizotl looked at each other for a moment.
"So, we're just going to let him go?"
"I didn't exactly see you trying to stop him, Ifrit."
"Same to you."
…
…
…
"Rock, paper, scissors to see who tells Set and Lady Tiamat about this?" Ahuizotl proposed.
"Good enough for me," said Ifrit.
Luz had quite a day, mostly because she had spent most of it trying to figure out what she wanted. She became a Kamen Rider and a witch, she had the power to do fantastical things, great things, and she was using that power to defend the people of the Boiling Isles, and to an extent, the Human Realm by preventing the Phantoms from multiplying in the Demon Realm and crossing over into the Human Realm.
While this was all noble, and quite possibly the best thing to have ever happened to her, was it really all that she wanted? When the Phantoms were all defeated, and whatever schemes Belos was concocting in the shadows were brought to light and foiled, where did that leave Luz? There would no longer be a need for Witch. There were no Phantoms back in the Human Realm, as far as she was aware of. She could use her power to fight crime, but did normal criminals really warrant the use of monster busting powers? Some might, but Luz was not about to kill people.
But then again, there was the other dilemma. The fact that her powers would not work outside of the Demon Realm. In a way, it was a good thing that she found that out during that one time, it would have been bad if she tried to transform when it really counted and found out too late that she could not. It was frustrating to say the least, her goal in life was to be a witch like Azura, and she pretty much accomplished that goal. So…what was next for her? What did she want to do with the rest of her life?
Even when she returned home these thoughts plagued her well into the night. She wished La Lechuza would wake up soon, she could really use the owl Phantom's advice right about now. But seeing as her Inner Phantom was taking a siesta, she decided to vent to the echo-mouse instead.
"I stayed here because I wanted to learn magic, right? I wanted to be a witch like Eda and Azura. But I did! I became a powerful, brave, and heroic witch, Kamen Rider Witch! And I've read stories like this. The main character always has to return home, and what? Did I expect to be a witch back in Connecticut?!"
The echo-mouse briefly looked at Luz, yawned, and went back to sleep.
"Mmm. Yeah, I wouldn't want to be my Palisman either," said Luz as she lied on the floor, and stared up into the ceiling.
However, as she did this, her satchel began to rustle. And out from the satchel appeared the little cardinal Palisman from earlier. Luz turned her gaze to the right and gasped when she saw the Little Rascal hopping around and chirping.
"It's you! Did you come here for me?!" Luz asked with sparkles in her eyes.
The cardinal Palisman just continued to hop around the room, almost ignoring her completely.
Luz deadpanned. "No. Of course you didn't." The Latina scooped up Little Rascal into her left hand as she said, "Come on, little dude, let's get you back home." Luz looked down at herself, still in her tank top and shorts. "Uh, one sec."
The young witch-in-training placed the cardinal Palisman on top of the terrarium and started to change, prompting Little Rascal to turn around and give the girl her privacy. When she was done, Luz had thrown on some pajama pants with a star pattern, and a lavender shirt. She grabbed her witch's cloak and put it on as she scooped up the Palisman. Luz stopped as she looked over her shoulder and to a shelf she made that had all her magic rings. La Lechuza was still snoozing, and while her mana had recovered it bit, she did not want to use it while her Inner Phantom was still resting. But just in case, Luz decided to grab her Connect, Ride, Light Owl Style, and Light Style rings. Now armed with her rings, Luz headed out of the Owl House and back to Hexside.
She still continued to think about what her future was to be, what she wanted out of it, and what she could be beyond being Witch. Her thoughts continued to swirl, but Luz put them aside as she eventually made it to the school. The Latina made her way to the back where the Grudgby field was and headed to the little Palisman nest.
However, when she reached it, she found that the nest was protected by a hexagonal energy shield.
"How are we supposed to get through this? If I could use my Connect ring I could just portal you into it, but…?"
The cardinal Palisman leaped out of her hand and flew down to the ground. Once there, Little Rascal pressed his head against the shield, and not a moment later, the shield began to ripple. The ripples multiplied until the entire shield shattered apart like fragile glass.
Luz blinked in surprise and smiled at what the cardinal Palisman did. "Ooh, Palisman powers. Neat!"
The young teen got on her hands and knees and opened the little door, allowing the cardinal Palisman to enter the nest. Inside she saw the other Palismen awaken to her presence, and to greet their wandering friend.
"Aw, you guys are so cute." It was then that Luz made a decision as she crawled inside the nest and closed the door behind her. "All right. I'm not leaving here until I figure out what my future is, and one of you becomes my Palisman! What if... I use my powers to become a popular magician back in the Human Realm?! No, I'm horrible at card tricks. What if…I stay on the Boiling Isles, and become a rugged bounty hunter? Nah, I'm too lovable. Oh! If I go back…"
Luz spent some hours in that nest, talking to the Palismen and listing out the numerous things she could do other than being a Kamen Rider, or listing occupations that could still utilize her powers. Time flew by and the moon changed positions, showing how late it was getting, but Luz seemed determined to figure this out tonight, and find the Palisman that would help her in her endeavors.
