The Angel of the Owl House

by OwlHouseAngel

Luz Noceda is a young half-angel girl living with her angel mother in the Human Realm. Her attempts to be good always backfire, and after one too many mistakes, her mother sends her to Camp Reality Check. But a chance event leaves Luz in the Demon Realm, where she meets the Owl Lady, who teaches her that in a chaotic world like the Boiling Isles, Luz might be the perfect angel.

22. EP 1: An Angel's Homecoming

Notice: Fanfiction seems to be not sending me emails despite being on my allow list, so I may not be able to reply to messages or replies. Sorry for the inconvenience

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The Angel of the Owl House

Season 2: The Human Realm

Chapter 1: An Angel's Homecoming

One week. One long crazy week. That was how much time had passed following the Petrification of Eda, and the duel between Luz the Arch-Angel and Emperor Belos. In that time, a lot had changed for the Owl Family (as the residents of the Owl House came to be called), the town of Bonesborough, and the Boiling Isles as a whole.

With Eda's successful rescue, Luz driving off Belos, and the CATTs driving the Emperor's Coven out of Bonesborough, the entire power dynamic of the Boiling Isles had changed. The rebellion in Bonesborough had led to three major attacks on the town by the Emperor's Coven, an attempt to besiege the town, and copycat rebellions in various other towns and small settlements around the Boiling Isles. The Emperor's Coven still controlled 75% of the Boiling Isles, but it had stretched itself thin to try and maintain its control and suppress the uprisings. Luz, the Owl Family, and the CATTs had personally turned back the three attempts to retake Bonesborough by the Emperor's Coven, and effortlessly destroyed any siege attempts, since none of the Coven System's really powerful witches had been assigned to the operation. However, the attacks were still affecting morale within the town, so after four days, the local government in Bonesborough (namely the Mayor and Town Council) had called for a parley between both the CATTs and the Emperor's Coven.

That meeting had been tense, but ultimately productive. It was declared that the town of Bonesborough would be a completely neutral zone; it would be controlled by its own locally elected government and policed by its own citizens, with neither the CATTs nor the Emperor's Coven holding sway. Both sides were welcome in the town as regular citizens, but no fighting was permitted; both for the sake of the other residents, and so CATTs and Coven Members who lived in the town could continue to live there without trouble. This also ensured the neutrality of Hexside, which would be a safe haven for students no matter where their families sided in the growing conflict. Kikimora of the Emperor's Coven had objected to these terms, but the Emperor had approved them, calling it; "An act of mercy" and an attempt to prove to Luz that his side was the righteous one.

Naturally Luz didn't believe that for an instant, but she expected Belos didn't want another confrontation between them so soon after the last one, even if she hadn't actually beaten him. It didn't help that Eda's bounty had increased to five trillion snails after it was discovered she wasn't trapped as the Owl Beast, and 10 billion snail bounties were placed on the heads of both Raine and Lilith. King got a bounty of 100,000 snails (being so much lower since the Emperor just assumed he was some beast demon that Luz had taught glyph magic too), and Luz's own bounty (still marked alive and unharmed) had ballooned to ten trillion. The numbers were staggeringly high, to the point that Eda and Raine both suspected Belos had no problem bankrupting his empire to complete his Day of Unity plan… whatever that was. The high numbers were also enough to make a few fools try their luck, but thanks to Luz's Angelic Blessings, the now cursed trio had little trouble with them, and Luz even less so.

Luz's angelic nature was widely accepted in Bonesborough just as it had been in Hexside, and her presence combined with the safety offered by the neutral Bonesborough resulted in almost half of the isles' wild witches fleeing there for safety from the Coven System. The other half fled the other way, having been taught of the danger of angels by their parents and families.

The CATTs had also discussed revealing that Belos was an angel to the entire Boiling Isles, but they ultimately decided against it. Since Belos had painted angels as a good thing (not even condemning Luz as evil for her defiance, only corrupted by Eda) only wild witches might have any major problem with that, and they already hated him. Plus, raising anti-angel sentiments could be dangerous for Luz, who had become the pseudo-poster child for the rebellion, alongside Eda and Raine as the actual leaders. And of course, everyone believed that angels couldn't lie, but since Belos could, all he'd have to do is say he wasn't an angel and it would confuse everyone.

On a more personal note, things had been fairly calm for Luz and her family and friends. Excluding the attacks on Bonesborough that were easily repelled, they had all spent the week mostly relaxing, as Hexside was closed for the week to handle the changes happening in town. Principal Bump had already assured them that Luz was still welcome as a student though, so Luz was looking forward to going back. Her friends had gotten some flak from their parents for getting involved in the Conformatorium break out; Perry Porter, the Parks, and Matt and Steve's parents were all upset over the situation, though they ultimately agreed with the CATTs and since the kids hadn't gotten in trouble with the Covens, they were let off the hook with only some stern words. Steve, who had managed to avoid having his identity exposed to the Coven, was even able to continue operating as a spy among the scouts.

Skara's dad was a difference case, as Severin Cadence had taken Raine's place as the new successor to Scooter Crane, who had officially announced his retirement, meaning Severin would soon be officially named the Head Witch of the Bard Coven. He had been both thankful for his daughter's part in helping to save his old friend, but also very upset that she'd been involved at all. He still believed in the Emperor's cause even if his faith in the Emperor himself had been shaken. He'd encouraged Skara to stick close to Luz and try to open her mind to the Emperor's Coven, but Skara had made it no secret that she wasn't going to betray her friend, leaving Severin both exasperated and secretly proud.

Then of course, there were the Blights. They did business with the Emperor's Coven and so Odalia had tried to forbid Amity and the Twins from having anything to do with Luz and her friends, but all three just ignored her, with Amity reminding her mother what had happened the last time she'd gone against Luz. Odalia had dropped the issue, but the Blight siblings knew she would inevitably try and pull something, likely an attempt to capture Luz for revenge. Alador had remained neutral on the whole thing, continuing his work for the Emperor's and Abomination Covens without particularly caring about the rebellion. He had subtly asked Amity if she could get her hands on some part of Luz's DNA for his experiments though, something she fiercely refused. Amity had yet to tell her parents that she was dating Luz, and it looked like that wouldn't be happening any time soon.

Lastly, there was the residents of the Owl House itself. Raine had slipped straight into their normal routine with ease, to the point that Luz and King felt like they'd always been there. Their presence meant that Katya, Amber, and Derwin were frequent guests, and Luz and King found they got along with them swimmingly. Lilith was a little more awkward, especially as she had taken it upon herself to do all the chores and busywork in the house, while also effectively becoming the secretary and logistical support for the CATTs, whom she joined and fully devoted herself too. There was still a lot of distrust towards her, especially from King, but she was earnestly working to rebuild their trust in her and their broken relationships. She had even offered to keep mentoring Amity, though the girl was still rather hostile and had refused so far. Rasiel, being without magic, had begun supporting Lilith while working with her for information on the remaining Black Tombs, and both he and Lilith had moved into previously unused store rooms in the Owl House's tower.

Eda, adjusting to her diminished magic, had gotten really into being the rebel leader of the CATTs, as well as being a Mom to Luz and King. She'd renovated the store room Luz had claimed into a proper bedroom, and even built Luz and King real beds shaped like nests. The two kids were ecstatic, especially since Eda had already given them fine presents made from Witch's Wool (which Luz was very happy to see she could get back, as her Holy Raiment could freely transform back into her cloak whenever she wished). While Eda was doing that, getting lovey-dovey with Raine, and slowly bonding with her sister again, Luz and King had been practicing their powers. Luz was slowly getting the hang of her fire magic and learning how to mix and match her elements more competently, while her skills with Beast-keeping, Construction, and Potions magic all increased now that she had another of the elements needed for them. In fact, with fire, ice, and plant magic at her disposal, Luz could now perform the high-tier spells needed to brew truly difficult potions, which Eda was having a great time teaching her. King was also working hard with his glyphs and how to combine them with his roars, as well as a secret project he was keeping from the others until he'd finished it.

But as fun and crazy and busy as the week had been, it eventually came to an end and the last day of Summer came; AKA the day that Summer Camp was due to end and Luz was supposed to return home.

That morning found Luz pacing the living room of the Owl House, a bundle of nerves over the inevitable reunion with her Mami. Eda, King, Lilith, Raine, Hooty, Rasiel, Amity, Gus, and Willow were watching her pace, each of them a bit nervous themselves.

"There is no way this isn't going to be a disaster…!" Luz whined, "Mami told me countless stories about how evil and dangerous the Demon Realm is! Even if we convince her that she was wrong, she's still gonna flip out that I've been here and not at camp!"

"Luz, I know this is scary, but you're just working yourself up. Take a breath and relax a little." Eda said, catching the girl's wrist as she paced past her again. With no effort, Eda picked up her daughter and gently dumped her into Amity's lap, knowing that the Blight girl was the best at soothing Luz when she got inside her own head.

Amity happily held her girlfriend in her arms and nodded; "Eda's right. Panicking is only going to make it harder on you. Try to calm down."

Luz blushed and snuggled into Amity; "I'm trying. It's just… the Demon Realm and all of you mean so much to me now. What will I do if Mami forbids me from coming back and being with you all again?"

"I doubt you'd listen." Willow said with a confident smile, "Besides, if your Mom is anything like you've described her, I'm sure she'll be reasonable."

"She probably will be upset that you weren't where you said you'd be, any parent would be. But if you calmly explain everything to her, I'm sure you'll convince her." Raine agreed, picking up a book from the coffee table. It was the diary that Luz had been keeping during her time on the Boiling Isles. It was full of detailed accounts of every single day of the three months she'd spent with them, and included pictures Luz had drawn of all the things she'd seen.

Luz took the diary with a soft smile; she'd been making it to show her Mami and convince her. Gus then chimed in; "Besides, you said your Mom sent you to camp to make friends and find a way to help people like an angel, right? Well it may not be camp, but you sure made a lot of friends here and helped a lot of people! I mean, how many angels can say they're helping to overthrow an evil tyrant?"

The young angel giggled; "I never thought facing Belos would seem less scary than my own Mami… I just don't want her to be disappointed in me. You guys remember what happened at Grom, right?"

The Hexside trio grimaced; while it had been a great night in the end, the things Grom-Camila had said and done had been Luz's worst fears… If the real Camila reacted in an even remotely similar way, Luz's heart would be shattered.

"If you'd like, I can offer my support." Rasiel said, "As a fellow angel, and a former Seraphim of Crest Humility, I might be able to ease Camila's fears about this world."

"And I'll put on my cutest act! Anything to keep my big sister around!" King cheerfully added, climbing onto Luz's lap even as she was still on Amity's.

Luz giggled again; "Oh, Mami will love you. I'm more worried about her reaction to Eda…"

Eda grimaced, and Lilith quietly said; "Because you've come to consider her a Mother figure too. You're afraid your biological mother will be hurt."

"Yeah…" Luz nodded. "I never thought of Eda as a replacement Mom… it's just… it's hard to explain."

Eda reached over to stroke Luz's hair; "I understand, Owlet. If it makes things easier with your Mom, then you don't need to bring that up to her. You can just call me Eda as always and say I'm your mentor. It's not really a lie, and I'll know how you really feel so I won't be offended or anything."

Luz frowned; "Thanks Mom, but I don't want to lie to her any more, even by omission. She deserves to know the truth… no matter how scary it'll be."

"Think on the bright side!" Hooty hooted, "You're an Arch-Angel now! Hoot, your Mom has gotta be happy about that!"

"That's true! You said before that your Mom is a regular angel, right? Then you technically outrank her now!" Amity grinned, hiding her own nervousness at the idea of meeting her girlfriend's mother.

Luz laughed; "I don't think you can ever truly outrank your mother! But I'm sure being an Arch-Angel will help convince her! I mean, I spent 14 years in the Human Realm and stayed as a magically stunted Cherub the whole time, but one day here and I unlocked my magic, one week here and I fully matured as an angel, two months here and I became a High angel, and three months here and I become an Arch-Angel!"

With Amity's cuddles and everyone's words of support boosting her confidence, Luz began to calm down and relax a bit; today would be tough and emotional, but she would face it like every other challenge she'd faced this summer!

With a snap of her fingers, Luz summoned her satchel and dug through it for the old Camp Reality Check leaflet she'd been given before. It was crumpled up at the bottom of the expanded space, but Luz fished it out and flipped to the last page, which had the return schedule for the bus, listing the rough times it would be stopping in each town it passed through.

"Okay, the camp bus will arrive in Gravesfield just after midday. I say we go a little early, that way I can make sure to show up before the bus, so Mami doesn't freak out when I don't get off. Now who's coming with me?" Luz asked.

Immediately, Eda, King, Rasiel, Amity, Willow, and Gus raised their hands.

"You know King and I have got to meet the other side of the family." Eda smirked as King nodded along excitedly.

"As your girlfriend, I have to make sure I get your Mom's blessing!" Amity said, puffing her chest out proudly.

"You know I won't miss a trip to the Human Realm for anything!" Gus cheered.

"And I've got to make sure those two don't get overexcited." Willow grinned, gesturing towards their classmates.

"Naturally, I will come too. I wish to give my best to your mother, and compliment her on raising a fine child." Rasiel smiled, making Luz blush at the compliment.

That left just Raine, Lilith, and Hooty. Hooty wanted to come, but everyone agreed that he was probably a bit much for Camila's first impression of them all. Lilith also agreed that she should stay away until after she'd done more to redeem herself, as Luz genuinely feared her mother would give the woman a taste of La Chancla if they met at this point. Meanwhile, Raine would stay behind to watch the house, take care of business with the CATTs, and make sure Hooty didn't get into trouble.

With that decided, they all began preparing for the trip to the Human Realm. Luz wasn't planning on taking anything home with her except for her phone, her diary (which she had Eda stow in her hair since Luz wasn't bringing her satchel), and the clothes on her back, so she'd have an excuse to come back and see the others one last time if the absolute worst should happen. Gus tuned a series of Concealment Stones to give each of them an illusory disguise, hiding their pointed ears and changing their clothes into stuff they'd chosen from a human clothes catalogue.

King was also disguised as a human, and he was adorable. His disguise made him look like a little boy with messy black hair, reddish brown eyes, and skin a shade darker than Luz's. It came with white sneakers, grey shorts, and a slightly oversized black hoodie with white horns on the hood. He really did look like Luz's little brother (or at least the little brother of her human disguise), and Luz couldn't stop herself from hugging him with delight.

Luz herself also put on her old Concealment Stone for the first time since she'd been outed as an angel to the whole Boiling Isles, and modified it so it would give her a new disguise, just in case she was spotted by any townspeople who knew her in Gravesfield. It would raise unwanted questions if she was seen by anyone but her Mami before the bus had arrived after all! Her new disguise made her look like an entirely different girl; one that was a bit more androgynous, with a thicker frame and skin a shade lighter than her own. Her hair went from curly white to a messy sandy brown, and her clothes became simple brown boots, tight dark blue jeans with tears in the knees, and a hooded shirt just like her favourite one, only green and white instead of purple and white, and with a snake themed hood instead of a cat.

By the time all the disguises were made, it was about time for them to make a move, so Eda summoned the portal door and opened it up.

"Okay, I'll be taking the key with me and closing up behind me, so no random humans come wandering into my living room. I'll be relying on you two to keep things safe on this side." Eda said, looking to Raine and Lilith.

"Don't worry Eda, we'll make sure nothing goes wrong on our end." Raine smiled, kissing the woman on the cheek.

"As will I. I will endeavour to give Hooty a bath; he has been rolling around in the mud out of protest over not being allowed to come along." Lilith commented with a frown. Luz and the others peered out the living room window, and sure enough, Hooty was wriggling around in some fresh mud.

Luz shuddered in sympathy; "Well, uh, good luck with that!"

Lilith smiled wearily and trudged outside with a bucket and sponge. Eda then turned to Luz and asked; "Are you ready, Owlet?"

"As I'll ever be!" Luz replied. She then took a deep breath and marched through the portal door, followed swiftly by King, Amity, Gus, Willow, and lastly Rasiel and Eda.

They emerged outside the dilapidated house on the edge of Gravesfield, and immediately, Gus and Willow began to look around excitedly. Gus was amazed to finally be in the Human Realm, and eagerly took in all the limited sights he could, while Willow was fascinated with Human Realm plants, including the green grass and tree leaves. Amity and Rasiel had more of a casual interest, especially since it had been over 100,000 years since the later had visited the Human Realm, back when humans were basically cave people and a fairly young species. King and Eda were the least interested, both having been in the Human Realm before on trash collecting missions.

"Well, this is Gravesfield." Luz said as Eda pressed down on the eye of the portal key, making it close on the other side. "Or at least, the forest outside it. My house is about five to ten minutes that way." she said, pointing to the west.

"Let's go! I can't wait to see a real human town!" Gus said giddily, having to hold himself back from racing on ahead.

"Maybe once we've talked to Luz's mom, we'll be able to have a look around. Just don't get too excited Gus, we're pretending to be humans ourselves, remember?" Willow grinned.

Luz guided them down the path to her house, holding Amity's hand tightly for comfort. When they emerged from the forest and found the house, Eda commented; "I've been past this place countless times, but I never knew an angel lived there. Kinda makes me wonder what else I missed."

"There are shielding spells up to hide our magic. No one outside can sense anything magical on the inside." Luz explained; "Mami wanted us to be safe."

