Finally that problematic situation had ended, and in the best possible way: as soon as Luz had punched Adrian and Terra so hard as to make them faint, she and the others had immediately gone back in a hurry, but they had discovered that Raine and their friends had also others were well and had completely tied up the fanatics and were preparing to go looking for them. Initially neither Luz nor Amity nor anyone else could understand how they managed to defeat them in such a short time, but then they noticed the presence of Odalia, who was still in her witch form, and it didn't take them long to put two and two together... and to notice the wide eyes of the Titan Trappers, especially that of Elder Bill, who was staring into space without saying a word and was trembling slightly. "Um... what did you do to them...?" Amity asked.

"You don't want to know" Emira told her, who had turned so pale she looked like a corpse. "And by the way, Mittens, note to you and all of us: never really make mom angry, absolutely"

"What? Why, what did she do to them?" Amity asked curiously, not remembering ever seeing her sister so shocked.

Emira seemed reluctant to answer, but Edric exclaimed: "She literally turned them inside out like they were socks! She raised her hand and said something, and suddenly all their skin and flesh went inside their bodies, while their entrails and bones came out, all while they were still alive! You could see their hearts, lungs, stomachs, intestines... and damn, it was disgusting! Luckily dad yelled at her to stop, because I was about to throw up... but I think the Titan Trappers have gone crazy anyway"

Amity shuddered. She hadn't seen the scene himself, but it certainly wasn't something she aspired to witness. Okay, those people were evil and dangerous, but what her mother had done seemed inhumane to her. She turned towards her to ask her for explanations, but she stopped when she saw her severe and threatening look; as usual she felt terribly small and fragile under it, and the fact that her mother had bright eyes, fangs, scales and swirling hair at that moment didn't help. "Mittens" Odalia hissed. "May I know why you were out of the house at this time?"

Amity instinctively took a step back and lowered her head, immediately feeling the weight of shame crush her; she knew she had disappointed her. Seeing her in trouble Lilith stepped forward: "Leave her alone, it's my fault. She was trying to help me"

"Of course it's your fault, you miserable fairy" Odalia growled with a lot of irritation in her voice. "And I don't care if she was trying to help you... or why she knew you needed help. Mittens, I explicitly forbade you from going out after dark, and what do you do? You disobey me, and look at the result! You got in trouble, just like I told you! Do you have any idea what would happen if these wretches found out you were a witch? If someone else found out you were a witch? Damn it, Mittens, I thought you were smarter than that!"

Amity felt no different than an insect under her mother's disappointed gaze, and it felt like she was immersed in mud. "But... but Lilith was sick... she needed help..."

"Oh, yeah? So this is justification for disobeying me?" Odalia grabbed her chin and lifted her head, and Amity almost felt herself sucked into her merciless gaze. "If I tell you not to do something, it's because I'm trying to protect you, Mittens! Do you think the rest of the world cares that your fairy was sick? Do you think these idiots would be moved!?". She grabbed her ear and squeezed so hard it hurt. "Now let's go home. I knew I shouldn't let my guard down around you, but I still wanted to trust you. If this is your way of repaying me, then forget all the freedom I've given you so far! And forget even revisiting this fairy, she is clearly a bad influence on you!"

"What!?" Amity almost screamed as she turned pale. "No... no, mom, please... punish me as much as you want, but not this!"

"In the world there are consequences for one's actions, Mittens. You wanted to do your own thing, now you have to pay the price" Odalia replied without showing the slightest empathy. "I left you the chance to hang out with that fairy because you guaranteed me that she could help you, but instead because of her you put yourself in danger. What do you expect me to do, eh? Come on, tell me!"

Amity felt her heart tighten like a vice. On the one hand, she couldn't deny that her mother had good reasons for behaving that way... but on the other, she was exaggerating! Or not? She wasn't sure... Lilith needed help, and she didn't regret helping her, but maybe she could have handled the situation differently... she couldn't think anymore; she desperately wanted to say something that would convince her mother to let her continue seeing her fairy godmother, but just looking at her face made any meaningful words vanish from her mind. But she didn't want to abandon Lilith, she absolutely didn't want to! Her heart began to pound. She tried to tell her mother to be reasonable, to let her explain, or even just beg her not to punish her like that, but the voice refused to leave her mouth, leaving only ragged breathing in its place. "What are you doing? You don't want to start crying now, I hope!" Odalia growled with an increasingly angry expression on her face. "I've spent my life teaching you to control your emotions and act with cognition, and now you want to cry? You're not a little child anymore, Mittens, and I certainly won't tolerate you indulging in such displays of weakness! If I even see just a tear..."

