Luz Clawthorne: Two Worlds, One Family Chapter 83: How to Save a Life, an owl house fanfic

TRIGGER WARNING: The following chapter contains scenes that deals with heavy subject matter that could be triggering to some readers. Viewer discretion is advised.

All characters from Disney and other properties are owned by their respectful owners. The OCs made here are written entirely for the story. Enjoy this fic.

Chapter 83: How to Save a Life

The dragon breathed flames at Belos, who shielded himself from the blast. "I think I have enough of your showmanship, Fae," Belos declared, using his staff to shoot out a flashing red light at Puck to blind him.

Puck in his dragon form screamed as he was blinded. His body destroyed half of the Conformatorium building as he was blinded, making him look like a rampaging monster. Belos then summoned the debris and formed them into a large fist that punched the dragon in the underbelly. The dragon gasped, letting out a few more flames that Belos deflected with his staff. Belos then summoned huge chains that he used to bring the dragon down.

As Luz brought Amity away from the fight, Belos shot at the dragon with red lightning from his staff. The dragon screamed in pain, forcing himself to change back to his true Fae form. Puck continued to scream in agony until the lightning stopped. He was then released from his chains and he glared up at Belos, who stood before him.

Puck breathed heavily and made one last attempt to attack Belos, lunging at him with his dagger. But Belos simply grabbed Puck by the arm, stopping him. Puck struggled, but was too weak as Belos took the dagger from his hand. Belos then looked at the iron dagger… before plunging it into Puck's chest.

"PUCK!" Luz and Amity cried out as all of Bonesborough saw Emperor Belos stab the Fae.

Puck gasped in pain and shock as he felt the burning iron dagger go straight into his heart. "It's time for you to die, Fae," Belos whispered as he buried the dagger deep into Puck's heart.

"D-Dying… will be an… awfully big adventure…" Puck said before his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he ran out of breath.

Amity and Luz watched in shock as Belos released their friend's body. Once it struck the ground the body rapidly decomposed until it was nothing but dust… that was blown away by the wind.

It blew far from Bonesborough until it ended up in a certain misty forest. The Forest of Fear. The dust went through the forest's mist before landing on the ground, where the dust began to reconstitute itself until Puck was laying there on the ground, completely reformed.

He opened his eyes and sat up, now with longer horns than before. "H-H-How… w-w-where…?" He looked around before he suddenly screamed and grabbed his head.

"Hello," spoke the voice of the Inner Demon. "You must be that Puck Goodfellow I've been hearing about."

"W-Who are you!?" Puck cried in pain as he could feel the Inner Demon taking over.

"Just relax and let me take it from here," the Inner Demon said.

Puck kept screaming as his body spasmed wildly until he eventually fell silent. He stood up while his eyes glowed darkly. He then walked over to a black lake, walked out into it, and found the spot he was looking for.

Reaching inside the black lagoon, he managed to pull out the portal key and smile.

And this was just the beginning.

Under the Inner Demon's influence, Puck had been keeping a low profile while observing the denizens of the Boiling Isles in secret.

At one point, he was instructed to sneak into the home of the Brooke family and disguise himself as Calypso before entering Skara's room. "Hey, are you feeling better?" he asked Skara with Calypso's voice.

After their conversation, Skara began to shout. "Mom! Dad! He-" But she was quickly gagged by Puck. "Shh, this will be over soon enough…"

"You have been replaced, Dolly Tempus." the Inner Demon told her. "I don't need you anymore."

"What!?" she shouted. "But… but we had a deal! You were supposed to show me how to become like you!"

"See, that's the problem," the Inner Demon said, raising his hand and sprinkling something over Dolly… it was Fae dust. "I want there to only be one of me. But you don't have to worry about growing up anymore…"

"What are…" Dolly felt a jolt of pain as her bones grew soft and her arms were pushed into her shoulders. "AAGH! What are you-AAAH!" She cried as she knelt down, her body starting to shrink. She could feel her insides turning soft, her skin turning into fabric-like texture. "What's… happening to meeeeee!?" Her eyes turned into black buttons, while her mouth became just a line on her face.

After turning her into a doll and throwing her to the dog, the Inner Demon spoke. "Alright, you can have control back now," he said, allowing Puck to change back to his default form.

Boscha looked at the GB Gates book in her hands before deciding to throw it out of the window. "Good riddance."

After the book was thrown outside, it hit the ground and opened to a page with the image of the portal door. After a moment, someone picked up the book. Puck tucked it into his cloak and began to walk away…

"Raine!" Darius called to them. "What happened? Your arm-"

"It'll be fine, Darius," Raine responded, turning to them. "But… I don't think I feel good right now."

Darius sighed. "Come on, let's get you-" He felt Eberwolf tugging his cape, "What is it?" Eberwolf was pointing to their ears. Darius heard it as well. "What's that noise? Are there more?"

"What are you…" Raine's ears picked it up too. "Someone's coming…"

The three turned to the source of the noise as it came into view. Eberwolf's eyes widened in shock, while Darius opened his mouth to scream.

When Puck was done with Darius, there were bits of his body splattered everywhere. Eberwolf was unresponsive and in a catatonic state, while a knocked out Raine was abducted by Puck.

After returning to the Knee with Raine, Puck stuck Raine to the gunk on the wall and sat in the shadows of the cave, where he began to mutter to himself until he noticed Raine waking up. "Oh, you're awake," he said as he stepped out of the shadows, having already changed into the Inner Demon.

In her bedroom, Eve saw the hooded Puck holding Philip's journal and flipping through its pages. "Who… who are you!?" she asked, causing Puck to turn to her. He jumped over to her and grabbed Eve, gagging her before she could raise the alarm. By the time her mother came up to check on her, Puck and Eve were gone.

Sometime later, Puck had Eve tied up and gagged in the woods. She looked up at him in fear, while he held up the portal door key.

"I'm going to need your help," Puck said as he activated the key, which summons the portal door. "Now that I have made my own version of the portal door for quite some time, I need a guinea pig to make sure it is safe for use, and that just happens to be you."

Eve panicked as she tried to squirm away, but Puck pulled her up and over to the open door, which he threw her into. "WAAAAHH!"

Puck looked through the door and saw that Eve had fallen into the Human Realm. "Well what do you know, it works!" he said while closing the portal door "Should I bring her back? Meh, I'm sure she'll be fine…"

"You still shouldn't say something like that," Hunter said to her over the crow.

"Or what? What's going to happen if I keep saying that the Emperor's Coven is full of creeps?" Boscha responded while in her neighborhood. She then froze, feeling a chill up her spine. Like there was someone behind her. Before she could do anything, she felt a hand on her shoulder. "AAAAAHHH!" she screamed but was then frozen in place. She didn't see who attacked her, but the crow did.

The crow flew up, only for it to explode into dust. The one behind the paralyzed Boscha was none other than Puck, who teleported away just as the neighbors came out to see the paralyzed girl.

"Wait a minute," Lilith said, noticing the familiar blue orbs around the cave. "Ford, this is-"

"Fool's Blood," 'Ford' replied before punching a blue orb that caused the entire cave to shake, the ceiling coming down on top of Lilith.

"AAH!" Lilith cried out, trying to move only to get buried. "Ford, why!?"

"Oh, I'm not really Ford," he responded with a sadistic smile as Lilith was buried alive. He turned to leave, briefly shifting back into Puck before changing into an old witch appearance.

DING!

Amity's eyes widened when she heard the familiar sound behind her. She turned around and saw, to her and Hunter's shock, a portal door as it opened, bathing them in bright light.

"Still want to go to the human world?" the old witch asked as he appeared behind Amity. "Then let me help you!" He grabbed her and lifted in the air, causing one of her boots to fall off, before he threw the girl into the portal, Amity screaming as she fell through.

"AMITY!" Hunter shouted in shock. While focused on Amity, the old witch changed into Puck before teleporting away from sight.

Later that day, Gus and Willow were on their way home when they were both blinded by a bright light, giving Puck the opportunity to knock out from behind.

Puck left their staffs behind as he dragged the two into the woods, having plans for them…

"Surrender and I will be merciful."

Puck was shuffling through the many forms he had taken, from Ford to Calypso to the Old Witch, but stopped himself from changing into what he really looked like. He looked up at the fox yokai, their face morphing into the Inner Demon's. "No… not yet… too soon…" He then exploded into flames, launching Kitsuni back.

She summoned a mini-tornado to put out the flames. But Puck had disappeared without a trace, and taken the two books with him.

"Puck…" Luz backed away, shocked to see that Puck had returned, back from the dead. "But… how? How are you alive!?"

Puck chuckled. "Oh I just… came back."

Luz fell down on her knees, unable to stand. "Where's mom!?"

"Your mom?" Puck tilted his head. "Isn't she still in the house?"

"I meant Camila!" Luz shouted as Puck walked up to her.

"Oh she's still around," Puck said while glancing at his shadow. He then grinned. "Say, would you like to meet my new friend? I'm sure you're familiar to him!" He started to change, Luz's eyes widening as Puck transformed into the Inner Demon. "Hello, Luz."

"You!" Luz's hands burst into flames. "What… what are you doing here?"

"I've managed to take possession of this Fae, and you know, it makes things easier for me!" the Inner Demon told her. "Thanks to Puck, I can do whatever I please! Getting Skara to awaken her werewolf form, killing Darius Nightshade while taking Raine Whispers, paralyzing Boscha Hieron, kidnapping your friends and that Eve girl and sending them to the Human Realm! With my own portal door as well!"

"So… you're responsible for all of this!?" Luz shouted.

"Well I couldn't have done it without Puck," he responded.

"What is this really about? Why do all of this? Is this revenge?" Luz questioned him, while the Inner Demon just chuckled.

"It always has to be about you, doesn't it?" the Inner Demon told her. "I suppose this is the part where I tell you what my evil plan is…" He gave her a grin, but then he disappeared.

"Wait!" Luz shouted, while looking around "Mom!" she cried out, but heard no one. Camila was gone. "No…" She immediately got up and ran back to the Owl House.

Eda and King with Kay came out. "Luz, what's wrong?" Eda asked as Luz made it back.

