The next few days were... at the same time calm and emotional, and obviously full of changes. Fortunately, very few people in Bonesborough had understood what had actually happened, and almost no one had noticed Amity summoning the Abominations; even when she showed herself to everyone, she was surrounded by many of those creatures, making her unrecognizable. Therefore, it was simple to cover up the event and make the population believe that the attack had been provoked by a wandering witch who stumbled there by chance, avoiding that Amity would then have to reveal her nature as a witch and suffer some type of lynching for what happened. As much as Amity trusted others, she knew that after what happened the people of Bonesborough would kick her out of the town if they knew the truth; even though she was the one who sent Grometheus back, she was also the one who summoned him and unleashed terror over them. Odalia's disappearance was passed off with the fact that she had been a victim of that attack, so that no one would become suspicious. People bought that story, and so calm returned to Bonesborough and no one asked any more questions.

As she said, Amity left the Blight Manor and went to live with Lilith. She didn't even go to get her things: she asked her siblings to be kind enough to bring them to her. That place now brought back too many bad memories for her; she knew she couldn't get into it without thinking about her mother and what she had done to her. Luckily Lilith had been an excellent host and had done her best to make her feel comfortable. And in less than a few hours, Amity had discovered that she enjoyed living with the fairy much more than she had ever enjoyed living in the manor where she was born and raised. That house was small, the mattress where she slept less comfortable, the furniture less rich, but everything was filled with a warmth that she had never felt at the Blight Manor, which instead had always seemed cold to her. Lilith was always there for her and the moments when they didn't exchange some words were rare; the fairy continually worked to make her feel at home, even rather clumsily at times, often making her laugh, and Amity loved it. She definitely felt much more at ease in that small and very ordinary house rather than in that enormous manor. She was still getting the hang of being a witch; fortunately she had discovered that thanks to her human half she had not developed an aversion to getting wet like her mother's. She could still take a bath, as long as the water wasn't too cold. Which meant she could still go to the beach with friends during the summer, although she could only enter the water during midday when the water was warmer

Edric and Emira were also gone from Blight Manor, as they had said. They had gone to stay at the Red Lobster Inn, in what was Hunter's room; technically the guy had paid in advance for the whole month, so it was booked even if he wasn't there. They had convinced the innkeeper that they were his friends and that he had asked them to look after his stuff (and they made sure to actually get that request out of him as soon as he called his friends again), and so they got a roof and a free bed. Out of respect for Hunter they had never touched his belongings and had never snooped; even if they were a bit of a crook, they were certainly not spies. They both urgently needed to spend some time away from home, even though they had allowed Alador to meet them at least once a day; that interaction was never longer than ten minutes, but he always came anyway. Nobody knew what they said to each other, but none of their friends asked: it was a family matter and they would talk to the others about it when they felt ready.

Speaking of Alador, he had completely put himself at the service of the community, and using his inventiveness he was helping the residents of Bonesborough rebuild what had been destroyed. He had also recovered his balloon, which he revealed he had named 'airship', and had begun repairing it. He now lived alone in the Blight Manor, and had closed whatever business the Blight family had with every merchant; after all, they already had enough money to live comfortably for at least the next three generations, and he wasn't as skilled as Odalia, so it was best to avoid jumping into business and risk losing everything. Furthermore, he was no longer interested in making money: at the moment, his only desire was to repair his relationship with his children and make amends for the mistakes of the past, even if he himself didn't know how and didn't consider himself worthy of it. Luckily, at least Edric and Emira were charitable enough to at least let them talk to him for a few minutes a day. Amity hadn't been so kind: Alador had only tried to visit her once, but she had slammed the door in his face without saying a word, making it clear what she thought.

In short, the Blight family definitely had many problems to solve, but at least it seemed that from a magical point of view there were few: Amity had in fact continued to maintain complete control over Grometheus' essence. The magical balancing she had performed was nothing short of superb, and both Eda and Lilith couldn't help but express their admiration for it: Amity was literally the first person in the world to have managed to balance so much magical power... even if she continually reminded that the credit should be shared with Luz. Speaking of the puppet, she was as jovial as ever and was extremely supportive of her girlfriend; everyone was happy to know that she had managed to complete one of the steps to become a real girl, especially Eda who had showered her with kisses and hugs; everyone couldn't wait for her to complete the second requirement too so that her dream could be realized. Surprisingly though, the one who was least thrilled about this was Luz, as she was currently too busy being supportive to Amity... and Willow too.

