A Lost Witch

by Dreadman22

Luz Noceda is not what she seems. Mysterious circumstances trap her in a strange realm beyond any imagination.

8. Strong Overtomes

Bonesborough, one of the largest and oldest towns on the Boiling Isles. Situated on the right arm of the Titan, it's home to all sorts of magical sights. With the latest one being the mythical human Luz Noceda, whisked away from her realm, she now works alongside her mentor and caretaker to return home. Said mentor, Eda the Owl Lady, is also a notorious criminal with a target painted on her back. Which is why Luz was currently hiding behind the table of Eda's human artifact stand with King, her furry skull-headed friend, clutched in her arms. Eda stood on top of it with a look of confidence and her owl tipped staff held lazily in her grip.

"It took a few days to map your patterns, but I finally have you, Edalyn." Lilith stood a ways away with her own raven crested staff and a squad of scouts surrounding her sister's illegal business. Each of them wielding conjured glowing weapons or with spell circles drawn at the ready. The Head Witch wasn't going to be taking any chances today. "I'll give you a chance to surrender the human and turn yourself in to the Emperor. We can end this game, and you can take your place in the Emperor's Coven with me. Like we always wanted." She spoke calmly.

"Yeah, and what does Emperor Blowhard want with Luz, hm?" Eda presses, hoping her sister would slip some information about Belos' intentions with her human protege. It always worked when they were kids, Lily was terrible at keeping secrets.

"That is none of your concern, sister. It is his will and I will see it carried out." Lilith's response was quick. She had grown wise to Eda's prodding words, it was just like before when they played Hexes Hold'em. Even if she did know the Emperor's motives, she wasn't about to reveal them to her sister by a slip of the tongue.

"Oh, well when you put it like that." Before any of the coven scouts could react, Eda spun her staff in a circle to complete a spell. Turning the cobblestone of the entire street into soft quicksand that swallowed up her opponents. Luckily any bystanders had fled when the confrontation initially began. The sudden loss of footing caused the elite squad of witches to drop their weapons and spells to struggle out of the sand. All except Lilith, who stood on solid ground due to the barrier she erected.

"Edalyn!" Lilith growled, dismissing her counter spell and launching a beam of concentrated magic directly at her sister who deflects it with a wide arc of her owl staff. "I'm trying to help you and this is the thanks I get?"

"I don't want help from you or your crummy emperor, just leave Luz and me alone!" With a grunt of effort, Eda draws back her arm as flickers of fire form into a lance. She throws the flaming projectile, only for it to be sliced perfectly in half vertically with a blade of wind from Lilith.

The magical wind blast is narrowly avoided by Eda as she flips into the air. Luz and King had to leap to opposite sides as the table they were using for cover suddenly became two. "You munchkins alright?" She called out and gave her sister a hard glare. Eda could tell Lily wasn't pulling any punches this time around, she was out for blood. A clawed and human thumb raised up from behind the table wreckage put her fears at ease. "I'll take care of this, you two make a break for it."

"What? No, we can take them!" Luz stands, arms held up in a fighting stance.

"Yeah!" King was also raring to go, even if he didn't possess much combat prowess.

Surely all three of them could prevail against Lilith and a handful of coven scouts. Until a shadow rolled over all of them.

Luz looked up, not sure on what she was seeing. It's similar to the landers she's seen in the distance at the spaceport on Barator V, but it was held up by some sort of balloon. Rather than it being angular in shape, it was smooth with a wooden hull and witches standing at the top. A lot of witches, all of them dressed in the colors and masks of the Emperor's Coven. What caught her attention the most were the large cannons being aimed at her and Eda before they let loose a volley. "Eda, watch out!" Luz's warning was just in time, as Eda spots the glowing blue net that had been launched at her. A simple swipe of Owlbert cut through the net like a hot knife through butter. Luz swung her hand down, using her psychic might to grab the net aimed at her and force it towards the ground on top of one of the struggling coven scouts still waist deep in quicksand. "Ah! Steve could use some help!" He screamed.

Lilith had a smug grin as she played her trump card. "You didn't think I came here without back up, did you?" She twirled her staff, Nevermore, to form a large blue ring in front of her. Arrows of ice formed and flew at Eda at high speeds, hoping to incapacitate her sister before turning her attention on the human. But Edalyn was as strong as ever, and caught her spell within a magic circle before it could impact. "I'm just surprised you have friends!" Eda jabbed back, melting the arrows of ice into water and throwing the wave of liquid back at the coven head. Lilith raised her magical defenses in time to let the water crash against her shield, though her subordinates on the ground were swept away.

"Gah, damn you sister!" Lilith turns to the airship hovering above them. "Fire on my command!" The cannons adjust themselves on her orders.

"That's our cue! Split up and meet back at the house by sundown!" Eda trusted King and Luz, they were resourceful and had all the skills she could teach them. Even if they did get caught, she could just break into the Conformatorium a second time. Now to lay down some smoke screen, literally. All of the water on the ground was the perfect component for the mist spell she conjured up. She could see the fury etched into her sister's face just as the mist rose up from the evaporating puddles.

"Fire!" The concealing mists blanketed the whole area in a dense white. Lilith could hear the cannons discharge, but knew they wouldn't find their quarry through the mists. She summoned the winds with a swipe of Nevermore and blew away the conjured fog. To her dismay, Edalyn, the human, and their pet had vanished. "Set up a perimeter and search for them! They can't have gone far." She ordered the airship, the captain giving her a salute before gaining altitude above the buildings. "And you lot." Lilith turns to see her scouts soggy and laying on the ground in very painful looking poses. "Fall back for now."

"But ma'am," Steve speaks up. "What about the human and your sister?"

"I'll continue the pursuit on my own, the rest of you need to go see the Healing Coven. That's an order."

"Of course, Madam Lilith." The coven scouts pick up the wounded and hobbled over onto an unscathed bench to await the Painwagon to retrieve them.

Lilith mounted her staff and took off into the streets of Bonesborough. She could have used the extra pair of eyes and hands to help apprehend her fugitive sister and her dangerous apprentice, but she couldn't risk their safety. So much for the shock and awe tactic, thank the Titan she had all day to search the town. Amity, her star pupil, was busy working on extra credit for school, so no personal lessons today.

---

Running through the alleyways and bustling streets of Bonesborough to escape the Emperor's Coven wasn't too different from running through Gravesfield to avoid the enforcers. Crowds of witches and demons either parted for Luz or barely even registered her presence until she was passing them. No matter what corners she turned or how many feet she ran, the constant hum of the airship's engines were always in the distance. Any self respecting ganger would agree that getting off the street would be best to shake off an aerial pursuit, so Luz did just that. By the Emperor's luck a convenient door on the side of a large building granted her refuge. Charging inside and slamming the door behind her. Though she was avoiding attention, now all eyes were on her with fingers on lips to tell her to shush.

The building she chose to hide in was grand and every space was filled up with rows upon rows of shelves stacked with books. Luz had never seen so much parchment in one space in her entire life, short it may be. She hadn't even been aware of her open mouthed awe until she bumped into the back of a witch.

"What? Who?" A bespectacled witch with a pointed nose and wearing a robe and cowl turns to face Luz. "No rough housing in the Library." He says sternly, before his eyes narrow at the sight of her. "Wait a minute. You're Eda's apprentice, aren't you?" He asks, causing Luz's eyes to widen in panic. She assumed she had been caught and was about to be taken into custody, but instead the man sighs. "Look, if you see her again, tell her to return her books already. They're five months overdue and the last ones had apple blood stains."

"You're not going to panic and turn me in?" Luz asked, confused.

"And get on the Owl Lady's bad side? No thanks." The witch sets a book back on the shelf. "And I saw the duel, not gonna be dealing with whatever weird human stuff you got going on. Just don't break anything, please." With that, he returns to his monotonous work of restocking the shelves with returned books. Leaving behind a dumbfounded psyker in his wake.

Off the hook to stay, and with the law still searching outside, Luz waits out the heat by exploring the newly discovered building. Not only was the library filled with books, it was filled with witches and demons, young and old, all either reading or pondering a crystal orb. Too engrossed by their studies, Luz goes unnoticed by the inhabitants of the Boiling Isles as she walks through the aisles of tomes while grimoires float high above her head through the power of magic. Reading and writing had been one of her strongest urges while growing up, taught at a young age unlike most on Barator V due to her educated mother. Books were expensive though, reserved for those of a higher class than what Camila or Luz could afford. Maybe now was her chance to finally read something other than medical reports? Reaching up, she was just about to pull a book out before a voice shouts. "What do you think you're doing?"