Luz was frantic, talking quickly. "I was looking for mom, and I saw the Baron- and then the Inner Demon- he was behind all of this- Camila's nowhere-"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down Luz!" Eda said, patting her shoulder.

"Start at the beginning, where's Camila?" King asked her, while Luz was shaking.

"PUCK'S BACK!" Luz burst out, which shocked them two.

"Puck?!" Eda and King exclaimed.

"Wait… what do you mean he's back?" King asked her.

"He's back and the Inner Demon took him over, he's responsible for everything- Skara's werewolf thing, Amity, Gus, Willow and Eve's disappearance, Raine's capture and Darius's death!" Luz rapidly exclaimed as she fell back to her knees. "He… he's back… and he did something to Camila!"

Eda looked serious while turning to King. "King, watch Kay and Hooty's in charge. Hide in the basement with Raine. We got a possessed, rogue Fae on the loose. I'll contact Lilith…"

"I'll call Kitsuni," Luz responded, the two nodded as they planned to contact their family and allies.

At Hexside, Julia and Kitsuni were in the office of the former, having tea.

"So how's the self-defense classes coming along?" Julia asked Kitsuni.

"Doing well, got some students and even Bo signed up for them," Kitsuni mentioned. "I wonder if I should train them the same way I've trained the Yokai Kaiser's guards…"

"That's a bit excessive, don't you think?" Julia asked her as they hear a crow cawing, Julia answering it. "Yes, this is Dr. Traveler, how may I-"

"Julia, it's Luz!" Luz shouted. "Is Kitsuni with you?! It's urgent!"

"Yes, she is," Julia replied, turning to Kitsuni and handing her the crow "It's Luz."

Kitsuni grabbed the crow. "Luz, what's-"

"Puck is alive!" Luz shouted. "The Inner Demon has possessed Puck, he's behind everything! Skara's and Raine's kidnapping, sending my friends to the Human Realm, Boscha, Darius…!"

"Calm down, Luz. Explain to me in detail," Kitsuni said while hearing Luz explain the situation to her. She narrowed her eyes. "Alright, I'll help look for him." She then turned to Julia. "Puck's the rogue Fae."

Julia held her umbrella tightly. "Then we must not waste time…"

Meanwhile, one darkly lit, stone brick house was filled with discarded newspapers, conspiracy boards, and charms… lots of charms around. This was the home of Sheldon Snope.

"What?!" Snope was awake, having been called by Lilith. "Are you saying… that the Inner Demon's taken possession of a Fae!?"

"Yes," Lilith confirmed over the crystal ball. "Not just any Fae, but the same one that helped me, Amity and King rescue Luz and Eda."

"This is serious," Snope responded. "Who knows what damage the Inner Demon could cause while possessing a Fae!" He looked at the picture of him and his friends back when they were at Hexside together, his face giving a determined look. "I'll be there!"

In the Saltstar home, Boscha's friends and former classmates were gathered in the living room. Ever since Boscha's outburst, they were starting to worry about her mental state.

"This is… very concerning right now," Cat said as she paced back and forth. "Should we really leave her alone?"

"Dad and Beck said that it's best to leave her alone for now," Simon responded, though he looked distraught.

"But we can't just wait around doing nothing!" Ukla shouted. "This is… this is just like with…!"

"With who?" Skara asked Ukla, who looked down at the floor.

"Yuki," Ukla replied while tightening her fists. "My best friend, who is going through something similar to Boscha. She's… she's gotten worse to the point of self-harm… what if Boscha ends up at the same point?"

This scared the group and Bo walked up to her. "Don't worry, Ukla, Beck is keeping watch. So hopefully it doesn't come to that."

Gavin came into the living room, Angmar turning to him. "You got Hunter updated?" he asked.

"Yeah," Gavin responded. "Told him that she's… not feeling well right now." He then noticed Bo and looked at her awkwardly for a few seconds before she noticed him.

"What?" Bo asked them.

"Oh uh, nothing!" Gavin exclaimed nervously, while Angmar shifted his eyes away. "We just noticed that you uh…"

"Are the same girl we saw in the news!" Angmar replied awkwardly. "You were saved by the Owl Lady, right?"

"Yeah, she did," Bo replied. "Me and my family owe her a great debt, even if she says it's nothing… do you guys know Mattolomule? He used to go to Glandus."

"Eh… somewhat, we were in the same class but we didn't really talk," Ukla said with a shrug, while Gavin and Angmar looked nervous. "You know him?"

"Yeah, we do," Amelia replied. "Him, me, Bo, Cat and Simon were in the Humans Appreciation Society together."

"But the club's closed until further notice, it's just not the same without Gus," Simon said while everyone fell silent at the mention of Gus.

"I think I'm going to go check up on Boscha," Skara broke the silence as she walked to where Skara's room was. There, she saw Beck who was walking back and forth.

"Skara? Are you here to see Boscha?" Beck asked her.

Skara nodded. "I wanted to make sure that she's not… hurting herself."

Beck nodded understandingly. "Come on, let's go check up on her," she said as she went to open the door. "Boscha? It's Beck. We're just checking up on-" But as they opened the door, they realized something was wrong. The room was empty. "Boscha?" Beck called out before they saw the window open.

"Boscha!" Skara shouted as she ran over to look out the window, realizing that Boscha had left the Saltstar estate. "BOSCHA!"

In the woods, Luz and Eda were searching for Puck.

"You think he did something to Camila?" Eda asked her.

"Yeah," Luz responded, looking seriously upset. "I… I couldn't find her. I don't want to think that he… mom, I'm worried for her!"

Eda understood Luz's worries. "Me too, Luz. But right now we can't let our guard down. We're dealing with an unstable Fae controlled by one of the Boiling Isle's worst sickos."

"I just can't believe that… he's alive," Luz said while still in shock about this. "I… there's so much I wanted to say…"

"Why don't you tell me now?"

Luz and Eda turned around as they saw a large tree swipe at them, hitting them through the woods. They change into their winged forms to stop themselves, while looking to see the one responsible was Puck.

"Hello again, Luz," Puck grinned. "Miss me? Because I sure didn't!"

"Puck!" Luz rushed over to him, but he teleported away.

"Can't catch me!" He popped up next to Eda, who threw a kick at him but he disappeared. "Too slow!" He popped up and kicked her away. Luz rushed to him but he disappeared again.

"Come on, Luz, is this all you got?" Puck's voice echoed through the woods, while Luz and Eda looked around.

"He's toying with us, Luz!" Eda shouted.

"Puck! You are under the Inner Demon's control!" Luz shouted. "You have to snap out of it, please! I'm… I'm sorry for what I've said! You are my friend!"

"Friend? Oh now you want to be friends with me?!" Puck shows up in front of Luz, hitting her and sending her into a tree. "Everything's not all forgiven, Luz, you've screwed me over for saving your sorry ass!" he mocked as he started to sing. "You shut me out like I was trash, and then, I ended up dead!" He made a fake hangman sign as he teleported around.

"But- but- but-! Then it hit me, like a flash! What if the Isles went away instead!" he declared while shoving Luz and Eda to a checkerboard floor that appeared suddenly, their surroundings becoming more colorful with a mixture of blue, purple, and green. "Those assholes are the key, they are keeping you from being free! They've made you cry, messed up your life! I can help you and Amity!"

Luz and Eda flew back to avoid the large fists punching at them. Luz avoided the attacks while looking at the shadows of the past, and saw Amity's shadow kneeling down alongside with a shadow of herself. It was then Puck showed up in front of her.

"You cut me out, I turned to dust, I drifted away and cried-DAMN! DAMN! DAMN!" he yelled while Luz fell back, Eda picking her back up. "And then I lost all my trust, my new friend brought out my truest side! And so, I've helped him build a bomb! Hexside will be in his palm! Let's guarantee they never see their senior grom!"

He spread his shadow at a ticking clock, followed by a shadow of Hexside in front of the two. He then lowered himself, starting to sing softly. "I~ just~ wanted some friends, you~ and~ her were the ones, who~ cared~ about a nobody, a Fae~ who's~ just on the run! So I~ just~ wanted some friends~!"

Luz and Eda looked at him sadly, but then Puck gave a scary face which startled them. "So when I lured them to go BOOM! When they're in Hexside- pew-pew-pew!" He set flames in his hands while making finger gun noises. "In the rubble of their tomb, I'll place a note explaining why they died!"

He summoned a note in front of them, as shadows of Hexside students appeared, smiling while holding hands. This creeped out and disturbed Luz and Eda. Especially when the shadows started to talk from the note.

"We, the students of Hexside… will die. Our burned bodies may finally get through, to you, the coven system who failed to save us- we cuss. Signed, the students of Hexside. Goodbye!"

Luz covered her mouth while Eda looked panicked. Puck appeared behind with a deranged look.

"We'll watch the smoke pour out the doors! Bring marshmallows, we'll make some s'mores!" He literally got them in a campfire roasting s'mores suddenly. "We'll laugh and smile while the fire roars!" The campfire bursts into flames while Puck laughed demonically.

Luz and Eda backed away, smoke surrounding them. Puck teleported over and brough Luz to him.

"I~ just~ wanted some friends, you~ and~ her were the ones!" he said while Luz managed to get away from him, disappearing into the smoke. "I~ can't~ take this anymore! Please~ Luz~, don't you run!"

Luz flew out of the smoke along with Eda, but the smoke around the forest grew to surround them.

"You~ had~ left me to die! You~ owe~ me your life!" Puck looked around for Luz through the smoke, looking unstable. "You~ can't~ leave me to cry! You've~ caused~ me enough strife~!"

Luz and Eda looked around trying to escape from the smoke, but Puck appeared in front of them again.

"HEY, LUZ! Don't you, don't you hide from me now, hey Luz, don't you hide!" Puck marched towards Luz, who swiped at him but he dodged with a saddened look. "Hey Luz, let's not… not fight anymore, please? Hey Luz, let's not fight anymore?"

Eda tried to choke-hold him, but he shoved her aside, though in the process a dagger fell from his sleeve and onto the ground.

"Hey Luz, I know you're scared, I've been there! I need you to set me free!" He looked to Luz as if he was begging, while Luz looked around in a panic, spotting the dropped dagger. "Luz, don't make me hurt you right here, I'M GONNA COUNT TO THREE! ONE!" Luz lit her hands to flame, burst it in front of him. "TWO- FUCK!"