"You'll see, today he'll tell us where he is" the puppet told to her friend while she was as usual waiting for Hunter's call. "He will have found a clue and will be back here in no time"

After that night three days ago, Willow had never parted with the crystal Hunter had given her. Even though they now knew that the boy was alive, it seemed that a veil of worry had clouded the girl's heart, as if she wasn't completely convinced; it was as if she needed to see him in person again. She wanted to hug him, feel the touch of his skin, mirror herself in his eyes; she wanted to make sure that a miracle had really happened and that he had actually survived, and wasn't just calling her from the afterlife.

As usual, that day the crystal began to flash, and Hunter's voice came from the other side. But unlike the other times he said: "Guys, I know where I am!"

Willow brought her face so close to the crystal that she nearly poked it in her eye, as if she were afraid she wouldn't hear properly. "Tell us now!" she almost screamed.

"I came near a coastal village... it's called Latissa" Hunter replied.

"Latissa?" Raine exclaimed. "Boy, you almost ended up on another continent!"

Raine was also very worried, although not to the level of Willow: after all, Darius, their best friend, was still missing. It was no coincidence that they came to the Owl House every day to hear Hunter's call. "If so, we'll have to fly to get to him" Eda said. "Lilith and I can join you..."

"I come with you!" Willow exclaimed. "Carry me on your shoulders, in your arms, do what you want! But let me come!"

"Eda... I'd like to come too" Raine told her.

The fairy knew that they wanted to take an active part in Darius' search, and she didn't have the heart to refuse. "Okay. I'll carry you in my arms, and Lilith will carry Willow. But no other passengers, we can't fly across the ocean with too much weight on us"

"I can fly too!" Amity reminded them.

"Yeah, and we can get on the broom with her!" Luz said, and Gus nodded.

But both Eda and Lilith didn't seem convinced at all. "Amity, we don't doubt your abilities, but... how's the practice lessons going with Ghost?"

Amity bit her lip. Even though she had continued to practice with her magic broom, and now that she could talk to Ghost he had become much easier to use, she still couldn't stay in the air for more than a minute without risking crashing into something. She doubted she would be able to maintain a straight line on a several-hour journey across the ocean, assuming she didn't end up feeding the fish. "But..."

"Amity, you better stay here" Lilith told her. "You still have to learn to use Ghost well... and then, it would be better for you to rest and think about having fun"

Amity lowered her head. She knew Lilith was right, but it still bothered her that she couldn't intervene. And Luz and Gus were also quite against it: "But together we could track down Flapjack and Darius first...!"

"There won't be any need" Hunter said through the crystal. "When Eda and Lilith will be here, I will absorb some of their magical energy and use it to create a locator spell, like the one I use to find my prey when I hunt. Even though my staff is powered primarily by dark magic, I can exploit other types of magic at least a little too. So I won't need too many people to find them"

"Did you hear that, kiddo? We can think about it alone" Eda said to Luz, then she whispered to her: "Think about your girlfriend now. This is the moment you need to be as close to her as possible"

Luz wanted to protest, but Eda's words made her stop. The fairy wasn't entirely wrong: even though Amity was definitely better than before, she was still very affected by what happened that night. She wasn't used to tasting true freedom and all the consequences it entailed; if she added to it the pain of her mother's betrayal and having to manage an immense magical source, it caused her quite a bit of mental stress. "Okay... you go then"

The three adults and Willow nodded; the latter promised her friends that she would bring Hunter back, and after hugging them and saying goodbye she let Lilith pick her up, while Eda instead took Raine rather princely and winking a lot, which made the poor bard blush. After that the four of them went to the backyard and after Eda told Hooty to look after the house, they took off and flew towards the ocean.

Luz realized that Amity had her head down. "Everything is fine?"

The young witch let out a snort. "I hate having to stay behind" she admitted. "Do you know how frustrating it is to have incredible magical powers but cannot use them?"

"I know, but our fairies are right. And you heard Hunter, he doesn't need many people" Luz pointed out.

"Yeah. They will be back in two or three days" Gus said in turn trying to cheer her up.

But Amity didn't seem in a very good mood. "It's still frustrating" she said, sitting on the floor and hugging her knees.

Luz imitated her. She remained silent for a second, then she asked her: "Do you want to tell me what's bothering you?"

