And this here may be considered the epilogue of the Glandus War arc, now be prepared for a much more relaxing and game changing chapter.

Owl House is owned by Dana Tarrence and Disney, along with others that belongs to Disney. The OCs were made for this story. Enjoy the fic.

Chapter 67: After the War

FRIDAY

In the morning after the war the residents of the Owl House were having a quiet breakfast together. Luz and Amity sat beside each other, while King ate next to Amity. Lilith, Eda and Camila were sitting across from the kids while Hooty ate from his bowl on the floor. Levi's sister had a place at the end of the table, so that everyone would be able to see her in case she decided to hatch that very moment. In the center of the table was a crystal ball that was playing the news.

"So how did everyone sleep last night?" Luz asked, breaking the silence.

"Eh," Eda shrugged while Lilith kept eating.

"Let's just watch the news," Camila suggested.

Felicity Fox was on air. "This morning the body of minor actor, disgraced host of Camp CB, and former Glandus High principal Mephistopheles McScream was discovered on the shores of the Boiling Sea. But in more interesting news, Emily Tricks, formerly known as the Queen of Glandus High, has been revealed to be an illusionist!"

"And… it's trending," Luz said as she looked at her scroll and saw people's reactions to the news on Penstagram.

"Glandus High is currently under investigation due to a huge scandal when it was revealed that the school had ties to a criminal conspiracy that Emily Tricks was heavily involved in. Because of that and her illusionist status, all of her academic and sports awards have been recalled due to suspicions of her cheating with her illusions! But that's not all! In the aftermath of the school war between Hexside and Glandus, Emperor Belos has decided to announce a new law to prevent something like this from ever happening again."

This surprised the family. "For once, I'm interested in what the news has to say," Eda commented.

"Our field reporter Nathan B. Colorfeathers is reporting live from the Emperor's Coven."

The news feed switched to a camera in front of the Emperor's Castle, where a biped peacock demon in a blue suit and with rainbow tail feathers stood "Thank you, Felicity," he spoke into his microphone. "An official statement from the Emperor's Coven is about to be made by Abel Reisender, the Emperor's newly appointed attendant after the recent demotion of Kikimora."

Abel was shown to be standing on a podium, addressing the press. "Both the Emperor and the Titan are displeased from watching the children of the Boiling Isles fight each other in such a barbaric and unnecessary manner, so it is the will of the Titan that this aspect from the Savage Ages be left in the past where it belongs. From this day forth, there will be no more school wars. Some traditions should be forgotten."

"Whoa…" Luz said in shock.

"Huh, looks like Belos actually listened to your rant from the other day, Luz," Eda commented while the reporters present started asking questions.

"What's going to happen to Glandus High?"

"Is it true that one of the teachers is a Fae?"

"How do you intend to respond to the outrage this decision might generate?"

"Is this because of the Owl Lady's daughter's public statement against school wars?"

"Glandus will be closed for the time being during the duration of the Emperor's Covens investigation into its criminal connections," Abel explained. "The fate of the school will be determined after the investigation is concluded and the resurfaced Tarot Guild is dealt with. While some teachers managed to escape arrest, many have been sent to the Conformatorium where it will be decided whether they remain simply detained or get petrified. That will be all for questions right now."

"All of this happened in one day," King said out loud.

"Well at least we got a day of no school because of this," Amity replied. "Me and Luz plan to do nothing but watch anime all day."

"Like Dragon Claw Z, Ninjato, Pirate Piece, Detergent, Beastimon," Luz listed off. "We're going to spend the weekend just unwinding, a well-needed break after the week we had."

Suddenly the crystal ball rang with a call from Hexside. "I got it." Eda tapped on the crystal ball, which was suddenly filled with flames. This surprised the family and the flames sprouted out of the crystal ball, taking the form of a head that Eda and her sister recognized. "Aw shit…"

The head belonged to a demon with wrinkly peach skin and two long, bull-like brown horns with dull yellow bands. He had pupil-less, small yellow eyes and prominent teeth.

"Hello… Edalyn," he spoke to her.

It was then that Luz got up, having had enough. "Nope! Nope, definitely nope! I don't know who the fuck you are pal, but I don't care if you're Lucifer himself!"

"Luz, no!" Lilith cried out in panic.

"Now I don't know which part of the Titan's dick you came from, but we had just gotten through a war and a siege! So whatever revenge you have planned against us because of whatever we did to earn your ire, you can just fuck off! Because I am not dealing with this today!" Luz ranted at the figure who glared at her. Both Eda and Lilith looked terrified as Eda forced Luz down.

"Is this how your human daughter spoke to Principal Bump, Edalyn?" the figure questioned. "Perhaps he may have tolerated such a disrespectful tone, but I as his replacement will not."

"Wait, what?" Luz asked.

"Hey, Fausty…" Eda nervously spoke. "Look, my daughter's going through a lot. You know how it is, teenage stuff and all."

"Of course," Faust said, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "I am too familiar with what your child and the former Blight are capable of. As for the nature of this call, all students are being summoned to Hexside and I wanted to summon your children personally."

"But I thought school's closed for the day?" Eda pointed out in confusion.

"Classes are canceled, yes," Faust stated. "But there is an assembly going on at Hexside today that Luz Clawthorne and Amity Goodfellow are required to attend. After that, they are free to do whatever criminal stuff teenagers these days engage in. I'll be waiting for you, Luz Clawthorne."

The flames dispersed, leaving the room silent.

"Mom… who was that guy?" Luz asks.

"That was Johnathorn Faust, the principal before Bump," Eda answered. "He was… pretty much the opposite of Bump, prioritizing punishing kids over educating them, since he considers them 'evil' and 'depraved'. It looks like he got his old job back until Bump recovers."

"Should we be worried?" Camila asked.

"Well, I don't think he would ever kill anyone, but he did have the habit of expelling students for even the most trivial offense," Lilith explained. "Me and Eda tried to avoid him as much as possible, but one time Eda got caught and was nearly expelled if not for bringing back a ribbon from the IFWOT."

"I think I'm familiar with that name," Maya spoke up. "My previous witch knew him, the guy's a bit… unhinged."

"Well, we are not going to let him intimidate us," Amity noted, patting Luz's back. "Right, Luz?"

"Oh, she's not here at the moment," Maya explained. "She let me take over for some reason."

"FUCK, FUCK, FUUUCK!" Luz cried out in panic while retreating into her mindscape "I am in deep shit right now!"

Later at Hexside, Amity was waiting outside of the principal's office. Inside, Luz was sitting face to face with Faust, who read over Luz's records. On his desk was an old picture of him and what looked to be a younger Terra Snapdragon.

"Picking fights, oh it's a regular thing for you," Faust read. "Got Ms. Torigore to retire, destroyed detention-"

"I would like to clarify on that," Luz pointed out. "Detention didn't get destroyed, he just… quit. Last I heard, he's working at Merlin Meadows now."

"Pepper-spraying the former captain of the Grudgeby team, responsible for the Abomination Track's lack of students," Faust listed off. "Oh, and this is my favorite, setting up an illegal business selling human artifacts to students on school property during school hours."

"Okay, I regret the first two, and the last one was shut down in the first chapter," Luz defended herself. "Man, I thought there'd be more for my first year here…"

"You've taken to be too much like Edalyn, who unsurprisingly raised another hooligan," Faust responded as he closed the file. "Let me tell you one thing, Clawthorne, I don't trust anyone in your family. None of you are good enough for this school. Including Lilith."

"But Aunt Lilith was a star student during her time here," Luz pointed out.

"And then she cheated her way into the Emperor's Coven," Faust said, causing Luz's eyes to widen. "Yes, I'm aware of her role in cursing Eda. No cheater can escape my notice. Have you cheated, Luz Clawthorne?"

"Does eating a pizza after exercise count?" Luz joked nervously. "Look, Mr. Faust-"

"Principal Faust," Faust corrected.

"Okay, Principal Faust, sir, I may not have been the best student around here, but I am better now than I was at the beginning of the school year," Luz told him. "I have been on my best behavior since the semester started and I did help Hexside win the war by defeating Emily. I have also taken responsibility for my past actions. I'm aware that my mom did not have the best relationship with you and everyone else on the staff, but I'm not my mom. My days of being Hexside's number one delinquent witch are over." A sweat drop fell from Luz as she tried to convince the unhinged principal.

Faust took a pause before responding. "I don't like you, Clawthorne. I can sense the… depraved evil coming from within you. But despite my better judgment I can't do anything about you. As long as I'm principal until Bump's recovery, I was told that you are to remain unharmed and unexpelled. Besides, you were already expelled once and that didn't stick."

"Let me guess, is Ms. Traveler keeping you in line?" Luz asked him.

"Julia? No. Actually, it was the Emperor himself that gave me these instructions," Faust said, making Luz frown. "It seems that our Emperor has some kind of special interest in you, which does make me suspicious. What does he have on you?"

Luz held her own arm, preventing Maya from doing something at the mention of Belos. She could only give Faust a dark look. "If you know what's best for you, don't pry into things that could get you disappeared. And maybe the Emperor didn't tell you this, so I will tell you myself: my friends are off limits. If I hear that you have done anything to them… not only will I hold you accountable, I will rip those horns out of your head and make you eat them until they go through your asshole." Her scales appeared around her arms. "So we won't have a problem during your time in my school, right, Fausty?"

Faust was taken aback. "You have a lot of nerve to talk to me like that," he said darkly. "Honestly, I want as little to do with you and your friends as possible. But I will be watching you. I may have given my word to the Emperor, but I can still make your time here difficult if I choose to. Remember that."

Luz tilted her head up. "Glad we have an understanding," she said as she stood up and walked out of the office to meet up with Amity.

"Hey, how'd it go?" Amity asked Luz.

"Put up a brave face, but I am absolutely terrified," Luz said while grabbing Amity's hand and walking away from the office as fast as possible. "Now let's get to that ceremony."

Said ceremony was being held in the auditorium, where on the stage stood an elderly dark-skinned man with white hair, a goatee, a black robe with a golden sash around him, and a doberman Palisman. Standing with him was Willow Park along with Edric, Emira, Matt, Lambi and Puffer.

"On behalf of this school, I, Superintendent Mordo Freewitch, shall honor the student Willow Park for leading Hexside to victory during the last school war," Superintendent Freewitch said as he held up a medal and hung it around Willow's neck. "The Medal of Horror is for only the finest students who have managed to show leadership, bravery, strength, and determination."

"Thank you, Superintendent," Willow nodded to him as her fellow students cheered her on.

"Yeah! That's my awesome girlfriend right here!" Skara cheered as she clapped.

"Go Willow!" the oracle beak student cheered.

Luz and Amity cheered along with Gus, Viney, Jerbo and Barcus. "Go Willow!"

Willow was handed a microphone. "Thank you all, but I couldn't have done this without the support of my best friends, my girlfriend, and of course the rest of Hexside. I didn't win the war, we did. And now hopefully the rest of the semester will be much more peaceful… well, as peaceful as it gets in the Boiling Isles." A few chuckles were heard from the audience as Faust took the microphone.

"While Principal Bump is on sick leave, I will serve as your temporary principal," Faust told the audience, ignoring the crying from one of the teachers. "Your parents have probably warned you about me and they were right to fear me. You have the right to fear me." He specifically glared at Luz, who just sat back and crossed her arms while glaring back at him. "However, I have chosen to respect Bump's policy when it comes to offering Multi-Track options to students, even if I don't understand it myself. And today we have some additional students who have decided to take the option to study multiple tracks."

"Edric Blight will now be in Beast-Keeping, Potions, and Illusions." Edric stepped forward and his sleeves magically changed. His pants were still light blue, but his sleeves were now orange and yellow.

"Emira Blight will now be in Healing and Illusions." Emira stepped forward and while her leggings stayed light-blue, her sleeves changed to navy blue. She and Edric nodded their approval of their new uniform looks.

"Mattholomule Storms, now in Illusions and Construction." Matt walked forward and his sleeves changed to light blue, which he looked at in admiration. He smiled and punched the air.

"Mary Lambada, now in Healing and Abominations." Lambi walked up, her sleeves still navy blue but her leggings changing to lilac, indicating her return to Abominations.

"And Puffington Harvester, now in Construction and Abominations," Faust finished as Puffer stepped forward, his sleeves staying brown but his pants changing to lilac. He looked proud of himself for once.

As the audience clapped for the new Multi-Track students, Luz whispered to Amity. "Looks like Lambi and Puffer will be back in your class."

"Yeah," Amity replied. "They talked about it with Snope and decided that they want to come back to Abominations while still keeping their other course. It will be good to have them back. Especially since this time I won't be the star student while they get treated as screw-ups. This time we'll be equals with our own talents."

Later in Julia's office, Luz was having her session with Julia. Right now, Luz was arguing to herself. The portraits of the Glandus teachers that Julia had the previous day were gone.

"Look, just let her talk to you-"

"There's nothing to talk about," Maya shut her down.

"Look, Maya, just give her a chance," Luz tried to convince her, but Maya wouldn't budge. She turned to Julia. "I'm sorry, Ms. T, Maya can be a bit… stubborn."

"Like you?" Maya asked.

"Hey, it's alright if you don't feel like talking, Maya," Julia told her.

