Luz continued to struggle furiously, trying in vain to untie the ropes that bound her. After Elder Bill and his followers had left to hunt the Titan, they had left only a few men behind to guard her and the others, and they had been thrown into a tent and left there; it was therefore an excellent opportunity to escape... if only she could tear off those damned ties! "Ngh... come on... I'm almost there... ugh... agh..."

"Luz, forget it" Skara told her. "It's no use, those fanatics know how to tie people well. If it were that simple to break these ropes they wouldn't have left so few men behind to control us"

"Unfortunately your friend is right" Amber murmured heartbrokenly. "The Titan Trappers not only know how to tie knots that are very difficult to untie and use a particular very strong fiber to create their ropes, but they also enchant them with spells that prevent any attempt at tampering. You can't free yourself from them. Stop trying, you will only waste your strength in vain"

"I can't stop! Those bastards are going to hurt King! I have to do something!" Luz exclaimed as she continued to squirm. "I have to untie this damn rope and go help him! And then I'm going to beat Adrian and Terra up too! And I have to save Hunter too!"

Hunter was the only one who had not been placed with them: just as Elder Bill had said, he had been locked in a lonely and dark place awaiting his execution. Luz couldn't possibly allow that. She was thrashing so violently that no one would be surprised if she even tried to bite the bindings. "Luz, do you even have a plan to be able to do everything you say?" Skara asked trying to bring her back to reality. "You are alone and there are at least fifty Titan Trappers or even more, and they are all very big, bad and well armed. And those two guys, Adrian and Terra, are quite dangerous too. Even if you would be able to free yourself, how do you plan to help the our friends?"

"I don't know yet... but I'll find a way! I'm not giving up!" the puppet replied, who by now had beads of sweat on her forehead.

Skara bit her lip at seeing her like this. "Luz... I would also like to run to the aid of our friends... but if you continue like this, you will only end up depriving yourself of all your energy. I'm not an expert in escapes, but I think this is exactly one of those situations where it's better to stay calm and try to think of a solution or at least wait for an opportunity to present itself, not freak out and waste our strength unnecessarily" she said, and Katya, Amber and Derwin nodded in agreement.

Luz wanted to answer that it wasn't like that, but she knew it wasn't true. She lowered her head in defeat. "I hate feeling so helpless" she admitted.

Skara lowered her head; even though she wasn't freaking out like the puppet, she hated the situation too. Knowing that they couldn't do anything while those brutes went to harm someone else, even a friend of theirs, was truly oppressive. She didn't know what to say to console her friend, but fortunately Katya intervened in her place: "Girls, I know it's not nice, but despairing won't make it more pleasant. We need to stay calm. Take deep breaths and try to calm your mind , and focus on finding an escape route"

Luz let out a loud huff of annoyance, but she didn't reply and finally stopped trying to free herself from the ropes. But just at that moment the voices of many people reached the ears of the five prisoners; the Titan Trappers were returning, and all of them were evidently cheering.

"We finally got it!"

"I can't believe it, my lifelong dream is coming true!"

"Praise be to the Collector!"

"I can't wait for us to sacrifice it to him!"

"Just think, it's so young and yet it managed to knock Elder Bill to the ground!"

"It's definitely a prey worthy of the name!"

Luz felt a lump form in her throat: they were clearly talking about King! They had captured him! Luckily it looked like he was still alive... but what had they done to him? Had they hurt him a lot? Had he suffered? Oh, she wanted so desperately for answers! But before she could scream, hoping that one of the Titan Trappers would hear her and enter the tent so she could ask him for explanations, several men appeared out of it and then entered, dragging many people who they roughly threw to the ground. Luz felt her heart skip a beat when she saw them. "AMITY!" she screamed as the lavender haired girl rolled in front of her, and she struggled on her knees to reach her. "What happened? Did they hurt you?"

"Ugh... no, don't worry, Luz. I just have a few scratches" Amity replied, barely sitting up.

Luz looked at the other people the Titan Trappers had thrown into the tent. There were Edric and Emira, and Ghost and Owlbert and Mike Socks, and even Eda and Lilith, who to Luz's horror still had their horribly changed arm... wait, why did they both have it? Shouldn't Eda just have been the one affected by the Owl Beast's corruption? But while he was still asking himself this question, a metallic clang was heard, and he saw that a small cage had been thrown onto the floor, containing Willow, Gus and Matt, returned to their arthropod form and no longer wearing their magical jewels. "If you are looking for these, know that we will not return them to you" Tarak said, holding up the three small gems, and then he threw them to the ground and crushed them with his foot, shattering them.