Amity sighed and leaned against Luz's shoulder. "It's just that... I don't know who I am anymore" she admitted. "Now I'm free, I can decide for myself... but I don't know what I want to do. I know that what my mother taught me is wrong... but I still have this enormous power inside, which whether I like it or not makes me different from others. I am literally a demigoddess. What should I do with this power? Will I be able to use it wisely? Should I hide it forever and pretend to be normal? And even if I choose to do this, will I be able to stop myself? If anyone ever does something that I won't like it, will I accept it or will I use my magic to impose myself on them and force them to do as I say? I have so many questions and no one to answer me..."

"It's normal, Amity" Luz told her. "You shouldn't be ashamed of having an identity crisis. After what you've suffered, it's the least"

A small smile formed on Amity's face and she leaned her head even more on his shoulder until her hair brushed her neck, tickling her. "Thanks, Luz. But the problem remains. I might really cause trouble someday..."

"Then we'll deal with it that day. One thing at a time, Amity!" Luz answered her with a broad smile. "We have our whole life ahead of us; let's not think about tomorrow, let's just enjoy the present. Now just focus on having fun properly: you need it, I bet your body is itching to finally be able to do everything it has been denied for fourteen years!"

Amity couldn't help but laugh at those words. "Oh, Luz, you really are the best girlfriend in the world!" she told her, throwing herself on top of her and rolling together on the grass.

"Yawn... what are they doing?" King, who had just gotten out of bed, left the house and asked for an explanation of all the commotion.

"Long story short, Amity was having an existential crisis and Luz is helping her with her spit" Gus replied, smiling as he watched the two girls kiss passionately. He waited for them to move away from each other, and then he proposed to them: "How about we go into town? Let's meet up with the others, so we can have some fun"

"Yes, and we'll keep Boscha from burning anything again" Luz commented with a laugh. After the Collector had left the powers he had given to the kids had diminished a little, but they were still remarkable; fortunately all of them, including the twins, had enough intelligence not to show them too much since they would have to justify them, and therefore they had decided to wait for Darius' return to tell everyone that it was the djinn who gave them to them and not a supreme being summoned from their lavander-haired friend and passed to their side thanks to their favorite puppet. Even so, however, as soon as they were alone the kids had no qualms about using them, with the result that Boscha had already risked setting fire to a tree; fortunately after that she seemed to have calmed down a bit and she refrained from using these powers in a careless way, but still it wasn't unusual for flames to appear between her fingers.

Gus' proposal was well accepted, so he, Luz, Amity and King went to the town in search of their friends; however they didn't find them. They went to the houses of all of them, and didn't find them there; they went to the places where they normally played, and they weren't there either. And not only that, but all the other kids in Bonesborough seemed to have vanished into thin air. They were starting to wonder where everyone had ended up, when they noticed a couple of children running towards the countryside outside the town; curious, they followed them, and what they found was a wagon pulled by twenty-four donkeys around which a lot of kids and children had gathered. They approached and it was not difficult for them to notice the presence of their friends. "Guys, what's going on?" Luz asked them.

"Hey, there you are! Where did you go?" Emira's happy voice welcomed them; she seemed decidedly happier than usual. "What are you waiting for to get your tickets?"

"Tickets?" Amity repeated confused. "For where?"

"To a dream place, little sis!" Edric told her. "That guy over there owns an amusement park, and from the way he describes it, it's wonderful!"

"Yeah! There are lots of slides, pools, and water features!" Skara exclaimed.

"And also lots of rides, toys and entertainment!" Boscha added.

"And most importantly, there are no rules!" Cat said back.

"Yeah! We kids can do whatever we want!" Amelia said with her eyes shining.

Even Matt seemed to have lost his usual frown a little. "It doesn't look bad," he admitted.

Amity, Luz, and Gus immediately became very interested; the only one who wasn't particularly impressed was King, who, although he loved to have fun, also loved to sleep a lot, and so he thought such a place was decidedly too noisy. "This sounds super fun! Who's running this thing?" Luz asked.

"That guy with the mask over there" Boscha told them, pointing to a strange guy in front of the cart who kept moving like he was a puppet, making everyone laugh. He was a tall man and was wrapped in a white cloak, and had a very rich robe and golden gloves; on his face he had a completely gold-plated mask which probably represented a deer or some other animal of that type given that it had two small curved horns.

Luz approached him and greeted him: "Hello, sir! Excuse me, I just arrived..."

