The day that followed once the battle was over wasn't easy. The central square, a jewel for which the town had once been famous throughout the entire region for decades, had been reduced to rubble by the greater basilisk's fury, but that was the minor damage. The citizens were all terribly shaken by what had happened and also very angry at all the harassment they had suffered over the last year; if the real Inspector hadn't stopped them, they probably would have gone and torn apart the corpse of their tormentor. If someone didn't do something, the town would almost certainly soon descend into anarchy. But fortunately, Masha had organized that plan precisely to avoid such an eventuality; and even though not everything went as planned in the end, the final result was the same.

All the guards and soldiers who had served the greater basilisk during the last year had been stunned by members of the resistance taking advantage of the confusion or had in any case been arrested shortly after; there had been no need for any bloodshed and they had all been taken to prison, followed by all the criminals who had made their fortune thanks to the absurd laws imposed by the usurper. On the contrary, all the innocent people were immediately freed, and with them all the judges and all the policemen who were instead on the side of justice; the real Inspector had then opened all the chests and returned to the citizens all the money that had been stolen from them, and had promised that in the following days everyone would be judged and condemned for their crimes. This was enough to calm the population, who finally, with their finances restored, were able to go to sleep with a full stomach. Even so, however, the members of the resistance and the freed policemen had to work hard throughout the night to ensure that tranquility truly reigned and that no one, driven by revenge, tried to break into the prison or plunder the buildings of the old criminals.

Only the next morning everyone finally decided to really breathe a sigh of relief and the trials for the various criminals slowly began. The real Inspector held them personally and judged every corrupt guard and judge and every thief and every swindler. It would take days, maybe even weeks to finish them all, but justice was finally being served. Luz, Masha, Vee, Willow and Gus personally went to see how things were progressing, and that's when they saw a large group of guards being dragged away in chains. Among them was the Warden Wrath; it was the first time Luz had seen him without a mask and she discovered that he had a bald head with very small eyes and a very large mouth. "Hey!" she called as she approached. "How much did they sentence you to?"

The Warden Wrath turned to her in surprise and recognized her. "Oh, it's you. Did you come to laugh at me?"

"Well… maybe a little" Luz admitted. The Warden Wrath had been the one who had thrown her in prison, so she felt some satisfaction in seeing him in chains. "But... I'm also curious. Why did you choose to take our side at the last minute?"

The Warden Wrath seemed for a moment to turn away and not answer her out of pure pride, but then he decided it wasn't worth it. "Just... for once in my life, I wanted to do something good. I know I'm a bastard, but I'm not heartless... I followed the fake Inspector because before I was just a simple prison guard and she made me a judge, and I was too proud and greedy for power to refuse to follow her orders. I knew in my heart that something was wrong... but I didn't care. But in that moment, in the square, when I was faced with the choice... I thought that this was my chance to do something decent. So that at least my son won't have to be completely ashamed of having me as a father"

Luz was certainly not moved by the Warden Wrath's apologies, but she was fairly convinced that at least he was sincere. Well, realizing one's mistakes was still an important step, even if it certainly wasn't enough to obtain forgiveness. "Do you have a son?"

"My sweet Braxas, yes. Please, can you apologize to him for me?" the Warden Wrath replied.

Luz was tempted to refuse, but then decided it made sense to do so. It was over now and the bad guys had had their punishment: there was no point in raging any longer. "Okay. I'll try to get your message to him"

The Warden Wrath bowed his head slightly. "Thank you" he finally said, only to be dragged away in chains.

Luz watched him disappear into the prison. "How long do you think he will stay in jail?" she asked her friends.