"What if…I open a magic pet shop, but it's password protected?" Luz yawned as she turned to look at the sleeping cardinal Palisman. "The password is, 'You're a little angel.'"
The Palismen and Luz were suddenly given a rude awakening as the entire nest rumbled violently. Luz, annoyed, grumbled as she made her way to the door and threw it open.
"Hey, we're a little busy in…here?"
Luz saw that the nest was now airborne, the ground beneath them rapidly vanished as they ascended higher and higher into the air. The Latina quickly looked up, and that's when she saw an airship above them. The airship had a long bone-like mechanical claw that had gabbed ahold of the branch on top of the nest and was now carrying them off.
"I…I think we're being kidnapped," said Luz.
The Palismen started to shiver with worry and fear, but Luz was not about to let them get taken away.
"Don't worry! I'll take care of this!"
Luz drew her Plant Glyph onto the floor of the nest and summoned a vine. It stretched out through the door and wrapped itself on the branch like a rope. Luz climbed that vine rope all the way to the top where the claw had grabbed the nest. Before she continued her climb, Luz picked one of the leaves off the vine and continued her climb.
Once she reached the top, she hung off the starboard side of the airship and peeked over the edge. That's when she saw her third mortal enemy behind Belos and the Phantoms, the Golden Guard, happily whistling away as he drove the airship.
"Ugh, not this guy again," Luz groaned in annoyance.
Taking a second to think, Luz saw some of the metal of the ship was sticking out, and it looked sharp. Wincing at the idea, but left with little choice, Luz reached out for it. She bit her bottom lip as she pressed the tip of her right index finger against it until the sharp point broke the skin and caused blood to come out. With this, Luz drew the Fire Glyph symbol onto the leaf.
Now armed with a glyph, Luz stealthily boarded the airship. She took a few steps forward, and then ran and leaped into the air as she screamed, "HI-YAH!" before slapping the leaf onto the Golden Guard's back.
The Golden Guard turned around and uttered, "Huh?"
But that's when the glyph activated and began shooting out flames with enough force to rocket him around the ship. He screamed loudly as he was slammed against the console, then to the floor, and up into the railing of the hot air balloon above. The whole scene made Luz wince a little with each hit. Unfortunately, that was the last of the objects as the glyph carried him out of the airship and into the open skies far into the distance.
Luz blinked and then said, "He'll be fine. Now, how do I land this thing?"
As she began to search the console, a voice answered her.
"Oh, you just pull that cord above your head."
Luz looked up and saw the aforementioned cord. "Oh, thank yooooou – NANI?!"
"Hiiii," the Golden Guard greeted in a sing-songy voice as he laid on his side against the bow of the ship.
The Emperor's righthand man set his staff aglow with bright red light. That same light wrapped around Luz and threw her to the back of the ship where she hit a storage locker. That same light transformed into a rope construct, which then materialized into real rope that bound her as she slid down onto the floor.
"HEY!"
"Good to see you, too, human."
"Okay, why are you stealing Palismen, Golden Guard?!" Luz questioned.
"Frankly…" the Golden Guard used his teleportation and swiftly appeared before Luz and loomed over her menacingly. "You should be more concerned about yourself! For the crime of rocketing me off my own ship, you'll be locked in the dingiest cell in the Conformatorium, for the rest of your sad little life!"
Luz smirked at the threat. "Pfft, good luck. I've already broken out of that place like twice already. And the first time was before I even had my powers."
"Then we'll just zap you to dust and throw you into the Boiling Sea! That better?" he threatened.
Luz still held her smirk. "Please, Belos won't allow that. So long as the Phantoms are still around, you need me to destroy them."
"You do know there's another one of you running around, right? We'll find out who she is eventually and just have her take your place."
Shoot! He's got a point…
"Good, looks like we have an understanding," said the Golden Guard as he returned to the controls.
Luz struggled against the ropes, trying to set herself free and wishing that La Lechuza would wake up right about now. But as she struggled, she noticed that her shoes were leaving scuff marks on the deck, and that's when she got an idea.
"Say, how did you get back on the ship so fast?" Luz asked as she drew a glyph pattern onto the floor with the heel of her shoe.
"Staff," he simply replied.
"Cool."
Luz raised her left foot and stamped on the Ice Glyph, causing ice spikes to lunge forward and strike the Golden Guard's staff right off the ship and into the air.
The Golden Guard growled in frustration as he watched his staff fall out of sight, and then he chuckled as he said, "Oh, human, it'll take more than that to thwart my mission!"
Just then, a huge shadow passed over them. Luz and the Golden Guard looked up and watched as a finger dragon appeared overhead. The finger dragon roared as it landed on top of the airship.
"What is that?!" Luz asked.
The finger dragon roared again as it released its sharp, barbed tongue and lashed at the balloon, creating a large gash, popping the balloon. Without it, the airship went into free fall, Luz and the Golden Guard screamed as they rapidly descended, the last thing that Luz saw was a flash of golden light, followed by the sounds of the ship crashing.