"No problem, sweet lady!" the man responded by greeting her in a rather funny way, typical of a puppet in a theater, which immediately endeared him to her. "No one is late to the Boiling Islands! The Boiling Islands are always open to all kids! The only delay you can be is age, because no adults are allowed!"

Luz tried to keep from laughing. "Are the Boiling Islands your amusement park?"

"Absolutely yes!" the man responded with a laugh reminiscent of that of a quiet uncle. "The Boiling Islands, the best place in the world, so called because every kid's blood boils with the amount of fun there is there! Where do you want to find a healthier country for you kids? There are no schools there, no teachers, nor books; boredom is banned, only fun is allowed! There is no school on Thursdays: and every week is made up of six Thursdays and a Sunday. Imagine that the autumn holidays begin on the first of January and end on the last of December. Here's a place you'll really like! This is how all civilized countries should be!"

"It looks really cool!" Luz exclaimed. That guy sure knew how to sell his amusement park well; her wooden heart was already trembling at the prospect of going there. "And how do you spend your days there?"

"You spend playing and having fun from morning to night; that evening you go to bed at the time you want, and the next morning you wake up when you want and start all over again" the man explained to her.

"Very beautiful!" Luz said with her eyes twinkling. "It's definitely a place I would like to visit!"

"So you want a ticket?" the man asked her.

Luz was already about to say yes, but her common sense got the better of her. "Um… I would like to know where these Boiling Islands are located first, sir"

"Please, miss, just call me Philip. I'm not a fan of honorifics" the man told her cordially. "As for where they are, they're on an island just offshore from here. I just finished building them, you'll be my first customers!"

"On an island?" Luz repeated in surprise, but then she realized that the park was in fact called 'Boiling Islands'. "So you came by ship?"

"Yes. It's tinkered with on a beach not far from here. That's why I came with the cart, so none of you have to walk!" Philip answered her.

"But why didn't you just bring the ship into port?" Luz asked.

"I tried, but I couldn't!" Philip replied with a bit of rancor in his voice. "When I arrived, the port was a mess! It was impossible to land there, so I looked for a suitable place further away"

Yes, in fact the port of Bonesborough was still being repaired after Belos had submerged it while he was trying to pull the entire city under water, so it was normal that you couldn't land there. "So you have to wait for the ship to get to and from the Boiling Islands?" Luz asked again.

"Yes, but don't worry: the ship leaves every day at nine in the evening and at nine in the morning. If you come now, which is precisely nine in the morning, you have twelve hours to enjoy yourself before having to return to your parents!" Philip replied jovially, then he added: "And if by any chance you want to spend more than just one day, there are plenty of hotels where you can rest, and they are included in the ticket. You can stay there as long as you want!"

Luz was more and more tempted. Even though she didn't really like having to travel by ship, she certainly couldn't complain if the schedule was so convenient. "How long does it take to get there?"

"Very little" Philip replied. "It takes you just twenty minutes by ship"

Oh, so that was really close. "How much is the ticket?" the puppet finally asked.

And to her surprise, Philip opened his arms wide with a laugh: "That's the beauty of it, miss! Since the park has just opened, it's free for an entire month! You can be the first to use it, and you won't have to pay anything! Just until the end of the month, obviously; after that you will have to pay... but you will still have thirty days to enjoy it without any worries!"

Luz was now convinced that those Boiling Islands were truly a place worth visiting. She turned to her friends: "What do you think?"

"And you even ask us? We're happy to go!" Edric answered her.

"Yeah! A place where studying is forbidden and fun is the law, what's stopping us?" Emira exclaimed with a triumphant expression, and all of their friends nodded in response.

"This guy seems serious when describing his amusement park, I don't think he's lying about it. By the way..." Matt said, and then tossed a note to Gus: "Here. I got you one too"

Gus accepted it willingly. "Well, if I have one by now, I can't refuse!"

Amity looked at Luz: "What do you think? Looks like it's worth checking out to me!"

"Yeah, I don't mind too" Luz admitted, but then she felt someone punch her leg; she looked down and saw King staring at her sternly. "What's up?"

"Girls, you should not leave town without Eda and Lilith's permission" King told them.

"Oh, come on! They didn't tell us to stay indoors" Amity replied. "It's only for one day, it won't be a problem"

"Yeah. We didn't tell our parents either, technically" Skara said with a smile. "We'll be back tonight on the nine o'clock ship, no one will notice!"

