Luz Clawthorne: Two Worlds, One Family Chapter 134: Burning of the Torsa Villa, an owl house fanfic

...Don't say I didn't warn you that this chapter's going to be heavy.

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

Chapter 134: The Burning of the Torsa Villa

Everyone was still outside Hexside when a few witches noticed an airship coming straight towards them.

"Look!" Elliot shouted as he pointed up.

"Did they send out reinforcements?!" Tamme asked with a narrow look.

"With all of us here, we'll be prepared for whatever they want to throw at us," Cat declared as everyone prepared themselves for the worst as the airship hovered down to the ground. They saw the ramp drop as someone stepped off.

"Wait! Wait, don't attack!"

Much to everyone's surprise, Odalia and Geist got off the airship.

"Odalia? Geist?" Bump was the first to ask.

"Mom/Uncle Geist!" Edric and Emira shouted as they rushed over to the two, hugging them.

"You two were late to the action," Emira said, though she didn't sound mad.

"Sorry that we were late. We had to go through a lot to get this baby," Geist said.

"What is with the airship anyway?" Edric asked.

"This airship is to help evacuate the school," Odalia told them. "Thanks to Alador, we managed to commandeer it and bring it here."

Everyone looked confused by this before Swan asked. "Evacuation? What do you mean?"

"The students at St. Epiderm have managed to repel the Emperor's Coven from their school and are now fortifying themselves there," Geist explained.

"All of you can join us to take shelter at St. Epiderm," Odalia told them. "It'd be much safer-"

"W-wait a second, Mrs. Blight, or Ms. Grunhar… Ms. Odalia," Cat spoke up to Odalia, getting in front of everyone. "I can't just leave Hexside behind. We fought for this school. We need to protect it."

"Cat, we know how much this school means to you all, it means so much to us as well," Odalia told her as she gave a sigh. "But St. Epiderm will be easier than Hexside to defend against a rebuttal from the Emperor's Coven."

"She's right," Geist said. "St. Epiderm is a fortress built into the side of a mountain. It'll be harder to reach and harder to get into, making it the ideal place to make a stand against the Emperor's Coven. Plus, with students from both schools, we would be stronger."

Cat looked back at Hexside. As much as she wanted to stay and defend the school, she realized that Odalia and Geist were right. She hated the idea of evacuation, especially after they secured a victory against the Emperor's Coven, but holding St. Epiderm would be easier to hold than Hexside, which was a far more vulnerable location. She sighed.

"Alright, you got a point," Cat told them as she turned to everyone. "Alright everyone, we're going to have to evacuate to St. Epiderm! Adults and teachers, help to gather the bus-griffins for everyone to get in!"

"On it, Commander Cat," Bump said as he turned to the teaching staff and the PCA. "You heard her, gather all the buses!"

"And everyone who can fit, get on the airship!" Geist instructed as Amelia led the baby classes and younger students to get on the airship first.

The teachers and other adults followed Rupert, who whistled for the larger griffins that were used like the buses. After the larger griffins were awake, the teachers and adults got the students lined up to board them.

As Odalia oversaw the evacuation, she noticed Felicia, who was being escorted by Bo and checked up by Mark. Seeing her injuries shocked the woman, who couldn't help but feel pity.

"What happened to her?" Odalia asked as she came over.

"Her mother did this," Mark said, causing Odalia's eyes to widen as she realized that Felicity was responsible. "Her left ear was pierced and stomped by a heel, and her arm was mangled. She'll need a cast."

"Oh dear…" Odalia said. While she knew that Felicity was an unpleasant witch, she never thought that she'd mangle her own daughter. She knelt down, getting on Felicity's level. "Dear, are you alright?"

"I will be, thanks for asking, Ms. Odalia," Felicia said, nodding. "I've told everyone else this, but the Emperor's Coven is planning to use a Draining Spell…"

Odalia sighed. "I know. I just found out about it myself. But don't worry, it will be stopped," she reassured Felicia. She touched her shoulder gently. "And we'll make sure your mom doesn't hurt anyone ever again."

Felicia looked up to Odalia, tears in her eyes. "Thank you…"

As everyone was being loaded into the vehicles, Nina still hadn't moved. She was just staring down at her scroll, looking in a panic. Skara tried to move her.

"Nina, come on!" Skara said while trying to pull her. "The airship's full, but we can still take the bus."

"I'm not going to the bus," Nina told her, finally speaking as she summoned Tugs and turned him into a staff. "I'm going to the Villa!"

"What?! But Nina-" Skara tried to say before she saw the werecat take off and fly away from the campus. "Nina!"

"What's going on, Skara?" Slasher asked as he and Willow walked up to her.

"Nina is heading for the Torsa Villa," Skara explained to them, her voice concerned. "I think… she's going to save her family there."

"We have to follow her," Slasher said while Willow nodded in agreement.

"Slash, Willow," Sully spoke up as he, Gilbert, and Amelia walked towards them. "Aren't you guys going to get on a bus?"

"You guys can go ahead without us. Something came up," Willow said as she summoned her staff, while Skara summoned hers. Slasher got behind his daughter.

"We'll meet you guys at St. Epiderm," Slasher told them as Skara and Willow used their staffs to get off the ground and follow Nina.

Amelia looked up to them, spotting Nina in the distance. "Be careful, guys…" she whispered.

Meanwhile, at the Emperor's Castle, the trio of Emily, Le'Belle, and Alburno were in the training room, waiting for the rest of BIG to return from their missions. Alburno and Emily were both sitting down, while Le'Belle was pacing. She looked over at Emily with a worried expression, noting that she hasn't said a word since what went down at Hexside. Emily just sat there with a blank look, looking down on her own boots while holding a healing patch on the side of her face.

"Hey, Emily," Le'Belle said as she walked over to her. "How are you feeling right now?" Emily didn't reply, which didn't ease Le'Belle's worries. "Look, you don't have to talk about what happened at Hexside. We can talk about other things that you're comfortable with. Just… please say something."

Emily didn't reply. She didn't even acknowledge Le'Belle. As Le'Belle looked at Emily, she heard Alburno clearing his throat. She looked to him as he tilted his head to signal to her that someone was coming. Turning to the doorway of the training room, she saw Leonte coming in along with Thunder and Joana. The captain had a sour look on his face.

"Captain Leonte, sir," Alburno said as he stood up, him and Le'Belle standing at attention. Emily didn't even react.

"At ease," Leonte told them, not caring that Emily didn't stand before him. "What happened at Hexside, Le'Belle? I heard that Head Witch Graye went down…"

"Well, sir…" Le'Belle looked nervous, noticing that Thunder and Joana seemed uneasy around the captain. She didn't want to get Emily in trouble, nor did she want to mention what she and other scouts ended up learning Graye's dark secret… and his true relations with Emily. She glanced at Emily before looking back at her captain. "Graye was performing some spells that… backfired on himself. He was left in a catatonic state, right now he is at the Healing Coven."

"I can vouch Le'Belle's statement, sir," Alburno interjected. "Graye looked pretty banged up…"

"Did either of you see Luz Clawthorne or Amity Goodfellow at Hexside?" Leonte asked them next, moving on from Graye.

"No, sir, I have not," Le'Belle told us.

"None of us saw them, which was quite surprising," Alburno said. "Although, some of our scouts reported that they were attacked by a shadow, so it may have belonged to Amity."

"What about St. Epiderm, sir?" Le'Belle asked him. "How did things go down there?"

"Did you catch the vigilantes there?" Alburno asked.

"We captured none of the LOWTH members," Leonte growled. "We exposed and ambushed them while they were at an assembly, but they managed to cause a distraction and hide themselves. While we were searching for them, LOWTH organized a counter-attack and drove us out of the school, taking out two of our Coven Heads and Minister Sham in the process. Like Graye, Cutburn and Breathton are both recovering in the Healing Coven. But this… is not a good look for the Emperor's Coven, being driven back by children."

"So um, what do we do about Hexside and St. Epiderm, sir?" Joana asked him.

"Right now, they're not our top priority," Leonte told the BIG members, shaking his head. "I've just received new orders from the Emperor himself. Tell me, did any of you wonder why the Golden Guard didn't join us this morning?"

They looked at each other before Le'Belle answered. "We don't know…"

"I assumed he got sick or something," Thunder said.

"Well, it's because the Golden Guard went missing last night," Leonte explained. "And we just discovered that he was kidnapped by the Clawthornes." This surprised all of them, especially Emily, who actually looked up when she heard this. "So as of now, our new mission is to find the Golden Guard and arrest the Clawthornes and anyone aiding them. Teams have been sent to the Owl House, to the home of Gwendolyn and Dell Clawthorne, to the Palm Stings ranch belonging to the Clawthornes, and to the orphanage currently run by Eda Clawthorne, which I'll be going to check there first."

As he said this, Thunder and Joana gave each other looks of concern. They remembered when Donna asked Leonte if he would brand the orphans and he confirmed that he would. Branding teenagers was one thing. But orphaned witchlings?

"Guys!" Scameron shouted as he burst through the doors with a panicked look, getting everyone's attention.

"Scameron? What's wrong?" Le'Belle asked.

"Why do you look troubled, little scout?" Alburno asked.

"Something's going down at the Torsa Villa!" Scameron informed them, shocking Emily.

"What?!" Emily spoke up, finally rising from her chair. "What do you mean by that, Scameron?!"

"There was a breaking news alert about the Torsa Villa," Scameron told her. "Right now, it's on fire. We don't know what caused it, but they say it's spreading! Those werecats are in danger!"

Everyone looked shocked by this.

"Oh man, that's not good at all," Thunder said with a worried look.

"Yeah," Joana responded, looking down. "Those poor werecats…"

"My Titan…" Le'Belle said as she covered her mouth, shaken by the news.

Leonte, however, was more bothered by the fact that he noticed someone missing. "What happened to Ms. Marlo?"

"Oh, I was told that she was put in the Healing Coven after she got injured by a student back at Merlin Meadows," Scameron mentioned. "But forget that we have to assist the Torsa Villa, since a lot of lives are in danger if the fire isn't stopped!"

"I agree," Le'Belle said with a nod and a determined look. "We can't let this happen."

"Nina's village… we need to go and help," Emily said with a worried tone.

"I'm game for a rescue mission," Thunder said as Joana nodded.

"Enough!" Leonte shouted, shocking everyone as he put a stop to this. He looked annoyed. "May I remind you all that we have a mission from Belos himself. That is our top priority. Especially since we already failed him this morning. Finding Hunter and bringing him back is our chance to redeem ourselves."

"But what about the Torsa Villa, sir?" Joana asked him.

"As unfortunate as what is happening at the reservation is, it's just a distraction," Leonte told them dismissively.

This irked Emily, who looked angry. "A distraction?! With all due respect, sir, but I'm going against this mission."

"And why, pray tell, Ms. Tricks?" Leonte asked condescendingly.

"For one, I don't believe the Clawthornes would kidnap Hunter. It just doesn't make any sense," Emily pointed out. "It's really not their style. The Owl Lady and Luz are a lot of things, but not kidnappers. Second, the burning of the Torsa Villa is much more important. Hell, the Emperor's Coven has never taken the safety of the Villa seriously, they cared more about discouraging werecats from leaving than-"

"Watch what you say very carefully, Ms. Tricks," Leonte warned, his gaze narrowing on her. However, Emily didn't look intimidated by him.

"I actually agree with Emily on this, sir," Le'Belle said, getting Leonte and Emily to both look at her. The former looked shocked and the latter looked relieved. "The whole point of B.I.G. is that we're supposed to protect the Boiling Isles. Right now, innocent witch lives are at stake."

"Hunter would never want us to find him over saving lives," Scameron pointed out. "I don't think we'd ever live it down…"

Leonte looked between them in disbelief as he gave a frustrated sigh. "Look, just leave this to the other scouts? The scouts stationed there and the Fire Coven can deal with this."

"But what if it's not enough?" Le'Belle asked him.

Leonte felt his frustration with the group rise. But he knew that he didn't have the time nor the patience to continue to argue. "Well, if you want to be bleeding hearts over this, go ahead," he said, sounding exasperated. "I'll deal with your disobedience later. But I'm going to the orphanage and anyone who wants to do their actual job will come with me." He then stormed out of the training room, leaving BIG to make a choice.

"Leonte's even madder than before…" Joana said.

"Well, I'm coming to the Torsa Villa with you two if you're planning to go," Scameron said, siding with Emily and Le'Belle. "If I have to suffer the consequences for it, so be it."

"Great choice, Scameron," Le'Belle told him while turning to Emily. She still looked worried for the young girl. "Emily, are you sure you're up for this?"

Emily gave her a reaffirming nod. "I am. I have been to the Torsa Villa before. I know Nina's family. I can't let them die." She looked at the rest. "What about you guys?"

