When Amity turned and no longer looked at her mother, she expected to feel terribly sad and guilty; and instead, she felt as if a boulder had just been lifted from her heart. She felt... free. She felt like she had lived in a prison all her life and was suddenly tasting true freedom. It was a strange, new sensation; everything around her, even the air, seemed to have changed... and for the better.

She had no remorse for what she had done. She was a little sorry, obviously: her mother had been by her side all her life, it hadn't been easy to tell her to go to hell like that. But she had deserved it all. She had used her during her whole life. Amity was no longer willing to tolerate it. Luz was right: even if real life required making difficult decisions, it was still better than being someone else's toy. And Amity got tired of being a puppet.

Not even half a second after she had concluded that thought, the one who was truly a puppet and who was also the most precious person in her life jumped around her neck and planted a big kiss on her face. "Amity, you were incredible! You are the most amazing person I have ever met! Oh, I really don't know what I did to deserve such a wonderful girlfriend!"

Amity smiled at her, blushing on her cheeks, but she didn't have time to answer before Edric and Emira in turn ran towards her and hugged her, fighting for her as if she were a ping pong ball, and peppering her with kisses on the forehead. Although Amity would normally have been a little embarrassed by such behavior, at that moment she just laughed: "Ha ha! Guys, stop! You're tickling me!"

"This only makes us want to continue" Emira pointed out.

"Yeah! That's the least after the adventure you took us through tonight!" Edric added.

At those words Amity blushed with shame. "Yeah... I guess I owe you all an apology" she said scratching her head guiltily as she looked at her friends. "I'm sorry. If you're angry with me I don't blame you..."

But contrary to her expectations there was no sign of hostility on their faces. "Are you crazy? Amity, you saved the day!" Gus pointed out to her.

"Yeah, and you were the epitome of epicness!" Skara screamed with her eyes glowing. "I mean, you took a giant monster and threw him behind a portal, all without breaking a single drop of sweat! Seriously, you should have seen yourself! You were like: 'I'd really like to punch this asshole, but I have to stay posing cool for the audience, so I'll destroy it using only one hand'! Epic!"

"Yeah. I didn't think I'd ever say this, Amity, but you're a lot more badass than I thought... and I already thought you were super badass" Boscha told her, then she smirked: "And then... I admit that a I had a little fun hitting those Abominations with those beams of light. We should do it again sooner or later..."

"NO!" all their friends shouted in unison; Boscha simply burst out laughing.

Amity's smile grew so wide that it touched her ears. "You guys, seriously… you are the best friends in the world". And then she looked at her siblings: "And you are the best brother and sister in this world... and know that I will deny ever having said this sentence"

Edric burst into tears and leaned on Emira like a sack of potatoes. "Did you hear that!? Mittens considers us decent siblings! It's the best day of my life!"

Luz winked at Amity: "What about me? Shouldn't you say I'm the best girlfriend in the world?"

Amity gave her a small smile: "No, I don't think so"

"Huh? And why?" Luz exclaimed in a hurt voice, but her gaze betrayed the fact that she already understood that she was joking.

Amity did a pirouette. "Because even though you made such a fuss about making me wear this witch dress, I still haven't heard any compliments about my witch form!"

"Oh... is that why?" Luz said with a defiant look, and then she lunged at her and buried her head in her hair. "Well, if you want compliments, here they are: if I wanted to taste this beautiful hair before, now that it's so sparkling I can't stop myself!"

"Ha ha! No, Luz! I'm sorry! Ha ha! I beg your forgiveness! Stop it! Ha ha ha!" Amity screamed as Luz tickled her so much that her legs started shaking.

"Don't even talk about stop!" Luz replied. "I'm lucky enough to have the most beautiful witch in the world as a girlfriend, I intend to eat her up! Now you're my Cotton Candy Witch!"

Amity was crying with laughter by now, but she stopped when she felt someone pull her hair. "Cotton candy? This looks like normal hair to me. Well, if you say so, then I'll taste it too!"

Amity ducked out of the way just in time before the Collector tried to bite her. "Hey, don't touch!"

The boy looked sorry, but Luz cheered him up: "Sorry, Collector, but Amity is my exclusive property!"

"Well, if you say so, then it must be so!" the Collector answered her, although he still looked very confused, and then he added: "Sorry, Amity!"

Luz smiled; it looked like the Collector had changed, or at least was trying to act more polite. She had probably been the first person in thousands of years who had taught him a lesson, and that had done him good.

Meanwhile, many of her friends stared: "Wait... is that the Collector!?" Skara exclaimed.

"Yes!" Gus replied. "He's the one who gave me, Edric, and Emira the power of illusions, and Willow the power of plants!"