Luz panics, had someone reported her to the Emperor's Coven already? Her eyes alight with witchfire, she prepares to do battle! Rather than a war cry to signal the start of combat, she instead picks up on the laughter of children. "We're your friends, and we wanna help!" Wait, that voice sounded familiar. The drive to know the source had her feet moving on their own in the direction of the laughing. "Said the Tin Boy, with a yelp!" Peering around a corner, Luz couldn't believe her eyes. Sitting on a stool in a small reading area for toddlers was Amity Blight herself with a group of young witches and demons hanging on her every word.

All instances of Luz running into the prodigy witch have always ended up tense and hostile, especially after their duel weeks ago. She always thought of her as a stuck up, high class snob that looked down on everyone just like the quill pushers back home. Now? Now Amity's eternal scowl had been replaced with a smile, giving her all to entertain the kids sitting in a circle as she read in a dramatic, yet soft voice. Luz was just about to turn away and leave the witch to her story time, until she noticed another familiar figure approaching. It wasn't hard to mistake the broad hulking demon, even outside of his normal uniform. Warden Wrath was coming, and Luz had to think quick to avoid the bigger problem! She sneaked her way into the reading area, pressed against the nearby shelf so tightly she could pretend to be a book as she prayed silently to the Emperor that Wrath hadn't seen her.

"And that's the end."Amity closed the story book, one she was quite familiar with when growing up and now had the pleasure of reading to the children of Bonesborough. It was adorable to watch them all clap for her, their cheerful faces only making her smile wider. "Alright, that's it for story time. What do we say?"

"Thank you so much, Miss Amity!" A little blonde witch girl with pig tails said.

"Thank you!" Said another witch with snot dribbling from his nose.

With the tale of Otabin the Bookmaker over, Amity rises from her seat and sees the children off. Their parents usually somewhere in the library to pick them up. She already spotted Wrath waving a hello to her, which she returns. His son, Braxas, was always a sweet heart. Said red skinned demon child gave her one last hug on the leg. "Goodbye Miss Amity, thank you!" The boy's voice was as deep as his father's, but not out of the norm here on the Boiling Isles. "Thank you, Braxas. See you next time." She replied with a smile.

The tiny demon cheered again, running out of the kid's corner of the library and into the awaiting arms of his father. It was such a tender moment, it left Amity feeling a slight pain in her chest she pushed down. She was glad she did, as a book falling in the corner of her eye drew her attention to a previously hidden listener. Sitting there with a look of fear was the famed human, and her unofficial rival, Luz Noceda. "You." Pushing more of her emotions down, Amity spat out the word with all the venom and coldness she could muster. In the face of competition and peers, she couldn't be perceived as weak. "What are you doing here?" She demanded, spinning rings of light that summon a number of abomination tendrils around the young witch's feet.

"Not looking for trouble, that's for sure!" The human stands up, hands raised in surrender and weakness. Just the sight should have elated her, her enemy groveling to avoid her wrath. But it didn't, instead Amity could only feel uncertainty.

Then she felt anger. "Unlikely. You're probably here to spy on me. Looking for a weakness to exploit, I'm sure." She spat out at the human as the purple tendrils climbed high into the air to tower over both the teens in an intimidating display of power.

Luz, now feeling her own emotions flare up, crossed her arms defensively. "Oh please, why would I care to know why you're reading to a bunch of kids? The world isn't revolved around you." The scowl she wore was backed with a shock of electricity dancing across her tan skin as the battle of wills raged between them.

"If you -must- know, it's for extra credit." Amity replied.

"Is the smile and happy face just an act for the kids then?"

Amity reeled from the human's come back, shocked to think she would stoop so low as to just pretend to enjoy being in the one place she felt grounded and happy. Infuriated, the abominations were poised to strike at Luz and start the fight between them. Luckily for the library, it never escalated.

"Yo, Mittens. Everything alright?"

The voice cut through the growing tensions, drawing the gaze of the two combatants to the two witches who intervened. Both of them were taller than Amity or Luz, older for sure, but sported the same Hexside uniform the students around Bonesborough wore. The cyan color of their arms and legs denoting their studies in the Illusion track of magic. What took Luz by surprise was their looks, the boy and girl looked almost identical if not for the different lengths of green hair and the position of a mole under their eye. They also looked oddly familiar to her, but one question had made it's way to the forefront and out her mouth without thinking. "Mittens?"

Amity's entire face burned a bright red at the embarrassing nickname being repeated by the human. The rage she had been building up fizzled into horrible annoyance. "Ugh, what are you two up to now?" A flex of her hand and the spell circle broke, dismissing the abomination back into the floor. She had more personal matters to attend to.

"Nothing at all, we swear." The older boy smiled, clearly not intimidated by Amity.

"It's true, we're actually on a noble quest!" The older girl added, her smile matching her twin's.

"You forgot your lunch, you know how mom gets." He held up a lunch bag, a rather cute rabbit looking one that Luz would never think Amity would use. But was surprised to see her snatch it from the boy's hand. "I hope we weren't interrupting something." The smile only widened on both of the twins' faces.

"No," Amity responded flatly. "You can leave now. All of you." Her glare directed at not only the newcomers, but Luz as well. Lunch was the perfect excuse to gain respite from all of this.

"Not even going to introduce us to your girlfriend? That's no way to treat family." The green haired witch girl draped an arm around Luz's shoulder. "Very cute, quite the catch, Mittens." Now Luz was starting to get confusing feelings from the witch hanging on her.

"She's not my-" Amity throws her hands up in frustration. "Gah!" Rather than indulge in the teasing any further, Amity retreats back to the Kid's Corner. It needed to be tided up anyway after the story time.

Only Luz was left to fend off the twins looking her over like she was the painting of a famous triumph or saintly statue. "Sorry if she was giving you a hard time, she can be such a stick in the mud." The melodic voice of the young woman spoke as she and her brother led the human into the many aisles of the library. "We're Amity's older siblings. I'm Emira and that's Edric."

Edric pointed at Luz and winked. "Sup."

He was quite handsome, Luz had to fight down the moths fluttering in her stomach. It didn't help that his sister also had an allure she found herself drawn to. What was she doing again? Oh, right. "Uh, nice to meet you two. I'm-"

"Luz, we know." Emira interrupted. "Pretty sure everyone in Bonesborough knows about you."

"They do?"

Edric nods. "Yeah, after you fought Mittens at the convention. Don't think I've ever seen anyone give her a run for her snails like that."

"Also heard you embarrassed her at school and got her in trouble with that food fight!" Emira listed with a giggle.

Her brother was quick to add to the known achievements of the human. "And she was pretty sore when she found out you and your friends caused a house to rampage around town."

Fun as it was, the house adventure is one she hoped to never repeat. Hooty was very dirty. "Guess that's why there's a target painted on my back whenever I'm near her." She sighed. Staying in the Demon Realm would go a lot smoother if Luz didn't have to watch out for Amity along with the Emperor's Coven and anyone else who wanted to take a crack at capturing Eda or her. One less problem to burden her would be a Throne-send.

"Well we think you're pretty cool." Emira smiled.

"Way cooler than Mittens." Edric grinned.

"How about you hang out with us? We got a few ways to liven up this boring library."

Emira's suggesting made Luz's head race. Two very attractive older teens wanted to hang out with her. She was used to hanging around the older gangers in the Violet Skulls, but the twins were still young enough to attend school. The psyker was also eager to expand her witch friend group from just Willow and Gus. Plus, maybe getting in good with Amity's siblings would help ease her off her back. "Alright!" Besides, the Emperor's Coven was probably still looking for her outside. Best to make the most of her situation.

The adventure with the twins was little more than harmless pranks done to the library and its staff. A good reprieve to the death filled stunts she's used to on the Boiling Isles, or the criminal activities back in Gravesfield. Luz would watch them defile signage to throw a librarian into an existential crisis, move books around in a constant loop of shelving for the staff, and blowing dust onto the strange monstrous compartments that expelled their paper contents when they sneezed. It was all fun and games until the two librarians, and Amity, arrived to stop them. A triclops with dreaded hair and the sharp nosed witch Luz met before.

"Cheese it!" Emira cried out, bolting in the opposite direction of the authority figures and annoyed sibling with brother and friend in tow. Youthful vigor kept them well ahead of the book keepers, passing through shelves and under tables as the chase dragged on. The trio finally stop when it seems the coast is clear, leaving the librarians to split up to try and find them.