"We wish we could help, but we're going with Leonte," Joana explained. "Someone has to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't brand any orphans."

"Yeah, especially since he's gone a bit cuckoo for Clawthornes lately," Thunder added.

"And that leaves you… Alburno," Le'Belle said while turning to the Red Scout, who had been silent throughout the entire argument. "Are you coming with us, or Leonte?"

Alburno looked contemplative for a moment before letting out a sigh and shaking his head. "I wouldn't be of much help. I start fires, I don't put them out. I'll assist Joana and Thunder and keep an eye on Leonte, but… I do wish you three good luck," he told Le'Belle, Emily, and Scameron. He sounded genuine. "Go save as many as you can."

The three gave nods before the members of BIG split into two groups to go on their own missions, hoping they would be able to make a difference.

At the Torsa Villa… it was all in flames.

The fire had spread quickly. And the smoke had spread even faster, making it harder to breathe and see. But besides flames and smoke, the treehouse village was also filled… with screams. The Litterbox was just one of many buildings that had burst into flames, its teen occupants fleeing from it for their lives. But of course, not everyone was as lucky, especially since the fires had started without warning and had spread so quickly.

The scouts that were stationed at the Villa were trying to help with the situation. Carter and Bowen were amongst the scouts using water and ice magic to put out the flames, although because of the size of the Villa and how fast the flames spread, they couldn't be everywhere.

"This is so crazy, man!" Bowen screamed as he tried to put out some of the games. "How in the Titan did this happen?!"

"I don't know, but we have to save as many cats as we can!" Carter declared while fighting the flames, not caring if it was a hopeless battle or not. He saw the flaming sparks around him and then noticed something flying around. His eyes widened from underneath his mask when he saw the flying insect that was unaffected by the flames.

That insect… was a firebee.

In another part of the Villa, a lone witch was walking through the flames. This masked witch was looking around at his work. His magnum opus. Firebees were crawling around under his dark trench coat and he gave a wicked smile as he saw his flames consuming the nearby trees, the crackling of the flames mixing with the sounds of dying screams.

"Yes…" he said while grinning. "My lovely flames… Flames of the Titan, this is my best work!" he declares while unleashing more of his firebees from his coat. They spread throughout the forest, causing more fires and more death. He noticed a werecat running away and he sent his firebees towards that werecat, setting him aflame…

Firebees watched as the werecat writhed on the ground, screaming as he was burned alive. When he stopped moving and screaming, Firebees moved on. His work wasn't done, not even close…

At another part of the Villa, several members of the Villa were attempting to organize rescue efforts. Rosie and her band tried to run as a fallen tree branch fell over to them. When Song fell down, Rosie and Dawn went to help her. As they looked up at the branch about to crush them, Chelsea appeared and grabbed the three of them, bringing them over to Jageera.

"You girls alright?" Jageera asked.

"Y-Yes, Mr. Jageera!" Song shouted while Chelsea set them down.

Around them, Tony was using his construction magic to put out the flames using the dirt. Mao drew her spell circles to put out the flames with water magic, while Banjo held up a fire-extinguisher. Chelsea and Jageera joined them with the Dirty Rats band.

"We found more, Mao," Jageera said, pointing to the girls.

"Don't stop! Find more!" Mao shouted while trying to control the situation.

Chelsea nodded and used her speed to run around the fiery forest, looking for more that needed help. But as she ran through the forest, she started to see bodies. More and more bodies. She came to a stop in front of some scorched corpses. She began to back away, feeling overwhelmed. All of this… it was too much for her.

"Holy…" She was having trouble breathing, not just from the smoke that made her eyes water. All around her she could see dead werecats, killed either by the fire or the smoke. "What…" She didn't realize that a falling branch was about to crush her as it headed straight down to her. Luckily, someone on a staff caught Chelsea in time.

"Chelsea!" Nina shouted as she grabbed her fellow werecat. "Chelsea, snap out of it!"

"Huh, what?" Chelsea asked as she saw Nina. "Nina?!"

"I'm here," Nina told her before Chelsea went to hug the werecat, starting to cry.

"I-I don't know how this happened," Chelsea cried as she teared up. "Everyone was preparing for the Day of Unity, until suddenly there were… explosions…" She looked around them. "So many are dead already…"

Nina patted her back, holding the spotted werecat. "Chelsea, listen, I know that this is a lot. But I need you to calm down. Just… look at me." Chelsea managed to nod as she looked at Nina "I need to know… where is my family?"

Above the Villa and the smoke were the airships of the Fire Coven. The one leading them was commanded by Dale.

"Alright dudes, listen up!" Dale shouted. "Use water and dirt spells to put out the flames! We can't let the fire spread to the rest of the Isles! Let's make it rain, people!"

The Fire Coven scouts nodded before they began to use hoses to spray at the flames while large buckets of water were leveled down form the airships to pour over the parts of the Villa. While this went on, Dale noticed three witches flying down to the Villa.

"Hey! Don't go down there!" Dale shouted to them.

"Sorry, but my sister's down there trying to get her family out!" Skara shouted back as she and Slasher flew down along with Willow.

"Wait!" Dale shouted, but the smoke had already swallowed them up. "Oh man…"

The three flew through the Villa, seeing that there were flames and smoke everywhere. And of course, Nina was nowhere in sight.

"Help!"

Willow heard the cry of a mother werecat holding onto her wife and son. Willow flew over to them, seeing them trapped in their tree home. "Hang on!" she shouted while her eyes glowed green. New roots appeared, moving the debris away from the trapped family. Even though the flames caught on the new roots, which made Willow feel the burns, she used her plant magic to create a large vine for the couple and their son to grab onto. "Grab it! I'll pull you to safety!"

While Willow saved the family, Skara and Slasher spotted a lost werekitten running around. Skara hovered down so Slasher could up the young werekitten before they hovered back up.

"Are you alright, kid?" he asked.

"I… I can't find my mommy and daddy anywhere!" she cried while hugging Slasher.

"Tell us where you last saw them," Skara suggested.

"Over there," she said, pointing at a part of the forest as they flew through the flames to find the werekitten's parents.

Back up in the sky, Dale spotted another airship coming at them. They flew over next to Dale's airship. Hugh was piloting it.

"Here's your stop," Hugh told them.

"Thanks, Hugh," Scameron said as Le'Belle grabbed hold of him and hopped off their airship to Dale's while Emily flew over by her staff.

"Glad to see BIG's here," Dale said. "Wait, is that all of you guys?"

"Sorry, Dale, it's just us three," Le'Belle told him, being familiar with him.

"What's the current situation with the fire?" Emily asked him.

"Well, we've been putting them out as many of them as we can," Dale informed them. "But with every fire we put out, two more seem to start."

The three looked down at the expanding inferno that had engulfed the forest. Le'Belle and Scameron looked horrified upon seeing the devastation. All of the tree homes, all of the werecat witches, being burned to the ground…

"How… may have…?" Scameron asked, his voice breaking.

Le'Belle covered where her mouth was on the mask, trying to hold it together. "There… has to be survivors…" She then noticed Emily standing on the edge of the airship before leaping off and falling toward the Villa. "Emily!" she shouted, rushing over to the side of the airship. She looked down and saw Emily vanish into the smoke.

"Did she just jump in?!" Dale asked in shock.

Scameron gripped the railing and shook his head. "Come on, we have to follow and help," he said to Le'Belle.

She gave him a nod, shaking herself out of her shock. The two leapt off from the airship, heading down as Scameron bubbled himself while Le'Belle leapt from tree to tree.

At Crane's orphanage, there were already scouts around. They had found the orphanage empty, with no kids (or dograptor) in sight. The only one that was in the building was Ms. Hicky, who was blowing her cigarette.

"You know, this place was finally quiet until you scouts show up here," Ms. Hicky said while Leonte sat in front of her across the table.

"Where are the orphans, Ms. Hickleton?" Leonte demanded to know. "Why are they not in the home?"

"They're on a field trip with Ban," Ms. Hicky told him while leaning back.

"To where?" he asked her.

"You expect this tired old spinster to know?" she asked him with a shrug while blowing smoke. "It's not every day I get to smoke without the kids around."

"Where are the kids, Ms. Hickleton?!" Leonte demanded to know as he slammed his hands against the table. "Did you get in contact with Eda?!"

"She hasn't been here since she went to her family reunion," she told him with a dry look.

"You tell me where those orphans are, or else you will be held accountable and imprisoned," Leonte threatened. "Perhaps you will even get petrified, if you're so complacent in this trafficking scheme…"

"So that's the story you want to spin?" Ms. Hicky asked while looking at him with a bored look. "What happened to you, Leonte? You used to be a well mannered boy back in the orphanage, but now you're just filled with anger. Each time you visit, you look like you want to hurt someone or snap their neck. If Scooter were still alive, he'd be very displeased with you acting like this."

Leonte snarled as he got up, looking like he was about to attack Ms. Hicky. Until Joana and Thunder pulled him back while Alburno got in front of him.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down, captain," Alburno told him.

"Let me go!" Leonte barked at them as Thunder and Joana used their strength to hold him back.

"I believe not, sir," Alburno told him in a calm voice as he nodded at the two to make him sit down. "I need you to calm down. Last thing we need is an incident." He turned to Ms. Hicky. "Now, ma'am, we just want to know if you or any of your staff have seen or gotten in contact with Eda recently," he told her gently.

Ms. Hicky looked at Alburno. "You're quite the charmer, and a heartbreaker, I can tell," she commented with a smirk. "But no, I haven't gotten in contact with Eda or anyone. Ban just took the kids on a field trip."

"Did this… Ban got in contact with Eda or someone before he took those kids on the trip?" Alburno asked her.

"I think he did get a call, but I don't know if it was Eda, no one has heard from her since she left," she told him. "That's all I know. If you plan on taking me in, go ahead, I could use a vacation… or a retirement."

"That would be all, ma'am," Alburno replied with a nod before he turned to Leonte. "See? No need for violence."

Leonte just gave a stern look to Ms. Hicky as he stood up. "Arrest her anyway," he ordered as scouts came from the side to grab Ms. Hicky's arms and lead her away.

The three BIG members looked at each other before they followed their captain out of the room. Joana spoke up. "Hey um, Captain, are you-"

"I did not ask you three to interfere with my interrogation!" Leonte scolded them while turning to Alburno. "I was going to make her talk…"

"By beating up an old lady who takes care of the orphans?" Alburno pointed out. "Sir, the last thing we need is to look any worse than we do after our failures this morning."

"Yeah," Thunder agreed. "And you've been on edge a lot lately, we can't help but be concerned."

"There's nothing to be concerned about," Leonte said dismissively.

"The scouts said that you choked a student, sir," Joana pointed out. "Sure, she was a vigilante, but you still assaulted a minor. Though to be fair, we all took part in fighting those kids… are we really the good guys?"

Leonte shot her a glare before sighing in frustration, deciding to not waste time with them. He turned around and grabbed a crystal ball, contacting a scout. "This is Captain Leonte reporting to the Coven Precinct at Palm Stings. I need a status report about the Clawthorne Ranch."

Back at the Villa, the flames continued to consume the reserves as the scouts fought to put them out. Already a few of them had fallen victim to the fire as well. As the battle against the flames raged, scout captain showed up riding on a snorse.

"Attention, all scouts!" the captain called out to them. "I am ordering a full withdrawal from the Villa. We are to pull back and keep the fire from spreading, rather than continue to waste our lives going into the fray. Saving the Villa is a losing battle." He looked up to the flaming trees as he continued. "We should let the fire run its course, focus on maintaining a perimeter to make sure the fire doesn't spread to the rest of the Isles."

"What?!" Carter shouted as he and Bowen ran up to the captain. "So we're just going to… leave the werecats behind to burn?"

"Doesn't that seem a little cruel?" Bowen asked him.

"The fire will continue to grow no matter how hard you try to stop it, gentlemen," he told them. "That much is evident at this point."

"But it's our job to protect the Villa!" Carter pointed out.

The captain looked down at Carter, who could feel the captain's disapproving gaze behind his mask. "Our job is to watch the Villa," he corrected him with a stern tone, something Carter did not like. "I advise you to retreat as ordered, scout. Don't waste your energy and time on a pointless fight and a lost cause."

Carter glared at him underneath his mask while the captain rode away on his snorse to inform other scouts of his orders. Most of the scouts obeyed this new order, abandoning their efforts to save the Villa and instead heading back to the borders.

Carter tightened his fist, but he didn't move. Instead, he, Bowen, and a few other scouts that didn't follow the rest stood where they were. He looked back at the Villa, still in a blaze. "You know what? Fuck it, I'm going to try to stop the fire," he said as he went toward the flames.