Luz flipped over and kicked him down while he was distracted. He quickly got up and went up to her, while Luz held him up at knife point after grabbing the dagger. This caused Puck to pause, looking at the desperate Luz holding at him at knife point. He was shaken, remembering how Belos stabbed him… and how someone else once stabbed in the back.

"No… not you too…" Tears leaked from his eyes as he backed away.

"Please…. stop this, Puck," Luz told him.

"Please… don't… hurt me anymore…" His voice broke. "I… thought… you I could trust… I… can't… do this anymore…!" Everything around him turned to normal, but then his voice changed. "STILL, HE WILL IF HE MUST!"

He glared at Luz and teleported away.

Luz was shaken to her core as she threw the knife away. She fell on her knees, starting to hyperventilate. Eda rushed over to comfort her daughter.

"Luz… Luz, are you alright?" Eda asked her.

"No… no I'm not!" Luz gripped her own arms. "This is my fault…"

"No, no it isn't Luz, he was just gas-lighting you." Eda told her, hugging Luz. "You had no idea that this could lead to this. Don't forget that Belos was the one who killed him, not you. And he's under the Inner Demon's influence. Right now, it's not even Puck anymore."

Luz was calming down a little, but then she realized something. "Mom… what did he mean about Hexside?"

"He's… planning to destroy it!" Eda realized as well, while Luz got herself up.

"We can't waste any time!" Luz declared. "We have to stop him!"

Boscha found herself in front of her home. Rather, where her home used to be.

She walked over to the burned and incinerated ground, looking for anything that could be salvageable. But all she saw were her former belongings, now all burnt to the crisp. She had no home to go to now…

She fell to her knees and started to break down. Tears leaked from her three eyes as she unleashed a yell of anguish and beat the ground.

"Why…!?" Boscha started to wail. She gripped her own hair while hitting her head to the ground "Why….!? I… I can't…!?"

"You poor thing."

She heard the Inner Demon's voice in her head. His tone was faux sympathetic. "You've suffered quite a lot these past few months. Being pressured by your mother Nicole, only to lose it all because you had to listen to her. You almost got the Clawthornes killed over your own revenge, get attacked by a werewolf who turned out to be your former best friend… and when things were starting to turn around for you… well, now your brother and your mommy are in jail along with your boyfriend, your other mother is now a wanted criminal, and your home is destroyed leaving nothing for you!"

Boscha remembered these events as the Inner Demon recounted them. She had lost everything…

"And you've only got yourself to blame for it." he told her menacingly. "Because all your life, you've been nothing but a bully and a bad friend! Do you really think that a few good deeds will change that? Skara, Cat, Amelia, Amity, Simon, you don't deserve them! And those new friends of yours, they'll eventually realize what a horrible witch you are! You've never even made a proper apology to Luz, have you? Despite the fact that you nearly ruined her life!"

Boscha looked down in silence while the Inner Demon continued. "Good things don't happen to witches like you. As much as you now despise Nicole, you will eventually be doomed to become just like her. There's no happily ever after at the end of your story, just more misery!"

She was shaken by those words as he continued. "Because that is your role in this story: to be a lonely, pathetic, and miserable bully! You may think you've changed, but without your more positive influences… it won't be long before you fall back to your old awfulness!" He paused. "Poor Tom… he was the reason you've changed… and now he's gone…"

Boscha was now feeling empty and completely demoralized as she stopped crying. She just wanted to be left here… alone…

"Now, now, it doesn't have to end here," the Inner Demon told her. "Why don't you go back to where it all started… to end it there…"

Somewhere in the woods, Puck had finished crying to himself. His shadow rose up, speaking to him.

"Puck, she didn't mean to," the shadow spoke, who was revealed to be Camila. "She was just scared…"

"Scared? Of course she's scared," Puck responded. "I'm a Fae, she should be terrified of me!"

"It doesn't have to be this way!" Camila told him "Please, Puck, don't do this…"

"You don't know me, why should I listen to you?!" Puck asked her. "Besides, you're just my shadow now, so I command you to be silent!"

"Luz talked to me about you," she said, making Puck fall silent. She continued. "She told me how much you've helped her, and how much she regrets saying those things to you. All she ever wanted was to say she's sorry for saying that she wanted nothing to do with you."

"Why…" Puck was in tears again. "Why would you tell me this?"

"Because you are her friend," Camila told him, "Sometimes, people say things they don't mean out of anger, or stress or… grief. Luz didn't mean to say those things, all she ever wanted was to apologize to you, because you're a good friend."

Puck stared at her. "It's too late for that now…"

"Indeed," the Inner Demon's voice echoed in his mind. "You've gone too far to stop now."

"I've gone too far to stop now," Puck repeated, his eyes glowing darkly.

"Puck…" Camila said with a sad tone.

"Besides, you are a Fae, you should be feared," the Inner Demon told him. "And as a Fae, you have a role to play."

"Yes, I do…" Puck said while under the Inner Demon's influence.

At the Clawthorne home, Hunter received a call from Gavin.

"What?!" Hunter stood up. "Boscha's gone?!"

"We think she is out there somewhere in the Isles," Gavin responded. "We're all going to look for her. The Saltstars are checking some of her favorite hang-out spots, while me and the others are checking elsewhere."

"Keep me updated, I'm on my way!" Hunter said as he hung up and turned to Flapjack. "Come on, we should go-"

"Hunter?"

He paused, turning to Dell and Gwen who saw him about to head out.

"Where are you going?" Dell asked.

Hunter turned to Flapjack, gripping his staff. "This is an emergency, my friend is in trouble!"

"Well… then we'll go with you then," Gwen said as she stepped up along with Dell, surprising Hunter.

"You… you'll help me?" Hunter asked them.

"Of course, just tell us what's wrong," Dell said.

Hunter got over his shock and nodded. "Alright, I'll tell you on the way."

Boscha walked in front of Hexside, looking up at the building. She had no staff with her, having left her Palisman behind. She didn't want Hogarth to see her like this…

She felt numb as she slowly walked up the steps of her former school.

"I float in a boat," she sang while at the entrance, "In a boiling black ocean, low in the water, and nowhere to go." She went inside. "The tiniest lifeboat… with people I know…"

Illusions of her classmates showed up around her as she walked past them.

"Cold… clammy, and crowded…" Boscha looked around, remembering these past memories. "The people smell desperate, we'll sink any minute." She saw an illusion of Horace bullying another kid, Edric and Emira pulling their pranks, and then she saw herself shoving Willow to her locker. "So someone must go, the tiniest lifeboat, with the people I know…"

The illusions then started to turn violent. She sees the illusion of Willow fighting the illusion of herself back, followed by Horace being punched in the face and Edric and Emira getting tackled on by students.

"Everyone's pushing! Everyone's fighting! Storms are approaching, there's nowhere to hide!" Boscha declared as the hallways were turning darker than usual. "If I say the wrong thing, or I wear the wrong outfit, they'll throw me right over the side!" She finds herself wearing her Glandus uniform rather than her regular outfit.

"I'm… hugging my knees, and the captain is pointing…" She hugs herself while looking up, seeing a larger version of Amity, Skara, Cat and Amelia pointing down at her. "Well, who made her captain? Still, the weakest must go…the tiniest lifeboat, full of people I know…"

She looked at her reflection in the trophy, her depressed look sinking in. "The tiniest lifeboat… full of people I know…"

She looked as she stood alone in the hall…

Back at the ruins of the Hieron home, Skara sniffed around the area. "She was here," she said, turning to the rest of the group.

"She couldn't have gone far, right?" Cat asked in worry.

"Well, where could she have gone from here?" Ukla asked.

"Also, how do you know Boscha's scent?" Angmar asked.

Skara gulped, realizing they didn't know that she was a lycan. So she made up a lie. "Well… it's a Beast-Keeping spell that I learned from my mom! You know, one Beast-Kepper to another."

"Look!" Amelia pointed up, seeing three witches on their staffs, flying down. They were Gwen, Dell, and a hooded Hunter.

"Gavin said that they were tracking her to somewhere around… here," Hunter said as he spotted the Hexside girls with his Glandus friends. "Shit!" he cursed as he tried to pull out his concealment stone.

"Hunter!" the Glandus trio said.

"Hunter?!" the Hexside girls said in shock.

"Oh- um…" Hunter dropped his concealment stone. "Oh… hey… guys."

"Oh, you must be Hunter's friends," Dell spoke up. "Hi, I'm Dell and this is my wife Gwen. We're Luz's grandparents, if you know her."

"We're here to help find Boscha Hieron," Gwen explained.

"Yeah, we're not Hunter's friends…" Amelia said while crossing her arms and glaring at Hunter.

"What's he doing here?" Skara snarled while Bo calmed her down.

"Hunter's our friend, I told him that Boscha's missing and he came with help," Gavin replied.

"Well he shouldn't be here!" Skara growled, which made Hunter nervous.

"Hey, back off! He is only here to help!" Ukla got in between her and Hunter.

"Oh sure," Skara said sarcastically. "I bet he never told you about his double life as the Golden Guard!"

An awkward silence fell over everyone.

"Actually, we already know that," Angmar admitted, surprising the Hexside girls.

"Hunter already told us everything, even Boscha knows," Gavin said while Hunter looked away from the Hexside girls.

"Look, you guys have every right to be mad at me," Hunter told them. "But right now, it is more important that we fight Boscha."

"He's right," Gwen responded. "Save your personal drama until after we find Boscha."

The Hexside girls turned to each other, realizing that Hunter and Gwen was right. "Alright, but we're watching our backs around you," Cat said, pointing to Hunter. She then realized something. "Wait, is that a mechanical arm?"

"And we'll make sure you don't hurt him," Ukla said, her eyes narrowed.

"Wait," Skara's nose twitched. "I've picked up her scent again… I think I know where she went!"

Meanwhile, Lilith and Snope were looking for Puck in the woods with Snope's Abomination keeping guard.

"I have been meaning to get in touch with you since yesterday, Professor Snope," Lilith said. "So what do you know about Inner Demon?"

