Since the transformation into humans only lasted six hours a day, Gus, Willow and Matt still slept in their old terrariums at night in their arthropod forms. However, lately it was no longer just the three of them: King, in fact, using the excuse of wanting to 'protect his worshippers', had taken their terrariums and placed them in a fort of blankets and pillows that he had created for himself in a corner of the house, inside which Eda had then placed a small, warm bed in which the young Titan could sleep. It wasn't difficult for the three arthropods to understand that protection was just an excuse that King used to hide the fact that he didn't want to sleep alone in a house that was still very unknown to him. Luz and Eda had also understood this and had tried to invite him to sleep in their rooms, but the young Titan had always refused, probably because the aforementioned rooms were located on the upper floor of the Owl House and he wanted to stay on the lower one to have greater ability to escape in case of danger.

So, by now Willow, Gus and Matt had become King's 'roommates', which had obviously caused some alterations in their normal night cycle. All three were accustomed to the peaceful total silence of the living room, where there was practically no noise at night; now however, even though King was very silent while he slept and did not snore, something probably developed over the years he had spent in hiding, sometimes at night it could happen that the young Titan would stir in his sleep, and while he was doing this he would bump into the terrariums causing them vibrate and wake up the poor tenants. This initially bothered Willow, Gus and Matt a bit, but by now they had gotten used to it and no longer got scared if suddenly an earthquake seemed to occur around them at night; and since they knew that their company was important to King in order to feel safe, they had accepted that situation.

However, it wasn't King's movement that woke them up that night; instead, it was a scream of pain coming from upstairs. Gus, Willow, Matt and King jumped in fright, but immediately afterwards another sound came from the other, making their blood run cold: the high-pitched hoot of an owl. The noise also woke Hooty and Owlbert, who immediately went upstairs; Willow grabbed Gus with her paws and flew in that direction right away, while Matt jumped on top of King who in turn ran towards the stairs. And when they finally arrived upstairs they found Eda on her knees with a clear expression of pain painted on her face and some tears flowing from her cheeks, demonstrating how much she was suffering. Luz was outside the window sitting on Hunter's stirrup, and while they were still coming she yelled, "HUNTER, GO NOW!" and they both disappeared into the night sky.

"LUZ! WAIT, PLEASE!" Eda screamed, barely raising an arm towards her, but she obviously wasn't able to reach her. Willow took the opportunity to land on the back of her hand and turn to the fairy for explanations: "Eda, what's going on? Why are you...?"

Her sentence was cut off in mid-sentence an instant later, and Gus stood petrified next to her, because they both suddenly realized that Eda's left arm was no longer normal: it was thicker and more massive, and the veins in it were pulsating, creating obvious pain to the fairy, her fingers had become claws and horrible square feathers of pale gray or black tar had appeared on her skin. "Eda, why are you turning into the Owl Beast!?" they both exclaimed in fear.

They both went into total panic. The last time Eda transformed she had become a horrendous and very dangerous monster; if she transformed again, they would have to escape immediately and hope that Hooty could lock her in the Owl House again... but that was clearly only a temporary solution, which wouldn't help the fairy in the slightest. "Okay... okay, you're transforming, so Luz must be behaving badly again, right?" Willow muttered frantically, desperately trying to find a solution. "Now I'll go to her and give her a good scolding, don't worry! Just... where did she and Hunter go?"

While she tried to make up her mind, the others were not left idle: Hooty and Owlbert had grabbed Eda and helped her get onto the bed and lie down. Fortunately, the Owl Beast's corruption seemed to have stopped, but the fairy was still clearly very tired and strained and seemed to have become incapable of moving on her own or even speaking. "What does this mean?" King asked with a bit of fear in his voice, although he still didn't hesitate or try to escape despite the rather scary situation, and Matt also seemed eager for explanations.