"We're coming too, pal!" Bowen shouted as he and a few scouts followed him.

"Like we're going to ignore all of this!" one scout declared.

"We have to stop the fire and save those werecats," another said.

"We will," Carter declared while drawing spell circles to disperse the flames. "Cause we didn't sign up to run away…"

Nina and Chelsea were running through the flaming forest until they came across the one tree home they had been looking for.

"No…" Nina said while looking up at her old tree home… which was currently engulfed in flames.

"Dear Titan, no…" Chelsea gasped before she saw Nina climbing up the tree. "Nina, wait!"

Nina ignored her as she climbed up the tree despite all the flames that were around. She had to save her family. She had to make sure that they were alive…

She made it to the tree home, kicking down the front door and rushing inside to look around. She coughed as she tried to navigate through the flames and the smoke that were inside the house. "Mom! Buttons! Ralph! Cally! West! Winter! Max!" she shouted as she searched. She made it to the hallway before she stopped dead in her tracks…

There were two charred bodies on the floor. Bodies of her siblings…

"No…" Nina said, choking up. Her hands were shaking as she stared down at the bodies. She wasn't even able to tell whose bodies they were anymore. But before she could lose herself to despair, her ears picked up a faint noise…

"Help us! Someone!"

Nina gasped. It sounded weak, it still filled her with determination. If some of her family was still alive, then she had to save them!

She searched through the house, shouting for her family and trying to hear the voice again. She checked every room, including her old room, which had been ablaze. She couldn't care less about the state of her room… until she saw that there was someone in it. The body was burned, but she could still recognize it.

It was Cally. Her sister. On the desk. Dead.

Nina took a step back, horrified. She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream. And yet…

"Help!"

"I'm coming!" Nina shouted as she ran through the house, passing by another dead body. She knew she had to ignore her dead family, so that she can focus on her still living family instead. But as she took another step… the floor beneath her broke. "NOO!" she shouted as she fell toward the flames below… until she was grabbed by her shirt. Nina looked up to her savior and saw that it was, much to her surprise, it was Banjo.

"Hang on, Nina!" Banjo declared as she pulled Nina up with Chelsea's help.

"Banjo?" Nina asked until she saw Chelsea. "You two came in after me?"

"Yeah," Chelsea said. "I… also saw the bodies, Nina. I'm so sorry…"

Nina resisted tearing up, but her eyes still managed to leak.. "Thank you..."

"We better get out of here, quickly," Banjo said while pointing up the ceiling which threatened to collapse on top of them. "This whole place is falling apart!"

"We have to go!" Chelsea shouted, but Nina pulled away. "Nina!"

"There's someone still alive in here!" Nina told them, surprising the two. "We need to find them!"

"Which rooms haven't been checked yet?" Chelsea asked her.

"We have to go further down!" Nina told her as the three ran through the house, fighting through the flames and the smoke as they continued their desperate search

Nina heard the faint weak voice cry "Help!" from behind one door. She formed her arm into a gorilla's and punched the door down. She, Chelsea, and Banjo entered the room and saw Pam, who was holding onto West and Winter.

"Nina!" the twins shouted to her.

"Mom! West! Winter!" Nina shouted as she rushed over, Chelsea and Banjo joining her.

"Come on, we'll help you all get out of here," Chelsea said as she and Nina helped Pam get up while Banjo carried the twins.

Once they were out of the room, they tried to navigate their way back out of the house despite the challenge posed by the flames and the smoke. The twins coughed while Banjo held onto them as they searched for a way out.

"This place… it's getting… harder to breathe…" Pam said, her voice getting weaker.

"Stay… awake, mom," Nina begged while looking at Chelsea, who was out of breath.

"Ran… too much," Chelsea said, coughing as well from the smoke getting into her lungs.

"Come on, come on," Banjo said while holding the twins and glancing worriedly at the ceiling, which could fall down at any minute.

"Over there!" Nina shouted, pointing to the front entrance. Unfortunately, first they would have to pass through a doorway that was about to give.

Banjo gave a determined look as she placed West and Winter into Chelsea's arms. "Hold them," she said before rushing over to hold up the doorway before it fell. "Go! Get them out of here!"

Nina and Chelsea helped Pam and the twins, passing by Banjo who was using her strength to hold up the house. Once Nina and Chelsea got Pam and the twins out of the house, Nina turned back to Banjo.

"Banjo! Grab on!" Nina shouted as she formed her arm into a tentacle, reaching towards the scorpion-werecat hybrid…

But that was when the roof finally caved in. Banjo, realizing what was going to happen, looked at Nina. Their eyes met. Banjo gave her one last smile… and then the roof caved on top of her, burying Banjo in burning rubble before the entire Fangs Tribe tree home fell off from the burning tree and smashed into the ground below

"BANJO!" Nina and Chelsea shouted in horror, watching the tree home fall and take their friend with it.

Chelsea rushed down the tree while Nina used her staff to help Pam and the twins float down, landing safely on the ground below them. They watched as the flames continued to rise from the burning remains of the tree home. Chelsea's horrified face said it all.

"BANJO!" she cried, tearing up over the loss of her friend. "NOOO!" She fell to her knees, banging on the ground. "No! No, not you! Banjo, why?! Why didn't you-!?" She continued to cry and scream before she felt a hug. The hug came from Nina, which shocked the cheetah werecat as she felt Nina's tears flood on her shoulder.

"She… she came and… saved my family… twice now," Nina cried as she bit her lip. "It's not fair! Why… why do witches like her have to die… Cally… Ralph… Buttons… Max…"

Chelsea turned around to hug Nina back, the two of them crying over the loss of Banjo and Nina's siblings. Behind them, Pam and the twins watched as their home burned, also in tears over their losses…

Emily was trying to find her way through the smoke to the Fangs' tree. That was her top priority. But before she could reach it, she heard a cry.

"AAAAH!"

Emily stopped and looked around her. She could hear other screams, other cries for help. But she knew that she shouldn't allow herself to get distracted. She had to stay focused. After all, she was here for Nina's family, not these other werecats. They weren't as important. And yet…

Emily teleported inside one burning tree home. She looked around and saw a black cat woman coughing as she was trapped in her home by the flames. This woman was Casey's mother and she was staring at the flames before her. She almost seemed… entranced by them.

"Hey!" Emily shouted to her. "I'm going to get you out of here!"

"I… I can't," she responded while lowering her head. "Just… let me die here," she told her, shocking Emily. "I've already lost my son. Just… let me join him…"

Emily was shocked to hear her say that… but she still reached out to her. "Listen, you can't stay here to die!"

"But my son-"

"Do you think your son would want you to throw away your life like this?!" Emily shouted to her. "There's no way he'd be okay with his mother deciding to die! If you want to honor him, you have to live!" she told her while Casey's mom's eyes widened. "Rather than being hung up about his death, you have to move forward, so please… let me help you."

Casey's mom looked over at Emily, tears streaming from her eyes. After a moment, she got up and walked over to Emily, who grabbed her hand and teleported herself and Casey's mom out of the tree home before it crumbled on top of them.

Le'Belle used her magic to bust out a door and help a werecat out. She grabbed the couple and hopped down with them.

Scameron used his bubble magic to get a family out of their home and levitate them to the ground.

Emily suddenly appeared in a swirl of red smoke, safely dropping off a few children. She then noticed someone else helping out some werecats in the same area. It was Willow, who was helping a couple of elderly werecats out.

"Thank you, kind witch," an elderly werecat told Willow.

"Just get to safety," Willow told them as she saw a few werecats coming over to the elderly. "Get them out of this smoke."

The werecats nodded as they escorted their elders out. Willow looked around and noticed Emily was there. "Emily?!"

Scameron and Le'Belle looked around as they spotted a school house burning. "There could be kids trapped in there," Le'Belle realized as they rushed over. But once they got there, they saw someone bursting through the door. It was a werewolf, who was carrying several werekittens while a few teachers ran out behind them. Skara was also there, helping to carry some of the kittens.

"Come on, let's go!" Skara told them as the school house started crumbling down. Slasher, in his werewolf form, grabbed his daughter and pulled her away from the collapsing building. "No! There could have still been some inside!" she cried out.

"I'm sorry, Skara," Slasher told her solemnly. "But right now, we have to help out who we can save, get them to safety."

"Let us help," Le'Belle said as the Brookes turned to see the two BIG members while Emily and Willow came over to join up with them.

"Emily?!" Skara asked.

"Don't worry, they're here to help," Willow reassured Skara.

"If you guys are here, then… Nina must be here too," Emily indicated.

"She came here to save her family," Slasher said. "But we lost her in the smoke and we don't know where the Fangs live."

"I do," Emily told them. "And I can lead you there," she offered.

Skara looked up to Slasher, who gave a nod. "Take us there," he said to Emily.

Emily nodded. "Follow me," she said.

"We'll get these kids out of here," Le'Belle said, Slasher giving Le'Belle a nod of acknowledgement before he, Skara, and Willow went to follow Emily.

Meanwhile, Mao and Clockwork Cab were helping out some survivors, Cab using his oracle abilities to pinpoint where they could find anyone in need of help while Mao used her magic to help the survivors escape from their tree home.

"Go! There's a rendezvous point over there! Find Jageera!" Mao shouted at the escaping werecats.

"The flames are growing worse, Mao," Cab said while holding his crystal ball.

"The temple! The temple!"

The two turned to see the shaman watching in horror as his beloved temple went out to flames. They went over to them.

"I'm so sorry," Mao said, offering her sympathies. She reached out to the werecat. "Come on, we need to get out of here."

The shaman pulled away from her. "No, I have to save Hotep Koff!" he shouted before he rushed into the burning temple, much to Mao and Cab's shock.

"Wait! It's too dangerous!" Mao shouted as she and Cab rushed towards the temple after him.

"We have to be careful," Cab said. "Get him out of there before the flames consume him…"

As they entered the temple, they saw that the insides weren't as burnt up as they thought it would be. They found the shaman standing there, staring blankly. He was looking at where Hotep Koff's mummified body should have been.

"Koff's body… it's gone!" Mao realized.

"What madness is this?!" Cab asked before they heard the shaman start to laugh.

"GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" the shaman laughed madly as he fell over.

"What is going on here?" Mao asked in confusion, looking at the shaman. "Where did Koff go?"

"He went for a walk!" the shaman said while laughing, confusing Mao and Cab even more.

"So you werecats worship the Titan as well?" a new voice asked.

The two turned around and saw someone entering the church. It was Firebees.

"Who… who are you?!" Mao demanded to know.

"I have a bad feeling about this man," Cab responded, preparing his crystal ball.

"You abominations dare to mock our religion, worshiping the Titan as if you were his children," Firebees sneered before he chuckled. "This was why I was sent here… I seen the truth."

"The truth?" Cab asked him.

"Allow me to share the truth with you…" Firebees declared as his eyes glowed.

Mao, Cab, and the shaman felt something crawling all over them. They only had a second to realize they were firebees… before they were set on line.

"AAAAAAAAAH!" they screamed as Firebees watched as they slowly and painfully burned to death, his eyes gleaming in pleasure.

Back at the Fangs' tree, the fallen remains of the tree house were still on fire. Nina was tending to her crying mother.

"No… my… my children…" Pam cried while Nina held her, crying as well.

"I'm… I'm sorry, mom," Nina told her. "I… I should've been here sooner."

"No, no Nina," Pam sniffed. Despite her own grief, she was still able to hold herself together enough to not let Nina blame herself. "No one could've predicted this…"

"Come on, you two! We shouldn't be crying at a time like this!" Winter shouted. "We can still save our siblings!"

"Yeah! We can go help them!" West shouted as the two were about to head into the burning wreckage, but Chelsea stopped them.

"No, you two can't," Chelsea told them, her face stained with tears.

"Why not?!" Winter asked her.

"We have to get out of here, you two," Nina told them, much to their confusion. "It's not safe to stay here."

"She's right," Pam said, wiping her face. "We have to get out of the Villa."

"But… what about Ralph… and Cally…?" West asked them.

"Max and… Buttons?" Winter asked as she teared up.

Nina looked at them, on the verge of breaking down herself. But she forced herself to stay strong, at least until everyone was out of danger and the crisis was over. "There's… nothing we can do about them," she said solemnly as she saw her siblings on the verge of trying.

"But… but we should…" West and his sister started to shake… before they began to break down and cry loudly. "WE WANT TO HELP!" West cried.

"We have to- to-to save our siblings…!" Winter cried as Pam came over and knelt down, hugging her children, who were having trouble processing what had just happened.

"I know," Pam replied, patting the two on their backs. She cried as well. "I know…"

Nina could only lower her head as she watched this. She glanced at their burning home.

This was nothing less than a tragedy.