"All I know is that he is a demonic spirit of some kind that originated from the Forest of Fear and haunts the Isles," Snope explained. "I've made it my personal mission to stop that monster by doing whatever it takes."

Lilith looked at him in concern. "You have some history with him… I recall he said something about… failing to save your friends?"

Sheldon paused while lowering his head, tightening his fists. "Their names were Goggles, Mimi, Dunker, Ashley, Cactu, and Squid… back then, I used to be known as Little Shelley and collectively we were known as the Outcasts. We were considered trouble-makers… and our names can be found on the Wall of Calamity," he explained. "We thought the Inner Demon was just a myth at least… until one day, Goggles's little brother was lured into the Forest of Fear… and he never came back."

"Dear Titan…" Lilith whispered in shock.

Snope continued. "We decided to exorcize that monster. We entered the Forest of Fears and though I don't know if we could have succeeded… my cowardice got my friends killed, since I disrupted the ritual and ran, the Inner Demon only letting me go so that I would be forced to live with the guilt and shame." Tears leaked from his tired eyes. "After graduation, I thought I could continue on with my life by joining the Abominations Coven and working at Blight Industries. But the guilt and shame stayed with me as the Inner Demon continued to claim more victims over the years…"

He looked down at his own messy boots. "That's why I decided to find a way to end the Inner Demon for good. The Oracle Coven wasn't much help, but then I happened upon one of those mysterious shops that appear out of nowhere…"

"Vanz's Dealership…" Lilith said and Snope nodded.

"He gave me the Dream Compass, which allowed me to travel into the Dream Realm. Since then I have been getting ready for a fight with the Inner Demon." He pulled out the Dream Compass. "Though… I wonder if I have what it takes to stop him? Or if everything I will do would be in vain…."

"I'm so sorry for what happened to you, Snope," Lilith apologized. "I think I have heard about Inner Demon cases during my time in the Emperor's Coven but… I was always too focused on my own problems."

"There was nothing you could have done anyways," Snope said. "Not even the Emperor's Coven can stop him. They tried to destroy the Forest of Fear or stop people from going into it, but nothing worked."

"Which explains why this isn't treated as a bigger deal," Lilith said while thinking it over. "Belos doesn't want himself or his coven to look bad, so he may be suppressing information about the Inner Demon and the Forest of the Fear."

It was then that a crow called to Lilith. "Lily? Lily, are you there?"

Lilith grabbed the crow. "Eda? What's your update?"

"Me and Luz encountered Puck, and we know where to find him… at Hexside."

At Hexside, Faust was in his office writing some documents.

"Horace hasn't shown his face in school for over a week now… that is unacceptable!" Faust stamped on Horace's file. "Expelled!" he shouted while looking at his file. "Why doesn't he have a last name though?"

Crash!

Faust lifted his head up, hearing a noise from outside his office. "Who's there?!" he demanded as he stood up.

He walked out of his office to investigate the noise. "Is that the night janitor? No wait, I fired him," he said while lighting a flame from his jaws. He walked down through the empty halls, looking around. "I'm not afraid of you intruders! Come out and face my wrath!" he declared.

He was answered by silence… and the sound of footsteps, which made him turn around. He saw nothing.

"If this is an idea of a joke, I must warn you that I have been told that I possess no sense of humor!" he shouted, but for no response. He then saw a shadow on the wall, which ran. "Come back here you!"

He chased after the intruder. "You can't outrun me!" Faust declared before he felt a crack in his back. "AAH! Stupid old back, made me throw it out!" he grumbled, stopping himself from tripping. He saw the shadow of the intruder stop. "You think you can stop and see me fall? What is your plan, evil doer?!"

WHACK!

Faust felt a blunt hit to his head, knocking him out cold. Standing behind him was none other than Puck, holding a trophy.

"Sweet dreams," he said with a grin.

"We're here."

The search party stood outside of Hexside, Skara finding the door already opened.

"I think Boscha went in there," Skara said. "Though I can't pick up her scent anymore. There is something… weird right now."

"We should spread out into groups, easier to look for her that way," Hunter suggested.

"Yeah, good idea, me and Cat will be in one group while Skara and Bo are in another," Amelia said while glaring at Hunter. "So that a certain someone won't stab us in the back…"

Ukla glared at her. "Hey, enough of that!" she told them while turning to Hunter. "You wanna come with us?"

Hunter looked at the Glandus trio, but then thought of the Clawthornes. "Actually, I'm thinking of going with Dell and Gwen. They could use some help."

"Oh just because we're old, doesn't mean we still have some fire in us!" Gwen said as she punched her own fist.

"Come on, let's go find her," Dell said as they all went inside and split up into their preferred groups. Skara was with Bo, Cat was with Amelia, Gavin, the Glandus kids went together, and Hunter was with the Clawthornes.

Bo and Skara used a light spell as they went down a dark hallway, Bo shivering. "You don't think we'll run into Faust, do you?"

"Maybe, though you would think he would have some life outside of school," Skara replied while they heard a gurgling noise. "What was that?"

"Look!" Bo pointed up at a large dragon that had suddenly appeared. It resembled the dragon form of the Coachman and sticking from the dragon's snout was the Coachman himself.

"Guess who's back!?" he declared as he laughed maniacally.

"The Coachman!?" Bo cried out.

"Run!" Skara shouted as they ran down the hall while the dragon Coachman chased after them.

"Do you hear that?!" Amelia cried out.

"That sounds like Skara and Bo!" Cat replied as the two were about to go back for their friends, but suddenly Cat felt something slither down her ankle, pulling her away. "WAAAHHH!"

"Cat!" Amelia cried out, seeing Cat being hung upside down by an intestine while being surrounded by floating organs, bones, and blood packs.

"Hi! I'm your appendix! Wanna see me burst!?" spoke a large appendix.

"I'm a realistic beating heart with a bile sac about to pop!" spoke a heart with a bile sac.

"I'm what the inside of a bone looks like!" spoke an inside-out bone.

"AAAAAAAHHH!" Cat screamed while she waved her arms around.

"Hang on, Cat!" Amelia tried to draw a spell circle, but then she felt a pair of furry arms wrap around her, making her freeze up.

"Oooh, why spoil the fun?" asked Nina who was behind Amelia, her eyes glowing yellow while drawing her claw across Amelia's face. "Don't make me poke more holes in you…"

"No… no… nonononono!" Amelia was hyperventilating as she tried to escape out of the grasp of 'Nina', who let her go and allowed Amelia to run while 'Nina' chased after her.

"What's going on here?" Angmar asked while looking at a black, oozing puddle in the hallway.

"I don't know, but I ain't sticking around to find out," Ukla said, but then she saw something rising from the puddle.

"Ukleeeee…" Ukla's eyes widened upon seeing Yuki rise up from the puddle with her ukulele, giving her a smile. "Come to the puddle, Ukly, it's just right…" she said while playing her ukulele.

"Yuki…" Ukla backed away before seeing something rising from the puddle behind her. "Yuki, look out!"

SLASH!

"AAAH!" Yuki cried while being cut down by Emily Tricks, shocking the trio. "Such weakness is not tolerated in Glandus," Emily said while Angmar hid behind Gavin.

"Stand back!" Gavin shouted while summoning his Abomination, ready to attack the black ooze muddy version of Emily who was getting larger. It was then her head shifted as it turned into Darius, making Gavin freeze. "Dad…"

The muggy Darius just sighed. "When will you stop disappointing me, Gavin," he said. "Hunter was more of a son to me than you ever were," he said with a grin.

"Don't listen to him, that's not your dad!" Ukla shook Gavin, while Darius started to scream.

"SPAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" His mouth opened wide, revealing the face of Bria who shouted at them. "You two left me to die!" she yelled at Gavin and Angmar.

"No… Bria, that's… we didn't mean-" Angmar tried to say.

"ZIP IT, YOU USELESS PLANT BOY!" she shouted. "You both abandoned me, and now you will pay!"

Suddenly the lockers burst open and vines started to target the Glandus trio…

Hunter, Dell and Gwen found themselves in the gym, where they saw dark splotches all around them along with a fog.

"What is this fog?" Dell questioned, while Hunter looked at the splotches moving around.

"We need to get out!" Hunter said while heading to the door, only for it to slam shut. He along with Gwen tries to unlock it, but to no avail.

"Mother…"

Gwen turned around and her eyes widened when they saw Lilith in front of her, back to her darker hair and Emperor's Coven dress. "Lilith… what… what are you doing…?"

"All I ever wanted was your attention, your love, your validation!" Lilith screamed. "But it's always Eda! You always put Eda over me!"

"No, I love you both girls so much!" Gwen cried.

"Do you?" Lilith questioned. "Why do you think it was so easy for the Emperor to win me over? Because he validated me when you didn't. Because he actually saw me, unlike you! Well maybe you will pay attention now!"

"Gwen, what are you…?" Dell asked her only for a crying Eda to stand before him. 'E-Edalyn-"

"Leave me alone!" Eda shouted at him, showing her tearful eyes while hugging herself. "Because of me, you got hurt!"

"Eda… I never blamed you," Dell assured her, not realizing it was an illusion. "I blamed myself when you ran away…"

Eda sniffs "You're right, it is your fault. Your little girl ran away and do you know what I've been through?" She stepped towards him "Daddy wasn't there to comfort me when I ended up hurting more people… daddy wasn't there when I had to deal with the Owl Beast by myself… daddy wasn't there when her little girl got assaulted and had to sell her own body to ease the pain… daddy wasn't there when her daughter tried to kill herself!"

Both Dell and Gwen's hearts sank as they watched their daughters mutilate themselves. "EDA/LILITH!" they cried.

"Guys, wake up!" Hunter tried to go to them, but then the splotches blocked his path, rising up to form something that resembled the muddied version of his uncle. "B-Belos…?"

"My dear boy," Belos rose up while appearing in his body were the faces of Darius, Edric, Gus, Willow, Luz, Amity, Lilith, Gavin, and Boscha. "You abandoned us… why do you forsake us!?" His mouth bled green moss while the faces started to glow with blood pouring out of their mouths.

Hunter screamed.

Skara and Bo continued to run from the dragon, ending up downstairs.

"Did we lose him?" Skara asked while looking around.

"I think we did," Bo replied.