"Huh, I wonder why she never put a shielding spell on your Concealment Stone then." Eda said, "That thing was like a beacon to people who could sense magic."

Amity giggled; "I bet that's exactly why she never put a shielding spell on it. It was a beacon to help her find her little Cherub when she wandered off."

Luz blushed even as she giggled too; "You might be right! Mami always was weirdly good at finding me when I tried to hide. Playing hide and seek with her was impossible!"

However Luz's moment of cheer faded when she noticed something odd; her Mami's car wasn't in the driveway. Was she at work? Luz could have sworn her Mami had texted that she'd have the day off on the day she came home…

"Weird… Did she go out for some reason?" Luz muttered to herself.

"Something wrong, Luz?" Eda asked.

"Yeah, Mami's car isn't here. She must have driven somewhere." Luz answered.

Most of her friends looked confused, but Gus helpfully explained; "Cars are like our carts, but they use special explosions to propel them along without using a creature to pull it!"

"Fascinating! The last time I met a human, it tried to skewer me with a sharpened rock on the end of a stick. They've come remarkably far over the millennia." Rasiel commented, looking at the other houses in the neighbourhood with interest.

"Forget the car!" King said, "What should we do Luz? Should we wait inside?"

Luz thought about it for a moment, then nodded; "Yeah, good idea. It'd look suspicious if we're all out on the streets around the house. We don't want the neighbours calling the cops."

The disguised Arch-Angel walked up to the front door and was about to head inside when she heard some panicked yelps and odd animalistic screams coming from the forest nearby. With a frown, she held up her hand to silence her chattering friends, allowing her to hear it better.

"What is that?" King frowned. "Sounds like an animal."

Luz nodded; "Yeah… hold on a second, I want to check something."

She headed in the direction of the sound, followed by her friends, and soon gasped at what she found. Someone had set up an illegal snare trap, and a fox had gotten caught in it. The poor thing was still quite small (though not quite a kit any more) and its hind leg was trapped in the wire snare, where it was bleeding from its attempts to escape.

"Oh no! Poor little guy!" Luz cried, slowly approaching the panicked animal. She knelt on the ground just out of the creature's reach and made a spell circle to perform some Beast-Keeping magic. Since Beast-Keeping magic was a combination of Plant, Fire, and Lightning elemental components, her bonding with the fire glyph had improved her ability to use it, so Luz focused on the Life aspect of the Plant Element and the Warmth and Passion aspects of the Fire Element as she cast a basic beast calming spell.

Immediately, the fox stopped its terrified keening yelps and began to relax, allowing Luz to gently reach down and pet its head. "There there, it'll all be okay." Luz said, before reaching back to the wire around the fox's leg and very carefully cutting through it with a tiny light blade from her finger. As soon as the wire was cut, the fox limped forward into Luz's lap, making her, Willow, and Amity all coo at the cute sight. Luz then cast some healing magic to fix the fox's wound.

"There we go! All better now! Go on back to your family." Luz said gently, petting the fox one last time before shooing it away.

"Viney would be proud." Willow commented with a smile as Luz conjured some water to wash her hands.

"I am a Vet's daughter! Helping animals is in my blood. But I can't say the same about whoever set this up!" Luz growled, grabbing the wooden fork of the snare trap and ripping it out of the ground; "These woods are a no trapping zone! This is illegal! When Mami founds out, she's going to go ballistic! She and I will have to search the woods later for more of these."

"Well if all else fails, your new animal helping skills will definitely help your Mom feel better about the whole Demon Realm thing!" Amity joked nervously. She was still worrying about the inevitable meeting.

Luz smiled and kissed Amity's cheek, then led her friends back to her house. She walked up to the front door and unlocked it, then allowed the others in whilst dropping her illusion disguise. Everyone immediately began looking around at the Noceda home, each of them quickly becoming enraptured in something. Eda and Amity were both immediately drawn to the numerous pictures on the walls, showing Luz in her childhood with her Mami and even some early enough to be with her Papi too. King was interested in the contents of the fridge, which Luz had to make sure he didn't start eating, and Rasiel was walking around with his eyes closed, feeling the ambient angelic magic of the various little enchantments Camila had cast around the place. Willow was interested in all the potted plants that the Nocedas liked to keep around the place, and Gus was interested in just about everything, especially the TV.

"Feel free to look around, but please don't mess with anything. Oh, and avoid my Mami's room; it's the one at the end of the hall upstairs, on the right." Luz said, feeling a little bashful all of a sudden. She'd never had friends come to her house before, and combining that with the nerves she already felt just made her more anxious.

Her family and friends happily agreed and continued to look around the place, looking at anything and everything that caught their fancy, until they all made their way to the second floor, where Luz showed them her room.

"Awesome! You've got bunk beds!" Gus exclaimed, rushing over to take a look.

"And Azura merchandise!" Amity gushed, staring reverently at an Azura figurine that Luz had gotten for Christmas one year.

"Nice digs. Makes me feel bad that I waited so long to give you a proper room back at my place!" Eda smirked.

Luz giggled; "I loved that room before you renovated it and I loved it even more after, so don't feel bad."

King looked around, but he wasn't overly impressed. He preferred the room they shared back at the Owl House. "Meh, I guess it's fine…" he said casually, "But when I stay with you, I call the top bunk!"

"Sure thing, little bro." Luz said, kneeling down to pat his skull. She then frowned as she noticed something else. "It looks like some of my stuff is missing…"

"What do you mean, Luz?" Rasiel asked.

Luz looked at her desk, which had previously had a video game strategy guide on it, only to find it was missing. Not only that, but some of the clothes she'd left folded on top of her chest of drawers had been moved too. Her Mami had never moved stuff in her room unless it was messy, but Luz did a fairly good job of keeping the place clean, so it seemed odd for her to randomly come in and move stuff around. Luz then went and looked in her closet to see if the folded clothes were there, only to blink in surprise when she found the closet almost empty.

"Almost all my spare clothes are gone!" she gasped, "And my purple satchel too!"

"Maybe your Mom's doing the laundry?" Willow suggested.

Luz shook her head; "Those things should all be clean! What's going on here?"

Eda and the others exchanged curious looks; "There has to be an explanation. Maybe your Mom donated them to a charity or something?" Amity said, "You did say they were your spares. Maybe she was planning to take you to buy new ones."

Luz bit her lip; "Maybe… something about this feels strange though."

King didn't personally see what the big deal was, but then again he didn't wear clothes. However he did have a more immediate concern of his own.

"Hey Luz, where's the little demons' room?" he asked, fidgeting slightly.

"Oh! Down the hall and on the left." Luz answered.

King shouted his thanks over his shoulder as he ran out of the room and down the hall. Out of habit, he opened the door on the right instead of the left, since that was where the bathroom was in the Owl House. However in the Noceda residence, this put him in Camila's bedroom. Seeing this, he immediately turned around and went through the opposite door, but once he'd done his business and was heading back, he noted that he hadn't closed Camila's bedroom door. He went in, telling himself he was just going to close the door, but his curiosity got the best of him. It was the one room in the house they weren't free to explore, and so to the young and mischievous King, it was the one room he wanted to explore in the otherwise mundane home.

Of course, Camila's room was fairly mundane too; there were a few things that King could sense magic coming from, but none stood out to him. Camila seemed to enjoy living as a human, and as the son of a Human Trash Seller, he'd seen pretty much all the common items scattered around the room. King was just about to turn and leave, when he finally noticed something a little out of the ordinary; a stack of open letters on Camila's bedside table. Curiosity once again getting the best of him, King scurried over to take a look, but what he found chilled his blood.

They were letters from Luz… letters sent from that camp! The one Luz had most certainly NOT gone to!

Taking a random letter from the pile, King read it to himself.

"Hi, Mom! I am having a great time at camp. Today we learned what mortgages are! I can't wait to get home and see you. Let's do lots of fun mother/daughter activities forever and ever."

It was signed Luz, though it had initially been misspelt with an s and corrected. King knew for a fact that Luz hadn't sent this letter, and the handwriting was a lot neater than Luz's (she tended to write fast, so it came out a little messy), so he grabbed the whole stack and went running back to the others.

"Guys! Guys we've got a problem!" he yelled urgently, bursting back into Luz's room.

"King!? What's wrong!? What have you got there!?" Eda exclaimed, summoning Owlbert in staff form as she looked around for threats.

"Luz, take a look at these! I found them in your Mom's room!" King said, thrusting the letters into Luz's hands.

His big sister gave him an unamused look; "King, I told you not to go in there."

"It was an accident! Sorta… But forget that and look at those!" King yelled.

Luz frowned and looked at the letters, her face growing wide-eyed and pale as their contents registered in her mind. Her friends read them over her shoulders, and looked just as disturbed.

"What the heck!?" Eda shouted.

"I-Is someone impersonating me!?" Luz cried, rapidly flipping through the letters, "There are tons of these, all talking about stuff from camp!"

"Why would someone be impersonating you at this camp of all places?" Amity asked with a concerned frown; "Do you think maybe its a prank?"

"M-Maybe someone at the camp noticed Luz didn't show up and started sending those letters so her Mom wouldn't find out?" Gus suggested.

"You think the camp is covering their own butts?" Eda asked.

Gus shrugged; "I don't know! It's just a guess! For all I know, Luz from the future found a way to time travel to the past and go to camp so her Mom wouldn't be mad!"

Willow snorted; "I doubt that. But this is a puzzle…"

Rasiel, who'd been deep in thought since the letters were discovered, finally spoke up; "I wonder… could that be the reason for the missing clothes and satchel? Someone else came along and packed for camp in your place?"

"B-But why!?" the young angel asked in a panic; "Why impersonate me at camp? U-Unless… is it someone targeting Mami because she's an angel!? Are they trying to get her trust for some evil reason!?"

King was about to comment himself, when his sharp ears heard a sound. He hopped up onto Luz's desk and peeked out the window. "Uh guys, Luz's Mom is home! You might want to take a look at this!"

Everyone gathered around the window and peered outside, seeing Camila's car parked in the driveway and Camila herself stepping out. However, stepping out from the passenger seat was someone they weren't expecting.

Luz.

They all gasped as they looked between the real Luz and the one outside with Camila; they were almost identical! The Doppelganger was even wearing Luz's favourite outfit, though there were a few minor differences; the Doppelganger's hair was dark brown and her eyes were hazel, just like Luz's had been when she first arrived in the Demon Realm, and her ears were round like her old human disguise. She also lacked Luz's eyebrow scar, so it was like she was a snapshot of the Luz who had entered the Boiling Isles three months ago. Luz also noticed she was carrying her missing purple satchel, confirming Rasiel's theory.

"Who, or what, is that!? Could it be another angel from Crest Kindness pretending to be you?" Eda asked, remembering that angels of the same crest order tended to look similar.

"We all tend to bare a resemblance to each other, but we're not identical!" Luz replied, "That has to be an illusion or some kind of shapeshifting!"

Gus cast a spell over his eyes, making them glow blue, then frowned; "It's not an illusion, unless its an angelic illusion I can't see through."

Luz very carefully cracked open the window so she could eavesdrop on her Mami's conversation with the imposter; "...mean time, why don't you go put your things away in your room?"

The imposter happily followed Camila to the front door; "Okay Mama!" she said, even her voice sounding like Luz's.

Luz's magic flared as she heard the front door open. "All of you, hide under illusions around the house. That imposter is coming here, and I want to get the drop on them!"

They all nodded, and Eda and Gus both cast illusions over them all to make them invisible, then snuck away. Amity and King remained in the room with her, hidden on the top bunk of her bed, while the others were hiding in the hall or in Eda's case, floating outside the window on Owlbert.

The Imposter came up the stairs and walked right into Luz's bedroom like it was their own. Then the fake Luz laid eyes on the real one and completely froze, her stolen satchel dropping to the floor at her side. Luz glared at her, her golden eyes gleaming with magic, but for some reason, her anger began to fade.

Something about this imposter felt… off. She seemed genuinely terrified in a way that made Luz's stomach twist.

Luz stepped forward, unsure if she was going to grab the Imposter and confront her, or try and calm her down since she looked like her whole world had just come crashing down.

That choice was taken out of Luz's hands when the Imposter let out the most heart-rending scream of fear that Luz had ever heard.

The scream startled Luz and she stepped back instinctively, while the Imposter fell on her backside and crawled away from her.

"Mija!? Is everything okay!?" Camila yelled, having heard the Imposter's scream.

Before either girl could answer, the woman ran into the room, having removed her own disguise and flown up the stairs with her angelic wings at record speed. She slid into the room and her eyes immediately widened as she saw what appeared to be her daughter on the floor, with another angel staring her down.

Camila gasped and threw herself between Luz and the Imposter, spell circles already forming in her hands as she glared at Luz; "Who are you!? What are you doing in my daughter's room!? Are you from the Divine Realm!?" she demanded.

Luz recoiled as if struck; her Mami didn't immediately realise who she was!? She supposed it made sense; her Mami was expecting a little brown haired, hazel-eyed Cherub, not a white-haired, golden-eyed, and scarred angel overflowing with magical power! It was a good thing Luz hadn't gotten her wings out, or her Mami might never believe her!

"Mami! It's me! I'm Luz, the real one!" Luz cried, trying not to sound too heartbroken.

Camila narrowed her eyes on her and her angry expression faltered; "Y-You really do look like… but that's impossible! My Luz doesn't have those features, or that magic!"

The woman sounded unsure of herself; Luz's appearance had really shaken her once she'd let it register, and now Camila wasn't sure what to do. The girl cowering behind her had to be her daughter, Camila felt it in her heart! But then again, she also felt the same when she looked at this apparent stranger.

"You must be a relative… that has to be it; you're another angel from Crest Kindness!" Camila reasoned, still sounding doubtful.

"No Mami, I'm Luz! The Real Luz Noceda! Come on, I'm an angel! You know I'm not lying!" Luz implored, nearly in tears.

She took a step towards her Mami, but her confused mother brandished her spell circles; "Don't come any closer!"

Luz gasped sharply, and the threatening motion by Camila was enough to make King fear for his sister. He jumped down from the bunk bed and landed between Luz and Camila, breaking the invisibility spell but retaining his concealment stone disguise.

"She's telling the truth! This is the real Luz! That one's an imposter!" King cried, pointing an accusing finger at the fake Luz.

The Imposter squeaked in terror, while Camila's eyes widened; "What the- Illusion magic!?"

With King already giving himself away, the rest of Luz's friends broke the invisibility spell and surged into the room, Eda coming in through the window, Amity hopping down from the bunk bed, and Gus, Willow, and Rasiel coming in from the hall. Camila and the Imposter looked at them all in shock, especially Eda who was still holding her staff.

"Who are all you people!?" Camila cried, flaring her wings out, "And that staff… a Palisman? None of you look like angels…!? No… you're witches! You're from the Demon Realm!" she yelled.

One of Camila's spell circles turned from white to cyan as she clenched her hand into a fist. A wave of magic spread across the room and all the concealment stones deactivated, revealing their real ears and outfits, as well as King's true form. Only Luz (who'd already removed her stone) was unchanged.

Camila looked briefly over her shoulder and saw that the Luz she thought was real hadn't changed. But then she did a double take. The Luz behind her hadn't changed at all… including her human-like ears. Her own concealment stone should have deactivated as well and revealed her pointy ears and cherub wings. But at the same time, there was no sign of an illusion on the rest of her appearance.

"Has she fully adapted to not having magic and become a full human!?" Camila thought fearfully.

Eda also noticed the lack of change and pointed it out; "See! Luz here is the real one! She's just a little different since she awoke her angelic magic! That one's a fake!"

Camila turned back to the witches, the angel that looked like her daughter, and the (adorable) little demon. "I don't know what's happening here, but someone better start explaining!"

The Imposter Luz looked around in terror, then suddenly leapt to her feet and charged at the door. Gus was blocking her way, so she tackled him to the ground and cried; "I'm sorry!" before fleeing towards the stairs.

"Don't let her get away!" Amity yelled, chasing after her. Willow helped Gus to his feet, then joined Amity, Rasiel, and King in chasing the imposter, while Eda leapt out the window with Owlbert, and a stunned Camila was torn between chasing after the daughter who appeared to have become a full human, and staying with the one that appeared to have become a full angel. In the end, the sound the "human" Luz screaming from downstairs had her making her choice, and she ran out of the room with a pained look back at Angel Luz, who looked on numbly.

The Imposter Luz's scream had been caused by her running to the front door and throwing it open to escape, only to find Eda had swooped down onto the door step from upstairs, surprising the girl. Eda then twirled her fingers to create a ring of golden magic that bound the Imposter's arms and legs, preventing her from fleeing.

"Got you now!" Eda said triumphantly, "I don't know what you are, but you picked the wrong life to try and steal!"

The others had been hot on the Imposter's trail and swiftly surrounded the bound girl, Amity summoning her own staff while Gus and Willow drew spell circles and King and Rasiel prepared drawn glyphs (the latter having made them with King's help). The Imposter whimpered, but before Eda could grab her and haul her up, bolts of white magic came sailing over the witches' heads, creating bright flashes and loud bangs that had them all recoiling. Camila, the source of this spell, flew forward and gathered up the bound child and cast a spell to release her.

"Stay away from my daughter!" Camila cried, hiding the Imposter Luz behind her back as she threatened the witches with another spell.