Edric panted, doubled over with his hands on his knees. "That was close."

"A little too close, did you see how mad Amity was?" The searing glare was burned into Luz's mind at this point.

"Nah, when she gets mad her whole face gets red. Like this." Edric holds his breath and shudders to the point his face looks like as red as Eda's apple blood. "Woah, almost passed out."

"Where are we?" Luz looks around, the part of the library they found themselves in had lost most of the brightly lit lanterns and windows letting in the sun. Only a few sparse candles alight here and there, wax dripping from ages of use but never snuffing out. The only ward to the darkness as a door looms over them. Pillars of impossibly smooth marble hold up an arch marked with an opened book. In the book was a single blue eye, that Luz swore was looking at her.

The twins didn't look to be bothered at all at the gloomy decor, probably used to it. "Here?" Emira looked around, hand on her chin as she tried to drag up the memories. "Oh, this is entrance to the Forbidden Stacks. This building is ancient, so they have ancient books locked up tight down there."

"I hear it's where Belos hoards all the banned knowledge of the Savage Ages." Edric continued. "Magical artifacts to turn you all powerful, curses to make your foes begging for death." The dramatic build up dies when the older witch shrugs. "Or just filled with crusty history books and enough dust to trigger your allergies for the next few years." Him and his sister chuckled as Luz looked up at the door in awe.

There was something beyond the doors, a tickling in the back of her head she'd felt once before, like that time with... Her hand reached out, finger tips just inches away from brushing against the aged wood before she's yanked back. A magical aura capturing her, along with Emira and Edric, and hoists them into the air before the wielder. A large bird looking demon with expansive black wings and a pair glowing eyes held up his clawed hand, the ring of magic evident around his wrist. His own body wasn't even touching the ground, he sat atop an oversized book as glowing eye inspected its catch.

"Sorry kids, the Forbidden Stacks are off limits. Too advanced for kids your age." Luz had expected a harsh, grotesque voice of anger, but it sounded more like a parent scolding their child as gentle as possible. "I was told you three are causing a ruckus for poor Gary and Dave. Speaking of." It stuck two fingers into it's beak and blew, letting out a whistle to summon the two librarians to it.

"Master Librarian Malphas!" Gary, the three eyed librarian, called out. "There's no reason to leave your office! Dave and I have everything perfectly under control!" Gary bit at his fingers nervously while Dave continued to look on with a bored expression.

"Amity thought you two could use a little back up." The winged demon smiled. "Besides, I don't mind stretching my legs once in a while." Dave was about to interject, but Gary's elbow made sure he never pointed the obvious. "Now, as for you three." Malphas flexed his arms, bringing the Blight Twins and friend even closer to him. "While I hate to keep such youthful minds away from learning, you also broke like, a lot of rules. So, I'm gonna have to ban you for a few days. Don't worry, you'll be back to learning in no time." The proclamation is met with weak, sarcastic cheers from the twins. "Gary, Dave, please escort them off the premises." The teenagers are dropped unceremoniously into a heap before the two librarians.

The sun cast a warm orange on the isles as it starts to set. A great view Luz got when she and her new friends were pushed out the front entrance to the Library by two very disgruntled adult witches. All three of them bursting out into laughs as the tension died off.

"That was a little too much for me," Luz looked up at the sky and setting sun. "I should get back home. Eda is probably worried about me."

"Oh, hey! Before you go." Edric Started. "We have a proposition for you." Emria finished.

Luz raised on eyebrow, prompting the twins to elaborate further.

Emira leans forward, taking on a conspiratorial tone. "We're coming back later when they close, we forgot to check out a certain book."

Edric leans in along with his sister. "They're closing early because of the Wailing Star. It's a special event that happens every twenty-five years, they say it unlocks some magical phenomena in the library. It'd be neat to check it out."

"I don't know, I need to check in on Eda about this..." Said Luz.

"Hey, if she's half as wild as people say she is, she'll probably want you to come!" Emira states as she starts to walk off.

Edric follows after his sister. "Be back around midnight if you're game, we'll be waiting!" The twins wave goodbye before leaving Luz alone on the steps of the Library.

The human mulled over the invite in her head and, out of habit, aloud. "Okay, Luz, two older hotter witches just want to hang out with you in an empty library in the middle of the night during a magical spectacle. Shouldn't be too bad, but will Eda be on board with it?"

---

"I'm totally on board with it!" Eda shouted after hearing Luz's future plans in the comfort of their living room.

"You are?" Luz asks, disbelief evident in her voice. She hadn't expected the older witch to be so approving of her night out after the run in with the Emperor's Coven earlier in the day. Not to mention her escapade with the Moonlight Conjuring.

"You are?" Even King was shocked, perked up from his spot, splayed out on the arm of the couch from a much needed nap.

The old witch nods. "Yeah, with them closing early from the Wailing Star, it's the perfect opportunity to sneak in!" Digging into her hair, she pulls out a scroll and reads from it. "The Forbidden Stacks has stuff in it dating back into the early years of the 'Savage Ages.' It might hold the secret of inter-realm travel. Malphas always takes the night off on the evening of the star, so it'll be a clear shot to the stacks!"

Luz swallows nervously. "You mean the creepy part of the library with the foreboding door?"

"Ah good, you've already seen it!" Eda tosses the scroll over her shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll come with ya! Just need my-"

Eda is interrupted by her doorbell. Really it's just Hooty pretending to be one. "Ding-dong-ding! Hoot hoot! Package for you, Eda!" The door opens, letting the house demon push a basket into the living room with the aid of his elongated body.

"Oh, I wasn't expecting any offerings today." She picks up the basket and sets it on the recaff table. Everyone gathering to see the contents. "See kid, this is just one of the perks of being the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles." Eda tugs the blanket covering the basket, revealing the sleeping head of a small baby witchling with fangs. "Huh?"

"Fresh meat!" King shouts with enthusiasm.

Luz looks morbidly sick. "Are you really going to eat it?"

"Pft, what?" Eda shakes her head. "No! Witches haven't eaten babies in eight hundred years! Who just dumps a kid on someone's door?"

King finds a note tied to the basket, ripping it off to read what it says. "Take care of my child 'til morning. Yi yi?"

"What do I look like, a day care? I got enough child problems as is! I'm gonna return this to sender." Eda grabs the edges of the basket, about to toss it out the door but stops when King reads the back of the note.

"You will be handsomely rewarded, XOXOX, Bat Queen."

Eda's long ears perked up. "The Bat Queen?" King picks up a few snails stored away in the baby's basket. "Reward?"

"The who?" Luz just had to ask.

"The Bat Queen! She's the richest demon on the isle. If we do this for her, we won't have to worry about money for a while!" Eda grins, snatching the golden coins from King's claws and counting them over. "Gah, she just had to do this today of all days."

"Can't we just give it to someone else?"

Eda shakes her head. "No can do, kid. Lily's sting operations means we won't be getting as many customers as before. Gotta pay for food you can eat and my elixirs and this is the easiest way to go about it."

"So we're stuck with it?"

"Oh no, -we're- stuck with it." Eda points to her and King. "You have date!" Long nailed fingers dig around in the grey mane of hers once again. "Just need to find..."

"A date? No, it's just me hanging out with Amity's older siblings because they think I'm cool and I want them to help calm Amity down around me." Luz reaffirms. Why was everyone making a big deal about this? "I can't go breaking into forbidden sections of the library without you, what if it's dangerous?"

"Kid, you fought a group of demon hunters with your scrappy friends. Sure you'll be fine with Mint's older brother and sister. Ah-ha!" Finding what she was looking for, Eda pulls out a plastic card from her hair and hands it to Luz. A picture of a four eyed demon with thick glasses plastered on the center and the words "Staff" written on the bottom. "Swiped that a long time ago, should get you past the door to the stacks. Even if he did retire."

"But-"

"Don't worry!" Eda gives Luz a hard pat on the back. "I have complete faith in you! In and out, easy! And if you're caught you can pin it on the twins. Now, lets see what we're working with here." She removes the blanket from the basket, revealing the baby to just be the oversized head of an infant with stubby legs and a pair of bat wings it uses to take flight. Now awake, the demon bat baby starts crying in loud shrieks as it flaps about in the air. "Go, we got this!"

Luz, glad she doesn't have to deal with this, slips out of the house just as the baby latches onto Eda's face.