"It's the corruption of the Owl Beast" Gus said to them. "It would be long to describe, so let's just say that every time Luz behaves badly, Eda becomes corrupted, and the more Luz's bad actions are... well, bad, the more Eda risks turning into a mindless monster"

"What!? This is terrible! I can't let this happen... we are talking about a worshiper of mine, after all!" King said, hurrying to specify the last part, then he bravely raised one of his arms and brought his claws close to it. "The blood of a noble Titan like me is a powerful medicine that can heal any disease! I don't usually deprive myself of it, but for such a good worshiper I'm willing to..."

"It wouldn't help..." Eda whispered, finally speaking for the first time. "This is not... a disease... it's a natural condition... you... you have to find Luz... and convince her... to do... the right thing..."

"Yes, that's right, that's what we have to do! Where is she now?" Willow asked apprehensively.

Eda seemed to bite her lip. "She's going... to get the lamp... of that djinn" she answered, and there was a strange note of sadness in her voice and her look.

"What!? But she promised that she won't… oh" Willow and Gus looked at each other and both had the same thought: if Luz was going to get Darius' lamp, then that meant she was breaking her promise to Eda, just like the last time. Not only that: the presence of the fairy in the puppet's room and her displeased face made it clear that there had been some discussion between them and Luz had said something that had really upset the fairy. And besides, Luz was technically going to commit a robbery… it was a lot of bad things all at once. It was actually a miracle that Eda hadn't completely transformed already. "We have to stop Luz now!" Willow said. "Come on, Gus! Let's go to the BATTs camp and..."

"And how could we do such a thing? Did you see how fast Luz and Hunter were going? They will have been there long ago by now, they've probably already taken the lamp!" her friend pointed out.

But Willow didn't give up. "It doesn't matter, we still have to try to stop her! We can't back out now!"

"I'm not saying we back out, but given the situation, maybe we should ask Eda if there's a spell to speed up our... uh?" Gus suddenly froze, just like all the other people in the room: suddenly Eda let out a moan of relief, and the pained expression vanished from her face. Slowly her arm deflated and returned to being similar to a human hand, although several feathers continued to sprout from it and instead of nails there were claws.

"The transformation in this… Owl Beast is regressing!" King exclaimed triumphantly. "That's a good thing, right? Isn't that a good thing?"

Although she still felt very tired and deprived of all strength, Eda now no longer felt pain apart from a slight tingling. She rubbed her changed arm and it made her tingle. She knew that Luz hadn't broken their bond, she could clearly still feel it, which meant that she hadn't made a wish to the djinn yet... so the fact that the Owl Beast was regressing probably meant that she had changed her mind and chosen to do the right thing on her own. However, that didn't mean she could return to sleep and just wait: she absolutely had to find her before she changed her mind again. "We have to go look for her... we have to... URGH!". She had tried to get up, but had only almost fallen to the ground due to lack of strength, and only Hooty's prompt intervention prevented her from hitting the floor with her head.

Willow activated her magic gem and transformed back into a girl, and she grabbed the fairy, helping her to her feet. "Don't make any sudden movements. You're still weak" she told her. She felt really bad for Eda: even though she and Gus had seen the Owl Beast before, they had only witnessed the moment when the fairy was completely transformed. They had no idea that the transformation process was so painful, or that the healing process was so exhausting. Now they understood perfectly why Eda, even though Luz had regretted her actions as soon as she saw her, had taken so long to return to normal and go looking for her.

Gus transformed into a human himself and took the fairy's left arm, observing the situation. The feathers had become smaller and thinner and both the bone and muscle structure appeared to have returned to normal, but there was no other improvement. Perhaps Luz had given up on stealing Darius' lamp, but that evidently wasn't enough to make up for that bad deed. Well, after all, the last time Luz had had to cry and despair for a whole day to be able to give Eda human form again, and even so it hadn't happened immediately but through a very long process. Even if this time the transformation wasn't complete, probably just stop doing a bad deed wasn't enough to make up. "I think the best thing to do is for you to stay here and rest and Willow, Matt and I go to find Luz" he told the fairy. "You're in no condition to walk, let alone search half the city for a person. So leave the burden of retrieving her to us; you stay here with Hooty, Owlbert, and King, in case she comes back..."