"Twenty-five years" a voice behind them said; they turned and saw the real Inspector approaching. She was still very tired from her long imprisonment and needed a cane to walk, but she had already been able to regain all the energy she had lost. "He should have served thirty, but the judges pardoned him five because at the last moment he made the right choice. And who knows, given the change in him, perhaps one day they could reduce his sentence for good behavior"

"Tsk! I doubt that will happen" Luz said sourly, but then she added: "But... I suppose that there's nothing wrong with believing that people can change"

"Wise words, wooden girl" the Inspector said looking at her. "Luz Noceda, right? They told me that you were robbed and that this town hasn't given you justice. I have already issued an arrest warrant for Terra Snapdragon and Adrian Graye Vernworth, but I imagine it will take a long time to find them since they have so much advantage on us. If you want it, I can give you back the money you lost from my pocket while waiting for the two crooks to be caught"

"Heh heh! Well, if you offer it to me like this..." Luz was already about to accept, but a reproachful look from Willow and Gus stopped her. With a huge effort of will, she finally answered: "No, this town needs money more than I do. So... save it to rebuild and repair all the damage the impostor has done. I... I can wait until Adrian and Terra are captured and to get my five gold coins back, you don't need to deprive yourself of them"

"Good. That's the right thing to do" Willow told her with a grin, but also with a certain pride in her voice.

"You really are a judicious girl" the Inspector said, ignoring the looks of the cricket and the spider who seemed to literally scream: 'Judicious? This one!?', and then she added: "Always feel free to come back to this town whenever you want. And you too, Vee"

Vee rolled her eyes. "Um... me? Can I really? I mean... here, with who I am... and after what my kind has done..."

"We humans may have many flaws, but we are not ungrateful... at least not always" the Inspector said. "You may be a basilisk, you may be a relative of the one who did so much harm, but you are good and you helped save us all. The doors of this town will always be open to you, and if you ever need help or justice, here you will find it"

Vee was speechless for a second, then a smile appeared on her face. "I don't know how to thank you" she said, bowing slightly.

"We are the ones who have you to thank" Masha said, patting her on the shoulder. "I hope you'll come back one day"

"Oh, we'll definitely be back. I'm sure she still has a lot of things to do here, especially with you... OUCH!" Luz couldn't finish her sentence before Vee elbowed her in the belly, not caring that she too got hurt because she had just hit a wooden surface.

The Inspector chuckled at that. "Ah, you youngsters... enjoy your life from now on, you have already faced enough problems. Now I have to go, I have other things to do. If you ever need me, you know where to find me" and with that she turned and returned to the court.

As soon as they were alone again, Masha put their arm around Vee's neck. "See? We're not all so bad" they said. "And apparently, this town is now one of the few that accepts a basilisk as something normal, and it's all thanks to you. I afmit that you impressed me. You were really brave about… you know, transforming on that roof, in front of everyone… "

"Um... I acted on impulse!" Vee exclaimed, hoping that Masha wasn't noticing how her face was flushing and how fast her heart was beating. "More important, what will you do now that there is no longer any need for resistance?"

Masha shrugged. "I haven't thought about it yet. Many of the resistance members have already returned to their old lives. I... I think I'll first go to the woods and thank the Bat Queen for the hospitality she's given us over the past few months, and then I'll go find myself some jobs. I wouldn't mind working in a museum or a library. Oh, and of course I'll go back to my studies..."

Masha might have continued a little longer, but she stopped when she saw Flapjack flying towards them and chirping something. "I don't understand the Palismen language, but I think he's beckoning us to follow him"

"Yeah. Hunter is probably leaving" Luz said. Now that there was no longer a greater basilisk to hunt there was also no longer any reason for the blond boy to stay in that town; in fact, it was already a long time that he had waited an entire day and night. "Let's go and wish him a good voyage"

The group followed Flapjack to what remained of the central square, in the middle of which there was still the corpse of the dead greater basilisk. Hunter was there, and he still hadn't taken off his golden mask; for some reason, he didn't seem to want to risk too many people remembering his face. "Oh, there you are" he said as soon as he saw them. He stayed silent for some instants, then he said: "I'm afraid this is goodbye"

"Do you really have to leave?" Willow exclaimed as she jumped onto the boy's hand. To Luz's surprise and a little less to Gus's, she seemed to be quite sad about it.