"Stop! You're scaring her!" Lilith exclaimed grabbing her arm; with the little magical energy she had managed to conserve she abandoned her human form and returned to her fairy form. "Give her a break! You can't act like this towards her, what kind of mother are you!?"

Odalia looked at her with eyes that seemed to flash. "Step aside now, fairy, or I won't care that my daughter is watching us and I'll teach you a good lesson!" she warned her. "This is my daughter, not yours, and how I discipline her is my own business! Get out of my way, now. Believe me, you don't want to know what I can unleash on birds like you!" and saying this she raised her finger and at the tip of it a light appeared similar to a lightning that was constantly exploding.

Lilith sweated a lot; she knew very well that in her current debilitated state she had no chance of defeating the witch, indeed it was probable that the battle would not last even for a minute; but despite this she didn't falter and with her wing pushed Amity away from her to protect her from any potential residual spells. Odalia narrowed her eyes and lowered her finger towards her, totally ignoring Amity who was yelling at her to stop... but then she felt movement behind her and something metallic rested on the back of her neck; she could clearly sense the presence of an abnormal amount of dark magic behind her. She turned slightly and saw Hunter pointing his staff at her. "You pull the trigger and I'll do the same" the boy warned her. "It's been a long night and I'm tired. If you try any magic, witch, I'll kill you; I don't care what your children will think of me"

Odalia's eyelid quivered visibly, and a crocodile-like screech emerged from her lips, but suddenly Adalor's voice rang out among them like thunder: "Odalia, stop!" the man shouted, in a more authoritative manner than Amity, Edric, and Emira had ever heard him speak. "You're scaring the kids! You're not thinking straight, your mind is clouded by your own dark magic, you need to go back to your human form and think clearly again!"

Odalia turned her gaze towards her husband, who returned it with one of the same intensity; the witch looked confused and doubtful for a moment, then she imperceptibly looked in the direction of Amity, who had stepped back and was clinging to Luz as if seeking comfort, and she clearly noticed her frightened look; then a flicker of understanding appeared in her eyes, so quickly that no one noticed it, and she let out a deep growl and closed her eyes, as if trying to concentrate, and her body slowly abandoned her witch form. Odalia slid to her knees and wiped away the sweat; she looked like he had just put in a lot of physical effort. Seeing her like this, Amity stopped staying behind and ran towards her: "Mom? Mom, are you okay?"

"Urgh... yes, Mittens, thank you" Odalia said much softer than before; she looked up and touched her face, and she looked at her chin where she had grabbed her before with a mortified look: "I didn't hurt you, right? Or... did I?"

Seeing her mother act like that Amity immediately felt more relaxed; it seemed that the outburst she had just witnessed was over. "No... no, you didn't hurt me, don't worry" she replied to reassure her, even if it was a total lie.

"Thank goodness. Sorry, Mittens, I shouldn't have talked to you that way" Odalia said, rubbing her forehead. She seemed to have a bad headache. "It's just that... tonight I used my magic while feeling an unusual amount of anger and worry, and it caused me to lose control of my magical balance and it had negative effects on my psyche. I acted without reflect... it wasn't my intention to scare you"

"No, no, it's okay! I'm fine!" Amity was quick to respond. She didn't want her mother to know that she had actually scared her; she already looked quite mortified, it wasn't right to add more irons to the fire. After all, hers was clearly a reaction she couldn't control: if it was her dark magic that made her speak that way, she couldn't blame her.

Odalia let out a sigh. "Thank you, Mittens. And don't worry, I don't think you're immature or a little girl at all. You showed great skills tonight" she said, then she added: "Let's do this: now you go home, and get a good night's sleep. In the meantime I will take these scoundrels to prison and cast a spell on the guards to make them remember that they arrested them, and then I in turn will go home and go to sleep. We will talk about this situation properly tomorrow, when we have both downloaded the tension and we will be able to think clearly"

Amity nodded; yes, that was the best solution. She was sure that after she unloaded the hot spirits, her mother would be more willing to listen to her. After all, any negative effects of the dark magic would be gone by next morning, right? They would just have a normal mother-daughter conversation, and there would be no problems. "Can... can I have Lilith take me home?"