Suddenly, she and Chelsea started to hear footsteps. The two turned and saw a hooded witch approaching them.

"You heathens are still alive?" the hooded witch demanded while drawing a spell circle.

"Who are you?!" Nina snarled.

"Someone who's doing a service for the Titan," the hooded witch declared.

Nina and Chelsea placed themselves in front of Pam and the twins moments as the hooded witch cast his fire spell. Flames headed straight toward them, but before the flames could reach the werecats, someone got in front of them and dispersed the flames with an ice beam that blasted the hooded witch back.

Holding up her keyblade in front of her was Donna Masterskull, aka Wonder Witch.

"Leave them alone," Donna told the hooded witch before turning to Nina and her family.

Nina was in shock. "You… you came."

"Of course I did," Donna told Nina, nodding. "And I didn't come alone."

Nina noticed flying overhead was a murder of crows bursting through a home, carrying a family. It was Crowbar while flying down from another tree home was Cross, who was in his dragon form while holding a father and daughter. Cross then drew an ice spell circle to keep the flames at bay.

In another part of the burning woods, Minos constructed a large ladder for werecats to crawl down from. "Come on! One at a time!" he told them as each werecat crawled down to the ladder.

Elsewhere, Bowen and some scouts were attempting to save some werecats from a burning building, but the flames were getting too intense for them. "There's two still trapped in there!"

"I got this," Ghostina said as she flew down to the burning building, phasing through. Moments later, they saw Ghostina return with two werecats, placing them down.

"Thanks for the save, Phantom Girl," Bowen said.

"Ghostina is fine," she replied while going to save more.

Nearby, Florella was summoning large vines for the werecats to grab on toto and use to slide down to the ground. Le'Belle jumped down with a werekitten and noticed Florella helping out.

"If you're here to arrest me…" Florella said to her.

"Actually, we could use all the help we can get right now," Le'Belle said as she saw the werecats using the large petals to climb down. "Thanks."

"No problem," Florella said with a nod.

Meanwhile, Scameron was helping out one werecat when he saw Carter in front of a crumbled tree home.

"Jemma! Lynxa!" Carter shouted as he tried to use his magic to move the debris.

"Hang on, Carter," Scameron told him while using his bubble magic to pick up the debris. He then saw Kyle show up in his Mr. Healer uniform. "Mr. Healer?"

"Is someone trapped in there?" Kyle asked as he used his ice magic to put out the flames.

"There's supposed to be some werecats in this building!" Carter shouted in a worried tone as Scameron picked up the debris.

"Look!" he shouted as he pointed at Jemma, who was coughing while buried by debris.

"Jemma!" Carter shouted as he rushed over to her aid.

"C-Carter…" Jemma said weakly as she looked up to him as he and Mr. Healer helped her up while Scameron lifted the broken debris off of her.

"There's some burns on you, but nothing severe," Kyle said as she started healing Jemma after they got out.

"Where's Lynxa?" Carter asked.

"Lynxa… oh Titan, she's still out around here!" Jemma realized, ignoring her burnt arm. "She… she went out to the store…" She started to panic at the thought of her sister being caught in the fray.

"Don't worry, we will find her, Jemma," Carter reassured her while Mr. Healer continued to treat her wounds.

"I can go find her, where is this store around here?" Scameron asked.

"Not that far," Jemma asked as she started to give instructions.

Meanwhile, Emily was still leading Willow, Skara, and a normal-looking Slasher through the smoke when they spotted some hooded witches casting fire spells at some werecats.

"What are they doing?!" Skara asked in a panic.

"Are they the ones causing the fire?" Willow asked.

One of the hooded figures turned to look at them, revealing that they were wearing masks. Masks that resembled Belos's mask. "Look! It's those lycans!"

"Let's burn them!" another responded as they prepared fire spells.

Willow stepped forward as she summoned vines to strike at them, brushing them aside. One of them managed to cast a fire spell, but Emily got in front and swung her staff, deflecting the fire ball and shooting it back at them.

"Leave them alone!" Emily shouted at them.

"Hey, ain't that the Silver Sentry?" one of the arsonists asked.

"Emily Tricks… you will burn along with the lycans for your betrayal of witchkind!" one of the witches declared… seconds before Emily used her flames to burn him alive.

The hooded figures scattered, firing fire spells at the group. Skara used her staff to blast at the masked arsonists while Slasher pulled out his sax, using it to fire spells at the arsonists.

One arsonist tried to hit Skara from behind, but Emily teleported in his face while having an intense glare in her eyes. She placed her hand on the masked arsonist and then set his whole head on fire.

"AAAAH!" the arsonist screamed.

Emily threw more fireballs at the arsonists while Willow used her vines to throw the arsonists around. Because of the smoke in the air though, she did start to cough, giving one arsonist the opportunity to cast a fire spell. Willow looked up to see fire heading right at her face…

…before a wall sprouted up to block the flames and keep them from reaching her.

Willow was surprised by the sudden wall as a shadow loomed over her. Jumping down in front of the arsonist was a Construction Coven member who stood there to protect Willow. This large, imposing figure caught Emily's attention…

"Cain!" Willow and Emily shouted, seeing Cain make his presence known.

"Where's Nina?" Cain asked, looking over them.

Meanwhile, Nina, Donna, and Chelsea were fighting against more of the masked arsonists. Nina used her gorilla arms and reptile tail to knock them down while they shot spells at her. She flipped over and kicked one in the head while punching down another who was trying to get her from behind. She was angry, angry at the arsonists that burned down her village, and killed her family…

"You motherfuckers will pay!" Nina shouted while slashing at one arsonist. Neither Donna nor Chelsea nor Pam attempted to stop her, instead they allowed Nina to let her rage out as she slashed at and mangled the arsonists. "This for my family, you sacks of shits!"

Donna was using her keyblade and ice spells to freeze and knock out the arsonists, keeping them from attacking Pam and the twins. Donna placed her keyblade down and blasted herself up in the air so she could swing her keyblade in an arc and blast the arsonists below. "You all should be ashamed for doing this," Donna sneered at the arsonists she defeated, sharing Nina's anger.

Chelsea used her speed to kick and punch several goons. One arsonist tried to shoot flames at her, but Chelsea dodged the spell, got in front of him, grabbed their mask, and kicked him aside. Yet when she got a good look at the unmasked face, her eyes widened. "You!"

"Crap," the arsonist, who was the leader of the Violet Dragons, said. "You're gonna pay for that, you lousy cat!" he said as he attempted to attack Chelsea, only for Nina to tackle him and scratch his face "AAAAH!"

"This is what you get, you motherfucker!" she shouted as she slashed at his face while Chelsea and Donna continued protecting Pam and the twins from the other arsonists, Pam keeping the twins from looking at the violence.

Meanwhile, at the border of the Torsa Villa, many witches had gathered to watch the fire, although the scouts kept them from going toward the fire. These witches were shocked by what they were seeing. Amongst them were Glinda and Lambi and her mom, who had all come here after hearing the news.

"Oh my Titan…" Awassi said while in shock, fearing for the Villa and the werecats.

"Nina's family is in there…" Lambi said as she covered her mouth, shaking as she tears up.

The scouts and the captain stood at the border, stopping anyone from going in. The captain made an announcement. "Alright, listen up! We need to create a barrier to keep anyone else from going into the Villa! We cannot allow civilians to endanger themselves! All units, use your construction magic to create that barrier!" he ordered.

"Excuse me, captain."

The captain turned and saw Napoli coming over to him. "Head Witch Napoli, what are you and your scouts doing here?" he asked him, noticing that with Napoli was Tito and a company of Bard scouts, including Meg and Grip.

"We came to provide reinforcements, to help with the fire and to provide relief," Napoli said.

"I can assure you, Head Witch, we got this covered," the captain told him.

"Um, may I remind you that this is upon my authority as Head Witch, which means I totally outrank you," Napoli pointed out. "So would you kindly let us pass?"

"You better do as he says, he has his authority and all," Tito pointed out, his presence catching Glinda's attention.

The captain hesitated, but knew that there was nothing he could do about it. "Very well." he said as he moved his snorse and turned to address his scouts. "Make way for Head Witch Napoli!" he shouted as the scouts moved aside, letting Napoli, Tito, and their scouts pass.

"Alright, my scouts, let's put out the flames and save lives!" Napoli declared as his troops cheered for their Head Witch.

"Tito!" Glinda called out, getting Tito to turn to her.

"Stella?!" Tito exclaimed in surprise when he saw her rushing towards him. "I… it's been a while…"

"I know, I came here because I saw the news," she told him with a concerned look. "I'm worried about Nina's family."

"I am too," Tito responded, just as worried. "Do you want to come along and help?"

Glinda gave a nod. "I've taken some Healing lessons at my new job."

"Great, I'll let Napoli know we have a Healer to help us out," Tito said as he let Glinda enter the Villa with them.

After fighting off the arsonists, Emily, Willow, Skara, and Cain became lost in the smoke, which had obscured the area even more. Skara drew a light spell as she looked for the others.

"Dad! Willow!" Skara shouted before she bumped into someone. "Willow?"

"It's me," Emily said as she grabbed onto Skara's hand. "Let's find the others."

"Guys!"

They turned and were able to make out Willow in the smoke. With her was Cain. As they reunited, Willow coughed violently.

"Willow!" Skara shouted as she rushed towards her girlfriend. "Are you alright? And have you seen my dad?"

"This smoke… can't see," Willow said, her eyes tearing up. "I don't see… Slasher."

"We have to get out of the smoke," Cain said as he felt Emily's hand grabbing his.

"Hold on," Emily said as she placed her other hand onto Willow's shoulder while Skara held her hand. At an instant, they disappeared in a cloud of red smoke.

They reappeared in an area with far less smoke, the four teens looking around.

"Dad! Where are you?!" Skara cried out.

"Your father will be fine, Skara," Emily reassured her. "Right now, we need to find Nina and her family."

"But…" Skara said as Willow patted her shoulder.

"We will find your dad, Skara," Willow told her. "But he would want us to find Nina, who needs our help just as well."

Skara knew that Willow was right. She gave a nod as she saw Cain run forward along with Emily. Willow held Skara's hand as they followed Emily and Cain, though Skara still kept her father's well-being in mind.

The four rushed down a pathway to Nina's neighborhood. Cain pointed forward. "Over there!"

Emily ran until she could see Nina's tree… and froze at the sight. "No…"

After they caught up, Willow and Skara gasped when they saw the Fang Tribes' home. It had fallen out of the tree and was now just a pile of burning rubble.

"We're… we're too late…" Emily realized, tearing up.

"Nina's family… my Titan, no… not them," Cain said as he started to cry, lowering his head solemnly.

Skara turned to Willow, who embraced her girlfriend when they saw the devastation. Willow held her in comfort, while looking down sadly at the tragedy that had happened. "Where… where's Nina?" Skara asked.

"YAAAAAAAH!"

The four heard a loud but familiar roar. Looking around, they spotted Nina pouncing on a runaway arsonist as she slashed him across the back. "YAAAH! HELP!"

"Nina!" Willow, Skara, and Emily shouted before they saw that Donna and Chelsea were also there, protecting Pam and the twins from the arsonists.

"Those arsonists! They're here as well!" Skara realized.

"Come on, let's help them!" Cain declared as he charged in to assist Donna and Chelsea, knocking the arsonists towards the blazing trees.

"What the hell…?!" Chelsea asked, seeing the oversized constructionist teen.

"That's… Beck's brother!" Donna realized as she turned to see who else was there. "Willow, Skara and… Emily?!"

"Emily?" Nina asked as she stopped mauling the arsonist. She saw Emily along with Cain. "Cain… you two…"

"We're here to help!" Emily shouted as she and Cain came to their aid, Emily summoning her staff.

Nina paused as she stared Emily for a moment before deciding not to focus on her. Instead, she continued to vent out her rage against the arsonists, clawing and mauling any who had the misfortune of getting in her way.

Willow and Skara met up with Donna, assisting her in protecting Pam and the twins.

"Mrs. Fangs, are you alright?" Skara asked her.

"I'm… fine," Pam responded as Willow summoned vines to strike at the arsonists.

"We got your backs!" Willow declared.

Donna shot more ice blasts with her keyblade, freezing the arsonists. Chelsea assisted by running into and toppling over some of the other arsonists. Cain did his job by punching at the arsonists, sending some of them airborne.

"Is that… Tricks?!" Chelsea asked in surprise when she saw Emily, who was using her fireballs to roast the arsonists.

"Yeah," Donna responded, just as surprised. "But I do think she's here to help."

Emily spun her staff, shooting spells from it at the arsonists, who fell back. One arsonist tried to burn her, but Emily teleported away before she reappeared and snapped her fingers, causing the arsonist's head to catch on fire.