---

"Okay, just be cool. In and out, just like Eda said!" Luz repeated to herself as she paced at the steps of the library. The sun had set on her walk back to Bonesborough, the grand building of the library now closed without a single light within. "Maybe have some more innocent fun since you can't really back home." Emira and Edric hadn't arrived yet, even though they're the ones who set the meeting time. It made her nervous, maybe they were double crossing her now and turning her into the Emperor's Coven? But they were nice to her at the library, and looked to hate any kind of authority that would stop their fun. Luz squats low to the ground, giving her legs a rest from the constant movement. Wait, what if they couldn't see her? She stood back up, now leaning on the stone pillar. "Just be cool." She assured herself.

"How long do you plan on doing that?" A voice said from the opposite pillar, it was Emira standing with her brother. They had managed to sneak up on her!

"You ready to bring this inside? Way better places for you to lean on." Edric asked, pointing to the main entrance of the library.

"Yep, totally ready!" The entrance to the library was large, it reminded her of the grand halls of the cathedrals to the Emperor back home. Windows flanked on either side, tinted enough for privacy but not enough to deny the light of day. They took on a purple hue at the darkness of night. The true doors everyone used were a smaller pair cut out at the bottom with a golden sign warning all not to trespass. "Do you have a key, or should I just..." Luz flexed her fingers, eyes sparking with witchfire for a moment before she's stopped by Edric's outstretched hand.

"No need, picked up this little number from the night market." The teen witch holds up a piece of parchment, small script written over it with pictures of keys drawn across the surface. Edric walks up to the door, as if he was sizing up an opponent. "Sorry door, but I'm allergic to the rules."

"And dairy!" Emira chimes in with a smile.

He feigns shock at the betrayal of his twin sister. "Wow, just expose me why don't you."

Luz sympathized, grox milk never settled well with her either. Dietary secrets aside, she watched as Edric placed the sheet against the twin doors as it glowed a golden light. Letting go, the sheet burnt to ashes from top to bottom. Though gone, the magic of the paper worked, causing the oversized keyhole in the center of the door to enlarge. Growing tall and wide enough for a pair of teenage witches to walk inside. Luz quickly followed the twins, just as the magical portal closed behind her.

The library had felt so alive and bright when she last visited, now the halls and aisles of books were dark without a sound, witch or demon. Though she could see the twins with the help of her gifts, it didn't translate well to navigating in the low light the stars and moon provided. "Standing in a dimly lit lobby, you guys know how to party."

"Huh, did I get the time wrong?" Edric asked aloud, scratching at his head. Then the far off wailing of a child could be heard by all three. "There it is, the Wailing Star!"

Everyone turns, facing the door and the round stain glass window at the top. The wailing grew louder and louder, and a bright light flashed across the window. Leaving the three witches amazed as the Wailing Star soared across the glass, the colored light from it dancing across from for a brief moment, and then it was gone. Back in the dark, Edric and Emira looked about in confusion.

"Nothing happened." Emira stated, looking bummed at the harsh revelation.

After the crossing of the star, the many books on the shelves started to glow a light green, bathing the entire library in ambient light.

"What's going on?" Inquisitively, Luz grabbed one of the glowing books from the self. A book about exotic and extinct avian that were discovered upon the Boiling Isles. She opened the cover and revealed the pages, but she didn't have time to read the words. Holding the book away from her face, she narrowly avoids a large bird of prey flying out of the parchment with heavy beats of its wings! It was joined by others, ones Luz assumed were different species all detailed in the tome she held.

"The star magicked the books to life!" Both twins exclaimed, looking at each other in excitement before Luz closed the book. Once sealed, the birds vanished without a trace.

The twins didn't wait long to start combing through the library, grabbing various reading material and graphic novels before opening up to view the effects. A magazine of witch fashion changed their appearance, lecture books summoned the authors to recount their studies, bestiaries called forth demons beasts from all across the Titan to trample through the halls of learning. Luz had stuck by the two older witches, enjoying every moment of the innocent, though slightly illegal, fun they were having. Launching snow balls at each other from books or gaining written speech bubbles above their heads at every word and sound. She found her moment to break away from the two, hiding out in the Kid's Corner where she had met Amity this morning. The children's tale the green haired witch had read, titled Otabin, nearby.

Though she wanted to foster a less hostile relationship with the Blight heiress through her siblings, she had a job to do. Taking out the staff card Eda handed her, Luz retraced her steps until she stands before the ominous door from before. The illumination from the magic filled shelves only cast long shadows across the doorway. It was like a portal to the deepest reaches of hell. "Now how do I get in?" The human witch peers across the doorway, not sure where the card of hers would fit until she spots a stone panel cast in a different color. Pressing the stolen plastic against it caused a pleasant chime to ring out. The twin doors slowly opened with a loud creak, dust or smoke billowing out from the darkness inside. Luz dryly swallowed. "Emperor protect me." Humming one of the hymns she learned as a child for extra protection and courage, she quickly entered.

---

Amity knew something was up. Ever since she spotted her older sister and brother hanging out with the human and causing all sorts of trouble in the Library. Her siblings never hung around for long, they don't even like books! They always teased her about it, said she was studying the 'Dork Arts' while she stayed in the library. Going by instincts, Amity had been lying in wait ever since the staff closed up for the night. They were understanding, especially Malphas, when she used the excuse of performing a late night cram session in her secret study. Thanks to her extra credit job, it earned her quite a few privileges around the library.

Though she did get some reading done during her wait for her quarry. The books of The Good Witch Azura were always a favorite of hers, though not as popular on the isles and clearly aimed for young witches a few years below her demographic. But, it was a guilty pleasure she enjoyed in secret when none of her 'friends' or family are around. She had even managed to get her first book autographed by the author herself, Mildred Featherwhyle, at a signing event. The nice old woman just glad people were enjoying her books, even if the group was small.

Amity had just finished rereading a chapter of the first book in her study before the wards she placed went off in her head. "I knew it." She growled, standing up from her cushioned chair and leaving her hidden sanctuary. The study given to her was locked away behind the shelves of the Romance section, as if anyone would be bold enough to take a book from here. Stalking the halls, she bore witness to the magic of the Wailing Star, the myth being true of it granting power to the library and it's books.

Peering from behind a bookshelf, Amity spotted not only her siblings, but the human in tow as well. They either actually think she's fun to hang out with, or she's just an unwitting scapegoat fallen for their charms. She hated how they could get away with almost anything with just a smile and a few words and this human was no different.

She watched from a distance, observing and stalking her annoying blood and her rival as they opened books and played with what they summoned. So far, it was just harmless fun with no real property damage. Nothing to really jump out and bust them for. Luz had managed to split away from Edric and Emira, so Amity opted to follow the twins instead. They were the real danger here.

Her suspicions were correct when she spotted them drawing in the books now, adding features to the characters within and driving them mad. But that couldn't be the only reason they were here, so she watched. Amity fumed till her face was red when they stopped in front of the Romance section and took out a book to reveal the hidden room behind it. She had been careful, but these two somehow figured out where her secret study was!

Standing at the doorway, she found her brother and sister looking through shelves and over turning books looking for something. A loud "Ahem!" Put an end to that.

Amber eyes locked with her own as she put on the biggest scowl she could muster. "Really?"

"Oh, hey Mittens!" Edric turns, innocently twirling his thumbs in circles.

"Fancy seeing you here!" Emira smiles as she checks on her nails, but Amity wasn't going to fall for anything.

Amity storms forward, though she's shorter than her siblings it didn't stop her from intimidating them. "Yeah, fancy seeing you two in -my- private study! How did you even find out about this?"

"You're not the only one who can do a stake out, Mittens." Grinned the older sister, leaning forward to nearly butt heads with her youngest sibling.

"And what was your plan, huh? Plant a stink potion or let loose a horde of screaming nettles just to annoy me?" It wouldn't be the first or last time they pranked her like this.

"Actually, the plan was to find and take pages out of your diary so we could post them up all over Hexside." Edric explained, finding no need to hide their intentions anymore.

It only made Amity rage more. "You two are the worst!"

"Oh, we're the worst?" Emira bites back. "Look at you, you treat everyone around you like dirt and you keep ratting us out whenever we skip classes! It's high time you've been knocked down a peg!"

"You don't understand the pressure I'm under, neither of you do!" The shouting nearly makes her go hoarse. "And you two think you're so perfect, but you managed to lose the human you came in with!"

"No we didn't! Edric joins in the shouting match. "She's been with us the whole time!" He looks around, noticing the sever lack of brown hair in the gathering of greens in the room. "Uh, where did she go?"

Now Emira's eyes snap to her brother. "I thought you were watching her!"

"I thought you were!" He deflected back.