Luz became livid at the sight. "Hey! Those belonged to my friends...!"

"Those insects have no reason to change their form at the moment. They no longer need it" Tarak replied. "At the moment Elder Bill is busy preparing the sacrifice ceremony. Your fate will be discussed later" and with that said he left the tent, leaving them alone.

"Asshole! And ignorant too! Spiders aren't insects and neither are crabs!" Gus shouted at him, but due to his very small voice he couldn't be heard.

Luz hurried to check on her friends' conditions; fortunately none of them seemed to have been hurt too seriously, even though they had several bruises on their bodies. "Why didn't you turn those fanatics into cockroaches!?" she asked Eda and Lilith.

"Urgh... the Owl Beast has debilitated us both" Eda replied in a thick voice. She seemed to still be halfway between staying awake and passing out again. "We tried to use our last reserves of magic to buy time, but it wasn't enough"

Luz felt guilt grip her heart: it was her fault that Eda had been tired and debilitated that night... if only she had stayed at home obediently to sleep, the fairy could have fought against the Titan Trappers with all her strength ... and Hunter wouldn't have found himself in territory unknown to him and therefore at a disadvantage, and he would have been able to fight admirably in turn... and Lilith... "Why did Lilith half transform too?"

Eda seemed unsure of what to say, and Lilith didn't seem exactly how to behave either, but Amity explained in their behalf: "I don't quite understand how it happened, but it seems that my fairy godmother cast some sort of spell on yours, and it was half of that corruption taken"

She thought she had been helpful, but quickly she realized she had made a mistake when a look of horror crossed Luz's face. "What...? So... she transforms now too? Why did you do that, Eda...?"

"Technically she forced me to do it" Eda tried to justify herself. "Luz, listen to me..."

But the tears were already falling copiously from Luz's face. "No... no, no... so I hurt Lilith too... I hurt everyone again... no, no, no..."

"Hey… hey, Luz, what are you saying?" Amity tried to intervene by leaning towards the puppet and almost rolling into her by mistake. "You didn't do anything..."

"No! I screwed up again, and again for stupid and selfish reasons!" Luz exclaimed furious with herself. "I... I just had to stay in bed. I was supposed to stay in my room and obey Eda, but instead I convinced Hunter to bring me here. If I hadn't done so, Eda and Lilith would never have transformed and could have fought against the Titans Trappers! And none of you would have gotten hurt! And King and Hunter now wouldn't be in danger of their lives...!"

"Wait, what do you mean? Hunter's life is in danger?" Willow said, turning pale.

"Those fanatics want to burn him at the stake" Skara explained to her. "They consider him a heretic because he used dark magic. Darius managed to gain some time with a deception, but at three in the morning they will light the pyre"

Willow turned more or less the color of the flour, and Gus had to quickly grab her to keep her from falling to the ground. But incredible to say, Luz had an even worse reaction, given that as soon as she heard Skara's words and remembered what awaited her friend she started trembling and cried even harder. "I-I'm sorry... I had to... I just had to act like a good girl... but I screwed up again... if only... if only..."

"Luz, Luz!" Eda stopped her, trying to raise her back slightly even though every movement cost her a lot of effort. "Now try to calm down, this is not the time for tears. We will discuss your conduct when we get out of here..."

"Discuss!? What is there to discuss!?" Luz blurted out, completely ignoring practically ninety percent of the fairy's speech. "I screwed up again, as usual! I can never get it right! I knew it was wrong, I knew I shouldn't disobey you, I knew I had to keep my promise...!"

Despite the rather tense situation, Eda couldn't raise her eyebrow and ask her in an annoyed tone: "If you knew so well, then why didn't you do the right thing right away?"

"Because I'm a selfish puppet, and because I can't stand not being a real girl anymore!" Luz replied in a strangled voice.

Eda found herself rather confused. She didn't know what to do: normally a sermon would have been necessary in this situation, but she wasn't sure that was what Luz needed. "Luz, I already told you that..."

"I know what you told me! I know that becoming human won't make me a real girl! But I don't care!" Luz almost screamed. "I don't care because this could be the only chance of my life! I... I'm not sure I can do it, okay? You all keep telling me that I'm going to be a real girl, but I am not able to believe it completely! I can't risk to not become one... I can't lose you too...!"

Those words caught Eda off guard. "Hey... hey, kiddo, what are you talking about? You could never lose us..."