"Well, that's good," Skara said while feeling a shiver. "Still, how can the Coachman still be around?" she asked while looking to Bo… who was not there. "Bo? BO!"

"Bo's not here…"

Skara turned around and saw the Coachman in front of her. "It's just you and me, you brat!"

"AAAH!" Skara cried out as she ran, the Coachman laughing as he shot flames from behind. She continued to run as she cried out. "Bo! Cat! Boscha! Anyone!"

She ran and she ran until she saw the open door to a classroom and headed inside. She shut the door behind her, breathing hard. It was then she heard music in the room and she turned around to see the most bizarre sight…

In front of her was a long table and to her shock Willow, Amity, and Gus were seated there. "More tea, Amity?" asked Willow who wore a large, colorful hat.

"Why thank you, Willow," Amity, who wore a bunny-eared headband, replied. She noticed Skara. "Oh hey, Skara, here's for the tea party?"

"Um…" Skara was confused. "I thought you guys were in the Human Realm…?"

"Oh we've gone through a lot there!" spoke Gus who walked up to Skara… as he was now the size of a mouse, while having mouse ears and teeth and a tail. "Would you like a cup of sugar?"

"Something isn't right…" Skara said to herself.

"Oh, you're right! What we need is caaaake…" Willow said while looking sinister under a red light.

"Cake?" Skar asked, while looking down at herself and gasping. Besides her head, her whole body was now a tray of cake. "My… my body! What happened to my body!?"

"You're the dessert!" Amity said while she, Gus, and Willow start to transform into werewolves.

"WAAAAH!" Skara screamed.

"No… not again," Bo said in tears while trapped in the same kind of cage she was in when she was captured by the Tarot Guild. She heard the echo of laughter before a face popped up in front of her bars.

"Comfortable, my dear?" asked the Inner Demon.

"Leave me alone!" Bo screamed while backing away.

"Oh, but this is just getting started," the Inner Demon said while their surroundings started to change. "In fact, why don't we watch a little picture show, all the way down memory lane…"

Bo saw the world around her change and she realized where she was. "Wait… I know around here…"

Bo saw Mattholomule come out of the restroom near the grudgeby field and he was about to head back to take his seat…

"Oh Matty!" spoke the voice of Bria, who made Mattholomule tense and freeze up as she patted his shoulder. "Why do you have that look, Matty?" she asked with a grin. "Is that any way to greet an old friend? I was hoping to see you while I was here. We should catch up, especially since the Boss wanted me to deliver a message to you about some of your new friends at Hexside and what happened to some of our own…" She smiled as she leaned into his ear. "You can change schools as much as you want, but at the end of the day, you're still Glandus trash…"

Bo gasped, she had seen that girl before…

"But that's not all!" The Inner Demon fast-forwarded to what happened next. "Wait until you see who those two 'friends' of Matty's were really like to him…"

Mattolomule was thrown to the ground in the woods, where he was tied up in vines by Angmar.

"Oh Matty, you were really foolish in transferring schools away from us," Bria said as she punched Matt in the face. "That's for not calling, by the way."

Matt spat out blood. "Why would I… call you-" She grabbed him by the mouth as she spoke.

"Because you still owe me," Bria said as she scoffed. "If this is about the bus incident, get the fuck over it! What do you boys think we should do about him?"

"String him up a tree?" Gavin suggested.

"Make petty threats?" Angmar added.

"Yeah, I think I saw him with some students with him at the bleachers…" Gavin said, which made Bria smile.

"Oh, those little friends of yours, I would like to know more about them," Bria said while grabbing Matt's arm. "Tell me… what are their names?"

"I-I can't-AAAH!" Mattholomule screamed in pain, kneeling down while Bria twisted his arm.

"Oh, I didn't get that," Bria said while pulling his arm. "Tell me!"

Mattholomule was hesitant, he looked at Bria in fear while his lips shook. "B-B-Bo and… Gus… Eileen…"

"That'll be enough," Bria told him while kicking him in the stomach, causing Bo to gasp. "If you wish to value their lives, you'll have to do as I say… or else they'll get the same treatment that you're getting right now! Got it!?"

"You couldn't have made it in Glandus, so what makes you think you'll make it in Hexside?" Gavin asked smugly.

"Hehe, you haven't changed at all, Matty!" Angmar laughed at Mattholomule mockingly.

Bo was livid, shocked as she felt her anger reignited. She never felt this much anger, not since Skara ending their friendship. But this… this was worse. "How… how could they do this to Matt?" she asked in tears.

"That's what these Glandus punks do!" the Inner Demon said while noticing an icing aura forming around Bo. "And I bet that makes you angry enough to put them in their place, right?"

Bo didn't say anything, all she could feel was an icy, cold rage…

Skara opened her eyes and realized she wasn't cake anymore. But then she saw someone else in front of her.

"Boscha?" Skara said while looking at her missing former friend. "Boscha, you're here!" She tried to rush over to her, only to find herself tied to a post. "What… what's going on?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Skara heard a voice and she turned to Nina who was also stuck to a stake. "Judgment day has come for us."

"What?" Skara asked, only to hear screaming on her other side. When she turned to her other side, she gasped. "DAD!"

Slasher screamed in pain as he was burned alive… by Nicole Hieron.

"It's time you freaks get what you deserve…" Nicole said while handing the burning torch to Boscha. "Here, my daughter. Burn these menaces to society…"

Skara struggled with her rope as she saw Boscha walking up to Nina. "Boscha, please don't do this!"

"Why should I?" Boscha asked. "This werecat has done nothing but harass and hurt me, and she hurt Amelia, Dusty, and Gus. She hurt your friends, Skara. Don't tell me you buy her fake apologies? Why would you defend her!?"

"She doesn't deserve to die!" Skara shouted, while Boscha turned to her.

"Oh, is it because you are projecting onto her?" Boscha asked while her scar grew over her face "You attacked me as well, so you have to pay for your crimes just as your father and Nina have to answer for their crimes!"

Boscha lit the stake while the flames grew around Nina, who turned to Skara with tears in her eyes. "So long, Skara…"

Skara shut her eyes while Nina was set ablaze. Tears streamed from Skara's eyes as well. "Please… stop! This isn't right! We don't deserve to die…"

When Skara reopened her eyes, she wasn't at the stake, nor was Boscha there. Instead, she saw she was in the gymnasium with the others, all tied up while their Palismen were locked away in a crate. Even Principal Faust was there tied up.

"Guys…" Skara said while looking at them. "Guys, are you alright?!"

"Well, we are alive at least…" Hunter said while he was tied up.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Faust complained as he tried to burn his bonds, but to no avail.

"HELLO, HEXSIDE!"

All turned to see someone up on stage in the spotlight. It was Puck, who was holding a microphone. "So happy that all of you are awake! I could introduce myself, but why even bother? We're all here to have the best pep rally Hexside has ever seen, and it will be a blast!"

"Why are you doing this?!" Gwen demanded.

"Why am I doing this?" Puck repeated while bursting into laughter. "Because you all are pathetic little witches going about your miserable little lives! And I am here to put you all out of your misery… so you're welcome!"

"Why you-" Faust was then gagged with a muzzle, preventing him from speaking.

"Where's Boscha!?" Cat demanded.

"Sorry, I was told not to spoil the surprise," he said before noticing Bo glaring at Angmar and Gavin. "Speaking of spoilers, it looks like someone just learned who was blackmailing her boyfriend!"

Gavin and Angmar realized that Bo was glaring at them and they looked down in shame.

"Hey, get your high corpse away from them!" Ukla shouted.

"Aw, so protective of your friends… but I guess you aren't very good at that, just ask Yuki," Puck countered while turning to Skara. "And you… you'll probably get executed anyway, so consider this a mercy. Speaking from experience, it won't be long until the Emperor decides to kill you, your daddy and Nina…"

"No…" Skara said while looking down.

"Don't listen to him, he's just playing us!" Hunter told them.

"Oh don't get me started on you!" Puck said as he jumped off the stage and walked over to Hunter, kicking him in the face. "Belos's little spy! Why are you the worst of them all! It is only a matter of time before you betray everyone yet again in order to regain the Emperor's favor!"

He walked back to the stage. "You all think that your good deeds now can outweigh your bad deeds of the past, but they won't! In the end, no matter how you said you've changed, you're still the same fuck-ups!" Popping up on stage was an hourglass. "As soon as the last grain of sand falls down, you all will go… boom!" He teleported away, leaving the others to their fates…

Outside of Hexside, Eda and Luz had arrived at Hexside along with Lilith and Snope.

"There's the school!" Luz pointed.

"Come on, we have to stop Puck!" Eda states as they burst inside. While they were running down the hallway, the lockers sprouted vines.

"What's going on!?" Lilith exclaimed.

"Trouble," Sheldon realized.

"Indeed, you're right, Snoopy," Puck said as he teleported in front of them. "Hey Luz, nice of you to join me. Some of your friends are here after Boscha led them here. Some kids from Glandus are here as well, which is a plus."

"What?!" Luz said. "Where are they?!"

"Oh they're a little tied up at the pep rally right now," Puck said with a grin. "They are even too busy to stop Boscha from taking a dive…" He realized what he said and shrugged. "Whoops, I let it slip…"

Luz looked horrified when she heard this. "Oh no… we need to save her!"

"I'll go get your friends, Luz," Eda told her while changing into her harpy form. Lilith changed into her harpy form as well.

"We'll keep him busy!" Lilith said as she and Snope prepared to fight Puck.

"You think you can stop me?!" Puck declared as the vines targeted them all. Luz jumped away to avoid a vine as she burned one. But then she got wrapped around by one as she was thrown to the wall. Eda flew up to slash more vines that were targeting her daughter. Snope summoned some Abominations to attack the living vines to protect Luz and Eda, while Lilith spun herself around to tear the vines targeting her. More and more vines sprouted up to stop the four.

"We'll take it from here!" Lilith shouted while using ice and fire glyphs.

"Go!" Snope told them while using his Abominations.

Luz and Eda wasted no time as they flew away, Luz in her cambion form. Puck was about to stop them, but he felt flames hit him while he was distracted. "AAAH!" he cried out, putting out the fire while turning around to see Snope shooting the flames. "You'll start a fire if you are not careful!"