"Hey, hey, don't even talk about it!" King exclaimed angrily. "I still don't understand this whole Owl Beast thing, but I can't just sit here and do nothing! It's my duty as a mighty Titan to protect my worshipers, and I certainly can't tolerate my best worshiper doing bad things! I'll find her and I will bring her here personally!"

King seemed determined to come with them, and Gus didn't mind it: after all, the young Titan wasn't too irresponsible, so if he had stayed with them he would probably have just followed their directions and wouldn't have caused any problems. But Willow didn't seem to think the same way: "King, thank you for your help, but if I know Luz well then what awaits us is almost certainly a long series of troubles that will fall on us one after the other like tiles of a domino. I don't think you should..."

"Don't try to leave me behind!" King protested vehemently. "I won't leave Luz in trouble!"

The other people in the room were surprised: it was the first time they had heard King speak like... well, like the child he was instead of like a monarch. It seemed like he was really worried about what might happen to Luz. Willow began to reconsider her position, but before she could decide whether or not to allow King to come with them she heard a loud knock on the door. For a moment they thought Luz had returned, but then Hooty's face appeared from the window: "Hoot hoot! Eda, your sister is here! And Amity and two guys very similar to her are with her, I think they're siblings!"

"Ugh... I figured Lilith would come. Let her in" Eda replied, who out of everyone was the only one not surprised by that visit. Hooty opened the door and let Amity, Lilith, Edric and Emira enter. Everyone made a sound of surprise when they saw Lilith reduced to practically the same state as Eda and supported by the three siblings.

"What!? But... but... what happened?" Willow exclaimed as she helped them sit her up.

"I-I don't know!" Amity replied with a shaking voice. "We were... spending time together, and suddenly she started screaming and her hand turned into that bird leg... she seems better now, but she's still sick...!"

Willow and Gus looked at each other confused. Maybe Lilith was also connected to Amity, just like Eda was to Luz? But according to Amity it didn't seem like she had transformed as a result of her bad actions... and it seemed rather strange that Lilith's curse had suddenly regressed... and that it was practically in the same state as Eda's, only in the right arm instead of the left, almost as if the Owl Beast had been divided in half perfectly and distributed between the two fairies...

Eda clarified all their doubts: "After she found out about my connection with Luz, Lilith performed a spell to divide it between me and her. She too now suffers the effects of Luz's actions, even if only half"

"And I did well it seems" Lilith whispered in a tired voice. "I don't know what your protégé is up to, but if I hadn't shared the corruption, you would have been completely transformed by now. What your pupil is doing?"

Now everything was clear. "So none of you are in danger of turning into a full Owl Beasts?" Gus asked. "I mean... if it's only half for each..."

"No, it just takes us twice as long" Eda replied. "But if Luz were to overdo it, we would both transform... although fortunately it is decreasing now..."

"Stop! May I know what you're talking about?" Amity stopped them. "I want an explanation, now!"

She didn't need to push too hard: Willow and Gus quickly explained to her about the Owl Beast and the connection between Eda and Luz. When they finished Amity's face was turned completely white: "So, if fairies do bad things they turn into mindless monsters, and Eda is connected to Luz because she gave her life, so now if Luz misbehaves, Eda is the one who suffers the consequences, and since Lilith has performed some pain-sharing spell now she too suffers it?"

"Put simply, yes" Gus confirmed.

Amity seemed to have a spinning head. "Too much information..." she muttered in a thick voice, then she turned to Eda angrily: "Why didn't you just support her and ask Raine to convince that djinn to give the lamp to Luz to make her make a wish? We would have saved ourselves all this mess! Don't you too want to see her become a real girl?"

"Of course I do" Eda said with some irritation in her voice. "That's exactly why I don't want her to do it! That's not the right way to become a real girl. Luz could change her body, but she can't change her spirit"

"What's that supposed to mean? It doesn't make sense!" Amity exclaimed. "Becoming human is the same as becoming a real girl, right? What's the difference?"