Hunter sighed. "We knew it would end like this. Now I have to go back to my life and you to yours. But... thanks for convincing me, at least for once, to do things differently" he said looking at Luz, and then he turned to Vee. "Sorry if I didn't keep my promise. Believe me, it wasn't my intention to kill..."

"You didn't" Vee stopped him with a slightly shaky voice. "What I wanted was for no one to become a murderer because of... her, and so it was. In the end her fate was written by her own hand. You don't need to reproach yourself, you kept your promise"

Although he didn't show it, Hunter felt quite relieved. "Listen... about my trophy, I was thinking about pulling a tooth of hers and..."

"You can take the whole body" Vee said to him.

Hunter was surprised. "Are you sure?"

Vee nodded. "I don't intend to give that monster a burial, she doesn't deserve one. You can expose her in the main wall of your house if you want, it will be a much more suitable fate for her"

Vee had decided to put the past behind her, but she would never forgive her aunt. She wouldn't let her influence her anymore, but she wouldn't even bother organizing a funeral for her. And since she was pretty sure no one in town would want to do that, she might as well leave the body with Hunter and so give him the trophy he wanted so much.

Hunter was silent for a second, then he nodded. "Okay" he said, and then he moved his staff and using what little magic he had left enveloped the greater basilisk's body in a red aura that lifted it off the ground. Then he sat in his staff, ready to go, and he looked at Luz, Masha and Vee. "So… this is goodbye. I admit that I enjoyed meeting you, even if we will never see each other again"

"And who says that? Maybe we'll see each other again one day" Luz said with a little laugh, then she added: "But we'll miss you. Even if I remain of the idea that you have a cabbage instead of brains"

"And I remain of the opinion that you are a bad girl. But after all you are right, never say never" Hunter replied, and then he looked at Willow and Gus: "It was a pleasure meeting you two too. Especially you, cricket... you have much more courage than many people"

Normally Willow would have puffed out her chest with pride, but in that moment all she did was blush and smile. Gus noticed this and an amused grin formed on his face, but he didn't say anything so as not to ruin the moment.

Hunter was about to tap his stirrup, when suddenly Flapjack flew in front of his eyes. The two stared at each other for a moment, then Hunter lowered his head in defeat. "Okay, you win. You can come with me" he said. "But if you get in my way even once, I will abandon you in the first hollow tree I'll find"

Flapjack gave no sign of even hearing the last sentence and simply chirped happily and perched on his new master's shoulder. And despite how sternly Hunter had spoken to him, he still scratched him on the head. "Well, what can I say... it was nice, guys. See you then. Byeeee!" and with that last salute he gave the staff a blow, and an instant later he flew away and disappeared into the sky.

"Do you think we'll see him again?" Willow murmured with a strange note in her voice.

"Who knows? The world isn't that big after all" Gus replied, then he nudged her a little. "And then... it's well known that soul mates always meet, right?"

Willow turned so red she could have been mistaken for a poppy. "What are you ranting about?" she exclaimed, but Gus didn't answer her and just looked at her with a mischievous smile.

Luz didn't know why her two little friends were fighting, but she decided it was best not to interfere at the moment. "Well... I think we should go too" she said to Vee. "We'll have to walk for a while to reach Eda's house, and surely my mother when she will see me return and will meet you will want to pamper us"

"And maybe give you a few slaps too" Gus whispered in her ear.

"And you deserve it all" Willow added.

Luz ignored them. "Then we go?"

"Gladly! I can't wait to finally meet your mom! Well... my mom, now" Vee said. She still had to get used to the idea of joining the family. But despite this, she felt over the moon like never in her young existence: finally the long nightmare was over and she could wake up and start truly living, and she wanted to savor every possibility that life would give her from then on. That thought reminded her of something, so she armed herself with courage and turned to Masha: "Um... listen..."