The Clawthorne mother and daughter flew down the hall. "You go to the gym, I'll look for Boscha upstairs," Luz said.

Eda nodded as they split up. However, vines popped out from the lockers and classroom doors, trying to stop Luz. She fired flames at them, incinerating the vines in her path. But some managed to grab her and pull her back.

Luz shot flames at the vine grabbing her, while continuing to fly up to the main hall. But as she flew up, she got pulled down by more vines. She kept shooting flames at them, but they kept tangling up around her.

Boscha was walking upstairs, about to reach the door to the roof…

Eda flew to where the gym was, but was then blocked by some lockers with legs. They screeched at her.

"Get out of my way!" Eda shouted while holding glyph cards and throwing them at them, which shot out ice, fire, and plants to get them out of the way. But then vines burst from the lockers to wrap them around her arms and her legs. "Gah!" she cried out. She tried to pull herself out from the vines but one that held her leg threw her around, away from the gym door.

She looked up and saw more vines reaching out to her as she grimaced. "Should've brought a mulcher..."

Lilith and Snope continued to fight against Puck, who had been toying with them for a while. Snope tried to whip him with his abomi-whips but Puck kept teleporting away. Lilith in her harpy form tried punching him, which Puck kept dodging.

"You shouldn't have given away the plan!" the Inner Demon scolded, while appearing on half of Puck's face.

"Where's the fun if the heroes don't have the proper motivation?" Puck responded to the Inner Demon while avoiding another attack. "You can't be a good villain if you don't properly motivate the heroes by letting them know just what is at stake!" He snapped his fingers, more vines bursting out to ensnare Lilith and Snope. The two were now bound in vines, while Puck stood in front of them. "Well, that was entertaining! But I gotta find a good place to watch the boom when that bomb goes off, so byeee!"

Boscha opened the door to the roof as she found herself outside, on top of the Hexside building…

Eda swiped and slashed at the vines before she used an ice glyph to make a wall to prevent the vines from coming to her. Eventually, she made it to the gym door and burst through it, everyone turning to see her.

"Everyone alright?" Eda asked.

"Edalyn!" Gwen and Dell cried in relief.

"Eda!? I knew you were behind this!" Faust shouts, while Eda slashed the kids free.

"Lovely evening to you too, Fausty," Eda responded after freeing Skara and Bo, followed by Cat and Amelia, and the Glandus trio.

"He said there's a bomb somewhere around here," Hunter said after Eda freed him, her parents, and the Palismen.

"Then we can't waste any time, we need to evacuate!" Eda shouted while everyone started to run.

"If you don't free me this instant, Clawthorne!" Faust shouted while Eda went to him.

"I could leave you, you know," she told him, while raising her talons to slash off his bonds. "But unlike you, I'm an adult."

Luz struggled with many vines preventing her from going up. She gritted her teeth in anger. "RAAAAHH!" she roared as her hands burst into flames, burning off the vines as she shot up like a rocket. "I'm coming, Boscha!"

Boscha stood on the edge of the rooftop, looking down to see how high up she was. She looked so empty, so broken…

"The weakest must go…" she said as she took one more step and let herself fall down. "Goodbye… everyone…"

Bursting onto the roof, Luz saw Boscha stepping off the roof. "NO!" she shouted as she ran over to the edge of the roof and grabbed her wrist, stopping Boscha from falling. Boscha's teary eyes widened when she saw that Luz had saved her.

"Luz!?" Boscha cried out in shock.

"Hang on!" Luz said as she pulled Boscha up and away from the edge of the roof. "Are you alright?"

Boscha was still shocked. Especially by the fact that Luz, of all people, was the one who had saved her. "W….Why? Why would you save me…?" she asked her. "I don't deserve to live…"

"Don't fucking say that!" Luz told her. "Boscha, I know that you and I have hurt each other a lot in the past, but it doesn't mean I want you dead or for you to jump off a roof! You absolutely deserve to live, no matter what anyone tells you!"

"But I've done so many horrible things to you, to Amity, to your friends and… I almost got you killed!" Boscha cried as she shook. "You shouldn't have saved me! I have no one… my family is gone… Tom is gone… I don't have anymore friends…"

Luz placed her hands on her shoulders. "That isn't true, your friends came here looking for you," she told her. "They care about you. And I care about you too, enough to stop you from throwing your life away. Enough to stop you from giving up on everything." She looked down. "Boscha, I'm so sor-"

"NOOO!"

Luz turned around and saw Puck on the rooftop with them.

"No, no, no, no, NO!!" Puck and the Inner Demon shouted, stomping their feet. "You're not supposed to save her! You're supposed to let her die! She is your hated enemy! Your bully! She doesn't deserve to exist!"

"Yes, she does!" Luz declared. "I mean sure, traffickers, pedos, rapists, abusers, they deserve to die! But Boscha does not deserve to die, no matter what she did! Because she is still just a kid!"

"If you won't let her die," Puck said as he summoned his knives while grinning insanely. "Then I will kill her myself!"

Boscha looked scared while Luz stood protectively in front of her. "You'll have to kill me first, Puck!"

"Then so be it!" Puck declared as he ran toward Luz, who shot a fireball at him. But he ran straight through the fireball as he gave her a swipe, which Luz blocked with her wings. After a slash, she winced, which triggered her PTSD.

'No, not this,' Luz thought as she prevented herself from breaking down. Boscha needed to be protected. She saw Puck teleport away. When he reappeared to try to jab his knife at her, Luz kicked him away. She shot an ice glyph to summon an ice spike to hit Puck far from Boscha, then Luz flew to grab Puck and slam him against the wall. She kicked him three times while Puck slashed her arm.

"I'll just have to slash your throat to get you out of my way!" Puck shouted with the Inner Demon's voice as he waved his knife around.

'Don't panic, don't freakin' panic!' Luz thought while dodging the knife. She swung her leg to kick him, but he dodged as he slashed at her leg, causing her to wince. She dodged the knife just as it targeted her face, only leaving a cut on her cheek, as she punched Puck on the nose. He backed away before he saw her jump up and do a flip kick to his face.

He still stood while holding the knives as he launched himself at her, Luz dodging and grabbing his arm, hitting it down while hitting his face. But Puck teleported and slashed her in the side. "AAH!" she winced as she backed away. Puck teleported in front of her while throwing his knives at her, but she used her cambion arms to block them. Puck then kicked her in an attempt to have her fall off from the roof, but then she stopped herself from falling by flapping her wings and flying towards him. He teleported away while appearing behind her, kicking her in the back.

She fell down and Puck pinned her to the floor. He stepped on her wings and attempted to stab her but Luz blasted him off with her light magic, causing him to fly off of her. Luz got back up, but Puck was already swinging his knife at her again, cutting her shoulder. She winced while her body shook, but she kept herself from falling. He swung his knife again, but she blocked it, preventing him from stabbing her in the face. She struggled as he kept pushing the knife near her nose. She saw him pulling out his other knife, while she twisted his arm to let the knife go to the floor before she kicked it off of the roof.

The two circled around while Puck still held his only knife. "I know you're in there, Puck."

"Sorry Luz, but I'm too far gone!" Puck declared.

"Yeah?" Luz questioned while still in a defensive position. "If you're that far gone, why didn't you kill my friends when you had the chance? Instead you just stranded them!" Something flickered on Puck's face. Hesitation? "You still care about Amity, she was your friend! And you couldn't harm Gus and Willow because they're our friends! And they would have been your friends if they had gotten the chance to meet you…"

He glared at her. "Who would like a Fae?" Puck growled as he charged at her, swinging his knife while Luz ducked and kicked him in the leg. She did a judo flip to kick him, but Puck teleported and reappeared behind her, slashing her in her side.

"AAH!" she cried while using her wings to knock him away, but then he kicked her in the back, making her stumble over. She dodged a stomp from Puck's boot as Puck's face shifted to the Inner Demon.

"How about if you say goodbye to your friends forever?" The Inner Demon held up the portal key and tapped it as he summoned his portal door. This shocked Luz as she gasped at the sight of the door, but then the Inner-Demon snapped his fingers and the door exploded in front of Luz.

"NO!" Luz cried out, seeing the door now in pieces. "No…"

The Inner Demon laughed, while Boscha looked shocked. She had heard everything, that this guy was responsible for something that happened to Amity, Gus, and Willow. And it may have to do with the portal door. She saw a piece of a large wood from the door, while Boscha looked down in anger.

Boscha watched Luz fighting against Puck to protect her from the Inner Demon. She saw the Fae about to stab her and not wanting to see Luz hurt again because of her, Boscha stood up and shot a spell at him, knocking him back.

"FUCK!" he shouted while turning around as Boscha picked up the large piece of wood and threw it at his face, hitting him.

"You leave her alone, you son of a bitch!" she declared while walking over to join Luz and glaring at the Inner Demon.

He glared at the triclops girl. "You think you can take me on? I have inhabited the body of-" He was suddenly hit by a fire blast from Boscha, launching him back.

"Shut up, you #%^$," Boscha cursed as she turned to Luz and she held her hand up. "Let's kick his ass."

Luz looked at her hand and gave Boscha a nod as she grabbed it. "Yeah!" she said while the two girls faced off against the Inner Demon in Puck's body. Luz spread her wings, while Boscha summoned her flames.

The possessed Fae and the two girls charged at each other, Boscha shooting fireballs at him while he dodged, but this gives Luz an opportunity to swipe at him with her talons and kick him to the door to the rooftop. He teleported and pushed Luz down to the floor, but Boscha zapped more spells at him which pushed him back, surprising him.

"How can this be?!" the Inner Demon asked while Boscha levitated the pieces of the door at him. He dodged most of them but got hit by a few before Luz tackled him from behind, punching him to the side.

"Your first mistake was pissing me off!" Luz declared while punching him. "And I'm not the only one who's pissed…" Her eyes changed into orange-red as Maya spoke. "You pissed off both of us!" The Inner Demon swung his knife, which Maya blocked with her hand, grabbing the knife with her red scaled arm, crushing it. She then kicks him to the edge of the roof.