But to his surprise not only Eda, but also Lilith seemed quite annoyed by his words. Amity bit her lip; maybe she was saying something wrong? "Do you really think so?" Eda asked her. "Are you really convinced that being a real girl is the same as becoming human? So what about Willow? She's a cricket, so she's not a real girl? Or me, or Lilith? We're fairies, so we're not human; that makes us perhaps less real?"

Amity blushed. "I-I didn't say that! I meant that being real means being made of flesh and blood..."

"I'm pretty sure the trees would object. Or the grass. Or the mushrooms. Or the golems. Or many others" Eda contradicted her.

Amity fell silent; she seriously wanted to answer the fairy, but she wasn't sure she knew how. Taking advantage of her silence, Eda let out a sigh: "Being a real girl is not something that concerns how you are born, what species you belong to or what material you are made of. It is something deeper, more intrinsic. Regardless of whether you are made of wood or flesh, if you cannot understand what being real entails, you will always be just a puppet in someone's hands". The fairy shook her head. "This is why I don't want Luz to use the lamp as a shortcut. If she does, she won't get what she wants, she'll only get the illusion of having had it and she'll stop putting in the effort to look for it. And when she realizes that what she really wanted she still doesn't have obtained, she will regret it bitterly"

Eda had spoken in a rather generalist way, as if with that 'regardless of whether you are made of wood or flesh' she was referring to a casual and generic subject, but Amity didn't have to make much effort to understand that the fairy was referring in a specific to her. After all, she had fully demonstrated that she had no idea what it meant to be a real girl. She scratched her head with a lot of shame, trying to understand the fairy's words or at least make sense of them, but just at that moment an intense blue light exploded above the house and illuminated everything below it very, very brightly. Even though the blue light only entered through the windows, the people in the house were still blinded by it for a few moments; Hooty instead let out a screech and shouted: "Hoot hoot! I can't see anything anymore! Now there's only a blue spot in front of me!"

Ghost, who until then had remained wrapped around Amity's neck like a scarf, immediately jumped to the ground, hissing and arching his fur just like a furious cat. Owlbert and Mike instead seemed almost hypnotized by the light. Seeing the Palismen behaving like that, it didn't take Lilith long to put two and two together: "That must be life magic! Something tells me it's the work of that djinn"

"Yeah... and I don't think this is the result of Luz's wish" Eda said trying to get up, and finally she managed to do so, even though she could barely stand on her legs. "Hooty, get us out of here!"

"Ugh... okay" the owl responded, lifting the Owl House onto his crow's feet, but since he was still blinded he had to grope his way, resulting in all of the occupants nearly falling over. But this was still useless, because the light in the sky moved with them and continued to illuminate them like a beacon.

"It's no use, that... thing is focused on us" Lilith said gritting her teeth.

"Yeah... Hooty, stop, it's not worth wasting your strength" Eda grumbled. "I'm afraid there's trouble ahead..."

And in fact the trouble was not long in coming: within just ten minutes, what sounded like war drums sounded outside the Owl House. The kids looked at each other quite worried: both Eda and Lilith were far too debilitated to even use the slightest magic, and none of them were warriors. "Damn... now we really need Hunter..." Willow muttered to herself.

Several shadows emerged from nowhere and silently approached Hooty; the owl had good hearing, but they could move almost without making the slightest noise, just like expert hunters, and without his sight he had no chance of identifying them. He only became aware of them when a chain was wrapped around his neck, preventing him from stretching it out and using it to fight. Several more chains were thrown all over the house, pinning it to the ground and preventing any attempt to escape; those chains were clearly enchanted, because despite Hooty struggling with all his strength he couldn't break them and remained imprisoned there.

The kids backed away from the door somewhat frightened. "This won't end well at all" Willow murmured, clenching her fists; she had hoped to be able to take on their opponents using her strength, but if they could stop Hooty, then surely they could stop her as well.