Eda, rubbing the spots out of her eyes from the flash, groaned out; "Ugh, that's not your daughter! The real Luz is right there!" she pointed to the stairs, where Luz was slowly descending, a look of absolute shock and heartbreak on her face.

Seeing that expression made Camila want to cry, but she shook it off; "I-I don't know what's happening, but I know my daughter! I took this girl to camp three months ago! I picked her up just today! We've been exchanging letters and texts the whole time!"

"The letters are from her, but the texts were from the real Luz!" Willow yelled. "Luz, show her your phone!"

The real Luz reached into her pocket slowly and pulled out her phone, with its bat-themed case. Camila paled as she looked at it, then looked over her shoulder to the Imposter, who could only stare back, knowing the phone she'd won at camp wasn't the same as the real Luz's.

Still, Camila tried to rationalise it; "Y-You must have stolen that! I don't know what game you're playing, but it ends now! All of you get out of my house! I won't let you near my daughter!" she demanded.

Luz really did look like she'd been struck this time, and Camila once again found her heart lurching. This was wrong… she knew it in her gut, but this angelic girl simply couldn't be her Luz! Her Luz had been at camp! There was no way she'd been off with these witches and demons! The Luz she'd known had always been terrified by the stories of the Demon Realm that Camila had told her!

But even so, the angelic girl's look of anguish tore at Camila's heart so thoroughly that she knew something was wrong. Luz's expression apparently effected her doppelganger too, as the Fake Luz began to tear up.

With reluctance, the fake put a hand on Camila's shoulder and said; "M-Mama… I mean, Camila… I'm sorry."

Camila gasped and turned to face the other Luz, only to be shocked speechless as she began to warp and change into another person… another creature! The Doppelganger Luz transformed into a young Basilisk; one with golden tan scales and a cream coloured underbelly, very pale blue hair, and eyes with golden pupils and black irises. Luz and her friends gasped in surprise too, recognising the creature as a Basilisk, but seeing the notably more human torso and head.

The Hexside Trio were immediately on guard, remembering their last encounter with a Basilisk, while Luz and Camila both stared at the creature with shock, and in Camila's case, guilt.

The Basilisk had tears in their eyes as they whimpered; "I-I'm so sorry… I never meant for any of this to happen! I-I just came here at the same time I saw Luz get trapped, so I-I…!" Tears began to trickle down their cheeks; "I'm sorry!"

The little creature then used her powerful tail to launch herself at the living room window, breaking through it and landing on the front lawn. She'd cut herself on the glass and was now leaking red blood from her arm, but she didn't let it stop her from transforming back into Luz and using her legs to run away, heading into the woods beside the house.

A stunned silence filled the air as everyone tried to register what had just happened. Eda, the oldest and most accustomed to bizarre happenings, recovered first and cast a spell to fix the broken window and clean the blood left on the glass shards, before turning back to the others and saying; "So the imposter was just a scared Basilisk. I don't know how they got here, but I bet they've got something to do with the Greater Basilisk that attacked Hexside."

"Based on what they said, they ended up in the Human Realm at the same time the real Luz ended up in the Demon Realm. They must have immediately assumed Luz's form to blend in, and was accidentally found and mistaken for the real one by Camila." Rasiel continued.

"And ended up pretending to be me to the point of going to camp in my place…" Luz finished. She should feel angry and hurt at being replaced (and she was definitely still a little hurt that her Mami hadn't immediately realised), but the Basilisk's tears and heart-wrenching apologies made Luz feel sorry for her. She'd also confessed to the ruse and revealed herself rather than let Camila drive off her real daughter out of ignorance. The Basilisk could very well have chosen to stay silent and permanently taken Luz's place in the Human Realm, but she'd done the right thing and revealed herself.

Camila looked between the window the Basilisk had fled through and her daughter… her real daughter, who she'd just all but rejected for an imposter. She felt utterly devastated, not just by what she'd said and nearly done to her daughter, but also by the sight of the fleeing child's tears. That Luz hadn't been the real one, but Camila had still formed a bond with her through their trips to and from Camp Reality Check, and through their letters. The fact that she was obviously also a frightened child, lost in a foreign world after either losing her way home or fleeing that home, made it all the worse. And like Luz, Camila hadn't missed the fact that the child had confessed rather than allow Camila to continue unwittingly pushing her real daughter away.

"I… I'm so confused." she eventually whispered as she turned to look her daughter in the eye.

Her daughter… her Luz. Her mind had tried to reject it; to dismiss this white haired, golden-eyed, scarred girl as a different angel all together, but her heart had known the truth. She should have listened to it.

"Luz… I'm so, so sorry."

Luz sniffled and gave a watery smile; "M-Maybe we can start again? Um, I'm home!"

Both Luz and Camila laughed even as their tears began to overflow, then in an outpouring of emotion, the two came together; Camila rushing to hold her daughter and Luz rushing to be held by her mother. The two embraced tightly, both openly sobbing their hearts out as their reunion had become far more emotional than either had expected. Camila kissed Luz's cheeks and forehead over and over, running her hands through her child's snow white hair while Luz giggled through her tears, overjoyed to be accepted after her brief fear of rejection and breathing in her mother's familiar and comforting scent.

"Oh Mija… Look at you! You're a full angel now, aren't you!" Camila exclaimed with joy.

"Yeah! It happened during my first night in the Demon Realm! My magic awakened and my hair and eye colours changed." Luz smiled.

"And what about this!?" her Mami cried, tracing a finger over Luz's scar, "Who hurt my baby!?"

Eda gulped nervously, while Luz just giggled; "It's a long and kind of difficult story, but it was an accident."

Camila accepted that answer, knowing she'd get the full version shortly. She then looked past Luz to her friends, who were all watching and smiling at their reunion. It was an odd group; three young witchlings, an older witch with an owl staff, a tiny demon, and a golden haired man whom Camila couldn't tell if he was a witch or an angel.

"And who are these people?" she asked.

Luz beamed; "They're my friends! They're some of the people who helped take care of me in the Demon Realm, and came with me to meet you!"

Camila's eyes widened; "Oh! They're your friends?" she released Luz from their hug (though kept an arm around her daughter's shoulders) and smiled at the group; "Please forgive my earlier rudeness! And thank you all for taking care of my baby!"

Eda and the others all smiled in return; "It's okay, we understand that things got a little crazy with the Basilisk." Eda said.

"And honestly, Luz has done more to take care of us than we have to take care of her." Amity added.

"Yeah! We owe her a ton! She's helped us so much it's crazy to think how different our lives would be without her!" Willow smiled.

"Some of us literally wouldn't be here without her." Rasiel said, giving a polite nod of his head.

"In fact, Luz actually saved three of us from a Basilisk before! Though that one was bigger and meaner." Gus said.

King nodded; "I didn't get to see that one. But the fake Luz one didn't seem very scary."

Luz and Camila exchanged looks; "Yeah… Actually, Mami? I know that you're probably mad about that Basilisk taking my place and pretending to be me, but I kind of want to go after her. She seemed really scared and upset… I don't think she meant to do anything bad." Luz said. She felt like she had to do something to repay the Basilisk for revealing herself, and for helping ensure her Mami never realised she was missing until she was already back.

Camila readily agreed; "I think so too. The poor child didn't seem to be acting maliciously when she took your place; it was like she was looking for a home and someone to care for her."

"Not surprising, since Basilisks are supposed to be extinct." Eda commented.

The Noceda ladies looked at one another and simultaneously said; "We should go after her."

Eda and the others all smirked; "You're both definitely Kindness Angels all right!" the Owl Lady laughed. "But if I were you, I'd leave it for a bit. Basilisks aren't normally dangerous to humans since they don't have magic, and that one was pretty small. Odds are she'll just go and hide somewhere until she feels safe, then we can go track her down to whatever den she makes. If she feels like we're pursuing her, she might try to eat our magic and then we're in big trouble, especially if she eats Luz's or yours, Mrs Noceda."

"Please, call me Camila." the elder Noceda said kindly, "And I suppose that's for the best. We'll give the poor thing a chance to calm down, then go after her. In the mean time, I'd like to hear all about where you've been this summer, Mija. It terrifies me to think you've been in the Demon Realm!"

Luz nodded with a sad smile; "I know it sounds really scary, but the Demon Realm is nothing like the stories I grew up with! It can be kinda gross and dangerous at times, and definitely really weird, but its also cool and full of life and amazing people! I've gone on so many adventures there and met so many new people! Like them!" Luz gestured to her extended family and friends. "Let me introduce you to my friends properly."

"Of course, Mija. Why don't you all take a seat in the kitchen? I was just making tea anyway." Camila said, gesturing for everyone to follow her into the kitchen. They all took seats around the kitchen table and gratefully accepted cups of tea, which were very different from the teas they'd had back in the Demon Realm.

Once everyone had taken a seat and had a chance to drink a bit, Luz began the introductions. "Okay first, let's start with Willow Park and Gus Porter! The first friends my own age that I ever made!"

Willow and Gus smiled and waved as Luz said; "They're the number one Plant and Illusion witches in our school!"

"Though I only got to be in the plant track thanks to Luz." Willow said.

"She also helped me out with the HAS! Oh, that stands for Human Appreciation Society!" Gus added.

"Our school? Mija, did you start attending school? And during your summer vacation, no less?" Camila asked, an incredulous but pleasantly surprised smile on her face. Luz had never been a bad student, but she really hadn't liked human school!

"Yep! I enrolled at Hexside School of Magic and Demonics! I've been a student there for over a month and I've learned a ton! I've got even more friends there too, though they couldn't all come along today." Luz chirped happily.

Camila's jaw hung open as Luz continued; "Next to Willow and Gus is Rasiel! He's actually an angel like us! It's a long story, but he's a Ten-Winged Seraphim! He got sealed up by a bad guy 100,000 years ago and my friends and I accidentally released him! Now he's our friend and we're helping each other out."

"T-Ten-Winged…!?" the woman gasped, looking a bit pale.

Rasiel bowed his head; "Indeed. I am Rasiel, former Seraphim of Crest Humility. I would show you my wings, but they were sealed separately from the rest of me it seems. Please consider me as just another friend of your daughter's."

"O-Okay, I'll be sure to do that." she said nervously, really unsure how to deal with what was essentially a legend in the flesh!

Seeing her mother's nervousness, Luz powered on to the next introduction, which was sure to get her Mami to forget her nerves. She gestured to Amity, who was sat beside her and said; "This beautiful witch is Amity Blight. She was the third friend I made at Hexside, though as of about a month ago, she's my g-girlfriend!"

She then finished her introduction by kissing Amity on the cheek, both girls blushing. Amity giggled shyly and said; "Um, hello Mrs Noceda! I-I'm Luz's girlfriend!"

Camila stared at the two girls for a second, before her face absolutely lit up with pure joy. She squealed with delight and leapt from her seat to go and hug the two girls. "Oh! Oh Mija! You've got a girlfriend! I can't believe how much my little girl has grown up! And look at you!" Camila let Luz go so she could put both hands on Amity's shoulders; "You're so pretty! I hope my daughter has been treating you right!"

"Mami!" Luz whined, even as she smiled.

Amity giggled, her cheeks seemingly stained red permanently; "Luz has been wonderful. If anything, I've got to live up to her example as an awesome girlfriend."

That made Camila smile wider, and Luz hugged her girlfriend; "Aw! Hermosa, you're wonderful too! And perfect just the way you are! You're already an awesome girlfriend!"

Amity gently booped her nose against Luz's and said; "No, you're the awesome girlfriend!"

Luz opened her mouth to retort when King got between them; "Okay, enough of that! We don't want to waste a half hour on you two being all mushy and gross!" the little demon complained.

Luz and Amity blushed in embarrassment over getting lost in their moment, while their friends laughed. Camila was overjoyed for them, but now her attention was drawn to King. She'd noticed him before, but with everything that had been happening, she'd not truly registered what he was. Well now she had registered it, and her reaction proved that when it came to the Nocedas, the apple didn't fall far from the tree.

"¡Ay, que lindo! (Oh, how cute!)" she gushed, scooping King up and hugging him; "Luz, who is this adorable little fella?" she asked as King actually allowed her to hug him without squirming.

Luz laughed; "This is King Clawthorne! He's my little brother!"

King finally wiggled free and stood on the kitchen table, imperiously pointing a claw at Camila; "That's right! Luz is my big sister! Which makes you my Aunt Camila!"

That was probably the weirdest and most demanding way Camila had ever heard someone essentially call her family, but she was delighted all the same; "Sweetie, I don't know how you and my daughter became close enough to consider each other siblings, but I'd be happy to consider you my nephew!" she said, hugging him once again.

That left only one introduction to make, and it was arguably the big one. Luz had already resolved to tell her Mami about how close she'd grown to Eda, but the incident with the Basilisk and the near-rejection had shaken her, so instead she said; "And last, but certainly not least; this is Eda Clawthorne! AKA The Owl Lady, the Wild Witch of Bonesborough, and the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles!"

Eda puffed out her chest proudly as Camila looked at her with appraising eyes. That appraisal turned into gratitude as Luz added; "Eda is also King's Mom, and my mentor! She took me in when I first came to the Demon Realm! She's been the one to take care of me!"

"Aw, you make it sound like a bigger deal than it was! Honestly, you've done as much to take care of me as I have of you. I'd have gone to pieces by now if it weren't for Luz!" Eda snorted, pulling off her own hand to prove her point.

Camila yelped at the sight of Eda's hand popping off so casually; "Okay that is kind of terrifying! But I am beyond grateful to you for looking after my little girl." she said, waiting for Eda to reattach her hand, then shaking it. "I'm so glad that my little Cherub has made so many wonderful friends, and truly found her own way to help people."

The older angel felt a wave of deja vu as she remembered saying the same words to the little Basilisk who'd been disguised as her daughter. She too had made friends and learned to help people… she'd even found someone she had a crush on! Camila hoped she could help the poor child; perhaps now with help from Luz and her new Demon Realm friends! Putting that thought aside for later, Camila brushed a hand through Luz's white hair; "Oh Mija, I guess I can't really call you my little Cherub any more. You've become a full-fledged angel! Tell me, can you fly yet?"

Luz nodded, "Oh boy can I! I fly around all the time! It's so much fun! And of course, I can do magic now!"

To demonstrate, Luz pointed to a flower pot on the kitchen windowsill and cast a spell with the plant glyph, making a daffodil grow alongside the fern that was already inside it. Camila clapped with delight, though she was curious about the odd green symbol that had appeared inside Luz's spell circle; she hadn't seen anything like it! She then took a look at Luz's hands and blinked as she saw a red marking on the back of her right hand, and a blue one on the back of her left hand.

"Mija, what are those marks?" Camila asked, "They look a bit like the symbol that appeared in your spell circle."

Luz looked at the backs of her hands and chuckled nervously; "Um, don't freak out but… these are Glyph Markings. They're kind of permanent… I didn't ask for them though; the Titan of the Boiling Isles gave them to me. That's another long story, but they're how I unlocked my magic! I've got two more, see?" she said, lifting her shirt to show the plant glyph on her stomach, then pulling down her collar to show the light glyph on her sternum.

Once again, Camila looked completely shocked; "You've got magic tattoos… Oh my… I-I might need a minute to take that in." she said, grabbing her tea cup and draining it in two big gulps. "Glyph Markings given by one of the legendary Titans… I thought they were extinct though."

"You know about the Titans!?" Amity exclaimed, as she, Willow, and Gus gaped at her.

Camila nodded, and Rasiel said; "Titans are insanely powerful beings; their is no way stories about them didn't linger into the modern era of the Divine Realm."

"Rasiel is right. I was taught a bit about Titans when I was a Cherub being raised by Crest Chastity. I never bothered teaching Luz, since they were supposed to be all gone and I never imagined she'd end up in the Demon Realm." Camila said, before adding; "Are you saying there is still a living Titan?"

Since everyone present knew about King being a Titan, they all looked at him as he sheepishly said; "Um yeah. Just one, as far as we know. My Dad is the one who gave Luz the glyphs, but it was kind of his spirit who did it?" the little Titan explained.

"Oh my!" Camila gasped, "You're a baby Titan! I never knew such big scary creatures started off so small and adorable! Maybe the things I heard about the Titans were wrong…" she muttered that last part, a contemplative look on her face. She shook her head; "But never mind that; while I can't say I'm glad you've now got magic tattoos, I can't be mad at you since you didn't actively choose to get them. I also can't be upset that you've finally unlocked your magic!"

Camila wiped a proud tear from her eye; "Honestly, as scary as the idea of you being in the Demon Realm for three months is, it really seems like you've matured!"

Luz beamed; "Yes! I've learned so much! Staying there was the best decision I ever made!"

Instantly, all of Luz's friends and family knew that Luz had made a mistake, as they watched as Camila's expression fell into one of disbelief and even anger.

"You… you chose to stay there?"

Luz gulped; she'd gotten carried away! Her Mami had thought she'd been trapped, and while Luz hadn't intended to mislead her, she hadn't been planning on correcting her until after she'd told her everything else.

"I-I did… but it wasn't like I chose to run away!" Luz quickly said; "I ended up there by accident! I saw Eda's Palisman Owlbert hopping on the ground and was worried he'd get caught by a predator or something, so I followed him and accidentally went through Eda's Portal to the Demon Realm! That's when I met her, and one thing led to another, and I helped her and King with something! We had an adventure and I unlocked my magic! T-Then I thought; "Well Mami's sending me to camp to make friends and be a better angel, so maybe I can do that here!" A-And it worked! I've got friends and I'm great at helping people now! I-I still mess up sometimes, but I'm not a failure any more!" she said, smiling shakily as she tried to sooth her angry looking mother.