"Yes, instead!" Luz said through sobs. "If I don't become human... if I stay in this wooden body... all of you will die one day, while I won't! I will have to watch you wither and die one by one! Assuming that you too don't die first from some trouble that I caused, just like how it happened to... to..."

Luz was now visibly shaking; not knowing what else to do, Amity tried to get closer to at least lean on her, hoping that that touch would cheer her up, but the puppet moved away. The lavender-haired girl bit her lip: she couldn't remember ever seeing Luz so devastated. She seemed to have been broken from the inside. She didn't know what to do; she looked at the others, hoping for some clue as to what to do, but no one seemed to have a clear idea of what to do: even Gus and Willow, who knew Luz as if she were a part of them, didn't seem to be able to do anything other than lower their head with dark look.

Eda in turn tried to approach Luz. The expression on the fairy's face was quite stoic, but it wasn't difficult to see a lot of pity and sadness in her eyes. "Luz... I assure you, you won't lose any of us. We don't..."

"D-Don't make promises you don't know if you can keep! If I don't become human I will lose you all one day! And even without waiting years, I could lose you at any moment just because of my arrogance and selfishness! I could lose Lilith! And if Lilith was next to Amity when she transforms, or if you were next to Gus and Willow, or... I... I could lose... everyone" Luz said through tears. "I can't... I can't do it. I can't continue to live with the thought that I might hurt you and that one day I won't see you again, just like what happened with mom... Vee.. Masha... Viney..."

"Luz, please look at me" Eda said bringing her face closer to hers. "What happened..."

"Don't say it's not my fault!" Luz screamed, and she looked the fairy in the eyes just as she asked, and through her tears Eda could see pain and desperation as deep as a bottomless pit. "It was... my fault. Just like it's my fault that Hunter and King are now at risk of dying. Just like it was my fault that you're now suffering who knows what pain in that arm. Just like it's my fault that all this happened It's always... always my fault. Every time a tragedy happens, I'm the one who causes it, or makes the situation harder to deal with. And I... I can't keep this up. I can't do it. .. I can't take it anymore. I can't lose someone again... I can't...". She sniffed profusely. "I don't care if that lamp doesn't make me a real girl, at least I'll be human! At least I won't have to watch you transform every time I do something wrong! At least I won't have to see anyone suffer anymore! At least... at least I'll be able to I too will grow old and I won't have to be afraid of having to see you die one day. And if you want to hate me for this choice of mine, go ahead, I would hate myself too... well, I already hat-"

"Luz, that's enough" Eda stopped her before she could continue. She wasn't sure she could handle what the puppet was about to tell her.

Luz fell silent, but it was probably more due to the inability to continue speaking due to the physical effort than to Eda's request. Without saying a word, she curled into a ball and closed her eyes. Eda was about to say something, but suddenly Amity stepped between them and asked: "Luz... can you listen to me for just a moment?"

The puppet raised her face and looked at her. "Speak. I'm listening" she said in a thin voice.

Amity was silent for a moment, then she said: "Luz... I don't know what you're going through. I don't think anyone in here can truly understand. None of us are puppets at heart, and none of us have experienced what you've experienced... or lost what you've lost. If I were in your place, I too would probably want to do nothing other than use that lamp to become human. But... if I let you do it now... if I let you making this mistake... I would never forgive myself. I would forgive myself even less than all the harm I have done to you in the past and which I cannot forgive myself for. And I think everyone in here feels the same way"

Despite her desperation, Luz couldn't help but be confused by Amity's words. "What... what do you mean?"

Amity sighed. "Luz... what you always wanted was to become a real girl. It's a wonderful wish, and I'm the first to want you to make it come true. Just this would make me feel like a worm if I let you give it up and choose the easy wrong way" she said, then she swallowed. "But above all... becoming human without understanding what it means to be a real girl... is wrong. I know this for sure. Being something without understanding what it really means... only causes damage. I thought I knew what it meant to be free, to be happy, to be a good girl... but it wasn't like that. I only had the illusion of knowing it, but I was doing it all wrong. And because of that I did some horrible things that I regret all the time and that I don't know if I'll ever manage to forgive myself. Only recently I understood what it really means to be free and happy... and I still wonder if I really understood it or if I'm still just looking at a small piece of reality. If you became a real girl without knowing what it means... you'd hurt yourself, just like I've been hurting myself all these years. So... even though I know you want it... I can't let you use that lamp, not for this reason. Not when I know it will hurt you. You will have my support through anything, but not if it means seeing you suffer. So... forgive me for my selfishness, but this time don't count on me"

Luz was left speechless. Amity looked truly sorry, but she was staring at her with a seriousness and determination she couldn't remember ever seeing in her eyes. She tried to say something, but the words died in her throat. The tears had also stopped falling from her eyes, though she didn't know why.