"It is not that I don't feel like it, I'm just not comfortable talking to you," Maya told her. "And no offense, but I doubt that you could help me anyway.."

"Once again, that's fine," Julia told her. "I can just go ahead and talk to Luz. But if you ever do feel comfortable enough to talk, I'm here."

Maya didn't answer, her eyes shifting to hazel so Luz could take over fully. "Sorry she wasn't being cooperative, Ms. T. We're still working out some stuff with this co-owner arrangement," Luz explained.

"It's alright," Julia assured her. "Now, if you just want to talk, I'm all ears."

Luz gave a nod and she leaned back in her chair, lines of scales spreading from her neck out of nervousness. "I… had trouble sleeping last night. And when I took a shower this morning, all I could think about was where Emily had stabbed me, where Ms. Torigore's son had cut into me-" She paused for a moment, her arm shaking. "I mean… it's not the first time I've experienced something like this. I… recently tried to go back to the Slayground. It was… painful."

"It sounds like you may have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder," Julia suggested.

"Yeah, that makes sense. It's been like… one traumatic experience to another for me," Luz said. "The petrification ceremony, Puck's death, seeing my own aunt get shot and left for dead… I've been through a lot recently."

"Can you think of any way to handle these feelings caused by your trauma?" Julia asked, giving Luz some time to think.

"Well, Amity's my rock right now." Luz answered. "My moms, King, Aunt Lilith, Hooty, they're also here to help me with whatever I'm going through. Willow, Gus, Viney, Jerbo, Barcus, and my friends do the best they can as well… but it is still a lot. I mean, as if being a teenage girl doesn't give me enough problems, my life's like some messed up cartoon."

"Hmm, after a week like this, I know just what to recommend," Julia told Luz. "Just go and have fun. Focus on being with the people that make you happy. Go to an arcade, watch a movie, go to the beach, anything that will help you relax and unwind. A little normalcy can do wonders for you."

Luz gave in some thought. "Yeah, I could go for some teenage stuff about now. I really need a break."

"Yeah, I think everyone does," Julia agreed.

"I'm very worried about Luz," Amity said while walking back and forth, "I mean, this whole thing with Maya right now, I just want to be the best girlfriend to Luz as possible, a-a-and I don't want to sound selfish cause I get why these things happen and… Titan, this is…"

"Amity, I need you to take deep breaths," Julia advised, having Amity take a few deep breaths. "Are you feeling calm?"

"Yeah," Amity said with a nod.

"How about instead of talking about Luz right now, we talk about you?" Julia asked. "It is just important that you think about your own needs, not just Luz's."

"I-I don't know what I need right now," Amity admitted. "It's just… I've been so scared and tired… Luz needs me, Levi's sister needs me. I can't think about myself right now."

"I know they are important to you," Julia told Amity. "But you are important too and I don't want you to be so focused on everyone else that you forget to prioritize your own well-being. This has been a long week for everyone. That includes you. This weekend, take a break. Spend some time focusing on yourself and relax."

"Well, there have been some books Luz has around that I can try out and read," Amity noted.

"There you go," Julia nodded.

"I almost died," Gus told Julia. "Emily threw me off the roof. Luz or Maya tried to save me but I fell anyway. If not for Angmar, I would've been street pizza as Luz once said."

"And thank Titan that you're alright," Julia commented.

"Yeah, although…" Gus looked down. "What's weird is that yesterday I was helped out by the people I expected to help me out the least. Angmar, Boscha, Hunter…"

"Hunter?" Julia asked. "Can you tell me about him?"

"He used to be friends with me, Luz, and Willow… until he did something that hurt Luz and her family, something she couldn't forgive him for," Gus explained. "But then he helped me and Boscha escape from Nina and then he called the Emperor's Coven to arrest everyone at that school. He asked me not to tell Luz and Amity about him being there and I didn't and I suggested that maybe we could talk in the future about what he had done to Luz. I'm not really sure what the right thing to do in this scenario is because of what he did to my friends. And I know if I ask Amity or Luz, they would just tell me to stay away from Hunter. And I probably should but… he did help me. It's… it's very confusing."

"Well, sometimes there isn't really a right thing to do in a scenario like this," Julia replied. "Maybe instead of asking yourself what's right, ask yourself what you want."

Gus nodded in agreement. "I… want to talk to Hunter. That doesn't mean forgiving him for what he did to Luz, that doesn't mean we are friends again. But I at least want to give him a chance to explain himself, since it might give me some closure."

Julia nodded. "I would suggest talking to Luz about it after that, since she does deserve to know if Hunter hurt her like you said he did."

"Yeah," Gus agreed,

"Also, if you still feel affected by what happened yesterday, you should go spend time with the people you feel safe around. Place yourself in a safe, familiar environment. Do stuff that makes you feel safe. Is there anyone else you feel comfortable talking to?" she asked him.

"...Well, I think about my dad but… he's busy with a trip," Gus notes while thinking about how his dad had made no attempts to contact him. "But lately I'm… having some doubts."

"Is there any other adult you can talk to?" Julia asked, causing Gus to wonder…

Skara looked down nervously during her session with Julia. It wasn't as if she didn't trust the woman, but she still didn't want to reveal her condition to her. So she had to talk about other things that were affecting her.

"I was taken hostage by this crazy teacher that tried to kill Luz and Amity," she revealed. "The same teacher killed those two scouts right in front of me. If it wasn't for my friends, I don't know what would have happened to me…"

"If you aren't comfortable talking about this, you can change the subject," Julia reminded, noticing Skara's distress. "Would you like that?"

Skara nodded. "Yeah, I'd like that. What else could we talk about?"

"Well, did anything else happen this week?" Julia asked. "I understand that it has been a very stressful week for everyone…"

"Me and Willow finally went on our first real date and it was awesome," Skara admitted, smiling a little. She then thought of Boscha and her smile wavered. "Me and Boscha also chatted yesterday. It was a good talk that let us air some stuff we never told each other before. I think we're on better terms now. It doesn't mean we're friends again and I don't think we can be friends again, since I don't know if I'm even ready to forgive her yet. But I do recognize that she has changed, that we have both changed."

"And how is Boscha?" Julia asked.

"She's made some new friends, just like I have… and I'm happy for her." Skara looked down. "Despite everything that happened… I still care about her. And yesterday, I was actually scared for her life. This is despite me knowing that we can't go back to how things were. We've both moved on and… I think we're both better off for it."

"And that's fine, Skara," Julia assured her. "I think your falling out was good for both of you and there is nothing wrong with still caring about Boscha. Maybe you're no longer friends, but for a long time she was an important part of your life. It is not a bad thing to care about other people, even those that have hurt you or the people you care about. Empathy is not a bad thing, just as long as you still remember to set up boundaries so that you don't get hurt again. I think it is a good thing that you spoke to Boscha, since it sounds like it was a talk that you both needed."

"Yeah, I think it was," Skara agreed.

Dusty was eating snacks while in Julia's office. "Well, getting eaten wasn't the worst thing I've experienced," he said happily while Julia looked concerned.

"You seem a bit… unaffected by the war, Dustin," Julia noted, observing Dusty's body language and mannerism.

"Don't worry about me, Ms. Traveler," Dusty waved it off. "In my years of going on adventures with my beasts I've been stalked by the Demon Hunters that wants to capture my Kittychu even though there's more around, maimed, put more through death-defying situations, I almost sucked through space and time once and there was other time I was petrified by ungodly horrors… well, if that can't bring down Dusty Bringems then nothing can!" he declared while eating snacks.

"Dustin, I think you're in denial," Julia concluded.

Luz and Amity were in the empty detention track classroom, waiting for their friends.

"Well, they should have gotten our texts," Amity said while leaning against the desk. "We're really doing this, aren't we?"

"You guys realize that after this, there's no turning back?" Maya asked them and Luz nodded.

"We know, but after everything that's happened, they have a right to know," Luz answered.

The classroom door opened. Gus, Willow, and the twins were the first to come in. "Hey Luz, Amity, we got your text," Gus said, holding up his scroll.

"When you said this was important, we came as fast as we can," Willow said as Viney, Jerbo, and Barcus came in.

"Yeah, it sounded urgent," Emira said, sounding slightly worried.

"Why are we doing this in the old Detention Track room?" Viney asked.

"Though it does bring back a lot of good memories," Jerbo notes while Barcus nodded just as Skara, Amelia, Cat and Bo came in.

"Hey, we're here," Skara said.

"Huh, I've never actually been in this classroom before," Bo noticed, looking around. "I was honestly expecting worse."

"Is it just us or are you having a party here?" Cat asked.

"No, it's just you guys," Luz assured them.

"So… what's going on? Why call us here?" Edric asked them.

"Because we trust the eleven of you enough to tell you something that we've been holding onto for a while," Amity answered, causing their friends to look concerned.

"What is this about?" Amelia inquired.

Luz sighed and shared a nod with Amity. "You guys know about my cambion status. As a human who was raised in a magical environment, my body has adapted to the Boiling Isles and its elements, allowing me to survive more easily. But I never told you guys how or who I learned it from. Well, after everything we've been through, me and Amity think you deserve to know. But this never leaves the room."

Noticing their friends' concerned looks, Luz continued. "Back when me and my mom were captured by the Emperor's Coven, I learned what I really was… from Belos." This surprised her friends as she continued. "And the reason Belos knew that I was a cambion was because he himself is one."

"H-Hold up," Willow said, looking just as shocked as everyone else. "If Belos is a cambion…"

"Wouldn't that make him…" Jerbo let the realization hit him and everyone else.

"A human?!" Gus exclaimed, before covering his mouth.

"Don't worry, Kitsuni made the room sound-proof, that is why we chose it," Amity assured him. "But yeah, Belos told Luz that he was a human raised in the Boiling Isles just like her."

"Wait a sec, if you guys know then… why not just tell everyone in the Boiling Isles about it?" Emira asked them.

"For obvious reasons," Luz pointed out. "We're still considered wild witches and because of how many times we got ourselves in trouble with the Emperor's Coven, so nobody would believe us even if we could. And there is a risk to knowing. If Belos realizes that somebody else knows what he really is and might try to spread that information, he could make them disappear. And we don't want to give Belos a reason to come after us right now."

"At first we thought it was best that the less you guys knew, the better since we didn't want to endanger you guys," Amity admitted. "But then we realized that is what Belos wants, to keep people in the dark. You may remember when Emily said that Emperor's Coven hid Luz's involvement in the Boiling Zits Incident."

"That does seem strange and my dad did notice the lack of news involving Luz," Gus remembered. "Before the petrification ceremony, the Media Coven was very silent about Eda having a human kid."

"But why the cover ups?" Skara questioned.

"To avoid making Luz a target?" Viney suggested.

"Exactly, he wanted there to be less attention on me so that I could grow up and start showing signs of becoming a cambion," Luz explained. "And earlier this week I learned what exactly Belos wants with me… apparently he wants me to use my cambion form for the Day of Unity and his war against the human realm."

"The human world? But… why would he want to attack his own world?" Gus questioned.

"We're not sure yet, but this is why we decided you guys needed to know this. Belos sees Luz as nothing more than a weapon and he made sure that the people that could have protected her, the Bards Against the Throne, were stomped out…" Amity looked down sadly. "Including Levi and his father."

"And now you guys know about all of this, you can decide what to do with it," Luz told them. "If you choose to forget what we told you and just go on with your lives, we won't hold it against you. We don't want to endanger you guys or your families, but Belos has already gone after people that we care about, so you should know why."

The gang looked at each other and shared nods as they silently reached the same conclusion. "We have your back, guys," Willow spoke for them.

"Yeah, if Belos thinks he can indoctrinate you without giving you a choice, then he has another thing coming," Viney said as she stood up.

"I wasn't a fan of the guy after hearing about that petrification ceremony fiasco anyway," Jerbo said while Barcus barked.

"Bark(Down with the monarchy)!" Barcus declared.

"Luz, Amity, you guys helped us over and over again, and now it's time we help you," Skara told them.

"She's right, and after reading some law books from Earth, maybe it's time for a change," Amelia suggested. "Our justice system is outdated and needs to be reformed rather than just having witches thrown in jail or executed without trial."

"Yeah, and there's no reason to go to war in the human realm," Gus added. "After what Belos has done to you guys, we are not going to be complacent."

"Me and Ed have your back as well," Emira said.

"Totally, we're up to go up against any form of authority," Edric nodded.

"Yeah, we can show them that we're not afraid to stand up against an unjust government!" Cat threw her fist up. "I mean, we have Skara's mom working in the coven system so we can get Ms. Brooke on our side and have a Head Witch to use to our advantage! Right, Skara?" She turned to Skara, who looked uncomfortable with the subject.

"Uh… I don't know…" Skara said.

"You have my support as well, Luz," Bo said, though she looked a little unsure. "But… what can we even do against Belos? We're just a bunch of kids and Belos has an army."

"Think back to the protest at the petrification ceremony," Luz brought up. "You guys managed to get an entire crowd on your side. We may be young, but we are not powerless. We still have a voice. We're the current generation of witches and we're not to be underestimated. What we do and what we say matters. For now we need to pay attention to what's happening around us, get organized, and wait for our moment. In time we can get more people on our side. I don't expect us to bring Belos down ourselves, but I think we can still do our part and make a difference. We just need to be smart about it and choose our fights."