Odalia seemed conflicted as she had rarely been in her life, but then with what seemed like a superhuman effort she nodded. "Yes, you can have her take you home. I doubt she'll put you in danger again on the same night... we'll talk about her too tomorrow"

Amity smiled more than ever; it seemed that everything would really work out for the best. "Thanks, mom" she said.

Odalia nodded, then she turned to Alador: "Thank you. You stopped me from doing something stupid"

"I have safeguarded myself and the people here, including my two children. How you treat your offspring, witch, is none of my business. She is your problem, not mine" Alador replied in a sour voice, but despite Odalia glared at him, for a moment a flicker of mutual complicity passed in both of their eyes, as if they had just agreed on something.

Those words hurt Amity, and irritated her friends quite a bit; Luz looked like she was about to throw another punch at Alador, but Amity grabbed her arm and stopped her. It had been a long enough night and she didn't want any more bad emotions; it was enough for a day.

And just at that moment Darius appeared and grabbed both Alador and Odalia with his big arms, and rubbed their hair joyfully: "Come on, guys, that's enough! Let's stop insulting each other, what do you think? We haven't fought enough tonight?"

Odalia looked at him with furious eyes. "The last one who touched my hair like this got his hand back a week later locked in an envelope" she warned him, looking at him rather badly.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot that witches don't like having their hair touched!" Darius exclaimed with a laugh, not looking the least bit intimidated. "What I meant to say is that we are all full of bad emotions. So, give me a smile and let's stop!"

"Darius, leave them alone" Raine told him. The musician was leaning over Eda, who was sitting supported by King as she recovered from her previous fainting; she seemed to be doing pretty well by now, but her gaze seemed to continually turn in any direction except Raine. Having drawn attention to themselves, the musician said loudly: "Thank you all, we would not have gotten away with your help. You were truly phenomenal"

"Of course" Luz replied with a smile. "We don't abandon a friend. There's no reason to thank us for that"

"Urgh... that's enough, my blood sugar is rising from all this sweetness" Odalia grumbled, freeing herself from Darius' grip; the djinn seemed intent on doing something fun, but then he thought that it was best not to try to antagonize the witch. "If you want to thank us, then help me drag all these fanatics to the police station. You too, Alador... before I start asking to myself why you didn't stop the kids and above all how did you know what was happening"

Alador knew that his wife had probably realized that he had come there secretly with the purpose of stealing the djinn's lamp; after all, Odalia was good at putting pieces together, and almost certainly as soon as she saw Darius she had no trouble connecting his presence there to the existence of the magic lamp. Fortunately, she didn't seem willing to ask him any questions about it, at least as long as he was cooperative. But just then Darius punched him on the shoulder: "Dude, you should fuck your wife more; she's clearly stressed"

Alador let out a sob, and Odalia seemed to explode: "What the...!? What the hell is your problem!? There are children!"

"Oh, come on, they're grown up now! They'll definitely be over the 'My parents never made love' phase. And then I bet they're curious too, right guys?" Darius said with a wink at Amity, Edric and Emira, and then he nudged Alador: "Come on, man, tell them how you impregnated their mother! Tell us, was she in witch form or in human form? I know from very certain sources that witches are extraordinary under the covers..."

"Lalalalalalala! I'm not hearing!" Edric screamed, putting his hands over his ears.

"Kill me! Quick, kill me!" Emira shouted back.

Of all of them, Amity was the only one who remained rational: "Darius, I don't want to hear how my parents... did that!"

"Why? When I was a young djinn my father and mother told me about how they conceived me every winter solstice!" Darius said.

Amity blanched. "This is disgusting!"

"On the contrary, it was beautiful! You humans have complexes, let me tell you" Darius muttered, then he turned back to Alador and whispered: "Anyway, listen to me, your wife needs some healthy fun under the sheets. If you wish I can recommend you some positions that..."

Odalia for a moment seemed serious about ripping the djinn apart, but she didn't have time because Raine grabbed Darius' lamp and forced him back inside, and then they threw it as far away as they could before the witch could catch it. "Sorry, he's a bit... like that" they quickly apologised. "Um... let's focus on putting these criminals in prison, shall we?"

"I think it would be better" Odalia hissed, and it wasn't hard to understand from her tone that she was barely keeping herself from committing murder.