Nina kicked down another arsonist while grabbing another to raise them high up and slam them against the ground. She then scratched another, cutting their mask. Another arsonist tried to blast flames at her, but she dodged them, going all fours. She pounced and slashed at the arsonist's stomach and face. She looked around and saw one arsonist about to attack her… until he got kicked in the face by Tito.

"Stay away from my cool cat friend, ya bastard!" Tito shouted while stomping on the face of the arsonist.

"Tito!" Nina shouted, seeing her best friend. "What are you-?"

"Doing here? You know I got your back, girl," Tito declared. "But I didn't come alone."

Glinda then appeared, summoning puppets to fight against the arsonist. She then used ice magic to freeze three arsonists coming at her. Emily looked over to see Tito and Glinda there, her eyes widening in surprise. She was especially surprised to see Glinda again…

"Guys," Emily whispered as Cain stood by her.

"Keep your eyes up to the enemy, Emily," Cain pointed out, seeing more arsonists showing up.

Nina came over with Glinda, and Tito, standing with Emily and Cain. All five of them, brought back together again by a common threat. It was a reunion between the former top Glandus students…

Meanwhile, Slasher managed to get out of the smoke. However, he did not see the girls or Cain around.

"Skara! Willow!" Slasher shouted before he heard someone stepping forward. He turned around, thinking it could be the arsonists.

"Slasher?" Napoli spoke up upon seeing the werewitch. "What are you doing here?"

"Head Witch," Slasher responded, feeling at ease. "Glad to see a familiar face here. I came here with Skara and Willow to look for Nina and her family. But then we got separated."

"Same with my aide, he along with his friend ran ahead to look for the Fangs Tribe," Napoli responded while looking around. "Gosh, this is getting crazy out here."

"We have to find them," Slasher said.

"Then we shall stick together to find them," Napoli replied as Slasher nodded. "I brought a bunch of scouts with me, so they should help to make a difference."

Slasher gave a nod before noticing the flame sparks rising up into the sky. He paused. "Look," he said as he pointed to the swarm coming out from the blaze, Napoli's eyes widened in shock.

"Those are… firebees," Napoli identified.

At a burning store, Scameron burst through the flames while helping get the remaining werecats out of there with his bubble magic. He was trying not to strain himself.

"Come on, let's get you all out of here!" Scameron shouted before he then noticed something about the flames. "What the…?"

He watched as the flames reached for the sky… and a swarm of firebees flew out.

More werecat civilians were brought over Mr. Healer, who checked them up along with some scouts. Carter comforted Jemma, who was worried for her sister. Jemma then noticed something flying up to the sky. "What…"

Carter and Mr. Healer looked up to see the flames rising up, the swarm of firebees coming out…

Ghostina used her ice magic to put out some flames while Florella and Minos were leading more civilians, including a group of werekittens and their teachers.

"We found them escaping, got them to one of the safer areas," Florella said.

"We need to clear a path to make it easier," Ghostina said before she noticed the firebees swarming out of the flames.

"Are those… firebees…?!" Minos asked as he saw them rising up into the sky.

"Oh no… it can't be," Ghostina said in shock, realizing how the fire started.

Le'Belle played her violin, summoning shockwaves to blow the fire out while Bowen and some scouts used water magic to put out the flames. She then heard a guitar riff that blew out some of the flames. She turned, recognizing that guitar.

"Grip?" Le'Belle asked before seeing who he was with. "Megan!"

"We came to assist!" Meg shouted as she swatted her blue paint all over the flames, putting them out as the blue magic paint was watercolor.

"I can't believe we're all together again, just like old times!" Bowen shouted happily before he noticed the firebees coming out of the flames, forming into something in the sky.

"Firebees?" Le'Belle asked, referring to the insects.

Crowbar and Cross were fighting some arsonists that they found when they noticed a swarm of firebees coming out of the burning woods.

"Are you seeing this?" Crowbar asked his cousin while standing on top of a pile of arsonists.

"Yeah," Cross responded before knocking out another arsonist.

Jageera and Anthony were fighting off against the arsonists they found in the area. They were assisted by some scouts.

"So these punks are the ones burning our villa!" Anthony shouted as he punched one with a large stony fist from the ground.

Jageera hit another arsonist to the ground. "But what happened to Mao and Cab?!"

"And Chelsea?!" Anthony asked before they noticed a swarm of firebees flying up. The two of them had an uneasy feeling…

From his airship, Dale was watching the swarm of firebees. His eyes widened in shock and he stepped back. "No… nononononono," he said as he started to shake and panic, realizing what was happening.

"Dale, are you alright?" a scout asked as he and the others kept shooting water down at the forest to try to put out the flames.

Next to their airship was the one Hugh was piloting. He felt a sense of dread as he witnessed the firebees swarming. "Holy crap…"

Nina, Tito, Emily, Glinda and Cain fought off against the arsonists while Donna and Willow tried to tie some up. Glinda used unmending bones spells to make some of the arsonists immobile while Emily trapped two of the arsonists in an illusion, tricking them into setting themselves on fire. Skara blasted some more who were trying to get to Pam and the twins while Chelsea ran around and knocked down more. Nina, however, kept slashing them down with her claws. It was very likely she had killed a few of the arsonists, but at this point she did not care.

"I think that was the last of them," Cain said after pounding another arsonist.

"Um, guys…" Skara said as she pointed at the firebee swarm rising from the flames.

"Firebees?" Willow asked while Donna's eyes widened.

"Oh no… him?!" Donna exclaimed, seeing the swarm forming into the shape of the upper body of a huge witch.

"YAHAHAHA!" the giant Firebees laughed as he towered over the Villa, flames bursting from his giant 'hands'. "This will be my magnum opus! The flames of the Titan shall consume this werecat village and cleanse it!" he declared as his flames fell upon the Villa like meteors, raining death and destruction upon it and threatening the airships as well.

"Holy shit!" Hugh cried out as he held the crow. "All airships, pull back!" he shouted as his airship was hit by fire.. "Crap, crap, crap!" he shouted.

"Hugh!" Dale waved to him as he steered his airship closer. "Jump over here!"

Hugh ran off his now burning airship and jumped over to the Fire Coven's airship. Using plant magic, he used vines as rope for Dale and the scouts to grab on. They pulled him up as the airship moved to get clear of Firebees. Other airships weren't as lucky, several of them exploding and falling toward the Villa below…

Fire rained down on the Villa, scorching everything it touched. This included a group of arsonists, who were trying to avoid the flames.

"AAAAH!" one screamed as he got hit by the flames.

"GYAH!" another responded as he was hit by the flames as well.

One arsonist panicked. "No! Firebees, don't hit us!" he shouted before he and the rest of his group were incarnated. Not even the arsonists were safe from Firebees's wrath…

"If this keeps up, this fire will spread all across the Isles!" Donna shouted as everyone took cover with Cain, who was using his construction magic to shield them.

Cross flew through the burning forest while in his dragon form and landed near the group.

"Everyone alright?" Cross asked before noticing Emily. He looked surprised. "Emily, you're here."

"Hey, Cross," Emily said.

"Cross, let me ride on your back," Donna said as she stepped forward. "If we can get close enough to that giant swarm, we might be able to freeze them, including Firebees."

"The cold can kill the firebees," Nina realized. "But you'll need a large amount of ice magic to freeze that many."

"Which is where I come in," Cross responded. "I don't just produce hot flames, but cold flames as well."

"So we'll fight fire with ice!" Donna declared as she climbed up onto Cross's back while holding her keyblade. They flew up, heading towards Firebees.

"I did not realize you guys knew a dragon…" Tito commented.

"That's Cross, Donna's boyfriend," Nina responded, surprising Tito, Glinda, and Cain. They did not expect Donna Masterskull to be dating a dragon… not that they'd judge.

Donna and Cross flew around as the larger Firebees kept shooting flames. Cross's keen eyes let him see that at the center of the monster was Firebees himself, being carried in the swarm.

"That maniac's actually inside the swarm!" Cross shouted.

"Let's give him a nice cold sting then," Donna said while holding her keyblade up, shooting ice blasts at the back of the large shoulder of Firebees, causing some of the firebee swarm to be knocked off.

"Huh?!" Firebees asked as he turned to see the dragon and hero flying around. "Pests!" he shouted while shooting flames at the two.

Donna and Cross used their icy abilities to meet the flames, dispersing them. Firebees was throwing three rows of fire balls at them, causing Donna to shoot out each fireball with her keyblade while Cross assisted.

Donna aimed at the makeshift body parts, targeting the left hand. She drew a spell circle with her keyblade and shot the makeshift left hand, freezing it along with the upper arm. The arm broke off from the swarm, killing the bees.

"My bees!" Firebees shouted as he roared at the two. "You all will pay with your lives!" he screamed as he made it rain more fire.

Donna drew spell circles each while flying around with Cross, who also drew ice spell circles. The flaming meteors almost landed in the forest, if not for the icy tornadoes that dispersed them, followed by frosty wind spells.

Firebees looked mad as Donna and Cross kept shooting ice at him. He threw more fireballs at them, this time four in a row. Donna swung her keyblade around, hitting the targets one by one. Cross shot more blue fireballs to disperse the upcoming flames.

"Time to target his right!" Donna declared as she drew a spell circle, getting a lock on Firebees's right hand. She pushed the keyblade through the circle and the resulting blast hit the makeshift right hand, freezing it up and getting more bees killed.

"NOOO!" Firebees roared. The large, makeshift head then breathed in before blowing out large flames at Donna and Cross.

"Hang on, Donna!" Cross shouted as he flew around to avoid the fiery breath.

Firebees kept blowing until his 'face' got hit by a gush of water. "AAAAH!" Inside the swarm, the real Firebees felt his eye as he saw his wet bees fall. "What?!"

"Hey, you murderous psycho!" someone shouted as Firebees turned around and saw the Fire Coven airship. Holding up a cannon filled with water was Dale, with Hugh standing next to him. "You're gonna wish you were petrified!" Dale shouted while shooting out gushes of water down at Firebees, smothering the flames of his swarm.

"AAAAH!" Firebees shouted as he felt the water hitting him. He shot flames at the airship and one fireball hit the bottom of the ship, making it shake.

"He's weakened, but he's aiming for that airship!" Cross shouted.

"Time to combine our moves then," Donna declared as they flew in and aimed their ice beams at the torso of Firebees.

"Gah! Stop!" Firebees shouted as he roared. He fired flames at his attackers, but was unable to focus with Cross and Donna attacking him from one side and Dale attacking him from the other. As he weakened, Donna and Cross rose up above Firebees, Donna raising her keyblade with Whirlwind flying up top.

"Ready?" Donna asked while finding an opening on the chest of Firebees.

"Aim…" Cross said as he breathed in, Donna aiming her keyblade at the monster while Whirlwind's eyes glowed.

"FIRE!" they shouted as the Keyblade, combined with Whirlwind's power, shot out a gush of a frosty wind, Cross's blue flames swirling around the wind. It was aimed at the center of the giant Firebees, where the real Firebees was currently exposed…

Firebees was hit by the ice whirlwind blast, knocking him out of the swarm as he was caught in the whirlwind. "Nooooooooo!" Firebees cried as he hit a tree and bounced off it. Without Firebees to control them, most of the firebees scattered, many of them dropping dead from the sky thanks to being frozen solid or hit by water.

But the frosty whirlwind attack has also done something that helped to put out the fires. As a side effect of the combined spells… it started to snow on the Torsa Villa. The snow blew around the burning Villa, causing the flames to start to die out.

Everyone below looked up at the snow falling from the sky as it helped put out the flames. Nin in particular looked around to see the snow all around her. No flames, no smoke… just snow.

"They did it," Skara said, looking at the snow around them.

"Thank you… Donna," Nina said while shutting her tearful eyes.

Donna and Cross flew down to where Firebees had landed and began to look for him.

"He's gotta be around here," Cross said as he changed back into his witch form while looking around.

"That attack should have knocked him out," Donna said.

"Wait," Cross said as he saw something sticking out from a branch. "Look…"

Donna turned and saw that the only thing that remained of Firebees… was his mask. A mask that he had left behind…

Once the snow had extinguished the fire, the survivors went around to help the wounded while others brought those that had died, pulling their bodies out of their damaged homes so they could be properly buried later. Others were still in a state of shock and disbelief from what happened.

At one part of the Villa, Rosie looked around, seeing some of the survivors coming together and a few scouts tending to the wounded. She then looked over at her bandmates, seeing Song crying while Dawn comforted her. She also spotted Casey's mother, who walked up to the other survivors while giving a thousand yard stare.