"So… are we an anti-Belos club right now?" Jerbo asked.

"Yeah, like a Junior Bad Girls Coven!" Gus suggested.

"We'll work on the name later," Amity said. "But there's another thing we want you guys to know about. There's… someone who wishes to meet you."

"Yeah, I should introduce you guys to Maya," Luz said, causing them to look confused.

"Who's… Maya?" Amelia asked before Luz's eyes shifted from hazel to red along with her hair, red scale lines tracing from her eyes to her hairline.

"That'd be me," Maya said, surprising and shocking those that haven't met her yet. "Name's Maya, I was a Palisman until I got broken, now I live in Luz's head."

"Ruff!" Barcus spoke.

"Yeah, that does explain the two auras," Jerbo noted.

"So uh, what can you tell us about yourself, Maya?" Amelia asked her.

"Well, I have been told that I am very competitive, tough, and headstrong," Maya said. "Me and Luz worked out a compromise where we share her body until we can work out something better. And we both agree that Belos needs to be taken down a notch because of all the Palismen that he has killed." She looked at them all. "But I'm cool with you guys, since it looks like most of you have taken good care of your Palismen. I was there during Palisman Adoption Day. You may remember me, I'm the crab Palisman. Least, I was."

"I think I did see a crab Palisman in the nest that day," Gus remembered.

"Well, this isn't the most bizarre that's ever happened to you, Luz… or Maya," Willow said. "But we still intend to support you, and we all understand that this is a big change, so we don't want to make either of you uncomfortable." Everyone else nodded in agreement, despite how weird it was for them to hear another voice coming from Luz.

"Thanks for understanding, guys," Luz said once she took control.

"So what's the next course of action for our yet to be named secret coven?" Edric asked.

"How about we go to our uncle's bar and eat out?" Emira suggested. "I think we could all use some food right now."

"Yeah, I agree," Luz accepted. "Let's all go to Geist's bar and put our orders on Ed and Em's tab!"

"YEAH!" the group of friends cheered.

Ed and Em cheered before realizing. "Wait, our tab?"

Back at the Owl House, Lilith looked at herself in the mirror. She felt like a change of clothing and appearance was something she needed, since she was going to talk to D'splora about the job offer today.

Her new outfit was very different from her normal look. She wore a pale green shirt with poofy sleeves and a gold button on the chest in addition to a brown vest, a maroon ankle-length skirt that Eda had lent her, purple-gray leggings, and brown high-heeled boots. She was also now wearing large round glasses for the first time in years, having worn contacts during her time in the Emperor's Coven. Despite how nervous she felt, she gave a determined look to her reflection.

"You know, I bet I can pull off the nerd look," Eda said as she joined her sister, leaning her elbow against her shoulder. "But boy, do you really look like an aunt with those glasses and that vest."

"Says the stay at home mom," Lilith quipped with a smirk.

"Wow, I'm wounded." Eda chuckled while playfully shoving her sister before hanging her arm around her shoulder. "But seriously, you look great, Lily."

"Thank you, Edalyn," Lilith responded, patting her sister's hand. "I think accepting this job could be a big help for this family. Especially after what happened yesterday."

"We got rid of the bodies but we definitely need income to fix up the place," Eda commented before her face turned stoic. "I still have my doubts about this though, since working at that museum means that Belos will be able to keep a closer eye on you."

"I know, but it's still important for me to find a way to help the family," Lilith said with a nod. "Besides, this job also gives me the opportunity to use the museum's resources to look into the Sword of Adam for Amity."

"I understand," Eda said. "And I won't hold this against you. Sister hug?" She spread her arms out and Lilith accepted it, hugging her sister back.

"Sister hug," Lilith responded while the two hugged it out.

After the hug, Lilith walked downstairs and headed for the door. But before she did, she was confronted by a teary-eyed Hooty who wrapped himself around her.

"P-P-Please don't go, Lulu!" Hooty cried. "Please don't leave me!"

"Hoostifer, calm down," Lilith told him calmly, patting his head. "I promise that I'll be back. While I'm gone, why don't you find a way to help the family out just like I am."

"H-Help out?" Hooty asked her, loosening his grip on her.

"Well you aren't just a house demon," Lilith told him while Hooty calms down. "You are the Owl House itself, Hooty, you take care of everyone inside you. If that isn't a worthy purpose, then what is?"

Hooty sniffed. "Thank you, Lulu, I promise to be a big help around here for you!"

"I know you will," Lilith said as she picked up her staff. "I'll see you later!" She then set off for the Bonesborough Museum.

"Good luck, Lulu!" Hooty told her while sticking his neck out the door to see her off before he slithered back inside. "Now who can I help?" he asked himself before noticing that King was in the kitchen with a stack of books. "What's going on under the roof of the Hoot House, King?"

"Can you keep it down, Hooty, I'm busy," King said while reading a book about types of demons. "I'm trying to figure out what kind of demon me and my dad are. But I keep getting dead ends with these books!"

"Hmm, trying to find yourself, huh?" Hooty questioned, an idea popping in his head.

Everything was a blur, but she was able to make out a pair of red eyes and a set of sharp teeth.

She saw a flash of dark fur, followed by several screams and shouts… then silence.

Then she saw a purple cloaked figure holding a snake-like scepter as he smiled cruelly at her beneath his hood.

Suddenly a large winged figure grabbed her and held her protectively. There was a bright flash of light, which was accompanied by a pain-filled shriek…

Donna shot up from the surface of her desk, Tina sitting behind her with the palm of her hand over her head. Tina's eyes stopped glowing purple and she looked at Donna in concern.

"How'd it go?" Tina asked her and Donna sighed.

"Nothing new," Donna responded, looking defeated. "I thought I would be able to see something different in my memories this time, but it's still a dead end."

"Well, maybe something will come up next time," Beocrow said while sitting beside Tina. Next to him was Tyrone.

"So if you don't mind me changing the subject, what is going on with Nina?" Veronica asked, making Donna tense up.

"Uh, I um-" Donna said as she remembered her last conversation with Nina, finding Nina in a pool of her own blood, and being unable to help her as coven scouts took her away. "I don't know… she is probably still in the care of the Beast-Keeping Coven but… I'm not sure what they're going to do with her?"

"How do you know a girl like that anyway?" Beocrow pondered. "You never mentioned that you were friends with a Glandus student."

"Yeah, I've been wondering that as well," Tyrone said.

"Oh, well, me and Nina were best friends when we were kids actually," Donna replied. "But then I got enrolled here while she got enrolled at Glandus. We ended up in different friend groups and just… stopped talking to each other. But despite that, I'm worried for her."

"She must have been really special to you once, huh?" Tina asked, causing Donna to blush.

"I… I guess, but we're also not kids anymore. We're different people now and things can't go back to how they used to be. I know that she's done bad things. I know that she's hurt people. And yet… I still care about her," Donna said with a sigh.

"You haven't told us what was in the text that she sent you, the one that caused you to rush out and leave us to clean up the mess at Hexside," Veronica pointed out, causing Donna to want to change the subject.

"Um… say, Bail, I heard that you spoke with your cousin yesterday, how'd it go with her?" she asked in order to avoid talking about the text.

Seeing Donna's distress, the gothic boy just shrugged in response. "We had a brief convo, told her who I am and I know it won't be the last time I see her. Might be a while until I try to reach out to her again though, since it looked like she had a lot of stuff going on."

"Well, that's great to hear," Donna responded. "Maybe the rest of us can meet her properly someday and maybe she can join our little club."

"That's a big if, we Clawthornes tend to be lone wolves unless there is something in it for us," Beocrow explained.

"It would be nice to have more members," Tyrone replied. "That way we can-"

"Ahem," spoke Beck who was shown to be seated at the teacher's desk. "Now I know that you five have a lot to talk about, but you must remember that this is detention time. I hope you all use this time to catch up on your school work after skipping class yesterday."

"Sorry, Professor Saltstar." they all said while books were summoned to their desks.

Nina was being led down a hall, bandages wrapped around her stomach. She was also wearing handcuffs along with a shock collar and a muzzle. She glared at the coven guards escorting her toward a door with the Beast-Keeping sigil on.

After knocking on the door, it was answered by a young woman with pale skin, black bobcut hair, blue eyes and a pink long gown with a blue gemstone and pink flats.

"Oh, you must be Nina, the Head Witch has been looking forward to meeting you!" she said joyfully, while Nina just glared at her. "My name is Sunny Muse, I'm the Beast-Keeping Head's aide. By the way, love your mane!"

The overly joyful girl made Nina roll her eyes as she was brought into the office of Calypso Brooke. The sight of the woman caused Nina to glare intensively at her.

"Ms. Fangs," Calypso said.

"HMM!" Nina started to get aggressive until the shock collar activated, making her whimper in pain.

"Please, take a seat," Calypso told her before looking up at the guards. "Remove her muzzle." Nina was forced to take a seat while they removed her muzzle, though her cuffs and shock collar stayed on. "Sunny, the file?"

"Here it is, Head Witch Brooke." Sunny handed Calypso a file and the Head Witch read it over.

"Okay, Nina Fangs, age sixteen, member of the Fangs Tribe from the Torsa Villa," Calypso recounted. "You have a history of picking fights from a young age and running away from home, and since you were enrolled at Glandus you engaged in violence and delinquency as you rose up the ranks in Glandus's hierarchy system."

"Is that all?" Nina questioned.

"Well, it also mentions your assaults on Dusty Bringems and Amelia Regal, your kidnapping of Gus Porter, and your harassment and bullying of Boscha Hieron," Calypso listed, which prompted a little confusion from Nina. "Are you confused about something?"

"...I don't know," Nina responded, momentarily caught off guard by how her maiming of Boscha wasn't mentioned. "But how about this? Now it is my turn to list off all of the crimes committed by you and your family. Because I know who your parents are." She glared at Calypso with a look of hatred, her anger seething. "And of the Lycan Hunters, the Woodemons were the most infamous. Your parents didn't just hunt lycans, they slaughtered them. They would have completely exterminated my kind if the Emperor's Coven hadn't given us our reservation. You can hide the truth as much as you want, but I know my history. And you are no better than the rest of your-AAAH!" Nina was shocked as the collar sensed her anger.

"Calm down, Ms. Fangs," Calypso advised.

"Calm down? Or what, you'll put me DOOWN!" she screamed as the collar continued to shock her, the shocks only getting more painful.

"Temporary shut off protocol spell!" Calypso chanted as the collar stopped shocking Nina.

Nina was panting while Calypso stood up slowly. "Take it easy, Nina. I'm sorry that it had to be this way, but do you understand what position you're in?"

"No shit, I do," Nina grimaced in response.

"And if it means anything to you, I am sorry for what my parents did. They wanted me to be like them, but I haven't talked to them in years. They never forgave me for-" Calypso stopped herself. "Look, I sympathize with your situation. I really do. And believe it or not, I want to help you."

"Yeah, right." Nina wasn't buying it.

"Okay, don't believe me then. I understand that, given my family history. I'm no saint either, but I know the difference between a good lycan and a bad lycan, unlike my parents. And trust me, I've had my run-ins," Calypso explained. "But back to you, you're on thin ice and you don't have a lot of options right now. Your best hope is me saving your tail so that you don't have to be sentenced as an adult lycan even though you're a minor." She had a serious look. "So will you cooperate with me?"

Nina saw that she had no other option and she looked down with a sigh. "So this is a way for me to live, right?"

"Yes, you either work with me or it gets left up to the Emperor's Coven," Calypso replied.

Nina gave in. "Fine," she answered. "So what can you do for me?"

"As Head Witch, I am able to give you parole," Calypso started. "However, you will have to remain under observation for the foreseeable future. Your collar will have to stay on to prevent you from going feral-"

"You mean make me more docile," Nina intercepted.

"You're a smart one, I'll give you that," Calypso admitted. "You are also not allowed to go back to the Torso Villa for the foreseeable future since you would be a 'bad example' to the other werecats. And that means you will be unable to return to your family for the time being. And as Head Witch, I will be responsible for you and your rehabilitation back into witch society… you know where this is going?"

Nina had realized what Calypso meant. "I get I won't be seeing my family, does that mean I have to live in the Emperor's Castle or something?"

"No, you'll be living with my family," Calypso told her.

"That would mean… I have to live with your daughter… who I fought in the war…" Nina clarified.

"I am sure she will try if you try," Calypso said. "And do not under any circumstances accept anything from Scabrina."

Nina sighed. "I just hope I don't regret this…"

Geist's Bar was more crowded than it had been in a long time, since it was filled with Hexside students that Luz and co have invited. This included classmates like Dusty Bringems, the group that helped Edric take out the Grendaltroll, and the Human Appreciation Society members which included Simon whose face was covered in bandages.

"Here's your wings, Simon," Edric said while handing Simon's order. "Are you sure you're okay, man?"

"Don't worry, we Saltstars can withstand anything," Simon said as he grabbed one wing and ate it whole, crunching the bones. "Good wings."

In one booth Witch Morty was talking to Jessica.

"Geez, I still can't believe that Glandus was part of some criminal organization," Morty said while eating a hell fry.

"Yeah, me neither," Jessica agreed. "By the way, Morty, I've noticed that you've been a bit different lately. Like less stressed out than usual."

"Oh, um… glad you noticed," Morty replied, a bit flustered.