Amity paused briefly, then she added: "And Luz... I know how much scary the possibility of losing someone is, of outliving that person... but that's something you can't avoid, regardless of whether you're a real person or not. Whether it's a grandparent, a parent, a friend, or even just your pet... sooner or later everyone has to see someone they love die. It's part of life. It would be nice to be able to live forever without ever losing anyone... but that's not real life". Then her gaze became even more serious: "I can't promise you that any of us will leave you, because that's not true. Eda is older than you, and so is Lilith; even if you become a real girl right now, they will still age and decay before you. And all our friends... even if they are the same age as you, no one can know who will go to the grave first. So I can't promise that everyone here will stand by you forever. But..." and she got so close to her that she was just a few centimeters from her face: "... I can promise you this: I won't leave you alone. You have my word that I will always stay with you, even if I'll have to punch death in the face to do so. So... take your time and become a real girl without being afraid of being left behind; do it and let's spend our lives together, until we'll be both old and full of aches, and when the time will come... I swear that I will do you the favor of dying a few days or even just a few hours after you, so that you will never have to say goodbye to me. This is a promise. Free not to believe it, but... I keep my promises, and I intend to keep this one"

Luz remained silent, losing herself in Amity's eyes. For some crazy reason she couldn't find anything to contradict her. She knew Amity's promise was foolish, no one could choose when to die after all... yet she couldn't help but believe it. And for some strange reason her wooden heart was starting to beat with an intensity and rhythm that it had never beaten with before. "T-Thank you, Amity" she finally whispered, resting her forehead on her shoulder. "What I said today was true. You... you really are an angel". Amity blushed, but she shook her head violently: this was certainly not the time.

Eda gave Amity a look of gratitude, and she promised herself to thank her at least a thousand times once they got out of that situation, and then she approached Luz and looked her in the eyes. The fairy and the puppet stared at each other for a moment, then Eda said: "Luz... I know very well how terrifying the prospect of losing someone is, especially after an experience like yours, but you can't hope for a miracle. Losing your loved ones, especially older ones... it's part of life. There is no point in being afraid of what is inevitable; on the contrary, you should keep in mind that the time available to you with everyone here is limited and for this reason you should do everything to make it wonderful... and believe me, you're very good at that". She smiled a little after that last sentence, though she quickly turned serious again. "Luz, the future is as much a mystery to me as it is to you. I don't know what tomorrow holds, so I don't know if you'll ever be a real girl... but I can choose what to believe. And I believe in you, we all believe in you. And you should learn to believe in yourself, and not give up on this just because of a fear that I can assure you will not fade away even if you become human. Only if you get what you want with your own strength will that something have really value in your life. If you choose the shortcut... as your friend just explained to you, you will only hurt yourself"

Luz remained silent and looked down. For a brief moment there didn't seem to be a fly in the tent, then suddenly a little voice said: "This is all very touching, but can we please put off the emotional discussions and think about getting out of here instead?"

Everyone turned in the direction it had come from and noticed that a mouse had appeared in the tent; it was a mouse with beige fur that turned yellow on its back forming random designs, while its head was completely bald giving it an almost skeletal appearance. "Echo? What are you doing here?" Skara exclaimed when she saw it.

"Do you know it?" Willow asked in surprise.

"Yes, it's Boscha's pet mouse. And it is a him" Skara replied. "I met him a couple of times when I went to her house..."

"Yes, exactly. As the young lady here just introduced me, my name is Echo; nice to meet you all" the mouse said pawing towards them. "I bring a message from my mistress"

Everyone looked at each other in confusion. "Why did Boscha send you to deliver a message? Wait, how does Boscha know we're here?" Luz asked.

"It's all in the message, wait a minute and you'll hear it for yourself" Echo replied, then he sat up and started coughing and tapping his throat.

"Um… what are you doing?" Luz asked him raising an eyebrow.

"Be quiet!" the mouse replied in a softer and more feminine voice. "It only takes me a moment! I'm a professional!". He continued to massage his throat for a few moments, then he spoke again, and this time his voice resembled Boscha's in every way: "There, I've found the right position of the vocal cords!"