In another part of the Villa, Florella used her plant magic to lift up some of the debris, only to find scorched bodies underneath. She nearly threw up as she backed away, struggling to keep her composure. She looked back at her teammates and saw that Ghostina and Minos looked just as distraught as her, while Crowbar remained silent. None of them were prepared for this. Were prepared for death and destruction at this scope.

"This is… something we've never dealt with before," Florella said while noticing Ghostina in tears.

"All those witches…" Ghostina said while moving down her mask and beginning to cry. Florella went to comfort her.

Minos looked over to Beocrow, who just stood there in silence. "Are you alright, man?" he asked, while Beo remained silent. Minos looked around at all the devastation and nodded. "Yeah, I know how you feel," he said, understanding what the goth was thinking.

The healers, scouts and werecats alike, were trying to tend to the wound. Kyle was amongst them, getting werecats to show him their third-degree burns as he tried to ease their pain. All the while he tried to keep himself together, tears leaking from his eyes. He still remembered his first visit to the Villa. Now he could no longer recognize it. When he spotted a scout coming back with more injuries that needed healing, his heart sank a bit more..

At the burned temple, Jageera, Tony and other werecats dug through the ruins until he found three charred bodies on the floor. Jageera bent down and investigated what the bodies had on them. Realizing who they were, Jageera gasped.

"Who… who were they?" Tony asked him, seeing his look.

"One of them was the shaman, but the two of them are… Mao… and Clockwork," Jageera responded in disbelief, shocking Tony.

"What?! No…" Tony said while backing away. "They… they're dead." He was tearing up, "Chelsea… where's Chelsea?"

"Calm down, Anthony," Jageera tried to tell him before he saw Tony run away. "Tony!"

"I have to find her!" he shouted as he ran off to look for Chelsea.

Meanwhile, Jemma and Carter found the ruins of the store. Scameron was with them.

"There were several bodies in the store, but we still have yet to identify them," Scameron said, his voice grave.

"Lynxa! Lynxa, where are you?" Jemma asked while in tears, both fearful and worried for her younger sister. "Lynxa!" she shouted as she shoved some burnt shelves away before stepping on something. Looking down, she saw a bracelet, a bracelet that she recognized. She picked it up and saw that the bracelet had her sister's name on it. "LYNXA!" she screamed as she fell on her knees, crying while Carter rushed over to hold her.

As Carter held her, Jemma wasn't the only one crying. Tears fell from Carter's mask as he joined her. As Scameron watched them, he removed his mask. His eyes were flooded with tears as well, since he felt guilty about not being able to save more…

Elsewhere, Le'Belle, Meg, Grip, and Bowen walked through the ruins of the Villa to look for more survivors and help whoever they could. Le'Belle then paused when she saw some body bags nearby. She saw them in different sizes, including… smaller ones. She stood there in silence, which Meg took notice of.

"Le'Belle?" Meg asked as she saw her take off her mask. Meg went to look around and saw Le'Belle's expression… and her tears.

"I… I can't believe…" Le'Belle said as she stood there while crying. She cried as she looked at the bodies. She dropped her mask and fell on her knees, burying her face in her hands as she began to break down. Meg knelt over to her, patting her shoulder. When she saw Meg comforting her, Le'Belle went to hug her. "All this death… Meg, how could this happen?!" she cried as Meg comforted her.

Meg was in tears about this as she hugged Le'Belle. "This… should have never happened."

The Fangs Family tree had stopped burning thanks to the snow. However, the damage had been done. Most of Nina's family was dead, save for her mother and twins.

Now that the danger was passed, Nina collapsed and let herself sob over what had happened. All of her earlier rage was gone, replaced by… sorrow. She felt herself getting embraced by her mother and the twins, who comforted her.

"They're… gone," Nina muttered while sobbing. "Cally… Ralph…"

"I… I can't believe…" Pam said as she hugged the only three children she had left, not counting her unborn. But losing this many… it was too much for the mother. West and Winter hugged both their mom and older sister, the only family they had left.

Nina looked up to see Willow, Skara, and Tito, managing to stand up as they came over to hug the werecat. Nina embraced them, appreciating the embrace of her friends and kitkat. She hugged them tightly, tears rolling down her face.

"I'm so sorry, Nina," Skara said while in tears, her voice almost breaking.

"Me too," Willow said, just as saddened.

Tito looked the most like he was barely keeping it together. "I'm so sorry that I didn't come sooner…"

"It's alright," Nina said while embracing him. "I should've been here too…" She looked over at Chelsea, who ran up to embrace Nina as well. She cried as she let it all out while Nina held her.

"I should've been faster, I…" Chelsea said as she teared up. "I should've… found them and helped them…"

Nina didn't respond, but not because she didn't blame Chelsea. She understood what was going through her mind right now. She just… didn't want to talk too much if she could.

Glinda was looking between the tree home and Nina and the family she had left. She started to cry her eyes out. She remembered how nice Nina's family were, especially her siblings. She actually was fond of them, which made the pain worse.

Cain was crying even harder than everyone else, his emotions getting the better of him. He also remembered Nina's siblings and knew they did not deserve this fate. Cain just looked down, bawling over the loss.

As for Emily, she didn't say anything at first. She just stood there in silence, tears streaming from her eyes. She looked over at Cain and Glinda, both crying over the losses. She then turned to Nina, looking at her former friend breaking down. She cautiously approached her. "Nina."

The werecat turned to Emily, her face stained with tears. "I'm so sorry, for all of this. I just wish that I could have done more here. Your family, your siblings… they did not deserve this," she turned around, acknowledging Cain and Glinda. "Cain, Stella… thank you for being here for Nina. I… I need to go," she said, her voice choking as she teleported away in a cloud of red smoke.

Nina wanted to say something to Emily, but she stopped herself. She didn't even know what to say. That was when they heard familiar voices.

"Skara! Nina! Willow!" Slasher shouted as he and Napoli made it to the area. Slasher looked relieved to see them. "Thank Titan you girls are alright."

"Dad!" Skara screamed as she rushed over to hug her father, who embraced his daughter. "I'm so glad that you're alright…"

"Me too, sweetie," Slasher said in relief before seeing the devastation of Nina's home. "Oh no…" he said while turning to look at Nina and her family. He went up to confront Nina. "Nina… I'm so sorry this happened."

"Thanks, Slash," Nina said while wiping away her tears before embracing him. "I'm just glad you're here right now…"

"You have my condolences, Nina," Slasher said while looking down in worry. "Are your mom and the twins…"

"The only survivors," Nina said while tearing up.

Napoli walked over to Tito while looking over the devastation. "How are you holding up, Tito?"

"It's… it's hard, sir," Tito said while wiping his tears away. "How could this have happened?"

"I…" Napoli tried to answer but he didn't know what to say.

Some shouting announced the arrival of Tony. He spotted everyone there before noticing Chelsea. "Chelsea!" he called to her, looking relieved that she was okay.

She turned to Tony and saw her friend rush over to her. "Tony…" she said in a weak voice as she embraced him.

Tony embraced her back before noticing the nearby ruins. "Oh man… is this…?"

"Nina's home," Chelsea confirmed, pointing to Nina and the remainder of her family. She looked down. "Her siblings… and Banjo, are gone."

"No…" Tony said while turning to look at Nina. "I'm so sorry, Nina. You have my condolences."

Nina sniffed. "Thank you, Tony."

Tony was silent for a moment before he let out a loud sigh. "There's… also something you guys should know. Mao Purssian and Clockwork Cab… they're dead."

Nina and Chelsea both looked shocked and upset about this. "No… Mao," Nina said, shaken by the news.

"Mao… Cabby…" Chelsea teared up yet again upon hearing that both her leader and her mentor had been killed. "Is… is Jageera-?!"

"He's alive, but… I don't know what we're going to do," Tony said while looking down, everyone currently being devastated over the news of the deaths of their loved ones.

"Nina!" Donna called out as she and Cross showed up. She rushed over to the werecat.

"Donna…" Nina said as she looked up and saw her rushing to embrace her. As they hugged, she could feel Donna's tears hit her back. "Thank you for being here."

"I'm… I'm so sorry, Nina," Donna bawled as she let it all out. "And… I'm sorry that I haven't always been here for you when you needed me. I… I hurt you so much in the past…"

"Donna," Nina said, trying to calm her down. "What matters is that you're here now. You came here to help me, my friends, and my family. You helped to stop the fire. Honestly, I am just thankful that you're here for us."

Donna looked surprised by this and for a moment she and Nina just looked at each other before the two friends hugged each other yet again before Nina heard someone calling to her.

"Nina!" Lambi shouted as she looked around with her mom. Upon spotting her girlfriend, she rushed over to hug Nina. "Nina… I'm so sorry this happened," she told her while comforting Nina.

"Lambi… it's so good to see you again," Nina responded, embracing her girlfriend and tyring to find comfort in her warmth. "Thank you for coming here…"

"My mom came with me," Lambi said. "When we heard the news, I was worried. I was gonna come no matter what, but when I told my mom she said that we needed to be there."

"Nina," Awassi said as she stepped over to Nina. "May I have a word with you?"

Willow and Skara look concerned, Nina just nodded. "Of course," she said as she let go of Lambi, who couldn't help but looked confused. and walked to Awassi.

Awassi looked around, sadly noting the devastation. A look of guilt was written on Awassi's face, something that Nina took notice of.

"I'm so sorry about what has happened to them," Awassi said while looking at Nina. "When I heard about the fire, I was horrified. All of this destruction, all of these deaths… this shouldn't have happened. None of the werecats deserved this. I… I am sorry for not just this tragedy… but my earlier behavior." She went to hold Nina's hands as she looked at her with tears in her eyes. "Only in light of all of us did I realize how foolish and stubborn I was acting. I should've been more considerate of your feelings…"

Nina just nodded. "It's alright, ma'am. I'm… just glad that you and Lambi are here right now," she said as she gave Awassi a hug… and started to cry as the older witch hugged her back.

"The burning of the Torsa Villa has quickly attracted Isles-wide attention," Felicity Fox spoke up, while covering the news. "Our beloved Emperor Belos has even given an official statement about this event."

Emperor Belos appeared, giving his statement. "Children of the Isles. This travesty was an act of terrorism that was carried out as retribution for the fall of the Tarot Guild by a few of its sole surviving members. Unfortunately, this act of hatred was carried out despite the laws I passed to protect the lycan community from harm. But I promise that those responsible will be brought to justice, especially Firebees, who must have escaped the Conformatorium thanks to the treasonous actions of Nicole Hieron. He is a wild witch that is not part of any of our covens, as he serves as a reminder of the dangers of wild magic. A reminder that those who haven't joined a coven yet, should join one now if they do not want to be confused for one of these wild witch terrorists, especially since the Day of Unity is almost upon us. I do give my condolences to the werecats of the Torsa Villa, I share your pain in losing your homes and your families."

After Belos finished giving his statement, it cut back to Felicity who continued to give her report. "Our beloved Emperor, everyone. And on the topic of wild witches, let's talk about the real topic at hand… the Clawthornes." She gave a smirk. "It has come to light that despite their pardon, the Clawthornes are guilty of a large number of crimes…"

Images of Lilith, Eda, Luz, Amity, and King were shown as Felicity continued to slander them.

"New information reveals that Lilith Clawthorne, disgraced former Head of the Emperor's Coven and assistant curator of the Supernatural Museum of History, has assaulted Head Witch Graye in the past while assisting a group of traitors against the throne. Luz Clawthorne was found responsible for sabotaging Hieron Labs, run by Head Witch Breathton. And new reports confirm that the Clawthornes were responsible for foiling a Palisman Raid."

She looked at the camera, giving it a serious look. "And of course, there's Eda Clawthorne, aka the Owl Lady. Despite her recent reputation as a local hero and grant of leniency by the Emperor and the Titan, she dared to spit upon them as this new evidence implicates that her and her family are in conspiracy against the throne, assault of coven scouts and Head Witches, sabotage, and the kidnapping of the Golden Guard and the many orphans from Crane's Home. Given the fact that they have a Fae as an ally and the Fae are known for abducting children, it ties together very well, doesn't it?"

She turned to the other camera. "Heed this warning. Keep an eye out for the Clawthorne crime family. They have deceived us and are not to be trusted. They are dangerous and those who help them could be found guilty by association. The Clawthornes must be stopped…"

Back at the Villa, Le'Belle had met up with Scameron and Emily and were currently looking at the other members of BIG.

"Well… this is…" Minos said while staring down Emily, Le'Belle, and Scameron.

"Are you guys here to arrest us?" Ghostina asked them.

"Um… well…" Scameron said as he looked at them awkwardly, but Le'Belle stepped in.

"Actually, we were given orders that St. Epiderm is not our top priority right now," Le'Belle said, finding a loophole. "Leonte wants us to look for the Golden Guard, who's currently MIA. So we don't have to arrest you guys."