The windows shattered and several armed individuals jumped into the house; for a moment the kids feared they were monsters because of their heads, but then they realized that they were only using skulls as headdresses. One of them, taller and more massive than the others, looked at each of them and as soon as his gaze fell on King it became one of pure ferocity. "IT'S HERE! THE TITAN IS REALLY HERE!"

"W-What!? Are you looking for me?" King stammered, obviously frightened.

The intruders seemed strangely excited to see him. "Hand over the Titan to us and we will leave you alone!"

"N-No way! King is our friend!" Gus said although with a lot of fear in his voice.

The intruders didn't seem the least bit moved by this. "You made your choice. Goodbye" the biggest among them said, and they all raised daggers and ran violently towards the kids.

But just then, Eda and Lilith raised their wands and used all the strength they had left to conjure a powerful spell that caused a flash of light that made at least half of the intruders faint, and soon after both fairies collapsed in ground and also fainted due to lack of energy. Willow took advantage of the opportunity to jump on the biggest enemy and pepper him with punches, and after her Gus and Matt attacked in turn, and even Edric and Emira began to grab anything that came within reach and smash it on the heads of the intruders, putting them out of action. Amity, however, grabbed King by the waist and ran upstairs, followed by Ghost. "What are you doing? The battle is there!" the young Titan exclaimed. "We should fight! I should fight!"

"Yes, but those people want you! Therefore, I must take you away! Maybe if we go away they will chase us and leave the others alone!" Amity replied as she reached the highest room and then climbed onto the roof; from there she could clearly see numerous other individuals flock into the house and hear unpleasant noises come from the floor below. Knowing she had no other choice, she opened her palm and Ghost jumped into her hand and transformed into a flying broom. "Okay. We're leaving now"

"Hey, wait! Can you drive that thing!?" King exclaimed as she sat down on the broom.

Amity shrugged: "Well... I tried a couple of times with mom present... but she wouldn't let me do any big stunts..."

"Do you know how to drive or not!?" King growled with a lot of concern in his voice.

Amity tried to think of a way to reassure him, but several thuds coming from beneath her made her realize that now wasn't the time. "No, but let's go anyway!" she shouted, and with one leap threw herself off the roof of the Owl House. King let out a scream that sounded like a high-pitched squeak, and Amity mentally called herself crazy; almost instinctively she pulled the broom towards her, and it stopped falling and shot upwards, spinning on itself.

Amity was suddenly completely okay with her mother's ban on training without jurisdiction, because her riding was anything but graceful and she would almost certainly break a bone if she didn't correct her flight at least a little. She tightened her grip on the magic broom, but this only resulted in it speeding up exponentially, with the result that Amity almost went blind as she was forced to squint her eyelids due to the air rushing into her eyes, hurting her. She pulled the broom toward her again, and it finally slowed, but it did so abruptly that it almost made her feel like she'd been punched in the stomach. "Urgh... can't you at least be a little graceful!?" King protested.

"Give me a break! I never learned to fly, I'm not a bird!" Amity responded angrily, and as she did so she abruptly moved her hands with the result that the broom began to go up and down as if it was having an epileptic fit; she had to hold on to it with all her strength to keep from falling. At least it seemed like they were managing to get away... but as they fled away from the Owl House, the light in the sky moved as well and continued to illuminate them wherever they went. That's when Amity understood. "King, that light isn't pointed at us... it's pointed at you!"

She didn't have time to say anything else: what looked like ropes tied at the ends to rocks appeared around them, spinning violently in the air and wrapping around Amity's body, blocking her; the broom fell downwards and only at the last moment and with extreme difficulty Amity managed to stop the fall, ending up rolling on the ground rather badly, but without breaking any bones. King in turn was unharmed, and got up running to check on the girl's condition, but the two were soon surrounded by other individuals with skulls on their heads. Among them, a very short one came forward armed with rope and whip. "What a joy! I will finally be able to capture a Titan! I have been waiting for this moment all my life! The name of Elder Bill will become immortal!"