The people in the tent widened their eyes upon hearing that. "Wow... he's really good at imitating voices" Amity commented.

"According to Boscha, he can imitate anyone's voice perfectly" Skara explained. "He also dabbles in ventriloquism"

"Shut up! Ehm, here's the message anyway" the mouse said, and then he continued speaking in Boscha's voice: "Guys, I'm coming to help you. Don't ask how I know you're in trouble, it would take too long to explain; let's just say someone tipped me off and now we have a plan to get you out of trouble, or at least part of a plan... okay, I'll admit, we're not even twelve percent of a plan, but still better than eleven percent, right? Okay, never mind. Anyway, we can free Hunter so he can do all his... super-trained soldier stuff, but we need a diversion. Hunter is being guarded too well, but if you can distract these idiots even for just a second, we will be able to make our move. Distract them as you want, in fact, the more discord you create the better. As for you, it seems clear to me that now your two fairies are out of the game, even if I don't know why, so here's what you need to do: Echo will hide in your clothes and gnaw on your cords. You pretend nothing happened; as soon as we free Hunter and he goes wild, run away and come behind the central tent, so we can provide you with some weapons. Don't worry, they are not conventional weapons, the person with me created them on purpose to prevent everyone from getting hurt, they only stun the enemies, you won't have to stain your hands with blood. For the rest... fingers crossed. Alright, get busy now! Oh, and if any of you know how to get Eda's ex-boyfriend or their not-so-smart djinn friend back on our side, that would be appreciated. Ok, see you later; good luck, guys". The mouse stopped talking and shook his head making a couple of gurgling noises, then he spoke in his normal voice: "That was the message"

"Did you remember that by heart? Word by word!?" Gus exclaimed impressed.

"I have an absolute auditory memory. I could tell you exactly what noise my mother made when she gave birth to my twelve brothers and sisters" the mouse replied, then he jumped onto Luz's leg and climbed into her dress; the puppet felt him start to eat the ropes.

"Okay, I have no idea what plan Boscha has in mind, but I'd say we're out of options, so… let's stick with it and trust her and whoever is helping her" Willow said. "How do we distract the Titan Trappers? Any ideas?"

"Wait a minute!" Eda exclaimed. "What do you mean Raine is no longer on our side? And where are they now?"

"Oh, right, you guys don't know yet..." Luz murmured, biting her lip. "Raine is in some kind of hypnotic state because of a potion that Terra gave them that infects body fluids or something, and that's why they gave the lamp to Bill and so Darius is also under their control..."

Eda's face seemed to turn to stone, but it was Willow and Gus who spoke up before her and exclaimed, "WHAT!? TERRA!?"

"Yes... she's here. She and Adrian joined the Titan Trappers" Luz explained. "And she's even more wicked than before..."

The two arthropods let out a shudder of anger, remembering well how Terra and Adrian had hurt Luz. "Okay, at least now we have a chance to punch them" Willow grumbled angrily.

"First we have to think about freeing ourselves" Eda said aloud; she was worried about Raine, but she had to try to mantain mental clarity. "Let's try to think of a diversion. We could..."

But she had no time to say anything else: the tent flew open and Tarak entered followed by numerous Titan Trappers. "Rejoice" he said. "Elder Bill has chosen to grant you a gift: you will be able to witness the sacrificial ceremony in person! You will admire with your own eyes the end of a real Titan!"

This chapter served to give more understanding to Luz's desire to become real, just like the one in which she talks to Hunter (which however was aimed more at developing the boy's character). Luz wants to become a real girl because she is aware of what it means to be a puppet forever, that is, to be incapable of aging and dying, and she is seriously terrified at the thought of having to see someone else die (further proof of how much she has been traumatized by what she is success with Belos) or even just not being able to grow up and therefore falling behind his friends who will instead be able to live a real life. And she's also terrified of hurting someone else again, especially Eda, and as she admits she hates herself for what happened to her mother. We are, in practice, in the midst of the depressed Luz of the first episode of the third season, in which, by the way, she was seriously on the verge of having suicidal thoughts.

Oh, in case anyone hasn't figured it out, Echo is this AU's version of Echo-Mouse. It is not a magical mouse that can project the pages of books it has eaten, but a normal ventriloquist mouse that perfectly repeats what it hears and even manages to imitate voices. And like every animal in this story, it can talk. And it is a him. And yes, he is Boscha's pet mouse: he was also mentioned in chapter 82