"Enough!" Amity's voice won out in the end, gaining the undivided attention of her siblings. "She's your responsibility, so you're going to help me find her. Then you're going to clean up whatever mess you made here, and then you're getting out. I won't report this, just..." Amity clenched her fist and bit her inner cheek. "Leave me alone."

The quiet was even more deafening than the yelling between the Blights. The twins looked at each other, the teasing smiles and angry frowns gone as the guilt settles on their conscience. No words were exchanged, what could after all of that? Silently, Emira and Edric followed Amity out into the library. They had a human to find.

---

Further and further Luz walked with nothing to light her way by save for a row of weak candles trying their best to illuminate the corridor she would herself in. Seconds felt like hours in the perpetual darkness, feeling at the back of her mind had grown from a tickle to a gnawing. Placing the blame for it on the ancient magics that probably saturated this forbidden part of the library, she pressed on. Finally reaching an end, she enters a chamber carved out the stone around it rather than brick placed by witch hands. Had she gone down and not realized it? Luz would have felt the change in pressure at least.

All manner of critters scurried about out of sight from the new arrival. Mice with the flesh melted off their heads to reveal smooth bone, spiders and bats made of pure red light in webs or fluttering about. Books were placed and sorted by transparent hands with arms that dragged on to infinity. Luz looked over the hollowed out center of the chamber, each floor with more bookshelves were carved deeper and deeper into the earth as large rings until she could only make out a small light at the bottom. "Alright, lets start looking."

Glancing through the various titles she passed by this was going to take forever. It would have been a lot easier if she knew exactly what kind of book she was searching for, but Eda failed to mention that. Or her mentor didn't know either, and this was always meant to be a quick skim of the library's inventory to gleam any kind of understanding of inter-dimensional travel. A few books looked promising, but they pages and covers collapsed into dust when her fingers tried to grab on or had their insides eaten away by the vermin that infested this place. Perhaps it was for the best, as opening them during the Wailing Star could cause serious problems this deep underground.

When had she managed to reach the very depths of the Forbidden Stacks? A blink and she stood in an antechamber filled with more books. Braziers of blue fire resting in each corner. The tomes themselves were ancient, but familiar markings gave the truth about their origins. The sign of the golden Aquila, the twin headed eagle. Luz was aware of her home realm often bleeding into this one, the evidence was in the junk Eda sold at her stand. "But for how long?" She asked aloud, until a sharp pain in her head caused her ears to ring.

The gnawing had become ravenous chomping on her psychic mind, and she tried to concentrate. Doing anything to regain her focus and dull the pain that made her teeth grit. It was pulling at her, physically, until her head turned to see the door standing before her now. It was made of dark iron, runes of magic carved into every available surface from top to bottom. Heavy chains marked with talismans shuddered and broke. Flying open on it's own, Luz closed her eyes in fear for whatever lie beyond it! Nothing came, she peeked her eye open to see another hallway leading to a brightly lit room on the other side.

"Come in."

A voice, was it behind her? No, in front? The sides? It felt as if Luz heard the words spoken to her in all directions, but there was no source. Something drew her closer, crossing the threshold into the mural covered hall. The walls and ceiling covered in colored tiles, depicting a group of horned beings standing on top of a lone planet. The rest of the story lost to the ages as it was blank or scratched out. What she was greeted by was the open air of the Forbidden Stacks, looking up to spot the ledge she had stood on top of moments ago. The origin of the light at the bottom was an orb of swirling pink and blues. All shades ever moving, ever changing.

She dare not take a step closer.

"Luz, little Luz Noceda." The colors condensed at the center of the orb fighting to try and pick a shape that suited its need. A pink ball of flesh materialized, limbs sprouting from the sides and bottom. An arm on one side, two on the other as it stepped on clawed feet. Tendrils bled out from the top, forming a tentacled mess in the mockery of hair that rested against its back. Eyes sprouted on it's pink body, not just at the top but also in random spots of flesh. Finally the mouth opened, inhumanly wide to the point she could probably fit comfortably inside of it. Needle sharp teeth growing from top and bottom, and two tongues jutting out.

"You are a long way from home, little light."

Terror gripped her heart, strangled the words that tried to make it out of her throat. Luz had seen many strange, bizarre, and downright frightening things during her times on the Boiling Isles. But this, this thing in the middle of the room drew out the deep primal fear that was ingrained in her and humanity since the dawn of their creation. "W-who," She licks her dry lips. "are you?" The effort of just that sentence was exhausting.

Laughter, not just laughter from the mouth before her but laughter all around her. It wasn't even the same voice, it was like an audience of people were laughing at her. The being behind the dome flexed it's many fingers, stepping closer to the boundaries of the orb as a loincloth of white and gold materialized on it's body with licks of flame. "I am Krlizzerk." It finally answered. "The Grand Librarian."

Luz raised an eyebrow. "I thought Malphas was the Master Librarian; and how do you know my name?"

"That pathetic excuse these mortals call a 'demon?' Hardly." It's voice sounded like it was trying to take shape, shifting from high pitched to deep toned at the turn of every syllable. "And I know a great many things, little light." The grotesque mouth moved into a horribly parody of a smile. "I am one of the few, blessed by the Great Deceiver, to peer into the strands of fate. I know all there was, is, and will be."

"So, you're an oracle?" She asked it.

"Much more. I am the font of knowledge that will help you in your quest, little light."

"How come you're locked up?" Luz could easily put together that the room she stood in was some sort of prison for this creature. Large runes marked the cardinal directions while a circle of them traced along the edges of the dome. One it had yet to step out from.

"I was sealed here eons ago, when the world was young and the stars were brighter." The chorus of voices sang, but it was chaotic and ear grating. "Those here feared the power of me and my kin, so trapped I remain with a mockery of my own repository of information built atop me." The grin on the being's face grew wider, splitting the skin along its face to make room. "But, I had foreseen it. For I was placed here to help you return home to Gravesfield!"

Luz steps forward at the mention of her city. "You know of it, my world?"

"All is not what you think it is, little light. There are only ever two sides to the coin, never three. No matter how sturdy the walls or the ways, it's only ever two." The teeth filled wad of chewing gum sits with its legs crossed, but the body never touched the ground. "I have what you seek, the means to pierce the vale of the Sea of Souls into the material realm."

Another step forward by the human. "And you'll give it to me?"

"For a price: Freedom. Growing stagnant in this cage is not what the Architect of Fate deems my purpose, and I will fulfill it when I am released. Do we have a deal?"

The throbbing in Luz's head was numbing, each word out of the horrendous creature in front of her made her want to double over. With her eyes the being before her was nearly blinding, like a bright rainbow flame lashing out at the drab and dull colors around it. She couldn't hear anything, could say anything. Already was she standing before the orb a hand outstretched to the devious creature within it's confines. Just as her finger tips brushed against the smooth surface of the spell, she could hear a single crack.

"Human!"

Luz swung around, looking behind her only to see the empty doorway she entered from. Turning back around, the orb, the creature, the entire room had changed. She was standing once again at the top ring of the Forbidden Stacks. The bottom where she once stood now far below her. "Where..." The sentence could barely leave her lips before an extended arm of abomination slime wraps around the psyker's body. Dragging her out of the Forbidden Stacks and back into the main library.

A chorus of raucous laughter following her out.

---

"Human!"

The door to the stacks were open, and it was the last place they hadn't checked yet. Peering through the darkness, she could spot the lone figure standing deep within. Using her abomination magic, Amity grappled her human rival and reeled her in like a fish. When she dragged Luz back from the Forbidden Stacks, the human looked almost pale and dazed. Like she had just seen a ghost. "Hey, you alright?" Amity asked, trying to snap the other teen out of it. Her siblings gathered at her side.

"What's wrong with her?" Edric asked.

"I don't know, she looks out of it." Amity pats the human on her tanned cheeks, anything to bring her back from whatever this was. The young witch viewed her as a rival and an annoyance, but that didn't mean she wanted to see her brain dead.

Emira moves in close, a ring of magic drawn by her finger. "Hold on, let me try." In a surprising show of healing coven magic, Emira casts a spell that jolts the human from her shock. As if her soul jumped right back into her body with an intake of fresh air.

Luz clawed and struggled, all of her senses white hot as she tries to fight off some invisible force. The abomination goo stays strong, keeping her from hurting herself or the Blights. "Hey, hey! It's okay." Amity soothed the human with a calming tone. It worked, the pin prick sized pupils finally focused on what's in front of them.