Camila took a deep breath, but it was clear she was still very upset. She put her hands on Luz's shoulders and looked her seriously in the eye; "Luz, you ran off somewhere without telling me! You've been lying to me through texts this whole time! Do you even understand how serious this is!? You could have died!"

Luz bit her lip as she began to tear up, feeling awful for disappointing her Mami; "I-I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have lied, b-but it isn't that bad, right? The Demon Realm isn't the scary, hellish place we were raised to think it is! It's kind of scary at times, and a bit dangerous, but it's a great place! And I-"

"Mija!" Camila yelled, cutting Luz off. The poor child flinched fearfully and Camila had to take another deep breath to steady herself; she wanted to get through to her child, not terrorize her into obedience. "Luz baby, it doesn't matter how safe or dangerous the Demon Realm is! It could have been the safest, most peaceful place in all of existence… but it doesn't change the fact that if you hadn't awakened your magic, you would have died!"

Luz gaped while her friends exchanged shocked looks. Rasiel narrowed his eyes, having a feeling that a suspicion of his was about to be confirmed.

"Camila, what do you mean Luz would have died!?" Eda asked seriously.

The angel sighed heavily; "I suppose this is my fault for hiding the truth from you for so long, Luz… Have you told your friends about how important magic is for an angel?"

Luz nodded, as did her friends; "You guys need magic to live, right? It's like your life force. Rasiel can only survive without it because he's a True Immortal." Willow answered.

Camila nodded, making Gus frown; "But even before she awakened her magic, Luz must have still had some, right? She'd have died a long time before we met her otherwise!"

"Right! I was never able to use it to cast spells or anything, but I definitely had magic inside me!" Luz said.

This time, Camila shook her head sadly; "No Luz… before you awakened your magic, you didn't have any magic of your own. Your body didn't produce any magical energy at all."

"W-What!?" Luz cried.

"It's true." Camila said sadly, "My pregnancy with you was… difficult. I needed to use a lot of healing magic on myself and you to keep you healthy and steadily growing inside me. When you were finally born, you were almost a month premature. You had pointy ears and tiny little wings, but your hair and eyes weren't the usual colours of an angel's. Not only that, but your wings were completely vestigial; they couldn't take in natural energy or convert it to magic. Only a day after you were born, you began to die…"

Luz and the others stared at Camila in horror, while Rasiel grimaced; "I'd suspected something was different… Remember back during the Photographic Memory class you and Willow had together?"

Willow gasped; "You said back then that it was weird for Luz to have had brown hair and hazel eyes!"

"No angel should have them. All angels have hair that is some shade of white, silver, or gold, and eyes that are some shade of gold or blue. There are no exceptions. Normally, a Half-Angel is nearly indistinguishable from a Pure Blood Angel, but from what I saw in Luz's memory… it was more like she was just a human that had inherited some angelic physical features." Rasiel explained.

"B-But I AM an angel, aren't I!?" Luz cried.

Camila nodded; "You are, baby. But for some reason, your wings never developed the ability to produce magic. Y-you were my newborn baby girl and you were dying, so I did the only thing I could think of. I performed an Angelic Blessing, giving you some of my magic to keep you alive. So long as you had some magic, you would live… I-I thought it would just be for a little while. Just until your wings fully developed. But while you grew up, your wings barely changed. They never fully developed… I even tried giving you a lot of magic all at once, hoping to kickstart your natural magic, but I'm not very powerful and it wasn't enough…"

"S-So you've been secretly performing blessings on me to keep me alive!?" Luz asked, eyes wide with shock. She was struggling to accept all this.

"Yes. Remember our mother/daughter bonding days every month?"

Luz nodded, feeling her heart clench. For as long as she could remember, the last day of each month was a special day she shared with her Mami, where they spent the day together and did anything and everything Luz wanted. Luz always remembered that as her life in the Human Realm had dragged on, she would often feel lethargic and weak by the end of the month, only to feel reenergised by those days with her Mami. She'd thought it was just life and her inability to be a good angel getting her down, and then being cheered up by her Mami, but now it made so much more sense! She was getting lethargic because her magic was running out, and she'd felt better afterwards because her Mami had performed a blessing!

"B-By the Seraphim…!?" Luz uttered, clutching her chest.

Her friends were in a similar boat, each and every one of them coming to the same conclusion Camila had; if Luz hadn't bonded with a glyph and unlocked her magic, she would have grown weaker and weaker as the days went by in the Demon Realm, until she finally died after only a month. The Titan had effectively saved her life!

"Luz could have really died… a month would have passed right before she came to Hexside for the second time, for Gus's HAS meeting! Oh Titan!" Amity cried, suddenly hugging Luz to herself. "We could have lost you!?"

Luz clung to her girlfriend as she took in the terrible shock; "W-Why did you never tell me, Mami!?"

Camila winced guiltily; "You were always trying so hard… you seemed so down about your lack of magic; I was afraid it would make you feel worse! That you'd feel like a failure from birth! I-I always thought your magic would awaken eventually, maybe when your human side had matured more."

That made a question come to King's mind; "Wait a second… you were mad at Luz for spending three months in the Demon Realm, but you sent her away to Summer Camp for that long! Wouldn't she have died there too!?"

"I wouldn't have sent you if that was the case!" Camila promised, addressing the upset Luz instead of King, "I… I sort of snuck into the camp on the last day of each month. It was at night after everyone was asleep; I cast sleep spells on your, or I guess that little Basilisk's cabin mates, then performed the blessing. Come to think of it, I remember her waking up during both visits, but I always lulled her back to sleep with a spell. She never said anything, so she must have assumed it was a dream."

Luz looked conflicted and highly emotional, causing Eda and King to both move to comfort her; the former stroking her back while the latter sat in her lap and hugged her belly. Willow and Gus looked to Rasiel; "Is it bad that the Basilisk got some of Camila's magic?" Willow asked.

"The Greater Basilisk at Hexside was super dangerous even without getting any of Luz's magic…" Gus added.

Rasiel stroked his chin; "I'll admit, that child did look a bit different from any Basilisk species I remember. Her eyes were that of a Golden-Eyed Basilisk, a largely docile and magically sensitive race that originally came about through a now-extinct subspecies of Amphibious Basilisks mating with Witches. However they usually have paler scales and darker hair, and rarely had solidly coloured underbellies instead of mottled spots of colour. Perhaps Camila's magic caused her to begin undergoing a magical metamorphosis; its not uncommon in creatures that feed off of magic and I know Basilisks tended to evolve based on the magic they consumed."

Eda looked to the three and said; "Now probably isn't the best time to be worrying about that!"

Luz got to her feet and began pacing around the kitchen, handing King to Eda as she went. "I-I really was a failure from birth, wasn't I…? Before I went to the Demon Realm, I was just a defect!"

"NO!" Camila cried, getting to her feet; "Mija, you were never a failure or defect! If anything, the fault was mine for not being able to give you the strong body you deserved!"

"B-But I thought that's why you sent me away!" Luz cried right back, all her old hurt coming back to the surface, "I was weak and useless as an angel! I thought you sent me away to fix me!"

Now it was Camila's turn to recoil as if struck; "I wasn't trying to fix you! I wanted to help you! I wanted to see you make friends and finally help people for your own sake! You were always so miserable when things went badly…"

"But I thought… I thought you were disappointed in me. I wanted to become a better angel and daughter to you, but I was never cut out for the Human Realm. So when my first day in the Demon Realm went so well, I knew I'd found my place!" Luz said.

"Your place!? Your place is here with me! Luz, baby, you're not planning on staying there are you!?" Camila gasped.

Reluctantly, Luz nodded. This was a decision she'd come to after a lot of thought; she'd found a home in the Demon Realm and she didn't want to give that up. Other than her Mami, the Human Realm had little beyond painful memories and a few kinds of food or entertainment. But the Demon Realm had literally everyone and everything else that she loved! It was there that she'd finally come into her own as an angel and begun to grow as a person! It was there that she'd felt accepted! Not only that, but there were people depending on her there, especially with Belos still controlling the isles!

Camila looked utterly heartbroken; "Did you… did you hate living with me that much?" she asked, on the verge of breaking down in tears.

"No!" Luz cried; "Mami, you're the only thing about the Human Realm I truly love! I don't want to leave you, but the Demon Realm has become my home! I've got so much to tell you about it, and I want you to be a part of my life there! I-I know it's not fair to ask you to live there with me; in fact, I still want to live with you too! I-I can come and go from that world whenever I want with Mom's portal and I-"

"Mom!?" Camila repeated incredulously, making Luz gulp; she hadn't meant to let that slip, especially when emotions were running so hot.

King, the Hexside Trio, and Rasiel all looked uncomfortable, while Eda gulped nervously as Camila stared at her daughter; "W-Who is Mom!?"

"Me." Eda said, standing up; "And it's not what you think."

Camila stared at her, a mix of hurt and anger in her eyes. She didn't respond to her and instead looked back to Luz. For a moment Luz thought her Mami would yell and demand answers, but the reality was worse as she heartbreakingly implored her daughter; "I-Is this because I sent you to camp? I-If I made you feel like I didn't love you as you were, then I'm sorry!"

"Mami, I never doubted you loved me! I just… a lot happened with Eda. I never saw her as a replacement for you, I just… she understood me and we went through so much together and I…!"

Luz struggled to maintain her composure in the face of her mother's tears. Every argument and explanation she'd prepared for this moment vanished from her head and all she could do was stutter and choke out half-formed sentences. Luckily, both being angels, Luz and her Mami knew the other was telling the truth whenever they spoke, so at the very least they both knew they loved the other to pieces and didn't want to be apart from each other, but the hurt still remained.

For Camila, it was a mix of gut-wrenching guilt and sorrow. In her eyes, Luz had felt like her Mami thought she wasn't good enough and needed to be sent away to be "fixed", like a car being sent for repairs. She had been so upset that she'd accepted and even volunteered to stay in the Demon Realm, a place she'd previously believed to be a nightmarish hellscape, instead of allowing herself to be sent away to camp. And while she was there, Luz had found a new home and a new family that had not only accepted her for who she was, but had helped her do what Camila never could; become the angel she was always meant to be. With that in mind, Camila couldn't blame Luz for finding maternal love in another woman. And to make the guilt feel even more intense Luz had been replaced by a doppelganger, and Camila hadn't even noticed… worse still, she'd been glad of the changes in her daughter. The doppelganger had played the part of the perfect daughter and Camila had completely fallen for it. She couldn't feel angry at Luz for running away, or even the little Basilisk who'd taken her place; Camila had done her best, but it simply hadn't been good enough. She hadn't been good enough for her daughter…

For Luz, the emotions were just as intense. She felt her own soul crushing guilt and despair, not to mention a deep fear that no matter what she said or did, she would be losing someone precious to her; either her beloved Mami, or her Demon Realm family and friends. It was like the Human Realm was her kryptonite; the instant Luz had stepped back into it, she stopped being the Arch-Angel of the Boiling Isles and returned to being the pathetic little screw up she'd always been! As much as it had hurt to be sent away, Luz knew her Mami had her best interests in mind and she'd broken her heart by running away. Her Mami had found herself with a new Luz, albeit unwittingly, and from the letters the Basilisk girl had sent to her Mami from camp, the real Luz knew that the Basilisk was closer to the kind of daughter her Mami deserved; the helpful, sweet, soft-spoken and friendly girl that Luz wished she could have been. Luz felt like she should be upset over being so easily replaced by a better version of herself, but she couldn't blame her Mami; after all, Luz had run away to a new life without her Mami and had then had the nerve to love that life more than the one her Mami had worked so hard to provide. Luz felt like a wretched, spoiled, ungrateful little girl… She couldn't feel angry at her Mami for not seeing through the Basilisk's disguise, or at the Basilisk herself for taking her place; Luz had done her best, but it simply hadn't been good enough. She hadn't been good enough for her Mami…

The two stood there, eyes overflowing with tears as both tried and failed to find the words to say. To apologise and make everything better. The others watched, frozen in place as they felt like they were intruding on something deeply personal.

Camila was the first to find her voice; "Luz… you are my daughter. I love you, I love you so much… Please don't leave! Promise me you'll stay here!" she put her hands on Luz's shoulders; "I didn't mean to push you away! I didn't mean to hurt you or make you feel like you weren't good enough! I swear, things will be different!"

Luz shook her head tearfully; "Mami, it's not you! It never was! I love you too, more than anything! I don't want to lose you from my life! I just… I can't go back to being a failure. I want to be the kind of daughter than can make you proud but…!"

She reached into her pocket and pulled out the letters that the Basilisk had been sending from camp; "...but I can't be this person. I can't be the daughter you deserve… I'm sorry…!"

With one last quiet sob, Luz turned and fled the kitchen, running out the front door before Camila could react. The poor woman was so stunned that it took her a minute to react, and when she finally did, she screamed after Luz.

"NO! Please, come back! I'm sorry I-!"

Camila took a step towards the front door but she was stopped by Eda's hand on her shoulder.

"Camila, wait. I know how you must be feeling, but both you and Luz are way too wound up right now. You both need to take a moment to collect yourselves." Eda said, feeling incredibly awkward as she was forced to be the "responsible" one. She had to channel Raine (and begrudgingly, her sister) but she needed to do this for the sake of her daughter Luz, and Luz's real mother.

The angel turned back and looked at Eda; "H-How can you possibly know how this feels? You're the mother Luz wants! The one who accepted and understood her! The one who didn't want to change her! The one who didn't almost replace her…!"

Eda groaned; "You and Luz really are cut from the same cloth! You both blame yourselves for everything and believe you're the problem! How can such amazing people have such low self-esteem!?"

"I-I… what?" Camila stuttered dumbly, completely thrown off by Eda's words.

"Listen; I'm kinda new to this whole "Mom" thing and let me tell you, I've made more mistakes with Luz in the last three months than you have in your whole life, I guarantee it!" Eda said, beginning to count off incidents on her fingers; "Her first day, I essentially refused to let her go home so that I could use her to bust into prison and get some confiscated stuff back."

Camila's eyes widened as Eda counted off a second finger; "Her second day, I stupidly conspired to make her cry so I could use her tears to try and cure my curse. Just over a week after that, I let my pride and my big mouth get her into a duel with her future girlfriend, in which she had to either lie and hurt herself, beat up said future girlfriend and ruin her life, or lose and be permanently bound to a psychotic tyrant! Four days after that, my stupid Hexes Hold 'em habit got me in enough trouble that I needed Luz to come and save me! A couple of weeks later, I dragged her along on a wild goose chase for a stupid plant that wasn't even real! And of course, the coup de grace; just over a week ago, I lost control of my curse and gave her that scar, then got captured and needed her to save my life by joining a rebellion and facing down the Emperor of the Boiling Isles in front of everyone."

King, Amity, Willow, Gus, and Rasiel all exchanged looks; when all of those incidents were laid out like that and lacking context, they really did sound awful! In fact, even with the benefit of context, most of those incidents were still pretty bad! Camila was left gaping in shock as Eda pulled her into a somewhat awkward hug; "After all that, Luz was still able to call me her Mom and love me. If she can do that, then how could you ever think she'd want to replace the Mami who'd birthed, raised, and loved her for 14 years?"

"I-I don't know what to say…" Camila whispered. A part of her kind of wanted to smack Eda after hearing all that she'd apparently put Luz through, but at the same time, the odd woman was helping her.

Eda reached into her hair and pulled out Luz's diary from the Demon Realm, and handed it to Camila. "Read through this. It's Luz's record of everything that happened since the day she left up until today. It'll help you understand."

Camila shakily took the book then weakly protested; "B-But what about Luz herself? What if she runs back to the Demon Realm and I never get to see her again?"

"She won't. She loves you too much. Besides, even if she wanted to flee she couldn't." Eda said, revealing the portal key; "Only I can open the portal. She's stuck here until I say so and I refuse to let her run away from her family."

Camila stared at Eda for a long moment; "You… you really love Luz, don't you?"

Eda nodded and picked up King; "She and this little goof ball are blessings that changed my life for the better. I would do anything for both of them. Luz loves you, Camila. That's why she's hurting so much; she's scared of losing you, but also thinks she's not good enough for you. In other words, she's thinking the same things you are; right?"

Camila nodded numbly.

"Mom's right, you and Luz are alike!" King commented, "Which means you're both amazing people! So hurry up and read that diary already so you can make up and we can all be one big happy family again! King demands it!"

Camila and Eda both found themselves chuckling at the little demon, as Rasiel stood from his seat and gestured for the teens to join him; "We'll give you your privacy and wait outside. We'll also keep an eye out for Luz." he said.

He received grateful nods from both of Luz's mothers, as well as King, who had now jumped onto Camila's shoulders. Camila was just taking a seat again and opening the diary when Rasiel and the teens walked outside.

"Do you think this is going to work out?" Amity asked fearfully as she sat on the door step with Willow.

"I don't know. Both Camila and Luz have had a lot of shocking news and experiences dropped on them at once. They'll need to talk it out eventually." Rasiel answered, taking a seat on the grass.

Willow smiled and bumped her shoulder against Amity's; "Come on, this is Luz we're talking about. She and her Mom will definitely work things out! Just have faith."