Elsewhere in the bar, the Shadowy Secret Expozers were playing the arcade games that Geist had while Luz and Amity were talking to Barcus and the Cerberus sisters.

"I'm telling you, we should go on a double date!" Pat declared. "Preferably before me, Blondie, Cyndi and Barcus graduate next year."

"Whoa, you guys are graduating next year?" Luz asked in surprise. "I didn't know about that, Barcus."

"Dog demons age at a much faster rate than other species," Blondie explained. "Hexside understands this and we have it worked out so that we can graduate before we have pups of our own."

"W-Wow, so you guys already have your future planned out?" Amity asked. "Barcus, you're okay with this?"

"Arf(Yep, once a dog demon finds their match they are mated for life)!" Barcus responded happily, which Amity understood.

"So what happens after you have pups?" Amity asked.

"Oh we raise and nurture our pups until they're old enough to be adopted by other caretakers like our parents did," Blondie explained.

"Woof(It is the way of life for our species)," Barcus explained.

"Well, Barcus, all I can say is to wish you luck," Luz said while holding up her brew cup. "To Barcus and his girlfriends."

"To them," Amity said as she raised her brew. The two biped dog demons couldn't raise their own cups due to, well, having paws.

"Ooh! Look at that stuffed toy I could use for chewing! Barcus, you have to win me one!" Pat said as she and her sisters, along with Barcus, went to the prize machine.

Luz smiled. "Lucky dog, that Barcus is," she said as Amity nodded.

"Yeah, he's lucky to know what his future is," Amity replied while trying to wrap her head around how she understood Barcus. "Say um, do you ever understand what Barcus is saying? Even without Jerbo translating?"

"Well, often I don't know the exact words he is saying, but after spending enough time with him I am able to get a feel of what he is generally trying to say," Luz explained. "Say um, are you alright?"

"Oh um, yeah, I'm totally great. Just chilling and hanging out with friends," Amity commented as she drank her brew, though she wasn't convincing Luz.

"Hey," Luz said as she patted Amity's hand. "We can talk if there's something up. Do you want to go home or-"

"No, no it's fine," Amity assured her. "I guess, I've just been feeling a little… spooky lately. But I'm here to have some fun with my friends, especially with my novia."

Luz smiled. "You learned that from Camila, did you?" she asked as Amity nodded.

"Yeah, you're lucky to have moms that are so caring and understanding," Amity said, her thoughts briefly turning to her issues with her own birth mother.

"Hey Luz, Amity," Gus said as he walked up to them with Elliot.

"Oh hey Gus and… Elliot," Luz said, noticing the goat boy. "So you two started talking again?"

"Yeah, we talked it over and Elliot has decided that he wants to come back to the Human Appreciation Society," Gus explained.

"And I want to apologize for being a jerk," Elliot told Luz. "I should have not given in to peer pressure or turned my back on people who were my friends. You're right. Moving forward, I intend to make my own choices."

"Good for you, Elliot," Luz said, meaning it. "I know the HAS will be glad to have you back."

Elliot nodded. "And one of the first choices that I will make is to try out the death pepper laced griffin wings!" Elliot said excitedly before he spotted Edric holding up a plate of flaming hot griffin wings. "Oh, that must be my order!"

As Elliot left, Gus turned to Luz. "Hey um, can I speak to Luz for a sec, Amity?"

"Of course, I've been meaning to talk to Lambi and Puffer anyway and welcome them back to the Abomination Track," Amity said as she excused herself.

"I also need Willow for this," Gus says as he spotted Willow with Skara and Eileen. He waved at her. "Willow!"

Willow turned to Skara. "I'll be back," she said as she pecked Skara's cheek, making the werewolf witch girl blush.

'You are one lucky witch gal,' Eileen wrote on her board as Willow walked over to Gus.

"Yeah…" Skara said in agreement.

"You know, I don't remember the last time that it was just the three of us hanging out together," Luz said as Willow joined her and Gus. Before she was enrolled at Hexside, it was just them and occasionally Hunter. But since then their social circles had greatly expanded.

"Yeah, it has been a while," Gus replied while looking at his own brew. "Say um, I got something to talk about with you two. It's about me and Amelia…"

"Did you two go out together?" Willow asked excitedly.

"If things went south…" Luz raised up a fork, only for Willow to put her hand down.

"No, no, it's not that we're together," Gus told them. "I mean… okay, so back at the Shack before I was captured, we sort of… kissed."

"That's great, Gus," Willow said.

"Yeah, except that it didn't mean anything to me," Gus said while looking down.

"What do you mean?" Luz asked him.

"I guess what I mean is that I like Amelia but… not in a romantic sense," Gus clarified. "It's just… in light of that and other recent events, I think I may be… aromantic."

"Oh, hey there's nothing wrong about it," Luz assured him, patting his shoulder. "Being aromantic doesn't really change the fact that you're still our Gus."

"I don't know," Gus said in an unsure tone. "I'm worried that there may be something wrong with me, that this is a product of my mom's actions."

"What makes you think that?" Willow asked him.

"Isn't it obvious? My mom used a love potion on my dad and I was conceived by their false love," he explained. "Their love wasn't real, so what if I'm incapable of love as a result?"

"Gus, that's the most ridiculous idea I've ever heard," Luz told him. "Just because you're not romantically attracted to anyone doesn't mean you're incapable of love, especially since there are different kinds of love that are all equally valid. You love me. You love Willow. You love your dad. And you care about your other friends."

"She's right," Willow agreed. "You may not be romantically interested in Amelia, but you still care about her as a friend. There is nothing wrong with you or other people who are aromantic or asexual. You being aro is just as normal as me being pan and Luz being bi."

"Plus unlike your deadbeat mom, you do value your relationships," Luz added. "They may not be romantic relationships, but they are just as important and meaningful to you as a romantic relationship would be. And hey, you're still growing up and discovering yourself. If you really are aromantic, we're here to accept and support you."

"Thanks you two," Gus told them as he felt his two best friends patting his shoulders. "I think this is just what I needed to hear."

"How did Amelia take it, by the way?" Willow asked.

"She wasn't upset or anything," Gus told her. "In fact, she was more worried about me when I started to get upset. She suggested that I talk to Ms. Traveler about it, but honestly I felt more comfortable talking about it with you two first."

Willow nodded before she noticed something coming into the bar. "Uh Luz…" she said as Luz and Gus saw Hooty, whose eyes were glowing, slithering across the floor of the bar toward Viney, who was talking to Emira and about to kiss her. But while Emira had her eyes closed, Viney was engulfed by Hooty, who quickly slithered away.

Emira's eyes opened and she saw that Viney was gone "Viney? Viney?" She looked around while the others were in shock and horror by what they had seen.

"...Should we be worried about this?" Willow asked Luz.

Luz who just turned around and focused on her drink. "It's best if we just let Hooty do whatever thing he's doing now. Trust me, we do not want to get involved in that plot line," she said while sipping her drink.

"Yeah, best to stay out of it," Gus said, shivering slightly.

Geist had gotten up on stage with a mic. "Hey Hexside, how's it going? Good? So um, I just want to give you guys a little entertainment in honor of Hexside's victory, so I'm gonna sing you all a little number I learned from a majestic human bard named Sinatra whose album Eda once sold me. Edric, if you would."

Edric nodded as he turned on the music.

"And now, the end is near," Geist sang in a slow and baritone voice. "And so I face… the final curtain. My friend, I'll say it clear, I'll state my case, of which I'm certain…"

Everyone listened to Geist's singing as he used his illusions to spread stars around the bar. Luz smiled as she turned to Amity, who was looking at her from across the bar.

"I've lived a life that's so full, I traveled each and every highway, and more, much more than this… I did it… my way~!"

Geist had a distant look as he seemed to recall something. "Regrets… I've had a few. But then again, too few to mention. I did what I had to do… And saw it through… without exemption…"

Amity walked over to join with Luz, Willow and Gus. Amity held Luz's hand, which Luz noticed. The two smiled at each other while listening to the song.

"I planned each charted course… each careful step… along the byway…" Geist continued to sing. "And more… much more than this… I did it… my way~!"

Meanwhile at Hieron Labs, Nicole was stressfully pacing back and forth in her office while on her crow.

"So you really have nothing on that Traveler woman!?" Nicole barked.

"I'm sorry, but my daughter wasn't able to get anything," Felicity said over the crow. "She wasn't even able to plant a bug in her office, which I am punishing her for."

Nicole did not like this news. "Then help me keep researching this woman until we do find something!"

"Yeah… um, about that… I don't think we should… talk to each other," Felicity told her, shocking Nicole.

"What!? But… but Felicity, I thought we were-"

"Look, after that fiasco with Glandus and you making a deal with that con man despite my warnings, it's best that I cut my losses and cease communication with you, Nicole," Felicity explained. "I have a career to focus on, so I don't want to be associated with you any longer, especially if you're under suspicion of being connected to Glandus's criminal activities."

"What!? That's absurd!" Nicole shouted. "How was I supposed to know about that!?"

"Hey, sometimes you business types do crooked dealings," Felicity pointed out.

"But I thought we were friends?" Nicole asked, only to hear Felicity laughing it off.

"Hehehe, friends? Oh Nicky, are you serious? We both wanted to gain something from the other, you don't seriously believe that I can afford friendship in this type of business? Now I must be going. Tata, Nicole."

As Felicity hung up, the crow flew off from Nicole's hand. The Hieron woman gave an irritated shout, her eyes glowing purple.

"Ms. Hieron," spoke the secretary from the crystal ball. "Head Witch Breathton is here to see you."

Nicole turned her head toward the crystal ball and her eyes stopped glowing. "Send him in," she answered, knowing that she couldn't turn away a Head Witch.

The door opened and Weevil Vitimir Breathton came in with his aide, a young woman with pale pink skin, round glasses, green eyes, and red hair tied to a large claw sticking out. She wore a beige long gown with black high heel boots. She was holding a clipboard.

"Hello, Nicole," Vitimir spoke with his raspy voice.

"Head Witch Breathron," she answered with a bow. "What brings you here? If this is about the Basilisk, I assure you that I'm working on getting it to reveal-"

"Oh I'm not here for that," Vitimir told her. "Just a little house visit. How's your wife and daughter? I hear from the grave vine that you got kicked out because your daughter was maimed at the school you transferred her to. Some would probably call that poor parenting, not that I would know, since I never had kids of my own."

Nicole glared at him. "Is this really why you came here? To insult me?"

"Watch your tone," Vitimir said as he snapped his fingers. "Ruby, what is Nicole's progress report from the past week?"

Ruby Friday adjusted her glasses. "She has been spending less hours in the lab. She spent company resources hiring information brokers. Then after having brunch with Felicity Fox she was reported to have missed work the day before the school war. Then yesterday she was completely absent from work without warning, creating disorder at Hieron Labs."

"Sounds to me that you haven't been focusing on your job," Vitimir summed up.

Nicole tried to make an excuse. "I… I was-"

"No need for excuses, Nicole," he told her. "Let's put the cards on the table. Since you have bet on Glandus to win the war, you're low on stocks. As your top shareholder, I used this as a chance to stage a… hostile takeover of Hieron Labs."

Nicole looked upset. "What? But… this is my family's company! You can't do this to me!"

"You gambled the fate of this company and now it is up to me to clean up the mess you left," Vitimir told her. "But don't worry. I like you, Nicole. Which means you can still work here, just with me as your new boss."

Nicole had to hold herself back. "Please, you can't do this to me…"

"These things happen, Nicole," Vitimir told her. "Now I wish for you to focus on your work and nothing else. Nothing is more important than working under the Emperor's Coven. If your performance continues to be lackluster, I have the right to kick you out of this coven, and you wouldn't want that, would you?" Nicole didn't say anything. "Heh, thought so. Come, Ms. Friday. Let's leave Ms. Hieron to empty my new office."

As Vitimir and Ruby left, the door closing behind, Nicole's eyes flashed while dark veins appeared on her arm. She seethed in anger. "GRRAAAHHH!"

Outside Vitimir and Ruby heard Nicole's screams and shouts as well as the sounds of her trashing her own office. The two shared a look while overhearing Nicole's tantrum.

"She has a worse temper than you, Ruby," Vitimir commented. Rudy didn't say anything as they continued on their way, passing by a hallway where an employee halted as Vitimir passed by him.

Once Vitimir and Ruby were gone, the employee continued on his way. He managed to slip out of Hieron Labs without attracting much attention. After making sure that he wasn't being followed, he put some distance between himself and the building before slipping into an alley.

He took a deep breath once he was alone, his body shifting into the form of a witch teenager with gray eyes, long blue hair, and spots on his face. It was Tres, who had been scouting out Hieron Labs to look for a way to free Megan despite the risks.

Someone cleared their throat behind Tres, making themselves known.

"Gah!" Tres cried out, spinning around. "Stand back, or I-"

"Hold up, I'm not here to fight," they told the blue Basilisk. "I'm a friend and I've been looking for someone like you for a long time."

"A friend?" Tres questioned. He looked over the figure, who was dressed in a purple cloak and was holding what seemed to be a… snake-like scepter. "Somehow I doubt it."

"Then perhaps this will convince you," they said as they removed their purple hood, causing Tres to gasp.

"You're…" was all Tres could say.