The BATTs were quick to round up the Titan Trappers, most of whom had become virtually incapable of resisting their orders as they were too shocked by what Odalia had put them through to have any rebellious spirit. As they did so Luz looked at Amity, and from her look it was clear that she was trying to be honest about her friend's condition after what had happened. "No offense, but... your mother is scary" she whispered in her ear.

Amity shook her head. It was evident from the trembling of her hands that she felt the same way, but despite this she still said: "You heard her, it was just her magic and the stress accumulated last night. As soon as she transformed back she was the same as always"

But Luz wasn't very convinced. She didn't want to tell Amity, but the way Odalia had acted after Alador had pointed out that she was scaring her own children had seemed more like an excuse than a truly sincere action; and even the look that the two of them had exchanged seemed strange to her, as if they had said something to each other in the meantime. She looked at Lilith hoping for some confirmation, but the fairy shook her head; evidently her magic was still too weakened to be able to read the hearts of Amity's two parents, or Odalia had simply shielded herself from her sight.

She decided it was best not to ask too many questions for the moment, and instead she tried to draw Amity's attention elsewhere by focusing on their friends: "King! Are you okay?"

The young Titan was back in his normal form, and he didn't seem to be too hurt except for a few scratches. "I'm fine. Thanks, Luz"

Luz grabbed him and hugged him tightly to her chest: "I'm so sorry! You shouldn't have fought, you put yourself in danger..."

"Hey, hey, Luz, it's okay" King told her, and his look was much more serious than other times. "Everything was fine in the end, right? So we have nothing to complain about. And I didn't mind being able to act to defend my... friends"

Luz's eyes widened. It was the first time King referred to them that way instead of 'worshippers' or 'subjects'. "Are... are you really okay? I mean... you had to fight... you must have been scared..."

"Yes, I was scared... but after all, fears must be faced, right?" King answered her. "It was the most terrible experience of my life... but I think it was also therapeutic. I feel braver now"

Luz smiled and hugged the young Titan even tighter; she had feared that the horrible experience would scare King and cause him to move away from them and return to his refuge on the beach, but instead it seemed that he had learned something from that experience and was rather inclined to stay with them. Which couldn't make her happier. "Oh, King, I'm so proud of you!" she said while she was rubbing his belly, and the young Titan smiled back.

Luz was so engrossed in King that she didn't see Amity silently walking away from her; unnoticed by her mother, her siblings, Lilith and practically no one else, she sneaked up on her father. Alador only noticed her when she was next to him, but as usual he ignored her and focused on continuing to tie up the Titan Trappers. But Amity didn't let herself be intimidated by that scene and said: "You know, I may know you very little, but it's still not difficult to understand your moves. You came to steal Darius' lamp, right?"

Her father said nothing, but the brief moment his hands stilled proved Amity's words. "As I imagined. After all, if you had seen me, Emira and Edric leaving the house and followed us, the Titan Trappers would have found you near the Owl House and captured you too. The only explanation why you could have intervened so timely to help us is that you had overheard our conversation and knew that the BATTs had a djinn, and you had come here early and noticed the presence of the Titan Trappers. What was your plan? Let me guess... take the lamp and ask the djinn to make me disappear? Erase your mistake like a stain on a dress?"

Alador had never heard so much venom in Amity's voice; not that he had heard her voice often in his life, but still he found it difficult to associate such disgust with her. "There are only two reasons I came here to talk to you now" Amity continued. "The first, because it is right that I thank you for the help you have given us. The second... is to tell you that your wish is granted, without the need for you to bother a djinn. I don't intend to disturb you ever again"

Alador shuddered at those words, but still he didn't meet his daughter's gaze. But that was enough for Amity: it was proof that at least he was listening to her. "You don't want to talk to me, you don't want to look at me, you don't want to accept that I exist? Don't you like the idea of having fathered a witch? Whatever. I'm tired, and even if it hurts, I have no intention of looking for a sign of appreciation from you ever again. I've got enough problems on my mind... and as much as I hate to admit it, something tells me I'll have even more in the future... maybe with mom". She bit her lip, then she took a deep breath and continued: "Emira and Edric advised me to forget you and mom, and I want to follow at least half of this advice. So do it, continue to ignore me: I don't care anymore. You've been a shitty father, no... I don't think you even qualify to call yourself my father. You may have fathered me, but you were never a father to me. Not that this is a problem for you, I presume. So... if before you tried to avoid me, now do me a favor and try even harder, so I can avoid seeing your face as much as possible. You're dead to me"

And having said this she turned and was about to leave; she had to summon all the willpower she had to remain austere and not start crying, but still she had to take a couple of deep breaths before she managed to calm down; although, she had to admit, she now felt that the weight on her heart had lightened a little. But she hadn't even taken three steps that she heard Alador's voice behind her: "You've grown. You've become strong. Much stronger than me"

Amity whirled around, but once again her father was back attending to the Titan Trappers as if she weren't there. Annoyed, she started walking away again; she didn't know what those last words meant, but she personally didn't care. She had said that her father had died for her, and she intended to respect such words.