King wasn't so sure. He felt something was wrong. How come none of those kids seemed even a little suspicious? "Excuse me, Mr. Philip, can you take off your mask?" he asked to the man.

"King! That's not polite!" Luz scolded him. "Sorry, Philip, he didn't mean to make you uncomfortable..."

"No, no, no problem" the man replied, and he took off his golden mask. What showed themselves to them was the face of a nice old man with long ocher hair, who had a very sweet smile and watery and friendly eyes. The kids couldn't help but feel like they were in the company of a lovable grandpa; the only flaw everyone noticed was a long scar on his face. "Can I ask how you did it?" King asked pointing to her.

"An accident when I was young" Philip replied with a smile. "I was fiddling with some glass, I slipped and cut myself"

"And what does that mask represent?" King asked again.

"It's the mascot of the Boiling Islands! It's an imaginary creature I created by combining a bird's head with some deer antlers. It came to my mind one day and I've kept it ever since!" Philip replied.

King looked like he was about to ask more questions, but Luz stopped him: "King, stop! Don't be rude!" the puppet said. "There's no reason to ask this man a lot of personal questions. He's just doing his job"

The young Titan wasn't very convinced, but something happened that prevented him from protesting: what looked like a little girl wearing clothes much longer than her size and who had a rather bizarre hairstyle headed towards Philip, falling face first on the ground at least three times during the journey making everyone laugh. Clearly she must have been some sort of buffoon in Philip's service, because she was dressed too absurdly to be her normal attire: it was certainly a costume aimed at making the kids laugh, and she succeeded very well at it. "Sir, the wagon is repaired"

"Oh, did your wagon break down?" Luz asked displeased.

"Yes, unfortunately a wheel broke while I was on my way to the town so I could start revealing to the kids about the dream location that is the Boiling Islands! I was waiting for my trusty helper to fix it, but apparently the kids found me without even having to look for them!" Philip responded cheerfully, and then he said: "Well, since you're all here already, we might as well leave now! Whoever has a ticket, let's get on the wagon!"

The boys obeyed, and soon the wagon was so packed that it would have been difficult even to stick a pinhead in it; in the end only Luz and Amity remained on the ground, as well as King obviously. "Luz, seriously, let's go too!" the young witch exclaimed. "I like the idea!"

Luz was up for it too. Amity looked positively happy, and she was sure that having fun at an amusement park was just what she needed. And then, she too liked the thought of spending the whole day having fun like crazy. "Yes I agree"

"Luz, Amity, please listen to me!" King told them. "I have a bad feeling. I don't think you should go!"

"Oh, come on, King! Have you forgotten that my girlfriend is the most powerful witch in the world? What danger could we possibly be in?" Luz reminded him, and Amity nodded proudly. "It'll only be for one day, we'll be back by tonight! Eda and Lilith won't even notice, and we'll be distracted while we wait for Hunter to return!"

King still wasn't convinced; it seemed too absurd to him that every single kid who had come there had allowed themselves to be persuaded to go. "Luz, seriously, there's something strange here. Let's go home"

But the puppet in response took him aside and whispered: "King... please. Amity needs to distract herself... and so do I. We all need some entertainment. We'll be back by this evening and nothing bad will happen"

The young Titan wanted to protest again, but when he saw Luz's puppy eyes he couldn't remember any more arguments to counter. "Okay, do as you want. I'm not coming though; we need someone to look after the house"

"Then I'll entrust it to you!" Luz responded by pressing a small kiss on his forehead. "See you this evening!"

King hesitated for a moment more, then he turned and headed back towards the Owl House. Luz and Amity, thrilled and excited, turned back to Philip: "We want a ticket too, please!"

The final arc officially begins!

For those who don't remember, Latissa is a real port city present in the Owl House canon, appearing in the sixth episode of the second season. The Boiling Islands... do they really need an explanation?

In Collodi's original book, Pinocchio goes to Toyland because he was convinced by his friend Lampwick; this is because Lampwick represents the tempter who strays from the right path (literally in the original language his name recalls that of Lucifer, precisely the tempting devil). Here obviously there is no Lampwick, but rather it is Philip who acts as a tempter; many phrases he uses to convince her are in fact the same ones that Lampwick uses to convince Pinocchio. Also, in the original book Toyland is an actual town for kids where there are no adults, and Pinocchio go there to live there; here is just an amusement park since Luz would never leave Eda to go to live in another town just for fun