In a dark room, a large owl pellet was shaking around until King emerged from it.

"Weh!" King cried out. "Hooty, did you just… owl pellet me!?"

"Are you losing hair?" asked a voice in the darkness.

King backed away. "Hooty…?"

"Do you feel the college stress, the arthritis, do you feel like partying like it's 1999?"

"I am officially creeped out here!" King said as he saw Hooty's glowing eyes in the darkness.

"King, my friend, you're going through… demon evolution!" Hooty declared as he turned on the lights, revealing that they were at the top of the tower, surrounded by images of demons. Viney was there as well.

"Ugh, last thing I need is a health class from you!" King told him off.

"Oh it's not a health class," Hooty said as he pulled out a chart. "We're here to help you through an unholy trial to determine what kind of demon you are!"

This piqued King's interest. "Really?"

"Yep! And I'm pretty sure I'm the only other demon here, so what choice do you have?" Hooty asked.

"Hmm, sure, what the heck," King accepted.

"Great!" Hooty declared while bringing Viney over. "I also have Viney here to help me with your self-discovery!"

"I was brought here against my will," Viney said. "But I am more than happy to help out Luz's brother."

"Wow, thanks Viney," King said. "So where do we start?"

Hooty was suddenly wearing a mortarboard as he stretched over to a board covered in pictures.

"Okay, our ancestors sprouted from the muck of the decomposing Titan. And there's a lot of us! But all demons can be placed into three categories: bug, biped, and beast!"

"Yeah, yeah, everyone knows about the Three Bs," King said.

"Don't interrupt me!" Hooty shouted intensively at King's face before slinking back to the board. "Now I'm pretty sure that you're not a bug, but we can't rule anything out. As a type of worm myself…" He wiggled, causing both King and Viney to give disgusted shudders. "I'm an expert on this subject! Let's begin!"

King was quickly forced to wear dancing clothes. He looked annoyed, but still followed Hooty's lead on this.

"Bug types communicate through a dance, like so!" Hooty let a flying pixie and a grotesque butterfly demonstrate a dance.

The two bug types showed off their dance moves, the pixie flirtatious dancing around the butterfly. After the brief dance, Hooty was moved to tears.

"Poetic! Now you try!" Hooty turned to King.

King did his own dance moves, making grunting noises while doing a brief freestyle dance. After he finished, he and Viney noticed the shocked faces of Hooty, pixie and the butterfly.

"Don't talk about my mother!" Hooty hissed as he charged at King.

"Weh!" King screamed while Hooty chased him. Viney nodded and wrote something on her clipboard.

"Never do freestyle in front of bug types," Viney noted.

Hooty had been calmed down a little later, while King was panting and looking a little roughed up. "Well, your dance was offensive, and your attempt to spin a cocoon was just… sad, honestly."

"Can we not talk about the cocoon?" King asked, feeling ashamed as he hugged his tail.

"Okay! Let's see if you're a biped demon! They walk on two legs and even have bile sacs, just like witches! So for this test, you're gonna have a duel with a little friend of mine." Hooty tapped on a box and out came Tiny Nose, who was playing on a game console.

"Me, fighting Tiny Nose? Oh I can handle a scuffle," King said. "Just uh… hope you don't get mad if you can't-"

"Ding-ding-ding!" Hooty rang a bell and Tiny Nose tossed the game console aside, letting out a battle cry.

"RAAAAHHHH!" Tiny Nose screamed as she went super saiyan and drew an orange spell circle, creating a powerful blast that hit King.

"WEEHH!" King cried out while being engulfed in a ball of magic.

After a loud boom, smoke spilled out of the window. Eda opened her own window and stuck her head out.

"Can you kids keep it down? I'm trying to drink my midday apple blood!" Eda shouted.

After Viney had finished performing her healing spells on King, Hooty squirmed up. "Wow, not a single spell. Even us bug demons have some magic!"

"Maybe we should stop for a while," Viney advised.

"No, no it's fine," King assured her. "I can keep going."

"Well that's great!" Hooty declared. "Cause next we're gonna figure out if you're a beast type! And well, since Eda forbade medical practice in the house after watching the Scrubs DVD Luz brought home…"

"I don't think Viney wants to hear about that incident," King said with a shudder.

"And that's where Viney comes in!" Hooty revealed. "She'll bring her griffin out so that King can assert his dominance! Viney, if you will!"

Viney summoned Puddles, who let out a screech. King stepped forward in front of the griffin.

"Okay Puddles… um… I command you to sit down!" King declared, asserting his dominance.

"RAAAHHH!" Puddles roared as he pounced onto King.

"WEH!" King cried out as he ended up wrestling with the griffin.

"Puddles! He's not food!" Viney went to put a stop to this.

"Okay, good, good, are you writing this down, Tinella?" Hooty asked Tiny Nose.

"Sure am!" Tinella nodded.

King laid on the floor, defeated and covered in bandages. Hooty slithered up to him.

"Okay, after reviewing the results, we've come to a conclusion!" Hooty said while wearing a party hat.

"Lay it on me. Beast, bug, biped, I don't care! I just want to know what I am!" King shouted.

"You… are you!" Hooty answered, followed by balloons coming down and a banner that read 'You Are You!'

Tiny Nose held up a tray with a cake shaped like King. "Hooway!"

King looks even more confused. "Wheh…?"

"Well, the beast battle didn't tell us anything, and you don't have a magic bile sac, and you don't make a cocoon," Hooty noted. "We have no idea what you really are but that's okay, because we don't need to know that to be your friends!"

"I… I thought you had real answers…" King said with a frustrated laugh.

"The only real answer is inside your heart!" Hooty declared happily, attempting to nuzzle against King, only to be rejected.

"I don't need you to tell me to love myself, Hooty!" King told him off. "I just want to know where I came from! I want to know what my dad looked like, so I'll know what I'll look like when I grow up!"

Hooty looked sad, while Viney looked at King in concern.

"I still haven't gotten any responses to my videos yet or my wanted posters." Looking down, the little demon sighed. "Maybe he's gone… maybe there's no one else like me. Guess I'll have to live the rest of my life with no answers."

"King, we're sorry, we didn't intend to make you mad," Viney told him sincerely.

"I'm not mad at you guys." King responded, tearing up. "I'm mad at my dad for leaving me. But you know what? I'm fine without him. I'm twenty now and Eda has been a better parent to me than he ever could. Heh, why should I care about someone who was never around in the first place? I don't need him in my life, I don't need him to tell me what I am. He can jus… he can just… FUCK OFF!"

As he ranted, a sound wave emitted from him, blowing up all the balloons and causing the cake to crumble onto Tiny. Viney fell back as Hooty was unmoved from the soundwave, but he was just as shocked as Viney and Tiny Nose.

King panted, realizing what he did with his shout. "Did I… do that?"

"Oh no… I'm sad too!" Hooty cried,

"At least the cake was good," Tiny Nose pointed out.

"IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE A CRUMBLE! BAW!" Hooty cried as he retreated from the tower.

"Hooty, wait!" King tried calling out to him. "You actually helped me." However, Hooty didn't listen and King sighed. "He's going to be that for a while."

"Hey, King, are you alright?" Viney asked him in concern.

"I'm fine, but it looks like my screech of rage has leveled up!" King said excitedly.

"Actually, I want to talk to you about what you said before," Viney said, sitting beside King on the floor. "About your… dad."

"Oh, that," King said as he sat beside her. "I guess… it's just what I've been feeling a lot lately. I just… want to know why he never came back for me if he's even alive. I mean, I turned out fine growing up without him but… I still want to know my heritage. I want to know where I came from and what I can expect as I get older and he's the only one that could give me those answers and teach me about my culture, the only one like me. I want him to be part of my life… but I don't know if that was ever something he wanted. And since there is a chance that I might never know, that I will never get the answers I want… I got mad. Sorry, I guess this is a little too much for you."

"Actually, I get what you're coming from," Viney replied understandingly. "My dad… died when I was really young."

"Oh…" King said solemnly. "I'm… sorry."

"It's… fine," Viney assured him. "In fact, he was the one that gave me Puddles when he was an egg. After his death, it was just me, Puddles, and my mom until she met Atkin."

"Atkin?" King asked her.

"You know the centaur with the face where his chest is?" Viney clarified.

"Oh yeah, that guy. I've seen him around the marketplace. I always thought he looked a little backgroundish," King said.

"Yeah, they're dating," Viney revealed. "I mean, I'm cool with him. He treats my mom well and he makes an effort to be nice to me but…" She sighed.

"Do you miss your dad?" King asked her.

"All the time," Viney answered. "There is a lot that I wish I could say to him or ask him. I mean, I even tried to summon his spirit but that didn't work." She looked down, saddened. "He's the reason why I got into Beast-Keeping and I would like to think he would be proud of me, but I'll never know for sure. And even though he's gone, he's still this important part of my life, of my identity. Just like your dad is a part of your identity, even though you never knew him."

King nodded and patted Viney gently on the back, trying to comfort her. This caused Viney to smile a little.

"I also don't think you should give up on trying to learn your origins," she told him.

"You think so?" King asked her.

"Maybe your dad will turn up, maybe he won't," Viney admitted. "But there is always a chance and I hope you get that chance to learn more about yourself."

King felt encouraged. "You're right, Viney. Besides, I'm a Clawthorne, and a Clawthorne never gives up on their goals! I'll find out who my dad was even if I have to travel to the other side of the world!"

Viney chuckled slightly. "Well, hopefully you won't have to travel that far," she said.

It was then they heard Hooty sniffing, the house guardian having returned to the tower "Oh this is… I did help after all!" he said as he wrapped around King and Viney in a hug, accidentally crushing them. "And I'm sure you'll find your answers soon!"

"Thanks, Hooty, and sorry for yelling earlier. You were just trying to help," King apologized as Hooty let them go.

"That's okay," Hooty responded. "Though, I feel like I forgot something very important…" He then started to remember something from yesterday, a man who looked like King and gave him a letter… but he forgot about it a moment later. "Oh well, probably nothing."

In Abel's office, Hunter was having his therapy session.

"I committed insubordination," Hunter told Abel. "That's what my uncle thinks. When I asked if I could help with the investigation into whether the covens have been compromised by the Tarot Guild, he told me not to worry about it. I don't think he trusts me since I went on my own to Glandus. But Gavin needed help, so I went to check out his school despite being told to stay in the field. I… I don't think I ever disobeyed my uncle before. Of course he wouldn't trust me anymore, I've proven myself to be a liability!"

"Well, I think this is a good thing," Abel said, surprising Hunter.

"What?!" Hunter said in shock.

"Well, you said you wanted to help Gavin, right?" Abel asked and Hunter nodded. "So does that mean you're making friends with witches your age?"

Hunter looked down. "Maybe…" he admitted. "I mean, I would like to be friends with him. But I am afraid that things will turn out just as how it did with Luz, her friends, and Ed. So far, I have only told Gavin and his friends that I'm a scout and they don't know that I'm not being entirely truthful with them, though Boscha already knows that I used to be friends with Luz. What happened with Luz and Ed proved that I can't maintain a social life with my double identities."

Abel hummed, understanding Hunter's worries. "So then why do the same thing again? Why keep your identities separate?"

"What do you mean?" Hunter asked.

"What I mean is that what cost your previous relationships was that you were living two different lives while keeping your friends in the dark about your other life instead of letting them know that you were both Hunter and the Golden Guard. But you have been given a fresh start with Gavin and his friends. Maybe they won't accept you when they know the truth, but maybe they will. It is a risk, but opening yourself to other people always is, isn't it? You still desire friends outside of the castle and isn't it better for them to learn the truth now rather than learn it in the worst possible way?"

Hunter stayed silent, thinking on Abel's words.

"This place… didn't look like this the last time I was here."

Boscha along with Gavin, Angmar, and Ukla were now at the Treasure Shack. The insides were a wreck thanks to Nina's actions.

"I forgot how long it has been since I've been here," Boscha states while noticing her old bean bag. "This used to be a place where I could just… hang out with me and my friends." She looked around at the damage caused by Nina. "But it can still be that place." She turned to her three new friends. "Let's get this place cleaned up and fixed."

"I can strengthen the foundations," Ukla suggested.

"My Abomination can clear away the debris," Gavin piped in.

"And I can add some plants to the decor once this place is good as new," Angmar said as the gang started to clean up the Treasure Shack. During their clean-up, they heard a knock on the door. Boscha went to answer it and saw Hunter standing out front.

"Uh hey, Boscha!" Hunter said nervously. "Um, I texted Gavin and he said this is where you guys would be and I thought you guys might need some help cleaning up the place."

Boscha narrowed her eyes at him and Hunter felt like he was being inspected as the intimidating girl glared at him with her three eyes, which was almost as scary as Luz or Willow when they got angry. She then handed him a broom. "There's some broken wood in the corner that needs to be swept out," she told him as Hunter accepted the broom. "Don't think you're off the hook, creepazoid," she said as she headed back inside.

"Um… right!" Hunter said as he followed her in and began to help clean.

Much later, the Treasure Shack had been cleaned up and looked good as new. The teens admired the handwork, which included some added touches like a small flower garden Angmar had set up and the new support beams that Ukla made, which would help the Treasure Shack keep standing in case, let's say, a demon in the body of a teenager crashed through it while on a rat worm.