"Willow's right." Gus agreed as he looked at Camila's car; "Luz has dealt with worse stuff. If she can break Belos' mask, she can make up with her Mom."

Amity nodded; "Yeah, you're right. We just have to believe in them. Still, I hope that Luz is okay… Do you think we should go looking for her?"

Rasiel shook his head; "It would be best not to wander. We don't know this place and could end up lost. Especially since you can't just casually use magic here. Luz is a responsible girl; she'll find her own way back when she's ready."

The trio of teens had no choice but to accept that, and wait for the Nocedas to reconcile.

[Meanwhile]

Luz panted as she slowly stopped running. She'd fled her house and run into the woods behind it, knowing she wouldn't easily be followed here. However as she ran, her confused emotions became clearer and once she finally stopped, she punched a tree in frustration.

"Ugh! Stupid Luz!" she cursed herself, tears still in her eyes, "Why did I run away like that!? Now I've made everything worse!"

She hadn't meant to run away… again. She'd just felt suffocated, her emotions and her mother's looks of despair making it feel like she was drowning. Her poor Mami begging her to stay; her, the defective child she'd loved despite it all, tore at Luz's heart and sent her into fight or flight mode, and with nothing there she could bear to fight, she had run. Now she was alone in the woods, cursing herself for her foolishness.

"What am I going to do now?" she whispered to herself, crouching down and hugging her knees. She knew she should just go back and apologise, but she was scared. What if her Mami didn't let her leave again? She truly couldn't bear to be forced to live in the Human Realm again, especially with how much she was screwing it up already. It would all be so much easier if her Mami came to live with her in the Demon Realm; but that was a pipe dream and an unfair thing to even want.

As Luz sniffled and dried her eyes, trying to think of a solution that could appease everyone, she spotted something on the ground that gave her pause; blood. She gingerly touched the blood with her finger and frowned as she found it was fresh and even slightly warm; whoever had shed it had done so recently. Only two options entered Luz's mind; either a small animal had been wounded (perhaps by another snare trap), or the Basilisk who'd cut her arm escaping through the Nocedas' living room window had come through here. Regardless of which option it was, Luz couldn't just ignore it and she needed something to focus on right now, so she carefully looked around for more signs of blood.

She found some, but it was in the direction of the house, so Luz instead went the opposite direction and sure enough, she found more. "It must be that Basilisk." she thought aloud, following the trail. The girl had been running, her heart no doubt beating wildly, so she'd spilled a fair bit of blood for Luz to find once she actually started looking. Luz eventually found the trail winding through the woods towards the abandoned house that served as the Human Realm side of the portal. As Luz got close, she began to hear a quiet whimpering and sobbing.

Luz crept up to the abandoned house and peeked through the door, gasping at what she saw. The Basilisk, back in her own form, was lying on the floor and sobbing, bleeding from not only her cut arm, but also her tail, which had been snagged by another snare trap. The poor Basilisk had obviously tried to pull herself free and made the snare even tighter, to the point that it was cutting into her. Luz then saw the Basilisk give another desperate tug on the snare, whimpering even more as she once again made it tighter.

"Stop!" Luz cried, rushing into the house, "You'll hurt yourself!"

The Basilisk screamed in fear and scrambled away from Luz as much as the snare would let her; "P-Please don't hurt me!"

Luz put her hands up slowly; "Easy now, I promise I don't want to hurt you, okay? I just want to help."

The Basilisk whimpered, but didn't try to escape any more. Instead she carefully watched as Luz edged her way to her trapped tail and knelt down.

"Now, I'm going to get you out, okay? Then I'm going to heal you. If you want to run away after that, then I won't stop you, but I'd like to talk with you. I promise I won't do anything bad, alright?" Luz said soothingly.

The little Basilisk nodded fearfully, and Luz smiled; "Great. Now brace yourself, the snare has cut into your tail so it'll probably sting when I loosen it. Bear with it, okay?"

She got another fearful nod as an answer, then smiled and looked at the Basilisk's tail. She very gently grasped it to stop it wiggling as she undid the snare, then found and pulled a little metal catch on the snare wire, allowing her to expand the loop and pull it off of the Basilisk's tail. The poor creature hissed and winced as the wire was pulled out of the cut, and the instant she was free, she gasped with relief and hugged her tail to herself. Luz smiled, then used some light magic to slice apart the snare trap, and then burned it with fire magic to erase all traces of it as well as the Basilisk's spilled blood, just in case.

"There we go. May I heal you now?" Luz asked gently.

The Basilisk looked her in the eye, fear and curiosity shining from tearful golden eyes. "W-Why are you helping me?"

"You need help." Luz answered simply, before revealing her six shining wings; "As an angel, it's my duty to help. Besides, I owe you."

"Y-You owe me?" the Basilisk blinked.

Luz nodded with a gentle smile; "You exposed yourself to my Mami instead of keeping up the disguise. You could have taken my place, but you sacrificed that to do what's right. Besides, its not every day I get to see a friendly Basilisk."

The Basilisk looked stunned by her answer, but didn't attempt to move or escape as Luz slowly reached over and gently took her tail. She held it very carefully as she cast her Healing Lotus spell to heal the cut left by the snare. Luz worked slowly to make sure she left no scars, and the Basilisk was struck by the lack of hesitation; Luz had called her a Basilisk so she had to know that she could eat her magic! Yet she was still helping her!

"My name is Luz Noceda." Luz introduced as she worked; "What's yours?"

"I-I'm Number f- I mean, I'm Vee."

Luz smiled brightly; she'd caught Vee's self-censoring, but decided not to question her on it just yet; "Vee huh, that's a cute name. Okay, all done with your tail. May I heal your arm?" she asked as she finished healing Vee's tail.

Vee nodded again, so Luz moved to her side and gently lifted Vee's arm to get a closer look at the wound. After being satisfied that there were no shards of glass inside the cut, Luz easily healed it. Once she was done, she took a step back from Vee and smiled softly.

"Alright, you're all healed up. If you'd like to run away now, I won't stop you. But I'd like to talk, if that's okay. I want to figure out what's been going on." Luz said.

Vee looked at Luz warily; "O-Okay…"

Luz put her hand on the floor of the abandoned house and cast a plant spell, causing a layer of soft grass to grow across the hard wood floor, then sat beside Vee. "Great! So, you're a Basilisk right? From the Boiling Isles?"

"Yeah…" Vee replied, "H-How do you know about us? I thought we were supposed to be extinct."

"My school on the Boiling Isles, Hexside, was attacked by a Greater Basilisk pretending to be an inspector from the Emperor's Coven. She hurt a lot of people, but my friends and I were able to defeat her. I don't know what happened to her after that, but I think the Emperor's Coven took her away." Luz answered.

Vee gasped softly; "Subject Zero…"

Luz's eyes widened; "Subject…? Oh, I see. That's why the Basilisks came back; you guys were made in a lab somewhere, right?" Vee bit her lip fearfully, so Luz gently put a hand on her shoulder. Vee flinched, but Luz just smiled calmly; "It's okay. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

Vee felt comforted by Luz's gentle touch and soft voice; they reminded her so much of Camila. "You're right. About the lab I mean. My real name is Number Five, or Subject Five, and I shouldn't exist… Like you said, my kind went extinct a long time ago, but the Emperor and his coven brought us back. He found fossils with our blood and DNA, and had us created in a lab. He wanted to know how we drained magic…"

Luz frowned sympathetically; "That must be awful… how many of you were there?"

"Six in total, including Subject Zero. She was the oldest, and I was the youngest. It was thanks to her going into a feeding frenzy that we were able to escape. Number Three, Number Four, and I managed to hide and run away, while Number One and Number Two attacked the Coven. The earlier subjects were wilder; I don't think the Coven knew how to make them properly, so they came out… wrong." Vee shuddered, remembering the other subjects. Zero had obviously been mad and thirsty for magic, and Number One had been similar, often snarling and howling into the night. Number Two had been a little better, but he was still more of a skittish beast than an intelligent creature. Even Number Three, who was docile and somewhat intelligent, still clearly struggled with their minds at times, and Number Four was on the verge of human/witch/angel intelligence. Vee herself was the only one whose mind had been completely on the level of the other sapient races.

"Oh… if I'd known that, I wouldn't have let the Emperor's Coven take back Subject Zero." Luz said, now feeling guilty. Who knew what had become of the poor creature?

Vee didn't look as concerned; "She wouldn't have thanked you for it; she'd have just gone on feeding. That's all many of us knew how to do… But her rampage did save me and let me escape. Still, I knew it was only a matter of time before the Emperor caught us again…" Vee said, before explaining to Luz how she'd heard rumours of Eda and her Human Realm connections, leading Vee to seek her out in hopes of escaping the Demon Realm.

"That's when I saw you. I went through the portal while you were distracted by the Owl Lady and her Palisman, but then I saw the portal close behind me and I thought you were trapped. I took your form to hide, and Mama… I mean, Camila… found me. She was so nice to me, and talked about how she hadn't wanted me, or I guess you, to feel like she was chasing you away. Since I thought you were trapped, I kept playing the role… We drove to camp together. I made friends with some humans, learned Spanish and about life in the Human Realm, and tried to become the kind of daughter I thought you were."

Vee finished her tale with a sad sigh; "I-I let myself think you might not come back, but then you did and… I couldn't keep lying to Camila. I couldn't just steal your life… even if it means I have to run again."

Luz gasped softly and pulled Vee into a hug; "Oh Vee, you are the sweetest! Even though you thought it meant giving up your safe haven, you still did what was right! I'm beyond grateful! But I don't think you have to run any more."

Vee blinked; "I-I don't?"

"No." Luz shook her head; "Mami was really worried about you; I think she cares about you, even if you're not me. You two did still spend time together and exchange letters; I think you bonded, and I know Mami would never throw out a child in need. In a lot of ways, I think you actually became a better daughter than I was."

Vee looked confused, so Luz sighed and told her everything that had happened after she'd fled the house earlier. The Basilisk looked both shocked and horrified, and even a little bit angry at Luz.

"W-Why would you choose to stay in the Demon Realm!? You have a Mom who loves you, a home, a life! You had it good!" Vee cried, frustrated.

Luz looked at her hands in shame; "I know… But I never meant to run away. If I hadn't thought Mami would assume I was at camp, I never would have tried to stay in the Demon Realm. I just… I finally felt like I'd found my place, you know? I was being useful, I was making friends, I was becoming the person I thought my Mami wanted me to be. But now I know I was wrong… I'm not that person… I don't think I can ever really be that person."

Vee looked at Luz with a frown; "I don't think Mama, I mean… I don't think Camila wanted you to be someone else." she said, making Luz blink in surprise; "I don't think she wanted you to change or be more like she wanted you to be; I think she just wanted you to have a happier life."

Luz nodded sadly; "I know… Mami only ever wanted what was best for me… and I wanted to be the best me I could be for her. But I kept messing up…"

"You know, at camp one of the life lesson seminars they gave us was on healthy communication." Vee said, seemingly changing the subject; "They said that a lot of problems in life could be avoided if people just talked to each other about what they were feeling and what they wanted. You and Camila both love each other and want what's best for one another, but you're also trying to balance that with what you want for each other and yourselves. You're both trying to get the best result for each other, but you're doing it without actually understanding each other."

The young angel looked surprised; "Y-You think I should just tell Mami exactly what I want?"

"Yes!" Vee nodded.

"B-But what if it hurts her? I love my Mami so much, but telling her that Eda has become like a Mom to me and that I want to stay in the Demon Realm made her so upset!" Luz cried.

"She'd be just as hurt by the idea of hurting you. She's a great Mom! But you can't solve your problems if neither of you will talk about them! If you keep going on like this, you'll end up hurting each other AND neither of you will get what you want!" Vee exclaimed, really flexing what she'd learned at camp. As much as she sort of resented Luz for running away from a life Vee would kill for, the little Basilisk was also overwhelmingly grateful to her for giving her the opportunity to live the last three months in bliss (even if it wasn't on purpose). She also dearly wanted Camila, a woman she'd come to love like a mother, to be happy too.

Luz chuckled and wiped a tear from her eyes; "It's funny, I came in here to help you, but you've ended up helping me!"

Vee, despite herself, chuckled too; "I guess we both want to be helpful."

The two girls laughed together for a moment; they had both gone through so many emotions in the last few hours that it made their heads spin! Vee's words had been just what Luz needed to hear too; she needed to sit down with her Mami and have a proper talk; tell her what she wanted and how she felt, and listen to her Mami's wants and feelings too. Only then could they work things out as a family.

But it wasn't just Luz and Camila who'd need to work out what to do next; Vee still needed a place as well, and Luz was determined to give her one.

"I think I'm ready to go back and face Mami now… and I want you to come with me, Vee." Luz said, getting to her feet and offering the little Basilisk her hand.

Vee looked shocked; "Y-You want me to come home with you!?"

"Of course! You're someone who's become precious to Mami, and you clearly need a home and someone to take care of you. Who better than your Mama, right?" Luz smiled kindly.

Vee's eyes sparkled with hope even as she hesitated; "B-But I'm not her real daughter…"

"You mean you're not her blood daughter." Luz corrected, "And so what? I'm not Eda's blood daughter, or King's blood sister, but they're still my Mom and little brother! It's the bond that matters, not the blood. I'll bet my wings that Mami feels the same way!"

The young Basilisk's lips wobbled and tears filled her eyes as she slowly took Luz's offered hand and allowed the angel to pull her upright and into a hug. Luz pulled her straight into a hug and whispered in her ear; "I think the two of us are going to end up being sisters."

Vee laughed even as she struggled with her tears; "We literally just met!"

Luz giggled; "Well a very wise Titan once said to me; "The sister of my child is also my child.", so I figure that the daughter of my Mami is also my sister! I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to grow into great siblings!"

"Y-You're such a weirdo!" Vee laughed tearfully.

"I am! And so are you! And us weirdos have to stick together!" Luz grinned, releasing the hug but still holding Vee's hand; "Now let's go home, so Mami can tell you the same thing!"

Vee sniffled and gave Luz a smile, wiping away her tears. However as she did so, she found herself looking at her scaly hands; "I-I don't think I can leave. I need magic to transform, and I used it all up while trying to get out of that trap…" she said.

When the snare had caught her, Vee had panicked and rapidly transformed to try and slip free, but in her distress she'd only made things worse and ended up completely stuck, on top of draining her magic reserves. She couldn't risk leaving the woods while in her true form! If a human saw her, she'd end up in a cage again! Or worse, another lab!

Luz pat Vee's shoulder to relax her; "That's okay, I can give you some magic!"

"B-But feeding on you could be dangerous! We Basilisks usually suck out all your magic in one go! Wouldn't it be bad for you if I drained it all?" Vee asked.

"Probably. I don't think losing all my magic would kill me immediately, or else I would have died when Rasiel drained me, but it would still be bad for me. But I can give you magic with an Angelic Blessing!" Luz offered.

"A… blessing?" Vee tilted her head in confusion.

Luz nodded; "That's right! Mami has actually given you a couple of blessings already, thinking you were me! She snuck into your cabin at camp a couple of times to do it."

Vee gasped; "Those dreams of Mama weren't dreams at all! That's why I suddenly had more magic, and why I began to change!" Now she understood what had been happening! It was because Mama had been giving her magic in her sleep!

"So Rasiel was right about you. He thought you might have been going through a metamorphosis when he saw your eyes and colours." Luz said, "I wonder… I'm an Arch-Angel so my blessing might be more potent than Mami's; this might change you even more. Is it still okay if I do this?"

Vee thought about it for a moment; she had no idea what she was becoming thanks to the angelic magic, but she also knew that without that magic, she'd have to feed on someone else (probably Luz's friends) in order to get the magic needed to transform again. Unwilling to feed on and hurt an innocent, Vee decided that she'd take her chances with the blessing and the metamorphosis.

"Yes please. I'll take the blessing." Vee answered.

Luz didn't need to be told twice; she conjured her white and gold flame and said; "This won't hurt, I promise." to relax the slightly worried Basilisk. She then pressed the flames against Vee's body and watched as she immediately ignited, being engulfed by the flames.

"W-Whoa! I feel so much magic!" Vee exclaimed. She absolutely loved the warm feeling the flames were filling her with, especially as it was accompanied by the feeling of fullness, like she'd just had the world's most satisfying meal. It was a feeling akin to sitting around the campfire with her friends from Cabin Seven, after having experienced a long and fulfilling day. As the flames began to sink into Vee's skin and fade away, the feeling of her internal magic began to swell massively and her skin began to tingle. The young Basilisk gasped and fell to the ground, suddenly feeling weak as her body was overcome with the sensations of her changing body. Her back, specifically her shoulder blades, felt like they were transforming and she felt a distinct splitting of her skin at her tail.

"Vee! Are you alright!?" Luz cried, kneeling on the ground beside her.

"I-I think I'm shedding." Vee gasped, suddenly feeling like her skin was too tight, especially on her back. She flicked her tail forward and saw that the splitting she'd felt a moment ago was indeed the skin on the end of her tail splitting so she could begin to shed the old skin. Unfortunately, the ring pierced through her tail fin made it nearly impossible to shed on her own; when she'd shed in the past, it had been under the supervision of the Emperor's Researchers, who'd temporarily removed the ring to let her skin peel off safely.

"Luz, I need your help with the ring." Vee begged, her growing discomfort making her desperate to get her old skin off.

"Should I destroy it?" Luz asked.