"Yes, Vee?" Masha asked her with a smile.

Vee swallowed, then she steeled herself: "Look, since probably in the future... we'll come here again... sooner or later... would you like if... the two of us... well..."

"Yes, I want to go out with you" Masha anticipated her. "You don't need to try that hard"

The power of Masha's intuition shocked Vee. "Uh... how...?"

"You're not very good at hiding a crush" Masha replied. "And personally, I don't dislike you at all. I think you're the nicest, sweetest and kindest person I've ever met. Of course I want a date with such rare jewel"

Vee looked like she was about to faint. "Really? Seriously? Well... then it's decided! Eh eh! Well... I'm not very experienced in dating, so I apologize in advance if you have to give me some suggestions from time to time..."

"There is nothing to suggest, you just have to take me to a nice place where you can eat well and then be yourself. You don't need anything else" Masha answered. They never thought the day would come when they would have to explain how to behave on a date to the one who asked them out, but strangely that only made Vee prettier in their eyes. "Nearby there is a restaurant that used to make delicious crepes, but was then closed due to a scam. Now that all the criminals have finally been arrested, the owner has reopened and to celebrate is offering free food all day. If you want when you'll come back we could go there, even if by then we'll have to pay..."

"Go there now!" Luz shouted, interjecting into the conversation.

Vee looked at her confused. "But... now we have to go to..."

"I'll go to my mother and Eda! I'll talk to her about you, and then we'll come and get you... shall we do this tonight? Then you two will have time to have fun!" Luz replied. "Remember what I told you? No more missed opportunities! So now grab that girl and take her for free crepes!"

Vee looked doubtful. "Are... are you sure? Your mother won't be angry if I'm not with you...?"

"With all the things I've done to her, you certainly won't be the target of her anger" Luz said, then she gave the basilisk an encouraging look. "Go and have fun, Vee. I'll talk to mom"

"And we'll make sure she doesn't change her way this time" Gus interjected.

"Yeah, if she tries that again I'll punch her" Willow added, and from the tone of her voice they could tell she wasn't joking at all.

Luz was offended: "Oh, come on, don't you think you're exaggerating now? After all, I only did it..."

"Three times. First when you had to go to school, then when you had to go home, then when you had to go meet your mother. Simply put, every single time you had a path to follow" Willow reminded her. "So no, we're not exaggerating"

Luz scratched her head a little ashamedly, but Vee's sweet laughter restored her good mood. "Okay, I trust you, Luz. See you tonight, then!"

"Perfect! Have fun, girls! And you, behave yourself to my sister! Oh, and Masha, in case you manage to find a boy named Braxas, let him know that his father says hello and apologizes to him!" Luz exclaimed, then she ran away towards the woods and the Owl House, leaving the two new lovebirds alone.

Even though I specified it in the previous chapters, I want to reiterate it in case anyone doesn't remember it: in Collodi's original story, Pinocchio remains in prison for four months before being freed, and then he immediately returns to the fairy's house, meeting furthermore, a large snake along the way which then dies alone because it laughs too much (I specified this detail in the previous chapter); in this AU the story is very different, Luz stays away from Eda only for a few days, meets many friends, manages to obtain justice (even if only partially) and defeat the greater basilisk (which is the counterpart of Pinocchio's snake). From this moment on, the narrative arc I invented ends and we return to basing ourselves on Collodi's canon. Don't worry, the fact that Luz is returning to Eda alone doesn't mean that she will abandon Vee, also because Luz would never be capable of doing something like that. And Hunter too, it's not the last time we'll see him. Simply, the story will continue taking into account the addition of these new characters. I would like to specify that this will not be the only narrative arc I invented, given that otherwise it would have been impossible to introduce all the characters of The Owl House (I had also specified this in the description); therefore get ready to see other arcs completely invented by me, even if the narrative thread will still be that of the story of Pinocchio.