"Amity?" Her eyes dart to each green haired witch, her breathing returning to normal as she finally calmed down. "Emira, Edric? Where am I?"

"In the Library." Amity withdraws the abomination slime off the psyker. "What were you doing in the Forbidden Stacks? It's called forbidden for a reason!" The relief Amity felt was quickly replaced with anger.

"I was," Trying to recall the memories made Luz's head hurt. "Looking for information on getting home. The Grand Librarian said he would help."

"Who?" Amity deduced it couldn't have been Malphas, he had gone home hours ago. He had always warned the other librarians this wing was off limits, though he never told them why. Just that something dangerous resides within. "Forget it." The human was obviously hallucinating, all that book dust she breathed in must have gone to her head. "Now that we found you, all of your are leaving. You three have caused enough trouble as is."

"Leaving so soon? You've yet to check out a book." A voice calls from the shadows, it's enough to make Luz visibly tense every muscle in her body.

A figure steps into view, one Amity has never seen before and wishes she never did. A brightly pink ball of gangling limbs adorned in golden jewelry and a white strip of cloth. The deep blue eyes set in the accessories matching the one looming above them all at the top of the doorway it walked out of. Even the twins, usually all smiles and and mischievous confidence are paralyzed at the spot. Every instinct in the witch's body screamed at her one word: danger. "S-stay back!" She would have sounded more intimidating if her voice didn't break. Drawing a spell in the air, Amity materializes a ball of magenta fire to try and threaten the beast.

It laughed. "You 'witches' and that pitiful excuse at spell crafting. Behold, a real master of the arcane!" It raised it's hand above it's head, magic forces coalescing into it's own spell. Bright blue fire forming into winding serpents that struck the ground, ceiling, books, everything but the witches before it. Searing holes left in its wake, a testament to the power it wielded.

"Stop!" Luz shouted, finally finding the courage to speak. "You said you'd help me if I freed you, that was the deal!"

"And I will, but I never said you'll be making it home in once piece, little light. No, once I'm free of this asylum I shall need a body of flesh and blood to inhabit. The gifted among the mortals of your rotting Imperium are hard to come by and fate has delivered one right to me. Just as it is foreseen!"

With the open threat to her life, the fear in Luz's body had finally made a full circle to an anger she harnessed. Eyes alight with witch fire, she swings her hand out into a focused telekinetic bolt to knock Krlizzerk back into the stacks from once it came. But, it didn't move out of the way, its other arm held up a palm with a glowing blue eye resting in it. A force, similar to hers, redirects her attack to careen wide and smash into the pillar behind it. "But, how did-?"

"I deflect it? The Changer of Ways has granted me power over all sorcery! That mutation in your brain, yes I know of it. It makes you different, makes you think this power is something deep inside of you, but it's not!" A flash of the eye and Luz drops to her knees. "Remember your lesson? All magic comes from somewhere, your teacher was wise in that regards."

"Leave her alone!"

"Yeah!"

The twin witches made a valiant effort to stop the creature with spell circles drawn, but a wave of its other two hands conjure an invisible force that yanked Emira and Edric into the air. They didn't even break it's train of thought. "You are a psyker, Luz Noceda! A gift the worshipers of the Corpse Emperor shun, fear, and reject for it's power draws from the Immaterium! From the realms of immortals and the gods themselves! I would know, for you face Krlizzerk, the Grand Librarian! Herald of Tzeentch!"

Luz had heard whispered tales from off world traders that made deals with the Violet Skulls. Stories of how the vast ships of the Imperium, grand in their size and importance, travel between the stars above with the aid of the Emperor's Light. As the corridors connecting them all were filled with the nightmares the Ecclesiarchy warns you of if you ever strayed off the path of righteousness. They were just lessons to frighten children into behaving and keep deckhands away from the port holes. What did her people call them again? What did it call itself? "Daemon?" She coughed out as crushing pressure drove her knees and hands into the polished stone again.

"Good, good. You are learning, that is all my master Tzeentch wants. Enlightenment. I have waited an eternity for this, you were such a bright beacon beyond the veil but now that you're here in this haven I will take my time tormenting and devouring the very souls of you and your friends!"

"Devour this!" A conflagration of magenta flames from Amity engulf the body of the horror, but it stands there unfazed with a tendril eyebrow lifted above one of its many eyes.

"Was that suppose to harm me, titan spawn?"

The witch prodigy grinned. "No, it was to distracted you." Amity clenched the hand with the spell circle around her wrist, willing the abomination slime that had sneaked up on the daemon to slice through the arm holding it's psychic grip on Luz. Severing the connection to the spell and the limb at its base.

It howled in pain, grabbing at the stump that spewed black ichor on the finely polished floor, the boiling pools iridescent like oil. It dropped the twins as the hurt filled groans turned to mocking laughter. The witches regrouped as they witnessed two smaller blue arms erupt from it's wound. "I am ever changing!" It flexed all four limbs, new and old. Before the daemon could test out its fresh mutation, an electrified orb of light crashed into its body and sent it crashing through shelves of books. Beasts and figures freed from the pages flee the carnage.

"Run!" Luz shouts, making her daring escape with the Blight children in tow. She was content on staying hidden among the aisles, but Amity pulls her away by the jacket into a room before sealing the door behind them. The psyker would have enjoyed the cozy feel of it if there wasn't a hell fueled monster just outside. Comfy looking chairs, a desk, painted stars on the ceiling and plenty of reading material. She was broken out of observations by the frantic shaking, courtesy of the youngest Blight.

"What was that, what did you do?" Amity was seething, it wasn't hard to tell with the accusing glare. The twins stood off to the side, either too traumatized to speak or simply letting the more strong willed of them carry out this interrogation.

Luz threw the witch's hands off her shoulders. "I don't know!"

"You don't know? It sounded like it knew you! I've never seen a demon like that before, did you summon it from the human realm?" Amity continues to press with her questions. It was a slim possibility, given how unmagical Luz's home realm was. But the emergence of the psyker on the Isles has shaken all previous known knowledge to their very foundations.

"No! It said it's always been here." That is what the being said, but who knew how much you could trust from its foul mouth. Luz ran her hands through her short hair, the pain in her skull had amplified ever since the Grand Librarian made its entrance. "It said it could help, if I let it out. I didn't think it would start causing havoc!" She shouldn't have listened to the daemon, but the hope of escape had blinded her to it's true intentions. Now the Blights and her were paying the price.

"We need to run, get out of here and get help!" One of the elder blights spoke up, Emira by the sound logic she presented.

Amity nodded her head. "We also can't let this thing get out and rampage on the town. Em, you and Ed have the best chance of slipping away. Luz and I will stall it as long as we can."

"How? You saw that thing, it'll tear you two apart by the time we come back." Emira bit back, panic and concern taking over.

Amity couldn't meet the gaze of her sister. That was the big question: How? The being before them must have had centuries of magical training to be so adept at conjuring spells without the use of a spell circle. It had simply held her siblings like a child would a toy, and the human was beaten into the stone with it's pure telekinetic might. "We'll just have to figure it out as we go. Not a great plan, but it's the best chance we got." Desperate times did call for desperate measures.

A rumble could be heard, the rhythmic thumps of very large and very heavy footfalls stomping through the halls of the Library. Clearing something bigger than the horror they faced, but then a shrill voice rung out. "It is only a matter of time until I find you." Everyone held their breath for fear of giving away their location. The stomps grew louder and louder, the source crossing the romance section they were hiding in before they grew feint. It had passed. So they thought, until the door was kicked in with a mighty force! The leg was unrecognizable, an amalgamation of flesh, feathers, and scales ending on a hoof with too many toes. A purple tinged tentacle slipped in along with a meaty appendage covered in grasping hands to grab at the prey within. Emira and Edric unfortunately drew the short straw of fate and were snatched up by whatever monstrosity the horror had summoned. A furry tail covered in spikes knocked the other two teens off their feet in a flash before bounding back to it's master with it's prize.

"No!" Amity groaned, sitting up despite the burning pain in her chest. No ribs were broken, but there would be a bruise in the morning. If they survived to the morning. She shakily got to her feet, trying to will the stability back into them as she took her first few steps in the direction the monster had gone. Her face was nearly introduced to the floor until a helpful shoulder catches her. It was Luz, she was helping Amity by slinging the witch's arm around her shoulder.

Despite her own flares of agony, Luz helped the other teen stand on her own.

"Thanks." Amity grunted. "Don't think you're off the hook just yet. You still need to answer for all of this."