"Well, I think we did a pretty good job," Boscha said "I like the flowers, Angmar."

"Thanks, I thought the lion lilies would visually compliment the room," Angmar said.

"Who's up for some cold brew?" Ukla asked, summoning a cooler with eyes and teeth. "I got gorange, Dr. Specter, Mountain Boo, Ghoul-Aid, all here."

"I'll have the Mountain Boo," Boscha said as she grabbed a can of brew. "Hey fish eyes, you got a favorite?"

Hunter sweat dropped at Boscha's nickname, but he replied. "I'll have some Ghoul-Aid."

The five teens went outside, their Palismen playing around with each other while the witchlings enjoyed the view of Bonesborough.

"This is nice," Boscha said. "After all of the Hell we've been through, it's just nice to just hang out, be kids."

"Yeah, though too bad about Glandus though," Gavin said. "From what I hear, the Emperor's Coven is working on relocating students to other schools. Right Hunter?"

"Yeah," Hunter nodded. "If you guys want, I can pull some strings. For example, Boscha, I can help get you reinstated into Hexside."

"Thanks, but I don't know if that's necessary," Boscha replied. "I think it would be too awkward at Hexside. Too much bad history."

"Well, my ma's gonna start homeschooling me for the time being," Ukla said. "And I say good riddance from Glandus. All the teachers were shit, the top student hierarchy was shit, and Emily gets what she deserves. That school's a lost cause."

"Maybe… it doesn't have to be," Boscha said and everyone turned to her.

"What do you mean?" Angmar asked in surprise.

"I just think… Glandus is just… a building, right?" Boscha asked. "A building that was meant to be a place of learning. But the people in charge of the place weren't interested in educating us. Instead they abused their power and their students. Now that they have been exposed and many of them have been arrested, maybe Glandus can be rebuilt and salvaged as long as they get rid of that survival of the fittest bullcrap. Plus get better teachers and some damn counselors. I just think that maybe instead of leaving it in ruins or wiping it away completely, it can be reformed into something… better." She looked at her friends and sighed. "You guys probably think that I'm sounding ridiculous."

"Actually, you make a lot of sense," Gavin pointed out. "The problem with Glandus was its dumb philosophy of the strong dominating over the weak, which were reinforced by the teachers and top students to create a toxic and unsafe environment."

"I somewhat agree," Ukla said. "Though I'm not sure that the Emperor's Coven will go through the trouble of repairing the school, but hey, if they do I hope they take the chance to reform it as well."

"Yeah, it's not stupid, Boscha," Angmar added sincerely. "Maybe Glandus could be a great school one day. I heard Hexside recently changed its policies to include Multi-Track options, so perhaps Glandus can change as well."

Boscha smiled. "Thanks guys," she said while rustling her own hair. "And honestly, I am grateful for my time in Glandus. As awful as it was… it gave me the fresh start that I needed, the chance to meet new people."

Hunter looked at Boscha, relating to what she had said about being given a fresh start and a chance to meet new people. He took a deep breath and stood up, getting their attention.

"There's something I must come clean to you guys about." Flapjack heard his cue and flew over to Hunter, chirping before transforming into a staff. Hunter grabbed it and waved, transforming his outfit into the Golden Guard outfit. He then put on his mask, shocking the four teens.

"You're… the Golden Guard?!" Boscha exclaimed.

"Whoa," Ukla said in shock.

"That's just… I have so many questions," Gavin said, while Angmar just had his jaw dropped in shock.

"Yeah, thousands of them," Boscha said. "Like how you can be the Emperor's right hand man when you told me at Glandus that you don't have magic."

Hunter removed his mask. "I use artificial magic," he explained. "Honestly, I shouldn't even be telling you that I'm the Golden Guard. But keeping that a secret caused me to lose my previous friends and my boyfriend to dump me. So I'm telling you now because I just… I just want to start over. I want to have friends without having to deceive them… or spy on them for the Emperor's Coven." He looked at Boscha as he said this. "I know this is a lot to take in and I understand if it is too much or you feel intimidated. I just want you all to know now rather than later."

The four Glandus kids were silent for a moment, processing what Hunter was telling them. It seemed unbelievable, but the sincerity on his face told them that Hunter wasn't kidding. He really was the Golden Guard, the same one they saw in a lot of propaganda from the Emperor's Coven. It was especially a lot for Boscha, who was shocked that Luz and her friends apparently used to hang out with the Golden Guard himself. But… she also realized that Hunter wanted a fresh start just like she did. It was Gavin who spoke first.

"You said you knew my dad, right?" he asked.

Hunter nodded. "He was the finest witch I've ever known," he confirmed.

Gavin nodded. "I've had a rough week," he admitted. "With my dad having passed away and all… but you did make it easier by bringing me his stuff and helping me go through it. I really do appreciate that and your honesty right now. If you ever want to hang out… we can do that."

Angmar nodded. "And you seem cool, so I would be fine hanging out with you too," he agreed.

"I wouldn't have guessed the Golden Guard was this young," Ukla admitted. "But at least now I know that if anyone messes with my friends again, I can have the Golden Guard deal with them."

Boscha was the last to speak. "Honestly, I figured that you were hiding something. But I get why you didn't want to tell us. You're still a total creep for planting a bug in Luz's home… though I don't think any of us have clean records, except for maybe Ukla. I don't think she ever did anything too immoral." She looked to Ukla for confirmation, but the dragon girl just shrugged. Boscha turned back to Hunter. "I don't entirely trust you, Hunter. I don't know you well enough to trust you. However-" She held her hand up to him. "I am willing to give you the chance to prove to me that you are someone that I can trust."

Hunter looked at Boscha's hand and shook it. "Thank you, all of you." He held up his Ghoul-Aid. "To fresh starts."

"To fresh starts!" they all toasted their drinks.

"I feel like someone is missing though," Hunter admitted.

"Who?" Angmar asked.

"That one guy that I saw with Gavin and Boscha's mom in Glandus," Hunter pointed out. "The one that shot out flames and had three eyes? The one with the hood?"

"Oh yeah, I remember that he left with Mrs. Hieron," Gavin said while turning to Boscha. "Who was he?"

Boscha knew she couldn't tell the truth, especially with the Golden Guard himself here. So she quickly came up with something to cover for Tom. "He's a distant cousin from the Hieron side of my family, hence the three eyes. He couldn't come out today."

"Oh, well give him my thanks for helping out yesterday," Hunter said as he drank his Ghoul-Aid. Though he also felt like he had forgotten to do something, he brushed it off as nothing.

"For going missing for weeks and making us worried sick, Batters, you're grounded!"

As the door slammed shut, Batters looked down while he sat on his bed. His expression became angry. "That double-crossing coven scout promised to put in a good word with my parents…"

"Are you sure you really want to be here?" Amity asked, having arrived with Luz at a certain spot in Bonesborough. "I mean, are you really sure you want to be here after last time?"

Luz nodded. "I just… want to reflect here for a moment," she said, staring at the Slayground. "Now that the war is over, Emily's no longer a threat to me or my family. But I am worried about what might come after next. Who else would hold a grudge against me? Who else would try to hurt my friends in order to get to me? I don't know how many enemies I could potentially have from the Boiling Zit incident, how many lives I've potentially ruined."

"I don't understand much of this," Maya said. "Did I miss something?"

While they explained to Maya, someone in the area spotted the two girls. Their eyes widened as they recognized who Luz was. 'It… it's her…'

"So wait, you were beaten up here when you were a kid? Just because they saw your round ears?" Maya asks. "And the Owl Lady cursed them with boiling zits?"

"That's the sum up," Luz confirmed.

"Crap, I didn't realize you had to go through all of that," Maya responded, feeling bad for Luz. "And that so-called queen was just weak in using this incident as an excuse for her actions."

"Let's just hope that we don't come across another Emily," Amity said.

"E-Excuse me," said a voice.

Luz, Amity and Maya realized that someone had appeared in front of them. He was a biped rat boy. "Um… can we help you?" Luz asked.

"A-Actually, I'm here for you, Luz Clawthorne," he said nervously.

"What do you want from me?" Luz questioned him, narrowing his eyes at the rat boy.

"I… I was there with my mother when the Boiling Zit incident happened," he answered, shocking the two. "I don't mean any harm unlike Emily Tricks… I just came here… to apologize. I wasn't one of the kids who were beating you, but I didn't do anything to stop it either. Me and my mom just covered our ears while you were screaming in pain, my mother encouraging the mob to shut you up." He looked down, his eyes full of regret. "We should have done something and because we didn't, your mom ended up cursing us. And when I heard Emily Tricks bringing the incident up, it brought up a lot of bad memories. I'm not here to hurt you. I've had a lot of time to think about that day and I wanted to say that I'm sorry for my part in it."

Luz was silent for a moment before sighing. "Look dude, it's okay. I accept your apology and I forgive you."

"You… really?" he asked her.

"I'm still not over what happened here a long time ago, since I was just a kid back then, but so were you," Luz told him. "I think we've all been hurt enough and I would rather not dwell in the past and become obsessed with it. While we can't erase what happened back then, what we can do is not let it keep us from moving forward."

Amity smiled as she watched the interaction. Even though Luz came here to worry about what they would have to deal with in the future, instead they found a good example of how people can in fact change for the better.

Fortunately for them, not everyone on the Boiling Isles was like Emily Tricks.

Ukla stood in front of the house where her best friend lived. Now that she knew Emily was a hypnotist, she had to see Yuki.

She knocked on the door and the one answering it is a woman with almond eyes, bobcut purple hair, and an olive green dress. "Ukla?" she asked the lizard biped girl.

"Hey, Mrs. Ito," Ukla greeted. "Can I please come in?"

Mrs. Ito looked unsure, but she opened the door for her. "Come in, Mr. Ito is here as well."

Soon Ukla was making her case to both Mrs. Ito and her husband, a biped bat man with dark eyes, a black turtleneck sweater, black pants, black shoes, and a red and black striped tie.

"You must have heard about the war between Glandus and Hexside," Ukla said to them. "I know you guys don't trust me, but it is common knowledge now that Emily Tricks was an illusionist. She's the one that beat your daughter up, not me. She clearly used a hypnotism spell on her and now that she has been exposed I was hoping that I could see Yuki since… I just… she's my best friend." She looked down. "I know that I should've been able to protect your daughter, but I swear that I never hurt her…"

Mrs. Ito looked at Ukla with an understanding expression, while Mr. Ito's face was impossible to read until he sighed. "Yuki used to talk a lot about you in a very positive light, Ukla. You were her first friend at Glandus. When she claimed that you had attacked her, we felt betrayed."

"After she got let out of the Healing Coven, we didn't want you anywhere near her," Mrs. Ito replied sadly. "We both thought you were just like any other kid from that school. But when we heard that Emily was an illusionist and a hypnotist who manipulated how everyone saw her, it made us second guess what had really happened."

"So you two believe me?" Ukla asked them hopefully.

Yuki's mother nodded. "Yes, we do."

"Let's go try to see Yuki," Mr. Ito suggested as they led Ukla to Yuki's room.

Mrs. Ito knocked on the door. "Yuki, there's a guest that wishes to see you."

"Leave me alone…"

Her tone of voice concerned Ukla as Mr. Ito patted her shoulder. "You may… not like what you see here."

Once Mrs. Ito opened the door slowly, Ukla saw that her friend had her hands covered by large pillows. Yuki had jet black hair and pigtails down, her gray bat ears fluttering while her face looked pale. Her tired and faded eyes had no shine in them while her frown showed her gap teeth. She wore red and black pajamas.

"Yuki…?" Ukla spoke, causing the aforementioned girl's eyes to widen as she turned to Ukla.

"You… what… why are you here…?!" Yuki asked in fear, moving herself against her bed.

"Yuki, please listen to me." Ukla took a step forward, "I'm not here to hurt you, I would never hurt you. Emily-"

"No, get away! Why is she here!?" Yuki cried out while her mom performed a spell to restrain her. "GET OUT! GET OUT!"

Ukla was taken back by Mr. Ito while Mrs. Ito went to tend to her daughter. "Please Yuki, you have to hear Ukla out."

"NO! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Yuki said as she started to have a panic attack. Her mom held her hand over Yuki's forehead, calming her down.

Ukla was brought into the hall. "I didn't know this was this bad…" she said in shock. "What were the pillow hands for?"

"To prevent her from harming herself," Mr. Ito explained. "We've tried getting her to speak with an oracle therapist, but ever since she was let out of the Healing Coven she has been acting more erratic and paranoid."

"Paranoid?" Ukla asked while Mrs. Ito came out of the room.

"She's calmed down," Mrs. Ito said, though they could hear Yuki still speaking in whispers.

"They're out to hurt me," Yuki whispered to herself. "You were right, no one can help me." Her parents and Ukla gave concerned looks. They were unable to hear the voice that had been speaking to Yuki.

"But I can help you, Yuki," the Inner Demon told her. "I can make sure that they will never hurt you again…"

The Masterskull was home to one of the wealthiest witch families in the Boiling Isles. Their wealth was thanks to their toy company, 'SkullToys Co.', which was responsible for creating the most popular toys for young witchlings.

Inside was a large dinner hall where a large portrait of a happy twelve year old Donna and her moms hung over the three aforementioned residents. Donna was picking at her food, while her moms noticed that she had hardly eaten. They looked at each other in concern before deciding to speak to her.