Luz only then realized that Willow wasn't there; she looked around and saw her sitting on the branch of a tree she had just grown, and she was looking at something in her hands. She wanted to ask for an explanation for her behavior, but before she could, Boscha ran towards the Collector and pushed her away: "Hey! Why were you only given powers to them?"

"Yeah! That's not fair, we want some too!" Skara protested.

"Really? Well, then all you have to do is ask" the Collector replied to them. "If you are friends with Luz and King you are also my friends, and if you are my friends then it is only right that I give you a gift!"

"Yes! Then give me the power to set things on fire!" Boscha exclaimed excitedly.

"And to me the power to manipulate the music! That way I'll be even more encouraged to improve myself!" Skara said with a widening smile.

"Nothing easier. That's it!" the Collector responded with a snap of his fingers, and the two girls felt a powerful heat pass through their bodies. Boscha raised her finger and a small flame formed in it; Skara instead tried to make a whistle, and the sound moved following her will.

"Hey, hey, we're here too!" Matt, Cat and Amelia protested. In the end the Collector satisfied them all and gave Matt the ability to create structures from sand, a clear reference to his crab heritage, and to the two girls of the alternate versions of Willow and Boscha's control of plants and fire.

"Ha ha! Now you're not the only one with magical powers, Amity!" Boscha laughed as she made the fire dance in her hands. "We should compete to see who is the strongest..."

Amity didn't answer her: she simply smiled at her, and then she released her magic which enveloped her like a purple tornado, making Boscha shiver and immediately take several steps back. Apparently the Collector's powers were no match for the magic of a witch who had completely absorbed Grometheus' essence: there was still a gulf between them.

"And you?" the Collector asked Luz. "Do you want some power?"

But Luz shook her head. "I don't need it. If I ever need powers, I'll have King ready to help me" she said, lifting the young Titan up. "He's truly been a lifesaver. He's the little brother I've always wanted"

King's eyes watered. "You're the big sister I've always wanted too, Luz!" he told her, burying his head in her chest and hugging her.

The Collector lowered his head a little sadly. "Oh... ok..." he murmured a little disappointed.

Luz caressed his cheek in response. "You can rest assured, friendships are certainly not formed with gifts. The fact that I don't want anything from you doesn't mean that I don't love you"

The Collector's eyes became two stars. "Really?"

"Of course. I'm proud of you, actually. The moment you knew you were doing something wrong, you didn't hesitate to fight for what was right" Luz replied to him. "That was very brave and mature of you"

"Yay!" the Collector exclaimed, starting to do somersaults in the air. "Did you hear that, guys? I'm brave and mature!"

Luz couldn't help but be touched. The Collector wasn't evil at heart: he just needed to understand mortals better. "Mh. You've gotten really good with kids. Tell the truth, you take after me, don't you?" Eda whispered to her with a laugh, then she turned serious and clapped her hands: "Guys, please, a little attention! I know you all want to celebrate, but first... what do we do with her?"

Everyone looked at Odalia, who wasn't saying a word and was on all fours staring at the ground. Yes, what did they do with her? "We can't entrust her to just any prison. If her magic reawakened, she would escape without any problems" Lilith said sourly.

But the Collector exclaimed: "Oh, no problem! If you don't want her anymore, I'll take her!"

"What!?" everyone exclaimed in unison, and Odalia raised her head and looked shocked at the entity.

"Yes! I will take her to my realm, far from here! And there I will teach her to be a good mother who treats her children well, since she is deficient in that area from what I understand!" the Collector responded by taking Odalia by the arm and lifting her off the ground.

The now ex-witch didn't seem happy at all. "Hey, wait a minute, let's talk about that..."

"I'm okay with that" Amity said.

Odalia's eyes widened. "Mittens!?"

"I agree too" Emira said with a wicked smile. "After all, mom, you've treated Mittens like a toy her whole life"

"And now it's your turn to be treated like a toy" Edric said with a laugh. "I'm curious to see how much fun you'll have!"

Odalia sweated profusely from her forehead. The thought of having to spend her days obeying all the wishes of a child gave her goosebumps. "Am I still in time to ask for the death penalty?"

"No. I think it's a more than valid punishment" Lilith said without hiding her satisfaction. "You can take her, Collector"

"Yay! You'll see, we'll have a lot of fun!" the Collector exclaimed as she hugged Odalia as she was a peluche, but to her these words seemed more like a threat than a good omen.

Suddenly Gus let out a cough to draw her attention to him: "Um, Collector, believe me, we would like to spend a lot of time with you, but you'd better go away now. As long as a supreme being remains here Belos might attack Bonesborough again"

"Wait, what do you mean Belos!?" Luz exclaimed with wide eyes.