Luz nods, patting herself down to make sure no injuries managed to sneak onto her person. "You're right, I'll take responsibility once this is all over. But we need to save your family first."

Amity sighs, if Edric and Emira hadn't broken into the library to steal her diary pages, none of this would have happened! Amity may have enjoyed a magical evening with the Wailing Star by herself if they were better and nicer. But family is family, despite how sour their relationship had gotten over the years. She looked over, spotting one of her diary pages on the floor. It must have blown out of it's hidden book when the beast attack, the tiny ethereal Amity was divulging an event about how their mother was scolding her over an assignment not being the highest score and how Ed and Em cheered her up with ice-scream. "Wait, I have an idea."

---

The machinations of those of a daemonic nature were beyond any mortal comprehension. Many have tried, and were slowly driven mad by the knowledge. Krlizzerk had nothing but time to wait out it's imprisonment in the cage below the Library. The Great Changer had shown it a vision, of the threads of fate aligning in just this right moment so it could be free. Now it danced, unbound, at the exact center of the library with his captive audience. The monstrous spawn holding the two witches was a stroke of his own genius in utilizing the latent power of the Wailing Star. The secret of which is best left hidden in the vault of it's mind. The horror had stitched various books together, written it's spell work within the pages with it's black blood, and watched as a spawn worthy of Chaos was born. It's disgusting form dripping fluids, covered in jittering mouths, and full of grabbing appendages now holding his two witches. All of it bursting forth from the corrupted book fused to it's chest.

It was all going according to its extravagant plan so it did what any daemon did, especially those spawned of Tzeentch; it gloated. "Ah, you do not know how long I've been locked up for. Seeing the same room for centuries is enough to drive one mad. You'll know what that's like soon enough!" It laughed.

"Let us go!" Emira shouted, the authority in her tone unable to hide the fear in her heart. Edric, meanwhile, was struggling against the avalanche of hands keeping him in place.

"Why would I do that?" The horror balked at the teenage witch. "The bait is set, and though I have the might to crush all of you with but a flick of my wrists. I'd much rather have fun." The daemon stepped closer, the spawn lowering down Emira so it could gaze into her eyes with it's collection of pupils. "I know you Emira Blight, and you too, Edric Blight. You've enjoyed such mischief before, why not now? Maybe I need to pry open that soul of yours and see if you can witness the glory in Tzeentch's grand scheme!" Krlizzerk was just about to will its power to flay the poor witch, but there was an interruption.

"Hey!"

It didn't even need to turn around to recognize the origins of the voice that dare interrupt it. "Ah, little light, you've come. As expected. Not quite the dramatic entrance, but I suppose they've grown rather stale this evening."

Luz stood upon a hill of overturned shelves and books, clutched in her grasp was a book of her own. She wasn't too keen on this part of the plan, but Amity had insisted that she had to play her part well. The young psyker opened the book, reading aloud in a stilted performance. "Foul creature of evil! How dare ye use thy allies as pawns in your wretched game! As if the sacking of Count Pitolof's domain wasn't enough to satisfy your hunger for carnage!" Despite the fear built up in her head, it was overpowered by the growing embarrassment in her stomach. But, it was working as the Herald of Tzeentch looked at her in utter befuddlement.

"I'm sorry, what is this?" All the eyes on its body were focused on the mortal in front of it. Was it reciting something, a play? It had knowledge of nearly every book in existence, but the words coming out of her mouth had stopped it in it's tracks.

"You leave me no choice then!" Luz was getting a bit too into it now, placing a head over her heart as she continued to read. "Your sins will be cleansed by The Good Witch Azura, Warrior of Peace!" After she finished reading the line, the book glowed the same enchanted color of those around her. The pages materialized a haft she pulls out in one stroke. Gold and purple ornate metal is set at the top of white weapon, just under the teardrop shaped blue crystal held at the tip. Doing as Amity had told her beforehand, Luz set it on her shoulder like a missile launcher and aimed the crystal at the daemon. "Now eat this, sucka!" The crystal turned red before launching a ball of fire at the horror.

It had been too caught up in trying to decipher her words, but reflexes helped it summon a bubble of flickering blue to protect it from the inferno the human had launched at it. When the flames had cleared, a tanned fist broke through it's barrier and socked it right in the spot a nose would be. The sheen to the arm giving away the biomancy cast upon the young psyker. "A brawl? How uncivilized, at least I wont be needing them anymore." It snapped it's fingers, commanding the spawn to crush and devour the twin witches in it's grasp to engage the human, since she seemed so determined to punch away her problems. It heard screaming, but not from it's victims but the spawn itself. A pair of purple slime fists came crashing down on the closest thing resembling a head. Sending it reeling and letting go of its snack.

Amity's abomination clashed with the spawn, claws scratching and teeth biting into the goo as the giants grappled one another. Luz had did her part and kept all of the eyes on her and not on Amity, who had managed to sneak her way behind the monster. Now that her siblings were out of danger and off to get help, she nodded to Luz. She'd take care of this patchwork of fiction and nonfiction while her rival dealt with the so called 'Grand Librarian.'

"Didn't see this coming, huh? Guess you're not as good an oracle as you thought." Luz charged at the daemon, fear giving way to righteous anger and want for revenge. Pink fire engulfed her body, as if the horror had packed a flamer in the palm of it's hand. "An unforeseen thread, but that wont save you!" It shouted through the roar of pure magical fire. Luz clenched her teeth and bared it, her iron-like body keeping most of the pain at bay but for how long she didn't know. Krlizzerk had already revealed it's weakness to her, it lacked the stomach for a close fight. Throwing out a punch, Luz managed another blow to launch the daemon's body. It felt like punching rubber, but the cut skin and black blood told her she was making progress. One of it's smaller arms moved, floating a nearby shelf in the air before tossing it at Luz. She'd smashed it to splinters with a few well placed punches while the horror scampered out of her reach.

"Fool, you only delay the inevitable!" It raises all four arms up into the air, warp energy gathering at the twitching finger tips. The oncoming human made it speed up the process of it's spell work, even if it did sacrifice lethality. Pointing all four limbs in front of itself, the spell was complete. The bolt of unholy energy was the color of the blackest midnight, crackling through the air with the sound of thunder on its way to its target. Striking home, it pierced through the human's torso. A spray of blood and she spun like a top before collapsing onto the book covered floor. "Ha ha!" Krlizzerk cheered clapping it's hands and approaching the downed human. "Don't worry, I intend keep your body mostly intact."

Amity forced the malformed beast back with her abomination. An uppercut into an enlarged eye created an opening for Amity. She molded the arm of her abomination golem into a sharp blade before it started hacking pieces off the monster. It screamed in pain, but the abomination held tight, slashing with it's hardened goo into the flesh of the spawn. It was nearly hewed in two before her abomination finally struck the book in it's chest. Scattering the pages, destroying the magic within and causing the affront to the Titan to vanish without a trace. Just in time to witness the dark lightning crack the air and strike Luz. Amity moved without thinking, drawing a lavender circle in front of her, the largest she could manage, the young witch transformed her golem into a wave of abomination slime. It surged high into the air and rained down on top of the walking wad of pink bubble gum. It had turned around, as if sensing the magic being cast, throwing up its arms to knock her attack aside like skittles with an invisible force.

The young witch ran, forming one of abomination puddles into a stave and brandishing it in her hand before slamming it's hard surface into the side of the horror. Miss Lilith had been adamant about Amity learning proper staff combat. Though the rank and file among the Emperor's Coven forfeited their palisman, those who showed promised were allowed to keep theirs. Following the motions drilled into her by her tutor, Amity spun the staff to strike at the daemon's crown along with a blow to it's chin. It was kind of hard to miss when more than half of it's body was mouth. An ornate dagger blocked one of her attacks, the Herald finally summoning a ritualistic dagger for defense. Daemon fueled guile and strength cause the dagger to lash out like quicksilver, nearly cutting into the witch's neck if not for the haft of the abomination staff. Amity pushes the dagger away and twists her body, spinning on her toes and driving the staff into the daemon's exposed knee. Causing it to yelp in pain and grab it's injury just as Amity poises to drive the tip of her staff through it's head.

"A futile effort, but an entertaining one." The daemon said and the same psychic force that had held Edric and Emira aloft was now focused on her with it's two blue twisted hands. Drawing her arms to the side and bringing her floating in front of the horror. "So much talent in one so young. If only that flaw wasn't in your chest, you could unlock so much more." A clawed finger set right over her heart, the blackened nail drawing blood. "Maybe we should see what happens when I rip it out!"