"We have to head back to the castle anyway," Emily said, turning to Le'Belle and Scameron. "We should go."

The two agreed with Emily and started to head back to the castle, leaving LOWTH and the other scouts to help with the survivors.

Meanwhile, Nina walked around with West and Winter, heading to a large group of scouts and werecats where the injured were being tended to. Jageera was overseeing this as he went to meet up with them while with Chelsea and Tony.

"So which one is your girlfriend again, Nina?" West asked while he and Winter held their sister's hands.

"Lambi is the one with the horns," Nina said as she pointed to Lambi. She could spot her with Donna, Kyle, and the other healers, tending to the wounded. Awassi could also be seen passing out supplies to those in need. "She and her mom came to help out."

"What happened with Donna? I thought you liked her?" Winter asked her, causing Nina to sigh.

"It's… complicated," Nina told them before turning to look at Jageera, Chelsea and Tony. "How are you guys holding up?"

"We're at a loss right now," Chelsea said, looking distraught. "Our home is in ruins…"

"Our leader is gone," Jageera added solemnly.

"Banjo is dead. We've lost… everything," Tony said with his head lowered.

Nina looked at them, seeing their looks of defeat. "No… we haven't lost everything," she said. "We still have each other, and despite the Villa being gone… we can rebuild, and I promise to help." They looked up to her as she explained. "I want to help because I know that I'm not the only one who lost loved ones today. I mean… we definitely should all be allowed to mourn, but there is also a lot that needs to be done. But at least we're not really alone," she said as she pointed out to the other witches that were here to help them out.

Napoli, who was with Slasher, Skara, and Willow, were holding up medical supplies to the wounded, Willow passing home to Rosie. She went to hand the medical supplies to Dawn and Song, who were still patching each other up.

A group of coven scouts that included Bowen had found some survivors that were hiding and were encouraging them to come join the others. Bowen had many werekittens all over him, not letting him go due to their fright. Carter and Jemma came to help him out.

Dale and Hugh were on the ground to help other werecats, setting up equipment for those that were having trouble breathing because they had smoke in their lungs. Other scouts, like Grip and Meg, were shown taking in the captured and remaining arsonists that were responsible for the fire, including members of the Violet Dragons, to their wagons.

Cain, Glinda, and Tito were working together to help out with the relief. They were being assisted by Cross, Florella, Ghostina, Crowbar and Minos, who were helping to hand out warm blankets and warm drinks.

"Despite our differences, a lot of witches did come to help us and I think that should not be overlooked," Nina said while looking down. Tears stained her eyes. "I will admit, right now I am hurting a lot, and I have tons of anger. But in spite of everything, I also have… hope." She raised her head up. "With Mao gone, the future is up to us now. But it can be a future where we rebuild."

Jageera, Chelsea, Tony, West, and Winter looked up at Nina, hearing her words. It gave them a spark of hope. And right now, that was what they needed.

Meanwhile, Skara and Willow spotted Donna and Cross coming over to them.

"Hey, you guys," Willow spoke to the two.

"Guys, are you hearing what they're saying about Eda and her family?" Donna asked them.

"What do you mean?" Willow asked as Skara decided to check her scroll.

"Oh no," Skara said as she showed Willow the news. "There's wanted posters for Luz, Amity, King, Eda, and Lilith now. They're being wanted for assault, conspiracy, sabotage, and kidnapping!"

"What?!" Willow asked before seeing Felicity was the one who gave the report. She glared. "Felicity…"

"Wait, did you guys happen to hear from Felicia?" Donna asked them.

"We did, in fact she was staying at the school since last night," Willow informed them. "She got attacked by her mom."

Donna and Cross gave shocked looks. "What?!"

"That story from the morning her mom posted, Felicia had nothing to do with it," Skara said. "Her mom found out on her own and she posted it out of spite after Felicia escaped when she tried to kill her for learning what was really going on with the Day of Unity."

"Titan…" Donna said as she looked down, her fists tightening in anger. "Her mom can not be allowed to get away with this."

"She won't, and neither will the Emperor's Coven," Skara said, nodding.

"Earlier, scouts came to our school to brand us with sigils, but managed to drive them out," Willow said.

"They came to our school as well," Cross shared. "They came to arrest LOWTH, but then they started branding students."

"After we drove them off, we started fortifying St. Epiderm," Donna added.

"We know about that, which is why all of us from Hexside started heading up there as well," Skara said. "Also, did you guys hear about what happened at Merlin Meadows?"

"Not much," Donna said while Cross gave a worried look.

"Scouts also went over there, but the school fell to the Emperor's Coven," Skara said. "Cat's brother was among the students that escaped, but the rest were captured and branded."

"Zee…" Cross said, looking worried and scared. "I haven't heard anything from her lately…"

"What about Luz and her family?" Donna asked. "We haven't seen them since yesterday."

"We haven't seen them or heard from them, but we do need to find them," Willow said while Skara nodded. "Something is up right now. Their current silence… it worries me."

"Agreed, we should find them," Donna said while turning to Cross. "Cross…?"

Cross looked down, thinking what could have happened to his sister. He gave a sigh before he looked up at them. "You're right, we need to look for Luz and her family," he said, on the same page with everyone else. As worried as he was about Zee, he knew she could take care of herself. "I've already texted my parents to let them know what's going on, and to head up to St. Epiderm."

"Good call, I texted mine as well," Donna said, nodding in agreement.

Meanwhile, Nina walked over to Cain and Glinda, who were helping out with the wounded.

"Nina," Glinda said when she saw her. Both she and Cain turned to the werecat.

"Hey, you two," Nina said while looking at them. "I just want to say… thank you for being here. Even if our relationship isn't the best right now… I'm glad that you're both here right now."

"It's no problem, Nina," Glinda said before looking down. "I am so sorry about your family…"

Cain nodded while looking down in tears. "I just wish we could've done more for them…"

Nina gave them a respectful nod before she heard Skara calling out to her. "Nina!" She turned to see her coming over with Willow, Donna and Cross.

She looked back at the two. "I'll… see you guys around," she said before she walked over to her friends.

Once Nina caught up with them, they began to discuss what to do next as they huddled.

"Luz and her family have been missing all day," Willow said. "Donna and Cross were the last to see them yesterday, but none of us have heard from them."

"Boscha is missing as well, but we think she could be with them," Skara added. "And Hunter could be with them as well, if it is true that he's messing."

"So where do you plan to look for them then?" Nina asked them. "You guys think they're still at that Owl House?"

"Probably not, but it still might be worth a check," Cross replied. "Before we check the Knee."

"The Knee?" Willow asked them.

Donna began to explain. "We believe that Lilith sent this feral witch guy and the Slitherbeest to St. Epiderm, which means she could be further up the Knee." She turned to look at Nina with concern. "We understand if you want to stay here and be with your family right now, Nina."

"No, I'm worried about Luz as well, since I don't think Luz would have missed what happened at Hexside or here unless something happened to her," Nina replied, shaking her head. "I'll tag along so I can find out if she and her folks are safe. There will be time for me to mourn with my family later. Right now… I have to keep going."

Donna nodded. "Alright, but I do recommend that you send your mom and your siblings up to St. Epiderm. It might be safer for them up there, especially since right now my friends and the teaching staff are fortifying the school."

Nina nodded. "Got it," she said, getting an idea. She turned back to Cain and Glinda, walking up to them. "Cain, Stella, I know that this may be asking a bit much, but can you guys make sure my family gets to St. Epiderm? I think it might be safer for them up there."

"Don't worry, Nina, we will," Cain assured her.

"Yeah, we promise to take them there to safety," Glinda promised.

"Thank you, you two," Nina said, looking grateful. She turned to see the twins and her mom with Chelsea and Tony. She went up to them. "Mom, West, Winter, listen, there's a lot going on right now and I want you guys to go with Cain and Stella, since they'll take you somewhere safe."

"Wait, what's going on, Nina?" Pam asked.

"Yeah, is it an emergency?" Chelsea inquired.

"I'm going to help my friends look for someone that's missing right now," Nina told them. "Something happened to them and they could be in trouble. Afterward, we'll probably be bringing them to St. Epiderm, where we can meet up. Cain and Stella will escort you there."

"So we will see you again, Nina?" West asked in a fearful tone as Nina knelt down.

"Don't worry, I won't take long," Nina told her siblings while patting their heads. "I need you two to help mom, alright? And be nice to Cain and Stella."

"You can count on us, Ni-Ni," Winter replied as she and her brother hugged Nina, who then stood up and turned to Pam.

"Please… stay safe," Pam said, looking worried for her daughter.

"I will, mom," Nina said as she hugged her, both of them nearly breaking into tears as they embraced. "I'm sorry that I have to leave you like this, I know it's a terrible time."

"Just go help your friend," Pam whispered while crying. "We will have time later…"

Nina nodded while turning to face Chelsea. "So, will things be okay without me around?"

"Don't worry, me, Jags and Tony have this covered," Chelsea said, nodding. "You do what you need to do, Nina."

Nina gave a small smile and the two hugged. "Thanks, Chels."

"No problem, Little Thunder," Chelsea replied while they embraced.

After the hug, Nina went to meet up with Tito, who was handing out some supplies to some werekittens. "Hey kitten," he greeted.

"Hey Tito," she replied, nodding. "Listen, I'm going to head out with Skara and Donna on a search mission."

"Hey, do your thing, Nina," he replied. "I'll be staying here with Napoli to help provide relief."

"Thank you, Tito," Nina responded as the two shared a hug. "I… really appreciate that you're here." She then realized something. "Oh, I should introduce you to Lambi now."

She took Tito over to where Lambi was. Currently Lambi was helping to make an abomi-cast around one werekitten's arm with a healing patch. "Lambi!" she heard her girlfriend shout, causing her to turn to Nina and see her bringing over Tito. "Hey, Lambi. I just want to introduce my best friend, Tito, to you. Tito, this is my girlfriend, Lambi. Lambi, this is my best friend from Glandus, Tito."

"Nice to meet you, Tito," Lambi replied, shaking his hand.

"The same to you, little lamb," Tito responded while shaking hers. "Nina has told me quite a lot about you."

"Thanks," Lambi replied. "And I've heard a bit about you as well."

"Lambi, listen," Nina said to her. "I'm going with Skara to help her and the others to look for Luz and her family. They're MIA at the moment."

"Really? Then I want to come with you as well," Lambi responded, surprising Nina.

"Oh. Um, sure, if you're mom's okay with it." Nina said as Lambi went over to her mom.

"Hey, mom," Lambi spoke to Awassi. "Nina and the others are going to look for Luz and her family. Can I go with them?"

Awassi looked over to Nina, then at Skara, Willow, Donna, and Cross. She looked reluctant for a moment before letting out a sigh. "Of course, you can go with them. I'll be staying here to help with the relief efforts."

Lambi smiled and hugged her mom. "Thanks, mom," she said before she rushed over to join Nina.

While this was going on, Skara and Willow were talking to Slasher about what they were planning on doing.

"You girls are going to look for the Clawthornes?" Slasher asked.

"Yeah, we haven't heard from them all day and we're worried," Skara said.

"We think they could be at the Owl House, or at the Knee," Willow suggested. "I just hope Luz and Amity are okay…"

"Well, count me in," Slasher responded. "I don't want to leave you girls and I want to help look for them as well. After all, I owe it to them for helping to find you, Skara, and helping to save Nina, and busting Terra for hurting Calypso."

Skara smiled as Nina and Lambi came over to join them. "So the party's all set."

"Come on," Donna said as she brought out her staff. Everyone else did the same. "We got a family to find."

And so, the group consisting of Donna, Cross, Willow, Skara, Slasher, Nina, and Lambi headed off to find the Owl Family before the Emperor's Coven did. Yet as they flew away, Nina couldn't help but look back at the Torsa Villa… or what was left of it. Tears filled her eyes before she wiped them away and looked back at the front, adopting a determined expression.

She knew she had to keep going. For Casey. For her siblings. For Banjo. For Mao.

For all of them.

Back at the Emperor's Castle, the trio of Emily, Le'Belle, and Scameron had made it back, albeit not in high spirits. They met up with Leonte, Alburno, Thunder, and Joana, the latter three looking sympathetic while Leonte just looked at them sternly.

"I see you three decided to come back," Leonte said, though he sounded bitter.

"Captain Leonte, sir," Le'Belle said, saluting. "Our apologies for not helping you on the search for the Golden Guard, but we could not ignore the Torsa Villa situation, not when so many lives were at stake."

Leonte just sighed. "Just tell me how it went down."

Le'Belle briefly hesitated as she looked back at Scameron and Emily, seeing the solemn looks on their faces. She then looked back at Leonte and continued. "It… was a tragedy, sir," she said. "We were able to provide aid to the survivors, but…" She paused before continuing. "We did learn that the fire was started by wanted criminal Firebees, along with some arsonists that assisted him. However, while we did arrest the other arsonists, Firebees is still at large."