"Long story, I'll tell you later" Gus replied, then he turned back to the Collector: "Anyway, you really need to leave now. No one is safe while you're here"

"Uh, really? Too bad, I liked you. I wish I could have stayed a little longer" the Collector said regretfully, but then he pointed to Odalia: "In that case, take a piece of her!"

Odalia's eyes widened and instinctively curled herself up a little. "What do you mean, take a piece of me!?"

"Yes! A hair, an eyelash, whatever you want! That way the young witch over there can summon you" the Collector said. "So, if you ever want to see me again or need my help, you won't have to do big rituals. All you need to do is summon her; she still has my essence even if imprisoned, so wherever she goes I can go too"

Amity nodded. Summoning spells consisted of using a part of a person or animal's body to call them back to the user, even from another plane of existence. And her mother was a mere mortal, so summoning her would be quite simple even if she was in the Collector's realm. Instead of wasting great energy to do a huge ritual and summon the supreme being, it was much easier to call her mother back and let the Collector follow her thanks to the connection they had. And Odalia also thought the same, because she tore out a small tuft of hair and passed it to her: "Here. If you are in danger, don't hesitate to... call the Collector" she told her in a faint voice.

Amity took her mother's hair and put it in her pocket. "Okay. Now you guys really need to leave" she said in a flat voice.

Odalia bit her lip. "Mittens... I'm sorry..."

"Don't say that. You'll just waste your breath" Amity replied. "You've lost your chance now. In fact, it would be more correct to say that you've destroyed it"

Odalia looked down. "Yes... I know" she whispered, clutching her shoulders as if she were very cold. The Collector waited no longer and grabbed her by the scruff of the neck as if she were a kitten, and then a portal opened in the sky and the two of them flew inside, disappearing on the other side.

Amity let out a sigh. Again she felt a boulder lift from her heart, but this time she felt a small shred of sadness. Only a little, of course: she didn't think the punishment given to her mother was wrong at all. A long time in the Collector's company would teach her a good lesson.

She felt Lilith's familiar touch on her shoulder. "Are you okay?" the fairy asked her.

Amity nodded. "Yes... I think so" she replied. She was silent for a moment, then she said: "Lilith... I don't think I can go back to my house right now. I mean, I don't want to go back... I'll feel uncomfortable there. Are you okay if I stay to your place for the night? Only for a few days. I won't disturb you, I promise..."

"Amity, you are no trouble to me" Lilith replied affectionately. "You can stay with me as long as you want. Even your whole life if you like"

Amity smiled and felt her heart pound, and she hugged her fairy godmother, who hugged her back tenderly. Eda let out a laugh and whispered in her sister's ear: "I'll give her a week at most, and then she'll call you 'mom' like Luz does to me". Lilith ignored her, though her smile widened a little.

In the meantime, Edric and Emira had gone to Alador, who had remained aside and had observed the whole scene without saying almost a word. As soon as he saw them coming he closed his eyes. "I know you're disappointed"

"Disappointed isn't the right word" Emira told him. "I don't think there's a way to define what we're feeling right now"

"Yeah. This time you really crossed the line" Edric added. "We can't forgive you, not after you put our sister in danger and snubbed her all her life. You were a coward. Just because you did the right thing at the last moment we can't forget fourteen years of mistakes"

Alador nodded. "I know. If you want to leave home too, I won't blame you"

The two twins looked at each other, and they seemed to say something to each other with their eyes; and then they replied: "We don't know yet... what we want to do. But we need time, and for now we can't go home"

"I thought so" Alador said, lowering his head. "Do you want me to give you money to pay for an inn?"

"No, we'll take care of ourselves. Just make sure we have our things outside the door in the morning". And having said this the two twins walked away. Alador closed his eyes and shook his head, but he didn't try to call them back. He was sure that even Darius would have told him to let them go.

By the way... where was Darius?

Luz also noticed that some people were missing. "Hey, where's Hunter? Why isn't he here with us?"

Gus bit his lip. "Yes... guys, I have to tell you something" he said in a grave voice.

His tone immediately made everyone understand that this must certainly be unpleasant news. "Gus... where's Hunter?" Luz repeated in a whisper.

Gus sighed. "Long story short, Belos was attracted by the appearance of Grometheus. Hunter… went to confront him". His friends made a strangled noise, but he paid no attention and looked at Raine: "Darius went with him, I saw him reach him in mid-air. They managed to attract Belos away, but... they didn't come back"

Nobody was saying a word: everyone had shocked faces on their faces. Raine had to lean on Eda; they knew well what the chances were that their best friend would come back alive. "They are...?"