Vee whimpered and nodded, so Luz created a thin blade of light from her finger tip and sliced through the ring, allowing her to easily remove it from Vee's tail fin. Once the ring was removed, Luz began to slowly peel back Vee's shedding skin while gently washing the new skin underneath with cooling water. She'd helped snakes shed their skin with her Mami at the vet's office, and she'd also learned a bit about Basilisk biology in her Beast-Keeping classes, so she knew how best to help Vee shed.

As the old skin was peeled away, Luz marvelled at the new skin beneath it; Vee's tail fin had rapidly regenerated, healing the hole from the now-removed tail ring, and the scales were a more vibrant colour than ever. Her cream underbelly was now snow white just like her tail fins and Luz's hair, while her golden tan scales had become sleeker and shinier, appearing to actually be made of gold. Then Luz got to Vee's back, where she found strange lumps forming under the skin. She pulled the old skin away to reveal the reason for these lumps; a pair of folded feathery wings. They were similar to Luz's angelic wings with their white feathers and large size, but their bone structure was shaped more like draconic wings, more closely matching Vee's reptile-like body.

"V-Vee! You've grown wings!" Luz exclaimed as she continued to help her shed.

The young Basilisk felt a lot better once the skin was off her torso; the presence of these new wings must have been what made it feel so tight! Now that it was gone, she could breath a lot more easily. "I-Is this the metamorphosis your friend was talking about?" Vee asked, confused but happy to stretch her new wings. They felt a bit weak, likely because they were newly grown, but Vee was sure they would be strong once she'd broken them in a bit.

"It must be! We just have a little more to go and you're old skin will be completely off. Are you ready?" Luz asked, gently spraying more water over the newly exposed fresh scales.

Vee nodded and closed her eyes, using her now free hands to help Luz pull the last of the skin up and over her head, like it was an old undersized sweater. The skin took Vee's hair with it, revealing new, slightly longer hair beneath it, which was even paler than the baby blue colour it had originally became after Camila's blessings. The top of her hair, as well as the fur of her ears, had turned a shining silver to compliment her golden scales, while the underside of her hair had become a pure white like her underbelly, and Luz and Camila's hair. It was a bit damp from sweat after the exertion of shedding, but a quick spray of water from Luz followed by a little fire magic held close by to dry it quickly had Vee's new hair looking soft, fluffy, and clean, with the beginnings of some curls at the ends.

"Phew! Finally done!" Luz said, holding up Vee's old skin. It had come off in one piece, so now it looked like she was holding a translucent, deflated Vee.

Vee shuddered at the sight of it, before looking at herself; "A-Amazing… I feel incredible! I wonder if I can fly with these?" she thought aloud, gently flapping her new wings.

"I'm sure you'll be able to! I wonder what kind of Basilisk you are now. We'll have to ask my friend Rasiel; if anyone will know, it's him." Luz said, "But what should I do with this?" she asked, still holding up Vee's skin.

"I don't really want to keep it, but I don't want to leave it lying around either. Can you burn it?" Vee asked.

Luz nodded and promptly squeezed it into as tight a ball as she could, then covered it in leaves and vines grown by the plant glyph, before igniting it. Luz tossed the burning ball of skin on the dirt path outside the abandoned house, then watched as it quickly turned to ash and blew away in the wind.

"Well that's taken care of! Now to get you back home." Luz said; "But you'll stand out like a sore thumb if you walk with me while disguised as me, so how about we give you a new disguise!" she smiled.

Vee nodded; "Do you have any ideas? I'm not very good at making up faces."

"I do! Try this!" Luz said, putting on the concealment charm she'd customised that morning, and taking on the disguise. Vee examined it closely, then transformed into a slightly modified version. She retained the somewhat androgynous look, the thicker frame, the skin tone, and the messy hair style, but she'd turned the hair a sandy blond to somewhat resemble her new scale colour, with silver tips to match her real hair. Her eyes also had the same golden pupils and black irises as her Basilisk form, and her Basilisk ears remained exposed too, though they blended in with her hair. She kept the outfit that Luz had picked out too, but turned the hooded shirt from green and white to orange and white (though she kept the snake themed hood).

"There! This is my own unique human form!" Vee declared proudly as Luz removed her concealment stone to return to normal.

"You look great, Vee! I bet Mami and the others will love it!" Luz beamed. "Now, are you ready to head back and see Mami?"

Vee gulped; "Honestly? No, I'm not. Are you?"

Luz laughed nervously; "Not at all! But we're still gonna go, right? Together?" she asked, offering Vee her hand again.

Shyly, Vee took her hand; "Right. Together."

The two girls then walked out of the abandoned house together and began heading back to the Noceda residence. However, both of them failed to notice a certain detail… a small camera installed in the corner of the abandoned house's living room, with a blinking red light.

[Meanwhile]

Camila sat at the kitchen table, having now downed about four cups of tea and having a craving for something quite a bit stronger. On the table in front of her was Luz's diary from the last three months, filled with stories of her adventures, her friends, and her experiences on the Boiling Isles, all accompanied by little drawings. Eda and King sat across from her, both watching her and waiting for her reactions. But upon finishing the diary, Camila didn't know HOW to react…

Luz hadn't spared a single detail; every day of the last 13 weeks had an entry devoted to it, and after reading them all (with some help from a little speed reading spell), Camila truly felt like she understood what her daughter had gone through; both the good and the bad. On the one hand, she was incredibly proud of her daughter; Luz had grown from a little Cherub to a proud young Arch-Angel (Camila was still wrapping her head around that fact) and she'd helped countless people and stood up to evil in the form of the Tyrant Belos. She'd done good and become a beacon of hope for many people on the Boiling Isles, and had even helped others change themselves to become the people they wanted to be.

But on the other hand, the dangers of the Demon Realm were laid bare on those pages. Warden Wrath, Adegast the Puppeteer Demon, Hexside Bullies, Arboriel the Mandragora, Eda's curse, the Detention Pit, Zara the Ice Wyrm, the Greater Basilisk, Odalia Blight, Grometheus the Fear-Bringer, Callisto Alembic, Glandus Bullies, Ancient Angel-made golems, Godric the Fire Drake, and of course, to top it all off, Emperor Belos… the man who'd tried to enslave Luz and turned her into a monster in an attempt to force her to murder her own mentor and mother figure. The thought of her little girl being faced with any of these threats was enough to make Camila's blood run cold, but Luz had faced all of them and survived.

Besides her adventures, Luz's diary also documented her growing relationships with those around her. She wrote of how Willow was finding her confidence as a witch, how Gus was growing as an illusionist, how Amity was becoming a better person to the point that Luz had fallen in love with her. She'd written about a friend named Skara who had grown passed her own bullying phase and was now helping another girl named Boscha grow up too. She'd written about how hard Matt had worked to redeem himself for throwing her in the Detention Pit. She'd written about the fun-loving and chaotic Blight Twins and how they'd come to understand their sister more. She'd written about Rasiel and his stories of the past, his lost personal memories, and his struggles to adjust to a modern world 100,000 years more advanced than he'd ever known. There were even entries about Viney, Jerbo, and Barcus, and their exploits in a group called "The Magic Mixers". And of course, above all else, Luz had written about her growing bond with King and Eda.

Reading those entries was a confusing experience for Camila's heart; they both warmed it with the sweetness of their growing familial bonds, and made it ache as she saw the ways Eda accepted Luz's mistakes and failures, and helped her move past them. She felt spikes of insecurity whenever she saw how well Eda had handled some problem of Luz's, and waves of both annoyance and vindication when Eda had screwed up and landed Luz in trouble. But through it all, one thing stood out; Camila had never once left her daughter's mind.

Every entry had something along the lines of "Mami would love this!" or "I wonder if Mami would be proud of how I handled what happened?" or "I hope Mami doesn't get mad at me for this…"

Luz's love for her mother was clear on those pages, and that was made clearest in one of the last entries; the one that Luz had written after the events at the Conformatorium and her ascension to an Arch-Angel. Most of the entry was recounting what happened, but it ended with;

"Things have calmed down now, and I can finally just relax with Mom and my little brother. It still feels a little strange to call Eda "Mom", but it also feels right. We've grown so close in these three months, and she calls me her daughter too, so it feels natural and good. Like we're a real family! It feels a little like it does with Mami!

But even though it feels the same, it makes me miss Mami even more. I wish I could see her right away; it's not like I'm going to pretend I actually went to camp, so I could go back right now, but I'm scared. Mami is going to be mad, I just know it! I just have to hope that she sees how much I've grown up, how many friends I've made and how much I've been helping people! I've become the kind of daughter she wanted, right? So she'll forgive me eventually, right? I hope so.

But will she forgive me for calling Eda "Mom"? It's not like Mom is a replacement for her; in my head, it's just like Willow having two dads! Or Steve and Matt being close to their real Moms and their Step-Moms! It's not a betrayal of my Mami, is it? I don't know, I think I'm just psyching myself out. It'll be just a few days before I can see her again! I'm looking forward to it, even if it's scary too. I hope Mami can accept my decision. I don't want to choose between her or my life here."

Camila took a deep breath and then let out a long, contemplative sigh.

"The little girl I sent to camp really has come back as a young woman… and I have no idea what to do about it." Camila said slowly; "I knew she didn't have the easiest or happiest life outside this house; I always tried to make it the best I could for her…"

Eda nodded; "You're a great Mom, Camila. Luz is always talking about it and how much she loves you. The only good stuff she's really had to say about her life in this world has been about you."

"Maybe… but I caused her grief too." Camila said sadly; "As a parent, we always try to do what is best for our child, but sometimes we lose sight of the line between what we want for them and what they want for themselves. This home was Luz's only safe haven in her life here, and without even realising it, I took that from her when I sent her to camp. All my reasons, as good as they may have been, fail to make up for that fact. I hurt my daughter… and I'm afraid I'm hurting her again now."

King carefully got out of Eda's lap and moved to sit in Camila's, making the older angel smile and cuddle him; she had as much of a weakness for the adorable little Titan as Luz did. "Aunt Camila, if Luz wants to continue her life in the Demon Realm, is that really so bad? It makes her happy, and it doesn't mean she has to leave you behind! Plus there are a lot of people depending on her! Mom and I would have fallen apart a long time ago without her! It's thanks to her that I know who I am now."

"And its thanks to her that I'm not a stone statue or a powerless witch." Eda added; "Like you said, I think its easy for a parent to mix up what they want for their child with what is actually best for them. I know I made a ton of mistakes… heck, you've pretty much read all of them, and I'm kind of surprised you haven't tried to kill me for some of those mistakes, but making those mistakes has made me a better Mom to both King and Luz. You've just got to learn from 'em, you know?"

Camila snorted in amusement; "Oh trust me, I'm very tempting to have some strong words with you on a few of these; the Conformatorium break-in, the Tearful Tonic, and the Covention Duel incidents especially, but you're also right. You learned from your mistakes and became a better parent to Luz, and this adorable little fella!" she cooed, scratching the back of King's skull, much to his delight, "But seeing how much you and Luz's friends care about her, and how much she's grown… it's made me more aware of my own mistakes, and what I need to do to fix them. Luz is my daughter… she's a lot like me." the woman closed her eyes and remembered her past; especially her childhood in the Divine Realm. "So I think I know what I need to do. Before Luz makes the same choice I did, I'll do for her what I wished had been done for me."

Eda and King smiled; "Then I'm sure it'll all work out! Now we just have to wait until Luz calms down and comes back."

As it turned out, their wait wasn't very long at all as Eda's sharp ears heard Luz's voice talking with her friends outside. She told Camila, and the angel mother put King on her shoulders and leapt to her feet, rushing to the front door with Eda right behind her. She threw open the door and found Luz being hugged by a worried Amity, while Willow, Gus, and Rasiel watched alongside a new girl that Camila hadn't seen before.

"Luz!" Camila cried.

"Mami!" Luz cried right back rushing over to hug her mother. The two embraced one another, and Luz said; "Mami, I'm so sorry for running away like that! I never wanted to hurt you or your feelings, I was just getting so overwhelmed and I was messing up again and I thought-"

Camila rubbed Luz's back and gently shushed her; "There there, Mija. I understand. We both let our emotions get a little out of control. I forgive you for running away, and I'm sorry for getting so upset and reacting so badly. I should have listened to you and let you explain your feelings."

Luz sniffled as she smiled up at her Mami; "I-I forgive you too. I think we both have a lot to talk about… but first, I have someone to introduce you too." she said, gesturing for Vee to step forward. The disguised Basilisk did so nervously, and before either she or Luz could say another word, Camila gasped softly.

"It's you… the little Basilisk child." Camila said, recognising the eyes and ears, since Vee's disguise didn't hide them fully.

Luz had already told the others, so it was a surprise only to Eda and King, though everyone was shocked Camila had immediately noticed, even with the eyes.

"Umm, Hello Mama. I mean, Camila." Vee said shyly.

Camila's heart melted; "Oh, Cariño… I think we have a lot to talk about as well."

Vee's eyes widened at the soft tone and term of endearment, then they filled with tears as she gave a trembling smile.

"Let's go inside. All of us." Camila said, gently putting an arm around both Luz and Vee, then looking to Luz's friends.

"Are you sure?" Amity asked.

"We don't want to intrude on your family business." Willow said.

Camila smiled; "That is sweet of you, but I'd like you to be there. I want Luz to feel supported even if she and I disagree on things."

Luz felt touched by that, and her friends all happily agreed to come back inside too. This time they were sat around the living room, while Camila cast a few spells to make her teapot fill itself and begin making tea on its own. A fresh cup of tea was soon placed in front of everyone.

"I promised you some tea earlier, Cariño. I'm glad to finally get you some." Camila smiled at Vee.

"T-Thank you. But you made that promise when you thought I was Luz…" Vee said, taking the cup regardless.

"Maybe so, but it was still you beneath that disguise." Camila said, "I'll be honest; I'm a bit upset about being tricked. The only reason I'm not angry is because you did the right thing in the end and you seem like a genuinely nice girl who was trying to make the best of your situation."

Vee felt her throat go dry and took a sip of the warm, soothing tea; "I'm sorry…"

Camila very carefully out a hand on her head and stroked her hair; "Cariño, I forgive you. But I'm more concerned with an explanation than an apology. May I know your name?"

"I'm Vee. Though the name I was given at birth was Subject Number Five." Vee answered.

Everyone but Luz narrowed their eyes, already having a feeling Vee's story would make them angry. Still, Camila remained calm and said; "Vee is a very nice name. Would you feel comfortable telling me what happened? How you came to be in the Human Realm and taking Luz's place?"

Vee nodded, then retold the story she'd told Luz. She left almost nothing out; she spoke of the lab and the experiments, her escape, how she'd gone looking for Eda, and how she'd taken Luz's place. She even mentioned how she now knew her dreams about Camila at camp hadn't been dreams at all, but the results of her waking up while Camila was giving her Angelic Blessings.

The story left everyone feeling sympathy for Vee, and even more furious with Belos and the Emperor's Coven.

"How could they be so cruel!? Bringing an innocent creature back from extinction just to experiment on and torment her!?" Amity spat, absolutely furious. She couldn't believe she'd ever wanted to be a part of that rotten coven!

"It's disgusting! I'm glad some of you were able to escape!" Willow agreed.

Gus nodded; "I was pretty scared of you after what happened with the Greater Basilisk, but you're not some evil doppelganger! You're just a kid like us!"

"I-I guess I am. I'm 14 too… I think? I might be 15; I don't know my actual birth date." Vee replied.

"I can probably cast a spell to determine when your date of birth was, but that can wait until later. I wonder if my sister knew about this…" Eda frowned.

Rasiel shook his head; "I doubt it. She seemed genuinely shocked by the existence of a Greater Basilisk. We know Belos kept secrets from her, so I wouldn't be surprised if this was one of them."

"Just one more reason to want to blow Belos to smithereens! I swear I'm gonna squash him beneath my claws one day!" King declared.

Vee looked around at Luz's friends and family, and felt overwhelmed by their words of support; "T-Thank you all for being so kind, even after what I did."

Camila rubbed her back soothingly; "Vee, you didn't do anything wrong. You went through a harrowing experience and survived it. I never knew I had been exchanging letters with such a strong young girl…"

Vee's eyes filled with tears; "I-I'm still so sorry for tricking you like I did. You were so kind to me, I couldn't stop myself from playing the role of your daughter! I didn't want to lie to you…"

Camila picked up the letters that Vee had been sending her while at camp; "I know you lied when you pretended to be Luz… but are the things in these letters lies too?" she asked, smiling since she already knew the answer.

Vee shook her head; "N-No. Everything in them is true! I promise! I didn't want to lie more than I had too."

The angel mother smiled a bit wider; "Even the parts where you say you love me and miss me? Where you call me Mama?"

Vee bit her lip. She looked to Luz, who gave her a reassuring smile. Gathering her courage, Vee then said in an impossibly small voice; "Those were true too."

Camila beamed; "Then I'd like to say that even though I thought I was talking to Luz, the things I wrote in my letters were true too, Cariño."

"R-Really!?" Vee gasped.

"Yes. I realised when you ran away, that even though you weren't who I thought you were, I still cared about you. Which is why I'd like to offer you a place in our home." Camila said, looking to Luz who was already eagerly nodding in agreement.

Vee looked at her with disbelief, then slowly turned to Luz, who just grinned at her as if silently saying "See? I told you so!"