"King... cough... run..." Amity murmured, trying to stand up despite the pain she felt all over her body.

King was paralyzed, and was looking at their attackers, trembling slightly. His gaze betrayed the fear he was feeling. He absolutely wanted to escape, run and hide like he always had; it would have been the wisest choice... yet his body didn't move. "What are you doing? I told you to run!" Amity repeated to him.

But King shook his head. "I'm afraid... I can't do that" he said. There was a lot of fear in his voice, but also a lot of determination. "If I left you here alone, Luz would never forgive me. And I would never forgive myself either. You're not the best of my worshipers, but you're still one of them... and I don't mean to be a miserable Titan who runs away, abandoning the people who are dear to him"

Amity was about to protest and yell at him to leave, but she stopped when she saw that King's fur was becoming matted, like a cat's; suddenly a purplish-white aura wrapped around every hair of the young Titan. The air around him began to tremble, as if it were being shaken from the inside by a strong heat. "I'm young, it's true. I'm afraid of fight, it's true. I don't want to be hurt, it's true. I'm not a true monarch... that's true too. But... I'm still a Titan" King said, and his eyes seemed to explode and blue flames emerged from their sockets, while their interiors became so white that they almost looked like a pair of icicles. "So let me show you how a real Titan fights!"

King's body changed under Amity's surprised gaze; the legs became more massive and the shoulders widened, forcing the young Titan to curve his back and then get on all fours; the claws grew and the tail became longer and tapered, and his horns turned into sharp spurs and his teeth seemed to become diamond. When the transformation ended, in front of Amity there was no longer a small creature barely above her knee, but a powerful beast that was at least a foot taller than her, with large muscles, claws and fangs, which gave off an aura of pure power. "W-Wow..." Amity murmured. "When did you learn to do that…?"

"I've always known how to do it. I just never needed it... or I didn't want to intervene" King replied in a deeper and more guttural voice, but undoubtedly his. "Now stand back, this fight is mine!"

"So be it, Titan! May your destiny be fulfilled today!" Bill exclaimed, and threw himself at King, who in turn made the same, starting to run on all fours; the two clashed and began to hit each other in a very rapid dance of claws, stabs, tails, swords, bites and punches.

Amity's eyes were wide. She had never imagined that King possessed such an ability; she had always assumed that the young Titan was incapable of fighting in a physical battle, and that at most he possessed some small power such as that of generating sound waves. Instead, now in front of her there was a powerful monster who, despite not possessing the strength of an adult Titan, was putting Bill in serious difficulty: each of his blows shattered his opponent's defenses, forcing him to retreat, while instead Bill's blows caused only some hesitations in King. The two were immersed in a deadly dance in which each tried to hit the opponent, and Bill was clearly the one in most difficulty; however, it was clear that King didn't have much experience in real combat. The blue flames emerging from his eyes were filling with excitement... too much. He was definitely getting too excited and didn't have much concentration, unlike Bill who was carefully calculating his every attack. "Ha ha! Too easy, where's all your bravado now?" King laughed. "This is your punishment for opposing the mighty Titan! Bow before my might!"

King opened his mouth wide and let out a sound wave so powerful that it sent Bill into the air and threw him at least three meters away, and the trees and bushes within a ten meters radius bent under the force of the wind, and some even broke. The skull on Bill's head broke off and fell to the ground, revealing an elderly face composed of tanned skin, wrinkled lips, and a bald area above his forehead; the man tried to take the skull back, but King kicked it and swept it away. "No one can afford to harm the worshipers of a mighty Titan!" he said in a voice somewhere between furious and excited, putting his foot on Bill's chest and pressing it lightly. "Therefore, you will be punished! And after you I will punish everyone else!"

But contrary to his expectations, Bill burst out laughing. "This is your first time in a real battle, right?" the man asked with a sneer.

King clenched his claws in obvious embarrassment. "Even if it were the case, what does it matter now?"