"You think you've won?!" The Inner Demon said while his hands grew larger. "I still have his body, and I can do such damage-" He was then hit by another piece of wood from behind, knocking him to where Maya was. Maya punched him four times with both her fists and her wings, which she used to shred his cloak and his body. "AAAH!"

"Don't like to be cut, bitch?!" Maya smirked as she punched him in the face while Boscha punched him in the back of his head. The Inner Demon pushed both girls away from him as his hands transformed into dragon claws.

"Enough! Time to finish this!" he shouted as he turned to Boscha. "Starting with you!" He launched himself towards her, ready to finish her off. But then something grabbed his feet, making him fall on the floor "WHAT!?" he shouted while looking down to see his shadow had grabbed him. "Let me go!"

"No," Camila told him, having started to get the hang of her shadow form to have some control again. "I will not allow you to hurt these girls!"

"Three-eyes tried to ruin the life of your daughter!" the Inner-Demon told her.

"Perhaps so," Camila scolded him. "But she is just a child, unlike you, a pathetic man-child who torments children because they are easy prey! You are disgusting!"

"I AM THE INNER DEMON!" he declared. "I HAVE POWER OVER ALL! I WILL NOT BE DISRESPECTED BY A BUNCH OF-"

WHACK!

He felt the powerful, flaming colliding fists of both Luz and Boscha, hitting him straight in the jaw and the eyes. He then felt a punch from Luz's other fist, which was set aflame as it launched the Inner Demon off the roof.

"Bursting Fist…" Luz called it while the Inner-Demon changed back into Puck as he fell. "Inferno."

"Is that… what you call it?" Boscha asked while catching her breath.

"...for now," she replied.

The two looked over the edge of the roof to where Puck had fallen, but the Fae was gone...

Puck teleported into the boiler room. He was gasping, trying to catch his breath. He looked up at the bomb strapped to the boiler. It was a modified version of the explosive he had used during his fight with Kitsuni at the Knee, having spent a long time protecting it. He growled in anger, but it was mostly from the Inner-Demon.

"I can't believe we got beaten again! I hate losing to those witches!" the Inner-Demon snarled. "We need to set the bomb off now!" He reached for the bomb, but his hand stopped. Puck was the one who stopped himself from setting the bomb off.

"W-Wait… it is too soon, Luz could get hurt…" Puck said while his face shifted to the Inner Demon.

"Oh, so now you care about if Luz gets hurt? You've had your fun! Now it's mine!" The Inner Demon struggled to take control again, hitting himself to the wall. "What are you doing!?"

"N-not yet!" Puck cried out. "We just have to-"

"I AM IN CONTROL HERE!" the Inner Demon shouted as he punched himself while Puck tried to regain control. "Did you forget who helped you when you reformed? After everything I've done for you, this is how you repay me! You damaged boy! No wonder you never grow up! You're still a child!" The Inner Demon then managed to completely regain control. "Time to blow this school to Hell!" The Inner Demon reached for the bomb, but then something popped up in front of him.

"Surprised?" Kitsuni said as she kicked him far away from the bomb.

"YOU!" The Inner Demon snarled as he was about to attack her again, but Kitsuni summoned clones to punch and kick him down. Two more clones holding chains rushed to him, spins around him as they covered him in chains, followed by one giving him iron cuffs. The Inner Demon tried to get the cuffs off, but to no avail. "WHAT IS THIS!?"

"Iron is a Fae's weakness," Kitsuni told him as she jumped up in front of him and delivered a kick to the face, knocking him down. He hit the wall as he tried to teleport away, but couldn't. "You're through," she declared while the bomb was grabbed by and disposed of by the clones.

The Inner Demon in Puck's body struggled and snarled. "NO! This wasn't supposed to end!"

"Sorry, but this ends now," Kitsuni said as she summoned her sword. She was about to finish him off, but a hand stopped her.

"That won't be necessary, Kitsuni," Julia Traveler told her, while looking down at the Inner Demon. "Puck is a victim in all this as well, infected by this horrible spirit."

Kitsuni sighed. "Well, I think we should bring him to the Order. He's still a rogue Fae…"

"And let Oberon get his hands on him?" Julia questioned.

"Good point," Kitsuni replied. "But we can't just leave him here like this, especially with the Inner Demon inside of his mind."

"He's only using Puck as a host, even if we take him out of his realm, he is still free to haunt the mindscape here," Julia pointed out. "But I think I have a solution."

Lilith and Snope were freed from the vines while appearing before them were Julia and Kitsuni. "Dr. Traveler? Ms. Kitsuni?" Snope asked in surprise while seeing them holding the chained Puck.

"Hello Professor Snope, we need your help getting into Mr. Goodfellow's mind," Julia told him while Kitsuni placed Puck down who was gagged.

"Alright, I think I can get something prepared on short notice," Snope said.

"I can go, I have dealt with the Inner Demon twice before," Lilith volunteered.

Julia shook her head. "Which is why it is better to send someone that he has not dealt with before. Leave this to me…"

In Puck's mindscape, the Inner Demon wasn't pleased. He grabbed the Inner Puck by the collar, pinning him to the black space.

"We could've won!" he told Puck in anger. "We could've wiped them all out, but you had to have cold feet!"

"T-this isn't what Wendy would have wanted!" Puck shouted at him, trying to push him back.

"Wendy is dead!" the Inner Demon declared, only to feel a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and saw Julia.

"Hello there, I am Dr. Julia Traveler, school counselor, and I would recommend taking your hands off of Mr. Goodfellow's inner-self right now," Julia told him sternly.

The Inner Demon scoffed at her. "Great, another witch," he said. "How did you get here?"

"With the kind assistance of Professor Snope," Julia said while holding her umbrella. "Now I won't ask again. Take your hands off Mr. Goodfellow unless you want things to get ugly."

"Ugly?" the Inner Demon asked as he shoved Puck aside while glaring down at Julia. "Who do you think you are? I am a god here!"

"A god, are you?" Julia asked, raising an eyebrow. The inner Puck scampered away, out of fear of Julia rather than the Inner Demon. "I have a great many responsibilities, Mr. Demon. Foremost amongst these, however, is my concern for children. I am concerned regarding their wellbeing, and the healthy development of their imaginations. I am especially concerned regarding their behavior… but I'm afraid that I don't care for you at all, especially since you made the mistake of threatening Hexside, which is currently under my protection."

The Inner Demon blinked in astonishment before snapping his fingers, causing Julia to be consumed by flames. But Julia just casually walked through the flames, completely unphased.

"That's quite enough of that," Julia said, her tone sounding otherworldly while her eyes shone a flaming blue.

And then the Inner Demon screamed

Outside of school, everyone was recovering from what had just happened. Luz helped Boscha come back downstairs, where they saw their friends and the Saltstars.

"Boscha!" Skara shouted as she ran up to hug her. "Are you okay?!"

"Yeah…" Boscha replied as she felt Cat and Angmar hugging her as well.

"Boscha!" the two wailed in tears.

"We thought something had happened!" Angmar cried.

"It's good to see you alright, girl!" Cat cried as Boscha was surprised by the reaction.

"You're not hurt anywhere, are you?" Bo asked her.

"I… I just want to go home," she said while Simon walked up to her, holding Hogarth.

Eda smiled while seeing that Boscha was alright. She was with Lilith when they heard their parents clearing their throats and they turned to them.

"Hey, what's up-" Eda was suddenly hugged by her father, which surprised her.

"I'm… so sorry…" Dell said while in tears. "I'm so sorry…"

"Sweat Flea," Gwen was teary-eyed as she hugged Lilith. "I know I already said I was sorry, but…"

"Mom, it's alright," Lilith said in confusion while patting her mom's back.

"Yeah, you two have nothing to apologize for," Eda said. "Where did this come from?"

Dell sighed. "We saw… visions of you and it mentioned some… parts of your past…" He noticed Eda's shocked look. "Please, I'm not judging you, I… I don't want you to think that… do you want to talk about it?"

Eda looked to her father. "Yeah, but maybe not right now. When we're out of here, probably at home or… helping you with some stuff. Just… give me some time."

Dell nodded. "I understand."

It was Beck's turn to cry and hug Boscha as she wailed. "I'm so… glad that you're safe!" she said while hugging Boscha tightly.

"You're… crushing me, Beck…" Boscha told her elder cousin. "But… I'm sorry for making you guys worry. I'm just… I tried to…" She felt Samwitch's hand on her shoulder and she looked up to her large uncle.

"You are tired," he told her as he knelt down and hugged her, surprising Boscha. "I don't know what I would do if my niece ended up hurting herself. I don't know how I could face your mother if something were to happen to you… cause I love you too much to lose you." Boscha sniffed as she hugged her uncle back.

"We're here for you, cousin," Simon said while patting Boscha's back.

"Mind if I join you?" Julia walked up to the Saltstars while Boscha turned to her. "As a counselor, I would like to go with you and help Boscha."

Boscha nodded. "Please do, Ms. Traveler. I really would like to talk with you."

Ukla was still shaken up by all this along with Amelia and Hunter, who turned to Gavin, the two sharing awkward looks with each other. However, when Gavin looked at Bo, she was glaring at him, and Angmar.

"Bo… please, we didn't-"

"Save it!" Bo shouted at them, confronting the two. "You two took part in threatening Mattholomule by using me! Did you two have something to do with my kidnapping?"

"What? No!" Angmar assured her. "We didn't!"

"How can I be so sure that you're not lying?!" Bo shouted, her eyes glowing icy blue.

"Bo, stop!" Luz called her out, stepping in front of Bo. "Fighting them is not going to help!"

"Step aside, Luz!" Bo told her.

"Bo, listen!" Luz said, halting her "This has to stop! Alright, this whole fighting, this war amongst ourselves, it has to stop right now! I know that we are all tense but the war is over, drop your weapons, we are done acting like the Inner Demon wants us to!" she shouted, causing everyone to pause. Luz was looking tired, and cut up. "We're all damaged from this, we're all frightened, but that's okay. We've been through a lot of of fucked-up shit, we'll endure and survive it." She looked to Bo, then to Gavin and Angmar, and then at Hunter who looked away, the two unable to speak to each other. "I know that there is a lot going on, but right now I think we need to just… learn to calm down, cause it's not worth it."