"And were the fires put out?" Leonte asked them.

"Yes, sir," Le'Belle saud. "And, un, we were helped out by LOWTH…"

"Of course they had to save the day… again," he snarled. "Did you get a chance to arrest them?"

"Actually, sir, we were under your orders to prioritize the search for the Golden Guard, so we decided to come here to continue the search rather than arrest the members of LOWTH," Le'Belle said, irritating Leonte. "It was your orders, and we did not see the Golden Guard at the Villa, not even a trace of him or the Clawthornes."

"Well… that's just great," Leonte said sarcastically.

"How did your search for them go?" Scameron asked them.

"Well, Crane's orphanage turned up empty, save for Ms. Hickleton who is currently incarcerated. So now we have missing orphans to look for in addition to the Golden Guard," Leonte said. "But when I contacted the Palm Stings division, they reported that the Clawthorne Ranch, and the home of Dell and Gwendolyn Clawthorne turned up empty! It's as if every Clawthorne family member disappeared from the Isles!"

"Every Clawthorne…?" Scameron asked.

Leonte sighed. "Well, save for two that we found…"

"What do you mean we're being arrested for conspiracy?!" Scelma demanded as she and Marrow were escorted to the wagon by coven guards. "We have nothing to do with Eda!"

"Unhand us! We've paid our snail taxes to you people!" Marrow told them off while struggling in their grip.

"They're resisting! Taze them!" the guard told as they held their wands to zap the two.

"AAAAHHH!" they cried out while getting tazed…

"They can't hide forever," Leonte said. "But this means that the entire family is involved in this conspiracy and they need to be brought in…"

"Try not to stress yourself out too much, captain," Abel said as he made his presence known.

"Emperor's Aide, sir," Leonte said as he and the BIG turned to salute Abel.

"At ease," he responded before he turned to Emily. "I wish to speak alone with Ms. Tricks."

Emily seemed surprised by this as she looked up to Abel. She stepped forward while Le'Belle looked to her in concern, wondering what Abel wanted to talk to Emily about. She hoped that it didn't have to do with what really went down at Hexside…

"So, Ms. Tricks, how are you doing?" Abel asked as Emily followed him. When Emily said nothing in response, Abel nodded. "I understand that you don't wish to speak, given how today was… but, there is something you should know." He stopped, turning to Emily. "Because of Graye's accident, he might not recover by the time of the Day of Unity, unlike Hettie and Vitimir, so we're down a Coven Head. So we need to appoint a successor to him and as his apprentice… you are the most obvious choice."

Emily's eyes widened as she looked up to Abel. "Me? But… are you sure? I am a bit too young for this."

"As of today, you're a legal adult now. So your age wouldn't be an issue," Abel said, confusing her. "Plus, Adrian has spoken highly of you and your abilities as an illusionist. So I believe that he would want this for you and his coven."

Emily looked down without saying anything while Abel continued. "At least think about it," he said to her as he started to walk away. He paused for a moment. "Oh, and happy birthday," he said as he then left Emily alone.

That's when it hit Emily. Today was her birthday. Because of how busy she had been lately, she had completely forgotten.

As of today, she was now eighteen years old.

And as she realized that today was her birthday and thought about everything that had happened that day… she started to cry again.

Some birthday this had turned out to be.

"Hey, Barb, how are you holding up?"

Zee spoke to her cousin, who had recovered from Osran's shock and was in a cell next to hers.

"I'm still feeling a little hurt," Barb responded while lowering her head. "I didn't even do anything, yet I'm still slammed here." She turned to another cell. "And you didn't do anything but refuse to brand kids, Gidge."

"Yeah, well Leonte doesn't take kindly to those who refuse to follow orders," Gidget said while sitting in her cell and bringing her knees close to her. "He's gone completely insane. I think I'm starting to realize why Steve defected."

Zee lowered her head. "What… what's going to happen to us?" she asked, worried.

Barb and Gidget looked at each other, just as worried. "We… don't know," Barb admitted.

But there was something else Zee was worried about. Something that she had been terrified about since she woke up.

What happened to her Palisman?

At the Healing Coven, half of the Coven Heads were currently there to get treatment.

"What's the status of Graye?" one healer asked a nurse.

"Well, bruises all over his face, and whatever spell he casted banged him up real bad," the nurse responded. "He's still alive, but catatonic."

"Have him sent for further treatment," the healer responded as the nurse nodded and levitated Adrian Graye's stretcher to another room.

In the other Heads' room, the trio of Hettie, Vitimir, and Osran were getting treatment.

"Ugh, my head," Vitimir said while rubbing it, having bandages wrapped around his balding head. "I don't know what happened when we raided St. Epiderm, I can hardly remember anything before I was hit…"

"I wish I didn't," Hettie responded while holding up an ice pack. "My jaw's aching, and my head hurts… where's my headdress!" She demanded a healer. "And while you're at it, bring me Dr. Pox, I want to have a word with him!"

"Ow! Careful!" Osran complained as a healer tended to his scars. "That damn dragon girl…"

"Heh, looks like you got the worst out of all of us in here," Vitimir mocked Osran.

"Shut up, Vitimir," he sneered at him. "At least my mission was a success. Taking down Merlin Meadows was easy. Graye didn't even brand a single student before his own spell took him down."

"From the looks of his condition, I don't think he'll be able to wake up in time for the Day of Unity," Hettie commented.

"So he'll be joining Head Witch Brooke in Coma Town then," Vitimir commented.

In another room, Calypso laid in her bed, the heart CB monitoring her condition as she laid there…

Until she suddenly raised her head up, her eyes popping open. She gasped and began looking around, realizing where she was before she spotted a mirror… and realized that she didn't see her reflection in it.

Meanwhile, the search party had landed in the forest near the Owl House, deciding to walk the rest of the way in case there were scouts nearby who could spot them flying.

"Is this the way?" Nina asked while looking around.

"Yeah, but be careful when meeting Hooty." Skara told her, Lambi, and Slasher. "He can be a bit… traumatizing for strangers."

"We'll keep that in mind," Slasher said.

"Come on, once we find them, we can-" Donna said before she paused. When Cross and Willow caught up to her, they also froze. As did Skara, Nina, Lambi, and Slasher. All of them looked shocked. "No…"

"This… can't be the place… is it?" Lambi asked.

"It is," Willow nodded. She looked horrified. "But…"

"What happened here?" Cross asked as his voice broke.

They were all looking at the Owl House…

Or, at least, where it used to be.

For the Owl House had been burned down to the ground…

Earlier, before the Torsa Villa fire…

Firebees, who was being escorted by some guards, was brought into the Emperor's throne room. Once the guards left the two be, Firebees looked up at the Emperor. He was in magic cuffs.

"Hello, Lynn Floyd, or Firebees if you prefer," Belos spoke to him. "You must be wondering why we delayed your immediate petrification…"

"That thought did cross my mind," he said while looking down. "Just what do you have planned for me?"

"Redemption," Belos said. "I will offer you freedom if you do a service for me and the Titan. Now, are you familiar with the Torsa Villa?"

Firebees nodded. "The werecat village?"

"Yes. You see, the Torsa Villa was always just a… temporary solution to the Isles's werecat problem," Belos explained to him. "Their sigils have no effect on their lycanthropy. Meaning, they're a potential threat. Especially since they've been getting… bolder more recently." He intertwined his fingers. "Dealing with them is long overdue, and I believe that a witch of your talent is up to the task. You don't have to kill them all, just… hurt them enough so that they are too damaged to pose a threat to the Titan after the Day of Unity."

Firebees just gave a smile underneath his mask. "You've just reignited my passion, Emperor Belos…"

For those wondering what happened to Luz and the others will be addressed in the next chapter. It was an intentional decision to not include them in the LC version of Labyrinth Runners and in this chapter, in order to build up suspense of what happened after Bloody Mary attack. Of course, there are definitely hints that Lilith and Eda have been active in the background during these last three chapters…

To those hoping that Belos isn't that evil… not sorry to disappoint ya.

In all honestly, this chapter wasn't always planned, since Firebees was originally going to be a one-shot villain. However, we had the idea that Belos wanting to do something about the Torsa Villa during the week of the Day of Unity, so we had Firebees to avoid petrification and brought him back to set fire to the Torsa Villa. We've realized that Belos has shown doing anything evil lately, so we want to remind you readers how truly evil he is. Both "Hollow Mind at Last" and this chapter are meant to cement how evil he is. And really, he's pretty much no better than the witch hunters that killed his family…

As a reference to Bojack Horseman, Belos may apologizes and owns up to his mistakes, yet continues to do these horrible atrocities. He's shown to throw his own brother and Lilith under the bus for defecting his cause, especially to Barb and Zee. Belos is the kind of guy who claims he cares about his family, as long a they agree with his views and if not, then they're not truly Clawthornes to him. In fact, he treats the eviler Coven Heads more like family than he does to Lilith.

The burning of the Torsa Villa is pretty much a dark mirror to what happened to the home of the Thundercats. Hell, Nina giving a speech with Chelsea, Tony, Jageera, West and Winter looking up to her is pretty much a Thundercats reference. We also spared Pam since, well, this would be too depressing to kill off a pregnant mother…

Also me and Buck have been wondering how to have a Glandus reunion in this. So we figured it'd make sense to have Emily, Nina, Tito, Glinda and Cain to reunite and work together to help protect the remainder of Nina's family. It's something we've had in mind for a while. Originally before we've decided to have Nina move in with the Brookes, the plan was for her and the other Glandus kids to break out of prison near the end of Book Two and join the heroes in fighting Belos. In a way, having the reunion here is an evolution of that idea. Plus, it's meant to show that even if they're not friends anymore, the Glandus kids did care about each other at one point.

There's also the fact that we have set up that Emily's birthday would be around this day. So yeah, these events really have happened during Emily's birthday, and the only gift she was given… learning Graye's role what happened to her parents, learning Graye is her father, and being promoted to Illusions Head… quite messed up, eh?

Also to those who are still shocked about Julia's death, all we can say is… that she both is and isn't Rosie.

That's it for author's notes, as stay tuned for the next chapter… in what happened to Luz and the others with Bloody Mary.

Review Section:

Philip Clark: Yeah, if given the opportunity to create a continuation sequel to Total Drama, we'd definitely give Courtney a redemption if given the chance, or rewrite Action in general(to be honest, Beth is actually the worst character there, like she legit acts petty and is just as antagonistic, not to mentioned cheated on her boyfriend, how are we supposed to side with her?). And don't count on Osran receiving punishment from Belos, since after all, Osran is considered Belo's favorite Head with his oracle abilities and loyalty. Plus, Belos would even brand the children of his "family", and well, he doesn't really see Zee as a true Clawthorne. And yeah, the titles were a Pink Floyd reference, and we didn't have Recess: School's Out in mind.

Crash X Fusion: Oh we'll get to that later on. And hopefully you see Awassi's realization in how wrong she was. And you could say that Jeremy really picks the spot in Horace's role. And you're wrong about Bloody Mary being responsible..

Gl1ck: 1) Yeah, that's about right. 2) Probably creatures of different class. 3) Maybe. Also, thanks for the recommendations.

Matteso585: 1) The rest of Willow's friends already know about the prophecy at some point. 2) Nina's mom and the twins are alright… can't say the same to the rest of Nina's siblings. 3) You do realized the purpose of a 'Could Have Avoided" trope is for characters to realized what they could have done, but there's nothing to fix that, is it? Just like what happened to Angel and Emily was something Eda couldn't fix. Everything has a purpose, and it's basically up to us, the writers, to purposely have these events to happened. 4) Maybe.

Franco Almiron: Yes, what Osran did was under Belo's orders. The branding of students from different schools are still Belo's orders like in canon. Abel is speaking on Belo's behalf, so please try not to find any excuse to Belos not being evil… cause this chapter cements this.

Spantidem7: 1) TBD. 2) Survival, and madness. 3) The books the Black Cauldron is based off of. 4) Even if Luz realized what Emily's been through, it doesn't really excused her actions towards Luz. 5) Too broad to answer. 6) He's just as much of a pawn. You'll learn later.

As for your crack ship… you do realized that Stella would probably be 17-18, so too old for Luz and Amity. As for your theories, don't expect Belos to do anything about Osran, since he is his loyal follower.

Darraq: I did, and… it was a little difficult to read.

Krypton Writes: Nina has been part of the main cast.

Alamout: 1) Both. 2) Probably Hettie. 3) Because… it's not that important to know. 4) No spoilers 6) Neither, they're just buried underneath, their bodies rotting while still alive.