The poor little Basilisk burst into tears and threw herself into Camila's arms. The woman made comforting sounds as she held Vee, who cried her little heart out. After going through so much torment in her short, 14 years of life, Vee had finally found herself a home and people who loved her; not because she was pretending to be someone else, but because they cared about the real her.

Luz joined the hug too, snuggling Vee between her and her Mami and whispering in her ear; "You have a home here now. Looking forward to getting to know you better, Little Sis!"

Vee's only answer was to transform back into her true Basilisk form and wrap her tail around Luz, since her arms were preoccupied by hugging Camila. The others all looked on with smiles, glad to see that the little family had solved at least one of their problems, though they all noticed the difference in Vee's form, especially her wings. Rasiel's eyes widened briefly in recognition.

When the hug finally came to an end, Camila was briefly surprised to see Vee's wings and new colouration, but her first reaction was to cast a spell to banish Vee's tears and pour her another cup of tea. "Here Cariño, drink this. You could use some hydration after all that crying."

"Thank you, Mama. I mean-" Vee began, before Camila gently interrupted her.

"It's fine, Cariño. If you want to call me Mama or anything like it, then go right ahead."

Vee beamed, even as a light blush covered her cheeks. It was quite strange to see a Basilisk blush, but it was also very cute, especially since the shape of her mouth was akin to a puppy's, making Camila, Luz, Amity, and Willow all coo happily.

After giving Vee a moment to fully compose herself and drink her tea, Camila asked; "Mija, Cariño; what exactly happened when you two left? I'm fairly certain Vee didn't have wings when I saw her last."

Luz looked to Vee, who nodded to her silent question. "It's a bit of a story," Luz began, "but here goes!"

Luz then told them everything that had happened at the abandoned house, largely brushing over the details of their personal conversation. When it came to the part where Luz gave Vee magic, both Eda and Camila were impressed.

"Ha! You've barely had that power a week and you're already using it smartly! Way to avoid getting drained again, Kiddo!" Eda grinned.

"Yes, well done Mija! That was very kind of you, and very helpful! You really have become a wonderful angel." Camila complemented, making Luz beam with pride.

"So Camila's first two blessings made Vee's scales and hair change colour a little, and Luz's blessing changed her even more? Do you know what happened, Rasiel?" Gus asked.

Rasiel nodded with a smile; "I do indeed. Basilisks are a species that are prone to spontaneous evolution via metamorphosis. Since they consume magic, they can gradually evolve based on the magic they eat; that's why there are so many sub-species of Basilisks. Basilisk eats a lot of magic from a Cockatrice? They can become a Petrifying Basilisk. Eat a lot of magic from varied, but potent sources? They can become a Greater Basilisk. The same things can happen when a Basilisk mates with another species; Basilisks are all genderless and can reproduce with any magical species, including each other. As I mentioned earlier, Vee's original sub-species; the Golden-Eyed Basilisks, were originally born from a certain breed of Amphibious Basilisks mating with Witches. That's why Vee's eyes and ears were a lot different from the Greater Basilisk."

Everyone looked intrigued, especially Vee who knew little of her species due to her upbringing; "So what species am I now? I ate a lot of angelic magic, so am I some kind of Angel Basilisk?" she asked.

"Not quite. Your sub-species is very rare but it did exist back in my time; you are a Quetzalcoatl Basilisk." Rasiel explained.

"Gesundheit." King said, making the Ancient Angel glare at him, then reach up and flick his forehead.

Eda, smirking at her pouting son, asked; "Aren't Quetzalcoatls a breed of dragon?"

"Yes, they're considered Grand Dragons, one grade beneath the Supreme Dragons. Though Quetzalcoatl Basilisks are just called that because their golden scales and feathered wings resemble Quetzalcoatl hatchlings." Rasiel said.

Camila hummed; "We have Quetzalcoatls in the Divine Realm. Crest Diligence raises them as a security measure. They're like the angelic equivalent of Human Fighter Jets."

Willow and Amity looked to Gus, who mouthed; "Think super fast airships that shoot explosions."

"Huh… so I look a little like a Baby Quetzalcoatl?" Vee asked, looking at her golden scales.

"You do, actually." Camila smiled, "It's very cute. The adults get rainbow scales, but I don't think you will."

"She won't." Rasiel confirmed; "Like I said, you look like a Quetzalcoatl, but that doesn't make you one. Instead, you'll have angelic traits."

Vee's eyes widened, while Luz and her Mami exchanged amazed looks; "What kind of angelic traits? Besides the wings of course." Luz asked.

"Well those wings are pretty much it, but they're multi-faceted. For one, you'll be able to fly once they get a little stronger. They're still new, so it'll take time." he replied.

"Wonderful! I missed being able to teach Luz how to fly, but now I'll be able to teach you, Vee!" Camila grinned. Vee grinned right back, already imagining what it would be like to soar freely through the skies.

"Secondly, those wings function like angel wings, in that they'll naturally accrue magic. You won't need to feed on magic any more, though from what I remember, the process is a bit slower and less satisfying than feeding." Rasiel continued.

Vee shrugged; "I never enjoyed feeding, so I'm okay with that. Besides, I've got a taste for human food after camp!"

"Just wait until Mami cooks for you then, you'll have a hard time going back to camp food after that!" Luz grinned, getting a playful ruffle of her hair from her Mami.

Rasiel smiled, glad to see his little saviour cheerful again. His final bit of information was sure to further improve her mood; "Lastly, a Quetzalcoatl Basilisk has limited spell-casting abilities. You won't be able to cast a lot of the more complex forms of angelic or demonic magic, but simple spells should be possible for you now."

Vee gasped; "I can cast spells!?"

"To a degree. I never met a Quetzalcoatl Basilisk personally, at least not that I can remember, so I only have second hand accounts. Those accounts show that Quetzalcoatl Basilisks can cast basic elemental manipulation spells, and if those elements are mixed properly, they can cast some simple spells of other types. It's difficult though, and you'll be limited, but it is possible." Rasiel finished.

"That's another thing I can teach you!" Camila said excitedly. It bothered her a little that she hadn't been able to teach Luz how to fly or cast magic due to the circumstances, but at least she'd be able to do those things for Vee!

"I can help too! Mom taught me a lot about the elements! If King's okay with it, we could even teach you Glyph Magic too!" Luz added eagerly.

Vee nodded, intrigued by the idea; "Thanks, Luz. But you've done enough to help me for the moment; now it's your turn." she said, using her tail to lift Luz into the air, then slid into her vacated spot before dropping Luz down next to her Mami; "It's you and Mama who need to talk now!"

Luz gulped; "R-Right… I guess we do have some stuff we need to talk about, right Mami?"

Camila nodded, then took Luz's hand; "We do. I want to hear your feelings, Luz. I want to know what you want for yourself and your own life."

"Even if its something you won't like?" Luz asked fearfully.

"Even then. This is your life, Mija; I want what's best for you, and that means trying to make sure you're happy too. Talk to me, even if you're afraid of hurting my feelings. I promise I won't get mad." Camila swore.

Luz thought about it for a moment; Vee had told her to be honest with her feelings, and now her Mami was doing the same. She was also surrounded by friends and family who would support her… she could do this!

"Okay." Luz said, before biting the bullet; "I want to stay in the Demon Realm, in the new life I've made for myself there. I've never fit in here in the Human Realm, and the only important thing to me here is you, and I guess Vee now too. You always made me feel loved, but you can't always be around, and a part of me always felt like I wasn't good enough. But in the Demon Realm, I have friends, and I can help people. I grew as an angel and did a lot of good things! I fit in there! And I know dropping out of my school here would be bad, but I'm going to Hexside instead, and I'm actually doing pretty good! And with Eda's portal, I'm never more than ten minutes away from here! So I want to stay… ideally, with you coming too."

Camila instinctively pulled a face, so Luz quickly added; "I understand that you don't want to; it would be totally unfair of me to expect you to give up your life here just for my sake, plus we've got Vee to consider too. She wouldn't be safe in the Demon Realm with Belos still at large… But even with all that… I want to stay there."

A hint of desperation entered Luz's voice with those last few words, and Camila closed her eyes and let herself truly think about what Luz was asking. With all that in mind, she began her reply by showing Luz her diary.

"Eda had me read this, so I know about everything you experienced in the Demon Realm now. I have to be honest and tell you that my first instinct is to say no; to forbid you from going back there. You've been in such terrible danger there, especially with Belos and his Coven after you. You've been hurt so terribly…" Camila gently traced a finger over her daughter's scarred eyebrow, "… and I know for a fact you are going to keep fighting that tyrant, and be in even more danger."

Luz's heart dropped as she waited for the inevitable, soul-crushing reveal that she'd never be allowed to go back to the place she considered home.

"But…" Camila continued, "… even with the danger, you love that place. You've thrived there; you really have matured into a fine young Arch-Angel with wonderful friends, and a lovely girlfriend." Amity blushed while Willow and Gus puffed their chests out proudly. "You've even got a family there; Eda has become a mother to you, and while that was painful to think about at first, I'm beginning to understand. She isn't meant to replace me, just as Vee isn't meant to replace you. I won't stand in the way of you and your bonds."

Luz's eyes shone as she dared to hope; "D-Does that mean you're going to let me stay in the Demon Realm!?"

Camila slowly nodded; "I am."

Her daughter could scarcely believe it; "R-Really!? But why!? I thought you would never agree!"

Camila sighed; "The truth is, I understand how you feel more than you think. I told you before that I left the Divine Realm to become a Missionary Angel as soon as I turned 18, in part so I could find love, right?"

"Yeah! So was you wanting to come to the Human Realm like me wanting to go to the Demon Realm?" Luz said.

Camila closed her eyes wistfully; "It's very similar. Scarily similar in some regards… but first, I need to confess that I mislead you about some details."

Luz blinked; "You lied?"

"I wouldn't say I lied… more like I, misrepresented some details." Camila said with a slight grimace.

Eda crossed her arms and smirked; "That's a fancy way of saying you said a whole bunch of technically true stuff so that Luz would come to the wrong conclusion."

"You're not wrong." Camila admitted, making the Owl Lady laugh.

"Ha! You Noceda Angels are more cunning than I thought! Luz pulled the same trick a few times!" Eda said with amusement.

Camila and Luz both enjoyed the comparison and compliment, then Camila said; "The truth is that I didn't apply to become a Missionary Angel at all; like you Luz, I ran away. The people I cared about in my old home were doing "what was best for me", but it wasn't what I wanted, so I fled. I'm technically not supposed to be in the Human Realm, but the Divine Realm has no interest in dragging back an angel who isn't causing trouble."

Luz was shocked; her Mami had run away from home!? "What happened?" Luz asked.

"It began in my childhood." Camila began; "Ever since I was young, I had a fascination with the Human Realm and its society, not unlike Gus there." she said, nodding to the Illusionist, "We had plenty of Human Realm literature in the Divine Realm, meant to prepare Missionaries, and I read everything I could get my hands on. But as I read, I became more and more disillusioned with the Divine Realm. I resented being born into my role in life, while humans got to choose. I resented being expected to serve my purpose like a machine and not a person. I resented not having a real family; only caretakers and my fellow Cherubs. I began to resent just about everything, especially as my friends and the carers at Crest Chastity began to see me as a weirdo."

"Like me…!" Luz whispered.

Camila nodded sombrely; "Just like you. I didn't fit in, and I wasn't understood. I went against the grain, and quickly found the friends I had keeping their distance. The carers, the closest things to parents I had, became obsessed with "fixing" me. They thought it was what was best for me… and I resisted and resented them all the way until I'd begun my maturity. I expressed interest in becoming a Missionary Angel, but I was specifically born to fill a position within Crest Kindness, and they didn't want me to go. They eventually agreed to let me go if, as soon as I completed my maturity, I agreed to have a child of my own to replace me in Crest Kindness."

That revelation was met with horrified gasps and looks of disgust from all but Rasiel, who instead looked away in shame. That part of angelic society had existed in his time too, and he'd honestly never questioned it… at least until now, where he could see the distress it was causing his new friends and allies.

"That's awful! Being told you've got to bear a kid just to take your place!? That's actually worse than Belos' creepy coven obsession!" Eda exclaimed.

"I agree. I told them I would never agree to it, and I found myself being pressured on all sides. We have to give our consent to be partnered with another angel to create a child, but those who refuse were often shamed. I was no different." the angel woman said. "I was being pressured to change and be part of a world I didn't fit in to, while I had no support from the people who were supposed to care for me. So naturally, I decided to run away. I snuck out in the dead of night and used one of the Divine Realm's portals to the Human Realm, and made a new life for myself here."

Luz felt her heart go out to her mother; she truly understood what she was going through. Camila actually became a bit teary eyed as she continued; "I went through all of that, and yet I very nearly did the exact same things to you as was done to me. I tried to change you, telling myself it was for your own good… sure, I actually had your happiness in mind rather than the good of our people as a whole, and I tried to be supportive, but that didn't change the fact that I did something that hurt you, and ignored what it was you truly wanted while pretending that what I wanted for you was what you wanted for yourself. I genuinely fooled myself into believing that I was doing what was right… but I wasn't. I repeated the same mistakes my friends and carers in the Divine Realm did, and it ended in the same way; with my daughter running away to another realm with no wish to come back home."

"Mami…" Luz said softly as her mother wiped away a tear, "You aren't like the people you grew up with at all. I never once doubted that you loved me, or wanted what was best for me. I was hurt when you sent me away to camp, even though I understood why, but one thing I never wanted was for you to be anything but a big part of my life. You're my Mami; I just want you to be proud of me."

"Oh Mija…" Camila embraced her; "I am proud of you. More proud than you could ever imagine… and not just because you've made wonderful friends and become an Arch-Angel; but because you are you. The person you've grown into, and the person you've always been… they are people I can be proud of. I was just too much of a fool to realise it." she sniffled and added; "I forgot about the Astral Oath."

Luz and her friends exchanged confused looks, including Rasiel, to whom Willow asked; "Is that an angel thing?"

Rasiel shrugged helplessly, making Camila giggle and answer; "It's a human thing, dear. Just like Luz and Amity have their love of the Good Witch Azura, I grew up with a human sci-fi series called Cosmic Frontier. The Crest Chastity Library had a full set for studying human beliefs in preparation for Missionary work. I fell in love with them, and bought a full set of my own at the first opportunity. In fact, Cosmic Frontier is one of the things that your father and I first bonded over." Camila smiled at the memory.

"Just like those two love birds and Good Witch Azura!" King grinned, pointing to an entranced Luz and a blushing Amity.

"That's right! The Astral Oath is a promise made between one of the characters, Captain Avery, and his family; to love and protect each other just as they are, through supernovas and solar winds!" Camila declared.

Gus's eyes grew wide with excitement while the rest of Luz's friends looked on in amazement, and Luz's smile became so huge it almost hurt her cheeks; "Mami, you're a secret nerd!?"

"I am, and proud of it! I hid that part of myself from you, because I was afraid you'd hide away in a fantasy world just like I did. I had a hard time growing up…" Camila raised a hand to Luz's cheek and began to stroke it gently; "I was afraid you would to, and my lack of understanding as to why resulted in my biggest mistake; trying to protect you by changing you. By trying to turn this beautiful, good angel into something she wasn't."

Luz's eyes began to overflow; "M-Mami…!"

Camila pulled Luz closer and kissed her forehead; "I refuse to stand in your way, Mija. You have found your own place in life, and as your mother, it is my duty to stand beside you and help you. To let you make your own mistakes and have your own triumphs. I won't pretend I'm completely comfortable with all this, but I refuse to make the same mistakes as my predecessors any more. You will always be Luz Noceda, my little cherub. But you're more than that too… so show me Luz. Show me who you've become."

At Camila's urgings, Luz stood up and looked around at everyone with her. Her Mami and Mom; the two women who'd looked after her and loved her even with all the trouble she'd caused them both. King and Vee; the little brother and (potentially) little sister who she'd never expected to have but now couldn't see a life without them. Willow and Gus, her first friends her own age and two of the most incredible people she'd ever met, who loved and relied on her as much as she loved and relied on them. Rasiel, the angel she'd saved and who had shown her another side of her people, and had taught her so much, including the magic that had saved Eda's life, and helped Eda, Raine, Lilith, and Vee live their lives comfortably. And of course, Amity; the girl that had stolen Luz's heart and given her own in its place… the beautiful, perfect good witch that Luz still had trouble believing could possibly love her as much as Amity clearly did.

These were her people, as were the friends she'd left in the Demon Realm; Skara, Mattholomule, Raine, Hooty, Edric and Emira, Jerbo, Viney, and Barcus… and so many more. Perhaps even Boscha and Lilith, if they could keep moving past their differences. Her Mami had given her blessing; Luz didn't have to lose any of the people she loved… so she would show her Mami how amazing the angel she'd raised could be!

With a bright smile, Luz summoned her six Arch-Angel wings and spread them wide, and even summoned her Witch's Wool cloak in order to transform her clothing into her Holy Raiment, revealing her full Arch-Angel glory; "I am Luz Noceda-Clawthorne! Daughter of Camila and Manny Noceda, and Eda Clawthorne. Sister to King Clawthorne-Noceda and Vee Noceda! And Arch-Angel of the Boiling Isles!" she declared, her four glyph markings glowing in their signature colours.

Her family and friends all smiled at her, showing their pride in her as their daughter, sister, girlfriend, and dear friend. Vee especially felt touched to be included as Luz's sister, especially considering their relationship was so new! Camila stood up and summoned her own wings with a smile.