As soon as his daughter was far enough away, Alador abandoned his rigid position and leaned against a pole, placing a hand over his face, his breathing suddenly becoming much heavier. He remained in that position for an indefinite time, until he heard a little voice: "Hey, man, may I know what's wrong with you?"

Alador looked up and saw that a miniature version of Darius had appeared on his shoulder, clearly in order not to be seen by anyone else. "Didn't you end up inside the lamp?"

"I can get out of the lamp whenever I want, I don't need someone to call me; the only time I'm bound to it is when someone has their hands on it. Otherwise Raine certainly wouldn't have thrown it away like that; they knew that I wasn't taking any risks, they just wanted to get me away before I said something that would really piss off your wife. By the way, I won't let her notice me, so don't expect me to accompany you at the prison; no offense, but I think I'm on her blacklist now, and I don't want to face her" Darius replied. "But don't change the subject. Why are you acting like this towards her? It's clear that you care about your daughter, you wouldn't have reacted this way otherwise. Why don't you talk to her or look at her?"

"I have my reasons" Alador replied hastily.

"Does your wife have anything to do with it?"

"No, she never asked me to behave like this. It was my choice, and my wife actually hates me for it"

"May I know why?"

"No"

Darius shook his head. "Sometimes I wonder how it is that humans sometimes tend to destroy their happiness" he grumbled. "Your daughter felt bad for fourteen years because of this choice of yours, and I'm sure it was the same for you. If it makes you both feel bad, why continue?"

"I told you I don't want to talk about it. I made this choice many years ago, and it's too late to change. I've already destroyed my chance"

"Mmm... is that why you wanted my lamp? Did you want to ask me to change the past and make you make a different choice?"

"Something like that, yeah"

Darius shrugged. "If it's any consolation you would have failed anyway: I can't change the past". Then he added: "If you want my opinion, my friend, you are a real idiot"

"I am aware of that" Alador replied. "But if you hope to get something from me, you are scolding the wrong sinner"

"Whatever. But don't blame me when I tell you that you are an idiot who wastes your life and destroys your happiness" the djinn said, and then he turned into a drop of purple liquid and slipped away. Alador didn't say another word and continued tying up the Titan Trappers.

It didn't take long to gather all the fanatics; once that was done, the BATTs began to escort them towards the prison, and so did Alador and Odalia (the latter after having given at least ten minutes of advice to their children to return home immediately). Raine stayed behind a little, and before leaving they said to Eda: "Tomorrow, if it won't bother you, I'll stop to your house to see if you've recovered"

"Uh... yeah, go ahead" Eda replied looking away. Her cheeks were redder than a poppy.

And Raine was no different; they seemed to remember what had happened while thry were under hypnosis, as they didn't ask any questions and actually seemed embarrassed like never before in their life. They hurriedly left, but first they said to Luz: "Thank you for freeing me". And having said this they took a rope to which Adrian and Terra were tied and go away towards his companions.

Luz couldn't hide a smile of deep satisfaction at seeing those two tied like salami. And she wasn't the only one. "Ah, they'll finally get what they deserve" Willow said, climbing onto her shoulder. "I hope they will be entrusted with a ruthless judge"

"And I hope they don't like the sun, because they won't see it for a while" Gus commented amusedly. "And if they'll see it, it will be checkered"

Luz felt satisfied like few times in her life; finally Adrian and Terra would have the right punishment for their crimes and everything they had put her through. However, she didn't linger too long on these thoughts and turned towards Eda, who was getting up. Her smile faded, but still she didn't back down and went to her, and when her gaze met the fairy's she said: "Eda, I owe you an apology"

The micro-Darius talking to Alador is a reference to the fact that Darius in canon used tiny abominations to communicate with Raine in secret