"Donna, are you alright?" asked Diana Masterskull, a witch woman with dark skin, blue eyes, and sparkling black afro. She wore a white dress with a crescent shaped moon stone necklace and purple high-heel boots. She has an Illusions sigil on her left wrist.

"Yeah, you barely touched your food," said Gladys Masterskull, a biped cow demon woman with brown fur with black spots, auburn hair, and large ears while wearing an orange vest over her purple shirt, a sun stone necklace, and blue long dress that went down to her hooves. She had a Construction sigil on her right wrist.

"I'm fine, moms," Donna muttered.

"Is there anything you want to talk about?" Diana asked. "We're happy to listen to you, just like yesterday when you told us about your… extra-curricular activities."

"Which we don't mind you doing, since we know you love to help people," Gladys assured her, while muttering. "Even if it means... skipping school…" She then realized something. "Is this about your old friend, Nina?"

"There's nothing to talk about!" Donna exclaimed, shocking her parents. After a moment of silence, she sighed as she stood up. "May I be excused from the table?"

Diana and Gladys looked at each other, knowing that Donna needed more time. Diana was the one who spoke. "Of course. But you can talk to us when you're ready."

Donna didn't say anything as she walked away from the table and headed to her room. She walked past a pink biped koala demon in a black tux and black shades. "Evening, Donna," he said.

"Evening, Auggie," Donna said to the family's chief of security and butler.

She made it to her room and closed the door behind her, sighing as she slumped against it. Her room was very flashy with neon lights, pink walls, book shelves that contained texts on medicine and healing magic, a crystal ball with a keyboard at her desk, posters of glam rock witch singers, a picture on a dresser that showed her and her friends hanging out, and a large bed covered with stuffed animals. Donna didn't say anything, but she was able to overhear her moms talking about her.

"I'm worried about her," Gladys said. "What if she has another-"

"I know, the last thing I want is to have another scare like that," Diana said to her wife. "We both want what's best for her, but we also have to allow her to make her own choices and trust in her not to hurt herself."

Donna stared into space as she listened, pulling out her key and fiddling with it in her hands. She held it close to her chest and closed her eyes. 'I just wanted to help those in need,' she thought to herself. 'I wanted to help Hexside, I wanted to help Nina… I want to help everyone. I wish…'

It was then that she felt the key vibrate. Opening her eyes, she saw that her key was now glowing in her hand. She sat up and looked at the key as a chain came out and the key itself started to enlarge, much to her surprise. "Huh?"

A few moments later, the key had fully transformed into some kind of blade, a key-shaped blade…

A keyblade.

At the Brooke residence, Skara and Scabrina had just made it home together.

"I'm home!" Skara said as she and Scabrina came in and saw their parents talking to… "Nina?"

Nina noticed Skara, while Slasher and Calypso spoke to the girls. "Hey, honeys, guess what? We have a new guest that's going to be living here for a while," Slasher said happily.

"Ms. Fangs has agreed that as a condition of her parole, she's going to be living with us during the observational period. She will also be attending at Hexside since her previous school's… liquidated," Calypso told her daughters. "Skara, why don't you show Nina to the guest room."

"O-Oh, right," Skara said as she awkwardly walked over to Nina. "Um… I'll show you the guest room."

"Yeah, I figured," Nina said sarcastically.

"So," Scabrina said, suddenly appearing next to the werecat girl and startling her. "I've never seen a werecat witch in person before. Are you classified as a biped demon? Can I have a sample from you?" she asked while holding up a cup.

"Uh… you were going to show me the guest room, right?" Nina asked Skara, creeped out by the youngest Brooke girl.

"I apologize, my youngest daughter is just… curious," Slasher said while taking Scabrina away from Nina. "And Scabby, what did we say about asking people for samples?"

Skara then Nina to the guest room while trying to make small talk with her.

"So um, glad you're okay," Skara said politely, though Nina said nothing in response. An uncomfortable atmosphere radiates around them. "Do you, um, have a favorite band you listen to?"

"Are we there yet?" Nina asked dryly.

Skara sighed. When she had asked her mom to help out Nina, this hadn't been what she was expecting. Was this part of the Titan's will? Or was the Titan playing a joke on her? Well, even though the two literally fought each other just the other day, she could still try to make the best out of the situation.

"Here we are," Skara said, pointing at the guest room. "Make yourself at home…"

"You don't sing in the morning, do you?" Nina asked.

"Uh… no?" Skara answered, which gave Nina some relief as she walked into her new room.

Nina looked at the bed in the guest room, which had its own bathroom and a dresser. "Could use a hammock in here," she said.

"I'll be in my room down the hall if you need anything, and don't accept anything from Scabrina," Skara told her. "I'll um… see you around, I guess," she said awkwardly before making her way to her room.

The werecat turned to her bed, crawled onto it, and laid on its surface to get a feel of it while staring up at the ceiling. After a few moments of silence, she had only one thing to say…"I hate this."

"Is the, um, whatever you call it ready?" Camila asked as she and Luz prepared dinner in the kitchen

"The cockatrice casserole with blood sausages is almost done in the horno," Luz said with a snicker.

"I see you've learned the Spanish word for 'oven'," Camila said, rolling her eyes.

"Come on, you think it's funny too, right?" Luz asks her.

Camila just sighed and muttered in Spanish while getting out the plates. "Esto es lo que pasa cuando le enseñas a un adolescente algo que puede torcer…"

Outside of the Owl House, Amity was practicing with the Sword of Adam. She held it up in front of her and took a swing at a water bottle, cutting it clean in half. The emerald eye glowed before the sword shot out a ball of abomi-goo at a tree. "Whoa… hey King, you seeing this?"

"You think that's impressive? Check this out!" King took a deep breath and let out his screech of rage, creating a large shockwave that knocked over not only a pile of cups, but some trees as well. "Just call me the King of Screams!"

"This is extraordinary," Lilith said while taking notes on both of them. She drew a small sketch of King's sonic screech and the Sword of Adam in her notebook. "King, you have a power that I haven't seen anywhere in the Isles. It's a unique gift beyond any magic that I know of."

"Thanks, Aunt Lilith," King replied. "About time I got an upgrade!"

"Hey guys!" Gus said as he and Willow landed outside of the Owl House on their staffs. "Is Eda here? I, uh, want to speak with her."

"You can find Edalyn out back, by the cliff," Lilith informed him.

Eda was sitting along the cliff side behind the Owl House, quietly thinking to herself before she heard her name being called by Gus.

"Eda!" Gus spoke up and Eda sat up as she turned around to see him coming.

"Hey, Gustov, how are you doing?" Eda waved at him. "Are you alright though? Luz told me what happened yesterday."

"It shook me up, but I think I'm going to be good," Gus replied, scratching the back of his neck. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, anything," Eda said, a bit concerned.

"Do you know what happened to my dad?" Gus asked her. "You asked how he was doing earlier this week and it… seemed like you might have known something that I didn't."

After a moment of hesitation, Eda sighed and knelt in front of the boy, patting his shoulder. "Okay, listen to me. The last time I saw your dad was while the Gland Prix was going on. He had gotten involved in a rebellion against the Emperor that included me, Lilith, Raine Whispers, and others. He was with me on a mission, but we got compromised. I told Perry to get out of there while I caused a distraction and that was the last time I saw him."

This surprised Gus. "My dad… was fighting the Emperor?"

Eda nodded. "He said that he did it for you and to make sure that nothing bad happened to your friends."

Gus nodded, not sure what to think of that. He pulled out a letter and showed it to her. "This is the letter I found the night he wasn't home, he said he was going to be on an assignment that came up at the last second and even though it said nothing else, it is his handwriting."

Eda looked at the letter. "Well, maybe your dad is just laying low right now after his close shave with the Emperor's Coven. I was really hoping that he had managed to escape and that he hadn't been captured but… I can't know for sure. However, if I hear anything, I promise that you will be the first to know."

He nodded to her. "Thank you, Eda."

"Come on, let's head inside," she said as she and Gus headed back to the front of the house. She spotted Willow admiring Amity's sword while King talked to Lilith about his new power. "Hey, Willow. Dinner's almost ready, so would you and Gus like to join us?"

"That sounds great, Eda!" Willow said.

"Yeah, that sounds nice," Gus agreed as they all headed back inside.

"We're having blood sausages and cockatrice casserole!" King declared. "Hey Gus, race ya to the master table!"

"Not if I get there first!" Gus said as the two races inside the house while Willow, Amity and Lilith followed.

Eda stiffened a snort. "Glad things are back to normal as it gets," she said.

The residents of the Owl House and their guests proceeded to have dinner together, conversing with each other about their day as they ate.

"So wait," Camila said while turning to Eda. "He actually thought Neil Diamond is made of diamonds?"

"Yeah, I showed him one album cover and Geist just fell in love with it," Eda responded with a shrug.

"That sounds like him…" Lilith said.

"I'm telling you Amity, with the sword giving you an armor upgrade, maybe you should think about calling yourself something," Luz suggested. "Oh, like with your motorbike, you can be known as the 'Masked Cycler Witch' or something like that."

"Wait, the sword can give her some kind of armor?" Willow asked as Luz nodded.

"Man, now that's something I wish I could've seen if I hadn't been buried under some debris with Skara," Gus commented.

"Yeah, show it to us!" King demanded.

"Maybe after dinner, guys," Amity said while looking at Levi's sister, who was located at the end of the table. She then noticed something on the top of the egg… a crack. And it was getting bigger. This caused her to drop her fork. "Guys… she's hatching!"

"What?!" Eda and Lilith stood up. "Okay, nobody panic, we've been preparing for this!"

"Give the egg some room," Lilith said while Luz tried to calm a hyperventilating Amity down.

Amity got in front in anticipation. The egg cracked open and out of it came a round shaped baby fish creature. Her black almond-shaped eyes blinked while her sea-green skin shone, the two fins on top of her head twitching like ears. She also had bottom fins and her small mouth curled as Amity gently touched her head. "Prrrr…"

"Hey, hey it's alright," Amity said, sweeping away the egg shells around the newborn. She held it up closely. "Welcome to the new world, Kay," she whispered.

"Kay?" King asked her.

"It's the name that Goonla and Levi picked out for her," Amity mentioned while Luz patted the baby lagoon demon.

"It suits her," Luz commented, the whole family smiling while Eda leaned back.

"Then welcome to the Owl House, Kay," Eda said, happy for the newborn… even if it meant having yet another mouth to feed.

In the Hieron household, Tom was sitting on his bed, reading a book he had found in the room. The book was titled 'The Great Gasping'. He heard a knock on the door. "Come in!"

Boscha opened the door and came. "Hey, just wanted to see how you were doing."

"Just brushing up on my Boiling Isles literature," Tom replied while laying the book down. "I'll admit, I'm still getting used to this. But I can't express how grateful I am to you and Athena for being so kind to me."

"Well, I do owe you," Boscha pointed out, sitting down next to him. "You know, for everything that you've done to help me. I'm better off now thanks to knowing you."

"Likewise," Tom agreed. "You're really cool, you know that, right?"

Boscha turned away from Tom for a moment, looking at her fingers while fidgeting with them. "I'm not that cool," she said.

"I disagree," Tom told her. "I mean, you helped take down that crazy Coachman, you saved my ass after I had gotten into trouble with the Emperor's Coven, and you helped to expose Glandus. You're a good person, Boscha."

"I want to be," she admitted. "And though I don't know what the future holds right now, especially with this school war over, but… I do know that I want you to be a part of it, because you are important to me, Tom. Really, really important." She reached for his hand, gently squeezing it.

Tom's eyes widened. "Oh, wow…" he said as he squeezed her hand back.

"Is this… okay?" Boscha asked him.

"Yeah, it is," Tom assured her, their three eyes looking into each other. And as they looked long and hard at each other, they started to lean forward… until their lips met.

Boscha Hieron and Tom Lucitor kissed each other and as they did, nothing else mattered for a moment. Because in that moment, they were happy. And that was enough.

The Nightmare Realm. The recycling bin of creation. A boiling, shifting intergalactic foam between dimensions. An unstable crawl space between worlds that was home to worlds that were forgotten or discarded. When things go missing in the multiverse, they usually end up here. When a world wants to get rid of its worst criminals, they sentence them to eternal imprisonment here. The Nightmare Realm is fated to eventually self-destruct and that is a fate shared by everything trapped within it.

Including Mewni.

While it wasn't uncommon for objects and people to fall through the wrong wormhole and end up in the Nightmare Realm, it was unusual for an entire world to be pulled in. Yet that was what happened to the Nightmare Realm and it had resulted in the Nightmare Realm being more unstable than usual, shortening its lifespan and causing it to decay at a faster rate.

Originally the inhabitants of the Nightmare Realm still had a few years to find a new dimension to crash in. Now they only had months.

The skies of Mewni were very different from how they once were. In a surreal void filled with swirling shades of dark purple, red, and yellow were stars, planets, asteroids, and what the locals called 'Weirdness Bubbles'.

A man in Mewman armor, his face hidden by a helmet, found himself looking up at the skies of the Nightmare Realm. He was used to it, having lost track of how long he had been trapped here. In all that time he had failed to find a way out, so his goal instead became to help those who were less experienced in dealing with the dangers of the Nightmare Realm.