"Well met, Arch-Angel of the Boiling Isles." she greeted formally, before giggling and ruffling Luz's hair; "I'd read about your ascension in your diary, but seeing it really is a very different experience… I'm so proud of you, Mija."

"Thank you, Mami! For accepting me and my decision, even though I know it must be hard for you." Luz beamed.

"It's what any parent should do. However, my agreement doesn't come without conditions; I have three that you need to stick to if you really want to stay in the Demon Realm." Camila said, letting a bit of seriousness enter her voice.

Luz looked nervous for a moment, but nodded all the same; "I'll do anything."

Camila smiled and held up her hand, extending one finger; "First, while you can live with Eda and King at the Owl House MOST of the time, I want you back here on the weekends, alright? You can bring your friends along for visits or sleepovers, and that includes Eda and King too, but I want you to live here at those times, alright? This house is your home too, even if the Human Realm as a whole isn't."

Luz nodded eagerly; visiting her Mami every weekend was no hardship! Heck, she'd have wanted to do that anyway, and the fact her new family and friends were invited too just made it better. Camila wasn't done though; "As an extension of that, I also want you to come home for human holidays, and half of any school vacations you get, okay? Again, your friends are welcome to join us."

"Of course! That's not a problem at all!" Luz agreed immediately.

"You and Vee are welcome to come and visit or even stay at my place any time you want too." Eda graciously offered; "We're all one big happy family now after all!"

Camila smiled at the offer, but the look in her eye and Vee's expression made it clear that wasn't likely to happen any time soon; "Thank you Eda, but I don't think I'm ready to go to the Demon Realm. I still have my own hang ups with the place, even if Luz insists it's wonderful. I also don't think Vee is ready to go back yet and I don't want to leave her here alone."

Vee nodded gratefully, and Eda just shrugged; "That's cool. The offer's open though!"

Camila nodded, then looked back to Luz and held up a second finger; "My second condition is related to your school work; while you obviously won't be attending Gravesfield High any more, I still want you to take your education seriously. I want to see any report cards or grades you get from Hexside, and I will put you on restriction if I think your work is slipping. Whichever world you want to live in, you need to make sure you do your best!"

That was another easy request; Luz loved learning about magic and all manner of other subjects at Hexside, and while she was middling in her construction track classes (not for lack of trying), she was in the top half of the class in the beast-keeping track and only behind Skara when it came to the bard track!

"I'll work super hard! Most of my friends are in the tops of their classes, and I work hard with Eda in my apprenticeship too, so my grades are pretty good!" Luz agreed.

"Good job, Mija! Though that reminds me, I'll need to withdraw you from Gravesfield High, so they don't question your absence…"

Vee piped up; "Actually, why don't I just go in her place? I want to go to school too, and my Cabin Seven friends all go there! Plus they all think I'm Luz anyway."

Camila thought about it for a moment, then nodded; "Okay Cariño, you can attend in Luz's place. But if it's not too much trouble, I'd like you in either your true form or your new disguise when at home. I want you to get comfortable being yourself around me."

The young Basilisk nodded happily, and Camila turned to Luz with her final condition; "My last condition is likely going to be the one you'll have the most trouble with, but it is also the most important. The one that I need you to promise to agree to before I let you stay in the Demon Realm."

Luz gulped and braced herself as she saw her mother's expression turn deadly serious; "You are to stay away from Emperor Belos." she ordered.

The young angel blinked in surprise, as did her friends and extended family. Camila was quick to explain herself; "I know you're a part of this cat group that is working against his tyranny, and I'm not asking you to quit it, mostly because I don't think you'd be able to help yourself, but I've read what Belos did to you, and how close the fight between you and him was even after you ascended."

"Believe me, I don't really want to go near him." Luz said, shuddering at the thought of the corrupted angel.

"Maybe not, but I know you would if you felt you had to. I know you're strong now, stronger than even me and most witches and demons, but Belos was a match for you as well as being far older, more experienced, and crueller. I won't wrap you in bubble wrap and forbid you from fighting with these cat people, but I cannot risk you against someone like him. So please; promise me you won't go near him unless you absolutely have no choice, and that you'll choose to flee instead of fight if he should come looking for you."

Luz could practically feel the fear and worry radiating off of her mother; "Promise me, Luz. I can't bear to lose another member of my family." Camila practically begged.

"I promise, Mami. Unless it is absolutely necessary to save a life, I won't go near Belos and will run away if he comes after me. I'll make an Everlasting Oath if I have to." Luz said seriously.

Camila clearly thought about it for a second, before shaking her head; "I won't bind you to your word Luz; I trust you. And since you agreed to my conditions, you officially have my blessing to live in the Demon Realm. Just be sure to mind your Mom, and maybe don't emulate too many of her chaotic aspects…" she said, adding that last part as a joke.

Rasiel and the kids all giggled as Eda huffed playfully; "Oh trust me sister, you haven't seen my chaotic side yet! I've been on my best behaviour today!"

"I've read Luz's diary, remember? I know exactly what kind of antics you get up to!" Camila smirked, "But still, you loved and accepted Luz, and welcomed her into your home, even with the rough beginnings. So thank you, Eda. I'm looking forward to getting to know you better."

Eda smiled, touched by Camila's acceptance and blessing. The angel then turned to the rest of Luz's friends and said; "And thank you all for being such wonderful friends, and helping my daughter as much as she's helped you. My Luz can be a bit of handful, especially when she gets excited and carried away, but she's a good girl. Please continue to take care of her for me."

"Of course! Luz may be a magnet for trouble, but she's worth it!" Willow said, making Luz smile bashfully.

"Yeah! I mean, I got to visit the actual Human Realm thanks to her! And she takes care of us too!" Gus agreed.

"I owe her much. I'll protect her as best I can to repay that debt. Though I'm limited without my magic…" Rasiel said.

"I'll kick anyone's butt if they mess with my Big Sister! I may not be the King of Demons, but I AM the King of Brothers!" King declared grandly.

Amity nodded nervously, then said; "I love her, so of course I'll take care of her! A-Actually, Mrs Noceda, I've been meaning to ask… may I have permission to court your daughter?"

Amity had been working up the courage to ask that since arriving, but she'd never found the right moment. Asking permission to "court" someone was usually only done among the really elite families (since such things could interfere with family rivalries/partnerships), but Amity also saw it as a show of respect to the woman who'd given birth to the love of her life.

Luz squeaked and blushed adorably, while everyone else grinned. Camila forced herself not to giggle in case she embarrassed Amity, then nodded; "Of course, Amity. You make my little girl very happy, and that's all I care about!"

Amity looked delighted and promptly pulled Luz over to her so she could hug the blushing girl. Luz sighed dreamily; "How chivalrous, Hermosa!"

The young angel and her Blight girlfriend both blushed and smiled as their friends looked on. Vee giggled at their cute antics; "You two really are lovey-dovey!" she said teasingly.

Camila grinned slyly and said "Should I invite Masha over for dinner, Vee?" in a sing-song voice.

Vee promptly shut her mouth with an embarrassed blush, while Luz grinned like a Cheshire cat. "Oh ho! Does Vee have a crush? That's adorable!"

"N-No fair! You can't turn my teasing back on me!" Vee pouted.

"We're going to be sisters now! Teasing is part of the fun! Right Mom, Amity?" Luz grinned, asking the only other people in the room who were sisters.

Amity rolled her eyes; "If Emira is anything to go by, yes."

"Oh heck yeah! I basically tease Lilith instead of making her pay rent!" Eda laughed.

Everyone laughed together, all signs of the earlier tension and sadness having melted away. They began to chat about more casual topics, with Camila getting to know Luz's friends more, while Luz happily showed Vee some of the cool stuff in her room, giving her permission to play with all of it, so long as she was careful and didn't save over her save files in her video games. As afternoon stretched into evening, Camila invited everyone to stay for dinner and when they agreed, she roped everyone into helping her cook some Divine Realm AND Human Realm dishes, with the latter being recipes from the Dominican Republic.

"Luz's Papi, Manny, was a Dominican-American. He taught me his culture when I first came to this world." Camila explained as they worked; "The Angels of Crest Kindness have many similar traits to humans of Hispanic or Latino descent; Luz and I are even lactose intolerant like many people from those cultures, so Manny said I was basically a Latina whose soul "got lost and was reborn as an angel"! He was a romantic like that."

Camila told many stories about her experiences in the Human Realm, which Gus found enthralling, and with everyone working together, they'd made quite a feast! The Human Realm dishes went down very well with the Demon Realm folk, while the Divine Realm dishes were a bit… controversial with them. Angels were capable of eating most of the same things as Demons and Witches, but they could also eat the crystalline vegetation of their own realm, as well as meat and animal products from several species of beasts that didn't exist in the Demon Realm. Camila didn't have access to the animal products, but with her own plant magic and Luz's to help, she could grow a lot of vegetables and fruit for the Demon Realm folk to try… with mixed results. Emerillo Pie (emerillos being green, apple-like fruits that looked like jewels) went down very well, but the Zircumber Carpaccio (zircumbers being dark brown, banana-like vegetables) was too bitter for any but an angel's tongue. Poor Rasiel was almost in tears as he ate the dishes from his homeland for the first time in 100,000 years, and seeing his pure happiness more than made up for the others not being a fan (especially since they all insisted on giving their portions to him since he loved it so much).

After dinner and the dishes were done, and it began to get dark out, it was finally decided that it was time for Luz and the others to return to the Demon Realm. Camila kindly packed the leftovers of their feast (they'd really made more than they could eat) into some containers and let Luz and Rasiel take them, then she and Vee walked with them all the way to the abandoned house.

"This is the portal to the Demon Realm?" Camila asked, staring at the old house with a strange expression on her face.

"You got it!" Eda said, pulling out the Portal Key and pressing the eye, causing the abandoned house's doorway to be filled with light, before revealing the Owl House's empty living room.

"How bizarre…" Camila muttered, before shaking that thought off and turning to Luz. "Before you go, I have something I want to teach you quickly."

Luz's pointy ears wiggled excitedly; "Ooh, I can finally learn something magical from Mami! What is it!?"

"It's a little trick to make things a little easier for you, regarding your wings." Camila said, summoning her wings. Luz did the same, and once again Camila felt mildly stunned by the sight of the six, glorious and shining wings.

"Beautiful… Now, the trick is to focus all your magic into your wings, then compress it while drawing a spell circle. If you've done it right, your wings will feel tight. Then just release the circle and cast the spell." Camila said, demonstrating.

Luz took a couple of tries to get the feeling down, but once she had it and she nodded to her Mami to signal that, both Noceda Angels released their circles and cast their spells. The others watched with fascination as their wings began to glow brightly, then shrink down. Camila's wings shrank to the size of Cherub Wings, and Luz's did the same, only becoming a little group of six fluffy wings.

"My wings are tiny now!" Luz gasped, flapping them. They still moved like normal, but she could no longer fly, and they were much smaller. They were also much softer though, and Amity immediately rubbed her face against them as she purred contently.

Camila giggled at the girls' antics, then explained; "In the Divine Realm, its considered poor form to hide your wings. So to keep them from getting in the way, especially for those with multiple sets, they developed a spell to shrink them. You won't be able to fly, and the amount of energy you can absorb and convert into magic is reduced, but you'll still be able to gather some energy, unlike if your wings were hidden. Since the Demon Realm knows what you are now, I think it would be safer for you to be always gathering energy."

Luz nodded with enthusiasm; "This will definitely be useful! Thank you Mami! How do I reverse it?"

"You're welcome, Mija. You can reverse the spell by simply "releasing" your wings, similar to when you take them out after concealing them." Camila said, before her own wings suddenly grew back to full size.

Luz tried it and her wings returned to normal, making Amity splutter as her face was suddenly filled with feathers since she hadn't released her hug. Luz giggled, then once again thanked her Mami for the lesson.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye until next weekend!" Luz said with a sad smile.

Camila nodded, also smiling sadly. She embraced Luz tightly, and both had a few lingering tears in the corners of their eyes; "Be safe, Mija. Do your best, and be good. That's all I can ask for."

"I will, Mami." Luz nodded, "Take care of yourself. As long as I'm near the Portal Door or the Key, I should be able to text you still, so I'll let you know if anything big happens!" she then looked to Vee; "I'll text you too! You won a phone at camp, so you might as well use it!"

Vee nodded, having exchanged phone numbers with Luz at dinner. "Thanks Luz. For everything; when you came home, I never imagined I'd get to keep living with Mama. I'm looking forward to getting to know you even more!"

"It's been nice meeting you both. Don't worry about Luz; I'll make sure she's well taken care of and if there are any problems, I'll be sure to let you know." Eda promised, playing up her limited responsible side.

Camila smiled, and she and Vee exchanged short farewells with the rest of Luz's friends. King even called her "Tia Cammie", which made the angel squeal with delight and hug the daylights out of the little Titan. Finally, they all stepped through the portal, with Luz being the last one through, waving with a tearful smile as she closed the door.

On one side of the portal, Camila stared at the closed door of the abandoned house for a long moment, before turning to Vee and taking her hand; "Let's go home, Vee." The little Basilisk nodded, and the two returned to their home, already anticipating Luz's return next weekend.

On the other side of the portal, Luz watched with a whole tangle of conflicting feelings in her chest as the Portal Door folded up and disappeared to wherever Eda liked to hide it when it wasn't in use. She sighed; she'd gotten what she'd wanted, which was the best result she could ever ask for, but it had still taken an emotional toll on her.

"Hey Kiddo. You okay?" Eda asked, rubbing Luz's back.

Luz nodded; "Yeah, I'm good. Just got a lot on my mind; Mami is putting a lot of trust in me, so I don't want to let her down."

"You won't, I know it." Eda said, reaching up to her shoulder to pet a sleepy King. "Now where did Raine and Lilith get to?"

The Owl House seemed deserted, with even Hooty not reacting to their return. Luz's friends were already looking around the house for signs of the others, but they found nothing.

"They're not upstairs." Amity said.

"Or in the basement." Willow added.

"Or the kitchen either." Gus finished, "Though there's half-eaten food on the table, and its still warm. They must have only just left."

"If they left during a meal, something important must have happened." Rasiel frowned.

Eda and Luz exchanged frowns and headed to the front door. There was no hole in it, so Hooty was still present even if he hadn't come to greet them yet. Eda threw open the front door and discovered Hooty had extended himself out into the front yard, where he now hovered between Lilith and Raine.

"There you guys are! We were worried for a… moment…" Eda said, trailing off as she noticed the rest of the scene in the front yard. Luz and her friends came out to join her, and paled at what they saw.

Raine was wielding their violin, while Lilith was brandishing her staff as they faced down with two very unexpected and unwelcome guests; Darius Deamonne and Eberwolf the Huntsman, the Heads of the Abomination and Beast-Keeping Covens.

Both were powerful witches, and both were prepared for battle.

[Meanwhile]

Jacob Hopkins, Curator of the Gravesfield Historical Society, returned to his office after a dull day watching over his new domain. It had taken a lot of convincing to get himself his current position, but it was imperative for him to be surrounded by the evidence of Gravesfield's glorious witch-hunting past in order to uncover the truth of the Witches and Demons he knew still lingered in town!

He sat down at his computer with a mug of coffee and pulled up his camera feeds, which were pointed at many of the snare traps he'd left around Gravesfield. Sadly he couldn't afford to put a camera with every trap, but he'd made sure to place them in the spots he was certain Demons would most likely frequent!

Taking a sip of his coffee, he began to fast forward through the day's footage, until he saw something unusual that made him stop and focus on just one of his camera feeds. It was the one inside the abandoned house that he was sure was some kind of doorway to Mars! He'd been meaning to put a camera outside it, but hadn't gotten around to it yet and instead just had one in the living room.

The footage showed a girl run inside, looking panicked and upset. Jacob hummed as he vaguely recognised the girl; it was the Noceda kid. She and her mother were on his radar, as during his "reconnaissance" in town, he'd noticed a few odd things happening around them. He leaned closer to the screen and watched as the Noceda kid kicked a rock in frustration, setting off his snare trap. Jacob almost felt sorry for her as she was ensnared and hit the ground hard, but his sympathy vanished as he saw the girl flail around and slowly shape shift into some kind of snake creature.

"I knew it! A real demon!" Jacob exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear as he watched the footage. He was about ready to rush over to the house and catch his prey, but decided to make sure it wasn't a wasted trip by watching the rest of the footage.

That turned out to be a smart move, as he observed a SECOND Noceda girl walk into the house, this time with white hair and pointed ears. She freed the other one and used some kind of supernatural power to cover the place in grass. Sadly, Jacob had been forced to get cheaper cameras without an audio feed, so he had no idea what the two girls talked about, but he did observe the white haired one reveal her six angelic wings, and how she healed the snake creature, before lighting it on fire with some kind of white flame, that resulted in the creature shedding its skin and gaining wings!

Jacob stopped the footage soon after the two girls left, and sat back in his chair with a smile on his face. "Finally, I have proof! But what was all that… TWO of the Noceda kid, one demonic and one… angelic? No… an angel wouldn't help a demon." he muttered, before looking to his wall, on which was posted all his other evidence, including a picture of an owl-like beast that shared a face with an infamous vagabond named Marilyn, or as Jacob knew her; Eda.

"… not an angel. A Bird Demon! Well just you wait, demons! I'll expose you to the whole world!"