"It does matter, young Titan. Why haven't you broken my ribcage with your foot yet instead of wasting time talking to give yourself courage?" Bill asked him in an oddly teasing voice. "What are you waiting for? Come on! Do it! Just apply a little strength and you will have won! I can't defend myself, I'm unarmed! You defeated me! Kill me!"

A tremor ran through King's body; Bill's words were disturbing him. He tried to do as he dared him to do, but even as a little more force was forced into his foot, he froze before he could get enough force into it. As much as he kept trying, something inside him held him back. Despite his difficulty to breath, Bill sneered: "It's not that easy to get blood on your hands the first time, is it?"

King made a guttural noise; he desperately wanted to end that man's life. It would have been the right thing to do: Bill had attacked him and hurt his... friends. He couldn't let him live. He had to eliminate it. He couldn't hesitate! What Titan would have hesitated at such a moment? The Titans feared no opponent, they certainly weren't afraid to do what needed to be done! What kind of mighty Titan would he have been if he hadn't even been able to kill his enemy, to protect those he cared about...!?

But then, why did he continue to hesitate?

Bill burst out laughing again. "There is no doubt that this is your first battle. You may be a mighty Titan and possess strength beyond my abilities, but you are still young, nothing more than an amateur... a child. You have not yet killed in your life, and that penalizes you" he said. "And also... you lack experience. No real fighter would be stupid enough to leave his back exposed"

King was very ashamed to hear himself called a child, even though he knew that Bill was right, but he didn't have time to focus on it: a searing pain hit him from his right shoulder to the base of his back, causing him to let out a scream that rang out for almost half a kilometer. Bill took the opportunity to escape his grasp and wrapped a rope around his neck and pulled, causing him to fall to his knees. King turned and saw that the large masked man who had threatened them in the Owl House had appeared behind him with a rope in his hand and a dagger dripping with blood… his own blood. "Elder Bill, allow me to assist you in this fight!"

"So be it, Tarak! Let's finally subdue this Titan!" Bill responded by pulling even harder; Tarak in turn wrapped his rope around King's neck and pulled. The young Titan tried to resist and cut the ropes with his claws, but discovered that they were made of some magical material that made them indestructible; other enemies also appeared around him and threw ropes all over his body, blocking his legs and hands and knocking him to the ground. King opened his mouth wide with the aim of emitting a powerful sound wave and drew on all his magic to produce the most powerful blow he could generate, but suddenly he felt a sort of rejection, as if his heart and lungs had been hit by a strong punch, and he spat out a little blood from his mouth and felt his strength fail.

"Another thing that proves you've never fought before... you haven't carefully controlled your magic consumption" Bill sneered as King's body fell unconscious before him and shrank back to his normal small form.

"NO!" Amity screamed; she grabbed Ghost and tried to intervene, but Tarak stopped her and put her by the hair and snatched the magic broom from her hands. He seemed quite angry. "A magic broom!? Don't tell me you're a dark magic user too! Are you a witch!?"

Amity swallowed, fearing that the man would smash her skull with his fist if she tried to answer in the affirmative, but luckily Bill intervened: "No, I don't think so. No witch would fly that badly on a broom. Besides, if she were a witch, she would have already transformed to fight us". He was evidently unaware that witches had no magic when they were too young, and that was a good thing because Tarak finally dropped the murderous glare, though he didn't let go of Amity.

Bill grabbed King by the scruff of the neck and lifted him upward, and shouted triumphantly: "Brothers and sisters, we've finally succeeded! Finally, we've captured a real Titan!"

King's fighting form is the same one he unlocks in the final episode of Owl House, when he witnesses Luz die at the hands of Belos. In this AU King already has a good awareness of his powers and abilities, so he already knows how to transform, even if he has no experience in combat and he himself is aware of being very unsuitable for a battle, and in fact he is afraid of having to physically fight someone. For those who didn't realize, this form was already partially shown in the story when Luz and King first met and he, fearing that she was dangerous, was starting to transform, only to stop after realizing that he had nothing to fear from her