She then turned to Boscha, walking over to her. The triclops girl turned to Luz. "Boscha… I'm so sorry. Sorry for cornering and pinning you in the restroom back then, sorry for all the shit I've given you, and I'm really, really sorry for the pepper-spray incident that escalated things even further." She sighed. "I was a mean-spirited bitch to you."

Boscha was silent for a moment, trying to find her words. "I… I just want to say thank you for saving me… and I want to apologize as well," she admitted. "I'm so sorry for all the bullying, the grief I caused you, the beat down at the exams, and especially the breaking you and Amity up. I was a #%^$ to you, your friends… I was a mean-spirited bitch as well."

Luz nodded. "I accept your apology, and I forgive you. I really should have apologized to you much sooner. Honestly, I should have paid more attention to what was going on with you, but I have been so wrapped up in my own personal drama."

"Well, I accept your apology and I forgive you as well," Boscha reassured her. "I guess at the end of the day, we're just dumb teenagers doing stupid shit at each other."

Luz nodded. "Yeah." She looked to the ground, while rubbing the back of her hair. "Look, I know that unofficially we have been staying out of each other's way, but officially… peace?" She held her hand up.

Boscha nodded as she shook Luz's hand. "Yeah, peace."

Eda walked up to Faust who was just sitting on the steps. "So uh… this must be a whole lot to take in, Fausty."

"Are you kidding?" Faust said with a fascinated look. "The peril, the suspense, the crisis… this is a whole new kind of breed of evil…"

Eda nodded. "Okay… glad you're alright too."

Once Boscha walked back to the Saltstars, Luz's left eye turned orange-red. "Maya? Are you there?"

"Yeah, it's me," Maya responded.

"Are you okay?" Luz asks her. "I know you've been quiet for a while since… well…" She glanced at Hunter, who was walking up to talk to Boscha. Maya saw Hunter as well, who was showing Boscha his new robotic arm.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Maya responded, feeling guilty for what she did to Hunter.

"Well, I know it's hard to see him now, but I think it's best that we don't go after him again," Luz told her. "Can you do that for me?"

Maya nodded. "That won't be a problem."

"Psst, Luz."

Luz turned and saw Kitsuni peeking out from the corner of the building. Luz looked around as she snuck away from the group towards Kitsuni. She saw her holding Puck around his arm and behind Kitsuni… was Camila.

"Mami…?" Luz looked at her birth mother and went to embrace her. "You're okay!"

Camila hugged her daughter back. "Don't worry, mija, I'm okay now."

"But where have you been? What did Puck…?" Luz asked her.

"I was his shadow." Camila responded. "I think the Baron used his shadow to bring me back to life."

Luz looked at Puck. "Is he alright?"

"He should be fine," Kitsuni said while Puck groaned. "The Inner Demon is no longer controlling him."

"Puck, are you alright?" Luz asked him, while he stirred.

"Oh… Luz?" Puck said, raising his head up. "Hey…"

"Hey yourself." Luz replied "How are you feeling?"

"… Damaged," he said while looking devastated. "I'm so ashamed of what I've done, what I did, what I tried to do…" He looked up to her. "Luz, I am so, so sorry." He turned to Camila, looking at her. "And I'm sorry for the grief I caused you as well, Camila."

"Hey, it's alright, I knew you weren't yourself," Camila replied, patting his shoulder. "I'm just glad that this whole thing is over with."

"Me too," Luz agreed while looking at her mom and Kitsuni. "Can we talk privately? Just me and Puck?"

"Of course," Kitsuni replied while walking away.

"I'll go talk to Eda," Camila said as she walked over to Eda while Luz and Puck were left alone.

Luz and Puck sat against a wall. For a minute, neither of them said anything. But finally, Luz spoke. "I never got the chance to say I'm sorry for what I said," she told him. "About our last conversation before you died…"

"Luz, stop," Puck said, turning to her. "You have nothing to say sorry about. You had every right to be mad at me at the time because I wasn't a good friend." He looked forward. "And I'm still not a good friend. I know you want to blame the Inner Demon for everything I did… but I still ended up hurting a lot of people. I even killed someone." He buried his face in his hands. "That was still me, a part of me that I am not proud of. And you shouldn't feel like you have to forgive me, especially out of guilt."

Luz looked down. "You're right," she admitted softly. As much as she wanted to forgive Puck, she was unsure whether she truly could. She needed time, at the very least. Uncomfortable, she decided to change the subject. "So… how did you get revived?"

"It's like I said before… I just came back," Puck explained. "While Fae can die, they are able to come back as long as the soul is intact. Not that there aren't side effects to this. Sometimes it takes longer to reform, sometimes dying and reforming causes amnesia, sometimes it can really mess with your personality and your mind. And if the soul is not intact… well, you either don't come back at all or you end up like Queen Mab, who I heard went insane and had to be overthrown by her own son. This isn't the first time I've died." He winced as he recalled the feeling of an iron dagger being driven into his back.

"So does this mean the Coachman could come back? And Meteora?" Luz asked.

"I don't think Meteora is still in the Isles," Puck explained. "The Coachman, however, yeah he's dead. His soul was collected by the Baron."

"Oh, that's reassuring," Luz replied. "So… why did you send my friends to the Human Realm?"

Puck felt his head, rubbing his temple. "My memories of the past weeks are a little hazy," he said. "It was like being in a nightmare that I couldn't wake up from. Especially when he took control of my body and used me as his puppet." He shivered. "So I don't remember why I did everything I did. But I think that I might have done it in a misguided effort to protect them." He looked down. "The Inner Demon wanted to isolate you, but rather than kill your closest friends, I just sent them away so they would be safe when something really bad happens to the Isles…"

Luz was confused. "Really bad? Just… what is his endgame?"

"I don't know or remember," Puck admitted. "Oh, and your friend Eve was sent to the Human Realm as well. She was the first one I tested the portal door on."

Luz sighed in relief. "Eve is alive? Thanks Titan. As for the portal door… he destroyed it."

"Well, he didn't destroy this," Puck said as he pulled the key from his shirt, handing it to Luz, "Here, it's yours now. Keep it out of Belos's reach and use it to bring your friends home."

Luz nodded. "I will," she said while hiding the key in her jacket. "So… what now?"

Puck sighed. "I'm leaving," he admitted. "Forever. I can't stay in the Boiling Isles. Not after this." He turned to Luz with a saddened look. "When you find Amity, tell her that I'm sorry."

"So we are never going to see you again?" Luz asked him, while Puck looked unsure. Before he could answer, she heard Camila calling her name. She looked toward Camila and saw her coming over. When she looked back at Puck, the Fae was gone.

Luz sighed and stood up, feeling Camila pat her shoulder. "Are you alright, Luz?" she asked her.

"No," Luz replied, wiping her eyes. "Not right now. But maybe eventually."

Camila nodded. "Should we go home?"

Luz nodded, but then she felt her scroll buzzing and she pulled it out, looking at the text. Her eyes widened, followed by a smile. "Actually, mami… I think I got a different idea…"

In the woods, in the same spot where Puck had stabbed the Baron's host body, the only remains were his clothes and a pile of dust. Also amongst the clothes was a shrunken head, the shrunken head that contained the soul of Dr. Facilier.

Footsteps could be heard as someone walked over to where the ashes and the hat were. A woman grabbed both the hat and the shrunken head.

"Why hello there…" Grimhilde said to the shrunken head..

Later, in the underground lab beneath the Smith family's home. Luz stood with Eda, Camila, Lilith, and King in addition to Morty, Summer, and Mattholomule.

"It wasn't easy, took me all day," Mattholomule said while wiping his forehead. "But I think this portal should work."

"All it needs is Titan's Blood," Morty said as Luz walked over to it.

"Which I got right here," Luz said, holding up the key.

Camila turned to Eda and whispered. "I know that leaving Kay and the uh, babysitter alone with Hooty is a bit risky…"

"Don't worry, we got it covered," Eda told her. "Kitsuni promises to watch over them when we're gone." She then noticed Camila's concern. "Are you sure you're up for this? I mean, you are meant to be legally dead in the human realm… and to go with Lilith…"

Camila nodded, briefly looking at Lilith before looking down. "I just want to see this through. For Luz."

"Lilith, you don't have to come if you don't want to," King told her.

"I have a responsibility to my goddaughter and my niece, which includes their friends," Lilith said while turning to look at Luz.

"So this door can take you to the Human Realm," Summer said casually. "You think you guys can get me a souvenir?"

"We'll see what we can find," Luz replied, while holding up the key. She took a deep breath. "Alright, let's do this."

She then inserted the key into the lock and a ding sound was heard...

We're almost there…

The songs used in the fic are "Meant to be Yours" and "Lifeboat" from the Heathers: The Musical, which is one of the inspirations for throughout the story of Luz Clawthorne, and also Luz used some of the lines from the lyrics of "Seventeen Again(Reprise)."

Skara also went through basically that Tom Petty music video "Don't Come Around Here No More." with a twist. And yes, the title is a reference to a song by The Fray.

I'd say that we've really pushed the envelope with this one. The disturbing imagery along with dealing with certain topics like suicide, and what Eda has been through… if this doesn't get us up from a T+ rating in this fic, who knows what will?

And to make some things clear, the Inner Demon isn't killed off by Julia. Rather, he was scared out of Puck's body and probably won't be in commission anytime soon. He still has a lot to answer for…

Nothing much to say, but I'm glad how this chapter turned out.

Now to answer reviews:

Crosshot: Hope that answers your questions. Also thanks for the intel on Cross.

Ultimate-drax: Prepare to have your mind blown some more…

Alamout: 1) Raine mostly. 2) Um… it's obviously the same as Philip's portal door. 3) Maybe.

OMAC001: She was a shadow.

Matteso585: 1) This should give further explanations about how Puck is the Shapeshifter. 2) Yes. 3) Stay tuned. 4) Eh, maybe the sidetrack could count. 5) Soon.

61394: Well it won't be that much of a case now, is it? And don't forget, the Baron doesn't go after children's souls…

JTK: Soon or later.

Franco Almiron: We'll see.

Shuffollower: Obviously the Inner Demon when Puck regenerated into the Forest of Fear. As for who she's based off of, well… guess her favorite color.

Remember to fav, follow and review and we're still open for more OCs.