The man focused on the task at hand, which was to lead his survivor party through the remains of a former Mewman community. They were supposed to look for food, water, supplies, and anything else that might be useful for those back at base. Hekapoo had stayed behind at his instance. She had wanted to come, but he had been afraid of what might happen to her while they were out in the wastelands. Ever since her arrival, the Nightmare Realm's inconsistent physics had been affecting her powers and she had been unable to use her scissors.

Crashed in the middle of the abandoned community were the pieces of a giant suit of armor. Though now an empty husk, once it had been owned by a Solarian warrior during the last war between Mewmans and Monsters.

The man had been trying his best to ease the tension between the Mewman survivors and the Monster survivors, to convince them that it was in their best interests to work together in order to survive the Nightmare Realm. It hadn't been easy, centuries of conflict and mutual hatred was difficult to work around. But ultimately a truce had been reached, since Mewman and Monster alike currently shared a common enemy.

And graffiti on the wall of a wrecked building reminded the man of that enemy.

'BILL SEES ALL.'

Bill Cipher. A demon who had made himself the king of this place. Everyone in the Nightmare Realm knew and feared Bill's name, some refused to speak it. The surviving Mewmans and Monsters also had a good reason to fear Bill Cipher, since he and his cronies occasionally hunted them for fun. There probably wasn't anyone left on Mewni who hadn't lost someone to Bill or his minions.

The man peered into one former Mewman home and was greeted by a disturbing sight. A Mewman mother was clutching her child, both of them frozen in stone. Bill's eye-bats, which regularly searched Mewni for more victims, had gotten them.

The man looked down at the ground in silence for a few moments before moving on. The sooner they found what they were looking for and left the better.

Then the man saw a horrifying sight, one that made his eyes widen behind his helmet.

In the center of the community was a pillar and tied to that pillar was a person, some poor soul that had likely been left there to appease Bill's forces!

"Don't worry, I'm coming!" the man shouted, causing him to mentally discipline himself. He knew that noise attracted attention, but in the moment that had slipped his mind. He only saw a person in distress and knew he had to rescue them.

Unfortunately, as he ran for the person an arrow flew by his head, forcing the man and the rest of his party to seek cover as they found themselves under attack. From several seemingly abandoned homes emerged Mewmans with a yellow triangle painted on their faces. The man immediately knew what they were dealing with. Sometimes he had to fight over resources with bands of marauders or Septarians still loyal to Seth. These attackers, however, were Bill cultists.

The man pulled out his blaster and peeked out from his cover, firing several beams at the cultists. He knew that he was going to have to fight his way out of this. That he may even have to kill some of the cultists in order to survive.

Such was the way of the Nightmare Realm.

"This is where your 'friends' will meet us?" Tres asked the purple cloaked figure, who had led him out of Bonesborough and to a cave in the woods.

"Yes," the cloaked figure said as he sat down on a rock and used his snake-headed scepter to support himself. "They should be here soon."

Tres said down across from the figure, crossing his arms as he looked around with uncertainty. The figure noticed this.

"What's wrong, Tres?" the figure asked. "Don't you trust me?"

"I don't know you, Draco," Tres pointed out. "And I don't trust anyone."

Draco chuckled. "A wise policy, my young friend," he told Tres. "In a cruel and unforgiving world such as this, you should put trust in nobody except yourself. Yet you still need allies, do you not? You can't overthrow the Emperor's Coven all by yourself."

"And you said that you could help me with that," Tres recalled. "These 'friends' of yours… are they like us?"

Draco smiled beneath his hood. "Not quite," he said. "But they are similar to us in many ways while sharing our goal." He turned his head toward the entrance of the cave. "Isn't that right?"

Several large figures now stood just outside the cave. They were tall humanoids with reptilian features that gave them a resemblance to lizards. Their leader, however, had the face and the smile of a crocodile. Spikes emerged from his shoulders while fins grew from the sides of his head like they were ears. The top of his head was decorated with white hair.

"You better not be wasting my time, Draco," he warned as he strode into the cave.

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of doing that," Draco said as he turned to his basilisk companion. "Tres, meet a friend of mine… Seth of Septarsis."

In a different part of the Boiling Isles, Eve Slipknot of the Shadowy Secret Expozers yawned as she went up to her room.

"Man, now that the school war's over, I can get back to that journal," she said before noticing that the light in her room was already on. "What? Who's in my room?" she asked, pushing the door open and going into her room. There she saw a hooded figure holding Philip's journal and flipping through its pages. "Who… who are you!?" she asked, causing the figure to turn to her.

A few minutes later, Eve's mom went up to her daughter's room. "Everscence? Are you there?" she asked as she entered her daughter's room, only to find that nobody was there… though the window was open. She frowned. "Everscence! What did I tell you about leaving the window open?" She sighed in frustration as she closed the window before continuing to look for her daughter. It would still be a while before she realized that Eve was in fact gone…

The Conformatorium was now very busy thanks to the aftermath of the Glandus War. In one cell in particular sat Emily Tricks, who was thinking over her loss. It had resulted in not just her secret being exposed, but it had also ruined her chances of joining the ranks of the Emperor's Coven. The Tarot Guild would not help her now, this she knew. At any moment, she expected the Producer to send someone to silence her.

And she had Luz Clawthorne to thank.

She looked down in silence, noticing a rat on the floor passing through her cell. She shuddered slightly, the sight of the rat bringing back some bad memories from her childhood. She was alone… again. And she would die alone.

"Emily Tricks," said a voice.

Emily tilted her head up and saw a guard in front of the cell. "Formerly known as the Queen of Glandus," he told her. "Oh how the mighty have fallen."

She glared at the guard, noticing how his image seemed to shimmer. "Just show me who you really are before you kill me," she told him, thinking that this was the assassin that the Producer had sent to finish her off. In that case, she would not beg or cry. She would face her death with dignity.

The guard chuckled and in a cloud of white smoke revealed himself to be Adrian Graye Vernsworth, Head of the Illusion Coven. A shocked Emily stood up. "Oh, why would I want to kill you, child?" he asked, lips curled in amusement. "It would be a waste of your impressive abilities."

"Head Witch Graye!" Emily realized, blinking in surprise. She had been expecting a visitor, but not him. "What do you want from me?"

"Well, Ms. Tricks, during the war I took note of your unique abilities," Adrian said while intertwining his fingers. "Now, I know how things are looking for you right now, being black listed from recruitment into the Emperor's Coven. However, one of my fellow Coven Heads has been suggesting that I take on an apprentice myself, someone that I can pass off my knowledge to. Unfortunately, there was no one who I thought could keep up with me… then I saw you. An illusionist who had deceived not just her entire school, but the rest of the Boiling Isles as well. I have never seen an illusionist that was so powerful at such a young age… except for myself, of course. And while I normally want nothing to do with Glandus trash, even I recognize that you have gifts and I want to nurture those gifts."

"Are you asking me to join the Illusion Coven?" Emily asked him.

"Yes, as my apprentice," Adrian told her. "You would be the perfect student for me to mold into my image. And in return I can pull some strings and free you from this messy cell. I mean, it's not like you have many options." He then snapped his fingers. "Oh, and there will be some conditions while you're under my mentorship."

Emily looked at the Illusion Coven Head, realizing that it was her only chance at freedom. Adrian was right, she had no other choice.

"Fine…" Emily begrudgingly agreed, causing Adrian to smile.

Thus, a new Saga begins…

So here's some trivia to show around:

-Geist singing "Have It My Way" by Frank Sinatra is heavily inspired by Seth MacFarlande's cover from the movie SING.

-Levi's sister, Kay, is based off of Kay Lawrence from the Creature from the Black Lagoon movie.

-Superintendent Mordo Freewitch is an obvious parody of Morgan Freeman.

-Sunny, Calypso's aid, is a parody of Ella from Total Drama along with Ruby who's a parody of Scarlet of the same show. Since we have McScream as a Total Drama parody, why not throw in some more…

-Donna's moms, Diana and Gladys, are pretty much named after 70s disco singers Diana Ross, and Gladys Knight, and with Donna it seems fitting as a double reference to Donna Summer.

So this is basically the most longest story arc me and Buck had expected it. This chapter makes sense as an epilogue to the Glandus War arc. So this was a pretty fitting climax. Though it was always the plan ot have a chapter taking place during the war and after the war, which is why chapters 60-67 kept track of what day it was, since it was meant to show the events of the arc taking place over the course of one long school week and that it won't be a regular thing after the arc.

Also we have considered King to get his power up during the siege like how Eda unlocked her harpy form, but we've decided that it would be rushed. We felt it was better to put King's part from Knock, "Knock, Knocking on Hooty's Door" here instead. The original plan was to include the events of that episode with Eda unlocking her harpy form and fighting Nicole, after the Glandus War, but we decided to move the siege on the Owl House to during the Glandus War to keep Eda and Lilith busy. It was just going to be Nicole who would attack the Owl House before we expanded it to a bunch of family's enemies attacking them.

Because of the success of McScream, we decided to include more Total Drama parodies, not just in this chapter but in future ones as well. Though there probably won't be any major characters, but with the inclusion of the Ella and Scarlet stand-ins does show more Coven aides which isn't the first time there is one, as Orsan Pawcules was established to be Delara's aide before her death.

And now one thing you've all been wondering on, Gus being aromantic. Honestly, this was pretty much planned. It was foreshadowed when he turned Mabel down. This was all before the Looking Glass episode in canon where Gus blushed in front of Bria. But we still decided to go with the original plan, especially with now that Lilith's revealed to be aromantic in canon unlike her bisexual LC counterpart, and aro representation is still important.

And since Mewni is established to be in the Nightmare Realm during the Glandus War arc, we decided to include a scene here to show the current state of Mewni. And you all must be wondering who Seth is. Time to bring out the lore card!

Seth of Septarsis is the leader of Toffee's people in Star vs The Forces of Evil, but was only mentioned in the Magic Book of Spells. He is basically like Solaris Butterfly, both having a hatred of each other's species that has affected the events of Star Vs The Forces of Evil with overarching consequences. He was even considered reviled by the other monsters, including Globgor can't stand him. He is the reason why Eclipsa developed the darkest spell to combat his race. He's the guy that lead to Comet, Moon Butterfly's mother, to be killed by Toffee.

The reason we've brought him in as well as turning up to be alive is because it wasn't confirmed after the finale of Star Vs that Daron Nefcy confirms he's been dead for some time. But in this timeline he is still alive, both because me and Buck were disappointed because he never appeared nor was he referenced in the show itself, and because of how differently things played out in this timeline.

And now, as many of you are wondering about Emily's fate. I am guessing that some of you are probably confused to why is she being set free. Well, considering that she's blacklisted from the Emperor's Coven, consider her working with the second worst Coven Head to work under much worse. Expect her to have a hard time dealing with the man who makes Mr. Mackey directing a school play about Tooth Decay seem tamed in comparison. Emily's fate is pretty much worse than petrification.

Also, sorry to those that feel that Batters needs some justice. He's a Butters stand in, and even I feel bad for him… but man just this once, I'd use that grounded gag on him. It's just too funny...

Reviews:

Gamelover41592: Trust me bud, the next couple of chapters will be a roller coaster…

Matteso585: 1) Nah, it's not always about the sword, Yuki just wants to have an adventure with her best friend. 2) She kicked Nicole out of the house, so not on that line yet. 3) Much pettier than that…

OMAC001: It's not really Tibbles if you read a few chapters back…

Crosshot: Honest John and Gideon were most likely [BLEEP]. It'll be explained later. As for Kadabe and Dolly, they're not related… Kadabe just found a new toy to keep, but it won't be the last we've seen of her.

61394: Not really. And yeah, even Vlad would think that Nicole should let go. This is pretty much part of the theme of the story, that revenge leads to nowhere but pain…

Ultimate-drax: This is more of an epilogue from the war, a break from the drama. For now…

The Great Fossil King: Honestly, Belos doesn't really care much about Emily as he's more focus on Luz. So sorry, there won't be much of Belos interacting with Emily.

Darraq: It's… um, yeah that's beyond what Book 3 will be about, as there are some pointers you've may have missed when reading.

GuestMcCarry: I think you missed the part of Gus being aromantic.

Shuffollower: Yeah, this is going to be in line with Eclipse's Lake, which is the most important part of the story will happen.

Guest: No, just using translation apps. The Italian you're wondering is from Spanish.

Ultimateheatblast4: Well, surprised to see you again, thought you had stopped reading. As for your concerns, me and Buck had already planned out that the Collector would be a Fae in this fic, due to since his first appearance, they do share some traits of a Fae. We do have some plans about what the Titan was like in the past, but no spoilers. And as you can see, we didn't skipped over Knock, Knock, Knocking on Hooty's Door part with King discovering his power, we just have it placed it here. Hell, you can say that this arc is like an extended episode of it.

CodePower2022: Oh… wow that's a long review. Well, Solaria is already dead so it'll be pointless to put a dead person on trial. It's not like she'll have one like they did in the old days of Rome 897 with the trial of former Pope Formosus's corpse(Look it up).

Okay, so before the next chapter, we'll be opening up some Q&A's. So please leave out some questions either here or PM us for questions that involves the story along with the progress. You answers will be posted here, and AO3. Until next time, see ya next chapter.