Luz had been on the ground for a while, the blood slowly leaking out of her while the pain in her skull cried out for attention. It was just like before, with Eda as the Owl Beast and the sinking despair with how powerless she was. Lying in a pool of crimson, she was content to just let the world fade away around her as the strength left her body. The sounds of fighting drew her gaze lazily upwards to spot Amity, the witch that had been giving her the hardest time on the isles, fighting the daemon she herself released. Luz prayed to Him on Terra to see Amity prevail, but the horror overpowered the young woman. Leaving her at the sadistic mercy of the daemon. Luz reached out, trying to do anything to keep it from happening, but the blinding pain of her torso and pressure on her head only grew with her outstretched fingers. "Stop." She muttered, as if the saying the words would force reality to bend to her wishes. Rather, it alleviated the force on her brain. Luz's soul felt lighter, thinking more clearly now than since this whole fiasco started as lines of light formed in front of her hand. Just like the light glyph she summoned weeks ago, but new lines were drawn in the center of the circle forming what looked like almost a dagger through a mountain. Then it got really cold.

Amity had closed her eyes, not wanting to witness the daemon tear into her like a cerberus and a hock of meat. She kept her tears back, reflecting on all of her unfinished ambitions and regrets along the way. At least her and Luz gave it their all. She expected to feel dirty nails rending her flesh or the cold steel of the dagger, but she only felt regular cold. Opening an eye, she's shocked to see the left side of the daemon's form encased in a block of ice.

Krlizzerk bellowed in agony, the ice had managed to turn it's black blood to crystal as the frigid temperature crept along it's form. Not even the cold vacuum of space could so much as send a chill down its spine, but this enchanted frost bit at it with a burning pain. "This was not in the signs!" What had gone wrong? Everything was suppose to be right where it was to ensure its freedom and its victory over the human. It had seen it in visions far in the future of it's triumph on planets in the material realm wearing the skin of the young psyker. Now, it's form ached at the stillness of the ice while it tried to burn it away with magical fire. "No!" The hands conjuring his masters flames were fused together in a block of clear frozen water, causing it to finally drop the psychic hold over the green haired witch. "You!" The only logical person was the one it thought was incapacitated, Luz Noceda lay on the stone floor with a feint trail of snow leading back to her.

A smiled and a shard of ice erupts from the ground, piercing through the open mouth of the daemon and straight through out the back of its head. Dark ichor splatters the ground, the struggling of the twisted creature finally dying as it grows limp. Though covered in ice, the body burns a sickly pink. Motes of the flame breaking off and vanishing into the ether until nothing of the horror remained. The last of Luz's strength finally left her, then everything went dark.

---

The waking world ripped through Luz like a mining saw. Her first instinct was to sit up, but a hand not her own and the pain in her stomach told her it was a bad idea. When her vision finally returned, she sees Amity sitting next to her. The hand holding her down belonged to the young witch. "What?" Was all Luz could force out of her dry throat. Eyes darting to take in her surroundings, finding her and Amity were back in that secret room. The door having been put back where it belonged.

"Welcome back to the land of the Titan, Luz." Taking her thermos, one she often kept in her private study, and poured the contents past the human's lips. It was slow, but she at least had the strength to drink. "Ed and Em are talking with the Emperor's Coven right now. They've managed to convince the scouts a group of 'vandals' broke in to 'stop kids from learning.' We'll keep what happened with the stacks between us."

"Why?" Now hydrated, Luz could finally form complete words. "I thought you wanted me to take responsibility? I pretty much destroyed this place."

"You did..." Amity gazed down at the human's torso. Training in for the Emperor's Coven gave her minor skills in healing magic, she also knew where the library staff kept the first aid kit. She had wrapped the other teen's torso in gauze and bandages with a few healing patches just to be sure. The witch was just glad Luz had been unconscious for that part, not only to spare her from the pain but also Amity's flustered state when she had to lift the human's skull emblem shirt to get to the wound. "But, I thought I'd give you a pass for taking a lightning bolt through the stomach."

"I really need to stop passing out." It was starting to become a real problem with Luz, and it only started when she arrived on the Boiling Isles. She winced, feeling the dressing on her wound as she adds another scar to her collection. Not to mention another unique spell she just so happened to stumble upon. Even the daemon seemed astonished by her new ice glyph.

Just then, Edric and Emira slipped into the secret room. Both peeking past the edge of the doorway to make sure none of the scouts and guards followed. "Hey, Luz, feeling better?" Said Emira. "Looking better, that's for sure." Edric added.

"Still alive!" Luz gives them both a thumbs up, ignoring the pain of moving. Emperor's bowels that hurt.

The twins chuckle to themselves, it was good to see them in better spirits than the terror stricken states from before. "Well you focus on resting up, we managed to throw the guards off the scent for a while. Should be smooth sailing from here." Emira cast her gaze downward. "Though, me and Ed just wanna say sorry for dragging you out here."

"Yeah, we thought it would just be a neat little magical event coupled with stealing from Mittens." The words from Edric's mouth had Luz looking to Amity for some much needed elaboration.

"Don't worry about it." Said the youngest Blight. "They have plenty of time to make it up to me. Which they can start by covering for me with mom and dad." The last part directed at her siblings, though they showed no signs of complaining.

"Will do, Mittens! Just try not to spend too much time with your girlfriend. See ya around, Luz!" Emira snickered along with her brother while receiving glares from Amity. The room growing awkwardly quiet when they took their leave.

Amity was the first to break the silence. "Look, I know you're trying to get home. But, the Boiling Isles is a dangerous place with it's own secrets we're not even sure about."

"I know, it's just." Luz bit back the despondency from welling up. She had to make sure her mother was safe, and not in a frantic search for her or worse. Being hunted by the same black armored soldiers that had gunned down all of her friends in the Violet Skulls. It was a lesson that was having trouble sticking in the teen's mind.

"Not sure why you'd want to go back, that thing didn't exactly paint a pleasant picture of the human realm." Amity had managed to remember the words of the daemon, though it would be some time before she managed to scrub the haunting sound of it from her memory. If Luz was seen as some sort of monster among humans, why return?

"Hey, the human realm isn't all bad! We're just trying to live as best we can." Luz couldn't fault Amity for thinking such a thing, she was an outsider in the affairs of the Imperium. Though she was a speck on the galactic map of the Emperor's mighty domain, she didn't need anything else but her mom and home to be happy.

"Well, you got plenty of time to tell me about it." Amity takes a seat in her comfy bean filled bag chair. Sinking down and staring up at the star decorated ceiling. "I'd feel bad leaving you here by yourself, or sending you home before you can walk. Maybe afterwards I can show you some of my favorite books."

"Aw," Luz teased. "So nice of you, Blight."

Amity scoffed, turning her head to hide the red growing on her cheeks. "Don't get used to it."

---

"Luz!" Eda rushes to her student, pulling her into a tight hug and being rewarded with groans of discomfort and pain. "I thought you'd be back by morning, kid. It's noon!" Despite the crushing force of her arms, the human in her grasp manages to wiggle out.

"I know, I know." Luz, tired from the long walk and the events of last night, collapses in a heap on the couch. "There is a -lot- I need to tell you. Like how there's no way I'm going back down in those stacks again."

"Not like we could wait for another Wailing Star, but it was worth a shot." Eda joined her apprentice on the couch, giving her soothing rubs along her back. "But, good news! The Bat Queen's kids didn't manage to burn the house down! Ah, you shoulda seen 'em."

"Wait, wasn't there just one?" Luz muffled from the pillow currently positioned right over her face.

"Yeah, there's some things I didn't know babies could do." Eda shuddered. "But, she was so impressed by King and me, she gave us a huge pay day! Oh, and some magic whistle. Can't wait to blow that when the time comes." The old witch beams, quite satisfied with her maternal skills after the gauntlet of screaming bat babies. She waited for Luz to respond, but the only thing Eda got from her apprentice was light snoring. "Alright, you can sleep in this time." She smiled, throwing a quilted blanket over Luz's sleeping form and exiting the room as to not wake her.

---

Somewhere within the Bonesborough Library, The Emperor's Coven scouts assess the damages to file a report to the Construction Coven. Not to mention a requisition to the Scribe Coven to replace all of the damaged books. Unseen by all, a pink skinned arm crawls along the shadows of the floor with the aid of its fingers. The eye within its palm, though unblinking, was caught unaware when it became encased within a sphere of red magical energy. It desperately tried to claw its way out, even as it's brought hand to face with a hooded figure in a smooth golden mask and shoulder pad.