"I don't know" Gus said quickly. "I don't know what happened. Maybe... maybe they were able to run away. Maybe they had a stroke of luck"

But no one was hopeful for that; surviving Belos was a more unique than rare eventuality. Luz looked up at the tree where her best friend stood: "So, Willow..."

"She's waiting for him to contact her" Gus explained. "Hunter left us a piece of his staff to communicate with us if… well, if he were still alive"

Luz bit her lip. She wanted to cry, but she had to be strong for Willow. "I'm going to talk to her"

"I'll take you there" Amity said and started to use her magic to fly, but felt a familiar shuffle on her legs. "Ghost?"

"I can carry you. You don't have to waste energy" the cat told her.

Despite the sad situation, Amity still managed to get surprised a little. "I can understand you well now"

"The instant you sealed my mistress' magic, you also severed my bond with her. Now I am free to choose a new master" Ghost replied. "Amity, I'm sorry. I wanted to warn you, but I couldn't while your mother prevented me. I don't know if you want to have me around... but if you do, I'll be happy to accept you as my new mistress"

Amity thought for a moment, then she nodded and opened her hand; in an instant, Ghost transformed into a broom and flew through her fingers. She sat on top and made Luz sit in front of her, and then they flew to the top of the tree.

When they arrived, they found Willow sitting and still looking at the red crystal shard in her hands. Luz approached her: "Willow..."

"Don't say that" Willow interrupted.

Luz pulled away the hand she was about to place on her shoulder, not exactly sure what to do. "Willow, I..."

"Don't say it. Don't say... that he's dead" Willow whispered, clutching the small red crystal in her hands. "He's alive. I know he's alive. He... he'll call me any minute, you'll see"

Luz felt her heart break seeing her friend like that. She could clearly see the trembling of her body. She tried to hug her. "I know it's not..."

"I told you not to say that!" Willow screamed, pulling away from her. The tears on her face became more evident than ever. "He's alive. He must be alive. He can't... he can't be..."

Her breath caught in her throat. Luz approached her again and hugged her, and Willow let her do so as she began to sob.

But just then the crystal in her hands lit up.

Luz, Amity, and especially Willow froze. Hunter's voice emerged from the crystal: "Hello? Is anyone listening? Can you hear me? Damn, maybe it's broken..."

"HUNTER!" Willow screamed, bringing the crystal to her mouth. "I can hear you! Are you okay!?"

"Willow, is that you? Oh, I was finally able to call you!" Hunter exclaimed. "I'm fine. And you? What's going on there?"

"We won!" Willow answered him with a huge smile on her face. "Where are you?"

It took Hunter a couple of seconds to respond. "Actually... I have no idea. I woke up on a beach I don't recognize. I could be anywhere right now, the battle has pushed us very far away"

"Are you alone?" Luz asked; she was overjoyed to know that Hunter was alive, but she hadn't forgotten that Darius and Flapjack should also be with him.

"Yes, I'm alone. I lost sight of the others during the battle... I don't know where they are. They could be a thousand kilometers from me for all I know... the waves unleashed by Belos have thrown us away all over the ocean" Hunter replied.

"You really don't know where you are?" Amity interjected. "If you give us some clues, we can figure out where you are and come get you"

"Unfortunately around me there are only palm trees and the sea shore" Hunter replied. "I'll try to figure out where I am in the morning. Now I urgently need to rest; tomorrow when I'll be better I'll look for some clues, and maybe I'll find Darius and Flapjack again"

"When you'll be better? Are you hurt?" Willow asked apprehensively.

"A little, but don't worry; I've already taken care of the medication. Now I just need to sleep" Hunter replied. "My staff's magical energy is almost depleted, so I must turn off the link now. I will contact you again tomorrow at noon and let you know if I have found any clues as to my whereabouts"

Willow wanted to continue to talk to him, but she knew that wasn't an option: if the staff's energy was running out, as was logical after fighting a monster like Belos, then it was important that he not waste it. "Okay. Bye, Hunter"

"I'll call you tomorrow, Willow. And don't worry about me… I'm fine" Hunter told her, and then he turned off the connection.

Willow stood still for a moment, and then tears of joy began to flow down her cheeks. "He's alive... he's alive!" she whispered.

"Yes, yes!" Luz, who was also crying, hugged her tightly and then shouted loudly: "GUYS, GREAT NEWS! HUNTER IS ALIVE!". At those words, everyone rejoiced and screamed for joy.

Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away, Hunter, sitting on a beach, pulled his staff away from his mouth with a grim expression on his face. In front of him, a man who was fiddling with an oil lamp and holding a familiar red bird in his hands smiled significantly more than a normal human being, and commented: "Good job"

We have officially reached the end of the "Amity's decision" arc, the final arc with the last adventure will start from the next chapter. And yes, we all know what I'm referring to